I've always said that I know that I can do, I'm,
I'm a different workhorse than most.
And I know plenty of other really amazing, you know, workhorses.
Um, uh, both men and women, where in my
5 or 6 hours of the work day, I I can get a lot done.
Um, How that translates
to this team, and we have a very, very small team, you're
correct, because we started, this is a new brand.
We started in the middle last year.
And in fact, I don't plan on building some massive team.
I'm big on fewer is better so
long, everybody takes ownership of where they're
at in the sort of the chart and how we're all rowing together.
You could build something really big in this space, um, with
really strong, um, team members.
Are you ready to hear more?
Welcome to the ballproof of your CBG brand podcast,
where we discuss tactics and strategies that you
need to give your brand the unfair competitive advantage it deserves.
Hello, I'm Dan Loman.
Be certain to comment and subscribe to get immediate access to
new brand building episodes.
Please recommend this to friends and colleagues and
help me raise the barn natural.
Let me know what your most pressing issues are, and I'll
do my best to address them on future episodes.
There's a free downloadable guide at the end of every episode to
help you go deeper into the topics we discussed.
Now, let's roll up our sleeves and get started.
Mark, thanks for coming on today.
Can you please tell us more about yourself and your journey from being a
fitness expert, and I know you still are to
being a brand owner.
Sure.
Mark Samuel, good beyond.
Um, let's see a little bit about me.
I live in Northern California, born and raised in Moran County.
Uh, yeah, lifelong health and wellness
enthusiast.
Probably been in the gym for 25 plus years.
Um, 6 or 7 days a week.
It's been more like 7 the last few years.
Uh, and I'm a, I'm a CBG founder.
So, I have a snack brand called Marks.
We make a CedarL free kettle chip.
Fantastic.
Thank you for sharing that.
And let's talk about your transition.
You've iterated a couple different times.
So talk about that, please.
and then why?
What is the mission now or what is
change or what are you trying to accomplish?
Sure, I mean, I've done all types of things in my,
I guess you'd consider the professional career.
Uh, as, as they say.
And so I've been in service related businesses,
consumer product related businesses.
The last few ventures that I started have been more focused
on what I would consider to be health and wellness.
So even in the food and or beverage space,
uh, the previous snack company that I had started, um, was
what I'd consider to be a protein-esque type
of salty snack because uh, it was a legume based
snacks or a little had a little bit of a higher protein uh, level.
And then, um, that business had gotten licensed last year.
And I decided, okay, am I going to do this again?
And so this go around as much as folks
know me for health and wellness, they say, wow, you're making a chip.
you know, what, what does that mean?
Well, I'm just a big believer in in the
fact that most to all folks snack.
And so I have this opportunity here to provide
them a snack that I believe is better for you, truly better for you as
far as seat all free.
But the most important thing for me is to be
able to build a platform where I can talk transparently about health and wellness.
So most people will hear me say, I would actually
like you to eat less snacks.
Um, and I'd like you to focus more on whole
foods, whole nutritious, dense, protein,
uh, focused foods.
And if you are gonna snack, snack
in moderation, and 0 yeah, here's a snack that you
could have as an option, among others that I recommend.
I appreciate you saying that.
and the fact that it's clean.
So, Marks is, I don't want to say completely
uniquely, uh, is situated in a in that
position, but you are unique in the sense that
you're focused on 3 ingredients.
So talk about that.
Why did you choose that?
And where I want to go with this, Mark, is when you're
talking about health and wellness, avocado oil
is an is a sort of a secret thing that
a lot of people don't really understand the benefits of.
So why did you choose that?
Yeah, um, yeah, so it's true.
Our our snack, um, excuse me,
our, our my computer's doing something.
Um, our, our, our C zone is, is 3 ingredients.
So it's potatoes, avocado oil, and salt.
Our 2 we offer 2 other flavors, and the 2
other flavors, in fact, are the, what I'd consider to be the cleanest
labeled ingredients if there was a flavor profile.
So for instance, barbecue, if you're to go read our barbecue
seasoning, we really focused on
having the cleanest label compared to anything else that's on the market.
So, again, that's just sort of a touch point.
Um, Avocado oil, and the way we speak
about seed oils today, just holistically,
I'll just leave it sort of in general terms, um,
because I'm going to say something that most people won't necessarily
think that I would say, but I'll leave that for the end.
We're just talking about inflammation in the body.
The reality is inflammation within the
body from the foods that we consume or even things that we
rub into our body.
I was just about to talk about how my lady and I were
talking about makeup, women's makeup.
It's just poison, like a majority of the, I
don't, I'm tangenting here, but just where I can, where I'm going to go with this,
inflammation within the body.
Our gut health is the most important health.
A lot of people don't recognize the gut,
the gut, the gut.
It is wired to every part of the body,
specifically the brain heart and the like, right?
But so we wonder why, why are we feeling down?
Why do we feel bad?
Why do we feel sluggish?
Why do we gain weight?
why do we get diseases?
I mean, that's, right?
Well, it's all pointed at that.
And how is that happening?
It's happening.
We're doing it.
We're we're doing it to ourselves.
Again, this is what I talk about the platform.
We're eating foods that are causing
our gut to be inflamed or interrupted, right?
Disrupted.
Um, and so with that said, yes,
there are other things that we could eat to
minimize or negate that altogether.
I won't go as far as saying, though,
well, avocado oil or coconut or olive oil,
like, like, again, it's still, I'm kettle
cooking a potato, like, Just
go to, to just the simplest form.
If you want to minimize
disease, sickness, inflammation,
you want to have more clarity, more more energy, more focus.
Just eat, clean whole foods,
eat some chicken.
Eat some one ingredient items.
I like I'm a big fan of just, you know, white rice.
I eat some, eat some fruits and some vegetables.
It's pretty simple.
So, I know that went around the, the, sort
of, this, this thing of where your original, what we'll talk about, what avocado oil.
Yes, it's better for you than other
alternative oils that are out there and
consumed on a much more regular basis.
I appreciate you saying that.
And the great thing is that you're getting away from highly processed
stuff, so you're giving us an alternative.
And to your point, gut is so critically important.
I don't think a lot of people realize, and thank you for shedding a light on this.
How important the gut biome is and
how it impacts so many things, like you said.
And a lot of people are looking for a magic cure.
And the point is, like you said, and I agree with
you completely, if you do things right, that's going to make such a difference.
And the other thing that you do so well and brilliantly that,
you know, I love the way that you communicate on LinkedIn, your
passion for health and wellness, for working out,
for doing the things that you need to do, you know, riding a bike,
going for a walk, et cetera.
Talk about how that is such a big party of
your brand, at least from my perspective, it is.
I, well, there's a point
because, um, I, you can, you can attest to this.
I emailed you and said, can I push this back 15 minutes?
The reason was, is because I needed an extra
15 minutes at the gym this morning.
Good.
I don't, I, I, health,
as I always say, is my number one
priority.
It becomes, it's it's 1st on the
list before anything or anybody.
And then I always, I always follow that up, what do you mean?
You have kids, you got a lady.
You gotta, I do.
I love them a lot.
Okay?
But, I love me a lot too.
And if I am not healthy,
if I am not at my best every
single day, which starts with a morning workout, right,
and making sure that I can get myself settled and
a foundation set for the day, I can't
help anybody else.
I cannot be
my best version, my best self, for
anybody else, if I am not putting myself
1st specifically when it comes to health and wellness.
So, again, there's there's been many people who've gotten an
email from me that says, I need to push this back, or can
we move this up, because it might have gotten in
the way of what really is priority number one,
which is making sure that I'm taken care of.
So I hope that helps in some way.
No, I think it's great.
And I really appreciate your saying it because the thing that I
struggle with, when I work with founders, is
that they get so busy that they don't make themselves a priority.
And because of that, other problems creep up.
They don't think clearly they're not making decisions, clearly, they're
not prioritizing the things that they need to do to move their
brand forward or move their life forward, and they don't
have the good work work-life balance.
So thank you for shutting a light on that.
anything else you want to add?
Well, the reason is, is because it's why it's
why you can take a look at our, not
just the obesity rates, but just illness.
And I'll just focus just domestically.
Just my brothers and sisters here in the US, right?
Those numbers, it's
all coincidence that I'm going on a text chain too about.
There's a, a, I don't want to talk in
a specific brand, but there are, um, uh, protein bars out there.
And and I'm just, if you were to read the ingredients.
You know, you should know by
now that they're not good for you.
Ultra processed, well, sure, whatever.
Again, that's 90% of center store of retail, right?
Of course, sure.
Like, ultra, you most likely should
not be eating those foods.
But more importantly, it do not eat them a lot.
See, I'm big on moderation.
I talk about 8020 rule all the time.
80% eat whole foods.
I talk to, and the 20%, you can have whatever.
I talk about In-N-Out and Chipotle and like, I'm good with that, right?
I'll have a little an ounce or 2 of my own chips, right?
It's moderation.
But getting back to it, which is, um, it's
because we don't have discipline.
That's the, that's the,
we, we don't have discipline.
That's all it is.
And, and, and I, I'm, I'm light and
polite as I'm saying it, we don't have.
The thing is, we have it.
We just don't choose to turn it on, at
least not a majority of us.
Some of us, like I, I kind
of, um, jokingly say, at 5 AM,
when my internal clock goes off, and
it says, time to go to the gym.
There's a voice that says to me,
Don't go to the gym.
You, Mark, you
deserve to sleep.
You're the man, Mark.
You're, you, you, you are the man, Mark.
You deserve an extra hour of sleep.
And then there's the other voice that
says, you're a.
You understand?
Oh, yeah.
No, no, I get it.
I hope most people don't, I don't need you to have that voice.
It doesn't need to talk so nasty to you, but I'll tell you what mine says.
That's what it says, you are a...
If you do not get up right now.
And for 25 years, by
God's hand, I listen to that one.
You get it?
Oh, yeah.
And so that, that's what it is.
It's a discipline gene we don't have.
We, we, we allow ourselves to get into the same muck.
that we did the day before, the day before,
the day before, the day before, which is not going
to the gym, which is, okay, I'll just have this one time.
I'll have that bird.
I'm going to go out to eat just this.
I'm gonna get the extra potatoes and they're doing the onion rings and then they're just sitting.
No, it's not one time.
It's every day.
So there you go.
No, I appreciate you saying that.
And in fact, thinking back, back when I was going to college and stuff like that.
I had that routine.
I would get up in 4 in the morning.
I would ride my bike to the gym.
I would work out really, really hard.
I felt better than I ever felt.
And I got away from that, so I know
conversely what that means.
So I appreciate your sharing that.
So when you go through the gym, without
getting too much into the weeds, what are the things that you're trying to accomplish?
And the reason I wanted to go here is because
a lot of people don't realize that, for example, if
you're pushing the big muscles, it's going to do more to help you
with your metabolism and stuff like that.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
weightlifting, I think, is key to everything.
Uh, men, women, uh, 20 whether you're 20 or 60.
Um, I'm a big believer that, um, resistance
training is is key.
Over you standing on a treadmill for 30 minutes.
However, I always follow it up with.
If if standing on a treadmill for 20,
30 minutes is what does it for you?
And you're able to turn that on, do that.
You know what I mean?
If, um, walking around the block at
12 noon every day because you
have committed to it and turn that that gene on, right?
And and that's what does it do that?
Like, like, again, I'm so empathetic
to the, the, the subject matter that I spoke about, right?
I can speak freely about it because I just
live this, but I also understand what
it's like not to have the discipline.
You know, I get it.
And I want to just pull it out of somebody.
Um, but, but with that said, um, For
me, I go because again, going back to it.
I need to set the day up properly for myself.
I've always talked about mental health specifically with men.
Um, uh, who are have a much
higher uh, uh, uh, percentages far as sensitivity to it.
Um, I, I've always dealt with mental health.
What I consider it mental issues, anxiety, depression.
So I need it.
I need to get the endorphins operating for
me, um, positively for me because it it lifts
me back up, from where, where it could and
still does some days, uh, leave me at
a very low level, right?
as far as as folks will understand that sentiment.
Um, so, so yes, um, so I go through my
normal routines, which is normally some weight training, but I do start,
I start and end with cardio every time.
So start with a 20 minute walk.
I'll usually end like today with a 20 minute bike.
In between that is a good session of weightlifting.
Good for you.
I've actually the the riding the bike, it's where I
kind of reboot to use a computer term.
It's where I start thinking more clearly.
things come to me.
And so I appreciate you're saying it.
So, going back to your business.
How does that help you frame?
How does it help you work?
How does it help you work with your team?
The fact that now you're ready to go?
So talk about how you leverage that in building your brand.
Well, I always say that, if
you can do that, what it is that I described,
any sort of workout, I mean, that's kind of the hardest part of the day.
I, I, I, what do we
do for a living?
I mean, I don't like to minimize it.
Even the big guys that are on social and who talking
about this is, this is how you operate the business and these
are 5 rules and creating success.
It's like dude, don't take yourself so serious, dude.
You sell popcorn.
Like, like, like, you, you, you know what I mean?
excuse my language there.
You, you, you, you understand what I mean?
Like, God, Who, okay.
Uh, I just watched 4 people
go up to the moon.
That's pretty impressive.
You get it like, like, that's cool.
Um, I sell, Chips.
Let's not get crazy here.
You know what I mean?
Um, these, there's folks that are now, they
sold their company and they, they're, you know,
their influencers of talking.
Dude, you sell soda pop.
Disguised as you get it, like, it ain't that serious.
So I hope I answer that in some way.
I don't know if I did, but that's what came out of my mouth.
No, I appreciate you saying that.
And I get it.
I do get it.
So you have a small and mighty team, right?
Can you talk about, has this team been
with you for a long time?
How do you leverage the people around you to get stuff done?
Because the reality is, if you're
not coming to, and I don't mean to sound the, uh, the
way I don't want this to come out wrong.
If you're into starting your day late in terms of the work day,
because of your workout, how do you leverage that?
How do you structure that?
And the reason I wanted to focus on this mark is because again,
tying this back to the health and wellness of the founder, and
how it helps you accelerate what you do.
In other words, from my perspective, I'll
bet you can do a heck of a lot more and fewer hours,
then most people, the point being is that this stuff matters.
Yeah, I do.
And that's through all the years of doing different things.
I've always said that I know that I can do.
I'm I'm a different workhorse than most.
And I know plenty of other really amazing, you know, workhorses.
Um, uh, both men and women, where in my
5 or 6 hours of the work day, I I can get a lot done.
Um, How that translates
to this team, and we have a very, very small team,
you're correct, because we started, this is a new brand.
We started the middle last year.
And in fact, I don't plan on building some massive team.
I'm big on fewer is better.
So long, everybody takes ownership of where
they're at in the sort of the chart and how we're all rowing together.
You could build something really big in this space.
Um, with really strong um, uh, team members.
So, with that said, I've always recognized
that my transparency and my ability to just
communicate, honestly, has a positive effect.
They that most have been in
some company or organization or or
worked for somebody where a lot of that is not in place.
So it always creates some sort of friction
somewhere along the journey.
I'm just open every day.
My own, my own team member is going to hear me,
hey, I'm going, I'm at the gym another hour.
I'll have to get back to you.
Like, who wouldn't want to hear that?
Now, somebody may be like, well, then they're going to be like, I
wonder if I can go to the gym.
I don't care.
Go to the gym.
I, I, I, I don't, there's no work.
there's no like 9 to five.
I've never had it like that
I never will.
You are provided an
opportunity to play a position on this
all-star baseball team.
Right?
I'm playing with you.
I don't put me in coach, where do you need
me at 1st base or center field?
It doesn't matter.
You might be playing shortstop.
Just make sure that when the balls are coming
to you, right, that you got the glove down.
You know what I mean?
Get the glove down.
Make a strong throw.
I don't care if it's at 4 p.m.
or just let's just do the thing.
So again, I hope that answers.
No, I think it does.
I think it's great and it's inspiring that other founders
listening to this are going to say, what, you mean I can actually put
the right team in place and I don't have to work 30 hours a day or something like that.
So, and that's one of the struggles going back
to what we started with us, Mark, is that so many founders get burned out.
They make mistakes because of that.
They're not doing everything that they need to do in their
business to support their team to support their family, to support their well-being.
And as a result, a lot of those brands continue to.
Excuse me, continue to struggle.
So thank you for sharing that.
Can you talk a little bit about how,
let me back.
Let me refrain this.
One of the things that it really admires me is the
way that you have found your voice on LinkedIn specifically,
and the fact that you're nurturing the community
around you.
You're a positive role model, and that you're communicating
a lot of these things that you're sharing today, and thank you for that on
that platform.
But again, you're such a,
a great connector and such a great role
model and such a great champion of those around you,
and you're talking about things that matter.
In fact, you just recently said that you're going to start sharing even more.
Uh, thank you.
I, I, I, I, I, thank you.
No, I appreciate it.
I appreciate you.
Yeah, yeah.
I, um, I, I've been on the LinkedIn, you know, subject.
It's I've been doing it now for, I don't know, 8 years.
Um, it and it feels like it's gone by really quickly.
And it was always just a very simple intention.
Um, which most things should be, right?
Just having, having some intention, uh, could be your health
and work and family and everything else.
So for this, it was just communicating.
And I just picked up a few subject matters that, um,
I, uh, was passionate about, uh, and started writing on them.
And that was, you know, like I said, 8 years or night, and it was, uh,
uh, the playbook was very simple.
It was right on anything of these of these items.
Um, throw in some, some
of your, your some, some, I could sometimes I'll throw some really random stuff.
It could just be a thought.
Um, you know, which is kind of like Twitter-esque,
even though I never was on Twitter.
I just know that that's sort of what it what that platform is.
Um, and then, and just to do it every day.
So that's what I did.
It was every day.
Um, there's a lot of like, because I'm a bit neurotic,
there's a little OCD, you know, sort of, you know, layered in there.
It didn't make it a little easier for me because there wouldn't
be a day that I could go without, without
posting, because it would bother me.
It would like literally like lead me kind of uncomfortable.
So that was it.
And here we are today and still doing it.
Um, but I, ultimately, I
don't mind saying there's a day that I don't want
to be on social media altogether.
I'm not.
I'm not a fan of social media
Um, especially with my kids and
and like, I I do not believe net net.
I, I'm gonna, I'm, before I proceed there.
Let me let me set BlinkedIn to the side because it's kind
of got its own thing there.
Um, net net, the social
platforms, Instagrams, and the Twitters, and the, like, I
just do the YouTubes and the, and the shorts
and the TikToks, and I'm not a fan.
I think that is, um,
the worst thing that has ever happened to human
mankind, period.
I just do.
I don't think that there is a, uh, that
there is anybody that can convince me, even though there's a lot of
things positively that could be pulled from it, no doubt.
No doubt, but ultimately net net,
if you were to take the pros cons, it is not a good thing for us.
Um, it's definitely not a good thing for our
kids and our what would be our kids, kids.
I just don't think, um, I just don't think,
uh, we're gonna see, uh, anything good come a bit.
there.
Well, I will agree with you.
However, I would argue that the way you leverage
it is the way that people should, meaning building
community, supporting those around you,
and again, I want to applaud you for being so transparent.
And so human and authentic, whereas
a lot of people are me, me, me, me, me.
And that is a turn off.
And a lot of people are chasing cliques as opposed
to adding benefit, adding value.
So your thoughts?
Yeah, that's why I did want to move LinkedIn
sort of to its own sort of lane.
Um, I, to the, you know, today,
I still feel there is a benefit.
And if I were to do the net net situation again, I think it's net positive.
I don't know what it looks like in 5 years if it, if it, if it turns
to something where I, I think, you know, sort of alternatively,
I, I, it makes it get shut up.
I don't know.
But I've been wildly lucky because of that.
Like, I have built a really great
community, because that's how I look at it.
These are like, I've, I've like gained friends from
this community, like people that I actually now know, like they're on my
text threads, right?
It was all through LinkedIn.
A lot of it in the industry and stuff like that, which maybe, um,
you know, would have happened anyway organically somehow,
um, um, at a slower pace, but I'm
wildly lucky, and I do agree with your sentiment that,
um, it's, it's net net positive,
um, because I believe we're talking about some really cool things.
I believe there's some great people in it.
I believe we can all take something from it,
not just from me, um, from other folks that are delivering,
uh, uh, their own unique messaging.
Um, and so, uh, so yes, I agree with your sentiment.
Well, and I appreciate the fact that you share and what
other people are doing.
Because again, you're helping that community out.
Back to some of the stuff we've been talking about, Mark.
So a founder that is putting way too
many hours a day, not make themselves a priority, here you
are as a role model saying, you know, it doesn't need to be that way.
There are things that you can do better that
will help you, like you said, amplify your efforts, your
results, and get better results without having to put in 30, 40 hours a day.
So thank you for that.
Yeah, yeah, I know that those that say that
they're working X amount of hours per day is
their own thing.
to, and as I always follow it up
with, to each their own.
If that makes you tick, that,
you know, I'm working, I work 20 hours,
like, I think that's great.
Do whatever is making you happy.
I will say, Just please
make sure you're focusing on your health.
Good point, right?
That's really it.
Um, I, again, I would also say, specifically
in the industry where in, I never really can understand how
it's possible that somebody in, let's say,
food and beverage is working 16.
I don't even know what you would be doing.
That's one.
Um, I'm not saying if you were in a different vertical.
You know, I'm in the Bay Area of California.
I have friends in tech who have built some amazing things.
Like, if you were programming, coding,
like, this, like, I kind of get it.
Like, those guys and gals who are behind a computer, like,
literally, pumping,
and they can't turn it off.
I get it.
And I could see there where it's like you could run for
like 20 hours a day because you're trying to beat the clock.
You know, everybody's trying to bite at you, but it's
very different in what it is that we do or in consumer
goods or even in service related businesses.
Anyway, just...
No, I understand exactly what you're saying.
I agree with you.
I think it goes back to this the underlying thing, but what we keep
talking about, Mark, is that if you're able to get more done faster.
Good grammar, right?
But the point is, if you can leverage that, and
I think what it gets back to, is a lot of people
spend a lot of time stressing over stuff
that doesn't matter, or trying to do things that
don't achieve what they're trying to do.
Let me put this way.
A lot of people have a to-do list, and the to-do
list is massive, and they never accomplish it.
And there's always that guilt and the fear and the frustrations that go along with it.
However, if you think in terms of what is the
objective you're trying to accomplish?
The overall objective, what is your reason?
What is your purpose?
And then build your strategy around that?
And then to your point, and this is why I wanted to talk to you so much.
If you're focusing on the things that you need to focus on,
your health, your family, your friends, et cetera.
And you find a better way to do things and you
don't have all those distractions to your point, I think you
can get a lot more done faster, be a lot more productive,
and make a bigger impact.
Your thoughts?
Yeah, I just think people prioritize
whatever it is that they believe in.
Right?
They can, you could convince yourself that
you need to be at a baseball game every single day and somebody
will believe that, you know, that that's the best thing for
me, that I need to, the, the San Francisco Giants
have a 3 game homestead and I need to be
at those games because it makes me, that,
there are, that's how we work.
We're just animals.
We're just animals and we say
the darndest things to ourselves.
Um, some good, some not good, and and
it goes back to what I was saying before, which is, do you?
Yeah.
Do, do whatever is working
best for you.
So long you're being really
honest with yourself, right?
The guy or gal who is
having a couple drinks after work, because
they're meeting with X, Y, and Z down at the
ba, ba, and they feel like it's benefiting,
so be it, right?
I can't, I don't know if that's real or not.
Only you know if you're being
honest with yourself, right?
Um,
So that, that's how I'd answer that.
No, I'm pretty sure you're saying.
think that makes a lot of sense.
So thank you for framing it.
And more importantly, thank you for being a role model
as to what it could be, what we could be, if
we wanted to think differently, and
put our health, et cetera, first.
So thank you.
One of your favorite, one of the, my favorite posts
that you had is you had a picture of a palette of chips at your front door.
And I think that was hilarious.
So let's talk about pantry loading.
Your new strategy to sell your product by the palate, just kidding.
Honestly, I thought that was so being a category management expert.
I mean, in the industry and stuff like that.
I'm thinking, you know, we're always trying to get people to buy more of our stuff, right?
And I'm thinking, and you figured out a way to get
people to buy a palette.
Funny enough, that's like a,
because we stack them pretty tall.
We'll go to like 95 inches.
That's like what I consider a half a palate.
I just, I literally do.
I sit, I I then restack it, you know, in back in my garage.
Yeah, I'll I will have literally handed those out.
I don't know, I'll probably be out out in a, you know, 30 days.
But if you think about that, that's like, you know, you got
a 1000 bags in the hands of folks.
People miss that.
It's wildly important.
Again, if you can afford it, because that's why, again,
people don't realize it's so cashing.
This business is so cash intensive.
Anything from you wanting to deliver a half a pal
to your house, you know, and, and, you know, you're talking about,
okay, 500 bucks a delivery palate, that there's $500
worth of majority.
You're giving it away, but the ROI on
that is the best ROI you could
possibly get.
Because I'm handing it to moms in my neighborhood.
You know what I mean?
Those are the buyers. who then convert to,
Oh, I'm buying this on Amazon or they see it down at our local grocery store.
It's just, Best RI.
No, I think it's brilliant.
In fact, actually, one of my friends I talked to about demoing and if
you do it and do it right, it's the best
force multiplier and kind of off the subject, I used to
be a grocery manager, price club before it became Costco.
And so I know firsthand how when
you have a promotion, you get a bump.
But when you have a demo that's effective, you're sharing your
product and it's authentic, that bump in
your, in your base sales, it lasts a lot longer.
And the cool thing is, you can do more to drive
your long term growth by doing it.
So brilliant strategy.
Thank you.
Talk a little bit about some of the things that you're doing to help build your brand.
Oh, by the way, how did it, if you don't mind
me asking, how did it go Publix and congratulations for having the meeting?
Yeah, it was great.
We had a great meeting.
I don't know.
I'll find out in a couple weeks.
We were one of the last to be able to get to present.
We like snuck in there.
Fingers crossed.
Yeah, fingers crossed.
Um, uh, and you know, this early in
the business to be able to get an opportunity even to present.
It's really only our 2nd true presentation
to what I'd consider to be a major.
Um, we've been building this, um, differently.
We've been going regionally through really great DSD partners.
We started in the Northeast.
We're now sort of trickling down the east coastline there
with a great partner.
We've been out here in NorCal with a couple really great partners.
We're starting to work now down in SoCal,
and then we're going to be filling in some other spots as we as we build.
But, um, You know, to be able to sit in front of a
player like that, down in the southeast, which is really a
great consumer market for us, the way we
speak as a brand, those consumers would have sort
of a, what I consider to be a connection to us, an
emotional connection, as far as our messaging and our story.
Um, I believe.
Um, so we're very lucky.
Um, and uh, as far as the brand building, you know,
I just have this platform here that I've been able to utilize to jumpstart it.
I mean, later, you got to go, this LinkedIn's a
B to B play.
It's not like some, some mask,
consumer marketplace,
even though, yes, I'm sure I touched a lot of consumers
every day and I have, I have shown and
have proven that many of them to turn into
customers because when I started the business when I
turned on the, the, the e-com business,
which is really what I consider to be day one of the business.
Hey everybody, we're on Amazon.
Like, we sold, we sold a product
and we sold a lot of it.
And and the only way that happened was through that channel.
It was from those consumers, who knew me
through the LinkedIn platform, because there's
no other way for anybody to know who's Marks,
what is this thing and how did I find myself on the page?
So I'm sure that that you'll understand that.
No, I appreciate you saying that.
But the other thing, it's really cool is that the relationships that you're
building, you may not know someone as specific retailer,
but you know people who know people who are at that retail.
That's the beauty of LinkedIn, is the connection
and the fact that people can introduce you.
So the fact that you're making those, those
connections and you're building your network, your community around that, that's fantastic.
Great insights.
And the other cool thing is, you're not relying on hiring
a broker or someone else to help you with that.
You're making the connection yourself.
So you're speaking to them one on one as opposed to,
the worry of having your message getting
diluted.
through someone else.
Yeah, we, we, um, in in
that particular case, we have a broker partner, but it's actually what I
consider to be the 1st that's sitting with us in a meeting.
Um, retailers, they like
to know that you are being represented
by somebody that they've worked with because they they do like
the personal touch and I make it a priority.
Like, I need to be in that meeting.
I need to see them.
I need to talk to them and I even need to communicate with them.
Um, but like when it comes to the paperwork, they like
to know like, do you have the administrative part buttoned up?
Mark, you're kind of a flyer here.
Like, I know you don't want to do all the time and stuff.
So, so we have that, and we also did have, and have a broker partner
for one of these other opportunities that we plan on nailing.
So, um, uh, but I'm with you and
yes, I support the sentiment because it's it's factual and true.
Um, I know a lot of these people.
And it's because of the connections
made on the platform over the years, and or
they have heard of us.
Um, and it's, um, I, it feels
great to be able to get on a 1st call or even I
see a 1st email, which is, hey, I've been following what you're doing.
Uh, which, by the way, never means like
I like what you're doing or doesn't, because sometimes,
some, some, sometimes, and I don't mind saying it.
There are folks that don't
like the way that I talk.
And it could be in a, it could be
in a buyer situation.
I'm very open and transparent about that because that's
just how the world works.
You know, um, again, we're just animals.
We're, we're, we're just animals at heart, like, there,
because of the way that I speak and things
that I speak on.
Um, sometimes I've touched on some subject
matters which I try to avoid as often as possible that
are a little um, emotional or sensitive.
I know I have gotten some folks to be like,
this guy.
I don't mean to, because I love everybody.
I don't care what it is you look
like, think, like, feel like, I,
that's how I am, uh, because I run on a very simple,
uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, message here, which
is, and I say something, I could, I judge you one way.
It's it's very simple.
I judge you one way.
Man, woman, everything in between.
Are you in?
Yes.
Don't want to talk to you.
No, which, by the way, is the majority, 97%
of us is the no.
I'm good with you.
Let's rock and roll.
So anyway, I'm sure you understand that sentiment.
No, I appreciate it.
Well, and where I was going with that is that you're using a broker as a full force
multiplier, and that is brilliant as
opposed to people that rely on a broker to do everything.
And then they're upset because a broker didn't do it, whatever didn't mean to
get off topic, but the point is that you're leveraging them in
the best way possible.
So thank you for sharing that.
Mark, what else do you want to share?
I think that's it.
I just hope that everybody has a fantastic day whenever they
hear this or see this or hope they're having a great day.
I appreciate you coming on.
Sure, it's my pleasure.
You don't have a sales problem.
You have a visibility problem.
Most brands rely on reports to understand their business,
but those reports don't show you what actually happened in store.
The retail audit checklist helps you quickly identify
gaps in execution, placement, pricing, and promotion,
so you can fix what's costing you sales.
This is one of the fastest ways to improve performance without spinning more.
If you want to see what others miss and act faster.
Download the retail audit checklist in the show notes.
Thanks again for joining us today.
Please reach out and share your most pressing questions, and I'll
do my best to get you the answers that you need on future episodes,
including with expert advice from CEOs and industry thought leaders.
Comment, leave your questions, and get this week's free downloadable
guide and the show notes.
At retailsolved.com slash session 315.