# Alexandra Wilkis Wilson — episode transcript Aligned to the approved 49:31.268 native edition, including the guest-led opening. Spoken wording is retained with conservative filler/restart cleanup and verified name spellings. Uncertain sounds are marked [unclear] rather than guessed. No speaker labels have been inferred. ### 00:00:00,152 – 00:00:00,932 I'm not a pharma ### 00:00:00,932 – 00:00:02,172 or a healthcare person. ### 00:00:02,172 – 00:00:02,692 And they said, well, ### 00:00:02,692 – 00:00:03,512 that's exactly why ### 00:00:03,512 – 00:00:04,672 you could be interesting ### 00:00:04,672 – 00:00:05,973 because they want fresh eyes. ### 00:00:06,073 – 00:00:07,233 So I learned very quickly ### 00:00:07,233 – 00:00:07,853 in the role ### 00:00:07,853 – 00:00:09,173 that you say no ### 00:00:10,173 – 00:00:11,053 so many more times ### 00:00:11,053 – 00:00:12,053 than you say yes. ### 00:00:12,053 – 00:00:13,113 It's actually rare ### 00:00:13,113 – 00:00:14,214 that you say yes. ### 00:00:14,314 – 00:00:15,394 I've been a founder ### 00:00:15,694 – 00:00:16,474 3 times now. ### 00:00:16,474 – 00:00:17,914 I'm investing in founders, ### 00:00:17,914 – 00:00:18,694 and you know ### 00:00:18,694 – 00:00:19,874 how hard it is, ### 00:00:20,723 – 00:00:21,823 even the startups ### 00:00:21,823 – 00:00:24,403 that from afar seem to ### 00:00:25,143 – 00:00:25,863 do no wrong ### 00:00:25,863 – 00:00:28,463 and just experience hypergrowth, ### 00:00:28,623 – 00:00:29,963 and everything looks easy, ### 00:00:30,363 – 00:00:31,783 I'm sure that it is not. ### 00:00:31,783 – 00:00:32,866 It is never easy. ### 00:00:33,746 – 00:00:37,668 Welcome to Augmented Wellness. Where we meet the people in pursuit of Better. ### 00:00:37,966 – 00:00:42,186 Today, we speak with Alexandra Wilkis Wilson — entrepreneur, investor, and ### 00:00:42,186 – 00:00:43,468 co-founder of Clerisy. ### 00:00:45,082 – 00:00:48,862 Hi, everyone. welcome to another episode of Augmented Wellness. ### 00:00:48,922 – 00:00:52,822 I'm very excited here to have Alexandra, Alexandra Wilkis Wilson. ### 00:00:53,390 – 00:00:57,932 we got to know each other a couple of years ago when, the whole Miami ### 00:00:57,932 – 00:01:00,722 tech, scene was blowing up. ### 00:01:01,082 – 00:01:05,202 but obviously, a lot has happened since, so I'm very excited to have you ### 00:01:05,202 – 00:01:07,062 here. ### 00:01:07,670 – 00:01:12,972 I, You know, I, see you as one of the leaders of, of the, of the, of the ### 00:01:12,972 – 00:01:18,622 local community, especially with things that have to do with wellness and, ### 00:01:18,640 – 00:01:20,412 women's products. ### 00:01:20,412 – 00:01:24,830 And the reason is obviously your background, co-founded of Gilt, co-founder ### 00:01:24,830 – 00:01:30,442 of Glam Squad, you also worked on, on, building a company with AI, ### 00:01:30,690 – 00:01:36,092 styling technology that sold to Google and, then you were Allergan, which I ### 00:01:36,092 – 00:01:38,392 would love to, to hear how that transition happened. ### 00:01:38,830 – 00:01:43,522 And now obviously you're very active investing in all, all things in that, ### 00:01:43,522 – 00:01:48,532 in those fields. So, so excited to have you, different perspective from other ### 00:01:48,532 – 00:01:53,642 guests that I have so I'm, I'm really interested to, to, to explore it with ### 00:01:53,642 – 00:01:56,302 you. Thank you so much for having me. ### 00:01:57,050 – 00:02:00,360 Great, so, yeah, so let's, let's go. ### 00:02:00,360 – 00:02:04,782 I usually like to. Go the way to the beginning, get a little bit of ### 00:02:04,782 – 00:02:08,342 understanding of, you know, what were those, those pillars of, of life that, ### 00:02:08,342 – 00:02:11,742 that brought you into what you do today. ### 00:02:12,142 – 00:02:16,970 I understand you were, you, you were raised in New York, but you also, ### 00:02:16,970 – 00:02:20,672 come from Cuban roots and you spend a lot of time here in South Florida in Key ### 00:02:20,672 – 00:02:24,722 Biscayne. So take us back to those, you know, that, that part of your life. ### 00:02:24,800 – 00:02:26,852 How was it? So you are correct. ### 00:02:26,892 – 00:02:30,552 I grew up in New York City. my mother is Cuban. ### 00:02:30,610 – 00:02:36,232 She came to this country in, 1962 during Peter Pan. ### 00:02:36,690 – 00:02:42,342 And I used to spend all of my summers growing up in Key Biscayne and ### 00:02:42,342 – 00:02:45,412 so really developed a love of Miami. ### 00:02:45,862 – 00:02:51,782 my mother, my grandmother really would enforce, a lot of tennis, a lot ### 00:02:51,782 – 00:02:57,702 of Cuban culture, so including croquetas and things like that, and I, ### 00:02:57,702 – 00:03:03,356 made lots of. Friends locally, many from all over Latin America, it was, ### 00:03:03,366 – 00:03:07,806 not a typical place to spend summers for New Yorkers, but I always loved it, ### 00:03:07,806 – 00:03:13,806 for so many reasons, and in 2020 during COVID, my husband and I and our two kids ### 00:03:13,806 – 00:03:18,148 made the decision to move here full time and very happy about that. ### 00:03:18,246 – 00:03:20,376 Yeah, and that's where about the time we met, ### 00:03:21,260 – 00:03:22,942 Do you still play tennis, or I do. ### 00:03:22,972 – 00:03:25,460 I do. Oh, so I have something really cool to show you. ### 00:03:25,460 – 00:03:28,702 I have two, two cool things to show you, yeah, yeah, yeah. ### 00:03:28,702 – 00:03:31,740 I'm, I'm a tennis player, but now I started to padel, playing padel, ### 00:03:31,740 – 00:03:37,512 and, yeah, I, I'll, I'll, I'll leave that for, for the end, ### 00:03:37,982 – 00:03:42,982 so, so, but you also went to all-girls school. ### 00:03:43,142 – 00:03:47,422 Yes, I went to an all-girls school in New York City from kindergarten through 9th ### 00:03:47,422 – 00:03:53,322 grade, so I think. Subconsciously or even consciously this idea of ### 00:03:53,562 – 00:03:59,392 girl power and feminism was very much rooted into me ### 00:03:59,392 – 00:04:04,802 at at a young age to believe that women are capable of ### 00:04:05,002 – 00:04:10,320 doing anything that they set their mind to and not to worry about previous ### 00:04:10,320 – 00:04:13,622 barriers blocking advancement for women. ### 00:04:13,702 – 00:04:17,282 Yeah, yeah, well, I wanna, I wanna, yeah, so I, went to a boys school, and I ### 00:04:17,282 – 00:04:20,432 have a daughter, Yesterday we bought her car. ### 00:04:20,900 – 00:04:25,552 Oh my goodness, she's not even 16 yet, but it we bought her car, which is also ### 00:04:25,552 – 00:04:31,232 gonna be my car. We said we're gonna share it, but I, wanna dig into that ### 00:04:31,232 – 00:04:36,642 because I'm, I'm raising my daughter to be just the biggest badass, you know, ### 00:04:36,910 – 00:04:42,832 she's my companion in everything we do, you know, both, in activities, you ### 00:04:42,832 – 00:04:45,352 know, we scuba dive together, we kiteboard together. ### 00:04:45,702 – 00:04:51,602 and, and you know, I, you know, so I, struggle, you know, ### 00:04:51,742 – 00:04:55,702 because obviously in Miami she goes to private school and it's like how do I ### 00:04:55,940 – 00:05:00,582 teach her, you know, values, and even now, yeah, I bought her a really nice ### 00:05:00,760 – 00:05:03,242 badass car, you know, but it's like. ### 00:05:03,820 – 00:05:07,422 You know, she sees how much I work and she sees what I do and she actually is very ### 00:05:07,422 – 00:05:11,342 engaged with me. She comes to my events, she, you know, she learns. ### 00:05:11,622 – 00:05:17,302 and so, the, you know, that, that, this subject is for women, you ### 00:05:17,302 – 00:05:23,022 know, how, how do we, you know, how do we, empower women, and girls to ### 00:05:23,022 – 00:05:26,722 understand. You know, how do that they could do anything they want. ### 00:05:26,750 – 00:05:31,772 How, how, how do you see that, that change from basically those years to today? ### 00:05:31,832 – 00:05:34,792 Is there any changes? Is more positive things? ### 00:05:34,992 – 00:05:38,630 Sure. Well, first of all, I love everything you're saying about your ### 00:05:38,630 – 00:05:43,232 relationship with your daughter, and I think that's so important for her and for ### 00:05:43,232 – 00:05:47,272 her to see what's possible. I was, very close to my father growing up. ### 00:05:47,272 – 00:05:52,672 I still am. He's, he, my parents moved to Miami, just a year after we did, and, ### 00:05:52,952 – 00:05:58,906 my Father was actually very much my mentor in a lot of business ### 00:05:58,906 – 00:06:03,856 decisions, really at the since the start of my career. ### 00:06:03,876 – 00:06:08,836 And, I think having that closeness, a, a young girl with her father, I think's ### 00:06:08,836 – 00:06:14,278 really important. I, mean, look, I, I'm not the type of person who ### 00:06:14,876 – 00:06:17,856 likes to complain or think that. ### 00:06:18,492 – 00:06:22,410 Life is hard and whatnot. ### 00:06:22,410 – 00:06:25,352 I think if you are a go-getter, it doesn't matter. ### 00:06:25,652 – 00:06:30,782 what your gender, your race, your religion, your, ### 00:06:31,070 – 00:06:36,340 disposition, anything. If you are a go-getter, you, you go, you fight, you ### 00:06:36,340 – 00:06:40,820 come up with your goals, and you do everything possible to do the best you can ### 00:06:40,820 – 00:06:45,940 to achieve them. And I think, some of us have more obstacles put in front of us ### 00:06:45,940 – 00:06:51,500 than others, but really it comes down to that grit and that ### 00:06:51,500 – 00:06:57,220 desire to push forward when you have challenges, and you're a ### 00:06:57,220 – 00:07:00,780 founder building business. I've been a founder 3 times now. ### 00:07:00,780 – 00:07:06,142 I'm investing in founders, and you know how hard it is, and, even the startups ### 00:07:06,142 – 00:07:11,662 that from afar seem to, do no wrong and just experience ### 00:07:11,690 – 00:07:16,060 hypergrowth and, everything looks easy, I'm sure that it is not. ### 00:07:16,060 – 00:07:20,162 It is never easy. Yeah, so did you play sports? ### 00:07:21,310 – 00:07:27,292 Growing up, yeah, so I, always played tennis from a young age in, ### 00:07:27,590 – 00:07:31,232 I went to actually a boarding school in New Hampshire and picked up squash ### 00:07:31,232 – 00:07:35,510 there. Here in Miami people probably don't really know what squash is, but it's kind ### 00:07:35,510 – 00:07:40,470 of like padel, but it's indoors, so I like racket sports, and I played, I ### 00:07:40,470 – 00:07:46,232 played squash competitively in college and, love skiing and, ### 00:07:46,392 – 00:07:49,630 love the outdoors and I love, which is relevant to what you're building. ### 00:07:49,630 – 00:07:54,100 I do love taking different kinds of classes, so fitness classes, Pilates, ### 00:07:54,100 – 00:07:55,932 those types of, ### 00:07:56,672 – 00:08:02,250 Classes I like trying whatever the new boutique fitness craze is so but in ### 00:08:02,250 – 00:08:06,380 terms of actual sports today I would say tennis is my number one yeah, no, because ### 00:08:06,380 – 00:08:11,702 I mean it's a theme. I mean everybody that I have the luxury of of interviewing, ### 00:08:11,702 – 00:08:16,220 are amazing, from doctors and, it's, I've heard, I love your podcast, and ### 00:08:16,220 – 00:08:20,622 it's funny how, how many of them, you know, were athletes, you know, or, or, ### 00:08:20,622 – 00:08:23,842 or competitive, and especially with women, ### 00:08:24,272 – 00:08:28,280 my daughter, I, you know, going back to, I, showed her some ### 00:08:28,280 – 00:08:33,202 statistics that, that, you know, women that actually play all the way through ### 00:08:33,202 – 00:08:38,720 high school, end up in, in, in better roles, executive roles, down the ### 00:08:38,720 – 00:08:42,762 line, you know, and it has to do with obviously the, value of sports and ### 00:08:42,962 – 00:08:45,062 team, you know, team playing and grit. ### 00:08:45,500 – 00:08:50,660 Yeah, and hard work. I, think the team dynamics are really important too because ### 00:08:50,660 – 00:08:55,100 building businesses is all about being part of a team, motivating a team, leading ### 00:08:55,100 – 00:08:58,660 a team, so having your role, you know, and, being the best of your role. ### 00:08:58,660 – 00:09:02,260 I mean, she plays volleyball, and you know, now it's getting hard, you know, ### 00:09:02,260 – 00:09:05,890 because girls are getting into the 6 ft, height, you know, she's, she's ### 00:09:05,890 – 00:09:09,522 actually pretty tall for, for her age, but you know, again, as you could tell, I, ### 00:09:09,540 – 00:09:12,402 could spend hours talking about her, ### 00:09:12,780 – 00:09:18,362 So, yeah, so let, let's move on a little bit on On, you know, Gilt, ### 00:09:18,362 – 00:09:24,340 How, you know, so Gilt, I remember, obviously a very known ### 00:09:24,340 – 00:09:26,212 brand in the fashion space, right? ### 00:09:26,262 – 00:09:30,102 So tell us a little bit about your role there and, you know, the company. ### 00:09:30,340 – 00:09:36,312 Sure, so, we co-founded Gilt back in 2007 and If ### 00:09:36,312 – 00:09:41,390 you can think back to what online shopping looked like back then, if you can even ### 00:09:41,390 – 00:09:46,032 remember, I can promise you it was very different from today. ### 00:09:46,072 – 00:09:51,390 And, you know, you had the world of Amazon, you had department stores ### 00:09:51,390 – 00:09:55,562 beginning to sell online, but shopping online for ### 00:09:57,192 – 00:10:03,112 desirable fashion was not nearly as typical and ### 00:10:03,112 – 00:10:06,032 common and, as easy as it is today. ### 00:10:06,270 – 00:10:11,890 so the idea of Gilt really came about to bring online the excitement ### 00:10:11,890 – 00:10:17,470 of a New York City sample sale and to do it in a, in a ### 00:10:17,470 – 00:10:21,812 format that, encouraged our members. ### 00:10:21,830 – 00:10:25,612 So we had everybody log in with, an email and a password. ### 00:10:25,616 – 00:10:29,896 And, once you did that, you were a member, to log in every single day to ### 00:10:29,896 – 00:10:32,756 basically check the site for new brands and new inventory. ### 00:10:32,816 – 00:10:38,316 So it was this idea of, fresh inventory, appointment shopping. ### 00:10:38,496 – 00:10:43,176 I think in today's world, you would call it, we basically had daily drops, but we ### 00:10:43,176 – 00:10:48,862 didn't use the word drop. And For many reasons, ### 00:10:48,862 – 00:10:54,502 Gilt took off really quickly, and the consumer got excited, loved ### 00:10:54,502 – 00:10:57,302 shopping online, could make decisions quickly. ### 00:10:57,780 – 00:10:59,952 we started focused on women's fashion. ### 00:11:00,020 – 00:11:05,900 So the first brand we ever sold, was a brand called Zac Posen, and very ### 00:11:05,900 – 00:11:08,660 quickly we started convincing, and that's what I did. ### 00:11:08,660 – 00:11:13,140 I was, I was in charge of the merchandizing and convincing what became ### 00:11:13,140 – 00:11:17,700 thousands of brands around the world to partner with us and You know, now is not a ### 00:11:17,700 – 00:11:21,762 big deal, but back then these brands, they weren't even selling full price online. ### 00:11:21,862 – 00:11:24,732 Well, I don't know if you know this. I was an investor in Moda Operandi. ### 00:11:25,350 – 00:11:31,092 OK. Was I a competitor? So Moda came after, and, you know, ### 00:11:31,112 – 00:11:37,112 Moda's a beautiful site. Moda wasn't about the, discount, I think for ### 00:11:37,112 – 00:11:40,932 it was more about the connection with the designers, yes, and so. ### 00:11:40,986 – 00:11:45,246 Complementary. I mean, the same type of consumer, could certainly shop on, on ### 00:11:45,246 – 00:11:51,046 both sides. Gilt was really, a way to discover, new, new brands ### 00:11:51,046 – 00:11:53,366 every single day across different categories. ### 00:11:53,366 – 00:11:58,148 We started in women's fashion and then we moved quickly into men's home decor, kids. ### 00:11:58,206 – 00:12:00,486 We, we dabbled in, travel. ### 00:12:00,486 – 00:12:02,566 We had a business we launched called Jet Setter. ### 00:12:02,566 – 00:12:07,366 We had something called Gilt City, which was like a Groupon, you know, a Gilt ### 00:12:07,366 – 00:12:13,252 version of, of Groupon, so to speak, and I think what was really fun ### 00:12:13,252 – 00:12:19,132 for me as a founder of this business was meeting our engaged members all ### 00:12:19,132 – 00:12:24,452 across the country, later all across the world, and so many of them were just so ### 00:12:24,732 – 00:12:29,410 addicted to, to the shopping experience and Excited about what we were building ### 00:12:29,410 – 00:12:34,590 and really rooting for our growth and our success and, I co-founded it with one ### 00:12:34,590 – 00:12:36,850 of my best friends, Alexis Maybank. ### 00:12:36,850 – 00:12:42,850 We're still super close and, we were, we were the consumer and ### 00:12:42,850 – 00:12:47,362 so I think. And we, and we wrote a book together actually that came out in 2012 ### 00:12:47,362 – 00:12:50,922 called By Invitation Only How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop. ### 00:12:50,922 – 00:12:56,400 And the reason we wrote that book was really to inspire other women to think ### 00:12:56,400 – 00:13:02,040 about creating startups and thinking big, and, launching companies and ### 00:13:02,040 – 00:13:08,002 pursuing their dreams. Yeah, yeah, and I mean, going to that point of, of you ### 00:13:08,002 – 00:13:12,372 being the consumer now, I, was sharing a little bit before we started now ### 00:13:12,372 – 00:13:17,232 with obviously the Everything that's happening with AI, you know. ### 00:13:18,312 – 00:13:23,612 The ability to be the consumer and build what you want as a consumer is just ### 00:13:23,612 – 00:13:27,530 crazy. I, you know, I'm gonna share now a little bit of something I built, but ### 00:13:27,530 – 00:13:31,762 this, this ability to now almost build anything you want as a consumer and then ### 00:13:31,762 – 00:13:36,530 obviously being able to then take it to the market and potentially, you know, make ### 00:13:36,530 – 00:13:40,452 it a business or make it, something fun you wanna share with someone is, is, ### 00:13:40,612 – 00:13:44,992 is incredible today versus obviously, years ago, ### 00:13:45,580 – 00:13:50,942 So, and, Gilt got sold or acquired the company Hudson's Bay acquired ### 00:13:50,942 – 00:13:56,580 Gilt, and the idea of that acquisition was to really put Gilt together ### 00:13:56,580 – 00:14:02,140 within Saks OFF 5TH because they had their own off-price business, ### 00:14:02,140 – 00:14:05,182 OK, and then Gilt, ### 00:14:06,040 – 00:14:07,682 Then what happened after that? ### 00:14:07,682 – 00:14:11,122 You, well, I actually left before it was acquired. ### 00:14:11,200 – 00:14:16,562 I moved on to be co-founder and CEO of a business called Glam Squad, which ### 00:14:16,882 – 00:14:21,422 offers in-home beauty services and, you know, continued support. ### 00:14:21,512 – 00:14:25,752 Gilt while, while I had moved on, you know, always making introductions to ### 00:14:25,752 – 00:14:29,612 brands. I still have brands contact me today saying, oh, how do I get on Gilt? ### 00:14:29,612 – 00:14:33,932 And unfortunately, not, not too many people from the original days work there ### 00:14:33,932 – 00:14:39,840 anymore. I think I know of one, which, which is saying a lot because Gilt ### 00:14:39,840 – 00:14:42,322 got up to about 1300 employees at one point. ### 00:14:42,520 – 00:14:46,762 but anyway, moved on to learn about the on-demand economy when we were seeing ### 00:14:46,762 – 00:14:49,482 the Uber of everything is, is when I got. ### 00:14:49,802 – 00:14:55,840 excited about this idea of glam squad, so having beauty services that were, ### 00:14:55,840 – 00:15:01,840 affordable, vetted, being able to, come to you, to your home, your ### 00:15:01,840 – 00:15:07,742 office, a hotel if you're traveling, in, in a very, seamless way in terms ### 00:15:07,742 – 00:15:09,900 of being able to book the appointment. ### 00:15:09,900 – 00:15:14,160 So, you know, obviously this is something that, is of a lot of interest to me in ### 00:15:14,160 – 00:15:19,040 betterness because I mean, the, I, think we're also talking a little bit, I ### 00:15:19,040 – 00:15:25,102 mean. In, in the, in sort of the, wellness space, you know, the, ### 00:15:25,122 – 00:15:31,122 coaches, the individuals, that, you know, today are even becoming ### 00:15:31,382 – 00:15:36,040 more important than sometimes the, actual brands, right, the actual gyms, ### 00:15:36,040 – 00:15:39,172 because, now with Instagram they have huge followings. ### 00:15:39,400 – 00:15:43,742 I mean Miami is full of people that train people in their backyards, you know, ### 00:15:43,762 – 00:15:47,602 so how, how do you see that world today changing. ### 00:15:47,850 – 00:15:53,530 you know, back then I, guess you had, beauty experts that would go to ### 00:15:53,530 – 00:15:59,452 people's houses. is that, yes, so, in the ### 00:15:59,932 – 00:16:01,962 instance of Glam Squad, it was. ### 00:16:02,982 – 00:16:08,062 hairstylists, makeup artists, nail technicians who might ### 00:16:08,822 – 00:16:12,540 be doing work with Glam Squad as supplemental income. ### 00:16:12,540 – 00:16:16,982 They might have their own clientele. They might already have a freelance, ### 00:16:17,622 – 00:16:19,862 private clientele and want to supplement. ### 00:16:19,862 – 00:16:25,222 Some people maybe worked at companies like Drybar or. ### 00:16:25,780 – 00:16:31,600 Makeup artistry at Sephora and wanted to quit environments that were ### 00:16:31,600 – 00:16:36,422 more rigid and structured in terms of their hours and at Glam Squad the beauty ### 00:16:36,422 – 00:16:39,862 professionals had control over their schedules much like an Uber driver can ### 00:16:39,862 – 00:16:45,762 control their schedules so this was back in 2014 when this notion ### 00:16:45,762 – 00:16:51,502 of on-demand economy flexibility, was so important to so ### 00:16:51,502 – 00:16:57,362 many, To so many people, and I think the consumer was getting more and more, ### 00:16:57,600 – 00:17:03,482 excited and tempted by convenience and so it was really kind of the intersection ### 00:17:03,482 – 00:17:06,400 of that. How, but that has continued to grow, right? ### 00:17:06,400 – 00:17:10,362 I mean, because, I mean that has become probably even bigger part of the economy ### 00:17:10,362 – 00:17:13,282 today. How, how do you see that evolving, ### 00:17:14,650 – 00:17:18,090 You know, because today, especially even, even in the way that the market is ### 00:17:18,090 – 00:17:21,732 changing, you know, the job market is changing and things like that, it seems ### 00:17:21,732 – 00:17:24,210 that people are preferring to have their own independence. ### 00:17:24,210 – 00:17:29,450 I mean, in the wellness space, at least, it's just incredible in Miami, obviously, ### 00:17:29,450 – 00:17:33,132 probably not in many cities, the amount of friends that I have that are yogi ### 00:17:33,132 – 00:17:37,892 instructors or even sound healers, and, you know, they live a really good ### 00:17:37,892 – 00:17:40,970 life, you know, they get all this flexibility, they get to travel around the ### 00:17:40,970 – 00:17:42,692 world, they have a nice car. ### 00:17:43,080 – 00:17:47,800 You know, they live in a nice apartment, but I think they still. ### 00:17:48,732 – 00:17:51,892 At least for me, one of the things that I'm trying to do is help him a little bit ### 00:17:51,892 – 00:17:56,792 get organized, you know, how do you turn your [unclear] into a business, even get ### 00:17:56,792 – 00:18:00,532 incorporated, amazing. I think, I think what you're doing is really incredible ### 00:18:00,532 – 00:18:05,690 for, so many, so many of these independent workers or smaller ### 00:18:05,690 – 00:18:07,632 businesses, etc. ### 00:18:07,690 – 00:18:13,492 Look, I think COVID was such a pivotal moment in so many people's lives. ### 00:18:13,492 – 00:18:17,152 It was really a reset, I think, for, ### 00:18:17,662 – 00:18:21,430 A lot of individuals to think about what they wanted to prioritize professionally, ### 00:18:21,430 – 00:18:27,042 personally, many people moved from one city to another or out of cities, ### 00:18:27,220 – 00:18:30,822 people started engaging in more remote work. ### 00:18:31,022 – 00:18:36,710 I think a lot of priorities shifted for, for people and so health and wellness ### 00:18:36,710 – 00:18:42,262 now more than ever, I think is top of mind for consumers and so, ### 00:18:42,502 – 00:18:47,932 Whether it's, you know, I'm not surprised to hear that you, you might have ### 00:18:48,050 – 00:18:53,612 people who, serve as a yoga instructor, but then they also might be a ### 00:18:53,612 – 00:18:57,532 day trader or, or something kind of a, a funny, or that they're leaving day ### 00:18:57,532 – 00:18:59,152 training to be a yoga instructor, I mean. ### 00:19:00,066 – 00:19:05,628 Amazing. I love that. so I think technology is enabling, enabling this, ### 00:19:05,826 – 00:19:10,346 and, plat platforms such as yours, I think it's incredible, yeah, and, ### 00:19:10,346 – 00:19:14,946 also, you know, thinking also about the AI and taking over the jobs. ### 00:19:15,830 – 00:19:19,711 Mm There's something that [unclear] would not be able to take over, ### 00:19:19,711 – 00:19:21,152 which is really that ### 00:19:21,232 – 00:19:25,550 trust, that relationship, that human connection that sometimes is, is being ### 00:19:25,550 – 00:19:29,190 offered by, by, you know, by, these, these special people. ### 00:19:29,190 – 00:19:31,430 I think, you know, they're, they have a calling, right? ### 00:19:31,430 – 00:19:35,812 They wake up every day trying to help other people, live a better life, ### 00:19:35,830 – 00:19:40,092 so it, it's a very interesting, and exciting space, ### 00:19:40,382 – 00:19:45,940 Well, to that point of AI, I, we, so, so now I have a fund, with a partner. ### 00:19:45,940 – 00:19:50,700 Her name is Lisa Myers. We have a fund called Clerisy, and we are a consumer ### 00:19:50,700 – 00:19:55,862 focused growth equity fund, and one of our investments is, which I, think you know ### 00:19:55,862 – 00:20:01,340 is in, Eudemonia Summit, which is a health and wellness, summit that takes ### 00:20:01,340 – 00:20:03,102 place in November in West Palm Beach. ### 00:20:04,022 – 00:20:09,992 And that is so on trend with something that, that we believe to ### 00:20:09,992 – 00:20:14,512 be really important is experiences and experiential opportunities. ### 00:20:14,512 – 00:20:19,132 I think with So much AI and technology out there. ### 00:20:19,430 – 00:20:25,350 Humans are also craving, interacting with others, learning, together with others ### 00:20:25,350 – 00:20:31,190 and having experiences. So, now, now more than maybe in the previous 10 years, ### 00:20:31,190 – 00:20:35,512 I think experiences are, are really, really critical, yeah, and the, those ### 00:20:35,512 – 00:20:39,652 things that you cannot really replace with technology alone, so. ### 00:20:40,002 – 00:20:45,920 But going back to glam squad, then somehow, you know, you, you went into the ### 00:20:45,920 – 00:20:51,802 pharmaceutical space at Allergan, yeah, so I, the, story, ### 00:20:52,482 – 00:20:56,282 so I, can tell the story from as I was going through it or, or in retrospect, but ### 00:20:56,282 – 00:20:58,002 I guess I'll do it as I'm going through it. ### 00:20:58,002 – 00:21:00,716 So I, from Glam Squad. ### 00:21:00,716 – 00:21:05,436 Went on to work on an AI and machine learning startup you mentioned it sold to ### 00:21:05,436 – 00:21:08,816 Google. No one's heard of the startup because it sold before it was launched, ### 00:21:08,836 – 00:21:14,736 but our working name was, was called DRESR, and while I was working ### 00:21:14,736 – 00:21:20,806 on this startup, I, and that startup you started, or, I, ### 00:21:20,836 – 00:21:26,200 so. It's a long story, but I was co-founder of one business called Fitz, ### 00:21:26,200 – 00:21:31,840 which was in-home, closet organizing, and I was ### 00:21:31,840 – 00:21:36,782 the chief marketing officer of DRESR, and these two businesses were being built ### 00:21:36,782 – 00:21:42,642 in conjunction so that we could learn from the physical experience ### 00:21:42,642 – 00:21:46,542 of sending stylists into people's homes to organize their closet. ### 00:21:46,542 – 00:21:52,450 We could learn. Firsthand how consumers interact with all the items in their ### 00:21:52,450 – 00:21:57,690 closet and all the potential products in the world that they could buy related to ### 00:21:57,690 – 00:21:59,772 styling. So it's a bit complicated. ### 00:21:59,772 – 00:22:05,450 It was Fitz, which did launch and sold later to Tradesy, was the Trojan horse for ### 00:22:05,450 – 00:22:08,912 the business DRESR. if that makes any sense. ### 00:22:09,070 – 00:22:14,912 anyway, so as I was building that with an amazing team, I went to see a ### 00:22:14,912 – 00:22:20,752 man at BCG because I had stepped off a board, Perry Ellis actually ### 00:22:20,752 – 00:22:26,752 based here in Miami, and was looking for another board opportunity and. ### 00:22:27,246 – 00:22:30,946 Spoke to this gentleman at Boston Consulting Group and he said, you know, we ### 00:22:30,946 – 00:22:35,466 don't have any board opportunities right now that would make, make sense in ### 00:22:35,466 – 00:22:40,786 terms of our clients. However, one of our major clients, Allergan, really wants to ### 00:22:40,786 – 00:22:46,388 focus on the consumer, and Brent Saunders, who was the CEO, ### 00:22:46,896 – 00:22:52,868 is looking to disrupt the consumer landscape, within Allergan and. ### 00:22:52,982 – 00:22:57,132 so I said, well, I'm not really looking for a job at this point, but I am ### 00:22:57,132 – 00:23:01,420 familiar with Allergan. I did know that they, the company owned Botox and ### 00:23:01,420 – 00:23:06,340 Juvederm and Cool Sculpting, and I said, you know, I'm, I'm not a pharma or a ### 00:23:06,340 – 00:23:09,612 healthcare person. And they said, well, that's exactly why you could be ### 00:23:09,612 – 00:23:11,232 interesting because they want fresh eyes. ### 00:23:11,242 – 00:23:17,090 So, fast forward 6 months later, I, ended up, Working at ### 00:23:17,090 – 00:23:19,810 Allergan and leading, and I had so much fun. ### 00:23:19,810 – 00:23:22,690 I have to tell you, prior to that, I probably would have said, oh, corporate ### 00:23:22,690 – 00:23:27,032 America, not for me, you know, I can't deal with politics, but I really loved it. ### 00:23:27,050 – 00:23:32,330 one of the reasons was, working under Brent Saunders and, Bill Meury, ### 00:23:32,330 – 00:23:37,450 who was the chief commercial officer. They were incredibly open-minded in terms of ### 00:23:37,450 – 00:23:41,132 thinking about the consumer, and they recognized that the company. ### 00:23:41,762 – 00:23:46,782 had not done enough, and, for many reasons, which I learned, ### 00:23:47,392 – 00:23:51,752 Related to medical regulatory, legal, and compliance, there are a lot of rules in ### 00:23:51,752 – 00:23:57,642 the pharma industry. I had to learn all these rules, but what I was given, ### 00:23:57,670 – 00:24:02,470 was the freedom and the ability to create startups within a big, pharmaceutical ### 00:24:02,470 – 00:24:08,430 company, and the startups were, targeted to consumers to address ### 00:24:08,430 – 00:24:11,742 concerns that they might they actually, you actually got to they launched, we ### 00:24:11,742 – 00:24:15,710 built them, because sometimes it's hard and, you know, they, they, they have the ### 00:24:15,710 – 00:24:17,842 plans, but. Sometimes they launch. ### 00:24:18,180 – 00:24:20,262 Absolutely, no, I, learned a lot. ### 00:24:20,420 – 00:24:26,142 I was, I was only there two years because AbbVie came in and acquired Allergan ### 00:24:26,142 – 00:24:31,930 for $63 billion and so, you know, I'd never experienced numbers ### 00:24:31,930 – 00:24:36,112 this big in terms of budgets and, acquisition price, etc. ### 00:24:36,292 – 00:24:41,902 but I really loved learning about the aesthetics industry and pharma and ### 00:24:41,902 – 00:24:47,830 healthcare and also got to learn a bit about M&A from the ### 00:24:47,830 – 00:24:51,872 perspective of a big corporate and how does a big corporate think about what ### 00:24:51,872 – 00:24:55,292 types of companies, it might want to acquire one day. ### 00:24:55,350 – 00:25:00,590 So, that was, it was announced in 2019 that Allergan was being ### 00:25:00,590 – 00:25:06,232 acquired and I started speaking to my now business partner, Lisa ### 00:25:06,232 – 00:25:09,252 Myers around that time after it was announced. ### 00:25:09,266 – 00:25:14,946 Because I found myself in a position where a number of, search firms were ### 00:25:14,946 – 00:25:20,746 contacting me, related to my next chapter, and so ### 00:25:20,746 – 00:25:25,666 venture capital firms were calling private equity firms, potentially as an ### 00:25:25,666 – 00:25:30,936 operating partner role and so I called Lisa for advice and I said, and she was a ### 00:25:30,936 – 00:25:33,988 partner at L Catterton at the time and we had become. ### 00:25:34,350 – 00:25:36,840 pretty close, I'd say professional friends. ### 00:25:36,840 – 00:25:42,242 We admired one another's careers, and I said, you know, I'm thinking about what's ### 00:25:42,242 – 00:25:46,440 going to come after Allergan. I could have stayed, but it made sense to leave knowing ### 00:25:46,440 – 00:25:50,462 that the whole C-suite was, was going to leave in the acquisition. ### 00:25:50,792 – 00:25:55,720 And she confided in me that she wanted to launch a ### 00:25:55,720 – 00:26:01,042 consumer-focused growth equity fund and that she had actually been thinking about ### 00:26:01,320 – 00:26:06,722 who to partner with, and she had even told her husband about me that someone with my ### 00:26:07,080 – 00:26:10,950 broad background would be kind of a perfect balance to hers because she had ### 00:26:10,950 – 00:26:14,960 been an investor also very broadly across consumer and both of us with global ### 00:26:14,960 – 00:26:20,840 experience. So fast forward we decided to partner together and raise a ### 00:26:20,840 – 00:26:26,080 fund, which ended up happening during COVID that we were raising a fund. ### 00:26:26,080 – 00:26:31,522 So now not a big deal to raise money on Zoom, but at the time it was, I mean I ### 00:26:31,522 – 00:26:35,542 can't tell you how many investors were like we've never had an investor ### 00:26:35,542 – 00:26:39,200 conversation on Zoom without meeting somebody in person and but that's what you ### 00:26:39,200 – 00:26:44,202 had to do and. And, you know, we did, we did what it, what it takes to get it done, ### 00:26:44,272 – 00:26:50,352 raised our first fund, which would, which is an $84 million fund, and. ### 00:26:50,882 – 00:26:56,962 Have been focused on investing in the consumer landscape, really ### 00:26:57,152 – 00:27:00,222 companies innovating in, in the white space of consumer. ### 00:27:00,440 – 00:27:03,112 Nice. Well, we're gonna dig a little into that. ### 00:27:03,112 – 00:27:06,882 also, I don't know if you knew, but Brent was an investor in my last company. ### 00:27:07,002 – 00:27:09,302 Oh, I didn't know that, but it makes sense. ### 00:27:09,320 – 00:27:14,362 Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we, we actually incredible executive and, smart ### 00:27:14,362 – 00:27:17,462 person, to, to. ### 00:27:17,772 – 00:27:23,100 To learn from and yeah yeah I learned a lot about him because obviously my last ### 00:27:23,100 – 00:27:29,080 company was in mental health about Also The amount of money that ### 00:27:29,080 – 00:27:34,242 goes into R&D and clinical trials and sometimes those trials don't work out and ### 00:27:34,242 – 00:27:40,052 you know might be hundreds of millions of dollars down the drain, yeah, ### 00:27:40,122 – 00:27:46,042 as a, as a frugal founder it's impossible to, to realize the magnitude ### 00:27:46,042 – 00:27:48,662 of, of money that can get spent in that area. ### 00:27:48,720 – 00:27:54,202 Yeah, so, so yeah, so being an investor obviously is, is, ### 00:27:54,680 – 00:27:57,882 you know, and after being a founder for so many times it's, ### 00:27:58,272 – 00:28:03,112 you know, the, they call it the dark side, right, in, in ### 00:28:03,112 – 00:28:07,392 the, in the sense that, you know, it's, as a founder, it's, you know, you almost feel ### 00:28:07,392 – 00:28:11,632 that sometimes, you know, you're not listened to the right way or people don't ### 00:28:11,632 – 00:28:14,350 spend enough time researching you, understand you. ### 00:28:14,350 – 00:28:17,100 What, you know, what do you see on the other side cause I know it's also, I, ### 00:28:17,100 – 00:28:21,670 was, I, I've, I've also been an investor since 2010. ### 00:28:21,670 – 00:28:24,342 again, I was an investor in Moda Operandi. ### 00:28:24,670 – 00:28:27,852 I've been an LP in many funds since, all that. ### 00:28:28,162 – 00:28:31,962 I've done maybe like 60, 70 seed deals. ### 00:28:32,330 – 00:28:37,282 it's hard to say no to, you know, especially say no to friends, when ### 00:28:37,282 – 00:28:41,242 they come to you, with ideas and they, they think, obviously everybody thinks ### 00:28:41,242 – 00:28:44,402 they have the best idea in the world and then you're saying no to, you know, to ### 00:28:44,402 – 00:28:48,892 someone that. that you know, obviously you have a social relationship with or, or ### 00:28:48,892 – 00:28:52,622 even deeper relationship with how, what, how, how has it been for you? ### 00:28:52,622 – 00:28:56,902 obviously growth, growth sometimes a little different than early stage, yes, ### 00:28:57,950 – 00:29:01,952 you know, well, agree with everything that you said. ### 00:29:02,012 – 00:29:04,952 I would say that I learned very quickly, in. ### 00:29:04,982 – 00:29:07,512 Building Clerisy and we're a 4-person team. ### 00:29:07,512 – 00:29:12,142 We have, two principals on our team, Zach and Susie, who are incredible, ### 00:29:12,142 – 00:29:16,670 and both of them had prior private equity and investing experience. ### 00:29:16,670 – 00:29:20,592 I was kind of the, newbie coming in as, as the operating background. ### 00:29:21,070 – 00:29:24,392 so I learned very quickly in the role that you say no. ### 00:29:24,902 – 00:29:29,820 so many more times than you say yes, it's actually rare that you say yes, ### 00:29:29,820 – 00:29:35,180 when you think of, how many opportunities we, we look at on, on any ### 00:29:35,180 – 00:29:38,002 given week and, over a number of years. ### 00:29:38,060 – 00:29:42,782 So, you really have to be discerning about so many things. ### 00:29:42,782 – 00:29:48,622 And I think seed stage, often you're investing on the, ### 00:29:48,622 – 00:29:51,942 people, so the founders and, maybe their early team. ### 00:29:52,482 – 00:29:55,602 And the idea and how big the tam could be. ### 00:29:55,810 – 00:30:00,152 And, you know, for, for me, I think of, you know, how, how ### 00:30:01,632 – 00:30:06,590 How badly do they want it and, are these the people who are gonna ultimately ### 00:30:06,590 – 00:30:11,272 make this business succeed and that's very different than the type of investing we ### 00:30:11,272 – 00:30:16,232 do. I mean we at Clerisy come in after there's product market fit there are ### 00:30:16,232 – 00:30:20,586 metrics we're looking at margin and profitability and. ### 00:30:20,586 – 00:30:25,946 Distribution and how could we potentially help because when we invest in a company ### 00:30:25,946 – 00:30:31,066 it's not just really about the capital it's it's much more than that it's, you ### 00:30:31,066 – 00:30:36,666 know, do we have the expertise do we have the network to open doors do maybe in ### 00:30:36,666 – 00:30:39,888 some cases some of our existing portfolio companies could be. ### 00:30:40,502 – 00:30:46,310 Helpful in in certain ways to to newer investments, but we really want to ### 00:30:46,310 – 00:30:52,282 bring added value to every investment that we do and we invest, I'd say broadly ### 00:30:52,282 – 00:30:57,940 across consumer and if you look at the past several investments that we have ### 00:30:57,940 – 00:31:03,342 made health and wellness, better for you, longevity are really ### 00:31:03,742 – 00:31:08,142 becoming so important to our portfolio and I think that's because they're all ### 00:31:08,142 – 00:31:10,042 becoming so important to the consumer. ### 00:31:10,282 – 00:31:13,862 Yeah, yeah, so I wanna get into that obviously cause of this, you know, ### 00:31:14,022 – 00:31:17,560 something that I'm, I'm very interested to see your perspective, you know, in the, ### 00:31:17,560 – 00:31:22,512 in the wellness space. I mean, there's so much going on right now, I don't even ### 00:31:22,512 – 00:31:26,320 know where to start, you know, ask, so what is, what within the, health ### 00:31:26,320 – 00:31:29,960 and wellness space, what, you know, what would you say are the areas that you are ### 00:31:29,960 – 00:31:31,562 most excited about? ### 00:31:32,132 – 00:31:38,050 Personally, sure, well, so as a fund we've made investments in better ### 00:31:38,050 – 00:31:40,532 for you food and beverage. ### 00:31:40,622 – 00:31:42,672 So we're investors in OLIPOP. ### 00:31:42,690 – 00:31:47,502 We're investors in, a company called CleanCo, which is non-A Spirits. ### 00:31:47,532 – 00:31:49,582 So, you do. ### 00:31:49,930 – 00:31:53,892 Well, I remember, you connected us when we did the event, yeah, so we got to ### 00:31:53,892 – 00:31:57,992 try their, their products, yes, and, since your event they launched. ### 00:31:58,190 – 00:32:00,662 Delicious RTDs ready to drink. ### 00:32:00,792 – 00:32:06,542 So, there's gin and tonics, clean margaritas, clean mojito, and an Aperol ### 00:32:06,542 – 00:32:12,362 spritz, so I, I'm, I'm a big fan and you know, zero sugar, zero ### 00:32:12,362 – 00:32:18,122 calories, zero proof. we are investors in Mush, which is an overnight oats ### 00:32:18,122 – 00:32:22,080 company, high fiber, high protein, delicious, and actually the founder lives ### 00:32:22,080 – 00:32:24,022 here in Miami, ### 00:32:24,690 – 00:32:30,090 We invested in a golf-related business called Golf Forever, which is really about ### 00:32:30,090 – 00:32:34,992 helping. golfers, whether, whether they are beginners or the number one ### 00:32:34,992 – 00:32:38,392 player in the world, Scottie Scheffler, who's involved in the company as a ### 00:32:38,392 – 00:32:43,992 partner, helping with rotational power, flexibility, balance, etc. ### 00:32:44,652 – 00:32:50,612 using, using a swing trainer together with an app with technology, ### 00:32:50,632 – 00:32:54,392 kind of coaching, coaching the movements, and honestly, I'm not really a golfer. ### 00:32:54,670 – 00:33:00,536 I'm. As I mentioned, I'm a tennis player, but that rotational power that you can get ### 00:33:00,536 – 00:33:05,256 through using the swing trainer is just as relevant for tennis, for a padel, for ### 00:33:05,256 – 00:33:10,306 pickle, for baseball, anything, any move, any sport that involves that rotational ### 00:33:10,306 – 00:33:14,256 power move. It's actually a great, great tool for that developed by a ### 00:33:14,256 – 00:33:16,758 chiropractor and hospital for special surgery. ### 00:33:16,976 – 00:33:18,936 Nice. So, ### 00:33:19,752 – 00:33:23,752 So in the wellness space, obviously, Eudemonia, I know, I know well, you ### 00:33:23,752 – 00:33:28,032 know, it's, it's, it's, it's an event company with probably many more layers. ### 00:33:28,032 – 00:33:33,312 what else, you know, what, you know, what else are you seeing? ### 00:33:33,862 – 00:33:35,522 You know, in, in. ### 00:33:36,300 – 00:33:41,622 In, in that experiential side of things, sure, so because that is a very ### 00:33:41,622 – 00:33:45,652 different investment than, you know, a product company, right, absolutely, and ### 00:33:45,772 – 00:33:50,382 full disclosure, our investment in Eudemonia Summit is much smaller than our ### 00:33:50,382 – 00:33:54,662 typical investment, I think for us it was a chance to work closely with the founders ### 00:33:54,742 – 00:34:00,590 for us. Us to be advisors to them and also for us to get a front row seat on all ### 00:34:00,590 – 00:34:05,042 of these innovating companies within health and wellness and longevity. ### 00:34:05,100 – 00:34:10,162 So, it was almost an amazing pipeline. ### 00:34:10,310 – 00:34:14,440 access for us because going into events, so, so I don't know if you know, ### 00:34:14,440 – 00:34:19,522 but, you know, Blondish, the DJ, yeah, so she's one of, she's my ### 00:34:19,522 – 00:34:23,580 cultural advisor at Betterness, we're, we're dreaming a lot of really cool things ### 00:34:23,580 – 00:34:28,002 because obviously right now music and wellness are, you know, she invited me ### 00:34:28,002 – 00:34:33,362 to go to, with Diplo, when he did the, you know, he has the run clubs, ### 00:34:33,830 – 00:34:36,042 which are crazy, I mean. ### 00:34:36,810 – 00:34:42,062 Here in Miami he had probably 10,000 to 20,000 people run a 5K, ### 00:34:42,812 – 00:34:47,372 so everybody paid about $100 to $200 to run a 5k. ### 00:34:48,262 – 00:34:51,292 And then you know, have a concert in the middle of the day. ### 00:34:51,370 – 00:34:56,022 Obviously no, you know, well, there was some alcohol in the back, but nobody ### 00:34:56,022 – 00:34:57,742 really was in, in that vibe. ### 00:34:57,742 – 00:35:03,140 It was more, being together, being together, having fun, dancing together in ### 00:35:03,140 – 00:35:08,180 the middle of the day, sweating, but it's genius because a 5K is literally a run ### 00:35:08,180 – 00:35:11,582 that almost anybody could do, and you would see that, you would see anybody ### 00:35:11,582 – 00:35:16,092 running it. I mean, and then yeah, and then you had a good time in a, in a ### 00:35:16,092 – 00:35:21,180 concert. I, love that and it makes sense that it's happening in Miami. ### 00:35:21,180 – 00:35:25,220 I think there's so such an emphasis here which I love seeing, but he took it to 17 ### 00:35:25,220 – 00:35:27,932 cities. Oh my gosh, OK, yeah, that's great. ### 00:35:28,080 – 00:35:32,040 It's, it's, but, but just the numbers of that are, are, I mean, just doing back of ### 00:35:32,040 – 00:35:34,120 the envelope math is, is really interesting. ### 00:35:34,120 – 00:35:38,960 I mean 10 to 10,000 plus people every concert, you know, $200. ### 00:35:39,670 – 00:35:42,582 Just, that's just the ticket. The merchandise, it was incredible that he ### 00:35:42,582 – 00:35:44,460 had, yeah, he has, Diplo is amazing. ### 00:35:44,460 – 00:35:49,342 He has like really cool looking shirts of very retro and, you know, Diplo ### 00:35:49,342 – 00:35:54,192 Run Club. but yeah, so that's the experiential things of brands that, ### 00:35:54,420 – 00:35:57,180 that could scale to some really interesting numbers and very, I mean, he ### 00:35:57,180 – 00:36:00,042 literally Build that overnight. ### 00:36:00,052 – 00:36:01,852 I mean, from one year to the next. ### 00:36:02,470 – 00:36:08,012 Well, he started with such a powerful fan base, so that, that ### 00:36:08,012 – 00:36:11,892 helps, I think, yeah, well, so. ### 00:36:13,140 – 00:36:15,752 So yeah, let's talk about, you know, obviously we talked a little bit about ### 00:36:15,752 – 00:36:19,710 drinking, right? So if you're an investor, investor in, in, in, is that the only ### 00:36:19,710 – 00:36:25,232 company, the CleanCo that that is CleanCo and OLIPOP, are both, ### 00:36:25,492 – 00:36:29,420 beverage companies, sorry, can you share a little bit more about about ### 00:36:29,420 – 00:36:34,952 OLIPOP? Sure, so OLIPOP is a better for you soda, pre prebiotic, ### 00:36:35,352 – 00:36:41,150 high fiber, and you can buy it both, originally ### 00:36:41,150 – 00:36:46,430 it started. where it was a refrigerated, refrigerated product, ### 00:36:46,430 – 00:36:49,332 but they also have now a shelf stable product. ### 00:36:49,352 – 00:36:54,950 So if you're familiar with poppi, you know, OLIPOP is, is playing in the same ### 00:36:54,950 – 00:36:59,430 category. I, think OLIPOP's better for a number of reasons, but poppi is the ### 00:36:59,430 – 00:37:03,762 one that got acquired. poppi has been acquired, and, I'm hopeful OLIPOP ### 00:37:03,762 – 00:37:05,742 will, will have a great exit too. ### 00:37:06,002 – 00:37:10,342 So what, you know, so obviously there's a ton of these, companies that seem to, ### 00:37:10,360 – 00:37:13,752 as you said, have success overnight, you know, and we know it's not that easy. ### 00:37:14,242 – 00:37:19,970 Obviously, usually with a very social media heavy success and a founder that is ### 00:37:19,970 – 00:37:23,362 probably very, you know, very face of the brand. ### 00:37:23,562 – 00:37:27,950 What, what do you see as the You know, the, secrets of, of success of these ### 00:37:27,950 – 00:37:30,752 brands, and then obviously they're coming with the, big corporates are coming ### 00:37:30,752 – 00:37:32,432 and hitting them. ### 00:37:32,950 – 00:37:38,412 So I think when you have a company that has some sort of competitive advantage, ### 00:37:38,470 – 00:37:44,032 and that could be with the founder if it has a, the founder ### 00:37:44,072 – 00:37:49,322 has. A a large following, you know, we're seeing this actually in our most ### 00:37:49,322 – 00:37:53,762 recent investment which is a company called Smash Kitchen which was founded, ### 00:37:54,002 – 00:37:59,982 by 3 people, so 2 of them had been serial entrepreneurs, Sameer ### 00:38:00,200 – 00:38:05,756 who was co-founder. Founder of the dog food company, called Jinx, they ### 00:38:05,756 – 00:38:09,916 also have cat food as well. and prior to that, he was part of the founding team ### 00:38:09,916 – 00:38:14,516 of Casper, and then the other co-founder is Sean Kane, who was ### 00:38:14,516 – 00:38:17,096 co-founder of the Honest Company, ### 00:38:17,732 – 00:38:22,482 And the two of them partnered together with Glen Powell, the actor, and launched ### 00:38:22,482 – 00:38:27,792 this business called Smash Kitchen, which is really redoing pantry stable, ### 00:38:27,930 – 00:38:34,012 pantry staples. So think, better for you, no ### 00:38:34,370 – 00:38:39,388 high fructose corn syrup, non-GMO, anything you'd, you'd have in your pantry. ### 00:38:39,388 – 00:38:45,228 From ketchup to mustard to mayonnaise to olive oil ### 00:38:45,228 – 00:38:49,188 to salsas and salad dressings, etc. ### 00:38:49,468 – 00:38:53,938 and they're really innovating in the space and they're growing so quickly and I ### 00:38:53,938 – 00:38:57,826 think a lot of that is because they had these serial entrepreneurs who know how to ### 00:38:57,826 – 00:39:00,988 build companies quickly. They have the star power. ### 00:39:01,124 – 00:39:03,944 that is authentic, in Glen Powell. ### 00:39:03,962 – 00:39:08,244 He, he was, Maverick Top Gun if you, if you didn't, I didn't, you know, anyway, ### 00:39:08,394 – 00:39:14,242 and he's very authentic because he is, you know, a Texan, loves to grill with ### 00:39:14,242 – 00:39:20,162 his family. He's personally super involved in the company, and this business launched ### 00:39:20,162 – 00:39:22,804 initially at Walmart, together. ### 00:39:23,252 – 00:39:28,002 They work very closely with Walmart, but it's also being sold in Erewhon in Los ### 00:39:28,002 – 00:39:32,192 Angeles, which, you know, your listeners probably know that Erewhon is, you know, ### 00:39:32,272 – 00:39:36,890 very, very high end, so it can really cater from the Walmart shopper shopper to ### 00:39:36,890 – 00:39:42,412 the, to the Erewhon shopper. Yeah, interesting, well, so, ### 00:39:42,572 – 00:39:46,782 So let you know this is the, time that, we like to show a ### 00:39:46,782 – 00:39:51,190 couple of interesting things. So I, actually wanna go into the tennis, and ### 00:39:51,190 – 00:39:55,950 show you something that I built. So I'm a, I'm a, I mean, I'm not a, I'm, I, play ### 00:39:55,950 – 00:40:00,592 tennis, but I'm, I'm, I wouldn't say I'm a tennis player, but I, love it. ### 00:40:00,592 – 00:40:03,232 I love the sport and now, as I said recently, I got into padel in Miami. ### 00:40:03,232 – 00:40:07,352 You have to, but I actually got into padel even though I'm Argentine, so ### 00:40:07,352 – 00:40:10,432 obviously I grew up, with a lot of padel playing. ### 00:40:11,002 – 00:40:14,930 but I got into it because, number one, it's a great way to meet investors in ### 00:40:14,930 – 00:40:19,370 Miami, you know, seems like every investor today is playing padel, but I, wanted ### 00:40:19,370 – 00:40:22,112 to prove the technology that, that, that we developed. ### 00:40:22,210 – 00:40:24,512 So, do you know Strava? ### 00:40:24,610 – 00:40:29,582 I do, yes, yeah. So Strava, you know, I'm a cyclist, that's, I would say my, my, ### 00:40:29,582 – 00:40:35,102 my most, sport that I excel at, and I was surprised in betterness, what is ### 00:40:35,102 – 00:40:38,672 it that we're doing? We're, we're basically are building technology for. ### 00:40:39,002 – 00:40:43,762 The business, you know, the B2B, we're a B2B2C company, so we're building ### 00:40:43,762 – 00:40:47,482 technology so we could equip the, business owner and the business owners ### 00:40:47,482 – 00:40:52,680 could be from a coach to a gym to be able to, you know, better connect with their ### 00:40:52,680 – 00:40:57,720 end consumer, right? So they could support them in their wellness journey and it's ### 00:40:57,720 – 00:41:00,482 very broad. we have from individual coaches to gyms. ### 00:41:00,842 – 00:41:05,562 And then the question is, how do I connect everything about their daily life, right? ### 00:41:05,572 – 00:41:11,292 So we, now we do nutrition tracking, we do, obviously we'll connect to every ### 00:41:11,292 – 00:41:16,450 wearable. But when you start digging a little deeper into that is, OK, so in ### 00:41:16,450 – 00:41:20,932 Strava, yeah, I'm a cyclist, I buy a Garmin computer, I go ride. ### 00:41:21,420 – 00:41:24,102 You know, and then I could see my wattage. ### 00:41:24,102 – 00:41:26,582 I don't know how much you know about cycling, but you see your wattage, your ### 00:41:26,582 – 00:41:30,342 cadence, you know, you could go really deep into it when you get into other ### 00:41:30,342 – 00:41:34,620 sports. I don't know if you know this, but in tennis, do you wear an Apple Watch, ### 00:41:34,620 – 00:41:37,022 or no, I have an Oura, OK, an Oura. ### 00:41:37,022 – 00:41:41,900 But so you know, an Apple Watch, there's a tennis setting, so you press tennis, you ### 00:41:41,900 – 00:41:46,972 play tennis, all it measures is your HRV or your, HR, your heart rate. ### 00:41:47,532 – 00:41:49,922 So I'm like, OK, well, but. ### 00:41:50,272 – 00:41:54,302 Like if you look at Strava, I could see where I rode, I could see how fast I did ### 00:41:54,302 – 00:41:57,992 my segments. Like, I'm playing in a court, I'm moving around. ### 00:41:57,992 – 00:42:01,352 I wanna know what's going on with that and I wanna interpret it. ### 00:42:01,710 – 00:42:06,150 So I went and bought myself a, a Garmin, a Garmin, you know, very ### 00:42:06,150 – 00:42:10,992 expensive, watch. they measure, so I'm gonna show you here, cause this ### 00:42:10,992 – 00:42:12,792 is, this is fun just to show it, ### 00:42:13,104 – 00:42:17,114 OK, so this is, we're gonna do a little experiment here of, of what is the ### 00:42:17,114 – 00:42:21,236 possibility today with some of the, technologies that exist, in, in racket ### 00:42:21,236 – 00:42:23,086 sports, padel tennis. ### 00:42:23,276 – 00:42:28,276 So this is me playing padel, in Wynwood padel the other day. ### 00:42:28,956 – 00:42:33,686 so this is a $1000 watch, the Garmin fēnix X with a lot of sensors and all ### 00:42:33,686 – 00:42:35,526 that. I play padel. ### 00:42:35,676 – 00:42:40,604 It actually they do have the setting padel, and it, it tracks GPS and it ### 00:42:40,604 – 00:42:44,324 tracks, which obviously is where you can see my speed and it tracks heart rate ### 00:42:44,324 – 00:42:49,386 zones, right? So if you were, you were able to do this in tennis in, in, ### 00:42:49,894 – 00:42:51,996 In Apple, it would only track your heart rate. ### 00:42:53,064 – 00:42:54,776 But then the question is what happened in there, right? ### 00:42:54,784 – 00:42:57,886 Like I, I've been running around, so you could, I don't, can you play there? ### 00:42:57,986 – 00:43:01,926 You could play this so you could see that little thing moving around there and ### 00:43:01,926 – 00:43:03,686 that's about all you get. ### 00:43:04,354 – 00:43:09,016 Right? So then I said, well, what can we do that, that is better? ### 00:43:09,634 – 00:43:15,116 So. I built my own algorithms, and I started ### 00:43:15,156 – 00:43:20,534 actually. You know, using what Garmin gave me, but then I said I'm gonna build, I ### 00:43:20,534 – 00:43:23,334 wanna tap into the algorithms of the actual device. ### 00:43:23,334 – 00:43:28,256 So I built the, my own, my own app in Apple. ### 00:43:28,656 – 00:43:31,596 so I'm gonna show you here, ### 00:43:33,016 – 00:43:35,766 let me see here. I have so many activities. ### 00:43:35,784 – 00:43:38,526 Let me find, and I find here padel. ### 00:43:39,176 – 00:43:45,134 So this is padel in the same court using my own app, which does things ### 00:43:45,134 – 00:43:49,156 that are no app in the world does that I've ever seen so far. ### 00:43:49,814 – 00:43:55,176 So now I could see myself in the court, but I could actually see how ### 00:43:55,574 – 00:43:58,096 I. Play the sport. ### 00:44:00,364 – 00:44:04,866 You know, so that's my GPS signal, but then I am able to. ### 00:44:07,794 – 00:44:10,156 You know, see how I play in the actual zones. ### 00:44:11,686 – 00:44:17,066 Oh my goodness. And I said, well, but that's just GPS data. ### 00:44:17,084 – 00:44:18,836 What about how I'm hitting? ### 00:44:19,324 – 00:44:23,926 So then I actually built the ability to now see yourself. ### 00:44:25,266 – 00:44:27,466 In a three dimensional space. ### 00:44:28,144 – 00:44:31,466 In how you actually hit uses a sensor of the, of the device. ### 00:44:32,564 – 00:44:35,086 That's amazing, and I would say. ### 00:44:35,766 – 00:44:41,416 In a tennis context, I would love to have this data and show it to ### 00:44:41,416 – 00:44:47,256 my pro and have him analyze it with me, and I can just hear him saying, you ### 00:44:47,256 – 00:44:50,966 see, you didn't go up to the net enough or every, and, or, or. ### 00:44:51,916 – 00:44:56,124 I can imagine him saying, do you notice every time you went up to the net we can ### 00:44:56,124 – 00:45:00,294 tell that you won the point, reinforcing kind of all the things that he's ### 00:45:00,294 – 00:45:03,026 constantly telling me, so I love that. ### 00:45:03,084 – 00:45:06,136 So I mean I could show you. ### 00:45:06,756 – 00:45:08,314 basketball or tennis. ### 00:45:08,314 – 00:45:12,066 I mean, I have tennis there too. any sport, soccer, ### 00:45:12,804 – 00:45:15,506 let me show you here. This is, this is actually really cool. ### 00:45:15,554 – 00:45:17,486 Well, Sha, you play basketball, right? ### 00:45:17,766 – 00:45:21,046 he was excited. I was telling him, did you, oh, you haven't seen this. ### 00:45:21,364 – 00:45:27,074 so this is me playing basketball in a basketball court in the middle of ### 00:45:27,074 – 00:45:32,286 Miami. That's amazing. ### 00:45:32,526 – 00:45:38,126 I think also having a betterness AI interpretation ### 00:45:38,166 – 00:45:39,885 too of your [unclear] like if you, ### 00:45:39,885 – 00:45:42,686 if you could give feedback, if AI could basically be ### 00:45:42,686 – 00:45:47,266 the coach and give the feedback of like, here's what you did well, here's what you, ### 00:45:47,324 – 00:45:51,926 you know, did better than the last time, not as good as last time, yeah, no, all ### 00:45:51,926 – 00:45:56,780 that is, part. Of it, it's part of it, actually even better than this, ### 00:45:56,800 – 00:45:59,080 one of our partners is Ortho Miami. ### 00:45:59,080 – 00:46:04,520 we're talking about doing a program, preventive orthopedic program, ### 00:46:04,520 – 00:46:09,880 where we could actually tell you as an athlete, so obviously there's the ### 00:46:09,880 – 00:46:13,840 coaching side, yes, exactly, so imagine now, now you hire a tennis coach. ### 00:46:14,344 – 00:46:18,584 And the tennis coach coaches you and immediately after you get a report of how ### 00:46:18,584 – 00:46:21,506 you did that class and then you could compare it to other classes and it could ### 00:46:21,506 – 00:46:26,186 go from cardiovascular fitness to all the way to strategic movement in the court and ### 00:46:26,186 – 00:46:31,526 all that. But, but an orthopedic doctor could now say, hey, you know, I ### 00:46:31,526 – 00:46:35,554 see, you know, you're, you're an Ironman or a marathon runner, you're putting so ### 00:46:35,554 – 00:46:40,644 many miles. I see that you're starting to basically show signs that, you know, ### 00:46:40,644 – 00:46:45,114 something is, is off or you're running, you know, you're playing basketball, some ### 00:46:45,114 – 00:46:47,556 other sport and something is off in the way that you're playing. ### 00:46:47,844 – 00:46:51,034 So yeah, the, potential of the technology is, is, is very ### 00:46:51,034 – 00:46:52,666 exciting. I love it. ### 00:46:52,986 – 00:46:54,836 I'm, I'm, I'm convinced. ### 00:46:55,506 – 00:47:01,466 Well, yeah, so, this, this is actually very new, so, so, yeah, so ### 00:47:01,466 – 00:47:03,806 we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll roll it out. ### 00:47:03,814 – 00:47:07,374 We're rolling it out now in the next couple of weeks, but yeah, it's, it's ### 00:47:07,374 – 00:47:10,864 exciting to, to, to get it, you know, someone like yourself saying that, you ### 00:47:10,864 – 00:47:16,846 know, this is cool stuff, very cool stuff, and I think it's so relevant to what ### 00:47:17,104 – 00:47:23,146 consumers want right now. Well, so I end with this, so, ### 00:47:23,406 – 00:47:28,284 one of the interesting, anecdotes of, of, of me actually had a, an investor ### 00:47:28,284 – 00:47:29,946 meeting this week and I was showing the panel. ### 00:47:30,364 – 00:47:36,304 it's, just The investor was saying, well, this would allow me ### 00:47:36,304 – 00:47:40,706 to now trash talk better my partner because you know he was saying, he always ### 00:47:40,706 – 00:47:45,796 says to me. Oh, why do you burn like 1400 calories and I burn like 800, you know, ### 00:47:45,844 – 00:47:48,406 when they watch a watch, and he's like, now I could show them because you're not ### 00:47:48,406 – 00:47:52,596 moving in the court, you know, I'm like running all over the place and like, but, ### 00:47:52,614 – 00:47:57,084 but, but it, it's true. Like if you just track heart rate, you will not get the ### 00:47:57,084 – 00:48:00,446 full story, you don't get the full story of what's going on, yeah, so, or whatever. ### 00:48:00,564 – 00:48:05,226 [unclear] to you. Oh thank you. Well this is, it's fun, little, you know, ### 00:48:05,364 – 00:48:08,894 show and tell that we do here, because we're excited about these technologies ### 00:48:08,894 – 00:48:14,324 that we're building. So, any closing thoughts, advice, will have an ### 00:48:14,324 – 00:48:20,124 advice for young girls, you know, today, the future and my daughter ### 00:48:20,124 – 00:48:23,106 again is going to sophomore year. ### 00:48:23,134 – 00:48:26,166 how should she be thinking about the future? ### 00:48:26,166 – 00:48:31,656 I mean, I mean, I would say to your, well, first of all, to you, ### 00:48:31,936 – 00:48:36,416 keep, keep doing what you're doing, very, very impressive and, sounds like ### 00:48:36,416 – 00:48:41,134 you're so close to the consumer, which is important, and you're figuring out that ### 00:48:41,134 – 00:48:46,186 product market fit and if you don't get it, I know you and you keep iterating, ### 00:48:46,276 – 00:48:47,996 to your daughter and to. ### 00:48:48,246 – 00:48:54,246 young women out there, I think that the sooner you can figure out what you're ### 00:48:54,246 – 00:49:00,166 good at and what you enjoy doing, and, figure out What ### 00:49:00,166 – 00:49:04,726 is at the intersection of what you're good at and what you enjoy doing and if you can ### 00:49:04,726 – 00:49:10,644 one day turn this into a career, then you will most likely ### 00:49:10,644 – 00:49:15,526 be very successful and very happy in your career doing what you're good at and doing ### 00:49:15,526 – 00:49:17,166 what you love. Yeah, thank you. ### 00:49:17,166 – 00:49:19,266 That's exactly the advice I give her. ### 00:49:19,686 – 00:49:23,406 well, thank you so much for, for being here with us. ### 00:49:23,766 – 00:49:27,506 another episode on [unclear] Wellness, so I'll see you next time. ### 00:49:27,604 – 00:49:28,604 Thank you so much.