• jenny funded freja using profits from her successful dropshipping business  

• she focused heavily on paid advertising from the start, unlike many other brands  

• jenny kept freja a secret for the first 2-3 years, even from friends  

• her approach was very data-driven, focusing on what customers want rather than personal preferences  

• she's now transitioning to focus more on organic growth, pr, and building a long-term brand  

• jenny advocates for entrepreneurs to get hands-on experience before delegating tasks  

• she plans to expand internationally and launch new product lines in the coming years  

chapters:  

00:00 - jenny's background and start in e-commerce  

08:01 - transitioning from dropshipping to launching freja  

12:30 - focus on paid advertising and marketing strategy  

23:17 - keeping freja a secret and building without ego  

25:30 - shifting focus to product development and brand building  

27:26 - future plans for international expansion and new product lines  

31:23 - jenny's approach to work and productivity  

36:02 - building a community and mentoring other entrepreneurs  

47:37 - working with family and factory relationships in china  

 

today, i'm joined by eadem co-founders marie kouadio and alice lin, to talk about their journey from tech to beauty and how their emphasis on building a community founded on shared experiences and learning led them to success.

listen in and discover how they navigated an increasingly crowded and competitive space to create clean, clinically-tested skincare for women of color.  

i'm sitting down with danny winer, the ceo of michelin star chef recommended cookware brand, hexclad, to discuss his journey to creating the most innovative cookware on the market that works like magic.

we explore how science, art, and a desire to disrupt the industry came together to capture the attention of top chefs like gordon ramsey!

on this week's episode of read receipt, i talk with freestyle ceo, mike constantiner, about baby care for modern baby makers and how he created a solution to uncomfy, unsustainable diapers founded by parents, designed by artists.

tune in and find out why more parents are caring for their young ones the freestyle way!

this week on the pod, we're getting into the dirty details with biom co-founder, will gahagan; diving into eliminating single-use plastic and creating a biodegradable product that looks as good as it feels.

tune in and discover the benefits of cleaning with clean products! 

raphael talks about how he got his start working weekends in his dads south african textile factory, making the jump to come to the us, and ultimately working with some of the biggest names in athletic wear.

this is a fun conversation about the wild ride of working with true innovators, learning to provide value, and trusting your gut along the way.

the founder and ceo of health food brand, mikey's, and confectionery brand, stuffed puffs, to discuss his journey from fine dining to product innovation to manufacturing to meeting world-famous DJs (no, seriously).

we'll explore how the self-proclaimed "tinkerer" worked through adversity and, with a foundation of overarching optimism, proved everyone wrong.   

we explore using grants for funding, partnering with the right retailers, and keeping a remote team motivated.

we explore talking directly with customers, following natural inclinations, and learning to not be so hard on yourself when launching a business. 

we explore being your best customer,  setting aside the idea of perfection, and looking at results in context.

we explore bootstrapping a science-backed biz, throwing yourself into unknowns, and learning as you go. 

we explore not trying to be the most lux in the market, scraping together funding and side-stepping paid media.

we explore grappling with your inner critic, selecting over 200 vendors, and making biz decisions through data.

we explore the joy of the exploratory stage, launching errors, and building a support system as a founder.

we explore the anxiety of doing sustainability perfectly, maintaining a flexible start-up mentality, and how to learn from your current customers.

we explore the explosion of the hard seltzer category, building a business as an influencer, and finding the perfect work-life balance.

we explore boom of the mocktail industry, scaling during covid, and the importance of interacting with your customers as a founder.

we chat about being nimble with your brand vision, launching an e-commerce business in the pandemic, and consumer groupthink.

we explore celebrating the small wins, identifying your business' long-term vision, and the responsibility of being a science-backed brand.

we explore the benefits of always acting like a start-up, hybrid remote work, and maintaining long-term goals while balancing day-to-day stress.

we explore building your investor bank, the challenges of sourcing ingredients from all over the world, and trusting the process.

we explore trusting in the passion of founders, what it's like to go through an acquisition, and the power of growing your network.

we explore building prototypes yourself, the complexities of keeping customers happy, and how to deal with copycat products as a new business.

we explore defining clear business roles, supply-chain shortages, and the non-existent race to growth.

we explore crafting a framework for collaborations, analyzing consumer trends, and how being authentic is the key to success both personally and professionally.

we explore bio-hacking, building strong relationships with manufacturers, and the power of solid advisors.

we explore how to identify evolving consumer trends, the timeline of product production, and why companies need to fix real life problems in order to get maximum word-of-mouth marketing.

we explore how running a business is like raising a kid, what being on shark tank is like, and how to trust your gut as a founder.

we explore tactically changing your work habits, prioritizing your mental health as a founder, and creating a healthy work culture for a team.

we explore how to be strategic with raising funds, finding employees who believe in your business, and how the pandemic forever changed the fertility industry.

we explore how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, how to find the nuance in your consumer's needs, and why it's so important to empower black and brown boys to be their authentic selves.

we explore how the best ideas come from personal needs, how to go into a pitch meeting with guns blazing, and how to enjoy those quiet moments in your business' growth.

today on read receipt i'm chatting with heather hartnett from human ventures, the venture platform that helps incubate, fund, and connect entrepreneurs to the resources they need.

having come from a family where launching start-ups was the norm, hartnett has stellar instincts to help businesses grow and thrive.

we talk meaningful networking, creating compound success, and what venture capitalists look for when deciding to believe in a business.

today we explore the benefits of non-traditional career paths, the value of a good blind email, and how launching a business is like any relationship: it comes with ebbs and flows.

on this episode of read receipt i’m chatting with cara nicoletti, a 4th generation butcher and founder of seemore meats & veggies. seemore is a woman-owned sausage company making products with humanely-raised meat and up to 35% vegetables in each link. 

with product names like la dolce beeta, it's not too difficult to see why these sausages are grinding through the old way people consumed and wasted meat. after working through the new york city butcher and restaurant scene,  nicoletti began experimenting with placing veggies into handmade sausages after customers were reluctant to try her veggie burgers.

since then, the demand for more sustainable meat has exploded and landed seemore in retailer giants like whole foods. 

today we explore what it means to fight through ceo self-doubt, why the sausage is the og sustainable food, and how the #metoo movement and global pandemic helped shine a spotlight on the dark corners of the meat processing industry.

these two high school friends turned founders launched the instagram account @yeswayrosé back in 2013 as a creative space for their rosé meme humor. way back before instagram became a brand incubator as we know it now.

they wanted everyone to live in rosé pink, peachy color, so they hit the books and the bottles to develop something they’d be really excited to drink.  

we explore listening to your creative instincts, how the brand was able to launch with retail giant target, and how taking the space to be best in the market, rather than first to market ends up all the more refreshing.

these days, it seems like the word 'sustainability' gets tossed around in business pretty often. any brand can talk the talk, but its a lot tougher to show instead of tell. we were lucky enough to host two founders who walk the walk. with a zero-waste ethos, thousand fell sets the standard for new sustainability in the shoe game.

we catch up with stuart and chloe to discuss the future of the closed loop, where the sneaker scene is headed, and the road to creating a company with a visible impact. enjoy the show!

in this story, the importance of passion far overshadow that of skillset or money in the bank and can serve as the jolt you might’ve needed to begin your own venture. tune in for some powerful inspiration.

cliche as it may seem, brightland’s success rests on aishwarya’s commitment to the brand’s story and core values, which include letting the olives, which are lovingly farmed in California, speak for themselves. from working with her dream artists to creating opportunities through smart brand alignments, aishwarya shows us the value of building a business through a unique and studied perspective.

more importantly, she shows us that in a digital world where businesses are clambering for a spot on our feed, there is still plenty of room for people to connect through analog means. tune in!