Category: Marketing

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Soap Science and the Chemistry of Green Cleaning featuring Jenna Arkin, ECOS

July 19, 2021  |  an article by Diana Fryc

“You can get a real clean without bringing in toxic cleaning products to your home.” – Jenna Arkin

This week on the Gooder Podcast, I had the pleasure of talking with Jenna Arkin, the Vice President of Innovation at ECOS®. We discuss all things ECOS: the natural cleaning trends, innovation, leadership, and science. We also learn about some myths behind bleaching when it comes to cleaning and creating a healthy living environment. Along the way, we get to hear the amazing story of a dedicated and creative leader who continuously spreads the awareness of environmental protection and chemical safety legislation.

In this episode we learn: 

  • The history, the story of ECOS and what differentiates ECOS from other competitors in the cleaning category
  • Jenna’s path in her career and her journey to ECOS
  • About green cleaning product innovation and its evolution
  • How the pandemic impacted the disinfecting, cleaning products industry and customers’ increasing adoption of green products
  • Lessons that Jenna has learned professionally and personally during the pandemic and opportunities that came along with it
  • Trends in the green products industry and the potential of this industry in the next 5 years
Gooder Podcast

Soap Science and the Chemistry of Green Cleaning featuring Jenna Arkin, ECOS

About Jenna Arkin: 

Jenna Arkin is Vice President of Innovation at ECOS®, the maker of environmentally friendly cleaning products. Jenna uses her unique background in both chemistry and design to innovate safer, more effective formulations and compelling packaging designs for the ECOS®, Baby ECOS®, ECOS® Pets, and ECOS® Pro product lines.

Jenna leads the ECOS® partnership with the U.S. EPA’s Safer Choice program, a third-party certification that helps consumers choose products made with safer chemical ingredients without sacrificing quality or performance.

She also directs the company’s educational outreach program, including ECOScience, in which she partners with local museums to bring hands-on green science education to thousands of elementary school children each year. Jenna brings a novel combination of passionate scientist and creative professional to solve modern green chemistry problems. Her sharp eye for trends has inspired out-of-the-box thinking, connecting seemingly disparate concepts to move the cleaning industry toward a more sustainable future.

Jenna joined ECOS® in 2010 as the Northwest Division’s senior chemist, overseeing both R&D and quality control. She most recently served as Director of Product Development at ECOS®. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and she earned a graduate degree in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Technology. Before joining ECOS®, she designed and directed a contemporary fashion line.

Jenna holds six U.S. patents for innovations in green chemistry and packaging design. She received the GenNext Award by Progressive Grocer in 2018 for industry standouts under the age of 40. Jenna is a member of the American Chemical Society and has served as an advocate for ingredient transparency and toxic substance reform with the American Sustainable Business Council. She actively supports environmental protection and chemical safety legislation at both the state and federal levels.

Guests Social Media Links: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenna-arkin-30202514/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifeaccordingtojenna/?hl=en

Website: https://www.ecos.com/

Show Resources: 

National Public Radio, NPR, full name National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to 797 public radio stations in the United States of America.

The University of California, Berkeley is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state’s first land-grant university and the first campus of the University of California system.

Biochemistry or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and metabolism.

The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising is a private for-profit college with multiple campuses in California. It offers degree programs in a majors including fashion, entertainment, beauty, interior design, and graphic design.

Green brands are those brands that consumers associate with environmental conservation and sustainable business practices. Such brands appeal to consumers who are becoming more aware of the need to protect the environment. A green brand can add a unique selling point to a product and can boost corporate image.

Family owned and operated since 1967, Earth Friendly Products® is the maker of ECOS™ Laundry Detergent and over 200 other environmentally friendly products that are safer for people, pets and the planet. Made with plant-powered ingredients, ECOS™ cleaners are thoughtfully sourced, pH balanced, readily biodegradable, easily recyclable, and never tested on animals.

The LA Derby Dolls is Los Angeles’ original women’s quad-skate banked track roller derby league. It was founded in October 2003 by Rebecca Ninburg and Wendy Templeton. The league is composed of more than 120 women divided into five teams who skate on a banked track.

The Environmental Protection Agency is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces.

Adam Ruins Everything is an American educational comedy television series starring Adam Conover that debuted on September 29, 2015, with a 12-episode.

The United States Food and Drug Administration is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Diana Fryc

For Diana, a fierce determination to pursue what’s right is rooted in her DNA. The daughter of parents who endured unimaginable hardship before emigrating from Eastern Europe to the U.S., she is built for a higher purpose. Starting with an experience working with Jane Goodall to source sustainably made paper, she went on to a career helping Corporate America normalize the use of environmentally responsible products and materials before coming to Retail Voodoo.

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Adapting and Evolving as a Leader in the Food and Beverage Industry featuring Maisie Antoniello, Jones Soda

July 7, 2021  |  an article by Diana Fryc

“As a brand and as a business, you got to evolve with the times and really think about what you really stand for and how it manifests nowadays.” – Maisie Antoniello 

This week on the Gooder Podcast, I had the pleasure of talking with Maisie Antoniello, the Senior Marketing Executive Jones Soda Inc., a Seattle-based premium craft soda brand. We chat about Maisie’s big shift from big CPG brands (Kellogg’s, PepsiCo, and Starbucks) to the beloved regional Jones Soda brand – and how that move changed her life. We also learn about why Jones Soda implemented one of the most cutting-edge augmented reality technologies into their packaging – and discuss some of the marketing trends her brand is leveraging. We tackle everything from innovation, supply chain, and women leadership – to interesting facts about the trends/companies in the food and beverage world. 

In this episode we learn: 

  • The history and the story of Jones Soda and what the “secret sauce” is that differentiates Jones Soda from other beverage brands 
  • How the pandemic impacted Jones Soda and the challenges and opportunities that came along with it 
  • About utilizing augmented reality in packaging and marketing, and the inspiration behind Jones Soda’s exciting project using AR 
  • How Masie leverages her big CPG experience to fuel the growth of a smaller “fighter” brand 
  • Why the shift from large to small brand is instrumental in her career growth
  • Why Maisie heavily invests in research and data as a leader
  • The advice Maisie gives to other leaders who desire to transition to smaller brands
  • Trends in the food and beverage industry 
Gooder Podcast

Adapting and Evolving as a Leader in the Food and Beverage Industry featuring Maisie Antoniello, Jones Soda

About Maisie Antoniello: 

Maisie Antoniello is a passionate brand marketer with over 14 years of experience in the food and beverage industry. Currently, she serves as the VP of Marketing at Jones Soda, where she is helping to lead the turnaround of a 25-year-old craft soda business. Prior to Jones, Maisie had various roles at Starbucks supporting both retail and packaged goods business units. Prior to Starbucks, she worked at Frito Lay where she had roles in brand, innovation, shopper, and multicultural marketing including building Frito-Lay’s Hispanic Portfolio. 

Having had the good fortune of working on megabrands like Cheetos and Frappuccino, Maisie loves to take the “secret sauce” of brands and help them scale for growth by making them relevant to today’s consumers.  

When she’s not working on “the People’s Craft Soda”, you can often find Maisie having a craft beer with her husband or chasing around her two young boys.  

Guests Social Media Links: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maisiechanantoniello/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/meishichan 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jonessodaco/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonessodaco/ 

Email: mantoniello@jonessoda.com 

Website: https://www.jonessoda.com/ and https://drinklemoncocco.com/ 

Show Resources: 

Frito-Lay is an American subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets, and sells corn chips, potato chips, and other snack foods. 

Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. As the world’s largest coffeehouse chain, Starbucks is seen to be the main representation of the United States’ third wave of coffee culture. 

Cheetos is a brand of cheese puff snack made by Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of PepsiCo. Fritos creator Charles Elmer Doolin invented Cheetos in 1948 and began national distribution in the U.S. The initial success of Cheetos was a contributing factor to the merger between The Frito Company and H.W. 

Frappuccino is a trademarked brand of the Starbucks Corporation for a line of highly-sweetened iced, blended coffee drinks. It consists of coffee or crème base, blended with ice and other various ingredients like flavored syrups, usually topped with whipped cream and or spices. 

Forbes is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features original articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. 

TikTok, known in China as Douyin, is a Chinese video-sharing-focused social networking service owned by Chinese company ByteDance. The social media platform is used to make a variety of short-form videos, from genres like dance, comedy, and education, that have a duration from 15 seconds to one minute. 

A liquid ode to bad guys everywhere. Inspired by British criminals who, beginning in 1788, were transported to Australia. Pioneers in a harsh frontier colony, they proved that good things can come from a checkered past. 19 Crimes celebrates the rules they broke and the culture they built. From a bad seed comes a truly great wine. 

PepsiCo, Inc. is an American-based multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation headquartered in Harrison, New York, in the hamlet of Purchase. PepsiCo’s business encompasses all aspects of the food and beverage market. It oversees the manufacturing, distribution, and marketing of its products. 

Diana Fryc

For Diana, a fierce determination to pursue what’s right is rooted in her DNA. The daughter of parents who endured unimaginable hardship before emigrating from Eastern Europe to the U.S., she is built for a higher purpose. Starting with an experience working with Jane Goodall to source sustainably made paper, she went on to a career helping Corporate America normalize the use of environmentally responsible products and materials before coming to Retail Voodoo.

Connect with Diana
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Above the Fold Podcast: How to be a ‘Gooder’ Brand featuring Diana Fryc

June 16, 2021  |  an article by Diana Fryc

Above the Fold Podcast with Diana Fryc

Do-gooder Diana Fryc sees brands as a force for good, but a lot goes into walking that walk. Fortunately, she knows all the steps. The co-founder of Voodoo Retail, and host of The “Gooder” Podcast, with two lovely hosts Jeff Baker and Francis Ma, discuss food equity, conscious capitalism, women in leadership roles, sustainability, and more on what is possibly the most important episode of Above the Fold to date.

Other key issues we cover:

  • Racial and ethnic representation at grocery stores.
  • Operationalizing your “brand values.”
  • The role leadership plays in branding.

Listen Here

Diana Fryc

For Diana, a fierce determination to pursue what’s right is rooted in her DNA. The daughter of parents who endured unimaginable hardship before emigrating from Eastern Europe to the U.S., she is built for a higher purpose. Starting with an experience working with Jane Goodall to source sustainably made paper, she went on to a career helping Corporate America normalize the use of environmentally responsible products and materials before coming to Retail Voodoo.

Connect with Diana

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Building The Listening Revolution Through Podcasting featuring Molly Ruland, Heartcast Media

June 4, 2021  |  an article by Diana Fryc

“You’re not going to build an audience with three podcasts.” – Molly Ruland 

This week on the Gooder Podcast, I had the pleasure of talking with Molly Ruland, the founder, and CEO of Heartcast Media. We discuss podcasts, and how the platform has provided a powerful listening revolution for brands and professionals. We learn about ways that brands can utilize podcasts to humanize themselves and authentically connect with consumers. Along the way, we get to meet one of the hardworking business leaders whose passion extends past the microphone and office space into cultural revolution and human rights. 

In this episode we learn: 

  • A background of Heartcast Media and the reason it exists 
  • Molly’s journey of transitioning from One Love Massive (a multi-sensory creative platform founded in D.C.) to Heartcast Media which focuses on supporting brands, NGOs, and businesses in podcast/content creation and distribution. 
  • The rise of audio storytelling and how podcasting has evolved in the last several years. 
  • Podcasts ability to humanize a brand and develop relationships with consumers and business partners.
  • How podcasts can be an effective advertising tool for consumer brands.
  • The importance of being intentional when starting a podcast by using your mission and business goals to drive content creation.
  • Podcasting 101: for companies, organizations, and humans. 
Gooder Podcast

Building The Listening Revolution Through Podcasting featuring Molly Ruland, Heartcast Media

About Molly Ruland: 

Molly Ruland has spent the last 20 years elevating and amplifying voices through community, art, music and culture. Heartcast Media was formed in 2018 to create a sustainable podcast production offering for businesses, brands, think tanks, and organizations with a message. She currently produces content for NATO, The Dept of Health, DC Gov, several podcasts for The Atlantic Council, and many more. Molly believes that “listening is the revolution” and she aspires to make the world a better place with intentional content. 

Guests Social Media Links: 

Website: https://www.heartcastmedia.com/  

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heartcastmedia/  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heartcastmediadc/   

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeartcastMedia   

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartcastmedia/   

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcCfuiqNu9ZqWMGjMEV8ySA   

Email: info@heartcastmedia.com   

Show Resources: 

Ad Sales in the Packaged Goods Industry on The Rise 

One Love Massive is a multimedia platform and cultural hub for all things creative in the DMV. We are a booking agency, marketing firm, production company and talent collective all housed in a 3 story building across the street from the Historic Howard Theatre where we have a podcast studio, recording studio and a live music stage. 

Go-go is a popular music subgenre associated with funk originating in the Washington, D.C., area during the mid-60s to late-70s which remains popular in the Washington metropolitan area as a uniquely regional music style. It became the official music of the city in 2020.  

The Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. 

Pirate radio or a pirate radio station is a radio station that broadcasts without a valid license. In some cases, radio stations are considered legal where the signal is transmitted, but illegal where the signals are received—especially when the signals cross a national boundary.  

Frito-Lay is an American subsidiary of PepsiCo that manufactures, markets, and sells corn chips, potato chips, and other snack foods.  

Consumer packaged goods (CPG) are items used daily by average consumers that require routine replacement or replenishment, such as food, beverages, clothes, tobacco, makeup, and household products. 

TikTok, known in China as Douyin, is a video-sharing social networking service owned by Chinese company ByteDance. The social media platform is used to make a variety of short-form videos, from genres like dance, comedy, and education that have duration from 15 seconds to one minute. 

Black Lives Matter is a decentralized political and social movement protesting against incidents of police brutality and all racially motivated violence against black people. 

FreshBooks is accounting software operated by 2ndSite Inc. primarily for small and medium-sized businesses. It is a web-based software as a service model that can be accessed through a desktop or mobile device. The company was founded in 2003 and is based in Toronto, Canada. 

Mason Dixie Biscuit Co. was created in 2014 to provide fresh, fast, and affordable Southern comfort food to the masses. Our solution was perfecting the biscuit – making them with hormone-free dairy, real butter, and no preservatives. Through grassroots support, smart growth and investment, and growing demand, we also launched a CPG line of frozen biscuits in 2015 available nationwide and growing. 

Black Girl Ventures’ mission is to provide Black/Brown woman-identifying founders with access to community, capital, and capacity building in order to meet business milestones that lead to economic advancement through entrepreneurship. 

Diana Fryc

For Diana, a fierce determination to pursue what’s right is rooted in her DNA. The daughter of parents who endured unimaginable hardship before emigrating from Eastern Europe to the U.S., she is built for a higher purpose. Starting with an experience working with Jane Goodall to source sustainably made paper, she went on to a career helping Corporate America normalize the use of environmentally responsible products and materials before coming to Retail Voodoo.

Connect with Diana

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Compostable Packaging Is HOT featuring Kate Flynn, Sun & Swell Foods

May 24, 2021  |  an article by Diana Fryc

“Meeting the needs of the consumer and meeting the needs of the environment sometimes is tricky.” – Kate Flynn 

This week on the Gooder Podcast, I had the pleasure of talking with Kate Flynn, the founder and CEO of Sun & Swell Foods. We discuss the history of Sun & Swell Foods – one of the first food and snacking brands leading the way in the use of compostable packaging. We also learn about the evolvement of sustainable packaging and Kate’s leadership in driving this hot topic. Along the way, we learn the amazing journey of a passionate leader in creating more inclusive, accessible, and affordable real food products for all consumers. 

In this episode we learn: 

  • About the history and inspiration of Sun & Swell Foods. 
  • Sun & Swell’s brand transition from a traditional CPG brand to a direct-to-consumer brand. 
  • Kate’s journey from being a consultant in a firm focused on retail and consumer products to having a CPG brand herself.
  • The evolvement of compostable packaging technology.
  • How to create accessibility, affordability for mainstream consumers in the healthy food category.
  • The advice she finds herself consistently giving entrepreneurs who have family members or loved ones as their business partners.
Gooder Podcast

Compostable Packaging Is HOT featuring Kate Flynn, Sun & Swell Foods

About Kate Flynn: 

In 2017, Kate Flynn, and her husband and co-founder, Bryan Flynn, launched their natural food company, Sun & Swell Foods. Their mission is to make healthy and sustainable eating more accessible with their collection of sustainably-packaged, organic, plant-based pantry staples and snacks. Sun & Swell is the first food company in the US to offer a wide array of healthy foods in compostable, plastic-free packaging. 

With a background in business economics and nutrition and a penchant for creating her own healthy snacks, Kate brings a unique set of skills to Sun & Swell Foods.  Early on, she pursued her academic career at UC Santa Barbara and graduated with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School. Kate’s professional career included a consulting role as a brand strategist in the retail and consumer products space, where she focused on brand and growth strategy for various leading CPG brands. After spending nearly ten years in the consumer products world, she was looking to do something more purposeful and fulfilling that would positively impact the world. In 2017, Kate took a leap of faith to follow her real passion for health and wellness to start Sun & Swell Foods with Bryan.  

Leading up to this, Kate had switched to a more natural lifestyle, including eating only ‘whole foods.’ She realized that eating a whole food diet made her feel better, both physically and mentally, and realized that she wanted to keep eating this way. However, when she looked around for packaged foods to accommodate this new way of eating, she realized there were no options available. Most packaged foods are made with artificial ingredients and loaded with added sugars, preservatives, and flavors. This realization sparked an idea, and Sun & Swell Foods was born. 

When sourcing ingredients, Kate and her team buy organic ingredients as close to the source and farm as possible, seeking out small family farms. Sun & Swell is a Certified B-Corporation and a member of 1% for the Planet, donating 1% of the revenue to environmental non-profits addressing two areas the founders are deeply passionate about: regenerative farming and ocean health.  

When not running the company’s day-to-day, Kate loves frequenting Santa Barbara’s local farmers’ markets and beaches and spending time with her husband and newborn daughter, Leila. Kate is also a Certified Culinary Nutrition Expert. 

Guests Social Media Links: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-flynn-15187726/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kateflynn1/?hl=en 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sunandswellfoods/ 

Website: https://sunandswellfoods.com/ 

Show Resources: 

Certified B Corporations are a new kind of business that balances purpose and profit. They are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community and the environment. This is a community of leaders, driving a global movement of people using business as a force for good. 

Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org including 1 billion people in more than 193 countries. 

Kurt Salmon was a global management and strategy consulting firm formed by the merger of Ineum Consulting and Kurt Salmon Associates in January 2011. 

Accenture plc is an Irish-domiciled multinational company that provides consulting and processing services. A Fortune Global 500 company, it reported revenues of $44.33 billion in 2020 and had 537,000 employees. In 2015, the company had about 150,000 employees in India, 48,000 in the US, and 50,000 in the Philippines. 

Clif Bar & Company is an American company that produces energy foods and drinks. The company’s flagship product, CLIF Bar, was created by Gary Erickson and Lisa Thomas. The company is based in Emeryville, California, and is privately held. 

Trader Joe’s is a German-owned chain of grocery stores in the United States headquartered in Monrovia, California. By 2015, it was a competitor in “fresh format” grocery stores in the United States. By November 2019, Trader Joe’s had over 503 stores nationwide in 42 states and Washington, D.C. 

For over 50 years, ECOS’ mission has been to protect the health & wellness of people, pets, & the planet with sustainable & affordable cleaning products. 

Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. 

Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores. As of 2020, Costco was the fifth largest retailer in the world and the world’s largest retailer of choice and prime beef, organic foods, rotisserie chicken, and wine as of 2016. 

The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the United States’ largest supermarket by revenue, and the second-largest general retailer. 

The United States Food and Drug Administration is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. 

In 2009, Tory Burch launched the Tory Burch Foundation to advance women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship in the United States by providing access to capital, education and digital resources, as well as a Fellowship program. 

Tea Drops are organic whole leaf tea shaped into fun drops that melt into finely ground plant fibre. 

Peloton Interactive, Inc. is an American exercise equipment and media company based in New York City. It was founded in 2012 by John Foley and launched with help from a Kickstarter funding campaign in 2013.

Diana Fryc

For Diana, a fierce determination to pursue what’s right is rooted in her DNA. The daughter of parents who endured unimaginable hardship before emigrating from Eastern Europe to the U.S., she is built for a higher purpose. Starting with an experience working with Jane Goodall to source sustainably made paper, she went on to a career helping Corporate America normalize the use of environmentally responsible products and materials before coming to Retail Voodoo.

Connect with Diana

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Pioneering the New Tea Culture in America featuring Sashee Chandran, Tea Drops

May 13, 2021  |  an article by Diana Fryc

Gooder Podcast featuring Sashee Chandran

“Luck is hard work and opportunity meeting.” – Sashee Chandran 

This week on the Gooder Podcast, I had the pleasure of talking with Sashee Chandran, the founder, and CEO of Tea Drops. We discuss the historical colonial influence in American tea culture and how her diverse background has encouraged her to create something new: Tea Drops. We also learn about the tea category shaking innovation of Tea Drops’ products and some of the trends her brand is leveraging. Along the way, we get to hear the inspirational story of a diligent and humble entrepreneur who transforms the traditional way of enjoying tea. 

In this episode we learn: 

  • About the history and inspiration of Tea Drops. 
  • The surprising A-ha moment of her product idea. 
  • About her go-to-market alternate channel strategy, and why it worked.
  • Where Sashee’s passion and drive for risk-taking come from.
  • What Tea Drop’s give-back program has been doing to tackle the global water crisis.
  • Diana and Sashee’s personal stories about their love for tea and how tea has helped them connect to their loved ones. 
Gooder Podcast

Pioneering the New Tea Culture in America featuring Sashee Chandran, Tea Drops

About Sashee Chandran: 

Sashee Chandran is the founder and CEO of Tea Drops, which creates bagless whole leaf teas using a patented process — shedding about 15% less waste than traditional teabag packaging. Tea Drops has become a favorite among new and experienced tea drinkers alike, launching innovative tea experiences that merge flavorful blends, food art, and edgy design. Tea Drops an omnichannel brand, selling D2C and also available in 1,500 retailers — loved by Oprah Magazine, Chrissy Teigen, and former first lady Michelle Obama. Sashee is a 1st Place $20K Women Founders Network pitch winner, 1st Place $100K Tory Burch Fellow Grant winner, and the 1st place $50K PepsiCo WomanMade Challenge winner. She has also raised over $3.5M in VC funding for Tea Drops. 

Guests Social Media Links: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sasheechandran/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sasheechandran/?hl=en 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sasheec 

Email: sashee@myteadrop.com 

Website: https://www.myteadrop.com/ 

Show Resources: 

Loose leaf tea is tea that does not come pre-packaged in tea bags. Because the leaves are not crammed into a tea bag, the tea maintains a higher quality and aroma while offering the best possible health benefits. 

eBay Inc. is an American multinational e-commerce corporation based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995, and became a notable success story of the dot-com bubble.  

Bubble tea is a tea-based drink that originated in Taiwan in the early 1980s. It most commonly consists of tea accompanied by chewy tapioca balls, but it can be made with other toppings as well. 

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce that issues patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions, and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification. 

Tory Burch Foundation competition Designed to provide women entrepreneurs with the tools and platform necessary to grow their business. 

8Greens is an effervescent dietary supplement tablet, packed with enough superfoods to give your healthy diet a green boost.  

United Natural Foods, Inc. is a Providence, R.I.-based natural and organic food company. It is the largest publicly traded wholesale distributor of health and specialty food in the United States and Canada. UNFI is Whole Foods Market’s main supplier, with their traffic making up over a third of its revenue in 2018. 

Nordstrom, Inc. is an American luxury department store chain. Founded in 1901 by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin, it originated as a shoe store and evolved into a full-line retailer with departments for clothing, footwear, handbags, jewelry, accessories, cosmetics, and fragrances.  

Neiman Marcus Group, Inc., originally Neiman-Marcus, is an American chain of luxury department stores owned by the Neiman Marcus Group, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. 

The Thirst Project is a non-profit organization whose aim is to bring safe drinking water to communities around the world where it is not immediately available. The Thirst Project collects money and builds wells all across the continent of Africa where villages do not have immediate drinking water.

Diana Fryc

For Diana, a fierce determination to pursue what’s right is rooted in her DNA. The daughter of parents who endured unimaginable hardship before emigrating from Eastern Europe to the U.S., she is built for a higher purpose. Starting with an experience working with Jane Goodall to source sustainably made paper, she went on to a career helping Corporate America normalize the use of environmentally responsible products and materials before coming to Retail Voodoo.

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The Retail Perch: Interview with Diana Fryc of Retail Voodoo

May 3, 2021  |  an article by Diana Fryc

This week on The Retail Perch, Gary and Shekar interview Diana Fryc, partner, and chief sales and marketing officer of Retail Voodoo. Diana and her team are dedicated to building, growing, and developing wellness brands and naturals. She shares her passion for naturals as well as her insights into how this category has developed and changed over the years. Diana is also a champion of the women and minorities who were responsible for nurturing natural products in their infancy, but who are now being displaced in some cases.

Diana Fryc

For Diana, a fierce determination to pursue what’s right is rooted in her DNA. The daughter of parents who endured unimaginable hardship before emigrating from Eastern Europe to the U.S., she is built for a higher purpose. Starting with an experience working with Jane Goodall to source sustainably made paper, she went on to a career helping Corporate America normalize the use of environmentally responsible products and materials before coming to Retail Voodoo.

Connect with Diana

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The Evolution of The Natural Products Industry and The Acceleration of Better-For-You Products’ Consumption featuring Cynthia Tice, Lily’s Sweets

April 29, 2021  |  an article by Diana Fryc

Gooder Podcast featuring Cynthia Tice

“Better-for-you Foods was here to stay, and more consumers wanted it, but that required education.” – Cynthia Tice

This week on the Gooder Podcast, I had the pleasure of talking with Cynthia Tice, the Founder of Lily’s Sweets. We discuss the history of Lily’s Sweets – a leader in the no added sugar movement. We also learn about the history of the naturals industry and some trends that have come up in the natural products industry and Better-For-You brands. Along the way, we learn the extraordinary journey of a passionate leader in finding and building a creative naturals community through Lily’s Sweets. 

In this episode we learn: 

  • The legacy and history of Lily’s Sweets. 
  • Cynthia’s journey of dispelling myths around using naturals products throughout her career. 
  • How the pandemic has given consumers a reset moment to reevaluate health and consumption habits. 
  • The evolvement of the natural products industry and accessibility to naturals/Better-For-You products.
  • About Cynthia’s emphasis on leadership, mentorship, and the importance of creating a collaborative culture.
  • How a do-it-yourself mentality is a strength and (sometimes) a challenge for entrepreneurs.
  • The advice she finds herself consistently giving entrepreneurs who have been approaching a professional transition. 
Gooder Podcast

The Evolution of The Natural Products Industry and The Acceleration of Better-For-You Products’ Consumption featuring Cynthia Tice, Lily’s Sweets

About Cynthia Tice: 

Cynthia Tice got her start in the natural foods industry before green juice was cool. She opened a natural foods grocery store, Center Foods, in Philadelphia in 1978, and owned and operated that store for 20 years. As supermarkets realized the staying power of natural and organic foods, Tice began consulting retailers on how to launch or build out their natural and organic offerings. She also began advising brands looking to launch natural and organic products. While working with a client who wanted to launch a natural soda, Tice became aware of the opportunity for naturally sweetened, no added sugar foods. This trend was emerging because of growing consumer sentiments to limit sugar, along with all time high levels of distrust of non-nutritive artificial sweeteners. 

As a long-time user of stevia, when the ingredient was granted GRAS status in 2008, Tice began experimenting with making chocolate with stevia to satisfy her own need for a no added sugar chocolate (her favorite food) that she could eat daily. In 2011, the recipe was perfected using not only stevia, but also the finest Fair Trade, additive-free, and Non-GMO other ingredients in order to benefit both people and planet. By 2012, Lily’s Sweets was on shelves in Whole Foods stores nationwide. Today, Lily’s Sweets remains a leader in the no added sugar movement through continued innovation, and the company’s chocolates and confections can be found in more than 24,000 stores nationwide. Lily’s Sweets has been recognized by Forbes as a, “mission-driven company reinventing the packaged food industry.” 

Cynthia stepped away from the daily running of Lily’s in 2018, and spends her time working with Non-Profits, and mentoring young entrepreneurs.  She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Dennis, of 30+ years, near her parents, her children, and their spouses/partners, and four family dogs! 

Guests Social Media Links: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-tice-4a87a648/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LilysSweets/?ref=page_internal 

Website: https://lilys.com/ 

Show Resources: 

Stevia is a natural sweetener and sugar substitute derived from the leaves of the plant species Stevia rebaudiana, native to Brazil and Paraguay. The active compounds are steviol glycosides, which have 30 to 150 times the sweetness of sugar, are heat-stable, pH-stable, and not fermentable. 

Alar Scare – In early 1989, the NRDC released a report on Alar, a chemical used to harvest apples. The report estimated that Alar caused cancer and children were at greater risk. 

Mothers & Others, a campaign that rallied concerned citizens who supported NRDC in the fight for tougher pesticide residue standards, standards that—thanks to a law passed 10 years later—would protect particularly vulnerable subpopulations such as infants and young children. 

FMI Corporation For over 65 years, FMI has been the leading management consulting and investment banking* firm dedicated exclusively to engineering and construction, infrastructure, and the built environment. 

Campaign to label GMOs: Using the hashtag #ConcealOrReveal, the campaign reached over 28 million people through social media. In addition to mobilizing American consumers around GMO labeling, Just Label It! won support from many food companies it targeted.  

Wegmans Food Markets, Inc., is a privately held American supermarket chain; it is headquartered in Gates, New York. As of March 2021, Wegmans has 105 stores in the mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions.  

Acme Markets Inc. is a supermarket chain operating 163 stores throughout Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania and, as of 1999, is a subsidiary of Albertsons, and part of its presence in the Northeast. 

VMG  is an organization comprised of diverse people and points of view, and we are aligned in our mission to challenge the status quo. We encourage everyone in our ecosystem to cultivate a safe space in your communities and to operate with compassion and empathy. 

Maxlove Project is an innovative, parent-driven, volunteer-powered, grassroots nonprofit organization founded to help SuperKids thrive against cancer and related life-threatening illnesses with integrative medicine and “Fierce Foods” anticancer nutrition. 

The Family Thrive delivers strategies, tools, and experts that help families create joyful, meaningful, thriving lives.

Diana Fryc

For Diana, a fierce determination to pursue what’s right is rooted in her DNA. The daughter of parents who endured unimaginable hardship before emigrating from Eastern Europe to the U.S., she is built for a higher purpose. Starting with an experience working with Jane Goodall to source sustainably made paper, she went on to a career helping Corporate America normalize the use of environmentally responsible products and materials before coming to Retail Voodoo.

Connect with Diana

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The Evolvement of Supplements Industry featuring April Siler, 8Greens

April 23, 2021  |  an article by Diana Fryc

Gooder Podcast featuring April Siler

“The pandemic was everybody’s chief digital officer accelerant.”– April Siler 

This week on the Gooder Podcast I had the pleasure of talking with April Siler, the CEO at 8Greens. We discuss the history of 8Greens and how their product first entered into consumer’s visibility. We also learn about the trends that have come up in the supplements industry, accelerated due to the pandemic. Along the way, we learn the story of an experienced brand builder who incorporates the lessons that she learned as a professional athlete into the corporate world and running a business. 

In this episode we learn: 

  • The legacy of 8Greens and the taste innovation of their first product. 
  • How the supplements industry has shifted and been impacted by the pandemic. 
  • How, as a supplement brand, 8Greens leveraged an alt-channel strategy on the front end of the beauty supplement trend to become a dominant player in this growing consumer category. 
  • About April’s emphasis on diversity, inclusion, and the importance of creating a collaborative culture.
  • How marketing and creative experience in a CEO role produces a different organizational growth mindset than that of a traditional MBA approach.
  • The advice she finds herself consistently giving Gen Z mentees.
Gooder Podcast

The Evolvement of Supplements Industry featuring April Siler, 8Greens

About April Siler: 

April Siler, the CEO of 8Greens, is a globally experienced brand builder specializing in driving health and wellness innovation. 8Greens, a digitally native brand, is experiencing triple digit growth by delivering exactly what consumers are seeking in this moment, an easy and convenient way to build immunity and boost overall health. 

Prior to joining 8Greens April was the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Global Development for Califia Farms. During Califia’s most intensive 3-year growth period April spearheaded all USA marketing in addition to executing all operational aspects of the brand’s internationalization. April previously led marketing and sales at The Chia Co. From the brand’s creative inception through to development of a world first innovation – Chia Pod, where April partnered with world champion surfer Kelly Slater for brand communications. 

April also led marketing initiatives for Australia’s largest food and beverage packaging manufacturer, Visy, a $6.7bn privately held company. At Visy, she developed packaging innovation for the top ten accounts — including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Fosters, Diageo — and developed the company’s consumer insights platform. 

April has a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Marketing and Economics, from Monash University in Melbourne. April played professional basketball in Australia and Europe, rowed for Melbourne University Boat Club and has a passion for nutritious foods. 

Guests Social Media Links: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/april-siler-b8790711/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/april_siler/?hl=en 

Website: https://8greens.com/ ; https://thechiaco.com/au/ 

Show Resources: 

At Califia Farms, we’re all about creating delicious, plant-powered foods with natural ingredients. Because we believe the world needs a healthier food system. 

8Greens is an effervescent dietary supplement tablet, packed with enough superfoods to give your healthy diet a green boost. 

The Chia Co  are the largest producers of Chia seed in the world. Founder and CEO John Foss, discovered the benefits of Chia while researching natural solutions to modern diet related diseases such as obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol. 

Amazon.com, Inc. is an American multinational technology company based in Seattle, Washington, which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. 

A dot-com company, or simply a dot-com, is a company that does most of its business on the Internet, usually through a website on the World Wide Web that uses the popular top-level domain “.com”.  

Nordstrom, Inc. is an American luxury department store chain. Founded in 1901 by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin, it originated as a shoe store and evolved into a full-line retailer with departments for clothing, footwear, handbags, jewelry, accessories, cosmetics, and fragrances.  

Bluemercury.com is a leading luxury beauty retailer offering the best cosmetics, skincare, makeup, perfume, hair, and bath and body.  

Goop is a wellness and lifestyle brand and company founded by actress Gwyneth Paltrow. Launched in September 2008, Goop started out as a weekly e-mail newsletter providing new-age advice, such as “police your thoughts” and “eliminate white foods”, and the slogan “Nourish the Inner Aspect.”  

Target Corporation is an American retail corporation. The eighth-largest retailer in the United States, it is a component of the S&P 500 Index. Its largest competitors, Walmart and Amazon.com, are the first and second-largest retailers, respectively.  

Slack is a proprietary business communication platform developed by American software company Slack Technologies. Slack offers many IRC-style features, including persistent chat rooms organized by topic, private groups, and direct messaging 

Bluestone Lane is an Australian cafe lifestyle in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, D.C., Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Toronto. 

Rosé Water is a refreshing combination of pure, sparkling water blended with dry rosé wine, produced in the heart of Bordeaux, France. Based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Produced by Boutique Beverage Company, LLC. 

SodaStream International Ltd. is an Israel-based manufacturing company best known as the maker of the consumer home carbonation product of the same name. The soda machine, like a soda syphon, carbonates water by adding carbon dioxide from a pressurized cylinder to create soda water to drink.

Diana Fryc

For Diana, a fierce determination to pursue what’s right is rooted in her DNA. The daughter of parents who endured unimaginable hardship before emigrating from Eastern Europe to the U.S., she is built for a higher purpose. Starting with an experience working with Jane Goodall to source sustainably made paper, she went on to a career helping Corporate America normalize the use of environmentally responsible products and materials before coming to Retail Voodoo.

Connect with Diana

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Integrate & Ignite’s Podcast: The Seven Marketing Must-Haves to Creating a Successful Brand Eco-System with David Lemley of Retail Voodoo

April 7, 2021  |  an article by David Lemley

“When a brand gets clear on why they exist and what kind of contribution they want to make to society, that automatically puts them into the better-for-you space.”

David Lemley is a brand strategist with a strong history in restoring growth to declining brands, developing new brands, and accelerating growth on established brands. He is the president and head of brand strategy for Retail Voodoo, a firm that helps specialty food and beverage brands address their toughest growth challenges. David focuses on the growing Better-For-You category and has worked with big brands like Starbucks and REI and Kind Bars to name a few. He loves nothing more than to dig in deep to figure out what it takes to build a strong and lasting brand. His expertise in brand strategy, innovation, consumer markets, and consumer behavior builds brand awareness and equity.

Listen & Learn:

  • Defining what makes a Better-For-You brand.
  • His philosophy for making your competitors irrelevant through positioning.
  • The differences between making assumptions versus implementing strategies when marketing better-for-you brands.
  • The importance of figuring out your brand’s mind, body, and spirit.
  • Creating “impressive brand storytelling.”

LISTEN HERE

David Lemley

David was two decades into a design career with a wall full of shiny awards and a portfolio of clients including Nordstrom, Starbucks, Nintendo, and REI. His rocket trajectory veered when his oldest child faced a health challenge of indeterminate origin. Hundreds of research hours later, David identified food allergy as the issue and convinced skeptical medical professionals caring for his child. Since that experience, David and Retail Voodoo have been on a mission to create a cleaner, healthier, more sustainable food system for all.

Connect with David

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