Diana Fryc:
Here’s a quick disclaimer. The views, statements and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers. The statements are not intended to be product claims or medical advice. Hi, Diana Fright here. I’m the host of the Gooder podcast, where I get to talk with the powerhouse women in the food, beverage and wellness categories about their journeys to success and their insights on the industry. This episode is brought to you by Retail Voodoo. Retail Voodoo is a brand development firm. Our clients include Starbucks, Kind, Rei, PepsiCo, Hikey, and many other market leaders. We provide strategic brand and design services for leading brands in the food, wellness, beverage and fitness industries. If your goal is to increase market share, drive growth, or disrupt the marketplace with new and innovative ideas, give us a call in. Let’s talk, or you can visit us@retailvoodoo.com. Well, I’m going to say I’m very excited to chat with our guests today. Let me give you a little bit of background on who this is. So, Beatrice Dixon is the CEO, co-founder and chief innovation officer of The Honeypot Company, the Vulva and vaginal wellness brand made by humans with vaginas. For humans with vaginas. Thank you, ma’am. I love that. Before founding The Honey Pot Company, b worked as a pharmacy technician and employee at Whole Foods, where her experiences helped her realize the position within the intersection of science and wellness. The Honey Pot Company sits there today. Unlike other mass market and conventional feminine care brands, consumers are able to get all their plant derived feminine care needs met under one brand. As the Honeypot Company currently offers feminine washes, wipes, tampon pads, and products for vaginal, health and wellness. Today the Honeypot Company’s products can be found in 4.6 million U.S. Homes and retailers nationwide. Since founding The Honeypot Company, Beatrice has been recognized by many people. We would be here for days if I listed off all of the accolades. So what we’ll say is she is awesome, she knows innovation, and we’re going to talk about some excellent stuff today. All right. You are a busy woman.
Beatrice Dixon:
Hello.
Diana Fryc:
Welcome. Okay, well, I have to say, I’m a big fan of your brand. I remember going to the first natural products Expo that I think that you were at. It was Little we little ten x ten foot booth, perimeter wall. I think Linda was there, and it feels like one hundred years ago. But my friends and I in the CPG industry have been following you all along, and your growth has been awesome and really honored to spend time with you today. Let’s start at the beginning. For those people who don’t know who the Honeypot is, what is your brand and what does it stand for?
Beatrice Dixon:
Our brand stands for Humans with Vaginas all day, every day. That is, like, our purpose on this planet. So Honey Pie is really here to serve humans with Vaginas. Right. I feel like that is like what we came here to do. Right?
Diana Fryc:
Yeah.
Beatrice Dixon:
Eventually, we will serve all humans. Right. And even now, there’s humans that don’t have vaginas that use our products. But we’re here really to serve humans with vaginas, to help them understand that they don’t have to be ashamed. Right. To help them understand that it’s important that a brand like ours provides education. It’s important that we provide clinical, scientific data. It’s important that we make really beautiful, efficacious products. Right. It’s important that we say the things that people are afraid to say. Right. And I think that these are the things that make us different and kind of help us to stand out from the rest. Because talk about the things that aren’t popular to talk about, right?
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
The reason why I started the brand and why we started the brand was because of a bacterial vaginosis infection that I had. And my grandmother came to me in a dream and told me what to do to fix it after a year of having it.
Diana Fryc:
Oh, my goodness.
Beatrice Dixon:
So when you go through something like that, but then when something is beautiful as an ancestor coming to you in a dream and telling you what to do, our brand ethos really has to align to those things because that’s really what is what we do. We’re here to do a lot, but at the brass tax of it, we are here to serve humanity, and we’re here to serve humans that have vaginas, especially those that are underserved. Right.
Diana Fryc:
Thank you.
Beatrice Dixon:
And really, when you think about that, yes. Black women, Latin women are some of the most underserved humans on the planet. Right. But when you think about women in general right. I’m saying women should not count those out who don’t identify as that, but when you think about women’s history and women’s rights and you think about what we had to do to get to where we are today, yes. I think that all humans that have vaginas are an underserved community. And so it’s not just about race. It’s not just about those humans that are LGBTQ. Plus, we’re here for them, too. Right. We’re just here for humans.
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
And I’m really grateful.
Diana Fryc:
Well, what I love about your brand is we’re talking about this shame component. Women in general have been shamed for size, for the way our bodies work. What was great about the honeypot coming onto the scene was we’ve been sold this bill of goods about using these very intense products on our body that were really not good for us in any way, shape, or form. In fact, sometimes they were creating even more of a problem, which might have been part of your situation or not. Some of it is diet related. Some of it is just the way our bodies work. And so they’ve given us all of these washes and chemicals and things to make us smell better, be skinnier, have bigger hair, all these things, and Honeypot came and said, you don’t have to go that way. Let’s use what the earth is giving us and create products that are healthier for the bodies. But then along that way, there was a story that you guys were telling about having pride in your body, the way you look, and that was such a new story to hear and see. And I really love that Honey Pot is continuing down that path that this is all about inclusivity. We’re all different and we all work different ways to end a story.
Beatrice Dixon:
And the thing is, we’re all different, but then in a lot of ways, we’re all the same. There’s a lot of biases that happen within certain spaces. Right. When you think about obstetrics and gynecology, it was written in books that black women were stronger. Right. And so our pain isn’t recognized in a way where a white woman can be in the next room and be complaining about the same issues. But I’m sure that there are humans and I’m sure that there are white women. I’m sure that there are Asian women. I’m sure that there are all types of women who have actually died giving birth.
Diana Fryc:
Oh, yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
Right. It’s not just like it’s happening more in the black community. It’s more prevalent.
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
Right. We wouldn’t be respectful to those humans that are going through that just if you took race out of the picture. Right. We have to understand that we’re all going through the same shit all the time, right? Yes. And so I think one of the really beautiful things about what we do is that we just want to answer the call in general, we want to pay attention to the statistics. We want to shed light where there’s darkness. Right?
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
Those things are very important. But at the end of the day, vaginas and the vaginal PH needs to be between 3.5 and 4.5, right?
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
When that is off, it doesn’t matter what color your skin is or where you come from or what your culture is or any of those things that are off, then that creates an environment. And so that’s where our products come in because they’re very proactive.
Diana Fryc:
Right.
Beatrice Dixon:
They’re not just for the person who’s dealing with them, they’re not just for a person who has something wrong going on. They’re actually just really beautiful skincare that help to keep you in alignment, help to keep your PH together, and help you to be proactive about your health. It’s the same as using really beautiful skincare. Really beautiful skincare on your body, on your face, using clean toothpaste when you brush your teeth. You want to look at this the same way.
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
But there’s so much about us that are the same than there is about us that are different.
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
I think that that’s another thing that we stand for and that we like to make sure that we shed light on because that’s a very real thing.
Diana Fryc:
Agreed. I mean, about seventeen things that we could peel apart there and talk about. But going down this direction because I’m seeing this kind of conversation that we’re talking about today is self care. And I’m going to lead us down this initiative, you and the honey pot. And I’m separating you guys out because I want to recognize that you are your own person. The honey pot is an entity. But I’m looking at you and the honey pot and all of the folks that you’re working with and these are leveraging your network and developing a platform centered around the self care that we’re talking about. This campaign is called Reclaiming Wellness and it’s a campaign to celebrate Black History Month. But it’s also a campaign designed around finding joy in self care. Like, we do not have to labor over this. Let’s have a little fun. Let’s enjoy ourselves and use it as a way to fight the legacy of medical racism, which is very real and there’s a lot to impact what I just said here. And I’m not sure that everybody in the podcast that’s listening right now, the audience knows what that means, this unpacking and medical racism and how self-care can fight against that. Can you share your thoughts about what you’re working on around this campaign and what’s important for people to understand?
Beatrice Dixon:
I think one of the main things we’ve been doing is the HBCU college tour. I’ve just been talking to experts, right? Whether they are psychotherapists, whether they are writers. We had an herbalist, a doula, some really beautiful humans that have taken time out of their schedule and a lot of them have flown into where we are but have been having some really beautiful conversations. And one of the things that I love about the theme that’s been like a through line between all of the stops that I’ve made is that self-care doesn’t have to cost you money.
Diana Fryc:
No.
Beatrice Dixon:
Right. This is something of a small act of self care that I’m trying to do for myself, right? Even if I can just get five minutes between a call where I can just sit down and be quiet or as simple as drinking a glass of water. Or as simple as saying something nice to yourself, right? Saying taking a bath. It doesn’t necessarily have to be that you need to go out and do a yoga class and you need to go to a great meditation class and you have to go to the spa and they need to do all these expensive treatments on you or to go get your vagina steam. All those things are beautiful acts of self care, but self care doesn’t have to cost you a dime.
Diana Fryc:
No.
Beatrice Dixon:
Some of the bigger acts of self care are paying attention to yourself. How are you thinking, right? What like, who are the people that you hang out? What kind of food are you putting in your mouth, right?
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
Are you cleaning up your house?
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
Right. Do you have an organized space? Yes. These are the acts of self care that somehow get glazed over. For me, that’s where the real self care is. Like, what does my space look like? Right. Do my plants have water? You understand what I’m saying?
Diana Fryc:
I do.
Beatrice Dixon:
Absolutely. Is my place organized? What does the feng shui feel like here? What does it smell like? Is it clean?
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
Whether you live in a mansion or if you live in a shoebox, keeping your life and your things in order is the largest act of self care, because when things are in order, then you can think about what you need to do for yourself. Yes. I think that when it comes to reclaiming wellness, especially in the black community, we haven’t necessarily always been in the conversation. Right. Yeah. Because throughout the years, we have been the ones that have curated or created the circumstances for others to have self care.
Diana Fryc:
Right. Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
Our strengths and how we hold things and how we carry things and the burden hold, and we don’t have to necessarily do that shit all the time. We don’t have to be the bearers. Right. We can literally take a moment and take a beat and take a break and be like, you know what? That’s none of my business. I’m going to just sit over here. And then two, when you think about African tradition, all of the self care mechanisms that are a part of that, which are very beautiful. Right. Honoring our oceans, honoring our rivers, honoring our lightning, honoring our wind. When you think about those things and how all of that comes together, it’s a really beautiful thing. And I think that it’s really important that we spend the time talking about these things. And when you think about medical racism, we definitely haven’t been having a conversation, right?
Diana Fryc:
No.
Beatrice Dixon:
What are the ways that you can actually reclaim your wellness? When do you go to the doctor?
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
Right. Like, are you walking into the doctor with a list of all the things that you want to talk about?
Diana Fryc:
Right.
Beatrice Dixon:
If your doctor isn’t hearing you and doesn’t really respect and honor whatever you’re going through, whether it be painful, whether it be a disease or an infection or whatever, if they’re not giving you the respect that you deserve, you have the right to make a different choice. You have the right gut for yourself. Right? Yes. So these are all the things that when we think about reclaiming wellness, these are all the conversations that we’re having.
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
Because it’s important, and it’s really dope, because we’re going to Howard first. We did Clark. We did Howard. I just did review this week, next week, North Carolina A and T. But meeting these humans, these young people, and having these conversations, it’s really nice. And people are really engaged, and they want the information and they want to know. And these aren’t always the conversations that we’re having. Right. And so this Reclaiming Wellness thing for us is not a campaign.
Diana Fryc:
Okay.
Beatrice Dixon:
It’s an always on thing.
Diana Fryc:
Always on? Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
But we commemorate it in a big way with Black History Month.
Diana Fryc:
Oh, okay. I like that. Okay, so in the last year, I’ve had some friends who have gone through this medical journey. I’m just going to call it a journey where they had providers that were not listening, not caring, not understanding. And the women that I was talking to, they felt like they didn’t have a right to change because the medical establishment, they know that’s their job is to take care of me. We had many conversations where I said, if I was in your shoes, I’d be finding somebody else. You need to stand up for yourself. And so some of that is a little bit this is a small census. I’m talking about two or three friends that have gone through this. It’s not representative, but I feel like there’s a little bit of that possibly in what I’m hearing from you, where.
Beatrice Dixon:
It’S a lot of that. I remember my mom was in a car accident and she had to get surgery on her rotator cup. Sorry. Yeah. I mean, it happens. She’s okay. My mother lives very she’s well, but, like, what my mother had to do to get that doctor to give her a fucking X ray, right? I mean, she had to cuss the fucking excuse me for my bad language.
Diana Fryc:
Oh, that’s okay.
Beatrice Dixon:
She wasn’t belligerent, but she was like, Look, I am in pain.
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
This shit, and tell me what is wrong. I’m not for pain medicine. I’m here to figure out what’s wrong so I can get to the source of the problem so that I can be okay. Right. I know people who have menstrual conditions who bleed for almost a month, right, who bleed for 2030 days. And when they go in to talk to their doctor, it’s almost like their doctor is exhausted. It’s almost like they’re wasting his time. And it’s like, Bro, I’m the person that’s bleeding. Can you imagine bleeding for 2030 days? That’s crazy. But these are things that really happen. People that have endometriosis who are in extreme pain. Unfortunately, our systems have been set up to where if they see a certain pattern, well, that must be X, Y, and Z. Nothing about that pattern says, hey, well, maybe this person’s been in here every single month. They’re not requesting pain medicine or they’re not requesting this. Maybe I should actually just look and see what’s going on.
Diana Fryc:
Exactly.
Beatrice Dixon:
Right. And so it’s very interesting, but when you’ve had a society that’s been conditioned and built, whatever’s in the foundation is what’s going to come to light. And when you think about how when you think about the father of Gynecology and you think about how he did surgeries on his slaves without an ounce of anesthetic. Right. And he took those surgeries, took took that data from that science that he was gathering from humans that he saw as animals. Because even to me, you shouldn’t even treat an animal that way.
Diana Fryc:
No.
Beatrice Dixon:
He, you know, took and did those same surgeries that he did the practices on with his slaves and took and did that on white women and gave them medicine, gave them anesthesia, gave them the things that they needed. Because in his eyes, I don’t know if he saw them as weak. I can’t speak for him because I’m not him, but had enough dignity and respect for a race of humans because of their skin color. It’s ridiculous. And then wrote it in the books that black women had a higher tolerance of pain. No, we didn’t even have an opportunity to not have a higher tolerance. Exactly.
Diana Fryc:
Right. Excuse me. The other component is I have a dear friend who I want to say two years ago we were talking and she said, oh, I haven’t been to the doctor in several years. Why aren’t you going to the doctor? Well, they don’t listen to me. You’re in your mid forty s and you haven’t gone to the doctor in five years. What are you doing? She says, I don’t trust my doctor. I think I need to find a black daughter doctor. And I’m like, well, let’s go find you a black doctor. If you’re not getting what you need and you feel like you’re going to be better cared for by somebody who’s going to listen to you that you feel is going to guarantee and listen to you, let’s go do that. Can I tell you, she went in and a month later they had found precancerous tumors. Had she not gone in, where would we be? Here? Two years maybe without my friend, that.
Beatrice Dixon:
Happens more than you know.
Diana Fryc:
Oh, I believe it.
Beatrice Dixon:
It happens a lot. And the thing is, too let’s even just take the black part. Let’s take the race part out of the conversation. Diane a lot of people don’t go to the doctor because they fucking scared of what the doctor is going to say. I was the person that was afraid to go to the doctor because I was afraid of getting sick.
Diana Fryc:
Right.
Beatrice Dixon:
And I didn’t learn that from my mother, because if my mother gets a fucking scratch, she’s going to the doctor. And I didn’t learn that from her. It was a thing that I learned just I don’t know if I had trauma from going to a doctor and they made me feel a certain kind of way, I remember. But now this happened for a few years, and then I finally had to wake up. Because when you run a business, that when you run any business, it can take years off your life. But when you the point that I was trying to make earlier was just that I was afraid to go to the doctor because I didn’t want to get sick. But the thing is, when.
Diana Fryc:
Maybe
Beatrice Dixon:
I Started, really I mean, I’ve always paid attention to my health. I’ve always tried to eat well. Right. Like, I even with my crazy traveling and here in the last couple of years, I really started to pay attention to my mental health and my mental health. But when you are running a company, you have to understand the kind of stress that happens when you’re running a company that you don’t even know that it’s happening. You don’t even know that it exists.
Diana Fryc:
Right? Yeah.
Beatrice Dixon:
That kind of stress creates imbalances in your hormone, your insulin production.
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
In your cortisol level.
Diana Fryc:
Right.
Beatrice Dixon:
That kind of stress creates little monkey wrenches, which, if your body isn’t operating optimally, it wants to do this, but it’s trying to figure out what’s going on. It’s like a cog is missing out of the machine.
Diana Fryc:
Right.
Beatrice Dixon:
And if you don’t understand what is happening, you need to go to the doctor. If you’re having problems losing weight but you’re eating well and you’re exercising, if you are continuously getting infections and having PH problems and things like that, but you go to the doctor all the time, and they’re like, nothing’s wrong. Don’t just have them looking at your vagina. Right.
Diana Fryc:
Whole body. Right.
Beatrice Dixon:
This could be a hormonal issue, could be a food allergy issue. That’s hormonal issue that’s causing an insulin resistance issue that’s causing there’s so many ways that the shit can go without going to the doctor because you don’t trust or because you’re afraid of what you’re afraid it’s really doing you a disservice.
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
Right. We’re saying this, and this is just common sense, and it’s like, Duh, but at the same time.
Diana Fryc:
Go to the.
Beatrice Dixon:
Fucking doctor, see what I’m saying, and figure out what is happening with your body and if you have the resources if you have the resources about functional medicine. I didn’t even know that functional medicine was a thing, Diana. I didn’t even know really? I didn’t know that that was a thing. I just learned about that a couple of years ago. Me and Gwyneth are very close. And of course, when Gwyneth Paltrow is your friend, there’s a lot of shit that you’re going to learn about that you that’s true. Right. But I didn’t know that these things were options. I didn’t know that a functional doctor was just looking at me. They’re not comparing me to clinical studies that were probably done on humans that don’t have the same body makeup as me, don’t look like me, don’t have the ancestry that I do. Do you understand what I’m saying?
Diana Fryc:
I totally do.
Beatrice Dixon:
Unfortunately, a lot of times, functional medicine can be more expensive than going to traditional medical doctors. Right. And a functional medical doctor is still a doctor.
Diana Fryc:
Absolutely.
Beatrice Dixon:
They just understand both Eastern, Western, they consider medicine as medicine. And they’re looking at you and what you’ve got going on, and they’re trying to get to the cellular level of what you got going on. And I talk about this a lot because people just don’t even know that this is an option.
Diana Fryc:
Right?
Beatrice Dixon:
Even if your resources are tight, even if your finances are tight, that’s some shit to save up money for. You know what I’m saying?
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
We stash for clothes and shoes and shit that we want. Right? We stash for vacations and things that we want to do. Fuck that. Stash for your wellness.
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
Because you don’t want to turn 45. I’m about to do a colonoscopy. I just turned 40. You’re not technically supposed to do it until you’re 45. But I don’t wait till I’m 45.
Diana Fryc:
Yeah, I’d rather know now
Beatrice Dixon:
Because a lot of times, especially with those types of cancers, not that I’m calling that in, but a lot of times, if they find something like your friends found, they found precancerous cells, that’s some shit that they can take care of immediately. Have to think about it. Right? So laddering back to what you were originally talking about with reclaiming wellness, right? Whether you black, purple, green, white, whatever you are, pink, whatever you are, reclaim your wellness, man. Take care of yourself. Go to the doctor, right? Understand what’s going on with your body. Drink fucking water.
Diana Fryc:
Drink your water. Eat some water, please.
Beatrice Dixon:
Eat some blueberries, right? Eat a fucking apple, man. Right? Don’t fill your body up on things that are processed that aren’t real food.
Diana Fryc:
No junk.
Beatrice Dixon:
If you want to do that, do that shit on the weekend, but during the week, eat well. It’s insane how simple something is just that simple, just eating well. Even if you can’t eat organic.
Diana Fryc:
Right?
Beatrice Dixon:
Even if you can’t eat organic, even if you can’t eat non GMO, it still is better for you to eat as soon as possible, right?
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
I’m glad that we’re having. I thought we were going to be having a conversation about honey Pot, but, like, this is what this is what fuels me as an innovator, as a founder, as a wellness leader.
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
This is the shit that gets me excited. This is good. This is why honey pot does what it does. Because this is the kind of energy that we come from. We are wellness. We eat, live, and breathe that shit. When we have meetings in our office, we don’t have a bunch of shitty snacks sitting around. When you come, you’re going to have real food. There’s going to be fruit. There’s going to be water. You understand what I’m saying?
Diana Fryc:
I do.
Beatrice Dixon:
And so that has to start within our company. We have a person that’s like she’s like a life coach and a therapist.
Diana Fryc:
Okay.
Beatrice Dixon:
That’s one of our benefits. When we talk about being a wellness driven company, we’re not just saying that shit.
Diana Fryc:
We mean it.
Beatrice Dixon:
And we want to provide tools and access, and we want to do even better than what we’re able to do now. But the point is that I think, too, based on the company that you’re working at, right. For the people that are listening, sometimes there’s benefits that your company offers that you may not even know that they offer. Go check that out.
Diana Fryc:
You know what I mean?
Beatrice Dixon:
Because these are the things that we need to think about, in my opinion. These are the things that we need to think about on a daily basis. How do I take care of myself?
Diana Fryc:
Yes. Absolutely. And I will say it requires for the honeybot to be taken seriously and without losing its credibility. You’re doing the things that people are expecting you to do. Like if you were soda machines or junkie snacks, and then you have a platform of natural care and natural wellness disconnect. So it’s good for you. This is Walk the Walk talk to talk.
Beatrice Dixon:
Special by what we’re doing. Like, don’t get me wrong, I don’t see the things that we’re doing as anything special, but it’s just what you said, if we’re really about this shit, then we got to be about it. Because if it doesn’t sync up, it’s going to communicate somewhere.
Diana Fryc:
Yes, it will. Absolutely.
Beatrice Dixon:
Yeah. And I think that that is what we want to emanate through with our brand. Whether we’re talking to our customers, whether we’re making beautiful products, whether we’re doing clinical trials, whether we’re running a survey to understand what people want, whether we’re thinking about innovation. Doesn’t matter what we’re doing. Wellness is always at the foundation of that. Yes. And we want to be the person that holds space for humans to create that for themselves. Right. We want to give tools. That creates ways for you to think about your vagina in the most beautiful fucking way possible. Right. Because that’s your root. That’s like down there where the root chakra is.
Diana Fryc:
Absolutely.
Beatrice Dixon:
And that may be a little esoteric for people who don’t necessarily believe in that, but whether you believe in that or not, it still exists. Right? Yeah. All of these things are extremely important because being a vagina wellness brand, we have to be responsible with what we do because it’s too important of a body part. All body parts are important. This body part has not necessarily been served by the marketplace. This body part has not necessarily been served in society. This body part we have been conditioned to be ashamed of and to not talk about and to laugh when we say vagina and Vulcan and Labia and you understand what I’m saying?
Diana Fryc:
I do.
Beatrice Dixon:
And that shit has to change because everybody on the planet came here because of a penis and a fucking vagina.
Diana Fryc:
Yeah, well, it’s the beginning of life. Beginning of the universe. Exactly.
Beatrice Dixon:
And so it’s nothing to be ashamed of. And I’m just really happy that we’ve. Been able to. And I pray that we will continue to be able to create these types of conversations and opportunities and.
Diana Fryc:
Help people.
Beatrice Dixon:
To have really beautiful relationships with their bodies, no matter who they are, what they are, who they have sex with, how they see themselves. If you were born in a woman’s body but you see yourself as a man, or vice versa, or if you don’t want to go by any nomenclature of right, we just respect people to understand what they want for themselves. And we want to just create a moat between what you use on your skin and your body, like the things that you physically use, but also create a moat for love and kindness and humility, because all those things are important.
Diana Fryc:
Love this conversation. I’m intrigued by this inclusion of colleges and universities in this campaign that you’re doing. Typically, brands aren’t paying attention to this demographic much, but here you are leveraging their passion and their energy and their interest. Why colleges?
Beatrice Dixon:
I think that for us, it’s a simple way to meet the humans of that generation. It’s a simple way to come together.
Diana Fryc:
Because.
Beatrice Dixon:
This generation, you know, I always get mixed up with, like, Gen Z and all this stuff, but like yeah, in general, this generation, they are breaking generational curses left and right. They really are.
Diana Fryc:
Yeah.
Beatrice Dixon:
This is the time we want to meet humans when they’re young. Right. We want to meet humans when they’re preteen. But normally that’s typically happening with the parent.
Diana Fryc:
Yeah.
Beatrice Dixon:
And I think that that’s our everyday human, that’s our everyday customer.
Diana Fryc:
Okay.
Beatrice Dixon:
But when you’re meeting these humans in a university, this is like when they’re getting their life going, when they’re getting their life started. And this is the time when they’re on their own. So a lot of them are on their own for the first time. You understand what I’m saying?
Diana Fryc:
I do.
Beatrice Dixon:
And so it’s really beautiful because they’re understanding their body, they’re understanding their freedom. They may be living on campus and their parents may live somewhere else. And this is also the time where they can go into a bubble and feel more ashamed and not understand what’s happening with their body. Because some people have parents who have conversations with them and some don’t. So when you think about this fusing of liberation but also still coming with all the shit that you come with right. How do you fuse that liberation?
Diana Fryc:
With.
Beatrice Dixon:
Whatever it is that you came into the university and into this new liberated space with? I think that meeting these humans where they are, it really helps us to I think that it helps provide a level of education on how to deal with some of the issues that happen when you have a vagina right. And have a conversation in a safe space and make sure that you create the safe space right. And bring people that are experts in their field and create a reason for people to actually sit through a talk, but then create the reason and the space for them to actually come up to the mic and ask questions that are very hard to ask. Right? And so I think there’s probably way more reasons why the team wanted that to be the way. But it makes sense because it’s such a tender time when you’re in university. Yeah, it’s such a tender time. And a lot of these HBCUs aren’t given a lot of resources.
Diana Fryc:
Right.
Beatrice Dixon:
A lot of times. A lot of times their budgets may not have but then again, they do still have resources. But these are the kinds of conversations these young people need to be having. They need to understand what their options are. They need to understand how to take care of themselves. They need to understand that they don’t need to be ashamed. They need to understand that shit happens. Right. It’s natural. You’re a young person. Sex and all these things are very natural. But understand, you got to protect yourself, and you got to be you got to keep yourself clean and understand that age is normally the time, too, when you’re dealing with a lot of mental things. I think I gave a really long answer, but those are some of the reasons why.
Diana Fryc:
Yeah, well, I want to be able to say to people or the audience members that don’t know what HBCUs are, that’s historically black colleges and universities. So when you’re hearing that shorthand, that’s what we’re talking about here. Say, what does success look like for you when you’re doing this work?
Beatrice Dixon:
Just the opportunity to be able to do the work, to be honest. Just the fact that even there, even if even if even if 20 people came, we just did Prairie View University, and maybe there were 50 people, maybe there were 60 people in the room, right. Clark, Atlanta, and Howard, there were like 100 to 150 people in the room. Even if there was fucking two people there, it would have been successful because all things are in order, and whoever’s supposed to be in the room, be in the room, right? Me included, by the way, because the energy that is happening in that space isn’t because Honey Pot isn’t only because honey pot brought the energy and brought the event, but we’re all fusing and giving and flowing and ebbing and flowing to each other. We’re learning from these young people, too.
Diana Fryc:
Yes. You know what I’m saying?
Beatrice Dixon:
And so success for me is just giving the shit. Success for me in all fucking things is just having the opportunity. If an opportunity presents itself to me without ego, I can say, I can fucking sniff out an opportunity. Fucking bloodhound it comes to me because I’m open to it, and I’m grateful for the opportunity. Just give me an opportunity.
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
Give me a fucking inch, and I will make it into a mile.
Diana Fryc:
That’s how I yes, I am right with you.
Beatrice Dixon:
For me, that’s enough. It has nothing to do with money. It has nothing to do with what people would consider fame. It has nothing to do with anything, to be honest. But being grateful, my shit gratefulness. And that’s what success looks like to me, being able to constantly do these things, to constantly have these opportunities in these conversations. Even when shit gets hard.
Diana Fryc:
Yeah.
Beatrice Dixon:
Even when viral moments happen. You understand what I’m saying?
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
The opportunity that that presented because it happened. That shit needed to happen, because all things are always in order. Things are always in order. Yes, always in order. Nothing is ever out of order, even if the shit is terrible. Right. And so I think because that is what I honor.
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
Success looks good to me. Whatever life is showing me what success looks like for me is for me to be able to take the opportunity of whatever life is showing me and for me to be able to make lemonade.
Diana Fryc:
Yeah, I understand that. Somebody asked me one time, Why do you do this? Why are you doing this podcast? Said, I’m just a drip. I’m a drip in the sea. But those little concentric circles that go out at some point hey, look at that. At some point, if I change the reality for one person, that’s why I do it. That one person. Because maybe that one person only had me.
Beatrice Dixon:
Exactly. And maybe they could change something in your reality, too. Absolutely. None of what has happened with Honey Pot wasn’t because of another person believing in what we do. Our reality is based on other people. Right. And a little tiny fraction of a small part of it is because of us. I’m not saying that our small part isn’t a big part, because we actually are driven to make these products and to make this business and all the things, but people didn’t invest and believe in and trust what we were doing. None of this shit would happen. It takes absolutely. We are in a relationship together. It’s all of us right now, Diana, I’m in a relationship with you. Me and you are flowing off of each other. In order for your podcast to operate, you have to have people like me come on and have these conversations, right?
Diana Fryc:
Yes, ma’am.
Beatrice Dixon:
We have to have people that are willing to listen to the shit that me and you have to say, and then they’ll go tell their friends and their family to listen. So it keeps you here. Right. We all need each other badly. We cannot exist without one another.
Diana Fryc:
Agreed? Yeah, agreed. The greatest part of my career and I’ve been doing this business, not the podcast agency work, been doing it for years and years. My greatest joy has been meeting and talking with people like you. My learning has been astronomical in many ways. But I would say just meeting other people who are on their own journeys is pretty rad. I have so many other questions, but I also want to be aware of time. So I’m just going to ask one question completely off topic. Hopefully this might be a fun one for you. I like to ask everybody that I interview, what other woman that is a leader or a rising star out there that you would like to elevate for the work that they’re doing right now? Oh, man.
Beatrice Dixon:
I think, honestly, the first thing that comes to mind is my team. My team. We have a few men on the team.
Diana Fryc:
Your brother, love him. We have like ten men.
Beatrice Dixon:
Ten or twelve, but out of like, seventy two. And it wouldn’t just be the women on the team. I would shout out the men too. But Linda, who co founders, she isn’t necessarily working in the company as much as she did. But if she didn’t do what she did, we wouldn’t be where we are. Kelly, who’s also one of our co founders, she’s like my sister. She’s our chief sales officer. My brother, Sigh, of course, how could any of this happen if he wasn’t here, right. Ali, who’s our president, who makes it very easy for me, because at a certain time, when your company gets to a certain size I’ve never done this shit before. It’s my first time. At some point, you got to bring in somebody who knows how to take it.
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
You know what I mean?
Diana Fryc:
Yes.
Beatrice Dixon:
She was really able to take it. And elevate right at the business, like the business and the economics. Me and Sigh, we did a damn good job setting up the play and setting up the foundation. But Laura, who is our chief strategy and marketing officer, I’ve never met a brain like hers. You know what I mean? Giovana, who is our vice president of marketing, also never met a brain like her. Her devotion, I mean, a lot of what you see physically reclaiming wellness. The team that she put under her for social media, like desi with social media, insane. You know why? Because she has freedom. She can just say whatever the fuck you want to say because she’s a young person and she knows how to think how young people think, and she knows how to communicate. So we don’t feel for her. Right. Michelle, who is a fucking monster in operation, I’ve never met a human like her. And none of these people, by the way, none of them complain. Right? Tobias, who’s my niece and my Goddaughter, runs customer service. I mean, when the shit hit the fan, she was the person that was taking the grunt. She gets the complaint. When we had those viral moments and people had terrible things to say, she was the person who had to read that and consume that energy. I could probably mention other female founders that I love but I’d be remiss because this team is ridiculous. Jordan, who manages our PR? It’s Elisa from VMG. The people that make what we do possible. Yeah, those are the people that come to my mind, because that’s awesome. Because these are the people that work night and day to make sure that our products get delivered on time in full. That the economics of the company are intact, that we’re thinking at the highest level of strategy, that we’re considering our humans that buy our products in the most molecular ways, the things that the average mind just doesn’t think of. And I don’t mean average in a way to sound negative, but this team is absurdly good and I’m just really grateful. There’re so many other people that I didn’t mention, and if any of them are listening, please know that I love you and I’m devoted to you and I’m grateful for your service and your work and your contribution. Katie on our finance team, she’s been with us since we had Nickels to rub together, right? But she figured out how to make this shit work, you understand? To do what we do is really hard, Diana.
Diana Fryc:
I believe it.
Beatrice Dixon:
There’re beautiful moments, but it’s not sweet. You know what I mean? It’s hard and it’s fun and it’s amazing and it’s cool and it’s positive and it’s abundant and it’s all those things, but it’s a machine, I understand. And the people that have to run the machine, it takes a lot to run it because seventy people really isn’t a lot of people for where we are as a company. It’s really not a lot of people. We’re actually very small. That’s what I would say.
Diana Fryc:
Yeah. We work with a lot of founder owners. There’s an energy that is driving and it’s kind of I don’t know how to explain it. You did a pretty good job. Where it’s not that it’s fun, but we describe it as fun because there’s not a better word for it. So appreciate you and the work that you’re doing. The product in it of itself is fantastic, but the cultural change and the impact that you’re trying to make in community by leveraging this product, that’s something special.
Beatrice Dixon:
That’s actually exactly what we do. The product, it’s a mechanism for our real product is which is love and education.
Diana Fryc:
I get that.
Beatrice Dixon:
That’s really what we’re selling. But the dope shit is that we give that away for free. Yeah. The vehicle that we use for that is our product.
Diana Fryc:
I get that. Thank you, B. Really honored. Thank you for your time today. We’ve been talking with B Dixon, co founder, CEO, chief Innovation Officer with just clearly you could spend a weekend with her and still walk away with more days worth hearing and listening and believing. B, where can people learn more about you and what you’re up to?
Beatrice Dixon:
They can follow us at the Honey Pot. The Honeypot Co. That I don’t remember?
Diana Fryc:
Let’s see. I have it right here. Honeypot Co.
Beatrice Dixon:
They can follow us at the Honeypot Co. We’re online at the Honeypot co or you can put in honeypot.com yes, our products are sold definitely in a store near you. We’re in Walmart. Walgreens, CVS, Target & Kroger. We’re in a lot of natural food stores. But the best thing to do is to go to our website, the Honeypot Co. Go to our store Locator, and put in your zip code, and it will tell you the retailers that are close to you. And guess what? If you don’t want to do that, just order from the website.
Diana Fryc:
Absolutely.
Beatrice Dixon:
You can find me at I am beadixon B-E-A-D-I-X-O-N.
Diana Fryc:
Thank you. Thank you so much for your time today. I’m so honored to have spent this time with you, and I really look forward to seeing what you guys do next. Yes, and I want to thank the listeners, all you listeners, for your time today. If you like this episode, please share it with a friend. Otherwise, have a great day and we’ll catch you next time on the Gooder podcast
Produced by Heartcast Media.
