00:04On behalf of the Stanford Graduate School
of Business,
00:07I'd like to welcome you
to View From The Top.
00:09We are so excited to have you here.
00:12>> Thank you for having me.
00:13>> We have so much to learn from you here
at the GSB about your business Savy and
00:18your tenacity in building
a truly fantastic company.
00:21So I'd like to start today
with the origin of honest.
00:25So much of the company is built upon your
personal experience as a child with health
00:31challenges, and as a mom who struggled to
find products that were affordable and
00:36eco friendly for your own children.
00:38So can you tell us about how these
pain coins led you to developing
00:43a business solution?
00:47I think it really was for me,
00:55Filling a need and
finding a real opportunity to show up,
01:02not just for myself, but
for many people in a way.
01:08I think I was seeing that
companies that make products
01:13that really interact with
you every single day, and
01:17could have an effect on your health and
wellbeing over time.
01:23They just weren't really
considering I think,
01:27holistically your health and
wellness as the top priority.
01:33And for me, I just felt like our
health and wellness, like when you go
01:37through your life and you are thinking
of quality of life and thriving.
01:42And when your health is compromised,
and your health and
01:47wellness is compromised in any way,
shape or
01:50form [COUGH] it's really difficult to
then live a life where you can thrive and
01:56be happy [COUGH] and
live life to the fullest.
02:00So when I was a child,
and I was very sick and
02:03I was constantly reminded
that I wasn't like others.
02:08And I was isolated,
I had severe asthma and allergies.
02:14And every time I had
an allergy to something,
02:17it actually triggered my asthma, and
I was put in the hospital on steroids.
02:24I was in the hospital, I would say
at least three or four times a year,
02:29for a week to two weeks
doing steroid treatments and
02:33breathing treatments and
dealing with pneumonia and bronchitis.
02:38And every cold turned into pneumonia,
so it was just like a whole situation.
02:43[COUGH] But I wanted to play baseball and
soccer and be a normal kid.
02:48And so I would go on the soccer
field with a breathing machine.
02:51And I would have that next to me.
02:53I also had kidney issues and cysts and
02:58many different other
surgeries on top of that,
03:04and all of this before I was 11.
03:08So I just dealt with
a lot of health issues.
03:13And when I was pregnant
with my first daughter,
03:16about 13 years ago,
I had an allergic reaction and
03:20I had pretty much stayed away from
the things that were causing reactions.
03:25And I started to really create
sort of this subconsciously,
03:30the safe environment where
I wasn't exposed to a lot
03:33of the things that would
trigger my allergies or asthma.
03:38And then when I was pregnant with Honor,
I had an allergic reaction
03:44to a detergent that was marketed to
parents to use on their baby's clothing.
03:50And my mom said she used it on me and
I didn't know very many moms.
03:55And when I had this allergic reaction,
I got like a flood of
03:58the memories of me as a kid, and
having all of these health issues.
04:03And I was like, my god,
what if my baby is like me?
04:07What if she has these sort of issues, and
it really kind of shaped who I am and
04:14I think it builds character to
go through difficulties but
04:19it could be avoided, let's avoid them.
04:23I also was dealing with, sorry there's
a plane, they like planes over here.
04:35mother got cancer when she was,
I believe she was 23,
04:4022 or 23, and
had to have a full hysterectomy.
04:45And meaning she couldn't
have children any more.
04:48And her cancer was environmentally caused
because it was nothing genetically that
04:55So when I sort of looked, I like took
sort of a reflection on my childhood,
05:00my mom's health and wellness.
05:03Now I'm bringing this little
person into the world and
05:06thinking about quality of
life in a different way.
05:09I was told I wasn't allowed to eat deli
meats, and I couldn't use my retinol on
05:15my face because it could possibly affect
the baby and her health and wellness.
05:21So I started looking at ingredients and
thinking about my health differently and
05:26And I learned about lots of untested, and
05:29potentially harmful chemicals that we
use and are exposed to on the daily.
05:36And a lot of it is in beauty products,
hair, skin products,
05:42makeup products, fragrances,
home detergents.
05:47And so then I was like, my goodness every
every single day we're being exposed
05:51to all of these potentially harmful
chemicals, and we don't even know it, and
05:55we don't even know how
it's affecting our health.
05:58So then I was looking at,
I looked at data and
06:02was trying to understand the research
around the rise of illness.
06:08And there was a pretty parallel
path in the industrialization
06:13of these chemicals and then being put into
consumer products and beauty products.
06:21And that rise really
paralleled the rise of many
06:27illnesses that people
are dealing with from.
06:32Because they're hormone disruptors,
and they're endocrine disruptors.
06:35[COUGH] And they're linked to
things like various cancers,
06:41learning disabilities, and also
the way that it affects your hormones.
06:48It's basically giving your body steroids.
06:55And it really screws up your hormones,
men and women,
06:59the exposure to a lot of these chemicals.
07:02So, I was like how do we
not know about this, and
07:05how is this even allowed in this country,
07:09shouldn't there be a governing sort
of practice or rules or standards?
07:14And in the UK they actually make companies
test chemicals for safetybBefore they
07:20are even allowed to be brought into the
market place in personal care and beauty.
07:26And in this country, the way that the
system is set up is it has to be proven to
07:31kill enough people before they'll
even look into it being dangerous.
07:36So I was like, what?
07:38So basically we're just being tested on?
07:42And I was like that is so messed up.
07:45And then people who live in
a sort of different circumstances
07:51where they can't necessarily
control their environment and
07:57their shopping Habits because
they're just trying to survive and
08:03they're living paycheck to
paycheck like I grew up.
08:06And a lot of black and brown families
as well are disproportionately
08:13affected by the exposure to
a lot of these chemicals.
08:18And so I was just like wow, and so I
legislated for chemical reform to try and
08:22at least get our standards in this
country to be more like Europe.
08:27And a lot sorry,
not legislated, I lobbied for
08:32the legislation for
chemical reform, excuse me, and
08:37I did it twice and
basically as you know during COVID,
08:42our health has been politicized.
08:46And, it's basically whatever
opinion someone wants to
08:50decide is truth becomes the truth,
versus facts.
08:55And so, I was like, wow, we this
shouldn't be about a political party.
09:00This is just common sense and
human health,
09:04anyway I'm frustrated with the system.
09:08I was like,
well how can I create a solution for
09:13people that really has the ethics and
09:17values around it human health safety?
09:21Also, thinking about the planet,
[LAUGH] and sustainability.
09:25[LAUGH] And
then obviously I think the last and
09:28the most important piece of the puzzle
is really showing up for people and
09:33meeting their needs no matter
where they live in the country.
09:37It shouldn't be like I afford
the most expensive things and
09:43so I can shop at a whole foods or
whatever type of grocery store,
09:48but everyone else is sort of left out.
09:52And I was like, that just isn't fair.
09:54And also I felt like there weren't a lot
of companies that stood for health and
09:59That also like spoke my language.
10:02I don't know I just feel like
I love beauty in design and
10:07I love beautiful things in the home.
10:10And I just felt like there was a way to
kind of like show up in a beautiful way,
10:16but still have the ethos and the values
and ethics that I had as a person.
10:22So that's really where the business
came from, and the idea, and
10:25that's how it started.
10:27>> Well,
I love the intergenerational aspect of it,
10:30of watching your mom go through something,
experiencing something yourself and
10:34then trying to create a solution for
your children.
10:36That's obviously a really
wonderful brand story.
10:40But obviously not everyone was sold
in the beginning, so I'm curious.
10:45How did your business pitch evolve as you
experienced some initial naysayers or
10:52>> Yeah, and I think you have to know
your audience, know their capacity.
10:57And originally I was pitching this
idea to start this business with
11:02people in entertainment.
11:05Not knowing that the very business model
in entertainment is incoming calls and
11:11licensing deals, right?
11:13And it isn't starting from the ground
up and investing in a concept.
11:19Now I think Hollywood has gotten
a little bit more savvy and
11:23I would say the success of my
company has moved the business to
11:28be a little bit more open,
two different ways of operating.
11:34I also think that because
the shift in access to content and
11:41the Internet and habits changing and
11:45consuming has changed so
dramatically over the last,
11:52I mean 20 years, but really ten years.
11:58So the business Hollywood has had to also
try and figure out where they fit in that.
12:03And I think they're still challenged
because they're holding on
12:08to a lot of the old sort of systems,
but yeah, so I guess I was pitching
12:13this idea to the wrong audience,
that's first and foremost.
12:18And then I started pitching it around to
different people outside of my scope.
12:24And I would say,
while as an entrepreneur, you're so
12:29excited and
you see you're end goal, right?
12:34And you're moving towards that end goal,
you have to make it palatable for
12:39what can happen here, and now, and today.
12:42So it's like well you want to sell
the dream of this is going to be a global
12:48brand that stands for the health and
well being of people in the planet.
12:54And we're going to make not only build
community and educate people on how they
12:59can live a better life, but we're also
going to create the solution for them.
13:05And it's going to to be
in various categories,
13:09around home detergents,
around bath and body products,
13:14around baby products, and
around skin and beauty products.
13:20For me, I had to distill my idea down
to the thing that was trendy and
13:28hot in the moment where
investors were excited
13:33to invest into these new business models.
13:38And I knew that I didn't want to take
this concept to a retailer because I
13:44didn't want the retailer to then,
because when you take your concept and
13:49your idea and you build inside
of a retailer's environment.
13:54They essentially get
to take the reigns and
13:57mold it into what fits
into their business model.
14:01And you often will
compromise on your values,
14:05especially when you
are right out the gate.
14:08I also knew I wanted there to be a charity
component, and I thought that was just
14:12really important and I also really wanted
there to be diversity and inclusion.
14:18Just embedded in the values and
the practices of who we are.
14:21So all of those things I would
say are just very new concepts,
14:28in apply in,
especially back in ten years ago,
14:33people hadn't really seen successful bus
14:37businesses that have values, like that.
14:42I mean there's like
there were very few and
14:45far between that hit on
all of those things.
14:49And so I had to figure out like know
your audience distill the concept
14:55down to what is hot in the moment that
people are excited to invest behind.
15:01And make it, get your elevator
pitch down because I have
15:06like 100 page deck with
everything from home paints and
15:12furnishings and detergents.
15:14All the way through to beauty products and
15:18then brands that sit in different
price points and a distribution.
15:25>> Like a [INAUDIBLE] site.
15:26>> I mean,
I had the whole kit and caboodle.
15:28And so I had to really distill it down to,
at the time,
15:32what was hot was a predictable
subscription business model.
15:36And I partnered with essentially
the guy that had paved the way for
15:44that business model to come to life.
15:48He founded LegalZoom and
another business called ShoeDazzle.
15:53And so I partnered with him and pitched
him the business and he turned me down.
16:01And then he came back about 18 months
later and I pitched him again.
16:05And at that point he had had a kid and
saw his wife change her beauty habits,
16:10change what she allowed in the house.
16:13Throughout all of their
detergents in their home,
16:18the cleaning products and basically
was shopping from a very small and
16:23curated set to provide a healthy
environment for their their little child.
16:30And so he was like, okay, so
people do change when they had kids and
16:36they start thinking
differently about gradients,
16:40chemical exposures, the planet and
those types of values.
16:46I would say now, and so
when I partnered with him,
16:52then we basically went on pitched sandhill
16:57like five or six companies and VCs.
17:01And we got five term sheets by the end of
the day and I was eight and a half months
17:05pregnant and I was told by my doctor,
I wasn't allowed to fly anymore.
17:09And that was my second child.
17:11I was pregnant because it took me actually
three years to get to that point and
17:17yeah I think you have to be very humble
if you want to be an entrepreneur.
17:23Or be part of a business,
know what you know what we know
17:27what you don't know and
the surround yourself with people
17:32that really support your strengths and
your weaknesses.
17:37>> Yeah I love that point about
knowing your audience and how his life
17:42circumstances changed how he acted as an
audience member to receiving your pitch/.
17:48And just that little moment of his
wife experiencing exactly what you're
17:53talking about was all they really needed
to see as a benefit for the company.
17:59So at business school in all of our
classes, we're constantly reading
18:03case studies to learn about pivotal
moments in a company's history.
18:08So we talked a little bit about the pitch,
18:11we can fast forward to honest
CO is now an amazing company.
18:14What do you think would be the inflection
point that you would choose if the GSB
18:19were to do a case study?
18:25>> It's interesting,
I would say going from and
18:31operating from a startup and
18:35that's a high-growth startup with
18:40that sort of high-growth business model.
18:46And really transitioning
into a more steady
18:52state growth business model [COUGH] and
18:56building the foundational
principles to operate,
19:03like a business that could be around for
100 years.
19:10Because the people that you bring in and
that can get capital
19:15to start a company are very
different people that usually I
19:20would say 99% of the time is
usually a very different team.
19:26That can operate and
build out foundational principles for
19:30a company that can stick around for
100 plus years.
19:36>> I love that, and
speaking of teams actually,
19:39an instrumental part of your
team is your current CEO.
19:42I'm curious, how did you find him?
19:46How did he convince you that
he was the right person?
19:50That he was really going to be able
to carry your vision forward as CEO.
19:53>> Nick worked at Clorox and actually,
19:56when we were starting the business
when we had such high growth and
20:02being a digital first business,
and building community.
20:07It was such a different approach and
the values, and the ethics,
20:11around how the wellness again,
20:13was also such a different in
the way that we went about it.
20:16Was such a different approach to the way
a lot of the big CPG companies operate.
20:22And so we've had all of the big
companies knock on our door and
20:26you have to take those meetings.
20:28And so he had spent time with us and
20:34looked at us years before and
20:39really sort of understood
our business model.
20:47And then when we were at time to bring
in a new team to really build those
20:52foundational principles
>> I think because he had
20:58historic data and understood the mental
model of like what needed to be true.
21:05And also he had done it with bird bees
when they brought bird bees into Clorox.
21:12And, he really has a very
creative approach to business and
21:20I think you can't have someone who's so
21:25stuck into what they know.
21:29But you need to have someone
who's really genuinely open and
21:34curious to building out what
the business needs at that moment.
21:39And he really felt like he
was grounded and in and
21:43having conviction about that but
then also I would say.
21:49The other big piece of it is he really
lived this life these values are very
21:55And his family he's a father
of four two sets of twins and
22:00his wife and him and the kids they
live very much these values and
22:05these are the types of products
they have in their home.
22:10And this is how they live their life so
just those the purpose and
22:16the mission of the company
really resonated with him so.
22:22an amazing moment that you had last year
was when you took the company public.
22:27So congratulations not.
22:29>> Yeah, I'm curious.
22:31Did the IPO feel like
a moment to pause and
22:34appreciate all of your accomplishments?
22:37Or was it a wake up call
that new challenges and
22:41opportunities were ahead of you?
22:43For me, it was both.
22:46I would say that every time we hit
a different sort of transition or
22:53milestone, at this point I feel like
I've been through [LAUGH] it all.
23:01And you'll see guys when you start
your own businesses [LAUGH].
23:06And yeah, it almost felt like
we're starting from zero again and
23:11building the foundation of what it means
to be and operate like a public company.
23:19And now like we're building
those building blocks and
23:23those foundational principles again,
but in this new space.
23:28>> I love that, so I would be remiss if
I didn't mention your previous role and
23:33current still role in Hollywood and
where I learned at least at your
23:38talent agency CAA branding your
personal brand is everything.
23:43And I'm curious what learnings
carried over from that world.
23:47>> To the business world
I'm now at UTA but
23:51I yeah I would say that
your personal brand
23:57As someone in Hollywood but
then even someone like you or
24:02any of you guys sitting there, you can't.
24:09You guys are living in a very kind of,
24:11it's sort of like welcome to
the party of being exposed.
24:15You guys are living
a very digital reality.
24:21And people pan on Earth who you are and
your past and
24:27your life, if anything,
is much more on display,
24:32I would say, than any other generation and
24:37will continue to be on display.
24:40And so where you go in your life and
who you surround
24:45yourself with and
how you align yourself along the way
24:50will have an impact on
your future opportunities.
24:55And so I think for me, I was always very
cognizant of that from a very early age.
25:03And I think it's just something to
be mindful of depending on what
25:08your aspirations are, making sure
that you own all of your decisions.
25:14And you are honest with
yourself along the way and
25:19I'm not saying don't be fearful but
25:23just be aware and
I think a lot of people don't
25:29always think of step three, four and five.
25:35They just see the shiny penny in
front of them, and they get excited.
25:41But I always think of three, four and
five because I didn't have a backup plan.
25:45I didn't grow up with a safety net.
25:48I had to create my own.
25:49So I think I just operated with that
in mind when I was building out or
25:55making any decision from age 12 on.
25:59>> Right, yeah and important to note that
it started so young and social media and
26:04everything has changed so much and
you've been adapting since you were 12,
26:08which was is amazing.
26:11I'd love to talk about the future
of where honest is going.
26:15You recently launched the daily defense
26:17collection,
>> [LAUGH]
26:19>> Which is a line of skincare
26:20products designed to defend against
environmental pollutants which is so
26:24incredibly important.
26:26I'm curious how do you-
>> [INAUDIBLE] screens,
26:28who knew these screens could
affect your skin, my god.
26:32>> [LAUGH] The screens that are currently
blasting stuff at us right now.
26:37>> All day [LAUGH]
>> I'm curious how you predict
26:42future trends and
continue to build products for the future.
26:48>> A lot of it comes from I think
trusting my gut and my intuition.
26:56It's weird like I don't
necessarily need McKinsey data,
27:02to substantiate where I like,
what I feel or what I know.
27:08And oftentimes, I feel like I can be
in not everything is a home run but
27:15if you will need a bain or
McKinsey study to validate your
27:20marketplace opportunity,
it's often a little too late.
27:26Because the trendsetters
did it three years before,
27:32it became a trend that it would even
become a case study or a study at all.
27:39And so I would say that keeping
your feet on the ground and
27:44really understanding the pain point or
the needs that you
27:49are filling in whatever
business you're creating.
27:54For me it's being very consumer
centric and very personal.
28:02I always start from that place and
then I do my research from there
28:07on around sort of like what other
companies are doing things like this or
28:14what other like our
sensitive skin care line.
28:18All of us want benefits in our
skin care we want brightening and
28:23we want our fine lines to go away and
28:26we want you know our
discoloration to go away.
28:30We want to have those skincare benefits
in our skincare we just don't.
28:37We're not looking for something that's
just sort of like, put this on your face
28:43and it'll be a shield and then there you
go and it's better than having this rush.
28:48Now, I'm allergic to
a lot of those products,
28:51even the gentle ones that
the dermatologists recommend.
28:54So I couldn't even use those.
28:56So I was like, how about we have
a skin care routine that works for
29:01people with really sensitive skin but
actually like does something for you.
29:07And our head chemists she has
very sensitive skin as well.
29:12And so that's just something where we were
like hey if you get rashes if you have
29:18sensitive skin a lot of people who break
out a lot also have very sensitive skin.
29:25There's nothing for you and
you're sort of just left in the dust.
29:29So I was like this would be a cool one
to be able to create a full solution
29:34where you can have exfoliation,
brightening, really hydrating.
29:40We have a lightweight moisturizer and
a heavier moisturizer so it's for
29:44different types of skin.
29:47It doesn't clog your pores,
all of those things.
29:50So that's another a lot of it
comes from the personal and
29:53then you look at the marketplace and
you see how many people are doing it.
29:58And then there's other things where you're
just like hey, this is table stakes.
30:02You need to have X or
you need to have Y in order
30:07to really like be in this category.
30:13>> Yeah,
I love how your ideation process for
30:16new products kind of always goes back
to how you started honest itself,
30:20which was based on problems
that you experienced yourself.
30:23And obviously you're not
the only one to experience those.
30:27>> Right.
>> So we started this talk with a TikTok.
30:30[LAUGH] You are a parent to Gen Z kids and
a marketer.
30:37And I'm curious because we
are always talking about Gen Z and
30:41I feel like articles are always Gen Z this
Gen Z that as a parent and as a marketer.
30:47What is something you think we're
getting wrong about that generation?
30:50>> I think we try to overcomplicate it and
30:54the gap of understanding feels so wide,
31:01And I think there's sort
of like a frustration in
31:06the way that they're moving at a pace and
31:10are going to continue to move
at a pace that is beyond any
31:15other generation just
because in the digital age.
31:20Before you had to reimagine your
business sort of like every five years.
31:24And then I would say about ten years ago
when I launched honest, it was like no,
31:28you've gotta reimagine your business and
how you operate and
31:32the way that you do it every three years.
31:34Now, I would say it's like every
year you've gotta reassess and
31:38reevaluate and reimagine.
31:42I think that because they're so
31:46young, maybe it's hard to,
31:52Trust that they know what they're
talking about and allow them to.
31:59Take some leadership and hand the baton
over like know what you don't know and
32:07also like,
if something is meant to appeal to them it
32:11doesn't necessarily need to
appeal to me or to you, right?
32:17And sometimes it'll appeal to me and
it'll appeal to you.
32:21But I think that is one thing that like,
I feel like when you're running
32:27a business or when you're trying
to understand a demographic,
32:32you feel like you should also
be on the same page as them but
32:36it's totally okay that they
think the way that they think.
32:41And they respond to things differently
than you and you don't need to take it
32:45personally and know that it's okay for
you to have your differences.
32:49What I appreciate about Gen Z and
I actually don't think of it
32:53as being an issue is just
that they love authenticity.
32:58They are values driven.
33:02And the brand values
are meaningful to them and
33:06the more that you really
show up authentically,
33:09the better I think the businesses
that are in trouble and
33:14appealing to Gen Z are the ones
that are trying to be tricky.
33:21>> Well a clear of today for
sure is knowing your audience and
33:24you clearly know this audience as well.
33:28So much about honest Co is
educating the consumer.
33:32You've been doing that since
before you even started.
33:36The company as many of us here
are looking to start new businesses.
33:40Some of them might be quite complicated
deep tech, web three, what have you.
33:45What lessons can you share about what
works best in educating your consumer?
33:53>> Make it entertaining if it's boring for
you to watch,
33:58it's going to be boring for
anybody to watch.
34:02What I mean, if it's boring to read it,
it's going to be boring for everyone.
34:07I think more and more because we have so
34:11much It's almost like
the volume of content, it is so
34:17daunting and overwhelming and
is only going to get
34:22more daunting as we start to
integrate AR into our day to day.
34:28And as we integrate more
of the Web 3 into our
34:33day to day with wearables and all that,
34:37we're going to almost have
information overload and
34:43so having really short and sweet,
34:47pithy Ways of communicating,
34:51no matter if you're a software company or
not even a B2B.
34:59I would say when we're
choosing partners for
35:02the B2B type of partners are something
that will help a function for
35:08in our company and
in some form or fashion.
35:11We're always looking at how
difficult is it to integrate and
35:16usually the difficulty has
to do with how boring it is.
35:20To [LAUGH] understand it and to apply it.
35:25In making your materials as consumer
35:29facing as possible is important even for
35:34software companies or B2B is.
35:38>> That's great advice.
35:41So you've shared incredible
advice with all of us.
35:44And we're all super grateful for
your time.
35:47And you're also an incredible model for
so many founders from underrepresented
35:52groups and for women, so
thank you for being here today.
35:55I could go on forever, but we do have
some questions from the audience.
36:00So I would like to to turn it over
to our first question from Jay Why.
36:08I'm originally from Singapore and
moved to the Bay to attend a GSB.
36:12I'm an aspiring entrepreneur,
so super excited to be here.
36:16And my question for you is, what are some
of your biggest fears in building
36:20the honest core and
how do you overcome them?
36:23>> Maybe my biggest fear was not
connecting with my truth in a way and
36:31allowing people who had trust and
36:35a history in business sort of
take over the narrative or
36:42run the business in a direction that
I intuitively knew wasn't right.
36:51>> And
I felt imposter syndrome because I didn't
36:56have a traditional business degree and
backgrounds.
37:03And so it took me a hot minute to really
like step into my skin as a person and
37:10I think the more I've trusted
my intuition and my gut and
37:16stood in my truth,
the better I feel in everything, right?
37:22In business and and in life.
37:24But I would say that was my biggest fear.
37:30It's scary when you've never
done it before, right?
37:32Absolutely thanks for sharing.
37:37My name is Kristen Lim and
I am also an aspiring entrepreneur,
37:41looking to do something
within the beauty space.
37:45I'm also a power user of honest products
and I can't live without my magic mom.
37:51[LAUGH] I'm so impressed with honest
growth in just the first year you've
37:56achieved 12 million in revenue and
37:58this grew to a staggering 150 million
in revenue just two years later.
38:03And at the GSB we use the lean startup
methodology for profit Product ideation.
38:08And I know from the talk that you
talked about honest product ideation
38:13starting from your own pain points, but
38:16I'm curious as honest continue to scale
how the product ideation process evolved.
38:24>> Yeah, I mean, I would say that it
started from a very pure place and
38:31then [LAUGH] I allowed I sort
of gave away my power and
38:37my truth for a little while.
38:40And I allowed for
it to be a bit of a mosh pit of everyone
38:45wanting to chime in and
not having clear roles and
38:51responsibilities and
boundaries defined, and,
38:59I think I'm still a work in
progress when it comes to that,
39:04but t76jhe biggest thing is really, again,
39:08trusting your instincts,
knowing what needs to be true in order for
39:14you to have a real authentic
positioning in the marketplace.
39:19For me, I knew my gut was telling me
from day one we needed to have an in
39:24house lab and an in-house team and a
regulatory team and also a sourcing team.
39:30Because that was the only way we were
going to have true differentiation in our
39:36formulas that can meet the standards
of conventional or exceed them.
39:42And if I was just going to
operate like other companies
39:46there was no way to get there.
39:49It was just going to be
too many hurdles and so
39:52I went through all the hurdles, right?
39:55But that is the biggest thing is just know
what needs to be true for you in order for
40:01you to have a real authentic position and
also a reason for you to even exist.
40:07It's a crowded marketplace so
why are you here and
40:10what are you doing that's
materially different.
40:16>> Thank you so much.
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