Founders and Startups Podcast Ever Better Podcast Studios

Listen to the podcast or watch the interview video on YouTube: 
Abby Walker, Founder and CEO, Vivian Lou
Subscribe to the Founders and Startups YouTube Channel to see future videos as they're released! 
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This podcast was recorded on May 15, 2020 while quarantined during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abby Walker is the Founder and CEO of Vivian Lou, the exclusive worldwide distributor for Insolia, weight-shifting insoles that allow you to wear high heels four times longer without pain.
Abby designed her business processes to distribute work, so that she’s not overly dependent on a single individual or agency. She works closely with contractors on design, fulfillment, advertising, marketing and other services and has no full-time employees. This allowed her to approach $4M in 2019 revenue.
The name Vivian Lou represents the attributes of women that Abby wanted to serve. For example, she can run with the boys but is feminine. Vivian is Abby’s daughter’s name and she embodies the target customer.
In 2012, Abby was working full-time in a public relations and communications role and felt that she needed a new mission and inspiration. Her first step was to create a shoe blog that she worked on for one hour every Saturday morning. While researching her blog, Abby learned about foot sprays and creams that contain lidocaine to reduce foot inflammation and pain.
Abby found it disturbing that women were spraying lidocaine on their body, a numbing agent used by dentists. So she set out to create her own organic foot spray and hired a clinical herbalist and naturopathic doctor to help create an all-natural, anti-inflammatory product.
What followed was an invaluable lesson.
Abby invested $2,500 to manufacture the foot spray. She learned that creating a large batch of the formula caused a chemistry change and the resulting product was different than her original formula. The product was unusable and she wasn’t able to recoup her investment.
Abby believes that everything happens for a reason and listens to what she calls “little whispers” to take action. She says that there’s opportunity waiting behind failures and believes in moving forward a little bit every day.
Her failed foot spray led Abby to the inventors of Insolia and the opportunity to be the sole distributor. 
Abby didn’t use her name on emails or the Vivian Lou website for many months after launching. At first, she considered this a hobby business and had a full-time corporate sales job. But she was also giving into impostor syndrome feelings such as “you’re not good enough,” “you’re not smart enough,” and “you’re not worthy.”
To address impostor syndrome, Abby worked with an Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) therapist once or twice per week and it immediately strengthened her resolve. After that she added her name to emails and started talking openly about her business.
Sarah Shaw, a previous guest on the Founders and Startups podcast, has helped Abby with celebrity and magazine outreach as well as retail store placements.
Key takeaways: 
Getting over the fear of taking a risk is a work in progress. While launching the company Abby took the focus off herself and thought about customers instead. Abby worked with Ursula Mentjes, sales coach and speaker, who encouraged her to double prices. However, after about a year working full-time at Vivian Lou, Abby still wasn’t making enough money to cover her budget and returned to the corporate world. Before starting her new full-time job, Abby’s brother-in-law introduced her to Story, a boutique shopping experience created by Rachel Shechtman, that features products related to one theme at a time. Abby was invited to pitch Vivian Lou insoles to their judges, Tory Johnson from Good Morning America Deals and Steals, and Mindy Grossman, who at the time was CEO of the Home Shopping Network (HSN). Her three-minute pitch was successful, and she was fast-tracked to present her p

“Sometimes the secret to your life is hidden within unsolicited advice.” – Sarah Shaw, Founder and CEO, Sarah Shaw Consulting
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Listen to the podcast or watch the interview videos on YouTube: 
Sarah Shaw, CEO Sarah Shaw Consulting (full discussion)
Marketing Products During and After COVID (highlight video)
Benefit From Unexpected Opportunities and Advice (highlight video)
Subscribe to the Founders and Startups YouTube Channel to see future videos as they're released! 
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This podcast was recorded on May 8, 2020 while quarantined during the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Have you ever seen the product you’d dreamed about developing in stores and on TV and thought, “Why didn’t I do that?” The reason is, most likely, that you didn’t have the information and connections to do it. Celebrity designer Sarah Shaw, CEO of Sarah Shaw Consulting and product launching expert, shares how she created six businesses and now helps others position themselves for success.
 
A fourth-generation entrepreneur, Sarah’s original career plan was to be a French-English translator. However, she discovered that she loved costume design and working in the film business. This eventually led to her current business working with entrepreneur designers who create products sold online and in retail stores. 
Key takeaways: 
A growth area for Sarah’s clients is offering drop-shipping for online stores where the product owner fulfills the order and sends it directly to the customer. This eliminates the retailer having to invest in inventory and manage shipping logistics.

Department stories and retail chains such as Neiman Marcus, J. Crew, Nordstrom’s, are trying to liquidate inventory, some are declaring bankruptcy and others are permanently closing stores.

When an item is sold on Amazon, the product owner does not get the contact information for future marketing purposes.

Some boutiques didn’t have an online presence prior to COVID-19. They are now creating online stores and are creating online stores. Sarah recommend sending items to magazine editors and to celebrities to generate mentions. This tends to be more cost-effective than Facebook ads.

Sarah is working with showrooms to develop online platforms for selling products.

The opportunity to distribute products to celebrities stopped for several weeks due to COVID. Celebrity gatekeepers are now open to accepting new products.

Opportunities to sell and promote products: Promote directly to past clients by developing your own email list Find out if your credit card processor captured an email with each transaction Experiment with Facebook ads Establish partnerships with boutiques and offer to drop-ship Create your own e-commerce platform

She started her businesses because someone challenged her to do so.

Sarah created her first business in 1994 which involved brokering deals between a clothing designer/manufacturer and theatrical productions such as movies and operas. She was first introduced to the manufacturer while outfitting Danny DeVito for a movie. She next helped a friend who was creating costumes for an opera. This was followed by helping a friend who was outfitting actors for Forrest Gump.

Sarah and the costume creator split the profits for these opportunities and created outfits for movies such as Matrix Reloaded, Oceans 11, Out of Sight, The Postman, Windtalkers and others.

Sarah’s second business also involved movies. For about 15 years she purchased and outfitted semi-trailer trucks to be used by actors as wardrobe trailers while movies were being filmed. During this time she also had a full-time job.

If you have good credit and need to invest in your business, research using credit cards with zero percent balance transfer offers.

Sarah’s third business was designing and manufacturing handbags. She quite her full-time job after getting her first big order from Anthropologie. Her handbags were in ove

This discussion with Peter Mellen, Founder of Netcito, was recorded on March 19, 2020, when many areas of the U.S. were in the early stages of quarantine and the term “social distancing” was just beginning to creep into our daily conversations.
Peter is a lifelong entrepreneur who lives in the Washington, D.C. area. Listen in on our discussion about how our work habits and lives were evolving, how COVID-19 might impact the investment community, and to learn about Peter's entrepreneurial journey.
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Listen to the podcast or watch videos with Peter Mellen, Founder of Netcito, on YouTube: 
Peter Mellen, Founder, Netcito 
Rapid Growth Derailed by the 2001 Dot Com Bust 
Meditation and Yoga: Foundational Practices 
How Much Entrepreneurial Risk is Too Much?
Subscribe to the Founders and Startups YouTube Channel to see future videos as they're released! 
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Here are a few of Peter's roles:
• Founder of Netcito, an invitation-only peer group for founders of companies
• Active involvement with commercial real estate investing and development
• Co-chair of Tides, a philanthropic partner and nonprofit accelerator dedicated to building a world of shared prosperity and social justice
• Entrepreneur-in-residence, founder of the alumni entrepreneur and angel investor networks at Georgetown University
Key takeaways:
+ Netcito connects and inspires innovators and entrepreneurs. The name is a combination of “network” and the Latin word incito, “to inspire.”
+ Some Netcito members, with dozens of employees and millions of dollars in revenue, are faced with revenue plummeting to zero.
+ This may be a great time for someone who’s thinking about starting a business to begin creating.
+ Beware of “entreporn” that glamorizes the startup lifestyle, that may make you feel inadequate. Check out Jonathan Fields’ blog post about this.
+ Book recommendation: Reid Hoffman, The Startup of You. Reid says that if you’ve got a career, you’re an entrepreneur. It’s a mindset rather than what you do in the world. Have a Plan A, Plan B and Plan Z in case everything goes to zero.
+ Future funding will shift. Some industries such as biotech will have greater opportunities while retail, real estate and live events will have a very difficult time. The stock market drop will impact investors’ liquidity resulting in less capital. Deals in the venture capital and angel investor pipelines may be dropped or repriced.
+ From age 11 to 18 Peter spent a great deal of time in an ashram, a community where people of the Hindu faith develop spiritually. It was a melding of Eastern and Western culture in the Philadelphia area. The community evolved to become the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health.
+ Peter had unconventional parents. They were college professors who went on to make documentary films. They became interested in yoga in the 1970’s and moved into a home close to the ashram.
+ Peter’s first business was Team Vision Consulting that he created in the early 90s. It provided help desk support for small to medium sized businesses.
+ Peter partnered with a Georgetown University Business School classmate to write a business plan that landed $25,000 in funding before graduation. That company, Headlight, eventually raised over $15 million in venture funding capital.
+ While managing Headlight, Peter was living the entrepreneurial life he aspired to, but felt that something was missing. After the dot com bust, when Peter was 35, he turned to yoga and realized the significance of the values he had grown up with.
+ Peter’s current mindfulness practice includes daily meditation and yoga. As Albert Einstein was known for saying, ideas come from a place beyond the mind. Meditation and yoga position Peter to tend to the space beyond and within the mind.
+ I was encouraged to create a podcast by Peter in Aug. 2015 when we met at Jonathan Fields’ Camp Good Life Project. (Sadly, the camp is no l

“Having the right co-founder is the best thing you can do for your business.” - Laura Early, Co-Founder, WISE Advise + Assist
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Listen to the podcast or watch the interview videos on YouTube: 
Laura Early, Co-Founder, WISE Advise + Assist (Full discussion)
Managing a 100% Virtual Workforce
Creating Community Among Remote Employees
Subscribe to the Founders and Startups YouTube Channel to see future videos as they're released! 
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Laura Early co-founded WISE Advise + Assist, a virtual assisting agency powered by military spouses with her business partner, Diana Jaquith. WISE provides time-saving services to business owners and enables military spouses to work remotely so that they can have the life, family and career that they’ve always dreamed of. This addresses the challenges often faced by military spouses who struggle to maintain a career due to frequent moves – sometimes every two years.
In Feb. 2020, WISE had 40 team members and they’ll end the year with 50-60 employees. Laura and Diana plan to give more military spouses the opportunity to join the WISE community to create a long-term career. They’re just getting started!
Laura explains that in our two-income economy, financial stability for service members is critical. It’s important to our national security that military spouses have a career. For deployed personnel, knowing that their spouse has a consistent job at WISE alleviates worry. Further, if a service member knows that their spouse is happy, healthy and has a fulfilling career, they can be more focused on their mission.
Key takeaways:
+ The WISE logo features an owl and the team loves to make wise owl references!
+ When new employees are hired they establish minimum availability which is considered for staffing jobs.
+ WISE hires 3-6 people at one time and they go through an on-boarding process together. This creates a cohort and they become resources for each other.
+ The WISE on-boarding process includes WISE 101, who’s who in the company, WISE systems, payments, customer avatars, finance training, mission, vision, and core values.
+ Every client is assigned a WISE project manager who has gone through significant training and is experienced with client-facing interactions.
+ Each employee “live records” their time using Harvest, time-tracking software.
+ Studies show that virtual workers are significantly more productive than employees in an office.
+ Laura says that 90% of being an entrepreneur is trying and failing.
+ WISE used to send invoices using PayPal. Due to the number of transactions, PayPal froze their accounts for a time period, causing a significant cash crunch which threatened payroll.
+ Working virtually gives military spouses life consistency when they move.
+ Creating community among the workforce is a big emphasis for WISE. They’ve created virtual coffee hours, a “water cooler” channel on Slack, and every team member is assigned to a pod with a leader who is responsible for employee development.
+ If an employee hasn’t communicated with the team on a given workday, someone from WISE checks in with them.
+ There are multiple WISE employees in 4 or 5 geographic areas and those employees sometimes get together to work and socialize.
+ Having two co-founders has been critical to the success of WISE Advise.
+ When starting a company find your community, mentors and coaches. Reach out to others who have been entrepreneurs to learn from them.
+ Great entrepreneurial resources: Hello Alice, local Small Business Development Centers, Meetup and Chamber of Commerce events.
+ Laura’s husband is in the Army. Her family has been in five homes in the last six years and they may stay in the DC area for several years. He seeks out adrenaline-junkie activities in and out of work.
+ Self-care is important to Laura, a self-described "recovering workaholic.” She does spin classes, brunch with friends and family, and makes time to

“If it makes your heart happy, go for it! You didn’t fail if you’re still trying.” - Barbie the Welder
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Listen to the podcast or watch the interview videos on the Founders and Startups YouTube Channel.   
Barbie the Welder: Artist, Speaker, Groundbreaker (Full discussion)
Surreal Opportunities Following Years of Fear
Future Vision: Action Figures, a TV Show, Masterpieces and Passive Income  

Barbie the Welder is a self-taught artist who designs and creates metal sculptures for individuals, companies like Harley Davidson,  and communities, such as her hometown of Elmira, NY.
At one point in her life, Barbie was living in government subsidized housing and supporting her family of five on the $10,000 she earned working multiple jobs.
Barbie was inspired to become a welder by the opening scene in Castaway when a FedEx package is delivered to a woman who is creating a large-scale, welded set of wings. Barbie says that welding helped her to rise from the ashes.
Barbie loves to teach as much as she likes to create. Her Barbie the Welder YouTube Channel, viewed by subscribers in 51 countries, is a wealth of information for artists & entrepreneurs. And she’s created four books on how to create metal art.

After saving $1,200 over nine months to invest in a welding course, she landed a full-time job at Cameron Manufacturing and Design where she gained confidence and stability, fixed her credit and bought a home with a garage that is now her studio.
Barbie left her job in Sept. 2014 to pursue metal sculpture full-time. After four years of steadily working on her craft and building her following, she’s now positioned to create sculpture from her heart and work with clients who inspire her.
Key takeaways:
Barbie’s currently creating a masterpiece sculpture that is half woman/half phoenix. The finished piece will be 9  ½ ft wide and 6 ft tall. Welding helped Barbie to rise from the ashes, and this sculpture is a form of self-portrait. To inquire about purchasing this piece, or others, contact Barbie at barbiethewelder@yahoo.com

Recent clients include Harley Davidson; Wyler Abrasives; Elmira, NY; Carolina Shoe Company; Chicago Pneumatic; Prime Compliance Solutions and Southwestern Scale where Barbie created a sculpture on the premises.

Barbie was born in Elmira, NY and currently lives in Erin, NY – 22 minutes from the Corning Museum of Glass, where she goes for inspiration.

To be an astronaut, auto mechanic or Harlem Globetrotter were Barbie’s first career goals. She wasn’t interested in art as a child.

Barbie learned to be an auto mechanic through BOCES adult-education. While employed as an auto mechanic she experienced harassment that drove her from the job.

She cobbled together a living through selling auto parts, hauling scrap metal, and buying items at retail stories and selling them for a higher price on eBay. She worked seven days a week and lived in subsidized housing.

Wings are a recurring element in Barbie’s art. She was inspired by a scene in the movie, Castaway, and has always loved to fly.

While working for Cameron Manufacturing and Design, Barbie bought a welder and plasma cutter and began working nights and weekends on her own art.

A three-tier chandelier was Barbie’s first creation! It hung in her home for a year and a half until she sold it at a show along with other items to a store owner for $600.

From idea that she wanted to be a welder, to creating her first artwork, was a five year journey.

After struggling through three and a half years of fear and depression, creating sculptures for Harley Davidson was a significant turning point.

Social media has been critical to sharing her artwork and connecting with customers.

Jesse James Dupree, lead singer for Jackyl, connected Barbie with the Harley Owner’s Group (HOG) and hired her to create sculptures for Harley Davidson’s 150th anniversary.  +++++
Learn more about Barbie

“Be really aware that you don’t know what you don’t know.” – Mike Koch, President and Co-Founder, FireFly Farms
“You have to realize you can’t do everything.” – Pablo Solanet, Creative Director and Co-Founder, FireFly Farms

Mike Koch and Pablo Solanet are co-founders of FireFly Farms, known for their award-winning goat cheeses. They operate a friendly retail store and cheese production facility in Accident, MD near Deep Creek Lake.
Before making Garrett County their full-time home, they were living and working in Washington, D.C. Mike was a senior leader for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while Pablo was a pastry chef at New Heights restaurant.
Mike and Pablo originally purchased their Garrett County farm and home as a vacation and weekend getaway. When their neighbor had nanny goats available after completing a 4-H project, they jumped into goat farming. One weekend they experimented with making cheese, and a new business was born!
Listen to the podcast, watch the full-length video or highlight videos for key takeaways:  
Mike and Pablo bought their farm in 1997 as a country home and Washington, D.C. getaway. Both co-founders were early foodies. They started making goat cheese because a neighbor had nanny goats for a 4-H project that were giving milk. Pablo grew up in Argentina and spent summers working at his grandparents’ ranch. He moved to the U.S. at age 19. Pablo was the pioneer! He left his restaurant position and moved to Garrett County full-time to take care of the goats. There were moments of culture shock and tough winters. Mike’s grandfather had an 88-acre farm in Iowa with cows, pigs, goats, corn and other crops where Mike spent his summers. He grew up making cheese with his grandmother. His great-great-grandfather was a cheese maker in Switzerland. Mike continued to work in D.C. for ten years after FireFly was started. He then held economic development posts in Garrett County and D.C. FireFly won Blue and Silver awards in 2002 at their first American Cheese Society competition. These cheeses were created by Pablo using milk from goats that he raised on their farm. Mike and Pablo no longer raise goats. They purchase milk from nine local, family farms. They self-financed their first twenty years in business, drawing on savings and Mike’s stock options. They recently completed a Series A fundraising round to finance expansion. The first FireFly staff were brought on-board to produce cheese and to help with sales and marketing. FireFly cheeses were sold only through grocery stores their first ten years in business. They opened the Accident, MD store in 2011 because they needed additional manufacturing space. Whole Foods allowed FireFly to start small by distributing to just a few stores in 2002 and 2003. Pablo used to deliver the cheese to Whole Foods himself. FireFly cheese are now available at Whole Foods, Wegmans, Balducci's and MOM’s Organic Market. FireFly Farms will be expanding in 2020 through a second manufacturing location in Maryland and a second retail location in Baltimore, MD. They recently hired six staff to support the expansion. The market for artisan cheese is growing and processed cheese is decreasing in the U.S. In Maryland the cheese making community is tight-knit and support each other's growth. When starting a business, find your community and help others. All boats rise together. Mike and Pablo are very involved with the American Cheese Society. There’s never a boring day at FireFly Farms! Lake Pointe Inn is a wonderful hotel and inn at Deep Creek Lake, near FireFly Farms in Accident, MD. +++++
Learn more about FireFly Farms on their website.
Follow FireFly Farms: LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
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This podcast originated as a video that you can find on the Founders and Startups YouTube Channel along with two highlight videos:
Becoming a Full-Time Business Owner
Raising Money to Expand FireFly Farms
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