02x03 - The Truth Hurts

[bunniefuu]

♪

EMMA:

I have to say, I found it difficult

to look at the finances.

All the costs that are in here

are probably incorrect.

MERAV:

Um

Yeah.

The feeling that comes to mind

is, like, you know,

embarrassed and terrified.

It's, like, taking us a minute

to understand each other.

And I didn't understand

that what she was asking for was our real,

day-to-day, running-the-business numbers.

First thing that you have to do

is leave your current plan.

Like, literally, you know,

when you do that little Trash.

Like, trash it. And then, empty trash.

Like, I'm not joking.

♪

I don't know, I feel like

blowing smoke up your a*s and saying,

"Yeah, let's go out

and raise a million dollars,"

it's like, that is not the answer here.

But I think, right now, we need to look at

what is the business actually doing

and how much are you guys spending

to do that business,

because that's reality.

-STACY: Yes.

-That's, like, where we are.

We're not bringing in the type of revenue

that we wanted to during this season.

-I called

-Remind me how much

-you guys have spent so far.

-MERAV: About 300.

300 grand.

And do you guys have debts now?

-Yes.

-Yes.

Totaling

Sixty-two.

-Thousand.

-Yes.

And now we are almost out of money.

EMMA:

I'm starting to get

a much better understanding

of where All Better Co. is actually at.

And as it turns out,

their sales really haven't materialized

as they've planned for this year,

which is putting

so much stress on them

and so much stress on the partnership.

They need to get serious and bring me

a plan that's viable and maybe scalable.

They need to show me

that they're worth my time and money,

and right now, they just are not.

Let's work on a new forecast.

Let's be rooted in the reality

of the business,

and then you're gonna be able

to take leaps forward

because when you're, like,

tracking against this,

everything feels like a failure.

And we don't want to be there.

We actually want

to be, like, going,

"We're moving forward."

That sounds lovely.

It will be lovely if you two

choose for it to be that way.

And so, let's try to orientate ourselves

around doing the things that are real.

First thing is that

we can start working on

what needs to be solved

with branding and with product packaging,

because I really, really, really think

that there's something in there.

Because right now it's like

you're talking a lot about first aid,

but actually what you're delivering on

is, like, bug spray

-and do you know and-and so

-Yeah.

I feel like either you've got

to present what you're talking about

or you've got to talk about

what you're doing.

It's difficult to do

the two things at once

-Yes.

-and be successful.

We don't want to be the bug company.

-No.

-Like, this is where we

Again, this is

-It's just where it happened to start.

-That's right.

I believe in the mission, and I actually

feel there's a real market for it.

Like, plant-powered first aid

made for you and your family,

it's just like, i-it just makes sense.

So let's think about communicating that

first and foremost,

so that when I look at this packaging,

that's what comes through.

I understand the product,

and I know the brand ethos.

That's all you have to solve for

in packaging.

And we can probably work with

a little bit of the $15,000 fund money

to try and start getting

some of that thinking going.

We will take your advice.

-Let's do that.

-I love it.

We're gonna be trucking. Moving forward.

-Yeah. Okay.

-I love it.

I'm-a bring that heat ♪

I'm a bring that,

I'm-a bring that heat ♪

I'm-a bring that heat ♪

I'm-a bring that,

I'm-a bring that heat. ♪

Hey, Mom.

GLORIA'S MOM (over phone):

Hello, Gloria.

-How are you?

-Good.

My mom and dad, who actually

are my aunt and her husband,

they've given me opportunities in life,

they've taken care of me,

and I'm very fortunate

that this is my life.

I told you about this opportunity

that I was presented with,

an opportunity for Gloria's Shito.

I am being mentored

by two amazing businesswomen

-to help bring Glor

-Wow.

-Yeah.

-Congratulations.

Yes, Ma.

-Yeah, that's the hope.

-(both laugh)

That's the hope, that I will quit,

uh, my day job.

If Gloria Shito is a successful business,

look at all the people

we can help in Ghana.

-Yes. Yes, I know that. I know

-We can build, like, vocational schools.

My parents have given me so much love,

and it's not for nothing.

I have the potential to impact the world.

I feel like I'm in this pressure cooker,

and I'm worried that I could fail.

-With God, everything is possible.

-Amen.

All right. I love you, Mom.

I'll keep you posted.

-Love you. Mwah. Love you so much.

-Mwah.

-I love you more. I love you more.

-Love you more. (chuckles)

♪

STACY:

What are your thoughts?

Um

I know, it's a loaded question.

Nothing that was said was wrong.

Yeah.

To receive feedback

from Emma that says,

"Let's just rip up what you have

because it's not working," um, is scary.

There was a point in the conversation

where I feel like

some of the wind

was being taken out of my sails.

It was like she was

-she was, like, direct.

-Mm-hmm.

-And I know you like that.

-I do.

You like that. She was like

You're like, "Talk to me more."

"Tell me all the things

we're doing wrong, please."

STACY: Clearly, in the short time

we've known Emma,

she's not the kind of person

that's gonna say things just to say things

-and make you feel good.

-Right.

I mean, it's something

that we've been waiting for.

I've been waiting for somebody

to be honest

and straightforward

and to point out those blind spots

that we inevitably have.

I needed to hear that she

when she said,

"There's no doubt

that this is a good idea

-Yeah.

-and it's a winner."

And I'm so happy.

It's like the halftime speech

from the coach that believes in you

and is like, "You got this.

"Maybe you didn't have it all

in the first half,

"but we're gonna, as a team,

get through the second half

and you're gonna come out on top."

It's overwhelming

and it can feel stressful, but I'm excited

to get to work.

You ain't never seen it done like this ♪

Done like this ♪

Done like this ♪

FAY:

Ashley's been giving us a lot of feedback

on how we're so much more

than an alcohol replacement.

-ASHLEY: Hi.

-Hi.

(laughs)

How are you?

Ultimately, I think what Ashley

is making Bonbuz do

is think really critically about

how we market to people.

Being a solo founder,

I can get really heady

and create friction,

so I'm just wanting to learn.

Since we last met, I've just been trying

to, like, really take on the feedback

and figure out how to incorporate it.

You know, from a content standpoint,

how do we tap into,

kind of, different content creators

and influencers

that speak to a different audience,

-you know?

-Mm-hmm.

But also, just, like,

broadening your demographic

and who you're really reaching out to,

'cause it's, like,

your social media

is so geared towards Gen Z,

you've really pigeonholed yourself

into that demographic

-Yeah.

-age-wise, and I think

moms will want to drink it

because they don't want to drink anymore,

because they're realizing, like,

"Maybe this isn't great for my body."

The millennials are going to

want to drink it because

they're on the move, they're on the grind.

They're trying to figure out,

you know, what are their next steps,

and they need that energy.

They need something that's going to

help them function.

Your demographic is pretty wide.

Segment and plan out like

a social plan,

and maybe you hire micro-influencers.

I'm speaking with a scientist.

That could be a really interesting

sort of engagement for us.

We need layman terms.

-Totally.

-I need somebody to be like,

this is what it's doing to your brain,

to your body, to your energy.

And I'm like, yep, then I would drink it.

It's the education. It's always the origin

story and it's always the education.

So, I think it's interesting

'cause, obviously, like

-I know, 'cause you're in two lanes.

-our origin Yeah.

You are really in two lanes,

and that's another thing.

It's like, how do you market

when you're in you're in energy

and non alc,

which sometimes can feel really confusing.

Try to pick a lane.

You don't want people to look at Bonbuz

and say, "Is it a non alc?

Is it an energy drink?

Is it a functional drink? What is it?"

You want them to know right away

and not do any of the guessing.

And especially for Fay,

this is her freshman product.

We need to make sure that

when she gets her customer,

they come and they stick

and they keep coming back.

I think it would be really interesting

to see what happens if we put

all the top drinks with Bonbuz

to see, in real time, what people

really are gravitating towards and why.

I want you to do a blind focus group.

♪

Do you feel comfortable doing that?

So this is going to be

amongst other brands in

-I would like it to be.

-Okay.

I wasn't expecting this,

but I'm just going with it.

I'm not going to

talk about our competitors.

I'm not going to talk about it.

There's no competition.

We'll see. We'll see what we can pull off.

♪

Oh, hi!

-Hi, ladies. How are you doing?

-Hello, it's so nice to see you.

EMMA:

It's so Mwah.

It's so good to see you. Come on in.

These are for you.

Honestly, these are my favorite

meetings to have.

Looks so nice when you've

got all the cookies together like this.

TANIA:

Thank you.

That's how we ship them in our 12-packs.

Oh, is it?

I want the full update.

The full update.

What have you been

working on the whole week?

We are working with a couple

of different co-packers

with different machinery to

see what creates the best product

-at the best price.

-Got it. Okay.

Every co-packer that we're

working with has a capacity to do

over 100,000 units per week.

-Wha-wha!

-So we're making sure that,

whoever we go with,

-we can stick with them for the long run.

-That's really smart.

One of the big conversations

I want to dig into with you two today

is really around the product pipeline

because I keep thinking about the fact

there's only three SKUs, right?

And I'm like, there's so much

work to be done there

that it's just like the obvious way

'cause once you've got a retailer that

really believe in what you're doing,

going from three to six SKUs

is just a no-brainer and

you'll do double the business.

So today, the only one of these retailers

that you exist in is Erewhon.

You've got the specialty stores.

If you look at where you are

right now, right, all of these

are relatively small chains.

And at the top is where you start

to get a little bit of scale.

Work on that pipeline of next retailers.

Our product development plan

can change slightly

based on how our retailer meetings go,

how our co-packer runs go.

This week we're going

to our co-packer to do another test,

running our cookies

through their machines.

We are extremely nervous.

It feels like the most high stakes run

that we've done so far.

What about from a marketing point of view?

Have you guys had any thoughts

around what you could do to amplify?

Right now, we are not putting

much money into marketing.

And the marketing

that we do is typically online,

-and it really funnels to our website.

-Yes.

I would really think about,

as you're going into these new stores,

trying to broker those partnerships,

so that there's a little bit

of marketing weaved in,

or at least you understand

all of the opportunities,

-so that you can pay to play

within those stores.

-Okay.

Because again, you-you

there is no second chance.

You cannot mess up, you can't not deliver.

We have one shot at these stores, so

You really do, you really do,

because your reputation is everything.

So I really want you guys to go into those

relationships with your eyes wide open.

Why are you running away,

running away, running away ♪

Why don't you just stay? ♪

-STACY: Felix? The smaller suitcase.

-FELIX: Yes.

-Right here?

-RYAN: That's yours.

Why don't you just stay? ♪

Wait, and then for suitcases,

I'm taking ours. Right?

No. (stammers)

Yes. Oh, I got to get that down.

-Please don't play with that.

-Dad, I'm putting the key right here.

STACY:

Ryan is taking our three kids

on vacation to Montreal and I'm not going.

The only French words

I know are "oui-oui" and "ha ha."

Okay. I need to keep moving.

I need to keep moving.

After the last meeting with Emma,

there is a lot of work to be done.

This was a really hard choice to make,

but there's no question in my mind

that staying behind

and taking in all of the things

that are gonna happen for all better,

it's just the right choice

for my business.

Everyone is traveling

with their own luggage.

Everyone's responsible

for getting their own luggage.

-FELIX: Why aren't you going?

-STACY: Why aren't I going?

-RYAN: She's got work.

-Are you gonna miss me?

-CHILDREN: Yeah.

-It's gonna be tough.

This is the life of a female

working mom entrepreneur.

We are building this for our families,

and we're building it

in front of their eyes.

MERAV:

We have to feel this sense of obligation

and responsibility

because this is part of our legacy.

And I just think we need that win.

STACY: What else do you need

to do tonight? Why don't you go

take care of your nighttime routine?

Do all that stuff

right now, and then we'll finish up, okay?

-I love you.

-Okay, love you.

Give me a kiss.

-It's gonna be great.

-I know.

I know.

-I love you, sweet girl.

-I love you, Mama.

You got me like hell ♪

Yeah, hell yeah ♪

GLORIA: It's going to be

the first time meeting with Emma

since the big pitch.

I'm fighting with impostor syndrome 'cause

I'm meeting with Emma.

-Hi, Emma.

-EMMA: Hi, Gloria. How are you?

-Nice to finally see you again.

-It's so good.

-It's so good to see you again.

How are you?

-Yeah, I'm well.

It was really so nice meeting you.

It was funny,

actually because, you know,

as soon as we both tasted it,

we kind of looked at each other

and we were like,

"This is really, really good."

And then we started speaking to you,

and you presented so beautifully.

So, yeah, we couldn't agree,

so we agreed to get together.

But we've gone through at least

half a jar in my house, which is crazy.

The one thing that I was thinking about

was that you label this

"medium." I'm a spicy per

Like, I love spice, but do you think

for the American market

that medium is right here?

'Cause people in my house

are like, "Whoa!"

And I was like, "Okay, guys, calm down,"

but they were all really shocked.

So this third production batch,

I corrected it,

and so the level of heat

-will be a true medium and

-Oh, you think so?

-Yeah.

-And where do you feel like

you're going to go next?

Because I feel like

what I can really help you with

-is trying to take this to the next level.

-Mm-hmm.

-Absolutely.

-So have you ever had any conversations

with any distributors

or directly with any

of the big retailers, for example?

Um, so in the very, very early stages,

-um, Trader Joe's approached me, um

-Oh, great, I love Trader Joe's.

They said they were interested.

However, it didn't pan out.

Uh, challenge at that time

was that I didn't have a mass producer.

So that's why it's really important

at this stage of a business

-like this to have

all your ducks in a row.

-Yeah.

-And by that, I mean to be ready, right?

-Mm-hmm.

And so one of the things

that I want to help you with

is business readiness, like,

-how do we get you in a position

-Yeah, yeah.

that when those opportunities

come along,

you're ticked and tied and ready to go?

It's really important to, like, figure out

-that relationship with your co-packer.

-Mm-hmm.

So that we know, like,

are these the people to scale with,

or do you need to move on from them?

Getting into grocery,

there's so much competition.

You can't get a meeting

directly with a buyer.

And even if you can, they want you

to go directly through their distributors.

And right now, Gloria has

no experience with that whatsoever.

And she's pretty timid.

And she's gonna have to reach out

and ask for a lot of help

and trust a lot of partners

to make the vision

of scaling this brand a reality.

And I need to see that from her, that

she can go and push that over the line.

What I keep going back to and

what I keep thinking about is your job.

Are you worried about that?

Just feels like you have such a big role.

And there seems to me, like, I just sense

some kind of trepidation in you.

I'm only worried about, about my job

because I don't know

what the future holds.

The uncertainty of, like,

building my brand.

Are you worried that they find out?

No one has brought it to my attention.

I haven't told them about it,

so I don't know.

I have tried

very hard not to ever

bring it up to my employer,

but I shouldn't be sneaking around.

I need to not feel like I have

to hide what I'm doing.

But I'm concerned

that they might not think

I'm taking my daytime job

as seriously as I ta

I take my side hustle.

I'm always, like, get ahead of any issues

that might be coming down

the pipeline, you know,

but just, like, take the weight

off your shoulders a little bit.

Me and my crew,

although we made it back ♪

We on top, we keep on pushing ♪

Bottoms are raising, we don't stop ♪

No one can replicate the magic

that we unlock ♪

'Cause we on top. ♪

FAY:

I'm kind of an extremist

with everything I do, whether that's

partying, drinking, working.

I am learning to look after myself more.

I know I need to move my body,

work out in the mornings,

or the day is just not right.

There's a part of me,

I don't know if it's being a woman

or part of, like, my cultural background,

but I never feel

like I'm doing enough.

I just feel like I'm trying

to be a good daughter,

a good sister,

and then trying to grow a company

and get Ashley to invest in it.

I am feeling pressure

because there's so much at stake

for Bonbuz.

Fortunately, I love competition.

And I'm gonna win over Ashley.

♪

Have you noticed

that work has been picking up?

Yeah. It's the worst timing for it.

TANIA: I feel like

for a while, things were kind of steady

and it was like, "Okay,

you know, get it to me in a week or"

And now I feel like everyone's like,

"I need this immediately."

I really want to not be a lawyer anymore.

(laughs) I know, me, too.

-I feel like that would solve

a lot of problems.

-Me, too.

I mean, that's the goal, right?

Like, that's what we're working towards.

That's been the goal

since we started Brune.

We have office stuff, which I thought

we were gonna be fine doing next week,

but I think we actually have

to get it done this weekend.

We have to go to the commercial kitchen.

We need to do the distributor drop.

We have to package all the orders,

and we have the co-packer test run

on Wednesday.

-Oh, my gosh.

-And we have to leave.

They have to get our ingredients

in the day before.

We need to get there on Tuesday,

like, during business hours.

That's gonna be cra

I don't even know how we're gonna

be able to do that.

-I also

-We have to take off Tuesday.

(sighs) We told our boss

we're taking off Wednesday only.

That's scary.

TANIA:

Our co-packer run is in Las Vegas.

At this point,

we're juggling our day jobs.

We're trying to help each other make sure

that all of our legal work gets done.

We're spending so much time in the

business, really getting our hands dirty.

TANIA: It's like, oh, my goodness,

there's so much happening at once.

There's so much to do.

This is what life has become for us.

(both laughing)

TANIA:

I feel like every time there's one thing

-that's not right.

-JAHAN: Yeah.

The dough doesn't come out

in an efficient way,

or it gets, like, distorted

by the way that it's cut.

-Yeah.

-Or it bakes kind of funny.

So we still have to hit,

you know, that sweet spot.

I'm really nervous.

I know. I feel like I'm gonna be

really disappointed if it doesn't work.

♪

Market research can be really expensive

and not a top priority,

especially for a new business.

But the information is invaluable.

With the help of Ally, our side hustlers

should take a look

at who their targeted audience is

and how they're reacting to their product.

We are with Ally's Innovation Hub.

We're excited to bring

the way that we work,

understanding consumers, to you today.

We want to do everything we can

to help you ask questions

you may not have considered.

And we actually have done

some pre-research for you all.

We've got some videos for you to watch.

And then we also have

some hard survey feedback as well.

I was not expecting to have

a whole research team

do analysis on Bonbuz

and get, like, a 250-person survey,

so I'm definitely feeling intimidated.

SHARLA:

We shared with these individuals

your website

and let them essentially drive.

WOMAN (on video):

Let's have a look here.

Oh, cookies. Paleo, gluten-free, vegan.

That's kind of nice to see that

they're kind of catering to certain diets.

MAN (on video):

Gloria's Shito.

I really like that the pictures

are very vivid

and appetizing looking.

It's only that one product. Okay.

Would have expected

more products than just

the one chili oil.

GLORIA:

Only had the one product on the website.

They would have liked a variety

of options to choose from.

Just having one product on the shelf,

nobody's going to take me seriously.

I need to come up with additional SKUs.

I need to create a brand landscape

in terms of my product offerings.

The All Better Company.

I do believe that I've seen

this, uh, before.

It looks like a lot of skincare,

maybe not as much first aid,

but it looks like

it's mostly just anti-itch.

I typically do buy the Band-Aid brand.

I do buy Neosporin as a brand name.

We're a first aid brand

and it's really clear

that for a lot of people,

when they think of first aid,

they think of acute emergency,

-gauze and blood.

-MERAV: Right.

STACY: How are we gonna

educate the consumer?

And the first point of touch

outside of being in store is our website.

The thought process of, like,

is that good for my body

is just not there, right?

Like, the way that we're talking

about building the website,

if she had seen the overall mission.

-So we're not just bugs.

-Yeah, because there's no

There's also no conversation

about, like, better ingredients.

Right. So, like, then

so, identifying the enemy

-and then the product.

-Yes.

And the products can live

within that space, but

Yeah. The value proposition.

-It's the value proposition, the why.

-Yeah. Yeah.

"This product is so much 'free' that

I can't imagine it actually tasting good."

The feedback that we've gotten

is pretty consistent

with what we thought people would think

about Brune.

TANIA:

We need to really think about

how we communicate that Brune tastes good

to people that can't taste it.

♪

FAY:

There's always unhelpful feedback,

you know, it's like,

"Bonbuz is a dumb name."

Like

FAY: It is a bit frustrating

when you're hearing

the negative feedback.

People are candid

when they're on the keyboard

and there's no one there

that they're talking to.

But I think sometimes

there can be truth even if they don't

articulate it in the kindest way.

FAY:

Bonbuz is a brilliant name.

Tell me another six-letter word

that you can own that isn't already taken.

I'll wait.

Bonbuz as a brand was designed

to turn alcohol-free on its head

and make it so fun and playful.

Like a sober community.

That approach doesn't land.

ASHLEY: I'm sure as you were listening

to some of that feedback,

you were thinking of some questions,

which, that's great because

you all are gonna get to go out

and actually talk to consumers

and interview people yourselves.

GLORIA:

Right now?

(laughing)

TANIA:

Let's go.

We've made mistakes, but we're learning

from them and we're growing from them.

We need to be able to get

All Better Co. to the next level.

This is an incredible opportunity

and you don't want to blow it.

♪

I'm really, really good

at handling my business ♪

I hustle harder than the rest,

God is my witness ♪

I've never just went up to random people

in the street and asked them questions.

-Me neither.

-It's gonna be a little awkward.

TANIA: We are on Abbot Kinney in Venice

asking people their thoughts

about, you know, gluten-free,

vegan or "healthy" items,

and what they think about

our cookie flavors.

Gloria's not here yet, right?

-She's coming later.

-Yeah. She's coming later.

It would be fun to,

to do this with her, too.

I know.

♪

STACY:

We're gonna start talking to people first.

The main goal for us is, like,

how do people define

and think of first aid and then,

ultimately, what products

they associate with that category.

Having the opportunity

to hit the streets and talk to people

is like a dream come true.

-For one of us.

-(laughs)

She's better at it than I am.

Hi. Would you guys be open

to taking a quick survey?

(chuckling)

Would you guys be open to taking

a quick survey about cookies?

Damn.

Hello.

It's a little harder than anticipated.

I wish we had cookies.

I wish we had cookies.

-Me, too.

-We need to bring cookies.

We need to see someone

that walks out with an Erewhon bag.

-Yes. That would be our target customer.

-(laughs)

We usually sample our cookies

in a grocery store.

Our cookies need to be

temperature-controlled,

and we needed to make sure

that they were not out in the heat.

-Hey.

-Hey.

If I say "first aid,"

like, what comes to mind?

Bandages, uh, Band-A*DS, uh, ice pack,

medicine.

STACY:

We're thinking about products. We also

We put bugs into that category.

-Bug bites.

-Mm-hmm.

When we say the term "first aid"

or "first aid kit," what comes to mind?

Band-A*DS. Um

Maybe, like, some sanitizing wipes.

STACY:

Sunburns, cuts.

There's a little bit of consumer education

that needs to happen

when they think about first aid.

It's not bugs.

-It's not bugs, as it turns out.

-(laughing)

-It turns out it's not bugs.

-Wah-wah. (chuckles)

Are you open to taking a survey

about cookies?

Absolutely.

-Awesome.

-Amazing. (laughing)

-Are you kidding me?

Absolutely. Who doesn't love cookies?

Come on, now.

We actually have a cookie brand,

so we have some questions to ask you.

-Beautiful. Let's get after it.

-(chuckles)

If you hear

that these desserts are healthy,

how does that make you feel?

Uh, yes, please.

-Yes?

-Okay, so you hear something

like "gluten-free" or "vegan"

-and you still want to buy the cookie?

-Yeah.

-Mm-hmm.

-Can I ask you about

a few flavors and see

-which ones you'd say are your favorites?

-Yeah.

Oh, man. Okay.

You know what, oatmeal raisin.

-Okay.

-It's a it's an

it's an underrated classic.

We're gonna read you a couple of flavors

and would love for you

to rank them in terms of what you

would pick up first at the grocery store.

-Chocolate fudge first.

-Ooh.

-Okay.

-Yes.

-(man laughs)

I'd probably go with the oatmeal raisin.

-TANIA: Oh!

-Okay, that's great.

TANIA: The responses have been

pretty great so far.

A lot of people actually liked

oatmeal raisin,

-which is our newest product

in development.

-(laughs)

-Hi!

-Hi!

-There she is!

Hi, Gloria!

I had to be at work, but

I am fortunate that I can still go

and still talk to people on the streets.

Tell me what comes to your mind

when I tell you "West African cuisine."

What do you think of?

(laughs)

That's a tough question.

-Right?

-I've never been there.

-You've never been there?

-No.

And you've never tried anything

from West Africa?

-No. No.

-No?

To be honest,

I never tried African cuisine.

Okay.

-I'm really open

for trying the new things.

-Okay.

All right, so what are you

aiming to, like, find out?

Would they pick up Bonbuz off the shelf?

Whether people have tried

alcohol replacements

but, also, is it clear what it is?

You lived in Ghana!

When you were in Ghana,

what was your favorite food?

-Jollof rice.

-100%.

And what condiment would you eat it with?

Uh, I don't know what it's called,

but it's some kind of, like,

uh, pepper and fish sauce.

-Shito. Right?

-Yes.

Oh, yeah, shito.

I-I know how you how you spell it,

-but I don't know how you pronounce it.

-Yeah. Would you want to be able

to go to the store and buy shito?

Yeah.

(laughs)

-No way. That's actually so cool.

-Would you Yeah?

-JAHAN: Yeah.

-Yeah?

This feedback just proves to me

and confirms

that there needs to be accessibility.

The people want shito.

There is interest.

Currently they have zero access.

-Yeah.

-Yeah. Everyone so far has said

that they'd want to try West African food

-and they'd want to try

your products, so

-Yeah.

It's telling me

I should keep marching forward.

-(laughs)

-Yes.

What do you think when you see this can?

-Like, what does it make you feel?

-"Functional fizz."

This an energy drink?

"A social tonic. Adaptogen."

So is it boozy?

I don't know what "nootropios" is.

-Okay. Nootropics. Yeah.

-Nootropics.

If I read "Tomorrow Things"

and "Bad Enough Already,"

I would think that these are bad for me.

I'm, like, not feeling great.

May as well feel worse.

You're hoping that things land,

'cause we don't have the marketing budgets

that these massive drinks companies have

to do the market research.

So, with the front, like,

-where it says

"nootropics and adaptogens"

-Yeah.

does that mean anything to you?

-I had no idea what nootropics was.

-Okay. Cool.

I think, like, a brief about, like,

what that means would be good.

FAY:

So, when I show you these cans,

what does it make you feel?

I'm gonna be completely honest.

This is just, like, another

"fake thing"

that's full of sugar and caffeine.

That's what it tells you?

Yeah, yeah. Like,

"functional fizz" and "buzz" is like,

this doesn't make me feel healthy.

This just is, like,

another spin-off of like, uh,

a Red Bull or, uh, caffeine.

Oh, no, no.

That's definitely not Bonbuz.

This guy is

a man of many words.

I need something

that's gonna catch my eye and say, "Okay."

The way it looks,

it doesn't feel healthy to me.

FAY:

He is

really hammering

on what the brand should be.

I hope this is not your brand,

'cause, like, she's just gonna be, like

This is my brand.

♪

I hope this is not your brand,

'cause, like, she's just gonna be, like

This is my brand.

It's interesting, 'cause we are

a healthy alternative,

but we're alcohol-free.

-Buzz without the booze, essentially.

-Okay, I get ya.

FAY:

It feels a little frustrating, because

people are getting confused

as to what the priority is

in the messaging.

I didn't

get that people would think

it would be so, like, unhealthy.

Bonbuz is my baby,

and I need to, like, be open to feedback

and be open to adapting

my company.

We can make this a lot cleaner,

a lot more simple

and a lot more impactful.

I'm ready to evolve the brand

and make it better.

We've got a lot of work to do,

but it's what we need to do.

♪

Whoa ♪

Whoa ♪

Whoa. ♪

So, you could not make this stuff up.

Um, my family is gone.

If you look behind me,

see

Oh, yeah, there's a leak in my house.

I just want to acknowledge

just, like, a lot of life has happened

in the last weeks.

This is

my beautiful front yard.

Our entire front yard is flooded.

In nine years, nothing like this

has ever happened to us.

Thank God that we had that emergency fund

from Ally because

this just hit us in a really, really

massive way with an unexpected cost.

So this is helping us

breathe a little bit.

Hopefully tomorrow, this goes back

to a little bit more normal.

What is normal?

I'm rolling deep into the sunset ♪

We are packing up the car,

getting ready to go to Vegas

for our first co-packer run of the month.

Sunset ♪

TANIA: The co-packing facilities

that we've been working with

every time we go,

it's a little bit more successful.

But at some point, they need

to give you a production approval

to be able

to make very large-scale quantities.

So that's something

we haven't gotten before.

We have our emotional support crew

back here.

-(whooping) Go, Brune!

-(Tania and Jahan laughing)

JAHAN:

Four and a half hours to go.

I'm really, really excited, and I don't

want to get ahead of myself, though.

We, unfortunately, have gone out of stock

at some of our retailers.

And it is increasing the pressure

even more

to make sure that our co-packer run works.

♪

We're here at the co-packer facility,

and it's go time.

Okay. (grunts)

This is 55 pounds

-of tapioca flour.

-Tapioca.

JAHAN: We hope that this is the one

that gets us that final approval,

and then we can say

that we are fully ready to produce

our chocolate chip cookie at our scale.

Okay, then maybe let's put one

in the fridge and one at warehouse temp.

I got the right moves ♪

I got the right step ♪

The world in the palm of my hand,

I'm in my zone ♪

I'm in my zone. ♪

GLORIA:

After my meeting with Emma,

I need to be retail-ready,

and what that means is,

forming partnerships with distributors.

My current manufacturer

their capabilities are not there when

thinking to go national distribution.

And I am concerned

that I won't be able to find one

in the short amount of time I have.

I cannot find a manufacturer

who can help me scale

and produce high minimum-quantity orders,

then retailers don't want to work with me.

What comes first?

Is it the chicken or the egg?

'Cause I'm trying

to do the impossible here.

♪

Huh ♪

So watch me while I work, huh ♪

-EMMA: Hey.

-Yeah?

Hey, babe. Have we heard anything

from Tania and Jahan?

Not yet.

Do you want me to get them on the line?

I would love you to get them on the line.

-Let's have a catch-up with those two.

-All right.

-We need to know what's happening.

-(laughs)

-Here you go.

-(line ringing)

-Love you for that.

-All right.

-TANIA: Hello?

-Oh, hello. Is that Tania and Jahan?

-TANIA: Yes.

-JAHAN: Yes.

-It's Emma Grede.

How are you guys? How's Vegas?

TANIA:

So, um

Um

EMMA:

Uh-oh. Is something wrong?

-TANIA: We have good news for you.

-You do?

TANIA:

It took a little bit of tweaking,

but we got approved

to run our chocolate chip cookie

on a full production run at scale.

Yes!

I love it. That's so great.

That's so great.

I was not expecting that this quickly.

TANIA: And we tasted it,

and we tried it, and it's beautiful,

and it tastes delicious,

and we're really, really

Oh, my God. All of the things.

Unbelievable. You two are brilliant.

That's such positive news.

I cannot even tell you.

Our co-packer run worked.

That means that we're starting

conversations with big national retailers.

This is such a win.

So what does this mean

in terms of numbers?

TANIA: We basically got cleared to go

to a full production run

with this flavor, which we were planning

on doing between ten and 30,000 units.

That sounds amazing.

Who you choose as your partners

in the early stages

of your business journey

is such a key consideration

for any founder.

Tania and Jahan are really focused

on exactly the right thing right now.

These girls completely have their eye

on the prize.

I'm so happy to speak to you both, and

you know where I am if you need anything.

-JAHAN: Thank you so much.

-TANIA: Thank you so much.

Congratulations, you two. Well done.

JAHAN:

This is life-changing

for us and for Brune.

And all we need now is that extra push

from Emma to make sure

that we have the funding

to take Brune to the next level.

Can't stop 'till I get enough,

one touch and feelin' the buzz ♪

That give me such a rush ♪

-And never, ever givin' up ♪

-Wow. ♪

-Hi.

-Hey, Fay.

-What took you so long?

-I don't know. Traffic.

-(laughing)

-So glad you're here.

Nice to see you.

FAY:

Dr. Buz is our

formulation scientist.

He and I have been working together

for about two years.

-Cheers.

-Cheers! Cheers!

I'm so excited for the new formulations,

for the new spirits.

Ashley doesn't think that the education

that we've been doing so far is

landing in the way that we need it to.

I want Dr. Buz as the face

of Bonbuz because

no one's really validated the science.

So there's a few things

that I wanted to chat about with you.

Um, to really speak

to sort of the science behind adaptogens

and the other ingredients.

We're trying to get people to understand

how these ingredients work,

and that requires a level of education

that we haven't necessarily

been pushing out.

And part of the feedback

from, you know, Ashley

is the education is so important.

Yeah. So, you have to think about

how you're going to do that then.

You're going to do it on TikTok.

-Oh, I see. Okay.

-(laughing)

Talk about adaptogens.

Well, then, um, yeah, I can bring that up.

How do you think

you would explain adaptogens?

In terms of mood-altering?

It is really a metabolic interaction.

-It's really a classification.

-Mm-hmm.

-That's how it's defined.

-Exactly.

A classification of materials

that can cause

certain kinds of biological changes.

It's like stimulation with benefits.

Are we a functional drink,

or are we a non-alc drink more?

You know, like, where do we?

Uh, you don't have to have either-or.

People "either-or" things all the time,

and they don't realize

there's an "and" possibility.

So you can be functional

and still get a buzz.

Yeah.

I'm feeling a bit confused.

(laughs) I'm not really sure

what direction to go in.

Being non-alc doesn't necessarily

feel restrictive,

but we want to grow.

I don't like not having answers,

and I'm just feeling like I don't

really know what the best route is.

Say ♪

Say, I dare you to say I can't do it ♪

It only makes me want it more ♪

Say it! ♪

I'm really excited that this could happen.

-Oh.

-Oh. We are, too.

-How's everything going?

-Just been madness.

I just feel like if I wasn't working

on my day job,

I would have so much time

to do all the things

-I have to do for Gloria Shito.

-Yeah.

Like, I have orders

that have sat for a week,

and I'm like,

"I need to get this order out."

-Yeah.

-Oh, we feel you on all of this.

We've been sending a lot

of apology emails.

-Love it. Love it.

-JAHAN: Discount codes, you know?

Like you said,

juggling all of these different things.

-Yeah.

-And telling ourselves,

"This is temporary,

and this is what we need to do

to get Brune to where we want it to be."

TANIA:

Are you self-distributing right now?

-Currently self-distributing.

-TANIA: Okay.

-So you have good margins?

-Exactly.

The distributor-brand relationship

is typically one of the most difficult.

Some of the bigger retail chains

only work with one distributor.

Like, let's say you're at the store,

and you look at someone's price tag.

It actually says their distributor on it.

-Oh, it does?

-Yeah.

-Okay.

-Find a distributor, go to the store.

-Yeah.

-See if you see them

on the shelves anywhere.

-Okay.

-Who do they work with?

-Do you know those people?

-Yeah.

That's a good tip.

It feels really good to be able

to share some advice

because it's a sisterhood.

You want to support one another.

You want to

see other people succeed.

This process is another whole job.

-(laughing) Yeah.

-On top of my day job

and my side hustles.

We actually told our boss

about our business.

-You did?

-Yeah.

And how did they respond to that?

-JAHAN: Pretty well, surprisingly.

-TANIA: Yeah.

I think she didn't understand

the magnitude

of the business

and what we're trying to do with it.

-Right.

-And that it might mean

that we go full-time on Brune,

so she's supportive so far.

Okay. Emma?

That was one of the things

that she said was to tell my employer

that I have this business.

I think I have to bring it up

at some point.

From a legal perspective,

you should also look

-at your employee handbook.

-Yeah.

And, like, the policies

that you have in place

and make sure that you are, you know

-Yeah.

-doing everything above board.

-Yeah.

-JAHAN: Yeah.

GLORIA:

I just don't want

to give my employer

any ounce of reason

to not think

that I am committed to my job.

I've gotten fired from my job before.

It was a tough financial struggle.

I don't want that to happen again.

I just I'm so worried

about, like, my

Like, having to be able

to pay for my rent.

-Yeah.

-'Cause my day job

is what affords me a living.

This is just the start,

this is just the start ♪

We've just begun ♪

This is just the start,

this is just the start ♪

We've just begun ♪

This is just the start,

this is just the start ♪

We've just begun ♪

This is just the start,

this is just the start ♪

We've just begun ♪

This is just the start,

this is just the start ♪

We've just begun ♪

This is just the start,

this is just the start ♪

We've just begun ♪

This is just the start,

this is just the start ♪

We've just begun. ♪