[upbeat music plays]
I'm telling you this with love.
- Yeah.
- You're k*lling your business.
I just think that we have
different visions,
especially for what I believe
Lightly could be
versus what you think Lightly
will be, as well.
- Okay. - You have to be able to
be moldable.
If you can't actually be
moldable,
I'm not going to be able to go
into business with you.
As sad as it makes me feel,
like, this is just business.
I just don't see this
partnership working out right
now.
- I totally understand, and I
appreciate you being, like, so
forthcoming,
because I don't want you to
waste your time.
I don't want my time wasted.
- I'm going to be your number
one customer,
I'm going to be your number one
cheerleader,
and I'm going to be rooting from
the sidelines on your side
hustle.
- Thank you. I appreciate you.
- I love you, Dominique. - I
love you.
♪ Gonna work through it ♪
- Oh. - Oh!
♪ All the growing pains ♪
she doesn't feel like it's the
right fit for her and mentoring
me.
- Bye, my dear. - Bye.
the positive things we have
going on, and
pick myself back up tomorrow.
[upbeat music plays]
♪ This world is my audience ♪
♪ Don't be thinking that the
show is free, no ♪
- It is Sunday.
I am about to get ready for a
full day of work.
And I don't think Bo really
wants to work today.
So tired.
♪ Don't be thinking that the
show is free, no. ♪
- On my way to go get all four
brand-new tires
thanks to the Ally Emergency
Fund.
It was such a blessing that they
were able to help me with
something like this,
because getting my kids back and
forth and work and my side
hustle.
It weighs on your tires, so this
is definitely a blessing.
- I have landed in New York
City.
Gonna set up my booth this
morning.
Setup always takes a lot longer
than you think.
♪ Eyes on me ♪
♪ This world is my audience ♪
♪ Don't be thinking that the
show is free, no, no. ♪
- My girl.
- Hey. - [laughs]
- Not my girl. - My girl.
- It's hot as hell out there. -
It is.
And I know you're traveling
soon. - Yes, girl.
We're going to Puerto Rico. -
Oh, I've never been.
Never, never been. - No?
But, obviously, it's almost time
to meet Emma.
- I know. I'm, like - I know,
and present her stuff.
Are you?
How are you feeling about it? -
I just
I feel a little anxious about
it.
Unfortunately, I was not able to
attend the pitch.
We had a lot of business at our
Amp headquarters that needed
Angel. I'm so proud of you.
- I don't want her getting no
crazy, like, "These girls don't
have it together.
They're not on the same page."
I don't want her getting that
vibe at all. And maybe we
position it like,
"Emma, you know you're the
marketing mastermind.
"This is what we agree on.
What do you think we should
really focus on?"
She can maybe guide us to what
the priority should be.
- Yeah, 'cause I feel like we're
still sh**ting in the dark.
- We are. - Like, we're just,
like
trying to figure out what's
going to stick. - Right.
Realistically, we have to go
into this meeting with Emma
and present her with two
options.
"You invest in Amp, and in three
months, we can turn things
around
"and really have something
scalable, viable.
We'll be on our way to being a
million-dollar brand." Or
- There's no more Amp.
- We're out.
about a couple of months, if
that, of runway left.
Currently, we're down 89% in our
e-commerce business.
- We need to build a business
that makes money,
not a business that we are
paying to keep afloat.
- Emma is going to see that
at the end of the day, we are
going to work until
there is a solution. This -
Right. Yes.
- We're like cats with nine
lives. - Yes.
- It's like - We on
Which life we on? No, girl, we
crossing 'em out.
We're literally, like, on life
number eight.
- I know.
- Everything is on the line.
There's no plan B.
[upbeat music playing]
- Good. - I'll help out with
some potatoes.
- Yes.
So Emma wants me to change the
name
to a more pet-innovative
company.
- What names have you come up
with?
- Fuzzykins.
[Bo whining]
- I don't think so. - No.
Cuddle Monster.
Snickerdoodle? - Nope.
- Wiggle Puff.
- Sounds like you're gonna need
some help on the name.
That's the one thing that I
really struggle with is
marketing
and finding something that's
going to speak to the consumer.
Purr Lock. - Pass.
- Niblet? - No.
[whining]
I do think that she has a really
good vision for the company,
and I think that being
open-minded to those suggestions
is key in this process.
If you're closed-off, you're not
going to learn anything.
However it turns out, I just
know that it'll be amazing.
- Well, I'm nervous for you. -
Yeah. Okay.
♪ Sweet like honey ♪
I don't think that's fair
because, you know,
ROSEZETTA: Lesheka? - Hello.
- Hi, I'm Rosezetta. - Nice to
meet you.
- Nice to meet you. Come on
back.
So, we need to think of the
equity. You know, how are we
gonna do that?
I think it should be half.
- I mean, I've put a little more
work in.
I don't know about half. 60-40.
- I'm not doing 60-40.
So it's very nerve-racking just
to be meeting with someone and
not
knowing going into it what to
even
- So just tell me everything.
- Okay, so,
the business was started with me
and my child's father and his
mother.
- Okay. - Uh, 2019.
- What's the name of the
business? -Um, Chicken Chops N'
Kool Aid.
- Chicken Chops N' Kool Aid.
That sounds super fun.
- Very. Last year,
my kid's dad, Nic his mom
passed away from stage four lung
cancer.
Right now, we're trying to set
it up to where we both have
50-50 of it,
uh, because we have an investor,
and she's investing,
but she wants it to be 50-50.
- And so right now, there's
nothing in writing?
- Nothing. - Okay. So that is
crucial
because what I will say
business partnership is
marriage.
Right? So if y'all decide to
part ways,
it is similar to a divorce,
especially when you have a large
business with assets.
So it's really important that
the documentation is tight
so that you're protected and
that you have some control.
You mentioned Chicken Chops N'
Kool Aid. - Correct.
And so, is that spelled like the
popular beverage "Kool-Aid"?
- No. So we have it on our logo
where Kool Aid has, like,
an actual, like, hyphen in it.
This is the actual logo.
- Okay, got you.
Unfortunately, you would not be
able
to trademark this. - Okay.
- Because Kool-Aid is already a
trademark.
I'm going to do a quick search.
If we take out "Kool-Aid," it
would just be?
- Chicken Chops.
- Um, there's there's a
"Chicken Chops."
Somebody in Chicago trademarked
it.
- Okay. - So, I would say
think about expanding the
name.
It needs to be something that
you own 100%.
- Okay.
I feel very sad about having to
change the name.
and becoming so big that we
would have to eventually change
it.
So, I mean, it sucks.
- So that's $2,850 for the
agreement, $500 for the
templates,
and then $2,000 for the
trademarks. If you want to just
start
with the $2,850, that would be
where we start.
- Okay. We got a lot of work.
[laughing] A lot of work.
♪ We both got to fight for this
♪
♪ You bet a little bit more ♪
REBECCA: Like, I know, like,
with our social media, what she
was saying was,
you know, it's kind of like
half-assed. - Yeah.
And it's, like, yeah, there's
literally only, like, one of our
asses on there.
- It's me. It's all me. - I
know.
- Ashley's been giving us so
many points
on what we're missing on our
social media.
- I just don't want to get,
like, chewed out that, like,
"You have to do more social
media."
Like, I'm growing a baby. Like,
can I just focus on that?
Is that enough?
- I want people to come to our
page every single month
and know that they're going to
get
Like, this month, they're
talking about period equity. -
Yeah.
- This month, they're talking
about laws and regulations.
- So as we learn, as period
educators
- Did we ever do the one about
the
the hemp, uh, differential?
I don't want to talk about hemp,
though.
- I mean, I think we could. We
don't talk about hemp enough.
Why don't we film one right now?
- Okay.
- We look good. - We look great.
Okay, so here are the four
things we learned
in the past year of having a
period care company.
- Do you want to click record
first? - Oh.
Okay, now let's go on to our
next concept.
- Hemp is trendy, y'all.
[laughs]
really translates to, like,
camera stuff, too.
And so, I'm trying to get over
that. Maybe I need a therapist
or something.
Do I film this in Rif Care's
page?
[laughs] Sorry, I got to not,
like, die laughing.
- These are the four things we
learned, and I hope this helps
you.
- Okay. You edit it. - Okay.
[upbeat music plays]
to use my time wisely.
That means coming with an agenda
Time is money.
All right, so listen,
we had such a good conversation
last time,
and, you know, it's so funny
'cause I left you, and I was
like,
"Oh, my goodness." There was a
I felt like I left you with a
lot.
Like, have you even begun to
have those conversations with
Nic?
- Yeah. We got it done. - You
have?
You mean you got it done?
- I got the paperwork ready and
signed.
We got it done, signed. - Wait a
minute.
We're talking just over a week.
- Yup.
I got, um, 50-50 of the
business,
but then, on the voting, um, he
got 49, I got 51.
- Oh, damn. Girl! - So I got the
last say-so. [laughs]
- This is what I'm talking
about. [laughs]
- I had to throw a little bit
in. - You didn't just do it, you
did it.
- Yeah. I was like, I got to get
a little extra in here, all this
work.
- A little sweetener on there. -
Yup.
- No, that was that is so
good. I'm so proud of you.
- [laughs] Yup.
- Damn, that's amazing.
- One thing we did need to do,
we have to change the name.
She looked up the name. - I knew
that was coming.
- And that was hard because
Nic's mom named the business,
so it kind of hit home.
It was something dear to us. It
was something close to our
heart.
- Oh, I get it. - And it was
like, to change that
- You've got to come up with
this name.
You've also got to think about,
like, your graphic intention.
So, it really is like creating
almost like a brand story.
I want you to go and think about
this as, like,
what does it mean to you
and to your family? Why do you
make this sauce?
And that's gonna help you, the
start of that this selling.
The one thing that I want to do
right now
is figure out proof of concept.
- Okay.
- Because you run a chicken
truck,
and what we want to do is create
a sauce business.
So we've got to get to the point
where we're actually creating
a sauce in a bottle that's ready
to sell. - Okay.
- There's commercial kitchens
all over the country,
and what I really want to do is
get you into one
so that you can try making this
sauce in pretty large
quantities,
maybe a few hundred bottles.
- Okay. [laughs] That's gonna
be, uh Okay.
- I think it's gonna take a bit
of trial and error, right?
- Oh, I know it is. - Well,
that's what you have me for.
You just have to reach out to
me.
Do you know what I mean? It's,
like, one of the hardest things
is asking for help,
and I want to be your mentor,
so I want to give you $15,000
that is to be used
- See, I'm gonna start crying
again. - [laughs]
- Oh, wow.
- The $15,000 is for you to
spend on the business
specifically,
and I am gonna be watching you.
So, I really want you to spend
the money wisely
and think about how you're
spending it to be additive to
the business.
And trust yourself.
I know you know how to spend
that money. - Yeah.
- You got three kids. You know
how to budget. [laughs]
You're good. So, use the money
and do what you need to do
to get us into a position where
we can actually end up in a
situation
where we sell some of this
sauce. - Okay.
- [laughs] - I'm-a be the cry
baby
in this whole thing. - Don't be,
don't be crying.
- I could've never imagined in a
million years, me out of all
people,
would be experiencing something
like that.
From inside the womb,
I've had, you know, a bad
experience.
Me, out of all people, and I
just sit back and think,
"Why not?" I had to think, "Why
not me?" at the same time.
- You have room for the good,
and I feel like what you need to
tell yourself
every day is, "I deserve it."
It's all there for you. Stop
doubting it.
♪ I got the hustle ♪
♪ I got the heart ♪
♪ I be getting money ♪
- Welcome. Hey. - How are you?
- So it's nice. It's good to see
you. - Good to see you.
How's it going today? - Um,
good.
We have a lot of interesting
stuff that just arrived.
Well, obviously, inventory. We
have to
figure this out. - Right.
We are kind of back-stocked on a
lot of things that's not really
moving right now.
We should definitely delve more
into the marketing conversation
because I have some ideas.
This is, like, risk. Like,
marketing for us is a risk.
We have had a past where we've
had agencies,
we've had freelancers.
that's where the conflict comes
into play.
- Okay, I'm gonna preface this
'cause you know how I feel about
it.
I'm not a marketer,
but I'm the marketer here,
right?
I don't have the bandwidth,
number one, but also the
resources and the budget.
Like, I know we've been burned
by marketing in the past.
We spent all this money, but we
can't go 100% at it
and then drop down to zero
percent.
I think that's just where I'm at
with it.
It's, like, a little frustrating
because we don't have the
expertise,
but we're not spending any money
to try to figure out
or find somebody with the
expertise.
- But my reservation for that
is, like,
I'm just concerned about
management when we do hire
someone.
Like, I just want to make sure
you have the bandwidth to
actually oversee them.
And I feel bad putting pressure
on you
from a marketing perspective
because I know you have a
full-time job.
- We can't - We have to use
the resources that we have.
Everything is on the line right
now, Angel.
It really, really is. - Girl,
who you telling? [laughs]
I know it is.
You're-you're giving me anxious.
Are you anxious?
- Yes. Like, I could really cry
right now
because it's like - Yeah.
- we can't take another L.
I think this is something we
could handle internally,
and I just want to make sure
it's sustainable, right?
we just paid all this money for
the pressure
and the workload to still be on
us.
- We haven't talked about a lot
of things.
I can't give 100% anywhere
because I'm just, like,
depleted.
I need a beat. - Okay.
- I need a beat. We'll talk
about it later.
Good meeting.
The love is still real.
[upbeat music plays]
- Thank
you so much.
It's been a bit of a struggle to
figure out a creative new
company name.
the decoupling of the carrying
bag and the crate,
which Emma had expressed would
be a really good idea.
We have a potential investor in
the business.
One thing that they want me to
make sure that I've done all the
due diligence for
is understanding more about the
manufacturing process
and understanding that we're
getting the best deal,
the lowest lead times, the
lowest per unit price.
- Rebecca is my product manager,
so she knows my product inside
and out,
trying to figure out how can we
reduce cost.
Another thing that this investor
wants to look at is
different types of revenue
streams with the business.
So, that includes possibly
decoupling the bag and the
crate.
- Okay.
- Okay, perfect.
- Okay. Perfect.
Awesome.
I love to hear that. Okay.
It would be amazing to have me,
Emma and Rebecca working on
this.
- All right. Awesome.
- Hi. VAL: Hi.
ASHLEY: Are you feeling good,
Rebecca?
- I'm feeling great today.
ASHLEY: So are you sleeping
okay? - Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
- Yeah? - Now it's-it's evened
out.
It gets, like, up and down.
- Do you have a full body
pillow?
- That's my husband.
- [laughter]
- You cuddle still? Pregnant? -
Yeah.
- I was like, "Please get away
from me. If you touch me one
more time"
I know I'm jumping the g*n, but
have you guys talked about
when you go on maternity leave?
- No. [chuckles]
- I'll be 100% honest. You guys
need to gear up. There needs to
be a game plan.
- Everything that she's doing,
like, I could do. Anything that
I'm doing,
she could do, and so, I think
that helps to know, like,
she has everything that she
needs to kind of figure it out.
- That's really good. I'm happy
to hear that.
- Yeah. - So talk to me. Tell me
everything.
- So right now, you're on the
brand positioning page.
- We're really focusing on the
direction we're aiming to go in.
- That's great. I love that.
I like that you guys are
pinpointing where you want to
go.
This is a lot of info,
and it's telling me that you're
hitting every benchmark.
You guys always come with the
answers.
- There's definitely a lot of
things that we don't know.
- What don't you think you know?
- The messaging that we are
choosing
right now that we're gonna use
when we're thinking about
blog posts, and we're thinking
about ideas
to give creators to make videos
or when they do collaborations
with us. ASHLEY: Okay.
I think the thing that is going
to make you guys
just different than everybody
else is leaning into the why
of hemp, why it's better,
and the hormonal aspect of this.
We have the hemp pads and
tampons because of
XYZ of your hormones.
- Exactly. - The education
around hemp is very key,
and putting on that expert kind
of viewpoint
on your social media is gonna be
really important.
I know, because, Rebecca, I told
you to get on social media.
I haven't seen you on there yet.
- I did one video.
- Okay.
- I think just with marketing, I
always get, like, really nervous
because it's not my forte, and
so, I don't feel as prepared.
Something that I'm learning to
do and get more comfortable
with.
- Yeah. These are gonna be the
challenges. They-they are,
but I think that you two are the
ones to do it.
and there's something different
about Val and Rebecca
as female founders in this
space.
That's where I can come in and
be a push, a sounding board,
to be able to have the
confidence to keep moving
forward.
- Okay. - You guys feel good?
- Yes. Thank you. - Did-did you
take a deep breath?
VAL: Yeah.
- No, I've been practicing my
deep breaths.
- Belly breathing.
Belly breathing. Okay. - Yeah.
Yeah.
♪ We about to catch fire ♪
♪ We about to light it up ♪
♪ We about to catch fire ♪
- Are you ready?
- This is gonna be Emma's first
time meeting Montré
united front.
- Hey, Em. I have the ladies
from AMP Beauty here.
-Hi.
- Hi, Emma. - So good to meet
you.
How are you? It's so lovely. -
It's a pleasure.
- Such a pleasure.
Hi, my darling. - Hi. Good to
see you.
- If we don't get it together
today,
we don't go in there with our
sh*t together,
she might not invest in AMP.
- I really wanted to find out
just how you two work together.
Like, how's that working out
between the two of you?
- Yeah, so I guess,
like, going back to the
beginning, we had to transform,
like, being sorority sisters,
right?
To now business partners, which
is a shift in dynamic.
ANGEL: We have a 15-year
relationship.
You know how it is working with
people you're really close to.
You get upset and it's like
- Oh, I know. [laughs] I do
know.
- It's not that my It's not my
colleague
or my coworker did it, it's like
my friend and my sister did it.
AMP has been a great tool
to, like, keep us focused
and something that we can
rebuild around,
but we're still
processing. EMMA: You're still
figuring it out.
- Yes. - And I feel like you
will be because
I've had multiple business
partners, I still do.
I actually work with my husband
in some respects and in some
businesses.
And so, I know that thing of
when you're in business,
and you have another
relationship that precedes that
relationship,
and I would just advise you both
to
just raise everything up.
Having conflict is completely
fine in a business.
I feel it's when people try to
bury it
and pretend the conflict isn't
there, that's when
you're going to run into
problems. - Absolutely.
- And also just expecting that
there's going to be conflict.
Like, it's just facts.
- I like conflict. We're working
on it.
- Yeah, we're totally opposite.
- Yeah. We have different -
You don't like conflict?
- I'm a Libra, so I'm very -
Yeah.
- Me too, and I love a conflict.
- You're an October Libra. - No,
September.
- September? What? - You're
passive-aggressive?
- I'm extremely
passive-aggressive. - No.
- That's what it is. That's what
it is.
- I'm aggressive-aggressive. I
don't have that. No.
Really? That's crazy. - But I'm
learning that side of business.
And that's what Angel, she's
like - And that conflict
is not a bad thing. It's not a
bad thing.
- And it can be constructive,
right? - Yeah.
The dynamic between you two is
what will
ultimately make or break this
company.
All right, so let's get into
business. You guys sent me a lot
of information.
In your mind, like, how do you
feel like things are going this
year so far?
- Our e-commerce has taken a hit
because we have shifted
all of our energy into
amplifying the target
partnership.
And we are a small team, so you
can feel that when you see the
numbers.
But to drive to our e-commerce
site is going to take those
marketing dollars.
- When I looked at your
finances, that's the single
biggest line item on your
P&L.
Digital marketing and brand
marketing.
- We spent a ton on marketing
agencies and ads.
We spent a ton on PR. We
probably disengaged a lot of
that.
- And that all just comes down
to the planning.
What you have to understand,
there's been this
monumental shift in digital
marketing.
Over-reliance on digital
marketing is a death wish.
It's the balance. It's building
your brand,
building a loyal customer base
along with
you doing those digital
marketing efforts, but never
forgetting that actually,
traditional marketing is really
important, too.
How important has email
marketing been for you in the
past?
- At our peak, we were driving
about 30% of our e-commerce
revenue from emails.
- Right. - And it's our loyal
customer base.
- 100%. - The return yes.
- She's already interested.
Right?
Like, they're on your mailing
list.
They've maybe purchased, and
it's like you've got them.
They're half-hooked.
- Right. - It's building that
email list from 10,000 to 25,000
because we need a larger
customer base.
So I think what we have to do is
identify what are the key
growth levers in your business,
and go wide.
Think distribution, think
product, think marketing.
Think all the ways that you
could
potentially put your energy into
this business, the most
important things.
And remember, you're going to go
really wide,
and then you're going to edit
them down. - Okay.
- Additionally, I want you to
look at your spending.
I want the beginnings of a plan.
What do you think that next year
can look like, and the year
after can look like?
And that's some of the
benchmarking that I can help you
with
so that you can say, okay, going
forward
- Absolutely. - as we build a
plan,
this is really where these costs
need to level out,
'cause some of it at the moment
looks a little out-of-whack to
me,
and we've really got to look at
right-sizing everything that
you're doing.
You've also got a lot of big
decisions to make, right?
You've got a lot of opportunity.
And one of the ways that I can
help you, I have a little fund
for you guys.
So I want to give you this,
which is $15,000.
- Are you for real? Okay, hold
on real quick. Okay.
- I want to mentor you, but this
is money for you
to spend on the business, so I
am watching you two.
I want to see how do you
allocate these funds, how are
you going to spend it?
- Girl, I can't even touch it.
I'm processing. I'm processing.
- Use it wisely.
- Okay.
- Emma, you - [all cheering]
- I'm excited!
- You didn't pray. - She's
like
- I'm going to give the 15 grand
to Angel and Montré,
and it's really a litmus test
ANGEL: Thank you so much.
It's a really great location for
me.
How cute is she?
Got our new styles, got the
Hipster,
got the nude thong out.
Pretty cute.
I just talked with the
show.
Um, they were so nice. They were
so excited about the product.
Hopefully, that goes somewhere.
Yeah.
♪ So pay me my money ♪
- Take a seat. You sent me great
information.
- Yeah. - Um, and I was really
happy.
I just felt like we should have
a conversation 'cause I cannot
stop thinking about it is the
name. - Okay.
I created a few simulations of
names.
So it's pretty cool, so - Oh!
Where'd "Betty" come from?
- So, I love Betty White. -
Cute.
- Like, Betty White means so
much to. - I do, too.
Who doesn't love Betty White? -
[Kristyn laughs]
- God rest her soul. - And she
was such an animal lover.
I was thinking, "Okay, what
about Betty as a brand name?"
- I think actually that's a
really, really good start.
We were talking a little bit
about manufacturing.
- Yeah. - So, um, it feels to me
like you found a really, really
good partner.
- Your suggestion was genius.
With that decoupling of
not having them packaged
together, we can save 20% to 30%
on that bag.
And there are so many
possibilities with this bag,
too.
- Like, we can add - Totally.
There's also
so many ways to do it, right? -
Right.
- There's what you sell it in,
and then there's, like,
what is the add-on sale?
- Exactly. - And maybe that's
where you get
a little bit more customizable.
- Yes.
- What we probably need to do is
take this out
and find some additional
funding. - Yeah.
- But I think the space is
really appealing,
but it really comes down to your
appetite for dilution.
- A lot of the feedback that
Emma is giving me is definitely
ambitious.
A lot of people go into venture
capital thinking that
I'm not going to just give away
equity, to give away equity, to
get a check.
- It's just so important that
you have a healthy relationship
to the money and the equity
and what you'll be left with
from the beginning.
- Yeah. - So it's, like, do that
work to think
through it, and feel good about
it - Right.
- in your own mind so that
you're not regretting it later
down the line.
- Exactly. No regrets. No
regrets. - No regrets, Ali.
♪ So watch me now ♪
♪ I'm gonna be somebody, I'm
gonna go somewhere ♪
- Oh, my gosh. Hi!
- Hello.
- We're sending all our side
hustlers to Ally's Innovation
Hub
because what is imperative
- Welcome to class.
adjustments to your business
exactly
- What we do at Ally is we
really try
to embrace a human-centered
design mindset.
Ultimately, we want to keep
people at the center
of whatever challenge or problem
that we're trying to solve.
So we're really excited to work
with you today.
We're going to be bringing some
of our own tips, tricks,
when it comes to thinking about
who might be target customers
and consumers
to help you elevate your brands.
- Is everyone here that we need?
- My co-founder is at one of our
events today,
so I am only one half of Rif
today.
Ali's at a trade show.
- And then Dominique?
- I don't think Dominique's
coming back at all.
- What do you mean?
I don't think she's going to be
mentored by Ashley anymore.
- What? - Really?
- All right.
- Thank you for sharing that
today. - Yeah. - Thank you.
mentored by Ashley
and I hope that, you know, she
got out of it what she needs.
- That's good to know.
- We're doing all these things
that are helping our business
and helping it grow, but at the
end of the day,
And I don't want to be in that
position.
SHARLA: So we ran some research
for you.
I took a stab at drafting up
some questions
and pointed the target market to
your websites
or your Instagram page, for
example, to let them
review it and just tell us what
they thought.
that only really large brands
have access to.
so helpful as we start to think
about our future packaging
a big missed opportunity on our
website.
SHARLA: Is there anything I
don't know about
my target customer that I want
to investigate? - Yeah.
just give me a little nugget of
information
and how I can find more
information through that tiny
nugget.
- You have emails. You could
send out a survey.
The more you can survey and talk
to people
What we want is their honest
input.
- This is good feedback. A lot
of stuff that we were thinking
is here. Yeah.
- Okay. So she would try it,
which is good to know.
I really like the fact that
strangers who knew nothing about
us
and nothing about our business
got to tell us their honest
feedback because
- Okay. So now we're going to be
shifting.
We've arranged for you all to go
out and actually talk to
customers
and consumers to get feedback on
your products and your
your business ideas or your
business models.
- Excuse me. What are we doing?
- [laughing]
- Knowing that we're not going
in it alone
talking to strangers 'cause I'm
a quiet person.
- I guarantee you're going to
learn something new.
At least, to me, it is.
- So are you guys ready to move
forward?
- Yes. OTHERS: Thank you. Thank
you.
[upbeat music plays]
REBECCA: How's it going?
- Good. - You're getting really
good at that.
CURTIS: You're working more?
- I'm trying to get, like,
everything done before the baby
comes.
Ideally, like, I'd have
everything ready, like,
two weeks before, like, the due
date.
Right? Yeah. - Like, at least
two weeks.
- Well, we're taking interviews
to try to beef up the team
because,
you know, we got to make sure
that, like, Val has enough
support.
'Cause it's hard. You can't do
it all.
Maternity leave is, like, one
thing, right?
But it's, like, how's everything
going to change once the baby's
here?
- You know, luckily, we have a
lot of family that will help us
out,
but, yeah, with the way things
are growing, you guys are
definitely going to need more
help.
I think he's tired. - He's
tired?
- Yeah. We're going to figure it
out, Becks. We always do.
[upbeat music playing]
REBECCA: Hi, baby.
I'm going to rub your belly,
too. Pat your belly. No?
[laughing] I just wanted to see
a reaction.
♪
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
♪ We going so fast but we never
could crash ♪
♪ We got nothing to fear ♪
♪ It's looking like we already
here ♪
- Lesheka, you get to be Miss
Hollywood today.
- Right.
on Hollywood Boulevard.
real feedback.
Okay. I think we can set up
right here.
- What's our mannequin's names?
- Period.
- [laughter]
- We're working together as a
team,
to go into this situation
completely alone.
- Hot and ready. Who wants to
try hot sauce?
- Kristyn, we're looking for
- Baddies. - Black women,
primarily.
- Okay. - Baddies, for sure.
- And what are your goals for
today?
- Our goal today is to really
sort of identify
what really draws them to
new products. KRISTYN: Okay.
- Would you guys like to try a
sauce?
- Would you like to try it?
- He was he was questioning.
He's got places to go.
- Hi, ladies.
Do you have a couple of minutes?
- No? Okay.
You got to get real with
rejection out here.
- Ask Can I ask you about
your?
- Beauty routine. - Um, yeah.
- Okay. - Because if you ask
them,
if you have a few minutes,
everybody's just going to say
"No." - No.
[upbeat music plays]
- Who would like to try some
sauce? - Hello.
MAN: What's up, guys? How are
you guys doing?
LESHEKA: How are you guys doing
today? - Pretty good. What about
you guys?
- I want to get you guys' take
on my sauce that I sell on my
food truck.
Does that sound good? MAN:
Sounds awesome.
- What are you getting from it?
- Mmm.
I'd put this on chicken. Maybe
I'd use it for tacos.
I like it.
MONTR♪: We have a couple
questions about your beauty
routine.
Like, how do you discover new
brands?
- TikTok.
- TikTok? Okay. - Yeah.
Honestly, it's off of TikTok.
- I believe it was an ad off of
Facebook.
- Facebook ad. Okay. - Okay. A
Facebook ad.
MONTR♪: Younger girlies are on
TikTok.
Older girlies on Facebook. -
Yeah.
- The information we received
today, you know, kind of puts us
in place,
and it's like, hey, we have to
check in with our customers.
and what we're just doing
awfully.
- Where we can improve. - Where
we can improve.
- Okay, I'm just going to
drizzle it on. I don't want to
put too much.
- It's really good.
- Yeah, this would be my
everything sauce.
- Everything sauce. That's good.
We're thinking of a name for it,
too, so, hey, you never know.
- Yeah. Everything sauce. I
mean, pizza, sandwiches,
eggs, everything. - Perfect.
That's
- Morning, noon and night. -
Right. That's good.
- I don't think you've met
anybody
that hated the sauce. - At all.
- We need to do the same thing,
and it's going to be, I think,
ten times harder.
- Hello. Do you have two minutes
to talk about personal care
products?
- Okay.
People do not like to talk about
their bodies. That's just a
fact.
- I see. It's like a foreign
language. - Yeah. Oh, yeah.
- Hi. - Hi.
- Can we ask you a few questions
about your pet?
WOMAN: Yeah. - Hello.
- Have you ever purchased a
crate for training or?
- Mm. No. - No?
- Have you ever tried organic
period care products?
- Do you know what's in your
current products?
- No. VAL: Like, people look so
closely
at their food 'cause you want to
know what's in it, and if you
have allergies.
- And you're, like you're
eating it, so, you
- Yeah. - There's a direct
correlation between,
like, what's going into my body.
- Yeah.
- But there's not the same
correlation where it's going
into your body the other way. -
Yeah. Yeah.
- What's his name? MAN:
Givenchy.
- Givenchy? - Givenchy, like the
brand.
- Have you ever purchased a
crate?
- Kind of - For him? No.
- No? [laughs]
- Do you for your dog? - A
crate?
- Yeah. - Yeah. It's really good
for training.
- Oh. - Do you travel a lot with
Givenchy?
- Yes. When I'm driving, yes.
Uh-huh. - Okay.
- When he's in the car, does he
have a seatbelt or any sort
of?
- Sometimes yes, sometimes not.
- Got you. - He feels more free,
more comfortable. - Relaxed.
- Yeah. - Yes.
don't really understand crate
training, you know?
[upbeat music playing]
- How much would you think a box
like this would cost
after looking at the
ingredients?
- "Hemp, organic cotton top
sheet."
It could sell for $20, $15? -
No.
- No? - No, this one's for eight
dollars.
- Oh, really? Okay, wow. - Yeah.
to make period care with hemp
fiber.
And so, if we're the first, I
feel like our company has to
make it.
- Yeah, yeah. Oh, hey, ladies.
- Oh, my goodness. - Yes.
We were giving out free samples
to people
'cause they had to give really,
really personal information for
ours.
So, we were like
- What about you, Sheka? - I did
good. They all liked it.
- That's good. - It literally
didn't get one negative review.
I can do this. I
this.
And as long as I continue to
believe in myself, I'm not going
♪ Come alive, we're calmer than
a sunset ♪
♪ Come alive, deeper than the
ocean ♪
♪ Come alive, louder than a
thunderstorm ♪
- Are we here?
Yes. - Yay! Okay, let me get the
undies.
REBECCA: [gasps] That's so cute.
VAL: Oh, that's so cute.
REBECCA: I love it.
- Did you guys make that sign
just for us?
- I did. - Thank you. - Thank
you.
- I left the bottom kind of
empty so you guys can
kind of do what you want. -
Okay. - Okay.
- We're so happy to have you
here.
- Thank you so much. - Thank
you.
Okay, let's start the setup.
Think we can put that there,
like, in the back area?
- Okay. You're gonna have to do
this. I'm a little too short.
A little higher maybe.
Her face wasn't showing at all.
- Okay.
That's so cute. Okay. Need some
tape.
We could do green, yellow,
purple.
Once we get this, we'll be able
to grow ten X because I'll be
available, you'll be available.
You'll have childcare. - I think
that looks really cute.
- I'm in love with this
packaging now, but, I mean, at
the end of the day,
we just have to see how people
respond to it.
We're really trying to spread
the education of what
toxic ingredients are and what
non-toxic ingredients are.
I think a big part of what we
want to do
is to somehow convey that
message in our social media.
"Okay, we have a great product,
but it's so much more than
that."
Let's do some footage for social
media
because Ashley definitely wants
it,
so I'm going to do it, but
you're also going to get in
here.
- So we've been getting a lot of
questions about our pads
and where's the hemp, right?
The hemp is in the top sheet.
We're just trying to make sure
that we can get all the tasks
- The top sheet is made with 50%
organic cotton and 50% hemp
fiber.
It makes it super absorbent.
We are always, like,
overachievers. We're going to go
above and beyond.
I just hope it's enough.
- So the hemp makes them high
performing and super absorbent
so it feels like you're wearing
nothing.
And then I'll insert that. -
Okay.
The hemp fiber is going to make
it super soft,
so it's going to feel like
you're wearing nothing.
- Okay. - Wait. Did you get the
wink? [laughs]
[upbeat music plays]
[bird squawking]
- Let's go. Yeah. Yeah.
- Hey, Montré. Your girl saw
you. - Oh, hi. Oh, hey.
- Hi. - With the energy.
- I know. Always. Always.
How's it going, girl? - Good.
- I did want to talk about
something
that I think you and I have been
shying away from.
Um Felicia.
- The equity situation?
We have equity, and a big chunk
of our equity is tied up in
Felicia's estate.
and get things going so that we
can figure out
how to free up that equity and
reclaim it for our business
so that we can go after an
investment from Emma.
- I don't even know who we talk
to, actually.
It's her husband or her mom. - I
don't know.
- We just can't have it floating
in la-la land forever.
And I don't even think she would
want that.
and it, you know, just brings on
a lot of feelings, so,
and just be super sensitive to
the fact of her family and
everyone who loved her
There has to be someone who
specializes in this.
- Yeah. I don't know. - This
isn't the first time
in the history it's happened.
- I think we definitely have to
figure out how to support her
foundation.
- Oh. - Her mom and brother and
sister-in-law
started that, and they need our
support, so,
channeling energy that way while
remedying this
business part of it is something
I can do.
Yup. - All right, we got this.
- We got this.
- And now you're going to
vacation.
- Yes. Which I deserve. I'm not
apologizing about it.
This is our reality, and
sometimes, we have other
obligations,
and somebody might have to carry
more than the other person.
- Okay. And there's no way you
can reschedule this vacation?
- Absolutely not. It's Michael's
birthday.
I'm not going to reschedule that
trip.
in a really pivotal point in our
business that can make or break
us.
We have Emma on the line
investing in us. - Right.
- And I don't want the
impression to be like,
"These girls aren't serious.
They're out on vacay. "
- I haven't had a vacation in a
very long time.
It's my husband's birthday.
I think we need to make sure the
work is what she pays attention
to
and not if I'm there in the
flesh.
- [exhales]
I'm just taking a deep breath
♪ Nobody's coming close to me ♪
♪ I know that I'm becoming who
I'm supposed to be ♪
♪ Right where I'm supposed to
be, supposed to be ♪
♪ Nobody's coming close to me ♪
♪ I know that I'm becoming who
I'm supposed to be ♪
♪ Right where I'm supposed to
be, supposed to be ♪
♪ And a summer blues won't get
me down ♪
♪ I got my feet on the floor and
my head in the clouds ♪
♪ And everything's falling into
place and you can tell my
worries ♪
♪ That I'm busy today ♪
♪ I can't get enough of this
feeling around ♪
♪ Nobody's coming close to me ♪
♪ I know that I'm becoming who
I'm supposed to be ♪
♪ Right where I'm supposed to be
♪
♪ Supposed to be ♪
♪ Nobody's coming close to me ♪
♪ I know that I'm becoming who
I'm supposed to be ♪
♪ Right where I'm supposed to
be, supposed to be ♪
♪ For a minute, felt like I was
spinning out of control ♪
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01x03 - Customers & Content
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A competition that follows the mentoring of female entrepreneurs to grow their side hustles into potential full-time businesses.
A competition that follows the mentoring of female entrepreneurs to grow their side hustles into potential full-time businesses.