After graduating in 2015, Hagan turned down an offer with Tesla Motors to pursue Glo full-time. After some early success with Glo Cubes, a mother reached out to share how the product had helped her autistic son overcome his fear of water. The story influenced the development of the Glo Pals a product that engages children in sensory exercises and brightens bath time. Today, you can find Glo products in more than 1,400 stores across the USA and Canada.

We're sitting down with Hagan to learn about the aha moment that sparked his brand's purpose. Today, you can find Glo products in more than 1,400 stores across the USA and Canada. We're also joined by Rocky Brody from Freightos, answering all your freight questions at a time of unprecedented supply chain disruption.

Topics Discussed in This Episode

• How Glo got started
• How the Glo Pals product helps kids with autism
• How long Hagan was interning at Tesla
• How Hagan divided his time between promoting different companies
• How Hagan has approached restaurants and bars about Glo Cubes
• Glo Pals’ first retail partner
• The mix of volume that gets moved through different retailers
• How many Sesame characters Glo Pals has
• How Glo’s manufacturing works
• How Glo navigates bulk ordering
• When in the Glo journey Hagan realized the company needed redundancies on the manufacturing side
• How Hagan came across Freightos and how his company uses it
• How Freightos helps facilitate the journey
• Trends in shipping pricing and timing
• Whether or not it makes sense to manufacture in the US
• How people decide on which quote to book
• Transparencies in cost and time
• How Glo is preparing for the holiday season
• The revenue split in BTC vs. retail
• Fun marketing initiatives
• Number one tip for entrepreneurs

Related Links

Hagan Walker

Anthony Orisses started the lifestyle brand RARE CUT in the middle of COVID, when remote work was decimating apparel sales. Using an entrepreneurial mindset, Anthony quickly surpassed $50,000 in sales within the first 30 days of going live.

We’ll learn the secrets behind his launch, his commitment to local craftsmanship, and what’s next as the world goes back to in-office work and live events.

We'll also hear from the CEO of Arka, Phil Akhzar, on how brands can leverage branded and unbranded eco-friendly packaging solutions to drive loyalty and post-holiday retention.

Topics Discussed in This Episode

• What Anthony’s inspiration was
• How Anthony achieved Kickstarter success
• How Anthony is getting the word out about his brand
• The hardest lessons about what would actually work
• Early horror stories in the founding of Arka
• Anthony’s favorite pocket squares
• How Anthony sources designs
• Anthony’s network of manufacturers
• Rare Cut’s packaging
• What Arka is all about
• The catalyst to start Arka
• The biggest misconceptions brands have about companies like Arka
• Holiday shopping and shipping
• Interesting and innovative ways people are starting Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales
• Number one advice for entrepreneurs and founders

Related Links

Anthony Orisses

Rare Cut

Phillip Akhza

Arka

In 2016, Curt Nichols started Glade Optics as a side project while working at a market research firm. As he helped consumer-facing companies navigate the shift from physical to digital stores, he saw brands unlock massive returns by applying DTC principles to highly commoditized product categories. In this episode, we're chatting with Curt to learn how he launched Glade and grew it from a seasonal business into a year-round leader in mountain gear, using targeted community outreach, deep customer insights, and targeted post-purchase upsells.

We'll also hear from the CEO of CartHook, Emily Foreman, on how brands can replicate these post-purchase offers to collect untapped revenue and drive higher AOV.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

• How Curt started Glade Optics
• How Curt got the manufacturing process started
• The seasonality of Curt’s business
• Why Curt decided on goggles
• What a partnership looks like in Curt’s industry
• How the Glade Optics catalog has evolved
• How to drive a strong customer experience with CartHook
• How CartHook uses credit card information
• The impact of the iOS update
• How Curt utilizes CartHook connections
• The biggest failure on post-purchase expenses
• The biggest lessons learned in using CartHook
• How people use CartHook to increase order value
• How launching sunglasses has helped even out sales through the year
• Lead time between new products
• Number one advice for other brands

Resources:

Curt Nichols

Glade Optics

Emily Foreman

CartHook

How can brands give back? In today’s episode, we’ll be looking at a brand that has managed to build and expand while promoting and improving its social responsibility. You’ll hear from Neil Callahan, president of Greats, as well as Ronny Sage, CEO of ShoppingGives. Listen in to hear what they have to say about new value propositions, fast shipping, and supporting organizations that have a positive impact on the environment. 

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

• Neil’s skate park
• Neil’s journey to Greats
• The difference between being involved with a brand and running a brand
• The difference in value propositions
• How the brand’s approach shifted when the brand went online
• Whether Greats went off in new directions as things shifted online
• The Greats impact fund
• How Greats and ShoppingGives figured out what organizations to support
• Where Greats does their manufacturing
• Navigating shipping
• How marketing has evolved in the last year or so
• How to approach building a following
• How brands utilize ShoppingGives
• Tips for today’s entrepreneurs

Resources:

Neil Callahan

Greats

RonnySage

ShoppingGives

It’s fairly well known that military spouses must move often, but have you ever thought about how difficult that makes it for those spouses to find stable employment, let alone achieve any entrepreneurial dreams they may have? Lisa and Cameron, both military spouses themselves, wanted to do something, not just for themselves, but for other military spouses as well. 

That was the genesis of R. Riveter, a company that creates handbags that are handmade by US military spouses working from home – wherever home happens to be. Listen in to hear from Lisa and Cameron about their vision and process, as well as from Oliver Galang of Shoelace who explains what Shoelace does and how it helps businesses like R. Riveter. 

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

• How Cameron and Lisa founded R. Riveter
• How many times Cameron and Lisa have moved
• The first products Cameron and Lisa created
• How R. Riveter got their first few customers
• How long Cameron was the one sewing everything
• The process of the remote riveters making the bags
• What’s included when someone buys a handbag
• Rosie the Riveter’s story
• What was most beneficial long-term from appearing on Shark Tank
• Whether products are created on-demand or stored
• The catalyst to jump over to Shoelace
• What Shoelace does
• Where Shoelace starts with a brand like R. Riveter
• The most common mistake companies make when they sell on Facebook and Instagram
• Whether Oliver thinks things are back to normal post-pandemic
• How R. Riveter is driving demand outside of Facebook and Instagram
• Navigating the flagship store during COVID
• Whether R. Riveter plans on doubling down on the retail store
• How R. Riveter came to be on QVC and what that entails
• Where R. Riveter is buying raw materials
• Must-haves R. Riveter uses for technology
• How to use digital to amplify word of mouth

It’s not uncommon to see clothing intended for another demographic and think, “why don’t they make that for me?” RomperJack did just that – rompers are already a common fashion choice for women, but RomperJack offers rompers made for men – and now they let male and female groups coordinate their outfits thanks to their new sister store, RomperJill.

In today’s episode, you’ll hear from RomperJack founder and CEO Justin Clark, as well as Adam from Route. Listen in to hear them discuss marketing Rompers through social media, apps, and technology that should be considered by business owners, and whether shipping thefts and losses changed during the pandemic.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

• The catalyst for RomperJack
• How long it took Justin to get samples pre- and post-COVID
• RomperJack’s audience
• Why the decision to start RomperJill
• Marketing rompers from a social media perspective
• The blend between organic content and paid marketing
• Whether marketing for RomperJack is handled in-house
• When Justin sees an influx of business
• What platform Justin launched on first
• What got RomperJack to start using Route
• What Route saw last year during the pandemic
• The breakdown of lost, stolen, and damaged packages that Route sees
• Whether Route is seeing reductions or slowdowns in package thefts
• How to think about the units you start with when you launch a new product
• Whether Justin is getting more aggressive in the amount of inventory he’ll order
• Apps that RomperJack considers must-haves
• SMS uses in sales
• Why Justin went with ShipBob
• How many fulfillment centers RomperJack started with and what they have now
• Where RomperJack ships to
• Differences in shipping from the US to overseas
• Shipping rules in Canada, Australia, and the EU

Tired, busy people need food too. In fact, they need more food, but they may not have the energy to prepare it. Enter Juspy, which was originally conceived as a kind of formula for moms, and evolved into functional food for busy people. 

Listen in to hear from Leonie Lynch, the founder and CEO of Juspy. In today’s episode, you’ll hear how she conceived of her food brand and then adapted it based on the input she received, how she handled the manufacturing and marketing part of the process, and what got her to ShipBob for fulfillment.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

• How Leonie ended up as an e-commerce founder
• The catalyst for Juspy
• What the name Juspy means
• The tipping point for Juspy’s first product
• The length of the process of creating the recipe and scaling it
• Revamping the Juspy website
• How Leonie got started on the website
• Examples of where WooCommerce has stood out
• The tipping point that brought Leonie to ShipBob
• Where the individuals buying were based
• How Leonie was attracting customers
• What’s next for Juspy
• Juspy’s new subscription services
• Why Leonie decided to sell on Amazon
• Whether international sales and VAT are easier on Amazon
• Whether Leonie can offer samples to other countries
• Leonie’s number-one advice for entrepreneurs

Resources:

How Juspy Founder Got 50% of Her Time Back by Tapping Into ShipBob’s European Fulfillment Network [Case Study]

Nourish your body inside out with Juspy

Juspy on Instagram

Juspy on Twitter

Juspy on Tik Tok

Get to know the speakers:

Leonie Lynch

Are you a morning person? Plenty of people aren’t, but one of today’s guests aims to make everyone a morning person. Tom Mucklow, founder of Aurora Mornings and Superco, needed a healthier way for himself to jumpstart the mornings, and that’s what led to Aurora. Tom is joined by Matt Houlemard from ReCharge, one of the leading e-commerce subscription technologies. Listen in to learn more about Aurora, pivoting from B-to-B to direct-to-consumer, and the subscription model.

Topics Discussed in Today’s Episode:

• The origin story of Aurora
• Where Aurora is manufacturing
• Eye-opening things in pivoting to the direct-to-consumer space
• How Aurora handles customer questions and support
• Interesting learnings with SuperCo
• Why custom packaging was important for Aurora
• Who Aurora uses for packing and how they factor the price in
• Subscriptions from a macro-level perspective
• What percentage of Aurora customers use subscriptions
• What ReCharge sees in terms of who has subscriptions
• Impact that ReCharge is seeing in terms of expanding lifetime value
• How to handle people canceling or wanting to extend the time between subscription
• Which part of e-commerce costs the most
• The process of choosing ShipBob
• How often customers get custom boxes
• Considering price points
• How to keep track of new and recurring subscribers
• What platforms ReCharge integrates with
• The theme of an Aurora community
• Advice for entrepreneurs

Resources:

Shipping Solutions for Health, Beauty, and Wellness Brands

Start your mornings off right with Aurora

On-Demand Shopify Design, Development & Administration with SuperCo