Living Your mainelove: MyMaine's Maggie Knowles' Writing Journey

In this episode of Living Your mainelove, CEO Jen Millard sits down with Maggie Knowles, co-founder and editor of MyMaine Magazine, for an inspiring conversation about entrepreneurship, creativity, and redefining what modern Maine looks like. Maggie shares the story behind launching a print publication in a digital-first world, the vision for a magazine that speaks authentically to people who live in Maine—not just visit—and why she was determined to move beyond clichés like lobsters, lighthouses, and flannel.

Together, Jen and Maggie explore the challenges and rewards of building mission-driven brands in Maine, the importance of supporting local creators and journalism, and what it means to create meaningful content that is educational, inspirational, useful, or simply beautiful. The conversation also dives into female leadership, entrepreneurship, and the realities of starting a business in Maine, while celebrating the growing influence of women-led creative spaces across the state.

Thoughtful, candid, and full of heart, this episode is a celebration of modern Maine storytelling, community, and the courage it takes to build something original.

Transcript

Jen Millard 0:04

Welcome to Living Your mainelove, the podcast that celebrates the people who are living with passion, purpose, and a whole lot of heart. Each month we'll sit down with people who are following what lights them up in Maine and beyond. Welcome to Living Your Main Love. I'm Jen Millard, CEO and co-founder. I'm here today with Maggie Knowles, one of the founders of My Maine magazine, which we'll hear about later. I'm so grateful to Maggie. She's been a very early advocate fore maine love. And uh we met through an investor and yourself as well. So thank you so much.

Maggie Knowles 0:38

And thank you so much. You know, following your journey, and you're so inspiring, and you're such an amazing businesswoman yourself. And seeing the brand that you've grown sort of around the same time we started growing my main, it's been really fun to sort of watch each other's journey in a parallel way.

Jen Millard 0:52

Absolutely, absolutely. And I think we're both trying to impact a more modern Maine expression. So would love to hear, you know, how you settled on relaunch. I think it was a relaunch, is it not? No, that is brand new.

Maggie Knowles 1:07

I have been in publishing, writing, producing my entire career. Always wanted to be a writer. And I remembered when we were launching this when I worked at magazines in Boston, I was a big fan of Dana Cowan, who was the editor-in-chief of Food and Wine. And I never knew that was a career. And I was like, oh, you can make a living writing about food. So that was the direction I thought I wanted to go in. And then I had a publisher tell me once, he's like, You should someday, he's like, I bet you're going to own your own magazine. And, you know, when you grow up looking at Condé Nass publications, that's just never a place you could see yourself. But that always stuck in the back of my mind. So a few years ago, my publisher Karen Middleton and I realized there was this gap in the marketplace for a true modern Maine expression in a magazine. Um, Maine magazine had closed. And so we thought this was a really beautiful time. But we didn't want to recreate what had already been done. This is not a tourist-driven magazine. We really write.

Jen Millard 2:05

I was going to ask you about that because it does feel like it's written for me. Yes. Right? Like I'm in Maine and uh it represents a I I agree, a modern Maine uh reference.

Maggie Knowles 2:15

Uh no plat. No flannel here. No. And one of the first things I said, we will never have a lobster or a lighthouse on the cover. And because there's so much more to Maine. And obviously the publications that gear towards tourists, we love them. But for the people who live here, for the people who moved here during COVID from big cities who, you know, moved here, but they don't really know potentially what's happening truly in the state that they now call home. So we wanted a true statewide magazine that speaks to, you know, 47 to 65 year olds. And I think, you know, we've we've really nailed it.

Jen Millard 2:47

And uh I feel like you've got a really great mark on your consumer. You know that you you really have done a lot of work. I know you have. Lots of research. Oh, yes. Never ending. Never ending.

Maggie Knowles 2:58

And so the four, in order to be in this magazine, the story has to be educational, inspirational, useful, or just plain beautiful. Oh, I love that. We want this, and you know, if your viewers or if people have seen the magazine, it's designed, you know, has a perfect bind, almost like a National Geographic. Um, it's all unrecycled, that nice raw paper. And we wanted this to be a collector's item, like Kinfolk magazine. Um, so people will have these on their bookshelf, line them up. Um, we never have ads on the back cover. Um, we want it to really be a beautiful piece of art. So some of the sections in the magazine that we're really proud of is like we have an adulting section when we were researching our demographic people our age, you know, Gen Z's, um, you know, saving for retirement, living wills, building a trust, all of these things that we should be doing, but no one, we've no one who has the time. Who has the time? Yeah, we don't want to face our own mortality. We don't want to really dig into our finances. I don't. So having this adulting section that forces people to sort of like look at the state of where they are in their retirement journey and you know, having experts tell them what to do in a really non-judgmental way. So that's one of the favorite parts that I've added. Yeah.

Jen Millard 4:09

And so how does it feel to be uh the editor? Uh we were talking earlier about uh, you know, it's National Women's History Month, right? Um hard to believe. I've been on a few podcasts. Um, but I'd love to, you know, hear about your journey as a female leader, because I think often our voices are not heard in the same way uh as male voices, unfortunately, or we have to fight to be heard. So I'd be interested in your perspective, especially, you know, launching a printed publication, which takes a lot of bravery. Um, because you have both a like digital expression, but you're actually making a physical product, sort of similar to me, right? And that takes uh takes a lot of brave.

Maggie Knowles 4:51

So I'll start there that I was thinking about on the drive-in that you and I started something in a field where other products exist. Yeah. So people could say, why do we need a different water product? Yeah. Why did we get it all the time print in a digital world? You guys are nuts. You must be rich. Ha ha ha ha. No. So I really want people to, and I think Mainers in particular really love and trust local brands and local journalism. They listen to local radio, they watch local TV. So we knew that Maine in particular would be really open to having a publication such as this. And I sort of, I don't want to say overcorrected, but when we did start this, I really wanted a platform for female creatives to be in it. Lovely. And it did start skewing very, very female, which is great. But we do want men to feel like they can connect with us as well. Um, but I also feel as as males grow in age, they do start connecting more with female-driven content. Um, like we have a really in this in the spring issue, we have a hilarious essay on menopause. And it's hilarious. And I've gotten so many compliments from men, whether their partner had them read it or they just read it on their own, that they're like, okay, I get this. This makes sense. So, um, and this is a beautiful space for all creators. I think that's really important to have a space for creators who love print to be because digital is great and it's not going anywhere. Um, we also make a pledge to never use AI. This is all a human-driven magazine. Um, and I think women deserve a big voice in Maine. There's an incredible essence of that happening here. And we want to have a really authentic platform for them to share their voices and artwork and photography.

Jen Millard 6:33

I think the authenticity of Maine and and just the uh, I always say it's sort of a humble practical place where you know we're driven by often by solutions. Um we're very practical. We like to solve problems or not create problems. Um, how has how has it been starting it in Maine? I know you've been in other states.

Maggie Knowles 6:55

When you start a business in Maine, Maine likes to think it is a very friendly place to start a small business. But it's not. Not that they don't want to be and I think they're trying. It is very convoluted. However, there are incredible resources available, like the Small Business Association, which is totally free. Um, Katie Shorey, who does um Maine Startup Week, which was incredibly invaluable, and I highly recommend, even if you already have a business to go and hear new happenings and just connect with the entrepreneur community, is very important. And there's so many great resources that are low cost or free that people should take advantage of. And on our summer issue in that adulting section I was talking about, Katie Shori actually wrote a whole article on starting a business in Maine.

Jen Millard 7:40

Um, you know, I always say that in California I could start a business in a day, literally. Um, but in Maine, I had to write uh a check because I could not start it online. You have to send in a check. And this was a foreign concept to me when I came back to Maine. And then I always sort of reference Maine as a little bit in the go back machine, a little bit in the time warp machine. So I always feel like we're approaching 1990. We're always like 20 years or so behind. Um, but I do think in Maine, seeing women like you and I in our 50s creating something meaningful for our state, whether it's jobs, water, and love for nature or the written word. I'd love your AI pledge, by the way. Um, though we do use, I do, I do find myself using AI more and more. So uh be curious next year to forgive. You forgive me. Um I do use it for math. I will say I do use it for you. I use it a lot for math. I don't need to know any Excel formulas anymore. It's perfect. Um, and also it does beautiful spreadsheets, you know. So it definitely has a place. Yeah, robots, right? Who knew? Um, just you know, opening your business in Maine. Yes. How has your how has your experience been as a small business owner in Maine? You know, I have struggled uh to find a community, I would say, of businesses that are growing as rapidly as I am, which sounds arrogant, but we have a lot of table businesses in Maine, or what I call table businesses. So they might be a solopreneur, they might make a product at home, they might be under that regulatory sort of standards, particularly in food, because water is food. Um, and I meet a lot of those women at startups, at uh Startup Maine, at MC Maine Center for Entrepreneurship. Um, but they all seem to get to a level and then they sort of stick there. And it's been um it's been really interesting kind of feeling like I'm punching through that uh as we approach this year. And then also leaving the state. So uh I'd be curious, do you expect your Maine magazine to stay central to Maine or does it go with the snowbird? Because we've often, we often think of ourselves as snowbird breaks.

Maggie Knowles 9:52

Yes. Um, so 40% of our mailed subscriptions actually do go out of state with the big bulk of them going to Florida. Um, we just got our first, I think we have one in Germany and one in England. Nice. But we have a huge distribution across the country, which we love to see. And we did just hire a formal distributor. We've been doing it self, and that's you know.

Jen Millard 10:12

Oh, yes. From the beginning, I decided we were not going to deliver water in our vehicles because I delivered so much water that I have great understanding and respect why distributors exist.

Maggie Knowles 10:24

Yes, and it's worth every dime to have somebody help that. And I think we know what we do well. And I feel like when when I was doing a lot of the traveling, uh, the admin, I wasn't having the space to create. And like you, right? We're the high-level thinkers, and it's wonderful then to bring on people that can help us grow because we can't grow if we're doing that kind of stuff. There's just not enough hours in the day.

Jen Millard 10:46

We need our beauty sleep, and we need, you know, uh people with superpowers, right? We're not superpowers on every topic. Um, so you know, I I feel like my team index is very young in Maine. That is one of my theses, which is to make data-driven jobs for young people so they don't have to leave. Um, how do you see your creator workforce, if you will?

Maggie Knowles 11:12

Oh, we're kind of all over the place, which I love. And even though our readership does skew, like I said, that you know, that Gen X range. Um, I have contributors pitching me from all over the country. Most of them do have a connection to me, whether they went to college here, camp here, they grew up here and coming back. Um I think that's uh essentially our thesis as well, right?

Jen Millard 11:34

Like um, I think you uh you have sort of the boomerangs like us that are or myself that have moved back. I also think, you know, when you make a brand for people from away, sort of uh directly, you're really selling that nostalgia of place and provenance of Maine. And that's really what we stand on. And I see uh similar values in your magazine.

Maggie Knowles 11:54

I think one of the first things when I met you, I said that I grew up swimming in Sebago Lake, drinking a lot of the water. So it's nice to actually drink it without without the sanitation in it, yes, in a prettier package. Um, but to go back to your question about opening a business in Maine, it's going to take a lot longer than you think, as you know, and it's gonna take a lot more money. That was one of the biggest missteps we made. Um, we were so excited about it and we knew it was gonna have traction. And Karen, my publisher, since we've both been in this industry, we had a lot of connections. Um, and I knew we'd be able to reach out to people and have that level of trust that they would know. But you've, I'm sure, hit this. You're trying to sell something that didn't exist yet. So in my head, I was creating these spreadsheets that of course they're all gonna come and of course they're gonna advertise. And then it was like, no, this is great, but we're gonna wait and see. Or are all of our money's spent until next Q1? And then this panic set in because we had a $50,000 um loan from the Greater Portland Council of Governments, lovely. Um, which was gone in about a month. Of course. And then Karen and I were like, ah, what did we do wrong? Um, luckily, we were able to really work with Peter Herriman, one of the free business advisors, and really figure out what the scale is. We are not spreadsheet people, we are the creatives. And so being able to find someone and trust somebody who understood what we were trying to do and then say, all right, ladies, here's your budget.

Jen Millard 13:17

It's so interesting to say that because that was my hardest role to find in Maine. And it was also the most surprising that it was a difficult role to find in Maine, is sort of this nascent finance animal. Um, it's not quite a CFO, it's not quite an FPA kind of forecasting role. But I was either finding later staged career CPAs or very early in career analysts, and not a lot in the middle. Um, and that uh it took me, it's taken me about a year and a half to find somebody that now I feel understands my business, gets understands my direction. Um, and to your point, it's such a comfort when you're not that person. I'm not that person. I can I can do it, but I'll do it slower than everybody else. Um, because I have to shut my brain down to focus on the spreadsheet. Um, but I think uh it's really important that other women in Maine understand that while Maine tries to be business friendly, I think we have a lot of opportunity. And uh I think people like you and I um need to spread the gospel, so to speak, on you know, why other women should want to grow a business in Maine. And to your point, there are a lot of resources here. Um, but ultimately it's what you what you make of it. And then I think on my from my side, capital raising in Maine has been very challenging. Now we sit at a macro condition that's unprecedented. People have liquidity challenges, there's all kinds of issues. Um, could have picked a better time, probably. Um, really coming to the understanding that I had to leave the state, which is really what's driving our expansion to Florida, is both seasonality and cash, actually. Investors, have you had that experience as well? Oh, huge.

Maggie Knowles 15:07

And I we we spent a lot of time thinking, you know, do we look to investors? I feel really strongly that I'm not ready to give away a part of my creative control. And I know in my limited experience with an investorship, that could be something that they would want, you know, well, I'm gonna give you a million dollars, you gotta put my buddies in. And that's that moves away from that authenticity component. Um, I'm hoping at some point, the I know a lot of the grant programs that were funding creative were, you know, have been dissolved or they're not being funded anymore. So I was also sort of counting there'd be more of that sort of funding available. Um, we did go back and we got a second round of funding from the Greater Portland Council of Governments. Um, but that's like leaned against my house too. So there's like the extra pressure for me to make it work. And I think as women, we are so willing to sacrifice anything to make something we love work and to prove ourselves, it can be to our own detriment. Um, and I didn't want to start, you know, draining my 401k. So I really had to be as much as I believe in this, I know it's going to be successful. Instead of draining my security, I really need to have faith that, you know, as our advertising base continues to grow and we have event sponsorships, that's okay. And the accountant we found, the first thing she said to us, she's like, You're not paying yourself, are you? We're like, no, of course not. Oh my God. Every time she's like, nope. She only works with women. And she said, the first thing I'm gonna tell you is if you don't feel comfortable paying yourself, then I can't work with you. She said, You're gonna get burned out, you're gonna get resentful. And if you have to get another job, then this is going to lose steam. So she said, even if you're paying yourself a thousand dollars a month to start, we have to build that into your budget and go from there. And I didn't realize the stomachache I was holding about working for two years for free. That's I'm in the same.

Jen Millard 16:56

Yeah, I'm in the same position. You know, I always find my next salesperson that needs an investment in dollars and I defer my own compensation. And I've actually had investors point out the fact that, you know, Jen, it's not a real portrayal of your expense load if you're not burdening it with yourself. Um, they're not wrong. Um, you know, so I actually uh just started actually paying myself. Congratulations. You know, we've I'm not saying I can pay myself every month, Maggie. Right, right. But you know what? That first check, it made made myself and my husband feel much better after almost two years, right? So um we're uh, you know, in a similar uh capital constraint. But at the same time, I think uh we've done a lot with a little. And I think Mainers are very practical. And if you're building a business, we have to be exceptionally practical. Um and so how do we how do we make it easier um to show other women the way?

Maggie Knowles 17:54

What's one of the biggest ways that you find that you can reach women when they reach out to you?

Jen Millard 17:58

Interestingly, um I have a lot of women that reach out to me that I've either run into at uh Maine Center for Entrepreneurship, whether it's the Food Ag Program, whether it's the Forks Lab. Um, somehow those women find me. Um, and interestingly enough, they all want to work at my office, which is not that sexy. It's uh, you know, a warehouse full of water and it's 42 degrees in the winter. Um, you know, so we're all wearing like three layers and coats uh all winter long, but they're really looking for a sense of belonging and someone to help validate. And so I find that I I have a little, a little pocket of Westbrook uh entrepreneurs that come over every once in a while. Um, but I think we have to show the way. Um the more I sort of settle in in Maine, we are unique. And so to own that uniqueness and to own the power that comes with that, doing this podcast, sharing our stories with others. Yes. Um and then how how do you see the magazine progressing?

Maggie Knowles 19:01

Oh, that's a great question. Um, so we're working on our fourth issue right now, which will be the summer issue. Um, my goal moving into the fall, which will be our year anniversary, is to add a podcast, um, add more video components, which I really wanted to start earlier, but time and money. Ah, it's just time and money for sure. What's the saying? You can do it good, fast, or cheap, but you can only pick two. Pick two. Um, so we're we're we had to take the fast part out. Um, but I'm really happy with the where we're growing. I know I think in our heads we always want to move faster. Um, but I have to remind myself that building something like this that has a foundation is going to take time, have that brand awareness, and have some build something that has staying power. We are our first issue was supposed to come out February of 2024 with the same cover. Um, and we didn't end up publishing until August. So, and there had already been a year of work going into that. And that was hard because you know, you're telling everybody, and you know, I knew we had missed funding going into the busy summer tourist season and constantly reminding ourselves that slow is pro, it's okay, it's okay. And sometimes you need that extra time and that extra runway. Um I would say that's probably my biggest lesson coming home.

Jen Millard 20:15

You know, uh, I've always started companies with venture capital backing. So this is really my first true friends and family round where I'm like, am I really gonna take my neighbor's check? Am I gonna take Maggie's check? Right. So um, you know, I also think there's a you have to find comfort in your investor community because they have great trust in you. And at the same time, it's with great responsibility, right? So I wear it very seriously. I I I know you do as well. Um, but I think a lot of women are afraid to take that next step of I need to ask for money, I need to come up with a budget of what I need to raise. Um, and I counsel women that you know, you just need to say you're starting. Just start, just sit down, just set up a company, do, you know, there's lots of ways to your point. Slow, slow and steady wins the race in beverages. I must move to Florida before September next year, or I have another year of winter, right? So I feel very compelled to move faster. But my distributor community has their own timelines. So it's not always. Yeah.

Maggie Knowles 21:24

And I think with women, there's a there's a big second, like we were talking about before we started recording. Women now coming into their 40s, 50s, and even 60s, you know, maybe they're divorced for the first time. They're empty nesters. They have this opportunity to now say, Oh my gosh, what does the rest of my life look like? And now they see they have the energy, they have, you know, maybe the resources to have this passion project, whether it's new or old. Um, but a lot of women too, they have a messed up relationship with money, like asking for money from our generation. I'm gonna admit that. That's true. It's so true. I had to get hypnotized. I actually went to a professional hypnotist to get over. My absolute panic around asking men for money, mostly men. I mean, asking anybody for money.

Jen Millard 22:06

No, I'm embarrassed with how few women I have on my cap table. I mean, but candidly, there are just not a lot of female investors in Maine. Yeah. Um, or period, I would say, right? So it has been uh it's been interesting to try to diversify my table. Did you ever see that documentary, Shower the Money? Is that what it's called? Yeah. Where it's only what 3% of women or VC. I was that was shocking to me. That's just a world I don't know a lot about. But I was like, really? That's it. Um, so I've been asking people for money my entire career. So I've I think I've gotten used to it, to be honest. Um, but it's much different, you know, when you're raising from a fund or you're raising from a stranger. Um, you know, I think my experience has been it's Maine coming home to Maine has been one small town in one big state for all the good and the bad. It's also, to your point, there's a lot of resources. You can call the state of Maine and talk to Julie, you know, in the help me understand the CRV of Maine, which is a whole other podcast, I might add, of recycling in Maine. We should do that, Jeannie. But uh, you know, you can call and actually reach a human being. You could drive to Augusta and talk to people, right? And so in some ways it's adorably accessible. Um, in other ways, it does feel like the the way back machine.

Maggie Knowles 23:24

Yeah. And I think the confidence, I mean, you come across, I mean, you have this beautiful confidence, but you're calm about it. And I think you're very good at getting your point across. And and, but I'm sure there were many moments you had in front of your like, what's my elevator pitch? How am I gonna go out and sell water in a world where water exists in many forms?

Jen Millard 23:44

Yeah, I get it all the time. You know, Jen, you picked the hardest category. Why, why? Why did you choose to do water? I'm like, well, honestly, if you start with water, I could make anything else, right? Like, so why wouldn't I start with a product that everyone drinks and then decide what the market kind of dictates? That's not in plastic. And and focus on our values from Maine, right? This so we we really focus on being authentic, radically wholesome, radically kind. Yeah.

Maggie Knowles 24:09

You know, Maine is a brand, as you and I know, and that's what we're both building our brands on. Um, and so I know with you and with MyMaine, the feedback we've gotten from across the country and from high-level people. We have a Pulitzer Prize nominated writer who reached out to have a poem in this issue. And that makes me feel so happy that we can have this blend of young up-and-coming writers and artists with literally like Lois Lowry is in the winter issue. So we have this breadth of people, but Maine is the one thing that we all have in common. And I think that's like this thread that's really making this magazine extra popular.

Jen Millard 24:47

So, Maggie, what advice would you give younger women that are either considering becoming an entrepreneur, entering the workforce? You know, I get a lot of early in career uh in my business. I'm running a small business school, as I always say. Um, you can either live your business school at Maine Love or you can go to business school, but we believe in doing, you know, being a bias to action. Um but curious, uh curious to your experience of what you would what you would share with other women.

Maggie Knowles 25:13

Uh there's that saying, you know, do what you love and the money will follow. Which, yes, there is there's definitely truth in that. I think when people look at us as successful, right? And sort of the blessing in the course of social media, we can make people think what what, but but I guess what is success? So I would I would ask somebody of that younger age is find out what your driver is. It a lot of people, oh money, money is my driver. But is it or do you just need it? Because that feels a little shallow. Everybody needs money. Yes, we all want money. But is that what gets you up in the morning? Is that what fuels you? Is that what helps you inspire other people in your life? Probably not. So my driver's freedom. I love waking up when I want. I love scheduling my days as I want. I love being able to walk my dogs on a 60-degree day in March. So I really should do more of that, actually.

Jen Millard 26:06

I feel like I'm chained to my desk half the time. But you're right. I mean, we control our own schedule. We can schedule. I can still keep my schedule like I used to work in California. Yeah.

Maggie Knowles 26:15

But that's one of the reasons that's I can't do it. I probably need to remove that. I probably need more of that. That's one thing that I need to work on is scheduling my day. So it's not, oh, I'll start it at two o'clock. I'll start at three o'clock, and then it's dinner time and the whole day was gone. So as a chronic procrastinator, I've really had to get better and I need more of Jen in me to like structure my time at the desk. And so I just have a timer, like 25 minutes on, five minutes off, just so I have that counter. I have a little time blindness.

Jen Millard 26:42

Uh, you know, I'm my ADHD is raging right now. Um, and so I can sit down and lose two hours and miss a phone call because I'm just sort of in it. Um, and so I have to have to have people remind me, like, you have, you know, you have something coming up.

Maggie Knowles 26:57

Well, it's good you have that team of support. That's what I really need an editor. So one of my goals, as you know, you asked about growing, all the other team members on this have an assistant except me. And funny, I I don't have an assistant either.

Jen Millard 27:12

So would you like one? Would that make your job easier? I have had success having executive assistants in the past, but uh to be candid, they usually struggle to get ahead of me. And so I'm not the easiest person to be an executive assistant for because I move at a rate of speed that is blurring to some people. And so it can be intimidating, I would say. And so it has to be someone a little more mature. Um, my last assistant used to be the assistant for Bethany Frankel. Oh, wow. And I figured that was my reaction. I figured if she could handle Bethany Frankl, she can handle Jen's crazy. And Molly was amazing, her name is Molly Hayden. She was amazing. I still keep in touch with her today. Um, but uh, I even when I started Main Love, I actually reached out to Molly. Molly, could you help me like 20 hours a week? Just she's like, Jen, I'm managing four executives, all C-suite executives. I have no time. Right? Like, oh, so painful. Yeah. Um, it is likely something I need to resolve this this summer.

Maggie Knowles 28:17

And so another thing that women tend to do, right? Because we are master multitaskers is to take everything on. Oh, it's okay, I'll do that too. I'll do that too. But are we doing everything the best that we can do it? Or are we doing the things we want to do? I think an important thing, especially if you're gonna open your own business, yes, at the beginning, you are doing everything. But as you start to grow and you know, you can start onboarding other people, um, asking yourself, okay, what are the things that I can delegate and trust that they're gonna do good? And that's, I think, a hard thing for women to let go of. Absolutely. And having that trust. Because I'm sure you and I in in high school were the ones in the group project. We're like, no, I'm gonna do it because you guys are all gonna screw it up. I'll get us an A. Don't worry. I won't, I won't throw you under the in half the time with half the aggravation if we just dip it. It's twice as good.

Jen Millard 29:04

But does that make us official? I mean, I really work hard to give my team great agency. Um, I recognize that comes with great trust. And uh some of it is my own trust, right? That people are gonna make the right decision. If they make a wrong decision, how do we handle that? Right. We're very fast to fail, not afraid to fail, not afraid to make a mistake. Um, most things can be, you know, there are no water emergencies, as I like to say, right? Um, you know, when I worked at MasterCard, there were payment emergencies all the time. We don't have many water emergencies. Um, and I try not to let any emergencies, right? Um, but I think it's uh for women, specifically around whether it's structuring your day or how to accomplish something, you know, there's a hesitancy to ask for help. And I think the one thing I would share is I have a very heavily working investor community. And when I say working, I mean these are people who've invested and who have trusted me with their capital, but are also willing to sort of pull an oar when needed. So uh I needed a debt structure to handle aluminum. Uh, we have a beautiful banker on our our cap table, right? Um, and so I always am looking for investors that bring more than money because I know I'm not gonna be able to do everything. And I didn't know much about beverages, really. So kind of a heavy learn. And then how do you how do you make an environment so that other people have space to learn without rushing them? Which would be my proclivity, right? Be like, sh you don't have that already? Like you should know that already, right? Um, but to let people pace. You know, I'm usually at M, they're at B. How do you let people catch up to you? And that, you know, everyone's pace is going to be slightly different.

Maggie Knowles 30:53

Yeah, it's a good lesson, especially when you're onboarding people. And what is your growth plan for the next year?

Jen Millard 30:58

We are gonna have an amazing summer of love this summer in New England. Uh, we just are moving product to Boston and to the Cape. You know, the Cape is just opening, and you know, a lot of our seasonal doors in Maine are also opening as well. Um, and then we will do a uh little dog lick down to Florida uh for September, uh planned September launch starting in the Fort Lauderdale market. Yeah, that's awesome.

Maggie Knowles 31:24

And so many Mainers down there.

Jen Millard 31:26

So many Mainers. Um, also a very dense college population, which tends to work well for us. Um, you know, often we're taught to recycle by our young people. They will definitely tell you when you're doing it wrong. Um, so uh, you know, sort of that mix of college, snowbird, uh, and hot. So, you know, I did not sell a lot of water in January, Maggie. I know this is shocking to everyone in Maine, except for Jen. Um, but uh, you know, that seasonality in the restaurant and hospitality world, as you know, is quite extraordinary. Yes. And I would say uh I felt it like a restaurant, like that much of a significant drop-off. So um the floor, then I had to like restrategize for how we would uh expand. And your natural sense would be to do it in a linear fashion. But uh I'm sort of taking the uh the binary approach by doing uh hop down to Florida and then we'll make it our way back up.

Maggie Knowles 32:26

Yeah. And I love, and I think that's another great point that you just brought up. When you're doing your own business, you have to be nimble, you have to be willing to pivot because so many of us get stuck in our own way. You know, well, the business plan says this. I'm like, yeah, but you wrote that before your thing existed. And now it's showing you where it wants to be, what it wants to do, where it wants to grow. And you have to let it. I mean, this is a dance that you're doing with your product. And it's it, it will tell you, you know, your customer is your brand, and they're gonna tell you what they want.

Jen Millard 32:55

Absolutely. And they will, you know, I'm grateful that Mainers have really reinforced the brand and love the brand. And it's amazing to get the letters that I get, you know, thank you for making an aluminum product, you know, water from Maine, limited ingredients. Um, and the best pictures I get are from moms who are sharing it, you know, with their kids. So um, it's a beautiful feeling to see your product come to life uh as you. At the same time, it's with great pressure to keep the brand in that authentic place. Um, and to your point, being agile enough to let it out of the gate if you need to, but also not being afraid to be really heavy-handed on pulling it back.

Maggie Knowles 33:39

And knowing what what are your you know, hills to die on, which your sacred cow. And we have, you know, we print an Augusta. We wanted to keep those dollars local. It's a very expensive magazine to print. Um, and people have reached out to us saying, you know, we we can do this cheaper, we can do this cheaper. I'm like, it's not about doing it cheaper.

Jen Millard 33:57

So interesting because I also, you know, my thesis is a rising tides thesis, right? Like uh rising tides raise all ships, right? So if I can help a brewer diversify revenue, I'm helping their ship, I'm helping our ship, right? Um, but it's so interesting when you say that because I think people's first instinct is to stick to their business plan, right? Or they've been told that you must stick to your plan when in fact your plan is really a guide and you have to have off off and on ramps to your plan. And then eventually your plan becomes your working PL. And so I'm in that transition right now where I had to throw away all my made-up math or before the company. Though I'm pretty close, I gotta say, but a few lessons learned. Um, mostly around aluminum costs.

Maggie Knowles 34:46

The tariffs, right? That must be effective.

Jen Millard 34:48

Correct. Every time I order aluminum, it's roughly a penny more a can. Um, but you know, that's universal. Um, and people ask me about the tariffs all the time. And I always say when Coca-Cola has to take a price increase, I'll take a price increase, right? Because everyone's has the same commodity squeeze. Is your goal at some point to sell? You know, I've tried to create uh this company with great options for my investors. Um, so we are organized as an LLC for profit sharing interest. Um, however, uh, you know, I am open to a strategic relationship. I would be open to an outside purchase, but I really have set up the company for very long term, to your point. Like I'd like to cultivate this. I think this is my last company. I'm 57, you know. Um and I'd like uh I'd like to leave it in a place that's of meaning uh to grow it.

Maggie Knowles 35:46

It's your legacy. I know we'd like to, you know, take this model and be able to build a community so other states could come in.

Jen Millard 35:53

Well, it's interesting you say that because I get the same question in water, like Jen, do you own all 50 states names of love? No, I don't. Um, I do own some important ones. Yeah. Um, but uh there's nothing that prohibits anyone from doing Oregon love if they wanted to, right? Um, but I think it it is shot does shine a light that regional water sources I think will be the sources in the future.

Maggie Knowles 36:16

Well, especially if they can, like you did, you know, partner with a brewery and like it's brilliant. It's so, you know, it's asset light model.

Jen Millard 36:25

Yes. Well, Maggie, uh any last feedback for our uh early in career women that are following us.

Maggie Knowles 36:31

Okay, please do it. And I know it's so cliche, but cliches exist for a reason that life is short and it's moving faster and faster as we age. And if you're thinking about doing a business, it means that somebody wants what you have to offer. And so you can always reach out to us to ask questions. It's a beautiful community, got the summer issue. There's that whole big piece on how to start a business in Maine. And I just would just say do it day at a time, make it happen because it's your legacy. Do it bias to action, take an action.

Jen Millard 37:00

Yeah. Well, thank you, Maggie. It's been so wonderful to have you.