Jasmine Star (00:00:00) - Welcome to the Jasmine Star Show, a place where we talk about life, business and today, an extra dose of energy in all of the best ways. I am so honored to be sitting in the same studio with Michelle Cordeiro Grant. Now, I have to tell you, just a few months ago, I was in Miami and I did an interview with the amazing, incredible, so well-spoken and inspiring Kim Powell. I go back home, Kim and I are staying in contact. I'm headed back out to Miami, and I was like, Kim, you're amazing. Who do you know in your circuit who can come back and serve our audience on the podcast? Well, and she was just like, hands down, Michel, ladies and gentlemen, what we're sitting in front of right now. Actually, I'm going to do an introduction. Welcome to the show.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:00:41) - Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to be here. I'm thrilled to be on. Thank you.

Jasmine Star (00:00:45) - And so I asked now I asked Michelle if we could start drinking on the show.

Jasmine Star (00:00:49) - We want a little extra pep in our step. So I'm going to get into this right now. But but first, before for all of our ASMR fans, we're going to pop some cans. So what flavor am I going to start with?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:01:01) - I mean, Jasmine, I think you're a punch girl. I really think I really think so we're going to go we're going to go turquoise for you okay. Great. This is my favorite noise right here.

Jasmine Star (00:01:11) - Exactly, exactly.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:01:13) - There it is. Being around these.

Jasmine Star (00:01:16) - Noises. This is actually really great for the type of content that Gorgui is creating. Now we're going to get into. Well cheers. Hold on.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:01:24) - Well now I'm going to have to do mango to you.

Jasmine Star (00:01:26) - Do you have to drink with me. This is incredible okay.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:01:28) - So you can hear.

Jasmine Star (00:01:29) - Oh this is like a very like high class subtle Hawaiian punch. Yes. This is good.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:01:36) - This is.

Jasmine Star (00:01:36) - Real good. And we're going to get into all the health benefits. And no, this is not an ad.

Jasmine Star (00:01:40) - I've been watching what Gorgui is doing online. Our show is a business about a business. We want to get into everybody's business. And we also want to go to market strategies. We're going to get into that in a second. But first cheers cheers I'm so happy you're here. Thank you. Thank you.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:01:54) - Everyone.

Jasmine Star (00:01:54) - Cheers okay, so tell me I'm a huge fan of energy drinks. Huge. And I know that a lot of them aren't good for me. Yes. So this was what you saw as a gap in the market? Yeah. Now, before we get into the gap in the market, talk to me about where Michelle is. Yeah. When you get an idea. Right. And then we're going to get into the testing of ideas because audience listeners, they're like, I wanted just an idea. I'm in my business. How did someone as successful as you start testing ideas to ensure that you're hedging yourself for success?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:02:24) - Yeah, yeah. I mean, you're looking at a woman that went from bra to beverage so clearly not planned.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:02:30) - What actually goes on in my brain is I grew up resonating with brand as my way of acclimating with society. I was raised in rural Pennsylvania, and there was one Indian family and it was mine. And looking back, I would think about what everyone was wearing. Oh, they're wearing Calvin Klein. Mom, take me to TJ. Max, I must wear a Calvin Klein. It was my way of associating, right. Fast forward working for big brands like Victoria's Secret, Nautica, with VF, Kipling, etc. I could see it wasn't about the brand, it was the feeling associated with the brand. And that is so powerful, right? Victoria's secret is angel fantasy push up lively. My first company was, you know, today bras and undies. Tomorrow the world. Where else is there categories that we endure every single day but maybe aren't celebrated the way that they should be. And if you look at social media and you look at the legacy brands leading these multibillion dollar industries, do they match? That's where my spark comes from is bras.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:03:33) - Was that the category that women would go and do as a celebration? Dress shopping? Shoe shopping? Yes. Bra shopping? Sure. Let's change that. Energy drinks came out not because I was focused on energy, it was because I was focused on wellness. And I looked at the wellness category and I said, where's the fashion and the fun here? How can I bring color, excitement, storytelling to this industry? And I started to ask my community, like, what if my six supplements were actually in a candy or a chocolate? And they're like, I love that, Michelle, but can we drink it? I'm like, okay, how about a powder? They're like, great. Could it be like ready to go? I'm like ready to go. So I moved to Florida and I see energy drinks everywhere. You're talking to a girl that was in New York for two decades. I'm like, what's going on with energy drinks?

Jasmine Star (00:04:25) - So, okay, wait, I have so much fun back here, girl.

Jasmine Star (00:04:28) - I'm a storyteller through and through, and I've heard two big movements that I like. I want to go back in, like if I'm in the shoes of the audience. When you talk about I went from bra to beverage. Yes. When I looked at like bra buying was a chore, I wanted to change that story. Yes. Okay. So can we talk a little bit about lively? Like, you know, you have this idea and then you end up doing something really incredible. Yeah. So let's just tap there for a couple of seconds I really want to focus on. Yeah. Okay. Great.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:04:54) - Lively came about because I loved my job. I was that girl that was like skipping to. Work in New York City, smiling on the subway. Just loved working for Victoria's Secret. Had 40% market share of $13 billion. However, I didn't love wearing the product because I didn't feel like Candice Swap now and the other supermodels. It felt like a disconnect. So put that to one side.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:05:19) - The other side was I looked at my mentors at work, and my boss is my female leaders who I adored, and I knew I was successfully working my way towards that seat. However, the lifestyle didn't match. They weren't home with their families, they weren't able to spend time with their loved ones. And I'm like, oh my goodness, there's got to be another way. Turns out there wasn't. So I had to create one. And I always say, like, I crossed 14th Street, I went downtown, I worked for a startup for three years, Thrillist Media Group, and I realized, wait, I can learn this. I can figure this out, I can start my own. And that's where lively was born with the idea. Incredible.

Jasmine Star (00:05:56) - Victoria's secret with your agency work and that sparks. I see a gap. I think I can do it my own way. I think I could chart my own course. Yeah. Okay, so you have this idea and then do you get funded?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:06:08) - So the world is magical when you put something in your mind and you just start to, like, manifest it and see it, the universe delivers is what I believe.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:06:18) - And I met the largest manufacturing company and family behind intimates in the industry for national global retailers. They were looking to create startups within the space. I met the guy that is the CEO.

Jasmine Star (00:06:32) - How did you how did that happen?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:06:34) - Connections. Networking. I was at a dinner with friends and they were like, oh, you got to meet so-and-so. And you know, you just have to share with the world what you're looking for. You never know.

Jasmine Star (00:06:45) - Incredible.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:06:46) - He was looking to create the next Warby Parker of lingerie. I was looking to create something on my own that was brand led and social and community driven, and magic was made in the summer of 2015.

Jasmine Star (00:06:58) - Incredible. Yeah. And then you end up selling.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:07:01) - And then 2019.

Jasmine Star (00:07:02) - Four years later.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:07:03) - Four years later, literally the same building that we had, our first meeting, our acquire asked to meet with us. And it was not a yes right away. I'm like, wait, I'm not here to sell a company. I'm still building it, right? And then we met them.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:07:17) - And again, I'm like, this is all signals. This is the right thing for us. It was a very serendipitous outcome and the brand lives on.

Jasmine Star (00:07:25) - That is incredible.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:07:27) - Now, the in-between was hard.

Jasmine Star (00:07:29) - Well, yeah. The four years, the four years that. No, we're going to talk about that. But I kind of wanted to set the audience up because I need them to understand, like where you were, you just exited a really successful business. You got acquired for a really successful sum of money, and you're at this point in juncture. And so when we talk about and then you said, and then I got to Miami and I'm like, okay, but let's go back to the girl who was skipping to work. Yeah. Then she gets involved with the agency, then says, okay, I can do this and then get these opportunities. And then four years later, you're an entirely different person with an entirely different skillset, but also a lot of financial wherewithal. Yeah.

Jasmine Star (00:08:07) - So most people at that point in time, they'd be like, great, I'm going to vacation. And you say, great. From leaving lively to starting Gorgie, how long was that.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:08:19) - 2019 is when we sold. I didn't leave until 2022. I just loved the company and the team so much. Okay. And then once I stepped down, Gorgie was born two months later. Literally step down in, you know, the summer and Gorgie as an idea formed Labor Day weekend. Okay.

Jasmine Star (00:08:35) - Talk to me about that. How did that idea.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:08:37) - Yeah. So you know, the story of founders, you know, having their company acquired is so serendipitous on paper, right? It's such a beautiful story mentally.

Jasmine Star (00:08:48) - Okay. We're here for the tea. Like, seriously to help us help us mentally.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:08:51) - It's really tough. It's it's a heartbreaking experience because something that you birthed, you created from within, you know, almost like a child, obviously quite different. You have to let go and let someone else now nourish, take care of, create the persona.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:09:04) - So I grieved a lot after the sell of that, you know, the sale of that company. My husband always jokes. It's like you've never cried over me like that, you know? But.

Jasmine Star (00:09:13) - But, baby, he's not here. Like there's a reason to cry.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:09:17) - But I did mentally go through advising, investing boards, consulting all of these different things. None of that gave me the high of building and seeing an idea that felt impossible in my mind. And now walking down the streets of New York City. That's what I love to live, to breathe and create. Creating more C suites seats for women, like showing women that you can have a dual household. But the initial high of seeing something on my iPhone to a piece of paper, to a board to the streets is like, wow, I just entered another billion dollar category. And I knew at the age of, you know, the summer of 2020. Two. I was 42 years old. I had one more in me, maybe two.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:10:03) - And so I had three companies building behind my desk. And Gorgui was the one that the world loved.

Jasmine Star (00:10:10) - Okay, so before we get into the understanding and unpacking of how you knew the world loved it, you said you were in Miami and the idea happened over Memorial Day weekend. Were you vacationing? Were you looking for a home? What was that what was like? Cause I always like to understand the mindset and where you were as an entrepreneur, to actually be open to receiving the new ideas. Of course.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:10:27) - So, you know, we actually moved to Boca Raton in January of 2022 and, you know, taking your kids to a new school as a family, just kind of observing and taking in your surroundings. That's when I noticed drinks and teachers hands, drinks in all of the workers wherever we were going, drinks in all the influencers and the fitness girls. I'm like, wow, these people all are holding a can, but the canned isn't. Connect with them. That's so odd.

Jasmine Star (00:10:56) - Like, talk to me.

Jasmine Star (00:10:57) - Like, how do you know when something is connecting with them or not? Like, I'm trying to get into your eyes. They're not.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:11:02) - Posting it. Their posting their lip gloss so good. They're posting their food, they're posting their car, they're posting their shoe. They're not posting. This can be.

Jasmine Star (00:11:12) - Interesting. Okay, so you see the cans. They're not connecting. Yeah. And then then and.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:11:20) - Then I say, you know, the product that I was working on, the idea of wellness clicks when I go to Whole Foods to buy one that was trending on TikTok and social media. This is the better for you energy drink. I'm like, oh my gosh, there is one. Maybe I'll go try it. And when I went to the store, they were like, we can't sell it. I'm like, why? It doesn't meet our health criteria? And I was like. Energy meets wellness. Like, there it is. So first thing you do, you put that on TikTok, right? And we got 100,000 likes in two weeks.

Jasmine Star (00:11:54) - What exactly did you put on TikTok?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:11:56) - Like nothing. We had literally like a liquid from a glass bottle. We're like, what if we created energy meets wellness now talk to me.

Jasmine Star (00:12:03) - At this point in time, are you using your personal brand when you say, okay, so you had mentioned earlier in the show you had said, I went to my community. Yeah. So were you building your personal brand community? Or when you say we went to our community, it wasn't from lively, was it? No.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:12:17) - So okay, so here's my community. Ready. Two minute Google survey created on your iPhone. Make it multiple choice and then send it to two degrees of separation, meaning it cannot be your friends and family answering it. You send it to your friends and family for them to send it to their coworkers, their best friends, their children, their babysitters, their college friends.

Jasmine Star (00:12:38) - Interesting.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:12:39) - And now you are getting statistical data on what people want that don't know you.

Jasmine Star (00:12:44) - So if you and I are friends, which is we're going to be after the show, you send me this, but you're less interested in my opinion because I know you and I'm like, everything you do is great.

Jasmine Star (00:12:52) - You want me to send it to my friends and my family? Correct. And then and I'm validating, like, hey, can you can you do me a favor? Can you fill out this two minute survey? Yeah. And so complete strangers are saying clear analytical data of what they would like.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:13:04) - Yeah. And you can play.

Jasmine Star (00:13:06) - On.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:13:06) - Your phone. Literally 82% wanted a ready to drink beverage, 40% wanted a food.

Jasmine Star (00:13:12) - Wow. Okay. So how many people responded to the survey that.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:13:17) - I had about 250 within a month. And like once I get over 100, I feel like I'm in a good spot.

Jasmine Star (00:13:22) - Okay, so you see that there's a clear demand and an open market for you. Yeah. And then then you go to TikTok and you say, here's a liquid from glass pouring in a container into a glass.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:13:34) - Yeah. It's literally if you see our first TikTok, it's like, who is she? Who is she? And it's just like energy meets wellness and mood boards and music and motion and fun.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:13:43) - And everyone is like, oh my gosh, who is this? Who is this? We want to know what you want to know more. And you could see the likes building and building as we like, kept asking. And then it transitioned into more of like a clear product. We're like, what flavors should it be? It wasn't dragonfruit, it was peach. It was watermelon. It was berry. And what benefits? It wasn't BCR. They wanted biotin, l-theanine, B6, B12. They didn't want 200mg of caffeine. They wanted 150. They wanted to know that it was green tea, not coffee. They wanted to really know it wasn't erythritol and sucralose. It was Reb M pure leaf stevia. So they literally will tell us everything we need to know by asking on social media. And then of course, number two step going out in real life.

Jasmine Star (00:14:29) - Okay. Whoa. Okay. My mind is so blown. And here's the thing. I did a lot of research on you before the show, and maybe it's because I'm sitting across from you and I feel your energy, but the way that you're breaking it down.

Jasmine Star (00:14:40) - So didactic. I'm sure people are hearing this and being like, this is not fancy. No, but I want to clarify one thing. When you put out your first video and it's like the who is she? Yeah. And you're pouring the container into the glass. How produced is this? Is this iPhone? Is this the studio?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:14:55) - This is iPhone. And I had someone working for me as an intern freelancer who just became like a creative, you know, outlet. She was amazing and she helped me. She lived on TikTok. I wasn't on TikTok early. Okay. I'm like, who knows? TikTok, two degrees of separation. A friend of her friends like, please talk to her. The point is, is like, you don't need to know how to do what you want to do. You need to just put the blocks together on. Here's where I'm starting. Here's what I want to know now. Who do I know and how can I connect my resources to figure it out?

Jasmine Star (00:15:27) - I love this, I love this, that's it, I love this.

Jasmine Star (00:15:30) - So iPhone. Yeah. Somebody who knows the platform. Yeah. This is doable for any person who's watching right now. So two minute survey on Google from your phone to figure out potential demand. Taking that idea to the market by creating content that feels native to the platform. Very, very true to form iPhone. So now they're telling you what flavors they want. They're telling you 150mg of caffeine and not 200. Yeah. So you get this information and what do you start doing with it?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:16:03) - Okay. So well here's the best part of this story, especially for female entrepreneurs. I had a partner in crime behind the scenes. So I met an amazing gentleman in February of 2022 named Jason Cohen. Okay. And he was behind Skinny Pop and Veggie Straws and Owen and Core, I mean CPG guru. And because him and I met, I had this inner confidence of like, well, it's going to be okay. I know the right questions to ask. I have someone partnering with me on how to get through.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:16:35) - And as a female, I often say, find your male mentors and friends because guess who has like the keys to a lot of these industries? Think about live. My first investor was Yossi Nassar, CEO of Delmar. Now, like one of my best friends. But he like, helped break me into that industry. Jason Cohen, like CPG guru, introduced me to this industry. Like, don't be shy. Go and find these amazing humans that are willing to take your, you know, your excitement, your your positive energy and your power and nourish it into something new.

Jasmine Star (00:17:11) - Then both attracted to you. Like, what if you had to attribute three things? What did they see in you?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:17:17) - Yeah, I would say the first time like this, ignorance meets utopian vision where it's like, I don't know how to do this, but I'm going to get it done. Okay. Yeah. Like, put one question in front of me. I'll have the answer to you within 24 hours. I will go figure it out.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:17:33) - Okay. And I had industry knowhow I would say the second time with Jason is, you know, I shared my lively story. You know, I can create something community led and driven. But you have to get them to believe. And that's how you get the world to believe.

Jasmine Star (00:17:48) - Got it. Okay, so you meet Jason, and you tell him, like I have these blocks. Here's where I am. This is where I want to go. And he says, I see your vision. I agree with the gap in the market.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:18:01) - He was there from the beginning like he was there as I was, like nourishing wellness into drinks, into this. And he was right by my side. And him and I both said, like, this is this is where it's at. And I could say from a brand perspective, this is how I see it. And if it's going to be female led and like really break the paradigm of this industry, I think I know how to do this. Okay.

Jasmine Star (00:18:25) - One thing that you had said, which I it really struck me and I'd like to poke here for a second. You had said oftentimes not all, but oftentimes women led companies or creating products or services for women. And you said, I am like, I am creating a female led company for all. Yeah. Talk to me about the differences, the nuances. And like obviously lively was more focused on female. Yeah. And what's the difference here.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:18:47) - Yeah I think that like, you know, building a lingerie brand, it was very much, you know, by women for women. Right. And that was pre MeToo movement. Right. And so it just felt like supernatural was my first time being an entrepreneur second time around. It started out as an energy drink for women. And then I was like, why? Like why am I creating this only for women? That's so silly. Women buy it, yes, but they put it in the fridge and my husband is drinking it. This can still be female lead, but for.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:19:15) - All right. And I started to think about silly things like car companies. I'm like, okay, men create these brands, but like, we all love them. We all drive them. Most of the brands that I'm wearing were initially created by men. We all endure them now, the ones created by women. Women often gravitate towards the most, which is great. And that's perfect because they have, you know, 82% of discretionary income power. However, men should be welcomed into the conversation. We shouldn't have to cater the marketing towards them.

Jasmine Star (00:19:46) - How did you make that decision for Gorgie? About a month.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:19:48) - Later after I launched it.

Jasmine Star (00:19:49) - Okay, okay. And so gorgeous. Been around a year and some change. Yeah. Congratulations. Thank you. Congratulations. That's incredible. She can walk. Yes yes yes yes yes. Well, except if it was my daughter. My daughter didn't learn to walk until she was 16 months. Good for her. So, you know, she's just. Yeah, I just took her time.

Jasmine Star (00:20:06) - She let her own pace. She's carving out her place in the world. So congratulations. Now, after you had that consideration, what changed about the marketing, the branding? Or did anything change? No. Okay.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:20:16) - What we did was we became more open to sharing groups of humans, men and women. Got it. And what I also realized is men were really attracted to the concept, both inside the industry and at investment banks and law firms. When you saw who was buying the product off the shelves of Whole Foods in 22 floors of, you know, prime investment banking firms, you're like, okay, I'm pretty sure that's men. And then, you know, we saw golfers and athletes approaching us. We were taken to Wimbledon for tennis players to check us out. So I'm like, oh, this is a dual gender planned okay. But it's going to stay female led.

Jasmine Star (00:20:53) - Got it. Okay. So when you looked at how you took it to market, you did a lot of testing and analytics before.

Jasmine Star (00:21:00) - Yeah. When you were ready to say we're we're marketing it. Yeah. What was your thoughts? What was your approach. What was it going on in your head.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:21:06) - So I actually did a Ted talk on this, which is I build brands backwards. The idea is that you build the marketing and the story with your community first, and you actually start marketing right away. Just start what is marketing? It's telling people about an idea. It's trying to sell them on a concept. Right? Sell them on the concept before it even launches. Because when you do launch, all of those people are launching with you.

Jasmine Star (00:21:33) - Oh, that's so good. Right? Okay.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:21:36) - And so we started August 2022 when we posted that first TikTok. And then we initially put up a splash page in December. Okay, literally like three months later, which is come join us. Good energy for all. It literally looked like gorgeous. Launching soon from yacht parties to disco nights, because we just wanted this to be a fun brand and we started to have people sign up on email.

Jasmine Star (00:22:01) - So before we get to the landing page, August to December, what's the frequency of posting on social? And was that the only marketing you were doing at the time? Yeah, okay.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:22:11) - A couple times every week. Okay. And then like really leaning in and building where we saw it, you know, there was like no rhythm, no schedule or like, let's just keep going. Let's just keep going. Let's keep trying. Instagram. We kept rebuilding our grid, building Pinterest boards, trying to like, carve out the narrative. Film videos did some in real life happy hours. We have no can still and we're still doing in real life happy hours taking videos, creating content.

Jasmine Star (00:22:35) - So talk to me about that because that's very unique. Yeah. Having an in-person event without the end product. So what did that look like?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:22:44) - It looked like a postcard that we post that we printed at Fedex. It was like very glossy and very pretty. I think I have one in there and stickers that said Gorgie Girls of Philly because I was in Philly and a glass bottle with our first samples and 20 girls in which I paid for a happy hour and just said, hey.

Jasmine Star (00:23:04) - How did you find the 20 girls?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:23:05) - My mother in law's next door neighbor was finishing college and she was incredible. She was, you know, transitioning into her life. And I said, hey, I'm building a new brand. Do you want to be a part of it? And she goes, yes. I was like, great. Let's start with the happy hour in Philly. And she interned for us. She became, you know, like a big part of the brand launch. Wow. Yeah.

Jasmine Star (00:23:27) - Okay. So when does the happy hour happen between that August and December?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:23:32) - Yeah. September.

Jasmine Star (00:23:33) - Really? Yeah. So a month later, you're having. Wow. Yeah. And so those 20 girls there, what were you listening to? What were you watching. What did you want to know from them.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:23:42) - So we put on the postcard Gorgie on the front. On the back we said name your flavor. And they started naming the things they were tasting. The point is, is you don't push it as like you're selling product.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:23:53) - You're creating an environment for them to have fun and the products just there, and then they'll pick it up and they'll drink it and they'll say things, and then they'll write things down and they'll take pictures and they'll post it. And just the way that they're like sharing the environment and sharing the drink and the words they're using, you can watch their smiles when they interact with the product you're starting to, like, see the stickiness happen or not. And you got to be really honest with yourself. Like, are they enjoying this? Are they connecting? You're like, oh my gosh, they are interesting.

Jasmine Star (00:24:23) - So when you debut the Coming Soon page. Yeah. How many people signed up? Yeah. What did it feel like?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:24:30) - There was three of us on the team at that point. Okay. And so an intern and one full time hire, freelancers, etc. we all scrubbed our emails and send it out to every single person in our emails. And we were getting hundreds of people joining. So with the adoption rate on, this could be like 1%, right? But those people are telling you and showing you what excites them.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:24:55) - Interesting. When I did this for lively, we got 133,000 emails in 48 hours. It was a viral moment for Corgi a couple hundred every week.

Jasmine Star (00:25:05) - Okay, okay, so I want to go back to the getting 133 viral moment for the subscribers. But what do you think and feel having experienced the 133 to 100? Yeah. What's going on in your head?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:25:20) - It's at first you're like, oh my gosh, it's not this one. This isn't going to work. It's not hitting the same thing. And then you're an entrepreneur, right? You don't see the world as problems. You see it as puzzles. You're like, wait, the Rubik's Cube is going to happen in a different way this time. Which way is it happening this time, right. So good. Lively was on Instagram, gorges on TikTok. Lively went viral on email in 2016. Where is Georgie going to go? Viral.

Jasmine Star (00:25:47) - So interesting.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:25:49) - And then I realized I'm like, it's it's in the industry. It's actually not on social media.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:25:54) - And I started to realize, like, when I go to the trade shows, when I share this perspective out in the world of beverage, what happens there? And then that gets to the customer.

Jasmine Star (00:26:05) - Okay, I was dying, okay, I want to get there. I want to get there. I want to backtrack because the audience is going to be like, how in the world did she get 133,000 subscribers in that amount of time? What happened there?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:26:16) - Okay, Harry's razor company, everybody knows. Yes. Okay. 2011, they did their pre-launch campaign. They got 100,000 emails in four weeks, and then they open sourced that code and did a whole blog post on how that happened. and I was like, oh, those guys got 100,000 emails. Let's do that. And so we took their open source code. Yeah. Like we thought our goal was 20,000. We're like, it doesn't happen twice. So we're going to get 5000 a week. It's going to be awesome. And we took their open source code.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:26:45) - And we put up a splash page and did exactly what they said, which is like, join us as we launched the and get, you know, points towards these free rewards X, Y and Z. Now the key to Lively's going viral was we did focus groups prior to understand which were the images and the taglines that people resonated towards most. And so we would put images on a coffee table, literally like 12 women in an Airbnb with wine and cheese, different cohorts, fitness girls, moms, entrepreneurs, etc. and they would just post it, the ones they liked with words and y and you would get trend lines. It's like, oh my gosh, it's this girl's the girl and the fire escape with fur over this one bralette. That was the image. What were the words? Wasn't panties or underwear, it was undies. And it was today. Bras and undies tomorrow. The world. They loved hearing that. Those two things on a splash page.

Jasmine Star (00:27:36) - I had the chills. I think that's what's so good.

Jasmine Star (00:27:41) - Oh no wait, can I.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:27:42) - Just tell you how wild that day was?

Jasmine Star (00:27:44) - Oh my God. So the girl on the fire escape with the fur. Her bra. Yeah. You have your beautiful tagline. And then on the splash page, if you're following the model that Harris had done, are you saying join us because there's future perks? Yeah. In this day. Yeah.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:28:00) - They don't even know how much the bra cost or what it's made of or anything. They just saw that image today. Bras and undies. Tomorrow the world earn credits towards boom boom boom. Now here's how this actually went down. Scrubbed our emails on a Friday, 250 emails is all I had in my Gmail at that account at that time, and we sent it out. We went to happy hour, and that night we got like 250 people signed up. Okay, I'm a first time entrepreneur. I'm like, is this good? I think so we're going to get 20,000 in 4 weeks. The next morning we wake up, we have a thousand.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:28:31) - By noon, it's 5000 by 4 p.m. it's like 50,000.

Jasmine Star (00:28:35) - How are the how the jump's happening? Was there a share mechanism in that? Yes. And it was a thank you page. And it's like sharing.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:28:41) - And then they posted it. Now this is when Instagram was pre stories. But you had Facebook Lincoln bio. People were taking their link and putting it in their link and bios and sharing it to their entire audience on Facebook.

Jasmine Star (00:28:55) - Now they were incentivized to do that because it would elevate them in the perk ranking. Or were they just add the generosity? They're like, I like this. Like, I just want to wow.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:29:03) - And we had 300,000 sessions globally. Like if you looked at a Google map, it was just blue, blue, blue. Also, we were giving people free credit. So now your head goes from yes, they're signing up to.

Jasmine Star (00:29:16) - Like, oh my God, oh my God, are we.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:29:19) - Bankrupt? Like, what do we just give away? The math works.

Jasmine Star (00:29:22) - The statistics hold.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:29:23) - You to like 90% hit the first and second tier, but we got to like 90,000 Saturday night and I called the developers. I'm like, this is hacked. There's no way. And they're literally in a bar like in the bathroom stall. I'm like, no, Michelle, it's real. The servers crashed the next morning, couldn't handle it, couldn't handle it, and we emailed all of them. We turned our customer service on. This is the month before we're launching lively. We turned email, phone, everything on. I was like, I have to know why. And we would get emails from girls in Australia in a high school being like, my friend got an email back on the referral campaign, why didn't I? And I'm like, I mean, the servers crashed, but like, why do you care? Like we just want to be a part of this are and that is brand stickiness, that emotional cord that I was telling you about, the girl that would run to buy Calvin Klein to feel like the other people in her neighborhood.

Jasmine Star (00:30:13) - Good God, so good. Okay, so now you get that high adrenaline, dopamine, and then you flash forward four and a half, five years later when you're like, okay, well, we have 100. Yeah. And then you say this isn't a problem. It's a puzzle. Yes. And so then you say, I think it's happening. Industry. Yes. How did you get there.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:30:38) - So I went to Expo East in September. So after the happy hour that same time I went to Expo East with Jason and we didn't have a lot. We had like a very early PowerPoint deck and our liquid in of glass bottle. Okay. But when you start to like, sit in these hotel rooms near the trade show, you notice all of those people there are in the industry, or are you the industry leader?

Jasmine Star (00:31:05) - Yes. And you're like, okay, okay.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:31:08) - I'm working on this. I'm doing this. Show them visuals, show them the social media, show them the like, show them everything.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:31:14) - And you see the twinkle in their eyes and you're like, oh my gosh. They they feel it. They see it. They see this genuine opportunity. Right? And like you just keeps telling your story over and over again. And if you get that that energy that we feel right now, like you know that they're excited about it, I'm like, this is definitely happening.

Jasmine Star (00:31:33) - But wait, go back. Are you at the hotel adjacent to Expo East and you have your glass bottle, and what do you do pouring it into cups?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:31:41) - Depends on who you're sitting next to, right? Sometimes you're showing them a postcard. You're showing. An Instagram post, okay? I mean, I'm literally pouring samples sometimes on the corner of the street in Philadelphia. I was walking around the train show with them in my modern picnic handbag, which is a handbag that's actually a Yeti. Yes. And it was like leaking water because I had so much ice that I was like borrowing from people at the trade show to keep them cold.

Jasmine Star (00:32:08) - Oh my God.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:32:11) - Do what you got to do.

Jasmine Star (00:32:12) - Okay. After exposed and people have twinkles in their eyes like, what are you thinking?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:32:17) - Wholefoods.

Jasmine Star (00:32:18) - Whoa! Because of that.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:32:21) - Because of, you know, being in the industry with Jason, talking to all these different people, we got the so the.

Jasmine Star (00:32:28) - First door to carry Gorgui is Whole Foods. Yes. Okay. That's kind of like you set the bar real high right.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:32:34) - Do you see the circle of what happened? The idea started in Whole Foods. We launch in Whole Foods January 11th in 2023, the opening of One Wall Street in New York City. We have a tent out front. We have a whole floor like floor to top wall of Gorgui. The CEO of Whole Foods comes in. I'm like, shaking his hand right in front of our cans. And now that 133,000 email feeling is back. Yeah, it is there. It is.

Jasmine Star (00:33:06) - Interesting. So you get into Whole Foods January 2023. At the time of this recording, we are in May 2024.

Jasmine Star (00:33:14) - And what is what is transpired in this like after this happens, does your marketing change? Do you still feel like it's emphasized industry marketing?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:33:23) - Yeah, yeah, because you know, with lively it was a DTC brand with Gorgui, I was like, okay, wait, maybe it's not DTC, maybe it's retail. First, let's go all in on how much of.

Jasmine Star (00:33:33) - Your current sales are comprised DTC or can you buy DTC today? Yeah.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:33:36) - Now we're 6040 retail to eat digital.

Jasmine Star (00:33:41) - Oh you are in the.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:33:42) - Sweet spot more. We didn't even figure out digital until June of this past summer. Like I in my brain, I'm like, oh, it's not going to work. It's not going to work. And then I'm like, hold on, puzzle. What?

Jasmine Star (00:33:53) - Okay, so what was the natural inclination of saying this is not going to work? Having so much experience in the DTC space, we.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:33:59) - Were not seeing the we were seeing traffic, but not the conversion rates. Okay? And I'm like, wait a minute, why is the conversion rates on Shopify just aren't what I want? They're not like even high single digits, okay, right.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:34:10) - Etc.. And so I was like, okay, put that to the side. Let's focus on retail focused on retail for six months. And then I'm like, this DTC things really bothering me. Let's try Amazon because I start reading earnings reports and all these beverage companies doing so well. When we start doing Amazon May it's like, oh, something's happening here. I see like some sparkles happening by June. It's like, oh, this is a real business. By September it's a six figure business per month.

Jasmine Star (00:34:35) - Okay. So when you say we did Amazon, there's people who do Amazon and there's people who do Amazon. What approach were you following here like oh we're just testing it. And then we see traction. Or are you saying no no, no we're going to go all in. We have a strategy. We've hired somebody who's a specializes because it's a different. Amazon's a different world.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:34:50) - Yeah, it's definitely a complicated world. So we started with one agency that was wonderful to help us get into the space and understand the listings and like, you really do have to have, you know, if you're not an expert in the area, a partner or a community online that you can go to, and then we switch to a different agency where I could see like a different type of style and scaling strategy and that like really opened it up.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:35:15) - So just like with anything in the business, if you don't love what you're seeing, Tinker, tinker with your agencies, tinker with your partners, and then when you see that like rhythm happening now scale now go.

Jasmine Star (00:35:28) - Wow, okay. So how am I okay. So that's Amazon does Gorgie do from the site DTC we.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:35:36) - Have available to. But Amazon is you know our lead. And it's so incredible to see us. We ship to every single state in America every month. Every month our repeat rates are 54%. While we're growing. I am a retention based brand builder. Acquisition is one thing, but you can't scale acquisition until you know you have retention and the stickiness we have. Like the lifetime values. I'm such a data geek. Like saying yes, live for data. And when I look at that dashboard, I'm like, oh, this is it. People in Iowa will email us and be like, oh my gosh, we found you at Costco. Then we bought you on Amazon, and now we have to have you in all of our fitness studios.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:36:20) - Brand stickiness I'm flooded with bachelorette invites, graduation invites, wedding invites, etc. because they want us at their magical moments like a beverage company. They want us at their magical moments. Now that is brand stickiness leading to like beauty, right? And clothing and apparel.

Jasmine Star (00:36:40) - Interesting. Okay, before we get there with Gorgui on Amazon, do they have the subscription option there? Oh how many.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:36:48) - Thousands really thousands for an energy drink. I mean this is because we've become a part of their daily life. In some cases we've replaced their afternoon coffee. In some places we've replaced all of their coffee and other places we've replaced alcohol. In other places we've converted people who don't drink caffeine at all to now drinking caffeine. Members of my team. And so they've realized I feel better when I have this brand, this drink, and. My life. The green tea, the l-theanine. I don't go from like boo to the to boo. I go to like just like I had a great night's sleep. I had a great workout, I had a great time with my loved ones.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:37:33) - Like that feeling.

Jasmine Star (00:37:34) - I feel like in my mind I just saw like literally like something on TikTok, you know, the sound effects, the sound effects. Then we got to I feel really great. My life. Yes. We don't need words here. We don't need words. Okay. This is fascinating to me. And let's talk about the health benefits like this. Because to me I'm looking at the health benefits through the lens of marketing. Yeah. Right. So you notice there's a gap in the market. And do you lead with the health benefits of the drink.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:37:57) - Yeah. No. You know what? I've learned this from some other DTC brands that have really thrived. Number one we're an energy drink. We're not sparkling water with caffeine. We're not anything other than an energy drink. So we want to fulfill that purpose first. Then we are with better for you ingredients. So we like to say we're an energy drink, but we taste better, look better, feel better. And so it tastes you smile the look you post the feel you make the world a better place.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:38:29) - And so we, we really want to get that energy emotion. And then the why is the benefits. The l-theanine the biotin the B6 to B 12 the green tea.

Jasmine Star (00:38:38) - So we talk about the stickiness and we talk about the brand association. I've always looked at content as a way for a consumer to let you know what they're valuing. What kind of content are you seeing that is not influencer paid? Yeah. What is coming up organically? What are you seeing. What are they identifying now.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:38:53) - They literally say, oh my gosh, an energy drink I actually love. Oh my gosh, an energy drink that actually makes me feel better. Like this is the one. And like they're literally promoting for us like in their car at their workout, studying for finals. Like you can see like their their light has shifted when they've endured our product. And I think it's what I kind of shared earlier, which is that stereotype on a category bra was not the cool category to buy. We wanted to make it.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:39:27) - Energy drinks have like kind of an old school stereotype against them. Not good for you, not like the prime focus of life, etc. but what if it was? What if it was good for you? What if it replaced Starbucks? What if it replaced like all of these, like sparkling moments that you drive to endure and make happen? That's us. We're there for.

Jasmine Star (00:39:47) - You. And so when you look at the spectrum of energy drinks right now, what's your differentiating factor? What's gorgeous? Differentiating factors.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:39:54) - Yeah I would say three things. Number one, the actual content. Right. So it's green tea. It's l-theanine, it's B6, it's B12, it's 150mg. Like where sports content certified where non-GMO project Verified. We are gluten free, zero sugar, five calories, sparkling. I love when people say we're huggable because we don't give you that, like feeling, right? Like someone said, oh my God, you're you're huggable, you're gullible. I'm like, what does that mean? I'm like, oh, it's a smooth drink.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:40:25) - Oh, and it doesn't taste like a candy pop. It tastes like a natural, you know, refreshment, which is different. Okay.

Jasmine Star (00:40:34) - Now that the business has taken shape, one years old, what will be your marketing focus from now? In another 12 months?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:40:42) - Yeah. So year one was packing the snowball type. When you're building a brand, you have to understand who you are as a person, right? So now we know who we are. We're Gorgui. We're an energy drink. Better looking, better tasting, better for you. Right. We're an energy drink that makes people's lives better. Now that we know we want to say top of the funnel. Now we need to let the world know we exist because we know who we are. We see the repeat rates. We were number one in air one last week, where the second fastest growing energy drink in the natural channel, we're talking about retailers like, you know, sprouts, etc. when people endure the product, they enjoy it.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:41:19) - Now we just need to let people know we exist. How great is that?

Jasmine Star (00:41:23) - And what's your strategy for that?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:41:24) - Well, I still.

Jasmine Star (00:41:26) - Believe outside of doing my podcast. Yes. You know, number one, meet Jasmine.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:41:31) - Make sure she drinks the product. And now.

Jasmine Star (00:41:33) - Let's make sure that I get a subscription.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:41:34) - Obviously. And then, you know, really think about brands that we love. How are they built? They're built through in real life digital and content that makes people say, wait, hold on, I need to try that.

Jasmine Star (00:41:47) - Okay. In real life, yeah. Digital, digital and content. I want to make sure that, like, we're listening to that, like we have watched and seen somebody do this so successfully. Yeah. You are now repeating it. Yes. And you hedge your bets against that. And so can we break those in the next 12 months for each one of those three things? What does that look like for you.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:42:08) - In real life? In the last 12 months we've done over 500 different events.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:42:12) - Have we hosted 500 events? No. Oh. Have we offered to be at events when asked? Or have we, you know, politely requested to have our presence there? Yes.

Jasmine Star (00:42:23) - Oh so good.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:42:24) - From Superbowl to New York Fashion Week to Wimbledon to 75 college campuses to you name it, we have been there. And that's the.

Jasmine Star (00:42:32) - Point, right?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:42:33) - Brands are posted when they are part of a euphoric moment. So if you're there, you're now part of the post.

Jasmine Star (00:42:40) - Okay, talk to me okay. Real quick because I'm dying here. Let's take Wimbledon. Yeah. You so gorgeous was there. Yeah. And what did that look like? How involved were you? What did it look like? What were people posting?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:42:50) - Yeah, well, it started because my my son and daughter were ball girl and boy at a tennis exhibition. And the player saw the pre-launch and her team reached out to me and said she loves the concept of this. Let's learn more. And as we started to talk more, they were like, Come to Wimbledon now that the products launched, oh my God.

Jasmine Star (00:43:09) - Okay.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:43:10) - And so we were there just to share it, you know, with the players pre Wimbledon etc. and we had like a tower with our goorjian and ice luge and were in Wimbledon. It was bananas.

Jasmine Star (00:43:24) - So this is for players.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:43:25) - The players.

Jasmine Star (00:43:26) - Got it.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:43:27) - Okay for them to learn about the brand in their teams etc.. And and so we learned a lot about our brand and how we could mesh with tennis. We weren't ready to, you know, go any further yet. We were literally three months old, three months. And so we've been doing this in all different spaces, being patient with ourselves to not over sign to anything, but to like, understand the different genres as the, you know, personality of our brand evolved.

Jasmine Star (00:43:52) - And now I heard you say on an interview, I'm okay saying no and waiting for a better yes. Yes. I thought that was so powerful because I have been, for better or for worse. And like I'll say yes, because it was just get me in the room.

Jasmine Star (00:44:07) - And I realized over time that sometimes saying no would have been so much more powerful to wait for the better. Yes. So Wimbledon for you was one of those moments. Yeah. Like, this is this is how we're showing up now, right? Right.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:44:18) - Interesting. And do we want to be a part of a tennis players life? Yes. Is it today. No. Because it's going to be better later.

Jasmine Star (00:44:26) - In what. How did you define that?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:44:28) - Because we knew. I knew in that moment I wouldn't know what to do in that moment with this player. Right. Like we're allowed energetic brand. Wimbledon is calm, quiet. And so we need to figure out, like, the right dynamic. And then I started to see it. It's like, oh, it's through styling. It's through storytelling. It's in their daily lives with content and creation. But we had a lot of work to do on our own, just in terms of building and creating clarity. Lively was the same thing.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:44:54) - We weren't ready to go into Nordstrom and Target right away. We we politely waited for a couple of years until we were ready and it was a better yes.

Jasmine Star (00:45:03) - Oh so good. Okay, so these in-person events now of the 500, how many were you directly involved with in the same capacity like Wimbledon? Because I think that what happens is we hear this and some people are like, I don't have time for that. Or how what was your metric? Yeah, sometimes.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:45:18) - You're just mailing the product. No one from your team is even there. And you asked for pictures. That's it. Yeah. Here's two cases of Gorgui. Here's our postcards. Here's a plastic thing to put up and like tear it. Take a picture. Also sprinkle some disco balls on it because that's fun.

Jasmine Star (00:45:34) - Beautiful okay. So then we went from in-person. Yeah. Then the next arm is going to be digital. Yes. Okay.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:45:41) - Now this is the fun and sometimes hard part for people right? You for digital we have a two pronged strategy, which is we really want to be community led.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:45:49) - And we want, you know, humans that want to be influencers. We will treat you like an influencer. And they have such powerful, such powerful megaphone.

Jasmine Star (00:45:59) - So for the people who, generally speaking, want to be an influencer and you treat them like such, are they micro-influencers or they're not even that at that level yet?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:46:07) - It could be both. They don't even need to be at that level. If they show that they're connected to creating content. And you can see that demonstrated by their grids and how their post let them. That's beautiful. We did that for lively. You know, if they had like a couple hundred followers. But their grids demonstrated that they wanted to create like an influencer, let them influence. Why not?

Jasmine Star (00:46:28) - What does that look like for you?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:46:29) - And now you see, like we have over a thousand people, you know, in and out of our Geneva community and then people constantly posting. So here's a great statistic. 60% of our revenue on Amazon is unattributed, top of the funnel organic traffic.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:46:45) - And that is because they see you at events. They see you on micro-influencers people that you've treated like influencers, and then the actual influencers that are sharing the brand.

Jasmine Star (00:46:58) - Interesting. You got to have good Lord.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:47:01) - You have to have all.

Jasmine Star (00:47:02) - Wow.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:47:03) - Yeah. Which is a lot of work, right? But you have to be connected to the gray, black and white statistics aren't going to show you that this is what's driving your business. The gray is the part that you have to use gut instinct to really go after.

Jasmine Star (00:47:18) - And so when you say there's a person who's not necessarily an influencer, but you're treating them like an influencer, what does that actually mean?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:47:24) - So we'll send them product. We'll send them pictures to post or post on their own postcards, etc.. You have these amazing people that'll go to the stores, create content on your behalf, post them, etc. same thing for lively. We're seeing it with Gorgui. They're growing as influencers while they're influencing for us. Right.

Jasmine Star (00:47:42) - And so.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:47:44) - You know, some of them have driven two hours for a store opening to connect and be a part of it. So I think the the crux of everything in business is humans. It's how do you create human connection that is worth sharing. And that's all it is, is if you can spark that emotion for them to do something, say something, buy something. You had human emotion and human connection and human interaction that'll drive a purchase, drive an impression, drive conversion.

Jasmine Star (00:48:14) - So at the current state of this recording, how much of your content is UGC and how much is it? Is it more repurposing on stories or what is it?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:48:22) - Gosh, so much of it is. You see, we have more content than we know what to do with. We have the opposite problem.

Jasmine Star (00:48:28) - Gosh, we should. I mean, wow, we had our Gorgie.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:48:32) - Team retreat in Boca a week or two ago. We've so much content from it. I mean, check out Get Gorgie and you will see like our team alone is oozing with content and then our community is oozing with content and then we have people with millions of followers posting us that we're learning about and building connections with.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:48:53) - And now it goes from organic to a partnership. And that's the other key. If you're going to do something that is paid, let it start organic. So good buying.

Jasmine Star (00:49:03) - That is so good because it's so authentic. And then their followers know it. They feel it. They can see that are wow. Lastly, content on that note. So we're talking about the three arm marketing approach for the next 12 months of of Gorgie. We went from in-person. Yeah. And 500. And you don't have to be at all of them. And as long as you just go balls. Yeah. You're ready to go. Are you ready. Then we went to digital. Yeah. And how you have created a community that is creating on your behalf, and then you support it when you see it. Yes. And that fosters an amazing flywheel. And now it goes back to content. Yes.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:49:37) - So content for me is back to my early days of fashion where it should feel editorial, like we literally have a magazine that we made.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:49:46) - And if you look actually on the back of our can, you'll see the creators, so you'll see people from. Building the brand, whether they're photographers, influencers, creators, etc.. They're a part of every part of the brand, and now we love to say that the can is the new Instagram. Like, you have a generation that was born on digital devices.

Jasmine Star (00:50:08) - My gosh. Every can has different faces on it. Yeah.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:50:12) - Oh yeah.

Jasmine Star (00:50:14) - And so then these people are getting these cans with content like physical product content on their behalf. Yeah. Get out.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:50:22) - And if you go on today, you'll see people literally just posted the last run and they're like, I'm on the can, right?

Jasmine Star (00:50:28) - I'm doing a run.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:50:30) - Sometimes every month, sometimes every quarter. Like it just depends on business, right. But I am.

Jasmine Star (00:50:36) - Like my okay. So people who are not watching on YouTube my my jaw, I'm slack jawed. I'm fascinated. I'm intrigued. I'm drinking this up like soup.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:50:45) - The best part is when we were designing the can and I'm like, well, let's put the people on the can and they're like, what? And I'm like, you know, like, let's just make it look like social media.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:50:53) - Why not? They verified the ingredients. Let's verify them on the can. And I drew it on a piece of paper and gave it to them. And they're like, okay, yeah, okay. Michelle I was like, what waivers. It's fine.

Jasmine Star (00:51:06) - So you put social media on a can?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:51:09) - Yeah, the cans, a new Instagram. Hey.

Jasmine Star (00:51:13) - Your brain your brain fires. So next level okay. And so as we close so the.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:51:20) - Content let's just close the content. The content should feel and look like your brand. Ours is all about fashion meets fitness meets fun. And you want to influence. Right? So we literally have a magazine here where you'll have like a beautiful spread, just like, what would you see in Harper's Bazaar or Vogue? And then you have actually like bylines of people converting to the Good Energy Club, and then you actually have energy like you want to share the in real life. These are people that have had our drink and a euphoric moment, whether it was a I mean.

Jasmine Star (00:51:49) - Paloma, let's go. Right. Yeah. Hit it. Okay, so if you are listening, please make sure that you hop on over to YouTube official Jasmine Star, because Michelle is actually showing you the physicality of her products and, and her marketing. And I think that I, I couldn't end this conversation by highlighting one thing that is very admirable from somebody who has a daughter watching somebody so successful build these businesses. How are you? Yeah, balancing the two. And I know this is like a little a little side by line, but I feel like it's really important to know. Yeah. Yeah.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:52:24) - I mean I would say that like the concept of balance, I just like, don't know if that word exists. I think it's the concept of every day committing to your priorities. And that's my children and my husband and then my business. But I have to say that to myself every day because I love building brands and businesses. My son on Mother's Day, you know how you get the card and they write all the beautiful things about their mom, how old she is, what she loves.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:52:50) - What is your mom do when she needs to relax? Oh, she goes and works on her business for a little bit, like.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:52:56) - Oh my gosh. Okay, so on a first grade Mother's Day card, right? Like, how much does mommy love to work?

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:53:06) - Doesn't leave home without a gorgeous. So every day I am very clear on my priorities. Last night I took my daughter to a store opening for aloe and you know, I just wanted to have that moment with her, but also share with her like why I do what I do and like let her experience it and understand it. And I welcome them into all of it. Right. Like, were they slinging cans in the Hamptons last summer? Yes. They're like, what are we doing today? I was like, oh, we're going to a restaurant and like, you're going to grab a cooler and give it everybody that, but invite them into your life and let them see, like, oh, this is what mom does, right? Last weekend they came to Orlando with me for a speaking event, and my son was so proud.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:53:46) - He's like, mom, you got up on stage and spoke in front of all those people. And I think demonstrating the role that women have in the household now can, can and should be different. And my daughter at ten constantly asks me about it, like, you work so much, mom, is that okay? Like she talked about title nine. I was telling you, she did a presentation on it.

Jasmine Star (00:54:09) - Like your daughter's ten years old.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:54:10) - She's ten years old. Their understanding how society is shifting. And that is an amazing thing because now you have both genders creating beautiful things in the world. How great is that?

Jasmine Star (00:54:20) - It's not great. It's beautiful and it's stunning and it's amazing and it's so well deserved. So for people who want to get more information, get gorgie.com if they want to connect with you and or Gorgie via social, how is that happening? Give a little shout.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:54:33) - Yes.

Michelle Cordeiro Grant (00:54:34) - Yes please. You know get gorgie.com and get Gorgie. And then I'm the underscore Michelle Grant. And I'm just so thankful to be here and spreading good energy to all.

Jasmine Star (00:54:44) - good energy club. Let's go. Thank you for listening and watching the Jasmine Star Show. I specifically wanted this conversation because I see some. Who's done it well, who understands brand and marketing, and more than anything, the exact same approach that she has used to build and scale a massively successful exit and then start another massively successful endeavour, which is well on its way to have a very similar exit. If we're looking at trends and statistics, I'm just speaking it into existence and everything she did is at your fingertips. That's why this show exists is do not put reasons or excuses between what you want and where you want to be. What Michelle did is supplanted. Any excuse was this blocks and said, I don't know how, but I have the capacity to find people who will help me get there. And that is the main takeaway of this show. Thank you for listening and watching The Jasmine Star Show. It is always an honor and a pleasure.