Interview with Kerri Leslie CEO of Noniko. Noniko is a natural skincare manufacturer with a focus on breast health based in Encinitas, CA. This podcast series is hosted by Patricia Kathleen and Wilde Agency Media. The series interviews female and female-identified entrepreneurs, founders, business owners, and gurus across all industries to investigate women (and female-identified individuals) in business today. Both the platform and discussion are designed to further the global conversation in regards to the changing climate of female (and female-identified individuals) in entrepreneurial and founding roles.
TRANSCRIPTION
*Please note, this is an automated transcription please excuse any typos or errors
[00:00:07] Hi, my name is Patricia Kathleen, and this podcast series will contain interviews I conduct with female and female identified entrepreneurs, founders, co-founders, business owners and industry gurus. These podcasts speak with women and women, identified individuals across all industries in order to shed light for those just getting into the entrepreneurial game, as well as those deeply embedded within it histories, current companies and lessons learned are explored in the conversations I have with these insightful and talented powerhouses. The series is designed to investigate a female and female identified perspective in what has largely been a male dominated industry in the USA to date. I look forward to contributing to the national dialog about the long overdue change of women in American business arenas and in particular, entrepreneurial roles. You can contact me via my media company website Wild Dot Agency. That's why Elle DEA Agent C or my personal website. Patricia Kathleen dot com. Thanks for listening. Now let's start the conversation.
[00:01:30] Hi, everyone, welcome back, this is Patricia, and I am so excited to be sitting down today with Kerri Leslie. Kerri is the CEO at N'goni Co Co. is a natural skincare manufacturer with a focus on breast health based in Encinitas, California. You can visit their website to learn more about their products, which currently our Magic Deodorant and boob bomb at their website spelled A. and I and Dotcom Noni Kosygin dot com and so welcome, Kerri.
[00:02:02] Thank you, Patricia. It's great to be here.
[00:02:04] It's wonderful to have you a quick bio on Kerri for everyone to get a background on her. Kerri is originally from Baltimore, Maryland. She went to you NCW in Wilmington, North Carolina, where she studied biology and chemistry. She then moved to San Diego in 2005 and spent 10 years in the medical device industry in positions ranging from regulatory affairs to strategic marketing. In two dozen and 15, Nosenko was founded as a nights and weekends project has since turned into a full fledged star and is now Kerry's main endeavor. So I'm excited to kind of drop into Nonaka, but as a quick roadmap for all of us, everyone listening, we're going to touch on Kerry's academic background and then drop straight into questions regarding Nosenko, how it was conceived and when it switched from being this kind of moonlighting event to the main show, as well as other business endeavors. What stage it's in, what are the main bands of distribution and sales overhead under head business, particular things of that nature? Then we will pivot and talk about the goals for the next three years that Monico has regarding scaling for the product development and all of that. And then we will wrap up the podcast with everyone's favorite, which is advice Kerry has for those looking to do what she does or get involved in similar business endeavors. So, Kerry, will you just drop a straight into your background at UT in academia at USC? Did you know when you were obtaining that degree that you wanted to go into the medical device industry with biology and chemistry, or were you kind of just a free for all now?
[00:03:41] No, not at all. So I think like most people in my major, we were looking at the premed pathway, so wanting to be a doctor as I entered college and then not really knowing what that meant, but knowing that I loved science and want to learn more about it. So that's how I got started. And then as I advanced and my years in college, spent a lot of time interviewing physicians and interning and realized that that wasn't the path for me.
[00:04:09] But to be honest with you, I remember having moments at my senior year of college thinking I don't know what I want to do with this degree because I love talking to people. And most of my coursework was sitting in a laboratory and writing papers and doing research. And I loved the human interaction, which was kind of missing for me. But I was fortunate because the first job I got out of college, it was really helpful to have my background because it was a medical company and they wanted somebody with a science background that could be technical, but it allowed me to use my other skill sets. And that was that startup company that I worked for right out of college was in San Diego.
[00:04:49] Yep.
[00:04:50] So that's what brought you out and then you just stayed. So let's get into, like, how was it conceived and born? Was there a great deal of time in between conception and birth or was it kind of immediate?
[00:05:04] Yeah, so so I worked for ten years. They worked on the medical device industry and I loved it and I didn't have any plans to switch industries, but I had during this entire time had been looking for a natural deodorant literally from college ten years. I was looking for a natural deodorant that was effective and could never find one that worked. So I would kind of try a few and then I would go back to any friend and then I try a few more. And then I'd go back to any friend and I would continue this pattern for a decade. And then when I became pregnant with my first daughter, I, I just made that commitment to myself that I wasn't going to share in any person anymore and tried tons of natural deodorants, spent hundreds of dollars on Etsy and Amazon.
[00:05:49] I would order two or three at a time and try them and nothing would work. So I just assumed that I was a particularly stinky person and this was going to work for me and my family would just have to deal with it. So during my first pregnancy, like I said, I couldn't find one that worked. And then when I was nursing my daughter was a few months after I had her, I came across a product in a local boutique in Encinitas, and the clerk insisted that I try this product, that it was different than anybody, than any others that I tried. And I kept telling her, you know, natural daughter doesn't really work for me. So I don't think this is going to be any different. And it was bit more expense. Than I had ever spent on a deodorant, but I tried it and it worked, it worked the first day, use it. So I was pretty mind blown and I'm like this. So then I wore it the next day and went for a run and it worked. And then I had my husband try it and it works for him. So I was like, this is crazy. It really works. So I just made a phone call to the company as a fan. I was so excited that I found something that works and I wanted to thank them. And it said that the company was based in Encinitas. So I reached out to just on the website and came to find out that it was a really small business and it was a woman doing it on our own out of her kitchen. And it's made us and we happened to be in the same neighborhood. So we got together for coffee and quickly became friends. And at the time I was doing consulting for medical device companies and we just decided to give it a go and try to grow the strength to give more people access to this awesome product. Absolutely. That's cool. So she was bootstrapping out of her kitchen, which is awesome. I love that. And she's and she's a really talented formulator and really an artist. The way that she can put ingredients and aromas together. Right. So she just she's really gifted. And she spent years working on this formula in her kitchen, but just needed like all of us do we need some help. Doing it by ourselves is really tough to get it out to the rest of the world.
[00:07:55] Well, in certain people's strengths or other people's weaknesses, there's not I just haven't met Jill of all trades yet who really like masters the marketing as well as the tech as well as the financing. Like it's all a little bit tricky. I know that startups and entrepreneurs try to do it all, but I think that that's sometimes where they fall short. So when you started, you came on board in twenty fifteen and it was like a night, two weekends. When did it switch over to becoming this more full fledged affair with you.
[00:08:26] So we kind of moved along and it organically grew. So we started, we put our products on Amazon and we started pursuing other retailers. And in the early days because there weren't that many natural deodorants when we first started this. So in the. And two thousand fifteen twenty sixteen two thousand sixteen is when we really started selling the product, and so there weren't a lot of natural donuts on the market. So I was a little bit easier to get someone to try the product. And we had a lot of organic growth because it was really effective. And then it just but doing it nights and weekends, it was just limited to how many people we could connect with. And then it wasn't until after I had my second daughter and two thousand and 16 that we really started focusing on, hey, this thing's got some legs and I think this is going to grow. Let's really focus on this and give it a shot. So I transitioned my clients at that point because I was still consulting just transition. My client, my clients started focusing on this full time. And then as far as let's get into the products and so I know about two. Are there more than two or is it just now? Can you just. Yeah, yeah, I can. I can share the others too. But I can give you a little bit of background on Bubon because that's a pretty unique product. So another interesting entrepreneur story. We all have our own journey.
[00:09:48] But about six months into Steffanie building a partnership together, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and she's doing great now. So I always like to follow up with that fact that she's doing really well and she's thriving. And but but when it happened, she detected her lump really early because she always took the time to get to know her body. And what we learned about breast cancer is that ninety nine point nine percent of cases are beaten when they're caught early. So when they're detected early. But most cases that are detected early are detected by the patient themselves, not a doctor. So it's so important that we as women take that responsibility and get to know our bodies. And that became really important to both of us, but really important to fresh. She thought, wow, how can I help other people to get to know their body? Because we know so few of our friends are doing their self checks and mostly because they were uncomfortable and felt like they didn't know what they were doing. So they just didn't do it. And some of them, because it would create some anxiety, they didn't want to find something. They were kind of nervous to touch their boobs because they might find something. So I thought, well, what do women enjoy doing in the day? We enjoy? And as moms, you know, we have like a few moments in the evening where we have our beauty ritual. And that kind of makes us feel human again, that special time for self-love. So stuff I had already created this, a similar product, a boob bump for herself when she was going through treatment. And she thought, well, if we can just incorporate this into our anti aging ritual to give our friends a beautiful product that they can use it. It feels really nice to put on and it smells great and it's going to keep our skin looking young and beautiful. And while we're at it, let's take the side to give ourselves a regular breast massage so that we get to know our body. So that's how the bomb was. I love it.
[00:11:41] And you say on the website, too, you know, you talk about what normal is for you. And I think that it's so it's so crucial to understand when you're coming from a health standpoint and things like cancer checks of any kind to no one's self is the most important thing. Just because what could be abnormal for someone is not as completely normal for someone else. And just getting familiar to know what normal is, you kind of have to start this dialog, which I think the application of a bomb is just it's so ingenious and I haven't ever looked at it that way. But I don't know women that don't moisturize. And to give this special product to an area that reminds you to do those self checks is just it's awesome. It's it sounds like a rad gift. Like it just it's the connection between that product and the relationship towards fighting breast cancer. And when making breast cancer awareness and things like that increases, so is so awesome. So the magic you have, the magic deodorant which you became a convert of, that's how you came up to go. And then the boob bomb and then you guys have any other products that you're doing right now or anything on the horizon?
[00:12:45] Yeah. So we have the natural deodorant, we have the bomb, we have the natural deodorant available and five different options. So we have three cents for our original formula, which is a baking soda base. And it's super effective, literally. You put on one type in the morning and you will smell great at the end of the day. Unfortunately, some folks can't wear baking soda. So we have a sensitive formula option for those who can't tolerate baking soda on their skin. And that's a magnesium base that's really creamy and soothing to your skin and that's available with an unscented and and so it's a really nice kind of sensitive skin, essential oil. And then we actually just launched this month at a trade show, and they'll be available within the next month on our website, several other products. So we did take a focus on breast health when we launched Foodbank because we realized that it's really important that we're taking care of our breast. As an individual, and it's a big part of that, right, allowing your underarms to breathe and to allow your body to eliminate toxins and then to kind of speed up that process and help facilitate it by practicing regular breast massage. But then it's really not just about breast health, it's whole body health. So then we've added the dry brush, which I don't know if you're a dry brush. Here I am.
[00:14:04] I love I love exfoliation levels. And, yeah, I get them and all of that.
[00:14:09] Yeah. Absolutely, yeah, it's so important, it's such a good way to exfoliate, such a relaxing process to again, going back to the self love rituals that we need to make time for every day. And actually, I do my best thing in the morning because it has a little bit of a stimulating, energizing effect for a lot of people to really get your blood flowing and it's stimulating your life and helping your body to detox. So another product that we launched is called it's a detox clay mask, and it's actually an under our mask. So you can use it to help speed up the process when you're transitioning antiperspirant to an actual deodorant. But it's also a great practice to do on a monthly basis for your underarms. You can actually use this product on your face, on your test anywhere. It's just a deep drawing clay mask. Nice. Yeah. And the deodorant we also have. I'll go on. And one thing I can mention, I think a lot of our customers, we do a lot of coaching on the detox process because we went through that journey ourselves of trying so many drinks in the not working. So I always explain to people kind of what's happening with their body. So when you're wearing an antiperspirant, it's essentially clogging your sweat glands. And that's just the mechanism of how it works. It clogs them so that you can't sweat. And then when your body wants to sweat, so it's trying to overcome this sweat glands and sweat harder and harder when you take away the antiperspirant all set in.
[00:15:36] Your body's pouring sweat, but nothing stopping you from sweating any more. It's gone. So most people the first day into their natural deodorant sweat think there's no way I could wear a natural deodorant. I'm a stinkiest person. It's all me. And that's just not for me. But in fact, that's kind of everybody's experience. And if you can allow yourself to wait for two weeks, your body will self regulate and you won't sweat as much. So you really have to try to give yourself those two weeks to get through that, to make the transition. And the detox claims can help you.
[00:16:04] So if you maybe reapply if you are baking soda of formula is great because it will actually even neutralize existing odor. So if you sweat so much those first couple of weeks that you wash it off, just take a little bit a little sample travel, take it with you and reapply so you don't have to stink during those first two weeks. You just may have to reapply.
[00:16:20] And after that, once a day, yeah, there's a lot of you guys have a lot of different stents and things like that for being so young in the game. It's cool to see that kind of diversity with the difference out there. Oh, thanks. Thanks. So do you with the it seems like you guys are kind of cultivating this like health and wellness angle. And you're not just offering a natural, like deodorant. You're kind of getting into this like natural health treatments and things like that. Do you see that that growing with you over the next few years or are you just going to harness and focus on what you have?
[00:16:59] Yeah. So as our business is growing internally, we talk about deep health a lot. Right? So rather than just the health of your skin, we talk about our products as they're being designed, should all be designed for deep health through our skin. So using herbal ingredients that can really help us and are healthy for our bodies and then also thinking about health beyond our skin and making products that are safe for the planet. So when we're washing the stuff off of us in the shower and it's going into our groundwater, we can be confident that we're putting safe products back into the earth. And we're actually making a really large effort right now to minimize and eventually eliminate plastic from our packaging because we want to be a part of the solution in the single use plastic problem. That, to be quite honest, we've all been a part of the problem for a long time and we've been working for, gosh, at least three years. We've been trying to find an alternative to plastic for our deodorant container. And it's been really hard to find something that's both functional and good for the planet and truly good for the planet. Right. There are a lot of like Slaínte plastics and materials out there that are just as bad as plastic unless you take them to a specific composting facility. So we want to make it something easy for people to use and be making responsible choices. So we're actually launching a stainless steel reusable deodorant container.
[00:18:22] That's great that I was just my mind was just trying to play around with like it's a huge problem that affects products across the entire world. And I kept thinking, you do go back to like the vegetable plastics and things like that, not being great. And then you have like reusable. But then there's that whole that's like a whole separate business in and of itself. So the stainless steel is awesome. Do you. Is it a refillable do people ship it back and there's that whole shipping process and all of that.
[00:18:51] So, yes, we have some retailers which will be announcing soon that we're working with that will actually have collection sites at the retailer location. So if you're buying it at a brick and mortar store, you can bring in your empty cartridges to drop it off when you get your refill and get a discount on your next purchase. If you're buying it online, there are coming. When they're shipped to you, you get a return shipment label because you can send it back for a voucher for a future purchase.
[00:19:16] So what are your main veins of distribution and sales? Are you guys doing the majority online or do you have it sounds like brick and mortar stores that you're already in bed with or how is that working out for you guys? Right.
[00:19:26] Yeah, yeah. We have some really great retail partners throughout the country. One of our great partners locally here in the West is a retailer called Pharmaco. So it's a natural pharmacy chain based out of Boulder. But they've got stores here in them in the high end and the cost and they have a really interesting model because they hire most of their staff are actually naturopaths, homeopaths that work part time. It's great for them to help them grow their business. But you as a consumer get to come in and learn from people who really understand not only the products, but the ingredients in every product. They've been a great partner for us. But then we also do a large part of our business online, but we think it's important to talk with us, so that's we want to be convenient for our customers are online shoppers, but we also want to support our brick and mortar partners that have been there with us since the beginning.
[00:20:18] Yeah, it's interesting. I think a lot of people thrive still in the in-person brick and mortar experience, especially with product like you're talking about product knowledge and things that you can truly convey and stand apart with experts in person. Trade shows the small boutique stores and things like that. But then you also obviously everyone still has to or likes to have the online representation.
[00:20:43] And I think when you're when you talked about having the healthy body ritual piece of our business has become pretty. It's very important in our business when people are trying to make switches to natural products. It's a pretty big change in their life and it's overwhelming. So a lot of times they want to go into a store with somebody who's really knowledgeable, who can help them navigate through all of these products and say, OK, let's step one. Maybe step one is switching my deodorant to a safety order and then step two will be coming back to figure out the safe shampoo and conditioner. But typically, I think those first steps are actually taken in a retail setting because they want some advice. Absolutely.
[00:21:17] I I agree. I think that you can spend twice as much time and learn half the amount online when you're doing that kind of research. It's like a deep experience where you really need to go in and become an expert. And a lot of people, you know, specifically in different ages in their life just don't have the time for that. And you also don't know who you're trusting online because everyone says they're great and wonderful and I don't know which ones are authentic. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think that it's true that in-person moment is really important. So with like the business particulars and growth and scaling over the next three years, what are your plans at? Like like what do you guys have a vision set out for what you're going to be doing and over the next three years?
[00:22:01] Yeah, so the main focus of we've got some really solid, awesome products and then with the new products that we've launched, you don't even get through them. But we can get back to that. The most important thing to us right now is now providing those products and packaging that safe for our planet. So that's really our main focus over the next couple of years. And then working with our retailers to create the shift and buying behavior, which is essentially an entire other business. Right, is. And folks and educating them on the importance of bringing the products back so that we can reduce them so that we don't have to continually manufacture packaging. So that's that's really the main focus of our business over the next few years is going to be working with our partners to get that message out there and try to be part of the solution.
[00:22:49] Absolutely. So let's get back to the products. We talked about the the dry brush and the underarm clay mask.
[00:22:57] And so we also have a hydrous saw, which I'm not most people aren't familiar with what hydrous sales are. So when you distill a plant, you get to buy products, you get an essential oil, which everybody knows. But then there's also water byproducts. So all the oil loving nutrients will go to the essential oil and the water levels will go to the hydroxyl. So it's basically pure plant not to supplant water and it's really powerful stuff. It's great to be used as a toner. We actually use that as an activator for our clay mask. We also actually recommend using it when you're using any of our bonds.
[00:23:31] So we actually were talking before the podcast got started about how it's difficult to have natural ingredients that can save shelf stable for a long time. So our way of doing that is we keep the oil in the water separate. So when you introduce water into natural ingredients, it's more difficult to stabilize and you typically have to introduce preservatives. But if you keep the oil in water separate, they're much more shelf stable without the need to introduce any preservatives. So we don't put any preservatives. We put natural preservatives of vitamin E that have other value in some of the ingredients and our products are naturally preserving. But nothing's added in there as a preservative. And we do that by keeping it to be only an oil based product. But at home, if you put on water before you put on an oil based product, you're going to get the maximum benefit of moisturizing. It's going to allow the ingredients and the product to penetrate to the deepest layers of your skin and give you the maximum benefits. So you would spray a hydro cell and then you would put on your your boobs are your body balm to help really get a maximum benefit and also makes the products go a little bit further from.
[00:24:38] Get the most out of it, so we have the hydrosphere and then we also have launched a body bomb in an after son bomb, which are really similar in texture as our bomb, which has become really popular.
[00:24:52] It's got a really unique texture because it goes on like an oil. It's a nice massage texture, but then it absorbs like a lotion. So the body bomb has some gross uranium, which is in itself really helpful to stimulate stimulating lymph. So it's great for giving yourself a daily body massage when you're moisturizing in the day. And then after sun bomb is just a really great product when you get too much sun, especially here in San Diego. As much as we were trying to constantly cut ourselves and there's always times we get a little too much sun and it helps you to just prevent that from getting any damage after the fact and blocking some moisture.
[00:25:27] Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, after the after some bomb, I always say that it's San Diego, too. But looking at the nation over and the skin cancer rates, I think that. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Those are exciting products. Is that so. Is that them in total.
[00:25:45] And we have two more. So we've got a bath t that's a detox bath. So it comes with a refillable tea bag. So you just create a little tea bag, hang it on your faucet. When the water passes through it turns your tap into a tea. So it's an herbal tea. And then we have just some really nice salt scrub every day, salt scrub that you can use in the shower.
[00:26:06] That's awesome. Yeah, the best tea sounds fascinating. I know that I've had a couple of colleagues along the way, women in Arms with me talk about the dangers of using essential oils. I think when essential oils boomed, everyone started using them just like ad nauseum and ad hoc, like nobody really knew what they were doing. And so if you put those in the bath, you can actually end up kind of in some dangerous scenarios, like if you put Mint into your bath, which sounds delightful, and it can actually lower your body temperature and all these dangerous things. So the idea of having a blast sounds on par with like maybe a little bit more of a gentle and soothing at some of that, a little bit more regulated.
[00:26:47] And the dosage, I guess, but it's. Yeah, so it's going to be a milder, much milder version of that. And it's just the plants that it's dried plants. So you just get a through herbal baths and as close as you can get to who comes up with the products, you guys brainstorm.
[00:27:05] How are these? Because these are they're all clever and insightful and exciting sounding. How do you how are you guys guided along that creative process?
[00:27:15] Yeah, so it's a team effort. So we've we welcome input from everyone on our team and it's really a group effort when we're coming up with pipeline products. But essentially everything's been born out of what we wanted. We started a natural deodorant company because we really needed a natural deodorant, created the boob bomb because it was actually something that she really needed during her treatment because she had a difficult time during the reconstruction. You're supposed to massage the tissue around your surgical site and she needed something that was good for the delicate skin. So that's how she created that product. And then there became our whole mission around that. And then our customers have really guided a lot of that input as well. So as we work with our retail customers, they're asking for specific things. They love the quality of products that come out of our company, but they've wanted a wider assortment. So we've just been listening to that.
[00:28:09] Yeah, absolutely. Speaking of that, all of the like the collective effort and coming up with this, how many people strong is knowing? How many people do they have under the umbrella working with it?
[00:28:20] We're still a really small team. So we have it's under ten of us that are now working on a daily basis.
[00:28:29] That's a pretty healthy size. So I'm growing too fast with anything I think can a death of a start up to the next three years. You guys are looking at providing the quality in the packaging of the products and then increasing your audience out there. What advice would you have if you ran into someone who had just gotten done working in the medical device industry after graduating with a degree in biology and chemistry? And she's like, yeah, I'm going to get into this natural product moment and I'm going to launch with a co-founder. What are the three main pieces of advice you would give her right off the bat to kind of sidestep the more troublesome roadblocks?
[00:29:14] I think I would help set expectations of the timeline, I think when I started this business, everyone I spoke to because there's a much faster. Route to profitability when you're working with the medical device company, because it's very different margins, so I think in my mind it was like, OK, two years, but in two years and then see what this turns into. But all of the folks that I've gotten to know since two thousand and sixteen been spending a lot of time with other entrepreneurs, which I hadn't really. But prior to that, everyone I worked with was in a pretty corporate setting, minus the startup that I worked for. But even then they had come from a very corporate setting, has told me it's more like five to 10 years before if you're going to bootstrap it. And maybe you could offer some insight there because you've done this so many times. And that was the more realistic version of that, is just be sure that you're in it for the long haul and that it's really what you want to do. You can't be in it for the money because the money is not going to come for a long time. So you really need to be motivated and love what you're doing and have that be your inspiration. Because if you're inspired by an exit that you're not going to be able to run for 10 years, you have to just really have a lot of meaning behind what you're doing and get passionate about it. And then the other thing would be to find a great partner that complements your skill set. When we first started this, we were just really fortunate that. Except for nine found each other and we had really different skill sets, which I think helps because you kind of don't get in each other's way, just do what you're good at and they do what they're good at and keep moving forward.
[00:30:54] Yeah, they say that a startup is the fastest way to kill or make a friendship.
[00:30:59] And what's great is that we met basically by starting this company together and was probably pretty crazy. So it was like we got we felt like we got married after the first date. We just kind of didn't really know each other very well. But we're still very good friends today and we're really fortunate for that.
[00:31:15] Absolutely. And it's kismet, the meeting with you being impressed by the product and reaching out like that's all of it's just like it's meant to be in the stars. It's fantastic. What do you think as far as, like, the biggest hiccups you and Sarah have had over the past couple of years, like, let's say since twenty fifteen, what were some of the more major roadblocks looking back now that you could have assuaged?
[00:31:43] I mean, I think another thing, you have to have the expectation that life gets in the way right, with a small business, because in a large company, if someone's out on sick leave or maternity leave, the business keeps going and people step in and set the case the start up. So I would suggest actually hiring sooner. I think that's what I would have done so that you could keep the ship moving forward. I think we kept holding off, not really wanting to have that. The overhead to be responsible for it was so unknown, and I'm actually not naturally a huge risk taker, so that was hard for me. But now, looking back, I think we missed an opportunity for faster growth by not bringing on help. And just to get through the day to day, you need help so that you can go out and develop new business. When you're spending your time filling orders and making product, you're not maximizing the growth of the company now.
[00:32:42] And also, oftentimes, I always advise people when they're hiring, I it keeps us even the most accountable marathon runner in us has this moment of just I don't want to do that today. And if someone's coming in and working for you, you're going to get it done. It keeps you accountable.
[00:32:59] Yeah, I think yeah. I think that's a good point.
[00:33:03] Yeah. Hiring sooner. I agree with that. And I have not met with one entrepreneur at that.
[00:33:08] Is a woman or a female identified that hasn't confessed that they haven't outsourced or hired sooner. You know that it's also this like Jill, of all trades, like I'm going to do it all. I can do it all. I don't need to hire anyone because I think that's culturally how we're set up to have the children run the house to start your company, do it all. And so it's like don't ask for help figure.
[00:33:30] Yeah, I think that's unfortunately, that's just how we're built. But I think but I think it's also fear that just gets in the way that you're like, well, what if what if it doesn't work? I don't want to hire someone and I don't I think I was scared to bring on somebody and then be relying on me for employment when I didn't know what was going to be happening six months later. And I think you have to let that fear go because you're doing this because you believe that it's going to succeed and that employees happy if they're joining a startup, they understand that risk. So bring on the right team early and have the confidence that it's going to happen, because I think if you. Continue to work hard and you have the strength and determination to keep moving forward. It's really a matter of time. Do you have a great product as a matter of time, if it's just one.
[00:34:17] So if you can see that at Fostoria, there's a mathematical algorithm and I always forget the name of it, but someone did. And it doesn't surprise me, given that we can figure things out with elections before they actually happen, but that it talks about making it big, like a big break in Hollywood and they break it down to like a seven year timeline. And look, if you can stick it out and actively go on auditions for seven years, you will you'll you'll break in and make it. Yeah. And I've and I've I've always felt like it's clever and we should have all known that anyway. I truly believe that there's not one person that gets up and you can't wake up every day and do nothing. But if you get up and you actively pursue your 10 goals for that day, like at some point in time you will succeed. Yeah, how quickly it happens. But I think that there's this we have this kind of fantastical view of success, like the ones that did it are lucky or special or genius. And I don't believe that. I think that it's like that's like a romantic view of it. I think it's really just about putting in the hours that's timing and hard work.
[00:35:22] Yeah. And you have I mean, you have to have a great product. You can't just make anything. But as you've got if you've have a great product and the the will to keep going, it'll happen. So you just have to really help that ship to keep moving forward. So when life does get in the way, you don't take steps backwards and and slow down. You can you can keep the business moving forward and growing a thousand percent.
[00:35:42] Well, I am so glad that you took I know you're wildly busy. I don't know anybody who isn't. But I know that you in particular have a lot on your plate, professionally and personally. And so I just want to say thank you so much, Carey, for sitting down with me today. It was awesome to hear about it and everyone listening. Can you see the website one more time?
[00:36:01] Sure. It's Noni Coskun dot com.
[00:36:03] So and I o i n dot com and all of the products and all the like, the literature and everything we've talked about can be found there. And I'm assuming people can reach out and contact you from there.
[00:36:15] I'd love to circle back around in a year and find out what's going on. I think you guys are on the verge of some really killer growth, which always changes companies in unknown ways. So I'll have to come back by and bug you again in a year and find out how that sounds great.
[00:36:31] Or try to keep me accountable. Yeah, there you go.
[00:36:35] Accountability.
[00:36:36] All right, everyone, thank you for listening today. I appreciate your time. And until we talk again next time, remember to always bet on yourself. Slainte.
