Due Diligence – Details, episodes & analysis

In this episode, I share the announcement of my new podcast, Influence FM (Apple + Spotify), and also riff on the hero(ine)'s journey, why it's an allegory for our transformation to soul-led living, and how manifestation can reinforce our egoic structures while co-creation with divine intelligence can unleash our true potential.

--

Find me on Instagram

Find me on TikTok

🫶🏼

The feminine principle of being in presence, intuition, and alignment isn't any less productive than the masculine principle of doing, forcing, hustle. It can even achieve the same or more results with less effort & more ease if you know how to navigate from your soul energetically & practically. Here are the key principles you need to know to get shit done while staying in your "feminine" mode.

Books mentioned:

Living In The Light by Shakti Gawain

The Intuitive Way by Penney Pierce

Rich Antoniello is the founder and former CEO of Complex Networks, a youth culture brand and media company that was founded in 2002 and sold in 2015 to Hearst and Verizon and later in 2021 to BuzzFeed.

Find Rich on Twitter and LinkedIn

Mentioned in the episode:

• Collect'd
• XSET
• Popchew
• ⁠Female Founder World⁠

In this solo episode I share 12 tips for DTC/ecommerce/product brands, including content ideas as well as strategies.

Brands on TikTok referenced:
Cheeky Bonsai
Bonbuz
Truly Beauty
Aura & Mind
Nanu Electrics
National Gallery London
Jones Road (Bobbi Brown's personal page)
Milk Makeup
Olipop
Bond & Seek
Inoki Bathhouse
The Silk Labs
Duolingo
Scrubdaddy
e.l.f. cosmetics
Gucci

In this episode I interview Ju Rhyu, CEO & co-founder of Hero Cosmetics. Ju co-founded Hero Cosmetics in 2017 after working in the corporate world when a trip to South Korea inspired her to bring hydrocolloid acne patches to the U.S. market — and thus Mighty Patch (one of Amazon's bestselling personal care products!) was born, kicking off a dazzling success story that is still just beginning.

We discuss:

• The key lessons she learned from successfully growing Hero Cosmetics to to over $100M in profitable revenue within 7 years
• The contrarian strategies that have unlocked massive growth for Hero Cosmetics
• Why she decided to sell her company (and why now)
• What the M&A process was like from initial outreach to acquirers to due diligence
• The most important things founders need to do in their companies to become "acquisition worthy"
• The essential people you need on your team to help you sell your company successfully
• Regrets other founders often have about their exit experiences
• And more

For more info:

Ju Rhyu's Instagram & Twitter
Ju Rhyu (website)
Hero Cosmetics

This is Part 2 of the TikTok series for anyone looking to get started on the platform.

I cover questions that include:

• My framework for how to go viral
• How I decide what brand sponsors to work with
• My recommendations for how to think about rates to charge & monetization for new creators
• My process
• And much more

In honor of NYE, a reflection on 2022 and the most transformative lessons I took away from this year about finding your path, trusting yourself, and finding ease.

This is Part 1 of a series on TikTok 101.

In this solo episode I cover:

• Common myths about TikTok
• Who it's right for (and who it's not)
• How I would start from scratch if I had to build a following from 0
• Tips I've learned on how to grow your following

My Instagram
My TikTok
Kim Pham's Twitter thread on how she grew to 100K in a year

Sarah Paiji Yoo is the CEO & co-founder of Blueland, a sustainable cleaning & home essentials brand on a mission to eliminate single-use plastics from our homes. She attended Harvard for her undergrad and MBA, worked at McKinsey out of college and then in private equity,  then founded her first startup, a mobile shopping platform called Snapette, after business school. Snapette went on to be featured in NYTimes, Oprah, Today Show, Forbes, TechCrunch, WWD, Glamour and was named one of The World's 50 Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company. Snapette was backed by top-tier Silicon Valley VCs including Accel Partners and Forerunner Ventures and was sold after three years.

Sarah went on to become a founding partner of LAUNCH, a venture studio that has incubated leading DTC brands like M. Gemi, Follain, and Rockets of Awesome. While on maternity leave she learned about the microplastics in our water supplies and was inspired to start Blueland in 2019.

Blueland is a sustainability-driven brand that has been featured in NYTimes, WSJ, Vogue, and The Today Show as well as on Shark Tank. They've raised $35M to date from investors including Prelude Growth Partners as well as celebrity investors like Justin Timberlake and Adrien Grenier.

In this conversation we discuss:

• Sarah's background including what she got out of her MBA experience
• Why she decided to start Blueland
• How her cultural upbringing impacted how she thinks about family, motherhood & success
• How she navigates being the face of her brand
• Her top tip for hiring great talent that she's learned from being a serial entrepreneur
• The main advice she'd give to early stage founders

For more info:

Blueland (website)
Blueland TikTok & Instagram
Sarah's Instagram

If you want to pursue a creative passion, become a creator, or start something that requires discipline and consistency but you just haven't been able to make the commitment yet, allow me to introduce to you the 100 day challenge.

This is my secret weapon for overcoming creative and personal growth blocks. These challenges are not as crazy as they sound and one just might change your life like it did mine.

In this solo episode I break down what these challenges are, how to do them, WHY to do them, and my own experience with 3 of them so far and now a fourth to give you some pointers.

Find me on Instagram & TikTok