Advice Line with Daymond John of FUBU

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That's Framer.com slash built for 30% off. Framer.com slash built. Rules and restrictions may apply. Hello and welcome to the Advice Line on How I Built This Lab. I'm Guy Raz. This is the place where we help try to solve your business challenges. Each week, I'm joined by a legendary founder, a former guest on the show, who will help me try to help you. And if you're building something and you need advice, give us a call and you just might be the next guest on the show. Our number is 1-800-433-1298. Leave us a one-minute message that tells us about your business. And the issues or questions that you'd like help with. All right, let's get to it. Joining me today is Damon John. He is a longtime judge on Shark Tank. Of course, a speaker and an author and the legendary founder of the streetwear clothing brand FUBU. Damon, it's great to have you back on the show. Welcome back. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. So when we first had you on, this was back in 2018. You, of course, told the incredible story of how you were working a red lobster in your 20s and trying to start your own business. And this was in the early 90s. And how you came up with the idea of creating a clothing brand, the brand that, of course, would become For Us, Buy Us or FUBU for short. That brand became a huge hit. And the story of how it happened is just incredible. And as always, for anyone listening who has not heard Damon's episode of How I Built This, you should absolutely listen to it. We will put a link to it in the show notes. Damon, you know, over the years, you've worn tons of different hats. But I'm curious. I mean, as a Shark Tank judge, right? You have seen hundreds of pitches by early stage founders. What tends to grab your attention in a pitch? What are you personally looking for in a founder or in their brand or company to make a decision on whether to invest? Well, you know, I always say that nobody has the right to judge you but God. We're only judging what is working for us. So I'm listening to the story and seeing if it's a play for me. Will I add value? Can I either reduce costs or increase? Can I increase sales by what I'm doing? If not, my money is just as good as anybody else's money, right? But now when I get down to the founder, did they create this because they had a pain or they were trying to bring a customer joy? What is the backstory to the failures that they've had and how they still decided to overcome that failure because they knew that the solution or the pain they were solving with somebody else was something bigger and better? And then, of course, do they? I know their market, their audience, their numbers. And then finally, it's who are they? Can I trust that they will make the right decision, their problem solvers, that people could look past the company and look at who founded the company and want to buy into their story because that company may move from selling socks to underwears to lotions to something else. And is that person constantly the one that people are going to trust to take them down that route? Telling them that story. So I always ask founders, I say, you know, you can't answer why me, why now and why this, then you have a me too product. But you have to add all the time to your career to be able to say, why me, why now and why this? It's sort of the flip side of this question and related, which is, and we get asked this question a lot. You know, we've had hundreds and hundreds of founders on this show over the past 10 years, and I'm asked this question a lot. I'd be curious to get your take on it, which is, what do you think the attributes? A successful entrepreneur needs to have to actually bring something out into the world that flourishes. What are the attributes, maybe personal qualities or attitudes that they have to develop to make them successful? I think they have to be a good storyteller. We've established that. I think that they have to be a little, they have to have an ego, but very vulnerable and simultaneously. The ego is that, or the confidence. It's not. It's not an ego. The confidence they are going to get this done. And then they definitely have to be a value to their customer. They're constantly trying to solve problems. But I think the most important thing, and I think it was Elon Musk who said it is, they have to have a very, very high tolerance for pain. They have to know they're going to get whipped. They're going to get the door slammed in their face. Every single partner they have is going to doubt them at a certain point, and everybody public is going to tell them they're an idiot. And they have to be able to. Endure that pain for a long period of time. And many people can't endure that pain. Yeah, but it's critical. You are right. It's great advice. So I want to ask you a question, if you don't mind. Please. Yes. You know, when did you start the podcast? Ten years ago, Damon. You know, the way that I got onto Shark Tank was because they actually saw me on Donnie Deutsch. What was that called? The Big Idea. Oh, yeah. I think that was called, right? And they realized that I could take a pitch. But in between that time, I don't recall. I don't recall anybody ever celebrating and getting into the heads of who's behind the product and or the business CEOs. And I, I started a new division called CEO access where I manage CEOs and I try to make them the next sharks. But as I looked at your, the history of who you have from like Spanx to Barbara Corcoran to Jose Andres, they seem like they were almost on the rise to be stars. And then you, you point out. You point them out, but then you'd point out other people too, who are CEO rock stars. What made you realize 10 years ago? Lately, it's probably like the last four years that people started to say, well, CEOs are the new rock stars. What, what, what drove you to want to get into the heads of people like me and Mark Cuban and Barbara and, you know, all these people? I think at the core of it, Damon, it's because they are some of the most dramatic stories you can tell, right? A building, a business has all of the core elements of a, of a drama, right? Of a, of a movie there's triumph, there's failure, there's catastrophe, there's loss, there's joy, um, you know, and everything in between. Um, the stakes are so high and especially when you've put decades, you know, years and decades of your life into something that could collapse. And so I think that for me, initially it was about. the drama and the story that I could tell through business, through the prism of business. But ultimately, I also knew that there was all of this wisdom, this, you know, like we'll call it collective wisdom in the United States around the world. But I say the United States because the U.S. really is sort of the, it's the focal point. It's the heart of entrepreneurship historically. And so I felt like there was a need to harness those, that wisdom, right? And to basically give people the playbook. I mean, there is no one single playbook, right? And there's no guarantee, but if you could find out how people solve their mistakes and sort of navigated the challenges that they faced, then you might have a better chance at solving a similar crisis or challenge when you face it. Yeah, I know. Because I look at you as, you know, you had somebody who wrote about the DNA of entrepreneurs, which is, you know, Napoleon Hill. Yep. Then you go to Shark Tank. When I go into Shark Tank, I said, nobody cares about the crap we talk about all day in the boardroom, but leave it up to Mark Burnett to put a nice, you know, music drop at this point and then run to a commercial right before somebody gets hammered. Yeah. It's show. And then, you went even further. And I said, well, now somebody's now getting into the brain on what created that person and how they built it. So anyway, I found it fascinating that you've been doing this long before a lot of other people. So maybe that's why the episode I did with you is one of the most brought up episodes when I'm on the streets, because you get right into the head and I appreciate it. I'm really happy to hear that. Well, we appreciate having a chance to tell the stories and also appreciate the fact that the founder of Shark Tank, Mark Burnett, is a great person. And I'm are you know really want to open up because it's it's a it's a it's a form of generosity to share your story and your your failures it's not easy to do that but it's really important for people to know that dame and john worked at red lobster you know people didn't answer his calls right um no one gave him the time of day and that's that's what i'm trying to do i want people to feel inspired by that to know that you don't have to have connections and money and you know it's it's you can really build something if you believe in it and you're you're prepared to put in the time and the work and the grit well keep doing it man good stuff thank you for having me i appreciate what you're doing thank you for being on um damon are you ready for uh to take our first call yeah let's go let's go okay uh welcome caller you're on with damon john shark and founder of fubu tell us your name where you're calling from and a little bit about your business please hi guy hi damon it's an absolute honor to be here with you guys today my name is christopher navarro and i'm calling from chicago illinois i'm one of the co-founders of sabora mexico salsas along with my mom marlene and my dad sergio at sabora mexico we're on a mission to put flavor back into salsa through authentic family recipes bold flavors and of course a little bit of heat amazing thanks for calling in um so tell us a little bit about the salsas you've got how many flavors do you have uh yeah so we have um it's about nine salsas um well eight salsas in one pickled product but yeah we've got all sorts of different flavors with our like best seller being an avocado free guaca salsa wow wow and tell tell us tell us a little about the origin story yeah of course so um our business started in 2024 officially but i mean i it really goes back much much more than that um on my dad's side my grandma uh she had a taqueria in mexico and my dad growing up there that's where a lot of our recipes kind of originated from um and then from there you know when we immigrated to the u.s um we were fortunate enough to bring all of those here actually ran a taqueria here for about a year before the building closed um but in 2024 my dad was finding himself without a job uh unfortunately and my mom had the idea like hey you know people love your salsa people love your food let's let's give this thing a chance and we found some farmers markets and we kind of went from there wow and so you are selling right now in farmers markets mainly in the chicago area yes so our our number one sort of channel is farmers markets we also sell online through our website and then we have a subscription box service through our website as well and how tell me a little bit about uh about your sales uh like what are you guys expecting to do this year yeah so um this year we're expected to do around 340 000 in sales so this is our biggest year to date um yeah it's about double what we did last year so very nice that's amazing all through mainly through farmers markets well congrats good work before we dive in a little further what's your question for us absolutely so how do you know when you've truly outgrown the business model that got you started you know farmers markets for us have been an incredible way for us to build our brand maintain strong margins but they're becoming increasingly labor intensive and harder to scale um how would you decide when it's time to move into retail or maybe another growth channel without expanding too early damon 340 grand and farmers markets loaned pretty good uh for this year but they know are they ready to expand what how do you know that that is a good question uh you know it's uh how much time is it taking up of your your time because you do not want to abandon what's really making you because you're getting more than you're getting the sales you're getting the investment in a community you're building a great community i don't think the jump is to go to retail so by the way when you go to retail you do four times the amount of work for half of the the reward right because uh you know you now have to deal with buyers you have to become a vendor record you have to ship it and by the way you know the larger companies have put more people out of business and they put them in business because they have their own criterias on what you have to solve so give example if you're making a bottle of salsa for four you're selling it for about 10 you know to your regular farmer's day market you probably have to make it for three and a sell it for five so they can sell it for 10 yeah all right so that's one of the problems so how do you expand outside of the farmer's market but not yet take on the big obligation of large box retail so a couple options are you go to small mom and pop stores those are the great operators they're selling your goods telling you what they like about it not liking about it paying on a credit card right away they don't need terms and everything else and then of course live selling and selling direct to consumer online i would start dipping my toe in there but do not uh you know don't ignore the golden goose just yet and i don't think you should ever totally ignore the golden goose yeah i i think that's great advice i i agree that you know you you mentioned you're in about how many farmer's markets right now about 15 markets this season okay which is a lot and that's mostly you and your dad and your mom and anyone who can help out yeah so we have about um four um like staff people that help us out for the season so we're able to on our busiest day which is saturdays we're at five different markets and and how much does a jar cost so uh we have an eight ounce jar that is nine dollars and then we have a 12 ounce that is twelve dollars i'm sure the margins are pretty good on that and as damon mentioned once you go into into you know into wholesale you're you know you're selling for a lot less than that and you're making less than that where i i completely agree that i think that you don't want to give up the farmer's markets where you're really interacting with customers hearing their feedback but i do think that you want to start talking to smaller as damon mentioned smaller proprietors maybe start with some natural grocers food stores smaller independent shops in chicago where you can start to test the waters out you know and learn how quickly the inventory turns go and sample in those stores when you have a chance um and and that really gives you at that point in a sense the right to do that so i think that's a great advice i think that's a great way to take the next step because once you really get big then you're talking about finding a distributor and if you're going to work with a whole foods or sprouts or a kroger or albert's one of these big chains you're talking about a whole different ball game but it it might be worth it to really just identify five or six smaller food proprietors in the chicago area for the next six months to a year and really test it out uh and then if that works then you you want to pitch a bigger um regional uh grocer that's really interesting we have had some people you know living down the street for me is kind of our local bodega for lack of a better term and i've gifted them some salsas and they love it and they're you know they're excited to get the product in there but i've been very hesitant um just because you know you hear it so often like you want to get into the big stores but at the same time you do hear those kind of horror stories of just the amount of work and you know the the small margins of what happens so i've been kind of conflicted you know whether which route to take and i've been very hesitant to get into the big stores on that the mom and pop stores are always they're always much better the big stores go to the mom and pop stores to look at what is moving uh they're always going to be better than anybody else because you're talking directly to the owner proprietor you know the kid who's putting out the product in in sprouts is busy on instagram thinking about where they're going to go to college next you know they're not they're not telling the story you know the mom and pop stores were the ones who made fubu people walked in there and they said you want nike that's fine but these four young men are busting their butt and it's quality goods it is moving faster than nike and i'm even buying a piece it's and it's local it's chicago there's a great family story there it's a family that has a history you know running taquerias in mexico and now you're You brought those recipes to Chicago. I mean, it's, you know, that's really where you get the traction. That's really where you start to develop brand awareness and excitement. And that moves a lot faster than you can imagine. We've had many of those examples on the show in the past. So I would definitely start to find, identify some smaller stores in Chicago. Go into those stores, talk to customers, hand out samples. It gives you that experience of understanding how it's going to work at scale in retail. That's really interesting. And I appreciate the information. That's really helpful. And I already have my eye on a couple. So I'm really excited about getting to work on that. Christopher Navarro, the brand is called Sabor Mexico. Thank you so much for calling in. Good luck. Thank you, guys. Have a great day. Thank you. All right. We're going to take a quick break, but we'll be right back with another caller and another round of advice. Stay with us. I'm Guy Raz. And you're listening. 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And along with my wife, Jess, we are the founders of Raised Nutrition. At Raised, we are making whole food protein bars free from any artificial flavors, sweetness, preservatives, fillers, or even any natural flavors for that matter. Okay. Welcome to the show, Darcy. So you are making a protein bar. Of course, there are thousands of protein bars on the market. Tell us a little bit about why yours is different, why somebody would choose yours over any other protein bar. For sure. Yeah. So you're 100% right. When we sort of looked at the protein bar market, it's a very, very saturated category. Our inspiration from it initially came from the RX bar. So the model that Peter Rahal did in CrossFit, my wife, Jess, and I have trained Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for many years. And with that sport comes a lot of injuries and a lot of problems like that. So kind of initially didn't hit the ground thinking that we wanted to make a protein bar. What we ended up doing is having a look at, you know, why everyone's getting injured so much, myself included, and seeing, you know, that the nutritional component is huge there and realizing that, you know, in Jiu-Jitsu, there wasn't much available for people who wanted to do it. So we wanted to start addressing that. So we wanted to make a product that spoke to the needs of that kind of sport. Got it. Okay. So Jiu-Jitsu, so protein bar right now for aimed towards the Jiu-Jitsu crowd. How long have you guys been in business? We've had the business founded for about 18 months, but we've only been live and trading for about seven months. We spent about a year working on the recipes to really build the thing that we wanted to build. So got it. And tell me a little bit about your initial sales. What are you guys doing right now? So we're sort of growing month on month, which is great. Last 30 days is about 18K. And that's definitely, you know, that's the peak for us at the moment. And mostly direct to consumer right now? Mostly direct to consumer. Or entirely? Yeah. Yeah. There's a handful of sort of wholesale customers with some Jiu-Jitsu gyms and a couple of other health food stores. But yeah. Got it. All right. Before we dive in a little further, what is your question for us? So we're finding quite quickly into this that most of the uptake of our product is coming from outside Jiu-Jitsu, ironically. It's very much a health and wellness sort of thing. So given that we're finding our audience isn't Jiu-Jitsu based, should we continue on with the Jiu-Jitsu origin story in the brand? Or should we start to move away from it so we don't alienate the people outside of the sport? Okay. Interesting question. Damon John, questions, thoughts, ideas for him? Yeah. So why are you finding more success out of Jiu-Jitsu? What are the reasons? I think the main bit of feedback we get is that we've gone and created a pure health food product. that is very clean label and I think it's just natural attracting the people that are essentially pack flippers, the people who want to check the ingredients on everything. It doesn't seem to be the case in jujitsu that that is the predominant crowd. I don't think the health food focus is really there in the sport yet. So we are finding that runners and swimmers and just general health enthusiasts are the people that seem to be more attracted to the brand naturally. Got it. So I think that you need to land on something, right? And I think that jujitsu, first of all, is the natural history. That's the fubu for us, bias. And I think it's a little too early to hop off of that because you want to hang on to something. It does not mean it's going to alienate anybody because I got to tell you, when I first started drinking Tito's and I heard it was gluten-free, I couldn't care less about gluten. I was paying extra for gluten at the time, but I just started drinking Tito's before you know it, I was drinking too much of it, right? So how it was brought to my attention was not necessarily the same as what I was doing. I was just trying to get my mind off of it. Right. Right. So how it was brought to my attention was not necessarily why I then ended up buying it. So I wouldn't suggest it. And I think it's a little too early to move off of why you were created because then how do you tell your story? You know? Yeah. I completely agree with you, Damon. I mean, you know, you think about Yeti. We just did Yeti on the show. That brand was started for fishermen originally, right? Lululemon for women who do hardcore yoga, as you mentioned, RX Bar for CrossFitters. But that was the tribe. Those are the tribes that really push those products out into the mainstream. And you're so early in right now, you're only a few months in that I think it's really worth kind of honing that tribe. Right. And eventually down the road, you might say something like, well, we built these bars because, you know, we couldn't find a recovery bar, some clean recovery bar for people who do jujitsu. And that's why we initially made them clean and green. However you describe it, right? You want that community to be the force multipliers like the CrossFitters and RX Bar who talk about the product because they like it. And, you know, jujitsu is a high energy sport, right? You get a lot of injuries. You mentioned recovery is critical. It's the same with a lot of sports, the same with swimming. It's the same with running. And so I think at this point, you really want to lean into that community and use them as your ambassadors. That's great. Yeah. Yeah. And that feels like the way, I mean, we'd love to take it because obviously jujitsu was our inspiration. It's the sport that we're passionate about. And I think in terms of getting into a crowded market, you know, we don't want to just hit the shelves with everyone else. We do want to carry our story forward. And it does, yeah, it feels like that that would be a good way to do it. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. Damon, any other thoughts? I mean, one thing I thought of was the Australian angle. I mean, is there anything Australian, like the ingredients or anything specifically Australian about these bars that might make them interesting to people outside of Australia? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think another key selling point that we seem to find pops up here in Australia, at least in Australia, is time and time again, and may hold some water for overseas, is that we are using a few key specialty Australian suppliers in the chain. So it's Australian grass-fed collagen, Australian grown fruit where we can, things like that. So that is another reason I think we're finding people outside of the sport that are attracted to it for different reasons as well. Yeah. It's interesting. By the way, collagen makes, that means they're not vegetarian or vegan, right? Correct. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's an interesting ingredient to add to a protein bar. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They're definitely, in Australia at least, collagen protein is having, yeah, it's getting in the spotlight a fair bit as people are starting to realize, you know, particularly for the injury side, like ligament support, tendon support, things like that. That's what it's good for. So yeah. Is that the defining ingredient in the bar, the amount of collagen in there for the injuries? Yeah. We kind of call it the hero protein in the bar. It's about five grams of collagen per bar, but we've also combined it with an Australian pumpkin seed protein and an ice protein as well. So we've got three protein types for a good amino acid spectrum, and we're trying to get lots of minerals like magnesium and zinc in the bar as well for the recovery side of things. And is that what is attracting other people to it? Collagen? I think so. I think it being one of the key ingredients is, yeah, it's definitely an attractor for sure. Yeah. You could upplay that a little bit, you know, within the marketing. Make sure you upplay that somewhat on the packaging. Yep. I agree. The brand is called Raised Nutrition. Darcy, thanks so much for calling in. Good luck. Amazing. Thanks so much, guys. Really appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Stay with us because after the break, we'll talk to another founder working to take their business to the next level. I'm Guy Raz, and you're listening to The Advice Line right here on How I Built This Lab. When you run a small business, you have to wear a lot of hats. You're the hiring manager, the payroll department, and the benefits team all wrapped into one. And after talking to hundreds of founders and running a business myself, I know how overwhelming wearing all these hats can be. Thankfully, Gusto is here to take a few of those necessary tasks off your plate so you can get back to the bigger picture. Gusto is online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. It's all-in-one, remote-friendly, and incredibly easy to use. So you can pay, hire, onboard, and support your team from anywhere. Save time with built-in automated tools like offer letters, onboarding docs, direct deposit, and more. Plus, get direct access to certified HR experts to help support you through any tough HR situation. Try Gusto today at gusto.com slash built and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's three months free. Free payroll at gusto.com slash built. One more time, gusto.com slash built. And submit your lineup. Then sweat it out as you watch your picks play out live. It's the best way to get more locked in on game day. Make all the picks you want this football season all in the same app. Also, PrizePix is going crazy with the deals to start the football season, giving users a new promo every day during Stack September. And now PrizePix is available nationwide. So what are you waiting for? Lock in for kickoff because everyone and everything is on PrizePix. What you want? Download the app today and use code WONDERY to get $150 instantly in lineups if you win your first $5 lineup. PrizePix. Run your game. Welcome back to the advice line on how I built this lab. I'm Guy Raz and today I'm taking your calls with Damon John, founder of FUBU. Damon, ready for our next call? I'm ready. Let's go. Hi, Guy. Hi, Damon. Hi. My name is Seema Sanghavi. And I'm calling from the Niagara region, just outside of Toronto, Canada. My company is Cooks Who Feed. We ethically produce kitchen linens with a meal give back. We collaborate with well-known chefs to design products for our retail line. And we also create custom linens for businesses, mostly in hospitality and tourism. Today, we've provided around 2 million meals to those in need through the sale of our linens. Awesome. Welcome to the show, Seema. So this is not a non-profit business. It's a for-profit business, but it's a social and economic business. And I'm calling from an enterprise. Correct. Yes. Very much for-profit business. But we're all about doing things the right way and making sure we're not harming the planet. And we own our own production facility just north of Delhi. We actually hire women from the surrounding villages who don't usually have opportunity and train them to be seamstresses and provide them with a safe, fair place to work. And how long have you been in business? It's been about six years now. Very good. Okay. And so it's aprons and what else? Like when you say, we're the products. Yeah. So on our retail line, we have a kid's line for kids' aprons. We do our chef aprons. Those are our flagship product. We also do tea towels, grocery totes, wine totes, linen napkins. And then for businesses, we've done everything from different style of aprons, server aprons, bar aprons, chef coats, tablecloths, really anything that fits under that kitchen linen umbrella. Yeah. These are nice. I'm looking at your website right now. Seema, what percentage of your sales right now are B2B versus direct to consumer? About 75% are B2B right now. So we work with small like restaurant groups. We work with celebrity cruises. So large, large businesses and even culinary schools as well. You're working with celebrity cruises. That's great. And are you, how much personalization do you do? For example, a restaurant that wants their logo or label on their aprons? Yeah. So full, they get to choose their colors. They get to, really do their own style, their logos. We do embroidery in-house. Yeah, really it's anything pocket styles if they have, if they want to do different color straps. So really it's as, you know, we can customize as much as they would like. I've got tons of questions for you, but before we dive in further, what is your question for us? So my question is, we really want to focus on growing our B2B side of the business because that's where we've seen the most growth. It's require aprons to run their business and they're more larger volume sales. So how do we convince them to switch vendors? This is my question. All right. Damon, John, I want to bring you in. Questions, thoughts for Seema before we dive into her question? Well, as any customer, what is keeping them up at night? You know, vendors don't often switch because you're better. They switch often because the old guy or girl they're dealing with seems to start getting a little risky. And they feel that you're a safe progression of where they can go. So you'd have to prove to them why you're safe. You know, as I call it, give them an undeniable package. You know, something that allows them to test the waters with you, test it very small, and feel that if it doesn't go anywhere, they didn't risk everything. What is your unique selling proposition to them? Sometimes it's why Bomba Sox is the most successful product in Shark Tank history. Sometimes it's you can brag about two things, what you've done with us and how you've helped somebody else get a meal. And that can be in your communication. You know, Damon, you mentioned Bombas, and of course, you were an investor, and we've had both those guys on the show, and it's an amazing company. But correct me if I'm wrong. I mean, people don't buy Bomba Sox because they give a pair away to a homeless shelter. They buy them because they're good socks primarily, right? I would say both. And you're right. Product is always going to be king. You can't make crap product, right? So I would say that they go and check out the socks and say, oh, my God. And then they go, and by the way, it's giving away a pair. And that thing is the thing that is making people go. And by the way, because my daughter, I remember, told some of her friends, I'm buying you 10 pairs of socks for the holidays, and you're going to help give away 10 to 10 other people because it becomes a bragging point. But, of course, product is always going to be king. Yeah. The reason, Damon, I asked you about the Bombas. The mission is because, you know, the evidence I have seen in recent years is that at the end of the day, consumers choose value, right? Quality and value. And, of course, there are some consumers who are going to buy a razor because it's going to help somebody in need or a pair of glasses because it's going to – but by and large, most consumers, from what I've seen, still choose value and quality. See, I'm looking at what you're selling here, and it looks like really high-quality products. It's not a good value. But I wonder, have you been able to identify businesses that are aligned with the mission, where the mission will matter? Like restaurant – like some Michelin restaurants, it may be really important to them. It may be a part of the story they want to tell. How much of that are you doing to identify businesses that are really – where this could really matter as part of their story? Yeah. I mean, we've really just tried to focus on the higher end. Yeah. Yeah. We've really just tried to focus on the higher end here because I've noticed that that's where there is already a focus on sustainability and social responsibility. But that mostly just comes from the F&B space, right? Like they're looking at where are we sourcing our ingredients. And for the conversation then for me is, okay, well, it's great that you're looking at that from, you know, the food and drink standpoint. However, what about all your kitchen linens? Like why are they – why are you using polyester? Why is it made in China? You know, so you're obviously giving back to your local community. That's great. We can help you do that even further. By purchasing something you're already purchasing. And we've been very good at meeting the price if not beating the price while having the impact. You know, I think also of restaurant groups, right? Like we just did Stephen Starr Restaurants, which is a very successful restaurant group in the United States. I think they've got nine out of the top 100 highest grossing restaurants, independent restaurants in the United States. You know, a lot of these restaurant groups are focused on sustainability. And I wonder if you have made attempts to try and reach some of those groups. I have. Unfortunately, it's been unsuccessful, but I'm still at it. And it's funny that you're saying all this to kind of, you know, the whole idea of, you know, how to make them the hero. And I feel like that's what actually helped us get Celebrity, which is our biggest client to date. It was, you know, hey, you guys are single-use plastic-free. Why don't we create an apron that is made out of, you know, recycled plastic bottles so that it's, you know, sustainable fabric. And it has the meal give back. And they tell that story. They use them for their onboard. So every time they give them, they tell the story, right? So it's like, how do we make them look good? And that's what I try to do when I pitch is how can I help you look better and fit with what you're trying to achieve as well? Yeah, I think Guy has a point. I mean, somebody who aligns perfectly with that would be Jose Andres in World Central Kitchen, right? Because he's about giving meals as well and so many other things. But I also think in addition to that, like part of what really a brand like yours benefits. From is hard referrals because you're trying to get bigger organizations that use linens and aprons and, you know, that really are using volume to give you a shot. And so to get that, I think you're going to benefit the most from your existing clients, you know, who are going to offer referrals on your behalf. We just recently started working with Relais Chateau, so one of their locations here in Canada. So I'm trying to use exactly what you're saying, trying to get them to refer me to the other Relais Chateau brands within like North America because there's so many locations in the U.S. To say like if you're now that you're working with us and you're happy with the product, you know, could you introduce us to these other locations? Because their focus on sustainability is, you know, is equally there. Damon, just one question, though. I mean, 75% of her sales right now are B2B. My instinct is don't discount direct-to-consumer. Right. I mean, Bombas is a direct-to-consumer. I mean, that's that's their bread and butter. I know that people probably don't buy aprons and linens as much as they buy socks, but people do buy linens and aprons for, you know, for their homes. Oh, you'd be absolutely surprised. You know, the hottest thing in, you know, these days are live selling, live selling on whatnot, TikTok shops and all these type of things and live selling. You can live sell to an audience of other ambassadors. That will sell the product themselves or you can live sell directly to consumers. The best thing about that is you're you're directly hearing what they're thinking about the product. Right. You know, you sell obviously to B2B. You don't know why the person liked it. This, you know, the end customer liked it, disliked it, what they loved about it, what they prefer about it. But live selling platforms are the best by far. It is a huge, huge market right now. And we're right at the we're right at the beginning of it. And you get some real feedback. Sima. One one final bit of advice for you. Just my thought is I would love to see images, pictures, videos of these aprons being made. I mean, the process of making these, of dyeing them, of embroidering them, the work that's going into it. I think that should be the selling point. These are handcrafted by artisans in India with the finest materials and quality. Oh, and also, by the way, you know, we are feeding people. We're also employing. All of these women who are building their own businesses or whatever story you you can tell around that I think is important. But I also think that the quality and the production process should be out out in front. OK, thank you so much. It's not lost on me on how great this opportunity is. So thank you so much for your time today. Thank you. Thank you, Sima. Cooks who feed is the brand Sima Sanghavi. Good luck. Yeah, I mean, I think it's interesting. You were saying about Bombas and and and that you found from what you know, there are a lot of people who are buying it or who are choosing Bombas because of the social mission. Well, that's what they that's what was attracted to them. That's what keeps in there. And again, it's a story, right? You know, already because you've interviewed them, the founders, they're in those communities. They know the directors of the communities. They know the people there. So this is not just a random gift. This is kind of they it means something to them. And then once you buy a pair like that, you like the product. You don't go elsewhere, really. I think I'm wearing a pair right now, actually, as we speak. I am. So there you go. There you go. Before I let you go, I have one question for you, Damon. If you could go back to you at Red Lobster, you know, the guy in his 20s and you could give him advice now based on all your experience, what you know, what you've done. What what would you tell him? Financial intelligence. Learn how money works, because I can't guarantee you'll make a million or a billion, but I guarantee you're going to have to pay the bills. You're going to have to balance. The checkbook. You're going to have to have resources. And if you start putting away now and invest in millionaires and billionaires when this thing called the public market, you don't. They'll never. Steve Jobs is never going to call you to ask to fix a computer because he's dead. Bezos is probably not going to call you to ship a box. And if you learn how to work those numbers, you'll also be better prepared for when you want to launch a food, will buy a home and various other things. So don't wait till you. Think you're going to hit the lot of lightning is going to strike you, because most likely that's not going to happen. You got to start studying it today. Get rich slowly. Get rich slowly. That's it. It's the marathon, but do it for sure. That's Damon John. He's the founder of the streetwear brand FUBU and, of course, a shark on Shark Tank. Damon, thanks so much for coming back on the show. Thank you. And by the way, if you haven't heard Damon's original episode, go back and check it out. It is an incredible story. And here's one of my favorite clips from that episode. You come back. to New York with $300,000. worth of orders, how are you going to finance that? That was a big question right there. I didn't know what I didn't know. I didn't have any financial education. I didn't even have an accountant at the time. So I went to all the banks I could, and I got turned down by 27 of them. 27 banks. Yeah. It was so bad, loan sharks were turning me down. Hey, thanks so much for listening to the show this week. And by the way, please make sure to check out my newsletter. You can sign up for it for free at GuyRoz.com or on Substack. And of course, if you are working on a business and you'd like to be on this show, send us a one minute message that tells us a little bit about your business and the questions or issues that you're currently facing, because we would love to try and help you solve them. You can send us a voice memo at hibt at id.wondery.com or call us at 1-800-433-1298. Leave a comment and we'll see you next week. Leave a message there and make sure to tell us how to reach you. And we'll put all of this information in the podcast description as well. This episode was produced by Catherine Seifer with music composed by Ramteen Arablui. It was edited by John Isabella. Our audio engineer was Kweisi Lee. Our production staff also includes Alex Chung, Elaine Coates, Casey Herman, JC Howard, Carla Estevez, Chris Messini, Kerry Thompson, Neva Grant, and Sam Paulson. I'm Guy Roz, and you've been listening to How I Built This. Thanks again to Enjin for their support. If your business is growing and your team is traveling, Enjin makes it simple and saves you money doing it. 33,000 businesses have joined. Now it's your turn. Enjin.com slash built. A lot of founders start with a product or an idea, but at some point the business becomes something else. He started 1A2.com. He's been around for a long time. He's been around 800 got junk with one truck and a vision to make junk removal a real brand. That worked. And then it became hundreds of crews across multiple cities, trucks on the road every day, routes changing by the hour, and a team that had to be in the right place before the customer even called. Or Tom Hale, who built backroads around the idea that active travel could be a premium experience. And that's why I think Enjin is worth knowing about. Enjin is the fastest growing modern travel and spend platform in the country, built for small and medium-sized businesses. Last year, Enjin customers saved $308 million on travel. No contracts, no booking fees. More than a thousand businesses join Enjin every month. Join them and get $500 when your business signs up and starts traveling at enjin.com slash built.