Googling to start her oral care business with Bite Co-Founder Lindsay McCormick

Joining me on the show today is Lindsay McCormick, Co-Founder of Bite.

Bite is on a mission to upend the personal and oral care industry with innovative products that are made with the planet in mind. Started by Lindsay McCormick in her living room and after launching their viral toothpaste tablets in 2018, they have since expanded to offer the first and only 100% plant based and plastic free oral care set - Bite is here to make your daily routine more sustainable with products that are plastic-free, cruelty-free, made with effective, clean ingredients, one smile at a time.

The most common review the brand receives is "It's weird at first but now I'm obsessed”.

In this episode we’re covering how Lindsay started her business in her living room, taking online chemistry classes and googling ‘how do people make drugs’, why she turned down offers on SharkTank from Mark Cuban and Kevin O’Leary, and the lessons she’s been learning along the way.

Please note, this transcript has been copy pasted without the lovely touch of a human editor. Please expect some typos!

Lindsay: Definitely so. My name is Lindsay McCormick and I'm the founder and CEO of Bite. We make plastic free personal care. We started with toothpaste tablets

And I started

It in my living room in twenty eighteen and

We now have

Grown. We're available online and in some

Retail stores as well.

Doone: Amazing. I always want to go back to life before you started the business to find out what you were up to and what even got you thinking about starting a business in the first place.

Yeah. So I did

Not really expect to start a

Business. I was traveling

All the time. I was a TV producer before I

Started by which meant

I was on a plane every other week and I was flying to all these different destinations for shoots and traveling on only because only there a few days. And I've always been super passionate about the environment.

I was before that

Even I was a snowboard director.

I was out on mountains

And in the ocean all the time, kind of seeing the plastic problem and what we need to do to really step up conservation. And so I was traveling and I had gotten my kit all down where I had my shampoo bottle that I could refill and my conditioner bottle that I could refill on my face wash. And I was throwing out these little toothpaste tubes every single shoot. And I was just like, this feels so wasteful.

And I feel like I've done so

Much with the rest of my stuff, like, why can't I figure out toothpaste?

And so I started looking

Into

Alternatives like

Tooth powder and other to use tablets that were on the market, but they were all in plastic. And so that was the beginning

Of this

Process for me. It was like, OK, I want this so I can take it on shoots for my job. I'm going to start making it.

And then from

That I was like, well, if I'm going to be making it for myself, it needs to be as

Effective and

Safe as possible. And that's when I started looking into the ingredients and most toothpaste. And I was just like, wow,

This is absurd.

I was like, I've spent more time looking at what's on the back of my

Shampoo bottle than I have ever even looked at the back of my toothpaste

Tube. And turns out there was a bunch of stuff in there that I was

Like, I don't like that

In my body every day, you know? And so

I started

Taking online chemistry classes

And talking with

Dentists and

Dental hygienist and

Starting making the first like iterations of what

Bite was

In my toaster oven at that

Time. So that's kind of how

It all started.

And I definitely did not set out

To make a business. But after I started investing in these, like machinery and time, I was like,

Well, I might as well sell

This on Etsy and Shopify and see if

Other people want. It would be great if I did, but I

Figured it would just be for like me and my friends. And then from

There, that's

How it all

Started and kind of just

Grew into what

We are today. That is

So cool. I love that you were taking online chemistry classes

To fully

Understand what you needed to put in it. Can we just talk about how you actually go about in those early iterations of what you were doing? How do you actually make. A toothpaste bite, and when you say machinery, what do you mean?

It's a really good question.

So it's changed. So at first it was I mean, this was literally

Like me in

My I say lab, but it was really our dining room that I turned to my

Lab and I would just

Sit there all night and I was

Researching, you know, different ingredients

And what I could use. And I would go down to Whole Foods and I would go by. They had

Different things. They're like Xyloto and Urethral,

Which I couldn't find a normal grocery

Store. I got a lot of

Stuff off

Of Amazon, like just went on there and got off

Amazon. Then there's a website called Chemistry Connection that has

Different like a little like

Surfactants and things like homing pigeons. So I was just buying these little samples of things that I could try and I'd put them in mason jars and I was mixing them together to figure

Out what felt

Good, what

Tasted good, what worked when I clean my teeth

With it. Good.

And the machinery at first

Because

I didn't want to

Buy a tablet machine.

So our

Bits are toothpaste, tablets are dry, dry,

Little toothpaste

Tablets, and they're made by being pressed in a tablet machine. And those machines are I mean, it is an entire career to know how to work those machines like it's a whole

New thing

And they're very expensive. And so I was like, I have a machine I want to. So I bought a pastry

Kit and I was

Trying to take the powders I was making and mixing it with a little bit of coconut oil or these different things and pipe it out of a pastry

Bag like

These little balls, kind

Of like the candidates. It was like a dot

On paper, like I was trying to like I was like, maybe I could do

This and I can bake it.

And I set my toaster oven on fire and I was like, I can't bake it. And so then I was like, OK, fine, I have to I have to invest this machine. And so it was a thousand dollars, which

Now

Looking back, that was nothing to start a business. But at the time this was a hobby and just trying to solve this problem for myself. So I was kind

Of like, am I getting

Obsessed with this? Like, what am I doing everything so much time and why am I going to be buying this equipment? So I bought I finally did. I bought the equipment and I

Actually bought it originally.

It was a TDP zero and

As a machine.

And to even find out what kind of tabloidy machine I had to spend time on Reddit and I was actually looking up how to

Make drugs because I

Was like, oh my God. Yeah, because I need to figure out how to your landlord must have been like, what is going on in the kitchen.

There is for sure, like

An FBI

Watch list of my search history because I was like, how do you make tablets? And everything I was finding was just like these huge like hundred thousand

Dollar machinery

Things. And I was like, I need to know how to make it in my living room. And I was like, who makes tablets in their living room?

And I was like, people who make their living.

So I was like, I was on Reddit

In like the deep, deep holes

Of Reddit. And I was like, OK, I need to be five. I need a binding agent, I need stuff. And so I started. That's literally how it started.

And so I got a machine

From a company in Texas.

And the guy,

He was just starting out with his business as well. So he was super helpful, would get on the phone with me. And that's how I learned

How to tablet and

My tablet.

Holy moly, that is such a cool beginning's story. Wow. And so at that point, I guess buying the machine really made you be like, okay, well, it can't just be for me. I'm going to try and as you said, put it on Etsy. What were your friends and family saying at this point? Would they like into the idea? Were you validating it through them or what

Was the vibe? Yeah, so

I really leaned on friends and family at first.

So I again, to my background

As a TV producer. But then before that I was a surf instructor and instructor. So like active lifestyle, people who really care about the planet and want our kind of more into things, that could be more weird, I guess, because they're

Just like a different type of it's not like the typical

Nine to five or so. I was like, hey, what do you guys think? So I was sending out and I actually still have I printed up surveys where it was like, what do you think of the taste one through five? What do you think of the texture? One through five. And I would press I would hand

Out these bits and I would send

Them

To family, friends.

I would take them to work at my TV producing job. And I would hand it out and be like, what do you guys think, Ed?

I got a lot of really important feedback.

I mean, at first it didn't taste as good and I was

Able to give a lot more

Affordance to

That because I was making it.

So it's like my baby was like, it's fine, just fine. But then someone else

Gets in there like, no, this is not

This is not good. And so I'm not going to eat this. This is not going to make me switch. I don't care how much plastic I'm saving. And so it was one of those things where it was definitely,

You know,

I surveyed friends and family,

But that's it. You know, like there

Were no major focus groups. I think I sent it

Out to, like, ten of my friends

Who were all here in L.A. and started going

Off of that. And then.

Yeah, so that's kind of how that started.

And then when you started putting things up on Etsy, was it those friends buying or did just random people on the Internet start finding you on

Etsy as well?

Yeah, so I put it up and then I actually took it down from ETSI because then it started there and then I put it on Shopify because Shapefile was able to

Make a site. And like

For me, I don't have a

Tech background. My boyfriend,

Who now is my co-founder, does which I'll get into that.

But at first my first Shopify

Site was literally

Like photos from my iPhone of my

Product,

Like on a template. It was not

Cool.

It did not look great.

Like it was

Just like this is what we got. And most

Of the people who bought from me at first were I recognized

Every single name and

I had put it up on Facebook. I had put it up on like I was talking to people.

And I'm not

Necessarily a shy person, but I'm not like a

Very big like this is me

And what I'm doing person. So there was a lot of I had to get

Over that and the way

That I would think about it, like I didn't want to

Post on my Facebook,

I didn't want to do this. It felt very

Weird. But I saw it as like, this is something that's so important to me.

Like the background of it is just like

Learning about the

Ingredients and the billion toothpaste tubes that end up in our landfills every year. And just being so motivated

That I was like, this is my job and

I need to get over my shyness and just post. So I was posting and it

Felt very honestly, it felt

Weird. It time felt very

Self self pushing out,

You know. And I was like, this is strange, but

I did it. And so the

First customers were all friends

And family. And I

Still remember the first time where I saw someone's

Name or I was like and then I looked on

Facebook

And I was like, no, I

Don't know that person. And I was just like, oh, my gosh. Like, how how did this happen? And so I still remember when it started kind of crossing that chasm.

And how do you think it crossed? Was it like word of mouth or did you start seeing that because the more you were posting and the more you were putting out that you were starting to spread the net a bit wider?

I think it was. So this was back in twenty eighteen, which doesn't feel like that long ago, but it really was a million years ago, an Internet age and the vegan and

Zero waste blogging

Community was very, very

Small. And like those influencers

Now were they had like a few thousand followers. Right. So they were looking for things. They were, they were looking for products just like mine. And so I and I'm vegan. I've been doing for a long time. So a lot of my friends on Facebook and Instagram are also vegan. So then they started post and also zero waste or low waste. So when they started posting about it, that then

Got these kind of newer

Zero waste vegan bloggers interested and then they wrote

Blog post on it. And then that's

How I started getting on their radar. And so it was still like very small,

Very tight knit of two

Communities that I happened to naturally already be in who then started

Writing about it. And that's yeah, that's how it started.

And so at that point, are you talking like a few hundred sales? Are you talking a few thousand sales?

Yeah. So I

Had my

It was like I

Think my first year

In like the whole

Year was like six thousand dollars in sales, which for me I was like, that's amazing. Totally. Yeah. And so it was and it was all through word of mouth. And then what happened

Is that through that word

Of mouth we ended up having a video on Facebook go

Viral, which then just

Rocketed

The company.

It had over two million views in about two days. We did over two hundred thousand, which I know we

Like to do to two over over two hundred

Thousand dollars in sales from just the first few days of this.

And I was like, OK, I was

Still making this in

My living room. So I was like,

I need business insurance, like I

Do business as usual. So how do I fulfill these orders?

I manufacture like I need everything. And so that's

Really what propelled our company into a totally

Different thing. It shows the power of social media, but then also the fact that so many people wanted an alternative and they just needed to be exposed to it. And so I think that was the beginning

Of like that

Trajectory. And there are a lot of companies that go viral and then kind of go away. So the next thing is we went viral.

We got to get the

Product out to

People and I've got to like, really figure out how to

Actually run

A business. And we do this like yesterday.

Totally.

That was in twenty eighteen.

So I started this in twenty seventeen. But that was the year

That I did like six thousand dollars,

But it was in my living room and I was still working

Full time to so. And was

The video something that you published and put out there or was this the video

That was by

Women's Health magazine and they published it. How did that come about?

So at that point I had we had been featured

By a good

Amount of zero waste and vegan bloggers. So they we had made some of their gift lists. We were actually in some gift sets that they were wanting to sell of like plastic free Christmas gift sets in twenty, seventeen. And so we were starting to really find our footing in that zero waste. And so

It was basically

From there I had made some videos, I had done some content about

How to how to live

This lifestyle and why it's important and everything. And from

That, we had like a producer

Was like, hey, we're looking for women's businesses that are making a difference. Can you send me some? And it was like literally iPhone footage that I shot at six in the morning before I left for a shoot.

So like,

I wasn't really even wearing makeup, like my hair was a disaster. Like, I had no idea that this was going to go off over the Internet.

And then, yeah, that's kind of how it all started.

And so obviously, that's the tipping point where you're like, holy moly, this is the real thing.

Now, like, as you said, I've

Got to find a manufacturer. I've got to, like, figure this actually out. What are the steps then? How did you find your manufacturer? What was the kind of manufacturer you wanted to work with?

Yeah, that's a great

Question, too.

So it's you know, there's like

The beginning of the business when you're doing it all of yourself in your living room, which I'm sure so many people are in.

And that's such a great space.

Like when I look back on those times,

I was

Just like so happy and it felt like I was making art and I was playing around with these different powders and I was just really in love with the process. And I didn't feel rushed. I wasn't trying to compete with anybody.

It was just like little art project.

Then once that

Happened, we now have customers

And expectations and we need consistency and we need to get it out and it needs

To become a business. So the first

Thing I did

Was honestly like what's always

Been important to me

Is being

We're in the process right now, becoming a big corp. And so I want business to make things better for people. So I was like, I want to stay in L.A. area. I want to support the community that I'm in.

So that

Meant finding manufacturers

That I could go in

And meet and know and support other small businesses. So that really significantly cut down who

I could work with. But it also made

Things really easy and simple. Right, because that means I'm just finding someone in my own neighborhood. So it was Google going on, Google going on Thomas

That just

Searching it myself and making phone calls and finding that at this

Point my co-founder, who's

My boyfriend, had jumped in and now he had a business background. He had run a few tech startups. So not in CPG, but at least the

Idea of business.

And so he really he had done all of the

Design that

That was now known for, like anything that was

Kind of like green and hippie,

You could tell was mine. And then as soon as he came in, he really took it to the next

Level, if you like, backgrounds, design

And business. And so he was kind of managing that side. And then I was managing the how do we get

Product out the door type

Situation. So anyone

Who is in a position, it's Googling,

It's time

I'm

Making phone calls and then a lot of no's. Oh, my gosh. No one wanted to work with me. Like, even though I had I had this weird

Product that had been made before that

I had orders

Out so many orders

That I need to get out the door.

And they were just like, we don't want

To take this business. We're not fly,

Though, because a

Lot of manufacturers just want to do exactly what they

Already know how to do. And this was something new.

And it was like for them to be like, I have to like learn how to make this new formula. And then, of course, it worked on my pressies, but

They need to use it for

There like a hundred thousand dollar presses that are

Pressing out thousands

In a minute. So it's like they have to figure out, like, how are

We going to make this work for

Us

In the formula work for us.

So it was a lot

Knows a lot of a lot of

Things where I thought it was going to work out at the very end,

Didn't you know? And then just

Being like, OK, I just got to keep I got to keep

Getting us. They got to keep going.

And so, yeah, that was

The that was

At

That time. And then

Once we locked in with a manufacturer, we also got like we were still hands stamping

Our boxes, like our boxes

That had the branding. Like my boyfriend I like we rented a U-Haul and we were in the back of a U-Haul trying to hand stamp these boxes.

We'd have room in where we

Live to do this. And so it was

Like

It was

So crazy.

But then once you get one thing in

Place, you stop

Drowning, right. And then you can get the next thing in place and the next thing in place.

How long was that process of finding the manufacturer and getting them to see your vision and to commit to changing the equipment and using your formula instead of the formula and that kind of thing?

It was a month and a half.

Yeah, OK, quite quick turnaround.

Yeah, but that

Was like my full

Time.

This is what I'm doing. But actually that's not

True because I still was working full time at that time because I hadn't quit

My job until oh

My gosh, I'm

Going viral so.

Yeah. And I would like head of my department

At a bit making

Tv. So like I didn't want to just leave them in.

I don't want to

Be like out guys. Like, I really liked where. There and I like to I worked with and I wasn't going to leave them in a bad spot, and so I had to train the new girl like I to bring the person in and train them and get them all up to date on my episodes.

And then I finally left and then

Did the phase out. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Crazy. Wow. That sounds like a really interesting time. So much fun. So many challenges when you had that kind of exponential growth overnight growth overnight change step change in your business. I imagine you also needed to keep that momentum going and capitalize on that. So how did your marketing evolve and what were you doing to keep acquiring new customers and keep that kind of momentum going?

Yeah, so

That's the biggest thing, right? Because there's companies that go viral and then got their done. And so

For us, I knew we in terms of marketing,

I knew we had

To have a good product. That was the

First thing, because if we got the product out to everybody and it was

Bad, that's a gigantic

Problem. So I knew that that was going to be incredibly important. I also

Knew it also

Then became a game of

How do we keep

The momentum going. So at that

Point, we.

We had gotten really lucky because once that video went

Viral, all these other outlets

Wanted to get a piece of that as well. So we ended up doing we were one of business insiders. Twenty two inventions that are saving the world. We were became attentions like most cared about video in twenty nineteen. So they basically what happened is once we had that video

Go viral, I had all this inbound and they were

Like, hey, can we come to your factory? Can we do this, can we do that cleared of all this stuff. So it was kind of like managing that and being on

Top of, you know, trying to

Find a manufacturer and getting everything in place

Was then like, yes, I can do that

Interview. Yes, I can. We can do this. Yes, you can do that. Because we knew

That, like, when things are going, you need to go with it.

And so it was kind of

Like just do whatever you

Do to keep that momentum going. And then in the meantime, we

Had a Facebook pixel setup.

So it had been we are gathering information

On our

Customers. And I have like

I'm still to this day in

The DMS of our Instagram, like I'm not the only one responding, but like I'm on there. I'm seeing it because I want to know what our customers think.

I want to know where they are. And I also want to know where they're where they're going

And what's new media they're on. So for us,

It's we started as viral. We wanted to keep the megaphone up as long as we could. And then

After

That, I just

Have a good understanding of our customer and be able to meet them

Where they are anywhere, whether it's on the Internet

Or in real life, like where are

They and how do we have that relationship with them and where are

They today? Like, what's the what's the kind of biggest growth drivers for you now

With your owned channels?

So we're still, you know, we're experimented, right? I think things are changing so much. And I think that the best thing any brand could be doing right now

Is finding

New things and trying to be different and not following. Everyone is obviously Facebook and Instagram. We're huge for us. We were made on Facebook, but I think talk is so cool and so interesting. And I love, like how it really focuses

On, you know, the non polished and the like, the

Humor and learning, which is just things that the backbone of bite and something that I've always wanted was like we're here to like save the world. But like we want to

Have a fun time

Doing it. And we want to be able to be self-deprecating and we want to be able to be real.

And so I love to cook.

I think it's great. I think YouTube is great. I think it's been around for forever. We've had success on that as well. And so I

Think it's you know, so many

People

Have it's really

Easy to get caught in the pay to

Play of Facebook and

Instagram where it's like you put money in and you get money out. But I think that experimenting and trying

To do new

Things, even though sometimes at first they don't pan out like you look at

Something and you're like,

This does not look like it's working.

But you if you keep going, if you're

Like, no, I have faith that our customers

There, we're just not doing

This right.

You know, it's you

Can find new channels that other brands maybe have

It at that time.

Yeah, totally. Gosh, that's so true. Tick-Tock is just I also love to talk. It's so much fun, so creative. The editing suite is just fab, I think in comparison

To what Instagram

Has done with Rails. And even I find like when a video doesn't necessarily perform well for myself, I just love it so much to be able to look at that video. We're really happy with that.

It's a fun, creative process.

It is. And from

As a brand like, it's so

Cool to be able

To make that kind

Of content know, we're

Just kind of like silly and we like to jump on trends. And and that's the thing to like understanding. If everyone's doing something, you probably want to start looking somewhere else. And so for Tick-Tock, it's like no one really

Had become a thing when we

Hopped on it, like at the beginning of this year,

It was everyone was like, oh my God,

Everyone, a tick tock is like twelve years old or something. And we were like, we don't care. Like it's a cool platform, it'll be fun. And I think that really paid off because now it's like we have a

Good amount of what is it called on to

Describe it, like we have all of us followers and there's a good impact.

And direct sales are definitely come from DeCock. Amazing.

And at some point you go on Shark Tank. I'm super excited to talk about that, talk about what happened and how that came about.

Yeah.

So Shark Tank is so fun. I never thought we'd go on Shark Tank, so that was definitely a first. When it first went viral, we were reached out to by the cast and producers, which is a very normal thing, where there if your business is kind of getting attention, they'll be like, hey, do you want to apply? And you go through the same casting process as everybody else. You have no better chance if you were reached out than if you apply. But it's just like there. That's something that they do. And it was twenty eighteen and I was like, absolutely not. My company is like, I cannot even

Fathom

This whole thing right

Now, so was like, we cannot

Let's maybe next time.

So then the following

Season is the one that we ended up auditioning for. And it

Is it's like an intense

Process. And I think what people what I didn't even think about the fact is that everybody who's going on Shark Tank is literally running their business at the same time.

So it's not

Like

You're existing

In a void. It's like we're figuring out how to make

The set while we're

Also making sure that our orders are getting out on time and like writing.

And so it was it's so intense.

And at the

Time we were well, we are.

So we were like

A team of three. Right.

And so and we're still super small. So when Asher and I are focusing

On stuff for Shark Tank, it meant that it's not like we're

Not focusing on the business. It just means we're now focusing on

Sharks and the business.

And so and for every single person who goes up there.

And it gave me even so

Much more

Respect for the

Entrepreneurs who go on there when their businesses are struggling

Because

It's like we went on there. And best case scenario, like our business

Is, was going crazy.

And so we were

Out there being like, we want a shark to make us even better, not

To save our business, but like, man, I think about those entrepreneurs who go on there while they're running this business that maybe is having a hard time and like that's

So gutsy and so

Cool of them to not cool, but just so inspiring of

Them to be like, I'm still going

To take on this beast and get up there and do this. So it gave me a whole new respect for the show.

But also, like, I was crazy.

It was quite the experience. We're lucky because we live in L.A. and it shoots

Here in L.A. And so

For us, it wasn't this huge

Lifestyle disruption

As it could have been for some people. If you had to fly in from Milwaukee or something like, I think that would be way more stressful. But we we went on there with our mission like we've forever been a mission driven brand.

And I had

Watched every single shark tank episode. By the time we went

On, like

We sat and took notes, I had whiteboards

In our place.

I was like, there's no way that I'm going to be

Caught, like

Not know something for the sharks. And it was really great because as soon as the lights went on, like my lights went out, like I like basically blacked out. Like everything that happened on stage, I don't remember.

It was like total fight

Or flight, just like automatic response type situation. And I went we went on there with

We wanted

To start a

Partnership. So we didn't

Go on there to negotiate or lowball, like we went on there with what we thought was fair. And I really

Wasn't going to move far from that. Like, I think looking back, probably if we wanted

To really push to make a deal, we would want to start it off low. So there was room to negotiate, but

We didn't I didn't

Want to do that. That's not how I wanna start a partnership. I want to be fair. Like, this is what's fair.

And so we ended up getting offers

From both Mark Cuban and Kevin O'Leary,

But more than what

We were, what we would be willing to go for. So we turned them down.

And looking back, it was the right move because it's we're doing well.

So I'm glad that we didn't end up giving away a lot more than what we what we were being asked to.

Yeah, totally.

Gosh, how exciting. And what was the impact of that on your business after it aired? What happened?

So there is the

Shark tank bump is definitely real. So anybody who goes on shark tag as soon as your episode airs, it's

Just like you can it it's real.

And then there's like a halo, right?

Because there is reruns and it's

Like sometimes it will rerun another country. So there's definitely the bump and then small little spurts.

But for us, we were totally prepared because

We had gotten our butt kicked so bad when we went viral that there is no way

Already I was like, we

Need we're going to double up. Like, there's just I was very, very, very prepared. So the bump that happened was

Great, but totally expected and like

Nothing that really threw us for a loop. We had everything ready. And so that was that was good. And then once it

Comes, it's gone, you know,

Like we get depressed from it, which is cool. But it's not like that's going to make your business really. I mean, unless you get a deal with, like an amazing shark and then they make your business. But it's not like

It's going to make your

Business or anything.

But it is a nice little nice little bump. And it sounds like

Such a fun experience to have been part of it and to see yourself up there hustling for your business.

Love it just real quick, too. I think a good practice for anybody who's starting a business is imagine that you're going to be on Shark Tank because that was such a helpful

Thing where I

Had to look at my business and be like, why would someone want invest in this? Because we're bootstrapped. I've never had to do an investor vehicle. So it's like when you look at it and you take a step

Back, it's like what is cool

Is what is good about. And this is what are my numbers like? Why would someone want to invest? And so I think and like and. How do I make this into

A like six minute presentation,

Which is what you need to do for marketing, so it's kind

Of like, you know, it's

A really good practice whether you're going to be on a show or not to think if you're standing up there in front

Of the sharks, what are you going to say? Because that's kind of what you need to do to go day to day.

Totally. That's a really good piece of advice, I guess, like really honing in and nailing your pitch essentially for anyone who could potentially invest in you, especially. When you look back over the last few years, you've obviously had incredible success, incredible growth. What do you think you attribute that success to and what is your superpower?

I think our

Success

Is one hundred percent attributed to the changing

Ideas of our customer

Base. So our business

Could have never

Existed 10 years ago. And I

Don't and I don't think

That it's one

Hundred percent because people like customers, our customers have

Been like, I want

To make this change. We are we make. So we started off with our 085 tablets. It's a little tiny tablet. It comes in a glass jar with an aluminum lid and then refills are sent to you and composable pouches. Every single thing about this is more expensive than conventional toothpaste, right? Like we have glass, we have aluminum, we have high quality ingredients like everything.

And so for someone to be like, I'm going

To make this choice because I care about what I'm putting my body. I care about what it's doing to the planet that

Is consumer

Dictated to them wanting and

Caring about these things.

And there's nothing that I could do as a business person to make them care or not care. I can tell them the story. I can tell them the problem. I can explain to them. But then ultimately it's up

To them is do I want to do this or not?

So I think the fact

That we exist is just a gigantic and inspiring testament to how

Different things are. And I think that also is why none of the big guys like we call big plays like the big two faced. None of them did this right. Like when you look at toothpaste, it's one of the most competitive

Industries on the

Planet. There's so many it's like literally

Use toothpaste

Is used in business books. I didn't know until after this as showing

Like there's so

Many different types of toothpaste and

None of a matter like

This is the

Whole thing about like it's just there's so

Many.

And they didn't think

To make something that was higher quality or in a more sustainable way because they didn't think

People would care and they didn't

See that working out for their bottom line. And I think

Like for me to

Be able to start this in my living room with six thousand dollars and

For it to explode the

Way that it did is just shows

Like, OK, not only do they care, but they care a whole lot. They care enough to share it with their

Family and their friends and post about it. And so I think

That's totally why

I've been able to

Do what I've been able to do.

And I forgot the rest of your question is

What your superpower is. What do you think your superpower is?

I think maybe greats like grittiness, like it's to start a

Business and to keep doing a business, you need to be pretty relentless

And like kind of Teflon

Like at the beginning. And just the amount of

At the very beginning when I was making this in

My living room, it was like really hard. I don't know, chemistry. To learn chemistry. It was really like and that's what I did instead of going

Out with my friends and

Like, that's what this

Whole idea of being

Like. This is what I

Want to do.

And so I'm going

To do it. I think is is that and like everything goes wrong still goes wrong.

I mean, even when things are going so right, it's the things that are going so wrong. And and it's like the ability

To be like I'm

Going to be through this, I think is is just so

Important. And I think something that

And it wasn't my superpower

At first.

I'm honing the skill that I

Think that's what I'm at right now. I love that. Love that.

Are you able to share a little bit about where the business is today in terms of how many customers or subscribers, if that's public information and what's coming, what's next?

Yeah, so like this

Year alone, we've like over two hundred percent growth

And our subscribers

Have three or

Four acts at this point. I need to do one ours. Yeah.

So it's been it's real and it's significant.

Yeah. But I think

For us it's more about being able

To continue

To be the leader

In this part of the industry and our little tiny

Piece

Of the industry and continuing to push things in a more sustainable direction. So it's what we've really focused in on is kind of making

Every single

Iteration of our product just better and better and

Better and getting that word of

Mouth. So even though, of course, we're buying Facebook and Instagram ads and everything, but we still have an insane

Word of mouth when you look at

Like what our customer acquisition cost is versus what other companies our size is, it's so low it doesn't make sense. And it's because

We're able to do

That because we have a product that

People are like, I love this and I want to talk about this.

And so that's kind

Of something for us.

And the another

Thing, too, about

Numbers and again, we don't want growth. We want sustainable

Growth and

Not just

Like in the earth friendly

Way, but also in

The we want to make

Sure that everything we're doing is still putting our customer first and making sure that,

Like, they

Still are getting

Like the best, like we're still

Making our product better and better and better instead of

Going after more and

More and more customers and taking care of the ones that we have and with

Our continuing to have, well, higher retention

Rates, declining attrition rates and those kind of things. And so I think for

Me and for us, like our plan for one, it's always

Changing. Right? So our plan in twenty twenty

Was we were gearing up to

Go retail in a little bit more of a

Way and then it

Happened and we were

Like, okay, that's not

Going to happen anymore. And it's being able to improvise. And so we're looking at a twenty, twenty one.

We're looking

At new products and not just out of the oral care space, but making sure that every single thing that we do and that we make

Is incredibly intentional and

Not just adding more

Stuff. Right. And I think

That a lot

Of like in the pursuit of unsustainable growth, a lot

Of companies will just start

Adding

Products because they're like our customers will buy it. We're just going to add it. And you're like, but what does the world really need it? And I think that

For us, it's

Definitely just adding things

Like, yes, it's a need, yes, customers want it. It's something that the world

Needs, like it's a more sustainable alternative to what's out there. And it's something that we can do

The best, because if we can't check all those

Three boxes, we don't have any

Business doing

That on. So we've been very, very, very intentional

About our growth and how we go about it, both in twenty, twenty

And twenty

Twenty one. Amazing.

What advice do you have for women who have a big idea and want to launch their own company?

Do it and don't wait. So I

Think one of the biggest

Things that I

Get from people is that they're waiting

For they want to get an

Investor or they want to get a business partner or

They want to get all these different

Things. And I

Think, you know, it's you're going to be waiting a

Long time. And I don't know if it's something if there's something that you want to do.

And I can

Only speak for consumer product goods. Right. Because I what I make is a physical product. So we make

It I sell it on

Shopify and the money's

In my account two days

Later. Right. So it's an

Immediately once you

Get your startup cost out, it's a cash flow

Positive business as long as you're running

It correctly. And it's one of those

Things that if you want to start,

There's going to be really, really. Hard, but it's it's worth doing that, I think, if that's really what you want to do and something that I try to tell people to is to see their nine to five

As an investor in their company, because like when I look

At my my job in TV, I would work

At that all day

And all night. It's pretty demanding job. But then I would come home and I would

Work on bike every night. And it's like there was

No like, oh, I get to quit my day job and do it full time. And I think until, like, I had already gone viral. And I think that that really helped. Like looking back in two very important ways. Like one is that you're kind of building like when your company is young, it's this little baby bird and you're just trying to feed it and protect it and keep it safe and grow. And if you're making money from your day job, you're able to just do that in a very pure way. And I think as soon as you quit your day job and you need to feed yourself from this

Baby bird, it becomes

Totally upside down. And it's like I can't put myself in that position because I can't imagine that I would be so stressed. The magic of bite

Would have been lost.

I would have actually killed the Big Bird. And so it was

This whole it's like

Being able to

Nurture this little

Company and then work your

Day job while you're doing it. And then

That also is super helpful for the work ethic that you're going to need once the company takes off, because

It's not like a best case

Scenario.

Your company goes really well like that, just as more work for you

That you're managing a team and you're managing a company. And it's no longer

Some nine

To five like this is now your all consuming life, especially the beginning of your company when it's a true startup

And you have to

Be you have to be OK with that. So I think that whole idea

Of sticking with your day job as much as you don't want to hear

That and appreciating it as the investor in your business, every dollar I

Made at my day job was the only money

I had for my business for

The first year and then just really appreciating that. And then

When things start taking off, like you've really flex that work

Muscle. And yeah, I think that that's it worked for me.

Absolutely. Great point of view. Great point of view. I also wanted to ask you I forgot to ask earlier, how did you secure your Instagram handle? Did you get lucky just being the right time or did you have to buy it or something?

We did not buy it. So it was

Vacant.

No way. Wow.

Yeah. So I think

Someone

Had it.

So Instagram periodically does this. By the way, if there

Is a handle

That

Someone is just sitting

On and not

Using it at all, Instagram will I guess they'll

Send whoever owns

That like a few messages

And being like wires saying that they can handle and then they'll release it into the wild. And so because we

Had like we had bite

To it and we then had

The trademark for bite, we trademarked bite in toothpaste.

And so then it was like we asked Instagram like, hey, like no one literally like no one had posted to this thing ever. And so we were like, can you look into who owns this?

And if we could whatever.

And I don't even know who we would talk to an Instagram with that. But then so they started that process.

And that's something that I mean, you can see like celebrities

Do that and brands

Do that, but it's in

Instagram's best interest

To have active domains.

And so if

And to anybody who is

Just sitting on domains, it's really good to know that, like, if you're not using it and contributing to the community, it's part of their community guidelines, they'll basically release that back into the wild.

That's so good to know. Really interesting. Oh, thanks. Yeah, we are up to the six quick questions. I'm aware that our time is creeping up on us, so I will be Speedie. Question number one is what's your y

My why

Is

Wanting to protect the planet

From the beginning of everything? So when I first started, I would watch the documentary Plastic Ocean whenever I felt really discouraged, which is so sad. It's a really sad documentary, but like I would watch it and then I cry my eyes out and I be

Like, OK, back to

Work. And it's the it's the idea

That we really

Do

Need to make some changes.

And it really will be the outsiders,

The the girls

Who are learning chemistry in their living room, who are

The ones who will

Take on these

Problems. And I think that for me,

That's that that is trying to protect the planet and

Proving that you can do business good. Right. You can do good choices and make

Good choices and

Still be successful. And I think that that's what inspires me every day. Totally.

One hundred percent agree. Number two is what has been the number one marketing moment that made your business pop.

So ours would have been going viral, but. I will

Say, because

Going

Viral is so uncontrollable,

Right, so it's not really helpful for me to say like going about my business, because if you're at home, you're like, well, that doesn't help. And so what I would say

Is getting is ferreting out those new acquisition channels because that

Is where you are going to succeed. You are not going to be able to go up against the big guys on Facebook. We can't like we can now.

And so you've got to figure out where can

I tell my story

That's new. Right? So, like,

Twitch, right? Twitch has been on my radar.

That's a super new thing.

And brands are not doing that, really. And so for you,

It's like at home, like we

Went viral on Facebook because that was

The beginning of not the beginning

Of viral videos on Facebook, but that was kind of like other brands weren't really respecting that the same way that we did where we were like, we're going get this girl and we're going to go and

Make it work. And so I think for you, for us and for

Us now, it's trying to recapture that. It's figuring out where the new acquisition

Channels, what's going on with

Twitch, what's going on with this live shopping situation, what's

Going on with the tick tock

And being

Really on top of it? Totally.

Question number three is where do you hang out

To get smarter? What are you

Reading? What do you listen to? What newsletters do you subscribe to?

I spend so much time not necessarily reading, but listening to audiobooks. And I was doing obnoxious amount of audiobooks. And I get the recommendations from

Friends

In the space. So I am kind of new to entrepreneurship. Before this, I was a TV producer and a surface that we're instructors that doesn't really help with the business world. But I any time I

Meet people out

Building businesses, I will ask them what I should be reading and what would they recommend. And then

From those books, typically those authors

Will also recommend in the book. So I spend a lot of time doing that. And then I

Also try to

Just keep in touch with my other friends that I'm making who are running businesses and kind of bounce ideas off of them

And my network. Do you have any book recommendations? Oh, so a lot

Of good ones.

There's so I'm

I just read right now it's

Called The Who of

Hiring. I think it is if you type in who hiring

And that's a great book on interviewing, like

Interviewing to hire, which is something that we're doing a decent amount of these days. And so I think for

Me it's figuring out where

You are and reading this book. So if you're just starting out Atomic

Habits, great book. And then

There's

The the

Startup

Ceo is that's

Kind of

Helpful once you're

Out of your living room. But then when you're trying to figure out how you actually like the formation of this company has been really helpful. But I think

When you're just building

It and you're starting, I would say atomic habits

And then Antifragile Antifragile is great. Perfect. I will link

Them in the show notes for anyone who wants to

Have a listen.

Question number four is how do you win the day? And that's around your A.M. PM rituals that keep you feeling happy and productive and successful.

Yeah, my

Happiness is

Entirely

I feel connected to my ability to do my morning routine, which is so like if I don't have that, my day

Just feels discombobulated.

So I wake up, I

Try to wake up early,

Like around 7:00, which is very early for me. And I meditate

And I do some

Sort of activity just for like ten minutes, whether it's like a walk or take my dog out. And then I do my

Journal planning for the

Day, and that really, really helps me feel centered. And then at night I'm trying to get a better sleep hygiene schedule, I guess is what it's called, where you actually decompress. I'm not so good at that one. I'm way better at the morning one. But I would say at

Night I'm

Trying to get away

From even

Touching myself on a bed, which has made a huge difference in

My life, my ability

To sleep at

Night, even when things are stressful.

And then instead, just like reading a few pages that night. But the morning is pretty on lock.

Love that the morning routine.

Question number five is if you only had a thousand dollars left in your business bank account, where would you spend it?

Oh my God, he's so stressed. If I only had a thousand dollars.

Well, I mean, I know that I would. I mean. It would definitely be ads

Because it puts more money in your bank account. So I would

Say probably maybe Google, because things have been

Really something for your listeners. Things have been really crazy on Instagram and Facebook. There has been a lot, especially with the election and everything, our ads

Were being

Taken down as political because apparently plastic is political, which doesn't make any sense to me. But we had to

Really, like, figure that out.

There's actually quite a few other brands that are in our space that I've been talking to their founders. The same thing happened to them. So, I mean, that's

Another don't need to go to a

Tangent, but you want to make sure that you're really building a solid foundation

Of Facebook, Instagram,

Google

Ads, Tic-Tac, YouTube,

Influencers, everything, because you never know when

All of a sudden plastic's

Considered political. Right. And then you just.

That's so crazy.

Yeah. So I

Would probably probably Google a nice

Great. And and so. And last question, question number six is how do you deal with failure? And it can be around personal experience or just a general mindset and

Approach to it? I have been

Trying to tell myself and

Believe in my heart

Failure is great, right? Like that's what it's going to get you to where you want to go. It doesn't feel good at the time, but every single time you fail, you can look back and you've learned a lesson. And it might be it's still probably super annoying and like really terrible and tragic and whatever. But in the end, like, there's all those things,

Like a basically

Failure makes you stronger and that's one hundred percent true. So you want to

Fail a lot. You want to fail fast.

You want to learn from your failures and embrace it as part of the process, because if you don't, you are going to drive yourself crazy and like, really hard on yourself because I used to be like that. And so it's been a learning process for me, too,

You know, as a

New CEO and figuring this thing

Out, being like I'm going to

Make mistakes. And it's crazy because you read all of these books of CEOs. I told you, I read all the time and they all talk about the mistakes they made. I made so many mistakes that I've made so many failures. And you read it and you're like, oh, that's cool, you overcome that. But then when you're actually experiencing

It, it sucks.

It's terrible. It doesn't feel like that mistake. You're so stupid and so obvious and you're so angry. Why did you do that? And then you're like, oh, wait, no, this is what we all do. We all make mistakes. And so I think it's just being

Able to be like everyone's going to make

Mistakes. We're all trying to figure this out.

And failure will make you stronger if you learn from it. And appreciate it totally.

Lindsey, thank you so much for taking the time to be on Female Startup Club of Love, chatting with you and learning about what you're building and creating

For the world.

Thanks so much. Thanks for having me on.