The TikTok Masterclass For Brands, Scaling 101, & New Partnership Platform

Are you hiring and need your job posting listed? DM us on twitter or email us at [email protected] with the job description and we'll feature it on our next newsletter!

If you love the show, please drop us a review or share the newsletter with a friend- it goes a long way in amplifying learnings from the best founders, operators & creators.

- Blaine, Ramon, & the DTC POD team ✌️

This Week's DTC Pod Guests

The TikTok King Gives His Playbook On Making Brands Pop

JT Barnett is a founder, creator, and strategist. He’s built multiple TikTok accounts including @honeyhouse, @jtandsami, and @jtbarnett which together amass over 1.5M followers. He also runs BarnettX, where he teaches businesses how to create on TikTok and headhunts creators to be the “face” of brands. JT joins us in the LA studio to discuss the ins and outs of how brands can build a lasting TikTok presence, and gives us the inside scoop on his TikTok Masterclass For Brands.

The Two-Time Founder: From Building The Bracelet Worn by Every Athlete to Creating A Functional Wellness CPG Brand

Steven Izen is founder & CEO of jewelry brand Lokai and Elements, a functional wellness drink. Lokai made a name for itself with materials sourced from the top of Mt. Everest and the bottom of the Dead Sea. Steven talks about building Lokai from the ground up, becoming the go-to bracelet for professional athletes, and how he applied those learnings to build Elements of Balance. We discuss identifying brand mission and purpose, building visual identity, organic product growth, product licensing and royalties, and much more -- listen in for a special discount.

EVENT ALERT!

September 21, 2022 @ 5PM ET in NYC. Meet with people who are actively shaping the future of retail, innovation, and the consumer experience. RSVP HERE.

FEMALE FOUNDER WORLD / Kizmet 🤝 DTC POD

We love supporting founders, and we're so excited to announce that Female Founder World is launching a new partnership platform called Kizmet. Kizmet lets brands easily connect and collaborate with one another. It's currently in beta and invite-only. Sign up to join the waitlist here and learn more about Female Founders World here. By the way, Female Founders World also has an awesome podcast that we highly recommend -- and keep an eye out for Jasmine's episode with us that's about to drop!

📰 HEADLINES

Bravo Sierra, a personal care brand founded by Benamin Bernet, decided to turn off FB & Insta ads in August 2021. Fast forward to today and Bravo Sierra’s marketing mix is based on these 3 pillars “brand marketing, community, and Amazon." Bernet told ModernRetail that sales on Amazon have surpassed their DTC sales & their ROI on ad dollars is 3-4x more than what they saw with FB ads. Embracing Amazon has been a great decision for the brand. Bravo Sierra's deodorant has ranked in the top 10 best-sellers in the US, and the brand has seen “double digit growth month over month on Amazon.” Bravo Sierra is also focusing on retail (launched into +4K Walmart stores in August), investing in TikTok creators, and promoting organic, UGC from its community made up of military service members, veterans and military spouses .

Walmart Announces Beauty Accelerator Brands. Walmart selected 5 beauty brands to be in the fist-ever cohort of Walmart Start, a beauty accelerator program that provides participating brands the chance to launch their products at Walmart. The five brands include The Hair Lab, Pardon My Fro, Dossier, Undefined Beauty, and Paintlab. Announcement here.

Interior Design Games: Play x Shop. Robin Games, a women-led mobile gaming startup, raised $14M Series A for "lifestyle gaming" in 2020, but it just launched its first game called PLAYHOUSE to combine gameplay x shopping. PLAYHOUSE is a DIY design game that lets players respond to design challenges and "drag-and-drop pieces into the space" and "move, rotate, resize, and even layer items." PLAYHOUSE is working with 100+ furniture & design brands including Arhaus, Article, Society6, etc to make items in the game shoppable IRL. PLAYHOUSE has also partnered with content creators like "design enthusiasts, artists, Airbnb hosts and others to create limited-time “hosted projects” aimed at inspiring players’ own designs." Read more here.

🤔 Where Are They Now: Highlighting previous DTC POD Guests

Episode #195 Awful Cloth Founders: 

Remember when we spoke to the founders of Awful Cloth, the casual wear brand that influencers love!? Well, if you don't, listen to the episode here. But more importantly, they've been up to some awesome collabs. One collab that’s caught our 👀 is with legendary pizza shop Roberta’s. Check out their collab here!