311 Four Entrepreneurs Share Their Life Changing Decisions to Build Kove Ocean Foods, Together!
Kove Ocean Foods
The most delicious foods made from the world's most sustainable crop... SEAWEED.
In this episode we're talking about Riding the Wave of Success and How Kove Ocean Foods is Making Waves in the Natural Food Industry.
Kove is developing delicious foods made with the world's most sustainable crop... SEAWEED.
Travis, Koreann and Susan had always toyed with the idea of starting their own business. They bounced around various concepts, trying to find the perfect fit. Then, by chance, an opportunity aligned with their expertise in the natural product industry.
It was a perfect match, embodying their passion and values. Though they experienced some doubts and uncertainty, they ultimately decided to take the leap with Desiree (the original founder).
Tune in to hear all about the life changing journey of deciding to team up, and build out Kove!
In this episode, we discuss:
How 3 best friends got into business with a Seaweed Founder!
What it’s like working with your BFF’s, the highs and lows
Desirees vision for making seawood a household snack and educating more people on why it’s the most sustainable crop
The gut feelings that entrepreneurs get when they’re making big decisions, and how they all knew that this was their path
Episode Time Stamps:
00:05:04 Desiree's journey of transitioning to veganism due to climate concerns. Joined Seaweed Company to create delicious seaweed-based foods.
00:09:56 Why they choose to run an intuition-led team and their belief in something SO MUCH bigger.
00:13:36 Honesty, fear, overwhelming, core values, grateful, opportunity, family.
00:18:20 Sustainability checked boxes, magical opportunity found.
00:20:42 What is the Kove Ocean Vision and the story behind Seaweed for sustainable snacking.
00:26:56 Why they aren't overcomplicating marketing; their passion for creating a remarkable product and the most effective marketing strategies for brand awareness in the early startup phase.
00:33:43 Are product demos still working? Their take!
00:40:29 The Kove Ocean Team Values which include: mutual support and transparency.
00:43:10 Follow Cove Ocean on social media, especially Instagram. Exciting news about Whole Foods and puffs coming soon.
To connect with Kove Ocean Foods:
Access the transcript for this episode:
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You're listening to the visionary life podcast. I'm your host, Kelsey Reidl.
Each week, I'll bring you conversations with the most visionary humans on this earth, in hopes that you'll be able to absorb their wisdom, avoid their failures and feel less alone on the roller coaster ride that is entrepreneurship.
This season, I'll be chatting with creative thinkers, masterful marketers, brick and mortar shop owners, brand builders and people just like you who have a story to share or a vision that inspires if I can share one quick secret with you before we get into the episode is that we all have a little bit of visionary inside of us. You know, that spark that nudges us to pursue our full potential in this lifetime, but perhaps somewhere along the line, it got covered up. I'm here to tell you that it's never too late to explore that inner voice and access the brilliance deep down inside of you. It's in you. It's in all of us. Let's dive in. Hey visionaries. Welcome back to the show. This is a really fun episode with the founder and the CO owners of Cove ocean. Cove ocean is a sustainable snacking company, you might have seen their incredible seaweed spices on the shelves at Whole Foods, you might have eaten their seaweed puffs. And I actually have a history of knowing three of the owners.
So this is a crazy podcast because we actually have four of the cove ocean team participating in this show. So this might be the largest episode I've ever recorded. So you're gonna hear five different voices. So there's me there is Korean Susan and Travis. These are the three that I used to work with at Vega. And then we also got to chat with Deseret who is the original founder of Cove. So this is super fun. So if you're not familiar with Cove Cove is developing delicious snack foods made with the world's most sustainable crop, which you may or may not know is seaweed. So seaweed is apparently I'm learning a lot and I learned a lot in the show seaweeds are regenerative, regenerative powerhouse for the planet. It's grown in the ocean, obviously. And there's no demand on resources like land or freshwater. You don't need to cut down trees, you don't need to water seaweed. And what's more is that it's also super nutrient dense. So it's good for your gut, it's rich in fiber, it has magnesium, calcium, folate, it's good for your heart, it contains omegas for your brain. I don't know what seaweed can't do, we should all just be walking around eating more seaweed. So this episode is a lot of fun. Because like I said, there's five of us on the call. We get into what it's actually like for this team to work together.
Three of them are best friends who now we're in business together. So of course, I wanted to get the nitty gritty on what that's like. It's like, do you just show up and act like friends? Do you act professional as colleagues, and we hear the story of that gut feeling that Korean got when she first met Deseret and deciding to say yes to this opportunity. And this was actually my favorite part of the conversation because I think so much of entrepreneurship allows us to tap into our gut feelings, our intuition. And sometimes there's just this inner knowing like even though it might not make sense for you to quit your job and pursue an opportunity or it might not make sense to say yes to this really big deal or to decline, a certain consulting contract. But it often boils down to what's the gut feeling here. And for the cove team, they all had that resonance of this is going to be something that we want to be part of the vision is there. So we dive into it all we talk about their core values and how their values are leading them. We get into a little bit of the day to day operations of what they're currently working on what some of the challenges of growing a snacking company are. And I really think you're gonna have fun listening to this episode. So without further ado, let's get into this show with the team behind Cove ocean foods are chatting with Deseret Travis Korean and Susan, enjoy. Hey, visionary. Do you remember why you got into business? Why you said yes to entrepreneurship in the first place. For so many of us. It's because of that freedom that it can bring and the joy of helping our clients and our customers transform their lives. But then we get bogged down with things like too much responsibility decision paralysis, feeling so alone and like we're doing this by ourselves. And what's worse is that we can see everything we desire, and we just don't know how to get to that next level. So what if there was a space where you could actually come on a weekly basis? To enrich your business to hang around other impact driven and health and lifestyle anchored entrepreneurs, and people who have shared values and really big visions like you do. My co host, Emily Elliot, and I run an exclusive mastermind for high performing female entrepreneurs, we are almost full, but we are accepting a few new members. So you can head over to Kelsey rydell.com/mastermind. If you've been looking for a community, and a group of women just like you. This is a space that focuses on individual and shared success, we celebrate each other, we hold space for each other, we coach each other, and Emily and I lead you through trainings and we bring forward guest experts on the topic of luck on money mindset, on things you can do to improve your sales conversions and so much more. Our group meets at the same time each week, every single Wednesday, and each month we set our focus around key areas so that you can become the most resilient, motivated and healthy entrepreneur possible. So we have strategy time, implementation time, but we also talking about relationships, mental agility, adventurous marketing, boosting conversions, etc.
Again, this is an exclusive space for high performing female entrepreneurs. So head over to Kelsey rydell.com/mastermind. To apply, you can see pricing what it looks like to join who's in the room with us. And we definitely only have a few spots. So if you want to slide in, we would love to see your application come through. Hey, visionary as I enter this new chapter of motherhood in December, I am excited to share a brand new podcast series and additional content from visionary Life Where I'm going to be sharing behind the scenes on how I'm preparing my business for Matt leave what pregnancy has been like. And I'm going to be sitting down with mamas who are not only running successful businesses, but also chasing after the kids taking care of themselves, and truly exuding what it is to be a visionary mama. So the same content will always exist. But I'm just going to add in this layer of motherhood. This is something that I've been thinking a lot about as I navigate pregnancy. And I know this is the content that I've been searching for over the last many months. So if you want to receive exclusive content, podcasts, emails, updates from me, then head over to Kelsey rydell.com/mama. And put your name on the list and you'll be the first to know when this brand new series goes live.Well, we have the biggest podcast recording I have ever had on Zoom. I've done it in person with multiple team members. But today I'm with Susan quarry and Travis Deseret, and they are the team behind Cove and we're gonna hear the full story of how coke came to be, what they're up to and what this magical team is bringing to life. And then we're going to pick their brain on how they work together and what it's like in the day to day operations of the business. So first off, welcome and thank you for being here. And let's get into a quick roundtable just so that the listeners can hear your voices and know who is on this recording.
So Travis, we're gonna start with you can you just quickly say hello, and maybe share something that you're really obsessed with right now?Oh, something I'm obsessed with? Well, I am Travis, my voice should be pretty easy to pick out on this podcast I've been currently obsessed with actually just started taking boxing classes. So never, never done that before and never partook. And it's a really good way to wind down after staring at spreadsheets and emails all day. So you know, can put in an hour hit something that feels good. So that's what I've been getting into recently.
That gets me so excited too. Because you're right, like anytime you just have it's not necessarily pent up energy, but like if you're just having a work day or just need to let loose boxing is so therapeutic. I feel like every entrepreneur needs to learn how to box and adopt that.
I agree. I think I'm going to start a new trend here.
Amazing. Susan, let's go over to you do you want to introduce yourself and just share something that you're loving or something you're obsessed with right now?
Well, I'm Susan Nice to meet everyone that's listening. Something that I'm obsessed with. Right now I think I'm obsessed with taking my supplements lately. It's something that I've really tried to hone in on and just make sure that you know everything's that I need it and I'm taking and you know the mental wellness is in check. So that's
a really good one to adopt. I love that you're obsessed with it. I'm curious, do you have any habits or rituals that encourage you to take your supplements because I always forget, and I know our listeners, it's not a habit that's easy to adopt.
Yeah, well, I don't really have any tricks. It's just something that I prioritize first thing in the morning just to make sure that you know, you're drinking your water and having a little bit of breakfast and then just taking everything kind of at the first thing in the morning so you don't have to worry about it for the rest of the day. So then, you know, we've kind of checked that box.
Yep, do the hard thing. First thing first. Exactly into Korea and let's go over to you do you want to introduce yourself and let us know what are you loving? What are you obsessed with these days?
Yeah, hey, everyone, I'm Korean. And as per usual, my current obsession is completely aligned with Susan's because that's how it goes for us. But not necessarily supplements but at this moment, I'm almost I'm like 100% crashing into a cold or a flu of some sort. So I'm obsessed with specifically zinc and then my dragon fruit antioxidant rich smoothie.
Prop right there. That's
yeah. capsules of vitamin C into it and everything. So that's what I'm currently obsessed with today.
Like we need like a recipe for what this dragon fruit elixir is sounds cool. Amazing. Thank you for that intro and Deseret over to you could you introduce yourself something you're currently loving?
Yeah, hi, everyone. I'm Deseret. I am the original founder of Cove and I right now I'm obsessed with cold exposure. So I have to do my cold shower every morning and recently got to go to Squamish and do cold exposure and the glacier fed Lake River, which was awesome. And, yeah, I feel like it really, you know, get to you the ability to withstand hard things.
So, so true. And I know it has gotten so much hype doing cold plunges and like dips in the past couple of years. But for good reason, right? Like, I can reset my mood and an instance, if I throw that into the middle of my workday. So that's really cool.
Yeah, to try to think of something different other than exercise and supplements and gut health. And like all they've already said it all. So what what else am I obsessed with right now?
It's very clear I am had chatting with a team that's passionate about natural health and wellness and betterment and everyday living, because all of you have current obsessions that are improving the quality of your life, which is really, really cool. Before we get deep into the weeds of what you guys are building together Deseret. Could you share a little bit of the story on how COVID came to be? Why are you obsessed with seaweed? And what prompted this business to come to life?
You bet. I love that question. So I've been you know, I stopped eating meat in 2008. I've been following a vegan lifestyle for 15 years now. And so. And of course, not just like eating foods that are good for me that our animal free. But this whole, like movement of climate change and climate consciousness was weighing really heavy on me. And so actually, in the spring of 2020, I got a text from one of my friends, one of my mentors, and he said, I have an opportunity for you. It aligns with all of your values. And I learned that it was actually a company on Vancouver Island, Cascadia seaweed that had been building seaweed farms in partnership with local First Nations. And they realized that the highest and best value for the seaweed that they were growing would be to develop a food brand and create you know, the tastiest, most delicious foods that we could made with locally grown seaweed. And of course, when I learned to which seaweed it's obviously vegan plant base, you know, like the superfood of the sea just like any kale or spinach, highly nutritious. And I learned at the time I wasn't as obsessed with seaweed, it wasn't really on my radar. But what I've learned since is that it is actually arguably the most sustainable crop on the planet because it grows in the ocean. And so there's, you know, we're not cutting down any trees to grow. See, we don't have water, seaweed, and so the demand on resources are, are limited. And, and, yeah, in my life at that time to the whole, you know, where we're at in Canada with our First Nations relationships, and the fact that we were growing seaweed in partnership with First Nations was really important to me. And of course, it's a food brand and natural health food brand. And my passion is marketing and branding. And so yeah, it was like all of the stars aligned for me to join Cascadia. And so I helped we work with food scientists and trying to really leverage the natural properties of seaweed, one of them being protein, and to develop snacks, which is how we came up with our seaweed based protein puffs. And then, yeah, about two and a half years into that process last fall. The investors at Cascadia started to go down a different different path. They none of them are really CPG people and really wanted to focus more on like agriculture, and so it was a great opportunity for me to negotiate with Um, that team and actually take over full ownership of code because it had become my, my baby and I'm obsessed with it and really wanted to see what we could do with the brand. And then that tell Korean and Susan and Travis came into the picture because I really wanted to work with people that yeah, have experience and like amazing, incredible, like resumes and experience in the in the CPG food space with natural foods and things like that. And so conversation started with Korean and then I found out that you know, Sue and Travis were also interested. And so yeah, we, we went through all the legal mumbo jumbo and learn a lot about shareholders agreements, and just Yeah, kind of stuck in that process, which was actually really enjoy as enjoyable as it could be based on the people that we were working with. But it just still, you know, took some time to get all of the legal in order for us to become officially partners and owners of Cove. So it's now independently owned by four of us.
Before launching into Cove, did you have any entrepreneurial experience per se? Had you started any CPG brands? Or is this kind of a new path for you Deseret?
For me, I have no I didn't one short stint for a wine company. Like when I in my 20s and CPG. I was a brand more brand manager for a wine brand. But no I but I've always been an entrepreneur, like I've been in marketing, and I've had my own businesses, I run an international charity. And really like, you know, in my 40s. Now I'm just really driven by meaningful work and purposeful work. And like I said, I have a lot of experience in marketing and branding. But I think that question is so relevant for core or Sue or Travis because they their whole, like careers have been in the CPG food space. So it's like it's kind of a great complementary team now that and I've learned so much in the last two and a half years being in in CPG. But I had to rely on a lot of people. Yeah.
Yeah, cuz there's something interesting to that. Like, it sounds like you kind of had this gut feeling like, I need to keep going with seaweed, and I'm so passionate about this product. But obviously, there were a few missing pieces, like I might need the right people in place, and I'm gonna need to get help, because there's a lot of things I don't know, would you describe it as more of like a gut feeling? Or was this like a strategic operational decision you made? Or was it somewhere in between when you first got that pain of like, I think I want to keep going forward with cope seaweed.
1,000%, everything I do is just based on like, a gut feeling and what what feels right, like, I'd love to say it's like, oh, like some major strategy and thinking of the key people like needed, but at the end of the day, it's like, I think you'll find that we're all pretty, like, I don't know, to describe them as as spiritual because I'm still getting to know the rest of the team. But like, from my perspective, I, you know, I know we believe in like, you know, something bigger and, and kind of like the magic of the universe. And so it just felt really aligned a way that we came together. And it was it just made everything flow really, really well. And yeah, it was just most on like intuition. And, and also the stage that we're at with COVID. Like, we were gaining so much momentum when the investors decided they didn't want to fund the brand anymore. Like we had attended ch FA last year in Toronto, and we're just about to take off. We had so many on paper, yeses from major retailers. And I was just like, we like we need to find the right people that keep the brand alive. And like there wasn't like 100 different conversations with whole bunch of different people. It was like Korean and then it was soon and Travis and then it was just like, we want to do this together. So it happened really fast. And it was really like this, like, I don't want to sound woowoo but it was like really like the stars aligning to to bring us together and to make this happen to to cheat code. We call it COVID 2.0. So to bring co 2.0 together. Yeah,
yeah, and I think this is an important conversation to have. Because sometimes from the outside looking in, people think that entrepreneurs it's like, you know, we just like go in a dark cave. And we write out every specific of the business plan for the next 20 years. And we're super, super calculated. But sometimes, like, you just have to move about life and you get an idea and you meet the right person and you're open and receptive to opportunities. And that's when the business starts to flow and grow and flourish. It's not always like this, make a calculated decision that you've been thinking about for the last 30 years of your life. So I love that you share that and it's totally not woowoo at all. I love having these conversations, and I know our listeners appreciate that. Like, you don't have to be the most like data analytical thinker, like sometimes you just things feel right. And you move forward and you take that next step. So that's really neat.
Yeah, I'll just I'll just add to that too, because this is a very unique situation. You know, like we I only just met Susan and Trump was in person a few weeks ago, you know, and we are officially business partners and have been for quite some time. And this just speaks to like the era that we're in, you know, like, huge leap of faith, huge, huge trust in people. And even in just myself and my own intuition and gut feeling, you know, ever, like the first time we started talking and meeting, it was just like, such a good feeling. And I was just thinking, like, again, like that to pour my heart out. But it was just like, the conversation we had kind of even in preparation for this podcast, you know, the things that were said it was just like, wow, like, I am so fortunate to be working and have met such good people that have such good values. And, yeah, just to say that, you know, we I was in Argentina, for a lot of it, we were doing most of our, you know, ownership shareholders agreement, stuff over zoom and never having met. And so it's just it's fascinating to see that business can be done this way. And it's just a huge amount of trust and intuition that has led this, this project so far.
Absolutely. So Korean, it sounds like you were kind of that first conversation or first person pulled in what were your thoughts and feelings? And like, what was your gut saying when you first met Deseret and started talking about Cove 2.0?
So I have to 100% Just be honest, obviously. And my immediate reaction was like, Oh, God, this sounds terrifying. And I wanted to run and I was like, oh, like it was, it felt very overwhelming. However, one of our core values and I feel like all of us this is exactly what does was just speaking to is one of our core core values, that COVID is like riding the wave. And we really, I think all of us in some way got into this space. Certainly I know Susan Travis, and I really fell into this career at all, and, and specifically Food and Natural Health, we just, I don't even know how I ended up here. And I'm so grateful for it. But it's definitely those moments where you're like, Okay, this opportunity has been presented for a reason. And it isn't to be wasted. And it's a moment where, you know, we're talking about all the time like we get to do this. And then specifically, it's been something that Susan Travis and I have been talking about getting the band back together again, because we have this really special, unique relationship where we're really ultimately family now. Like the friendships that go so deep, where we are family, but we met through work. And that to me is like a very special kind of relationship and friendship, because work is just such a big part of what we do. And like I personally am so much attachment to my career. And I'm really proud of the people that I've got to work with and the things that I've been able to be a part of. And so when things like that this roll across your plate, you definitely don't just go Oh, no, I'm not doing that. So it was a lot of fear. And then a lot of this is an opportunity that needs to be seized.
For sure. So, so cool. And you talk about the three of you having met at a previous career, and you've known each other what for more than a decade now. Perhaps Sue and
I are going on 15 years, maybe 16 At this point, which for me is a good run. That is a good run. Yeah. long friendship. Yes, sure. Yeah. Yeah. Tribe. How long is it now?
Nine I think 10 years. Yeah, yeah, I'm the newcomer to the
So, Travis, did you have any hesitation? Going into a business partnership with two of your really good friends? Was there any feeling of like, what if this doesn't work out? limiting beliefs around where this would take your relationship? What was your sentiment going into Cove? 2.0? As we'll call it?
Yeah, of course, there's, there's always apprehension, there's always, you know, second thoughts. But ultimately, Korean Susan and I, we've been talking about starting a business for a while, we've been ideating trying to think of kind of what it would be, how it would look and things like that. And kind of like Korean said this opportunity to kind of just fell into our lap and we'd be silly not to give it a go. You know, we've all been in the natural product industries, our whole career. We live it, we breathe it, we use the products, and something great came along with a great mission and something that we could get behind. And it just felt like we had to, you know, there wasn't all the feelings, of course, but you just got to give it a go. So that's kind of that's kind of the show.
And also just to because I don't think I'll ever forget this, but I had reached out I think I texted both of you and I was like, Hey guys, this is the opportunity. Do you want to talk tomorrow? We're about it. And Travis said, I can talk in 30
minutes talk tonight,
if we can all hop on a call. Let's talk about it immediately. So, yeah, fear, I'm sure. But Travis is definitely the one that just he is like we're he is the reason why we were charging ahead most. For sure.
He's like yesterday, we needed to have this conversation, let's go.
That's where the whole magic you know, that Deseret talks about that came into play is that we've been behind the scenes wanting to do something but not knowing what we want to work together, we know we work well together. So that isn't an issue. We already know how we are in a business sense together and in relationship to each other as well. So we knew we wanted to do something. And then here comes this product that like Travis said, not only it just aligned with what we were looking for seaweed, the ocean, Travis surfs, you know, all the time, and it just, it was the right product, it wasn't necessarily that we would have signed up for anything but this product in particular, seaweed, the sustainability aspect of it just sort of checked all the boxes for us of what we knew being a part of the CPG space that we would get behind, you know, in our career, you know, I would I would work for this company. So why not, you know, do it and be owners of it. So, yeah, it really was kind of this magical way that it all came together. And when you are already envisioning yourself, of where you want to be and what you want to do, it just seems like those moments are really attracted to you, when you start putting it out there. So you know, it's not like we said, we wanted to have a seaweed brand. And you know, it came to be but you know, you're open to the opportunity. So it Yeah, just seemed like something we had, we had no choice like, we have to do that here. Here it is, it's fallen into our laps.
And I know Cove stands for you know, there's an acronym that COVID stands for and those core values that are very rooted in the brand. Does one of you want to describe like, what is the overall mission and vision and what are some of those core values that you stand for at Cove and what you're bringing to life.
I can speak to Korea and speak to it really well as well. So I can mention a few things. We actually because I'm also just super honest and open we worked with like one of the most creative external marketing partners out there, which is called crew marketing. And they came up with the name Cove and they have a a habit or methodology of creating names with acronyms. And so the the name Kob did like stand originally for like knowledge. One is vitality and excellence. And we just loved the idea of having the brand name code because, again, it's seaweed, it's the ocean, the you know, coming in, we could welcome people into the code because it is like a newer revolution in North America. And the I mean, the vision is to be you know, one of the biggest TV brands creating tasty food products in multiple different character characters, categories, potentially globally world worldwide. Like obviously we want to we would love to dominate, you know, North North America. And the sky's the limit with you know, North American seaweed, whether we go to Europe or Asia, I think the team loves when I describe my vision that I had originally with seaweed because there's so much innovation happening in this space, there's actually companies working on on packaging. So obviously there's a huge plastic free movement happening right now. And we would love to have you know, really regenerative sustainable packaging and so ultimately, like the vision would be you know, families enjoying their seaweed snacks from the parents to the children, the kids especially they eat their seaweed snacks and they can throw their packaging back into the ocean because it's made of seaweed and it disintegrates and gives back to ocean life. And so yeah, we would love you know, potentially like the data of seaweed just have different seaweed products in different categories and, and be a leader in the space while creating harmony and sustainability for ourselves. So it's like how do we how do we scale and be big but not burn ourselves out? And yeah, create harmony for ourselves or relationships or work life balance and all of that. So it's this this fine tune? Yeah, method of creating that I don't know if core wants to add anything that I missed about the mission of coke because you always say things really nicely.
Yeah, well, I think the you know, the unique thing, again, is Deseret, you know, is the founder of the brand and the brainchild behind it and what it meant originally, and then the three of us are coming into it and so we want to be really like authentic also with being able to be super transparent about how we got here and not claim like Susan said We love to see we'd always, but we're learning so much about it and the magic of it. And in a time where, you know, like the climate change thing we know is happening, but it feels very do me and gloomy. It is, but it feels that way. And we really want to be a brand that's bringing lightness to the world. And so the focus for us is like the more seaweed we can grow and consume, the better off we all will be. And so we want to be the brand that's providing like really accessible seaweed snacks for people. And by that I mean in so many ways, we mean different forms of it. But really the taste factor to like we've had some really great feedback on it, that it's sort of that middle ground where it can be, you know, an entry level seaweed product for people, the traditional ways people eat seaweed is quite obvious, obviously, with sushi and like those roasted seaweed snacks.
I'm a huge fan of all of those things, but being able to in kind of injected or infused it into other snacks. For Kids and moms and people on the go. We just yeah, we would love to just, you know, be able to use as much of it as possible, which takes place of other ingredients that are you know, taking resources unnecessarily. So, yeah,and I think it's important to note too, because you kind of said we to be transparent, weren't always like didn't grow up or come out of the womb obsessed with seaweed. But that's what I love about entrepreneurship is that like, sometimes we have a vision, and it might be really small, it might be like, I want to create my first gluten free cookie. And then when you see the cookie selling and people eating it, loving it, your vision expands right. And again, I think a lot of early stage business owners, they get tripped up thinking like, I need to think 30 years down the line, how am I going to take over the seaweed space or the gluten free marketplace. But sometimes we just have to start with like, Hey, I met this really cool girl, she loves seaweed, I'm gonna say yes to this opportunity. And let's see what starts to unfold and like, then you become a subject matter expert, and your head is in the books and the research. And then all of our visions are probably expanding at different rates. But then when you come together, it's like, Oh, my God, we all have so much passion for this when we merge each of our unique visions. And look at the vision of Cove, which is really cool.
Yeah. Yeah, totally. And I think a big the three of us, the majority of our experience in CPG has been in sales, we are salespeople. And I, I still gets caught in my throat to say that because I like the thought of being a salesperson is gross. Like I don't want to say I don't, it's never how I want to lead. But the only way I know how to sell is if I'm obsessed and the product is actually truly integrated into my lifestyle. And I know we all feel that way. It's really hard to just go okay, we're gonna, you know, we're going to sell this story or this product. You just don't it doesn't light you up. Certainly doesn't leave me up to Yeah, to try to think about selling something that I don't deeply, deeply care about and use every single day. Like, I mean, we all met at Vega. And I remember I always say this when people would ask if we used the product, like retailers would go oh, well, do you actually take this? It was always the strangest question. Because it's like I absolutely do like all the time, every single occasion, every single use occasion that was meant to be taken. I was taking it. And smartsuite It's I mean, I still eat like three bags a day. It's if I had like a complete problem, I have a problem with worksheets. And so yeah, like it's, it's, it's definitely just that has to be a part of it. And so I think the mission based, like it has to be something that is improving the lives of people in some way, whether it's providing joy or closing the gap where you know, a product that never existed before. And this one is something we can truly feel so good about and so excited about doing.
Yeah, I completely agree with Korean because as someone that has tried to sell widgets before, you know, just something that sells it's difficult if your heart's not in it, you know, if it's not something you use or something you value, it's really difficult to motivate yourself to actually do the work that needs to be done. So that's something that's really important for me as well. And I know it is for Susan, you know, we have to be advocates for the product that we sell. And in this case, um, so another reason COVID just really fell in for us is we tried the product and we went didn't know this existed, but I eat it every day. Yeah.
Yeah, I think there's some really good points being shared that like you know, sometimes we tend to overcomplicate marketing. It's like what social media platform does our brand need to be on and what do we post but what you guys are sharing as a team is like, number one, having a passion for what you are trying to get visible and what you're building brand awareness around and number two, having a story Like already, you've shared such a powerful story behind the brand that makes me feel emotionally connected. So that's number two. Number three, having a remarkable product like you tried it, and you're like, I can't shut up about this. It's so good. So those are three really juicy marketing tips. I think the listener can take away right away. I'm curious, is there anything, maybe even on a more granular level? That has been really supporting you in building brand awareness around code? Like how are you getting the word out right now? How are you encouraging people to pay attention to what you're saying through the digital world? Through in person? What are some of those marketing strategies that are currently working in this season of business?
I think that is a bit of a tricky answer. It's, it's tougher right now, because we are super grassroots. So I'll be crystal clear before when we had investor funding, we were doing all the things, you know, like we, we had help with social media, which was driving you know, we can build up our following because we could actually invest in boosted posts to get you know the brand in front of people and build the audience and have people helping to create content, create reels and, and do all of that we were paying for paid ad placements and you know, and magazines and we are hiring not just content creators for camera and video, but they were developing recipes for us. So that was interesting on online on social media was like, you know, because one of our products is a is a seaweed seasoning, which happens to be really delicious on popcorn. And so we were doing like different popcorn recipes and having people share how they were using the ingredient. But all of that was was paid even like sponsorships putting on events where we would again bring people into the cove through like meditation events and, and things like that. Right now, I think we're focused obviously, like, on ways where we don't have to spend money, which is mostly at the bowl, there's their spend there, but it's a different kind of spend like at the retail level. So really working with retail partners, but you have a great merchandising team at a company called hive Naturals. And even just recently, you know, we have a placement at the front of the store with a non alcoholic beer brand called partake and so you know, brand collaborations doing things like that we're about to launch another campaign on social called hashtag kids HeartCode. Because what we've actually surprisingly, learned to that this, like our cocoa puffs, like kids go bananas for the puffs, my little nephew, it's the only thing he ever wants to eat and is like stealing the bag from me. And so we're doing a brand collaboration with another cool brand called cold drinks. They're they're COVID with the sea and they're from the east coast of Canada. And so yeah, I'll do some brand collaborations and it's tricky online to be honest with digital too, right? I'm sure you'll find that, you know, people complaining about the algorithm changing and people's posts not being seen. And I think it's just because it's so saturated, and you really need to have money behind it to spend on ad campaigns and things like that to get your brand to be more visible. So yeah, we really do. It's one of the things that's constantly on my mind like how can we be creative and provide like put out content that people want to see want to share and make them feel more connected to the brand? And how do we tell this like our long story in like segments that will make people feel like emotionally connected and and want to, to you know, try the products and come into the code with us so I don't know if I did this recorded a Korean or Susan, did I miss anything or Travis?
I don't think so. I think the other thing that's helped us and that we're always looking to improve upon as well as is just the packaging itself is really beautiful and really eye catching. So as an you know, as a brand new brand to the to the set, that's really where you're grabbing consumers is is they're there to buy, you know, different snack or a different seasoning. And if your brand stands out, your your packaging has to kind of do that education for you. So I think it is beautiful and it's standing out and people are responding really well to it. And we've seen some early, really positive sell through through data we really just launched relaunched the brand at CHF a West in April. So it hasn't been too long that we were just starting to gain that momentum on shelf. But as Deseret said, we're really being able to sell that story of the seaweed where it's grown, especially in BC for those retailers they're really responding well to that story. So they're willing to bring us in and give us a shot which is what we need. We need, you know, the retailer support and then can kind of work on the marketing side to to share the story. We always talk in internally to about the early days of vegan of of trying to sell a plant based protein when no one was buying plant based protein, it was, you know, kind of a low grade soy and an a, you know whey protein. And so you're really trying to create that, that space. And so we're familiar with having to do that through education and, and really packaging on shelf. So yeah, we're excited to kind of take that challenge on.
Yeah, and I think this product too, it's a lot easier to get into someone's hands and, you know, create that new user and get that first sale than something that is much higher dollar. It's pretty neat, a lot more awareness, a lot more convincing to get someone to buy a $50 item. But if it's 699 on shelf, you know, it's a lot easier for someone to give that a go. So we're going to old school with some demos and making sure we have good placement Koreans even that been out there hitting the bricks like the old days and with the carton hand and selling bags like crazy, though.
I love that. It's like sometimes we overcomplicate marketing, like yes, there's a place for all the ads and the influencers and the millions of dollars, but oftentimes going to those low cost, low risk, grassroots like, can you just get a bag of puffs in somebody's hand? Get them to try it and love it? And then they'll go tell 20 of their friends, right?
Yeah. Yeah. No, it's It's the funny thing is it's the classic things that are agile for you catch them when they're walking the aisle, and we need shelf Danglers. That's what's going to change the game. Yeah, but demos, I mean, it does demo really well. So that's been really fun. And I think it's so important to get out in front of the customers and actually see what people are saying about it. On some days, some days were like, This is the most amazing product. And then other days, you're like, is it like, do people like it? You know, so it's good to get out there and just constantly be getting feedback.
I'm curious, what is something that you guys are currently trying to problem solve for? Obviously, what the state of the world people are talking about the economy, and you know, maybe reduction in spend on groceries or luxury items, people maybe not even shopping at store anymore? Is there anything that comes to mind that you're currently working through? That is a challenge, you'd be open to sharing just to know that you know, anyone listening? You're not alone? If you're experiencing the dips, and constantly having to problem solve for the crazy things that just pop up and that are unpredictable?
Yeah, my immediate answer I had was everything. was like everything. Yeah, you're like, where do I start? Yeah, but Trump take it away.
Yeah, I was just saying, shipping is expensive. Yeah. And trying to optimize your logistics and getting product to our three pls as efficiently as possible. really ensuring that we have quick sell through because warehouses and is warehousing is very expensive as well. So yeah, I mean, inflation hit those industries pretty hard as well. fuel surcharges are higher than they've ever been. And same thing with warehousing fees, I think we saw an increase from anyone that handles or holds our product. So that's not unique to Cove. But you know, that is a certainly a challenge that we we encounter on a frequent basis.
And Travis, what kind of mindset do you need in order to keep pushing through? Like, I'm sure there are times that you're like, this is f, like, it's not really said? How do you stay in that mindset of like, we can figure this out, keep looking for the solution get 1% better every day? What do you have to think about in order to stay clear on the vision and where you're going,
we actually have a bit of a company theme around that it's called Finding the blueberries or hunting for the blueberries. So we keep each other pumped up with a blueberry here and there and a blueberry is just a nugget. It's a small little when it's like, hey, one store decided to pick up our product. All right, great, blueberry, you know, and we share those as much as we possibly can. Because this game is difficult. You know, we're getting one that says entrepreneurship is easy, I would have a lot of questions for so we lean on each other to kind of keep us pumped up and try to share just the little wins. Because every day you you know, you run into a new problem that you have to solve for. So I think it's really important that we we celebrate our wins even though no matter how small and it just kind of helps bring light to the to the days and keep your truck trudging along. And I like this adage, or I forget where I heard it, but showing up is like 90% of the battle. So if you just actually show up and start doing it, then you're almost there. So the blueberries help us show up.
I love that ritual. Is there anything else you guys do as a team? I know this is a newer team. And it's not like you get to see each other every day. But there any other ritual or team strategy or connection method that you guys utilize in your every day to stay connected to keep things light to build culture?
I mean, we've been talking through it so much, because it's every day like your to answer your question. Personally, like, I don't stay in the mindset all the time. I'm constantly in and out of like, what are we actually doing here. And then I think a couple of things for me, like Susan said, Yesterday, we know each other so well. And it's really hard to hide, very different than working with, you know, a bunch of coworkers. And of course, you get to know over time as we did, but these guys I can't hide, like the looks on my face, they know, every single one of them, I know exactly what's happening. We know, like, there's words don't even have to be said most of the time. So I think that's it's a safety net. But it's also something I'm completely afraid of, because I don't want to take advantage of that. You know, and you kind of you get into this thing, where you're so comfortable with people that you it's easier to fall down the rabbit hole of despair, because it is the person I would call Susan's the person I call when I'm having a bad day anyway. So you know, you have to kind of, you know, maintain that in a special way. But one thing that I think really helps that we know that we've kind of practiced over the last, like all of the years that we've known each other, but remind ourselves of is that the feelings change, like the last five minutes or the last 20 minutes. But it isn't something that nothing stays the same forever. So although we might be in what we call a ditch, for a period of time, we always climb out.
Always have and we always will.
And the reality is typically the same. It's interesting when and I don't know, if entrepreneurs today, it's like the roller coaster ride, but the the reality hasn't changed, it's really just your perspective. So it's, it's being able to remind each other, you know, to look at it a little bit different so that when you're feeling that low, you're feeling it for a certain reason, but but you can get yourself out of that with a different perspective. And Like Ryan said, we can recognize and each other when when we're slipping and so we we've been able to kind of help, you know, prop each other up. When others are feeling on a high and know guys, everything's great. There's always a person that thinks it's, you know, a different situation. So it's nice to have that balance between the, you know, all of us, yeah, then we do
a thing where we say do go ahead trip,
I was just gonna say because you're saying this is your biggest podcast for the most people. But that's kind of how we operate. You know, if one of us is struggling a bit, there's at least another one of us that is doing just fine. So you kind of put it on their shoulders, the lift the rest of you out of there, you know, and very rarely are all of us in the same place. So someone's here, we're up here, we can pull each other out, support each other and get back to where we should be.
Kind of reminds me so you said one of your core values is riding the wave, right. And then I think of the wave and I'm like a, you know, wave, rising tide lifts all boats, and it's just like, You guys are all rising together. If one's down, you're all, you know, going to lift each other back up, dig the boat out. So I think that's really special about the team that you have and the dynamics. And it's really interesting to actually record a podcast with multiple of the founders and CO owners of a company because you get different perspectives. And it also facilitates this environment where, you know, nothing's a secret. Everything's on the table. Like, let's share the realness behind what it is to build a business not just like the glamorous part of like, here's how we're winning. And here's all the successes we've had. So I really appreciate the honest conversation of like, we're still in a building phase and some days, Travis is down or Susan's down or Koreans that you know, and we figure it out, right? It's like, what can we do to get a little bit better today to problem solve and to continue trekking forward to this incredible vision that all of you guys hold, which is really, really cool. So what is coming down the pipeline? What are you guys working on? Why should we be paying attention to Cove right now?
Sorry, this was a just topping off. Yeah, right now our key focus is gaining distribution on our spice products as well as our puffs. The spices have kind of been our legacy product with the most distribution and the puffs have just been getting a lot of excitement from retailers and new consumers of the product. So our focus is really I'm building out those two core product sets, we have some stuff in the pipeline that has been produced is great products are ready to go when we're ready. So that's kind of a future, you know, 2024 conversation. But as of right now our focus is on building our core, creating partnerships with strong independent retailers, as well as some, some of the key chains. And that's, that's our focus
for the time being. Amazing. So if somebody wants to try the products, purchase them, or just get in touch with the brand and follow along with what you guys are building, where are the best places for them to connect with you and to purchase some puffs, or some spices?
For you, and you want to hit with the Yeah, major partners? Yeah,
yeah. So we will on social media, we are at Cove ocean, so please follow us there. And then the retailer that we're super excited about is Whole Foods. So we'll be the spices are should already be there. So we would love pictures, people want to go to Whole Foods and take a picture for us send it to our Instagram and then the puffs should be on shelf beginning of November. So that's super exciting. And then I would say locally, the best thing to do is email Hello at Cove ocean.com Because then I can direct you to the exact store. It's we're definitely we're not in any major national retailers yet. So it's going to be very backyard independent small chain can direct you guys to
amazing, we will link all of that in the show notes and encourage everyone to go get their hands on some spices and some puffs when they can. And thank you all for sharing the story for showing up for being super honest on what this journey has been like so far and can't wait to connect in a couple of years and see where CO motion is that. So thank you to all of you for being part of the podcast today. Thank you. Thanks so much, Kelsey. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of visionary life. I love bringing you these conversations on a weekly basis. So it would mean so much to me. If you could help me out by rating and reviewing the show on either iTunes or Spotify. It just takes a second. And if you don't want to rate the show, you could also just take a screenshot of the episode and share it on your social media platform of choice, tagging me at Kofi ribo. I'll catch you in the next episode. Did you know that 70% of all online experiences begin with a search engine. That's right. Every day millions of people log on to search engines like Google to find solutions, answers and content that meets their search intent. Whether they're searching for a pair of women's jeans, overalls, or a nutritionist that can help them with weight loss, search engines have become an integral part of our daily lives. And your business should be showing up on page one. But with so many businesses competing for visibility online, it can be tough to stand out from the crowd. That's why I created every day SEO simple self study course on SEO because I know just listening to this can feel overwhelming. You're like SEO What does that even mean? How do I enhance my website so that it shows up on Google, I have a very simple four part framework that's going to help you to do that. And the reason why I created this course is because I know that so many of you want to stop posting on social media every day, the daily marketing feels overwhelming. And you would just love to show up anytime somebody searches for your product or service. For example, when people search for a marketing coach or a Toronto business coach, or a digital marketing expert, my website pops up. And that's all thanks to SEO. This means that I don't need to be on the social media content creation hamster wheel, which stresses me out and makes me feel like I always have to be on and creating new content. SEO has so much longevity, and I cannot wait to share this process with you. So if you're tired of not showing up on Google or being buried on page 933, then it's time to enroll in everyday SEO. Just head to Kelseyreidl.com/seo. That's Kelseyreidl.com/seo And you can get started right away.
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Did you know that 70% of all online experiences begin with a search engine.
Every day millions of people log on to search engines like Google to find solutions, answers and content that meets their search intent. Whether they're searching for a pair of women's jeans, overalls, or a nutritionist that can help them with weight loss, search engines have become an integral part of our daily lives.
And your business should be showing up on page one. But with so many businesses competing for visibility online, it can be tough to stand out from the crowd.
That's why I created every day SEO simple self study course on SEO.
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