Pitch Please

00:01.76
mike_flywheel
What's up everybody. It's Mike we're back here on the pitch please podcast and today I've got Nicole from hairstrong. It's an adjustable scrunchy. But I think there's a lot more to it than that I'm excited to learn more about your background Nicole what led you to this and about your innovation but maybe let's kick off with a quick introduction about yourself. And a little bit about what your role is at hairstrong.

00:23.42
Nicole
Hi so I'm Nicole and I am the Ceo and founder of hairstrong currently still mainly me doing the day-to day operations while I'm also I have a few other things going on the side. Um I do have a few teams and some things outsourced within the business but it's mainly just me. And I love ah fitness and doing things every day that bring out the best in myself and I try to spread that messaging through this business as well as like through everyone that I get to meet through it as well.

00:55.69
mike_flywheel
Cool. Well let's learn a little bit about your background then I want to talk into a little bit about all the things keeping you busy right now including driving a lot of the center of gravity around all things hairstrong. Um, but maybe talk to us a little bit about your your background are you like a background in business is is something that. You know was was part of your foreseeable journey from childhood that you wanted to be an entrepreneur talk talk to us about that.

01:17.69
Nicole
So surprisingly no I never really explored the pathway or the journey of becoming an entrepreneur or. Being involved in the world of business that was always something very intimidating or I thought unreachable for myself that I didn't have the skill set and it was just the narrative that I had told myself but looking back on it growing up I was showcasing all the skills necessary to become an entrepreneur like. Taking initiative drive determination through other things in my life in other areas like sports school. Um through relationships that I had with people and so when i. Gotten to university I actually got into western for their undergraduate program in kinesiology because I just loved fitness and wanted that part of my life but the job options that I thought were available through that degree weren't exactly that appealing to me so I've done internships at. Phsio clinicics Chiro clinicics and other domains that you would be working with people through movement and through the um like soft tissue work and helping Rehab but that wasn't very I wasn't very passionate about it and it didn't quite spark something I wanted something different.

02:30.86
Nicole
And so I'm going into third and fourth year and not really knowing what I wanted to do with this undergraduate degree. So my next line of thought was okay obviously I'll go pursue a masters just to like increase that runway in education. So I could figure out what I want to do and in my fourth year I was balancing part-time work. Ah full-time training load with. Competitive rowing and a full time coursework load with um the undergraduate degree and so at this point I just needed higher marks because getting into masters was a bit competitive and so I so entered into this course called entrepreneurship and kinesiology and the. Final project for that course was to create a business plan and pitch it in front of the class as well as business advisors from our entrepreneurship center and for this course one day our professor asked us to think about problems that we face every day and so in the context of my life I was very busy I had. Every hour planned out in my calendar and so I hated wasting time and that's like something that I truly have a very big pet peeve of is wasted time and what would annoy and frustrate me is the fact that I consistently had to readjust my hair while training and it would just like. Get my focus off it would frustrate me I would constantly have thoughts of oh I just wish it would be off like I wish I could cut it off so my life was easier and when I voiced this problem in a different way. Ah within the class other people also resonated with it.

03:58.67
Nicole
And that's the moment that I realized that my hair was actually never the problem. It was the product and at that point I also realized that I could solve it and I didn't have to complain and deal with this anymore and so creating the product for this course. Um I went through different. Um, stores and online about like how current products are made and then I wanted to see okay, if this one-size fits allll band doesn't actually fit all what can we do so that it does fit all and so I did some research on different components about what makes other things adjustable. So like. The adjuster on your raincoat or your shoes or your backpack like these components are all out there in the world. Why can't I just bring it into something that cuts your hair up and so for this course I created a prototype pitched it at the end and coincidentally on the day that I pitched my project. Ah, 2 business advisors from the entrepreneurship center saw it and they helped me and convinced me that I should turn this into business because they had seen something in me and in this that I was not ready to see yet or had not seen yet. And so that's really how it all started. Um and so I never really saw myself as an entrepreneur but everything I was doing in my life was like gearing me up to become one and that's what I do now.

05:17.62
mike_flywheel
It's a cool story Actually I won't even talk about that Course. So I Imagine this was wildly different than probably most of the things your peers in this course did like actually I haven't heard of a course like that. So. It's pretty cool that I always love when they. Introduce business or entrepreneurship within other fields of study because I think you get different creativity and different perspectives on problems similar to obviously the one you just came up with but like relative to your peers were other people trying to solve. Things related to kinesiology or that line of business like what what were some of the other examples if you can remember any.

05:58.86
Nicole
So the boundary and constraint is within the realm of kinesiology or like fitness so there were a lot of other businesses or like ideas that were around ah personal training or customized services or meal deliveries were some of them. Um, consulting or 1 ne-on-one work with different people in terms of coaching and I think the reason why this course was so impactful and I really loved it is because I never actually thought of all the business aspects that were in this field already like you go into ah take kinesiology to help people. But then if you want to start your own practice your own clinic. You need additional skills to be able to run a business successfully because it's no longer you helping people 1 on one. It's you managing other people you managing a clinic you doing the advertising marketing and that's a completely different job than just working 1 on 1 with someone.

06:50.26
mike_flywheel
Fair enough so in your realm. Um, you know you started noodling on a problem. How did you arrive here like you knew this is a problem. So I mean you were talking about the inefficiency it was bringing to you. But for someone that's maybe not. Entrepreneurial by nature or not in ah, a business stream. What was the process of starting that project like what was the scribbling the whiteboarding exercise because I think there's probably a lot of people that face problems in their life or see inspiring entrepreneurs and. Are still trying to connect the dots So talk about like how you connected those dots and and how that made sense for you.

07:29.47
Nicole
So the 1 light bulb that went off that day where my professor asked what problem we had and then people resonated with the one I'd stated was that I had the power to fix it and I had the power to do something about it instead of accepting that this is the way that it is. And so just coming to that realization like giving the power back to myself and then using my own experiences and using what I've had in my life to so bring this to life because your business is pretty personal actually like people think it's like work and life and I think it's all one like I don't view this business as a means to an end I view it like as part of my whole life. And it reflects what what I am and what I do and so my experiences at the time was I needed something that could hold my hair up through high impact activities I needed something that could adjust because everything that I used snapped or gave me headaches and at the time I also went camping for ah bits at a time. So. I saw how when you hang food up on trees so that the bears don't get them. You had to do knots on rope and I was literally thinking how could I bring that adjustable knot into this um, elastic and I was just looking at every aspect of my life where I've so directly seen how this problem was already solved. And see how I could implement that into my own doing I also asked a lot of people what their feedback was and their opinions and getting different perspectives into what could be the solution for this product and I think as long as you have the willingness to try and the willingness to keep on going.

09:04.98
Nicole
You can create something that works for you or at least help someone else.

09:10.41
mike_flywheel
Makes sense now I'm going to want to go down a whole path to learn more about Hairstrong. But at the beginning you queued up that you know you're working on a few different things. Um, which I don't think is unnatural for entrepreneurs oftentimes they're you know they've embarked on their career. And they've started something on the side of their desk or they're you know, working on a startup but inevitably needing to pay the bills. Some people have built up cash reserves then gotten started So I'm curious to hear like your journey. It sounds like Hairstrong started in school and you continued it right after school. So What else is kind of keeping you busy right now alongside hairstrong.

09:47.69
Nicole
Yeah, my whole life I've been very resourceful and I've I would describe my business as bootstrap but also my life as bootstrap trying to get all the resources that I could to just like do the things that I love and so within school like I had it there and I got. Access to grants and pitch competitions as a student which helped me ah, put more funds into the business and help it grow it then right when I graduated ah my master's degree I actually took and a position at western university and ivy ah with their. Morsset entrepreneurship team as a business advisor and so I would help students that I was in their spot just like ah a year or two ago and I would help them with their business ideas and I would also help run workshops have 1 on 1 meetings and like run certain entrepreneurial initiatives to help spread. Awareness of entrepreneurship being a potential pathway through these different fields in school and not just business and then ah last I guess this past April I finished my rule there and then in may I started working at another startup company. They're called third z and they're based out of Toronto. And they saw a sleep performance supplement that helps you recover and sleep better without any hormones or any sedatives so that naturally helps calm wind you down at night and also help you recover better and so I've been working with them.

11:15.55
Nicole
Ah, since may which has been amazing because I truly agree with the value statement that they have I love working with the people that I'm working with and it's been a very great experience and I use the momentum that I get working with people into my own business which I thrive on and then I also help. Um, with ah I'm also currently helping another company with running in a Crossfit event in November in Toronto so just a few things there to help and also the other company startup company thirdsy. They also sell to crossfitters so I sell to crossfitters with hairstrong thirds e sells to crossfitters this.

11:45.20
mike_flywheel
No.

11:50.97
Nicole
This is a Crossfit event. So it all really aligns with my own values and the people that I want to be with are all people that I want to work with anyway. So just it was easy yeses to do this.

12:00.78
mike_flywheel
What would you say is like I think it's cool that they're all like connected. Um, what's your role at thirds in how would you say like these experiences. How are you finding they're helping or hindering each other like what are the positives things that you're able to. You know, cross-pollinate and maybe were some some of those challenges that might exist.

12:21.40
Nicole
Yeah, so with third z my role there is to help with telling this brand story organically through social media through um, our ambassadors and use that ah use those assets as leverage for then. Increasing awareness about the product brand and the supplement industry in general and how it can help you and how this how prioritizing your sleep and could actually be beneficial for you and it's not just something that you do. It can be something that. Increases your productivity the next day helps you recover better helps you live life better and so telling that story through our ambassadors and so I helped them create the content for that because the people that we work with. They're not all content creators but because I've had so much time making content for hairstrong those skills like quick video editing making reals. Knowing what to see on camera like it all comes very easy to me now because I've done it so many times and so that's what I'm passing on to all these athletes and ambassadors and so that's my primary role with them and then I help with like other marketing things on the side. Um, which isn't like my main role and then with. Um, the event that I'm helping run I just love meeting people and I love making connections and um, giving and that's just like naturally what I'm very good at and very and and very willing to do and so.

13:42.63
Nicole
Even though there might be hindrances in terms of my time because I'm limited by my time which isn't very highly leveraged right Now. Um I Do think that helping with this event and then helping with the startup also helps Hairstrong at the end anyways and I think when you have those mute. Mutually beneficial relationships everyone wins and so even though like I'm restricted by my time I Still love the day to day aspect of my life like waking up going to the gym getting the tasks and that I need to get done going to sleep and I'm like very um, very. Content with the lifestyle that I have and so even though I would love to have like more time quote unquote time for my own thing I Do Love what I'm getting out of both other commitments as well.

14:25.64
mike_flywheel
That's fair and sometimes having a bunch of different things by necessity forces you to be a bit more organized, efficient and effective at the things you're doing and it sounds like you're learning from all different angles and there's cross-pollination which is always very useful and important. Um, so let's talk a little bit about hairstrong and you're obviously on the show called pitch please. So we obviously are going to start there Nicole your best pitch please.

14:53.33
Nicole
There's about 900000000 people in the world with long hair based on my calculations and what's the most popular thing to hold it back is this conventional one size fits all hair band and then the elasticity is what's expected to hold up and. They're not very high quality these hair ties and they're not very effective during high impact activities which is what my domain or what I've so my reality and how I grew up seeing everyone in high impact these weren't good enough and so I thought that this problem. You had to deal with because you had long hair because you chose to have it. This was one of the consequences of it. The maintenance and keeping it up and if you wanted long hair. This is just what you had to deal with and for something to say and be marketed as 1 size fits all I view turn the lens internally and thought there was something wrong with me in my hair. But realistically there just wasn't a product that was made and so what I decided to do is create something that has an adjustable mechanism on it so you can physically tighten the hold of your hair so that it does stay up when you need it to stay up. And it doesn't cause as many headaches or creasing or hair damage as you would with a conventional hair tie and so you have something reliable and that helps you keep your focus so that you can conquer your goals without having to worry about adjusting your hair every like 5 minutes because it's not reliable.

16:16.69
Nicole
So it's just a better product for your hair that helps you just be more productive and live life better.

16:21.41
mike_flywheel
Well I want to learn more obviously I don't have long hair so this is going to be very foreign subject to me so I'm I'm willing to learn and understand it a bit better, but maybe let's let's start just with what's available on the market so you talk about 1 size fits all I imagine like. From my outside in perspective I assumed it was just like whatever holds it like these things are available everywhere from as cheap as the dollar store to the rubber band in my kitchen. But obviously there's more to it than that. There's probably tons of varieties. There's styles. But maybe the styles have functional elements.

16:48.43
Nicole
Yep.

16:56.69
mike_flywheel
Talk to me about like what are the things that existed before hairstrong and what drives people to use 1 style versus another style if if at all because I think that'll help us understand a little bit more about kind of where hairstrong fits into this category.

17:10.70
Nicole
Right? So within the hair accessories industry and it's primarily derived with Aesthetics. So How it makes something look and that was very hard for me to be okay with because for me I didn't care how it looked I needed it to work. Um, and so before Hairstrong there was like elastics ah like the rubber bands that you would see in your kitchen I actually use some of them to hold up my hair horrible idea anyone that has long hair knows how bad of an idea that is because it gets stuck and it just rips your hair out when you try to take it out. Um, but then there's some yeah.

17:43.58
mike_flywheel
Okay, so park the elastics no elastics.

17:48.22
Nicole
No, um, then there's like the hair ties that have a cotton um like I want to say layer on top of it So that doesn't rip your hair out as Much. Ah, but the problem with that is that the elastic you're only relying on the elastic to retain itself and so when you move it kind of comes out then. There was are these scrunchies with more fabric on the outside and this is aimed to like look nicer as well as decrease hair damage from the elastic pressure. So The fabric's on the outside to provide more of protection as well as like a nice aesthetic looking um accessory in your hair and then there are like clips. That instead of using like hair elastics or Scrunchies. You can go with a clip option. That's also an aesthetic based move or if you don't want the elastics secretor damage your hair. That's also an option and so what I found before I started Hairstrong is that none of these companies really focused on.

18:40.76
mike_flywheel
Oh.

18:41.32
Nicole
Function and it was more about the aesthetic and there were some lines that said holds up thick hair or added silicone or um, you tie it yourself, um, elastics but the problem was is that they still didn't hold up the hair because you're still relying on this elastic to retain its shape. And so you need another piece or an adjustable piece on it so that the elastic stays and that's what was missing and I saw there was a few options of like these different um brands or different things now with like toggles on them. But. They're not as strong and so they'll still slide out and so I was able to find something that could stay in could be squeezed tight so that it is reliable and that's the difference because you can have peace of mind knowing that Hairstrong will actually stay in your hair.

19:31.87
mike_flywheel
So you really started and worked backwards from the problem that you were experiencing which was the functional one in a category that is primarily started with function being the secondary motive other than maybe the elastics but those are damaging. So. Again, function was a missing piece. It did one function really? Well which maybe is held it really tight as tight as you could twist as many times I guess but it would damage your hair whereas the other ones looked good but you know function of hold it up was sort of that one size fits all that you that you talk about? Um. Have to imagine based on the fact that there's an element of style plus functionality. This category must be pretty large like I imagine most people don't just own one scrunchy or 1 hair tie or maybe they do and I guess that comes back to a little bit of like where does this fit for hair strong is this like. Consumers might buy multiple hairstrongs or does hairstrong save them from needing to buy multiple. What's sort of your take on that.

20:31.20
Nicole
So where I've placed myself is I'm replacing the one size fits all because our hair isn't the same size so we shouldn't have products expecting to fit all of us the same way and to trying to change. The expectations and the standard of what it means to hold up your hair and so right now within the industry you mentioned the cheap elastics and there can be scrunchies that are made for It's super cheap as well. But the mindset and the mentality behind that is like oh yeah, I'll buy this pack of 30 for ten bucks and I don't care if 1 goes missing or if 1 breaks because. I'll just buy another one and it doesn't matter. Um and the scrunchy is the same thing they can be made pretty for pretty cheap as well and like over time in elastic stretches. It loses its elasticity and inability to hold your hair and but you don't really mind and care that it's gone because you it was so cheap you you don't value it. And so with hair strong because they are more durable and they last a lot longer than your normal one size fits all that you could like you don't care about throwing up. It is priced higher and so my problem or like I guess like an opportunity to overcome is like. Actually changing the way consumers think about their hair accessories from something disposable and cheap and like you can feel it because it will slide out to something that is actually durable long lasting functional. Um, like one of my value props is that yeah it costs more to get.

21:57.70
Nicole
But you can expect the same level of hold since the first day you got it and that you can't expect out of others based on the nature of the elastic and how it stretches out and um so it's just like a different angle on it and instead of focusing on like purely aesthetics like oh this looks cute or this looks great. It actually gets the job done.

22:18.18
mike_flywheel
So. What's the what's the price point of Hairstrong relative to like what the other options are and I guess maybe give an example of like what a style-based um. Hair tie would be versus like obviously the cheap elastic sounds like it's like pennies on the dollar but like what's the spectrum and like where do you fit into this category.

22:36.14
Nicole
So towards um the hair ties hairastic it honestly varies depending on what company you get them from but I would say on average a pack of 30 is anywhere between 10 to $14 um Amazon scrunchies same thing like a pack of 30 could be like around ten bucks maybe and then as you get into like other brands that have branded ah hair products like Lou Lemon Nike um and other like bigger brands like that it does the price point is a bit higher so you'd get a pack of 3 from Lou Lemon for around like 20 to twenty five bucks um Nike same thing but they're still all one size fits all and then my product right now is priced 2 for 2 ah for 30 and then um, that's like our smaller size are like our everyday size and then our larger tougher size for very thick hair is 2 for 35 and so each is about 15 to seventeen fifty right so um it is a bit pricier but then when you do the math on the calculation on a per wear basis. It is still cheaper than buying the one offs.

23:43.89
mike_flywheel
Yeah, because it sounds like these 1 ne-offs are because they're treated as disposable. Um, you lose them all the time you forget them whereas this maybe because it's more functional. It falls out less. You keep it longer and you're probably spending the same if not. Far less when you just have the 1 item in it. What I actually and I don't even know maybe this is part of part of the angle you position but a couple episodes ago I had the founder of racks on here and they focus on the sustainability element of being able to rent out clothing and specifically dresses. Because of the waste and you know obviously what you're talking about here is also a waste problem if we buy things with the intent that they're going to be disposable from day zero and they aren't as functional. You're able to achieve functional and style and repeated use with far less waste. So I don't know is sustainability like a. Ah, core piece of something you're focusing on today as part of this obviously there's like the value versus use benefit which seems pretty clear to me as long as you're you know, willing to not treat these things as disposable but curious where that fits into to hairstrong's mission.

24:54.65
Nicole
When I first started I did emphasize that fact because I thought that that would ah be the driving factor as to why someone would purchase because of the price point. Um, but if when I started focusing on that it wasn't as. Um, effective as when I really focused on the function of it and that's what people are. That's why people are buying like yes, it reduces waste and it reduces the amount of time you go to the store and have to rebuy because yours breaks and it reduces the amount of frustration and the time spent adjusting here. All of that. Um, but the primary function is the reliability and the peace of mind that you get when you put this on like I had a bunch of people running in the toronto ah tsc marathon this past weekend running half Marathons full Marathons hair up and a bun not having to worry about it at all which is. Almost unheard of with regular other regular 1 ne-size fits all items.

25:50.29
mike_flywheel
I guess that makes sense because the sustainability element is really second to the 1 thing that you do uniquely different because like you were saying the bigger brands like a lululemon or a Nike it's reusable. So it reduces the waste problem. So maybe sustainability is similar there or actually any of the. You know, stylish ones could be used as long as you're not losing them and obviously the more you pay the more likely you are to not want to lose it. But when you focus on the first element. So I guess it's a complementary element to this, you're creating sustainability because. You're not throwing them out but you are focusing on solving the core issues. So maybe let's talk about how that actually works. Um, you know talk maybe bring us back to some of those things you were talking about earlier which were like the inspiration and I know we kind of covered it vaguely. But I I would love to understand like the. Why are there different sizes I guess you talked about like obviously thicker hair thinner hair but the variability of like what that is and then how that led to how you designed this or even some of the like the iteration processes.

26:55.73
Nicole
Yeah, so I think with the one size fits all approach with the other um things you see on the market. It's very cheap to just make 1 thing and keep producing it and then have it there just one size That's what's available and it it's it's called one size fits all but it doesn't. 1 size fits all well like it doesn't work. Well and so if you're okay with being okay with that standard of fitting then that's for you. But for people that really do care about having their hair back which mainly my target audience would be athletes. Um. People who go to the gym frequently or even jobs that require having your hair back all the time such as working within healthhealth care. Um, the police force firefighters um, any of those where you are required to keep your hair back. It is something that you deal with on a day to day basis and so. Not everyone wants to want cut their hair or wants to deal with that all the time and so with the different hair types there or like everyone um they have different There's different hair types lengths and textures and thicknesses and um, because of that this one size. Won't fit them all the same and so with hairstrong I created 2 different types of bands. So one has a toggle and I'll actually just show it to the camera I know you you won't be able to see it if you're just listening to this but the toggles on the yeah.

28:17.65
mike_flywheel
Yeah, but ah, eventually on the video people will be able to see. Yeah.

28:20.73
Nicole
The toggles on the outside and it's a little bit smaller and then this is just how the band looks so regular scrunchy would just look like this but mine has this Toggle that allows you to adjust it so you would loop it in your hair like any regular um band and then cinch that last little bit and that's.

28:29.00
mike_flywheel
Okay.

28:37.87
Nicole
What would hold your hair and would get the job done and even someone with thick hair could ah use this and still get the job done and keep their hair up. But if you're looking at someone who has very thick heavy hair and are doing high impact activities. They need something stronger so I created um this bigger size that has a toggle that. Hold has a stronger hold So The lasttic's less likely to move in between it and same thing you just like loop it as you would a regular um hair tie or elastic or scrunchy and then you just cinch it tight so that it stays put and so. Differences within this is that heavier hair needs more stability and secureness to hold up. So Even though both bands use a fortified bungee Cord. It's the Toggle that actually is ah what I recommend for different hair types styles and thicknesses because one requires more of a hold while the other one. Doesn't require as strong as a hold because there's not as much hair to hold up.

29:34.54
mike_flywheel
It's interesting like as you're showing it. It reminds me very much of like things that I would see or use when I go camping. Um, right, There's like the different and some are just cord based or string based some are elastic based I Guess the elastic allows like some. Movement in the tension. But the the cinching of it that me keeps it tight enough like I guess you couldn't have used rope because there and there's no movement and that would be Uncomfortable. You talked about Headaches. So I Guess that's sort of and is that what inspired you was like camping Gear. You talked about knots earlier. Okay.

30:01.27
Nicole
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, camping gear for sure because that's where I saw it main mainly there too. Um as well as yeah, there's like these shoes that you can just like tighten instead of tie the adjustableness on like the bottom of rain jackets that you cinch up close which I had for camping which is where I saw it. Um, and just yeah different things that I've experienced or seen in my life and just brought it into a hairband.

30:32.80
mike_flywheel
That's cool now How how long have you been doing this what stage you know you said this is largely you you've kind of outsourced bits of this but you've been able to grow it What what sort of how big is hairstrong and how many um do you have like Milestones of of. You're trying to attain it in terms of number of units sold your number of customers are not sure kind of what's the metrics you look at. Okay.

30:51.46
Nicole
Yeah, good question about metrics a lot and but to to answer the first part of that question I've been doing this right now for over 4 years. So I started selling first in July of 2019 right after I finished my undergraduate degree and. Have been doing this part time ever since and it's been tough because I've been alone doing it like I don't have a direct co-founder to share wins with or losses or keep each other accountable or just feeding off of other people's energy and that's what I thrive in but I had convinced myself that. I didn't need someone else for this to be successful and technically yes, that's technically true, but it sure is a lot more fun and easier with someone else there and like sharing the workload because you can go faster not faster. You can go further together and stronger. So in terms of like what I've been able to accomplish like. This is sold worldwide on the website which is really cool I've seen this product worn on athletes all over the world some in Australia some in New Zealand some in Europe um in the us in um, in Canada all over too. Um I've seen this product war. On professional olympic athletes like Bianca and drescu who ah wore the product for a ah tennis match last year very serendipitously. Um that happened because I could not afford to pay to sponsor an athlete like that. Um, at this stage i've.

32:20.38
mike_flywheel
But it's cool that organically it happened which kind of comes back to the point of you've created something that solves a problem for people when you have organic adoption like that from famous people like they don't have to.

32:22.39
Nicole
Ah, met so many? Yeah yeah, organically a win.

32:36.00
mike_flywheel
Wear something if they don't want and obviously had functional value for them which is super cool.

32:38.23
Nicole
Yeah, yeah, so very big when and um, other big wins that I like to really like reminisce on when I have my low moments is the number of incredible people that I've been able to meet because of this business. That I wouldn't have any like I guess in my opinion like any reason to connect with them without it and so ah getting into this Crossfit space. Really big recently I've been able to meet some amazing athletes that go to the games and have won the games and have been able to meet them and show them and they've worn the product. And it's just reminding myself of like the why because I I would say I'm patient but not towards my goals like I'm always hungry and I want to get there faster but it takes so much time when you're doing this bootstrapped. You don't have a lot of resources in time as well and so it's just resetting expectations and. Um, resetting what I define as success and so when you brought up metrics like some of my metrics like before was sales based but when I wouldn't hit them. It wasn't that I was failing or that I wasn't doing enough I just wasn't doing the right things and so I didn't Know. Didn't have the right metrics to measure the things that I was doing and so being able to learn that address that and be aware of that was huge and a huge turning point for me in my business and now like all this momentum is like picking back up and growing even further which is really cool.

34:07.66
mike_flywheel
That's super cool so you and like the like Tens hundreds thousands hundreds of thousands where where is hairstrong at in your journey. That's amazing.

34:13.55
Nicole
I'm in I'm in the tens of thousands I would like to get to hundreds of thousands next year and we just started on Amazon in June and that's been going really well in the states and through that I think I could get the velocity that I want for next year which would then mean I have different problems to solve that I'm very excited to try and tackle to.

34:37.47
mike_flywheel
So does that mean you know as piece of that is that you also starting to look at over the next twelve months expanding the team um to accelerate that are you still probably going to be a solopreneur in this space. Is it possible to be I guess it's because it's a product you you have certain things that. You know have efficiencies at scale. But I imagine you're bottlenecking on marketing and distribution and some of these elements so tell me about what the next year has in store for you and hairstrong. Okay.

35:05.59
Nicole
Yeah, so I am the bottleneck it's me but it was hard for the longest time when starting off ah to even get to the velocity that I am now because I've kept them handmade here in Canada for the first like 2 3 years. And so that was very expensive in terms of labor and what I didn't realize was the economics actually weren't good for an online ecommerce business based getting them handmade here and then we talked a little about about that sustainability angle. So I tried to play on that sustainability handmade angle beforehand. But the economics were just not there. People weren't willing to buy it and so um, what I found was like if there's a very big difference between having a good product and having a good business model with the product and I needed to make this into business that was feasible so that I can grow my own team and can grow this and and build the brand.

35:39.20
mike_flywheel
And.

35:55.80
Nicole
And so I have different parts that I work with different teams I have I have people helping me with my Amazon storefront which is amazing I have people who are fulfilling the orders that I get online at ah at a fulfillment center and everything else I would love help on like marketing that would be the next step in terms of the next year because that's just such a huge. Piece and 1 content creation telling the story telling the story consistently and effectively um that I just don't have the bandwidth to increase because again I I'm limited by my time and so I think after getting the velocity up on Amazon getting sales out that can then fuel the rest of the business. To then grow the online channels to grow the marketing to grow the um space and the brand within fitness but also outside of fitness. So the jobs that I'd mentioned like the police forest firefighters health care workers like everyone that needs their hair up, not just in the gym setting but in the day to day life setting as well.

36:48.65
mike_flywheel
Yeah, because you can start to set up like Channel partnerships in a way right? So like the police force has incentive to bring this to their you know workers at a certain discount or deal. But now you've got a distribution channel.

37:03.60
Nicole
Yeah.

37:05.47
mike_flywheel
Um, which is pretty cool so it does sound like you're going to start investing in these additional things which is impressive like you had to go figure out distribution fulfillment centers Amazon all these things. So it's cool that you figured a whole bunch of it out or you were able to find people to help you in those pieces. Um, for others and I think what's cool is you're a bit different in that you've got a a physical product I've had some people that are service-based some people that are tech-based platforms. Um I think it's really cool to hear a product-based solution and some of the challenges you've had and and you know you having. Necessarily been the bottleneck and some of that. But also the distribution elements of it and the channels and the marketing and why that's so important in this. But do you have any like big tips from this journey for others going down a similar path I guess one if someone's looking at physical product. And creating something innovative to distribute physical product like what are some pieces of advice and then just generally on your journey as a kinesiology student turned entrepreneur now working at a startup and being an entrepreneur like what's like your advice for others.

38:19.41
Nicole
I will always harp on this fact of like you will do your the biggest investment you could make in this business or like in anything is investment in yourself and when I started taking my own um journey or my own skill set. My own knowledge everything seriously, that's when I saw the most movement within my business because if you're by yourself or with you're with 1 partner or 2 the business is a reflection of you and what you can get done and so if you aren't able to reach a certain milestone. Look internally first because it might be a skillset that you don't have but you also have to be aware of that and so at the beginning I think I had this nativity I think if I'm pronouncing that right that I'm like yeah I can be successful on my own I don't need I'm fine I don't need to work on myself like I can just get it done I'll figure it out and that's great and that and that. Um, mentality is great. But if I'm working on the wrong things I'm not actually moving forward I'm I'm not even moving sideways I'm probably moving backwards because it could be time spent somewhere else and so there's this big, very big ignorance debt. That you have to be willing to pay off to realize you what you don't know and being able to either pay for that knowledge or being able to pay for it with your time which is to learn it yourself.

39:42.80
Nicole
And so when I started investing myself getting to know like my weaknesses my strengths how I work best how I don't work. Best I was able to set up an environment and systems around my life that brought out the best in me so that I could then grow this business into what I wanted to be. And then another component of that is like my goals and like where I see myself in 105 years I don't believe that a business is just there to make money or like to fund the life that you want I think if you're going to spend forty to eighty hours on it. It is your life. So why not make it something that you want to do in that. You um, are very proud of doing and very like you are motivated and driven to see this work and I think with this job as an entrepreneur some of the downsides is that one you don't really have a clear direction on where to go even if you have other businesses that you look up to there. Resources their skill set the time that they went into the market are all very different so. There aren't very like clear standards or clear benchmarks of what to hit and so you have to kind of make those for your own and so I found myself always in this constant like circle of I don't know what I'm doing and I thought that was a bad thing but it's not It's part of the. Job and it's part of this game of business of being an entrepreneur and um so I really had to ask myself is this the problem that I want in my life of being uncertain all the time of doubting myself and the answer is yes because that's what challenges me to grow.

41:10.39
Nicole
And so a lot of people will try to so like see you'll see like the glory of being an entrepreneur on all like the fun or like what you could get out of it. But most people leave because of the downsides and the problems. But if you don't mind the problems and if you're good at handling those problems then that's. Why you'll thrive not because of the upsides but because of the downsides as well.

41:28.90
mike_flywheel
I Love that I Love the concept of like the debt which is either time energy or money it could be all 3 potentially and and how you crawl back from that and so where and how do you ask for help from others but then I love that you contrasted it with. You can ask for help from others and you do want to go on this continuous learning journey. But at the end of the day as an entrepreneur part of the role of an entrepreneur is figuring stuff Out. There's still going to be elements that cannot perfectly be solved from outside perspective and advice. Those can help you go faster and maybe reduce some of that debt but at the end of the day only you are solving that unique problem at that unique time and that unique market and all those things can be different. So I Love that you contrasted those 2 which is you you definitely want to seek the advice and support and help of others as you learn and grow. But know that it's not going to solve all the problems. You shouldn't be asking for Answers. You should be asking for advice I Love how you kind of phrase that up.

42:23.13
Nicole
That was yeah I feel like you said like summarrise that so well like I feel like you said it but I did.

42:28.99
mike_flywheel
no no no I'm just kind of playing it back for myself so that I'm I'm learning which is why I love doing these? Um Nicole. Thank you so much for for joining on on pitch. Please today. It was cool to talk about a product that obviously I know nothing about I don't use 1 and so. You know you were probably wondering how I would stay interested and curious for as long as I did but I genuinely love to understand every business that is trying to do cool stuff in canada from products to services to software um on your side any closing thoughts or things or pieces of advice. You want to kind of share with our audience.

43:05.83
Nicole
Um, other than what I just shared I think that um being okay with uncertainty and being okay with being uncomfortable like ya's scary. But it's not not normal and the people that you see that are doing the thing. It's not that they don't have those same insecurities and their same fears. They just don't let those fears and those insecurities dictate their behavior.

43:30.15
mike_flywheel
Makes total sense now if people are looking to get their own hair strong. Where should they go and is there any final closing help that you would like as you try to continue to grow hair strong and impact the world around you.

43:44.61
Nicole
Well, if you want your own bands if you're in Canada I do have them listed on my website hairstrong.c and if you're in the Us and want them next day they're on amazon.com but there are more colors on my actual website so you can still order from the Us on my website and um and and. Terms of help like I'm looking for retailers I'm looking for um, spokespeople for the brand. So if anyone here is interested or knows of anyone that would be interested. Please connect with me either on Linkedin or through my website I would absolutely love that.

44:16.52
mike_flywheel
That's amazing and we'll make sure all that stuff's in the show notes Nicole. Thanks again for joining today and to everyone that tuned in. Thanks again for listening to pitch please.