340. Raw and Real Entrepreneurship: Embracing Pivots and Confronting Disappointments with Lori Harder

Susan Sly 00:00
Hey everyone, Susan here. I hope you are crushing your day today. In this episode, it is like being sort of a, you know, that person who gets to see two really close friends have a raw unreal conversation. So my guest today is Lori Harder. Lori has founded three seven figure companies. Her podcast is the Earn Your Happy podcast, they've had over 65 million downloads. 11 times she's been on the cover of fitness magazines. And she's a best selling author. On top of everything Lori just pivoted from one business and launched her newest venture called Gloci, and we're going to talk about pivot, we are going to talk about disappointing people, that sense of dread that you're going to let people down. What it's like when you have to very publicly tell your investors and your friends that something isn't working, and you need to do something differently. And so this episode is pretty raw and pretty real as Lori and I sit down and talk about all of the emotional challenges that are, that one is faced with when they're going through this situation. And our hope is that it will give you permission, whatever is going on in your life. If you're thinking of pivoting from being an employee to entrepreneur, if you are looking for permission to pivot in your business, or maybe it's a life pivot, it's not even related to entrepreneurship, I know you are going to be excited about this episode. And before we get into the episode, Lori is masterful at personal branding. And as a founder, especially if you are building something that is a business to consumer in building up your tribe, your followers, your community is huge. And that's why having a personal brand, which includes your videos, how your banner appears, your website, all of that is key. And a lot of people say well, I don't even know where to start. So I have an agency that I founded called the Agency8 and it is an agency for people just like you, is dedicated to founders, we can spin up a personal website for you, we can do a LinkedIn branding package for you, we can do videos for you. And if you use the code rare, r a r e, you can get 50% off our LinkedIn basics branding package that is going to get you started with that one. And please reach out, my team over there would love to speak to you and help you get started with your branding. So with that, let's go ahead and come on in as Lori and I get raw and real about the pivot.

Susan Sly 02:50
This is Raw and Real Entrepreneurship, the show that brings the no nonsense truth of what is required to start, grow and scale your business. I am your host, Susan Sly.

Susan Sly 03:04
So Lori, it has been a minute since we have caught up. We were just, we should have been recording it because we were having total girlfriend chat before this. And I'm like, you have a show to do. Let me just jump right in. I mean, congratulations, like you are crushing it with what many people are calling your new venture, which isn't exactly a new venture, it was a pivot. So like, let's like, firstly, please give an update because the last time you were here on the show you were getting, you had pivoted but things weren't public yet. So where's the company now?

Lori Harder 03:44
Oh, so we are, we did an incredible presale, which we're so excited about. We are about to do a relaunch, which is awesome. We got more product in so we're very excited. So we're about a couple of weeks removed from our full pre launch, but by the time our launch, but by the time this airs, we will be launched which is very exciting. But as you know, I think that some of the, you know some of the best companies in the world, it's given me so much just like, freedom around this conversation. Some of the best companies in the world have not started as what they originally were. And that is, you know, this new company that I have that's called Gloci, it did not start as Gloci. It started as something completely opposite, pre-pandemic, and like a lot of different companies, when the pandemic hit, we lost our margins, you know, co packing, manufacturing all these different things shut down and not just that. Prices all went up and all of a sudden I was left with a company that I had raised $2 million for from 54 incredible female investors that I did not have any margins left in this company and it was a decision where I had to say, Do I need to go raise 10 million more dollars to get this thing out in the world, which was an alcohol company and a non company, and I ended up talking to an expert in that industry. And she literally gave it to me straight. She was like, you either need to raise 10 million more dollars, or you need to decide to do something else. And that was a really pivotal moment that I'm sure we'll talk about. So many feels, so many emotions, to get to a place where now I am clear that this is where we've always been meant to be. That feels insanely exciting, aligned. And I just, I'm so happy, excited, thrilled at where we're at right now.

Susan Sly 05:39
And it's so evident Lori, too with Gloci because even on social media, or, like, I don't even know how long we've known each other now, like, I was just trying to think about this.

Lori Harder 05:50
I think it's been, because we were just talking about how long we had been in network marketing. I think it's like 14 or 15 years.

Susan Sly 05:57
Yeah. Maybe longer, I don't know. I feel like it was like, pre recession or in and around there, '06 like, anyway. So there's this sense, you know, with certain friends that I just can pick up on, you know, when I see them in a video or whatever, it's like, they're happy, like they are, I can tell they're happy and, and that pivot for you. And to see you, you know, in your power with Gloci with all of the marketing, which is incredible. And in full disclosure, because I have to disclose, so I am an investor in the company, to see, you know, the pre launch to watch on Instagram, and just to see your heart in it. And I was like, Oh my gosh, like I, and you know, we knew it was coming but to see you actually execute on it. And you are, you know, you travel all over the world, you run incredible summits for women, you are considered a mentor for women. I want to jump in right there. How did you know, forget like anyone saying, Hey, you have to go raise more money, How did you know that you were out of alignment with a trajectory you were going before?

Lori Harder 07:17
There were many things. You know, I think an obvious one first, because I think there's a lot of you know, in business and in life, I think especially women in business, there's actually a lot of feelings and intuition that I think go into a lot of our decisions. But there was a, there was some obvious things that started happening where I had the realization that when you are looking into what business you want to start, there are other things that you should look into outside of, oh, this is something I love. This is what I'm passionate about, I could see these different things happening. You know, I think the first realizations were, oh, my zone of genius and what I'm good at doesn't match with how this thing can actually be marketed. And I didn't realize that until I was in like going down the road of this realizing all of the red tape, and how many things legally I was not capable of doing because it was an alcohol company. So that was my first moment of weight. I'm not in alignment with my zone of genius, and how this can actually be put out in the world. Because Susan, I'm like you. I'm a relationship person. I mean, we have done really well in network marketing for many reasons. And you know, one of the things that I had visions of with this company was, I know how to build community, and I know how to activate women. Well, I can't really activate women, if we're not allowed to have certain, you know, can't really have influencers advertise, they can't say certain things about, you can't promote alcohol in certain ways. You can't pay people for promoting alcohol. And so I was like, well, that really just threw a wrench in what I'm good at. So the first thing was the realization of looking at what my zone of genius is, and does that match up with what this company was. And then I think the next thing was, I don't know if this happened for you, but I think it happened for many of us, I'm sure it did. But the pandemic did something to all of us. I think it, it really either awakened you to why you're here and what you want to be doing or to what you don't want to be doing anymore. And for me one of those answers was a lot of people in my community, including myself, I just wasn't drinking as much. I was getting a lot more clear. I was you know, wanting to really focus more on health and helping women build businesses. And so the company that I had initially started no longer was starting to feel really aligned with where this community was going. Susan, a lot of my investors literally wrote me during this time going, Hey, I probably won't be able to like, say as much about this company as I want, because I'm not drinking anymore, and it doesn't align with where I'm at. And I was like, this is not working the way that I had planned. So I was getting just all of these different external pings on top of it not, you know, on top of the numbers not working out anymore, that maybe this wasn't the direction that we should continue to force this to go because I am that girl that tell me I can't do it. And I'm like, I'm gonna figure it out. I'm gonna force it. And there were, you know, I just, there were these points where all the signs were coming that you should not force this anymore. You should look at something else.

Susan Sly 10:42
Yeah. And I love that you trusted that, because it, and we're gonna talk about those. It's, it was a very self actualizing place to be, right? And I had Jen Pelka on the show, the co founder of Unne Femme wines. As a disclosure, I also invested in that company. But Jen came out of the wine business, and she owned champagne bars in New York. And so she had these connections. And so when she and her brother Zach spun up Unne Femme, they had the connections, they understand the packaging, they had already white labeled their own champagne, like all of these hurdles, and I kept thinking about back to our conversation, all of the things you would have to learn. And I think sometimes for entrepreneurs, we discredit what we already know. And that is a, it's something I see that is so prevalent, especially in women, where it's like, you know, wait, you know that, you know that. And there was a study that came out of MIT, this illustrating that most successful founders, actually are not the people writing the code. They are not the ones formulating the glossy, patented formula, like they don't, they're not those people, but they understand the problem. And they understand the market and they understand, like you said, your zone of genius, they understand what that is for them. When you look back now, from this place of I have freacking got this like and not you know, as women too. It's like when we are like we've got this, people might say, Oh, well, you know, she's, you know, arrogant. We're not arrogant, we're starting. So when you're in this place now where you're certain, you see it, you get it, you know how to market this, you know how to build community, you understand, you understand MRR, you understand customer acquisition, retention, all of those things. So looking back, and I know you live with no regrets like I do, but what advice would you give to Lori as she was deliberating the pain of pivoting?

Lori Harder 12:53
During the pivot like right, dead center? Okay, what advice would I give her? First of all, I would say, go talk to someone who has had to pivot faster, like, really go and talk about what that looks like and and relieve yourself of thinking you're the only one who has had to do this or have these hard conversations. And, you know, while I did eventually go into that, I wish I would have done that a month prior. Because for the, you know, 30 days of feeling like you're a failure, and what is this going to look like? And how are you even going to have this conversation where if I could have called someone right away, if I would have called somebody right away who maybe I, really anyone in business has probably had to do this, who started a company like mine, if I would have had that conversation, what would have happened was what happened when I finally had the conversation. And in a matter of an hour, it made me feel like, okay, so big deal, do the next thing because you just learned this lesson, here's how you're going to deliver it and you know, nothing was wasted, you're going to take all of these lessons into this other company, it's going to start so much faster, you're going to start something that's going to be more in your zone of genius. So it's those moments from other people and other founders, that they can take something that could have derailed you, that could have totally put you under or that could be, you know, months of this company money that you are using, and it could have totally accelerated and collapsed, accelerated the timeframe and collapsed your fears around that.

Susan Sly 14:30
Was there something that you feared would happen with a pivot that didn't happen? And you look back now and go, Man that occupied a lot of my thinking, but it didn't actually end up happening.

Lori Harder 14:42
I mean, for me, it's always been disappointing people. I thought I was gonna have a lot of upset, disappointed people. You know, in my 2am, for multiple months when I'm fantasizing about the horribleness that's about to happen. I just, that first investor letter, Susan, where I had just say, like what I was doing. I just like prayed over it. And I was like, Please God, like, let this, let the women feel the next vision and like, know that they invested in someone good, who's willing to see that this wasn't going well. And I'm going to do the best that I possibly can to like, steer the ship. And so I think that, definitely, it's, and I think this is probably for a lot of people. We fear disappointing people, because what does that mean? Especially if you're a big dreamer and a big visionary, if you disappoint people, will they be there when you need them next time? Will people, will you be able to have a next time? And that's really where I went when it was like deep and dark is like, if I fail at this, I may never get to have another dream into a dreamer that felt like death. It actually felt like, it felt like a death. So I think in my worst fears, I was like mourning the loss of having dreams again, and I didn't know who I was without that. Yeah, and I really was so afraid of disappointing people.

Susan Sly 16:10
Yeah. And when you have investors, it's different than when you are gritty or, you know, bootstrapping it. And then the only person you're disappointing is you. It's a whole different come from, and I hear you. When I when I left Radius, there was this angst and I wasn't sleeping. And then on top of it, it was written about in the media, because there are so few female co founders in artificial intelligence, and my weird sort of slice of that pie, being in computer vision at the edge, right. And so it was all over the media. And then my inbox is blowing up, people are texting me. And I'm like, you know, and before I even open them, I was going there in my mind, like, am I letting people down? You know, and it was amazing how supportive people were. And then I had people go, it's about time. And as my new company was launched, and that was also in the media. And I even had men messaging me going, Susan, when is the platform available for my wife? And so it was this, you know, and I, and I look back on it, Lori, and I remained in pain too long, because I was sort of in the story, to your point that I was going to let people down. And I'm like, Why did I stay in that place? Like, why?

Lori Harder 17:40
It's literally making me emotional right now, because I hope people listen to this, because I don't believe you have to go through that journey to learn the lesson. Like I don't think you have to do that portion alone to learn the lesson. Because, yes, of course, it feels terrible to fail at something. But also, it's not, absolutely looking back, is not a failure. And I don't believe that I would have come to this place with this vision. And Susan, you may not be at this place with your vision if it wasn't for that huge chunk of a puzzle piece. It's not all for loss. None of it ever is. And what is it called? Like, is it sunk cost fallacy, is that what it's called? Like, so many of us get caught in the oh my goodness, I can't leave or I can't pivot. And we just because we have put so much time and effort and energy in our belief and other people's belief. So we just keep going down this path that is no longer the path. lLike it was meant to be the start, but it wasn't the end.

Susan Sly 18:42
Yeah, I love that. And it's this, the grieving piece, right, Lori? I think about Elisabeth Kubler Ross the stages of death and dying. And as grieving and I was, I was listening to John Deloney's podcast, and this woman had called in, and she was saying, she was talking about a relationship and he said to her, and I will not forget this. He said, you're grieving something that doesn't exist. And I went, Oh, my gosh, right. And that grieving of the what if, you know, what if and it's you can't drive that, you know, you and I have had this conversation too. You can't drive 100 miles an hour and be looking your rear rearview mirror doesn't exist. So grieving a what could have been. And we had, one of the founders I had on the show, she's specializing in fertility and doing really cool things with technology and fertility. And she said that as well. She had had seven miscarriages, I think in like, a span of seven months. It was just like, so you know, I forgive me, I know someone's gonna be emailing me and have the right data and I love you for that. Thank you, but you know, she's, she's, she's going through this, and the grief and the grief and the grief. And from there, she ends up doing research and she ends up figuring it out and biohacking herself and then starting this company and they have this test and she's like, all these women are writing in with baby photos now. And to your point, it's that going through that process of that self actualization. I'm not in alignment, something's not right. This shouldn't feel so hard. Right?

Lori Harder 20:33
I mean, I just kept thinking, everyone tells me this is so hard. I guess this is it. But it was nothing was moving. Like nothing was moving, which was the, the strangest feeling because Susan, we both come from, like, we come from backgrounds where, whether it's that we started in fitness or network marketing, we can think about things and see them physically, like we can make things move, you know, we can create results. And I was even use to it. Let's even go back to the fitness world. Like, I knew that results took time. But I'm like, Okay, everyone, I'm a year and a half, two years, and I should see something. And so that was an interesting lesson. Now I get asked a lot. How do you know, when enough is enough? Like how do you know when you should pivot? And I still, you can't answer this question black and white. There's not a moment because yes, business and companies, they're all hard. And I do think you will have times where nothing does feel like it's moving. But I also think that you should, like you should be able to access the excitement again, like you should be able to access the vision again. And you should be able to like, see the vision for the end, like maybe even the middle, see the vision for the middle. I couldn't, the vision had stopped like it had stopped coming to me to the point where, you know, I believe in God, I know people listening God universe, all the things. I was like, are you still up there? Because I haven't heard from you in like a solid year. And this is very abnormal. So like I said, there's no clear answer. But looking back now I can kind of connect those dots looking backward, like the Steve Jobs quote, and like, Oh, lots of things intuitive, intuitively had shut off for me, that are normally always on in my life. And I was not getting a vision anymore, no matter how much I meditated. I couldn't see how this was going to get bought, or get sold or like what that end pathway was going to be. I wasn't feeling excited, it was feeling so hard and so heavy. And I know that when I'm in that energy, I can't attract, I can't be the magnet for this company. And I believe that you know, as the founder as CEO, like you really need to get right and learn how to react just that no matter what you need to do, because that is what is going to pull people, you know, toward the vision of the company along with a million other things. But that's like, so pivotal is to have that person who's able to feel that.

Susan Sly 23:15
And you said it felt so hard no matter. And you are a woman who has a very full toolbox of tools that you can use to discern, is this really hard or is it that I'm in the wrong headspace and how do I turn that around? And then suddenly things open up. But when it's so hard and you said so heavy, and that feeling of that intensity, and that the question, you know, for me when I'm in that space is always okay, Is it me or is it my perception of something? And if it's me, then I'm going to shift whatever it is I'm doing. But if it's my perception of something, then I need that perception shift. And that's when calling on the network, getting the advice and making sure the people that you are reaching out to are qualified to give advice. Because a lot of people take advice from people who were not qualified to give advice whatsoever. And similar in the Wall Street Journal, periodically, they would have someone's personal board of directors. Like these are the people who you go to and they have different sort of, I guess they have, they have different areas of expertise. So who are some of the people on your board of directors? Your personal board of directors.

Lori Harder 24:38
One who has helped me through this entire thing, he really helped me fundraise as well is a guy named Bill Glazer and he had, we had met him through a mastermind but then invested in a foods company that he does. He does vegan snack foods. It's called Outstanding Foods. And you know, one of the reasons that the company had started is because I went to a dinner are with him and I had never heard women speak, like my women groups outside of you, Susan honestly, like, speak in the way that he was about raising money and you know who can do it and all of these different things and he really empowered me and so he has been the person that I would have never been able to do this without for sure. So him, my husband, for sure. Biggest cheerleader, but also biggest like, kick in the pants reality check type of guy.

Susan Sly 25:29
Well he comes from banking too. I mean he has, he has such a, I adore your husband's, like how he sees things. And he is very much able to, he's a heart guy. But he's also the kind of guy who's able to look at a p&l and able to look at something very logically. And yeah, so shout out to Chris Harder.

Lori Harder 25:50
Oh, so good. I mean, Susan, you're asking the wrong person this question because there's like 20, who I really relied on. My girlfriend, Lindsey Schwartz, who held so much space for me and so many fitness girl walks, I can't even tell you to cry, and be like, I don't know, if I'm the person who can do this. What are people going to think? What are my investors gonna think? And she really kicked me back in the game, so many, multiple months. And that's been, that's been vital, but I could, I could keep going on forever. But I, my network has been the entire reason that I have been able to do anything that I've done.

Susan Sly 26:28
Yeah, absolutely. And that, that piece of it, Lori is so huge, because the, I think that a lot of people, like one of the things I did, you'll appreciate this. So when I left, I was looking at my LinkedIn, like, whatever followers on my personal, you know, thing, and now I'm looking at who I'm engaging with, and I'm looking at who's engaging with me. And then I said, Okay, you know, what, I have been so focused here, and building this company, as a co founder, I am going to open myself to whomever, whatever that aligns. And you said, God, so I prayed on like, God, okay, I have been so rigid. I've been rigid in my body, I'm not sleeping, I'm grinding my teeth. Like all of this stuff. I was spending so much money every week between the chiropractor, the acupuncturist, massage therapist, and you know, you're out of alignmentnwhen you've got an ist for everything. And it's like, you're still not sleeping. And so I was like, Okay, I'm just gonna be open. And it was amazing because within a couple of days of that statement, that just these friends, connections, people I didn't really know that well reaching out on LinkedIn. Oh, I saw your post. Congratulations on your new company. Do you want to go for coffee? I'm like, Yeah, let's go for coffee. Let's talk, and all of these doors began opening. And going back to this piece of when we're shut down, when things are feeling hard, we're not, we're closing off a completely abundant superhighway of just amazing opportunity, because we're just not open because we're so focused on, to your point, disappointing people.

Lori Harder 28:17
Yep. It's a real energy. And it, it is absolutely insane how the second that I, I pivoted, and I put it all out there, because there was no other option. I couldn't live the way I was living. I'm like, I have to just be so real about where I'm at. Because in order to get ahead, you have to be vulnerable. You have to say where you're actually at. I've never been able to succeed by lying about where I'm at. You can't get the help that you actually need. So it was like, the moment that I wrote that letter, said where we're at, also that you know, we're pivoting and just kind of like was ready for whatever came back, like to embrace whatever came my way, even if it was challenging, every door open. Like, it felt like I had been climbing up Mount Everest with 100 pound pack on my back and like, I just got to take it off and run downhill. And yes, there have been challenges, but they haven't felt like the same type of challenge. They feel like fun challenges that yes, it pushes me to my edge. Yes, I have to figure things out. But when it's in alignment, there's an energy that you get, that you'll receive that will help you get through everything. It doesn't feel like a trudging, I don't feel exhausted. I don't feel like I don't know how I'm gonna like, muster up pretending to be excited about something. It's a real treat. It's like a plug in Susan, like you're plugging into something outside of you, that keeps charging you and getting you through tough stuff.

Susan Sly 29:55
Absolutely. And I think about it, you know, you know how to move millions and millions and millions of dollars of CPG wellness products monthly. Like this is not, this is like, it's just so not out of that wheelhouse whatsoever. So, like you said, the challenges that arise are like, okay, yeah, it's a challenge and you know, whatever, but it's not really anything that you haven't been party to, or you don't understand or whatever. Okay, so there's a, you know, a manufacturing issue, or there we had a, you know, whatever it is, you know, you're like, Okay, I've encountered that before, I've been perhaps in a different part of that. But as distribution as opposed to manufacturing, but I get it conceptually, it's not, you know, whatever. And that, and that is so liberating to wake up and to go, Yes, I understand this. I was speaking, I got a text from a former employee who's now an LP at a venture fund. He's like, Oh, you know, we're really interested in The Pause, and I'm, like, cool. You know, like, that's great. I'm getting a lot of these messages from investors. And, you know, I'm like, but I understand this. I understand how to build community, I understand why women are suffering, I understand how they're suffering. I understand MRR. Like, these are not complicated concepts. I understand how to market, how to build a list, how to, you know, do all of these things. And then I also understand how to build an AI platform. So you know, okay, right. And if you threw me into something I'd never done before, like clothing manufacturing, you probably feel hard.

Lori Harder 31:39
Yes. How does this all work? Where does this begin?

Susan Sly 31:45
Yeah, no. So how many, how many employees do you have now?

Lori Harder 31:50
We are working with a lot of contractors, which is what we want to do in the beginning, I actually got some really incredible advice that I want to share. I have a girlfriend who runs an incredible company. They went from zero to, it's a skincare company, but they went from zero to 25 million in five years, which is pretty darn good. And she, I've been going to her for tons of advice, because we're kind of in the same arena right now, especially with how we're doing it and they're full D2C. But I've been talking to her just about hiring and when I bring different people on the team, and she was like, we wouldn't hire anybody full time unless they came on as a, like a contractor first, no matter who they were. No matter if they said, Nope, I absolutely have to be hired full time, like this is, you know, this is what I need. And they were like, Okay, well, we can't work together then. She said majority of them bent. And we're willing to come on fractional, fractionally. So we actually have everybody fractionally right now because we just don't need full time roles and everything yet. So I can imagine this next year is going to change a lot. But that has been so incredibly amazing. Because we already have gone through, you know, with certain people like a couple different teams in the beginning, because they've come on for three months. And we're like, oh, this is great. It got us here. Like we have teams that literally got us through pre launch. But we can see, by getting to work together, they're not going to be the people for full launch. So right now full time, it's literally just me and someone else or one other person, Lauren, who's freaking amazing, director of operations. But we have a fractional CFO, we have an incredible email marketing team. We're doing, Yeah, many other people as well.

Susan Sly 33:36
Yeah, it's so smart. And I'm doing the same thing too. So everyone's coming out as a contractor. The other thing I did differently this time is advisers have to be investors. If you're not an investor, you're not an advisor. So our Medical Advisory Board, they're all investors. Everyone who has a C level role, myself included, is an investor. So that way, when, when I'm sharing what it is we're doing, whether it's, you know, to a potential investor, or a potential collaborator, I can say that with all certainty that everyone has skin in this game. And so because it's a different come from when you're saying yeah, I'm gonna make a call or whatever. I advise different startups and I have equity, but I invest as well. So it's, I have skin in that game too. So that we made, I made a, I actually learned that from Kieran O'Brien who's been on the show a few times because Kieran's already sold two companies. He's 24. He's on his third now. And Kieran and I went hiking Lori, at Phoenix mountain preserve where you and I went hiking. And I said to him, you know, what did you learn, what are you doing differently? And I thought that was, that was brilliant because so many people will advise, but the, you know, on the exit, they're getting a significant checkck, but they really didn't do anything. Right. So that was something I did different. I'm going to share with you a stat I learned today because I know you'd like to learn. You're ready for this one?

Lori Harder 35:09
Yes.

Susan Sly 35:10
So there was a, this is from a show that I did with the founder of, of Fundify. And so Josh, he previously fun founded art.com, they were doing $300 million a year, they sold to Walmart. He gave me the statistic today, and I'll share it with everyone. So that a company that has an advisor that works with the company twice a month, yields for investors, on average, a 38% return.

Lori Harder 35:48
Wow.

Susan Sly 35:49
But a company with no advisors yields only about a 7% return for the company. And so essentially, you know, we all want that that company we invest in and you know, we put in our money, and we want to 10x, 100x or whatever. But this is a study of something like, I have to look and see, it's like something like 90,000 startups.

Lori Harder 36:14
Wow. You know, what's so cool about that is, well, this is why sharing information and podcasting, and why women really need to work together. It's is, like I would not have known, of course advisor, but the frequency is so important. I would have never known that I could, now I can go and say if I, when I go and do my advisory board, I can literally say, here's what I need and here's why. If you're interested, this is what this looks like. That's powerful, where typically, and honestly, Susan, I feel like, you know, especially the women that I talk to, and I know this isn't everyone, but we're not great at asking. So it can feel you know, we could have an advisor and be like, Oh, can I tap on them maybe once every six months? Oh, can I ask you something, where, yes, even though it's your advisory board now to understand the frequency of No, this is twice per month, you get to sit down, look at your business, get this amazing advice or information. That's powerful.

Susan Sly 37:19
The other thing that, thank you for that. I know, I was like, Oh, that was a good one. I'm gonna you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna take from that one for sure. The other thing too, from the vantage point of board, like, you know, I've been very vocal on LinkedIn. I will talk about as much as possible, like Open AI doesn't even have one woman on their board. And our generation is giving birth to AI. So when you want to have like, women on your board, we give birth, you know, anyway. But talking about board, right, and the board matters. And a lot of founders, you know, it's like, Okay, I'm gonna put my friends on the board and just this group of people. And that's all well and good until there's a board coup. And you never really, there was a someone, someone, Amy Robach was just quoted to say, you never really learned about someone until you divorce them. I would say you never really learned about someone until you do business with them. So how are you forming your board of directors?

Lori Harder 38:20
Well, right now, I'm waiting in all honesty. And, yeah, I'm just, I don't, especially since we pivoted, I need to learn more about who we are in the market and what our needs are. And that's where I'm at right now is, I got some advice, again, from Bill Glazer who was like, you know, I would just hold for the first like, year, and you can use your, I do have a unique situation where a lot of my close friends either have companies or I've got an incredible network. So I'm tapping on people frequently. In fact, like, twice a month feels like the rate in which I'm saying, can we come together and look at this. But until I actually fully feel like I have this year in front of me of who am I, what are we, that's when we're gonna start chatting about it.

Susan Sly 39:10
And that's samrt. And the biggest thing too, like, I've learned so much about startups over the years and founding and I feel like, the show, I've interviewed like 360 founders, and so many things that I've learned and I'm like, I felt too, Lori, like coming out of the starting gate of this one, I'm like, oh, yeah, I just know how to do this, this, this, this, and it was like this checklist and my co founder, Mia, she's like, how do you know what to do? I'm like, Well, between my own experience, and 360 interviews, it's like I knew exactly what I need to do. Like this is a step, this is a step, right? And, and even for your pivot, because you had gone through everything with LitePink, the pivot, you knew the steps, which I think everyone should understand. So let me I know we're coming to the end of this and Lori, and I can keep talking forever. But let's talk about Gloci, the product. Because, you know, we want everyone to give it a try, like, explain what is it? Who is it for? Like, Yeah.

Lori Harder 40:21
Amazing, I'm so excited about the product because I created it for me and my friends. It really was out of a need that I had. And then that I went into a bunch of groups, I have a lot of girlfriends who either run really big, kind of like, like memberships who have, like 5000 Women on them, 10,000 women in these different groups. And I had gone through and ask them to put surveys in of what they were looking for with different things. And I got really, really specific. So we got like 15,000 answers back, which was so cool from our exact demographic that we wanted to work with. So with that said, Gloci is, is essentially a skin routine you can drink. So it is all ingredients that, you know are created and formulated to help the skin. It really goes after the skin gut access, which is now starting to get studied, which is so exciting. It's actually a really exciting year for us, because they are starting to do all of the clinical studies on the skin gut access. So we'll have a lot of, a lot more proof, which is really cool. I think this is the next wave. And I feel like we're on the very front end of it. But we've known this for years. Susan, you and I, especially in the fitness world or anyone who's into wellness, what you put in is going to show up in your skin for sure. And so it is, we have an incredible probiotic that is clinically studied that's proven to survive your gut. We have prickly pear which has, which has, it's considered technically a prebiotic, we have magnesium, we have zinc, we have hyaluronic acid. It's, we have coconut water powder, which all of these ingredients, not only are good for your skin, it's funny because we're writing copy right now for everything. And we're actually finding it so challenging to talk about one thing that each ingredient is good for, because they're, it's good for 10 things. So yes, we went after the skin, but the side effect is wellness. Like there's so many great things that are happening inside of your body when you take these different ingredients. I mean, vitamin C alone, so many women don't know that you actually have to have vitamin C present in your body for your body to create its own collagen. And so many people are not getting any vitamin C. I'm like, Oh my God, you have to create your own collagen. There's a lot of different things that are, that are going to help you with your skin from the inside out. Because so many women are focusing only on topical. And we have this saying now within the company that if your beauty routine is only topical, you're just scratching the surface. So you can't you know, you want to start with something good. And then the topical stuff, Yes, of course will help but you want to be doing all of it.

Susan Sly 43:13
I love it. And the, for those of you who can't see Lori, like she absolutely is glowing. And I mean, and I think about how many conversations you and I have had about gut health and I think like in the fitness world and the athlete world, I absolutely destroyed my gut. You know, I was always, I remember talking to Chris, your Chris, and my you know, I don't know Chris and Chris they were doing something or but anyway. And Chris, your Chris was saying, you know, Lori's stomach, you know, she always gets the upset stomach. And my Chris is like so does Susan blah, blah, blah, right? And it's like, I don't know if it's from that or what it's from, but it's so smart, that connection, because even you know, when you think that almost 90% of all serotonin is produced in the gut, and we don't pay enough attention to our guts and we put a lot of stuff in our bodies that are detrimental to the gut. So I loved, I loved the pivot and of course I love seeing all the ingredients and everything. So just share like, how do people get Gloci and you know, how do they get it? Where can they not get it?

Lori Harder 44:27
You can go to getgloci.com and you can, you can see everything there. You can learn about it, you can hear about the story, all that fun stuff. It's G E T G L O C I so getgloci.com is where you can go get all of the info on everything.

Susan Sly 44:45
Awesome. And it's currently only available in the US though.

Lori Harder 44:50
Well, we are working on Amazon for Canada right now. So that should be able to, you should be able to purchase it soon actually.

Susan Sly 44:59
Okay, perfect. So for US in Canada, but if you're in the US definitely go and order. And, you know, obviously I'm not just saying that as Lori's friend, I'm saying it also as a 51 year old woman who is obsessed with her skin, and thinks everyone should have beautiful golden-

Lori Harder 45:20
It is working for you. I literally was on here going, I think this woman doesn't ever age ever.

Susan Sly 45:26
Ah, thank you. Well, a lot of it is happiness. And we'll talk about that on your show when I'm in, when I'm in your like, part of the world. Yes. Well, Lori, thanks again, so much for being here. And it's, um, I know, we had to book a show to catch up. And so 1000s of our friends around the world got to hear our girlfriend catch up. I just love you, sister. And I'm so, so, so excited for you in this journey, and that I get to have a front row seat. It's awesome.

Lori Harder 45:58
Oh, well, I love you. And I'm so grateful for you. And I'm so inspired by you. You've always been one of those women that I've looked up to and just you, you make things possible for so many of us. So for that, keep going.

Susan Sly 46:14
All right, everyone. Well, thanks again, Lori. And wherever you are in the world, God bless, go rock your day, Lori and I would love if you would tag us on social media after this episode. And if you have questions about the episode or anything, go to the shownotes and you can find out everything we've, well maybe not everything we talked about, but you can find out all of the good stuff in the show notes on Susansly.com. With that, I will see you in the next episode.

Susan Sly 46:43
Hey, this is Susan and thanks so much for listening to this episode on Raw and Real Entrepreneurship. If this episode or any episode has been helpful to you, you've gotten at least one solid tip from myself or my guests, I would love it if you would leave a five star review where ever you listen to podcast. After you leave your review, go ahead and email reviews@Susansly.com. Let us know where you left the review. And if I read your review on air, you could get a $50 amazon gift card and we would so appreciate it because reviews do help boost the show and get this message all over the world. If you're interested in any of the resources we discussed on the show, go to Susansly.com That's where all the show notes live. And with that, go out there, rock your day, God bless, and I will see you in the next episode.

Susan Sly 47:37
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