Jen A. Miller Consulting

Tag: NYC

How this Entrepreneur Built a Cookie DŌ Empire

An interview with Kristen Tomlan | Founder of DŌ Cookie Dough Confections

Kristen Tomlan is the founder of DŌ Cookie Dough Confections. Her NYC shop sells gourmet, edible, bakeable cookie dough.

YES, you totally heard that right.

Edible

Cookie

Dough!!!

And, just like you would find at an ice cream shop, you can get dō served in a cup, cone, milkshake, or ice cream sandwich. It’s basically every foodie’s dream. One look at the line pouring out of her shop (sometimes it’s up to 4 hours long!) and there’s no questioning that this lady is on to something.

I sat down with Kristen to get the story behind the building of her brand and learn how she rose to the top of New York’s food obsessed scene.

You can totally watch our interview above or read below. Because just like at Kristen’s shop, you’ve got plenty of good choices.

Cue the DŌlicous Interview

Kristen Tomlan: When I opened this business, I had no idea, I thought I was going to be making cookie dough and that’s far from the case now. I had always loved cookie dough. It was something I kept eating, making, sneaking for years. There was a moment when I thought, ok, why has this not been done? I was with a bunch of girlfriends at a cookie shop in Philadelphia. We wandered over to the freezer section where they were selling the cookie dough for you to go home and bake. I grabbed the tub and I turned to my friends and I said, “I can’t finish this cookie dough, does anybody want to share it with me?”. I mean I could eat it all but I thought better to share! They all decided that they were in. So, we went to the car and we were just passing around this tub of cookie dough. We thought this is going to get us sick. I didn’t want to worry about that. I wanted to create a product and a brand that was centered around safe to eat cookie dough. I wanted to have the option to bake it and put whatever you want on it.

Jen Hacker: Did the idea sit in the back of your head for awhile or did you immediately act on it?

Kristen Tomlan: For a while it did just sit there and I kind of vetted with a lot of friends and coworkers. I was working in brand interior design consulting, so everybody I talked to I was telling ‘oh, I want to make a different cookie dough place”. And, everybody kept saying “oh, that’s a great idea”. It finally got to a point where I was running into people who were asking what was going on with the cookie business. And, I’m thinking, oh my God, I put in 60 hours a week at work, traveling, you know, just living my normal life. Then I thought, I hate those people who talk but never do something. So, I thought, well, if this is a really good idea, I’d have to start a business. The first thing was sitting down with my fiancé at the time Saturday nights, weekends and coming up with a business plan and working out all those things that we didn’t even know I was supposed to do.

Jen Hacker: So, what did your business plan look like?

Kristen Tomlan: Yeah, so first, I didn’t know anything about starting a business but what I did know was about branding, designs and baking. So, that’s where I started. Luckily, I had Chris as a partner. He’s a project manager who knew about timelines and budgets and inspection schedules. He also through through the financials of all the varieties that I was making. So, I started in the kitchen and designing the logo and thinking about the visual system. Then it just kind of grew from there. The one thing we didn’t have was operations experience running a store. So, we talked to some partners about it, and then actually decided to pause and launch online before we opened the store.

Image credit: dō

Jen Hacker: OK. So, talk about that a little because the way you actually started was that you spent a couple of years doing e-commerce…

Kristen Tomlan: Yes, I did. So, the concept in the business plan was for the store. Then we realized we didn’t have all the experience and the investment was kind of threw the roof. I didn’t want to be one of these businesses in New York that opens up with a great idea and then execution is flawed and it fails. So, I thought let’s really just test the market see what the response is, see what flavors are popular, just like continue to learn until I launched online. At the time, I though I didn’t quit my job. I thought, I can do this on the weekends. I can do this online. So, that’s kind of what we did, we moved kind of away from that business plan for store and turned it into an e-commerce site.

Jen Hacker: So, in doing that what were some of the things that you had to do in order to get the brand online?

Kristen Tomlan: Yeah, so basically, we had to figure out packaging and shipping. We had to figure out our pricing structure. I mean, every little thing that has to go with the brand. Honestly, it was more like logistics at that point. When I opened this business, I had no idea, I thought I was going to be making cookie dough but that’s, far from the case now.

Jen Hacker: You really signed up for the branding and baking part of it?

Kristen Tomlan: Yeah, that’s what I love, that’s kind of what I knew and that’s what the business is about. My focus was on making sure that the product was really delicious. I thought ok, the product will speak for itself and I can concentrate on other parts of the business.

Jen Hacker: Talk a little bit about Instagram because it is one of the reasons the brand has grown exponentially these past few years. How did you start to grow on it?

Kristen Tomlan: So, ok, cookie dough is delicious but it also goes really well with sprinkles and all the different flavor combinations. I wanted to make something that people will look at and want to share with their friends. And, that’s exactly what I did – you know, using the packaging and how we topped it with fun mixings. That was my goal from the beginning. I thought if I made it to Instagram then maybe people would do exactly that. And that’s what happened. So yeah it kind of happened organically. The store was also built around these Instagram moments because that was a lot of what the brand is built on. I wanted the experience to continue throughout the store so we have the polkadot wall, the neon signs and you know, parts here and there where people are constantly snapping photos. It just kind of helped, you know, drive the buzz.

Jen Hacker:What’s the process that you adopted from your previous work to actually sit down and figure out what the dō brand should be?

Kristen Tomlan: Yeah, so I had this idea for the name. I wanted it to be simple but I didn’t want it to be D-O-U-G-H. I wanted it to kind of be how the prefix in the dictionary looks – dō. And then with that, I thought ok I want some sort of like circular shape. I was playing with the fact that cookies are obviously circular and the containers that I was putting the dough in would be circular. The scoops are circular. So I started with a circular motif which then turned into polkadot. Then the line over the o turned into a sprinkled pattern. I was just thinking about what are ways to make it playful and colorful and really just fun. At the end of the day, I wanted people to just have this smile on their face. That’s what I wanted the brand to reflect, that’s all.

Jen Hacker: So, from someone who has done it and has built this what’s some of the best advice that you can offer to another concerned entrepreneur who want to start a brand?

Kristen Tomlan: Yeah. so, I would say a couple things; one, just do it, do something, make some sort of move in some direction towards what you want it. And also, just follow your path; for me I always thought this was gonna be great, this was gonna be great, I had always wanted to do this and this is how I feel it was going to be. Honestly a lot of people doubted when I said I wanted to open up retail shop but I just really felt like my gut was telling me that this was the next step. So I would say to all entrepreneurs everywhere, follow your gut and just ldo what you love and other people will love it too.

Jen Hacker: Well, let’s have a toast to you, cheers.

Ready to learn how to build your own brand? This post is for you.

November 9, 2017
How to Invest Like a Woman

An interview with Sallie Krawcheck | CEO and Co-Founder of Ellevest

Investing that’s just for women?

Yep, you heard that right.

Sallie Krawcheck is the co-founder and CEO of Ellevest, a digital investing platform that was designed by and for women. Ellevest’s mission is to close the gender investing gap by helping women take control of their finances.

Sounds incredible, right? It is.

When Sallie realized the investing industry was (to put it mildly) “by men, for men,” she made it her mission to unleash women’s financial power to help them achieve their goals.

Watch our interview above or read it below and see for yourself how Ellevest is changing the game for boss babes like you and me.

image credit: Ellevest

Become your most financially savvy self …

Sallie Krawcheck: You know, I worked in big investment firms for many years and when I was no longer in a big investing firm and I would walk around, meet with people and say “ I’m just too close to myself, what do you think I should do, what should I do? Give me some advice, what should I do?” And people would say “Sallie, you should start investing firm for women,” and I’d think “that is so stupid.”

Sallie Krawcheck: The “aha” came when I was in my bathroom, putting on mascara. The big insight I had was that the retirement savings crisis is actually a woman’s crisis. We don’t think of it that way but we women live longer than men do – five, six, eight years – and we retire with two-thirds less money. Once you begin to think of it that way, you say “OK, the solution is to actually get more money to women.” A lot of people are working on the gender pay gap and the gender work achievement gap but there is a gender investing gap! So that thing I said ‘no’ to for forever now I say ‘yes’ to, because clearly if women aren’t investing as much as men are, let’s figure out what women would need in order to invest.

Jen Hacker: So, you had that “mascara thought” and where did you take it from there?

Sallie Krawcheck: I was going to do a really stupid thing. I don’t come from the tech world. I come from the financial services world. I’ve worked at smaller companies but I’ve never started a company from scratch. The whole idea was just too overwhelming. So, I went to the CEO of a large financial institution and said “you need to do this.” I’d done all my homework. Women control 5 trillion dollars of investable assets, 90% of ys our money on our own at some point in our lives, etc. But we don’t invest as much as men do. There is a huge opportunity here. We were at breakfast and he said “that is so interesting, Sallie … but don’t their husbands manage their money for them?” I replied, “I just said 90% of us manage our money on our own.” I said no to a partnership with them. I met my co-founder in the nick of time to say, “that’s a bad idea, let’s actually build this thing from scratch.”

Jen Hacker: Content is a big part of the Ellevest brand. Can you talk about what role that plays and why felt that was important?

Sallie Krawcheck: Look I think it’s both. To back up a little, almost every investing firm or large bank has had a woman’s initiative. To my mind they’ve all tried to solve the wrong problem, which is “let’s market to women.” Content is a huge part of that. So maybe they wrote great articles, but they never actually went to the other part which is the product. What if the product doesn’t work for women? The product, historically, has been “hey, would you like a mutual fund or an ETF?” That’s not how our brains work. It’s been, “pick a winner, make more money.”

Jen Hacker: Which is a lot.

Sallie Krawcheck: It’s a lot. They didn’t go to the “let’s get both sides right” and that’s where we went. We started with the product.

Jen Hacker: What you’re really talking about is understanding who this woman is, and you’ve built a brand that she can identify with. I always say your brand can set you apart because it either allows people to connect with you or it turns them off. What was that process for you of actually understanding who she was and how to build a company that she would identify with?

Sallie Krawcheck: First of all, we are “her” to a good degree. I’m not “her” because of the career I’ve had on Wall Street, but we have a whole bunch of women who are “her.” But rather than saying, “we understand her,” we spent thousands of hours researching before we launched – in her wallet, going through her bank statements, going through 401K statements, putting cards in front of her, sorting out what mattered, with her on usertesting.com going through what we were prototyping, surveying her. So we spent a lot of time with her.

Jen Hacker: At what point did you realize, “I think this is it. I think we’ve got something in our hands?”

Sallie Krawcheck: There was a lot before that. I would sit with the team and we would draw out what we’re going to build, we would build a prototype, we’d go over the research. I just thought, “we might not be able to get this thing built and have it work.” I remember sitting with a pit in my stomach going, “I don’t know about this.” It was a year ago that we finally plugged it in and it worked! It worked! I remember sitting in my living room looking through financial plans. I’m sitting there going through them like “this does look right. You know, we may get there.”

Jen Hacker: And were there any other levers that you pulled that really helped things take off?

Sallie Krawcheck: So, I think you have to have a very good product. You have to really understand what your target is looking for and talk with them, not at them.

Jen Hacker: Was there any great business advice that you were able to gather from others along the way that you would like to pass along?

Sallie Krawcheck: I have been in business for a while so the one thing that really sticks with me is when we were raising our first round. I’m fortunate to have worked with a number of terrific businesspeople over the course of my career. I thought to myself, “I don’t know, I’m going to have to ask them to do me this favor. It makes me feel tense and nervous and what if this isn’t what we thought it would be, what if we lose their money, and so on.” My co-founder said “just wait a minute – do you believe in this business? Do you believe or you know where you’re putting your money in? Do you believe it can have an impact and be a great and successful…” I said “yes, more than anything.” Then he said, “we’re doing them a favor.” I never quite got to that ‘we’re doing you a favor’ but I really have gotten to that “we’re offering you an opportunity,” an opportunity that we’re not offering everybody to be part of this. I still have to practice it a little bit but that mind shift led to such confidence.

Jen Hacker: Well, thank you so much. I’m very excited that you made this available for women like me and for other women I know. Let’s toast to investing like a woman.

Sallie Krawcheck: Thank you.

Jen Hacker: Yes, cheers.

Sallie Krawcheck: Cheers.

Ready to build a brand that matters? Read this.

October 12, 2017
Toast of the Town | Chantel Waterbury

An interview with Chantel Waterbury| Founder of Chloe + Isabel

On my last trip to New York I had the pleasure to meet and interview Chantel Waterbury the founder of Chloe + Isabel. She defines her business as a jewelry and lifestyle brand dedicated to empowering the next generation of women entrepreneurs. It’s hard not to believe when you read that their mission “is to help tackle the financial needs of the modern woman – to provide the training and tools to accomplish her goals, whatever they may be”. By the time you hear Chantel’s story you’r emore than convinced that what she’s building is so much more than a line of accessories.

On the Chloe + Isabel website Chantel shares that,

“I conceived of Chloe + Isabel as a place where smart, creative and confident women could play a significant role in creating an innovative new business model where they were at the center. Chloe + Isabel is both a brand and opportunity that combines elements of direct sales, retail and eCommerce with the sole purpose of providing a more meaningful experience to the modern woman. My mission was, and remains to this day, to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs through social retail.

Chloe + Isabel is the opportunity I wish I had when I was a young, ambitious woman with the goal of one day being my own boss. Today, I see in our Merchandisers that same drive I had when I first stepped out on my own, moving away from home at the age of 13 to pursue my education. I began working and saving up for school, and ultimately turned to a direct selling opportunity which paid my way through college. While it allowed me to make the money I needed, and gave me confidence in running my own business, I would have loved to have built my resume with an even wider set of skills, as well as been connected to a community of like-minded women.” – https://www.chloeandisabel.com/our-story/mission

To learn the rest of her startup story you’ll just gave to go ahead and watch our interview!

Want to catch more great advice from women like Chantel? Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to the The Jam weekly newsletter. Every week I’ll be delivering exclusive interviews, the best advice from around the web, tools and resources to help you build your business, listings of the must-attend the conferences and events, and much more!

Chantel Waterbury too,

Jen

December 14, 2016
Toast of the Town | Michelle Cordeiro Grant
An interview with Michelle Cordero Grant| Founder of Lively

The past few months I’ve been crushing on new girlboss brand on the block, Lively. I discovered them on Instagram and was immediately draw to their mantra – wild hearts and boss brains. Needless to say I was ecstatic to learn that the love was mutual.

A few weeks ago my girlcrush dreams came true when I met Lively founder Michelle Cordeiro Grant. We filmed a Facebook Live interview at her offices in NYC.

Lively’s site perfectly describes them as, ”

LIVELY is inspired by what we believe makes women sexy today; smart, healthy, active and outgoing. We are delivering bras and undies that blur the aesthetic lines of lingerie, active, and swim, taking the best elements of high-style and comfort from each category. We are establishing an entirely new category and POV of lingerie, a movement that we call Leisurée.

LIVELY is not just about the products it offers, it is about a mindset we want to share with women around the world. One that reminds, empowers and enables us all to live life doing what we love, with the people we love! We call this #livingLIVELY.

We knew women were waiting for this kind of movement, but even we were surprised at the global response we received pre-launch. It was tremendous, and our message of strength and confidence resonated far and wide. Notes came pouring in; ‘It is an amazing thing to find a brand that not only aligns with my values but encourages us to stand firm in our own skin.

I love feeling comfortable, though I also love the beautiful things in life, and LIVELY is a seamless balance of both!”. Another read, “Ultimately, and I think it’s the same for all twenty-something girls these days, I want to live my life as authentically as possible.” LIVELY is just getting started, and we couldn’t be more excited to have so many amazing women join our movement.
- https://www.wearlively.com/pages/about-us
Ugh, are you crushing with me yet?? Thought so ; )

Want to catch more great advice from women like Michelle? Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to the The Jam weekly newsletter. Every week I’ll be delivering exclusive interviews, the best advice from around the web, tools and resources to help you build your business, listings of the must-attend the conferences and events, and much more!

A toast to you and Michelle Cordeiro Grant too,

Jen
December 2, 2016
The Connector | An Interview with Michelle Edgar, Founder & CEO of The XX Project

A few months ago an invitation floated across my inbox to attend an “intimate dinner with Stephanie Horbaczewski, the founder and CEO of StyleHaul”. If you’re not familiar with Stephanie, she is the powerhouse that built YouTube’s #1 fashion and beauty channel valued at more than $200 million. In other words, she’s a pretty badass woman for aspiring entrepreneurs to look up to.

I of course, couldn’t pass up on the chance to hear from and meet this amazing ladyboss. I had expected that Stephanie would be speaking to the audience in attendance (which she did) but what I hadn’t anticipated is that afterward she would sit down and talk with us one on one. This opportunity to get this kind of time with someone of her stature and ridiculously busy schedule is rare and it was awesome.

The young woman who made this night possible, and many others like it, is Michelle Edgar. Michelle is the founder and CEO of The XX Project, an invitation-only group for professional women who are leaders and mentors in their industries.

As the strategic business development director for FRUKT and founder of the non-profit organization Music Unites , Michelle recognized a need in the market to connect professional and entrepreneurial women. While attending an event where Soledad O’Brien was speaking, Michelle felt more inspired than ever to bring her vision to life. When asked, the acclaimed journalist agreed to be the first speaker in what has become an ever growing monthly dinner series bringing together some of today’s most inspiring female leaders.

Though what she has built is a great accomplishment in itself, Michelle see’s these nights as just the beginning for The XX Project. She met me at Tom’s on Abbot Kinney to fill me in on her vision for what’s to come for her budding business.

If you’ve been following Toast Meets Jam, and before that The Single Diaries, you’ve likely heard me rave about Tom’s. The spot serves as both the flagship store of the one for one shoe brand as well as my absolute favorite coffee shop in Venice. With ample seating, free wi-fi, and the friendliest baristas and patrons in town, you can’t help but fall in love with this place. If you choose to visit I highly recommend showing up early to nab a spot on the outdoor couch and ordering yourself an almond milk latte and chia seed muffin. You’ll be glad you did.

Over our coffees, Michelle shared more with me about the founding of The XX Project from it’s first event with Soledad to the most recent which will feature speakers from IHeartMedia, FastCompany, Octagon, and Equinox. She also told me of her ultimate mission- to build an offline and online social platform that fosters inspiration, mentoring and giving back among professional, dynamic & successful women in their late 20’s, 30’s and 40’s.

CALLING ALL NYC LADIES!

The XX Project is hosting it’s next event, Passion Points to Success, June 8th at the iHeart/ ClearChannel HQ in NYC. The night will feature a panel moderated by Fast Company Publisher, Christine Osekoski and including iHeartMedia CMO, Gayle Troberman; Octagon CMO, Lisa Murray; and Equinox President, Sarah Robb O’Hagan. Get your tickets now!

RSVP: https://passionpointstosuccess.splashthat.com

More About Michelle

Michelle began her career in media as beauty director at OK magazine, where she developed strategic partnerships that aligned brands with music and film talent tied to major entertainment franchises from Oscar’s, Grammy’s and fashion week.

From OK Magazine, Michelle gained further experience in the entertainment industry working at Quest Management, KIDinaKORNER, Redlight Management, and Warner Bros. Records. Currently she serves as the Strategic Business Development Director at Frukt, a creative agency where she creates partnerships between businesses and entertainment brands.

Michelle is known for successfully creating innovative marketing platforms and campaigns for artists including, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Dave Matthews, Lionel Richie, Imagine Dragons, Skylar Grey, X Ambassadors, Tiesto, Gary Clark Jr., Theophilus London, in addition to consulting on tour and festival sponsorships and activations, endorsements, licensing and new product development.

Her passion for music led her to start Music Unites, a non-profit organization that funds sustainable music education programs in underserved public schools nationwide. (Source: Music Unites)

What is The XX Project?

The XX Project is about giving back, mentoring, and a network to draw upon for inspiration and support. Members come from diverse industries and educational backgrounds. Membership grants access to all The XX Project events, the XX curated digital community, offers from lifestyle partners and access to invaluable connections drawn from the community.

Currently, the existing social networks or platforms that cater to professional, dynamic, innovative successful women who are leaders in their industry don’t encourage or foster inspiration, mentoring or giving back.

The XX Project is here to change that by building the new women’s social club. (Source: The XX Project)

Check out The XX Project at:

Web: www.thexxproject.com

Facebook: facebook.com/thexxprojectnyc

A Toast to you and Michelle too,

Jen

June 1, 2015