#11 :: Characteristics That Get You Through a Pandemic, with Allison Moss - type:A Brands

Steering a startup generally means being short on one’s own historical data, even without a pandemic. So how does an intrepid founder navigate the unknown? By relying on the tenacity that led her to start a company in the first place. Allison Moss, founder and CEO of type:A Brands talks about sudden channel shifts, risk-taking, financial silver linings and when she pulls back. 

type:A Brands: https://typeadeodorant.com/

Recorded on 12.04.20

TRANSCRIPT

[Music & Intro] 

Andrea Spirov: Hi everyone, welcome back to the 100 CEO Project. You know, I still remember the first time I received something from type:A. It was a small flyer with this really distinct packaging and I had never seen anything like it before. And I actually am a person who uses natural deodorants because I have significant maternal history of breast cancer in my family. And so if you aren't familiar with the products they have this really sophisticated design which I loved because so many deodorant and antiperspirant brands have this weird outdated kind of basic look to them, and they just never spoke to me as a personal care brand when I used them, and just are not something I identify with. And so I also love the name because I also have a type A personality and that is not always celebrated. So today we are welcoming to the show Allison Moss, the founder and CEO of type:A Brands who today is making much, much more than just an award-winning, safe deodorant. Allison, welcome to the show. 

Allison Moss: Thank you so much for having me.

1:37

AS: So you have had a really tumultuous year and you’ve shepherded type:A through the pandemic crisis where deodorant as a category has taken a big hit. Can you share some of the challenges you've overcome and then also some of the unexpected wins that surprised you this year?

AM: Absolutely. Yeah, it certainly I think for everybody it’s been a challenging year in many different ways. For us, we are a deodorant business and we’re a young business. We’re two and a half years old. So, you know, our challenges were sort of just unique to our circumstances and our category. I’ll take a few broad strokes on the challenges. From a sales perspective, and this again was very unique to our business, but impacted by how the category was impacted by COVID; we were growing quite rapidly and in Q1 of 2020 started to make a big shift to retail. We were actually really fortunate and excited to be able to bring our sort of, clean, no sacrifice deodorant to the mainstream with a big launch at Target. And, you know, with resource allocations, and priorities really shifting to focus on that Target launch, and, you know, kind of prioritize retail over online. When the pandemic hit and everything shifted to online, that, you know, kind of put us on our heels. We had to pivot really quickly to say, ok, how are we going to continue to support retail but how do we also rethink our channel mix and lean into online, which was, for very obvious reasons, sort of dominant during the early days and I think still, now during the pandemic. So that was one sort of broader challenge and, you know, circumstances of 2020 - what we did, you know, we shifted internal resources, pulled back on cash, pulled back on certain marketing investments and, you know, really took a big step back and said, ok, you know, there’s a lot of uncertainty. What do we know is working and how do we lean into that?

And, you know, we did a couple of things somewhat more tactically on a channel level. For example, for DTC we said we really need to manage this channel to break even and let’s take this opportunity to actually make sure we have all the fundamentals in place so we are operating the best that we can. Invest in, you know, continued optimization of our retention programs. That’s been really great and it’s starting to pay off for us. Work on the website experience in the US and optimize our conversions. And optimize the user flow and journey. And figure out from a product bundling perspective what’s working and lean into that more. So this has been really - as we look back on 2020 and ahead to 2021, it was a year where I think we really learned a lot. We, you know, made a lot of changes to flex with what was happening in a very dynamic marketplace and take those learnings so we can be more productive and more efficient as we go into the next year.

So that’s one way we were challenged in 2020. I’ll pause there actually.

4:42

AS: I'm interested in that sudden shift because suddenly you're managing in crisis. It's different than probably it was before everything went crazy. So, how did you shift your decision making? How did that change?

AM: How did we shift our decision-making? We shifted our decision-making - our process didn’t really change but I’ll share what our process has been. We’re a startup. We’ve been sort of in flexible, nimble mode from day one. And I think fortunately we were sort of already in that mindset when the pandemic hit. And so it was very natural for us as a team - for me as a leader, and for us as an executive team - as a larger team...we’re still really small so larger is relative...for us to come together and say, you know, it’s very much what I was saying before: what’s working? What’s not working? And you know, also go and talk to all of the other friendly brands and, you know, people in our network who maybe have been through something like this before. This pandemic was very unique but there have been downturns on a cyclical basis as we know, so what would we want to take in terms of lessons learned from the 2008 downturn? And what may not apply here? So really it was just a lot of conversation with people who had maybe experienced something like this before, or trusted other brands in our network to say, hey what are you doing? And then, you know, filtering that very quickly and being very decisive. 

So one thing I think we try to do really well is not get stuck in the churn. It’s very easy to, when you don’t have a lot of data, to make it sort of difficult to make a decision. And as a young brand that’s a problem that we experience because we just don’t have historical precedent for how our product will react when something happens in the market. And so we have to make decisions a little bit more on gut, which is, I think, always challenging. Or if you’re sort of a data-driven - I’ve been brought up to be - you know my career started in marketing and it’s always been fundamentally driven by data -  which is great, but it’s a balance. So I think our decision-making process has just been, you know, maybe fine tuned but more or less the same. We were fortunate in a couple of ways going into the pandemic. Another way was with remote work. Half of our team was already remote when we went into the pandemic. So we were somewhat used to some of that, just the support system that you need. But then we also said ok how can, you know, now that we’re all remote, we’re all dealing with something that’s kind of emotionally heavy - what else do we need to do? You know, put on bi-weekly all hands Zoom meetings in place so we all see each other twice a week. I think we talk more on Zoom now than we did before, but it was just an evolution, not a start from scratch, which was helpful for us.

8:05

AS: Love it. So you've had some really senior positions in beauty companies from L'Oreal and Jurlique...So how is running a startup different and how did those help? Was it easier now this year to be a startup in this environment? 

AM: [Laughs] Nothing’s easy. But that’s what makes it fun. I’ve been in the beauty industry for 20 years. Worked with big brands and with smaller brands but certainly not in a startup format the way we are here from the ground up. The benefits of a startup are things that actually helped us a lot this year. And that really comes back to that flexibility and willingness to pivot. When you’re a startup you need to, you know, really be taking the temperature, even after you’ve sort of identified that there’s product market fit. You have a product, you put it out there, it’s resonating with people...you’re still learning. We’ve optimized our packaging design twice. And not dramatically but nuances that helped the product present better on shelf, that tell people information that they needed to know that wasn’t maybe in the first round. So things like that. And that’s not a 2020 example but maybe a relevant example of, you know, you’re in this mindset of continually trying to optimize what’s working, take learnings and apply them to improve. And you’re still very much in growth mode. And so right in the pandemic that was what we had to do. There was a very sudden dramatic change to the market and everybody’s lives. And then we were all, you know, there’s a lot of uncertainty, and our shopping behaviors changed on a dime and, again, very dramatically. So we’re kind of used to saying, ok, what’s working, what’s not working, how can we pivot, what can we do differently?

One great example is, ah, pandemic hit. We see a surge in sales of hand sanitizer and soap. And we had some future product development plan for 2021 and beyond. And we said how can we help in this pandemic? We don’t know what’s going to happen to deodorant this year. People will still wear it. They are still wearing it. It’s down but forgetting that, what can we bring forward that would both serve our customers and the greater community and also serve our business. And so with our network and our expertise as a collective team in the beauty industry, we were able to really quickly activate and bring out a hand sanitizer. And not just any hand sanitizer but a hand sanitizer we were proud of that’s really nourishing, that’s lightweight, that doesn’t have that severe drying effect a lot of the others have, very quickly - within, you know, a month and a half. And, you know, securing the bottles and the materials and getting all that to happen that quickly was definitely a feat. And we’re really proud of that. And then we brought a bar soap out later this year and that’s also trying to deliver another product that’s focused on clean. 

So some of those things are, you know, as a startup there’s no red tape. We didn’t have to go through five series of approvals - corporate approval - to be able to launch these new products. We just did it. We did it at our standard and the way we know that was right and then hopefully that’s well-received. It has been well-received so far by our customers.

Laurie Pillow: So Allison, you talked about not just pivoting this year by creating some new products but also taking a different type of risk around, if you will, financing and funding; and also around new hires. So can you talk to us a little bit about those decisions?

AM: Absolutely. I think first on the funding piece. One of the greatest lessons for me as I reflect back on 2020 and I think about, again, what have we learned? And how can we apply that going forward? Right after the pandemic hit, and with great advice and counsel surrounding me from investors and advisors and just people in my network, we realized very quickly we needed to conserve cash and extend our runway because nobody knew what was going to be happening. And we had invested a lot in our Target launch. So we were maybe in a better position than some young  brands, but not in the best position either to be hit with a pandemic that we had no idea how long it’s going to last and how it was going to impact. All of that said, you know, I wanted to make sure that we were financially secure so that we could ride through this pandemic and then come out of it in a strong way and continue to grow. 

And one of the things I did was to really start looking into alternative financing options. You know, of course, there’s always raising capital. We have raised capital via a seed round to date, but what other ways would there be to support the business? And I was blown away by how many new financing options and new financing startups financing startups were available. And that has just been really eye-opening for me and also sort of realizing, you know, always kind of think broadly and not just rely on the one obvious solution when it comes to financing. You can probably apply this to other things as well. An obvious solution might just be to go raise more capital. But forgetting about being diluted and if you’re comfortable or not, just, is that the best approach? Are there other options. So a couple of the examples that we encountered, some of which we have used and some of which we haven’t, have been, you know, we already had a revolving line of credit. But actually going out and acquiring it, there’s a lot of new companies that are financing startups. Startups in specific spaces, specific places, doing specific things, DTC only, retail only, that are lending against POs, lending against your inventory, lending against A/R and any combination of those. Because you can probably develop several lines. But then there’s also a PO crowdfunding platform like Kickfurther, which was sort of really interesting and unique. You can have a line against existing inventory but then finance new inventory with Kickfurther and sort of diversify your financing, maybe even save some money in the process on the points or fees. There are solutions that are more DTC focused like Clearbanc and a whole number of others that are financing against your DTC sales, so almost like bringing cash flow forward. I mean, I have a spreadsheet of a dozen or more of these that we looked at - I think we found a few solutions that worked for us. But it’s also really good to know that we have other options in our back pocket as we go into next year. Raising capital in the traditional way if you will is still going to be important. But I think it’s good to have a balanced approach and, you know, it’s not always about equity. There’s really good debt solutions too depending on what your future outlook looks like. 

15:32

AS: And then the other risky move that you made and really paid off for you was your new hire of a sales person. Can you tell us more about your salesperson that you hired?

AM: Yeah. So going into the pandemic we actually were hiring in a really big way. We were ready to grow the team. We were going into Target. We had a lot of acceleration happening. We did ultimately pull back on some of the hires. But the one hire that we did move forward with, we had already identified the candidate, was a head of sales, or VP of Retail Sales. And looking ahead the one thing that we need to do in the face of uncertainty is ensure that we’re securing a sales path forward for the future. So it did, it was a big risk. We talked openly with our incredible VP of Sales who we cannot say enough about, she’s just amazing and it’s really paid off. And this is a risk we talked about openly up front saying, hey, none of us knows what’s going on. This is where the business is. We just want to make sure that we’re both going into this eyes wide open so that we can both feel good about it. And it is a risky time but if you want to come on board we want you to know that you are the best woman for the job, the best person for the job and we would love to partner with you and have you be part of the team.

She came in. She hit the ground sprinting and we have been able to actually get a lot of traction with our retail channel. We’re expanding in retail. We’ve added a few new retailers this year. And we are adding quite a few new retailers next year and we’re having really productive conversations that, just developing that roadmap, that path forward for 2021, 2022 and beyond. So that was a risk that definitely paid off and I think being able to have open communication up front really kind of helps somewhat derisk it. You can’t know what’s going to happen in the market but you can at least know you’re holding hands and working from the same information. And move forward from there.

AS: So you were talking earlier about shifting really to making decisions with your gut and so was there something just that told you this was the right move that was really right there for you?

AM: I guess, yes, I’d say reasoned gut. You know when I was really looking at pulling everything back to make the decision to move forward with this investment, yeah it was absolutely a risk but if you pull everything back you’re stopping your business. So it’s sort of about where do you pull back and where do you maintain and then maybe where do you lean in? And so it was sort of strategic analysis but then you can’t put any data behind it. And it was a gut to say, hey, if we need to invest in anything right now that will pay off in the near term and long term, what’s it going to be? It’s going to be sales. And so we think we have the right person to take this business to the next level and be part of our team and so we’re going to go for it.

18:44

AS: We'd love to hear about some of those new products, Allison. What did you roll out in addition to the safe deodorant?

AM: Yeah so we actually rolled out a hand sanitizer like I mentioned. And then we rolled out this soap. We took a little bit more time with it and it’s a product that we’re really proud of. It’s a probiotic bar soap that’s also infused with kukui seed oil. It leaves your skin so soft and smooth. And it feels great in the hand. It’s got everything that we would want in it to live up to the type:A name in terms of an exceptional product experience. But also I think we’re delivering a relevant expansion into an adjacent category. It’s a new category for us so we get to kind of now play with a brand that’s not just about deodorant. Our deodorant is known for being a clean deodorant that helps you make the switch and stick to that switch because it’s easy to use and not a sacrifice. But the bar soap follows along that same path and we’ve also launched a hand cream. We really started to look at what people are going to need right now, but they’re also going to continue to need down the line. And, you know, a lot of dry hands out there with all this handwashing. And hand sanitizing. Though I think ours does moisturize. The hand cream was also super great and really well-received and so it’s been exciting for us to explore this new territory and also define new innovation, new ingredient innovation and bring that forward really quickly.

20:00

LP: So here it is. Allison, we always have a final question and we try to dig in to each person and get specific and personal. But we know that type:A deodorant gets its name honestly and it performs honestly. And you describe yourself as an overachiever. So the question is this: is there a part of your life where you’re not an overachiever or where you think it’s important to not be an overachiever?

AM: That’s a great question. Yes absolutely. One of the things I’ve learned, and I’d say probably over the course of my thirties - and I’m now in my forties - has been to consciously choose where to pull back. So, I, that’s something that I’ve really had to practice. When I said almost four years ago to my husband, hey, I have this idea for a product that isn’t out there, and it needs to be out there. It deserves to be out there and it can help people. And he said, you should go for it. That was the beginning of really ramping up, consciously choosing to engage less or pull back. And that’s what’s made this all possible. So, you know, I think that some examples are, you know, I have young children and I want to do everything. I want to be part of everything, but just making sure that I’m present and giving them what they need; but also delegating a lot to my husband. And I’m consciously choosing and knowing that if I can’t be part of this, that there’s a really good reason. Whether it’s preschool drop offs or pickups. I love doing them. I don’t do them often. You know, I need to be able to focus. But my son gets everything he needs from me in terms of attention and I fill up his cup when I’m with him.  

I think also, socially, I have a lot of FOMO. I will want to go out. I will want to be part of events and just really saying that I’m going to prioritize and then make sure that I’m not depriving myself but I’m maybe pulling back in a way that I wouldn’t have when I was younger. I’m not the room parent. I’m not on the PTA. You know. Maybe one day later in life but I can’t do everything. I have to make some choices. 

AS: And sometimes you just have to say, I’ve done everything I can and just stop charging forward. You can’t always go all the time forward at full pelt.   

AM: I mean I still, not beat myself up, but I have the guilt. Like, oh I wish I was doing this...but then I’m like ok, is this important? You know, even if I didn’t have my own business...you can’t be every place, all the time at 100% and I think we just, you know, I don’t know if as women or in general, but I think as women we do beat ourselves up a lot for not being perfect. And like everybody else I do that too. I just try to catch myself and I think it’s the best we can do. To retrain.

AS: Great advice. Allison where can people find out more about type:A Brands?

AM: Well you can go to our website, typeadeodorant.com, and you can also go to our Instagram @typeadeodorant. We are on Amazon, Target, Meijer, Credo Beauty, goop and a few other select and more to come. Those are probably the best ways to find us. And you know, reach out, give us a shout. Tell us what you’re liking, what you’re looking for, you know, we’re always working to improve. We’re a B Corp. so I think it’s just in our blood and nature to say we want to do good by all stakeholders and use this business to be a force for good. So if you have any suggestions on how we can do that better and feedback we love to hear it. So, yeah, give us a shout.

LP: Allison Moss of type:A, thanks so much for taking time to talk with us today. You guys, if you enjoy this podcast, please leave us a message, subscribe and definitely go and check out some of type:A’s products. We will see you next time.

LP: Hey, guys, we hope you've enjoyed today's episode. And if you did, please share it with your friends and colleagues who also have to navigate this leadership stuff. As you can see, this project is about to be a mini masterclass in every episode. Best part. It's free. So if you like it, please do us a favor and take a screenshot, share it on social with the hashtag #100CEO. That way we can say thanks and share it in our stories. And finally, if you've got some insights you'd like to share and you're a CEO, we'd love to hear from you. You can find us at 100CEOProject.com, or on LinkedIn at the 100 CEO Project. Until next time, keep leading by example.

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Hosted by: Andrea Spirov, Laurie Pillow

Writing and research: Andrea Spirov, Laurie Pillow

Edited by: Laurie Pillow

Produced by: Andrea Spirov, Laurie Pillow