Transcript
Speaker: Hey there, welcome to The Good Guide, your ultimate career companion. I'm Shannara Good, and I've been on quite the career roller coaster. From the trenches of entry-level positions to the boardrooms as a now more seasoned professional.
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Speaker: Hello. Happy Friday. So before we hop into today's episode, I have to give you a little bit of background because on the podcast today, am interviewing Kelly Clifton Ogunsanya.
Speaker: Now, Kelly and I met during what I will always remember as such an amazing experience and opportunity that I had and my career.
Speaker: So my company, I work at Target, and we have this opportunity to participate in what we call gigs. So the letters G-I-G, a gig.
Speaker: And what it allows us to do is as team members, we can take on almost a secondary role. Now, mind you, it's like 10 hours or less of additional work on your plate.
Speaker: But we have this really cool chance to offer our time to a team that has the need for assistance. For example, at the program that I helped out on was due to a team member going out on mat leave.
Speaker: So back in the fall, I applied for this gig and this gig was on what we call the accelerators team. Now, if you are a small business owner or you have a brand or maybe you work at a large corporation, accelerator programs have become very common for small businesses to participate in.
Speaker: Typically, it is a way to allow said business to gain insight, access, exposure to larger organizations, especially in the retail space that would eventually offer that brand in the company's portfolio.
Speaker: So that's just like a general high level explanation of but what an accelerator program typically entails. While I was assisting with this accelerator program, Kelly is the owner of one of the businesses that not only participated in this program, but won third place in the accelerators program. So first of all,
Speaker: If you are a small brand, like being able to participate in an accelerator program within itself, I know is super profound because if you really invest the time that you should showing up for the program, like you are going to learn a lot and your brand is going to benefit a lot, regardless of whether you win ah monetary gift or something like that.
Speaker: But Kelly did win, she won third place and she has a brand called Mela Baby. From the moment I met Kelly, just the way that she showed up, the way that she just sucked all of the information up like fricking sponge.
Speaker: And for someone on the retailer side, right, I'm not even a merchant, but like if I were and I saw the way that Kelly presented herself and showed up for herself and her brand in front of these corporate team members, like I would have wanted to sit down and talk to her or sit down and discuss her brand being on my shelves just because of the the professionalism and the knowledge and the questions and just like how excited she was for this program but when i started to actually look into like even just looking at kelly's linkedin what i realized is not only has she created her own brand but this woman i do not know how she does it
Speaker: She is a COO. She is an entrepreneur. She is a new mom or was a new mom when she started her brand. And I am just in awe of her. And I am so excited that I got to sit down with her and talk to her about how she both juggles a full-time job.
Speaker: And i feel like almost calling it a side hustle is like lessening the work that she's doing with her brand. So I am going to stop talking now.
Speaker: and get into the episode because I'm just really excited to you guys introduce you guys to Kelly. Hi, Kelly. Thank you so much for joining me today on the podcast. I'm so excited to have you here. Ever since we met a couple months ago, I've been wanting to have this kind of corporate woman, a corporate woman chat. And you inspired me throughout the Accelerator program, which we'll talk to in a little bit. But welcome, first of all.
Speaker: Thank you. Thank you. The feeling is mutual. And I appreciate the opportunity to come on here and talk a little bit about the intersection of corporate and entrepreneurship. It's a much needed discussion.
Speaker: Yes, absolutely. So let's dive right in. And i want to introduce, and I guess I should preface this by saying, it was really important for me to have you on the podcast today because just like we were talking about even before we started the recording, but There is this intersection that I think women are now finally feeling like it's okay to have a full-time job and a side hustle that you were like wholeheartedly being intentional behind. you know It's lovely to be able to do both. And I wanted to highlight the amazingness that that is, but then also all of the little details that people don't really realize that go into kind of
Speaker: juggling both worlds. So before we get into the nitty gritty, we'd love you to just go ahead and introduce yourself to the listeners and give us a brief overview of who Kelly is. Sure.
Speaker: Well, hello, everyone. My name is Kelly Clifton Ogunsonia. I wear many hats and intentionally, and we'll talk about the word intentional behind that. So I am the founder and CEO of Mellow Baby, which is an inclusive plant-based skincare company for ages, baby and beyond.
Speaker: And I also serve as the chief operating officer of Delta Dental of Colorado. And so I lead all of our operations for being the state's largest dental insurance company with over 1.7 million members.
Speaker: I'm a mom, I'm a wife and a daughter. And I think intentionality and balance works best for me is the key to all of this and happy to talk more about how I made it happen. Wow. Oh my gosh. First of all, I'm like, we don't even need to talk because that has like that is like the whole thing. I mean, even like looking at your LinkedIn, like you said, COO, like you're a professor, which I did not know. You're an author. Like we met during the Target Accelerator programs. Like you just mentioned, you wear a ton of hats. So like, first of all, kudos to you for just like doing it all.
Speaker: Yeah. that is not easy. So I want to dive into one of the main questions that I wanted to ask of you. and And that's really where did the inspiration behind working full time and starting your own business and how did you manage to do both of those at the same time?
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. So i will say i started my career out of grad school in the consulting world. And so I was in big four consulting with PwC. I was with another company called the advisory board, and I always had at least five or six clients at a time. And so I start there because the notion of wearing a lot of hats and juggling different priorities was a part of kind of my work ethic from the very beginning.
Speaker: But what really changed is in 2018, I had my daughter and I decided to go on a four month maternity leave. And good for you. Thank you.
Speaker: So that was intentional. And I thought being kind of type a, that I knew how that maternity leave was going to play out, that I would jump right back into work and kind of wear my corporate Kelly hat and juggle motherhood at the same time.
Speaker: What I quickly realized is I had no idea what the change and transition of being a mom and a working corporate woman was going to look like. And so I struggled with anxiety and depression coming out, having my daughter out of motherhood because I couldn't figure out these two personalities of corporate Kelly and mom Kelly.
Speaker: And so for me, I needed to really get back to how do I balance both of those things, but how do I do it intentionally where it doesn't feel like it was a competing factor because that's what it really felt like from the very beginning.
Speaker: And so while I was on my maternity leave, my daughter developed really sensitive skin and we were living between Georgia and Denver. And I struggled to find a solution for her. And so part of my maternity leave was spent working and creating my own skincare product for her skin.
Speaker: And after a while, I realized, you know what, Kelly, you have a lot of skills that maybe can get this off the ground and put it into the market. And so I worked with my friends to have some focus groups. And it really grew from there to say, is this a product or something that I could bring to market?
Speaker: And so I'll say initially it wasn't intentional, but I had to figure out a way to make my drive for entrepreneurship and wearing that corporate hat also work with my growing love of being a mother.
Speaker: And i will say it was a rocky start at first. But what I tell a lot of women that I coach and mentor is that it's about mindset and it's about being unapologetic of what's working for you in the season of time.
Speaker: And so landing into entrepreneurship wasn't planned. It wasn't intentional, but I've made it a part of who I am and I'm unapologetic about it. hmm. So you get to that point. Were you creating starting to create the product during your leave? During my leave.
Speaker: During your leave. Okay. So four months are up and you're in there. And I remember from even the presentation that you did, you were like, I'm in my kitchen making batches. So four months are up. And was this and inside of the pandemic or outside the pandemic?
Speaker: It was right before the pandemic. So making the batches before the pandemic and really starting to scale it was right at the beginning of the pandemic of something that was more commercial. Yeah. Okay. So you were at least already at home.
Speaker: Yeah. So you weren't physically going back to the office. Correct. But how were you even splitting out your day? Or like, what it was that initial step that you took to say, you know what?
Speaker: I'm going to make Mellow Baby real thing. I am going to intentionally go after this brand. Like, what did that day even look like when you um ultimately made that decision?
Speaker: Great question. So what it looked like is i started making a lot of batches. And I started handing it out to my mom and her friends and girlfriends. And I remember distinctly the day that I got a call from a girlfriend who was like, where can I purchase this? And I'm like, girl, I'm not selling it. I'm just playing around in between changing bottles and diapers. And so she was like, no, I think you really have something here.
Speaker: And so then I said, okay, what does that look like? I have no idea how initially to commercialize this thing. And so I also knew that I had about, i don't know, six weeks before I was going to start another consulting project. So I had no time to really scale this in the way that I thought in the sense of cooking and making batches in my kitchen.
Speaker: So I went online And I said, how do I take an idea from in my kitchen to commercializing it? And what popped up was the notion of manufacturers that do something in the term of white labeling or private labeling. yeah And there's a number of different ways to go about this.
Speaker: But essentially, I found a company that was based here in the U.S. who said, we would love for you to send us a sample of what you've been doing. We will determine if it's something that we can do.
Speaker: make it at a larger scale for you. And that was just something that I set on the shelf and and in terms of an idea for a period of time. And so it went from having someone be inspired and speak a vision into me of like, this is something that's possible to me then saying, how do I fit this new opportunity into my schedule? Because I couldn't quit my job. I didn't have the finances and funding to do that. I didn't have this whole private equity backed plan or money.
Speaker: And so I had to really do a crawl, walk, run strategy. And I think that's important, especially for folks who are thinking about getting into entrepreneurship, that if you look on Instagram and you look at these accelerators and all of these other programs, you're going to look at people who are years down the road and you're going to compare yourself to where they are and think, I need to be there tomorrow.
Speaker: And I did not have the playbook of how to even bring a product to market. And so I'm happy to talk about what that looks like, but I also want to stress the importance of doing your research and giving yourself grace Because if you try to compete thinking it's just going to turn on a dime, you're going to really face some setbacks. And so I can talk through what that kind of step-by-step looked like for me.
Speaker: Yeah. One of my favorite quotes is what, comparison is the thief of joy? Like, I just feel like we're in this world... And this is not even on this specific topic, but just like where we are our worst critics.
Speaker: And it's all based off of seeing something on Instagram or hearing from a friend of a friend who did had this huge deal. and then all of a sudden, boom, it like made it big. And we don't actually think about all of the work that goes into that to make a small idea into something massive. And I actually think that what keeps me grounded in understanding the work that it takes to make an idea a successful business is working in the corporate world.
Speaker: Because I think we do that every single day. like Most corporations, they're not corporations from overnight or from putting in one night of work and suddenly, boom, you've got Target. yeah you know Or boom, you've got Delta Dental. It happens over time.
Speaker: And so I think that's actually something that's super helpful for especially someone who does teeter between something full-time and something that you're pursuing full-time but on the side keeps you grounded and understanding like the work that goes into it I think that's ah such a great point. And what I'll say to that is i think there are breadcrumbs across all of our careers where we don't realize we're learning something that can set us up for the next thing.
Speaker: And part of my journey has been really stopping to look back um where were those breadcrumbs placed. And so to your point, when I was with the advisory board company for a period of time, I was in our new product development division.
Speaker: And that entire role was teaching us and me how to scale new initiatives, mainly healthcare technology off the ground test it do a go-to-market strategy, think about is the P&L statement really going to work out?
Speaker: And then also if it's not, not being afraid to shut it down and try again. What I didn't realize at the time, and now fast forward to Mela Baby, is that I'm on that exact same track.
Speaker: And so part of, I get nervous sometimes because when I'm talking to funders or other you know folks in accelerators, they're like, how long have you been at this? And in some ways it's been 2018. And it's like, well, it's been a bit of a while before and you haven't kind of hit that hyper-J curve growth.
Speaker: Well, yeah I took a lot of the lessons from my time in corporate to say, I need to plan. I need to find a manufacturer. I need to test the market. I need to invest in legal and make sure that my logo can actually be even applied because I've run into some issues there.
Speaker: And so what I would say to folks and especially women is think about the transferable skills that you're learning or you have right now in corporate. And how does that apply to whatever you want to do entrepreneurship wise?
Speaker: If you are in marketing and social media in a corporation and you want to start your own business, those skills are going to 100 percent transition over to what you're doing. And so there's not a wrong place or a right place to start.
Speaker: But I do say to folks, you got to be intentional. You have to be patient because the mistakes will cost you much more in the long run if you're not planning and and thoughtful around it. Yes.
Speaker: Yes. apps Oh my gosh. I think you said it perfectly. Okay. So going to scale this thing. I've got basically your contract manufacturers in place, which like, first of all, good for you for even knowing or like doing that research because it usually takes a team to even like think of that. So like that's. Yes. Okay. so you're on that journey. You're starting to scale, but again, nine to five, you're still at this full-time job.
Speaker: How do you balance it? Like literally, we all have 24 hours in the day and you are a new mom. Like where was your time going? That's a really good question. So, you know, one of the things that I had to learn very quickly is that it could not just be me.
Speaker: So I literally went on a platform, Fiverr and Upwork, And I found contract support. And so I would say to folks who, if your skills are not great in logo making or finding supply chain folks or designing your packaging, and you don't have the resources to hire out a full team or God forbid, go to a marketing and branding agency because there tens of thousands of dollars, if not hundreds of thousands, find contract workers. So I went on upwork.com and I actually still use folks as a part of my team from this
Speaker: model. And I would also be intentional around finding folks that didn't live in the US who are offshore because while I was sleeping, they were working they were working. And so when I would wake up in the morning, i would have my new logos.
Speaker: When I would wake up in the morning, i would have my copy design. And so I shifted my hours. I mean, I was nursing and breastfeeding my daughter. And so when we were waking up at 3 a.m., m I'm on the call with my folks in Pakistan yeah or Philippines and talking about, you know, how is this going?
Speaker: And so it's a tradeoff. And I will say it does not look like a 50-50 split of time commitment. There are some times where I'm certainly more on my corporate job and less on a mellow baby and vice versa. But you have to be intentional around where your time has to be best spent. Yeah.
Speaker: So delegation is one of the most important things in terms of time management. The other thing is you maximize your weekends. And so it's not a Monday through Friday, nine to five. That's not what this looks like anymore. And if that's something that you hold yourself to, then you have to question if this is the right journey for you because maybe it is and maybe it isn't.
Speaker: Yeah. So it's funny because even as I'm doing the podcast and I'm putting all of the effort in, I think one of the things that's the hardest for me to do is relinquish control.
Speaker: yeah I want to have my hands in every single decision, every single post that goes out, every single sentence that's written. And that's me. And I know you said it earlier, you said as someone who's type A, I am so type a So even to your point of like hiring out, like, did you also face that kind of struggle of like, no, but I wanted it to look like this, you know? Yeah.
Speaker: A hundred percent. Initially I did. And then I've had several conversations with myself where I remind myself i am the bottleneck yeah because I wanted every decision to be made by me. And I wanted to tell the designer what font he was going to use versus just letting the designer be the designer.
Speaker: So here's where I would say i took some lessons from corporate. Before we're kicking off any new initiative, any new project, we're spending a lot of time in planning. We're spending yeah almost twice as much time in planning before campaign execution.
Speaker: And so what that looks like for me is I have a very robust Google Drive where when I'm onboarding new folks to my team, you start, you click here. This is the background of our company. This is our brand. These are the words that we use. These are the words that you should never use.
Speaker: These are our brand colors. Our fonts, these are examples of campaigns that I like that I don't like. And so the onboarding process for people that I work with or sharing my vision is as much as important to me as the execution so that I can make sure I have a team that understands my vision, understands my why, and then can execute.
Speaker: The challenge with that, and I say this especially for folks who may be in inclusive brands or minority focused brands, yeah is that sometimes you're going to work with people who may not understand your cultural preferences and your audience.
Speaker: And so I've spent and wasted a lot of time trying to share my vision, share my why with folks that may not be culturally or partnerly aligned. And that's been a challenge, too. And so I think being planful and intentional around who you're partnering with and making sure that you all vibe is as much as important as making sure that you're dotting all of the I's and crossing all the T's.
Speaker: Yeah. And I think that even the statement that you made around the planning process takes two times longer than actual execution process. Again, right that's where we have to humble ou ourselves because anytime we have an amazing idea, and this is whether you decide to make it into a ah side hustle or not, anytime we have a major idea and we know we've hit the nail on the head and we're super excited about it, go, go, go. That is like the only thing that's in our minds is... Let's get it out there. Let's get it out there now.
Speaker: But then it's that how much time later are you going to spend almost like kicking yourself or retracting things that you were done initially that actually don't align at all? yeah That's even something, again, today I have to constantly remind myself speed to market is not, I don't have the luxury of speed to market being a one man show or doing something that's super new.
Speaker: yes A corporation, speed to market, they've got all of the layers in place to take an idea and turn it around in two weeks. Right. When you're doing something on a smaller scale and typically on your own as well, yeah you have to take the time to make sure upfront what you want is aligned with what it's going to morph into over the next couple of months to years to what that journey ultimately becomes.
Speaker: Right. A hundred percent. And I would say, i mean, if we look back in corporate history of those first movers, oftentimes they're not still standing today.
Speaker: Good point. The MySpaces, the Birds, the Scooters, there's been something that's happened in their trajectory that requires them to not be still standing. And I say that especially for brands who are competing against the institutional brands, the celebrity brands, ones that have really strong dollars behind them.
Speaker: First, when I would see another brand launch, I'd be like, oh my gosh, they're my competition. Right now, I view them as a blueprint and a learning mechanism because we're trying to speak to the same audience.
Speaker: They might get there faster, but I might get there more authentically. And so you have to figure out how do you learn from the folks that are in your space right now And how are you agile and slowly pivoting your brand approach? I'll give you an example. Maybe two years ago, we took Mela Baby to a kid and baby vendor space and our packaging was totally different.
Speaker: And a rep actually from Target came up and said, had you ever considered taking your packaging, putting it on the shelf of Target right now? and seeing how it compares to the other brands that are on shelf. I was like, no, my this is black and brown. I have the colors. I know what moms want. you know I was offended. How dare you? You know nothing.
Speaker: How dare you tell me what's going to be competitive on shelf when I have no advertising experience? dare you? And what's interesting, I was talking to a very large celebrity-backed brand. They went through the same experience. And had and the juxtaposition there is,
Speaker: Listen to the expertise. Take your time to test. Take your time to really figure out what's going to land because you're going to make those mistakes if you're trying to be the first, the first, the first, the fastest, the fastest. And either it's going to cost you dollars, time, or God forbid, legal risk and issues that you never even planned for.
Speaker: Yeah, especially the legal stuff. In particular in this space, in the CPG space that you're in. Yes. Even having been there before from a startup and like corporate side of the business, it's like yeah those are the things that like will cost you money and time when you don't do something right from a legality standpoint.
Speaker: Yes, it's big. Yeah. And not only that, not only will it cost you money and time, it could cost you the ability to just be sustainable as a brand because you may get something that says you can't make a claim or you can't this product can't even be on market anymore or you can't use this trademark or or phrase and so yeah that's not anything to play with yeah so in the same vein at least on ethics yeah and legal and and all of that one of the things that i know i even struggle with because i contract on the side i do some consulting and one of the things that when i took the current job that i'm in is i had to sign a contract
Speaker: at my current employer that says like, these are the things that you will not engage in yeah external to us. So I couldn't lead a team. I couldn't touch apparel, things like that. So I'm curious, like, did you encounter any conflicts or ethical dilemmas juggling Mela Baby and all that you were trying to do there with your full time job and what your responsibilities were there?
Speaker: So I'll say it, those conflicts have unfolded in different ways. um The first I will say is a little bit more personally in that at first I struggled with even announcing that i had a business on the side because I questioned how people would view my commitment to my full-time job.
Speaker: And more importantly, how in the world can you scale a business if you're also ceo o of Delta Dental Colorado and where is your time going? And so first I had to get really clear with myself that I can wear multiple hats and I could do both.
Speaker: More importantly to the question that you're asking, I was very clear with my leader and my boss and my leadership team that I have this business. I talk about it. I share my product with my team.
Speaker: And I also am very careful that I'm not doing work on the job. and So I'm not bringing my Mellow Baby laptop into the office. I'm not taking calls. and And that's just from an ethics perspective.
Speaker: The challenge I think has been, i'm in the healthcare care space. I network with a lot of folks, certainly in Colorado and nationally, but I also network from a Delta Dental Colorado perspective. And so knowing when to take off one hat and put on the other has been a little bit of a challenge. I'll give you an example. Right now, I'm looking at a market segmentation approach of us putting our products into hospitals and So that from a newborn perspective, Melo Baby is going home with moms and babies.
Speaker: In order to do that, I need to build relationships with folks who lead supply chain for those hospitals. yeah They also are our clients at Delta Dental. And so I am just forthcoming about that. This is Kelly coming from Melo Baby versus Kelly coming from from Delta Dental.
Speaker: I would say if you are in that position where you are starting something and especially if you are going to have more of a brand presence on LinkedIn or Instagram or podcast where your team or your employers are going to see you, it is always my best advice to be upfront about that. Yeah. Really let folks know kind of where your time is and where your commitments are.
Speaker: And you might see that either that works out for you in your current company and position, or it doesn't. And at that point, you have to make the decision of what you're valuing more. But I would never advise that you're operating in an area of gray, yeah where there could be questions about your commitments.
Speaker: Taking clients, what you're doing with shared resources and intellectual capital, because that that's never going to end well. Yeah. As you're talking through this, though, something came to mind because it's something that I'm even struggling with at work, sharing things that I'm doing on the quote unquote side.
Speaker: And I'm curious if... So, you're mom. You also have this company on the side and you work a full-time job. And I think there's this natural guilt that us as women feel with wearing multiple hats. Like, ah I don't want to come off as though I can't do this job correctly because my time is being split. So, da-da-da-da-da.
Speaker: Have you ever experienced, whether you work or have worked with individuals, where you feel like, man, I feel like they are outwardly and confidently sharing all the things that are going on in their life on the side or external to work. Why can't i do that same thing?
Speaker: Yeah. Oh, absolutely. I mean, I still experience it every day. by even, going through the accelerator, it was like, do I post that we just run third place in this pitch competition? Do we talk about all of these things?
Speaker: And- I think it's a balance and where I had to first get confident is that I knew I was doing 150% at Delta Dental. Yeah. But I knew that I was giving my best and that it wasn't a question of, we haven't seen Kelly in a week. What's going on? Yeah.
Speaker: And so i think part of that is slowly introducing whatever your second brand, second thing is. Launching a new website and posting on LinkedIn. I'm now CEO of Mellow Baby.
Speaker: That might be a little bit jarring. Mm-hmm. But I talk about Mela Baby in the sense of I'm proud of my team. And what that then says is that I have a team that's amplifying my work. It's not just Kelly 150%.
Speaker: So I still struggle with that. But I think where I'm getting more comfortable is the fact that I know I'm operating in a very ethical way. yeah I also know that me telling my story inspires other folks who are within corporate who also want to start their own thing.
Speaker: And then here's the other reality. A lot of the folks, you know not necessarily at my current job, but other folks that I've sat around the C-suite table with have multiple things going on. They may yeah own real estate companies. They may own or have investments in a startup tech ah company. yeah Or they may be a photographer for on the side. They don't have a problem talking about it.
Speaker: Right. And so why do I? It's a little bit of that imposter syndrome. It's a little bit of making sure that folks don't view that us doing more means that we're doing less than what they expected us to be.
Speaker: yeah And so I think that's going to be an evergreen struggle until we get to the point that, you know, we can make it work and have the validation. I think that's been the challenge as well. Yeah. A hundred percent agree with you there. I think the imposter syndrome is like a real thing. Yes.
Speaker: Yes. Because again, it's like when you're starting something, you have all the belief in the world, but as soon as you post something or as soon as you share something, and especially if it doesn't receive the response at first that you assume you're like, Oh wait, yeah maybe I'm doing it wrong. Like maybe I'm actually not as skilled or maybe I didn't hit the nail on the head. Like I thought I did. So yeah and think it's something that you have to constantly kind of remind yourself of, of like,
Speaker: The numbers aren't always exactly the test of like whether or not you are the yeah professional or the expert that you say you are. so Yeah. And the other thing I will say, you know, on the other side of this, and and my dad actually taught me this, is there is value, though, in moving in silence.
Speaker: ah Sometimes there is value in moving in silence. Not only if you're worried about how you're going to be perceived, but also if you are really building something that is intrinsically for you.
Speaker: hmm. The external validation and the applause should not be important. So you're doing that for you. You're taking your time. And once you've accomplished it, then celebrate, talk about what you've done and move on to the next thing. yeah But I often see women and especially younger women talk a lot about what's happening externally in their lives, what they're planning to do, how many things they have going on.
Speaker: And if they're not performing well in their current role, it may be perceived as a distraction. And so I think there is a secret sauce and timing to know when you move in silence, when you launch, when you celebrate your joys, when you publicize it, and then when you go back to building again. yeah And so we think there's a balance that folks just need to think about to give your own self time and grace to make a mistake and not feel like, gosh, I didn't hit the numbers that I wanted and and still be received well in terms of the performance.
Speaker: Yeah, that's a really good point. How do you, as a high achieving individual, or I feel at least for me, I'm someone who loves to go after things in a really big way, but I don't compartmentalize that. Meaning I don't say, all right, in my personal life, I'm high achieving and I want to do a ton for myself personally. But as professional, I'm like laying back, doing that.
Speaker: It bleeds into every aspect of life. So I'm curious as you grow Melo Baby and as that becomes a larger footprint in your life. How do you also prioritize if professional growth is also a goal of yours as well?
Speaker: Sure. That's a great question. I'm the same way. I want to run 150% at everything. But the reality you can't. yeah and you can't for a lot of reasons. One, for the things that are in your control, maybe you can, but there's always going to be curveballs that life is going to throw you. Your health The time that you need to give to other people, your own self-care. And so I think it's about, for me, how do I build the systems so that if I need to invest more time in Mellow Baby, I know that I have built a strong and high-performing team at Delta Dental that's also going to balance.
Speaker: yeah So I don't feel like it's necessarily a trade-off and vice versa. it is never going to be 50-50. It is going to look like this kind of up and down curve, but as long as there's consistency, I think that's the main thing. So in terms of 150%, I've given up the notion that I can run that pace consistently because what I found is that I would go, go, go, go go and I would crash.
Speaker: And I think there's this founder's dilemma, whether you're starting a company, starting a podcast, where you build up all this intrinsic energy and excitement and you're burning the midnight oil.
Speaker: And then it's like, do I even like this anymore? I'm tired. I am burned. Like, don't, I don't want to look at emails. And here's how I know it's happening. I'm delayed in responding to emails.
Speaker: I am not responding back to my team who's asking questions. yeah I get jaded about what I'm trying to do. i get frustrated. And so that's a signal to me that I'm burning at both ends yeah and I don't have that motivation. So give up the notion that it's going to be equal time commitment to everything that you're doing, but know where you need to prioritize and then where are the systems you build are going to carry your work forward on your behalf.
Speaker: Yeah, I think about that a lot. And I particularly think about that as someone who's single. I'm not married. i have no kids. But one day I'm going to be in that position. And I know that I am going to have to take a pie that's currently divided into two.
Speaker: Yes. I might have to divide that into four or into six or into eight. And I think at the end of the day, it's like the pie is the 100%, not each individual slice of that pie.
Speaker: And so being super intentional about like, okay, sometimes there might be a smaller slice, but it's still like pieces. Yes. But piece number eight is just a little skinnier than piece numbers, you know, seven through one kind of thing. yeah Because I just think it's something that we almost have to admit to ourselves up front.
Speaker: yeah That like they're going to become a point in time where like I cannot give 100% to every single thing. You already don't give 100% to every single thing. No. So, yeah. I think that's right. And I think what I would say about that is there has to be an intentionality behind it. Because here's what I would say to the woman who is maybe working a job that it's okay. The money's good. They're maybe good.
Speaker: thrilled, we waking up every day and super energized, but they have their eye on something else. Maybe it's another career. Maybe it's another startup. How do you use what you have that's working for you right now to divest more time and energy to where you want to head?
Speaker: So if you have a job that maybe it's not firing all cylinders for you, but your pay is steady, you have a great team, Let that be your basis for being able to turn your attention to something else. The same thing with your family life. If your family life is really supporting you right now, how do you let that stay steady for a period of time to divert your attention to something else?
Speaker: It is always going to be a game of trade-offs, but it's a matter how do you do it without the guilt. Yeah. Oh, I love that. Okay. I have two more questions. yeah Number one is especially you being in the CPG space, accelerator programs, even outside of CPG, but accelerator programs have just become the thing of retail or like kind of scaling into retail.
Speaker: So how did you go about finding the different accelerator programs that you have been a part of? right And do you feel like they are value added to what you've been able to do for Metal Baby?
Speaker: Great question. So initially I was a little bit on the fence about accelerator programs because I did feel like they were just the only way, if you will, that you could get on shelf and get in front of some of the larger retailers.
Speaker: What I would say now is because there is not a playbook for how you bring a brand to market, especially in the CPG space, the accelerators are incredibly helpful for you to think about, are you ready?
Speaker: It's not a matter of yay or nay, the timing. It is, are you ready? And do you really understand what it takes? So I first applied to the Target Accelerator a year before I was actually accepted.
Speaker: Applied, didn't get in, which was a blessing because it also then shared, it showed to me that we needed to do a little bit more work. And then finally did get into the one that we went through last year. I've also looked at other ones online, ones that align with kind of my brand, my target individual market as a consumer, and really wanted to figure out what are some of those secrets that I don't have the time to invest in and resource and research on my own. And so I think the accelerators have been incredible for a couple of things. One, it confirms whether or not the retail path or another path is really where you want to head.
Speaker: Do you have the time, the investment and the funding to be able to go down that? But more importantly for me, it was around building that network because there are so many other brands and founders just like me who might be wearing dual hats or have made the transition more importantly from corporate to solely running their businesses.
Speaker: And I needed to understand what did that really look like? Financially, I'm a little bit risk averse. So I'm not going to just quit my job yeah and go eat ramen in the back of truck Yeah. With my kids and sell all my stuff. Right. so the accelerator was great for me to connect to other founders who slowly and intentionally took their time to ramp down from corporate and then start to yeah on their own practice, ah their own companies. Yeah. So I would highly recommend folks looking at them if they have the time to do so. There is no sense in suffering on your own and trying to figure this thing out. While I will say there's no one playbook, there's been enough
Speaker: accelerators and masterminds and groups and communities that folks need to tap into their own resources. And I will say that's one of the things that's been harder as a woman, as kind of that superwoman mindset of relinquishing the fact that I don't know everything and I need the help.
Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. Someone said to me, it's called humbling yourself. Yes. My therapist told me while ago when I was thinking about, I was like, what is this motherhood thing? She was like, lower your expectations and lower them one more time.
Speaker: Then you will be. Right. Exactly. And then you'll be at the spot that you should be. Yes, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, no, I love that. And I will say, think one of the things that was so joyous to even watch you throughout the program was like how connected, how intentional, like you showed up every single day and you did so with a willingness to learn. You know, you asked all of the questions that you wanted to ask. you really did maximize the time that you were in the program.
Speaker: And I think if nothing else, which mind you, you did win. Like did you play second or third? Third, right? Okay. You won third everybody. But it just goes to show like how much you had taken from each moment that we all connected and each thing that you learned. Like, and you were traveling. I know you had like, you had yeah many things also going on.
Speaker: in your personal life, and yet you still managed to like show up. And I just thought that was such a, an amazing thing to see you again, juggle these 50 million hats, but still kind of come out on top. So that was just really great to see. have to see.
Speaker: Yeah. Thank you for that. And I also think that's also for those of us who are have to your point, that small piece of pie. And really that means time. Your knees are focused and you're intentional about how you're using that time. And if you're self-funding and bootstrapping, it's your money and you're intentional around every dollar and making it count. And so I think that is one of the advantages of wearing this dual corporate and entrepreneur hat is that you're a master of how to make your time and your calendar work for you. And so I would see that as an advantage for folks who are questioning, gosh, I haven't made the full leap into
Speaker: you know, leaving corporate or leaving a full-time gig. Yeah. Love that. All right. My final question, and and I'm asking this to everyone who's a guest on the show, because it's something that I ask myself a lot, but go back to early on in your career. So I'm talking like two to four years out of college, you're brand new to whatever company you're at.
Speaker: What is one thing that you would tell that Kelly, knowing all that you know today, what's one thing that you would tell her? at 22 years old?
Speaker: I would tell her to never say no to an opportunity. I think it goes back to the breadcrumbs piece. Even when you can't see how the job, the opportunity, the assignment, the task is going to play out or how it makes sense, I guarantee to that younger Kelly that the dots will connect down the road.
Speaker: And i think that yeah having faith, learning to be still when things are not making sense can bring an incredible amount of wisdom and just centering yourself.
Speaker: I often can tell when I am not being still because I'm trying to do everything to make it make sense. And I would say to that younger person, learning to slow down, learning to Take the opportunity with grace and gratitude and knowing and trusting that in a year or 10 years, it will all make sense.
Speaker: And if it hasn't made sense yet, then your time has not quite come, but it will be your time. ah I love that. The stillness. Talk about, you mentioned your therapist earlier. That's what my therapist told me. She was like, slow down, stay in one place. Just sit your butt in one chair yes and let it come to you.
Speaker: like yeah I think that kind of constant chase, there's moments to chase and there's moments to just let it all soak in. yeah so I think that was beautifully said. So thank you.
Speaker: Thank you for that. Thank you. This has been so great. Like I said, I know we had gone through the program and spent a couple weeks together, but like we never really had that moment to be able to kind of get to know each other one-on-one. So I really appreciate you taking the time this afternoon and learning more about you. And i can't wait to have this out in the world for everyone to hear your expertise and your experience. so Well, likewise, and you're doing a ah mission to folks who are in this position of where they are struggling to figure out where they are in their place and where they are in the world. And I think there's going to be so much wisdom that comes from this podcast and this series. So I can't wait to hear more. And thank you for having me.
Speaker: Thank you. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of The Good Guide, the podcast dedicated to guiding you through every twist, and turn in your career journey. If you loved this episode, make sure to leave those five-star reviews and share this podcast with a friend, loved one, or hey, even a colleague.
Speaker: If you have a topic that you'd like for me to tackle, check out this week's show notes for links to where you can submit your question. It might even be featured during the Q&A segment of the next episode.
Speaker: But first, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a beat. Take care, y'all.
