Media, Memberships, and Marketing
About this episode
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In This Episode You’ll Hear About:
• [03:13] Growing up in Los Angeles, his roots in media entrepreneurship and the profound influence his parents had on his passion for the written word.
• [07:25] Navigating his brother's cancer diagnosis, early job experiences, and a transformative college journey that paved the way for FabFitFun.
• [13:42] Starting his first business, working with politicians, and mixing wellness with the red carpet treatment.
• [19:54] Value lessons from earlier ventures, from monetizing emails to business expansion, and how this led to FabFitFun.
• [26:31] Pivoting the business model of FabFitFun and what makes the company and its products unique.
• [31:47] What qualities they look for in other brands and the success stories of the companies they have worked with.
• [34:06] The joint venture approach to business and how Michael has evolved as a leader.
• [37:20] The difficult challenge of raising capital and how this inspired Michael and his brother to form Green Meadow Ventures.
• [41:24] The biggest obstacles to founding FabFitFun; a wedding, COVID, and his brother’s cancer diagnosis.
• [44:22] Invaluable advice for budding entrepreneurs and what’s next for FabFitFun!
To Find Out More:
Lee Greene Email
Quotes:
“Maybe it was the combination of having access to the internet and having a printer, but I started just putting things into a word processor and laying them out.” [0:05:33]
“I was a pretty resilient kid, and in a lot of ways, I didn’t have anything too tough, and only later in my life did I come to understand that.” [0:07:29]
“We didn’t seek out to build a political new media consulting firm, it was just the first opportunity that fell into our laps.” [0:15:26]
“We learned really well how to get people onto our newsletter, how to monetize an email list, and how to produce incredible content.” [0:20:16]
“I think email is interesting. It is kind of like the cockroach of the internet. It will never go away. It is a truly open platform.” [0:20:31]
“In some ways what we came up with, through FabFitFun, was an alternative way to tell your story as a brand, and that was to get the product into consumers’ hands.” [0:28:33]
“Consumers have a much higher tolerance for trying new things if they know they are getting a deal.” [0:28:52]
“What is going to make any brand or product successful in the long run is you have to own the consumer for something unique and something differentiated that you have tapped into.” [0:31:54]
“Getting into that mode of constantly working on yourself, being a self-learner, and in some ways your own harshest critic, I think are really essential to leading a company.” [0:35:26]
“I think surrounding [ourselves] peer groups that [we] can talk to and learn from has been really critical.” [0:37:06]
“I think right now, trying to really stretch your dollar is important because the capital is more expensive.” [0:38:47]
“Keep powering through. I think if you are really committed to [starting a business], it is an incredible privilege to be able to run a business.” [0:44:24]
“I think finding a way to stay level is really critical as an entrepreneur.” [0:44:51]
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