315. The CPG Strategy That Extends Your Runway With Mark Samuel, Mark's Snacks

0:00I've always said that I know that I can do, I'm a different workhorse than most. And I know plenty of other really amazing workhorses, both men and women, where in my five or six hours of the workday, I can get a lot done. How that translates to this team, and we have a very, very small team, you're correct, because we started, this is a new brand, we started in the middle of last year. And in fact, I don't plan on building some massive team. I'm big on fewer is better so long everybody takes ownership of where they're at in the sort of the chart and how we're all rowing together. You could build something really big in this space with really strong team members.

0:45Are you ready to hear more? Welcome to the Bolt Proof Your CBG Brand Podcast, where we discuss tactics and strategies that you need to give your brand the unfair competitive advantage it deserves. Hello, I'm Dan Lohman. Be certain to comment and subscribe to get immediate access to new brand building episodes. Please recommend this to friends and colleagues and help me raise the bar in natural. Let me know what your most pressing issues are and I'll do my best to address them on future episodes. There's a free downloadable guide at the end of every episode to help you go deeper into the topics we discussed.

1:20Now, let's roll up our sleeves and get started. Mark, thanks for coming on today. Can you please tell us more about yourself and your journey from being a fitness expert, and I know you still are, to being a brand owner? Sure. Mark Samuel, good to be on. Let's see, a little bit about me. I live in Northern California, born and raised in Marin County. Yeah, lifelong health and wellness enthusiast. Probably been in the gym for 25 plus years, six or seven days a week. It's been more like seven the last few years. And I'm a CBG founder, so I have a snack brand called Mark's. We make a seed oil-free kettle chip.

2:03Fantastic. Thank you for sharing that. And let's talk about your transition. You've iterated a couple different times. So talk about that, please. And then why? What is the mission now? Or what is change? Or what are you trying to accomplish? Sure. I mean, I've done all types of things in my, I guess you'd consider the professional career. as they say. And so I've been in service related businesses, consumer product related businesses. The last few ventures that I started have been more focused on what I would consider to be health and wellness. So even in the food and or beverage space, the previous snack company that I had started was what I'd consider to be a protein esque type of salty snack because it It was a legume-based snack, so it had a little bit of a higher protein level.

2:53And then that business had gotten licensed last year, and I decided, okay, am I going to do this again? And so this go-around, as much as folks know me for health and wellness, they say, wow, you're making a chip. What does that mean? Well, I'm just a big believer in the fact that most to all folks snack. and so I have this opportunity here to provide them a snack that I believe is better for you, truly better for you as far as Cedar Oil Free. But the most important thing for me is to be able to build a platform where I can talk transparently about health and wellness. So most people will hear me say, I would actually like you to eat less snacks and I'd like you to focus more on whole foods, whole nutritious, dense protein focused foods.

3:42And if you are going to snack, snack in moderation. And oh yeah, here's a snack that you could have as an option among others that I recommend. I appreciate you saying that. And the fact that it's clean. So Mark's is, I don't want to say completely uniquely situated in that position, but you are unique in the sense that you're focused on three ingredients. So talk about that. Why did you choose that? And where I want to go with this, Mark, is when you're talking about health and wellness, avocado oil is a sort of a secret thing that a lot of people don't really understand the benefits of. So why did you choose that?

4:24Yeah, so it's true. Our snack, excuse me, this is what my computer is doing, somebody. Our sea salt is three ingredients. So it's potatoes, avocado oil, and salt. We offer two other flavors. And the two other flavors, in fact, are what I'd consider to be the cleanest labeled ingredients if there was a flavor profile. So, for instance, barbecue. If you go read our barbecue seasoning, we really focused on having the cleanest label compared to anything else that's on the market. So, again, that's just sort of a touch point. Um, avocado oil and the way we speak about seed oils today, just holistically, I'll just leave it sort of in general terms, because I'm going to say something that most people won't necessarily think that I would say, but I'll leave that for the end.

5:13um we're just talking about inflammation in the body the the reality is inflammation within the body from the foods that we consume or even things that we rub into our body i was just about to talk about how my lady and i were talking about makeup women's makeup it's just it's a poison like a majority of the i don't i'm tangenting here but just where i can where i'm going to go with this inflammation within the body our our gut health is the most important health a lot of people don't recognize the gut, the gut, the gut is, is wired to every part of the body, specifically the brain, heart, and the like.

5:48Right. But so, so we wonder why, why are we feeling down? Why do we feel bad? Why do we feel sluggish? Why do we gain weight? Why do we, why do we get diseases? I mean, that's right. Well, it's all pointed at that. And how is that happening? It's happening. We're doing it. We're, we're doing it to ourselves. Again, this is what when I talk about the platform, we're eating foods that are causing our gut to be inflamed or interrupted, right? Disrupted. And so with that said, yes, there are other things that we could eat to minimize or negate that altogether. I won't go as far as saying though, well, avocado oil or coconut or olive oil, like, again, it's still, I'm kettle cooking a potato.

6:39Like just go to, to just the simplest form. If you want to minimize disease, sickness, inflammation, you want to have more clarity, more, more energy, more focus, just eat clean, whole foods, eat some chicken, eat some one ingredient items. I like, I'm a big fan of just, you know, white rice. Eat some fruits and some vegetables. It's pretty simple. So I know that went around sort of this thing of where you're originally, we'll talk about avocado oil. Yes, it's better for you than other alternative oils that are out there and consumed on a much more regular basis. I appreciate you saying that. And the great thing is that you're getting away from highly processed stuff.

7:33So you're giving us an alternative. And to your point, gut is so critically important. I don't think a lot of people realize, and thank you for shedding a light on this, how important the gut biome is and how it impacts so many things like you said. And a lot of people are looking for a magic cure-all. And the point is, like you said, and I agree with you completely, if you do things right, that's going to make such a difference. And the other thing that you do so well and brilliantly that, you know, I love the way that you communicate on LinkedIn, your passion for health and wellness, for working out, for doing the things that you need to do, you know, riding a bike, going for a walk, etc.

8:14Talk about how that is such a big part of your brand, at least from my perspective, it is. Well, there's a point because I you can you can attest to this. I emailed you and said, can I push this back 15 minutes? The reason was, is because I needed an extra 15 minutes at the gym this morning. Good. I don't, I, health, as I always say, is my number one priority. It becomes, it's, it's first on the list before anything or anybody. And then I always, I always follow that up. What do you mean? You have kids and you got a lady, you got to, I do. I love them a lot. Okay. But I love me a lot too. And if I am not healthy, if I am not at my best every single day, which starts with a morning workout, right?

9:08And making sure that I can get myself settled and a foundation set for the day. I can't help anybody else. I cannot be my best version, my best self for anybody else if I am not putting myself first, specifically when it comes to health and wellness. So, again, there's been many people who have gotten an email from me that says, I need to push this back or can we move this? Because it might have gotten in the way of what really is priority number one, which is making sure that I'm taken care of. So I hope that helps in some way. No, I think it's great. And I really appreciate your saying it because the thing that I struggle with when I work with founders is that they get so busy that they don't make themselves a priority.

9:59And because of that, other problems creep up. They don't think clearly. They're not making decisions clearly. They're not prioritizing the things that they need to do to move their brand forward or move their life forward. and they don't have the good work-life balance. So thank you for shedding a light on that. Anything else you want to add? Well, the reason is, is because it's why you can take a look at our, not just the obesity rates, but just illness. And I'll just focus just domestically, just my brothers and sisters here in the U.S., right? Those numbers, it's all coincidence that I'm going on a text chain too about, there's a i guess i don't want to talk in a specific brand but there are um protein bars out there and and i'm just if you were to read the ingredients you know you you should know by now that they're not good for you ultra processed well sure whatever i again that's 90 of center store of retail right of grocery like ultra process you most likely should not be eating those foods but more importantly it do not eat them a lot see i'm big on moderation i talk about 80 20 rule all the time 80 80 eat whole foods i talked with and the 20 you can have whatever i talked about in and out chipotle and like i'm good with that right i'll have a a little announcement to my own shifts right it's moderation but but getting back to it which is um it's because we don't have discipline.

11:38We don't have discipline. That's all it is. And I'm light and polite as I'm saying it, we don't have. The thing is, we have it. We just don't choose to turn it on, at least not a majority of us. Some of us, like I kind of jokingly say at 5 a.m. when my internal clock goes off and it says time to go to the gym, there's a voice that says to me, don't go to the gym. Mark, you deserve to sleep. You're the man, Mark. You are the man, Mark. You deserve an extra hour of sleep. And then there's the other voice that says, you're a. You understand? Oh, yeah. No, no, I get it. I hope most people don't. I don't need you to have that voice.

12:40It doesn't need to talk so nasty to you. But I'll tell you what mine says. That's what it says. You are a. If you do not get up right now. and for 25 years by god's hand i listened to that one you get it oh yeah and so that that's what it is it's a discipline gene we don't have we we we allow ourselves to get into the same muck that we did the day before the day before the day before the day before which is not going to the gym which is okay i'll just have this one time i'll have that bird i'm gonna go out to eat just I'm going to get the extra potatoes and the onion rings. No, it's not one time.

13:21It's every day. So there you go. No, I appreciate you saying that. And in fact, thinking back, back when I was going to college and stuff like that, I had that routine. I would get up in four in the morning. I would ride my bike to the gym. I would work out really, really hard. I felt better than I ever felt. And I got away from that. So I know conversely what that means. So I appreciate you sharing that. so when you go through the gym without getting too much into the weeds what are the things that you're trying to accomplish and the reason i wanted to go here is because a lot of people don't realize that for example if you're pushing the big muscles it's going to do more to help you with your metabolism and stuff like that oh yeah yeah weightlifting i think is a is key to to everything uh men women uh 20 whether you're 20 or 60 um i'm a big believer that um resistance training is key is key uh over you standing on a treadmill for 30 minutes however i always follow that up with if if standing on a treadmill for 20 20 30 minutes is what does it for you and you're able to turn that on do that you know what i mean if i'm walking around the block at 12 noon every day because you have committed to it and turned that gene on, right?

14:41And that's what doesn't do that. Like, again, I'm so empathetic to the subject matter that I spoke about, right? I can speak freely about it because I just live this, but I also understand what it's like not to have the discipline. You know, I get it. And I want to just pull it out of somebody. But with that said, for me, I go because, again, going back to it, I need to set the day up properly for myself. I've always talked about mental health, specifically with men who have a much higher percentage as far as sensitivity to it. I I've always dealt with mental health what I consider mental issues anxiety depression so I need it I need to get the endorphins operating for me positively for me because it lifts me back up from where where it could and still does some days leave me at a very low level right as as far as as folks will understand that so so yes so I go through my normal routines, which is normally some weight training, but I do start, I start and end with cardio every time.

15:56So start with a 20 minute walk. I'll usually end like today with a 20 minute bike. In between that is a good session of weightlifting. Good for you. In fact, actually the riding the bike, it's where I kind of reboot to use a computer term. It's where I start thinking more clearly things come to me. And so I appreciate you saying it. So going back to your business, how does that help you frame? How does that help you work? How does that help you work with your team? The fact that now you're ready to go. So talk about how you leverage that in building your brand. Well, I always say that if you can do that, what it is that I described, any sort of workout, I mean, that's kind of the hardest part of the day.

16:41What do we do for a living? I mean, I don't like to minimize it. Even the big guys that are on social and who talking about this is, this is how you operate the business. And these are five rules and creating success. It's like, dude, don't take yourself so serious, dude. You sell popcorn. Like, like, like you, you know what I mean? Excuse my language here. You, you, you understand what I mean? Like God, who, okay. I just watched four people go up to the moon. That's pretty impressive. You get it? Like, that's cool. I sell chips. Let's not get crazy here. You know what I mean? There's folks that are now, they sold their company and they're, you know, they're influencers.

17:34are talking dude you sell soda pop disguised as you get it like it ain't that serious so i hope i answered that in some way i don't know if i did but that's what came out of my mouth no i appreciate you saying that and i get it i do get it so you have a small and mighty team right yes can you talk about has this team been with you for a long time how do you leverage the people around you to get stuff done because the reality is if you're not coming to and I don't mean to sound that uh the way I don't want this to come out wrong if you're starting your day late in terms of the work day because of your workout how do you leverage that how do you structure that and the reason I wanted to focus on this mark is because again tying this back to the health and wellness of the founder and how it helps you accelerate what you do in other words From my perspective, I'll bet you can do a heck of a lot more in fewer hours than most people.

18:35The point being is that this stuff matters. Yeah, I do. And that's through all the years of doing different things. I've always said that I know that I can do. I'm a different workhorse than most. And I know plenty of other really amazing workhorses, both men and women, where in my five or six hours of the workday, I can get a lot done. How that translates to this team, and we have a very, very small team, you're correct, because we started, this is a new brand, we started in the middle of last year. And in fact, I don't plan on building some massive team. I'm big on fewer is better. So long, everybody takes ownership of where they're at in the sort of the chart and how we're all rolling together.

19:23You could build something really big in this space with really strong team members. So with that said, I've always recognized that my transparency and my ability to just communicate honestly has a positive effect. They most have been in some company or organization or worked for somebody where a lot of that is not in place. So it always creates some sort of friction somewhere along the journey. I'm just open every day. My own team member is going to hear me, hey, I'm at the gym another hour. I'll have to get back to you. Like who wouldn't want to hear that? Now, somebody may be like, well, then they're going to be like, I wonder if I could go to the gym.

20:10I don't care. Go to the gym. I don't. There's no work. There's no like nine to five. I've never had it like that. I never will. You are provided an opportunity to play a position on this all-star baseball team. Right. I'm playing with you. I don't put me in coach. Where do you need me at first base or center field? It doesn't matter. You might be playing shortstop. Just make sure that when the balls are coming to you, right, that you got the glove down. You know what I mean? Get the glove down. okay and make a strong throw that's it i don't care if it's at 4 p.m or just let's just do the thing so again i hope that answers no i i think it does i appreciate that i think it's great and it's inspiring that other founders listening to this are going to say what you mean i can actually put the right team in place and i don't have to work 30 hours a day or something like that so and that's one of the struggles going back to where we started with this mark is that So many founders get burned out.

21:19They make mistakes because of that. They're not doing everything that they need to do in their business to support their team, to support their family, to support their well-being. And as a result, a lot of those brands continue to struggle. So thank you for sharing that. Can you talk a little bit about how, let me back, let me reframe this. One of the things that it really admires me is the way that you have found your voice on LinkedIn specifically. And the fact that you're nurturing the community around you, you're a positive role model, and that you're communicating a lot of these things that you're sharing today, and thank you for that, on that platform.

22:00But again, you're such a great connector and such a great role model and such a great champion of those around you. And you're talking about things that matter. In fact, you just recently said that you're going to start sharing even more. Thank you. Thank you. No, I appreciate you. Yeah, yeah. I, I, I've been on the LinkedIn, you know, subject it's, I've been doing it now for, I don't know, eight years. And it feels like it's gone by really quickly. And it was always just a very simple intention, which most things should be right. Just having, having some intention could be your health and work and family and everything else.

22:47So for this, it was just communicating. And I, I just picked up a few subject matters that I was passionate about. and started writing on them. And that was, you know, like I said, eight years or nine. And it was, the playbook was very simple. It was write on anything of these items. Throw in some of your, I could sometimes I'll throw some really random stuff. It could just be a thought, you know, which is kind of like Twitter-esque, even though I never was on Twitter. I just know that that's sort of what that platform is. And then, and just to do it every day. so that's what I did it was every day um there's a lot of like because I'm a bit neurotic there's a little OCD you know sort of you know layered in there it did make it a little easier for me because there wouldn't be a day that I could go without without posting because it would bother me it would like literally like leave me kind of uncomfortable so that was it and here we are today still doing it and um but I ultimately I don't mind saying there there's a day that I don't want want to be on social media altogether.

23:56I'm not, I'm not a fan of social media, especially with my kids. And like, I do not believe net net. I'm going to, before I proceed there, let me, let me set LinkedIn to the side because it's kind of got its own thing there. Net net, the social platforms, Instagrams, the Twitters and the Facebook, like I just do the YouTubes and the, and the shorts and the tick tocks. And I'm not a fan. I think that is the, the worst thing that has ever happened to human mankind period. I just do. I don't think that there is a, that there's anybody that can convince me, even though there's a lot of things positively that could be pulled from it.

24:45No doubt, no doubt. But ultimately net net, If you were to take the pros, cons, it is not a good thing for us. It's definitely not a good thing for our kids and what would be our kids' kids. I just don't think we're going to see anything good come of it there. Well, I will agree with you. However, I would argue that the way you leverage it is the way that people should, meaning building community, supporting those around you. And again, I want to applaud you for being so transparent and so human and authentic, whereas a lot of people are me, me, me, me, me. And that is a turnoff. And a lot of people are chasing clicks as opposed to adding benefit, adding value.

25:37So your thoughts? Yeah, that's why I did want to move LinkedIn sort of to its own sort of lane. um i to to you know today i still feel there is a benefit and if i were to do the net net situation again i think it's net net positive i don't know what it looks like in five years if it if it if it turns to something where i i think you know sort of alternatively i i it makes get shut up i don't i don't know but um i've been wildly lucky because of that like i i have built a really great community because that's how I look at it. These are like, I've, I've like gained friends from this community, like people that I actually now know, like they're on my text threads, right?

26:16It was all through LinkedIn, a lot of it in the industry and stuff like that, which maybe, um, you know, would have happened anyway, organically somehow, um, um, at a slower pace, but I'm wildly lucky. And I do agree with your sentiment that, um, it's, it's net net positive, uh, because I believe we're talking about some really cool things. I believe there's some great people in it. I believe we can all take something from it, not just from me, from other folks that are delivering their own unique messaging. And so, yes, I agree with your sentiment. Well, and I appreciate the fact that you share in what other people are doing, because again, you're helping that community out.

27:02Back to some of the stuff we've been talking about, Mark. So a founder that is putting way too many hours a day, not make themselves a priority. Here you are as a role model saying, you know, it doesn't need to be that way. There are things that you can do better that will help you, like you said, amplify your efforts, your results and get better results without having to put in 30, 40 hours a day. So thank you for that. Yeah. Yeah. I know those that say that they're working X amount of hours per day is their own thing. And as I always follow it up with, to each their own. If that makes you tick, that I work 20 hours a day, I think that's great.

27:48Do whatever is making you happy. I will say, just please make sure you're focusing on your health. Good point. That's really it. um i again i would also say specifically in the industry we're in i never really can understand how it's possible that somebody in let's say food and beverage is working 16 i don't even know what you would be doing that's one um i'm not saying if you were in a different vertical you know i'm in the bay area california i have friends in tech who have built some amazing things like if you You're programming, coding, like I kind of get it. Like those guys and gals who were behind a computer, like literally pumping, just pumping, and they can't turn it off.

28:37I get it. And I could see there where it's like, you could run for like 20 hours a day because you're trying to beat the clock. You know, everybody's trying to bite at you, but it's very different in what it is that we do or in consumer goods, or even in service related businesses. is anyway just no i understand exactly what you're saying i agree with you i think it goes back to this this the underlying thing of what we keep talking about mark is that if you're able to get more done faster good grammar right just kidding but the point is if you can leverage that and i think what it gets back to is that a lot of people spend a lot of time stressing over stuff that doesn't matter or trying to do things that don't achieve what they're trying to do let me put this way.

29:23A lot of people have a to-do list and the to-do list is massive and they never accomplish it. And there's always that guilt and the fear and the frustrations that go along with it. However, if you think in terms of what is the objective you're trying to accomplish, the overall objective, what is your reason? What is your purpose? And then build your strategy around that. And then to your point, and this is why I wanted to talk to you so much. If you're focusing on the things that you need to focus on your health your family your friends etc and you find a better way to do things and you don't have all those distractions to your point I think you can get a lot more done faster be a lot more productive and make a bigger impact your thoughts yeah I just think people prioritize whatever it is that they believe in right yeah they can you could convince yourself that you need to be at a baseball game every single day and somebody will believe that that you know that that's the best thing for me that i need to the the san francisco giants have a three-game homestead and i need to be at those games because it makes me that there are that's how we work we're just animals we're just animals and we say the darndest things to ourselves.

30:42Some good, some not good. And, and it goes back to what I was saying before, which is do you do, do whatever is working best for you. So long you're being really honest with yourself, right? The guy or gal who is having a couple of drinks after work, because they're meeting with X, Y, and Z down at the, and they feel like it's benefiting. So be it, right? I can't, I don't know if that's real or not. Only you know, if you're being honest with yourself, right? So that's how I'd answer that. No, I appreciate what you're saying. I think that makes a lot of sense. So thank you for framing it. And more importantly, thank you for being a role model as to what it could be what we could be if we wanted to think differently and put our health etc first so thank you one of your favorite one of the my favorite posts that you had is you had a picture of a pallet of chips at your front door and i think that was hilarious so let's talk about pantry loading your new strategy to sell your product by the pallet just kidding honestly i thought that was so being a category management expert i mean in the industry and stuff like that i'm thinking you know we're always trying to get people to buy more of our stuff right sure and i'm thinking and you figured out a way to get people to buy a pallet yeah funny enough that's like a because we stack them pretty tall we'll go to like 95 inches that that's like a what i consider a half a pallet i just i literally do i sit i i then restack it you know in back in my garage yeah i'll i will have literally handed those out i don't know i'll probably be out out in a you know 30 days but if you think about that that's like you know you got a thousand bags in the hands of folks yeah people miss that it's wildly important um again if you can afford it because that's why again people don't realize it's so cash this business so cash intensive anything from you wanting to deliver a half a pallet to your house you know and and you know you're talking about okay 500 bucks to deliver a pallet that there's 500 worth of inventory you're giving it away but The ROI on that is the best ROI you could possibly get because I'm handing it to moms in my neighborhood.

33:13You know what I mean? Those are the buyers who then convert to, oh, I'm buying this on Amazon or they see it down in our local grocery store. It's just best ROI. No, I think it's brilliant. In fact, actually, one of my friends I talked to about demoing and if you do it and do it right. Yeah. It's the best force multiplier and kind of off the subject. I used to be a grocery manager at Price Club before it became Costco. And so I know firsthand how when you have a promotion, you get a bump. But when you have a demo that's effective, you're sharing your product and it's authentic, that bump in your base sales, it lasts a lot longer.

33:53And the cool thing is you can do more to drive your long-term growth by doing it. So brilliant strategy. Thank you. Appreciate it. Talk a little bit about some of the things that you're doing to help build your brand. Oh, by the way, how did it, if you don't mind me asking, how did it go up public? And congratulations for having the meeting. Yeah, it was great. We had a great meeting. I don't know. I'll find out in a couple of weeks. We were one of the last to be able to get to present. We like snuck in there. Fingers crossed. Yeah, fingers crossed. And, you know, this early in the business to be able to get an opportunity even to present, it's really only our second true presentation to what I consider to be a major.

34:34We've been building this differently. We've been going regionally through really great DSD partners. We started in the Northeast. We're now sort of trickling down the East coastline there with a great partner. We've been out here in NorCal with a couple of really great partners. We're starting to work now down in SoCal, and then we're going to be filling in some other spots as we build. But, you know, to be able to sit in front of a player like that down in the southeast, which is really a great consumer market for us, the way we speak as a brand, those consumers would have sort of what I consider to be a connection to us, an emotional connection as far as our messaging and our story, I believe.

35:19So we're very lucky. And as far as the brand building, I just have this platform here that I've been able to utilize to jumpstart it. I mean, later you got to go. LinkedIn is a B2B play. It's not like some mass consumer marketplace. Even though, yes, I'm sure I touch a lot of consumers every day. And I have shown and have proven that many of them should turn into customers because when I started the business, when I turned on the e-com business, which is really what I consider to be day one of the business. Hey, everybody, we're on Amazon. We sold product. And we sold a lot of it. And the only way that happened was through that channel.