Launch Grow Exit

0:00Kelly Anne Parker:Welcome to the Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. This is the podcast to discover stories behind your new favorite CPG brands. Each episode brings you behind the scenes of the brand and founder story, learn what sets them apart in the marketplace, and their strategy going to market. We talk about plans for growth, practical advice for an emerging brand founder, and where to shop products that are making waves in food, beverage, wellness, beauty, and beyond. You'll also hear from industry experts, brand builders, investors, and operators you should absolutely have on your radar if you're building a CPG brand today.

0:44Kelly Anne Parker:I'm your host, Kelly Bennett, a Brooklyn-based brand strategist with a front row seat of what makes an emerging CPG brand stand out. Whether you're building a brand of your own or love supporting what's next, you're in the right place. This episode was made possible by our sponsor, Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds is a platform that connects everyday small creators with brands that drive user-generated content, build buzz at specific retailers, and captures competitive market share. It's a tool that I recommend to all of my clients that you should absolutely check out. Head to hummingbirds.com for all the details.

1:28Kelly Anne Parker:Now, let's dive into the new episode. Hi, everyone. Welcome back to a new episode of Emerging Brands Podcast with Kelly Bennett. Today, I have a really cool person on who's going to show you another perspective and point of view when it comes to building an emerging brand. Kelly Ann Parker is the founder of Launch, Grow, Exit. Kelly, I'm so happy to have you on the podcast today. Thank you so much for having me. This is so much fun. And I feel like we could talk for hours. So I was thrilled to share this with your audience. Absolutely. And we have talked for hours before. And you are one of the very few people that I can talk to hours with.

2:13Kelly Anne Parker:And I remember our last hang, I was like, I cannot wait to have you on the show and just hit record for people to eavesdrop on this conversation. To kick things off, because we have a lot to cover, I would love if you could walk people through the company you built, you bootstrapped, built it from the ground up, and how that intersected with emerging brands. Because it's a really cool story, and it's something that I don't think many emerging brands think of. And so I would love if you could walk us through that first chapter of your career. Yeah, of course. Well, similar to you, I was in tech startups my whole career prior to this.

2:58And you get an eye for, you know, packaging and products and different stories. And, you know, podcasting was always something I listened to. I love people's stories. And I knew that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. So when I first started my business, I really didn't have a lot of capital and I didn't have, you know, the pedigree of a traditional founder going into a VC backed company. So I decided that I was going to bootstrap my business. And I came up with the idea of entering the corporate gifting market because I was already doing that in my career. I was already thinking of ways to support my clients were office managers.

3:42So I was already thinking about what to send them, who they send gifts to and so on. And it all ties back to like emerging brands and different things because I was able to incorporate so many emerging brands in the corporate gifts that we were sending. So Full Circle was able to kind of curate from different products and hearing different people's stories. And obviously being here in New York, you know, showing up to things like, you know, Prospect Park, where there's so many, you know, first time founders and things like that. So it was really just kind of piecing everyone together from, you know, my experience, my life and my career.

4:27Kelly Anne Parker:It's such an interesting perspective, because when we think about emerging brands. Usually you think about specialty retail or getting into a big box store, but corporate gifting is a really great way for an emerging brand to get on the radar, start making consistent sales, and really not stress about the retail side of it because the person who is purchasing for corporate gifting, it's a gift, right? So you don't have to think about the sales through. From your perspective, what was catching your eye when you were building your business and really curating emerging brands for the corporate gifting clients that you're working with?

5:10Yeah. Well, it's so unique, especially in the tech space or media where you're always looking for the next thing. And there were so many outdated gifting platforms that you know um a traditional like bouquet may have not worked right for like the specific thing so being able to curate something that was unique and personalized was was like really the magic sauce of like why I was able to scale um because I was able to find things that match their brand colors and put like a logo on the gift bag and things like that um but yeah one thing that caught my eye were like traditional categories that were reinventing themselves.

5:55I know I mentioned earlier that like in 2018, we were using touch land, uh, hand sanitizer. And that was, you know, two to three years earlier than the pandemic when touch land boomed and like that.

6:10Kelly Anne Parker:Exactly. So it was really like going to the big shows and keeping my eye on Instagram and seeing, you know, other female founders and unique brands and stories and really piecing them all together. The other thing that I would say that's really cool about corporate gifting for a potential founder is the purchase orders are a lot bigger. So you get money back into your business quicker. So like for me, someone who bootstrapped with$5 ,000, I was getting purchase orders, you know, that were tens of thousands of dollars. And I was able to, you know, manage cash flow so much better and grow sustainably, as where, you know, in consumer, you know, you have to put money into ad spend and wait till the money comes back and so on.

6:59So I really encourage any founder, whether, you know, you're building a coffee company, chocolate company, find ways, because all of these businesses, whether it's gifting or for their own personal use in their offices for their employees, they all purchase from someone. So it's really important that you start breaking into that channel early to get cash flow back into the business.

7:23Kelly Anne Parker:Again, you really put corporate gifting on my radar because it's something that I've never worked in corporate. So it wasn't something that was really on my periphery of having experience. But when you broke it down, exactly the way you just did. I'm like, oh, this is important. I have to pay more attention to it. So with your corporate, so you built a business, bootstrapped it. It was in corporate gifting. You were curating these brands. And can you give us the overview of then what happened in 2020? Yeah, of course. So I, you know, I give this advice to founders a lot of really building for your customer.

8:07And I wasn't a social media girl at the time. Now, you know, I post on LinkedIn, I started an Instagram and all of that. But at the time, I wasn't this like loud crowd founder on the internet, I was really only working with my customers and building for them. so I knew that at some point someone was going to reach out to me because of for something like I kind of I don't want to say I manifested an exit but I kind of always knew that if I grew it to a certain point someone was going to be like wow she's doing that on her own with no money imagine if we gave her money or imagine if we gave her resources right so um in 2019 I had a conversation with one of the five founders of Urban Stems who I met five years previously before that because I was a big user of Urban Stems.

9:02I would always send their bouquets as corporate gifts. And then that's how I kind of, you know, started thinking about the space and so on. And we had an early conversation and he had introduced me to the new chief revenue officer. All conversations kind of stalled. I never thought it was an acquisition conversation. It was early 2020. And I just kept following up. After the first conversation, I was like, hey, hope all is well. This is what we're doing. This is a new customer I acquired. This is a piece of press that happened. And by keeping that relationship, six months later, they were like, hey, we want to come to the table and have a conversation about bringing you on and taking on the business.

9:49So it really happened pretty organically within network. I wasn't on the market. I always say if I was in corporate gifting until retirement, I would be happy. It happened truly organically. And I think it's because I built within mine that this could be valuable to another business. And that's something I encourage every emerging brand, every founder of every type of business is build for your customers with the mindset that this could provide value to them today and value to another company in the future. So that's interesting.

10:28Kelly Anne Parker:So when you got that message of, hey, we want to come to the table, we are curious about what this could look like moving forward. Had you had any experience with an accusation being acquired before or an exit before? What was I would just love to hear like all the different things you were thinking, feeling, Googling when you got that message? Yeah. So it's really simple. It goes back to, like, I've said this to you, good people know good people. And you kind of have that gut punch in like the, you know, reaction like of like what's right for you and what's right for your business. And I knew that they were the right partner at the time because our missions align.

11:18Their goal is truly to send happy. And I love their product. I love their curations. I every time I've opened up in Urban Stems Bouquet, I've got that sense of joy as a consumer. So I knew it was the right spot for my business, which was called Send Ribbon. So that that being said, like I just knew it was the right time. It was also at the height of COVID 20, you know, 2020, where corporate gifting was booming. and I had gotten to the end of the resources that I could do the business on my own. Got it. I would have needed a loan or a partner or some type of financing because I couldn't keep up with the demand at that point.

12:05I was also packing orders by myself and doing all the crazy startup things. But in terms of exits and building for an exit, I always knew that because I had worked in startups previously. So, yeah, all of the companies I had worked for previously, knock on wood, I have a little bit of a hot streak, have previously exited. So Indeed was acquired, Managed by Q was acquired by WeWork, DoorDash IPO. So they all had gone through that process. And although I wasn't like hands on in the process, being an employee of those companies, whether early stage or late stage, I had known like what it takes to build it.

12:52Kelly Anne Parker:You had exposure to it. You had exposure to it. So what then happened next? Yeah. So the business was acquired in 2020 and I came on as our director of corporate gifting. And I was able to, you know, build out a small team and have the opportunity to go through one year of holiday, you know, holidays and in the floral industry, as you know, like Mother's Day and Valentine's Day are really big. And after the year that I had as, you know, building that, I knew that, you know, there were going to be changes in the direction of my business and their business and so on. And I decided to take the full exit.

13:41So January 1st of 2022, I took my full exit and walked away. And from there, I always say I took my eat, pray, love year. I traveled the world. I trained for a marathon. I did all the things that I wanted to do in my bucket list. I moved to the beach, all of those things. And then throughout that organically, other female founders are reaching out to me. Hey, Kelly, how'd you do this? Hey, Kelly, like, could you help on this? Or it would be like a coffee brand. And they'd be like, how do we break into corporate gifting? Or, you know, so all of those messages became a business in itself. And I was really nervous about starting over again, or being a coach on the internet of businesses.

14:31So I finally got my groove last year when I went all in and I was like, no, this is an advisory because I have a hand in your business and I'm not telling you what to do. I'm literally making introductions and, you know, showing you my network and, and really building something, um, with the mindset of an exit. Right. So I started launch, grow exit. We rebranded to that name, probably in the fall, because someone would ask me what you do. And I would say, Oh, I help founders launch, grow and exit. And then the Instagram and TikTok and everything was available. I was like, boom, that's our name.

15:14So I started that and it's really continued to grow organically. And I'm really proud to say that not only do I help early stage founders, but I'm now made it my mission to make, you know, other founders post exit. So I'm really happy, like, you know, the, everyone knows the percentages of women that get a VC check or any type of funding in the beginning, you know, it being less than 2 % and it's even lower for female founders who have an exit. So I've made it my personal mission to help as many other female founders exit their business.

15:53Kelly Anne Parker:So incredible. Can you walk someone through who's an emerging brand founder and is just new to this whole world of what it means to start a brand and what it could look like to exit and what that actually looks like in real life of how you work with founders and just giving some examples because I think that would really help them make it feel more tangible of exactly what you're talking about? Yeah. So that's a great question. So when people ask me like, who do you work with and how? Right. Like if you're that person at the end of the bar that has an idea for a business and you write it down on a bar napkin and slide it across the table, like I'm your girl, I'm the person on the other side of the table that's like, okay, this is what you do with your idea.

16:43And this is how we're going to get it done. Because I have a network of, you know, my lawyer could help you get an LLC, a trademark, so on. Boom. Like I have a digital marketing agency that I swear by. Right. And like someone like you that has, you know, bread and butter. Right. Like I have now made my stamp, Kelly Parker stamp of approval, like army of people that could help you build this business. So that's that.

17:12Kelly Anne Parker:Yeah. I love that analogy too. That's so good. Yeah. It's so true though. People are like, oh, Kelly helps with businesses. But it's like, in what way? You know, I'm not the turnaround CEO of a company that has 5 ,000 employees. I'm very clear on, you know, small businesses under 25 million is really where I gravitate to, you know, really no more than 500 employees. Like I, I'm very much in small business land here. Um, so that's how I help my launchers, my, my growers, right? Like the people in the messy middle that are trying to scale, get into retail and so on. Those are more strategy pieces, right?

17:58Like, you know, where investment is needed. Um, so I, I work with founders on a one-to-one basis on that. And then for my exiters, I am prepping their businesses through, you know, going through every category where we could tighten up things, where we could get a higher valuation from investing time or resources into certain areas of their business. And then really, in some cases, I'm even brokering. So I'm really excited to say that I'm representing on the sell side and finding buyers for those potential businesses.

18:36Kelly Anne Parker:I remember you telling me about that and I found it so interesting as far as how you've evolved your business model and also gave yourself just another way to work with founders and support them in probably one of the biggest, most scary, most exciting, open, you know, like the world is your oyster type of moment situation. So I would love if you could break that part down too, because again, it's, it's a nuanced conversation and I would love to hear your perspective of what that really looks like. Yeah, I think like anything, it comes down to trust, right? So, um, you know, I wish I, you know, could say that I don't get the crying phone call of like, you know, worked with the wrong person and was burned and not every founder is the right fit for you.

19:33Not every business is the right fit for you. And I'm not the right fit for everyone. Right. So like having that network and having the referrals are really important. Um, so I, I think that was what it really came down to is trust. So I bet on myself in my first business, right? Like I was like, I'm all in, this has to work. I trust myself. I have to get this done. When you're providing a service, to someone, especially a small business owner, they have to trust that the service is going to be provided. So what I've done is not only vetted my, you know, my community of referrals, but I've also given my time back.

20:14So I bet on myself again, if this referral goes through, have my lawyer or have, you know, the digital advertising company, whoever it is, have them give back the time, right? So if they're giving me a small piece of, you know, percentage for the referral, right? Like a partnership agreement, I'll give my time back to the founder. So I'm saying like, not only will I prove out that my referrals and the network works for your business, but I'll also give you back my time. And I, and if you're unhappy with my service, I also give back your money and that's never happened. But I'm saying like, I think that's a big piece of it is really, again, making it so the barrier to entry for a founder so low that like, I'm not going to do this.

21:03This is my reputation too. And I'm in it with you. So I never knew anyone in my portfolio as a client. They're like an extension, like I'm an extension of their team. And a lot of these businesses I do have equity in for that reason. And I sit on a handful of affords for that reason.

21:23Kelly Anne Parker:Can you describe the types of brands that you work with? Because I know you work with some CPG and a few different types, just for someone listening to better understand if they could be a good fit. Yeah. So I definitely work with CPG. I have a handful of food brands, snacks, beverage, ALK and non-ALK, which is a fun, fun category that we see growing Yes. And then I actually have a lot of wellness brands and specifically female wellness brands. Um, so I, I love that space as well. Um, and then in terms of anything outside of CPG or like food, beverage, you know, wellness, um, I do have a handful of tech.

22:13Um, so tech enabled services on the B2B side or even consumer tech. And I really like those as well because that hits a little bit of my background. But I will say, you'd be surprised of who I work with. I actually have a chicken feed company in my portfolio. I have a chocolate pasta company in my portfolio and a period cramp company. So like it really runs the gamut of who I'm willing to work with. But the one common denominator between all the founders that I have the privilege of serving is that they're willing to do the work and they're they're gritty and going to get there. So don't let a category discriminate like whether or not you're a fit for my portfolio.

23:03Let it be yourself. Like if you're willing to put in the work and bet on yourself, I'll bet I'll take that bet with you.

23:09Kelly Anne Parker:So that's a great way of putting it and was totally going to be my next question of what was the commonality of all those different brands. But that was perfectly put for you. What is the most important piece that you see maybe from each stage of how you work with a founder from that launch? What's the most important to the growth stage to that exit? Just really high level to put it on someone's radar now when they're in the really, really early stages. is? Yeah, I think, you know, it's something that I learn every day and relearn in different ways. But it's the control. Every founder has to, you know, control the things that they can because you get into any type of industry, any type of business.

23:58And the whole point of entrepreneurship, right is the highs and lows and the you know and getting back up every time you fall um so that's something that is muscle memory and I I really encourage everyone to work on like control what's in your control and like litigate as much risk as you can right we cannot control you know the like the weather or tariffs or all the different things outside of our business but what we can control is how we react to things and how, you know, how we think about businesses, not just six months from now, but six years from now, right? So forward thinking, and obviously, it doesn't hurt to have that positive attitude to keep going.

24:47It's something that took me years to realize that, you know, sitting in like, anger or grief or all those tough emotions don't get me the next partnership or the next sale or move my business forward. So sit in the emotions, do it as a founder, but sit in them quickly. I think that my advice is sit in them quickly.

25:07Kelly Anne Parker:That's a good reminder of feel your feelings. But when you're building a business, it's also how you're going to recover from it and keep moving forward and building that muscle and keep building that muscle. I know I have to let you go, but before I do, how can someone contact you, possibly work with you, be possibly in your portfolio? I would love if you could break that down for us. Yeah, of course. So I'm Kellyanne Parker on LinkedIn. You can find me there. My calendar is public, so anyone could sign up for a free coffee chat. I still am happy to meet anyone, like I said, as early as the bar napkin and as late as someone looking to sell their business.

25:54So that is there. And then on Instagram and TikTok, I am launch, grow, exit. And you could find my cringy first time founder social media there.

26:07Kelly Anne Parker:You're doing great. And I've been loving the content and you have had a really great run of clips of different interviews that you've been doing. And I've been really enjoying hearing those quick go to pieces of advice on your social. I thought that it's it's really great. Well, thank you. I am a practice what you preach person. And my founders are the ones who really pushed me to to get on social media because I'm the one giving them feedback all the time of how to do this. So it's a taste of my own medicine. And of Of course, I appreciate your support and friendship on Instagram. Of course. Well, thank you so much, Kelly, for sharing all of your insights and really breaking it down for us so that someone who's in the really, really early stages of building a brand could have a good idea of what that looks like moving forward.

27:05Kelly Anne Parker:So I really appreciate your time and insight today. Of course. Thank you so much. And thanks again to the Hummingbirds team. Adore them as well. Amazing. Thank you so much. and I'll see everyone on the next episode. This episode of the Emerging Brands podcast was made possible by our sponsor, Hummingbirds. Hummingbirds is a platform that connects everyday small creators with brands to drive user-generated content, build buzz at specific retailers, and capture competitive market share. It's a tool that I recommend to all of my clients and one you should absolutely check out. Head to hummingbirds.com for all the details.