Staff

0:00Charlie Weisman:Welcome to the Emerging Brands podcast. Sharing the stories behind brands you'll want to shop next. I'm your host, Kelly Bennett. I am a New York City-based brand strategist for CPG Food and Beverage Brands. In each episode, I'll take you behind the scenes of founders that are building better-for-you products and bringing them to market. it. Also, I talk to brand builders, retailers, industry experts, and tastemakers who help bring those cool products to your shopping cart. You will hear stories of real-life founders, their launch strategies, and practical advice you could use to grow your own brand or simply discover what's next on shelf.

0:42Charlie Weisman:And the best part is you could shop all the brands featured on the show. This podcast is brought to you by Glimpse. Glimpse is an AI powered deduction management tool that disputes and recovers invalid deductions, winning brands, thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours back to founders so that they can focus on what really matters most. If you're a brand selling in retail, go to tryglimpse.com backslash trial for 30 days free and let them know I sent you. 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 founder who's not in the typical CPG food and beverage space that I normally talk to.

1:35Charlie Weisman:We're going to take a totally different turn, But truly, this is one of my favorite brands. I have them in my home. And they also did a really fun food and beverage collab that we will have to talk about. Charlie Wiseman, he is the founder of Staff. And Charlie, I'm so happy to have you on the podcast. Thrilled to be here. Thanks for hosting and excited to chat. Absolutely. So for people who aren't familiar yet, most likely they are because I feel like a lot of our listeners are similar consumers of myself. We love cool, modern brands, brands that are doing something different. But someone who is listening who isn't familiar yet, can you walk us through the world of staff?

2:19Absolutely. So at staff, our mission is to make each day brighter. And the way that we do that is by reimagining household essentials. So things that every listener already has in their home. They've had it their whole lives, but they've never seen it the way that we do it. We reimagine them with bold colors, unique materials, and everything is personified with these characters that are eager to help. So hence the name staff. Now anybody can have a house full of these happy staff helpers. And when I say household essentials, this is things like plungers, toilet brushes, hangers, lint rollers, oven mitts, and beyond.

2:58Charlie Weisman:And again, why your brand catches my eye is I am that consumer where if I have to buy a toilet brush, but how do I make it cute? If I need a plunger, how do I make it cute? And when I moved into my most recent apartment in Park Slope, the bathroom had this funky black and white tile. And I was like, oh, this is perfect. It totally went with the staff vibes, too. So I, like, got all new bathroom stuff from staff. Well, happy to hear that. Thank you for employing staff. And that's exactly right. For us, all our products are not just functional items. They are decor. So we make sure that they're display worthy.

3:38They add to your space. And then a lot of these are unloved items or unloved moments of your day. So we just want to bring a little more happiness. And not only are they meant to be happy and cheerful, but they work. Nobody cares how cute your plunger is if it doesn't do the job, right? So we make sure first and foremost is that this thing has to work at the highest level, and then we bring that personality and the joy.

4:03Charlie Weisman:So I appreciate that because my partner, she's more of the function first. She's an operator. So she's thinking, okay, the efficiency of this product, where I'm all about the vibes and the branding and the packaging. I'm like, no, it's cute. We have to have it. So I love that your products really check both boxes so you don't have to decide either utility or if it's a vibe and a style. Like I love that your brand checks both. First and foremost, these are tools. Our launch product was actually the plunger in, you know, five different colorways now. But part of the inspiration was my grandfather who is a career plumber.

4:42Oh, interesting. I told him about the idea. He's excited, but he's like, I don't care if it's blue. Does it work? Really, I always had him in the back of my mind going, it has to meet Papa's standards. I love that. We got there.

4:56Charlie Weisman:Very cool. What were you doing before staff? What is your background? Most of my background is in advertising. About a decade experience there, different roles. Most of that probably in business development. and working on other brands has led me, given me so many wonderful use cases, especially in BizDev where every two, three weeks you have a new challenge, whether it's a new website, a product launch, you name it. So that's been a wonderful experience to see what kind of challenges that brands need solving and then kind of coming up with some solutions. And then more fun to talk about, I also had a stint as a Guinness World Records judge.

5:39So I've always followed my heart. Took a couple of years to do that. And that was a really fun chapter.

5:47Charlie Weisman:Okay. That is the first time we've had a shout out. Got you off guard there. That is really cool. Okay. So how did this concept from staff happen? Staff happened, you know, I think it was month five of, you know, COVID lockdown. I'm in New York. I was in the Lower East Side of the time. Just a tiny apartment. losing my mind. I was just daydreaming of ways to liven up the space, add some energy, and also was looking for something entrepreneurial to do. So just being bored, overactive imagination, and thinking. And it came to me with that plunger. I kind of locked eyes with it and said, here's something that's really interesting.

6:35Everybody has one of these or is going to need one at some point. Especially in New York where there's not a lot of storage, everybody just has it sitting next to their toilet.

6:43Charlie Weisman:A thousand percent. At the time, everything in the market is designed to kind of blend into the background, but it doesn't. So I said, let's just go the opposite way. Let's lean into it. Let's create something that adds to that space. If you do need to grab a plunder, it's definitely not going to be the best part of your day. So if we can bring a little levity to that moment, And that's kind of what we're all about. And that's where it all started. And I thought, this is a really interesting thing. That was the first aha moment. And then about two hours later, I said, well, as excited as I was, it's a pretty narrow company.

7:19So then the kind of second aha moment was opening it up and thinking, wow, there's really all these functional items all throughout the home. How can we create a through line of joy that connects them and brings that happiness? and that is the second aha moment all in the same day and um that was a good day it was a fun day it was a fun day yeah and yeah so even though we did launch with just the plunger i i knew there was more to it so and i didn't want to be pigeonholed as just a plunger company and you know i think it's hard once you're kind of associated with that it's hard to sell like oven mitts so we did paint a bigger picture right out of the gate i'm just saying and we made a one-off samples to have photographs.

8:02You could say, hey, here's the world of staff and then starting with the plunger.

8:06Charlie Weisman:So that was going to be my next question of bringing this product to market. And to your point, it started off with plungers, but now getting into oven mitts and other hangers, just other everyday items. Can you walk us through more of the strategy of how you started building the brand world because there's so many emerging brand founders, like I said, who listen to the podcast and they're in that, you know, having that day of brainstorming, sitting on the couch, staring around their apartment and being like, okay, I think I'm onto something, but how do I connect the dots? And I think you've done a great job with product extensions and it's still feeling on brand.

8:49You know, working on the pipeline is one of my favorite things. I will say we are bootstrapped to the small friends and family in year two or on year four now. And, but for the most part, you know, it's just kind of one foot in the neck. We can't do all the products all at once. So it's, we have to be really selective and careful of what are we going to do. And it started with the plunger and we knew that we wanted to move on and kind of connect with a different community. So it was the oven mitts were next. And what that allowed us to do was just, you know, enter a new line of media, a new line of influencers and just start new conversations.

9:28And what we found is that as you bring in different communities, they tend to stay into the staff fold. And so then the next one after that was hangers. And that kind of got us to a fashion crowd and a different type of personality. So it's been part of how do we connect with different communities and then in part by market demand. So when we made that plunger, A lot of people said, this is cool. I love it, but I'm not going to replace it until there's a toilet brush because I already have a sack. And so I said, we listened and we said, OK, let's make a toilet brush. And then part of it has been through collabs where another brand has been inspired and said, love what you're doing.

10:07Clorox reached out to us early on and said, let's make a mop together. And we did that. So part of what I think is so fun about staff is it is this repeatable construct. You can staffify anything. And I have lots of ideas going throughout my day, but our buyers, our community, lots of people have different ways that this can come to life. And truthfully, it can live anywhere. It can live beyond the home one day. And we're going to be entering new categories soon. So you can staffify these helpers throughout. Another factor that has been, you know, as we're getting deeper now and thinking scaling, learning that, you know, large retailers, the targets of the world, they want to see full categories.

10:51So at the same time.

10:52Charlie Weisman:That was going to be my next question. So at the same time, we're building out throughout the home and building this community and connecting. It's also now, well, let's slowly build out our kitchen line and build out our bathroom line and our organization line to help us. Because they want to see your eight to ten products and figure out which ones are going to live on their shelves. Rarely do they do just one at a time. It can be done, but that's how they tend to operate. I'm so glad that you touched upon that because that was going to be my next question. What I do in between podcasting and all this good stuff is brand strategy for pre-launch CPG food and beverage brands.

11:33Charlie Weisman:And we're always thinking about – because a lot of food and beverage founders want to have, say, a sauce and then they want to have a salad topper and then they want to create a yogurt. Like they could go so many different directions, but especially in food and beverage, retailers want to see a full moment, right? They want to see, okay, this is one product, but you have three different flavors or four different flavors. And it could really sit on the shelf and have a presence together versus going in too many different categories. So I was curious because I love how you've curated it. And it makes sense in like the coming soon in New York City.

12:12Charlie Weisman:that's where I first found your products which is awesome but then moving into bigger retail how you're approaching that too so is it expanding on luckily it's been very organic and coming soon was actually the first store we were in which I think was a wonderful gift because they have such a passionate following so it's a great introduction to the world that's how I got introduced to your of the world. Yeah. Yeah. So that, you know, they have a, just their own great community. So to be sort of launched through them. And that was very early on. And when I was making this thing, I kind of said, you know, I don't know who this is for.

12:50It was, it was for me. I said, I like this at minimum, I'm going to learn about, you know, manufacturing and build e-com and making my own brand. And that's the worst that can happen is it's going to be a great educational experience, but I still had a vision. And like I said, I lived in the Lower East Side just down the street from Coming Soon. And I said, I think I can see it in there. Even though I don't know how this is going to come to life, when I have something to show, they're going to be one of my first calls. And I'm very grateful that they saw the vision and were into it. And they were the first door to really carry us.

13:27Charlie Weisman:Well, their whole vibe is like cool, contemporary. My East Village apartment, most of everything came from Coming Soon. Because I was like, this is the vibe that I'm going for. Sounds like a cool apartment, yeah. Yeah, it was a very small, funky, six-floor walk-up, East Village, shower in the kitchen. Very New York. But it was so New York, you know. I loved every second of that apartment. But I could totally see how Coming Soon was a great first retail partner. And now the trajectory of scaling to larger retailers really building out each category. it sounds like. Yeah. So we, we are in, you know, Blue Beandales and Urban Outfitters and tons of boutiques, but it is, we are also trying to think, you know, continuing to scale on what that looks like.

14:15I'm from Minneapolis. So to me, I sort of, that is retail has been the background of my life. All my, you know, friends, parents worked at Target and Best Buy and 3M. So, so Target is kind of in my DNA and I always think about, you know, that, that style and that definitely a goal there. And we are on target e-com, but you know, to be on shelf. Yeah.

14:38Charlie Weisman:Very cool. And what has been the feedback from retail buyers? Are they able to see that there is a place for, I mean, obviously, cause you are in retail of bigger stores, but in those early conversations, how you were connecting the dots of telling a retailer, Like someone will spend X amount of dollars more on a toilet plunger and brush because it's well-branded. It's been really fun. I think we are a category expander. I don't think – you're finding us in places that you're not used to maybe seeing these types of products. A lot of stores are like, we want to work with you. We don't know what team you fit in, but we're going to figure it out.

15:21So within the same week at a large retailer, we had three different teams separately reach out saying, let's figure something out. And it's, you know, a lot of times I've kind of said we can start. I've seen it. I know it works. Let's start small to kind of give them the trust that, yes, you can sell plungers. This is a lifestyle thing, even though it is at the end of the day, a plunger or whatever it may be. So having those conversations, but it's really been organic. They've kind of taken the lead to say, we see what you're doing. We like it. We want to figure out a way to make this happen.

15:56Charlie Weisman:That's always a good way to start a conversation. It's been very positive. Yeah. So there's some other ways we've been trying to, you know, we've done some trade shows and some ways to kind of encourage those conversations to happen. But for the most part, it's been inbound. Inbound. Yeah. That's amazing. That's incredible. And super inspiring for an emerging brand founder to hear when you do think outside the box and you are doing something different, there is still a lot of opportunity to get creative. And when you have the right retail partners who are willing to get creative with you. Yeah.

16:31It sounds like. It's been fun. And then now I think what's also exciting is because of this repeatable construct, we've had retail partners say, you know, we're seeing a lot of traction in this category or, you know, can we make this thing together? So that's been another fun thing that's kind of come out of these retail partnerships.

16:51Charlie Weisman:Absolutely. Can you tell us about the food and beverage or the Dunkapoo's PR that you did? Because it really stopped the scroll when I saw those. For sure. That was the idea. Yeah. So Dunkapoo's, I'll kind of share what it is. Dunkapoo's, if anybody is familiar with a nostalgic treat, that's all I can say, I think legally. Right. there's a, you know what we're talking about little cookies that you dip into chocolate, except that our cookies come in a tray. Um, the cookies are plunger shaped. The tray is toilet shaped and it's a chocolate icing. So you take your plunger and you dip it in and you indulge in, uh, in some poo inspired chocolate.

17:35And it's honestly, it's delicious, but it kind of looks gnarly, definitely a visual visceral thing. And, you know, for again, the first four years, I've always said it's my humor is potty humor. And I, it's been so hard to not go there. I've really tried to elevate this and treat it like a fashion brand or something and say, we're not going to touch potty humor. And, and then I thought, you know what, it's time. Let's just see what happens if we go full tilt. And part of the strategy was to tie it to Halloween.

18:11Charlie Weisman:So I think it gives our brand a little allowance to be different and, you know, put on a mask. And so that was done as a strategy. And I said, this makes me laugh. I wonder if we can kind of engineer some, you know, virality with this. And at minimum, I'm going to have fun. I've got two little girls and I'm going to make them smile. and we had a good time. Yeah. Very cool. No, that totally caught my attention. I'm like, oh, this brand is fun. Like they're also having fun with it too. So we did that through our site and with our retail partner was Pop-Up Grocer that on Halloween they were giving them away with purchase.

18:53And it was just a small run. It was always meant to be a limited thing, but just having fun, trying new things and taking risks. And I don't know if we're going to go back into food and beverage, but we definitely, it was a big swing and we went for it.

19:06Charlie Weisman:It's cool. And shout out to Pop-Up Grocer, one of my faves all time. They're the best. Totally. So what is on the trajectory, say, the year ahead? Like, what are you excited about? This is going to be a very interesting year. So we are going to enter new categories. I can say we're going to enter the pet space, which I think is a natural fit for us because I'll say there's some of your more unloved moments that might be dealing with pets. We kind of a little bit, we have been there with the lint roller because that's definitely a, you know, a community that it associates with, but we're going to go kind of a pure pet thing.

19:41And I'm really excited about it. Stay tuned. But yeah, you're going to see us expand outside the house as well as continue to stay in the house and scale our existing products.

19:52Charlie Weisman:Incredible. Is there any advice, and I'm sure this could be a whole other episode of just based off of your work experience and then becoming a founder, but things to put on the radar for a really early stage founder who wants to create this cool brand world and wants to expand into different categories eventually and wants to do something just a little bit different of any advice to help them get clear on what the actual brand is and really how to expand. but also have a North star, so to speak. Because I feel like you've done a great job, even in this conversation, of bringing it back to like what the core of the brand is and how it connects really well to all these brand extensions.

20:36Charlie Weisman:And that's an art in itself to do that. Like that's not an easy thing. I would just love any insight that you could share with an emerging brand founder. Yeah, I would say sort of trust yourself. Do what feels natural to you. If you have this vision and this product or this brand speaks to you, there's a reason. So do it. I think one thing is do it is the best advice I can give somebody is don't worry about perfecting too much. Don't, you know, be mindful and be thoughtful, but just start. Just get out there. The universe rewards the action, and that's the best thing you can do. Also, you don't need to be too precious with it.

21:16Don't, you know, it's not a secret. No one's going to take your idea. I know it feels like that, and it can be really stressful, but honestly by putting it out there in the world you're going to get so much more and it's there is a founder community everybody is is helpful it's it is really a you can reach out to me i'm sure any other podcast guests you've had on here people like to help people we've all leaned on each other we it is a um one where we we like to help so uh i i think do do not be shy do not be protective, just get out there and start. Another thing would be just protect, you know,

21:57have larger margins than you think. There's a million ways to lose margin. So give yourself the freedom and the flexibility. And that was something, you know, when I started, I didn't know where this was going to be, if it's going to be retail direct, I wanted to be prepared for both. So I made sure that our margins did that. And I'm learning there's a million other ways to lose margins through all kinds of different things. So just make sure your margins are healthy and everything else will follow, but do not even out of the gate, don't say, well, we'll fix this later with economies of scale, just out of the gate, make sure your margins are healthy.