She Built the Drybar of Massage: Brittany Driscoll, Founder of Squeeze

0:00Hey, business besties. Welcome back to the Female Founder World Podcast. I'm Jasmine, the host of the show and the creator of the female founder world universe. Today, I'm chatting with Brittany Driscoll, the co-founder of Squeeze Massage. You are now entering female founder world with your host, Jasmine Garnsworthy. For people that don't know Squeeze, what are you guys building? Squeeze is a way better massage experience. I actually partnered with the founders of Drybar to create it. And we are really trying to modernize massage, make it more accessible, affordable. Our biggest differentiation, aside from creating a beautiful, sophisticated, luxurious brand, is our technology.

0:38You can do everything through our app, book your appointments at all your personal life preferences, through to paying, rating, tipping, and reviewing. So we like to say, I guess, walk in and float out. It's a very seamless experience. I love that. Okay, cool. So what were you in your life when you were starting this back in 2017? So I previously ran marketing for Drybar. I started my career in marketing and advertising. I've always been a big believer in people and experience and really creating disruptive moments, if you will. So Drybar was, you know, the ride of a lifetime. I was there from 2013 to 2017, helped take the company to over 100 million, launched all the products internationally and opened several doors.

1:19And at the time, the founders, Michael and Allie and I, we were avid massage goers and really felt like there was a big opportunity to disrupt the massage space, similar to what we did with Drybar. You know, felt like there was a hole in the market on one end. You have low end discount chains on the other. There's high end hotels and spas. And, you know, I think the best business ideas really come out of personal frustration or necessity. And so we really felt like there was an opportunity to create a way better massage experience. And that's kind of what sparked us on this journey. As someone who's kind of been to zero to 100 or 100 million before, what were some of those early things that you knew you had to do to kind of like validate that this was a legitimate, great idea?

2:02Absolutely. So I think first and foremost, it's really taking the time to be very thoughtful about the experience end to end. Little things are big things are one of our values. And so, you know, we really focus on just all of the core moments that the guest and quite frankly, also our team members were going to experience the brand through and really make sure that they were memorable. So I would say just, you know, really trying to think through every single milestone and moment of interaction with your brand and how you can be slightly differentiated. Like just as an example, our mascot, we call Pat.

2:36It's the smiley face that you see just as a representation of hopefully how you feel when you walk out the door. we use uh pat in all of our uh digital communications certainly you know in social media but also on our app and when you're waiting for the schedule to load as an example pat you know kind of goes in this little circle and and has a cute little uh speech bubble that says whoa i'm getting dizzy and you know you don't have to say that but it's just one of those moments that makes people smile and really kind of taps into the brand voice so i would say just you know being super mindful about all the little moments that make ultimately a really big difference.

3:13Awesome. What did you do for your launch? Like what was your go-to-market marketing plan? How did you get that buzz and those first customers? Yeah, it's a mix of a lot of things. I always say that, you know, marketing, there's no silver bullet. You really do have to kind of be active in all channels. So certainly we had local press and the Halo National Media. So we built the brand organically ourselves. We also brought in a ton of local influencers to have them experience the brand, talk about it, hosted several events with local key tastemakers, advertising. You know, for us, we're a brick and mortar business.

3:50So we're very local. And we partnered with schools and did pop ups at other health and wellness businesses. And, you know, really just got out into the community. That's one of the things we're a franchise and that's one of the things that I encourage my operating partners, which is what we call our franchise bees, to do early and often is just be out there in the community, make your face known, support other businesses the way you want to be supported. We were fortunate in that, you know, in doing that early on, we had several businesses who sent an email out to their customer base on our behalf with a special offer.

4:22You know, like it's really those moments that help to get our message out to a math audience and certainly people who are within our customer base. So it's a myriad of things. I love the, I feel like local marketing works as well for like, even if you're an e-com business, like getting out into the real world and partnering with other folks is just, I don't know, it just seems like the scrappy way to get things done. It actually is really impactful. I want to know more about the franchise model. And that's something that I really wanted to speak to you about because we haven't had a lot of people on the show who have done that.

4:54And I feel like it's probably maybe something that doesn't get spoken a lot about in kind of like the entrepreneurial world. Why? First of all, like what businesses should become franchise businesses? The franchising, I always like to say is like taking the entrepreneurial leap with the safety net below you. It's a great way to kind of get that like entrepreneurial it and that experience yourself, but with the support of a larger system. And then the other benefit in franchising, of course, is as a franchisee, you have other business owners in different communities around the country doing the same thing as you.

5:30So you kind of have just a really beautiful built-in network of champions and supporters and people you can learn from and also encourage. But the number one thing that's most important when thinking about if you want to franchise your business is, one, can you scale it? Can it really work at scale? You know, for us, we need to get to hundreds of units really for the business model to work. I mean, as a franchisor, you're taking a very small royalty in the business, you know, the majority of the financial flow go to the operating partner. And so it's really important that you can scale to a meaningful volume for it to really make sense.

6:08And then the second other thing that I would really consider is, can someone else do this as well as you? If your business is your name or require you to be kind of that linchpin, then it's very difficult to franchise. You really need to have clear documentation and training processes to be able to set someone else up for success. So what are you as the franchisor? Is that the title? Like you're the franchisor? That's right. Okay. What is your like role when you're onboarding someone? What does that process look like and what are you offering them? So there's a few things. When you are awarded a franchise, you essentially get the rights to use the brand in your community.

6:53So that's the first thing is that we're giving you the rights to use the brand, the name, and operate within our systems and standards. And then in terms of the level of support that we provide, we have support in every functional area of the business. So for us, you know, our process goes from real estate and site selection through to design and construction to marketing your business, recruiting your team, operating it on a daily basis. And then, of course, working through, which I'm sure everyone listening to know, like the true entrepreneurial journey, the ups and downs. And we have coaching that we provide both personally and professionally to support our operating partners.

7:31So we really do try and round out the experience, not just with the business acumen, but also with the, you know, emotional and mental support that's really needed to run a business successfully. life. Okay, business besties, let's switch gears for a second. Real quick, I want to talk to you about this season's presenting sponsor, Vistaprint. They are sponsoring this entire season of the Female Founder World podcast, and we love a supportive sponsor. So much so that we're actually working with Vistaprint ourselves to create the merch and all of those beautiful event perks that you know and love from our in real life Female Founder World events.

8:13If you haven't heard of Vistaprint, here's what you need to know. Vistaprint helps all kinds of business owners print all kinds of marketing products like super professional business cards, fun merch, eye-catching flyers and brochures, and a whole bunch more. And it's all completely custom. So you can do whatever you want. Whatever you're imagining right now, Vistaprint can print it. And if you're wondering if you're ready to be a designer girly, their easy to use website makes it super simple. Plus they have designers on hand to help you if you really need it. Right now, Vistaprint is giving all female Founderworld podcast listeners a little something, 25 % off your first order at vistaprint.com.

8:57Use the code FFW25 at checkout and step up your branding game. We put a link in the show notes if you want to learn more. What do you look for in terms of those operating partners? Are you looking for people that have experience building, running companies? Are you looking for someone who's like embedded in a community? What is it that makes someone good in that role? Yeah, the professional background, we're not as specific on, you know, I mean, we have people who come from finance and technology and we've got lawyers and real estate agents and, you know, people who had marketing backgrounds. So the professional lane isn't as important as one.

9:40We are a very people. I like to say we're in the people industry, not the service industry. Really, all we're doing is selling people's time. So, so much of the success as an operator is your ability to lead a team. So we focus a lot on what are your management skills? What has your experience been in leading team? But then also it's back to the marketing piece. You know, are you comfortable being a community builder, really being the face of the brand in your community, because so much of your success really does come down to your ability to be out and about and build locally, you know, do that grassroots work, especially for us.

10:15We're still an emerging brand, which is an exciting time, but, you know, also different than if you were to be awarded an Orange Theory franchise. That's a very different system. Those two things are really important. And then really just having like the grit and tenacity and the resilience side of being an entrepreneur, like you've got to have that true grit and hustle and just, you know, the no nonsense, you're willing to keep going every single time you get knocked down. That's a big piece of it too. I'm curious as a, you know, bricks and mortar, physical business, how you decide and kind of look at where you're going to launch something new.

10:54Where does that data come from? Where does that information come from? Yeah. So that's a big part of the real estate site fledgling process. You know, we definitely look at an overarching territories and we're looking at you know demographics and psychographics and really making sure that the population and the density work you know that's kind of like from a very high level halo perspective but you know the key things when we're actually looking for a site are things like co-tenancy we were we're looking for daily use centers places where people are already living their life you know they're going to yoga or the grocery store they're grabbing their coffee or their juice nail flan you know places again that are ingrained in the community's behavior.

11:32That's really interesting. We don't have like a huge amount of people with a bricks and mortar like footprint on the show. And I just like it's such a different, it's such a different business. It's so interesting to me, the things that have to go into it. The other thing I wanted to talk to you about is funding and how you fund a business like this. How did you fund it in the beginning? And what does that look like now? So we raised a small friends and family round in the beginning. And we were quite fortunate because we were coming off of this success of Dry Bar. And so there was quite a lot of people who were involved in that transaction in the sale.

12:06And so I will say for anyone out there who doesn't have kind of that foundational connection, I do think fundraising is very hard. I think particularly for women, it is a space that needs more and more support and opportunity. And I hope eventually to one day be championing that because even for me with the success of Drybar and with my business partners, we've had our challenges for sure. So I think the most important thing when you're going out to fundraise is to remember that investors are ultimately investing in you as the business owner and as the leader. They obviously need to understand what your business concept is.

12:42They need to believe in it and certainly, you know, understand the market landscape. But really what they're investing in is do they believe that you can make this happen? You know, do they believe that you understand And the challenge that you have ahead of you that you'll continue to forge through, that you're going to find a path forward, you know, that's really what people are buying into. And so I think it's so important that you feel really confident in yourself. You also need to have a really clear pitch, you know, a super succinct story. You need to hit on what's the gap in the marketplace?

13:13What problem are you ultimately trying to solve? How are you going to do it? What your long-term plan is? But it's really about connecting with people and being able to get them aligned with and understanding your vision. We hear this often about how investors are investing in the founder, in the person. How do you actually present that to someone? Do you know what I mean? Is it something where you need to have this profile that you've already built? Is it the way that you show up in the meeting on a Zoom call? Is it the way that you put together the pitch? Like, how do you actually communicate that across to a potential investor?

13:50Like, yep, invest in me. I'm a great bet. Yeah, no, I think I think it's a lot of things. You know, I think it's partly what your experience has been prior to that kind of sets you up, giving you the foundation for where you're going. And that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have the same experience, but demonstrate a track record of, you know, getting shit done, of ultimately making things happen. You know, for me, as an example, I worked in the advertising world before I even worked at Drybar. And I always worked on special projects. I was never the person who was like doing the direct mail campaigns.

14:24When I worked at a direct response agency, I convinced our managing director that we would do global promotions for Barbie. And the way that I did that was I was super passionate about it. I got everyone excited. You know, I figured out partners that we could work with within the larger agency network. and just like was the squeaky wheel that made it happen. So I think that, and that's an example of like my grit and my tenacity, right? I mean, I didn't start a business, but I kind of made something happen that didn't exist. So that's an example of like, you can use your past as, hey, you know, here's how I've shown up before.

14:57And this is, you know, this is how I will be showing up in the future. So I think like finding the key little nuggets in your story that are going to provide confidence to someone. You definitely need to have your pitch. So you're deck ready, you know, with the overarching story. That's always good to send beforehand so that the investor has an understanding of what you're going to be talking about. But I think a lot of it does come down to how you show up, the energy that you show up with, why you're excited. Like give me examples about what you're doing that day or what you did the past week and the other conversations that you're having.

15:33You know, you kind of want to create like a little bit of FOMO in investors and make them feel like if they don't invest, they're missing out. So, you know, talk like have other things in the works that you're talking through. And then and then also the follow up, right? Like staying consistent, staying on them, not not taking no for an answer. Like I do think even like providing little updates on, hey, you know, it's great talking with you last week or two weeks ago. I just want to let you know, look at this cool press hit we got or want to let you know where, you know, we're moving forward in our development.

16:03and this is what we've done. Like just, you know, it's like being a squeaky wheel. You got to stay ahead of it. That's such good advice. Is there anything else that you would recommend as a resource? We ask everyone on the show to share something that's been helping them as they've been building the business. You've just given us a pretty good one. But is there anything else that you wanted to call out, Brittany? Yeah, a size and a gratitude practice. I think I would say, and it sounds like you're doing this already, but like find a peer group that you can be super honest with. You know, I have a few girlfriends locally who are all building businesses.

16:36I go on walks with them at least, you know, every few weeks just to be able to truly talk about like where we're at, what we're struggling with. And it's such a beautiful way to validate that like everyone is in it. You know, everyone is struggling. Everyone's figuring it out. And to also stay encouraged. I just feel like that outlet is so critical to keeping the momentum going. Yeah, that's such a good piece of advice. And we just for you guys listening, if you're not in our group chat, join it. We have a Female Founder World app. The group chat is free to join. And then we also do like in-person events, more programming for paid members.

17:15But the group chat as a base level, like everyone should be in there. If you don't have that community already, let's find the people that are going to help you through this. Yes, I love that. Yeah, that would be my recommendation. Brittany, thank you so much for coming on the show and congratulations on everything you guys are building at Squeeze. It's been very, very cool and inspiring to hear your story. Thanks, Jasmine. I appreciate it. I just wanted to jump in and end the show with a quick thank you and shout out to all of our paid Business Besties subscribers. For$9 a month, Business Besties bypass literally years of networking by getting access to all of the people that you need to build your dream business.

17:55Besties get access to exclusive in-person meetups in cities all across the US, Australia, and the UK. You get access to our group chat and you get to bypass the waitlist. You also get invited to exclusive monthly group business coaching call sessions where you can speak to experts and founders and ask them all of those questions that you just can't Google. It's$9 a month. You can cancel anytime. Head to bestie.femalefounderworld.com or click the link in the show notes for more. Thank you.