716 Maria Weaver: Founder & CEO of XO Maria Louise

0:00I am unwilling to give up, but I will start over from scratch as many times as it takes to get where I want to be.

0:09Kara Goldin:You just want to make sure you will get knocked down, but just make sure you don't get knocked out. So your only choice should be, go focus on what you can control. Hi everyone and welcome to the Kara Goldin show. Join me each week for inspiring conversations with some of the world's greatest leaders. We'll talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and really some of the most interesting people of our time. Can't wait to get started. Let's go. Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the Kara Golden Show. Today, we're talking about reinvention, not just as a career pivot, but as a powerful act of creativity, identity, and purpose.

0:54Kara Goldin:And we have Maria Weaver, who knows quite a bit about this. After three decades, that's exactly what I said, three decades as a trailblazing executive across HBO, Showtime, Comcast, and most recently as global president of Warner Music Experience, where she led a$300 million business into over$600 million. She did something bold. She decided it's time to completely change careers. And XO Maria Luis was born, a jewelry brand rooted in reinvention, resilience, and the belief that starting over isn't failure, it's freedom. And the design is, oh my gosh, you will absolutely love XO Maria Louise, direct to consumer and a couple of pop-ups here and there.

1:51Kara Goldin:Fairly new brand. So if you have not seen it yet, you definitely have to check out the website and get your hands on everything that she is doing. But so creative, so incredible. And I'm so excited to have you here, Maria. So welcome to the Kara Golden Show. How are you? Thank you so much for that wonderful introduction. I am I'm great. And I'm so happy to be here with you. So thank you. Super excited to have you here as well. And shout out to Courtney who introduced us. I adore Courtney. So very, very excited to have you here and have that introduction. So Exo Maria Louise, I mentioned as a jewelry company, but can you share a little bit about the products and kind of what inspired you to launch this brand?

2:40Kara Goldin:This message is a paid partnership with AT &T Business. Hey everyone, Kara here. Let's get real about those early days of building a business, not the highlight reel, the actual day-to-day, the friction, trying to manage everything across time zones, across teams, across locations, and realizing how much depends on staying connected. I remember those days at Hint, a retailer call, an order, a decision, all of it. And you realize quickly, connection isn't a nice to have, it's the lifeblood of your business. As a founder, you don't want to think about your connectivity. You just need it to work every time.

3:24Kara Goldin:That's why AT &T Business Matters. AT &T Business is the reliable provider for small business owners. And when you have that kind of reliability behind you, you can focus on what actually moves your business forward. Powered by AT &T Business, built to work. Get AT &T Business at business.att.com. Wow. That's a big question because it is a major pivot for me in so many ways, but in so many ways, it's not, if you know what I mean. I've been making bracelets for a really long time, but mostly for myself, for my two daughters, I would make a bracelet if my daughter had a test. I'd say, here, you'd have some turquoise with you today.

4:13And it just became something that was a family ritual, if you will. But I had in my mind that at some point in time, I would love to share my passion around natural gemstones with other women and make other women aware of not only the power, but the beauty that they have and that they come in really high quality and that you can adorn them with 14 karat gold and other things and not have to feel like something that is spiritual can't also be elegant and fit into whatever your jewelry repertoire is. And so now it just felt like a really good time for me to do that. And I was in the midst of a pivot anyway.

5:06And this was a perfect opportunity for me to take a step back and launch XO Maria Louise. And the response has been really powerful. I also focused on the brand and the name and the XO, which was really a way for me to encourage women to give a little love to themselves, Give yourself a hug and a kiss or give your girlfriend a hug and a kiss and just a friendly reminder. And people have really connected with that part of the brand. And that's been really exciting as well.

5:46Kara Goldin:I love it. So one of the items that I have is a garnet bracelet with diamonds around the XO, which is absolutely stunning. so Maria Louise, Exo Maria Louise, how did that name come about? So my middle name is Louise, but I did not like my middle name growing up. It was a name that I actually didn't even really acknowledge. And as I was thinking about this brand, I thought, as I'm going through this process of self-acceptance and just embracing all of me, I thought, what a great opportunity for me to embrace something that historically isn't something I felt connected to. But the name Louise is actually a family name.

6:36It's passed down to me from generations. And so, wow, like when I stop and I really think about the meaning of that and the fact that my parents wanted me to have that, it hit differently. And so the Louise part was something I did a lot of self-reflection around. The XO, as I mentioned, was really because I do sign everything XO Maria just from habit. And that just felt like a natural connection. And as I shared it with women and did a little focus group kind of work, it seemed to really resonate. And this idea that someone could have something on their wrist that just reminds them that they are loved and love themselves.

7:21And it all just came together really organically in many ways.

7:26Kara Goldin:This message is a paid partnership with AT &T Business. Hey, everyone, Kara here. Let's get real about those early days of building a business, not the highlight reel, the actual day to day, the friction, trying to manage everything across time zones, across teams, across locations, and realizing how much depends on staying connected. I remember those days at Hint, a retailer call, an order, a decision, all of it. And you realize quickly, connection isn't a nice to have, it's the lifeblood of your business. As a founder, you don't want to think about your connectivity, you just need it to work every time.

8:10Kara Goldin:That's why AT &T Business Matters. AT &T Business is the reliable provider for small business owners. And when you have that kind of reliability behind you, you can focus on what actually moves your business forward. Powered by AT &T Business, built to work. Get AT &T Business at business.att.com. So you went from running a major, major hundreds of millions of dollar initiative to starting something from scratch. And a lot of people, maybe they think this is a hobby for you. They don't understand that this is something that you've chosen to do and you want to scale this business. Realistically, it's not probably going to be hundreds of millions of dollars, but you don't know.

9:05Kara Goldin:But that's okay. And I think that it's always a choice. As I tell people, I know firsthand when I started my company, hint that I went from running a platform in tech before to actually starting my company from zero that it took more explaining than maybe I thought it would. But anyway, what has that transition been like for you? Well, I'll take a step back and say, when I left Warner, it was during a major transition within in Warner. So it's not like I just woke up one day and said, oh, I'm going to quit my job and go start this. That wasn't the process. The process was a new CEO joined Warner, had a different philosophy about my area of the business.

10:04My area that I was responsible for was essentially all of the ancillary revenue streams for the company as well as for artists. So everything from the touring and brand partnerships and license deals and other aspects that artists would use to generate revenue for themselves. And he had a different philosophy for it. And it was probably the first time in my entire career that I was running a business that my CEO didn't value. And that process of what do you do in that moment? I've always been a strong believer in impact and leaving a legacy when I'm at a company. And the conversations between the CEO and I were very positive about me, but not about the business that I felt responsible for.

10:57And so when I left, I had to really think about legacy and impact in a different way and realize how when you're in a corporation, how little control you have over that really, right? And so what did I want to do with my time? How did I want to spend my energy? What did legacy and impact mean for me now? That really was the impetus for me to make the decision around building something. And then it was, okay, well, if I'm going to build something, what do I want to build? What resonates for me? And I wanted it to be something where I touched consumers and touched people and specifically women. I really felt a calling to do something that was for women and something that spoke to me creatively and that had a two-way conversation, if you will.

11:56So all of that was a part of the process of what do I want to do next? But the The impetus was going through a process of feeling not valued, not seen, not heard in a corporate job. And as you said, after three decades of having a very successful, vibrant career, it was definitely a different pivotal moment for me to go through that process. And I think about, you know, corporations and how that operates in a slightly different way now.

12:29Kara Goldin:Yeah, definitely. I remember as you were talking about this, I remember my dad had worked inside of a large company and he had created a line of many lines of products, but one of them's probably the most well-known as Healthy Choice. And I remember him coming home when I was a very, very little girl and him hearing that they don't want to have stories on the back of the packaging that actually talk about sourcing of where do you get the shrimp from? And my dad thought that that's what consumers wanted. He was way ahead of his time, but it was, um, you know, agonizing for him to, to actually try and explain.

13:13Kara Goldin:So sometimes your fight that you're fighting is just timing, right? And right. But when you're in it and you know, your, your job potentially, uh, depends on it, it's actually, you know, it's, it's really tough. So I love that you just decided that you're going to do something that is going to have impact. And, and you've actually taken also storytelling into your line of products, too. So can you talk a little bit about that, and maybe what you've learned over the years and your incredible journey, building your career about storytelling? Well, I believe that the storytelling component is how you really make connection with people.

14:04People want to understand the background. They want to understand the why they should care about whatever you're selling. And it's really how you create connection. And so the storytelling part, especially in this case, though, just given that I am doing something with gemstones and different gemstones have different meanings. The storytelling part of it was quite organic. But I have to say that when I first was launching and the very first pop-up I did before I even had a website, I didn't lean into the story of the gemstones at first. I wasn't sure that people would connect with the bracelets in that way.

14:50I I understood the different meanings and I was choosing gemstones that had different meanings because I felt like those were the types of gemstones that I wanted to put out into the world. But I focused a bit more on the story of my why and how I started doing this. And it was the very first pop-up. Every single person wanted to know, what does this mean? And why should I wear it? And how do I wear it? And that's reinforced for me, oh, people actually do care about the meaning of these stones, just like I do. And so then I, you know, so a lot of it has been my listening, which is part of why I do the pop-ups, right?

15:30Like I really do love to connect and hear the feedback from people in real life. And I've, you know, just in a short amount of time, I have made changes or brought the story out even more or found other ways to create connection and really just leaned into what are people telling me versus my trying to control and direct every aspect of it. And it's really been an organic process in that way. But storytelling, because that's my background and through television and HBO and every place I've ever worked, it's been a natural endeavor for me because that's how you really do make connection is through the stories that people can feel in their hearts.

16:19Kara Goldin:So the Garnet story, as I mentioned, I have the Garnet bracelet. Can you share a bit about the Garnet? I love the story of that in particular. Well, Garnet in particular is, you know, it's about vitality and it's a way to connect with your truth. But the irony of including Garnet in the line was once again, it was feedback from someone. Someone asked me if I had the birthstone for January and I didn't. I love Garnet, but I didn't necessarily, I hadn't thought to necessarily make it. And so I made her a custom one and started just sharing it with people. And it was like people immediately gravitated towards it.

17:11And I think it's the richness of the color and it's the weight of the stone itself. But I do think that in general, people are looking for ways to feel more alive just in their day to day. And so So it really speaks to people. I tease her. Her name is Susie. Her name is Susie Juris, the woman who asked for the custom. I keep telling her, I'm like, I should name that bracelet the Susie because I don't know that I would have made it if it wasn't for her asking for it. And it's one of my top sellers, which is really interesting.

17:50Kara Goldin:I read that you talked about how community is playing such a major part, not just through the stories that you're telling, but also getting together. I mean, you talked about pop-ups, obviously, those are at various events too. But how do you build a brand, especially from scratch, and find these communities to be a part of where, you know, you're, I guess, to some extent, you're testing, you know, where you think that this is that where this is going to take off. But what have you found to be kind of the the secret sauce there? Well, I don't know that I think that there's a secret sauce. I do think it is a lot of testing and a lot of trying different kind of hook points, if you will, like different ways to connect with consumers that you don't know or haven't necessarily had a connection with yet to see what do they connect with and how can you draw them in.

18:54And as you said earlier on, for me, this isn't a hobby. It's a business. I get up in the morning and I kind of create my agenda for the day the same way I would if I had taken a role as a CEO at another company. And so being very methodical about my approach, I'm doing a lot of the traditional types of marketing things you would do. I have, you know, gathering email lists and speaking to people through email, doing, you know, ads on Instagram and Meta and, you know, just recently launched my TikTok shop. And so a lot of it is traditional ways that I would go about it in any other environment. But now in this case, I am far more hands on than I've been in a while.

19:44So really just looking at the data. And sometimes I'm really surprised. Like, right, I can run something and not, you know, not turn off a certain toggle and then be really surprised at the people that engaged with that particular kind of content. Maybe it skewed way older than I was expecting. And then taking a moment to understand why, right? Like what was it that made men over 50 kind of be drawn to this ad unit that I was targeting women at 30, right? And what does that look like and what's the why behind it? And so it's a lot of testing. And right now, there are so many tools between AI tools.

20:29There are so many different platforms. I recently did an interview for someone with Substack. Like there's so many different ways that you can reach people and different places now that you have to create those communities and those communities. My TikTok community is not the same as the Instagram community. And I have to have completely different messaging on each. And I think about the types of products are different, right? The price points are different in my communication on TikTok versus my communication on Instagram or even the pop-ups. What I sell in a private pop-up is very different than what I'm selling on Instagram.

21:11And so each of those communities are really equally important to me, but it takes a lot of effort of thinking through how are you going to be and how do you want to show up in each of those areas. And so, like I said, I don't think there's a secret sauce because there's not a magic wand and each of these platforms requires a level of discipline around listening to the data, listening to their voices through the data, and then being responsive and understanding how to evolve from there. but the communities at the pop-ups are really, I mean, they're just, they're wonderful, right? Because what will happen is you'll see, you know, two women sharing with each other stories, like reading, you know, I have the different bracelets there.

22:00They each have their own story and their meanings. Tanzanite is, you know, really good for transformation and kyanite is really good for perseverance, right? And they'll share like what they're going through in that particular time in their life. And a friend might say, oh, then you should get the, you know, The Kaya Knight, like, oh my God. And so that whole interaction that these women are going through and sharing their stories with one another and then getting encouragement from one another has been really enlightening. I think most people think of shopping oftentimes or the best shopping sometimes is a solo practice.

22:37And in this case, it really does feel like it's much more of a communal kind of opportunity.

22:46Kara Goldin:I love that. You mentioned TikTok and some of these different platforms that are out there. It's interesting. We had somebody on an old beauty brand that's probably 30 years old, and they have a seaweed base to the product. And they were talking about how somebody who was a junior person within their company decided they wanted to really launch and pay attention to an ingredient or the ingredient seaweed in their TikTok shop. And it ended up to be like one of the smartest things they did. And they took a skew that they had and that has been there forever and it has done loyal following and done just fine.

23:31Kara Goldin:but now it's suddenly become a favorite of Gen Z, right? Like you can really reinvent yourself in these different platforms. And I love that you're able to do that. And sometimes when you're in large companies, you don't have that opportunity to do things like that and take those risks too. So it's very, very exciting. So when you think about your biggest source of strength today as you're building this, you know, what can be sometimes exhausting. It's not like you close, you know, your computer at five o 'clock and forget about it. Maybe you close your computer, but you're still kind of thinking about different aspects of the business because the buck stops with you literally.

24:17Kara Goldin:Who has been one of the most helpful people or group of people as you're growing Exo Maria Louise? I'd say people like you. Female founder community is incredible. People, women who have built businesses and sold their businesses are so willing to share their stories with me, to share their advice with me, to give me encouragement. I mean, it's really, it's really quite remarkable. And these aren't communities that I was in before, or even in some cases even knew about, right? Like I, you know, these, there's different, you know, the different founder organizations or, you know, events that, that, that come up have really been so inspiring for me.

25:05You know, I think one of the biggest transitions for me is going from a role where I was leading big teams at Warner, the, the, the Warner Music Experience division is close to 1700 people. So, you know, I certainly wasn't touching our TikTok every day or any of that. And so going from that to being a solopreneur where you're really relying not only on yourself just to get things done, but for opinion has really been probably the biggest challenge. Like I love opportunities like this where I can share what I'm working on and you can share a story of what you've experienced or your dad or, you know, and, and it, you know, a light bulb goes off for me.

25:54And that has been really, um, that's been really tremendous. I don't know that there has been any one person, but there have been many women who have been so generous with their time and their insights. And, um, and, you know, for me, part of it too, is I've done a lot, spent a lot of time looking at previous jewelry businesses, what's worked and what's not, jewelry businesses that have exited and others that haven't, you know, ones that grew up really big and did become billion dollar businesses and why they're not around now. And just that process for me of doing the research and becoming as knowledgeable as I can on an industry that I don't come from, but I think has also created endearing kind of moments for me with women that have been in the jewelry business for a long time because I don't make assumptions about it.

26:53I'm being inquisitive. And so they're so willing to like pour into me and share. And that's been, gosh, that's probably been the best part of all of this. I love it.

27:05Kara Goldin:So finally, what's the one thing you want people to walk away remembering about Exo Maria Louise? You have done such a beautiful job with your products. And actually, before we get to that question, so how many SKUs do you have right now? I have 16 SKUs right now. Incredible. So everyone definitely needs to check out Exo Maria Louise, but also I'd love to hear, what's the one thing you want people to walk away remembering about the brand that you're building? I want people to remember that this is an opportunity to create a ritual for yourself with something that is natural and comes from the earth and yet is adorned with a beautiful charm that adds a little extra classic spice to it, if you will.

28:06But definitely just, I want women to have jewelry that speaks to them. And this won't be for every woman. And I think that's also completely fine for me. But if it speaks to you, and if it connects with you, I want you to have it and for it to bring you just so much joy. I love it.

28:25Kara Goldin:Well, thank you so much, Maria, for joining us here today. You are such a great example and so inspiring of somebody who will not allow any setback to get in their way. And you've reinvented yourself. You've developed an incredible business that's killing it. and also just making people happy, right? People are smiling. People are coming together in community and you're leading that effort. So that's super, super incredible. I can't wait to see where this chapter leads you. And as I said, definitely go to xomarialuise.com. Check out what she is doing and definitely leave a review, subscribe, all of those things to the Kara Golden Show.