August 29, 2024 • 30 mins
Samantha Coxe, Founder & CEO of Flaus, Inc | CEOs You Should Know
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, welcome to another edition of CEOs. You should know.
I'm here today with Sam Cox, founder and CEO of
the brand Flouse, which is something that you know, listen,
everybody should floss their teeth. I don't floss my teeth
my dentist nose. So I like to kind of start
these interviews at the very beginning, right, So your business
(00:22):
idea came from this experience of going to your dentist
and kind of lying to them. Tell me a little
bit about that. How you kind of got to this point.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, definitely. So I like to say it is a
tale as old as time. At the time, I was
an m and a attorney. I had an dentist appointment
coming up in my calendar, and at the time I
was an amazing twice a day electric toothbrush user, but
a horrible flosser. So about a week before I started
vigorously flossing, so that when I got on the dentist
(00:52):
chair and she asked, Sam, have you been flossing? My
answer was yes. Right away she knew I was lying.
There was blood everywhere, and I ended up leaving with
a massive dental bill. And I came home and I
thought to myself, I hate flossing, but I love using
my electric toothbrush. Why don't I just go buy an
electric floss that could just do it for me. So
(01:14):
I actually went online to go purchase one and was
shocked to discover nothing like this existed. And then over
the course of the following weeks, I went back into
my law from office started talking to my friends and family,
and that's when I realized it's not just me who
doesn't like flossing. It's nearly every single person I was
talking to, and we all don't like flossing for the
same reasons. It's painful, it's time consuming, it's difficult, and
(01:37):
it's gross. So that was really the moment that I
was like, all right, I found a massive pain point,
and I think I know the solution.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
You found this pain point. Most people will just suck
it up exactly for if you decide, He said, I'm
gonna do something about it, yes, and he looked there
was nothing out there like it.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
It was so shocking and it felt so obvious to me.
You know, I remember, just growing up through life, I
have always known is meant to be an entrepreneur, even
going down this legal career, going to law school, studying for.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
The bar, practicing.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I had always had this entrepreneurial spirit, and so I
had always challenged myself when I came across obstacles or
annoyances in my daily life, as you mentioned, as opposed
to just shrugging my shoulders and being like that's annoying
and moving on, I would actually try to challenge myself
to try to think of a solution. And so, you know,
(02:26):
this has been years in the making for me, and
to have this idea just truly PLoP right into my
lap has been just like the greatest honor flop of
your lap and your teeth exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
So you say this was years in the making, but
I mean, you studied at USC, you got your masters,
you passed your bar, You were on this path, yes,
for a successful legal career, working nine to five, probably
more than.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Nine, oh yeah, more like nine to five. Am.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah, So how is that? How was that jump over
to that? How did that happen? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
So it's actually really interesting. It was a pretty like
unobscure event that really caused me to leave the legal field.
So I was practicing for about four years. I was
doing mergers and acquisitions at a really prestigious law firm
called Scattin and I was just working every day, you know,
almost like twelve fourteen hours a day. And I remember
(03:19):
I was doing this legal diligence memo and I took
a little break to create a flower bouquet during Valentine's
Day and we called it Gallantines, so it was for
other women in the office. I took a twenty minute
break to create this flower bouquet and then I went
back to doing my diligence memo. And it was in
that moment that I thought, I just got more intrinsic
value for making a flower bouquet than I've had at
(03:42):
one second at this job. And that's when I realized
I not only have a very strong analytical mind, but
I'm a true creative and I just knew that there
was there's more meant for me than sitting here at
this job, despite as you mentioned, spending years and years
preparing for this and taking out student loans.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yeah, without a doubt, I'm sure going to law school.
Oh yes, and yes, it reminds me of you know,
it's all about risk taking when you're an entrepreneur, right
it is. It reminds me of a quote. There was
a CMO I used to work with, like you know,
from when I was in my days at I Heart
from Fidelity's name was Jim Spiro's long retired, but he said,
you know, living at risk is jumping off a cliff
(04:24):
and building your wings on the way down. Yes, right,
and that kind of reminds me of of what you've
been through, right.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I mean absolutely, And something that really helped me was
our minds from like an evolutionary point of view. We
want to be kept in our in our comfort zone
because that's safety. So as soon as you start going
outside your comfort zone, your brain will start sending you
signals and messages being just trying to have you be
(04:49):
more risk averse to keep you safe. But greatness is
always on the other side of your comfort zone, and
you're never going to grow until you're pushing outside of
that boundary. And luckily with me my background in my
career and working so hard and reaching the upper echelons
of legal world, I knew that if I failed, I'd
be falling into a safety net. I could always go
(05:11):
back to being a lawyer, but I would always regret
not taking this risk on myself.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, of course. Yeah, And it's pretty amazing to think about,
you know, the bigger players in the oral care industry
or be Colgate, Yeah, do anything like that. Now, are
you ever worried like they're gonna be like, oh, look
at flowers, what are they doing? Maybe we're going to
jump into that game.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, So I think it's really interesting. So I'm an
extremely competitive person, and you know, I have poured so
much into this because I believe in it. I believe
in this product. It deserves to exist in the world.
We're hearing such positive feedback from all of our customers.
But really my mindset is that I'm a category creator.
I'm creating a category of the electric floss market, just
(05:53):
like the electric toothbrush market is a multi billion dollar market,
just like the water floster market is a multi billion
dollar market. To think that you are going to be
a category of one is unrealistic. So just having potentially
other larger players enter the market will only grow the
size of the market and provide validation for the idea
(06:13):
and for flows.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Look at the other startups two out there is that
like a different category shaving.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Exactly exactly, And I think too, as a as a
startup you're you actually have an advantage. You are way
more nimble, You're able to move with a lot more
flexibility and speed as opposed to these large conglomerates that
have a very bureaucratic process for product development. And my hope,
quite honestly, especially coming from an M and A background,
(06:42):
is that as opposed to let's say, you know, Phillips
entering this space, they would rather acquire a company like Flows.
So that's my goal as I'm building, I'm trying to
make something that is not easily replicated, but it's something
that's valuable to a potential large conglomerate down the road.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Of course. Of course, so you're still new with us, Yes,
what are some lessons you've been learning along the way?
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Oh, my gosh, so many lessons along the way. So
one of the big ones that I think I was
really surprised to learn on my journey is that no
one really knows what they're doing, and some people are
just better at faking it than others.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
All about trial and error, All about trial.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
And error, and it's about failing quickly and not being
afraid of failure. And especially coming from a legal background,
we are quite risk averse but trying to shake that
off and being like, you know, there's no mistakes, there's
only lessons, and understanding that no one really knows what
they're doing and we're all just figuring it out as
(07:39):
we go really gives you a lot of freedom to
play and to explore into experiment because you never know
what's going to work. And that's really helped also with
some imposter syndrome too. Write like, I'm a lawyer, I'm
not an engineer, and I'm not a dentist. So to
be going into a space that is a medical profer
(08:00):
space and having to assert myself as a thought leader
in the space, surrounding myselves with these very esteemed professionals,
overcoming imposter syndrome is super important to do.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
I love that. How do you learn? How did you learn? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
So I just learned honestly by networking. I go out
and I cold LinkedIn message. I'm never afraid of just
reaching out to people. The worst they can do is
either one ignore you or to say no. But I
always go to look at the people ahead of me. So,
for example, as a consumer electronic hardware good I'm looking
out what are some of the most iconic brands out there.
(08:37):
One is fair our body that they're a gun hypercussion gun.
I got to doctor Jason after thirty email attempts to
get to him, and now he's one of my it's
persistence and resiliency, and now he's one of my most
trusted advisors and mentors. And then with the dentists, I
would just reach out. And what's interesting in the dental
(08:57):
field is that they are so excited about innovation, something fresh,
something new, because it's so sterile and traditional. And then
every single dental professional recognizes that none of their patients
are flossing. Only thirty percent of Americans allegedly floss every
single day, so this is a huge issue. And if
(09:19):
there's something that can get their patients to start flossing,
it's really excited to see how excited they are about
a product like flows Yep.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
And what I love about it so much is it
is something everybody can relate with. Yes, I went to
the dentist last week. Yes, Doctor Cohen and Livingston. I'm
laying out, shot out, laying on the floor. He's got
the vacuum in my mouth. You know, Eric, you've been flossing. Uh,
you know, you just kind of moan because you can't
say much. He's like, yeah, I know, you're not.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Exactly feel a little guilty. You feel so guilty.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
And it's interesting because there is such a shame around
admitting you don't floss, and my story is so relatable
and I hope to kind of diminish that shame of like,
it's normal that you're not flossing. But if you're someone
that enjoys using a floss pick, or you enjoy using
a water floss or an electric toothbrush, you will enjoy
using a product like flows.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
It's also part of the evolution, you know, Like, yes,
the regular wax floss people don't like it. You get
your dirty hands in your mouth, exactly. If they have
these flaw sticks, which are.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Good, yes, but they break, they break, they're really wasteful exactly.
Whereas you know, I like to say that the reason
someone would go from a manual flosser such as a
floss pick, to an electric flosser is the same reason
someone would go from a manual toothbrush to an electric toothbrush.
The vibrations help to wiggle the floss in between tight teeth,
(10:36):
speeding up the whole process. You no longer have any
of that whiplash and gum stabbing that happens. It also
provides a floss assist motion, so you're having to do
less of the maneuvering helps to disrupt the plaque and
the biofilm and then stimulate the gums. So it's really
just this really elevated experience of flossing, and nearly ninety
percent of our customers report flossing more regularly.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
It's great, which is incredible.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Behavior change is one of the most difficult things to
accomplish in consumer products.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Plus, you know your customers avoid that lining the adventist
chair and looking down at all the blood that's on.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
The yes exactly and coming home with huge dental bills.
More and more research has come out associating and linking
gum disease with different illnesses throughout the bodies, such as
Alzheimer's dementia, heart disease, oral cancer. Even acne has been
associated with gum disease. So trying to encourage people that
(11:32):
flossing is not just about being able to tell the
truth that your dentist appointment are having wider teeth, It's
about taking care of your overall health.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
What I love is how you kind of lean into
the art of influencer marketing. Yes, you know, like at iHeart,
for example, we have our on air radio talent, we
have podcast hosts, and those are all influencers their own
right on the air, whether it's an audio, whether it's social,
whether it's at events. You lean into medical professionals, yes, right,
tell me a little bit.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yes, definitely. So something that we've learned while building Flous
is that consumers are still very much looking towards the
dental professionals as a source of truth and credibility. And
with the rise of TikTok, there have actually been the
rise of the dental influencers and so being able to
link in with those influencers and have them first try
(12:21):
the product. There is not a single dental professional that
is going to recommend a product that they have not tried.
It's really important for their own credibility. So we'll gift out,
seed out the product, and if they love it, they
are more than happy to go online and to share
it with their customer base and fan base. Because at
the end of the day, you know, I like to
say flous was invented by a patient, designed with dentists
(12:44):
for patients, and the dental professional community is patient first.
So again, if there is an innovation in the space
that's going to help their patients and their audience take
care of themselves, it's something that these influencers can get
behind and particularly too. I don't know if you notice this,
but just even our brand, the brand I'm trying to
create the oral beauty space. That's really the vision for
(13:06):
where I want to take the company, and having something
that's so fresh, modern and cool. I'm noticing that a
lot of the dental influencers are really excited about that.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
And your tagline is perfect, your smiles.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Best exactly, exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
So let's go back a little bit. Let's talk about
last May or the past May. You were featured on
Shark Tank. Yes, and you know that's got to be
a nerve wracking experience in itself. Oh my god, I
can't believe what you went through just to even prepare
yourself for that.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
It was honestly the most incredible experience. It was a
dream come true. I grew up watching Shark Tank, as
I'm sure probably most of America did, and I actually
got scouted through our Indiegogo campaign back in twenty twenty one,
and at the time we weren't ready because we didn't
have a function.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
That came to you.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
They came to me, and then we got back in
contact in twenty twenty two towards the end of it,
and then in September twenty twenty three, I went in
and I filmed and so this was like two years
in the making to even get me to the filming,
and it was just the most incredible experience. Uh, getting
to walk through those two huge doors and stand there
(14:15):
in front of the Sharks and getting to watch them
floss or should I say flouse on live TV was
just it was a pinch me moment. And then to
actually have a bidding war and then get a deal
with Candice Nelson was it was a dream come true.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Okay, the goal is to make this a uh make
it a verb.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Now exactly, I'm going to go home and flowers exactly,
Google exactly exactly, or exactly or xeroxing and exactly. And
so that is the goal in having a platform like
Shark Tank, to just get in front of that many viewers.
Because when you're a new brand, it's all about brand awareness, right,
(14:53):
You're at the top of the funnel, and you have
to fill the bucket at the top of the funnel
with brand awareness before you can start going down the
funnel into the conversion. And so just to get the
brand name out there was huge, and you know, we
prepared for the success of it, but we could not
even predict how wildly successful. I mean, some people were
(15:14):
saying that this is on the level of scrub Daddy
and Squatty Potty, where they watched it and within ten
seconds of hearing the product, they were like, I need
that because they understand the pain point, and they were like,
I would use something like that. And then also the
number of people that were like, I had this idea
like five years ago, and I can't believe someone actually
went out and created it.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yeah, that's what I was saying before you exactly it exactly.
A lot of people will just deal with that pain point, but.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
You said, no, exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
It takes motivation.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
It takes motivation. But quite honestly, I did so much
diligence before I decided to fully leave my legal career
and pursue this. I wanted to make sure that this
market was big enough, there was enough consumer demand and
that it was going to be a worthwhile investment to
leave my prestigious career behind and not have a salary
(16:03):
for two years and take on all this risk. But truthfully,
every single time I was looking for a validation point,
it's only been green flags.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Only been green flags, right, Oh, I love hearing that. Yeah,
And you know, with shark tech, most people don't get
an offer. You didn't get one offer, you didn't get
two offers, you get three offers.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
It was I mean, it was so amazing. It was
the best case scenario.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
You know.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
I am someone who definitely manifests things. And I actually
had Shark Tank twenty twenty three on my mirror vision
board since twenty twenty two, and I was trying to
speak into existence and I was hoping I'd get out
there and there would be a bidding war at least one.
I just wanted one shark, but to have three and
the feeding frenzy that goes on. And quite honestly, that's
(16:47):
when my legal background has really come to help me.
I have been in tons of negotiations at this point.
I also do all of our own financing and everything
like that, so I felt extremely confident in my ability
to negotiate with the sharks. And you know, you're out
there for an hour. They only air ten minutes of it,
(17:07):
but you're out there for a full hour. So there's
a lot that happens. And I just walked in and
I just felt so confident, and even the executive producer
as soon as I showed up that day to film,
he came up to me and he said, he's like,
I've been doing this for fifteen years and I have
never bought a product off of an audition video. He's like,
I use flous every single day. He's like, it's an
(17:28):
incredible product, and he wished me good luck. And then
when I was done, he came up to me and
he's like, You're one of the best pitches I've ever seen.
And so I left being like, Okay, I nailed this.
I felt so good.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
It was amazing lifetime. Yeah, I mean you're out there capitalizing.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Yes, exactly, but you walk out and you just kind
of black out. You're like, what just happened? Did anything
I say make sense? And so it was really validating.
And they were the producers and everyone was so supportive
and so excited and yeah, and then you just kind
of keep your fingers crossed that you're actually going to air,
because you can film and then not air. So I
(18:02):
didn't find out I was airing until the end of April.
They only give you three weeks notice and then it's
like game on. Get ready to have an influx of
people coming to your website. And I had a watch
party with all of my investors and friends, and I mean,
it'll be a memory I'll have for a lifetime.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
And then that's just the spike in sales right off
the beck.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
It was so first the East Coast airs before the
West coast. So I was having my watch party in
La and so I wanted to watch it for the
first time live with everyone, but I had my Shopify
open so I could see what was happening. We went
from thirty customers on the website to thirty thousand within
two seconds. It was like that, and the sales just
(18:43):
poured in. I mean, we sold out a product in
five days.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
How do you prepare for that?
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Well, So what.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
I did, similar to even starting flous and going and
find people who had done this before me. I started
reaching out to my network of founders who had been
on Shark ting before me, so I got there. Like
basically their sop on how to prepare for Shark Tank,
the emails, the SEO, the packaging, the website, updates, the
pr everything you need to do to prep and they
(19:09):
told me to, you know, prepare to do your best
month in sales as incremental revenue.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
We five xed that. So it was just wildly successful.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
It's amazing and you're you're doing it. You know, the
way people should is you're you have a legal background.
You come into this, yes, you're kind of kind of
blind a little, yes, and you lean on other people.
You lean on other people. You never have to really
reinvent the wheel.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
And you'd be so surprised at how eager people are
who are successful and who are.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Ahead of you to give you advice.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
And that's the leader I hope to be once I
make it to that point, is to help other founders
and lift them up because you know there's enough. It's
having this more of an abundance mindset that there's enough
room at the top.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
For all of us.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
And so really that has been my main guiding light
for success is networking and getting to the people that
I want to be in the room with and yeah,
it's just been so helpful and not just learning from
people's success but also learning from people's failures.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Of course, of course, and it shows there are some
good people out there. Most people do want to help.
It all depends on the day you get there. Yes,
a lot of people want to help.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
And the persistence because of course, you'd have to imagine
with doctor Jason, for example, he probably gets so many
reach outs and then the people don't actually follow through,
but actually following through taking his advice, following up with him,
letting him know, you know, making these people feel like.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
They're a part of your journey.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
And there's a saying that one of my investors told
me when I was fundraising for the first time. He
was like, ask for money, get advice, ask for advice,
get money twice smart. And so that is what I
never go straight out asking for money. It's always advice,
and then you get the benefit of their knowledge and
then you know, eventually, once you prove yourself also, they
(20:55):
typically join as an investor after that.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Very smart. That's great advice with people. Yes, so I'm
thinking about the flawstick that I showed you before. What
happens to this plastic. Anyway, when I'm done with it,
I throw it in the trash.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yes, so with traditional floss picks and even flosstring, but
specifically floss picks. So floss picks are a mixed material.
So even at the curbside recycling or composting facilities, most
often they're not able to properly process them, not only
because they're mixed materials, but because of how small the
items are. And that includes just flasstring. So if you're
(21:27):
flushing your flows down the toilet, which we do not recommend,
or just trying to compost it recycle it, it typically
will slip through a local processing facility and end up
in our oceans and sea animals. So with flows, not
only are our flossheads made with recyclable plastic, they use
thirty percent less plastic than a traditional floss pick. But
we actually have a free recycling program where we will
(21:50):
send out a free shipping label. We will take the
used floss heads in addition to any other oral care item,
and then we send it to a dedicated oral care
waste management facility and they specialize in teeny tiny items
and mixed materials.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
That's great, Yes, I mean, you.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Know especially as a younger brand and seeing what's going
on just with climate change and our planet and recognizing
our impact and duty to the world and the generations
that will come after us. It's so important to keep
sustainability at the forefront. And we're still in the early days.
I hope to continue to push forward and becoming a
more and more sustainable brand.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
It's amazing. Yeah, and this flaw stick is unused, by
the way, so yeah, Well.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
And the worst part is like you walk around New
York or even the beach and you see these floss
picks everywhere, and who is flossing at the beach and
he's leaving it here, and it just it's upsetting to see.
So that's something that I've even learned on my own journey,
is just how wasteful dental floss is. And coming in
as an outsider, I think has been such a huge
benefit because it allows me to question the status quo.
(22:53):
And one of the questions I had was, why are
we told to use eighteen inches of floss each time,
but using the same toothbrush bristles for three months at
a time. There's actually no empirical evidence on this at all.
There's no studies. It's something that's just been passed down
generation after generation into the dental schools and dental hygiene schools,
(23:14):
and honestly, it seems like it's a marketing ploy by
hashtag big floss, you know, to sell more product, and
it creates all this waste. And so to be able
to sit there and question things like that, I think
gives us a really big advantage because we're able to
see the blind spots and push forward more than perhaps
some of these more legacy companies.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Okay, makes a lot of sense. Yeah, it's great. I've
never seen flow sticks on the beach and I'm happy
about that. So we'll see. So back to the Shark Tank.
You had this big spike in May. Right, a wave
always ends up breaking somewhere, right, So that's good. The
momentum is going to be there, kind of goes down.
What do you do in the to get the word
out more besides obviously talking with us.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Part Yes, So with Shark Tank, there is typically around
a six to eight week halo effect. And again I
was just hearing this from all of my friends who
had done it before, and we did see that halo
effect somewhat subside.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
But now there's a new normal. So now we're operating
a new normal.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
We have a higher conversion rate, we likely have more
brand awareness, and as you know, it takes anywhere between
eight to twelve touch points before our consumer converts. So
we're really focused on retargeting. So people that may have
come to our website they saw shark Tank, may have
gotten one of our ads but wasn't yet ready to convert,
We're making sure we're following up with them. We're posting
(24:33):
a lot of we really invest into SEO as well,
so making sure we are establishing ourselves as a thought leader,
that we're showing up when people are looking for us.
And then I'm feeling really bullish and excited about collaborations
and continuing to seed in gift and just try to
reach people with influence and it doesn't necessarily mean you
(24:54):
have to have a million followers. I'm more looking for
the influencers and people of influence that have sticky following.
I'd rather partner with someone who has ten thousand followers
who are extremely sticky than someone who has one hundred
thousand followers with a really low engagement rate.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
I've looked on Instagram earlier today about just hashtag flows
and see what comes up. Thousands and thousands of people
are using it. I love. One of my favorite things
is seeing the unboxing oh on social I mean, your
packaging is gorgeous. Everything stands out to you.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Thank you so much, And you know, again that's something
that I really wanted to invest in. So you know,
I just got back from back to back dental conferences
and when you're there, you can really see how traditional
the oral care category is. It has not been innovated
in and pushed forward in decades. So to be able
(25:44):
to bring the excitement that you'll see in the beauty
category or other consumer packaged good categories into oral care
just makes the It creates some surprise and delight. People
don't really expect to get this beautiful box, to have
this incredible unboxing experience. And also we have a lot
of consumers who will realize we have braille all throughout
(26:06):
the unboxing as well, and just when they're discovering these
little details not only increases their affinity for the brand,
but it also increases the perceived premium value of the
product as well. So it's definitely something to invest in,
and brands are valuable. That is something that a large
conglomerate such as oralb or Procter and Gamble cannot replicate.
(26:30):
And it's a really valuable asset for them. And that's
what our consumers are hungry for. They want to feel
something that's transparent, that's cool, that they feel connected with.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
I gotta tell you, I'm you sold me on everything.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
I'm done with exactly no toss the flaws.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Uh, my doctor in Livingstone, New Jersey is going to
be thrilled.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
He's going to be thrilled. I mean yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
And you know, so, we do like to partner with
dental offices. We either go in into wholesale into their
offices or we'll do an ambassador program so where they're
recommending the product, their patients can go on Amazon or
our website to buy it at a discount. And it's
fascinating just because particularly the hygenus, the hygenus are the
ones in the mouth, They're the ones dealing with the
(27:12):
patients who aren't being honest about their flossing habits. And
again nearly over seventy percent of their patients aren't flossing.
So now that they get to recommend a cool new product,
they're so excited about it.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
It's not easy to change the habit.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
No, it's not. It's not easy.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
It's one of the most difficult things to accomplish. And
I had already mentioned it, but just seeing the behavior change,
and this is just based on internal customer data, it's
incredible to see and really to know that we're having
a big impact on helping people take care of themselves
and hopefully keep their teeth for life is just unbelievably rewarding.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
So, you know, going back to your college days USC,
what would you say to Sam Cox back then? Oh my, now,
could you imagine yourself being in this completely different industry?
Speaker 2 (27:59):
I mean, you know, even back then at USC, I
was also having little side hustles and doing businesses.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
I have always surprised.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Yeah, I have always been extremely entrepreneurial. You know, what
I think I would tell her is that is that
she's capable of anything, and to trust herself, to trust
her instincts, and to push forward in the direction of
her dreams.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
This journey is far from linear.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
It's far from linear, and to just you know, I've
always felt like I had a bigger purpose on this
earth than just you know, for lack of better word,
being a cog in a wheel and just you know,
kind of falling into the trap of the mundane. And
I've always felt that way, and to know that that
has sat inside me since I was a little girl,
(28:49):
and now to get to actually see be validated and
coming into fruition, it's like, I wish I could go
back and just like hug myself and just say I'm
so proud of you, you know, and so I'm and
I'm I try to by myself now, I'm like, I'm
so proud of myself. But it's tough when you're in
the weeds. Every day you're like putting out fires left
and right.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah, it shows it's important to stop and take it in.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Take it in.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Look at all the success you're having and the continue to.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Have exactly and what a unique experience. Not everyone gets
this journey. And then I mean, I think that being
a founder is it's really like it looks a lot
more sexy or attractive, but once you're in it, you
see the amount of sacrifice and dedication, the tears, the
(29:33):
ups and the downs, because there's a lot more lows
than highs that happen, and it's all about just the
resiliency and the perseverance and kind of this like naive
belief that you're going to get it done.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Yeah, of course. Well, first off, congratulations on all your success.
This is you made me a brand ambassador. I love you.
Following the brand, you're going to see me on social flossing, flowersing. Actually,
where can our listeners learn a little bit more about
go flaus?
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Yes, so you can check out our website. It's www
dot goflous dot com f L A U S. Or
you can go find us on social it's just at
go flous and there you can learn about, you know,
the inspiration behind the brand myself, and then how the
technology works and how you can get one.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Of your own.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Great, awesome, this was a pleasure. Thank you, No, I
know this was great.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
I had such a good time.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
Thank you, so thank you. All Right,
All right, welcome to another edition of CEOs. You should know.
I'm here today with Sam Cox, founder and CEO of
the brand Flouse, which is something that you know, listen,
everybody should floss their teeth. I don't floss my teeth
my dentist nose. So I like to kind of start
these interviews at the very beginning, right, So your business
(00:22):
idea came from this experience of going to your dentist
and kind of lying to them. Tell me a little
bit about that. How you kind of got to this point.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Yeah, definitely. So I like to say it is a
tale as old as time. At the time, I was
an m and a attorney. I had an dentist appointment
coming up in my calendar, and at the time I
was an amazing twice a day electric toothbrush user, but
a horrible flosser. So about a week before I started
vigorously flossing, so that when I got on the dentist
(00:52):
chair and she asked, Sam, have you been flossing? My
answer was yes. Right away she knew I was lying.
There was blood everywhere, and I ended up leaving with
a massive dental bill. And I came home and I
thought to myself, I hate flossing, but I love using
my electric toothbrush. Why don't I just go buy an
electric floss that could just do it for me. So
(01:14):
I actually went online to go purchase one and was
shocked to discover nothing like this existed. And then over
the course of the following weeks, I went back into
my law from office started talking to my friends and family,
and that's when I realized it's not just me who
doesn't like flossing. It's nearly every single person I was
talking to, and we all don't like flossing for the
same reasons. It's painful, it's time consuming, it's difficult, and
(01:37):
it's gross. So that was really the moment that I
was like, all right, I found a massive pain point,
and I think I know the solution.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
You found this pain point. Most people will just suck
it up exactly for if you decide, He said, I'm
gonna do something about it, yes, and he looked there
was nothing out there like it.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
It was so shocking and it felt so obvious to me.
You know, I remember, just growing up through life, I
have always known is meant to be an entrepreneur, even
going down this legal career, going to law school, studying for.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
The bar, practicing.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I had always had this entrepreneurial spirit, and so I
had always challenged myself when I came across obstacles or
annoyances in my daily life, as you mentioned, as opposed
to just shrugging my shoulders and being like that's annoying
and moving on, I would actually try to challenge myself
to try to think of a solution. And so, you know,
(02:26):
this has been years in the making for me, and
to have this idea just truly PLoP right into my
lap has been just like the greatest honor flop of
your lap and your teeth exactly.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
So you say this was years in the making, but
I mean, you studied at USC, you got your masters,
you passed your bar, You were on this path, yes,
for a successful legal career, working nine to five, probably
more than.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Nine, oh yeah, more like nine to five. Am.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah, So how is that? How was that jump over
to that? How did that happen? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
So it's actually really interesting. It was a pretty like
unobscure event that really caused me to leave the legal field.
So I was practicing for about four years. I was
doing mergers and acquisitions at a really prestigious law firm
called Scattin and I was just working every day, you know,
almost like twelve fourteen hours a day. And I remember
(03:19):
I was doing this legal diligence memo and I took
a little break to create a flower bouquet during Valentine's
Day and we called it Gallantines, so it was for
other women in the office. I took a twenty minute
break to create this flower bouquet and then I went
back to doing my diligence memo. And it was in
that moment that I thought, I just got more intrinsic
value for making a flower bouquet than I've had at
(03:42):
one second at this job. And that's when I realized
I not only have a very strong analytical mind, but
I'm a true creative and I just knew that there
was there's more meant for me than sitting here at
this job, despite as you mentioned, spending years and years
preparing for this and taking out student loans.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yeah, without a doubt, I'm sure going to law school.
Oh yes, and yes, it reminds me of you know,
it's all about risk taking when you're an entrepreneur, right
it is. It reminds me of a quote. There was
a CMO I used to work with, like you know,
from when I was in my days at I Heart
from Fidelity's name was Jim Spiro's long retired, but he said,
you know, living at risk is jumping off a cliff
(04:24):
and building your wings on the way down. Yes, right,
and that kind of reminds me of of what you've
been through, right.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I mean absolutely, And something that really helped me was
our minds from like an evolutionary point of view. We
want to be kept in our in our comfort zone
because that's safety. So as soon as you start going
outside your comfort zone, your brain will start sending you
signals and messages being just trying to have you be
(04:49):
more risk averse to keep you safe. But greatness is
always on the other side of your comfort zone, and
you're never going to grow until you're pushing outside of
that boundary. And luckily with me my background in my
career and working so hard and reaching the upper echelons
of legal world, I knew that if I failed, I'd
be falling into a safety net. I could always go
(05:11):
back to being a lawyer, but I would always regret
not taking this risk on myself.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, of course. Yeah, And it's pretty amazing to think about,
you know, the bigger players in the oral care industry
or be Colgate, Yeah, do anything like that. Now, are
you ever worried like they're gonna be like, oh, look
at flowers, what are they doing? Maybe we're going to
jump into that game.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, So I think it's really interesting. So I'm an
extremely competitive person, and you know, I have poured so
much into this because I believe in it. I believe
in this product. It deserves to exist in the world.
We're hearing such positive feedback from all of our customers.
But really my mindset is that I'm a category creator.
I'm creating a category of the electric floss market, just
(05:53):
like the electric toothbrush market is a multi billion dollar market,
just like the water floster market is a multi billion
dollar market. To think that you are going to be
a category of one is unrealistic. So just having potentially
other larger players enter the market will only grow the
size of the market and provide validation for the idea
(06:13):
and for flows.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
Look at the other startups two out there is that
like a different category shaving.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Exactly exactly, And I think too, as a as a
startup you're you actually have an advantage. You are way
more nimble, You're able to move with a lot more
flexibility and speed as opposed to these large conglomerates that
have a very bureaucratic process for product development. And my hope,
quite honestly, especially coming from an M and A background,
(06:42):
is that as opposed to let's say, you know, Phillips
entering this space, they would rather acquire a company like Flows.
So that's my goal as I'm building, I'm trying to
make something that is not easily replicated, but it's something
that's valuable to a potential large conglomerate down the road.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
Of course. Of course, so you're still new with us, Yes,
what are some lessons you've been learning along the way?
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Oh, my gosh, so many lessons along the way. So
one of the big ones that I think I was
really surprised to learn on my journey is that no
one really knows what they're doing, and some people are
just better at faking it than others.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
All about trial and error, All about trial.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
And error, and it's about failing quickly and not being
afraid of failure. And especially coming from a legal background,
we are quite risk averse but trying to shake that
off and being like, you know, there's no mistakes, there's
only lessons, and understanding that no one really knows what
they're doing and we're all just figuring it out as
(07:39):
we go really gives you a lot of freedom to
play and to explore into experiment because you never know
what's going to work. And that's really helped also with
some imposter syndrome too. Write like, I'm a lawyer, I'm
not an engineer, and I'm not a dentist. So to
be going into a space that is a medical profer
(08:00):
space and having to assert myself as a thought leader
in the space, surrounding myselves with these very esteemed professionals,
overcoming imposter syndrome is super important to do.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
I love that. How do you learn? How did you learn? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (08:15):
So I just learned honestly by networking. I go out
and I cold LinkedIn message. I'm never afraid of just
reaching out to people. The worst they can do is
either one ignore you or to say no. But I
always go to look at the people ahead of me. So,
for example, as a consumer electronic hardware good I'm looking
out what are some of the most iconic brands out there.
(08:37):
One is fair our body that they're a gun hypercussion gun.
I got to doctor Jason after thirty email attempts to
get to him, and now he's one of my it's
persistence and resiliency, and now he's one of my most
trusted advisors and mentors. And then with the dentists, I
would just reach out. And what's interesting in the dental
(08:57):
field is that they are so excited about innovation, something fresh,
something new, because it's so sterile and traditional. And then
every single dental professional recognizes that none of their patients
are flossing. Only thirty percent of Americans allegedly floss every
single day, so this is a huge issue. And if
(09:19):
there's something that can get their patients to start flossing,
it's really excited to see how excited they are about
a product like flows Yep.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
And what I love about it so much is it
is something everybody can relate with. Yes, I went to
the dentist last week. Yes, Doctor Cohen and Livingston. I'm
laying out, shot out, laying on the floor. He's got
the vacuum in my mouth. You know, Eric, you've been flossing. Uh,
you know, you just kind of moan because you can't
say much. He's like, yeah, I know, you're not.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Exactly feel a little guilty. You feel so guilty.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
And it's interesting because there is such a shame around
admitting you don't floss, and my story is so relatable
and I hope to kind of diminish that shame of like,
it's normal that you're not flossing. But if you're someone
that enjoys using a floss pick, or you enjoy using
a water floss or an electric toothbrush, you will enjoy
using a product like flows.
Speaker 1 (10:07):
It's also part of the evolution, you know, Like, yes,
the regular wax floss people don't like it. You get
your dirty hands in your mouth, exactly. If they have
these flaw sticks, which are.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
Good, yes, but they break, they break, they're really wasteful exactly.
Whereas you know, I like to say that the reason
someone would go from a manual flosser such as a
floss pick, to an electric flosser is the same reason
someone would go from a manual toothbrush to an electric toothbrush.
The vibrations help to wiggle the floss in between tight teeth,
(10:36):
speeding up the whole process. You no longer have any
of that whiplash and gum stabbing that happens. It also
provides a floss assist motion, so you're having to do
less of the maneuvering helps to disrupt the plaque and
the biofilm and then stimulate the gums. So it's really
just this really elevated experience of flossing, and nearly ninety
percent of our customers report flossing more regularly.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
It's great, which is incredible.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Behavior change is one of the most difficult things to
accomplish in consumer products.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
Plus, you know your customers avoid that lining the adventist
chair and looking down at all the blood that's on.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
The yes exactly and coming home with huge dental bills.
More and more research has come out associating and linking
gum disease with different illnesses throughout the bodies, such as
Alzheimer's dementia, heart disease, oral cancer. Even acne has been
associated with gum disease. So trying to encourage people that
(11:32):
flossing is not just about being able to tell the
truth that your dentist appointment are having wider teeth, It's
about taking care of your overall health.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
What I love is how you kind of lean into
the art of influencer marketing. Yes, you know, like at iHeart,
for example, we have our on air radio talent, we
have podcast hosts, and those are all influencers their own
right on the air, whether it's an audio, whether it's social,
whether it's at events. You lean into medical professionals, yes, right,
tell me a little bit.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Yes, definitely. So something that we've learned while building Flous
is that consumers are still very much looking towards the
dental professionals as a source of truth and credibility. And
with the rise of TikTok, there have actually been the
rise of the dental influencers and so being able to
link in with those influencers and have them first try
(12:21):
the product. There is not a single dental professional that
is going to recommend a product that they have not tried.
It's really important for their own credibility. So we'll gift out,
seed out the product, and if they love it, they
are more than happy to go online and to share
it with their customer base and fan base. Because at
the end of the day, you know, I like to
say flous was invented by a patient, designed with dentists
(12:44):
for patients, and the dental professional community is patient first.
So again, if there is an innovation in the space
that's going to help their patients and their audience take
care of themselves, it's something that these influencers can get
behind and particularly too. I don't know if you notice this,
but just even our brand, the brand I'm trying to
create the oral beauty space. That's really the vision for
(13:06):
where I want to take the company, and having something
that's so fresh, modern and cool. I'm noticing that a
lot of the dental influencers are really excited about that.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
And your tagline is perfect, your smiles.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
Best exactly, exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
So let's go back a little bit. Let's talk about
last May or the past May. You were featured on
Shark Tank. Yes, and you know that's got to be
a nerve wracking experience in itself. Oh my god, I
can't believe what you went through just to even prepare
yourself for that.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
It was honestly the most incredible experience. It was a
dream come true. I grew up watching Shark Tank, as
I'm sure probably most of America did, and I actually
got scouted through our Indiegogo campaign back in twenty twenty one,
and at the time we weren't ready because we didn't
have a function.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
That came to you.
Speaker 2 (13:52):
They came to me, and then we got back in
contact in twenty twenty two towards the end of it,
and then in September twenty twenty three, I went in
and I filmed and so this was like two years
in the making to even get me to the filming,
and it was just the most incredible experience. Uh, getting
to walk through those two huge doors and stand there
(14:15):
in front of the Sharks and getting to watch them
floss or should I say flouse on live TV was
just it was a pinch me moment. And then to
actually have a bidding war and then get a deal
with Candice Nelson was it was a dream come true.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Okay, the goal is to make this a uh make
it a verb.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
Now exactly, I'm going to go home and flowers exactly,
Google exactly exactly, or exactly or xeroxing and exactly. And
so that is the goal in having a platform like
Shark Tank, to just get in front of that many viewers.
Because when you're a new brand, it's all about brand awareness, right,
(14:53):
You're at the top of the funnel, and you have
to fill the bucket at the top of the funnel
with brand awareness before you can start going down the
funnel into the conversion. And so just to get the
brand name out there was huge, and you know, we
prepared for the success of it, but we could not
even predict how wildly successful. I mean, some people were
(15:14):
saying that this is on the level of scrub Daddy
and Squatty Potty, where they watched it and within ten
seconds of hearing the product, they were like, I need
that because they understand the pain point, and they were like,
I would use something like that. And then also the
number of people that were like, I had this idea
like five years ago, and I can't believe someone actually
went out and created it.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yeah, that's what I was saying before you exactly it exactly.
A lot of people will just deal with that pain point, but.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
You said, no, exactly exactly.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
It takes motivation.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
It takes motivation. But quite honestly, I did so much
diligence before I decided to fully leave my legal career
and pursue this. I wanted to make sure that this
market was big enough, there was enough consumer demand and
that it was going to be a worthwhile investment to
leave my prestigious career behind and not have a salary
(16:03):
for two years and take on all this risk. But truthfully,
every single time I was looking for a validation point,
it's only been green flags.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Only been green flags, right, Oh, I love hearing that. Yeah,
And you know, with shark tech, most people don't get
an offer. You didn't get one offer, you didn't get
two offers, you get three offers.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
It was I mean, it was so amazing. It was
the best case scenario.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
You know.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
I am someone who definitely manifests things. And I actually
had Shark Tank twenty twenty three on my mirror vision
board since twenty twenty two, and I was trying to
speak into existence and I was hoping I'd get out
there and there would be a bidding war at least one.
I just wanted one shark, but to have three and
the feeding frenzy that goes on. And quite honestly, that's
(16:47):
when my legal background has really come to help me.
I have been in tons of negotiations at this point.
I also do all of our own financing and everything
like that, so I felt extremely confident in my ability
to negotiate with the sharks. And you know, you're out
there for an hour. They only air ten minutes of it,
(17:07):
but you're out there for a full hour. So there's
a lot that happens. And I just walked in and
I just felt so confident, and even the executive producer
as soon as I showed up that day to film,
he came up to me and he said, he's like,
I've been doing this for fifteen years and I have
never bought a product off of an audition video. He's like,
I use flous every single day. He's like, it's an
(17:28):
incredible product, and he wished me good luck. And then
when I was done, he came up to me and
he's like, You're one of the best pitches I've ever seen.
And so I left being like, Okay, I nailed this.
I felt so good.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
It was amazing lifetime. Yeah, I mean you're out there capitalizing.
Speaker 2 (17:42):
Yes, exactly, but you walk out and you just kind
of black out. You're like, what just happened? Did anything
I say make sense? And so it was really validating.
And they were the producers and everyone was so supportive
and so excited and yeah, and then you just kind
of keep your fingers crossed that you're actually going to air,
because you can film and then not air. So I
(18:02):
didn't find out I was airing until the end of April.
They only give you three weeks notice and then it's
like game on. Get ready to have an influx of
people coming to your website. And I had a watch
party with all of my investors and friends, and I mean,
it'll be a memory I'll have for a lifetime.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
And then that's just the spike in sales right off
the beck.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
It was so first the East Coast airs before the
West coast. So I was having my watch party in
La and so I wanted to watch it for the
first time live with everyone, but I had my Shopify
open so I could see what was happening. We went
from thirty customers on the website to thirty thousand within
two seconds. It was like that, and the sales just
(18:43):
poured in. I mean, we sold out a product in
five days.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
How do you prepare for that?
Speaker 3 (18:47):
Well, So what.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
I did, similar to even starting flous and going and
find people who had done this before me. I started
reaching out to my network of founders who had been
on Shark ting before me, so I got there. Like
basically their sop on how to prepare for Shark Tank,
the emails, the SEO, the packaging, the website, updates, the
pr everything you need to do to prep and they
(19:09):
told me to, you know, prepare to do your best
month in sales as incremental revenue.
Speaker 3 (19:14):
We five xed that. So it was just wildly successful.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
It's amazing and you're you're doing it. You know, the
way people should is you're you have a legal background.
You come into this, yes, you're kind of kind of
blind a little, yes, and you lean on other people.
You lean on other people. You never have to really
reinvent the wheel.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
And you'd be so surprised at how eager people are
who are successful and who are.
Speaker 3 (19:39):
Ahead of you to give you advice.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
And that's the leader I hope to be once I
make it to that point, is to help other founders
and lift them up because you know there's enough. It's
having this more of an abundance mindset that there's enough
room at the top.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
For all of us.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
And so really that has been my main guiding light
for success is networking and getting to the people that
I want to be in the room with and yeah,
it's just been so helpful and not just learning from
people's success but also learning from people's failures.
Speaker 1 (20:11):
Of course, of course, and it shows there are some
good people out there. Most people do want to help.
It all depends on the day you get there. Yes,
a lot of people want to help.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
And the persistence because of course, you'd have to imagine
with doctor Jason, for example, he probably gets so many
reach outs and then the people don't actually follow through,
but actually following through taking his advice, following up with him,
letting him know, you know, making these people feel like.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
They're a part of your journey.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
And there's a saying that one of my investors told
me when I was fundraising for the first time. He
was like, ask for money, get advice, ask for advice,
get money twice smart. And so that is what I
never go straight out asking for money. It's always advice,
and then you get the benefit of their knowledge and
then you know, eventually, once you prove yourself also, they
(20:55):
typically join as an investor after that.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Very smart. That's great advice with people. Yes, so I'm
thinking about the flawstick that I showed you before. What
happens to this plastic. Anyway, when I'm done with it,
I throw it in the trash.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yes, so with traditional floss picks and even flosstring, but
specifically floss picks. So floss picks are a mixed material.
So even at the curbside recycling or composting facilities, most
often they're not able to properly process them, not only
because they're mixed materials, but because of how small the
items are. And that includes just flasstring. So if you're
(21:27):
flushing your flows down the toilet, which we do not recommend,
or just trying to compost it recycle it, it typically
will slip through a local processing facility and end up
in our oceans and sea animals. So with flows, not
only are our flossheads made with recyclable plastic, they use
thirty percent less plastic than a traditional floss pick. But
we actually have a free recycling program where we will
(21:50):
send out a free shipping label. We will take the
used floss heads in addition to any other oral care item,
and then we send it to a dedicated oral care
waste management facility and they specialize in teeny tiny items
and mixed materials.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
That's great, Yes, I mean, you.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Know especially as a younger brand and seeing what's going
on just with climate change and our planet and recognizing
our impact and duty to the world and the generations
that will come after us. It's so important to keep
sustainability at the forefront. And we're still in the early days.
I hope to continue to push forward and becoming a
more and more sustainable brand.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
It's amazing. Yeah, and this flaw stick is unused, by
the way, so yeah, Well.
Speaker 2 (22:31):
And the worst part is like you walk around New
York or even the beach and you see these floss
picks everywhere, and who is flossing at the beach and
he's leaving it here, and it just it's upsetting to see.
So that's something that I've even learned on my own journey,
is just how wasteful dental floss is. And coming in
as an outsider, I think has been such a huge
benefit because it allows me to question the status quo.
(22:53):
And one of the questions I had was, why are
we told to use eighteen inches of floss each time,
but using the same toothbrush bristles for three months at
a time. There's actually no empirical evidence on this at all.
There's no studies. It's something that's just been passed down
generation after generation into the dental schools and dental hygiene schools,
(23:14):
and honestly, it seems like it's a marketing ploy by
hashtag big floss, you know, to sell more product, and
it creates all this waste. And so to be able
to sit there and question things like that, I think
gives us a really big advantage because we're able to
see the blind spots and push forward more than perhaps
some of these more legacy companies.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Okay, makes a lot of sense. Yeah, it's great. I've
never seen flow sticks on the beach and I'm happy
about that. So we'll see. So back to the Shark Tank.
You had this big spike in May. Right, a wave
always ends up breaking somewhere, right, So that's good. The
momentum is going to be there, kind of goes down.
What do you do in the to get the word
out more besides obviously talking with us.
Speaker 2 (23:56):
Part Yes, So with Shark Tank, there is typically around
a six to eight week halo effect. And again I
was just hearing this from all of my friends who
had done it before, and we did see that halo
effect somewhat subside.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
But now there's a new normal. So now we're operating
a new normal.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
We have a higher conversion rate, we likely have more
brand awareness, and as you know, it takes anywhere between
eight to twelve touch points before our consumer converts. So
we're really focused on retargeting. So people that may have
come to our website they saw shark Tank, may have
gotten one of our ads but wasn't yet ready to convert,
We're making sure we're following up with them. We're posting
(24:33):
a lot of we really invest into SEO as well,
so making sure we are establishing ourselves as a thought leader,
that we're showing up when people are looking for us.
And then I'm feeling really bullish and excited about collaborations
and continuing to seed in gift and just try to
reach people with influence and it doesn't necessarily mean you
(24:54):
have to have a million followers. I'm more looking for
the influencers and people of influence that have sticky following.
I'd rather partner with someone who has ten thousand followers
who are extremely sticky than someone who has one hundred
thousand followers with a really low engagement rate.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
I've looked on Instagram earlier today about just hashtag flows
and see what comes up. Thousands and thousands of people
are using it. I love. One of my favorite things
is seeing the unboxing oh on social I mean, your
packaging is gorgeous. Everything stands out to you.
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Thank you so much, And you know, again that's something
that I really wanted to invest in. So you know,
I just got back from back to back dental conferences
and when you're there, you can really see how traditional
the oral care category is. It has not been innovated
in and pushed forward in decades. So to be able
(25:44):
to bring the excitement that you'll see in the beauty
category or other consumer packaged good categories into oral care
just makes the It creates some surprise and delight. People
don't really expect to get this beautiful box, to have
this incredible unboxing experience. And also we have a lot
of consumers who will realize we have braille all throughout
(26:06):
the unboxing as well, and just when they're discovering these
little details not only increases their affinity for the brand,
but it also increases the perceived premium value of the
product as well. So it's definitely something to invest in,
and brands are valuable. That is something that a large
conglomerate such as oralb or Procter and Gamble cannot replicate.
(26:30):
And it's a really valuable asset for them. And that's
what our consumers are hungry for. They want to feel
something that's transparent, that's cool, that they feel connected with.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
I gotta tell you, I'm you sold me on everything.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
I'm done with exactly no toss the flaws.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Uh, my doctor in Livingstone, New Jersey is going to
be thrilled.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
He's going to be thrilled. I mean yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
And you know, so, we do like to partner with
dental offices. We either go in into wholesale into their
offices or we'll do an ambassador program so where they're
recommending the product, their patients can go on Amazon or
our website to buy it at a discount. And it's
fascinating just because particularly the hygenus, the hygenus are the
ones in the mouth, They're the ones dealing with the
(27:12):
patients who aren't being honest about their flossing habits. And
again nearly over seventy percent of their patients aren't flossing.
So now that they get to recommend a cool new product,
they're so excited about it.
Speaker 1 (27:26):
It's not easy to change the habit.
Speaker 3 (27:27):
No, it's not. It's not easy.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
It's one of the most difficult things to accomplish. And
I had already mentioned it, but just seeing the behavior change,
and this is just based on internal customer data, it's
incredible to see and really to know that we're having
a big impact on helping people take care of themselves
and hopefully keep their teeth for life is just unbelievably rewarding.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
So, you know, going back to your college days USC,
what would you say to Sam Cox back then? Oh my, now,
could you imagine yourself being in this completely different industry?
Speaker 2 (27:59):
I mean, you know, even back then at USC, I
was also having little side hustles and doing businesses.
Speaker 3 (28:05):
I have always surprised.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Yeah, I have always been extremely entrepreneurial. You know, what
I think I would tell her is that is that
she's capable of anything, and to trust herself, to trust
her instincts, and to push forward in the direction of
her dreams.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
This journey is far from linear.
Speaker 2 (28:27):
It's far from linear, and to just you know, I've
always felt like I had a bigger purpose on this
earth than just you know, for lack of better word,
being a cog in a wheel and just you know,
kind of falling into the trap of the mundane. And
I've always felt that way, and to know that that
has sat inside me since I was a little girl,
(28:49):
and now to get to actually see be validated and
coming into fruition, it's like, I wish I could go
back and just like hug myself and just say I'm
so proud of you, you know, and so I'm and
I'm I try to by myself now, I'm like, I'm
so proud of myself. But it's tough when you're in
the weeds. Every day you're like putting out fires left
and right.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah, it shows it's important to stop and take it in.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Take it in.
Speaker 1 (29:10):
Look at all the success you're having and the continue to.
Speaker 2 (29:13):
Have exactly and what a unique experience. Not everyone gets
this journey. And then I mean, I think that being
a founder is it's really like it looks a lot
more sexy or attractive, but once you're in it, you
see the amount of sacrifice and dedication, the tears, the
(29:33):
ups and the downs, because there's a lot more lows
than highs that happen, and it's all about just the
resiliency and the perseverance and kind of this like naive
belief that you're going to get it done.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
Yeah, of course. Well, first off, congratulations on all your success.
This is you made me a brand ambassador. I love you.
Following the brand, you're going to see me on social flossing, flowersing. Actually,
where can our listeners learn a little bit more about
go flaus?
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Yes, so you can check out our website. It's www
dot goflous dot com f L A U S. Or
you can go find us on social it's just at
go flous and there you can learn about, you know,
the inspiration behind the brand myself, and then how the
technology works and how you can get one.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Of your own.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Great, awesome, this was a pleasure. Thank you, No, I
know this was great.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
I had such a good time.
Speaker 1 (30:30):
Thank you, so thank you. All Right,
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