Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, everyone, This is Steve dolls On and welcome to
this week's edition of CEOs. You should know I'm thrilled
to be joined by SHANEA. Rainford, the CEO of Basket Lather. Shana,
thanks for being here today.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Really excited to have you on the show and to
be able to dive a little bit more about you
and more about basket Lather.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Awesome.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
So why don't we kick it off and tell us
a little bit about your background and what ultimately led
you to co create basket Lather.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
So, I am also a board certified nurse practitioner, and
from the time I was a kid, I always knew
that I wanted to go into a career where I
would help people. And initially I said I'm going to
become a physician. I wanted to go into surgery, and
then I became a mom when I was a teenager,
and I said, oh, you know, there's no way I'm
going to be like thirty five and just now finishing
(00:47):
my residency with medical schools. So I said, what else
can I do that would give me some work life balance?
And I decided to become a physician assistant at first,
and then I said, oh, it's not holistic enough for me.
So I decided to go to nursing school and become
a nurse practitioner. And then let's backtrack. A few years ago,
my younger sister, Leah lost all of her hair. She
(01:08):
had a really bad wing worm that spread all over
her scalp and it was initially misdiagnosis dandriff and by
the time it was properly diagnosed, she lost all of
her hair. She had a big crop circle and her
scalp was smooth, shiny bald. As ever, she was too
young to use anything over the counter or pharmaceutical and
my mom was really desperate to regrow her hair, so
(01:28):
she did research about natural, efficacious ingredients for hair growth
and she whipped up a concoction which is our scalp
stimulated hair growth oil.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And fast forward to the pandemic.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
I was working as a nurse practitioner Choir COVID became
really really sick and my hair started to fall out,
shed and break and I started using the oils and
my hair recovered in no time. And I said, we
need to share these products with the world, and that's
what we did.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
Congrats thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
I turned it negative into a big positive. Right, that's incredible.
So I know you mentioned a few times your licensed
nurse practitioner. How has that medical background really influenced your
ability to produce, produce and develop this product and how
do you how do you instill those values with the
brand today?
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:12):
So I always say that every product has made with
a little bit of science and a lot of love,
because they are. All of our products have just science
behind them, from the ingredients to what we use to
what we don't use, which is as important.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Right.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
So we don't use ingredients like power binds or from
alde high releasers, and that's because as a health practitioner,
I have knowledge about what those ingredients can potentially do
to our bodies. And every single product I'm taking that
into account. And while we don't have the cheapest products,
we make sure that our price point is accessible for
the people that need the most.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Absolutely, and Basket Layers become a viral sensation and a
multi eight figure brand, what do you think is really
driven that brand's explosive growth and how you've really created
that loyal customer base.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, so there's no magic playbook for sure. I think
that differences is that there are a lot of products
on the market. Our products actually have a purpose in
meeting behind them. And even the way I lead the
company and create products and determined pricing is all with
the consumer first, right, So I'm not one of those
CEOs who will like make major changes to the product
to save two pennies.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Right.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
And also because we don't have any investors or any debt,
we don't have to make those type of decisions at
the consumer's sake. So everything that we do again is
around the consumer, and they trust us, they're loyal to us,
and they know that we care.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
That's awesome you mentioned earlier your mom, So obviously a
lot of hats, right, ceo mom entrepreneur. I know you
invest in real estate. How do you juggle at all?
And what are some of your principles that are best
practices others could use?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
So there's no such thing as balance, is all I'm
gonna say. When your attention is focused on one thing,
something else is not getting your full attention.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
So I have three children.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Now, I have my seventeen year old son, Jayden, who's
our head of growth. So that's the kid I told
you I had when I was a kid myself. He
has grown our company one thousand percent year over year.
He lives in Breaths Marketing. He's in Denmark right now
on a euro trip Upload and Creative.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
That's great. He's grown our company a lot, which has
been great.
Speaker 2 (04:17):
I have a seven year old and I have a
five month old and I haven't grad took one day
of maternity leave. Oh my gosh, I was rolling into
my c section like I got to clear my emails.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Actually, oh my gosh.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
But again, you just do what you have to do.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
And again, because of all of the explosive growth we're
having right now, you know there's you have to ride
the way to take advantage while you can.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Congrats, we'll congrats on the newborn.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
So obviously very innovative product came out of like as
we talked about it earlier, and negative that you turned
into a positive. How do you continue to foster the
innovation and make sure that you continue to scale as
we discussed.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yeah, so we uh, whenever we're creating new products, it's
not based on what we think, right, well, I want
to create this because of this is what the consumers
asks for, right and they will every single product. We
now have sixteen SKUs and the customers will tell you, well,
I need this, I need this, I want that, and
they will buy it. So the way we know when
we know to introduce new products is based on what
(05:16):
the customers ask for and then we innovate from there.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
We make sure it aligns with our core value.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
So again, SCALP safe, non toxic, absolutely won't use ingredients.
We keep them out and it has to meet that
price point that we know is feasible for our target audience.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
That's awesome. So you're actually listening to the feedback from
the customers and what they want. Yeah, are they messaging
on social? How are they getting that feedback to you social?
Speaker 2 (05:39):
They'll make posts I need this, I need that. You know,
I want to get everything from you guys, and we
listen and we develop.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Well, speaking of innovation, what are some of your long
term goals for basket Ladder. What can fans and customers
look forward to next?
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yeah, So one of the things we're working on now
is expanding globally our global footprints. So we've always from
day one shipped our products globally. Now we want to
have our products physically available for shipping directly in those countries,
again making sure that it's easily accessible and affordable, and
also expanding into retail storefronts globally as well.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
That why Jayden's and Europe right.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Now, no market research voting was out there.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
So how do you ensure that with this growth and
with the expansion, that you still are staying core, so authentic,
being the authentic brand that's so community driven that you
always had at the foundation of the company, while you
obviously continue to expand.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
So one of the things I don't do is I
don't hire anyone for anything that I don't know how
to do myself. That's the surest way to get taken
advantage of or to lose touch, right, and things just
don't align with the original reason why created the brand
and what's important to me. And then I also have
a team that's just amazing and they're my right and
left foot, and they just make sure that every single
(06:55):
thing aligns because obviously, you know, as you grow and
expand you can be everywhere once you can't see everything,
but you need to have your you know, your road
dogs that will make sure that this is this is
who we are and we don't deviate away from this.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
One hundred percent? What role does education plan a strategy?
Do you see basket lather helping like really shift that
narrative around scalp and hair health.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
So we're always educating, but we don't educate in a
boring way, right. I always say there's things I just
it could be our own posts and I'll tell this
host seem like I wouldn't want to read this, and
it's ours, right, Yeah, So we're making it easily digestible.
And a big thing for us is we're always focusing
on value proposition and if we're educating consumers on something,
again just making sure it's what they need to know
(07:40):
without all of the extra fluff. And this is why
it's important and why so for example, toxic ingredients, our
edge controls, our highest volume skew and the reason that
product initially went virals because we made a video educating
consumers in the store. Look, did you know DM DM
high d'Antin is a formal the high releaser. And I'm like,
formalde high the stuff you put you know in balmed
at bodies with the We're like, yep, that's what it is.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
We don't use that in.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
Our edge control and a stronghold and it works right,
and that was so easy for them to follow and
it literally blew the product up overnight.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
You know, It's been awesome. Throughout this entire conversation. Something
that you keep saying that really sticks out is that
you're doing it for the customer. And I think that's
something that a lot of brands and other CEOs could
learn from. Right, you just talked about Obviously the education
port is really important to the customer innovation. As you're
listening to the customer. You created the product to help
the customer. So that really stands out as something that's
very unique for you.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I love that. So obviously, big success, amazing journey from
start to finish. But I'm sure along the way there
might have been some hiccups or challenges you faced. Looking back,
what has been some of the biggest challenges and how
did you overcome that?
Speaker 2 (08:46):
I would say the biggest chat business is easy, right.
The hardest part about business is building a good team
and having good resources. One of I don't come from
a corporate world, right. Nursing is the farthest thing from nursing.
You have a nurse, a nursing supervisor, nursing manager. That's it, right,
So even now as we're growing and expanding them, like, okay,
(09:07):
who do we need on our team and how is
it supposed to be structured properly to make sure that
everyone is well supported and not burnt out? Right, And
in addition to that, right, just manufacturing. Right, I'm one
of those people that I love. Everything for me is
about relationship building. So I grow to love people and
relationships and it's very hard to let go even when.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
You outgrow things.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
And I'm also and now I'm learning right as I'm
growing up in my entrepreneurial journey, is that you know,
everything kind of has a season, right, So basketball that
we were not the same company we were four years ago,
and you know, our little manufacturer that we love four
years ago now this year was just like they couldn't
there was no way possible they could handle our growth.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
And you kind of have to learn.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
When to let things go when those things no longer
fit in the season of where you are. So still learning,
still working on it, but I would say people and
then also knowing when when to move on.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
That's awesome. And speaking of that, obviously for any inspiring
entrepreneurs that are tuning in in addition to finding good people,
in addition to knowing the let go. What's some advice
you could give yourself looking back on it, write the
start when you're creating the company that you wish someone
had given you.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Oh, never have one of anything. Okay, never have one
of anything. Never have one vendor for a bottle. Never
have one computer never always, even when you're hiring teams,
make sure everyone has some overlapping function. Right, people are humans,
not AI. Never have one manufacturer right. Never leave all
of your eggs in one basket.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Yeah, that's great advice. We talked about it earlier. That
you wear many different roles. How do you commit to
staying grounded and focused while juggling all those different hats.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
H I kind of just do it, like I swear,
like every day. If I look back at my own
to do list of like, how is this humanly possible?
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Right?
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Even with growing a team and being able to delegate
things and to have great support.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
It's still it's just a lot. And I kind of
just do it.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
And one of the things that I'm learning to do
now if something's gonna take like three minutes, or less.
You just do it, don't add it to your to
do list, otherwise it'll sit there for five months.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
So that's one of the things that just gets me
moving on.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Even if I'm going to delegate something and type in
that email is going to take longer than doing it,
just do it.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I love that, very very good advice. Well, we cover
it a lot throughout the interview. Is there one thing
you want people to take away from our conversation or
one thing about your journey that you really want to resonate.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
So I always say that I've always had an entrepreneurial spirit,
but it's always been rooted in wanting to help people.
And again, there's no magic playbook, and I still don't
have all the answers, even with having an extremely successful,
profitable company. But I just stay true to knowing that
what's meant for you will work, and and it's a
(12:00):
lot of hard work, right entrepreneur. Being an entrepreneur is
by no means a walk in the park. You're not
gonna have all the luxurious free time everyone thinks you're
gonna have, but it's so worth it and building a
legacy and something that will live beyond you is a
feeling that is hard to shake and is great.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
If someone's tuning in that wants to support basket Lather
or they want to find out more, WHI should be
their first step.
Speaker 3 (12:25):
Yeah, so definitely check us out.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
Our website is www dot basket Ladico dot com. We
can also be found on all social media platforms at
Basket Lataco. Check out our testimonials, our amazing customers worldwide,
and you can check out about us our stories, all
available on our website and our social media awesome.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
Well, Shana, thank you so much for diving in. Is
there anything we might have missed that you want everyone
to know about?
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Nothing that I could think of, but stay tuned.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
We have a lot on the way and our mission
to help men, women and children all over the world
grow it and keep it too continuous.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
Well, Shana, thank you so much for coming in today
for sharing your inspiring story. Loved hearing about how you
came up with basket Lather and all the amazing things
you've you've done since then, and I'm really looking forward
to seeing where you guys go next. Thank you, thanks
again for tuning in and tune in next week for
next week's edition of CEOs you should know