August 18, 2025 • 28 mins
Had an AHA or Insight? Share it:
She’s not here to play nice — and she’s definitely not here to sugarcoat anything. Laurel Mintz — my friend, favorite bada$$, and unapologetic force of nature — built a marketing agency that’s worked with over 400 brands (including Squishmallows) and then decided, screw it, I’m starting an investment fund too. On this episode of the Business Growth Architect Show: Founders of the Future, we kick off our heels and get real. No PR polish. No fake humblebragging. Just straight talk about what it actually takes to leap from marketing maven to GP of Fabric VC.
Laurel lays it all out — the fear-based decisions that will sink you, the “dumb money” investors you should run from, and why your inner circle can make or break your business. We go there on the guts it takes to launch a fund, the moments you question everything, and the joy of proving the doubters wrong. And yes, this episode is explicit — because sometimes business talk needs a few F-bombs.
She also gets into the current market madness and why most founders freeze when things get shaky. Laurel’s take? That’s exactly when you double down and go harder. We talk about spotting opportunities before anyone else sees them, pairing capital with hands-on marketing muscle, and playing chess while everyone else is still moving their checkers.
If you want the real behind-the-scenes — the messy wins, the hard truths, and the moments that make you pour another glass — this is your episode. Laurel has built two thriving companies, invests in founders who actually move the needle, and knows how to turn chaos into a damn good story.
👉 Learn more about Laurel’s work at elevatemybrand.com and fabricvc.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Laurel Mintz (00:00):
Hi everyone.
(00:00):
Laurel Mintz here, CEO of"Elevate My Brand" and GP of
(00:03):
"Fabric VC" and on my episodefor the Business Growth
Architect Show, I'm going toshare and reveal how you can
become an investor, market yourbrand and elevate your life.
BEATE CHELETTE (00:19):
This is the Business Growth Architect Show
for founders who don't followtrends. They set them for
entrepreneurs who aren't here tofix the past, but to build the
future they actually want tolive in. Hi. My name is Beate
Chelette. I'm a Palisades firesurvivor strategist and the
entrepreneur behind a multimillion dollar tech exit to the
(00:39):
gates. And every week I bringyou the fire, real guests, real
strategy and the real talk onhow to control your mind move
fast and create your future.
This is where strategy needsenergy, because your next level
needs both. Let's grow you. Uh,welcome back. Beat Chelette The
(01:03):
Growth Architect, today with myfriend Laurel Mintz from Elevate
Your Brand and Fabric VC, andtoday I'm going to take you in a
two fold conversation, becausetoday we are not just sharing
kind of things about elevatingyour brand. We also talk about
when a founder of the futuresees a need to found something
(01:24):
for the future and what thatlooks like. Laurel, I'm so
excited to have you. I can stand
Laurel Mintz (01:31):
it. Oh, I'm so excited to be here. You and I
have known each other a longtime and have had very similar
perspectives on I'm excited forthis conversation 100%
BEATE CHELETTE (01:41):
so for somebody who's not familiar with Elevate
Your Brand, tell us who you areand what problem you solve for
your clients,
Laurel Mintz (01:49):
thank you. We are on the Elevate side, a digital
and experiential marketingagency. We've been around for 16
plus years. I can't believethat. And 400 brands later, for
those who have kids wouldprobably most know the
squishmallows brand. That's theone we're most famous for
launching and selling to privateequity. And we're a full service
(02:09):
marketing agency on that side ofthe fence. And before that, I
was a corporate M and Aattorney, which is how we came
to launch fabric, which I knowget into in a bit. Let's talk
BEATE CHELETTE (02:18):
about what's going on in the marketplace. I
think a lot of people are veryconfused about brands and
marketing, and is there arequirement right now?
Laurel Mintz (02:28):
I think that the first of all, like people are
confused about the differencebetween branding and marketing
and advertising and content andsocial. I like it. I like to
like make it clear from a visualperspective. Let's imagine it.
Marketing is an umbrella, right?
And under that umbrella iseverything that think marketing
is social media, contentcreation, influencer, branding
and messaging, advertising,research and development, I
(02:50):
mean, all of those pieces, butthat's all under the marketing
umbrella. And the handle of thatumbrella is visibility,
awareness and eventually leadingto sales. I think that that that
visual helps people tounderstand like marketing is the
big umbrella, and everything isunder that umbrella in its own
kind of little silo, hopefullynot silo to doing it the right
way. That's the starting point.
BEATE CHELETTE (03:11):
Well, things have to be connected for for
them to work. Is what'shappening right now in the
marketplace, with all theuncertainty in the economy, with
all the talk, with the whiplashof one day it's this, one day
it's this. Do people need tomake adjustments? What do we
tell our audience?
Laurel Mintz (03:28):
I wish that people would just keep putting one foot
in front of the other, becausewhat we're seeing happening is
everyone is freaking out becausethere's much uncertainty. And
when people are uncertain, it'sa psychological response, right?
The immediate response is, I'mjust not going to do anything.
But the long term impact of thatcan be very and is usually very
detrimental. And we saw thatduring the pandemic, brands that
(03:50):
pulled out of marketing had amuch steeper hill to climb when
they were back in market. Andfrom an ownership perspective,
when about market share, ifeverybody's pulling their
dollars out of marketing, you'redoubling down, you're gonna get
a lot more bang for your buck,right? And just from a
statistical mafi perspective, itmakes much more sense to stay in
market and even maybe doubledown with your dollar that you
(04:12):
can build that funnel, that longterm, you can have a much
stronger path to revenue. Butyeah, right now, people are
totally freaked out, and we'reseeing that on the agency side.
And I'm always as supertransparent about about us, we
have usually a 70% conversionrate on our scopes, and right
now it's like a sub 10%conversion. We are seeing it as
(04:33):
a major trickle down on theservice side. Luckily, we've
been in it long enough that wehave great long term clients
prior, but that's a greatexample and indicator of what is
happening in this crazy, messedup, backwards market.
BEATE CHELETTE (04:47):
Do you think that it's the uncertainty that
gets people weirded out? Becauseyou and I, we've been studying
business ownership, and we'vebeen in many of the same
conferences and events, we knowthat great a. Opportunities I
found in down markets, right?
It's when it's rich, there isnot much of an opportunity. But
when things are volatile, whatkind of mindset Do you have, or
(05:09):
do you recommend our ourfounders of the future to have
get out of this uncertaintyparalysis?
Laurel Mintz (05:20):
It's a fear based mentality, whatever you're if
you're into meditation orpsychedelics, I don't care, but
you need to get into a place ofgrowth and stability. Because I
think what we're seeing is thatfounders, everyone is just
terrified right now, and a fearbased decision making process is
never going to allow you to makea decision that is positive and
(05:41):
providing forward momentum foryour company. I know it's easier
said than done, especially whenpeople are getting laid off and
the economy is wonky, but toyour exact point, this is when
the real winners are made. Andevery down economy we've seen
the other side of it are thebig, big, big winners, and
that's what we're seeing on thefabric side, we're able to take
(06:02):
a much more equity becausevaluations are normalizing.
There's not a lot of cash in themarket. I know I'm kind of
mixing the conversations, butit's the same thought process,
which is, double down, stay init long term, and if you are
pulling out of marketing andinvesting, then you're not you
don't have the stomach for it inthe first place. You know what I
(06:22):
mean? Like, if you don't havethat mentality of, like, growth
and exploration and excitementand regress into a fear based
model, probably should just goget and else worry
BEATE CHELETTE (06:32):
about it. That's what I love about you. Just
like, say it like it is. Ialways think our job is to get
people to an intersection wherethere's only the right and the
left to take. There is nothere's no other option, right?
I mean, you could stay in theintersection as a 7 Eleven and
do slurpees all day long, butyou to take a left or right.
That's our job. When I see thishesitation, and I feel that
(06:58):
people are so uncertain, isthere a way for for them to
aside from meditation stuff likethat, but how do you find
opportunities? And this is mysetup for the fabric we see. How
do you find an opportunity whenyou are in this panic mode or in
(07:19):
this Oh shit, mode. This may notwork out.
Laurel Mintz (07:23):
Yeah, I don't know if you can. That's the truth.
The honest answer is, I don'tknow if you're in that fight or
flight mode that you're going tobe able to see anything other
than two inches in front of yourface, and maybe not even that,
right? You have to get out ofthat basal reaction that that
that fight or flight mode to beable to see a few steps down the
road. If you were in fight orflight, maybe you're just
playing checkers. But once youget into a more strategic
(07:46):
mindset, then you're playingchess, and that's when the
opportunities. That's when youcan see the opportunities.
Otherwise, you're just seeingthat next checker stop in front
of you. When you're able to takethat 30,000 foot view, breathe
and get out of that fear mode,then you can play chess and see
down the path and see the realopportunities. But I don't know
that it's possible do that whenyou feel like you're in survival
(08:09):
mode, and unfortunately, that'swhat a lot of this uncertainty
has done to founders. And I'mnot perfect. Certainly, I've
been in those phases myself. Iwould say the best way out of
that is to work with amazingcoaches like you who can help
you get out of your own way ifyou can't do it yourself, and to
create routines. Make sure thatyou're eating clean, make sure
that you're waking up at thesame time, hydrating, getting
(08:32):
sunlight, doing your workouts,meditation, whatever you need to
make you a solid human first,because the oxygen mask if you
are not feeling good in yourbody and your mind and your
spirit, you're not gonna be ableto make even the most simple
decision impactful.
BEATE CHELETTE (08:48):
I think we need to get personal here. Lauren,
Laurel So what made you come upwith
Laurel Mintz (08:54):
fabric receipt? I, as I mentioned, started my
career as a corporate M and Aattorney, and because of that,
and a little bit more about myhistory, taking over my family
business and all of that. Butbecause of the legal background,
a lot of private equity andventure firms were coming to us
market them. And actually it wasone of the GPS we were working
with that said, you need to golaunch your own fund. You have
this insane early deal flow,this marketing special sauce,
(09:16):
and this real commitment todiversity. And honestly, I was
like, No thank you. I'm anoperator. Like, I don't need a
second headache. I'm good. Andthen I, frankly, I saw, I saw
the opportunity to your earlierquestion, I started becoming
obsessed and excited about whatthat would look like. Started
doing my homework and research.
We had been very lucky to be LPSin multiple funds at that stage
of our life. And I think whatmost people know is that 2%
(09:42):
number, which is that lesson,that 2% of venture dollars goes
to diverse founders. But what Ifound in my research was the
other side of that coin, whichis that when diverse founders do
receive funding, we return, onaverage, at a 25% higher return
rate this line tube. Four, butlike, I'm certainly a bleeding
heart, but I'm Can I curse onthe podcast? Am I allowed to do
(10:03):
that? Yes, go ahead, I say I'm ableeding heart, but I'm a
fucking capitalist first, right?
And the numbers spoke to me, andthat was where I saw an
opportunity. And as an operator,I knew I could do it better.
BEATE CHELETTE (10:16):
I think this is a critical, critical aspect here
is that? And one of the reasonswhy I think it's important we
talk about this now and notlater, is that this whole whoop
law of diversity, inclusion.
Laurel Mintz (10:30):
Yeah, we're popular right now. Let me tell
you,
BEATE CHELETTE (10:31):
it's super popular for all the wrong
reasons. And you and I, we'vebeen women owned certified for a
gazillion years, since the firstyear I didn't get certified. Oh,
wow, I don't see any point in itright now. Why am I fighting an
uphill battle? So I had to takethis friction out, right? But I
think that the the idea behinddiversity, affirmative action,
(10:52):
or understanding that equalopportunity or equality is not
the sameness. It means that youcreate the equivalent
Laurel Mintz (11:05):
for success. Yeah, it's about access, and that's
what I say when people have thisconversation, like, I've had
people call me a racist before,like I've had, oh, nice
conversations, Oh yes, oh yes.
And I'm like, have you looked atthis room full of white men? And
like, Look, I am. I love men. Ithink that we need all the
allies in the world to do this.
But to your point, it's aboutaccess and making sure that
(11:27):
there's an equal, equal playingfield more than anything. And
that's why, particularly inventure, they call it an access
class, not an asset class,because frankly, most women, and
certainly women and men ofcolor, have been left off of
this conversation veryintentionally. That's one of the
things we're here to change, andbecause we do much education in
this space. As you all know, 70%of our investors are diverse,
(11:50):
and 40% are actually first timecheck writers into the asset
class. And I'm proud of thosestatistics because it means that
we're lifting up folks andgiving access to folks who never
had a seat at this table before
BEATE CHELETTE (12:01):
let's go to kind of this idea about fabric we
see. I want to, want to talk alittle bit more about this. So
you go in at a time whereeverybody tells you to stay on a
safe baseline, and now you dothe opposite. Tell us about
that. I think people need tohear what the heck are you
(12:23):
thinking?
Laurel Mintz (12:23):
Yeah, you wouldn't be the first to say that for
sure, but I've always been a bitof a contrarian, because, again,
that's where I think theopportunity lies when everyone's
running that way, as long asit's not dangerous to run this
way. Running this way is goingto get you much farther, right,
because that's the directioneveryone was running in, and now
everyone's regressing. For me,it was a very natural
progression into launching thefund through the agency. And
(12:48):
when we were thinking about ourthesis and looking back at all
of our companies that we'dworked with on the agency side,
we saw that of the 400 pluscompanies we'd worked with, over
half were diverse led, andalmost 40% of those companies
had raised capital that wasalready our ecosystem, and I
wasn't going to create a newecosystem in a system that I
(13:08):
didn't already have deep rootsin and deep connections with.
And frankly, I've always ledwith heart and culture as a
leader. I think that I'm a veryhuman people centered leader.
And when we were coming up withour thesis, and we saw those
statistical numbers in terms ofour historical connection
points, it was kind of like a nobrainer, and I still say, I
(13:32):
still have to defend it, butalso now that it's so clear that
you're either with or againstthat conversation, people don't
show up in a zoom or a room Withme, if they see what we invest
in, and they are anti that, andactually, it's created a much
more linear conversation peopleeither excited about it in the
rooms that we're in and writingchecks, or they're never going
to have a conversation with me.
And that is just fine. Well,
BEATE CHELETTE (13:55):
I mean, I think the conversation is timely,
because it's not about thecontroversy, but it is about a
core value system. If we believethat this is a diverse world,
which does, yeah, it is more nowthan ever, we can say, Do I
believe that we can change that?
No, we cannot. Because thepeople are going to go on,
(14:15):
whether they here or there,there are going to be and
they're buying and what we'reseeing to your point, is that
there is a much larger loyaltytoward brands that do the right
thing. How does this affect whoyou investing in? Is there a
part of a is this a trustworthybrand that's investable, not
(14:38):
just investable from acapitalistic perspective,
because we know theopportunities there. But does
that play a part now, and doesthis play a bigger part than it
ever has?
Laurel Mintz (14:50):
Well, because that's our core thesis, we don't
have to do the diligence on thatpiece. It's kind of table
stakes, right? If they're comingto us for investment, then
they're not going to be pale,male or stale. That's not who we
invest in, and we're very clearabout that. And then on the
other side of it, we're not justinvesting out of the goodness of
our heart. We do all of thetraditional financial and
founder diligence required fromour Investment Committee, and we
(15:13):
do a whole second layer ofdiligence that's all marketing
focused based on our agencyexpertise. What that layer does
is we believe helps us to derisk our portfolio company picks
because it tells us are thenumbers real from an omnichannel
marketing perspective, how farare they from their competitors,
which ultimately tells us if ourchecks going to meaningfully
close the gap for them. And thenon the last piece is that on
(15:35):
about quarter of the deals thatwe write cash checks to will
match with sweat equity on theagency side, but we're not even
just taking one bite of thatapple. We are picking winners
and making them winners when wehave high conviction. It's a
holistic approach that webelieve not only is a better
layer in terms of de risking,but in terms of controlling the
narrative of success for thesebrands.
BEATE CHELETTE (15:57):
Do you think that the whole venture capital
model is changing in thatregard, I've seen this a lot,
and I'm personally myselfinvolved in in in the impact
accelerator Summit, where I'mI'm mentoring founders, where
the ecosystem is designed tohave these mentors available as
board member and as advisor inadvisor roles. Do you think that
(16:18):
just giving money and is nowreplacing giving money and
services and mentorship.
Laurel Mintz (16:27):
I don't know if it's fully there yet. I would
say founders are becomingsmarter and they want more from
their they don't want dumb dumbmoney, right? There's a reason
that there was that movie calleddumb money. So for example, we
have an amazing Latina CEO,female founder who runs a
FinTech company already, she'slike a unicorn. She's like a
tiny grain of sand and a hugebeach of FinTech founders that
(16:49):
are all men. But because she hadsuch a high IQ and EQ, she made
sure that there was a carve outfor a fund like ours that was
bringing more than just capitalto the table. Because she was
she knew that she was creating atechnical product, but selling
to kind of a non technicalaudience. I think that there are
certainly, I think certainly thediverse founders that we've come
(17:11):
across are much smarter with whois on their cap table, because
they know that this is a verylong term relationships like a
marriage, and they don't wantassholes on their table, and
they'd like on their tablethat's gonna also help make
introductions. Maybe help themclose their round out. Maybe
help them go up market when theyraise their next series. Add
value with marketing expertise,or whatever that layer is. I
(17:33):
think it is shifting. But Ithink it's shifting because
there are more VCs like me whohave added value, who are coming
out of operating roles andsaying, I can do this better.
BEATE CHELETTE (17:43):
I think the model is much better, to be
honest with you, because I I seethat especially in the conscious
investment aspect that there isthe desire to make purpose
driven decisions. Think thatanother part, and I want to hear
(18:04):
how you feel about this. Butthis whole idea about investing,
when first the Internet came tobe, the Internet was the
unicorn, that if you hadwhatever, a million dollars or
$10 million and you gave 10companies a million dollar, then
you may have had a chance tofind the unicorn, the Airbnb,
(18:24):
the Facebook, the Uber, whateverthat was. I don't think this is
this market anymore. I don'tthink, I don't think we have
these kinds of unicornopportunities. But what we do
have, we have these hugecompanies that are uncreative
and lack any kind of visionother than money that they're
(18:45):
buying up creativity likethere's no
Laurel Mintz (18:48):
conversation for sure, I agree that the
opportunities for unicorns arefew and farther between. And
actually, when I have thatconversation, I tell people I'm
not looking for unicorns, I'mlooking for stallions, because
unicorns are fictional, right?
We're looking for companies thatcan be profitable, that may be
set up for some sort of M & Aactivity. I do agree with you. I
think that the top of the foodchain, the companies that are
(19:09):
public, are acquiring theseother companies because they
just they can't move fastenough. They'd rather buy than
build.
BEATE CHELETTE (19:18):
They can't build. And I think this is the
this is the tremendousopportunity. So let's talk now
about with your expertise, withthe marketing side of things,
and now with seeing what'sinvestable and what is
sustainable. What advice fromyour unique, opinionated back
(19:39):
can you give founders that are,you know, aside from Get your
head out of your butt, what canwe tell them on how to get into
this, into this flow state andbelieving in the future and
creating the future?
Laurel Mintz (19:57):
Loaded question, I think it's about. Who you
surround yourself with, again,working with amazing coaches,
but building a board of advisorswho are going to stand by you
and support you in the best oftimes and in the worst of times.
And we did that veryintentionally. On the fabric
side as well, we have a 12person venture and advisory
(20:17):
board, who's the who's who ofthe categories that we invest
in. And I can call each one ofthem like a Chelsea Grayson who
literally only sits on publicboards now, was the CEO American
Apparel and true religion jeans.
And I can call her and ask her,what do you think about X, Y and
Z, consumer tech company? And Ican get her on the phone
anytime. I think it's aboutlike, who your community is
around you that's supportingyour greater mission. Because
(20:39):
there's a lot of people that aregoing to be naysayers,
especially like friends andfamily who don't believe in
themselves enough to build likethat. And entrepreneurs, good
entrepreneurs, are doing thingsthat are beyond most people's
vision, that people try and pullthem down from the clouds
instead of boosting them up. SoI think to the answer to that in
terms of a flow state other thanmany martinis, psychedelics,
(21:04):
meditation, whatever. Again,your bailiwick is, is about who
you surround yourself with. Andwhen I started becoming
successful on both companies, Ihad to eliminate some of those
people in my community that werealways so negative, because they
just couldn't see a vision forthemselves. Who
BEATE CHELETTE (21:23):
got you here is not going to get you there
necessarily. I find that andfamily is a tough one to be
honest. Laurel, yes,
Laurel Mintz (21:33):
certainly not, you know, yeah. Well, if you ask my
dad, he said that I came out ofthe womb like this, like I just
came out fire. I was came outscreaming, ready to take on the
world, and that this has alwaysbeen kind of the energy that I
have possessed and cultivated,right? I'm very intentional
again, about the people that Isurround myself with, because a
lot of people take a lot ofthings and they drain you, and
(21:55):
actually we, I think I mentionedto you, when we were hanging out
last that we just bought a pieceof land in Todo Santos, Mexico,
and we're building a home there.
Did I tell you that story? Oh,you didn't. And the reason that
we're doing that is because myhusband, in his infinite wisdom,
he's such a great partner and anentrepreneur. He said, we're
looking for the next big housein LA and he goes, sweat, babe,
you don't need more of anythingother than spaces where people
can't pull on need space fromother people, because in it all
(22:18):
day, every day, and I take 16 to18 meetings a day in 20 minute
increments, because I'm on thehustle raising a fund right now.
For me, this is, like, kind ofalways who I've been. I think I
have honed the skill set. I'vealso mellowed quite a bit, if
you can believe it, and I still,like, I was just at a big
Finance Conference, and peoplewere like, clutching, I dropped
(22:40):
an F on this man, like, clutchedhis pearls. And I was like, got
it. Not that room for that. WhatI mean for me, it's been who I I
always have been and continue tokind of focus my energies and
efforts to just try and make ita bit better and a bit more
focused. I think,
BEATE CHELETTE (22:58):
what do you do?
Oh, no, let me reframe thisquestion. How do you learn to be
unapologetically you when youare opinionated, especially as a
woman,
Laurel Mintz (23:12):
I think it just you have to realize that you're
not going to be everyone's cupof tea. And for a long time, my
father's very much a peoplepleaser. If you can believe it,
I have been a people pleaser fora long time myself, and I never
wanted people to be mad at me. Ialways wanted everyone to like
me. And the truth is, if you'regonna do crazy, wild, exciting,
different things in the world,people are gonna not like much,
(23:36):
and that has to be you have tobe okay, being not likable and
not being everyone's friend, andthat's really hard for me,
because I want everyone to loveme. I don't think people realize
that I I have this boldexterior, which is certainly who
I am and very authentically me,but inside, I'm mushy and gooey
and, like, very emotional. And Idon't think most people see that
(23:56):
side of me, because I'm out inthe world being the boss. So I
think it's, it's that it's beingokay with people not liking you
because you have to likeyourself deeply.
BEATE CHELETTE (24:05):
I think that that's all there is, is that at
the end of the day, the olderyou'll get, and this is going to
be an explicit episode, I cansay it, yeah,
Laurel Mintz (24:13):
is totally create your tribe like you. How lucky
am I?
BEATE CHELETTE (24:17):
Yeah, same, same here. Every time we see each
other, we like giddy with joy, Iknow and
Laurel Mintz (24:21):
that So Laurel, before we move on, I was like,
the point, right? The point isway, like, I know everyone's
having a hard time right now,but we have to remember that the
point of this is to enjoy thisone wonderful life that we have
and sometimes we get. I mean,today I had a hard day. So
having this conversation ismeaningful, because it reminds
me to focus on the joy,
BEATE CHELETTE (24:40):
right? And when you have somebody, you can talk
real stuff when it's not. Andthis conversation was completely
unscripted. There's two things Iwanted to talk about, is
obviously the things that youdo, but I knew that your
personality was going to comethrough and that it would lead
the conversation where it neededto go. Know, but what I want our
(25:01):
listeners to take away from thisis this this authentic being, or
this authentically you. Eventhough this word is so overused,
I wish it could come up withanother word for it, but that's
the essence of it. And when youstep into the truth of who you
are, and you allow people to seethat, that's when these real
(25:23):
relationships are formed.
Because I know who to send toyou,
Laurel Mintz (25:27):
absolutely, yeah, yeah. It's a very it's a rare
thing to be able to stand inyour true power and show up
authentically as who you are. Ithink people, again, to the
initial part of thisconversation, live in their fear
much more than their foundationof who they are. At their core,
it is, it's a gift to be able toshow up in the world the way
that you are. I think thatpeople need to remember that as
(25:48):
well, the joy and then justshowing up, putting one foot in
front of the other. Like I said,I had a hard day today, and yet
I'm here showing upauthentically, having a joyful
conversation. Because when youget to talk to people like you
who can see also, who can seewho you are, right? Then that
reflection reminds you why youshow up every day.
BEATE CHELETTE (26:07):
Yeah, and it's a mutual appreciation. I think
what I have met when I firststarted to stepping out, what 30
years ago, then I probably wouldhave looked at you, would have
been in judgment, and would havebeen very opinionated about what
I perceived you to be. And Ithink when you step into these
(26:31):
the recognition of who you areand what you came here to, do
you how to pull yourselftogether when it's showtime, and
when we recognize that everybodyhas this duality, or the mushy
part, like you call it, and thatbold exterior, hopefully that
gets shit done. I mean, how richis the life that we get to live
(26:52):
with each other and enjoy this
Laurel Mintz (26:54):
experience? Yeah, 100% so grateful for you. Same
BEATE CHELETTE (26:57):
here for somebody who wants to now learn
about maybe investable yourfund, or about working with you
on the marketing side. Where arewe sending them?
Laurel Mintz (27:07):
On the fabric side, fabricvc.com, and we are
ecosystem builders. We havequarterly pitch days that are
open to the public. You can seethese incredible companies and
participate. We're marketers. Wedo, I think, a pretty good job
of showcasing some of theseamazing founders, even if we
don't write a check. Please joinus there and then on the Elevate
side, elevatemybrand.com,similar ecosystem on that side,
(27:30):
obviously more company brandfocused, but we have a good
time. We hope that you'll joinus.
BEATE CHELETTE (27:34):
Thank you so much. Well, it's been a pleasure
to have you on the show asalways. Can't wait to run into
you again very soon,
Laurel Mintz (27:41):
and you're amazing. No, you're the best. I
appreciate this time. Thank you.
Thank you. Same
BEATE CHELETTE (27:45):
here, and that's it for us for today. So as you
saw, we had a little bit of adifferent conversation that took
us where I think it needed togo, but I wanted it to be a real
conversation about a personaltransformation, and in a very
honest conversation about whatyou can do when you are finding
yourself in challenging timeslike this, and how you just with
(28:09):
a simple conversation, hopefullyfind some takeaways that you can
implement right away. And withthat, I say goodbye, and until
next time, that's it for thisepisode of the Business Growth
Architect Show, Founders of theFuture. If you're done playing
small and ready to build thefuture on your terms, subscribe,
share and help us reach moreTrailblazers like you. And if
you're serious about creating,growing and scaling a business
(28:31):
that's aligned with who you are,schedule your uncovery session
at uncoverysession.com. Leadwith vision. Move with purpose.
Create your future.
Hi everyone.
(00:00):
Laurel Mintz here, CEO of"Elevate My Brand" and GP of
(00:03):
"Fabric VC" and on my episodefor the Business Growth
Architect Show, I'm going toshare and reveal how you can
become an investor, market yourbrand and elevate your life.
BEATE CHELETTE (00:19):
This is the Business Growth Architect Show
for founders who don't followtrends. They set them for
entrepreneurs who aren't here tofix the past, but to build the
future they actually want tolive in. Hi. My name is Beate
Chelette. I'm a Palisades firesurvivor strategist and the
entrepreneur behind a multimillion dollar tech exit to the
(00:39):
gates. And every week I bringyou the fire, real guests, real
strategy and the real talk onhow to control your mind move
fast and create your future.
This is where strategy needsenergy, because your next level
needs both. Let's grow you. Uh,welcome back. Beat Chelette The
(01:03):
Growth Architect, today with myfriend Laurel Mintz from Elevate
Your Brand and Fabric VC, andtoday I'm going to take you in a
two fold conversation, becausetoday we are not just sharing
kind of things about elevatingyour brand. We also talk about
when a founder of the futuresees a need to found something
(01:24):
for the future and what thatlooks like. Laurel, I'm so
excited to have you. I can stand
Laurel Mintz (01:31):
it. Oh, I'm so excited to be here. You and I
have known each other a longtime and have had very similar
perspectives on I'm excited forthis conversation 100%
BEATE CHELETTE (01:41):
so for somebody who's not familiar with Elevate
Your Brand, tell us who you areand what problem you solve for
your clients,
Laurel Mintz (01:49):
thank you. We are on the Elevate side, a digital
and experiential marketingagency. We've been around for 16
plus years. I can't believethat. And 400 brands later, for
those who have kids wouldprobably most know the
squishmallows brand. That's theone we're most famous for
launching and selling to privateequity. And we're a full service
(02:09):
marketing agency on that side ofthe fence. And before that, I
was a corporate M and Aattorney, which is how we came
to launch fabric, which I knowget into in a bit. Let's talk
BEATE CHELETTE (02:18):
about what's going on in the marketplace. I
think a lot of people are veryconfused about brands and
marketing, and is there arequirement right now?
Laurel Mintz (02:28):
I think that the first of all, like people are
confused about the differencebetween branding and marketing
and advertising and content andsocial. I like it. I like to
like make it clear from a visualperspective. Let's imagine it.
Marketing is an umbrella, right?
And under that umbrella iseverything that think marketing
is social media, contentcreation, influencer, branding
and messaging, advertising,research and development, I
(02:50):
mean, all of those pieces, butthat's all under the marketing
umbrella. And the handle of thatumbrella is visibility,
awareness and eventually leadingto sales. I think that that that
visual helps people tounderstand like marketing is the
big umbrella, and everything isunder that umbrella in its own
kind of little silo, hopefullynot silo to doing it the right
way. That's the starting point.
BEATE CHELETTE (03:11):
Well, things have to be connected for for
them to work. Is what'shappening right now in the
marketplace, with all theuncertainty in the economy, with
all the talk, with the whiplashof one day it's this, one day
it's this. Do people need tomake adjustments? What do we
tell our audience?
Laurel Mintz (03:28):
I wish that people would just keep putting one foot
in front of the other, becausewhat we're seeing happening is
everyone is freaking out becausethere's much uncertainty. And
when people are uncertain, it'sa psychological response, right?
The immediate response is, I'mjust not going to do anything.
But the long term impact of thatcan be very and is usually very
detrimental. And we saw thatduring the pandemic, brands that
(03:50):
pulled out of marketing had amuch steeper hill to climb when
they were back in market. Andfrom an ownership perspective,
when about market share, ifeverybody's pulling their
dollars out of marketing, you'redoubling down, you're gonna get
a lot more bang for your buck,right? And just from a
statistical mafi perspective, itmakes much more sense to stay in
market and even maybe doubledown with your dollar that you
(04:12):
can build that funnel, that longterm, you can have a much
stronger path to revenue. Butyeah, right now, people are
totally freaked out, and we'reseeing that on the agency side.
And I'm always as supertransparent about about us, we
have usually a 70% conversionrate on our scopes, and right
now it's like a sub 10%conversion. We are seeing it as
(04:33):
a major trickle down on theservice side. Luckily, we've
been in it long enough that wehave great long term clients
prior, but that's a greatexample and indicator of what is
happening in this crazy, messedup, backwards market.
BEATE CHELETTE (04:47):
Do you think that it's the uncertainty that
gets people weirded out? Becauseyou and I, we've been studying
business ownership, and we'vebeen in many of the same
conferences and events, we knowthat great a. Opportunities I
found in down markets, right?
It's when it's rich, there isnot much of an opportunity. But
when things are volatile, whatkind of mindset Do you have, or
(05:09):
do you recommend our ourfounders of the future to have
get out of this uncertaintyparalysis?
Laurel Mintz (05:20):
It's a fear based mentality, whatever you're if
you're into meditation orpsychedelics, I don't care, but
you need to get into a place ofgrowth and stability. Because I
think what we're seeing is thatfounders, everyone is just
terrified right now, and a fearbased decision making process is
never going to allow you to makea decision that is positive and
(05:41):
providing forward momentum foryour company. I know it's easier
said than done, especially whenpeople are getting laid off and
the economy is wonky, but toyour exact point, this is when
the real winners are made. Andevery down economy we've seen
the other side of it are thebig, big, big winners, and
that's what we're seeing on thefabric side, we're able to take
(06:02):
a much more equity becausevaluations are normalizing.
There's not a lot of cash in themarket. I know I'm kind of
mixing the conversations, butit's the same thought process,
which is, double down, stay init long term, and if you are
pulling out of marketing andinvesting, then you're not you
don't have the stomach for it inthe first place. You know what I
(06:22):
mean? Like, if you don't havethat mentality of, like, growth
and exploration and excitementand regress into a fear based
model, probably should just goget and else worry
BEATE CHELETTE (06:32):
about it. That's what I love about you. Just
like, say it like it is. Ialways think our job is to get
people to an intersection wherethere's only the right and the
left to take. There is nothere's no other option, right?
I mean, you could stay in theintersection as a 7 Eleven and
do slurpees all day long, butyou to take a left or right.
That's our job. When I see thishesitation, and I feel that
(06:58):
people are so uncertain, isthere a way for for them to
aside from meditation stuff likethat, but how do you find
opportunities? And this is mysetup for the fabric we see. How
do you find an opportunity whenyou are in this panic mode or in
(07:19):
this Oh shit, mode. This may notwork out.
Laurel Mintz (07:23):
Yeah, I don't know if you can. That's the truth.
The honest answer is, I don'tknow if you're in that fight or
flight mode that you're going tobe able to see anything other
than two inches in front of yourface, and maybe not even that,
right? You have to get out ofthat basal reaction that that
that fight or flight mode to beable to see a few steps down the
road. If you were in fight orflight, maybe you're just
playing checkers. But once youget into a more strategic
(07:46):
mindset, then you're playingchess, and that's when the
opportunities. That's when youcan see the opportunities.
Otherwise, you're just seeingthat next checker stop in front
of you. When you're able to takethat 30,000 foot view, breathe
and get out of that fear mode,then you can play chess and see
down the path and see the realopportunities. But I don't know
that it's possible do that whenyou feel like you're in survival
(08:09):
mode, and unfortunately, that'swhat a lot of this uncertainty
has done to founders. And I'mnot perfect. Certainly, I've
been in those phases myself. Iwould say the best way out of
that is to work with amazingcoaches like you who can help
you get out of your own way ifyou can't do it yourself, and to
create routines. Make sure thatyou're eating clean, make sure
that you're waking up at thesame time, hydrating, getting
(08:32):
sunlight, doing your workouts,meditation, whatever you need to
make you a solid human first,because the oxygen mask if you
are not feeling good in yourbody and your mind and your
spirit, you're not gonna be ableto make even the most simple
decision impactful.
BEATE CHELETTE (08:48):
I think we need to get personal here. Lauren,
Laurel So what made you come upwith
Laurel Mintz (08:54):
fabric receipt? I, as I mentioned, started my
career as a corporate M and Aattorney, and because of that,
and a little bit more about myhistory, taking over my family
business and all of that. Butbecause of the legal background,
a lot of private equity andventure firms were coming to us
market them. And actually it wasone of the GPS we were working
with that said, you need to golaunch your own fund. You have
this insane early deal flow,this marketing special sauce,
(09:16):
and this real commitment todiversity. And honestly, I was
like, No thank you. I'm anoperator. Like, I don't need a
second headache. I'm good. Andthen I, frankly, I saw, I saw
the opportunity to your earlierquestion, I started becoming
obsessed and excited about whatthat would look like. Started
doing my homework and research.
We had been very lucky to be LPSin multiple funds at that stage
of our life. And I think whatmost people know is that 2%
(09:42):
number, which is that lesson,that 2% of venture dollars goes
to diverse founders. But what Ifound in my research was the
other side of that coin, whichis that when diverse founders do
receive funding, we return, onaverage, at a 25% higher return
rate this line tube. Four, butlike, I'm certainly a bleeding
heart, but I'm Can I curse onthe podcast? Am I allowed to do
(10:03):
that? Yes, go ahead, I say I'm ableeding heart, but I'm a
fucking capitalist first, right?
And the numbers spoke to me, andthat was where I saw an
opportunity. And as an operator,I knew I could do it better.
BEATE CHELETTE (10:16):
I think this is a critical, critical aspect here
is that? And one of the reasonswhy I think it's important we
talk about this now and notlater, is that this whole whoop
law of diversity, inclusion.
Laurel Mintz (10:30):
Yeah, we're popular right now. Let me tell
you,
BEATE CHELETTE (10:31):
it's super popular for all the wrong
reasons. And you and I, we'vebeen women owned certified for a
gazillion years, since the firstyear I didn't get certified. Oh,
wow, I don't see any point in itright now. Why am I fighting an
uphill battle? So I had to takethis friction out, right? But I
think that the the idea behinddiversity, affirmative action,
(10:52):
or understanding that equalopportunity or equality is not
the sameness. It means that youcreate the equivalent
Laurel Mintz (11:05):
for success. Yeah, it's about access, and that's
what I say when people have thisconversation, like, I've had
people call me a racist before,like I've had, oh, nice
conversations, Oh yes, oh yes.
And I'm like, have you looked atthis room full of white men? And
like, Look, I am. I love men. Ithink that we need all the
allies in the world to do this.
But to your point, it's aboutaccess and making sure that
(11:27):
there's an equal, equal playingfield more than anything. And
that's why, particularly inventure, they call it an access
class, not an asset class,because frankly, most women, and
certainly women and men ofcolor, have been left off of
this conversation veryintentionally. That's one of the
things we're here to change, andbecause we do much education in
this space. As you all know, 70%of our investors are diverse,
(11:50):
and 40% are actually first timecheck writers into the asset
class. And I'm proud of thosestatistics because it means that
we're lifting up folks andgiving access to folks who never
had a seat at this table before
BEATE CHELETTE (12:01):
let's go to kind of this idea about fabric we
see. I want to, want to talk alittle bit more about this. So
you go in at a time whereeverybody tells you to stay on a
safe baseline, and now you dothe opposite. Tell us about
that. I think people need tohear what the heck are you
(12:23):
thinking?
Laurel Mintz (12:23):
Yeah, you wouldn't be the first to say that for
sure, but I've always been a bitof a contrarian, because, again,
that's where I think theopportunity lies when everyone's
running that way, as long asit's not dangerous to run this
way. Running this way is goingto get you much farther, right,
because that's the directioneveryone was running in, and now
everyone's regressing. For me,it was a very natural
progression into launching thefund through the agency. And
(12:48):
when we were thinking about ourthesis and looking back at all
of our companies that we'dworked with on the agency side,
we saw that of the 400 pluscompanies we'd worked with, over
half were diverse led, andalmost 40% of those companies
had raised capital that wasalready our ecosystem, and I
wasn't going to create a newecosystem in a system that I
(13:08):
didn't already have deep rootsin and deep connections with.
And frankly, I've always ledwith heart and culture as a
leader. I think that I'm a veryhuman people centered leader.
And when we were coming up withour thesis, and we saw those
statistical numbers in terms ofour historical connection
points, it was kind of like a nobrainer, and I still say, I
(13:32):
still have to defend it, butalso now that it's so clear that
you're either with or againstthat conversation, people don't
show up in a zoom or a room Withme, if they see what we invest
in, and they are anti that, andactually, it's created a much
more linear conversation peopleeither excited about it in the
rooms that we're in and writingchecks, or they're never going
to have a conversation with me.
And that is just fine. Well,
BEATE CHELETTE (13:55):
I mean, I think the conversation is timely,
because it's not about thecontroversy, but it is about a
core value system. If we believethat this is a diverse world,
which does, yeah, it is more nowthan ever, we can say, Do I
believe that we can change that?
No, we cannot. Because thepeople are going to go on,
(14:15):
whether they here or there,there are going to be and
they're buying and what we'reseeing to your point, is that
there is a much larger loyaltytoward brands that do the right
thing. How does this affect whoyou investing in? Is there a
part of a is this a trustworthybrand that's investable, not
(14:38):
just investable from acapitalistic perspective,
because we know theopportunities there. But does
that play a part now, and doesthis play a bigger part than it
ever has?
Laurel Mintz (14:50):
Well, because that's our core thesis, we don't
have to do the diligence on thatpiece. It's kind of table
stakes, right? If they're comingto us for investment, then
they're not going to be pale,male or stale. That's not who we
invest in, and we're very clearabout that. And then on the
other side of it, we're not justinvesting out of the goodness of
our heart. We do all of thetraditional financial and
founder diligence required fromour Investment Committee, and we
(15:13):
do a whole second layer ofdiligence that's all marketing
focused based on our agencyexpertise. What that layer does
is we believe helps us to derisk our portfolio company picks
because it tells us are thenumbers real from an omnichannel
marketing perspective, how farare they from their competitors,
which ultimately tells us if ourchecks going to meaningfully
close the gap for them. And thenon the last piece is that on
(15:35):
about quarter of the deals thatwe write cash checks to will
match with sweat equity on theagency side, but we're not even
just taking one bite of thatapple. We are picking winners
and making them winners when wehave high conviction. It's a
holistic approach that webelieve not only is a better
layer in terms of de risking,but in terms of controlling the
narrative of success for thesebrands.
BEATE CHELETTE (15:57):
Do you think that the whole venture capital
model is changing in thatregard, I've seen this a lot,
and I'm personally myselfinvolved in in in the impact
accelerator Summit, where I'mI'm mentoring founders, where
the ecosystem is designed tohave these mentors available as
board member and as advisor inadvisor roles. Do you think that
(16:18):
just giving money and is nowreplacing giving money and
services and mentorship.
Laurel Mintz (16:27):
I don't know if it's fully there yet. I would
say founders are becomingsmarter and they want more from
their they don't want dumb dumbmoney, right? There's a reason
that there was that movie calleddumb money. So for example, we
have an amazing Latina CEO,female founder who runs a
FinTech company already, she'slike a unicorn. She's like a
tiny grain of sand and a hugebeach of FinTech founders that
(16:49):
are all men. But because she hadsuch a high IQ and EQ, she made
sure that there was a carve outfor a fund like ours that was
bringing more than just capitalto the table. Because she was
she knew that she was creating atechnical product, but selling
to kind of a non technicalaudience. I think that there are
certainly, I think certainly thediverse founders that we've come
(17:11):
across are much smarter with whois on their cap table, because
they know that this is a verylong term relationships like a
marriage, and they don't wantassholes on their table, and
they'd like on their tablethat's gonna also help make
introductions. Maybe help themclose their round out. Maybe
help them go up market when theyraise their next series. Add
value with marketing expertise,or whatever that layer is. I
(17:33):
think it is shifting. But Ithink it's shifting because
there are more VCs like me whohave added value, who are coming
out of operating roles andsaying, I can do this better.
BEATE CHELETTE (17:43):
I think the model is much better, to be
honest with you, because I I seethat especially in the conscious
investment aspect that there isthe desire to make purpose
driven decisions. Think thatanother part, and I want to hear
(18:04):
how you feel about this. Butthis whole idea about investing,
when first the Internet came tobe, the Internet was the
unicorn, that if you hadwhatever, a million dollars or
$10 million and you gave 10companies a million dollar, then
you may have had a chance tofind the unicorn, the Airbnb,
(18:24):
the Facebook, the Uber, whateverthat was. I don't think this is
this market anymore. I don'tthink, I don't think we have
these kinds of unicornopportunities. But what we do
have, we have these hugecompanies that are uncreative
and lack any kind of visionother than money that they're
(18:45):
buying up creativity likethere's no
Laurel Mintz (18:48):
conversation for sure, I agree that the
opportunities for unicorns arefew and farther between. And
actually, when I have thatconversation, I tell people I'm
not looking for unicorns, I'mlooking for stallions, because
unicorns are fictional, right?
We're looking for companies thatcan be profitable, that may be
set up for some sort of M & Aactivity. I do agree with you. I
think that the top of the foodchain, the companies that are
(19:09):
public, are acquiring theseother companies because they
just they can't move fastenough. They'd rather buy than
build.
BEATE CHELETTE (19:18):
They can't build. And I think this is the
this is the tremendousopportunity. So let's talk now
about with your expertise, withthe marketing side of things,
and now with seeing what'sinvestable and what is
sustainable. What advice fromyour unique, opinionated back
(19:39):
can you give founders that are,you know, aside from Get your
head out of your butt, what canwe tell them on how to get into
this, into this flow state andbelieving in the future and
creating the future?
Laurel Mintz (19:57):
Loaded question, I think it's about. Who you
surround yourself with, again,working with amazing coaches,
but building a board of advisorswho are going to stand by you
and support you in the best oftimes and in the worst of times.
And we did that veryintentionally. On the fabric
side as well, we have a 12person venture and advisory
(20:17):
board, who's the who's who ofthe categories that we invest
in. And I can call each one ofthem like a Chelsea Grayson who
literally only sits on publicboards now, was the CEO American
Apparel and true religion jeans.
And I can call her and ask her,what do you think about X, Y and
Z, consumer tech company? And Ican get her on the phone
anytime. I think it's aboutlike, who your community is
around you that's supportingyour greater mission. Because
(20:39):
there's a lot of people that aregoing to be naysayers,
especially like friends andfamily who don't believe in
themselves enough to build likethat. And entrepreneurs, good
entrepreneurs, are doing thingsthat are beyond most people's
vision, that people try and pullthem down from the clouds
instead of boosting them up. SoI think to the answer to that in
terms of a flow state other thanmany martinis, psychedelics,
(21:04):
meditation, whatever. Again,your bailiwick is, is about who
you surround yourself with. Andwhen I started becoming
successful on both companies, Ihad to eliminate some of those
people in my community that werealways so negative, because they
just couldn't see a vision forthemselves. Who
BEATE CHELETTE (21:23):
got you here is not going to get you there
necessarily. I find that andfamily is a tough one to be
honest. Laurel, yes,
Laurel Mintz (21:33):
certainly not, you know, yeah. Well, if you ask my
dad, he said that I came out ofthe womb like this, like I just
came out fire. I was came outscreaming, ready to take on the
world, and that this has alwaysbeen kind of the energy that I
have possessed and cultivated,right? I'm very intentional
again, about the people that Isurround myself with, because a
lot of people take a lot ofthings and they drain you, and
(21:55):
actually we, I think I mentionedto you, when we were hanging out
last that we just bought a pieceof land in Todo Santos, Mexico,
and we're building a home there.
Did I tell you that story? Oh,you didn't. And the reason that
we're doing that is because myhusband, in his infinite wisdom,
he's such a great partner and anentrepreneur. He said, we're
looking for the next big housein LA and he goes, sweat, babe,
you don't need more of anythingother than spaces where people
can't pull on need space fromother people, because in it all
(22:18):
day, every day, and I take 16 to18 meetings a day in 20 minute
increments, because I'm on thehustle raising a fund right now.
For me, this is, like, kind ofalways who I've been. I think I
have honed the skill set. I'vealso mellowed quite a bit, if
you can believe it, and I still,like, I was just at a big
Finance Conference, and peoplewere like, clutching, I dropped
(22:40):
an F on this man, like, clutchedhis pearls. And I was like, got
it. Not that room for that. WhatI mean for me, it's been who I I
always have been and continue tokind of focus my energies and
efforts to just try and make ita bit better and a bit more
focused. I think,
BEATE CHELETTE (22:58):
what do you do?
Oh, no, let me reframe thisquestion. How do you learn to be
unapologetically you when youare opinionated, especially as a
woman,
Laurel Mintz (23:12):
I think it just you have to realize that you're
not going to be everyone's cupof tea. And for a long time, my
father's very much a peoplepleaser. If you can believe it,
I have been a people pleaser fora long time myself, and I never
wanted people to be mad at me. Ialways wanted everyone to like
me. And the truth is, if you'regonna do crazy, wild, exciting,
different things in the world,people are gonna not like much,
(23:36):
and that has to be you have tobe okay, being not likable and
not being everyone's friend, andthat's really hard for me,
because I want everyone to loveme. I don't think people realize
that I I have this boldexterior, which is certainly who
I am and very authentically me,but inside, I'm mushy and gooey
and, like, very emotional. And Idon't think most people see that
(23:56):
side of me, because I'm out inthe world being the boss. So I
think it's, it's that it's beingokay with people not liking you
because you have to likeyourself deeply.
BEATE CHELETTE (24:05):
I think that that's all there is, is that at
the end of the day, the olderyou'll get, and this is going to
be an explicit episode, I cansay it, yeah,
Laurel Mintz (24:13):
is totally create your tribe like you. How lucky
am I?
BEATE CHELETTE (24:17):
Yeah, same, same here. Every time we see each
other, we like giddy with joy, Iknow and
Laurel Mintz (24:21):
that So Laurel, before we move on, I was like,
the point, right? The point isway, like, I know everyone's
having a hard time right now,but we have to remember that the
point of this is to enjoy thisone wonderful life that we have
and sometimes we get. I mean,today I had a hard day. So
having this conversation ismeaningful, because it reminds
me to focus on the joy,
BEATE CHELETTE (24:40):
right? And when you have somebody, you can talk
real stuff when it's not. Andthis conversation was completely
unscripted. There's two things Iwanted to talk about, is
obviously the things that youdo, but I knew that your
personality was going to comethrough and that it would lead
the conversation where it neededto go. Know, but what I want our
(25:01):
listeners to take away from thisis this this authentic being, or
this authentically you. Eventhough this word is so overused,
I wish it could come up withanother word for it, but that's
the essence of it. And when youstep into the truth of who you
are, and you allow people to seethat, that's when these real
(25:23):
relationships are formed.
Because I know who to send toyou,
Laurel Mintz (25:27):
absolutely, yeah, yeah. It's a very it's a rare
thing to be able to stand inyour true power and show up
authentically as who you are. Ithink people, again, to the
initial part of thisconversation, live in their fear
much more than their foundationof who they are. At their core,
it is, it's a gift to be able toshow up in the world the way
that you are. I think thatpeople need to remember that as
(25:48):
well, the joy and then justshowing up, putting one foot in
front of the other. Like I said,I had a hard day today, and yet
I'm here showing upauthentically, having a joyful
conversation. Because when youget to talk to people like you
who can see also, who can seewho you are, right? Then that
reflection reminds you why youshow up every day.
BEATE CHELETTE (26:07):
Yeah, and it's a mutual appreciation. I think
what I have met when I firststarted to stepping out, what 30
years ago, then I probably wouldhave looked at you, would have
been in judgment, and would havebeen very opinionated about what
I perceived you to be. And Ithink when you step into these
(26:31):
the recognition of who you areand what you came here to, do
you how to pull yourselftogether when it's showtime, and
when we recognize that everybodyhas this duality, or the mushy
part, like you call it, and thatbold exterior, hopefully that
gets shit done. I mean, how richis the life that we get to live
(26:52):
with each other and enjoy this
Laurel Mintz (26:54):
experience? Yeah, 100% so grateful for you. Same
BEATE CHELETTE (26:57):
here for somebody who wants to now learn
about maybe investable yourfund, or about working with you
on the marketing side. Where arewe sending them?
Laurel Mintz (27:07):
On the fabric side, fabricvc.com, and we are
ecosystem builders. We havequarterly pitch days that are
open to the public. You can seethese incredible companies and
participate. We're marketers. Wedo, I think, a pretty good job
of showcasing some of theseamazing founders, even if we
don't write a check. Please joinus there and then on the Elevate
side, elevatemybrand.com,similar ecosystem on that side,
(27:30):
obviously more company brandfocused, but we have a good
time. We hope that you'll joinus.
BEATE CHELETTE (27:34):
Thank you so much. Well, it's been a pleasure
to have you on the show asalways. Can't wait to run into
you again very soon,
Laurel Mintz (27:41):
and you're amazing. No, you're the best. I
appreciate this time. Thank you.
Thank you. Same
BEATE CHELETTE (27:45):
here, and that's it for us for today. So as you
saw, we had a little bit of adifferent conversation that took
us where I think it needed togo, but I wanted it to be a real
conversation about a personaltransformation, and in a very
honest conversation about whatyou can do when you are finding
yourself in challenging timeslike this, and how you just with
(28:09):
a simple conversation, hopefullyfind some takeaways that you can
implement right away. And withthat, I say goodbye, and until
next time, that's it for thisepisode of the Business Growth
Architect Show, Founders of theFuture. If you're done playing
small and ready to build thefuture on your terms, subscribe,
share and help us reach moreTrailblazers like you. And if
you're serious about creating,growing and scaling a business
(28:31):
that's aligned with who you are,schedule your uncovery session
at uncoverysession.com. Leadwith vision. Move with purpose.
Create your future.
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