LORI HARDER: “When you are switching and pivoting, you need to switch the propaganda in your life, meaning what are you listening to, what books are you reading, and who are you around? So in order for me to even switch gears and start getting into the mode of thinking in this realm of a product, of branding for a physical product, I had to start listening to different podcasts. So I started listening to How I Built This. I started listening to Founders. Before that, I really didn't listen to that. I listened to more, like, people who did different online things. I listened to motivational things, spiritual things because I wanted to teach those things, so I needed to be constantly fueling that pipeline.
“Well, now the pipeline is changing, right? We’re rerouting. So we need to start fueling our mind in this very creative, as a founder, a brand of products. So my podcasts switched.”
INTRO: I’m Amy Porterfield, ex-corporate girl turned CEO of a multi-seven-figure business. But it wasn't all that long ago that I lacked the confidence, the budget, and the time to focus on growing my small-but-mighty business. Fast forward past many failed attempts and lessons learned, and you'll see the business I have today, one that changes lives and gives me more freedom than I ever thought possible, one that used to only exist as a daydream. I created the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast to give you simple, actionable, step-by-step strategies to help you do the same. If you're an ambitious entrepreneur, or one in the making, who's looking to create a business that makes an impact and a life you love, you're in the right place, friend. Let's get started.
AMY PORTERFIELD: Well, hey, there. Amy, here. Before we dive into the show today, we have some exciting news. As of this month, Online Marketing Made Easy is officially part of the HubSpot Podcast Network. Something we love about the HubSpot Podcast Network is all of the inspiring shows that are dedicated to helping professionals learn and grow, especially online entrepreneurs. If you love our show and want to check out other shows like us, we definitely recommend checking out the Goal Digger Podcast and My First Million. Check out all of these shows and more at hubspot.com/podcastnetwork.
Let me tell you, if I were to name off all the accomplishments of my guest today, well, we'd be here for quite some time. Her name is Lori Harder, and she's no stranger to the show. However, it's been a while, so I'm excited to have her back on. Lori is a leading expert in the fitness and mindfulness world. She's built multimillion-dollar businesses—that's plural—and she's an experienced entrepreneur. She's an author, podcast host, and has online courses, a membership, and that's just scratching the surface. Lori is also launching a sparkling rosé line called Lite Pink.
Now, today we're going to have some fun and talk about some moments in her entrepreneurial journey. And also, I'm going to talk about how she stays so positive, especially when it gets so hard, because we know it gets difficult on this journey, right? And I'm going to talk to her about how she gets into that inspired creation mode and her tips for building a massively successful business. And of course, we're going to talk about her physical product, that Lite Pink sparkling rosé, and all the lessons she's learned from her latest venture.
And I know on this podcast, we talk all things list building, digital courses, webinars, and everything in between, but I know many of you have your eyes set, eventually, on a physical product. And so I asked Lori a lot of questions on how she got into that space and what it's looked like and what she's done, and I think you're going to find a lot of value from what she shares. So this episode is jam-packed with so much insight and nuggets that you'll be able to use right away, so join us for this fun conversation and help me welcome Lori Harder.
Hey, there, Lori. Welcome back to the show. It's been a while.
LORI: I am so excited to be here. I literally was looking forward to this all morning.
AMY: I was, too. I'm so excited to talk to you. You have so many new things happening, a lot of cool stuff. I mentioned it in the intro, but tell us a little bit about what's going on in your world these days.
LORI: Oh, my gosh. Major pivots, Amy.
AMY: Yes.
LORI: But it's kind of finding yourself in that place where you are pivoting into something that you have never done before in your life, but also simultaneously having the realization that you are at the intersection of all of your skill sets and really learning and seeing how your skill sets can be applied to anything if you have the right people around you. So with that said, I have switched from writing books, doing personal development, doing events, a lot of female empowerment, things like that—I still love my podcast. I still actually might write a book—but I'm pivoting into the beverage industry, so consumer-packaged goods, and it is completely new. I'm doing a nonalcoholic rosé spritz, and I'm also doing a rosé spritz alcoholic version.
So, it is fully female funded, which is very, very rare. And I can talk all about that journey and how incredibly crazy it was and all of the myths about raising money. And oh, my gosh, like, the things I thought that I needed and what I needed to know and the fear around it and all of the things. And it is completely different. Never done anything like this before. It's definitely a male-dominated industry and just lots of very interesting roadblocks, bumps, but also just so many things that we can do to reimagine different industries and how I have taken personal development and really put female empowerment, personal development, and so much education around creating this company. So, it’s been really fun, really scary, hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I’m in the middle of it right now, so I’m in the messy middle. That’s why I’m so excited for the timing of this podcast because I think it’s so important to share what the middle feels like.
AMY: Okay. I'm so glad we're doing this now as well. I want to get right to it and talk about this. So first of all, what's the idea behind Lite Pink? Why are you doing this? How did it come to be? And why—it's a physical product in an, you know, when I talk to a lot of people who are creating digital courses or in the info space, but they also might want to do something totally different down the road or add to their product suite. And so talk to me about why Lite Pink? What came from this? Give me all the details.
LORI: So, Lite Pink came from a few different places, and I'm really excited to share this with you because you'll totally get it, and all of your people are going to love this. It’s probably somewhere they found themselves or are going to find themselves. I had reached a place in my journey where for the way that I had grown up and the goals that I had set for myself, I actually went further than I thought I would ever go. I came from a family who we didn't even—college wasn't talked about or pushed. It was, I came from a very religious background, so it was really all about dedicating your life to a religion, which is fantastic for some people, but I had a lot of these big dreams and big ideas and big visions that didn't necessarily align with the way that I was raised. So with that said, it was, like, college was never pushed. I didn't even graduate from high school. I was homeschooled from high school. So for me to be able to have written a book, have a women's event for nine years that has thousands of people attend, have a podcast with thirty million downloads, have all of these different things, I got to this place—it was 20—I think it was 2019—and I was, like, I had just gotten done with my book tour, and I had never dreamt past that place. And I hit this moment where I was like, okay, this was all amazing. And I also had a moment of realizing that in my mid-twenties, I didn't have the friends that I wanted. I wasn't getting the attention that I wanted, and I realized really quickly in my twenties that achievement equaled wealth, and achievement equaled attention, and I got very addicted to achievement.
AMY: Whoa.
LORI: So, I was in a place where I did not dream past where I was, and I was also in a place where I was really burnt out, and I didn't know what I wanted to do next. And I was like, if I don’t do something right now, even though I don’t know what it is that I want to be doing—maybe I should just do this over here because she’s doing that, or maybe I should just write another book because that will keep me relevant—I was in this place where these really honest conversations were needing to come out because I was just hitting an emotional wall. I was exhausted. I was starting to feel depressed, and I wasn't talking about it because I felt ashamed because my life looked really great on the outside.
And for me, it was like, oh, my gosh, number one, I think I just need to take some time off and start to figure things out. Number two, I started to write a list of what I wanted my day-to-day life to look like, because even though I had done these things that I had dreamed about, my day-to-day life of writing a book was isolating. It was really lonely.
AMY: Yes.
LORI: I was creating courses by myself. I was writing books by myself. And I was like, you know, I am writing a book about telling people to find their tribe and how to collaborate. I'm getting these groups of women together at these events and saying, “You can't leave here without finding your friends,” and I'm making them do all these exercises so that they come together. And then I'm not doing anything to really support myself and make sure that I'm connecting and collaborating and getting that soul time and that time with people. And that was one of the top priorities for me was the next thing that I do, I want to make sure it is with people so that I'm not just with people sometimes or speaking on stages, but I'm actually working with them, collaborating, ideating side by side with other big thinkers. So I didn’t just want it to be people that you were helping. I wanted it to be with someone who could also nurture my ideas. So that was number one.
Number two, I was like, okay. I want something that is fun—actually, fun might have been number one if I'm being really honest—and I had been neglecting a part of me for a really long time that I thought—and I didn't realize that I even was thinking this—I think because of the thinking that you have to be educated to get anywhere, thinking that you need to be taken seriously, thinking that now that I'm in the personal-development world, that maybe I need to be more serious or more spiritual or more whatever. Maybe I need more crystals. I didn't know what I needed. For me, I was like, okay. You know what? My North Star has always been fun. I learn better with fun. I'm happier with fun. I really believe that you can have fun in your everyday life. And I was like, I kind of put myself in a place where fun wasn't the number one thing for me.
And so with that said, I'm like, “Well, what's fun?” So I started asking myself that question: what's fun? And I was like, “Well, I like drinking champagne with my friends. That's fun.” And then I was like, “That's stupid. You could never, ever—what are you going to do? Have an alcohol company?” And I was like, “That's ridiculous,” and then I was like, “But what would that look like?”
And then I started thinking, you know, I have always wanted in every business are always-connected women. And when I wrote my book, it was called A Tribe Called Bliss, and it was all about connecting women. It actually taught you how to have your own book club and connect really deeply. It goes into all these questions that breaks through the surface level. And while the book did well, it didn't do as well as I wanted, because I was asking, I really wanted it to get into the mainstream woman to really teach her that what she needs is to connect to other people in order for your dreams to happen. Like, it's so much easier, it's faster, it's more fun when you do it together.
And, you know, Amy, that there was a whole decade where it was really about the solopreneur. Like, you did things alone. You figured it out by yourself, for the most part. So I was kind of coming out of that as well, and that's what the book was about. And then I had this moment of putting two and two together of, wait a minute. Mainstream women think that connecting is like girls night or wine night. I did. Like, let's go out. Let's have a glass of wine. Except I was going to these, going out for the evening or I was going to these networking events, and I was always leaving just feeling like kind of disconnected, surface-level conversation, and maybe I drank too much. Or I was like, “Dang it. Why isn't there something that's lighter, that's a little bit more like I can be more social during the night?” because I lived in L.A. at the time, too, and it's like, I can't keep up with all these networking things. And that's when the idea came, that I thought, “Okay. This is absolutely crazy. But what if I did a lighter drink that was freaking delicious?” because I wanted to shout in this restaurant I was in this one time, drinking, like, vodka soda and lime. And I was like, “Does anybody actually like this? Does this actually taste good? because I don’t think so. Would you actually be drinking that if hangovers or calories didn’t exist? Tell me the truth.”
AMY: Yes.
LORI: So, that was the moment where I was like, “Why aren’t they making things that taste good? And why don't they have a nonalcoholic wine that tastes really good, that's light? And then, why don't they have something that teaches women or teaches us, like, gives us questions on how to get past the surface level and we can, like, blame the can and get better answers, which will create better opportunities?” because I'm over here listening to my husband do all of these business deals over cocktails with guys, and he's not ashamed to ask the crazy questions or think really big. And I was like, “How do I bring this into all of my friend groups?”
And I just started playing with this idea, and I let myself sit in it for, like, six months before I actually said yes. But that is where the idea came from, of how can I interact with mainstream women and what they think connecting is and what they think drinking cocktails means to them, and how can we disrupt that and make this a way-more-elevated experience while bringing female investors in and giving them ownership of something where they actually help collaborate with the brand and make it their own and incorporate it into their brands, and they can also use this—they can now have these different ways to interact with the cocktail at their events and their things?
AMY: Wow. Like, this is a big deal. This is something you've never done this. You’re taking this to a whole other level. And, you know, as I'm hearing you talk about this and talk about your book and your podcast and what you've done in the past and what you're doing now, I can't help but wonder, you've had experience growing multimillion-dollar businesses, but in such a different way. So what have you learned in the online space that you're going to be using in this physical-product space?
LORI: Oh, my gosh, community.
AMY: Yes.
LORI: I have been building—people are like, “When is this freakin’ brand coming out? You've been talking about it for a year.” I'm like, “Yes. I've been building a community without…” So we have a community without an actual product, and I think this is so important for people to hear. The number one thing that I would ever do if I lost everything and had to start over is I would just build a community built on core values. You actually don't need a product. You don't need a course yet. You don't need anything else. You can just create a community and start talking about core values that you believe in and different ideas that you can do around these core values.
And I think that this is the number one thing that I have learned, and I already see it. The product does not even exist yet. It's coming out in January or February. And with that, it's like we already have this incredible community built on core values of connecting and collaborating and having women learn about investing and what that looks like and what it really means to support women with your dollar. And, you know, there's a reason why—women only get under 3 percent of all venture capital to support their dreams. Like, less than 3 percent of all of that money goes to women. So the only way—and this is one of the core values that I built community on—the only way that I see this really changing is if women start funding each other's dreams, and we start rallying around that. And that is really what we've built this vision on, is just better connection, more collaboration. How do we create more opportunity within our own communities, and how do we put our money where our mouth is by supporting women with our money so that the dreams can really happen?
And now it's become a goal for people who have never even thought of investing. They're like, “Oh, my god. I want to help fund somebody else's dream. That's going to be my goal. That's going to be something that really drives me.” So we've created this community. That's one of the biggest things that we've taken from this, and that's how your product is going to get out, whether it's a course, whether it's an actual tangible product. But we are doing everything with community first, and we learned, especially—I just had an investors’ dinner that just created so much buzz and so many people talking about Lite Pink and getting the brand out there before it even exists. And this was the moment where I was like, “You know what? You support your community, and you ask what they need, and you pour everything you can into that, and that supports your vision.” It was just like, I knew this, but seeing it, also, with a tangible product of support, the people who are already in your community, even if it's small, and that's how you're going to grow, and that's how this is just, it's going to get out to everyone.
AMY: Okay. So, that reminds me. So you talked earlier about all female investors. What did that look like? Is that what you set out to do in the first place? I know really nothing about investing in things like this, so tell us a little bit about that.
LORI: Okay. Okay. So, I knew nothing about it either.
AMY: Okay.
LORI: My husband had started getting into investing, so, then, I was starting to get in on some of the conversations. But if I'm being totally honest, it was all Greek to me. But I was excited about some of the companies and some of the products that we were investing in. And so my ears started to perk up when I started just learning about just the money that was involved. While I had all of these girlfriends who are extremely successful—I have friends with six-figure businesses, seven-figure businesses and going on up from there—but the conversations in my world were starting to bubble up of, “I'm exhausted. I don't know if I can do this the rest of my life.” And I'm listening to my husband—because it was very service based, and that meant that they had to be involved in it, whatever they were doing. And they were like, “I don't know if I can keep showing up in this way, except I don't know what else to do.” So while I'm eavesdropping and inviting myself to dinners with my husband's friends, where these epic men, just so, so graceful to just answer all of my questions, be excited that I'm asking questions, be excited that a woman is coming into their dinners, which was amazing, and learning about investing.
And I had this moment of, wow, if you want to make that impact money—not that the numbers that I had said before is not impact money—but if you want to make the really big impact money, where you don’t also have to keep showing up over and over, that is either starting a company or learning how to invest in companies. And it was just this moment of, “Wait. None of my girlfriends are having this conversation. None of them.” And I thought, “Why are we not having these conversations?” And I'm like, “Well, none of us know, we don't know this. We're not getting invited into these circles.”
So I had this moment of, oh, my gosh. It literally brought me to my knees. I remember I was walking through my house just randomly thinking about the day, and Lite Pink had already started kind of coming to life. I was learning about how to build a deck and all of this stuff and asking for a lot of help, getting a lot of help along the way because I knew nothing. And I was walking down my hallway into my office, and I literally dropped to my knees. Have you had those moments where you get a download that is such a universe or God moment—
AMY: Yes.
LORI: —that you just—I fell to my knees and started crying because I was like, “It's going to be all women,” and I just started crying.
AMY: Ah.
LORI: It's going to be all women. Now, there were no women around.
AMY: You felt it, but you had no idea how this is going to happen.
LORI: I was like, I don't even know who these women are. Oh, my gosh. And I knew I had to raise two million dollars, and I was like, oh, my gosh. And I didn't even know how to raise two million dollars. Like, that's a nice thought, but I was like, what’s that conversation? How do you set this up? How do you structure it? What do you need? And it was very clear to me, though, because I had talked to a couple of guys about it.
I had done some early pitching before I had my stuff together, and it was pretty disastrous. It was pretty bad. Not only was I not put together with the thought because I was very—in my other business, I could really run on a lot of soul. I knew how to paint visions. I knew that that was a gift as well. Like, I was a really good enroller. I think a lot of people listening, if you're creative and you probably do courses and different things like that, you probably are someone who's very passionate. You really know how to enroll, which, by the way, that's all you need to get started. If you're a really good enroller and storyteller, you can do anything. You can raise whatever amount of money that you want, and everyone else can help you. Trust me. You can hire everyone. I did.
So with that said, it was just this moment of it's going to be all women. I just need to get the help. The men that I was telling about my vision were not getting it. They didn't understand why I would go into such a saturated market. They thought I was crazy, and they didn't understand the concept of elevating this category and changing the conversation and having a lighter drink. They were like, “Well, why wouldn't you just have a vodka soda?” And I was like, “Because that tastes like crap. I don't want that, and I want something that looks esthetically beautiful. It needs to look like an accessory. It needs to be something you’re really excited about. It needs to be brand.”
We get so intentional with our brands. Like, Amy, I could go to your house right now. I could go in your bathroom or your kitchen and be like, “Why did you buy this brand?” And you’d be like, “Let me tell you why.”
AMY: Oh yeah.
LORI: And you can't say that about your wine. You're like, “Um, it had a pretty bottle.”
AMY: Yeah.
LORI: Yes, totally. But what's behind it? What if you walked in tomorrow and you know that fifty-four women invested, maybe half who had never invested before, and they learned and they educated all of their groups of women. And now this was something that was changing the way they were thinking about where they put their money and how they fund other women. It's like, “Yeah, I'm going to buy that thing that also gives back to other women.”
So I thought, “Wow, we get so intentional with so many things, but we're not intentional with our alcohol. And we also, please give me a good nonalcoholic option. Like, please. Where is that?” So that's how that all started.
AMY: Okay. I want to just point out the fact that you—and you really—I'm sure you're not lying—so you really knew nothing about how to get investors into a company. You had to figure that all out from the very bottom.
LORI: Yes. There are people who help you with this. I didn't know that.
AMY: Who knew?
LORI: Oh, my god, right? So we had invested in a company called Outstanding Foods and a gentleman named Bill Glaser, who I actually met in Lewis Howes’ mastermind years ago. He was amazing. We became friends. Chris was really good friends with him. And so I knew that he was—I think he was, like, in year two of his company, and we were kind of getting the investor updates and different things like this. So I was following that journey. But no, that was it. That's all I knew about it. I knew I liked eating his snacks. That's about where that ended.
And from there, I just said, “Hey, Bill, could we ever go to lunch and talk about how I can start fundraising and what that even looks like?” And I sat down and said to him, I'm like, “Look, I was, like, a D student in math. I have a story in my head that I'm terrible with numbers, the story I need to overcome.
AMY: Yes. I can relate.
LORI: Oh, my gosh. That's been my story my entire life. “I'm bad with numbers. I would never be able to do that because everyone says know your numbers, and if you don't, then you're never going to be successful.” And I'm, like, the last person who feels like they're on top of that. And he was like, “Lori, you hire people, and you just know your very important numbers. You stay on top of that, but other people can get those together for you.” So I was like, “Oh, okay. Well, nobody's given me that permission before.” So he connected me with an attorney who helps you structure your entire business. It was a woman. He's like, “This is the woman I use.” I'm like, “It's a woman. This is freakin’ amazing.”
And so right from the beginning, I think the most important thing that I did was I was vulnerable with everyone. So my attorney's name was Caroline. She is incredible. I went into her office. I was so intimidated. I said, “I've never done this before. I have incredible skill sets over here. I'm going to have to do a lot of work over here because I don't have this.” And she's like, “Great. I see this all the time with [unclear 25:47]. You're even further ahead than most guys who come in here. So, great.” I was like, “What?” So—
AMY: Oh, my goodness.
LORI: —these are the conversations that we need to be having is because we don't think we're ahead. And if you have a vision and you passion, you're probably ahead of a lot of people. And so, you know, some people come in with just an idea that is not even—they haven't fleshed through the concept. They have no clue what community they— They don't know. It's actually quite amazing how much they don't know. And I want that to be permission to people who might have an idea that's pretty clear to them that you're actually already pretty far ahead of people who start. Like, I need people to understand that. People who start and start companies, you might be even more ahead of them, because sometimes they start without even the actual fleshed-out idea.
So, when I was sitting there, I said, “Okay. I'm going to ask you a lot more questions than the average person because I literally don't know what you're saying. Like, you just said that sentence, and I didn't understand one word. So you're going to need to back it up, and we're going to have to do this again.”
So part of this mission with wanting to educate women, a.k.a. me first so that I could help to start teaching, I knew that it was going to be more time consuming. And what I didn’t know is that it would cost me more money to raise money from people who had never invested before, meaning that all of their questions that they would ask on the back end, with the paperwork or with things they didn't understand, that's billed hourly to your attorney. And if you don't understand things, your attorney goes over it with them, but you get charged. So you end up paying more money to raise money from people who have never invested before or who don't understand certain things.
But that was so important to me, and I think that this is something I want people to know is that it might cost you more to raise money from your diehards, from women, from your community, from people who haven't invested. But you just build that into your plan because it's going to matter later. When you have your diehards own something that they are passionate about and where they are also breaking patterns in the world and changing things for their family, their life, and their audience, you will have people who run through a wall for you, instead of people who are like, “Eh, yeah. Great [unclear 28:00]. Sounds like a great opportunity.”
And I think this is going to be the way that we turn the tides as women to invest in each other is when we really believe in something, to take that time to know, even though it costs me more to raise money, meaning out of the two million, I don't get to use all of that, obviously, for the company because I had to invest about seventy-five or a hundred grand into raising money. So some people are like, “Whoa, that's a lot,” but it's built into your plan if you know that ahead of time.
So I think that’s really eye-opening to know that someone is going to be there every step of the way, right down to, “Oh, my god, you guys. I booked a call with somebody who's excited about the brand. What do I say? Like, how do I paint this vision?” And they're like, “Okay. Here's what this looks like. Get on a call. They're going to ask you, ‘Okay. Tell me about the vision.’ And then you can tell them what you're looking for in an investor. You can just literally walk through your deck and kind of read the deck the first time.” And they're like, “Look, the only way to start is to start. What's going to happen is they're going to all start asking the same questions. You're going to not know any of them the first call. You're going to feel super dumb, and then you're going to say, ‘I don't know the answer to that yet, but I'm going to get it for you by tomorrow.’” And so that was my answer to everything, and that's how I started learning along the way.
So the first call, I knew nothing. I was like, “I don't know the answer yet. Here's what I have. Here's what I know, but I'll get you that answer by tomorrow.” And then six months in, I was like, “Oh, my god. I only didn't know one thing. This is crazy.”
AMY: Yes.
LORI: And then, you know? And sometimes I got on calls where people would come on, and I was on a couple of calls—by the way, I freakin’ love men; I'm obsessed with them. But I had a couple of calls where the wives would invite the men on, and it was like, I feel like maybe they were just asking me questions just to like, you know, questions that I would never know the answer to. And I was like, “Oh, my god. This is the most uncomfortable call of my entire life.” So they’re like, “No, no. She’s not investing in you.” And I was like, “Oh, this is why we have to change this. This is why I have to learn,” because I want women to be able to make that decision because they know about it, not because they have to ask, “Is this a good decision or not?” My goal in life is to have a woman on a call and be like, “No, I can. I totally understood that. I can go off my gut, or I can go off of what I believe, or I can go off of what I know or have learned about this industry or whatever that is,” because I'm still in a place where I feel like I need to check in and does this make sense, or how does this work? So I really, really think that educating around these opportunities, if it is something you're interested in, is going to be the way that we get more of our dreams out there and that we get to become a part of the things we truly are passionate about and support the things we're really passionate about.
AMY: Yes. Yes. Okay. I love that you're sharing this, because I just want anybody who's listening that wants to do something you've never done before, like, you have literally no idea how to make something work, I want Lori to be proof that you can figure it out, that there are people that will help you, that you can learn along the way. You don't have to have it all figured out before you start going forward. So I just appreciate you sharing this, because it's so cool that you were in one area of your expertise and you've moved to something dramatically different. You were able to raise over two million dollars—I mean, that's the coolest thing ever—and that you wanted to focus on female investors, which I absolutely love.
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So, while you were talking, I was thinking, with your line, Lite Pink, launching, there’s got to be some serious creation-mode time, and I wanted to talk about some routines for getting into that inspired creation-mode-type headspace because it was so very different than what you've done before. So can you share some insight about how to get into that creation mode in order to create something new like this?
LORI: Oh, my god. I love this question. Okay. So, when you are switching and pivoting, you need to switch the propaganda in your life, meaning what are you listening to, what books are you reading, and who are you around? So in order for me to even switch gears and start getting into the mode of thinking in this realm of a product, of branding for a physical product, I had to start listening to different podcasts. So I started listening to How I Built This. I started listening to Founders. Before that, I really didn't listen to that. I listened to more, like, people who did different online things. I listened to motivational things, spiritual things because I wanted to teach those things, so I needed to be constantly fueling that pipeline.
Well, now the pipeline is changing, right? We’re rerouting. So we need to start fueling our mind in this very creative, as a founder, a brand of products. So my podcasts switched. I wouldn't let myself listen to anything but founder stories, product stories, or brand stories, different things that could really add value or help me to start thinking in terms of that. I actually started hanging around different people. So I did this when I went from just being more of, like, online courses and when I wanted to write a book. I actually started hanging around or trying to get more into masterminds where there were authors or people doing things like that, because I needed to learn about that world. And so I started switching now to people, for right now—of course, I still hang out with other people—but I spend a lot of my time, or I reach out to a lot of people who are founders of products. I reach out to people who have sold companies before because I want to start thinking with the end in mind. I want to know what that journey looked like. I start reaching out to people who have brands that are obsession worthy, that people just can't get enough of. So I fill my pipeline everything. I'm reading books all about products and how to launch and all of these different things. The Messy Middle, actually reading that book, all about the middle of the journey. So that is one of the ways that I get into that creative space. And for me, it’s always been moving my body. So I’m really rooted in rituals. And so for me, I will notice that if I go for a run or a walk with a podcast from somebody talking about their business, their company, or their brand, or how they built it, I get so many ideas. The number of texts that I shoot off on my walk or run to my team, they're just like, “Oh, shit. She's on a run right now,” because it's so random early. But voice note, “Oh, my god, you guys. This is literally what we're going to do next.” And so that's my biggest thing. And it happens, like, well, I go every single day, but it's probably something that's crazy like that, like, very inspired three to four times a week, where you can't help but get ideas when you put together, moving your body and listening to something inspiring.
AMY: Okay. I'm so glad I asked this question. I didn't know what your answer was going to be, and that is so brilliant. When you're venturing into a new area of your life and business, then you want to show up differently. What you're listening to, what you're reading, the people you surround yourself, that needs to change if you're making this big pivot and changing things up. That is brilliant advice. Someone right now is like, “Oh, my gosh. That's exactly what I needed to hear.” So I'm so glad you shared that.
And one thing I've noticed about you, and I know this about you personally, is that you have a really great, positive attitude. You’re really fun to be around because you’re always looking at what's good and how to stay positive, even when it gets hard. And I can only imagine that you've had some challenging days along this journey of creating this amazing product. So talk to me about, like, what do you do on those challenging days? How are you keeping this great attitude?
LORI: Oh, man. I mean, if I’m being so real right now, like, I am in a—I just came out of a fairly—like, let’s just be real real—real dark place, like, really dark, meaning I struggled—so, you raise two million dollars, it’s very exciting. And then, you realize the weight of raising two million dollars. And I think this is something I also want to make sure—I want to be the permission to women to know that raising money is it's not now you have an obligation to, like, “Oh, my gosh. Now I'm obligated to give that money back. What if I fail? Oh, my god. I can't do this,” and then you create from a place of fear, and that cuts off all great things.
And so I went back to Bill Glaser when I was having a frickin’ meltdown, the one who initially helped me raise money, and I was like, “Oh, my god. The pressure is so intense,” and you make up stories in your head, like “They're going to be disappointed I did this. Oh, my god. I failed on this. I can't tell them this.” And the more transparent you are, trust me, it's better. Most of the time your investors are just like, “Great. I probably would have screwed that up, too. Just, let's keep going.” And he said to me, he's like, “Okay. Here's how you have to look at it. Here’s how we all look at it.” He’s like, “You are doing all of the work to provide them with an opportunity that they have not created for themselves, that, even if they don’t get their money back, they have learned and they got to be a part of something so big.” And he’s like, “I don’t think about it.” He was like, “I literally don't think about it. I don't stress about it. I just keep moving. And I know the vision was given to me, and I'm going to do it.” And I'm like—
AMY: Whoa.
LORI: —“What?”
AMY: Yes.
LORI: Wow. Like, that was freedom. And I tap back into that all the time because I'm like, it can be that easy. And I don't want to keep saying the male/female thing, but I've been in these circles where they're like, “Why do you feel pressure?” And I'm like, “Because I don't want to disappoint all these women,” and they're like, “You can't fulfill your dream like that. You're not going to be able to do it.” They're like, “It's a great opportunity for them.” And I don't want to make it like, “Oh, who cares?” because, obviously, you care. You need to get back to the place of freeing yourself up enough and relieving the pressure.
And so I was just in a room, talking to a mastermind, and a girl was about to go into a raise, and she was like, “What do I need to give these women for investing? How do I make sure that they're happy?” And I was like, “You don't. This is not how men raise money. They raise the money off of the vision that they have painted. They don’t feel like they have to give them oodles of things or buy them gifts or do any of these things, because it’s a business opportunity. And that’s what it should be for us as women going into this as well. So, if you want to do those things, great, but we can release the pressure and know that you are providing them with an opportunity to potentially make a lot of money back or make none back. It's knowing that this is something that they have invested in you, and that comes from the main conversation that you have with them.”
Every conversation I ended with for Lite Pink, I said, “You know that investing in a startup is one of the most high-risk things that you can invest in, right?” “Yes. All across the board.” And I said, “Okay. You may not ever get your money back again.” “Okay, great.” You know what that did for me? It relieved me of so much pressure, and it also weeded the people out who were like, “Mm, don't think this is for me,” or “I want my return in three years,” and you're like, “There are no promises in a startup, especially in this world.”
What I thought I was launching with, I thought I was—girl, I thought I was launching with eight flavors. And that's before you actually understand the industry. And I'm like, “Oh, okay. So, oh, you're saying each SKU costs a hundred thousand dollars or two hundred thousand? Oh, I didn't know that.” Okay. So these are the things that you're like, hey, tail between legs; new plan: launching with only two flavors; and don't know if we're actually ever going to do other flavors because let's just get our arms around these. So, so many things are going to change, and the initial vision that you launch with, you're like, “What? But now I have to change it, and they gave me their money based off this vision, these eight flavors, and someone wants the lemon and I don't have the lemon.” It’s, like, ridiculous.
AMY: Okay. This is—this—okay. First of all, you’re going to get really thick skin through this, and I think that’s one of the best things you could ever have, and I would like a lot more of that. And also, I appreciate you sharing that you went into a dark place once you raised the money, because I recently shared on my podcast that I recently got a really big book deal, and I went into a dark place of, “I don't deserve all this money. What if I can't deliver on this? Maybe they made a mistake. I better write some really amazing words on this page because what I'm writing right now is crap, based on the book deal.” And so it was a scary thing, and I had to come out of it, too, but it took a moment. So I think those moments, they happen more often if you're willing to take risks and do big things. They're just going to happen.
LORI: Yes. And you know what? I totally didn't even answer your main question, but the thing that I do is I rely on my network, meaning the women in my life. I've never tapped into my friends this much in my entire life. And whenever I get to that place—and a lot of times it's been in the morning for me. It's been kind of hard in the mornings lately because I feel a lot of anxiety. So I’m like, “Okay. Do your rituals,” because the list builds up, right? The what ifs, or “Wow. This didn’t work out again. Oh, my god. How did this fall through for the sixth month in a row? How have we not found this yet?” Like, really crazy things that you don't know, especially if you're in a new industry. I guess this is normal in manufacturing, but I didn't know that.
So with that said, I'll text S.O.S. texts. I've said to friends, I'm like, “I need you right now. I'm going to send you some S.O.S. texts or some voice notes, and all I need is a voice note back. Or if I sound crazy, maybe you need to force me on a call or a run; or you need to force me out of the house, and we need to go talk,” because I am using them probably two to three times a week. And I'm talking to my husband. We're going on walks every single day, and we do something called the power nine. It's three gratitudes, three excited fors, three manifests. And that gets a lot of my anxieties and kind of worry and troubles out. But I love my husband more than anything, but I am absolutely also needing to talk to women in this industry or women doing big things because we tend to carry a little bit more or feel a little bit more or need to process out loud a little more. So I'm really tapping into my women who are, like you, doing really big things, just got a big book deal that now feels like a lot of pressure, and it’s like, what do we need to work through? What childhood wound is coming back up for you right now that you need to talk about?
AMY: Yeah. You are so right. Ah, I love that, and talking to your community, and I have a few good friends that I will always go to. And I had to make an effort to have those friendships.
LORI: Yes.
AMY: I had to show up in the way that I wanted them to show up for me, and so I think you do have to make an effort to have those few core friends that you can go to.
LORI: Yes. And I love that you said that, Amy, because I didn't know how to be a friend before this.
AMY: Same.
LORI: I was that friend who was like, “Hey, girl. You know me. Like, we can see each other only once every six months, and we can drop right back in, and we're great friends.” And while those are great to have and I absolutely love those kind of friends, the no-maintenance friends, it's actually like you kind of need to start checking in with each other. When you both need no maintenance, you're probably not getting the maintenance you need. You’re probably in breakdown mode. So it's, like, check in with your low- to no-maintenance friends because they're probably like their Check Engine light has been on for six months, and they're like, “I’m fine,” and they're not okay. They’re not okay.
AMY: That’s so true. Ah, I've talked about this many times, but Jasmine Star is one of my check-in-regularly friends. Isn't she amazing?
LORI: Love her.
AMY: But we'll do it several-times-a-week voice texts. And if, let's say, a week goes by, one of us is like, “Hey, haven't heard from you. Give me an update.” And we’re constantly encouraging that because we know if time goes by, like you said, that Check Engine light has probably been on a little too long.
LORI: Yep. Yes.
AMY: Ah, I love that. I encourage everyone to find a few of those friends.
Okay. So, I've got just a few more questions for you, and one of the questions is totally in left field, I feel like. But my podcast producer said, “You got to ask her about one of her most embarrassing moments as an entrepreneur.” I don't even know what that's about, but I'm like, “All right, I'll ask her.” So what is this one-of-your-most-embarrassing moments about?
LORI: Oh, my gosh.
AMY: Do you know what she's talking about?
LORI: I have so many— No, I don’t know exactly what she’s talking about, unless she knows one that I’ve mentioned. Oh, my goodness. I mean, I have one where I quoted someone who was not a great person to quote at all, and I didn't know who this person was because I didn't graduate from high school. Not using that as an excuse. And I can't say who it was, but it was on a podcast, and I always love quotes. And I did this quote, and I'm like, “Isn't this a great quote?” And I'm not even saying who it is, that's how bad this person is. And someone messaged me, and they're like, “Um, you might want to take that down because that person is historically not a great person.” Like, everybody knew this. I Googled it. I was like, “Oh, my god.”
AMY: Ohh.
LORI: I’m quoting this person like it's this great quote, and I got a few people who started messaging me. And I was mortified, like mortified. So you know how it takes a little bit sometimes for the podcast to go down, and then if someone’s already subscribed, they have that particular episode?
AMY: Yes.
LORI: So for about a week, I wanted to die because it was real bad. So that's one of them.
AMY: That would be a rough one. I'm pretty sure I have a misspoken in so many different ways that I'm like, “Ooh, can we just cut that out?” Especially when you're willing to do different live videos or you're willing to do podcasts or willing to get interviewed, you will absolutely say the wrong thing. And I think we all have been there or will have been there. It's a great reminder that we're just not going to get this right, but we still got to keep showing up.
LORI: Oh, my gosh. Yeah. You're just reminding me I had recorded, also, a very personal conversation on the end of a podcast and forgot to hit unrecord, and that one went out as well.
AMY: Oh, my gosh. I've done moments where things have been recorded that I didn't think were being recorded, and I just kind of wanted to die.
LORI: Yeah.
AMY: I have a recording studio for video and podcasts. I'm here right now. And now when my husband, Hobie, comes in here—and he's so inappropriate. He will say, like, the most naughty things sometimes. And he'll come in, and I'll be like, “Don't say a word. I have no idea if the equipment is on or not, but just don't talk in here.”
LORI: Oh, my god. We all have that. And, you know, I can't remember who said it, but it's a quote that I'm obsessed with. It was like sooner or later, people are going to know who you are. But I put it into, sooner or later, you're going to get caught being yourself.
AMY: Oh.
LORI: And I was like, you might as well just try to be yourself all the time, and let people know that you screw up all the time and talk about it. Because if you try to act perfect, that's when you'll get called out. If people know I'm imperfect, I'm going to do this wrong, I think that's been from the start of Lite Pink. I'm like, “Lady, I'm going to not do everything right. I'm probably going to screw up. I might make some big monetary mistakes, and I'm just going to say it from the start that I'm going to do everything that I can to make sure I do this right.” And that's all that you can do. That's literally all that you can do.
AMY: So true. And I got to repeat that one more time: “Sooner or later, you're going to be caught being yourself.” And that speaks volumes in terms of, in a really good way, and a reminder that we're not perfect, and that's beautiful. I love that you shared that. It makes me just think like, “Okay. So, I'm going to have to put the good and the bad and the ugly out there and be okay with it.” So I love that you said that.
Okay. I have one more final question for you, and that is that a lot of people that are listening, they are entrepreneurs, either in their start of their journey or they've been at it for a while, and they're juggling a lot of things. They're making things happen. They're either creating their first digital course or maybe even venturing into a physical product. They're trying new stuff. And some days they're like, “Is all this hard work worth it? Is this really worth it?” And a lot of people who would say that listening, they haven't really gotten to reap the rewards of all their hard work yet. And you’re kind of in the place right now that you're not yet making millions and millions and impacting lives with your new product.
LORI: No.
AMY: You're not there yet. You're in the messy middle. So how, on the days that you're like, “Is this hard work all worth it?” how do you justify it?
LORI: Oh. I mean, this is the question I'm sitting in daily right now. And I will tell you, if I have learned anything, you know, I’ve been an entrepreneur now for a while, like, almost fifteen years since our first online product, and I will tell you that everything is hard. All of it was hard, and all of it is so time consuming. And being an entrepreneur, you now don't get the luxury of stopping work. It just follows you everywhere. It follows you to Hawaii. You have no choice. It's not stopping.
So with that, I have come to the conclusion as a human being that we are not happy unless we are productive in some way, not all the time, but productive and creating something or working on something or a part of something bigger than us. And I always say, well, if that's the truth, which it has been the truth for me historically, if I am not looking forward to something or creating something, then I actually don't feel content or happy. And I've let that be okay because there has been a huge—I think there's been a lot of conversation around what is enough? or when will you ever be okay or enough? I won't ever be okay not creating. And I've come to that conclusion that I am a creator. And with that said, I say, “Okay. Well, then, you get to create right now.”
And I think that that for me is—when I get overwhelmed, when I'm like, “Is this worth it?” I'm like, “How would you feel if you didn't have a project, you didn't get to create, and you weren't working on something, or you didn't get to impact lives?” Would you really be happy laying on a beach? Maybe some people can say yes. I can honestly tell you no. I would love it for a week, I would drink all the pina coladas, and then I’d start to cry.
AMY: Yes, yes.
LORI: So, I think it's just, like, what we get to do. And we are better, happier, more content when we are learning, when we are getting to grow as human beings. And I just, I've never been more stretched in my entire life. It's never been harder. I've never cried more. I've never wanted to say, “Screw it” and move to an island more. But I've also never been more proud of myself, been more clear on the woman I am, been more clear that I am here to blaze a trail and help other women, and that, to me, it just helps me put it into perspective. And all of our stress is created by our own brain. So it's the ultimate, it is the ultimate opportunity to heal all of my old wounds and the ultimate opportunity to really watch how our brains create stress and to see how much of that I can start to learn to work with and master.
AMY: Amen. Such a great way to wrap this up. I totally feel you on that, and I love that you shared that.
So, tell me this: where can my listeners get their hands on your delicious new beverage, Lite Pink, and find out more about you?
LORI: Oh, my goodness. Thank you so much, Amy. This has been—I will tell you, there will be moments where, on your journey, things like this will remind you of your why, and I'm so grateful for this today because having conversations with other women is what reminds me of why this is so important to me and why to do it.
So, you can go to litepink.com. That’s l-i-t-e-p-i-n-k.com. And of course, on Instagram, that’s just @drinklitepink. And that's pretty much where we are hanging out, where everything is happening right now.
AMY: Perfect. Well, I will definitely be following along and be your biggest fan in all of this. I actually got to taste it a while ago. I've since moved to Nashville, but right before I left California, I got a package. Absolutely delicious, my friend.
LORI: Oh, I'm so glad.
AMY: Yes. Both the alcoholic one and the nonalcoholic. So I'm really excited when this comes out into the world. I'll be celebrating you, absolutely. And congratulations for being in the messy middle and still showing up. I can't wait to see what you create.
LORI: Oh, I adore you. Thank you so much because I listen to your podcast, and it really helps me get into a marketing brain with Lite Pink, so thank you. You don't even know you're helping me.
AMY: I love it! Oh, my goodness. All right. I'll talk to you soon, and thanks again.
I think what I loved most about this conversation is that Lori showed how hard it is. And I don't think when you are starting anything from scratch, it's going to be easy. I think it's a pipe dream to even think that it would be. I love her honesty around this, and I love that she's in the messy middle. We rarely get to talk to people that are in the messy middle, right? They usually always are way beyond all the heartbreak and the frustrations and the worries, and so it's not as raw when they talk about it. But you could hear in Lori's voice, she's like, “Oh, I'm in it right now,” and I think that's fantastic to hear from that perspective. I want to have more people on the show that are in the messy middle so that we can really figure out what it's like to do the thing. So I'll keep that in mind for future episodes.
Also, I love that she shared some tips about getting creative and managing your mindset. So very helpful. Lori is so knowledgeable when it comes to being an entrepreneur and staying true to who you are. And she's also got so much experience, and I really hope that you found something in this episode that you can use right away. I know I did.
So thank you for joining me here today. I'll see you next week, same time, same place. Bye for now.
