The Startup CPG Podcast

JoLynn Henke
Peter and I intentionally wanted a product that we both could use. Right. There's this notion out there that gender specific products exist for a purpose and it's needed, and I just kind of want to dispel that a little bit. Our skin biology is not fundamentally different. We all possess similar skin structures and.

00:29
Peter Clarkson
Functions just to make it more approachable, because I think everyone is so used to seeing their products so gendered. I think that you can probably both speak to the fact that our product is very gender neutral. So any scent or anything that anyone might pick up in dermal serum, that's just from the natural plant ingredients, and there is no added fragrance, essential oil, any of that.

00:51
Grace Kennedy
Hello, and welcome to the startup CPG podcast. My name is Grace, and we are here with another founder Friday bonus episode. I am so excited to be joined also by Patti, our head of community at startup CPG, and also incredible beauty aficionado. If you haven't seen photos from her wedding on Instagram, get over there ASAP. And today we are both interviewing the founders of Protege, Peter and Jolynn and I will let them introduce themselves. So, Jolynn, if you could please introduce yourself, and then we'll go to you, Peter.

01:26
JoLynn Henke
Absolutely. Thanks so much for having us. My name is Jolynn Hagey, co founder of Protege. I am dialed in from Philadelphia right now. Really excited to be here and looking forward to the conversation.

01:39
Peter Clarkson
Thank you for having me. My name is Peter Clarkson, also co founder of Protege, and I am dialing in from Soho, New York City right now. So I apologize if there's background noise at any point, but we'll do my best to keep that under control.

01:52
Grace Kennedy
We love it. That's life. I have to admit, too, that I'm selfishly obsessed with protege because Joel is from Philadelphia and I, too, am from Philadelphia. So this. They do have amazing product. But also, you know, you got to represent your home.

02:06
JoLynn Henke
That's right. You got the west side, I got the east side going.

02:09
Grace Kennedy
Exactly. So just to start us off, I'd love for you guys to tell us a little bit about how protege came to be, a little bit about how you two know each other and why you decided to start this brand together. And, yeah, the origin story of protege.

02:24
JoLynn Henke
That sounds great. So protege is an eco luxury skincare brand focused on full body skin health. So we go beyond neck up skincare by delivering results from head toe. All of our products are botanically derived, vegan, cruelty free, EU compliant, non GMo, all the good stuff. But we've also have our products formulated at an eco certified lab, which is the highest echelon for certification in organic cosmetics. The name protege actually has an r at the end of it. So we get a lot of protegur, but teach their own. We pronounce it protege, or in French, it's protege, and it's the infinitive meaning to. And this applies to our skin as well as the planet and those we love. And that ties nicely into our origin story. So several years ago, my mom was diagnosed with ALS, which is also called the Gehrig's disease.

03:17
JoLynn Henke
This is what the ice bucket challenge was all about. It's a neurodegenerative disease that progressively paralyzes the muscles in your body, so it impacts your ability to walk, talk, eat, and eventually breathe. And let me tell you, it is just as horrific as it sounds. It's also a death sentence, and there is no cure. So when my mom was diagnosed with this a few years ago, my lens on the world completely changed. It felt like everything outside of my mom was just blurry. And at that time, I was working as a healthcare consultant. We had recently been acquired, and it was a really demanding job. And at that time, I just felt like it was to get this diagnosis for my mom. It was for me.

03:59
JoLynn Henke
It was such a seismic shift in my personal life that it made sense for me to let it also impact my professional priorities. And so I quit. I resigned from my job, and it really was the right decision for me. At that time, I was just in search of what brought me joy amid anticipatory grief. And that ultimately was to focus on my mom and to care for her in ways that she always cared for me. So one way I was able to do that was to help bathe her and help with her personal care rituals. And so I had the honor of washing her hair and cleansing her body and nourishing her skin.

04:35
JoLynn Henke
And my mom would call this time together spa days, which was absolutely a euphemism, but I love it because it shows how positive of a person she was and also the power there is in reframing hard situations. So that time together, bathing her, taking care of her, it was so intimate and so sacred. It connected me to my own body and my own skin. And because it was so transformational, it actually, like, redefined how I saw personal care. So I realized that I knew I wanted to, from that point on, appreciate the autonomy that I have in taking care of myself. And I no longer see taking care of myself as something I have to do. It's something I get to do. It's now seen as a privilege.

05:22
JoLynn Henke
Now, Peter comes into the story because he's a very close family friend who's actually my brother's random roommate in college. So we met, gosh, in an elevator like, 20 years ago at this point, 2020 years ago. So he had a direct impact on the time that my mom and I spent together. So I'll let him tell a little bit about that.

05:41
Peter Clarkson
Yeah. So as Jolynn touched on, I'm a close family friend and I had a really lovely relationship with her mother. We were actually pen pals, which I kind of think is a lost art at this point. She was a beekeeper and biodynamic gardener, and she would show share with me honeycomb and honey from her bees and just lovely little things that were so symbolic of who she was. I was then sending her in my pen pal exchanges, my favorite non toxic skincare, just as something that I thought might kind of lighten the mood and the situation.

06:10
Peter Clarkson
And funny enough, Jolynn's brother messaged me at one point and was like, hey, it's so nice that you're still writing with my mom, but, like, hold off on sending gifts because she's a popular woman and we're getting a lot of gifts and we're not really sure what to do with all of them. So I was like, totally understood. I'll just go back to the letters and then cut to a couple of weeks later, I get a Facebook message with Jolynn. Cause I don't know if we just, like, didn't have each other's phone numbers at that point or what. Just after college, life went different ways. And she was like, hey, I don't know if it's my place to ask this or not, but would you be willing to continue sending those skincare products?

06:42
Peter Clarkson
They were, like a real highlight for my mom, and my mom really loved them. So one thing really led to another, and my contribution to spa day was providing the products that I knew would meet Diane's, her mother's standards. She's always been about that organic life, that clean life, before it was ever trendy, before Gwyneth Paltrow entered the picture or anything like that. She was giving us in college organic body wash and stuff, like in 2004. So she's ahead of the curve.

07:08
JoLynn Henke
That's right. And ultimately, what I realized in all the products that we had together, which were so amazing to use, there was just a lot of them. There was a lot of things that were required to help my mom. And ultimately, what would have been the ideal product would be something that could be applied from head toe, something that was fast absorbing, breathable in the humid Florida heat, and also non greasy, so we could put our clothes on right afterwards. And so talking to Peter about this, and he was explaining to me that's actually something that he was looking for working as a model. So I'll let him speak a little bit more to that.

07:42
Peter Clarkson
Yes. So I was finding that I was having tremendous results using a vitamin C serum, a hyaluronic serum, and also a caffeine serum. But they were three separate items sold in 1oz bottles. And I. I was having great results from kind of like the chest up. And I kept thinking to myself, like, God, I just wish I could slather my whole body in this. Like, how amazing would that be? But then, you know, they're each sold at 1oz, anywhere between 80 and $300. That wasn't necessarily feasible.

08:10
Peter Clarkson
So, again, in going back and forth with Jolynn and talking about the skincare products that would be great for her mom, one thing definitely led to another, and we decided to kind of go all in on what is now our flagship product, dermal serum, and flip the notion that serums be sold in a 1oz bottle and used only from the neck up, and instead put them in a seven ounce bottle with a lotion pump. So you could really get those benefits on the entire dermis.

08:36
JoLynn Henke
That's right. So we knew that there's a better way to do skincare, right? We could focus on full body skin health, but also that there could be one product that could help address the concerns of an early 70 year old woman who's exiting the world. Also a mid thirties year old man, like thriving as a model. There's two very disparate circumstances. But there was one product that met both of their needs. And so ultimately, that's kind of why protege was born. It was to harness the power of versatility. And in doing so, we set out to create fewer products that do more.

09:09
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, I love that story, and it's so beautiful to me, and that's even the second time I've heard it, and I still am so moved by it every time. And I love your collaboration on this. And sort of speaking to that disparate people that this product is for, is how do you guys message about the different ways that protege can be used and for these very different groups? Right, because you want men to use it, you want women to use it. Kids, grandmas, everybody in between. So how do you guys work to get that message? Across that. This really is for everybody.

09:44
JoLynn Henke
Yeah.

09:45
Peter Clarkson
I think that social media is definitely our most powerful tool now, as well as just, like, email marketing. And because our use cases are truly these disparate needs, these people in various ages and stages of life, our content is also reflective of that. So we have women in their sixties that are giving testimonial, and then we have my male model contemporaries that are doing the same, and female models, and, you know, just really people from all walks of life, and, you know, against a lot of advice, because were given a lot of advice early on, like, you have to choose a niche. You just have to, like, really lean into one. It's going to be confusing for people. We really went against that because we wanted to do something different, and we really wanted to show the versatility.

10:27
Peter Clarkson
So our first campaign was we shot in Puerto Rico, and we used young models of different sizes that were local to Puerto Rico for that campaign. And then our second campaign, we used a model who was in her mid forties and will continue throughout our campaigns to send the messaging that it can be used by all races, genders, and ages and stages.

10:48
Grace Kennedy
Yeah. And I know my mom even always asking me for skincare products because she's like, I don't know what to use. Like, when I grew up, this wasn't such a big thing, but the skincare on the market isn't marketed to older women. It's very much marketed to my generation, you know, our generation here. So I love that sort of representation of all the different ages and stages. But, Patti, I'm wondering if you have any questions around marketing, because, as I said, you are our marketing guru here at startup CPG.

11:19
Speaker 4
Yeah, I just actually want to add a few things before I ask any marketing question, because you mentioned my wedding. So a month before my wedding, my makeup artist, he was like, I don't want you to use any retinol on your skin because, like, retinols kind of inflame your skin. It's like a very kind of. I don't want to say aggressive, but kind of aggressive ingredient for your skin. And he was like, use anything, just high. Because I used retinol at night, and he was like, just use something that's going to be very hydrating. And because my wedding was in another country, of course I want my body to be hydrated, too. I was like, I want to get a product that I don't need to bring tons of different products in my luggage. So I actually brought this with me, the derma serum.

12:02
Speaker 4
And I was using like every night and on my body as well. And my skin just feels so great. I just want to share that.

12:09
JoLynn Henke
Oh, amazing.

12:11
Speaker 4
And also I think for men it's very good because my husband, he's just like, I like to get him to do more skincare, which is he's getting better at it, but it's just like when I lay all these products in front of him, he does like one product, he's like, I'm done. It's too many. So I like how this facilitates too, especially for men, because I don't think they have the patience as we have. Women have to have this moment for taking care of ourselves. So those are just my two signs that I really want to share because I really love how it feels. At first I thought it was a little sticky, but it dries out very fast. So I'm loving the product. I just want to share that.

12:49
Speaker 4
But going back to the marketing questions, I noticed that you guys have some UGC content. And I think a lot of brands, especially emerging brands, they have some hard time sometimes trying to find UGC also because like budget related, you know, like creators want to get paid to, but it seems like that you guys are doing a great job on that. So I'd love to learn more. How are you guys doing that and how the process look like and the results that you guys are having so far?

13:17
Peter Clarkson
Yeah, well, we definitely understand that pain point. You can never have enough UGC, it turns out in this industry, even though we are very lucky, in particular my network, because I'm a dinosaur in model years and I've been in this industry for a really long time. I have a lot of friends who are really either comfortable on camera or taking photos or creating content. So we have a lot of people that are like true evangelists that have met the product either through Jolynn or I, that are willing to create product for us on a pretty tight budget, which we're really grateful for. But like I said, you can never have too much.

13:53
Peter Clarkson
So there have been times where we have endeavored into trying to have like random services and things connect us to UGC creators and we've sent it to hundreds of people that we're not really personally connected with. And I don't know how to answer this without sounding like a bit of a hater, but if the people really aren't truly connected to your product or you as a founder, your UGC is going to be really underwhelming. So my advice would be, if you're not connected to a bunch of UGC creators or models or the like, start networking and going to places where you can meet some of these creators and getting to know them and like really solidifying a relationship with them and really educating them on your product, because it's just going to be a little bit soulless otherwise. At least that's what we've found.

14:38
JoLynn Henke
Yes. So one strategy, well, we learned that the hard way. Right. We gifted to people sometimes with very little ask in return, and flat lays are great, the product and whatnot. But we've realized that's not necessarily where the conversions happen. So one initiative that we had was to seek out the protege evangelists, those that love our product through and through. The ones that have been a repeat purchasers, the ones that have left reviews, we reached out to them directly and we asked for a video testimonial. And in return we'd give them a free bottle of dermal serum, which is retail price at $115. And I would say you give them a little direction, that's kind of helpful, you know, vertical orientation of your phone. We are working across the age spectrum.

15:23
JoLynn Henke
So some people were doing it from their computers, but we asked them to do record themselves talking about the product. And ultimately, I feel like that is where real voices come through. There's something genuine when you have the personal experience to speak to the product. And I think it speaks to Peter and me. Like we're promoting, we're amplifying the voices of people who really adore our brand. And so that feels much better than paying someone to talk, maybe inauthentically, about something that they've never experienced.

15:54
Speaker 4
Yeah, I love how you guys use customers like, real customers, because at the end of the day, those are the people that is going to be very easy for them to talk about your product, how it helped them in such a genuine way. And also, I love to see like real people talking. I mean, I'm a creator myself, so I'm not like against creators, of course. But if I'm scrolling social media and there is some products out there which I see sometimes, you can see that the video is not as sometimes sharp as a content creator, but it's still, the message is so good. Like those videos people can relate a lot to. And I think having a balance between the two is just so smart.

16:33
Speaker 4
And I love how you reach out to them and they are also willing to help you guys out.

16:38
Peter Clarkson
Yeah, you're absolutely right. And we aim to do that even with our campaigns where like, there's creators and then there's like real people, like you said. And we kind of have a formula where as we roll out new products and introduce new campaigns to people, we'll kind of go from using real people models and then somebody who, like Karen Elson, who was our last campaign model, who's a massive supermodel, but she represents a lot of what the brand means to us. She's a mother, she's animal lover. She's in her mid forties and still absolutely crushing it. So our next campaign will likely be a more diverse group that is more relatable to the masses. And I think it's important that there be aspirational relatable, some mix of the two.

17:22
Grace Kennedy
Yeah. And it speaks to probably your experience in the modeling industry, Peter. But the photography on all of your campaigns that I've seen on your website and Instagram is so beautiful, and it has that kind of spirited effect where it feels like it's more than just a beauty brand. You really can feel like an energy and a personality behind your campaigns, which I really love. It's not just this, like, blank slate of a, like, use this product. So just want to commend you guys for that. The other aspect of your marketing that I wanted to talk about that Jolynn has mentioned to me in the past is some of the different avenues you guys have sort of approached in terms of getting protege into people's hands because, you know, your dermal serum can be used on your whole body.

18:03
Grace Kennedy
So I'd love for you to speak to that, Jolynn, some of the different ways, the different channels I guess you are using that maybe aren't the traditional beauty channels that someone would think of.

18:12
JoLynn Henke
I mean, we knew in the beginning were creating a versatile product. I don't think we understood truly how many different use cases would come back from that. So we had people who were getting manicures and they bring their little weekender and they'd want to, instead of having, like, a greasy oil applied after their manicures were done, they wanted dermal serum because once again, it's not greasy and fast absorbing. And then were thinking, well, how can that translate into retail spaces? Obviously, we can focus on nail salons, but what other products are sold where you're looking at your hands often? And that's when we started talking about jewelers and people who are selling more expensive jewelry. There's a way to, our product is deeply hydrating, so it enhances the appearance of your hands pretty immediately.

18:58
JoLynn Henke
And then when you put on a beautiful ring in addition to that's going to benefit the customer as well as the jeweler and potentially a sale. So we just wanted to kind of branch out from the incredibly competitive and saturated space of skincare. I try to think a little bit differently about how we can stand out in such a crowded space.

19:19
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I've personally been using your dermal serum mostly on my chest, actually, because when I was a teen, I had chest acne, so I still have some scars and I've been using it on my chest and, like, I've never done that before. I've always just kind of been like, oh, I just have to accept that this is, I'm going to have some scars on my chest, but now I get to use this product to actually, like, do something for that, which I just never thought I could. So I do love and that I'm sure is very helpful in your marketing to say there are so many different ways.

19:49
Peter Clarkson
We need to get her the get even booster before.

19:51
JoLynn Henke
I was just going to say what?

19:52
Grace Kennedy
We got you.

19:53
JoLynn Henke
Yeah, we got your next product. Yes. No, that's true. I mean, I only touched on hands primarily, but there are so many different use cases. There's expectant moms who use it on their baby bump to help soothe their itchy, expanding skin and also help with stretch marks. We have heard from surfers that it is incredible at alleviating sunburn because the foundational ingredient is organic aloe leaf juice. We've had people say that when applying sunless tanning drops, they typically have to use a vehicle for their face and a different one for their body. But with dermal serum, you can apply it all in one fall swoop. We have tattoo enthusiasts who apply it to their tattoos and say it preserves the vibrancy of their ink. I have an interesting one.

20:38
JoLynn Henke
I had a stripper tell me that she uses it before going on the pool because it actually isn't greasy. So it's much safer of a product to use for strippers. And these are use cases. Once again, like, we would never think of these situations. And it's so nice to get this feedback and see just how many different.

20:57
Peter Clarkson
Not true. I actually wanted us to do this product with strippers in mind.

21:01
JoLynn Henke
Oh, yes, that's right. From the get go. You're right.

21:04
Grace Kennedy
And how are you guys getting this feedback from customers? Like, how are you hearing this?

21:09
JoLynn Henke
So primarily, I would say we do have an automated email that gets sent out post purchase for them to review. But I would say the most fascinating reviews come unsolicitedly. They are people who typically buy it from a retailer and then dm us. So we don't prompt them at all, and they dm us the positive feedback that they're experiencing after using the product for probably like one to four weeks.

21:34
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, that actually brings up another question I had, and this is a question from our founder, Daniel, who's a man, and he gets sent a lot of, you know, samples of beauty products. And his question was, how long do I have to use a product for to know if it's working? And also, he was like, how do I know if it's working? So could you guys speak to that?

21:52
Peter Clarkson
I guess from the male perspective, I'll speak on that one. So I think that this is kind of a multipronged answer. Right? Like, how do I know when it's working? It kind of depends upon what you're treating. Like, if you have super dry skin and then you apply something like dermal serum to it that's deeply hydrating, it's going to start working basically instantly. You're going to feel some relief. You're going to see your skin is a little bit more supple. But then if you're trying to treat something that's a little bit more stubborn, say it's hyperpigmentation from sun damage on your cheekbones, like a lot of us get as we age into adulthood. Something like that the vitamin C in dermal serum is going to address, but that's a little bit more of a long game play.

22:26
Peter Clarkson
Like you might start to notice, results in about four to six weeks. And the best way to track that and for him to know which is an extra step, unfortunately. But it really, really shows. We get mad at ourselves all the time as founders that we're not more religious about taking before and afters, but take before and afters in the exact same lighting, like in the same bathroom that you apply at every single day, or in front of the same window at the same time every day, or whatever the case may be. So you sort of have some control, and he'll be amazed at the difference in his skin from week one to week six. So, again, it's a multi pronged answer, but hopefully that addresses it.

23:01
JoLynn Henke
I was just going to chime in a little bit on the unisex nature of our product, if that's okay. So Peter and I intentionally wanted a product that we both could use. Right. And I think there's this notion out there that gender specific products exist for a purpose and it's needed. And I just kind of want to dispel that a little bit. Our skin biology is not fundamentally different. We all possess similar skin structures and functions. And one example of this is if you go to the beach with your friends, you probably all put on the same sunscreen. And of course, there are differences between men and women, of course, when it comes to their skin, but those primarily stem from hormonal differences. And so that can be addressed through ingredients, like targeted ingredients versus gender specific formulations. I mean, in full transparency.

23:51
JoLynn Henke
I am of the belief that gendered products is just a marketing ploy, specifically in skincare. I can't speak generally, but when it comes to skincare, by gendering it, they can use specific language and visuals and colors and different selling points. Like, for men, like something that's like one and all simple to apply, that might not resonate as much with women who are willing to put in the time and effort more so than men, generally speaking. But different selling points and different fragrances as well. And all of those things that I just mentioned, none of them have to do with the actual performance of skincare. And so when Peter and I started this, like, we wanted to create something that was effective and inclusive, something that was designed for every body. So the products that we developed were founded in scientific evidence versus societal norms.

24:40
Peter Clarkson
Absolutely. And just to make it more approachable, because I think everyone is so used to seeing their products so gendered. I think that you can probably both speak to the fact that our product is very gender neutral, like, packaging wise. And we will never, ever put any fragrances in any of our products. Because even though that can be a really nice part of the experience, we realize that it's polaring. Like, Jolynn might love lavender. I don't want to smell like lavender, whatever the case may be. So any scent or anything that anyone might pick up in dermal serum, that's just from the natural plant ingredients, and there is no added fragrance, essential oil, any of that.

25:15
Speaker 4
Can you guys talk a little about going into retailers? I know it's a little different from going, like, if you are a food or beverage brand. So I think that's like, how did you guys find your first retailer? And what are some steps that you have to be able to be at a shelf?

25:31
Peter Clarkson
Yeah, I feel like Figgy is probably the best example. Right, Joe? So, you know, we. We definitely have tried the arduous route of a lot of cold call emails, even cold call phone calls. For the most part, I have found that these retailers are like, no. Before you can even get a word out, because they're saturated and they have a lot of product to move and they just don't even have the bandwidth to think about a new product. So I think our first and best retailer is a clean, beauty retailer called Figgico, and their first location is based in Wilmington, North Carolina, which is where all my family is. So I actually just walked in and had a conversation with her face to face. Her name is Jenny Crouch. She's wonderful.

26:11
Peter Clarkson
And told her all about the product and handed it to her and was like, you know, test it and see what you think. And she's like, oh, I'm absolutely gonna test this. Like, there's no way I'm putting anything on my shelf unless I stand behind it. She has since gone on to love and be an incredible mover of our products, and she's opened her second location in Sarasota. And what that taught us was, you know, it's important to be persistent and keep emailing these places and dming and doing all of the things to the point of being annoying.

26:38
Peter Clarkson
But if you can find a personal connection to whoever's buying or whoever owns the store, or better yet, figure out when they're going to be in that store and not send somebody else, but yourself go in, that is the fastest avenue in, and I think now we're at, what, 26 retailers?

26:54
JoLynn Henke
Yep, that's right.

26:55
Speaker 4
And how long did it take her to give you a feedback? Because, you know, sometimes skincare, you can see that take up to three months to really see the results. So how was the process for that?

27:05
Peter Clarkson
I think it was probably three weeks to a month. Like, she gave it a real true test and she absolutely loved dermal serum. And now she carries the boosters. The boosters came out after we started partnering with her, and she does a great job selling those, too. I mean, our ethos are really aligned. She's like, anything that's on her shelves has to be the cleanest of the clean. So, yeah, it's probably three to four weeks. And she was blown away and she really loved it. And she was funny. She was like, you know, at first because you were local and, like, we thought you were cute, were thinking about just doing it anyway. But she was like, but the product is really nice.

27:38
Peter Clarkson
And she was like, the girl that was working at the store when you first came in was like, we should just carry his stuff. And she was like, that's not how.

27:43
Grace Kennedy
That works if it gets you into the store, you know? But I think that's great advice, too, just in the sense of like, if you want your product to move in the store, you also need the people in the store to be advocating for it. You can't just be expecting it to, like, sit there and have everybody walk up and say, I want this right. You need the retailers to be on board, to be on your side, and to believe in the product, too.

28:08
Peter Clarkson
That was great advice that I got from another beauty brand founder. Before Jolynn and I went into this and before she sold her brand, she was like, I felt like a rock star. I was on a countrywide tour, just, like, flying around and going to all of my different stores at least once a quarter, and I would get to know all the retail staff and I would ask what their favorite coffee order was. And I was always, like, making it a point to connect with them because that is the difference in your product getting on the shelves and actually moving from the shelves.

28:35
Grace Kennedy
Yeah. Sort of. Speaking to advice you guys received from people you spoke to when you were beginning protege and over these last few years that you've been running it, is there any piece of advice that you have found to be the most helpful or even just the most helpful in this moment in time as you're at this point in your brand? And it could beauty specific or just founder specific?

28:59
Peter Clarkson
I have one quick one that is a little bit nuanced in its answer, but one of the things that we learned at a trade show early on was be really careful. Feedback is really important, but be really careful about who you're getting feedback from and in what stage in things you're getting feedback, because it can be the difference between a nugget of advice that you take all the way to the finish line and one that just totally throws you off where you are and, like, you know, you could be so sure of something and show it to somebody who doesn't necessarily understand it. They'll kind of, like, poo it, and then you're in your own head about, like, do I believe in what am I doing? Am I doing the right thing?

29:32
Peter Clarkson
So try your best to trust yourself and also be careful about who you're seeking feedback from would be a big one for me.

29:40
Grace Kennedy
I think that's really great advice, Peter, and I think a lot of brands will appreciate hearing that. So as we're wrapping up our call, I'd love to hear from you guys what's been the most challenging moment since founding protege.

29:52
JoLynn Henke
Yeah, there haven't really been a lot of challenging moments. It's just been a breeze. So I think, like, many our biggest challenges are the ones that we didn't anticipate. So the one that comes to mind happened a little bit over a year ago, and we've received a shipment from Canada of new inventory. And, you know, we've done this before. We feel like we've got it down, and we open up the packages, and 25% of our inventory was damaged. And this is something that happened in transit. After the bottles were filled, we changed our tertiary packaging, and it just didn't hold up. And it was unfortunate because the actual formula was pristine inside these bottles, but the glass bottles had scuffs and scrapes, and they were damaged, and the aesthetics didn't reflect the high quality formula inside. And so we had two options.

30:42
JoLynn Henke
We could toss the inventory, which would have been a huge blow financially and also incredibly wasteful, or we could think creatively about how were going to solve this unforeseen and critically expensive problem on our hands.

30:57
Peter Clarkson
Well, and on that subject, too, I mean, in terms of getting advice, when we got the damaged inventory, there was a large amount of people that were like, move on, cut your losses. Throw it out. And I think that is an older way of thinking, for sure. We're like, we're a young, nimble brand. Like, there has to be something we can do. And we both have rescue dogs. And rescue dogs, much like our damaged inventory, you know, they might come with some scuffs or a notch in their ear or a missing eye or whatever the case may be, but inside they are that same lovable, incredible soul, that lovely dog soul. And we came up with this idea of doing rescue bottles. So much like rescue dogs.

31:37
Peter Clarkson
Our bottles hit some bumps in the road on their way home, but they're full of pure goodness inside. So what we did is sell the inventory that was damaged at 30% off, and then 20% of each purchase went to our partner in this, which is the Beagle Freedom project. And the Beagle Freedom project was specifically created to end laboratory testing in Beagles because they are the number one most used animal in cosmetic laboratory testing. This is going to break your heart, because they're notoriously gentle and forgiving, so they'll let you torture them over and over, and it's a completely unnecessary and antiquated and outdated practice. But we are pleased to report that the Beagle Freedom project continues to do incredible work. Number one of the Beagles was recently adopted by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

32:23
Peter Clarkson
And number two, they just shut down a testing facility and saved over 200 lives. Have instead turned that testing facility into a sanctuary for the animals. So they're. They've totally gutted it and turned the cages into, like, lovely little homes for them. And they're trying to find the forever homes for them. So it's nice to see that we've contributed to something that's, like, really out there doing the work. So shout out, Beagle Freedom project. And also, again, be careful about who you take advice from, because we would have otherwise thrown out those bottles.

32:52
JoLynn Henke
That's right. And I'm just going to tack on here that as of this month, we have sold every single rescue bottle that we receive. So I would consider overcoming an incredible obstacle. It feels really good to close out that chapter, and hopefully we'll find other ways to continue to home rescue pups.

33:11
Peter Clarkson
Absolutely. And I'm sure we'll have no other challenges ahead of us either.

33:14
Grace Kennedy
Smooth sailing from here. I absolutely love that you guys are going to, like, make me cry at the end of our podcast talking about Beagles, but I'll hold it together.

33:23
JoLynn Henke
Be brave.

33:24
Grace Kennedy
Yes. It was so much fun to talk to you guys and learn about protege. And where can people buy protege? Learn more about protege if they're interested.

33:34
JoLynn Henke
The easiest way is to go to our website or social media. So it's protege daily. P r o t e g e r. Daily dash.com. And you can also subscribe to our newsletter. We promise we do not spam you. So we love clean skincare as well as clean in boxes. And you will receive amazing discounts as.

33:57
Peter Clarkson
Well as exciting updates and rotejdaily on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

34:02
Grace Kennedy
Amazing. I can't wait for everyone to discover protegedaily and all the things Patti, do you have any last words?

34:09
Speaker 4
It was just a pleasure to talk to you guys. As I said, I'm loving the product I'm using every day, especially at night. Just feel that, like, it's my moment to, like, nourish my body, too. It was very nice to have you guys here. As Grace said, I love beauty products. So I'm trying really to advocate for the beauty products in our community and trying to do more things for us, as I already include myself as a beauty founder, I guess. But yeah. And I love your guys story. I don't know how Julie and you hold together when you're talking about this story with your mom already want to.

34:41
JoLynn Henke
Cry, so I can cry, typically. Don't worry.

34:46
Speaker 4
I can imagine how you feel about it. And the whole team was touched by your story when Grace did the founder Friday. So thank you guys for being here, and I can't wait to see your growth.

34:58
Peter Clarkson
Thank you for having us. And thank you for taking us with you to your wedding.

35:01
Speaker 4
Yeah, yeah, of course.

35:03
Grace Kennedy
And you guys should check out the photos of her wedding because it was beautiful. But anyway, thank y'all for listening and let us know what you think.

35:13
Speaker 5
All right, everybody, thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed the podcast today, it would really help us out if you can leave a five star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. I am Daniel Scharff. I'm the host and founder of startup CPG. Please feel free to reach out or add me on LinkedIn. If you're a potential sponsor that would like to appear on the podcast, please email partnershipstartupcpg.com and reminder to all of you out there, we would love to have you join the community. You can sign up at our website, startupcpg.com to learn about our webinars, events and Slack channel. If you enjoyed today's music, you can check out my band. It's the super fantastic on Spotify music. On behalf of the entire startup CPG team, thank you so much for listening and your support. See you next time.