How Courtney Built A 7-Figure Brand BEFORE Making A Single Sale On Amazon

Wine, wine, wine. Here it goes down, down into my belly. Hey, capitalists. I'm Ryan. Danny Moran. This is Courtney Lee. And this is Wine with Wyan. This is our series that we do inside the 1%, where we talk with community members who are building exciting businesses or following cool investment strategies and are just creating change in the world. We do this live inside of the 1%. If you want to join us, live and participate in the community, you can, you can join. You can test drive it for a dollar for 30 days over@Capitalism.com join. Capitalism.com join. And this is a community of entrepreneurs who are creating change in the world. They're building businesses, they're creating products, they're starting new side hustles, they're investing the profits. You're about to hear Courtney's story. How she went from literally working in her parents pool house, right.

400 square foot pool house, and sending things in a Ziploc bag, and now.

Runs a really, really successful business that we're hoping to fund here@capitalism.com. so this is just an amazing case story that I hope really inspires you. And when you're ready to join the community, we would love to have you. Until then, enjoy this episode of Wine with Wine.

What's up, 1 percenters? Welcome to Wine with Wine. Courtney Lee. Yes, welcome.

Thank you.

If you have not met Courtney yet, she's on the COVID of this month's newsletter for the 1%, which we told her story about Primal. Do you call it Primal Coffee Creamers or just Primal?

It's Primal.

That's, that's, that's a good decision because she brought over her second. Is it going to be your second product?

No, it was just, it could be my second product.

I think it needs to be your second product. Would you do me a favor and grab her second product that is laying around? And we're going to. Yes.

I've got to show you Courtney's second product. It absolutely floored me. I just love that Sean in his capitalist pig suit is. Thank you very much. Capitalist pig. So would you give, for those who haven't read the article in the newsletter or haven't heard us talk about you, would you give a little bit of background on Primal and how you started the business?

Yeah. So what all started was a few Years ago, about five years ago, my dad was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. It was at that moment when he told me that he needs to watch what he eats because he has type 2. It really just dawned on my family and I said, guys, we need to look at what we're eating and how we're eating and start being more mindful. And my dad was able to swap out most things except for the coffee and coffee for us. We don't look at coffee as a caffeine kick or what makes us the jolt to start the day. It's a ritual, and it's a family thing. It's a really emotional connection. So to tell someone you can't have this cup of coffee that you feel so emotionally connected to anymore, that's really tough.

And then your dad is told, you need to cut out sugar.

Yeah, Well, I said, dad, you need to stop. And so I tried to buy him, like, the healthy, natural coconut milk, almond milk, all these, quote, promising good creamers, but they really don't taste good. My dad, he tried it. He's like, this tastes like shit. And if this is what my life is gonna be like, I'd rather drink coffee. So I obviously didn't want my dad to drink that stuff. And so I took it upon myself to go, well, if no one had created a product that could taste amazing, just like the old stuff, but have a nutritional profile that I felt comfortable with him drinking on a daily basis, that I would create it. And so that's what kind of set me on this journey of creating Primal. It took me almost two years to get the formula. And this is year two. I'm just past a little bit of year two of business.

So you've been in business two years? Yep. And what's really interesting about your story, first of all, you started with a problem. You developed a solution to the problem. You had never done this business before, right?

Never.

You had never built a. Any products brand, much less a food brand?

No.

So you go about just, what, knocking on doors, saying, can you make this?

So when I first started, I did what most people would do, is they looked for a food scientist or some kind of food company to produce the product. And I found a team of food scientists who were amazing to work with. But at the end of a year of going back and forth of me sitting just. I'm a sitting duck. And I tell them, just waiting, waiting.

Just waiting for someone to do something right.

And then it never panned out. It was never amazing. It was, this is fine. And my dad said, baby, if you weren't my daughter, I would never drink this.

And for me. So what it comes down to is the reason why I'm different and my product is, I think, unique, is because I actually have so much fun with the I let people have fun with their morning and it's so healthy and it keeps them, it helps them lose weight. I have a lot of customers who have lost. One messaged me, she's lost 45 pounds and you don't even feel like it's. And so the whole purpose. My dad would never switch to something if he didn't feel like it was enjoyable and good. It can't just be healthy.

There's a part of your story where you calculated how much sugar your dad was drinking in the morning. And then you're like, I need to do something.

So it was actually my mom. Cause my mom does like the mommy mug, which is like an 18 ounce mug. But I just told her one day like, mom, can you just pour? Just do a normal pour. And I said, how much do you think this is? And she was like maybe three tablespoons or three servings. Ended up being 1111. So it was almost 600 calories. Completely from sugar, mind you. Coffee is 100% sugar. So that for her that was the moment when she goes, you're right, baby, we need to do something. Because I can't.

Okay, so your dad is like, I love you, but I wouldn't eat this 100%.

Yeah.

So then when did it click?

So basically like I was saying I was weight of just sitting on the west coast. My food scientists were the east coast. Maybe once a month they would mail me a product and I was so embarrassed as people would ask me what's it says and I'm like, I don't know, I'm waiting.

I know a lot of people struggle with this idea of like they have their idea, they're getting it manufactured. That is the longest period of your life ever. Because you feel like you're making no progress when you're just going through.

You're in your head.

And so you experience some of that.

Yes, yes.

For how long?

So for the entire year. And then my parents, they got to a point where my parents said, baby, you've been working on this and you've probably given a lot of effort, but you should probably go get a real job. Because I'd quit everything and I was living at home. My parents are so great. They let me move in, but then I was kind of that I was a 25 year old living at home.

Wait, I did not know this. Okay, so you quit your job before there was revenue, moved back in with your parents, went all in on this thing and for a year ate shit?

Yeah.

For a year you're like, no I'm gonna do it. No, I'm gonna do it. No, I'm gonna do it.

Yep. And the difference.

Nothing's happening. I'm getting programs. I don't even like my product.

Yeah. And so to the point, again, my parents are so supportive, but they said, you should go get a real job again. And I said, that's when it hit me. I said, I need to make a decision for myself, because up until this point, I was waiting for someone else to do the work for me. That's what I realized. The only way I'm gonna make things happen is if I sit in the driver's seat. So I said, I told my parents, give me six months. In six months, if nothing changes, I will get a job. I will apply for everything. But if it succeeds, amazing. So I signed up for every food science or food technology trade show that I could find, and I drove.

Did you go to Fancy Food Expo?

I did.

Okay, that's a good one.

Supply side West Ift like, there's all these things, and I legit just. I just walked the floor and I. All I had was, like, an idea, and I just talked to every single supplier that remotely was, like, an ingredient. Like, hi, this is what I'm trying to make. Can you help me? And can you talk? And I think for a lot of these suppliers, too, by the way, I still use pretty much everyone that I spoke to at these trade shows because. And they were with me from the beginning.

So now I know. One of the things really interesting about your story that's different than a lot of people who are in the capitalism.com community is you did not start with Amazon.

No.

How did you start?

So I started just like this with Ziploc baggies.

Up until after that, six months. So, by the way, obviously, spoiler alert. I solved the formula I figured out, and I got an MVP by the end of six months, so I didn't have to go and apply for jobs, which was amazing. And so at that point, though, I still remember the day when my dad took the first sip and he goes, oh, my God, this is it. But up until that point, I was so embarrassed to tell anyone about my product that no one knew really what I was working on. And so I was just on the Instagram rabbit hole one day, and I saw a woman post. It was a picture of the so delicious coconut milk creamer. And she said, try this for the first time because she was trying to lose weight for a wedding. And she said, this was disgusting. It just watered my coffee down if anyone has recommendations, please let me know. And I kid you not, it was the universe aligning. And so at that point, I go, oh, my God, this could be my first person. I DM'd her on Instagram. I said, hi, my name is Courtney. I'm a young food entrepreneur, and I just created something that I think could be a solution to your problem. Can I send you a free sample? And of course she said yes. A few days later, like, maybe five days later, I woke up on my phone head.

Like, before you tell us, did you send it in a white baggie?

Yes, I sent it in a baggie.

And you sent white powder in the mail to someone and said, here, eat this.

So I didn't. I really didn't even think about it. But that tells you how committed and.

How passionate about that and why you have no excuses. Like, all of you are like, I don't have enough money. She's living with her parents.

I spent it in a Ziploc bag.

I don't have a good product. She iterated a bunch of different type a bunch of different products. Yeah, well, my packaging sucks. She sent white powder in a baggie in the mail and said, ingest this.

And I printed out. I made some, like, mock up on, like, Microsoft Word, and I just printed on, like, computer paper some marketing material, and I included that in there. And yeah, so.

I hand wrote something. I wrote her out a note. And five days later, I woke up, my phone had like, a few notifications on my Primal account, which I hadn't done anything. I was like, this is weird. I open up, it turns out Kelly had posted and it was an essay. Raving about the product, raving about how I'm a young food entrepreneur and how if anyone's even thinking about considering changing their creamer, they should. They should DM me. And so at that point, I was like, I got, you know, five of her friends, and then when they were posted about it, then five of their friends. And literally that's how it grew. It was completely organic.

Listen, I'm sorry to interrupt.

Yeah, it's okay.

Listen, those of you who have gone through the Million Dollar Brands program, which is free, there's a. There's a session in there that is about going in on 10 people in your network who represent your brand. Did this Kelly individual have a big following?

Not. She probably had like 500 people, right?

And then five of her friends also had 500 followers or whatever it was, but they were all passionate about it. Now you're in front of 2500 people who are, like, my friend, endorsed this thing. Like, that was how Courtney's brand launched. It was by finding those five. Not even micro influencers. They're not even influencers. They're just people.

Yeah.

That meet your demographic. So many of you are looking for the perfect product and you ignore the perfect person. Who's the person? There's an entire module in million dollar brands is about how to contact those people and to get them to talk about you, which is exactly what Courtney did to launch this business. And I think you just crossed seven figures correct.

No, not. I almost. I just almost hit it, but for a few years.

You mean in run rate. Right. But you've done seven figures in sales just recently, right?

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Cheers to that. Cheers to that. And then has it mostly grown through word of mouth since then?

Yeah. I didn't start doing paid like digital marketing like Instagram and Facebook ads until end of July of 2019. So for a year and a half, it grew completely just from total organic.

It's amazing. Mostly social media, you posting, some other people posting about you. And now you've run some ads. What type of ads are you running?

Ads is such a weird thing for me because I hate how most companies do ads. And I feel like most companies.

Most companies are terrible at it.

Yeah. And it's not authentic or genuine to me. So if I run an ad, it's on a post that I did showing, here's a tip on how to use it. Or like, even looking, like, what do you need help with? I hear a lot of, here's two reasons why people are looking at my product. Which one do you fit in? And like, that's the video. That's the kind of content piece that goes out because people are just wanting to ingest and look. And they're lurker. They're lurkers right now. And so for me, it's more of time. It's. This is welcoming. I'm here to help you, not to sell to you. So regardless of whether you buy from me or not, I will. Like, I spent 45 minutes on Facebook messenger with a woman this morning just helping her customer, like, helping her figure out how this will work into her day. And she turned at the end of it, she's like, I'm so pumped. I love Primal. You're the best. And I think that's what helped me grow. And that's the differentiation point. It's not about tactics. It's be a human. Because every brand is pushing this. You know, they're pushing the same minimalistic and professional and polished look, and they just want to talk to someone. Like, talk to me about my life and my health, because I need this.

Basically what I just heard you say was that most brands are focused on looking like a brand rather than serving people 100%. And you flipped it. I'm just gonna serve people.

I'm just here to help you. I'm not here to sell you. If you want to buy from me, totally cool. If you don't, or like, great. If you don't, no problem.

I just. I'm so happy to hear you say that.

Yeah.

Because that's when I know an entrepreneur gets it.

Yeah.

When they're like, I am all in on my people. And if they buy, awesome.

Yeah.

And if not, I hope they find another solution. That's when you are actually operating from a place of service.

I will recommend other company, other Kramer companies. If they're giving me. I'm like, what are you looking for? What are you currently using? And then if the end is, I tell them, I don't think this is the right fit. But here's Nut Pods or Calafita. Like, I give them options because the right people will come to me and.

Say, with me now, Courtney, you've got one product with eight different flavors. I hope this is another product. What else do you see in, like, the vision of Primal? Yeah, well, you started with a pretty clear vision from day one, Right?

Well, I think that vision's evolved and gotten actually even bigger because before I really was focused on just the creamers. It's a. That's a big. That's a big mission and a big category. But now there's a lot more opportunities now that I've, I think, feel it really come into the role. Come into this, like, R and D phase. I feel so confident in how I go about product creation. And yet eventually, like, in the long term, don't be surprised if you see a Primal Cafe. If you see a low carb, sugar free, where everything. I want it to be like a Willy Wonka chocolate factory. You walk in and I'm not even talking about right now. There's a lot of hippie coffee shops like, oh, here's my maca hemp CBD oil, healthy coffee. No, you're gonna walk in, you say, I want a birthday cake latte, and it happens to be hundred percent good for you and clean.

So that's out here. What's on the product roadmap coming up.

So should I say it?

Okay, if you're comfortable sharing it? Yeah.

Yeah. Well, okay, I'll go into some of it. So, for one, the other amazing thing he alluded to, the Greek yogurt, having that be so good. Mixing in so primal makes anything that's plain that you need. Like, it makes anything creamier, sweeter, and flavored. So the other thing that my grandparents. This is a really soft spot for me is like both Marissettes and my grandparents start their day with oatmeal. And before, you know, before it was the Quaker Oats, instant oats. And it's full of chemicals, it's full of sugar, preservatives, a bunch of shit. And primal tastes absolutely incredible plain oatmeal. So for me, I like, it's a mission for me to take over that category too. Yeah. Because my grandma, who recently passed away, she did the pumpkin spice every day in oatmeal, and it was her favorite thing ever. So I really want to bring that out. Sorry.

It's a really big kind of part, and it's a product I have to come out with.

What is so beautiful about this is you have so much.

Family memory associated with all these foods that, you know, weren't good for people.

Yeah.

And so you get to carry on the experience and make it healthy for the next generation of everybody, 100%.

And that's. That's a generation that I want to take care of because I feel like everyone's marketing to the millennial and the Gen Z person, but who's talking to your grandma and your grandpa? Who's taking care of them? And so for me, that's a big passion of mine to target that demographic because I think they're very underserved.

That's amazing.

Thank you.

You're special people. Courtney.

Thank you all credit to my family, to my parents and my grandparents.

Amanda, Alpine says you're very inspiring. I would like to know, how is your dad now?

My dad is amazing. It's weird, my dad, if you looked at him, you wouldn't think he was type 2. But again, it's a genetic thing and he's a doctor, so super high stress, very erratic eating schedule. But he. Within the first month of using Primal, he lost about 10 pounds. And now he's just kept and maintained about a 20 little over 20 pound loss without even trying. Literally just switching.

Switching one thing.

Switching one thing. Because think about how many. If you took away 600 calories of pure sugar away from your morning every day, you would lose the weight. Same with Pop, right. You just take out the one thing you'll see a difference. And so it's that momentum and that's what Primal stands for. It just, these are just tools to help you along the journey. It's not going to be the silver bullet, but if you choose Primal, it means you'll kind of start choosing other things that are aligned with Primal. And you see that little progress and it's going to make you feel good.

It's almost like you see everyone as your dad giving them the exact same shift and you're just out there innovating and creating exactly for that person.

Because I listen, I figure out what they would want. And when I create things, I'm like, I know that they're going to love this because they're going to want it. And that's why my posts went ballistic. So many saves and shares because these are things that they love and they would want and I would only know that if I was directly facing with them. And I think one of the things, if I was to tell you one of the first jobs that most people hire for as they're growing is here's my social media person or a community manager and then the entrepreneur never even. You're so far removed from it. And the thing that I've kept, I still run the Instagram and Facebook, I do everything. And that keeps me in check with people. I think again, it helps people see that I'm there for them. I'm not here just to, alright, cool, let me go jet set away. While my community manager does everything. That's not the case. And so that is one of the most valuable things. Even support. I still jump. I still am all in support sometimes too. Trying to change that obviously. But to an extent, some of the things like the surprise and response that they get when I DM them, they go, oh my God, this is this really Courtney. I'm like, yeah, it's really me. I used to send, I'll do video messages too, because they just want to see that this is truly like.

And then blows them away. It blows them away and then they're fans for life.

And that's why you stand out. That's why I stand out. Because these bigger companies, it takes a lot of time. I would hand write to the best. I would as many on the path it started out with. I would write notes, I glow card inserted every order. Then I was like, alright, that's too much to do paper. So I just wrote on the bag itself. And then like, but those little personal touches, they know it's from me. And I think they see you as not just a business I buy from, but a person I care about. And I love your business.

That's right. Now, I logged on, I think, yesterday, and you had like 250ish reviews, give or take.

Yeah.

Now for two months in business on Amazon, people think that's extraordinary.

Without soliciting. I never solicited anything or did any kind of thing.

All you want to know what the secret is to reviews? What's the secret to getting reviews, Courtney?

I don't know. Have a great product and don't start on Amazon first. Build a true. I don't know, build a true tribe.

And when you start on Amazon, you sell, go elsewhere, give a crap. Because Courtney gives a big crap.

Massive crap. Massive. Massive.

Give a massive crap with your customers.

Yeah.

I don't know how to work my way out of this analogy. But you care.

Yeah.

And everyone resonates with that. And so you don't have the biggest audience in the world?

No, I only have 20, like 21,000 followers on Instagram.

And how big is your email list?

Probably close to 30,000.

Do you email them often?

Very rarely. Only when it's important.

So you're. You're doing plenty of things not an expert at. Like you're at. You didn't go all in on Instagram, all in on YouTube. You don't have any secret influencers in the back room. You just have a great product that people care about and they voluntarily came to give you reviews.

Yeah, and I have fun. And they can tell that I actually enjoy and have fun.

What would you say to the person who is doubting themselves on going all in?

Yeah, if you're doubting yourself. Well, first off, there's a few. I mean, is it because your product is not good or is it because you think you're not a capable person? Because those are two very different things. Let's just say that the first part is taken care of. It's a great product, but you're just scared of yourself and you're not sure if you're the one to take it there. I would say start with, just choose one thing. And I think we live in a day and age. I mean, even with capitalism.com, right, you have so many people who are offering so many tips and advice. It's really hard. It's like the whole firehouse. You're trying to drink information, you're trying to read all these blogs and figure out what's the point, what's the plan? Step by step plan. You have 10 plans in front of you. Which plan do I follow? Don't follow anyone's plan. I think if you know the one thing that you're good at that you enjoy, that you feel comfortable. For me, it was Instagram. Like, I enjoy Instagram is my release. Actually, it's my stress relief. Cause that's where I feel. I go all in on. And I haven't done manychat, I haven't done. I haven't done so many of the.

Tactics that I just got on Amazon.

I just got on Amazon. Like, there's so many things that I think if you're. If you're doubting yourself, it's because you're trying to think that you're trying to make. You're making this way more complex than it needs to be.

That's right.

So choose one thing to do. And this goes with dieting, it goes with fitness, it goes with anything. Choose one thing to do and master that first, and then you'll get confident. Right. Like when I. The six months, when I went to every food show, I only found one ingredient, really, per show, but every ingredient that came, it fit in that puzzle. And finally at the end, that puzzle is complete. And I think that's how entrepreneurship and that journey happens. It's slowly building your confidence. You're never gonna be super confident in one day or one week. It's just completely unrealistic.

Well, Courtney, the whole capitalism community has your back. If you have one ask of the community, what would it be? I know this is hard for you because you think about other people before you think about yourself. But if you had one, ask of the community, what would it be?

Oh, man.

Oh.

Buy my shit. Yeah, buy lots of pumpkin spice.

Buy some of my shit.

Search for this keyword on Amazon. Find Primal.

No, honestly, I think if just feedback on the mission and product. Do you feel like this?

Oh, everyone loves you. Be more selfish.

Ah.

Follow me on Instagram.

I don't know.

So this is how you can support Courtney. Go to Amazon.com, type in keto coffee, creamer.

Find Primal.

Find Primal. Click on it. Hit Buy now or subscribe and save. Put five in your cart.

You don't need to click order. Wait for it to come to your house. Put it in your Greek yogurt or oatmeal or coffee. Put it in your mouth. And then seven days, make nuts with.

Your own nut sack.

Put the nuts in your mouth.

And then.

We'Re talking about nuts, and I get choked up. Then take the white powder that showed up in the mail. Ingest it, like it and leave a review on Amazon on well, Courtney, thanks for spending time with us on Wine with ym.

Thank you for having me.

If you have not read the article that we did about her on the 1% newsletter, it's literally in your mailbox. 1 percenters. So we shipped you a physical letter. You should probably read it. And how do people.

What are you on Instagram at Primal Coffee Creamers.

Primal with a Y. Primal Y. Courtney, you're an inspiration to entrepreneurs everywhere. I can't wait to be a part of your journey. I'm so excited for you. So believe in what you're doing.

Thank you.

Very, very excited to be part of your journey.

Is it contingent upon making Nuts the second product?

As long as you make them for me, we're good. Hey 1 percenters, thanks for hanging out with us tonight on Wine with Lion. It really is a privilege to hang out with y'.

All.

So thanks for supporting Courtney and supporting capitalism.com and for going in on what is important to you because that's how you create change in this world. Thanks for watch.