610. Building a Massive Company with Purpose - with Brandin Cohen

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You know, we have like our guiding principles up here and our number one one is customer first, always right. And it's kind of common. But in this space, especially when you're starting something, it's just all about what the consumer thinks because they are the ones who are going to either make your business go or not go.

Welcome to the Earn your happy podcast. I'm Lori Harder, founder of The Bliss Project 3 times Time Fitness world champion, fitness expert and cover model turned self love junkie, lifestyle entrepreneur and author. Each week I'll bring you a guest or a thought that will help you bust through your fears, connect to your soul and get focused and clear so you can elevate your life, business and relationships. We don't wait until we're ready for someone to tell us we're good enough. We take what we want and we, we anoint ourselves, get ready to earn, own and unapologetically rock your happiness every single day. Are you with me? Here we go. Welcome back to the show. I have such an awesome conversation with this human being that I got the opportunity to interview. I think you're going to love this conversation as much as I did. He is so open, so authentic, and also it was really cool because he has created such a cool product. And you guys know that I'm in that space right now of really thinking about a consumer packaged product, which is exactly what this human being did. And he has made it so incredibly successful. He's also been a sponsor on this podcast, which is really, really cool that this aligned and I got to interview him. So. Brandon Cohen is the CEO and founder of Liquid iv, which has been his entire life since he started the company in 2012 when he was 24 years old. Liquid IV has now sold over 100 million servings of their breakthrough hydration multiplier product, which I freaking love. It's delicious. It helps me drink so much water, donated over 5 million servings to people in need around the globe, which is completely. My ethos is creating a give back with whatever you're doing and built an incredible team dedicated to their mission of changing the world and helping people everywhere live better lives. I just really, really got so much wisdom from him that I had a blast talking and could have probably talked all day. So, you guys, I hope that you love this podcast as much as I did. And let's get started. Brandon, I'm so excited to have you on the podcast. Thank you so much for coming on the show.

So excited too. So excited to get rolling.

So I am literally obsessing right now about talking with founders and people who are really out there in the world not only as, you know, entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurs with products. Because I'm creating a product right now, so I can't, number one, I feel super selfish because I'm like booking these people who have products so that I can learn from them, just being totally transparent. And the great thing is, is that I think it's opening up this whole world for all of the people who listen to this podcast is so many people have never, you know, whether it's entrepreneurs who are or people who have written books or digital products or maybe they're speakers or whatever that looks like coaches. We have a lot of coaches who listen to this. I think sometimes we can not think of certain segments or of yourself in a certain way as like, you can have a product and scale in that way and be an entrepreneur in that way and be a founder in that way. So what was it for you? Where did you start? Were you always like, okay, I'm going to have this product and this is what I'm going to do? Or where did your entrepreneur journey start?

Yeah, first, I'll just tell you back to one point you said, can't think of a better way to learn than talking to people who are doing it or have done it. That was a huge thing for us when we got going is like in areas where you don't have experience. I used to hate when people would say, you need experience, you need experience, wait to get experience. But the way to do that is if you have either mentors or other people have already done it, you can take and listen to what has worked and not worked for them. And then you just make your tweaks on that, put it through your own lens, through your own filter to make it yours. And so that was a big part for me is just having people around me who had either done it before, had some good insight or experience that I was doing. So keep inviting those people on because it's going to help probably the listeners, but definitely help you get your business off the ground too. So that's awesome. In terms of how I got started, I was always growing up into health and wellness optimization, peak performance. It was always just healthy lifestyle, working out. I played a couple sports in high school, ended up getting a scholarship to play golf in college. When I realized I wasn't going to be professional, I knew I wanted to stay involved in sports. So I went to go work for the Arizona Diamondbacks in professional baseball. And I would see a bunch of the players before the games who would be drinking baby hydration drinks to hydrate. I thought it was silly that the best athletes in the world were drinking drinks that were designed for little kids. So I started learning about the science and talking to the nutritionist again. I had always been into it and learned and studied, but this was a little bit newer for me when I learned about it's called oral rehydration therapy, which is essentially when you mix sodium, glucose and potassium together at a really specific ratio. It's clinically proven to help water absorb in your bloodstream faster. This is actually invented by the World Health Organization back in the 1970s, and it helped people in underdeveloped nations who would attract crazy diseases like cholera. They'd get super dehydrated and their digestive systems would get totally racked out. But with this really simple sodium, glucose, potassium mixed with water, it would get so much more water to absorb into your bloodstream faster. And so when I started learning about this, I was like, man, what other products are using this? There's this science that really isn't being tapped into. And so the idea is, what if we could make a much healthier version, take out all the crap that's in it, like preservatives, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, Create a brand that's for adults. And it's improved and changed and enhanced a lot over time. But that was sort of the very original idea. We got some professional athletes drinking it. I went back to lmu, which my senior year I was fortunate enough. I wasn't even paying attention in school for three years. But my senior year I went entrepreneur of the year. So I went back there and they gave me a few students to work on the business for free for like a semester at a time. It was their great in the class was just to work on our project. So we got into one Whole Foods in 2015. I would sample and demo the product every weekend by myself. After about a month, started listening to people saying how they were looking for alternatives to traditional sports drinks or it was hard to drink enough water every day. That's when I really, I knew that we were kind of onto something. There was a space here, this white space, and we became the top selling item in that whole body department within like three months. And so went from one store to 10 and then 10 to 20. Before we knew it, we had gotten a partner on board that helped us scale. And by the beginning of 2016, we were in 10,000 stores. By the end of 2017, we were in 20,000. And now we're in over 30,000 stores. So the growth has happened quickly. There's a lot of other stories in there that I'm sure we'll get into, but that's kind of like how I went from this idea that I knew was going to help a lot of people live a better life to an actual full fledged successful business.

Oh my God, I have so many Questions right now just because I am starting to learn about what it looks like to be in one store and then to be scaled into X amount of stores. Like that journey of like, how the hell do we get on the trucks? Who do we go through? What does this look like? What if we run out of product? What? Like, I am learning so much right now, it's insane. Really, really quickly. So I think the first thing I want to just go back to is talking about the importance of how you said that just every weekend you were getting feedback from people and getting those responses of, you know, what do they need? What does this look like? I can only imagine that you understood then the languaging of how to market to the people that were talking to through that. So can you tell me a little bit about like the importance of, you know, feedback within what you're doing? Because I definitely know I've created products, put them out, you know, digital products and been like, oh, so you're telling me nobody really wants this? I thought this is what everybody wanted.

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Yeah. Especially in the consumer packaged goods space.

Yeah.

All that really matters. All that matters is the relationship between the product and the consumer because you can think you have the best idea, your mom and your parents can think you have the best idea, your friends, and you put it out. And if there's not a need in the market and people won't actually take up their credit card to buy it, then it doesn't really matter. And so I couldn't think of a better way to start selling a product, learning about what people actually need, and listening to the market. You can do that digitally online now too. But for me, that in person, sort of one on one feedback of watching how they ripped the stick open, watching how they poured it, how they shaked it, everything they did helped us continue to evolve the product and make it better all the time. We have our guiding principles up here, and our number one one is customer first, always. It's kind of common, but in this space, especially when you're starting something, it's just all about what the consumer thinks because they are the ones who are going to either make your business go or not go.

Mm. All right, so what was some of the big feedback in the beginning that changed your product? Like, did something change when you were there? Were you like, oh, God, this is Actually not good or. I didn't see this.

Yeah. Oh, man. I mean, I could go through. There's a long list. I mean, we're constantly improving and iterating. But let's see, what's the first? It didn't. In the beginning, we had these pouches that had, like, a scoop in it. And the idea was like, you know, it was like you could pour it into, like, a, you know, like a shaker bottle and mix it up. And we knew we use no preservatives, no artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners. And so you can imagine when you. Like when there's 16 servings and you're opening and shutting a bag, it's like a box of cereal. Like, eventually, like, it gets a little bit stale or something. It's not bad for you. It's all good. It's just not as fresh.

Right.

And so we moved to something that no one had ever done, which was put sticks inside of this bag. This pouch was so cool on the shelves. People loved it. Well, we're like, everyone has it in a box. What if you put it in a pouch and it's kind of cool? It's very portable. You go camping, you go hiking, you go biking. It's very portable. You can throw it in your suitcase. And our suppliers, and no one would do it. They're like, we can't do that. No. There's no machines for it. We're like, no, no, this will really work. It's selling well in stores. We just need it to be fresher inside the pack. Right. So, long story short, they ended up. We ended up getting some people to do it for us. And now if you look around the market, like, every single brand, first of all, people thought I was crazy. We were crazy. Now every single brand that's in powder form has a pouch just like ours. So, like, a lot of times, innovation comes from your biggest adversity when you're facing these challenges that seem like they're almost failures. Like, we were just like, God, the product's crystallizing. It's hardening up a little bit. There's nothing wrong with it. It just wasn't the best user experience. All of a sudden we were like, well, what if you switch to this? And guess what? That ends up being our number one seller on Amazon. Number one seller everywhere. And now you have all these copycats just doing exactly what we did, claiming it to be theirs. And really, we created it just out of, like, necessity, which is just pretty crazy.

Oh, my God. That's awesome. I definitely can see different things. You actually were just making me turn my wheels. Just I don't have my exterior packaging yet, and I'm like, what's something unique I could do with that? So just thinking different, right? Like, questioning, like, is this how. How it works best or is this just how it's always been? Is there something that could be better that we could be doing? So I want to know as an entrepreneur, like, what has been. What's been, like, surprising for you along the way of doing this product? Like, what's been kind of a huge thing that you did not understand that you would get out of launching this product to the world? Oh, man, I'm sure there's tens of thousands, but grab one.

Yeah. As a young Entrepreneur, I was 24 when we started the business, and the business started rolling and we had to grow a team. And I had naturally always gravitated towards leadership roles my whole life in sports and things like that. But the challenges of, you know, we're 40 people now, right? The challenges of growing a team when you're in your mid-20s and now I'm 32. But there's just so many challenges to it where, you know, you have to have the respect of the people around you. You know, they're being led by someone who in a lot of times is younger than them. And so just the challenges of scaling a team, scaling a business, there's just so many hard parts of it. I mean, in the beginning, like the phase year, and you're such an executor, right? Like, in order to win, you must come up with the idea, prioritize your day, and go get it done, right? That takes one skillset. And I think the reason a lot of times why entrepreneurs and founders are really good at that, but once their business grows, it's hard for them is because now it's not your job to go do that. Your job is to create the vision, find the right people, and delegate and inspire them to go follow that goal. And it's a totally different skill set, right? It's like the salesperson who then becomes a manager, but they suck at managing because they're only good at selling, right? So for me, thank God, I sort of willed myself through the beginning in getting all that stuff done. I actually was more of a natural born leader. And I loved building a team and I love scale. I have other entrepreneur friends who love the beginning parts more. I actually love the fact that we can help so many people around the world sell our products, people, our give back mission, growing a Team. I like the big sort of scale piece of it, but I think a lot of times that's a hard transition for people, which it was hard for me, but it was not as hard because I actually knew I loved doing those leadership type things. But, yeah, that's probably been the hardest thing, is transitioning from being the doer to now being the leader and inspiring people. By the way, imagine now you have someone who you have to teach how to become the manager and become the manager, and you have like this, you know, this whole pyramid of a team down beneath you. And so it's just been an interesting journey, but I just, I love every second of it.

Yeah, that's. That's something that you. You don't think about. Right. And thank God sometimes that you're, like, so naive to some of the next steps that you're. You're almost so in it that now you can't back out. So you have to just do what's coming next. But what are some of the things that you would tell somebody who's maybe in that transition of, you know, maybe. Maybe it was the fun part for them in the beginning. Maybe it was the ideation and, you know, maybe the formulation and all of those, like branding or all of the fun things. Who's transitioning into now putting together a team and leading. How would you best support yourself if that was not your strength?

Yeah, I mean, I think the easiest thing is, like, my dad always tells me he leads a big company, like, you gotta find aces to your spaces. Right?

Ooh, that's good.

Thank you. Give him the credit. You know, like, if you're someone who's in. Let's just use your example that you're really into, like the branding and marketing side, but, like, you're growing a team and you need someone to, you know, operate right. Like, operate a lean company and do the things on the HR side or whatever it is. Like, you gotta find a leader who can do that. And so one thing for me is like, it's always been about the company winning and creating products that truly help people. And so if there was ever a weakness, it was just like, cool, let's just go find the best person to fill that hole.

Yeah.

If it's what's hard, probably is for a founder who then has to hire someone to actually lead the whole company. Those are always challenging because there's typically, like, territory or ownership or ego involved. But I think the easiest thing is to find people to sort of fill those spaces. I think the other one is mentors or people who have been through it. So if you are that branding person and you want to become the leader, you got to find the right people who've already done that or made that transition and really learn how they did that, what worked, what didn't you try and you sort of try and speed up that learning curve so you can get to that, get through that phase quicker. So I think both of those are good options. I think there's a lot of a self awareness involved, like do I want to become that person or do I love this and do I need to find that person? For me, I knew I wanted to become that person. So once I knew I wanted to be the best possible leader I could ever be and create a massive billion dollar company that helps people around the world with great products, it was just a no brainer. I was just going to figure out how to do that. But if you want to be again, I'm just using this example, there's a million different ones, but in the creative side of things and that's what you love doing, you got to have the self awareness to say, hey, I love doing this. This is about happiness for me and about what I'm my best at. I got to find someone else to go do these other things for the business.

What do you wish more people knew about running or starting a company or being an entrepreneur?

It's just really hard. I mean, it's like as hard as you could possibly think it is to start something from totally scratch and build it. There's so many phases throughout it that are just like so terribly challenging and grueling. But I think if you learn to love that process, as we've hit different milestones getting into Costco or we partnered with all these big celebrities in an investment round, you start to realize when you get to these things that you thought would be these things that made you like, oh, that's it. Once I did that, I made it, you kind of start to realize that the challenge and the process is actually what you love. You kind of realize that is the dream, right? The dream is like that pursuit of it all. And so, but it's just there's so many things that you have to do that no one will ever see or know or understand. And so that's why I think just like with anything you assimilate to people, for me, there's other founders and entrepreneurs who I've met where you kind of just get each other. Even if you're really different, you just get it because they've been through it, the real, right, the ones who are like, yeah, they really did it, they're the real sort of entrepreneur or founder, CEO. Because there's just things that you just can't even explain that you've gone through and done and sacrifices you made. You constantly are thinking about everybody else but yourself. That is your job to make sure that everyone, the company, the consumers, the board of directors, the investors, the retailers are all good. And so it's so funny, people think being CEO is like this. You work for everybody else, they don't work for you, you work for them. And I love it, I love it. But there's definitely a mindset shift as you start to build a business and understand that paradigm.

So why would you do it? Why would we venture out into this crazy world of knowing what's coming and the challenges and knowing that you were blessed with the vision of seeing the big picture can also be the nightmare of seeing the big picture while everyone is very short sighted and having to explain that or having to go through, you know, struggles with team or all of those things. Why, why do you sign up for that?

Again, I think it boils down to like, at your core, like, what is your purpose? For me, I just love people. I'm obsessed with humans and I want to help them all live better lives. It started with the hydration product and then it turned into a. We have this science where we can help other ingredients absorb into your bloodstream faster. So we have an energy matcha product, we have a sleep product, we have other ones launching. And then on top of that we have this whole global give back mission where with each purchase we're able to donate a serving around the world to someone in need. And then the third part of our mission is sustainability and creating products that at the same time are pulling from landfills and things like that in order to create the most sustainable products. And so for me, it was just like I loved my life till I was 24. I did everything I wanted to do and I knew that the rest of my life I wanted to spend creating something of value to others, to create the best possible world that I could to live in, to make other people live a great life. And so when I got clear on that, it's just like, cool. That's my true north. I'm just going to operate on that. It's big, it's very broad, but then you just still don't, okay, so what do I need to do this week in order to do that? Right. And yeah, when things get really hard and challenging. You have to keep that true north in the back of your head because there are days you're like, wait, why am I doing this? Why don't I just go to dinner with my friends like on a Thursday night like everybody else does when they're 30 years old? I'm like, well, that's because I love what I'm doing and there will become a time when I have a little bit more of a balanced life. But right now I just love what I'm doing every day, so I can't argue with that.

There are so many challenges to business that I don't want starting to be.

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Always. It's a choice. You know what I mean? It's a choice. I watched this clip from Kobe Bryant last night. He's like, it's really simple. We all have choices. I just made the choice that I want to be the greatest basketball player of all time. And once that was my choice, every decision was really easy. Oh, my friends are doing this. Oh, my family's doing this. You have to sacrifice things like family, like friends, you know. But that was a decision that he made. Not to say there's anything wrong with making the decision that you want to have a social life, you want to have friends, you want to travel, all good. You just have to then live with either one of those. You have to live with the opposite side of the coin.

Oh, my God, I love that. I think about that a lot. Just because I believe the word decision or decide side means to cut off. And it's literally like once you've decided, you've cut off all other options and thought processes. And honestly, it takes a lot away of the decision fatigue and exhaustion of toggling back and forth, of like, but I could do this. And, and I think especially if you're an entrepreneur who has big ideas, we can exhaust ourselves to death of, like, what we could do, should do, could be doing all of those different things. So how do you get, like. I can imagine you're probably an idea machine. Is that a true statement or are you more like linear?

I'm a little different in that regard. No. I love strategy within Liquid iv, but I'm not like your serial entrepreneur who has like tons of ideas. I've started. I had one idea so far that is awesome.

I envy you.

I just went all in. But within the business, I know there's lots of strategies and things. Like we've done some off the wall things with celebrity collabs with our products, or how we operate within a retailer, or interesting things we do with the team internally. Yeah, I have a lot of ideas, but I'm not like I want to go start another thing. I want to do this. I'm. I'm like very all or nothing. And so once I started, I was like, no one is stopping me from reaching our goals. And that means that I am just 100% all in on doing this right now. So the answer is yes and no, I guess.

Okay, I love that. So this is crazy because I have this theory that like, any idea given to you that you're excited about, if you truly took it all the way through to the end and ran with it. I have, I. This is totally, obviously not a real theory. This is a Lori theory that if you took it and ran with it and like you fully committed to it, just like you did with your one idea, so you are proof that it can and will be successful in its own way. And I just think that we stop the ideas where they are getting challenging or where we think it's not like where it maybe needed a tweak kind of like you said, or where it needed some ideas within the idea. But I think we kind of stop ourselves with that. So I love that this was been your one idea that you just like, committed to from the beginning and you've stayed excited about it. Have you always stayed excited about it or have you had moments where you're kind of like, man, maybe this wasn't it or maybe this isn't the thing I've had.

I mean, I've had really, really hard days, but deep down I just knew. Kind of like you said, I just wasn't gonna. I wasn't gonna fail. I just refused. And so I think that your point though, your Lori theory is that in a lot of ways there's a lot of truth to it. The relentlessness that it takes to make something work when it's literally started from nothing, like from scratch. All the people telling you that it's not going to work and all the people telling you there's too many competitors and just, I mean, naysayers Everywhere. Again, they don't really matter. What matters is belief in yourself and then what the consumer says. If people aren't buying your product and they're all right. But. But I do think that there's many times where the company should have ended, especially in the first half of the eight years I've been doing it, and I just refused. There was just no way. I knew we had something that was going to help people, and I knew there was enough energy around the product and around our mission and around what we were doing here. Even just locally in SoCal, I think if people are relentless enough, you really can't make anything work.

I love that, because that's just. I. That was so good for me to hear, even right now, because in my gut, like, I know it, and I have 100% committed to this vision. And it's kind of like, you can get all of. Trust me, I've already had those multiple people be like, you are crazy. Like, this is such a saturated market.

Thank God they're saying that, honestly, if they're not, then you're probably not doing something that's cool enough.

That's true. Thank you for that.

You want them to be saying, you're crazy or else, honestly, it's probably not that good of an idea.

Okay, good. Then I'm right on track.

Right on track.

All right. What is a question you wish more people would ask you, maybe about yourself?

Ooh, man. Wish that they would ask me about myself. I think a lot of times people think I see comments and things like that, or friends say something like, what do you do out there? It must be so easy. You're just CEO now, and everyone's just doing stuff and just the challenge of it. And then also, like. But not just the business part. I mean, the challenge as it relates to, like, a balance and a personal life. It takes such, like, focused effort for me to have balance in my life and in order for me to operate at my best at work. The reason I've been able to get balance, because I know to do my best. I can't just work all the time like I could when I was younger. So my routine is super important to me, and that includes every morning, I meditate. I work out five, six days a week. Not for the physical piece, but it's actually a mental thing for me. I have all these vitamins and supplements that I take, and my mom sends me. I do ice baths or cryo. I got to talk to my family once a day. I like to do on the weekends now. I try and do one thing that's social at least, whether it's go play golf or see a friend or something like that. And I used to not. I would just work all the time. And what I've learned is I'm actually so much more productive when I just get a little bit of downtime. It's sort of like I have this time for my brain to sort of subconsciously think about things and all of a sudden I solve stuff when I'm not actively thinking about it. Same whether it's in my sleep or whether it's like I'm just distracted for a day on a Saturday or something like that. And so. So yeah, I just think, not that people need to ask me, but just something that maybe is taken for granted is just how. It's not just that work. It's like you have to be 360 degrees committed to your vision, your passion, your mission, if you want it to work.

Going back to that, that's kind of a tough. I think balance is a really tough thing to learn because in the beginning I think there is that. You have to have that rocket ship, rocket fuel, momentum in order to bust through the atmosphere. So it's kind of like you do have to. From what I've learned, I've had to learn in the extremes of like, what am I trying to say? I'm trying to say like I've gotten momentum and have had things really take off in the extremes. But the extremes are not sustainable. But I haven't been able to learn or catch the fire or momentum without those extreme moments where I'm going to exhaustion and then pulling back. So it's kind of like, like understanding that pendulum for you. So what has that looked like for you? Like clearly you're like, well, it doesn't work for me anymore to be working every weekend. But do you think you could go back and seek balance in the beginning and still have the success that you've had?

Absolutely not. Zero. I agree with you that you have to be obsessively working on it. Now. My obsession, just for the sake of the business and myself, actually has to be the focus to balance because I've overworked and combusted a few times, basically, for lack of a better word. But I still know deep in my gut that I have a gear that no one else can reach. I know that when I need it, I can work. I can literally work. I can get here at 4:30 in the morning and work till midnight. And I know I have that gear when I Need it. I try not to go there as much anymore because it's not sustainable. But I totally believe that you need to have those bursts of energy and that ability to push through and will yourself through things. Now. You need to build scale, you need to build sustainability, you need to build operating processes as a business grows, or else it will never be a sustainable business. But when you know that you have the gear that nobody else can go to, it's just this competitive advantage where I'm like, if I need it, I got it and I know you don't.

So, yeah, and it's crazy because I do think that some people who are listening might be like, well, if I don't have that gear, then I'm screwed. Like, I'm not him or I'm not Gary Vee or I don't have that thing where I could wake up at 4:30. But I actually think that we have glimpses of that gear. And when I say glimpses, I mean we can access it in a different way. Meaning, like, I absolutely have not seen that particular gear, the 4:30am gear. Mine's more like 6:00am but with that, that said, I know that when I am, when I'm excited, which I am right now, like when I get an idea I'm excited about, I have like unlimited energy. Like, I will get more done in a short period of time. So I actually don't even feel like I need as much time because I am just like, banging from one thing to the next when you have the right idea. So I think sometimes people, it's not necessarily that they can't access a gear, it's that maybe it's the wrong idea and they're not lit up or excited about it. Because I know for me, like, in my life, if I'm getting really tired or feeling a little like, depressed in the morning or being like, I don't really want to wake up, I'm like, oh, I'm not excited about something. How can I either A, get excited or B, is this not the right thing for me? So for you, how do you get re excited about what you're doing?

Yeah, the first part of it is, it sounds so cliche, but truly, when you can find your passion and sometimes you don't just find it, I didn't find mine. I kind of found something I was kind of into and then I really turned it into my passion. When you can find that, then you then at least give yourself a chance to get in that zone or get in that gear or whatever you want. To call it. If I didn't like what I was doing, I promise you I could never wake up at 4:30. There's no chance I would be, quote, lazy. The only reason I'm not lazy is because I love what I'm doing and I totally believe in this change the world mission that we're on. I think that's part of it is finding your passion. The other part is how do I reinvigorate myself? Because naturally over eight years things slow down or there's something I don't love doing. I think I do these visioning sessions in the third or fourth quarter every year, looking into the next year and when I'm just super clear at the highest level what I'm trying to achieve, the little things that get in the way that I don't like, or there will be days where I don't want to wake up. Most of the time I'm excited, but. But if I'm really clear on what that big vision is, when that is more important to me than something I don't want to do in a day or a week or whatever, you just kind of stop feeling that you push through it. You know, it's a finite amount of time because you know you're going to reach this next thing. In the beginning it was sort of blind naivety. Now I've watched myself work through it. I have case studies on myself where I know that I have a really hard week or a hard day coming up and. And you don't want to get up or you're dreading it or they're feeling. And now I know like I can, I have the ability to push through that. And I know it's, there's light on the other side of that, right? And I know because I'm passionate about the bigger part, that I'm be able to work through it. So. And then little things, I mean, I would just say, like, just get started. Sometimes I'm like, you're over. Like you're thinking too much about how bad it's going to be or something. Like just momentum is just such a real thing for me. Like I just get up and just like go on a walk and boom, now I've done one thing right. And then like all of a sudden I build some momentum and I'm working into this thing I'm not looking forward to. And before you know it, you're just sort of rolling through it and it's done. And now you're onto the stuff you love again.

Oh man. So tell me about Some of the hardest, like, conversations that you've had to have in business and how you mentally prepare for those, whether it's something news you don't want to break to someone or a negotiation that you really, you know, are having trouble working through. Like, some of those, because I think those are the things that it's like, you don't realize how much like, confrontation you can be signing up for, even if it's positive confrontation. Right. Like things that you have to like, show up and face and speak up and stand up and all of those things.

Yeah, it's hard for me. I. That's one of the harder things for me that I've had to just like sort of develop that skill because again, I, as a people person and sort of a pleaser by nature, don't want to hurt people or let people down. But I've just learned that again, it's about the greater good of the business. It's the greater good of all of our hundreds of thousands of customers around the country. Our give back mission of this vision to change the world and help people around the world. And so if something's not working, it's my, like, holding people accountable. That's my job in this sort of ecosystem. Right. And so I used to just really, really struggle with it. Like, I wouldn't sleep the night before. And I just hate going into conversations where I have to like, let someone go or have a hard conversation where I have to move business from a certain agency to another or something like that. And I just, I try and just again, be really clear about what the highest level purpose is. And when you do that, it's like, okay, this is just part of that. And by the way, if it's not working for the company and for us, it's actually not working for them either. Like, they need to be in a position or in a space where they're more valued or they're doing what they love more because something's not working. And so I feel like it's my obligation to have that straightforward conversation. It comes, truly, people will never believe this. It comes from a place of love. It comes from a place of compassion. I'm trying to do the best for the 39 other people who work here. Right. Or, or all the other customers. And so I try and just know that it's just part of the journey in order to grow and help the most amount of people. And eventually I've done it enough now where I get to see people in a different role at a different company or doing something else. And they're so happy. And I'm like, I had to have that hard conversation in order for them to get into their true place of happiness as well. And so. So that's what I tell myself. It's still really hard, but it's just part of it. It's just part of the job.

I'm so glad you just shared that because I think there's people who can look at successful people and be like, well, that part must be easy for them. And it's literally the worst part for me as well. But I can't tell you, you just summed it up so perfectly where you said, if it's not right for you, there is something there that you won't be able to see until later. It won't reveal itself until later, but it will reveal itself. That will be like, wow, that was like, the feeling that you had was correct. Or, you know, letting them go was the best thing that you could possibly do. Or right down to. We just have these old ways of these old beliefs that I would love to know what were some you had to overcome. Like, right down to like, you know, loyalty is most important. A good person is loyal, whether that means you staying with one, you know, person where you source from or whatever that looks like, but it's better to go with somebody else. Those are beliefs that you have to break of. Loyalty means a good person. And what does that mean? Or I'm just using that one as an example. But what were some beliefs that maybe you heard or grew up with that actually you found out aren't true for the greater good or that are flexible?

That's such a good question. Just more traditional ways of thinking about business or leadership or even things you.

Grew up with, like how you talked about people pleasing, like, you're only a good person if you make people happy or say yes or.

Yeah. I think my parents are so interpersonal and so great with people. And my mom is an incredible interpersonal person when it comes to. She's just so caring and giving. And then my dad runs a big company, and even for that, he's not like your typical CEO. He's like such a. People just think he's the nicest guy in the world. And I think for me, because I grew up with that, like, that's my sort of. My natural tendency is to go there. And I think I'm so grateful for it because it allowed me to get where I am and build this business and have such great relationships. But sometimes you, like, you gotta kind of put on like your armor and have thick skin and especially it's so different for like, I'm sure you go with this, go, go through this. But for me nowadays, like, so accessible, right? And so like my dad 20 years ago had a secretary and the only way to get through him was to call her and then she could buffer anyone to get to him. I have Instagram, LinkedIn, email, phone, text. It's just like there's so many ways to get a hold. And so the modern day leader, there's a lot of challenges, especially with some of the stuff we've gone through this year with the pandemic and then other social injustice stuff. It's just a challenging time to lead. And I think for me the way to get through some of that was like, I had to just like block myself off, like, which went against sort of how I was brought up. But for me to sort of like, I had to protect my own sanity, if you will. And the way to do that is like, in order for me to help all these people and to lead and to do the things I love doing, like, I have to be okay. And I got to a point earlier this year, like, where I wasn't because I was so consumed in everyone else and like, in order for me to do this for others, I have to be okay first. And so, you know, I kind of, I protected myself a little bit more. I had some things happen where I just like, I gotta, I gotta sort of put some layers around me in order to like really protect myself and get behind the curtain a little bit more. And it's been good. It's not my natural state. I love sharing, as you can probably tell. I love being open. I love telling my story and our story because I think it hopefully inspire others. I think that's why I love it. I love storytelling because I want to inspire other people because there are so many people inspired me. But it got to a point where like, and this is the first podcast I've done in a while actually because of that, but got to a point where I just had to sort of insulate myself a little bit. So I did some reflecting on that and I think I'm at a good place now to just share more. But yeah, there's just a. It was sort of went against the norm that I was taught about just people and getting back to everybody. And like, I just, I used to feel so guilty and now I realize the only way I can do what I'm doing is I have to just be super selective and you know, Guard my time really tightly.

I'm feeling that at a very personal level right now. So I feel you. And that couldn't be more important. I think it's the only way to be able to keep going, like in this particular time that we're living in. Because I've even watched friends who were super like insanely successful and front facing who have had to just like cocoon themselves for a little while because it just got too much and they don't have energy to even move forward or show up as like a mom or a family member. And I think that's actually one of the most important traits as an entrepreneur that you can have and a leader is to show people that sometimes it's okay to go and do what you need to do to like restore and get back to whole. Because that's the only place where the solutions and the ideas and the nurturing of your most important people are going to come from. Right. Like you kind of got to do that like list of who's important and what's not. So. Yes, I love that. I think it's, you know what I'm loving the most about what you're sharing so openly is just, you're making it feel so possible. It's like, I think that we used to have this perspective of leaders, CEOs, founders, that they were just like, that conversation doesn't bother me. You just do it. You just show up. This is just how it is. It's like, no, it is hard and you get better and you build those skills. So what do you think is a skill that you built that you did not have, that's now a superpower?

Wow, you got some good questions today.

It's because you're so open. I'm like, wow, I can really just ask exactly what I want to ask. So this is great. So thanks for making it a good interview.

Of course. Yeah. No, it's so true though. It's truly, anyone can do it if you set your mind to something. And again, it sounds cliche, but. But I just have to be like, I have to be an example of that to people because I was just like a college kid who was whatever in school and I loved playing sports, but it is achievable. Go set your mind to it. Build a plan, start, execute. Be relentless. You can do it. It's not easy, but it really is doable. And so that's why I hope that comes across because. Because that's why I do these things. I do them because I want other people to be inspired. To go follow their dreams. That's seriously the main reason I love doing it. The question was, what is something that I wasn't good at that is now a superpower? Gosh, you tell me. Give me one of yours. Give me a second to think and you tell me what.

Boundaries. Boundaries. It's my superpower now. And I had so much trouble because I was a people pleaser saying no to people, and now I feel so, so, like, relentless in a loving way of protecting my space and my time, because I know that protecting that space and time is what they're actually craving, is more of what comes from that. So just. Right. Like, clarity on boundaries have given me such clarity. So that's been huge for me. But I was terrible at it. Right? Like, it was the. The thing that was stopping me from everything. And then building that up was like, it was such a gift.

I love hearing that because it's something I'm working on right now. I really do. Yeah, I think probably just. I kind of talked about it already, but just the realization that if my number one priority is like, efficiency and output and building this business to help the most amount of people, then I have to take care of myself and never do that. I was young and my body could handle it, my mind could handle it, and I just. Over time, my mom just drills into my head, and she's a natural path. She's just into all this really super healthy stuff she's drilled into my head. And I used to not make fun of, but I just didn't really think meditation was a real thing. And just all the wellness stuff I do now. And I think the reason I love it now is because one, I feel like I have an edge on all these people who are my age who don't care about that stuff and think that they can just will themselves through anything, which, again, I still have that, but now I have this other thing where I feel like I'm getting an edge on people with. Whether it's sleeping habits or working out, meditation, wellness routines, things like that. I think just understanding that. That balance, although I still am challenged to do it, that when I do it, I'm just at my best, I'm most vibrant, I'm most efficient, I'm most productive. And. And I still get slipped into holes where I just, like, go into, like, this, like, working workaholic mode. But knowing that I can perform at my best by having balance is kind of a. I feel like I have an edge on a lot of other leaders who maybe don't focus on that stuff.

That's awesome. Okay, so I could talk to you all day, could ask you, like, a million more questions, but I would love for you to just share what's most exciting with your company where people can find you, follow you, get your stuff, all that good stuff.

Oh, man, there's so much cool stuff going on right now. Right now, we're launching our energy multiplier product. So everyone knows our hydration product. We've sold over 100 million servings around the country. And our energy product is. I used to be the biggest caffeine guy. That's part of my nonstop working and get these spikes and crashes, and it would give me anxiety and I'd get sort of jittery. So we made this really clean Matcha. It's a green product that you mix into water and 12 ounces of water and you get this nice, steady, focused, alert, caffeine feel. And there's not really a crash because of the Matcha that has L theanine in it. We just launched it. Costco picked it up nationally. It's going to be in over 20,000 stores. It's basically launching this week. By the time this comes out, I'm sure it'll be in all these stores nationwide. I'm really excited about that product. We recently surpassed donating 5 million servings to places around the world. We've been to places like Uganda and Haiti and Nepal. And so every time someone buys our product, we're able to give product to people in need. And I have a whole other thing we even talk about, which is sort of like the global mission of helping people who are less fortunate then. Yeah, as we go into next year, I think sustainability is a really big focus for us. So we just came out with a completely biodegradable stick, which is pretty cool. Not in all of our sticks yet, but we just test launched it and people loved it. And the box was made of recycled plastic that was 100% life cycle. And so instead of adding to the waste, we're actually literally pulling stuff from it and creating our product. And we didn't know if people would love it or not because maybe it felt different, it looked different, but our community just loved it. They were totally willing. They would love to see more of it. So that'll be a big focus as far as going into next year. And, yeah, the team's growing. We got a new, sweet new office that no one's in, but soon they will be.

It looks really amazing for you guys.

Looks great, right?

It's cool. I like absolutely goals right there.

You gotta come do a live podcast next time. Here we'll do it Studio. Yeah. So there's just so much exciting stuff. I'm excited to keep building upon all of it. And yeah, I think you can find us iquidiv across all social media. For me, I'm probably most active on Instagram and LinkedIn, so randoncohen or just Brandon Cohen on LinkedIn. And yeah, love for people to come follow along. We're start putting out a lot more content on my channels that's like behind stuff of what's going on. The stuff you see on the Liquid IV channel, the really pretty polished stuff. My channel is going to be a lot more of the behind the scenes stuff, so hopefully people can be inspired to go start their own businesses and follow their dreams.

Oh, I love that. It's so cool that you get to. You're running a company and you're showing this stuff behind the scenes. I think that's what more people want to see, especially just in this time right now of pivoting of possibilities of of start your own thing. Right? Like there's no better time to go for it than right now because what do you have to lose? So I'm so grateful for you. This was so much fun. I really appreciate it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I know that everybody's gonna love it. You guys go find him, go follow him. And as always, you know what we do on this podcast if you want to show your appreciation. If you love this podcast as much as I did, go upload on stories and tag him, Tag Liquid IV and let us know what your biggest takeaway was from this podcast because it's always like the most awesome gift to be able to see the impact that he has made on everybody and see who's listening. So you guys make sure you tag him. Tag Liquid iv. Let us know what your biggest takeaway was because we always just want to be able to see you as well. So you guys, until next time, earn your happy. Bye everyone. Thank you guys so much for spending this time with me on the earn your happy podcast. I am so glad that you stopped by. If you could take one second to share this episode with someone you think would love it, that would be absolutely amazing and we would be forever grateful. Also, please leave us a review if you feel so moved by going to itunes and leaving us an honest thought, an honest comment, tell us what you think, tell us what you want to hear more of. It would really help us out on our journey to helping thousands and thousands of people. Until then, don't forget to earn your happy. Thanks again, guys. Bye Bye.