843. How To Get Into Your Zone of Genius With Alli Webb, Founder Of Drybar

A lot of founders like to be the front facing person. I always have been in most of my companies, like, you know, front facing, doing the press. But sometimes you might need to bring in somebody to round out the team, whether it's a CEO or president or CMO or somebody that's like, is somewhat forward facing. And you know, I think it was really smart and a good thing to like, keep in mind if you're building a company and there's, there's something that might be missing.

Welcome to the earn your happy podcast. I'm Lori Harder, founder of Lightpeace tank, best selling author, three time fitness world champion, and I'm a crazy, multi passionate entrepreneur. My journey has taken me everywhere from being a broke waitress, barista, retails associate, and personal trainer with massive anxiety and no belief in myself, to later becoming a multimillionaire in love with my life. In 2007, my husband and I lost everything. We found ourselves hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. At rock bottom, we had no and I had no education to fall back on. This is when I found personal development and learned everything I could about business. Not by choice, but because I realized no one was coming to save me. The conversations on this podcast are going to let you know that you're not alone and that we all feel like we don't know what we're doing. We're going to give you the tools to help you face your fears, take action, stay, start your business, and grow those massive dreams that are keeping you up at night. It's time to create a life that you can't hide from and put so much on the line that your higher self is forced to come out. You're going to stop waiting for someone to approve of you and you're going to anoint yourself. Because I'm obsessed about building businesses that give women a platform. I want to feature you. So if you text the word podcast to 310-496-8836, you can get your questions answered on our Q and A segment along with a shout out. And if you rate, review and subscribe to this podcast, we're choosing someone every month to get coached and featured on our show. It just might be you. So let's get started. Ali, I'm so excited to have you on the show.

So good to be back. You're one of my very favorite people. This is super fun.

It's so funny cause I literally was texting you just because I literally missed your face. I was like, I miss talking to her. I got so used to talking to you all the time that I was like, I need to know what's going on. I feel like I'm out of the loop. Cause in one week, things move so fast. It's crazy. And then all of a sudden you're like, oh, did you see this announcement? I was like, what announcement are you talking about? And I go, and I read this Forbes article about you becoming president of Canopy. Do you want to talk a little bit about that? And we're going to just give everybody the journey of how that even happened and talk about why Canopy is such incredible branding and why it's a good product. So you guys listening? You can really apply this to your own business. To see what Allie took into consideration before she even decided to become president of Kanopy. So tell me what Canopy is and tell me a little bit about the journey to becoming president.

You know, it's funny because I've not really ever had an official title like that. I mean, I was the co founder of Jai Bar and I get tons of like quote unquote titles. But like, it's nice to just be the president. It's interesting and it. Before I go into Canopy and how I got there, it is interesting how we continued to like, talk to people. And this all came about because of like, networking, because I got connected to somebody through somebody, through somebody. Because I was actually exploring potentially be doing a hair product line, which I think I probably told you a little bit about. Just in this very explorative time when I'm trying to figure out like, what gets me excited. And I kept like, kind of going down this path of like, what do I want to be doing? Like, what am I really excited about? And I love Squeeze, and I love Beckett and Quill and I love these other projects. But there was still something that I wanted to be doing that I couldn't find, you know? And I'm also like writing my second book. I have no shortage of shit going on, but I still searching for something. And maybe I was even subconsciously. But anyway, so I got connected. Well, first, let me tell you what Canopy is. So if you don't know what Canopy is, which I didn't, by the way, which you did, which made me really happy. Although I'm happy to say more people don't know, which is really good news.

That'S a good thing.

So, you know, Canopy makes humidifiers and diffusers, but they make humidifiers that are far superior, best in class than any other humidifier that you have. Humidifiers, as we all know them, are usually like that weird blue glass. They're ugly, they're messy, they get moldy and gross. And even though in theory we all love them and want to love them, they're a pain in the ass and people don't like them. And I had, like, a mild relationship with humidifiers. Like, I had them in my kids rooms when they were younger and like, if somebody was sick, you'd get a humidifier and then you'd end up throwing it away and all of that. So, you know, didn't really care much about humidifiers until I started talking to Justin, who's the CEO of Canopy, and under the guise of, like, I want to start a product line. Can you help me? Help me with like, packaging and supply and all of that. And he started telling me about Canopy. And as soon as he started talking, I was looking on their Instagram and I was like, well, shit, their branding's good. Like, what is this? Why are you guys even doing this? And what he explained to me was the other CEO, co CEO and co founder, Lucas, his girlfriend lives in New York City, has had a humidifier forever and will spend like an entire afternoon cleaning her humidifier. And he's like, what are you doing? Why do you need this thing all the time? Like, you're not sick. She explained to him, because of the benefits for her skin and how having humidifier running 247 is incredibly good for your skin and we all want, like, dewy, hydrated skin. And I was like, that's interesting. Wait a second. This is like a beauty tool. And then it's like, oh, it has amazing benefits for your hair because it's hydrating to your hair and to your dry scalp. And my mind started to get blown by all of this. And then they've created this filter that's like, basically you pop out the filter if you sign up for their subscription, which almost everyone does, it's $10 a month to get this filter. You just. They send you one in the mail so you don't ever have to, like, keep track of six weeks. You just, every time you get comes in the mail, you pop it in and you can see in your filter whatever impurities are in your water. The filter itself looks kind of crazy when you take it out, but there's also this LED light in there, so it's constantly keeping the water that's in there clean so it never gets moldy, and you basically let it run out. So anyways, I was like, this is the coolest thing. And when I, you know, they sent me articles and they have an amazing dermatologist on staff, like, whatever that works with them. And I started reading some of the stuff that she was saying and just how having, like. And now I'm such a nerd on this stuff. 30 to 50% humidity in your room at all times is optimal for your skin and health and hair. And I was like, I think this is the coolest thing. Not to mention their growth and their trajectory has been amazing. And they're only in business a year, so I was like, I want to be in. And, you know, and then we started talking. This was a couple months ago, and we just started talking about what this would look like and what the value I could bring was and all that.

So, oh, my God, I love it. And I think it's so important, not only, first of all, we're going to talk about the company, we're going to talk about the branding, we're going to talk about why you were interested, and you touched on that a little bit. But let me just tell you, moving to Arizona ages you. Like, literally, I look in the mirror and I'm like, I look like I aged 5 years in literally the year that I've lived here.

And it's crazy because you don't, by the way.

Well, thank you.

I understand the feeling of. It just drives you out.

I literally just feel like I put aquaphora on my face, like, daily because it's just, like, so painful. I'm like, hold on. I can't laugh or smile.

It hurts.

But, you know, it's funny because I have friends who live in Costa Rica, and they look younger and younger, I swear. And it's because they're so freaking hydrated. And we had friends who also had moved to Arizona, and they used to tell us, they're like, I age 10 years. And when I got out of there, I looked amazing again. Like, I was like, it's so true.

Amazing. It's so true. I mean, and especially as we age. And then it's like, it's interesting, like you said, like, it's hard to smile. I mean, I also found it kind of fascinating listening to Dendi the Dermatologist talking about how I know this is kind of gross, but, like, inside your nose, if it gets too dry, shit's too. Starts to crack in there. Like. And so when there's that wreckage, that's what allows, like, irritants and, like, you know, the bad shit to get up into your, you know, interesting. It's like your skin, you know, your nose. I'm not explaining it as well as she does, but you get the gist, you know, and it's just like, holy shit. This is, like, paramount. Like, you know, and that's where I felt so inspired. And I just feel like women need to know about this. And, of course, I'm just in a phase two in my life where I'm getting older. I'm trying to, like, figure out how to, like, stay and feeling good without, you know, having to go to crazy lengths for it. And this just feels like one of the things that just would be a staple for women everywhere. I mean, people everywhere, but definitely women.

I feel so much better when I'm in moisture. Like, when I go to Maui, even when I go to la, it's way more. I just feel so good. So I love this so much. It's funny because my friend got one and she loves it, and I was like, what is that? That's so cute. And then I saw Lauren Bostic did a collaboration with it, so I'm super excited. What's crazy is we spend so much money on beau stuff and moisturizers just to, like, find one that works with your skin too. And a lot of it is probably what they need in the air, like, actual humidity. So tell me about the branding and what really drew you to it and why you think it's doing so well. Because this company is already doing so incredibly amazing. What do you think those things are within the brand that are making it do well?

Well, I think that to your point about it being cute, the humidifiers, most other brands are just not cute. They're very medical device. Y.

Totally.

Like, you bear that if you really want to have a humidifier, it's like, I don't really want to have it in my bedroom or my living room. These guys were really smart, and they realized, like, we should make this aesthetically pleasing. So people want to have it in their home. So they just kind of blend in. And they're also. They don't put out, like, the way most humidifiers do that kind of big droplets of water. It's called evaporative moisture, which basically means, like, if you are looking at your canopy, you can see a little. Barely see a little bit of water. You can, like, feel it, but because it's evaporative, it's not making the big puddles. And it's also why it's not bad for your hair. You know, it's like, obviously, if you're in South Florida, the relative humidity is 80%. Like, it's going to frizz your Hair. This is like, you're getting relative humidity of 30 to 40 or 30 to 50%. So, you know, it's all working well. It's not, like, over misting the room because you also don't want a big puddle, you know, and so I love that. I love the company branding. The name is great. The esthetic is great. It's just such an easy, simple thing. They also have this, like, little puck on it. And they are doing all these collaborations with different, like, oils and companies that you can just drop it in. So it also makes your house smell really good. I love the whole thing. And maybe it's also because we've all been home so much and we really want to enhance our homes, you know, as much as we can. They do also make a diffuser just for scent, which they've also done better than anybody else is out there.

So can you put actual scent as well in the humidifier?

There's this little puck that it comes with. And you sign up and you get the whole, like, package, which is you get kind of a discount for buying the whole thing. They does come with, like, aromatherapy little vials.

So cool.

Yeah. That also make your house smell good. So, you know, some of the reviews you can read are like, oh, I don't need candles as much anymore because I get the smell. And they've been really popular because they, you know, now you also have that really great smell in your room. And they also make the diffusers, which are just purely for the, you know, aromatherapy.

Oh, I love that, though, because it kills two birds with one stone. Because I'm like, I love when my house smells really good, but I'm also like, do I want my diffuser plugged in? Do I want both? There's a lot. So I actually like that it's in one. I think the other thing, for me, it's funny, I was just in Vail and they deliver. We had called down to get humidifiers because our noses were bleeding. Ellie. We could not sleep because it was that dry. And I was like, I was waking up, my tongue was like leather in the middle of the night. Cause it was so dry. It was negative 26 degrees in the morning.

My brother used to live in Vegas, and I remember going to Vegas. And I know exactly what you mean when you say your skin, but that's what I love about this. It's like humidity. It's like moisture from the outside in. I love it.

Yeah, I'm super excited for mine. With that said, I didn't want to Plug in the humidifier though, because they're so gross. They're like, I'm scared of the mold. Like I don't know what's in there. I don't. They don't seem like they've been cleaned very well. So I know that this has like some technology where I think you only is it you only have really have to clean it once a week.

Oh yeah. I don't even think you need to do it once a week.

I mean it says it has an anti mold technology which is super cool.

Exactly. It's this LED light that kills the bacteria, any bacteria that is in the water. And you don't ever shut it off. Like it's just kind of always plugged in and you just let the water run out. But if you did shut it off, there is that technology in it that once you turn it on again, the LED light will kill the bacteria. And you see when you take the filter out, anything that's in your basically in your water gets captured in the filter. So. And when you see it in person, you'll see that it doesn't, it doesn't look anything like your typical humidifier. It is simple to clean and it is dishwasher safe.

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So my question for you is, I think what's so interesting is how you're doing all of these different things, but you still felt like there was something that you're like, I just feel like I'm meant to also do something maybe not bigger, but just something else. What do you feel like this is fulfilling? Like, what need for you that was missing before is this now fulfilling in your life?

I'm so glad you asked that because it is. Like, I've been thinking about it so much because I have felt so fulfilled by this, this whole thing and, like, finally telling people and announcing it, and it's like, what is it? And I think the thing, Lori, is that it's such a, like, perfect opportunity for me to leverage the things that I'm good at. You know, it's like I've cultivated amazing relationships over the last 10 years building DryBar and other companies, and I have great women like you. Like, I mean, and just for people listening, like, I text. Well, Lori texted me and was like, what you been doing? And I'm like, oh, by the way, like, read this porch story, you know. And then her immediate response was like, how can I help you get the word out there? Like so fucking grateful for that. But you know, I've cultivated so many relationships like this because we all help each other, you know, it's like the name of the game. Like I would do anything for Lori, Lori would do anything for me. And I have tons of friends like that, as does she. And so I built this relationship where people love and trust me and vice versa. And I'm really careful to not over ask and only to like I knew you would love this because I lived in Arizona, you know, and I knew and just as a friend, but I'm careful to, you know, not over asking because I want to, I really do want to be cognizant of people's like a favor giving. I'm really sensitive to it. But anyways, you know, being able to leverage that, being able to leverage like what I've learned over the years of growing and scaling a business, you know, I'm also helping these guys with a big raise where we're in the process of raising about $6 million. And I've raised a lot of money, I've been involved in a lot of raises and I know how this works and I also know people to go after for it and who's going to be interested in it. And I'm talking to some really I should actually I was, as we were talking, I was like, I should send this to Laurie and see if she wants the best.

Yeah, I was like, please send it to me.

Yeah, I'll send it to you. And I've been thinking about that. And then not to mention like all of my connections and contacts with Sephora's of the world and knowing that space really well and understanding what they want and what their consumer wants and what drives that business. And so I would say like as far as my role with that, I'd say those are my big buckets. Like helping with like being front facing, helping raise awareness on the brand, helping with like product development. I have so many ideas, stuff that I can't really talk about yet that I want to do. They have a lot of ideas of things they want to do. There's a lot of like cross pollination between hair and skin that I want to do, collaborations that I want to do and I have all those ideas and connections. So it's like between the PR side of it, really helping getting the word out, product development and raising money to grow and scale a business, like that's what I Know, and branding and, you know, they've already really conquered that, which I was so blown away by. And it's been really fun, which is never something I would have thought. Imagine if you would ask me five years ago, coming into a brand that's already established. Like, I'm not. I didn't develop this brand. I didn't found this company. I just came in and saw like, holy shit, this is something special. And I want to be involved, you know, and I've, you know, made a big investment myself and I really wanted to be involved in this company. And it's so nice to come in and I know you can appreciate this and not have to do the heavy lifting. Yes. You know, the brand is established, the branding, like, creative is amazing. And so now I get to come in and like, I feel like a kid in a candy shop. I get to come in and like play around and come up, like, have some of the ideas or my ideas are very lofty and they're like, we don't know if we can do that, but who cares, you know, I'm just going to like throw them out there.

Got to throw them all out.

I think that's why it feels so exciting to me.

It makes total sense to me, like, why you're doing it. And I think it's a perfect fit because I'm in the place where probably the you of five, 10 years ago, maybe more, where it's like, I feel like I have to be in the trenches to understand, to get to where you are right now. Because that's eventually what I would love to do is go just be in my zone of genius, which is a lot of what you're doing. It's the networking, it's the connections, it's the people, it's the vision. It's like I love that stuff. So I think just even what I'm taking away from you, sharing that is how can I get in my zone of genius faster because that's where the energy is. Ellie, you are so lit up right now. Like, this is the most lit up I've seen you in a really long time. You're always a happy person. You're always like so incredible with people. But I also know that you were searching for, like, that next thing that really, really lights you up. So it excites me knowing, like, this is what it looks like. When we get back to our zone of genius, we get to play in that. It feels more like play, right?

Yeah. It doesn't feel like work. Like, I'm so excited And I was even saying, so Justin, who's the CEO, co CEO, and this guy Eric, who's the cmo. I'm like, I think I might be driving them crazy because I'm constantly texting them and I just want to talk. And it's like they're a year in. I feel like I'm like the new kid on the block. And I'm like, guys, have we thought about this? And I just am coming at them so hard because I am so excited. But yeah, I mean, it's like, what a great feeling. And you. And I love what you said about zone of genius, because I think I am in my sweet spot. And I think that's why I'm so excited and motivated. And I just like, I'm sending texts at 10:30 on Saturday night and then I'm like, oh, shit, it's like Saturday. I need to chill the fuck out and give everybody a little bit of space. But it doesn't feel. It's. I know it's like such a cliche, but it doesn't feel like. It doesn't really feel like work.

No, but that's the goal.

Love it. Yeah.

That's why I love hearing you talk right now, is that's the actual goal, is to. Sometimes we have to build the foundation, but then how fast can you build the team around you to get you back into the zone of genius? Because we all know what happens. Like, there are days I'm like, I gotta get out of this. I'm starting to not like this company because I am not like, I'm in manufacturing.

Like, no, that is like, yeah, exactly.

I'm like, I'm not even good at this. What am I doing?

I think it's also probably interesting to point out on the flip side of what these guys did as the founders of the company. You know, it's like they've had a year of tremendous growth. And it's probably a good question to ask Justin is this opportunity happened so organically. And I don't know that they were necessarily searching for like a president of the company or they were searching for. For me, but I think they did. I mean, obviously they recognize. And this is the message for founders and people who have started their own company or listening. It's like they recognize that there was a little bit of a missing piece or person. Right? Because there were three dudes, really smooth, you know, Eric, Justin and Lucas. Super smart guys. Great idea, Amazing execution and innovation. Like, off to the races. And then they were like. But we recognize that we have a really big opportunity in the beauty space to be like the beauty tool. We probably need a little bit of help getting there. And I have to tell you, like in my, some of my conversations with beauty editors and like Sephora, it's like, oh, cool, there's like a woman involved now. From like a woman's perspective, it's just like part of doing business. You know, it's like I just bring this beauty perspective. So if you have a company right now, you know that we talk about it a lot like in the Impact series, like a lot of founders like to be the front facing person. I always have been in most of my companies, like, you know, front facing, doing the depressed. But sometimes you might need to bring in somebody to round out the team. Whether it's a CEO or president or CMO or somebody that's like, is somewhat forward facing and you know, that's what these guys did, which I think was really smart and a good thing to like keep in mind if you're building a company and there's, there's something that might be missing that is so good to hear.

And I think a lot of people, you know, especially if they're more in the beginning phases or even in the middle, sometimes we feel like we have to do it all ourselves. And that is, that is just the biggest stick in your spokes. I don't know if I've ever used that analogy. It's kind of old school.

I like it.

But it does really stop you. It stops you because there is all of those elements where, you know, now they're even talking about. I'm sure you've heard, but like having companies have like a front facing CEO and then like a back end CEO because they're two totally different. How great is that? I'm like, give me the, give me the front facing. I need to find my behind the scenes CEO. That is exactly what I have to find.

So.

And that relieves me. It makes me feel like, okay, this company is really going to go where I want it to go. Because when you're switching back and forth, let me tell you, the last thing I want to do is go do PR or network or go to a networking dinner after I've been in the trenches all day. I'm like, hell no. I can't switch gears like that.

Me too. I definitely think I'm an introverted extrovert. Like, I really get a lot of energy from being up on stage. And like even right now, like, I'm so excited to be talking about this, but Then I'm like, I just. I'm quiet. Like, I don't. I need to be alone. I can't go from this to then, like, yeah, so like a dinner. Yeah. I'm the same way. And I think there are, like, other people for, you know, different things, which, you know, I know we've talked about so many times, but it's like, you shouldn't want to. You can't do everything. You definitely need help. And, you know, and I think more and more people are coming around to that.

I'm literally manifesting it daily of, like, I'm trying to write down exactly what I want and, like, how can I get back to that place where I am the most useful for the company? Which is exactly what you are right now for this brand is you are in the most useful place that you could possibly be for the company because of your years of building and in the beauty. Like, you are gonna accelerate that by 5 or 10 or however long you were in the beauty industry, you've already done all the things, you've already screwed up all the things. You already know exactly where to go and what to do. And that really is. You're just an accelerator for it. So that's so exciting and I hope for people listening, like, you started to hear maybe what, you know, you need to get out of and what's most important for your company. Because sometimes we can think like, oh, we shouldn't, you know, bring this person on, or we should try to do this on a budget, but it's actually hurting. Typically, when you are not in your zone of genius, you're probably hurting your company. If you're staying in that place where you have really low energy and you're not excited because you're the heartbeat. So it's really, really important. So, all right, where can we get it? Where can we find it?

So the website is GetCanopy Co, which is like the new thing now, not com co, get Canopy co. But by the time this is live, they will have launched in Sephora.com, which is really exciting. And, you know, all the greatest brands live on sephora.com. sephora gave us Drybar, our start and were so great to us. And I'm so happy that they're launching on Sephora. So it's kind of like if you're buying skincare products, you should be buying a canopy and, you know, they should just go hand in hand. So they'll be on the Sephora site or you can go to their site and check it out.

I heard Beyonce has, like, five humidifiers in her bedroom at night or something, so maybe I need five.

You know, it's funny because, you know, there is, like, a square footage component to this. I signed up because I just. I want to make. Keep going through the experience like a consumer does. And I. So I bought. I have, like, four now, but I'm like, I want them in every, like, corner of my house. I love it so much. I love it. Me and Beyonce. I'm gonna come.

You're gonna be Beyonce. I'm gonna come to your house. Jungle atmosphere, like, Misty. I'm so excited for that. Okay. Thank you so much, Ali. This is so much fun. It's always fun to hear just the trajectory of your career because so many people are watching you and have you as a North star of what they can do and where they can go. So I'm so excited that you're sharing. Just getting back in that zone of genius and what that looks like. So. Okay, you guys, the best thing that you can do for our guest today is go buy a humidifier. Just go to Sephora. Yes, sephora.com and try it out. You're going to love it, especially because you can make your house smell amazing, too. And also just share the sun stories. Let Ali know what your biggest takeaway was. Even if you're not going to get a humidifier and you're a crazy person, it's fine. But let her know what your biggest takeaway from this podcast was. That's always the best thing that we can do for our guests. And until next time, earn your happy. Bye, everyone.

Sam.