Uncomplicated Skin Care for Men: Reinventing Men’s Skin Care and Changing The Way Regular Guys Think About Their Skin by Founder & CEO Kelley Thornton

Hi, this is Kelly Thornton with Tiege hanley@tieget I e g e.com and you're listening to EA interviews, EA interviews.

Episode 423, inspiration, transformation, success stories and the imperfect action round. Seven days a week. Join Mario Ficcini for today's expert Authority Effect interview. Have you ever thought about selling consumer packaged goods? Maybe you had an idea for a product, you wanted to sell it, maybe you're doing it locally, but have you ever done it on a big scale like with Unilever, Mars and big companies like that? I am excited to have Kelly Thornton on today's episode and we're going to be talking about not just how he did this at the highest level for some of the biggest brands around, how he stepped away from it all to start his own company, Tiege Hanley. I'm going to bring them up right after we thank our sponsor. Every business needs a book, including yours. And that's why I'm launching my new book to help you regardless of where you think your current writing abilities are. Visit eapublishingmethodbook.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction, lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. Once again, that's eapublishingmethodbook.com.

Here he is, ladies and gentlemen, Kelly Thornton. Kelly, how are you feeling today?

I feel great. I look, look and feel amazing. And trying to help as many men with my skin care company as possible. Feel the same.

I was going to say, does your skin care have something to do with it? But that's like a double loaded question because it is your business but I know you're using it too.

Love it. It's great product. We make it simple for guys to get involved in skincare no matter where they are on their skincare journey.

Why do you think.

Oh my gosh, I got so many questions for it. Let's just start with the controversial one. How's that sound?

Bring it.

Why should men care about their skin? And why don't more men care about skin care?

Well, I think actually more and more men do care about skin care, Mario. I think, you know, at the end of the day, people want to feel good about themselves. They want to, they want to look their best and they, they want to feel good about themselves. And you know, and taking care of yourself is an important thing. So self care in general is really important. I think it's important not just for men, but for, you know, for women, but for men. And guys are realizing that they can do A few things every day. Add a few steps into their daily morning and evening routine and it will actually improve, you know, how they look and they look better. They usually feel better.

Keeping it uncomplicated, huh?

Exactly.

Do you think it's more normal for men to use skincare now than 10 or 20 years ago?

Yeah, 100%. I mean, I think more men are open to it. Definitely. The, you know, the under 40 crowd is, is very open to, you know, taking care of their skin. And I think, I think there's a pretty significant shift in guys over 40 that are, that are thinking about it and they realize the benefits of it.

So what's the best age to start implementing it now?

Well, it's interesting. A lot of guys start their skincare routine.

Early. Actually they started a lot of guys that have issues with their skin, whether they have too much oil production in their skin cerebrum or whether or not they have acne. They'll start their skincare pretty early on. They may not realize that, you know, using something other than bar soap or hand soap to wash their face is important, but they'll, but they'll get into a habit of taking care of their face, keeping their hands off of their face and using a great facial wash.

So I think it's important to get started early on and if you just develop some healthy, you know, skin care habits early, the very first, just starting to wash your face regularly with a really great product before you, when you get up and before you go to bed. So it's, you can never be too early. You know, an 18 year old guy is in perfect, is the perfect time of his life to start some good habits.

Now you made a comment about above 40 and below 40. Where do you think the paradigm shift occurred there? And how would you treat someone that's say 45, 55 versus 18 to 28?

Yeah, I mean older guys. Well, paradigm shift, it's interesting because I think, I think there's still a lot of the over 40 guys that have made it made up their minds that they're, you know, they're, they've given up, right? They may not, they may not ever consider using anything to, other than bar soap to wash their face. But, but the guys that do they really start thinking about rough.

I just got to say that that's.

It happens all the time. It's, it's amazing how much it happens. And I think like the guys that are over 40 that are thinking about it, they are thinking about, you know, can they, can they try to slow Down Mother Nature a little bit. That's pretty much how I got involved in it. I was really looking in the mirror thinking, you know, you're not getting any younger and you know, and some, maybe some of these products actually do work well. So yeah, I mean some of my early days I would, I would actually, you know, go into department stores like Nordstrom and the old Marshall Fields here in downtown Chicago. And you know, and I was going to see what was, what was going on in like the men's area and I'd walk up to the, to the counter and there'd be a woman behind there and she'd be like, I've got some really good stuff. And this is, I'm only going to have it for, you know, a week and it's going to sell out. And it's like a lab series which is a l' oreal product like BB Tent. And it's unbelievable. I can't keep it in stock. I have no idea what that was, but I'm like thinking maybe I should be trying that too.

Do you think it was just good marketing or do you think it really was some super exclusive. You can't get anywhere. Because I've seen the ads where it's like, throw out the bar soap, use something more, join the 20th century. And I'm like, okay, fair. And then I see other ones and they like bringing a rocket ship and they're like, we got gold flakes of this. And you know, it was massage from cocoa beans and like the Congo. And I'm like, great story, great marketing. But I looked at the ingredients. I'm like, this is nothing more than is in anything else. They're just telling a better story.

Yeah, I mean in the early days I probably didn't really, I didn't know whether or not I was just being sold snake oil or not. But I, I think, you know, today the way, the way technology is, ingredients and delivery systems of products onto your skin.

There are some game changer. Retinol is one of them. Palmitate and different vitamins, different natural ingredients are all have a very positive impact on your skin health. So they do make a difference in your skin. So yeah, I mean early on I, I just, I was just kind of fake it to make it. Like when I was, when I, as a consumer, when I was first looking into this category, I had no idea what, what I was being sold or why we should be using it. But you know, it, I did start to get into a healthy routine and it's, I noticed it made a Difference. And I really want to help out as many other guys as possible, get on the, you know, get in the habit of having healthy skin.

I think it's great. You are. We're talking a little bit, and I've used more than I can't. Even though the whole bar soap thing alone, for me, it's just a mess in the shower to clean, at least use something in a bottle. It'll make less of a mess. Even if you want to be basic. But whatever.

You have a. Tell us about your background, because I want to get to the part where you go, you stepped away from a very, what seems like extended and lucrative career. Unilever, Bayer, all these companies that most people wish they could work for. And you're like, no, I'm out. So tell us how you started with that and then we'll walk through it.

You know, I think before I give you the story, it's just like, I think what's interesting is, and I just realized this, Mario, really, over the last, like, few years is that I'm not your typical entrepreneur. At my age, I'm in my mid-50s. And, you know, being an entrepreneur is kind of like a young, young man's game because, you know, there's a lot of risk associated with it. It's very. It's very challenging and very demanding. So I knew early on that I wanted to be, you know, my own. My own boss. I wanted to be, you know, to master my own destiny. It just took me quite a while to get there. And I. I started in New York working, selling merchandising and being involved in the merchandising space. And, you know, and that, that includes, you know, primary and secondary displays in store and signage and racks and all of this stuff. And, you know, I really like that business because I worked with great, great brands and really understood what it takes to. To grow and develop and maintain a really good. A really good brand. And I was fascinated by it. I was fascinated by marketing and branding and, you know, about 20 years into my career, I decided to start, which is really my second company. My first company was a painting company. I had for four or five years and put me through college. I was very fortunate to have that experience and learn what it was like to, you know, manage other people and things of that nature. But then. And to get out of college pretty much debt free, which was a big deal for you. But I, I think, you know, I really started after 20 years of being merchandising to be, you know, started my own business and I Started a business that went global and I had a team in Asia and a team in Europe and we were, we were developing in store design and strategy for big corporations like the ones you mentioned. You know, the unilevers and the bears and Mars and things of that nature. And really trying to understand how customers shop in different retail channels and why they buy things. And, and that was part of the research actually I was describing to you earlier. I was trying to figure out, you know, what motivates guys to consider purchasing a product like skin care and realized how very difficult that is for a large multinational CPG company to try to convey the benefits of skin care in a retail setting where you know, for the most part guys don't like to shop anyway. So first you got to get them into the store. Problem number one, problem number two, you got to try to somehow educate them on why they need, you know, to have healthy skin. And, and that's a just a really big, a big challenge.

So that was, this was also the advent of E commerce.

I know you started this six years ago, but for 20 years prior to that there was still the whole E commerce on the rise. And the other thing that I want to point out that most, I want to make sure people realize it's one thing to be really good at Mars. Like I can't even imagine working around the candy. That had to have been fun. But you have Bayer and Unilever. Those are three, two and a half very different businesses. And I know you have a lot more, but those are completely different. It's not just one niche where you're going straight down it going, okay, we have another candy company. All we work is with candy companies or medical or whatever. It's like you have to constantly be doing different stuff, thinking and making it work for people.

Yeah, I mean the need state of the customer in those categories are completely different. And then the need state of those customers in diff. In, in. In. In those separate categories in different channels are very different. So the needs state of someone shopping in, in a, you know, in a Walmart or superstore versus a convenience store versus drugstore, very different. It's trying to understand that but actually it's very translatable to the director consumer business because you know, consumers are, we're, we're, we're trying to connect with consumers across digital platforms and their thinking is very different when they're on YouTube watching, you know, a YouTube informational video versus a short, versus being on, you know, a Facebook or another platform like that. So trying to Understand how consumers are consuming content on different channels is very similar to like trying to understand how they're thinking in different shopping, physical brick bricks and mortar shopping channels.

That's a good point. That's a very good point because I would say when you're in the store, you could argue you have their attention. I mean, more so than what you've said. When they're browsing around on YouTube, what are they thinking? And I'm thinking they're probably on six other screens thinking four other things simultaneously, you know. Oh, you have seven seconds.

Yeah.

If you have three nowadays, I'd be shocked.

Exactly. You know, I mean, at least when they're in the store, you know, they have an attempt to buy. I mean, you know, we, I don't say, hey, Mario, I'll pick you up on, you know, on Sunday after the game and we're just going to go cruise through, you know, Nordstrom. Like, you know, it doesn't happen that way. So at least when you're, you know, consumers are in the store, they have a high intent to purchase and it's.

Right in front of them. You just grab it.

Exactly.

Low barrier to, hey, I'll give it a shot at least.

Yeah. Which is the one, one of the reasons why, you know, us DTC companies talk a lot about, you know, the impact of Amazon on their business and how, how they should lean in or a little or a lot to Amazon, you know, as a channel. We look at that as a channel just like, you know, you know, any other social channel and how important that channel is and how what percentage of your business should be on Amazon versus other channels and, you know, what is the intent of the consumer there. But when you have, you know, a massive volume of, of search being done on Amazon, it's just really important that you know that you're, you're participating in that channel and it takes a long time to develop, you know, a presence on Amazon because it's all about the reviews. So, yeah, I mean, we're very, very fortunate where we're at right now and my background with understanding how the need state of shoppers and what motivates them to buy and just been a really great way for me to leverage that knowledge and grow this business.

So you took all that knowledge and expertise and you said, I want to do something different. Why did you want to do something different?

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, there's, there's a bunch of reasons for it, I think, like, what is your purpose in life kind of question, you know, and I think I was very interested in proving to myself, you know, that I could be, you know, provide a sustainable income and you know, for my family, but not have to, but be my own boss. And I think there's something very alluring to that, you know, and I think that that journey started for me a long time ago and it's, it's been extremely difficult. You know, it's, it's a constant reinvention. And like I said, this was my third, third business. I really got into it because I wanted to share my knowledge with other guys about why they should take care of their skin. And we haven't talked about skin cancer, but that's a very important, you know, aspect to what we try to do. We try to help guys understand why it's important to put some SPF on their face or on their, their body and prevent skin cancer, which is the number one cancer for men. And it's the most preventable. And thankfully it's, it's one of the easy, you know, most curable if found early. So, you know, those are all the reasons why I got in this business. I mean it was, there was that, you know, the self fulfillment of trying to provide for my family and do it, do it myself, kind of, you know, kill what I eat, what I kill, and, and then, you know, the opportunity to help guys, you know, look their best was really, really alluring to me.

Let's talk more about the.

Sunscreen because we, we haven't talked about that, but I know it's very true. And you should always be like the chapsticks, the lip balms, all that stuff. Like, unless it has a spf, I think it's a waste of time. Like I was saying with the bar soap, it's like you're barely solving one problem but creating nine others. I don't like that. Yeah, but I did not know it was the most common type of cancer. I know it's preventable, but why do you think it, why do you think that is?

Well, it's, you know, unfortunately guys don't think about taking care of themselves as much. You know, I mean, when you think about self care in general, there are all these like, little nuances to it. Like we've got to care about, you know, what, what we eat and we need to make sure that we, you know, we get to the doctors regularly without the prodding and, and you know, from, from our significant other and you know, and just thinking about before I hit this golf ball on, you know, T1, I should probably like Put a little sunscreen on my neck and on my ears, you know, underneath some. My. Like, my hat's on my head. That's cool. But. But I'm gonna get, you know, cancer on the. Around the neck of the ears and on the nose is extremely common. And, you know, we just don't. Men just don't really think about taking care of themselves. And so it's just really important. And I think more and more men, as they see how prevalent cancers, and that's the reason why it's almost like twice as likely that a man would get skin cancer than a woman. It's just because we just. We're gorilla style. Right? I mean, we're just like. We're out there and not thinking about the fact that we should put a little sunscreen on. So it's just really important. And we're over here at Tiege Hanley. We're helping a lot of guys think about this, and we're writing a lot of. A lot of logs and a lot of content that help guys, like, figure out how to, you know, implement it into their. Into their routines.

That's good. Yeah. I think it's just that awareness. And until you have something happen to someone close to you or yourself, it's not, you know, it's one of those stat things. Oh, it's everyone else, but not me. And then it happens, and then it's okay. This just got really real. I've noticed more people wearing even the clothing, like sunscreen. Hat has always been an easy thing. The sunscreen's kind of like, yeah, you need help. But the clothing, I've noticed, is also a. Like, more. More people doing it. Some golfers, boaters, sailors.

Yeah, well, that. That's. That's what you described is how we got into it. My. My business partner Rob, who's also.

College.

Roommate, friend from earlier high school, and his father died. And I remember very specific, you know, specifically.

When he was 56 years old, you know, of melanoma. And it was. It was completely preventable. You know, I mean, that's the super sad part of it is, you know, it's. It's very preventable. So, you know, we just really try to talk all the time to guys about healthy skin, you know, healthy skincare routines and protecting themselves from the skin from the sun. As a matter of fact, this weekend, I was in New York at a family event, and it happened to be a beautiful day on Saturday in Manhattan, and we were out on a veranda overlooking the Long Island Sound, and it was 7374 degrees. I was very fortunate. Our daytime moisturizer has an SPF of 20 on it in it. And I had my, you know, I had my, I had wear my daily moisturizer. And at least. And I didn't. And my wife and my son and my daughter came back with, like, red faces from being out there. We didn't expect it, the sun to be so hot. And, you know, it's like, had I not had that, I'm sure I'd be, you know, very red today. And so it's those little things and you don't realize, even us guys like yourself and myself that live in Chicago and Detroit, how powerful the sun is even in the winter. And just going like, from your car, uva, UVB rays, going from your car to, you know, to your office on a cloudy day, it does, you do feel the rays of the sun. So it's just really important. I mean, we're worried about the environment as, you know, as a society, we should be, we should be worried about the impact of a strong sun on our skin.

Yeah, and that's a good point. You bring up with the clouds, especially in the winter, because in the summer it's, like, obvious, you know, like I was saying, it's not rocket science. It's, it's like it's 92 degrees out, it's sunny. You should be doing something.

Yeah.

The days that are the worst are when it's cloudy or like, I like boating. When you're on the boat and it's, you get this cool breeze, your body's not overheated, so you're like, oh, it's fine. And then you come back and you're completely looking like my tire, a lobster. And it's like, what happened here? It's 68, 71 degrees. There's, it's cloudy. There's hardly any sun. It's only about an hour and a half. It's like toast.

Yeah. So we have, we've leaned into zinc oxide, so you know, our products. And, and by the way, you know, I'd be great for your, any of your listeners to check out teach.com but if you know, my, my suggestion is use a moisturizer that has, you know, an SPF in it. It's not hard at all. You know, just a little bit in the morning, you know, around, around your face, just underneath of your chin and around your ears will go a long way in keeping, you know, melanoma off your nose and lips. So I strongly recommend that. And we use zinc oxide in Our, our lip balm and our sun stick. And they're, they're great products. And they're, they're products that you can keep in your car and your golf bag, you know, if on your boat, and, and you can apply it really easily. So again, whether it's our product or someone else's, I, you know, I can't, I can't emphasize enough the importance of that.

Yeah, that 10 to 20, it's not, you know, people think they need a 65 or 96, but if you put it on one time for two hours and you're out for eight, it's not even going to work the whole time. But I, I think I agree 100%. Those little bits, like I said in the, the lip balms, the 15s or whatever, it's like that, that will keep your lips not only from being chapped, but windburn and all kind and just burnt. I mean, there's one time I ran out and it was just within a matter of days in Florida. And it was just like, I'm miserable. I usually have like four or five on me ever since high school.

Yeah. You know, it's crazy. There's, there's such a misnomer about the impact of increment. The incremental impact of, of SPF to preventing, you know, sun damage. I mean, once you get like above SPF 30, the incrementality of how much UVA UVB rays that the s. Incremental SPF rating prevents is, Is, you know, like two or three points. Like, it goes from once you're above 30, you're, you're like 95 or 96. I wish I knew these numbers right off the top of my head. But you're like 96%. So you go, you go from like, you go from 30 to say, 40 or 45, and you're only, you only incrementally gain like 1 percentage point. You only like, it only goes from like 95% coverage to like 96% effective of blocking. Okay. And, you know, and going to like 65 takes you to like 97%, you know, blocking the UVA UVPV. So it's like, you know, once, once you're in that 30 range, that you're good. You're pretty good. I mean, I wouldn't suggest going to beach with 30 and laying out all day, but the incrementality of the benefit kind of outweighs the, you know, the real burden of going there.

I was also going to say the chalkiness. You put some 9, 65 to 95 on. You might as well whip up some flour and water. It's not the thinnest stuff in the world.

No. You look like you were just rolled around and flour and water, and I.

Don'T know of any that you're going to get more than 3, 4 hours, effectively, especially around water.

Correct. Yeah. So anyway, those are. That's all really important parts of a guy thinking about taking care of himself, but it really does start with a good cleanser and a good moisturizer.

Well, I'm glad you incorporated into yours. And it sounds like you have a mission behind all of it as well. It's not just selling it, it's you. You really do want to help men on a personal level.

Absolutely. I mean, we talk about it every single day here at Tiege Hanley. It's all about, you know, helping as many guys as we can look and feel amazing. When you look good, you. You feel good, you know, and, and, and, and we all know, you know, Mario, now given the last couple years of COVID and everybody, what everybody's been through and how they feel, you know, it's just, it's really important to, to mentally feel good about yourself and getting up in the morning, you know, and starting your day off right, brushing your teeth and using a moisturizer, washing your face. And if you're, you know, an older guy like me thinking about anti aging and using products that help, you know, fight back, mother nature, these products have a significant impact on how you look. And so, you know, and we even joke, like when we're on the road traveling as a, as a company, we'll check into a hotel right before we go to a dinner or meeting, and we'll come downstairs and we'll meet back up and we'll look at each other and be like, you just wash your face, didn't you? You know, you just, you just use that, Use our. You know, went upstairs and, you know, like, cleaned up. And it's amazing how good it makes you feel. Like you just feel like a million bucks after you've washed your face and you feel clean and put a moisturizer on. So, yeah, I mean, it's, it's not, it's part of our mission because it does work and it, it's, it's effective and we're just trying to help as many men as we can.

Yeah, it, it gives you that fresh feeling of like, you know, you could be 5, 6 at night. You might be 6 hours into your day or 12 hours into your day, and usually the nighttime stuff, it's like, I'm tired, I'm worn down, and it's like, no, this is second wind.

Yeah. And, well, it's the hardest time, you know, to remember to wash your face and, and to put a moisturizer on is at night. You know, we're all exhausted at the end of the day, especially if you're like me and, you know, you've. It's the end of the week and you had a couple glasses of wine, the last thing you want to do is, you know, thinking about washing your face and put a moisturizer on. But nighttime is absolutely the best time. And it was the hardest to in, you know, to integrate into my routine. It's like at night washing my face and putting a moisturizer on. But that is when you know, you're really, your body is really rejuvenating and you're most, you know, when you're at rest and your skin can really have a chance to, to, to get absorbed. Nourishment of a great nighttime moisturizer. And, you know, as guys, we, we don't like anything heavy on our face. Our nighttime moisturizer isn't heavy, but it's. It's a lot heavier than our daytime moisturizer in terms of feel. And so, you know, it takes a while to kind of get used to that for most men, but it's an excellent time to have your skin rejuvenate.

And then you feel better the next day. Waking up. And after a few days of using it, it's like you can, you know, you expect that level. It's not, oh, this is a treat. It's. This is the norm, and it's just much better. And I like what you did with the bottles and thank you for sending me the trial pack. But the AM&PM, like, you really did make it uncomplicated.

Thank you.

AM. PM. Use this, use that. I'm like, I literally was looking for more instructions and different things going. This is pretty simple.

Yeah. Yeah.

I'm used to dealing with super complex stuff in the show and book publishing and all this. And 98 moving parts or 137. I'm like, I feel like I'm missing something. But there wasn't. It's pretty straightforward.

Yeah. Every box we ship, we include some very simple instructions. You know, use this size, do it this. In this pro, you know, this order, wash your face, you know, pat dry, use a moisturizer, scrub, nickel size, no.

More than twice a week.

Correct. Yeah.

Excellent. I have one question for You.

Well, there's two. Yellow or black?

Yellow.

Okay. I already know the question, so I'm not going to pretend it landed on some random one because I've been waiting to ask you this. I don't know if it's a secret or not, but I was alluding to the nickel size twice a week. The scrub.

Yep.

You have menthol in it, don't you?

We have something called a menthol lactate in it, which is a really interesting product and it has a lot of qualities to it that people don't realize, but it does invigorate your skin. It brings, it brings, it opens up the pores and then also brings a lot of kind of blood flow to your skin, which really replenishes your skin.

Okay.

It's a great, great product. We recommend using it every, you know, twice a week.

Not two days in a row though.

No. And we had, we, we actually, you know, we have people almost, you know, all the time, almost like every day talking about their scrub days and how they look forward to their scrub days. We'll get emails saying, you know, today was my scrub day and I feel great, just want to drop, you know, and let, you know. So it's a great product. It's actually, you know, it's actually tied for. We just finished a net promoter source study on our products and they all scored, you know, incredibly high. And, and that's, you know, we do that every year to go out and talk to thousands of our, of our customers and ask them what they'd like to see improved in their product. And our scrub is our scrub and serum. All of our products score extremely high, but our scrub and serum, which is an anti aging product, score outrageously high.

Yeah, and the anti aging is important too because I, I think only you said earlier the over 40 crowd, so I'll just go with that. I think the over 40 crowd thinks now I need to start using it, but the reality is use it as soon as you can because it's going to prevent that aging.

Even sooner. So if you think you need it by 40 or 45, you probably do, but you don't want to look 40 or 45 if you start using it. 15, 20, 25.

Right, exactly. I mean, I think like, you know, every person is different and how much sun they've had, you know, exposure to sun and how the type of lifestyle that they live and someone that's outside every day, working every day, their, their skin is going to be exposed to elements are going to be, you know, harsher conditions. But you know, I think once you're around that mid 30 range, you should really start thinking about, you know, getting, thinking about an anti aging routine. And like I was describing earlier, the, just the changes in chemistry and the changes in active products over the last five years has been so significant and the delivery systems, which sounds very strange, like a strange concept, but the way that your skin absorbs, you know, natural ingredients and organic ingredients.

You know, over a longer period of time, it's kind of like an extended release vitamin, so to speak.

So those, well, like collagen for example, you can have collagen shoes or you can have a serum you put on.

There you go. Well said. I mean, so I think like collagen is something that, you know, our collagen, I can't say it's time release but it does, it does absorb into your skin over time. So those things, you know, if you're an over 35 guy, you know, I think you should start thinking about making sure you're using the nighttime moisturizer. You should probably start thinking about using an eye cream. You know, whether or not you need a serum or not. You know, it depends on how you probably.

Why would you do it halfway?

Yeah, I guess, I don't know. I mean we're coming out. We've been focusing, as you mentioned earlier on, on non face care skin care products over the last couple of years in our product development pipeline. But we're really focused. Our product development pipeline for the next three years is all about advanced, you know, advanced anti aging and advanced skin care products which I mentioned to you earlier in this call that we were. Our face mask is a product that, that's our number one selling what we call non core product. And when I say core, you know, our, our systems are awash. A nighttime and daytime moisturizer and a scrub.

Yeah, the stuff you're using multiple times a day.

Yeah. And that face mask. And it's amazing how effective the face mask is and if you use it a couple times a month, three or four times a month, how much it improves your skin, your elasticity controlling, you.

Know, oil, keeping those pores clean, keeping.

The pores clean and you know, preventing any bacteria buildup that can create any acne flare ups, it's amazing. And that product, I mean we sell thousands of them as you know, people put those in their routine every month. It's amazing.

Well, I appreciate you for sharing the details. I didn't know if I could get it out of you, but I tried the screen scrub as well, and I was like, there's menthol something in here. And it was, it was nice, it was effective. And I was like, I gotta ask them. But I use the wheel of whatever to, I've got people to reveal like their next products, their next food, they're coming out, the next episode, the next book. Like I got an email one time and their team emailed me before the episode was over. And they're like, we didn't even know what was coming out. How'd you get that out of them? It was the next product for the following quarter.

Yeah, I'll tell you, we, we just launched actually September 15, a below the belt powder. We couldn't think of a good name so we just call it Balls B A L L S. And it is so incredibly effective. But it does also contain a little bit of menthol lactate, which is a phenomenal product. And I think that product, you know.

Before I start out your poor mask.

Now, it might, it might beat out our clay mask because it's just, you know, it's just like that product that no one really realized that, you know, they can improve the situation down below until they start, you know, using a product like, like our Below the Belt powder. But there's some great products out there and we're going to have a brand new retinol product next year, which is nice, you know, which is going to be a real winner for us.

Well, I'm glad you have a mission behind it and you are helping so many people and we have to thank our sponsor. But I also want to give you one last congrats about the. You just started in 2016 and shipped 1.5 million units so far already.

Yeah, very proud of that. I mean when we, we ship from across the hall here, from across from our, our, our business office, we ship and do our own warehouse distribution and fulfillment and all those people are, you know, full time employees of the company and they've been with us since the first, you know, basically the first month.

So that's not a small undertaking. No, it's just selling the product alone is one thing, but distributing it and.

Making it and it's just so great. And when I think about the work that our team has done, you know, we have very minimal, rock bottom minimal and 50 of our boxes, there's four products in there, you know, the rest, the other 50% go out with six, plus products and, and you know, so, and plus some collateral, you know, and then a card telling people how to use the product. And so you know, we've touched probably, you know, well over, you know, what would that be? Probably 10 million pieces of product have actually physically been packed and put in boxes to send a million and a half boxes out. And I, you know, I'm just so grateful for our team and, you know, helping people stay employed and doing it right here in Chicago. All made in the U.S. our product is all made in the U.S. so it's, it's a great feeling. It's, it's, it's a phenomenal feeling and.

Well, you're on the right track and helping the right people.

Yeah. Thank you.

Here's to 2 million boxes. But we're gonna thank our sponsor and come back for the imperfect action round. You've heard me say every business needs a book, including yours, and it's true. And that's why I'm launching my new book@eapublishingmethodbook.com so you can learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book eight weeks. But you know what, don't take my word for it. Take it from a few of my authors like Lori, I went from having.

An idea and a possibility to actually getting my book published.

Or Catherine, thank you for making my.

Mom number one best selling author.

Or Mary Alice, what he got done for me in three days regarding my book launch.

Unmanageable.

John Cody. I've worked with Mario over the phone and online and he's been very helpful.

In getting me where I needed to go with promoting my books. Rocio, there's no way in the world I would have been able to do this with somebody else again. I've attempted it in the past. It didn't serve me. As a matter of fact, I ended up more frustrated than anything. So this has been a very seamless process. Adele, if you're looking for an amazing business coach, I highly recommend Mario Ficcini or Bill Benner. I can't make a higher recommendation for than to work with Mario Ficini. He has been great for me and right now I won't work with anybody else except for Mario.

Hey, their words, not mine. Visit eapublishingmethodbook.com to get your copy and I look forward to hearing your transformation as our next video success story. Once again, that's eapublishingmethodbook.com and we are back with the imperfect action round. Are you ready to take imperfect action?

Absolutely. I'm very imperfect so that that'll be easy for me.

Same here. I got a couple quick questions. 60 second or less answers. First one is what is the fastest path to the cash?

The fastest path to the cash? Creating a product that, that a lot of people want. That's the fastest path. Make sure your product is awesome. People want it excellent.

Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making and the fastest way for them to fix it?

Fastest prospects are making.

Well, they're not using our product. I mean, I think the biggest, the biggest challenge for our prospects is that they need to use. Get rid of the bar soap and start using tiege handling 100. That'll solve that problem immediately.

Wicked.

What's the best way to. Number three, what's the best way to maximize customer lifetime value?

That's a great question. You know, half of our marketing efforts around making sure that our customers are successful with our product. So there it is. We have a whole customer success team that includes, you know, traditionally customer service and we're a pain in the ass free company. And what that means is if there's anything that you don't like about your experience with us, we refund you your money. I should probably shouldn't say that but you know, to all your listeners, but that's how we are and you know, and I think in today's environment, competing with Amazon, you know, if you want to have a good customer success team, it'll raise the lifetime value.

Excellent. What books would you recommend Expert Authority for world that have helped you?

Yeah, there's a lot. I, I just read, I just finished.

How to Think like Think Like a Rocket Scientist and I like, I like that book a lot. I like the concept of failure and how important failure is to success. And the book talks a lot about really trying to analyze where, you know, things go wrong and, and the ways to kind of prevent that and the ways to think about even when you have success, how you can, you know, think about success in ways that make, they can help you be more successful. I'm reading a book right now on culture. Love that book as well. And it talks about, you know, great. Not only companies, but teams and coaches and how creating great culture within organizations really is a game changer between.

And what's that one called?

I believe it's called the. It's just called Culture.

And I, I wish I knew the. I just started it. I'm in chapter three right now and actually love the book. And it's like I described and it's, it's talking right now. They're talking about the San Antonio spurs coach Pavlov. No.

Is the COVID black or like, colorful black?

Black with gold.

The Culture Code. Daniel Coyle.

Yeah, that's it. Thank you very much. Culture Code.

Welcome.

And you got a SNAP team there that can really help you. Yeah, Culture Code. Thank you. And I've really enjoyed that book a lot, too. So that's. That's what I'm on right now.

Well, I appreciate the recommendations. Being a publisher, I always love hearing about other books as well as the ones we publish. But I actually thought you were going to say Seth Godin for a second when you said Cult, because I know he has a couple on it as well.

Yeah.

Where would you like people to learn.

More.

You know, teach.com I like people listening to your podcast and learning about, you know, why we exist. I think that's phenomenal, and I'm grateful for you having, you know, giving me the opportunity to share my story.

I love what you're doing, and I thought you'd be a great fit, add value. And I think more people need to hear about this because, like, we were talking about moving. I don't know the percentages now, but I know stereotypically, women are the ones who want to go to the spas and get the facials and skin care and all this stuff. And men are like, I think if you encourage them enough, they'll see the benefits. But I really do hope more people go, you know what? I'm glad, you know, someone in my family has this, and it's hereditary or this, and because of using your product, there's less people. You know, it didn't hit me. I mean, that's great. I think it's wonderful what you're doing.

Well, thank you. And, and the thing that makes me, you know, reassures me every day and helps me come to work is what our guys, what guys that use our product and they go to teach.com and buy our product. What they say to us is, you know, my, my wife, my mother, my sister, my girlfriend said, what do you, you know, what are you doing? It's different.

They can tell the difference.

Tell the difference. And we hear that almost every day. Matter of fact, we're running. We just asked guys to send us yesterday pictures before and after pictures of their use. And we got 100, we got 110 people send us an email today, which is, you know, that's a lot, right? I mean, it's a lot of people, when you ask yesterday, from yesterday, today, showing before and after pictures. And they took, you know, they took the effort of taking a picture before they started using our product and in 30 days after it took a picture. So, you know, those are the things that, that, you know, make me feel so proud of, of what we're doing here. So. Yeah. And I have art, we have a wall of quotes in our, in our kitchen area and there's a man that describes kind of a sad story, but describes how he has had testicular cancer. He's fine now, but he really struggled for, for quite a while fighting testicular cancer. And he said the only time he felt, he felt, you know, natural, he felt things were right in his life was the few moments in the morning that he took care of his skin in the few moments before he went to bed that he felt like, you know, and that part of his routine felt like was the time during the day he had most control. He still felt good, he still felt good about himself. And you know, that one quote is stuck with me for a couple years. It's just, you know, the power of, of what it is when you feel good about yourself.

Wow. Well, thank you for sharing everything you have. I wish you the best and here's to that 2 million boxes and beyond. And look forward to staying in contact and seeing, seeing your progress. You're only six years into it, so I know it's going to keep going.

Thanks, Mario. Appreciate that.

All right, Expert Authority World, we have another great episode here today. I'll see you on the next one. Have a great day and God bless.

You're already the expert, but have you transformed your expertise into a tangible asset that will generate qualified leads while increasing profit for you 247 and if so, how well are you promoting it? With my new book, the Expert Authority Effect Publishing Method, I take you through my process step by step. Visit eapublishingmethodbook.com today to learn the seven steps to publish and promote your nonfiction lead and profit generating business book in eight weeks. Visit eapublishingmethodbook.com to get started. Now. Once again, that's eapublishingmethodbook.Com thanks for listening to today's episode. I would love to know what you enjoyed most from it if you haven't done so already. I invite you to connect with me on my new LinkedIn. You can go to it directly at eainterviews.com LinkedIn Once again, that's eainterviews.com LinkedIn lastly, check out the full eainterviews.com site for complete show notes, the full interview video experience, links to the resources we mentioned and more. Have a blessed day, and I'll see you on the next one.