B-A-N-A-N-A-S w/ GoNanas Co-Founder, Morgan Lerner! — Off Duty

All right, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast, Forbes Annoying Life, with me, your host, Dena. I am in pink for a very obvious reason today. It has something to do with bananas. It has something to do with building up a brand and becoming Forbes 30 Under 30. What? Yes, that is right. The individual you see on my screen and those of you listening in your car, this is Morgan, the co-founder of GoNanas. Ladies and gentlemen, here she is.

That was a great intro. And you're wearing pink. I'm not even wearing pink. It's a snow day. I'm like in a turtleneck.

So I did warn you, I am gonna ask you, because obviously pink is the branding color, it is everything and anything when you go out and about. Why pink?

It's a great question. When we made the pivot to go into baking mixes, which I'm sure we'll get into the full story, we basically made a PowerPoint and looked at the competitors and said, how do we stand out on shelf. And that's really how we designed our package. And pink came to mind because one, we knew our audience was predominantly female. Moms are just our biggest audience, although we appeal to all. And so we thought, what better way to stand out than have the color pink? Super vibrant. We've always had really vibrant colors. And since then, it's just been that pop that is on every packaging and every branding. And it is almost like the new red, the new cheetah. This was before Barbie. So it's just a statement color and I feel like it represents our brand being so big on female empowerment and fun and vibrancy and positivity. Um, and just standing out. We, we aren't, you know, the, the usual brand. We do things differently. So I think that stands for so many aspects of our brand and has just become such a big statement for us.

You haven't done this before. Clearly, clearly she has not done any of this before. Nailing the first question.

I don't get that question as often as you would think. Yeah. So that was a great one. Yeah.

Interesting. 'Cause I figure, I mean, you know, some people would say, and you know, I have to do, I do voices like, oh, I love the color pink. It's just who I am. Like, okay, fine. You know, or like when I was imagining Go Nanas becoming a brand, I was chewing pink bubble gum. I don't know, like something random.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's just, I think branding from everything from your package to your colors say so much about a brand because it's emotional. It's what gives a consumer an immediate impression of your brand. So I just think it represents so much of our brand. It's not like me in my personal life. I wear so much hot pink, but then as soon as I put on that color, it's like, go nanas, let's go. Okay. We're having fun.

Okay, I listen, I'm here for it. And I honestly was going to say, because I feel like your personality, Annie's personality, is just— when I say so pink, it just has that vibrancy, that go, go, go. I know that you always share these behind-the-scenes stories with us, and there's always— no, if no matter if it's a downfall, there's always this positivity exuding from you both. So that's what I thought it was, but I totally see the projection and like stare at me in the face, hot pink, like, let's do this.

I think it's both. I absolutely think the positivity and the vibrancy is such a big part of our brand and authenticity. So it's not all just, you know, bubbly and perfect. It's like, here's the real. And then it's kind of that girl boss piece. That's why I say pink is the new red or the new cheetah, that statement color you're walking in with that. So it's multidimensional.

I like it because it always makes me look tan because I'm very pasty white.

Yeah, that's hilarious. Yeah, it brings out It brings out like your eyes too. I see the blue pop.

Yeah. Well, it doesn't help this giant ring light I have going on here, so that's a little— thanks. So now for people who don't know, and if you missed the introduction, yes, Morgan is a co-founder. And I say co-founder because she founded with her bestie Annie. And I always say bestie. I know people hate that, but that's just my thing. Go nanas. But what we really wanna know, because 4.0 in Life is about A+ing your life But reality is there's no such thing. Like, we can have a C+ day, but how did you take something from a thought process— like, I want you to walk us from that beginning path, give us some forks in the road, give us some bumpy roads, give us potholes, if you will, into who you are and what you are today.

Okay, strap in. Um, I feel like where I start is the beginning, obviously, but I think people always assume when they see a big business or just a business, you know, out and about that it was intentional, that you started off just with this brilliant idea and it blossomed and the next day you're there because that's, you know, you just see the final product. You don't always see the story into it. So I like to say we almost accidentally started the business just from following our passions. So Annie was my neighbor in the freshman dorms at the University of Michigan and we weren't even friends at the beginning, but we met met and really bonded in this food club on campus. So we were super passionate about food, health, and baking. So I grew up eating banana bread. My Mimi had a famous recipe, and her family also had a famous recipe. So we decided one day, just baking at her family's house not far from campus, to healthify the baked good we knew and loved. Because as students on campus, you know, if we went to the local coffee shop on the way to class, they didn't have anything better for you. It was just the blueberry muffin, the pumpkin bread, the classic, but nothing better for you. And we wanted a sweet treat. So that was almost just one day having fun in the kitchen, baking, messing around, tried the banana bread and we were like, oh my God, this is so good. We have to sell this. So in the car ride home, we came up with a name. It was Go Bananas at first before we trademarked Go Nanas because you couldn't trademark Go Bananas. And got an LLC on campus and launched the company. So that was really just out of passion and it became a side hustle for many years selling a ready-made banana bread loaf single serve to food service to solve that problem. Now, really hard business to scale because it had a 5-day shelf life, a baked good. So host of challenges, hiring people so hard, managing employees at this kitchen while being students and baking from 6 to 9 PM after class. And then delivering it to all these coffee shops. Fun, but, you know, a grind. And the biggest pivoting, you know, pivotal point, um, in our company was after graduating, you know, growing that business. I took a job in consulting, she took a job in the food world. Uh, the business was still a side hustle and a passion project so we can support ourselves, but we always wanted to take that leap. And when COVID hit, food service virtually shut down that part of the business. And with a 5-day shelf life, shipping, if you remember, was a mess. So, you know, moldy banana bread was showing up on people's doorsteps. And we said, we can't do this. We got to shut that part of the business down. What do we do? We have all these ingredients. And this was when banana bread started blowing up and everyone was stuck at home, you know, baking bread, all kinds of breads. So we pivoted and launched our first mix and it was in a mason jar with a shoddy label on it. And those started going viral, caught the attention of the Detroit News and did our first— I'm giving you the long version.

No, spill, spill, spill.

Yeah, our first $1,000 day. And we were so excited. We were like, oh my gosh, maybe it's the mixes. Maybe this is the next thing. So that's when we made that PowerPoint, started rearranging packaging. We were getting ready to move into a manufacturer with our mini breads to scale up. That was kind of the next logical step. We said, we're not in Michigan, we can't manage this kitchen anymore, so we got to move this to manufacture. So we moved our mixes in as well with this new packaging. And that's really what started taking off. And we got approached by Nordstrom Rack, which was our first ever national retailer. So random for the food world, but they were looking for a banana bread, like truly they were looking for a banana bread mix and found us from our little social media and our itty bitty website. And they were like, you're the best we've seen, so let's do it. So that was our big sign. Okay, interesting. A national retailer really taking a look at us. Is this our leap? And we took the leap. I remember sitting down with my parents saying, you know, we're doing this. It could totally fail, but I believe in it. And my parents were pretty traditional. They harped me, are you sure? Da da da da da da. And it was really hard to make that jump. But we kind of said, okay, if not now, when? Because it's really gaining traction for the first time. Ever after 4 years of doing it. So taking that leap, didn't get paid probably for the first 4 months, on and off for 6, um, and that was fall of 2020, so 3 and a half years ago now. And that leap was the biggest challenge, um, even Annie and I as partners working on, okay, we're now taking this full-time, what does that look like? Because our roles have been very different part-time and we're used to doing everything together. So what do you do? What do I do? How does this work? Um, probably one of the biggest challenges of our company. Um, and then just taking it full-time. So that's when we started the ambassador program, probably not shortly after you joined. Um, started growing this organic community online, doing limited edition seasonal flavor drops that really started to grow our online business. And in 2021, we did $1.2 million all bootstrapped. So this was like the first ever year of, oh my God, we just blew up. And we did it with our own money, not having to go from use investors. So that was a huge year for us. And then 2022 came and we joined the Mondelēz accelerator. So Mondelēz, owns Oreo, Toblerone, Sour Patch, really big snack brands. And we said, okay, we want to go into grocery stores. We joined this accelerator. They're obviously very well-versed in that, so trained us. We almost got like an MBA in CPG is what we say. And then literally that summer started applying to grocery stores. And that fall is when we heard the news that we got nationwide with Whole Foods. We got into Target that summer to then roll out the next summer in a few hundred Super Targets. And we really started getting our first acceptances. And then just this past year, which was obviously our biggest year yet, we rolled out in all those grocery stores. So we hit 2,300 doors. We got Forbes 30 Under 30. We did a partnership with my dream brand, Salt Straw, and we had two iconic flavors available all summer. And just some really big milestones. And so honestly, these past few years especially have been so pivotal in our business, so big, but also faced with the biggest challenges because it's no longer this side hustle and passion project. It's a real business and every year comes with more impact and more risk and more responsibility. So it's just been a wild, wild journey and especially these past few years.

So you're literally the basic— you're the Daisy in the Girl Scout troop, and now you are full-blown troop leader, if you will.

Yeah, I always wanted to be a Daisy, so there you go.

Were you a Girl Scout ever?

I was not. I always— I remember distinctively asking my mom, please, like, can I be a Girl Scout? It never happened. I don't know. I don't know why.

I mean, can you— would you ever want to do a partnership with Girl Scouts?

Oh, I've thought about it 100%. Honestly, I'll probably put that back on my list because you have dreams that just like come up and go on a list somewhere, and that needs to resurface. But yeah, um, a Samoa banana bread, or a— I don't know, so many flavors.

I mean, I think about how people— because what the Girl Scouts do is they jack you up with this little window, and they tell you that you only have like 5 days to order your cookies and that's it, and then you have to wait a whole new year. So then of course the population here in America, we hoard 50,000 boxes even though we know we're not going to eat them all, because you go to the end of the cabinet, you're like, oops. And it's like, what a genius plan! Why didn't I think of that?

Oh, their marketing is insane. Yeah, they're, they're doing something right. I'm kind of like, where are they these days?

But right, well, I do have to order some Girl Scout cookies from a friend of mine, so if you would like some, let me know, because I know that New Jersey opens up before New York. So I have a friend at work who's like, are you gonna order from me? Are you gonna order from me? And I'm like, I'm gonna order from both. Like, uh, yeah, it's a little competitive. It's competitive. Um, you had mentioned Salt and Straw, so for people who live maybe outside of the area Like I know in Jersey we're not familiar with that. How would you explain Salt Straw?

Hmm. Okay. So New Jersey, I don't know if you guys have an iconic ice cream brand, a Jenny's, a Van Leeuwen. I don't know if you have them near you. It's really an artisan ice cream brand. Um, they have about 40 locations and expanding, and they really just take ice cream to the next level. They have standard flavors, but they do seasonal menus and they have lines out the door. I call it Club Salt Straw because it's always a line out the door. It's always music bumping. And they're Portland-based. So I'm in Portland, got to meet the founder through a pitch here. We won a $300,000 investment as part of a pitch, and the winner got a partnership with Salt and Straw. So at the finale, they were serving GoNanas with Salt and Straw that they've been working on. I had no idea. And then it kicked off this program with a mentorship program and a collaboration. And I believe we are restocking the flavors this summer. As part of their Berry Series. So they are opening a location in New York, I believe, any day now. Yeah. So New York, they have Vegas, I believe they have Florida. I'd have to check. And then everywhere on the West Coast and they deliver. So if you haven't had it, highly recommend. Amazing team, amazing products, amazing brand.

Clearly they have a VIP, you know, roped off red carpet. So obviously have to check that out. Um, I feel like one of the questions that a lot of people always ask when I talk on the podcast is there's a fear, right? And a fear of jumping in. Now, I know you mentioned college, and I don't want people to get like scared away thinking, oh well, she did it when she's young. But I think there's a fear of just throwing everything to the wind and hoping and praying that when the wind blows back, you grab something. So what What were you feeling? What were the true gut-wrenching emotions? And along the way, was there something you wish you could have changed?

Ooh, that's a great question. I mean, I do think trust is so important in this process and following your gut and intuition, which Annie and I do to this day. Obviously it can't get you to the end. You need learning and people and and resources, but I think I always followed that. You know, that's why I didn't take the leap until it was really the time and I felt it was right. Um, but we've made so many decisions too off of like our feeling, our intuition, our gut. Um, so I think there's a lot of trust that's required in the process. And I think, yes, we did have the benefit of doing it as students because there wasn't a lot of pressure. It didn't have to be my full-time job, but I think you could do that even to this day. You know, have a job and if there's passions you have on the side and you're able to pursue those, pursue those. Like that's what I tell people when they're like, how do I start something? Or what are your, what's your biggest advice? And I actually say just follow your passions because that's entrepreneurial, learning and trying something new and figuring it out as you go. So I think trust, but also knowing that there's going to be fear along the way. And it's not that entrepreneurs don't have fear. I read this recently, it's, they experience that and do it anyways. Um, so knowing that, holding space for both trust and fear, and letting go of perfection, um, which as a perfectionist myself has been the greatest lesson throughout time. Um, yeah, those are kind of the things that come to mind.

I, I agree with the perfection. I think that would be my biggest downfall because I I remember when I first started podcasting, I used to edit almost everything out. Like if I sneezed or coughed, and obviously no one wants to hear you sneeze or cough, but I'm like, I don't know, I don't want it to be so choppy. I want it to be real. I want people to trust that I'm human. I want people to know that I'm real. And I guess, you know, people like who— when I was saying, yeah, I'm gonna interview Morgan Lerner, and they're like, go, nanas! I'm like, yeah, you know. And I guess they don't understand because You know, Morgan does have this huge ambassador program, which I thank you for having that because a lot of people today are only interested if you have like 50,000K or more on Instagram. And Morgan and Annie do this beautiful thing where they want everyone and anything because that's who the product should be pitched towards. It's not just to your multimillion dollar buyer who's gonna like make the go nanas and sprinkle, you know, 4K gold on that. I mean, that great is, wait, 4K. Did I 4K? No, that's not a thing. 18K. 16K, that's better. Yeah, I don't— I was thinking 4K video. See, normally I would edit that out and be like, yeah, like, I can't— I'm not truffle, you know, I'm not shaving truffles on my banana bread. But you make it so relatable and you offer up something that's so unimaginable. Like, you have people who are like, I don't— I had a friend of mine and I tagged her in your post about becoming an ambassador. She's like, I don't have a lot of followers. I'm like, it's not a— it's not about that. I think it's about bringing something to the table that's real. So I mean, are you still accepting more ambassadors and how does one become a GoNanas ambassador?

Yeah, we are always, always accepting and growing the program. We actually just made a big transition to a new platform, so hopefully it's even more optimized and we can continue growing. But it's such a crux of our brand and what we do. I think if you think about on the product level, right? We are allergen friendly, meaning everyone can enjoy our product. And that's the point, especially with how easy it is. And then you take that beyond to our brand and how we express ourselves. And that's the same thing that we do. An example being our ambassador program. So accepting anyone who wants to rep is a big part of that because we want anyone and everyone to be passionate about it. And that's just what we stand for. So I love that about our program and even how flexible it is. It's really what you make it. We reward people for getting super involved and they can really, you know, rack up those rewards. But then if you just want to be a part of our events or get early access or get my emails just to feel like you're really part of it, that's totally okay too. So, you know, to apply, just go online. You can always shoot me a message. I flag applications just to really get to know people and make sure they get accepted in a timely manner. And then I try to stay really close to the program so that people feel supported, although my inbox is a little crazy sometimes. So it's just an interesting, you know, just growth challenge. But it is my passion and what I love doing the most because I just get to connect with our most loyal and passionate customers. And I feel like we just get to hang out. It's not this weird, you know, hierarchy or anything. It's like, Hi, what's up? Let's hang out. Let's talk about things. What do you want to see? We literally made cornbread from ambassador meetings of you guys requesting cornbread. And I was like, okay, we got to make it. They're like really wanting it. We've done collaborations with you guys with names on the package. So I just think we do community in a very different way and it's always something that we're talking about. So that's a big part of our strategy from a marketing and brand standpoint and what also gives me fulfillment and us feeling motivated, filled with purpose and connection.

So now I'm going to ask you a weird question. I didn't put this in our email. What emoji, face, or object would you be to represent when Annie said Forbes 30 Under 30, that's us?

Ooh, I was pure shock. Like, you've seen that video. I've watched it literally 100 times. I look like I've seen a ghost because I was so— it was not on my radar at all. I was really into this book, which is hilarious because I never bring a book to the gym. Like, I— you can't repeat that scene. I— it was not something that happens ever. Um, it's probably the one that's like yellow and blue and hands like this. That one, I was stunned. I was stunned.

I mean, what book were you reading that had you so captivated too? I got to know that.

Yeah. I mean, it's a kind of a self-help memoir of one of my mentors, Sarah Marshank. So it's An Unorthodox Life, a memoir of her life. Super interesting. If you're at all into spirituality or self-development, she has such an interesting story. So yeah. I took that to the gym.

Maybe, maybe that was like, there was this energy that was just vibing from the book. And I mean, did you like, do you apply to this, or do people like, how does that work? Like, if it wasn't, you know, you said it wasn't on your radar, so I'm just wondering, how does this work?

Yeah, so it's so funny. That video I think is now at 4 million views, and so many of the comments are about paying for the, you know, award, which is just so not true. I think, I'm sure there was money involved for some people. I have no idea. I think the COVID may be a different story, but for us, you get nominated anonymously. Um, there's lots of people in the network, so, you know, you can get connected and, and things like that. But you get nominated and they send you a little form to fill out information about your brand and you. So, you know, I spent time filling that out, working on it in the summer, submitted that, and then you don't hear back until the public finds out that day. So that day it was so not on my— I think Annie was like, oh, I think it happens this week. I had no idea. Um, and she was in town for 2 days. She just happened to be in town. We were filming something for a potential Netflix documentary with Salt-N-Straw. So she was in for 2 nights. She got in the night before, checked her email that morning. I just went straight to the gym, didn't check my email. I don't do that until I get online. It's difference between her and I. And she found out I was in the gym. She knocks on my boyfriend's door, who's still sleeping. She's like, let me in. Is Morgan here? Jumps on the bed. No, she's at the gym. They run up together. He's filming. And then she came in and told me. Um, so yeah, you find out with the public. And yeah, that's how it happened.

They give you like a plaque or anything, or is it like—

No, you get your name in the magazine. So our name and, and, um, information. I don't think our picture was in there. And then Online is really the biggest, the biggest distribution and viewership.

How insane though. Like, that's crazy.

I know, it's really insane. Yeah, it's so weird in this role because you have so many dreams. Like, getting into Whole Foods was a dream. Forbes 30 Under 30, like, those were on my vision board. And it's so interesting when they happen to to really embody that win feels so— it's so interesting. It's a buildup and you build things up in your head and then you get there and there's obviously like, I'm so grateful. It's so awesome. It's taken me a while to still embody. I don't feel any different. Yeah. So that's one thing I work on. You want to embody your wins but also not let it get to you. So it's that balance. Um, I feel like I tend to not grasp the gravity of something, you know?

Yeah, no, this is, this is big. This is huge. I think I was just like— and I watched the video on loop just because at first I had like— you like literally pop out of the bike and then, no, no, like, it's true. Like, I've never seen this face of Morgan. This was like a new Morgan. Like, this was the side I've never seen of true shock. And I was like, oh my God, like, how— like, wow, this is insane. This is insane. Like, something that you've shared with us so many times, this business you built. And I feel like if you turn the pages of a memory book, you're like, how— from there to here? Like, I feel it's a huge inspiration to people who are afraid and fearful that, well, if I start, I'm gonna fail. And like you said, you have to let go. You have to trust yourself. Yeah.

And you know, I don't talk about this too much, although I've tried to share a little bit about this on our page because last year was so big. It was also one of the hardest for me— actually, not one of, it was the hardest, um, year I've ever had in my life personally, like mental health-wise, just to handle everything. And so there was this dichotomy of I'm achieving things that I never thought were possible in my life, and then I'm also struggling the most I ever have. And most people don't know that. So it's just interesting too, because I realize that you can do both. You can get through the hardest times and you can still be achieving dreams and getting through that. And I think I often think black and white of, oh, I'm this, therefore I can't this versus, you know, I was going through that, I still showed up. And good things still happened and we're still growing and we're still pushing boundaries and this is making me better. So it was such an interesting year filled with both of that. And I did try to share that. I said, you know, listen, so much good has happened and there's also been so many challenges. So I just want you guys to know that because I think they can see Forbes 30 Under 30. Oh my God, she's da da da. And I'm like, oh, but I'm also human, right? So it's, it's not just like pure confidence and pure you know, resiliency behind the camera.

I don't take, and you know what the, and thank you for sharing that. I don't take you ever as this overconfident person because, um, I know someone like I, I stress, uh, I stress, I do stress, I struggle from anxiety. I've had postpartum depression and not even knowing it. And I think, and what you're saying, I, I see a lot myself. People see you as Morgan. She owns GoNanas and she's making all this money and she's famous. And it's— I feel like people forget that just because you get these labels or filters— let's go with filters, right? You, you have these filters in front of you. When the cameras are off and the lights are down and the curtains close, you're still Morgan, who might have something inside that we all don't see. And I can't imagine You know, and I'm sorry I don't see it. You know, I'm thankful you're sharing with me because I see you as a totally different person in a different light now. But I can't imagine what it's like to have such this high skyrocketing up to the ceiling, and then all of a sudden you've got to drop back down to reality because you have a job to do and expectations, and then at the same time balance out your mental health, which is so important. And I know sometimes you're probably like, I don't wanna do this. I, I wanna stay in bed and eat whatever snack you wanna eat besides your gonanas, cuz of course you're gonna munch on that. But like, you know, Doritos or whatever is your like vice. And you just wanna be Morgan from high school who was a quiet little— I don't know if you were quiet in high school, but you just wanna be you. And I can't— I didn't think so.

I was definitely not quiet.

But like, I can't imagine what it's like to have to play dual roles at the same time?

Yeah. Oh yeah. I mean, I think I've learned to have a lot of grace with where I'm at. And so sometimes that means showing up, you know, with a different energy some days and saying, hey guys, just so you know, I'm tired today or I'm low energy. I don't have to give them a full explanation. Um, and me behind the scenes taking rest and taking the breaks that I need and trying to have that grace with myself, which is a constant practice because I have a really high standard. I am used to just going, going, going, pouring everything into everything that I do instead of also pouring back into my cup. So I think those were all really good lessons and I think it just showed me you can do both. And I think a lot of people, me, myself included, think, oh, if this is happening, I can't do that, I can't go after that, or I have to be ready before I go after that. And I think, like, listen to yourself, you know, like I have an internal kind of radar that says, hey, yeah, you can do that. Don't, don't do that. Like, we gotta, we gotta pause. So listen to that. But I think you just, you don't have to be perfect or healed or da da da before you take that step and before you do that thing, because you'll learn along the way.

I love that. I like that you said you don't have to be healed. Like, ooh, ooh, if I was, if I were to grab my guitar off the wall right now, there comes the song. No, I And the funny thing is I, I literally was gonna ask you what would be something you would say to someone who's trying to jump in this business, and I feel like you just answered it because I feel like there's that drive to be perfect, but you don't have to be.

Yeah, I think like, and I do this with other people I see, especially on social media, we build them up in our heads. I, I still do that honestly. And I think what us sharing in this way and showing up authentically does is it breaks that down to say you still can be doing all these things. Things and be inspiring and be a human behind it and not better than you, not better than anyone else, just simply a human who is still showing up. So it's not that we don't have struggles or it's not that we're more confident or anything. It's we just do it anyways. I have this, this drive that continues to push me to show up even if I'm really struggling or continue to take that breaks, but it's just humanizing it. So I think that is really what shows people you literally can do this because I'm doing it and I'm just as human. Um, yeah. So I think that's what showing up authentically does is it just reminds everyone that we're on the same playing field instead of putting us on all different levels, which is what social media naturally does. I'm a fan of social media in so many ways because we get to connect with people. And as a consumer, I don't really love it sometimes because of what it makes me— it creates an idealistic view. And I think people are showing up more authentically these days, like what we're doing here too. But, um, yeah, takes people authentically sharing to break that down.

So we're also adding life coach to your job criteria because I feel like so many people need to hear that from someone in your position, a business owner, a creator, someone who is very open and aware of mental health and how important it is. And you're just like, I'm— you're hitting every question before I ask it. So I'm sitting, I'm like, okay, okay, all right. She's gonna come sit in my seat. I'm gonna like Photoshop you, like when I do the video, I'll Photoshop your face on my face at the same time, so it's kind of like a dual thing.

I have to admit, I didn't even read the questions because I like to sometimes go in blind and just like, okay, so I get—

I— here's the thing, I get very nervous with this because there are some people who get extremely nervous if I don't send questions. So I do that out of respect, but I don't like to send questions because I want us to have a conversation. I want it to be like a real— like if we were on a Zoom call with like everybody else or if we picked up the phone, I wanted to be like that, where like, it was funny, you scratch your nose, I scratch my nose kind of thing. Like, I just want the real like ooze to come out because then it totally defeats the purpose of a 4.0 in life. Like, we're— hi and welcome to the podcast.

Like, oh yeah. Oh, are you nervous for that? No, no, because I know you. I was literally like, this will just be us chatting and it will be juicy and good.

But I do—

I've been on some podcasts where it's like, and question, and next question. I'm like, oh, did we really cover any of the, you know, meat and the good stuff. But everyone does these differently, you know.

That was one of those, um, sandwiches you get on the airplanes, you know. I don't like to present that. I like to give you the true meat and potatoes stacked into one, like whatever you like, you know. Yeah, there— oh, I had a sandwich for lunch, so maybe that's why I went there. I don't know. Yeah, yeah, it was kind of boring, but it was still good. Well, Morgan, I, I don't want to take up too much of your time because again, I want you to do all the— you said snow day, so do you have snow?

Yes, so in Portland almost everything is like closed, and then it's obviously the holiday tomorrow. So, um, yeah, people have been off and out of power. Our siblings came over and spent the night with their 4-month-old because they lost power. Oh, parents lost power. Yeah, um, everyone's okay. It'll come back. It's honestly so fun. We just binge watch TV and cook and play games. I love it. Yeah, um, I'm like, less to do. But yeah, snow weekend.

I'm hoping that— we're supposed to get snow tomorrow. Now I'm selfishly praying that it waits till Monday night into Tuesday because we have off tomorrow as well. But I would like a 4-day weekend, and I know that's selfish to say, but I would I'd like for that. We have those crazy strong winds and I was super nervous. I'm like, please, like, don't— power, stay with me. Um, I, I want Monday night, so if you can arrange that, talk to your snow outside.

Yeah, I'll put it, I'll put it out there in the energy.

Hey, snow goddess, it's just me, Morgan, checking in. Um, dot dot dot.

Hey, me again, just one quick favor.

Yeah, I just— I'll give you some bananas. Um, yeah, thanks.

Yeah. Gotcha.

Um, I truly though, I wanna thank, I know we've been planning this for a while and I'm super excited we finally got around to it. Cuz I, I do know, I, I, or I don't know, I don't know what it's like to run a business and I can't imagine. And I truly wanna thank you for joining me here. It's a brand new year. I'm loving interviewing so many individuals that share the passion, the drive of how you 4.0 in your life and bringing the realness to it that no, I'm not rolling in a Rolls-Royce every day and having people literally spray the sidewalk before I walk on it kind of, um, lifestyle.

Definitely not. Definitely not.

I don't know if I'd want that though, let's be honest. That's a lot. That's a lot.

No, I think it makes me uncomfortable. I, I prefer service on the same level.

Okay, I like that. I like that. I'm here for it.

Yeah, yeah. But of course, I'm so happy to be here. And it's a perfect Sunday activity, and I love chatting, especially with people in our community. So I'm so glad you reached out and that we made this happen.

100%. Um, obviously, so this is rolling out on the 25th. So for those of you who are checking in, make sure you're following GoNanas on the Instagram. More importantly, a February launch is happening with tres, right? Three different mixes.

It's actually in a week from now, so when this comes out, they will have just launched.

Oh, oh, so exciting!

And they can use your code.

I— yeah, I'm gonna put that all up in the show notes and I'll be like, hey everyone, check it out, go fight, win, stuff your face. And I didn't mention, silly me, gluten-free, nut-free, and vegan. Hello, hello, hello!

Yeah, we didn't talk much about the product, but Baking mixes, bananas, delicious flavors.

I think it speaks for itself. It's so yummy and delicious. I, I mean, I know the people wanted to know Morgan behind the scenes and we got it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, that is my favorite part. So then you have a connection to us and all that's going on behind the scenes and into the product, cuz it's literally made in my apartment before it hits the manufacturer. So if you get a little peek into the the behind the scenes.

But also if people head on over to your Instagram and if you follow everyone, you're always posting everyone's taste testing and everything. So you truly get a full 3D of that product, the packaging, the yummy, delicious. Like, I wish there was smell-o-vision so many times. I don't make those faces for fun. Like, I'm literally like, oh my God. Like, it's that—

same, same. Every time I like try the final sample, it's so fun.

Um, yeah, I'm very jealous that you get that job too. That's a really good job. I would love to—

I do say I have a fun job, you know, when I'm like in between meetings trying something, I'm like, this is great, I love my job.

Oh my God. Well, again, everyone, please check out Morgan's baby GoNanas on the Instagram, econanas.com. I promise to tease a little bit about the upcoming list and truly appreciate every single second you have provided for our listeners and the YouTube video. This will be on the video so you can see how beautiful she is. Love, love, love having you. And then I'm on every Thursday, so give me a listen, tune in, subscribe, and hit up GoNanas on Instagram.com. And that's GoNanas, G-O-N-A-N-A-S.

Yes, ma'am.