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Female Founder Lab is the podcast for founders expanding to the US market.
Every episode, a founder who's actually done it walks you through how: from raising money, landing the first American retailer, setting up, the hire that changed everything, and the mistakes you don't have to repeat. If you're building and the US is on your horizon, this podcast is for you.
This podcast is sponsored by TABS. TABS helps companies to successfully expand to the US market.
For more information, check out www.tabsinc.com.
Flora 0:03
Welcome to Femal Founder Lab, the podcast for female founders looking to expand their business internationally. This podcast is sponsored by Tabs, who helps European companies expand to the U.S. market. I'm so excited to share part two of my conversation with Laura today. Laura is the founder of Lifting the Mood, and she created the first adjustable dumbbells for women. And in part one, we spoke all about the beginning: how she did the first market research, how she created the first prototype, and how she found the right suppliers in China. And now we're going to talk about what happens once you have the product. How did you go to market? How did you launch a grower business? What's it like to build a company in New York? But also challenges she faced, like the whole tariff situation. Okay, so let's move to the go to market strategy because, of course, you spend so much time developing this product, getting the feedback, and now it's here. So, what did you do next?
Laura 1:04
Okay, so my go-to-market was, to be honest, we didn't pay for any ads in the first round, and we sold out, which which was huge success. Like that was a win for for me knowing that I had done something right, but also the product was great,
Flora 1:27
and that was due to the waitlist that you build, and already the excitement from showing the behind the scenes. I
Laura 1:34
think I think Instagram helped me a lot as a form of ad that I didn't have to spend, and obviously, gifting was a little bit of a blessing and a curse because you don't know necessarily what the outcome is going to be if it's going to help or if it's not. So I think I'm still learning what the gifting world looks like and how to strategically gift? I think that was a mistake of mine that I just gifted, but didn't know how to go about it.
Flora 2:06
What would you do differently? More research for who you gifted to, or better agreements of what you get out of
Laura 2:14
it? I guess because at the end of the day, it depends if you have relationships with the people that you you've gifted it to, because there is this, hey, can you can if I give it to you, can you post because it'll help me? But when you have a friendship and you have a relationship, you know there is that indebted underneath underlying message and agreement, but you still need to find you need to write that somewhere, and there needs to be some written agreement. Be like, okay, I'm going to gift this to you. Can you at least do a story? There needs to be parameters that, frankly, I should have done and I didn't necessarily do. And then I think the other lesson is, you know, if I'm gonna gift it, make sure it aligns with your customer that you're trying to reach. And one in particular trainer that I gifted to, she's used it so many times and truly, truly loves the product. And she's posted it so many. And through her, which oh my god, I I would follow anybody who knows her. You should follow her. Strong by Christina, and she does workouts at home, and so she lifts and does strength training at home.
Flora 3:27
Yeah,
Laura 3:28
in her living room.
Flora 3:29
Yeah, we had this conversation as well with another guest, where she also noticed it that if I just gift it randomly, I'm not necessarily seeing the return on investment, but if I gift it to people that are really honestly very excited about a product, and then use it everywhere. Talk to people about it and really become those brand ambassadors. Yeah, that's where it's most effective. So you have to kind of do your research. There,
Laura 3:54
there's sometimes your customers can be your your influencers underneath, you know, behind the Instagrams of the world or social medias of the world, they are your your biggest ambassadors. I actually had a client who saw me on Instagram, bought the full lifting the mood set right when we launched, and she's my pen pal now. She sent me this long letter when my baby was born. It was really sweet.
Flora 4:19
Oh, that's so sweet.
Laura 4:21
The pen pals.
Flora 4:22
If other founders are listening to this and they're looking for ways to, they maybe they're launching almost or looking for ways to promote their brand. What advice would you give? Like, what to focus on? Is it the events, gifting, influencer marketing,
Laura 4:40
ah, email marketing.
Flora 4:42
Email marketing. Yeah,
Laura 4:43
I think there's something to be said. If you get an email, like that person wants to hear from you. I think social media. You're kind of putting so much effort into the ether. I don't know fully the algorithm. I'm still trying to figure it out. There's a lot of effort that goes in it. An email, there's you're communicating to the customer that signed up to hear from you. That's so targeted and so strategic. I say it's not strategic from the customer, but it's strategic for you to utilize, I yeah I go back and forth with social media just because I don't have support for social media yet, and it takes so much effort that I I struggle with that. But I think email marketing-you cannot go wrong with email marketing. If people signed up to hear from you, what more signal do you need? Like you, you know.
Flora 5:42
So also building that wait list is very effective. Building the wait list
Laura 5:46
and and giving value. You know what? Why are they going to sign up now for the email? Like yes, email marketing, but what else? And I think, yeah, there there there's a huge opportunity in email marketing. I think.
Flora 6:00
And why the decision to not do any paid advertising? Because you've done nothing. You've done everything by word of mouth, going to events yourself, showing everything on social media yourself. Why is that?
Laura 6:11
I want. Well, great question, Flora. Word of mouth was working, and it still works. It's slow.
Flora 6:23
Yeah.
Laura 6:24
Truthfully, it's just time management. But I also want to sharpen my branding and my messaging and my positioning, and see with the few clips and things that I post on social media what works to utilize that into my ads because I didn't want to just spend money on ads. Not well, I'm sharpening my messaging and my branding now. Having done that, then my ads will have a much higher rate of success than if I just
Flora 6:57
yeah. So it's also a way of really taking all that data and feedback to perfect your message and your pitching, and I've seen you do that. I mean, I've been to a lot of events with you, and we've been in an accelerator program together. And then every time when Laura needed to introduce herself, she was like, "Okay, yes, and then she would sit up and deliver. You would always like deliver a 32nd or 62nd pitch, and then you would see how it lands, and then next time you would incorporate that feedback and do it differently. Like continuously, you were trying to perfect it, make it better, and make sure it resonated with people. You still do, yeah. So one question before, because I want to talk about the pitching, but so you are also doing word of mouth to really see, make it perfect, see how it lands, and then get all that feedback. But I know you also want to scale fast. Do you have yeah other strategies now of how you're going to reach more customers, or what's the next phase for lifting the mood,
Laura 8:01
I think, yeah, it's the opportunity for studios. Obviously, wholesale and D to C are so different. I remember before I started, I got so annoyed because I had a call with someone, and they told me that D to C was going to be so much harder, and that I shouldn't do D to C. I should do wholesale.
Flora 8:22
Why to reach enough people
Laura 8:25
direct to consumer? Obviously, it's a it's a one person wholesale is the the reach is so much wider.
Flora 8:34
Yeah.
Laura 8:35
Obviously, the bad thing bad thing about wholesale is your margins have to be significantly healthy to be able to be competitive with other, in my case, fitness equipment folks who offer whatever percentage, which is a significant percentage. So it's a blessing and a curse. To answer your question, I'm doing both now, where I'm going into studios and still doing direct to consumer. To scale, I'm gonna double down on both on wholesale. Probably look at studios and find ways to build relationships that way, and then D to C obviously paying for ads, but the ads could serve as wholesale ads or to studios or to attract studios or a customer at home.
Flora 9:30
Yeah, exactly. So let's go back to the pitching because I think, and I was talking about that before we started. One thing that's so great about you is that you're always ready to pitch, and you're actually, and you can see the weights here. She's walking around New York every day with those weights, and just going into studios, going to companies, and pitch right from the start. Was this always easy to you?
Laura 9:54
No, it's still not easy, especially if I have friends next to me. Oh my God! Again, but it's my baby. I have to sell it. I love it. I it was never easy for me, Flora. It it's a muscle that I've had to continuously flex.
Flora 10:10
Yeah,
Laura 10:11
and I think I don't think fear ever. I haven't realized this, but fear was never part of the equation. It was if fear kind of. It's always been there. I'm always fearful, but it's coming in. Yeah, it's
Flora 10:28
yeah
Laura 10:30
the. I think the grit supersedes it, but and then when I'm fearful, I'm like, oh, I'm onto something. Ooh, I I have to do it. You know, like I was talking to a friend about this pitching competition, and I was like, "Oh man, if I, I don't want to do it myself because I'm not great with numbers. And then I told myself, "Actually, I have to do it by myself because I'm not great with numbers. This is going to make me be good with numbers. But that's there. I mean, there's something to be said. Like, you can take shortcuts too. Like, you don't have to do it all, but I just had to because I don't have help and I bootstrapped. If you get funding, you can get shortcuts. Like get short. If you have shortcuts, get them. I
Flora 11:09
yeah
Laura 11:10
just didn't. Don't tell the cap how you
Flora 11:12
do it because for example, let's say you want to work with this major fitness concern. You know where the office is in New York, so you go there, and then what do you do? What do you say? Go
Laura 11:25
in. I grab the weight. I mean, I've gotten like the door hit in the face verbally. Just like no, thank you. I just I'm I have to prepare for my ego to be kicked.
Flora 11:37
Yeah,
Laura 11:37
and I have to be prepared to still smile and be like, all right, that's okay. If not you, somebody else. And yeah, I kind of build the courage, but then I also think, okay, well, what you know, pitching to someone who's a studio is different than pitching to someone who is interested in listening to the story, as opposed to someone who I'm asking, can I tell you my pitch? Can I tell you about my weight? Can I tell you about lifting the mood? Like someone who's not really interested, or you just keep tailoring it accordingly to see how it fits them.
Flora 12:11
Yeah, you know,
Laura 12:12
a studio is very different. A person like you is very different. So I try to pull different levers. What's an
Flora 12:22
opportunity you created for yourself by just going up there?
Laura 12:26
I think. I think in different events, I think it's helped me a lot that I've known, I've learned who is moving the needle in the industry, who they're connected to, who they're surrounded by. I I sometimes don't think you need to go directly to the source.
Flora 12:44
Yeah, I
Laura 12:45
think it's the people around them because the people around them gave them the opportunity to get to where they are. So I think it's I think if I don't know where I heard this advice from, but it's maybe it's from my mom. I
Speaker 1 12:59
don't
Laura 12:59
know. But when you see people at the top, you always have to see who is around them and who allowed them to get there. Anyone from like you know the assistant to the you know mentor to it's just from the ground up. It allowed like anybody who built them allowed them to get to there. So haven't noticed who they're friends with, who they're hanging out with, where they go, and I thought to myself, okay, how do I hang out with those people? Who's who who moves the needle? And an example was understanding who's who in the industry. I was in at an event, and there was the ex editor in chief of Women's Health, Liz Liz Plosser, and I just approached her and I pitched her my LTMS, and I was like, because she was in a class where she was using LTMS, I was like, hi Liz, I'm a huge fan. I just wanted to let you know I didn't even pitch her. I just said, hey, just FYI, they're adjustable. The bars that you used, they can go up to 22 pounds. She's like, "Oh, that's so cool! And I said, "Is there any way that I can just speak to you for 2030, minutes, and I can just ask you a few things? I ended up, you know, she ended up introducing me to another few trainers and a few other editor-in-chiefs purely because I just asked, but I think this is a one-off. I didn't want anything in return. I just wanted to speak to her and understand and navigate the industry. I wasn't expecting for her to open the doors for me.
Flora 14:36
Yeah, but I do think it's great that you do always push yourself in that position to get that exposure, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Yeah,
Laura 14:44
yeah.
Flora 14:45
And we were talking about there's another example. So we, you, and I went to a book tour a couple of weeks ago of Emma Green, and we both love Emma Green. And then it was so funny because you were sitting front row with your weight on your lap. And like trying to get Emma's attention throughout the tour, like here I am, this is my lifting the mood weight. And then in the end, she saw you and she gave you the opportunity to pitch, and you could present your product. And it was, and she even commented like, "Oh, that's such a great way of product placement. But that was another example, an opportunity you created for yourself, and whereby putting yourself out there, you got that incredible exposure for your brands.
Laura 15:27
That yeah, it was no, it was insane. I think it was. I saw it as a as a form of validation, as a form of honestly, someone I had. It was so great. They don't. They say don't meet your heroes, but she is definitely one I met, and I was just like, man, you gave me, you know, two, three minutes of your time to pitch, and I think that was yes, that was an incredible opportunity, that was huge for awareness, but I think more so it was validating that, as she said, it's an incredible product, and I someone coming from her, who's who's seen so many different products, that was that was a great seal of approval to keep me going.
Flora 16:09
Do you have other tips specifically for European founders that are going to do business in the U.S. What to be mindful of?
Laura 16:16
I think just like Europe has different cultures, and like Europe is not just one; it's region-based culture. I think the U.S. is the same. I think California has a culture of its own. New York has a culture of its own. Miami has a culture of its own. Well, Florida, sorry, has a culture of its own. Frankly, I think the decision for me to come to New York and launch and build my network in New York City has completely helped me and build and and scale at a minimum at least and build the relationships long term because I think New York City because it's such a hustle culture I mean it's a blessing and a curse I do think that people are so much more willing to just open the door, connect you to someone, or help you themselves. Or there's always like an exchange of information or an exchange of experiences that people are willing to to trade for. Do you think that New York's? If you want to come into the U.S. market, I think New York City is is the correct zone. I don't. I don't. I mean, I haven't experienced any other state, but I do think New York City has a mind of it, and it just moves and it's fast. And you can count on well, entrepreneurs. There's an entrepreneur hub in every corner in New York City. I mean, you've seen that.
Flora 17:37
Yeah, and that's also what we. I think what's so clear about your story. You are so close to so many opportunities, so it is an incredible place to build your business. And we notice that founders are hesitant in at the moment because they hear all the news about the tariffs and they're like, "Well, is this then still the time to expand to the U.S. or should we wait? How did you go about the tariffs?
Laura 18:02
I raised prices. I had to. I had no choice. And I think first things first, I had to raise prices. It is what it is. And it's funny. Rebecca Minkoff a few months ago said it can be a blessing and a curse. You just have to navigate, and people understand that you need to raise prices. Your customer will understand it. Obviously, you have to be mindful of what your customer's pocket is. But I had to raise mine, and I'm still selling with no problem.
Flora 18:36
Yeah,
Laura 18:36
and it can be a blessing and a curse because if tariffs go down, you're likely just gonna keep your high your price or your higher price at which the the one in which you increased it to. You're not gonna decrease it. At least, um, in my opinion, that's not something that I would do because there's like brand perception. There's, I just wouldn't do it. I wouldn't lower
Flora 19:01
it, and I think it's also good to realize because we're noticing that, for example, in New York, like prices everywhere they all go up. If you go to the grocery store now, what you pay for milk, eggs, like vegetables, it's insane. But that's so the U.S. customer is used to that. They're used to all the prices going up, so they wouldn't mind as much if your pricing also goes up. That's different in Europe.
Laura 19:26
Also, I think is I'm going to butch his last name, Gary Vaynerchuk.
Flora 19:32
Yeah, I don't know how to pronounce. Know what you mean? Gary V. Yeah.
Laura 19:36
So he said something really interesting a few weeks ago, which was is that we are going to experience the airwanization of products where something is going to be insanely expensive. Some like any you know, think of like a toothbrush instead of going for like 12 bucks or six bucks or whatever whichever range you want to. Pick is going to be like $100 toothbrush because some consumers want to feel or a piece of that like luxury life that they aspire to. I don't know, but he is starting to see that shift of erwonessm shift.
Flora 20:18
We have a couple of minutes left, but I also quickly want to talk about AI because you've been obsessed with AI. We don't talk about anything else, but it feels a little bit
Laura 20:29
more interesting.
Flora 20:30
But I feel like honestly, some people still struggle. Like, of course, they use AI, they look things up. It's easy, but how to actually use it to be more efficient or to be more productive in your business. Can you share examples of where in your business does AI help you?
Laura 20:50
I think it's helped me for my spam inbox. I think the best way to describe how to utilize it and like a very simple way is create a document that sits outside any of these AI platforms, and make sure you tell you write and you can even create the document in one of these AI platforms with who you are, where you're from. Just ask it to ask you a bunch of questions about who you are, what your goals are, what you intend to use AI for, what your tone of voice is-essentially like a branding document for yourself, but also for your company. Then create that document, move it out of that AI platform where it sits on your computer or your Google Drive, wherever you want, and then connect it to these all different AI platforms, because then that pull the information as opposed to isolating yourself with just one AI platform. Because you know, last week was Claude, this week is Codex, and that happened to me. Like I used ChatGPT and Codex for the longest time, then I switched to Claude, and now I'm back at you know ChatGPT Codex. But now Codex to answer actually your question is I've used it for a CRM like to automatically update my CRM when I get new emails and contacts information that I want to keep, but I want to keep in touch with. So I've set it up where it automatically filters through my inbox every Friday, grabs the names, and then I approve those that I want it to add into my CR, my manual, not no, not so manual anymore, but my CRM and my Google Drive, so I don't have to pay for a CRM HubSpot because I'm bootstrapped.
Flora 22:38
Yeah.
Laura 22:38
Another thing that I'm using it now is obviously coding. I, I need vibe coding, i.e. vibe website design. That's helped me immensely. So I'm using the AI agent from Codex with the AI agent from Shopify editor and building kind of what I want for my website based off of my messaging to add, but I always the more examples you give it, I don't even have cool prompts. It's just this is what I want. How do I prompt this? Give me the prompt, and then
Flora 23:17
what are areas where you notice you cannot use it yet, or it's not to your satisfaction.
Laura 23:23
I think content creation is still difficult. I find that it's very robotic still, but I think that is a me problem. I I think I need to spend more time teaching and tailoring what I need, and it takes time. I think what not a lot of people talk about is the time it takes to build your your avatar that is your agent to talk like you. So I feel like a lot of people complain. It's like, oh, it just it sounds like a robot, or it looks like AI did it. But if you take time to build the behind the scenes when you create those prompts that you see on social media, oh, I did this for 30 days, and blah blah blah, or you know, content for 30. It's because they've trained it enough that they can get that great output.
Flora 24:12
What are AI tools that every founder should have
Laura 24:15
right now? I'm using Whisper Flow, where I just talk to it and it types it. That seems to be working for me really well because I talk a lot, and the other one obviously Claude and ChatGPT is a must. Both of them do the job. ChatGPT is based off of fun and content creation, and if you look at their ads, you can tell it's much it's it's much more creative, and Claude is more project managing. So I use Claude for processes, structure, project management, and ChatGPT copywriting, and anything that has to do with content creation and messaging because it just talks. More like me than Claude does.
Flora 25:02
It's interesting because I have it the other way around. No way. I feel like it's easier for me to create content with Claude and also with the copywriting that it talks more like me. No, and with Chat, I feel it's too over the top.
Laura 25:15
It's like self-deprecating, and ChatGPT is like, "This is amazing.
Flora 25:19
Well, thanks so much, Laura. So, one last question: What's next for lifting the mood? What does success look like for you in 12 months?
Laura 25:30
Can I tell success? Honestly, I want to. I have a target revenue goal that I want to reach this year. I finally have someone else joining LTM, which is incredible. So it's going to be two of us now, and yeah. And the third goal is like I want to reach more studios, I think, and and more women, so we can get the word out. I'm
Flora 25:54
very excited to see it happen, and I'm sure you're going to make it happen. So congratulations, Laura, and thanks so much.
Laura 26:01
Thank you. This is great.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai