Founder Feature: Leanne Viola and Jesse Barruch of WHIMS

In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, Grace Kennedy chats with Leanne Viola and Jesse Baruch, the co-founders of WHIMS Delights, a better-for-you confectionery brand. They share their inspiring journey of creating low-sugar, gluten-free, and dairy-free treats, born out of their personal health challenges. Leanne and Jesse discuss the obstacles they faced entering the CPG industry with no prior experience, the importance of financial responsibility, and their unique strategies for growth, from local store launches to scaling distribution. They also touch on balancing business and marriage, the power of communication, and the value of attending trade shows like Expo West.

Tune in to hear their insights on building a sustainable, health-conscious brand and how they’ve navigated the world of CPG!

Listen in as they share about:

• The Creation of WHIMS Delights
• Product Development
• Manufacturing and Scaling
• Business Challenges and Costs
• Retail and Online Strategy
• Retail Expansion
• Participation in Expo West 2025
• Work-Life Integration
• Proudest Moments
• Advice for Early-Stage Founders

Episode Links:

WHIMS Delights  Website
WHIMS Delights Instagram

Leanne Viola LinkedIn

Jesse Barruch LinkedIn

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Show Links:

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Episode music by Super Fantastics

Creators & Guests

Host

Grace Kennedy

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Leanne Viola
When I went to the doctor, they said, okay, you're pretty much gonna have to be on this medication for the rest of your life, and there's 50 chance that you're gonna go blind, which is not a great proposition for anybody. So I'm like, I think I'm good. I'm not gonna do that. And so went through this health journey, and we did our own research. What can we do from a health and lifestyle perspective? And we decided to start with food. There's a lot that comes with our food of how it impacts inflammation in your body. So we decided to go gluten free, dairy free. We cut out sugar, and went plant based for about three and a half years.

00:45
Leanne Viola
As people with sweet tooth, we found out it was really difficult, you know, shopping down the grocery aisles to look for alternatives to the conventional treats out there. That's where the whole idea of whims came about, is, can we create something truly that is low sugar, that doesn't have other fillers and additives to it, that actually tastes good?

01:07
Grace Kennedy
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Startup CPG podcast. This is Grace, and I am back with another founder feature. Today I'm talking to Leann and Jesse, the co founders of Whims Delights, a better for you confectionery company. I mentioned during the episode that whims Delights is a Shelfie Awards finalist. But by the time this episode airs, we will have announced that they are actually the winners in the candy category. I loved chatting with Leanne and Jessie about whims, and as you'll hear, I am truly obsessed with their product. So if you haven't tried it yet, go buy one of their peanut butter cups immediately. I hope you enjoy this episode, and as always, let me know what you think. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the startup CPG podcast.

01:53
Grace Kennedy
This is Grace, and today I'm so excited to be joined by Leigh Ann and Jesse, who are the co founders of Whimsical a better for you confectionery company. I'd love for you two to start by just introducing yourself. Leanne, let's start with you.

02:09
Leanne Viola
Yes. Thank you again, Grace, for having us. We are so excited to be on the podcast. Yes, my name is Leanne Viola. I am the co founder of Whims. I don't know what to say, grace. I feel like that's it.

02:23
Grace Kennedy
That's perfect. We'll jump off from there. And Jessie, if you could introduce yourself.

02:27
Jesse Barruch
Yeah, I'm Jesse Barouche, the other co founder of Whims also Leanne's husband.

02:32
Grace Kennedy
Yes. That's the other aspect of the intro that I didn't hit is this is a long time married couple. They were just telling me before we got on that they met in high school and now they run a business together, which I do feel like maybe is some world record of not only have you been together since high school, but you also run a CBG company together. So two kind of challenging things, but we'll get to all of that. So just to start, I want to just make sure our listeners know what a fan I am of whims. Whims is actually a finalist in our startup CPG Shelfie awards this year, and I am one of the judges, and I was lucky enough to be sent some of their samples. And we in my household were truly obsessed.

03:14
Grace Kennedy
The peanut butter cups were my favorite, but I literally had to tell my partner, do not finish my whims. These are my whims, and if you finish them, I will be so upset. And luckily, she didn't, but they still went pretty fast. Cause, you know, it was a dangerous game to have, but that is maybe a point to be had is it's not as dangerous as some other treats. So I'd love maybe we'll start with you, Leanne. Can you tell our listeners who is whims and why did you guys create this brand?

03:45
Leanne Viola
Yeah, whims is, you know, our goal with whims was to recreate nostalgic chocolates into better for you treats. So all of our chocolates are only 1 gram of sugar. They're gluten free, dairy free, and we don't use any sugar, alcohol, or palm oil in any of our products. And really, the reason behind whims or why we exist came from Jesse and I going through our health journeys. There was a point in our lives, it was probably five or six years ago, where we both were going through different health journeys. For me, it was. I started losing my hair. I just woke up one day and my hair was falling out. It was extremely painful. I couldn't figure out what was going on. Went to the doctor.

04:32
Leanne Viola
They put me through a bunch of different specialists, figured out that I had this rare form of alopecia. You know, 1% of people with this alopecia have, like, this scarring alopecia where it starts with this burning, terrible pain on your scalp. It was terrible. And so with that, it was this opportunity where we kind of stepped back and said, okay, let's look at what we can do. When I went to the doctor, they said, okay, you're pretty much going to have to be on this medication for the rest of your life, and there's 50 chance that you're going to go blind, which is not a great proposition for anybody. So I'm like, no, I think I'm good. I'm not going to do that. And so went through this health journey and we looked, you know, we did our own research.

05:16
Leanne Viola
What can we do from a health and lifestyle perspective? And we decided to start with food. There's a lot that comes with our food of, you know, how it impacts inflammation in your body. So we decided to go gluten free, dairy free, we cut out sugar and went plant based for about three and a half years. And as people with sweet tooth. So, you know, we always wanted to have that treat after our coffee in the afternoon or after dinner. We found that it was really difficult, you know, shopping down the grocery aisles to look for alternatives to the conventional treats out there. That's where the whole idea of whims came about is can we create something truly that is low sugar, that doesn't have other fillers and additives to it that actually tastes good?

06:03
Grace Kennedy
Yeah. Oh, my God. And it's. So the last thing you said I feel like is so important. All those other additives and also actually taste good because I feel like some of these better for you treats or sweets. Sometimes you look at the ingredients and you're like, is this actually better for me? I'm not sure. And then you eat it and you. It doesn't taste that good, or it doesn't. It tastes good, but it gives you a stomachache or all of these things. And what I love about whims is it genuinely tastes delicious. And I don't get that, that stomachache or that bloating that I feel like you often get from some of these, you know, sugar alternatives or things like that. So another question I had is, how did you. Well, a, maybe back up one moment. Where were you both coming from?

06:48
Grace Kennedy
Had you ever been in the CPG space before or was this a brand new entry for you?

06:53
Leanne Viola
Great question. Neither of us came from the CPG space. I think if we had known what it would look like coming into, you know, how challenging it would be, I don't think we would have done it necessarily. So it was great that we had no context of what it would look like. But Jesse and I come from the people space, so we spent our whole lives in the people space. Jesse's an entrepreneur. I mean, through and through. He's always been, you know, doing his own thing, but he's spent about 16 years running an executive search firm, and I've spent 20 plus years in HR. So we've worked across multiple industries, and we did, you know, work with some CPG brands as well, Jesse specifically. But we did not have CPG experience at all.

07:39
Grace Kennedy
Wow. So you just said, okay, let's give this a go. Why not? And then you discovered all of the many hurdles that come with CPG.

07:48
Leanne Viola
Absolutely.

07:48
Grace Kennedy
And all of these things. But my second question was when you decided, okay, we want to create a better for you treat that tastes good and doesn't have these additives. How did you set about developing it and deciding which nostalgic treats you were going to do? Because obviously there's so many, and everybody's nostalgic treats are different. And then how did you actually develop this product that, like you said, isn't chalky, tastes like the real thing, and is low in sugar? How did you do it?

08:15
Jesse Barruch
The universe really stepped up and provided. So we had these, like, initial recipes that we had developed, and we had this peanut butter cup. I mean, we looked at, you know, what are the best selling confectionery items in America as our guide to what we wanted to remake. And so we wanted a form factor that people knew. And so the peanut butter cup offered sort of a bit of a low barrier to entry in terms of, essentially, it's chocolate and peanut butter. Everybody loves the original peanut butter cup. So we had these peanut butter cups, and they were so healthy, and they tasted so gross. So were halfway there, and one day were headed to pick up our daughter from school.

08:57
Jesse Barruch
I think she was in, like, second grade at the time, and it was early in the school year, went to pick her up, and there were tons of parents hanging out. So it was this event that we didn't actually know about somehow, but it was like a, you know, give parents an opportunity to meet each other at the beginning of the school year. So we're there and we're like, okay, I guess we're going to hang out. And Leanne said to me, why don't you go get those peanut butter cups and we'll hand them out? And I thought, gosh, you know, I knew what kind of feedback were going to get. But, like a good husband, I listened to my wife and went home, got those peanut butter cups, and we started handing them out. And we're Canadians, so were in Canada at the time.

09:33
Jesse Barruch
And you know, luckily, everybody was very polite with their feedback, but one person said to us, wait here, and disappeared into the crowd of parents, pulled this woman out, put her in front of us, and said, give her one. And so we gave this woman, who we didn't know, a peanut butter cup, and she took one bite and then sort of stood there kind of like smacking her lips together, looking off, thinking, and then spent about ten minutes telling us exactly what was wrong with the product. What I really got was that one of the things about food is, and we've both had to develop this, is that connection between language and palette. So you might not like something, but knowing what's not working about the product is key. And she broke it down.

10:19
Jesse Barruch
And when she said all of the things, I started to see what the issues were that we had to fix. And so there were, standing with this woman who just told us everything wrong with our product, and were like, who are you? And very humbly, she explained she was a pastry chef and had worked into food manufacturing. And I took her number, went out for coffee with her the next day, and I was like, can you help us? And she was very humble. She's like, I don't know. I can try. We can see. And so that woman is Leslie, who today is our head of product and has custom developed across all three of our products. We have the peanut butter cup, the caramel cookie bar, and the peanut nougat bar.

11:01
Jesse Barruch
And she's built the recipes from the ground up for all of our components, including our oatmeal chocolate. So we got so lucky and that we met her early on, and she really, you know, took our concept and helped us bring it to life.

11:14
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely. And it goes to show, I love that story for so many reasons, but it does go to show that you have to be a little bit shameless at the beginning and also really unafraid. You're like, I know these aren't really right yet, but you happen to meet the person by giving this person the wrong thing, who could make it right. And I feel like that's such a good lesson for other founders of just, like, just put it out there, and people will give you feedback, and you'll be able to make it better. And she has done an amazing job developing your recipes. And the chocolate aspect is such a challenging aspect, I feel like, to get right, that people underestimated, you know, how to make chocolate plant based, to use oat milk and all these things.

11:55
Grace Kennedy
So she must be some sort of some wizard in the kitchen at all of these things.

11:59
Jesse Barruch
Yeah. She's amazing.

12:01
Grace Kennedy
Yeah. So Leslie developed your recipes. How did you then go about actually turning them into packaged, sellable products? Right. You could hand out little chocolate bars, but how did you find someone to make all of the packaging, to make thousands of peanut butter cups? What were your next steps after developing the recipe?

12:25
Jesse Barruch
Yeah. How long is this podcast? Each component of the journey is its own process to undertake, and each step you take forward leads to the next. So it's definitely not linear. And we started off in Leslie's kitchen. It'd be like a three pound chocolate machine testing recipes. We then plugged into a local swiss chocolatier who happened to be in town where we lived at the time, galed up our batch from there. And the manufacturing piece, when you dont own the manufacturing and youre relying on third party manufacturing, its been a process of finding the right partners today. Were super lucky, were in some amazing partnerships with manufacturing partners that do such a great job for us. We wouldnt exist without those relationships. Almost none of them are our first relationship. So it's about finding where you can get started, and it's not always perfect.

13:22
Jesse Barruch
Same goes for packaging, finding the right packaging suppliers, all while doing the most important thing that we've learned in CPG, which is focusing on not only developing the product and figuring out how to have something that's a sellable product, but doing so in a financially responsible way where you're thinking about gross margin from day one. So doing those two things in concert, ensuring that you're developing, setting a very high bar in terms of the standard, and holding those partners to that standard while being responsible about the business to ensure that you've got the right unit economics where you can build a business around it.

14:04
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely. I think that's such a good reminder as well. Day one, be thinking about the money, because, you know, we can't have a business if there's no money. But what advice would you give to a founder who's maybe earlier on in their journey than whims now is who's looking for those first partners? What sort of thing would you advise them to be looking for? To have their eyes out for so that they can make smart choices or as smart choices as possible?

14:29
Jesse Barruch
Yeah, I think there's sort of two things. We also, you know, early on engaged with our current sort of fractional CFO. She's someone we've known for ten years and worked with in other capacities. I think engaging, there's two components to that. I meet founders who are a little earlier on in their journey who are working on their recipe. And I'm like, always go engage with manufacturing partners earlier than you think. Don't think you need to be ready. There's a balance between the recipe you develop and the equipment you're going to produce on. And so get in early and learn about the equipment, how it performs, what the limitations are. And it's a big search. If you're looking for a manufacturing partner, there's some lists out there that were helpful.

15:17
Jesse Barruch
But all of the folks that we found really were on that journey of talking to manufacturers, asking who else they knew. They're not well advertised and not easy to find. The good ones are busy manufacturing other products, and so getting connected with them is really a journey that never ends. Even when you find that first partner, you want to identify your scale up partner, get a sense of back to that margin piece, get a sense of, we can produce it today for this price. And when we hit x volume, it'll open up some new manufacturing potential and efficiencies that bring it down to this price. Having that line of sight early is important. And then really understanding your cost of goods from day one, what does it take to produce?

16:04
Jesse Barruch
Where are the opportunities to reduce your cost on the backend and start right away? I think were guilty of this also thinking that, well, one day, well figure out the margin piece, but you really need to start day one and start concert of finding the most efficient, getting started, having line of sight to more efficient manufacturing while maintaining a good sense of what your cost of goods are like. Right from day one.

16:31
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely. And the longer you're in business, I feel like the more the costs just keep rising, you know? So you think one day we'll be really successful so we won't have to worry as much. It's like, no, you just keep having other costs coming out of the woodwork from something else or for this thing or that thing. And speaking of another thing that does require some costs is, you know, you manufacture the product, you have beautiful packaging, you have a beautiful product. But I how do you actually get it to customers? And how do you get the customers to then buy it, and how do you get it into retailers?

17:01
Grace Kennedy
So I'd love to chat a little bit about your strategy to getting it in front of customers and, you know, your retail strategy versus maybe selling it online, if that's something you guys prioritize or do it all. And I did notice you're in some retailers in the Philly area, which is where I'm based, which I was thrilled to see. But what's been your approach to, yeah, getting into retailers and getting in front of customers?

17:24
Leanne Viola
Well, yeah, there were some changes. I think we initially had planned to launch and focus on d two C, but there were some changes that's more on Jesse's realm, which allowed us to pivot. So we started thinking about, like, okay, if d two C isn't going to be our primary focus, we're going to go wholesale. And what does that look like? There was no playbook necessarily on how to do that. So we just as a team decided to, it's going to be the first 100 stores within 100 miles radius around us. And at that time, we had launched our brand in LA. We were living in LA, so we moved from Vancouver down to LA for 18 months and now we're in Austin. So it's just like our local cafes, our stores, let's walk them in, let's talk to them about the brand.

18:12
Leanne Viola
Let's get feedback in the moment. And it was such a great experience for us because that's where were able to see the interaction with the product, the excitement around the chocolate. So that was our strategy. It was just walk it into as many stores as possible, have that conversation. Who do we need to talk to? Connect with the buyer, if there's a buyer there. And then as we slowly started to expand, it was like, how do we do that at scale across the US? And it was just us reaching out, trying to connect with as many people sharing about the brand. And that's really been how we've approached it. It's really just that actually, it was.

18:51
Jesse Barruch
Even smaller at the beginning. It was like five stores 5 miles from our house, first hundred customers. And then it was, okay, ten stores. And then we set a goal of like, let's open up 20 new stores a month. And I think the important thing there for new founders is what that allows you to do is it allows you to go get on shelf in close proximity to where you live, go demo at those stores. I mean, we, you know, every weekend we would do two, three demos and meet the customer, give them the product. I remember being so nervous in those early demos of, like, handing people samples, like, oh, my God, are they going to like it? Like, you don't know, right? You've been off in a corner developing this recipe and everybody around you is like, this is really good.

19:33
Jesse Barruch
And now you know, the real test is a stranger who you've never met going to try your product and then pick it up and buy it. And so you need that as a founder, you need to go through that journey of meeting your first hundred customers face to face. So it was, like, super small at the beginning. It's like, can we get on shelf in five stores?

19:53
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, totally. And I noticed, too, I mean, just even looking at where you guys were located in my areas, it seems like you still are in a lot of these smaller stores, like natural food stores. You're actually in my hometown, natural food stores that my mother used to take me to when I was sick, you know, so I'll have to go back there and see whims. But can you talk a little bit about that? Because obviously you're based in Austin, Philly's across the country, but it seems like you're still in a lot of these smaller stores. So can you talk a little bit about how you've approached, you know, even just expanding beyond that 100 miles radius?

20:24
Leanne Viola
Yeah, I think it's twofold. You know, we, when we started small and started expanding, we did have that goal of 20 stores per month. Let's just do that, and let's just see where we end up. And we focused a lot on California and New York specifically in the early days. And now being in Austin, of course, we're in a few Austin stores as well. We found that over time that people have actually, as we started doing outreach, people will refer you to other retailers, or someone else will see you at a retailer that's currently carrying whims, and they'll reach out and say, hey, I saw you at the store. Can you send me some information? Can we try some samples?

21:04
Leanne Viola
So it became like this, us reaching out, but also it became like this organic thing that started happening around whims and our brand that we got really excited about. We're like, wow, people saw us there. So I think it's just getting your brand out there, constantly talking to people, sharing with as many people as you can. That's really been how we've grown in some of these other areas. And we've been so lucky that we have really great partnerships with, like, fair and air goods and some of these platforms that have allowed us to get in front of other retailers that we might not have otherwise gotten in front of.

21:41
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely. And another thing you mentioned was, you know, scaling from being able to walk to the store and do a demo yourself to it. Being across the country, obviously, you're not going to be able to fly to every single store you have. So how have you been managing, scaling your retail in places where you can't physically be there yourself, but you obviously still want to move the product off the shelf.

22:02
Jesse Barruch
Yes, there's a couple pieces, just one I want to share, which is fun. Like, I remember in our old house in LA, Leanne's office. Behind her was a wall of cases of our first product. And it used to be my job to pick, pack, and ship. And, you know, every day there'd be a number of stores, either that we had reached out to requesting to see if we could send them a sample or store is that inbound to request samples? And I heard early on someone saying, you got to really give away product until it hurts and then give away more. And so we had this idea that, like, it's really, like, if you think of the sales process, it's not about getting on shelf.

22:42
Jesse Barruch
I mean, ultimately it is, but it's a sequence of events, and the focusing on getting your sample into someone's hand as the goal, not getting on shelf is the goal, was really our sales strategy. So it's like, how do we get a pouch in someone's hands? And so the outreach was focused on, can I send you a sample? As opposed to, hey, trying to give them all the information. Of course, we'd send our sell sheets and we'd want to land on shelf, but we wanted to let the product do the heavy lifting. And we knew that if we could get them a sample. And so it took a little pressure off us, off the store, they didn't need. The only decision they had to make was, did they want to try?

23:19
Jesse Barruch
And so I think that first step was key, and then doing the fulfillment ourselves so that we learned what good looked like before going out to third party to help us.

23:30
Leanne Viola
Yeah. And I would say we also did, you know, as much as possible, we would try to maintain really close relationships with those retailers so as they had events or moments that they were activating internally for their store, we would want to participate, so we would send, like, free product to them so that they can sample it out to people as part of their event. And that was a way that we wanted to support them to get other people to trial the product without them having to do any heavy lifting. So, you know, as much as possible creating really solid relationships with them and finding ways that we could support them in what they were up to.

24:10
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely. No, that makes so much sense. And letting the product speak for itself, I do feel like, is so powerful in CPG because there are so many products out there, but at the end of the day, it something tastes really good. It's really good. And that's what we want. We want something that tastes really good. And that's the most important thing to retailers and to consumers like myself, us lowly consumers, but it is the most important thing. So another thing, thinking of this retail expansion, were just speaking about the fact that you guys are going to be exhibiting at Expo West 2025 in the startup CPG section, which is so exciting. But what are you looking forward to in that sort of step into a bigger arena of buyers? And obviously, there's just thousands of people at Expo west.

25:00
Grace Kennedy
How are you sort of. It's still obviously, you know, half a year away, but how are you gearing up to be in conversation with potentially larger retailers, larger distributors, things like that? How are you gearing up for that?

25:14
Jesse Barruch
We've always thought about expansion and retail partnerships as like the right retailer at the right time for us, that decision to go focus on independence first and build a really good base of independent stores where we could have relationships with, we could distribute ourselves. So we're in just over 600 stores today. We have one large distributor partner for an airport chain. We're in WH Smith in about 50 airports, and we have a distribution partner. But most of the other stores we self distribute to, so we have two, three pls, one on the west coast, one on the east coast. So we self distribute today, I think I was on the phone this morning with a friend of mine at a brand who did a different strategy when they launched and they went national broadline distribution first.

26:03
Jesse Barruch
And were talking about the difference in profitability, of doing it that way. And it's super exciting to think about distribution, a number of doors, but you can get yourself in some trouble going too big, too fast. And so for us, expo's an opportunity to get our product in front of new buyers, new distribution partners, and really evaluate what opportunity we're able to potentially unlock. Like we spreadsheet out every new retail distribution opportunity, really understanding gross margins, build backs, free fills. We do a mini p and L for every potential distribution opportunity and have said no to some pretty big and exciting ones. So I think Expo for us is about building relationships, meeting the retailers, introducing our product, and we're here with a long term view. So it's not about, gosh, I wonder how many doors we can get at expo.

27:04
Jesse Barruch
It's really for us an opportunity to keep building relationships, expand that relationship network so that when it's the right time, we've been in contact already. We built that relationship and we've explored what does distribution look like, and then when we're ready, be able to already have been in relationship with those folks. So we think about this as just one big community within CPG. And this is a chance to get out and be in the community, meet our people, introduce ourselves with a long term view of when the time is right, either for them or for us, and things come together. We're already sort of in a relationship.

27:43
Grace Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely. And I love what you said about thinking of it, like, just being in community, and Expo west is just a larger opportunity to be in the huge community that is CPG. And it's definitely felt when you're there that it's such a beautiful community of people, and so many people are so excited about what whims is doing, what every brand is doing, and it's really fun. And I love that approach and that way of thinking about it and probably will make it more fun for you as well as if it's not as like, we must get XYZ retailer by the end of XOS because things take time, unfortunately. But another. Oh, sorry, Leanne, were you going to say something?

28:25
Leanne Viola
No, I was just going to say, we feel so honored that we get to participate in Expo west in this way because of the opportunity through startup CPG. Like, it's incredible. We walked to expo the last two years and we felt the community and the thing that you just talked about, like, that energy, and we get. We're so thrilled that we get to participate this year in a different way. So, yeah, we're really excited.

28:51
Grace Kennedy
Yes, absolutely. That was actually the first time I ever tried whims was when you guys came walking through our section in 2024, and I. You were just handing out samples left and right, which, like you said, hand out samples till it hurts and then hand out more. And I. We took them and I was like, oh, my God, this is so good. So, you know, that was my first time, but excited to have you guys in the section. And it is a really fun section.

29:13
Grace Kennedy
I will say, not to tutor on horn, but we have a good time in the start of CBG section, and we bring a lot of buyers around and really try to make it worthwhile for all the brands because we do know it's such a big investment and on your time, on your money, on your energy to attend a trade show. So we try to make it as fun and as fruitful as possible for everybody. But another thing I wanted to ask about, which is maybe a slight pivot away from the nitty gritty operations side. But as we mentioned at the top of the show, you guys are a married couple, you have a family. How do you balance being co founders of a very time intensive business while also being a married couple and having a family?

29:54
Grace Kennedy
I mean, balance is, I've said this before, a terrible word because it's elusive and does it really exist? But how do you manage? I suppose the many asks on your time as co founders and as family members, I hope.

30:06
Leanne Viola
I'm not sure if we've actually figured this out 100%, but because we've been married for so long, perhaps we've gained some traction on the communication side. So I think that's the key, is just communicating as much as possible. Because you're right. There's so much pulling you at any given time. You know, there's the work responsibilities, there's the personal. There's also trying to connect as two individuals in a relationship right outside of being parents. So it's just being in communication all the time, understanding what the priorities are and being able to. I think we're really lucky that we're partners as well in the business because there are times where, you know, I may be 60% and Jesse's, like, running at 100% and I can really lean on him and there are times where that shifts as well, and then he can lean on me.

30:55
Leanne Viola
So I think it's been just communication and, you know, trying to talk as much as we can through things. Jesse, would you be all about smirking? I'm like, wait, maybe I got that wrong.

31:13
Jesse Barruch
It's definitely not. The goal is really like work life integration. It's integrating who we are in relationship. This is a whole new domain to practice being in relationship together. And communication is really the foundation of it all and setting boundaries with each other. At 10:00 at night, I'm brushing my teeth and Nan's like, did you send that email? I'm like, not now. I do not want to talk about work right now. And I'm probably guilty of doing the same, but it's really just dealing with everything that comes up in communication.

31:47
Grace Kennedy
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, how. This is maybe a big question, but I feel like so many people answer like, it's about communication. Right, but what does that look like in practice? You know, like on a weekly basis, how do you guys practice that?

32:01
Leanne Viola
Yeah, sometimes it's a bit messy. So it could just be like the passing by and we're like, hey, do you have ten minutes? Let's talk through some things or pulling each other aside hey, you know, I was really expecting that you were going to handle x, y, and z, and it didn't happen. Like, what's going on? Do you need any help? What can I do? That type of stuff. So it's like taking those opportunities. It isn't like a specific structure. Sometimes we have meetings where we set it in the calendar, and we know we have agenda items that we need to talk through. That, to me, sometimes feels a little less personable than the moments that we have. We're in the same home, we work from home, so we can grab a coffee, we grab lunches together, and we're on slack, too.

32:44
Leanne Viola
We email each other, and there's the phone, but we just try to find each other as much as we can throughout the day to have those conversations.

32:53
Grace Kennedy
I love that. Do you guys ever slack each other from the same room or house?

32:57
Leanne Viola
Absolutely. It happens all the time. In fact, sometimes we text each other in the same house.

33:04
Grace Kennedy
I can't possibly walk to the other room right now. It's not possible.

33:07
Leanne Viola
Too far?

33:09
Grace Kennedy
No, that's.

33:10
Jesse Barruch
I also think that, like, communication is not just about. I think the definition of communication is connection and, you know, maintaining connection in the whirlwind of work, regardless of the industry or what you're doing, whether it's being connected, Leanne and I, with members of our team, you know, ultimately, all work happens out of that connection, and it's easy to get real transactional, and when you're in transaction, you're not in connection. And so, you know, finding each other, listening, like, what's going on for you, and then actually listening, you know, Leanne reminds me frequently that sometimes she's not looking for me to help, she's just looking for me to listen, you know?

33:53
Jesse Barruch
And I think that out of getting each other, out of being gotten, out of being heard, I think that's where really connection comes from, and then you can deal with whatever there is to deal with. So I think that's a practice. I don't think we've perfected that, but it's something we work on every day.

34:12
Grace Kennedy
Yeah. And it's something you've been practicing for, what, 28 years, you said, of marriage.

34:16
Leanne Viola
Yeah, I met him in high school, so we've been together and 28 together.

34:22
Grace Kennedy
Wow. Yeah. So you've had some practice, but it's a good reminder to everyone. Even with close to 30 years of practice, you're not perfect. And, you know, we're humans. At the end of the day, what can you do? But I love that. So as we're sort of nearing the end. A question I love to ask, too, is just, you know, obviously, we've talked about some of the challenges that come with running a CPG business, but what's been one of your proudest moments since founding whims? Maybe let's start with whoever's ready first. Actually, I don't want to put anyone on the spot.

34:52
Jesse Barruch
I'm, like, always blown away. Walking into a store, seeing our product on shelf, that just never gets old. Or one of the things that I like to do that's always fun is if I see someone shopping near our product, I'll maybe prompt like, hey, have you tried those? Those are so good. And then be like, really? They're good? And they'll grab the product, and they'll go buy it. I'm just like, that, for me, is always a cool experience, and I may or may not tell them after that, it's our company, but just seeing our product on shelf never gets old. Like, it's just the coolest thing ever.

35:27
Grace Kennedy
Totally.

35:28
Leanne Viola
I would say it is. The amazing people that we've either met or have surrounded ourselves with, like, our team, who knew that we would have this team with us. Right? Like, it's just incredible how dedicated they are and how excited and passionate about building whims alongside us. And so I think just the community and the team, it's almost like it's created this energy around whims that isn't just the product itself. And that's something that I'm really proud of, because when we started whims, we said we wanted to build it with friends, the people that we love, and we've gotten to do that. And so that's a really cool moment.

36:17
Grace Kennedy
Totally. I love that goal as well, just doing it with friends. And again, like we said, it can be really hard, but being able to do it with people that you have fun with and that, you know, have fun with you makes it a lot easier. Absolutely. So my last and final question is just where can people learn more about whims? Where can people find whims and follow along with your journey?

36:38
Leanne Viola
Go for it, Jess.

36:38
Jesse Barruch
Our Instagram, Leanne and I try to really let people see, like, our story, who we are, what our journey looks like, where we are in the world. We try to really highlight our community there, the stores who carry our products, the people who work behind the scenes, our team, like Leanne said. And so probably our social is a great place to go and learn more about us. And we have a store locator on our website that's almost up to date. It'll be up to date by the time we air, but yeah, follow along on the journey on social.

37:11
Grace Kennedy
Perfect. I love it. Yeah. It was such a pleasure to talk to you both and learn more about whims and your story, and I can't wait to see where whims goes next.

37:21
Leanne Viola
Thank you so much for having us.

37:23
Jesse Barruch
Awesome. Thank you.

37:26
Grace Kennedy
All right, everyone, thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode of the podcast, it would help us out so much if you left a five star review on Apple Podcasts or sponsor I am Grace Kennedy, the editor for startup CPG, so feel free to add me on LinkedIn or reach out to me on Slack. I'm always on the hunt for new and exciting brands to feature, and if you're a potential sponsor that would like to appear on the podcast, please email partnershipsartupcpg.com. And finally, as a reminder for anyone listening, if you haven't already, we would love for you to join our community on Slack and you can sign up via our website, startupcpg.com.

38:06
Leanne Viola
Dot.