The Story of Bro Dough | Stories With Traction Podcast

PODCAST SHOW NOTES:

SUMMARY: In this episode, Erica Rankin and Matt Zaun talk about what it took to make Bro Dough what it is today.

ERICA RANKIN BIO: Erica is the Founder & CEO of Bro Dough, which is Canada’s first better-for-you edible cookie dough.

For more info, check out Erica here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericabrodough/
https://www.growwitherica.com/
https://brodough.ca/

MATT ZAUN BIO: Matt is an award-winning speaker and storyteller who empowers organizations to attract more clients through the art of strategic storytelling. Matt’s past engagements have catalyzed radical sales increases for over 300 organizations that range from financial institutions to the health and wellness industry.

Matt shares his expertise in persuasion with executives, sales professionals, and entrepreneurs, who he coaches on the art of influence and how to leverage this for profits and impact.

For more info, check out Matt Zaun HERE. 

*Below is an AI-generated transcript, which may contain errors.

 

Matt Zaun 

I've always respected grit, sheer grit, individuals who say, I will make this work regardless of the cost.

That's why I had to have Erica Rankin on the stories of attraction podcast. It has been incredible to see what she's been able to do in such a short period of time.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Erica, she is the founder and CEO of Brodo, which is Candice First.

Better for you. you edible cookie dough. Welcome to the show, Erica.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

What a nice introduction. Thank you.

 

Matt Zaun

I'm happy to be here. Absolutely. I am literally fascinated with your story. Since I've been following you on social media for the last couple of years, I've gotten pieces of your journey based on what I've read, but I'm really excited to unpack it even more today.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

So I think we'll just start off with, where did the idea for Brodo even come from? So I guess in 2018, I competed in bodybuilding.

So I did two bikini competitions. And prior to that, I had to prep for those shows for about a year and a half.

I had to basically eliminate all of the things that I love from my diet. Like, you know, donuts, pastries, cookies, cake, cookie dough, all those things that have a huge sweet tooth.

So I started manipulating my favorite recipes and making junk foods, un-junk foods and adding protein to things, swapping out.

And one of the things that I would make was like a healthier cookie dough with added protein less sugar plant-based clean ingredients.

And I would share these recipes on my Instagram account and a lot of people really liked that and they would recreate them.

I would get asked constantly if I would ever sell the things that I baked. And then I guess fast forward end of 2018.

I quit my job, went backpacking through Southeast Asia, met entrepreneurs, and yeah, the seed was planted and I got home and I sat down with myself and was like, okay, what am I passionate about and what do people want?

And it was the cookie dough that I used to make for myself. So I decided to package it and sell it.

And Frodo was launched in December 2019.

 

Matt Zaun 

All right, so there's a lot to unpack with what you just said. Okay, so the very first thing is you didn't aggressively pursue this for years.

to school, to do what you're doing now. And like you literally almost like it was an, I don't wanna say an accident, but you kind of fell into it, right?

Like you weren't actively looking for this. You saw the need in the marketplace and you essentially jumped in.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

Yeah, that's, I guess pretty much what it was. I went to school for psychology and then I started working like traditional nine to five in my field and I wasn't getting paid a lot.

I wasn't fulfilled. It got to the point where I realized that that wasn't what I wanted to do. And then I entered my existential crisis mode and then went backpacking in hopes of finding myself, which luckily I think I did.

 

Matt Zaun 

So. That's awesome. Wow. So what was that trip like?

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

Like what was the length of it? Where were some of the places that you went? Yeah. So I went, initially I was only supposed to go for one month and then I ended up staying for over three and my parents were not super happy, but I spent my birthday there, spent Christmas there.

I went to time. in New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia. I met so many different people. I had never ever gone to like a third world country before.

So I got to immerse myself in like a different culture, which was really cool. Meet people, you know, from all different backgrounds, all different ages, different experiences.

And then I think the coolest thing was talking to entrepreneurs who, you know, were pursuing something that was completely different to what they studied in school, or a lot of them were dropouts, or didn't have business degrees.

And I think that just like showed me that it's a viable path that pretty much anyone can take. Like you don't need to have, you know, any tools to pursue it.

You can go and figure it out yourself. You just have to put in the work to do it, right?

 

Matt Zaun 

All right, so I love that because I get asked the question all the time, oh, did you go to school for what you did?

And what I do, like you can't go to school for it. It's not taught in a university, right? Basically, I've taken over a decade of mistakes that I made in the past.

the political environment regarding messaging. And I put it into trainings that I do for companies regarding how they can connect with strategic storytelling.

It's not something you go to school that try to fumble through, right? You, you learn through years and years and years.

And I find this fascinating because I do think a lot of people think you need specific training on something to do something.

And that kind of comes. I think there's a lot to be said on, you do, you learn a just, do learn a just.

And you keep going and going and refining and refining. And that's what's amazing about what you've done is I've seen elements of your journey.

And I see not necessarily perfected, but what I've seen them like, wow, it gets better and better and better and better.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

And it's almost like you step back and you have to look and you're like, wow, like at this moment, it's almost mastery, even if it doesn't feel that way.

But if you look back two years ago or you look back even two months ago, all the change. So I think that's really encouraging for people to hear.

Yeah, thank you. I think sometimes. It's hard to do that and step back and appreciate how far you've come.

 

Matt Zaun 

Sure. Oh, absolutely. So all right. So you come back from this trip and then what happened after the trip, you said, Hey, this is what I'm going to do.

I'm going to go for it and you just start or what does that even look like once you made the decision.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

Yeah. I literally googled business workshop near me and I drove 45 minutes to like a business resource center and I learned how to like manage cashflow, write a business plan.

I think I went to four or five workshops and just like connected with other people that were just like me, you know, starting a new business, had no idea what they were doing.

Like we were all so new to it. I got my logo made off five or 50 bucks. Like I remember sitting on my mom's carpet trying to come up with like a business name and I have like pro dope, so protein cookie though.

And then I realized, Oh, that name's taken and you can't do that. Like you have to go in the trademark data search or whatever and look stuff up.

And it was just all these little things that I was learning along the way. I guess, yeah, I just started like experimenting with different ingredients and got my friends and family to like taste test different things.

And I made my own labels on Photoshop with that fiber logo, you know, and like had like clip art, stock art cookies that I dragged and dropped and used my fitness pal to calculate like the nutrition facts table, which is probably like not the right way to do it, but it worked.

 

Matt Zaun

Wow. So I guess I just like did it pretty scrappily.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

And a lot of my ingredients I got from Costco when I first started actually, because I didn't really need a whole lot.

So yeah, I just kind of did that. And I also packed my life up and moved to a new study like I couldn't afford to start a business in Toronto.

I was living with my parents at the time and I needed to move closer to the city where there was a kitchen and stuff.

So I found a commercial kitchen about six hours away, found a roommate online, never met her before, moved in with her.

Everything was good. So I'm really well and we live together for six months. Bye. Yeah, that's, I guess, how I started it.

I just kind of went all in, you know?

 

Matt Zaun

Wow. And you, along the way, you're finding out that there's a lot more that you need to learn. Right?

I mean, that's a lot of stuff that you need to learn in a pretty quick amount of time.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

Yeah. And it's just like, it's like whack-a-mole, I always say, like you like hit something, you figure something out, and then something else pops up.

And it's like, oh, now I gotta like, you know, like it just, things keep coming up. It's like an endless learning curve.

And I remember when I first started like networking, I didn't really even know what that was, because I needed help growing my business.

Someone was saying, like, oh, send me a calendar invite. I'm like, what is that? What's a calendar invite? I've never done that before.

I'm like on Google? They're like, yeah. So it was just even like little things like that I had never done before.

So it was, yeah, it was interesting.

 

Matt Zaun 

That is interesting. So you mentioned bodybuilding and competition. And do you feel that it's in your DNA to be an entrepreneur?

Do you feel that the you, I don't know if there's different circumstances and experiences that position you to have more grit or do you think someone's necessarily born an entrepreneur?

Do you think they become an entrepreneur? How do you how did you get to the point where you you had that just jump into it mentality?

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

Because a lot of people don't have that mentality. Yeah, I don't know. I think like you can learn the skills to be an entrepreneur.

You just have to want it bad enough. And I think a lot of people are comfortable and happy with like working a regular job or, you know, pursuing, I guess what everyone else kind of pursues and they cut things off after 5 p.m.

right and go home and have weekends off. But for me, I just hated it so much. And I didn't know what I wanted to do.

I just knew what I didn't want to do. And it wasn't that. And I didn't want to work for anyone.

And one of the reasons why I started my business was, yeah, I wanted to like provide a cleaner, healthier alternative.

to a sweet tree that we all grew up with and like bring back those nostalgic feelings in a healthier way.

But at the same time, I just wanted to be my own boss and you know, and not answer to anyone.

And I never realized how hard that was. And if I could tell myself anything, it would be, it's going to be hard and expect that it's going to be hard.

Because I definitely went into it with a bit of nadeness.

 

Matt Zaun 

Yeah, I mean, that's it's just so fascinating, for people to just jump in the way that you did. So one of the things that I feel that you've mastered that that I've seen is the marketing piece.

And that's, you know, getting the word out. And I've seen a lot of just different posts that you've had, particularly on LinkedIn, you know, that's my social media of choice.

And you just have so many different stories that go mini viral, right? And it's just incredible. Did you kind of do the exact same thing?

You do learn adjusting that arena as well.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

Yeah, it's interesting. So with like. then I only turned to it because I didn't know how to grow my business.

And in 2020, I went on there and I remember writing my pantry and looking at all the products that I consume regularly and I reached out to the founders and CEOs of those companies and basically got mentorship from them.

Some of them are still my mentors to this day. Everyone's pretty receptive and wants to help because they've been in my shoes before, which was really awesome.

And then now I try to return the favor and give back when I'm able to. But when I went on LinkedIn, there was a lot of shiny stuff on there, like people talking about raising and adding team members, launching into new accounts, like all this great stuff happening, but no one was talking about the hardships and the adversity and all the things that we face, but no one really wants to admit and no one really wants to like let you see that side of them or their business.

And then I just started to post about it and I think it resonated with a lot of people and I think that's just been like my goal since they won.

It's to just kind of be honest about the journey. because there's like a false picture that's painted about entrepreneurship.

Even I kind of fell into that trap too, not gonna lie when I first started it. I was like, this is gonna be so easy.

I'm gonna be so rich. I'm gonna have a big exit, you know. And then you get into it and you're like, oh wow, like I'm not gonna pay myself for a year or two, or maybe three, you know?

It's a little scary. So I think just like opening up that conversation and talking about it normalizes it, and then it's not as discouraging for newer entrepreneurs or founders, right?

 

Matt Zaun

Yeah, I appreciate that vulnerability aspect. And I think a lot of people do understand that. But it's, again, a lot of it is what we're thinking, but not what we're saying.

So, I mean, I see just the engagement that you get, and a lot of it's due to the different elements of your story that you're sharing, your journey along the way.

And it's amazing how people will show up. They just, once they have that connection and they've built some level of trust with you, like they desperately want you to succeed because they've been following your journey.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

They want to be part of your story. the same. Yeah.

 

Matt Zaun 

You said something in there about reaching out, you reached out for mentorship. So that's the ask piece. And this is something I think a lot of people talk about, but they don't actually do.

So it's really cool to hear that you did it. And I always recommend people make a game out of this.

So years and years ago, I also found that idea very valuable. So I made a game out of it.

I started asking people that I thought would immediately turn me down, say, there's no way I'm going to give this guy anytime a day.

And it's amazing people that will actually help you. And that's why I like to gamify that. So I always challenge everyone when I'm when I'm talking about the ask is literally make a game out of it.

Reach out to people that you never would think in your wildest dreams. They be willing to help you even return your email, even talk to you on the phone.

And it's amazing people that will show up.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

I have some pretty crazy stories of people that I've sent letters to. I've said emails to and they get back and touch.

with me and they're like, yeah, I'll hop on the phone with you for 30 minutes or yeah, I'll help you with this.

It is wild. So it was really cool to hear you say that. Yeah, that's awesome. I love that. And I tell people that too, because I think some people are scared that, you know, I don't know, or even like I'm asking for help.

Like some people don't like doing that. It's uncomfortable. And what's the worst that can happen? They're just gonna say no or not reply, right?

And then you just keep going and keep knocking on other doors. And if you don't ask, you're never gonna get it.

 

Matt Zaun 

So sure.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

And one conversation can do so much for you.

 

Matt Zaun 

Sure. Absolutely. What do you think the biggest surprise has been with scaling your business? Something that you might have thought would have been, oh, should be easy that you found out it was not easy.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

It was quite hard. Like so much, like pretty much everything.

 

Matt Zaun

I guess for me.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

Yeah, it's just like the money that it takes to build a business. You just constantly reinvesting and with like food and beverage, like inventory management.

I'm not very, you've talked about how I'm good at marketing and I know I'm good at marketing, but I'm not good at operations and I recognize that and trying to do that on my own for three years was really hard and I made some mistakes.

And now I brought in like an operations advisor who's coming on and actually helping me and can manage that side of the business effectively.

So I think we'll kind of compliment each other skills really nicely. But yeah, just like wearing all the hats I think and now I'm an employer and I've never been an employer and I'm taking on this leadership position, which is like stepping into a whole new role and learning how to do that and now you're responsible for someone else in there, you know, finances and stuff.

So it's fun and I'm really grateful that I have the ability to do it, but it's like constantly like evolving and switching roles, right?

 

Matt Zaun 

So it's what's amazing to me is like, so you started, you're doing this competition, you're like, I want, I want that.

This treat that tastes really good, this, this snack, you can't do it, right? Because you want to be competitive.

And now like you fast forward and you're like, did you ever think that you're going to have to learn leadership abilities, the elements of labels, the food and beverage industry, the trademarks, the marketing, it's just, it's, it's amazing.

Like if you, if you, if you had like a movie and you were fast forwarding throughout this, like, could you have even imagined that it was this amount of work?

I mean, the answer is no, right? Because you said, right? Just all the different things that came up.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

Yeah. It's, it's a lot. And it's, it's never a thing, right? And like you think like, Oh, when I get here, it's going to be great.

And I'm going to have it all figured out. And then you get to that finish line. And the finish line is actually like a thousand meters further.

 

Matt Zaun 

And then when you get there, it moves again. It's like it's constantly moving.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

You're always growing and there's always surprises that every stage, right?

 

Matt Zaun 

Sure. Sure. So I, I had mentioned you live in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is a huge food in that. average state in the US huge.

We have tons and tons of farms. The beverage industry here is huge. For people listening that aren't familiar with food and beverage, they're not familiar with some of the other things that come with that industry.

What are some things that you feel that you've had to deal with that other businesses might not that don't have perishable items?

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

Oh, shelf life, you know, like when you make too much product and then you're sitting on it and it's like a ticking time bomb, you have to figure out where it's going to go.

That's stressful. I guess, yeah, inflation, I know like sunflower oil, the cost of that went up because Ukraine is like the biggest grower of sunflowers and then that kind of falls on to a bunch of companies that use it in their products.

So and then we have to pass that on to the retailers and it's funny because even me as a consumer, like going into a grocery store like five years ago or even four years ago, I do things so much differently.

And then now when I go in, I'm like, wow, it's not. company even profitable. Like there's no way.

 

Matt Zaun

And like what that that's an aggressive sale. Like are they getting listed? You know, like there's like things that I know now.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

Um, and just like the cost to like get in, like, I think it's similar in the state, but basically when you get into retail, you have to buy real estate on shelf.

So they'll charge you like, okay, we'll list you in this store, like a couple hundred stores that you have to pay $30,000 for one skew, like one flavor.

You have three flavors. That's $90,000. So you get in, you have like a year, a year and a half to perform.

And if you're not selling, they'll literally kick you out and you don't get that back. So that's another thing too.

And there's just like a lot of barriers to entry with the retail game and the food space is very competitive.

 

Matt Zaun 

Interesting. All right. So now you have me fascinated by this. So like give us an example of you going to a store and what what causes you to think, wow, are they even profitable?

Is it where they are on the shelf as far as like maybe being too low?

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

So they're not eye level. Is it cost? Is it display? What would cause you to think that? I guess sometimes, like if there's really nice packaging, really good ingredients and they're listed for like a really low price.

Um, and I know there's certain retailers that want like bigger margins and they want to like list the product for less.

So sometimes we take the hit as the brands and when you go into a store and you see something on sale, like 20% off, 30% off, I always thought it was the stores that we're taking the hit, but it's not every time that product gets scanned, the brand gets a, it's called a manufacturer charge back.

So we get a charge back. So say I want sale at a store and I sell 200 units, they're a dollar off each, um, for that sale.

I get charged back $200 because 200 were sold on that sale. So that's, that's something else that I'm learning.

I'm like, Oh, okay. So there's all these charge backs and stuff. And the other thing is to like, no one really pays on time either.

So you have to let pay your manufacturer for product in 30 days, but your distributor doesn't pay. you for like 70 days.

So you're like constantly trying to juggle things and make sure you have enough money in the bank, you know?

 

Matt Zaun

Yeah, interesting. Wow. I read this book years ago. I couldn't tell you the title. It's been over a decade.

I was fascinated by it though. It was merchandising. It was the psychology of merchandising where basically these individuals studied movement of people in stores and like the shelf placement was really important.

So like do people turn laughter? Do they turn right when they enter a store? When they enter a store, what's the first thing to do with their cart?

And then like the psychology of like putting the really healthy food in the store right away. So you're loading up on healthy.

So by the time you get to the snack food, you feel less guilty for loading up on it's like the whole thing was charted out was just fascinating to me.

So it's interesting to hear you talk about other elements that go into shelf space.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

So I appreciate that. Yeah, it's interesting. Yeah, if you have that.

 

Matt Zaun

For sure. It has been over a decade. I wish that I could remember. I just I'm fascinated with the psychology of stuff like that.

I was recently talking with someone about menu positioning, about how some chain restaurants will literally study eye movements when someone looks at a menu, positioning of the photos.

Obviously, the photos are the most profitable elements of that menu. So, when people see these amazing photographs of a sandwich, it's the highest profit value for that restaurant.

They check when when you sit a family down, how many people are looking at their phones, how long does it take them to order?

Because then you have the turnover right of the of the table. So you have to get people in and out.

And it was just amazing the psychology that goes into positioning. And I don't think enough businesses think about it.

When someone is looking at something, what goes through their head, what movements do they may. and a lot of that's based on the psychology of the positioning of it.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

It's just fascinating stuff to me. Yeah, it really is all psychology and it's really interesting.

 

Matt Zaun 

For sure. For sure. So what's the road ahead for you? So you have done a lot in the last few years.

You had mentioned about how you feel that you reach one goal and then there's a lot more to come.

What are a few goals that you have this year that once achieved, you're going to feel really good.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

Oh, yeah, just new products. I just want to get them out into the world. It's a lot like getting the packaging done and the formula is the website and selling into the US.

Like that is the biggest goal and I'm really excited for that to happen. And then on the Canadian retail front, we're innovating and pivoting a little bit and moving away from our current product and switching to like a single serve option and we're improving the formula.

 

Matt Zaun 

formula and the packaging is changing and then the cookies are launching and I think right now It's just product development and head down and getting that done And I just really want to get those launched into the market and see how people like them Wow, wow, that's that's awesome.

That's that's and it's amazing again It sounds so easy and simple, but you know, there's a lot that needs to go into that for sure So what what would a single when you said single serve?

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

What what what does that entail behind the scenes? Uh, so like the pack like the I guess the operations side of things you mean to get there.

 

Matt Zaun 

Yeah, yeah Like operational as far as what you need to do with staff.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

What would that look like? Yeah, so I'm really lucky and I have a manufacturer and I guess long story short the way that I was selling my product before it was cookie dough and a tub and The tubs were I have never been so emotional over packaging.

It was just the bane of my existence I hated it. Um, it was expensive. They're heavy they're hard to ship.

You can't really scale with them if you're a small brand, like the next order of packaging that I would have to put in would be 100,000 units, which I do not need.

So we decided, okay, like it's too expensive, it's too expensive on shelf too for consumers, so we're going to switch to single serve and it's going to be like basically like protein bar format refrigerated.

So people will just grab and go single serve. It can be merchandised in several parts of the store and yeah, it'll just be more affordable as well so people can try it and if they really like it, then maybe they can buy a case of them.

They won't be stuck with like a whole tub at a higher price point. So we're just, yeah, we're just like getting the packaging done and I'm waiting for my designers to finalize the designs, but you can't do that until you have the formulas done to put the formulas on the packaging and then of course there's lead times and stuff and you're relying on 9,000 people for 9,000 different things and people get sick and people go away and sometimes things.

It's take way longer than you'd hope, but it all comes together in the end, I think.

 

Matt Zaun 

So, what so it is easier to ship?

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

Yeah, so they're easier to ship. Um, the cost is just lower. Um, it's easier to scale with my manufacturer because the old form mounting that I had was very manual.

They were literally taking pucks of dough and like depositing them by hand, which, uh, increase the labor costs. This way they have a machine that literally just like pumps out these, these bars or these bikes and I don't really have to, um, have a higher tolling cost because it's so automated, which is really awesome.

And it's more scalable, more profitable.

 

Matt Zaun

Wow. Okay. Now do you have to have different manufacturers in different locations, depending on where I'm obviously probably would, depending on where you're going, right?

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

You mentioned the US market. What would that entail? Yeah. So I think the goal, I have one in a Toronto and we're going to scale here and just ship all throughout Canada from Toronto.

across the board into the US and plan to launch the dough into retail there. We'll probably have some conversations with co-manufacturers there.

A lot of brands, they export their products that are made in Canada into the US until they get to a certain volume.

And then when it makes sense, then they partner with a manufacturer in the States. Because yeah, our dollar is not very strong right now and it hasn't been for a while.

And with the conversion, it's kind of as tricky if you're not, if you don't have a lot of volume out there.

 

Matt Zaun 

So sure. Yeah, so that's another thing to keep in mind, right? The conversion and what that entails as well.

What would you say, so I have three children. I have an eight year old, I have a seven year old and a four year old, so two sons and a daughter.

What would you say to my oldest son who is starting to get that entrepreneur bug if you will, he started like, even, even share with me, I kid you not a five page business plan with me the other day.

He's eight years old. It was not. That's nuts where he basically he based on conversations and what he's seen me do.

He knows a little bit about what I do just based on commerce. He had a five page business plan on how I could make my business better.

I was so bewildered. He's doing bump, bump, all this stuff. I was blown away. I just show my wife.

I'm like, read that. Read. It's insane. So obviously he's, I don't know what he's going to do, you know, with his life.

However, he's going to do something that has some type of grit because it's just, it's in him. What, what words of advice would you give to my oldest son, Elliot, who more than likely will probably become an entrepreneur one day?

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

Yeah, that's, that's incredible. That is so I'm, yeah, interested to see what that was, that business plan said, what was in there.

Um, but yeah, I guess just like don't hold back and go do what you want to do. Um, and it sounds like you're super supportive and I'm sure your wife is supportive of whatever he wants to do, which is really awesome.

But. I think like, do what you want to do, and there's going to be naysayers, obviously, but I think just like following your heart, you know, all the cheesy stuff and like, do what you want to do.

And, um, yeah, I don't know. I wish I had someone tell me that when I was younger and that it was something that I could do.

And like, you have all the tools that you need, you can pretty much do whatever you want to do, right?

 

Matt Zaun 

Like, you don't need permission. So. Sure. Sure. That's really good point. Yeah. I mean, he's looking stuff up online and he's pulling this together and this.

Like he has all these ideas. It's just fascinating.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

It would be eight years old.

 

Matt Zaun 

I mean, I could have never dreamed at that age thinking of business, the way he does. But you mentioned naysayers.

So were there people in your life that you were surprised they weren't as supportive? I kind of what that did along your journey and that maybe maybe they're supportive now once they've seen what you've done.

Can you recall anyone you don't need obviously mentioned anyone by name, but any any.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

to you that you were just blown away that they weren't supportive? Yeah, I guess I had some friends and again like um it's hard when you're doing something that's different um and I think it might make some people uncomfortable when you're trying something new.

So I did have some people that you know openly said oh I support you and you know um but I don't think they really meant it and I don't think they really meant the best for me um and like my mom has been really awesome she's been super supportive and it you know it sounds crazy when your daughter comes home from a trip and says yeah I'm not gonna work a normal job I'm gonna start my own business a cookie dough business and she's like what you know like she's a boomer she didn't really cookie dough growing up she's like why who'd want that right but she was super supportive my dad on the other hand is very businessy and when I told him what I was doing he really did not understand it um I think he had a hard time robbing his hat around it and now that I've proven the business and you know I'm selling and I'm growing now he's very supportive.

So I think in the beginning it was really hard and I didn't have a ton of support I did have like, you know a couple people that were really awesome and by my side throughout it all But I think that's the most most cases right like when you start something new and you're nobody and you're not selling and you know Like things are hard.

They're always hard It's harder to get people rooting for you when you haven't built anything and then we built something then people come out The woodworks and they're like, I always knew you could do it.

You're like, who are you? What? For sure.

 

Matt Zaun 

Yeah Sometimes it's not malicious. Sometimes people don't want others to get hurt, right? So that being uncomfortable I can see that in many ways for sure But thank you for your time.

I very much appreciate just unpacking elements of your story It has been literally fascinating to just watch your journey thus far.

It's been very inspiring I mean, I don't think like you said I just want to talk enough about what

what goes on behind the scenes. Like it's not always hearts and rainbows. Everything's amazing. Like it could be very, very challenging as you know.

I mean, there's sleepless nights. I tried to calculate my sleepless nights recently in the last few years. It's insane.

It's insane when I tell people, like I had to work for the night here and here. And it's just a lot of people don't recognize or understand all that goes into that grit element when regarding scaling one's business.

So I very much appreciate watching that over the years. And I appreciate all the inspiration that you're giving to other young entrepreneurs as well.

So thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

Well, thank you. And thanks for following along and supporting and letting me come on this platform and share my story.

 

Matt Zaun 

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So I got a lot out of it. I know a lot of other people probably did as well.

There's three different things that I got out of it was the first thing that you mentioned was jump in.

I know a lot of people say it. Yeah. but they don't actually do it. You've actually done it. There's an element of do learn, adjust, repeat.

And if people just did, they learned from what they did, they adjust it and they repeated that. That's an amazing formula that leads to incredible success.

And I feel like you have done that to a T. The second thing was you just started asking people.

Again, that's something a lot of people will talk about, but very few people actually do. I found it fascinating that you reached out to CEOs of individuals in your, in your arena, in your industry and they offered you that mentorship.

They offered you that advice. I really challenged people, listen to gamify the ask. You can make, you can make a game out of it.

And it's actually fun thinking they're never going to respond to this email. They'll never respond to this letter. They'll never respond to this, this, this phone call and make a game out of it.

And people will be amazed, the individuals that do get back in touch. And then the third element was just the uncomfortable piece, that not everyone is going to be comfortable with our story.

It could be elements of their experiences and their story that lead to that Uncomfortableness and we just have to we just have to go with it even though we will have naysayers and often those naysayers Will say that they were supportive all along like you mentioned So those are the three elements that I got out of it I know a lot of other people probably got a lot of other elements out of it Erica if there is a Way that people want to get in contact with you.

They want to learn more about your product more about what you do What's the best place they can go to get that information?

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

You can connect with me on LinkedIn Erica Rankin. I have a website to grow with Erica.com Where I teach you how to build a personal brand and I have a TikTok course and then our website for our cookie dough and soon-to-be cookies is brodo.ca and we have a US waitlist as well there for when the new products go live So it'd be really awesome if you signed up for that awesome.

 

Matt Zaun 

Thank you. I appreciate it I would include all that in the show notes. People could just click and go.

And again, thank you for your time today.

 

Erica Rankin (brodough.ca)

I very much appreciate it. Yeah, thank you, Matt.