YouSaid · the spoken record

Lara Merriken

lines on the record
70
first
2025-01-09
most recent
2025-01-09
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1
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podcast

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  1. “I think so. And I think it's great that you went to the trade show, and there's some interest in carrying the product. I mean, I also think that small boutiques are really effective. I mean, that's how Sunbum really began its growth. By going to small boutiques in places like Hawaii, I think you mentioned you're in Hawaii, right? So Hawaii tends to be a really great place to put these things in because you've got... A lot of tourists are walking through shops, they're looking at products, they've got time, and they pick things up. Lara, any final words of wisdom for Allison?”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  2. “Interesting or funny or that's great. You don't not want to be those things. But it's do you make a good product that people like?”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  3. “I also think that if you look at, and by the way, there are lots of brands that we've had on the show where the founders are the face of the brand, but then you look at a lot of products that are deeply tied to the founder, like Spanks and Sarah Blakeley, or Lara Bar, which is literally the name of the person that is on this call with me. And at the end of the day, it's the product. I mean, very few people bought Spanks because they loved Sarah Blakely. She's lovable and terrific, but that's not why people bought the product. They bought it because it was really effective. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter whether Allison is”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  4. “I don't disagree with you, guys. And also, Allison, Denver was my incubator place. And it's a great way to test things out, see what works. Does it work being in the grocery stores? Are you better off in a different spot? And what we did as a company is we used Denver as a testing ground and what worked, we would do other places as we expanded the brand.”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  5. “I mean, you've only been around for about a year now, right? I think So, I mean, you've got a ways to go. I just think before you have to worry about that, I think that you've got a lot of work ahead of you. I think it sounds like it's a great product and you've got interest in the product and there are people who like the product. And so, I mean, I think this is a conversation or a concern that you might want to. Really have in like two or three years as you start to see growth and scale. That's just my view. Yeah.”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  6. “Not that we're being authentic or not, but that it's not very often that you see a brand where the founders are the face of the company, their customer facing, and it's a big, the story is a big part of it. And so as we expand, I'm just not wanting to lose that because our bigger mission really is. Before we even became joy breaders officially, if that makes sense”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  7. “To me, authenticity is when you don't actually need to or have to really worry about that word. I mean, you've got a product, you've got a story. You love it, your friends love it. So that's authentic. Now the question is, to me, how do you focus on growing the product? How do you focus on getting it out there? So tell me a little bit about what you're doing. Are you working with social media influencers? Are you demoing the product? Tell me a little bit about how you're getting the word out.”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  8. “It's massively overused. And I think that the more it's used, the less actually authentic something or someone is. And you often see this on social media where people say, be your most authentic self. And I think to myself, you're standing in front of a camera and you are acting. And so how are you actually authentic? So I guess”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  9. “Alison, one of the things that, I mean, the question you ask is how can we maintain our authenticity while we're scaling? And I guess what I would just kind of push back on that question is to ask you whether that really is a problem. I mean, I'm not sure this is a, it sounds to me more like a problem looking for a solution or a solution looking for a problem. You know, I would say don't create a problem where one doesn't exist, right? To me, I think you want to focus on scale, focus or focus on sustainability. One or the other, or both if you can. But I mean, the authenticity side, first of all, it's a word that I. Have trouble with, to be honest, because I think that it's really overused in a budget.”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  10. “All right, we'll get to your question in a moment. Laura, I want to bring you in. First of all, do you have any questions for Allison?”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  11. “Amazing. Okay, you're in Denver, so not too far from where Lara started Lara Bars. Tell me about it's called joy breeders. And it is a skincare brand. Tell me a little bit about how it works, like what makes it unique or different.”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  12. “Yeah. Well, Laura, I'm super, super excited that you're on to help me. Hopefully we can give some good advice here. Let's go ahead and take our first caller and let's have our caller introduce themselves, tell us your name, where you're calling from, and just a little bit about your business.”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  13. “You know, there isn't one right way to do this. For me, I realized that I knew very little about the actual business. I knew that I was kind of my own core consumer, but I also, I guess the way I would liken it is I wanted to put my fantasy into a reality check. And so by getting into the business at Whole Foods, I looked at it as a paid internship and a way to get a leg in and learn. Directly without wasting time asking other people's opinions. I immerse myself in that environment. So I would say to people learn as much as you can. Put yourself in situations and really open yourself up to you don't know anything because you really don't know anything until you get into it.”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  14. “They're starting a business and they're not sure whether they should be doing another job or to leave that job or when to leave that job, if to leave that job.”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  15. “And within just a couple of years, you were selling millions of these larva bars and eventually, of course, you sold the brand to General Mills. And unlike a lot of founders, he was going to sell their companies and then take off, you stayed on to help to help the team at General Mills for quite a while to continue to grow the brand. Before we bring our callers, I want to ask you about your experience. dig a little deeper. I remember you talked about one of the first things you did when you were starting the brand was you got a job at Whole Foods. You basically just got a job as a cashier and stock clerk. For the paycheck in part, but also to learn about the natural food business to get like a ground view of how they operated, which I thought was so, so smart. And, you know, a lot of entrepreneurs have side hustles. I mean, what kind of advice do you have for people who are sort of in that phase where they're”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  16. “I did. And I mean, I did not plan on starting a business. I was a passionate natural food person always looking for great alternatives. And I found myself on a hike one day eating a trail mix. And this light bulb went off for me. And I just knew it intuitively that I needed to follow my idea.”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  17. “It's great to have you back on the show. You were first on the show way back in 2018. And back then, you, of course, told the story of how you created this incredible brand, Larabar. And of course, if anyone listening hasn't heard that episode, just go back in our podcast feed and listen to it. It is such a great episode. We'll put a link in the podcast description as well. But basically, this is back in 2000, you were in your early 30s, recently divorced, unemployed, not at a great place in life, as you described it. And you started experimenting with your own energy bar for hikes, like basically taking unsweetened fruit and nuts and just grinding them up in your cuisinart and shaping them into bars.”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  18. “So great hanging. I don't think I've seen you since we took a run in Denver like a couple years ago. Before the pandemic.”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

  19. “And when you're ready to launch, you use offer code built to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Loans issued by Celtic Bank and serviced by Stripe. All loans subject to credit approval. Hey everyone, it's Guy here. So, our team is just getting back from our holiday break. So this week we've got a great episode from the archives, our advice line conversation with Laura American of Lara Bar. We'll be back with fresh advice line episode starting next week and I'll be joined by some pretty incredible guests like Joe Jebia, co-founder of Airbnb and Jack Conti who co-founded Patreon. So stay tuned. And thank you to all of you who've called in so far. I cannot wait to talk through more of your business challenges in the new year. And I'm looking forward to hearing your ideas. So enjoy the show.”

    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT

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    2025-01-09 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Advice Line with Lara Merriken of LÄRABAR (October 2024) · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT