Participate
In the early days after the cancellation of Expo West in March, I was scared. Yes, for my business, but more so, was I sure that I was offering the right guidance, advice, and support to the founders I serve. Things were changing so fast, and there was so much uncertainty. It was my fear that caused me to reach out to other “providers” in the industry, folks who also work in support of this industry’s founders, and the brands they are building. I hoped that we could create a safe space to discuss all that was going on, what it meant for our respective businesses, and what guidance we should be offering our founders. What it became was so much more.
Every other Friday afternoon, a group of about 25+ of us come together on Zoom. It has become some of the most treasured hours I spend. We laugh, tease, visit and now jokingly call ourselves the Natural Products Mafia. More importantly, we all share our thoughts, worries, and ideas. We talk about how we can best show up in the madness of this moment. We examine the ways we can exact the most significant and most positive impact.
A few weeks ago, we started talking about the importance of this election. While most in the Natural Products Mafia are like-minded, not all are. Similarly, we recognize that the same holds in our industry as a whole. As we examined that further, we realized that we ultimately wanted to encourage participation, putting voice…
