Episode 046 – Amanda J. McIntosh

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Richard Matthews

Hello, and welcome back to The Hero Show. 

 

My name is Richard Matthews. 

 

I am on the line today with Amanda McIntosh,

 

Founder and CEO of take my face off. 

 

Are you there, Amanda?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

I am pleased to be here. 

 

Richard Matthews  

Awesome.

 

Glad to have you here. Let me do a quick introduction 

 

For you just so people know who you are 

 

And why we’re chatting with you. 

 

So Amanda is the founder and CEO of Take My Face Off, 

 

Which is a Los Angeles based company, 

 

On a mission to replace disposable cleansers. 

 

And you guys work with, if I’m not mistaken, 

 

It’s like face cloths. Is that – What it is that you guys make?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

You can think of it like fancy washcloths

 

Richard Matthews  

Fancy washcloths. So tell me a little bit about 

 

What it is your company is known for? 

 

Why do people buy your products? 

 

Why do they come to you guys? 

 

What is it that set you guys apart?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

Because there’s kind of a big white space. 

 

And I’m assuming that some other people are going 

 

To rush into it, fill it after a while. But it started because 

 

I own washcloths. You probably own washcloths that’s for kids. 

 

But almost nobody I know likes their washcloth. 

 

It’s pretty rough. It’s pretty gross. And so I just kind of 

 

This is a fun, silly product. Because selfishly, 

 

I wanted something gentler for my face. I’ve got years of 

 

Skin problems, whatever. And then I started looking 

 

More closely at the beauty market. And the thing is 

 

That cotton balls, disposable wipes and the array of things

 

That people use to clean their face on a daily basis, 

 

That are really not good for their skin, not so effective. 

 

To me, more importantly, they’re really awful for the planet. 

 

And there are a lot of things in life that we kind of go along doing. 

 

And then there’s either a news story or something 

 

Makes you realize maybe that wasn’t the world’s greatest idea.

 

Plastic water bottles or plastic bags, 

 

And then we all kind of like slowly shift our behavior. 

 

And then the new normal is to not use that. 

 

And kind of trying to speed along the edge that 

 

A disposable thing you put in the trash every single day 

 

To clean your face is not a very healthy thing for any of us.

 

Your skin, your wallet. But meanwhile, I mean, 

 

You never going to guilt anybody into making a change.

 

You’re never gonna scare them. I hope people don’t guilt or 

 

Scare people in hoping they’ll change. So what we’re doing is 

 

We work to create things that are so unbelievably soft.

 

Great for the skin and effective and faster to use, 

 

That people switch just because it’s so much better. 

 

And then for me, I get this satisfaction of knowing that 

 

I’m doing something to change something. 

 

But we’re trying to do it and, yes the happiest way.

 

Richard Matthews  

That’s awesome. So what’s the name of your main product?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

We would say the … is called The Mitty. 

 

It’s kind of the fundamental starting …, 

 

We’ve got some other branch off products. And we’ve got 

 

Lots of other plans. But it’s a little mit that sits on your hand. 

 

And its patent pending, because there are various ways

 

That you can, of course, saw things to make them work better 

 

And to make them more efficient, effective. And so you know, 

 

Ours has like a little happy pointy tip that can really 

 

Get into your mascara lash line area. And we’ve got some 

 

Other fun ones that for example are shapes like lips. 

 

So it’s kind of hilarious, but they’re all native these amazing fabrics.

 

Richard Matthews  

That is funny. 

 

Amanda McIntosh  

Their so much better for skin and they wash clean. 

 

It’s such a fancy fabric that none of our testers have even worn out. 

 

When people say, “How long did they last?”

 

We have to say, “We don’t know because I have yet to have 

 

One that’s that’s died.” So –

 

Richard Matthews  

That’s really cool. And how long have you guys

 

Been making these face cleansers?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

I can tell you the earliest prototypes are four years old. 

 

But we’ve been doing this pretty seriously 

 

For about three years. And first, we kind of thought 

 

That maybe we’d start off actually in the baby market. 

 

Because I’ve got kids like you. And –

 

Richard Matthews  

You might caught a baby crying in the background. 

 

Amanda McIntosh  

Hope everything’s okay. I’ll send you some for your kids actually

 

Because I was starting it for me because 

 

I wanted something gentler. But then, my kids would 

 

… over to the couch rose doing laundry and they … 

 

Some of my prototypes and they put them on their hands, 

 

And they played with them. And then I found out 

 

That when I was bathing my kids, if I gave them –

 

I mean they were little this time, if I gave him a mitty 

 

They didn’t get soap in their eyes. They could manage it 

 

Perfectly well. And it was sensitive enough even if 

 

They were having some eczema or something. 

 

So we kind of thought we’d start with baby. 

 

But then, we realized that it was just 

 

A stronger position to start off with beauty. 

 

And then we’re going to go to baby later. 

 

Richard Matthews  

That’s really cool that you guys are in that space. 

 

And you guys have plans for that. So I’m curious,

 

I want to talk a little bit about how this happened. 

 

So your origin story we talked – Every hero has an origin story.

 

It’s where you started to realize that you’re different. 

 

Maybe you had superpowers. I mean, you could use them 

 

To help other people. … sort of started developing and discover 

 

The value you can bring to this world and start a company,

 

And become an entrepreneur? 

 

What was that story and journey like for you?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

I’d say the, just the word, I came from, I came from 

 

A world that I probably don’t really belong in. 

 

And that kind of turned into the strength. 

 

I started off in classical music. And I love it. I love playing 

 

And it’s a part of my brain that isn’t scratched by anything else.

 

It’s wonderful. But I did that in my late 30s. And I always felt like 

 

Such a weirdo there. I’m always reading weird books and 

 

Watching weird movies, foreign language, whatever. 

 

I mean, in music, school and professional life, I don’t know. 

 

And I didn’t – I thought everybody in the world was 

 

Always kind of feeling odd. Everybody always feels kind of lonely. 

 

It’s just normal. And it took me years to realize now, 

 

Maybe it’s actually just kind of me. But it was a good position 

 

In terms of feeling weird and getting used to feeling weird. 

 

And one of my problems with classical music is that 

 

It’s a little bit like Groundhog Day. I don’t do well in Groundhog Day. 

 

I need something to be going somewhere. 

 

… Forward motion for the long term. And so I’m all those things. 

 

I did some other things for a while, I did some consulting 

 

For 14 years, I was a business process consultant 

 

Because my family has a practice and did that 

 

And kind of loved it. But one day, I was driving home 

 

Late from a concert and kind of thinking about 

 

My nighttime face washing thing because if your … skincare,

 

That’s a big deal. It’s like, “I’m out of this wash closet. 

 

I hate those wash clothes.”

 

“Man, I haven’t been able to find any better ones. 

 

This is so stupid. I keep running out 

 

Because I’m not doing laundry fast enough.”

 

And meanwhile, I want to buy more, but I can’t find any 

 

That are any good. So you’re kind of a typical light bulb moment.

 

“Wait a minute, how hard can this be? I will do it.”

 

And that ability to be the weird one, to be asking questions 

 

That other people don’t. To be thinking about topics that

 

Nobody else  seem to know. Things about, 

 

To be investigating things that nobody else 

 

Seems to be interested in. That made it a lot easier for me

 

For when I started finding what are the places … in Los Angeles.

 

We’ve got a huge garment market. So there’s 

 

An endless array of sources. And he talked to me, say,

 

“What would be good for bath use, for wet use 

 

And they’re like terry cloth.” 

 

Duh, terry cloth is terrible. That’s what everybody uses. 

 

So it enabled me to get creative and find things and try things 

 

And when your manufacturers literally told me, 

 

“You can’t saw that fabric into that.” 

 

They put these machines that will cost you too much.

 

I went and bought the exact same machines they had 

 

At the factory taught myself how to use them.

 

Taught myself, … back and, “So how about this?”

 

It’s a real … to not always feel the need to fit in exactly. 

 

Only real… can actually make a change is 

 

To not be the same as everybody else.

 

Richard Matthews  

So did you have to? Are you still 

 

Manufacturing them yourselves? Or did you have to 

 

Train the manufacturer how to saw these things?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

Well, the way it first worked out, was that 

 

I always wanted this to scale. So I always knew that.

 

There’s only so much I can do myself. But the problem was 

 

Is that nobody all the normal ways … manufacturers 

 

Kept telling me it can’t be done. So that’s when 

 

I took it into my own hands for a while. 

 

And I learned that whole side of the industry. 

 

And that was that’s the garment industry in LA, 

 

Even though we’re beauty. And so I argued some people 

 

Into making it for me. And a lot of factors had to come together.

 

And it was the right moment. Like me springing a second that, 

 

“Hey, I do speak Spanish. And I’ve been already understanding 

 

What you’ve been saying about me behind your, 

 

Underneath your … that’s not true. Here’s what’s true. 

 

And here’s how you … machine do that. But I didn’t, 

 

I didn’t want to actually do it myself, I need help

 

And I needed to get sneaky about it. So I convinced 

 

A really great factory in Los Angeles, who makes sportswear

 

For some of the world’s most ethical brands to make my product, 

 

Which … because there are laws in LA that will make 

 

… Products for you. They … workers fairly. They do not all have 

 

Safe working conditions. Not all … run their business as well. 

 

And so I wanted to make sure I’m supporting the right people. 

 

So I got this company, that’s a good one to make my product. 

 

I’m a small customer, so they’re not going 

 

To give me the best price. I had to get creative. 

 

And I found partners in other places. And so now,

 

I’ve got a really cool network, kind of depending 

 

On what product we’re making, how many we’re making,

 

Who can make it for me and some of them are 

 

Little one people shops out in the boonies where 

 

They have the sewing skills and they would love to work. 

 

And sometimes it’s a larger factory depending on what we do. 

 

So I don’t make them myself. I still do make prototypes

 

Because it’s just kind of fun to get in there. And I found that 

 

Nobody’s going to really dig into how could we make this better, 

 

Cheaper, cuter, make it to last longer. No one’s going 

 

To work harder at that than I am. 

 

But then … I back off and I let somebody else …

 

Richard Matthews  

That’s really cool. And it’s an interesting story 

 

That I think a lot of entrepreneurs miss when they are 

 

Building a company that one of the things that’s 

 

Going to set you apart is that innovation. 

 

Where you’re people are telling you, “This can’t be done.” 

 

And you’re finding, “Okay, here’s ways that we can 

 

Actually make it happen.” So you’re creating, 

 

You’re creating innovation in a space that probably 

 

Doesn’t see a lot of it. So you can corner market that way.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

I like to think so. We’ve got – Everything is tied up as we can 

 

With trademarks and patents and trying to continuously innovate. 

 

And I think anytime somebody tells you something can’t be done.

 

Man, that’s just tempting. I don’t know. That’s…

 

To me that’s the biggest …

 

Really, it might … to be done. Have you tried it? Let’s find out.

 

Richard Matthews  

My brother and I laugh all the time. And people ask us all the time, 

 

They’re like, “Kitt, can this be down or can the other thing be done?”

 

And the response to that is always “Yes.” 

 

The question is, how much time and money do you have 

 

To invest in making it happen because 

 

We can always find a way to make it happen.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

You have to be selective about which problems you try to solve. 

 

I was waiting for my mentors the other day, 

 

About some problems we face as a tiny company.

 

We’ve got a lot of experts who love our product, 

 

But the the mass market penetration, 

 

I’m not seeing the immediate answer to that now. 

 

And he just looked at me and he said, 

 

“Well, if you want to be rule bound then, do it like everybody else,

 

 Fine, it might not work out.” He’s like, 

 

“Why you … have to find the creative ways. Come on, quit …

 

Quit following the rules. What am I thinking?”

 

Richard Matthews  

And so it sounds like you’re on the cusp of having 

 

A really big brand, then if that’s – What you’re thinking about it?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

… To be so, yes.

 

Richard Matthews  

So let’s talk a little bit about your superpowers. 

 

Personally, as someone who’s running the company, 

 

What is it that you think you bring to the table 

 

That you think really helps solve problems for your company,

 

For your clients the things that you use to slay 

 

This world’s villains, so to speak?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

Well, I already talked about one of them. 

 

But it’s related to the second one. So like I said, I’m good, 

 

… I’m around to do all the same thing … their people do. 

 

So the way I think of it is, I’m not such a nerd, 

 

That I can’t see trends, that I can’t see style, 

 

And I have an eye for things. But I have enough independence 

 

To not be a slave to styles, to what everybody else is doing. 

 

I’m capable of seeing what’s the generalist … our time, 

 

Or in this area, what’s trending or whatever. 

 

But I can back off a little from it. And I have 

 

My little superpower is that I have a sense of how long like,

 

Relative to others … and how long that one might last. 

 

And I have a sense of what might come after, 

 

Which you can say is intuition, you can also say 

 

It’s just simple logic, I mean, so if you’re gonna look at things 

 

Like colors, shapes, styles, we tend to go into progression.

 

When I was younger, in the 80s, the 1950s, were in style. 

 

So it would stand to reason that something that would 

 

Follow after that might be related to the 1960s. 

 

And again, you can think of it from kind of the intuition thing. 

 

We tend to repeat certain types of things in the visual sphere 

 

Of Western culture, over and over again. 

 

And so it also helps me with regard to 

 

The financial markets a little bit. So my consulting job 

 

Gave me a nice … some of the bonuses went into retirement. 

 

Giving me a little bit of a nest egg there, but then 

 

I kept meeting male financial advisors who kept telling me 

 

Little Missy don’t … stocks to buy on the one who knows. 

 

And I got told that too many times and watching again and again,

 

The stock I wanted … doing well. And they convinced me not to. 

 

So I finally got angry and just started managing 

 

The account myself. And I certainly can’t divine everything 

 

About all the stocks in the world. That’s ridiculous. 

 

But I certainly can tell you, certain … a trend and you go into stores, 

 

Retail can be easy for this, you go into stores, 

 

And you can get kind of get a sense of how things are being run.

 

My consultant’s brain helped me pick up 

 

Some of the subtle signs that some things are going well or not. 

 

You look at what’s on the floor. Is it in line with trends? 

 

Where is it? Is it behind the times? How’s it looking? 

 

And you can make some guesses. I was good at that. 

 

And I was able to grow that account. And that actually became 

 

The nest egg that turned into take My Face Off. 

 

So that’s what launched that, like my superpower is 

 

The ability to be in a part of everything that I kind of get it 

 

and be enough separate that I can make sense about 

 

Which trends I want to go with and have 

 

An idea as to where it might go next.

 

Richard Matthews  

So it’s a kind of, I haven’t named that superpower. 

 

But you see it a lot in CEOs that are fronting industries. 

 

So if you watch Steve Jobs over the last 20 years 

 

Before he died, he was he was just ahead of the curve 

 

On everything, right on there, on all the things

 

That they were developing and stuff like that. 

 

And you see that in lots of spaces. Where you see 

 

The really smart entrepreneurs are going 

 

To where the puck is going. They’re just ahead of where 

 

Everyone is. And it’s like just big time example is

 

Anytime you see the baby boomers moving into a market, 

 

If the baby boomers are moving there, there’s a lot of 

 

Money moving into that market. So getting there 

 

Before them is generally a smart move. One of those kind of trends.

 

So it sounds like you’re able to see that kind of stuff in your space.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

I joke with my husband that I’m never going to be 

 

Like a crazy visionary who’s going to imagine 

 

An entire new world, no. I can just sometimes 

 

Get a good hunch as to what’s a couple steps ahead. 

 

Richard Matthews  

You can see where the puck is going to be.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

… Timewise, sometimes. Often, it takes things longer 

 

To play out than I expect. But when I get one of those hunches, 

 

It happens. And so, I heard of this a couple of years ago, 

 

Obviously, and I was concerned that reusable replacement 

 

For wipes and cotton, and I can I tallk your ear off about 

 

Why wipes and even cotton balls, even the cotton that’s 

 

Plant-based. I can talk to you forever about why

 

It’s frightening for the planet, whatever. So I was –

 

A couple years ago, wow, I might be too late. It just seems like 

 

Any second, we’re going to be talking about how wipes 

 

Are the next big environmental disaster. 

 

And I’ve been waiting and waiting, and it’s taken a while. 

 

But it is coming. And it is we’re seeing it happen. 

 

Now, it just took a little longer than I thought. 

 

But I’m so lucky because, of course, it’s given me a lot of time,

 

Make some little mistakes and refine their …

 

Richard Matthews  

Have your company set up and ready to take advantage 

 

Of the trend as it’s growing. Which is, that’s a cool place to be 

 

With your business. So the other side of your superpower 

 

Would be your fatal flaw. Superman has his kryptonite.

 

It’s the thing in your life that you struggle with, 

 

That you think holds your business back.

 

Maybe a personality quirk or maybe something that 

 

You just struggle with the … stuff like that? What is it? 

 

And what have you done to help overcome it 

 

For other people who might run into something similar?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

I have two. Only one of them negatively affects my business. 

 

My personal kind of one is probably just frustrating 

 

To the people I work with, which is that I’m an optimist. 

 

And I figured out – I don’t try to tackle the world’s largest problem,

 

I try to tackle the problems that I have a hunch I can solve.

 

You know what I mean? And then 

 

Once I have a hunch I can solve it.  I am tenacious. 

 

I am not stopping. And then I’m an optimist, of course,

 

Asuming it’s going to be fixable. And then sometimes you run 

 

Into a lot of difficulties or expenses before you can finish it. 

 

So it leads to over promise sometime, about when 

 

I’ll get something done, because I didn’t realize 

 

That I have to learn through software first or whatever. 

 

Richard Matthews  

Yeah.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

But it’ll happen. But the one that really affects my business is that –

 

So with this thing where I can, I can kind of see trends and get it. 

 

The reason I can do that is because I’m detail-oriented. 

 

I’m detail-oriented, but I see a big picture. 

 

So I’m a good combination of I can get into the weeds,

 

But I see an arc. And with the detail, I can sometimes 

 

Get stuck there. And I can get stuck, as my mentor tease me,

 

Into playing by the rules, because I understand the rules …

 

I can see how they go and I can figure them out. 

 

And I can find ways to follow them even on a smaller budget. 

 

And then sometimes I kind of get lost over there. 

 

And I have to pull back and say, “Wait, what’s the point?”

 

Is the point to be a conveyor … company … to do everything 

 

The way everybody else is? Or is it to make a big change 

 

And introduce a big thing and to change people’s thinking.

 

So I have to ignore my good student nature. 

 

Ignore good detail brain nature and step back and say, 

 

“Broad stroke. Big stuff. What are you doing here?

 

Richard Matthews  

That makes a lot of sense. 

 

Sometimes you have to battles … or so to speak on 

 

What’s important to actually move the needle forward 

 

With revenue and growth and stuff in your business.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

One of the hard things about doing something differently 

 

Is that all the people who’ve been there for a long time,

 

Have a lot of excellent knowledge, want to tell you 

 

All the ways to do everything. And if you’re a beauty company.

 

You must this, that and the other. And it’s always 

 

Kind of challenging to decide which people’s advice 

 

You’re going to take and which ones you’re not, 

 

Which ones has worked for you an which ones 

 

You’re literally there to smash. 

 

How is your business going to be different?

 

How’s it going to be better? How’s it going to catch attention?

 

How’s it going to break through? 

 

You’re not going to break through by doing everything 

 

The way everybody else, unless you put a massive amount

 

Of money behind it. If you want to be just like everybody 

 

incredibly successful. If you have a massive marketing budget,

 

That is one way to get … buy. But if you have

 

A massive marketing budget, then you’re going to have to 

 

Do some things differently. All these well meaning people 

 

Who really are smart, but you have to this, that and the other. 

 

It’s interesting, it’s like we got to listen to them. 

 

Because you got to learn a lot about the industry and you’ve got 

 

There are few things that you should do in line with it. 

 

To be able to identify yourself as even belonging that industry. 

 

If I want to speak to beauty consumers, there’s certain things 

 

I have to do. So they understand that I’m a beauty company. 

 

But then, I can do some other things to break out. 

 

And that’s just up to me, is where am I going to do 

 

Something differently and especially every time 

 

You have a problem, that’s your opportunity 

 

To do something differently. So one of my fatal flaws 

 

Is that sometimes I try to solve the problems 

 

The way everybody else solves the problems. 

 

And I should be getting a little more flexible.

 

Richard Matthews  

And it’s an interesting thing you have to learn too

 

Because you have to learn which of these rules,

 

So to speak, are actually rules, like which ones are like gravity. 

 

And every time you jump off the building

 

You’re going to fall down and which ones are things that are 

 

Open for change and reinterpretation. And because 

 

People looking into their past, they don’t necessarily have 

 

That own filter. They don’t – they can’t look at everything

 

To be like, which ones of these things are things that 

 

I learned because that’s just the way the industry is,

 

The way people work. The human buying psychology, 

 

That’s not really going to change. And which ones were things-

 

Because I innovated or Ichanged something or

 

I did something different, which ones are open for interpretation?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

Everybody, it’s different for every company.

 

It’s different for every industry. And that’s kind of like the –

 

It’s awesome. But it’s also a little lonely because you have to 

 

Politely say ‘no’ to some people. You have to politely

 

Turn away from some things they tell you. You have to have 

 

The strength of mind to say no matter how certain they are 

 

How smart they are, it just may not be the right answer. 

 

And then, it can lead to some self doubt, 

 

But I guess for me, the good stuff and the bad stuff, 

 

Two Sides of all the same thing.

 

Richard Matthews  

Absolutely. So let’s talk a little bit about your common enemy.

 

So common enemy is something that you are working 

 

To removing your clients life in your customers lives. 

 

That if you could wave your magic wand 

 

To make your lives better with your products, 

 

With your services, what is the thing 

 

That you’re fighting against?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

Well, my real enemy that I’m fighting against, of course, 

 

Is needless waste and pollution. The … byproducts of using 

 

A piece of spun plastic to clean your face every day,

 

Tthrowing it away and then using another one tomorrow. 

 

And the packaging and transportation that comes with that. 

 

That’s the real enemy. But for my consumers, 

 

Most of my consumers are very focused on their skin

 

And taking care of their skin and how are they going to 

 

Keep their skin looking as good, as long as possible? 

 

And how do they remove makeup more effectively? 

 

Or how do I take my makeup off without it 

 

Taking a long time because I just want (to sleep?)

 

And so the common enemy for that. For me, I’m fighting tired –

 

I don’t want to say laziness. If you ask  (how do you take) 

 

Your makeup off before bedtime, your dermatologist

 

Tells you it’s incredibly important. Why don’t you do it? 

 

Say laziness. I hate to call it laziness, but and then on the flip side

 

We’re fighting a beauty market that tells people that 

 

They need to do like steps before bedtime, that you needed 

 

A makeup remover and a cleanser and an exfoliator 

 

And a night cream and an eye cream. And I mean, 

 

It goes on. There are literally 10-step skincare regimen is a thing.

 

Richard Matthews  

A whole pile of things.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

Pile of things. And actually, as a lot of dermatologists 

 

Will tell us not actually good for skin. It is expensive. 

 

It is time consuming. It is overwhelming. 

 

There’s a lot of confusion about what order do i do it in?

 

How do I do it? It’s also bad for you. 

 

It’s bad for skin, too much stuff. Your skin has 

 

A natural barrier function. It’s protecting you 

 

From the outside world. And the more you do to your skin, 

 

The more you’re impacting your skin’s ability 

 

To perform as a barrier, your impinging the barrier function

 

… Causes inflammation, which can turn into acne or eczema, 

 

Or other stuff. So I’m fighting against an industry 

 

That wants to make it really … expensive. I’m fighting about,

 

On the flip side, I’m fighting people who just starting to …

 

Be everything-in-one, where we’re more convenient,

 

Doing anything fairly good, bad. And so we’re trying to 

 

We’re gentler, we’re softer, we’re quicker, we are not trash. 

 

And that’s one of the things I most proud of, 

 

Is that we actually do really well. So all of those problems

 

And people who get used to it, they get hooked, 

 

So convenient and fast. They notice their skins 

 

Richard Matthews  

That’s really awesome. 

 

Amanda McIntosh  

Just one wipes. And then, – Thanks. So it’s –

 

We’re proud of all of this but it’s … once.

 

Richard Matthews  

And it’s better for the planet just as a side benefit. 

 

One of the things I’ve been talking about with a couple of 

 

Guests on the show is this idea of positive commerce. 

 

I think it’s the word people are using,

 

Or cause focused commerce Where as we become wealthier 

 

And wealthier as a nation, and as a people we are seeing, 

 

People care more about the products 

 

And the impact that they have. And if you’ve got 

 

A choice between, in our case, 500 versions of everything, 

 

You can choose to be choosy. 

 

You can choose the companies that are doing good things,

 

And that are having a positive impact on on our planet 

 

And our communities and people around us, 

 

Which is really a cool place to be as business.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

It feels really good. It causes me some additional 

 

Self-doubt because you’re a good student, 

 

And like to follow the rules, and I like to … thoroughly. 

 

So on one hand, I’m really happy that I’m producing 

 

A product that replaces thousands and thousands 

 

Of disposables, each one of my products, replaces many, 

 

Many thousands of pieces of trash and keep them 

 

From being created, transported, disposed off all that. 

 

On the flip side, it kind of bummed out that I’m like, 

 

Well, why do I have to have a package at all?

 

Or how can I have a truly reusable package 

 

That is also green to produce?

 

Or how can I be completely know what-

 

How can we not even have to ship something to a customer? 

 

That’s not going to happen. So but I keep going at each levels.

 

Maybe it should be produced out of a recycled content, 

 

Yet compostable on float, blah –

 

And that can stop me again, for … it bothers me. 

 

It keeps me up at night and keeps me looking for more stuff. 

 

But then that’s also gratifying. So I found the first big piece 

 

Of the puzzle, which is the product itself, 

 

Replaces a lot of disposables and now we’re going for 

 

The carbon footprint packaging, we can get. And we’re just 

 

Going to keep keep doing all of that. 

 

… With so many other companies 

 

And all this incremental progress makes everything better.

 

Richard Matthews  

So random talk, before you do with this, what you will

 

But I had a product shipped to me a while back,

 

That the box they shipped it in was not branded for the company.

 

It was branded like a – what would you call it?

 

It was branded is like something you would use in your house.

 

As a design thing, some of you might find appealing-

 

When one imports or something. So and the idea was that 

 

You could – The box that it came in, you could use it 

 

As a jewelry box on your counter or whatever, 

 

Or use it in the kitchen or whatever as as a storage thing. 

 

And it’s like it specifically said in the box is like the –

 

You’ll notice that the boxes came with 

 

Different styles and whatnot. And they just sort of 

 

Shipped out randomly. It was just a fun thing they did

 

With their products to make their – 

 

You want to keep their box and I was like 

 

That’s kind of a cool idea. So I don’t know if that fits for 

 

What you guys are doing. But there’s my idea for the day.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

No, that’s actually, you just really well-described two options

 

That a company like me can follow. And we can either say, 

 

Let’s make every single thing we produce

 

A little bit more valuable, useful, give it a second life. 

 

Or we can say let’s produce as little as possible, 

 

Just however we can make it happen. 

 

The thing is … recyclables compostable. With all of these

 

Free reusable bags, stuff like that, that’s one way for people to go.

 

And the extra benefit of that is that there’s this whole,

 

Consumer goods, part of the thing is that it comes in,

 

It’s actually the biggest piece of marketing because 

 

That’s the part that stays with them the longer. 

 

The purchase on the website or in retail, whatever,

 

But it’s that thing and if they unbox it at home, 

 

Came in the post, then that that’s actually just timewise 

 

That they’re spending much more brand image. 

 

So that’s one reason why you might want to give them 

 

Something that sticks with them longer. 

 

And in this case, I love it. It’s like a feel good. 

 

You remember the brand, even though it’s not actually branded,

 

But you that warm, fuzzy feeling of, “Look at what they did.”

 

And if you use it for your jewelry box, 

 

You probably still can remember that brand, 

 

Even though it doesn’t have her name on it. And that’s excellent. 

 

But the other way is that I’m kind of the other day, these days 

 

The … on the other side, which is that I have so many. 

 

Reusable, that and the other and it’s got the point 

 

Where I’m up to here with them. And unfortunately, 

 

A lot of those are not recyclable because to make an item

 

A little bit more long lived and a little bit nicer. 

 

Typically the things that go into it, make it not recyclable.

 

And so I’m actually kind of going the other directions.

 

How can I make the – How can I still look like 

 

A beauty company? How can I still look like it’s a nice product?

 

Because we make it in the USA of the fanciest stuff we can? 

 

And how can I give that, yet actually make the materials 

 

Disappear as fast as possible and have this little carpet in …? 

 

Because I don’t actually think anybody in the world 

 

Wants another little cute reusable bag or 

 

Another we get, we’re filled up, man.

 

Richard Matthews  

It’s an interesting game you have to play because 

 

You we can’t make things magically appear 

 

On our clients decks yet. We don’t have teleportation stuff, 

 

You have to actually still ship product. It has to go through 

 

The post, has to come in a package of some sort. 

 

And so you have to deal with some of those realities.

 

Stuff that you have to do and just what’s the best way to do it. 

 

So I’m sure you will come up with a really incredible solution 

 

For that as you continue to grow. And what’s cool is 

 

As you develop those things, those become 

 

Part of your brand story. And story that you can tell 

 

And get people engaged with your brand. 

 

So I think it’s a good thing all the way around.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

Thank you. 

 

Richard Matthews  

So the other side of your common enemy is your driving force.

 

If you’re common enemy is what you fight against, 

 

Your driving force is what you fight for. 

 

Just like Spider Man fights to save New York or 

 

Batman fights to save Gotham or Google fights to index 

 

All the world’s information for us. I think I might have

 

An inkling what your answer might be, but what is it 

 

That Take My Face Off fights for?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

The planet. Overwhelm is a terrible thing. I think the people 

 

Who are not concerned about the planet are overwhelmed 

 

By the idea. I think people who are concerned for the planet 

 

Are overwhelmed by the idea. And frightening people, 

 

The potential enormity of the problem is no fun

 

And it’s not effective. It doesn’t do anything. At the at the heart 

 

Of everything, I’m practical. How are we going to do something, 

 

And I want to feel like I’m doing something. 

 

But I want to feel like I’m doing something 

 

Without making every one of my life miserable 

 

By screaming all the time. I don’t want my children 

 

To grow up with a mother who’s wringing her hands 

 

About the planet every day. So I want to channel my concern

 

Into something that’s actually productive.

 

And because I believe that the point of life is to be happy, 

 

And to help other people, I want to channel it into 

 

Something that is also creative and uses my talents,

 

My abilities to their best level. And so for me, 

 

This combines of different skills I have, a lot of different interests 

 

I have with a thing that I kind of think … most.

 

Literally, to me right now, to make the world a better place, 

 

I think the most important thing we do is ensure that 

 

The world exists. And I can’t solve all the problems 

 

That I’ve got a really good idea for one of them. 

 

And so that’s what I’m doing.

 

Richard Matthews  

And that it ties right into the whole premise of the show 

 

Because one of the things that I – I’m firmly believer in 

 

Is that entrepreneurs are the ones who make the world go round 

 

And they solve all the world’s problems. And I think the best way 

 

That we’re going to tackle issues like climate change 

 

And taking care of our planet is going to be at the hands 

 

Of entrepreneurs who are solving the biggest problems. 

 

So, personally, for me, thank you for doing what you’re doing. 

 

I really appreciate it. I think that’s the way that 

 

We’re going to solve the problems is more people like you 

 

Doing what you do.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

Thanks. I hope you’re right. I hope everything gets solved …

 

Richard Matthews  

If only we could make it all solved yesterday, 

 

Then we’d have no more problems. But the reality is, 

 

And we see this all the time because what I do

 

In my businesses is marketing, right? We help teach people

 

How to accomplish things, work with a lot of expert brands

 

And educational brands. And anytime you teach someone 

 

How to do something, and they end up in a new spot in their life.

 

You solve one set of problems and create a new set of problems. 

 

So generally, it’s just a higher level of problem. So if you win the

 

Lottery, the day before you won the lottery, you had money problems, 

 

And the day after you won the lottery, 

 

You have money management problems. 

 

So whatever problems we solve, will probably create 

 

A new higher level of problem and then we’ll have 

 

A new generation of entrepreneurs have to come in 

 

And figure out how to solve those.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

True.

 

Richard Matthews  

Talk a little bit about your heroes tool belt. 

 

So this is more practical. Maybe you have a big magical hammer

 

Like Thor or bulletproof vest like a neighborhood police officer, 

 

Or maybe you just really liked the way Evernote helps you 

 

Keep everything together. What are some of the practical tools 

 

You use on a daily business or a daily basis to run your business?

 

That actually make your business and your brand a real thing?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

Well, the obvious one is, the basic one is really boring Google Calendar. 

 

I know that’s boring but

 

Richard Matthews  

That is actually not boring. And you would be surprised

 

The vast number of interviews, we’ve done something like 80% of them,

 

The calendar is the thing that comes up the most often.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

I mean, as kind of an idea person, I can get lost 

 

In my ideas all the time. And if I didn’t have that Google Calendar, 

 

Where the actual appointments and then like the critical to do’s.

 

So for me, I actually book the critical to do’s in the calendar.

 

I’m going to have a little more that comes up … but … to ignore them. 

 

But pretty much if I’m really stuck in an idea, 

 

And I’m working on something, but it’s the calendar. 

 

So I talked earlier about being a good student and 

 

Getting stuck and doing things like everybody else does, 

 

I have an exercise that I like to do, when I feel like 

 

I’m either too stuck in those kinds of weeds, 

 

Or there are too many choices in front of me, 

 

And I don’t know what to do first. And also, I’m going 

 

To tell a super quick story. The other day, a friend of mine 

 

Was telling me that she feels like a bad human being.

 

If she goes to bed and do everything on her to do list. 

 

Got two huge laughter, I was like how many things 

 

Are on your to do list? Typically 12. 

 

I was like, “Okay, well, mine’s got like, 200.” 

 

And … my head I think I’d be getting to everything on there. 

 

Because for me, I have an endless number of things 

 

That need to be done at any time and as an entrepreneur 

 

There and endless times that I could use 

 

To put my attention to … most worthwhile. And so I have to 

 

Constantly prioritize, and so they’re usually the priorities clear 

 

Of what has to get done. And what, where am I going to make 

 

Some small amount of progress in my business today, 

 

Because it’s really easy to just spin your wheels 

 

And just do the to do’s constantly. How am I going to 

 

Actually do something and move me forward. 

 

And if I’m at a point where there are either too many options, 

 

And I don’t know what to do, I don’t have any ideas 

 

On how to move it forward. I’m just stuck in the emails 

 

And the to do’s, I actually just do an exercise from 

 

The Passion Planner calendar. Do you know that one?

 

Richard Matthews  

I’ve not heard of it, no.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

I love it. I mean, there’s so many great kind of date books slash 

 

Organizer, little mini self-help tool things out there. 

 

This is one of these … all my old ones sitting on my bookshelf here. 

 

It’s called the Passion Planner and it’s a lady in San Diego 

 

Started, I think is a Kickstarter. And so it takes you through-

 

It talks about prioritizing your life. 

 

And it talks about where do you want to be?

 

In three months, four years? 

 

Where do you want to be in the rest of your life? 

 

Whare your goals? And it’s got a little time to exercise? 

 

And it says, “What do you want your life to look 

 

At these time points?” And then it says, 

 

“Okay, now go back and pick-”  I think there’s a little bit 

 

a lot of two. But basically, she suggest that you pick 

 

What would be the game changer. There one – three months 

 

Set of what – What’s the one thing, if you could get that done 

 

On that list, it would make the biggest change in your life. 

 

Now you’re going to go back and you’re going to map out 

 

Either backwards, here’s where it is. And here’s how 

 

I’m going to get there or forwards. And I often find 

 

What I want for my business for me, whatever, 

 

I don’t actually know how to get there. That stops a lot of people 

 

From even starting. But I find that I usually … inches or

 

I know the first steps to getting there, or I’ve got some ideas. 

 

And if I start to follow those ideas, then that reveal 

 

Some more information and more information. 

 

So I actually, I love my practical Google Calendar. 

 

But then I love the kind of big, big picture exercise 

 

Of reminding myself, what is it I really want? 

 

What is it I’m really trying to do? Where do I think things should be 

 

In these amounts of time? And how am I going to get very nebulous, 

 

Big picture exercise, and then you start.

 

The Passion Planner helps you break it down 

 

By month and by week, and then you’re going and you’re 

 

Blocking out parts of your calendar based on the exercise

 

That you just did and so I find that centering.

 

Richard Matthews  

And it seems like it’d be a really good way to –

 

Because I, for one, totally agree, you don’t always know 

 

How you’re going to get where you want to go. 

 

But if you don’t move at all, you’ll never get there. 

 

So sometimes it’s just taking the steps. The first step 

 

And maybe it’s a little bit of research here. It’s a little bit of 

 

Questioning there, maybe it’s calling someone up and maybe

 

They’re like nebulous actions, even right at the beginning

 

Because you don’t really know how you’re going to get to 

 

Where you’re going to go. But it’s like, once you start the journey,

 

It starts – The path starts to become clearer as you get 

 

Further along on it. So it’s a cool way to think about it, 

 

Okay, I’m going to put dot on the map, and we’re just going to 

 

Start walking in that general direction. And then you start 

 

Putting things in the calendar. Anyways, I think it’s a good 

 

Practical way to sort of manage that. I don’t know what we call it like,

 

The idea that you don’t really have a clear path to get from 

 

Where you are to where you want to go. 

 

But you know, you have to get there somehow. 

 

So you might as well start hacking out 

 

The weeds and going forward.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

And when you can’t see the path for the weeds. 

 

You can kind of helicopter out, get to a higher view 

 

Kind of look at it for a while and be like, 

 

“Oh wait, I could get research over there. 

 

I could Google that term. I can have some sort of 

 

Copy … and then will lead you closer.

 

Richard Matthews  

Music is by https://purpleplanet.com/

 

So the next question I have for you is about your own personal heroes. 

 

So Frodo had Gandalf. Luke had Obi Wan. 

 

Robert Kiyosaki had his Rich Dad, who were some of your heroes 

 

Were they real life mentors? Were they speakers or authors,?

 

Peers who were just a few years ahead of you?

 

And how important were they to what you’ve accomplished so far?

 

Amanda McIntosh  

I have a couple of names … change often, I have to say, 

 

The most steadfast one I’m going to cheer up is my mom.

 

Sorry, I tear up easily.

 

Richard Matthews  

No problem. 

 

Amanda McIntosh  

My mom grew up in incredibly difficult circumstances, 

 

And while putting herself, her siblings through school, 

 

Helped my father go through school. 

 

Single-handedly supports so many people. 

 

She got a very difficult circumstances. And she probably 

 

Wanted to be a playwright, I think. And she never really did that 

 

She ended going into business. And actually, an entire 

 

New type of telemarketing outsourcing, where you have 

 

Somebody else handle your calls, if you’re out of the city.

 

She”s actually one of the inventors of that industry. 

 

She was working at American Airlines as a manager for reservations. 

 

And noticed that at different times of day, they didn’t get many 

 

Reservations calls. And they had all this this incredibly expensive 

 

Equipment that could possibly be put to use for another company 

 

That may be … to get calls with those time. 

 

So she wanted turning this into an extra areas expertise 

 

And became the world’s most respected consulting

 

Practice dealing with issue … scale customer operations. 

 

And knowing what I do, just even remembering what growing up

 

In my house before she accomplished all these things.

 

How she did that as a female only had a bachelor’s degree

 

Because she put everybody else through school. 

 

And how she raised so many kids and then paid for so many

 

Other relatives and put us all amazing education, I watched – 

 

She’s just unbelievable. And she just broke her hip. 

 

And of course, she’s up and walking and doing things in no time. 

 

And she’ll be back to her international travel 

 

Schedule any day now. So that’s the most fundamental 

 

To the man if that lady can do that. I have zero excuse

 

For any hard … And the next, I love stories of 

 

The non-… the non … success stories, especially with entrepreneurship 

 

Being kind of like popular in a big deal, these days. 

 

There’s so many fun, awesome stories about somebody 

 

Who had a great idea. And just like made a lot of money or 

 

Sold the company and had a successful exit really fast. 

 

And that’s great. And I’m really happy for them. 

 

But I find the the stories of people who had setbacks from 

 

Their interesting, compelling, inspiring, having met 

 

Some of the flashes in the pans and some of the people 

 

Who’ve had the more rocky starts, I find the people 

 

With rocky starts to be much more personally inspiring, 

 

And much more, to kind of my whole sense, of what I think 

 

It’s very interesting in a person. So I love to … 

 

A lot of podcasts appearances

 

That Jamie Kern Lima has done lately. 

 

She’s the founder of IT Cosmetics, cosmetics company. 

 

At the time on QVC. She said her website was selling –

 

Was making about one sale a day. And she still took in 

 

That was after years of struggle. 

 

And then she went on QVC and because horrible she was

 

And how she presented her story and her own struggle

 

With her skin and what her makeup did for it.

 

It spoke to people and it really turned business around. 

 

And then I’m sure she had many setbacks after that, 

 

But she has weathered them and she’s just exited the company, 

 

Something new to me. She’s all about hiring people. 

 

So I love her story. I love entrepreneurs who’ve had setbacks,

 

 The current, my current big one, I am not so interested 

 

In the ones who did some … fast. 

 

Richard Matthews  

Makes a lot of sense. And I know it’s because 

 

My favorite story recently, a couple of weeks ago, 

 

We were at Walmart, going grocery shopping. 

 

And we stopped by the McDonalds just to eat something.

 

So we weren’t starving when we were grocery shopping. 

 

Because it’s always a bad idea to start grocery shopping. 

 

So, and a bunch of young teenagers came in on their scooters. 

 

And they were, own the world kind of thing. 

 

And you can tell who the obvious ringleader was. 

 

And he was cussing up a storm and my wife and I laughed.

 

Because he’s, I don’t know, 12 or 13 years old. And we’re like, 

 

He hasn’t earned those words yet. 

 

He hasn’t been through enough crap in life to earn those words.

 

And it almost feels you the entrepreneurs who just 

 

Go into a marketplace and they just rock it right to the top 

 

And make a bunch of money and exit. You’re like, for those of us,

 

Who have struggled through growing our business 

 

For like, you didn’t earn it, you didn’t do the hard work. 

 

You got lucky.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

I don’t want to dismiss them because –

 

Richard Matthews  

I totally get it. It’s cool but –

 

Amanda McIntosh  

It’s not an excellent instinct where they got lucky. I mean, it’s not –

 

I understand what you’re saying, I tend to feel the same way. 

 

But on the same, on the other hand, 

 

Hey, if mine were quickly, I’d be thrilled.

 

Richard Matthews  

We wouldn’t complain if we hit flash in the pan, that’s for sure.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

No.

 

Richard Matthews  

But at the same time, I get it when it comes to what’s 

 

More inspiring, you can’t replicate that. You can’t replicate 

 

That they were just in the right place at the right time 

 

With the right instinct. But the hard work and dedication 

 

To make something happen, despite problems, 

 

Is something that you can replicate. 

 

Its something that you can make happen in your business.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

That’s that’s an excellent point. Also, in my previous life, 

 

I was a classical musician. And that is a – if somebody wants …

 

And I think this is true, if you figured out that it’s actually harder 

 

To get an orchestra job that pays $10,000 a year. 

 

It’s harder to do that than it is to get into the NFL. 

 

It is an extremely playing specific field that requires diligence, 

 

Incredible discipline, and you have to be an amazing self starter.

 

It’s kind of like training to be a golfer. 

 

But if you win, if you win a lot of money. 

 

So distance and you can be really talented … be horrible. 

 

Taking orchestra auditions to get into an orchestra,

 

You can be … you actually can’t be … good at taking 

 

Orchestra auditions. That’s not really possible. 

 

But so like this difference between talent and work, 

 

I started off as a really talented musician. And then I had learned 

 

The hard lesson that that wasn’t enough. 

 

That wasn’t going to get me in New York Philharmonic. 

 

And to me, that was a, it was hard. It was a fascinating journey. 

 

It was amazing. And so I’m super into whatever gets you forward

 

And being creative about how to get there, 

 

Because I didn’t want to spend my life sitting in a practice room, 

 

Because frankly, that was boring. But I still wanted to do well. 

 

And so yes, you cannot replicate the flash in the pan.

 

But you can find a way to replicate the long journey, 

 

which to me seems …

 

Richard Matthews  

That’s one of the lessons I was talking to my son about 

 

A couple of years ago. He was in a gymnastics class 

 

With a buddy of his. And I think they were six or seven at the time. 

 

And his his little friend is like a natural born gymnast, 

 

Like one of those kids that at seven years old can do 

 

A back handspring back tuck with perfect form and 

 

Perfectly pointed toes and just like stick his landing 

 

To learn how to do that. And here you are at seven 

 

Every time and you’re like, normal people have 

 

Acting like a 13 or 14 year old gymnast who’s been doing it 

 

His whole life. And my son is working on these things. 

 

And he’s like, I don’t understand how come I have to try so hard. 

 

And he just gets it. He can just do it. And I had to have the discussion.

 

What was interesting as watching them is because 

 

His friend was so good at it because he was so naturally talented. 

 

He didn’t care. He had no work ethic for it. 

 

Because he didn’t have to try. And I was like and my son does. 

 

And I had told him at the time, and I still tell him this regularly, 

 

If you guys were ever to get into a competitive space together, 

 

Can compete against each other, you would destroy him. 

 

Because you would work him under a table and

 

And work ethic together, you get Olympians.

 

Talent will only take you so far. And when you put talent 

 

But you can get really far on just work ethic and develop the skill set. 

 

And if you have the talent but not the work ethic, 

 

You’re not going to get far at all.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

I have a total theory, talent can be as serious … 

 

To most people over the long term, it’s only really fun… a kid, 

 

Because if nobody is telling you, or if nobody’s steering you 

 

To an area either have to learn or somebody had 

 

To seriously work. Knowing one of the most complicated 

 

Difficult things in the world, it’s a mental … and it’s a muscle. 

 

And you have to develop the understanding 

 

Of how to solve that puzzle. And you have to develop 

 

The mental muscle to be able to stand to do it. 

 

The resilience, the stamina. I actually kind of feel bad 

 

If I’d never tell my children: You’re so good at that. 

 

Or you’re just a natural, I hate the term “natural.” 

 

The person may be or not. But that has nothing to do. 

 

And I feel like it’s long term equity motivator. 

 

They do things for the praise rather than for the sense 

 

Of fulfillment you get in working. And so my kids are 

 

Naturally good or not good at various things. But we try 

 

To make every piece of praise about the effort 

 

Put into it. How hard they worked, how hard they paid attention, 

 

How much they improved. Because I can see,

 

I praised by well meaning people for the things 

 

I was good at. And it took me a little while 

 

To figure out that wasn’t gonna cut.

 

Richard Matthews  

That’s a hard lesson as a parent to learn too.

 

How do you praise the right things 

 

That are actually going to incentivize 

 

The kind of behavior is going to have the most positive 

 

Impact on their lives. And the other thing I realized is that

 

Even if I screwed up royally, my kids would probably 

 

Still be fine, because I was all right. And I got praised 

 

For things I was good at. But we’re working on giving 

 

Our kids unfair advantage. Whatever goes into that. 

 

Let’s go ahead. I want to bring listeners and talk 

 

About your guiding principles. What are the top one or two 

 

Principles or actions you use sort of on a daily basis 

 

That you think contribute to the success and influence 

 

That your company enjoys today? Maybe some stuff 

 

That you wish you had known, or wish you were doing 

 

When you first started out on your hero’s journey.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

People say this, but it takes, I feel like a lot of epiphany… 

 

Understand what it can truly mean to them. The whole 

 

But what is … that means not coming up 

 

Stay true to yourself. It sounds so glib, it sounds pithy. 

 

With marketing messages. But that means don’t come 

 

Up with marketing messages just because 

 

Of what everybody else says. It means don’t try to look 

 

Way because you think you’re supposed to. It means:

 

Don’t act like your company cares about things, it doesn’t. 

 

My husband jokes and he says, I’m like a lawyer. 

 

I’m always being so specific. There’s, something about 

 

Integrity and honesty. And the times when I have 

 

Been less happy working on my business…. my business.

 

I felt like I had to look like some other beauty companies 

 

Who did things certain ways. And it felt bad. And … 

 

For other people to help me with parts of that, 

 

Because I  just couldn’t even speak, I could not do it. 

 

And over time, I have dabbled in every area 

 

Of my business myself. Sometimes out of budget constraints, 

 

Because I just didn’t have money to hire somebody. 

 

Sometimes, because I wanted to learn more. 

 

Sometimes, because I was trying to challenge myself.

 

How come I wasn’t good at that kind of thing. And I thought 

 

I’d be better if I understood it better. And I am always 

 

So much happier, when in every area I’m saying and doing 

 

The things that feel better for me. And I think 

 

It’s also challenging for people sometimes, because 

 

Sometimes they don’t really know 

 

What they want to do or say. They don’t even know 

 

What’s the most true to them. So it can be tricky. 

 

That’s the guiding principle. It’s kind of like relating 

 

Integrity and honesty. But actually being true to yourself. 

 

And what does that mean in terms of how you actually 

 

Conduct yourself in your business every day. 

 

That means don’t use a salutation. If a snippy happy 

 

Salutation or emails, if that’s not what you would say 

 

In person, things like that. Right now, I really would like 

 

To change my headshot, because I don’t really like… as me, 

 

Not to mention my hair color has changed. But silly things 

 

Like that just having everything lined up 

 

And feeling true to you. Everything goes better, 

 

And everything feels better.

 

Richard Matthews  

It’s one of those things that I included in my… 

 

I have an umbrella of things that I consider unconscious 

 

Trust signals, things that your customers, they recognize, 

 

But they wouldn’t be able to tell you 

 

That they’re recognizing them. From a very practical standpoint.

 

If you have a headline font that you use, in all your branding, 

 

And if you use it consistently across all the things 

 

That your clients interact with, that’s an unconscious 

 

Trust signal that you have your shit together. 

 

They might be able to look 

 

At all your marketing pieces and be like: Look, they’re using 

 

The same font the same way and all their places. 

 

So I trust them as a brand more they’re not 

 

Gonna be able to see that. But it’s the same type of thing. 

 

We have an intuition about each other. Because a company 

 

Isn’t a real thing. A  company is: it’s a word we use 

 

To describe a group of people trying to solve 

 

A problem with products and services. And so it’s 

 

The people that are behind it, and being true 

 

To those things. And if you’re not; if you’re fake, 

 

If you are trying to present yourself with someone you’re not, 

 

We’ll pick up on that; your customers will pick up on that; 

 

The market will pick up on that. And probably won’t 

 

Treat you kindly for it.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

…Become another piece of noise 

 

Because there’s so much of that. It’s like 

 

In the sounds Pippi. But to grab people’s attention 

 

These days, you have to seem real. And you can either 

 

Seem real, or you can be real. And a lot easier 

 

And a lot more fun to be real.

 

Richard Matthews  

You can seem real or you can be real.

 

Amanda McIntosh  

I had straight up failed at that sometimes.

 

Especially if I hired a contractor to do certain things. 

 

It’s not their fault. They’re doing it. They’re acting 

 

On my behalf. They’re doing… But sometimes 

 

They weren’t the perfect person for the job. 

 

They were just doing it seemed.

 

Richard Matthews  

It’s interesting too, because when you’re particularly 

 

When you’re hiring people, it’s hard to make sure 

 

That they are treating your brand the way 

 

That you would treat your brand. That’s when you have to 

 

Think about when does it make sense to bring stuff 

 

In house. And when does it make sense to hire contractors 

 

And how do you get contractors to represent your brand, the way you want.