'We Built This Brand by Rallying Our Community—Before We Even Had a Product' (Feat. Dani and Victoria Co-Founders of Mave and Chez)

In this episode of Community, Kristina sits down with 2 powerhouse entrepreneurs and best friends, Dani Kagen and Victoria Marshman, the co-founders of Mave and Chez. They share their incredible 15-year journey as business partners, scaling multiple businesses, and their latest venture— Mave and Chez; luxury ergonomic slippers designed to support women from the ground up.

In this in depth conversation they discuss turning a problem into a product that people actually need, building community around a brand, and developing the confidence to make bold asks, and expand your network.

Dani and Victoria open up about what it took to turn an idea into a reality and how they used community and mentorship to push through their hardest moments. 
If you want to learn how to rally community support behind your vision, this episode is for you!

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• 20:49 (Cont.) 'We Built This Brand by Rallying Our Community—Before We Even Had a Product' (Feat. Dani and Victoria Co-Founders of Mave and Chez)

Transcript

Kristina (00:00.958)
Hey everyone and welcome to another episode of Community. I'm your host, I'm Christina and I love when I get to talk to founders that I know in real life where I own their products and I'm also excited about what they're doing for women, for entrepreneurs, for business owners. And so I've got Danny and Victoria here who are the co-founders of Maven Che and they are both amazing community builders. They're doing so much, they're everywhere. I feel like you're constantly popping out everywhere I look.

So I'm so excited to have you on today. So thanks so much for coming.

Dani & Victoria (00:31.906)
Thanks for having us.

Kristina (00:33.426)
Hey, so I will warn people as you listen to this, there's three of us here. so this is like a, even Maria and I do podcasts with other people. It's like, you're always like, who's going to speak? So, this will be edited, but you never, you never know what's going to happen. But I'd love for, one of you folks or both of you to kind of give an intro to who you are and kind of maybe the mission behind what you're doing.

Victoria Marshman (00:55.873)
Absolutely. So Danny and I are, we've been co-founders for 15 years. So I feel like we've got a good, we know when each person speaks, but sometimes, you know, it's not an art, it's an art form. So it takes time. Yes. So my co-founder, Danny and I, we've been business partners and best friends for over 15 years. We've scaled three businesses together, but we did start out together as co-captains of the dance team at the University of Toronto.

Kristina (01:07.922)
Yeah.

Victoria Marshman (01:25.219)
many, many, many moons ago. But most recently, we've been pouring our heart and souls, that's a pun, if you're listening, S-O-L-E-S, into creating Maven Shea. The company is about helping women step into their days with more confidence and support.

Dani & Victoria (01:25.377)
Woo!

Kristina (01:37.94)
You

Victoria Marshman (01:48.047)
through the power of luxury ergonomic slippers for women. So we wanted to create something that genuinely supports women's bodies from the ground up with the help of podiatrists and foot experts. So that is what we are currently living and breathing day in, day out.

Kristina (02:04.532)
I love it. Well, I have a pair because you folks have been in high five women, which I love. And even now, I'm not in my office right now, but those are my office shoes. So I always like every day I slip out of my boots and I get into my little maves and we walk around and Maria and I have the same ones. So we're always like, yeah, it's so cute. But I love kind of like I'd love to hear a little bit more, a little bit about kind of like how you got there, right? Like because I think that's something that with a lot of founders, right, you have this idea and people are like, wouldn't it be nice if we had something like this and then

you never take any action on it. And then there's like the crazy people like us that take action. So curious, how did you kind of get there and what made you kind of want to get going?

Dani & Victoria (02:42.734)
Yes, we are crazy people. I agree. agree. You know what? Vic and I were running two events businesses in our twenties for almost a decade and the pandemic hit and we got really good advice from a mentor and he was like, we're not going to be here for three weeks, let alone three months. We're going to be here for a long time. So get your entrepreneur hats on.

your events aren't coming back for a while and you know, Vic and I aren't ones to sit around and twiddle our thumbs and hope for the best. So, we definitely were excited and motivated to, you know, step away from the event space and create something new. And we had always wanted to create a product together and something that we could actually like, I love the idea of like seeing someone wearing a product or using a product created. that was really like fun and like innovative and creative.

Kristina (03:27.838)
Mm-hmm.

Dani & Victoria (03:35.19)
And so, know, originally we were just thinking about this idea of slippers and we started doing a lot of research and development and we were like, there's actually like a big gap in the market. Like there aren't any genuinely supportive slippers out there that are also chic and stylish. And it was like just taking that first step of looking into it and doing some research and calling some people and asking them questions and seeing if this was something that was actually viable.

And then when I got pregnant during the pandemic, I was actually experiencing like really bad pain in my feet and my lower back. And I have a podiatrist friend and she made me a pair of orthotics and I had nothing to put them into other than like a running shoe. And I asked her for like a recommendation. Can I like put these in a pair of slippers? Like, is there something like cuter than these grandma orthopedic slippers on the market? And she was like, honestly, no.

Kristina (04:09.972)
Mmm.

Kristina (04:29.108)
Ha!

Dani & Victoria (04:32.524)
And so that was really when Vic and I were like, I think there's something here. And we did so much more research learning how many women experience plantar fasciitis and flattening arches due to like pregnancy, postpartum, menopause, like athletes, know, women just walking around barefoot in their homes, like struggling with back pain. So we were like, okay, I think we can actually make something that's cool, but also like could really help people.

Kristina (04:59.124)
And okay, so you get this all started. How did you, when you're like, you bring this product to life, you know, how did you start kind of selling it? Because this is something that I think is really interesting. Like when you solve a problem for people and sometimes, and honestly, Danny, like I think most people when they start businesses, it's kind of like you, you're like, I have this problem and I'm curious who else has this problem. And like, I need to kind of solve it. But kind of what I'm curious about is like, you must have rallied some like troops around what you were doing. And so I'd love to hear about that process.

Victoria Marshman (05:24.879)
Bye bye.

Yeah. So when you create a product from scratch, one of the biggest things you learn, especially as you get into it is you have to validate the idea. Like you can't just assume that everybody thinks the way you think. And there has to be what, you know,

Kristina (05:40.211)
Mm-hmm.

Victoria Marshman (05:47.437)
we call them the e-comm or like product market fit, like it's essential, right? So for us, we had had hundreds, if not thousands of conversations with customers, but the biggest thing we really wanted to do was like test that first prototype to see how customers would respond and all that.

So we did, we had a lot of conversations with other product learners and, you know, got some great advice from mentors. So we decided to launch something called the Kickstarter campaign. This is like a crowdfunding type campaign, where people back you through like a pledge, and they get one of the first editions of your product. It also is a great way to get like a bit of capital to order that first batch of inventory. But like the most most important thing that comes out of that.

Kristina (06:14.452)
Mm.

Victoria Marshman (06:34.955)
is you're getting your early adopters for your product who are going to give you that essential feedback on that first edition of your product to continue to finesse it. So that was kind of... Yes, yes. So for Danny and I, it was a no brainer. Of course, once you get into it, you realize how difficult it is to execute these kinds of campaigns. But we rallied our community together. We rallied our people together.

Kristina (06:43.346)
Hmm.

Dani & Victoria (06:43.63)
and you're building your community.

Kristina (06:45.876)
Good day.

Victoria Marshman (07:02.531)
You know, I think one of Danny and I's biggest edges in being productpreneurs is we're service based entrepreneurs first. We ran events for almost a decade before we started this business and we know the power of community and bringing people together. So that edge really helped us realize like, okay, we got to start rallying people behind this brand, even at the prototype stage. Like we're not even selling it, but we're going to go to events and talk about it.

Kristina (07:09.884)
Mmm.

Victoria Marshman (07:32.079)
talk to all of our people from our past businesses. And you know, when we launched that Kickstarter campaign, Danny can talk more about it, but we've literally locked ourselves in a hotel room for three days and called every single person we knew to back us on that campaign. Like that's what it took in the early days.

Kristina (07:46.29)
Yeah. Yeah. No, I love it. You have to get like kind of gritty with it.

Dani & Victoria (07:52.514)
You have to be scrappy always as an entrepreneur. don't think entrepreneurs get to a place where they stop being scrappy.

Kristina (07:59.08)
Yeah, even I notice this in our own service-based business where it's like sometimes we'll have a low season or whatever and I'm like, I'm gonna email everyone I know. I'm gonna send out some emails and then people respond to them and they're like, I was just thinking about you or whatever and I'm like, I didn't realize follow-up emails worked amazing. But it's just so funny. We're in the day-to-day, but when we're in that season where we have to build, there's just so many things we can do. And I'm curious for you guys, how important was mentorship as part of this? Because I think,

That's something that I know a lot of entrepreneurs, both service and product, invest in really heavily, like often. And sometimes I don't actually think in the right types of mentorship. So I'm curious, like how important was that to you and how did you choose mentors?

Dani & Victoria (08:41.346)
Yeah, I mean, Vic and I have had many mentors and we still do, and it keeps growing. Like we have so many mentors around us and it's very purposeful. Like we know how much people in different areas, in different industries, in different, you know, times of their life and their career can be so impactful. And, know, you get a lot of advice and sometimes it can be overwhelming, but

At the end of the day, I think we take about, you know, 10 % of that advice and that like actually can change something, the trajectory of our business, a decision we're making. Um, so like mentorship has been really huge and we heavily rely on people and ask people for things all the time. I don't know. There's like a bone in our body that's like, Ooh, I don't want to ask for help right now. We're like, we need help. We are going to reach out to this person and book a meeting and just 15 minutes. And you know,

Kristina (09:28.308)
Mm-hmm.

Dani & Victoria (09:39.372)
we expect the same of people that we're mentoring too, because we mentor other entrepreneurs too. And so, you know, if they don't reach out to us for help, then like what would stop us from reaching out to other people for help? So it's something that we rely on heavily. And I don't think that great entrepreneurs get to that level of excellence without mentorship.

Kristina (09:49.78)
me

Kristina (10:00.932)
How do you figure out the right advice? You kind of mentioned you take kind of 10%. I know this for myself too. I remember one of the first mentors I worked with, I was like, oh, I hate that. I hate that idea. But I loved all these other things that he was telling me to do. But there was just this one thing I had a huge rub on. But I was like, but he told me to do it. Should I just do it? And it was this really big, we didn't end up doing it, thank God. And because now I think we'd be in trouble. But I think it's just really interesting how to figure out what

discern what types of things you should take action on.

Dani & Victoria (10:33.536)
Vic and I have a role where we like always sleep on things. We had a mentor, like an investor mentor call last week with like some serious, heavy advice and like a, you know, crucial time of our business. And we were like, these are all really good ideas. And we were like, let's sleep on it. And it wasn't actually the same outcome, like two days later after we slept on it. And we actually didn't take the advice.

Victoria Marshman (10:33.87)
Yeah.

Kristina (10:37.18)
Mmm, love that.

Victoria Marshman (10:37.817)
Always, always.

Kristina (10:54.579)
Haha

Dani & Victoria (11:03.11)
And I'm so glad we didn't, I think for us, at the end of the day, you know what to do for your own business. You know in your gut what direction you want to take. And I think that's why the advice is so important, because it makes you think about things and it challenges you. But then at the end of the day, you listen to your gut and you have to do what's right. I don't know if that summed it up for you or not.

Kristina (11:25.31)
Mm-hmm.

Victoria Marshman (11:29.195)
Yeah, yeah. And I think it's important for people listening to define in your own way. Like there's going to be two types of people that come into your life that really support you. There's mentors.

Kristina (11:44.617)
Mm.

Victoria Marshman (11:45.463)
And then there's coaches. And I think it's really important to distinguish those two people in your head, because Danny and I have mentors, and we have coaches, we have people coaches, we would consider people that we've invested money in to be in like a long term partnership with that are really focused on growing you as a person and an individual into that like next version of you that you need to become to scale and be hit your goals and stuff.

So, you know, we go to our coaches for certain things where we're really looking for clear answers. And I think like for mentorship, it's very important that you really know what trajectory you're on and what that big picture vision is, because mentors are going to throw things out to you that are might, like you said, you might get that like, it feeling like that's not an alignment of what I'm trying to do.

Kristina (12:18.932)
Mm-hmm.

Victoria Marshman (12:42.829)
So I think at the end of the day, you need to be very clear with your vision and how you want to get there. And you've got to listen to your gut on things for sure.

Kristina (12:51.392)
Mm-hmm. I love that. Yeah, and I think we've all probably experienced that in some way, like whether it be from a mentor, whether that be from social media, like you hear something and you're kind of like, that's not for me. And that worked great for somebody else, but maybe not for me. I'm interested too, because, Deena, you talked a little bit about this, that, almost flexing that muscle of the ask, right? Like being like kind of like fearless with being able to be like, hey, I'm just wondering about this or I'd love to have 10 minutes with you or whatever. I'm curious, like one...

are you just like this? Because I'm just like that. I'm just like, I'm just going to message this person because I would like anyone can message me anything and I would do it. You know, I probably I probably shouldn't have said that like so publicly, but like people will like DM me questions and I'll just respond. Like I'm not going to like, I don't put a paywall up. Like there's not like really, there's a boundary there I'm sure. But I think on the other end, it's like there's people who I think like really are scared of those asks and they're scared to, you know, get in front of that person. Like what would you say to that person? And how much of that do you think is like innate to who you guys are?

Dani & Victoria (13:50.85)
Listen, I think it's hard to make asks, like even if you're good at it. think it's, think like just to acknowledge that like this is not easy is like important. there are still some people I reach out to and I get like the nervous butterflies before I reach out and ask for something. There's some people that I just can ask things to multiple times a day. So I think it's like, I think the power of the ask just generally is like, can feel scary.

Kristina (13:54.952)
Hmm.

Dani & Victoria (14:19.576)
But once you're doing it routinely and consistently, it's actually not that scary and realize how receptive people are to help and willingness to help. So I think the more you do it and the more you flex that muscle, the easier it gets. And I think you have to do it like all the time because you're not...

reaching out to people. And sometimes it's not even just to ask for like advice or help. Like sometimes it's just to connect with someone and you don't know what's going to come out of that connection. Right? So yeah, I think like acknowledging as a first step that like, yes, this kind of feels hard, but then knowing the end result is actually like so much greater than the fear itself is like what keeps us doing this. And Vic and I ask people for things all the time. And you know what, like,

It's always paid off. Like if someone said no, it's usually just not not yet. And it's always paid off for us to ask people for things. I don't think you can do this life of entrepreneurship without asking people for things. You're constantly, I don't know. I think we are always asking people to things.

Victoria Marshman (15:18.637)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kristina (15:18.643)
We are.

Victoria Marshman (15:33.197)
Yeah, I'll be I'll be very candid. I think Danny is an excellent. She is outstanding at making asks. It comes naturally to her.

Kristina (15:33.257)
Yeah.

Dani & Victoria (15:40.43)
you

Victoria Marshman (15:42.393)
For me, it's something that I had to like build as a skill for sure. Over the last few years, I think especially in the early stages of entrepreneurship, you're so overwhelmed with like self doubt and worry and overwhelm and like you're, you're building that confidence, which takes time to build for sure. And there's also this like underlying like pride, like you don't want like you feel like if you are reaching out to ask for help, you're somehow

Kristina (15:46.461)
Yeah.

Victoria Marshman (16:11.659)
doing like a disservice to yourself because like you don't it makes you feel like you don't know the thing and I think that's something as women we really need to be self-aware of because it's like culturally inbred in us to think asking for help is a weakness or asking for asking for something is a weakness so I think it's something you really have to become aware of and I certainly have spent a lot of time doing

Kristina (16:17.268)
Mmm.

Kristina (16:27.027)
Yeah.

Victoria Marshman (16:35.951)
I think one of the biggest things is I always remind myself is if I don't go and make that ask it like becomes like such like a meta thing but I'm like I am doing a disservice to the world because I don't know what's going to come out of this conversation like I like I just don't know you know, a week ago, Danny and I are in the middle of raising money right now for our next round.

Kristina (16:49.533)
Yes.

Victoria Marshman (17:00.955)
We raised almost a million dollars two years ago and we're doing an even bigger raise this year. And I had to do a pitch meeting by myself. Usually Danny and I do them together. And the two investors I pitched to were like, we had pitched to them two years ago and I got a flat. No, they're like, no, we're not interested. You guys are too early. Like keep us in the loop. Good luck. And I could have taken that as like, my gosh, you know, this is

Kristina (17:25.332)
Mm.

Victoria Marshman (17:30.147)
Like it's the end of the world. I'm never talking to these people again. Like I'm we, Danny and I chose we're like, okay, we got to keep these people in the loop. It's a not yet. Two years later, last week, I pitched to them how far we've come. It was an instant. Yes. For four times the amount of money that I thought they were going to come in for. you just don't know until you make the asks.

Kristina (17:48.369)
Amazing.

Kristina (17:52.862)
Yeah, I love that. And that's actually the premise of like, I know I'm like snapping with you guys. I'm like, I'm here for this. But it's like, this is why I'm so passionate about community and like community building and like relationships because I have seen people's like businesses transform from like asks or like from being at an event and sitting next to somebody and like, they have an answer for something that you've never even thought of or like, how many times I've been like, I'm kind of wondering about this and I like kind of put out an ask in the community.

Dani & Victoria (17:57.59)
Woo! my god, it got!

Victoria Marshman (17:59.855)
Thank

Kristina (18:22.5)
community I'm in and then someone comes back with something I could have never dreamed up myself or an intro that was like Incredible or my next client that's like, know three times the amount of my last client like you just never know where these people are gonna come from and I think one of the things I'd love to hear from you Vic is like how do you Remain like strong in that where you cuz nose suck like whether you're it's your first pitch or your like I still get upset when I like meet someone and I send them a deck and they're like now and I'm like, god, okay, I

I loved them, I loved their business, I wanna work with them so bad, but I'm still so invested. So how do you maintain that and maintain that energy around not yet and keep those people kind of close for the future?

Victoria Marshman (19:04.013)
there's two things I think number one, it's a day it's a day it's a day to day journey to just keep your vibes high. And I know that's like the name of your event, but it's true, you have to spend so much time investing in yourself keeping your your personal well being and your vibes high because

Kristina (19:13.107)
Hmm.

Victoria Marshman (19:26.659)
you know how you show up in the world is how people are going to respond to you. You know, Danny and I thankfully we have each other because we go through ebbs and flows like some weeks my vibes are very high and you know she's going through stuff and other weeks like I'm in the mud and going through things and she's very high but I feel like really showing up consistently in your day to day and keeping the vibes high is really important. I don't know Danny do you have anything else like I feel like that's the biggest thing for me is just like that day to day

Kristina (19:30.548)
Yeah.

Victoria Marshman (19:56.249)
constantly being self-aware and not letting that those like old patterns of doubt and fear creep in.

Dani & Victoria (20:04.408)
Yeah, I think also like some of the systems we're putting in place to like follow up with people and like connected to our community and like having them a part of even just something small, like our email database, just to like see how we're progressing and like, you know, staying in the loop of our business. Like also me and Vic showing up on social media and like having people like be a part of our journey, but like kind of at a distance. And I think like all of those little touch points have been really important for us to like.

keep those people involved who are like, yes, but like, maybe they come in as customers, maybe they come in in a different way. So like, even if it's like a not yet for like an investment or like something, one thing, it could be a yes in a different way. So I think like all the systems that we've put in place with like our team members and like having them invested in terms of like email and social media and like all these different touch points has been important.

And like, honestly, Vic and I are so lucky that we have each other, like to have a co-founder that like you can rely on so much. Like Vic, I literally had a panic attack last week and Vic topped me off the ledge. cause you just go through so much, so many highs and lows in your business. And you know, I think that like person for you, whether that's like the co-founder who is incredible, whether that's like your coach that you can rely on.

Kristina (21:16.518)
Yeah

Dani & Victoria (21:30.19)
whether that's like an important mentor, like kind of going back to what we were talking about earlier, those people are so important to also keep things moving and like keep your energy high and remember what your big vision is. We get stuck a lot of the time as entrepreneurs in the weeds and like in the doings. So to step back and have these people as soundboards to really remind you of what your big vision is, is huge.

Kristina (21:57.62)
Yeah, I love that answer. Well, obviously I have a co-founder too, right? And I feel the same way about Maria that it's like last week we had like a tough social snippet week and we were both like, this is it, this is it. Like we're done with this shit. And then like the next day I was like, okay, I'm feeling good. And she's like, me too. I just needed a day, right? And you have each other to like talk through those things. And I love also what you're talking about too, right? Like even with the like maybe no, not yet. I like, I recently got a pitch from somebody for an investment and I was like, oh, it's like not really the time I'm growing my family. I'm.

Dani & Victoria (22:01.995)
Yeah.

Kristina (22:25.86)
kind of holding on to some cash. So let me think on it for the future. And I made an intro to her to another friend who does investing. And my friend invested the 100K in her business. But it was just an amazing opportunity. And I was like, this is great. It's just not mine today. But I have a friend who might be interested. But you never know. It might be a no for that person, but they have an amazing network. Or they have a great connection to make kind of thing. I'm curious, too, for investment and when you're seeking that out.

Dani & Victoria (22:35.842)
What?

Kristina (22:55.998)
How do you build your confidence for your pitches? Because I think that's something that is really hard for entrepreneurs. Even if you really believe in what you're doing, curious how the steps you took to build that confidence up.

Dani & Victoria (23:08.318)
my God, we started pitching during pandemic, because we were building this during COVID. I remember.

Victoria Marshman (23:08.473)
What?

Victoria Marshman (23:11.727)
Yeah.

Yeah, never, never raised a dime before together. Like we had bootstrapped both of our events based businesses like this was not a skill we possessed. And also in the investor world, there's like this, this whole dialogue and ecosystem that you when you first open it up, you're like, what's a safe? What's angel? Like there's so many things that are unknown. So there is like that steep learning curve of just this ecosystem.

Kristina (23:29.769)
Yeah.

Dani & Victoria (23:43.436)
Yeah, so that's where we turned to YouTube and we were like, cool, we're going to just teach ourselves like about investing 101 during a global pandemic, building a business from scratch. Cool, cool, cool. And honestly, like it really helped because we like started learning about some of the lingo. We started asking people like how things work. And so we were pitching actually like predominantly on Zoom in

2020 because that was the only thing that we could do. And I remember getting like super nervous before these calls because I was like, this is so new for us. Like I didn't know if we were saying the right thing. And if the decks were too long and you know, now fast forward five years later, I mean, we've done like five different accelerator programs and we've pitched like hundreds and hundreds of times to people, both in person or online and like

our deck has been changed seven million times. Like, you know, it's so funny in hindsight to look back, but you just kind of have to start and it's okay for like those first few pitches to be kind of rusty and shitty, but kind of just have to start. And it's like, again, like we're just always talking about consistency, like, and the more you do things, the better it becomes. Like it doesn't feel hard now because we, we know so much more about

Kristina (24:40.667)
Ha!

Kristina (24:52.189)
Mm-hmm.

Victoria Marshman (24:58.873)
Yeah. Yeah. And you know...

Dani & Victoria (25:07.308)
our big vision, we're really clear on our goals. We understand our numbers, but you know, when you're pitching right at the beginning, just an idea to someone, you know, they're really just investing in you. So, I think it's like a matter of tapping in and really refining like your speaking capabilities and like the soft skills that you can bring. Cause like all of like the numbers and the data and like the fun stuff that the investors want to see will come later. So.

Kristina (25:18.292)
you

Kristina (25:29.79)
Mm-hmm.

Victoria Marshman (25:35.501)
Yeah. And I think, I think ultimately the biggest thing we've learned from literally knowing nothing is people are investing in you as a person in the beginning. And I think

Kristina (25:45.106)
Mm-hmm.

Victoria Marshman (25:49.657)
people aren't going to be like when we were pitching to our first initial investors, we didn't know everything we had never created a product before there was so much uncertainty in the direction and trajectory we were going and we had never built an e commerce business. So I remember in a lot of our first meetings with investors, they're like, Okay, do know what your projected CAC is? Do you know like, you know, what your row ass is going to be like? And I remember like googling these numbers on the side being like,

Yes, for our last let me get back to you. I don't know what the answer is going to be. You know, like, you realize that there there's so much uncertainty. But at the end of the day, I think being honest showing up as the best version of yourself.

letting people see who you really are and what you're capable of is what people buy into and their belief that you can do it is is ultimately what it's about not knowing every little single thing like that's gonna come it's like do you have the the the goods in you to do what you actually say you're gonna do

Kristina (26:40.029)
Mm-hmm.

mmm

Kristina (26:55.892)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, and that integrity that comes with that too, right? Which people think you're a bitch. And it sounds too like something that has been core for you guys is like not only accepting help, but accepting feedback. Because I'm sure you got some negative feedback along the way.

Victoria Marshman (26:58.681)
sudden hybridia.

Dani & Victoria (27:07.341)
Yeah.

Victoria Marshman (27:11.096)
yeah.

Dani & Victoria (27:11.402)
yeah. And again, same thing. we probably were like, you know, nodding our heads and smiling at some of the advice we got and then just doing what we still thought was good anyway. or making actual really like helpful moves and changes and, know, actually taking some of those things into account. So, yeah, we got, we, get advice daily on what we should be doing. And it's, I think it's like,

I don't know, sometimes it's comical and because you again know your business the best, but sometimes it's actually really helpful.

Kristina (27:45.97)
Yeah, yeah, it's surprising. I would love to hear from you, my last question for you guys. I'd love to hear from you. What do you think a product-based business needs to do to build community?

Dani & Victoria (27:56.398)
That's a great question.

Kristina (27:57.716)
Thank so much.

Victoria Marshman (27:57.871)
That's great question because I think you have to figure out what type of community you want to build is like the most important thing. know, for Danny and I, because we came from an events business, we always knew we wanted to like weave that into what we were doing.

We wanted to genuinely bring women together to have conversations. We wanted to support and empower women to be more confident in their days. for us, building community was like when we were building that out in our big vision, we always envisioned in-person gatherings and stuff, which isn't always common for a product-based business, transparently, but I think has been a secret sauce for us in growing.

Kristina (28:38.387)
Mm-hmm.

Victoria Marshman (28:44.185)
such loyal fans in such a short amount of time because we're really building something that is tangible and people can feel in person together. So that's been an edge for us. I mean, in terms of online, you know, I think a lot of founders get a little scared about becoming the face of their brand. But Danny and I have unapologetically been ourselves as we build Maven Shea. You know, I talked about it earlier, but her and I used to be

Kristina (28:52.883)
Mm.

Victoria Marshman (29:13.881)
competitive dancers, and we really lean into that on our socials and like let people see who we really are. And in the early days, I think that's really, really important. I think in order for people to understand your brand and what you're building, they need to understand you as a person. And again, advice is cheap. Some people can build product based businesses without ever being the face of their business. But I think for Danny and I,

Kristina (29:15.497)
Yeah.

Kristina (29:25.256)
Hmm.

Kristina (29:31.764)
Hmm.

Victoria Marshman (29:42.807)
and building community. It's been really helpful to open up ourselves to other people, let them get to know us to, you know, want to buy our product because they're excited to know the founders behind.

Kristina (29:55.226)
I love that. Dan, do you have anything add?

Dani & Victoria (29:57.996)
I mean, I would just take it one step further. I think you always have to kind of be the face of your brand. Like there are so many amazing companies out there and you know, some of the ones that we look at that are 10, 15, 20 years old, like the founders are still like heavily the face of the brand at some capacity and you know, they have like a big hand in, you know, that social presence. So.

I think it's really important. again, like Vic said, yes, there are these like anomalies where there's just like faceless, totally, you know, anonymous founders for a brand. But the ones that I see that are super successful, the founders are really involved and showing up and are kind of like the, leaders of that community and the leaders of that brand bringing that community together.

Kristina (30:49.256)
Yeah, love that. Totally agree. think it's like personal brands are only expanding, not going anywhere. And so finding ways to make that happen if you have a product-based business is so amazing. Well, ladies, this was so fun. I've had such a good time chatting with you guys, and I'm so excited about what you're up to. And you know I love your products. Talk about it all the time. And I'd love for you to tell people where they can get a hold of you, where they can grab some. Yeah, I love it.

Dani & Victoria (31:07.406)
Thank you.

Victoria Marshman (31:15.735)
Yeah, we are we have a beautiful online store just got a rebrand. So take a look. She's beautiful. It's me. So if you had to maven shade calm, as she is felt like home in French, so CHE Z for Z for our American listeners.com. We created a custom code for everybody. So if you go to the show notes, you can use that code and save $30 on your first order with us. So

Kristina (31:24.276)
Bye!

Victoria Marshman (31:44.887)
You're going to love them. have two styles.

Dani & Victoria (31:45.531)
Yeah, it's community.

Dani & Victoria (31:50.67)
She's a little choppy. He's in Mexico. She's allowed to be a little choppy. Yeah, the code is communitypodcast30 for $30 off your first order.

Kristina (31:51.944)
Hahaha

Kristina (32:03.508)
Yay, amazing. I'm sure people are gonna be running over. And then where can people find you guys on social?

Dani & Victoria (32:08.588)
Yeah, Instagram, LinkedIn, all the fun places, Facebook, Maeve and Shay, M-A-V-E-C-H-E-Z.

Kristina (32:14.31)
Amazing. So I will make sure to link everything in the show notes, including both of your Instagrams as well, because I know you guys do a lot of entrepreneurial stuff as well. Not only may have been shea lots going on, growing your family is growing, growing all your lives and stuff. So I know people are going to want to stay in on that. And thank you so much for being here and everybody who's listening, go give them a follow, go grab a cute pair of slippers and let us know what resonated about this episode. Have an amazing day.