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John Shegerian: Welcome to another edition of Green Is Good. This is the Green Festival edition of Green Is Good in beautiful Washington, D.C., and we end every festival program with – of course – Dr. Corinna Basler, our great friend. She is the President of the Green Festivals. Welcome back to Green Is Good. Corinna Basler: Thank you, John. And likewise. It’s always a pleasure to see you and welcome you as being part of our show. John Shegerian: Oh, we were so excited to be in D.C. with you this year. And today was just an amazing day here. I want to hear, though, from you. Tell me – as the President – how did D.C. work out for you this year, and how was the attendance, the media, the vendors? Tell our listeners and our viewers around the world how did D.C. work out for the Green Festivals? Corinna Basler: Sure. I mean it’s just Saturday. We started yesterday and we still have Sunday. John Shegerian: Sure. Corinna Basler: But it has been really amazing. We have over 260 vendors. John Shegerian: Whoa. Corinna Basler: So we are almost sold out here in Washington, D.C. We were live on ABC’s “Good Morning Washington” yesterday. So they were playing us a couple of times, encouraging more and more people to join the green movement, which is so important. John Shegerian: I saw today the aisles were full, and not only full with Boomers my age, but full with young Millennials. I mean, there were tons of Millennials up and down – as you call it – mainstreaming. I saw more people today than I’ve ever seen at any festival I’ve been to. Corinna Basler: I’m really glad to hear that. John Shegerian: So it was just – and what do we have in front of us? We always have a wonderful basket full of goodies. What is this basket called, and what does this represent? Corinna Basler: Sure. This is our Super Green Shopper Prize. John Shegerian: OK. Corinna Basler: And this is part of our awards ceremony. We have the Community Award and also we have the Brand Award, so what that means is every exhibitor here is qualified to participate to be one of our Brand Award finalists. And even a small company – basically – can promote themselves and has a chance to be voted by our millions of conscious consumers online. And all those exhibitors are contributing to the prize, and basically, a voter online has a chance to win the prize. John Shegerian: And then when – do you give this away tomorrow? Corinna Basler: We are giving the Brand Award away tomorrow together with the Green Festival Community Award. Then we will send the basket to the lucky one, and I’m pretty sure that you can apply too. John Shegerian: Wow. So anyone can apply for this. Corinna Basler: Yes. John Shegerian: On your website, www.GreenFestivals.org. Corinna Basler: Absolutely. John Shegerian: That is amazing. So any new partnerships in D.C. that you would like to share with our listeners and our viewers? Corinna Basler: Sure. This year we are partnering with Mom’s, again – Mom’s Organic Market. That is very local, community driven. People really love it. We’re working with Ford, Mid-Atlantic dealerships. It’s also the first time. And for the first time ever, we’re having a three-day show. Instead of just two days limited to Saturday and Sunday, we we’re already opened on Friday to invite buyers. We, for example, had Costco, Gap, Sephora, Whole Foods coming checking out our exhibitors to maybe pick some up and integrate them for the bigger store concept nationwide. John Shegerian: That seems to be your new paradigm. Wherever the Green Festivals go now, it’s a three-day event – Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, right? Corinna Basler: Yes. Absolutely. John Shegerian: We’re your green media partner, and we love being at all your events. Where is the Green Festivals going after D.C.? Where can our listeners and our viewers come see you at? In which cities across America after D.C.? Corinna Basler: Sure. After D.C. – just to mention another highlight after the partnership. John Shegerian: Sure. Corinna Basler: It’s also BMW. So we’re working with D.C. BMW centers. That also is the first time ever here in Washington. So having not just the I-3’s but having the I-8 on the floor, and it’s an all-green car and it’s really unique. We had a lot of journalists trying to cover the car. John Shegerian: So Ford was here and BMW. Corinna Basler: Yes. We also have Zipcar. I mean, transportation is really so important, because almost everyone needs a car to drive. John Shegerian: Right. Corinna Basler: You need to go to work. And that’s a very easy way and a very easy decision for every consumer to make instead of buying a regular car to buy the greener version. John Shegerian: That is great. Any other new partnerships in D.C. you want to talk about? Corinna Basler: There are a couple of new partners. But to answer your original question, where are we going to be in the Fall…. John Shegerian: Yes. Corinna Basler: Yes. Where will we be? The next show will be in September, Los Angeles. John Shegerian: Back to L.A. Corinna Basler: Back to L.A. at the L.A. Convention Center. John Shegerian: Three days. Corinna Basler: That’s going to be three days. John Shegerian: And then? Corinna Basler: We’re going to San Francisco in November, which will also be amazing. John Shegerian: And then we have a new city coming up in December. Corinna Basler: Exactly. For the first time ever, we’re going to be in Portland, Oregon. John Shegerian: Wow. Corinna Basler: That will be exciting. John Shegerian: And for our listeners and viewers that want to buy tickets or sign up as a vendor for those three conferences in the Fall, just go to www.GreenFestivals.org. Corinna Basler: Yes. Www.GreenFestivals.org, and you can find all our dates, our cities. And we already launched our dates for next year. So for 2016, if you’re interested to join us, please go online. John Shegerian: And what cities are we going to next year? Corinna Basler: Same cities. John Shegerian: Same cities. Corinna Basler: Yes. Because those markets are really established, we have a tight collaboration with the community, we would like to give back to the community and we look forward to going to the five cities. John Shegerian: Awesome. Any final thoughts? Corinna Basler: Well, it’s always a pleasure working with you. It’s so important to work with the right media partners, with nonprofits and also with our great green exhibitors. Without everyone – I mean – we just couldn’t make it happen. John Shegerian: When you’re in red and I’m in green, that means we’re at a Green Festival with all the great vendors and all the great people that you invite from all the communities that you serve. It’s a real honor to be part of what you’re doing. You’re making the world a better place at all times, and you are truly living proof that green is good. Thank you so much, Dr. Corinna Basler. Corinna Basler: Thank you, John. I really appreciate it. Thank you. John Shegerian: You’re the best. You’re the best. You’re the best. For our listeners and viewers out there, www.GreenFestivals.org. Sign up to be a vendor. Sign up to come be a guest. It’s really the greatest Green Festivals in the world. We’re coming to L.A., San Francisco and Portland – to a city near you. Thank you. This is John Shegerian and Dr. Corinna Basler from the Green Festivals in D.C., thanking you for being part of Green Is Good.

John Shegerian: Welcome to another edition of Green Is Good. This is the Green Festival edition of Green Is Good here in beautiful Washington, D.C., and we are so honored to have with us today, Sascha Maraj. He is the Local Market Manager in D.C. for Relay Foods, and you can find them at www.RelayFoods.com. Sascha, welcome. Sascha Maraj: Thank you. John Shegerian: So we have these beautiful foods in front of us. Before we get talking about all the great work you’re doing at Relay Foods, tell me a little bit about yourself. How did you even come to this time in your life that you’re working for relay foods? Was this something that always interested you, or is this an opportunity that came up along the way and you said, “I’ve got to go for it?” Sascha Maraj: So I kind of got started in – I guess you could say – the green movement back in college. I went to the University of Maryland and me and a couple other of my fellow classmates started InkUp, which was a printer ink refilling business on campus. John Shegerian: So you were an ecopreneur back in your college days. Sascha Maraj: Yeah. That’s what we were trying to do. And it was actually pretty successful. It was cool. We won Pitch Dingman, which is like an entrepreneurship-centered business competition, which is really cool, put on by the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. John Shegerian: And then what happened after college? Did you sell it or – what happened? Sascha Maraj: We dissolved, and then we split the money, and I personally went to go work for Target. I was an executive team leader for about two years, then I figured out retail and a big corporation probably wasn’t where I wanted to be and I could make the most impact. So after two years, I left Target and kind of took a couple months to figure out what I wanted to do, what I wanted to get involved in and how I could back involved with startups, and eventually, I found Relay Foods. I read their mission statement, read that they were hiring. John Shegerian: That was your epiphany. Sascha Maraj: Yeah. John Shegerian: So where did you read about them? Sascha Maraj: Online. I went to various D.C. websites focused on entrepreneurship and just started reading through all the companies that I could find, and then whichever ones resonated, I called or contacted to see if they were hiring, and then, eventually, Relay Foods called me back. John Shegerian: Good for you. So let’s talk about Relay Foods. We’ve got some of the great food in front of us. When was Relay Foods started, and what is their general business proposition? Sascha Maraj: So we got started in around 2009. Zach Buchner – a UVA grad down in Charlottesville – started it and the way the story goes is that he was frustrated with the conventional point-to-point food model and how everything was working. So somebody would go from their house to their grocery store and then another person would go from the house to the grocery store, and it’s just inefficient. So what he wanted to do was take the point-to-point system that currently existed and make a hub-and-spoke model where everybody comes to a central location. It reduces your carbon footprint, and it makes everything more fresh, so you get things directly from the farm as opposed to things coming from the farm to a distributor to the grocery store waiting around for a few days. John Shegerian: Wow. Sascha Maraj: That’s how it got started. John Shegerian: So wait a second. So explain how it works here in D.C. then. I mean, how would I buy some of this great produce here? Sascha Maraj: So what you can do is log on to www.RelayFoods.com. There we have almost 6000 products from, I think, it’s almost 200 local producers – so that’s people in Union Kitchen, that is local farms in the area, people who make honey, who make kombucha. Actually, a lot of our vendors are here, which is pretty cool. John Shegerian: Really? OK. Sascha Maraj: Yeah and then. John Shegerian: It’s like a Relay Festival here. Sascha Maraj: Exactly. John Shegerian: A little Relay Foods Festival within the Green Festival. Sascha Maraj: Yep. Then you go online. There are no subscription fees, there are order minimums. You just hop on, poke on whatever you want, add it to your cart and we’ll either deliver it to your door or you can pick up for free at any one of our local pickup locations in the area. John Shegerian: How convenient is that? So as the local market manager, what are you doing on a regular basis for Relay Foods? Sascha Maraj: So my job is, essentially, this: telling the community what Relay is, explaining what we do to the public and just trying to get the word out there. John Shegerian: So you have 6000 products? Sascha Maraj: Yeah. Just about. John Shegerian: Unbelievable. We have some beautiful veggies here in front of us. So it is baked goods; there is honey; there is kombucha. I mean, it’s as wide as you can think? Sascha Maraj: Yep. So what we really aim to be is like a one-stop-shop for groceries and local and organic foods, so we have things like produce, meat and fish, bakery, pantry, a dairy and eggs section, a frozen section, deli. It’s everything. We have cleaning supplies, paper towels and things like that. John Shegerian: What is considered local nowadays as a term of art? Is it a 100-mile radius? Is it a 200? How many mile radius is still considered local to fit in the Relay Foods business model? Sascha Maraj: Generally speaking, I believe it’s within 150 of our fulfillment center. John Shegerian: OK. And why choose local and organic? Why is that so important to your generation and to everyone out there right now? Sascha Maraj: That’s a really good question. So I’ll start with organics. Organic is important because when you buy conventional produce, you don’t really know how it was raised. You don’t know what pesticides may be on it; you don’t know what antibiotics may have been injected into the animals; you just don’t know. There is a lack of transparency. But with organic, you have a better sense of what you’re getting. You know that there are no pesticides used, you know that there were no hormones or antibiotics or anything else put into it. And with local, local takes that almost one step further. I think – personally – the coolest thing about local food is you can actually go visit your farmer. John Shegerian: Wow. Sascha Maraj: So on our website, you can see the address of where all your food is coming from. John Shegerian: Come on. Sascha Maraj: So if you wanted to, you could go down to Virginia or Maryland or D.C. – wherever it’s coming from. You can go shake hands with a farmer and be like, “Hey, I want to see this,” and they will show you. We’ve actually done that with quite a few of our producers. I’ve gone and seen a couple at Wolf Creek Farm, which is all grass-fed beef. I’ve been to Polyface. I’ve been to a bunch of other producers and that – I think – is the best thing about local. John Shegerian: How cool is that? How about baked goods? Do you sell local baked goods as well? Sascha Maraj: Yeah. Absolutely. Some of our most popular ones – like Goldilocks Goodies – are an all gluten-free bakery, and we have a lot of baked goods in the area. John Shegerian: That is great. So in terms of – who is your favorite farmer out of all the farmers that grow for you? Sascha Maraj: That’s a tough question. John Shegerian: I know. I don’t want to get you in trouble here. Sascha Maraj: I think my favorite farmer – at least that I’ve visited – has probably got to be Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms. I’m sure you’ve heard of him. He’s pretty famous. He has written a bunch of books, and he is really the pioneer of the whole sustainable permaculture agriculture movement and he was doing it back in the 1970s. John Shegerian: What does he grow? What are his products? Sascha Maraj: All sorts of stuff. So my favorite thing from him – I think – has got to be his grass-fed beef and his pasture-raised eggs. But he has beef, he has ducks, he has rabbits. John Shegerian: Wow. Sascha Maraj: He has chickens of course. He has all sorts of different things. John Shegerian: And so how does someone sign up to have their food become part of the Relay Foods family? Sascha Maraj: So at the bottom of our website, there is a “become a producer” link, and aspiring producers in the area can just go there, fill out a little bit about their product and then our team – our people – will get in contact with them. They will sample their products. They will make sure that there is kind of a niche for it and a demand for it, and then if there is, they will get on the website. John Shegerian: Then you’re approved. Sascha Maraj: Yep. John Shegerian: So right now – the business launch – when did Relay Foods launch? Sascha Maraj: I believe, 2009. John Shegerian: OK. So how many users right now do you have? How many members do you have that are using Relay Foods on a regular basis? Sascha Maraj: That’s a tough question. I don’t know the exact numbers John Shegerian: OK. But around. In the thousands, tens of thousands. Sascha Maraj: So across all markets – we’re in Baltimore, we’re in the D.C. metro area, we’re in Virginia and then North Carolina – it’s definitely in the thousands, but I couldn’t quote you an exact number. John Shegerian: And there’s a local market manager like you in each market? Sascha Maraj: Yes. John Shegerian: Wow. Sascha Maraj: So I am one of four in the D.C. metro area, and then I think there are two or three up in Baltimore, and then there are ones in Virginia, and then North Carolina. John Shegerian: What is the Relay Foods meal-planning program? Sascha Maraj: So meal planning we just rolled out. It’s brand new. Basically, what you can do – or what we did, I should say – is we got a registered dietician to come on board and create, I think there are 150 to 300 now, meals. What you can do is you can actually click on any one of them, and once you do that, it will drop everything that you need into your cart. So it’s a one-stop shop. You just click the button, it drops everything in. You can customize it. So like let’s say you are really into organic tomatoes, but you don’t really care about organic bananas – let’s say – for whatever salad you’re making. John Shegerian: Right. Sascha Maraj: You can change it so it adjusts the price, and what we really try to do is make it so that it’s both affordable and easy. So we have this saying “20 under 20.” So ideally it would cost $20 to feed a family of four and then the meal would take under 20 minutes to produce. John Shegerian: Wow. That’s awesome. How are people responding so far? Sascha Maraj: It’s been great. It has definitely exceeded all of our initial expectations during rollout, and it’s just been going since. John Shegerian: For those listeners who have joined us and viewers who have joined us, this is John Shegerian and Sascha Maraj at the Green Festival Green Is Good special edition, and we’re talking about Sascha’s great company that he works for. He is the Local Market Manager here in the D.C. area for Relay Foods. You can find them at www.RelayFoods.com. How many people work for the company now, Sascha? Sascha Maraj: If I were to take a guess – I’m not sure of the exact number…. John Shegerian: Yeah. Sascha Maraj: But I think it’s around 150 to 200. John Shegerian: It sounds like this is a program that can be rolled out almost in every metro region across America. Is this the founder and entrepreneur’s dream of the company? Sascha Maraj: So one of the coolest things about us is because of our – like I said – hub-and-spoke model, it means that we can serve places that are generally underserved. So one of the nice things about us as opposed to some of our competitors in other regions is that we don’t have to necessarily be in a metro area. We can start in a metro area and then expand out to suburbs, and it’s a relatively – at least for us operationally – inexpensive to add a new area, because we are not building brick-and-mortar stores. We don’t have the same overhead allotment for these things. John Shegerian: Right. Got you. So you feel that you’re with a very big growth coming. This will grow to other regions in the years ahead. Sascha Maraj: Absolutely. John Shegerian: That’s awesome. So when I log on and I order my stuff, when does the stuff get delivered to me? Is it daily or is it weekly, or when does that stuff get delivered? Sascha Maraj: So if you live inside the Beltway, then you can get delivery six days out of the week. So every day, except for Sunday – you could get an apple a day if you wanted to. John Shegerian: Really? Sascha Maraj: Yeah. And then the pickups are each on different days. Usually, the truck is there between 3:00 and 7:00 p.m., and they’re all across the metro area. John Shegerian: And how do you keep things cold if I order something that needs to get to me that’s cold? Sascha Maraj: That’s a good question, too. So we actually have these Rubbermaid totes and what we do is we insulate them. We put a cold pack on the bottom, so everything that needs to stay cold stays cold and then anything that needs to stay frozen – let’s say ice cream, like Morenko’s ice cream is actually based out of Silver Spring – they are our Vendor of the Month. John Shegerian: Wow. How good is the ice cream? Sascha Maraj: It’s great. John Shegerian: It’s amazing. Oh god. Sascha Maraj: It’s fantastic. John Shegerian: There you go. Sascha Maraj: That gets packaged in dry ice freezer-sealed bags. John Shegerian: Got you. What happens if something gets delivered to me and I’m like, “I didn’t want this today, I made a mistake ordering,” or something happens? What happens then? Sascha Maraj: Heaven forbid that ever happen, but if it does, we have a 100-percent money-back guarantee – unconditionally. John Shegerian: Wow. Sascha Maraj: So let’s say you bought some tomatoes and you’re like, “Oh god. I just don’t need these tomatoes, I don’t even know why I bought them,” or let’s say they weren’t even bad, but they started to get a little wrinkly – it’s just not something you would pick out – what you would do is you need to call me or you can call our customer happiness team. You can chat with us, you can email us, anything. Anybody on the Relay team will refund whatever the item is immediately, and in a lot of cases, we can even get you a discount on new stuff or something. John Shegerian: That’s awesome. This is great. So if I live in an apartment building or a condo, no problem in terms of drop-off and delivery and all that other kind of stuff. Sascha Maraj: Nope. None whatsoever. So a lot of times we’ll get buzzed up or you can also pick exactly what window you want things delivered so you can coordinate when you’ll be home. But even if that isn’t the case, then you can actually leave our drivers a little message about where to leave it. So if you are in an apartment building, you can leave them the code, or if that’s not your thing, you can tell them to leave it with the front desk or anything. They’re really good about getting you your food. John Shegerian: So, Sascha, as you look back, was it a good decision to leave the executive training program and come over here? Sascha Maraj: Absolutely. I would highly recommend anybody who is interested in entrepreneurship or the sustainability movement to get involved with a local green startup, because they’re just so much fun to work for. And when you actually believe in what you’re doing and the mission and all that stuff it just makes work so much more fun. John Shegerian: Your generation of Millennials seem really – of course, making money is important for all of us, but everything has to have a social bottom line, a mission bottom line for your generation, and it sounds like it’s becoming infectious both below you and above you now, too. Sascha Maraj: Yeah. It’s one thing to work for a company, but it’s a completely different thing to believe in what a company does. And actually, when I was talking with the Buchse guys – we just signed Buchse on a little while ago – it’s just working and talking with them and seeing their passion. It makes what we’re doing just all the more meaningful. John Shegerian: How many of you are here? How many of your local market manager or other ambassadors are with you from Relay Foods here at the Green Festival? Sascha Maraj: We have a group of five over by our booth, and there are just people coming over. We’re all constantly talking to people. John Shegerian: Are you passing out brochures and giving them the website and telling them, “Sign up and let’s get going?” Sascha Maraj: Actually, we are generally paper-free. John Shegerian: OK. Sascha Maraj: We try to be as eco-friendly as we can. John Shegerian: Cool. Sascha Maraj: But we do have little refrigerator magnets with our mascots – Bo and Tweet – on them. John Shegerian: Why are Bo and Tweet your mascots? Sascha Maraj: To be 100-percent honest, I’m not sure, but Bo is a cow and Tweet is a bird on top of Bo. Very cute. But that got decided before I came on the scene. John Shegerian: Well, we are so happy you’re here at the Green Festival. We are so happy we got a chance to interview you today. We’ve been with Sascha Maraj. He is a local market manager here in D.C. for Relay Foods, and to learn more about Relay Foods, or to sign up for Relay Foods’ delivery service for their 6000 or so great local organic products, go to www.RelayFoods.com. Sascha, we’re so thankful for you, for your partners at Relay Foods. You guys are making the world a better place, and you are truly living proof that Green Is Good.

John Shegerian: Welcome to another edition of Green Is Good. This is the Green Festival edition of Green Is Good here in beautiful Washington, D.C. We are so excited to have with us Colette Ellis. She is the founder of InStep Consulting. Welcome to Green Is Good, Colette. Colette Ellis: It’s wonderful to be here. John Shegerian: Colette, my fellow New Yorker. Colette Ellis: Yes. John Shegerian: Talk a little bit about your journey before starting InStep Consulting. How did you get excited about sustainability? Colette Ellis: I got excited about sustainability – actually, it started with getting excited about wellness. I’m actually also a certified stress-management and wellness coach as part of my business and so back in 2006 I was actually dealing with some health issues, digestion issues and it was going through the program that helped me realize that there is a connection between anxiety – being a new business owner – and what is going on in my body. And it seems like a no-brainer when you think about it now. John Shegerian: Right. Colette Ellis: But then I didn’t know. So that is what has made me want to help other people to do better and learn more. John Shegerian: Talk about the launching of Instep Consulting. When did you launch it, and what was its pure mission when you started it? Colette Ellis: Sure. We launched in 2004. John Shegerian: OK. Colette Ellis: And the mission was and still is to help people to really learn about their strengths and abilities and be able to use those in the marketplace. So we do that with team building and leadership development with individuals, and then we also go into organizations and help them with workshops and employee development. John Shegerian: So InStep Consulting, for our listeners and our viewers out there, they can find Colette and InStep Consulting at www.InStepConsulting.com. You are 11 years into this now. Colette Ellis: Yes. John Shegerian: With the growth of mindfulness and sustainability and your evolution as an entrepreneur, what do you know today that you have integrated and learned along the way that you have integrated into your consulting practice, and how have you watched it and helped it grow? Colette Ellis: That’s fantastic. So what I just shared with you is I walk the talk. So really being a newbie business owner realizing that it takes energy and passion and also needing to be mindful of my health, right? John Shegerian: Yeah. Colette Ellis: Because if I’m not healthy, my business doesn’t thrive. John Shegerian: That’s right. Colette Ellis: So those are probably one of the hardest lessons to learn, and I actually, at the time, I was launching my business, unfortunately, saw some others around me who weren’t taking that lesson to heart, and so I sort of started to really think about, “OK, if I really want to grow this business, I need to be looking at my own health and wellness so that I can help others to be able to do the same. John Shegerian: We’re at the Green Festival here in D.C. Tell me what your role here at the Green Festival is as a thought leader. Colette Ellis: Yes. I am actually speaking tomorrow – Sunday – and my talk is calle “Slow Down to Speed Up: Sustainable Living in a 2.0 World,” right? John Shegerian: I like it. Right. Colette Ellis: Because it’s again about being mindful – like you said – and not getting sucked in by all the technology. And also the connection between wellness and sustainability, that we all have stake in protecting not only our health and well-being but also protecting our planet. So looking at that connection sort of from the individual to the collective to the environmental impact. John Shegerian: Talk a little bit about the rise of thought leaders like you that are helping us hack our health, hack our mindfulness, just everything that they do but to do thing deeper, better, Arianna Huffington, Rich Roll, Tim Ferriss, David Asprey. Colette Ellis: Deepak Chopra. John Shegerian: Deepak Chopra. It’s an unbelievable ride that you are on the cutting edge of. In 2004, you were ahead. Now the world has sort of caught up to you, and you get to be one of these great thought leaders. How has your practice grown with the growth and interest and mindfulness in sleeping better and deeper, eating better and cleaner and just living a better life and inspiring others? Colette Ellis: I think it has made it easier to have conversations, particularly at the corporate level – so looking at employee wellness programs – finding that more organizations are seeing that as a priority, not just as a nice-to-have. So when we go to health and wellness fairs within organization, you find both the employees are really excited to learn about mindfulness and meditation and stress management and also the HR managers and the team leaders are interested in bringing those programs into their businesses. John Shegerian: Interesting. So InStep, do you focus on New York-based businesses, or are your practices national? Colette Ellis: We can be national, particularly with – so the good part of the 2.0 is that we can use various technologies – Skype and other ways – to connect. I have done meditations. I have done all sorts of tapping. I’m also working towards certification EFT – tapping – so I can do that over phone or Skype. So it really does enable the business to grow not just here in D.C. but anywhere in the world. John Shegerian: Anywhere. Talk about your client mix. Male versus female. Corporate versus private. Colette Ellis: As a woman business owner, I do tend to attract more women, but there are definitely men who are taking more interest in their health, which I think is fantastic. And I think we do more business-to-business work. John Shegerian: Really? And you’re in a city that is known to be very progressive – New York – and also probably in the hottest borough in that city – Brooklyn. Colette Ellis: Brooklyn. John Shegerian: Which is just fascinating. Colette Ellis: Shout-out to Brooklyn. John Shegerian: Shout-out. So talk about your own life and how you walk the walk, talk the talk and serve as your best ambassador and evangelist of what you do. Give a day-in-the-life in terms of your eating, your exercise and your lifestyle. Colette Ellis: Sure. Absolutely. Happy to do so. So I wake up in the morning, I do the taping that I mentioned. John Shegerian: Right. Colette Ellis: Talking about EFT. I also meditate in the morning every day. Then, I also am a newbie runner, so I’ve done a couple of 5k races. So I really do aim to walk the talk. And I talk about that in terms of transparency with clients. And I’m also a new composter. I’ve been composting now for six months and, hopefully, seeing that New York City organics program grow in the next. John Shegerian: It’s a great program. Colette Ellis: It’s a great program, and I really hope that they continue to do it. John Shegerian: Talk about sleep a little bit. Sleep has become a big deal. Arianna Huffington helped put it on the map when she talked about her own journey in collapsing at her desk and breaking her cheekbone and going through a very painful experience for a woman who is already massively successful. But it just goes to show you we all push ourselves and our limits, and we all want more or want to accomplish more and make the world a better place even if we’re on the right track. Talk a little bit about sleep and how you try to get enough rest. What does that mean to you, and what do you coach your clients to do with regards to appropriate rest? Colette Ellis: Right. And I mean that fits right into the “Slow Down to Speed Up,” right? John Shegerian: Yeah. Colette Ellis: So we do think by multitasking and doing more that we actually are, but in some ways, we’re not doing more, because if you are sleep deprived, you actually may do more things but you’re probably not doing them to the highest quality that you’d like to do them. So it’s really figuring out what are your own personal sleep patterns and figuring out what your sleep cycles are – because it is not the same for everyone – and trying to get yourself on that rhythm of going to bed around the same time every night and really starting to get your body used to it if you’re trying to change your pattern. They say it takes 21 days to form a new habit, so it’s not like you start today and tomorrow, oh my god, it’s automatically new and different. You have to sort of build yourself up to making those changes. John Shegerian: Right. Talk a little but about green. And for our listeners and viewers out there that just joined us, we’ve got Colette Ellis. She is the founder of InStep Consulting. You can find Colette or hire her off of her website www.InStepConsulting.com. We are here at the Green Festival in Washington, D.C. This is the Green Festival edition of Green Is Good. Colette, we’re talking green. Tomorrow, you’re talking about “Slowing Down to Speed Up.” Talk about some of the trends in terms of sustainability that excite you the most, that excite your practice the most, that you can continue to grow your practice on. Colette Ellis: I am actually excited. And tomorrow I’m going to be talking about sort of the progression of individual decisions that we make – the decision between recycling and composting and making that personal decision – how that impacts us collectively and then what is the impact on the environment because it really does start with each individual choice. I know one of the things I talked about in our prep for the show was the pet peeve. You go to a space like this. They are fantastic in terms of the bins and everything that is set up. John Shegerian: Sure. Colette Ellis: When I am at events and I see people hesitating because they are not sure “where should I put the bottle, where should I put the plate,” part of that is how do we make it easier for people to do green and do it well? Let’s not make it difficult. Let’s make it easy for them. John Shegerian: That is so interesting. I have a friend who runs the labeling part of recycling – Recycle Across America – and her thesis, which I believe is absolutely true is that you’ve got to recycle right to make recycling even legitimate and credible. If you start mixing up the pizza box…. Colette Ellis: Contamination. John Shegerian: Contamination. If you start mixing the diapers with the aluminum cans with the pizza box, everything becomes worthless. So you are absolutely right. So that is a big trend. Composting – you mentioned – in New York. And New York also has – I think – textile recycling now? Colette Ellis: Yes. John Shegerian: And electronics. Colette Ellis: And electronics. Yes. John Shegerian: So they are again on the cutting edge of three of the things that are closest and more near and dear to us – the electronics we use, the textiles, the clothes we wear, the food we eat. How do we recycle them and get the city involved and get the people of the city involved? Colette Ellis: And, like I said, I think people do want to. I mean I’m a newbie composter, as I like to say. John Shegerian: Yeah. Colette Ellis: And once I found out how easy it was to do it, it’s a no-brainer. John Shegerian: We talked about sleeping a little bit. How many hours a night would you say you sleep? Colette Ellis: In between six and eight. John Shegerian: Six and eight, which is sort of the norm of good sleeping hygiene. Colette Ellis: Right. And that’s the transparency. I can’t sit here and say, “I sleep 10 hours” – when do I get any work done, right? So it’s looking at sort of what is the balance and what works for you. John Shegerian: Right. How about food? How important is eating well to you in terms of clean, and where are you on the spectrum? Collette Ellis: By choice, I don’t eat meat, but that is just my choice so always looking at sort of whole foods and vegetables and plants and that kind of a thing. John Shegerian: Yeah. Colette Ellis: And looking at buying locally when I can in New York. And events like this are fantastic. I always feel like my system feels so much better after these events. Between all of the different probiotics and all the great things that you can drink, it’s like for a day after the Green Festival, my body is so happy. John Shegerian: Exactly. That is really great. Talk about your business practice. As you say, more HR directors are open to wellness programs. How has that now grown since 2004 to 2015, and how are you out there? How do you go and reach the HR directors of the world? Colette Ellis: So one of the ways that I talked about is we have a couple of partners that we work through that organize corporate health fairs for employees, so that is one way. We will have a table and we will be sharing information with employees and then connecting with the HR directors directly to talk about different types of seminars and programs that we can do, attending similar events like this, but within the HR and training and development industry to meet again with those influencers that want to bring in wellness programs into their organizations. John Shegerian: And what can our listeners and viewers find on your website? If they go to www.InStepConsulting.com, what resources do you offer there? Colette Ellis: So there is a section actually talking about the coping with work and family stress program, and there is actually a stress skills ladder, so talking about how you can continue to move up the ladder and use more proactive ways to manage stress like some of the things we’ve been talking about – managing your response and meditation and positive affirmations all the way up to problem solving, which is really trying to look at how do you remove some of the stressors or triggers in your life. John Shegerian: Any final thoughts today before we say goodbye here at the Green Festival? Colette Ellis: This is fantastic, and I’ve had such a great time talking with you – a fellow New Yorker. John Shegerian: A fellow New Yorker. Colette Ellis: Doing green. Doing good. John Shegerian: Thank you. And for our listeners and viewers out there that want to do green, that want to do good and that want to make yourself or your business better, contact Colette Ellis at InStep Consulting. Go to www.InStepConsulting.com. You can find her there. Colette Ellis, thank you for making the world a better place. You a truly living proof that Green Is Good. Colette Ellis: Thank you, John. John Shegerian: Thank you.

John Shegerian: Welcome to another edition of Green Is Good. This is the Green Festival edition of Green Is Good here in beautiful Washington, D.C., and we’re so excited to have with us today entrepreneur Ryan Scheuler. He is the co-founder and People Enthusiast of Javazen and you can find him and www.drinkJAVAZEN.com. Ryan, welcome to Green Is Good. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it. John Shegerian: Oh my gosh. Yeah. This is great, and your product is just wonderful. Before we get talking talk a little bit about your journey leading up to co-founding Javazen. What got you excited to be an entrepreneur, an ecopreneur? Ryan Schueler: So I guess it really all started growing up. My dad, he actually started his own business – a wholesale car company. So when people asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up – in sixth, seventh grade – I would say, “I don’t know, but I want to make something and sell it. I want to share it,” because that’s what we’re doing. We’re actually sharing. We’re not really selling. John Shegerian: Right. Good point. Ryan Schueler: Then that kind of spiraled into me meeting my roommate and co-founder – Eric Golman – and he was studying Environmental Science and Policy and that kind of spiraled me into thinking how we could make a difference. John Shegerian: And where did you guys meet? Ryan Schueler: At an entrepreneurship program at the University of Maryland. John Shegerian: Oh great. Ryan Schueler: All three of us. It’s me, Eric Golman and Aaron Wallach. John Shegerian: You guys are so well represented here. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. John Shegerian: We had more Millennials on today’s show from the University of Maryland just totally making a difference but making a cool product or service that people really are digging right now. Ryan Schueler: And it’s actually really cool because the University of Maryland is a hub for entrepreneurship, so we actually have access to a lot of resources that helped us get to where we are today so quickly. I mean, we started this business about a year ago, and here we have a booth at the Green Festival. We’re going to four or five trade shows this year, and we’re starting to share some good stuff with awesome people. John Shegerian: I love it. So talk a little bit about the founding of Javazen, and for people who want to find your great product and learn more about it, they can go to www.drinkJAVAZEN.com. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. John Shegerian: When did you found it, and how has it been in the year journey since your founding? Ryan Schueler: In the interim. John Shegerian: Yeah. Ryan Schueler: Yeah, so let me just give you our journey. John Shegerian: Yeah. Ryan Schueler: So we officially pretty much started last March. John Shegerian: OK. Ryan Schueler: So I graduated from the University of Maryland last May, so I started this while I was in school. I was skipping class, because I found something that I wanted to do. John Shegerian: I love it. Ryan Schueler: So it started out with stock bags and putting stickers on it. I remember I used to have sheets of stickers and putting them on every single bag of Javazen and we’d make it in the commercial kitchen at the university. So they helped us use a commercial space to be completely legitimate. John Shegerian: Yeah. How cool. Ryan Schueler: So then it transferred. We did a design contest online, got our original packaging and we’ve kind of just been tweaking it since then. Since then, we now are manufactured. We have a co-packer in Rockville. Our beans are roasted, packed by hand and now we’re shipping to about 50 stores. John Shegerian: Unbelievable. And you can also buy it online? Ryan Schueler: Yeah. So we have an ecommerce site on our website. We’re also on Amazon Prime, which is awesome. You can get it anywhere in two days. John Shegerian: Oh my gosh, this is great. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. John Shegerian: Why don’t we talk a little bit about these three great blends that you have right here. Ryan Schueler: Absolutely. John Shegerian: How did you come up with these blends, and why come up with these blends to start with? Ryan Schueler: Alright. Cool. So I guess we’re going to start with our original blend. This is Javazen Original. This is what made us continue at the company, because originally we had something and people tasted it and they were like, “Oh wow, this is amazing,” after tweaking it and tweaking it and tweaking it. When people told me, “I would buy this in stores,” we were like, “All right. We’re going to have a company.” So we turned down all of our job offers, and were like, “We’re going to share this with everyone we can and we’re going to make this our life’s mission.” Our mission is to inspire health in the coffee industry. John Shegerian: Wow. So this was your first one? Ryan Schueler: Yeah. So this is a blend of coffee, matcha green tea, raw cacao nibs, cinnamon and vanilla. John Shegerian: Wow. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. And I actually have a little bit right here, so why don’t we try our samples? Cheers. John Shegerian: Cheers. Drink up, feel good. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. Drink up, feel good. John Shegerian: That is delicious. Ryan Schueler: I know. John Shegerian: I can taste the chocolate in it. Ryan Schueler: Also, this is a cold brew. So we made this overnight for 16 hours,, just kind of steeping it in water and then filtering it. John Shegerian: Oh my gosh. Ryan Schueler: It’s amazing. Also it’s really cool to do at festivals like this because you can make a ton of it and then share it with more people. John Shegerian: How does it taste hot? Ryan Schueler: So cold, more of the coffee and the cacao comes out because it’s a slower process. John Shegerian: Right. Ryan Schueler: And hot, you get a little bit more of the matcha and the cinnamon, which is really cool. John Shegerian: Really cool. Then what was your next product out of these three? Ryan Schueler: So what’s really cool is our other two products were created directly from customer feedback from in-store demos. We’re sold in a local grocery store in the area – Mom’s Organic Market. They’re actually sponsoring the festival. They were one of the first retailers to pick us up and believe in us. Now we’re in all their locations. Like I was saying, in-store demos. So on a Saturday or Sunday ,we go – mainly me and my buddies – we set up a table and we go and just hand out samples and sell products. And based directly off what people are saying – they’re like, “Oh, I can’t do caffeine” – we made our decaf Relax Blend with goji berries, honeybush, rooibos, lucuma and vanilla. Something sweet. Decaf can be fun. John Shegerian: Right. Ryan Schueler: And then on the opposite end, there were people who really wanted more energy – they’re like, “I need something that’s more coffee-like” – so we used a dark roast and mixed it with yerba mate Amazonian tea. It’s a hig- caffeine tea. Very high in antioxidants as well. Then we add in acai berry, and it just provides like a nice bold flavor. So we kind of have something for everyone. Personally, I normally drink this one in the morning when I have something important, then I kind of transition into Original, then I end my day on decaf Relax Blend. John Shegerian: Perfect. What a day. I mean, you have something for everyone in these blends. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. All the coffee is out there. They’re all just kind of differently roasted. But we actually have something for a specific purpose. John Shegerian: These are all differently blended. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. They are different blends. John Shegerian: Now what you have done also is you have taken a couple of trend lines, major trends. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. John Shegerian: Coffee, which now coffee has scientifically proven to be good for you, but you’ve mixed it with super foods. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. John Shegerian: Can you explain what a super food is and how you’ve chosen each of these super foods to be mixed with your coffees? Ryan Schueler: Yeah for sure. So super foods are just particular foods that are nutrient dense compared to their weight. So, for example, like cacao. It’s really good for you. We actually can’t talk about the actual benefits of it on our packaging due to regulations. John Shegerian: Right. Ryan Schueler: But it makes me feel amazing. All of them are kind of chosen based of off originally trial and error but also research about the individual ingredients. So, for example, when I drink our Original, it’s because there’s been research done on matcha and how it doesn’t give you that jittery and crash feeling. John Shegerian: Right. Ryan Schueler: So by kind of combining that with the coffee it makes me feel like I have a more complete, balanced energy. John Shegerian: Got you. Ryan Schueler: And then moving to the yerba mate and the high energy blend, those are both high caffeine substances – a dark roast and the yerba mate – so those pair well together. And the decaf. We all use red berries, and it gives it a nice red hue, so we use similar color ingredients as well as just cool super foods. John Shegerian: Ryan, when anyone starts a business, typically, it takes some capital besides real guts, real energy – and obviously you have guts, energy and also a great idea. Where did you and your partners find your seed capital? Ryan Schueler: It has been from a few different sources. Back to the University of Maryland, again, we competed for two $5,000 dollar grants, so we’ve received $10,000 dollars from the University of Maryland through the Citrin Impact Seed Fund. John Shegerian: Unbelievable. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. Really cool. John Shegerian: Who knew? I mean, until we covered today’s Green Festival, we have met more great young Millennial entrepreneurs coming out of University of Maryland. You have one of the great entrepreneurial schools in America right now it seems like. Ryan Schueler: We do. Also, are you familiar with South by Southwest? John Shegerian: Yeah. Ryan Schueler: So, we actually just won the RECESS Pitch at Maryland – it’s a music and ideas festival. I was in L.A. last week with my cofounder Aaron, and we won and we were presenting. We made it to the final four in the whole nation for the RECESS Pitch festival. John Shegerian: Wow. So are you going to be at South by Southwest or…? Ryan Schueler: No, I was just using that as a similarity, because most people aren’t familiar with the RECESS competition. John Shegerian: Right. Good for you. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. John Shegerian: What a great thing. Ryan Schueler: So back to the University of Maryland, again. They provided us with these amazing tools. We are now active alumni, but my co-founder, Eric, just graduated about two weeks ago. He is currently in Europe having some fun up there. Hey Eric. John Shegerian: So talk about the ingredients. Now you’ve chosen the ingredients, you did the mixing. How do you source the ingredients now to maintain the integrity of your great product? Ryan Schueler: We have 100-percent organic ingredients across everything that we do. We just got our USDA Organic Certification because of our co-packer. John Shegerian: Great. Ryan Schueler: So what is really cool about specifically our coffee is our co-packer brought us down to Honduras and Nicaragua this February. We got to shake hands with our farmers. I actually have WhatsApp. John Shegerian: Come on. Ryan Schueler: I’ve got to show you this. John Shegerian: Show it to me. Ryan Schueler: You know what I left my phone over there. John Shegerian: OK. Ryan Schueler: But I actually WhatsApp my farmer. And my Spanish isn’t that great, but we just send pictures to each other. A really funny part when we were down there. His name is Pedro Romero. John Shegerian: OK. Ryan Schueler: And he is at one of the co-ops in the Capucas Region of Honduras. When we were down there, our videographer – have you ever seen people kind of do the flagpole thing and they kind of hold it? John Shegerian: Yeah. Ryan Schueler: And he was doing it and Pedro was trying to do it. It was really funny. Two weeks later, he practices and he sends me a picture of him doing that, so it’s just like we have this intimate relationship. With not everyone, but being a people enthusiast, a people person, we try to make all our relationships real. John Shegerian: Did you video the trip and stuff of that nature? Ryan Schueler: Yeah, we have a ton of footage. We’re waiting to put out like a documentary style. John Shegerian: Yeah. Ryan Schueler: Or maybe release some clips on our social media. John Shegerian: Yeah. Ryan Schueler: I could give you some pictures for the show. John Shegerian: I would love some pictures of it for the show when this airs. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. Absolutely. John Shegerian: It would be really wonderful. So you’ve actually met your farmer. Ryan Schueler: Some of them. John Shegerian: Some of them. Ryan Schueler: The way that farming works in the places that we get it from is one farmer doesn’t have enough volume, enough capacity to sell their stuff directly. So one of the co-ops that we get our stuff from…. John Shegerian: Ah. Interesting. Ryan Schueler: It’s actually a collection of over 800 farmers. I got to visit the gold standard co-op of organic coffee farming in the western hemisphere. In my opinion, it was amazing. These people have a life outside of what they do. They have passion. For example, when I was there, they were digging lakes for farming salmon and they’re growing food just to eat, not to sell. That’s a life – giving people the opportunity and the desire to do things outside of the work, have their work fuel their passions. That’s what Javazen is about. We want to feel your passion. John Shegerian: So the other products that you put in – the cacao and the goji berries – how do you source those and make sure you get the right products there? Ryan Schueler: So we actually do extensive research through our suppliers. Eric Golman – my co-founder – does all of our operations. I’m our front man. John Shegerian: Right. Ryan Schueler: But he is ruthless. He’s ruthless. John Shegerian: That’s great. Ryan Schueler: We actually have different co-ops from around. So our cacao – for example – is from the Dominican Republic, currently, and we’re trying to single-source it from the same farm from our coffee, which is cool. John Shegerian: So we were talking off air a little bit. And for our listeners and viewers out there, we’re so excited. We’ve got Ryan Scheuler with us. He is the co-founder, he is the People Enthusiast of Javazen, and you can find them at www.drinkJAVAZEN.com. Where can our listeners and our viewers buy your great coffee products right now? If they don’t live in the D.C. area, how can they go online and find your products? Ryan Schueler: We’ll get it to you in two days – Amazon Prime. John Shegerian: Amazon Prime. Ryan Schueler: They are a godsend. John Shegerian: That’s awesome. Ryan Schueler: But if you are in the area, we are sold in Mom’s Organic Market, Grau’s Market, Yes! Organic Market, Roots, Dawson’s, and we’re in 20 stores in Denver. John Shegerian: In Denver? Ryan Schueler: Yeah. I actually took a red-eye home on Wednesday to be here to set up. I got in at 9:00 a.m. Thursday. John Shegerian: No. Ryan Schueler: Took an hour of sleep and came here to be here at the Green Festival. John Shegerian: Life of an entrepreneur. Ryan Schueler: I actually left early to go to a dinner with David Wolfe in Baltimore last night. John Shegerian: So talk about Denver. How did you break into the Denver market? Ryan Schueler: So imagine this: We had just sold our first store – Mom’s Organic Market – last August, and we’re like, “Hey, we need to get bigger,” so we got a pop-up three-hour booth at the Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore. John Shegerian: OK. Ryan Schueler: One of the big trade shows for natural foods. We met the Director of Purchasing for Natural Grocers. They’re headquartered out of Denver, so we’re stocked now in about 15 to 20 of their stores, and we’re trying to share this as much as possible. John Shegerian: This is great. This is great news. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. We’re having some fun. John Shegerian: So talk a little bit about coffee; seems to be a very busy segment. Ryan Schueler: Yes. John Shegerian: How do you compete and set yourself apart and continue to grow in that very busy but growing segment? Ryan Schueler: Absolutely. So as you know there is a ton of coffee companies. John Shegerian: Sure. Ryan Schueler: I mean, you see a new one every week. John Shegerian: Yup. Ryan Schueler: But you know what they all are? They’re all just different beans. They’re all just roasted a little bit differently. Some are from different countries, and that’s great, different elevations. But they’re all just different. They’re not really better. We actually took coffee and made it a better experience, healthier. We want to provide health and inspire health to the coffee world. John Shegerian: I love it. Ryan Schueler: So when I drink Javazen in the morning, it, one, tastes great, but, two, it sets an intention. It sets an intention to have a healthy day and be cognizant of what you’re putting into your body. John Shegerian: Who came up with the tagline “drink up, feel good?” I love that. Ryan Schueler: We just played with different ones. John Shegerian: That’s great, though. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. That was actually one of our designers. John Shegerian: Drink up, feel good. What’s the vision? What is you and your partners’ vision of growing this brand? Ryan Schueler: So we want everyone to be drinking Javazen to be aware of health. We want to inspire health and coffee – and Javazen, specifically, is one of the easiest ways to do so. I mean, we’re going to do our mission. The only way we’re not going to complete our mission – it’s never going to be complete – is if we stop, and we’re never going to stop. John Shegerian: How much further can you grow the line of products that you have? Ryan Schueler: So the line, hopefully, will just take over all the coffee shops, but we’re going to be expanding organically, waiting to see which skews are performing well and then kind of adjusting to that. John Shegerian: Sustainability. It’s one thing to be a young entrepreneur, which you get major props for your courage to be an entrepreneur. Ryan Schueler: Absolutely. Been one all my life. John Shegerian: But to be a sustainability entrepreneur how do you take sustainability and weave it into your entrepreneurship? Ryan Schueler: So it’s been in our mission statement really. John Shegerian: From day one. Ryan Schueler: From day one. I mean, we’re going to care about our people; we’re going to care about our farmers; and we’re going to care about how we do what we do. So, for example, these are compostable cups. John Shegerian: Right. Ryan Schueler: It’s really funny. At all these events, there’s always these three bins, and I give these people cups, and I always see them throw them like they have no idea where to put them. They needed to have single-stream recycling. It’s really funny. John Shegerian: So if I met you on an elevator today, what is your pitch to me? Your mission pitch on the elevator, if I said, “Hey Ryan. You seem like a nice young guy. What do you do for a living?” What’s what you do for a living? Ryan Schueler: “Hey, so my name is Ryan. I run this crazy company called Javazen. We mix coffee, tea and super foods. It started in my dorm room. Now I’m sharing it with the world, with 50 stores. We care about our people, and we want to inspire health in the coffee industry.” John Shegerian: I love it. Why is your generation – especially all your great colleagues from the University of Maryland – why are you guys all excited to start business but start business not only that you can make a great living from – and that is the American Way – but also that are agents for change? Ryan Schueler: Make a difference. John Shegerian: Make a difference. Huge social mission. Ryan Schueler: So I really think one of the major aspects to that is our access to information. It’s by far 10 or 100x greater than many generations in our past. John Shegerian: Yeah. Ryan Schueler: I was just talking to my dad about this the other day. If you have more access to information, it’s easier to just do something and just make it happen and fail hard, fail quick. John Shegerian: That’s true. Ryan Schueler: And people aren’t afraid to do anything. For example, at the University of Maryland – and all over universities – they have these things called “hackathons.” They are like a three-day event for tech people, and it was actually where we launched our company, at BIT Camp – it’s the University of Maryland’s hackathon. John Shegerian: OK. Ryan Schueler: So we went there. Really funny. I’ve got to give you this picture. John Shegerian: I want to hear it. Ryan Schueler: So I put on – you know those dispenser backpacks? John Shegerian: Yeah. Ryan Schueler: We put Javazen in it. John Shegerian: No! Ryan Schueler: I was walking around getting people cups and just putting it in. That was the official launch of our company last year. John Shegerian: I love it. Ryan Schueler: And when we had 200, 300 people tell us, “Wow, this is great,” we were like, “All right. We’re doing it fulltime – we’re in, we’re all in.” John Shegerian: Social media. How do you use social media to build a great brand? Ryan Schueler: So social media is very important. Like I said, we’re in the information age. John Shegerian: Yeah. Ryan Schueler: So we are full-time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. We come out with videos. With social media, it’s really important to create unique content. So, for example, we just put out a video on how to make a cold brew, so if you check out our YouTube – Google “Javazen.” John Shegerian: Yeah. Ryan Schueler: You will see us in our kitchen in our house teaching you on camera how to. John Shegerian: No. That’s great. Ryan Schueler: So if you have a French press, just throw some grind in and full it up with water, let it sit overnight and pour it over ice. That’s cold brew. John Shegerian: Who is curating your social media section all the time? Who is making sure that there is fresh content all the time? Ryan Schueler: That is our social media intern. John Shegerian: That’s awesome. Ryan Schueler: He also does a lot of our creative work. He’s really great. John Shegerian: University of Maryland? Ryan Schueler: Yeah. All Maryland. John Shegerian: You guys are all Maryland. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. John Shegerian: That’s great. There are a lot of young people in your age range or younger that want to be the next Ryan Scheuler, that want to create the next JAVAZEN in a different vertical. Ryan Schueler: Absolutely. John Shegerian: What advice now? You’ve been doing it already a year. You’ve had some highs and you’ve had some lows. What advice can you give backwards now to some of the next young people coming up for them to get going and make the world a better place? Ryan Schueler: So just start now. Honestly, just to say what I said before. John Shegerian: Yeah. Ryan Schueler: Fail hard and fail fast. John Shegerian: I love that. Ryan Schueler: I mean, that’s what we’ve always been taught. But, more importantly, you just have to go out and do something. I’ve been in all these entrepreneurship classes, and they all teach you a lot of great theories and things on how it happens, but if you don’t go out and meet people, and if you don’t give it everything you have, its not going to yield that same in return. Why would it? John Shegerian: Right. Ryan Schueler: Why would it? John Shegerian: Right. Ryan Schueler: So, I mean, going out – our packaging, for example. We went out and got it. We actually crowd-sourced our first bag off www.99designs.com. It was like $500 bucks, and we got to get all these designs and we just made it happen. We would go out and give it out to people just getting customer feedback. For example, if you want to make a widget. You know how many 3D printers there are out there? The University of Maryland has 40 3D printers in our startup shelf. John Shegerian: Wow. Ryan Schueler: That as access to the whole campus. John Shegerian: Holy Toledo. Ryan Schueler: I mean, you can do whatever you want. I know it sounds really hard to embody. John Shegerian: Right. Ryan Schueler: But like. John Shegerian: Nothing to fear. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. Nothing to fear. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing now. I just graduated college. I don’t have anything to lose. John Shegerian: That’s right. You’re right. By the way, you’re right. Ryan Schueler: The experience that I get from this – people don’t get to do this ‘til they’re like 30 or 40, and they’re like, “OK. Now that I’ve made a little bit of money, let’s go try and do something.” John Shegerian: How did it feel when you first got into your first store? Ryan Schueler: It was great. It was great. John Shegerian: When I talk to you a year from now, and have you back on Green Is Good, how many stores are you going to be in? Ryan Schueler: Over 1,000. John Shegerian: Over 1,000. Ryan Schueler: That’s what I want. That’s my goal. John Shegerian: What does dad say about all this success? Ryan Schueler: It’s funny. People thought it was crazy until about six weeks ago when I started winning this and getting more stores and hearing back from corporate accounts and going to L.A. and going to Denver. Now they’re starting to see my passion. John Shegerian: Dad’s excited. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. Dad and mom. John Shegerian: Dad and mom. They are your inspiration right? Ryan Schueler: They are. They really are. John Shegerian: That’s so nice. Ryan Schueler: They’ve taught me to be what I am. It’s funny. My mom always says, “You know, whenever I talk to people after they’ve talked to you, they’re like, ‘How did you do that he seems like a very upstanding guy’?” I’m like, “I’m just trying to make everyone proud and have a good time for myself.” John Shegerian: That’s awesome. Ryan Schueler: Yeah. John Shegerian: Well I’m so happy for you, Ryan. We’re so thrilled that you came on Green Is Good today. Ryan Schueler: Absolutely. John Shegerian: For our listeners and our viewers out there, to find Ryan Scheuler and his great company Javazen, go to www.drinkJAVAZEN.com. I have been drinking it today, and it is a great product. Support them. This is great stuff. Ryan Scheuler. Ryan Schueler: Cheers. John Shegerian: To you and your partners, thank you for making the world a better place. You guys are truly living proof that Green Is Good. Ryan Schueler: Green is good.

John Shegerian: Welcome to another edition of Green Is Good. This is the Green Festival edition of Green Is Good here in beautiful Washington, D.C., and we’ve got The Compost Crew with us today. We’ve got Brian and Kevin with us today. They are The Compost Crew, and to learn more about them, you can go to www.CompostCrew.com. Guys, welcome to Green Is Good. Thank you for being here. Tell us a little bit about the three of you and The Compost Crew. How did you get it going, and what is The Compost Crew? Ryan: First of all, John, thank you very much for having us here. John Shegerian: Happy to have you. Ryan: It’s a pleasure to be here. So The Compost Crew is the brainchild of Brian and myself. We had known each other since we were five years old, have been best friends and went to different collages. While we were at university, we developed a very strong passion for sustainability as a core value that really drives the decisions that we make. John Shegerian: Where did you grow up? Ryan: We grew up in Bethesda, Maryland. Just down the road. Brian: Silver Spring, Maryland. John Shegerian: And where did you guys go to college? Ryan: I went to Vanderbilt University. Brian: And I went to Ohio University. John Shegerian: Ohio University? Brian: Bobcats. John Shegerian: The Bobcats. Brian: The Buckeyes. John Shegerian: OK. Got you. And so you came back together. And when did you launch Compost Crew? Ryan: So we spent about a year after school just doing odd jobs and trying to figure out how could we start a business together. So Brian had a do-it-yourself project doing composting in a backyard. Brian: Right. Kind of greened up my own living situation gardening and composing, and as I was trying to compost in my own backyard, I found it kind of difficult to actually be successful at it, so I did some shopping around on the options I had for composting and realized there wasn’t much of a delivery or pickup service – like what we provide – in the area. So we spoke about it – Ryan and I – and developed this idea, and everything fit at the right time and we launched in May 2011. John Shegerian: May 2011. So now we’re basically four years in. Brian: Yep. John Shegerian: And so talk a little bit about what Compost Crew is, and how big is The Compost Crew now after four years? Ryan: So The Compost Crew is an at-home pickup service for your food waste. So think of it as another recycling service. John Shegerian: OK. Ryan: But you put all of your organics in a bin. We come by, pickup every week, do the composting for you at a local farm or composting facility. John Shegerian: Oh great. Ryan: And then return finished compost back. So it’s closing a food loop and is just a great environmental service. John Shegerian: And where did you launch it? Which community? Brian: Bethesda was our main starting point. We got a slot at the Bethesda Central Farmer’s Market, and that’s where we got most of our starting customers, and from there, we’ve kind of grown out into southern Montgomery County. We’re in D.C. now, all of D.C. We are expanding into Baltimore, and at the end of the summer, we hope to expand into northern Virginia. John Shegerian: So it’s growing. Brian: Yes. Ryan: We have about 2000 homes served to date. Every week. John Shegerian: Every week. Ryan: Yes. John Shegerian: Wow. And when you started it, how did you raise the money originally? You guys have just been out of college pretty much. Did you do social media to raise the money? Family? Friends? How did you do this? Ryan: The trick was, John, we just didn’t value our time very highly. So we didn’t take a salary for a while. John Shegerian: That’s OK. Ryan: Our friend had a truck – or his parents had a truck – and we were able to get a very favorable lease agreement with them, which allowed us to launch, and that’s really what we needed. And then the time to do the pickups and sell the service John Shegerian: Best friends since five. Ryan: That’s exactly right. John Shegerian: So how many people do you have now, like Kevin, on board helping to service these 2000 homes every week? Ryan: So we have a full-time driver, we have a part-time driver and Kevin is our crew leader. He’s a business leader with us. He joined a few months ago, and it’s just been an amazing asset for us. Then we have two or three – it kind of rotates – crew reps that help us out on weekend events like this, farmers’ markets in the area to help grow our business. So all said, I guess, we have a team of about six or so. John Shegerian: Six that takes care of 2000 homes? Ryan: That’s exactly right. Brian: The driver and the part-time driver do all the pickups, so it’s only two people here and 2000 homes. Ryan: Exactly. John Shegerian: That’s incredible. Brian: Yeah. Ryan: Yeah. Brian: We make it work. Ryan: Optimization. John Shegerian: Obviously. Holy Toledo. So talk a little bit about the problem of how much food waste do we really have here in this great country – in the United States – and what solution you’ve provided on a very local and growing level. Ryan: So we’re talking about millions and millions of tons of food waste that is either put in a landfill directly to decompose anaerobically – releasing methane, carbon footprint – or it’s being incinerated or being put down the garbage disposal, leading to the issues we’re seeing at water treatment facilities. We’re talking about somewhere in the range of – EPA estimates – about 35 percent of our municipal solid waste stream that consists of stuff that could be composted. So our solution is we will take it for you, put it right back into the food system where it can do the most good, get the nutrients that would otherwise be sitting in a landfill dormant for potentially millions of years. John Shegerian: Isn’t that crazy? Ryan: Yeah. John Shegerian: What a waste. Ryan: Back in our food system and, in turn, getting our local food supply healthier, more resilient. The fields have more nutrients in them, so you don’t have to cycle through as much with the crops of local farmers. So it’s really a win-win-win. John Shegerian: When you guys started this in May of 2011, how many people were doing what you’re doing in the United States? Was there a local composting service like you made up of young people who wanted to run a mission-based business? Ryan: In the U.S., there is the gambit. You have got people in Boston that are riding bikes with a little attachment to it going around and picking up compost from their neighbors and friends – which you admire what they’re doing, but I always try to think of what is scalable, because I want to have the greatest impact – to in San Francisco where you get fined if you have too much trash. They collect your compost, they collect your recyclables and they have huge industrial-scale commercial facilities. So, all in all, you see them sprouting up pretty regularly these days in different little areas – metro areas – but maybe a dozen or two different areas have some. John Shegerian: Wow. And what is the business proposition? Do the homes or the municipalities pay you to pick up for each of these homes? Brian: A little bit of both. We work with municipalities that we started out just servicing homes and it grew in popularity and the residents of the municipality brought it to their lords and then we eventually got a contract with them. But a lot of our customers are just single-family homes or apartment-dwellers that pay us a monthly service or a yearly service fee for our service because they believe in what we do and our mission as a company. John Shegerian: I’m seeing a theme here at today’s Green Festival. Is this the first Green Festival – by the way – that you are doing? Ryan: That we have exhibited at, yes. John Shegerian: Yes. And how has the response been when you have been at the festival so far? Ryan: It’s been very strong. Everyone is interested. We’re getting a lot of backyard composters – as can be expected – so converting them to the service is a bit of challenge. John Shegerian: Right. Ryan: But you’ve got to love their gumption. John Shegerian: But it’s a great way for you to market your message, right? Brian: Absolutely. Ryan: Exactly. Brian: Find like-minded people. John Shegerian: Yeah. And what I’ve seen here at this festival is young people – your generation, Millennials – who are loving what they’re doing and are making the world a better place in so many different categories. It’s the first time I’ve seen such a group of great young people in so many different verticals of the sustainability revolution all fired up and that is a great trend. Talk a little bit about how big can this go? What is the vision for The Compost Crew? Can you franchise it? Can you just go out and raise a bunch-load of money and make it a national deal? What’s going on in your minds and you’re – house-by-house, community-by-community – growing your great brand? Ryan: So the vision is what we’re doing in D.C. is trying to create a model. How do we most efficiently provide this service? How do we most efficiently get these nutrients back to where they matter? To local farms? John Shegerian: Right. Ryan: How do we grow the business? What is the most effective way to build a business? So the vision is to basically corner the market in D.C., to make Compost Crew the residential food waste hauler of the D.C. metro area and then either reinvest our cash flow, if there is enough, or look for investors to replicate the model in other municipalities throughout the U.S. and potentially abroad. John Shegerian: That’s great. What do we have here in front of us? What is this here? Brian: This is our “kitchen bin” – if you will – kind of the equivalent of your trashcan that you have in your kitchen or in any room. Then we have a different bin, which is our curbside bin, which is the bin that we use to do pickups in. So you would separate – as you’re cooking – into the smaller bin and then as the smaller bin fills up you would empty it into the bigger bin, which is where we do our pickups from. John Shegerian: Got it. So smaller bin, bigger bin, and that’s the bin that you pick up in 2,000 homes. Brian: Yes. John Shegerian: And you drop off a fresh one. Brian: No. We wipe down the bin and replace the compostable liners that we use. John Shegerian: And so they just keep that one? Brian: Yep. John Shegerian: Got it. Brian: And it’s odor-sealed so there are no pests or any worry about that or bad smells. It has served us very well over these past four years. John Shegerian: Was that already designed by somebody else and you leveraged that design? Ryan: Yeah, so the bin exists, and then you buy the gamma seal and you attach it. Brian: We chose green. John Shegerian: I love your t-shirts. Brian: Green is good! John Shegerian: Green Is Good! And I love your design of your t-shirts – beautiful – and that’s a great looking bin. Very clean looking. So what is the cost? If I’m a local homeowner here in the D.C. metro area, what is the cost for a weekly pickup? Ryan: So our base rate is $32 a month. If you sign up for a year, you get a month off – so even cheaper. John Shegerian: It’s $8 a week. Ryan: $8 a week or just a little bit more than that. John Shegerian: To make the world a better place with you guys. Ryan: Exactly. Yeah. We think it’s very reasonable. John Shegerian: So we are here with the owners, and with Kevin the crew leader, and we’re here with the owners Ryan and Brian of Compost Crew. To learn more about Compost Crew, go to www.CompostCrew.com. Talk about your journey as social entrepreneurs. 2011 ‘til now, what have you learned that you didn’t expect? What happened for the worse that you had no idea could happen? And what luck broke your way to make this thing come together? Because there is no entrepreneur – whether you are Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg – that didn’t have breaks that went for them, and they wouldn’t be here but for those breaks, and then had breaks that went against them, and but for some act of God or something else kept them afloat for those near death experiences. Talk about some of yours. Ryan: So the thing that immediately jumps to my mind is for some unfortunate turn of events, the favorable terms on our lease on the first truck dissipated so we had to buy a new truck. We didn’t have that much money. We bought a used 1997 Chevy 2500 for about $2,500. Constantly in the shop. After about eight months – this is our only thing we can use to service customers. If we can’t service customers, we lose all our credibility, so we needed to keep this going. Eight months, the engine craps out. We got a mechanic, he says, “You know what I’ve got an engine, I can’t warranty it, but I put it in your truck.” We get it running for another two grand. So we’re like buying another new truck. Eight months later – almost to the day – that engine craps out. And we thankfully had enough cash at that point we were like, “We’re buying a new truck,” and that’s what we’ve been using since then. John Shegerian: Good decision? Ryan: Great decision. John Shegerian: Never missed a day, never missed a pickup, never missed a start since then. Ryan: Well, we won’t say we never miss a pickup, but we’ll turn back around and grab it if we do. John Shegerian: Right. What advice? We have thousands of listeners every week both across the United States and across the world that want to be the next change-makers like you, the next disruptors like you guys. What advice do you have for mission-based people that just don’t want to make a living. which is important, but also want to make a difference? Brian: Patience. You need patience and perseverance. Like you said, there are going to be breaks going your way and breaks going the other way, and you’re just going to learn to have to continue on your path and understand that these things are going to happen and that you just have to find a way to make it work. Use a network of people that you are developing as you’re starting out to help you along the way, because we have found that as we were growing, people liked what we were doing, liked our mission and would just support us in any way they could if it was like, “Oh, OK. We’ll be flexible with you.” Our customers are amazing. As we’ve grown, they’ve been so patient with us. They’ve given us advice and other things to help us just grow into a better business and help us service them the best we can. It’s just patience, perseverance and rely on your network. Do not be afraid to ask for help. John Shegerian: Speaking of network, what about social media? Do you guys leverage social media to get the word out and to grow your brand? Ryan: So I’m going to let Kevin talk to this, because he is our social media expert. John Shegerian: You’re the guru? Ryan: He’s the guru. Kevin: The goal with our social media is to reach as many people as possible. We go through Facebook, Instagram. Our Facebook, our Instagram, Twitter. We’re also doing Pinterest. And our goal is to reach our customers in addition to anybody beyond our main core that would be interested in joining The Compost Crew. So that has been our goal. Currently, we are working with Gigawatt for some support, which is a local firm for social media, helping with our social media. Long term, we expect to continue to try to bring on new members onto those social media outlets and for those people to eventually sign up as they learn more about the service. John Shegerian: Great. That’s great. So social media does play an important role. Ryan: It’s about sharing content that people that would be interested in our service would be interested in in general. You need engagement. Posting stuff doesn’t mean anything. We’ve had posts over the years where you get two or three people that even view it, maybe a “like” here and there. Kevin does it. We got 500 personal exposures, 20, 30 “likes,” sending content that people enjoy and getting the brand out there. John Shegerian: That is awesome. That is awesome. What do mom and dad think of all of what you guys are doing? Brian: Very supportive. Enjoying our service. John Shegerian: Is there any downside for composting wherever you live in the United States or the world? Is there any downside? Brian: I don’t think so, no. Composting is very easy. It can be as simple as throwing things into a pile and mixing it a little bit or it can get complicated to where you’re processing it in the most efficient manner. But no. It’s all a natural process. Think of it as like the forest floor – it’s just breaking down food over time and feeding the earth again. John Shegerian: And we have no reason to be filling our landfills with all of this material, right? I mean that’s so. Ryan: No reason for landfills. John Shegerian: Thank you. Ryan: Ultimately. John Shegerian: Any final thoughts before we say goodbye for today? Ryan: I would just like to say, again, thank you very much for having us on the show, John. It’s been a pleasure chatting with you, and check our site out at www.CompostCrew.com and email or call us if you have any questions. We’d be happy to get you signed up. John Shegerian: They are The Compost Crew, and – as Ryan said – go to www.CompostCrew.com to learn more about their great service or sign up. Hey guys, thanks for making the world a better place. You all are truly living proof that Green Is Good.

John Shegerian: Welcome to another edition of Green Is Good. This is the Green Festival edition of Green Is Good here in beautiful Washington, D.C., and we are so excited to have with us, Nikki Azzara. She is the founder and CEO of Slender Seven. Nikki Azzara: Thank you so much for having me. John Shegerian: Oh yeah. This is exciting. I mean, we’re going to get to taste some of your great products here. So, Nikki, your website is www.slenderseven.com, and before we get talking about your great product, I would love you to tell us about Nikki Azzara. Talk a little bit about your journey. How did you get interested in being an entrepreneur and being one that is interested in health and nutrition? Nikki Azzara: Definitely. Well, I was always raised very healthy. I’m a very healthy eater. Never in my life have I had fast food. John Shegerian: Wow. Nikki Azzara: Yeah. So that is my “fun fact.” John Shegerian: That is a good fact, actually. Nikki Azzara: Thank you. John Shegerian: Where’s mom and dad? Nikki Azzara: Yeah, exactly. John Shegerian: We’ve got to get them to do some promotion. Nikki Azzara: Exactly. And I’ve always been interested in cooking. I’ve had family members that are kind of – I have one that is a professional chef, one that was just a gourmet chef, so I always loved helping them out for holidays and family gatherings. So it’s always been an interest of mine, but then sophomore year of college I found out I was gluten-intolerant. So I think just with the timing everything kind of fell into place. I started experimenting with my own recipes, trying to find healthier alternatives, coming up with my own recipes etc. John Shegerian: Were you a vegetarian or vegan before any of this? Nikki Azzara: No. John Shegerian: OK. Nikki Azzara: And I’m actually not vegetarian or vegan. John Shegerian: OK. Right. Nikki Azzara: Just now gluten-intolerant. John Shegerian: Right. Nikki Azzara: So I haven’t had gluten in three years. John Shegerian: Wow. Nikki Azzara: But I was in the business school at Wake Forest University, and I just had started having these ideas to do something with the recipes, but didn’t think much of it and really just kind of started writing things down. Finally, senior year of college, I was in an entrepreneurship course in the Wake Forest School of Business, found inspiration to launch the website, which would allow me to share all of my healthy recipes using seven ingredients or less. John Shegerian: No kidding. Therefore the name “Slender Seven.” Nikki Azzara: Exactly. John Shegerian: Seven ingredients or less. Nikki Azzara: Yes. So right now I have over 550 recipes and an app that is an extension of the website. John Shegerian: And again for our listeners and viewers out there, Nikki’s website is www.slenderseven.com. And can they download your app from the website? Nikki Azzara: Actually, it will direct you to the app store. John Shegerian: OK. Nikki Azzara: But it is available for iPhone. John Shegerian: And how many years ago did you launch the website? Nikki Azzara: November of 2013. So I just graduated last May. John Shegerian: Oh. Nikki Azzara: Yeah, so I’m still fresh out of college I would say. John Shegerian: Wow, you’re fresh out of college and you’ve got this business venture. Nikki Azzara: Yes. John Shegerian: How has it been going? Nikki Azzara: Great. So when I graduated last May, the big question was, “How will I monetize the brand?” John Shegerian: Yeah. Nikki Azzara: Because I had the website. I hadn’t launched the app at that point, so I was really just trying to put my business mind to it and figure out how to monetize the brand. I worked over the summer, built the app, had someone help me with that and then figured out that my recipe for cookie dough could be a viable product in the markets. So I spent all fall developing that, working on the logistics and then didn’t launch it until early 2015 and got into my first stores in April. John Shegerian: Congratulations. Nikki Azzara: Thank you so much. John Shegerian: So your idea was to sell the cookie dough both online and offline? Or no? Nikki Azzara: So I started by selling it – actually, I did a crowdfunding campaign. John Shegerian: How did that go? Nikki Azzara: It went really well. I raised $10,000 dollars. John Shegerian: And how long did it take? Nikki Azzara: Thirty days. John Shegerian: Awesome. Nikki Azzara: Yes. John Shegerian: On which platform? Nikki Azzara: I used Tilt. John Shegerian: Tilt. Nikki Azzara: Because it was actually started by a Wake Forest graduate, so I wanted to keep it in the family. John Shegerian: Keep it in the family. Nikki Azzara: Yeah. Ended up raising close to $10,000 dollars, and that helped me with all the start-up funds and it also helped me pay for the Union Kitchen membership. John Shegerian: Awesome. Nikki Azzara: And that is a culinary incubator here in D.C., where I operate and produce the product. John Shegerian: And you’re a local? You grew up here locally? Nikki Azzara: Yes. Montgomery County, so about 20 miles outside the city. John Shegerian: That’s great. And for our listeners and viewers who just joined us, we’ve got Nikki Azzara. She’s the founder and CEO of Slender Seven, and you can find her at www.slenderseven.com. Nikki Azzara: Thank you. John Shegerian: So you launched the product. Nikki Azzara: Yes. John Shegerian: What store did you get in? Nikki Azzara: So I am in all seven locations of Yes! Organic Market – it’s a chain here in D.C. I’m in a store in Potomac, Maryland and I’m in the new Union Kitchen grocery store in Capitol Hill. John Shegerian: So talk about a morning getting ready for a pitch. Nikki Azzara: Yes. John Shegerian: Explain what kind of “night before” and “morning of” going in before you landed one store. Nikki Azzara: Right. So it’s very new still. I’ve really only pitched Yes! Organic and Potomac Grocer, which is the store in Potomac, Maryland. The Yes! Organic one that was the first kind of suspenseful panel type pitch where I was sitting in front of three of the buyers. John Shegerian: And you were there by yourself? Nikki Azzara: I was there with our Union Kitchen distribution manager but pitching it by myself. John Shegerian: It was all you. Nikki Azzara: Just me. John Shegerian: Wow. And how old are you? Nikki Azzara: I’m 23. John Shegerian: Twenty-three. So did you read any blogs online? Did you have any inspirational books in entrepreneurship? What prepped you for the pitch? Nikki Azzara: I think the pitch itself, when it came time to actually pitch stores. John Shegerian: Yeah. Nikki Azzara: I had really been practicing the pitch through sampling events and different promotional things that I had been doing not being in stores yet but just a lot of opportunities to get my brand and product out there. So I had the pitch down, did a taste-testing and made sure the product was up to everyone’s standards before I pitched it to the buyers. But I just remember that morning waking up, going into Union Kitchen, dressing nicely for the panel members and sitting there and just. John Shegerian: Was it men or women that you were pitching? Nikki Azzara: It was two men and one woman. John Shegerian: So you go in. Nikki Azzara: I go in. John Shegerian: What time of day was that pitch? Nikki Azzara: I think it was like a 3:00. John Shegerian: So it was 3:00. Nikki Azzara: Yeah. John Shegerian: So you had all day to think about it. Nikki Azzara: All day. But at that point, I was ready. John Shegerian: We’re you calm and in the zone? Nikki Azzara: Yeah. I was in the zone. I was definitely in the zone. Calm. I felt confident about my product. John Shegerian: And you went in with this? Nikki Azzara: I went in with this, and I have one more flavor. John Shegerian: What was the other flavor you went in with? Nikki Azzara: So this one is chickpea based and the other one is black bean based. John Shegerian: OK. Nikki Azzara: I can tell you more about the products soon. John Shegerian: We’ll talk about it. Yeah. Nikki Azzara: But it’s our choco-chick flavor and then we have a choco-fudge. John Shegerian: So now you start the pitch. Nikki Azzara: So I start the pitch. John Shegerian: Was it going the way you thought? Nikki Azzara: So, for a while, I felt like I was kind of doing some small talk. My hands started sweating a little under the table. John Shegerian: That’s OK. Nikki Azzara: And one of the buyers asked me, “Does this exist in the world?” and I looked at him and I said, “No, that’s why I’m trying to do this now.” John Shegerian: “That’s why I’m here.” Nikki Azzara: So he looked at the distribution manager and said, “OK. We want her in all seven stores as soon as possible.” John Shegerian: So you knew right there in the pitch. Nikki Azzara: Yeah. John Shegerian: That the pitch went well. Nikki Azzara: And that doesn’t happen often I heard. John Shegerian: It doesn’t. Nikki Azzara: So it was a little confidence boost, especially because I had been working so hard to get the product out there, but until you get into stores, it’s all kind of theoretical. John Shegerian: So when you got out of the meeting…. Nikki Azzara: Yes. John Shegerian: First phone call? Nikki Azzara: No phone call yet. I walked downstairs. In the kitchen, three of my friends that also work at Union Kitchen were there and they were giving me hugs and high-fives, and it was just really exciting. John Shegerian: Then, when you had to make the first call. Who got the first call? Nikki Azzara: My dad. John Shegerian: Dad. Nikki Azzara: Yep. John Shegerian: That’s awesome. Nikki Azzara: So I called my mom, called my dad. John Shegerian: Can we try this? Nikki Azzara: Absolutely. John Shegerian: OK. Right here on the air. This is a little bit of a mini pitch on Green Is Good. Nikki Azzara: Would you like me to give you the full pitch? John Shegerian: Yeah. Go on give me the pitch. Nikki Azzara: OK. So this is a healthy, eggless, organic bean-based cookie dough. John Shegerian: Bean-based. Nikki Azzara: Bean-based. So garbanzo beans are the main ingredient in this flavor. There is no gluten, flour, dairy, soy or peanuts. Completely safe to eat raw. You can also bake it into a soft bake cookie. John Shegerian: And it’s vegan for vegans like me. Nikki Azzara: Yes. No gluten, flour, dairy, soy, peanuts. The only thing is that there are almonds, so for people with tree nut allergies…. John Shegerian: That’s delicious. Nikki Azzara: Thank you so much. John Shegerian: Oh my god. That is yummy. Nikki Azzara: Thank you. So the nice thing is that even though we’re positioning it as a cookie dough – thank you so much. John Shegerian: I wish I had a store to put you in. This is it. Nikki Azzara: Thank you. John Shegerian: You’re in! You’re in the pitch! You win! Alright, so. Nikki Azzara: It’s low in sugar. There are only five grams of sugar per two tablespoons. John Shegerian: I’m having another spoon of this. Nikki Azzara: Yeah. Dig in. Please. John Shegerian: Oh my gosh. Nikki Azzara: It’s all for you. And, I mean, there is protein, fiber, healthy fats and antioxidants, so a lot of times we position it as not only eating it for dessert, but it’s a lot healthier than a lot of breakfast options. You can put it in oatmeal. Eat it with a banana like almond butter. John Shegerian: Delicious. Nikki Azzara: Thank you. John Shegerian: I could even put that on toast really. Nikki Azzara: Yeah. Exactly. John Shegerian: So first day. When did this actually get into the stores? Nikki Azzara: So this got in, I think, it was that Friday right before Easter. John Shegerian: OK. Nikki Azzara: So we got into all seven Yes! Organic Markets. A few weeks later got into the Potomac Grocery store and then when Union Kitchen opened their corner store in Capitol Hill we got in there as well. John Shegerian: And how have the sales been going since you’ve been in? Nikki Azzara: Really well. I mean, sometimes I feel like it’s difficult, because it’s just me, so it’s hard to be demoing and really pushing the product when I am actually making it in the kitchen. But I’m hoping that soon I’ll be able to hire people and be the face of the company and go to more sales and pitching and demoing. John Shegerian: Which let’s talk about what you’re doing today at the Green Festival. Nikki Azzara: Yes. Exactly. John Shegerian: What was your goal here? Nikki Azzara: I think the main goal here is just to get the product out there, especially with people that are walking through. It’s a lot of local D.C. residents that are actually able to go buy the cookie dough in stores. John Shegerian: Right. Nikki Azzara: So for me if they’re not buying it here I try and encourage them to go to the different locations, buy it in stores, follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, visit our website for the recipes. John Shegerian: How has the feedback been online? What are your consumers telling you about the product? Nikki Azzara: I’ve been getting really positive feedback, so I think that’s one thing that kind of boosts my confidence as I continue to go through this journey. I’m trying to – within the next few weeks – launch the online sales for the cookie dough. The obstacle is that it’s a refrigerated product. John Shegerian: Yeah. Nikki Azzara: But I’m working with a company that’s going to help me ship it using a special insulated shipping system. John Shegerian: How are you going to raise money for the next round of growth? Nikki Azzara: Hopefully, the next round will be actual investors, whether it’s friends, family or people that have a personal stake in either the idea or my personal life. John Shegerian: Are we going to see you on Shark Tank anytime soon? Nikki Azzara: I don’t know. John Shegerian: Do you watch it? Nikki Azzara: I watch it sporadically. John Shegerian: Yeah. Nikki Azzara: But I’m kind of more interested in finding investors that either back me or back the idea. John Shegerian: Yeah. Nikki Azzara: Believe in the company. John Shegerian: I got you. Nikki Azzara: And are more willing to work with me and kind of be like a board of advisors. John Shegerian: What did mom and dad do? Were mom and dad into sustainability, or were they entrepreneurs, or how did they inspire you along the way? Nikki Azzara: My mom actually is a great role model. She is the CFO of a company. She’s also a CPA accountant, so she is in the financial services business. John Shegerian: Right. Nikki Azzara: But obviously inspiring because she is very successful in what she does. John Shegerian: Sure. Nikki Azzara: My dad is a financial advisor, so they’re both kind of more by the book. John Shegerian: Wow. Nikki Azzara: So sometimes we don’t see eye to eye because I’m more like, “No, it will happen. Let’s just see how it goes,” and I’m less rigid about the numbers, and I’m more willing to just take the risk and go for it. John Shegerian: Well, that’s what entrepreneur visionaries do. Nikki Azzara: Exactly. But it is nice having them to make me step back and see the financial implications and understand what goes into it on more of like a numbers. John Shegerian: What’s your mission? If I met you today on the elevator and we were going up in the elevator…. Nikki Azzara: Yes. John Shegerian: What is the mission and guiding philosophy of Slender Seven? Nikki Azzara: Our philosophy is “cook simply, eat healthy and feel happy.” John Shegerian: Man, I love that. Nikki Azzara: Thank you. So it really started with the website – all healthy recipes using seven ingredients or less – but my goal for the company is that all different facets of the brand will be more of a lifestyle brand so you have the website, you have the app, but you also will have products. Maybe eventually introduce more of like a workout section of the website or really just incorporating that healthy lifestyle. John Shegerian: That’s right. Nikki Azzara: Yeah. John Shegerian: Talk a little bit about your ingredients and sourcing them. How important is that to you? Nikki Azzara: So that’s one of my main goals with Slender Seven is transparency, simplicity and just the specific nature of the ingredients. This one has seven ingredients – obviously to fit the brand criteria – and I’m using organic garbanzo beans, organic lemon juice, organic virgin coconut oil. So just very specific ingredients. For example we’re also using pink Himalayan sea salt rather than table salt because it’s the purest salt out there right now. So the ingredients are No. 1 priority for me. John Shegerian: Yeah. Nikki Azzara: I think that’s also part of the reason why it’s more of a quality item. I’m not just buying random chickpeas with calcium chloride and preservatives. I’m using organic garbanzo beans that are just cooked with water. And it’s really important for me to stick to that. John Shegerian: I mean, this is for everyone, including moms with kids. Nikki Azzara: Yes. John Shegerian: People watching their weight. People who are gluten-intolerant. Nikki Azzara: Exactly. John Shegerian: I mean, this hits almost every trend line that literally has a kegger that looks like that right now. Nikki Azzara: Exactly. And I think too just in general there is such a trend towards healthier alternatives to foods, so you don’t have to be vegan, you don’t have to be gluten free. This is just a healthier way for you to enjoy a sweet tooth. John Shegerian: And not give up anything in taste or quality. Nikki Azzara: Exactly. John Shegerian: Except you gain everything back, and you keep your health in good shape. Nikki Azzara: Right. John Shegerian: How much money do you need to get your vision out there? Nikki Azzara: That’s a good question. Right now, I’m kind of in this routine where I’m managing the production. I know what my schedule is. But I foresee in the near future obviously getting into stores and hopefully distributing across the country. My next step would be finding a co-packing facility so I can pay someone to do it for me. John Shegerian: Yeah. Nikki Azzara: So I’m just in the process of beginning to look into that now and don’t really know how much money I will need but working on it. John Shegerian: When you follow paradigms that have had massive success, this is one of these great little niche products. Nikki Azzara: Thank you. John Shegerian: That can go to the moon. You could be the next Ben and Jerry’s of this space. Nikki Azzara: Right. Hopefully. John Shegerian: Or Chobani yogurt. Nikki Azzara: Yes. John Shegerian: What business plan are you following, and what paradigm are you trying to model after here? Nikki Azzara: So it’s nice being in this industry, because I think a lot of companies have been successful with taking their dorm room products, which is essentially what this is. John Shegerian: Right. Nikki Azzara: And turning it into large food empires. John Shegerian: Yeah. Nikki Azzara: So, I mean, a lot of companies I modeled this off of is like Chobani or Justin’s Almond Butter or people like that. John Shegerian: Great brands. Nikki Azzara: Right. So I think kind of next steps – like you were saying – would be finding people to invest and back the idea and help me find more employees and people to do a lot of the work for me on the scale of just making it so that I can focus on the sales, the marketing. I would love to bring in someone that has a lot of industry experience to help me. That’s the nice thing is that because I am so young I really don’t know that much. John Shegerian: That’s OK. Nikki Azzara: So I would love to bring in someone that knows more than me and can help me with the mission and the company and help me grow to be like a Justin’s or a Chobani or companies like that. John Shegerian: You know, Nikki, one thing I’m seeing here, which gives me so much hope, is you’re maybe the sixth or seventh millennial that I’ve interviewed today here that is just doing something that is making the world a better place. Nikki Azzara: Thank you. John Shegerian: And they’re not only on fire for making a nice living for themselves, but they’re on fire for the mission that they’re putting forward. Is that something you’re seeing among your generation more than ever before? Nikki Azzara: I definitely think so. I mean, just seeing my friends and how everyone’s eating behavior is so different, how boys and girls love this and there is no – you don’t have to be gluten intolerant. You don’t have to be vegetarian. Everyone is kind of working on this healthier lifestyle. So I think the fact that my generation is capitalizing on that and trying to come up with products and innovative solutions to help this trend, I mean, it’s really cool seeing people my age starting these companies. Especially at Union Kitchen, there are about 55 food startups in there. All different ages but a lot of young like me. Three of my friends from Wake Forest University started a food truck, so they’re in there also. It’s just really cool to see all this innovation and kind of everyone working towards the same goals on a different path. John Shegerian: What advice do you have for the entrepreneurs behind you or in your age range that want to be the next Nikki Azzara? Nikki Azzara: Thank you. John Shegerian: Yeah. Nikki Azzara: I think my biggest piece of advice and something that I’ve been so fortunate to kind of observe just talking with friends that aren’t doing what they love, finding something you’re passionate about and working on building your career into that just makes such a difference in life because every day you’re kind of excited to go to work. You’re passionate about it. You don’t feel like you’re working. You’re really doing something that has a purpose, and it just makes such a difference. I think that if entrepreneurs have an idea the best thing to do is go for it. The worst that can happen is that you fail. But you always learn from it, so if you have people to support you and you think your idea is the next big thing, go for it. John Shegerian: I love it. Go for it. And we wish you luck here at the Green Festival here in D.C. Nikki Azzara: Thank you so much. Thank you. John Shegerian: And luck with your great and delicious product not only locally but taking it national. Nikki Azzara: Thank you so much. John Shegerian: We’re going to have you back on the show. You’re going to grow, and we’re going to have you continue to share your story. Nikki Azzara: Perfect. John Shegerian: And journey forward. For those who just joined us or caught us at the last part, we’ve been interviewing Nikki Azzara. She is the founder and CEO of Slender Seven. We tried her delicious product during the show. I’m going to tell you something right now. This is the new Ben and Jerry’s. This is the new Chobani or Justin’s. Nikki Azzara: Thank you so much. John Shegerian: This is delicious. Nikki Azzara. You can find her products at www.slenderseven.com. You’re making the world a better place. You are truly living proof that Green Is Good. Nikki Azzara: Thank you so much.

John Shegerian: Welcome to another edition of Green Is Good. This is the Green Festival edition of Green Is Good here in beautiful Washington, D.C., and we are so excited to have with us Aderyn Bright. She is the Event Coordinator for Community Forklift. Welcome to Green Is Good, Aderyn. Aderyn Bright: Thank you. John Shegerian: So before we talk about Community Forklift and all the great work you’re doing there, share a little bit about your journey and your story leading up to joining Community Forklift. Aderyn Bright: I actually had been volunteering at a community center. Not environmental at all, but I got very involved in the community development aspect of it, and when it was time to be looking for a real job – a paying one – then I came across this ad for Community Forklift. I saw a way to include in an environmental direction with community development, got really excited about it and jumped right in. John Shegerian: Did you grow up in a household that was sustainability minded or in college, or where did you get the idea that sustainability and environmentalism is important to what you do? Aderyn Bright: I think it really was just upbringing. I grew up in Southern California. I think everything was a little bit more. John Shegerian: Which part of Southern California? Aderyn Bright: L.A. John Shegerian: L.A. Aderyn Bright: With two parents that were born and raised in L.A., too. John Shegerian: A little bit more progressive. Aderyn Bright: It’s their’s culturally. John Shegerian: Sustainability. Aderyn Bright: Everything was about sustainability and health. John Shegerian: Cool. Aderyn Bright: So I just never really realized it was a debate until I got a little older and realized that not everybody recycles. John Shegerian: That there was another side. Aderyn Bright: Exactly. Yeah. John Shegerian: Talk a little bit about what you do at Community Forklift, and what is Community Forklift’s vision? Aderyn Bright: So Community Forklift itself is a reuse center for home improvement and the mission stems from this idea that about 40 percent of our landfills are filled with building materials. John Shegerian: Wow. Aderyn Bright: But 90 percent of the average building is reusable if it was deconstructed properly. So the deviation between those two statistics has driven this new industry to open up in the last 15 years or so of reuse centers all across the United States. And we’re an independent nonprofit in the D.C. area that has been open now for 10 years, and we’ve taken donations of building materials, and we get them back out into our communities as a reusable stream instead of a waste stream. John Shegerian: And how long have you been with them? Aderyn Bright: Going on three years. John Shegerian: And for our listeners and our viewers out there, to find Community Forklift, you can go to www.CommunityForklift.org. So since you’ve joined, how much product were you recycling and reusing three years ago when you joined – or even when they started it – and how much are you recycling now and how much opportunity is out there? Aderyn Bright: Oh wow. I’m not on the donations side. John Shegerian: Right. OK. Aderyn Bright: So I don’t know exactly. But I do know that when I first started – on a green job creation scale…. John Shegerian: Yeah. Aderyn Bright: When I first started, I was number 20 on the employee list and now we’re almost at 50. John Shegerian: Wow. Aderyn Bright: And that’s for our regular employees. That’s not even counting contractors that we work with and other part-time or on-call type of employment. John Shegerian: As the event coordinator, what do you specifically do at Community Forklift? Aderyn Bright: So my job is kind of everything involving events. So not only registering for events like this and making sure that we have all of our on-call event staff scheduled and ready to go and all of our materials that we need and display items and all of that, but also we do a lot of programming ourselves so we have a huge garden party every spring and we bring in local experts and really show reuse in the garden. We have Forklift First Friday’s going on all summer long. First Friday of every month we bring in local artists and local talent and help showcase the local art scene, so we really get involved in our community and try to throw events that help show what’s going on in Prince George’s County. John Shegerian: Why Green Festival? We are here today. This is the Green Is Good Green Festival edition. Why is this important in terms of your messaging and ambassadorship of Community Forklift? Aderyn Bright: We have been coming to the Green Festival since the very first year. We are huge supporters of it. We were actually rated one of the top 11 “cool companies” by Green America this year. John Shegerian: Wow. Aderyn Bright: In their article that just came out a couple months ago. John Shegerian: Right. Right. Aderyn Bright: And so we’ve just been really involved with Green America and the Green Festival, and honestly, this is the best venue of the year to connect with people that want to know more about green construction or green living or different ways to connect with the environmental movement. Where most events we might have to start at the beginning – at the basics – here we can just jump right in and people already are understanding that we need to make changes in our lifestyle. John Shegerian: Does Community Forklift exist in any other communities? Aderyn Bright: We don’t as Community Forklift, but there are places very similar to us all over the country, and even in the D.C. area, there are quite a few that are not exactly like us, but Habitat For Humanity has locations that are similar. John Shegerian: Because this is a problem that is similar in every community. As you say, if we are filling up landfills needlessly with building construction materials – 40 percent of these landfills being filled up with that – that we can pretty much reuse all of them. I mean, literally, Community Forklift or some similar paradigm can exist in everywhere from your hometown of L.A. back to New York City and everywhere in between. Aderyn Bright: And cities our size could easily support multiple Community Forklift-like businesses. John Shegerian: Wow. Aderyn Bright: And they are. Over the last 15 years, there has been a rise in this type of business, but we actually really hope to see more of that. We partner with a lot of them and keep tabs and keep friendships going with them, but we would like to see every city have many, many warehouses our size that are working for the same mission. John Shegerian: Now that you’re older and wiser and you realize that not everyone is like a Los Angelino or a New Yorker and that there is another side, how do we include more people and make the tent bigger with regards to environmentalism and the sustainability revolution? Aderyn Bright: Well, that is something that we work very hard on at Community Forklift. And reuse stores in general really help with this movement. “Green” has turned into a very elitist concept in a lot of communities, and people think it’s very expensive to eat organic, and they can’t do that or they can’t be buying all of the fancy new gadgets that help you save energy and electricity. But reusing items – at its core – is one of the greenest things you can do. You are not only keeping these items out of the landfill, you are keeping the new mining, the new logging, the new manufacturing, the shipping all around the world. John Shegerian: Preserving resources. Aderyn Bright: Exactly. You are keeping all of that from having to happen and closing the loop and making sure that we keep actual useable resources in our own community and making sure that neighbors are helping neighbors with these resources. John Shegerian: Aderyn, what is the vision and the next steps for Community Forklift? Aderyn Bright: We are celebrating our 10-year anniversary this year. That is very exciting. John Shegerian: Huge. Aderyn Bright: We’ve started moving more into some advocacy work. We’ve been partnering with the Department of the Environment on some new projects, including a green job fair where we’re promoting the green economy in the area and trying to get more people to have sustainable careers in the sustainable industry. So, in general, our future is moving to a model where what we’re doing is not only keeping the items out of the landfill, but we’re also using some of that revenue to go into the communities in our area and help better the situations there. John Shegerian: Got you. Any final thoughts or words for our listeners or viewers out there on environmentalism or on Community Forklift? Aderyn Bright: Wherever you are you, can find a store that is similar to us. If you aren’t in the market for used building materials, you might be in the market for clothing or for anything else that you can find at thrift stores, antique stores. Reusing is something that is so accessible to anybody and extremely affordable. It’s an immediate change that you can make in your life that already betters the planet. John Shegerian: I love it. For our listeners and our viewers out there – please – to learn more about Aderyn Bright’s great work and her colleagues’ great work at Community Forklift, go to www.CommunityForklift.org. Get inspired. Get involved. And thank you, Aderyn, for you and your colleagues, for making the world a better place. All of you are truly living proof that green is good. Aderyn Bright: Definitely. Thank you. John Shegerian: Thank you so much.