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Well Made

Well Made

Lumi

The people and ideas that are shaping our patterns of consumption for the better. Hosted by Stephan Ango, co-founder of Lumi.com
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Top 10 Well Made Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Well Made episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Well Made for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Well Made episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Well Made - 18 Being Frank with Jess Hatzis
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04/14/17 • 50 min

Jess is the Creative Director and co-founder of Frank Body, the signature coffee scrub brand that really pioneered a genuine, signature voice on social media, that's now a pillar of memorable customer experience. In this episode, Jess talks to Stephan from her homebase in Melbourne, Australia about launching Frank Body, crafting the signature voice of Frank, facing the challenges of the retail space, and the business books she's been reading lately.

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Co-founders Jesse Genet and Stephan Ango launched Lumi in 2015, and they're excited to share what's next. It's been a year since their last episode so it's a perfect time to loop back, talk about the fundraising process, and answer some of your questions.

Links and images are from this post are on the Lumi blog.

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In 2012, Tuft & Needle co-founder JT Marino set out to fix the broken bed industry. The digitally native brand began by shipping mattresses in boxes with a focus on consumer experience. In their first six years, JT and his co-founder Daehee Park bootstrapped the company to $170M in sales, then in September 2018, they merged with the largest U.S. mattress manufacturer, Serta Simmons Bedding.

Now, as Chief Strategy Officer at Serta, JT has the challenge of retrofitting and dismantling existing systems at the traditional retailer. JT is doubling down to accelerate Tuft & Needle’s offline growth and guide Serta’s operations into the future, creating the lasting change Tuft & Needle had originally set out to achieve.

On this episode, JT talks about teaming up with their competitors to fundamentally transform the retail industry. Tuft & Needle didn’t take outside capital but pitched to VCs four times. Hear how pitching taught JT and Daehee how to build an operating plan, forecast and manage finances, and make a key executive hire (24:02). JT talks about turning down partnership opportunities and capital to stay true to their brand ethos (28:35). He emphasizes the importance of the digital customer journey (31:24) and adjusting their strategy to get ahead of the game (37:57). JT shares how they use promoter scores and customer satisfaction measurements to guide their omnichannel approach (43:16). Finally, he talks about their larger mission to transform Serta’s ecommerce channel (54:31), bringing two team cultures together (56:13), and building product companies that push the industry forward (1:01:00).

Links and images can be found on the Lumi Blog.

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EILEEN FISHER is closing the loop on their apparel through Renew. The brand starts with high-quality fabrics and designs and takes back their used clothes in any condition. Since 2009, Renew has recovered over one million garments. The pieces go on to be cleaned, then they're resold, deconstructed and remade into new garments, or regenerated into other innovations. At their east coast recycling workshop, the Tiny Factory, Renew is developing ways to extend their products’ lifecycles while implementing ethical and sustainable systems. Cynthia Power is the Director of EILEEN FISHER Renew and she's at the frontline of Tiny Factory. By taking responsibility for what their brand puts out into the world and its end-of-life impact, Cynthia believes they can work toward a less taxing model through shared learnings.

On this episode, Cynthia talks about welcoming change and letting your interests be a career guide (2:00). She talks about the importance of labor in the apparel industry and respecting the origins of clothing (12:03). Cynthia shares the history of Renew (16:33) and gets real about the business and creative challenges of implementing renewable textile solutions for the EILEEN FISHER mainline (27:40). She explains the principles of circular fashion — keeping fabrics in use longer and at their highest value (29:15) — and continually creating best practices around manufacturing at the Tiny Factory (39:17). Lastly, Cynthia talks about EILEEN FISHER’s open source mentality (42:21) and slowly making strides toward a more responsible future.

Also mentioned on the show:

Links and images can be found on the Lumi blog.

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It was Jenny Gyllander's passion for branding and her studies and experiences in venture capital that led her to start Thingtesting — an Instagram account dedicated to DTC product reviews with a twist. On the Thingtesting Instagram, Jenny, a former CMO of Slush and investor at Backed VC, offers her perspective from the lens of an everyday user and venture capitalist. A year later, she’s amassed over 22K followers, an accompanying newsletter, and website.

On this episode, Jenny illuminates on the backstory on how she found herself in marketing to venture capital to best VC on Instagram (1:56). Jenny’s tested everything from prescription face wash to probiotics, she shares the three factors she looks for as a venture capitalist (6:18). A year and a half ago, Jenny didn’t know the term DNVB was, she shares how she uses the platform as a tool for constant learning (11:55). Stephan and Jenny discuss the difference between the US and European retail market (17:23), and the problems with homogeneity in the DTC space (25:12). Jenny shares how she balances her curation (29:39). As Thingtesting grows, Jenny considers her long term plans, hoping to make product discovery easier and crowdsource feedback (33:06). Jenny questions how she’ll stay scrappy while fostering her growing community (35:02). Finally, Jenny talks about her larger role as a thingtester (42:46).

Also mentioned on the show:

Links and images can be found on the Lumi blog.

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If you're of the modern luxury business set, chances are you're reading LeanLuxe. Launched in July 2016, LeanLuxe is an online newsletter of noteworthy developments and big picture happenings in retail.

On this episode, Editor-in-Chief, Paul Munford and Stephan Ango roundup the latest news and trends driving modern commerce. VCs poured a record $138 billion into U.S. startups last year, but were unicorn valuations and expectations realistic to begin with? Now that the dust has settled, Paul discusses the adjustments VCs are making (3:20). Stephan and Paul question if it’s getting harder to become a global brand despite greenfield opportunities in consumer products (9:07). They chew on the consumer-centric shift in commerce, arguing a more fragmented marketplace will emerge (24:14). He talks about the new problem with shopping (27:40) and the return of physical retail (37:55). They discuss brands’ challenges of creating a physical gathering place (39:01) and community-building as a distribution tool. Finally, Paul talks about the future of connecting online (45:52) and the big opportunity around niche platforms (51:44).

Follow LeanLuxe on Twitter and subscribe to the newsletter.

Also mentioned on the show:

Links and images can be found on the Lumi blog.

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Things are getting weird at Baggu, and that’s a great thing. The Standard Baggu has been around for 12 years, but the company is still finding ways to grow and experiment. By trusting their experiences, founder Emily Sugihara and her team are finding confidence and empowerment in their brand voice and values.

Baggu doubled their team size in a span of a year. On the show, hear their approach to hiring and training and implementing processes while preserving the heart of the brand with an influx of new hires (11:24). More than a decade in business, Emily illuminates how they recently delineated their company and product values (13:02). She shares how establishing those values boosted performance management and empowered more decision making among employees (19:26). Emily talks about finding freedom in their product designs through experimentation and worrying less about expectation (24:37). Baggu is taking incremental steps towards sustainability. Hear their efforts in sourcing ripstop nylon made of 40% recycled materials (34:50). Finally, Emily talks about embracing long-term thinking, growing the equity of the brand (45:59).

Follow Baggu on Instagram.

Also mentioned on the show:

Links and images can be found on the Lumi blog.

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While shipping meat isn’t a new concept, the guys at Porter Road are the first to bring the art of whole animal butchery to home cooks. Chris Carter and James Peisker are the co-founders of VC-backed online butcher shop, Porter Road. In 2010, after years at the back of the house, Chris and James began Porter Road as a catering business in Nashville. After realizing how difficult it was to get fresh, traceable meats, they decided to run and own their entire supply chain. While boxed and bulk meats are the industry standard, the team at Porter Road is looking to change that. They partner with regional farms and hand cut their meats and poultry in their Kentucky facility. Now, Chris and James are recreating that same local experience online.

On this episode, Chris and James talk about the decade-in-the-making evolution of Porter Road, first as a brick-and-mortar butchery and then as a vertically integrated ecommerce shop (5:33). James shares their desire for sourcing ethical foods (9:49) and hand-selecting farm partners (12:48). For Porter Road, education around whole animal butchery pushes them creatively as a business (15:08). They explain why they advocate for eating less meat and breakdown the importance of moving the meat industry in a new direction (21:31). Lastly, they talk about the logistics of shipping meat (25:57) and the challenges of packaging in the cold chain (28:45).

Also mentioned on the show:

Links and images can be found on the Lumi blog.

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Visibility is an industrial design office based in New York, co-founded by Joseph Guerra and Sina Sohrab. They create products, furniture, lighting, and spaces. The studio established an impressive roster of direct-to-consumer clients including Away, Outdoor Voices, and Harry's. Behind Visibility is an empirical approach to design, and their most recent projects demonstrate the pair’s endeavor for simple, functional objects.

On the show, Joseph and Sina walk through the step-by-step process of bringing a physical product to market. They talk about how they design the playbook that they reference throughout a project (12:42). They cover the time, costs, and vetting that happens before a project begins (20:00). Sina talks about the design considerations for new products (23:43). Joseph shares the unconventional questions (28:08) and practices (29:15) that go into user research. They talk about designing for direct-to-consumer brands (33:30). Joseph explains the sketching, rendering, and prototyping phases (38:50). Finally, they share the final milestones before a project launches (52:06).

Also mentioned on the show:

Links and images from this post are on the Lumi Blog.

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Well Made - 15 Redesigning Comfort with Ariel Kaye
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03/02/17 • 40 min

Parachute Home redefined how we think about sheets. Turns out, thread count doesn’t matter, patterns are overrated, and all we really wanted was a comfortable place to sleep. Ariel Kaye founded Parachute for that reason and now they’re expanding their brand to bring comfort to the entire home. On this episode, she gets into the nitty gritty of what it takes build brand loyalty and manufacture comfortable home goods.

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FAQ

How many episodes does Well Made have?

Well Made currently has 152 episodes available.

What topics does Well Made cover?

The podcast is about Entrepreneurship, Kickstarter, Design, Ecommerce, Podcasts, Manufacturing, Arts and Business.

What is the most popular episode on Well Made?

The episode title '151 Motivated by obligation with climate reporter, Kendra Pierre-Louis' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Well Made?

The average episode length on Well Made is 53 minutes.

How often are episodes of Well Made released?

Episodes of Well Made are typically released every 7 days, 21 hours.

When was the first episode of Well Made?

The first episode of Well Made was released on May 3, 2016.

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