In this episode, Jonathan (CCO at Unconquered)has an insightful conversation with Joe Dickson who is a co-founder and CEO at Merryfield - a clean label rewards app for purpose driven consumer packaged goods.

Having spent over 20 years at Whole Foods, Dickson took inspiration from the many farmers and suppliers he built relationships with and started his own farm at home where he practices the same organic farming methods. He describes organic farming as a set of ecological farming practices that focuses on using natural inputs to the land and limiting the use of synthetic chemicals. He also appreciates Whole Foods’ mission of taking a serious stance on GMO labeling as well as organic practices.

The conversation moves to Dickson talking about David Mayer (Co-founder and CEO of Merryfield) who had spent his whole career working in private equity. He explains how Mayer decided to focus his energy and resources on tools to improve wellness for everyday consumers out of his personal passion for wellness. He talks about how the two met over a shared interest in creating a reliable tool that let consumers know that every product has been vetted.

He then talks about how there are organic brands at supermarkets like Walmart but that they are buried among non-clean legacy brands. He says for a consumer who wants to choose better and wants to avoid unnecessary ingredients, it’s really hard to cut through the noise of label claims, the sheer number of products and focus on brands that are really better. When it came to the question of trust, Dickson talks about Merryfield Clean Council - a credible group of experts in GMO and food ingredients who help vett the products and Merryfields standards.. “Education is a huge part of the app” says Dickson further explaining how they selected a group of brands that met standards at a baseline and all of which had a clear purpose. Every brand and product has a page on the app and they highlight credentials such as what organic means in a 1 liner definition to keep it digestible.

Dickson says that all brands want a way to open a trust driven dialogue with consumers and to build the habit of continual purchase. This is where he thinks Merryfield can help brands create a level of trust while it their platform rewards its customers with every purchase to foster long term relationships.

Their marking will focus on user acquisition strategies and success metrics will include the number of users, brands and satisfaction. In order to get new users into the clean label tent, the company will invest in approachability and relatable language with a focus on offering personal benefits.

Jonathan and Dickson talk about how they were on a search for the right celebrity to partner with when they learned of Zooey Deschanel’s personal interest in wellness and clean food. The depth of her personal resonance with the brand’s mission made them realize that there was a much bigger fit than a standard sponsorship deal, and so they brought her in as a co-founder and Chief Creative Officer.

The conversation ends with Dickson’s advice to early career professionals, - “Everyone regardless of age or experience is a bit unsure of themselves and that there isn’t a magic door you cross through into adulthood. Despite the lack of years of experience, you have a lot of insight and perspective to offer,” said Dickson.

In this week's episode, we dig into the story of Kara Goldin, an entrepreneur and founder of HINT water, an American beverage company producing healthy substitutes for soda, juices, and energy drinks. All their products are sugar-free and meet smart snack requirements.

The conversation starts with Goldin talking through what led her to write her book, Undaunted. Her new book outlines her journey in entrepreneurialism and the qualities that people need to have in order to succeed. The discussion uncovers many insightful learnings Goldin gained through her experience.

Goldin explains how it is important to learn from tough experiences that most people would want to forget and move past. She acknowledges that it can be uncomfortable for one to go back and reflect on their journey but highlights how valuable it can turn out to be . She substantiates this by talking about an early experience with Starbucks when they were removed from Starbucks’ which left her with inventory that had to to be sent back to the warehouse. Goldin believes when bad things happen, they don’t last forever. Continuing her story, she talks about her decision to not work with Amazon because she believed it did not foster direct relationships with customers. As a result, she launched her own store, which allowed her to have meaningful conversations and build relationships with her customers. She believes the subscription program she launched on the site was what made HINT water stand out.

Goldin dives into her founding story where she talks about how her own health issues led to the creation of HINT water. She discovered ingredients in her diet soda that made her stop consuming the products because of the harm it was doing to her. Within a few weeks of doing so, she was surprised to see her skin glow and weight drop. After this, she ventured into the market only to realize everything had some kind of sweetener and decided to make her own products.

The discussion comes to an end with Goldin explaining how the purpose of HINT water was to fill holes in the market that didn't exist. She says she always thought of the worst that could happen and reminded herself to go out and try it. If nothing else, she had the courage to laugh at herself and make the most of her learnings along the way.

In this episode, Jonathan has a conversation with Merve Doran, co-founder of OLEAMEA, an organic extra virgin olive oil producer based in Turkey. OLEAMEA works with farmers to buy early harvest olives and while practicing sustainable production that relies on the traditions of artisans and local masters.

The conversation starts with Merve talking about her family and how they have been producing olive oil in the southwest region of Turkey for generations. Sensing a gap in organic farming practices, she and her brother decided to invest in their infrastructure through local partnerships. The small region housed about 1000 olive farmers, and they helped them get certified and better understand the business side of farming.

She mentions that many farms in the region are on mountains where no modern machinery can be brought in and explains how this leads to farmers having ample questions on the sustainability of the business. Due to these situational factors, she describes her initial days as a period that focused heavily ​​on consulting, working with engineers & consultants.

Merve began her career in HR and discusses how going after her dream of working with her family's extra virgin olive oil made perfect sense given her family roots.

She explains how OLEAMEA ​​works with farmers to buy early harvest olives from their farms (not their oils) which they then harvest together. This, she says, allows them to control everything from farmers to end products in terms of quality and pricing.

Having never bought olive oil off the shelf, Merve describes her experience of relying on store-bought olive oil during her stay in Milan as highly disappointing. This made her want to push her products to the forefront knowing that the quality and pricing of her products are far better.

She also acknowledges that there is limited knowledge around olive oil quality for consumers so she has aligned her marketing and PR efforts to help educated people. She also highlights how they focus on social media as a way to introduce people to the different uses of the product and that an agency in Turkey is helping the brand roll out olive oil-based recipes of different cuisines from around the world.

The conversation ends with Merve revealing her future plans where she mentions that olive oil is going to be the core and that she will expand into different areas that use the oil.