Nurturing Growth thru Nests

The Third Growth Option with Benno Duenkelsbuehler and Guests

In this episode two brand owners/founders and their sales agency partner share notes how they help each other to grow - by taking an informal yet intentional approach to grow, listen, and learn from each other to become better and stronger.

Lindsay DeMyer is president of Darrah & Co, a large manufacturers’ rep agency across the Southeast USA who takes an informal approach to building a “nest” - not a formalized incubator but an intentional nest that nurtures up and coming brands. Molly Holm (founder and CEO of Glory Haus) and Chrissie Lam (founder/CEO of Love Is Project) share their perspective on “growing inside a nest”.

2:00 - “The lifeblood of the gift and home industry is new artists and new brands and new ideas coming in.”

7:10 - “Growth is always mutual… you cannot grow alone, you can grow with other people… and give and take questions and being open to the answers, even if we don’t always like them.”

11:22 - “Our very best ideas come from our rep groups and our customers.”

11:59 - “We brainstorm lots of different ideas…I think collaboration is super helpful…to help each other figure out what’s the next best way to navigate this ever changing retail scene?”

12:52 - “... there is this sort of fresh air running through the building, the industry, of collaborating, of sharing… having a conversation.”

13:23 - “formalizing a nest into an incubator or accelerator, sort of a formal process and that didn’t really work… 13:56 - it actually happens organically when you create an environment where this can happen.”

14:41 - “We want to create relationship and community…that’s where so much can happen when you become a little bit vulnerable.”

16:25 - “They spent so much time forming and shaping it and sort of defining it. And then for the brands to also be open to changing it. That’s where the magic happens.”

17:49 - “It has to be organic, not forced. You have to create a time and a space for this collaboration to just kind of happen, to put people together in a room…”

20:31 - “So because she talks to so many other people, she can synthesize a lot of information and she can see trends on what’s helpful and not helpful.”

23:23 - “I do make a really strong effort to be in community with other people that are doing similar things.”