Swimming with the Sharks - Kate Field, Founder and CEO of The Kombucha Shop

Well, one last shout out Germany Americans during this until we hit this event and Max out the golfers that are Alex's lemonade stand golf event on June 6th which is a Thursday, so I want to get that word out because of all the golf events that happened in Madison. We're raising money to beat childhood cancer. So go to www.drivingoutchildhoodcancer.com again, that's www.drivingoutchildhoodcancer.com. Sign up your foursomes, any sponsorship dollars.

We welcome it all, but today we will be talking about entrepreneurship with a special guest who swam with the sharks. I'm lived to tell about it today. I Have Cape field, founder and CEO of the Kombucha shop and winner of the shark tank. Kate started her company here in Madison in 2014 they can butcher shop is now the number one retailer of Kombucha kits in the world. So very excited to talk to you today, Kate.

I know that she'll have a lot of great insight for entrepreneurs and leaders listening. So, uh, with that welcome to the show.

I did the Obama [inaudible] eight campaign and a number of others and yeah, that was, it was a fun, it's fun.

I left DC and I moved up to a farm in upstate New York and I decided I was going to be a farmer frontest because I'd gotten into agricultural policy and its effect on climate change. I was environmental studies and political science major. No. So my world was this cross section of politics and environment and policy and our food supply.

And I thought, well if I'm going to build a career around all these things, I should really go work on a farm and see what it's like in everyday life of people trying to grow our food. And so I decided to take this apprenticeship and I spent six months living in a small shed on this beautiful farm in the Catskills. And uh, if you haven't ever done 70 hours of manual labor and a week for free, it's, I mean, you're missing out. It's, it's really, uh, it was incredible.

Yeah. I say that of course it was like the most incredibly challenging time of my life and that's coming off of political campaigns. So I, it was really difficult, but it was so rewarding and I learned just, I mean, everything there is learn about, I milked a cow every day. I'd wake up, I'd feed the chickens, I'd move the herd of sheep, goats, pigs, cows, pretty much everything. We did everything. Yeah, we did a rotational pasture raise animals and a organic vegetables.

And there's this incredible learning experience for me and finding out that I actually all of a sudden was like, wow, I really like this idea of building something from the ground up, something that's yours and only yours. And watching Kate and Dan, the farmers live that every day, I was like, this is incredible. Like they have so much ownership over what they do.

But it was also teaching experience in that I learned if I start a business, it needs to be financially viable and that relying on cheap labor or free labor and just like, you know, the gutsiness and uh, idealism of young people isn't super sustainable. So I knew if I start something, there's gotta be a way for me to separate how can I make this business financially viable and successful, but also be something that I'm passionate about and wake up everyday excited.

So that was kind of where I got the entrepreneurial bug I guess.

And we worked with, uh, basically we had over 400,000 clients in the DMV region that were housing and food insecure.

And my job at the food bank, I was tasked with creating a healthy eating program, which was one of the very first in the country, which we, everyone was sort of realizing back in 2010 while we have, you know, millions of people across the country that are food insecure and they're hungry and they're going to sleep hungry, we actually have a large part of that clientele was getting their caloric rich but really, uh, nutrient lacking.

And we're suffering from a lot of different diet related diseases, obesity, diabetes, everything. I was running the gamut. So it was like, how can we be proactive and turn this around? And so I, it was there at the food bank that I started learning how to take things that seem really complicated, like cooking and eating healthy meals and shopping for them, taking these intimidating, complicated things. And breaking them down to something that was simple and fun and quick and easy to do.

And so we worked with chefs and we worked with restaurant tours and, uh, grocery stores and created this whole program around empowering our clients to take the food that we were giving them at the food bank and create healthy, delicious meals that were really quick because so many of our clients are working two or three jobs and don't have a lot of times. So, uh, it was there. I spent just under three years building this program is incredibly rewarding.

And I realized towards the end of it, it was, and this was 2014, so within six months of starting my business, I realized I had developed this niche skill in teaching people to not be scared of something that they'd never done before and felt like, oh, well, but I don't know how to use a chef's knife. Right? I, I've never cooked, uh, how, how am I going to start now?

And really breaking down those barriers and, and realizing that something that you can, you can, you can do and that people just really need to be shown a little bit and like, Hey, this is fun and we can do it together. And so that was a lot of my life was, was cooking with my clients and building recipes and making them so that anyone can do it and it can be super foolproof.

And that was sort of the basis for the Kombucha kit company because Kombucha at the time, everybody I knew in DC was drinking it and was buying it and spending four or five bucks a bottle that to get it. But so many people in my circles and then the nonprofit world, we didn't have money to be spending on this stuff.

And so everybody had started brewing, but everyone was kind of hodgepodge, piecemealing together the supplies running the thrift stores to find jars and shopping online to find, you know, everything that goes into now a brewing kit. And so I thought, well, what if I could take the skills that I've developed here and put it into a product? And it was sort of, it just hit me one day that Kombucha was it and I knew Kombucha was taking off and it was going to be a growing industry.

And so I thought I could we build a kit that's better than anything that's out there right now because I've got this really random background in creating directions that people understand and don't leave anything to mystery and that I could put really quality ingredients in them and build a fun experience around it. So that was kind of where the idea was birth.

So what, what were the feelings that enabled you to act? Or were there any influences in your life? And then, so the two part question then, what advice would you give to people to help them act on those ideas?

And when you have business ideas, people love to just shoot them down. Everyone has their opinions. And slowly when I got I, I narrowed in on the Kombucha idea and I knew it was a good one because it, it stuck in my mind, you know, every day. So many would come in and they would leave. But after weeks I was, it, I kept coming back to it. And I kept thinking, I really think something's here. And for me that was the point of like, all right, I'm going to give this a shot.

And what that meant was basically I'm going to spend a lot of time researching this whole industry, the products, what would I need in my mind? I put together, okay, well I would need to source this from here and there. And I just started calling. I just, I picked up the phone, I started calling glass suppliers and sugar suppliers and putting together rough drafts of what my instructions would look like. And I think a big thing that made me finally go for like, okay, I'm going to do this.

I'm going to build a website and I'm going to put it out there. Uh, was, was definitely my brother, also an entrepreneur here in Madison. Uh, he, he kept saying to me, Kate, just put it out there and see if anyone cares. See if anyone wants to buy it. Because you know, this, this idea of fail fast. Like if you're going to, if this isn't going to work well let's find out as soon as we can. So we invest a bunch of money and spend a lot of time on it. And so I always encourage people to do that.

Let go of the perfectionism, especially in women. I feel like female entrepreneurs, I have so many in my community and we talk about all the time of were we tend to really focus on the details and miss the bigger picture sometimes and are just like scared to put our stuff out there because we're afraid of the criticism or whatever. And for me it, I just kept to have saying like, the website's not perfect, this isn't perfect yet, but it's a start.

And so I just, I was like, all right, we're going to do this. And I put it out there and what I encourage a lot of people to do is use your community and your network in the beginning instead of going out and getting a bunch of money and spending somebody else's money on your idea, which adds a lot more pressure. I mean there's already enough pressure in starting a business. Uh, for me it was, well, I've only got a couple of hundred bucks. I literally like, that was everything I had at the time.

And I thought, I'm going to do this for as little as I can. And so I bought a, I hired a student designer and I said, can you create a brand for me? And you know, logo as inexpensive as I could go. Yeah, see cause I was used to it. Um, but honestly I knew because I wanted to see like, is this a product that has viability? Eventually, two years later as our company was taking off and making money, that's when I went and hired the fancy design firm in Minneapolis.

Um, who, who took us to that next brand level. But at first like, no, like it doesn't have to be a home run. You just got to get on base, see if they like it and they want to buy it. And so I created, you know, really basic brand. Uh, but that was attractive enough and would get people talking about it. And I built the website on Squarespace is 30 bucks to start that off and super rudimentary, but it was enough to get, you know, the photos up there.

And I bought just enough supplies to build the first 25 kits. And I sent it out to all my friends and family and I said, hey, I'm starting this company. I'd love your support. Uh, you know, you've supported me and everything else and I'm really passionate about this. Tell anybody, you know, it was right before Christmas and I said, it makes a great Christmas gift. And I just sat where I'm a sales mode and I said, put it posted on your social media.

Whatever you can do, I would, I would so appreciate it and I love you so much. And of course, you know those I sold through the first 25, like that day or the next day, because the people in your really want to see you succeed. And I think tapping that in the beginning is really, it's smart. Like use what you have at your disposal. And so I did that and I said, all right, I'm gonna take the money I made from those 25 kids and I'm going to buy enough to make 50 kids.

And then if I sell those 50 kits, I'm going to take what I had, what I made from those and my mind enough

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But in our business, we struggled with that. And we also know once we have the differences between men and women that as you, so letting go of perfectionism, the stats show us that women won't act until they know, feel like they know 80 to 90% of what they need to know to in order to act. Whereas men, whether it's cockiness, upbringing, systemic, whatever you want to say, it's like over overzealous. Whatever it may be

We're always going to be the same ability and yet women, we're shooting ourselves in the foot because we consistently think that we're, we're under, we can't perform as well.

And I think it was because I grew up playing sports and my dad would always say, I would always be the only girl on the team and whether it was basketball or baseball and, but like I would still be one of the best players and my dad would just always say, there's no reason you can't be the best player on the team just because you're a girl and it's like 10 boys on this team.

And I think really instilling that from a young age was really powerful for me because I did, by the time I was in high school, I knew, I didn't see, I saw no difference between my ability and the men around me. And so that is what kind of followed through as I started a career.

And I don't know, I wish it wasn't as basic as that, but it really was just, I, I was sort of trained I think by my father to, to understand that like I truly can do anything and there's, there's no difference between my brother and I in our, in our ability.

Do you play on yourself to help you move and act instead of waffle?

Good. And so I try to remember that balance when it comes to business, when it comes to putting out products and things like that, if I'm hitting it 80%, that that's really good, that's good enough. And that most of the time other people don't notice that 20%. It's always you, it's always in your head. And what I do struggle with is I think some companies take that too far and think, oh well customers won't notice it if we swap out this ingredient or we change this or we take this thing back.

Um, you have to be really careful about what are those things and that they truly aren't things that, uh, matter. I said, I guess quote unquote because, um, for me it's sort of one of the tenants of the [inaudible] job is we are insanely focused on quality and we just won't budge on that and on our customer service and things like that. And so it's learning what really matters and what doesn't. And, and that takes time.

Yeah. I don't think there is a silver and in practice and that really is, it is like I had to practice my entire life being confident and being okay with what I, my output is and what I'm putting out in the world and not focusing on the little things that go wrong. It's like focusing on the winds. Yeah. I guess if you would say that. Right.

And for me, I was just like, this isn't making me any happier, is not making me any more productive, is not giving me any insights or ideas or are launching my next dreams. It's literally keeping me where I'm at. It's keeping me stagnant and complacent and slowly, just more, more sad and depressed because our brains can't help. But look at somebody who's sitting on a beach and you're like, why am I not on a beach right now? And I was like, even if I was just on a beach two weeks ago.

Yeah. So I do think social media only worsens a lot of our natural tendencies. And so for me, I, I've, I haven't found a healthy way to, to have it in my life. Maybe I will one day, but,

So I had been watching the show for years and I kind of in a sense feel like I grew up with it, entrepreneurial lease banking as, uh, as I was building my business. And I would watch it and I'd say, oh, Cuban, that's a great idea. That's a great point. And it was always sort of a little dream in the back of my head, oh man, I can go on this show. I could totally do this. And what if I could get on that show one day? Wouldn't that be crazy? But it was very far fetched.

I never thought it was realistic. I looked at the stats of like the number of people that apply every it just cause I had looked into it and I was like, no way. Like there's just, it's not possible. So, and I'm a, I'm a pretty wild dreamer and, but I, I'd put it into the category of probably not worth the squeeze. So I kept building my business and it was always sort of there and I always enjoyed watching it.

Uh, but I had sort of let the dream go of like, I don't, I'm, I don't want to spend the time doing and it would the 1% chance that I would get on, well, not worth it. So what ended up happening was, uh, you know, it's always when you're not searching, right. You know, you can't find your boyfriend or girlfriend where you can't, whatever. But then the second you stop looking and then it turns up.

So I was um, about this time is February of 2018 and I got an email from a guy, a, well I can't say his name, but uh, and it [email protected] and it was like, Hey, I just came across your, your product on it was that we were on like a bustle or bugs. Of course. I didn't even respond because I get so many emails, everybody does know we get so many emails every day. And I was like, this is totally a scam. And so I didn't respond and he follows up a few days later and I was just like, really?

Like I thought I just like I had, I think I'd actually hit like spam filter on it. And so he was back. He was like, no, seriously can we hop on the phone? He would get on the phone. He's like, this is really me. Here's my imdv page. I'm a producer with shark tank and I've looked over your stuff and I think you would be fantastic to be on the show. And I just remember like I had the phone and I literally covered it and my husband was in the kitchen. I was like shocked.

I was just, my mind was totally being blown and we talked for an hour and he basically walked me through, well this is what would entail. You would need to send in your application and we'll have a look at it and send in a video and we'll see. Then we'll go from there. But he said, you obviously you have to take some time to think about it. It's a really big decision. And so, uh, yeah, basically what happened was I took a lot of time to think about it. I overthink everything.

And so I took down to, I think guide that the deadline to send in the application video was maybe, I don't know, it was like March 25th or something. And I literally, it was like March 22nd and I called my friend Marla and I was like, I think I want to try to be on shark tank. And she was like, well, okay, great. When's everything do? And I was like, three days. Yeah. So we had to make a 10 minute audition video to fill out a hundred page application.

Yeah, you have to do off all of your financials, everything. So I basically didn't sleep and we got everything put together and the video is pretty terrible actually. And I thought, Oh man, they're never going to take this. Like I'm so much better than this video. I kept thinking, but uh, we submitted it because we didn't have really much more time and sent it in. And like a week later I got a call and they were like, you're a finalist. We loved it. I love you. So you're in.

We used her intern, watched like every episode of shark tank and built spreadsheets because the crazy thing is, is hundreds of contestants go on the show every year and yet they give, you know, resources. It's literally everyone starts from scratch and they do it purposefully so that certain people don't prepare and they go on and they flop and they get to edit those in to all of the episodes we know of where people just totally crash and burn.

And then it allows the people who are crazy workaholics, like myself to just study and prepared the crap out of it to really shine. And so I, yeah, we, I watched, I don't, several seasons and I'd already watched so much of the show over the years that I knew it. I knew the Shtick, I knew what they were going to ask. Uh, but yeah, we built dozens of spreadsheets figuring out every single shark and like what do they ask for?

What do they do, how do they lean, what are you not want to say to them to upset them, what do you want to say to get on their good side? And so it really was like a very strategic plan of how are we going to approach this? And then we spent two months, it was basically two to two and a half months preparing you, writing the pitch and you work with the producers to work on your pitch. And um, and just kind of off to the races.

So you're sitting here, you're not sitting, but you're going in and talking to multi multimillionaires to billionaires. Right. So no matter how prepared you are, that's gotta be just earth shattering. Just nerves rattled like you, but you like, here's the point, I've watched your episode, like you are so composed and did such a great job by rob. Are you feeling in those moments and how did, did you feel like you crushed it in the moment?

And there's something about it though, where if you know you've prepared and you know your numbers and you know why you're there and what you're asking for and you can just have a conversation with these people, there is something about it that I got more comfortable as things went. And of course it really helps that, uh, from the get go I made like a joke or something and Cuban just like went off laughing. Like he just didn't, they were all, it was last from the beginning.

Like it was a really lighthearted time out there. And I think that helped a lot because many people go out there and it's not a fun experience and they're just getting destroyed. And so I knew in the sense that I was doing well because they were complimenting me. We were laughing. Uh, but I, I botched so many answers. They just happened to get edited out. Uh, so you don't know what they're going to include and you don't know the story arc that they're going to create.

And I'm like, oh my gosh, I answered this this way. What if they included that whole thing? That was terrible. But overall I knew I had practiced so much. I did to practice panels. So I, uh, I had, uh, my closest advisers, um, people in the business community that I knew and trusted come and play the shark.

I mean I could still give it, say it now. It's like so ingrained in my mind. Yeah. Cause I definitely, my biggest fear was going out there and being one of the folks that freezes and then can't get through the pitch because then it just sets the whole thing on a downward course. So I really wanted to nail the opening and yeah, just literally it was like practice, um, like crazy.

And by the time I was walking into the tank, of course I was, my heart was beating out of my chest and you know, hair and makeup and everybody there Mikey me up and it's like this crazy moment and they're counting down and there's lights for you to walk out and everything starts building.

But by the time I walk out there and you have to sit for a full minute in silence staring at them, they don't show this on the show, but you're sitting there because they have to fix all of the lighting and get everything set to go for you in the pressure. Uh, and you just sit there and you just look at them and they look at you and you try to calm yourself down and take a few deep breaths.

But I read, or I heard Barbara on a podcast and she talked about it and she said, you can always tell the people who are in over their heads or they're not going to do well, or they're too scared to be there, that they won't make eye contact with them. And she's always found that so fascinating. She can tell before we even open our mouths. And so I just looked at all of them and I smiled and they smiled back and it just built a good energy and yeah. And it went from there.

So I find out the night before that I'm going to get to pitch and that Sara Blakely is the guest shark that's going to be on my panel. So I was really pumped because I followed her for a while and you know, to any female entrepreneur, she's like [inaudible]

But other than that, of course Laurie was, I was always a fan of, I didn't think necessarily Robert or Damon or Kevin made a ton of sense for me. Right. And so really I think I was focused mostly on, on Cuban and Lori and Barbara. And then, you know, Sarah was this wild card that was just thrown in.

And so she used that on the board for the last few years and she was sitting there and after I did my practice pitch and we go through the whole thing, she's like, Kate, I think you're not asking enough for your company. She's like, we go around, all we're all we've been doing for the last 24 months is trying to acquire small businesses and we can't get anything under a four or five multiple.

The fact that you're cashflowing a half million a year and you're only asking for 2 million like Kate, what do you like? You need to ask for more. And I was like, well, how much more? She was like, I would ask for at least three or 4 million. And in my mind, literally in that moment, like exploded. And I was just like, what? Really?

And she was like, yeah, because sure there's like the book value of Your Business, but then it's like, where in the current market, what are people paying for businesses? And that's the true value of a business. Anybody who's willing to say, Yup, Yup. And so I was like, all right. And so I settled on three and a half a million. Uh, what's the difference now? The difference.

And I, I was just hoping that it wouldn't be too ostentatious to send them into this like spiral of your evaluations out of control. And, and luckily it wasn't Kevin. Definitely the whole time was like this company is way over valued. I can't believe you're going to pay for this. But it was fine. I never had Kombucha in his life, but no, he probably hadn't.

Um, so, but it was funny because mark kept saying, they built this story arc in the show is as you saw that I like totally dissed mark to, to go with the women. But in, in reality we actually talked a lot in the 35 minutes and he thought it was very much worth three and a half million and it sounded like he was going to make an offer and he never did. And

All five sharks are literally yelling at one another and there everything gets muffled. Cause after she, she gave her her, uh, her offer, she says, but you have to tell me right now. And I think what happened was everything, everyone starts yelling so much that her mic, it just got like cutout. And none of them even heard it because Kevin's yelling, you're going to hear this is ridiculous. You're way over paying for this. And Lori, it's like, no, she's not blah, blah, blah.

And so the producers had to clear the deck and they were like, okay, like this. No one can hear anything. Everybody stop. And so they asked Barbara to resay the offer and then that's when she invited Sarah in. And so she had a moment to think. Yeah. And so she invites Seren and, and that's all in real time. And they show that whole clip where Sarah was like, oh, okay.

Yeah. I guess I'll jump in the last thing in my mind though, everything that's happening, because at this point I'm like, blacking out was, but you have to tell us right now. And that was all that kept going in my head was I remember I, I've watched this show over and over and so many people walk out of there without a deal when they have a burden in the hand. And Cuban is the biggest one with that. He gets more angry than anybody else.

When you've got an incredible hand, a deal in your hand and you, and you say, hold on, let me hear what everybody else has to say as well. And when I did the math really quick, I was like, wait a second, they're giving me what I came in here for and there'd be two of them. Like this is crazy. So soul, like, I'll take that deal. And so that's what happened. And then really like I looked over at mark and he was just like, it kind of crushed me.

He's like, I would've given you the full 350,000, you know, for 10% but like you're awesome. We shared a few things and I was, and I said, I think I said something to the fact of like burden hand mark or like, I don't even remember. Uh, but he laughed and everything was good. And then I hugged the ladies and that was it.

They don't meet you until you walk out into the tank. They know nothing about you or your company. And so what has to happen is they make this deal on good faith that you're both interested in what you just discussed for the last 35 minutes, numbers that you provided. Yup. All of that stuff. So what ends up happening is you walk out of the tank and then basically the lawyers take over from there. So I spent two months putting it together, deeper financials.

Then what I had provided originally and you said, you know, your lawyers send that you start talking with their teams. And Long Story Short, uh, typically it's anywhere from six to nine months of due diligence before the deal's closed. And what a lot of people don't know is over 50%, or I think around 50% of shark tank deals that happen on the show don't actually ever come to fruition in real life.

So we were the ladder, uh, once the kind of terms were really laid out on the table, we decided it wasn't quite right for us anymore at that time. And so just to be clear, yeah, it, uh, it, it hadn't, the deal that was made in the tank is not what ended up as the final deal. It was too good to be true. Uh, and so we decided to walk away, but you know, all parties are happy and, um, I got to talk with Barbara for a a long time and we chat a business and she's just incredible.

Like she is, uh, such

And so it just launched us into this new level of exposure and revenue and reaching a demographic that many people thought wasn't right for me. Actually. Uh, kind of going back to what we talked about in the beginning conversation of like, everyone has their opinions sort of, and a lot of people were just like, hey, this isn't the right market for you. Like who watches shark tank? What are they playing on? You know, they, they replay it on not see CNBC. Right. And like who watches CNC?

Cmec it's like 60 year old white dudes. Like is that WHO's buying your Kombucha brewing kit? Well, okay. Maybe not, but I had this feeling that, well, okay, that might be the demo that watches it on repeats or is like the core demo, but, well, okay. Those guys maybe watching it with their wife or their kids or you know, they think, oh my gosh, my daughter, she's, she drinks four bottles of that a week, I should get her this kit for Christmas.

I just had this feeling that maybe they weren't the market traditionally that had bought us. But if we were to grow our, our company, I had to start reaching new markets. Yeah. And so for me it was this amazing test and it turned out it was right. So it got us a lot of exposure. We got a lot of phone calls from retailers. Uh, and so basically those conversations are still ongoing and hopefully will come to fruition this year.

That's been a big learning curve for us is, is taking on the whole big retail question of do we do this and who should we go with and how do we negotiate and should we go with a broker? And it's been an entire learning curve. That has been really fun because it's a new new part of business for me. You know, I've been in the ECOMMERCE world for five years now and uh, so this has been fun to kind of learn something.

But yeah, we're basically kind of doing what we've always done and just going to keep slowly growing and keep expanding. But it's been a great start to 2019, uh, simply because we have so many new brewers, uh, thanks to shark tank. So,

And so they have the scarcity mentality when really everyone is entitled to their success and it's your success in your world, your life, and in this case, your business. And you've got to be able to take those leaps with or without their support. So,

But it's hard sometimes to assess through, uh, the recommendations. And really at the end of the day, you, you, like you said, you've got to just go with your gut instinct. You have to go with, well, I'm at the end of the day, I'm the one driving this and I've gotten myself this far, so my instincts must be somewhat on par. So I have to learn to trust that.

And I've really done that since the beginning is just go back to at the end of the day, look internally and think, well, do I think this is a good idea? And I, and I decided at the end I did. So that's an ongoing lesson. That's constant. Yeah.

But then there's the question of, is that bigger competitor coming? You know, something that Mark Cuban always says is, I think it's like you got to work every day, like somebody is trying to take everything away from you. And that's something that's really driven me because the competitors that when I, there were people out there who had Kombucha brewing kits before me, right.

And they didn't see me coming and I put them pretty much all out of business within like, or had dramatically taken away 50% or more of their revenue within as little as 12 months. And so I now have to always remind myself, okay, who's coming and who's coming for what I've built. And so that's probably right now. Yeah. What keeps me up most at night.

Like shark tank was this sort of pie in the sky dream for five years and a one in a million chance. I actually got on the show, I think just statistically it was like 42,000 people applied this year and they only brought a less than 200 I'll tell a. So like, I haven't done the math on that, but it's a really small chance. And I did it and I made it and I achieved the dream and then the sensation of now what? And so I think anyone who's ever been in this place knows that it's almost a pain.

It's like a, what is that kind of pit in your stomach feeling of, all right, so what are we gonna do now and what's next? And so that's just what I've been kind of wrestling a lot with the last few months.

And so her and Eckart have started this, I think they're on the last chapter now, but for the last 10 weeks they started in the new year and they've been going chapter by chapter of a new earth. And it's just been really wonderful to kind of go through the book with the, with the community and they break it down.

And the book is just, uh, this basic premise of, of aligning your purpose with your inner self and kind of stopping, looking outward so much for that sense of accomplishment or success or love and, and turning inwards. And finding that peace and calm and understanding that that's really what we're here for. It's just finding the oneness with yourself and really learning to love yourself for who you are and not necessarily anything that's in your office. All of those things.

Because at the end of the day, no matter what we achieve, there will always be another mountain to climb. And if you don't find that, just sort of gratitude for who you are when it's just you and your thoughts and calming those, those worrisome thoughts. For me, it's been really powerful. So yeah, it definitely right

And I think for anyone who reads it, it can't not be life changing because it makes you see yourself and your thoughts and in your life in a totally new way.