Applying the “Goalie Mentality” to CPG brand success — Brad Charron // Aloha

Quotes

• "Goalies, its a lonely position. CEOs it's a lonely position. Being a startup, it's a lonely position. And the odds are against you more times than not. And it's an opportunity to be the hero, the GOAT. And you have to learn to deal with successes if you learn to deal with failures. My father told me a long time ago you're not as smart as people think you are and you're not as stupid. And so that even keeled mentality is something that I've really gone back on as refounding Aloha." - Brad Charron

• "So that's the goalie mentality. It's translating the loneliness of this position. It's about focusing on what you can control. It's about staying even keeled. And that prioritization, and that focus is what's really super critical in a small company environment, because you don't have the ability to make big mistakes, and you don't have a lot of money to solve problems. And you have to be very resourceful going up against much, much bigger scale companies. And you have to pay them the respect that they've learned in becoming big. They're not stupid. They're very big. They're very scaled, and they know what they're doing. That doesn't mean you can't win, you can win. But it has to be done thoughtfully." - Brad Charron

• "So having an end game, I think it's really important as a marketer, what does success mean? Like, what do you want the consumer to take away? And then go do. Not just hear, not just listen, but actually go and do and even better. If then that consumer can espouse the belief structure of your brand. Like, will they become your advocates, and really go and push for you because you treated them or you gave them an experience, or gave them a product that met their needs." - Brad Charron

• "I like to focus on profitability. Is my first order profitable? Because that tells me whether my business is innately sustainable or not. Because if it's not profitable, then I'm relying on the cash flows and the company to sustain an investment approach. And when debts are higher and I already talked yesterday, I don't like raising money. It makes me feel guilty. Like I don't want to be beholden on anyone. So, I think that it's irrelevant. It's irrelevant data. But just having a higher LTV and lower pack doesn't tell me anything if I don't understand the operating margins of the enterprise. " - Brad Charron