#awinewith Bec Park
MEET Bec
Bec is the Co-Founder of Jonny.
Find Bec here:
Jonny website or Instagram @choose_jonny.
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:10):
Beck, welcome to Spark tv. It's so fabulous to have you.
Bec Park (00:14):
Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.
Danielle Lewis (00:17):
And I'm excited that we're cocktailing together today.
Bec Park (00:23):
Love
Danielle Lewis (00:23):
It. Love that. I love that so much. So look, I'm so excited to talk to you because I am such a huge fan of the Johnny Brand, so I'm just so excited to have this conversation. So before we get into that, what is Johnny tell the good people what Johnny is?
Bec Park (00:42):
Johnny is the must have new go-to condom brand that is vegan friendly, that is all about squashing the stigma and the awkwardness around safe sex, talking about sex using condoms. The whole gamut of sexual wellness really is what Johnny is about. Condoms is our vehicle to market really.
Danielle Lewis (01:06):
I love it. I love it. And so how did you get here? So you are the founder of a condom brand. How did this happen?
Bec Park (01:13):
Yeah, well I'm one of three founders, so it's definitely not my own adventure.
Danielle Lewis (01:19):
Awesome. We'll go down that rabbit hole soon too.
Bec Park (01:24):
So it was actually the ideation of Johnny came after a few of these with my business. They're all good
Danielle Lewis (01:34):
Ideas happen.
Bec Park (01:35):
Yes. All the good ideas happen. And especially when we were talking, we're actually sitting around together talking about our one night stands, our infatuations, our loves, our lusts. And there was a theme that was emerging from our discussions because women do talk about sex with women for the most part. And the theme was this awkwardness that we had one about buying condoms, but two about just wanting to have safe sex and approaching that subject with that intimate partner at the time and the experiences that we had. And the three of us are at different age brackets and ages. My mouth is warming up, so please bear with me. Don't
Danielle Lewis (02:17):
Worry. The app roll will help that. Don't you worry by the end of this you'll be on fire.
Bec Park (02:26):
So what was quite amazing was that the three of us, despite our age differences, had really similar experiences. And it was sort of a light bulb moment where we decided, well, hang on a second, we can do something about this and we can address this awkwardness and why is this the case? And Johnny was born, pardon the pun. From there, we all had our own sort of little motivations for it. Mine was spurred on by the fact that my daughter was 13 at the time and I didn't want her growing up with the same sort of dialogue that went on in my head. And when we did some further research, it was confirmed that the messaging that's out there in the marketplace, even still today is just not quite right. And it's probably been a contributor to the way that women in particular think about safe sex and have allowed men in hetero normal relationships to behave when it comes to safe sex, not all some. And we just felt that there was an opportunity to break that cycle.
Danielle Lewis (03:26):
I think it's so cool. So I'm not sure if the Spark listeners want to hear about my sex life, but I do. But you just made me think of something. I remember. So I was in a relationship for 10 years and that ended and I remember. So that was a long time. And so I hadn't dated in a decade. Crazy. So this is just only a couple of years ago and I remember the first outing when I was starting to be interested in boys. So I'm 37 now, so I was 35 and I remember I was in the IGA and going to buy condoms and I was so nervous. I'm like, you're a 30 5-year-old woman, you're allowed to do this. It was so weird,
Bec Park (04:18):
So weird. And it's that where does that anxiousness come from? Where does that thinking that this is a shameful thing, it's like we should be grabbing those condoms and walking out going Woohoo.
Danielle Lewis (04:29):
Totally. Yeah. We should be a beacon of Yeah, I'm representing safe sex here.
Bec Park (04:35):
Exactly. I'm doing the right thing. Yeah, I don't like to use right and wrong, but I'm doing the good thing by me and the good thing by the person I'm choosing to be intimate with. So
Danielle Lewis (04:45):
Totally.
Bec Park (04:46):
But you're not alone. You're not alone. And the funny thing is, I still have those moments even we've just recently gone onto some supermarket shelves and I was really excited about going and checking out how Johnny looked on shelves. And I'm an older woman and standing in front of the condom section of the supermarkets and just watching people watch me looking at the condom brands, there was a little bit of, oh, this looks a bit odd. And I'm like, no, no, no, it's fine. It's still there.
Danielle Lewis (05:16):
I know. So funny, isn't it? And you think about how progressive our society seems to be, and I guess we think about social media and all the topics that were once taboo a decade ago or a couple however many years ago that we're now all talking openly about. But still, yeah, you get that little nervous anxious factor, like judgment. What will people think of me? It's so bizarre.
Bec Park (05:42):
And the beauty of talking about it helps eradicate that anxiousness and awkwardness. It's always going to be there. You're talking about something that's intimate to you and intimate to someone else. There's a little bit of vulnerability that goes with talking about it. But once you start talking about it, all those walls kind of start to crumble down and you very quickly work out whether the person that you're talking to is respectful of where you are at. And you sort of intuitively know whether to continue that conversation or not. But at the best part, it gets people talking, it makes it normal. And we can start to think about just wellness in a whole array of areas, not just sexual wellness.
Danielle Lewis (06:26):
Well, and I love that your brand inherently invites the openness and safeness of conversation because it's not the traditional condom brand, it's not the naked sexy ish woman. Yeah, it's a beautiful brand.
Bec Park (06:46):
Thank you. That's really lovely to hear. And it's always so reassuring when people say that unsolicited, we get that feedback and I went back to the brand book and the business plan that we did five, six years ago and it's like, oh, tick, tick. That's so exciting because that's exactly what we wanted. And humor is a big part of our brand tone of voice and we don't always get it right, but it's because humor helps break down that stigma and start the conversation. If you can share a bit of a joke with someone and it opens up conversations, that was deliberate for us to do that and make that a part of Johnny's brand and everything else. Just simple. Yeah. So I love hearing that. So thank you.
Danielle Lewis (07:33):
Of course. And so have you always been a entrepreneur, business owner type vibe or was there a career beforehand? Yes. What was the pre-story?
Bec Park (07:44):
Yes, there's a career. There was a career beforehand and the career still in a way still doing the juggle, which is the realities of small business.
Danielle Lewis (07:53):
Totally.
Bec Park (07:55):
So yeah, I've been in marketing all my life in the marketing industry in one way or the other. I started off in advertising and moved into the client side as they say. And
(08:07):
So I've had sort of a broad experience there, which is really exciting working for some luxury brands. And my other two business partners, one was more in the events in the hospitality, and the other is an interior designer that runs our own business. So between the three of us, there was creative brain power and good networks that we were able to lean on in that time to help bring Johnny to life. But yes, my career has always been in marketing. I'd like to think I'm an entrepreneur, but I'm an entrepreneur who started late in life.
Danielle Lewis (08:42):
That's right. You're allowed to start anytime. There are no rules here. There are no
Bec Park (08:46):
Rules. No, exactly. I think there's lots of people that have lots of ideas and could do that it where this one, it was, oh, we've really got to do something about this. And it was just a really grounding intuitive feeling that it just worked. It was so this one landed for us. Maybe those other ones landed for other people know. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (09:12):
So good. No, I love that. That's so cool. I mean, I think that marketing and sales are critical If you don't have that kind of background, learning it very quickly I think is very, very important in business. I think that people spend a lot of time spinning their wheels with technology development or the creative or the product and the service rather than really selling it to someone and figuring out what connects with consumers and what solves a real problem. Yeah, so I love that you've got that marketing background. That's actually quite cool.
Bec Park (09:51):
Yeah, got the marketing background. But it's interesting, isn't it? I think you might've heard the saying, a builder can never finish his own home.
Danielle Lewis (09:57):
Oh yeah, totally.
Bec Park (09:59):
I think the marketer can never market their own business, the foundation. So the way thinking target markets, all that sort of one stuff that's sort of almost innate I think in marketing people. But when it comes to doing your own business, you're so close not only to it as a brand, but you're also looking at all the other elements of the business. Now a good marketer should be totally aware of all parts of the business. Absolutely. But the finance plays a bigger role when it's yours or logistics, you've got your logistics and it's like, ah. Whereas when it's marketing someone else's product, yeah, it's a walk in the park. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (10:38):
Yeah. And it's interesting. That's actually a really good point, isn't it? When you are so close to something, being able to separate yourself, so your emotional connection to the business, our egos, all of those things, and take an objective look when it comes to marketing and just thinking about the value and the transformation that we give to our customer. We, I've not really thought about that. That's
Bec Park (11:04):
Very interesting. It was funny, one of the first things that we often said at the very beginning was we didn't want the three of us to be the face of Johnny. We wanted Johnny to stand on his own on its own. It's on its own and be separate to us. One of the main reasons for that was we didn't want our target market who was deliberately women and young to be persuaded by three older chicks. It was like know that we've been around the block, just let Johnny do its thing. But this was just before the Me Too movement and it was the sort of start of really a lot of female led businesses and startups coming through the world. So the PR agency was like, no, no, no, we've got to use you. And we're like, oh God. That was confronting as well because we wanted it to be a brand that separates from us. But I understand also the value of sometimes being able to talk about our experiences and how we got to Johnny.
Danielle Lewis (12:06):
Well, I mean that is a really interesting point because I've had a few conversations with female founders lately about just social media in general and how they're like, surely I can build a business that doesn't rely on me bloody showing up on an Instagram stage or dancing on a reel. And I think I totally believe that you can do that, but I agree there is a power in our personal brands that can nudge, nudge the corporate company brand.
Bec Park (12:39):
And it's really specific to the business and what it's built upon. For us being able to do things like this is wonderful because I'd love being able to contribute to the business world. I dunno everything. And I'm going to learn heaps from talking to you. And if someone can pick up a little tip that helps in their business from a learning that I've gained, then that's awesome. I'm happy to contribute in that way. I think that's valuable. But definitely not in my face on TikTok.
Danielle Lewis (13:09):
I know I've personally been trying to find my place on TikTok. I refuse to dance to anything. I'm just going to put my stuff up on there and see how it goes.
Bec Park (13:22):
That's fine. That's fine.
Danielle Lewis (13:24):
Yeah. Well, I mean I think it's interesting, right? I love, what did we say at the start? There are no rules. No rules. I kind of think that's right. You can do this game of business however you want to do it.
Bec Park (13:37):
Yeah, absolutely. And test and play and see works. Sorry, love.
Danielle Lewis (13:43):
Oh no, that's okay. We love fairy business love.
(13:46):
Yeah, absolutely. That's it. Well, and I mean it's interesting that you say that, right? About being able to share some wisdom on the podcast. That's what this show is all about. It's like two female founders having an aole in the gin and sharing war stories so that anyone listening could pick up a little tip, shortcut their success, commiserate with fellow founders, whatever it is. And that's the whole idea of this podcast is to be able to share the wisdom so that you are right. Maybe the way we bring our personal brand to our businesses won't always be just the spruiking the product, but it is how we contribute back to the ecosystem.
Bec Park (14:32):
Yeah, absolutely. And I've learned things along the way from listening to podcasts and one of the things I've learned the most is that you're always learning in business. You always make mistakes, do the same one twice and it's going to be really frustrating, but it's just constant. And when you think you've got something right, something happens, breaks
Danielle Lewis (14:56):
Or something else comes up
Bec Park (14:57):
And you're just like, what? But I love it in the same breath. I think that's what really keeps me going. And earlier I was mentioning that I'm currently doing two jobs, Johnny and another full-time job, but it doesn't worry me because I love everything that Johnny stands for. So it gives you this energy that you don't even know that's there sometimes. It's like where did that first come from?
Danielle Lewis (15:22):
Yes, that's so true. I know people always say that about me. They're like, I don't know how you do it all. And I was like, I dunno what else I'd be doing. I do. I feel the same way. You get an energy when you actually believe in what you are doing and what the business stands for,
Bec Park (15:41):
And it's obvious that it brings you joy. I can see joy you when you're talking and in the interviews that I've listened to, you can hear it. So I think we found it. It's great. Thank you.
Danielle Lewis (15:51):
Thank you. I love that. I hope everyone else gets to find there, joy.
Bec Park (15:55):
Yes, exactly.
Danielle Lewis (15:56):
So what was it like developing a physical product? I feel like a lot of things today, I can't tell you how many posts I see on Instagram that are create a course, digital. Digital. But I love that you've created a physical product. What was that process even like?
Bec Park (16:13):
Yeah, it was for the most part, the condom part of Johnny was the easiest.
Danielle Lewis (16:20):
Oh really?
Bec Park (16:21):
Yeah, bizarre. We did go to market and we did go and look at all the brands that are out there and knowing which ones are manufactured by who. You do your due diligence, you do your research. We found the ones that we like the most. And then we went to the manufacturer of those condoms and said, right, we want to make our own and can you do it? And what does that look like? What does that business arrangement look like and is it plausible? And lucky enough, we fell upon a really good manufacturer who's one of the best in the world, and we did all our due diligence on them and that was easy. The parts that were challenging were getting the right people to help bring the vision for the brand Johnny Alive. So we knew what we wanted it to be, but getting the right partners on that journey with us was one of the most challenging. So we had a few goes at it. We had people telling us that we shouldn't be targeting women, that it's a male product. And it was like, this is the whole reason we're here. It's for both because
Danielle Lewis (17:22):
You guys have this attitude, we'll change your mind.
Bec Park (17:27):
Exactly. So finding that person that was aligned or a business that was aligned to what we were setting out to do was proved to be the hardest part. But once we got them, it was a couple of incredible creatives and once we got them, it just sort of flew on from there. So the physical part of it was easy. Finding a manufacturer was easy. Once we got the creative partners together, fantastic. And then it was lot of little learnings along the way about navigating the TGA or the medical,
Danielle Lewis (17:59):
Well, I was going to ask if it was considered a medical product,
Bec Park (18:04):
Medical device. So a learning that we had didn't even know about the TGA really until that point. All those on costs that you don't expect or budget for because it's things that you learn along the way was interesting packaging. Do we print offshore? Do we print onshore? Finding sustainable packaging that we could afford. All these things, developing all those parts of the product was challenging. It took us, we started talking about Johnny in 2016 and we did all our plans and we didn't launch until 2018.
Danielle Lewis (18:38):
Wow.
Bec Park (18:39):
So that's how long the process took. And as I say, the product itself was the easy part, but the actual getting the brand and everything, getting that website up and running and not being perfectionist about it, just get to market, that kind of stuff, that's what took the longest.
Danielle Lewis (18:56):
Wow, that's really interesting. And I love too that you said it's about the people finding the right people that believe in the vision. Yeah. That's really interesting because I kind of say that people can be very make or break. Oftentimes founders are doing everything themselves and they're getting to that point of hiring the first people and it's super stressful. But as I look back on my journey, people have really been the things that have scaled my business and the things that have derailed my business. So I do love the super intentional about who you bring into the business and why they're there.
Bec Park (19:36):
Absolutely. And even going back to your earlier comments before about marketing and small business owners trying to do everything, if it's not your forte, then definitely outsource it. Don't waste time trying to do something that's not your area of expertise, but feel your instinct. Feel the gut is that person. If there's something not quite right, talk about it. Same thing in any relationship. These people, you're giving over a little bit of your baby, so they need to be the right partner. Totally. Have an honest conversation without it turning into an ego match, whatever. It's not the black fit. So move on in any way, shape or form in any service that comes in your bookkeeper and your accountant and your lawyer and all those things. You want someone that's got your back. I
Danielle Lewis (20:29):
Love that so much. I think gut feeling is underestimated. I think that we are wearing so many hats and we're questioning ourselves and the decisions that we're making, and we've got a bit of imposter syndrome sprinkled into the mix. But every time I reflect on the fact that I've had a gut feeling about something and not acted on it, it's been the wrong thing and I should have acted on it.
Bec Park (20:58):
And you kick yourself, don't you,
Danielle Lewis (21:02):
As a business owner. It's stuff.
Bec Park (21:07):
Absolutely. And like I say, it is your baby and you do have the vision for it. And sometimes it's hard to articulate that. So you need to bring on those people that can help you do that. And you've got to feel it. I often spoke to my daughter when she was little about the bats and the butterflies, and we had this, she was either maybe six or seven and she goes, mom, and I've got this really weird feeling in my tummy, and she was about to go and do a performance or something at school and I said, what does it feel like baby? And she said, oh, it's like the little things rumbling around my tummy. He said, oh, that's butterflies. That's a nervous excitement. And she goes, oh, no, no, no, it's not butterflies, it's bats.
Danielle Lewis (21:51):
That's so cute. Oh my God.
Bec Park (21:53):
And so I said, okay, talk to me about that. What's worrying you? And it was nothing to do with the performance that I thought it was about. It was something that was going on at school.
Danielle Lewis (22:01):
Oh wow.
Bec Park (22:02):
Their instinct saying, this is not a good feeling. I don't like this. I don't want to be a part of that. So we often talk about the butterflies and the bats. Is it a light excitement that's a bit of fun and in this spurring you along or is it something that's going No, don't do it. Yeah.
Danielle Lewis (22:17):
Oh my god, I'm literally stealing. That is
Bec Park (22:20):
Bats. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (22:22):
But you're so right, because I am. So as an example, I love public speaking, but before I go on stage, I want to fake my own death.
Bec Park (22:34):
Exactly.
Danielle Lewis (22:36):
So it's the butterflies I really want to do well, but I'm so nervous, but blah. But you're right, there are bats moments where you genuinely go, oh my God, this is not good. And I've got to have a tough conversation or sort something out.
Bec Park (22:53):
Don't do that. Don't walk down that alleyway.
Danielle Lewis (22:56):
Yes. Across the street. Across the street. I love it. Remember that one? Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that. No, that's so good. And what do you find, I mean it sounds like it's been amazing to date, but how do you find having two other co-founders of the business, what's that dynamic been
Bec Park (23:15):
Like? Yeah, that's another relationship that has to be navigated and goes through its ups and downs. Yeah. Ships aren't easy. No threesomes aren't easy.
Danielle Lewis (23:30):
Oh my God, you are incredible. I love that.
Bec Park (23:34):
We've definitely had our challenges and we continue to navigate that. And I think anyone entering into with partners one or two or three, all I can advise is to have really upfront conversations at the beginning that talk about all the tough stuff that might come. Like the what if scenarios. Maybe we didn't do enough of that. What happens if the business needs more money, but not everyone can put the same amount of money in? What does that look like? Are you happy with that? Is it a quid pro quo? Because those moments will come and it can build resentment and resentment can poison the business. So you just have to be really open and honest with each other. If you don't have the expertise to do a particular job that you are being assigned, put your hand up and say, I can't do it again.
(24:34):
It's just like any relationship. But it's harder. You've got to, it's everyone's business. It's not just mine. It's bets and Sam's as well. So we have to navigate that continuously. And that's something we do all the time. At the end of it though, you've got to come back, especially for joining because fun is a big part of our brand. And if you're not having fun, then the energy's all wrong. You're not growing business in the right way and respecting your friendship, which is where you came at from the start, going into business with friends, can be fought with danger.
Danielle Lewis (25:08):
Absolute.
Bec Park (25:09):
You've got to have respect to that relationship. And I suppose that's what Johnny fundamentally is about, is respect. We've said that from the start. If you can establish that respect for yourself and for the person that you want to have sex with, and then mother nature as the third wheel, then that's the core. That's the core of it. Is that mutual respect.
Danielle Lewis (25:32):
That is amazing. I really love the idea of having tough conversations or what if conversations very early because there are going to be problems, there are going to be issues, there are going to be hard days, there are going to be emotions because it is your baby and it's not great having those What if discussions when you're in that heightened emotional
Bec Park (25:58):
State? Exactly. When you're in an emotional state, when you're in that highly emotional state, it is a lot harder. And I'm not saying that we got that right either. We didn't do the what if scenarios. We didn't do the proper job. So what's your role? What's my role? But we had to navigate that as the part of the discussion. So if there is anyone listening to your podcast, that's about to start. That's my number one tip. Have those conversations.
Danielle Lewis (26:21):
Look, I couldn't agree with you more. I did the same thing when I was in a co-founder relationship and also partner relationship at the same time.
Bec Park (26:30):
Oh wow, okay. And romantic partner and covid. Yeah. Okay. So even,
Danielle Lewis (26:35):
Oh my God, I know. Totally. But same thing, but it was interesting because you are so, and you think the best of everything at the start, completely stepped on each other's toes and then actually went right. If we don't sit down and have these hard discussions, create job descriptions and trust each other enough to look after our bits and stop stepping on each other's toes, then we may as well not do this. So if you can not get to that point, if you can start there,
Bec Park (27:07):
Start there. Right? Yeah, start there. And it's accepting each other's strengths and weaknesses. Yes.
Danielle Lewis (27:15):
And not everyone's going to know everything. That's
Bec Park (27:16):
Right. Yeah, absolutely. Filling the gaps with other people. But yeah, it's super hard. I take my hat off to romantic partners who go into business together and make that work. That's a whole nother level of negotiation. Yeah. Oh my god. Full time for however long you did last in that. That's awesome. Thank
Danielle Lewis (27:35):
You. I know. Well 10 years. Yeah,
Bec Park (27:38):
Right.
Danielle Lewis (27:39):
Yeah. But it is, I'm exactly the same, right. Tip my hat to anybody that makes it work. And also I also want to say though, just while I guess while we're talking about this, is things change and that's okay. I was talking to this wonderful founder, Lana Broon, will mispronounce her last name Lana and Flo is her design label. And she started solo founder, brought on a co-founder, the label's name has her name in it, and she's just stepped out the business. And it's like you've got to realize that not everything always just works out the way you think it's going to work out. And that's totally fine. You just have to be kind of a little prepared for the new situation.
Bec Park (28:30):
And that is one of the key learnings that I've had that I often talk about when people ask me, what advice would you give? And I even said this the other day, and my business partner Sammy, went, oh, I learned something from you tonight. And I'm like, oh, that's so interesting. And it was, I said to the audience that persistence and patience go hand in hand. And you've really got to learn how to balance those two things I feel as a business owner, because you need to have patience because nothing works out as quickly as what you probably envisioned it to do or doesn't go the same way. So you have to have the patience to manage that and deal with that. But you've got to keep assisting. You've got to keep, you've got to keep moving. You've got to keep trying new things. You've got to be flexible. All these, you've got to keep persisting. And she said, I'm not the patient by their mind. I went, no, you're not. But we're all learning patience. But that's
Danielle Lewis (29:22):
Why we have balance.
Bec Park (29:25):
We're all learning how balance. But yeah, they're the two things. Just go, okay, that didn't work out for 10 years of a business with a partner. Got you. To a certain point. That's an incredible success, right?
Danielle Lewis (29:37):
Yes, totally.
Bec Park (29:38):
It's amazing.
Danielle Lewis (29:39):
I love, yeah, so it, right, you've got to actually go, holy crap, let's reflect on how and where we got to.
Bec Park (29:46):
Absolutely. That's a really good milestone. We're getting excited. We're coming up to our fifth, that's like ten one. I can't imagine what it would be like to be celebrating the 10th year. So yes, you've got to take all those wins.
Danielle Lewis (29:59):
I love that. But patience and persistence. Oh, you are so spot on. It's really hard to have both of those things though, right? I am the most impatient person on the planet, but you are spot on. It is. Nothing ever goes as quickly as you want it. Nothing quite follows the path that you thought that it would follow. That's very
Bec Park (30:22):
True.
Danielle Lewis (30:23):
But you're always surprised at how things do work out and what you're able to accomplish.
Bec Park (30:30):
And it's taking the time, I think, to give yourself the opportunity to reflect on the things that you do accomplish. Even if that's just once a month or once a quarter, just sort of sit back and go, okay, what did I actually achieve this month? Or what hurdle did I overcome? And be able to get new wind from that, if that makes sense. New energy from that. Absolutely.
Danielle Lewis (30:51):
Yeah,
Bec Park (30:51):
Because I'm a bad one for this. I can get two folks on all the things that aren't happening that didn't happen well enough or that didn't go good enough. And you start to get really negative. You've got to sit back and look at all the stuff that you have done. I mean to sit here and go, alright, we're in our fifth year and we are on our fifth order of condoms. Who would've thought we sold over a million pieces of condoms? It's like, what?
Danielle Lewis (31:17):
Oh my God, congratulations. That is bloody amazing.
Bec Park (31:23):
Yeah, it's weird. And even just to be sitting here talking about the fact that I'm part owner of a condom business is weird. So
Danielle Lewis (31:31):
I bet you never saw that at the start of your
Bec Park (31:33):
Career. I never saw on my vision board, I must say.
Danielle Lewis (31:37):
Oh, I love it so much. Oh, that is awesome. I love that idea of reflecting. You are right. It's so easy. Especially as founders. We're wearing so many hats. We've got so many things on the to-do list. I resonate so much with that. It's so easy to look at the things not done, look at the gaps or the things that didn't work and just go, why, why, why? And not actually look in the rear view mirror and go, oh, actually I'm pretty amazing.
Bec Park (32:05):
Yeah, we did all I agree.
Danielle Lewis (32:09):
Oh, so good. And you, I'm just interested in the growth of the business. So you mentioned five orders now, so good. Yeah. Five
Bec Park (32:19):
Product orders. Yeah, yeah, roughly.
Danielle Lewis (32:22):
So cool. So then tell me, because you do e-commerce and retailers wholesale,
Bec Park (32:28):
Right? Correct. Yeah, that's right.
Danielle Lewis (32:30):
So how have you navigated that? What's the growth plan been? Is one of the founders in charge of sales and marketing? Does somebody take wholesale, someone takes e-comm. How does the growth of the business look?
Bec Park (32:44):
It's sort of spread between sales and marketing slash admin mostly at the moment. We quickly realized, so we were able to do the ecomms part pretty easily. There's so much help out there, and Shopify is amazing as a platform. And again, if you've got the right partners from a design perspective, that part's easy. Starting to get the marketing going was relatively easy for us. I mean, we did it on the smaller regular rag. We used digital as much as we could. We did all the damn and dirty things. So running the business, knowing that in order to reach that tipping point and start getting real efficiencies in our financials so that we could start actually making proper money and pull that back in and reinvest that back into the business, we needed volume. We embarked on an overseas distribution strategy probably a little bit too early than we should have as a young business, but we were super excited. Yes,
Danielle Lewis (33:51):
I just want to take over the world at the start. Exactly
Bec Park (33:53):
Right. Why
Danielle Lewis (33:54):
Not?
Bec Park (33:55):
Fixed eyes. And it was sort of aligned to the fact that Urban Outfitters reached out to us within our 12 months to 18 months of launching. So really early. And one of our business goals was if we could be on the shelves of someone like Urban Outfitters, then we really are starting to change the conversation, helping to change that conversation and that awareness. Why does it have to be on the supermarket shelf? Why can't it be at your local shoe shop or your makeup shop?
Danielle Lewis (34:22):
So
Bec Park (34:23):
When they reached out and said, we want to arrange Johnny, we're like, what? That's amazing. So we went full ball into that and Covid hit
Danielle Lewis (34:33):
Oh no.
Bec Park (34:35):
So that affected Urban Outfitters naturally, but it was also a hugely expensive operation for us to do, and we had a lot of learning. So we pulled back in and we said, okay, we really have to work on making sure the Australian market is right first, get your own market working, prove success there, and then go further abroad. And this is a long-winded answer to your question.
Danielle Lewis (34:59):
No, I love long-winded. Do it.
Bec Park (35:01):
So we realized that we weren't equipped, we didn't have the skillset. No one had FMCG selling experience that we needed an expert in that field, and that's where you grab the people that can help you. So we did that and we got a sales agent who had experience in that area who was fundamental critical in helping us just even open the door and what that conversation needed to look like and what were their expectations and can we meet them and all that kind of stuff. So that helped accelerate here. And we are now on the shelves of Kohl's and Woolies and Chemist Warehouse and Price Line, but not forgetting or ignoring the fact that we had a whole lot of little Independences who found us and reached out to us on their own accord that were still with to this day and are so grateful for their support from Day Dot. They sort of came about on their own accord. And then we've just sort of moved into the larger ones. Still early days have only been there for a little while. Will we be successful? I don't know. We're giving Yes,
Danielle Lewis (36:08):
Absolutely.
Bec Park (36:08):
Yes. We'll, a fickle. But it's just at the end of the day, more and more people are getting to know Johnny if that then allows them to land on our website and see what our messaging is, and that changes the way they think Job done. So have I answered your question? I'm not quite sure there.
Danielle Lewis (36:33):
You totally have. And then it just popped into my mind. So do you see, because I almost get the vibe, pun intended, that Johnny
Bec Park (36:44):
Is
Danielle Lewis (36:44):
A condom brand. It is actually a sexual wellness brand. Do you see yourself always doing products or being more of that content media, really trying to change the conversation? Where do you find the balance between those two things?
Bec Park (37:00):
Yeah, absolutely. It's always been about the conversation for us.
Danielle Lewis (37:05):
That's so cool.
Bec Park (37:06):
And one of our sort of overriding mission statements is intimate equality. That it doesn't matter who you are, what you are, how you identify, how you have sex, how many people you have. It doesn't matter. We should all be able to come at it from a really healthy place. And life's hard as it is. And especially as you're navigating intimate relationships, even as a teenager. And some people have great mentors and people they can talk to quite openly. A lot of us don't, A lot of kids still, even today, social media and porn is their first formative exposure to what is sex meant to look like. It's like, oh, no, no. And that's because the people that are around them can't have open conversations with them. So that's what we are really about. Let's get the conversation started and that's where we would like to keep evolving into.
(38:04):
And if products are the way that enable us to open up that conversation, then so be it. So yeah. So it's sort of sexual wellness. Yes. But wellness all round. And the example I give of that is for women especially, is that you can, if you choose not to have safe sex, that's completely fine, as long as it's your choice wholeheartedly. And that's you making that choice and unsettling the potential consequences of that. But when you do choose to have unprotected sex, it's the next day we go, okay, do we go to the chemist and get the morning up to film, or do I just hang out for the next month, two weeks, three weeks, whenever my next period's due, the mental turmoil you go to through plus then the should I have done that? Should I've not done that? Isn't going to call me. Is he not going to call me? All the stuff that goes on in our head is insane. So the mental stress, so if you choose to not have protected sex, that's totally fine, own it. That's not a problem. But just be aware also of the flip side, what our minds do to us and where it can take you. And so it's trying to look at wellness from all those facets as well. It's no one else to judge, but how can we make that a better, nicer, safer place?
Danielle Lewis (39:27):
So I just love that because you are spot on. The mental turmoil cannot be overstated if you guys are creating a platform to be able to have that conversation so that people actually understand pros, cons, options, all of those things. Like yeah, that that's incredible. I absolutely love that.
Bec Park (39:51):
Yeah, it was fascinating to me a few years ago, do you know Brian Nicole, who is Oh yeah, yeah. Amazing. Right? So the lady of the whole sex tech space, and she invited us to come and be a part of a judging panel for sex Techon hackathon or something. And I walked away from that going, my eyes have just been opened. I'm such a prude. I had no idea why these things existed that people did that or they needed that. It was this. So this whole world out there that is to be discovered if you want to, you don't have to either. But it really cemented for me that it's not just condoms, it's the conversation. It's being able to have the vehicle to discover all these new things for pleasure with yourself, with other people, whatever it might be. And that is a really healthy thing to do and be able to be a part of and talk about. So anyway, that's what Johnny is kind of. It's not just about the condoms. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (40:56):
I love it. I love it. Okay, let's leave our community with one final piece of wisdom. So our listeners are amazing female founders, some pretty early stage. So we've talked about the challenges about the persistence to patients. What would you say to a female founder who might be struggling at the moment to help inspire them to just keep going? Any words of wisdom
Bec Park (41:26):
To just keep going in this struggling at the moment?
Danielle Lewis (41:30):
Or any just piece of advice that you've picked up over the five amazing years you've been in business?
Bec Park (41:36):
You know what? I think lean on your community and if you don't have one, find one and ask as many questions of them as you can because it's incredible the amount of different insights people have, and you can learn so much from that, what not to do or what to do. So if you're struggling, yeah, I would lean on your community as much as you possibly can because I think some of the mistakes we've made is assuming that we know what we're doing and then we go, oh no, I didn't. And if I just asked that person over there, perhaps I could have gotten a different opinion. So don't be afraid of that. Don't be afraid. Someone's going to steal your idea. Just because people have got too much shit going on in their life anyway, so just ask the questions, put it out there, give it a shot with people you can trust.
(42:25):
That would be the other. That would be the one thing. And nothing, nothing's better than a business plan. And I'm not talking like a 10, 15 pager. I'm talking just a one pager for the next three years. Put a little bit of a budget together. It doesn't work. Can you make it work? I always say, if you've got a budget of expenses and it says your revenue's a million dollars and your expenses are 200,000, make your expenses 600 because something will happen and it will shoot it up. You always need more money than you think, but don't let that frighten you, make that motivate you more than anything. So I hope that kind of helps.
Danielle Lewis (43:03):
Oh, you are absolutely incredible. Cheers, Beck.
Bec Park (43:07):
Thank you. It was a delight. Thank
Danielle Lewis (43:08):
You. Oh my gosh, thank you for sharing your wisdom with the smart community. So grateful for you coming on the show.
Bec Park (43:15):
Absolute pleasure. And thank you for having me. Really enjoyed talking. It was great.
Danielle Lewis (43:19):
So God, we'll just cut the video there. You are fabulous. Oh
Bec Park (43:24):
No. Well it was very easy talking to you. I love it was just a very nice conversation. Very
Danielle Lewis (43:29):
Easy. Totally. I know. So good. You as well. I really enjoyed hearing the story. I'm not even lying for the podcast. I genuinely love the brand.
Bec Park (43:40):
Yeah. So
Danielle Lewis (43:40):
I was so interested in understanding the backstory. So yeah,
Bec Park (43:44):
Thank you. So cool. Yeah, it's fun. It's a lot of fun. It's great. So what are you doing for the night now? Are you going to head off for dinner or
Danielle Lewis (43:53):
No, so I'm actually in wa, so it's a little bit earlier over here.
Bec Park (43:59):
Oh great.
Danielle Lewis (43:59):
Yeah, I
Bec Park (44:00):
Wasn't here in Sydney. Were you in Sydney originally?
Danielle Lewis (44:03):
No, I was in Brisbane, so
Bec Park (44:04):
I'm Okay, so you were east coast? Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (44:07):
Yeah, totally. Brisbane born bred, lived forever and then just moved here at Christmas time last year.
Bec Park (44:13):
How are you finding it?
Danielle Lewis (44:14):
Well, if I'm being honest, I don't love it. We're in it. So my partner's in mining, so because all of my businesses are remote, I couldn't say no to a move. And also it's a bit of an adventure. So we're in Kalgoorlie in western
Bec Park (44:32):
Virginia,
Danielle Lewis (44:33):
So super tiny mining town. And I used to live on Fish Lane in Brisbane, which is restaurants, bars. Gorgeous.
Bec Park (44:40):
Oh yeah, you've gone from city to country.
Danielle Lewis (44:42):
Totally. So I'm struggling with the lifestyle
Bec Park (44:45):
A little bit. Yeah, sure.
Danielle Lewis (44:46):
But businesses the same, so I'm just kind of going, right. I've got a few years to buckle down and grow this empire and learn about regional country Australia, and then we'll be back in a city.
Bec Park (45:00):
See, it's a little swerve, but it'll bring some a value to you later. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. So what's your plan? How long are you thinking you'll be there for?
Danielle Lewis (45:09):
I think we'll be here for at least three years, and then it will be depending on, it's one of those things. So if he does really well here, they might actually put him into another place to build it back up so it might not get better. It might be kind of the same. You might have to fix another or we'll end up back in a city like Perth or Brisbane again. So
Bec Park (45:31):
Good luck and just fly back to the cities for a little bit of Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (45:36):
Totally. Totally. My mom and dad are coming for a visit in November and I said, cool, we're going to Perth.
Bec Park (45:43):
We not mad in kgo. Exactly. That's awesome. Well, if you're ever in Melbourne, please reach out and we'll have a drink and I'll get Sammy involved and Amazing. She'd like to meet you. Yeah, there's some great restaurants. She designs a lot of the restaurants here, so.
Danielle Lewis (45:55):
Oh, how cool.
Bec Park (45:56):
Yeah, it's very handy. Awesome. I love that. I
Danielle Lewis (46:00):
Know. I'm like, the one thing I miss is food and wine.
Bec Park (46:04):
I can imagine. Good about cooking.
Danielle Lewis (46:07):
I know, I was. It's funny.
Bec Park (46:13):
It was such a pleasure to meet you. Thanks for having me. You
Danielle Lewis (46:15):
Too. And I'll flick all over the details as soon as this is all live and tag everyone and all that kind of good stuff.
Bec Park (46:20):
It's no stress. That's totally fine.
