Squeeze
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Hey, business besties. Welcome back to the female founder world podcast. I'm Jasmine, the host of the show and the creator of the female founder world universe. Today I'm chatting with Brittany Driscoll, the co founder of Squeeze Massage.
For people that don't know Squeeze, what are you guys building? Squeeze is a way better massage experience. I actually partnered with the founders of Drybar to create it, and we are really trying to modernize massage, make it more accessible, affordable. Our biggest differentiation, aside from creating a beautiful, sophisticated, luxurious brand, is our technology.
You can do everything through our app. Book your appointments and all your personalized preferences through to paying, rating, tipping, and reviewing. So we like to say, I guess, walk in and float out. It's a very seamless experience. Love that. Okay, cool. So how, where were you in your life when you were starting this back in 2017?
So I previously ran marketing for Drybar. I started my career in marketing and [00:01:00] advertising. I've always been a big believer in people and experience and really creating disruptive moments, if you will. So Drybar was, you know, the, The Ride of a Lifetime, I was there from 2013 to 2017, helped take the company to over 100 million, launched all the products, uh, internationally, and opened several doors, and at the time, the founders, Michael and Allie and I, we were avid massage goers and really felt like there was a big opportunity to disrupt the massage space, similar to what we did with Drybar.
You know, felt like there was a hole in the market on one end. You had low end discount chains on the other. There's high end hotels and spas. And, you know, I think the best business ideas really come out of personal frustration or necessity. And so we really felt like there was an opportunity to create a way better massage experience.
And that's kind of what sparked us on this journey. As someone who's kind of been to zero to a hundred or a hundred million before, what were some of those early things that you knew you had to do to kind of like validate that this was a legitimate, [00:02:00] great idea? Absolutely. So I think first and foremost, it's really taking the time to be very thoughtful about the experience and to end little things or big things are, is one of our values.
And so, you know, we really focused on just all of the core moments that the guest and quite frankly, also our team members, we're going to experience the brand through and really make sure that they were memorable. So I would say just, you know, really trying to think through every single milestone and moment of interaction with your brand and how you can be slightly differentiated.
Like just as an example, our mascot, we call Pat, it's the smiley face that you see just as a representation of hopefully how you feel when you walk out the door. We use, uh, Pat in all of our, uh, digital communications, certainly, you know, in social media, but also on our app. And when you're waiting for the schedule to load, as an example, Pat, you know, kind of goes in this little circle and, and has this cute little, uh, speech bubble that says, Whoa, I'm getting dizzy.
And you know, you [00:03:00] don't have to say that, but it's just one of those moments that makes people smile and really kind of taps into the brand voice. So I would say just, you know, being super mindful about, uh, all the little moments that make ultimately a really big difference. Awesome. What did you do for your launch?
Like what was your go to market marketing plan? How did you get that buzz in those first customers? Yeah, it's, it's a mix of a lot of things. I always say that, you know, marketing, there's no silver bullet. You really do have to, , kind of be active in all channels. So certainly we had local press and, the halo national media,
so we built the brand organically ourselves. We also brought in a ton of local influencers to have them experience the brand, to talk about it. hosted several events with local key tastemakers, uh, advertising, you know, for us, we're a brick and mortar business. So we're very local. And we partnered with schools and did pop ups at other health and wellness businesses and, uh, you know, really just got out into the [00:04:00] community.
That's one of the things we're a franchise. And that's one of the things that I encourage my operating partners, which is what we call our franchisees to do early and often is just be out there in the community, make your face known, support other businesses the way you want to be supported. We were fortunate in that, you know, in doing that early on, we had several businesses who sent an email out to their customer base on our behalf with a special offer, you know, like it's really those moments that helped to get our message out to a mass audience and certainly people who are, um, within our customer base.
So it's a, it's a myriad of things. I love the, um, I feel like local marketing works as well for like, even if you're an econ business, like getting out into the real world and partnering with other folks is just, I don't know, it just seems like the scrappy way to get things done. It actually is really impactful. I want to know more about, um, the franchise model. And that's something that I really wanted to speak to you about, because we haven't had a lot of people on the show who have. I feel like it's probably maybe, um, um, something that doesn't get spoken a lot about in kind of like [00:05:00] the entrepreneurial world.
Why first of all, like what businesses should become franchise businesses? So franchising, I always like to say is like taking the entrepreneurial leap with a safety net below you. It's a great way to kind of get that like entrepreneurial itch and that experience. Um, Yeah. Yourself but with the support of a larger system and then the other benefit in franchising Of course is as a franchisee you have other business owners and different communities around the country doing the same thing as you so you can Have just a really beautiful built in network of champions and supporters and people you can learn from and also encourage But the number one thing that's most important when thinking about if you You want to franchise your business is one.
Can you scale it? Can it really work at scale? You know for us we need to get to hundreds of units really for the business model to work I mean as a franchisor you're taking a very small royalty in the business, you know, the majority um of of uh, you know, the financial [00:06:00] flow goes to the to the operating partner and so um, it's really important that you can scale to a meaningful volume for it to really make sense and then You The second other thing that I would really consider is can someone else Do this as well as you.
Mm. Um, you know, if your business is your name or, , requires you to be kind of that linchpin, then it's very difficult to franchise. You really need to have clear documentation and training processes to be able to set someone else up for success. So what are you as the, , franchiser, which is that the, is that the title?
Like you're the Franchiser. Franchisor? Yep. Okay. Um, what is your, like, role when you're onboarding someone? What does that process look like and what are you offering them? So there's a few things. When you are awarded a franchise, you essentially get the rights to use the brand in your community. So that's the first thing is that we're giving you the rights to use the brand, the name, um, and operate within our systems [00:07:00] and standards.
And then in terms of the level of support that we provide, we have a support in every functional area of the business. So for us, you know, our process goes from. real estate and site selection through to design and construction to marketing your business, recruiting your team, operating it on a daily basis.
And then of course, working through, which I'm sure everyone, listening to this knows like the true entrepreneurial journey, the ups and downs, and we have coaching that we provide both personally and professionally to support our operating partners. So we really do try and round out the experience, not just with the business acumen, but also with The, you know, emotional and mental support that's really needed to run, run a business successfully.
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What do you look for in terms of those operating partners? Are you looking for people that have experience building, running companies? Are you looking for someone who's like embedded in a community? What is it that makes someone good in that role? Yeah, the professional background we're not as specific on, you know, I mean, we have people who come from finance and technology and.
Uh, we've got lawyers and real estate agents and, you know, people who had marketing backgrounds. So the professional lane isn't as important as one, we are a very people, I like to say we're in the people industry, not the service industry, really all we're doing is selling people's time. So, so much of the success as an operator is your ability to lead a team.
So we focus a lot on, uh, What are your management skills? What has your experience been in leading teams? But then also it's back to the the marketing [00:10:00] piece. You know, are you comfortable being a community builder? Really being the face of the brand in your community? Because so much of your success really does come down to your ability to be out and about and build locally.
You know, do that grassroots work, especially for us. We're still an emerging brand, which is an exciting time, but you know, also different than if you were to. be awarded an orange theory franchise. That's a very different system. Those two things are really important. And then, really just having like the grit and tenacity and the resilience side of being an entrepreneur, like you've got to have that, that true grit and hustle and just, you know, the no nonsense you're willing to keep going every single time you get knocked down.
That's a big piece of it too. I'm curious as a, you know, bricks and mortar physical business, how you decide and kind of look at where you're going to launch something new. Where does that data come from? Where does that information come from? Yeah, so that's a big part of the real [00:11:00] estate site selection process.
You know, we definitely look at an overarching territories and we're looking at, you know, demographics and psychographics and really making sure that the population and the density works, you know, that's kind of like from a very high level halo perspective, but You know, the key things when we're actually looking for a site are things like co tenancy.
We were, we're looking for daily use centers, places where people are already living their life. You know, they're going to yoga or the grocery store, they're grabbing their coffee or their juice, nail salons, you know, places again that are ingrained in the community's behavior. . That's really interesting. We don't have like a huge amount of people with, um, bricks and mortar, like footprint on the show. And I just like, it's such a different, it's such a different business. It's so interesting to me, the things that have to go into it. Um, the other thing I wanted to talk to you about is funding and how you fund a business like this.
How did you fund it in the beginning? And what does that look like now? So we raised a small friends and family round in the beginning and we were quite fortunate because we were [00:12:00] coming off of the success of dry bar. And so there was quite a lot of people who were involved in that transaction and the sale.
And so I will say, for anyone out there who doesn't have, kind of that foundational connection, I do think fundraising is very hard. I think particularly for women, it is a space that needs more and more Support and opportunity and I hope eventually to, one day be championing that because even for me with the success of Drybar and with my business partners we've had our challenges for sure.
So I think the most important thing when you're going out to fundraise. is to remember that investors are ultimately investing in you as the business owner and as the leader. They obviously need to understand what your business concept is. They need to believe in it and certainly, you know, understand the market landscape, but really what they're investing in is do they believe that you can make this happen?
You know, do they believe that you understand The challenges that you have ahead of you that you'll continue to forge through that you're going to find a path forward, you know, that's [00:13:00] really what people are, are buying into. And so I think it's so important that you feel really confident in yourself.
You also need to have a really clear pitch, you know, a super succinct story you need to hit on what's the, what's the gap in the marketplace, what are, what problem are you ultimately trying to solve? How are you going to do it, , what your longterm plan is. Bye. It's, it's really about connecting with people and, and being able to, , Get them aligned with and understanding your vision.
We hear this like often about how investors are investing, like in the founder, in the person, , how do you like actually present that to someone? Do you know what I mean? Is it something where you need to like have this profile that you've already built? Is it the way that you show up in the meeting on a zoom call?
Is it the way that you put together the pitch? Like, how do you actually communicate that across to a potential investor? Like, yeah, invest in me. I'm a great bet. Yeah, no, I think, I think it's a lot of things, you know, I think it's partly what your experience has been prior to that kind of sets [00:14:00] you up, gives you the foundation for where you're going.
And that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have the same experience, but demonstrate a track record of, you know, You know getting shit done of ultimately making things happen, you know for me as an example I worked in the advertising world before I even worked at dry bar and I always worked on special projects I was never the person who was like doing the direct mail campaigns when I worked at a direct response agency I convinced our managing director that we would do global promotions for Barbie.
And the way that I did that was I was super passionate about it. I got everyone excited. You know, I figured out partners that we could work with within the larger agency network and just like was the squeaky wheel that, that made it happen. So I think that, and that's an example of like my, my grit and my tenacity, right?
I mean, I didn't start a business, but I kind of made something happen that didn't exist. So that's an example of like, you can use your past as, Hey, You know, he, here's how I've shown up before and this is, you know, this is how I will [00:15:00] be showing up in the future. So I think like finding those key little nuggets in your story that are going to provide confidence to someone.
Um, you definitely need to have your, your pitch, so your deck ready. You know, with, with the overarching story. That's always good to send beforehand so that the investor has an understanding of what you're going to be talking about. But I think a lot of it does come down to how you show up. The energy that you show up with, why you're excited, like give examples about what you're doing that day or what you did this past week and the other conversations that you're having.
You know, you kind of want to create like a little bit of FOMO in investors that make them feel like if they don't invest, they're, they're missing out. So, you know, talk, like have other things in the works that you're talking through. Um, And then, and then also the follow up, right? Like staying consistent, staying on them, not, not taking no for an answer.
Like I do think, even like providing little updates on, hey, you know, it was great talking with you last week or two weeks ago. I just want to let you know, look at this cool press hit we got [00:16:00] or want to let you know we're, you know, we're moving forward in our development and this is what we've done. Like just.
You know, it's like being the squeaky wheel. You got to stay ahead of it. That's such good advice. Is There anything else that you would recommend as a resource? We ask everyone on the show to share something that's been helping them as they've been building the business.
You've just given us a pretty good one, but is there anything else that you wanted to call out, Brittany? Yeah, aside from a gratitude practice, I think I would say, and it sounds like you're doing this already, but like find a peer group that you can be super honest with. You know, I have a few Girlfriends locally who are all building businesses.
I go on walks with them at least, you know, every few weeks, just to be able to truly talk about like where we're at, what we're struggling with. And it's such a beautiful way to just validate that like everyone is in it, you know, everyone is struggling, everyone's figuring it out. Um, and, and to also stay encouraged.
I just feel like that outlet is so critical to [00:17:00] keeping the momentum going. Yeah. That's such a good piece of advice. And we, um, just for you guys listening, if you're not in our group chat, join it. We have a female founder world app. Uh, the group chat is free to join. And then we also do like in person events, more programming for paid members, but the group chat as a base level, like everyone should be in there.
If you don't have that community already, let's find the people that are going to help you through this. Yes, I love that. I, yes, that would be my recommendation brittany, thank you so much for coming on the show and congratulations on everything you guys are building at Squeeze.
It's been very, very cool and inspiring to hear your story. Thanks, Jasmine. I appreciate it.
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