Entrepreneur Therapy | How This Wellness Entrepreneur Is Balancing Growth and Stress - video Dailymotion

Entrepreneur

Get practical advice from Dr. Drew and investor Kim Perell on this episode of Entrepreneur Therapy, featuring SuperMush co-founder and CEO Alli Schaper.

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00:00I don't want to be tied to the success of my company. You know, I know that it's like my

00:04life. This is the part I'm worried about. I will never be tied to the worth of my company. I don't

00:09want my worth to be tied to that, but it is my life. It is your life. Being an entrepreneur is

00:16not easy. You might have people looking after your business, but who is looking after you?

00:20We are. Welcome to Entrepreneur Therapy. Presented by Amazon Business. In each episode,

00:27renowned health expert Dr. Drew Pinsky and serial investor Kim Perel will meet with small business

00:32owners looking for some advice. We're here to find out what issues still keep them up at night.

00:38My name is Allie Shaper, and I'm one of the co-founders of Supermush. Supermush makes

00:42superfood mushroom supplements. We built the brand based on community and joy and color,

00:49and it's this really fun, community-focused brand. The main thing that we do is we make supplements.

00:54Why are you on Entrepreneur Therapy today? We have such a large community around us,

01:00right? Anytime you're building a business, you're just surrounded with opinions, and parsing through

01:04the opinions is actually, I think, the job. And I think that we've really built our business

01:10on the foundation of really incredible opinions from really amazing investors, super savvy entrepreneurs,

01:18and yeah, really inviting some wisdom in from people who have already done what we are aspiring to do.

01:23All right, Allie, I'm going to send you over now to Dr. Drew and Kim.

01:27Allie, welcome. I need to hear from the beginning how this happened to you.

01:31The story behind Supermush is functional mushrooms changed my life. I became super passionate about

01:38the whole world of fungi through a series of chronic gut issues I've had since I was a child,

01:43and so I was in and out of the Western medical system. And as a part of my healing journey,

01:48I found functional mushrooms as a part of my functional medicine path. And I met my co-founder,

01:54Brian, and I convinced him to start a mushroom brand with me. But we make these incredible

01:59sugar-free superfood gummies and are in the process of scaling that business.

02:04And what challenges have you brought for us today?

02:06We've started to get into these big retailers. It's a completely new business. It's a completely

02:12new way of operating. And both Brian and I love doing the creative. We love doing the colorful,

02:17you know, fun side of building this brand. But we've now had to shift completely into like

02:22operations, spreadsheet mode. And it's really been dominating our time, the process of fundraising,

02:27operating. You know, it's the classic tension point between fundraising and actually operating

02:32the business. But we're a three-person startup right now. So we don't have the luxury of delegation.

02:39But just kind of finding a better balance between the operations and the creative side that we love

02:43doing so much. Does that mean hiring a CEO or something?

02:46It may. It may. So that's what I think at this point, looking for an I2 from like your zone of genius.

02:53And some people's zone of genius is actually in the operations, the backend, the supply chain.

03:00I mean, that's where they thrive. So finding someone, whether it be a CEO, head of operations,

03:07someone else, and you might have to give up something in order to get that. But that will

03:12give you space to be able to do your best work. And to be honest, that person will be a game changer

03:18in your business.

03:20How are you doing with all this? Do you have any questions for me in terms of

03:23emotional barriers to growing and proceeding?

03:25The irony is we're creating a mental health brand, right? We call ourselves a mental health

03:29brand that happens to make mushroom products. And the attempt to maintain our own mental health

03:36through the process of building and scaling a CPG company is pretty wild. And we've done a really

03:41good job of it. But I think that we are at this inflection point, but it's been super overwhelming.

03:46I think that this game of entrepreneurialism is a game of relationships and finding the right

03:54relationships at the right moment and timing. And so we're putting so much effort in, but in the

03:58world of fundraising, for example, I could work 80 hours a week and get zero investment checks.

04:04I could work three hours the next week and get a million dollars. It's this interesting ROI on your

04:10time and worth.

04:11So here's what I see that this does undermine your self-worth and it does bother you. And you gloss

04:18it over with that beautiful smile and you continue to show your enthusiasm and passion, which is honest,

04:23but glossing over some of that misery with a smile is going to catch up with you. You're going to have

04:30to be honest about that, share it with somebody, unload it somewhere. I don't know if it's boxing classes

04:36or a good friend or whatever it is. You're going to have to be really careful because I can feel

04:42how it's eroding you and your, and your way to deal with it is to smile and move forward, right?

04:48The ego of entrepreneurship is you, I don't want to be tied to the success of my company. You know,

04:54I know that it's like my life, but I also am aware that it's not.

04:59But this is the part I'm worried about. I will never be tied to the sex worth, the worth of my

05:03company. I don't want my worth to be tied to that, but it is my life. It is your life.

05:08You've got to get honest about this and it does hurt and it is miserable. Sometimes you're going

05:12to have to kind of connect to that more. I'm sorry, because eventually it just kind of catches

05:17up with you. If you don't just have a way of processing and unloading it, it's, it's normal.

05:23It's completely normal.

05:24No, I think, I think it's amazing advice and thank you for all the wisdom. I'm so inspired by what you

05:29guys have done. So it's great to chat. Allie, thank you so much for participating

05:33in Entrepreneur Therapy presented by Amazon Business. To say thank you, we're going to give

05:37you a thousand dollars cash. Now we know that you ship a lot of product and a cashflow is key for

05:44big orders and growth. Amazon Business actually offers fast shipping options, as well as the ability

05:49to consolidate shipments and customized delivery preferences. It's kind of just one less thing

05:55to worry about for fulfillment. Amazing. I'm so grateful. Thank you so much.

05:59Thanks for watching Entrepreneur Therapy.

Entrepreneur Therapy | How This Wellness Entrepreneur Is Balancing Growth and Stress

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