How a WHOLE FOODS Exclusive Led So Many to Fall IN LOVE With Mochi Gummies!

📢I talk🎙️with Mika Shino Founder & CEO of Issei Mochi Gummies from Bethesda, MD. 👏🍷 🎇 🎉 ✨ 👏 🥂  😁

If you haven't tried these yet, you are missing out. She shares her amazing story how a Whole Foods buyers' instincts kick-started this brand and how Mika with her PR philosophy landed her on the cover of Inc Magazine within two years as Inc Female Founder 2024!

WATCH ON YOUTUBE! 📽 🎞 
https://youtu.be/v-jW5OSs_sw

Summary

Mika Shino shares her journey from Kyoto, Japan, to becoming a successful entrepreneur with her brand, Issei Mochi Gummies. 

She discusses her cultural influences, experiences at the UN in Paris, France, and the challenges of creating a healthier candy option for children. Mika emphasizes the importance of food in brain development, the philosophy of jazz in business, and her commitment to customer engagement through personal touches in her branding.

The conversation highlights her dedication to quality and the continuous evolution of her product. In this engaging conversation, Mika shares her journey of launching a product with Whole Foods, the challenges of manufacturing, and the importance of building relationships in the industry. 

She discusses the pivotal moment at Expo West, her upcoming launches with Target, and the innovative flavors she is developing. Mika also opens up about the struggles of being a small business owner, the recognition she has received, and offers valuable advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of starting without fear of failure.

AWARDS 2024
Inc. Magazine 2024 #2 Female Founders List
Most Innovative New Product 2024 Small Business Innovator
2024 Stevie Award Best Female Entrepreneur
World Food Innovation Award Best Snack 2024

#IsseiMochiGummies #fnbinnovation #ThirstyThursdays 

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Host Jessie Ott's Profile on LinkedIn

Chapters

• 0:28 Introduction and Background of Mika Shino
• 2:05 Cultural Influences and Early Life
• 5:04 Journey to the United States and Education
• 8:11 Career at the UN and Transition to Food Industry
• 11:04 The Birth of Mochi Gummies and Parenting Insights
• 13:59 The Philosophy of Cooking and Food's Impact on Growth
• 17:07 Jazz, Improvisation, and Business Philosophy
• 19:58 Challenges in Creating a Shelf-Stable Product
• 23:00 Market Demand and Consumer Awareness
• 25:53 Flavor Development and Cultural Significance
• 29:03 Branding and Customer Engagement
• 32:14 Future Aspirations and Continuous Improvement
• 44:13 Launching with Whole Foods
• 48:13 Building Relationships and Finding Mentors
• 49:19 Overcoming Manufacturing Challenges
• 51:11 Expo West: A Turning Point
• 52:47 Exciting New Launches
• 54:17 Innovative Flavor Development
• 57:27 Navigating Entrepreneurial Pain Points
• 1:00:52 The Struggles of Small Business
• 1:08:44 Recognition and Resilience
• 1:27:12 Words of Wisdom for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Transcript

00:00:10:00 - 00:00:39:06
Jessie Ott
Welcome to Thursday, Thursdays at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. My name is Jessica. The host of this podcast, which is all about beverage innovation. I talk with innovation pioneers from agriculture to glass. Thank you for listening and be sure to subscribe to be notified of all new episodes. Welcome to Thursday Thursdays I have Mika Shino from Issei Mochi Gummies here today, and I can't tell you how excited I am to have you here.

00:00:39:06 - 00:00:41:16
Jessie Ott
Mika. Seriously super super pumped!

00:00:41:18 - 00:00:45:11
Mika Shino
Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. Thank you. Jesse.

00:00:45:13 - 00:01:11:10
Jessie Ott
Yeah, I, you know, I've been super, super lucky with the, amazing people that have allowed their time for for me to interview them and to come on the show. So again, super, excited and huge respect for what you've done and, accomplished in the last just two years. You mentioned, I've seen on an Instagram and, and, and on LinkedIn that you're celebrating two years already.

00:01:11:12 - 00:01:20:18
Mika Shino
Yes. It's our birthday week, last week. Birthday month, the month of September. So we're really excited and just thrilled to have survived the first two years.

00:01:20:20 - 00:01:22:03
Jessie Ott
Because, yeah, it's been tough.

00:01:22:03 - 00:01:28:04
Mika Shino
And for a startup, I really think that that's the the most difficult is really getting started.

00:01:28:06 - 00:01:50:12
Jessie Ott
Yeah. No 100% and trying to navigate something that in an industry you're not, you know, familiar with is a huge feat. So, you know, it's remarkable. You know, achievement. And we're going to get into all those really fun things. But let's start first with, Mika, where are you calling from today?

00:01:50:14 - 00:01:55:08
Mika Shino
So I'm calling from Bethesda, Maryland, right on the border of, DC.

00:01:55:09 - 00:01:59:15
Jessie Ott
Nice. Beautiful area. I interned out there in 1996.

00:01:59:17 - 00:02:00:15
Mika Shino
Wow.

00:02:00:17 - 00:02:05:01
Jessie Ott
Yeah, it was great. It was so fun. I lived in Foggy Bottom.

00:02:05:03 - 00:02:07:17
Mika Shino
Wow. Yeah, absolutely.

00:02:07:19 - 00:02:08:16
Jessie Ott
Yeah, I mean, these.

00:02:08:16 - 00:02:13:03
Mika Shino
You look like you're, like, 17, so it's very hard to come back.

00:02:13:05 - 00:02:51:10
Jessie Ott
And it's. The lighting is the lighting. It takes all those wrinkles away. Yeah, yeah. No, I'll be a half century in two years. Almost. Yeah, yeah. No spring chicken for you. I, I really appreciate that. That just boosted my confidence. So, Bethesda. Yeah, I know that's that's a beautiful part of the country. Talked to another gentleman today from the DC area, and it's just it's just beautiful and, you know, wonderful, you know, cultural, center for for not just Americans, but for, for others, around the world.

00:02:51:10 - 00:03:01:16
Jessie Ott
And, I'm sure you've seen all the beautiful Japanese, trees that, that are all over the city, too, that bloom in April, I believe.

00:03:01:16 - 00:03:03:16
Mika Shino
Yeah. March. April. But, yeah.

00:03:03:16 - 00:03:22:19
Jessie Ott
March. April. Yeah. Beautiful city. Yeah. My wife and I, we, in Japan, you have a holiday in the spring, and I can't remember. I think it's more late April. May, but, it's, I forget what it's called. It's like all holiday. So there's spring Golden weekend.

00:03:22:19 - 00:03:23:08
Mika Shino
You're holding me?

00:03:23:10 - 00:03:40:04
Jessie Ott
Yes. Yeah. Thank you. But it's a little late to go see, the cherry blossom. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but we'd love to go sometime. So, let's. So let's get into your, interesting background. So where where were you born? Were you born in, in in Japan?

00:03:40:05 - 00:04:07:03
Mika Shino
Yes. So I was born in Kyoto, Japan, the old capital. So that's kind of cultural, you know, Heritage center, really of Japan. All the temples are still there. And, just the traditional artisanal, craftsmanship is still there. So where they make Obi and kimonos and traditional, traditional ways of making pickles and tofu and, of course, the music and the arts.

00:04:07:03 - 00:04:09:18
Mika Shino
So it's all in Kyoto. So that's where I'm from.

00:04:09:20 - 00:04:29:23
Jessie Ott
We went there, unfortunately for a day. So we did do the temples, and then we walked down, the market, and then we walked to, a like, kind of an I would call it an old school traditional Japanese, the chicken cutlet, the fried chicken cutlet place. Yeah. The,

00:04:30:01 - 00:04:32:20
Mika Shino
The. Yes, the. Oh, yeah. Yes.

00:04:32:22 - 00:04:56:07
Jessie Ott
And and, you know, see, you know, restaurants in Japan that the whole culture for me was completely different, experience. And I loved every bit of it. You know, the restaurants hold ten, 20 people, you know, it's very intimate experience. The selections are, you know, you don't get ten beers on tap and, you know, 5 or 6.

00:04:56:09 - 00:05:09:08
Jessie Ott
All the different types of saké or anything like that, you get one saké, one beer, and either it's either Jim Beam or Suntory Highball. Right. It's very simple and I just love that.

00:05:09:10 - 00:05:11:05
Mika Shino
Oh, so glad you liked it.

00:05:11:07 - 00:05:16:11
Jessie Ott
Yeah, it's really fun. Really, really fun. So what what brought you out of Kyoto?

00:05:16:13 - 00:05:43:08
Mika Shino
So I moved, with my family from Japan when I was eight. My father was a painter. He was an artist. And there was a lot of censorship in the 70s. Vis-a-vis artists doing politically challenging work or just, you know, work that was controversial. So there was a huge exodus of artists from Japan in the 70s actually moving to either Europe, mainly Germany or to New York.

00:05:43:10 - 00:05:57:05
Mika Shino
So my father was part of that movement and he said, I'm, I'm getting out of here. And he left to, to be able to work in the U.S. So I arrived here when I was eight and have been living in the U.S since.

00:05:57:07 - 00:05:59:03
Jessie Ott
On the East coast or the East Coast.

00:05:59:03 - 00:06:28:12
Mika Shino
So we moved to New York in the new Jersey. So I did all of my, you know, education until college in new Jersey. And then I did my undergrad in New York University, and then I moved to France for 17 years and ended up doing my graduate studies and working at the UN there, working kind of all over, worked in over 100 countries from the Middle East, Africa and, and, it was an amazing journey.

00:06:28:14 - 00:06:57:03
Jessie Ott
Yeah. And that's, that was like a dream job, I think I always wanted to work for the IMF, you know, because it was kind of the economic point of view of everything. And I love the multiple cultures. And I, I wish I could have, you know, had some type of experience like that because I think it rounds you out and it, it you get you having exposure does that many cultures and the different way of life is certainly eye opening in some cases for sure.

00:06:57:05 - 00:07:08:11
Jessie Ott
And just, just rich. It's so rich that each culture has its own, you know, uniqueness to it that you don't really forget. Right? Once you learn some of those things?

00:07:08:13 - 00:07:34:04
Mika Shino
Absolutely. You're so right. Just seeing it just makes you feel more connected to people and to the rest of the world. It doesn't seem so foreign or outside of your own sort of bubble. So for 17 years I really worked a lot with, people from all over the world, all kinds of cultures, and it was really a great experience to to be in the middle of it.

00:07:34:06 - 00:07:44:15
Jessie Ott
And so, what sparked you to go to France, like, I mean, for me, I, I went to grad school there. So I get it.

00:07:44:17 - 00:08:08:03
Mika Shino
Yeah. I mean, I was studying I have a very winding trajectory. I was studying philosophy after doing music, as an undergrad at New York University. And I just got so attracted to philosophy in Europe, and I was planning on going to do my PhD in Germany. But I thought, well, I have to learn French and I have to be, you know, well versed in French.

00:08:08:03 - 00:08:24:18
Mika Shino
Thought so it was going to be a detour. But I ended up, you know, just really putting down my roots for almost two decades. But that was the initial reason I thought I have to learn French, I have to know French culture, and then I'll go to Germany. I just never made it to Germany.

00:08:24:20 - 00:08:51:06
Jessie Ott
Yeah, France can have that effect on you. I wanted to go back really, really bad. It just didn't. Didn't pan out. But, Yeah, you get certainly. You know, I was a student there and they had passed the, 35, we're working week, I think, when I was there. And the farmers would come and burn all kinds of animals, but just things because our school was right by the perfect tour.

00:08:51:08 - 00:09:09:00
Jessie Ott
And so they'd come and, you know, it was interesting to see, you know, how, you know, that government handled or how people I mean, what I like about it is that, you know, people stood up for themselves, right? They're fighting for for their livelihoods, you know, which is good.

00:09:09:02 - 00:09:10:18
Mika Shino
It's great. Yeah.

00:09:10:20 - 00:09:12:16
Jessie Ott
Where were you in. Were you in Paris?

00:09:12:17 - 00:09:26:16
Mika Shino
I was in Paris the whole time, so I did. I went there to continue my studies, so I got well, they made me redo my bachelor's because at the Sorbonne they said, well, an American bachelor's in philosophy, that's like worthless. So I had to see people.

00:09:26:18 - 00:09:27:02
Jessie Ott
Yeah.

00:09:27:02 - 00:09:49:02
Mika Shino
So I had to redo my bachelor's. They made me do, a year and a half of kind of qualifying exams, and courses. And then I did my Masters, and all my classes for my PhD, and then I went to London, to London School of Economics to do an additional master's. So I spent, you know, a lot of time in academia thinking that I was going to teach or I was going to be a professor.

00:09:49:02 - 00:10:01:14
Mika Shino
And I just got kind of disillusioned by the whole academic world, especially in philosophy. It was very, very severe and, quite toxic, I think. Really? Yeah.

00:10:01:19 - 00:10:05:01
Jessie Ott
That's not a word I would associate with that. What do you mean?

00:10:05:02 - 00:10:28:17
Mika Shino
Well, the whole, you know, the whole, sphere of philosophy is about negating what other people have said in order to position your own thesis. So when you're presenting, you have to put down everybody else who came before you in history. So it's just by definition, it's a very negative approach, you know, cheering on, you know, what other people have said.

00:10:28:19 - 00:11:02:22
Mika Shino
You just really need to put everybody else down in order to say that. Well, I'm right. I have a new idea. I have a new position. So it's, you know, that's kind of the nature of that discipline, but it doesn't really fit my character, actually. And it's a really long time to to realize that I went into philosophy because I love big ideas, you know, big questions and existentialism and all that, so I didn't it's a very, for me, a life affirming quest to to look for wisdom.

00:11:03:00 - 00:11:11:16
Mika Shino
But the actual profession of philosophy is not that or wasn't. And I was when I was getting out of it and.

00:11:11:17 - 00:11:24:17
Jessie Ott
Yeah, that's super interesting. Well, I think for the the rest of us, we're kind of happy about that because you, you, you then you got into cooking, right? You wrote a cookbook. There's a cookbook somewhere in there.

00:11:24:19 - 00:11:49:09
Mika Shino
Really. I mean, I've always been obsessed with food. So even when I was working at the UN, every time we did a trip, we call it missions instead of business trips. I would always go and, you know, work at a kitchen for a day or, you know, cook with somebody locally. I was always curious and very interested in the places and the technique and, throughout Southeast Asia, Africa, Middle East.

00:11:49:11 - 00:12:09:14
Mika Shino
So I was always obsessed with food. I come from a family of food lovers, you know, back in Japan, this is like 30, 40 years ago. 50 years ago, my grandmother would only get eggs from one farmer and only get dried fish from a different fisherman. It's it was very specific. It was like gourmet shopping before it existed.

00:12:09:14 - 00:12:10:07
Jessie Ott
Yeah, well.

00:12:10:11 - 00:12:35:17
Mika Shino
That's always been kind of a common thread. I love to cook. I cook for my friends. That's my language of love. So when I had kids, even though I was still working at the UN, I really started to focus on how food affects you, how food impacts your growth as a human being from baby to adult. So that's how I got into taking it more seriously.

00:12:35:19 - 00:12:54:03
Jessie Ott
Yeah, and I don't I certainly don't know what it was like to be, you know, a kid and in Japan, back in the days. But yeah, we had sugar and we had we had different things. I don't know if high fructose corn sirup was a thing yet, but it this. Yes, it things didn't seem so bad right when we were.

00:12:54:04 - 00:13:13:08
Jessie Ott
We're putting sugar because we're kids, but we weren't putting that. I don't think we were putting as bad as things were, you know? Certainly there there's a lot of causes, like you were saying, like ADHD or, or certain things that can cause that, that there we're finding out kind of, you know. No, no, not so much back then, but.

00:13:13:08 - 00:13:17:17
Jessie Ott
Well, we weren't even diagnosed with any such thing back then. We were just rowdy kids.

00:13:17:19 - 00:13:18:18
Mika Shino
That's it.

00:13:18:20 - 00:13:32:15
Jessie Ott
Yeah, yeah. Okay, so just going back for a second. Music. What? What kind of music? Or did you play an instrument or was it digital or how did you get involved?

00:13:32:15 - 00:13:56:03
Mika Shino
Yeah. So I was always playing music since I was, you know, 4 or 5 in Japan, all kids, they either take a violin or a piano. It's kind of part of your general education. So I played piano and my brother did as well. But we learn, usually classical music. As I got older, I got more interested in jazz, and I just got exposed to a lot of music.

00:13:56:03 - 00:14:08:15
Mika Shino
Living in new Jersey, going out, to clubs in New York. I was also dancing, so I did music videos. So that's kind of saying my my journey has been very,

00:14:08:17 - 00:14:09:10
Jessie Ott
Yeah.

00:14:09:12 - 00:14:10:22
Mika Shino
It's excellent.

00:14:11:00 - 00:14:11:22
Jessie Ott
It's exciting.

00:14:12:00 - 00:14:38:12
Mika Shino
So I did a lot because I'm old. So I was auditioning for music videos. I did, you know, this is in the 90s, so I did L'alcool j heavy D in the boys. Those videos, I did club MTV, but I got more and more drawn towards, you know, poetry and music writing philosophy. And I was fortunate enough to meet, Thelonious Monk Junior and a lot of amazing jazz musicians just being around New York.

00:14:38:14 - 00:14:52:13
Mika Shino
And that's how I got into music. And it's it's a very unusual path from dance to music and then to the UN and philosophy. But it's it's been it's been an interesting journey.

00:14:52:15 - 00:15:17:09
Jessie Ott
Yeah. I, I love jazz. I was going to ask you about, your experience with France because because, you know, there's, there was is such an influx of American jazz artists who went there. There's a huge cultural, there to me, when you go to a music store in France, I loved it so much. And this is back in like 1999, 98.

00:15:17:11 - 00:15:56:19
Jessie Ott
And I haven't been there. I haven't been there in a minute. My wife reminds me all the time, I got to get where we're trying to go next year for her 50th, but. So, when you go to the music section, it's completely different. And what I loved about it so much because I'm a jazz person, too, is the influx of jazz with pop and the mixes that they make with and, and just the natural flow of jazz and their and their music was so, like, exciting for me because it's not that it's very it's very separate here in the U.S. it's, you know, it's not this, this kind of crossover.

00:15:56:21 - 00:16:15:00
Jessie Ott
And, I mean, there are a few artists now that do that and do that very successfully. But not to this level. And I just thought that was really, really, a wonderful, warm feeling for me. And I really loved about, you know, being in France and being in Paris.

00:16:15:02 - 00:16:38:07
Mika Shino
Yeah. No, you're absolutely right. I think in general, in France, there's a very deep appreciation of jazz as an art form, as a legitimate art form, and it's much more pervasive, as you say, it's not an isolated genre. Right. So it was amazing to be in France, to work for the UN and to be able to bring in jazz musicians, to promote peace and dialog.

00:16:38:12 - 00:16:39:01
Jessie Ott
That's so.

00:16:39:01 - 00:17:07:19
Mika Shino
Cool. Yeah. It was it was really an amazing experience. And I got to work with, you know, amazing legends, you know, way shorter, Herbie Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater and it's it's still part of my life. And, it's it's been such an enriching experience, especially jazz musicians talk about, you know, the importance of improvization taking an idea and improvising and figuring it out, which is so essential to business to anything that you do.

00:17:07:19 - 00:17:08:07
Jessie Ott
Yeah.

00:17:08:09 - 00:17:17:21
Mika Shino
But it's it's really that the ethos of jazz is really, very, very important. I think more than what people realize.

00:17:17:23 - 00:17:21:08
Jessie Ott
Can you, can you explain a little bit more? Because I think that's really cool.

00:17:21:10 - 00:17:41:08
Mika Shino
Yeah. I mean, Herbie Hancock, who's a very dear friend, is godfather to my kids. He talks. No way. Yeah. So the ethos of jazz is really about, you know, you can't improvise in a band unless you are really open and receptive to what other people are doing. So you have to listen. You have to be in tune with what's going on.

00:17:41:10 - 00:18:01:17
Mika Shino
You can't be, you know, you have to read the room, I guess, is the terminology, and only then can you come out with your own voice. Right? And with groups that supports you, that respects you, that hears you, hears you out. So there is, this ethos, the way you're supposed to behave with each other and with yourself.

00:18:01:19 - 00:18:23:08
Mika Shino
That is the the foundation of what jazz is. You can't improvise if you don't have that culture right of respect and listening and supporting each other interests. I think that's that's so important. You know, one day there should be a business book about this, but that's really how you build teams, right? That's how you build a company culture.

00:18:23:10 - 00:18:48:05
Mika Shino
And you go on a hunch, you know, an improv. It's an improvised line, in a given piece is you have a hunch about you're hearing something and you don't know what it is, but you have to follow it, and eventually it blooms into something amazing. And is the same with any business idea. You just have a hunch, you don't know if it's going to work, and you have to take the leap into the unknown, which is what Wayne Shorter always used to say.

00:18:48:07 - 00:18:53:15
Mika Shino
You have to, you know, you have to take the leap and you can't rehearse the unknown.

00:18:53:16 - 00:19:13:15
Jessie Ott
Yeah, you're absolutely right. I mean, it's sort of like with many entrepreneurs that I've interviewed here. It's certainly, case in point with my company that I'm about to launch, you start off, you start out with one idea that you hear, right? And then you start talking about it and it ebbs and flows and it kind of turns into something a little bit different than what you kind of started out to.

00:19:13:15 - 00:19:21:14
Jessie Ott
Because to your point, you're listening to what's needed out there and what's what's happening. So yeah, that's a really cool analogy. I like that a lot.

00:19:21:17 - 00:19:37:16
Mika Shino
Oh, thank you. Yes, I get I get so inspired by jazz and they put themselves out there every day, every show, you know, every piece and make magic out of something that they just have a hunch about. Right? So I learned a lot and I have so much respect for them.

00:19:37:18 - 00:19:50:11
Jessie Ott
I used to go to a place, on Christopher Street, it's, I don't know, it probably fit 50 people. Maybe. Nice. It's a small. Yeah. Is it still around?

00:19:50:14 - 00:19:51:18
Mika Shino
Yes, I think so.

00:19:51:19 - 00:19:58:06
Jessie Ott
I think so. Oh, man. Good memories. Yeah. I love that place.

00:19:58:08 - 00:20:00:01
Mika Shino
Yeah, it's a great spot.

00:20:00:03 - 00:20:12:04
Jessie Ott
Yeah. Oh, man. Cool. Okay, so you're in. You're in Paris. You're working for the UN, and then what kind of. Yeah. Have you done the the the cookbook yet?

00:20:12:06 - 00:20:30:19
Mika Shino
Oh, so, you know, I was at the UN for 17 years, and I had my son. We were going to me and my husband at the time we were going to move to, Africa. But my son had, this rare what they thought was a rare liver disease. And they thought he was going to need, you know, a liver transplant.

00:20:30:19 - 00:20:55:20
Mika Shino
It was a lot, a just a lot going on. So I took a leave to really care for my son. And that's really what drove me into the cookbook and how to feed babies, how to nurture each other and what, what, what our specific ingredients doing to our growth. Because in Japan we talk a lot about, brain growth with food, not just about physical, you know, your body growing as a toddler or as a, as a baby.

00:20:55:22 - 00:21:21:11
Mika Shino
We talk a lot about what specific ingredients stimulate brain development. And so I felt like that was really missing in the in the way we, we nurture infants and how we start to feed them. There's a whole technique on stimulating the palate and giving them different textures that really help with, avoiding, fussiness, you know, having, difficulty trying out different foods when you're older.

00:21:21:13 - 00:21:43:00
Mika Shino
So when you see Japanese kids, they love broccoli, you know, they look at it and they love spinach because they they've been kind of trained to accept those textures and to accept bitter tastes and kind of weird, slimy feeling of, you know, a mango or an eggplant. So that's kind of, why I wrote that first book.

00:21:43:02 - 00:21:45:17
Jessie Ott
Well, that's interesting, but your son's okay. Yes.

00:21:45:19 - 00:21:46:22
Mika Shino
He is. Yes.

00:21:46:23 - 00:21:48:05
Jessie Ott
Okay. Yes. That's good.

00:21:48:06 - 00:21:49:08
Mika Shino
Thank you.

00:21:49:10 - 00:21:57:08
Jessie Ott
But it certainly started you on a on a journey, where you are kind of today. So what brought you back to the US then?

00:21:57:10 - 00:22:22:01
Mika Shino
So, you know, I was we were in France and I knew that I wanted to do some kind of a business, and it's just very hard to do it from France. And you're really committed to living in France and, and it's, it's a much more conservative, structured business, society. Right. Yeah. That's really the beauty of the US.

00:22:22:02 - 00:22:32:15
Mika Shino
It's really the American dream. I mean, for me to just come back to the U.S and just register a business, you know, it takes like, you know, two hours to set up a year. Within a year.

00:22:32:15 - 00:22:35:16
Jessie Ott
It's like 200 bucks or something. Yeah.

00:22:35:18 - 00:22:54:06
Mika Shino
So legalzoom, you can set up a business. I mean, that's like unthinkable in most countries, you know, there's so much red tape. So that's really one of the reasons why we came back and my husband, was working at the world Bank. So it was a just a great opportunity to transition and and try it out.

00:22:54:08 - 00:23:00:03
Jessie Ott
Well that's great. And you and you, I guess you went back to your roots worth to where your your family is from.

00:23:00:05 - 00:23:04:09
Mika Shino
No, where. This is why we're in DC, Bethesda. This is because of the you went.

00:23:04:09 - 00:23:06:16
Jessie Ott
Straight back to okay. So you went to DC.

00:23:06:16 - 00:23:11:14
Mika Shino
Yeah. Straight away I didn't drive. I didn't know anybody here.

00:23:11:16 - 00:23:12:08
Jessie Ott
And,

00:23:12:10 - 00:23:25:15
Mika Shino
You know, just starting over. But it's it's it's amazing because like I said, you really you can start from zero. Yeah. And you can learn on the way of building something. And that's exactly what I did.

00:23:25:17 - 00:23:30:23
Jessie Ott
And so did you know what kind of business you, you wanted to do in it while you were in Paris?

00:23:31:04 - 00:23:52:17
Mika Shino
No, I just knew I knew I wanted to do something with food, but I had so many different ideas. It was very difficult to to hone in on things. And when I came back to the U.S, I was still working for the UN. I was still doing consulting. I still do, you know, I, I have a consultancy firm, working with Herbie Hancock and different artists with their philanthropy.

00:23:52:17 - 00:24:09:18
Mika Shino
So it's it was still something I was doing. I was also CEO of a tech firm, for six years. So I was juggling a lot of things, raising my kids, trying to figure out when is the right time. And I think this is what a lot of entrepreneurs before starting, you don't know. There's no right time to start.

00:24:09:19 - 00:24:10:09
Jessie Ott
Yeah.

00:24:10:11 - 00:24:25:19
Mika Shino
Just like there's no right time to have a baby. You've, you know, you have to do it and then you'll figure it out. Really. It's a it's a very strong parallel for me because I really had no idea what I was getting into, and I was I kept delaying it and I kept thinking, okay, I gotta find the right moment to launch a business.

00:24:25:19 - 00:24:48:23
Mika Shino
And I started to make these mochi. What I call mochi gummies, their basic mochi cakes that are that are dried and made into candies. And I started to make it because my kids, when they were becoming toddlers, they started to love Sour Patch and gummy bears. And even if you tried to, shelter your kids, you know, there's Halloween, there's birthday parties, they get exposed to it.

00:24:49:01 - 00:24:57:12
Mika Shino
Yeah. My son didn't have chewing gum until he was five, but it's like you can't keep do. You can't keep them in a in a in a in a game. We're going to. Yeah.

00:24:57:14 - 00:24:59:06
Jessie Ott
I think the first time he hit potato chips.

00:24:59:06 - 00:25:19:20
Mika Shino
He was literally like four years old at a birthday party. And he ate like the whole bowl because he had never had it before. And there's a limit to how much you could sell to your kids. So, you know, I started to bake these sheets of mochi cakes in my kitchen. And, that's really how it started. But I didn't have a fixed sense of it.

00:25:19:22 - 00:25:35:07
Mika Shino
Even when I was baking these, I was making it for my kids, and they would bring it to school and their friends would love it. And then the parents would ask me about it. And because I live in Bethesda, there's a lot of folks, because Mars is based around here, a lot of people I know work for the Mars family.

00:25:35:09 - 00:25:35:18
Jessie Ott
Makes.

00:25:35:19 - 00:25:47:04
Mika Shino
It. Well, you got to stop everything, and you have to do this. And I thought, that is ridiculous. I don't know any Mandi. I don't know anything about. I didn't even know the word CPG, you know, I didn't even know what she meant.

00:25:47:06 - 00:25:48:08
Jessie Ott
So was that you?

00:25:48:08 - 00:25:50:15
Mika Shino
Do you now? I do.

00:25:50:17 - 00:25:51:19
Jessie Ott
This very quick.

00:25:51:21 - 00:26:15:02
Mika Shino
First learning curve. But that's really it really started naively. I didn't have this big strategy. And this is the business. It really didn't start out like that. It came because there was a need for my kids and their friends. And I thought, well, then there must be a need for other kids, too. And other parents who are worried about the junk and the artificial flavors and the artificial colors and and the industrial gelatin that's in candies.

00:26:15:03 - 00:26:19:22
Mika Shino
There must be other people like me. So that's really how it started.

00:26:20:00 - 00:26:28:23
Jessie Ott
And then when did the moment come where it was? Wow, I could really make this into a consumer product.

00:26:29:01 - 00:26:47:10
Mika Shino
This is a great question. You know, if there was an moment, I think, you know, after a bunch of parents told me you got to do this, full time, I was just curious about the shelf life. So I got in touch with the food scientists, and I thought, how long could this last on the shelf?

00:26:47:10 - 00:27:12:04
Mika Shino
Because mochi is very perishable. It's like a baguette. And it's actually sold in the baked goods section in Japan. Fresh mochi. And it lasts 1 or 2 days. Otherwise it gets it gets stale, gets hard, it gets moldy. And so he looked at my my gummies and he said, well, maybe you have a week, five days. And he said, maybe you'll be able to get up, you know, a stand at a farmer's market and sell it as a fresh good.

00:27:12:04 - 00:27:35:22
Mika Shino
And that's not what I want. And that's really when I started to get this drive, like, no, I got to make this happen. I got to make this into a shelf stable. Candy so that other kids can have options for a better snack. So I think knowing, that it was difficult and it wasn't working, that's really when it started to kick in like, no, I got to figure this out and it it took us, you know, two, two years, two and a half years.

00:27:36:00 - 00:27:58:04
Mika Shino
And we're still tweaking it because it's a really, really complex, product because we're not using artificial emulsifiers and stabilizers. You know, if we had just injected a whole bunch of stuff, we would have been done years ago. But it is it is pure chemistry, the way we're doing it, because we don't want it to be junk.

00:27:58:06 - 00:28:31:09
Jessie Ott
Right? No, that's, that's that's great. And it's comes at a time where the market is demanding it. Right. Especially with the, Gen Zers wanting more health conscious, foods. They want more of the story. They want to hear more about the company. The background, I guess, you know, gen, Gen Xers to some, you know, or Gen Y or millennials, millennials and Z-Ers more so, than, you know, before.

00:28:31:09 - 00:28:48:04
Jessie Ott
And so the transparency is, is great. I mean, that's a huge selling point. But to your point, to, you know, to what you're saying, it's it's a journey to get there. It's really difficult. So what what where are you at with that now. How long does it last.

00:28:48:06 - 00:28:50:19
Mika Shino
So we have a shelf life of a year.

00:28:50:21 - 00:28:51:17
Jessie Ott
Which is incredible.

00:28:51:21 - 00:29:06:10
Mika Shino
Which is pretty incredible. But I mean, you know, when you look at other gummy bears and jelly beans, they did they last like 2 or 3 years. Right. So we're we're nowhere near that. And it's and that's okay with me I would rather deliver is great. Thank you.

00:29:06:12 - 00:29:07:05
Jessie Ott
Yeah.

00:29:07:07 - 00:29:27:16
Mika Shino
I would rather deliver something that I can be proud of. It's it's, you know, especially my kids are older. And if I sell out to them and start putting in junk that I just wouldn't have their respect, you know? Yeah, I couldn't, I couldn't do that. I couldn't, you know, I think a lot of people, because we're naturally flavored now, naturally colored.

00:29:27:18 - 00:29:52:21
Mika Shino
It's a very subtle flavor and very subtle, colors. And for people who may be used to just having Jolly Ranchers or Starburst, it seems very, too subtle, right? But I think, you know, it's very similar to what happened in the yogurt sector, before Chobani and the Greek yogurts, which are very tart. All the yogurts in the US were very, sweet and almost like a custard.

00:29:52:21 - 00:30:11:04
Mika Shino
Like a pudding, like you'll play. So when the Greek yogurts were introduced, people were very, I think, taken aback because it's very tart. It's not sweet and the texture is is more pasty. But once people got accustomed to it, there's a huge I mean, it's a huge market now with the Greek style yogurts and even the.

00:30:11:05 - 00:30:13:21
Jessie Ott
All I eat now. Yeah, ditto Bonnie.

00:30:13:23 - 00:30:36:01
Mika Shino
Chobani. There's Siggi's, which is, Icelandic. And they're very different from traditional American yogurts. Yes. And I think that kind of shift needs to start. If people are more aware of the bad ingredients in traditional gummies or candies or food, they just they have to understand that it's not going to taste like the traditional candies with the junk.

00:30:36:03 - 00:30:49:12
Mika Shino
Right? Right. Well, I think you know, that whole process has been a journey, like you said, Jesse. And we're still, you know, we're still trying to enhance it all the time. We're not done. We're going to keep evolving and keep making it better.

00:30:49:14 - 00:30:54:20
Jessie Ott
So just I've got to pack it here. So is it one year to when you open the packet?

00:30:54:22 - 00:30:58:00
Mika Shino
It's one year from the date of production data production.

00:30:58:00 - 00:31:00:00
Jessie Ott
So it doesn't matter if it's open or not open.

00:31:00:00 - 00:31:00:21
Mika Shino
Yeah exactly.

00:31:01:01 - 00:31:28:02
Jessie Ott
Very cool okay. Thank you. And just these are awesome. Like I guess school lunch kind of for kids to pack in their school lunches or, you know, I could see people going to like a, we've, a vending machine, you know, so that's, that's really, really cool. So, I'm going to get I'm going to nerd out just for a second here.

00:31:28:04 - 00:31:45:17
Jessie Ott
In the world of soccer, they, there's, there's different types of rice, obviously for different things. And you have jasmine rice here. Brown rice. Yeah. You know, different types of rice that I'm sure that are for mochi making. Is that a thing?

00:31:45:19 - 00:32:16:17
Mika Shino
So yeah. Mochi making it traditionally, is made with glutinous rice or sweet rice, which is a sticky rice. So we use glutinous rice as well. It's labeled as rice because FDA, requires that you use the, the regular normal understanding of rice. So if we put glutinous rice, it's not necessarily mainstream knowledge what that is. We use sweet rice, but in Japan there's, you know, over 60 different kinds of mochi, and some of them don't even have any rice.

00:32:16:17 - 00:32:39:20
Mika Shino
Some of them are made with agar agar, which is, you know, a seaweed, some of them made with, fern powder. So there's different kinds of, ingredients. So really the defining idea is the chewiness or the bounciness of the texture of whatever you, you make that from. So it's not just exclusive to rice. So I'm glad you raised that.

00:32:39:20 - 00:32:42:04
Mika Shino
Jesse. Thank you for that question.

00:32:42:06 - 00:32:56:15
Jessie Ott
Yeah, that's I didn't know that. So, gluten rice, no, gluten in the US is sort of, you know. Oh, well, I'm intolerant or whatever. So can you explain a little bit what that means? Yeah. Some a non wheat perspective.

00:32:56:15 - 00:33:24:00
Mika Shino
Exactly. Glutinous rice just describes the stickiness of the rice. So it's a shorter grain than the regular, you know, basmati or even regular rice. So when you cooked it and you steam it, it's almost like a it's like a stretchy, stretchy substance. So that's what we mean by glutinous rice. And this is why the FDA and I think it's a good thing that they don't, allow us to say glutinous rice because people would think, oh, does that mean that there's gluten?

00:33:24:05 - 00:33:27:04
Jessie Ott
There's absolutely. How can this be gluten free?

00:33:27:06 - 00:33:41:13
Mika Shino
So there's absolutely no gluten. It really describes that. And gluten is really about the chewy, stretchy right wheat component. And that's what that's what that terminology is. It's sweet rice and is glutinous rice but no gluten.

00:33:41:15 - 00:33:45:15
Jessie Ott
I wonder if people started using this in baking gluten free as if it would stick together better.

00:33:45:15 - 00:33:58:13
Mika Shino
Yeah, absolutely. Mochi powder. Rice powder, glutinous rice powder is is, you know, it can replace wheat. It can make anything, you know, muffins, donuts, bread. That's what we use in Japan.

00:33:58:15 - 00:34:23:07
Jessie Ott
Interesting. Well, maybe we started a trend right here, right now. Well, I'll tell you my, there is some mochi in the, freezer section of grocery stores, and they're in the form of, you know, ice cream there, you know, a little bite sized ice cream. Well, I mean, three bites, they're not. They're not that small. And then they've got the mango, the strawberry and the chocolate.

00:34:23:09 - 00:34:44:16
Jessie Ott
And we just love those. We absolutely didn't. It's that it's chewy and it's just it's delightful and it's not overly sweet, which is what we like, because anything too sweet, we're like, even if there's no calories to it, you know? And it's, you know, guilt free if it's we're just not used to that super sweet flavoring. Or if we do, it's like real rich.

00:34:44:16 - 00:34:53:06
Jessie Ott
So we can you can only have a little bit. And so, I'm excited that these aren't overly, you know, sweet. I think that's good.

00:34:53:08 - 00:35:06:10
Mika Shino
Thank you. I mean, I really wanted to evoke, a subtle flavor so that you're chasing the flavor down the bag, right. Sometimes when you have, like, a candy that's very strong, you're you're fine with just one piece.

00:35:06:12 - 00:35:06:20
Jessie Ott
Yes.

00:35:06:20 - 00:35:14:22
Mika Shino
I think the natural set of flavors allow for that kind of, you know, indulgence of eating more than one piece.

00:35:15:00 - 00:35:22:08
Jessie Ott
Yeah. No, I like I like it. Well, since we're kind of there, do you, do you want to go ahead and try a couple of flavors?

00:35:22:10 - 00:35:23:21
Mika Shino
Yes. Would you like to try.

00:35:23:23 - 00:35:52:01
Jessie Ott
Yeah. Of course. Yes. I'll just explain a little bit. What was sent. So, we, they sent, like, this really cool box, like, so. Yeah. Big. And then they have this cute little story, on Mika and then, a sticker, really cool sticker, and then a little handwritten note to so cool. I love it.

00:35:52:01 - 00:35:53:20
Mika Shino
Here. Right. All of our notes, by the way.

00:35:54:01 - 00:35:55:18
Jessie Ott
That's super impressive.

00:35:55:20 - 00:35:57:10
Mika Shino
No. Yeah. Thank you.

00:35:57:10 - 00:36:00:00
Jessie Ott
Hope you never get rid of that. I know it's a lot of time, but I.

00:36:00:00 - 00:36:20:01
Mika Shino
Love it, you know, and we're doing our shipping from home still. And, I do it at night, at midnight on Sundays. I mean, I get up, that's what I do, right? I've got 1 or 2 people helping me, but they don't always, come see, I'm doing it. And I think each of us, we we write notes and we thank each of our customers.

00:36:20:01 - 00:36:38:06
Mika Shino
And, that's a very Japanese tradition to even if you buy, like, the smallest thing in a store, they'll wrap it for you and they'll thank you. And it's, you know, you feel like it's special. So even if somebody orders just one bag, we write a no, we put a sticker, we put a story. You know, it's so important.

00:36:38:06 - 00:36:46:12
Mika Shino
I think the whole point of being able to make candy is that you're creating something that sparks joy. So, you know, I we.

00:36:46:14 - 00:37:08:16
Jessie Ott
Yeah, I think it's great. I hope I love that I think that's really cool that you're incorporating part of your culture within within the, the whole thing, the whole brand. I know a Japanese people are so sweet and so nice. And I'll give you an example. There is a woman promoted to VP at Suntory and pair of beverages over in Japan.

00:37:08:18 - 00:37:26:23
Jessie Ott
And I went online and I was like, hey, can I can I interview her on my podcast? This is the year ago, maybe. And they're like, although that was very nice of you to ask. She's not doing interviews at this time, but best of luck with your podcast. And I was just like, oh, that is so sweet.

00:37:27:01 - 00:37:48:01
Jessie Ott
Like, it's just, like you said, it was a it was a no, it was specific to me, you know, not not I'm not saying that's your case, but that that signifies you're part of the culture. Like most people wouldn't take the time to email a response like that. You know, it was very sweet. And I was like, oh, that's typical.

00:37:48:01 - 00:37:54:00
Jessie Ott
Like, sweet Japanese style. I loved it. It's it's it goes a long way in business, you know.

00:37:54:01 - 00:38:12:01
Mika Shino
Does and I think, you know, somebody took the time to order one bag from us and to try us even though we're new and they've never probably eaten something like this before. So I thank you for saying that, Jessie. So many people, as we've grown have said, you've got to stop these right? You know, note writing, it takes too much of your time.

00:38:12:01 - 00:38:22:21
Mika Shino
You've got to stop doing packing yourself. And it's like the best part that I get to actually package it. And I can imagine somebody being happy opening it. I don't know how you received it, Jessie, but I was.

00:38:22:21 - 00:38:23:21
Jessie Ott
Very happy with.

00:38:23:21 - 00:38:25:11
Mika Shino
Greg gold paper, you know.

00:38:25:11 - 00:38:28:16
Jessie Ott
And it's it's we kept it. Yeah.

00:38:28:18 - 00:38:40:12
Mika Shino
But so it's it. Yes, it is extra time. But I think that's how you build brand loyalty. Yeah. And even. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay.

00:38:40:14 - 00:38:41:17
Jessie Ott
Yeah. This is a.

00:38:41:23 - 00:38:42:23
Mika Shino
Paper by the way.

00:38:42:23 - 00:38:47:22
Jessie Ott
So it's this recycle paper okay. What do you use your years for.

00:38:48:00 - 00:39:03:00
Mika Shino
I use it, you know, to go to basketball games and I put balls and towels and, you know, just I did it because everybody uses Ikea bags. And, you know, when you have kids and it's always this, I think not very pretty color.

00:39:03:02 - 00:39:03:20
Jessie Ott
Right.

00:39:03:22 - 00:39:10:17
Mika Shino
We begin. There's I was like, I want a gold one. Something that's beautiful and glam. But you can always, you know, use it for errands.

00:39:10:19 - 00:39:22:22
Jessie Ott
Yeah. No, I love it. We we go to the pool. You know, and we'll take the dog. And so we have her bag in our bag. So maybe we will just throw everything in there. It's great because it's pretty. It's it's pretty good size.

00:39:22:22 - 00:39:23:20
Mika Shino
It's huge.

00:39:23:21 - 00:39:45:00
Jessie Ott
Yeah. And I like the different handles. Thank you. Oh no. That was really smart so much. Yeah. Because one's a little shorter and one's a little longer. Yeah. So for people that are listening that may not have seen that. So. Okay. Well which, which flavor do you want to should we start with.

00:39:45:02 - 00:39:47:09
Mika Shino
It's totally up to you.

00:39:47:11 - 00:39:55:00
Jessie Ott
Well, I'm a yuzu and a mango fan. These are like my flavors. Just in general.

00:39:55:02 - 00:39:56:14
Mika Shino
Yeah. Please try the yuzu.

00:39:56:16 - 00:40:18:16
Jessie Ott
Is it okay? I got addicted to this flavor. Well, beans. Beam Suntory had, Well, it's a it's called Suntory. Now, here. But they had a a vodka. I think it was. And I ever since I tried that flavor, I just, so good. And then of course, it's all over in Japan, so.

00:40:18:19 - 00:40:40:11
Mika Shino
Yeah. And actually, my mother comes from Kochi, which is like the OG place of, of yuzu. Really? That's where the most, like, the strongest, most perfume. Yuzu comes from the, most ancient funds. And so we take yuzu very seriously.

00:40:40:13 - 00:41:06:02
Jessie Ott
Yeah, I get it. I mean, there's a Japanese restaurant that came a, year or so ago, and it's our favorite. It's called Casa. It's kind of expensive, and they, they do, twists on things versus just your, your typical Japanese sushi, which is really fun for us. But they have a, I think it's a yellowtail sliced really thin and like, yuzu.

00:41:06:08 - 00:41:07:01
Mika Shino


00:41:07:03 - 00:41:22:04
Jessie Ott
Well, and they have these little crispy pinwheels that go with it. So good. These are really you. So you mentioned perfume, right? When I was trying to. When I was tasting it. And it does kind of come off of, like, this essence of that.

00:41:22:04 - 00:41:44:08
Mika Shino
Yeah. Thank you. We worked really hard on that. I have that because there's a lot of yuzu flavorings in the US, but it's not coming from yuzu. It's a combination of different citrus. You can't really fake yuzu because it's such a it's such a unique style citrus profile. So we worked on that for a very long time, actually.

00:41:44:10 - 00:41:46:10
Jessie Ott
It was your first flavors.

00:41:46:12 - 00:42:14:13
Mika Shino
It was strawberry, vanilla and mango. And we did that because we figured the idea of mochi gummies is very foreign and you, our name is sei, which means first generation Japanese immigrants, which is, you know, a very foreign name. So we thought if we come out with very familiar flavors, you know, strawberry, vanilla, mango, it wouldn't be such a stretch for consumers to try it.

00:42:14:15 - 00:42:15:11
Jessie Ott


00:42:15:13 - 00:42:24:07
Mika Shino
I think if I came out with like ube or lychee it's like oh my god what is this. It's Majuba, it's just it's too much.

00:42:24:09 - 00:42:27:19
Jessie Ott
That mango tastes like you're eating a mango.

00:42:27:20 - 00:42:29:17
Mika Shino
Oh thank you so much.

00:42:29:18 - 00:42:43:13
Jessie Ott
So I love mango sticky rice. In fact I have some in the fridge and it's just. Yeah it's really. Those are fantastic. These are, this is like seriously high quality.

00:42:43:18 - 00:42:44:18
Mika Shino
Thank you.

00:42:44:20 - 00:42:48:06
Jessie Ott
Yeah. So let's get back.

00:42:48:06 - 00:42:50:00
Mika Shino
To making me cheer up.

00:42:50:02 - 00:42:51:11
Jessie Ott
Oh I'm sorry. No.

00:42:51:15 - 00:42:52:21
Mika Shino
Oh, great. Thank you.

00:42:52:22 - 00:43:16:19
Jessie Ott
Okay. Yeah. No, it's it's really, truly amazing. So let's get back to. Okay. So you had this drive where you're like, okay, I know I can figure out how to make this shelf life lasts a little longer. And then what was the next kind of step that you had to take to kind of get there because you had a not a nutritionist, but a food engineer.

00:43:16:19 - 00:43:38:13
Mika Shino
You mentioned the food scientist. And we just, you know, we worked on it for a year and a half before we had a workable prototype, because what we were trying to do, we would just flatten out and it would be like a little paste or it would get too hard so we couldn't cut it. It was just it just went back and forth for the texture.

00:43:38:15 - 00:44:04:11
Mika Shino
We couldn't get it to be stable and firm enough for us to cut it into cubes. It kept deflating. So that took a year and a half. And in the meanwhile, you know, I kept telling anybody I met through him or through just random people like, okay, I'm going to I'm going to launch this Whole Foods. And the people that I spoke to really kind of scoffed and laughed at me like a shame, because literally, like, who does she think she is?

00:44:04:11 - 00:44:19:13
Mika Shino
You're not going to launch with Whole Foods because you have to, you know, be in mom and pop shops, like 100, in order to prove sales for a big retailer like that to to get shelf space. And I was like, no, I'm launching with Whole Foods. Like, I don't know what you guys are doing, but that's what I'm doing.

00:44:19:15 - 00:44:20:13
Jessie Ott
That's great.

00:44:20:16 - 00:44:43:06
Mika Shino
I found out and I didn't know any of this. I didn't even know how to get in. Like, what do you do? Right? Do you call, do you show up? And there is obviously the reset where all these supermarkets, they, they have, a window of opportunity for brands to submit their prototypes to see if that they could be included in the next resetting of the shelves.

00:44:43:08 - 00:44:54:16
Mika Shino
So I found this out and, we just got a prototype together, and I found out who the the buyer's name was.

00:44:54:18 - 00:44:56:09
Jessie Ott
She said that's a that's a feat.

00:44:56:15 - 00:45:16:03
Mika Shino
Yeah, that is a feat. Yeah. Amazing. Amazing woman. The whole team there were amazing and I, I obviously, I don't know the industry, so I don't know how samples are sent, but I just imagine her to be like me and somebody who is going to like something beautiful. So I packaged this prototype like a wedding gift.

00:45:16:05 - 00:45:18:03
Jessie Ott
It was like, oh, nice ribbons.

00:45:18:03 - 00:45:34:13
Mika Shino
And, you know, and I wrote a letter and handwrote a letter, and I put my own photo in there, and we got a call like a month later. It was the first Monday of 22. I remember because I was traveling and, they said, what did you we been trying to get in touch with you. Did you get our emails?

00:45:34:13 - 00:45:50:05
Mika Shino
I said, no, I've been on vacation. Is that we want we want a meeting with you right away. And I said, okay, can you wait until next week? Because I'm not holding. No, we got to do it this week. So that was our first conversation. That was my first call ever with anybody in the industry. And they said it's.

00:45:50:11 - 00:45:58:10
Jessie Ott
And by the way, they had to come find you. And yeah, that's all I need to interview that person.

00:45:58:12 - 00:46:18:12
Mika Shino
So just an amazing team with just, you know, a visionary team who saw the potential in my really not great product that they were not perfect at all. The packaging, the foil that you see today, it was illegible. It was really like not there at all. But they said this is an elevated product. We would love to launch you exclusively.

00:46:18:14 - 00:46:36:07
Mika Shino
Can you do national? And I thought, oh my God, I don't even have a facility to make. Like I thought I could be in one store. And I said, you sure? I this it's you know, she said again and, they said, okay, we'll get back to you. And they got back to me in a month. They said, okay, we're going to give you four regions.

00:46:36:09 - 00:46:57:01
Mika Shino
There's five regions in Whole Foods, four regions, 170 stores. Because once you go national, there's a lot of fee for slotting fees and promotions and it becomes like exponential, the amount of money that you have to invest in order to get on the shelf. So this way, I was still in four regions. And, you know, I can still do things, on a reduced cost.

00:46:57:02 - 00:47:12:12
Mika Shino
But it was, yeah, an amazing, amazing team. Ali Townsend and Ian Cook, Abbey Apple I mean, I still, you know, I still talk to them today and they're, they really were the ones who gave us the opportunity, who saw the potential.

00:47:12:14 - 00:47:36:06
Jessie Ott
Yeah. And that's just, you know, the MVP the minimum viable product. I mean, it's the same with my platform. You know, it's I just had to go okay, I have enough. We can we let's let's roll with it. And and people that are visionaries can or people that, you know, see what the potential is. They don't they'll run with it, you know.

00:47:36:08 - 00:47:38:09
Mika Shino
But you got to find those people, right?

00:47:38:09 - 00:47:39:06
Jessie Ott
You got to find those no.

00:47:39:06 - 00:47:55:00
Mika Shino
Matter how amazing your product is or your business is, if people don't get it, if it doesn't resonate with them, it's not going to go anywhere. So I was very, very lucky to meet that team when I, when I that was the only reset I proposed to.

00:47:55:02 - 00:48:13:06
Jessie Ott
Does 1 in 1,000,000 bucket right there. He took the shot. That is so cool. So, you kind of mentioned that team. Is there other people that you'd want to mention that kind of or mentors that that helped you along this, this process?

00:48:13:08 - 00:48:40:00
Mika Shino
Yeah. I mean, so many I think, you know, timing is everything. Maybe if I launched this ten, 15 years ago, there wouldn't not have been this kind of acceptance. But everybody in the industry, they've been so welcoming and enthusiastic and supportive, and we didn't have any brokers. So we didn't go the traditional route. We just went directly to the buyers and it's it's just it was overwhelming how kind everybody was.

00:48:40:00 - 00:48:43:22
Mika Shino
And they were ready to answer my stupid questions. Very basic.

00:48:43:22 - 00:48:44:12
Jessie Ott
Stupid.

00:48:44:12 - 00:49:05:01
Mika Shino
Silly, ignorant questions. And just, you know, so many people, all of the the buyers, the team at Albertsons, at rallies, at Walmart, the fact that we're in 2500 stores, it's really the decision of every single one of these people. And it's it's that's really what's made us.

00:49:05:02 - 00:49:19:18
Jessie Ott
So you had an exclusive with Whole Foods after that, and then and then other chains kind of got wind of what was what the product was, and you were able to kind of go to them. Or did you have did they come to you? Did you go to them? Did you have to get kind of a sales team at that point?

00:49:19:20 - 00:49:42:17
Mika Shino
No, we don't have a sales team. I have one amazing, VP of sales who joined me, just three months ago. Wow, Ellen. Amazing. But we were lucky because, the very first expo we did Expo West was six months after we launched, and after we launched that Whole Foods, we had tons of manufacturing problems. We got custom equipment.

00:49:42:17 - 00:50:09:19
Mika Shino
It didn't work. We were bleeding money because every time you run a test, it's thousands of dollars. We were bleeding, ingredients. And it's just I was really afraid that we were going to actually go bankrupt. So we kept doing this from September to March. And, yeah, it's a very long time to be worried constantly about money. And just consulting food scientists all over the world, trying to figure out how to.

00:50:09:20 - 00:50:28:17
Mika Shino
Nobody had done this before. Right. And then finally, after just weeks and weeks, a weeks and I'm talking like Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, New Year's Day, and we did not take a single day off. We finally cracked the code. It was two weeks before Expo was, and I had already registered, and I was thinking, I can't afford to go.

00:50:28:17 - 00:50:52:12
Mika Shino
You know, I'm going to have to pull out. I can't fly the team there. The team was just me, and I was going to bring my yoga instructor. And just like just a a motley crew of people to help me man the booth. And we cracked the code a week before, and I went to Expo West thinking if I could get like one supermarket in Japan or somewhere to to take us, that would really help us with, you know, growth.

00:50:52:14 - 00:51:15:17
Mika Shino
It was just it was like the the most incredible event of our company. We were nominated in the next we were finalist for the next award, we became the top five pick of Albertsons. We were not an Albertsons. They made us top five pick of the entire expo keiki, which is a distributor. They made us top number one pick of day two.

00:51:15:19 - 00:51:17:10
Jessie Ott
Why was it so much attention?

00:51:17:10 - 00:51:25:12
Mika Shino
And we met sprouts there. We met target. We met some at Walmart. We met Albertsons. Met like 30, 30 people from Albertsons.

00:51:25:14 - 00:51:27:20
Jessie Ott
Oh my gosh, that's incredible.

00:51:27:20 - 00:51:56:23
Mika Shino
It's incredible. And you know, I still I mean, they're the ones who will ask us at Albertsons. Chad, Shawn, Jana, you know, it's it's, that's really how we've done it. That's why we didn't need a broker. Because we were lucky enough to have direct, connections to buyers who got excited about something new. Same with sprouts. It's, and Walmart and Target, you know, so it didn't have to go the route of, the traditional route.

00:51:57:01 - 00:52:25:07
Jessie Ott
Yeah. Well, I think that speaks to, a couple of things, right? One, innovation. I think innovation is the forefront of everybody's, thought process. I mean, it's it's it's certainly, obviously is mine. And then to a quality product. Right. And when those two things come together, it just clicks. Right. And then I'm sure you and your team were amazing and, and you had already kind of had a proven concept with Whole Foods.

00:52:25:09 - 00:52:47:17
Jessie Ott
I mean, that's, that's like a that speaks for itself too, right? We just had this cool trifecta effect. We're already, you know, in part of your, the part of your package that you're offering. So super, super exciting is, there any announcements coming up or anything new that you want to talk about?

00:52:47:19 - 00:52:49:08
Mika Shino
Yes. Yeah.

00:52:49:10 - 00:52:50:23
Jessie Ott
Yes.

00:52:51:01 - 00:52:54:13
Mika Shino
We're we're so excited. We're going to be launching with target.

00:52:54:15 - 00:52:58:07
Jessie Ott
Yay! And that's exciting in a week. Huge. Yeah.

00:52:58:07 - 00:52:59:14
Mika Shino
It's huge for us.

00:52:59:16 - 00:53:00:02
Jessie Ott
Yeah.

00:53:00:03 - 00:53:27:16
Mika Shino
I mean, it's still kind of hush hush. But we're very excited. We're going to be launching new flavors. We're going to be relaunching, something that went super just blew up. Chocolate covered dark chocolate covered strawberry emojis, which is really also a first of its kind. Yeah. Won the the Minerva Award, the most innovative new product award at Sweets and Snacks, which is organized by the National Confectionary.

00:53:27:18 - 00:53:33:03
Mika Shino
So since we launched it just for Valentine's month and it's.

00:53:33:03 - 00:53:34:16
Jessie Ott
Oh, what a great idea.

00:53:34:16 - 00:53:43:21
Mika Shino
It was just phenomenal. It's a really rich dark chocolate. I always compared to Raisinets and people say, don't do that. But you know this like.

00:53:43:23 - 00:53:46:03
Jessie Ott
Don't do that.

00:53:46:05 - 00:54:06:07
Mika Shino
But you know, I grew up eating Raisinets, so it's like, we're out there with a chew in the center without the raisins. But it has a beautiful just the combination of textures. So we're going to be relaunching that as well. And we have a whole slew of innovation in terms of flavors and and flavor combinations that we'll be launching in 25.

00:54:06:09 - 00:54:17:18
Jessie Ott
Ooh. So yeah, I was going to I was going to ask you if you had flavor, new flavors, and are you going to expand or create any new brands you think off of this? This is somebody.

00:54:17:19 - 00:54:35:22
Mika Shino
Who I would love to thank you for asking, Jesse. I would love to, because like I said before, with mochi, with rice flour, you can actually make anything, anything from baked goods to frozen items, pasta, bread, especially for people who are gluten intolerant, I think.

00:54:35:22 - 00:54:58:19
Jessie Ott
Yeah, I guys, I love to see that magic because, you know, one of the problems with eating gluten free, you know, in terms of cookies and muffins, it's a they're fine, but it just they just crumble, right? That they've gotten pretty good at bread. There's a couple of companies that I, when I'm eating a piece of toast, it actually feels like a real piece of toast.

00:54:58:21 - 00:55:24:06
Jessie Ott
But I think there's could there could be some, amazing elements, like, What? What, like Italy, they use, they use buckwheat, but I can't eat buckwheat. And so it gives you that chewy sort of, texture of a oven. Fire roasted pizza. Yeah. But I can't. And they make really good crepes, too.

00:55:24:08 - 00:55:54:19
Jessie Ott
As, as you or know very well, being in France, but, but I can't eat that, so anything that could be fun, like pasta wise, though, man, I it's endless. Like, if I, pizza. Pizza is, a love of mine. And if someone can really nail that, that'd be. That'd be pretty amazing because most places they use that typical cauliflower crust and it's like real thin and it's kind of boring.

00:55:54:21 - 00:56:05:18
Jessie Ott
So, I mean, that's that's just my $0.02 because, because, you know, that's where I come from. But, but yeah, there's I'm sure there's lots of really fun things that you could.

00:56:05:20 - 00:56:06:08
Mika Shino
Yeah.

00:56:06:09 - 00:56:10:01
Jessie Ott
You could find an application for pasta would be really interesting.

00:56:10:03 - 00:56:32:19
Mika Shino
Yeah. And we have kind of what we call rice cakes. You know, it's pasta ish, but they're dough. They're doughy. Like macaroni cheese that's made of wood that's super chewy. So we put that into miso soups or, you know, noodle soups and substitutes, pasta, you know, Wheaton Wheat based.

00:56:32:21 - 00:56:33:19
Jessie Ott
Yeah. That's cool.

00:56:33:19 - 00:56:34:04
Mika Shino
Idea.

00:56:34:08 - 00:56:59:00
Jessie Ott
Yeah. You know, and then for me, being from the beverage side, I'm just wondering, is there any application with working with a bourbon company or some kind of, you know, Irish cream or some kind of something? You know, you mentioned Valentine's Day. That would be, you know, like if you had, bourbon and chocolate. You know something?

00:56:59:00 - 00:57:08:00
Jessie Ott
I know that there that's that's going to be hard and it's a long way out or. But it just, you know, in terms of just brainstorming ideas, that's where my brain goes of course.

00:57:08:01 - 00:57:10:02
Mika Shino
Does, you know, ideas. Jesse.

00:57:10:04 - 00:57:32:19
Jessie Ott
Yeah. We could, wicked, wicked do some cross promotions. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. My my my market is the military. So if that's of, of interest, we can certainly try to do that because I've got some great Bourbons and maybe we could do a cross promotion and have the gummies on the, on the little snack out and oh yeah, that'll be fun.

00:57:32:23 - 00:57:33:15
Jessie Ott
So cool.

00:57:33:15 - 00:57:36:01
Mika Shino
Yeah, I'd love that.

00:57:36:03 - 00:58:01:16
Jessie Ott
Here we are talking new business lines already. It's fun. So outside of, you know, getting the recipe, you know, I feel, you know, you had an amazing journey. And I don't want to call you lucky, but you're kind of fortunate, right? In how you were able to just get everything you know, not get everything handed to you, worked hard and you spent a lot of money.

00:58:01:16 - 00:58:23:18
Jessie Ott
But, like, you just have such a unique journey in this, you know, the. And it's painful, I get it is it is a lot of pain, to go through being an entrepreneur is is that way just in general. But is there other pain points that you haven't really talked about besides, you know, getting the formula right and getting the distribution?

00:58:23:20 - 00:58:47:09
Mika Shino
I think, you're absolutely right, Jesse. I think I've been very lucky with the distribution, the retailer relationships. You know, one of the the folks that, that I wanted to mention, buyer at Reilly's, she was the first person who launched me after, Whole Foods and, she didn't go to Expo West. Robyn Goodrich is her name.

00:58:47:09 - 00:59:04:04
Mika Shino
Amazing woman. But I got on a call with her right after Expo West, and she said, this is insane because I'm sitting here at my desk and I have seven of your business cards because all of my sort of deputies came back to my desk and said, you missed this. You need to call this woman.

00:59:04:06 - 00:59:05:13
Jessie Ott
That's awesome.

00:59:05:14 - 00:59:33:00
Mika Shino
Amazing. And so I hadn't met her until just a few months ago. Sweets and snacks. But. So I've been very lucky with with distributors and people who really saw. But, production and manufacturing logistics, getting ingredients. I sauce all my ingredients. All of that has been really a struggle. But, you know, there are so many other things that I didn't expect to be a struggle.

00:59:33:02 - 00:59:56:16
Mika Shino
People coming after you, you know, people thinking that you're successful, you've got predatory law firms trying to shake down new brands, and settlements. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's the biggest. That's the biggest heartache, is that you're trying to create something beautiful and add value, you know, to people's food habits, and then you've got these people trying to to shake you down.

00:59:56:21 - 01:00:15:11
Mika Shino
It's it's it's, kind of unheard of in any other country. So that's something that that's the cost of doing business. And it's, it really weighs on you in addition to trying to run your company and grow and do the day to day, you've got these people trying to suck, suck money that you don't have.

01:00:15:11 - 01:00:26:05
Jessie Ott
And right, that's insane. Yeah. So and I guess you have to respond, to them to some degree, but that just seems like junk mail, It's right.

01:00:26:05 - 01:00:49:02
Mika Shino
Well, yeah. And it's scary for a little bit, I guess, you know, and they pretend to be all, we're just a seekers of big, bad companies that's defrauding the public. Like, no, that's not what you're doing. There's all these law firms that go around sending hundreds of letters to new brands to say, oh, you got a mistake in your label or, oh, you're not filling your bag enough and, you know, give us $50,000.

01:00:49:04 - 01:00:57:15
Mika Shino
What, you kill companies? Yeah, all the time. All the time. Oh, so that's been a huge, unknown to me.

01:00:57:17 - 01:00:59:21
Jessie Ott
I didn't know about that either. That's terrible.

01:00:59:22 - 01:01:00:23
Mika Shino
Devastating.

01:01:01:01 - 01:01:06:13
Jessie Ott
Yeah. Yeah. It's terrible. I just how do how they get that power?

01:01:06:15 - 01:01:14:17
Mika Shino
Attorneys have a lot of power in this country. It's true. Jesse, can I just get a plug? Because I'm saying low battery on my business. On.

01:01:14:18 - 01:01:16:05
Jessie Ott
Hold on. I said no, no, you're good. You're good.

01:01:16:08 - 01:01:16:23
Mika Shino
To think.

01:01:16:23 - 01:01:30:08
Jessie Ott
It's. I'm going to eat some more yuzu.

01:01:30:10 - 01:01:37:00
Jessie Ott
These are really good.

01:01:37:01 - 01:01:56:10
Jessie Ott
Yeah, but. He.

01:01:56:12 - 01:01:58:07
Mika Shino
Also urges me.

01:01:58:09 - 01:02:04:11
Jessie Ott
No, no, no. Take your time. It's not a problem. I was just actually going to pull up here.

01:02:04:13 - 01:02:13:21
Mika Shino
So some.

01:02:13:23 - 01:02:19:22
Mika Shino
I do not expect that to be so low.

01:02:20:00 - 01:02:23:23
Mika Shino
Okay. It's that 14.

01:02:24:01 - 01:02:26:00
Mika Shino
Okay. Sorry.

01:02:26:02 - 01:02:41:03
Jessie Ott
Yeah. No, no, no, you're all good. Okay. So outside of that, is there anything else that you kind of want to touch on or. You feel like that's kind of rounds up your major?

01:02:41:05 - 01:02:47:15
Mika Shino
It's been. It's. Yeah. It's such a great podcast. Jesse. Thank you for the thoughtful questions.

01:02:47:17 - 01:02:57:16
Jessie Ott
Yeah. Of course. I'm so happy you came on. I can't tell you, how excited I am. And you should ask. You should ask my wife how excited I am. Okay.

01:02:57:16 - 01:03:00:04
Mika Shino
Thank you. So I'm gonna send you guys some more.

01:03:00:06 - 01:03:06:05
Jessie Ott
Okay. Great. I'll send them to, military buyers if you want.

01:03:06:07 - 01:03:08:00
Mika Shino
Yes, absolutely.

01:03:08:02 - 01:03:30:22
Jessie Ott
You know, do something there. That would be kind of fun. So you've kind of talked about your outlook just a little bit, when it comes to you got some new flavors for 2025. So is there any other and you got new distribution coming the end of this year. Is there anything else that you want to, give us a little heads up on the little sneak peek?

01:03:31:00 - 01:03:57:05
Mika Shino
I mean, we are working on, being able to do sort of limited edition exclusive flavors monthly so that people can actually really try all kinds of global flavors. So these are flavors that are not necessarily mainstream, but it really allows us to, to get feedback. A lot of flavors that I grew up with in Asia as a form.

01:03:57:05 - 01:04:14:21
Mika Shino
So like we have coffee, candy or milk tea or, which is very sour. I would love to be able to just introduce that, and share with our customers to get their feedback and eventually make that into regular. So like a monthly flavor. We want to get there in 20.

01:04:14:22 - 01:04:27:21
Jessie Ott
I think that would be really fun. And that, that that way you can interact with direct to consumer. Yeah. And they can vote on like some flavors. And I could see there's a lot of Asian, grocery.

01:04:27:23 - 01:04:28:19
Mika Shino
Yeah.

01:04:28:21 - 01:04:35:16
Jessie Ott
They're probably more independent, more so than, than chain driven. But I could see those flavors doing really well.

01:04:35:18 - 01:04:50:04
Mika Shino
Yeah. And it's so much fun because it's like a blank canvas. Right. So there's flavors like chili mango, right. Or Basil Aubry or, you know, rhubarb cherry, all these things. It's it's a little bit wacky, but it can be really good.

01:04:50:06 - 01:05:10:01
Jessie Ott
No, I, I agree I think that'll be really fun. I, I don't know if you've ever heard of Athletic Brewing. They have something kind of similar where they have a, an East Coast, West Coast or nonalcoholic brew brewing company. They're the largest in the country. They have, amazing marketing, but they have great brew teams.

01:05:10:01 - 01:05:26:15
Jessie Ott
And so they'll have seasonals and then they'll have contests between the two East coast, West Coast to come up with new types of flavors. So I think that that's exciting for the consumer to know that there's there's innovation coming.

01:05:26:17 - 01:05:30:05
Mika Shino
I love that. That's exactly what I was thinking.

01:05:30:07 - 01:05:39:23
Jessie Ott
Yeah. So outside of being a mom and busy, busy, busy, is there other passions that you have that you want to share?

01:05:40:00 - 01:06:04:15
Mika Shino
I wish, I wish I had time for other pressures. I think there's a lot of, you know, founders talk often about the work life balance. I think it's very hard the first two years or when you need launching. And I think it's kind of a myth. And, I think it's okay to be to be focused on something intensely in the beginning.

01:06:04:15 - 01:06:27:11
Mika Shino
It's not going to be for the rest of my life. So I've been okay not having weekends or not being able to see my friends or not having it's okay. It's not going to be for the, you know, forever. But for the next year or two, this is what I'm going to focus. It's, you know, besides my kids, I'm going to focus all my energy on, but so I really haven't been able to do the things that I love to do, like travel.

01:06:27:11 - 01:06:44:02
Mika Shino
And, you know, I love to do dinner parties and, going to museums. I really, really have, haven't done any of it. And I and I think it's okay, you know, I, I'm 52. I've done a lot of things that I love to do in my life, and I.

01:06:44:02 - 01:06:44:15
Jessie Ott
Yeah.

01:06:44:17 - 01:07:03:15
Mika Shino
It's like preparing for the bar, you know, you're in exam time. It's like you you have to focus. You have you prioritize this. And once it gets to a, a stage where it can crawl by itself or. Well, I think then you can, you can take a little bit more time for yourself. But I'm not there yet.

01:07:03:17 - 01:07:26:23
Jessie Ott
No, I, I get it. I, I've been in this, this, this kind of mode for a couple of years myself. And I don't even remember that. I mean, you have kids, so that helps you stay on track, but it's it's every day is the same for me. You get up and you work. I mean, I'm trying to be better by taking some time off because you got to, but you have to put the time in, especially when it's just you making it, you know, making it go.

01:07:26:23 - 01:07:34:06
Jessie Ott
So. No, I think you. I think you're right. It is really, a challenge. Certainly at the beginning. Yeah.

01:07:34:09 - 01:07:48:17
Mika Shino
And I think, you know, a lot of founders do talk about this. Oh, you need more work, and I work life balance, and I think it's true. But it's, I think in due time.

01:07:48:19 - 01:07:49:20
Mika Shino
Oh, did you lose?

01:07:49:20 - 01:08:15:19
Jessie Ott
And I'm sure your family understands that. Nope. You're there just for a second. Yeah, and I'm sure your family understands. That tune is really proud of you. For what? You. You said you set out to to start a company, and you did. You did so awesome. So, Yeah. Of course. So you have a lot of awards.

01:08:15:19 - 01:08:44:18
Jessie Ott
You've, received a lot of accolades here in the last few months, most recently that not maybe not most recently. Kaiser keep coming, keep coming in. But, do you want to talk about your, female founders list? That was on the. You're on the cover of magazine, which is really, really cool with four other founders. So do you want to kind of talk about how that came into to play and, and what kind of effect that has on as you, on you as a, as a person and as a founder?

01:08:44:20 - 01:09:00:21
Mika Shino
It was a total surprise. I mean, it was it's it was it was a complete shock. Oh. Sorry. I was cut off. Did you hear me or should I start.

01:09:00:23 - 01:09:05:03
Jessie Ott
Okay. You're good. Yeah. Okay. You can stay here if you want.

01:09:05:05 - 01:09:29:00
Mika Shino
Yeah. So it was a total shock. The cover or just being in ink at all. You know all these years I was a huge avid reader of Ink and Fast Company and always following different founders and entrepreneurs and dreaming, you know, one day of, of being one myself. So, you know, ink has this amazing female founder issue.

01:09:29:00 - 01:09:54:06
Mika Shino
It's an annual issue. And you can apply to be included in the, in the, in the list of 250 or 500 people. So I applied thinking, okay, whatever. I apply for everything because I didn't have a budget for PR or marketing. So my strategy was apply for every single word. It doesn't matter if it's the retired, you know, community members association of the library like it's an award and it'll get you press.

01:09:54:08 - 01:10:12:04
Mika Shino
So I was always I was very, very adamant about applying for everything that was out there because, again, I didn't have any other marketing, you know, budget. So I applied to this one and I applied to a bunch, you know, and you forget about it because it's like, it's like four months afterwards they get back to you.

01:10:12:06 - 01:10:31:07
Mika Shino
But again, similar to whole Foods. I got an email, I got a message on LinkedIn with the journalist and the editor saying, hey, we've been trying to reach you. We wrote to you twice on your email. We want to feature you on the cover. Like, I think you might be interested, but we didn't hear back from you, so I missed you too.

01:10:31:09 - 01:10:59:08
Mika Shino
But it was it was totally unexpected. I can again, I want to read your emails, but they they got bad timing and, and, you know, you're going to be on the cover with Katy Perry and Billie Jean King and all these amazing people. And I was like, why me? Why? You know, it was completely unexpected. And then in addition to that, they put me as number two on the list of 250 women.

01:10:59:10 - 01:11:15:11
Mika Shino
And this is with little Natalie Portman. And, you know, just amazing people, designers, engineers, chemists. I have no idea why. I still don't know why they put in there.

01:11:15:13 - 01:11:20:23
Jessie Ott
What they think. Because you're you and what you're doing. For sure.

01:11:21:03 - 01:11:48:16
Mika Shino
Thank you. I mean, I think the the main reason, the main reason, one of the reasons, the issue is about resilience. And they were trying to curate stories of, of people who overcame just incredible, you know, challenges. And not that mine was life threatening, but it really wasn't an easy road. We went through the whole timeline of all of the challenges and, you know, financial logistics, manufacturing, all kinds of things.

01:11:48:16 - 01:12:11:13
Mika Shino
And I guess they thought that the story was strong enough, to, to overcome them to survive. But it's been it's been it was great. The shoot was great. You know, the whole team is great. And because that I can I connected to, Fast Company. So I just did a panel for their innovation festival last week.

01:12:11:15 - 01:12:12:03
Jessie Ott
Oh, fun.

01:12:12:03 - 01:12:15:14
Mika Shino
And, so amazing, amazing team.

01:12:15:16 - 01:12:46:19
Jessie Ott
Yeah. Wow. That's incredible. Well. Starting a product. Such as? Such as something where you have to go through such big retailers and, you know, in our industry, too, it's extremely difficult. There's so much innovation to even get distributed by a distributor in a state is so hard that there's been innovation in that area, so that you don't even have to have a distributor.

01:12:46:20 - 01:13:08:11
Jessie Ott
You can go online and connect to to buyers by yourself. No, because it's it's so hard. So what you accomplished is like 1 in 1,000,000. And maybe I'm wrong because I don't know the food industry as well as I know the, the beverage side and, you know, my podcast was originally a beverage, but there's so much I love the boat.

01:13:08:11 - 01:13:27:10
Jessie Ott
I love both of them so much that I and there's so much going on in this side that I don't want to miss out, such as your there's such as your story and, you know, I think it's like you said, it's been two years and you've made it. You've you've done it. You've got the distribution in these big major retailers.

01:13:27:10 - 01:13:47:23
Jessie Ott
So, you know, I think that is, you know, cover worthy, in a huge story. I mean, you're not a Katy Perry with five, 50 million followers on this channel in that channel and concerts and, you know, you know what I mean? So I think that's a huge feat. What you you've been able to accomplish in two years.

01:13:47:23 - 01:13:55:11
Jessie Ott
So, seriously, congratulations. And that's just such an amazing story. And thank you for letting me tell it.

01:13:55:13 - 01:13:58:15
Mika Shino
So thank you so much.

01:13:58:17 - 01:13:59:16
Jessie Ott
I'm tearing up now.

01:13:59:18 - 01:14:02:05
Mika Shino
Yeah. Me too.

01:14:02:07 - 01:14:05:10
Jessie Ott
I didn't know I needed Kleenex for this one.

01:14:05:10 - 01:14:17:03
Mika Shino
It thank you so much. I think, you know, on social media you tried to show the polished version of it, but the work that goes behind now you're really making me tear up. I think.

01:14:17:05 - 01:14:17:19
Jessie Ott
It's okay.

01:14:17:22 - 01:14:22:00
Mika Shino
That goes behind it is really is so tough. And it's a daily struggle.

01:14:22:02 - 01:14:23:02
Jessie Ott
It's a grind.

01:14:23:04 - 01:14:45:03
Mika Shino
Yeah it is. It's a grind. And there's problems every single day, you know? Yes. Just yesterday our truckload came, you know, 10% full because somebody forgot to put in five pallets. Right. Or, you know, a manufacturing cycle didn't produce the right one. And customers are complaining because the consistency is not there. So you're always putting out fires, right.

01:14:45:03 - 01:14:46:11
Jessie Ott
And it's a fire. Yeah.

01:14:46:15 - 01:14:51:09
Mika Shino
You know, at least twice a day you're thinking, why did I do this? What have I gotten myself into?

01:14:51:11 - 01:14:52:09
Jessie Ott
Yeah.

01:14:52:11 - 01:15:07:12
Mika Shino
Emotional roller coasters. But then you you meet great people and you get opportunities and, you know, you get to share your story like this. So it's it's it's up and down, but it's, I definitely think it's worth it to at least try.

01:15:07:14 - 01:15:30:12
Jessie Ott
Yeah. To try and and, you know, eventually, you know, supply chain for anybody is is hard. That that really is the hardest part I think of the of the process just because you're depending on all these factors to work you know. Oh did the P did the PR go through. Well is the pricing right. Well was it red right.

01:15:30:12 - 01:15:46:20
Jessie Ott
Is it going to the right warehouse. You know just like to your point is it getting on the right track. Those are those are things that are out of your control that it's it's just you're just here for support. Like there's just you can't change it, but you can you can try to try to fix it.

01:15:46:22 - 01:16:06:19
Mika Shino
You try to fix all the time. Where's the truck driver? Which was supposed to come two days ago, you know, did you stack up the pallets? Right on. You know, the word supposed to sort of fits into the truck, like, where's the ramp or electrical thing just broke? I mean, these are like very, very concrete manual things that that I had no idea that we would have to do.

01:16:06:19 - 01:16:27:08
Jessie Ott
But yeah, like if a truck can't back into a dock, it has to have the yeah, the elevator to go up and down and. Yeah. Yeah. And then if not, you're paying guys by hand to take it off the you know, we've done we've done all that like you know within the military a lot of times they pick it up directly.

01:16:27:10 - 01:16:50:06
Jessie Ott
And so the, the, the supply chain is difficult. Right. There's not enough trucks and not enough truck drivers. And so when people come in and are in line as a UPS or Fedex guy or girl or lady and you're in line for ten cases and you get ten more stops to go, are you going to sit and wait 2.5 hours for ten cases, and then lose all the rest of your clients?

01:16:50:06 - 01:16:54:19
Jessie Ott
You can't do that. And so that that happens a lot.

01:16:54:21 - 01:17:08:08
Mika Shino
Yeah. So the logistics yeah logistics. So I'm talking me logistics and operations. It's it's definitely things that I that's not my world. And so it's been it's been a challenge.

01:17:08:10 - 01:17:23:03
Jessie Ott
But hopefully you can either outsource that or get a little help, from someone that's kind of in that world that can maybe, maybe be a little bit more proactive and knows, like some tricks.

01:17:23:05 - 01:17:28:05
Mika Shino
Yeah, we have an incredible team member or excuse me.

01:17:28:07 - 01:17:31:14
Jessie Ott
Oh that's great. Thank thank goodness.

01:17:31:16 - 01:17:33:03
Mika Shino
I'm sorry. I'm joking.

01:17:33:05 - 01:17:34:17
Jessie Ott
That's okay.

01:17:34:19 - 01:17:52:21
Mika Shino
Each time talking about logistics, we have an incredible team member who, who helped us out. And she's a she's a maverick. I don't even know how I was doing it before her. I was literally chasing down truck drivers myself. But she helps, part time with us. You know, we have, three full time.

01:17:52:22 - 01:17:53:19
Jessie Ott
Staff.

01:17:53:21 - 01:18:01:12
Mika Shino
And then we have sort of a constellation of amazing advisors and and part time, consultants. Oh, good.

01:18:01:12 - 01:18:04:11
Jessie Ott
So we've been a good support then?

01:18:04:13 - 01:18:09:10
Mika Shino
Yes. It's hard to find great support, but when you do, it changes your life.

01:18:09:12 - 01:18:10:13
Jessie Ott
It's 100%.

01:18:10:13 - 01:18:11:01
Mika Shino
Yeah.

01:18:11:03 - 01:18:30:23
Jessie Ott
Yeah. I've been, you know, Avery just. I just met her this week, and I've been. I need help with the editing because, you know, one episode could take 10 to 15 hours between, you know, editing it from short from, you know, A to Z, getting the shorts and then posting it everywhere. There's a lot of words, there's a lot of formatting.

01:18:30:23 - 01:18:46:01
Jessie Ott
There's hey, you know, there's I designed the album work which which is that's all fun for me because I'm kind of creative like that. I'm not the greatest that I'm not trained at it, but I love it. It's fun. And, you know, at some point you just need help.

01:18:46:03 - 01:18:46:10
Mika Shino
Yeah.

01:18:46:12 - 01:18:54:14
Jessie Ott
You know, and and even to kind of help take it somewhere else or to take it to the next level. Recently, in my case.

01:18:54:16 - 01:19:18:23
Mika Shino
Absolutely. You know, I think I'm really trying to abide by the, the, the slogan of hire slow and fire fast. You have to take your time and find the right person. Right? Because especially when you're small, one negative, you know, human being can really put a damper on the whole culture. Yep. You end up spending so much of your time trying to fix it and talk about it.

01:19:18:23 - 01:19:37:13
Mika Shino
And you know, coach them out of the situation. It doesn't work. Sometimes it's not a great fit. And also sometimes the people you start with, you can't grow with them. Right? It's not always yeah. Any relationship. Right. You're not necessarily with your high school sweetheart because you've you've changed. You've outgrown them or you've you want something new.

01:19:37:13 - 01:20:01:12
Mika Shino
And I think it's the same with team building. And that's really you know, you were asking about pain points. That's the biggest pain point is, is building a great team and, and one of the, the, the aims that I have is not just producing great product that's new and that's innovative, but also creating a fun, inspiring culture that people love to work in.

01:20:01:14 - 01:20:05:05
Mika Shino
I've worked in a lot of toxic environments. The under.

01:20:05:05 - 01:20:05:15
Jessie Ott
You have.

01:20:05:15 - 01:20:26:22
Mika Shino
Most, you know, the happy go lucky place. Super hierarchical. There's I've worked in the music business. It's tech. I do believe that you can be a kind and compassionate and fun leader, and it create a culture where people are happy and they will inspired and they feel empowered.

01:20:27:00 - 01:20:54:09
Jessie Ott
Yeah, yeah. As I grow my company, those are things I. I'm excited to be a CEO. I mean, and not the word, but just to to build a company and to empower people because it's not happening out there, there. If you if you've had that experience, I feel like you're, you're more lucky than the norm. Right. And I just feel, there's, there's, you know, when was the last time an employee was asked, well, what do you want to do?

01:20:54:10 - 01:21:16:08
Jessie Ott
How can we help facilitate you to get to where you want to be? And I don't know if companies are afraid of asking the question, but they need to help people grow. And I think that's really important part like to your point of being a leader is allowing that space, you know, and allowing them to come to you with ideas and, that doesn't happen, doesn't always happen.

01:21:16:08 - 01:21:23:10
Jessie Ott
So I like that. That's you want to empower your people to be happy and to learn and grow is true.

01:21:23:12 - 01:21:44:11
Mika Shino
But there's you know, I've had it. I've had a difficult experience because you want to be a fun, open minded, flat, sort of democratic structure. But there are people who don't get that right and they abuse it and they don't respect you because you're not this hard, hard line boss. And they don't do the work. They don't show up, they show up high.

01:21:44:17 - 01:21:56:12
Mika Shino
I mean, I've had some crazy situations, right? Because I want to I want to tap into young talent and and nurture them and coach them and train them. But it doesn't. It does. It's not a two way street at all.

01:21:56:12 - 01:21:57:04
Jessie Ott
It's not going to work.

01:21:57:05 - 01:22:19:06
Mika Shino
Yeah. So when but when you do, as Steve Jobs always says, you know, used to say this, that when you have smart people, you don't have to manage them because they will manage themselves. They will see the gaps, they will want to do more, and they'll push themselves to be the best for you in the company. So identifying the smart people, that's really and the positive people and the people that you really mesh with.

01:22:19:07 - 01:22:45:10
Mika Shino
I think the big gap in HR and hiring that the whole that whole realm is it's still very, old fashioned. You know, you get somebody's CV, it may be a picture, but all these things that that are intangible in getting along with somebody is not on paper. It's not on a CV. It doesn't really matter what school they went to or what they studied.

01:22:45:12 - 01:22:59:21
Mika Shino
You know, I think these things like, hey, do listen to heavy metal, you know, what do you do on the weekends? Like your vibe means so much, especially a startup, because you're sitting in the same room together a lot of times. Right. So if my vibe. Yeah.

01:22:59:23 - 01:23:02:00
Jessie Ott
I'm listening to the time music.

01:23:02:00 - 01:23:23:20
Mika Shino
Right? And you want heavy metal and you like to drink beer, maybe you should go and work in a different startup that has more aligned culture, you know, as you do. Right? So there's so many things that are unspoken and not mentioned in these sort of recruitment platforms that I think there's a lot to be done.

01:23:23:21 - 01:23:43:20
Jessie Ott
Yeah, I think you're right. I think that there's could be, an evolved and evolved way of, you know, interviewing people, but, you know, people also, you know, they just change their resume to mimic exactly what you're looking for, whether they have the experience or not. So you really don't know what you're getting all the time either. Yeah.

01:23:43:21 - 01:24:05:21
Jessie Ott
And so, you know, the important thing, I think, to your point is one, are they smart? Are they to show up on time or they're responsible? And do they want to learn? And then and then and then you got to get along. You got to have like minded, you know, goals in and you want a driven person.

01:24:05:21 - 01:24:09:02
Jessie Ott
You don't want to just hire someone that clocks in at clocks out.

01:24:09:04 - 01:24:24:23
Mika Shino
Exactly. You know, because at the end of the day, like I started this company, I want to have fun, you know, be inspired. I want to be surrounded by other people who are the same. Not somebody, pulling their teeth all the time to do a, a post or, you know, a document. It shouldn't be like that. Right.

01:24:25:01 - 01:24:35:06
Mika Shino
So that's, that's that's kind of, definitely a challenge in terms of pain point. But, you know, I'm sure everybody I know, everybody goes through this as they grow.

01:24:35:08 - 01:25:06:07
Jessie Ott
Yeah. For sure, I remember, you know, make this really quick. But I, I, I love podcasts, I listen to them a lot. And I was going to open a restaurant at some point, probably like half the country. You know, because you have an idea and. Well, I have like a gazillion ideas, but. So I was listening to some restaurant podcast of owners and operators that have been very successful and, you know, this this particular owner had a hard time firing people, but there was this one person that was just causing a toxic environment.

01:25:06:09 - 01:25:27:10
Jessie Ott
And it was really hard and really hard for this person. And he finally fired this person because it was really affecting the whole culture. Like you were saying. And so as hard as that was, it turned it out to be the best thing for both of them, because the culture got back to where it should be. And that person left and made more money and was doing what they were supposed to be doing.

01:25:27:10 - 01:25:43:07
Jessie Ott
So if if that person is that unhappy, it's not it's not the right job for them. It's not the right fit. And so you're actually helping them find themselves in a different place, you know. So that's hard. That's still hard.

01:25:43:09 - 01:26:01:16
Mika Shino
It's still hard. But you're so right. You know, if it's not a good fit, it's not a good fit for both of you. You know, the employer and the employee. So I think when you do approach the the subject, they know. They know right away it's not working. Right. Yeah. But so you're absolutely right. Yes. It's like you're letting them go.

01:26:01:16 - 01:26:09:17
Mika Shino
So it's like okay, find something that you're going to be motivated doing because you're obviously not motivated doing this.

01:26:09:19 - 01:26:36:11
Jessie Ott
Yeah for sure for sure. Well this is just this is just been delightful. Again, I can't thank you enough for taking the time in your day. I know you're busy putting out fires, and and, sounds like you have an amazing team. And, you know, I wish you all, the best of luck. And if there's anything that I can I can do to help, please let me know.

01:26:36:13 - 01:26:57:13
Jessie Ott
I'm here to. You know, that's kind of I. I'll. I'll send you my, my media kit so you can kind of understand how my platforms help to build brands because I, I think it's really important. And I think what I love about this platform is I get to tell people stories through their own words and, help inspire hopefully somebody else.

01:26:57:13 - 01:27:11:08
Jessie Ott
So, with that in mind, do you have any words of wisdom or message for for people that are out there trying to, you know, start something different, new and innovative?

01:27:11:10 - 01:27:29:09
Mika Shino
Yeah, I would say don't wait to start. You know, I think a lot of people, especially women, we we want to know everything about something. We have to have the right degrees. We have to have the right experience before we start anything. And men don't do that. They start stuff. You don't know anything about it. And then it's okay.

01:27:29:09 - 01:27:50:10
Mika Shino
It's, you know, it's the confidence. So I, I should have started 20 years ago, you know, what was I waiting for? So I would say to anybody with an idea, anybody who wants to build something like just start and you'll learn it and you'll be surprised at how kind people are to actually teach you. They're not going to judge you because you have ignorance in that field.

01:27:50:12 - 01:28:18:16
Mika Shino
If you have achieved some kind of a success in another field, it's transferable, you know, and how to figure things out, how to, you know, build a team, how to how to raise money. You can figure it all out. So I think not knowing should not be the, the blocking point. I think you should just start and say, you know what, I'm going to start today and you'll have a huge list of things to do, and you'll cross it off one by one.

01:28:18:18 - 01:28:25:02
Mika Shino
And just don't let it intimidate you. It's okay to not know everything.

01:28:25:04 - 01:28:45:16
Jessie Ott
Yeah, I think that's that's that's great advice. I mean, for me, it's kind of with the podcast, I didn't know I was doing it and and it was actually for another reason that I started it and I, I literally completed it within ten days, I had my first guest, I outsourced my logo. I came up with a name and I didn't care.

01:28:45:16 - 01:29:06:06
Jessie Ott
I'm like, yep, that's it. Done. Moving on. Like you, just like you said, get your checklist and just keep going. I research the microphone, which works sometimes. Whatever. You figure it out. You know, my first podcast day, I learned, Premiere Pro and 13 hours. Not really. But, you know, months later, I realized, what am I doing all this for?

01:29:06:06 - 01:29:15:09
Jessie Ott
I'm not putting it on YouTube yet. I just need the audio. I don't need all the things. You know, but you learn, you know, you learned along the way. It's very true.

01:29:15:14 - 01:29:22:23
Mika Shino
It's so true. And it's okay to not know everything and make mistakes. You can fix it, right? You wait for perfection. You never going to launch anything.

01:29:22:23 - 01:29:23:21
Jessie Ott
Anything.

01:29:23:23 - 01:29:42:12
Mika Shino
It's just better to launch. And then people give you feedback and you keep tweaking it. I think that's really but it's it's being intimidates the fear right, of failure. And it's, it's the, lack of confidence to say it's okay. You know what? I'm going to do this. It's okay if I don't know anything about it.

01:29:42:14 - 01:30:01:00
Jessie Ott
Yeah. You know, I was just thinking about this morning about how the whole lean in movement came through, and, you know, men are promoted on potential, and women are promoted based on experience. And I think that's really true. And that's where we're programed. Right. Reprogram for.

01:30:01:00 - 01:30:02:01
Mika Shino
This. Yeah.

01:30:02:03 - 01:30:07:14
Jessie Ott
That's how we were programed in. So we got on wire. All that thinking in that takes time.

01:30:07:16 - 01:30:30:00
Mika Shino
Absolutely. And I think we do it to ourselves too I know I did it myself I felt let go, let me go intern in some company or let me learn with the food industry, you know, expert or whatever. You always doubt yourself. So I, I really, definitely inhibited myself. It really was when I reached a point where, you know what, I need to do something for myself.

01:30:30:02 - 01:30:47:09
Mika Shino
I can't keep taking directives from people that I don't necessarily agree with. Right. And you get this. I had this surge of like, okay, it's now or never, I'm 50. I got to start something now. So yeah, yeah. There's time.

01:30:47:09 - 01:30:47:22
Jessie Ott
That's awesome.

01:30:48:01 - 01:30:50:06
Mika Shino
Yeah. Thank you so much, Jesse.

01:30:50:08 - 01:31:03:15
Jessie Ott
Yeah. No, I if I, if I yeah. If I ever get out to DC I'll, I'll guess I'll pink here. Yeah. Carrie or something. Maybe we could go have dinner or something. My, my wife has never been there.

01:31:03:17 - 01:31:04:20
Mika Shino
Okay.

01:31:04:22 - 01:31:26:21
Jessie Ott
And so, Yeah, I'm hoping to, you know, we we live in Orlando part time, and so Allegiant, ten minutes from our house. So for us to pop up the East Coast is is super easy. And so, you know, her mom is, going through some health challenges at the moment, so we don't we don't know if I'll have time to go over to Europe this next year.

01:31:26:21 - 01:31:36:15
Jessie Ott
So we might just take little puddle jumpers and hop up and down the East Coast, go to Quebec or something fun. And so if that happens, I'll be sure to reach out.

01:31:36:17 - 01:31:47:20
Mika Shino
Yes, please do know. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for the opportunity. It's been such a pleasure to get to know you and to talk about these ideas. Thank you so much for having me.

01:31:47:22 - 01:31:59:02
Jessie Ott
Yeah. No food at 100%. Lemon. Wave goodbye. Because I have, like, I don't know, probably 50 more questions. I'd love to ask you, but I will let you go. But.

01:31:59:04 - 01:32:00:05
Mika Shino
Well, it's Jesse.

01:32:00:07 - 01:32:04:01
Jessie Ott
You bet. Produced by fedora J productions.