Building a Brand From Necessity

In today’s episode, I sit down with James Maslow to talk about building EveryBody EveryDay, a supplement company inspired by his demanding life on the road. James shares how constant travel led him and his fiancée, Caitlin, to create a simple daily product focused on hydration, supplementation, and convenience. We discuss using AI during early product development, working with experienced scientists to refine the formula, and standing out in a crowded market through authenticity and community. James also explains how curiosity, saying yes to new opportunities, asking questions, and surrounding himself with talented people have helped him balance entertainment, entrepreneurship, investing, and multiple growing businesses. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Welcome to Office Hours. I'm David Meltzer. We're here live at the Sirius XM Studios in Las Vegas, at the Wynn, by the way, and we are blessed because we have one of the greatest entrepreneurs, young entrepreneurs I know in America. He is a world famous singer, actor, and an extraordinary speaker as well. James Maslow is also the co-host of Office Hours Made From Mistakes. James Maslow, welcome to Office Hours.

• 0:27Speaker 01

  I like that intro with the new ending. That's exciting. Nice little plug.

• 0:31Speaker 00

  You love that. Yeah, well, you never surprise me with all the different things that you could handle. And when I meet people that say you can only do one thing, I always say, yes, you can only do one thing at a time. That's why we assign time to different things and prioritize them correctly. You had 100-city world tour as a musician, as a singer, but yet you're building not only all these different businesses, you started a new business, a new supplement company called Everybody Every Day. I'm just curious, when you're so successful as a singer on tour, and you're a

• 1:09Speaker 00

  real estate investor, and also involved in other companies, what inspires you that you need another company?

• 1:18Speaker 01

  Well, truly, the Everybody Every Day, and here is our first packaging, our first flavor, and our first product, the Everyday Stick. I had it ready to go. I've learned well from you. This came from necessity. This came from somebody who is on the road, sometimes hundreds of days a year. This last year, I was on the road for 10 out of 12 months, and found myself constantly being dehydrated, looking for a source of supplementation that not only helped me and worked, but was convenient. So if you looked at my checked bag over the last year, half of it was a pillow, and then the other quarter of it was a ton of supplements from hydration sticks, to magnesium, to B vitamins, and all of these things that I went, how can I simplify

• 2:00Speaker 01

  this? And then, not just for me, but for people who want to be healthier, want to be a little bit more focused. And so, my fiance, Caitlin, and I, who you know well, getting married in December, and yes, the invitation is going to be on its way very shortly, we came together and started developing what has become our first product, the Everyday Stick. And it has been a godsend, because I've been using this on the road, on days when I'm playing shows, and during playing shows, as a means to stay hydrated, stay focused, but not have to go to those energy drinks, and not have to carry around 15, 20 supplements. We packed so much into this thing. So it really, it came from necessity, and I hope that something that helps me and helps her can also serve and help a wider audience.

• 2:44Speaker 00

  So smart. Oh, wow.

• 2:47Speaker 02

  This is really, I love, the packaging is awesome, by the way. Love it. So thank you for sharing that. In my experience, in the early, I was at Amazon Alexa, I helped launch Alexa, and one of the first things that Jeff Bezos was telling us about building, you know, an AI before it was cool, was his dream on how to get to market. And he would say, our goal was to build these apps for Alexa. And the one thing he said is daily use. Like, you have to get people to use this every day. And so I'm very curious, you know, obviously, it's called the Everyday Stick. I have a, you know, my husband, he drinks not, I won't, I won't tattle on the exact drink he

• 3:32Speaker 02

  drinks, but he looks for it, right? And he won't drink anything unless he finds this thing. So I'm, I'm just trying to think through, how have you thought about, like, go to market? How do you make this an everyday thing for people? Like, where are you, where did you anchor this in your day? How are you thinking, you know, how did this become, obviously, every day I get it, but I'm trying to think, how do I get my husband to drink this stuff? It sounds like it might be healthier than what he's currently in just.

• 3:57Speaker 01

  I'd be so happy to send you guys a pack, and you tell me, hopefully, you like it. And I have a feeling that if he just tries it, he puts it in his water, he'll probably want to keep drinking it. In fact, that's what I do. I mean, this is, this is not promotional at all. I carry around a half gallon, because I want to drink more water. But I did this before I had the Everyday Stick, specifically the strawberry lemonade here, which is my favorite flavor, and one we're launching with. And now I put in one, or sometimes two, because we recommend 16 ounces, and this is a lot more. And I find myself now, like, I'm already almost done, I'm gonna have to refill again. I truly drink more water because of it. So, look, when it comes to how we anchor this, and how we're messaging it, when we were thinking about who is this product for, we truly wanted to make it for everybody. We didn't want to make something so specific to men, or to women, or to

• 4:40Speaker 01

  athletes, or to entrepreneurs, that people got confused and thought, maybe it's not for them. And then, we wanted to create something, like you said, that people actually do use every day. And we found ourselves realizing, well, that's the company name. Everybody Every Day. And that's going to be the core of all the products that we make. We want to make them so that anybody who is an athlete, is an entrepreneur, is somebody taking nootropics and focused drinks, but wants a healthier alternative, or just want to be a little healthier and a little more focused, but have no idea what to take. It's going to be applicable for everybody. It's transparent, we quite literally have a transparent back to showcase all of the ingredients, nothing proprietary

• 5:21Speaker 01

  in there, no sugar, keto-friendly. So truly, with the exception of anybody who's caffeine sensitive, because his first product does have 50mg of green tea with L-theanine, and a bunch of it balanced it out, green tea caffeine, the exception of that, this is for everybody. And yes, our next product will be non-stim.

• 5:38Speaker 00

  I'd drink a gallon of water. I wouldn't make it through the show. But I'm a lot older than you, James.

• 5:43Speaker 01

  I tee a lot. That's part of the fun.

• 5:46Speaker 02

  Part of the journey.

• 5:46Speaker 01

  You know, you're doing it right.

• 5:48Speaker 03

  I'm a former NFL player, and back in the 80s, we didn't have a lot of supplementation. But everybody was trying to gain an edge somehow, even though there weren't products available. And you're trying to combine all your things with, you know, egg whites, and, you know, ice cream. Now they have so many products on the market. But my question is, you know, when you thought of it, did you go to a scientist, or did you come up with your own ingredients? How did you formulate it in your mind, and in, you know, in substance, to say, this is the product I want, and this is going to work for the masses?

• 6:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, great question. What we started doing, my fiance and I is looking at our pantry, and looking at all the different supplements that she takes, that I take, and we immediately said, okay, where's their overlap? And it was with B vitamins, it was with cordyceps, and lion's manes, and some nootropics. It was, you know, truly with hydration, our favorite form of that has always been doing sea salt. We do natural sea salt in the morning, and then coconut water. And all of this, plus more, is in there. So we looked at the overlap, and then, I gotta give her a lot of credit, I preach AI implementation into every single business that I have, even the ones that I'm not quite sure yet where we're going to utilize it. I ask my teams to play around and

• 7:07Speaker 01

  find out, and figure it out. And she came to me after a deep dive, with all of our conversations, and all of our supplements, with an AI printout of what she thought that the first recipe was going to be. So we started there, we then partnered up with our manufacturer, who has been doing this for 30 years. They have a whole team of scientists, they source some of the best ingredients in the world, and it was through a, man, it had been about a year and a half process of flavor profiling, ingredient profiling, and coming together, starting with her and my needs, then AI, and then the team that we surrounded ourselves with.

• 7:43Speaker 03

  It's a crowded market, correct?

• 7:45Speaker 01

  I'd say so, yeah.

• 7:47Speaker 03

  And so how do you differentiate?

• 7:48Speaker 01

  Rapidly growing.

• 7:49Speaker 03

  And so how do you differentiate yourself from everybody else?

• 7:54Speaker 01

  We are just so excited because it's something we authentically use. She's a health coach, and I'm somebody who has been acting and singing, and still dance for, you know, and put on two-hour shows on stage, pulling backflips, and stay very active. I, you know, to some degree, an athlete, but not taking away from my friends who are much better athletes than me. So we started with use case, and both her social media, her following, and her clients, and the market we have built up locally, and then, of course, my fan base. But I do think that, outside of all of that, and the authentic story there, the thing we want to do with Everybody Every Day is create a community, and host community-based events. So it's something, again, that Caitlin, with Complete Lifestyle, that's her company, her health coach company, and her live events company, and I are doing

• 8:39Speaker 01

  together. We have our first event here, July 18th. I hope I got that date right, honey, which is going to be the launch party for Everybody Every Day. And that's going to be a cornerstone of the company. We're going to listen to our fans, we're going to listen to the community, and we want to build and grow communities with in-person events, so people can network and find like-minded individuals outside of just, you know, knowing a brand from afar, but never getting to know the people behind it, or the other people using it.

• 9:03Speaker 00

  I love this live event strategy today. People are so in need of that, and building community, people buying from you and selling for you for life. As I mentor, coach, and teach in this space, that's the secret sauce to getting to market if you're not well-capitalized, because that's what the other option is, is millions of dollars of a raise, slowly, and then, all of a sudden, now these CPG companies grow. Marie, bring us home.

• 9:28Speaker 04

  Yeah, so, I love this. I'm definitely going to get this for my husband, because I want to hydrate him for so long.

• 9:35Speaker 00

  Everybody wants it for their husband, you know, not for themselves.

• 9:37Speaker 04

  For sure. But another concept, as I was reading your beautiful bio, is about that you're focusing on motivating and educating the next generation. And I really would love you to talk about that, because I know, definitely, this product is amazing. But what you have accomplished yourself as a creative person, and becoming successful, and having two young children that are creatives, and are on their way to become successful, one as a hip-hop artist, one as an actress, how can you give them the best advice to create success and motivate them?

• 10:19Speaker 01

  Great question. How old are they? I just want to know.

• 10:21Speaker 04

  They're 22 and 26.

• 10:23Speaker 01

  Amazing. That would actually fall right within my purview, I think, at least right within the demographic that has grown up watching my TV show, listening to my music, and hopefully growing with me into a lot of my other projects now. I have found myself being invited into some of the most extraordinary rooms. And not to just talk up David because we're on the show, but he's my first use case in this scenario, where organically, he reached out, I think, because somebody on his team was a fan of mine. That led to a very interesting conversation, that led to the first time we did a podcast, and then it's continued now for, I think, about four years, and has grown into business opportunities, it's grown into a genuine friendship and a mentorship

• 11:04Speaker 01

  that David gives me. And maybe back and forth, you know, vice versa, to some degree, once in a while. But the reason being isn't because I've been an actor, isn't because I've been a singer. It's because I've always been curious to learn more. I've always been curious to listen. And when given the opportunity to walk through these extraordinary doors into these extraordinary rooms, I know a lot of my peers have just said no or felt that it wasn't their place. Whereas I have always jumped at the opportunity to continue to learn and to be surrounded by people who have done more than me, experienced more than me, are smarter than me, simply have more or at least different things to offer. So in a nutshell, I would attribute a lot of my success, especially my success now with

• 11:48Speaker 01

  individual projects, with starting this company with, I was talking to my team yesterday. I think there's 11 different companies underneath my daily purview that I just couldn't believe. I'm like, how do we get here this fast? Right. I would attribute so much of that by simply saying yes to opportunities and listening and not trying to do absolutely everything myself, quite the contrary. When I find people that I can utilize to build teams, that has just been extraordinarily helpful. So don't feel like you have to do it on your own. I think it's the simplest way of giving them some advice and don't be afraid to ask questions. I have found that the most successful people are often the most giving with all the advice. So ask away.

• 12:33Speaker 04

  Okay, thank you. I will definitely share this information to them.

• 12:37Speaker 00

  He is an amazing entertainer, an amazing entrepreneur, and his heart is in the right place. So is his mind, body and soul. I am so proud to consider him a friend from Big Time Rush, selling out Madison Square Garden in the Forum, to 11 different companies, his latest being Everybody Every Day, partnered with his better half, Kaitlyn. James Maslow, always a privilege and fun having you join me. I look forward to doing so much more, especially our show, Made From A Stage. Thanks for joining us on Office Hours.

• 13:12Speaker 01

  Me too, brother. I really appreciate it and thank you all very much for your questions and your time.

• 13:15Speaker 03

  Thank you.

• 13:16Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 13:17Speaker 00

  It's been Big Time and Big Time Rush here on Office Hours.