0:06

Justine Reichman: So good morning, and welcome to Essential Ingredients. I'm your host, Justine Reichman. With me

0:11

today is Aishwarya Iyer.

0:14

Aishwarya Iyer: Hi, Justine. Justine Reichman: Hi, how are you today?

0:17

Aishwarya Iyer: I'm so good. I'm so excited to be on this podcast

0:20

and to chat with you. Justine Reichman: Me too. I'm excited to chat with you because

0:24

there's so many things that I feel like we can talk about that

0:28

relate to the people that are listening and watching, which

0:32

we'll get into in a minute, your journey as an entrepreneur, all

0:36

these different things. So before we kick it off, so that

0:39

our listeners and our viewers know who we're talking to, would

0:43

you just please introduce yourself with your name, your

0:45

title, and what you do? Aishwarya Iyer: Yes, absolutely. So I'm a Aishwayra Iyer. I go by

0:51

Ash. Justine Reichman: You could have told me that. It's very hard

0:56

saying your name properly. Aishwarya Iyer: I love to do that to people. It's a party

1:03

trick. I'm the Founder and CEO of a company called Brightland.

1:07

We make beautiful, delicious, indulgent olive oils, vinegars

1:12

and honey. We sourced directly from independent farmers in

1:18

California. We've been around for the last four and a half

1:21

years, and it's been such a whirlwind. And I love food. I

1:27

love wine. I love hanging out with my dogs. I love gardens.

1:33

And I love putting my phone away because I think phones are

1:36

crazy. And that is really my state of mind right now.

1:40

Justine Reichman: I love that. I love that. We're gonna talk

1:45

about Brightland. But first, tell me about your dogs.

1:47

Aishwarya Iyer: Oh, yeah, I have two dogs, Madison and Crosby

1:50

named after two special streets in New York City. Madison is a

1:57

cockapoo, sort of old girl. And then Crosby is a half Yorkie

2:03

schnauzer situation, and he's a grumpy old man. And they really

2:09

are darlings. They're amazing. Do you have dog?

2:13

Justine Reichman: I do. I have two dogs, a 12 and a 20. Mini

2:16

and Misty. Aishwarya Iyer: Oh, my god. I love those names.

2:18

Justine Reichman: They're very cute and adopted many when we

2:22

came back from Mexico City first, by way of fostering and

2:28

every sense. You're gonna keep that? No, no, it's just

2:31

temporary. Anyway, long story short, it's nine years later or

2:35

something? Oh, no. It's not nine years later. She's now nine. She

2:39

was three when I got her. And then Tim said about a year or

2:42

two later, I think you should get another one. So we've got

2:45

Misty. And now, we have two lovely dogs. They're the best.

2:53

That makes the family whole, they bring it all together. They

2:55

give a lot of love. It's unconditional. So do you have a

3:02

third child? Is it Brightland? Aishwarya Iyer: Yes, yes. Founded almost five years ago.

3:12

It has been a whirlwind. I did not set out to become an

3:15

entrepreneur. I will tell you that I wasn't one of those

3:17

people that was like lemonade stand, or trading baseball

3:22

cards, or whatever that people did. I really thought that I was

3:26

going to be either a lawyer or a news anchor. I had dreams of

3:31

becoming an optometrist. So I was all over the map world. I'm

3:35

super all over the map, but entrepreneur or CEO is

3:38

definitely not one of them. And I think when you care about

3:42

something a lot, and when you're curious, it can lead you down

3:46

lots of paths and end up changing your life. And I became

3:50

really curious and interested in the world of oils, cooking oils

3:54

and olive oils. And the more I dug, the more intrigued I got.

3:59

And here we are. Justine Reichman: So what were you doing before this? Is there

4:04

something in your background that lended itself naturally to

4:06

this? Aishwarya Iyer: So the short answer is no. But the longer

4:10

answer is, absolutely. When I look back and can thread the

4:14

dots from a short answer standpoint, I started my career

4:18

at L'Oreal at Lancome, and then I pivoted into the tech world. I

4:22

was working at early stage startups having a blast. But

4:27

again, not thinking about entrepreneurship in any way, but

4:31

the skills that I learned in those places. So at L'Oreal, I

4:34

think CPG, the interest in consumer products, the interest

4:38

in positioning and brand naming that also got lodged in my

4:43

brain. And then when I was at the startups, I learned what it

4:48

was like to be nimble to work really quickly, to be

4:51

comfortable with discomfort, to be open with the grey. Not

4:56

everything is black or white. And I think those things stuck

5:00

with me so much that now being a part of the Brightland ship or

5:04

manning the ship, it takes a lot for me to get kind of like

5:07

tossed in the ocean. Justine Reichman: I can imagine. Being an entrepreneur, you have

5:13

to go out of your comfort zone, you have to be able to be open

5:16

to new things and not stuck on one thing. Because what you came

5:21

up with originally, after you do research, or after you test the

5:24

market, or after things evolve, and life changes, and things

5:27

shift, so does whatever you're producing or creating employee.

5:32

And I think not being scared of that and not holding on so

5:36

tightly that you're not open to that really makes you a good

5:40

entrepreneur. It's what entrepreneurship is about.

5:44

Aishwarya Iyer: Thank you for saying that. And I think that

5:46

goes really nicely with this kind of really firm belief that

5:49

I have that two things can be true at the same time. You can

5:53

be really enjoying the ride of whatever journey you're on, but

5:57

also be scared about what's ahead or also have some regrets.

6:00

Two things can absolutely be true. And there's no absolute,

6:04

getting comfortable with that as a concept. And as a construct of

6:08

how I live my life has been sort of game changing too.

6:11

Justine Reichman: I appreciate you sharing that. I think that that's really great insight for founders and people that are

6:17

interested in starting businesses to hear because it

6:20

can be overwhelming, it can be confusing for people. And many

6:26

times, people often feel like it's not possible. I can change

6:30

the narrative a little bit, so much more becomes open to you

6:34

and possible. Aishwarya Iyer: I think there's also a lot around like the inner

6:38

critic and the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. When

6:42

I was thinking about starting this, I didn't think it was

6:45

possible. I didn't think I was possible. That was the big part

6:49

about it. I was like, I'm not smart enough. I'm not capable

6:53

enough. Why would anyone ever want to listen to me, and I had

6:56

to really unravel where that was coming from. And it was like, my

7:01

7th grade self or my 10th grade self not feeling good enough.

7:07

The self that was coming out so I had to almost go revisit that

7:11

person and be like, you're okay, it's okay. You can go out and

7:15

try something. And if it doesn't work, it's okay.

7:19

Justine Reichman: I think that that kind of sentiment is really

7:25

a very important part of the whole growth because you're

7:29

revisiting the things that could potentially be barriers for you,

7:33

and recognising why that's a challenge for you. And if you

7:36

can address that, you've got a better chance of being able to

7:39

move forward in a more positive way. Similarly, when I was in

7:43

third grade, I was scared of being wrong. I didn't like to

7:47

raise my hand and be wrong. And now, I think I've built a

7:51

backbone. I have an opinion. If you don't agree with me, you

7:54

don't agree with me. If I don't agree with you, we don't agree.

7:56

And that's okay. I don't think you know which was on the line

8:02

about getting that answer. That make sense to you?

8:08

Aishwarya Iyer: How have you moved past it now?

8:13

Justine Reichman: And so at third grade, I was what nine.

8:16

Now, I'm 51. So got a few years, a little bit of experience. And

8:21

I think the one thing is realising what I was interested

8:25

in. And when I found what I was interested in, I found that I

8:29

just wanted to learn more. I found that I was open to not

8:34

being right, but getting educated. Realising what my

8:39

skill set is what my superpower is. And so as a result, it gave

8:45

me a place to come from strength, even if I don't always

8:48

have the answers. And to me, that's a solid thing to say, I

8:52

don't know all the answers. In fact, that's why I bring all

8:54

these people on my podcast so that they can help you make more

8:58

informed choices being the audience.

9:00

Aishwarya Iyer: I love that so much. And I resonate with it so

9:03

much because I tell my team all the time, I better be the

9:06

dumbest person in the room when I'm with y'all. Hired an amazing

9:11

team to exactly provide that guidance and people that I can

9:17

learn from, and that we can all learn from each other, get

9:20

better and build this company into something really special.

9:24

Justine Reichman: When did you realise you needed to have a team that was smarter than you or knew more than you? Because I

9:28

learned it from my mother, I can tell you that.

9:32

Aishwarya Iyer: I think I learned that when I started

9:36

trying to separate my ego from what was actually the right

9:42

decision for the company. Justine Reichman: Was there something pivotal that happened

9:48

that made you aware of that?

9:51

Aishwarya Iyer: I think that it was honestly, tough lessons

9:54

learned over time. And it was mistakes. And I think it was a

9:59

series of them that ended up making me think, wait, why am I

10:04

getting in my own way? Justine Reichman: So what would you say to somebody else that

10:08

another founder or somebody else that really wanted to go out and

10:12

build their own business and kept finding reasons why they

10:17

couldn't do it? Because to me, you're your own worst enemy

10:20

there. You're stopping the progress. What might you say to

10:25

that? What could you recommend? Aishwarya Iyer: I honestly think, one, exercise that I

10:29

think could be really helpful is write out three or four

10:32

questions that you would want people in your life like good

10:35

friends, family members, people in your circle to answer about

10:39

you. Like, hey, what's your biggest superpower? Why do you

10:42

believe in me? Really basic questions like that, and send it

10:46

around to 10 or 15 people. Ask them to answer it, and then read

10:50

what they have to say. And I think starting there by saying,

10:54

oh, my God, this is how other people see me. Why aren't I

10:58

seeing this in myself? Because at the end of the day, we have

11:01

to be our own biggest champions and best friends. And I always

11:07

say, I'm the greatest love of my life. I love my husband, I love

11:11

my family. But I have to also be the greatest love of my life.

11:15

And I think being able to shift to that will then lead to a

11:19

place of thinking that things are possible even when things

11:23

are tough. And things will be tough. And things may not go in

11:26

the right way. But at least, it opens up the mindset to think

11:30

that things are possible rather than think that things are

11:32

impossible. Justine Reichman: I love that. I never thought about thinking of

11:37

myself as the love of my life. And I think that to be able to

11:41

do that is very empowering to be able to say that. To own that is

11:45

really empowering. Aishwarya Iyer: Then you come from a place of love no matter

11:49

what. If you love yourself and you've truly believed that, then

11:53

you're radiating it and like it's the universe sort of shifts

11:58

in that way not to get so woowoo. You're a New Yorker, and

12:02

I lived there for so long. And here we are talking about this,

12:05

but I firmly believe it.

12:09

Justine Reichman: I think that's an amazing. It's an amazing

12:11

story to tell yourself. And I don't mean a story that it's

12:15

made up, but in a story to narrate to yourself and to

12:18

create that narrative for you to build from. So when you decided

12:23

on olive oil, what was it about olive oil and all the different

12:27

things that honey, I didn't even know you made honey.

12:30

Aishwarya Iyer: Yeah, we started with olive oil. And the reason

12:33

for that was, I come from a family of very passionate, very

12:36

judgmental home cooks who are very quick to ask, what are you

12:42

eating for lunch? What are you eating for dinner? It better be

12:44

home food. And so I totally went the other direction. Lived in

12:48

New York for a decade and never cooked. I was out every night

12:52

living it up, and then slowly started shifting. I always say

12:56

like, the things that you run away from, you end up like going

12:58

back towards as you get older. And so started going back into

13:02

cooking and just being more mindful about the ingredients. I

13:05

was going to the Union Square Farmers Market, I was looking at

13:09

what kind of kale am I buying. Maybe I shouldn't be shocked. I

13:11

love Trader Joe's, but maybe I shouldn't be buying all my

13:14

produce from there. And as I got more conscious and thoughtful, I

13:19

kept coming back to the foundation of all of our meals,

13:22

which is olive oil or cooking oil. And I was like, hmm, am I

13:25

using a good quality? I don't even know what am I using. And

13:29

so I started Googling, what is good olive oil? What's bad olive

13:33

oil? And when I Googled bad olive oil, there were some crazy

13:36

articles about the Italian Mafia maybe being involved at one

13:40

point in the olive oil trade. And I was like, what are you

13:43

talking about? This is insane. I also love The Godfather, and

13:49

like that whole Sopranos. So I was like, this is wild and

13:52

interesting. And so it just became this pop culture meets my

13:57

own personal interests, meets my family's interests. Like

13:59

everything coming together and couldn't get it out of my head.

14:03

I started just researching the world of olive oil more. And

14:07

when I was in California, I started visiting some oil farms.

14:11

And that blew me away because I was like, wait, I thought good

14:14

olive oil was only found in Europe. So the fact that the

14:18

United States is producing gorgeous, beautiful extra virgin

14:22

olive oil right here, there's something really amazing about

14:25

that. Is there a way for me to partner with any of these

14:28

farmers to tell that story? And that was the genesis.

14:33

Justine Reichman: What was your next step? You realise you knew

14:36

that you wanted to partner with the farmers because partnering

14:39

with the farmers was going to allow you to choose going

14:43

regenerative. Are you going organic? You have so many

14:45

choices and things to know. Aishwarya Iyer: Well, I didn't know what those things meant

14:48

Justine Reichman: That's amazing. So what was the first

14:49

because I was coming from the world of tech. So I was coming

14:53

from like, I think naive. I think newcomers sort of

14:57

mentality. So honestly, a lot of people didn't take my calls. I

15:01

remember emailing a bunch of people and no one responded. Or

15:05

I would show up and they'd be like, this is very cute that you

15:09

have this project in mind, like by project. What I did was try

15:13

to educate myself. I read an incredible book that I would

15:16

highly recommend to people, it's called Extra Virginity by Tom

15:20

Mueller. That was a big point of education, kind of like a

15:24

stepping stone. And then I took classes at the UC Davis Olive

15:28

Center, which there's a real place that it's the olive oil

15:32

center. They research olive oil and the chemical and sensory

15:36

analysis of it. And it was a really wonderful place to learn.

15:40

So I got a little more educated there, and then I found a

15:43

farming family that decided to take a chance on me. They had

15:47

organic regenerative practices, and so I was really excited by

15:51

that. And that's how we got started.

15:56

store you got into? Aishwarya Iyer: Well, we started direct to consumer. So

16:00

originally, it was from shipping from my little office. It was me

16:04

and some interns packing bottles and boxes. Crazy, like we were

16:08

packing thousands of boxes, which makes no sense. So we

16:13

started doing that, and we were shipping directly to customers

16:16

around the country. But the first or second week that we

16:20

launched, we got an inquiry from a really cute lifestyle store in

16:24

Brooklyn. They were like, we'd love to carry your olive oil.

16:29

And I was so excited. And that was the first store that carried

16:33

us. Justine Reichman: Which store in Brooklyn? Aishwarya Iyer: Oh, my god, they're not open anymore. But it

16:37

was called like, some really cute name and it was chic. And

16:43

it was in Cobble Hill. Yeah, unfortunately, they closed

16:47

during the pandemic. Justine Reichman: I was thinking the store Whisk.

16:51

Aishwarya Iyer: Oh, yeah, love that store.

16:53

Justine Reichman: I love that store. But I was like, they

16:56

should sell your olive oil there. They sell all that stuff.

16:59

I think whiskey would be a perfect spot, and they've got

17:02

the one in Brooklyn. I think it's better for cheese.

17:15

Aishwarya Iyer: If anyone from Bedford Cheese or Whisk is

17:17

listening, please contact us.

17:20

Justine Reichman: We'll send it to them, and we'll tell them how

17:22

much we liked that. My friend actually lived in the building

17:25

above Whisk on Bedford when she first bought her first apartment

17:30

with her husband. And so I would go to Whisk. I was on my way up,

17:34

it was literally the corner store. And you open the gate,

17:37

and then they had these apartments above it. That's so

17:40

sweet. Where do you sold here? I'm just curious in the Bay

17:44

Area. Aishwarya Iyer: We are about to be sold at every Whole Foods.

17:53

We're so excited about it. Justine Reichman: That's a big deal.

17:58

Aishwarya Iyer: It was its own journey. They reached out about

18:02

a year after we launched. I had an amazing call with a former

18:06

buyer there. I was like, unfortunately, we're gonna have

18:10

to say no to you, which was a crazy thing because I think like

18:13

brands don't say no to Whole Foods. But I didn't think we

18:17

were ready. Operationally infrastructure. I wanted to make

18:21

sure we did it right when we did it. And so I said no. And then

18:25

they reached out the next year. And I said no, again. And then

18:28

they reached out again. And then finally, we were like, okay, I

18:31

think we're ready. And so they've been incredible

18:33

partners, and I love them so much. And yeah, we're really

18:36

excited to continue growing with them. Justine Reichman: Finally that moment to say, yeah.

18:42

Aishwarya Iyer: We had some team members who, it was ready from a

18:46

team member standpoint. And they also said, well, what about you

18:51

launch just in one store to start to test it? And that felt

18:55

really achievable. And that's how we started.

19:00

Justine Reichman: That's amazing. Because I've heard so many different stories about local Whole Foods and going to

19:05

stand online to these days, do you know what I'm talking about?

19:08

Where they look at products, I don't know if they still do

19:10

that. Aishwarya Iyer: People have all kinds of stories. I think we've

19:15

been really lucky with our retail partnerships so far. But

19:20

I'm sure as our story continues, I'll have the craziest stories

19:23

over time. Justine Reichman: You've been at this now for four or five years.

19:27

Did you go after raising money? Did you bootstrap this?

19:31

Aishwarya Iyer: I bootstrapped for the first year and a half.

19:34

And then we got to a place where I was saying NO more than I was

19:34

Justine Reichman: Was it scary bringing the investors on when

19:38

saying YES to whether it was making the product, whether it

19:42

was being able to hire someone, whether it was an interesting

19:46

marketing partnership. And that was the sign for me of like, we

19:51

are giving up growth because I'm bootstrapping it. And I've also

19:55

proved out enough product market fit. There's a lot of demand

19:59

from all avenues. And so I went out and raised like an angel

20:03

cool friends and family round. And then about a year and a half

20:08

ago, I raised a seed round steal from mostly family offices and

20:12

angels. And we had one amazing like lead investor join. But I

20:16

feel incredibly lucky. And also it was strategic of me, I guess,

20:20

to bring on people who really believe in Brightland who are

20:24

100% supportive and are kind of in everything that we're doing.

20:26

everything you had done until this point was all because you

20:29

A lot of founders told me like, their investors give them a lot

20:33

of a headache. I can't say that about ours, so I feel lucky.

20:43

made it happen? Aishwarya Iyer: Two things can be true at the same time. So

20:47

yes, scary. But also really grateful and excited, and like

20:51

jazzed to say, wow, this is going to accelerate our growth.

20:54

And I can now hire that director of operations that I couldn't

20:58

afford, and all of that stuff that opened up a lot of doors

21:02

for us. Justine Reichman: As you're talking to these investors and

21:06

you're bringing them on board, did you look at it as wasn't

21:10

just a financial investment or reserve human capital as well as

21:14

part of that raise?

21:16

Aishwarya Iyer: It was mostly financial. Justine Reichman: Because I always think it's interesting

21:21

when you bring people on, sometimes people need the

21:25

resources of the knowledge, sometimes even finances. And

21:28

sometimes, they need both. Aishwarya Iyer: Yeah. I had a couple of amazing folks who came

21:33

on board as like advisors to the company early on. One of the

21:37

founders of Sweetgreen, a couple of really amazing people. They

21:42

were really instrumental. And I think opening my eyes again, I

21:46

was really naive. So which I think is the right move

21:49

actually. For any entrepreneurs listening who are early in their

21:53

journey, stay naive because it keeps you looking at the

21:58

positive. Because if I had I known everything I know now and

22:02

how hard it all is. I don't know if I would do it. Why? I think I

22:08

would, but I would go in with the sort of like, oh, my God, a

22:13

lot more fear than I did.

22:15

Justine Reichman: I could see that. I can also see though,

22:18

right? So let's just look your five years, and let's look five

22:22

years later, right? You could have a whole exit, you could

22:26

sell to give me a big Olive Oil Company. Colavita, I'm just

22:30

making it up. And you could have some other journey that you then

22:35

go on. And now, because you've learned all these lessons along

22:38

the way, you have more information to make more

22:41

informed choices too. And you'll make new mistakes. So I think

22:47

there's a balance, right? I think it can be scary. Because

22:50

now, you know more. But it can also be really comforting

22:54

because you know more. Like you said, two things. Two are the

22:56

same. Aishwarya Iyer: But I'm pretty calm. I want to build this

23:08

company in a calm, strategic, calm, cool collected way. So

23:12

even when we make decisions, it's calm. We got this, it's

23:16

gonna be okay. And if it's not, we'll figure it out one step at

23:19

a time. I've been a part of companies where it's like really

23:25

chaotic. People are making a lot of decisions rooted in fear and

23:32

scarcity. Justine Reichman: I started conversation earlier where I was

23:37

talking to somebody and I said, I think when we make these

23:40

decisions, sometimes you have to take a minute and not react. But

23:44

rather yet, give that moment to reflect and then respond. Yes,

23:49

it what may seem scary if you surround yourself with more

23:53

knowledgeable people that can help guide you and create the

23:56

resources or provides the resources for you to better

23:59

understand what the challenges are. As a result, you come from

24:04

a better place of strength, less fear, and you can handle it.

24:08

Aishwarya Iyer: You said it beautifully. Exactly.

24:12

Justine Reichman: I want to go back to your olive oil for a second because I want to know how you perceive it's different

24:17

and more revolutionary than some of the other olive oils out

24:20

there. Aishwarya Iyer: When I was looking at the market, I think I

24:25

was looking at two things, the outside and what's the

24:27

packaging, the outside and what's inside. And for the most

24:32

part, grocery store, olive oils, the word on the street is that a

24:35

lot of them are like kind of old. We don't know when they

24:40

were made. We don't know who made them. It doesn't really say

24:43

like harvest day. It doesn't really talk about all of

24:46

varietals, there isn't much going on. And so those were the

24:52

things that I wanted to change up and say, hey, you know what?

24:54

For this kind of olive oil, we use arbequina and elbasan

24:58

olives. Here's what that means. Here's what it's gonna taste

25:01

like. Here's when it was made. Here's where it was made. Here's

25:04

how it was made, milled within 90 minutes and stored in

25:10

stainless steel temperature controlled rooms. We share that

25:14

because I think most people don't. And then I think from an

25:19

outside perspective, I used to walk the Whole Foods and grocery

25:24

store aisles and I just noticed people looked very confused when

25:29

they were in the olive oil set. They were just like, I don't

25:31

know what to buy. And I thought, why not build something or

25:35

create something that is so beautiful that you're like, oh,

25:39

my God, I want this on my kitchen countertop. I want to

25:44

give this to somebody. I want this for myself, and make it

25:47

something really covetable and exciting. So that way, you're

25:51

also more present and aware when you try what's inside to rather

25:55

than being like, it's the same old oil. Doesn't matter. I'm

25:58

just gonna add it to whatever and keep moving on. So we love

26:02

to tell our customers like, yes, it's pretty and that's great.

26:05

But open up a bottle and really taste the oil on its own. Think

26:10

about what the flavor profile and the tasting notes are and

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you should taste green herbaceous grassi, maybe fruity,

26:19

like you should taste nuance things because it basically is a

26:22

fruit juice. Justine Reichman: How many flavors do you have? Do you call

26:26

them flavors? Aishwarya Iyer: We have two oils. One is really robust,

26:35

peppery. The other one's a little milder, a little more

26:38

buttery. And then we have infused flavored oils. So garlic

26:43

infused with basil flavor, lemon, chilli, rosemary. And

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then we even came out with something called a pizza oil

26:52

where we blended jalapeno, basil, garlic, rosemary, oregano

27:00

together to make this, and it's so fun on pizza.

27:06

Justine Reichman: I love like garlic and rosemary olive oils

27:09

because it can change the dynamic of a very simple salad

27:13

in a heartbeat. Aishwarya Iyer: Exactly. It adds so much magic. I always tell

27:17

people, you don't even need to minced garlic. You can use our

27:21

garlic oil, or you don't need to add pesto because you can use

27:25

the basil oil. So it really works, and amazing hack too.

27:29

Justine Reichman: I love that. I know you mentioned that you have

27:32

these olive oils, you have honey, you mentioned a few other things. Can you just remind me?

27:36

Aishwarya Iyer: We have vinegars as well. So we have a Blackberry

27:39

Balsamic Vinegar and a Citrus Champagne Vinegar. The

27:45

blackberries are triple crown blackberries that are double

27:49

fermented with California Chardonnay Grapes. And then the

27:53

citrus champagne vinegar is they're made with navel and

27:57

Valencia oranges that are double fermented with Zinfandel grapes,

28:01

and they are so punchy and zesty. Zingy is what I like to

28:07

say. And also grown, all made in a regenerative organic family

28:13

run farm. It's a husband and wife in the Central Coast, and

28:17

they're really standouts. I recommend them highly enough.

28:19

And then we have two honeys as well.

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Justine Reichman: That's a lot of skews for a short amount of

28:26

time. Aishwarya Iyer: We've been cranking them out. But you know

28:29

what's funny? It is a lot, but it's also not a lot when I look

28:32

at like the grand scheme of so many consumer product brands.

28:36

People come out with products every other month. You look at

28:42

other categories, and even in food, I've seen a lot of folks

28:45

like they suddenly have 50, 60 skews of products. But we've

28:51

been, I think, methodical and intentional. But also want to

28:55

make sure that our customers are being delighted.

28:58

Justine Reichman: I bet. I'm excited. I want to try the olive

29:00

oil, and I want to try that vinegar. I'm very curious about

29:03

the honey. Do you filter your honey? Is it unfiltered? I love

29:10

unfiltered raw honey. Aishwarya Iyer: It's unfiltered raw honey. One is like a

29:15

wildflower, and the other one is an orange blossom. Really

29:19

delicious. Justine Reichman: Well, that's true. What was the first item

29:24

you had that you kicked it off with? Aishwarya Iyer: We kicked off with two flagship olive oils.

29:29

Justine Reichman: So those are the ones with the different, you said they were green and grassy, and one was more bright, right?

29:35

Aishwarya Iyer: Yep, exactly. So we launched with those two.

29:38

Justine Reichman: Such an amazing line of beautiful

29:40

products that are built with farmers, and that use organic

29:44

and regenerative practices, which I think is just the

29:47

epitome of what we're trying to support here in terms of

29:51

building a more regenerative and sustainable future. And so you

29:54

share that story and the fact that you didn't even know about

29:57

it, but then learned about an amazing choice to work with

30:01

somebody like that, I think is really important.

30:03

Aishwarya Iyer: Thank you. I think that at the end of the

30:05

day, every single choice we make matters so much. And if we can

30:10

inspire and delight people to be more mindful about their cooking

30:14

basics, like an olive oil, then we've done our jobs.

30:19

Justine Reichman: I think that that's super important. Because I think as you're talking about this, and I'm learning about all

30:24

these things, you mentioned people go to the grocery store

30:28

and they look really confused. What's one thing you might tell

30:32

them when they go to the grocery store to help them in their

30:35

journey to choose that right olive oil? Aishwarya Iyer: A couple things. One, don't buy olive oil that is

30:43

in a open glass where you can see through. It should not be

30:48

see through. One of olive oils biggest enemies is light. So

30:53

never buy an olive oil that is see through. And then the second

30:57

is always look for a harvest date, not just a Best Buy date,

31:00

because a harvest date truly tells you when an olive oil was

31:03

made. And that's important because you want to make sure

31:06

that it was made maybe like max couple years before. Because

31:12

otherwise, if you don't know when it was made, it could be three, four or five years old. And at that point, the oils,

31:16

definitely rancid. Justine Reichman: Thank you so much for this great

31:20

conversation, all the information. I love following

31:23

your journey, and I can't wait to try more products. So for

31:29

those guests and folks watching, and if they wanted to learn more

31:35

about Brightland, where would you send them to? Aishwarya Iyer: I would send them to brightland.co, our

31:40

website. I would also send them to check out our Instagram, it's

31:46

@wearebrightland. You can start there.

31:50

Justine Reichman: I was looking to partner with you, get in

31:54

touch to maybe carry the product, who would they reach

31:58

out to? And how would they do that? Aishwarya Iyer: Just DM us on Instagram, and someone will

32:03

definitely reach you in the right direction. Justine Reichman: Awesome. Thank you so much for joining me

32:07

today. Aishwarya Iyer: Thanks, Justine. This was wonderful. It was

32:11

great.