Honest Ecommerce

JW Wiseman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Curious Elixirs, a booze-free adaptogenic craft cocktail brand with the mission to redefine how people drink socially. In 2015, JW woke up one morning after having 20 drinks in a single night and deciding to radically change his relationship with alcohol. He was inspired to explore his curiosity about life with less booze and started Curious Elixirs. 

Combined with JW's interests in herbs and adaptogens, Curious Elixirs launched as one of the first brands in America to pioneer the non-alcoholic and sober curious movement. As a fast-growing leader in the N/A space, Wiseman has been able to forge relationships with the best Michelin-starred and James Beard Award-winning restaurants, nightclubs and hospitality venues, and DTC partners in the world, serving over 10 million bottles and cans of Curious Elixirs since launch.

Prior to Curious Elixirs, JW founded the Good Business marketing agency, helping companies that aim to do well and do good in the world. Primarily focused on the food and wellness industries, Good Business jumpstarted brands including Daily Harvest and Chomps. 

JW is also in the bar and nightlife industry, opening subterranean bar The Whiskey Brooklyn and boutique liquor store The Whiskey Shop, along with investing in Williamsburg's OUTPUT as one of NYC's premiere techno clubs. He is a creative marketer at heart working at companies JackThreads and Thrillist (the third employee).

In This Conversation We Discuss:
[00:00] Introduction
[01:20] The night that changed everything
[02:48] Deciding to start Curious Elixirs
[03:57] Years of kitchen tinkering
[05:10] Launching three elixirs on Kickstarter
[05:46] Klaviyo
[07:57] Building the Curious Cocktail Club
[10:10] Intelligems
[12:01] The 24-hour Kickstarter rule
[14:28] Who Curious is really for
[14:52] Flowium
[16:01] Winning press with persistence
[18:06] eFulfillment Service
[20:31] Building the marketing flywheel
[21:51] Why wholesale came later
[24:02] The $70,000 mistake
[25:21] Keeping overhead low
[26:48] Naming the sober curious movement
[28:05] Where to try Curious Elixirs
[29:38] Final thoughts

Resources:
Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
Award-Winning Non-Alcoholic Drinks curiouselixirs.com 
Follow JW Wiseman linkedin.com/in/johnwwiseman 
Book a demo today at www.intelligems.io 
Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest 
Lower scale costs today eFulfillmentService.com/honest
Book a free lifecycle diagnosis call flowium.com 

If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Aman Advani is Founder and CEO of Ministry of Supply, a clothing brand using science to make the world's most comfortable clothing. The company was founded in 2012 with the mission to incorporate fundamental engineering and performance principles into clothing staples, ultimately building a wardrobe that both looks good, and feels comfortable.

Prior to co-founding Ministry of Supply, Advani spent 4 years in management and non-profit consulting with Deloitte and TechnoServe. He holds a BSIE from Georgia Tech, and half an MBA from MIT, was a member of Forbes 30 under 30 list and BBJ's 40 Under 40 list, and has been featured as the cover of both ASB and Boston Magazine. Most recently, Aman was named to the NRF's 2023 "List of People Shaping Retail."

In This Conversation We Discuss:
[00:00] Introduction
[01:58] First reactions to AI tools and Lovable
[05:04] Co-founder’s non-technical background
[07:39] Sponsor: Klaviyo
[09:45] Using Claude for CRO and analytics
[13:07] Sponsor: IntelliGems
[15:16] Build vs buy for AI customer service
[19:12] How much human oversight remains
[20:17] Sponsor: eFulfillment Service
[22:04] More efficiencies from AI tools
[24:22] Building an internal production system
[27:05] Why AI makes agencies more valuable
[29:42] Callouts
[29:52] Getting teams comfortable taking the demo
[32:08] Testing fast without overthinking

Resources:
Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
Machine Washable Everything ministryofsupply.com/pages/home-2  
Follow Aman Advani linkedin.com/in/amanadvani 
Book a demo today a intelligems.io/ 
Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest 
Lower scale costs today eFulfillmentService.com/honest 

If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Alex McEachern is Head of Marketing at Intelligems, where he helps ecommerce brands unlock profitable growth through pricing and retention strategies. With a background spanning product marketing, product management, and brand development, Alex has led cross-functional teams and go-to-market efforts at high-growth companies.

He is acclaimed for building strategic narratives, scaling brand visibility, and launching initiatives that align product experience with customer value. A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University with a BBA in Marketing, Alex brings analytical depth and creative energy to the intersection of growth, user experience, and commerce. His work is informed by a passion for behavioral psychology, practical experimentation, and a belief that great brands earn trust over time, not just clicks.

In This Conversation We Discuss:
[00:00] Introduction
[02:20] Disclosure on the Intelligems partnership
[04:05] Mistranslating conversion rate optimization
[07:50] Why CRO undersells what the work is
[10:15] Different stakeholders, different trade-offs
[12:00] CRO specialist vs Chief Revenue Officer mix-up
[13:18] Callouts
[13:28] Statistical significance and informed decisions
[18:30] The truth about minor test tweaks
[21:15] Where AI actually helps experimentation
[25:50] Coining the term growth experimentation
[28:10] AI in the wrong hands is dangerous

Resources:
Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
A/B Test Prices & Offers for Ecommerce intelligems.io/ 
Follow Alex McEachern linkedin.com/in/alexmceachern 

If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Giulia Miotti is Senior Ecommerce Experience and Performance Manager at Bang & Olufsen, the Danish luxury audio brand where Scandinavian design meets high-fidelity sound.

With over a decade of international experience across Adidas, Escada, and B&O, she's built her career at the intersection of digital innovation and brand storytelling; leading content, SEO and AI search, and ecommerce growth strategies that bring a legacy brand confidently into a digital-first, omnichannel future.

In This Conversation We Discuss:
[00:00] Introduction
[02:20] A century of maintaining brand craftsmanship
[05:02] Kicking off the brand’s digital transformation
[09:46] Sponsor: IntelliGems
[11:47] Building omnichannel Ecommerce roadmaps
[15:03] Sponsor: Klaviyo
[17:24] Legacy systems and internal friction
[18:17] Piloting in-store appointment bookings
[23:40] Sponsor: eFulfillment Service
[25:59] Winning over franchisees with customer data
[27:19] Callouts
[27:29] Optimizing for AI search and AEO
[36:48] Why strong SEO fuels AI search success
[39:02] Final thoughts and where to find Giulia

Resources:
Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
High-end Headphones, Speakers, and Televisions bang-olufsen.com/en/int 
Follow Giulia Miotti linkedin.com/in/giulia-miotti-digital/ 
Book a demo today at intelligems.io/ 
Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest 
Lower scale costs today eFulfillmentService.com/honest 

If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Matt Raminick spent nearly two decades of his career on the brand side (Quiksilver, Volcom, Pacsun, Mophie) hiring and managing agencies before founding Sunnyside.

Working with dozens of agencies big and small led him to realize that in most cases they repeatedly optimized for vanity channel metrics instead of outcomes that impacted the bottom line, often having no line of sight beyond a siloed view of the channels they managed.

So in 2020, after getting laid off from a high-profile exec role and with no prior agency experience, he founded Sunnyside and built a framework called Profit360™.

This system connects finance, brand moments, products, creative strategy, and paid media to reliably produce sustainable, predictable, and profitable growth at the business level, not isolated channel wins.

Sunnyside's unfair advantage is that every client gets a team of former brand-side marketers who've sat in the client's seat and know what's actually at stake because they've been in their shoes.

To date, Sunnyside has successfully helped brands in the surf, action sports, outdoor, fashion apparel, and DTC space — including Brixton, Municipal, Goodr, Xcel Wetsuits, Beek, Nixon, Salt Optics, and Jetty — profitably increase new customers, e-commerce revenue, and overall business growth.

In This Conversation We Discuss:
[00:00] Introduction
[05:04] Red flags to watch for early in an agency pitch
[09:44] Sponsor: Klaviyo
[11:55] Matching case studies to your actual business
[13:55] Building traction for a brand with nothing yet
[17:43] Sponsor: Intelligems
[20:02] Why RFPs fail to find the right partner
[22:00] Sponsor: eFulfillment Service
[26:27] Green flags that signal a strong agency fit
[28:40] Callouts
[28:50] What a good first 90 days looks like
[30:34] When a brand shouldn't hire an agency yet
[34:22] What to disclose before signing with an agency
[35:42] Profit360 and how the brand operates

Resources:
Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
A Better Way to Grow sunnysidecalifornia.com/ 
Follow Matt Raminick linkedin.com/in/mattraminick 
Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest
Book a demo today at intelligems.io/ 
Lower scale costs today eFulfillmentService.com/honest 

If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!