 Is this a real business or is it your version of owning sports team? That's a good question. That's a great question. Um, I think it's a combination of both. Ian Ginsburg, third-generation owner of C.O. Bigelow. Are you ready to answer some questions? I am. People are starting to crave analog stuff again, vinyl, Polaroid. Do you see this as an opportunity for your brand dripping in heritage? I definitely do. As a 180-year-old brand, I think people still crave things that are real. When will you know you've made it? I don't think you ever know. If someone said I want to be you, we'll be the first thing you tell them to do. Are you sure? Are you more of a brand or retail guy? I'm more of a brand guy. How much of the business comes from the store versus the package goods? Because drugs are expensive and we are a drug store. A lot more business comes from the store, but I think a lot more margin comes from the other stuff. Whose career do you model your own after? I would say partly my dad, but I kind of, I mean, I wing it. How much of the C.O. Bigelow brand do you feel is you versus how much is there when you inherited it? The brand is there, but what we've done with it is what I've done with it. So all the pieces were there, we're just putting it together in a different way. What's been the biggest thing you've done with the brand? It took the emotion and made it touch people and brought it national or international. If you had unlimited funds to invest, where would you go first? Really take a hard look at the archives and maybe put together a museum. What's the craziest proposal someone's ever come to you to do with the brand? We get a lot of proposals, but I guess just taking it and blowing it out at mass. What stops you from doing that? Because when you have this heritage brand that's been in the family for many years, you make mindful decisions and you want to make sure it perpetuates forever and sometimes we don't, I don't think that that's necessarily the path. What actual packaged good is the one that best represents your brand? I think most people associate it with our Lipsev, which is a tin based on an old package that has our logo on it because I think that's been out there the longest that people associate, but I think the logo is, and the neon sign out and so on. I'm the lay consumer here. The name of the brand, the name is very recognizable, but I don't know exactly what it does, so where besides a Lipsev is the most applicable place. As a retailer, people are always talking to us because we're the pharmacists, so we approach things from our problem solution point of view. I have chapped hands, I have dry skin, I don't feel good, I'm run down, I have a rash, so we try to approach a lot of our products around those problem solution positions. We also want to be part of people's daily lives, so we do a lot with shower gels and body lotions and things of that sort where you're using us all the time. What do you love about yourself? I think I have a great life, I get to do what I want to do, I work with amazing people, I get to travel around the world, and yeah, it's been awesome. What is a piece of advice you live by? Relationships win overall, that's the most important thing, and to always give back. Any relationship from Bigelow Tees to CO Bigelow? None at all, two different companies. What category are you not in that you believe you have permission to be in? I think nutritionals, so vitamins, supplements, all these protein drinks, collagen, things of that sort, ingestibles. Any plans to get into alternative medicine? We're involved with homeopathic medicine, but through other selling third parties, I think there's a position for us there, but I think it's not on the top of the list of things we should be looking at. Do you ever see CO Bigelow leaving the family? I would hope not. First generation builds, then second builds it up, and third hopefully doesn't eff it up, and I have a son in the business now who's fourth generation, and I think it's an awesome thing. When does the son remove the father? I think it's a combination of both. When does the son remove the father, and when does the father know it's time to drop the mic and leave? What's the hardest part about a family business? Not taking it home with you, and knowing when to separate one from the other. Do you ever feel the brand would be better suited if it wasn't a we move at our own pace privately held company? You're asking the wrong guy, I don't think so. I think this is the fun way of doing it. If you look at restaurant tours, there's a guy behind that, and it's something I've been talking to my son about. If you look at stores like Ron Robinson in LA, there's a guy behind it, and so I think a lot of these things work because there's a personality there that's driving that car. Which brands do you look at and go, shit, we should have done that? I mean, there's a lot of indie brands in beauty now, and so you look at a lot of categories, but you know, when you have a great brand, and you take care of the brand, the brand takes care of you, and so sometimes you just have to pay attention to what you're doing and you're not worried about what everybody else is doing. Are you lucky? Very lucky. What does a Sunday look like to you? Big runners, so I get up early in the morning, I go running, go to the gym, I still read the New York Times, the paper version, which my kids make fun of, because they said nobody reads newspapers, watch some football, hang out with family. Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Steve Ged. Did the limited brands partnership work? I think it did, so we're still partners in a certain way. I worked there for seven years full-time. I met amazing people, I learned a ton because I was just an indie scrapper, so all of a sudden I was thrown into a corporation, a major corporation with a bunch of BCG, Harvard MBAs, so I learned a ton, I met a ton of people, I think it was great, and it gave us a lot of, it gave us a national platform quicker than I could get. What's your real business or is it your version of owning a sports team? That's a good question, that's a great question. I think it's a combination of both. What makes you special? I think I'm interesting, started as a musician, went to pharmacy school, my parents forced me in there and kind of figured out a way to make it work for me and create a space for myself that worked. You know, I was able to use my creative vision as well as delivering something and making people happy. What part of the business surprised you the most? How do you relate about healthcare and price and drug companies? Have your ear very sharp? Oh, I'm pretty outspoken on the drug industry, yeah. How important is community? Community is super important. Giving back is important. Being part of the community is important. I mean, again, we're the apothecary and Greenwich Village for 180 years, so it's very important to us. If you had one marketing dollar to spend, where would you spend it? These days you gotta go digital. PR or influencers? PR. What's your social media strategy? To the game, but I think it's more about developing a sense of community about telling our story, showing people our archives. We're not going to be the guy pushing products out the door. It's not what people respond to. People respond to emotional content. What's the biggest challenge you have at the moment? In the retail sector, we're competing with other retailers that have no staff and we're, you know, staff heavy. Competing with indie brands that have that are shooting millions of dollars in the air and just hoping it sticks on the wall. It's just a tougher world. What keeps you up at night? What the future looks like and it's going fast. What brands do you look up to? I love what Shinola's done. I love what Kiehl's has done. I love brands like Porsche where they, you know, for 50 years they're as cool as they were the first day and they don't change. I love Ray-Ban. I love Levi's. I love, you know, Americana brands that don't, you know, things are as cool today. You know, white t-shirt, a pair of Levi's, they don't change. What do you hate about yourself? I have ADD, not that organized. Sometimes I'm all over the place but for now it seems to work. What's the hardest thing you had to learn on the job? Finance and managing people. What part of the business sucks? Finance and managing people. And what are the key indicators you look forward to determine the health of your business? My grandfather used to say at the end of the day if you pay your bills and you have money left over then you made money. I look at cash as a key indicator of business. I fight with my accounts all the time. Plenty of businesses fail with good balance sheets. Balance sheet means nothing. I think you have more cash today than you had yesterday and that's how you know if you're healthy. Ian Ginsberg, third generation owner of C.O. Bigelow, thank you so much for coming on and answering these questions. Thank you, this is awesome. I'm Ian Wishengrad and I'll see you next time on I'm with the brand.