 PR or influencers? PR. Because my PR, I'm the first one sitting right over there. Steven Eisen, founder of lo-kai. You ready to answer some questions? Yes, I am. What is lo-kai? Lo-kai is a brand that helps remind people to stay balanced. How did you come up with the idea? My grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and I was incredibly close to him growing up. He taught me to play golf and pool and was always there for me. So when he was diagnosed, it brought me to a role in my life and got me thinking about how everyone goes through highs and lows and how I could bring elements from those two places to my use to humble and hopeful. I love the high low thing. It's brilliant. But how much of that has really comes from that moment? All of it. So I have a book of a million ideas. I'm always coming up with ideas just like any entrepreneur. This idea did truthfully come from that experience with my grandfather. And then obviously, I kept rolling with it and I told my dad the idea and he said, that's a great idea, but everyone has great ideas. Now go execute it and that's the hard part. And so from there, I started working on it and then it evolved obviously. Do you come from a family of entrepreneurs? My grandfather and my father are both entrepreneurs. Were they in any business remotely related to this? No. Whose career do you model your own after? My dad's. My dad's always worked incredibly hard up at 4.45 in the morning to go to the gym to work out before he goes to the office. And I really aspire to be like him. Who was one person you'd love to have coffee with Dead or Alive? My grandfather. I built a brand because of him and I would love to talk to him and tell him about it. He never got to see what happened with it. How and when did you come up with the name? Locahi in Hawaii means unity and to blend opposites. And so I took that word and I changed it because I wanted it to be something that I could own and was unique. And so I took the H out in Locahi. People love to go with Latin and all these different roots. Why did you go with Hawaii for inspiration? I was just looking up words that represented balance and that no one really recognized and that word just kind of stuck. What is the key to the Locahi brand? The key to the Locahi brand is the message of staying humble and hopeful and our connection with different causes that we support. Are you blown away by Locahi's success? I am. I think that it's a mix between a great idea, right timing and a little bit of luck and you can't always get luck. But when you do, you got to capitalize on it and we were able to do that. How often do you see these in the wild? Every day. And how good does that feel? Oh, it feels amazing every time. And I think one of the reasons it's been able to be so successful is because people are wearing their own personal story on their wrist. We donate 10% of our profits to charity and we've partnered with most nonprofits, BCRF Breast Cancer, Alzheimer's Association, Make-A-Wish. And so when people buy a Locahi, they usually buy a cause that's really important or passionate to them. They have a deep rooted story that they carry with them and the bracelet is just a physical representation of that they wear on their wrist. I did wear a Livestrong bracelet for years. I love cycling. I loved Lance. And until he disgraced himself, I was wearing that all the time. Did you take inspiration from Livestrong in any sense? Absolutely. I think that was when I was a young kid. I wore 10 of them on my wrist. And having a product that you could wear every day all the time, sleeping in a shower and at work out in it, was definitely part of the inspiration for why I designed Locahi the way I did. What were the brand defining moments for Locahi? I think it was adding the water from Mount Everest and mud from the Dead Sea into the bracelet, which is a unique proposition that no other brand has. What's been your most successful brand partnership? Make a wish. Who do you consider your competition? Every other bracelet company that exists. Have you seen copycats? Oh yeah. And we've gone after a lot of them. Do you need amazing lawyers to stop copycats? You do. And it's really expensive and you'll probably lose money in the long run, but protecting the brand is number one. You have to actually do that right to defend the trademark and everything you legally do need to attack them. Yeah, you do. Yeah. If you let them, if you know about them and don't go after them, it makes it a lot easier for everyone to keep doing it. Do you measure like, is there a repeat rate in this business? Cause I feel like once you have your Locahi, you're good. Our demographic ranges from 13 year old girls to NFL football players to moms, dads, 25 year olds working in New York City. And so I think different people have different relationships with the brand. Some love the brand for helping others and so they collect every single one. I mean, there's people that have 50 Locais and then there's others that just wear one. Maybe their grandfather was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and they wear the purple one with their family. What's next for you? Elements. Elements is a brand that physically helps you find balance in your life. Elements seems cool, but not as novel. What made you wanna go into this area? About two years ago, we went to an agency Red Scout in New York and we said, we're brand about balance. We currently make a reminder to stay balanced, staying humble and hopeful. What else can we make that authentically delivers on balance without just writing balance on a t-shirt? And through two years of work, we came up with elements. What did you learn from Locahi that gives you an advantage with elements? One day you could have incredible success and the next day you could be flipped on your ass and so it's important to build slowly and always pay attention to what the customers want and to have an amazing product first. Brand is great, but if you don't have an amazing product, you'll never succeed. And how much of this product is product because it just kinda looks like a silicone bracelet to me. It's the meaning that gives it all its value. Took me about three years to be able to actually get the water and mud injected into the bracelets, get the water from an Everest mud from the Dead Sea. I think if I made it with a white and a black ball and said this represents staying hopeful or humble, it wouldn't be the same. I think including those elements, which feel and look like a tiny piece of the brand, I think that's what really took it over the edge. What part of the brand are you most proud of? The product. What are the key indicators you look for to determine the health of your business? Repeat purchasers, customer service. If you're getting a lot of negative comments or returns and exchanges, you know something's wrong. How important are reviews? Really important because if you're getting a lot of negative reviews, you can't ignore that. It means something's wrong and you gotta fix it. So reviews are important. How important is community? Not that important. People are now having personal relationships and connections with the brand itself. They don't really need to talk to everyone, each person in the community. I think it's a little bit of a fluffy term. Does PR sell products? I think a good story does, but at the end of the day, the product sells itself. Do you work with influencers and if so, how? We have in the past, right now we don't. I don't like the term influencers. I like people who have a passion for something and have built a community around that and if they have a passion for your brand, you're able to connect through them, your brand to their community. PR or influencers? PR, because my PR first is sitting right over there. What do you hate about yourself? That I'm not as balanced as I'd like to be. I'm a very stressful person, I would say. I feel like if I'm not working, I'm not getting ahead. What keeps you up at night? That someone else is working harder. What are you working towards? Making the world a better place. I think being an entrepreneur in today's day and age and climate change and everything that's going on, if you're not working towards or at least on a brand that is conscious about it, you're not gonna succeed in the long run. Steven Eisen, founder of Low Chi, thank you so much for coming here and answering some questions. Thanks for having me. I'm Ian Wishingrad and we'll see you next time on I'm With the Brand.