In this episode of Product & Packaging Powerhouse, Megan interviews Vicki Strull, a packaging and design consultant with over 25 years of experience. Vicki discusses her career journey and expertise in print and digital design in the packaging world. They discuss the evolution of technology in packaging and misconceptions about packaging design. Vicki emphasizes the importance of integrity in branding and the impact of business terminology on design. The episode also highlights "shady packaging" and insights on the subconscious impact of touch on shoppers' behavior. The conversation underscores the need for intentional design and creativity to inspire, as well as the importance of understanding business jargon in creative professions.

[Host Megan Young Gamble Links]

• [AFFILIATE] Ready to crank out your content in as little as 5 minutes? Use Castmagic, AI powered tool to take your content creation from overwhelmed to overjoyed by saving hours of developing content. Save 20 hours by Signing up today! https://get.castmagic.io/Megan
• Read our Blogs HERE [ link] https://www.glcblog.site/
• Subscribe & Access our Video Vault YouTube Channel [ link] https://bit.ly/GLConYouTube
• Join our Email List [link] https://glc.ck.page/55128ae04b
• Follow and Connect with Megan on LinkedIn [link] https://linkedin.com/in/megangamble
• Learn about GLC, Packaging & Project execution firm for CPG brands http://www.getlevelconsulting.com
• Work with Me @ GLC, Schedule Discovery Call https://calendly.com/getlevelconsulting/15-minute-insight-session

[Powerhouse Guest Vicki Strull LINKS]

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickistrull/
• Email: vicki@vickistrull.com
• Website: https://vickistrull.com

Episode Quotes:

• I think that one of their misconceptions is that more on a primary display label is better.
• Deceptive Packaging: There's something shady about that because I'm thinking I'm getting more than I'm getting because visually I am.
• The Importance of Brand Purpose: So if they're not in it, you have to and we live our lives this way as well. You know, we have our own core purposes. I also think brands have core purposes.

In this episode of Product & Packaging Powerhouse, host Megan Young Gamble interviews Julia Willsie, Senior Sales Executive with Mill Rock Packaging. Julia Willsie discusses the importance of regional innovation in packaging and the circular economy, emphasizing the need for sustainable and intentional design. The conversation touches on recycling challenges, regulations, and the broader impact of sustainable packaging practices. Megan Young Gamble and Julia Willsie stress the importance of collaboration and continuous learning to drive effective packaging solutions that reduce waste and carbon emissions.

[Host Megan Young Gamble Links]

• [AFFILIATE] Ready to crank out your content in as little as 5 minutes? Use Castmagic, AI powered tool to take your content creation from overwhelmed to overjoyed by saving hours of developing content. Save 20 hours by Signing up today! https://get.castmagic.io/Megan
• Read our Blogs HERE [ link] https://www.glcblog.site/
• Subscribe & Access our Video Vault YouTube Channel [ link] https://bit.ly/GLConYouTube
• Join our Email List [link] https://glc.ck.page/55128ae04b
• Follow and Connect with Megan on LinkedIn [link] https://linkedin.com/in/megangamble
• Learn about GLC, Packaging & Project execution firm for CPG brands http://www.getlevelconsulting.com
• Work with Me @ GLC, Schedule Discovery Call https://calendly.com/getlevelconsulting/15-minute-insight-session

[Powerhouse Guest Julia Willsie LINKS]

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliawillsie/
• Email: julia.willsie@millrockpkg.com

Additional Resources:

• Feature in Snack Magazine “Unpacking the Horizon”
• Odyssey of the Mind : https://www.odysseyofthemind.com
• John Ritter Foundation : https://johnritterfoundation.org
• Lloyd Steedz Foundation : https://www.loeysdietz.org

Episode Quotes:

1. And by bringing the right people together to talk about the concerns, that's when true change can happen.
2. Reducing Packaging Waste: I think the reason why the 3 prongs of recycling are reduce, reuse, and recycle is because reduce is most important. So what I recommend to brands is talk to professionals like you, Megan, to packaging engineers, and figure out how to best reduce their current packaging.
3. Innovative Solutions in Corrugated Packaging: The way to be more innovative is to understand the local resources available and then utilizing technologies and materials, whether you're North America, Europe, or Asia.

In this episode of Product and Packaging Powerhouse, Megan Young Gamble interviews Carolina Lopez, CEO and founder of BEJOU Skincare. Carolina shares her inspiring journey from engineering to clean beauty entrepreneurship, emphasizing sustainability, mental wellness, and overcoming challenges with manufacturers. They discuss the importance of reducing environmental impact and consumer confusion around sustainability and clean beauty. Carolina's brand, BEJOU, focuses on holistic wellness and personal growth, embracing the slogan "believably you.

[Host Megan Young Gamble Links]

• [AFFILIATE] Ready to crank out your content in as little as 5 minutes? Use Castmagic, AI powered tool to take your content creation from overwhelmed to overjoyed by saving hours of developing content. Save 20 hours by Signing up today! https://get.castmagic.io/Megan
• Read our Blogs HERE [ link] https://www.glcblog.site/
• Subscribe & Access our Video Vault YouTube Channel [ link] https://bit.ly/GLConYouTube
• Join our Email List [link] https://glc.ck.page/55128ae04b
• Follow and Connect with Megan on LinkedIn [link] https://linkedin.com/in/megangamble
• Learn about GLC, Packaging & Project execution firm for CPG brands http://www.getlevelconsulting.com
• Work with Me @ GLC, Schedule Discovery Call https://calendly.com/getlevelconsulting/15-minute-insight-session

[Powerhouse Guest Carolina Lopez Links]

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bejou.co/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bejou.co?_t=8e2uzFOKLZT&_r=1
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolina-lopez-23aa081a/
• Website: https://bejou.co/
• Email: carolina@bejou.co

Episode Quotes:

1. Sustainability and Environmental Impact: Sustainability is at the core of our brand. Right? And for me, because I think it's important to define what sustainability is and what it means and, obviously, having a background in engineering, it's reducing, reusing, recycling, and recovering the resources to minimize our environmental impact.
2. Sustainability and Eco-friendly Practices: What certifications do the manufacturer have, and what type of processes are they using to be able to not only just with creating the raw materials or the formulations, but also the packaging. What are they using? Because, right, we also have to take that into account.
3. Becoming a Well-Rounded Entrepreneur: Remember that during the 1st couple of years, you're gonna be handling all these aspects of your business initially, all yourself. So invest time in developing diverse skill sets to avoid being a wannapreneur.
4. Beauty Industry Sustainability: You wanna give the best to your consumers, but, really, what does data actually tell you? Are they actually saying and acting on what they're saying, or is this, kind of, like, not really hand in hand and they have to meet at some point?

Did you know most new podcasts do not make it past episode 3?

Well, we made it to EPISODE 20...and more to come!!

In this episode, Host Megan Young Gamble, PMP® shares starting the podcast, lessons learned and tapping into the "Mamba Mentality".

[Host Megan Young Gamble Links]

• [AFFILIATE] Ready to crank out your content in as little as 5 minutes? Use Castmagic, AI powered tool to take your content creation from overwhelmed to overjoyed by saving hours of developing content. Save 20 hours by Signing up today! https://get.castmagic.io/Megan
• Read our Blogs HERE [ link] https://www.glcblog.site/
• Subscribe & Access our Video Vault YouTube Channel [ link] https://bit.ly/GLConYouTube
• Join our Email List [link] https://glc.ck.page/55128ae04b
• Follow and Connect with Megan on LinkedIn [link] https://linkedin.com/in/megangamble
• Learn about GLC, Packaging & Project execution firm for CPG brands http://www.getlevelconsulting.com
• Work with Me @ GLC, Schedule Discovery Call https://calendly.com/getlevelconsulting/15-minute-insight-session
• Book your exclusive interview on Product & Packaging Powerhouse™ https://calendly.com/getlevelconsulting/pppinterview

In this episode of Product and Packaging Powerhouse, Megan Young Gamble interviews Rachel Hassall, VP of Procurement at Harvest Hill Beverage Company. Rachel emphasizes the importance of sustainability, regulations, and resilience in procurement. She shares her career journey and insights on building relationships with vendors, aligning sustainability goals, and prioritizing needs in negotiations. Megan Young Gamble highlights the significance of value and partnerships with vendors and suppliers. Rachel encourages saying yes to new opportunities and staying open and emphasizes clear communication of sustainability initiatives to consumers.

[Host Megan Young Gamble Links]

• [AFFILIATE] Ready to crank out your content in as little as 5 minutes? Use Castmagic, AI powered tool to take your content creation from overwhelmed to overjoyed by saving hours of developing content. Save 20 hours by Signing up today! https://get.castmagic.io/Megan
• Read our Blogs HERE [ link] https://www.glcblog.site/
• Subscribe & Access our Video Vault YouTube Channel [ link] https://bit.ly/GLConYouTube
• Join our Email List [link] https://glc.ck.page/55128ae04b
• Follow and Connect with Megan on LinkedIn [link] https://linkedin.com/in/megangamble
• Learn about GLC, Packaging & Project execution firm for CPG brands http://www.getlevelconsulting.com
• Work with Me @ GLC, Schedule Discovery Call https://calendly.com/getlevelconsulting/15-minute-insight-session

[Powerhouse Guest Rachel Hassall Links]

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-hassall/
• Email: rachel.m.hassall86@gmail.com

Episode Quotes:

• Be descriptive instead of prescriptive.
• Building Resilience in Procurement: Resiliency for sure in procurement is the number one thing that people don't value enough or aren't very good at associating dollar values with, because you always, when you're, it all comes back to those dollar signs. So you need to be able to quantify what that resilience can supply you and there's really good ways to do that.
• Packaging and Value: It's really about what is going to drive value for your business and your consumers.
• Sustainability in Business: The number one thing in order for your business to succeed and then for your vendors to succeed is to actually know what you want.
• Ruthless Prioritization in Product Launches: If everything is important, nothing's important, right? And I'm a ruthless Prioritize or like kind of it in life in general, but, if everything is important with your product that you're trying to produce, actually nothing nothing is important and you're gonna find lots of gaps along the way.

In this episode of Product & Packaging Powerhouse, Megan Young Gamble interviews regulatory specialist, Ariana Farina. They discuss FDA regulations, compliance requirements, and the impact of MoCRA in the beauty and cosmetic industry. They emphasize the significance of regulatory specialists in ensuring product safety, SOPs, and compliance. They also touch on state regulations, risk assessment, and the challenges of staying on top of industry regulations. Ariana stresses the need for early preparation and engaging regulatory experts for small businesses.

[Host Megan Young Gamble Links]

• [AFFILIATE] Ready to crank out your content in as little as 5 minutes? Use Castmagic, AI powered tool to take your content creation from overwhelmed to overjoyed by saving hours of developing content. Save 20 hours by Signing up today! https://get.castmagic.io/Megan
• Read our Blogs HERE [ link] https://www.glcblog.site/
• Subscribe & Access our Video Vault YouTube Channel [ link] https://bit.ly/GLConYouTube
• Join our Email List [link] https://glc.ck.page/55128ae04b
• Follow and Connect with Megan on LinkedIn [link] https://linkedin.com/in/megangamble
• Learn about GLC, Packaging & Project execution firm for CPG brands http://www.getlevelconsulting.com
• Work with Me @ GLC, Schedule Discovery Call https://calendly.com/getlevelconsulting/15-minute-insight-session

[Powerhouse Guest Ariana Farina Links]

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariana-farina-1bb39023/
• “Questions to Ask Regulatory Staff or Consultant” Series on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariana-farina-1bb39023
• Email address: afarina20@hotmail.com

Episode Quotes:

• Navigating Labeling Compliance and Product Ingredient Safety: It's better to start now because there's other stuff coming up. This isn't the only stuff.
• Safer Consumer Products: A lot of people were afraid of this regulation at first because they were thinking, oh, consumers are gonna look at this and go, Oh my gosh. We don’t understand this.
• Navigating Regulatory Compliance: I try to tackle things that people don't know what to ask. They know they want to be compliant. They want to do the right thing, but they just don't know how.
• Quality Management in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing: So they should understand how these are written, how these are put together, or work with somebody that does.

In this solo episode of Product and Packaging Powerhouse, host Megan Young Gamble, discusses recent industry news in the beauty and packaging sectors. She highlights new product launches from brands like Shea Moisture, SKKN by Kim, and Makeup Revolution. She also shares important project management considerations related to product development and packaging. Additionally, she shares insights from a report by Circana about the growth points in the prestige beauty sector for 2024. 

Megan Young Gamble Links

• [AFFILIATE] Ready to crank out your content in as little as 5 minutes? Use Castmagic, AI powered tool to take your content creation from overwhelmed to overjoyed by saving hours of developing content. Save 20 hours by Signing up today! https://get.castmagic.io/Megan 
• Read our Blogs HERE  [ link]  https://www.glcblog.site/ 
• Subscribe & Access our Video Vault YouTube Channel [ link] https://bit.ly/GLConYouTube 
• Join our Email List [link] https://glc.ck.page/55128ae04b 
• Follow and Connect with Megan on LinkedIn [link] https://linkedin.com/in/megangamble
• Learn about GLC, Packaging & Project execution firm for CPG brands http://www.getlevelconsulting.com
• Work with Me @ GLC, Schedule Discovery Call https://calendly.com/getlevelconsulting/15-minute-insight-session