Full Transcript – Bri Zborowski and Kaycee Jones – Wild Business Growth Podcast #235

This is the full transcript for Episode #235 of the Wild Business Growth Podcast featuring Bri Zborowski and Kaycee Jones – Co-Founders of Apolla Performance Wear. You can listen to the interview and learn more here. Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.

Bri Zborowski 0:00
In the beginning, especially in that early startup mode, you know, it’s grab an oar and row the boat.

Max Branstetter 0:20
Hey, hey, hey, welcome back to the Wild Business Growth Podcast. This is your place to hear from a new entrepreneur every single Wednesday morning who’s turning Wild ideas into Wild growth. I’m your host, Max Branstetter, Founder and Podcast Producer at MaxPodcasting. And you can email me at to save time with your high-quality podcast. This is episode 235, and today’s guest is actually guests. Today’s guests are Bri Zborowski and Kaycee Jones, the co-founders of Apolla. Apolla Performance Wear is a line of compression socks and performance socks that are disrupting the foot space by providing support and comfort. And whether you’re a dancer or play other sports or have foot pain, these are the socks for you and they’re just awesome. In this episode, we talk the Apolla story, how Bri and Kaycee decide who does what and when and how in their business. And everything from Britney Spears to Disneyland. It is Bri and Kaycee which as if they weren’t cool enough already, their names rhyme. Enjoyyyyyy the showwwwwwww!

Aaaaaaalrightyyyyy we are here with the Dancing Queens as I’m coining the Co-founders of Apolla, some of the best performance/compression socks in the land. Bri Zbprowski and Kaycee Jones. Bri & Kaycee, thanks so much for joining. How you doing today?

Bri Zborowski 1:55
Thank you so much for having us. We’re great. We love we love we’re excited to talk with you and love being here.

Max Branstetter 2:04
Back at you really really excited to dive into the Apolla story and beyond. And I started with Dancing Queens and that’s no accident you both have an awesome background and dancing and dance instructing dance coaching all sorts of those things. So I’d love to hear from each of you like where did that interest in dance come from?

Bri Zborowski 2:22
Yeah, I we still haven’t figured out for me where because nobody in my family has done it like you go way back. There’s no no dancers, no performers, doesn’t work out like that for our family. So but I fell in love with it. My mom took me to recreational dance class and I was six I cried my face off. She had to pull me out and take the year off. And then I went back the next year and just fell absolutely head over heels in love with it. I still remember my first dance. It was to “Surfin’ Safari” by The Beach Boys and I had a surfboard that I like, jumped out. So I remember it vividly. And from there on. I mean, I knew I It sounds silly. But at seven, I was like, This is my life. It’s going to be my life. I don’t know what I’m going to do with it. But I’m going to want to open a dance studio and I’m going to do it forever. So for me, it was very black and white.

Max Branstetter 3:11
How about you, Kaycee?

Kaycee Jones 3:13
I didn’t have a choice in the matter my whole family’s dance. My mom was a studio owner for 41 years. And I’ve got four older sisters. And I mean dance was our entire life. My mom was a single mom, and she owned a studio. And that’s where I lived probably more of that studio than anywhere else. Or, you know, the first half of my life. So dance was in my blood. And it’s what I always did. I mean, my mom had the hacking play in the studio, and I crawl in and out and get myself in that and jump out and join class. So it was I was in a class if I wasn’t dancing, then I was probably at school.

Max Branstetter 3:51
So what is it for both of you that like still to this day, like really gets you fired up pumped up about dance?

Bri Zborowski 3:58
It’s therapy, really, I mean, you can get all your emotions out. It’s a time that you can just forget about what’s going on in the world around you and all your problems and just immerse yourself and telling a story or getting your feelings out. It’s fantastic exercise. It’s just, it’s a connection. It’s a human connection between anyone I mean, the arts have single handedly gotten us through the last few years, you know, and keep it well people were cooped up and quarantining and all the things and the arts kept everybody saying so for me, it’s that case are about you.

Kaycee Jones 4:31
When it comes to anything in the arts. It is like a part of your like cosmic DNA, you know, and when you’re drawn to it, it is just something that’s a part of you that you know, you can’t separate you know, no matter what, like when you’re when you’re a dancer, you’re always a dancer, and dancer. See dancers like if you ever meet another dancer in the world, you just like you get each other you get that life, lifestyle and, you know, it’s just a part of you in a way of you know, expressing your soul outward. And it doesn’t matter if you’re really good at it, or you’re terrible. Like it feels the same for everybody, you know. So it’s just a really wonderful way of moving through life,

Max Branstetter 5:14
dancing through life. So so how did you to dance your way to meeting each other in the first place?

Bri Zborowski 5:20
Yeah, she’s good at telling this story.

Kaycee Jones 5:23
Bri and I are soul sisters, we are meant to be in each other’s lives. I have no doubt. And honestly, that’s the story of Apollo period is, it is a story that is driven by fate. There is just no doubt about it. Uh, her husband, Nick, and I grew up dancing together. Every summer we’d be at a camp that my mom ran. And he was like, you know, an adopted son to my mom. And he and I reconnected as adults. He was out in LA. He’s a professional dancer. And we were both back at teaching at that camp. And then from there on, I was moving out to California after I graduated college as well. And he and I just, you know, we’re best friends. He started dating Bree and brought her to meet myself and my brother and my sister. We all lived together in California. We were all working at Disney and I was getting ready to go to grad school. He brings Bri because she’s like, you know, needs to meet the Copes. And when, honestly, like I actually said to her like, well, you’re it for him. So now you have to be my best friend too. So

Bri Zborowski 6:31
yeah, I was like held hostage immediately. Yeah.

Kaycee Jones 6:34
I just decided that she had to now be my best friend too. Because, you know, I just knew that she was it for him. So it was from that moment on, we just became best friends. We were in each other’s weddings. I mean, we’ve had babies months apart, literally weeks apart for our second. She moved to Texas. I moved to Philly in New York, Atlanta. We’ve been everywhere. She’s now in Michigan. But our lives were just so intertwined that her family’s like a vacation growing up happened to also be my husband’s family spot for vacation growing out. Oh my god. I know it just so many overlaps. I can’t even tell you. But so it just so happened, you know, we were able to always stay in each other’s lives even after getting married and moving and everything. And one summer we happen to have the same vacation time. Here. It’s actually a beach in Florida just north of where I live now. It’s funny. I had an idea for business. And Bree was at a place that I felt like you know, she could take the leap with me and she was the person that I knew was my partner in this. So I said, Hey, you want to start a business with me? I made a pitch deck. I literally pitched her. I’m kidding. Not. So yeah, we I did it. I did it formally. But yeah, and then she jumped in not long after and we just kind of, I mean, this is bootstrap from the ground up.

Max Branstetter 7:58
It’s bootstrapped, and sock-strapped.

Bri Zborowski 8:02
For real, we should start using that term. instead. I like

Max Branstetter 8:05
welcome. I won’t trademark it. Alright, my trademark on your behalf. That’s a wonderful segue from head to toe to Apollo. So for starters for like for someone like me who doesn’t know the slightest about socks? What are compression socks in the first place?

Kaycee Jones 8:25
compression socks are using the yarn to give the foot hug. We use special yarns 100% made in the US and sourced even with our yarns. With compression period, it’s just helping to move the blood flow, but we take it a step further. So typical compression socks, it’s just about circulation and enhancing circulation because inflammation that can occur just from everyday being on your feet too long or gate. Some people have issues where they can develop lymphedema or EDS is like a hypermobility. So some people are more prone to more inflammation. But anybody that’s on their feet too long, is going to develop inflammation. And so that compression just helps to keep that moving and absorbed back into the body. So you get fresh blood there. Because inflammation is not allowed time to be pulled back in, it will start to compound and restrict blood flow. And that’s when you start to build into those itis which stands for inflammation, chronic issues, plantar fasciitis tendinitis, so those are things that will happen and in particular, our socks. We use them a step further and we use our compression to also mimic arch support. So an orthotic is lifting and stabilizing the arch to reduce the amount of inflammation that happens just from a regular walk. And so we’re lifting and stabilizing in the key insertion points in the plantar fascia. Then we also have an energy absorption so our socks are taking it one step further of also helping with that circulation, we’re lifting and supporting and minimizing how much inflammation takes place just being on your feet all day. For some people that also helps like proprioception and just older people that you know, being aware of where they are in space and kinesthetic awareness. So it can be it’s a wide range of when you really provide that proper support for your feet. What it does, and that domino effect up the body. You know, it’s really impactful for all of the joints and muscle fatigue as well. So it does a lot in one simple garment.

Max Branstetter 10:36
I’m learning all sorts of Podiatry terms today. Yeah. I should put my special socks on for this. But I love I love to

Kaycee Jones 10:45
delve into the science of it. You asked me Well, yeah.

Max Branstetter 10:49
I love it. Where did your specific idea come from? Like, how did you develop what is now like the Apollo sock?

Kaycee Jones 10:58
Because so I got my master’s in Kinesiology. Being a dancer, you know, I went in with the mind of like, studying I was my main thing was competitive dance. I was a competitive soloist my whole life. And then college dance team. We were, you know, on ESPN, it’s like, it’s a very athletic aspect to dance. And so I was already riddled with injuries and saw dance as a sport as well. And as athletes, which is a battle within the dance world of some people believing that it’s just, you know, you’re an artist. And so I was on that mindset. So when I went in to get my Master’s in kinesiology, which is focusing, it’s an often direction the PTS go Sports Science, kinesiologists and athletic trainers, you kind of start in that space. So I’ve also got my, my Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and personal trainer, as well as became a yoga instructor. So understanding the body and the sport science of it, and then coming from the dance world, and wishing that I could have done something for the injuries that I currently had. And seeing all of the other athletics having access to so much more sports science, technology, and research, and how they change how they train, how they change what they’re wearing all to increase performance. And the dance world didn’t have that. And so coming from that world, and Bree at the time was managing and directing a large studio, you know, she was a professional dancer for years. But then she at the time I pitched her was managing a large studio in outside of Dallas, Texas, she also was seeing these injuries. And her husband at the time was also managing a touring convention where these kids are dancing every weekend for hours, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I mean, it’s it’s literally anywhere from eight to 12 hours, these kids are on carpeted concrete. And the injury rates are just staggering. Twice the injury rate from the knee down this football players 85% of it is due to inflammation. And that research is showing us this but dancers because we hold so strong to tradition, we push back on the science and they want to do what they were taught. And it’s passed down, you know, teacher to student, teacher to student. So we wanted to bring in that wave of that science and art and not losing, you know, the art and rigor. But being able to bring in a product using compression and other sports science technology. And the best place to start for dancers is in the feet. That’s where all the pounding takes place, using what was already there, but then seeing what wasn’t, and what could be improved upon. And we started frankensteining our own prototypes from there.

Max Branstetter 13:48
I love that term, “Frankensteining.” It’s like one of the most visual things in the visual world out there. So I appreciate the metaphor. But Bree when so after you, you know, got pitch to and decided to join your business, like what were those initial first steps in terms of, you know, developing this product and like turning it into a real business.

Bri Zborowski 14:10
You know, we knew what we wanted to do very clearly Kaycee had sat down with the science part and knew exactly where she wanted to go with the first product. And I think we had to come up with a, you know, a plan on how we’re going to achieve this because while we know a lot about dance and what they need, we didn’t know very much at all about how to get this made, right? We didn’t know really much about socks. We didn’t know much about the manufacturing world and textiles and all the things or you know, e commerce for that matter. And so we really dove in to finding somebody that can help us get it made. Like Kaycee said, I mean we were frankensteining is a great word. We sat down on my living room floor we went we researched every compression sock on the market, figured out what we liked what we didn’t like what needed to be improved on and we cut all those pieces out and put them together and sewed hand sewed, I think with a costumer Er that was making custom costumes dance costumes for us at the time. We took it to her and said, Can you sew this together and she thought we were nuts. But she did it. And it wasn’t it wasn’t cute by any stretch, but it was it did the job, right. So then we found somebody to make that and, and it took off from there. And it was just a lot of in the beginning, we were meticulous, we’re still meticulous, but extra meticulous about, we are not going to mark it with this until it is 100%. Right. And I who have very little patience, Kaycee has a lot of patience, I have zero patience. So again, have great partners. It’s a balancing act, but I was like, let’s go, you know, let’s go but but really the startup process, the R&D process, it was very iterative. It was very just a lot of making tests, make and test, get the feedback tested again, make it again. And you know, it was that over and over and over until we knew we had something really, really special. And that was almost two years until the you know, the day we formed the company until the day we went to market. One of

Kaycee Jones 16:03
our third founder and an owner, she’s not operative. But she’s was still part of the that startup process she was she’s still a professional dancer, and dancing and teaching classes daily, we had access to Bri students, we had access to dancers that I know in Idaho from my dance team years, you know, so we had a lot of really, and then we had a network that we started getting, we had about 50 testers across North America, from professional to amateurs, that we were able to test our product on to really know what they needed, what they liked, what they didn’t, and how effective it really was.

Bri Zborowski 16:42
And I would say the success of our products, you know, especially in those earlier stages of our company, it really hinged a lot on us pulling on that network and making sure that we utilize the network that we had, which is really big for anybody in the startup startup mode.

Max Branstetter 16:58
So network is a huge, like, no matter what line of business, you’re in leveraging your network is extremely valuable. And I think no matter how strong your network is, there’s still that problem of differentiation. And you’re in a space with socks. I mean, you’re you’re a bit more nice than traditional socks because you’re you know, compression slash performance socks, but still, like, there are so many different brands of socks out there. Like how did you cut through the noise and really like bringing the marketing for Apolla to life?

Bri Zborowski 17:27
I love that you asked this question, because we’ve thought about

Max Branstetter 17:30
well, you gave me that one to ask.

Bri Zborowski 17:32
Well, in the dance world, the socks were non existent. I mean, people would use, you know, cotton socks from the drugstore and cut them up or what the bottom so that they had a grip on the bottom. Socks were a non existent thing for dancers that, you know, that actually were functional when we came into the space. So for us that dance space was very niche. And we you know, our very educational product. And we ran with that we really took time and educated our customer base, introduced it slowly and properly. And really lead with a top down approach. We were going after all the leadership, the people who made decisions about dress codes, things like that. And along the way, we were hearing oh my gosh, I bought these for my daughter for dance, but I love them for my plantar fasciitis, I’ve never been able to find anything that works. And we slowly started kind of coming up with this five year plan of like, this is fantastic for dancers, but these are amazing for anybody. And these are changing people’s lives all over the world that don’t dance, and we knew we had something really special. You know, when you go into that mass market audience, that is a challenge, right, there are a ton of socks out there. And that are using a lot of the same terms and verbiage. And people really do need to understand the difference and what makes it special. So I think that’s where the science and education, the APMA certification, the sustainable yarns that we use, the way we engineer our socks and the support zones that we use are very different. And that’s where we’re focused now is really educating the consumer because really if the problem would have been solved already there wouldn’t be all these solutions on the market people are coming to us and going this is the only thing that works for me this is I’m finally finding something that solves my problem. And so that that’s where we’re at now.

Max Branstetter 19:21
You mentioned plantar fasciitis so often and I know how common it is in the dance world but it makes me think like I always hear about that with basketball injuries as well as so often basketball players have that as well like I have you had any communication or like desire to partner with like the NBA or WNBA like in that in like a licensing deal down the line.

Kaycee Jones 19:42
Over and over we get everybody saying you know this would work amazing for an insert anything from flight attendants. Yeah, yeah. workers to basketball, soccer. I mean it really is for anyone with feet and that’s what we are starting to do. This year, our focus we actually just signed and we are an official sponsor for the carbanak ppa tour. So we’re, we’re going to be coming to pickleball. All across America. It’s

Max Branstetter 20:12
so cool. I love pickleball. That’s awesome.

Bri Zborowski 20:14
It’s the fastest growing sport in America. So we’re so excited to be able to meet that audience and introduce them to Apolla, I think it’s going to make a big difference for that. Yeah.

Kaycee Jones 20:25
And then we also have, you know, a partnership coming with a big, you know, marching band sector, and Drum Corps. We, of course, you know, have dance and then runner’s to just moms and everyday people, we have a lot of customers that are just older, active, adults that have foot pain, you know, 70% of Americans say they have foot pain daily, and half of them, it’s debilitating. So it really is for anyone with feet in any sport. But right now, the main issue with the pro sports, we have had opportunities to partner with some pro sports. And right now we go up to an extra large, which is around a 12 and a half 13. Male. And so we are developing an XXL right now and extra wide to fit some of the wider feet and larger feet. Hopefully this year.

Max Branstetter 21:20
Yeah. Oh my god. So some of the shoe sizes are unbelievable. at the professional level.

Bri Zborowski 21:25
It really is like I’m a six and I’m like, oh my goodness, that’s fit no sizes one.

Max Branstetter 21:30
Yeah. Yeah, hold it up. It’s like the size of like, a human torso. Yeah. Yeah, your business is almost like a really fun case study. Because there’s so many different directions, you can go in terms of like, Who do you actually market this to? And there’s so many different places that and people? Yeah, how do you decide where to focus in terms of like target customers, their

Kaycee Jones 21:54
3Ps: pain relief, performance, and premium or premium products for people that are looking for quality. I mean, yeah, our socks cost $34. But they will last you, you know, and they’re you bought, you’re gonna buy seven pairs of cheap ones before you run out of hours. Plus, you can wear multiple days without having to rewash them, they’re durable. people that care about that quality, care about the premium, and are willing to pay for that, then people that are looking for that edge in performance. And that could be if you’re a runner, or you know an athlete in some way. And what’s great is that we started with we fit from eight to 80, you know, eight to 88. We have you know, young customers and young athletes that also benefit from that, you know, we’ve got a ton of kids that are dealing with severs disease, and it’s a really painful issue with inflammation that, honestly most of the time, it just makes them sit out. And no joke. Dancer, parents get their kids in these and all of a sudden, they’re like you, you made it so they can keep dancing, like nothing else the doctor could do would work. So anything from performance edge, but then also pain relief. So anyone that has foot pain, swelling, fatigue, those are our focus. And specifically we we lean into females. We’re all women owned. And we feel that that is a big gap where there’s so many companies that you know, they’re really either unisex or male leaning. And yeah, they’re for for girls. And we’re like you know what we are for women who love them. We’re empowering women through all of our mission base and our community that we put forth. Outside of just selling our socks, we have a very big heart to do more as a company, and in our community and for women and being working women in that balance in life and understanding that is important to us. So we are also for guys, but you know, we really lean into being for women in our mission as well.

Max Branstetter 23:59
You know, I can’t hear 3Ps without spreading the good word about the 3Ps of podcasting. That’s planning, production, and promotion. That is a 3P mix to bring your high-quality podcast to life. You can learn more about each of these Ps by signing up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter. That’s at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter. Every Thursday, you get a little insight and at least one of those Ps sometimes more sometimes all three, as well as behind the scenes tales from amazing Wild entrepreneurs, like Bri and Kaycee, that’s MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter. Now let’s find out how Bri & Kaycee work well together. I mean, they’re just fighting all the time and I don’t know how they deal with it. Alright, let’s switch gears a little bit to inspiration, creativity, how you both stay inspired, creative, you know, charged up as business owners and clearly you both really feed off each other in terms of being business partners, and there’s a really real The cool like yin yang thing going on of what both of you bring to the table in different areas and what you partner on and specialize in. So it would love to dive into like that partnership aspect, like how, what was the process of figuring out like, who specializes in what and like, who tackles what,

Bri Zborowski 25:15
it was so natural, it truly I think, in the beginning, especially in that early startup mode, you know, it’s grab an oar and rub the bow, there was no clear division on anything, it was just like, we took a task and ran with it until we ran it down to the bitter end, right. But then, you know, a couple years in as you know, we started going to live sales and really releasing more products. We had to divide and conquer. And so Kaycee, obviously, very science oriented and her thinking she’s very organized. She’s very thorough, she’s, she is what I call a lifelong learner, she’s always learning always studying, I’ve asked her for years, like, when are you going to stop going to school? And like, I’m pretty sure the answer is never, because she’s always finding some other degree, some other certifications of their course to take. And so that is really her lane, she really took on, you know, managing the inventory and the product development, you know, she knew exactly where those zones needed to be for success. And you know, what she wanted to tweak and change. So that really became her lane. And she really took on our marketing and being the voice, because she understood, you know, the science of the product. So while she was able to translate that, because she is our consumer, we are our target consumer, right. So she was able to manipulate that voice and take that and make it loud and proud and create the voice of Apolla, where me on you know, I’m very, very outgoing, I talk nonstop, I can talk to anybody. And so I’m, you know, dealing with our retailers, our partnerships, the accounting side of things, I have a business background, I grew up in a family business. And so for me, you know, I took on the books, the taxes, the, you know, in that whole part of the business. And so it just became very naturally clear where we needed to put our attention. And we, I think our friendship really makes it so that there’s an immense amount of trust required when you have a business, it’s just like a marriage. And so being at that we’re in two different places we know each other so well. We’re able to connect very efficiently very quickly, and get get done what needs to get done. We’re both moms, we don’t have a lot of extra time on our hands. So everything is quick, quick, quick, and we move the same, we have the same grit, we have the same amount of resiliency. And I truly do not think that this could work if you didn’t have two people that we’re on the same playing field.

Max Branstetter 27:44
Kaycee, if you so Bri describes you as a lifelong learner, how would you How could you characterize it an aspect? A big business aspect of Bri’s personality that works? Well? Yeah. Oh, God. Put me on the spot here.

Kaycee Jones 28:01
There’s a lot of things but honestly, Bree is often we call her she’s the poop in the Cheerios, but

Max Branstetter 28:09
that I was not expecting that what? Explain.

Kaycee Jones 28:13
that was the same version of what

Max Branstetter 28:15
she typically oh, by the way, if you guys don’t care about, like, cereal, there you go.

Bri Zborowski 28:22
She won’t say that. I’ll say it. I’m the shit in the cereal. My emoji for like, all of our email, like emoticons, like everybody has these like positive happy things. And I have like the poop emoji.

Kaycee Jones 28:35
But honestly, that’s like, because I am. I am a natural optimist, and I’m a big thinker, and I need balance. She’s able to balance we balance each other’s emotions and minds in a way that is needed. And so she’s very down to earth and really looks at practicality where I am always in. Yeah, but you know, here’s the word the dream is you know, and so it’s that’s really where it comes in. She is probably the most loyal person I’ve ever met. And you put putting her in a direction and she is she will not stop she is a work horse dog with a bone that it’s so wonderful to have somebody next to you like that, that you just always can depend on know that they’re putting their entire heart and soul into what you know you are as well.

Max Branstetter 29:24
I’m starting to think you to work well together, you should partner in a business or something.

Bri Zborowski 29:28
We do all that to say it’s it’s certainly not easy. Like I don’t want to, we don’t like to ever give the false impression that we have it all figured out or that it’s easy, but I just think when your commitment, it’s like a marriage when your commitment is there. You figure it out you you get through the hard times together and you move forward together and that’s move we’ve been able to do that and I’m proud of us for that.

Kaycee Jones 29:52
There is no coincidence Bri’s husband and I have very similar personalities. You know, we’re not the exact same person, obviously. But there is something in me that Bri needed in her husband and her life partner. And it is the exact same where Bree gets along with my husband, and they are they there’s something in them that I needed. That is so similar. So we literally like married each other in what we came forth in business is literally that same type of outlook and you know, relationship, you’re married to your business partner. And that comes with the same amount of tumultuous, you know, ins and outs and workings don’t ever think that it’s not easy, but when you come in together for the right reasons and stay committed, just like in a marriage, you know, you’ll be able to get through it.

Max Branstetter 30:48
So let’s get through to Rapid-Fire Q&A. Let’s wrap up with some Rapid-Fire Q&A. You ready for it? Love

Bri Zborowski 30:53
it. Let’s go.

Max Branstetter 30:55
Perfect. Let’s get Wild. I want to hear the answer from both uses kind of just jump in when you think of it but what is your favorite song to dance to all time? Oh my god.

Kaycee Jones 31:04
Anything Britney Spears Give it to me musical. I mean, literally, you turn on music. We’re gonna dance. That’s all there is to it.

Bri Zborowski 31:14
Yeah. 100% I was gonna say Journey, Kaycee. But Oh, Britney Spears is better. Mine is by anything by my icon Janet Jackson that is she is my you know anything by her. I’m down on the dance floor.

Max Branstetter 31:32
How about quirks? What’s something a little bit quirky about each your personalities? But so you are beside besides the poop emoji and the cereal?

Kaycee Jones 31:40
I’m a sleuth. I am like my own Sherlock Holmes. I can literally watch any detective show and I will already predict what has happened in the entire plot. From the beginning. I am a very analytical and love detective and SVU is like my favorite show in the whole world. So yeah, that’s my past life. I was I was Sherlock Holmes. Love it.

Bri Zborowski 32:03
I don’t know like I have a weird ability to remember like names and certain like pop culture references like I don’t know if you’ve ever played the game seen it. But we just played over the holiday and I blew my family away. They were just like, argue you freak out was like, I don’t know where I retain all this information. But it’s it’s a weird ability to like recall people’s names and like, pop culture references. That’s weird, right?

Kaycee Jones 32:30
I can’t remember somebody’s name like I will have met somebody at least five six times and I’ll be like, I don’t remember their name.

Max Branstetter 32:38
If you like that one, there’s Have you ever heard of the game Smart Ass? We’ve been enjoying that one lately.

Bri Zborowski 32:44
No, but I don’t know I need it just from the

Max Branstetter 32:46
show. It’s great name there’s a lot of you know ass jokes but like, yeah, it’s basically like that or like a Trivial pursuit or like kind of just blurt out the answer but it’s like all like pop culture stuff. So it’s pretty interesting. I love it. I’m I’m what it’s called. Smart Ass. I called Smart Ass that easily. Yeah. On the front. And then last one. What is something most people would not expect about working at Disney?

Bri Zborowski 33:08
Oh, Kaycee.

Kaycee Jones 33:11
I feel like it’s what you expect it to be. I absolutely loved every second where I worked in a special division though. I got to stage manage. I was in guest talent and so every single day was groups coming in at any talent that performs inside the park we would manage so from you know, this incredible plate spinning group of kids from Thailand to you know the the marching band down the street to these you know, pop singers that you know, I got to watch Demi Lovato do the Christmas parade you know, things like that, like it really like we got to work with talent every day. The guy who was a Kermit the Frog voice would lead masterclasses and the guitarist from Journey would be there. I mean, it was like seriously insane. So I got to work in a cool department. We worked in music and the arts and dance and it was a dream job for several years I would have never quit if I hadn’t if my husband had not talked me into moving across the country for him to go to business school.

Max Branstetter 34:10
Hey, yeah, that’s no it sounds like a fun place to be but blessing in disguise now you have a beautiful business and create beautiful out of it. So Bri & Kaycee, thank you so much for coming on and sharing the Apolla story and beyond. I’m dancing this entire interview a lot to dance to but where’s the best place for people to try out Apolla and then to connect with either of you on social media?

Bri Zborowski 34:30
Yeah, you can find us at ApollaPerformance.com. That’s Apolla. And then we’re @ApollaPerformance on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. So follow us join our community. We have lots of fun things going on.

Max Branstetter 34:46
Awesome. Thank you so much. And last thing, Final Thoughts. It could be a quote, one line, words to live by, whatever you want, send us home here.

Bri Zborowski 34:55
Dance like no one’s watching. I gotta go with that one.

Kaycee Jones 34:58
I will put what I sit and look at everyday: Handshake your fear. And the opposite is the medicine.

Max Branstetter 35:08
Words of advice and words that will make you dance and not often you you know you I bet you’re dancing right now. Thank you so much, Bri and Kaycee for coming on the podcast, sharing your amazing Apolla story and dancing dynamic. And thank you, Wild Listeners, for tuning in to another episode. If you want to hear more Wild stories like this one, make sure to follow the Wild Business Growth Podcast on your favorite app and tell a friend about the podcast and then try out Apolla and dance the night away in the day away with them in the like the golden hour away. You can also find us on Goodpods where there are fantastic podcasts you can listen to while wearing Apolla socks. And for any help with podcast production, you can learn more at MaxPodcasting.com and sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter. That’s at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter. Until next time, let your business Run Wild…Bring on the Bongos!!