Full Transcript – Risa Barash – Wild Business Growth Podcast #263

This is the full transcript for Episode #263 of the Wild Business Growth Podcast featuring Risa Barash – Comedian Turned Entrepreneur, Fairy Tales Hair Care and TBH Kids. You can listen to the interview and learn more here. Please note: this transcript is not 100% accurate.

Risa Barash 0:00
I literally still talk to some of my very first customers

Max Branstetter 0:17
Hey Hi, 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, ad you can email me at to save time with your high-quality podcast. This is episode two times six equals three which doesn’t work out. So that’s episode 263. And today’s guest is Risa Barash. Risa is a comedian turned entrepreneur, she did the famous or maybe even infamous, late night stand-up comedy scene in New York and beyond, and is the Co-Founder and CEO of Fairy Tales Hair Care and TBH Kids, both lines of haircare as well as products for skin, hair and body for kids and tweens. In this episode, we talk all things stand-up comedy, being fearless, the lessons that apply to entrepreneurship from the world of laughs, why customer service is always key, and some of Risa’s favorite comedians of all time besides herself, of course, it is some R&B. Enjoyyyyy the showwwwww!

Aaaaalrightyyyyyy we are here with Risa Barash, Founder of Fairy Tales Hair Care as well as TBH Kids, and I am a fan of any acronyms. So you got that already. But Risa really excited to talk with you about your business journey, as well as some things outside of that as well. Thank you so much for joining. How you doing today.

Risa Barash 2:07
I’m great. Thanks so much for having me, Max. Of course, of course,

Max Branstetter 2:12
in when we were going over the name pronunciations beforehand, and I was so glad that I got your last name right that I didn’t even check if you know how to pronounce Max so thank you for that. corny, but no. So before we get into you, yeah, awesome. Before we get into the business journey, I can’t resist I know you have a background in comedy as well. And so your comedy career I don’t know if you speak about it on the record anymore. But we’re gonna we’re gonna make you today. Take us into kind of a day in the life back from your comedy journey. Like what was your style? And what was your routine when it came to comedy?

Risa Barash 2:54
My whole thing was, I’m sort of like, I was a nice Jewish girl gone bad. I grew up with the cutest parents in the world, Max and Kenny.

Max Branstetter 3:07
Shoutout the name Max, by the way.

Risa Barash 3:09
That’s right. So do max. She’s the bomb.

Max Branstetter 3:12
We already this is the best. Oh, that’s what you said. While you’re oh my god, I’m sorry. So coming back to Max. What a hot start.

Risa Barash 3:26
I grew up in a very typical New Jersey family, you know, my parents, your high school sweethearts, actually Junior High sweethearts. And, and I was just sort of a wild child. I just didn’t know what I wanted. And I love to sort of, you know, put my toes on the edge and, you know, look over and dip my toe over there. And so that was pretty much what my whole standard career was about was how this nice sweet Jewish work girl went bad. And it was so much fun. So much fun. I loved every second of it. I was, I was out every night, probably at a comedy club in New York for about six years. It was a lot of fun. And I would temp I would do like office work during the day. Because I am not from the waitresses. I tried it once. I couldn’t carry the tray. Then I tried bartending, but I’m five feet tall, so I can never reach the top shelf. It just it didn’t really go well for me. So I would work in offices during the day. And then I would either travel locally, you know, we would sort of go up and down the East Coast, or spend most of my time in New York doing stand up every night. That’s

Max Branstetter 4:30
the dream. That’s always been kind of like a fantasy for me if like a bit you know, obviously it’s very nerve wracking. And I want to dive into that. But you hear comedians talk and they say like, there’s nothing like nailing a joke in the room is just like, you know, on fire and it’s, you know, because of something you thought of so I would hope that happened once or twice in your time. Who knows? Yes. Do you have a favorite memory or like a favorite night that you can point to? Were really things were just really clicking in Uh, yeah, people like you.

Risa Barash 5:01
Yeah, yeah, I do. I always remember this one night I was in Tysons Corner, Virginia, and there was this really nice comedy room there. And for whatever reason, it was just this, you know, educated fun, cool crowd. And, you know, I was an English major. So every now and then I used to like to throw some esoteric, you know, things in there and they just got everything I was saying. And I was getting applause breaks. And couple people stood when when I finished, and I swear, Max, I didn’t sleep that whole night. Like I literally couldn’t go to bed that night. I haven’t one of those little cassette tapes. I saved. And I say, because I used to tape a lot of our sets for those little mini recorders that were so cool. Back in the day. I have it somewhere I have that set somewhere on tape. So

Max Branstetter 5:50
I would always hold on to that. Yeah, did you have a pregame pre stage routine when you were doing those nights, especially in NYC, I

Risa Barash 6:01
had. So I have a wacky song that always plays in my head before I go onstage. And I’ve sort of transitioned it into into my business. But for some reason, I think it started because I was little and I’m going to really take myself but I used to sing Helen Reddy is I am woman all the time when I was a kid, and I would imitate her voice because she has a really kind of like funky kind of tone to her voice. And then it just became this thing that like right before I would go onstage, like in my head I would just do one or two lines from this, you know, song, and I would chuckle to myself and then I would go on stage.

Max Branstetter 6:36
Is that the one that goes? I can’t sing but like I’m a was

Risa Barash 6:42
like that one? Yeah, that was a career as well. Well, I

Max Branstetter 6:45
will I will edit that one out but maybe

Risa Barash 6:50
it’s I am women watch me grow see me standard. It was just it’s just like, and she’s has this weird tone to her voice and it just makes me laugh every time. And I now play it before I go into a big meeting. Oh,

Max Branstetter 7:03
that’s awesome. I love those pregame rituals. Yeah.

Risa Barash 7:08
Oh, cookie superstitions.

Max Branstetter 7:10
What was your what’s your best tip for for writing some really, really funny content? Like what what got your comedy juices going?

Risa Barash 7:20
And the anything in the day to day, you really never know. If you think something’s funny. Other people probably think it’s funny. So at least you know, try it. Try that on some of your friends and see if you get a little smile and then try it out on stage. But it’s so crazy. One word can change a joke, one pause in a different place. It’s so much harder than I mean, people are afraid of it. But then when you actually do it, it’s really hard. It truly is to get a good joke down. It’s hard. Yeah.

Max Branstetter 7:47
And I think the best comedians make it look so effortless that so many people like me who are you know, in the audience are like think like, Oh, that’s really awesome. think, oh, it wouldn’t be that hard to do it. And I’m sure just the first time you do it, you’re like hitting the face of like, what

Risa Barash 8:05
was the scare? I’ll never forget it. It was the scariest night of my life. And I told a really dumb joke. And it was literally like going on a roller coaster. Like I knew I was like setting up for it. I physically got sick, like, you know, when you’re going over on a roller coaster on your stomach, does that flip. That’s exactly what it did when I came out with my little punch line. And then I just stopped and I looked and I’m like, and they laughed, and I was like, Oh my god. Oh my god, that was the best thing ever. It was great. It was so fun.

Max Branstetter 8:38
So let’s get over that. Roller Coaster hump in this interview. Let’s transition to your business career. I mean, I could talk comedy this entire time. And actually, probably multiple times through the remainder of this interview will come up. But let’s get to your favorite roller coaster. Now. Let’s get to fairy tales. haircare and then we’ll get to tbh kids as well. But so comedy, comedy comedy, you know, you’re working in office as well. I know you have background as a publicist as well, I guess it’s kind of interwoven there. But how in the world did you end up shifting into this? haircare and kids care? I don’t know the proper term. Kids

Risa Barash 9:19
haircare. Well, I was doing stepped up. And like I said, I was worried it would come up and that’s it. It’s totally connected. It is it is I used to temp for a licensing agency. This woman. She was literally the precursor for Murphy Brown. She was just a tough lady and I would go out on the road and I would come back because Deborah would fire another assistant and she was just like, don’t get me that temporary stuff. And I would always go back to this agency. So I got to be friends with a lot of the women who worked there. And one night they all came to one of my shows I used to host a woman’s show every Wednesday or something or Thursday night at a coffee comedy club. So the entire staff and some of their friends all came to one of my shows. And we went out afterwards. And I sat next to a nice guy and we started talking and lo and behold, it was the President’s brother. And we started dating. He was in the haircare business. He was out on Long Island we so we did, we started living together. And he went to Long Island to see his cousin’s hair salon. He owns a children’s salon called fairytales. He had this lace shampoo on the shelf that he said, prevented lice. And Robert, my ex husband was out there one day, and he watched every mother in the five towns come running into this shop and grabbing a bottle of this. And he came home and he said, This is a goldmine. I was sort of winding down my comedy career, I caught this weird turn, where it was after friends and after Seinfeld had gone off the air. And they were really looking for like the next big thing. And that’s when they couldn’t find it. And that’s sort of when I had an agent and I was peeking. So I was a little disheartened, you know, you have to remember is a really long time ago, it was before podcasts, it was before, you know, tons of cables before you know streaming services. So you really didn’t have that many opportunities. And at this point, I had auditioned for about 100 different TV shows that have never been made. And I was, you know, losing interest. And Rob said, Do you want to take this on? And I said, I think that sounds great. So I would wander the streets of the city and stop and salons and put fairytales on the shelf. And during the day, and then I would still do some stand up at night. And that’s how it all started. So you see it is connected to stand up? It

Max Branstetter 11:39
is it is and that that sounds like something from like a children’s book, I would wander the streets of Manhattan and put fairy tales. You’re the you’re the fairy godmother there, right?

Risa Barash 11:51
Yes, you have to make sure you add the fairytales. Otherwise, when I’m wandering the streets of Manhattan, it could be bad.

Max Branstetter 11:55
Exactly could go a lot of different ways. So at what point did this start to really get momentum and it went from you know, just the kind of like from the door to door part to like, you know, thinking of the framing of this business. Basically,

Risa Barash 12:11
when the internet started when you could sell it when you can build a store online. That’s what happened. At this point, Rob and I were married, we had moved out to the burbs, and we had a baby and the business was growing and many stylists really loved our products. So we were always, you know, going to some trade shows and enjoying, you know, just being in the salon business. But I knew it can be bigger. So you know, I read about this crazy thing called the internet. And I It’s so embarrassing, right?

Max Branstetter 12:42
The crazy thing is how, like you can’t, you know, even think about anything for a split second now without involving the internet and the grand scheme of life. And humanity really was so recent that

Risa Barash 12:55
it wasn’t that long ago. Yeah. No, I mean, it started Yeah, my son was a baby. And he’s graduating college in May. So it’s been that long. Wow.

Max Branstetter 13:05
Well, early congrats on that.

Risa Barash 13:08
So I started a fairy tales website. And that was it. That was really when it started to take off. Because I mean, you know, word of mouth marketing, you know, is there’s just nothing better. And just one mom told another mom and you know, the next thing you know, I always say we had we had it hooked up to our phones. And when we would get an online sale, the ringtone was the touching like of a cash register. And I knew that we had really, you know, created something special. When one day I just turned around, I screamed, rather than, like turn that goddamn thing off. It was just going on constantly. And I was like, Oh my god. So yeah, that’s really that was when I knew that we were on to something special. That’s

Max Branstetter 13:50
the definition of like a really, that’s like the best annoying thing in the world. When you’re annoyed by that when it’s you know, positive result like

Risa Barash 13:56
Yeah, exactly. I was like

Max Branstetter 13:59
you mentioned the moms and the word of mouth marketing, word of mouth marketing, if I could pronounce it, and how beneficial that was, in addition to moms like what was involved in really figuring out like, really? Who’s your target customer like, who are we actually selling this to, besides random doors in Manhattan?

Risa Barash 14:18
Yeah. I knew it was school moms of school aged kids. So I got involved in school nurse programs, I got involved in a lot of daycares. Private schools, you know, where I would be allowed in. So I knew who my customer was very early on. We had a great age range, especially for Rosemary Powell. As the business grew, we created other lines, you know, our demographics changed a bit, which is great. We were able to expand, but it was really that, you know, school age kid that was in

Max Branstetter 14:49
terms of actually like making the tweaks on the site, you know, this brand new thing called the internet in order to even set the stage to the point that you can start getting so many old have sales and like you can start to scale online. What did that look like to getting your your digital marketplace set up?

Risa Barash 15:07
It was a little crazy. I didn’t really know what I was doing. I have a cousin who’s very bright and was very involved in sort of tech early on. And I had asked him and he had hooked me up with somebody that he knew in Texas, believe it or not. So I had this guy who I’d never met, build this website. He was so so bright, and so cutting edge on all his ideas. I was reading and we were sending me articles and I would try it at night. There were times where I was trying to like look up the words because I had no idea what the hell guy was talking about.

Max Branstetter 15:40
That’s like me in any conversation. I get it. A separate window open right now.

Risa Barash 15:47
Or you’ll be fine with me. Trust me. Isaac was just so instrumental. And I didn’t meet him for years. years years years. You Yours Yours. And funny story if you don’t mind because it’s so this one always makes me laugh.

Max Branstetter 15:59
I just thought I actually hate funny story.

Risa Barash 16:02
This is so Isaac from you know, Texas and in tech. I thought in my head I never met him was you know, like a five foot tall, you know, sort of like Poindexter he kind of looking guy. So he’s finally coming up I have now I’ve hired a couple people that are working for me. And and I’m like, Guys, I’m gonna pick up Isaac at the airport, you know? And they’re like, Oh, this is gonna be good. I pull up to the thing I picked up at a hotel by Newark. And all of a sudden, it’s like six foot four ridiculously handsome young guy walks out. And he’s like, Risa. I’m like,

Isaac. So I text the girls and like, what do you see what I’m bringing home

he’s turned out to be a dear, dear friend of mine, who has two little ones now. And you know, they call me Aunt Risa. So it’s all good. But the best part is, is Isaac was so young that the reason why I had to pick him up was because he couldn’t rent a car. He wasn’t 25

Max Branstetter 17:01
Oh my god. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Nice move. And Risa. Yeah,

Risa Barash 17:05
thanks, very proud.

Max Branstetter 17:08
So you got the site, shipshape, whatever that term is. And then so the the that initial product, I know is actually tied back to lice and like a big lice breakout. Yeah, shed some light on like, what, like, what was going on when that took off.

Risa Barash 17:24
So it was crazy. So lace have been around forever. They’ve literally they found them like in Egypt in the sarcophagus, right? So they’ve been around forever. So our rosemary repel line actually prevents it. So it just uses natural ingredients, we had a study done that show that lice, you know, don’t like the smell, and they’d basically stay away from it. So that really became our calling card. That’s really what put us on the map. And that’s what the retailer’s have all, you know, bought into back in the in the early days. And then, you know, because I was so connected as a parent to this business, moms would send me notes, or I’d be talking to friends. I mean, I literally still talk to some of my very first customers on social media, because that’s just how I ran this business. I just didn’t, you know, I was very connected to it. So they would say, hey, we need something for tangles, or heavy. So my daughter swims all the time, and her hair is, you know, turning green. So I was like, Okay, on it, give me a little time. And, you know, I figured out what are some natural products, natural ingredients that would help take out chlorine and sea salts. And, you know, lo Behold, the sun and Swimline was born. So everything that we’ve done since then has really been just because we have been, you know, so connected to our customers, that we’ve made things that people want. So that’s really how it’s grown. But Rosemary Repel was definitely the first, you know, big, you know, line that we created. And it still is, it’s even, it’s our calling card, you know, that’s when the retailers came calling, you know, target literally called us and we’re like, Hey, we’ve heard about your this product, we need to cap this is crazy. This is a

Max Branstetter 19:01
crazy coincidence. I’m thinking back and like in the timeline of when you’re doing this. And I grew up in Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio area. And it was around this time that me my brother, and then some of our friends and neighbors across the street. All got lice as well. So I don’t know, like maybe there was a big long island outbreak then. But clearly, there was one in Cleveland, Ohio. But that’s it times up pretty well with when you’re coming up with this. So it’s like there’s no better. I forget, I always forget the term about necessity. Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Yeah. There’s no greater innovator than like, when you need to act fast, something like that. But you also mentioned how you still talk to some of your first customers on social media, which is incredible. I think any business that has something that ultimately gets in the hands of consumers, I guess what I’m saying is a product business would be you can tell I have a way of like taking the scenic route, the longest route. For any product businesses, especially there is great demand for being able to have that to a dynamic with your customers and be able to chat with them and get feedback from them. But also, you know, they grow as you grow that sort of thing. What are some tips you can share about having such great communication with even your day one fans?

Risa Barash 20:24
Oh, customer service is the key to growing a good business. And I think it’s such a lost art. I have a full time employee in my office who answers every phone call every email, She monitors on our social media, she answers everybody, she has been taught from day one, that the customer is a always right. And we take care of our customers. If somebody doesn’t like something, you know, just send it send it back, you know, we don’t care or try something else. You know, we, we love to explain our products to our customers, and maybe they bought the wrong one, you know, our tangled tamer has a lot of keratin proteins in it. So it’s a heavier shampoo. So if a mom whose child has thin hair, calls us up and said, Hey, I bought tangle tamer, I don’t like it like, okay, fine, no problem, we’re gonna send you this. And that, to me is I think it’s what sets my business apart. And I think that’s where so many people fail today. I mean, I have been known to byproducts. And if I don’t like something, I’ll reach out to a customer service department, just to see the response I’m going to get. And it’s usually never that great.

Max Branstetter 21:30
I think it’s especially with like, all through social media that deselect social media platforms, a lot of big tech companies in general. The customer service is so bad a part of it is because they are so big that like they just can’t keep up with it, but still blows my mind when there’s an issue on like these, you know, supposedly great reputation companies and you don’t even get a response or like they don’t even have a way for you to interact with the real person on the other.

Risa Barash 22:00
They’re all it’s all robots now. Right? It’s all AI driven. Yeah,

Max Branstetter 22:04
I was talking to comedy all day, it was I wish I could talk about the whole time. So you mentioned that the Innovate it was kind of natural innovations and other products as well. And then somewhere along the way tbh kids came along. What was the nugget of an idea for that?

Risa Barash 22:27
My son Jack is getting a lot of play today. And guess Yeah, happy

Max Branstetter 22:31
early congrats. It’s a

Risa Barash 22:33
signing, call his mother. I’m a Jewish mom, Max.

Max Branstetter 22:38
I’m with you.

Risa Barash 22:41
So Jackie was I don’t know. 12. And, you know, puberty was starting and I came downstairs one day and I’m like, he has a great head of hair. And I’m like, Jack your hair so dirty. I told you you need to watch it. Sick mom. I did. And I’m like, Jack, you couldn’t have washed your hair. It looks really greasy. And you know, he’s not a liar. So he I know he did. And I was like, hmm, I need to make a shampoo that’s gonna help this. So you know, back to the drawing board researched a lot of ingredients and found some that will help dry up like the natural oils on kids hair. And you know, then he started getting little pimples like just like sort of like clogged pores, like nothing like acne, acne, right. And I was like, well, there’s really nothing out there for this age group that isn’t, you know, actually made for adults that kids are using. So again, did a lot of research and came up with tbh kids, it’s hair, skin and body care for tweens. When we started this about almost five years ago, sort of around the pandemic, which is not, you know, my best time but it was okay. Like it wasn’t our only business that we were okay. So we were let’s start with the baby and just keep it going a bit. It’s, you know, really taken off. It’s done really well. And you know, there’s a bunch of other people in the space, which my dad likes to remind me that nobody ever copies a bad idea. So I’m okay with that. But that’s how TV started. And yeah, we’re really proud of it. It’s sort of like the next generation of the fairytales customer. Family.

Max Branstetter 24:11
Well, that actually hits on the biggest thing I was wondering about on that is like, what have you learned about how to how to have both of these brands or both of these umbrella brands in the same space without you know, cannibalizing each other and, you know, with each of them succeeding,

Risa Barash 24:26
it’s been okay. It’s definitely worked in our in our benefit, because, you know, if a mom has, you know, a six year old and then they have a 10 year old, they straddle fairy tales and tbh. So we did a lot of cross marketing and we brought a lot of the fairy tales moms into the tbh world. It works out really well. We have not had any issues whatsoever. They love the wipes, they actually the tbh wipes are amazing. And we have fairy tales, moms are like, can you make those fairy tales and I’m like, on it. So we’re coming up with that too. So it’s been wonderful. It’s, it’s really been able to keep The customer in our world for a lot longer, which is nice.

Max Branstetter 25:04
And when you look at both of these brands, both these companies, what, in addition to you know, that top notch customer service and that, you know, the keeping that those communication lines open, what else has been a big driver and you know, thriving as a business for one case, it’s half a decade and count and the other one, it’s, it’s multiple decades.

Risa Barash 25:26
Yeah, we’ve been on it for 24 years. Fairytales has been around a long time. I think that one of the keys to our success is that we make products that parents need, not just one, I never just throw product in a bottle to fill a shelf. I’m not worried about that. I don’t care about that way of doing business, you’ll never see you know, 700 pieces of fairytales on a shelf. A mom has a tangle issue, we have a curly line that is amazing. For curly moms, we have a daily line that people can mix in and out, we have the rosemary line, the tango line, I make good products, we use really good ingredients, we use very high end ingredients. I always like to say if you took a very, very, very expensive bottle of shampoo and put the ingredient deck next to any one of ours, you would probably think that ours was the more expensive one, nine out of 10 times the deck is is just filled with really good stuff. So and we’ve been doing that for a really long time, we were on this natural kick a long time ago. We took out you know parabens and sulfates 20 years ago so you know the Millennial Mom at this point who is all about you know, good for you ingredients. They’re our customer. And half the time they were using our products back when they were kids. I’m on my second generation of customers Max, that’s

Max Branstetter 26:46
goals. What that’s what you go for ya. generations coming to well, not right away, but

Risa Barash 26:55
I was a little ticked off once. This is a true story I was at I was at Expo West in California with my CFO Abby, who’s my right arm and, and everything I do. A young woman came up to the booth and she’s like, Oh my god, I’m so excited to see you guys. You know, I’m using this. I’m my daughter. I used it my whole childhood. And apparently my face drop and add a dose. Stop it. That’s amazing. And I go, I’m old. And

Max Branstetter 27:21
like, Oh, cool.

Risa Barash 27:23
I was like, oh my god, I felt weird.

Max Branstetter 27:25
is no reflection on your age. It’s about your customers being back good that they refer it to the next generation. Exactly.

Risa Barash 27:35
Thank you very much. Yeah. It’s crazy. is cool. Okay.

Max Branstetter 27:41
If crazy, cool, and great is your jam, then you just might be a fantastic, crazy, cool, and great candidate for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter. It is a short & sweet email from me every Thursday. And it is where podcasting meets entrepreneurship. And crazy, cool, great, terrible jokes. You can sign up at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter. Now, let’s dabble. So let’s dabble back into the world of comedy. I know I’m sorry, sorry. This is intertwined as well. But I’m really curious. What lessons did you learn from your run in the comedy nightclubs that have flowed through and helped you as a business owner.

Risa Barash 28:28
The best one ever the best lesson in the world is be fearless. You just have to go you have to go and has to come out of your mouth. You have to do it. The number one thing that comedy taught me is just to be fearless. Trust your instincts is another one. There’s, you know, especially when you’re working a live audience. There is nothing crazier than you know, a heckler. I mean, we used to sit down my comedy friends and I we would have like heckle writing sessions. And we would write you know, lines for the hecklers. Right? Because you just never want to get caught, you know, losing control of the room.

Max Branstetter 29:09
So sorry, I was so mean to you got them?

Risa Barash 29:13
No, now, I did have a couple of doozies. But I can’t repeat my lines. Because

Max Branstetter 29:19
I know, I know. We are explicit. But no, no, I want three on the spot here. But the fearlessness is so true. I think that applies to so many things in life and business. But it’s also just like comedy. It’s easier said than done, in addition to your pumpup song. How were you able to get yourself over the hump? I mean, still to this day, when you have something scary to do that day.

Risa Barash 29:43
I believe I believe in what I’m doing, and I believe in what I’ve created. I’m very proud of what I’ve done. I’m a very strong willed person to begin with. I’m a fourth generation entrepreneur, so I think it’s genetic. Yeah, like crazy. That’s awesome. Yeah, it’s pretty I just I’m fearless. And I believe in what I’m doing. I actually was at a tradeshow had a meeting with Walmart, sitting at the table, and he said, I love your products, I want to carry them, but I’m going to carry them at x price. And I said, you can like that’s like way below, you know, map pricing. You know, I mean, other retailers, and you’re going to cause a lot of problems for me, and I can’t have that. And he said, Well, I wanted at that price. And I said, Okay, well, it was really nice to meet you. Here’s my card, if you change your mind, call me. Abbie was sitting next to me. And she’s pinching my leg. And I’m pinching her leg. And I said, hit up, get up from the table. And we left. And six months later, he came back and said, Okay, on your terms, and I said, thank you.

Max Branstetter 30:52
I have chills, also that that’s the first ever pinch off in history. Right?

Risa Barash 30:57
That’s right.

Max Branstetter 31:00
Ma’am, yes, we should just enter right there. But no, I’m also curious. You mentioned in comedy of your clubs every night. It’s a you know, it’s a very unique schedule. It’s like, you know, there’s not many professions out there that, you know, it’s like, there’s some in the medical field. There’s some, you know, graveyard shifts out there. But like, there’s not that many people out there that are, you know, have to, especially if you’re like commuting and I’ll go into commute, work the late nights. What’s that stopped in your life schedule changed a lot. What’s that, like, when you don’t have that? You know, oh, I’m not performing in front of people tonight.

Risa Barash 31:37
It’s awful. I mean, it’s. Yeah, it’s a big, it’s a big adjustment. I mean, I was a night owl, right. I mean, I wouldn’t fall asleep till three o’clock in the morning. You know, I’d get up if I, you know, most of times temping, so I had to go to bed a little earlier. But, you know, weekends, you know, you’re out you’re traveling. I mean, everything I owned, you know, this is back when you could still smoke right and places. Everything I own stunk like cigarette smoke. So, yeah,

Max Branstetter 32:06
I just got a whiff of that. Right. The flashback

Risa Barash 32:09
Yeah, it was crazy. It was really hard. It was really hard. But I had started fairytales. So I was really lucky. I mean, I always I think about this sometimes, like, what the heck could I have done? I mean, I was supposed to go to LA. I didn’t. And I wonder if I probably would have ended up like, you know, moving out to LA maybe like working on a show or writing or something. So

Max Branstetter 32:35
what would you be? No, no, no, it’s always interesting to think about that. Yeah. But now that you have, like, now that your schedule is adjusted, and oh, by the way, this, you know, these businesses are going to take over your life. These days, are you able to find any time for hobbies, or just solo time or something to do to, you know, to mix in their personal time,

Risa Barash 32:56
I’m getting better at it. And a bad example, like I remember, you know, people used to talk to me about, you know, when my kids were little, I mean, they’re older now, you know, I traveled a lot when they were when they were young, you know, the work life balance, I would scream from the rooftops that there’s no such thing. And every day was a juggling act, and some days, you’re gonna be better at one and some days are gonna get better at others. And I used to do a lot of interviews about that. I don’t think anyone really liked to hear that. I have great kids. And I’m not I wasn’t a helicopter mom. So I think it’s benefited them. They’re ridiculously independent and fabulous. So I am finally starting to find a little more like quiet time, but it’s hard. I’m still very involved. We run a really tight ship, and my business is self funded. We have never taken a dime of money. And when you own a multimillion dollar business that’s not, you know, doesn’t have you know, venture money. You’re very deliberate and all the moves that you make. So I’m involved in a lot of things every day. But I love being a leader. I’ve changed sort of, I think one of the things that has helped is that I’ve hired amazing people, I finally realized that you get what you pay for. I hire not so much for brains anymore. I hire for culture, and if we fit into our culture, you’re going to thrive in my company. That’s how I lead. So I’ve hired fabulous people that I trust that have allowed me to do other things and sort of look at bigger picture and get a little more involved in that. And now that my kids are gone, I am trying to you know, find a little more time for myself, but I’m not that good at it yet, Max.

Max Branstetter 34:38
You’re hard on yourself. That’s a really important piece about knowing who to hire and finding people that you know is gonna be great fit with culture. Do you feel a little you know, for all the applicants out there listening, a little peek behind the curtain if, like, is there a typical, I don’t know statement or sentiment or like something When you’re interviewing candidates that they say or that they’ve demonstrated that you’re like, oh, they will be amazing for us?

Risa Barash 35:08
That’s a good question. I don’t think there’s anything that they say it’s more about their behavior. And it’s how they like to work, I love to ask them how they like to work. If someone tells me that, you know, they’re shopping on a Saturday, and they see something in the, they’ll see product on the shelf, or they liked the packaging, or they like the ingredients, and they’ll take a picture of it, and they’ll bring it into the office the next morning. That’s the person I want to hire. So there’s always little things that you get when you’re talking to them. That you can just see that there, you know, it’s not just a job. I mean, it’s a job it is I get it, but there’s just a little extra something in some people that you can really see. And those are the people that I hire

Max Branstetter 35:48
that extra something Yeah, that attention to detail. But I think it’s also what you’re describing. It’s like the passion and the energy behind it’s not just like, you know, clock in clock out. It’s like that, you know, there really, there’s something exciting here. Yeah. Throw that in there as well.

Risa Barash 36:05
Great. Yep, I can spot it a mile away.

Max Branstetter 36:11
So given that, your time is so valuable, I extra apologize in advance for these final two sections to wrap up, because these are just sorry, this first what’s called the unusual so this really, the ideas have nothing to do with your business. But you don’t have to tie it back to your business at all. It’s more about your your personality. But pretty much anything is fair game. So first question, and why don’t you say comedy? What’s the a weird talent you have like something you’re really good at, but it doesn’t tie back to your business? Could be a memory trick could be something around the house. It’s just Oh, I really have a knack for that.

Risa Barash 36:49
I’m a tap dancer, Max. Oh, man,

Max Branstetter 36:52
I should revise that I won’t let you see taptic Wow. So tap dance.

Risa Barash 36:56
I can tap dance. Yep, I took lessons for 15 years, and I am still I’ll be known to pull out a Shuffle Off to Buffalo at a party sometimes. I mean, it wasn’t. I love to make people laugh. So there you go. Perfect.

Max Branstetter 37:13
How about the quirks with something a little quirky about your personality? And maybe kids, friends, family, somebody calls you out for team, but it’s who you are

Risa Barash 37:23
a quirky person? I don’t know. I think I’m a little witchy.

Max Branstetter 37:27
We, I know the term which is becoming more and more popular, but I still have no idea what it means. Can you explain? Yeah,

Risa Barash 37:34
like I have a weird sixth sense into people. I my boyfriend likes to say that a night for me isn’t really complete unless I’ve made a friend. And you know, ask them crazy questions and really gotten to know them. And then I usually find out you know that there’s something about them. Like I just can spot an interesting person a mile away. And I make sure that I get to know them by the end of the night. And David, my partner likes to say that’s, you know, 10 minutes of his life or an hour of his life. He’s never going to get back.

Max Branstetter 38:05
So much time he’s tracking him. He’s probably as an Excel spreadsheet. We would have had a full vacation here.

Risa Barash 38:11
Exactly, exactly. Yeah, that’s definitely a little quirk of mine that I pick up random, random people and have conversations with our brand.

Max Branstetter 38:19
That’s a great that’s a great thing to have. That’s something my dad has always been good with that like communicating with strangers. And it’s as a little kid, I was kind of Oh, like we’re like oh, there it was dad again, talking to strangers again. And then as you grew up, it’s like it’s really interesting and like energizing to meet fascinating people.

Risa Barash 38:35
Exactly. Thank you, Max. We’re gonna make sure David listens to this and here’s that no problem.

Max Branstetter 38:40
Awesome. We want we want to over 30-something minutes. All right, last one here is pet peeves. What is something can be anything that’s just pet peeves ticked off a little bit.

Risa Barash 38:54
Oh my gosh, people always say to me, oh my God, how is it to work with your ex husband? Because we still on the business together? Like it sucks. How do you think it when people ask me that like what do you think it’s fun? Yeah, that’s definitely a pet peeve of mine.

Max Branstetter 39:11
I’m scratching off that one from the rapid-fire. So sorry. No, that is that no appreciate the what’s the term camp candor on the same page, Kendra so now that we’ve cantered our way this far, let’s wrap up with some rapid-fire q&a ready for it. Yep. All right, let’s get Wild and witchy what comedian would you say? Is like your all time idol for comedian Ray Romano. His stand up is impeccable. Impeccable who is that? I’m just definitely a bigger than life. Yeah, figure. It we’ve used a lot of fragrance free stuff now so I won’t I won’t let you say that one. But if you could only use one fragrance like scent for you’re proud. For the rest of your life, it could only be one. What would you pick? I don’t know,

Risa Barash 40:03
like something a little sweet but a little. I like men’s fragrances. So it has to be a little like muskie. muskie with

Max Branstetter 40:12
a little sweet, musky, and sweet. Yeah, that could be. That’s the name of your memoir. I know. I don’t even get that one. There is a quick story from your background. And that involves Rosie O’Donnell. You mentioned that

Risa Barash 40:28
this is really embarrassing. So I’m watching the Rosie O’Donnell Show. And she’s talking about her kids and lice and ticks and stuff and bugs in her backyard. She lived like upstate at the time. And we had the business. I don’t know maybe a month I had. This is when I was still wandering the streets of New York putting product on shelf, no internet, no retail, nothing. I was like, oh my god, I’m gonna bring product over to Rosie. So I write this really funny letter. Because we knew a lot of the same people in comedy. And then I bring it over to 30 Rock, and I go to the mailroom, they’re like, Okay, just leave it. And they had this huge, huge, huge bin that they were just dumping packages in. And I was like, Oh, no. And I’m like, no, no, no, no, Rosie’s waiting for this. You have to bring this up right now. And they’re like, really echo. Oh, yeah. It’s for kids. She needs it. Now. She asked for it. I’m just delivering it. So are they’re like, Okay, so like, Okay, thanks. And I just stood there waiting for him to take the package and leave the mailroom. He’s like, I’ll go now I go. Yeah, he’ll go now. And so he left and I turn the TV on the next day and Rob had gone to work. And I was living in a big building in Hell’s Kitchen at the time. I was only like on the fifth floor or something. So that comes into that I turn the TV on and there’s my letter and there’s a bottle of rosemary Powell sitting on Roseville, Donald’s desk, and she just looks on she goes, I don’t know, somebody sent this to me. I supposed to be good. I’ll give it a try and let you know what you think. And I just scream like at the top of my lungs so loudly that my doorman actually came up to my apartment. He was like what I was like, Look at Rosie, she’s not the bottle. But I was so excited. So excited. I call Robert work. And he’s like, he goes reset. Where’s anybody gonna get it? And I was like, I hate you. And I hung up.

Max Branstetter 42:13
Oh, that’s incredible, though, that speaks back to the fearlessness that you spoke of. Let me think if you listen closely in the Hell’s Kitchen area, you can still hear

Risa Barash 42:21
the echo who’s screaming? Oh, yeah. Yeah, from Amsterdam

Max Branstetter 42:26
Avenue. Speaking of the city, what was a comedy club that you’ve performed that that is the first time you did it. You just had to pinch yourself. Caroline’s

Risa Barash 42:39
when I walked on the stage at Caroline’s I was like, Oh my god. This is the greatest moment. It was so cool. I mean, most comics will tell you the comedy cellar. But I never worked there, by the way. But Caroline’s for me, it was just like, because I used to go there. You know, when I was in high school, and I loved it. So Carolyn’s that was that.

Max Branstetter 43:04
That’s awesome. That’s I’m bummed. I’m bummed. We never crossed paths when you’re on the comedy circuit because I’ve been to. I feel like I’ve seen a lot of people before or as they were getting like big, big. Yeah. Well, my family was in town and years ago. We saw Bert kreischer at Gotham. And he’s like blown up now. Yeah. And then well before he started dating, famous people, Pete Davidson and Caroline’s and then I’m a huge Curb fan. So JB Smoove. We saw him and Caroline’s couple years ago which is awesome so

Risa Barash 43:39
awesome. His agents and old friend of mine that’s so funny. Oh

Max Branstetter 43:42
awesome. Small World Yeah, well hi to hi to JB and his agent but it’s so cool such a small world their last one bonus Yes. You mentioned your mom’s name is Max. Was Max short for anything? Maxine. Oh awesome. Wow, small world there’s a maxint well there’s Mexican on my side as well but there’s a Maxine on my wife Dana’s side that her middle name was after named after her middle name is Michelle but the M was from Mexico. And then she married a Max!

Risa Barash 44:08
Max. That’s so cute. I want to name my son Max. But my mom’s like, No, we name after the dead. You’re not doing fine.

Max Branstetter 44:18
You tried Risa. Thank you so much. This has been an absolute blast and just laughed the entire time and learn the entire time not to be corny, but really appreciate your business stories and comedy and everything in between. I know they’re all interwoven. Where is the best place for people to try out any of your products or connect with you online? Oh,

Risa Barash 44:40
they can always email me. I’m available Risa at fairy tales haircare.com I answer all my emails I love when people email me and ask me questions. And they can find our products everywhere target Walmart CVS, Walgreens Ulta, supermarkets, Amazon FairyTalesHairCare.com TBHKids.com everywhere. Perfect.

Max Branstetter 45:04
I was like we can keep the credits going and make you list every single retailer as well. That’s

Risa Barash 45:12
fine. It’s been a long road maximum very proud of all those retail should be

Max Branstetter 45:17
though. I’m pumped for you. Last thing, Final Thoughts. It could be a quote, it could be a – there’s a baby crying in the background. It could be a quote, it could be a quote, it could be a joke. Whatever you want. Send us home here stage is yours.

Risa Barash 45:33
Oh my gosh, that’s a lot of pressure. I always tell my team onward and upward. They make fun of me all the time for them. Like why do you do that? Like I don’t know. I just it’s like you know what? Move on. Just keep going. Just keep swimming. How’s that? Perfect

Max Branstetter 45:49
if you started with one gem and then it swam your way to another? That’s a credible back

Risa Barash 45:56
I was never i No, no, no. About that. Just keep swimming. That’s it.

Max Branstetter 46:05
Just keep swimming onward and upward. upstream downstream. We all stream for ice cream. Thank you so much Risa for coming on the show sharing your hilariously in fascinating and inspiring and just awesome journey. 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 podcast app and tell a friend about the podcast. And then, think of some some real zingers some some one-liners with them. You’ll entertain your friends and family. You can also find us on Goodpods where there are good, good podcasts, and podcast recommendations and people. And for any help with podcast production, I am your guy. You can learn more at MaxPodcasting.com and you can also sign up for the Podcasting to the Max newsletter. That is at MaxPodcasting.com/Newsletter. Until next time, let your business Run Wild…Bring on the Bongos!!