This episode is brought to you by Sendlane.   Not to denigrate other subscription services, but Shaker & Spoon isn't just "stuff in a box," insist co-founders Anna Gorovoy and Mike Milyavsky. There's passion, a knowledge base, an online community, and the recipe and ingredients.   Early feedback to the box called it "a chemistry set for adults," Anna says.   "People will stick with you if it's wonderful, if the cocktails are inventive, if everything is exciting and delicious," Anna says. "We've also always focused on the customer experience and aimed to go above and beyond in terms of the support that we provide to anyone who is contacting us, who needs anything, whether it's a problem with their package or just some mixology advice, you know, we're there."   Anna says that listening to what people want seems so simple, but it's critical.   Shaker & Spoon was a "bootstrap" company from the beginning, so how they spend money to advertise the brand is critical, Mike says because you're essentially paying someone to visit your storefront or website.   "Your store needs to be ready," Mike says. "Your product needs to be ready. Your customer experience needs to be ready before you invite the traffic in...these are lessons you learn when you have no money."   Shaker & Spoon isn't in retail stores yet, but it's a strategy that could come into plan. First up is a product aimed at the bar industry.   Recently, the brand did a large fundraiser with proceeds donated to charities in war-torn Ukraine. Both Anna and Mike are from families that fled from the former Soviet Union. It's an experience that they translate into their business lives.   "I sometimes think when you're fearful about things, it's a great example to put things in context," Anna says. "I mean, we love what we do, we do this business, and so forth. And we take the risk, and there's obviously a downside potential. But, you know, it pales in comparison to the kind of bravery (of) coming to a whole new country...it does put stuff in context, right?"   In Part 2, Anna and Mike talk about: * What sets Shaker & Spoon apart from other subscription services. * How the brand has generated and cultivated its fan base. * Capturing the right audience for the website. * How to take a tour of the brand's website. * Future plans for a product for the bar industry, which has been reaching out to the brand to feature its cocktails. * The brand's footprint on social media. * The co-founders' thoughts on the Ukraine war - Mike and Anna are refugees from the former Soviet Union.   Join Ramon Vela, Anna Gorovoy and Mike Milyavsky as they break down the inside story on The Story of a Brand.   For more on Shaker & Spoon, visit: https://shakerandspoon.com/    Subscribe and Listen to the podcast on all major apps. Simply search for “The Story of a Brand,” or click here to listen on your favorite podcast player: Listen now.   *   This episode is also brought to you by Sendlane.   If all DTC companies were forced to turn off Facebook ads, they'd be dead on arrival. Why is that?   They over-invest in paid acquisition and under-invest in retention.   Luckily, Sendlane makes it easy to solve this problem. Sendlane is an E-Commerce Customer Experience Platform helping hundreds of DTC brands to tighten their existing customer relationships.   Sendlane automates personalized customer experiences through Welcome and Abandoned Cart workflows, SMS, Deep Data Integrations with Shopify and WooCommerce, multi-store functionality, and much more.   Plus, they don't stand for lazy customer support. Their San-Diego-based team has an average 1-minute response time from a live human, making sure you never get stuck in a chat queue ever again.   Curious about how Sendlane can help your DTC brand grow? Schedule a demo with a Specialist. Visit https://www.sendlane.com/story