27 Feb February 27, 2025 – Launching Consumer Brands Dr. James Richardson and Kindr Jody R. Weiss
Dr. James Richardson – Founder of Premium Growth Solutions and Author of
Dr. James Richardson
Dr. Richardson is the founder of Premium Growth Solutions, a strategic planning consultancy for emerging consumer packaged goods brands. As a professionally trained cultural anthropologist turned business strategist, he has helped over 150 CPG brands with their strategic planning, including: Dude Wipes, Once Upon a Farm, Dr. Squatch Soap, Trü Frü, Earth Breeze, Dr. Bronner’s, Happy Egg, Made Good and many others. James is the author of an award-winning business book -Ramping Your Brand: How to Ride the Killer CPG Growth Curve. He also hosts his own business podcast —Startup Confidential —on YouTube, Apple, Spotify and most major podcast platforms. And he writes a Substack publication on contemporary social issues — Homo Imaginari — every week. He lives in sunny Tucson, AZ with his family and dogs. His thoughts have appeared in Inc Magazine, Business Insider, Food Business News, and numerous business podcasts.
Jody R. Weiss – Director of Development at the Kindr Foundation
Jody R. Weiss
Jody R. Weiss is a social activist and serial social entrepreneur with a special focus on the transformation of consciousness through the lens of human rights. In her early career, Jody was a sports agent at International Management Group (IMG), representing 45 elite athletes such as Bill Rogers, Rob de Castella, Zola Budd, and Greta Waitz. For Mazda Motors, she signed Jackie Joyner, Flo Jo, Ben Johnson, Evelyn Ashford, Willie Banks, Ingrid Kristensen and other international stars to a multi-national track and field team with 213 athletes from 16 countries competing. At IMG, she learned how to package an “intellectual property” for greater global impact. In 2002, Jody launched PeaceKeeper™ Cause-Metics™ and served as the company’s CEO. PeaceKeeper was one of the first cosmetics companies to offer 75%+ organic ingredients and to give donations to urgent human rights issues globally. PeaceKeeper was sold in 500+ stores, including Henri Bendel, Nordstrom, Fred Segal, ABC Planet & Home, Whole Foods, Wegmans, Sprouts, and many other retailers around the globe. Jody sourced organic ingredients from a biodynamic farm in Satara, India for her brand and gave the farmers a second source of income. Jody is an Operating Partner to Chloe Capital, a fund and accelerator designed to deploy capital to diverse female entrepreneurs. The fund has had four M&A’s and the accelerator is so effective that women on average raise $2m. Jody is also the Founder of Women Funding the World, which is designed to galvanize women and men to increase the amount of funding going to diverse women founders from under 3% to 10% by 2035. Jody has studied meditation since 1974 to gain a deeper understanding of techniques in non-duality and consciousness. She teaches these techniques, which are at the intersection of business, personal well-being and the transformation of consciousness, to people interested in experiencing themselves more deeply… and to see that we are profoundly interdependent.