Non-Toxic and Stylish Cookware For Every Level of Home Cook

Non-Toxic and Stylish Cookware For Every Level of Home Cook

"Pick the areas of your lifestyle that you care about and upgrade those."

- Jordan

We’re heading to the kitchen as Elizabeth welcomes Jordan Nathan, founder and CEO of Caraway. You may know Caraway for its colorful, sleek cookware designs that set it apart from the rest of the market. Jordan shares his journey from working in kitchenware development to founding Caraway, sparked by his personal experience with Teflon toxicity. He also talks about building a remote-first company with a strong focus on culture, innovation, and health. Plus, Jordan gives us a peek into how he balances his busy work and home life with a consistent routine, Caraway’s exciting future plans, and his favorite dishes to whip up in Caraway’s ceramic beauties!
  • PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

    [00:00:00] Elizabeth: Hi everyone. I'm Elizabeth Stein,
    founder and CEO of Purely Elizabeth, and this is Live Purely with Elizabeth,
    featuring candid conversations about how to thrive on your wellness journey.
    This week's guest is Jordan Nathan, founder and CEO of Caraway, the disruptive,
    non-toxic, and thoughtfully designed home brand.

    [00:00:25] Known for its
    colorful ceramic cookware. I have been a huge fan of this brand and use their
    products in my kitchen all the time, so was super excited to learn all about
    Jordan's story. So in this episode we talk about Jordan's personal experience
    with Teflon toxicity, along with. The lack of design and material transparency
    in the kitchenware space that led to the inspiration behind his brand and
    mission.

    [00:00:55] Jordan also shares
    the health risks associated with Teflon and why we really need to be using
    non-toxic cookware, along with the other toxic chemicals in our homes. He talks
    about the challenges and benefits of leading a fully remote team. Along with some
    of his daily wellness routine and productivity acts that make him feel his
    best.

    [00:01:17] Keep listening to
    learn all about Jordan and Caraway.

    [00:01:27] Jordan, welcome to
    the podcast. It is such a pleasure to have you on today and looking forward to
    hearing all about your story.

    [00:01:35] Jordan: Thanks so much for having me. Excited
    to chat today.

    [00:01:38] Elizabeth: So would love to start with your
    background and what you were doing before launching Caraway.

    [00:01:46] Jordan: Yeah, so prior to Caraway, I worked at
    a consumer Amazon conglomerate called the Tarion, which is now a public
    company. they owned four or five different brands. And I started there back in,
    I wanna say 2016 leading their kitchen brand. Really got my first foray into
    the kitchen world in my prior role. Spent a lot of time doing product
    development.

    [00:02:09] Elizabeth: And how did you, what even brought
    you there to begin with? Were you always interested in kitchen?

    [00:02:14] Jordan: So interestingly, I was put right into
    it, at the prior company. But, prior to that I actually started an e-commerce
    marketplace out of college for my first first career experience and worked on
    that for about 12 months. It was a marketplace focused on selling more kinda
    like fashion and home products

    [00:02:32] in kind of the boom
    of the e-comm era and, really fell in love with retail and e-commerce and, that
    unfortunately didn't work out.

    [00:02:40] But part of my
    journey was wanting to... having been on the marketplace side of things,
    wanting to move more into the brand side. And so found this amazing opportunity
    at Tarion.

    [00:02:49] Got to lead and run
    a brand for a number of years, launched over 200 different kitchen products.
    And while I wasn't a major cook at the time, or had a lot of knowledge on the
    kitchenware space, ended up falling in love with it. Loved the breadth of products
    that there are in the kitchen, the lack of design, the lack of material
    transparency, and so had a, an amazing experience there and got to learn
    everything from product development to marketing to logistics and supply chain.
    Owning a p and L statement and so was really a great, step into the consumer
    world.

    [00:03:24] Elizabeth: Do you remember at what point
    during that experience, maybe when you were seeing that things weren't best
    designed, weren't most attractive, weren't best materials, thinking I could do
    this in a better way?

    [00:03:37] Jordan: Yeah interestingly the brand that we
    were selling on Amazon, it was a lower price brand. So I think our average
    price point across all of our products was maybe 15 or $20. And back in 2016,
    when we started selling, I think one of the things that was obvious, at least
    on Amazon, was most of the products were black, white, or stainless steel.

    [00:03:58] And, as someone who
    really appreciates design and the things that, you know choose in, in, in my
    home, in my life there wasn't really what I felt was a design choice for me and
    with that brand where we really lean into was color and bringing that to market
    and really standing out, , from a design perspective.

    [00:04:18] And felt like that
    was an opportunity back then. It still is today with what we're doing at
    Caraway. , but yeah, it was a really ex exciting space to grow into.

    [00:04:26] Elizabeth: And so at that point, what made you
    decide to say, Hey, I could bring color and great design to this 200 product
    brand on Amazon, or I could start to pivot and go off on my own journey?

    [00:04:40] I.

    [00:04:42] Jordan: Yeah, so after a couple years started
    to get the itch to start something again on my own. And, fortunately had an
    amazing experience of learning the kitchen business, meeting all the right
    suppliers. I really understood the marketing tactics and. One of the challenges
    of Amazon and building a brand on Amazon is, a lot of times if you're not a
    known brand, you're competing on price.

    [00:05:06] And as I was doing a
    lot of my product development, I really wanted to create things that were high
    quality that lasted longer. I spent quite a bit of time at factories and saw
    some, poor manufacturing processes and I felt inspired wanting to create something
    that was more premium, higher design, more healthy for the customer.

    [00:05:27] I actually had a
    product experience where. I overheated a Teflon pan at my prior role while
    doing a product test. And I actually got sick from the Teflon fumes

    [00:05:36] Elizabeth: Oh, wow.

    [00:05:37] Jordan: And couldn't really wrap my head
    around the fact that cookware was made with such toxic materials. And felt like
    there was a great opportunity and story there to lean into.

    [00:05:45] And, felt like I had
    learned what I needed to launch something on my own. I didn't fully know what I
    was getting into, but, it was a really exciting, step for me in my career.

    [00:05:55] Elizabeth: Yeah, absolutely. You've obviously
    gone on to create this amazing, beautiful brand that is, so design centric, so
    stunning.

    [00:06:04] As you started to
    pivot and go out on your own, you just made that comment of you don't really
    know what you were getting yourself into. What was that first thing that you
    felt like. I don't know what the heck I just got myself into. What were some of
    those challenges along the way?

    [00:06:17] At the beginning,

    [00:06:18] Jordan: I would say fundraising. With any
    consumer business you need capital for inventory. And I was a team of one to
    start and my first step was I built a fundraising deck and started to really,
    hit the pavement in New York City, talking to a lot of venture capitalist funds
    and angel investors.

    [00:06:36] And that process
    took about 10 months. But that was a big challenge. I didn't know anything
    about fundraising. I didn't know what investors were looking for, how to pitch.
    And so that was, a big challenge. We ended up getting the raise done within the
    first 10 months which is a long time.

    [00:06:50] But, um, it was
    quite the challenge and journey.

    [00:06:53] Elizabeth: Yeah. Do you have any tips to share
    from that process? Like you didn't know anything, so how did you go about
    really honing in on the right. Messaging and all of the factors that go into
    understanding such a complicated process because it does seem extremely
    daunting from the outside for someone who's never been through it, like where
    do you begin and what tips can you share?

    [00:07:17] Jordan: Yeah I think I. With any business,
    you're selling the dream at first and the product or the vision, which is
    exciting. But I think what most entrepreneurs get wrong and what I didn't
    include in early pitches was folks are investing. Yes. 'cause they think your
    product or business is cool, but also to make a return and make money on their
    investment.

    [00:07:35] And I think having
    gone through the process multiple times, really working in how that investor's
    gonna get their money back and some is really critical. at the time when I
    brought the business to market, I had no product. I had no branding. I didn't
    have the capital to invest in those.

    [00:07:53] But I think like the
    farther you can get the business, the easier it is to raise, and then I think
    selling the long-term vision is important. I remember my early deck was just
    focused on cookware, but in my mind we were building a big kitchen brand. And,
    I don't think that long-term strategy really came through.

    [00:08:10] And so a lot of
    folks early on were like, okay cool, you're selling cookware. There's lots of
    cookware out there. It's a big market, but not that huge. I don't know how big
    this thing can really get, I'm gonna put my money into something else aside
    from caraway. And I think a big learning was really, clearly explaining the
    long-term, vision and strategy for the company.

    [00:08:30] Elizabeth: And did you have anybody helping
    you through that process or are you really doing that on your own?

    [00:08:37] Jordan: I had a number of advisors. I was
    probably meeting with eight to 10 investors a day for almost 10 months. Wow.
    Got lots of good feedback through that process. Met a lot of, really smart
    individuals.

    [00:08:48] And I don't think we
    made our first hire until maybe six months out from launch. So it was a lonely
    journey to start, but, I had a lot of great people supporting me along the way,
    and was fortunate to bring on a few advisors early on who really helped me get
    through a lot of those early stages.

    [00:09:04] Elizabeth: Yeah, I think that is such a
    critical part to the business, especially being a solo founder where you don't
    have somebody to necessarily talk through all those things, but having. All
    sorts of advisors throughout that beginning journey. I actually just got back
    from having coffee with Justin from Justin's nut butter and

    [00:09:24] Jordan: Oh awesome.

    [00:09:25] Elizabeth: He was probably day one of my
    journey. I had met him and certainly shared stories and so it's all those
    people along the way who can be helpful and I think in a lot of instances
    people really want to be helpful and that's what I've certainly found in this
    industry and hopefully that's.

    [00:09:42] What you experienced
    as well throughout your journey as two.

    [00:09:46] Jordan: Absolutely.

    [00:09:47] Elizabeth: So you mentioned that you had this
    moment where you had a Teflon I was gonna say attack, but a te, a Teflon toxic
    situation. I'd love to go into a little bit about what happened, why Teflon is
    so bad, and really then what made you wanna focus on utilizing better for you
    non-toxic.

    [00:10:09] Ingredients or
    materials?

    [00:10:12] Jordan: Yeah. At my prior company we were
    looking at launching a new cookware line and I ended up sourcing a product from
    Asia. I brought it one home one night to cook at home with, and I turned on the
    flame. I think my dad called and I forgot. I left the pan on the burner and I
    went to the living room for 45 minutes.

    [00:10:29] And after a while
    the apartment started smelling of fumes. The pan turned black and, I started to
    feel lightheaded. So did my wife. we ended up calling Poison Control and they
    let us know we were likely exposed to Teflon poisoning, which is basically flu-like
    symptoms associated with Teflon.

    [00:10:47] and went down a
    whole rabbit hole after that. Reading about Teflon, the dangers of it, where it
    originated from.

    [00:10:55] Elizabeth: Tell us all the things. Where did
    it originate from?

    [00:10:57] Jordan: Yeah, so it was a material brought to
    market way back when, I think in the 1920s or thirties. And it was built for
    spaceships actually, because it's a really impenetrable material that, is
    liquid resistant.

    [00:11:09] And , it was a
    product that kind of started, during that time and has slowly made its way into
    consumer products, raincoats, a lot of actually like food storage. Boxes that
    need to withstand moisture all have Teflon in them. , and what's been in market
    has changed over time in terms of the formulas and, chemicals that are in
    Teflon components.

    [00:11:30] And doing more
    research found that the majority of the non-stick market today is still made
    with Teflon and really couldn't. Wrap my head around the fact that we were,
    cooking off of something potentially so toxic that was leaching into your food,
    it actually takes only two and a half minutes on a burner for the Teflon to
    start breaking down and releasing into your

    [00:11:51] Elizabeth: wow

    [00:11:51] Jordan: food that you're cooking.

    [00:11:52] And it felt like if
    I were to launch a brand, it made sense just I think ethically to put the best
    products out in the world that are safe for you and the planet. And we ended up
    selecting ceramic non-stick, which is what we use today , but wanted to make
    sure there was an alternative out there for consumers because a lot of the
    consumer base, I think today is a little more educated on forever chemicals
    than they were five years ago.

    [00:12:14] But it was just
    starting to make its way into the into the news and people, being educated on
    it. And we wanted to take a, the lead and the stance in the market on,
    non-toxic coatings. Is

    [00:12:27] Elizabeth: there a way to know if you are
    like, let's say, as you said, we are more educated, so some of us are, do have,
    careway and such, but you might have some hidden pans in the back of your
    pantry that you never use and you might forget about.

    [00:12:41] Is there a way to
    see whether there's te, whether it's made from Teflon.

    [00:12:46] Jordan: There's no way to perfectly see. I
    think the best thing to do and I would recommend is going direct to the
    manufacturer and asking for testing reports to see if they have Teflon. and
    there's multiple different types of cookware in the market.

    [00:12:59] There's stainless
    steel, which just naturally is a raw material and won't have it in it. So
    that's a safe material. Cast iron also safe material, whether it's has enamel
    coating or uncoated. And typically when you see a black coating, that's what
    Teflon is.

    [00:13:17] Elizabeth: So as you thought about the
    material you were gonna use, how did you go about that process and walk us
    through a little bit of what that development looked like.

    [00:13:28] Jordan: Yeah, so a lot of the early days we
    spent speaking with factories and seeing what was out there. And there wasn't
    really anything novel in the market. The three that we were really looking into
    was stainless steel, cast, iron and ceramic. and one of the ethos of the brand
    early on that we developed was we thought making products that were easy to use
    and easy to cook with was really important.

    [00:13:52] We wanted something
    that looked great, was safe to use, but also not daunting and. One of the
    things that we found in the early days was a lot of consumers who own stainless
    steel or cast iron or looking to purchase 'em, find them to be really daunting products
    to use. They require more heat control, a little more expertise, and we've
    built caraway for the everyday consumer.

    [00:14:16] With that we felt
    like ceramic was the best option. And really interestingly, ceramic had been in
    the market for about 10 years. But the brands who were selling it didn't really
    talk about the non-toxic properties. It just sat on a retail shelf. No one told
    the story.

    [00:14:30] The brands that sold
    it lean more into the eco-friendly aspects. It produces less CO2 in production.
    and so we saw this big white space of being the first brand to. Effectively
    educate consumers on what ceramic is, why does it exist, why is it a good alternative?
    and being a direct to consumer brand selling through our website to start, it
    was a great opportunity to build the brand and the website around the
    education, of the material which you can't do in a retail store.

    [00:15:00] Elizabeth: Is there anything that we'd be
    surprised to know about ceramic?

    [00:15:08] Jordan: I dunno if it's necessarily surprise,
    but it does require a little bit more maintenance and care than, let's say
    Teflon. But it is a great material. It's a lot harder to manufacture. And it's
    actually used in a lot of different other applications. It's used in hair
    straighteners, it's used in car motors.

    [00:15:25] So it's a widely
    used coating that, across a lot of different industries.

    [00:15:29] Elizabeth: Can you put it in the dishwasher?

    [00:15:32] Jordan: You technically can, but we always
    recommend hand washing. Yes. Your knives kitchen. Once in a while. A while.

    [00:15:38] Elizabeth: I have to admit I put mine in my
    dishwasher. Yeah.

    [00:15:40] Jordan: But a, anything that's nice in the
    kitchen, we always say avoid the dishwasher.

    [00:15:44] Elizabeth: Okay. So as you think about, where
    this non-toxic cookware has evolved over the last five years, but certainly
    there's been so much more conversation, but yet I still think. It's still very
    in its infancy where the conversation around toxins in general is just becoming
    so much more in the forefront.

    [00:16:04] But where do you
    think we're heading?

    [00:16:07] Jordan: There's been a lot of progress over
    the last number of years. I feel like. Forever Chemicals is really making its
    way into the news. Folks are seeing, laws starting to come into effect across a
    lot of states, and products. Interestingly, about five states just announced
    that they're banning the use of, or banning the sale of forever chemicals and
    certain consumer goods that are going into effect over the next three to five
    years.

    [00:16:33] Elizabeth: Do you know what states those are?

    [00:16:35] Jordan: I forget the five off the top of my
    head. Yeah. I actually think one is Connecticut where I live , but we're
    starting to see progress, which is really exciting. The EU just, also banned
    Teflon in a major way across consumer categories and are transitioning it out.

    [00:16:49] I know when I was
    living in New York City. I believe they banned using Teflon and takeout
    containers, which was, it was being used in. I look at it very similar to BPA,
    15, 20 years ago. And, there's a big wave of the material being taken outta
    plastic and it's really exciting.

    [00:17:05] We're seeing a lot
    of brands across a variety of verticals talking about it really pushing
    alternatives and. I think there's great momentum behind it.

    [00:17:16] Elizabeth: Where do you see Careway going?
    What's your expansion look like? As you started, certainly with cookware and
    have moved into bakeware, et cetera, what's your long-term vision that you were
    pitching back to the investors early on?

    [00:17:31] Jordan: Yeah, so our goal is to build a full
    kitchen brand and possibly expand to the home, which is why we are caraway
    home. we see a big opportunity in this space to. Create a unique design
    aesthetic that's shared across products. If you look at your kitchen today,
    there's a lot of independently beautiful products, but when you scan the
    kitchen and you might have like your KitchenAid stand mixer and a Breville
    coffee maker and your wolf stove, they aren't really aesthetics that make sense
    together.

    [00:17:58] And as we expand, we
    want to. Provide people with the opportunity to not just buy into a specific
    aesthetic, but also a non-toxic home. And so as we expand we are going very
    wide across product categories. everything we do lean into the same three principles.
    We discussed design, easy to use, and non-toxic.

    [00:18:17] And that word
    non-toxic is starting to expand. So for example, we've launched cutting boards
    recently and the whole goal of our wood cutting boards is to help remove
    plastic boards from your home and microplastics leaching. And the story behind
    nine non-toxic is starting to evolve to other materials and product lines.

    [00:18:36] Elizabeth: I love that. And I think, you're so
    right. If you think about everyone's kitchen, you've got like such a menagerie
    of looks. They're old, they're new, they're. I could use a little cohesion
    together. What are some of the worst offenders in our kitchen or our home for
    that matter?

    [00:18:52] Jordan: Yeah. I mean it's really everything,
    know.

    [00:18:55] Coffee

    [00:18:55] Elizabeth: It's everything. But someone's
    gonna say okay, I got, yeah, I, the new pans, like what else do I break down
    and change?

    [00:19:02] Jordan: Coffee makers are actually not great.
    Most of them are made with a plastic reservoir and with heat and water that
    plastic's leaching into your water, air fryers typically have Teflon trays,
    which are heating up and seeping into your food.

    [00:19:16] A lot of appliances
    there's been a big push around water filtration recently that's been
    circulating. Definitely recommend check checking kind of local reports on your
    tap water. a lot of toxins don't even get filtered out by a lot of the common
    products on the market today, and things like Teflon or forever chemicals and
    other toxic materials make their way through.

    [00:19:37] So the, those are a
    couple to name and I'd say if you look across any area of your home or life
    there, there's just toxins everywhere and it's hard to fully get rid of it, but
    I think from a consumer standpoint, and you. I think you gotta pick the areas
    that, that you really care about in your lifestyle to look to upgrade and I
    think for folks really looking to live a healthy lifestyle, the kitchen's the
    best place to start.

    [00:20:02] Elizabeth: Yeah. The kitchen and what you're
    eating. I'm definitely voting for you guys to make a non-toxic air fryer
    because I did get rid of mine with the Teflon and I have not been able to find
    a solution

    [00:20:14] Jordan: maybe one day

    [00:20:15] Elizabeth: you've got my vote for that. So as
    the company has evolved over the last couple years, you said at the beginning
    that you guys are fully remote.

    [00:20:25] I'd love to learn
    just a little bit more about your experience leading the company and some of
    the lessons that you've learned and really building this successful brand, and
    especially one that is remote, which is not easy. It's not easy building a brand
    period, but that also adds a different layer I think.

    [00:20:46] Jordan: Yeah, so our team's, 70 people today
    and fully remote. We did have an office at one point pr I think in our first
    few months. we launched November, 2019 prior to Covid and Oh, perfect

    [00:20:56] Elizabeth: timing. We,

    [00:20:57] Jordan: we had a, yeah, we had a little office
    with four desks and had a shut down in March of 2020.

    [00:21:04] And that was great
    to building remote culture. We didn't really have a full office culture. Yeah.
    So got to build the brand remotely and I think it's been a huge benefit for our
    employees. We have folks who, travel to Europe or go live in Mexico or wherever
    for, a couple months.

    [00:21:20] Individuals get to
    work on their own time zones. I think there's access to better talent and.
    Flexibility. So we really love that aspect. but it also comes with its
    challenges. So I think naturally, communication across the company is harder,
    especially with 70 people as we've grown. So making sure that each department
    sharing relevant information across the company and everyone knows where to
    access it.

    [00:21:42] You can't just walk
    over to someone's desk to ask a question. making sure that, we're encouraging
    people taking time off or getting outside of the home, so we give like a
    coworking stipend to all of our employees. We have a wellness benefit. And
    sometimes it's really challenging to be working in the same space, in, in your
    home where you're living every day.

    [00:22:02] Yeah, definitely
    comes with its challenges and I think one thing we've really leaned into is.
    Just clear vision and expectations about what we're building and we have a
    really robust kind of OKR or goal structure at the company. And I think
    remotely especially we'd really struggle if we didn't have that in place.

    [00:22:20] And so we put a lot
    of time and effort to making sure that everyone knows what their core
    responsibility is and what their goals are. And, I think it requires a little
    bit less touch bases once that's in place when you're in a remote environment.

    [00:22:33] Elizabeth: Yeah, absolutely. so 70 people from
    November 19 launching, that's a pretty fast move and growth.

    [00:22:45] How has that been
    for you? Has that been, what challenges have you faced along the way?

    [00:22:52] Jordan: It's been a, it's been a fun journey.
    The team's grown fast. we were only, I think 50 last year, so we've added quite
    a few people this year. I think we're hiring another 10 more through the end of
    the year.

    [00:23:04] And, we're lucky to
    have a incredible team with amazing leadership. And I think in my seat when we
    were four people, I was doing probably everything at that point. And I think to
    any entrepreneur out there, I think it's. Really critical to learn each area of
    the business early on so that when you do hire someone to take it over, you
    intimately know that area of the business.

    [00:23:26] And I think in my
    role, my, my job's changing every day or every week and what my priority and
    focus is. But yeah I think hiring great people is important. I think setting
    clear, expectations or goals or objectives to make sure that they're all,
    marching towards the right, north Star, as we call it, internally.

    [00:23:44] And, I think once
    you get to 70 people, it's you wanna be in the weeds, but you also need to
    empower the team. And something I'm always battling every day. I'm an operator.
    I like to be the one executing. And, we have an incredible team across the
    board who. Is really passionate about what we're building.

    [00:24:01] And I think figuring
    out how to scale yourself to make sure that, you're not getting in the team's
    way and, but also, providing clear expectations and goals of, where you want
    them to bring the company.

    [00:24:12] Elizabeth: Yeah, that's definitely, I think
    one of the hardest parts from going to doing everything, being every role.

    [00:24:19] And you certainly
    hire the people to do that. And you hire people who, in a lot of cases, are
    smarter than you in whatever those areas are, so they can take on those
    responsibilities. But it is still a strange feeling of. Not getting into the
    weeds of certain things where you once did or you really enjoy.

    [00:24:38] So what are you
    enjoying the most in the business today? What role that you have today do you
    really feel excites you?

    [00:24:50] Jordan: My, my background's more product
    development, so I love working on the product side of things. We at the very
    core define ourselves as a product company, and we've got a, I think a five
    year product roadmap built out that we're working on.

    [00:25:02] Speaker 3: How fun.

    [00:25:03] Jordan: So I love working on products and then
    we're run an interesting moment in the business where we now have a variety of
    categories and we're a lot more than just a cookware brand, one of the
    exercises we're going through right now is, who is caraway over the next five
    years?

    [00:25:18] What do we stand
    for? How do we evolve the brand? If you chat with a lot of customers there are
    many folks who still don't know. We sell bakeware, food storage, and some of
    these other product categories. So having a lot of fun, working through the
    brand evolution right now and what that's gonna look like moving forward.

    [00:25:36] Elizabeth: So one piece of the brand
    evolution, certainly how the D two C landscape has evolved from 2019, how has
    that really shifted in the business and where do you see that going for your
    brand?

    [00:25:51] Jordan: So we are still primarily direct to
    consumer. We do have a big Amazon business and retail business as well.

    [00:25:57] And before even
    launch we...

    [00:25:58] Elizabeth: But amazon very well, so that's

    [00:26:00] Jordan: Yeah, exactly. And we launched the
    brand. We intended to be multi-channel. It's important from a diversification
    standpoint, but we're also in a category where registry plays a huge role and
    people aren't gonna our site to register.

    [00:26:13] They're going to
    Crate and Barrel and Amazon and Target and Zola. So we're continuing to expand
    distribution. We actually have a big B2B side of the business as well where
    interior designers like to buy from us or.

    [00:26:26] Elizabeth: Oh, that's very cool.

    [00:26:27] Jordan: Large, high-end real estate projects
    and excitingly we're only US based for the most part today.

    [00:26:33] So as we expand,
    international is a big opportunity, not something we're focused on today. But
    our goal is to really build our distribution platform over the next few years
    and, make sure we have a good infrastructure for launching more products.

    [00:26:49] Elizabeth: I'm curious to hear your
    day-to-day, what that looks like.

    [00:26:53] We talked early that
    you have a five month old, so that's a lot to be juggling in addition to this
    company. Walk us through a day in the life. Do you have any morning routines,
    night routines? How do you show up as the best version of yourself?

    [00:27:09] Jordan: Yeah. I think having a routine is
    important, so that, that's number one.

    [00:27:13] And I try to stick
    to that each day. So I'm probably up at 6, 6 30 seven on a good day. , I head
    to the gym for about an hour. Come back, spend a little time with the baby. I'm
    probably sitting down by eight 30 or nine and then. I've instituted a hard stop
    at five o'clock each day, and I get to spend time with my family from five to
    seven, eat dinner, do nighttime with the baby.

    [00:27:40] We also have a
    1-year-old puppy as well, so

    [00:27:43] Speaker 3: Oh, nice puppy. Take her for a
    walk.

    [00:27:45] Jordan: And then a yellow lab. Cute. And then,
    yeah I'm normally back to work from seven to 10 at night, but yeah, I think
    carving out time for family and fitness has been really important and I. making
    sure each weekend I get to take at least one, one full day off.

    [00:27:59] Normally working
    Sundays, but treat Saturday as the time to decompress, put away the phone
    computer. It's hard to always do that, but I think, important to, to rest the
    mind.

    [00:28:10] Elizabeth: Do you have a, any favorite
    productivity hacks or ways that you really stay organized, focused, and just
    efficient in your time?

    [00:28:21] Jordan: Still working on it, but, I'm always
    on do not disturb mode, which I find to be helpful. I know my times during the
    day where I'm least efficient, so from two to three o'clock after lunch, my
    mind just goes numb and sometimes I'll go for a 30 minute lap and take a walk
    and I've been doing no meeting Mondays, which has been really helpful.

    [00:28:40] So it lessens the
    burden on having to get my work done during the weekend and I can come into the
    week. Not feel super stressed on Monday and tackle, tackle my week, get it
    scheduled. So that's been really successful for me so far.

    [00:28:54] Elizabeth: I love that we do that as a
    company, but I am probably like the worst offender at still having whatever
    meetings I somehow have on a Monday.

    [00:29:01] So I gotta get
    better at taking that advice.

    [00:29:04] Jordan: Yeah. I haven't always honored it. I
    do book over it, but I'm trying to put some boundaries on it, and Monday's
    always a great day. I used to do no meetings on Wednesdays and I couldn't keep
    to it. And, everyone's coming in, getting prepped for the week.

    [00:29:17] Yeah. And so I've
    shifted it and it's been great so far.

    [00:29:20] Elizabeth: Any other boundaries that you have
    that have worked?

    [00:29:24] Jordan: I think one change I've made that's
    been helpful is I now have separate email inboxes for different areas. I
    actually have a product development specific inbox to separate those from my
    CEO tasks and responsibilities.

    [00:29:38] I have one other one
    as well for stuff that I review, that the team sends me. So just
    compartmentalizing parts of my job and to different inboxes has been a big
    help.

    [00:29:48] Elizabeth: I like that one. All right, we're
    gonna move to some rapid fire q and a

    [00:29:58] three things that
    you are currently loving. It could be a product, podcast, TV show, anything.

    [00:30:07] Jordan: Sure. products, with the baby. Love
    Evry is an incredible brand, huge fan of them, amazing products, super
    educational, both to the parents and the child. So that's been great. TV show
    big fan of The Bear, so watching the new season.

    [00:30:23] And then podcasts.
    How I built this is one of my favorites. , always listening to new episodes
    there.

    [00:30:30] Elizabeth: Love it. Who's been your biggest
    inspiration in your entrepreneurial journey? I.

    [00:30:41] Jordan: Pro, probably a boring answer, but I'd
    say like Steve Jobs or James Dyson. I think what I love about those two
    companies is and brands is the focus on product innovation, and the DNA that,
    that was built throughout those companies and brands. And so we always call
    caraway like the apple of the kitchen.

    [00:31:00] And while we're not
    a high tech company. we do embody a lot of the same design principles that
    those two companies lean into. And I look at those two as obviously some of the
    best, but also, um, really influential in what we're doing here at Caraway.

    [00:31:16] Elizabeth: A favorite dish to cook with the
    caraway cookware, and maybe what also your favorite CareAway cookware.

    [00:31:25] Jordan: My favorite piece is our new Rondo,
    which is kinda a high wall, saute pan with two handles. It's super versatile,
    so I've been cooking everything in that one. My favorite dish is probably, I
    make a mean chicken marsala, Probably my favorite one.

    [00:31:39] Elizabeth: Any secret to your chicken marsala?

    [00:31:43] Jordan: Lot of onions.

    [00:31:46] Elizabeth: A favorite book for growth.

    [00:31:50] Jordan: The Lean Startup a, a classic one. , I
    do a Ride of a Lifetime about Walt Disney, which is, a great one to read.

    [00:31:57] Elizabeth: I love that one too. Favorite
    business moment?

    [00:32:02] Jordan: Favorite business moment? Probably a
    boring answer, but our launch day was super exciting.

    [00:32:07] Every sale that came
    in, we were jumping up with excitement and high fiving as a team and, it was
    about 18 months of hard work to get it live. We had a few near death
    experiences shortly before launch. Getting out to market was really fun and
    exciting and , hard to replicate that experience.

    [00:32:26] Elizabeth: What was your expectation for that
    launch day and did it meet your expectations?

    [00:32:31] Jordan: I think we sold like 30 cookware sets,
    which was probably And were they all your

    [00:32:35] Elizabeth: family? I'm just kidding.

    [00:32:37] Jordan: I think my mom bought, like the night
    before, so she got the first sale. I don't know if we had, we, I don't know if
    we had certain goals and expectations, but just every sale that came in was
    exciting.

    [00:32:47] And, we are a $400
    product, no name brand. And the fact that. We have people taking the leap on
    the first day, we didn't even have inventory in stock. That, that was really
    fun to watch.

    [00:32:58] Elizabeth: Absolutely. And lastly, what is
    your number one non-negotiable to thrive on your wellness journey?

    [00:33:07] Jordan: Sleep. I think getting eight to 10
    hours a night is a must have.

    [00:33:11] And I know for me .
    I cannot operate or think without a good night of sleep. Hard with the five
    month old. But yeah.

    [00:33:17] Elizabeth: Any tips that you have for getting
    good sleep?

    [00:33:20] Jordan: I get in bed at around 9, 9 30 at this
    point, if I'm not working late, usually watch something in bed or read to
    decompress.

    [00:33:28] And don't look at
    your email inbox Slack, anything. Otherwise you'll be up all night thinking
    about what just came in. And I think the same thing too, when I wake up and go
    to the gym I might be listening to a bi business podcast or something along
    those lines. I try to avoid emails and slacks before I'm sitting down.

    [00:33:48] Elizabeth: Love it. Jordan, in closing, what's
    next and where can everybody find you?

    [00:33:55] Jordan: You can check us out@carawayhome.com
    and keep an eye out. We've got some fun launches coming in August and September
    of this year. I. to expand the brand. So excited for those.

    [00:34:05] Elizabeth: Amazing. Thank you so much for
    being here.

    [00:34:08] Jordan: Thank you.

    [00:34:11] Elizabeth: Thanks so much for joining me on
    Live Purely with Elizabeth. I hope you feel inspired to thrive on your wellness
    journey. If you enjoy today's episode, don't forget to rate, subscribe, and
    review. You can follow us on Instagram at purely Elizabeth to catch up on all
    the latest. See you next Wednesday on the podcast.

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