Forklifts, French Espresso, and the 4-Day Shopify Sprint

welcome back to type a unhinged the podcast for the architects of order and the masters of chaos

okay it's recording perfect you look so cute today by the way thanks i uh just for you

i literally was moving around my office i'm like what's gonna be in the what's gonna be in the

camera hi everyone welcome back to type a unhinged our guest today is the human equivalent of a swiss

army knife if that knife knew how to dodge duck dip dive and dodge she has a background in the

high stakes world of private equity but these days she's a powerhouse contractor building high-end

she's the literal ceo and board president at usa dodgeball but if you want to know what she's really

made of you have to look at the time she spent learning how to operate a forklift to building

a shopify site and launching a full-scale black friday cyber monday campaign in exactly four days

notice most people would have just panicked but she is the queen of whatever it takes to get it

done and we are so excited to have her on the show please welcome nicole williams hello hello

so let's start off with the

forklift pivot i'm really excited when you mentioned that to me and i have no idea what

the background is on this one i want to know the story walk us through that four-day black friday

cyber monday sprint at what point during the shopify build did you realize you know what

this launch needs my behind the wheel of heavy machinery um so i it was 2015 i want to say

i was living in paris

i was in my little flat and my boss i was in private equity um at the time and my boss calls

me and he says we just invested in a in a new wine opener it's great and i said okay

okay and this is literally 10 less than 14 days from black friday in the in november and

he says we need

to see if it has legs i don't know you know how to how to get it started but i want to run a black

friday campaign and i said black friday like black friday next week black friday and he said

yes i'll send you all of the assets so he sent me a couple of pictures of this wine opener that

looked like a bike pump it was a you pump air into the wine bottle and it you know shoots the

cork out that's how it was it was a cool little new

concept thing and um i said okay how much do you want to sell it for and he he said uh we'll do a

bundle for 50 and i'll send you all the the assets and everything and you could put a website together

right and you know payment processing and everything i said you know that black friday is

next week so just a few things to do no big deal next week

do we have where is the inventory is everything you know what company is this going under so we

split our uh responsibilities basically he and i tag team a lot so we distributed the workload he

got all the business operations back and admin stuff done and i signed up for shopify i created

you know a website with one product skew and i turned it into three bundles and i went to town

on photoshop to try and make something of the images that he sent me and then i started creating

the product listing and i reached out to some affiliate partners because that's our background

um was affiliate and performance marketing so i tested it on email first so i could get quick

traffic and uh and then i could launch on black friday so yeah that took about four days contracts

end-to-end and building shopify i didn't sleep that was the secret sauce

no sleep and lots of french espresso yes i'm still like ah like i'm still trying to determine

how i'd react like yeah we need to stand 100 of everything up and have it be selling in a week

no big deal sure he's like you can do it right and i said i will sure try wow challenge accepted

yeah where does where does the forklift come into play there so that black friday cyber monday

sale went really well i went back to the store and i was like oh my god i'm gonna do this

so i went back to california and for the holiday season we said okay so what are we doing for

december and so i said okay we're gonna go we're gonna push to socials we're gonna add more

publishers we're gonna push to paid social and we're just gonna see how it goes over the holiday

season lo and behold here i am in the warehouse because there is one person that works in the

warehouse running around without a head pulling everything down from the shelves to package

everything i had a kind of a part-time assistant and i was like oh my god i'm gonna do this

to help me i had a ford edge at the time and we started packing my ford edge and i started

office and dropping things off and coming back and packing things more and so that's like true

startup vibes right there i love that it was we had to we i have some funny videos because

that forklift thing was kind of insane he was scared there were there were pallets i had to

unpack some pallets and move them around the warehouse and he was a fast he was faster at

fulfilling the orders and they were just

coming through so he just kept doing that and i said okay how do i how do i move all of this

stuff how do i how do i bring it bring more to you and he said there's the forklift you know

bring it over just load it up and bring it over and i said great how do you operate this forklift

and what kind of an important question yeah and he said what you've never you've what do you mean

you've never operated a forklift i said i've never been in a warehouse like

why would i know how to do this so he put me on a little a little baby one first where you just

kind of pull down the thing to unlock alongside it and then i pull it so um but then the pallets

were too heavy so we needed the other bigger forklift into the it was a whole thing just

rolled up them sleeves and got dirty with them i love that yeah it's very much relatable to where

we're at too because we get sucked into into the forklift world and we're like oh my god i'm so

helping when we have our 90 degree demand wall we just had an episode on that a few a few times

ago about how we got shipped out to kentucky to help this last halloween season yeah became

operations instead of marketing and creative yeah it's insane the things the things that you have to

do um so kudos anybody that works in a warehouse right so real quick like that did hit home when

you were talking about uh especially like going from black friday to friday to friday to friday to

friday all the way through the rest of q4 um i'm curious like it sounds like you were really

hopping around quite a bit right like at one moment you're coding shopify and setting up an

entire store at the next you're full-blown in the warehouse learning how to operate a forklift

so like what was your system of triage that's that's quite a few hats to wear probably a lot of

tasks that you maybe won't even get to so just curious like how did you survive i don't know

no i'm just kidding i do i'm blocking that's how

obviously these these tasks need their own dedicated brain power that's all i focused on

was that website for you know three days four days and then set up the marketing side of the house

and go live go in the warehouse all of those things had to happen completely separately

um but i literally live off of my pomodoro timer my calendar and just you know faith

you know you have to when working

in private equity and working in startups you're launching a new brand you just have to embrace

the discomfort and the chaos so you know it's just if you're gonna if you're gonna be in the

warehouse i knew i was gonna be in the warehouse for a few hours and i was gonna get as much done

as i possibly could in that three hours because i had to go back and check on the campaigns

and make sure that the site was still you know up and live and running and nothing in the in the

marketing side of the house was broken and then a couple hours later i was like oh my god i'm gonna

go back to the warehouse later and maybe eat something and go back to the warehouse after

that because it was just a revolving door of tasks we i just had to pivot and say what is the one

thing i can do right now what is it ask right now everything else has to wait so yeah for sure so

you mentioned the pomodoro timer for those uh folks that are listening that don't know what

that is yes can you explain it and how it helps

actually don't even know what this is you don't know what oh i'm ready i have multiple i have i

have them on every device on my desk and i have this little doohickey and i have one on my apple

watch so okay it's literally just a timer that's all it is it's just a timer you set it this one

that i'm holding has 5 10 25 30 60 minutes and this is just you turn it on you set it to the 60

minutes or the however long you want to

run the task and then you you do only that for that much time and then it okay the timer goes

off when when you're supposed to be done with your task and whatever you're doing just stop it

and you have to move on to the next thing and it helps with the time blocking but you know it also

okay it's it's it took me a long time to actually semi-master it i'm still i'm still learning so

you're like just i'm so close let me just i'm gonna

and i have um a task manager as well that has a built-in pomodoro timer so that that's cool

because whenever i i mark a task to be completed when the timer goes off it celebrates me oh love

that love the action like die and i still talk about how we like intentionally add things to

our to-do list so we can check it off on some days like when you just need the gratification

of like ding yeah yeah 100 percent

that's so funny all right shifting gears a little bit um let's talk like private equity to dodgeball

how much experience and private equity do you feel translates to being the ceo board president of usa

dodgeball a hundred percent of it really dodgeball is is a sport but it has to be a business at the

same time so i joined i joined the board after being a player for almost 15 years i i transferred

my business experience into how to actually make dodgeball a serious sport that can be recognized

by the olympics because there are so many sports in the olympic games that it's like well how did

they how did they get into the olympics and dodgeball is not yet in the olympics what's going

on break dancing australia comes to mind you said it

it was it was just one of those things 2024 came around and i said you know what that's it like

i have the experience to make this happen it hasn't been run like a business so now in the

last year and a half we've really kind of restructured the organization and it everything

from my private equity days everything that my my first boss my mentor taught me translated right

into it and it's like okay well i'm going to do it i'm going to do it i'm going to do it i'm going to

what paperwork do we need? Is everything on the legal side on the up and up? Like, are we even

compliant with all of the things? What do we need to do in order to be recognized by the Olympics?

And let's just start doing that. How do we make money? And the e-commerce component as well

translates because now we're selling merch. So all of the decisions that have to happen

in order for those things to work comes from the private equity side of my brain.

Yeah, that makes perfect sense. Is there somebody on the board or that you work with

that's a character like a pirate Steve, like thinking of the dodgeball movie,

you brought it up? Is there people like that? I would say if you had asked me that question

a year and a half ago, absolutely, 100%. So when do you think we'll see dodgeball

in the Olympics? How close are you guys? Great question.

Yeah.

I mean, a year and a half ago, I was hoping for 2032. But in reality, those sports have already

been decided. So we're a little late. So hopefully 2036. It depends, summer or winter,

where are we going to fall? And will you be playing? Most importantly?

No. I retired fully.

I no longer can run circles around these people.

Just bring the joy to others now.

Yes, exactly. All of this is for everybody else and the future. The future, the kids.

For the children.

For the children. Do it for the children. I mean, one of the things we still have to

figure out is how to get dodgeball back in schools. And that is a very, very hard thing to do.

Hmm.

Interesting.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So you said back into schools. Why was it removed?

People have an impression of dodgeball as a violent sport, because you're throwing an

inanimate object at a person. Not to a person, at a person. So the concept of the game,

we have to do some work on the perception side of things, because it really, you know,

that...

It's like the Cameron Diaz movie, when she was... What was it called? Bad Teacher?

Oh, yeah.

That is the reason.

I've got to talk to Hollywood. They're giving you guys a bad rap.

Yeah. So that's what I'm battling right now.

I wanted to ask, as you're building sites and stuff, have you ever just had a totally unhinged,

or a client with an unhinged expectation? And like, how do you handle that?

Very delicately.

Very delicately.

Yeah.

That's kind of my normal day-to-day, because I work with a lot of startups, I work with

a lot of solopreneurs, and they don't really know what to ask for. They know what they

want. They know what they need. They don't know how to put it together in a package that

makes sense for them. So, you know, that's where I come in, and with the experience that

I have, I can tell them, I've done this before, and these were my challenges. Do you want

to go through those challenges? Because I know how to... I know how to work through

them and work past them. But, you know, I'm just... I need to set expectations properly

with you. And a lot of them, it's because of budget constraints. And you have to work

with a lean team. They're, you know, they don't have anyone they're paying to help them.

So everything is going to pour into whatever it is that I built them. So it's, you know,

involved.

Do you think, like, your experience in PE helps you at all, though? Like, with managing

some of those expectations? Or...

Yes.

At least unhinged requests?

Yes. Well, I mean, the most important thing is, when I have these conversations,

when I have these requests, the biggest thing, the number one thing that's going to stop

their idea dead, full stop, is cost. So every single time... I have clients right now, like,

can you do this? Can you do that? Sure. Yeah, we could do that. We could build that for

you. Yes. It's going to cost you this much. And this is why. And they're like, oh, okay.

Yeah.

Maybe phase two.

Phase two.

I'm going to backpedal a little bit here.

Not a must have.

So you're balanced a lot. You've got finance, sports leadership, technical development.

What's other than the Pomodoro timer, one type A system or tool that you use to, like,

keep your life from becoming just a bunch of dodgeballs flying at you?

Um...

Well, I have this thing called a pocket. It's the cutest little thing right here. And for

every call, every single call that I have, I turn this thing on and it records my call

and it generates my meeting notes for me. So, but it's... And there's so many things

that do that now. Like, I have Notion. I have everything. I have Notion. I have Notion Calendar.

I have Notion Mail. I have 15 different calendars, 20 different Pomodoro timers to keep me on

schedule.

I have Post-it notes everywhere. And my ADHD brain is kind of screaming right now because

I'm very analog and digital at the same time. But it's like a good... It's a fallback system

for me.

Yeah.

Just in case. Just technology.

We also talked about that on a different episode. Me and my Post-it notes. I've got my digital

and I've got...

Yours is more like stress. Like, the stress levels determines which system you go to,

though, right? Like, the more stressed you are, the more you default to Post-it.

Yeah. I'm like, oh, my God, this needs to happen right now today.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

That is a Post-it.

I have this clear desk mat and everything that I have to remember, like, right has to

be in front of me.

Love that.

I put it...

Nate has a whiteboard desk.

Yeah. Yeah.

At my office, at work, it's all whiteboard. So I just pull out the Expo markers and it's

like right there. Love it.

That's my next step because I'm looking for wall space right now. I'm like, I need something

to write on.

I think just touching on kind of the beginning when you walked us through

the forklift story, I was just curious if you, you know, for all the entrepreneurs listening

currently staring at like a deadline in the near future, like what's your number one piece

of advice for keeping like your peace of mind during a potentially chaotic time?

Don't forget to breathe. Everything is figureoutable and customer service is your best friend.

Everything is figureoutable. That's the quote of the episode.

That's the quote of the episode.

Yeah.

That's literally, you know, every time I get stressed out and I have one of those,

how am I going to get all this done? You just, I just have to, and it's something that

I still have to tell myself and I'm still, it's a learning process, you know, no matter

what stage of the company is in. So it's just kind of a, there's only so many hours in a

day. I have been one of those people that work 22 of those 24 hours, take a nap and

get right back to it.

You know, just to get through all of the tasks. But at the end of the day, it's, you

know, you're going to burn yourself out so quickly and you're going to make a lot of

big mistakes. So, you know, just embrace the chaos. And as long as you're setting the right

expectations, the customers are very understanding.

Give us three fun facts about yourself.

Including if you could be one superhero, which one would it be and why?

Oh man. Okay.

Okay.

Yeah.

I wasn't prepared for that.

Okay.

So fun, fun facts. I was one of the first international women to play dodgeball internationally.

So I started the first Team USA women's and I've been part of them, part of that since

2011.

Wow. Okay.

Almost every country that I've ever been in, I've been part of that since 2011.

Wow. Okay.

The only country that I've ever been to in the last 15 years has been because of a dodgeball

tournament.

Wow.

That's awesome.

Dodgeball really took over my life. And I know seven programming languages.

Seven. Wow.

Wow.

How many non-programming languages do you know?

Three and a half.

Half? What does the half mean?

Wow.

So I was born in the Philippines and I sort of still know it. I can work my way through,

but I can't really respond that well. And then there's English, French, and Spanish.

Nice.

These are fun facts.

Yeah. Yeah. And I don't sleep with that.

I don't sleep. I think we've learned that now.

Yes.

Okay. Which superhero would you be and why?

Oh my God.

Which is the one that teleports. I forgot what it is. And I've watched all the Marvel.

It's not a Marvel character. I don't know. I want to teleport. I would love to teleport.

That's all I want in my life is to be able to go from point A to point B in less than

a second because I'm always late.

That reminds me of that old movie, Jumper. Did you guys ever see that?

Yes.

Yes. Oh my God.

Yeah. I loved that movie.

Isn't that Hayden Christensen or something?

Yeah.

Yes. I love that movie.

The only catch was they had to have seen it in the past, but they could see a postcard and jump there, right?

So kind of cheating. Either way, I'd take it. That's a sick superpower.

It works. Yeah. It works.

Classic type A response too, I think. I can save time.

How do I get there in the quickest amount of time?

It's one thing that I personally can't up because I need the power to do it.

That's two more to-do list items I can get done in a day.

Yes.

All right. Well, if anybody wants to follow you or check in with you, we should drop your handle.

I think you're at Chasen Nicole. Is that on all socials?

It is. I like to be consistent.

And how did you come up with Chasen Nicole?

Chasen is my maiden name, so Nicole Chasen.

And it's also my...

A lot of people, when I was playing dodgeball, they would just call me Chasen because Nicole is such a common name.

So it became just part of my identity.

It was really hard to switch when I got married.

But yeah, so Chasen Nicole is everywhere.

I thought it was because people are always Chasen to try to keep up with you.

Yeah.

Or around the world, given all the countries.

Yeah. My first dodgeball team's name was Chasen Tail.

Yes.

Love that.

That's awesome.

Yeah. So great.

Well, thank you so much.

Well, thanks so much for meeting with us.

Yeah. It's been fun.

Thank you guys for having me. This is great. I love podcasts.

We'll have to do more and check in later.

Yeah, absolutely.

All right.

Cool.

Well, I guess until next time, Nate, what should we say? Stay type A.

And a little unhinged.

Thanks for listening to Type A Unhinged.

Now it's time to get to work.

Make sure to hit subscribe so you never miss a system update.

I think we're all around the same age, maybe.

I don't think so.

Nate and I have about a decade between us.

Really?

Yeah.

You don't look it.

Which one of us?

Neither of you.

Okay.

Very diplomatic.

Yeah, no, I get the same thing too.

Bye.

Bye.

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Bye.