Introducing: Wisdom 🦉

Today's a special one. 

You're receiving this email because I recently soft-launched a new product: Wisdom.

Wisdom is a natural deodorant that actually works, and also gives back.

It combines natural ingredients (thanks to a formula made by my partner), indigenous art, and the possibility of NFTs (more on this later).

Since using the deodorant (which comes in cream form), we haven't once had any issues, and have never looked back.

This business idea might seem out of the blue, especially as someone who's never been involved in the D2C market before, but let me take you through how it came into existence. 

👉 Check it out now or continue reading for the back story

It started with a dream

On April 5, 2022, at 4.50am, I woke up from a dream with a business plan as clear as day. It was so vivid, I had to write it down straight away.

Below is a screenshot straight from my journal:

Then I went back to sleep.

A few hours later, I woke up and was surprised to see what I wrote. I did not expect to have a business idea and plan come out so clearly. Especially for a natural deodorant business.

Letting it settle

Over the years, I've learned to not to jump into things as quickly as I used to, so I let the idea settle. The idea was so "out there" in my mind, I had to see if the energy would hold past the initial excitement.

That way I could tell if the idea was just a fanciful, abstract dream, or something worth pursuing. 

While I was letting it all simmer, I did research on the natural deodorants market, listened to interviews from founders with successful exits, and explored the cross-over of natural deodorants, indigenous art, and NFTs. 

As I learned more, I realized that this could actually work, since the deodorant business seems to be all about strong branding (the ingredients matter too, of course, but the differentiator is strong branding). And although there are many natural deodorants out in the market, there are still complaints about many of them "not working." My girlfriend and I have experienced this too.

As someone in the Web3 space, I also noticed that NFTs were starting to branch out into physical products and merchandise, due to a lack of utility. 

The NFT aspect is not necessarily needed to execute on this idea - at least not immediately - but it's an area with potential. More so for the prospect of creating digital twins as a form of cultural preservation, and possibly increasing revenue opportunities for indigenous artisans. 

What's with the indigenous involvement?

More than a decade ago, I earned the nickname of "cultural animator".

This came about as a result of my work animating myths and legends for my maternal homeland, Tuvalu (more specifically, Nanumea), called Tales From Nanumea.

As I started promoting the series (my first foray into the world of marketing), it was women, children, and the indigenous who were attracted to the stories the most.

This then led me to doing animation workshops for remote indigenous communities, and learning more about how much they share with my own ancestor's stories (relating to colonization, marginalization, and displacement). 

Fast forward a decade, and I'm now being brought back full circle after moving to Mexico (a place I never expected I'd end up). I currently live in Oaxaca, the second poorest state but the most beautiful (in my opinion). It is also the most dense in terms of indigenous populations, with 16 official indigenous groups. 

Covid has hit the world hard, and especially so for local indigenous groups, who unfortunately make up a higher percentage of Mexico's extreme poor. Back in 2010, 40.2% of indigenous Mexicans lived in extreme poverty. After 2021, who knows. 

After seeing how Covid impacted the local economy, and even forced some into petty crime (who can blame them), I thought about ways to create jobs that could provide some dignity for locals. Because it's not just about throwing money at problems, but providing ways for people to earn a living with dignity.

This is probably what influenced my dream for Wisdom. 

Where did the Wisdom name come from?

As seen in my original dream entry, the initial name was DAWN (Deodorant [that] Actually Works, Naturally). But after sharing the whole idea with a group called Trends on Facebook, I had some interested members reach out and dig deeper.

A Mexican brand strategist, Aaron Gonzales, listened to my story and my why, and then shared some feedback. He said although DAWN was "cool", he felt WISDOM would make for a better brand name. 

Why?

Because it seemed to be at the heart of it all. Using the wisdom of simple and natural for the deodorant. Preserving the wisdom of indigenous cultures through their art. And then sharing wisdom, both as a product and also as a way for customers to share their own.

Aaron also mentioned that a name like Wisdom would also enable us to branch out into other product lines as well. He seems to have a knack for branding.

And so I rolled with it! 

Where do NFTs come into play?

As mentioned, the NFT side is not a necessary part to all this, but it's an intriguing area to explore. With the current hype of NFTs dying down, it's kind of a good thing, because it means I can focus on the actual "digital twin" and "metaverse" side of things for long-term.

Why those two areas specifically?

NFTs are essentially digital collectibles. Art made the blockchain "useful" and "cool", leading to a plethora of projects pushing for "rare art." Of course, the irony is that a lot of is not all that rare (because everyone's copying a certain format of NFT production now), so the ecosystem is re-focusing on more utility.  

In terms of what I'm envisioning long-term, the NFT component becomes important to a potential future metaverse where all indigenous cultural artifacts, stories, and data can be stored, owned, and shared via micropayments. 

The micropayments component places actual value on the data, but in a way that doesn't get in the way of experience (because they're so negligible at first).

As I interview and engage with indigenous communities, the plan is to document the journey, figure out royalties for their contributions, and leverage micropayments/NFTs longer term. 

So imagine you purchase a Wisdom deodorant. When you purchase it, a portion of the sales go straight to the artist (via micropayments) who produced that particular art on your unit. If you paid using a digital wallet (e.g. crypto), then you instantly gain an NFT of both the deodorant jar and its attached art. The jar could be kept in your "metaverse" home, and you could re-sell the art on an NFT marketplace. Each time that NFT is sold or traded, the original artist gets royalties every time. 

Think this is too far-fetched? Barbers are already selling haircuts in the metaverse.

So everything that's happening here is about preparing for that type of future. And exploring new revenue opportunities for those who may be losing out. 

Why now?

While here in Mexico, I've been learning a lot about both indigenous and ancient traditions. Mexico is home to the Mayan, Aztec, Olmec, and Toltec civilizations. In the Aztec tradition, the period we are now in is known as the 6th Sun. 

This means it is a time to go within. Whereas answers that used to satisfy us outside ourselves, during the "5th sun", they will now no longer have the same effects (e.g. religious institutions, experts, drugs, etc.). 

Have you noticed the crumbling of old systems? The trust issues around people we traditionally looked up to as experts, authorities, etc.? The trust issues around pharmaceuticals who produced drugs to "cure" us of pain, illness, or disease? This transition was all prophesied in the past.

Thankfully, a few indigenous groups preserved their wisdom-keeping traditions. And it's only now that they're starting to emerge more and more. Why? Because there's increased interest. 

It goes back to what my great grandfather once said, "Tena loa e fanatu. It will come." Future generations will seek out the "old ways" (pre-colonial) again.

And my hope is that a product/brand like Wisdom can help contribute to the sharing of such wisdom, while giving back in return. 

So what's next?

In order to validate this idea, we need to sell at least 50 units. The goal is 250. 

If we hit the minimum order of 50, we can start producing batches and shipping. If we don't hit the 50 units, we'll keep the product on the back-burner and refund your money.

Timing is everything, so I'm learning to respect that more too.

This is the first time being involved with a physical D2C product, so our first batch is version 0.1. Based on your feedback, we'll keep iterating and improving.

Finally...

If you found any of this interesting at all, and would like to be involved somehow, feel free to reach out. This is all in ideation phase, so I have no clue how it will turn out, but am happy to explore.

But I'm putting it out there to see what can happen.

Ultimately, I want to see innovative ways that indigenous cultures can be preserved, their communities rewarded financially, jobs created connecting both physical and digital worlds, and the sharing wisdom both ways between the indigenous and non-indigenous.

Although we are starting here in Oaxaca, Mexico, the intention is to expand globally.