Every day was really kind of a new experience.

Going into Expo, it definitely feels like the industry is kind of like super full, mixed with summer camp.

You're seeing all of your industry friends you're

meeting new people at the same time it's also you're dealing with a lot of logistics and more

operations stuff and for us it was a lot of stuff that we had an experience before and so at one point

they lost some of our inventory or they lost some of our booth materials, which you have to understand,

like, that's going to happen. And so, you know, it's kind of like, we're going to brush the

sweat off our back and then get back to it. The way I would describe Expo and my experience there

is it's like a marathon that never ends. And we were crazy. Like, we would wake up super early,

hit the gym, make breakfast for ourselves, then hit Expo and then get our booth set up and, you know, prepare for the day.

And what I loved about it is it was just opportunities to share and talk to as many people as possible. And that's what I was looking forward to the most.

Expo West 2025 is officially behind us. Were you there? Did you not go? Do you have FOMO? Don't worry. We are here to tell you all about it. On today's episode, I've got our startup CPG editor, Caitlin Bricker. She's going to tell you from a first person perspective what was the show like. What did she see? What was the innovation there? And really what was it like in our section as well?

We had a super cool curated set up in the top floor of ACC Level 3. We're going to talk about who came through. What were they looking for? And so much more. Also, as a huge bonus, today we've got two of the standout brands from the show. They're both first-time exhibitors. We've got Leanne from Wims and Lauren from Snoods. They absolutely crushed it some of the real innovation at the show. So you're going to hear directly from them about what was the show like for them as first-time exhibitors. Who did they get to talk to? What are their tips for brands that are going to exhibit next year? Thanks a lot to New Hope for setting us up with a really beautiful section. We're so grateful.

Can't wait for you all to hear all about it. Here we go.

All right, everybody. Today we're joined by Caitlin Bricker, the amazing new editor who joined us in October.

So this was Caitlin's first expo with us and probably her first one in a while.

Caitlin, I was just wondering, what were your impressions of the show overall this year? How did it

compare to the last time you went? What hit you? Unbelievable. The last time I went was 2017, so almost

10 years ago. And this show is just so big. I don't think there are words to explain how big

this show is. I could feel how much bigger it was compared to 2017. There is just wall-to-wall,

food, beverage, wellness. People, it's crazy. Like, the way that I can explain it best is it's like getting on a cruise ship or a boat and then getting off and you're like kind of feeling your sea legs. That's how I feel when I'm back home now after being at Expo West for the week. I wish we could go back. It's so much fun. I'm always so sad when it ends, although I'm also exhausted. I had the best nap on Earth on the plane on the way home.

One of those just like dead to the earth, the sleeps where you wake up, like, whoa.

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