What You Actually Need to Start a Business (The Rest is A Lie)
Executive Summary
A Shopify Masters interview with Aaron Harvey, co-founder and creative director of Flamingo Estate, who tells how the brand grew from pandemic produce boxes into an eight-figure lifestyle brand known for tomato candles, soaps and olive oil. He discusses building community honestly, working with celebrities, treating the brand as hospitality, and refusing to sell wellness cures. The live YouTube title is a general title about starting a business; the interview itself is about Flamingo Estate. Sponsor: Shopify, which presents the show and links a free trial in the description. PARTIAL COVERAGE: the caption text available was long and partly duplicated, so this note covers roughly the first half of the roughly 38 minute conversation, up to the discussion of need states and gut checks, and does not cover the rest. All business claims and figures are the speakers' own and are not independently checked.
Key Takeaways
How it started
Harvey says the brand began in the pandemic when he and Richard Christiansen sold produce boxes to help a farmer friend, starting at about 25 boxes the first weekend and reaching 100, then 200 and 300.
Why Richard cared
He says Richard grew up on a farm, lost his family farm in high school, and felt he could help someone facing financial ruin.
Building in public
He says the early Instagram captions were long and personal, and Richard even replied to commenters with his phone number.
Personal texts to customers
He says every Saturday Richard texts each of the top 50 customers of the week and talks with them.
Community is not a strategy
Harvey says brands talk about community through a strategy lens, but he says it has to be honest and natural to work.
Celebrity, done his way
He says he distrusts boardroom celebrity deals, and mentions Pamela Anderson making pickles for them and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for wildlife charities.
Hospitality and not curing anything
He says Flamingo Estate is a hospitality brand about light the candle and use the thing, and that they turned down wellness need-state ideas because they are not a doctor.
The Conversation Breakdown
How it started
⏱ Untimed topicHarvey says the brand began in the pandemic when he and Richard Christiansen sold produce boxes to help a farmer friend, starting at about 25 boxes the first weekend and reaching 100, then 200 and 300.
Why Richard cared
⏱ Untimed topicHe says Richard grew up on a farm, lost his family farm in high school, and felt he could help someone facing financial ruin.
Building in public
⏱ Untimed topicHe says the early Instagram captions were long and personal, and Richard even replied to commenters with his phone number.
Personal texts to customers
⏱ Untimed topicHe says every Saturday Richard texts each of the top 50 customers of the week and talks with them.
Community is not a strategy
⏱ Untimed topicHarvey says brands talk about community through a strategy lens, but he says it has to be honest and natural to work.
Celebrity, done his way
⏱ Untimed topicHe says he distrusts boardroom celebrity deals, and mentions Pamela Anderson making pickles for them and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for wildlife charities.
Hospitality and not curing anything
⏱ Untimed topicHe says Flamingo Estate is a hospitality brand about light the candle and use the thing, and that they turned down wellness need-state ideas because they are not a doctor.
Core Frameworks & Ideas
Brand as hospitality - Harvey's lens
Treat customers and yourself like guests and make the experience better.
Honest community - his approach to audience
Be personal and natural rather than treating community as a tactic.
Gut check plus open ears - his decision habit
Listen to everyone's opinion, then check whether it feels right before deciding.
Actionable Next Steps
- ✓Reply to your customers personally for a week and note what you learn.
- ✓Before any partnership, ask whether the product and the person genuinely fit.
- ✓Write down what your brand will not do, as Harvey did with wellness claims.
- ✓Treat the business figures as the speakers' claims and check them before repeating them.
Notable Quotes
“Light the candle, cook the meal, use the thing.”
“It has to be honest and it has to be natural.”
“we are not at all trying to solve someone's problems.”
The One Thing to Remember
Aaron Harvey says Flamingo Estate grew from helping a local farmer in 2020 into an eight-figure brand by staying honest, personal and focused on making nice things rather than solving problems.