Today we’re interviewing Jake Karls, Chief Rainmaker and Co-Founder of Mid Day Squares a Canadian chocolate company that is killing it with its viral marketing techniques and innovative product
Fun fact, my first job was for a Canadian candy company. In fact, there are several candy and bar companies over there so Mid-Day Squares is in good hands in terms of the talented canucks in French Canada.
Ok, so Jake has a super magnetic, charismatic personality and instantly, you will be captured by his tone and message. He’s also flattering!
Jake pours his heart out here and talks about how he joined his sister’s and brother-in-law’s company after his second business failed. I think what most people miss in a lot of interviews is digging deep into Jake’s past businesses and how that set him up for success for Mid-Day Squares. A lot of it is a great team and what better team than family?
Authenticity is a big part of this interview and in my opinion, the most powerful way to be authentic is to talk about your past, because the way you talk about your path shows how you’ve reflected and grown. You’ll hear a lot about what makes Jake, Jake.
A big chunk of this interview is about therapy and walking through tough situations. Especially as entrepreneurs, where you have the majority of the issues piled onto you, takes a toll. I burned out in my last startup, and I have some trauma whenever I think about how alone I felt.
I have to thank the Chief of Staff Jordainne Erichson, who’s a fan of this podcast. That’s right, the fans make this podcast sing. As I look back at all of the interviews, recently, the majority of these amazing interviews were because of the fans. So thank you!
Links
Willy Wonka
Mid-Day Square music video
Elon Musk
McGill Food Science
Hershey’s M and A discussion
Emperors of Chocolate Book
Therapy
Wholly Veggie
Dream Pops
Liquid Death
Make your Bed book
Forbes 30 under 30
Add Jake on Linkedin
Mid-Day Squares Linkedin
Mid-Day Squares Instagram
Mid-Day Squares Tiktok
And on their website
What’s Up With Adam
So I’m actually feeling like, I’m making new friends! I dunno, I love the feeling of meeting people and learn. I’m putting myself out there, doing meetups with really cool people, inviting new people to things, and volunteering around the city. Did you know in the City of San Francisco, there’s a weekly trash pickups around Manny’s? like, 50-100 people show up to go and pick trash up for an hour. I find that really inspiring and it totally changed my perception on the people living in San Francisco. If you live in California and you’re free Sunday mornings, check out the trash pickup thing at refuserefusesf.org. They have things all over the city. I met a lot of cool and thoughtful people there.
Anyways, let’s talk about Authenticity!
So recently, celebrities have been entering the CPG space. Jake or Logan, I forgot which one Paul actually created Prime energy drink, Kevin Hart made Hart house, basically, celebrities share their lives, people like their lives
There seems to be this paradigm shift in terms of how consumer packaged goods present themselves. In that what makes the company unique isn’t the product or the logo (which are important), but also the unique stories they’re able to convey. With social media now, we have the ability to document everything and turn everything into content and if you like a person so much, you want to know more about them. There are very few people I follow that I want to know more of, but I have a few podcasters whom I respect, in which I will spend time and listen to their paid content because I like supporting them.
In the age of online, we seek friendship and connection and what CPG brands have to offer and what they stand for. Though people always say we buy for taste and convenience, and health, never discount a good mission and a good personality.
End of Show
This is the end of the episode
Let’s talk about Therapy
I’ll admit, I’ve gone to therapy only twice. This statement is ambiguous.
I feel like this section is how I vent, perhaps this is my own personal therapy session, but therapy seems to be a catch all solution to any problem. Any time I go to a forum and I read a traumatic situation from an anonymous board, at least one person offers that they should go to therapy. There’s a lot of benefits to therapy. You figure stuff out, you feel better, and apparently, it makes you more attractive according to my friends. ANYWAYS,
First, therapy is expensive. If you’re not on the right plan, it’s $100 dollars a session and that unfortunately adds up. Most people can’t afford this.
Does therapy work? Unfortunately, your mileage may vary depending on who you get.
If you’re Asian, would an Asian therapist be more empathetic than a non-asian one? Maybe. It depends on the problems.
I don’t like that therapy is a catch-all solution that we all use to fix ourselves. I do think it’s helpful in certain situations. I think in some situations, having someone which whom you can talk to with no bias can save someone from spiraling.
Getting therapy is difficult, and finding the right therapist is hard. Some people need it, but realize that it’s difficult to get.
So I’m listing a lot of problems, are there solutions? Talking to people about how they use therapy is really important.
Overall, mental health is important and you have to think of therapy thoughtfully.