Raising the Bar in Web3 with Founders of New Blue Chip NFT Projects with Robin, Micah and Shira

[Music] yes give us a round of applause everyone where's the energy yes yes I used it there so are we doing some seating arrangements so reorient your eyes towards this side of the stage because we're leaving that alone uh but we really appreciate you all for being here and watching live on Twitch I'm Shira Lazar I'm the founder of what's trending been in digital culture for a long time and it's great to be with these leaders to talk about what you're up to with everyone um and everything you're doing so just a quick little intro for context Robin is just a badass thanks so much thanks for having me VP head instructor at Peloton have you seen her at Peloton yes I need some of that right now in my life two time New York Times bestseller and founder of swagger Society give it up for Robin thanks yeah appreciate it and then the last but not least one the second Micah Johnson everyone xmlb player creator of Aku dreams Micah thank you for being here so both of you come from the Athletics background let's just uh give some context like what made you want to get into web 3 and this new Journey Robin you know I think Micah should I like I just have to say I'm such an admirer of what Micah has done and of Aku um for a lot of reasons not only the creative Spirit behind it but the social justice Spirit behind it and the the idea that web3 will be a diverse World um so all that being said Micah should answer first no I uh for me I got into it out of pure necessity when I when I retired in 2018 I was already painting when I was with the Dodgers and I needed a way to monetize my work and so I just got in and figured out what crypto art was this was 2019 um and realized that you know there's people out there that really want to support me and instead of just liking my photo on Instagram they were putting their money behind it and then telling their friends to do the same and that's when I really recognize the potential of this space and what it meant to kind of uh orchestrate an audience or a collector base around a token that seems really simple the way you're talking about it yeah I just did this and that and I'm here now well let's talk about Swagger Society like I want to hear more about the projects and what you each are doing and bring to the world and also I mean Aku dreams has been around how it's evolved too so tell us more about Congress well Swagger Society is in chapter one to use some Aku terminology yeah we're in the nascent stage where we're going to Mint our first nfts very soon but Swagger Society is a lifestyle membership club I think the first in web 3 certainly of its kind with the spirit of self-actualization and self-determination behind it I say very pointedly that Swagger Society is for people who want to get [ __ ] done who want to optimize their lives join a community who um are of growth mindset values the I've been building Community for over 10 years as a leader in Wellness as an ultra marathoner as an author as an entrepreneur as an executive now as a mom and it was important for me to be able to Gather in community Anchored In Those values but utilizing web 3 technology and you know I do believe that I think we're all here because we see the future in web 3 and the technology but I'm less interested in the actual functionality of the tech and much more interested in how it can anchor Us in community for the long term so Swagger Society is a membership club where the holders will that will unlock the kingdom that we've created I I think that oftentimes the conversations that I'm having with my followers and fans is very fragmented it's buried in DMS comments if Instagram crumbles tomorrow Where Do We Gather so I said [ __ ] that I'm building my own kingdom so that's what Swagger Society is and anybody who wants to earn jewels in the crown is welcome to join me okay okay I'm I mean I'm feeling it we need more growth mindset there's a lot of fear right now a lot of fear happening and anxiety in the space even though I did ask you Micah I was like what do you feel I mean you were in it when it was hot are you feeling like it's slowing down you're like no it's not slowing down but tell us more about how Aku has evolved yeah I don't think it's slowing down it's just it's just getting into a position of uh reality really you think about where it was in 2021 and everybody's rushing in trying to figure it out uh for me and what I'm doing you know with Aku and the company is you know we we're able to you know build off that momentum and uh now it's about scaling IP and bringing IP into traditional ecosystems in a way that you have more leverage than I would have previously and so you know over the past two years I've built amazing relationships across you know some of the most uh some of the best Studios in Hollywood and it's out now like it's about how can I help be that bridge between IP and bring it into the aquaverse um and where I see web three you know kind of slotting in is to Robin's point you know right now you know you have a fragmented audience across these different social platforms web3 is that you know underlying layer that can help you own the audience and have a direct connection with with your with your collector base in a way that you know you just don't it doesn't exist today so for me I'm bullish on you know that kind of of use of of the blockchain and not so much necessarily based around the speculative nature that we kind of saw in the past two years loved your answer as we were talking backstage Robin about why digital Collectibles because you are so busy you have a very successful career obviously we know people that have that success it doesn't stop them there's more right there's always a challenge but and you mentioned this a bit but why now move into this when you could have probably even done it as a partnership with another company right right well I mean I think the fact that I can we're going to have a loyalty program built into Swagger Society so I'll be able to engage and really like excite I hope um our followers to our holders to feel like they are co-creating this world with me and you know yes would it be easier for me to do a traditional brand partnership for a fee sure but then where's the ownership like I think so much of the concepts of digital identity ownership being able to invest directly in creators being able to buy art and knowing that the artist is actually leveraging that relationship and you don't have a ton of of middlemen the technology is the future and the I think I am able to with the Loyalty program and what we're going to be building under the Swagger Society umbrella I'm able to give my followers who are giving the most to Swagger Society by showing up to our events by dropping pops you know things like that and it's exciting to me because the concepts that we're building Swagger Society on of defining your own Finish Line it is for Hustlers who want to get to that next level in being rewarded within the Loyalty program they are also rewarding themselves with loyalty in self-care and self-love so it kind of is that cyclical relationship and I guess specifically to the digital asset piece it just makes it easier it takes out friction and it provides one-to-one direct ownership of the relationship let's also be clear we do need more women of color in this space and we do need more black folks in this space yeah I mean that's we need that visibility we need leaders and we need to be Amplified amplifying those leaders but we need to be creating space for more of that yeah so I know that was that's a big part of you like we deserve and we need more of that yeah I think it's important when you think about the future of of any you know um time in history when you know you build wealth it's it's always around a revolution they think you know this is a revolution that's happening and so it's important that we not only educate but you know uh have a seat at the table and um you know that's why very it's amazing to see Robin coming in and do this on her own you know instead of the brand Partnerships because it's going to be a massive opportunity to bring her audience base which is you know uh a much different you know audience based on what currently exists in the you know web3 landscape so she's what their ability is going to be a massive bridge to you know a more diverse ecosystem and so we should all support you know when people are doing stuff like that and we should support all everybody that's really trying to you know onboard new people into the space yeah I think the more that we build Bridges the the more that we see representation the more we see you know I have educated myself very publicly in web 3 Concepts you know it's whether I'm on a podcast whether I'm on a Twitter space I'll be the first one to say like I didn't have a wallet until you know this is before but like I was kind of late to that whole game you know I I am not a technologist I am not a gamer but I do know how to marry grit an obsession and I will not be deterred and when Drew was my husband Drew has been very involved in web3 for a while and you know in Impact investing and other things and he and he you know came back to some of these crypto conferences come back from some of these crypto conferences and he was showing me videos and I was like that's a lot of white men so we're going to change that and I decided pretty early on once I started seeing you know what Eva Longoria was doing what Reese was doing what garyvee was doing um that you could really build community Anchored In what I was already about um and I just think we've learned from a lot of previous social justice movements that sometimes when you're not invited to the table you need to just build your own table and amplify the [ __ ] out of it and so I've gravitated to people in the space who are doing that like Micah like shiram so glad I got to meet today and it's important that when you don't see yourself represented if you don't see what you need in your community it might be on you to build it and so I thought okay I'm not seeing this Meadow Wellness conversation happening I'm not seeing the marrying the marriage of hustle and self-actualization with the technology of web 3. so I guess I have to build it with swagger society and I'm really proud specifically we're speaking you know on the diversity piece we are the art that we're going to drop is one of the first female-led generative pfp collections Molly Dixon is our artist and we have specifically really really co-created a collection that is um we've included non-binary art specifically in the collection so we're really getting expansive in that gender conversation and I think that that's just the first step I love that um I'm a yes can that that deserves a round of applause you know uh I'm a founding member of my BFF I think that education is so key in this space and not leaving people behind and not making people feel stupid or wrong for asking questions right um and I think it's also important to you know when you're looking at your team whether you're in the just developer side of it founding team you have your comms people marketing people look around and see who's in it who's in the space are there a lot of the same people and if that's the case let's make some change you know and we need to go out of our way to do it it's not going to just happen yeah right um yeah so thank you for sharing all that and also for going out of your way to learn and to think about all the nuances and the creation of what you're building because it requires a lot these projects require a lot I guess what you know Micah you're here you haven't been to East Denver why come to a conference like this oh I think it's important to you know show that you know as I you know I've been operating more so in the traditional kind of media landscape over the past several months to show that you know we still believe in the technology and we still believe in what's being built right now I think you know outside looking in people can say oh what's happening over there is that still a thing or nft still a thing so I think it's important that you know that I'm out here and I'm still talking about it and amplifying what's happening you know within the space because you know it's very easy to be in this bubble in this in you know on Twitter and just unaware of what's really happening and you know I think there was some sentiment going on around like oh it's you know it's over it was a boom it was a it was a bubble you know what I'm saying so you know I look at my you know being here is that you know and you know talking about it posting about it to let them know you know we're still building and you know in both sides of the lanes thank you that gives me hope I'm feeling the positivity because Twitter can be scary let me tell you I've lost many nights sleep going on Twitter and just like starting to realize like am I just drinking the Kool-Aid is this like am I crazy for still being in this space and it could really mess with your head yeah right yeah no I think it's important that you you know that's a good point because I think it's important that people have that kind of mental stability and you know this is always on you know thing if you like you're always chasing always trying to like build and and you know this person over here is doing that and that person I need to you know keep up and you know I think it's important that nobody you know I believe nobody should you know Rush your process and so you're on your own timeline and you know don't I don't really try to get on Twitter because I know what I'm building I know what exactly what I'm building who I'm building it with what I'm building it for you know I just don't try to go in there because you can see you can get you know naturally I'm a person that can be influenced that's why I live in the middle of nowhere and and I know what I'm kind of building so you got to be careful with that mindset and and stay confident and you know your approach that's that's great advice let's get into that Community engagement angle because so much of building in this space is you know building something that has a great Foundation but then Community there's none of this is anything without the community that's why if Denver exists so tell me more Robin about your approach to community and you've done it obviously through Instagram um and everything you've built but how it might shift in terms of what you're building or how you're approaching that well this would be you know with swagger Society it's unprecedented access to the toolkit of the growth mindset toolkit that I've basically been building for the past 20 years and you know I've been able to you know with my first book I poured a lot of it into that with my master class on mental toughness I put a lot of into that of course there's a paywall and that's for masterclass who I love but I'm not I don't you know after my business with them that's it they just own that gated content so this is an ability to serve my community my most engaged followers the stake one holders who are going to be you know part owners of this Kingdom and they I really my my greatest wish for Swagger Society is that it becomes a kingdom where people champion each other and you find your fellow Hustlers who maybe have similar goals in mind but certainly have a macro ethos that better is possible and we will not settle mediocrity is not on the menu and I used to be a corporate litigator and I think malaise that okay is just okay was pervasive so I want to create a micro Community where I can go deeper in that engagement so is it in real life events we you know I held a three for 31 um you know activity challenge every year I have for the last 10 years it's 30 minutes of movement a day for the month of December this year for the first time ever in relation to Swagger Society we did uh like a reward for for the most engaged folks and that became like just a virtual pop-up and it wasn't overly complicated right it was just me and an ability to engage with 50 people and go deeper and so that I want to peel back that layer of the onion for in real life and virtual events and I think you know making sure that what we're building in our ecosystem whether it's the token gated Locker that folks can log into and see all the robust things that we're going to be dropping in there or whether it's engaging with other community members of like-minded folks um that I think is really powerful because I think we're starved for connection and in in an age where we have the ability to connect at any moment I actually think we're starred for connection the most um and so I get very really excited about the potential for community and web 3 because we've never been able to access our micro communities easier and so swag Society certainly will be that I think that's so awesome I love that you just said it doesn't need to be complicated how many of us think about all these elements and are just like oh God this this seems complicated a bit of a mindset shift right it doesn't need to be hard while there could be a lot of work to be done but then also even you said like looking at 50 people even like I think that we think about Blue Chip projects oh my God and what we've seen is like it needs this sweep it needs this this huge element and that might not be the case in terms of a successful project when it comes to community engagement what have you seen and what has worked uh for us I mean we have an amazing Community they've been around for over two years now um who bought into the belief that this character deserves to be into the world and bought into the belief of me as a Creator um and I took that responsibility on um as they're you know for the last two years to deliver that on that that's so that's that's not that's not unique to web3 that's just how you're brought up you know you have a responsibility to people who believe in you yeah it's not it's nothing more complicated than that and so as I my job is to continue to innovate explore opportunities hustle you know for them you know because they believe in me and that's that's not that's not anything you talk about Blue Chip I don't know what that means it's only been around for like two years three years right I talk about Blue Chip artists being George condo or or Picasso you know like we're so fresh and so what I'm excited about is just the opportunity that I've been given for my community who said I love Aku I'm gonna buy an nft and support that supports you now I love the opportunity of going out there and facing the challenges every single day and taking the red eyes here and there and there and there because I know they're going to benefit from it and that's all that's that's what it's really about so when you were building the world and brand what were you thinking about in terms of those value ads or like the utility is that important to you and how it has that changed over time and with the landscape shifting yeah change you have to be you have to be you know um malleable in the sense of what's what what they want and you got to play the long term and the short-term gain and you have to focus on you know for me my my real Target demographic for Aku is the eight to nine to ten year olds that's what he was built for right he's a kid's IP based around my nephew's question so as we develop those types of Ip verticals that reach those extensions that takes time right and the infrastructure for reaching and building books and and film and all that stuff takes time but in the short term it's like how can we service the the current community base and it's and you have to stay tapped in you know so I I've scaled the team to have web 3 people solely focused on the web 3 ecosystem but it's also too like you're not you can't be a sellout and do something that's not core to what you're building you know hurt it's not going to make sense for Swagger Society to drop you know uh Dorito chips you know I mean it's that's not going to make sense right right so what we're trying to do is just be you got to be aligned you got to be confident in what you're building and and and just really the value for a community is seeing their founder out there hustling you know and and present and trying to build on it do you see uh like platforms like Discord still being important for Community Building um and are there are there other other platforms that you two are looking at right now well saraga Society is building its own but we do have a Discord and that's definitely you know that was been that's been eye-opening for me because I was very unfamiliar with Discord I found it super clunky and frankly an annoying no shade to any Discord aficionados um but the the ROI for me was to be able to see like our community manager say we have teachers we have doctors we have people who have literally just created their login today and are joining and they're engaging daily and I said this is what it's about so whatever the vehicle is to build the bridge and engage that conversation I'm with it but it's also something that could evaporate tomorrow I have no stake in Discord so I still want to build my own kingdom where folks can engage under that umbrella what about you no I'm not the same it's the same you know discourse clunky my mom don't know how to use Discord and my mom is buying Aku stuff so why would I build on you know yeah where can people be going like where can you bring people that they would know like they could still buy into this space and Community you know where is accessible right well you know to Rob his point right now we we operate in with the tools that we have you know the discords and the twitters and all that but we're all building you know platforms that we'll be able to you know scale and own the audience and be able to connect directly with you know our communities and I think that's everybody's building man it's just going to take time the boom happened and you know you know you don't have the infrastructure in place so now you just iterate you know it's like what's what we have now is going to look way different than what we have in five years so you use what you got you know what I mean there's so many developers here how many developers are here can you raise your hand who's a marketer okay there's a lot of marketers so I guess what advice uh you two have built such successful careers as your own personal brand and your companies like what advice do you have for the marketers and developers out there building either things for all of us to use or they want us to be you know ambassadors they want to possibly I don't know work with big Brands and people that bring audiences and communities I was saying know your worth and add tax know you're worth an ad tax honey um and sometimes that tax might be a boundary around your time to protect your mental health maintain a movement practice right like I like I get it it's 24 hours a day there's that hustle culture there's gamer culture which I'm fascinated with I'm I'm grateful to be here this week to be witness it because it's really inspiring actually however um you are one of one you are limited edition your work is important and when we get into that mentality that somebody else is doing it better you have to go back to how you can Leverage What you do differently and own that yes okay perfect she nailed it no Mike I'm not letting you off that easy no come on no that she nailed it you know I should go first next time and answer the question um no but I mean you know I think developers have played it obviously the critical critical role in in this space obviously it's such a technologically advanced space and hinges on technology and as you know most non-technical Founders you rely so much on developers so for me it's really appreciating them and and and like she said like you know what it was and like really protecting them isn't very important very important um and then marketing aside you know I think be authentic is important just because everybody out there is shouting and talking all all the time on Twitter and writing threads about this and that doesn't mean you have to be authentic to what's you if that's you that great write the threats because I love reading them I love listening but it's like it's not for everybody so I think you know you can get into a place of wanting to be like what everybody's doing because it's hot but you got to be authentic because people can smell it smell it out from a mile away if it's not and just finally we are wrapping up uh I do want to know what the future holds for each of your companies what you're building you kind of have shared that and then do you think that this will be the year for more of that mainstream adoption because more folks like you are doing this which by the way is exciting to me because that means I feel like okay it's not like once again this Doom and Gloom like it's over or you know now it's AI but when I see people like you doing this and really caring and having good value systems it makes me excited to continue to be here by the way there you go there you go well I'm gonna answer it because I'm not gonna let you blow me away again so um no what what I'm really focused on right now we have an amazing you know coming into this year our Focus was on reaching that Target demographic that I mentioned in those kids and doubling down on our existing community base and you know doing the right deals and the right kind of uh people you know we have a very exciting back to school initiative we're doing in August handing out thousands of backpacks um octopus backpack across the country with some really amazing Partners Nationwide and local um and then you know introducing more uh mainstream content for kids to consume around that same time um and then also I'm I'm looking at expanding the Aku verse from IP Library perspective introducing new characters that aren't necessarily mine more so bringing ipn and helping incubate that and so like I said like I think this year is the year for mainstream um and and I positioned the company and are some of our initiatives to do that um and so I was very very exciting year but the kingdom is being built and before we mend we actually have a really ex really really so we're calling our ogs the first 99 the OCS the original crowns because everybody in tobacco Society will have a crown and um there's an opportunity to win the golden ticket it's one of the 99 OCS and registration you can check out the registration link for that Swagger Society on Twitter registration closes on Monday so there's just a few days left to register to win one of our 99 top tier nfts and we have a very one of one limited edition Charity Auction that's going to be announced with the charity partner really soon so we're kind of in that pre-mint to Mint stage and it's really exciting because I think to your question yes there's always a new starting line like while we have to be critical thinkers trusted critics in our community ask questions be skeptical like I want folks to be skeptical I want you to ask the tough questions especially when you're putting your money on the line but there's always an opportunity for us to begin again so I don't buy that Doom and Gloom stuff I just want to be a Savvy consumer and continue to educate myself on these Concepts and build Bridges and build community in this world amazing well give it up for Robin and Micah everyone thank you oh my God I'm feeling the the energy I want to be part of your communities check out what they're building thank you so much to all of you and eat Denver for having us let's keep building everyone right yes thank you so much [Music]