People Trust People: Interview with Brittany Driscoll, Co-Founder and CEO of Squeeze
I recently went one on one with Brittany Driscoll, co-founder and CEO of Squeeze.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Brittany: I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit and a competitor’s mentality. I wholeheartedly believe we’re all capable of whatever it is we put our minds to. I’m also a cancer survivor - there’s really nothing like coming to terms with the fragility of life in your mid-20s. I’ve lived every single day since with gratitude and gusto. Life is way too short to hold anything back.
My background is in marketing and advertising and, early on, I had the fortune of working with world-class brands and companies including The Walt Disney Company, The Coca-Cola Company, Hilton Hotels & Resorts, and my favorites—Mattel Inc.’s Barbie and Hot Wheels lines. I had so many incredible mentors during that time … bosses who encouraged me to take chances and, most importantly, let me fail. Leaders who invested in me emotionally, personally, and professionally.
One of the most impactful projects I worked on was this wildly innovative, disruptive, and super-successful campaign called “Hot Wheels For Real.” The assignment was to make Hot Wheels relevant to men who were no longer kids but weren't yet Dads. We helped Mattel gain next-level status by transforming these toy kid-sized models into real, functioning cars, trucks, and motorcycles along with an online content series that accompanied the release. The series featured the world's best race and stunt drivers as they executed death-defying, world-record-breaking stunts at The Indianapolis 500 and the X-Games. It was that experience that cemented, for me, the realization that with big vision, the right people, and relentless dedication, anything is possible.
Adam: How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas?
Brittany: Squeeze was the brainchild of the founders of Drybar. I had been running marketing for Drybar for nearly four years and was ready for my next challenge. The Drybar team was still focused on scaling and didn’t have the bandwidth to take on a new endeavor, so the stars aligned for me. They kindly gave me the opportunity to run with it, and I took it.
I think the best business ideas come from personal frustration—that was the case with both Drybar and Squeeze. If you think about it, most innovation stems from simply taking a current behavior and improving upon it Look at Uber, Airbnb, Netflix, and Postmates, for example … they were masterful at up-leveling everyday experiences such as transportation, hospitality, entertainment, and food delivery. So, if you’re out there thinking that something can be done better, you’re right! Or, if you wish something existed that doesn’t yet, so do a million other people. It’s up to the person bold enough to take the chance to make it happen. Great ideas are often that simple.
Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?
Brittany: It’s an age-old adage, but I hired people smarter than me and got out of their way because I’m not perfect and have many of the common founder flaws. I genuinely respect the team I have in place and trust their decision-making implicitly. Nothing great is achieved alone, and what fun would that be anyway?
I’ve also never wavered in believing the vision for Squeeze—to transform communities for good (something much bigger than the service we’re selling - a takeaway from Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why, which I highly recommend!).
We launched our flagship Squeeze location in March of 2019 and, 11 months into the operation, we had to shut it down entirely for a solid year due to the pandemic. It would have been much easier to give up than to keep going. In fact, many people thought we wouldn’t make it to the other side. But, I never doubted that we would. If you want to take your business to the next level, I would encourage focus. Cut out the distraction, identify your zone of genius, and delegate everything else.
Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?
Brittany: People trust people. Your best marketing channel will always be word of mouth. Focus first on the experience, get that right, and then determine how to amplify. Chances are, if you create something super special, your customers will spread the word for you - and there is nothing more powerful!
Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Brittany: Vision, creativity, curiosity, collaboration, and courage. Effective leadership simply doesn’t exist without those qualities. Practice these early and often and if you don’t know how, find people who embody these qualities and study them. Read their books if they have them or, better yet, take them to coffee if they’re within reach of your circle.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Brittany: Have a shared language, clear lines of communication, and an operating framework that everyone understands and works within. We’re currently implementing EOS and trying to use Kim Scott’s HIIP feedback framework from “Radical Candor”. Do your best to create emotional safety by fessing up when you’re wrong or don’t know the answer and ask more questions than declarative statements (this is a real work in progress for me, but I know it makes a meaningful difference to my team).
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Brittany:
Be vulnerable with your team and customers. We’re all human, and it’s encouraging for those that are following in your footsteps and investing in your business to see you have flaws and can admit when you’re wrong. It creates safety and loyalty, and it’s far more enjoyable as a leader to not have to put on the unattainable and ridiculously false facade of perfection.
Take care of yourself. Modeling this will do wonders for your team’s productivity and for your own mental and physical wellness. Health is wealth, after all.
Find a group of peers that you trust and connect with them often. Share your challenges, wins, and learn from theirs. This has been one of the best things I have done since starting Squeeze. I can’t imagine building a business without guidance from those in the arena and neither should you.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Brittany: It’s hard to choose just one, but I’ll say: the joy is in the journey. As a society, we oftentimes focus too much on the outcome or have this notion that “if I can just reach…” whatever it is you’re striving for, then you will be happy or be able to mark the proverbial successful checkbox. I’ve observed enough people’s paths to know the best days are the hard ones: grinding it out, problem solving, and making it happen. Two steps forward, one step back. That’s the magic. We’re not guaranteed tomorrow, anyway, so relish where you are!
Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally-recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.
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