March 12, 2025 • 23 mins
Phil Williams, CEO and Founder of Game Face Grooming gamefacegrooming.com
Williams said he had been to countless basketball tournaments and other sporting events over the years and found himself time after time with nowhere to shower or clean up afterwards. His idea for athletic face and body wipes has expanded and taken off with men, women, families and now today's partnership with he Philadelphia 76ers.
Williams said he had been to countless basketball tournaments and other sporting events over the years and found himself time after time with nowhere to shower or clean up afterwards. His idea for athletic face and body wipes has expanded and taken off with men, women, families and now today's partnership with he Philadelphia 76ers.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the art of improvement.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
The man I'm going to introduce you today found himself
thinking about how many times he had been out and
about playing basketball, and then when he was done, there
was nowhere to shower, nowhere to clean up. Well, of
course that led to game face Grooming. I can't wait
for you to join our conversation today. I'll be talking
(00:22):
to the CEO and founder of game Face Grooming, Phil Williams.
Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Karen
Klaus and I have a guest today that I am
so excited to introduce you to. I have the founder
and CEO of something that you may not have heard yet,
(00:44):
but you will definitely hear of in the very near future,
game face Grooming, Phil Williams. Thank you so much, Phil
for joining me today.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Karen, thanks for having me and excited to have a
great conversation and folks them on how to learn more
about our brand.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Okay, so when I first I told you guys, I
saw a commercial for you game face Grooming. I was like, what,
I've never heard of this, So anybody out there that
doesn't know what it is, can you tell people what
is game face Grooming?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Well, we affectionately like to say, we're creating beauty for
beast and we uh literally, you know, I came up
with the idea around creating uh face body wipes as
a serious skincare delivered in a wife for athletes and
also active in individuals that live in active on the
(01:39):
go lifestyle. Literally. I was coaching my oldest daughter's a
youth basketball team at the time. I saw a bunch
of young boys huddled around their coach after a game
as our girls were going to warm up, and I
said to myself, like, in these facilities, these a youth facilities,
you know, they don't have showers, you can't bring a
(02:00):
change of clothes. And these kids are playing, you know,
a game at ten, they go to lunch with their family,
then they're playing at two and maybe five, and I'm like, well,
how are they effectively maintaining good health and hygiene? And
I said to my wife, Hey, what do you think
about this idea? Now, caaren ninety nine percent of the time.
(02:24):
You know, my wife is known as the lovely Heather.
She'll say, Nah, not a good idea, but this one
you kind of believed it. So the rest is history.
We put some names on the whiteboard and game face
grooving continued to come to the top, and you know,
we trademarked it in twenty fifteen and then sold the
(02:45):
gout off the ground back at the twenty sixteen.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
It's so funny because when I first saw the commercial
comp I'm like, yeah, well that makes that makes so
much sense. And it does for women that work out
and right to jump and get ready for work or
whatever afterwards. But you know, there's always a way that
we can wipe up, clean up or whatever. But for
kids and for athletes and for anybody that is constantly
(03:13):
working out, and you're right there may or may not be.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
A place to shower, blow dry or whatever.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
This is.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
This is such a great idea.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
And I bet your wife said yes because she has
to wash the clothes.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
I was thinking, not good.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Yeah. Not only that, you know, we were also the
transportation mechanism with four or five pearls. Uh. You know
that that we're smelling so pleasantly in the car and
so that's another uh you know outlet force as well.
You know for moms that you know have kids that
(03:51):
need this, you know, a solution for them, uh as
they're going from practice and maybe to a music lesson
and then home to shower and do homework. But that's
one Stephen Grayson. Then the other part of it is, yes,
our products are user friendly, they're sharable, you know, yeah,
(04:12):
we we cater them in. But the products are unisex. Right,
the girls have ten faces as well. And you know,
the hygiene for a mom that's maybe doing yoga, plates
or walking. You know, it's it's a great solution if
she's gonna then pop to the grocery store, have to
prepare for a meeting in some way. You know, that's
(04:35):
what we want. Is that ease and functionality.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Absolutely, And I just I love I love the name.
I mean, how did you said, you put up a
bunch of different ideas. How did you finally come to
game face grooming well again?
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Uh you know, I uh, you know, had had been
you know, noodling a couple of ideas, we had the
name ritual, we had you know, get wet all these
different uh uh you know, like you know again, having
been an athlete high school, in college, you know, it
(05:12):
was always you know, when announcers are saying, you know,
before a big game, it's like, oh okay, you know
Karen's coming out with her game face on today, and
I'm like, sounds pretty good, and then it just flewed right.
Game face grooming. Uh, we checked out there and we
were kind of we were the first one to secure
(05:35):
you know, the trademark and uh you know, move on
from there. But uh, that was it and then you know,
obviously we tested it with some focus groups, you know,
to get their costs and feedback. Our logo is a
little strong and uh, you know, it's it's immediately recognizable,
and uh, you know, folks are sometimes it's like is
(05:57):
that you or is that the rock? Or is that
uh you know, but I'm like, no, no, no, no. We
just worked with an illustrator to create the logo. But
you know, we now are sensitive and you know, we've
kind of matured as a brand. You know, where our
first generation packaging was kind of bright blues. Uh you know,
(06:19):
we've matured to where now all of our packaging is black,
you know, with math and and a ship looks really
good and uh you know, we we essentially our face
and again, as I said, both men and women have
game face and game faces, you know, whether that's on
(06:42):
the court, uh, you know, in the in the boardroom
or at a meeting. Uh. You know, you've got to
prepare for those big moments and that's what you know,
our brand is all about.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
So you've gotta before we go on one more second,
tell people how can we get your pride?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Very simple? Go to game Facegrooming dot com. You can
follow us also on Instagram at g F Wipes as well.
That's you know, will lead you to all of our
social media and those Instagram and you know, we have
all of our products available via our dot com site
(07:22):
and also Amazon. Our brand stores up and available there
as well. Just search game based Grooming and a little
direct right to our brand store.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
So if you just now joined us, Bill Williams is
the founder and CEO of game Face Grooming. And when
you said that you earlier that you had done some
testing and you know, to see what kind of logo
if the product was going to work. That makes me think, one,
what kind of background do you have? Because who does that?
(07:55):
And then two, what is it that made you say, Okay,
yes this is gonna work, this, this is something that
I can move forward with. Is is there some sort
of entrepreneur person in your in your life and your
background that made you think that it was okay to
branch out on your own.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Well, my background is pretty unique. I started my professional
career with General Motors and a sales and marketing capacity
with UH, a former brand, the Pontiac division of General Voters.
And from there, you know, I had great experience in learning,
you know, the foundational aspects of business and marketing. I
(08:38):
had a chance to go back to graduate school and
Saint Joe's University, finished my MBA in your national Business
and Marketing, and then you know, GM was actually going
through a merger at the time, so Pontiac and GMC
truck were merging, and you know, we were anybody that
was kind of in the graduate school program that had
(09:00):
an assignment that was supposed to embark after he graduated.
We were kind of, you know, released, we were made
free agents, if you will. And I actually was had
an opportunity to get hired by the National Basketball Association,
so I joined their consumer products group during the back
(09:20):
half of the Michael George years. So it's really a good,
great time. But my role was working with you know,
our national retail partners, UH, the league sponsors teams, and
you know that was really to generate marketing promotions to
drive the sales of licensed merchandise. And then I had
(09:43):
the good fortune of transitioning to the team side with
the new Jersey Nets on the early two thousands. You know,
we we had Jason kidd h We affectually call him
employee number five because he wore number five. Uh uh Jason,
uh know uh set you know the organization and on
a different trajectory, we went to the finals twice. We
(10:06):
lost to your Spurs. Uh yeah, the Los Angeles Lakers.
But you know it was when the team decided to
move to Brooklyn. That wasn't an option for me and
my wife being at Pennsylvanians, uh, you know. And I
had an opportunity to move on the consumer products side
(10:27):
to run a company called King of Shaves that was
a men's grooming brand that was based in the UK.
They were the number two brand in the UK behind Julette.
They made shaving foams, geils, and oils. So from that standpoint,
I had great foundation in learning the business and then
(10:47):
we launched it here in the United States. We brought
Jason Kidd on as the face of the brand, and
then you know, through that I had the opportunity to
start my own company. And that was, you know, kind
of how I came up with the whole game faceed
grooming concept.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Nice you know.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
So, yeah, the learnings were there foundationally for me to
take the risk. But the moment of truth was actually
a colleague of mine who worked at Write eight stores.
And you know, I had no, uh, formal brand presentation
and I only had white packs of samples of our
(11:29):
face wipes. And I called my colleague up and I said, hey,
I know you're doing your men's grooming review. Why don't
you let me come in. I love the pitch and
I had, you know, an introductory page with my logo,
and on the next page, I had like just a
breakdown of our full white products and I showed it
(11:49):
for the buyer and I go to the second page
and you know, I had the samples there. He's like,
I love this concept, believe it or not. I've been
looking for a white solution for our men's grooming area.
And I'm like, wow, cool. Right, So it's like, hey,
let me know if there's an opportunity. So he brings
(12:10):
me back in last two weeks and he says, hey,
I want to take three of your products across five
thousand stores and I'm like that. But the irony is
was I had to say no because we weren't ready
to produced. We didn't have the ability of testing and
all that stuff. But that was the defining moment in
(12:31):
terms of whether or not, you know, like this could
be something that you know, we can define new growth
in a category in men's grooming that usually is driven
via shaving, you know, to where we had the opportunity
to introduce wipes because you know, men never have any
wipe offerings. It's usually the women behind forty different white products.
(12:56):
But that was our foundation of the store.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
It's so funny because when you were telling this story,
all I could think of is one hundred thousand years ago.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Uh, an artist, let's just say Elvis.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Elvis could walk into a radio station and say play
my play my record, play you know, like play my song,
and you kind of walking into something like that in
saying here, can you can you use it? It's almost
the same thing. And the fact that they said yes
was almost just I mean, come on, that was miraculous
(13:33):
that that even happened.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Yeah, So it's a different journey maybe for you know,
other entrepreneurs. But that was you know, like a great
moment of truth. And then you know, I kind of
go back home and I'm like, wow, guess what, you know,
guess what this said about our product? You know, So
now you know we've grown beyond you know, our first
generation of wipes cleansing, cooling, theorizing, antibacterial to where with
(13:59):
this innovation and you know, sneaker cleaning wipe that we
have around and then you know, now we have a
whole full on men's skincare range as well. But you know,
we're adding new products to really define our uniqueness because
you know, my whole mission is always to lead the
(14:20):
curve on innovation. And you know, I'm not going to
shy away from being the face of our brand because
most men's brands that are out there, you know, there's
there's no association with him, uh that real customers can
identify with. Yeah, I've had acne, I've had ingrown hairs.
So you know, our solutions, uh, you know are really
(14:43):
based on you know, my experience.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
It's because you didn't have a game face wipe. It's
so true how many people have worked out and thought
that wiping a paper towel with water on it would
have done the job and come back with horrible skin.
You know, two days later, I get it. I totally
get it. So again, if you've just now started listening.
(15:06):
Phil Williams is the founder and CEO of game Face Grooming,
I read a story about you winnings. I hope that
I just even introduced it so you can tell the
story winning some contests where you actually got paired up
with an NBA team.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Yes, yes, we were the recent winner of the Philadelphia
seventy six ers enrich Program, and so that means, you know,
we get you know, the access to a few hundred
thousand dollars of marketing assets to us on the team's behalf,
(15:47):
you know, as a small business and entrepreneur. And so
now you know, we're in the first portion of the
partnership and they've actually expanded that into next year, uh,
which is good for us because hopefully the team uh improves.
(16:08):
But you know, outside of the team, you know, I
have to say, like the organization has embraced you know,
our brand fully, you know, and there's not a person
that you know, we've come in contact with that doesn't
know who game faceed grooming is right, and you know
we've brought I hope you know, some new energy even
(16:30):
you know with a down season, uh, that you know,
this collaboration really you know, well we'll take it to
the next level. And you know it's my hope as
a you know, being given this opportunity that you know, hey,
we can grow our business through this partnership and actually
reinvest uh and write a check you know, as a
(16:53):
true uh financial partner and investing partner with the team
as well. Right, So you know for us, Uh, it's
exciting as well because again I shared with you earlier. Uh.
You know, during COVID they allowed us this ten thousand
dollars grant to commercialize this product. And you know it
(17:15):
comes full circle now where we have this collaboration with them. Well,
they're now going to be our first partner since we're
in the process of securing our NBA license that we
can use team logos on our product. Will be the
first team that we do that with.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
That is incredible.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
I mean, and yes, you do need to come and
be part of the Spurs too.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
The Spurs need your face.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
There. We tell us we're coming.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Let them know exactly this is I mean, this is
really fantastic. So again we're talking to Phil Williams with
game Face Grooming.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
How can people find your products.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Game Facegrooming dot com. Uh, that's our direct to consumer site.
We're also available on Amazon, TikTok shop, the flip app.
So you know, any medium that you're shopping should character products.
But those are the most immediate that you can get
the full range of our products, all twenty seven products.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Before I mean we wrap up, I do want to
ask you about your sneaker wipes because to me, that
is something that's so incredible. But I never I've never
seen it before and I'm so surprised that this is
such a big item that really isn't as widespread as
I thought it should be.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Well, hey, Karen, we want to again leave the curve
on innovation. Our sneaker wipe is literally bringing innovation to
the shoe care industry. Right. So you know most on
the go single use products are foil wrapped and you
got to tear the package. Is you know, we have
(19:01):
an incredible delivery system. Uh that's patented and so you
know we can't be copied duplicated, so that gives uh,
you know, the intellectual property of our company. It puts
us in a different strateosphere, right, So you know the
exciting thing about you know is that you know, when
(19:22):
we show it, showcase it, we get a lot of oohs.
And as you know, again it's taken some time in
the lab to actually get this developed. And you know,
now we're super excited about our collaboration with the NBA
and in the field up seventy six ers to where
we can bring this, uh to everybody in every market,
(19:43):
make it kind of team specific now that we have,
you know, all twenty nine teams you know for logo,
views and rights and all that stuff, special events, et cetera.
But you know that's uh, you know, the key thing,
uh is the innovation in itself.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
And I think the multi uses of your items also,
I mean what am I?
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Who am I to say this to you? I'm sure
you've thought of.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
It all, but every single time I hear you tell
another story, I'm thinking, well, yes, I mean, what high
school band wouldn't need this? What tennis team wouldn't need this?
What I mean, it's just it's multi use for anybody?
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Really, Yeah, Karen, keep talking? What other? Right? Right? Uh?
You know football. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we we we
see that as well. So you know, for our growth,
the next uh you know, uh endeavor for us is uh,
you know, securing the meaningful funding that will allow us
(20:47):
to market, uh strategically grow in the different categories that
you've identified, right always uh you know, kind of base
it for us. Again, a point of differentiat is about
the athlete journey, right, so it kind of goes you know,
for us, we look at you know, as the athlete,
(21:07):
then that goes to the team. Uh, then that goes
home to the family, then the greater community, and we
continue to grow our circumference out from that standpoint. And
we can do that in key markets around the country.
And that's the game plan that we have going forward.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Okay, I see the Longhorn band and the Longhorn quarterback.
I mean it is even pretty great that college athletes
are now able to do deals like this. I mean,
you're right, it's just never ending and exciting at the
same time.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Yes, hey, and we wouldn't mind you know, meeting Arch Manning.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
I know, I love that guy.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Yeah, between him and Wemby, we have Texas on lock.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Yeah, absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
But Bill, you know that's also where you know, for us,
you know, we have I believed like one hundred nil
athletes on board. You know, where we're kind of tearing
out our partnerships where we give out free products. We also,
uh you know, if we see the needle moving, uh
(22:20):
you know, we'll give our partners exclusive gear, uh you know,
and and then the tier that to the next level. Hey,
we'll give a certain code that we can track their sales. Uh.
And if any of them make it to the big leagues. Uh,
you know, we we have some deeper negotiations.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Okay, you have been a pleasure to talk to and
I hope people go out and go get their game
face on with game Face Grooming. And once again, Phil Williams,
can you tell everybody how they can get your product.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
First, I want to thank you for reaching out bring
opportunity for our brand again. You know, we are available
and our products are available game Facegrooming dot Com, Amazon,
on our brand store. You can search game based grooming
uh TikTok as well on the TikTok shop, the flip app.
(23:16):
All of those will allow you the opportunity to see
our full assortment of products.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Okay, well, good luck. I don't think I need to tell.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
You good luck. This is happening. It's a steamroller. So
thank you so much for taking the time.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
Karen, thank you and have a blessed day. And again
we we will be on the track for Wemby and
arch Manning.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
All right, done, see you soon. Thanks a lot, thanks
to take care.
This is the art of improvement.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
The man I'm going to introduce you today found himself
thinking about how many times he had been out and
about playing basketball, and then when he was done, there
was nowhere to shower, nowhere to clean up. Well, of
course that led to game face Grooming. I can't wait
for you to join our conversation today. I'll be talking
(00:22):
to the CEO and founder of game Face Grooming, Phil Williams.
Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Karen
Klaus and I have a guest today that I am
so excited to introduce you to. I have the founder
and CEO of something that you may not have heard yet,
(00:44):
but you will definitely hear of in the very near future,
game face Grooming, Phil Williams. Thank you so much, Phil
for joining me today.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Karen, thanks for having me and excited to have a
great conversation and folks them on how to learn more
about our brand.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Okay, so when I first I told you guys, I
saw a commercial for you game face Grooming. I was like, what,
I've never heard of this, So anybody out there that
doesn't know what it is, can you tell people what
is game face Grooming?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Well, we affectionately like to say, we're creating beauty for
beast and we uh literally, you know, I came up
with the idea around creating uh face body wipes as
a serious skincare delivered in a wife for athletes and
also active in individuals that live in active on the
(01:39):
go lifestyle. Literally. I was coaching my oldest daughter's a
youth basketball team at the time. I saw a bunch
of young boys huddled around their coach after a game
as our girls were going to warm up, and I
said to myself, like, in these facilities, these a youth facilities,
you know, they don't have showers, you can't bring a
(02:00):
change of clothes. And these kids are playing, you know,
a game at ten, they go to lunch with their family,
then they're playing at two and maybe five, and I'm like, well,
how are they effectively maintaining good health and hygiene? And
I said to my wife, Hey, what do you think
about this idea? Now, caaren ninety nine percent of the time.
(02:24):
You know, my wife is known as the lovely Heather.
She'll say, Nah, not a good idea, but this one
you kind of believed it. So the rest is history.
We put some names on the whiteboard and game face
grooving continued to come to the top, and you know,
we trademarked it in twenty fifteen and then sold the
(02:45):
gout off the ground back at the twenty sixteen.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
It's so funny because when I first saw the commercial
comp I'm like, yeah, well that makes that makes so
much sense. And it does for women that work out
and right to jump and get ready for work or
whatever afterwards. But you know, there's always a way that
we can wipe up, clean up or whatever. But for
kids and for athletes and for anybody that is constantly
(03:13):
working out, and you're right there may or may not be.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
A place to shower, blow dry or whatever.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
This is.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
This is such a great idea.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
And I bet your wife said yes because she has
to wash the clothes.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
I was thinking, not good.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Yeah. Not only that, you know, we were also the
transportation mechanism with four or five pearls. Uh. You know
that that we're smelling so pleasantly in the car and
so that's another uh you know outlet force as well.
You know for moms that you know have kids that
(03:51):
need this, you know, a solution for them, uh as
they're going from practice and maybe to a music lesson
and then home to shower and do homework. But that's
one Stephen Grayson. Then the other part of it is, yes,
our products are user friendly, they're sharable, you know, yeah,
(04:12):
we we cater them in. But the products are unisex. Right,
the girls have ten faces as well. And you know,
the hygiene for a mom that's maybe doing yoga, plates
or walking. You know, it's it's a great solution if
she's gonna then pop to the grocery store, have to
prepare for a meeting in some way. You know, that's
(04:35):
what we want. Is that ease and functionality.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Absolutely, And I just I love I love the name.
I mean, how did you said, you put up a
bunch of different ideas. How did you finally come to
game face grooming well again?
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Uh you know, I uh, you know, had had been
you know, noodling a couple of ideas, we had the
name ritual, we had you know, get wet all these
different uh uh you know, like you know again, having
been an athlete high school, in college, you know, it
(05:12):
was always you know, when announcers are saying, you know,
before a big game, it's like, oh okay, you know
Karen's coming out with her game face on today, and
I'm like, sounds pretty good, and then it just flewed right.
Game face grooming. Uh, we checked out there and we
were kind of we were the first one to secure
(05:35):
you know, the trademark and uh you know, move on
from there. But uh, that was it and then you know,
obviously we tested it with some focus groups, you know,
to get their costs and feedback. Our logo is a
little strong and uh, you know, it's it's immediately recognizable,
and uh, you know, folks are sometimes it's like is
(05:57):
that you or is that the rock? Or is that
uh you know, but I'm like, no, no, no, no. We
just worked with an illustrator to create the logo. But
you know, we now are sensitive and you know, we've
kind of matured as a brand. You know, where our
first generation packaging was kind of bright blues. Uh you know,
(06:19):
we've matured to where now all of our packaging is black,
you know, with math and and a ship looks really
good and uh you know, we we essentially our face
and again, as I said, both men and women have
game face and game faces, you know, whether that's on
(06:42):
the court, uh, you know, in the in the boardroom
or at a meeting. Uh. You know, you've got to
prepare for those big moments and that's what you know,
our brand is all about.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
So you've gotta before we go on one more second,
tell people how can we get your pride?
Speaker 3 (07:00):
Very simple? Go to game Facegrooming dot com. You can
follow us also on Instagram at g F Wipes as well.
That's you know, will lead you to all of our
social media and those Instagram and you know, we have
all of our products available via our dot com site
(07:22):
and also Amazon. Our brand stores up and available there
as well. Just search game based Grooming and a little
direct right to our brand store.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
So if you just now joined us, Bill Williams is
the founder and CEO of game Face Grooming. And when
you said that you earlier that you had done some
testing and you know, to see what kind of logo
if the product was going to work. That makes me think, one,
what kind of background do you have? Because who does that?
(07:55):
And then two, what is it that made you say, Okay,
yes this is gonna work, this, this is something that
I can move forward with. Is is there some sort
of entrepreneur person in your in your life and your
background that made you think that it was okay to
branch out on your own.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Well, my background is pretty unique. I started my professional
career with General Motors and a sales and marketing capacity
with UH, a former brand, the Pontiac division of General Voters.
And from there, you know, I had great experience in learning,
you know, the foundational aspects of business and marketing. I
(08:38):
had a chance to go back to graduate school and
Saint Joe's University, finished my MBA in your national Business
and Marketing, and then you know, GM was actually going
through a merger at the time, so Pontiac and GMC
truck were merging, and you know, we were anybody that
was kind of in the graduate school program that had
(09:00):
an assignment that was supposed to embark after he graduated.
We were kind of, you know, released, we were made
free agents, if you will. And I actually was had
an opportunity to get hired by the National Basketball Association,
so I joined their consumer products group during the back
(09:20):
half of the Michael George years. So it's really a good,
great time. But my role was working with you know,
our national retail partners, UH, the league sponsors teams, and
you know that was really to generate marketing promotions to
drive the sales of licensed merchandise. And then I had
(09:43):
the good fortune of transitioning to the team side with
the new Jersey Nets on the early two thousands. You know,
we we had Jason kidd h We affectually call him
employee number five because he wore number five. Uh uh Jason,
uh know uh set you know the organization and on
a different trajectory, we went to the finals twice. We
(10:06):
lost to your Spurs. Uh yeah, the Los Angeles Lakers.
But you know it was when the team decided to
move to Brooklyn. That wasn't an option for me and
my wife being at Pennsylvanians, uh, you know. And I
had an opportunity to move on the consumer products side
(10:27):
to run a company called King of Shaves that was
a men's grooming brand that was based in the UK.
They were the number two brand in the UK behind Julette.
They made shaving foams, geils, and oils. So from that standpoint,
I had great foundation in learning the business and then
(10:47):
we launched it here in the United States. We brought
Jason Kidd on as the face of the brand, and
then you know, through that I had the opportunity to
start my own company. And that was, you know, kind
of how I came up with the whole game faceed
grooming concept.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Nice you know.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
So, yeah, the learnings were there foundationally for me to
take the risk. But the moment of truth was actually
a colleague of mine who worked at Write eight stores.
And you know, I had no, uh, formal brand presentation
and I only had white packs of samples of our
(11:29):
face wipes. And I called my colleague up and I said, hey,
I know you're doing your men's grooming review. Why don't
you let me come in. I love the pitch and
I had, you know, an introductory page with my logo,
and on the next page, I had like just a
breakdown of our full white products and I showed it
(11:49):
for the buyer and I go to the second page
and you know, I had the samples there. He's like,
I love this concept, believe it or not. I've been
looking for a white solution for our men's grooming area.
And I'm like, wow, cool. Right, So it's like, hey,
let me know if there's an opportunity. So he brings
(12:10):
me back in last two weeks and he says, hey,
I want to take three of your products across five
thousand stores and I'm like that. But the irony is
was I had to say no because we weren't ready
to produced. We didn't have the ability of testing and
all that stuff. But that was the defining moment in
(12:31):
terms of whether or not, you know, like this could
be something that you know, we can define new growth
in a category in men's grooming that usually is driven
via shaving, you know, to where we had the opportunity
to introduce wipes because you know, men never have any
wipe offerings. It's usually the women behind forty different white products.
(12:56):
But that was our foundation of the store.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
It's so funny because when you were telling this story,
all I could think of is one hundred thousand years ago.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Uh, an artist, let's just say Elvis.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
Elvis could walk into a radio station and say play
my play my record, play you know, like play my song,
and you kind of walking into something like that in
saying here, can you can you use it? It's almost
the same thing. And the fact that they said yes
was almost just I mean, come on, that was miraculous
(13:33):
that that even happened.
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Yeah, So it's a different journey maybe for you know,
other entrepreneurs. But that was you know, like a great
moment of truth. And then you know, I kind of
go back home and I'm like, wow, guess what, you know,
guess what this said about our product? You know, So
now you know we've grown beyond you know, our first
generation of wipes cleansing, cooling, theorizing, antibacterial to where with
(13:59):
this innovation and you know, sneaker cleaning wipe that we
have around and then you know, now we have a
whole full on men's skincare range as well. But you know,
we're adding new products to really define our uniqueness because
you know, my whole mission is always to lead the
(14:20):
curve on innovation. And you know, I'm not going to
shy away from being the face of our brand because
most men's brands that are out there, you know, there's
there's no association with him, uh that real customers can
identify with. Yeah, I've had acne, I've had ingrown hairs.
So you know, our solutions, uh, you know are really
(14:43):
based on you know, my experience.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
It's because you didn't have a game face wipe. It's
so true how many people have worked out and thought
that wiping a paper towel with water on it would
have done the job and come back with horrible skin.
You know, two days later, I get it. I totally
get it. So again, if you've just now started listening.
(15:06):
Phil Williams is the founder and CEO of game Face Grooming,
I read a story about you winnings. I hope that
I just even introduced it so you can tell the
story winning some contests where you actually got paired up
with an NBA team.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Yes, yes, we were the recent winner of the Philadelphia
seventy six ers enrich Program, and so that means, you know,
we get you know, the access to a few hundred
thousand dollars of marketing assets to us on the team's behalf,
(15:47):
you know, as a small business and entrepreneur. And so
now you know, we're in the first portion of the
partnership and they've actually expanded that into next year, uh,
which is good for us because hopefully the team uh improves.
(16:08):
But you know, outside of the team, you know, I
have to say, like the organization has embraced you know,
our brand fully, you know, and there's not a person
that you know, we've come in contact with that doesn't
know who game faceed grooming is right, and you know
we've brought I hope you know, some new energy even
(16:30):
you know with a down season, uh, that you know,
this collaboration really you know, well we'll take it to
the next level. And you know it's my hope as
a you know, being given this opportunity that you know, hey,
we can grow our business through this partnership and actually
reinvest uh and write a check you know, as a
(16:53):
true uh financial partner and investing partner with the team
as well. Right, So you know for us, Uh, it's
exciting as well because again I shared with you earlier. Uh.
You know, during COVID they allowed us this ten thousand
dollars grant to commercialize this product. And you know it
(17:15):
comes full circle now where we have this collaboration with them. Well,
they're now going to be our first partner since we're
in the process of securing our NBA license that we
can use team logos on our product. Will be the
first team that we do that with.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
That is incredible.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
I mean, and yes, you do need to come and
be part of the Spurs too.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
The Spurs need your face.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
There. We tell us we're coming.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Let them know exactly this is I mean, this is
really fantastic. So again we're talking to Phil Williams with
game Face Grooming.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
How can people find your products.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Game Facegrooming dot com. Uh, that's our direct to consumer site.
We're also available on Amazon, TikTok shop, the flip app.
So you know, any medium that you're shopping should character products.
But those are the most immediate that you can get
the full range of our products, all twenty seven products.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Before I mean we wrap up, I do want to
ask you about your sneaker wipes because to me, that
is something that's so incredible. But I never I've never
seen it before and I'm so surprised that this is
such a big item that really isn't as widespread as
I thought it should be.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Well, hey, Karen, we want to again leave the curve
on innovation. Our sneaker wipe is literally bringing innovation to
the shoe care industry. Right. So you know most on
the go single use products are foil wrapped and you
got to tear the package. Is you know, we have
(19:01):
an incredible delivery system. Uh that's patented and so you
know we can't be copied duplicated, so that gives uh,
you know, the intellectual property of our company. It puts
us in a different strateosphere, right, So you know the
exciting thing about you know is that you know, when
(19:22):
we show it, showcase it, we get a lot of oohs.
And as you know, again it's taken some time in
the lab to actually get this developed. And you know,
now we're super excited about our collaboration with the NBA
and in the field up seventy six ers to where
we can bring this, uh to everybody in every market,
(19:43):
make it kind of team specific now that we have,
you know, all twenty nine teams you know for logo,
views and rights and all that stuff, special events, et cetera.
But you know that's uh, you know, the key thing,
uh is the innovation in itself.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
And I think the multi uses of your items also,
I mean what am I?
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Who am I to say this to you? I'm sure
you've thought of.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
It all, but every single time I hear you tell
another story, I'm thinking, well, yes, I mean, what high
school band wouldn't need this? What tennis team wouldn't need this?
What I mean, it's just it's multi use for anybody?
Speaker 3 (20:25):
Really, Yeah, Karen, keep talking? What other? Right? Right? Uh?
You know football. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we we we
see that as well. So you know, for our growth,
the next uh you know, uh endeavor for us is uh,
you know, securing the meaningful funding that will allow us
(20:47):
to market, uh strategically grow in the different categories that
you've identified, right always uh you know, kind of base
it for us. Again, a point of differentiat is about
the athlete journey, right, so it kind of goes you know,
for us, we look at you know, as the athlete,
(21:07):
then that goes to the team. Uh, then that goes
home to the family, then the greater community, and we
continue to grow our circumference out from that standpoint. And
we can do that in key markets around the country.
And that's the game plan that we have going forward.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
Okay, I see the Longhorn band and the Longhorn quarterback.
I mean it is even pretty great that college athletes
are now able to do deals like this. I mean,
you're right, it's just never ending and exciting at the
same time.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Yes, hey, and we wouldn't mind you know, meeting Arch Manning.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
I know, I love that guy.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Yeah, between him and Wemby, we have Texas on lock.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Yeah, absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
But Bill, you know that's also where you know, for us,
you know, we have I believed like one hundred nil
athletes on board. You know, where we're kind of tearing
out our partnerships where we give out free products. We also,
uh you know, if we see the needle moving, uh
(22:20):
you know, we'll give our partners exclusive gear, uh you know,
and and then the tier that to the next level. Hey,
we'll give a certain code that we can track their sales. Uh.
And if any of them make it to the big leagues. Uh,
you know, we we have some deeper negotiations.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
Awesome.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Okay, you have been a pleasure to talk to and
I hope people go out and go get their game
face on with game Face Grooming. And once again, Phil Williams,
can you tell everybody how they can get your product.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
First, I want to thank you for reaching out bring
opportunity for our brand again. You know, we are available
and our products are available game Facegrooming dot Com, Amazon,
on our brand store. You can search game based grooming
uh TikTok as well on the TikTok shop, the flip app.
(23:16):
All of those will allow you the opportunity to see
our full assortment of products.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Okay, well, good luck. I don't think I need to tell.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
You good luck. This is happening. It's a steamroller. So
thank you so much for taking the time.
Speaker 3 (23:30):
Karen, thank you and have a blessed day. And again
we we will be on the track for Wemby and
arch Manning.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
All right, done, see you soon. Thanks a lot, thanks
to take care.
Popular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.