Ep.15 / Craig Dubitsky, Founder Happy Coffee, Hello Oral Care, EOS
The Inspiring Energy of a Serial Entrepreneur:
Craig is a serial entrepreneur who founded EOS, Hello Oral Care, and most recently Happy Coffee. His track record speaks for itself - we worked with him to create the EOS spherical lip balm which did pretty damn well, and he sold Hello to Colgate. He’s has been named one of Advertising Ages’ Creativity 50 of influential thinkers, and one of the 100 Most Inspirational Marketers in the World by The Internationalist.
His most recent venture is as founder and CEO of Happy, a brand of coffee on a mission to elevate the everyday which he co-founded amazingly with Robert Downey Jr. This new brand has scaled fast, and isn’t just seriously delicious coffee, it also cares for the mental health of the people drinking it - having partnering with NAMI, the national alliance on Mental Illness not just a benefactor but an equity stakeholder in the company. Craig has endless optimism, energy, and is incredibly generous of spirit. He believes in the power of design and brand storytelling, and isn’t afraid to question norms and think differently.
This conversation included:
The origin of Happy coffee brand, and getting connected to Robert Downey Jr.
The need for the product to be awesome, not just well designed
What makes a good brand and ‘everything communicates’
Making mental health and NAMI as stakeholder vs. just a donation
The importance of creating relevance
‘Story being’ vs. ‘story worthy’
Insights and advice including ‘do the work’
Craig was professionally jealous of David Byrne for being incredible on so many levels, as an artist and a different kind of thinker. But also a lot of legendary designers from George Lois, Paul Ray to Mark Newsom, and of course Johnny Ive.
Check out https:www.happyproducts.com
