good morning, coming up on msnbc, "your business," we sit down with actress kate hudson who is spearheading her clothing line, fabletics. retailers turn to new technology to get smopers offline and into the store. you know about millennials, what are perennials? why you may be one. find out who they are, coming up next on "your business." will your business be head di- when growth presents itself? we can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order.

or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. for those who find new ways to grow their business, american express open proudly presents "your business" on msnbc. hi, everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg. welcome to "your business," the show dedicated to helping grow your business. kate hudson has been a trend setter on the air and off. she's giving women fashionable choices for their workout. her empire is expanding with retailers nationwide and extended sizing. i sat down with kate in new york

city to talk about why it is so much more than just a business to her, but why she doesn't want to give up her day job in this small biz stars. raised in a celebrity household and with several film credits, including her award winning role in "almost famous" under her belt, kate hudson is no stranger to the spotlight n. 2013, she added a new title to her resume, business owner. >> my partners who came to me had an idea. they felt there was a wide space in athleisure for affordable active wear that was more fashion forward and they came to me thinking that it would be the right fit. when i really sat and thought about it, it was like this is just my life. it makes total sense. >> she launched her line of workout clothes and athletic

wear called fabletics. >> we did not expect the amount of success in this short of time. that was exciting and allowed for me to have a much quicker learning curve in this world, which is a completely new thing for me in business. >> reporter: she doesn't have a traditional background in business, but kate says her acting career helped her bring new ideas to the table. >> as a creative, you go in and think i could never be a business person. my brain doesn't work that way. you realize it's as creative as being on a set for me because you have to come at things differently. i don't think the formula in business is always working. so, you know, just coming up with different ideas to stay competitive is actually an incredibly creative process. i remember the first time my partner sent me our weekly numbers. i looked at this sheet and i was like, and i called him.

i was like, hey, i think you might just need to go through this with me so i understand what i'm looking at. now -- >> you got it. >> yeah, you learn the language. i think certain people have a kind of instinct for what people want. when you are in this business, to me,itis really about, what do the girls want? sometimes what fashion trends are trying to tell you, you might have to say, i think we can take this risk. i really think girls are going to be looking towards this and hopefully be on the cutting edge of that. >> if you took a range of i am the face of this company to i am running the company, where are you? >> am i somewhere up there? am i the face? no. i mean, i am, but i'm more than that. you know, i'm an owner of the company. i have a lot of say in the things that go on inside of it. but, i wouldn't be able to do this without my partners. i mean, the whole style and

family, what they do, i don't know that would have been my choice job for me personally, as an actress. i'd like to keep my day job and have a new day job. i like to be a part of the things i'm strongly suited toward. >> it started as an e-commerce company, which is modern. now you have retail stores and television commercials, which is going back to the way things were typically done. >> we wanted to allow the consumer to touch and feel product. now, we are at 18 stores. we'll be at almost 20 soon. they seem to be working fine because we have such a devoted customer in our membership program. they like to see what we are offering, not just the outfit they want to buy that month. >> kate saysitis more than a business for her. it's been a way to connect with

women in a brand-new way. >> whereas i would have people say i love this movie or that movie, women come up wanting to talk about the things they are doing in their life. one woman said my husband left me, i gained 50 pounds and lost every ounce of it. here we are. we had this conversation with this random woman i would never have a conversation with. we talked relationships. that felt important to me. >> it's not just -- >> no, it's not. that's part of where the success comes from, when it's authentic and you know the message is something people believe in, they get on board. i think our company is really,itis all about let's just relax. at the end of the day, if you are not making a huge lifestyle change and you are not enjoying it, it's going to be one daunting task to get a more healthy lifestyle. how do you change the dialogue and make it more fun for women?

how do you make them feel like this is a great moment in their lives and make them feel like they can get stronger without having to go from zero to 1,000? that's what we are trying to do, shift the lifestyle. it's been well documented that retail is reeling before chain stores and mom and pops. it is simply a challenge to get people offline and into the store. as msnbc's jo ling kent reports, one company is disrupting that through the use of high-tech. >> brands across the country are fast forwarding to the future, launching new technology to disrupt the traditional shopping experience and lure you into their stores. >> it feels like you are shopping in the future. >> the whole process is quite simple, actually. >> it was a fun experience. >> in san francisco, sustainable clothing brand reformation

opened their first high-tech store. instead of searching for your size, the clothes come to you. shoppers select the style, color and size on a touch screen. in 122 seconds, store clerks stock a magic wardrobe and your choices await you. >> they don't fight with customers for a size and have 100 things on their arm and deal with that piece. >> so easy. >> need another size? it's a couple taps away. >> it feels far away from a traditional store. >> ready to go. >> perfect, thank you. >> ikea customers can arrange to see if the couch works in your home. oak lab is the company behind it. shoppers spend 60% more if they engage with the mirror. facecake deploys augmented reality to test make up in realtime without having to put anything on.

foot traffic at retailers down a whopping 57% in the last five years, designer rebecca says upgrading the shopping experience is critical to surviving and growing. can you afford not to do all of this in terms of technology? could you just decide i'm going to stick with the tried and true? >> with, you know, multiple brands, clothing stores and brans not making it, i think if you are going to go into brick and mortar, now is the time to embrace technology and figure out what you need to gain an edge on getting your consumer to come in. >> customers are greeted with an interactive wall to order up the clothes to try on along with a glass of bubbly. you can order clothes to your fitting room without going past the first two steps of the store? >> correct. >> it's a store going nationwide. the mirror senses the clothing,

shows them on the screen and offers new outfit ideas at eye level. there's adjustable lighting. >> the ding is an associate getting the notification. >> how has this technology impacted your sales and bottom line? >> we know from the data, when the consumer goes into the dressing room, she is buying three times more the apparel. >> a healthy bump for business as a new twist on shopping lands in stores. the power of brand is more relevant than ever before, especially when it comes to your social media identity. marketing should go beyond the products you sell and the services you provide. chelsea krost is a millennial marketing strategist with best practices to share with us. good to see you. >> great to see you, thank you. >> i think you have got to think about what your brand is, what you stand for. when it comes to social media,

you are not selling. all you are doing is furthering this brand to connect with people. >> you just nailed it on the head. here is the thing. before we dive into branding tips and what to do, let's step back for a second. let's do a brand audit on ourself. we are new into the new year. this is the perfect time to do it. when i talk about a brand audit, look at your brand, look at your messaging, your color story. look at what social channels you currently have live. look at how often you have been engaging on those channels. look at the past months or three months worth of content to see which got the most engagement. that's how you know what to generate more of and step back for a second. make sure all the imagery is up to date. make sure your content is up to date. make sure the bios in every social channel is relevant information. that is like your business card there. step back, do a brand audit

before you step forward. >> what do you do in this situation? you have a brand, it is clear. you put up a social post that is a little off brand and it goes bonkers. everyone loves it. what do you do with that information? you can't change your brand, right? how do you then fit it in? >> that is social listening at its finest. that is an important key here, social listening on and offline. social listening to what your audience is liking or demanding more of. you can be creating content you think is fantastic. then dwrou that random, miscellaneous content and realize that's what the audience ate up. maybe that's the direction you move forward with the content strategy. listening is key. doing a brand audit further allows you to get to know your audience and suit yourself up that much better to roll out your most effective strategy going forward.

>> do you feel like you can then do some selling on social media? you established a brand and this communication. can you then slip in things about selling your product? >> here is the thing when it comes to social media. look at it is building grand awareness and building your community. when you have built brand awareness, they kind of start to do the selling for you. they start to generate content around your product, your services and that is called user generated content. that user generated content is more effective to sell your consumer than you, the brand, the business, pumping out, hey, buy our new product. social media should be a place where you build your brand community. facebook is still -- still trumps all when it comes to social media platforms. facebook is a great platform to use to sell a product. facebook and instagram merged in

integration for their ads. now you can do cross platform ads to make it easier on facebook and instagram. if you are looking to sell to a consumer, facebook is incredibly effective and for the millennial generation, the ideal target is between 18 and 30. instagram is not a platform to overlook, especially if you are in the visual space. fitness, fashion, food, instagram is your friend and every business should be on facebook. >> chelsea, i think this is great advice. i love your idea of just taking a step back and doing a brand audit, even if you feel like your brand is very well defined, it does not hurt to just go through with your team and say, does this all fit and what's working and what's not. so good to see you. >> definitely. >> i appreciate your advice. we all know what a millennial is and a genxer and boomer.

that's how people hit us up with products and services. gina pell felt once she passed a certain age, she got ads for products for the older sect. that is not what she was looking for. she coined a new term for marketers and it's resinated around the world. there's a new term in town and has people buzzing around the globe. gaga's one. so is fallon. ellen is one, too. move over millennials, it's the dawning of the age of perennials. what are perennials? >> i describe them as people of all ages who defy generations of stereo types and tonight to push up against the growing edge, ever evolving, blooming, relevant people. >> gina pell published a piece called meet the perennials on the story telling site, media. within days, it had gone arnds

the world. from fast company to the london evening standard, gina knew she tapped into something that was striking a cord. >> it was genius, i thought. it affirmed what it was that we have always been doing. >> susan is the founder of eo, a powerhouse in the body industry based in marin county, california. when she heard the term pl perennial she is glad there was a word to describe them. their base has been reflected in their marketing. demographics mean little. age, it's simply a number. >> by limiting things that way, it sort of is like a pseudoexclusion and we are so much more about inclusion. millennials can be perennials. genxers can be perennials.

this is the inclusiveness we need in this divisive world right now. >> give me a list of companies you think of as perennial companies? >> amazon leads the pact. they are targeting you based on your purchasing behavior. amazon doesn't say you hit 40, you need geratol. i use their products and so do my children. when my daughter was 18 months eald, apple has such an intuitive product, she knew how to pinch, pull and swipe. >> when they read meat the perennials, she knew gina was on to something. you have been a marketer for a long time. why demographics doesn't that work anymore? >> i think it was kind of a tool that was created before social technology took over the world. now that we are all on facebook and twitter and all the social platforms, we know exactly what people like. those are the people that we

should be targeting, people are like minded, not people of a certain age. >> the term perennial resinated with her so much she used it in a national campaign for sonic driving. >> you are a millennial, i'm more of a perennial. growing business owners everywhere are embracing the idea of the perennial consumer and marketing based on shared values, beliefs and passions. in the heart of san francisco, there's nothing subtle about the splash hit water made in the beverage industry. the perennial thread that runs through the fruit infused water is undeniable. >> when you think of how to market your products, do you think about age? >> not at all. it's about solving problems, not only solving problems but creating awareness for people. >> she turned hip water into a daily, must have for many.

stocking the fridge of giants like google and facebook. >> they are really about healthy living, removing sweeteners from their diet. it's about the quality of life for them and the quality of the product. we believe as long as we have a great tasting product and great quality product, age is really agnostic. >> singer, john legend, who is part of the perennial pack is an investor in hint water. >> i believe in them. >> it has appeal to me and my children. they make a water my kids z love to drink. it's hard to get kids to drink anything that is healthy for them. it's healthy for the entire family. >> when eo launched the line for the family calls everyone in 2012, it was a game changer. the all inclusive mind set from product development to marketing made sense. >> i saw people needed something that was understandable,

affordable, multipurpose. we started with six products in 2012. the whole company has grown 35% year over year for the past five years. >> your years. >> your packaging says paren yell more than anything else. >> for every one tammy enbody. >> the design of the packaging, a lot of people can relate to. >> yes. the type face, the colors, and just the simplicity and straightforwardness. it's not based on gender or age. >> look in the zix nar and this is what you find for perennial. enduring, everlasting, enduring. >> what does it make you think when people think back on the term perennial in years, you'll be the founder of it. >> i would love to come up with a term that makes people feel relevant of all ages. if i can do that, then --

>> you've done your job. >> with so many productivity apps and witnesses to choose from, time spending the right ones can cut into your ability to get things done. so this week we have five of the best ones courtesy of entrepreneur. >> one, trello, if you have hard deadlines to get your team in sync, check out this collaboration platplatform. it syncs across devices. two, fanthe tastical 2. it lets users create detailed reminders about upcoming events. >> three, 1password. if you have a password for each side but have a hard time

remembering them all, this keeps track of them for you safely. >> four, this pocket. this read it later app lets you read articles for later so you can stay focussed on the task at hand. >> ifttt, if this, then that, it lets you send e-mails and sync social media posts. you can also sync it to smart home control devices like lights and thermostats. when we come back, if you want to get in the game, you may need a business coach. and should a viewer keep the name of his tree business even though he no longer sells trees? will your business be ready when growth presents itself? american express open cards can help you take on a new job,

or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. we have this e-mail from john in north carolina. he writes. i have have had a hobby business called architectural trees for 19 years. we sold distinctive trees. i'm changing from trees to shrubs and annuals. is it possible to keep my name and brand even though i no longer sell trees? >> here's the problem. if you're going to have a company named trees, it's hard to do something that doesn't involve trees. if i go to a steak house c i'm

not looking to buy lumber. you can change the name to something that fits what your business is while still maintaining your current relationship with your current clients. there's nothing wrong with asking your current clients, we're changing our name, the feel free to tell people we're doing more than trees. they might find you and find you don't fit and never come back. work with what they're looking for. in this case, it's no longer trees. >> we now have the top two tips you need to know to help you grow your business. let's get our panel's advice. ed a fralfred ed mondamond and e c caplin-lewis. >> i have a new appreciation for business coaches.

i was like what do you need a coach for to run your business. someone put it to me this way. even tom brady at the top of their games have coaches. coaches can see things you can't see. they can look at you from the outside and the tell why the ball is going where it's going or in your case, why your sales are going to way they're going, and they really pay off. the key is to get someone who can provide you with referrals or people who can say they got measurable results. a lot of coaches talk about how they can inspire you, but it's all about points on the board. >> what does measurable results mean for a business coach? >> if your sales plateaued, you want a coach that has other clients that can say my sales ratcheted up. if the goal is to be more effective with social media, you want someone who says based on the recommendations, my analytics show a stronger sense of conversion. >> i think people think someone is going to help me with

leadership, some personal issues around managing. the way you're drying it sounds a little more like a consultant. >> my thing is that there are cheer leaders which may make you feel good about what you're doing but they're not going to help you perform better on the field, and then there are coaches. real coaches are saying let me analyze your process and communication skills depending on what you're trying to fix and improve. there should be measurable results. a lot of coaches are just very good cheer leaders. >> stephanie, your company is impressive. you started right after college. and it's been how many years? >> you seven years. we started it while we were undergrads at harvard. >> it's amazing. it's fast-growing, reaching college students. what's one tip you've learned? >> one tip i have is to establish and ar the tickulate core values. internal facing core values for you, your business partners and your employees. one thing we found is in the

early stages of your company, the culture happens naturally. you don't necessarily need to spell it out in any way. but as time goes on, as your early employees leave and new employees join, you have to be more intentional about setting that culture. we found setting core values can be a helpful way to do that. >> how do you communicate them? a lot of companies do it, and then they put it into a drawer and never see it again. how do you make it really a part of your every day running of your business? >> exactly. we had the same thing. we didn't want to just present them to the team once and no one remembers what they are. we actually thread them into all our performance reviews. they have a certain section that's about their specific job responsibilities for their role, and then we are also creating them based on how fully we see them embodying each of the core values. they're keeping them at the top of mind because they're coming up every year, be performance review schedule. they'll be held accountable to

see how they're matching the core values. >> i think a key when you're talk act your key values, there are words you think everyone wants. innovative, everyone wants that. we should have innovative companies, but maybe your company is not, and that's okay because of whatever you're doing. we should be truly thinking about what is it about my company that makes us special rather than what is kind of -- what's in the e thoes right now. >> all right. great ideas from both of you. thank you. this week's selfie comes from the owner of monday morning flower and balloon company in new jersey. with hand delivery and hand shipments around the country. it's fun for us to see the photos from around the country. please send us yours. take a selfie of you and your business and send it to us at

yourbusiness@msnbc.com. thank you for joining us. we would love to hear from you. if you have questions or comments, e-mail us at yourbusiness@msnbc.com. we posted all the segments from today's show plus more on our website today. don't forget to connect with us on our digital and social media platforms. we look forward to see you. we make your business our business. will your business be ready when growth presents itself? american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order

or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. we know proactive policing, broken windows, community-based policing has transformed our law enforcement capabilities, why would we want to impose a consent decree that undermines that. >> we are going to end the catch and release policy. i have charged each of the 94 united states attorneys offices to make criminal immigration enforcement a prior