x1 help. another reason to love x1. say "teach me more" into your voice remote to get started. good morning. coming up on msnbc, your which is business, we'll show you how chris and heidi powell built a digital fitness empire. after launching two successful companies, he hit rock bottom. the founder of this company says her pillowcases improve hair and skin while you sleep. she convinced shop fie to feature their product in pop-up stores. we have your back with information and advice to run your companies. that's all coming up next on "your business."

♪ >> announcer: your business is sponsored by american express. don't do business without it. hi there everyone. i'm j.j. ramberg and welcome to your business. a show dedicate today helping your growing business. chris and heidi powell have been in the business of transforming lives for a long time. the health and fitness experts gained notoriety on their hit show extreme weight loss where they helped a select few lose weight on the show every season. when the show ended, the couple finally had a chance to turn their attention to the rest of us. they've built the transform app. now anyone can follow chris and heidi's workouts, nutrition advice and coaching one-on-one.

>> the partnership between chris and heidi powell is not for the faint of heart. between their four kids, multiple businesses and working out, this dynamic duo never seems to sleep. >> raise your knees up to your chest and do 20 seconds of these jackknife crunches. >> the personal trainers and diet and fitness experts became household names during their five-year run as the host of abc's extreme weight loss. >> mike, you are a champ. 240 pounds. >> i love it. the scope of the show limited them to helping a few people each year. >> one of the biggest struggles for us on the show, we could work with 15 people in a season. that's it. but the problem, though, is that when every single episode, it starts off with, i wrote a letter to chris and heidi, they

answered my call. when they air that episode around the world, we were getting, i mean, tens of thousands of letters, which is really overwhelming. who are we to say no when basically everyone is watching us transform 15 lives. there's 150 million lives that need to be transformed out there. >> since the show finished, the pair have written books, launched several side projects associated with their brand. but the development of their transform app has been the thing that has taken the ethos of their tv show and extend td to the masses. >> no matter what your fitness goals are, we have the transformation for you. thank goodness for technology, we can create that whole experience of transformation virtually and guide people through and when you run into a problem, we can be there with you. >> not developers to make a complex app like this a reality, heidi organized the project by defining smart goals. >> always make smart goals. no matter if it's a goal you're

making physically to run a marathon or whatever or a goal to lose x number of pounds or if it's a goal to start up this business and achieve this much growth revenue by this period of time. a smart goal is necessary. smart is specific measurable attainable realistic and time bound. >> if you follow those five things when making a goal, that goes for anything we do in our life as well, your chance was actually reaching it or so much higher now. adding this to it, we say don't make a smart goal, but make a smart goal and declare it to someone in your life so they can hold you accountable. >> heidi was the one that kept chris accountable as they developed the app. keeping crazy hours and spending more time behind a desk than ever before, the transform app would never have seen the light of day if it weren't for some tough love from hide. >> because if it were up to chris, the app never would have

relea released. the book never would have been done. it would never be good enough. he was like i want to add this and this. he needs people to say, okay, that's 2.0, chris. 1.0, this is all we're delivering. >> i know. >> we still -- it's hard because i know what i want to create for the masses. i know what i want to create for the world. but at the same time, in business sometimes you have to -- we talked about the minimal viable product. they literally have to tear it out of my hands. give them what you got. we'll call it 2.1. okay, 2.1. i go back to my developer and we start cranking out the next version and we're all starting to fall into the roles where we excel. which has been really amazing. you almost reach this point in business where it's like you booed strap it for so long and

it starts to take form. >> before there was the transform app, there was stacks. >> we have red stacked containers for protein, yellow for carbohydrates and green containers for veggies. >> he launched it before he met heidi that never seemed to quite get off the ground and drained his bank account and put him deeply into debt. >> so you'll see versions of stacks in a few other products out on the market now. there's ties between all of those and me. there are people i pitched it to early on and within about a year and a half to two years, it hit the market. >> what a great learning sense. >> in so many ways, i mean there are ways that his contracts were structured at the time, if those were still in existence, he never would be free to do what we've been able to do. never would have learned the lessons. you have to know when you got to cut something off. >> it was a lesson that taught them a lot about business and how to approach everything they

did moving forward. >> i'm the dreamer. but she's the doer. it's amazing. we've been able to position ourselves so that i can focus on doing what i do well, which is continuing to dream and then as the doer, she rallies the team. we knew where we wanted to go early on. but it's taken ten years now to get to where we are now. when the show came to an end, it created that opportunity for us to build the machine that we needed to be able to take people through that journey of transformation. >> a young successful entrepreneur and he lived life large. too large, really. his business story is a tale of caution and redemption. he went from great heights to rock bottom. with a whole new attitude, he's thrown his current handbag company. i talked to him about his biggest challenges and how he

found the strength and wisdom to navigate through them. tony is the chief executive of ham mitt. a thriving handbag company in her most a beach, california. just eight years ago, his story was anything but a success. he was homeless in a financial crisis and trying to save the business that meant everything to him. >> i ran out of all of my money. i lost my house. i couldn't make the payments. >> ham mitt was his third business venture. it was filled with major mistakes and deep regrets. he was determined that this time he was going to do things right. this ohio native made his first fortune in the 1990s when they founded a roofing company. >> things moved fast and the money came in quickly, i thaut i could do no wrong. >> what motivated you in those days? >> the money. >> he overindulged in all things fast and furious. >> i bought ferraris, everything

was red. a truck to pull it. >> the company for you it sounds like was just sort of an atm machine. >> while he was a fantastic salesman, his company was not focused on providing the best product or the best service. that came back to bite them when things started to falter. instead of facing those hard times, tony walked. >> why did you walk away instead of fixing it? >> i wasn't happy. i lost my motivation and i literally just -- >> were you depressed? >> yeah, i was. >> he did a lot of soul searching. he went to a tony robbins event. he went to burning man. he tried to think about what was important to him and tony decided he was ready to start fresh. >> i went into the residential finance business right before the boom, early 2000. development of real estate and things started to take off again. that was a nice run. again, everything started flowing. i got married. that felt like a good period in my life. >> as his business and personal

life started thriving again, tony stopped doing the work on himself as a person. the actual thing that turned his life around before. >> when the money started flowing, i stopped putting the work in. my marriage ended and my son and i started to struggle. >> how did it feel. you had had a great life for a moment. then it all falls apart. >> you know, i have a shirt that says seeker now. working oun yourself has to be a continuous process. >> like the last time, tony did more exploration. he decided to dive into one of his uncapped passions. he turned his love for creativity into hammitt. i love art, architecture design. i've always enjoyed that. i thought i could put that into building a handbag brand. >> he partnered with an existing designer and eventually took over the whole company. >> what i came into this business, i had enough money, i thought, to build it. >> but he didn't.

>> money is going fast, sales are not. i ran out of my money in a couple years. >> the situation was bad. he lost his home and spent nearly two years sleeping on friends' couches. >> does it feel shameful at all? >> there was a lot of shame around the wastefulness early in life. don't live backwards, right? i still had great things every day that i could focus on. that's what kept me going. >> losing his foundation didn't deter him from trying to save hammitt and become the effective leader that he wanted to be. >> even in the worst of times, you have to make sure everybody knows you're still going forward. >> was it easy to talk to people about it? >> not in the beginning. all of a sudden a light bulb went on. i don't give a [ bleep ]. i started to share with people. i'm homeless. it's going to be okay. it was cathartic. >> he learned to embrace the tough times instead of running from them. he was eventually able to get the company back on track by

cutting major expenses in two key areas. one on the sales front. he stopped using pricey show rooms and reps to drum up business. opting instead for one internal salesperson in addition to himself. in the design department, tony saved a fortune building a small in-house team of creators instead of high priced freelance artists. it's become a go-to accessory line for the everyday women and a-lister. >> if you know it and wearing it, you think the energy of the bag attracts people to it. >> tony himself has evolved into a leader who values his employees and believes in the power of mentorship. >> three or four interns are now all in leading positions in my company. they're smart and they're inspired. >> this time around you've done so much thinking and exploring about your motivations. you think it's here to stay? >> i've hold people to hold me

accountable. >> tony changes have not happened just at work. his approach to big-time spending in his personal life, well, it looks nothing like it used to. >> when someone walks up to me with a hammitt, i love it, it's my favorite bag, it's the new ferrari, the new shiny boat. >> what do you do now with the profits? >> it's all going right back in. >> i love this business. it's an amazing opportunity to build something that will last way beyond my lifetime. no matter what kind of business you're in, i can promise you one thing. you'll deal with tough times. a lot of times it might be because of something completely out of your control. the chief executive officer of the zillow group, he oversees the company portfolio real estate and home-related brands. he was one of the co-founders of hot wire.com. he's been through his share of tough times on the other side. at least for now. >> knock on wood. >> first of all, great to see

you. thank you for stopping by. >> thank you for having me. >> i want to know this. you started hot wire and then 9/11 happened. people started -- stopped traveling quite a bit. you started zillow and then there was the recession and people stopped buying homes. both companies survived after these things. >> i might be a little unlucky. whatever i start next might be -- >> might be crashing or lucky. on the other side of both of them. >> you're right. these events happened in both cases. it changed both of those companies forever. what we did in both case, hot wire in 2001, zillow in 2008, was first of all, make sure the company was right-sized for the new reality. in both cases, we cut the company. we went from about 200 to 300 employees to 150 to 200 employees. >> at hot wire. >> at both. almost the same size. >> when you do that, how do you keep the morale of the people in the company still up and not

petrified there will be another round. >> you make sure the cut is deep enough there won't be a second cut. a lot of companies are forced -- they cut a little bit and forced to do it again. that's when you lose credibility with the employees. what we did is returned to first principles and the mission. we said to those that remained, we're going to lock arms and unite and sort of turn this adversity into an advantage, into a strength. in both cases, both companies became more efficient, much more effective and real doubled -- redoubled their effort post adversity. in the case of zillow in 2008, it forced us to focus sounds obvious much more on revenue than on product. we were a startup a couple years in. we're focused on shipping product and growing audience and then 2008 happened and we had to figure out how to become profitable. >> in some ways many times there's a blessing in disguise,

right? when things are good, it masks a lot of the problems. >> what is it, the warren buffett quote. it's not until the tide goes out then you know who is swimming naked. when things are going well, it masks inefficiencies and issues that are masked over by macro -- >> how do you deal with the personal fear? everything is great and suddenly the bottom falls out. how do you work with that? >> as a ceo it's one thing i deal with all the time. the difference between the public persona and the private persona. employees want their ceo to seem confident and capable. know what dprdirection the ship be steered. you have doubts. i'm careful what i say where and things i discuss with my leadership team are different than the 4,000 employee company. being aware of the different

personas. >> not painting a rosie picture when it's not that rosie. >> absolutely. >> you took both companies through hard times and high ends. zillow is doing great. good to see you. for today's pitch, we've done something special. partnered with shopify. one of the leading commerce platforms. they work with 600,000 merchants. they know what they're talking about. we're here in los angeles where they've opened up a permanent space to help merchants grow their businesses. our elevator pitcher, if she wins, will get two prizes. the first is she's going to get her product placed in a shopify store and the second, this is the part i'm excited about, she's going to get mentorship from an expert at shopify who are experts in growing businesses. let's go meet our pitcher. >> today's elevator pitcher is camilla hurley. >> i'm grateful to be here.

i have been since day one committed to shopify and their platform and being here is just such an honor. thank you so much. >> that would be so good. >> madison and white is my company. we're the company that believes beauty actually starts in bed. >> okay. we're going to do the full pitch to the pitchers in a second. i want the audience to know, i think this is amazing. you met one of the judges already. >> i did. i'm so sorry. i saw her sitting outside. i'm running up. i know that you started the company lively. you're my version of a celebrity. can i take a selfie with you? >> i did. >> it's going through to social media. i couldn't be more thrilled. >> that's exciting. now you get to pitch in front of her. >> i'm ready. let's do this. >> michelle cordero. you know the founder and ceo of lively. the second person is harley -- another one much your heroes. >> this is a life dream that i'm

getting ready to walk into. i'm going to enjoy the journey and know that i'm getting my beauty sleep tonight. >> fingers crossed. >> thank you. himent my name is camilla hurley. i'm the founder of a company called madison in white. a company that believes beauty starts in bed. our pillowcases are designed to enhance hair and skin as you sleep so that when you wake up in the morning, you have -- you can just get ready i and conquer the day with style. it's the fabric. it's different than anything else on the market. the fabric is made of maddox and it helps to stop bed head, reduce the pesky sleep wrinkles and eliminate knots and tangles. you get two pillowcases in one box for $79. as a single mom and as a small business owner, i'll let you know, i can't handle anything complicated. it's the reason why since day one, i actually had my company

start with shopify. it makes my life easier. one of the amazing things about it is that it has allowed me to start my company on the kitchen table and take it from coast to coast. shopify, i'm asking you guys, o. please join this slumber party. >> i like how you build up sh i shopify, too. >> i got a question, who do you compete with? >> i compete with still pillow cases. >> this is easy to take care of. it is vegan and cruelty free. you get all the same benefits. it feels like -- it does not feel like a cheap halloween discuss to costume. this meant to change your beauty game and not your home decor. >> what's the price of these? >> $79 for two pillow cases.

>> you go deliberate. >> where you got me is when you said it takes that tangles. for me and my daughter of the number of hours i spend coming her hair. >> my children sleep on it and it makes it flawless. i find that when i look good, i dream big and conquer all the goals i have in a day. >> how old is the company? >> the idea started in 2015. >> it is funded how? >> i have actually diligently pulled the money together myself and i have an an jegel helping. >> bring it back in. will you be on shopify? >> oh! i'm so excited. >> one thing we were talking about is this is a busy person's

dream. >> most women don't have the time to take care of themselves. the fact that you can sleep and has some beauty done to you and some really great stuff happening to your hair and skin is kind of amazing and perfect thing for any entrepreneur. i think you should emphasize it a little bit more not only a health product wu an efficiency. >> i will. >> you should lean into the idea of healthcare and join the conversation. that's what this product is. >> yes. >> once you unlock that and create content around that. >> by the way, i think you would be an amazing mentor. >> we need a slumber party. >> i would love that. >> absolutely. >> all right, congratulations. >> thank you so much, i am so excited. >> thank you. >> thank you to all of you who have gone and listen to our third season of the podcast, been there and built that. we love getting your feedback. this week it is with jen rubio.

she's the cofounder of the luggage brand away. her twitter handle is @jennifer. she talks to us about how she has grown this company which all started with an ah-ha moment with a piece of broken luggage and how she turns it into the talk of parties. please leave us some feedback, we love to hear what you think. >> when we come back, we got advice how government contracts can help you scale your small business. we address how women of color in the tech industry can navigate obstacles to success. you're in the business of helping people.

we're in the business of helping you. business loans for eligible card members up to fifty thousand dollars, decided in as little as 60 seconds. the powerful backing of american express. don't do business without it. so that is a great question. and you are right, there are not that many of us who have navigated these. there are some of us. i would look for men tos to help you along the way. i certainly have had great mentors. the other thing i would say to you is that what's really important is that you are

authentic because as you are trying to navigate and trying to get customers and investors and people could trust you, you have to present as yourself. you can't try to be anyone other than yourself. and so, you need to know your numbers and you need to know your business inside and out but present it in a way that's authentic to you and the right people and the right customers and investors will find you, i promise you. >> we now have the top two lists that you need to know. alexander, is the cofounder of ceo, a firm dedicated to help businesses identify and close on revenue generating deals. >> michael carbon, the organic grab and go health food provider. >> tell us something that our audience can benefit from?

>> you need to have a balance between having conviction of what you are doing and being m humble enough and care enough about winning to be able to step back and look and see what consumers want from you and how our trends are changing. >> i like how you put that. have conviction in what you are doing but care enough about winning. you put those as opposites. a lot of those people would have put that on the same side. >> we all have egos and pride and we forget. >> do you have someone in our company or friends who sort of slap you in the face and remind you, hey, step back a second, you are doing this wrong. >> i think i have reality of having 85 stores and 750 people working. just forcing myself to look at the me trics.

by having that viewpoint and teaching yourself to step back and be humble enough to recognize that what ultimately what my mission is, the school has taught me to be that way. >> alexander, you swoop into businesses and find them revenue generating opportunities and partnerships and making it happen. >> we do. >> you see a lot of companies going from here to there with your help. >> we think businesses really should explore doing business with government. >> but, a hard one to work with and a hard one to get in with from the get-go. how do you deal with that. that's part of our specialty. we think you have to in a grandular way to figure out government's pain points and often there is an over lap. no one has rnd anymore, all you

know walks in your door. they don't know what they don't know. so i suggest businesses raise their hands and say pick me, look at me. >> already, gregreat to see you congratulations on both of your company, it is impressive to hear how you both have grown. >> thank you for sthopiopping b. thanks for having us. >> your biz selfie comes from iris shelton in washington, d.c. and someone with stylish glasses. i love those. she got a consulting firm that helps business developing with productivity and marketing. take a selfie of you and your company and send it to yourbu e yourbusiyourbusi yourbusieyourbusi

yourbusiness@msnbc.com thank you for joining us. send us an e-mail ton youbusi s youbusiness@msnbc.c youbusiness@msnbc.com. we put everything on the show from you. don't forget to connect with us, remember to check out the broadcast, it is called "been there. built that." we look forward to seeing you, until then, i am jj ramburg, remember we make your business, our business. ♪ executive financ

ittee is now in session.e and... adjourned. business loans for eligible card members up to fifty thousand dollars, decided in as little as 60 seconds. the powerful backing of american express. don't do business without it. good morning everybody, welcome to up, i am david gura. there are 23 days until the midterms. new poll numbers indicate that voters are energized. president trump is talking about crowd size. >> who's going to kentucky? if 93,000 applying for 10,000, something is going on. >> the oval office, a new flannery frly free pastor, thank to the president. he and his wife praised