Halloween marketing call with Mark Doudlah, Gilbert Barrongo, and Karly Oykhman (Lucy Doudlah was on the road and unable to join). The call covered a record-breaking Amazon October, the near-ready B2B site launch, a critical Old World popcorn inventory situation, and a time-sensitive Walmart verification issue tied to an upcoming Walton family meeting.
Attendees:
- Mark Doudlah (external) — mark.r.doudlah@gmail.com
- Lucy Doudlah (external, absent) — lucy@doudlahfarms.com
- Jason Doudlah (external) — jason.doudlah@gmail.com
- Gilbert Barrongo — Asymmetric
- Karly Oykhman — Asymmetric
- Avokerie Onorimuo — Asymmetric
Industry Type, Job Title, and Location fields to all contacts before accounts are created — agreed it is far easier to do now than to retrofit later.| Owner | Task | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Karly | Email Lucy re: GoDaddy domain access transfer | Renewal mid-November |
| Karly | Email Lucy re: $80 gift card plugin approval | Replaces defunct Loom plugin |
| Mark | Accept Amazon Seller Central invite | Forwarded to Karly; Gilbert to process on receipt |
| Karly | Forward Amazon invite from Mark to Gilbert | Original email delayed in transit |
| Gilbert | Check Old World returns / bag issues; report to Mark | Zipper seal concerns raised |
| Karly | Email Mark Old World SKU quantities for Justin order | Urgent — <3 months inventory |
| Karly | Email Mark Hope re: 2025 holdbacks by channel / SKU / total lbs | Needed for crop planning |
| Karly | Add Industry / Title / Location tagging to B2B contacts; then load Lucy's list | Do before account creation |
| Karly | Email Mark recap with 2–3 B2B pilot testers (incl. Sherry Howard) | Mark to confirm others with Lucy |
| Karly | Follow up on Walmart verification if no update by mid-next week | ~2 weeks elapsed as of call |
| Karly | Finalize B2B backend (payments, ShipStation) with Mark | Target: complete before next weekly call |
| Karly | Forward November newsletter draft to Lucy for review | Lucy to approve before send |
| Karly | Email meeting recording link to Mark (for Lucy) | Lucy was on the road |
October 2024 — Record Month: $115,000
Gilbert presented the Seller Rise dashboard covering July 1 – October 30.
| Metric | Prior State | Current State |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Sales | ~$100k goal | $115,000 (record) |
| Margin | As low as 9% (July) | Consistently >30% (35–45% recent days) |
| TACOS | As high as 35% | ~19% |
| Organic units | Lagging | On uptrend |
Strategic direction: Incrementally reduce ad spend so organic unit share grows relative to advertised units. Goal is to reach 50%+ margins over time. Mark confirmed: "Let's do it slowly, but surely."
Product notes:
- Wheat and other products with excess inventory responded well to coupons — months-of-inventory figures dropped sharply after coupon activation.
- Old World popcorn coupon was removed to protect remaining stock.
- Returns are low overall; some returns on cornmeal, minimal on Old World.
"We've been through three groups to manage our Amazon account. I would call the first two fraudulent." — Mark Doudlah
Mark requested a full SKU-level sales forecast from Mark Hope covering all channels:
- Amazon
- B2B website
- Walmart
- Doudlah Farms direct website
Output needed: projected units per SKU + total pounds per product to determine warehouse holdback quantities for the 2025 crop.
Status: Paused — final backend testing in progress
Karly and Mark (internal) are completing:
1. Payment processing setup
2. ShipStation integration
Account creation is deliberately held until testing is complete, because creating accounts triggers automatic onboarding emails to customers.
Plan for next weekly call: Full site walkthrough / deep review with Mark and Lucy before any accounts go live.
Current contact data includes: wholesaler name, email, shipping info, payment info, and pricing tiers — but lacks Industry Type, Job Title, and Location.
These fields are required to:
- Target schools vs. chefs vs. wholesalers vs. natural food stores with appropriate messaging
- Exclude contacts in geographies Doudlah Farms cannot service (e.g., California delivery radius)
"It'd be easier to create it now than to fix it later." — Mark Doudlah
HubSpot tagging approach:
- Wisconsin Local Foods Database list → tagged with school district name + "Local Foods Database" list label
- Lucy's list → tagged by industry type + job title once fields are added
- All B2B contacts → enrolled in existing monthly newsletter immediately
- Dedicated B2B campaigns → target early 2025
Begin with 2–3 trusted contacts willing to give candid feedback:
- Confirmed: Sherry Howard, Seasonal Harvest (strong relationship with Lucy)
- TBD: Mark to ask Lucy for 1–2 more names
Verification is still pending as of the call date (~1.5 weeks elapsed; expected SLA is 5 business days).
Urgency: Lucy has a meeting in Chicago in the first or second week of November with members of the Walton family (Sam Walton's descendants). The meeting is focused on women in CPG / food and regenerative agriculture. The organizer specifically requested Lucy attend to discuss the farm. Having an active Walmart presence before that meeting would strengthen the conversation, which may involve financing discussions.
Next step: Karly to follow up with Walmart if no update by mid-next week.
Mark proposed a warm, family-focused image: kids and a mom threading popcorn onto a string to drape on a Christmas tree.
"It's homey, it's welcoming, it's family, it's together time… our family feeding their family." — Mark Doudlah
Karly suggested pairing with a social media post using the same imagery.