Internal working call between Mark Hope and Karly Oykhman covering four topics: finalizing the Salesforce opportunity approval flow design for Lincoln, diagnosing Doodla website 502/504 errors traced to cron job overload, resolving Amazon FBA expired inventory and tightening the inventory strategy, and discussing a performance-based partnership pivot for the THC client following new Delta-9 restrictions.
Attendees: Mark Hope, Karly Oykhman
Source: Fathom recording
Goal: Build an opportunity-level approval flow for Lincoln, who needs to approve new opportunities before they enter the active pipeline.
Designed flow:
Sales rep identifies potential project
↓
Is this an existing client?
├── No → Create Lead (standard process, no approval needed)
└── Yes → Create Opportunity (stage = "Draft")
↓
Automated email to Lincoln: "Draft opportunity awaiting approval"
↓
Lincoln reviews → Approved?
├── No → TBD with Lincoln (convert to lead, archive, etc.)
└── Yes → Auto-change stage: Draft → first active stage
Automated email to sales rep: "Opportunity approved"
Implementation notes:
- Karly will clean up the Mural flowchart and add sticky notes annotating automation logic for Dimitri
- Present to Lincoln on Friday 11 AM call for process validation before Dimitri builds it
- Future expansion may include multi-step approvals routing through Finance and Design departments
Open question: What does Lincoln want to happen on rejection? (Convert to lead? Archive? Needs to be defined on the Friday call.)
Symptoms: Slow page loads, frequent 502/504 gateway errors. Occurring on Doodla and intermittently on other WP Engine-hosted sites.
Root cause identified: Server overload from excessive background WordPress cron jobs. Claude analysis of the exported cron job list flagged WP Rocket's "Remove Unused CSS Queue Runner" as the most likely culprit, along with the General Action Scheduler Queue and WP Rocket Pending Jobs Processor.
Actions taken during this call:
- Replaced Cloudflare Turnstile with WooCommerce v3 CAPTCHA (Turnstile was blocking order completions)
- Confirmed "Remove Unused CSS" was already disabled in WP Rocket settings
- Deactivated Imagify (redundant with Smush for image optimization)
- Deactivated WooCommerce HubSpot Sync plugin
- WP Engine tracer is active on the site
Retained plugins (with rationale):
- HubSpot main plugin — needed for newsletter subscriber capture
- Klaviyo — actively in use
- ShipStation — needed for order fulfillment
Remaining work:
- Check database table sizes and autoloaded data for bloat (requires console access)
- Evaluate switching from WP-Cron to a real server-side cron job
- Continue coordination with WP Engine on tracer results
See also: [1] for broader site context.
Problem: Amazon flagged Doodla inventory as expired. Gilbert (Amazon account manager) reported no pull-back reports available — Amazon simply flagged it as expired.
Root cause: Initial over-stocking when the FBA account launched. Pallets were shipped to meet anticipated demand, but some SKUs moved slowly enough that inventory aged past the declared shelf life.
Resolution:
- Immediate: Dispose of expired inventory through Amazon. Disposal fee is minimal (essentially a dumpster fee). Return shipping is more expensive and not recommended.
- Alternative considered: Donate to food pantry and write off as charitable contribution (viable for some food products).
- Packaging note: Doodla uses "Best By" dates, not expiration dates — legally appropriate for non-perishables. No labeling change required.
Long-term strategy:
- Maintain FBA inventory levels in a 3–6 month window at all times
- Never go below 3 months (stockout risk) or above 6 months (expiration risk)
- Mark will join the Friday 11 AM Doodla call to discuss directly with the client
Context: A new federal bill restricted Delta-9 THC by inserting language into a temporary spending bill, effectively overriding the 2018 Farm Bill provisions that had legalized hemp-derived Delta-9. CBD products remain unaffected.
Client status: ClearMix (primary Delta-9 product) ads paused. Client is developing non-THC stick pack products (energy, sleep aid). Fieldwell website project continues but will need to pivot away from Delta-9 product promotion.
Mark's proposed partnership model:
- AAG creates a new stick pack brand (similar positioning to Liquid IV or Drip Drop)
- Client manufactures the product
- AAG handles all Amazon setup, design, and marketing
- Client pays no retainer — AAG earns ~10% of sales
- Client retains remaining margin (~40% if manufacturing margin is ~50%)
- Rationale: gives client a new revenue stream and manufacturing volume; aligns AAG incentives with client growth
Other product directions discussed:
- Pet products — high consumer spend category, existing product line to build on
- Mushroom extracts — functional mushrooms (Lion's Mane, etc.) with clear extraction technology; potential differentiation if they can produce a clear powder (vs. muddy mushroom powder in coffee)
Next step: Karly to propose an in-person strategy meeting with Mark Gudla to align on direction.