[Speaker 3]

Live from the Unchained TV headquarters in Los Angeles, California, this is Truth Files with Jane Velez-Mitchell. Get in touch during the show on socials. And make sure you don’t miss any of Unchained TV’s award-winning programs by downloading the app to your phone, tablet, or smart TV.

 

And now with the headlines. It’s Jane Velez-Mitchell.

 

[Speaker 1]

Welcome to Truth Files. So glad that you are here. Thank you for joining us.

 

We are live on our streaming network, Unchained TV, as well as across social media. Comment, share, be a part of it. Let’s solve the world’s problems, why don’t we, in the next few minutes.

 

Money. Well, it makes the world go round, as they say, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be nice if we could use our money not to deplete the Earth’s resources, but to reverse climate change, to save animals from unnecessary suffering, and still get everything we need and want?

 

Well, guess what? There is a new loyalty program that’s going to allow us to do exactly that. And I’m so delighted and excited that the founder of The Good Card, which is that new loyalty program, is here with us today, as well as some of the businesses involved.

 

Jill Ettinger, CEO of Ethos, tell us what exactly is The Good Card? Well, first, thanks, Jane, for having us here. We’re really excited to talk to your audience.

 

Good Card is kind of what you just said. It is a loyalty program that is focused in the LA area right now, and we are bridging together businesses and consumers who want to save money and do good. So bringing in conscious businesses to offer discounts, whether that’s a percent off of the total bill, or maybe it’s a freebie.

 

There’s a lot of different ways that businesses can kind of present these offers to consumers. And then for members, we know people love loyalty card programs. Half of Americans belong to at least one.

 

Eighty-four percent say that they’re more likely to shop at a business that offers a loyalty program. So we’re bringing all of those together under one roof in LA. So these are businesses, restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, you name it.

 

And then all you do is flash your card and you get the savings that that business is offering. Well, we’re very excited that we have two members of the loyalty program, Yoga Earth, which is an incredible business. One of my favorite restaurants on the planet.

 

So before we go to Melissa and Andrea, who are with Yoga Earth, let’s introduce you a little bit to their incredible, absolutely incredible product. Hi, my name is Melissa. I’m the founder and owner of Yoga Earth.

 

It’s our 10-year anniversary this weekend. Yay. And we’re celebrating at all four locations.

 

We’re celebrating at our Glendale store, our Santa Monica store, our Echo Park store, and our franchise Granada Hill store. Yoga Earth’s unique because we make everything in-house that’s all organic and vegan. We make it with our almond cashew base and it’s super delicious.

 

My name is Andrea Castillo and I am the owner of the Granada Hills Yoga Earth franchise store. Very rewarding to get people to come in, not even know that we’re vegan and just try out our free samples and be like, wow, this is my favorite chocolate or all the kids. This is my favorite vanilla that I’ve ever had.

 

Right. And then having all these customers just come back again and again and come hang out and honestly, you know, have just the time of their lives over some delicious homemade ice cream. And yes, I have to admit those were my two dogs partaking of that incredible ice cream.

 

They can have a little bit of the vanilla. Melissa Schulman, founder of Yoga Earth. First of all, your product is extraordinary.

 

I can testify in a court of law. How does the good card help your, how does it help your business thrive? Yeah, thanks for having us, Jane.

 

And we’re excited to be a part of the good card. Um, so I mean, we’re basically as one of the businesses that signed up, we’re going to offer some kind of a discount or a deal. And then all the other restaurants and places that Jill mentioned will do the same.

 

And then hopefully it will get customers to visit these places more because they’re going to get a deal at our store. They’re going to get a deal at other stores. And so they’ll get to get save some money and they’ll be able to support the businesses that are doing some good in the world that are like eco-friendly, sustainable, vegan or, um, you know, are signed up on the good card.

 

And so, so we’re excited to be a part of it. Well, I am very excited that you’re a part of it because I will be going even more often to Yoga Earth. And honestly, it is an addiction.

 

If I’m even within a five mile radius, I find myself being drawn to Yoga Earth. Now, um, Andrea Castillo, you are a franchise owner owning the Yoga Earth in Granada Hills. So weigh in on how you feel this loyalty program, the good card will help your business.

 

Yeah, I think, you know, in very similar ways as Melissa, um, kind of mentioned, but also, you know, we opened the store about a year ago. We just celebrated our first year, uh, being open on August 3rd. So, you know, a lot of the times for us, it’s like that newness factor has already kind of gone away a little bit.

 

And so being part of like a loyalty program like this allows for, um, customers that have been maybe just once, you know, cause we’ve only been around for a year to come back and be, um, you know, have a, have a reason to come and visit the store again. It’s just, you know, another nudge for our customers. And then also like new customers, right?

 

Like just the discovery factor could be really great for us. So, um, I really think with us being like a new location, especially in the Valley, um, this is another touch point that I think our customers would be really excited about. So how does it work, Jill?

 

Um, when I think of a card, maybe I’m old fashioned, but I think of a physical card, like something that you hold a piece of plastic, God forbid plastic. Right. So, so how exactly would I enable myself to take advantage of the good card?

 

I’m a little old fashioned too, Jane. As part of the reason we did this instead of an app, we felt like everyone was a little bit overloaded with apps. They need a lot of maintenance.

 

Every time I open an app, it seems like I have to update it. So we were pretty fond of the plastic card, although we wanted to do it without the plastic. So we are launching, uh, next month, we’ll have, uh, digital cards that go right into your smartphone wallet for both Android and Apple.

 

It’s pretty simple. Once you sign up, um, it just gives you the steps to just go ahead and add your card to your digital wallet. And then when you’re in the stores, uh, you can flash it.

 

The business owners can also scan it if they want to verify or double check anything, and that will open up your account and shows, um, that you are indeed a member of the program. Well, I love this idea because I believe in the vagonomy. I don’t know if that’s something that you’re, uh, specifically interested.

 

I know you’re supporting eco-friendly, uh, companies, but I like to give my money to people and, and institutions and companies that I know are on the right side of history. And so I would love to see this everywhere, uh, that people are running ethical businesses. My question to you is how do you filter, uh, the applications to determine that the businesses you’re including are truly ethical?

 

That’s a great question. We are working right now, one-on-one with each business. A lot of them, I know personally, I’ve lived in LA since 2009.

 

So we are doing outreach to businesses that we know meet this criteria. And we’re looking for businesses that have a wide range of vegan options to your, how did you say it? Vagonomy.

 

We’re also looking at businesses that are supporting, uh, sustainable manufacturing, whether that’s clothing or home goods. We’re also tapping into the wellness market. We have like-minded studios in Venice, which is a, um, uh, spa and wellness facility.

 

So helping people take care of themselves while taking care of the planet. We know also that LA has the most minority and women-owned businesses in the U.S., some 244,000. So we’re really eager to get our members more acclimated and familiar with these businesses that are doing good in and throughout the city.

 

I just love this idea. And one thing I want to just really break down so that we can make sure that everybody understands the process. So here it says thegoodcard.co, sign up easily, download the good card to your digital wallet, start doing good. I’ll break it down for us one more time. I’m holding my phone in my hand and I just really, um, am excited about taking part, but sometimes I can get lost in the process. Yeah, uh, it’s, it’s pretty much as simple as the steps there.

 

Once we open the membership next month, you’ll go in, you’ll sign up, you’ll create an account. There’ll be a link to go ahead and download and add the card to your wallet. I have things in my wallet right now, like my insurance card, um, my, uh, like Apple cash, um, my COVID vaccinations, all of that are kind of in, in the wallet.

 

So you can just simply add, uh, the card to your wallet. And then, uh, from there you can just go into stores that are participating. Um, and the deals will always be live on the site.

 

We’ll also be doing, uh, regular emails with updates. Like for example, Yoga Earth may want to just have a ice cream party on a Tuesday afternoon, and we will just ping our members and say, Hey, head over there right now. Maybe they’re offering something extra as an incentive to come by.

 

So we’ll be in regular touch. But even if we’re, if there’s no, you know, we don’t have to have an email from us to go out and use the card. You could stop in to read grocery.

 

We’ve got Pura Vida in West Hollywood on there. Uh, like I mentioned, like Minded Studios, we’re adding more and more businesses every day. Go in, flash your card.

 

They’ll, the discounts or the deals will be live on the site, which you can access from your phone as well. And then, um, the businesses may say, Oh, actually, while you’re here today, we’re also offering this deal. So, um, you can kind of grab those and, and it’s a great way for Angeleno’s to save money.

 

It is a ridiculously expensive city. So we’re hoping that this will, uh, bring some relief to people who live here, as well as the business owners, bringing people through the door. And, um, and everybody can kind of, uh, support, support each other.

 

So I went on your website, which is thegoodcard.co, and there was a place to sign up. I put my email in. So I’ll be one of those notified when it’s time to, um, is it, do you take a photo of something?

 

Cause I know I have my, let’s say driver’s license, but I had to take a photo of that to put it in my Apple wallet. Uh, no, you’ll just doubt you’ll just follow the steps and download it. And then it’ll just add right in.

 

Um, just do it’s like one, two, three. Yeah. You just add it.

 

I mean, you could take a photo of it if you want. I just want to get it down because I think everybody should go to thegoodcard.co sign up. And you know, what’s really funny is that, uh, some people feel that let’s say going plant-based and being involved in a sustainable lifestyle is going to be alienating.

 

And they’re going to lose their friends. Actually, I think we can all attest. It’s the exact opposite.

 

I literally could go out every night of the week if I wanted to, to another eco-friendly plant-based sustainable event. And, um, it, it really creates community, which when we talk about how and why people change community is really the core. We like to appeal to people rationally, right?

 

You should do this because look at climate change, look at the fires, look at the floods, look at the suffering of animals, look at the health consequences of eating bad food, all of these reasons. But there’s a great book that I just finished reading called change. That says actually humans are pack animals.

 

And the greatest predictor of where, whether they do something is whether other people, their neighbors, their friends, their coworkers, people in their community start doing it. So the answer is create community. And I mean, I think this is creating community.

 

Would you like to jump in on that, uh, Melissa? I mean, yeah, I, that’s what I was getting to as Jill was speaking, that this is all about community and, you know, owning yogurt for 10 years now. Um, you know, only you, we have a lot of customers that aren’t vegan.

 

I mean, I would say only 30 to 40% of our customers are vegan and the rest are foodies, health conscious people, dessert lovers, ice cream lovers. And we want to bring them all in and we want them all to taste it because like Jane said, it’s really, really good. And so like, it’s through bringing in the community and it doesn’t, whether you’re vegan or not come in, enjoy the deal from the good card and taste some delicious, you know, ice cream, soft serve, frozen yogurt, and enjoy it with your community and then learn about it.

 

And then, you know, once you find out it’s, even if you don’t even realize it’s vegan, the beginning, you eventually realize it and then you’re, you’re, you’re amazed and that will get you to want to try more vegan food. And so what I love about the good card, like you said, community, it’s a community of businesses coming together. It’s a community of customers coming together.

 

They’re getting something delicious out of it, or, you know, some, something out of a hotel or something. And the businesses are getting support from the community as well, because we all know how hard it is right now, um, to own businesses. And so, um, yeah, it’s, it’s all about community and, and supporting each other.

 

I just recently went to your 10th anniversary party at your Santa Monica yogurt. It was so fun and I could see events happening regularly in that space. So Jill, would that be something, how would you announce that?

 

Uh, absolutely. Events are a big part of what we’re rolling out in the next year. We would do that via email.

 

We’ll also do that via SMS. So if people sign up with their phone number, we can send them text blasts if they’re interested in events. We’ll also be doing fun giveaways, um, all kinds of, you know, fun access only for good card members. We are planning to roll out to other cities within the next year as well.

 

So, um, lots in store and definitely events. Those are my favorite. Well, I have to say the first couple of businesses that you’ve created here happen to be my favorite, pretty much my favorite places to go.

 

So, uh, along with Yoga Earth, which is founded by Melissa, you see there, there is another business that is so amazing called Pura Vita in West Hollywood, authentic Italian cuisine, a hundred percent plant-based, Unshamed TV, recently profiled them in our kale cruise series. Check it out. We are in West Hollywood, one of the trendiest neighborhoods in Southern California.

 

They have amazing food here and we’re going to go to probably my favorite Italian restaurant.

 

[Speaker 3]

Let’s go to Pura Vita.

 

[Speaker 2]

So, oh my God, look at all the delicious food. It’s our, uh, cashew it’s cashew and tofu half and half. So the, the cashew provides the fattiness of the, of the cheese.

 

The tofu kind of lightens it up for the correct texture of the ripota and also makes it really high in protein and nutritious. And, um, our grilled ciabatta bread, which just have a little olive oil and garlic on it. Super simple dish, but it’s definitely wins the hearts of everyone.

 

Hey, I know you talk a little bit about this in your forthcoming book.

 

[Speaker 1]

This is why this is like my favorite Italian restaurant, but I have to ask you Tara. I mean, I think the greater challenge for Carbonara is the egginess. How did you achieve that sort of emulsification that really brings the richness of Carbonara to this plate?

 

[Speaker 2]

They were using avocado in the sauce to replace the egg. Wow. So I love my culture and I really always wanted to hold on to my culture.

 

[Speaker 1]

It is such an incredible restaurant. And I mean, I could go on all day first Pura Vita for dinner, then for dessert yogurt. But, um, also notice that Tara Punzone, who was the one who created, uh, Pura Vita has come out with a book.

 

How might you Jill coordinate that as well? Is it, is it only standalone places like physical places you visit, or can you incorporate products? And for example, the Korean vegan just launched a whole new product line of vegan K-beauty.

 

I see such potential here. Just take it away. Um, yeah, Pura Vita is, is the best.

 

It’s so good. I’m so hungry just watching that. Um, right now we could do fun, some fun giveaways with the books and that would be a great, uh, option.

 

Uh, the plan is down the line to have this work online as well. Uh, we felt that the, the bigger urgency was brick and mortar locations throughout LA. So that is kind of where we’re putting our focus right now.

 

Um, but we would love to do, um, if, if Tara’s watching and wants to give away a book to our audience, let’s do it. Uh, we’d love to do the K-beauty as well. Um, there are certainly a lot of different directions that we’re taking this.

 

Uh, it’s, it’s a really big, uh, a big plan and we have to go kind of baby steps and, and we’re starting right now with the, uh, the businesses, but absolutely. So I think this is extremely important right now, uh, not to be a downer, but veganism has been under attack. We know the meat industry has launched a multimillion dollar campaign of things like masters and beef advocacies, trying to get social media, thousands of social media, people out there actively promoting eating animals.

 

Um, so we are, I think, as a community coming together and saying, we have to do something about this. Veg Media Watch recently started up that holds journalists to account. And now we have this proactive, let’s support vegan businesses.

 

So let me do a round robin and ask everybody, where are we right now? Because nothing ever goes straight up. I mean, when Beyond Meat had its IPO in 2019, it was the most successful IPO in well over a decade.

 

People were just, and then the attack started and now, uh, we’re regrouping and coming up again. So, so what are your thoughts on that, Melissa, as a founder of, uh, a business that’s now got four locations? Yeah.

 

Um, I mean, I can tell you that the bias is still out there and it’s been out there the whole 10 years we’ve been doing this. Like I train, um, our team members, like don’t immediately say everything’s vegan when they come in or everything’s gluten free or all these terms that turn some people off. Um, not everyone, but some people that we really want them to taste the ice cream soft serve before, you know, before we dive into anything.

 

And so we just very gently mentioned that everything’s made in house. It’s all organic with an almond cashew base because we want to make sure if they have an allergy that, you know, that we catch it early on. Um, but we don’t want to, we don’t personally, I have found it’s better over the 10 years as a restaurant owner, um, of a vegan establishment to, to not, um, hit people overhead with it to be, um, it’s in the store.

 

It’s a very clearly labeled on the store that it’s vegan and we’re very proud of it. Um, but we really want them to taste it. Um, that’s, that’s where the magic is.

 

And so I really think for as far as restaurants go for them to survive, you really have to appeal to everyone. And I don’t, I think it is very challenging if you’re just appealing to the vegan community. Um, and I think you have to appeal to everyone.

 

We’re very fortunate that yogurt just tastes very delicious and it is for everyone. And a lot of vegan food does, um, definitely Pure Vita. And I mean, I’ve, there’s a million great, um, vegan places in LA, but I think that’s really something, uh, that’s important to keep in mind.

 

And yeah, for us, we’re just more subtle with it. We’re super proud of it, but we’re just more subtle about it. We’re, we really wanted to create a healthier frozen yogurt soft serve that, um, that’s better for your health, better for the animals, better for the planet and a very sustainable, sustainable, eco-friendly business.

 

So we kind of focus on that and we, that’s what everyone kind of needs to focus on, um, as you know, with what we’re dealing with in the world today. So, um, that’s, I hope that answers your questions that that’s kind of, we’re, we’re just kind of focusing on getting people in to taste our frozen yogurt and to build in community because from the beginning, we really wanted to be a community spot too. So build community, get people in to enjoy the ice cream and, and then, and also, honestly, I want to get into schools and show kids how we make the soft serve because we make it in such a cool way.

 

We hand almond milk. So for me, that’s been a few times this year so far. And it’s one of the things that I want to do in the future.

 

Introduce them young so they’re not scared of it. Absolutely. Andrea.

 

Yeah. So it’s kind of a tough question. So I’ve personally been vegan for almost 10 years and I’ve definitely seen from a consumer standpoint, um, a shift, right?

 

It was like super hot to be vegan. And then now it’s kind of, you know, the stigma is still there. I think like Melissa was alluding to, but I do, I am very optimistic because I do see more, uh, vegan plant-based options, like at the grocery store and, you know, even at restaurants that are non-vegan.

 

So clearly there is a demand for it. It’s just like Melissa was saying, like, how do we get people to not be so afraid of it and just walk into, um, you know, these businesses and, um, you know, like it for, for what it is for, for, for the taste. And then, um, you know, get educated with, with, with our businesses once, um, once they like learn to love it.

 

And we have a question here from Karen LaCava as a vegan realtor who uses stages that will do, she does vegan staging at her open houses. Let me know if there’s any way for me to get my business involved. What do you think?

 

Yeah. Email me jill at the good card.co. I’m happy to discuss. So from what I see now, it seems like this could grow exponentially.

 

It could expand to products. It could expand to books. It could expand to realtors.

 

Now I run a 501c3 nonprofit. We don’t try to make money. Au contraire, we offer everything for free.

 

Would there be a possibility of an organization such as Unchained TV getting involved in some way? That’s a great question. Absolutely.

 

It could be a partnership with a business that maybe wants to donate a portion of sales that month. We could do a different spotlights through our newsletter. Lots of, lots of opportunities.

 

Yeah. So how are you going to expand this to other cities around the country, Jill? Same way.

 

I’m heading to New York in a few weeks. We’ll be talking with businesses there. I already have a few meetings set up, getting them excited about it.

 

And then, and then onward from there, I think we’re going to focus on LA and New York for 2025, 2026. You had mentioned that when you, when people sign up to these, there’s an increase in visitors. In other words, if a company, a store or restaurant has a loyalty program, that then it increases the foot traffic?

 

Yeah, I have some data here. Half of all Americans belong to at least one loyalty program. 84% say that when they belong to a loyalty program or if a store offers it, they’re more likely to shop there.

 

73% are more likely to spend more if a store offers a loyalty program. For context, Target has a hundred million loyalty members. That’s a third of the US population.

 

Starbucks has 40 million. And then the stat that I really love is 47% of consumers say that loyalty programs help reduce stress when shopping. I think it takes a little bit of load off of the costs.

 

When they know that they’re getting something back for their spend, it really reduces stress while shopping. Well, also you’ve gotten a nice write-up in Veg News. It says, exclusive Los Angeles gets its first ever eco-minded loyalty program.

 

A loyalty program is about to launch in LA, giving members access to discounts, rewards and exclusive deals at eco-minded and plant forward restaurants and shops across the city. Now, you know what I say? This feels like a club.

 

Everybody in the world wants to join a club. It’s true, it’s true. Yeah, it’s the human condition, right?

 

In a way, it is kind of like being part of a club and the requirement for membership is compassion. You know, I’ll say nobody likes to be the first person on the dance floor has been my experience. And so we felt like not only are we building the dance floor, but we’re getting out there and bringing all of our friends, these amazing businesses, and we hope Angelinos will join us.

 

Well, what I love about The Good Card, and I signed up, I urge everybody to sign up. It is so darn easy. You literally go to thegoodcard.co and you just scroll down and put your email in. And the next thing you know, you’re going to be invited to be part of this club. But what I really liked about it is that I’m learning about new businesses. So I had no idea something called RE existed.

 

Where have I been? RE is a supermarket, I think, that makes it easier and more affordable to shop sustainably, to do better than recycling, to say no to plastics altogether. And they said since their launch in 2020, they have diverted over half a million items of packaging from landfill.

 

So right there, I feel like, wow, I would love to go to that place. And I never even knew, Jill, that it existed until just now. Oh, it’s great.

 

There’s one right down the street from us here in Studio City. They have a lovely location in Highland Park. And then another one closer to you in Mar Vista.

 

And it’s all bulk, no packaging, no plastic packaging. You can buy as little or as much as you want. They have grains, beans, all kinds of treats and snacks, oils, shampoos, soy sauce, soap.

 

They even sell tofu in bulk. It’s one of my favorite places to go. And kids love it.

 

My daughter loves to go. And you can weigh your containers on the scale so that you tear that weight when you’re shopping. And she loves to do the scooping.

 

So super fun way to take your kids and save some money and keep some plastic out of circulation. Well, I just have to say, I think this is a brilliant idea. Congratulations on coming up with it.

 

Again, people, The Good Card, it is so simple. And it’s going to go coast to coast. But right now it’s in Los Angeles.

 

You just go to thegoodcard.co and you sign up. And we’re happy to say we got a couple of signups already. We have Nilo Farr has signed up.

 

Emmy Liu. And I know that Michelle signed up. And I’ve signed up.

 

And we’ve got a couple more here. Tiffany says sign me up. You sign yourself up, lady.

 

And yeah, Karen just signed up. So we’re on our way. I just want to congratulate you for a brilliant idea.

 

A long time coming. And I hope that thousands of companies that are compassionate take part in this. And I just say bravo because this is the kind of forward thinking we need, solutionary thinking we need to save the planet.

 

The clock is ticking. Meanwhile, I urge everybody, of course, to download Unchained TV. We are the world’s only free non-profit streaming television network.

 

And you can watch us online as well as on your TV, on your phone. Just go online, for example, to unchained.tv. So it’s a vegan Netflix. Okay, that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.

 

I love Unchained TV.

 

[Speaker 4]

Unchained. Unchained TV. Your life will change.

 

It’s just that easy.

 

[Speaker 1]

Unchained TV has all sorts of content for everybody. Unchained TV changed my life. Unchained TV is crushing it.

 

I love Unchained TV.

 

[Speaker 2]

Unchained TV is my go-to. Unchained TV. Who knew?

 

[Speaker 4]

Unchained, baby! Yay!