magazine | A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group

This past October 2017, I had the great honor and privilege of being interviewed by the CEO of Newsmodo, Rakhal Ebeli for their Brand Storytelling podcast. Throughout the course of our conversation, we spoke about my work in the fields of branding, content development, and education. In addition, we also discussed the importance of bridging the gap between brands, communities, and culture.

I was first introduced to the work of Newsmodo and Rakhal Ebeli after listening to their interview with Julian Mitchell on the topic of, “What Does “Content” Actually Mean?” After listening to this interview, I was inspired to compose a quick write-up on LinkedIn. My written piece was aimed at addressing the importance of building stories around the history of our products and services. As Julian mentioned in his interview with Rakhal, “The best brands in the world aren’t the companies or the products. It’s the spirit that represents the brand! Nike is a great brand that people purchase because it represents the spirit of any athlete that aspires to excellence.”

Here is my exact post:

A few days after posting this article and sharing my thoughts, I connected with Katherine Auchterlonie who is the Digital Marketing Manager at Newsmodo. About one month later, after learning more about one another’s work, I received a message from Katherine asking me if I would be interested in joining Newsmodo as a guest on their Brand Storytelling podcast. Of course I said yes. More importantly, a key thing worth mentioning here goes as follows:

I published my first article on LinkedIn on February 15, 2015.
To date, I have published 65 articles within the span of 2+ years.

Due to this, I want to stress the importance of staying strong and true to the messages we believe in and subscribe to. For years I have been creating and developing content. Although my content may not get many eyeballs…yet, I take the eyeballs that my work does garner very seriously. The content I do have allows people from all areas of life to identify a touchpoint which they may be able to resonate with. This is why creating content is so important when it comes to building relationships and creating opportunities for ourselves and others. Every time we publish an article, podcast, video, etc…it’s an opportunity to either positively or negatively impact someone else’s life. I personally choose the former. As a result, my content is a reflection of my brand, character, personality, mission, and vision.

There are always experiences and stories we can share and tell. Those who decide to do so are usually those who end up creating an impact on the lives of others. This is my mission. I discuss this mission in further detail with Rakhal throughout the span of our 18 minute conversation. This conversation is being broadcasted from my home in New Brunswick, NJ and his workplace in Australia.

In this interview, I discuss my work with Behind The Hustle, Driven Society, and We LOVE Hub City. I also discuss my admiration for Gary Vaynerchuk and the importance of building brand one interaction at a time. In addition, I share how and when I was first introduced to Fast Company magazine and why I’m inspired by brands such as H&M, Ikea, Warby Parker, and TOMS. Lastly, I share how curating and remixing culture will continue to allow us to form more meaningful and impactful relationships throughout the course of the future.

– Enjoy!!!

https://soundcloud.com/rakhal-ebeli/bridging-the-gap-brands-communities-culture

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(Uh • Kway • Us) Aquaus Kelley is a forward-thinking brand strategist, curator, and educator. As the Founder of A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group, he specializes in identifying talent and creating opportunities for brand development and social impact. Aquaus has worked with companies and organizations such as Behind The Hustle, Cornerstone Agency, City Year Miami, and W Hotels. He is extremely passionate about bridging the gap and building value between brands, communities, and culture. His ultimate mission is to use his influence to project positivity across the globe and invest in the collective future of society through the arts, education, entertainment, and leadership.

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Photo courtesy of Whole Foods Market via entrepreneur.com.

We first caught wind of 365 by Whole Foods while browsing through Fast Company magazine’s “100 Most Creative People in Business” June 2016 issue. Interestingly enough, we then caught a second wind when Juicero tweeted about juicing at the 365 by Whole Foods grand opening in the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles, CA on Wednesday May 25, 2016.

As they say, “Hearing things twice is just as nice.” (Okay, this may not always be the case) but regardless, we decided to revisit our issue of Fast Company and dig a little deeper into what the 365 by Whole Foods launch is all about!

Photo courtesy of Coley Brown for The New York Times.

Coming in at number 51 on Fast Company’s 2016 #MCP list is Jeff Turnas. Turnas is a 21-year Whole Foods veteran who was appointed to take over the new 365 by Whole Foods helm as president. “With Whole Foods’ same-store sales slightly declining, 365 by Whole Foods is an effort to compete with value-minded stores such as Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, and Fresh Market. These stores predominantly cater to younger and less affluent shoppers” says Sarah Kessler of Fast Company. “365 by Whole Foods is hoping its new brand will appeal to a broader demographic and fit into neighborhoods that might not support a higher-end store.”

365 by Whole Foods will offer a simple design and streamlined products (Whole Foods’ own 365 line) in an effort to mitigate operational costs and lower prices for customers. However, what really caught our attention in particular is 365 by Whole Foods, “Friends of 365” program.

Friends of 365 is an entrepreneurial move developed by Turnas to incorporate a sense of localized, independent, and creative entrepreneurial spirit by installing third-party vendors inside of its 365 by Whole Foods stores. As mentioned by Kessler, “The Silver Lake store features a café by Allegro Coffee Company and a NYC based vegan-burger restaurant, By Chloe” which of course happens to be one of our favorite vegan spots in the city!

According to Kessler, 365 by Whole Foods expects to launch 3 stores by the end of the year and another 10 in 2017. It is estimated from various sources that Whole Foods has signed ~ 16-19 leases for 365 stores around the United States. We don’t know about you, but we’re definitely looking forward to welcoming them to the east coast when the time is ripe (pun intended)!

Do you think that 365 by Whole Foods may turn out to be the youthful version of the traditional Whole Foods for budget conscious health-focused millennials? We guess we’ll have to wait and see!

Word Around The Web:

The 365 supermarkets are intended to appeal to younger shoppers and millennials who value quality foods but often have less disposable income. – Courtesy of Samantha Masunaga at Los Angeles Times

Executives are hoping young people will want to hang out at the store, rather than just shop. – Courtesy of Hayley Peterson at Business Insider

Turnas says the “hangout” factor is what will set 365 apart from its competitors. “Nobody hangs out at Trader Joe’s or Kroger,” he said. – Courtesy of Hayley Peterson at Business Insider

365 has plenty of eye-candy, which may prompt some millennials to get snap happy on Snapchat and Instagram. – Courtesy of Aimee Picchi at CBS News

Whole Foods said recently it has signed 19 leases for 365 stores around the United States. – Courtesy of Lisa Baertlein at Reuters

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A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group is a brand development agency that specializes in creating opportunities for brand development, exposure, and growth. With an emphasis on culture and lifestyle, the primary focus of A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group is to help companies adapt to culture and build value between brands and their consumers centered around love. Our social mission is to invest in the collective future of society through the arts, education, entertainment, and leadership. We are driven by AMBITION, fueled by PASSION, inspired by INNOVATION, and suckers for STRATEGY!

A Lovers Ambition Lifestyle Group

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Launches We LOVE: 365 by Whole Foods

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