You're seeing this first. You subscribed to this newsletter, which tells me you already get it. The whole point of BYOB isn't about me having a cute container brand. It's about refusing single-use plastic. The mission is bigger than the product, and it's definitely bigger than my ego.

So if I'm going to be a little embarrassed in front of anyone, I'd rather it be you.

The product needed a face. An active one.

When I launched BYOB, I was fully prepared to handle all the behind-the-scenes work and let the product speak for itself. Strategy, logistics, building systems — that's where I'm happiest. Being expressive on camera for the internet was not in the original plan.

But here's what I've come to understand: selling a product that requires a behavior change is not like selling a product that already has a category. When someone sees a candle, they know what a candle is. They just decide if they want yours. When someone sees BYOB for the first time, they need to understand what it is, why their current habit isn't working, and why making the switch is easier than they think.

That requires a face. An active face. Someone willing to show up consistently across every type of content and reach people wherever they are, not just wherever it's comfortable to be.

Digital content reach is a different kind of work than I expected. It's not one post. It's not one channel. It's video, blog, email, social, short form, long form, funny, educational, personal. You have to show up in all the places and in all the ways. And when you're building awareness around a concept most people have never considered, you have to make it easy and fun for them to receive.

Enter my daughter, the editor.

I made the video. My daughter edited it. When I watched it back I told her: "This is good. I hope no one I know sees it."

She was not concerned.

I'm a private person when it comes to putting myself out there publicly. I'm also genuinely silly, and those two things have had to work out an arrangement. The arrangement is: I do it anyway, because the mission is worth more than my comfort level.

Every time someone walks out of a restaurant with a styrofoam box that will sit in a landfill for the next five hundred years, that's the thing I'm thinking about. Not how I look in a video.

Watch the video Opens on Instagram

What I'm hoping happens next.

Honestly? I want this to go viral. Not because I need the attention, but because every share means one more person who finds out that the styrofoam box is optional. One more person who learns that there's a better way to bring their leftovers home. One more person who gets to feel good about a small choice they make every single week.

That's the goal. That's always been the goal.

If this video makes you smile, share it. If it tips you over into finally trying BYOB, even better. And if someone you know sees it and recognizes me, please tell them I was very dignified the entire time.