Concept · Haircare
CAYO
Minimal daily haircare built around healthier ingredients.
Will Kiel
An extension
of the founder.
In the field.
Less time behind dashboards, more time in stores, at events, and around the people a brand is actually for.
See the work
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About
Hi, I'm Will.
I work alongside founder-led consumer brands during launches, retail visits, creator campaigns, and the everyday moments where brands are actually built. I spend more time in stores than in spreadsheets because that's where the best ideas usually come from.
Everything below comes from real work in the field, not staged portfolio projects.
- •Retail launches
- •Founder relationships
- •Creator & community
Case Study 01 · Retail Launch
Erewhon
launch.
Agoge's first time on Erewhon shelves. Store visits, buyer conversations, content shot on the floor, and the small decisions that only get made in person.
Store visit
On the floor at Erewhon
01 / 05
01 / 05
Store visit
On the floor at Erewhon
Perspective
How I think.
A few observations from spending time with founders, retailers, creators, and customers. The work behind the work.
An Introduction to my Work.
How I think about brand building.
The right environment is the work.
Why place shapes what gets made.
Finding your agency.
Moving without waiting to be told.
Case Study 02 · Founder Relationships
Retail & founder stories.
Trust usually gets built long before there's a project, a camera, or a reason to work together.
Better Together Foods · Founder Story
I met the founder of Better Together Foods a year earlier, while he was handing out samples himself inside a Sprouts. A year later I was tasting his newest launch, on camera.
Case Study 03 · Creator & Community
Creator &
brand content.
Content should document momentum, not manufacture it. These moments came from launches, retail visits, conversations, and the work happening around them.
Grand Tetons · Agoge
Matcha in the mountains
01 / 08
01 / 08
Grand Tetons · Agoge
Matcha in the mountains
Product living where the customer actually is.
The Approach
How I work.
Less performance. More presence.
- 01
Spend time where the brand actually exists.
- 02
Visit retailers to understand the customer experience.
- 03
Talk with customers before looking at dashboards.
- 04
Support launches before and after they happen.
- 05
Create content where products are actually being used.
- 06
Help founders notice opportunities they can't see from behind a laptop.
- 07
Connect retail, creators, ecommerce, and storytelling into one system.
The Framework
GROWTH
systems
Three revenue engines that work together. Retail, creators, content, and community exist to feed the three.
01
TikTok
Creators, affiliates, TikTok Shop
Creator-led discovery, affiliate flywheels, and Shop conversion mapped to paid social performance.
02
Amazon
Conversion & search
PDP advising, review velocity, search-intent copy, and Sponsored testing tied to margin, not spend.
03
Shopify
Website, email, retention
Storefront as brand HQ. Custom sections, education, lifecycle email, and repeat-purchase economics.
Field Notes
Lessons from
the field.
Small observations from time on the ground. Written down so I can keep coming back to them.
- № 01
“The best marketing ideas I've had started inside stores, not inside meetings.”
- № 02
“Every founder I've admired spends time where customers actually buy.”
- № 03
“Retail tells the truth.”
- № 04
“Community is built one conversation at a time.”
- № 05
“Great launches don't end when the product hits the shelf.”
- № 06
“People buy stories before they buy products.”
- № 07
“Presence beats performance, most of the time.”
- № 08
“The customer's language is more useful than the brand's.”
In Progress
Building.
Things I'm actively working on outside of client work.
Concept · Supplements
Wild Water Supps
Making fish oil feel like a brand people actually want to use.
Tourism · Studio
No Plans?
Helping tourism businesses grow through authentic storytelling and customer acquisition.
Movement · Community
The Functional Man
Building a movement around purpose, mentorship, and living a more functional life.
Currently
Looking for.
The kinds of partnerships and brands I'm most interested in working with right now.
01
Embedded Partnerships
I work closely with a small number of founder-led consumer brands.
02
Consumer Products
Food, wellness, outdoor, lifestyle, and premium consumer brands.
03
Field Work
Retail launches, creator communities, events, founder support, and real-world storytelling.
Say hi
Let's grab a
coffee.
Working on something interesting? I'd like to hear about it.
A retail launch, a creator community, or just a second opinion. No deck required.