In this episode of This Week in Business History, Scott is joined for a livestream with Unconventional Ventures’ Theodora Lau, as they discuss International Women’s Day, Mountain Dew, red wine, and so much more!

Scott Luton (00:11):

Good morning, Scott Luton here with you on this edition of this week in business history. Welcome to today’s show on this program, which is part of the supply chain. Now family of programming. We take a look back at the upcoming week, and then we share some of the most relevant events and milestones from years past, of course, mostly business focused with a little dab global supply chain. And occasionally we might just throw in a good story outside of our primary realm. So I invite you to join me on this. Look back in history to identify some of the most significant leaders, companies, innovations, and perhaps lessons learned in our collective business journey. Now let’s dive in to this week in business history. Hey, good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Scott Luton and special guest Theodore Lao here with you on the latest edition of this week in business history. Live Theo. How you doing?

Theo Lau (01:24):

I am very good. How are you doing Scott?

Scott Luton (01:27):

It is so good to have you back. I, I wanna say this is your third appearance as part of the extended family, but your first own biz history. So great to have you here.

Theo Lau (01:36):

Thank you for having me. I think this is one of the very, very few times we actually talk about history. So it was reciprocal.

Scott Luton (01:44):

I agree with you now for the three people out there that don’t know Theo L it’s really important. She’s a founder at unconventional ventures. She’s a world renowned thought leader and keynote on FinTech and AI amongst other things. She’s the author of the best seller beyond. Good. How technology is leading a purpose driven business revolution. I’ve got my copy. Great, great read. So Theo, thanks again. We’re gonna talk about some of those things about midway through the show. Does that sound good?

Theo Lau (02:12):

Perfect.

Scott Luton (02:13):

That sounds beyond good, right Theo.

Theo Lau (02:16):

Ooh, that’s a nice play. I need to remember that

Scott Luton (02:19):

All so great to have you all right. So two, all of our listeners out there, as some folks know, biz history focuses on lesser known stories of leaders and innovation at the intersection of you guessed business and history. We drop a new episode every Tuesday, including replays of our live sessions and the handcrafted masterpieces Theo. The handcrafted masterpieces at Kelly Barner continues to turn out and you can check all that out by finding this week in business history, wherever you get your podcast. But today Theo, we continue a newer aspect to our BI history programming BI history live. We get real creative with titles around here, Theo. We go live about every other week and today we’ve got, got five very interesting historical moments to share. Does that sound good to you?

Theo Lau (03:03):

It is wonderful. I think some of them are my favorite topics.

Scott Luton (03:07):

Ah, agree. We have lots of kindred spirits. I think we’re gonna find some very common favorite topics to get in here to get into here today. So you’re ready to dive in.

Theo Lau (03:17):

That’s good.

Scott Luton (03:19):

All right, let’s get, let’s get going here with talking one of our favorite favorite topics. Look at those gorgeous grapes. So number one on our list today, we wanna have a little fun first wanna talk about international Cabernet Sal day. Now this was new for me and you right Theo. This the day that is,

Theo Lau (03:37):

I had no idea, but you know what anything that has to do with wine less celebrated

Scott Luton (03:42):

<laugh> so a little background Cabernet Sion originated in Bordeaux, France as may. Many folks may guess it was born from a chance mixing back in the 17th century by of two very established wines of the time Cabernet Franc and Sion block. What’s interesting. The, you may know this is, it took them forever to really kind of find really PR with a great deal of accuracy and precision until DNA testing came around to really figure out where and when it originated, are you familiar with that? Mm,

Theo Lau (04:15):

No, no, no, no, no. I just know that it’s literally in labor of love to find, right. And to be able to create something that people like. It’s a lot of work

Scott Luton (04:25):

I’m with you. I’m with you, as Amanda says, international cab day also known as Tuesdays in the Lutton house. I love that. And big <laugh> big. Thanks to Amanda and clay. Of course, with us helping the make production happen here today. Thanks so much. All right. So as we continue down the story of one of our favorite topics, the serendipity grape, that’s what I’m calling serendipity grape new nickname. It’s grown to become one of the most popular varietals in the world. As of 2021, the total wine market was worth approximately 306 billion. That’s the total. Now that’s expected the, to grow some 10% a year from 2021 to 2025. Now I think you and I are, we’re doing our parts to help spur that growth. Is that right?

Theo Lau (05:10):

Yeah. Helping the economy growth. That’s how I like to call it.

Scott Luton (05:13):

Yes. I’m with you and big reds. Like some of our faves like cab Merlo and others showed double digit growth in 2021. So clearly there’s some of the most popular beverages in the industry. Now, according to the veno data, I think I said that, right? The veno data over 11% of all wines in the world contained Cabernet, Sion, the grape and many sources say that it’s the most widely planted grape in the world. So the, with all of that said, I got a question for you, and I think I already know your answer, but I’m gonna ask you for any of our listeners that may not, are you a wine enthusiast? And do you like a good cap?

Theo Lau (05:52):

Here you go. I did exhibit one, exhibit two. I do like red. Red is my favorite. I like big bold red. And my favorite grape variety is Nelo. So it it’s produced in Italy and Barlo as exhibits here, right? They are actually called king of wines. They are amazing. They are bone dry. And for those of you who are watching or listening, I would say, give it a shot. If you like cap it’s it’s. I do do cap. I like it. I do not discriminate. I love red, but I do prefer bar.

Scott Luton (06:35):

So, um, I’m gonna act, you know, we are with a wine consultant here with Theo and she shared Amanda Clay. She shared a link for one of her favorites, which is the, uh, one with the pink label. Let’s drop that link in the chat. So folks can, can, can splurge and find it. Now, Theo here at our house, at least with Amanda and I, I am a big Chardonnay fan. I like red, especially with certain meals, but probably my go-to is Chardonnay. And if I splurge in a bottle, which I think you and I may have a different definition of splurgy is I like Sonoma CRE, which is a Russian river valley Chardonnay. And you know, probably a lot of folks Kindle Jackson, that’s one of the most drinkable, easy, consistent wines out there. It’s like the Chick-fil-A of, of white wines. Maybe. I don’t know. You, you know, it’s always consistent, you know what I mean? OK. It’s like, it’s like a chicken sandwich now, are you a Chardonnay fan at all?

Theo Lau (07:30):

I can. And on occasions I do do chilled white wines. My favorite sunset. It’s a French wine and is amazing with seafood. I do do that, but I do tend to look for drinks that have a little bit less calories. So I think pretty sure we talked about it. My order is water and wine and whiskey, and that order and coffee is on top.

Scott Luton (07:58):

That’s right. I love it. Lot. Lots of kindred spirits there and ask Anisha received. Clay dropped the link to, we were, we were, we were kind of figuring out how to say that last name, Roberto Verios V vs. Maybe.

Theo Lau (08:13):

Yeah,

Scott Luton (08:14):

We regardless. We’ve got a link to that wonderful bottle of bar right there. So y’all check that out. Okay. So Theo, I love your water, wine and whiskey with coffee, kind of as the umbrella across all three, I’m gonna steal that from you, but I wanna move on a, on a kidding aside on kind of a more serious note item, number two, which brings us to, we’re still rightfully so celebrating women’s equality day, which was officially last Friday, but tell us more about what this means to you and, and some of your thoughts here.

Theo Lau (08:50):

Oh boy, where should we start? History lesson 19th amendment. It gave women the right to vote nationally on August 18th, 1920. That feels like years ago, right? To remind us of the struggles of the past president and future in Congress designated August 26, which he said last week as women’s equality, day back in 1971, again, that felt like ages ago, right? A few things I wanna draw attention to, to, to that day women’s equality day, even though the 19th amendment men gave women the right to vote back in 1920, it was not equal for everyone, including Asian American women, including black women and women who are living on Indian reserve. So that came much later. How did the state came about? It was really, really interesting. Actually it was back in 1973 years before I was born. Um, it was the 50th anniversary of the passage of 19th amendment.

Theo Lau (10:01):

Well, on that anniversary, there’s an organization called the national organization for women. It called upon women to demonstrate for equal rights and to strike for equality more than a hundred thousand women participate in demonstrations and rallies all around the country, 90 major cities and towns, and our voices were being heard. We wanted women at that time and we still do. We wanted equal opportunities and education, employment, access to childcare and, and all of the same things we are asking for today. The strike didn’t bring all of the changes we asked for, but what it did was it demonstrated the power of number and the power of strength. When we all come together and asked for something that we think it should have been a no brainer. And because of that strike, that was what led to the passage of era. Also known as equal rights amendment by contrast. Right, right after that in 1971 and subsequently by the us Senate, unfortunately we are now in 2022, the 28th amendment, the era was never added to the constitution. Hmm. So what we got was we got Congress to say, yay, you have a women’s equality day on August 26th. And no, we did not get the era. So the work is not done. We still have a lot of work to do to bring about equality and wage equality and economic power, equality, and access to healthcare. And all of that is still work in progress.

Scott Luton (11:39):

It is well, very well said, gosh, a lot of, a lot more heavy lifting to do for sure. And I’d love to, you know, Amanda, I’d love to get your take and clay your take. When we think about someone that works still to be done and especially Amanda from your journey, uh, and what you say. So Theo, if you had to some of the issues, there were more work needs to be done. If you had to pick one, cause I know you’re passionate about a lot of different causes and initiatives and, and work. If you had to pick one, what would that be?

Theo Lau (12:09):

Ouch. Oh, that’s hard. It’s not Christmas. I can’t have everything. So I would think caregiving is, is a, is, is a issue is a challenge that we need to recognize. The reason why I say that is when we think about caregiving is twofold. One is mothers, parents caring for young ones and also adult children, caregivers, family, caregivers, taking care of their older parents. It goes both ways. And the lack of caregiving infrastructure I would like to call it. It impacts women in many ways because either we have to take time out, right, to take care of our parents or not everyone have access to paid maternity care or paid family leave. And so they also have to either quit their job or to take unpaid time to take care of the newborn. So regardless of which side of the spectrum you’re looking at, it impacts women’s economic power. It impacts the way we work and how we work. A lot of women ended up either quitting the workforce or they have to choose jobs that give them more flexibility. I E lower pay. A lot of the challenges that we see from a money perspective comes from that. So I, if there’s only one thing I can get, I would love for both private and public sector to take care of the caregiving caregiving needs of women.

Scott Luton (13:36):

You know, I bet you just shine a light in the blind spot for some of our listeners with, will your answer to that question? So I appreciate you sharing. And then secondly, you know, we, I wish it was as simple as let’s go at one by one, you know, but we’ve got, we’ve gotta make progress across so many different fronts. So really truly, no one’s left behind and every, and everyone, no matter what walk of life can have opportunity in, in, in 2022, goodness gracious. So here’s some of those dates, you know? And, and can you imagine I’d love to go if I had a time machine and not to be, not to be hokey here, but if I had a time machine, can you imagine if you went back and you interviewed some of those folks that participated in those massive rallies and they saw legislation and right. Some of the right conversations taking place, it would be heartbreaking in some measures to, to share with them what certain aspects of, of society is in 2022. You know,

Theo Lau (14:34):

It is one other thing I, I, I have said a lot the last year is so much has changed and yet, so much has not changed. If we look at equal rights, something that, you know, we saw what we would take for granted only a handful of countries in this entire world have not ratified era United me. One of them, the other countries, Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Toga.

Scott Luton (15:05):

Wow.

Theo Lau (15:06):

So voila, so much has changed yet. So much still needs to be done.

Scott Luton (15:11):

Yep. Agreed. All right. So this is, this is from Amanda under this in business history. Amanda says international women’s day is great to recognize, but our mantra, deeds, not words well said comes to mind, less talk and more action. Excellent. Excellent point there. Thank you, Amanda. Okay. So Theo, thanks again for sharing some of your perspective there again, I think some of the folks, whether it’s the issue you mentioned with what you say, childcare infrastructure, what did you say? You said caregiving, caregiving infrastructure. I love that Theo. And then some of the backdrop for what led to recognizing last Friday. So thank you very much before we move on to I, number three, we’re gonna kind of shift gears into retail. We love talking retail around here. Tell us if you would, what prompted you to write this book beyond good. How technology is leading a purpose driven business revolution? What prompted it?

Theo Lau (16:07):

So my co-author Brett Leman and myself. We have spent the last few years working with a lot of startups, as well as incumbent around the world, United States and overseas. And we saw a lot of amazing people doing amazing things, not always getting the support and opportunities that we think they deserve. We also see a lot of different lessons learned if you will, from economies from overseas. Right?

Theo Lau (16:39):

And so we started writing about it and we started interviewing people around and about what they do. And then a publisher approached us and say, Hey, we love what you guys have been writing about. Would you like to put that in a book? And so that’s how that came to be because we believe that we believe in sharing. I, I think sharing is, is something we don’t do often. And learning from others is also something we do not do. Often. If we look at financial services, right, it is very well established in the west, the United States and UK Europe. And what have you. But if you look towards the east, you look at Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, south America, all of these economies, they’re doing amazing things with technology. We look back at C when we get relief funds from governments, right? Individuals, we get them in checks.

Theo Lau (17:41):

We get them in prepay cards. You know how people in Philippines were getting the, the assistance from government through their smartphone, same in China, same in a lot of other economies. And the funds get dispersed immediately and people can use it right away. We didn’t have to wait for a check to come in. We didn’t have to wait to go deposit. Good God, 20, 22, I’m still writing checks. So they’re part of, I, I think we can learn from others and also not just in applying technology, but also in their business models, make it less extractive and make it more inclusive. And so was how the book came about.

Scott Luton (18:22):

I love it. And, and it’s a great read. I love the altitude that you and Bradley keep it at. Cause anyone, you know, you’re clearly a FinTech guru amongst other things, but you keep it at altitude where folks don’t have to be, you know, those experts enjoy the read. So I really appreciate you sharing. And I think folks correct me if I’m wrong Theo, I think folks can go to beyond good book.com and many other places to get the book. Is that right?

Theo Lau (18:45):

Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you for mentioning it. And it is important that we learn across industries. So there are examples in there for those of you who like chocolates. I think we should find a story in there. There is a use case on Tony Choco. Those are chocolate bars that I found in Europe, and now they’re in the United States. And if you read about this story, it’s all about using technology, blockchain technology to trace the origin of their beans, to make sure they’re not employing slaves yes. Through supply chain. And so I think those are the type of examples that we can learn from, you know, cuz you talk to a lot of supply chain folks. And so the idea is how can we then employ those business models and practices and things that we do

Scott Luton (19:33):

Well said? I mean, it, as I hear you share, it’s about, you know, cross filtering and Intel sharing and really building a, a multi-industry fabric so that we can move forward in a meaningful way. I mean, modern slavery. You think about that and you think about, unfortunately it’s growing in 2021 and 2022 as our friends from hope for justice and their data has shared with us. It’s a travesty, but I gotta tell you, you know, this probably cause you, you were just talking about it, but Tony Choco only just, just announced along with Ben and Jerry’s a partnership cause Ben and Jerry’s wants to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking and child labor from their products. So that would be really exciting to see by the way. Hello, Chris, Chris. Great to see you. He’s got his shades on its future is bright for sure. But Chris, Hey, join the conversation. Let us know what your take is on any of these subjects that we’re talking about. All right. So Theo, one more thing, your podcast that you’ve been, I mean, gosh, so many folks are late to podcasting. You were not, you were an early mover. Let’s talk about one vision, the podcast. So, so what’s that about

Theo Lau (20:45):

It? We are actually approaching 200 episodes. I think it was gonna come in the next few weeks. It flies the podcast. I actually hijacked it from my colleague in the youth <laugh> he was running it, it was called rhetoric and he started it on blockchain season. And then he found me on LinkedIn. He came to the states for meetings and we met up in DC and he was like, Hey, I have this podcast. Would you like to come on the show? I said, yes. Next thing you know, I went from a guest to <laugh> co-hosting the show to now I’m practically just having so much fun with it. We wanna use it as a platform to talk about stories, to talk about people who are doing good. We changed the name to one vision a few years ago because we want it to reflect on what we wanna do is have one world. We don’t have different worlds despite from people who wanna themselves up to Mars. <laugh> we have one ecosystem. We all share. We share the earth, resources, air, water. We are in it together. And we have one vision to create one world for everyone, with one voice, not multiple voices. And so that’s how that came about and love it. Just telling stories.

Scott Luton (22:12):

My favorite thing, starting to lean in on, and you can find one vision wherever your podcast and y’all drop new episodes. What CA what’s the cadence

Theo Lau (22:20):

Is every week, every Tuesday,

Scott Luton (22:22):

Every Tuesday

Theo Lau (22:24):

<laugh> moving, I’m moving it around. But mostly Monday night is when it drops, but once a week mm-hmm

Scott Luton (22:32):

<affirmative>. Okay, wonderful. So check out one vision. I love the story behind it and look forward to a lot more new episodes of come. And, and by the way, I think episode numbers only matter to us are podcasters. Right? I can only tell you. I can only imagine how much work went into 200 episodes. So from our whole family here at biz history, congrats, and we look forward to celebrating with you.

Theo Lau (22:56):

Thanks.

Scott Luton (22:57):

Okay. So let’s move back into speaking of biz history. Let’s talk more history. Let’s talk retail history. So let me share this with you Theo. So the story of Macy’s right for item number three, the story of Macy’s. So I think I get this name, right? Rowlin Hussey or Huey Macy. I’m not sure which pronunciation, but Rowlin R H Macy let’s call it R H Macy. Cause that’s the way what he went by. He was born August 30th, 1822 on N Tuckett island, Massachusetts. He ventured out west as a young man opened the drive, good store in California to try to take advantage of the gold rush Theo that store failed along with four more back east, that he, that he stood up afterwards with him and his brother and some other folks. So undeterred, which is probably my favorite part of the story Theo, because you know how you fail all the time in, in startup world, right?

Scott Luton (23:52):

But those folks that persevere just like RH, Macy persevered, he decided to move to New York city in 1858, he opened the store named RH Macy, dry goods. He was really stuck on that Macy name, which is, <laugh> probably a good thing. He finally Theo, he finally caught a break and the store did well. In fact, he expanded over the next couple years, but some folks may not know this Macy would pass away in 1877 and eventually not, not too long after that, the Macy family would sell the business altogether in 1895 to Isador and Nathan Strauss. Oh, now it was the STR it was the Strauss brothers that would move the company’s flagship store and the company headquarters to the iconic Herald square location in Manhattan. Now we could spend

Theo Lau (24:44):

Know that, huh.

Scott Luton (24:46):

You know, I bet a lot of folks didn’t I certainly didn’t when I first I did a podcast on the Macy’s story probably a year or so ago, and that surprised me as well, but get this. So we, we can’t do it justice between 1895 and early 20th century to 2022. But folks Macy’s still around and do, despite some challenges that we were talking pre-show over 700 stores now in 2022 and over 400 locations about 90,000 team members. But one last thing and Theo, I’m gonna get your take here. One last thing. So if you go back to RH Macy, you know, the founder way back in the mid, mid 19th century back before we tried his hand it retail, right? When he was still up in Massachusetts Nantucket island, he spent some time wailing. Now only about you. I definitely that would not be for me.

Scott Luton (25:36):

I could barely squish a spider, much less wailing, all that stuff, but it was during this stretch, he got a red star tattooed on his wrist or arm. It kind of depends on who you talk to. And that is where that tattoo is where the red star originates fund from the one, the same one you see in advertising logos, like the image that we’re sharing here. So I share all of that and that, of course doesn’t do the whole Macy’s story justice, but Hey Theo, uh, are you a fan of the Macy’s department store or if not, what’s a store that maybe you spent some time up in during your upbringing.

Theo Lau (26:13):

That is fascinating. Oh my God. I’m learning so much from just a 10 minutes. So this is interesting. I moved to the states back in 92.

Scott Luton (26:26):

Okay.

Theo Lau (26:26):

And that was when, when I went to college in upstate New York, the first, my first memory of Macy Macy’s was Thanksgiving. Cause I went to my aunt’s for Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving break. Right. I had no idea what it was. I’m like, oh, Thanksgiving. Oh, holiday. All right. So I made the three hour drive from school. I went to RPI down to Manhattan where my aunt lived and that was the first time I heard of a place called Macy’s and that was the Thanksgiving parade and, and all of that. And that was also when I realized, wait a minute, stores close on Thanksgiving. Mm. No restaurants are open. No stores were open. That was my first memory of Macy’s it’s it’s fascinating. Cuz I grew up in Hong Kong and you know, we have big department stores and everything, but I don’t actually remember any of those where people will have an emotional attachment to the store. Not the same way that Macy’s is Macy’s is iconic. Right? The, the door and Manhattan. When you get outta Penn station, you walk a block. There it is right there. And then you can’t miss it. Fireworks display 4th of July sponsored time. This has been going on forever. So it’s, it’s an icon, but do people still go to growth department stores?

Scott Luton (27:53):

So that was the really one of the aspects of our appreciate conversation. I was really enjoying because that answer we could dedicate like a whole series to that. Retail is in person brick and mortar. Retail is in such an interesting space in particular, the department store in particular, the mall. Yeah. I’m not sure which has bigger challenges, but you know, my quick response I’d love to get yours to your, to your own question is I think for those retailers that really have leaned into 2022 and aren’t doing business like it’s 1986, they focus on things like AR experiential retail. They’ve really dialed in on what all of their buyers, regardless of what, you know, generation and walk all, you know, all of, you know, all the customers want. And from a supply chain, nerd standpoint, maybe, you know, those, those retailers that as we’ve seen more and more as e-commerce is being fulfilled and served from the stores, they use some of that footprint that they can assign more profit to. I think it, I think we could be. We could be, it’d be interesting to see the next few years when it comes to retail and department stores. Now the malls they’ll, we’ll have to save that for another conversation, but what, what is your take?

Theo Lau (29:06):

I don’t know. I, I think it’s it’s it could also be region specific. I’ll give you an example. I spent the last month in Hong Kong as finally able to travel overseas took gosh, they were, they were close for more than two years. And one thing about Hong Kong is it it’s a very, very densely populated city. You don’t really have anywhere to go. People love going to the malls. They just love the malls. The mall is not just a place for people to buy things. It’s a social place. It’s for people to get together. You meet your friends, you stop by a coffee shop, you stop by a Des, oh my God. Everywhere. My joke with my friends. When I, when I went there was how is it that all of you guys look like you weigh 90 pounds? Because every single, like, I don’t know, 50 feet that you turn, there is a dessert place. There’s a coffee place everywhere. Literally in a mall you would find at least 20 coffee shops and dessert stores. And, and, and that’s what the malls are in Hong Kong. It’s not like, you know, you, you go, you buy something and you leave and it’s dreadful and it’s dark and it have the same display. It’s a fun place to be.

Scott Luton (30:24):

It’s vibrant is what I’m hearing. It’s

Theo Lau (30:26):

Vibrant. Yes, exactly. It’s vibrant. And the re and not to mention, there’s also air conditioning, which you need in the city. That’s hot. And we talked about it and whereas in the United States, if perhaps because we are the there’s more land and people live further apart and it serves a different purpose now for me, I still need to go to stores for staff, other books store. I can’t read. I mean, I read things digitally, but I still like the feeling of an actual book, an actual newspaper I’m with her. Right. And I, I still need to go to the store to get closed and choose because I’m little and I can’t get anything online, but otherwise I can get things from, from, from e-commerce. But I still like physical stores. I don’t know. Yeah. I, I hope there’s a lot of talk about the metaphors and about, you know, people shopping with VR. R I hope we won’t come to that.

Scott Luton (31:28):

I dunno. You know, heard an interesting conversation and we got a couple comments I’m gonna get to in just a second. We are our mutual friend, Kevin L. Jackson, you know, Kevin. Yes.

Scott Luton (31:36):

He was at, is it, I think it was black hat. USA is a big one of the big conferences. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and he <laugh>, he was on a panel and the title was, is it metaverse or metaverse. And <laugh>, it’s some really, really interesting takes, but, you know, I think like you, at least for me, you know, I, I’m still kind of figuring out my role and, and my play when it comes to the, you know, the metaverse because gosh, from who I talk to folks that are in the know and folks that are still kind of skeptical, man, there are so many different ways and iterations and, and opportunities, depending on, you know, how, how, I’m not gonna say how deep the rabbit hole, but you know, how much you wanna immerse yourself. Right. Mm-hmm <affirmative> in that opportunity, but, but it’s exciting, right? Metaverse is exciting. And, and transformational, it’s kinda like blockchain once folks really understand, and they see some real practical use cases and, and they see some practical ways they can apply it to, to their organization. It can be a big game changer. Right.

Theo Lau (32:43):

I think it could be interesting. What we see right now is to a lot of concepts, right. And a lot of things around gaming, a lot of still more like a retail PR if you will. I think pizza hut was doing things in the metaverse and some other consumer brands. I think it’s just the very beginning of what, what it could be. I don’t think we know what it will be yet. And that’s the fun part is trying to figure out what it could be and how we get there.

Scott Luton (33:14):

Yes. Yes. And, and it’s an opportunity for, for folks to help shape where it’s going. So love that. All right. So let’s share a couple things. So first off we did drop again beyond good book.com. You can check it out there. Thanks for dropping the link there. Amanda says, I worked in the mall in high school and college, and Macy’s was always her favorite department store PS, I suppose. I’m totally aging myself by saying I worked at the mall. Do kids even go to the mall these days or know what the malls are for? That’s a great question. I’m gonna pose that to my, my three kids. Now, Theo, Chris still goes to department stores

Theo Lau (33:51):

That that’s different.

Scott Luton (33:53):

<laugh> that’s right now, Chris says, but you’re not really gonna go eat the mall from his take at least food course. Maybe, maybe stateside. See,

Theo Lau (34:04):

That’s exactly what I meant about like in, in Hong Kong, in the mall, you can actually find Michelin’s three star restaurants. Really it’s the mall I need to share. I need to share the pictures. I celebrated my parents 50th wedding anniversary in a French restaurant. Okay. That is in a mall at three star Michelin place. And we opened, oh, we opened one of these <laugh> I think is really location specific.

Scott Luton (34:39):

Agreed.

Theo Lau (34:39):

It’s like a har

Scott Luton (34:40):

We’re gonna have to get mall recommendations from Theo next time because man, three star restaurants that would change the experience quite a bit. Get this Theo. Barb says I went to the mall a couple year, a couple of months ago only because that’s where the apple star is and needed a repair. So I guess if it’s right, depends on. Especially if it’s, if that’s where it happens, you know, your need happens to be located. I guess you’re gonna have no problem going to the mall. Amanda says Hong Kong malls sound pretty awesome. I agree with you, Amanda. Okay. Hey, one more, one more side before move to the next item. Kelly Barner. In fact, she dropped an episode of the most recent episode today. The man with the red star tattoo, a little play on that movie, maybe the girl with the dragon tattoo, I think is the name of that movie. Well, she, she made a play on that. The man with the red star tattoo R Macy, see, check that out on the most recent episode of this week in business history. Okay. So Theo where we want to go next with item number four is the treaty of Nagen right, please. And, and this is one of the iconic photos that came. This is the H M S corn Wallace. I believe. Tell us more about this.

Theo Lau (36:01):

Yes. It’s let’s go down, take a, take a walk down history a little bit, seem to be doing that a lot lately comes with H <laugh>. So treat man. This is, this is something that, that popped up on my radar. Recently, August 29th, 1842 was when the treaty was signed. And that was the treaty that ended the first opium war. There were more than one and is also one of what we called the, an unequal treaty between China and foreign powers. The reason why we said that was and is because it long history, it was a war that China was invaded by British empire because of OPM. At that time, a lot of people were addicted to OPM. And as we know now, it is not good for people it’s just not good. And that, uh, series of events led to the war, make a long story, short, China lost the war and they were made to pay British 20 million silver dollars.

Theo Lau (37:11):

They also had to agree to establish fair, fair, and reasonable tariff trade zones. And what have you allow merchants from the UK to trade? And most importantly, that was what led to seeding of the territory of Hong Kong, which established the history. As we now know, that was the first one, the second one, the second war that that happened after that is seeded more territory and created the entire region and the city of Hong Kong. And as we say, the rest was history. Why this was interesting was because that was what led to a lot of trades in the territory. That was what led to even us, wanted to get into action. And so did France and is established the city as what it was and because of its location, because of proximity to China and the rest of many different territories in Asia, it prospered. And that’s where I was born. Without that. I don’t know if that would be here talking here right now. So that was, that was a little bit of history. That was interesting. Well,

Scott Luton (38:24):

Very interesting. And I, and I like how pre-show and you touched on there, but you know, every part of the world kind of has their own story of, of things as they historical occasions, historical moments, you name it, speak to that a little bit. Cause we were talking pre-show about while all of that will continue to be the case. We we’ve gotta find a way as the adults in the room, as the leaders in the room, you name it to, despite that find a way to move forward, right? Yeah,

Theo Lau (38:52):

We do. It’s it was a very unfortunate event. If you think about it, those, this was a long time ago. It happened. History happened. If you look at how history was being reported, recorded, and reported and taught in different areas of the world, it’s being viewed as it was an unequal war that was fought and how China was being treated was, was awful and unfair because the second opium war led to burning of summer palace and looting of a lot of treasures from China, which you can still see in the British museum today. Now, if you look at how that event was being talked about in British history, and if you looked at how it was being talked about in us history, you will see different versions. And that to me seemed like a parallel to a lot of things that we experienced in the United States today depends on which school you’re in, depends on which district, which state, which teacher, even what have you.

Theo Lau (40:01):

There are different pulses of history, some that are omitted and some that were being taught differently. And it leads to a lot of social tension fractures in the society. If you will, I’m not gonna get into the politics of it and what is right and what’s wrong, cuz oftentimes is a matter of perspective. But what is important though is I, I think history history does a few things. It leads us to look back and learn from what did not work. And it also serves as a guidance for us on how we can move forward with each other. It teaches us empathy, empathy of understanding from different people’s viewpoint, knowing that even something that happened a war depends on which party you are in. You’ll view it differently. Yep. And, and, and I think that, that’s the one thing it’s, it’s being able to, to take a step back and understand each other’s perspective so we can find a mutual ground to move forward. I think that that bit is lost and we need to, to find right.

Scott Luton (41:16):

Thank you for sharing that wholeheartedly agree with you and bear with me here, cuz I wanna give just a quick example. Cause what I, some of what I heard there is is we really gotta, we gotta vet and question everything. We can’t just assume what we’re learning or what we’re being told or are taught is the, you know, the absolute truth, get this. So we’re big forensic file fans here, right in the Lutton household and forensic files too, came out what a couple months back, right? The, the initial series were so popular. So they, uh, launched new one. So we’re watching this episode with me, my, my two daughters, my son and Amanda last night. And it was a recent case of a, a woman who was tried for the death of her Marine husband. And one of the big challenges though is her initial defense attorney did not question the findings of the lab that, that tested the, the Marine that passed away.

Scott Luton (42:21):

They claimed he had really high levels of arsenic. So they assumed, and as did the prosecutor that she poisoned him with arsenic and instead of vetting those results and asking the tough questions and, and, you know, representing the defendant as they should have, they just went with those findings. And then 15, 10 years later, whatever it was when, as she got another trial, those findings, there was no arsenic. It was spill over in contamination from results that they were like next to, because you can find arsenic in the ground everywhere. And I’m not doing the episode of justice, but it, it struck me and it it’s parallel with what you’re sharing. It struck me that when you assume that what you’re being told and taught, and when you’re presented with findings and you don’t ask any questions that oftentimes doesn’t get anyone doesn’t do do anyone. Right. Does any do anyone good? So you know, why and why and why. And then just for good measure, why that’s, that’s what comes on mind as, as you were just sharing the, your thoughts. Agree.

Theo Lau (43:32):

We need to be more like our kids. Mm-hmm <affirmative> because if you think about little ones, right. When they’re growing up, what’s the one thing they always ask, why, why is it like this? Why is the sun going down? Why do we have to go to school? Why do I have to do my homework? Why do we have to go do this? And why do I have to go to bed? It’s always why they don’t take anything for granted. They wanna understand. They wanna know, they’re curious somewhere along the way we lose our sons of curiosity. We just assume, like you say, we assume certain things. We take things for granted and, and we need to be more like our children. We learn a lot from them.

Scott Luton (44:15):

I’m with you a hundred percent. In fact, there’s a, uh, continuous improvement or a management tool or leadership tool. I’m not sure what, whatever you call it called the five whys. You’ll find a lot, especially in lean environments. And it’s never who, who, who, it’s always why. And then if that why, and then, and then continuing to help you find the root cause while vetting the information you’re getting all along the way. So thank you Theo for reminding me of that tool. And yes, Barb, Barb says, in terms of the treaty that you were sharing historical example of location, location, location, would you agree maybe, you know, especially the different versions of, of the, uh, the story itself. So thank you for that, Barb. Okay. So Thea, I, I knew this was gonna be a good conversation, man. We are touching on so much. It’s very, a very holistic episode.

Scott Luton (45:03):

And <laugh>, I got I’m a bit chagrin because we’re wrapping on a much lighter note, right? Item number five. Theo is all about mountain Dew. Yes. Mountain Dew. So let me sh <laugh> are you ready to go there? As we, as we start to wrap today’s episode, we, we we’re gonna maintain our sense of humor, but still not shy away from any conversation. So with our fifth item here today, we’re talking mountain Dew, because on this date, let’s see her, um, or soda pop, uh, some folks soda pop in the south, it’s all Coke. It doesn’t matter. <laugh> doesn’t matter like what beverage it is. We all call it Coke for whatever reason. So we’re talking mountain Dew. This big time beverage brand can trace its roots all the way back to Tennessee, where the original formula was invented by a couple of beverage bottlers named Barney and all Herman.

Scott Luton (45:56):

So Theo, it was reportedly created, get this to serve as a moon shine mixer. So I think that might fall into your water, wine and whiskey loosely, right? So the beverage in its recipe would be tweaked a few times over the years while also passing through a variety of owners. And let me share one of the early advertising pains here. So, so again, think moonshine and mountains in Tennessee, uh, this, and then if you’re listening to this listeners, you can’t see the image. It says, mountain do sold here. And the tagline is it’ll tickle your inners, your inners. I should just pronounce that. Right? So get this. So in 1964, though, in, uh, this week in 1964, it was acquired by the Pepsi Cola company. Now that changed everything as Pepsi saw big opportunities for growth by distributing it all across the us and some global, but they really saw initial, at least initially opportunity across coast to coast and Theo. They also chose to target a different market with due a younger outdoorsy crowd. So in fact, in 2022, according to STS mountain, Dew has about 7% of the total beverage market share in the states, which surprised me a bit seven Theo. That sounds really strong, right?

Theo Lau (47:15):

That is a lot. That is a lot, but there is one bit of that mountain deer history that is intriguing. OK. And that tags into the, the whole water, water, wine, and whiskey. Yeah. Philosophy of mine. I don’t drink mountain Dew. I don’t do sweet car drinks, but apparently the Hartman brothers, they developed mountain Dew was because they had trouble getting a preferred soda to mix with whiskey.

Scott Luton (47:46):

Yes, yes. Yeah. Great.

Theo Lau (47:50):

Everything ties back moments and it was a 19th century slang term for whiskey, especially Highlands scotch whiskey. So there you go. Mountain Dew.

Scott Luton (47:59):

So I love those additions Theo and yes, Chris mountain Dew. And it depends on where you are in the world because in some places it was launched and didn’t catch on. So they moved it from the market. But what we’re talking about here, this, this graphic made help. Chris, let me pull this up here. So this is some, oh,

Theo Lau (48:17):

Wait, is that green anymore?

Scott Luton (48:19):

It’s well, so initially the original version was green, but get this, they they’ve had like, as I was counting them, we wouldn’t have all time. We wouldn’t have the time of the day to share all the different offshoots, including maybe you’ve heard of code red. Right. Which I think a lot, a lot of, a lot of folks, the gaming industry is closely associated here, but get this, here’s another tie in to your water, wine and whiskey in 2022. So just earlier this year, PepsiCo partnered with the Boston beer company to release an alcohol infused drink based on a hard mountain Dew product name. So maybe they’re getting back to their roots Theo. I don’t know

Theo Lau (49:02):

<laugh> wow.

Scott Luton (49:03):

But I’ll tell you,

Scott Luton (49:06):

There are few. And, and I was trying to vet this before, went live. I didn’t get a chance to completely vet it, but there’s only a handful of non coffee beverages that have as much caffeine as, as the original do. So it, so you’re still, if you’re looking for a little caffeine boost, although it’s probably like a short term en energy boost, I imagine you might be tired, more tired maybe after the first 30 minutes. I don’t know, but you can check out mountain Dew and Chris <laugh> Chris man. He’s making quite an impact here in his first, this history appearance. He says his keto, the diet, the keto diet entered just died. So thank you for that, Chris. Okay. Well, we have really run the gamut. Goodness gracious from retail to treaties global leadership perspective, bridging, you know, the differences that we have and in so many different ways, progress, not enough progress, right? Which you know much everyone’s disappointment, but Hey, as long as we acknowledge the work that we still must get together to do the including heavy lifting. So we don’t leave anyone behind. That’s part of the good news here. So Theo, I really appreciate your time here today. I wanna make sure again, folks, we talked about Theo’s book, we talked about the one vision podcast. I love the story behind that. How can folks reach out and connect with you and, and all of your mini projects?

Theo Lau (50:35):

Thank you, Scott. So I’m on Twitter, PSB score, DC. I’m on LinkedIn, like you said, I’m on the podcast and I’m in a lot of different conferences. Thank God in person started again, proceed with caution, but still I’m miss people. So I’ll be eight in New York in September, and I’ll be in CBOs in Amsterdam. In October. I look forward to seeing some of the familiar faces out there.

Scott Luton (51:02):

Oh man, I love that. And yes, I agree with you in person is back. And it’s so neat to break bread and, and share drinks with folks and enjoy each other’s company in person. So big. Thanks for joining us here today. Theodore Lao, author keynote guru, you name it, but folks, you want to tap into some of the things that Theo’s up to. So thanks so much Theo.

Theo Lau (51:24):

Thank you so much, Scott. And you forgot one thing. Troublemaker.

Scott Luton (51:28):

<laugh> good trouble. Good trouble.

Theo Lau (51:31):

Good trouble. Thank you so much for having me. Appreciate

Scott Luton (51:34):

It. You bet. We’re gonna sign off here in just a minute. Thank you Theo. Thank you to all the listeners. Thanks for the production team. Hey, thanks, Barb. And Chris and Amanda and clay and all the other folks that tuned in. If you’re listening to this on the podcast replay, make sure while you’re searching for this week in business history that you search for one vision and subscribe to both. So you don’t miss anything, but whatever you do, it’s like Amanda pointed out earlier. It’s about deeds, not words. We gotta take action. Right? So on behalf, our entire team here, including the adore allow, Hey, Scott Luton, challeng you to do good to give forward and to be the change that’s needed. And with that said, we’ll see next time, right back here on this week in business history. Thanks everybody.