Day in the Life - Pink Elephant
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- Part 1: Lights, Camera, Warehouse
- A Candid Look at Luminous This Year
- Part 2: The Office Scenes at Luminous HQ
- That's a Wrap
- Ready to Get Rid of the Elephant in the Room?
What does it take to bring a pink elephant to life? For the Luminous team, it meant a full day on set, a wardrobe team, a cast of actors, and CEO and Founder Jared in makeup for the very first time.
In this behind-the-scenes look, Jared takes us through shoot day for Luminous x Pink Elephant—our ad about the hidden problems in commerce operations that nobody wants to talk about—and shares an honest update on where Luminous stands this year.
Part 1: Lights, Camera, Warehouse
The day kicked off with the warehouse scenes. Between takes, Jared got the full production treatment:
- Wardrobe and Makeup: A first for Jared—a stylist dressing him and makeup for the camera.
- Running Lines: Take after take of "No, I will not stop streamlining back ends" until the line landed just right.
- Moving the Set: With the warehouse scenes wrapped, the crew packed up the actors (and the elephants) and headed to Luminous HQ.
A Candid Look at Luminous This Year
On the way over, Jared opened up about the business. Q1 was tough—economic headwinds slowed things down for a lot of brands, and it was a challenging stretch internally too. A few things stood out:
- Stepping Back from Sales: Jared moved out of sales entirely in Q1 as department heads stepped up to fully own their teams.
- From Doer to Coach: In some departments he's still the individual contributor; in others, he's shifted into mentoring and empowering the leaders who run them.
- Back in a Groove: A strong board meeting gave the team a clear picture of what it will take to hit this year's goals. The gaps are visible, and they're being fixed.
- The Stretch Goal: Hit $4 million and raise a Series A, and the whole team is headed to the Philippines.
Jared also shared a quick take on moving supply chains out of China: it's not a new idea—brands were doing it back in the 2010s—but it comes with a learning curve, and anyone without a plan B should start building one now. For a deeper dive, watch his two-part webinar with guests Darin Long and Dustin Goss on building a more long-term, viable supply chain: Part 1 and Part 2.
Part 2: The Office Scenes at Luminous HQ
Back at headquarters, the team shot the office scenes that bring the pink elephant metaphor home. The setup: Joel, playing the boss, celebrates record high revenue this quarter—until Jared, who has a sixth sense for spotting elephants in the room, calls out what's really going on. The company actually lost money because it ran out of stock and had to air-freight products in.
It's the kind of hidden cost that quietly eats into margins—and exactly the kind of problem Luminous is built to surface.
That's a Wrap
Jared's kids even joined for the final stretch of the shoot before the crew called it a wrap. His takeaway after a full day on his feet delivering lines? Acting is a different kind of draining. A big thank you to the talented team at Creatively—Renie, Neil, and Damian—for coordinating everything and pulling off a great shoot.
Ready to Get Rid of the Elephant in the Room?
If stockouts, landed cost surprises, or messy multi-warehouse data are quietly hurting your bottom line, book a demo today and see why fast-growing commerce brands are making the switch to Luminous.
Video transcript
It's shoot day here for Pink Elephant. This is my first time ever having somebody dress me. I'm going to thank my stylist, in case no one else does. And this is me with makeup on for the first time.
Warehouse scenes
"No, I will not stop streaming." "No, I will not stop streamlining back ends, too."
All right, guys, we finished all the warehouse scenes. Now we're heading over to Luminous HQ. We're bringing the elephants and all the actors, and we're doing the office scene.
An honest update on Luminous
Luminous is going well right now. Q1 was tough. We had economic headwinds, and people generally had a very slow start to Q1. It was very difficult for us internally, too.
I went out of sales completely in Q1. As the company grows, we need our department heads to really step up and be true owners of their departments, and there's a bit of a learning curve there. I'm at the stage where in certain departments I'm still the IC, the individual contributor, but in other departments I've transitioned out of that IC phase and into the mentoring and coaching phase: empowering the leader. Honestly, it was a bit of a transition, but I've been getting into a groove recently. It feels good.
We just had a board meeting, and it went really well. We have a very good handle on what it's going to take to hit our goals this year. The entire team knows what it's going to take. We see the gaps and we're fixing them.
"Do you all get to go to the Philippines if we hit our $4 million?" If we hit $4 million and we raise a Series A, we're going to the Philippines.
Moving supply chains out of China
Personally, I think this idea of transferring your supply chain out of China isn't a novel idea. It was actually popular in the 2010s. It's easy to go to China nowadays. Sure, there's a learning curve with moving, and it's harder to do a full supply chain audit of your product. But you should have had a plan B, knowing Trump was going into office.
So what do you do now? Watch my webinar with Darin. We talk in depth about strategies you can use to build a more long-term, viable supply chain. I don't normally say this about my own content, but I actually think that webinar was great. Go and watch it.
Office scenes at Luminous HQ
All right, guys, we're at part two of the shoot, at Luminous headquarters. Come follow along. We're going to shoot the office scenes. This is the office.
Here's my boss, Mr. Boss Man, Joel. "Record high revenues this quarter!" Joel's been a really good boss. We've even got the mug that says "World's Best Boss."
"Jared has a sixth sense. He can see elephants in the room."
"Great news, we had record high revenue this quarter." "Actually, we lost money, because we ran out of stock and had to air-freight our products in."
Go to joinluminous.com today and get rid of the elephant in the room.
That's a wrap
I just picked up the kids. We're still not done with the shoot, so they're coming back with me to finish the day. "You're the actor?" Yes, I have to finish acting. I'm the cool dad. That's my thing.
All right, everyone, thanks so much. That is a wrap. Pink Elephant, done. It was a pleasure working together.
Okay, now I know what it feels like to be an actor. That was rough. I was standing up all day doing lines. It's a different kind of draining.
All in all, though, it went really well. The team at Creatively is super talented. We now know Renie, Neil and Damian really well, and they do a great job. I'm super impressed with Renie. She's the one who puts it all together and coordinates everything. When you go to one of these shoots, you realize there's a lot to coordinate. Good job, guys.
And look at this. If we're going to sign out, we're going to sign out with a view like this.