From 0 To $140M Selling Boutique Clothing - The Story Of PinkLily With Tori Gerbig
Published on: December 9 2022 by MyWifeQuitHerJob Ecommerce Channel
From 0 To $140M Selling Boutique Clothing - The Story Of PinkLily With Tori Gerbig
Table of Contents
From 0 To $140M Selling Boutique Clothing - The Story Of PinkLily With Tori Gerbig
| startTime | durationTime | text |
| 00:00:00 | 00:00:05 | 14 15 16 we grew you know 4 to 12 |
| 00:00:03 | 00:00:07 | million we kind of stayed at 12 million |
| 00:00:05 | 00:00:09 | for a year or two just because we kept |
| 00:00:07 | 00:00:11 | outgrowing our space and we it was just |
| 00:00:09 | 00:00:13 | my husband and I it was our money you |
| 00:00:11 | 00:00:15 | know so like welcome to the my wife |
| 00:00:13 | 00:00:18 | quarter job podcast today I have Tori |
| 00:00:15 | 00:00:20 | gerbig on the show and Tori and I were |
| 00:00:18 | 00:00:22 | recently featured on the Ashley Banfield |
| 00:00:20 | 00:00:24 | show where we shared some tips on how to |
| 00:00:22 | 00:00:26 | start an online business and Tori is the |
| 00:00:24 | 00:00:29 | founder of pinklily.com which is a nine |
| 00:00:26 | 00:00:31 | figure business that sells clothing and |
| 00:00:29 | 00:00:33 | boutique fashion now pink Lily hit the |
| 00:00:31 | 00:00:36 | multi-million dollar Mark and it's grown |
| 00:00:33 | 00:00:38 | to a business of over 200 employees and |
| 00:00:36 | 00:00:40 | what I actually admire more is that she |
| 00:00:38 | 00:00:42 | is a mother of three and she works with |
| 00:00:40 | 00:00:44 | her husband just like I do with my wife |
| 00:00:42 | 00:00:47 | and our business and in this episode |
| 00:00:44 | 00:00:48 | we're going to find out exactly how she |
| 00:00:47 | 00:00:50 | did it and without welcome to show Tori |
| 00:00:48 | 00:00:52 | how you doing Hi how are you thank you |
| 00:00:50 | 00:00:55 | so much for having me on today yeah you |
| 00:00:52 | 00:00:57 | know Tori so I actually teach a class on |
| 00:00:55 | 00:00:59 | e-commerce and what I always tell people |
| 00:00:57 | 00:01:01 | is that clothing is actually one of the |
| 00:00:59 | 00:01:04 | hardest types of products to sell online |
| 00:01:01 | 00:01:05 | so I'm just very curious how you got |
| 00:01:04 | 00:01:08 | started |
| 00:01:05 | 00:01:10 | it was by Act ing accent |
| 00:01:08 | 00:01:12 | um I went to school for marketing and |
| 00:01:10 | 00:01:15 | sales not |
| 00:01:12 | 00:01:17 | um come 2012 we were just really |
| 00:01:15 | 00:01:20 | struggling and could not make ends meet |
| 00:01:17 | 00:01:23 | so we started selling items on eBay and |
| 00:01:20 | 00:01:26 | Etsy and started out with very random |
| 00:01:23 | 00:01:30 | products I'm toking like golf clubs |
| 00:01:26 | 00:01:32 | um USB hard drives random stuff and |
| 00:01:30 | 00:01:34 | um it did pretty well we sold items on |
| 00:01:32 | 00:01:36 | eBay and Etsy for about a year a year |
| 00:01:34 | 00:01:38 | and a half and then fast forward to 2013 |
| 00:01:36 | 00:01:41 | I was pregnant with my son looking over |
| 00:01:38 | 00:01:44 | my benefits my maternity leave options |
| 00:01:41 | 00:01:46 | and freaking out about having unpaid |
| 00:01:44 | 00:01:48 | maternity leave so that was something |
| 00:01:46 | 00:01:50 | that made me so nervous so once my son |
| 00:01:48 | 00:01:52 | was born we really were like look we've |
| 00:01:50 | 00:01:56 | got to pick up this online selling just |
| 00:01:52 | 00:01:58 | to supplement our income so I invested a |
| 00:01:56 | 00:02:00 | little bit of money I think maybe just a |
| 00:01:58 | 00:02:02 | couple hundred dollars and some little |
| 00:02:00 | 00:02:04 | girl Boutique clothing and some adult |
| 00:02:02 | 00:02:05 | boutique clothing and started a Facebook |
| 00:02:04 | 00:02:08 | group at that time |
| 00:02:05 | 00:02:11 | um the Facebook group was primarily just |
| 00:02:08 | 00:02:13 | local people from my town but it grew |
| 00:02:11 | 00:02:15 | pretty quickly and it grew from you know |
| 00:02:13 | 00:02:18 | a couple hundred girls to over 10 000 |
| 00:02:15 | 00:02:21 | women by the by the time I started back |
| 00:02:18 | 00:02:23 | to after my maternity leave so I I |
| 00:02:21 | 00:02:25 | always started selling clothing on there |
| 00:02:23 | 00:02:26 | I didn't really sell clothing on eBay or |
| 00:02:25 | 00:02:27 | Etsy it was just mostly through the |
| 00:02:26 | 00:02:30 | Facebook group so I was showing the |
| 00:02:27 | 00:02:32 | items I was PayPal invoicing them I was |
| 00:02:30 | 00:02:34 | shipping the items all of this at night |
| 00:02:32 | 00:02:36 | time after I worked my full-time job and |
| 00:02:34 | 00:02:38 | after I got my son to bed |
| 00:02:36 | 00:02:42 | um so I really didn't sleep much at all |
| 00:02:38 | 00:02:44 | in 2013 like that last quarter and at |
| 00:02:42 | 00:02:46 | the end of about November my husband's |
| 00:02:44 | 00:02:48 | like we cannot continue doing it it's so |
| 00:02:46 | 00:02:50 | manual we have to start a website like |
| 00:02:48 | 00:02:53 | this is too manual you PayPal invoicing |
| 00:02:50 | 00:02:55 | people you going to stamps.com creating |
| 00:02:53 | 00:02:57 | the labels and it's just too much so we |
| 00:02:55 | 00:02:58 | are going to start a website we're going |
| 00:02:57 | 00:03:01 | to take the money that we've made the |
| 00:02:58 | 00:03:03 | profits from selling on online so far |
| 00:03:01 | 00:03:08 | and we're gonna just start this website |
| 00:03:03 | 00:03:10 | so December 31st January 1st of 2014 and |
| 00:03:08 | 00:03:12 | we kicked off pinkvilla.com it was |
| 00:03:10 | 00:03:15 | really a right out of the box horrible |
| 00:03:12 | 00:03:18 | website like it wasn't good at all so so |
| 00:03:15 | 00:03:20 | slow site speed everything we had no |
| 00:03:18 | 00:03:23 | prior experience but it was like just |
| 00:03:20 | 00:03:25 | him and and I who did it and we were |
| 00:03:23 | 00:03:27 | like okay our goal for the year is fifty |
| 00:03:25 | 00:03:29 | thousand dollars in Revenue that will |
| 00:03:27 | 00:03:31 | help pay off our credit card debt and |
| 00:03:29 | 00:03:33 | some of our student loans I'll still |
| 00:03:31 | 00:03:35 | work my full-time job he'll work his |
| 00:03:33 | 00:03:39 | full-time job it's just a side hustle |
| 00:03:35 | 00:03:41 | and by month two we had already hit the |
| 00:03:39 | 00:03:44 | 50 000 and then by six months in we hit |
| 00:03:41 | 00:03:46 | a million dollars in Revenue so we I |
| 00:03:44 | 00:03:49 | walked away from my job in April of |
| 00:03:46 | 00:03:51 | 2014. it was terrifying everybody was |
| 00:03:49 | 00:03:52 | like no you can't quit your your job |
| 00:03:51 | 00:03:55 | with benefits |
| 00:03:52 | 00:03:57 | um just for an online site and then my |
| 00:03:55 | 00:03:59 | husband walked away from his job in July |
| 00:03:57 | 00:04:01 | that same year and then rounding out in |
| 00:03:59 | 00:04:02 | December that year we hit four million |
| 00:04:01 | 00:04:05 | dollars in revenue and had seven |
| 00:04:02 | 00:04:08 | full-time employees so all from like |
| 00:04:05 | 00:04:10 | just this starting in our house and by |
| 00:04:08 | 00:04:11 | the end of year one having you know a |
| 00:04:10 | 00:04:13 | team of seven and hitting four million |
| 00:04:11 | 00:04:15 | in Revenue very quickly |
| 00:04:13 | 00:04:17 | um in the first seven months we actually |
| 00:04:15 | 00:04:19 | still were in our house too so we were |
| 00:04:17 | 00:04:21 | packaging the orders up to the very like |
| 00:04:19 | 00:04:23 | first million dollars of sales all on my |
| 00:04:21 | 00:04:25 | dining room table Tori what's funny is |
| 00:04:23 | 00:04:27 | your story is almost exactly like mine |
| 00:04:25 | 00:04:29 | we started on eBay we were just selling |
| 00:04:27 | 00:04:31 | some handkerchiefs and they were running |
| 00:04:29 | 00:04:34 | it all over my house and then my wife |
| 00:04:31 | 00:04:35 | she she didn't like her job and when we |
| 00:04:34 | 00:04:37 | had our kid we were like okay we want to |
| 00:04:35 | 00:04:40 | stay at home with the kids and we ran |
| 00:04:37 | 00:04:42 | everything out of the house and our goal |
| 00:04:40 | 00:04:44 | was actually fifty thousand dollars our |
| 00:04:42 | 00:04:46 | first year also hit it really quickly |
| 00:04:44 | 00:04:47 | and then my wife was like okay we got to |
| 00:04:46 | 00:04:49 | start a website because I was making the |
| 00:04:47 | 00:04:52 | rounds at this post office carrying like |
| 00:04:49 | 00:04:54 | a car full of boxes and they all knew me |
| 00:04:52 | 00:04:57 | and they actually hated me |
| 00:04:54 | 00:05:00 | I'd occupy the line for like a long time |
| 00:04:57 | 00:05:01 | right but it's funny let's take it back |
| 00:05:00 | 00:05:02 | to the beginning I'm very curious so |
| 00:05:01 | 00:05:03 | what did you Source those first clothes |
| 00:05:02 | 00:05:06 | for |
| 00:05:03 | 00:05:07 | uh for Etsy and eBay and that Facebook |
| 00:05:06 | 00:05:10 | group |
| 00:05:07 | 00:05:12 | yeah so we um I worked with some vendors |
| 00:05:10 | 00:05:13 | out of LA to get some products and |
| 00:05:12 | 00:05:16 | mostly |
| 00:05:13 | 00:05:18 | um for eBay I think one of the biggest |
| 00:05:16 | 00:05:20 | things we had that sold in 2013 were |
| 00:05:18 | 00:05:23 | bubble necklaces so a lot of jewelry |
| 00:05:20 | 00:05:26 | really did well on eBay same with Etsy |
| 00:05:23 | 00:05:27 | um so Etsy I also monogrammed on the |
| 00:05:26 | 00:05:29 | side like two I was like well I'm gonna |
| 00:05:27 | 00:05:32 | buy a monogram machine we do that too |
| 00:05:29 | 00:05:34 | yeah so |
| 00:05:32 | 00:05:35 | so very time consuming I realized that |
| 00:05:34 | 00:05:37 | was not the best use of my time I sold |
| 00:05:35 | 00:05:39 | that monogram machine |
| 00:05:37 | 00:05:42 | um so yeah it was just kind of like |
| 00:05:39 | 00:05:46 | scarves and jewelry mostly and I sourced |
| 00:05:42 | 00:05:50 | them from you know places uh La China or |
| 00:05:46 | 00:05:53 | duet fashion okay yeah yeah yeah cool |
| 00:05:50 | 00:05:54 | and then these were not with your brand |
| 00:05:53 | 00:05:57 | on them though right these were just |
| 00:05:54 | 00:06:00 | already made okay yes already the sale |
| 00:05:57 | 00:06:02 | uh TurnKey products yeah so how does one |
| 00:06:00 | 00:06:04 | grow a Facebook group so quickly |
| 00:06:02 | 00:06:05 | actually so you mentioned in the |
| 00:06:04 | 00:06:08 | beginning it was just Kentucky folks |
| 00:06:05 | 00:06:11 | right how did you attract other people |
| 00:06:08 | 00:06:14 | so I think at the time of course the |
| 00:06:11 | 00:06:17 | timing was great for Facebook and um it |
| 00:06:14 | 00:06:19 | was you know back before the it shifted |
| 00:06:17 | 00:06:21 | where now it's more paid placement it |
| 00:06:19 | 00:06:24 | was very organic back then so it was |
| 00:06:21 | 00:06:26 | easy but I also have a social media |
| 00:06:24 | 00:06:28 | um degree or I have a marketing degree |
| 00:06:26 | 00:06:30 | so social media was always something |
| 00:06:28 | 00:06:33 | that I loved and I learned it as quickly |
| 00:06:30 | 00:06:35 | as I can when a new platform comes out |
| 00:06:33 | 00:06:39 | so Facebook was something that I knew |
| 00:06:35 | 00:06:41 | very well and I knew certain strategies |
| 00:06:39 | 00:06:43 | of how to grow it you know build it as a |
| 00:06:41 | 00:06:45 | community you know do fun giveaways get |
| 00:06:43 | 00:06:48 | women excited about the product do the |
| 00:06:45 | 00:06:50 | live videos or the the photos you know |
| 00:06:48 | 00:06:51 | and and kind of just go off what works |
| 00:06:50 | 00:06:54 | well if you see that this photo is |
| 00:06:51 | 00:06:56 | getting a lot of response continue to do |
| 00:06:54 | 00:06:59 | photos similar to that style and and |
| 00:06:56 | 00:07:01 | just kind of like taking it it was very |
| 00:06:59 | 00:07:03 | Scrappy too and I think that people |
| 00:07:01 | 00:07:03 | loved it it wasn't like this put |
| 00:07:03 | 00:07:06 | together |
| 00:07:03 | 00:07:08 | beautiful photos literally like an |
| 00:07:06 | 00:07:10 | iPhone photo of me in my house wearing |
| 00:07:08 | 00:07:12 | the product and I think women just could |
| 00:07:10 | 00:07:14 | relate to that a little easier than just |
| 00:07:12 | 00:07:16 | that you know your typical models that |
| 00:07:14 | 00:07:18 | you see on Victoria Secret or places |
| 00:07:16 | 00:07:20 | like that type sites |
| 00:07:18 | 00:07:21 | so we're people just finding your group |
| 00:07:20 | 00:07:23 | through word of mouth or were you |
| 00:07:21 | 00:07:25 | advertising it's just Word of Mouth it |
| 00:07:23 | 00:07:28 | was a group so it wasn't you couldn't do |
| 00:07:25 | 00:07:29 | paid ads for a group at the time um so |
| 00:07:28 | 00:07:31 | it was really just like by having people |
| 00:07:29 | 00:07:33 | add more people to the group |
| 00:07:31 | 00:07:35 | so can you kind of walk me through like |
| 00:07:33 | 00:07:37 | how often were you posting and how did |
| 00:07:35 | 00:07:39 | you build a community |
| 00:07:37 | 00:07:41 | so I would post several times a day I |
| 00:07:39 | 00:07:43 | think that's the strategy too with uh |
| 00:07:41 | 00:07:45 | any good social media platform is to |
| 00:07:43 | 00:07:46 | make sure you're consistent with your |
| 00:07:45 | 00:07:48 | posting |
| 00:07:46 | 00:07:49 | um but building the community I was |
| 00:07:48 | 00:07:51 | always on there so even while I was |
| 00:07:49 | 00:07:53 | working my full-time job I was answering |
| 00:07:51 | 00:07:54 | girls questions and they felt like they |
| 00:07:53 | 00:07:56 | could ask me hey how would you style |
| 00:07:54 | 00:07:59 | this or what would you recommend size I |
| 00:07:56 | 00:08:00 | go with and really to like give them |
| 00:07:59 | 00:08:03 | that personal shopping experience almost |
| 00:08:00 | 00:08:07 | from the very beginning and um to also |
| 00:08:03 | 00:08:08 | like allow them to to tell me what they |
| 00:08:07 | 00:08:10 | wanted to buy and what they were looking |
| 00:08:08 | 00:08:13 | for for us to carry and such so really |
| 00:08:10 | 00:08:15 | to listen to them and always put them |
| 00:08:13 | 00:08:17 | first and really help to elevate it and |
| 00:08:15 | 00:08:19 | that's kind of been behind |
| 00:08:17 | 00:08:21 | um the brand since the very beginning as |
| 00:08:19 | 00:08:23 | we always put the customers first and |
| 00:08:21 | 00:08:25 | foremost so were you going live in your |
| 00:08:23 | 00:08:27 | group or was live available back then |
| 00:08:25 | 00:08:29 | probably not right live wasn't available |
| 00:08:27 | 00:08:31 | back when it very first started but it |
| 00:08:29 | 00:08:33 | quickly became available so yeah we |
| 00:08:31 | 00:08:36 | we've been doing live since the |
| 00:08:33 | 00:08:37 | beginning of live creation so is that |
| 00:08:36 | 00:08:39 | Facebook group still around are you |
| 00:08:37 | 00:08:41 | still active in the group or so that |
| 00:08:39 | 00:08:42 | group no |
| 00:08:41 | 00:08:44 | um I closed it down after we started |
| 00:08:42 | 00:08:46 | pink Lily and then we started a pink |
| 00:08:44 | 00:08:49 | Lily group right after and our Pink |
| 00:08:46 | 00:08:52 | Floyd group has I think 120 000 women in |
| 00:08:49 | 00:08:53 | in that private group nice so our sales |
| 00:08:52 | 00:08:55 | I imagine since you have a website now |
| 00:08:53 | 00:08:57 | you don't do sales directly into the |
| 00:08:55 | 00:08:59 | group but is that a way to like showcase |
| 00:08:57 | 00:09:01 | new products and get feedback |
| 00:08:59 | 00:09:03 | so we do it |
| 00:09:01 | 00:09:05 | um we show products but |
| 00:09:03 | 00:09:07 | um we also definitely get feedback on |
| 00:09:05 | 00:09:09 | like what are you wanting for us to buy |
| 00:09:07 | 00:09:11 | for fall or you know what kind of styles |
| 00:09:09 | 00:09:13 | would you like us to carry |
| 00:09:11 | 00:09:17 | um and really giving them more of that |
| 00:09:13 | 00:09:19 | um that inside behind the scenes feel |
| 00:09:17 | 00:09:21 | but also the biggest thing that does so |
| 00:09:19 | 00:09:23 | well in our group is we allow all of our |
| 00:09:21 | 00:09:25 | customers to post their own photos so |
| 00:09:23 | 00:09:27 | all of them are actually running the |
| 00:09:25 | 00:09:29 | group for us by posting content because |
| 00:09:27 | 00:09:31 | they're excited to share what the dress |
| 00:09:29 | 00:09:32 | looks like on them or their outfit and |
| 00:09:31 | 00:09:35 | then all these women are supportive on |
| 00:09:32 | 00:09:36 | them saying Oh you look great and how |
| 00:09:35 | 00:09:38 | does this fit and they're answering |
| 00:09:36 | 00:09:40 | questions and their Community they're |
| 00:09:38 | 00:09:42 | communicating together on this group and |
| 00:09:40 | 00:09:44 | and it works really well that way for us |
| 00:09:42 | 00:09:46 | cool so are the moderators of the group |
| 00:09:44 | 00:09:50 | just super fans of your brand |
| 00:09:46 | 00:09:52 | for the most part we actually have most |
| 00:09:50 | 00:09:55 | of them are workers here and then yes |
| 00:09:52 | 00:09:57 | anyone is allowed to post in the group |
| 00:09:55 | 00:09:59 | we approve it we approve it here |
| 00:09:57 | 00:10:01 | internally right nice okay so you go |
| 00:09:59 | 00:10:02 | from this Facebook group it gets out of |
| 00:10:01 | 00:10:05 | hand because you're manually invoicing |
| 00:10:02 | 00:10:07 | everyone you start this site it looks |
| 00:10:05 | 00:10:08 | bad it's slow how do you get your first |
| 00:10:07 | 00:10:10 | sales on your site is it just driving |
| 00:10:08 | 00:10:12 | through the group to the site |
| 00:10:10 | 00:10:14 | yeah so at that time right after we |
| 00:10:12 | 00:10:17 | launched the Facebook or the website we |
| 00:10:14 | 00:10:20 | launched a Facebook page and that's |
| 00:10:17 | 00:10:22 | where primarily most of the sales would |
| 00:10:20 | 00:10:24 | came through in year one was all through |
| 00:10:22 | 00:10:26 | Facebook so I did not have any knowledge |
| 00:10:24 | 00:10:29 | of Google ads I have no knowledge of |
| 00:10:26 | 00:10:30 | anything else Instagram really wasn't |
| 00:10:29 | 00:10:32 | big yet |
| 00:10:30 | 00:10:34 | um Pinterest probably some too actually |
| 00:10:32 | 00:10:36 | we did go viral on Pinterest a few times |
| 00:10:34 | 00:10:38 | our first year so Pinterest and Facebook |
| 00:10:36 | 00:10:41 | were those key drivers um the Facebook |
| 00:10:38 | 00:10:45 | page I did start doing paid ads on there |
| 00:10:41 | 00:10:46 | by the end of January 2014 |
| 00:10:45 | 00:10:48 | um but again I kind of taught myself all |
| 00:10:46 | 00:10:50 | of that with not having background |
| 00:10:48 | 00:10:53 | knowledge on any like paid placement |
| 00:10:50 | 00:10:56 | paid social right right so but to go |
| 00:10:53 | 00:10:58 | from you say you hit 4 million in that |
| 00:10:56 | 00:10:59 | first year you said yeah okay so how |
| 00:10:58 | 00:11:02 | does one go from just a couple hundred |
| 00:10:59 | 00:11:04 | thousand to to four million is that is |
| 00:11:02 | 00:11:06 | that ads or is it just the size of your |
| 00:11:04 | 00:11:10 | group like how do you grow exponentially |
| 00:11:06 | 00:11:14 | like that so quickly so I do think ads |
| 00:11:10 | 00:11:16 | was a little bit of it but I think we |
| 00:11:14 | 00:11:19 | were very lucky on our timing too and to |
| 00:11:16 | 00:11:21 | have things go viral on Facebook and on |
| 00:11:19 | 00:11:24 | Pinterest that year so we had one photo |
| 00:11:21 | 00:11:28 | of a cardigan that had over 700 000 |
| 00:11:24 | 00:11:31 | repins on it like after it launched and |
| 00:11:28 | 00:11:33 | we sold all 300 in a day and that was |
| 00:11:31 | 00:11:35 | just luck of the nature you know it's |
| 00:11:33 | 00:11:37 | really hard now to go viral and so I do |
| 00:11:35 | 00:11:39 | try to explain that because |
| 00:11:37 | 00:11:41 | eight years ago social media and today's |
| 00:11:39 | 00:11:42 | social media of course but you can you |
| 00:11:41 | 00:11:44 | still can go to tiktok and go viral |
| 00:11:42 | 00:11:46 | there still are opportunities |
| 00:11:44 | 00:11:48 | um so we just you know had those few |
| 00:11:46 | 00:11:50 | moments and then we kind of played off |
| 00:11:48 | 00:11:52 | of it from there you know we did spend a |
| 00:11:50 | 00:11:54 | little bit of money in ads and I don't |
| 00:11:52 | 00:11:57 | know the exact amount but it was very |
| 00:11:54 | 00:11:59 | little and it wasn't um it was really |
| 00:11:57 | 00:12:01 | just curating that community on the |
| 00:11:59 | 00:12:04 | Facebook group and being very consistent |
| 00:12:01 | 00:12:06 | with social media so most I would say |
| 00:12:04 | 00:12:08 | year one and two most of the sales were |
| 00:12:06 | 00:12:11 | organic sales okay and then in terms of |
| 00:12:08 | 00:12:12 | product sourcing uh did you have like a |
| 00:12:11 | 00:12:14 | steady Factory at that point were you |
| 00:12:12 | 00:12:16 | still just kind of sourcing stuff from |
| 00:12:14 | 00:12:21 | the Fashion District and whatnot so yeah |
| 00:12:16 | 00:12:23 | no years one through three all came from |
| 00:12:21 | 00:12:25 | La fashion to start it was not we did |
| 00:12:23 | 00:12:26 | not have any factories we still don't |
| 00:12:25 | 00:12:28 | have our own Factory we do work with |
| 00:12:26 | 00:12:31 | manufacturers Now versus |
| 00:12:28 | 00:12:33 | um you know paying as much wholesale |
| 00:12:31 | 00:12:36 | um we still work both ways but yeah we |
| 00:12:33 | 00:12:39 | um I would go to Fashion District up |
| 00:12:36 | 00:12:41 | until you know 2016 even I think 2017 we |
| 00:12:39 | 00:12:42 | it all came from there |
| 00:12:41 | 00:12:44 | so when you go to the Fashion District |
| 00:12:42 | 00:12:45 | you can say hey I want you to sew my |
| 00:12:44 | 00:12:49 | label on there right and make |
| 00:12:45 | 00:12:50 | adjustments yes correct yeah it's been a |
| 00:12:49 | 00:12:52 | while since I've been there I mean we we |
| 00:12:50 | 00:12:54 | did shop there also the minimum order |
| 00:12:52 | 00:12:56 | requirements are generally lower they're |
| 00:12:54 | 00:12:59 | also right depending on who you find |
| 00:12:56 | 00:13:01 | yeah and but we like to appoint quickly |
| 00:12:59 | 00:13:03 | about 2016 2017 that we were needing |
| 00:13:01 | 00:13:06 | three to four hundred per style that we |
| 00:13:03 | 00:13:09 | carry so we hit them very easily yes the |
| 00:13:06 | 00:13:11 | order requirements are very low but the |
| 00:13:09 | 00:13:13 | more you buy the more willing to work on |
| 00:13:11 | 00:13:16 | pricing with you yeah I mean one of the |
| 00:13:13 | 00:13:17 | challenges of clothing also is the |
| 00:13:16 | 00:13:19 | sizing and the return rate how do you |
| 00:13:17 | 00:13:22 | how'd you deal with that early on |
| 00:13:19 | 00:13:24 | so sizing will still always be the |
| 00:13:22 | 00:13:25 | biggest issue and we're still trying to |
| 00:13:24 | 00:13:28 | figure out the best way to overcome that |
| 00:13:25 | 00:13:30 | one of some of the couple recent changes |
| 00:13:28 | 00:13:32 | in the last two years have been um |
| 00:13:30 | 00:13:34 | having several different size models on |
| 00:13:32 | 00:13:37 | the site and then also doing videos that |
| 00:13:34 | 00:13:39 | explain how the item fits so this sizing |
| 00:13:37 | 00:13:40 | will always be the number one issue |
| 00:13:39 | 00:13:43 | because it's very hard to know your size |
| 00:13:40 | 00:13:45 | when you're shopping online |
| 00:13:43 | 00:13:46 | um but we definitely have implemented |
| 00:13:45 | 00:13:49 | new strategies the last two years by |
| 00:13:46 | 00:13:51 | having several size models and then also |
| 00:13:49 | 00:13:52 | to do videos on the site that try to |
| 00:13:51 | 00:13:54 | explain the fit so if they should size |
| 00:13:52 | 00:13:55 | up or size down or stik with their true |
| 00:13:54 | 00:13:58 | size |
| 00:13:55 | 00:14:00 | um in a size chart in the beginning I |
| 00:13:58 | 00:14:02 | will say it was probably the number one |
| 00:14:00 | 00:14:05 | reason of returns was this just didn't |
| 00:14:02 | 00:14:07 | fit me so and it's always going to be a |
| 00:14:05 | 00:14:09 | battle with clothing online but and |
| 00:14:07 | 00:14:12 | there's hopefully even in the near |
| 00:14:09 | 00:14:15 | future more things that come out on |
| 00:14:12 | 00:14:16 | helping women to admin to to really |
| 00:14:15 | 00:14:19 | understand what size that they should |
| 00:14:16 | 00:14:21 | buy before purchasing how much money did |
| 00:14:19 | 00:14:23 | you start with uh and did you invest |
| 00:14:21 | 00:14:26 | into pink Lily when it launched |
| 00:14:23 | 00:14:29 | so when we launched the site we had been |
| 00:14:26 | 00:14:31 | selling on eBay and Etsy for about |
| 00:14:29 | 00:14:33 | um in that Facebook group for about six |
| 00:14:31 | 00:14:35 | months and I think we had about ten |
| 00:14:33 | 00:14:37 | thousand dollars in our bank account |
| 00:14:35 | 00:14:39 | just saved aside from all of the the |
| 00:14:37 | 00:14:41 | profits to reinvest so we started very |
| 00:14:39 | 00:14:43 | little like a couple hundred dollars for |
| 00:14:41 | 00:14:45 | eBay and we'd always reinvest the money |
| 00:14:43 | 00:14:47 | and put a hundred percent of the profits |
| 00:14:45 | 00:14:49 | back into the account to to grow the |
| 00:14:47 | 00:14:51 | inventory so when we started |
| 00:14:49 | 00:14:54 | pinkfully.com we had about 10 000 we I |
| 00:14:51 | 00:14:56 | think spent 500 on the website and then |
| 00:14:54 | 00:14:58 | the remainder all went to |
| 00:14:56 | 00:15:00 | um inventory to launch so we had you |
| 00:14:58 | 00:15:03 | know a small selection of clothing to |
| 00:15:00 | 00:15:06 | you know I think 20 to 30 Styles when we |
| 00:15:03 | 00:15:08 | launched wow okay so 10 grand for 23 |
| 00:15:06 | 00:15:10 | styles that means it's not that many |
| 00:15:08 | 00:15:12 | units of each no at the very beginning I |
| 00:15:10 | 00:15:14 | would get like one pack like maybe six |
| 00:15:12 | 00:15:16 | units per Style |
| 00:15:14 | 00:15:18 | and so it was basically up to you to to |
| 00:15:16 | 00:15:20 | understand and know what was going to |
| 00:15:18 | 00:15:22 | sell right or did you just buy that many |
| 00:15:20 | 00:15:24 | styles to see what would sell and then |
| 00:15:22 | 00:15:25 | focus on your winners what was your |
| 00:15:24 | 00:15:28 | strategy oh I didn't really have a |
| 00:15:25 | 00:15:30 | strategy I kind of just would buy what I |
| 00:15:28 | 00:15:32 | personally would wear and what I thought |
| 00:15:30 | 00:15:35 | would sell well and then go off Trend so |
| 00:15:32 | 00:15:38 | it back in the day in 2014 like Chevron |
| 00:15:35 | 00:15:40 | was huge so okay I sold a Chevron Maxi |
| 00:15:38 | 00:15:42 | it did really well it sold out so fast |
| 00:15:40 | 00:15:43 | so then I would turn around and used all |
| 00:15:42 | 00:15:46 | of the profits to buy five more Chevron |
| 00:15:43 | 00:15:48 | Maxis so I kind of played off what was |
| 00:15:46 | 00:15:51 | selling well to to turn around and buy |
| 00:15:48 | 00:15:53 | more product in that same area scope to |
| 00:15:51 | 00:15:56 | see if it continued to do well and when |
| 00:15:53 | 00:15:57 | did you start introducing models for |
| 00:15:56 | 00:15:58 | your clothes I mean that costs money |
| 00:15:57 | 00:16:00 | right |
| 00:15:58 | 00:16:02 | immediately so immediately okay yeah |
| 00:16:00 | 00:16:05 | when we launched we launched with models |
| 00:16:02 | 00:16:07 | and we did some flat lace but typically |
| 00:16:05 | 00:16:09 | the clothing for us sold better on a |
| 00:16:07 | 00:16:12 | Model yeah so where did you find the |
| 00:16:09 | 00:16:13 | talent and uh was that a huge investment |
| 00:16:12 | 00:16:16 | on your part to hire these models for |
| 00:16:13 | 00:16:19 | photo shoots no um we found the talent |
| 00:16:16 | 00:16:20 | we have a college here in town and um we |
| 00:16:19 | 00:16:22 | found the talent just by I actually |
| 00:16:20 | 00:16:24 | looked on Instagram and I was like I |
| 00:16:22 | 00:16:26 | want to DM a few girls see if they're |
| 00:16:24 | 00:16:28 | interested I did all the photography in |
| 00:16:26 | 00:16:30 | the beginning for about the first eight |
| 00:16:28 | 00:16:33 | months too |
| 00:16:30 | 00:16:35 | um it took most of my time doing every |
| 00:16:33 | 00:16:37 | single job but then we hired a full-time |
| 00:16:35 | 00:16:39 | photographer I think by August of our |
| 00:16:37 | 00:16:41 | first year and we've had now we have I |
| 00:16:39 | 00:16:42 | think three full-time photographers we |
| 00:16:41 | 00:16:45 | have like seven models that are here |
| 00:16:42 | 00:16:47 | most days and um yeah it is an expense |
| 00:16:45 | 00:16:50 | but for us it |
| 00:16:47 | 00:16:53 | it's necessary it was always worth it |
| 00:16:50 | 00:16:55 | that's amazing so you bootstrap with ten |
| 00:16:53 | 00:16:58 | thousand dollars that's amazing for |
| 00:16:55 | 00:17:00 | clothing yeah yeah um what does your |
| 00:16:58 | 00:17:02 | husband do okay it says I'm a husband |
| 00:17:00 | 00:17:03 | and wife team also and yeah yeah she's |
| 00:17:02 | 00:17:05 | kind of like the face of the company |
| 00:17:03 | 00:17:07 | because I I can't tok about |
| 00:17:05 | 00:17:09 | handkerchiefs or you know that sort of |
| 00:17:07 | 00:17:11 | thing what is what is his role so his |
| 00:17:09 | 00:17:13 | role is he is the president of the |
| 00:17:11 | 00:17:16 | company he oversees all of the |
| 00:17:13 | 00:17:18 | operations side the HR side and the |
| 00:17:16 | 00:17:21 | finance so he has a degree in finance |
| 00:17:18 | 00:17:22 | and his MBA so that's his specialty |
| 00:17:21 | 00:17:25 | um but he also did Logistiks at his |
| 00:17:22 | 00:17:27 | previous uh corporate world so he has a |
| 00:17:25 | 00:17:28 | lot more operation knowledge than I do |
| 00:17:27 | 00:17:30 | so we kind of split I'm over product |
| 00:17:28 | 00:17:33 | over customer service I'm over marketing |
| 00:17:30 | 00:17:35 | case of the brand he's on the back half |
| 00:17:33 | 00:17:38 | of it on the operation side and the HR |
| 00:17:35 | 00:17:40 | all the the harder stuff but um it's |
| 00:17:38 | 00:17:41 | it's all hard but it's stuff that it's |
| 00:17:40 | 00:17:44 | just like people don't always understand |
| 00:17:41 | 00:17:46 | like the back end of a business yeah no |
| 00:17:44 | 00:17:47 | that totally makes sense actually in the |
| 00:17:46 | 00:17:49 | beginning when my wife and I work |
| 00:17:47 | 00:17:51 | together uh closely we kind of |
| 00:17:49 | 00:17:52 | overlapped in our roles and we just kept |
| 00:17:51 | 00:17:55 | clashing and fighting and it wasn't |
| 00:17:52 | 00:17:57 | until we separated everything out uh and |
| 00:17:55 | 00:17:59 | things are good now but it took a while |
| 00:17:57 | 00:18:00 | for us to get there yeah we don't |
| 00:17:59 | 00:18:03 | overlap very much at all |
| 00:18:00 | 00:18:05 | there's really not a lot since I'm on |
| 00:18:03 | 00:18:06 | the the product development and |
| 00:18:05 | 00:18:08 | marketing set he has not much to do |
| 00:18:06 | 00:18:10 | other than money that's about it that's |
| 00:18:08 | 00:18:12 | really the only like okay here's your |
| 00:18:10 | 00:18:13 | marketing budget for the month and I'm |
| 00:18:12 | 00:18:15 | like no we need more and he's like no |
| 00:18:13 | 00:18:18 | you can't go over this amount so that's |
| 00:18:15 | 00:18:20 | about the only thing that we really have |
| 00:18:18 | 00:18:21 | a lot of like uh conversations on but we |
| 00:18:20 | 00:18:24 | have dominion planning and forecasters |
| 00:18:21 | 00:18:25 | now so he's out of that and budget you |
| 00:18:24 | 00:18:27 | know a finance team that sets the budget |
| 00:18:25 | 00:18:29 | so he's he just oversees them now it's |
| 00:18:27 | 00:18:33 | not him setting the budget right right |
| 00:18:29 | 00:18:34 | yeah so you're growing really fast and I |
| 00:18:33 | 00:18:36 | I know that when you grow fast it's |
| 00:18:34 | 00:18:37 | extremely uncomfortable you it seemed |
| 00:18:36 | 00:18:40 | like you were switching out warehouses |
| 00:18:37 | 00:18:43 | like every year or less |
| 00:18:40 | 00:18:44 | um walk me through that time if you will |
| 00:18:43 | 00:18:45 | um things were growing fast what were |
| 00:18:44 | 00:18:47 | the first things that you're |
| 00:18:45 | 00:18:50 | implementing in terms of infrastructure |
| 00:18:47 | 00:18:53 | during that growth period yeah so our |
| 00:18:50 | 00:18:55 | first Warehouse what we thought was a |
| 00:18:53 | 00:18:58 | warehouse we moved into in July of 2014. |
| 00:18:55 | 00:18:59 | it was 1500 square feet so we're like oh |
| 00:18:58 | 00:19:02 | yeah this is huge at least it's out of |
| 00:18:59 | 00:19:04 | our house and we quickly realized it was |
| 00:19:02 | 00:19:08 | way too small and |
| 00:19:04 | 00:19:10 | um by the November of 2014 we found a 3 |
| 00:19:08 | 00:19:12 | 000 square foot warehouse and we moved |
| 00:19:10 | 00:19:14 | the week before Black Friday |
| 00:19:12 | 00:19:16 | um so we did have uh we had a one-year |
| 00:19:14 | 00:19:17 | lease on the first one but we were like |
| 00:19:16 | 00:19:19 | you know what it makes sense just to go |
| 00:19:17 | 00:19:20 | ahead and move we need more space to |
| 00:19:19 | 00:19:23 | grow otherwise we're going to be stuck |
| 00:19:20 | 00:19:27 | at this smaller amount so we moved in by |
| 00:19:23 | 00:19:29 | 2015 we were like we still need more |
| 00:19:27 | 00:19:31 | than 3 000 square feet so my husband and |
| 00:19:29 | 00:19:34 | I bought this the land right up the road |
| 00:19:31 | 00:19:37 | it was two acres and started uh building |
| 00:19:34 | 00:19:40 | our current Warehouse facility so we |
| 00:19:37 | 00:19:42 | bought it in 2015 we built 25 000 square |
| 00:19:40 | 00:19:46 | foot warehouse and completed that in |
| 00:19:42 | 00:19:48 | 2016. we added on an additional 25 000 |
| 00:19:46 | 00:19:50 | square feet by 2018 |
| 00:19:48 | 00:19:52 | and then by 2019 we're like we have to |
| 00:19:50 | 00:19:55 | have another Warehouse so we bought or |
| 00:19:52 | 00:19:58 | we rent some lease on one right up the |
| 00:19:55 | 00:20:02 | road that's 160 000 square feet so last |
| 00:19:58 | 00:20:04 | year 2020 Black Friday we were actually |
| 00:20:02 | 00:20:07 | operating out of both and trying to like |
| 00:20:04 | 00:20:09 | makeshift up there just for more room |
| 00:20:07 | 00:20:12 | um but we currently are operating out of |
| 00:20:09 | 00:20:14 | both warehouses your your offices are in |
| 00:20:12 | 00:20:16 | Kentucky right correct yeah Bowling |
| 00:20:14 | 00:20:18 | Green Kentucky okay good in California |
| 00:20:16 | 00:20:21 | that would have been like 100 million |
| 00:20:18 | 00:20:24 | dollars oh my goodness yeah wow no I |
| 00:20:21 | 00:20:25 | gather Kentucky not much here that's |
| 00:20:24 | 00:20:28 | amazing |
| 00:20:25 | 00:20:29 | um so when you are scaling also uh so |
| 00:20:28 | 00:20:31 | the where how many skus are we toking |
| 00:20:29 | 00:20:33 | about when you moved into that first |
| 00:20:31 | 00:20:35 | 1500 Warehouse like what was all the |
| 00:20:33 | 00:20:36 | room for was it just inventory were you |
| 00:20:35 | 00:20:39 | carrying inventory or was stuff made on |
| 00:20:36 | 00:20:41 | demand it was a lot of inventory for |
| 00:20:39 | 00:20:42 | girls to work at that time we were |
| 00:20:41 | 00:20:44 | hiring people to come in and package |
| 00:20:42 | 00:20:46 | orders so they're not doing it on my |
| 00:20:44 | 00:20:48 | dining room table so we had like |
| 00:20:46 | 00:20:50 | packaging stations and we also had all |
| 00:20:48 | 00:20:53 | the inventory stored there too oh wow |
| 00:20:50 | 00:20:54 | okay so you don't use a third-party |
| 00:20:53 | 00:20:58 | Logistiks firm or anything you're still |
| 00:20:54 | 00:21:01 | fulfilling all of your orders yeah we we |
| 00:20:58 | 00:21:04 | do not do three PLS we do um all of it |
| 00:21:01 | 00:21:06 | fulfillment too wow okay so that |
| 00:21:04 | 00:21:08 | can you just walk me through what your |
| 00:21:06 | 00:21:10 | facility looks like is there like |
| 00:21:08 | 00:21:12 | conveyor belts like amazon.com where |
| 00:21:10 | 00:21:14 | where boxes come down and you have these |
| 00:21:12 | 00:21:16 | automated stations or so they |
| 00:21:16 | 00:21:20 | went two million dollars to put in we're |
| 00:21:18 | 00:21:22 | not doing that |
| 00:21:20 | 00:21:24 | um so we do have |
| 00:21:22 | 00:21:27 | um some really cool things but we don't |
| 00:21:24 | 00:21:28 | have conveyor belts um we have like our |
| 00:21:27 | 00:21:30 | inbound you know they have they receive |
| 00:21:28 | 00:21:33 | the boxes they put the way the boxes we |
| 00:21:30 | 00:21:34 | have overflow we have really high |
| 00:21:33 | 00:21:36 | racking |
| 00:21:34 | 00:21:37 | um so we you know we have those little |
| 00:21:36 | 00:21:38 | things that they go up on the whatever |
| 00:21:37 | 00:21:40 | they're called and then |
| 00:21:40 | 00:21:44 | um we have about we have a day shift and |
| 00:21:43 | 00:21:46 | a night shift so we are operating seven |
| 00:21:44 | 00:21:49 | days a week out |
| 00:21:46 | 00:21:51 | um pretty much I think 20 20 something |
| 00:21:49 | 00:21:55 | hour their 10 hour shift so 20 hours a |
| 00:21:51 | 00:21:57 | day the warehouse is open and um I think |
| 00:21:55 | 00:22:01 | that the the SKU count currently is |
| 00:21:57 | 00:22:03 | about 13 000 excuse me wow okay can you |
| 00:22:01 | 00:22:06 | walk me through just like the |
| 00:22:03 | 00:22:07 | calculations and going 3pl versus owning |
| 00:22:06 | 00:22:10 | your own Warehouse |
| 00:22:07 | 00:22:12 | so I they're still doing a lot of deep |
| 00:22:10 | 00:22:14 | diving into that and it's not out of the |
| 00:22:12 | 00:22:16 | question in the future the hard part is |
| 00:22:14 | 00:22:19 | with 3pl's it works very well if you |
| 00:22:16 | 00:22:21 | have less cues the more excuse you have |
| 00:22:19 | 00:22:24 | especially being more of a fast fashion |
| 00:22:21 | 00:22:26 | brand it's a lot harder for them so for |
| 00:22:24 | 00:22:28 | us it makes I think in the long run |
| 00:22:26 | 00:22:30 | makes sense to keep our fulfillment |
| 00:22:28 | 00:22:33 | um but three PLS you know they work very |
| 00:22:30 | 00:22:35 | well when you have a limited SKU you |
| 00:22:33 | 00:22:36 | know if you're only selling 10 20 30 |
| 00:22:35 | 00:22:39 | products and you're always replenishing |
| 00:22:36 | 00:22:41 | those makes sense but yeah if you're |
| 00:22:39 | 00:22:43 | changing out files every season it |
| 00:22:41 | 00:22:44 | doesn't really make that much sense yet |
| 00:22:43 | 00:22:46 | so actually yeah walk me through that |
| 00:22:44 | 00:22:49 | side of the business so once something |
| 00:22:46 | 00:22:50 | goes out of season are you stuck with |
| 00:22:49 | 00:22:52 | the inventory or what do you do with the |
| 00:22:50 | 00:22:55 | inventory when it goes out of style |
| 00:22:52 | 00:22:57 | yeah so one thing that especially with |
| 00:22:55 | 00:22:59 | our brand is we're not too trendy in |
| 00:22:57 | 00:23:01 | that we do that on that that reason if |
| 00:22:59 | 00:23:03 | there's a trend that hits the the market |
| 00:23:01 | 00:23:05 | now but in two months it could be gone |
| 00:23:03 | 00:23:07 | like that doesn't really resonate very |
| 00:23:05 | 00:23:09 | well with me because I don't want to |
| 00:23:07 | 00:23:11 | invest in something that I'm going to |
| 00:23:09 | 00:23:13 | just toss out of my closet two months |
| 00:23:11 | 00:23:15 | from now you know so like our pieces are |
| 00:23:13 | 00:23:17 | more stable that can last for years |
| 00:23:15 | 00:23:19 | versus it being so trendy we do |
| 00:23:17 | 00:23:21 | occasionally have some trends that we |
| 00:23:19 | 00:23:22 | want to test out |
| 00:23:21 | 00:23:25 | um but again if you go to our site it's |
| 00:23:22 | 00:23:26 | really a little bit for um we offer so |
| 00:23:25 | 00:23:28 | much for everyone but it's not super |
| 00:23:26 | 00:23:31 | super trendy it's just good classic |
| 00:23:28 | 00:23:32 | Styles but there is that case where we |
| 00:23:31 | 00:23:35 | do have inventory that you're sitting on |
| 00:23:32 | 00:23:37 | and the trend goes out say tie-dye 2020 |
| 00:23:35 | 00:23:40 | was huge and then we didn't sell it all |
| 00:23:37 | 00:23:43 | the way through tie-dye and then the the |
| 00:23:40 | 00:23:45 | trend quickly died so at that point we |
| 00:23:43 | 00:23:46 | work really hard on you know what kind |
| 00:23:45 | 00:23:48 | of sales do we need to put it in what |
| 00:23:46 | 00:23:50 | kind of liquidation process do we need |
| 00:23:48 | 00:23:52 | we have once a year typically we do it |
| 00:23:50 | 00:23:55 | in person uh Warehouse sale where people |
| 00:23:52 | 00:23:57 | can come shop items very discounted and |
| 00:23:55 | 00:23:59 | then clearance as well so we do have a |
| 00:23:57 | 00:24:00 | clearance section on the site sales |
| 00:23:59 | 00:24:03 | section and those are typically for |
| 00:24:00 | 00:24:05 | styles that are um you know maybe |
| 00:24:03 | 00:24:07 | they're 20 or less left in stok or |
| 00:24:05 | 00:24:08 | they're just out of season and we are |
| 00:24:07 | 00:24:10 | not carrying them in the future so we |
| 00:24:08 | 00:24:11 | just want to discount them to get them |
| 00:24:10 | 00:24:13 | out the door |
| 00:24:11 | 00:24:14 | when did you start designing your own |
| 00:24:13 | 00:24:16 | clothes are you a designer clothing |
| 00:24:14 | 00:24:19 | designer I am not a designer I have |
| 00:24:16 | 00:24:21 | ideas but I am not like an actual |
| 00:24:19 | 00:24:23 | designer so |
| 00:24:21 | 00:24:26 | um we started working with our vendors |
| 00:24:23 | 00:24:28 | in LA and then some in China and Korea |
| 00:24:26 | 00:24:33 | back and I think about 2018 |
| 00:24:28 | 00:24:34 | on our own ideas and so from there it's |
| 00:24:33 | 00:24:38 | transitioned very quickly with |
| 00:24:34 | 00:24:39 | manufacturing our own items and we're |
| 00:24:38 | 00:24:42 | currently actually hiring for a |
| 00:24:39 | 00:24:44 | full-time designer but um I'm not one |
| 00:24:42 | 00:24:45 | myself so what I mean you're the brains |
| 00:24:44 | 00:24:47 | though right I mean you know what's |
| 00:24:45 | 00:24:50 | trendy so walk me through like how do |
| 00:24:47 | 00:24:52 | you design without being a designer |
| 00:24:50 | 00:24:55 | so I'll look for Concepts I see things |
| 00:24:52 | 00:24:57 | that do well within again it goes back |
| 00:24:55 | 00:24:59 | to the very beginning like what sells |
| 00:24:57 | 00:25:02 | well on the site what are people loving |
| 00:24:59 | 00:25:04 | and keep continually playing off that if |
| 00:25:02 | 00:25:07 | there is something that they love let's |
| 00:25:04 | 00:25:09 | innovate it let's make it you know newer |
| 00:25:07 | 00:25:10 | for next year but let's keep the same |
| 00:25:09 | 00:25:13 | concept of it you know if there's an |
| 00:25:10 | 00:25:14 | animal print maxi dress that every |
| 00:25:13 | 00:25:16 | single time we restok it sells out |
| 00:25:14 | 00:25:18 | let's let's take that and let's come up |
| 00:25:16 | 00:25:20 | with three more animal print designs |
| 00:25:18 | 00:25:22 | let's work on that so I I see things |
| 00:25:20 | 00:25:25 | that I like and I put them together in |
| 00:25:22 | 00:25:28 | my head or on a horrible Photoshop like |
| 00:25:25 | 00:25:30 | here's the idea for the the swimsuit but |
| 00:25:28 | 00:25:33 | I cannot draw at all and I do not know |
| 00:25:30 | 00:25:35 | AutokAD at all so yeah yeah I do work |
| 00:25:33 | 00:25:37 | with our graphic designer here in still |
| 00:25:35 | 00:25:39 | draw Prince and and you know I do |
| 00:25:37 | 00:25:43 | oversee a lot of that with her |
| 00:25:39 | 00:25:44 | um but we also we um we know our |
| 00:25:43 | 00:25:46 | customer pretty well so it's like we |
| 00:25:44 | 00:25:47 | know what they love and we continue just |
| 00:25:46 | 00:25:49 | to play off what they want |
| 00:25:47 | 00:25:51 | and so if you're working with like a |
| 00:25:49 | 00:25:53 | designer I imagine it takes multiple |
| 00:25:51 | 00:25:55 | iterations before like the stitching and |
| 00:25:53 | 00:25:56 | this I mean there's only so much I can |
| 00:25:55 | 00:25:59 | do from a picture right |
| 00:25:56 | 00:26:01 | exactly yes okay and there's a lot of |
| 00:25:59 | 00:26:03 | different fit samples and a lot of like |
| 00:26:01 | 00:26:04 | Proto samples that it takes two or three |
| 00:26:03 | 00:26:06 | rounds |
| 00:26:04 | 00:26:08 | okay well wow this just sounds I mean |
| 00:26:06 | 00:26:10 | running a clothing business just sounds |
| 00:26:08 | 00:26:12 | so much more complicated it is very |
| 00:26:10 | 00:26:14 | complicated looking back I'm like maybe |
| 00:26:12 | 00:26:16 | I should have started something else but |
| 00:26:14 | 00:26:18 | it's okay I love that because I wear |
| 00:26:16 | 00:26:21 | clothes every day and so yes everybody |
| 00:26:18 | 00:26:23 | else so it is a necessity |
| 00:26:21 | 00:26:24 | um and the way of the world is you know |
| 00:26:23 | 00:26:27 | turning to shopping online which is |
| 00:26:24 | 00:26:30 | great for the future but yeah it is it |
| 00:26:27 | 00:26:31 | is very complicated of those 13 000 skus |
| 00:26:30 | 00:26:33 | how many would you say kind of turnover |
| 00:26:31 | 00:26:35 | in a given year |
| 00:26:33 | 00:26:38 | we need to do it four to five turns a |
| 00:26:35 | 00:26:39 | year on our complete inventory but in |
| 00:26:38 | 00:26:43 | terms of like the styles that kind of go |
| 00:26:39 | 00:26:44 | obsolete or that you you're taken down |
| 00:26:43 | 00:26:46 | um |
| 00:26:44 | 00:26:48 | you mentioned you had Staples and then |
| 00:26:46 | 00:26:49 | you had new styles of those 13 000 how |
| 00:26:48 | 00:26:53 | many of those are just kind of Staples |
| 00:26:49 | 00:26:56 | that that just lasted the test of time |
| 00:26:53 | 00:26:58 | so for our Staples we still don't always |
| 00:26:56 | 00:26:59 | keep them in stok we do let them run |
| 00:26:58 | 00:27:01 | out and then restok them at the season |
| 00:26:59 | 00:27:03 | that they are appropriate for there's |
| 00:27:01 | 00:27:05 | some Staples like body suits if they're |
| 00:27:03 | 00:27:07 | long sleeves we may not have them in |
| 00:27:05 | 00:27:10 | stok in May and June so we used to let |
| 00:27:07 | 00:27:12 | them sell out at times and so I would |
| 00:27:10 | 00:27:15 | say 90 of our business turns and it's |
| 00:27:12 | 00:27:19 | not a state level would be maybe getting |
| 00:27:15 | 00:27:22 | it to maybe 40 60 one day but yeah most |
| 00:27:19 | 00:27:24 | of our stuff is it it turns amazing okay |
| 00:27:22 | 00:27:25 | so okay so where we left off was you're |
| 00:27:24 | 00:27:27 | at four million dollars how do you go |
| 00:27:25 | 00:27:31 | from four to a hundred I mean so what |
| 00:27:27 | 00:27:34 | were the primary drivers for growing you |
| 00:27:31 | 00:27:39 | know past you know nine figures yeah so |
| 00:27:34 | 00:27:41 | for 14 15 16 we grew you know four to 12 |
| 00:27:39 | 00:27:43 | million we kind of stayed at 12 million |
| 00:27:41 | 00:27:45 | for a year or two just because we kept |
| 00:27:43 | 00:27:47 | outgrowing our space and we it was just |
| 00:27:45 | 00:27:49 | my husband and I it was our money you |
| 00:27:47 | 00:27:52 | know so like we reinvested all the |
| 00:27:49 | 00:27:54 | profits but we didn't like it put |
| 00:27:52 | 00:27:56 | additional in to continue to scale fail |
| 00:27:54 | 00:27:58 | and so by 2016 we started working |
| 00:27:56 | 00:28:00 | outside of just Facebook and Instagram |
| 00:27:58 | 00:28:03 | we started doing more paid ads |
| 00:28:00 | 00:28:05 | influencers we introduced those |
| 00:28:03 | 00:28:08 | influencer Partnerships I think in 2018 |
| 00:28:05 | 00:28:11 | which really helped Elevate and in 2019 |
| 00:28:08 | 00:28:13 | we teamed up with a minority investor |
| 00:28:11 | 00:28:16 | company and they really helped Elevate |
| 00:28:13 | 00:28:18 | you know and scale we started building |
| 00:28:16 | 00:28:20 | out our teams and with director level |
| 00:28:18 | 00:28:22 | because at the time it was still my |
| 00:28:20 | 00:28:24 | husband and I doing most of the work so |
| 00:28:22 | 00:28:27 | they invested in um you know director |
| 00:28:24 | 00:28:29 | level positions and really |
| 00:28:27 | 00:28:30 | um those positions helped us Elevate |
| 00:28:29 | 00:28:33 | even faster you know our director of |
| 00:28:30 | 00:28:36 | Ecom our warehouse director our |
| 00:28:33 | 00:28:37 | marketing director and such so |
| 00:28:36 | 00:28:39 | um by you know getting a little bit of |
| 00:28:37 | 00:28:42 | expertise on board by 2019 that really |
| 00:28:39 | 00:28:45 | helped us go from you know 30 million to |
| 00:28:42 | 00:28:47 | 100 million within two years |
| 00:28:45 | 00:28:49 | was that just all online or was that |
| 00:28:47 | 00:28:51 | dude are you in retail outlets we have |
| 00:28:49 | 00:28:53 | one retail store here in our town and it |
| 00:28:51 | 00:28:55 | is under a million a year so it's very |
| 00:28:53 | 00:28:57 | small since we are just a college town |
| 00:28:55 | 00:28:59 | it's not like a big city |
| 00:28:57 | 00:29:01 | um so it is it's a very small amount of |
| 00:28:59 | 00:29:04 | Revenue okay so it's it's all online |
| 00:29:01 | 00:29:06 | sales that you scaled and it was it |
| 00:29:04 | 00:29:08 | sounds like it was scaled through mostly |
| 00:29:06 | 00:29:10 | just paid advertising Facebook Instagram |
| 00:29:08 | 00:29:13 | I would imagine yeah paid advertising |
| 00:29:10 | 00:29:15 | and yeah pretty much what's uh are you |
| 00:29:13 | 00:29:18 | guys on tiktok we are yes how's that |
| 00:29:15 | 00:29:20 | how's that going for you guys so um tik |
| 00:29:18 | 00:29:23 | tok is |
| 00:29:20 | 00:29:25 | it's great to for like Legion but it's |
| 00:29:23 | 00:29:27 | not great for building the community so |
| 00:29:25 | 00:29:30 | we are consistent on there and I think |
| 00:29:27 | 00:29:31 | we have about 150 000 followers |
| 00:29:30 | 00:29:33 | um we were one of the first Brands to |
| 00:29:31 | 00:29:36 | jump on there quickly because anytime a |
| 00:29:33 | 00:29:38 | platform uh arises I'm very quick to |
| 00:29:36 | 00:29:40 | like make sure that our Brand's on there |
| 00:29:38 | 00:29:43 | and hat people are know about us and see |
| 00:29:40 | 00:29:45 | us um but people don't respond to Brands |
| 00:29:43 | 00:29:47 | as well on tiktok so we're still |
| 00:29:45 | 00:29:49 | trying to learn to navigate that but |
| 00:29:47 | 00:29:51 | yeah we do have 150 000 followers we |
| 00:29:49 | 00:29:53 | just try to get them over to Instagram |
| 00:29:51 | 00:29:55 | or get them to our email list you know |
| 00:29:53 | 00:29:57 | we've run some tiktok ads that you |
| 00:29:55 | 00:29:58 | know they go to it and it signs them up |
| 00:29:57 | 00:30:01 | for our email newsletter that's a key |
| 00:29:58 | 00:30:03 | driver to get them to actually shop |
| 00:30:01 | 00:30:04 | yeah speaking among my colleagues it |
| 00:30:03 | 00:30:06 | seems like people will find you on tik |
| 00:30:04 | 00:30:08 | tok but you have to drive them to |
| 00:30:06 | 00:30:09 | either your own site get their email or |
| 00:30:08 | 00:30:12 | Instagram to actually complete the sale |
| 00:30:09 | 00:30:14 | exactly yes it is a good for Lead Gym |
| 00:30:12 | 00:30:16 | but not really for conversion yeah are |
| 00:30:14 | 00:30:18 | you guys on YouTube also or is it just |
| 00:30:16 | 00:30:19 | yeah we have a YouTube we really pushed |
| 00:30:18 | 00:30:21 | it last year |
| 00:30:19 | 00:30:24 | um until it just bandwidth we couldn't |
| 00:30:21 | 00:30:25 | um keep up with keep making the videos |
| 00:30:24 | 00:30:27 | every single week it was really more |
| 00:30:25 | 00:30:29 | behind the scenes on the brand side |
| 00:30:27 | 00:30:31 | though than uh like product which people |
| 00:30:29 | 00:30:33 | love they love seeing you know the |
| 00:30:31 | 00:30:34 | behind the scenes of the brand yeah what |
| 00:30:33 | 00:30:37 | is your philosophy of you personally |
| 00:30:34 | 00:30:39 | being in the post are you still in a lot |
| 00:30:37 | 00:30:42 | of the posts that you're in other tik |
| 00:30:39 | 00:30:43 | tok or or Instagram so tiktok not |
| 00:30:42 | 00:30:45 | really |
| 00:30:43 | 00:30:48 | um or Instagram I mean they'll repost |
| 00:30:45 | 00:30:49 | photos that I get and share and stuff |
| 00:30:48 | 00:30:51 | but |
| 00:30:49 | 00:30:53 | um for sure YouTube behind the brand |
| 00:30:51 | 00:30:56 | more so and like behind the scenes stuff |
| 00:30:53 | 00:30:58 | but I'm not like the model you know we |
| 00:30:56 | 00:31:00 | do they do have tiktok models and and |
| 00:30:58 | 00:31:02 | photographers and such that and I |
| 00:31:00 | 00:31:04 | honestly just don't have the time to go |
| 00:31:02 | 00:31:06 | to all these photo shoots and do that |
| 00:31:04 | 00:31:08 | part of it too yeah no I was I was just |
| 00:31:06 | 00:31:10 | wondering so that transition probably |
| 00:31:08 | 00:31:11 | took place once you cross like eight |
| 00:31:10 | 00:31:12 | figures I would imagine right you could |
| 00:31:11 | 00:31:15 | hire a whole bunch more people to handle |
| 00:31:12 | 00:31:17 | everything right yeah we I did a lot of |
| 00:31:15 | 00:31:19 | the live videos for the first few years |
| 00:31:17 | 00:31:21 | and people really did |
| 00:31:19 | 00:31:23 | um enjoy you know seeing the CEO do the |
| 00:31:21 | 00:31:24 | videos and I would love to do more of |
| 00:31:23 | 00:31:26 | those live videos on Facebook but it's |
| 00:31:24 | 00:31:28 | just it right now I'll leave it to the |
| 00:31:26 | 00:31:29 | marketing team to do it |
| 00:31:28 | 00:31:31 | yeah so I want to switch gears a little |
| 00:31:29 | 00:31:33 | bit and I want to I know you're a mom |
| 00:31:31 | 00:31:35 | and you have three kids right so how |
| 00:31:33 | 00:31:36 | does one job I know we have some |
| 00:31:35 | 00:31:38 | problems doing this how does one juggle |
| 00:31:36 | 00:31:40 | three kids with running such a large |
| 00:31:38 | 00:31:42 | business |
| 00:31:40 | 00:31:46 | um with help for sure |
| 00:31:42 | 00:31:48 | um so my we have a uh our two or older |
| 00:31:46 | 00:31:50 | ones are in school but then my |
| 00:31:48 | 00:31:51 | two-year-old she has a babysitter that |
| 00:31:50 | 00:31:53 | comes during the day so we come into |
| 00:31:51 | 00:31:54 | work while she is at home with her |
| 00:31:53 | 00:31:55 | babysitter |
| 00:31:54 | 00:31:57 | um if we ever have to travel she'll stay |
| 00:31:55 | 00:32:00 | the night too she's great um but my |
| 00:31:57 | 00:32:02 | husband is really good too like we we |
| 00:32:00 | 00:32:04 | both are great parents versus it just |
| 00:32:02 | 00:32:05 | being like the mom's role or the dad's |
| 00:32:04 | 00:32:08 | role so |
| 00:32:05 | 00:32:10 | um we tag team a lot and if I have to |
| 00:32:08 | 00:32:12 | work late he'll go home at four and let |
| 00:32:10 | 00:32:14 | our babysitter go and like he'll cook |
| 00:32:12 | 00:32:16 | dinner and such so |
| 00:32:14 | 00:32:17 | um it is a lot at times and we're so |
| 00:32:16 | 00:32:19 | much at work and then you can't get your |
| 00:32:17 | 00:32:22 | work done and you have to do it but I |
| 00:32:19 | 00:32:25 | try really hard to you know four to |
| 00:32:22 | 00:32:27 | eight o'clock as kids time we play we do |
| 00:32:25 | 00:32:28 | math we do that and then if I have to |
| 00:32:27 | 00:32:30 | finish working I'll do that after I get |
| 00:32:28 | 00:32:32 | the kids to bed to to complete the |
| 00:32:30 | 00:32:34 | emails for the day |
| 00:32:32 | 00:32:37 | yeah so your kids are younger than mine |
| 00:32:34 | 00:32:39 | mine are um teenage years now and I feel |
| 00:32:37 | 00:32:43 | like I'm a full-time driver starting at |
| 00:32:39 | 00:32:46 | one o'clock on uh I can't even imagine |
| 00:32:43 | 00:32:48 | uh so so I I my work hours I work from |
| 00:32:46 | 00:32:50 | about seven until about noon or one |
| 00:32:48 | 00:32:51 | o'clock and then the whole afternoon is |
| 00:32:50 | 00:32:53 | just devoted to me being like a |
| 00:32:51 | 00:32:54 | glorified Uber driver like I go to all |
| 00:32:53 | 00:32:57 | their practikes I coach and that sort of |
| 00:32:54 | 00:32:58 | thing uh can you walk me through your |
| 00:32:57 | 00:33:02 | typical day actually I'm very curious |
| 00:32:58 | 00:33:04 | yeah so in the morning it is wake up get |
| 00:33:02 | 00:33:07 | the kids ready for uh school do my |
| 00:33:04 | 00:33:08 | daughter's hair and they're on the they |
| 00:33:07 | 00:33:10 | just started riding the bus like two |
| 00:33:08 | 00:33:11 | weeks ago they're super excited about it |
| 00:33:10 | 00:33:13 | because we moved into our district so |
| 00:33:11 | 00:33:14 | they could ride the bus I don't know why |
| 00:33:13 | 00:33:16 | they They begged to ride the bus I was |
| 00:33:14 | 00:33:18 | like I hated the bus when I was a kid I |
| 00:33:16 | 00:33:19 | did too actually and they ride the bus |
| 00:33:18 | 00:33:22 | and they like it so I'll get them out |
| 00:33:19 | 00:33:24 | the door my husband does too and then um |
| 00:33:22 | 00:33:25 | we play with our two-year-old for just a |
| 00:33:24 | 00:33:27 | little bit before her babysitter gets |
| 00:33:25 | 00:33:29 | there and then I will come into work I'm |
| 00:33:27 | 00:33:31 | still working on we just recently moved |
| 00:33:29 | 00:33:32 | I'm still working on getting my home |
| 00:33:31 | 00:33:33 | office so I can actually work at home |
| 00:33:32 | 00:33:35 | some |
| 00:33:33 | 00:33:39 | um but it looks nice |
| 00:33:35 | 00:33:40 | just a mile away so it's not hard to get |
| 00:33:39 | 00:33:41 | here |
| 00:33:40 | 00:33:43 | um so come in and I'm typically here |
| 00:33:41 | 00:33:46 | every day from eight to four or eight to |
| 00:33:43 | 00:33:48 | five depending on the day |
| 00:33:46 | 00:33:50 | and then go home we have right now this |
| 00:33:48 | 00:33:52 | is a crazy season we've got soccer we've |
| 00:33:50 | 00:33:54 | got cheerleading and baseball so every |
| 00:33:52 | 00:33:56 | single night there is an activity for a |
| 00:33:54 | 00:33:58 | kid to get to Yes |
| 00:33:56 | 00:33:59 | um and so spring especially it's a |
| 00:33:58 | 00:34:01 | little harder but that nights are |
| 00:33:59 | 00:34:02 | usually either driving one of them and |
| 00:34:01 | 00:34:04 | staying at a practike or staying home |
| 00:34:02 | 00:34:06 | with the other two kids and feeding them |
| 00:34:04 | 00:34:09 | dinner cooking them all that stuff |
| 00:34:06 | 00:34:11 | it's nuts so um for so from you said |
| 00:34:09 | 00:34:13 | nine to four you're at work |
| 00:34:11 | 00:34:14 | um what what are your primary duties at |
| 00:34:13 | 00:34:20 | work right now |
| 00:34:14 | 00:34:22 | I am over so many things so I basically |
| 00:34:20 | 00:34:24 | oversee all the products so I'm over the |
| 00:34:22 | 00:34:26 | buying team but we just recently hired a |
| 00:34:24 | 00:34:28 | director of merchandising so she's still |
| 00:34:26 | 00:34:29 | learning the ropes |
| 00:34:28 | 00:34:31 | um I have to work on with them and |
| 00:34:29 | 00:34:33 | demand planning to ensure we're hitting |
| 00:34:31 | 00:34:35 | the numbers that we need to hit on the |
| 00:34:33 | 00:34:38 | sell-through percentages on our |
| 00:34:35 | 00:34:39 | inventory coming in I also oversee the |
| 00:34:38 | 00:34:42 | marketing team so I work with them |
| 00:34:39 | 00:34:44 | directly the marketing director on just |
| 00:34:42 | 00:34:46 | strategies and overall implementation |
| 00:34:44 | 00:34:49 | for marketing also oversee the customer |
| 00:34:46 | 00:34:51 | service team to ensure the the csat |
| 00:34:49 | 00:34:52 | scores are going up and you know |
| 00:34:51 | 00:34:54 | everything that all customers are |
| 00:34:52 | 00:34:57 | satisfied and then from there if there's |
| 00:34:54 | 00:34:59 | other ever other issues that arise or |
| 00:34:57 | 00:35:00 | just things like today I'm this |
| 00:34:59 | 00:35:02 | afternoon going over to the warehouse |
| 00:35:00 | 00:35:04 | just to see new new things that we're |
| 00:35:02 | 00:35:07 | doing and I'm dealing with some issues |
| 00:35:04 | 00:35:10 | with new contracts for our ambassadors |
| 00:35:07 | 00:35:12 | and influencers Etc so hands in a lot of |
| 00:35:10 | 00:35:14 | different things at all times |
| 00:35:12 | 00:35:16 | Tori that that made me tired just |
| 00:35:14 | 00:35:19 | hearing you say all that stuff actually |
| 00:35:16 | 00:35:22 | yeah I do at night time I'm like okay |
| 00:35:19 | 00:35:24 | you probably sleep very well I do yes |
| 00:35:22 | 00:35:25 | yes okay so I want to kind of shift this |
| 00:35:24 | 00:35:27 | last part of the interview towards |
| 00:35:25 | 00:35:29 | people like so as I mentioned before I |
| 00:35:27 | 00:35:32 | run a class and and oftentimes people |
| 00:35:29 | 00:35:34 | want to sell apparel so I want I want |
| 00:35:32 | 00:35:36 | your advice here so whenever someone |
| 00:35:34 | 00:35:38 | asks me to to celebrate whether they |
| 00:35:36 | 00:35:40 | should sell apparel I usually say no |
| 00:35:38 | 00:35:42 | because I think it's just gonna be |
| 00:35:40 | 00:35:45 | extremely difficult but you clearly |
| 00:35:42 | 00:35:46 | pulled it off on a bootstrap budget what |
| 00:35:45 | 00:35:49 | advice would you give people who |
| 00:35:46 | 00:35:52 | actually want to go the apparel route |
| 00:35:49 | 00:35:55 | I would say at this time and age |
| 00:35:52 | 00:35:57 | eight years post when I started total |
| 00:35:55 | 00:35:59 | different world obviously now with |
| 00:35:57 | 00:36:01 | clothing and you know even things like |
| 00:35:59 | 00:36:03 | Amazon fashion was not a thing when I |
| 00:36:01 | 00:36:05 | started so |
| 00:36:03 | 00:36:06 | um I would say the only way for it to be |
| 00:36:05 | 00:36:08 | successful at this point in time would |
| 00:36:06 | 00:36:11 | Define a gap in the market of something |
| 00:36:08 | 00:36:13 | not being sold so that's going to be |
| 00:36:11 | 00:36:15 | like if there is an idea that you have |
| 00:36:13 | 00:36:17 | you know I've seen great Brands pop up |
| 00:36:15 | 00:36:21 | like fiori you know they sell |
| 00:36:17 | 00:36:22 | um really good Lounge wear and such and |
| 00:36:21 | 00:36:24 | they are huge brain that just popped up |
| 00:36:22 | 00:36:26 | you know a few years ago but they had |
| 00:36:24 | 00:36:27 | that Gap in the market and there wasn't |
| 00:36:26 | 00:36:29 | great loungewear and everybody who's |
| 00:36:27 | 00:36:30 | staying home and they wanted that stuff |
| 00:36:29 | 00:36:32 | so |
| 00:36:30 | 00:36:37 | um to really look to see what that Gap |
| 00:36:32 | 00:36:39 | is and um you know I agree on Trends |
| 00:36:37 | 00:36:41 | changing way too fast I think if you go |
| 00:36:39 | 00:36:43 | that route you may not be successful I |
| 00:36:41 | 00:36:45 | would think it's going to be much more |
| 00:36:43 | 00:36:48 | successful if you have classic styles |
| 00:36:45 | 00:36:50 | that work for people long term and also |
| 00:36:48 | 00:36:51 | even going into the the route that you |
| 00:36:50 | 00:36:54 | know we're trying to go in the future is |
| 00:36:51 | 00:36:55 | just having a sustainable clothing line |
| 00:36:54 | 00:36:58 | that can be something huge you know if |
| 00:36:55 | 00:36:59 | you wanted to start out that right now |
| 00:36:58 | 00:37:00 | have you guys had problems with |
| 00:36:59 | 00:37:03 | knockoffs |
| 00:37:00 | 00:37:04 | uh yes absolutely so we always have |
| 00:37:03 | 00:37:06 | issues with that and even as far as |
| 00:37:04 | 00:37:08 | graphic tees and graphic designs you |
| 00:37:06 | 00:37:10 | know that we do on our ours that our |
| 00:37:08 | 00:37:13 | graphic designer hand draws then we see |
| 00:37:10 | 00:37:15 | it all over Etsy a month later so |
| 00:37:13 | 00:37:17 | um yes we we always have issues with |
| 00:37:15 | 00:37:18 | that what would you say like a good |
| 00:37:17 | 00:37:19 | starting budget would be for someone new |
| 00:37:18 | 00:37:21 | who wants to go into apparel do you |
| 00:37:19 | 00:37:23 | think it's possible to bootstrap it just |
| 00:37:21 | 00:37:26 | like you guys did today yeah absolutely |
| 00:37:23 | 00:37:28 | yeah okay I think I'm always in favor of |
| 00:37:26 | 00:37:30 | walking before you run sure you know |
| 00:37:28 | 00:37:32 | that so and where would you start in |
| 00:37:30 | 00:37:33 | terms of marketing would you start with |
| 00:37:32 | 00:37:35 | influencers would you start on social |
| 00:37:33 | 00:37:36 | what would you do if you start all over |
| 00:37:35 | 00:37:39 | again |
| 00:37:36 | 00:37:41 | right now I would do both I would start |
| 00:37:39 | 00:37:43 | you know definitely with uh influencers |
| 00:37:41 | 00:37:45 | and you know tiktok and Instagram |
| 00:37:43 | 00:37:48 | social media I think that there's still |
| 00:37:45 | 00:37:49 | a lot of life left in some of those uh |
| 00:37:48 | 00:37:52 | platforms and there's also new platforms |
| 00:37:49 | 00:37:54 | always starting up so um a lot of women |
| 00:37:52 | 00:37:56 | have or a lot of Boutique owners that I |
| 00:37:54 | 00:37:57 | know have great success with both of |
| 00:37:56 | 00:38:00 | those especially tiktok right now |
| 00:37:57 | 00:38:02 | yeah yeah take some dance lessons throw |
| 00:38:00 | 00:38:05 | up some tikets yeah |
| 00:38:02 | 00:38:07 | we're gonna do great uh what's your |
| 00:38:05 | 00:38:10 | influencer strategy what do you find so |
| 00:38:07 | 00:38:12 | we work with a variety of influencers |
| 00:38:10 | 00:38:15 | and we really |
| 00:38:12 | 00:38:18 | we ensure that we're getting a good Roi |
| 00:38:15 | 00:38:19 | on them though so I mean it does |
| 00:38:18 | 00:38:21 | um take a lot of like after the fact |
| 00:38:19 | 00:38:22 | here's what they are posting here's what |
| 00:38:21 | 00:38:24 | this what's sold here's what their |
| 00:38:22 | 00:38:26 | coupon code brought in for us to be able |
| 00:38:24 | 00:38:30 | to rebook them you do have to bring in a |
| 00:38:26 | 00:38:31 | certain Roi but our strategy it's really |
| 00:38:30 | 00:38:34 | um it's ever changing because the |
| 00:38:31 | 00:38:35 | influencer world is always where do you |
| 00:38:34 | 00:38:38 | find them do you look on Instagram |
| 00:38:35 | 00:38:39 | primarily yeah so we were Instagram tik |
| 00:38:38 | 00:38:41 | tok YouTube we work with all |
| 00:38:39 | 00:38:43 | influencers on all those platforms so do |
| 00:38:41 | 00:38:44 | you give them like a trial like you |
| 00:38:43 | 00:38:46 | mentioned Roi but it's really hard to |
| 00:38:44 | 00:38:48 | figure out whether someone's going to be |
| 00:38:46 | 00:38:50 | Roi positive right so most influencers |
| 00:38:48 | 00:38:53 | don't do a trial it's just you know |
| 00:38:50 | 00:38:55 | they're so what I meant by that is do |
| 00:38:53 | 00:38:57 | you cast your net wide and then and |
| 00:38:55 | 00:38:58 | figure out who's who works and then just |
| 00:38:57 | 00:39:00 | focus on those things okay I think if |
| 00:38:58 | 00:39:02 | you're starting out now that's exactly |
| 00:39:00 | 00:39:03 | what I would do do you focus on the |
| 00:39:02 | 00:39:05 | smaller or are you guys looking at |
| 00:39:03 | 00:39:08 | bigger people or |
| 00:39:05 | 00:39:10 | uh so for us it's a it's a really good |
| 00:39:08 | 00:39:12 | mix the ones that really drive the |
| 00:39:10 | 00:39:14 | conversion and the sales are the bigger |
| 00:39:12 | 00:39:16 | girls |
| 00:39:14 | 00:39:19 | um but it's very hard to book larger |
| 00:39:16 | 00:39:21 | girls and it's also very expensive to |
| 00:39:19 | 00:39:24 | book larger girls so I think if you take |
| 00:39:21 | 00:39:26 | the money and split it um amongst |
| 00:39:24 | 00:39:29 | smaller ones you're going to get a whole |
| 00:39:26 | 00:39:30 | lot more new audiences and in the long |
| 00:39:29 | 00:39:33 | run it can be better for just that top |
| 00:39:30 | 00:39:35 | of funnel marketing so uh what do you |
| 00:39:33 | 00:39:37 | negotiate as like the deliverables I |
| 00:39:35 | 00:39:39 | mean obviously you're not sometimes one |
| 00:39:37 | 00:39:41 | post isn't enough right so what is your |
| 00:39:39 | 00:39:43 | typical like minimum book for them to |
| 00:39:41 | 00:39:46 | post for you |
| 00:39:43 | 00:39:48 | um usually it is just one post |
| 00:39:46 | 00:39:49 | a story session too I mean there's |
| 00:39:48 | 00:39:52 | definitely some that we do like okay two |
| 00:39:49 | 00:39:54 | posts a month and two story sessions but |
| 00:39:52 | 00:39:56 | um a lot of them like to have a variety |
| 00:39:54 | 00:39:57 | of things that they cover on their their |
| 00:39:56 | 00:39:59 | platforms and they don't want to just be |
| 00:39:57 | 00:40:01 | like only showing one brand all the time |
| 00:39:59 | 00:40:04 | interesting are you looking for Roi |
| 00:40:01 | 00:40:06 | positivity with influencers or do you I |
| 00:40:04 | 00:40:07 | would imagine your repeat customer rates |
| 00:40:06 | 00:40:10 | pretty pretty good right because you |
| 00:40:07 | 00:40:12 | have a closer we have about a 74 |
| 00:40:10 | 00:40:14 | retention rate okay that's amazing yeah |
| 00:40:12 | 00:40:16 | that's amazing it's very above average |
| 00:40:14 | 00:40:18 | yeah that's amazing so that means you |
| 00:40:16 | 00:40:20 | can probably afford to lose money on |
| 00:40:18 | 00:40:21 | these influencers right just again yeah |
| 00:40:20 | 00:40:24 | we don't though we we make sure that we |
| 00:40:21 | 00:40:26 | do not lose money on any of our our um |
| 00:40:24 | 00:40:28 | Investments so we do a make sure that we |
| 00:40:26 | 00:40:30 | have a positive Roi okay so if you're |
| 00:40:28 | 00:40:33 | brand new would you just recommend going |
| 00:40:30 | 00:40:34 | after the small guys were you do you do |
| 00:40:33 | 00:40:37 | you actually just give away product for |
| 00:40:34 | 00:40:39 | the small people and in return for |
| 00:40:37 | 00:40:42 | in the past yes |
| 00:40:39 | 00:40:43 | the world has changed so much that very |
| 00:40:42 | 00:40:45 | little influencers do it for free |
| 00:40:43 | 00:40:47 | product these days everyone considers |
| 00:40:45 | 00:40:49 | this themselves an influencer I know |
| 00:40:47 | 00:40:51 | it's changed drastikally in the last |
| 00:40:49 | 00:40:54 | even two to three years The Way of the |
| 00:40:51 | 00:40:55 | World in 2018 with influencer world is |
| 00:40:54 | 00:40:58 | drastikally different than it is in |
| 00:40:55 | 00:40:59 | 2022. yeah okay so that sounds like a |
| 00:40:58 | 00:41:01 | good overview so you could probably |
| 00:40:59 | 00:41:03 | bootstrap with like 10 grand if you were |
| 00:41:01 | 00:41:05 | doing it all over today focus on social |
| 00:41:03 | 00:41:07 | maybe tiktok the free organic methods |
| 00:41:05 | 00:41:09 | yeah and find some influencers find out |
| 00:41:07 | 00:41:11 | hopefully try to just give away the |
| 00:41:09 | 00:41:13 | product in return for some mentions yeah |
| 00:41:11 | 00:41:16 | especially social create a community |
| 00:41:13 | 00:41:18 | yeah I think the community is a really |
| 00:41:16 | 00:41:20 | big factor I think that that's just the |
| 00:41:18 | 00:41:23 | way of the future with online selling |
| 00:41:20 | 00:41:24 | overall and you know people want to feel |
| 00:41:23 | 00:41:27 | like they're my husband's in this |
| 00:41:24 | 00:41:29 | bourbon group community and he spends a |
| 00:41:27 | 00:41:31 | lot of money in there and he's like I |
| 00:41:29 | 00:41:33 | love it I'm addicted to it and I feel |
| 00:41:31 | 00:41:35 | like people actually do get addicted to |
| 00:41:33 | 00:41:36 | these groups and that they want to check |
| 00:41:35 | 00:41:37 | it every day and then they're like oh |
| 00:41:36 | 00:41:39 | well let me buy that and you know they |
| 00:41:37 | 00:41:40 | get excited and they want to fill a part |
| 00:41:39 | 00:41:42 | of a community you know people are |
| 00:41:40 | 00:41:43 | spending less and less real time |
| 00:41:42 | 00:41:45 | together so they want to have an |
| 00:41:43 | 00:41:47 | alternative and that's a community on |
| 00:41:45 | 00:41:49 | social media is Facebook still the best |
| 00:41:47 | 00:41:50 | place for communities or have you |
| 00:41:49 | 00:41:52 | branched out elsewhere |
| 00:41:50 | 00:41:54 | I think a Facebook group is probably |
| 00:41:52 | 00:41:56 | still the number one still number one |
| 00:41:54 | 00:41:58 | if you want to see more amazing |
| 00:41:56 | 00:42:00 | interviews with successful entrepreneurs |
| 00:41:58 | 00:42:02 | then check out this next interview right |
| 00:42:00 | 00:42:05 | here I think you'll enjoy it and you'll |
| 00:42:02 | 00:42:05 | definitely be inspired |
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