Shownotes
Motivational Quote
Business Inspiration
The Learnings of Wild Bill [4:42]A Candle Flickering Moment
Disconnecting from the family business [13:06]The Wholesale Decision
Adding wholesale to the existing online retail shop [19:27]Business Building Insight
Defining a unique product opportunity [7:37] Description of the Dictionary Page Product [9:38] Partners in business – the key to doing it right [16:45] Customizing product offerings by store needs and audience [24:25]Success Trait
Berk – Charisma and his ability to connect with people Katie – Creativity, empathy and being a leaderProductivity/Lifestyle Tool
MeditationValuable Book
Likeable Social Media, Revised and Expanded: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Amazing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, and More by Dave Kerpen
Contact Links
Website Facebook Etsy AmazonIf you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcripts
Gift biz on wrapped episode three,
Speaker:we Needed a way to make it pop,
Speaker:make it happen all at once.
Speaker:If we could.
Speaker:Hi, this is John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to the gifted biz unwrapped,
Speaker:and now it's time to light it Up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop
Speaker:and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Monheit And welcome to the gift unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:Whether you own a brick and mortar store sell online,
Speaker:or just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. Today,
Speaker:I have joining us Burke and Katie Ziegler of fresh prince
Speaker:of CT.
Speaker:Fresh prince of CT provides artists and crafted gifts and posters
Speaker:to gift shops around the country and internationally Birkin,
Speaker:Katie research,
Speaker:current trends and discover artisans who Excel at their craft.
Speaker:They find joy in providing customers access to arts and ideas
Speaker:that aren't necessarily mainstream intern.
Speaker:This creates an environment for customers to explore and find products
Speaker:that are truly unique and memorable through their wholesale offerings.
Speaker:Burke and Katie also offer the opportunity for businesses to support
Speaker:original artists who create unique hand-crafted gifts.
Speaker:Each item is conceived and crafted by the artists themselves,
Speaker:therefore being not only one of a kind,
Speaker:but also carrying a lovely story of how it was made.
Speaker:As you can tell,
Speaker:they take great care in curating high quality items that are
Speaker:available in their store.
Speaker:Welcome to the show Burke and Katie.
Speaker:Thanks. So we're happy to be here.
Speaker:I'm thrilled to have you with us.
Speaker:Is there anything that you would like to include in this
Speaker:intro before we get started,
Speaker:That we work very closely together.
Speaker:We're husband and wife.
Speaker:So fortunately we enjoy each other's company because we raised the
Speaker:kids together and work together.
Speaker:So a lot of our time is spent together.
Speaker:So we really do bounce ideas off of each other and
Speaker:work well together.
Speaker:We're a good team,
Speaker:the yin and the yang You go well,
Speaker:and it's a very special relationship to be able to spend
Speaker:all your days together at work and then also be partners
Speaker:in life at the same time.
Speaker:Yeah. I still kind of like them.
Speaker:Yes. I'll catch you in about five years.
Speaker:We'll see how you guys are feeling.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:13 years.
Speaker:And we actually met in business class,
Speaker:so it started out perfectly.
Speaker:We're both in a business class together and that's where we
Speaker:first met.
Speaker:And here we are with our own business all these years
Speaker:later. Wow.
Speaker:That's awesome.
Speaker:Well, as our listeners know,
Speaker:we align the conversation around the life of a motivational candle.
Speaker:The light's going to shine on you too,
Speaker:while you share your stories and experiences.
Speaker:So shall we light it up?
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:I'm going to create a scene here for you.
Speaker:You are researching all of the artisans because you're looking for
Speaker:your next special product that you're going to be bringing in
Speaker:and you happen upon all these lit candles.
Speaker:I'm going to make it a desert scene or something.
Speaker:All these beautiful candles lit up.
Speaker:What color candle are you going to go?
Speaker:Well, normally I would gravitate to a white candle because I
Speaker:liked the simplicity,
Speaker:but today we're going to go for a nice fresh green.
Speaker:Ooh. And why are you switching it up for today?
Speaker:Well, because I see the motivational quote on that candle is
Speaker:from Yoda.
Speaker:What does it say?
Speaker:And the quote is do or do not.
Speaker:There is no try.
Speaker:And that's the philosophy that we use in our business.
Speaker:We feel that what you have to do is you have
Speaker:to take risks and you have to be able to just
Speaker:go for a hundred percent.
Speaker:And that's what we have done.
Speaker:We take risks and we try new things.
Speaker:And if we decide we're going to go for it,
Speaker:we do it a hundred percent and we just try and
Speaker:make it happen.
Speaker:If you don't try,
Speaker:you don't know what the results going to be.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:Let's go back not to the beginning where you guys met
Speaker:in class.
Speaker:Cause you started to cover that a little bit already.
Speaker:So you guys graduated and I'm not sure what you did
Speaker:from there,
Speaker:but let's start with,
Speaker:how did fresh prince of CT come to be?
Speaker:Where'd you think of it and kind of lead us into
Speaker:how the business was created?
Speaker:Basically Burke's father is wild bill wild Bill's nostalgia in Middletown,
Speaker:Connecticut, which is actually a roadside attraction he's been in business
Speaker:for about 35 years or so.
Speaker:He personally has experienced in retail.
Speaker:So a lot of our business ideas bounce off of the
Speaker:idea of wild bills.
Speaker:So that's kind of where inspiration came from.
Speaker:We both admire while bill is passionate and dedication to his
Speaker:business. But unfortunately when in a family business,
Speaker:there's only one room for a boss and that is wild
Speaker:bill. So we decided pretty early on that we wanted to
Speaker:branch off and maybe use some of his ideas and kind
Speaker:of be similar,
Speaker:but stand on our own.
Speaker:It's a really good point though,
Speaker:too. I mean,
Speaker:did he want you to get into the business to Burke
Speaker:or was he all for you just doing your own thing?
Speaker:Well, let's just say he's been my father my entire life,
Speaker:but he's been my boss since I was about eight years
Speaker:old. So the relationship is a little different than most relationships.
Speaker:So I have,
Speaker:like Katie had said,
Speaker:I have a retail experience most of my life.
Speaker:And while working with my father,
Speaker:I was there to help him manage and run his business.
Speaker:Well, as,
Speaker:as he developed his wholesale business,
Speaker:I was right there with him.
Speaker:So the experiences I got were really amazing business wise when
Speaker:I went to school and I met Katie that's after years
Speaker:of hands-on experience,
Speaker:what I didn't have was any of the books smarts or
Speaker:what other business people were learning in school.
Speaker:And so that's something that I wanted as a balance,
Speaker:just to see a different side of it.
Speaker:I've been right there next to my father,
Speaker:shoulder to shoulder learning from him.
Speaker:But you know,
Speaker:there's only one boss.
Speaker:So decisions that I might make would be different than the
Speaker:decisions that he makes.
Speaker:And that's totally fine cause it's his business.
Speaker:And I just feel grateful that I was able to learn
Speaker:everything that I learned and continue learning at some point,
Speaker:Katie and I just decided that if we really wanted to
Speaker:do something different,
Speaker:it would have to be its own entity.
Speaker:It was a big decision,
Speaker:but that's what we decided on.
Speaker:And we created fresh prince of CT and decided to go
Speaker:on a more artistic artisan angle,
Speaker:similar to my father's business.
Speaker:Just a little different,
Speaker:a little more artsy,
Speaker:a little more fresh,
Speaker:fresh, fresh,
Speaker:Because it's called fresh prince.
Speaker:And what led you in the direction of making it that
Speaker:choice versus opening up something that's totally different.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:were you seeing customers were interested in something different or how
Speaker:did you actually get on to this idea?
Speaker:Fresh prince?
Speaker:The first thing that we did was we hand carved out
Speaker:of linoleum,
Speaker:some inspirational quotes.
Speaker:One of the things we have access to is a hundred-year-old
Speaker:Heidelberg letterpress,
Speaker:which is this giant machine,
Speaker:probably the size of a Volkswagen beetle is like a very
Speaker:old style of printing posters.
Speaker:That's the first thing we started with hand carving inspirational quotes,
Speaker:using something similar to what my father is doing cause he
Speaker:does posters.
Speaker:But the art aspect of it was we were like hand
Speaker:crafting it ourselves.
Speaker:Wild Bill's area of expertise is nostalgia.
Speaker:So he does reproduction poster,
Speaker:prints of concert posters.
Speaker:He buys out large collections from collectors that no longer want
Speaker:their collections.
Speaker:So he has,
Speaker:must be like 25,000
Speaker:square feet of collectibles in his retail stores.
Speaker:Well, bill is kind of a crazy person in a good
Speaker:way. And so are we,
Speaker:so we kept that aspect instead of going for the straightness
Speaker:style GIA,
Speaker:we wanted to do an artists and flair kind of a
Speaker:Bohemian fresh tape on a vintage style rather than straight nostalgia.
Speaker:So it does have similarities because we don't want to alienate
Speaker:ourselves from well bills because eventually since it is a family
Speaker:business, it will be handed down to Burke and his siblings,
Speaker:His listeners,
Speaker:I met Burke and Katie actually at a trade show.
Speaker:And one of the things I do when I go out
Speaker:to shows is I go up and down the aisles,
Speaker:looking for industry products or something new that catches my eye
Speaker:and your booth totally caught my eye.
Speaker:And I'd love for one of you to describe the one
Speaker:product that I just really gravitated to,
Speaker:which was the dictionary pages with the photos over it.
Speaker:Can you do a way better description than I'm doing in
Speaker:terms of what that product looks like?
Speaker:Just to give people a feel for the types of things
Speaker:that you're Doing?
Speaker:Sure. Absolutely.
Speaker:And what we do is we go on the search for
Speaker:old dictionaries dictionaries that have a nice patina to them and
Speaker:a thicker page than maybe some of those newer dictionaries that
Speaker:you would find so that they are vintage books.
Speaker:And what we do is we select pages that don't have
Speaker:a lot of pictures on them and we create our own
Speaker:designs and use that paper to print the design on.
Speaker:So what it does is it creates kind of a neutral
Speaker:background at the same time.
Speaker:It's making that design of what we chose.
Speaker:For instance,
Speaker:one of the most popular lines that we have are anatomical
Speaker:prints from old books as well.
Speaker:So the heart there's a black and white heart on top
Speaker:of the dictionary art page.
Speaker:And it's printed with a special printer that lays the ink
Speaker:almost on top of the lettering of the page.
Speaker:So unlike a home printer where it's an inkjet and kind
Speaker:of soaks into the page,
Speaker:it sits on top.
Speaker:So it really does create a really cool art piece.
Speaker:It looks amazing frame.
Speaker:That's a conversation starter because sometimes we try to match the
Speaker:words, but most of the time we don't.
Speaker:So it's really cool when you print an owl or a
Speaker:heart or something,
Speaker:and you find a work coincides with the picture or kind
Speaker:of hits you personally in a special way.
Speaker:And almost every single time somebody could find a word on
Speaker:that page.
Speaker:That means something to them.
Speaker:It's really,
Speaker:really fun.
Speaker:You told me one story when I was there about somebody
Speaker:I think it had to do with an owl.
Speaker:Yes. Yeah,
Speaker:that's right.
Speaker:There was a person who ordered our nerdy owl.
Speaker:So we have an owl,
Speaker:who's got hipster glasses on.
Speaker:So they have like bright red glasses and he's sitting on
Speaker:a pile of books and that's on the dictionary page.
Speaker:And the review that we got from the item was that
Speaker:he was so excited that it came on a page with,
Speaker:I believe it was amendment the second amendment because he had
Speaker:studied criminal justice.
Speaker:So he was totally psyched about it and left a glowing
Speaker:review for us.
Speaker:Well, and if any of you want to take a look
Speaker:at some of these and see a visual of exactly what
Speaker:we're talking about,
Speaker:I'll have a lot of links on Katie and Burke's show
Speaker:notes so that you'll be able to see exactly what this
Speaker:looks like.
Speaker:They're very cool.
Speaker:So your business is still relatively young,
Speaker:although you've got a lot of experience in retail,
Speaker:but having your own business,
Speaker:you're still really just starting out a couple of years old,
Speaker:right? Right.
Speaker:Can you bring us back to some point in time when
Speaker:you were struggling and you have this idea,
Speaker:you've got all this experience,
Speaker:but now you're going off on your own.
Speaker:Can you give us a bump in the road of something
Speaker:that happened that could help our listeners?
Speaker:And then also how you were able to overcome the situation?
Speaker:We did touch on this a little bit.
Speaker:And I think the biggest bump in the road was the
Speaker:big decision to be autonomous from wild bill to not be
Speaker:an employee anymore,
Speaker:but to start a business in our own names and just
Speaker:do it all just from the ground up,
Speaker:starting our own business.
Speaker:So that was probably the biggest step.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:family and business doesn't always work together.
Speaker:Sometimes it does,
Speaker:but it could get complicated.
Speaker:So that was a huge step after working my entire life
Speaker:for my father to step away and just come to the
Speaker:realization that it's his business,
Speaker:a hundred percent,
Speaker:I will just be the employee.
Speaker:So any ideas or decisions I have,
Speaker:it might not be taken because he has the final say,
Speaker:realizing that if we wanted to do something different,
Speaker:if we wanted to create something new,
Speaker:we would just have to do it ourselves.
Speaker:So we did it,
Speaker:we took a huge risk and we put a lot of
Speaker:time and energy into it.
Speaker:And it's been working out really well ever since.
Speaker:And I feel like the relationship with my father is much
Speaker:better now because it's taken a step back so he could
Speaker:see what we're doing with our business.
Speaker:And he's able to do what he wants with his business,
Speaker:without any friction back and forth.
Speaker:We can,
Speaker:we're able to share ideas with each other,
Speaker:without him feeling like we're telling him what to do.
Speaker:And it really does help him be dad and not boss.
Speaker:Our family relationships are very important to us.
Speaker:So we prefer him as dad.
Speaker:Well, if you're an entrepreneur or have started something specially for
Speaker:your dad who has had this business now for years and
Speaker:years, to have someone else come in,
Speaker:like you Burke,
Speaker:who really also has a business mind and knows what you
Speaker:want to do.
Speaker:I'm quite sure there was challenged there,
Speaker:not intentionally on either of your parts,
Speaker:but it sounds like you've come to a really great solution
Speaker:because now you're at a point where you both have your
Speaker:business entities and you can consult each other,
Speaker:but still be responsible for your own decisions of what you're
Speaker:doing with each of the separate businesses and retained family relations.
Speaker:Yes, exactly.
Speaker:Someone who might be listening,
Speaker:who might be involved in this type of a thing,
Speaker:daughter, who's working with a mother or possibly even two friends
Speaker:who started a business together,
Speaker:did the realization that you needed to split,
Speaker:not in a bad way,
Speaker:in a good way,
Speaker:but did it come just automatically one day or were you
Speaker:just starting to feel it over time that this was just
Speaker:not going to work Out?
Speaker:So I think it was building a little bit over time.
Speaker:Just like I said,
Speaker:I had been working with my father since I was like
Speaker:eight years old in a retail store,
Speaker:helping customers.
Speaker:Yeah. I think that it basically reached a point.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:when Burke and I were in school,
Speaker:we were 23.
Speaker:So at that age,
Speaker:you're a young adult and sometimes your parents don't see you
Speaker:that way.
Speaker:So at that point,
Speaker:you're ready to do your own thing.
Speaker:And the relationship was already established where,
Speaker:what roles were already established,
Speaker:those roles weren't going to be broken.
Speaker:So as far as an established family business,
Speaker:it's really tough because you're always the child.
Speaker:You know what I mean?
Speaker:It's hard to change that dynamic to be partner,
Speaker:even though the parent.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I know while bill wants us to be involved,
Speaker:but he just can't let go of the control,
Speaker:which is like we said,
Speaker:a couple of times already,
Speaker:it's his business,
Speaker:it's what he's built.
Speaker:And I don't know.
Speaker:We'll see how we feel when we get older and if
Speaker:the kids want to be part of ours,
Speaker:but When the roles get reversed,
Speaker:You never know.
Speaker:But as far as starting a business with a friend or
Speaker:family, I think it's just really important to have a really
Speaker:strong base of respect for each other.
Speaker:Because sometimes even with us,
Speaker:the shorthand on the outside can seem rude,
Speaker:short, you know,
Speaker:because we know each other so well that I could give
Speaker:him a look and he's like,
Speaker:oh, I got to change what I'm doing here.
Speaker:Sometimes you need that extra explanation.
Speaker:Like let's do this together.
Speaker:Even though we have an established relationship,
Speaker:but it's important for us to recognize the goal.
Speaker:We're both going towards the same goal and it has to
Speaker:do with business.
Speaker:It doesn't have to do with our friendship.
Speaker:It doesn't have to do with our familial relationship.
Speaker:Let's just get this project done and take out the emotional
Speaker:stuff as much as they can.
Speaker:And we'll just go have a beer afterwards.
Speaker:You know what I mean?
Speaker:Then we can be friends again,
Speaker:but It's kind of tough.
Speaker:Yeah. And you guys also have two young sons.
Speaker:So when the Workday's over,
Speaker:are you guys able to make that separation?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:this is working now and I'm sure with the boys,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:they're demanding your attention all the time afterwards anyway.
Speaker:Right. So work is work,
Speaker:but you really try to keep business talk in business hours
Speaker:and then family time,
Speaker:just totally.
Speaker:Yeah. You know,
Speaker:when it's kids time,
Speaker:time for the family,
Speaker:we put the computers down and we make sure to give
Speaker:them our attention.
Speaker:They can sense it.
Speaker:They know if you're distracted or trying to work on something
Speaker:else. So yeah,
Speaker:we both do understand the importance of having that time specifically
Speaker:for them,
Speaker:because it's really easy,
Speaker:especially working from home.
Speaker:There's no time chart.
Speaker:You're just always on,
Speaker:there's always something you could be doing.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:that that might be something that helps your listeners also is
Speaker:just to know that even though there's always something happening with
Speaker:your business,
Speaker:you have to take the time to just say,
Speaker:I'll check it later right now is family time.
Speaker:Or right now is time to just sit down and relax.
Speaker:You need that time or else you could just burn yourself
Speaker:out or you're going to miss things with your kids or
Speaker:your family that you won't be able to give back.
Speaker:So that time is very important.
Speaker:Very good advice.
Speaker:Burke. Now you've got to specially I think that's one of
Speaker:the biggest challenges of working out of the house is it
Speaker:can always stare you in the face.
Speaker:Katie and I were talking right before when you were going
Speaker:to get that package,
Speaker:how, you know,
Speaker:being in the basements.
Speaker:Good. Because you can shut the door and just not even
Speaker:see it a little bit so that you can stay in
Speaker:the moment,
Speaker:family time when you're in a family time and in business
Speaker:when you're,
Speaker:when you're working in the business.
Speaker:Yeah. See,
Speaker:that's, that's one of the things are Katie.
Speaker:And I,
Speaker:like I said,
Speaker:we're kind of like the yin and yang where Katie needs
Speaker:to only just focus when she's doing something where I do
Speaker:two things.
Speaker:Yeah. Different work styles for sure.
Speaker:Okay. Well,
Speaker:let's swing back and focus on the business again.
Speaker:Could you share with us a promotion or some type of
Speaker:event that you do that really seems to move the needle
Speaker:in terms of sales?
Speaker:Yes. The turning point most recently for us was moving from
Speaker:online sales that were all retail to creating a wholesale business.
Speaker:So we had a lot of guidance from wild bill and
Speaker:parents that Burke had with him,
Speaker:but we needed a way to make it pop,
Speaker:make it happen all at once if we could.
Speaker:So what we did is we actually invested a good amount
Speaker:of money into a Las Vegas trade show called the ASD
Speaker:gift show.
Speaker:It went really,
Speaker:really well.
Speaker:We displayed our items.
Speaker:People stopped because we didn't look like any of the other
Speaker:doors and gifts around us.
Speaker:And we opened 23 new accounts.
Speaker:And that was the first year that we were there.
Speaker:It was great.
Speaker:It was really,
Speaker:really great.
Speaker:So you blew it up really?
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. Consciously said,
Speaker:okay, we're not just going to do only online retail.
Speaker:We are now going to provide our products that other people
Speaker:can sell.
Speaker:Obviously what wholesale is all about?
Speaker:Did you target specific types of shops that you thought you
Speaker:should be in like museums or that type of thing,
Speaker:or walk us through with a little more detail about how
Speaker:you made that switch and how you decided the show was
Speaker:right, so that you could get these 23 new accounts?
Speaker:Sure. The ASD gift show is very,
Speaker:very broad.
Speaker:There are a bunch of different sections there in the toy.
Speaker:I think a,
Speaker:the toy and gift toy and gift.
Speaker:We did that because we're kind of more of a novelty
Speaker:gift type of provider.
Speaker:Just wondering what specifically your thought process was as you transitioned
Speaker:from just your own online shop,
Speaker:to going after wholesale,
Speaker:what actions did you take to determine how you were going
Speaker:to make that it's not a switch,
Speaker:but addition Part of our process is to do a lot
Speaker:of market research on trends that are happening with handmade items,
Speaker:with other gift items.
Speaker:So we always try to find a good markup when we're
Speaker:looking to sell them.
Speaker:And then,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:when we started getting more into the arts and crafts type
Speaker:of stuff,
Speaker:I was like,
Speaker:I could do that.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it's going to take extra work,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:but I can create this product line myself.
Speaker:So that really reduced our margins significantly,
Speaker:that we were able to think about offering wholesale because at
Speaker:wholesale you need to be enough room for the,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the business that's buying from you to make money as well.
Speaker:So we wanted to do that.
Speaker:We wanted to sell our products so that other people can
Speaker:enjoy. I don't know if it was really like,
Speaker:we need to do wholesale to make money,
Speaker:but almost kind of an idea that's kind of at our
Speaker:core is that we just want to share,
Speaker:Well, it sounds like you have such a love for the
Speaker:product that you just,
Speaker:you find it and you want to just expose it to
Speaker:the whole world.
Speaker:Yeah. That was a really good thing at the ASD gift
Speaker:show in Las Vegas was we had a very diverse line
Speaker:of products of artists and products.
Speaker:We kind of just got a lot of different products just
Speaker:to see what would people react to?
Speaker:What are people feeling like you had said when you walked
Speaker:by our booth,
Speaker:it was different than everything else.
Speaker:And it drew you in.
Speaker:And that's what we did in Las Vegas.
Speaker:Also, our booth was pretty different than your average policy or
Speaker:booth. It gave us a great opportunity to bring a lot
Speaker:of different products to show and to really be able to
Speaker:understand what,
Speaker:to focus on,
Speaker:what people were interested in.
Speaker:And it's good to see something like the dictionary art prints.
Speaker:A lot of people have never seen them before,
Speaker:but they were intrigued and having never seen them or heard
Speaker:about them.
Speaker:A lot of people wanted to give it a try just
Speaker:because it was very different and something that strikes a chord
Speaker:with a wide variety of people.
Speaker:Yeah. Cause you had said what shops were buying and it
Speaker:was a wide variety of different shops.
Speaker:I'd say the majority of the shops were known through wild
Speaker:bill. And we were there with,
Speaker:well, bill we're more music type entertainment shops that we opened,
Speaker:but we also opened art gallery stores.
Speaker:We opened small shop When you opened meaning these people were
Speaker:then going to have your product within them.
Speaker:Yeah. Sorry.
Speaker:Yes. Accounts be open.
Speaker:Yeah. So it would be a new client.
Speaker:So somebody new to us that has their own brick and
Speaker:mortar store that we were servicing When you were making the
Speaker:transition and now having shops,
Speaker:who were your wholesale customers?
Speaker:Was there any surprise along the way in how you had
Speaker:to set up business or how you talk to them or
Speaker:any advice for our listeners who might be looking at going
Speaker:that same route?
Speaker:Well, one of the things that from our experience in the
Speaker:past is communication with your customers.
Speaker:We find the feedback we get from our customers extremely important
Speaker:because then we know what to do for the future,
Speaker:what changes we might have to make.
Speaker:After we sent out our first shipments,
Speaker:we were contacting them after a month just to see what
Speaker:they felt about the products,
Speaker:how their customers were responding,
Speaker:what specifically their customers were gravitating towards.
Speaker:And that way they know that we're communicating with them.
Speaker:We're interested in finding out what is the best fit for
Speaker:their specific store.
Speaker:So then the next order that they place,
Speaker:we could really get items that will target their customers because
Speaker:we're sending all over the country.
Speaker:So each store might be a little different.
Speaker:That's more of the research I do too.
Speaker:Not only do I research the product,
Speaker:but once we do create a business relationship,
Speaker:I researched their company.
Speaker:So I go online and I look at the pictures they
Speaker:have posted.
Speaker:If they have a website,
Speaker:the description of what they're looking for to provide to their
Speaker:customers, and we try to gear what we're sending them to,
Speaker:what they want.
Speaker:As in any business,
Speaker:it's very important to qualify your customer,
Speaker:to make sure that they're getting what they want,
Speaker:especially with a new product that they really are kind of
Speaker:trusting you on.
Speaker:It's got to move or you're not going to keep that
Speaker:customer, Especially if it's something that they have never seen before,
Speaker:have no experience with.
Speaker:They were drawn to it for some reason.
Speaker:And they believe us and we tell them,
Speaker:people really enjoy these and people will be drawn to them.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:they're kind of taking our word for it.
Speaker:Sometimes if they have no idea and you know,
Speaker:we just want to make sure that they are happy putting
Speaker:it into their stores and that if their customers are gravitating
Speaker:to a certain style,
Speaker:that we will provide more of that for them.
Speaker:Right. So you really do customize your product offerings then based
Speaker:on who your customer is,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:who your wholesale customer and then make recommendations to them accordingly
Speaker:and then follow up.
Speaker:Yeah. And I think that as the customer,
Speaker:it makes them feel better to know that we're not just
Speaker:like, this is just a stack of posters.
Speaker:We're going to send to you and luck with them.
Speaker:It's not like that at all.
Speaker:It's a lot more personal.
Speaker:We want to make sure that they are comfortable with us
Speaker:and everything that we're sending,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:their customers best.
Speaker:So we really want to listen to them because we have
Speaker:an idea because we track our sales retail wise of what
Speaker:are the best sellers for us,
Speaker:so that we have top 10 lists that we know sells
Speaker:across the line in different shops.
Speaker:But if they say,
Speaker:Hey, we have a lot of people coming in that love
Speaker:old telephones.
Speaker:We have a whole section of old telephones.
Speaker:Then we gear it towards that.
Speaker:I think one of my favorite stories from the trade show
Speaker:that we went to with wild bill was we should probably
Speaker:give you a link to wild bill site because it's,
Speaker:you can't miss it.
Speaker:It's so Funny.
Speaker:He's very,
Speaker:very interesting guy.
Speaker:And the way it just,
Speaker:the way he talks,
Speaker:maybe I can have Burke do his wild bill.
Speaker:But with that,
Speaker:with the dictionary reference,
Speaker:he's like,
Speaker:eh, because he's been doing shows for years.
Speaker:So people specifically find him to us,
Speaker:seeing him sell our product was kind of funny.
Speaker:And this is how he said it to one of his
Speaker:long time.
Speaker:He, I said,
Speaker:and I,
Speaker:when I first saw it,
Speaker:I didn't think this was anything,
Speaker:but I throw it in my store just to see what
Speaker:my customers would say.
Speaker:And they're flying off the shelves.
Speaker:I don't get it,
Speaker:but they sell very kind of backhanded pitch,
Speaker:but I'll take it.
Speaker:Well, that's his style.
Speaker:That's how he's known.
Speaker:Right? It goes back to that whole word that you hear
Speaker:a lot authenticity.
Speaker:He's being authentic to what he is all about.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Well, we're going to circle now into our reflection section.
Speaker:This is a look at you and what's helped you to
Speaker:be successful along the way.
Speaker:So I don't know if each of you are going to
Speaker:answer this together or are you going to have your own
Speaker:answers? I'll let you just decide as we go with the
Speaker:questions. What is one natural trait that you have that has
Speaker:helped you to succeed?
Speaker:I would say that my charisma would probably be one of
Speaker:my best traits.
Speaker:I feel like I have the ability to connect with people
Speaker:pretty easily.
Speaker:I like to kind of get to know people and try
Speaker:and understand where they're coming from so that I can have
Speaker:a deeper connection.
Speaker:And then just like,
Speaker:feel it out with people that I interact with just to
Speaker:make people feel more comfortable.
Speaker:Like I'm actually interested in people for who they are and
Speaker:not just they're a business or they're somebody that I could
Speaker:make money off of.
Speaker:That's not a,
Speaker:I just love connecting with people,
Speaker:talking to people,
Speaker:learning about people.
Speaker:And I feel like that makes it better with a business.
Speaker:Makes it better talking to people,
Speaker:connecting with people.
Speaker:It just makes you feel more comfortable than I'm trying to
Speaker:push something on you.
Speaker:It's more important to connect with people then to get the
Speaker:sale, right.
Speaker:Then Katie,
Speaker:how about you?
Speaker:I'd say my creativity and my empathy are strong traits of
Speaker:mine. I like looking at something and dissecting it,
Speaker:thinking to myself,
Speaker:I can do this.
Speaker:So I love working with the artists.
Speaker:I love creating with the artists or separately.
Speaker:We do a lot of collaborations and I'm also what I
Speaker:mean by empathy is just,
Speaker:I have an easy time separating myself and looking and feeling
Speaker:what it would be like in the other person's shoes.
Speaker:I'm also the leader and the dynamic of Burke.
Speaker:And I,
Speaker:so I'm the one that kind of keeps the train on
Speaker:the tracks.
Speaker:I guess that's more than one trait,
Speaker:but All right,
Speaker:well, what tool do you guys use that helps you keep
Speaker:productive in the business or else helps you create balance with
Speaker:business and your busy family life as well?
Speaker:Medication is something that we both use,
Speaker:which is extremely helpful,
Speaker:especially in times of stress or,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:there's a lot of,
Speaker:a lot of things going on a lot to juggle to
Speaker:just remember to be in the moment,
Speaker:to just get yourself grounded,
Speaker:take a deep breath and just take it one moment at
Speaker:a time.
Speaker:I think that's the greatest thing that's helped us because it's
Speaker:really easy to get lost.
Speaker:Everything's piling up and you just have to stop and just
Speaker:take a breath.
Speaker:And remember,
Speaker:you're only just right here,
Speaker:let's just do this one step at a time.
Speaker:And what book have you read lately that you think our
Speaker:customers could find value in?
Speaker:The last book that we got from Amazon that had to
Speaker:do with the business was social media strategy.
Speaker:I can't recall the name of it.
Speaker:I'll make sure that you get that for your links,
Speaker:but basically it's how to brand yourself,
Speaker:how to get kind of a following a kind of buzz
Speaker:going. Cause we're young enough that we know how to use
Speaker:the majority of social media,
Speaker:but just use it to the best of our ability because
Speaker:it's such a huge tool and resource.
Speaker:And I think a good point here is that you're seeing
Speaker:where there's areas,
Speaker:where you can continue learning.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you guys are young,
Speaker:you're just out of school times,
Speaker:you feel like,
Speaker:well, you've just had all this education,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:things, but as you start a business,
Speaker:there's always going to be different areas where you can learn
Speaker:more. I mean,
Speaker:let's face it.
Speaker:We're learning all the time.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker:It's always good to be flexible and to be open to
Speaker:new ideas,
Speaker:as soon as you like close your mind to new ideas,
Speaker:you're trapping yourself.
Speaker:And I think that's something that we both know and understand
Speaker:that you never know where a good idea is going to
Speaker:come from.
Speaker:If you're open,
Speaker:you're allowing new things to come in.
Speaker:You don't want to close yourself off to any any,
Speaker:so If you guys would,
Speaker:if you'll get me the name of the book and the
Speaker:author, I'd really appreciate it.
Speaker:And we'll put it on the show notes page,
Speaker:right? Gift biz listeners,
Speaker:just as you're listening to the podcast today,
Speaker:you can also listen to audio books with ease.
Speaker:I've teamed up with audible for you to be able to
Speaker:get an audio book for free.
Speaker:All you need to do is go to gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and make a selection that's gift biz,
Speaker:book.com. All right.
Speaker:I'm so sorry to say that our time is starting to
Speaker:wind down because I could take this interview in so many
Speaker:other directions,
Speaker:but for now,
Speaker:we're just going to have to kind of wind down.
Speaker:As I said,
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:This is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable Heights
Speaker:that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it right here in our
Speaker:presence. What is inside your box Inside the box would be
Speaker:the gift of financial freedom that would give us the ability
Speaker:to provide for our family through,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:as you said,
Speaker:really bringing joy in the gifts that other people are able
Speaker:to find through us.
Speaker:So what we would like to do is have our business,
Speaker:if we can fully automated in our dream gift box so
Speaker:that we could just travel the world with our kids and
Speaker:curate really cool products.
Speaker:And through that,
Speaker:be able to have other people fulfill their dreams of being
Speaker:able to provide themselves with financial freedom,
Speaker:through creating crafts that they love to do as well.
Speaker:I love that dream.
Speaker:And you know what I like the most about it is
Speaker:I think it's really achievable,
Speaker:but as you guys build and grow,
Speaker:you can get other people behind the scenes to do all
Speaker:the fulfillment and all that.
Speaker:And you guys can just go out,
Speaker:travel the world and find all these beautiful things to bring
Speaker:back or to spend time with your kids or however you
Speaker:wanted to do it.
Speaker:And how can our listeners get in touch with you?
Speaker:You can find us on fresh prince of CT,
Speaker:and I'm just gonna let you know,
Speaker:it's a kind of a pun,
Speaker:our name,
Speaker:the name it's a pun from the fresh prince of Bel
Speaker:air. So since we sell poster prints,
Speaker:it's P R I N T S not prince like the
Speaker:Royal Wonderful and give biz listeners.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:if you jump over to gift biz on rap.com,
Speaker:you'll see the show notes page,
Speaker:and there I'll have links for Facebook,
Speaker:social media,
Speaker:the book that we're going to get some more detail to
Speaker:everything. Thank you so much Burke and Katie for the really
Speaker:valuable gifts of sharing all of your knowledge of transitioning over
Speaker:to wholesale business of working with family and your insights on
Speaker:how to take care of those situations in the best possible
Speaker:manner. We really appreciate all of your advice and insight and
Speaker:may your candle always burn bright.
Speaker:Thank you,
Speaker:sir. This is really fun.
Speaker:Learn how to work smarter while developing and growing your business.
Speaker:Download our guide called 25 free tools to enhance your business
Speaker:in life.
Speaker:It's our gift to you and available at gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com/tools. Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for
Speaker:the next step Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print
Speaker:company. Looking for a new income source for your gift business.
Speaker:Customization is more popular now than ever grant your product from
Speaker:your logo or print a happy birthday,
Speaker:Jessica Durbin,
Speaker:to add to a gift right at checkout,
Speaker:it's all done right in your shop or cross studio in
Speaker:seconds. Check out the ribbon print company.com
Speaker:for more information.
Speaker:Would you like to be on the show or do you
Speaker:know someone who can provide valuable insight from their experiences?
Speaker:If so,
Speaker:we'd love to hear from you.
Speaker:All you need to do is submit a form for consideration.
Speaker:You can access the form at
Yes. Gift biz on wrap.com
