Shownotes
Motivational Quote
Candle Flickering Moments
Dealing with her first sales rejection [23:19]Business Building Insight
The reality of sales and how to deal with rejection [21:35] Customization is HOT specially for corporate sales [19:10] The best way to respond to a vendor when you won’t use their services [24:55] Getting exposure for the business and analyzing their efforts [26:55] All about interns – their value and how to work with them effectively [31:28]Success Trait
Jane has “dogged” persistance and will not give up easily on her ideasProductivity/Lifestyle Tool
Boomerang – Boomerang for Gmail lets you take control of when you send and receive email messages.Valuable Book
Forbes
Inc.
Contact Links
Website Wholesale Site Facebook Twitter LinkedIn PinterestIf 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 unwrapped episode 53.
Speaker:It's not always about ability.
Speaker:It's oftentimes about mindset.
Speaker:Hi, this is John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to the gift of 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.
Speaker:Hi there.
Speaker:I'm Sue and welcome to the gift biz unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:You own a brick and mortar store sell online or are
Speaker:just getting started.
Speaker:You'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. And today I am so excited to introduce you to
Speaker:Jane Moss backer Morris.
Speaker:Jane is the founder of,
Speaker:to the market,
Speaker:a socially inspired business that economically empowers vulnerable women through artisan
Speaker:enterprise. They work with over 25 co-ops in over 25 countries
Speaker:to design source and sell raw materials and finished products.
Speaker:These products range from home goods and jewelry to bags and
Speaker:baby gifts.
Speaker:They've been featured in magazines,
Speaker:such as Elle glamour people.
Speaker:StyleWatch good,
Speaker:housekeeping and yoga journal to name a few to the market
Speaker:recently launched its first exclusive wholesale line.
Speaker:This allows retailers to purchase wholesale products directly through to the
Speaker:market. Wow.
Speaker:Jane, you have a lot going on.
Speaker:We really do.
Speaker:It's exciting.
Speaker:Thanks for having me.
Speaker:Is there anything you'd like to add to that intro before
Speaker:we get started?
Speaker:I Think that was a beautiful summary.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Perfect. As our listeners know,
Speaker:we like to revolve the conversation around the life of a
Speaker:motivational candle.
Speaker:The candle gives us a little bit of a more indirect
Speaker:look into you and also shines the light on you while
Speaker:you share your stories and experiences.
Speaker:So are you ready to light it up?
Speaker:Jane let's do it right.
Speaker:Let's start with this candle.
Speaker:Let's envision what this looks like for you,
Speaker:your perfect motivational candle.
Speaker:What color is it?
Speaker:And what would be the quote on your candle?
Speaker:My motivational candle would be white and my motivational quote would
Speaker:be all our dreams can come true if we have the
Speaker:courage to pursue them,
Speaker:which was said by Walt Disney,
Speaker:who is my major inspiration.
Speaker:And so how did you apply this to your life?
Speaker:What was your dream that you wanted to come true?
Speaker:There've been a lot of dreams that I have had interest
Speaker:in, in pursuing and have been able to pursue them at
Speaker:different chapters of my life.
Speaker:At this stage,
Speaker:my dream was creating a way to economically empower vulnerable women
Speaker:through artists and enterprise.
Speaker:And that really came to fruition through the creation of,
Speaker:to the market.
Speaker:The business that we're talking about today,
Speaker:what I love about Disney's quote is that it really is
Speaker:about your mindset when you're pursuing your dream.
Speaker:And I love that.
Speaker:He says if we have the courage to pursue them,
Speaker:because it's not always about ability,
Speaker:it's oftentimes about mindset You're so right.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you'll hear different people.
Speaker:Who've been very successful and you go back in their history
Speaker:and you find that they weren't the best student in school.
Speaker:Maybe they were kind of a rebel in terms of following
Speaker:the rules.
Speaker:And then here they build these huge businesses.
Speaker:So it really is it's passion commitment.
Speaker:And like you said,
Speaker:determination and the dream following the dream for sure.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So to the market is really interesting.
Speaker:It's a less traditional type business than many of the types
Speaker:of businesses we've had on the podcast.
Speaker:So I'd love for you to take us back to that
Speaker:very first time.
Speaker:How did you get the idea of,
Speaker:to the market?
Speaker:Well, I started my career at the U S state department
Speaker:in Washington,
Speaker:DC. And my work at the department really exposed me to
Speaker:many of the conditions in which women and girls were living
Speaker:overseas. And I really began to see how little control many
Speaker:women had over their life and was really tracing a lot
Speaker:of that lack of control to having no control over their
Speaker:finances. And as my career progressed and I was exposed more
Speaker:and more to different types of vulnerable communities.
Speaker:And when I say vulnerable communities,
Speaker:I'm talking about communities that maybe are living in a conflict
Speaker:zone, or these are communities that have experienced some form of
Speaker:disease. So let's say HIV AIDS or a community that may
Speaker:be a survivor of some form of abuse,
Speaker:like human trafficking.
Speaker:And when I was spending time with these communities,
Speaker:I really became more and more convinced that to regain control,
Speaker:even a iota,
Speaker:have control over their life,
Speaker:helping them access and earn some form of an income would
Speaker:be a really,
Speaker:really powerful way to give them control again,
Speaker:because that little bit of income allows them to begin to
Speaker:make basic choices over their life.
Speaker:Things like what I want to eat today,
Speaker:where do I want to live?
Speaker:But I wasn't sure how I was going to make that
Speaker:happen until I was working almost exclusively on fighting human trafficking
Speaker:and ended up visiting two cooperatives in Calcutta,
Speaker:India that were employing human trafficking survivors as artisans.
Speaker:And one of these co-ops was making,
Speaker:sorry, blankets and scarves,
Speaker:and another was making organic cotton backs.
Speaker:And I was so taken by the concept that the human
Speaker:trafficking survivors were being served in a totally different way.
Speaker:They were being served by job creation.
Speaker:And it was really at that moment that it sort of
Speaker:clicked to me that I wanted to help connect these artists
Speaker:and cooperatives around the world that are employing these women to
Speaker:Western buyers and consumers,
Speaker:so that Western buyers and consumers can make purchases with impact.
Speaker:And these artisans on the ground can pursue a meaningful and
Speaker:restorative work life that helps them reconnect with their sense of
Speaker:dignity. I love that you used the word restorative.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:that really makes sense to me because here they've been through
Speaker:horrible and terrible times.
Speaker:And instead of just giving handouts to help them with their
Speaker:lifestyle, you're giving them skills with their craft,
Speaker:but then a channel for them to feel respected and valued
Speaker:and to just bring back the appreciation of life because they're
Speaker:doing something that to me,
Speaker:Absolutely. I think that the social services,
Speaker:which is sort of the things that we think of like
Speaker:immediate housing and food are really important in the short term,
Speaker:but it's not sustainable to provide that type of support nor
Speaker:do the survivors want that type of support for the duration
Speaker:of their life.
Speaker:And so if there really has to be some type of
Speaker:transition and I love the idea that you can have a
Speaker:BD at response to difficulty through social services,
Speaker:but then you can transition these communities to another form of
Speaker:service, which is through artists and enterprise.
Speaker:Okay. No.
Speaker:How long have you been doing to the market from the
Speaker:conception and actual start with the first group to this point?
Speaker:How many years has it been so far Market formally launched
Speaker:in November of 2014?
Speaker:So really we're only about a year and four months old.
Speaker:Okay. And so with some of these artisans that you are
Speaker:now employing,
Speaker:we'll get into the little bit more of the structure or
Speaker:something later,
Speaker:but are you seeing that it's sustainable?
Speaker:In other words,
Speaker:they're not just starting,
Speaker:but they're continuing to do it up to this point.
Speaker:Well, one of the important parts of our model is that
Speaker:we only partner with cooperatives that are actually already in existence.
Speaker:So we felt like we could have a bigger impact if
Speaker:we were partnering with existing artists and groups and helping to
Speaker:scale those groups rather than finding individual artisans and helping them
Speaker:to organize.
Speaker:And the reason we made that decision was that there are
Speaker:so many cooperatives of women working together already out there that
Speaker:need assistance,
Speaker:that we felt like our network could be more impactful for
Speaker:existing cooperatives in having the time of identifying specific individuals and
Speaker:trying to encourage them to work Together.
Speaker:That makes sense.
Speaker:Cause if there are so many out there already or duplicating
Speaker:efforts of something that's already out there.
Speaker:Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker:I would also guess that just the ability then to ensure
Speaker:that you're going to be providing the products that you're promising
Speaker:people, you're more able to do that because you have somebody
Speaker:already working with these cooperatives.
Speaker:So you know,
Speaker:that the product flow is more likely to come Great point.
Speaker:It's really important to us to have a very strong sense
Speaker:for the quality and the production capacity of the co-ops that
Speaker:we're working with.
Speaker:And so we have a system through which we work with
Speaker:these cooperatives,
Speaker:where we start with a very low risk relationship and move,
Speaker:as they prove themselves out into dynamics where they have more
Speaker:sales volume and we work with them on potentially bigger accounts.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So a lot of our listeners,
Speaker:Jane are people that are just starting out thinking of developing
Speaker:something. And so although what you're doing is very different than
Speaker:what some other people will do.
Speaker:Walk us through a little bit.
Speaker:Okay. You already had linkage and an understanding that there was
Speaker:a need out there when you were working with the state
Speaker:department and then the whole human trafficking in Calcutta.
Speaker:What happened after that?
Speaker:And how did you get to the point where you could
Speaker:identify where these cooperatives were and that you actually structured it
Speaker:into a business?
Speaker:Well, I think something that I'm really glad that I did
Speaker:and I encourage anyone who's thinking about starting a business or
Speaker:a nonprofit or any sort of project to do is I
Speaker:really had an idea in my head and in my heart
Speaker:about wanting to create this economic opportunity for these women.
Speaker:But I wasn't sure how and what I'm glad I didn't
Speaker:do is jump into something that was sort of half baked.
Speaker:I really took time to study different models of how to
Speaker:work with communities.
Speaker:I really took time to understand what people were already doing.
Speaker:So I wasn't duplicating efforts,
Speaker:as you mentioned earlier,
Speaker:and the folks that were already working in this space in
Speaker:some form,
Speaker:I hate talk to as many people as I could.
Speaker:And I asked them about what was working for them,
Speaker:what wasn't working,
Speaker:if they were me,
Speaker:what do they wish they could have changed if they started
Speaker:over? And that was so helpful for me in refining what
Speaker:our model was going to look like.
Speaker:I then took that information,
Speaker:which I also think is a really helpful exercise.
Speaker:And I compared that information about what the space I wanted
Speaker:to work in look like.
Speaker:And I,
Speaker:compared that to what I felt like my personal strengths were.
Speaker:And it was really the overlap of where I felt like
Speaker:there was a need in the space.
Speaker:I wanted to work in that overlapped with a strength that
Speaker:I already had,
Speaker:that I felt like there's a good fit because there's certainly
Speaker:plenty of gaps in areas that I'm passionate about.
Speaker:That I'm just not the right person to work on those
Speaker:issues. But I really felt like when I did the due
Speaker:diligence process of understanding the space,
Speaker:and then I compared it to what I really believed my
Speaker:strengths were,
Speaker:it became clear where I needed to plug in and where
Speaker:I could plug in effectively.
Speaker:And that's really how the,
Speaker:to the market model was born,
Speaker:is looking at what are these artists and co-ops need to
Speaker:scale. What is the retail industry need to source social impact
Speaker:goods? And what is my network look like?
Speaker:What does my strengths look like?
Speaker:And that really helped to define to markets model.
Speaker:I love that you say this,
Speaker:and there's a couple of things that I want to point
Speaker:out for gift biz listeners.
Speaker:First off is you didn't just jump right in.
Speaker:You really took your time,
Speaker:step back and analyzed everything.
Speaker:First understanding what was already out there,
Speaker:learning from people who are already doing what you're trying to
Speaker:do. There is absolutely no reason why people have to reinvent
Speaker:the wheel,
Speaker:but then you overlayed that.
Speaker:And I think I would say twofold,
Speaker:Jane. I mean,
Speaker:you overlay that onto what are your personal strengths,
Speaker:because then that's somewhat of a point of differentiation because it's
Speaker:something that you really know how to do.
Speaker:Also, if that's your strength,
Speaker:that's something that you enjoy doing.
Speaker:And I think that's something that often as we're starting companies,
Speaker:we forget about,
Speaker:because you want to make sure that you look at the
Speaker:life, you will be living that your dream and make sure
Speaker:that you really want to live that life.
Speaker:That you really like it,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you like what you're creating,
Speaker:heard the quote just recently that don't put your ladder up
Speaker:against the wrong building and start climbing.
Speaker:Don't get to the top and see that your ladder should
Speaker:have been on another building.
Speaker:You know?
Speaker:So you were lucky because you really understood or know from
Speaker:your prior experience,
Speaker:what you were getting into.
Speaker:And then you did a lot of research.
Speaker:First. That's such a great point about really waiting and not
Speaker:climbing the ladder on the wrong building,
Speaker:running a business that you are hoping to scale is absolutely
Speaker:a three 65,
Speaker:24 seven task and pursuing something that you don't feel passionately
Speaker:about can put oneself in a really,
Speaker:really tough position.
Speaker:Yeah. So after all of this and you talk about emphasizing
Speaker:your strengths and then having other people possibly do things that
Speaker:you weren't as interested in that have to get done for
Speaker:the business,
Speaker:but as you're setting up the business and you see everything,
Speaker:you analyze what you're going to be doing,
Speaker:what's your point of differentiation.
Speaker:In other words,
Speaker:to the market versus what the other businesses that you were
Speaker:researching, who did similar things,
Speaker:have you made yourself different?
Speaker:Well, one day Primary differentiation is our focus.
Speaker:So we are the only socially inspired business that I'm aware
Speaker:of that exclusively focuses on highly vulnerable women.
Speaker:So I think that that in itself,
Speaker:we're looking at a very specific community,
Speaker:which is unique,
Speaker:but unfortunately,
Speaker:that community is very big.
Speaker:So there is no shortage of cooperatives and communities that we
Speaker:are able to partner with.
Speaker:So that's one point of differentiation because I think other organizations,
Speaker:which I'm a huge fan of and think their work is
Speaker:incredibly important,
Speaker:may have a slightly different focus.
Speaker:So they might be focused on just poverty alleviation,
Speaker:writ large,
Speaker:or they might be focused on women's economic empowerment,
Speaker:writ large,
Speaker:or maybe they just have one community that they're focused on.
Speaker:So they only work with human trafficking survivors.
Speaker:Are they only working with women with HIV AIDS?
Speaker:We really felt like when I went through this due diligence
Speaker:process of talking to organizations that were working with artisans,
Speaker:I really felt strongly that the co-ops that were working JV
Speaker:AIDS had the very same struggles that the co-ops working with
Speaker:war widows and refugees had.
Speaker:And that really encouraged me to feel like I could work
Speaker:with all of those communities and offer the same types of
Speaker:opportunities and resources and feel confident that the services we were
Speaker:providing to these co-ops,
Speaker:which is a part of our model,
Speaker:is helping to grow them from a management and a professional
Speaker:standpoint. I felt like the services we were providing more,
Speaker:going to be valuable to many different types of co-ops within
Speaker:that sort of vulnerable space.
Speaker:That's a major point of differentiation.
Speaker:I would say a second major point of differentiation is because
Speaker:we have a narrow yet broad focus narrow in that we're
Speaker:working with vulnerable communities,
Speaker:but broad in that we are able to work with co-ops
Speaker:from around the world,
Speaker:because unfortunately these communities exist so many places.
Speaker:We have so many different types of products within our network.
Speaker:What I think is really special is that if we have
Speaker:a client that comes to us and says,
Speaker:I would really love your help in sourcing a social impact
Speaker:or a social good collection for my store or for my
Speaker:brand, we're able to say,
Speaker:great, we can help you source everything from up-cycled metal and
Speaker:Haiti to really intricate embroidery in Pakistan.
Speaker:And what's nice from an operational standpoint for the store or
Speaker:for the retailer or indie designer,
Speaker:is that they're working with one purchase order.
Speaker:They're working with one vendor us,
Speaker:and we're able to provide them all of these different types
Speaker:of products and different types of aesthetics,
Speaker:which I think is a little different from many of the
Speaker:groups that may have a very specific regional focus and therefore
Speaker:a sort of aesthetic focus.
Speaker:Yes, sure.
Speaker:That makes sense.
Speaker:Was that the precursor to the whole wholesale department?
Speaker:Well, we launched in November,
Speaker:2014 as an online store and we also had pop-up shops
Speaker:that we were doing as an aside,
Speaker:but I was really surprised by the number of museum stores
Speaker:and retailers that came to us and asked if we would
Speaker:be willing to wholesale product to them.
Speaker:And the truth was at that point,
Speaker:we weren't really prepared to it.
Speaker:Wasn't part of our original thinking,
Speaker:but as I reflected more on our model,
Speaker:I felt like that was a really great opportunity for us
Speaker:to be able to expand into that wholesale space.
Speaker:And so at the end of 2015,
Speaker:we began to roll out our custom sourcing in our wholesaling
Speaker:effort, which included not only a catalog of raw materials that
Speaker:indie designers and brands could look at,
Speaker:if they're interested in sourcing organic cotton,
Speaker:or again,
Speaker:up-cycled metal or certain types of beads,
Speaker:everything from developing that catalog to creating a wholesale line sheet,
Speaker:which we are able to wholesale to retail.
Speaker:And so I know the wholesale is up and running now,
Speaker:but are you still in development a little bit?
Speaker:Cause it's still very,
Speaker:very new.
Speaker:Our first spring summer 16 line is out and that line
Speaker:is complete.
Speaker:We also have a complete raw material catalog.
Speaker:What's exciting though,
Speaker:is that as we continue to expand at the rate that
Speaker:we are,
Speaker:we're able to add new capabilities within our raw material catalog.
Speaker:So we're just bringing on a group,
Speaker:for example,
Speaker:that's going to be able to work with ceramics.
Speaker:And as we expand,
Speaker:I think into our fall winter line,
Speaker:I think you'll see an even more expanded line sheet that
Speaker:reflects even more stuff.
Speaker:So if I were a retail shop or I was a
Speaker:designer and I was looking to source product either one,
Speaker:so both examples,
Speaker:I could go to your catalog and see different products that
Speaker:were already there.
Speaker:I could also come to you and say,
Speaker:I'm looking for this type of product.
Speaker:I'm interested in this type of area,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:And you would help source that over and above what's available
Speaker:in the catalog.
Speaker:Yes, we can help source that and we can also help
Speaker:design and source something custom.
Speaker:So it feels like there's a big shift towards people wanting
Speaker:to differentiate their products with which I completely understand as the
Speaker:retail space becomes more and more competitive.
Speaker:And what's nice about working with us at this stage is
Speaker:that we're able to do small batch collaborations where oftentimes the
Speaker:custom minimum compared to the rest of the industry.
Speaker:And so sometimes people can say,
Speaker:gosh, I love this coaster set.
Speaker:Or this basket said that you're making,
Speaker:I would love to make it exclusive.
Speaker:Would you be willing to do it in these colorways?
Speaker:And we can turn around and say yes,
Speaker:and it's only going to be X minimum number of units.
Speaker:And usually that number of units is significantly lower than what
Speaker:they would be facing if they were trying to start a
Speaker:relationship with a cooperative right off the bat.
Speaker:Because what's great about working with us is the fact that
Speaker:we work with these co-ops day in and day out on
Speaker:so many different distribution channels that we're able to really work
Speaker:with them in a unique way,
Speaker:because they know that they have a long-term relationship with us.
Speaker:That's pretty comprehensive,
Speaker:Right? And I think,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:this opens up so much more opportunity to both for you
Speaker:and for people who are artisans or even shops that are
Speaker:going after the corporate environment,
Speaker:because nowadays a lot of people like to give welcome gifts
Speaker:or speaker appreciation gifts or company appreciation at the end of
Speaker:the year type gifts,
Speaker:all those types of things and never before have they really
Speaker:been able to look at a fair trade option because they
Speaker:wanted customized,
Speaker:they want their logo on it,
Speaker:or they want it in their company colors.
Speaker:So this just opens up a whole new market for you.
Speaker:It really does.
Speaker:And what's great is that the gifting piece has really taken
Speaker:off very quickly.
Speaker:So we've been able to do everything from speaker gifts,
Speaker:for the American red cross to bags for Harvard law.
Speaker:For Georgetown,
Speaker:we can do logoed bags,
Speaker:we can do custom color ways to reflect a brand or
Speaker:a school or whatever.
Speaker:It may be on different types of accessories and jewelry.
Speaker:And I think people are really excited about having ethical gifting
Speaker:options through to the market.
Speaker:I really agree with you.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So let's talk a little bit.
Speaker:This has all been happy and nice and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:in the growth of the business and all of that,
Speaker:can you bring us to a point where there was a
Speaker:struggle, there was something happening that you did not anticipate or
Speaker:something kind of stalled the process along the way?
Speaker:What was a story like that?
Speaker:And how did you overcome?
Speaker:It's hard to think of a specific story.
Speaker:I will say that I think starting a business can often
Speaker:feel like signing yourself up for a constant stream of rejection.
Speaker:And I think that that's something that isn't talked about a
Speaker:lot in articles,
Speaker:talking about the excitement of entrepreneurship and being your own boss,
Speaker:if you're constantly pitching and if industry standards and almost anything
Speaker:is getting a yes,
Speaker:less than 10% of the time.
Speaker:And that goes from everything from pitching press to pitching stores,
Speaker:to pitching investors,
Speaker:we haven't pitched investors yet,
Speaker:but I know that a lot of people do if you're
Speaker:going to get a no nine times out of 10,
Speaker:if not more,
Speaker:that's all a lot of rejection.
Speaker:And I think it's been an interesting process for me.
Speaker:And I would imagine that your listeners are,
Speaker:if they're listening,
Speaker:they're wanting to improve their business.
Speaker:They're probably pretty motivated individuals.
Speaker:And they may be in a position where prior to starting
Speaker:a business,
Speaker:they haven't faced a lot of rejection.
Speaker:I can certainly attest to the fact that I'm a high
Speaker:achiever. I work really,
Speaker:really hard.
Speaker:I push myself really,
Speaker:really hard.
Speaker:And because of that,
Speaker:I generally have been successful at the things that I've put
Speaker:my mind toward and not to say that rejection means you're
Speaker:not successful,
Speaker:but given the amount that you have to pitch your idea
Speaker:and your product and your concept,
Speaker:it's inevitable that you're going to face a lot of rejection
Speaker:and that's been such a great but difficult learning process for
Speaker:me is being comfortable with the fact that most people are
Speaker:going to tell me no.
Speaker:And so how do you do that?
Speaker:You get off the phone or you've pitched to somebody and
Speaker:they're just,
Speaker:they're not going to be interested.
Speaker:How do you respond and get back on the horse if
Speaker:you will,
Speaker:and go and approach the next person with as much optimism
Speaker:and motivation that you had before?
Speaker:I think it gets easier.
Speaker:You're over time.
Speaker:I remember my first big box retailer.
Speaker:We pitched,
Speaker:came back with a not right now,
Speaker:so that door's still open,
Speaker:but I was pretty crushed.
Speaker:I really had it in my head that I thought it
Speaker:was a slam dunk.
Speaker:And I remember almost tearing up and calling my husband.
Speaker:Who's also an entrepreneur and he really,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:he reminded me that each no means you're one step closer
Speaker:to a yes and statistically that's right.
Speaker:So I think it's just a function of,
Speaker:of putting yourself out again and again and again.
Speaker:And knowing that eventually things are going to begin to gel.
Speaker:Some of it is a numbers game and a PR function
Speaker:of persistence.
Speaker:Another part of it is of course,
Speaker:which I think is very challenging,
Speaker:but important is to knowing that it's not personal and it
Speaker:feels very personal because it's your business.
Speaker:But when I think about how often I have to tell
Speaker:artists and groups that want to work with us,
Speaker:no, and how it has nothing to do with the founder
Speaker:has nothing to do with the artisans themselves.
Speaker:I have nothing against them.
Speaker:In fact,
Speaker:I wish them all of the best.
Speaker:I think of how I communicate a no to others and
Speaker:how that's a no way a judgment on them.
Speaker:And that makes me feel better when I hear no's because
Speaker:it reminds me that they're really not telling me as an
Speaker:individual. No,
Speaker:because we don't like you.
Speaker:That's interesting that you're working on both sides of the fence.
Speaker:Really? Yeah.
Speaker:You probably give nicer nose because you know how it feels
Speaker:when you get to know,
Speaker:I'd like to say I give nicer nose,
Speaker:but I'm also proud of the fact that I tell people.
Speaker:No. So one of the things that I really continue to
Speaker:struggle with,
Speaker:just because I just find it to be so impolite is
Speaker:just people interacting with you and then sort of going silent.
Speaker:So I totally get it.
Speaker:If someone's just going to not respond to an email,
Speaker:like a blind email that you've never met them,
Speaker:you send them a cold call,
Speaker:a cold email,
Speaker:and you don't hear back.
Speaker:I think that's fine.
Speaker:I think it's nice if you can say no thank you.
Speaker:But if not,
Speaker:I understand.
Speaker:But what I still really struggle with is when you interact
Speaker:with someone and then instead of saying,
Speaker:thank you,
Speaker:but no,
Speaker:thank you.
Speaker:They just sort of go cold on you.
Speaker:And to me,
Speaker:I just,
Speaker:I feel like that's not,
Speaker:not a great way to treat people.
Speaker:And so really make sure to communicate whether we feel like
Speaker:it's going to work to have a partnership with this group
Speaker:or not.
Speaker:I'm really glad you said that in my corporate world,
Speaker:I was 15 years with sales and marketing and we had
Speaker:rejection all the time.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I learned it way early on.
Speaker:And one of the things we always talked about is obviously
Speaker:the first answer that you want is a yes.
Speaker:The second answer you want is a no,
Speaker:because then,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:okay, that door's closed,
Speaker:I'm going to move on.
Speaker:The worst are when they string you along.
Speaker:Like you said,
Speaker:they either don't respond to email with you or they say,
Speaker:well, not right now,
Speaker:or let's re-look at it.
Speaker:And then they probably don't want to tell you no,
Speaker:because they'll feel bad telling,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:but it's just going to continue.
Speaker:It's wasting both people's time.
Speaker:You're going to call them back.
Speaker:They're going to say no again,
Speaker:it just kicks the can down the road again and again,
Speaker:I think you're right.
Speaker:You have to just very nicely and graciously close the door.
Speaker:If you know,
Speaker:for sure that it's not going to work,
Speaker:it's better for both parties and it's more time efficient too.
Speaker:That's For sure.
Speaker:Absolutely. It really is.
Speaker:Okay. So you're up and established to the market is going
Speaker:great. I know you've been featured in a lot of magazines
Speaker:as we were talking about in the introduction.
Speaker:What else do you do to get eyes on the business
Speaker:Marketing standpoint or from a press standpoint,
Speaker:Any exposure that can bring you in sales?
Speaker:We have been really lucky with earned media.
Speaker:I'm really,
Speaker:really grateful for that.
Speaker:We also subscribe to services like Herro,
Speaker:which is help a reporter out,
Speaker:which is a service that for free,
Speaker:we'll send you an email with stories that journalists are working
Speaker:on. These journalists are interested in feedback or sources on certain
Speaker:topics, and oftentimes those topics may relate to your business.
Speaker:And so that allows us to just pitch that reporter on
Speaker:that specific story.
Speaker:So that's been helpful to us because it often leads to
Speaker:nice little write-ups or blog hits or being quoted in articles.
Speaker:We also work with bloggers,
Speaker:which we've been so fortunate to have so many that have
Speaker:wanted to write about us for free.
Speaker:And I think that that's unusual because of our mission.
Speaker:I think if we were a traditional business,
Speaker:we wouldn't enjoy that sort of honor of being able to
Speaker:work with these bloggers without compensation.
Speaker:But I think so many of these bloggers,
Speaker:so believe in women's economic empowerment,
Speaker:that they're willing to cover us for nothing.
Speaker:And so we've been really,
Speaker:really fortunate for all of our blogger supporters that have covered
Speaker:us. And they are a huge part of converting viewers to
Speaker:our site.
Speaker:And what About social media?
Speaker:Does that play a role?
Speaker:Absolutely. Social media is definitely a big part of our outreach.
Speaker:I think some mediums are easier to track conversion than others,
Speaker:but we are very active on Pinterest.
Speaker:We're active on Twitter and we're active on Facebook as well
Speaker:as Instagram.
Speaker:So it's coming a little bit more easy to track conversions
Speaker:as analytics improve for all of these different systems,
Speaker:but it's definitely imperfect.
Speaker:And so it's,
Speaker:you just have to do your best with Google analytics to
Speaker:see what's really converting,
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:and it's always a work in progress because the platforms change
Speaker:new opportunities come up in social media and print,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:true what I'll call just traditional advertising.
Speaker:So you have to balance it out,
Speaker:see what works,
Speaker:continue, adjusting,
Speaker:and move along.
Speaker:Yeah, Absolutely being nimble,
Speaker:I think is really important.
Speaker:And trying to capture emails is really important because that's obviously
Speaker:a asset you control versus social media.
Speaker:As we've seen with things like Facebook and Instagram,
Speaker:the algorithm can change.
Speaker:And then your ability to get in front of your supporters
Speaker:and customers can change pretty radically Question for you,
Speaker:just because I think this is something that some of our
Speaker:listeners might be curious about.
Speaker:You're working in a global environment.
Speaker:There's a lot of things you're doing in terms of looking
Speaker:at Herro potentially providing them some information,
Speaker:bloggers, all of that.
Speaker:How big is your core organization?
Speaker:Just the group of people that you would call corporate.
Speaker:How many people do you have,
Speaker:maybe not even all full time,
Speaker:but can you share with us a little bit of your
Speaker:structure and then also how you divvy some of these responsibilities?
Speaker:Because obviously we are all time challenged.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:So we have,
Speaker:I serve as the CEO and then we have a COO
Speaker:Jill who is actually out in San Francisco.
Speaker:So we are not actually working in the same space,
Speaker:but that seems to work just fine for us because we
Speaker:don't have a physical store.
Speaker:And then we have a pretty active group of what I
Speaker:call 10 99.
Speaker:So essentially contractors that are doing different types of work,
Speaker:everything from design to graphic design,
Speaker:to backend support for our website.
Speaker:And then we have an incredible number of interns that have
Speaker:been such a force for us on social media.
Speaker:And many of them have interned for us unpaid for some
Speaker:of them close to two years.
Speaker:It's pretty extraordinary.
Speaker:So even before we launched,
Speaker:we had some of these interns that are still with us.
Speaker:So we've been really lucky to have such a great core
Speaker:group of people supporting us.
Speaker:We also have someone who's in charge of our content on
Speaker:our blog,
Speaker:which is called stories.
Speaker:And we had someone for the last year and just transitioned
Speaker:into having another editor.
Speaker:But besides that,
Speaker:we really rely on the support of our advisors.
Speaker:And we seem to have been able to have a big
Speaker:impact with a fairly small team.
Speaker:Yeah. It sounds like a solid and well-rounded structure though,
Speaker:even though,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I guess the point is you don't have to have a
Speaker:huge number of people to accomplish quite a bit,
Speaker:as long as things are divvied up and people have their
Speaker:responsibilities, et cetera.
Speaker:I'm really curious about the interns.
Speaker:How did you initiate that whole structure and where are you
Speaker:getting your interns from?
Speaker:I think interns are such an amazing asset.
Speaker:We could not have grown to the extent that we have
Speaker:without them.
Speaker:We have utilized internships.com
Speaker:and we have also utilized college job listserv postings.
Speaker:And those,
Speaker:those seem to have served us very well.
Speaker:We are very clear about what our expectations are,
Speaker:what the hours are,
Speaker:what we're looking for.
Speaker:And because we're a virtual team,
Speaker:we're also really screening for people that are self-starters,
Speaker:that are able to operate without consistent oversight.
Speaker:And we've been able to screen out some pretty terrific or,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:screen and identify some pretty terrific candidates that have been helping
Speaker:us with Twitter and Facebook and graphic design and all sorts
Speaker:of assistance.
Speaker:That really would be very,
Speaker:very costly if we had to pay a firm to do
Speaker:for us at this stage.
Speaker:Right? So are all your interns then remote?
Speaker:All of our interns are remote.
Speaker:Even the ones that live near one of the staff members,
Speaker:they're still remote.
Speaker:And that actually works really well for our interns because so
Speaker:many of our interns are in school.
Speaker:And so it's really helpful for them to be able to
Speaker:do their work from their dorm room and have one less
Speaker:place they have to go.
Speaker:And one less thing they have to be dressed up for
Speaker:and show up to.
Speaker:And then you said that you're very clear about the hours,
Speaker:et cetera,
Speaker:are there specific hours in the day they need to work
Speaker:or hours they need to put in based on projects.
Speaker:So is it more hour driven or is it more project
Speaker:result driven Project driven?
Speaker:Yeah, I,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I was an intern for ages in both high school in
Speaker:college and always sort of hated the idea that I would
Speaker:being measured on input versus output.
Speaker:And really,
Speaker:I hate that concept of period.
Speaker:So really we're very,
Speaker:very output driven.
Speaker:So for if somebody is able to write a blog post
Speaker:that I think is beautifully crafted and they're able to do
Speaker:it in 30 minutes,
Speaker:then great for them.
Speaker:If it takes them eight hours,
Speaker:that's fine too,
Speaker:as long as they are hitting their objectives and staying on
Speaker:top of their work.
Speaker:And if they can't stay on top of it,
Speaker:they're communicating that to us in advance.
Speaker:So we're able to test that out to somebody else and
Speaker:we're in a good place.
Speaker:Very interesting.
Speaker:I'd love to dive more into that,
Speaker:but I don't think time's going to allow,
Speaker:but let me just ask real quickly.
Speaker:So you have a structured program for your interns.
Speaker:They apply based on specific tasks you need accomplished.
Speaker:And then you probably have a work process that's documented in
Speaker:terms of reviews and additional work or however,
Speaker:however that works,
Speaker:but you have some type of a structure.
Speaker:You don't just bring somebody on and kind of FreeWheel it.
Speaker:Yeah. I mean,
Speaker:I feel like if,
Speaker:unless you have a specific task that needs to be accomplished,
Speaker:having an intern or a volunteer can sometimes be more time
Speaker:consuming to manage then beneficial.
Speaker:If you don't have a specific task that you feel like
Speaker:they can accomplish.
Speaker:And so we definitely only bring on folks that we feel
Speaker:like are able to accomplish those objectives that we've set forth.
Speaker:When people do join us,
Speaker:we ask them to set objectives for their internships.
Speaker:So they feel like they have specific goals that they're trying
Speaker:to hit.
Speaker:So for example,
Speaker:if an intern is coming on and they're going to be
Speaker:in charge of Pinterest,
Speaker:we tell them to look at where they are when they
Speaker:start managing our Pinterest board,
Speaker:where our followers are,
Speaker:how many,
Speaker:three pins are we getting a day?
Speaker:And we ask them to track that and set a goal.
Speaker:How many new followers do you want to try to add
Speaker:to our board each month?
Speaker:How much of an increase do you want to try to
Speaker:create an activity for repinning et cetera?
Speaker:So we want them to set specific goals.
Speaker:We also want to hear from them,
Speaker:what do you want to try to accomplish in the time
Speaker:that you're with us that will be beneficial for your future
Speaker:career? Because I want to feel like they are gaining something
Speaker:very specific from spending time with us as well,
Speaker:especially because we're not able to pay.
Speaker:Right? No,
Speaker:that was very helpful.
Speaker:Jane. I appreciate it.
Speaker:Just in terms of the structure,
Speaker:it's great information for all of us.
Speaker:We're going to go now into our reflection section.
Speaker:This is a look at you and what has helped you
Speaker:to be successful personally and also for,
Speaker:to the market has made you successful along the way.
Speaker:If you were to identify a personal trait that you have,
Speaker:that you've just kind of known,
Speaker:you've had all your life that you've really called upon to
Speaker:be successful.
Speaker:What would that be?
Speaker:I would say I am doggedly persistent.
Speaker:It's very hard to discourage me and I tend to be
Speaker:encouraged by discouragement,
Speaker:if that makes sense.
Speaker:Oh, that's interesting.
Speaker:So when people tell me,
Speaker:no, it makes me angry and then it makes me determined
Speaker:once I sort of get past that.
Speaker:So you're going to prove them.
Speaker:No, not no,
Speaker:of course.
Speaker:Yeah. Oh definitely.
Speaker:Let me prove to you why it's not no,
Speaker:No question.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I am fueled by my love for what I do,
Speaker:but I also believe in it fiercely.
Speaker:And when someone doesn't see that vision,
Speaker:assuming that I feel like it's,
Speaker:I think needs to be on board with what we're doing.
Speaker:I'm I think appropriate,
Speaker:but also for somewhat shameless in,
Speaker:in helping them understand why there is value to what we're
Speaker:creating and what we're building.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:And what tool do you use either in your Workday or
Speaker:what do you do off hours just to stay balanced or
Speaker:to be productive in your life?
Speaker:There is a tool that I swear by for email called
Speaker:boomerang. And it is a plugin that I think is for
Speaker:Gmail. And I think they may have it on other types
Speaker:of email servers now,
Speaker:but it started on Gmail and it allows you to,
Speaker:when you send a message or you receive a message,
Speaker:you were able to reschedule it to pop up at the
Speaker:top of your inbox at a certain time.
Speaker:And you can also specify if someone doesn't respond to this
Speaker:email, pop it back up to the top of my inbox.
Speaker:So for example,
Speaker:because I do so much pitching and I am trying to
Speaker:get in front of people all the time,
Speaker:I will often email people and ask for their help or
Speaker:ask if we can meet.
Speaker:And I will schedule a boomerang that if someone doesn't respond
Speaker:to that email within a week,
Speaker:it'll pop up to the top of my inbox.
Speaker:And that will then remind me to check in with them.
Speaker:It's been an incredible tool in helping to ensure that things
Speaker:don't fall through the cracks.
Speaker:I have boomerang and I forget to use it sometimes.
Speaker:And then when I do use it,
Speaker:I'm so glad I have it.
Speaker:So you're motivating me to really focus on that a little
Speaker:bit. The more I swear by it,
Speaker:I just think it is a gift from the gods.
Speaker:Everyone talks about now getting two emails,
Speaker:zero right inbox,
Speaker:zero the end of every day.
Speaker:And sometimes that's not possible,
Speaker:but boomerang can really help you with that.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:there's something that you need to save.
Speaker:You don't really want to put it in a file folder
Speaker:and when you boomerang it,
Speaker:it actually leaves your inbox and just miraculously reappears later,
Speaker:whenever you tell it to all right.
Speaker:So I'm motivated to use that more now,
Speaker:just because of what you said.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:And the book end,
Speaker:or just,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:continual learning.
Speaker:Is there something that you've read lately that you think our
Speaker:listeners could find value in?
Speaker:I Constantly look to Inc and Forbes,
Speaker:both.com just to see what some of the articles they're posting
Speaker:about productivity hacks,
Speaker:or if I need sort of a reminder about what is
Speaker:the mindset for success?
Speaker:I feel like both of those sites do a really terrific
Speaker:job of curating interesting information.
Speaker:That's sort of a quick and easy read if I'm sitting
Speaker:on the airplane and it's before we take off,
Speaker:or if I have a moment in a commute to just
Speaker:have a little refresher,
Speaker:I often will just pull up ink or Forbes and take
Speaker:a look at what articles are trending and get a little
Speaker:inspiration. There you go.
Speaker:Wonderful. And so you do it all on line.
Speaker:You don't have a hard copy of the mag.
Speaker:Yeah. I'll just pull up what they have online.
Speaker:Yeah. We are going to circle now into my dare to
Speaker:dream question.
Speaker:I would like to present you Jane with a virtual gift.
Speaker:This is a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:It's your dream or your goal of almost unreachable Heights that
Speaker:you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:I love that gift.
Speaker:That sounds like an amazing gift.
Speaker:I would love to open this magical gift and find that
Speaker:to the market is the go-to source for ethical gifting and
Speaker:for ethical sourcing of raw materials and goods.
Speaker:And I think you are well on your way to having
Speaker:that happen.
Speaker:And I love the fact of how thoughtful and prepared and
Speaker:structured your whole approach has been for to the market.
Speaker:And so you're clearly set up for success.
Speaker:So I think that this dream is well on its way.
Speaker:As I said on the show notes,
Speaker:page gift,
Speaker:biz listeners,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:that I'm going to be putting all the different contact information
Speaker:that Jane has shared with me before the interview,
Speaker:but for people who might be in the car or walking
Speaker:their dog or something like that,
Speaker:what would be the two main places that you would suggest
Speaker:our listeners go?
Speaker:And you want to see anything more First would be to
Speaker:the market.com,
Speaker:which is T O T H E M a R K
Speaker:E t.com.
Speaker:And that's where you can see a number of the different
Speaker:co-ops that we work with as well as download our existing
Speaker:line sheet and our raw materials catalog.
Speaker:And the second place I would suggest looking as just popping
Speaker:over to our Facebook page,
Speaker:our symbol for finding us on Facebook is actually,
Speaker:let's go T T M let's go to the market.
Speaker:So let's go TTM.
Speaker:And that's where you can see more up-to-date news on maybe
Speaker:what we're reading,
Speaker:what we are excited about,
Speaker:what news articles are related to what we're working on.
Speaker:And I think that's just a great hub for information.
Speaker:Perfect. And again,
Speaker:give his listeners,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:that all of this will be over on the show notes
Speaker:page. The other thing that I want to point out is
Speaker:if you guys go to the website,
Speaker:one thing that really struck me and that I saw was
Speaker:different. And you do mention this Jane,
Speaker:as a point of differentiation,
Speaker:is that you have the option to filter the products also
Speaker:by I'm going to call it your lunge of choice.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:whether you're wanting to buy products from people who have been
Speaker:abused or people who are in a poverty type situation.
Speaker:So there's lots of different ways you can filter if you're
Speaker:buying products directly and see what's offered,
Speaker:you can do it by region in.
Speaker:Then you can do it.
Speaker:Like I said by,
Speaker:I don't know what the appropriate way to word that is
Speaker:Jane, but I'm calling it the life challenge of choice.
Speaker:So I thought that was very interesting.
Speaker:I've never seen that before.
Speaker:Is that unique to you guys?
Speaker:I think so.
Speaker:I think we really wanted people to have the option to
Speaker:if they really care about human trafficking or they really care
Speaker:about refugees,
Speaker:that they could shop products that are made by those communities.
Speaker:But if they are open to cause what caused they're interested
Speaker:in supporting,
Speaker:they can also shop by country.
Speaker:And then of course they can shop by goods so they
Speaker:can shop by category like apparel or shoes or jewelry,
Speaker:home goods.
Speaker:Wonderful. I just,
Speaker:I wanted to point that out because I've noticed that right
Speaker:away when I first landed on the site and I thought
Speaker:it was very different and very interesting.
Speaker:Thank you,
Speaker:Jane. Thank you so so much,
Speaker:you've really given us a really good look into establishing a
Speaker:business like this.
Speaker:That's again,
Speaker:as I said in the beginning,
Speaker:a little different than other businesses that we've looked at.
Speaker:So I appreciate your generosity and sharing your information,
Speaker:how you started thinking about it and planning with your do
Speaker:Jill diligence in the beginning,
Speaker:all the valuable information that you've talked about,
Speaker:about developing the business and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the interns too was a great nugget of information for us.
Speaker:I really appreciate it.
Speaker:I thank you for your time and may your candles Learn
Speaker:how to work smarter while developing and growing your business.
Speaker:Download our guide called 25 free tools to enhance your business
Speaker:and life.
Speaker:It's our gift to you and available@giftbizonrap.com
Speaker:slash tools.
Speaker:Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for the
Speaker:next episode.
Speaker:Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company,
Speaker:looking for a new income source for your gift business.
Speaker:Customization is more popular now than ever granted products of your
Speaker:logo or print a happy birthday,
Speaker:Jessica ribbon to add to a gift,
Speaker:right at checkout,
Speaker:it's all done right in your shop or across studio in
Speaker:seconds. Check out the ribbon print company.com
Speaker:for more information after you listen to the show,
Speaker:if you like what you're hearing,
Speaker:make sure to jump over and subscribe to the show on
Speaker:iTunes. That way you'll automatically get the newest episodes when they
Speaker:go live.
Speaker:And thank you to those who have already left a rating
Speaker:by subscribing rating and reviewing help to increase the visibility as
Speaker:well. Would you like to be on the show or do
Speaker:you know someone who can provide valuable insight from your experiences?
Speaker:If so,
Speaker:we'd love to hear from all you need to do is
Speaker:submit a form for consideration.
