Shownotes
BUSINESS BUILDING INSIGHTS
- Invest in education about a topic that interests you and see if there’s an opportunity to create a business out of it.
- You can identify and gain access to needed resources by being in person with people who share the same passion as you do. They may hold the missing piece of information that will motivate you to get started.
- Don’t let the fact that there are other products out there similar to yours deter you from starting your business. There’s a way to make it unique. There’s a way to make it yours.
- Keep it simple when testing your products. Limit your products and variations as you start out. You can add to them later.
- Welcome feedback from potential customers to understand the receptivity and interest in your product.
- Cultivate relationships to get the word out for your product. This is best done in person particularly in the beginning.
RESOURCES MENTIONED
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Gift biz unwrapped episode.
Speaker:Are you ready for this 250 the fabric is kind of
Speaker:magical. It can be anything,
Speaker:and I was like,
Speaker:what is this thing that could be made into so many
Speaker:different types of clothing?
Speaker:Attention gifters,
Speaker:bakers, crafters and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.
Speaker:Whether you have an established business or looking to start one,
Speaker:now you are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal,
Speaker:Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:Hi there,
Speaker:it's Sue.
Speaker:Welcome to the 250th episode of the gift biz unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:That seems crazy to me.
Speaker:We've been airing now for almost five years and I'm not
Speaker:doing anything special for the 250th because I feel like that's
Speaker:just celebrating me and I want to celebrate you guys and
Speaker:the best way I can do that is to continue to
Speaker:give you good information that you can use and apply to
Speaker:growing your businesses.
Speaker:So here we go.
Speaker:Today is January 20th,
Speaker:2020 Oh my gosh,
Speaker:that's a cool number two.
Speaker:I didn't even realize it until I said it,
Speaker:but I like this day even more now because two is
Speaker:my favorite number.
Speaker:I'm not going to go into that now in terms of
Speaker:why, maybe that would be for another day,
Speaker:but I bring up the date because if you are anywhere
Speaker:near the Philadelphia area,
Speaker:next weekend I'm going to be at the Philly candy show,
Speaker:which is going to be held in cherry Hill.
Speaker:We're exhibiting there as the ribbon print company and I'm also
Speaker:doing a talk on how to distinguish yourself and stand out
Speaker:in your market.
Speaker:So if you're in the area and particularly if you're a
Speaker:Baker or a suite maker,
Speaker:come check out the show and of course come to my
Speaker:class also and I've been doing more and more of this
Speaker:lately. I'm planning on having a meetup one night of the
Speaker:show, so whether you're at the show or not,
Speaker:whether you're in the candy or baking industry or not,
Speaker:but you're in the area.
Speaker:I'd love for you to come and join us in the
Speaker:meetup details of that can be found in our gift biz
Speaker:breeze Facebook group in terms of what night it is,
Speaker:where we're going to meet up the time,
Speaker:all of that and I'm really hoping to see you there.
Speaker:I started doing these meetups in 2019 and I've really found
Speaker:it valuable,
Speaker:the face to face being able to to meet you in
Speaker:person, connect with you.
Speaker:We can chat about business or we can just hang out
Speaker:and have fun.
Speaker:It just all depends on how the conversation goes and how
Speaker:many people show up.
Speaker:It's great with two or three and it's also great with
Speaker:20 or 30 so we'll just see happens there and if
Speaker:you're not in the area,
Speaker:hopefully I'll be doing a meetup somewhere around you this year.
Speaker:Just stay tuned to the podcast and the Facebook group for
Speaker:more information on that.
Speaker:I have a really exciting past guest spotlight for you today
Speaker:too. It's from Michelle Dowen of cookie NYP,
Speaker:so she was featured in episode 193 just a little bit
Speaker:over a year ago and you can go back and listen
Speaker:to that episode if you want to hear her full story.
Speaker:I'm just going to read to you directly from the update
Speaker:that she sent me.
Speaker:She shares some insight into two ways.
Speaker:She's grown her business this year that you could use and
Speaker:tweak to address your own scenarios.
Speaker:These are really great.
Speaker:Are you ready?
Speaker:Here's what Michelle has to say.
Speaker:Cookie nip continues to grow.
Speaker:One of the things that we have had success with is
Speaker:adding more retailers in cake supply shops.
Speaker:While we do get new retailers at trade shows,
Speaker:we added about 40 new retailers by sharing it on our
Speaker:social media page.
Speaker:We asked our customers to tell us the shop where they
Speaker:like to purchase their cake and cookie supplies.
Speaker:These shops were located all over the country and it gave
Speaker:us an Avenue for reaching out to them.
Speaker:We let them know that one of their customers suggested that
Speaker:she would like to purchase cookie nip at that store.
Speaker:Then we sent them wholesale information.
Speaker:It was so easy.
Speaker:Retailers want to know about the products that their customers want
Speaker:to purchase locally.
Speaker:We also will send them a few sample cookies and a
Speaker:recipe with the first shipment because people who taste the product
Speaker:are the most likely to purchase it.
Speaker:We know it's successful because within a few days that retailer
Speaker:is ordering the product.
Speaker:Another thing that has worked well for cookie nip is the
Speaker:use of brand ambassadors.
Speaker:These are people who are industry professionals who are also influencers.
Speaker:Each brand ambassador has a discount code that they share with
Speaker:their followers and then at the end of each quarter we
Speaker:pay the brand ambassadors a dollar for each time their code
Speaker:was used in a purchase in our online store.
Speaker:It really helps when people who are well known in the
Speaker:industry recommend our product and it definitely boosts sales,
Speaker:so there you have it.
Speaker:Two ways that Michelle has found growth in her business and
Speaker:again, these are things that you can tweak and use as
Speaker:your own.
Speaker:Now Michelle also went on to make comment about the podcast.
Speaker:She says,
Speaker:I enjoy each podcast,
Speaker:whether it's a business similar to mine or not,
Speaker:there's always something to learn from people who are on a
Speaker:similar journey.
Speaker:Thanks for bringing together the community of crafters who can earn
Speaker:money doing what they love.
Speaker:I'll Michelle,
Speaker:thank you for that.
Speaker:I really appreciate those kind words up today on the show
Speaker:is someone who's in a situation that many of you beginners
Speaker:are probably in,
Speaker:although she's significantly advanced her product already.
Speaker:She's doing it while working a full time job during the
Speaker:day. Mary is an analyst in digital marketing,
Speaker:but at night,
Speaker:weekends and breaks and work.
Speaker:She's building a business of her own.
Speaker:I can't wait for you to hear all about it.
Speaker:Let's just go ahead and roll that interview.
Speaker:Today. It's my pleasure to introduce you to Mary Bemis.
Speaker:Mary is the founder of reprise align of plant based active
Speaker:wear aiming to free your closet from plastic.
Speaker:She founded the company to educate us about the ingredients in
Speaker:our clothing so we have more control over our health and
Speaker:wellness. Reprised products never contain oil-based synthetics or recycled plastics because
Speaker:of their impact on the planet.
Speaker:Mary believes your skin deserves only the best,
Speaker:so they only work with plant-based fabrics to give you the
Speaker:cleanest wear.
Speaker:Mary envisions a future where people not only look to see
Speaker:what's in their clothes,
Speaker:but they expect better materials.
Speaker:As you can tell,
Speaker:she's passionate about environmental ism and is an active member of
Speaker:the New York city sustainability community.
Speaker:Mary, welcome to the gift biz unrepped podcast.
Speaker:Thank you so much,
Speaker:Sue. I'm excited to be here.
Speaker:Me too.
Speaker:I don't know a lot about your story so we are
Speaker:going to uncover it here in the show and I cannot
Speaker:wait. I'm excited.
Speaker:Yeah. Before we do though,
Speaker:I have a traditional question for you for us to learn
Speaker:about you in a little bit of a different way.
Speaker:If you were to describe yourself as a motivational candle,
Speaker:what color and what quote would be on your candle?
Speaker:I love this question.
Speaker:So this one was actually an easy one for me.
Speaker:So I think color-wise I was looking around thinking all the
Speaker:candles I have at home are sort of that natural wax
Speaker:color, kind of that like eggshell cream.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:I think more natural materials and kind of what I find
Speaker:is really calming,
Speaker:but the quote I would have is because you can,
Speaker:and that's actually have a dove rapper that I unwrapped one
Speaker:time, like a couple of years ago that had that quote
Speaker:on it and I've put it in my bathroom and I
Speaker:see it every morning.
Speaker:And so that's something that really keeps me going and reminds
Speaker:me that I can do this because I can.
Speaker:Right? Because we're lucky enough to be in a position where
Speaker:we have the opportunities to do it so we can take
Speaker:advantage of it.
Speaker:The thing is we just have to,
Speaker:right, Exactly.
Speaker:It's easier said than done sometimes,
Speaker:but it is.
Speaker:I love that you said it's sort of a privilege too,
Speaker:so it keeps me motivated.
Speaker:Wonderful. Well,
Speaker:I think about what you're talking about in terms of creating
Speaker:active wear and for me that seems like a daunting task.
Speaker:I could see the idea,
Speaker:but I would have no idea how to get to the
Speaker:thought and then to reality.
Speaker:Before you get into that though,
Speaker:share with us what you were doing up to that point
Speaker:and then we'll get into how you came about with this
Speaker:idea. Sure,
Speaker:so it definitely was a daunting task for me.
Speaker:I don't come from a background in fashion or manufacturing or
Speaker:really a creative background.
Speaker:When I first moved to New York about six years ago,
Speaker:I was working at an investment bank.
Speaker:The more on the finance side,
Speaker:I decided that that just wasn't the lifestyle that I wanted.
Speaker:It was pretty long hours when a pretty competitive work environment
Speaker:was just really didn't fit with my personality what I wanted
Speaker:to do and so right now I still work full time
Speaker:at an advertising job and that was a little bit better
Speaker:in terms of work life balance and being in more of
Speaker:a creative environment,
Speaker:but the whole path to learning more about active work came
Speaker:and more sustainable fashion came at a total,
Speaker:a bit of an accident.
Speaker:I will,
Speaker:I'll talk a bit more about kind of how step-by-step I've
Speaker:built a company but it actually came about because I had
Speaker:just moved apartments and I live in New York city and
Speaker:I live alone.
Speaker:I live in a very small studio apartment in New York
Speaker:city and I had just moved from roommates to the studio
Speaker:apartment, so downgraded in size in many ways and I was
Speaker:trying to make some extra money to cover some of the
Speaker:move and get rid of some stuff and I was trying
Speaker:to sell a lot of my clothing on Poshmark.
Speaker:I hadn't used Poshmark before,
Speaker:but I had some friends who have sold clothes before and
Speaker:for anyone that's not familiar with Poshmark is a peer to
Speaker:peer app where you can resell clothing directly to people.
Speaker:Instead of selling it like a Buffalo exchange or something like
Speaker:that, you can just take pictures on your phone and upload
Speaker:it and then someone will purchase it and you ship it
Speaker:yourself. So I was really excited to clean out my closet
Speaker:a little bit and post some pictures and I figured to
Speaker:make my stuff really appealing.
Speaker:I'd be as descriptive as possible and list out all the
Speaker:different materials that my clothing was made from and I was
Speaker:hoping that it would all be cashmere and wool and really
Speaker:nice attractive things.
Speaker:And as I was listing out all the things,
Speaker:I noticed that everything that I owned was made with this
Speaker:fabric is unknown fabric called polyester.
Speaker:At least at the time.
Speaker:I had no idea what that was.
Speaker:And it was weird to me that it was this like
Speaker:material that could be made into a sweater and then also
Speaker:in my jeans and in my leggings and it definitely in
Speaker:all of my active wear.
Speaker:And so I was just like,
Speaker:what is this thing that's in all my clothes?
Speaker:And so I Googled it and that's when I first realized
Speaker:how much of our clothing is made with plastic.
Speaker:And it was a pretty big surprise to me.
Speaker:And it sounds kind of silly now,
Speaker:but this was a few years ago and it was really
Speaker:kind of what opened that can of worms of me really
Speaker:wanting to learn more and try to understand how is my
Speaker:clothing actually made.
Speaker:Because never once had I really given that any thought.
Speaker:So that led to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:tons of documentaries,
Speaker:lots of classes,
Speaker:lots of articles,
Speaker:really trying to uncover the stuff that I never knew before.
Speaker:Well, smart of you to ask the question because I wouldn't
Speaker:even think of that.
Speaker:I just kind of think of polyester being another category.
Speaker:Like cotton's a category,
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I did too.
Speaker:And that's,
Speaker:but I think it was like I was feeling these materials,
Speaker:I was listing,
Speaker:it was like a really thick heavy sweater and these spandexy
Speaker:leggings and a tee shirt and I was like this fabric
Speaker:is kind of magical.
Speaker:It can be anything.
Speaker:And I was like,
Speaker:what is this thing that could be made into so many
Speaker:different types of clothing?
Speaker:And I think that's what really was like confusing to me.
Speaker:That's why it's become Such a widespread used fabric is its
Speaker:ability to transform into so many different types of clothing.
Speaker:But I think that's what really kind of puzzled me is
Speaker:like what is this thing?
Speaker:If it can,
Speaker:I always thought sweaters are made from Welland casually lucky you
Speaker:if that's all you.
Speaker:Yeah, well I was hoping that,
Speaker:yeah, really?
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:So is that where the plastic comes from?
Speaker:Is from just the polyester?
Speaker:Are there other materials within our clothing that are also plastic?
Speaker:Yeah, so nylon is also a synthetic based materials.
Speaker:So that's again in a lot of active wear and a
Speaker:lot of outerwear.
Speaker:So similar type of chemical structure and then spandex is a
Speaker:tough one.
Speaker:There is a way to get natural rubber spandex.
Speaker:It's pretty hard to source and it's pretty expensive.
Speaker:And so that's one thing that it is still an oil
Speaker:based material,
Speaker:but it is something that we only use a tiny bit
Speaker:of and we're trying to figure out how to kind of
Speaker:use more natural materials in that.
Speaker:But everything else,
Speaker:I think there's like rayon is a tree based material.
Speaker:Cotton is obviously a plant based material.
Speaker:There's a few that are starting to be better.
Speaker:Just also depends in the whole production process.
Speaker:So rayon can be pretty chemically intensive as well versus we
Speaker:work with a material called Tencel,
Speaker:which is a tree based material,
Speaker:but it's done in an extremely clean way.
Speaker:So it's all certified,
Speaker:nontoxic, really safe for both your skin and the entire production
Speaker:process. So people who are actually making that fabric from the
Speaker:raw materials.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:Well I've got to say for you not having had any
Speaker:knowledge in the industry before you started,
Speaker:you certainly do now and you're educating us.
Speaker:Just like you were saying,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:we were talking about the intro,
Speaker:getting people to understand this because I really hadn't had any
Speaker:idea, I mean I've know of polyester and nylon and spandex,
Speaker:but I never really gave it another thought.
Speaker:I just felt like,
Speaker:well we need those because that's how you make the material
Speaker:flexible. Especially active wear because it's got like all around.
Speaker:Right, Exactly.
Speaker:And I think that was what it was kind of a
Speaker:big question of like,
Speaker:okay, is it even possible to make it with something else?
Speaker:I think the big problem that I'm trying to tackle is
Speaker:we're so conditioned to have this feeling in our clothing that
Speaker:really feel kind of like it holds you in nicely and
Speaker:has that band XC feel like you want them to feel
Speaker:a certain way.
Speaker:And so it's been tough to kind of transition that feeling
Speaker:that we're so conditioned to have but still educate.
Speaker:There's a lot of things like tenfold has all of the
Speaker:properties that we would seek in our active or naturally like
Speaker:it's resistant to odor and bacteria and it always feels cool
Speaker:to the touch and it's incredibly sweat wicking.
Speaker:And so a lot of those things,
Speaker:they apply chemical finishes to polyester to give them those properties,
Speaker:whereas a lot of natural materials have that naturally.
Speaker:Ah, gotcha.
Speaker:Yeah. And applying chemicals would be a no,
Speaker:no, for sure.
Speaker:Yeah. Okay.
Speaker:So you have actually two things that you're encountering here.
Speaker:One is creating a product that will fulfill your requirements.
Speaker:Forget even about starting a company because you can't start the
Speaker:company until you have the product.
Speaker:Right? Right.
Speaker:So take us to that point Where you're like,
Speaker:I'm not seeing anything out there.
Speaker:Maybe I can do something about this.
Speaker:Yeah. So I had been familiar with the brand reformation,
Speaker:which is huge now.
Speaker:And most people are probably maybe if they're interested in sustainable
Speaker:fashion, have seen them.
Speaker:But I think they started a direct to consumer brand online
Speaker:and they have some stores in kind of all over the
Speaker:country now.
Speaker:But mostly New York and LA and they really championed sustainable
Speaker:fashion in a younger millennial woman's market I guess.
Speaker:And they are very transparent with the materials they use.
Speaker:So that is when I first started learning about,
Speaker:they have a really great part of their website all about
Speaker:the different materials and the ratings that they gave them and
Speaker:they make learning about this kind of like daunting,
Speaker:scary thing about fabrics.
Speaker:Pretty easy to understand.
Speaker:And so I started there and I was reading a lot
Speaker:and they work with Tencel and that's kind of where I
Speaker:think on their website they describe it as the Beyonce of
Speaker:fabrics. And I was like,
Speaker:okay, you have my attention,
Speaker:I want to learn more.
Speaker:And they link out to the manufacturer's website.
Speaker:And so I started to read all these things like what
Speaker:I have previously said that it's naturally resistant to odor and
Speaker:bacteria. It's sweat licking,
Speaker:it's cool to the touch.
Speaker:It's made with natural materials,
Speaker:it's certified nontoxic.
Speaker:And I was sort of like,
Speaker:this sounds really great for active wear.
Speaker:So you're right.
Speaker:Like my initial thought wasn't I'm going to start a company,
Speaker:I need to make this.
Speaker:It was how can I learn about materials?
Speaker:So I just changed my buying habits.
Speaker:So when I learned about these materials,
Speaker:organic cotton,
Speaker:tensile, any recycled materials,
Speaker:linen, I started searching,
Speaker:just Google searching for clothing made with that and organic cotton
Speaker:leggings have existed for a long time.
Speaker:I'm not making something totally brand new,
Speaker:but I really wanted something that also still felt that feeling
Speaker:of active wear.
Speaker:To me organic cotton feels the way it feels,
Speaker:feels kind of like your lounge,
Speaker:your comfort,
Speaker:your where,
Speaker:where your comfort wear that you wear at home.
Speaker:And so I really wanted something that felt more that I
Speaker:could go work out and and could have this like still
Speaker:feel comfortable but still have more of these like performance characteristics.
Speaker:So if I was going to go sweat in them,
Speaker:they were also great for that.
Speaker:And that's when I really was like I cannot find anything
Speaker:that's not,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:recycled polyester was starting to be big,
Speaker:which is huge now.
Speaker:There's so many companies that are doing that,
Speaker:which is great,
Speaker:but it's still a plastic based materials and you still have,
Speaker:for me it was the issue of microplastics.
Speaker:So the small pieces of plastic that shed when you wash
Speaker:your clothing.
Speaker:So I was pretty dead set on,
Speaker:I want to only a natural and plant-based material wanting to
Speaker:buy it versus making it a totally different thing.
Speaker:Totally. And so I think I thought there was this light
Speaker:bulb moment where as I was Google searching for products with
Speaker:these new materials that I had learned about and I couldn't
Speaker:find anything.
Speaker:I think everyone kind of has this moment of like if
Speaker:I want it and I'm talking to a few other people
Speaker:who also may want it and I can't find it.
Speaker:Like maybe there's an opportunity here.
Speaker:And that's when I think I started to think more about,
Speaker:I was still obsessed with learning all of this as much
Speaker:as I could about the materials and it wasn't something that
Speaker:had lasted a week or two.
Speaker:It was starting to go on for months of me watching
Speaker:documentaries and digging up more information that I was like,
Speaker:maybe I should start to invest in some pepper education around
Speaker:this topic and see if there's an opportunity here to start
Speaker:something. Interesting.
Speaker:Yeah. So this wasn't just a passing interest you're saying?
Speaker:Yeah. The more you dove in,
Speaker:the more interested you got and it became,
Speaker:you had start started I guess to build into a passion
Speaker:for you.
Speaker:Definitely. And I think I record it Nice.
Speaker:I still,
Speaker:there's so much to learn and I definitely am the type
Speaker:that I want to feel like I have some sort of
Speaker:base knowledge before I was going to jump into anything and
Speaker:I wanted to make sure that if I was going to
Speaker:invest the time and money,
Speaker:that it was really something that I wasn't just really interested
Speaker:in for a week and then was going to pass.
Speaker:And that really turned out to not be the case.
Speaker:I couldn't get enough of everything that I was reading.
Speaker:Okay. So I'm really glad you just said that because now
Speaker:we're, was it N how did you have the indication that
Speaker:you said to yourself,
Speaker:okay, I have enough information at this point now to at
Speaker:least start taking some type of an action.
Speaker:And I ask you that Mary,
Speaker:because so many people will research and research or think and
Speaker:think and never actually flip the switch to actually doing something.
Speaker:So how did this happen for you?
Speaker:Sure. So I really prefer to learn like in person where
Speaker:I can ask as many questions as I want and really
Speaker:get to connect with people.
Speaker:I think there's so much,
Speaker:like you said,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you can research online forever and I think you start to
Speaker:get overwhelmed because there's so much information out there online and
Speaker:they're always wondering,
Speaker:is this right?
Speaker:You read conflicting stuff.
Speaker:I felt like I really needed to get in person and
Speaker:talk to people.
Speaker:And so I got an incredibly lucky that the company I
Speaker:worked for,
Speaker:our first office was across the street from fit the fashion
Speaker:Institute of technology.
Speaker:And they happen to recently launch a sustainable design entrepreneurs certificate.
Speaker:They had night classes from six to nine most nights a
Speaker:week. And so that was when I decided,
Speaker:let me go in person and let me start to meet
Speaker:some of the teachers here.
Speaker:Fit is really known for having teachers who work directly in
Speaker:the field and so they can share their experience with you
Speaker:and you can start to meet other people who share this
Speaker:passion and really start to decide is this idea right.
Speaker:And so I signed up for the classes,
Speaker:I signed up for all of them.
Speaker:So I was like every single night a week I was
Speaker:going to classes.
Speaker:I really wanted to get as much of it done right
Speaker:away as I could.
Speaker:And that was the moment when I started.
Speaker:I was still really nervous.
Speaker:I was pretty sure I was wanting to start a company,
Speaker:but I was still masking it.
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:I think I have this idea for something or I'm interested
Speaker:in sustainable active wear.
Speaker:But I was too scared to outright say I'm doing this.
Speaker:Cause I just wasn't sure if it was still a good
Speaker:idea and I think being in person with so many people
Speaker:share the same passion about sustainable fashion and the teachers there
Speaker:who are like,
Speaker:this is a good idea and here I work in the
Speaker:manufacturing district in New York,
Speaker:I can introduce you to a factory.
Speaker:Someone else had a background in sourcing and so they knew
Speaker:all where to get all of the materials that I was
Speaker:looking for that.
Speaker:So it really gave me the push I needed of like
Speaker:I've met all these wonderful people who are now here giving
Speaker:me resources and giving me the steps that I need and
Speaker:that one I felt like more comfortable being like,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:I think I can do this.
Speaker:I think really getting out there and talking to people and
Speaker:sharing it with people and seeing how willing people are to
Speaker:connect with you over your idea and kind of help you
Speaker:and they see how passionate you are about something.
Speaker:For me it was a huge reason why I was able
Speaker:to get started.
Speaker:Yeah, that makes a lot of sense because first of all,
Speaker:you're continuing the learning.
Speaker:You're connecting with people who have resources like you said,
Speaker:so you started to see where this was more passable for
Speaker:you and with the connections and then factories,
Speaker:et cetera,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:I just want to point out gift biz listeners for you
Speaker:with different products that you may be thinking of doing.
Speaker:Go to trade shows where you know those products are going
Speaker:to be,
Speaker:or the people who provide the ingredients that you use to
Speaker:make your products,
Speaker:whether it's beads or all the foundational elements of your product.
Speaker:That could be one way of doing it.
Speaker:Going to local classes or even going to other people who
Speaker:have businesses similar to what you're thinking about,
Speaker:but maybe not in your same hometown.
Speaker:Right, because then you'd be a competitor,
Speaker:but just ways for you to use what Mary's talking about
Speaker:and spinning them off for things that you're thinking of.
Speaker:It's so great you said that because that's exactly what,
Speaker:there's a huge fabric trade show in New York twice a
Speaker:year and I believe it may also go to LA if
Speaker:there's anyone on the West coast and it's called text world
Speaker:and it's free to register and attend and they have hundreds
Speaker:of different fabric suppliers who come in from all over the
Speaker:world and I signed up with a business name that I
Speaker:was thinking of.
Speaker:That's all you need is just an email and I could
Speaker:be a fake business name and I was able to definitely,
Speaker:as you said,
Speaker:you get to go and you see all of the things
Speaker:you could be sourcing or the other products and we get
Speaker:to start to talk to people and it's really cool to
Speaker:go to get to see.
Speaker:I know as soon as I started to see this fabric
Speaker:in person and start to talk to people again,
Speaker:I think as many steps as you can kind of take
Speaker:in person to really connect with people and see the products
Speaker:and see all of the different materials is really a great
Speaker:motivator to get the creative juices flowing of like,
Speaker:Oh, this is what I could create with this material that
Speaker:I'm seeing in person now.
Speaker:And you're also building your network of connections in your future
Speaker:industry. Exactly.
Speaker:So I'm sure you could reach out to them if you
Speaker:had questions or steps along the way or ideas.
Speaker:And what I've continued to hear from people is I think
Speaker:we put it in our mind that competitors don't want to
Speaker:share. Where I found that more people are willing to share.
Speaker:Then you think,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:and what's the worst they're going to say,
Speaker:no, sorry,
Speaker:I'm not going to tell you my secrets.
Speaker:Yeah. And that's happened once or twice and I think,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:they're lost.
Speaker:But even I think one thing that I learned,
Speaker:so from another kind of business mentor was that yes,
Speaker:you may look around the market and see there's a million
Speaker:sustainable active or companies out there.
Speaker:You will have,
Speaker:when you're creating a product in your company,
Speaker:you will be the only one that's making it in your
Speaker:specific way.
Speaker:And so I think don't let,
Speaker:going to something like a trade show where there's a ton
Speaker:of people also sourcing and also looking at my case,
Speaker:active wear fabrics deter you from creating your company because there's
Speaker:still a way to make it unique.
Speaker:There's still a way to make it yours.
Speaker:And so I think that's one thing too.
Speaker:I started to get nervous as I was,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:they just came out with something similar like why am I
Speaker:even doing this?
Speaker:But you can still do so many different things.
Speaker:There's under Armour,
Speaker:there's Nike,
Speaker:there's Lou lemon,
Speaker:there's a ton of large active wear companies out there selling
Speaker:similar products.
Speaker:But they all have found a way to really make them
Speaker:unique. And so that's another piece of advice is really don't
Speaker:let the competition out there deter you because you're the only
Speaker:one that can make the product in your way that you
Speaker:really want to.
Speaker:Yes. Words of wisdom for sure.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Let's carry on with your story.
Speaker:I'm thinking at some point here,
Speaker:you're going to make a prototype.
Speaker:We'll continue on with Mary's story right after this quick break.
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Speaker:Print company.com
Speaker:yes, So after the fit classes I felt I'm going to
Speaker:do this.
Speaker:I was pretty committed and so I signed up for,
Speaker:there's an accelerator program called factory 45 and it was similar.
Speaker:There was some overlap between what I learned in fit and
Speaker:the factory 45 program.
Speaker:But what was appealing to me,
Speaker:it was a step by step process and how to launch
Speaker:a sustainable fashion business.
Speaker:So it gave you the exact email templates to reach out
Speaker:to people and the path there was really leading into a
Speaker:crowdfunding campaign.
Speaker:I chose Kickstarter and that's how I knew I wanted to
Speaker:launch. I wanted to a clothing businesses,
Speaker:a lot of money and I wanted to make sure there
Speaker:was validation and people were actually interested in what I was
Speaker:creating. So through the factory 45 program is how I learned
Speaker:how to find that first pattern maker to make the samples.
Speaker:It's so funny,
Speaker:I think looking back now,
Speaker:when I've done this now a few times,
Speaker:if he runs a production,
Speaker:I showed up with a pair of I think Nike leggings.
Speaker:I wasn't trying to make anything too design heavy.
Speaker:I really wanted some simple black leggings,
Speaker:but just made with a better material and so I showed
Speaker:up and my horrible sketches,
Speaker:they probably could look like they were done with someone's left
Speaker:hand. I'm right handed,
Speaker:so it was,
Speaker:they were pretty,
Speaker:I don't come from,
Speaker:I don't have a strong ability to sketch,
Speaker:but that didn't stop you Mary.
Speaker:I mean that's a good point right there,
Speaker:Right? Yeah.
Speaker:You had the vision,
Speaker:you had the idea,
Speaker:you did the best you could to put your vision on
Speaker:paper and you went with it.
Speaker:Yeah, and I will say I think there's so many people
Speaker:who I meet now who my sketching is bad.
Speaker:I don't know how to put together the perfect template to
Speaker:get a pattern made and I think the factory may be
Speaker:preferred to work in a more templated way,
Speaker:but you can make it work.
Speaker:And eventually I'm trying to move towards standardizing the things that
Speaker:I give to them so they're able to work with me
Speaker:a little more easily.
Speaker:But I showed up with this sketch that was horrible and
Speaker:a pair of leggings and I said,
Speaker:can you help me make this?
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:I was lucky we were still in the garment district and
Speaker:I'm kind of like speak away during my lunch break and
Speaker:meet with this pattern maker.
Speaker:And he was really great and he kind of,
Speaker:because I wasn't asking for anything too crazy,
Speaker:it was so a pair of leggings,
Speaker:which is a pretty basic pattern.
Speaker:We worked from there and so he ordered fabric from a
Speaker:place in LA that I had found through the text world
Speaker:show. So from going to that trade show,
Speaker:meeting with a fabric person who is willing to work with
Speaker:my low minimums,
Speaker:they'll send you a few yards at a time,
Speaker:which a pair of leggings uses about a yard of fabric.
Speaker:And so it's really affordable to kind of get started in
Speaker:that way and make one pair of leggings.
Speaker:And then I kind of,
Speaker:I made them in my sample size cause I didn't have
Speaker:money to work with a fit model and all these things
Speaker:and kind of the normal way.
Speaker:And so,
Speaker:and then I just wore them a bunch and I kind
Speaker:of wear tested my own product.
Speaker:I think that's important is you saying to model,
Speaker:you need to know that what you're going to start making
Speaker:performs properly and you'll have the most confidence if you're the
Speaker:one who's worn at a time and you sweated in it
Speaker:and you've washed it and you Kind of worn it until
Speaker:it hopefully doesn't wear out.
Speaker:But longevity is also an issue,
Speaker:right? Because especially with active wear because you're moving around a
Speaker:lot, so you're stretching the material probably you're washing it a
Speaker:lot, et cetera.
Speaker:Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker:All important.
Speaker:Okay. I don't want to stop you.
Speaker:This is really fun.
Speaker:So Then I had the sample that I loved.
Speaker:It was finally a pair that I felt really good.
Speaker:About How many rounds did you have to go with a
Speaker:prototype to you felt like you had one to bring to
Speaker:market? Yeah,
Speaker:so the leggings I got lucky.
Speaker:I think we made two different samples.
Speaker:The first style we launched with has this little like lace-up
Speaker:detail in the front.
Speaker:I wanted something that was stylistically a bit different than really,
Speaker:really super simple black leggings.
Speaker:Although we've just come out with a pair of those very
Speaker:simple ones cause that's what people ultimately were asking for.
Speaker:But the leggings,
Speaker:they were really long at first.
Speaker:For some reason they came out and they were kind of
Speaker:like over my ankles and then so we shortened them.
Speaker:I did originally for the Kickstarter launch with five products as
Speaker:a tee shirt,
Speaker:a tank top,
Speaker:a sports bra,
Speaker:pair of shorts and leggings.
Speaker:I will say keep it simple.
Speaker:Someone told me they're like,
Speaker:just choose one or two products.
Speaker:And I was like,
Speaker:Oh five is simple enough.
Speaker:And I would say that I have since scaled down to
Speaker:only two styles of leggings that share the same pattern because
Speaker:five was even a lot to manage.
Speaker:Well then five it wasn't even the same product.
Speaker:No. Yeah,
Speaker:they were all different.
Speaker:So that's when we had a ton of different rounds.
Speaker:The tank top,
Speaker:I probably made like five different samples and because I was
Speaker:on a pretty tight bootstrap budget,
Speaker:I kind of at some point was like,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:I'm not a hundred percent happy with this,
Speaker:but I don't really have a choice and it looks good
Speaker:enough and I kind of need to get it out there
Speaker:and get feedback from people because maybe what I'm trying to
Speaker:perfect is,
Speaker:and actually what people want.
Speaker:And so that was another thing where a few of the
Speaker:products we went through a couple rounds of and notice I
Speaker:kind of ran out of money and I was like,
Speaker:these are pretty good.
Speaker:I know I have some of the products that I love.
Speaker:Some of them I think people may like and,
Speaker:and you know,
Speaker:would be willing with the Kickstarter fiercely pricing at a lower
Speaker:price kind of in that for people taking a risk.
Speaker:And so people will give you feedback.
Speaker:And so at some point I was like,
Speaker:I think these are good enough.
Speaker:I had a bunch of friends test the rest of the
Speaker:sizes that we made,
Speaker:give me feedback.
Speaker:And I felt confident enough that there was something that I
Speaker:was still putting forth that was good,
Speaker:but that I could probably receive a lot of feedback on.
Speaker:And so that can be the tough part too.
Speaker:Okay. So if you were doing the Kickstarter all over again
Speaker:with what you know now,
Speaker:would you have only done one or two products then?
Speaker:Or maybe one product with two variations or,
Speaker:Yeah, I think I really would keep it simple.
Speaker:I think right now,
Speaker:so we have gone and just done the leggings and so
Speaker:I think picking one product that you can make that you
Speaker:know you're super,
Speaker:super competent in either whether it's one product in two different
Speaker:colors or maybe two very simple styles.
Speaker:So maybe a lagging in a shorts or the tank top
Speaker:was the one that was kind of our next best seller.
Speaker:We'll probably to reintroduce it again,
Speaker:but it kind of needed that time to take a step
Speaker:back and simplify.
Speaker:I would say as simple as you can keep it,
Speaker:you'll be working on so much when you launch and we
Speaker:were trying to get the product out there and collect different
Speaker:feedback from people and I think trying to collect feedback on
Speaker:five different styles and you're getting different things from so many
Speaker:different people was pretty overwhelming.
Speaker:So if you can take your one core product and get
Speaker:a bunch of feedback from people and kind of fix and
Speaker:work on that until you know it's perfect and then introduce
Speaker:something else.
Speaker:That is one thing is going back that I've learned and
Speaker:I would definitely do differently next time.
Speaker:And I'm thinking also for our listeners,
Speaker:Mary, not everyone would be doing a Kickstarter type situation,
Speaker:but they could be doing craft shows or farmer's markets where
Speaker:people are tasting a product or you're just going out.
Speaker:So you're wanting to see which version of your product sells,
Speaker:that kind of thing.
Speaker:So that testing mode and keeping it more simple in terms
Speaker:of the number of options that you have would be your
Speaker:advice. Yeah,
Speaker:I think it applies to definitely all of the scenarios.
Speaker:I think I've done a bunch of pop of events since,
Speaker:so same kind of thing as like a craft show.
Speaker:A lot of these small vendor tables and I think having
Speaker:your one core product and asking people,
Speaker:anyone who stops by the table as many questions as you
Speaker:can about sort of that one product and you can also
Speaker:then ask them if this product does it for you,
Speaker:what else would you like to see from us?
Speaker:And that way if you want to introduce things in the
Speaker:future, you're also getting kind of that demand of like what
Speaker:else would people want?
Speaker:And that's sort of how we will probably go forward and
Speaker:introduce new products is really what people are asking for,
Speaker:if not the one that you have started with.
Speaker:You get a wealth of information when you do something like
Speaker:that. Yes,
Speaker:but you also are setting yourself up for criticism or maybe
Speaker:some negative comments and I'm sure that you had some people
Speaker:who had ideas or ways you could improvise.
Speaker:I don't know how crazy it got in terms of the
Speaker:feedback, but I'm also thinking of our listeners and they're saying
Speaker:like that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I'm going to be hurt if anyone says one thing about
Speaker:my product,
Speaker:I'm going to just go in a hole and bury myself
Speaker:and never come out again.
Speaker:It's hard.
Speaker:Yeah. Before this,
Speaker:it's so funny.
Speaker:I've always been a pretty,
Speaker:I love to be behind the scenes.
Speaker:I've always worked at jobs kind of behind a screen.
Speaker:Well, I was terrified to do this because I really don't
Speaker:like putting myself out there and I had never before posted
Speaker:something about a project that was really passionate to me.
Speaker:So even just announcing that I was working on a company,
Speaker:I had kept it quiet for so long,
Speaker:honestly, until like a month or two leading up to the
Speaker:Kickstarter because I was kind of terrified that people's feedback would
Speaker:get in the way of my progress.
Speaker:Like I didn't want to tell people until I was like,
Speaker:it's too late.
Speaker:I have it ready,
Speaker:I'm going to do it.
Speaker:And so I definitely recognize that.
Speaker:I think it was really scary to get feedback and I
Speaker:think it's a different timeline for different people.
Speaker:I think some people can start to get feedback before when
Speaker:it's just an idea and I was trying to do that,
Speaker:but I was also like I really,
Speaker:I know that I want to do this and I don't
Speaker:want too many harsh criticisms to deter me,
Speaker:but it is inevitable.
Speaker:One thing that I often hear is price point and I
Speaker:know that can be a really tough thing for sustainability and
Speaker:I think for me it really just teaches me about how
Speaker:much more I need to educate about sort of why the
Speaker:prices are at a certain point we're seeing materials that are
Speaker:made in with less chemicals and in a more lengthy process
Speaker:always, you know,
Speaker:the time it takes to make them and then the way
Speaker:that the forests are grown,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:without any pesticides.
Speaker:And it's grown in the regenerative force.
Speaker:There's a lot of things that go into the raw materials
Speaker:that make them more expensive.
Speaker:We manufacture locally with a woman owned factory in New Jersey,
Speaker:so manufacturing locally versus overseas tends to come at a higher
Speaker:cost as well.
Speaker:So I think that's the biggest criticism I've heard is like
Speaker:the price point.
Speaker:And I think that's a fair criticism,
Speaker:especially when you look at other vendors out there who are
Speaker:able to sell products at a much lower price.
Speaker:I always welcome the feedback you want to have to understand,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:where people are coming from.
Speaker:And then we just introduced a platform called quad pay,
Speaker:which allows you to break up the price into four different
Speaker:payments to try to address this and try to meet people
Speaker:in the middle.
Speaker:I've used it for purchases I've made that have needed something
Speaker:like that with a price point a bit more.
Speaker:But I think it's tough and in person hearing the feedback,
Speaker:criticism, you know when you're selling at a trade show or
Speaker:an event,
Speaker:it's even harder to hear it in person.
Speaker:Although people can sometimes be kind of brutal online.
Speaker:But I think it's part of it.
Speaker:I think so much easier said than done,
Speaker:but don't let it deter you because there's probably 10 people
Speaker:who love what you're doing for every one person that's going
Speaker:to give you that criticism And I think today a lot
Speaker:of people are focused and value sustainability to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:a lower carbon footprint,
Speaker:all of those types of things and there are a group
Speaker:of people who are willing to pay more for that because
Speaker:it's their value,
Speaker:right? The values that they hold within themselves.
Speaker:So it depends on,
Speaker:you need to make sure.
Speaker:Also, I'm not speaking to you,
Speaker:Mary, as much as a global statement that you're actually talking
Speaker:to people who are your potential customer.
Speaker:Exactly. Because that's going to be the most valuable feedback that
Speaker:you can have.
Speaker:The other thing,
Speaker:Mary, that I'm hearing from your story that I want to
Speaker:underline for all of us is,
Speaker:and you may find this surprising,
Speaker:but I've seen it happen often.
Speaker:You took graduated steps,
Speaker:you learned that there was an opportunity,
Speaker:you were educated on the situation,
Speaker:you made a prototype,
Speaker:you started testing through Kickstarter,
Speaker:graduated steps that continue to build on themselves.
Speaker:That's really important in terms of the way to progress versus
Speaker:thinking. You've landed it right from the beginning.
Speaker:Make a ton of inventory only to come and find that
Speaker:there's a flaw in the design.
Speaker:Nobody really wants it.
Speaker:You know those types of things and I have seen that
Speaker:happen, so I just want to reemphasize the fact that what
Speaker:you did was so smart and give biz listeners,
Speaker:I want you to think about that too.
Speaker:If you're in this situation,
Speaker:so easy to want to jump to the end line where
Speaker:you're selling a ton of product,
Speaker:but you want to go through these graduated steps first.
Speaker:Yeah, thank you.
Speaker:I think that's really important.
Speaker:I think that was something that helps being on a limited
Speaker:time and budget to kind of like control those steps,
Speaker:but it's hard.
Speaker:I think,
Speaker:of course anyone wants to see,
Speaker:get to the point where you're growing a ton and you
Speaker:have all these different products and you're kind of at that
Speaker:level, but it also as the ton to your plate,
Speaker:the more product you have in,
Speaker:the more units you have,
Speaker:the more work you have to do and the more people
Speaker:you need to help you.
Speaker:And so I think it's still me running the business by
Speaker:myself right now and I'm packing up every order that I
Speaker:get from my kitchen.
Speaker:And so I think you just kind of have to think
Speaker:about yourself too in kind of that and put yourself into,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:how would you feel if you had to deal with all
Speaker:those products or things like that.
Speaker:And they think that kind of helped me.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you can only take on so much.
Speaker:And so sort of,
Speaker:if you can,
Speaker:what's that next step that you feel comfortable taking on to
Speaker:kind of grow it and I guess for lack of a
Speaker:better word,
Speaker:more sustainable way.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:you want it to still be fun.
Speaker:I mean you're starting this because you have a passion for
Speaker:the product,
Speaker:but you also don't want it to just completely take over
Speaker:your life.
Speaker:Although let's both admit many times that it does.
Speaker:Yeah. But you can't be up at night until three in
Speaker:the morning.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:if you like Mary you're talking about you have another position
Speaker:right now.
Speaker:Like it has to fit within your overall life too.
Speaker:Okay. So then from Kickstarter,
Speaker:so that's how people started to get to know some people
Speaker:on a certain level people started to get to know about
Speaker:the product,
Speaker:try the product,
Speaker:you were able to get feedback,
Speaker:et cetera.
Speaker:Where did it go from there in terms of getting exposure
Speaker:of the product out to the world?
Speaker:Sure. So the Kickstarter was great.
Speaker:We raised her center $1,000
Speaker:and had I think like 200 customers and I reached out
Speaker:to like,
Speaker:and I probably knew like 90% of those people and I
Speaker:reached out to every single person who is,
Speaker:who probably have ever talked to.
Speaker:I just went through my Gmail and I was like a,
Speaker:B, C like any email I could get.
Speaker:I was really reaching out to and so that's a great
Speaker:question cause it was sort of like the Kickstarter kind of
Speaker:tapped out.
Speaker:My friends and family and friends of friends network and I
Speaker:was really like,
Speaker:okay, what's next?
Speaker:Where are these other people?
Speaker:And so I focused on a lot of,
Speaker:I had found better success doing a lot of these in
Speaker:person events.
Speaker:It's not the most scalable,
Speaker:but I think to get that kind of core couple hundred
Speaker:customers who really,
Speaker:really love what you're doing,
Speaker:I found that connecting with people in person is kind of
Speaker:the best way for me to kind of get those champions
Speaker:who are then sharing it with their friends and their networks.
Speaker:So I attend a lot of,
Speaker:it's a full range from,
Speaker:I did a one trade show to a lot more smaller.
Speaker:There's fitness event where they have vendors just reaching out to
Speaker:local wellness boutiques and asking if I can come do a
Speaker:mini pop up for a weekend.
Speaker:And sort of there's ways to do it for free too.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:if you're willing to bring in people and kind of share
Speaker:on your social media about their location,
Speaker:it helps cause it brings in people to their store.
Speaker:I've been trying every other weekends a lot,
Speaker:but maybe like every other weekend or twice a month to
Speaker:have an event like that.
Speaker:And looking now a bit outside of New York as well
Speaker:cause I recognize there's so many other places that have people
Speaker:that would really,
Speaker:I think appreciate what we're creating.
Speaker:But I think for me it's been such a great opportunity
Speaker:to connect with people in person.
Speaker:I think if you're selling,
Speaker:I'm selling,
Speaker:the only difference that I'm really selling is a material.
Speaker:And so I think people really want to see it and
Speaker:feel it in person and they immediately try to leggings on
Speaker:them like,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:they're so incredibly soft.
Speaker:Or they'll feel the fabric.
Speaker:And there's always this surprise element of I had no idea
Speaker:how soft it would be.
Speaker:That's been sort of something I've truly tried to focus on
Speaker:eventually. I can't be spending every single weekend traveling around the
Speaker:country doing these popups,
Speaker:but it's been a great way for me to build the
Speaker:kind of core group of people who then have actually forwarded
Speaker:and shared the product with other people.
Speaker:Just how I'm reaching new people I haven't met yet.
Speaker:I'm so glad you said that cause that's exactly what I
Speaker:was thinking.
Speaker:Yeah. One person who you don't know to like it,
Speaker:buy it,
Speaker:wear it and then share and then the next person's interested
Speaker:and on and on.
Speaker:Of course for those people who then aren't able to see
Speaker:you at the popup cause they're the friend of someone who
Speaker:bought, then you have an online presence to where someone could
Speaker:buy. Correct.
Speaker:Yep. We have a store online and working with some,
Speaker:hopefully eventually some wholesale opportunities.
Speaker:But it's funny because my day job is in digital advertising
Speaker:and so I know so many people when they start,
Speaker:and I have a lot of peers and I'm tempted to
Speaker:immediately want to go and run Facebook ads or Instagram ads.
Speaker:And it's tough.
Speaker:The online space is really crowded right now and it's kind
Speaker:of expensive and it's really hard to get people's attention nowadays.
Speaker:I'm totally guilty.
Speaker:I have like a very short attention span online,
Speaker:especially for ads.
Speaker:I feel like we almost learned to kind of gloss over
Speaker:them a bit.
Speaker:And so I think as much as I wanted to just
Speaker:started advertising a bunch on social media and getting the word
Speaker:out there,
Speaker:I felt that my time and money was better spent kind
Speaker:of cultivating these in-person relationships that people could walk away and
Speaker:say, Oh,
Speaker:I saw them in person.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I met her,
Speaker:she was really helpful.
Speaker:I saw the product,
Speaker:it felt great and it was a much more meaningful use
Speaker:of time and money,
Speaker:at least at the beginning to kind of get the word
Speaker:out that way.
Speaker:But that's my personal take on it.
Speaker:Okay. Will you talk with us a little bit more about
Speaker:how you got your individual boutique popups?
Speaker:I think that would be really interesting for everyone to hear.
Speaker:How did you select which ones you were interested in and
Speaker:how did you initiate the contact and actually have it happen?
Speaker:Have the actual event happen.
Speaker:Yeah, so it's kind of a full range of things.
Speaker:I would say anything from following certain people.
Speaker:So one of them was a kind of fitness influencer and
Speaker:Instagram role.
Speaker:Then I just happened to see,
Speaker:she posted that she was doing an event,
Speaker:so I messaged her directly and I said,
Speaker:did you have space for vendors?
Speaker:Are you still looking for people?
Speaker:I would love to vent and if you could send me
Speaker:more information.
Speaker:So I think a lot of it is reaching out to
Speaker:people directly.
Speaker:There's usually like a vendor's fee,
Speaker:so sometimes it's worth it,
Speaker:sometimes it's not.
Speaker:And then other times I have,
Speaker:so we just did an event with parachute home and that
Speaker:was something I've done a bit of kind of the past
Speaker:year. And since launching really looking into who is my customer,
Speaker:is it exactly what I thought when I launched,
Speaker:who's been buying,
Speaker:who's been coming back and purchasing again and then looking at
Speaker:sort of what are the brands that they are also liking.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you can do a lot on social media by finding people,
Speaker:kind of looking at what people who are interacting with your
Speaker:brand are also liking.
Speaker:And so realizing that the sort of like comfort leggings and
Speaker:comfort at home feeling was really what people was resonating with
Speaker:people. That one I just reached out to them.
Speaker:Um, I knew someone who worked at the store and they
Speaker:were willing to lend the store for an event and kind
Speaker:of created that one out of nothing a little bit and
Speaker:just said,
Speaker:let's do this for your store.
Speaker:We'll bring in people,
Speaker:we'll bring in a few speakers,
Speaker:put together a panel event and then everyone can conveying product
Speaker:and kind of shop there.
Speaker:Stores that sell complimentary products are usually willing to do that.
Speaker:And so I think there's a lot of free ways to
Speaker:get creative.
Speaker:I'm sure newsletters that are advertising certain craft fairs,
Speaker:but I think if you can think of places that you'd
Speaker:love to,
Speaker:brands you'd love to be aligned with.
Speaker:It happened to have a physical presence.
Speaker:If there's something you can offer them by getting new people
Speaker:into their store and allowing you to just have a small
Speaker:table space for a couple hours of the day.
Speaker:I found people are usually pretty receptive to it.
Speaker:Yeah, I mean if you're not a direct competitor but the
Speaker:audience is the same,
Speaker:they come in and see you and then also purchase products
Speaker:that would normally be at that store and get potential customer
Speaker:into the store who'd never walked in before.
Speaker:So absolutely.
Speaker:So as you look into the future,
Speaker:Mary, what comes next?
Speaker:We're really trying to grow now.
Speaker:So I think over the past year,
Speaker:like I said,
Speaker:I've really done a kind of a lot of like,
Speaker:okay, the Kickstarter,
Speaker:it's tough.
Speaker:Kickstarter for me was really like,
Speaker:okay, the idea is out there,
Speaker:but I didn't really come from a brand building background and
Speaker:kind of turning it from an idea into an actual company.
Speaker:And so the past year is really going back and building
Speaker:a lot of that foundation.
Speaker:I probably should have thought about more,
Speaker:but I really wanted to make sure that the idea of
Speaker:people liked and then you can kind of go and tailor
Speaker:more of the branding stuff as you realize like okay,
Speaker:this is actually something that people are interested in.
Speaker:So we just kind of did a bit of a relaunch.
Speaker:I have the site kind of understanding more who our customer
Speaker:is and now I think this next year is really trying
Speaker:to take that and kind of amplify it.
Speaker:So looking for more PR opportunities,
Speaker:getting outside of New York,
Speaker:trying to really put in programs to get the word outside
Speaker:again outside of my extended network and really grow the brand
Speaker:awareness is,
Speaker:I think the big one is still still kind of local
Speaker:because I've been focused on a lot of local New York
Speaker:events and so really to kind of get people and get
Speaker:myself out of my comfort zone and start to travel a
Speaker:bit more of the brand and introduce it to new people.
Speaker:Well, it's a work in progress,
Speaker:right? Step by step and focus on the product to get
Speaker:that down and solid.
Speaker:You can't do everything at once.
Speaker:Yeah. And it's tough to grow it when you,
Speaker:I felt,
Speaker:not confident,
Speaker:but I felt like,
Speaker:okay, people love this idea,
Speaker:but do I really know now what this bigger message is
Speaker:and what people really want?
Speaker:They love the leggings,
Speaker:but what's,
Speaker:I think I needed to do a lot of kind of
Speaker:like internal work of like what's truly our mission,
Speaker:kind of the typical company brand building things like what's our
Speaker:mission, what's our goals and objectives,
Speaker:what does our brand look like?
Speaker:Who is our brand?
Speaker:What does it feel like?
Speaker:There were a lot of kind of take a step back
Speaker:and I think it's okay to get sort of a product
Speaker:validation first and then take a step back.
Speaker:And once you know people love your stuff,
Speaker:you can kind of tighten things up internally.
Speaker:And so I think that was the last year has been
Speaker:really good for that.
Speaker:It's been a huge learning experience for me because like I
Speaker:said, I did not know a lot of this.
Speaker:I relied on a bunch of friends who have expertise in
Speaker:this area to help me then pivot a bit more into
Speaker:habit fields,
Speaker:like a company that I can be proud of and that's
Speaker:a lot easier now for me to go in front of
Speaker:new people with something that I feel like I've put a
Speaker:ton of more thought and work into,
Speaker:which is really nice.
Speaker:I also liked that you really started with friends and family
Speaker:and a lot of people will be anxious to do that
Speaker:because those are the people where our egos on the line,
Speaker:right? If you start something and they don't like it or
Speaker:the product's no good,
Speaker:but it's the right place to start,
Speaker:for sure.
Speaker:It's scary.
Speaker:It's almost the hardest people that fell to.
Speaker:Yeah, But I'm so glad you bring that up in terms
Speaker:of where you started and your demonstration of that,
Speaker:because it is the right place to start.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:I saw some of the feedback you can't take as much,
Speaker:not from an emotional standpoint,
Speaker:but they're probably not going to say things.
Speaker:They don't want to make you sad,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:they don't want to hurt you.
Speaker:So you have to take that kind of with not a
Speaker:grain of salt but filter it a little bit I guess
Speaker:I'd say.
Speaker:Or have really trusting friends who will honestly totally tell you
Speaker:even if you're going to start to cry.
Speaker:Yeah. It was really tough to know kind of like,
Speaker:is this true feedback or are you just being nice and
Speaker:friendly? It's okay.
Speaker:You can tell me if you really hate it.
Speaker:And so I think they're a great place to start cause
Speaker:they'll tell you all the great things and hopefully you have
Speaker:those people in your life too that you feel comfortable saying.
Speaker:Giving the product to them and saying,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:really truly like,
Speaker:tell me what you think about this.
Speaker:Cause like it only hurts you if they're not honest,
Speaker:if they really don't like it.
Speaker:And so,
Speaker:but everyone has those friends that are really willing to give
Speaker:you the critical feedback And the first sales,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:no matter where they're coming from,
Speaker:those first dollars that you start seeing coming in help you
Speaker:build your confidence also.
Speaker:Yeah. Well where would you direct our listeners online to learn
Speaker:more about your product so they can take a peek?
Speaker:Yeah, so we sell everything right now through our website,
Speaker:which is just reprised active wear.com
Speaker:and then share a lot of the new product and kind
Speaker:of behind the scenes images on Instagram,
Speaker:which is just at reprise active wear.
Speaker:Perfect. Beautiful.
Speaker:Thank you so much and give busy listeners.
Speaker:Of course there's a show notes where we'll have Mary's links
Speaker:and I'm also going to link to a lot of the
Speaker:resources that she's been talking about as she's been working her
Speaker:way through the story here.
Speaker:So if there was anything that you didn't catch,
Speaker:just jump over to the show notes page and I'll have
Speaker:the link there for you.
Speaker:Mary, this has been so interesting just to learn,
Speaker:understand the product.
Speaker:I think it's so valuable that you found an opportunity and
Speaker:then continued to pursue it.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:and it started with one intent,
Speaker:just learning and then evolved into,
Speaker:well maybe I could make my own product and then maybe
Speaker:it could be a company and then I'm going to learn
Speaker:more. And then you went to school and that like all
Speaker:of that together make such a beautiful picture and a beautiful
Speaker:example of how to start a business.
Speaker:I am thrilled that you were here to share the story.
Speaker:It's a great model and I appreciate your generosity in letting
Speaker:us all see behind the scenes.
Speaker:Thank you so much.
Speaker:Yeah, well thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker:It's always fun.
Speaker:I love sharing it and I love if there's any way
Speaker:to kind of be that motivator that it is possible.
Speaker:You don't have to come from,
Speaker:there's no typical background to start a company and so thank
Speaker:you for the opportunity.
Speaker:It's really fun to share it.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:So there you have it.
Speaker:Mary's proof.
Speaker:Those of you who want to start your business and are
Speaker:putting it off thinking there's no way that you can fit
Speaker:it in because of your full time job.
Speaker:I really encourage you to self reflect.
Speaker:Is this true or is this an easy out you're giving
Speaker:yourself? If this really is a dream of yours to turn
Speaker:your hobby or your craft into your very own business,
Speaker:you don't need to wait and there are plenty of resources
Speaker:just like this podcast out there to help you.
Speaker:Why not make 2020 your year?
Speaker:Next week show is a really interesting one too.
Speaker:Our guest has created such an obvious product one we all
Speaker:already use,
Speaker:but when you hear what he's done with it,
Speaker:you'll be saying to yourself,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:how smart and I'll be saying to you,
Speaker:there are lots of other ideas out there just waiting for
Speaker:you to grab onto whether it's something that you would integrate
Speaker:on top of your current product or maybe you're just starting
Speaker:and you're on the search for a core product of your
Speaker:very own business.
Speaker:Get all the details next Monday and until then,
Speaker:make it a great week.
Speaker:Bye for now.
Speaker:This episode is all wrapped up,
Speaker:but fortunately,
Speaker:your gift biz journey continues.
Speaker:If you're thinking of turning your hobby or craft into a
Speaker:business, our gift biz gal has something just for you.
Speaker:Are you already thinking about your business name and logo?
Speaker:Wait, that's not the first step.
Speaker:Before you spend a lot of time and money on your
Speaker:new business,
Speaker:make sure your product is positioned in Bryce,
Speaker:so you'll see results right from the beginning.
Speaker:That way you can start your business with confidence.
Speaker:Check it out at gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com/start and until next time,
