Shownotes
BUSINESS BUILDING INSIGHTS
- Be genuine when selling. Avoid being pushy and aggressive.
- Continue to create unique products that people haven't seen before to keep them interested in your products. Continue to make it something that people want.
- Trust your intuition when you feel that something's right for your business.
- Interacting with people and building relationships with them open opportunities for repeat customers.
How to Start a Handmade Business
- Find out if people are really interested in your product before you take the plunge - attending a craft show is great for this.
- Pay attention to how your customers respond to your price points. Are they shocked? Comfortable Delighted? Then you'll know where to adjust.
- Have a variety of products to choose from.
- Hone into your product specialty so you can set yourself apart from the rest.
- See what the reaction people have towards your products so you can adjust to accommodate what they want.
- Business is about your customers.
- Tune in to hear more about how to start a handmade business and make it work with your family and life!
Resources Mentioned
Yuliya's Contact Links
Website | Facebook | InstagramJoin Our FREE Gift Biz Breeze Facebook Community
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Gift biz unwrapped episode 334.
Speaker:Let's do a few more art shows and see if I
Speaker:can quit my full-time job.
Speaker:Attention gifters bakers,
Speaker: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,
Speaker:packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow.
Speaker:Your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal,
Speaker:Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:Hi there.
Speaker:Welcome To another podcast episode,
Speaker:unless you're brand new here,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I'm testing out a Saturday air date for this show.
Speaker:I'll be making a decision a little bit later this week
Speaker:about whether to stick with Saturday or go back to the
Speaker:old Monday slot.
Speaker:So if you have an opinion on this one way or
Speaker:another, let me know by messaging me on Instagram,
Speaker:over at gift biz unwrapped.
Speaker:And remember once the show's up,
Speaker:it goes live forever.
Speaker:So if you prefer listening on Monday,
Speaker:you'll be able to do that or whenever you want for
Speaker:that matter,
Speaker:I'll let you know next week.
Speaker:What the plan is.
Speaker:Moving ahead.
Speaker:It's now the first weekend in September,
Speaker:and that means the holiday season is marching our way.
Speaker:I know it still feels like some time off,
Speaker:but it's going to be here before.
Speaker:You know it.
Speaker:Now's the time to start planning for the season.
Speaker:Make sure you're taking photos and getting your seasonal images up
Speaker:on your website,
Speaker:depending on the product.
Speaker:It's not too early to start showing them at craft shows
Speaker:and farmer's markets either.
Speaker:Remember there are those early holiday shoppers.
Speaker:You also want to continue to increase your visibility and deepen
Speaker:relationships with those that you connect with online,
Speaker:doing events like craft shows and farmer's markets offers great photo
Speaker:and posting opportunities for social media.
Speaker:We talked about this in one of our tips and talk
Speaker:episodes in the podcast just a couple of weeks ago.
Speaker:And I bring this up because you've told me you're discouraged.
Speaker:When you don't see any of the time and effort you
Speaker:put into social media,
Speaker:moving the needle on your sales.
Speaker:So given the time we're in right now,
Speaker:take this as a changing point to do something different,
Speaker:putting in more time posting in the same way isn't going
Speaker:to magically bring you results.
Speaker:You need to change the way you're posting and what you're
Speaker:posting. You don't need to put in more work.
Speaker:You need to put in the right work.
Speaker:That's when things will change.
Speaker:If you need some help with this,
Speaker:I've got you covered with the content for makers.
Speaker:Program content for makers will enlighten you as to why your
Speaker:social media activities aren't converting into sales.
Speaker:It also show you how to put less time in and
Speaker:start seeing activity that will increase your sales.
Speaker:Just imagine a day where you know exactly what to post
Speaker:and to get it done in five minutes or less,
Speaker:then you can spend your time interacting with potential customers,
Speaker:deepening relationships with those you already know too.
Speaker:And it builds upon itself naturally.
Speaker:Yes, this is possible.
Speaker:Content for makers includes a step-by-step strategy to formulating your unique
Speaker:plan based on your business and your products.
Speaker:Then you'll have 375 social media prompts over a full year
Speaker:of ideas.
Speaker:Along with the 375 prompts come 375 image suggestions.
Speaker:So you're not left hanging on the creative.
Speaker:These prompts and image suggestions can be used for all platforms
Speaker:and all types of posting images.
Speaker:Live streaming reels,
Speaker:even email direction,
Speaker:but that's not all posts aren't going to work.
Speaker:If the right people aren't seeing them.
Speaker:So you'll also receive a video and a worksheet on how
Speaker:to choose and use hashtags.
Speaker:This is a way to attract the right people who will
Speaker:become your customers.
Speaker:Most people are doing this wrong.
Speaker:There's more to content for makers to,
Speaker:to see all the details.
Speaker:Just jump over to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash content for makers.
Speaker:But honestly at only $27,
Speaker:it's a no brainer.
Speaker:Why carry on posting as you've been doing all along expecting
Speaker:different results.
Speaker:Sign up for content for makers now and see the transformation
Speaker:of your posting experience change before your very eyes gift biz
Speaker:on rap.com
Speaker:forward slash content for makers ready and waiting for your immediate
Speaker:access. Right now,
Speaker:let's get to today's show.
Speaker:I can't wait to introduce you to this amazing maker.
Speaker:She's been in business just over two years now and has
Speaker:a lot to share about her growth.
Speaker:Fun fact.
Speaker:She lives and works from a Midwest farmhouse and we took
Speaker:our conversation outdoors.
Speaker:So from time to time,
Speaker:you'll hear the birds and possibly some other nature creatures.
Speaker:In the background,
Speaker:we talked about how Yulia confirmed that her product had potential
Speaker:as a business,
Speaker:how she planned and priced for her first craft show the
Speaker:challenges of building a website,
Speaker:expanding her work studio,
Speaker:hiring her first employee.
Speaker:Oh, and working with her spouse,
Speaker:inspiring, uplifting,
Speaker:and informative.
Speaker:Here's my chat with Yulia today.
Speaker:I am really excited to introduce you to Yulia Wolf.
Speaker:Yulia is the owner and maker of Wolf leathers along her
Speaker:husband, Ari,
Speaker:all of the leather used is the finest quality oil tanned
Speaker:leather from Wisconsin Yulia and Ari work out of their farmhouse,
Speaker:where they have converted several rooms,
Speaker:bedrooms, actually into a work studio.
Speaker:This allows their entire product to be made right out of
Speaker:their home.
Speaker:Yulia believes everyone can express themselves in a unique way by
Speaker:embracing their imperfections.
Speaker:They represent this in their products by incorporating imperfections in brands
Speaker:from the leather into their work.
Speaker:This gives each product,
Speaker:extra unique uniqueness,
Speaker:just like each one of us.
Speaker:Ulia welcome to the gift biz on wrapped podcast.
Speaker:Hi Sue.
Speaker:Thanks for having me.
Speaker:I'm super excited to be here today.
Speaker:Me Too.
Speaker:And I'm so excited to dive in and uncover your story,
Speaker:but it has to wait for a second because I want
Speaker:to ask you our traditional question,
Speaker:which is the candle question.
Speaker:So if you were to share with us a little bit
Speaker:more about you in a creative way,
Speaker:describe for us what a motivational candle would look like with
Speaker:a color and then some type of a quote that would
Speaker:be on your candle.
Speaker:So on my candle,
Speaker:and this was a little tricky cause throughout the years,
Speaker:all my colors changed,
Speaker:but I think I'm feeling a little Fern green.
Speaker:So just like a nice,
Speaker:bright green with my favorite color.
Speaker:And I love Fern.
Speaker:So let's throw the Fern green in there and on my
Speaker:candle, I think my motivational quality would be everything happens for
Speaker:a reason that quote has followed me sort of throughout my
Speaker:life. And I think it's represented different things at different points.
Speaker:But with this business in particular,
Speaker:I think the motivation behind it is even with your successes
Speaker:and especially your failures,
Speaker:when you sit there and you think like,
Speaker:oh no,
Speaker:what's going to happen.
Speaker:Now. You just have to take a step back.
Speaker:And I think for me,
Speaker:it's just saying,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:This happened for a reason,
Speaker:what can I learn from it?
Speaker:And how can I grow from it?
Speaker:So I think that quote in particular has been very important
Speaker:to me recently.
Speaker:So I think that's what my candle would look like.
Speaker:Perfect. So Yulia,
Speaker:I have to tell everybody how I met you.
Speaker:We were at the fine arts show right in my community.
Speaker:And I like to go there just doing demos.
Speaker:And those of you who are listening,
Speaker:who follow along,
Speaker:you probably saw me live and saw some of the things
Speaker:that I was doing in my Instagram stories,
Speaker:just pointing out really good craft show,
Speaker:best practices.
Speaker:And I happened upon your booth Yulia and your product.
Speaker:First of all,
Speaker:is amazing.
Speaker:Your presentation is wonderful.
Speaker:And I was like,
Speaker:I've got to know your story.
Speaker:And then I started hearing you,
Speaker:do you remember?
Speaker:I started hearing what you were going to say and I'm
Speaker:like, stop don't even tell me anymore.
Speaker:And I immediately went to,
Speaker:will you come on the podcast?
Speaker:Right? Yeah,
Speaker:absolutely. Which is awesome.
Speaker:So I don't even know the story,
Speaker:everybody, but I know a part of it and I know
Speaker:it's good.
Speaker:So let's go ahead and take it away.
Speaker:Share with us how you got started with your business.
Speaker:So it's been crazy.
Speaker:We're actually coming up on two years,
Speaker:this weekend that we did our very art shows.
Speaker:So it's all sort of coming full circle at this point.
Speaker:But at the beginning of everything,
Speaker:my husband was actually in the leather industry for a good
Speaker:portion of his life.
Speaker:His father owns a leather business.
Speaker:So if my husband knew everything sort of in the industry
Speaker:and I really got sick of buying products that just wouldn't
Speaker:last, you pay so much money for leather products.
Speaker:I honestly just got sick of them not lasting.
Speaker:And what happened is I actually went to a store and
Speaker:I was so proud of myself.
Speaker:I bought myself a really beautiful messenger bag,
Speaker:made out of oil,
Speaker:tan, leather,
Speaker:all this good stuff.
Speaker:And I put all of my graduate studies in there.
Speaker:So my laptop,
Speaker:all my research,
Speaker:everything I was at graduate school at that point,
Speaker:were you getting your degree in?
Speaker:I have my degree in plant evolutionary biology.
Speaker:So quite a twist from leather working.
Speaker:That's sort of my first love and letters.
Speaker:No, my first love,
Speaker:it all works together,
Speaker:but I was walking down the street the day after I
Speaker:bought this bag and it broke.
Speaker:And then all my stuff went,
Speaker:spilling all over the street.
Speaker:And I just had had enough at that point.
Speaker:So I came home and I made a tote bag.
Speaker:We had some leather lying around.
Speaker:We had a sewing machine that our friend had donated to
Speaker:us and I stood there.
Speaker:I made a tote bag and the rest is really history.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:my husband took a look at it and said,
Speaker:wow, that was relatively easy to make.
Speaker:Huh. And I came home from work one day and there
Speaker:were 10 totes sitting there and we didn't really know what
Speaker:to do with them.
Speaker:I couldn't use all 10 of them.
Speaker:So we decided to sign up for a very first art
Speaker:show, which was almost two years ago this weekend.
Speaker:So that's sort of how we dipped our toe in it
Speaker:and got started on it.
Speaker:Wow. So I want to stop and just tell everybody that
Speaker:we were having some issues with your audio.
Speaker:So we had you move outside.
Speaker:There is some really cute bird in the background,
Speaker:so everyone we're just going with it.
Speaker:There's a bird doing whatever.
Speaker:And we can't control that.
Speaker:Can we Yulia?
Speaker:No. No,
Speaker:definitely not.
Speaker:Okay. So that's the way it is.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So this is fascinating to me.
Speaker:So we're talking 2019 now and your first art show,
Speaker:like, did you have a business structure set up yet or
Speaker:like, what did you do to prepare for that first show?
Speaker:We went in blind,
Speaker:honestly. I just knew that I had a 10 by 10
Speaker:foot space.
Speaker:I bought a tent.
Speaker:I went and borrowed some tables from our mother-in-law because I
Speaker:needed some folding tables.
Speaker:And we just said,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:Let's just see how it goes.
Speaker:And the art show was actually in our hometown where we
Speaker:grew up and we couldn't believe the response to stuff that
Speaker:we were literally making out of a bedroom.
Speaker:We were just completely stunned.
Speaker:I was completely thrown off.
Speaker:And I think at that point is when we realized that,
Speaker:Hey, you know what,
Speaker:maybe we could actually do this.
Speaker:So let me just stop you here for half a second,
Speaker:because you weren't prepared.
Speaker:Like this is a place where a lot of people might
Speaker:stop because they're like,
Speaker:well, wait,
Speaker:I've got to get a name.
Speaker:I've got to get business cards,
Speaker:I've got to do this.
Speaker:I've got to do that.
Speaker:And then time goes by and then you rethink it and
Speaker:decide all those fears come up and you don't do it.
Speaker:All of that.
Speaker:I want everyone to listen to this example because you went
Speaker:in really scrappy and I'll call that validating your product because
Speaker:you sure what was going to happen?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you were curious,
Speaker:but there was no like huge commitment to this show.
Speaker:You were just going to try it and see,
Speaker:and you saw that people were really interested in your product.
Speaker:That's a good thing for everybody to look at and focus
Speaker:on. You don't have to have everything buttoned down like Yulia
Speaker:is just showing now,
Speaker:go in and see if there's a market for your product
Speaker:before you take too much time and money and investing.
Speaker:Absolutely. And there's things that,
Speaker:of course you could invest in,
Speaker:but I just printed off some business cards and cut them
Speaker:out myself,
Speaker:had them at the show.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we really didn't invest much in it because we didn't know
Speaker:what was going to happen.
Speaker:So one in there completely blind and just said,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:what's the worst that can happen.
Speaker:We lose our booth fee.
Speaker:Okay. So be it.
Speaker:But let's see where this can go and what can happen
Speaker:with it.
Speaker:So did you make a lot of product going into that
Speaker:show or how did you decide what you're going to do
Speaker:in terms of what you were going to specifically display?
Speaker:So our tote bag was sort of our thing and it
Speaker:still is to this day.
Speaker:It's one of our best selling products that we have in
Speaker:our line.
Speaker:And we just took it from there and made everything smaller
Speaker:than a tote bag.
Speaker:So we went from a tote bag to a cross-body and
Speaker:we sort of made a handful of everything that we currently
Speaker:have a line of now.
Speaker:And we went into that show with just a few of
Speaker:everything and left with a third of everything we brought.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:it was mind blowing.
Speaker:We had no idea what hit us,
Speaker:how would you decide how to price it?
Speaker:Basically we knew our material costs.
Speaker:We had timed ourselves on how long it would take to
Speaker:make something for each one of the different products.
Speaker:And we based it off of that.
Speaker:And then when we went to the show,
Speaker:we were just very observant of how quickly things were selling.
Speaker:And if people were hesitating at the price or not,
Speaker:and we sort of have obviously adjusted from there,
Speaker:but we were really,
Speaker:really just watching the human interaction and how it went and
Speaker:just their body language and just seeing,
Speaker:Hey, when they turned around the price tag,
Speaker:did they flinched,
Speaker:did they not?
Speaker:Did they keep talking to us or did they just walk
Speaker:away? And I think that's where we sort of gauge all
Speaker:of our pricing at this point,
Speaker:as well,
Speaker:As long as,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:how much it takes to make the product initially.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:you're always on the positive side of course,
Speaker:and share with everybody the price ranges of what's available in
Speaker:your booth.
Speaker:So we have price ranges from $20 all the way to
Speaker:300. So we have quite a vast range of products we
Speaker:offer. Okay.
Speaker:And the $20 price point,
Speaker:is that something you've added and have specifically for shows?
Speaker:No, actually we carry that.
Speaker:Year-round, it's a little slim wallets that we have.
Speaker:So it's just a way for us to make sure that
Speaker:we can hit everybody in all of the price points,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:and get customers.
Speaker:And that might not be able to spend a chunk on
Speaker:a big tote bag,
Speaker:but could definitely say,
Speaker:Hey, you know what?
Speaker:I love your products.
Speaker:I'm going to invest in something small,
Speaker:keep your business card and then save and invest in something
Speaker:bigger down the line.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So let's go back to,
Speaker:after that first show,
Speaker:you guys were probably so excited.
Speaker:Did you go home and have like a celebratory dinner or
Speaker:something like this is cool.
Speaker:Yeah, we did that.
Speaker:And we had a very serious conversation of,
Speaker:Hey, let's do a few more art shows and see if
Speaker:I can quit my full-time job.
Speaker:It was a celebration and a very serious conversation and turning
Speaker:point in our lives.
Speaker:Really. So You thought about what could potentially be in the
Speaker:future, but you wanted to test it out a little bit
Speaker:more a couple of times before you took a big leap.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Cause you always have to keep in the back of your
Speaker:mind. Like we have to keep a roof over our heads
Speaker:and food on the table and how can we do that
Speaker:while still doing what we want to do and make sure
Speaker:that it's worth it before you take the plunge.
Speaker:So get us there.
Speaker:Tell us about that moment when you guys had the conversation
Speaker:and was it you quitting your job or Ari or both
Speaker:of you are like,
Speaker:It was me.
Speaker:I had been the main supporter of the household.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:it's just my husband and I and our two dogs.
Speaker:So no kids involved or anything.
Speaker:I was basically supporting us at that point with my full-time
Speaker:job. And I was at the point where if I didn't
Speaker:make a move away from that job,
Speaker:I would not have mentally survived.
Speaker:So it was definitely a turning point in my life and
Speaker:in our life together,
Speaker:when we really seriously sat down and said,
Speaker:can we really make this work?
Speaker:And it was a very,
Speaker:very tough conversation filled with a lot of fear on my
Speaker:end, going from a steady paycheck from week to week,
Speaker:to going to a business where you don't know if you're
Speaker:going to make money every single weekend,
Speaker:or if it's a seasonal business,
Speaker:how are you going to make it survive the whole year?
Speaker:Or even if you're only bringing income in for eight months
Speaker:of the year,
Speaker:that was a real big decision for me.
Speaker:Luckily I have an incredibly supportive husband who operates on very
Speaker:little fear and he's my rock.
Speaker:And he really was like,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:let's do it.
Speaker:What's the worst that can happen.
Speaker:We have to go and apply for jobs.
Speaker:Let's just see where this goes.
Speaker:I Like that counterbalance that you two have going on.
Speaker:And also for RA to say like,
Speaker:let's talk worst case scenario.
Speaker:Well, worst case scenario.
Speaker:Isn't what we want.
Speaker:It's not our option,
Speaker:but this is what we'll do.
Speaker:We'll just have to go and get a job.
Speaker:So it helps put everything in perspective that this isn't a
Speaker:matter of life or death type thing.
Speaker:It can be good and let's bank on the good let's
Speaker:go for it.
Speaker:Let's take the chance.
Speaker:Right. And so your decision to do this had nothing to
Speaker:do with COVID or us having to be sent home.
Speaker:This all happened before,
Speaker:right? Yeah.
Speaker:I had put in my notice at the end of November
Speaker:of 2019,
Speaker:so COVID really didn't exist at that point at all.
Speaker:So we were planning on having a full show season in
Speaker:2020, we had shows already booking.
Speaker:We were already paying for show fees.
Speaker:So we were on a roll.
Speaker:Of course you were all right.
Speaker:So we're not even pretending like we know about what was
Speaker:going to happen yet,
Speaker:but what were the first steps then for formally establishing your
Speaker:business? We sat down and we said,
Speaker:Hey, this is how much money that we need to bring
Speaker:in in a year to survive,
Speaker:pay the bills,
Speaker:keep our house,
Speaker:plus have extra spending money.
Speaker:This is it.
Speaker:And based upon the prices of all of our products,
Speaker:let's break it down.
Speaker:How much of everything do we have to sell to reach
Speaker:this number?
Speaker:And from there literally just started working pretty much.
Speaker:Non-stop the numbers that we had come up with were scary
Speaker:looking at first.
Speaker:But once we got a system going for actually producing the
Speaker:products together,
Speaker:it was a lot smoother from there,
Speaker:but it definitely took us a better portion of a few
Speaker:months to get the ball rolling and make sure that we
Speaker:budget for all the inventory that we do need to buy
Speaker:outside of just the leather,
Speaker:get the ball rolling in that regard.
Speaker:Okay. So when you say the numbers were scary,
Speaker:it wasn't just the overall number you were trying to hit,
Speaker:but also what your production numbers needed to look like and
Speaker:the cost of that production in terms of purchasing and having
Speaker:them materials.
Speaker:Yeah. We had come up with a number.
Speaker:I said,
Speaker:if I can remember correctly,
Speaker:it was something like 150 tote bags had to be made
Speaker:to get us through the year.
Speaker:And another 80 cross body bags had to be made.
Speaker:So all of the stuff,
Speaker:all of a sudden you're like,
Speaker:wow, all this inventory.
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:it's really an upfront cost at that point as to buy
Speaker:all the leather and all the hardware and everything else that
Speaker:you need to make it.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:it was a little overwhelming at first And in your industry
Speaker:three, is there a lot of lead time?
Speaker:So you couldn't just buy your product,
Speaker:right? Yeah.
Speaker:It's actually depends.
Speaker:The other that we use,
Speaker:we actually use a small tannery in Milwaukee,
Speaker:Wisconsin, who we've created a very special relationship with.
Speaker:And for them,
Speaker:if we were going to actually order a batch of leather,
Speaker:that leather takes six to eight weeks to produce.
Speaker:So from order time to us picking the leather up,
Speaker:there's a long lead time on that at the point where
Speaker:we were at the beginning of last year,
Speaker:we weren't ordering leather at all.
Speaker:We were going to the tannery and hand-picking hides that had
Speaker:imperfections or discoloration or just some cool funky branding on it.
Speaker:Just anything that was cool,
Speaker:that was sitting in a pile that nobody else had wanted.
Speaker:So at that point,
Speaker:the leather wasn't an issue.
Speaker:Nothing was really an issue besides the fact that,
Speaker:Hey, we only had three months to prepare for a full
Speaker:season of shows.
Speaker:So that was really the push point was how much do
Speaker:we have to order to be able to get through the
Speaker:season? You have to say right here,
Speaker:like you're talking about how you're selecting the leather and just
Speaker:taking what you can find your product is so high class
Speaker:and high quality.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you can see it right from the start.
Speaker:So I don't want people who haven't seen the product yet
Speaker:to get the wrong impression.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:the result is beautiful.
Speaker:Well, thank you.
Speaker:And that's something that we really pride ourselves on.
Speaker:We don't ever pick up leather that we haven't seen and
Speaker:touched and felt.
Speaker:We know where the weak points are in the leather and
Speaker:we don't make anything out of that point in the leather
Speaker:that goes to scrap.
Speaker:It literally gets thrown out.
Speaker:I'm not taking a chance on making a product that isn't
Speaker:the highest quality leather that we can find.
Speaker:So everything that we create,
Speaker:we have seen and touched and felt before.
Speaker:So this evolution of your business is going to be kind
Speaker:of interesting because we've got the whole COVID thing thrown in
Speaker:there. So I want to talk about your true experience,
Speaker:but hopefully no one will ever have to live the experience
Speaker:the way you did,
Speaker:because this has never happening.
Speaker:Once again,
Speaker:I'm just going to state the rules.
Speaker:So you're Leon was shows you're going to sell.
Speaker:It shows.
Speaker:Do you have your whole schedule?
Speaker:You figured what you had to make to get through the
Speaker:season. Were you thinking of putting up a website or anything,
Speaker:or was it all going to be just face to face
Speaker:as you were getting started Here?
Speaker:I actually was so excited to have a website that I
Speaker:had created it about,
Speaker:I think October,
Speaker:2019, just on Shopify.
Speaker:I just used the basic free templates that they had given
Speaker:me and made the whole thing myself.
Speaker:So we did have a functional website at that point.
Speaker:Beautiful. I love that.
Speaker:And by the way,
Speaker:Shopify is my favorite place.
Speaker:Do you consider yourself really tech savvy?
Speaker:No, not at all.
Speaker:If I could have my flip phone back,
Speaker:I would.
Speaker:Okay. So talk to us then,
Speaker:because so many people are afraid of a website and particularly
Speaker:something that is something like Shopify that you have to create
Speaker:your own.
Speaker:What was your experience putting that website together?
Speaker:Honestly, it was a lot of time and a lot of
Speaker:effort and Shopify in particular just makes everything so smooth and
Speaker:easy. I really didn't have any issues getting the website up
Speaker:and running.
Speaker:It was more,
Speaker:what do I want the website to look like?
Speaker:We were very particular.
Speaker:We were sort of honing in on our product specialty at
Speaker:that point,
Speaker:what set us apart from the rest.
Speaker:So really the only thing that took a lot of time
Speaker:and effort was getting the website to look the way I
Speaker:wanted it to look.
Speaker:So Shopify took the fear out of it completely,
Speaker:just super easy to use.
Speaker:And I loved it and I had a great experience with
Speaker:it and continue using it now.
Speaker:Okay. So super doable.
Speaker:And the fact is that your website can evolve over time.
Speaker:So even if you're at a point where you can't spend
Speaker:the time like you were doing it can get up and
Speaker:be functional relatively quickly.
Speaker:I know the reason I asked you that is because you
Speaker:were going to rely based on the story.
Speaker:So heavily on craft shows.
Speaker:A lot of people don't put up a website.
Speaker:In fact,
Speaker:last year,
Speaker:a lot of people who have been exhibiting at shows for
Speaker:years, I think we might've talked about this when I saw
Speaker:you, but we're caught off guard because they didn't have a
Speaker:website. Like all they had were the shows.
Speaker:So that wasn't,
Speaker:you, you did have your website.
Speaker:So something lucky happened there that you decided to put that
Speaker:up also.
Speaker:Yeah, no kidding.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So we progress into 2020.
Speaker:What's now happening.
Speaker:We realized mid mid-March that everything is shutting down and shows
Speaker:they're getting canceled.
Speaker:And we only had enough money to really get through the
Speaker:end of April.
Speaker:And that was it because that's when our show season started.
Speaker:So my husband and I looked at each other and started
Speaker:panicking because,
Speaker:well, what are you going to do with,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:our worst case scenario plan,
Speaker:Hey, let's go and get a job sort of failed at
Speaker:that point too,
Speaker:because everything was shutting down.
Speaker:We did not have any resource like that to go and
Speaker:get a job.
Speaker:So at that point it was a little scary.
Speaker:And then I got a cold call from an advertising company
Speaker:that specializes in Facebook and Instagram advertising.
Speaker:And it was really strange that they literally happened to call
Speaker:the week that we were freaking out about everything.
Speaker:And we sat down and said,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:all the money that we have left,
Speaker:it's going to disappear anyways.
Speaker:So what are we going to do with it?
Speaker:Let's throw it into this advertising and see what happens because
Speaker:what else are you going to do?
Speaker:The only really resource we had for selling at that point
Speaker:with online.
Speaker:So we took pretty much everything we had left and gave
Speaker:it to this advertising company and just took a leap of
Speaker:faith. And luckily we did that because it really saved us
Speaker:in the end.
Speaker:It's crazy.
Speaker:So it was Facebook,
Speaker:Instagram advertising.
Speaker:Yes. Correct.
Speaker:And is it a local agency that contacted you or you
Speaker:don't have to say That's okay.
Speaker:They had a local office in Chicago,
Speaker:but I think they were mainly based out of Oregon.
Speaker:Then walk us through the nature of how from scratch,
Speaker:never having done any social advertising at all.
Speaker:Walk us through a little bit of your,
Speaker:So we really didn't know what to prepare for,
Speaker:but knowing the reaction that people had had to our products
Speaker:in person,
Speaker:we were hoping that they'd have the same reaction online.
Speaker:So the prep for all of that was,
Speaker:it took them about a month to get everything created and
Speaker:all the ads going.
Speaker:So we had about a month to prepare.
Speaker:So what we did is we took all the stuff that
Speaker:we were creating for show season.
Speaker:I did all the photography.
Speaker:I did all the editing.
Speaker:I put everything on our website and I loaded everything I
Speaker:possibly could onto the website.
Speaker:And at that point we just sort of gave him the
Speaker:wheel and said,
Speaker:okay, you're all set.
Speaker:All the ads are great.
Speaker:We love it.
Speaker:Let's do it.
Speaker:And they had started the first ad,
Speaker:went out July 31st.
Speaker:And we literally sold a bag to a completely random person
Speaker:all the way down in Texas that very first night,
Speaker:within three hours of the ads going out,
Speaker:Oh, you guys must've been breathing a sigh of relief.
Speaker:You have no idea that first indicator that this was a
Speaker:good move.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So you already answered my question cause I was wondering what
Speaker:your targeting was.
Speaker:So it was a national targeting,
Speaker:but I'm sure you had some other specific targeted factors in
Speaker:your head.
Speaker:Yeah. The company actually takes all the sales that you've made
Speaker:and like figures out all those demographics.
Speaker:So we knew our median age and then male,
Speaker:female, and primarily the areas where they bought from.
Speaker:So we sort of had an idea of that already.
Speaker:And this company actually adjusted their advertising weekly,
Speaker:depending on who was clicking on the ads that they created
Speaker:and stuff like that.
Speaker:So that was a very moving and dynamic piece of the
Speaker:puzzle that they took care of.
Speaker:Oh, cool.
Speaker:It sounds like they were also looking at your list for
Speaker:lookalikes. So people who looked like the people who were already
Speaker:purchasing by demographics and also other interests that they might've had.
Speaker:Correct. Wonderful.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:So how did this continue to play?
Speaker:Don't keep us in suspense here.
Speaker:Well, I am going to keep you in suspense for just
Speaker:a second so we can hear from our sponsor.
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Speaker:or craft studio.
Speaker:And when you need new colors or sizes of ribbon or
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Speaker:My favorite thing is when I'm filling an order and everything
Speaker:fits in the box perfectly,
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Speaker:Kind of like how our customers feel when they print personalized
Speaker:ribbons and see the reaction on the faces of their customers,
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Speaker:Besides the more obvious uses for customer given,
Speaker:I'm seeing it used for sashes party,
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Speaker:There really is no limit to its application in our small
Speaker:town. The main street is lined with ribbon.
Speaker:The city requested saying stand strong.
Speaker:And we're in this together.
Speaker:Our high school also used ribbon to motivate the students.
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Speaker:The other thing that happens shortly after that was somebody recommended,
Speaker:Hey, there's this events going on at this race track by
Speaker:you? Why don't you guys go and try it and see
Speaker:what happens?
Speaker:And it was the only thing that was open during COVID
Speaker:and it's actually road America up here in Elkhart lake in
Speaker:Wisconsin. And we set up there for the entire season.
Speaker:Cause well,
Speaker:we didn't have any other shows to do.
Speaker:And literally that along with the advertising online,
Speaker:let us get through 2020.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we survived.
Speaker:We did it,
Speaker:it was stressful,
Speaker:but we learned so much from it.
Speaker:We would have never,
Speaker:ever gotten a chance to figure out the website the way
Speaker:that we did and how online advertising works and the power
Speaker:of online advertising and the power of social media.
Speaker:Honestly, we realized that the end of the year,
Speaker:the power and that face to face has online stuff is
Speaker:great, but you cannot take out the face to face interactions
Speaker:that you have with your customers.
Speaker:It doesn't make up for it.
Speaker:It's not the same thing.
Speaker:So we really learned a lot from last Year.
Speaker:What was something that surprised you?
Speaker:I was Truly surprised by how many relationships we created with
Speaker:our customers.
Speaker:When you're selling online,
Speaker:people can read about your story,
Speaker:but they don't really get to meet you and interact with
Speaker:you. And I think that really caught me off guard is
Speaker:how much we truly love,
Speaker:not only what we make,
Speaker:but how much we love interacting with the people that we
Speaker:make things for and the relationships that we've built.
Speaker:They're just,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we have repeat customers that are absolutely outstanding humans and I
Speaker:love him and I would call him my friend every day.
Speaker:I love that first.
Speaker:I would say,
Speaker:well, first off racetrack,
Speaker:it seems to me like that would be a good audience
Speaker:for you already.
Speaker:So a lot of things worked in your favor here.
Speaker:I have to say Yulia.
Speaker:So that was one thing.
Speaker:And then also I think we were all thirsting for some
Speaker:type of human interaction.
Speaker:So if that was the only thing that was open,
Speaker:it was kind of like they were all siphoning over to
Speaker:you at that racetrack.
Speaker:Yeah, they were,
Speaker:we got lucky.
Speaker:And the fact that when people couldn't be together for the
Speaker:holidays or birthdays or Christmas,
Speaker:a lot of people were sending gifts.
Speaker:So that also helped.
Speaker:And I have to say again,
Speaker:because I've the experience of not knowing you at all to
Speaker:now knowing you some as we continue,
Speaker:but you aren't overly aggressive in your booth.
Speaker:You're welcoming,
Speaker:you're there.
Speaker:But when you talk about all the interactions and being able
Speaker:to talk with people,
Speaker:it's a very comfortable style that you present in your booth
Speaker:and not everyone's like that.
Speaker:I pride myself on that just based upon past experience.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I told myself growing up,
Speaker:I would never be in sales ever.
Speaker:Well, hello,
Speaker:look at you.
Speaker:Now it's A little different,
Speaker:but I've learned that.
Speaker:What do I hate when people do when they're selling to
Speaker:me, pushy aggressive,
Speaker:I don't like that.
Speaker:And that's not what I ever intend to do in any
Speaker:regard in my own business.
Speaker:Well, I see it more as this is what you make.
Speaker:You want to share it with everybody.
Speaker:And if they're interested,
Speaker:they can look at it.
Speaker:You can talk about it and maybe they want to take
Speaker:one home with them.
Speaker:Correct. My only goal is,
Speaker:Hey, if you love it,
Speaker:I will share the love with you.
Speaker:So I want to talk a little bit about your farm
Speaker:house and how you've converted this into your studio.
Speaker:This is like the perfect situation,
Speaker:because you've got your home base right there and you live
Speaker:there. So zero commute,
Speaker:which is beautiful,
Speaker:but give us kind of the evolution of how you decided
Speaker:to dedicate some of your house and how it's working out
Speaker:for you.
Speaker:So We actually bought a church and the house,
Speaker:so it was the parsonage to the church.
Speaker:And we were originally going to have our work studio in
Speaker:a church and that didn't end up working out because somebody
Speaker:drove by and wanted to buy it.
Speaker:So we sold it,
Speaker:which was just another,
Speaker:like everything happens for a reason type of thing.
Speaker:So we were stuck with this house that we didn't know
Speaker:what to do with,
Speaker:like I said,
Speaker:we don't have children and the house is enormous five bedrooms,
Speaker:and we literally had no idea what to do.
Speaker:So we converted one of the bedrooms upstairs on the main
Speaker:level into a work studio.
Speaker:We just built a table.
Speaker:The sewing machine was up there.
Speaker:And as we grew,
Speaker:we don't have a living room and dining room anymore.
Speaker:And it's no work studio.
Speaker:We literally just have a bedroom and a kitchen,
Speaker:a few bathrooms and everything else closets included is all storage
Speaker:or work related.
Speaker:So for us,
Speaker:because we have the space,
Speaker:we've just slowly expanded into the house to accommodate our current
Speaker:needs. I mean,
Speaker:eventually we can't keep going at this pace for very long.
Speaker:So we will be looking to expand eventually,
Speaker:but for a startup business to have no overhead in that
Speaker:regard has been incredibly helpful.
Speaker:And now we have hired our first official employee as of
Speaker:three weeks ago,
Speaker:which is exciting and crazy and scary and everything in between.
Speaker:But honestly,
Speaker:the way that we looked at it as if we had
Speaker:to expand,
Speaker:we would be paying rent on some other studio we're building.
Speaker:Right? So instead of doing that,
Speaker:we said,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:we'll sacrifice some more space in our house and we'll pay
Speaker:what we will be paying in rent to an actual employee
Speaker:so that we can expand the business before we take the
Speaker:leap to actually expand property.
Speaker:Okay. So I want to talk about this employee,
Speaker:but first I feel like what you really have done is
Speaker:you now live in your production area.
Speaker:It's not a house that includes a production area.
Speaker:It's the other way around,
Speaker:which you know,
Speaker:for now,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:is absolutely fine.
Speaker:It's working for you.
Speaker:And it's all good.
Speaker:So I love that and I bet it to beautiful out
Speaker:there Too.
Speaker:Yeah. We've got a great property And I bet it smells
Speaker:amazing. Smells like Calvin newer half the time.
Speaker:And then when you walk inside,
Speaker:it smells like cow hide.
Speaker:So we're just surrounded by cow smell.
Speaker:Oh, I'm thinking just that fresh leather smell.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So how do you balance out then some type of personal
Speaker:time when you're surrounded now,
Speaker:this is like the biggest example.
Speaker:Your business is all around you.
Speaker:You've probably no matter where you walk,
Speaker:you're running into and seeing the business.
Speaker:So how do you and already get a chance to take
Speaker:a break from it?
Speaker:That is a fantastic question that we are trying to figure
Speaker:out by the day,
Speaker:but I think it's important at this point where we are
Speaker:where this year has caught us completely off guard as to
Speaker:how busy we would be.
Speaker:We truly are listening to what our bodies are telling us
Speaker:that a human can only do so much.
Speaker:And when both of us are on our last thread,
Speaker:we just literally are like,
Speaker:okay, you know what?
Speaker:It is,
Speaker:what it is.
Speaker:We can only get done what we can get done for
Speaker:the day.
Speaker:We're tired.
Speaker:We're going to go outside with the dogs and relax.
Speaker:And I think learning that as we go,
Speaker:we definitely push ourselves a little hard at the beginning of
Speaker:the season and burn ourselves out a bit.
Speaker:But I think at this point,
Speaker:so we've come to terms with the fact that you can
Speaker:only get so much done in a day and you just
Speaker:have to make peace with that.
Speaker:At the end of the day,
Speaker:if you go to a show and you don't have as
Speaker:much product,
Speaker:as you were hoping to have,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:what it is,
Speaker:what it is.
Speaker:And I think that realization has really helped us truly take
Speaker:time off and say,
Speaker:Hey, we're going to take three hours off or take the
Speaker:rest of the night off.
Speaker:We're learning as we go And you need to do that,
Speaker:or you're not going to make it for the long haul.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:You can't go all in all the time and expect it
Speaker:to be able to continue year after year.
Speaker:Have you designated kind of certain work hours start and finish
Speaker:times Now that we have an employee,
Speaker:we definitely have that under control a little bit better.
Speaker:We operate best in the morning.
Speaker:And then in the evening.
Speaker:So midday is really our time to sort of come together.
Speaker:And whether you take a little bit of a nap or
Speaker:you go out with the dogs or you just go for
Speaker:a walk or whatever it is that mid day is sort
Speaker:of our relaxing time and sort of rejuvenating.
Speaker:And then we'd go back at it in the evening and
Speaker:into the night a little bit.
Speaker:And what about division of responsibilities since your owner is also
Speaker:your life partners?
Speaker:How are you working in dividing all the tasks that are
Speaker:included in a business?
Speaker:Well, at first I have to tell you this funny story.
Speaker:So I like organized chaos and my husband just likes organized.
Speaker:So we operate two very different ways.
Speaker:And at a certain point last year,
Speaker:we only had one eight by four foot table that we
Speaker:were both working off.
Speaker:And it got to the point where he literally drew a
Speaker:line in the table,
Speaker:designating, you sit over there and I stay over here and
Speaker:that's the only way we're going to make this happen.
Speaker:So from there,
Speaker:we both chuckled about it at first it was like,
Speaker:really? But then we were like,
Speaker:okay, we work two totally different ways.
Speaker:So he ended up creating a completely separate work room for
Speaker:me in a different bedroom.
Speaker:So we actually have our separate spaces,
Speaker:which I think is really nice.
Speaker:We also now have like a communal work area where all
Speaker:of us can work together when we need to.
Speaker:And there's different parts that he does that I don't do.
Speaker:And we've sort of created that workflow in that regard that
Speaker:we know he needs to do this in order for me
Speaker:to continue working.
Speaker:And I need to do this in order for him to
Speaker:continue working.
Speaker:So we really have that flow down.
Speaker:He starts the process.
Speaker:I'm sort of in the middle of the process.
Speaker:He finishes some of the products.
Speaker:I finished some of the products.
Speaker:So we really have a good workflow going at this point
Speaker:between them.
Speaker:Beautiful. So you have a system down that's working for production.
Speaker:How did you decide who's going to work the books.
Speaker:Who's going to talk about the Facebook ads and marketing.
Speaker:Who's going to book the shows.
Speaker:How does that all come together?
Speaker:So it all Comes together based on the fact that my
Speaker:old job and I have to give credit to my old
Speaker:boss who was also my stepfather in law.
Speaker:He really taught me everything I know about business.
Speaker:He taught me how to read a profit and loss sheet.
Speaker:He taught me how to budget.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you name it.
Speaker:He taught me it.
Speaker:And we wouldn't be where we are today without his knowledge
Speaker:and his wisdom and his guidance in business in general and
Speaker:in life,
Speaker:he was one of my favorite people.
Speaker:And that was a very big loss.
Speaker:That was,
Speaker:he actually passed away a few years ago.
Speaker:So he did not get to see us in the state
Speaker:that we're in,
Speaker:which he,
Speaker:I know deep down in his heart,
Speaker:he knew that I was going to leave his business.
Speaker:It was,
Speaker:he owned that business that I was working for.
Speaker:He knew deep down in his heart that once he passed
Speaker:that I probably would end up leaving and starting my own
Speaker:business. Something Tells me that he knows how successful you are.
Speaker:Somehow that message is getting out.
Speaker:And he knows He's there.
Speaker:And in that regard,
Speaker:just to give him a little shout out from down here,
Speaker:back on earth,
Speaker:but he really taught me everything.
Speaker:And because of that,
Speaker:I primarily duel all of the business end of everything.
Speaker:So I book the shows.
Speaker:I keep track of the schedule.
Speaker:I do all the finances.
Speaker:I do everything of that nature.
Speaker:So I'm marketing,
Speaker:I'm finances.
Speaker:I'm the show coordinator.
Speaker:I'm the production girl sort of do all of that,
Speaker:which is A lot for now because as you grow,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the things you don't like to do,
Speaker:you'll be able to spin off as things,
Speaker:keep evolving,
Speaker:all right,
Speaker:enter the idea of an employee.
Speaker:How did you figure out how that was going to happen?
Speaker:So basically we looked at each other and said,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:what, if we want to continue the way we want to,
Speaker:which is to keep building a business.
Speaker:And also having time to actually live a life.
Speaker:We need to talk about seriously having an employee and my
Speaker:best friends,
Speaker:Kenzie Seidel,
Speaker:who is going to be at shows throughout the summer now
Speaker:she's awesome.
Speaker:And she has been helping us since probably about last September
Speaker:when we were like,
Speaker:Hey, we need help.
Speaker:Or the big Christmas push she's been helping us since then.
Speaker:And I finally convinced her to take the jump and quit
Speaker:her full-time job a few weeks ago here about a month
Speaker:ago now,
Speaker:and go into this with us and honestly,
Speaker:RA and I said,
Speaker:look, having an employee is going to pay off for itself
Speaker:because she can now do stuff that we can't keep up
Speaker:with. She can do shows that we can't go to.
Speaker:And at the end of the year,
Speaker:she's really going to be paying for herself in that regard.
Speaker:So it wasn't really a question of where are we going
Speaker:to get the money to pay her.
Speaker:It was a question of how can we utilize her best
Speaker:so that she can create an extra income that we can't
Speaker:create right now,
Speaker:just the two of us.
Speaker:And that's sort of how that evolved.
Speaker:And she took the leap of faith in us,
Speaker:and I'm sure she still is every single day cause it's
Speaker:terrifying for her.
Speaker:I'm sure.
Speaker:And we're making it happen.
Speaker:It's crazy.
Speaker:I think this is the first weekend that we're going into
Speaker:that we can actually say we're completely a hundred percent prepared
Speaker:for the shows we're going into.
Speaker:That's exciting.
Speaker:So exciting.
Speaker:Okay. So how did you decide what her jobs and responsibilities
Speaker:were going to be like of all the things that she
Speaker:could take off your shoulders?
Speaker:How did you decide when it wasn't her yet,
Speaker:or maybe you already knew that she would possibly be the
Speaker:one, but what was going to be the role of this
Speaker:new person?
Speaker:How did you figure that out?
Speaker:So we figured it out just based on the fact that
Speaker:we were giving her stuff to do.
Speaker:And she was sort of taking the reins and adding her
Speaker:own twist.
Speaker:So we hand so all of the handles on to all
Speaker:of our bags and we had given her some of that
Speaker:responsibility towards the end of last year,
Speaker:because we just couldn't keep up with it.
Speaker:So I said,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:take these bags home and put the colors down that you
Speaker:think are going to go and do a pattern that you
Speaker:think is going to go well,
Speaker:this is what we've done.
Speaker:See what you can come up with.
Speaker:And I just saw her evolve and I realized that,
Speaker:Hey, you know what,
Speaker:she's got a really good sense of creativity.
Speaker:And she sees things that we don't see,
Speaker:which is super cool to be able to collaborate with somebody
Speaker:that can bring something fresh to the table like that.
Speaker:And at that point,
Speaker:she had started making some of our bracelets for us and
Speaker:she was coming up with designs that were just killer.
Speaker:So I think at that point,
Speaker:I knew that,
Speaker:Hey, when we could make this happen,
Speaker:that she would be a great addition to the team.
Speaker:And on top of that,
Speaker:I had already worked with her at my old job for
Speaker:about three,
Speaker:four years.
Speaker:So she was sort of my right hand woman at that
Speaker:point as well.
Speaker:So I knew that her and I could already work together
Speaker:very well besides the fact that she was my best friend.
Speaker:So I think it sort of evolved naturally.
Speaker:And now we're at this point where she's helping us with
Speaker:a lot of the production aspect of things,
Speaker:which is freeing me up to focus on the business end
Speaker:of things.
Speaker:And how do we grow from here?
Speaker:What shows do we do?
Speaker:Can we add more shows here?
Speaker:And they are figuring that portion of it out because I
Speaker:haven't had the time to do so this year,
Speaker:especially, Gosh,
Speaker:you've already shared a little bit about how you felt that
Speaker:this was less of a risk because you've already had experience
Speaker:working together.
Speaker:But did you have any conversations about your relationship with each
Speaker:other and like parameters or brackets or any concerns about doing
Speaker:this together that it could affect you friendship?
Speaker:We Haven't.
Speaker:And I think so far that her and I can read
Speaker:each other very well and especially her husband and Ari on
Speaker:the four of us get along very well in conversations that
Speaker:we have leading up to this were sorta quick.
Speaker:Cause we're like,
Speaker:we need you now,
Speaker:but it wasn't like here,
Speaker:it takes three weeks to think about it.
Speaker:It was more like here take tonight to think about it.
Speaker:I think just because we did have that solid base and
Speaker:that solid foundation,
Speaker:I think we had the trust already in each other to
Speaker:know that,
Speaker:Hey, we're going to make this work regardless.
Speaker:I don't want to mess up anybody's life.
Speaker:And we have a mutual understanding that,
Speaker:Hey, it's our responsibility now to make sure that she doesn't
Speaker:go bankrupt.
Speaker:And it's also her responsibility to make sure that our business
Speaker:can function as smoothly as possible.
Speaker:And I think having that friendship and business aspect together now
Speaker:is really just a lot easier.
Speaker:That makes sense.
Speaker:There's that conversation out there that says never hire family or
Speaker:friends because it can affect your relationship.
Speaker:Personally. My right hand person is a friend,
Speaker:but she was a new friend when we met our daughters
Speaker:were playing basketball.
Speaker:And so we met on the stands at the games,
Speaker:right. And so she kept saying,
Speaker:I want to come work for you.
Speaker:And I'm like,
Speaker:no, you can't sorry.
Speaker:But finally she kept insisting.
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:okay, come in,
Speaker:let's talk about it.
Speaker:And we had a conversation and we laid the ground rules
Speaker:that if at ever point our friendship was being challenged,
Speaker:obviously I couldn't leave.
Speaker:I'm the owner of the business that she would step away
Speaker:if either of us felt like that was a bad thing.
Speaker:And it hasn't been,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we've been together for,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:7, 8,
Speaker:10 years.
Speaker:I don't even know how long at this point.
Speaker:So anyone who's listening,
Speaker:I guess I just would make the point that you've heard
Speaker:a couple of examples here.
Speaker:So don't discount the opportunities that could be there.
Speaker:Plus it's so fun when you get to work with someone
Speaker:who's already a friend too.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:It's awesome.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So let's get to right to today.
Speaker:You've got a new show coming up here this weekend.
Speaker:How are the shows looking now compared to that first show?
Speaker:What have you learned in this year and a half?
Speaker:We've learned that we have something that people want and it's
Speaker:a matter of figuring out how do we balance that with
Speaker:how much we can really produce and also not saturating the,
Speaker:the system with too much.
Speaker:What we offer is really a unique product.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we really,
Speaker:I don't think I've ever replicated a big exactly.
Speaker:And we can't really with the leather that we use,
Speaker:it's a very natural product.
Speaker:So it's never going to look identical.
Speaker:And I think from the beginning of to now,
Speaker:it's really just figuring out,
Speaker:okay, how do we balance all of this out?
Speaker:We know we have something that people like and that people
Speaker:want. And how do we continue to make that a thing?
Speaker:It's one thing to have a great idea and for it
Speaker:to go great in the beginning.
Speaker:But you go to art shows.
Speaker:There's only so many art shows that you can really get
Speaker:to within a seasons.
Speaker:So now it's thinking ahead of like,
Speaker:okay, we've been to this art show before right now we
Speaker:have to bring product to this art show that people haven't
Speaker:seen previously to keep people interested in our products.
Speaker:And I think that's sort of where we're at is that
Speaker:we have figured out,
Speaker:Hey, this is something we can do.
Speaker:How do we continue to make it something that people want?
Speaker:And that's really where we are.
Speaker:You'll also have the people who saw you the prior year
Speaker:and you're back again.
Speaker:So that adds credibility.
Speaker:And maybe they didn't have in their budget to be able
Speaker:to afford it last year.
Speaker:So now they can.
Speaker:So you'll have new customers in that way,
Speaker:but then you're right.
Speaker:How do you make things fresh?
Speaker:So that for people who come back who want more for
Speaker:themselves, even just not a gift for somebody else that there's
Speaker:something available,
Speaker:That's sort of where we're at this last year.
Speaker:If nothing else has taught us the trust,
Speaker:your intuition,
Speaker:when you feel like something's right.
Speaker:And that's the move that you have to make trust that
Speaker:there's been a lot of people along the way,
Speaker:like friends and family members and stuff like that that are
Speaker:like, oh,
Speaker:you should do this.
Speaker:I saw that was a thing.
Speaker:Or, you know,
Speaker:you should make your bag,
Speaker:look like this,
Speaker:cause it's popular today or do this or that.
Speaker:And honestly,
Speaker:thank you everybody for all the advice and for all the
Speaker:guidance and stuff.
Speaker:But I think at the end of the day,
Speaker:do what feels right and trust your gut when I'm standing
Speaker:in my booth and I'm people watching and I'm watching how
Speaker:people react to products.
Speaker:I take that very heavily.
Speaker:I've watched people and I want to see what their reaction
Speaker:is so that I can adjust what I'm doing to accommodate
Speaker:what they want.
Speaker:This isn't a business about me.
Speaker:It's a business about my customers.
Speaker:That's good.
Speaker:And at the same time,
Speaker:you don't want to switch with every little thing.
Speaker:Someone suggests that you do.
Speaker:I mean talk about squirrel syndrome.
Speaker:Like you'll be all over the place all the time.
Speaker:Absolutely. And you have to take that with a grain of
Speaker:salt. I mean,
Speaker:people are always going to be offering,
Speaker:Hey, you should make your big,
Speaker:like, this would be way much better.
Speaker:And you just have to take that and say,
Speaker:Hey, you know what,
Speaker:what I do is try it.
Speaker:And it's proven and thank you for your advice,
Speaker:but I'm not going to go in that direction.
Speaker:But if I see multiple people saying,
Speaker:Hey, you know what?
Speaker:This isn't working in this space,
Speaker:then I'm happy to adjust it.
Speaker:So it's definitely sort of take it as it comes.
Speaker:Don't take everything.
Speaker:No, I agree with you.
Speaker:And going back to what you're saying,
Speaker:trust your intuition.
Speaker:It's a cautionary tale because someone might say,
Speaker:oh, this would be the greatest idea you ask a couple
Speaker:of people.
Speaker:They also say it would be a great idea.
Speaker:You do it.
Speaker:No one buys it.
Speaker:Talk is one thing.
Speaker:Opening your wallet is a whole different thing.
Speaker:And for you guys,
Speaker:since you produce things right site,
Speaker:you can take a couple of demo samples and see what
Speaker:happens. Absolutely.
Speaker:And I've probably started amazing.
Speaker:And so we're do Facebook ads play a role today.
Speaker:So When we ended last year,
Speaker:the holiday season,
Speaker:we actually shut that down.
Speaker:And we instead transitioned to using a local friend of ours
Speaker:that is doing all of our organic social media currently.
Speaker:So we have transitioned,
Speaker:like I do stuff on Instagram,
Speaker:for sure.
Speaker:Like I do posts and I do stories sort of as
Speaker:things develop,
Speaker:Hey, like what's in the shop today.
Speaker:What are we working on today?
Speaker:Stuff like that.
Speaker:But we actually transitioned to the more organic side of things
Speaker:currently this year has just caught us off guard that we
Speaker:have actually taken most of the product off our website in
Speaker:order to catch up if you will.
Speaker:So we will be doing a large launch and reveal of
Speaker:a new website coming up in the fall that we're gearing
Speaker:up for.
Speaker:So currently,
Speaker:if Facebook ads has been put on a pause,
Speaker:but they will be kick starting again.
Speaker:Once we get our new website up and running and do
Speaker:a live launch,
Speaker:Sounds great.
Speaker:Well, and you've experienced with it now.
Speaker:So you know,
Speaker:the way it can work and I'm really feeling for you
Speaker:Yulia, you have a demand problem.
Speaker:You can't make it fast enough.
Speaker:We do.
Speaker:It's a great problem to have,
Speaker:and it's exhausting and it's awesome.
Speaker:And everything in between.
Speaker:Exactly. I mean,
Speaker:some days you're not feeling like it's a great problem.
Speaker:I am quite sure.
Speaker:Well, what do you see as the years go on?
Speaker:What's the new vision now that you've reached this level?
Speaker:That is such a great question.
Speaker:I've been thinking a lot about that lately.
Speaker:And honestly,
Speaker:I think it's just,
Speaker:I don't want to be a multi-million dollar CEO or anything
Speaker:like that.
Speaker:Honestly. I just want to keep the life I have and
Speaker:continue down the path we're going and keep creating products out
Speaker:of literally just love.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we do what we do because we enjoy doing it and
Speaker:I don't want that to ever change.
Speaker:So for the next few years,
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:I would love to try new art shows and to be
Speaker:able to drive and go farther with our products and reach
Speaker:new people.
Speaker:That's really,
Speaker:the only goal I have is to just try new art
Speaker:shows, go to new places,
Speaker:travel when I can and continue doing what we're doing.
Speaker:We don't really plan on going big and global or anything.
Speaker:That's really not anything that we have a dream to do.
Speaker:Okay. I think that's a great answer because our world tends
Speaker:to tell us that you've got to get bigger and bigger
Speaker:and bigger and bigger is better,
Speaker:but you can also grow yourself right out of loving what
Speaker:you're doing and what you built.
Speaker:Absolutely. So defining that now and who knows what might change
Speaker:as things go by,
Speaker:but that's the current plan,
Speaker:which I think is fabulous.
Speaker:And it's again,
Speaker:a great demonstration for everybody that you don't always have to
Speaker:be thinking that,
Speaker:oh my gosh,
Speaker:am I X percent year over year of sales?
Speaker:If you're happy where you are.
Speaker:And for you guys,
Speaker:obviously a life sustaining company to support you.
Speaker:And if that's what you want,
Speaker:then that's absolutely beautiful.
Speaker:And you don't even need to continue to add employees unless
Speaker:you want to,
Speaker:because your positions then change to you have this whole other
Speaker:element of having to manage people.
Speaker:Well, that's just not something that we ever really want to
Speaker:get into.
Speaker:We love doing what we do.
Speaker:I love being hands-on I love sewing the bags.
Speaker:It literally,
Speaker:at the end of the day,
Speaker:it's like,
Speaker:what can I create?
Speaker:What can I sell?
Speaker:And what can I make with my own two hands?
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:that really is what drives this business.
Speaker:And if that was ever taken away from us,
Speaker:we would not be where our happy places.
Speaker:We just wouldn't be.
Speaker:It's so good that you recognize that right here,
Speaker:right? At this juncture,
Speaker:Yulia, this has been so much fun.
Speaker:I've already said like a million times,
Speaker:how much I like your products.
Speaker:Your story is equally as wonderful.
Speaker:And it's been really helpful.
Speaker:I know too many of our listeners just to hear how
Speaker:you've advanced in your journey up to this point.
Speaker:And I can't wait to see what the future holds for
Speaker:you. I know we're super excited.
Speaker:Wonderful. Thanks so much for being on the show today.
Speaker:Thank you for having these two.
Speaker:It's been a pleasure.
Speaker:There's a lot here and a great example of the success
Speaker:you too can have with your handmade product business up next
Speaker:week. I may just have a surprise waiting for you.
Speaker:I'm working on it as we speak,
Speaker:and if actually takes place,
Speaker:I'm going to be turning it around pretty quickly.
Speaker:So you're just going to have to hold tight and tune
Speaker:in next week to see what happens as always.
Speaker:Thanks so much for spending time with me on the show
Speaker:today. If you'd like to show support for the podcast,
Speaker:a rating and review would mean the world to me,
Speaker:and it helps the show get seen by more makers.
Speaker:So it's a great way to pay it forward.
Speaker:Also make sure to follow the podcast.
Speaker:So episodes automatically download to your phone.
Speaker:That way you don't miss a thing and now be safe
Speaker:and well.
Speaker:And I'll see you again next week on the gift biz
Speaker:unwrapped Podcast.
Speaker:I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook
Speaker:group called gift is breeze.
Speaker:It's a place where we all gather and are community to
Speaker:support each other.
Speaker:Got a really fun post in there.
Speaker:That's my favorite of the week.
Speaker:I have to say where I invite all of you to
Speaker:share what you're doing to show pictures of your product,
Speaker:to show what you're working on for the week to get
Speaker:reaction from other people and just for fun,
Speaker:because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody
Speaker:in the community is making my favorite post every single week,
Speaker:without doubt.
Speaker:Wait, what,
Speaker:aren't you part of the group already,
Speaker:if not make sure to jump over to Facebook and search
Speaker:for the group gift biz breeze don't delay.
