Shownotes
The Kitcheneez Story
In the beginning … [5:02] The identification and creation of Kitcheneez [20:17] A friend’s need sparked the change of the Kitcheneez sales structure. [25:06] Facebook’s role in the growth of Kitcheneez [26:29] and [27:24]Candle Flickering Moments
Be careful who you trust as you build your business. [7:28]Business Building Insights
A perfect example of a business’ message. [3:53] Listen to your gut. [9:42] Do you know your customer avatar? Lisa does! [21:22] Getting customer feedback. [28:01] How consultants sell under the Kitcheneez structure. [30:17] The legal stuff. [31:38]Advice on Craft Shows
2 booth display tips. [11:42] Interacting with customers in a booth. [13:25] Managing the flow in a booth with multiple workers. [16:28] Food sampling and cooking to attract customers. [18:26] Analysis results and the success of a show. [22:01]Success Trait
Lisa loves to talk! Specially on the Celebrity Cooking Stage of the Southern Women’s Shows [32:59]Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Having time for herself and reflect. [34:06]Recommended Reading and Listening
The Wisdom of Walt Disney: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth by Jeffrey A. Barnes
Contact Links
Website FacebookIf you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcripts
Hi there.
Speaker:You're listening to gift biz on rapt episode 95.
Speaker:It's never really worked to me because I love this.
Speaker:I can't imagine doing anything else.
Speaker:Hi, This is John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to the gift of biz unwrapped.
Speaker:And now it's time to light it up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift bears on wrapped your source for industry specific
Speaker:insights and advice to develop and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Mona height.
Speaker:Before we get into the show,
Speaker:I have a question for you.
Speaker:Do you know that you should be out networking,
Speaker:but you just can't get yourself to do it because it's
Speaker:scary. Are you afraid that you might walk into the room
Speaker:and not know anybody or that you're going to freeze?
Speaker:When you get up to do that infamous elevator speech,
Speaker:where you talk about yourself and your business?
Speaker:Well, I'm here to tell you that it doesn't need to
Speaker:be scary.
Speaker:If you know what to do to help you with this,
Speaker:I would like to offer you a coffee chat for the
Speaker:price of buying me a cup of coffee.
Speaker:We can sit down and I'll tell you everything that I
Speaker:know about networking and how I have personally built two multi-six
Speaker:figure businesses,
Speaker:primarily through networking to learn more about this opportunity.
Speaker:Just go over to Bitly forward slash network Ninja.
Speaker:That's B I T dot L Y network Ninja.
Speaker:And now let's move on to the show.
Speaker:Hi there I'm Sue and welcome to the gift biz unwrapped
Speaker:podcast. Whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell online
Speaker:or are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. And today I am super excited to have Lisa Shively.
Speaker:The owner of kitchen ease with us.
Speaker:Kitchen EAs is the direct sales division of Lisa Lee's kitchen
Speaker:helpers, LLC.
Speaker:Kitchen helpers is a food manufacturer geared to helping families enjoy
Speaker:more meals at home.
Speaker:Lisa started her business by writing cookbooks.
Speaker:Then after years of hearing,
Speaker:we want it quicker and we want it faster.
Speaker:She decided that the only way to do this other than
Speaker:going to their house and cooking dinner for them herself would
Speaker:be to create quick meal mixes so they could have her
Speaker:cooking in their home.
Speaker:Now Lisa has over a hundred mixes and they mix and
Speaker:package daily to ship all over the U S you may
Speaker:very well have already tried some Oak Lisa's mixes.
Speaker:Lisa, welcome to the show.
Speaker:Good morning,
Speaker:Sue. I am so excited to have you here.
Speaker:You and I met years ago at a trade show and
Speaker:your business has just boomed.
Speaker:I am so excited to hear the whole story.
Speaker:I am so excited to be here.
Speaker:I have loved you for many,
Speaker:many years and never see you enough.
Speaker:So to get to share this with you is amazing to
Speaker:me. I totally agree.
Speaker:We're going to start out in our traditional way in that
Speaker:is by having you describe a motivational candle,
Speaker:it helps our audience see you just a little bit differently.
Speaker:So if you were to,
Speaker:to describe your ideal motivational candle,
Speaker:what color would it be and what would be the quote
Speaker:on the candle?
Speaker:Well, the color is very easy.
Speaker:And if you see anything with kitchen on it,
Speaker:you already know the color that I'm going to say.
Speaker:My color is hot pink.
Speaker:I love hot pink.
Speaker:It, it screams everything.
Speaker:I feel so hot.
Speaker:Pink is may all the way I wear it almost every
Speaker:day. And it's on everything I seem to touch.
Speaker:My inspirational quote would be,
Speaker:and we use this a lot.
Speaker:Keep in mind,
Speaker:I'm a food manufacturer.
Speaker:So this one really speaks to me.
Speaker:We use this.
Speaker:It's blessed the food before us,
Speaker:the family beside us,
Speaker:and the love between us and the food that we are
Speaker:blessing is the food that we put together and send out
Speaker:all over the country every day.
Speaker:The family beside us is everybody.
Speaker:That's enjoying that food.
Speaker:If you're eating my food,
Speaker:it's like,
Speaker:I've been there cooking for you.
Speaker:And I don't cook for strangers.
Speaker:So you are family.
Speaker:If you're eating my food and the love between us,
Speaker:that's self-explanatory,
Speaker:we put love in everything we do.
Speaker:And we want people to know that,
Speaker:feel it and taste it.
Speaker:Oh, I have shivers.
Speaker:That is so beautiful.
Speaker:Gift Listeners.
Speaker:When I talk about branding your product,
Speaker:you just heard it right there.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:Lisa, love it.
Speaker:Love it,
Speaker:love it.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:I want you to go back and tell the story.
Speaker:And I know there's a lot of stories that come from
Speaker:this, but how did you in the very beginning start deciding
Speaker:you were going to start cooking because that's not your education.
Speaker:As I recall,
Speaker:It is not my education.
Speaker:My background is in the chemistry lab.
Speaker:I was a stay at home mom at the time.
Speaker:This was in 2003,
Speaker:I'm in North Carolina.
Speaker:We had a terrible ice storm.
Speaker:We were home for about three weeks.
Speaker:The kids couldn't go to school.
Speaker:Thanks for getting nuts at my house.
Speaker:Everybody needed a project.
Speaker:My project became putting all my recipes together.
Speaker:And once I got down together,
Speaker:I thought,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:this could really help a lot of people because all I
Speaker:do is normal ingredient cooking that anybody can do,
Speaker:but it makes you feel good that you can put a
Speaker:delicious meal on the table,
Speaker:yourself at your house.
Speaker:So that was always helping people was the basis.
Speaker:Even from day one.
Speaker:I didn't even realize that at the time,
Speaker:but I started with cookbooks and every time people would see
Speaker:me, they would want another book.
Speaker:And by that time I was touring with the Southern women's.
Speaker:I was setting up,
Speaker:I was doing events and books on ins all over the
Speaker:place and face to face with a lot of people,
Speaker:they kept wanting quicker and easier with my background in chemistry.
Speaker:It was just a normal step to go right into food
Speaker:production. And so that's what I did.
Speaker:I started with six basic mixes,
Speaker:like my meatloaf and my spaghetti,
Speaker:and it's just grown and grown and grown from there.
Speaker:And so it all started just with this idea from your
Speaker:kitchen. Yes.
Speaker:Let's talk about these six mixes way in the beginning.
Speaker:Give our listeners an idea of how that worked.
Speaker:Were you mixing in the kitchen?
Speaker:Did you get a license right after the idea?
Speaker:What was the very next step right after the initial idea?
Speaker:Well, I had already made a lot of connections with all
Speaker:the events that I was doing with the cookbooks and I've
Speaker:written eight in total now.
Speaker:And so I knew that to produce food.
Speaker:I needed a certified kitchen.
Speaker:So I started there with the people that I knew and
Speaker:through the state and I,
Speaker:we had another property and I had my kitchen certified there
Speaker:and that's where it started.
Speaker:But you,
Speaker:you have to do your research and do things the right
Speaker:way from the beginning.
Speaker:And that will just save you tons of headache later.
Speaker:Is there anything looking back now that you wish you would
Speaker:have done differently?
Speaker:Yes. That was a fast response.
Speaker:I don't know a business owner that would not answer that
Speaker:really quickly for me.
Speaker:It is to be very sure and careful on who you
Speaker:let into your business and put your trust into.
Speaker:That has been a very hard lesson for me to learn
Speaker:because I love people and I trust people and I realize,
Speaker:I don't know every aspect to run a business.
Speaker:I knew that from the beginning,
Speaker:my background was not in business.
Speaker:So I would have people come to me in pitch to
Speaker:me and how much they were going to help me grow
Speaker:and make things great.
Speaker:And I needed the help and I believed them and I
Speaker:trusted them be very careful about that.
Speaker:Okay. So you're talking about,
Speaker:just to make sure to clarify,
Speaker:you're talking about not people that you're hiring into work side
Speaker:by side with you,
Speaker:which of course,
Speaker:you always have to be careful with that as well.
Speaker:But you're talking about people who might approach you with big
Speaker:promises of what to do with the business.
Speaker:And you were willing to take the help,
Speaker:obviously, because those are things that you never needed to know
Speaker:before. That's right.
Speaker:And I knew,
Speaker:I didn't know that.
Speaker:And here they were telling me they had the answers and
Speaker:I needed the answers.
Speaker:So I think what I would take from that is have
Speaker:more confidence in yourself.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you don't know everything,
Speaker:nobody does,
Speaker:but you can research it and you can learn and have
Speaker:your own education on it.
Speaker:Before you hand it over to somebody else,
Speaker:then you have an educated idea of what it should be.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:I, what you just said there too,
Speaker:Because as we grow our businesses,
Speaker:there's no way we can have our hands in everything as
Speaker:things get bigger,
Speaker:but your point is,
Speaker:have a baseline knowledge so that when you're looking and going
Speaker:through, and I know that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I've had a million people in the course of my Bo
Speaker:both my businesses call me,
Speaker:offering me SEO,
Speaker:help, or website help or merchant services or all these things.
Speaker:Some of which,
Speaker:of course you need,
Speaker:but you want to have that baseline.
Speaker:So that then you make the best decision and an informed
Speaker:decision and a good decision because you know the questions to
Speaker:ask, to make sure these people are credible.
Speaker:Right? I do something that may be,
Speaker:we all do it.
Speaker:And we probably do.
Speaker:And if we don't,
Speaker:we should be how's that,
Speaker:there you go.
Speaker:What is it?
Speaker:I pray a lot.
Speaker:And I listened to my gut because to me,
Speaker:you want to be led in the right direction.
Speaker:And that's how God talks to us.
Speaker:If it's not right,
Speaker:you're going to feel it in your gut.
Speaker:And you need to listen to that.
Speaker:If something says,
Speaker:I'm not sure about this,
Speaker:I'm not sure about them.
Speaker:I don't know if this is the path I want to
Speaker:take this,
Speaker:listen to it.
Speaker:If you have questions,
Speaker:find out more because that feeling's there for a reason.
Speaker:Oh gosh,
Speaker:I am.
Speaker:So with you on this,
Speaker:I can tell you,
Speaker:because I've,
Speaker:I'll say fallen victim,
Speaker:because I don't have any other words right now,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:you just want that help so much that you do bring
Speaker:someone else in to help you,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:not in physically,
Speaker:but to do whatever that service is.
Speaker:Every single time I've made the wrong decision.
Speaker:I can look back and say,
Speaker:I had that question in my gut,
Speaker:but it just seemed like the easy solution because they were
Speaker:going to fix it.
Speaker:And then you end up having more problems.
Speaker:Yes. Listen to your gut.
Speaker:Yes. And as a food manufacturer,
Speaker:I listen to my gut a lot.
Speaker:I was just going to go there.
Speaker:I was going,
Speaker:I was,
Speaker:what I was going to say is,
Speaker:but your gut is going to be really happy.
Speaker:If you have food that has Lisa's mix in it.
Speaker:We make happy guts.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So dry in this back end a little bit.
Speaker:And I'm still taking,
Speaker:Can you back in time for a minute?
Speaker:Okay. So you were going out to trade shows with your
Speaker:mixes, with your initial six.
Speaker:I remember the table,
Speaker:cause that's when I met you,
Speaker:we had a booth next to each other.
Speaker:But talk to me about the beginning in terms of setting
Speaker:up. Cause we do have a lot of listeners who go
Speaker:to craft shows.
Speaker:They don't have all this fancy stuff yet because they're putting
Speaker:all their money into their product and growing their business.
Speaker:Talk to us through a little bit about those first shows,
Speaker:setting up of the booth.
Speaker:Any logistics,
Speaker:working with customers,
Speaker:any value that you could bring in that category?
Speaker:Well, I have done hundreds and hundreds of events.
Speaker:So I have a lot of experience and knowledge on this.
Speaker:It does not take a lot of money to make a
Speaker:really display.
Speaker:Don't feel like I've got to budget thousands in to do
Speaker:this big event.
Speaker:You don't need to do that.
Speaker:One of the major things you need to do is cover
Speaker:your table to the floor.
Speaker:And whenever I see anybody who just flops the tablecloth across
Speaker:the top and you can see all their boxes underneath,
Speaker:I don't even stop there because I know they're not,
Speaker:they're not really there to do what they need to do.
Speaker:They haven't covered that detail.
Speaker:There's other details they're missing.
Speaker:So be sure to cover your table to the floor,
Speaker:always have a tablecloth of some kind.
Speaker:You don't want it to be too busy because that will
Speaker:take away from your product and always use height.
Speaker:I'm notorious for packing in small boxes,
Speaker:taking all my little boxes in and have an extra black
Speaker:table calls,
Speaker:unload my boxes,
Speaker:put them on my table,
Speaker:cover them with the tablecloth to make height.
Speaker:And it looks like I have nice shelves underneath there.
Speaker:They're just the boxes I brought product in with.
Speaker:And that's a really good way.
Speaker:You need to build some height.
Speaker:You don't want to just have a plain flat table and
Speaker:you need space in the center of your table for people
Speaker:to stand and talk to you.
Speaker:Don't make it where you're peeking around things,
Speaker:because then it's like,
Speaker:you're hiding and they don't want that.
Speaker:They want eye contact.
Speaker:And that's very important.
Speaker:Excellent. Yeah.
Speaker:Let's go further with this in terms of communicating and working
Speaker:with customers right at the booth,
Speaker:what do you do there?
Speaker:That's huge to me and that's my favorite part of everything
Speaker:I do is working with people.
Speaker:I don't get as much of it as I used to
Speaker:because we have sales reps.
Speaker:Now that sell my products many times,
Speaker:I say,
Speaker:I wish I was with you this weekend because I love
Speaker:that part.
Speaker:But it's very important.
Speaker:You are not eating.
Speaker:You're not reading a book.
Speaker:You're not on your phone.
Speaker:Put all that aside.
Speaker:You're there at a fit for these people.
Speaker:Keep that in mind,
Speaker:they are your focus and make them feel like that.
Speaker:Make them feel important when they walk up to you that
Speaker:you are their only focus.
Speaker:That's what you're there for.
Speaker:You make connections with people don't ever over emphasize things that
Speaker:aren't exactly true because that will bite you every time don't
Speaker:do that.
Speaker:Be completely upfront.
Speaker:If you can only make this many of this in this
Speaker:timeframe, don't say I can make 10 times that you need
Speaker:people to trust you because you're going into a relationship with
Speaker:them. Great advice.
Speaker:I really appreciate it.
Speaker:And the portion on displays is really important because that's what
Speaker:attracts someone over to you.
Speaker:If someone's at a trade show or a craft fair,
Speaker:they're walking down the aisle,
Speaker:there are a million opportunities,
Speaker:right? Every single display,
Speaker:you want to have something that's attention grabbing,
Speaker:but not cluttered like Lisa's talking about and where you're going
Speaker:to be able to interact.
Speaker:And then as Lisa saying,
Speaker:interaction is key.
Speaker:Personality sells at these shows and you can hear just in
Speaker:Lisa's voice,
Speaker:how fun she is.
Speaker:And she's just as fun in person as she sounded right
Speaker:here. I guarantee you that,
Speaker:but you want to be lively and energized.
Speaker:And it's fun talking with people and not that person behind
Speaker:the booth,
Speaker:looking at their cell phone or reading a book and you
Speaker:know, just answering questions.
Speaker:If someone comes up,
Speaker:you want to be engaged and that will sell your product.
Speaker:Did you want to add anything?
Speaker:Lisa? I do.
Speaker:I get asked this a lot.
Speaker:People want to take their husbands with them to work behind
Speaker:the table or their kids don't do that.
Speaker:I've always found that doing a show by myself was the
Speaker:best way,
Speaker:because if there's somebody else behind the table with you,
Speaker:you're going to talk to them.
Speaker:And when people walk by it,
Speaker:they're going to feel like they're interrupting you if they walk
Speaker:up and they'll keep going.
Speaker:But if you're there and you look friendly and you greet
Speaker:them as they come by,
Speaker:they're gonna stop and want to talk to you.
Speaker:It's all a matter of comfort and letting them know you
Speaker:are there for them.
Speaker:And would you say that for what about like just country
Speaker:craft fairs?
Speaker:I love country craft fairs.
Speaker:Would you loosen that requirement of not having family with you
Speaker:at the booth?
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:some people have multiple people at the booth cause they need
Speaker:it to take care of everybody.
Speaker:Well, when that's the case,
Speaker:because when you,
Speaker:you build up and you do the bigger events,
Speaker:you really do need help.
Speaker:I wouldn't make really certain that both people know their role.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you have one that talks to the customers and you have
Speaker:one that handles orders.
Speaker:Keep the one who handles orders behind,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:so it's obvious when they come up,
Speaker:who they need to talk to.
Speaker:Now, when you're in the middle of the sale,
Speaker:then you'll hand them over to the other person.
Speaker:But I wouldn't make sure they have a work area behind.
Speaker:So that it's all about you when you're out there in
Speaker:front of people and yes,
Speaker:the smaller craft fairs,
Speaker:the church bazaars,
Speaker:things like that.
Speaker:They can be so successful.
Speaker:I do worry sometimes about people bring in their children because
Speaker:of course your children going to want to run around my
Speaker:dad. I took them with me sometimes.
Speaker:And that's when I learned they're not going with me anymore
Speaker:because I would be distracted because I would see my oldest,
Speaker:Casey, when he was little across the room,
Speaker:getting ready to get into something.
Speaker:And I wasn't there with the customer and I wanted to
Speaker:be, even at that level,
Speaker:every level you need to be there for them.
Speaker:I really do.
Speaker:And this is the first time I've heard this from anybody.
Speaker:I really like your idea of systematizing the table in terms
Speaker:of one person being the person,
Speaker:interacting with the customer,
Speaker:possibly sampling.
Speaker:Because I don't know if,
Speaker:if you're still sampling,
Speaker:but you were at one time sampling and all of that.
Speaker:But when it comes time to order,
Speaker:you hand them off,
Speaker:which is really a nice smooth flow,
Speaker:because then you're able to continue talking to more customers.
Speaker:But that person who's ready to place the order moves on.
Speaker:And then the person,
Speaker:the order taker person also has their flow.
Speaker:So you're not constantly shifting from talking to placing orders,
Speaker:talking to placing orders.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:Well, and the person that is selling the product is not
Speaker:busy doing something else.
Speaker:Right. You know,
Speaker:so they see,
Speaker:I need to ask her a question about this.
Speaker:Then you're going to have her attention.
Speaker:There is something else went with it.
Speaker:Oh, about food samples.
Speaker:Of course we sample foods because I say,
Speaker:if I can get it in your mouth,
Speaker:you're going to want more.
Speaker:And we do a lot of that.
Speaker:It is true.
Speaker:If you are selling food,
Speaker:be sure you're wearing gloves.
Speaker:When you're handling everything.
Speaker:There are health department issues you need to deal with at
Speaker:different events.
Speaker:It's different.
Speaker:Every single one.
Speaker:Find those out before you get there and make sure you
Speaker:have a small trash can near the front of your sampling
Speaker:for the taster spoons or napkins or whatever.
Speaker:Because if not,
Speaker:they'll take a bite and leave their spoon on your table
Speaker:and walk away.
Speaker:And then you're left with a table full of dirty spoons.
Speaker:That's really important to keep clean,
Speaker:especially when you're selling food.
Speaker:Another thing you've seen me,
Speaker:I know I cook in my booth.
Speaker:I'm going to get the smell in the entire building.
Speaker:You're going to know when you walk in the door that
Speaker:Lisa Shively with KitchenAid is there and you're going to follow
Speaker:that smell straight to me.
Speaker:If you have a product that you can heat and cook
Speaker:and prepare that will get the smell going,
Speaker:do it.
Speaker:It's important.
Speaker:It makes a big difference.
Speaker:You can't tell from a package of my spices,
Speaker:what that tastes like,
Speaker:even what it smells like.
Speaker:So if I can draw you over and get in your
Speaker:mouth or even just get it in your nose and then
Speaker:you've got a better chance to make in the sale.
Speaker:Excellent tips.
Speaker:You guys,
Speaker:I'm going to have all of this over on the show
Speaker:notes. So if you didn't catch everything,
Speaker:it's going to be sitting over there.
Speaker:Okay? So at this point,
Speaker:really we've been talking about the past,
Speaker:which was really the kitchen helpers brand.
Speaker:Let's move on to kitchen,
Speaker:ease. Tell us what that's all about.
Speaker:Okay. About 2008,
Speaker:maybe I was exporting pallet fools,
Speaker:a product to Canada.
Speaker:I was selling wholesale to lots of stores and it was
Speaker:good and it felt successful.
Speaker:And, but it did not feel what I needed and any
Speaker:true businessman is just going LA right now.
Speaker:It doesn't matter.
Speaker:You have to be happy with what your business is doing
Speaker:for you.
Speaker:I, out of exporting,
Speaker:I pulled out of the larger stores because I don't want
Speaker:to, to get my products to the people who really needed
Speaker:them. And I know with like a recipe,
Speaker:you cut out a newspaper.
Speaker:You're just going to cut that out and throw it in
Speaker:your junk drawer in the kitchen.
Speaker:You're never going to touch that.
Speaker:But if a friend of yours walks up and says,
Speaker:here, try this recipe,
Speaker:it's great.
Speaker:You are a lot more likely to try that.
Speaker:Then if you did it on your own and stuffed it
Speaker:away. So my thinking was,
Speaker:I need to get it into the homes of the people
Speaker:who needed.
Speaker:For me,
Speaker:that's busy families,
Speaker:busy moms.
Speaker:They have soccer practice.
Speaker:They have afterschool things.
Speaker:They're getting in late after work,
Speaker:but you still want to put a good meal on the
Speaker:table. So I changed my company and went direct sales at
Speaker:that point.
Speaker:And now we have sales reps all over the country and
Speaker:we're looking into moving into Canada,
Speaker:but it was pivotal to what I do.
Speaker:Now. We are back into some stores and I change and
Speaker:grow as we need.
Speaker:I again,
Speaker:follow your gut.
Speaker:And don't say,
Speaker:no too quickly,
Speaker:all kinds of possibilities come up.
Speaker:Especially at events.
Speaker:If you go to an event and you sell $20 worth,
Speaker:and you're really disappointed,
Speaker:and you think this whole day was a waste.
Speaker:It probably wasn't if you did it right,
Speaker:if you did it right,
Speaker:that means you got information into people's hands.
Speaker:You talk to people.
Speaker:You may not know,
Speaker:six months to a year after the event,
Speaker:if it was successful or not.
Speaker:So don't ever beat yourself up after an event.
Speaker:If you've done everything you could,
Speaker:that's really important to do.
Speaker:It's really important because I know a lot of people may.
Speaker:Now it's nice.
Speaker:If you're at an event,
Speaker:if you can at least cover your initial costs,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the Bouchard's travel,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:If you break even that's really nice.
Speaker:But the one thing everybody you really should be thinking about
Speaker:is exactly what Lisa just said is exposure of your product,
Speaker:because that lasts well into the future.
Speaker:You just don't want,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you are forever going to events then to keep up.
Speaker:If all you were doing was selling right at an event.
Speaker:So really important that also goes along with brochures and everything
Speaker:else that you might have at a table that people can
Speaker:take away with them because you want to make sure that
Speaker:they're able to remember your product,
Speaker:whether they've made a purchase or not.
Speaker:The second thing that Lisa just talked about that I really
Speaker:also want to drive home is growth does not always equal
Speaker:happiness. Having a huge company does not mean you have the
Speaker:lifestyle that you went into this for in the first place.
Speaker:Success and value of your own business is different to everybody.
Speaker:Some of you have nine to five jobs and you have
Speaker:a hobby and you just want to make extra money on
Speaker:the side with a business that's success.
Speaker:Some of you want to replace your nine to five job
Speaker:with a,
Speaker:that can be success.
Speaker:Some people want to grow to be the,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:Mrs. Fields,
Speaker:cookies of the world.
Speaker:It all depends on what your wanting and every single level
Speaker:can be successful.
Speaker:Don't don't just always be thinking it's always the dollars that
Speaker:equals success.
Speaker:So why don't you to go back and think in your
Speaker:heart? And as Lisa says in your gut,
Speaker:what are you really trying to accomplish when you're starting and
Speaker:growing your businesses?
Speaker:Okay. Lisa,
Speaker:back to you.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So now when you're transitioning into kitchen EAs,
Speaker:it's going to look entirely different.
Speaker:You've already talked about that a little bit,
Speaker:that you're not out at shows anymore.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:your whole day in terms of what you're doing has changed.
Speaker:Talk to us about how number one,
Speaker:you started acquiring people to be in kitchen EAs.
Speaker:How did you develop the structure?
Speaker:So that then you're working with,
Speaker:do you call them sales associates?
Speaker:What do you,
Speaker:what do you call them?
Speaker:Okay. So talk us through how that developed.
Speaker:Well, My background was not direct sales,
Speaker:so I had to do a lot of research on that.
Speaker:I knew that was the way I wanted to take it,
Speaker:but needed to know how to make that happen.
Speaker:What pushed me over was one afternoon,
Speaker:a friend of mine called and said,
Speaker:I've lost my job.
Speaker:Can you help me?
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:me and helping people,
Speaker:I thought,
Speaker:well, yeah,
Speaker:I can help you.
Speaker:So that's when I decided I wanted a way for people
Speaker:to be able to sell my products and for them to
Speaker:also make a living doing it,
Speaker:whatever they're looking for.
Speaker:If they're looking for just spinning money on the weekends,
Speaker:whatever they're wanting out of it,
Speaker:they have their own business with us.
Speaker:My website designer is really who built the site so that
Speaker:it is multilevel and people sign up under other people.
Speaker:And because my background is not in direct sales,
Speaker:I don't do minimums.
Speaker:We don't beat you down.
Speaker:If you haven't had so many people join you this month,
Speaker:there's none of that.
Speaker:It's much more important to me that we are a family
Speaker:that support each other,
Speaker:no matter what.
Speaker:And it's not just in the business.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we just had a baby born last night and we've all
Speaker:welcomed the baby Lexi to the KitchenAid,
Speaker:his family this morning.
Speaker:There's so much more to it.
Speaker:And that's what brings me happiness and joy.
Speaker:It doesn't matter who you're under.
Speaker:Everybody helps everybody.
Speaker:When I first started,
Speaker:I thought I had to do it all.
Speaker:I had to be the one I have to answer all
Speaker:the questions.
Speaker:I don't a lot of what we do is on Facebook.
Speaker:I built the company basically on Facebook,
Speaker:the direct sales end of it.
Speaker:We have a private group for just the consultants and they
Speaker:share ideas and they make,
Speaker:and any question anybody has,
Speaker:there's always somebody there to help.
Speaker:I can sit back now and just watch and smile and
Speaker:know this is good.
Speaker:And this is what I wanted.
Speaker:And this is what I'm supposed to be doing.
Speaker:That's Awesome.
Speaker:How many consultants do you now have We have almost 500
Speaker:across the country.
Speaker:Yeah, I remember when you were just starting that and just,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:attract, starting to attract people.
Speaker:So initially you had your first friend who called you and
Speaker:then how did you build up?
Speaker:Let's say that first 25,
Speaker:before the ball starts rolling in,
Speaker:the word gets out and all of that,
Speaker:This book,
Speaker:it was all Facebook.
Speaker:Well, I use Facebook as a tool for research to find
Speaker:out how all this worked.
Speaker:And once I saw how it worked,
Speaker:I thought,
Speaker:well, I can do that.
Speaker:And you can,
Speaker:knowledge is power and don't be afraid to poke around and
Speaker:figure things out because that's how we learn and how we
Speaker:grow. And you have to always learn and grow.
Speaker:Another really important thing is,
Speaker:is one,
Speaker:never think,
Speaker:you know everything about anything because you don't,
Speaker:and you won't always be open to learn more and to
Speaker:take suggestions of huge thing that I do twice a year,
Speaker:we changed the catalog.
Speaker:So in the next few weeks,
Speaker:I'll be testing for the spring summer catalog.
Speaker:I don't do that by myself.
Speaker:I go to my consultants and I say,
Speaker:I'm going to send you a survey.
Speaker:I want to hear everything you like about us and everything
Speaker:you don't like about us.
Speaker:Every product that you've had.
Speaker:People walk up to your booth and ask for that.
Speaker:We don't have any criticism,
Speaker:everything I want to hear at all.
Speaker:And you cannot take that personal,
Speaker:even though it'd be really easy because these are my recipes.
Speaker:This is me.
Speaker:You have me in a package when you buy my products,
Speaker:but you have to cut that off because you want it
Speaker:to be the best it is.
Speaker:And just because I think it is,
Speaker:maybe it's not.
Speaker:So you have to cut your ego away,
Speaker:but still have the self-confidence to do what you need to
Speaker:do. Wonderful.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:really what's happened to you is your customer has changed from
Speaker:being the direct end customer,
Speaker:the user of your product to your consultants,
Speaker:your consultants are now all your customers.
Speaker:And you've been talking right now about the importance of staying
Speaker:close, asking questions,
Speaker:getting direction and guidance of what you do next by communicating
Speaker:with your customers,
Speaker:which is so important.
Speaker:It makes actually your life a lot easier.
Speaker:Except when there's things that they say that can be done
Speaker:better or whatever your,
Speaker:to your point about not taking it personally,
Speaker:but you don't have to guess anymore.
Speaker:When you're talking directly with your customers,
Speaker:they tell you what to do next Well.
Speaker:And they're out there talking to people where I'm not anymore.
Speaker:So we need the feedback and it's important.
Speaker:And it does is a huge help to me because I
Speaker:can think I know what we need,
Speaker:but if they're hearing something different than that's what I want
Speaker:to give them,
Speaker:I want to give them everything they need to be successful.
Speaker:So I put it in their hands and say,
Speaker:let me hear what you're hearing and I'll make it happen
Speaker:if I can't.
Speaker:Okay. One more question here on all of this.
Speaker:And that is what direction are you giving all your consultants
Speaker:or what framework or if it's,
Speaker:if the actions are bracketed in some way,
Speaker:how do they then go and sell the product?
Speaker:Every day,
Speaker:Everybody has their own thing.
Speaker:We have a lot of people who sell online only sometimes
Speaker:they are not able to get out and do events and
Speaker:carry heavy products.
Speaker:And, or that's just not their thing with us.
Speaker:It's really easy to find your niche and what you're good
Speaker:at. And just roll with that.
Speaker:If you're not good at events,
Speaker:don't do events,
Speaker:just do online parties.
Speaker:We do tons of those.
Speaker:We make it really easy,
Speaker:but it's all a matter of you.
Speaker:It's a personal thing.
Speaker:This is your business.
Speaker:I'm the behind the scenes.
Speaker:Now you're the one out there face to face.
Speaker:Do what makes you comfortable and make you feel good because
Speaker:they'll feel that,
Speaker:and they'll be comfortable with you and you'll create a repeat
Speaker:customer over and over and over So they can virtually do
Speaker:whatever they want in terms of acquiring business.
Speaker:Okay, this does lead to another question.
Speaker:It is your brand.
Speaker:So you certainly want to make sure that the energy behind
Speaker:it, the presentation of it,
Speaker:use of your logo stays consistent across anything that reflects your
Speaker:brand. I'm quite,
Speaker:I didn't ask you that,
Speaker:but I'm quite sure that that's the case.
Speaker:There has to be some type of a contract or legal
Speaker:documentation or something.
Speaker:When you bring on a new consultant,
Speaker:There is when you join us,
Speaker:we have a manual that goes out and in the very
Speaker:back page of the manual is a signed agreement saying that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you won't do this.
Speaker:We don't allow people with competing companies because of liability insurance.
Speaker:And it's just not good business to be selling to different
Speaker:food companies on the same table.
Speaker:But all of that is very clear.
Speaker:It's all very easy written.
Speaker:There's nothing in big legal lingo that nobody will understand.
Speaker:I am very upfront.
Speaker:We have a Facebook page of potentials where our actual consultants,
Speaker:man, this page and people who have questions that have never
Speaker:heard of us before go there and ask questions about joining
Speaker:us. And sometimes they do,
Speaker:sometimes they don't,
Speaker:but it gives them a comfortable feeling immediately.
Speaker:We're not some big corporate head.
Speaker:We are still real and every day and therefore the people,
Speaker:I Love that.
Speaker:Okay. Super.
Speaker:And you went and got some legal advice or someone helped
Speaker:you with the terminology as you were putting that into.
Speaker:Yeah. Okay.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:Lisa, we're going to turn now into our reflection section.
Speaker:Okay. What is it about you just as a person that
Speaker:you think you've drawn on that has helped you to succeed
Speaker:with both kitchen helpers and kitchen?
Speaker:Well, you're going to find this shocking,
Speaker:but I like to talk,
Speaker:no, my grandmother in South Georgia,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:after I started my cookbooks,
Speaker:I started touring with the Southern women's shows and hosting the
Speaker:celebrity cooking stage.
Speaker:And my grandmother said,
Speaker:one day,
Speaker:she said,
Speaker:well, you've always had the gift of gab and now you
Speaker:finally found a way to use it.
Speaker:That's perfect.
Speaker:And it's true.
Speaker:Find what you're good at FA find what you like.
Speaker:I like talking to people and if you're good at that,
Speaker:run with it,
Speaker:if you're good at just the artwork,
Speaker:then find somebody that counter balances you and gives you the
Speaker:other parts you need,
Speaker:but you don't have to give your business away to them.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you still are the business and in terms of productivity And
Speaker:it doesn't matter if you go back to earlier time or
Speaker:now, but is there something,
Speaker:a tool you use or something you do that helps you
Speaker:accomplish everything that you need to during your day?
Speaker:Well, I'd love to say I accomplished everything I need to
Speaker:in a day.
Speaker:I don't.
Speaker:And that's another thing you have to get the grips with.
Speaker:You can only do as much as you can do.
Speaker:And you have to realize that because you do want to
Speaker:grow your business and you do want it to become more
Speaker:successful. But at the same time,
Speaker:you have to know your limitations.
Speaker:Because if you start doing too much,
Speaker:you're not doing anything well and you want it to all
Speaker:be done well.
Speaker:So my balance is to be alone.
Speaker:First thing in the morning,
Speaker:get my thoughts together.
Speaker:And I wake up in this mood and that's really important.
Speaker:A lot of people wake up and it's like,
Speaker:Ooh, it's Monday.
Speaker:I never have that.
Speaker:It's a whole mindset.
Speaker:If you love what you're doing,
Speaker:it shows in everything you do.
Speaker:What I do.
Speaker:I go to work.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I have an office,
Speaker:I have a work place,
Speaker:but it's never really worked to me because I love this.
Speaker:I can't imagine doing anything else.
Speaker:And when you find that balance of happiness and work,
Speaker:it's not work anymore.
Speaker:It's just passion.
Speaker:And what you love to do Beautifully said,
Speaker:moving on.
Speaker:I almost can't,
Speaker:but I'm not.
Speaker:Have you read a book lately that you think our listeners
Speaker:could find value in?
Speaker:Do you know?
Speaker:I don't read a lot because I don't sit down much,
Speaker:but I am a huge fan of the whole Walt Disney
Speaker:world. Walt Disney was such a visionary and he got it.
Speaker:He knew that you had to take care of the customer.
Speaker:He knew that they needed to feel comfortable.
Speaker:And there is a book called the wisdom of Walt Disney.
Speaker:No, we're not building a theme park and that's not even
Speaker:what he's talking about.
Speaker:It's just basic do this.
Speaker:This will happen.
Speaker:Feel good about it.
Speaker:It's a very positive book and I think it would help
Speaker:a lot of people to read it.
Speaker:Perfect. Thank you,
Speaker:Lisa and gift biz listeners,
Speaker:just as you're listening to the podcast today,
Speaker:you can also listen to audio books with ease.
Speaker:I've teamed up with audible for you to be able to
Speaker:get a book,
Speaker:possibly even the wisdom of Walt Disney for free on me.
Speaker:All you need to do is go to gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and make a selection.
Speaker:That's gift biz book.com.
Speaker:Okay. Lisa,
Speaker:I would like now to invite you to dare to dream,
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable
Speaker:Heights that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:Well, that would probably sound like a very complicated question,
Speaker:but it's not to me in my box.
Speaker:There's people,
Speaker:there's people that are positive and supportive and like-minded,
Speaker:and are there to give you what you need on every
Speaker:level on spiritual,
Speaker:financial, on advice,
Speaker:on personal day-to-day conflicts,
Speaker:the people around you can make all the difference in your
Speaker:life period,
Speaker:but especially in your business.
Speaker:So to me,
Speaker:I would,
Speaker:I would have a box full of people.
Speaker:I'm thinking of one of those little circus cars,
Speaker:where the doors open and all these people keep coming out.
Speaker:I've got a whole lot of them in there.
Speaker:Lisa, how can people find you?
Speaker:I'm very easy to be found.
Speaker:Our website is kitchen AEs.
Speaker:That's kitchen,
Speaker:EEZ dot B I Z.
Speaker:So it's kitchen,
Speaker:A's dot biz,
Speaker:or I'm all over Facebook.
Speaker:We have a fan page.
Speaker:That's kitchen.
Speaker:He is direct sales.
Speaker:You can go to my personal page.
Speaker:It's Lisa Shively.
Speaker:I'm everywhere.
Speaker:I'm very easy to get in touch with.
Speaker:I answer any questions.
Speaker:Anybody has.
Speaker:We have a sign-up special going on right now.
Speaker:I want to be something for everyone.
Speaker:There's no browbeating.
Speaker:There's no talking down to anyone in what we do.
Speaker:And that's very important to me.
Speaker:And we're all equal on whatever level you're on.
Speaker:So I'm just as obtainable as anybody and give listeners,
Speaker:as you Note,
Speaker:there's a show notes page and you can go over there
Speaker:and you can capture all the information and also jump to
Speaker:different segments because I have everything timestamped dumped to different segments
Speaker:of this show.
Speaker:If there's something that you want to hear again,
Speaker:specifically from Lisa,
Speaker:you can find the show notes page at gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com. Lisa.
Speaker:Yes, there is no question why you're successful.
Speaker:You have this spirit in you.
Speaker:You can hear it in your voice.
Speaker:It just draws people to you.
Speaker:People want to know you and people want to be with
Speaker:you. And it's so encompassing in your entire brand.
Speaker:It's just absolutely beautiful.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:just interject your personality in everything you do.
Speaker:I am so happy for you.
Speaker:I am so proud of you and all your development.
Speaker:I remember you way back when,
Speaker:when you were afraid to fly,
Speaker:because you got invited to Paris to talk about your product.
Speaker:I wish you continued success and may your candle always burn
Speaker:bright. Thank you so much.
Speaker:So I really enjoyed that.
Speaker:Where are you in your business building journey,
Speaker:whether you're just starting out or already running a business and
Speaker:you want to know your setup for success.
Speaker:Find out by taking the gift biz quiz,
Speaker:access the quiz from your computer at bit dot L Y
Speaker:slash gift biz quiz or from your phone like texting gift
Speaker:biz quiz to four four,
Speaker:two, two,
Speaker:two. Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for
Speaker:the next episode.
Speaker:Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company,
Speaker:looking for a new income source for your gift business.
Speaker:Customization is more popular now than ever grant your products with
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Speaker:a happy birthday,
Speaker:Jessica bourbon,
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Speaker:for more information after you listened to the show,
Speaker:if you like what you're hearing,
Speaker:make sure to jump over and subscribe to the show on
Speaker:iTunes. That way you'll automatically get the newest episodes when they
Speaker:go live.
Speaker:And thank you to those who have already left a rating
Speaker:and by subscribing rating and reviewing help to increase the visibility
Speaker:on round.
Speaker:It's a great way to pay it forward,
