Launching an Early E-Commerce Athleisure Brand with Meghan Owen and Jenae Owen

On this week’s episode of Girl Gang the Podcast, I interview Meghan Owen and Jenae Owen, co-founders of InflowStyle (@inflowstyle). 

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Speaker 1 0:00

Thanks for tuning in to girl gang, the podcast. My name is amy [inaudible] and I'm a creator and collaborator based in Los Angeles and the founder of [inaudible] dot com. We encourage the aspiring highlight, the doers and most importantly get real about the highs and lows of female entrepreneurship. Get ready world. The future is here and she's a boss. I understand

Speaker 2 0:23

style and I'm Megan, her older sister and the other cofounder and close style. You are listening to girl gang, the podcast. Can you talk a little bit about your journey before you started inflows style? Yeah, so I was working at an Internet marketing company called mind movies and I was doing copywriting and email marketing in 2013. I actually moved to Australia and while I was there I saw a lot of the great on trend activewear, those coming out of Australia, which was really surprising to me and I felt like there was a lot of opportunity. May. Can you tell us about your background? I was doing online marketing for Shea homes. I was doing all of their online email marketing and copywriting. I was writing about something and I was producing content about something that I wasn't that passionate about, so I saw the type of sales that can be made online and with emails and ads so it wouldn't. Janae left, Oh, definitely started talking about opportunities. We knew we wanted to do something in wellness. I think that was kind of always the overarching theme of, you know, that's something a passionate we both shared and then the whole fashion thing was just the fun add onto it. It's an awesome industry. It's a two part industry. It's an ever moving industry. It was really fun and Australia had the. Those athletes are brands that stood out the most and I think definitely first you want to be going to work, looking great and then going to work out and going out with friends and all of that wrapped into one I think is such an important thing for women right now. It was who we were as who our friends were. I like putting the leisure. Leisure is, is that like they just seem effortless. I feel like even though it has nothing to do with fashion, it kind of reminds me of a French roll or it's just she's not trying. It's more about her energy would not. Leisure was brought in. Interpreting like more functional aspect of that so you can put on leggings and a comfy shirt from your guys's website and just be like, now I feel confident you can take two hours to get ready. This is amazing. And then if I last minute, want to sign up for a class class class, I'm not like I got to take off my fake is that not look down on anymore. Which is nice because I think that the workplace, it used to be you have to wear a button down shirt or slacks. I don't think we were ever really in that day and age. I think I mean kind of. I guess the corporate world was still, but when we're here at a coworking space, everyone was in Graham's or sneakers too. It's just, it's a love that life. Can you imagine just casual Friday? I know actually we were watching the office last night and they were talking about casual Friday. I was in his genes and genes are hard work for me. That's why I'm dressing up safe. I got ready for you guys. I tell my mom that. It was just such an exciting time that I feel like you guys got into it and the market didn't seem super over saturated and when I describe what you guys were doing, I kind of have to explain what actually leisure was and now only a few years later it's just blown up. When do you think that's done for your business? Do you think it helps it? Is there too much competition? I think a bit of both. I mean obviously there's a lot of competition, but I think people knowing more about it and being open to it, it has not been looked down upon in the workplace has a lot more people to express the self, slip that in and then going straight out with friends and hold up. A lot of brands that we started out with are now, for example, free people start out Super Boho chic and you know, now they've started an active wear line which kind of meshed with their Boho chic mean that's so exciting to. Can you just take a minute and think about that. A brand like three people. You guys saw that on your website, you go and see previews, like you look at their look books, you've got what you're selling and that's a brand that you sell. When you started this, did you ever think that that would be the case? Especially so early on? No, and that's what we're discussing because especially when you're first starting, you have to accept it. A lot of people are going to tell him no, and even getting those email addresses and know through all of that to get to free people. That was kind of difficult. It did happen quite quickly for us. I'd say I'd say we reached out to, you know, there was a list of 50 people we had and we reached out to all of them. So the ones that said yes right away, we're kind of just our stepping stone because what the brands you have to say was a full purpose website with other brands and they always ask for another brand. So it's kind of hard starting out with, you know, what other brands do you carry it? And it was a zero so we kind of had to build that up and then yeah, I mean at first we were emailing everyone and now it's completely flipped and I get about five emails a day from brands around the world asking for wholesale and huge brands as well. So it's really cool to see friends and I looked at and brands that were on that list originally reaching out and multiple times we've been told him after he had been told. No, definitely the buying shows, the trade shows. I mean I remember my first one, it was quite overwhelming. It was every active brand was there and we were just a small small fish in a huge pond. And here we are two years later. I just went to one a couple of weeks ago and it was, I mean we, we're were being caught up it, it's just people like, you know, try for weeks to schedule an appointment. If they don't have an appointment, you have a name tag on and if someone sees it they come running over to you, like would you come check it out? Because it kind of is a circle. It's like everyone wants to see when you're starting out, everyone wants to see the brands you've worked with or carrying. But then if no one is the first, it's like how do I get there? I felt at first I just, I didn't understand how I was ever going to write on my, what brands be carried because everyone was asking the same question and I think that's something to take away. It's just being able to hear no and keep going, you know, and just accept that as part of the journey and stuff. Because a lot of people even feel that way about their work experience when they're applying to a job. It's like, no, but I need that first job, but this is a perfect example of that circle where if you just keep working just as hard and have faith in the process, you get that first one. And then now how many brands do you guys carry? Twenty to 22 and growing. We're launching two huge ones, uh, this month and weekend to really be seen in the crowd and email someone like he was getting. Yeah, I really touched on the personalized email and you know, the brands that really catch my attention and calling me by name of course. And speaking to the inflow style brand saying how they feel that their brand or collection would fit into our lives. I mean, do we feel they have the same customer base? Do we feel that we can convert these customers, that type of customer. I mean there's a completely wrong brand to put on the site and I don't know what it is off the top of my head, but there's some brands that are great for somebody's been off for us. So it's just feeling that a lot really. And we were talking about the events, actually I wanted to do more things like that and the community with the brands and we just did a yoga class at one of the La hotspots playlist Yoga and just getting that conversation going with a brand, you know, they're three of us probably on the column and be like, what is fun or yoga class, Ooh, with Mimosas, Ooh, with coconuts. And then you know, the connect start coming in and that's when everyone has a connection here. So it's really cool to do collapse like that because it just opens doors to everything. So that was really fun. I think something else that we've been doing that a lot of my have been liking is giveaways, mutual support and it's the customers. I mean the customers are very receptive to brands that are working together in that type of space is really service styles too. It's not just like come and figure it out. You kind of guide people through your energy and the stuff you put together on photo shoots. It's like these are the, you know, it's not always like st and on top, same brand on bottom. It's what can you do with this? Oh, throw a jacket over it. Anything you bring in these elements and figure out how to incorporate that. When I moved to Australia I was obviously doing a bit of half and half and it was amazing for me to see and step up and become such a good direction. The creative with the photo shoots, everything. She just really stepped up in that space and I loved it. So her styling and the photo shoots and all that has just been incredible and so that's when so fun to watch and I think she's able to bring those folks into a photograph and people can see that and know what to wear out the next day. I just think that's so important in the online world just because I think that the. I mean, it came about when and how I got so obsessive with that, you know, like the content that we create being so applicable to everyone is because that's what people go on Instagram, you know, they're going on there to actually kind of save something and getting outfit inspiration. It's of, it's turned into kind of a pinterest, you know, um, I say about often ideas all the time, but that is what sells is when you take a photo of different pieces together with a bag or a pair of sunglasses or a shirt layer underneath sweatshirt. Totally. Like you said to Julie for grants and we'll have photos that will go viral. I mean, yeah, those are definitely been our best posts or just kind of meshing the brands together, putting them on a white wall. My roommate actually, she was one of my most viral posts. Full time doing that, that you're using your phone and then that is probably our best selling all about the iphone. I mean, it really can list authentic, real friend. It's something you guys actually, all of our friends were inflow style. It's so fun. I'll show up and one and this is what we want to get anyways. Thank you for providing it. So maybe you've really turned into a stylist and showing people how they compare different products on your website. When did you start in this venture? Did you picture that in your world would get into really had a content background or how did that evolve? Definitely not where my head was that I'm. I was more on the line of I know how to write emails and I know how to send out, you know, kind of the more practical things. I now live in a world where I'm obsessed with that now though, but I don't think that either of us had a plan on what our goals we're going to be. So it was, it was more like, I believe that we should start this. I think it's gonna be awesome. And then we just took off and then I was and I'll show you that. So I had to do a lot more of the admin and all that kind of stuff. She was doing the shoots and so it just almost fell into these roles where we had to pick up because we're wearing so many hats that her creative side just really took off on that, which is. I think it's also because I think a lot of people get bogged down in thinking, okay, what's my one year plan? Five Year Plan. Here's these things that I'm going to be doing instead of just starting and letting the customers and the company telling you what your rules will naturally come into and what you're good at and what doesn't deplete you. You know, talk about your journey scaling this company. Especially being on opposite sides of the world and maybe different pain points of it and how you got through those and times where you were just like, I believe in this wholeheartedly. We have this huge thing on her. Yes, and I think we're talking about this earlier. When we first started and was living up in the hills and maybe kind of just had a storage unit there and it was out of my house house and we would put the printer for the orders and it would go all the way down the stairs. It's huge amounts of orders and it was so fun, but it was so just at home, you know, we didn't have helmets center or anything like that, so it was very basic story playing, very been starting point, which I think it needs to be. I think you have to. You can't jump in until you really know something's gonna work. So I think that was how it had to be taught. Toss a lot for sure. Once we started getting orders and were able to see what our customer enjoyed any was going to buy, we were then able to introduce more brands and then also eventually to have a film that center and that out of Meghan's house. It's been a transition for sure. I mean it's hard letting go of that. The shipping and just feeling so in control. I mean, we used to be able to write handwritten notes for every single order and it was special because we would get emails back saying thank you because it won't really was authentic and real and we were writing it every day, but I mean it's just got to the point where we personally couldn't do that anymore. Then all of a sudden all of these products out of your hand, you don't have access to it. You have to order it from them to shoot it and mean it was definitely a period of. Is this third thing is your 80 slash 20? I'm still working on the 80 slash 20, so it's always going to be there. Yeah, it's evolving game. Old Shops, but yeah, I mean I think we still have issues with certain creative or anything that we're doing. We just, that's our baby, so we feel that we want to do it, but that's not realistic. We have to have other people helping or else you can't scale unless you're willing to outsource. It's really scary. Oh my gosh. It's rough. Sometimes I just want to like copy paste myself a bunch of times and not because I don't believe in other people, but I'm like, there's no way you can love this as much as I do. So that's what it is. This is. No one else feels the same way that you do about your company. So how could you possibly do as good of a job? You know, it says it was very scary, but it is important to do. We're luckily in a position now where we have one girl who manages all of our creative, which is huge, so we have a great relationship with her. Just, you know, when she knows kind of what we like and what we, what we want the site to look like, we want the emails to look like. So, um, and she's also kind of in that same mindset. I think child and her mentality and all the associate resonates with us a lot. But then also on days when people aren't available or we just need to get it done, Doris, back into doing returns or do the smaller tasks that we didn't think we needed to do any more on, we'll find out. You want the company to grow and thrive so we're okay. We kind of getting back to that basic level of doing things that we didn't think we're going to have to do anything. It's just not being above anything. That's the biggest thing is I feel like when I started my first to just sit down and be like, you really do sometimes look, things are really excited in your life. But we just launched for people. Yes. But then you're like, sit down just one day. Maybe not the thing that we still don't really know. What is it that I could be printing printers, you know, whenever I'd be okay with me. I'm still doing customer service and I know I have to let that go. The hardest thing is, and I love it, I really do love being in touch with our community. It's just such a big community. Yeah, it's, it's too much. And I have to let it go, but it's so hard. I tried to let it go like I feel. Yeah, it's hard because they're real people that are reaching out and I feel like I know them. There's so many that I'm like, oh, we have a lot of return customers, so it's not a touch point is important. I'm hoping that my gift card the other day for Kelly Casey, she's friends with the best inflow supporters. That was one of my secret Santa Gift, so wasn't a flow. We you guys were apart and scrape. Oh my gosh. But I'm. Yeah, I just think some people, they don't know what's behind it, but some people just need to be above it. Above it. I remember when I started my first company and would talk to people about what I was doing and I would just be so honest about it and they would just respond to me like it was a hobby because it's like you're doing these things and they're not glamorous and there's other people that have jobs and they're paid vacations and all these things and you're like, oh my God, I'm so stoked. Died so many orders and fulfilling them. They're like, I pity, you know, like, you know, and it's, I feel like it takes. So if you're focused on what other people think of, you can't get to the end goal when you're just like, I believe in this and I'm actually enjoying putting my blood, sweat and tears into this thing that I'm creating. You get to. I mean, it's never written any white. Even though you guys have done so much. It's still not your end point. We're all not there, but it's. I feel like when you don't look left and right, you don't trip over yourselves. Honestly in the journey. For us, my favorite thing, I've really loved one. We're up photo shoots and just so the car with these poles to hang the clothes on and the boxes and we can barely stand and I just, I dunno, it brings you back to the beginning days and I actually really a little bit. I think it's fun and it's great. It's beautiful. Just being able to create something in the process of it and feeling like a maker. I think when you're doing things with your hands and it's yours and you're putting your heart and soul into it, it just can't be replaced and if you get worried about what other people are saying or how they're responding to you, you won't get to these next steps. I feel this way. I'm curious if you guys feel this way too where you just can't wait to get up in the morning because you feel like there's so much to do and then all you want to do is get that to do list done to get proactive. That's how I feel when I get up. I just have like, my arms are like I'm about two and a boxing match and be like, all right, let's get to too so I can do what's fun. And it's like, this is so crazy. It's not fun. Like I'm going out with friends and spun this business. I actually so much fun. Last night I left you and went home and just sat on the couch and broke out with my hand, which I've started to do, which I think is huge. It's just writing things by hand instead of on the computer, but my to do list and just then little bullet points of what I had to do. And it's, it's, it's fun. It's like I'm much more of a night person all stay up til three in the morning sometimes during it and then I. But then I feel great in the morning because I don't, you know, I'm like the to do's are done. The basic two dudes are done. Um, I've got myself set up for the day, which is anything like if something creative comes your way and impromptu call or something, then you can take it because you've done that. And I think here, especially for me because living in Australia I was very isolated from the group and being here, it's so fun for me. This is why we started at. I love being with the team. I love doing the hands on thing. So yeah, I absolutely look forward to the day it's cell phone now. I mean that's the biggest thing. I think there's a lot of people want to be doing some version of what you guys are doing and just hold themselves back and it's just if you're willing to hustle and figure it out, every single solution is out there. Exactly. There are so many tools now. Shopify makes it very easy to the apps. I could go, I could spend a week just going through those apps and reading about them and reading their views and installing them and using them videos. There's nothing where I'm like, I don't understand how it was before and like I need to get through work so I can wash these apps on shopify and they're like, isn't that worth. I mean, it's just fun and I'll tell him I could always be more, but I get really close with your eyes do research, but I was telling them about you guys and how fun it is to nerd out with you and I'd love that, that we all are passionate about the same thing and so when we're after hours, you know, having a drink and we still are talking about those things and we're still getting excited about shopify apps that is of you know, that you're doing something that you love and the inner circle people that lift you up. And that's very important. Yeah, very important. They're not. What I think has been really great for me here is just the crew, you know, that I just love it being the crew. So solid, you know, when all of us get together and we share things, there's things that happen in the next day that transformed my business or my personal beliefs or holding me get through a day. No, it doesn't have to be something that's helping dollar wise. It's like helping you mentally wise like, hey, this was really hard for me on my business or something that helped me in all of these tools. And I think the same. We kind of have chosen who you know because it literally is who you surround yourself with and I think that's been so good for us to realize who we want to spend time with and who's going to actually make us better and our business lives and everything and so fun. I think every time we're together we think of new funding. That's the problem is that ideas are endless and overflowing specially with a glass of wine or two. And that's what's so fun about having a friend group like this is because. Yeah. And I don't realize it is, that's just how we talk every day and I really. And try to focus on like veering away from things that make me feel depleted and going towards things that energize me is when all of us talk and it doesn't, it just, it doesn't feel exhausting and it's kind of crazy because sometimes after we talk I'll go home and work for like four or five hours and it happened to me last night. But if it's the wrong person, it's just you guys. I'm like, alright, let's do depth. I'm really mad. Last night I called her and was like telling her all these things. We've got a bunch. I mean what came out of an hour long hangout? Just last time we played at a photo shoot, we've got so much. I guess just that's what we talk about and that's so exciting and that's what gets me so fired up for day. You know, the opportunities are endless, endless. And it's really. I think that's one of the most important thing. So if you want to be a freelancer or get into a certain company or starting a company, anything that is not, nothing is guaranteed and you really are relying on that energy. If you don't have the ability to surround yourself with people like this, you need to seek them out and it is insane what a difference it makes. I just truly blamed my board. This is the era of collaboration and strategic partnerships. They've always been a great marketing tool, but I just think it is. It's not the future we are here and above you, right? Mended, I think daring the disruptive one have you got and it was really focused on strategic collaborations and a female business owner reaching out to people, getting outside of her comments out and all these things we're talking about and it was very inspiring and reach out to the bitches. Love this. People just starting with the customer service email and then needed to the owner and then you're like, okay, can we get you guys these haircuts? No free. Okay. And then all of a sudden we did a collaboration on their page and it didn't start with like, Hey, I'm this huge company and I'm going to get you guys millions of dollars to just starting with like, can I just introduce myself and provide you with tennis? All I'm doing is providing you with free hair ties. I'm not gone let know. And books like that and just learning other people's stories. You just find out everyone is human and honest with people, what you're providing. And that's one of the things that shocked me so much is when we first started talking with the brand. You talked to the teacher. Yeah. And you talked to the people that own these brands are talking to you and they're the ones that are behind the computer. And now it's the same with us. People are always like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that to you. And we're like, this is, it's, it's, it's a lot closer than you think. You know, it's not, there's not that many I have to go to, to get to the owner of a brand or especially in this day and they know you are when we were at an event it. So, uh, so you're going into some of the. Yeah, the Rose was, sees him and he's like, oh, hey. Yeah. It's like other gratitude. So like milestones. But I mean, you run into this person in the elevator going into an event and he knows who you are, you know, and I imagine like when you're behind a computer all day and intimidating when you're starting out, most people wouldn't feel uncomfortable thinking like, I'm emailing this guy specifically. Then we build that relationship and then you run into the house. He knows that we're in, into Brian who drove around, shout out a hip hop club and on this last Saturday. And it was just like, it's really lives in Santa Barbara. He's not only in La but we talk all the time. I mean that's one of our biggest brands and it's just so great. Like you gained this whole new friendship and kind of community that's. Yeah, you wouldn't have had it before. So people that are doing similar things, which is cool, like they're all trying to grow their businesses too. So it's fun to watch. It's fun to watch the whole industry of the collaboration. And then everyone, you're so right. This is the age of collaboration. Definitely went to last week. It's like, Oh, free. Let's just check it out. You never know about Free Tequila and my interviewed for the New York Times, it just didn't, some of these things I feel like an out of body experience and it's like, it just started with. Yes. And then on the flip side, you and I got on this kick. I felt like it was the night that I went from, my woman was saying, I do think it's like Kinda the same thing though, Tim Ferris, yes. To what you want to know to manage them that's dragging you down and it's crazy when you get to that point where I feel like it's like a middle ground here. Like I don't want to do that. And you're like, oh, I'll do that. Whatever. And then, um, Tim Ferriss, I was listening to something. He went like a podcast or something. He said, what you don't do determines what you can do. And I were hanging out. All I want to do is say no that everything this week, like, no, I cannot talk on the phone. No, I cannot do this thing. And then let's see what you can. What I can do. If I just say no to everything and when I started doing that, I felt like I literally became a one night stand. I think I just grew up, but that's the thing. I think it's more the phone calls and the things that you have to be in the no category, but if it's an exciting opportunity to meet new people or something that you're just maybe a little out of your comfort done, if not more concerned with their to do list. That's often what I've, you know when you say no because you've got a big to do list. Oftentimes doing that thing will help eliminate. Yeah, it really does take one step and then you get advised to do assault. So I didn't see exactly. Losing your time and your energy wisely is so important and it's really hard to do because I feel like it here. I mean I love so much of my life. I just wanted to be there for people and like help them through their own journeys and I eventually really realized it was so. Yeah, it was so draining and so that's a big reason why I didn't say these opportunities and so I mean it really is what you don't do determines what you can do and so it's the both sides saying no to the things that technically if you don't have the time, it doesn't mean having the energy 24 hours a day. Sometimes we're sleeping even we're awake. It's not like our prime energy. So if you put all that stuff away, the things you can say yes to say I absolutely love this and since I've changed that in the last year, it has been like, I don't even know. I would say no to somebody these things and just be like I'm too. I'm too swamped with the business to even like just how we were talking about earlier, needing to be in control of everything and then releasing things and realizing, oh my gosh, it's okay without being as you do that, it's the same thing as business when you don't do determines what you can do so far. I mean, I still, I tried to release the customer service and then I brought it back as soon as I can get that off my plate, what can I do with that? Absolutely. I mean it's so time consuming. It's going to be much more fruitful what you can do with that time then in certain customers talking to customers, but what you could do at that time is over. You said even a computer, but it's finding that balance and I think that's what this whole entrepreneurial thing is. So I've been trying to schedule times with myself. So even if someone's like, oh, I want to call, I need you to do this. It's like, well, I'm busy two to three. It's not that I have lunch with someone if that. I'm scheduling that time for myself and I just went to on Monday it was at the money and then meditation workshop, my friend Cassie took me to and they said to make money dates with yourself and I feel like that is so helpful for entrepreneurs and freelancers. And so you just schedule an hour either a week or every month and you're like, no one else is actually there. This is just me going through all our bank accounts, go in through our bowls, seeing what I can do and I'm not available. I'm not. Even though it's just me, like I can't talk right now. I think that's important too because if you're looking at it and then someone lets us do or you look at your email or whatever if you're distracted. So it's just. I think that same concept is important with learning. I think this is something I'm bad at, but I want to get better at. Is it scheduling time? I don't know if it's each day you'd probably each week of learning like that stuff. My stuff, there's a new facebook advertising. I mean it's never changing thing and I could use, you know, an hour a day is honestly what I think you should learn something new every day you should be. And I think that's way more beneficial to yourself in your business. Then, you know, just kind of scattering around. I think scheduling time, just like you said, for you know, but also if you're feeling overwhelmed or something, you know, take care of yourself because honestly at the end of the day, if you're not doing well, if the businesses, so you have to put yourself first, if you don't fit yourself first, it's not going to benefit your friends, your partner, your business. And so putting aside that time and growing like we need to evolve. That's when I feel like some people feel stuck in. They're trying to find different outlets to just like bursting at the seams were supposed to evolve. So when we're learning more and setting aside that time when you feel better about ourselves, do you guys do anything when something exciting happens for your business or you exceed a goal? I don't feel like we do enough because a lot of times we're away from each other, but we'll definitely like, I don't know. I think the like celebrate like after something like the event or we've already with you after that celebration was definitely do I think now that she's not here more, I think it's going to be. It's, it's more than the little ones too, you know? I was saying to her the other day, it was just like this is sometimes it's hard to look at the bigger picture of like we've done some amazing things, you know, you're stuck in the day to day like oh my gosh, what have we done today? But my inbox looking but like so important to. Since I worked with my husband, we're trying to get more into that too and celebrating the tiny wins. Even if it's going out to grab a beer or something really small, like cheers, we office account got this brand, we double our sales goal this month. Anything that's happening, you just need to be president. Acknowledged the little wins. You can't be so strapped it on like an end in because it never comes. I think we were getting better at that, but we need to still with us. Shoot Saturday night. I'm so excited. I'm saying I think that's so good as well. I love that this group can collaborate together because it's fun. Yeah, so obviously you have a million things going on, but we can integrate that and do a photo shoot together that supports both of our brands and then brings shelby in who's also a photographer and it just kind of do a lot of different things and I think that's so great that we can support each other in different industries but still collaborate and the fans love. I love a good good, good. Everyone on Instagram, everyone on social effort, like everyone is following us once to see what it's like in real life and what our world is like. That's what really sums up our lifestyle. We hung out last night. We're working on another project together with her girlfriend and then we're hanging out Saturday night and we're like, what are you doing before I have this stuff, I want to do a shoe. I want to do a shoot to. Let's do this. You have 10 people coming together and put this together for just dirt cheap and I'm. That's, that's the beauty of them and that's what I was saying to you and be like, I'm so excited that you guys can do different projects together as well. You know, I don't think that in this day major necessarily glued to one thing. I think there are so many different opportunities and for me to be able to support you guys in a different project or something like that. I love that and I think it's so empowering for women to just be like, yeah, do that and I support you. I'm so in on this photo shoot and I just want to, you know, like, I don't know. I think it's great to be able to collab enough. Yeah, I think that's the beauty of it and one thing I like to do with working on other projects, it's just finding a vertical that works for you and a bunch of different resources and saying, okay, now that I've kind of. Once you can let go of all that stuff. I mean, one company I owe that used to take 50 to 60 hours a week now takes me 30 minutes and I'm like, what else can I create any kind of create these micro businesses within that and just see what happens. But you can't do it without your vertical, which is your friends, your network people you meet at events. You know. I love that about your story though. I think that's so great how you turned that into something that was taking you forever into think about that one. I think at the end of the day you have to realize what inspires you, what makes you happy, and that's it. You know there's going to be hard stuff along the way. There's no doubt. I mean we go through stuff every single day that we have to deal with, but at the end of the day, if it's making you excited to wake up the next morning and do it again, then that's where you're at and there's so many tools, so many places you can go to get that information that's free, cheap, and it's just, it's very available and people can do it. Just to, if you haven't started, start starting. He doesn't need to be a perfect. That's my biggest things. I need everything to be perfect and I've learned that you cannot do that in this world. No, it'll never be the perfect product you had in mind. That's a good thing. You know, you never. The first thing you'd come out with, it shouldn't be your best product ever. It should always be evolving and you should look for for it to that too. It's just like getting out there because everyone else is trying to do it and now when we sat there with one of our good friends websites and it was fall, she had gotten a. she'd gotten in front of her to put together a business plan. The website was beautiful and she's sitting there talking to amy and I about how it's not ready and she these little tweaks in both amy and I looked around and we're just like live now. There's nothing. There's nothing. If someone can purchase this product and it was gorgeous. I can't even explain it and she just. In her mind it wasn't perfect and she would've waited six more months and it's just. It's definitely wasn't. When we started, we were fine with that. It's interesting because we both are control freaks about certain things, but I think without reading news it was going to be an evolving thing, so we were kind of okay with just putting out something that was ready to go and we have what we then move forward with that and have just gotten better since there were so many different business plans I went through for the podcast and different things that I wanted to do and then I just figured let's just start this, see what it's like, and then if my idea needs to be changed, we change it instead of spending a year going through it. But it's criticized yourself and think that it's not ready. I think, I mean obviously you will get some negative feedback, but that's okay. Getting with the whole accepting people saying no to you. I think the negative feedback is something that is just part of life and that's kind of something you have to accept and move forward from and really only take it from people who you care about and you're try to say yourself because I be like, a lot of times it's what you're saying to yourself, you're your biggest critique is better than perfect. I have really tried the last couple of years, so if I have an idea, it's just like execute right away. Nation called me last night and was just saying about how she was like he is killing it. Like I feel like she has like told for businesses was like, actually yeah, she does. Like she's just, you know, executing which just like I don't out there and then going through and figuring out how to let these other ones fun themselves. It's done such a good job with that. You shouldn't teach a course on that. Oh my gosh. I would love to. That would be epic. If you think of something and put it out there and creating an open dialogue with whoever you're trying to sell to or whatever you're doing, you're going to end up making a better product and that's willing to evolve, which is all we wanted to do. It seems silly to me to just be so up in your head and set all these goals to take baby steps to create something over like master of years or something that's never done when you can just throw something out there. Who cares if it's perfect and do people really care not mashed in. When I think about it, it's not like people are sitting around thinking about us all day. The same thing, like when you go to a networking event like that Tequila girl said, no one cares that you're the only girl in the room. You know? Like that kind of thing. Like no one else was thinking about. You accept yourself and I feel like that definitely ties into what's going on right now. We don't need to be victims. We don't need to make excuses for what's going on. We take control of our own lives and we will get to a better destination that that's exactly the point that that like needs to be realized by someone entrepreneur versus like yourself that you're almost, you know, no one else was thinking about you, but I just think the best thing is doing it for yourself, being authentic, finding people organically, not shoving stuff down people's throats and if it's not what you wanted it to figure out how to change it or you move to something else, what is some advice you would give to someone that wants to start their own business? So interesting how much free content is out. It's all people you look up to. That's what I wise will do anything to her, but there is hours of content. Example. That's a great example. Every panel, everything I truly believe and stuff is repeated, but it's just worth it to dive in. If there's someone you look up to, they can be. They just don't know. I actually watched an interview with her where she said that she is not great at being a manager per se, but she loves talking to people so she is great at hiring and seeing what the business needs so she has been able to outsource kind of those tests and I think realizing your weaknesses is really important to definitely help you balance out your company and figure out who else do you need to be on your team to excel. Because if you don't accept that you do have some weaknesses which we all do. You will just keep butting your head against the wall and I don't think you have to start dating. I feel like a lot of people get nervous about where you know, the big businesses are, but I think starting small, seeing what a customer responses and kind of getting a feel and that micro level is just as good as being a huge brand. So you kind of see what people need and what they want and get feedback at a much cheaper rate than spending a bunch on ads and try and get someone accused indoors. You instead of just what your. Yeah, Colene, get your customer Avatar down and figure out what exactly people need and go from there because then that first year you'll learn so much about what you actually need them, which don't. The first year we didn't need an office space. It was just too from across the world and we're in a world where small businesses are thriving. Even if they're tiny and small. It's like that is. That's amazing, right? Setting for new brands and get your url, get your instagram handle, get your social down downtown. That is what I would say is the most important steps. Figuring out, get the name and claim the name, and then the heart go daddy, like put in a monthly, go down he budget. If you want to be a serial entrepreneur, somebody don't make. I don't want to say it's a good feeling. It's a good feeling that the options are endless. I create some domains and just start like once you have that, then you're free to go wherever you want it. You're so good with the legal. You should also do like a segment on like how to be like legally sound because I like, you're so good with that and so strict with it and once it's in line it's not as hard as it seems like. It's definitely a daunting when you think of an LLC, people might run away and just. I mean that sounds scary, but it's really not. You can do so much of it online. So much of it's so dirt cheap and then my thing to what we touched on earlier, just not thinking of like a year. I think you don't say like I'm going to try to launch a business any here two years. I think that's a way to escape where we're actually at and like not get to the goal. For me, what I like to do is just have like a very short time, even a week or two weeks and it's like here's all the foundation. Like you said I need to do it requires you go to city hall, spent $39 on a dba, you go to the bank account. These are each. You can date each done. You have that one week, the next week we reached out to different people that didn't want to get involved. Do your treatment again. Anything else you want to do within two weeks you have the foundation set instead of kind of. I think it's a way that people, if they're scared to do something by the end of the year, have all this stuff so it definitely doesn't take that long anymore. More just like just talk on it, knowing what you have to do and just dollars. Not Thousands of dollars. It's very, very easy to get on any. You can always grow. Like there's plenty of times when I've had a sole proprietorship used my social and then like, okay, he's outgrown this and then you just upgrade to an llc and at that point you're not using your savings account of using profits from the business to that and in an LLC, get your own Ein. Hire people. It's a phase. It doesn't have to be perfect, right? But I think there's a lot of tools online, so just do that third place. I say, do the baby steps, figure out what sticks and then you get two weeks. I, that's the timeframe I like to work on and they think it's realistic and then it doesn't let it slip because so many times people come to me and I'm like, I'm doing this, these are my monthly goals and then do this spring here. We're doing it and I watched the same way it breaks my heart because it will. If you're looking at it like that, it will. It needs to be tomorrow I'm doing this and the next day and then by you know, two weeks I will have my website and like ready to start creating content for sprint. Sprinted pivot as what I liked the lashed honestly. What other brands do it? I look up to it. I don't look down on them a bit confused. Like one of my favorite brands, humble, used to be humble now is the doses and they came out with a product that was humble just out in end the vowels and they had six different cbd and thc mixture. It depends. And just a few weeks ago they made an announcement on instagram is that we're changing the doses and when I would explain it to people as the customer is, it's a doses if every when you take a dose and that was the coolest part of it and that wasn't a lot of copy of their site. So I imagine all the back end, they're like, you know, this is really the narrative we need to tell. We don't need to talk about that. We're making this humble people are doing that. But you know, at school we have an actual ducks. This feels more medical. It doesn't feel like. I love that. Yeah. And then he made an announcement that they changed the doses and now all the fonts, the branding, everything's the same, just the name doses. And they did an instagram launch. They weren't a ton of dispensary's already launched and they made that change and it was so great. And I looked at that like, that's so cool. You guys took the time to sit down and say we're changing this. And that's what I think like pick your brand and obviously do research. Say for customers liking it, but do not be afraid to change up where you're going. And I think we did that really well. We kind of shifted a little bit and I don't know, redefined kind of who we were, what our customer Avatar was and all that. And I think that was really important for us as a brand and going forward and you obviously want them to correct most authentic going to be there. So like you said, it's just worth putting in the time between doing right. Our first real feeling of momentum was, I know it was from the Joe Brown image that we posted, um, an adjustment on instagram and it just took off to the point where every day I was coming back the sales where it was, it was, it went viral on. That's the thing with that facebook advertising is if they liked your photo and they are feeling like your relevancy score, which is basically how they're feeling, customers are reacting, they will push the shit out of it and it'll, it will go viral. And we were getting sale after sale pipes, get up in the budget budget budget, trying to like contact Brian and be like, hey to years, more like yes, so I must be sold out so quickly. The taught loops back instead for a year, not curious for a year. And I mean I only shut it off when I say it because you can see how many times a certain person sees it and I think had seen it more than 10 times. And I'm like okay, I think that's a great launching point and something to take into account if you see something working really well for your customer, push it, but there's just so much more to do and that's something I want to model one of my goals for the next couple of weeks time on. Um, facebook. Facebook's kind of changed their whole platform just on reporting and things and how they're, how they're kind of grading your ads. And so, um, spend time on that. I mean we're hiring someone out. That's thing you could do. I just find it so a building and I mean watching these ads just take off. It's like I couldn't stop looking at, it's not something like if it led to ton, even if things are changing, you need to learn more if you go towards it, unless if it's excited for that. Um, I, I definitely don't do a, another meeting. All the new stuff. Just I think it's so exciting. I love aspects of discoveries and shoving things down people's throats. Like for Seo, I have only done organic. I've never done any of the Peec camp means nothing because I just feel like the element of discovery, so because I ain't in the social media, it's so easy because you have the content element, you have to customized experience. So once you figure out who your customer is and what the voices you want to talk to them and it just feels like you have a friend to speak that way. That is my one tip is you can't, your ad can be different than your social posts. Like you need to be speaking to your customers the same way you're speaking to them in your social posts. And that's, I guess that's literally like I speak to me, you know what I mean? Like it's your, that's your demographic or Avatar. It's you get, that's how you gain followers. So that's one to one. It's not an audience, literally not. So it really is where some of these other marketing tactics, it's just the massive. Where this one is, we're having a conversation and the customer feels heard. Mike, when you say still thinking about me, I'm like, you know what, I was still thinking about my credit card right now. Oh yes. I love the real life example. I let it go straight up our avatar heart. I was like, that was an ab test. So I'm literally rollable customer testing. I just haven't engaged. This is not the most one. Right. So you can set up an ad run, literally put $2 on it a day, but test out putting heart Emoji at the end or not. And like you'll know by the end of the day which are more. Yeah, I would say number one thing, which probably we haven't done enough of the test test, test and implement. Like actually look at the test and the analytics and the testing is there, so definitely do it because it's so amazing what you can see from an ab test like just using an Emoji or not and I think that's for growth for people that don't do it and we do with email marketing and that is one place where it's like changing up the call to action button basically either making it a big chunky square which visually I didn't like as much. I was very much against it, but we just tested it versus simple, clean underlined. The moment the square works, is there a star marketing performer email or facebook ads? I love your email, so that's why I'm asking is your emails even sometimes if I don't purchase at the point of the email and keeps it online, email is the best thing to do. If you're on a lean budget to start off, get your content and your messaging down, email a hundred percent and $5 a day on facebook ads, $2, whatever you have like people are responding to. Definitely test out some tests out. I'd say look alike, retargeting and lookalikes and facebook engagement. You're able to talk to target anyone who's engaged with your facebook or instagram in the last 365 days after a pretty game changing. Those are like the areas that I like to spend my money because they know that they're engaged people. I mean, I would say start, start the list, start sending out content and then there's so much you can do based on what they do and how they act and how many people you have on your team to run these segmentation campaigns. But it's important and email is strong still, which is crazy. Everyone thought I was kind of dead and then everyone was everyone's thoughts. So on, off. And then my last question, who do you guys live out to and your girl name? So this is literally a little, because I'm on your podcast that I was going to say honestly you and I was saying this before, just because you have so many things going on but you're able to balance them and I think that's very inspiring. I love that. Um, and I was also gonna say Alex Segal love her, shout out. Um, she's just been hustling so hard for MTV and doing, producing and working her way up in a man's world. She's just at a, a man's company and I don't know, so she's thriving and doing so well and I respect the life things, personal things that she's gone through and I think that she's doing really, really well for herself. She's amazing. And again, the same thing, amy or they know one person that I go to shop business, like when I'm having a bad business day, getting into the Jacuzzi with you and just chatting about business, even if it's still a business, it's still just makes things better. And I feel like you guys are gonna make me cry. More ideas together. I mean, what you've done, what you've taken your business, do what you've brought them back to. It's so inspiring. Like I could go on and on about that forever. Um, and we did, which is the best part. We live in the same place. So it's amazing. I'm Nicole Cooper as well, girl boss. I'm started uber very young when the company was still very on San Diego, came out from Arizona, from yelp and um, got poached by Uber and has been handling it like a boss. I mean she works, she works 16 hour days in the corporate world, but I mean a fun corporate world, like crazy corporate role has been, uh, you know, she, she takes on so much and she's been constantly growing every year I'm taking on new team members and just being a girl boss hands down. So like one of my favorite moments is when we would go out to happy hour in San Diego and she bring her computer. She got onto the. That's how I was like, made me want to be like, this is so. And she would just be like, no, like anything else you guys said, this is also an obligation. It's Friday night, but I don't care. I'm on customer now. Tickets. I'm in this new exciting company which turned out pretty chill somehow. She's a senior marketing manager. Like she, I, I just love being around your energy and I feel like she's someone personally, professionally that just keeps on growing. She never stand still and that's really amazing to watch. We're just so spoiled with. I know I was gonna say it's really hard to pick because we have a lot of hustlers, a lot of great lives. Yeah. I kicked up. So if someone wants to get inflows style, check you guys out, get involved in the brand. What are the best touchpoints for them to do that? Uh, so all social handles are at enclosed style online. Www dot [inaudible] dot com. Yeah. That's where we are. We're regularly on, on instagram and posting. So give us a shout out and um, yeah, we'd love to have you. There is so much fun to follow. You guys have great stories to check us out. Saturday. All my Australian have a lot of, a lot of content. Content is king. Basically what we just rounded up content. That's it. Can we do it again? So fun.

Speaker 1 52:14

Thank you girl gang for listening to our podcast. If you enjoyed it, please take a minute to leave. A review, it helps us out so much to learn more about this week's guest and see behind the scenes footage of our podcast. Go to girl gang, the label.com. Enjoy 10 percent off of all support your local girl gang merchandise with code girl gang. If you have any feedback, guests, recommendations questions or just want to say, hey, email me at amy at girl gang. The label.com.