Debug Information

Processing Details

• VTT File: media.vtt
• Processing Time: September 11, 2025 at 02:17 PM
• Total Chunks: 2
• Transcript Length: 80,633 characters
• Caption Count: 706 captions

Prompts Used

Prompt 1: Context Setup

You are an expert data extractor tasked with analyzing a podcast transcript. 
I will provide you with part 1 of 2 from a podcast transcript. 
I will then ask you to extract different types of information from this content in subsequent messages. Please confirm you have received and understood the transcript content.

Transcript section:
[00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:02.880] Let's take this show on sale.
[00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:12.160] Imagine a world where gender equality is the norm and women have equal access to the same financial opportunities regardless of our personal circumstances.
[00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:17.360] Hi, I'm Dune, founder of Female Startup Club and your personal hype girl.
[00:00:17.360 --> 00:00:23.120] This is the pod for you if you're starting a side hustle, scaling your biz, or looking for inspo.
[00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:39.360] We cover venture capital, personal finance, selling your biz, and keeping your mental health in check from entrepreneurs like Refinery 29's co-founder Piera Gelati and Jew Rue, who sold Hero Cosmetics for $650 million.
[00:00:39.360 --> 00:00:45.120] Slide into my DMs if there's a question you want answered, and let's get into today's episode.
[00:01:04.240 --> 00:01:09.280] Does it ever feel like you're a marketing professional just speaking into the void?
[00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:15.680] But with LinkedIn ads, you can know you're reaching the right decision makers, a network of 130 million of them, in fact.
[00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:21.520] You can even target buyers by job title, industry, company, seniority, skills, and did I say job title?
[00:01:21.520 --> 00:01:25.360] See how you can avoid the void and reach the right buyers with LinkedIn ads.
[00:01:25.360 --> 00:01:30.320] Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a free $250 credit for the next one.
[00:01:30.320 --> 00:01:32.720] Get started at linkedin.com/slash campaign.
[00:01:32.720 --> 00:01:34.320] Terms and conditions apply.
[00:01:34.320 --> 00:01:39.280] Take control of the numbers and supercharge your small business with Xero.
[00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:41.520] That's X-E-R-O.
[00:01:42.800 --> 00:01:51.600] With our easy-to-use accounting software with automation and reporting features, you'll spend less time on manual tasks and more time understanding how your business is doing.
[00:01:51.600 --> 00:01:53.520] 87% of surveyed U.S.
[00:01:53.520 --> 00:01:56.880] customers agree Xero helps improve financial visibility.
[00:01:56.880 --> 00:02:02.760] Search Xero with an X or visit zero.com/slash ACAST to start your 30-day free trial.
[00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:04.040] Conditions apply.
[00:02:06.600 --> 00:02:11.800] Tess, founder of Midnight Mischief, welcome to the Female Startup Club podcast.
[00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:12.840] Oh, thank you for having me.
[00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:14.520] I've been a long time listener.
[00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:15.640] Oh my God, have you?
[00:02:15.640 --> 00:02:16.920] I love that for me.
[00:02:16.920 --> 00:02:19.400] And you, yes, yes.
[00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:23.160] I feel as though I've learned so much for your podcast over the years.
[00:02:23.480 --> 00:02:26.120] Oh my God, where did you find us?
[00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:31.080] Oh, I think just probably through socials or maybe another business owner being on your podcast.
[00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:33.160] And that's how I found you.
[00:02:33.160 --> 00:02:34.120] Love that.
[00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:35.080] Love that for us.
[00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:35.480] Cool.
[00:02:35.480 --> 00:02:36.600] So I'm excited.
[00:02:36.600 --> 00:02:38.840] I am a fan of pajamas.
[00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:39.880] I love pajamas.
[00:02:39.880 --> 00:02:46.040] I love anything that connects into sleep and that whole, you know, element of the evening.
[00:02:46.040 --> 00:02:47.640] Let's jump straight into it.
[00:02:47.640 --> 00:02:50.040] I kind of want to know about the starting story.
[00:02:50.040 --> 00:02:55.720] I know you bought this business and it's not often we have kind of like that story told on the show.
[00:02:55.720 --> 00:02:57.320] So where do you want to start?
[00:02:57.320 --> 00:02:58.120] Yeah, sure.
[00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:00.600] So yeah, let's take it back to the start.
[00:03:00.600 --> 00:03:07.960] Let's go back to like life before you bought the business and like what was happening in your world that was leading you to think about buying a business.
[00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:08.360] Right.
[00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:19.400] I guess if we just do a really short timeframe of like my life from when I was born, so I was born in like Western Sydney, had your typical upbringing where your parents are like, you know, you need to study.
[00:03:19.480 --> 00:03:23.320] Very typical Asian upbringing where you need a study, focus on your education.
[00:03:23.320 --> 00:03:26.520] There's no such thing as like a creative job.
[00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:33.880] So yeah, studied really hard, got into physiotherapy, really loved physiotherapy, by the way, because I loved helping people.
[00:03:33.880 --> 00:03:45.840] Did my four-year uni degree, but then I guess in my first year of working, I quickly discovered that it might not be the path for me because I knew that I always wanted to progress in my career.
[00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:48.320] I always wanted to be a business owner.
[00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:52.080] So I guess the way forward was to own my own clinic.
[00:03:52.400 --> 00:04:07.200] But when I actually was working as a physiotherapist and I saw the women having a clinic and their lifestyles, I just thought, you know, like I can't see myself being 30 years old and running a clinic and having kids and it's a full-on lifestyle.
[00:04:07.200 --> 00:04:11.520] So I always played and danced with the ideas of like having my own business.
[00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:15.760] And I think at the time that was 2018 and that was like the rise of e-comm.
[00:04:15.760 --> 00:04:18.800] That was like when Founder was like pushing out a lot of content.
[00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:22.000] And so I just like always played and danced with those ideas.
[00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:26.960] And that was a time when, like, let's take it, really take it back.
[00:04:26.960 --> 00:04:30.480] It was like when high smell was popping off and like, you know, yes.
[00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:35.280] I think it was like the Kylie Jenner kind of thing was going on.
[00:04:35.280 --> 00:04:37.840] So it was the rise of e-commerce back then.
[00:04:37.840 --> 00:04:38.480] Got it.
[00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:39.040] Got it.
[00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:48.720] And so you're kind of having these feelings, you know, maybe you don't love, you know, what you're doing in your kind of like day job and the nine to five and interested in this space.
[00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:55.280] Did you have any kind of interest in pajamas at that time and like a specific category or a specific industry?
[00:04:55.280 --> 00:05:02.160] Or you were just more like, oh, I love these like things that I'm seeing and learning and kind of like being exposed to?
[00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:11.280] Yeah, I think looking back, I was always into fashion as a kid because my mum always bought clothes and I grew up with her like sewing every single day.
[00:05:11.280 --> 00:05:13.360] So I just saw like how clothes were made.
[00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:15.280] And yeah, she was just like a shopaholic.
[00:05:15.280 --> 00:05:20.480] So every weekend, like we'd go shopping or like window shopping, essentially.
[00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:23.120] And then, yeah, like I just loved looking at clothes.
[00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.040] I loved reading magazines.
[00:05:25.280 --> 00:05:26.960] I would go into like the news agency.
[00:05:26.960 --> 00:05:31.880] Like I couldn't afford to buy it, but I would just sit there and read all the magazines, like high-end magazines.
[00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:36.920] So I guess when I was young, that world was very aspirational and I really like loved it.
[00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:39.560] And I think I grew up with Tumblr as well.
[00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:41.240] Did you grow up with Tumblr?
[00:05:41.240 --> 00:05:44.440] So it was like very aspirational images.
[00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:48.680] But yeah, I wasn't ever interested in pajamas, to be honest.
[00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:51.880] How I actually purchased the business was through Gumtree.
[00:05:51.880 --> 00:05:58.760] So I was scrolling through Gumtree one night, like looking through the free section because I was a poor uni student.
[00:05:58.760 --> 00:06:05.080] And then I was looking through the business section because I knew I wanted to be a clinic owner in my first year out, but I was planning in advance.
[00:06:05.080 --> 00:06:07.000] So I wanted to know like, how much would it cost?
[00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:09.160] Like, how much did I need to start saving?
[00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:11.720] And then an ad popped up for Midnight Mission.
[00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:14.840] So that's how I saw the idea.
[00:06:14.840 --> 00:06:17.960] So you see this ad pop up and like, what does it say?
[00:06:18.280 --> 00:06:22.280] It was, I think it was just like, you know, pajama business for sale.
[00:06:22.280 --> 00:06:29.160] It was so long ago, but it was like pajama business for sale for this certain amount, which I could not afford, like never had that much money in my bank account.
[00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:35.960] And it was like this picture of this really like alluring, like really beautiful, captivating image of this girl in like personalized pajamas.
[00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:38.680] I've just never seen something like that before.
[00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:45.880] And so yeah, thinking back in 2018, there was no such thing as like, there was personalized pajamas, but it wasn't a huge trend yet.
[00:06:45.880 --> 00:06:49.640] And at the time, you know, there was only really like Pete Alexander, Bonds.
[00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:54.040] There wasn't really a go-to like ladies sleepwear brand.
[00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:56.200] So I was just really attracted to it.
[00:06:56.200 --> 00:06:57.000] I don't know why.
[00:06:57.000 --> 00:06:59.960] I just had this like great intuition about it.
[00:06:59.960 --> 00:07:04.680] And I think it was just because I was young and I just never saw a brand like that.
[00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:07.640] And it just captivated me, to be honest.
[00:07:07.640 --> 00:07:21.040] So you see it, and is it like, hey, just, you know, call me on my mobile or like, here's some information on like revenue and like the size of the business and like, you know, send me an email or like, what does it say?
[00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:21.200] Yeah.
[00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:26.320] So on the description, it was essentially like, yeah, this, like, I have a business for sale.
[00:07:26.320 --> 00:07:28.080] Like, this is this amount.
[00:07:28.080 --> 00:07:30.800] Just inquire if you, yeah, are interested.
[00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:32.480] And I hit an inquiry.
[00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:35.120] I just was like, hey, want to know more information.
[00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:38.320] And then like a month later, I had a business.
[00:07:38.320 --> 00:07:39.040] Holy shit.
[00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:43.520] I think I read in the article, in one of the articles online, it was like $15,000.
[00:07:43.520 --> 00:07:46.800] And the brand was relatively kind of new.
[00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:49.360] It was a smaller size business at the time.
[00:07:49.360 --> 00:08:01.200] Did they give any information on like, hey, we've done X amount in revenue or we have this amount of products and you're kind of like buying the stock or like, what was the context of the business at that time?
[00:08:01.200 --> 00:08:02.080] Yeah, sure.
[00:08:02.080 --> 00:08:06.080] So the previous owner, she's amazing, like extremely creative.
[00:08:06.080 --> 00:08:10.240] She's someone that loves to start up ideas, but she also loved her job.
[00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:15.600] So the reason why she was selling it was because she got her dream career at a company that she always wanted to work for.
[00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:20.880] And so she just didn't have enough time to dedicate to it, but she knew it was like a fantastic idea.
[00:08:20.880 --> 00:08:22.800] She really loved the imagery and branding.
[00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:26.800] So essentially, she created all the branding and all the assets and the photography.
[00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:31.360] So she did have the business running for one to one and a half years already.
[00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:37.040] It was at a smaller scale because, yeah, for context, she was the only one running the business at the time.
[00:08:37.040 --> 00:08:41.520] And I think it was more so a passion project rather than a full-scale business.
[00:08:41.520 --> 00:08:48.080] When I purchased the business, it wasn't as though I purchased like or not purchased employees, but it didn't come with employees.
[00:08:48.640 --> 00:08:56.800] And when I did purchase it, it was essentially just like the website, a few pajamas, and kind of just like the data behind it.
[00:08:56.800 --> 00:09:03.800] We had like a few customers, like a few thousand Instagram followers, but it wasn't like a full-scale business.
[00:09:03.800 --> 00:09:05.960] Yeah, so it was kind of like business in a box.
[00:08:59.680 --> 00:09:06.840] Yeah, business in a box.
[00:09:07.080 --> 00:09:08.600] Ready for someone to take over.
[00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:15.480] I've done all that kind of like initial development stage, got the manufacturer sorted, and like take it from here.
[00:09:16.520 --> 00:09:21.480] Did you negotiate on the price, or were you just like, yeah, 15 grand, here you go, here's a bank transfer?
[00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:23.640] Yeah, so I definitely negotiated on price.
[00:09:23.640 --> 00:09:29.720] I think initially it was, I don't, I don't think I can say the number, just out of respect.
[00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:34.120] But yeah, it was definitely a lot more than that, 15,000.
[00:09:34.120 --> 00:09:43.720] And so then I, yeah, just tried my best to negotiate because all, I think I only had like $10,000 in my bank account at the time because I was very bad with saving.
[00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:51.320] I was like, you're very typical when I got out of uni, like I had $0 to my name because I just spent it on traveling.
[00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:52.840] I got the travel bug out of me.
[00:09:52.840 --> 00:09:55.640] I went to Europe and did the whole thing.
[00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:58.760] So I only had about like $10,000 in my bank account.
[00:09:58.760 --> 00:10:03.880] So I had like, I had no choice but to negotiate because I, yeah, couldn't get a bank loan.
[00:10:03.880 --> 00:10:06.120] And then we finally settled at 15,000.
[00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:10.280] And then I asked my sister for, I think it was like $2,000.
[00:10:10.280 --> 00:10:13.080] And then my partner for like $3,000.
[00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:15.080] And like, I never borrow money off anyone.
[00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:18.840] So I had to like work really hard to pay them back really quickly.
[00:10:19.160 --> 00:10:20.280] I love that.
[00:10:20.280 --> 00:10:21.400] I love this story.
[00:10:21.400 --> 00:10:22.120] Okay, cool.
[00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:27.880] So you, you know, a month later, you own this business, everything kind of gets transferred over to you.
[00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:29.240] Like, what do you do?
[00:10:29.240 --> 00:10:31.160] What do you do, you know, immediately after?
[00:10:31.160 --> 00:10:33.240] Like, what's the first day on the job like?
[00:10:33.680 --> 00:10:37.800] Yeah, yeah, I think when I got it, I was like, what the hell do I do?
[00:10:38.040 --> 00:10:44.280] But luckily, yeah, in the contract beforehand, I knew I was someone that like, I'm very risk adverse.
[00:10:44.280 --> 00:10:49.600] Like, I don't like I always played with the ideas of having a business, but I just didn't want to spend money.
[00:10:49.920 --> 00:10:53.600] But I think with this, I thought, you know, the idea is there.
[00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:56.480] I just have to go all in or I won't do it at all.
[00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:02.400] But in my contract, I did put in there that I wanted to be mentored by the previous owner for six weeks.
[00:11:02.400 --> 00:11:05.360] And we kind of set out a schedule of like what I need to learn.
[00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:08.000] And then she just helped me understand like retail.
[00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:13.520] And because she had a background in retail, that's why she was able to help me with the pricing.
[00:11:13.520 --> 00:11:14.960] And she knew how to manufacture.
[00:11:15.040 --> 00:11:17.040] She knew all about branding already.
[00:11:17.040 --> 00:11:21.520] So she quickly upskilled me in like the basics of running a business.
[00:11:21.520 --> 00:11:22.320] Got it.
[00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:22.800] Got it.
[00:11:22.800 --> 00:11:23.840] Okay, cool.
[00:11:24.160 --> 00:11:31.680] So I read that it took you like two years to get to 2 million in sales or something like really amazing, really impressive.
[00:11:31.680 --> 00:11:33.760] You're still working during this time.
[00:11:33.760 --> 00:12:17.800] I kind of want to dig into like the playbook of getting to your first hundred grand in sales and then the playbook to getting to that first million because they're such different playbooks and like the first hundred grand is like it can be really difficult and it requires a lot of that like input to get that kind of product market fit or whatever so at the beginning what is your daily actions and things that you're doing to get sales and get to that first hundred grand yeah so i think looking back like i initially just had to like order my first hundred pair of pajamas because we like when i purchased a business i didn't have any stock but honestly i like i really didn't have like any idea of what i was doing.
[00:12:17.800 --> 00:12:27.400] So, I think um my first thing i wanted to do was just try to post on Instagram every single day, like really high-quality imagery and just get really consistent with that.
[00:12:27.400 --> 00:12:33.880] And honestly, like in 2018, like 2019, there wasn't really any traction because I honestly didn't know about e-comm.
[00:12:33.880 --> 00:12:41.480] So, the previous owner, although she had a lot of retail experience, that was more like bricks and mortar, whereas she didn't really know about the e-commerce space.
[00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:46.840] Like, she knew a little bit of like, oh, yeah, you should run Google ads or you should boost a Facebook ads post here and there.
[00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:51.000] But it wasn't as though she like she wasn't in that space, so she just didn't know.
[00:12:51.560 --> 00:12:54.600] So, honestly, it was very organic at the very beginning.
[00:12:54.600 --> 00:13:01.720] It was practically, we'll just, you know, on the first page of Google, like, whatever sales trickled through the door, it would come through.
[00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:04.680] And then, luckily, we did have that customer base from before.
[00:13:04.680 --> 00:13:06.360] So, we, I did have that email list.
[00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:12.760] So, you know, when it came around to Black Friday, I was able to message everybody and tell them about like our products.
[00:13:12.760 --> 00:13:15.080] So, that was like our first few sales.
[00:13:15.080 --> 00:13:17.880] But honestly, at the beginning, it was very, very slow.
[00:13:19.080 --> 00:13:20.360] And then, what kind of changed?
[00:13:20.360 --> 00:13:30.600] How long did it take you to get to 100,000 in sales or like, you know, a meaningful kind of like, yep, okay, we've got product market fit, like now it's the time to expand further?
[00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:35.480] Yeah, I think it took about a year, perhaps maybe like end of 2019.
[00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:37.960] I kind of got a grasp of a few more things.
[00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:47.320] So, yeah, initially in 2018, I was just posting organically on Instagram, trying to figure things out, just listening to a lot of podcasts and trying to learn things from there.
[00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:54.440] And I remember listening to a podcast from like the high smile guys, and they said, Okay, like we grew through influencer gifting.
[00:13:54.440 --> 00:14:01.000] So, I honestly just like reached out to like a million girls just to see if anyone would take my product.
[00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:03.080] And I probably got, you know, five replies.
[00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:09.840] And then, because I was like very frugal, I would like ship them in like the letter, like the letter package.
[00:14:09.640 --> 00:14:10.240] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:14.880] And I was just hoping that you wouldn't get lost, but I couldn't afford, you know, like $10.
[00:14:14.880 --> 00:14:18.080] Like, I wanted to ship it on the lowest cost possible.
[00:14:14.680 --> 00:14:20.800] I'm just like telling that story because, like, that's where I started.
[00:14:21.040 --> 00:14:23.520] And I understand, like, and it's important.
[00:14:23.520 --> 00:14:25.920] It's a great hack that you're able to do.
[00:14:25.920 --> 00:14:26.800] I love that.
[00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:27.760] Yeah.
[00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:32.640] So, yeah, we sent it out and then we started to get some traction when girls were posting.
[00:14:32.880 --> 00:14:34.480] People were like, oh, what's that brand?
[00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:37.120] Because they haven't seen like a product like that before.
[00:14:37.280 --> 00:14:41.360] Personalized pajamas that it didn't tap that influencer world yet.
[00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:46.320] So yeah, I tapped into that and we started to get more sales organically and more interest there.
[00:14:46.640 --> 00:14:51.680] And then there was one time where some, you know, when you get called outreach emails?
[00:14:51.680 --> 00:14:52.720] Get a lot of those?
[00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:53.040] Yeah.
[00:14:53.920 --> 00:14:58.480] Some guy from who knows where, he was like, oh, I'll run your Facebook ads for you for free.
[00:14:58.640 --> 00:15:00.160] Just like give me your passwords.
[00:15:00.160 --> 00:15:02.880] And at the time, I was very naive.
[00:15:02.880 --> 00:15:07.120] And I just thought, like, anyone who wanted to like reach out and help me, like, they had my best interest.
[00:15:07.280 --> 00:15:08.480] I was like, yeah, sure, go ahead.
[00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:10.160] Like, I gave my password.
[00:15:10.160 --> 00:15:10.640] No.
[00:15:10.880 --> 00:15:13.600] But he actually turned out to be like pretty cool.
[00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:19.760] And he like taught me about like Facebook ads, like, because I was just only boosting, like, boosting posts.
[00:15:19.760 --> 00:15:21.440] So I thought that was Facebook ads.
[00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:26.880] But, you know, going behind like the Facebook ads manager and he was like, you know, you can target people, you can do this.
[00:15:26.880 --> 00:15:29.520] And I was like, oh, wow, there's a whole world behind it.
[00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:31.280] Wait, wait, wait.
[00:15:31.280 --> 00:15:35.120] This guy reaches out to you and he says he'll do it for free.
[00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:36.320] Flag number one.
[00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:40.480] Then he asks for your password, number two, flag.
[00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:41.520] You give it to him.
[00:15:41.520 --> 00:15:46.160] And then all of a sudden, he's actually a good guy and like, helps you.
[00:15:46.160 --> 00:15:48.320] This is like not where I thought this was going.
[00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:49.240] Wait, what?
[00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:49.320] What?
[00:15:49.920 --> 00:15:51.440] But why did he help?
[00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:54.320] Was there like a commission on the sales sold or something?
[00:15:54.560 --> 00:15:58.960] He was just like beginning in his career of like Facebook ads advertising.
[00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:04.440] So he was offering that as a service and being like, okay, once I do that for you, pay me a thousand dollars.
[00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:08.200] But I didn't end up going with him because I was like, oh, a thousand dollars is way too much.
[00:16:08.520 --> 00:16:09.240] Got it.
[00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:09.560] Okay.
[00:16:09.560 --> 00:16:14.280] So he kind of like teaches you or introduces you to the world of ads.
[00:16:14.280 --> 00:16:20.360] And this is like basically a bit of a turning point where you're then like, okay, ads is how I'm gonna scale the business.
[00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:22.040] Yeah, exactly.
[00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:25.160] So are you doing it yourself or are you like, no, I need to hire someone?
[00:16:25.160 --> 00:16:28.760] Yeah, then I went to an agency, like the cheapest agency I could find.
[00:16:28.760 --> 00:16:33.000] And yeah, once again, big mistake because they took a commission off my sales.
[00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:34.040] But at the time, I didn't know.
[00:16:34.040 --> 00:16:39.160] Like, I just went with like the cheapest option possible because I didn't have money to pay like a bigger agency.
[00:16:39.160 --> 00:16:40.840] So I went with them, but they were all really good.
[00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:41.720] Can't deny them.
[00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:42.920] They were amazing.
[00:16:42.920 --> 00:16:46.200] And then I think my other big win was PR agency.
[00:16:46.200 --> 00:16:48.040] So I was working with a PR.
[00:16:48.040 --> 00:16:52.520] Well, I wasn't working with a PR, but I was holding an event with like a charity.
[00:16:52.520 --> 00:16:57.560] And then that PR agency who was managing that event, she reached out to me and asked, you probably know her.
[00:16:57.560 --> 00:16:58.920] It was Jesse at the time.
[00:16:58.920 --> 00:17:00.120] And she just started.
[00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:01.240] Yeah, Jesse from High.
[00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:01.480] Yeah.
[00:17:01.480 --> 00:17:03.320] So that was back in like 2019.
[00:17:03.320 --> 00:17:05.800] I think she was just starting her agency.
[00:17:05.800 --> 00:17:08.280] Yeah, I just wanted to shout out Jessie because she's amazing.
[00:17:08.280 --> 00:17:13.400] And she said, and she practically said, like, you have an amazing product.
[00:17:13.400 --> 00:17:15.000] I would love to manage your brand.
[00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:18.040] And at the time, like, you know, I didn't know what PR was.
[00:17:18.040 --> 00:17:19.800] I was like, what can you do for me?
[00:17:19.800 --> 00:17:22.280] And it was like so expensive in my world.
[00:17:22.760 --> 00:17:25.400] But then I thought, you know, the time is now.
[00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:25.960] I'm young.
[00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:27.560] Let's try something new.
[00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:33.160] And so practically, I just like saved all my income from my full-time job, paid for PR.
[00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:35.480] And that's kind of like how we broke into the market.
[00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:39.880] Like, Jesse was really helpful in terms of like teaching me about media.
[00:17:39.880 --> 00:17:42.120] Like, you need to work, you know, months in advance.
[00:17:42.120 --> 00:19:17.160] Here are like the hot people on like the PR world the influencers because i didn't follow influencers like i came from a physio world and all i did was follow fitness influences so she really taught me about you know that world and got my product in the hands of like really influential people which i think was like a game changer and is this like at this time are you still working like the nine to five or are you like yeah okay i'm going all in at this time so that was um probably around like mid late 2019 so i was still working full-time like the business wasn't yet ticking over enough to cover my full-time income so yeah we're on a good trajectory because we're getting like some small wins but then everything was kind of aligning to the point of like early 2020 when covet happened so at that point around i think it was like april april 2020 an editor from like news.com.au wanted to do a story about like what was selling in yeah covered times and so jesse was like do you want to be on this article and i'm like yes of course let's be everywhere um anytime and then i remember that article went up live on news.com.au and yeah like our sales like quadrupled in one day it was like insane what yeah yeah what was the headline oh it was just like um product selling like hot cakes in like during covid and then we'll align with a lot of like not a lot but maybe like three really um much bigger pajama brands and that just really elevated our brand.
[00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:17.800] Right.
[00:19:18.120 --> 00:19:23.560] And had you kind of before that time, had you been like, I need to get to x amount in revenue.
[00:19:23.560 --> 00:19:27.160] And when i hit that amount of revenue, that's when i can quit my job.
[00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:28.440] And what was that number?
[00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:30.840] Like, is that the kind of two million?
[00:19:29.040 --> 00:19:35.320] Because I've seen a lot of those articles where you went in that first two years to 2 million in rev.
[00:19:29.360 --> 00:19:38.360] Where was the quit my job moment?
[00:19:38.360 --> 00:19:43.720] Okay, so looking back, I definitely quit when it was a bit too late.
[00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:50.600] And I had a revenue goal, but once again, I was growing so quickly and I didn't really have a grasp on business.
[00:19:50.600 --> 00:19:53.400] So I didn't honestly, like everything was running off of Excel.
[00:19:53.400 --> 00:20:00.680] Like I didn't have like zero or any accounting system until much later, probably in like 2021, 2022.
[00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:05.480] So my finances were all over the shop and I wasn't even sure if I was profitable.
[00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:09.000] I was kind of guessing at the time, like I didn't really have a good accountant.
[00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:14.280] And I'm just stating this because this is the reality is if you don't, I come from that business world.
[00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:15.400] Yes.
[00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:18.200] So I definitely made all those mistakes.
[00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:23.640] So I think I remember I was like, oh, when I hit $30,000 in revenue a month, I'll quit my job.
[00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:35.400] But then that kind of bar went higher and higher more because I was scared to like take the plunge because I wasn't sure as well, like whether my income was covering my current income.
[00:20:35.720 --> 00:20:40.120] So I honestly just quit when I couldn't handle it anymore.
[00:20:40.120 --> 00:20:47.080] So when I reached breaking point, I think the business was doing, yeah, definitely over like $100,000 or maybe like $200,000 in revenue.
[00:20:47.320 --> 00:20:50.280] And I just couldn't.
[00:20:50.280 --> 00:20:50.600] Yeah.
[00:20:50.600 --> 00:20:51.400] Okay, got it.
[00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:52.120] In a month.
[00:20:52.120 --> 00:20:55.480] And then I just couldn't handle it doing my full-time job and doing that.
[00:20:55.800 --> 00:20:58.040] I was reaching my breaking point and that's when I quit.
[00:20:58.040 --> 00:21:01.720] So I wouldn't recommend that, but that's what happened to me.
[00:21:02.040 --> 00:21:02.920] Wow.
[00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:03.480] Cool.
[00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:04.760] What an amazing story.
[00:21:04.760 --> 00:21:05.640] I love this.
[00:21:05.640 --> 00:21:09.560] I want to kind of dig into like, okay, you quit your job.
[00:21:09.560 --> 00:21:12.760] You're doing, you know, a couple hundred thousand a month.
[00:21:12.760 --> 00:21:15.520] What are you doing then to kind of like maintain that?
[00:21:15.520 --> 00:21:17.600] Is it, you know, still PR?
[00:21:14.840 --> 00:21:21.360] Is it absolutely like ads are the kind of main revenue driver?
[00:21:21.520 --> 00:21:23.040] Is it influencers?
[00:21:23.040 --> 00:21:24.560] Obviously, there's a mix.
[00:21:24.560 --> 00:21:25.280] Like, I get it.
[00:21:25.280 --> 00:21:30.240] But kind of like, what are the actual primary things that you're focused on every single day?
[00:21:31.120 --> 00:21:36.720] I think it was mainly pushing my product through PR, like understanding our messaging.
[00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:46.080] So for example, in 2020, we really just really honed in like the work from home messaging and then also like the money and me, because that was a trend that like no one really hit.
[00:21:46.080 --> 00:21:52.320] So we just like went hard on that, like tried to be on all the money influencers, paid influencers.
[00:21:52.320 --> 00:21:54.000] And then I also went hard on ads.
[00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:58.400] So I think when I first started on ads, we're spending about like $50 a day.
[00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:07.040] And then we just like, I was just like to my freelancer, like, if, you know, if the ROS is this and we're hitting these numbers, let's just like go hard at it.
[00:22:07.040 --> 00:22:08.320] And she was just scaling it up.
[00:22:08.320 --> 00:22:17.120] And at the time, I was paying someone $500 New Zealand dollars to manage my ads a month, which is like crazy cheap, right?
[00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:22.000] So it was just like, yeah, it was just like a really good mix at the time.
[00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:25.200] Like everything was very low cost because I was doing everything.
[00:22:25.520 --> 00:22:27.760] And yeah, ads back then were like really, really cheap.
[00:22:27.760 --> 00:22:29.120] So it was really easy to see.
[00:22:29.280 --> 00:22:33.200] Is this like pre like the iOS 14 updates?
[00:22:33.600 --> 00:22:34.000] Yeah.
[00:22:34.320 --> 00:22:42.560] When there was like the, it's the world of 40 rowers and like the crazy, the crazy world of Facebook ads that never returned.
[00:22:42.560 --> 00:22:44.560] Yeah, it was a good time.
[00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:45.760] Good time.
[00:22:45.760 --> 00:22:46.560] Okay, cool.
[00:22:46.560 --> 00:22:57.200] And so at that time, I feel like ads were also like less, like the content was important, but like in today's world of ads, like the content is just absolutely critical.
[00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:59.200] You know, these platforms are so sophisticated.
[00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:08.840] They can find the audience, but like if the messaging and the visual of the content just doesn't resonate, then like you've lost basically.
[00:23:08.840 --> 00:23:24.440] I want to kind of understand the journey from like, you know, around that time to now and kind of what the pivotal moments were, how things started to change as like ads changed in the landscape, social media has obviously changed, introduction of TikTok, like all the things.
[00:23:24.440 --> 00:23:26.680] I kind of want to understand like then to now.
[00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:31.160] And also like, obviously, we were in COVID and then coming out of COVID.
[00:23:31.720 --> 00:23:32.280] Yeah.
[00:23:32.280 --> 00:23:38.680] So I think, yeah, in Australia, most e-commerce brands were still growing throughout 2021, 2022.
[00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:44.360] So we still like leverage that because we think we still had one bout of lockdowns in 2021.
[00:23:44.360 --> 00:23:51.720] And then, yeah, 2022 was also another big year because I then decided to upskill myself in Facebook ads.
[00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:57.160] So I did e-commerce equation, which was really helpful just to understand like what other brands are doing.
[00:23:57.720 --> 00:24:04.760] Yeah, because I kind of just got sick of not being able to like understand my ads and like put up a campaign whenever I wanted to.
[00:24:04.760 --> 00:24:06.920] So that definitely helped a lot.
[00:24:06.920 --> 00:24:12.840] And this is e-commerce equation is Jay Wright's kind of, it's not really a course.
[00:24:12.840 --> 00:24:16.200] It's like a done with you kind of group service, right?
[00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:17.960] Where you get on like calls with coaches.
[00:24:17.960 --> 00:24:23.160] They kind of teach you how to do your own ads, but you've got access to experts to help you whenever you want.
[00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:25.240] Is that still the case or the premise generally?
[00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:27.400] I'm not in the program anymore.
[00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:31.960] I was like, I was part of the program when there was like less than 50 people.
[00:24:31.960 --> 00:24:32.680] Oh, okay, right.
[00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:33.160] The early.
[00:24:33.320 --> 00:24:33.720] Yeah, yeah.
[00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:35.400] I was like very early.
[00:24:35.400 --> 00:24:40.680] And then, yeah, it was practically you would go on group coaching halls and they'll teach you how to run ads.
[00:24:40.680 --> 00:26:19.480] And I honestly was like really scared to run my own ads um for a long time um because it's just like a scary place to be in control um but then once i took over them i think that made a dramatic change to my business because like you're the only person that really knows like the pulse like you have the pulse on your business like what's selling every second right so i think that was like a huge game changer learning ads for me and then i think from then to now like understanding like brand product ranges like wholesale in general like i was just needed to upskill myself so i think my main issue was that the business grew too quickly and it was like too big for my skill set so i've just spent the last like few years kind of consolidating like myself working on myself getting all those habits in place because back then even though the business was growing really rapidly like i wasn't eating like i was barely eating i was barely sleeping i was not happy um i didn't know how to manage my finances so it was just like yeah it was just like a shit show for a second you're like i need to work through this to get to you know a place where things are more like systems processes exactly and eliminate this like simmering stress of not knowing exactly so i've been more in kind of like that consolidating upskilling phase in the past few years because yeah it's like the business just grew too quickly where um yeah if you can imagine like a physio student um first year out, never managed a team, like always worked in a small business, never worked in corporate.
[00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:22.840] And now you're running a business, like multi-million dollar business.
[00:26:22.840 --> 00:26:25.080] You can't even like look after yourself properly.
[00:26:25.080 --> 00:26:31.160] So I just needed to, I guess, like grow into myself and learn, learn those skills first.
[00:26:31.800 --> 00:26:34.840] At what point did you start hiring people into the business?
[00:26:34.840 --> 00:26:40.680] And what were those roles to kind of help you, like help you in that transition process?
[00:26:40.680 --> 00:26:48.120] Sure, I think I first hired someone in like 2019, like offshore staff, and she helped manage my social media.
[00:26:48.120 --> 00:26:52.840] And then I was honestly still doing everything in like 2020.
[00:26:52.840 --> 00:26:55.000] So that's why I was extremely burnt out.
[00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:57.000] And I just didn't know how to delegate.
[00:26:57.000 --> 00:26:59.480] Like, I like I didn't have that skill set.
[00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:01.080] I didn't even know how to do it.
[00:27:01.080 --> 00:27:05.320] And then I think 2021 was when I started to bring more offshore staff.
[00:27:05.320 --> 00:27:08.680] And once again, that was a decision because I was just scared.
[00:27:08.680 --> 00:27:11.160] Like, I wasn't sure about my numbers.
[00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:13.400] I just wanted to keep everything low cost.
[00:27:13.400 --> 00:27:14.280] And what were they doing?
[00:27:14.280 --> 00:27:15.720] Those like offshore talent?
[00:27:15.720 --> 00:27:21.000] What were the kind of roles or like, you know, deliverables or projects that they were really focused on?
[00:27:21.320 --> 00:27:24.600] So then I ended up, yeah, hiring four full-time staff.
[00:27:24.600 --> 00:27:26.920] So one was managing my customer service.
[00:27:27.240 --> 00:27:32.200] One was doing all the influencer outreach, management, PR, pictures.
[00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:37.640] One was kind of just doing like everything, like management of everything, making sure everything's running.
[00:27:38.120 --> 00:27:43.240] And then another one was doing more, I'm trying to remember now, like more wholesale.
[00:27:43.240 --> 00:27:43.800] Yeah.
[00:27:44.920 --> 00:27:46.120] Okay, cool.
[00:27:46.440 --> 00:27:56.360] And at that time, was wholesale a big part of the business or was it kind of, you know, just a channel that you wanted to grow in addition to the kind of D2C website?
[00:27:57.320 --> 00:28:08.680] We didn't, yeah, necessarily like push wholesale, but there was a lot of interest like during that time because we were seen like on a lot of influencers and a lot of celebrities.
[00:28:08.680 --> 00:28:13.280] So we just needed someone to kind of like manage that or like the wholesale orders.
[00:28:13.280 --> 00:28:15.440] And it was more from smaller boutiques.
[00:28:14.840 --> 00:28:17.440] Okay, got it.
[00:28:18.080 --> 00:28:23.280] And for you, like, you know, when I look at your kind of product catalogue now, you have so many amazing products.
[00:28:23.280 --> 00:28:28.880] You have like the matching dog pajamas, you have, you know, basically a huge range.
[00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:35.360] When did you start introducing like new product drops and how important was that to the growth of the business?
[00:28:35.360 --> 00:28:42.000] Like that newness and introducing new lines and different trends and things like that?
[00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:47.920] Yeah, it was extremely important because when I first started, we did, we had four pajamas.
[00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:50.320] So like one style in four colors.
[00:28:50.320 --> 00:28:56.160] And then I just knew that we had to like expand that range because it was a very niche product.
[00:28:56.160 --> 00:29:03.840] And then, yeah, especially during COVID, like we're predominantly a like women's wear brand, but it was our customer feedback.
[00:29:03.840 --> 00:29:05.520] They were asking, oh, do you have kids' pajamas?
[00:29:05.520 --> 00:29:06.560] Do you have men's pajamas?
[00:29:06.560 --> 00:29:07.200] Do you have this?
[00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:07.760] Do you have that?
[00:29:07.760 --> 00:29:09.120] Do you have three quarter leg pants?
[00:29:09.120 --> 00:29:10.400] Do you have this print?
[00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:13.200] And honestly, that just like the demand was there.
[00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:16.560] And I was just creating whatever like our customers wanted.
[00:29:16.560 --> 00:29:18.800] So we're very lucky in that space.
[00:29:18.800 --> 00:29:19.840] Got it.
[00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:28.880] And like fast forward to kind of, you know, recent years, like last year, this year, what are the kind of things that you focus on now?
[00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:38.720] Like, I know that you guys have a really big Instagram, but is it still like, you know, we still gift at scale, we still work with influencers at scale, we're still doing ads, or is there like that?
[00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:46.240] And, you know, it's pop-ups or TikTok or like, what are the kind of things that work in today's world for you?
[00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:55.600] For us, it's definitely more like staying top of mind, email, like nurturing our email list, but definitely like our main driver and focus is product.
[00:29:55.600 --> 00:29:57.520] So, creating new products.
[00:29:57.840 --> 00:30:01.560] Because, yeah, we've been around for a while now, so we do have the audience.
[00:30:01.880 --> 00:30:12.120] But I guess, like, one of my lessons and one of my learnings was like in 2023, I took too much time off, like traveling and like enjoying myself, and I wasn't working on those new product releases.
[00:30:12.120 --> 00:30:14.520] And so, that was like one of my mistakes.
[00:30:14.520 --> 00:30:23.240] Where I wish I released more products because, like, for example, we released probably one new product this year, which is way too slow.
[00:30:23.240 --> 00:30:26.040] But, like, once we release it, you sold out.
[00:30:26.040 --> 00:30:34.120] So, I just know that if I continually release new products, like our audience is hungry for it, I just need to get into the creative mode.
[00:30:34.120 --> 00:30:35.000] Right, right.
[00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:44.760] Yeah, so newness is that really big driver to kind of keep it fresh and to be able to re-kind of engage your existing, loyal, kind of customer base.
[00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:52.040] Take control of the numbers and supercharge your small business with zero.
[00:30:52.040 --> 00:30:55.560] That's X-E-R-O.
[00:30:55.560 --> 00:31:04.360] With our easy-to-use accounting software with automation and reporting features, you'll spend less time on manual tasks and more time understanding how your business is doing.
[00:31:04.360 --> 00:31:06.200] 87% of surveyed U.S.
[00:31:06.280 --> 00:31:09.640] customers agree Xero helps improve financial visibility.
[00:31:09.640 --> 00:31:15.480] Search Zero with an X or visit zero.com/slash ACAST to start your 30-day free trial.
[00:31:15.480 --> 00:31:17.160] Conditions apply.
[00:31:19.720 --> 00:31:29.160] How do partnerships work for you and like co-labs with other brands or other kinds of like even influencers on those kind of product development pipeline?
[00:31:30.120 --> 00:31:32.360] What do you mean by that as being like a campaigns?
[00:31:32.360 --> 00:31:52.240] Like, well, I'm like, do you, you know, do you do partnerships and like partner with someone to do a limited edition print on, you know, like, I don't know, like Pantone or like another cool brand in a different space and doing like a collab range capsule collection?
[00:31:53.040 --> 00:32:02.960] We've only done it with brands so far where, you know, they've reached out, but not necessarily done it in like a big marketing campaign.
[00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:06.960] Like a lot of brands have reached out to us being like, hey, can we put our logo on your pajamas?
[00:32:06.960 --> 00:32:09.280] And then they'll use it for their campaigns.
[00:32:09.760 --> 00:32:10.080] Got it.
[00:32:10.080 --> 00:32:10.480] Yeah.
[00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:11.360] Got it.
[00:32:11.360 --> 00:32:16.000] But we haven't yet tested the whole like influencer collaboration campaign.
[00:32:16.080 --> 00:32:17.760] That's definitely on the cards though.
[00:32:17.760 --> 00:32:22.480] And definitely we want to do more licensing products and ranges as well.
[00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:32.160] Oh, and so licensing products, is that like, you know, getting the license for like Disney or something and doing a Disney range or like a, you know, a frozen range or something like that?
[00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:32.480] Yes.
[00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:33.120] Yeah.
[00:32:33.120 --> 00:32:37.840] So if you think about, let's say, like the Ori and how they do a lot, a lot of licensings.
[00:32:37.840 --> 00:32:38.240] Yeah.
[00:32:38.240 --> 00:32:42.480] So Davey talks about how that really helps grow his brand.
[00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:44.000] And like, how do you get a license?
[00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:45.760] How does that actually work?
[00:32:45.760 --> 00:32:50.000] Oh, I'm still in the process, but essentially you can reach out to them.
[00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:52.000] A lot of them do have like licensing deals.
[00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:55.040] There's even an expo, I believe, in Las Vegas.
[00:32:55.360 --> 00:32:56.800] It's like a licensing expo.
[00:32:56.800 --> 00:33:04.640] So if you really wanted to, you can go there and talk to people and like get those licensing deals there because they're also there to make money off you.
[00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:05.600] Right.
[00:33:05.600 --> 00:33:14.480] So basically kind of like you reach out, you pay some kind of upfront fee and then you pay based on like units sold a commission or something like that?
[00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:15.760] Yeah, I believe so.
[00:33:15.760 --> 00:33:19.600] So like I said, I haven't like gone through the whole entire process yet.
[00:33:19.840 --> 00:33:26.320] But essentially, yeah, you can either negotiate, it's like retainer or it's a like a royalty fee of every product made.
[00:33:26.320 --> 00:35:10.000] And then you kind of negotiate with them on the whole deal i love that that's so cool is there any like teasers that you can drop of who you're gonna be doing some licensing deals with uh not just yet but let's just say key moments around like easter oh okay great so think about that who you could yeah license with in easter time family okay exciting i love that okay i want to understand like more about you know instagram seems like it's your primary kind of channel and you know i think you have circa 80 000 followers on there what is kind of like your influencer strategy at the moment what are the things that you're doing that are working and is it you doing it or is it someone offshore or is it someone onshore doing that content and well i mean whatever the strategy is yeah so i do have an australian freelancer and i found like that just works because they like are really interested in the market whereas if you have someone offshore they're not too they're interested in their own world right so australian freelancer and then she has like an offshore assistant to do all like the tedious work so yeah we still do influencer send outs i think our big recent win was like in valentine's day timmy hembrow posted one of our sendouts which is pretty cool oh my god that's so cool i love that what's the impact on something like that oh so there's a lot of interest but i think at the time our product it was like red pajamas and it was posted on valentine's day so it wasn't like if it was posted earlier, perhaps maybe people would have wanted it to, I guess, buy that as a product, but it was like on the day itself.
[00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:12.400] So it was a bit too late for that moment.
[00:35:12.400 --> 00:36:48.280] So yeah, my advice is, for example, if you want more sales for Mother's Day, like do those campaigns in advance and like paid campaigns in advance because then it gives like your customers some time to think about that product and then you know ask their husbands for ask their husbands to buy for them send the link yeah exactly so yeah there was definitely a lot of like um interest and brand awareness because i know that my friends for example they're all flicking across to me being like oh my gosh tony hambrow posted or um during that campaign they're like oh my gosh i keep seeing your brand everywhere so even if it wasn't like direct increase in sales it was definitely just like keeping your brand front of mind yeah very much like top of funnel top of funnel and like for you now what are the things that you're like yeah i just know that if i invest in this i get you know this roi like and i'm i know again it's like a lot of different things and there's creators or ugc or there's ads or there's pr or there's like long-term you know more of a google kind of seo strategy like all the different things but what are the things that you're like today this is what's important to invest in like this is where i am happy to spend money because it's working okay i think for me for example our bridal range does really well and it's because yeah our product is unique in the market it's in demand like brides are always wanting to spend money on our products so it's honestly just like figuring out your offer like your offer in your in the market like for example if i was trying to sell summer pajamas right now like no one will buy it right because it's just like not the time in the market.
[00:36:48.280 --> 00:36:56.440] So, figuring out like what's actually working, like, I always try to look at you know what what's actually been selling in the past seven days and focus more on that.
[00:36:56.760 --> 00:37:07.720] So, you know, if we're getting big orders for bridal, then i'll just focus on that bridal messaging, like spam it through organic socials through our Instagram because that's where most of our audience lies.
[00:37:07.720 --> 00:37:12.360] And then I honestly just target a lot through ads and like just really hone in on that messaging.
[00:37:12.360 --> 00:37:15.160] So, for example, we have a Christmas in July campaign right now.
[00:37:15.160 --> 00:37:18.760] So, we're selling Christmas pajamas in July right now.
[00:37:18.760 --> 00:37:24.440] And that's just a way to, yeah, be ahead of the competition, be in front of people's minds.
[00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:32.280] And I just like am very competitive in that, like, if they're buying midnight mischief now, like, they're not going to buy another brand for Christmas, right?
[00:37:32.600 --> 00:37:40.280] Or some customers only come to us like for Christmas pajamas, so it's like giving them that option to shop with us early.
[00:37:40.280 --> 00:37:48.520] So, it's just, yeah, my main focuses is like product, like product offer, and then amplifying that message.
[00:37:48.520 --> 00:37:49.480] Yeah, I love that.
[00:37:49.480 --> 00:37:59.560] There's like an editorial calendar of things that are happening in the year that you can cling on to, i.e., Valentine's Day, Easter, Christmas in July, Christmas, blah.
[00:37:59.800 --> 00:38:08.520] But then there's also life stages, bridal party, bridal moment, whatever other moments that are like life events that you can also tap into.
[00:38:08.520 --> 00:38:16.440] And so, when you think about how many moments there are in a year or in someone's life, like I love that.
[00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:21.000] And then all the fun stuff, like the matching and the, you know, the dog pajamas and stuff like that.
[00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:21.960] So cool.
[00:38:21.960 --> 00:38:23.320] So interesting.
[00:38:23.640 --> 00:38:24.600] How fun.
[00:38:24.600 --> 00:38:25.720] Very cool.
[00:38:25.720 --> 00:38:34.280] Just circling back to a second for this kind of like, you know, we were talking earlier about offshore talent, and now you have obviously a mix of onshore and offshore.
[00:38:34.280 --> 00:38:38.840] What is the kind of roles that you still outsource to offshore talent?
[00:38:38.840 --> 00:38:55.600] And, like, do you recommend that kind of for, you know, if someone's listening and they're in that early stage and they don't have the budget to like hire full-time staff or hire, you know, on-the-ground kind of um team members, what should they be thinking about with offshore talent?
[00:38:55.600 --> 00:38:58.480] I think you can definitely offload customer service.
[00:38:58.480 --> 00:39:11.680] It was probably a little bit trickier like back in 2018, but now, for example, ChatGPT exists, so you don't have to issues with like English and like tone of voice and everything like that.
[00:39:11.680 --> 00:39:21.920] But for example, ChatGPT, you can just pop in your customer service manual and then like, you know, get if they have a customer inquiry, they can just pop that customer inquiry in there and it'll type a response.
[00:39:21.920 --> 00:39:23.840] So it's like so much easier now.
[00:39:24.080 --> 00:39:30.400] Whereas before, yeah, there was a lot of teething issues in terms of like, you know, you're not writing the message the right way.
[00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:33.680] So that has definitely made like everyone's life easier.
[00:39:33.680 --> 00:39:39.280] And I definitely recommend outsourcing your customer service as soon as possible, if possible.
[00:39:39.280 --> 00:39:44.720] I still would recommend you to like do your customer service because you get that feedback.
[00:39:44.720 --> 00:39:50.160] But once again, I always ask my VA like at the end of the week, like, what's the customer feedback?
[00:39:50.160 --> 00:39:50.880] What are they saying?
[00:39:50.880 --> 00:39:52.720] Is there anything like, is there a complaint?
[00:39:52.720 --> 00:39:53.680] What's a positive?
[00:39:53.680 --> 00:39:58.000] So that just helps you keep in touch with the customer side as well.
[00:39:58.000 --> 00:40:06.960] I think social media management, like scheduling everything is important because that's a lot of time wasted if you're doing it yourself.
[00:40:06.960 --> 00:40:10.080] I think those are the two main things that you can do.
[00:40:10.080 --> 00:40:19.360] And yeah, if they can do social media management, if you have the content already, like they can schedule everything and like repost on every single platform, and that can really help you.
[00:40:19.680 --> 00:40:25.680] What would you say, like, to a small business owner listening in right now, like, what not to invest money on?
[00:40:25.680 --> 00:40:28.120] Like, what you should not be spending on.
[00:40:28.120 --> 00:40:33.480] And based on lessons learned, what are the things that are easy traps to fall into?
[00:40:33.480 --> 00:40:39.160] You know, like you can just drain money, not get results, and then be like, shit, that didn't work.
[00:40:39.480 --> 00:40:49.800] I think what I see happens is a lot of people pay a lot of money for Google Ads, like a lot of agency fees for Google Ads and SEO.
[00:40:49.800 --> 00:40:51.480] And I think that's not necessary.
[00:40:51.480 --> 00:41:01.560] Like, you can set up Google Ads is something where you can kind of set and forget, like, okay, you can't really forget about it, but it's not as intricate as, let's say, Facebook ads.
[00:41:01.560 --> 00:41:06.520] So, you could have someone, you know, work on their account like a few hours a week and then have it set up.
[00:41:06.520 --> 00:41:09.640] Or SEO, for example, like that's more of a long-term game.
[00:41:09.640 --> 00:41:21.240] But if you want, you know, quick sales through the door, like getting on the first page of, you know, like your search term isn't going to get you from A to B as quickly as you want.
[00:41:21.240 --> 00:41:26.600] So I would say just be wary of those, depending on your product as well.
[00:41:26.600 --> 00:41:40.360] And oh, that's a really hard question, but perhaps even like rent costs or warehousing costs, like try to keep everything as, I guess, bootstrapped and as lean as possible.
[00:41:40.360 --> 00:41:48.520] Because I, yeah, had friends in like the e-commerce accounting space, and she said, like in Australia right now, the retail market is pretty soft.
[00:41:48.520 --> 00:41:59.400] But she said the brands that are doing well are the ones are like doing $20 million in revenue, but they're like doing it all from home or they don't have lots of, yeah, like they don't have lots of staff, for example.
[00:41:59.400 --> 00:42:06.040] Whereas the ones that are really struggling are the ones who are really finding it difficult to scale up and down quickly.
[00:42:06.040 --> 00:42:06.440] Right.
[00:42:06.440 --> 00:42:18.800] So kind of like those fixed, locked in, like overhead costs, like yeah, an office or like a warehouse or a big team when it's like you want to be as lean as possible basically.
[00:42:19.600 --> 00:42:24.800] And so for you are you still doing your own ads now or have you now outsourced to an agency?
[00:42:25.120 --> 00:42:26.560] So yeah, it's been a journey.
[00:42:26.560 --> 00:42:31.120] So I started running my own ads in 2022 and then I ran it in 2023.
[00:42:31.120 --> 00:42:37.520] Then I started trying to write like I thought, okay, let's try to get it outsourced to an agency or freelancer.
[00:42:37.760 --> 00:42:39.120] They were great.
[00:42:39.120 --> 00:42:51.360] And now because I have the skill set to run my own ads, I know what's good and bad, but I just felt that the missing part was like they didn't care enough as much as like you as your own business.
[00:42:51.360 --> 00:43:01.840] So ideally, like because of those two lessons where I've actually learned the skill set, I've tried to outsource it to an agency, like a great agency and a great freelancer, but it still just wasn't hitting the mark.
[00:43:01.840 --> 00:43:04.880] So I think now it's more about like building that internal team.
[00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:10.080] I think I tried that route and then now it's like, no, I think we just need to keep it in-house.
[00:43:10.080 --> 00:43:10.480] Right.
[00:43:10.480 --> 00:43:11.680] Okay, got it.
[00:43:11.680 --> 00:43:21.440] For you, what is your kind of like superpower and zone of genius that you're like, I need to make sure that I put time and energy every single day into this?
[00:43:21.440 --> 00:43:25.520] Because obviously, you know, you're running the business, you're running a team, you're managing lots of different things.
[00:43:25.520 --> 00:43:31.920] But where's the thing that you're like, I'm really good at X and I just know that I do that every day?
[00:43:32.880 --> 00:43:40.000] I think, okay, so I know I'm really good at product and like knowing what people want because I'm my customer.
[00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:41.120] I don't do it enough.
[00:43:41.120 --> 00:43:43.600] So that's why I will behind on the new product launches.
[00:43:43.600 --> 00:43:45.760] And that's why I wanted to bring that up.
[00:43:45.760 --> 00:43:49.200] Just like that's a mistake that can happen to anyone.
[00:43:49.200 --> 00:43:50.800] Don't play too much.
[00:43:50.800 --> 00:43:52.400] Still focus on your business.
[00:43:52.400 --> 00:43:56.000] But yeah, I am definitely focused on, let's say, like, yeah, new products.
[00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:58.320] For example, our feather pajamas.
[00:43:58.320 --> 00:44:01.560] Like, I was meant to release that back in 2020, but then life got in the way.
[00:43:59.920 --> 00:44:03.080] Um, business was growing really quickly.
[00:44:03.400 --> 00:44:08.440] But even though I released it like two years later, like that's still one of our best performing products.
[00:44:08.440 --> 00:44:17.720] Right now, I just try to focus on like talking to my manufacturers every single day and making sure like we're moving the needle moving forward on product development.
[00:44:17.720 --> 00:44:19.880] Got it, got it, got it, got it.
[00:44:19.880 --> 00:44:22.120] I want to understand because what month are we in now?
[00:44:22.120 --> 00:44:23.640] We're like nearly August.
[00:44:23.640 --> 00:44:24.840] Yeah, we're in July.
[00:44:24.840 --> 00:44:26.760] We're nearly coming up to August.
[00:44:26.760 --> 00:44:29.480] Like, when is cyber weekend and like Black Friday?
[00:44:29.480 --> 00:44:30.200] It's like November.
[00:44:30.200 --> 00:44:31.240] It's in November.
[00:44:31.480 --> 00:44:35.400] How do you plan for that kind of moment?
[00:44:35.400 --> 00:44:38.520] Because obviously, like, this is a big moment for a lot of e-com brands.
[00:44:38.520 --> 00:44:41.640] And then this blends into kind of like Christmas and gifting sales.
[00:44:41.640 --> 00:44:44.760] So it's like gearing up to that time.
[00:44:44.760 --> 00:44:47.080] How far out are you planning for that?
[00:44:47.080 --> 00:44:49.480] What is the strategy in the lead up?
[00:44:49.480 --> 00:44:50.040] Yeah.
[00:44:50.040 --> 00:44:59.080] So yeah, that's a very big question and very loaded question because, yeah, like most brands, we, it's like pajamas time to shine in November.
[00:44:59.080 --> 00:45:07.160] So if you look at the Google trends, like we peak at December because like everybody wants to buy pajamas as a gift, everybody wants to wear pajamas.
[00:45:07.160 --> 00:45:09.400] Like pajamas are just like everyone wants matching.
[00:45:09.400 --> 00:45:10.600] Yeah, everyone wants matching.
[00:45:10.600 --> 00:45:13.560] So it's just like we really take it seriously.
[00:45:13.560 --> 00:45:16.120] And I definitely plan like, yeah, we're planning from now.
[00:45:16.120 --> 00:45:18.040] I'm already starting to sell Christmas pajamas now.
[00:45:18.040 --> 00:45:22.120] That's how like I sell Christmas pajamas from July to December.
[00:45:22.760 --> 00:45:23.480] Oh shit.
[00:45:23.720 --> 00:45:28.360] I thought you meant more like just Christmas in July pajamas, but now it's already starting.
[00:45:28.360 --> 00:45:31.400] Oh no, we're selling Christmas pajamas now.
[00:45:32.040 --> 00:45:33.960] Oh my god, that blows my mind.
[00:45:33.960 --> 00:45:37.080] I'm like, that's like forever away.
[00:45:37.080 --> 00:45:37.800] Okay, wow.
[00:45:37.800 --> 00:45:48.800] And so, are you kind of forecasting and doing your projections on like how much stock you'll need for cyber weekend and like what the offer is going to be and what the product range is going to be and things like that?
[00:45:44.920 --> 00:45:49.520] Yeah.
[00:45:49.760 --> 00:45:59.600] So, um, even when it's like last Black Friday, like right afterwards, I would already like assess like what's happened, what's sold, like, how can we make it better?
[00:45:59.600 --> 00:46:01.280] Like, what products do we need in?
[00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:03.840] Like, what, you know, what sold out really quickly?
[00:46:03.840 --> 00:46:06.080] What items are people on the wait list for.
[00:46:06.080 --> 00:46:12.000] And then, I generally, yeah, we have like our Black Friday stock coming in around, it's pretty early, but around September.
[00:46:12.000 --> 00:46:19.120] But we just like to be extra stocked because October is also another big gift, like gifting season, I suppose.
[00:46:19.120 --> 00:46:28.080] And we try to, I guess, get that new customer acquisition in October because if they try our product in October, then they'll buy it again during Christmas.
[00:46:28.400 --> 00:46:29.760] Oh, right.
[00:46:30.080 --> 00:46:30.960] Wow.
[00:46:30.960 --> 00:46:45.120] And like, now that you've got, I mean, many years of Black Friday kind of learnings under your belt, what are the kind of like do's and don'ts that you could share for someone else who's, I need to like get on top of this, you know, for this year.
[00:46:45.120 --> 00:46:45.440] Okay.
[00:46:45.440 --> 00:46:45.920] Yeah.
[00:46:45.920 --> 00:46:50.000] Um, do's is, yeah, definitely try to your best to forecast your sales.
[00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.320] And if you have revenue goals, like work backwards, like how much stuff you actually need.
[00:46:54.320 --> 00:46:56.320] Make sure you're not over-discounting.
[00:46:56.320 --> 00:47:02.640] I think one of my Black Fridays, I over-discounted and we didn't make as much profit as like the previous year.
[00:47:02.640 --> 00:47:05.600] So just be wary about your offer as well.
[00:47:05.920 --> 00:47:14.400] I also recommend like trying to do like a gift with purchase so people can have like a you know bigger average order value when they purchase on a day.
[00:47:14.400 --> 00:47:25.840] And I think I like doing like prices as marked rather than an automatic discount because it's just like a psychological thing when they go on your website and they can actually see the dollar amount, like how much they're saving.
[00:47:25.840 --> 00:47:29.840] I think those really contribute to a successful Black Friday.
[00:47:30.120 --> 00:47:43.080] And I think really honing in on your like email SMS strategy and your messaging like beforehand, like one month in advance, just to teeth out any issues.
[00:47:43.080 --> 00:47:54.120] But don't be afraid to like spam your audience because I know that a lot of people are like, oh no, like I don't want to be annoying, but everybody's being annoying at that time and you just need to cut through the noise.
[00:47:54.120 --> 00:48:01.160] So don't be afraid to like email your customer list like every single day, like SMS them a lot of times because every other brand is doing it.
[00:48:01.160 --> 00:48:05.480] So you just need to kind of like cut through that noise as well or try to start early.
[00:48:05.480 --> 00:48:09.640] Like Black Friday is going early and earlier every single time.
[00:48:09.640 --> 00:48:12.200] So yeah, 2018, Black Friday was like pretty small.
[00:48:12.200 --> 00:48:15.480] 2019, people started to know about it.
[00:48:15.480 --> 00:48:18.280] Like it wasn't well known in Australia just yet.
[00:48:18.280 --> 00:48:22.920] And then yeah, now I saw brands last year like starting in October.
[00:48:22.920 --> 00:48:25.560] Like they were doing their own Black Friday in October.
[00:48:25.560 --> 00:48:28.200] And then a lot of brands were starting on November 1st.
[00:48:28.200 --> 00:48:32.200] So this time around is kind of just like cowboy.
[00:48:32.200 --> 00:48:35.480] Like you do whatever, you do whatever you want.
[00:48:35.800 --> 00:48:36.440] Cowboy.
[00:48:36.440 --> 00:48:37.320] I love that.
[00:48:37.320 --> 00:48:45.480] So do you then have like kind of a calendar or like an editorial kind of overview of this is how our messaging is going to change throughout that period?
[00:48:45.480 --> 00:48:51.720] So it's like, you know, the offer might be like X today and it's totally different tomorrow or next week.
[00:48:51.720 --> 00:49:01.160] And the messaging is totally different too to kind of like keep it fresh if it's going for these kind of longer periods of time versus it used to just be, you know, like a long weekend.
[00:49:01.160 --> 00:49:01.640] Yeah.
[00:49:01.960 --> 00:49:07.320] So previously, I think in 2022, yeah, our Black Friday was a normal Black Friday.
[00:49:07.320 --> 00:49:12.120] And then November, we had like a month-long because I just saw everybody launching straight away.
[00:49:12.120 --> 00:49:14.800] And we just needed to be like ahead of everybody.
[00:49:14.800 --> 00:49:16.240] So we trialled that as well.
[00:49:14.440 --> 00:49:19.520] But the month-long Black Friday just got really, really long.
[00:49:19.840 --> 00:49:28.240] So I think this year we're just like, my plan is to release like new products throughout the month or like the few weeks.
[00:49:28.240 --> 00:49:31.440] or like limited edition releases to keep it fresh.
[00:49:31.440 --> 00:49:38.320] So that's what a lot of new brands are doing now to because people purchase once, but then they won't ever come back.
[00:49:38.320 --> 00:49:41.600] For example, my brand were like perfect gifts essentially.
[00:49:41.600 --> 00:49:49.600] So it's just a nice way if you release something new and a new offer or like an old product or a new like an old colorway that people want.
[00:49:49.600 --> 00:49:52.640] It's just a nice way for people to come back to you.
[00:49:52.960 --> 00:49:53.600] Love.
[00:49:53.600 --> 00:49:54.480] I love that.
[00:49:54.480 --> 00:49:55.360] So clever.
[00:49:55.360 --> 00:49:56.800] Very cool.
[00:49:56.800 --> 00:49:58.160] What do you want to shout about?
[00:49:58.160 --> 00:49:59.040] What's exciting?
[00:49:59.040 --> 00:50:00.640] Oh, what's exciting?
[00:50:00.960 --> 00:50:02.320] Yeah, Christmas pajamas.
[00:50:03.360 --> 00:50:08.560] If you want matching Christmas pajamas and doggy pajamas, we're already selling them.
[00:50:09.840 --> 00:50:15.760] Or if you know, yeah, anyone getting married, we're also releasing, yeah, some really cool bridal dresses.
[00:50:15.760 --> 00:50:48.680] I'm definitely like my focus is trying to elevate our brand even more and creating like really cool products because I see a lot of brands in like the US like have some really nice things but then in Australia we don't have that offering and it's like very expensive to ship over here so I'm definitely um focusing more on that bridal aspect especially because I'm reaching in that new phase of life where I'm like looking to get married um so like I'm my perfect target audience that I can design for so that's practically what I'm focusing on, like keeping it simple.
[00:50:48.680 --> 00:50:53.080] Like, I really love our Christmas collection, like, that just gives me a lot of joy.
[00:50:53.080 --> 00:50:54.440] And I also love like the bridal.
[00:50:54.440 --> 00:50:59.480] So, I'm really just like leaning into those two like offerings at the moment.
[00:50:59.480 --> 00:51:00.680] Love.
[00:51:00.680 --> 00:51:11.560] And what's kind of a piece of advice that you would leave anyone who's listening in right now with that's your like key key learning, key lesson, key thing that you love to share?
[00:51:12.360 --> 00:51:18.120] I think it's just keep pushing, like believe in yourself.
[00:51:18.120 --> 00:51:19.880] You just need to continually work hard.
[00:51:19.880 --> 00:51:26.520] I think one of my big mistakes was I kind of like took my foot off the pedal because I was like, oh yeah, we did so well this year.
[00:51:26.520 --> 00:51:28.280] Like, I can go on holidays.
[00:51:28.280 --> 00:51:31.720] And, like, I heard that business advice of like, you can't take your foot off the pedal.
[00:51:31.720 --> 00:51:34.840] Like, you know, business can go like up and down anytime.
[00:51:34.840 --> 00:51:36.600] Like, you need to be really focused.
[00:51:36.600 --> 00:51:38.680] And I thought, like, that won't happen to me.
[00:51:38.680 --> 00:51:43.000] And then, like, yeah, I took too much time off, but then I definitely felt it this year.
[00:51:43.000 --> 00:51:51.160] And once again, like, I'm just telling this just to get the realities of like, you know, those real business lessons that people don't really talk about.
[00:51:51.160 --> 00:51:56.920] So it's definitely like you need to stay focused and you need to be consistent like every single day.
[00:51:56.920 --> 00:51:59.560] I think that's my main driving message.
[00:51:59.560 --> 00:52:02.760] And when things feel hard, like that's, that's normal.
[00:52:02.760 --> 00:52:05.320] Like, you just need to keep pushing.
[00:52:05.560 --> 00:52:07.720] I think that's my main message.
[00:52:07.720 --> 00:52:08.600] I love that.
[00:52:08.600 --> 00:52:10.040] And I think it's so true.
[00:52:10.040 --> 00:52:24.440] Like, when things feel hard, you need to keep pushing because that's like, that's the time when it's easy to quit, but you've got to keep compounding the effort and compounding those tiny actions every single day so that you come out the other side eventually.
[00:52:24.440 --> 00:52:26.280] Yeah, because my favorite.
[00:52:26.840 --> 00:52:29.640] I love listening to a podcast by Sally McRae.
[00:52:29.640 --> 00:52:31.400] She's an ultra marathoner.
[00:52:31.400 --> 00:52:40.040] And like, I just love mindsets of like elite athletes, like how they think through things because they're going through extreme pain, like running 200 kilometers at a time, right?
[00:52:40.040 --> 00:52:47.280] But she, oh my gosh, she says, you know, it's like really easy to quit in the middle when you can't see the finish line.
[00:52:47.280 --> 00:52:54.720] So it's the point at the middle where you just need to keep pushing because no one ever quits at the end or like when they see the finish line, right?
[00:52:54.720 --> 00:53:00.560] So the middle, if it feels shit, it is shit, but you just need to keep pushing.
[00:53:00.880 --> 00:53:01.760] I love that.
[00:53:01.760 --> 00:53:03.040] That's so true.
[00:53:03.040 --> 00:53:04.400] What's the finish line for you?
[00:53:04.400 --> 00:53:05.840] Are you going to sell the business?
[00:53:05.840 --> 00:53:08.480] Oh, I think that's still up in air.
[00:53:09.120 --> 00:53:15.840] I guess like I'm reaching this new phase of life where I'm like, do I want like world domination or do I want to keep this a lifestyle business?
[00:53:15.840 --> 00:53:26.400] And I think I've been playing with the idea for a very long time because I need to figure out like, you know, as when I have children, like, what do I want my lifestyle to look like?
[00:53:26.400 --> 00:53:29.200] And my big focus is around health.
[00:53:29.200 --> 00:53:32.000] Like, that's a very big value for me.
[00:53:32.000 --> 00:53:37.120] So just want to make sure that I'm growing the business sustainably, but still keeping my health.
[00:53:37.120 --> 00:53:46.320] Because right now I'm training for a marathon and I would rather have a smaller size business if I can run my marathons and set a time aside for that.
[00:53:46.320 --> 00:53:49.200] So that's what like success looks like for me.
[00:53:49.200 --> 00:53:58.560] For example, if someone said you can have, you know, a hundred million dollar business or you can't like, but you can't run your marathons, I wouldn't take, I wouldn't take the hundred million dollar business.
[00:53:58.560 --> 00:54:06.000] So yeah, you want your like peace, mental health, sanity, the stuff you love, your like daily joy, live a good life.
[00:54:06.000 --> 00:54:08.000] Yeah, so yeah, I'm with you.
[00:54:08.000 --> 00:54:09.840] Yeah, that's what matters for me.
[00:54:09.840 --> 00:54:11.920] And I know, yeah, everybody's different.
[00:54:11.920 --> 00:54:16.720] But yeah, finish line, it could be like selling the business if the opportunity presents.
[00:54:16.880 --> 00:54:27.040] I think right now it is like still a passion project where I love like being able to creatively like design things that, you know, my family would wear or my friends would wear for their wedding.
[00:54:27.040 --> 00:54:30.440] So I'm just leaning into that and then seeing where it takes me.
[00:54:30.440 --> 00:54:31.720] Yes, love that.
[00:54:29.600 --> 00:54:33.000] Love that for you.
[00:54:36.520 --> 00:54:41.640] Take control of the numbers and supercharge your small business with zero.
[00:54:41.640 --> 00:54:53.960] That's X E R O With our easy to use accounting software with automation and reporting features, you'll spend less time on manual tasks and more time understanding how your business is doing.
[00:54:53.960 --> 00:54:55.800] 87% of surveyed U.S.
[00:54:55.800 --> 00:54:59.240] customers agree Zero helps improve financial visibility.
[00:54:59.240 --> 00:55:05.080] Search Zero with an X or visit zero.com slash ACAST to start your 30-day free trial.
[00:55:05.080 --> 00:55:06.520] Conditions apply.
[00:55:06.520 --> 00:55:10.520] Wouldn't it be nice if your cash savings could just grow by itself?
[00:55:10.520 --> 00:55:19.320] With the Wealthfront cash account, it can, earning 4% annual percentage yield from partner banks on your uninvested cash, nearly 10 times the national average.
[00:55:19.320 --> 00:55:22.760] Just imagine if other things in your life work the way Wealthfront works.
[00:55:22.760 --> 00:55:29.080] If your house plants grew at 10 times the average rate, you'd have 10 times fewer issues with sad, stunted succulents.
[00:55:29.080 --> 00:55:32.440] Your crocodile ferns would go to the size of crocodiles.
[00:55:32.440 --> 00:55:43.080] Wealthfront's cash account keeps your money thriving just like that, earning you an industry-leading rate with no account maintenance fees and with free 24-7 instant withdrawals so you can access your money whenever you need it.
[00:55:43.080 --> 00:55:44.520] Money works better here.
[00:55:44.520 --> 00:55:47.160] Go to WealthFront.com to start saving.
[00:55:47.160 --> 00:55:50.840] Cash account offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC member Fenra SIPC.
[00:55:50.840 --> 00:55:52.120] Wealthfront is not a bank.
[00:55:52.120 --> 00:55:57.720] The APY on cash deposits as of December 27, 2024 is representative, subject to change and requires no minimum.
[00:55:57.720 --> 00:56:01.240] Funds in the cash account are swept to partner banks where they earn the variable APY.
[00:56:01.240 --> 00:56:07.080] The national average interest rate for savings accounts is posted on FDIC.gov as of December 16, 2024.
[00:56:11.800 --> 00:56:13.880] Hey, it's June here.
[00:56:13.880 --> 00:56:18.400] Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast.
[00:56:18.720 --> 00:56:28.080] If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter.
[00:56:28.080 --> 00:56:36.320] We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business 

Prompt 2: Key Takeaways

Now please extract the key takeaways from the transcript content I provided.

Extract the most important key takeaways from this part of the conversation. Use a single sentence statement (the key takeaway) rather than milquetoast descriptions like "the hosts discuss...". 

Limit the key takeaways to a maximum of 3. The key takeaways should be insightful and knowledge-additive. 

IMPORTANT: Return ONLY valid JSON, no explanations or markdown. Ensure:
- All strings are properly quoted and escaped
- No trailing commas
- All braces and brackets are balanced
Format: {"key_takeaways": ["takeaway 1", "takeaway 2"]}

Prompt 3: Segments

Now identify 2-4 distinct topical segments from this part of the conversation.

For each segment, identify:
- Descriptive title (3-6 words)  
- START timestamp when this topic begins (HH:MM:SS format)
- Double check that the timestamp is accurate - a timestamp will NEVER be greater than the total length of the audio
- Most important Key takeaway from that segment. Key takeaway must be specific and knowledge-additive.
- Brief summary of the discussion

IMPORTANT: The timestamp should mark when the topic/segment STARTS, not a range. Look for topic transitions and conversation shifts.

Return ONLY valid JSON. Ensure all strings are properly quoted, no trailing commas:
{
  "segments": [
    {
      "segment_title": "Topic Discussion", 
      "timestamp": "01:15:30",
      "key_takeaway": "main point from this segment",
      "segment_summary": "brief description of what was discussed"
    }
  ]
}

Timestamp format: HH:MM:SS (e.g., 00:05:30, 01:22:45) marking the START of each segment.

Prompt 4: Media Mentions

Now scan the transcript content I provided for ACTUAL mentions of specific media titles:

Find explicit mentions of:
- Books (with specific titles)
- Movies (with specific titles)  
- TV Shows (with specific titles)
- Music/Songs (with specific titles)

DO NOT include:
- Websites, URLs, or web services
- Other podcasts or podcast names

IMPORTANT: 
- Only include items explicitly mentioned by name. Do not invent titles.
- Valid categories are: "Book", "Movie", "TV Show", "Music"
- Include the exact phrase where each item was mentioned
- Find the nearest proximate timestamp where it appears in the conversation
- THE TIMESTAMP OF THE MEDIA MENTION IS IMPORTANT - DO NOT INVENT TIMESTAMPS AND DO NOT MISATTRIBUTE TIMESTAMPS
- Double check that the timestamp is accurate - a timestamp will NEVER be greater than the total length of the audio
- Timestamps are given as ranges, e.g. 01:13:42.520 --> 01:13:46.720. Use the EARLIER of the 2 timestamps in the range.

Return ONLY valid JSON. Ensure all strings are properly quoted and escaped, no trailing commas:
{
  "media_mentions": [
    {
      "title": "Exact Title as Mentioned",
      "category": "Book",
      "author_artist": "N/A",
      "context": "Brief context of why it was mentioned",
      "context_phrase": "The exact sentence or phrase where it was mentioned",
      "timestamp": "estimated time like 01:15:30"
    }
  ]
}

If no media is mentioned, return: {"media_mentions": []}

Prompt 5: Context Setup

You are an expert data extractor tasked with analyzing a podcast transcript. 
I will provide you with part 2 of 2 from a podcast transcript. 
I will then ask you to extract different types of information from this content in subsequent messages. Please confirm you have received and understood the transcript content.

Transcript section:
self?
[00:55:10.520 --> 00:55:19.320] With the Wealthfront cash account, it can, earning 4% annual percentage yield from partner banks on your uninvested cash, nearly 10 times the national average.
[00:55:19.320 --> 00:55:22.760] Just imagine if other things in your life work the way Wealthfront works.
[00:55:22.760 --> 00:55:29.080] If your house plants grew at 10 times the average rate, you'd have 10 times fewer issues with sad, stunted succulents.
[00:55:29.080 --> 00:55:32.440] Your crocodile ferns would go to the size of crocodiles.
[00:55:32.440 --> 00:55:43.080] Wealthfront's cash account keeps your money thriving just like that, earning you an industry-leading rate with no account maintenance fees and with free 24-7 instant withdrawals so you can access your money whenever you need it.
[00:55:43.080 --> 00:55:44.520] Money works better here.
[00:55:44.520 --> 00:55:47.160] Go to WealthFront.com to start saving.
[00:55:47.160 --> 00:55:50.840] Cash account offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC member Fenra SIPC.
[00:55:50.840 --> 00:55:52.120] Wealthfront is not a bank.
[00:55:52.120 --> 00:55:57.720] The APY on cash deposits as of December 27, 2024 is representative, subject to change and requires no minimum.
[00:55:57.720 --> 00:56:01.240] Funds in the cash account are swept to partner banks where they earn the variable APY.
[00:56:01.240 --> 00:56:07.080] The national average interest rate for savings accounts is posted on FDIC.gov as of December 16, 2024.
[00:56:11.800 --> 00:56:13.880] Hey, it's June here.
[00:56:13.880 --> 00:56:18.400] Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast.
[00:56:18.720 --> 00:56:28.080] If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter.
[00:56:28.080 --> 00:56:36.320] We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
[00:56:36.320 --> 00:56:47.120] And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash hypeclub.
[00:56:47.120 --> 00:56:58.720] We have guests from the show joining us for intimate ask me anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
[00:56:58.720 --> 00:57:04.880] As always, please do subscribe, rate, and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories.
[00:57:04.880 --> 00:57:08.000] I am beyond grateful when you do that.

Prompt 6: Key Takeaways

Now please extract the key takeaways from the transcript content I provided.

Extract the most important key takeaways from this part of the conversation. Use a single sentence statement (the key takeaway) rather than milquetoast descriptions like "the hosts discuss...". 

Limit the key takeaways to a maximum of 3. The key takeaways should be insightful and knowledge-additive. 

IMPORTANT: Return ONLY valid JSON, no explanations or markdown. Ensure:
- All strings are properly quoted and escaped
- No trailing commas
- All braces and brackets are balanced
Format: {"key_takeaways": ["takeaway 1", "takeaway 2"]}

Prompt 7: Segments

Now identify 2-4 distinct topical segments from this part of the conversation.

For each segment, identify:
- Descriptive title (3-6 words)  
- START timestamp when this topic begins (HH:MM:SS format)
- Double check that the timestamp is accurate - a timestamp will NEVER be greater than the total length of the audio
- Most important Key takeaway from that segment. Key takeaway must be specific and knowledge-additive.
- Brief summary of the discussion

IMPORTANT: The timestamp should mark when the topic/segment STARTS, not a range. Look for topic transitions and conversation shifts.

Return ONLY valid JSON. Ensure all strings are properly quoted, no trailing commas:
{
  "segments": [
    {
      "segment_title": "Topic Discussion", 
      "timestamp": "01:15:30",
      "key_takeaway": "main point from this segment",
      "segment_summary": "brief description of what was discussed"
    }
  ]
}

Timestamp format: HH:MM:SS (e.g., 00:05:30, 01:22:45) marking the START of each segment.

Prompt 8: Media Mentions

Now scan the transcript content I provided for ACTUAL mentions of specific media titles:

Find explicit mentions of:
- Books (with specific titles)
- Movies (with specific titles)  
- TV Shows (with specific titles)
- Music/Songs (with specific titles)

DO NOT include:
- Websites, URLs, or web services
- Other podcasts or podcast names

IMPORTANT: 
- Only include items explicitly mentioned by name. Do not invent titles.
- Valid categories are: "Book", "Movie", "TV Show", "Music"
- Include the exact phrase where each item was mentioned
- Find the nearest proximate timestamp where it appears in the conversation
- THE TIMESTAMP OF THE MEDIA MENTION IS IMPORTANT - DO NOT INVENT TIMESTAMPS AND DO NOT MISATTRIBUTE TIMESTAMPS
- Double check that the timestamp is accurate - a timestamp will NEVER be greater than the total length of the audio
- Timestamps are given as ranges, e.g. 01:13:42.520 --> 01:13:46.720. Use the EARLIER of the 2 timestamps in the range.

Return ONLY valid JSON. Ensure all strings are properly quoted and escaped, no trailing commas:
{
  "media_mentions": [
    {
      "title": "Exact Title as Mentioned",
      "category": "Book",
      "author_artist": "N/A",
      "context": "Brief context of why it was mentioned",
      "context_phrase": "The exact sentence or phrase where it was mentioned",
      "timestamp": "estimated time like 01:15:30"
    }
  ]
}

If no media is mentioned, return: {"media_mentions": []}

Full Transcript

[00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:02.880] Let's take this show on sale.
[00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:12.160] Imagine a world where gender equality is the norm and women have equal access to the same financial opportunities regardless of our personal circumstances.
[00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:17.360] Hi, I'm Dune, founder of Female Startup Club and your personal hype girl.
[00:00:17.360 --> 00:00:23.120] This is the pod for you if you're starting a side hustle, scaling your biz, or looking for inspo.
[00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:39.360] We cover venture capital, personal finance, selling your biz, and keeping your mental health in check from entrepreneurs like Refinery 29's co-founder Piera Gelati and Jew Rue, who sold Hero Cosmetics for $650 million.
[00:00:39.360 --> 00:00:45.120] Slide into my DMs if there's a question you want answered, and let's get into today's episode.
[00:01:04.240 --> 00:01:09.280] Does it ever feel like you're a marketing professional just speaking into the void?
[00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:15.680] But with LinkedIn ads, you can know you're reaching the right decision makers, a network of 130 million of them, in fact.
[00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:21.520] You can even target buyers by job title, industry, company, seniority, skills, and did I say job title?
[00:01:21.520 --> 00:01:25.360] See how you can avoid the void and reach the right buyers with LinkedIn ads.
[00:01:25.360 --> 00:01:30.320] Spend $250 on your first campaign and get a free $250 credit for the next one.
[00:01:30.320 --> 00:01:32.720] Get started at linkedin.com/slash campaign.
[00:01:32.720 --> 00:01:34.320] Terms and conditions apply.
[00:01:34.320 --> 00:01:39.280] Take control of the numbers and supercharge your small business with Xero.
[00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:41.520] That's X-E-R-O.
[00:01:42.800 --> 00:01:51.600] With our easy-to-use accounting software with automation and reporting features, you'll spend less time on manual tasks and more time understanding how your business is doing.
[00:01:51.600 --> 00:01:53.520] 87% of surveyed U.S.
[00:01:53.520 --> 00:01:56.880] customers agree Xero helps improve financial visibility.
[00:01:56.880 --> 00:02:02.760] Search Xero with an X or visit zero.com/slash ACAST to start your 30-day free trial.
[00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:04.040] Conditions apply.
[00:02:06.600 --> 00:02:11.800] Tess, founder of Midnight Mischief, welcome to the Female Startup Club podcast.
[00:02:11.800 --> 00:02:12.840] Oh, thank you for having me.
[00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:14.520] I've been a long time listener.
[00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:15.640] Oh my God, have you?
[00:02:15.640 --> 00:02:16.920] I love that for me.
[00:02:16.920 --> 00:02:19.400] And you, yes, yes.
[00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:23.160] I feel as though I've learned so much for your podcast over the years.
[00:02:23.480 --> 00:02:26.120] Oh my God, where did you find us?
[00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:31.080] Oh, I think just probably through socials or maybe another business owner being on your podcast.
[00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:33.160] And that's how I found you.
[00:02:33.160 --> 00:02:34.120] Love that.
[00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:35.080] Love that for us.
[00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:35.480] Cool.
[00:02:35.480 --> 00:02:36.600] So I'm excited.
[00:02:36.600 --> 00:02:38.840] I am a fan of pajamas.
[00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:39.880] I love pajamas.
[00:02:39.880 --> 00:02:46.040] I love anything that connects into sleep and that whole, you know, element of the evening.
[00:02:46.040 --> 00:02:47.640] Let's jump straight into it.
[00:02:47.640 --> 00:02:50.040] I kind of want to know about the starting story.
[00:02:50.040 --> 00:02:55.720] I know you bought this business and it's not often we have kind of like that story told on the show.
[00:02:55.720 --> 00:02:57.320] So where do you want to start?
[00:02:57.320 --> 00:02:58.120] Yeah, sure.
[00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:00.600] So yeah, let's take it back to the start.
[00:03:00.600 --> 00:03:07.960] Let's go back to like life before you bought the business and like what was happening in your world that was leading you to think about buying a business.
[00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:08.360] Right.
[00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:19.400] I guess if we just do a really short timeframe of like my life from when I was born, so I was born in like Western Sydney, had your typical upbringing where your parents are like, you know, you need to study.
[00:03:19.480 --> 00:03:23.320] Very typical Asian upbringing where you need a study, focus on your education.
[00:03:23.320 --> 00:03:26.520] There's no such thing as like a creative job.
[00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:33.880] So yeah, studied really hard, got into physiotherapy, really loved physiotherapy, by the way, because I loved helping people.
[00:03:33.880 --> 00:03:45.840] Did my four-year uni degree, but then I guess in my first year of working, I quickly discovered that it might not be the path for me because I knew that I always wanted to progress in my career.
[00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:48.320] I always wanted to be a business owner.
[00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:52.080] So I guess the way forward was to own my own clinic.
[00:03:52.400 --> 00:04:07.200] But when I actually was working as a physiotherapist and I saw the women having a clinic and their lifestyles, I just thought, you know, like I can't see myself being 30 years old and running a clinic and having kids and it's a full-on lifestyle.
[00:04:07.200 --> 00:04:11.520] So I always played and danced with the ideas of like having my own business.
[00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:15.760] And I think at the time that was 2018 and that was like the rise of e-comm.
[00:04:15.760 --> 00:04:18.800] That was like when Founder was like pushing out a lot of content.
[00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:22.000] And so I just like always played and danced with those ideas.
[00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:26.960] And that was a time when, like, let's take it, really take it back.
[00:04:26.960 --> 00:04:30.480] It was like when high smell was popping off and like, you know, yes.
[00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:35.280] I think it was like the Kylie Jenner kind of thing was going on.
[00:04:35.280 --> 00:04:37.840] So it was the rise of e-commerce back then.
[00:04:37.840 --> 00:04:38.480] Got it.
[00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:39.040] Got it.
[00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:48.720] And so you're kind of having these feelings, you know, maybe you don't love, you know, what you're doing in your kind of like day job and the nine to five and interested in this space.
[00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:55.280] Did you have any kind of interest in pajamas at that time and like a specific category or a specific industry?
[00:04:55.280 --> 00:05:02.160] Or you were just more like, oh, I love these like things that I'm seeing and learning and kind of like being exposed to?
[00:05:02.160 --> 00:05:11.280] Yeah, I think looking back, I was always into fashion as a kid because my mum always bought clothes and I grew up with her like sewing every single day.
[00:05:11.280 --> 00:05:13.360] So I just saw like how clothes were made.
[00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:15.280] And yeah, she was just like a shopaholic.
[00:05:15.280 --> 00:05:20.480] So every weekend, like we'd go shopping or like window shopping, essentially.
[00:05:20.480 --> 00:05:23.120] And then, yeah, like I just loved looking at clothes.
[00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.040] I loved reading magazines.
[00:05:25.280 --> 00:05:26.960] I would go into like the news agency.
[00:05:26.960 --> 00:05:31.880] Like I couldn't afford to buy it, but I would just sit there and read all the magazines, like high-end magazines.
[00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:36.920] So I guess when I was young, that world was very aspirational and I really like loved it.
[00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:39.560] And I think I grew up with Tumblr as well.
[00:05:40.120 --> 00:05:41.240] Did you grow up with Tumblr?
[00:05:41.240 --> 00:05:44.440] So it was like very aspirational images.
[00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:48.680] But yeah, I wasn't ever interested in pajamas, to be honest.
[00:05:48.680 --> 00:05:51.880] How I actually purchased the business was through Gumtree.
[00:05:51.880 --> 00:05:58.760] So I was scrolling through Gumtree one night, like looking through the free section because I was a poor uni student.
[00:05:58.760 --> 00:06:05.080] And then I was looking through the business section because I knew I wanted to be a clinic owner in my first year out, but I was planning in advance.
[00:06:05.080 --> 00:06:07.000] So I wanted to know like, how much would it cost?
[00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:09.160] Like, how much did I need to start saving?
[00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:11.720] And then an ad popped up for Midnight Mission.
[00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:14.840] So that's how I saw the idea.
[00:06:14.840 --> 00:06:17.960] So you see this ad pop up and like, what does it say?
[00:06:18.280 --> 00:06:22.280] It was, I think it was just like, you know, pajama business for sale.
[00:06:22.280 --> 00:06:29.160] It was so long ago, but it was like pajama business for sale for this certain amount, which I could not afford, like never had that much money in my bank account.
[00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:35.960] And it was like this picture of this really like alluring, like really beautiful, captivating image of this girl in like personalized pajamas.
[00:06:36.040 --> 00:06:38.680] I've just never seen something like that before.
[00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:45.880] And so yeah, thinking back in 2018, there was no such thing as like, there was personalized pajamas, but it wasn't a huge trend yet.
[00:06:45.880 --> 00:06:49.640] And at the time, you know, there was only really like Pete Alexander, Bonds.
[00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:54.040] There wasn't really a go-to like ladies sleepwear brand.
[00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:56.200] So I was just really attracted to it.
[00:06:56.200 --> 00:06:57.000] I don't know why.
[00:06:57.000 --> 00:06:59.960] I just had this like great intuition about it.
[00:06:59.960 --> 00:07:04.680] And I think it was just because I was young and I just never saw a brand like that.
[00:07:04.680 --> 00:07:07.640] And it just captivated me, to be honest.
[00:07:07.640 --> 00:07:21.040] So you see it, and is it like, hey, just, you know, call me on my mobile or like, here's some information on like revenue and like the size of the business and like, you know, send me an email or like, what does it say?
[00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:21.200] Yeah.
[00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:26.320] So on the description, it was essentially like, yeah, this, like, I have a business for sale.
[00:07:26.320 --> 00:07:28.080] Like, this is this amount.
[00:07:28.080 --> 00:07:30.800] Just inquire if you, yeah, are interested.
[00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:32.480] And I hit an inquiry.
[00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:35.120] I just was like, hey, want to know more information.
[00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:38.320] And then like a month later, I had a business.
[00:07:38.320 --> 00:07:39.040] Holy shit.
[00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:43.520] I think I read in the article, in one of the articles online, it was like $15,000.
[00:07:43.520 --> 00:07:46.800] And the brand was relatively kind of new.
[00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:49.360] It was a smaller size business at the time.
[00:07:49.360 --> 00:08:01.200] Did they give any information on like, hey, we've done X amount in revenue or we have this amount of products and you're kind of like buying the stock or like, what was the context of the business at that time?
[00:08:01.200 --> 00:08:02.080] Yeah, sure.
[00:08:02.080 --> 00:08:06.080] So the previous owner, she's amazing, like extremely creative.
[00:08:06.080 --> 00:08:10.240] She's someone that loves to start up ideas, but she also loved her job.
[00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:15.600] So the reason why she was selling it was because she got her dream career at a company that she always wanted to work for.
[00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:20.880] And so she just didn't have enough time to dedicate to it, but she knew it was like a fantastic idea.
[00:08:20.880 --> 00:08:22.800] She really loved the imagery and branding.
[00:08:22.800 --> 00:08:26.800] So essentially, she created all the branding and all the assets and the photography.
[00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:31.360] So she did have the business running for one to one and a half years already.
[00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:37.040] It was at a smaller scale because, yeah, for context, she was the only one running the business at the time.
[00:08:37.040 --> 00:08:41.520] And I think it was more so a passion project rather than a full-scale business.
[00:08:41.520 --> 00:08:48.080] When I purchased the business, it wasn't as though I purchased like or not purchased employees, but it didn't come with employees.
[00:08:48.640 --> 00:08:56.800] And when I did purchase it, it was essentially just like the website, a few pajamas, and kind of just like the data behind it.
[00:08:56.800 --> 00:09:03.800] We had like a few customers, like a few thousand Instagram followers, but it wasn't like a full-scale business.
[00:09:03.800 --> 00:09:05.960] Yeah, so it was kind of like business in a box.
[00:08:59.680 --> 00:09:06.840] Yeah, business in a box.
[00:09:07.080 --> 00:09:08.600] Ready for someone to take over.
[00:09:08.600 --> 00:09:15.480] I've done all that kind of like initial development stage, got the manufacturer sorted, and like take it from here.
[00:09:16.520 --> 00:09:21.480] Did you negotiate on the price, or were you just like, yeah, 15 grand, here you go, here's a bank transfer?
[00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:23.640] Yeah, so I definitely negotiated on price.
[00:09:23.640 --> 00:09:29.720] I think initially it was, I don't, I don't think I can say the number, just out of respect.
[00:09:29.720 --> 00:09:34.120] But yeah, it was definitely a lot more than that, 15,000.
[00:09:34.120 --> 00:09:43.720] And so then I, yeah, just tried my best to negotiate because all, I think I only had like $10,000 in my bank account at the time because I was very bad with saving.
[00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:51.320] I was like, you're very typical when I got out of uni, like I had $0 to my name because I just spent it on traveling.
[00:09:51.320 --> 00:09:52.840] I got the travel bug out of me.
[00:09:52.840 --> 00:09:55.640] I went to Europe and did the whole thing.
[00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:58.760] So I only had about like $10,000 in my bank account.
[00:09:58.760 --> 00:10:03.880] So I had like, I had no choice but to negotiate because I, yeah, couldn't get a bank loan.
[00:10:03.880 --> 00:10:06.120] And then we finally settled at 15,000.
[00:10:06.120 --> 00:10:10.280] And then I asked my sister for, I think it was like $2,000.
[00:10:10.280 --> 00:10:13.080] And then my partner for like $3,000.
[00:10:13.080 --> 00:10:15.080] And like, I never borrow money off anyone.
[00:10:15.080 --> 00:10:18.840] So I had to like work really hard to pay them back really quickly.
[00:10:19.160 --> 00:10:20.280] I love that.
[00:10:20.280 --> 00:10:21.400] I love this story.
[00:10:21.400 --> 00:10:22.120] Okay, cool.
[00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:27.880] So you, you know, a month later, you own this business, everything kind of gets transferred over to you.
[00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:29.240] Like, what do you do?
[00:10:29.240 --> 00:10:31.160] What do you do, you know, immediately after?
[00:10:31.160 --> 00:10:33.240] Like, what's the first day on the job like?
[00:10:33.680 --> 00:10:37.800] Yeah, yeah, I think when I got it, I was like, what the hell do I do?
[00:10:38.040 --> 00:10:44.280] But luckily, yeah, in the contract beforehand, I knew I was someone that like, I'm very risk adverse.
[00:10:44.280 --> 00:10:49.600] Like, I don't like I always played with the ideas of having a business, but I just didn't want to spend money.
[00:10:49.920 --> 00:10:53.600] But I think with this, I thought, you know, the idea is there.
[00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:56.480] I just have to go all in or I won't do it at all.
[00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:02.400] But in my contract, I did put in there that I wanted to be mentored by the previous owner for six weeks.
[00:11:02.400 --> 00:11:05.360] And we kind of set out a schedule of like what I need to learn.
[00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:08.000] And then she just helped me understand like retail.
[00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:13.520] And because she had a background in retail, that's why she was able to help me with the pricing.
[00:11:13.520 --> 00:11:14.960] And she knew how to manufacture.
[00:11:15.040 --> 00:11:17.040] She knew all about branding already.
[00:11:17.040 --> 00:11:21.520] So she quickly upskilled me in like the basics of running a business.
[00:11:21.520 --> 00:11:22.320] Got it.
[00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:22.800] Got it.
[00:11:22.800 --> 00:11:23.840] Okay, cool.
[00:11:24.160 --> 00:11:31.680] So I read that it took you like two years to get to 2 million in sales or something like really amazing, really impressive.
[00:11:31.680 --> 00:11:33.760] You're still working during this time.
[00:11:33.760 --> 00:12:17.800] I kind of want to dig into like the playbook of getting to your first hundred grand in sales and then the playbook to getting to that first million because they're such different playbooks and like the first hundred grand is like it can be really difficult and it requires a lot of that like input to get that kind of product market fit or whatever so at the beginning what is your daily actions and things that you're doing to get sales and get to that first hundred grand yeah so i think looking back like i initially just had to like order my first hundred pair of pajamas because we like when i purchased a business i didn't have any stock but honestly i like i really didn't have like any idea of what i was doing.
[00:12:17.800 --> 00:12:27.400] So, I think um my first thing i wanted to do was just try to post on Instagram every single day, like really high-quality imagery and just get really consistent with that.
[00:12:27.400 --> 00:12:33.880] And honestly, like in 2018, like 2019, there wasn't really any traction because I honestly didn't know about e-comm.
[00:12:33.880 --> 00:12:41.480] So, the previous owner, although she had a lot of retail experience, that was more like bricks and mortar, whereas she didn't really know about the e-commerce space.
[00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:46.840] Like, she knew a little bit of like, oh, yeah, you should run Google ads or you should boost a Facebook ads post here and there.
[00:12:46.840 --> 00:12:51.000] But it wasn't as though she like she wasn't in that space, so she just didn't know.
[00:12:51.560 --> 00:12:54.600] So, honestly, it was very organic at the very beginning.
[00:12:54.600 --> 00:13:01.720] It was practically, we'll just, you know, on the first page of Google, like, whatever sales trickled through the door, it would come through.
[00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:04.680] And then, luckily, we did have that customer base from before.
[00:13:04.680 --> 00:13:06.360] So, we, I did have that email list.
[00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:12.760] So, you know, when it came around to Black Friday, I was able to message everybody and tell them about like our products.
[00:13:12.760 --> 00:13:15.080] So, that was like our first few sales.
[00:13:15.080 --> 00:13:17.880] But honestly, at the beginning, it was very, very slow.
[00:13:19.080 --> 00:13:20.360] And then, what kind of changed?
[00:13:20.360 --> 00:13:30.600] How long did it take you to get to 100,000 in sales or like, you know, a meaningful kind of like, yep, okay, we've got product market fit, like now it's the time to expand further?
[00:13:30.600 --> 00:13:35.480] Yeah, I think it took about a year, perhaps maybe like end of 2019.
[00:13:35.480 --> 00:13:37.960] I kind of got a grasp of a few more things.
[00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:47.320] So, yeah, initially in 2018, I was just posting organically on Instagram, trying to figure things out, just listening to a lot of podcasts and trying to learn things from there.
[00:13:47.320 --> 00:13:54.440] And I remember listening to a podcast from like the high smile guys, and they said, Okay, like we grew through influencer gifting.
[00:13:54.440 --> 00:14:01.000] So, I honestly just like reached out to like a million girls just to see if anyone would take my product.
[00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:03.080] And I probably got, you know, five replies.
[00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:09.840] And then, because I was like very frugal, I would like ship them in like the letter, like the letter package.
[00:14:09.640 --> 00:14:10.240] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:14.880] And I was just hoping that you wouldn't get lost, but I couldn't afford, you know, like $10.
[00:14:14.880 --> 00:14:18.080] Like, I wanted to ship it on the lowest cost possible.
[00:14:14.680 --> 00:14:20.800] I'm just like telling that story because, like, that's where I started.
[00:14:21.040 --> 00:14:23.520] And I understand, like, and it's important.
[00:14:23.520 --> 00:14:25.920] It's a great hack that you're able to do.
[00:14:25.920 --> 00:14:26.800] I love that.
[00:14:27.120 --> 00:14:27.760] Yeah.
[00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:32.640] So, yeah, we sent it out and then we started to get some traction when girls were posting.
[00:14:32.880 --> 00:14:34.480] People were like, oh, what's that brand?
[00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:37.120] Because they haven't seen like a product like that before.
[00:14:37.280 --> 00:14:41.360] Personalized pajamas that it didn't tap that influencer world yet.
[00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:46.320] So yeah, I tapped into that and we started to get more sales organically and more interest there.
[00:14:46.640 --> 00:14:51.680] And then there was one time where some, you know, when you get called outreach emails?
[00:14:51.680 --> 00:14:52.720] Get a lot of those?
[00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:53.040] Yeah.
[00:14:53.920 --> 00:14:58.480] Some guy from who knows where, he was like, oh, I'll run your Facebook ads for you for free.
[00:14:58.640 --> 00:15:00.160] Just like give me your passwords.
[00:15:00.160 --> 00:15:02.880] And at the time, I was very naive.
[00:15:02.880 --> 00:15:07.120] And I just thought, like, anyone who wanted to like reach out and help me, like, they had my best interest.
[00:15:07.280 --> 00:15:08.480] I was like, yeah, sure, go ahead.
[00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:10.160] Like, I gave my password.
[00:15:10.160 --> 00:15:10.640] No.
[00:15:10.880 --> 00:15:13.600] But he actually turned out to be like pretty cool.
[00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:19.760] And he like taught me about like Facebook ads, like, because I was just only boosting, like, boosting posts.
[00:15:19.760 --> 00:15:21.440] So I thought that was Facebook ads.
[00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:26.880] But, you know, going behind like the Facebook ads manager and he was like, you know, you can target people, you can do this.
[00:15:26.880 --> 00:15:29.520] And I was like, oh, wow, there's a whole world behind it.
[00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:31.280] Wait, wait, wait.
[00:15:31.280 --> 00:15:35.120] This guy reaches out to you and he says he'll do it for free.
[00:15:35.120 --> 00:15:36.320] Flag number one.
[00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:40.480] Then he asks for your password, number two, flag.
[00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:41.520] You give it to him.
[00:15:41.520 --> 00:15:46.160] And then all of a sudden, he's actually a good guy and like, helps you.
[00:15:46.160 --> 00:15:48.320] This is like not where I thought this was going.
[00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:49.240] Wait, what?
[00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:49.320] What?
[00:15:49.920 --> 00:15:51.440] But why did he help?
[00:15:51.440 --> 00:15:54.320] Was there like a commission on the sales sold or something?
[00:15:54.560 --> 00:15:58.960] He was just like beginning in his career of like Facebook ads advertising.
[00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:04.440] So he was offering that as a service and being like, okay, once I do that for you, pay me a thousand dollars.
[00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:08.200] But I didn't end up going with him because I was like, oh, a thousand dollars is way too much.
[00:16:08.520 --> 00:16:09.240] Got it.
[00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:09.560] Okay.
[00:16:09.560 --> 00:16:14.280] So he kind of like teaches you or introduces you to the world of ads.
[00:16:14.280 --> 00:16:20.360] And this is like basically a bit of a turning point where you're then like, okay, ads is how I'm gonna scale the business.
[00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:22.040] Yeah, exactly.
[00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:25.160] So are you doing it yourself or are you like, no, I need to hire someone?
[00:16:25.160 --> 00:16:28.760] Yeah, then I went to an agency, like the cheapest agency I could find.
[00:16:28.760 --> 00:16:33.000] And yeah, once again, big mistake because they took a commission off my sales.
[00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:34.040] But at the time, I didn't know.
[00:16:34.040 --> 00:16:39.160] Like, I just went with like the cheapest option possible because I didn't have money to pay like a bigger agency.
[00:16:39.160 --> 00:16:40.840] So I went with them, but they were all really good.
[00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:41.720] Can't deny them.
[00:16:41.720 --> 00:16:42.920] They were amazing.
[00:16:42.920 --> 00:16:46.200] And then I think my other big win was PR agency.
[00:16:46.200 --> 00:16:48.040] So I was working with a PR.
[00:16:48.040 --> 00:16:52.520] Well, I wasn't working with a PR, but I was holding an event with like a charity.
[00:16:52.520 --> 00:16:57.560] And then that PR agency who was managing that event, she reached out to me and asked, you probably know her.
[00:16:57.560 --> 00:16:58.920] It was Jesse at the time.
[00:16:58.920 --> 00:17:00.120] And she just started.
[00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:01.240] Yeah, Jesse from High.
[00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:01.480] Yeah.
[00:17:01.480 --> 00:17:03.320] So that was back in like 2019.
[00:17:03.320 --> 00:17:05.800] I think she was just starting her agency.
[00:17:05.800 --> 00:17:08.280] Yeah, I just wanted to shout out Jessie because she's amazing.
[00:17:08.280 --> 00:17:13.400] And she said, and she practically said, like, you have an amazing product.
[00:17:13.400 --> 00:17:15.000] I would love to manage your brand.
[00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:18.040] And at the time, like, you know, I didn't know what PR was.
[00:17:18.040 --> 00:17:19.800] I was like, what can you do for me?
[00:17:19.800 --> 00:17:22.280] And it was like so expensive in my world.
[00:17:22.760 --> 00:17:25.400] But then I thought, you know, the time is now.
[00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:25.960] I'm young.
[00:17:25.960 --> 00:17:27.560] Let's try something new.
[00:17:28.680 --> 00:17:33.160] And so practically, I just like saved all my income from my full-time job, paid for PR.
[00:17:33.160 --> 00:17:35.480] And that's kind of like how we broke into the market.
[00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:39.880] Like, Jesse was really helpful in terms of like teaching me about media.
[00:17:39.880 --> 00:17:42.120] Like, you need to work, you know, months in advance.
[00:17:42.120 --> 00:19:17.160] Here are like the hot people on like the PR world the influencers because i didn't follow influencers like i came from a physio world and all i did was follow fitness influences so she really taught me about you know that world and got my product in the hands of like really influential people which i think was like a game changer and is this like at this time are you still working like the nine to five or are you like yeah okay i'm going all in at this time so that was um probably around like mid late 2019 so i was still working full-time like the business wasn't yet ticking over enough to cover my full-time income so yeah we're on a good trajectory because we're getting like some small wins but then everything was kind of aligning to the point of like early 2020 when covet happened so at that point around i think it was like april april 2020 an editor from like news.com.au wanted to do a story about like what was selling in yeah covered times and so jesse was like do you want to be on this article and i'm like yes of course let's be everywhere um anytime and then i remember that article went up live on news.com.au and yeah like our sales like quadrupled in one day it was like insane what yeah yeah what was the headline oh it was just like um product selling like hot cakes in like during covid and then we'll align with a lot of like not a lot but maybe like three really um much bigger pajama brands and that just really elevated our brand.
[00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:17.800] Right.
[00:19:18.120 --> 00:19:23.560] And had you kind of before that time, had you been like, I need to get to x amount in revenue.
[00:19:23.560 --> 00:19:27.160] And when i hit that amount of revenue, that's when i can quit my job.
[00:19:27.160 --> 00:19:28.440] And what was that number?
[00:19:28.440 --> 00:19:30.840] Like, is that the kind of two million?
[00:19:29.040 --> 00:19:35.320] Because I've seen a lot of those articles where you went in that first two years to 2 million in rev.
[00:19:29.360 --> 00:19:38.360] Where was the quit my job moment?
[00:19:38.360 --> 00:19:43.720] Okay, so looking back, I definitely quit when it was a bit too late.
[00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:50.600] And I had a revenue goal, but once again, I was growing so quickly and I didn't really have a grasp on business.
[00:19:50.600 --> 00:19:53.400] So I didn't honestly, like everything was running off of Excel.
[00:19:53.400 --> 00:20:00.680] Like I didn't have like zero or any accounting system until much later, probably in like 2021, 2022.
[00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:05.480] So my finances were all over the shop and I wasn't even sure if I was profitable.
[00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:09.000] I was kind of guessing at the time, like I didn't really have a good accountant.
[00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:14.280] And I'm just stating this because this is the reality is if you don't, I come from that business world.
[00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:15.400] Yes.
[00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:18.200] So I definitely made all those mistakes.
[00:20:18.200 --> 00:20:23.640] So I think I remember I was like, oh, when I hit $30,000 in revenue a month, I'll quit my job.
[00:20:23.640 --> 00:20:35.400] But then that kind of bar went higher and higher more because I was scared to like take the plunge because I wasn't sure as well, like whether my income was covering my current income.
[00:20:35.720 --> 00:20:40.120] So I honestly just quit when I couldn't handle it anymore.
[00:20:40.120 --> 00:20:47.080] So when I reached breaking point, I think the business was doing, yeah, definitely over like $100,000 or maybe like $200,000 in revenue.
[00:20:47.320 --> 00:20:50.280] And I just couldn't.
[00:20:50.280 --> 00:20:50.600] Yeah.
[00:20:50.600 --> 00:20:51.400] Okay, got it.
[00:20:51.400 --> 00:20:52.120] In a month.
[00:20:52.120 --> 00:20:55.480] And then I just couldn't handle it doing my full-time job and doing that.
[00:20:55.800 --> 00:20:58.040] I was reaching my breaking point and that's when I quit.
[00:20:58.040 --> 00:21:01.720] So I wouldn't recommend that, but that's what happened to me.
[00:21:02.040 --> 00:21:02.920] Wow.
[00:21:02.920 --> 00:21:03.480] Cool.
[00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:04.760] What an amazing story.
[00:21:04.760 --> 00:21:05.640] I love this.
[00:21:05.640 --> 00:21:09.560] I want to kind of dig into like, okay, you quit your job.
[00:21:09.560 --> 00:21:12.760] You're doing, you know, a couple hundred thousand a month.
[00:21:12.760 --> 00:21:15.520] What are you doing then to kind of like maintain that?
[00:21:15.520 --> 00:21:17.600] Is it, you know, still PR?
[00:21:14.840 --> 00:21:21.360] Is it absolutely like ads are the kind of main revenue driver?
[00:21:21.520 --> 00:21:23.040] Is it influencers?
[00:21:23.040 --> 00:21:24.560] Obviously, there's a mix.
[00:21:24.560 --> 00:21:25.280] Like, I get it.
[00:21:25.280 --> 00:21:30.240] But kind of like, what are the actual primary things that you're focused on every single day?
[00:21:31.120 --> 00:21:36.720] I think it was mainly pushing my product through PR, like understanding our messaging.
[00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:46.080] So for example, in 2020, we really just really honed in like the work from home messaging and then also like the money and me, because that was a trend that like no one really hit.
[00:21:46.080 --> 00:21:52.320] So we just like went hard on that, like tried to be on all the money influencers, paid influencers.
[00:21:52.320 --> 00:21:54.000] And then I also went hard on ads.
[00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:58.400] So I think when I first started on ads, we're spending about like $50 a day.
[00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:07.040] And then we just like, I was just like to my freelancer, like, if, you know, if the ROS is this and we're hitting these numbers, let's just like go hard at it.
[00:22:07.040 --> 00:22:08.320] And she was just scaling it up.
[00:22:08.320 --> 00:22:17.120] And at the time, I was paying someone $500 New Zealand dollars to manage my ads a month, which is like crazy cheap, right?
[00:22:17.440 --> 00:22:22.000] So it was just like, yeah, it was just like a really good mix at the time.
[00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:25.200] Like everything was very low cost because I was doing everything.
[00:22:25.520 --> 00:22:27.760] And yeah, ads back then were like really, really cheap.
[00:22:27.760 --> 00:22:29.120] So it was really easy to see.
[00:22:29.280 --> 00:22:33.200] Is this like pre like the iOS 14 updates?
[00:22:33.600 --> 00:22:34.000] Yeah.
[00:22:34.320 --> 00:22:42.560] When there was like the, it's the world of 40 rowers and like the crazy, the crazy world of Facebook ads that never returned.
[00:22:42.560 --> 00:22:44.560] Yeah, it was a good time.
[00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:45.760] Good time.
[00:22:45.760 --> 00:22:46.560] Okay, cool.
[00:22:46.560 --> 00:22:57.200] And so at that time, I feel like ads were also like less, like the content was important, but like in today's world of ads, like the content is just absolutely critical.
[00:22:57.200 --> 00:22:59.200] You know, these platforms are so sophisticated.
[00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:08.840] They can find the audience, but like if the messaging and the visual of the content just doesn't resonate, then like you've lost basically.
[00:23:08.840 --> 00:23:24.440] I want to kind of understand the journey from like, you know, around that time to now and kind of what the pivotal moments were, how things started to change as like ads changed in the landscape, social media has obviously changed, introduction of TikTok, like all the things.
[00:23:24.440 --> 00:23:26.680] I kind of want to understand like then to now.
[00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:31.160] And also like, obviously, we were in COVID and then coming out of COVID.
[00:23:31.720 --> 00:23:32.280] Yeah.
[00:23:32.280 --> 00:23:38.680] So I think, yeah, in Australia, most e-commerce brands were still growing throughout 2021, 2022.
[00:23:38.680 --> 00:23:44.360] So we still like leverage that because we think we still had one bout of lockdowns in 2021.
[00:23:44.360 --> 00:23:51.720] And then, yeah, 2022 was also another big year because I then decided to upskill myself in Facebook ads.
[00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:57.160] So I did e-commerce equation, which was really helpful just to understand like what other brands are doing.
[00:23:57.720 --> 00:24:04.760] Yeah, because I kind of just got sick of not being able to like understand my ads and like put up a campaign whenever I wanted to.
[00:24:04.760 --> 00:24:06.920] So that definitely helped a lot.
[00:24:06.920 --> 00:24:12.840] And this is e-commerce equation is Jay Wright's kind of, it's not really a course.
[00:24:12.840 --> 00:24:16.200] It's like a done with you kind of group service, right?
[00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:17.960] Where you get on like calls with coaches.
[00:24:17.960 --> 00:24:23.160] They kind of teach you how to do your own ads, but you've got access to experts to help you whenever you want.
[00:24:23.160 --> 00:24:25.240] Is that still the case or the premise generally?
[00:24:25.720 --> 00:24:27.400] I'm not in the program anymore.
[00:24:27.400 --> 00:24:31.960] I was like, I was part of the program when there was like less than 50 people.
[00:24:31.960 --> 00:24:32.680] Oh, okay, right.
[00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:33.160] The early.
[00:24:33.320 --> 00:24:33.720] Yeah, yeah.
[00:24:33.720 --> 00:24:35.400] I was like very early.
[00:24:35.400 --> 00:24:40.680] And then, yeah, it was practically you would go on group coaching halls and they'll teach you how to run ads.
[00:24:40.680 --> 00:26:19.480] And I honestly was like really scared to run my own ads um for a long time um because it's just like a scary place to be in control um but then once i took over them i think that made a dramatic change to my business because like you're the only person that really knows like the pulse like you have the pulse on your business like what's selling every second right so i think that was like a huge game changer learning ads for me and then i think from then to now like understanding like brand product ranges like wholesale in general like i was just needed to upskill myself so i think my main issue was that the business grew too quickly and it was like too big for my skill set so i've just spent the last like few years kind of consolidating like myself working on myself getting all those habits in place because back then even though the business was growing really rapidly like i wasn't eating like i was barely eating i was barely sleeping i was not happy um i didn't know how to manage my finances so it was just like yeah it was just like a shit show for a second you're like i need to work through this to get to you know a place where things are more like systems processes exactly and eliminate this like simmering stress of not knowing exactly so i've been more in kind of like that consolidating upskilling phase in the past few years because yeah it's like the business just grew too quickly where um yeah if you can imagine like a physio student um first year out, never managed a team, like always worked in a small business, never worked in corporate.
[00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:22.840] And now you're running a business, like multi-million dollar business.
[00:26:22.840 --> 00:26:25.080] You can't even like look after yourself properly.
[00:26:25.080 --> 00:26:31.160] So I just needed to, I guess, like grow into myself and learn, learn those skills first.
[00:26:31.800 --> 00:26:34.840] At what point did you start hiring people into the business?
[00:26:34.840 --> 00:26:40.680] And what were those roles to kind of help you, like help you in that transition process?
[00:26:40.680 --> 00:26:48.120] Sure, I think I first hired someone in like 2019, like offshore staff, and she helped manage my social media.
[00:26:48.120 --> 00:26:52.840] And then I was honestly still doing everything in like 2020.
[00:26:52.840 --> 00:26:55.000] So that's why I was extremely burnt out.
[00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:57.000] And I just didn't know how to delegate.
[00:26:57.000 --> 00:26:59.480] Like, I like I didn't have that skill set.
[00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:01.080] I didn't even know how to do it.
[00:27:01.080 --> 00:27:05.320] And then I think 2021 was when I started to bring more offshore staff.
[00:27:05.320 --> 00:27:08.680] And once again, that was a decision because I was just scared.
[00:27:08.680 --> 00:27:11.160] Like, I wasn't sure about my numbers.
[00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:13.400] I just wanted to keep everything low cost.
[00:27:13.400 --> 00:27:14.280] And what were they doing?
[00:27:14.280 --> 00:27:15.720] Those like offshore talent?
[00:27:15.720 --> 00:27:21.000] What were the kind of roles or like, you know, deliverables or projects that they were really focused on?
[00:27:21.320 --> 00:27:24.600] So then I ended up, yeah, hiring four full-time staff.
[00:27:24.600 --> 00:27:26.920] So one was managing my customer service.
[00:27:27.240 --> 00:27:32.200] One was doing all the influencer outreach, management, PR, pictures.
[00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:37.640] One was kind of just doing like everything, like management of everything, making sure everything's running.
[00:27:38.120 --> 00:27:43.240] And then another one was doing more, I'm trying to remember now, like more wholesale.
[00:27:43.240 --> 00:27:43.800] Yeah.
[00:27:44.920 --> 00:27:46.120] Okay, cool.
[00:27:46.440 --> 00:27:56.360] And at that time, was wholesale a big part of the business or was it kind of, you know, just a channel that you wanted to grow in addition to the kind of D2C website?
[00:27:57.320 --> 00:28:08.680] We didn't, yeah, necessarily like push wholesale, but there was a lot of interest like during that time because we were seen like on a lot of influencers and a lot of celebrities.
[00:28:08.680 --> 00:28:13.280] So we just needed someone to kind of like manage that or like the wholesale orders.
[00:28:13.280 --> 00:28:15.440] And it was more from smaller boutiques.
[00:28:14.840 --> 00:28:17.440] Okay, got it.
[00:28:18.080 --> 00:28:23.280] And for you, like, you know, when I look at your kind of product catalogue now, you have so many amazing products.
[00:28:23.280 --> 00:28:28.880] You have like the matching dog pajamas, you have, you know, basically a huge range.
[00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:35.360] When did you start introducing like new product drops and how important was that to the growth of the business?
[00:28:35.360 --> 00:28:42.000] Like that newness and introducing new lines and different trends and things like that?
[00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:47.920] Yeah, it was extremely important because when I first started, we did, we had four pajamas.
[00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:50.320] So like one style in four colors.
[00:28:50.320 --> 00:28:56.160] And then I just knew that we had to like expand that range because it was a very niche product.
[00:28:56.160 --> 00:29:03.840] And then, yeah, especially during COVID, like we're predominantly a like women's wear brand, but it was our customer feedback.
[00:29:03.840 --> 00:29:05.520] They were asking, oh, do you have kids' pajamas?
[00:29:05.520 --> 00:29:06.560] Do you have men's pajamas?
[00:29:06.560 --> 00:29:07.200] Do you have this?
[00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:07.760] Do you have that?
[00:29:07.760 --> 00:29:09.120] Do you have three quarter leg pants?
[00:29:09.120 --> 00:29:10.400] Do you have this print?
[00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:13.200] And honestly, that just like the demand was there.
[00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:16.560] And I was just creating whatever like our customers wanted.
[00:29:16.560 --> 00:29:18.800] So we're very lucky in that space.
[00:29:18.800 --> 00:29:19.840] Got it.
[00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:28.880] And like fast forward to kind of, you know, recent years, like last year, this year, what are the kind of things that you focus on now?
[00:29:28.880 --> 00:29:38.720] Like, I know that you guys have a really big Instagram, but is it still like, you know, we still gift at scale, we still work with influencers at scale, we're still doing ads, or is there like that?
[00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:46.240] And, you know, it's pop-ups or TikTok or like, what are the kind of things that work in today's world for you?
[00:29:46.880 --> 00:29:55.600] For us, it's definitely more like staying top of mind, email, like nurturing our email list, but definitely like our main driver and focus is product.
[00:29:55.600 --> 00:29:57.520] So, creating new products.
[00:29:57.840 --> 00:30:01.560] Because, yeah, we've been around for a while now, so we do have the audience.
[00:30:01.880 --> 00:30:12.120] But I guess, like, one of my lessons and one of my learnings was like in 2023, I took too much time off, like traveling and like enjoying myself, and I wasn't working on those new product releases.
[00:30:12.120 --> 00:30:14.520] And so, that was like one of my mistakes.
[00:30:14.520 --> 00:30:23.240] Where I wish I released more products because, like, for example, we released probably one new product this year, which is way too slow.
[00:30:23.240 --> 00:30:26.040] But, like, once we release it, you sold out.
[00:30:26.040 --> 00:30:34.120] So, I just know that if I continually release new products, like our audience is hungry for it, I just need to get into the creative mode.
[00:30:34.120 --> 00:30:35.000] Right, right.
[00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:44.760] Yeah, so newness is that really big driver to kind of keep it fresh and to be able to re-kind of engage your existing, loyal, kind of customer base.
[00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:52.040] Take control of the numbers and supercharge your small business with zero.
[00:30:52.040 --> 00:30:55.560] That's X-E-R-O.
[00:30:55.560 --> 00:31:04.360] With our easy-to-use accounting software with automation and reporting features, you'll spend less time on manual tasks and more time understanding how your business is doing.
[00:31:04.360 --> 00:31:06.200] 87% of surveyed U.S.
[00:31:06.280 --> 00:31:09.640] customers agree Xero helps improve financial visibility.
[00:31:09.640 --> 00:31:15.480] Search Zero with an X or visit zero.com/slash ACAST to start your 30-day free trial.
[00:31:15.480 --> 00:31:17.160] Conditions apply.
[00:31:19.720 --> 00:31:29.160] How do partnerships work for you and like co-labs with other brands or other kinds of like even influencers on those kind of product development pipeline?
[00:31:30.120 --> 00:31:32.360] What do you mean by that as being like a campaigns?
[00:31:32.360 --> 00:31:52.240] Like, well, I'm like, do you, you know, do you do partnerships and like partner with someone to do a limited edition print on, you know, like, I don't know, like Pantone or like another cool brand in a different space and doing like a collab range capsule collection?
[00:31:53.040 --> 00:32:02.960] We've only done it with brands so far where, you know, they've reached out, but not necessarily done it in like a big marketing campaign.
[00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:06.960] Like a lot of brands have reached out to us being like, hey, can we put our logo on your pajamas?
[00:32:06.960 --> 00:32:09.280] And then they'll use it for their campaigns.
[00:32:09.760 --> 00:32:10.080] Got it.
[00:32:10.080 --> 00:32:10.480] Yeah.
[00:32:10.480 --> 00:32:11.360] Got it.
[00:32:11.360 --> 00:32:16.000] But we haven't yet tested the whole like influencer collaboration campaign.
[00:32:16.080 --> 00:32:17.760] That's definitely on the cards though.
[00:32:17.760 --> 00:32:22.480] And definitely we want to do more licensing products and ranges as well.
[00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:32.160] Oh, and so licensing products, is that like, you know, getting the license for like Disney or something and doing a Disney range or like a, you know, a frozen range or something like that?
[00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:32.480] Yes.
[00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:33.120] Yeah.
[00:32:33.120 --> 00:32:37.840] So if you think about, let's say, like the Ori and how they do a lot, a lot of licensings.
[00:32:37.840 --> 00:32:38.240] Yeah.
[00:32:38.240 --> 00:32:42.480] So Davey talks about how that really helps grow his brand.
[00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:44.000] And like, how do you get a license?
[00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:45.760] How does that actually work?
[00:32:45.760 --> 00:32:50.000] Oh, I'm still in the process, but essentially you can reach out to them.
[00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:52.000] A lot of them do have like licensing deals.
[00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:55.040] There's even an expo, I believe, in Las Vegas.
[00:32:55.360 --> 00:32:56.800] It's like a licensing expo.
[00:32:56.800 --> 00:33:04.640] So if you really wanted to, you can go there and talk to people and like get those licensing deals there because they're also there to make money off you.
[00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:05.600] Right.
[00:33:05.600 --> 00:33:14.480] So basically kind of like you reach out, you pay some kind of upfront fee and then you pay based on like units sold a commission or something like that?
[00:33:14.720 --> 00:33:15.760] Yeah, I believe so.
[00:33:15.760 --> 00:33:19.600] So like I said, I haven't like gone through the whole entire process yet.
[00:33:19.840 --> 00:33:26.320] But essentially, yeah, you can either negotiate, it's like retainer or it's a like a royalty fee of every product made.
[00:33:26.320 --> 00:35:10.000] And then you kind of negotiate with them on the whole deal i love that that's so cool is there any like teasers that you can drop of who you're gonna be doing some licensing deals with uh not just yet but let's just say key moments around like easter oh okay great so think about that who you could yeah license with in easter time family okay exciting i love that okay i want to understand like more about you know instagram seems like it's your primary kind of channel and you know i think you have circa 80 000 followers on there what is kind of like your influencer strategy at the moment what are the things that you're doing that are working and is it you doing it or is it someone offshore or is it someone onshore doing that content and well i mean whatever the strategy is yeah so i do have an australian freelancer and i found like that just works because they like are really interested in the market whereas if you have someone offshore they're not too they're interested in their own world right so australian freelancer and then she has like an offshore assistant to do all like the tedious work so yeah we still do influencer send outs i think our big recent win was like in valentine's day timmy hembrow posted one of our sendouts which is pretty cool oh my god that's so cool i love that what's the impact on something like that oh so there's a lot of interest but i think at the time our product it was like red pajamas and it was posted on valentine's day so it wasn't like if it was posted earlier, perhaps maybe people would have wanted it to, I guess, buy that as a product, but it was like on the day itself.
[00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:12.400] So it was a bit too late for that moment.
[00:35:12.400 --> 00:36:48.280] So yeah, my advice is, for example, if you want more sales for Mother's Day, like do those campaigns in advance and like paid campaigns in advance because then it gives like your customers some time to think about that product and then you know ask their husbands for ask their husbands to buy for them send the link yeah exactly so yeah there was definitely a lot of like um interest and brand awareness because i know that my friends for example they're all flicking across to me being like oh my gosh tony hambrow posted or um during that campaign they're like oh my gosh i keep seeing your brand everywhere so even if it wasn't like direct increase in sales it was definitely just like keeping your brand front of mind yeah very much like top of funnel top of funnel and like for you now what are the things that you're like yeah i just know that if i invest in this i get you know this roi like and i'm i know again it's like a lot of different things and there's creators or ugc or there's ads or there's pr or there's like long-term you know more of a google kind of seo strategy like all the different things but what are the things that you're like today this is what's important to invest in like this is where i am happy to spend money because it's working okay i think for me for example our bridal range does really well and it's because yeah our product is unique in the market it's in demand like brides are always wanting to spend money on our products so it's honestly just like figuring out your offer like your offer in your in the market like for example if i was trying to sell summer pajamas right now like no one will buy it right because it's just like not the time in the market.
[00:36:48.280 --> 00:36:56.440] So, figuring out like what's actually working, like, I always try to look at you know what what's actually been selling in the past seven days and focus more on that.
[00:36:56.760 --> 00:37:07.720] So, you know, if we're getting big orders for bridal, then i'll just focus on that bridal messaging, like spam it through organic socials through our Instagram because that's where most of our audience lies.
[00:37:07.720 --> 00:37:12.360] And then I honestly just target a lot through ads and like just really hone in on that messaging.
[00:37:12.360 --> 00:37:15.160] So, for example, we have a Christmas in July campaign right now.
[00:37:15.160 --> 00:37:18.760] So, we're selling Christmas pajamas in July right now.
[00:37:18.760 --> 00:37:24.440] And that's just a way to, yeah, be ahead of the competition, be in front of people's minds.
[00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:32.280] And I just like am very competitive in that, like, if they're buying midnight mischief now, like, they're not going to buy another brand for Christmas, right?
[00:37:32.600 --> 00:37:40.280] Or some customers only come to us like for Christmas pajamas, so it's like giving them that option to shop with us early.
[00:37:40.280 --> 00:37:48.520] So, it's just, yeah, my main focuses is like product, like product offer, and then amplifying that message.
[00:37:48.520 --> 00:37:49.480] Yeah, I love that.
[00:37:49.480 --> 00:37:59.560] There's like an editorial calendar of things that are happening in the year that you can cling on to, i.e., Valentine's Day, Easter, Christmas in July, Christmas, blah.
[00:37:59.800 --> 00:38:08.520] But then there's also life stages, bridal party, bridal moment, whatever other moments that are like life events that you can also tap into.
[00:38:08.520 --> 00:38:16.440] And so, when you think about how many moments there are in a year or in someone's life, like I love that.
[00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:21.000] And then all the fun stuff, like the matching and the, you know, the dog pajamas and stuff like that.
[00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:21.960] So cool.
[00:38:21.960 --> 00:38:23.320] So interesting.
[00:38:23.640 --> 00:38:24.600] How fun.
[00:38:24.600 --> 00:38:25.720] Very cool.
[00:38:25.720 --> 00:38:34.280] Just circling back to a second for this kind of like, you know, we were talking earlier about offshore talent, and now you have obviously a mix of onshore and offshore.
[00:38:34.280 --> 00:38:38.840] What is the kind of roles that you still outsource to offshore talent?
[00:38:38.840 --> 00:38:55.600] And, like, do you recommend that kind of for, you know, if someone's listening and they're in that early stage and they don't have the budget to like hire full-time staff or hire, you know, on-the-ground kind of um team members, what should they be thinking about with offshore talent?
[00:38:55.600 --> 00:38:58.480] I think you can definitely offload customer service.
[00:38:58.480 --> 00:39:11.680] It was probably a little bit trickier like back in 2018, but now, for example, ChatGPT exists, so you don't have to issues with like English and like tone of voice and everything like that.
[00:39:11.680 --> 00:39:21.920] But for example, ChatGPT, you can just pop in your customer service manual and then like, you know, get if they have a customer inquiry, they can just pop that customer inquiry in there and it'll type a response.
[00:39:21.920 --> 00:39:23.840] So it's like so much easier now.
[00:39:24.080 --> 00:39:30.400] Whereas before, yeah, there was a lot of teething issues in terms of like, you know, you're not writing the message the right way.
[00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:33.680] So that has definitely made like everyone's life easier.
[00:39:33.680 --> 00:39:39.280] And I definitely recommend outsourcing your customer service as soon as possible, if possible.
[00:39:39.280 --> 00:39:44.720] I still would recommend you to like do your customer service because you get that feedback.
[00:39:44.720 --> 00:39:50.160] But once again, I always ask my VA like at the end of the week, like, what's the customer feedback?
[00:39:50.160 --> 00:39:50.880] What are they saying?
[00:39:50.880 --> 00:39:52.720] Is there anything like, is there a complaint?
[00:39:52.720 --> 00:39:53.680] What's a positive?
[00:39:53.680 --> 00:39:58.000] So that just helps you keep in touch with the customer side as well.
[00:39:58.000 --> 00:40:06.960] I think social media management, like scheduling everything is important because that's a lot of time wasted if you're doing it yourself.
[00:40:06.960 --> 00:40:10.080] I think those are the two main things that you can do.
[00:40:10.080 --> 00:40:19.360] And yeah, if they can do social media management, if you have the content already, like they can schedule everything and like repost on every single platform, and that can really help you.
[00:40:19.680 --> 00:40:25.680] What would you say, like, to a small business owner listening in right now, like, what not to invest money on?
[00:40:25.680 --> 00:40:28.120] Like, what you should not be spending on.
[00:40:28.120 --> 00:40:33.480] And based on lessons learned, what are the things that are easy traps to fall into?
[00:40:33.480 --> 00:40:39.160] You know, like you can just drain money, not get results, and then be like, shit, that didn't work.
[00:40:39.480 --> 00:40:49.800] I think what I see happens is a lot of people pay a lot of money for Google Ads, like a lot of agency fees for Google Ads and SEO.
[00:40:49.800 --> 00:40:51.480] And I think that's not necessary.
[00:40:51.480 --> 00:41:01.560] Like, you can set up Google Ads is something where you can kind of set and forget, like, okay, you can't really forget about it, but it's not as intricate as, let's say, Facebook ads.
[00:41:01.560 --> 00:41:06.520] So, you could have someone, you know, work on their account like a few hours a week and then have it set up.
[00:41:06.520 --> 00:41:09.640] Or SEO, for example, like that's more of a long-term game.
[00:41:09.640 --> 00:41:21.240] But if you want, you know, quick sales through the door, like getting on the first page of, you know, like your search term isn't going to get you from A to B as quickly as you want.
[00:41:21.240 --> 00:41:26.600] So I would say just be wary of those, depending on your product as well.
[00:41:26.600 --> 00:41:40.360] And oh, that's a really hard question, but perhaps even like rent costs or warehousing costs, like try to keep everything as, I guess, bootstrapped and as lean as possible.
[00:41:40.360 --> 00:41:48.520] Because I, yeah, had friends in like the e-commerce accounting space, and she said, like in Australia right now, the retail market is pretty soft.
[00:41:48.520 --> 00:41:59.400] But she said the brands that are doing well are the ones are like doing $20 million in revenue, but they're like doing it all from home or they don't have lots of, yeah, like they don't have lots of staff, for example.
[00:41:59.400 --> 00:42:06.040] Whereas the ones that are really struggling are the ones who are really finding it difficult to scale up and down quickly.
[00:42:06.040 --> 00:42:06.440] Right.
[00:42:06.440 --> 00:42:18.800] So kind of like those fixed, locked in, like overhead costs, like yeah, an office or like a warehouse or a big team when it's like you want to be as lean as possible basically.
[00:42:19.600 --> 00:42:24.800] And so for you are you still doing your own ads now or have you now outsourced to an agency?
[00:42:25.120 --> 00:42:26.560] So yeah, it's been a journey.
[00:42:26.560 --> 00:42:31.120] So I started running my own ads in 2022 and then I ran it in 2023.
[00:42:31.120 --> 00:42:37.520] Then I started trying to write like I thought, okay, let's try to get it outsourced to an agency or freelancer.
[00:42:37.760 --> 00:42:39.120] They were great.
[00:42:39.120 --> 00:42:51.360] And now because I have the skill set to run my own ads, I know what's good and bad, but I just felt that the missing part was like they didn't care enough as much as like you as your own business.
[00:42:51.360 --> 00:43:01.840] So ideally, like because of those two lessons where I've actually learned the skill set, I've tried to outsource it to an agency, like a great agency and a great freelancer, but it still just wasn't hitting the mark.
[00:43:01.840 --> 00:43:04.880] So I think now it's more about like building that internal team.
[00:43:04.880 --> 00:43:10.080] I think I tried that route and then now it's like, no, I think we just need to keep it in-house.
[00:43:10.080 --> 00:43:10.480] Right.
[00:43:10.480 --> 00:43:11.680] Okay, got it.
[00:43:11.680 --> 00:43:21.440] For you, what is your kind of like superpower and zone of genius that you're like, I need to make sure that I put time and energy every single day into this?
[00:43:21.440 --> 00:43:25.520] Because obviously, you know, you're running the business, you're running a team, you're managing lots of different things.
[00:43:25.520 --> 00:43:31.920] But where's the thing that you're like, I'm really good at X and I just know that I do that every day?
[00:43:32.880 --> 00:43:40.000] I think, okay, so I know I'm really good at product and like knowing what people want because I'm my customer.
[00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:41.120] I don't do it enough.
[00:43:41.120 --> 00:43:43.600] So that's why I will behind on the new product launches.
[00:43:43.600 --> 00:43:45.760] And that's why I wanted to bring that up.
[00:43:45.760 --> 00:43:49.200] Just like that's a mistake that can happen to anyone.
[00:43:49.200 --> 00:43:50.800] Don't play too much.
[00:43:50.800 --> 00:43:52.400] Still focus on your business.
[00:43:52.400 --> 00:43:56.000] But yeah, I am definitely focused on, let's say, like, yeah, new products.
[00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:58.320] For example, our feather pajamas.
[00:43:58.320 --> 00:44:01.560] Like, I was meant to release that back in 2020, but then life got in the way.
[00:43:59.920 --> 00:44:03.080] Um, business was growing really quickly.
[00:44:03.400 --> 00:44:08.440] But even though I released it like two years later, like that's still one of our best performing products.
[00:44:08.440 --> 00:44:17.720] Right now, I just try to focus on like talking to my manufacturers every single day and making sure like we're moving the needle moving forward on product development.
[00:44:17.720 --> 00:44:19.880] Got it, got it, got it, got it.
[00:44:19.880 --> 00:44:22.120] I want to understand because what month are we in now?
[00:44:22.120 --> 00:44:23.640] We're like nearly August.
[00:44:23.640 --> 00:44:24.840] Yeah, we're in July.
[00:44:24.840 --> 00:44:26.760] We're nearly coming up to August.
[00:44:26.760 --> 00:44:29.480] Like, when is cyber weekend and like Black Friday?
[00:44:29.480 --> 00:44:30.200] It's like November.
[00:44:30.200 --> 00:44:31.240] It's in November.
[00:44:31.480 --> 00:44:35.400] How do you plan for that kind of moment?
[00:44:35.400 --> 00:44:38.520] Because obviously, like, this is a big moment for a lot of e-com brands.
[00:44:38.520 --> 00:44:41.640] And then this blends into kind of like Christmas and gifting sales.
[00:44:41.640 --> 00:44:44.760] So it's like gearing up to that time.
[00:44:44.760 --> 00:44:47.080] How far out are you planning for that?
[00:44:47.080 --> 00:44:49.480] What is the strategy in the lead up?
[00:44:49.480 --> 00:44:50.040] Yeah.
[00:44:50.040 --> 00:44:59.080] So yeah, that's a very big question and very loaded question because, yeah, like most brands, we, it's like pajamas time to shine in November.
[00:44:59.080 --> 00:45:07.160] So if you look at the Google trends, like we peak at December because like everybody wants to buy pajamas as a gift, everybody wants to wear pajamas.
[00:45:07.160 --> 00:45:09.400] Like pajamas are just like everyone wants matching.
[00:45:09.400 --> 00:45:10.600] Yeah, everyone wants matching.
[00:45:10.600 --> 00:45:13.560] So it's just like we really take it seriously.
[00:45:13.560 --> 00:45:16.120] And I definitely plan like, yeah, we're planning from now.
[00:45:16.120 --> 00:45:18.040] I'm already starting to sell Christmas pajamas now.
[00:45:18.040 --> 00:45:22.120] That's how like I sell Christmas pajamas from July to December.
[00:45:22.760 --> 00:45:23.480] Oh shit.
[00:45:23.720 --> 00:45:28.360] I thought you meant more like just Christmas in July pajamas, but now it's already starting.
[00:45:28.360 --> 00:45:31.400] Oh no, we're selling Christmas pajamas now.
[00:45:32.040 --> 00:45:33.960] Oh my god, that blows my mind.
[00:45:33.960 --> 00:45:37.080] I'm like, that's like forever away.
[00:45:37.080 --> 00:45:37.800] Okay, wow.
[00:45:37.800 --> 00:45:48.800] And so, are you kind of forecasting and doing your projections on like how much stock you'll need for cyber weekend and like what the offer is going to be and what the product range is going to be and things like that?
[00:45:44.920 --> 00:45:49.520] Yeah.
[00:45:49.760 --> 00:45:59.600] So, um, even when it's like last Black Friday, like right afterwards, I would already like assess like what's happened, what's sold, like, how can we make it better?
[00:45:59.600 --> 00:46:01.280] Like, what products do we need in?
[00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:03.840] Like, what, you know, what sold out really quickly?
[00:46:03.840 --> 00:46:06.080] What items are people on the wait list for.
[00:46:06.080 --> 00:46:12.000] And then, I generally, yeah, we have like our Black Friday stock coming in around, it's pretty early, but around September.
[00:46:12.000 --> 00:46:19.120] But we just like to be extra stocked because October is also another big gift, like gifting season, I suppose.
[00:46:19.120 --> 00:46:28.080] And we try to, I guess, get that new customer acquisition in October because if they try our product in October, then they'll buy it again during Christmas.
[00:46:28.400 --> 00:46:29.760] Oh, right.
[00:46:30.080 --> 00:46:30.960] Wow.
[00:46:30.960 --> 00:46:45.120] And like, now that you've got, I mean, many years of Black Friday kind of learnings under your belt, what are the kind of like do's and don'ts that you could share for someone else who's, I need to like get on top of this, you know, for this year.
[00:46:45.120 --> 00:46:45.440] Okay.
[00:46:45.440 --> 00:46:45.920] Yeah.
[00:46:45.920 --> 00:46:50.000] Um, do's is, yeah, definitely try to your best to forecast your sales.
[00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.320] And if you have revenue goals, like work backwards, like how much stuff you actually need.
[00:46:54.320 --> 00:46:56.320] Make sure you're not over-discounting.
[00:46:56.320 --> 00:47:02.640] I think one of my Black Fridays, I over-discounted and we didn't make as much profit as like the previous year.
[00:47:02.640 --> 00:47:05.600] So just be wary about your offer as well.
[00:47:05.920 --> 00:47:14.400] I also recommend like trying to do like a gift with purchase so people can have like a you know bigger average order value when they purchase on a day.
[00:47:14.400 --> 00:47:25.840] And I think I like doing like prices as marked rather than an automatic discount because it's just like a psychological thing when they go on your website and they can actually see the dollar amount, like how much they're saving.
[00:47:25.840 --> 00:47:29.840] I think those really contribute to a successful Black Friday.
[00:47:30.120 --> 00:47:43.080] And I think really honing in on your like email SMS strategy and your messaging like beforehand, like one month in advance, just to teeth out any issues.
[00:47:43.080 --> 00:47:54.120] But don't be afraid to like spam your audience because I know that a lot of people are like, oh no, like I don't want to be annoying, but everybody's being annoying at that time and you just need to cut through the noise.
[00:47:54.120 --> 00:48:01.160] So don't be afraid to like email your customer list like every single day, like SMS them a lot of times because every other brand is doing it.
[00:48:01.160 --> 00:48:05.480] So you just need to kind of like cut through that noise as well or try to start early.
[00:48:05.480 --> 00:48:09.640] Like Black Friday is going early and earlier every single time.
[00:48:09.640 --> 00:48:12.200] So yeah, 2018, Black Friday was like pretty small.
[00:48:12.200 --> 00:48:15.480] 2019, people started to know about it.
[00:48:15.480 --> 00:48:18.280] Like it wasn't well known in Australia just yet.
[00:48:18.280 --> 00:48:22.920] And then yeah, now I saw brands last year like starting in October.
[00:48:22.920 --> 00:48:25.560] Like they were doing their own Black Friday in October.
[00:48:25.560 --> 00:48:28.200] And then a lot of brands were starting on November 1st.
[00:48:28.200 --> 00:48:32.200] So this time around is kind of just like cowboy.
[00:48:32.200 --> 00:48:35.480] Like you do whatever, you do whatever you want.
[00:48:35.800 --> 00:48:36.440] Cowboy.
[00:48:36.440 --> 00:48:37.320] I love that.
[00:48:37.320 --> 00:48:45.480] So do you then have like kind of a calendar or like an editorial kind of overview of this is how our messaging is going to change throughout that period?
[00:48:45.480 --> 00:48:51.720] So it's like, you know, the offer might be like X today and it's totally different tomorrow or next week.
[00:48:51.720 --> 00:49:01.160] And the messaging is totally different too to kind of like keep it fresh if it's going for these kind of longer periods of time versus it used to just be, you know, like a long weekend.
[00:49:01.160 --> 00:49:01.640] Yeah.
[00:49:01.960 --> 00:49:07.320] So previously, I think in 2022, yeah, our Black Friday was a normal Black Friday.
[00:49:07.320 --> 00:49:12.120] And then November, we had like a month-long because I just saw everybody launching straight away.
[00:49:12.120 --> 00:49:14.800] And we just needed to be like ahead of everybody.
[00:49:14.800 --> 00:49:16.240] So we trialled that as well.
[00:49:14.440 --> 00:49:19.520] But the month-long Black Friday just got really, really long.
[00:49:19.840 --> 00:49:28.240] So I think this year we're just like, my plan is to release like new products throughout the month or like the few weeks.
[00:49:28.240 --> 00:49:31.440] or like limited edition releases to keep it fresh.
[00:49:31.440 --> 00:49:38.320] So that's what a lot of new brands are doing now to because people purchase once, but then they won't ever come back.
[00:49:38.320 --> 00:49:41.600] For example, my brand were like perfect gifts essentially.
[00:49:41.600 --> 00:49:49.600] So it's just a nice way if you release something new and a new offer or like an old product or a new like an old colorway that people want.
[00:49:49.600 --> 00:49:52.640] It's just a nice way for people to come back to you.
[00:49:52.960 --> 00:49:53.600] Love.
[00:49:53.600 --> 00:49:54.480] I love that.
[00:49:54.480 --> 00:49:55.360] So clever.
[00:49:55.360 --> 00:49:56.800] Very cool.
[00:49:56.800 --> 00:49:58.160] What do you want to shout about?
[00:49:58.160 --> 00:49:59.040] What's exciting?
[00:49:59.040 --> 00:50:00.640] Oh, what's exciting?
[00:50:00.960 --> 00:50:02.320] Yeah, Christmas pajamas.
[00:50:03.360 --> 00:50:08.560] If you want matching Christmas pajamas and doggy pajamas, we're already selling them.
[00:50:09.840 --> 00:50:15.760] Or if you know, yeah, anyone getting married, we're also releasing, yeah, some really cool bridal dresses.
[00:50:15.760 --> 00:50:48.680] I'm definitely like my focus is trying to elevate our brand even more and creating like really cool products because I see a lot of brands in like the US like have some really nice things but then in Australia we don't have that offering and it's like very expensive to ship over here so I'm definitely um focusing more on that bridal aspect especially because I'm reaching in that new phase of life where I'm like looking to get married um so like I'm my perfect target audience that I can design for so that's practically what I'm focusing on, like keeping it simple.
[00:50:48.680 --> 00:50:53.080] Like, I really love our Christmas collection, like, that just gives me a lot of joy.
[00:50:53.080 --> 00:50:54.440] And I also love like the bridal.
[00:50:54.440 --> 00:50:59.480] So, I'm really just like leaning into those two like offerings at the moment.
[00:50:59.480 --> 00:51:00.680] Love.
[00:51:00.680 --> 00:51:11.560] And what's kind of a piece of advice that you would leave anyone who's listening in right now with that's your like key key learning, key lesson, key thing that you love to share?
[00:51:12.360 --> 00:51:18.120] I think it's just keep pushing, like believe in yourself.
[00:51:18.120 --> 00:51:19.880] You just need to continually work hard.
[00:51:19.880 --> 00:51:26.520] I think one of my big mistakes was I kind of like took my foot off the pedal because I was like, oh yeah, we did so well this year.
[00:51:26.520 --> 00:51:28.280] Like, I can go on holidays.
[00:51:28.280 --> 00:51:31.720] And, like, I heard that business advice of like, you can't take your foot off the pedal.
[00:51:31.720 --> 00:51:34.840] Like, you know, business can go like up and down anytime.
[00:51:34.840 --> 00:51:36.600] Like, you need to be really focused.
[00:51:36.600 --> 00:51:38.680] And I thought, like, that won't happen to me.
[00:51:38.680 --> 00:51:43.000] And then, like, yeah, I took too much time off, but then I definitely felt it this year.
[00:51:43.000 --> 00:51:51.160] And once again, like, I'm just telling this just to get the realities of like, you know, those real business lessons that people don't really talk about.
[00:51:51.160 --> 00:51:56.920] So it's definitely like you need to stay focused and you need to be consistent like every single day.
[00:51:56.920 --> 00:51:59.560] I think that's my main driving message.
[00:51:59.560 --> 00:52:02.760] And when things feel hard, like that's, that's normal.
[00:52:02.760 --> 00:52:05.320] Like, you just need to keep pushing.
[00:52:05.560 --> 00:52:07.720] I think that's my main message.
[00:52:07.720 --> 00:52:08.600] I love that.
[00:52:08.600 --> 00:52:10.040] And I think it's so true.
[00:52:10.040 --> 00:52:24.440] Like, when things feel hard, you need to keep pushing because that's like, that's the time when it's easy to quit, but you've got to keep compounding the effort and compounding those tiny actions every single day so that you come out the other side eventually.
[00:52:24.440 --> 00:52:26.280] Yeah, because my favorite.
[00:52:26.840 --> 00:52:29.640] I love listening to a podcast by Sally McRae.
[00:52:29.640 --> 00:52:31.400] She's an ultra marathoner.
[00:52:31.400 --> 00:52:40.040] And like, I just love mindsets of like elite athletes, like how they think through things because they're going through extreme pain, like running 200 kilometers at a time, right?
[00:52:40.040 --> 00:52:47.280] But she, oh my gosh, she says, you know, it's like really easy to quit in the middle when you can't see the finish line.
[00:52:47.280 --> 00:52:54.720] So it's the point at the middle where you just need to keep pushing because no one ever quits at the end or like when they see the finish line, right?
[00:52:54.720 --> 00:53:00.560] So the middle, if it feels shit, it is shit, but you just need to keep pushing.
[00:53:00.880 --> 00:53:01.760] I love that.
[00:53:01.760 --> 00:53:03.040] That's so true.
[00:53:03.040 --> 00:53:04.400] What's the finish line for you?
[00:53:04.400 --> 00:53:05.840] Are you going to sell the business?
[00:53:05.840 --> 00:53:08.480] Oh, I think that's still up in air.
[00:53:09.120 --> 00:53:15.840] I guess like I'm reaching this new phase of life where I'm like, do I want like world domination or do I want to keep this a lifestyle business?
[00:53:15.840 --> 00:53:26.400] And I think I've been playing with the idea for a very long time because I need to figure out like, you know, as when I have children, like, what do I want my lifestyle to look like?
[00:53:26.400 --> 00:53:29.200] And my big focus is around health.
[00:53:29.200 --> 00:53:32.000] Like, that's a very big value for me.
[00:53:32.000 --> 00:53:37.120] So just want to make sure that I'm growing the business sustainably, but still keeping my health.
[00:53:37.120 --> 00:53:46.320] Because right now I'm training for a marathon and I would rather have a smaller size business if I can run my marathons and set a time aside for that.
[00:53:46.320 --> 00:53:49.200] So that's what like success looks like for me.
[00:53:49.200 --> 00:53:58.560] For example, if someone said you can have, you know, a hundred million dollar business or you can't like, but you can't run your marathons, I wouldn't take, I wouldn't take the hundred million dollar business.
[00:53:58.560 --> 00:54:06.000] So yeah, you want your like peace, mental health, sanity, the stuff you love, your like daily joy, live a good life.
[00:54:06.000 --> 00:54:08.000] Yeah, so yeah, I'm with you.
[00:54:08.000 --> 00:54:09.840] Yeah, that's what matters for me.
[00:54:09.840 --> 00:54:11.920] And I know, yeah, everybody's different.
[00:54:11.920 --> 00:54:16.720] But yeah, finish line, it could be like selling the business if the opportunity presents.
[00:54:16.880 --> 00:54:27.040] I think right now it is like still a passion project where I love like being able to creatively like design things that, you know, my family would wear or my friends would wear for their wedding.
[00:54:27.040 --> 00:54:30.440] So I'm just leaning into that and then seeing where it takes me.
[00:54:30.440 --> 00:54:31.720] Yes, love that.
[00:54:29.600 --> 00:54:33.000] Love that for you.
[00:54:36.520 --> 00:54:41.640] Take control of the numbers and supercharge your small business with zero.
[00:54:41.640 --> 00:54:53.960] That's X E R O With our easy to use accounting software with automation and reporting features, you'll spend less time on manual tasks and more time understanding how your business is doing.
[00:54:53.960 --> 00:54:55.800] 87% of surveyed U.S.
[00:54:55.800 --> 00:54:59.240] customers agree Zero helps improve financial visibility.
[00:54:59.240 --> 00:55:05.080] Search Zero with an X or visit zero.com slash ACAST to start your 30-day free trial.
[00:55:05.080 --> 00:55:06.520] Conditions apply.
[00:55:06.520 --> 00:55:10.520] Wouldn't it be nice if your cash savings could just grow by itself?
[00:55:10.520 --> 00:55:19.320] With the Wealthfront cash account, it can, earning 4% annual percentage yield from partner banks on your uninvested cash, nearly 10 times the national average.
[00:55:19.320 --> 00:55:22.760] Just imagine if other things in your life work the way Wealthfront works.
[00:55:22.760 --> 00:55:29.080] If your house plants grew at 10 times the average rate, you'd have 10 times fewer issues with sad, stunted succulents.
[00:55:29.080 --> 00:55:32.440] Your crocodile ferns would go to the size of crocodiles.
[00:55:32.440 --> 00:55:43.080] Wealthfront's cash account keeps your money thriving just like that, earning you an industry-leading rate with no account maintenance fees and with free 24-7 instant withdrawals so you can access your money whenever you need it.
[00:55:43.080 --> 00:55:44.520] Money works better here.
[00:55:44.520 --> 00:55:47.160] Go to WealthFront.com to start saving.
[00:55:47.160 --> 00:55:50.840] Cash account offered by Wealthfront Brokerage LLC member Fenra SIPC.
[00:55:50.840 --> 00:55:52.120] Wealthfront is not a bank.
[00:55:52.120 --> 00:55:57.720] The APY on cash deposits as of December 27, 2024 is representative, subject to change and requires no minimum.
[00:55:57.720 --> 00:56:01.240] Funds in the cash account are swept to partner banks where they earn the variable APY.
[00:56:01.240 --> 00:56:07.080] The national average interest rate for savings accounts is posted on FDIC.gov as of December 16, 2024.
[00:56:11.800 --> 00:56:13.880] Hey, it's June here.
[00:56:13.880 --> 00:56:18.400] Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast.
[00:56:18.720 --> 00:56:28.080] If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter.
[00:56:28.080 --> 00:56:36.320] We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
[00:56:36.320 --> 00:56:47.120] And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash hypeclub.
[00:56:47.120 --> 00:56:58.720] We have guests from the show joining us for intimate ask me anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
[00:56:58.720 --> 00:57:04.880] As always, please do subscribe, rate, and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories.
[00:57:04.880 --> 00:57:08.000] I am beyond grateful when you do that.