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[00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.640] Hey business besties, welcome back to Female Founder World.
[00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:03.440] I'm Jasmine.
[00:00:03.440 --> 00:00:07.600] I'm the host of the show and the person behind all things Female Founder World.
[00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:09.840] Today I'm chatting with Charlotte Tricotton.
[00:00:09.840 --> 00:00:12.080] She's the founder and CEO of Char Charms.
[00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:13.520] Welcome to the show.
[00:00:13.520 --> 00:00:15.200] Hi, thank you so much for having me.
[00:00:15.200 --> 00:00:18.800] How do you explain your business and what you're doing to people that don't know you?
[00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:25.120] Okay, in the simplest terms, it is the biggest water bottle accessory company in America.
[00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:29.840] So we supply all of the water bottle accessories to the mass retailers.
[00:00:29.840 --> 00:00:37.440] So if you don't know what a water bottle accessory is, which most people don't, imagine a Stanley and then imagine all the fun things that go on it.
[00:00:37.440 --> 00:00:45.280] So straw toppers, straws, charms, bottle boots, pouches, handle charms, really kind of like jazzing up your water bottle.
[00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:46.720] But we're water bottle agnostic.
[00:00:46.720 --> 00:00:48.880] So we work on all water bottles.
[00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:51.360] But now our business is actually more than that.
[00:00:51.360 --> 00:00:57.760] We've expanded into shoe charms and bag charms and phone charms and all the charms and accessories.
[00:00:57.760 --> 00:00:59.360] And let's share some of the milestones.
[00:00:59.360 --> 00:01:00.800] Are there any milestones that you want to call out?
[00:01:00.800 --> 00:01:02.000] I've got if you're here as well.
[00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:05.440] I think the biggest, most recent one was probably Shark Tank.
[00:01:05.440 --> 00:01:14.480] So we aired January of this past year, 2025, and it was like such a surreal moment seeing myself on Shark Tank.
[00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:20.640] So I would say that's probably like my favorite accomplishment so far of Char Charms and it was such a positive experience.
[00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:24.240] You also hit six and a half million in revenue last year.
[00:01:24.240 --> 00:01:25.520] You're fully bootstrapped.
[00:01:25.520 --> 00:01:28.000] You started this business, what, like four years ago?
[00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:28.400] Yeah.
[00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:29.600] From your parents' garage.
[00:01:29.600 --> 00:01:30.000] Yeah.
[00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:31.040] Talked me through getting started.
[00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:32.480] You were at college at the time, right?
[00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:36.240] Yeah, so I had the idea during COVID, just like sitting at home doing nothing.
[00:01:36.240 --> 00:01:39.040] I'm like, what if you accessorized a water bottle?
[00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.440] And it was an idea that never left my brain.
[00:01:41.440 --> 00:01:47.200] So even through college and through my junior year, when I wasn't working on the business, I was like, oh my god, I have to do this.
[00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:48.240] I have to do this.
[00:01:48.240 --> 00:01:53.520] And I think that was such like a gut-telling feeling that like I needed to pursue it.
[00:01:53.520 --> 00:01:56.880] And so, after my junior year, I was at the University of Illinois.
[00:01:56.880 --> 00:01:59.440] It's like one of the big 10 schools here in America.
[00:01:59.440 --> 00:02:00.440] I finished my junior year.
[00:02:00.520 --> 00:02:01.880] It was like the hardest year of classes.
[00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:06.040] I'm like, okay, now is my time to go all in on this business.
[00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:07.480] I got a 3D printer.
[00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:09.320] I was prototyping.
[00:02:09.320 --> 00:02:11.160] I filed for a provisional patent.
[00:02:11.160 --> 00:02:13.080] I'm like, let's see what we can do.
[00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:17.880] I got a mentor, and then we launched Charcharms.com September of 2021.
[00:02:17.880 --> 00:02:23.240] I think the most important part of my story is the fact that I started during college.
[00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:28.200] Because if I had started any later, I probably would not have gotten to where I was.
[00:02:28.200 --> 00:02:29.320] Why do you say that?
[00:02:29.320 --> 00:02:38.040] I think the interesting thing is that, like, when you have school, it's kind of like your business is like, it's okay if it's not making money.
[00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:51.480] And so I think it's so empowering to the founders that are in college today or in high school today, or they still have a job where it's like you can work on your business for three to four years or whatever it is and like not have the craziest revenue and like it's okay.
[00:02:51.480 --> 00:03:00.680] But that timeframe of that buildup is so important to kind of like hit the luck or like strike it lucky when the timing is perfect.
[00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:04.280] So we were, it was a really slow growth at the very beginning.
[00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:06.280] Like I was only on Instagram posting.
[00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:11.000] We had like a couple sales a month and slowly it started to pick up.
[00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:13.560] And then I launched on TikTok.
[00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:20.440] And that was really like the first big switch for us of like, oh my God, this is a really big revenue generator now.
[00:03:20.760 --> 00:03:25.000] I want to learn a little bit more about that because you got a you got a TikTok coach, right?
[00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:25.560] Yeah.
[00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:27.320] So I had two TikTok coaches.
[00:03:27.320 --> 00:03:30.840] I started with one and it was like so expensive.
[00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:32.920] I'm like, this is not possible.
[00:03:32.920 --> 00:03:36.120] But the only thing that they taught me was like, volume is everything.
[00:03:36.440 --> 00:03:41.240] So I took that lesson and I had a friend that was doing TikTok coaching.
[00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:44.120] And I'm like, hey, would you want to coach me?
[00:03:44.120 --> 00:03:45.840] He was like a couple hundred bucks a month.
[00:03:44.920 --> 00:03:46.960] I'm like, perfect.
[00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:53.680] And really, how I look at him as a coach is he is more of like an accountability coach.
[00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:57.920] So more so the fact of that, like, okay, what are you posting today?
[00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:00.960] Here are some thoughts and ideas that I have on these posts.
[00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:09.040] And then post like three a day, no matter what, every day at 3 p.m., I would be making content and I would be posting at five, six, and seven.
[00:04:09.040 --> 00:04:12.160] Like I had alarms on my phone for like four months straight.
[00:04:12.160 --> 00:04:13.200] I was doing this.
[00:04:13.200 --> 00:04:20.480] And we grew from like 10 to 20,000 to 30,000 to 40,000, 50,000 to like 80,000 followers within those couple of months.
[00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:23.360] And with that, our revenue just soared.
[00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:31.760] So by the time I graduated in 2022, we were doing like 10, 15, 20K a month in revenue just from our website because of TikTok.
[00:04:31.760 --> 00:04:32.160] Yeah.
[00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:32.880] Wow.
[00:04:32.880 --> 00:04:38.400] I want to get into the specifics about what is actually like working on TikTok and what you've learned from that coach.
[00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:41.440] And also if your friend, like, I don't know if he still does coaching, but he doesn't.
[00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:42.400] Yeah, I wish.
[00:04:42.400 --> 00:04:46.000] I was going to say, we're going to put the link in the show notes, but that's totally fine.
[00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:49.840] Tell us what you learned through him and what you've learned growing the business on TikTok since then.
[00:04:49.840 --> 00:04:50.480] Totally.
[00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:59.200] So a couple of basic tips that I've learned for TikTok, and it's what I tell everyone is: if you are going to commit, post as many as you can every single day.
[00:04:59.200 --> 00:05:01.040] So it's like I was posting three times a day.
[00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:08.080] If you can do two times a day, one time a day, your number one job in the beginning of starting your business is selling.
[00:05:08.080 --> 00:05:11.520] And like TikTok is your one opportunity to do that for free.
[00:05:11.840 --> 00:05:17.600] So if you can get to a million dollars just through posting on TikTok, like that's what you need to do.
[00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:19.440] So volume was everything for me.
[00:05:19.440 --> 00:05:24.560] Like try everything, try every format of video, see what works, see what doesn't.
[00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:35.880] Oh my God, one thing I like totally messed up on, which I regret so badly in my TikTok journey, is that when a video went viral, I would just like move on and be like, okay, great, let's just make, you know, keep making videos.
[00:05:35.880 --> 00:05:45.800] And what I should have done, and I regret this so badly, is that when a video went viral, I should have made a bazillion more videos exactly like it, right?
[00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:50.440] Because you go to a creator's page and they're making all the same type of viral video.
[00:05:50.440 --> 00:05:53.320] And like, that's how you really gain followers.
[00:05:53.320 --> 00:06:01.880] And so I made this mistake of like just bouncing around to a bunch of different styles instead of sticking with the videos that were doing phenomenally well.
[00:06:01.880 --> 00:06:03.240] So yeah, that was a big mistake.
[00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:05.720] And I probably would have been so further along.
[00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:10.200] I actually think that that's like a lesson for all things in business and marketing.
[00:06:10.200 --> 00:06:13.240] It's kind of like when something works, just like do it again, do it again, do it again.
[00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:16.040] You don't have to be bouncing around trying everything at the same time.
[00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:18.520] Like double down on what's working.
[00:06:18.520 --> 00:06:19.400] Yeah, 100%.
[00:06:19.400 --> 00:06:21.400] So I would say those are the two biggest things.
[00:06:21.400 --> 00:06:41.240] And then I think kind of the last thing on TikTok that I would say, which is what I teach just people who like aren't even on TikTok or like TikTok savvy, is if you don't know what to post, look at the people that you admire, whether it's in the same field or the same type of business and just like mimic viral content.
[00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:42.680] Because that's how you learn, right?
[00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:45.720] Is you look at other videos and you're like, okay, let me try to remake that.
[00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:51.240] And so I think that's a really easy way to start posting if you're like, I have no idea what to post.
[00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:58.760] I'm always curious about those early days and how people afford to start businesses and like what it costs to get these, you know, certain things off the ground.
[00:06:58.760 --> 00:06:59.720] You didn't have any investors.
[00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:01.080] You were just using savings.
[00:07:01.080 --> 00:07:07.400] You're fully bootstrapped, which I think is so incredible, especially when you talk about these retailers that you've launched into.
[00:07:07.400 --> 00:07:11.560] But how did you kind of fund getting started and what did that cost?
[00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:14.960] Okay, business besties, let's switch gears for a second.
[00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:20.080] Real quick, I want to talk to you about this season's presenting sponsor, Vistaprint.
[00:07:20.400 --> 00:07:27.600] They are sponsoring this entire season of the Female Founder World podcast, and we love a supportive sponsor.
[00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:39.680] So much so that we're actually working with Vistaprint ourselves to create the merch and all of those beautiful event perks that you know and love from our in-real life Female Founder World events.
[00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:54.880] If you haven't heard of Vistaprint, here's what you need to know: Vistaprint helps all kinds of business owners print all kinds of marketing products like super professional business cards, fun merch, eye-catching flyers and brochures, and a whole bunch more.
[00:07:54.880 --> 00:07:56.720] And it's all completely custom.
[00:07:56.720 --> 00:07:58.880] So you can do whatever you want.
[00:07:58.880 --> 00:08:02.480] Whatever you're imagining right now, Vistaprint can print it.
[00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:09.360] And if you're wondering if you're ready to be a designer girlie, their easy-to-use website makes it super simple.
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[00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:23.600] Right now, Vistaprint is giving all female Founder World podcast listeners a little something, 25% off your first order at vistaprint.com.
[00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:29.440] Use the code FFW25 at checkout and step up your branding game.
[00:08:29.440 --> 00:08:32.320] We put a link in the show notes if you want to learn more.
[00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:34.240] Yeah, great question.
[00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:38.400] So I was, I had a job selling insurance.
[00:08:38.400 --> 00:08:40.880] I had another job selling coupon books door-to-door.
[00:08:40.880 --> 00:08:41.840] Like I was in sales.
[00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:42.400] Yeah.
[00:08:42.400 --> 00:08:44.800] And I just put all that money into char charms.
[00:08:44.800 --> 00:08:45.920] It wasn't expensive.
[00:08:45.920 --> 00:08:49.840] Like, I was buying beads at Hobby Lobby for you making it yourself.
[00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:51.360] Yeah, I was making it myself.
[00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:55.520] We were hand-pouring resin into molds to like make these little stick-on hooks.
[00:08:55.520 --> 00:09:01.400] And granted, I was hiring like every high schooler in my neighborhood to come and work for me in my dad's basement.
[00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:05.480] Like, I would literally go and like knock on everyone's door and be like, Hey, I have this business.
[00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:08.440] I'm wondering if anyone's curious and like wants to work.
[00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:09.320] It's hourly.
[00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:10.520] I will pay you cash.
[00:09:10.520 --> 00:09:17.640] And so, we had probably like a dozen different kids from the neighborhood helping and working with me, whether it was packing orders.
[00:09:17.640 --> 00:09:27.080] So, funding it wasn't that hard because we were hand-making everything, they're really cheap items, and then we just put everything back into the business.
[00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:30.520] When did you go full-time and you know, stop doing all the sales?
[00:09:30.520 --> 00:09:37.240] Yeah, yeah, well, I was doing sales only during the summer, and then, oh, and then my senior year of college, I was doing insurance sales too.
[00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:40.360] So, basically, when I graduated college, I'm like, okay, I'm done with this.
[00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:41.960] I'm gonna go all in on char charms.
[00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:46.120] Wow, yeah, it sounds like last year was kind of this like crazy inflection point.
[00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:54.760] I've got written down here that you did about 80,000 in revenue in your first, in like that first 12 months, but then last year you did six and a half million in revenue.
[00:09:54.760 --> 00:09:56.680] What changed in those two years?
[00:09:56.920 --> 00:09:57.960] Massive change.
[00:09:57.960 --> 00:09:59.640] Yeah, it was really exciting.
[00:09:59.640 --> 00:10:00.760] Retail.
[00:10:00.760 --> 00:10:05.320] So, we were fully direct-to-consumer for those first couple of years.
[00:10:05.320 --> 00:10:10.840] And then, when Stanley, the water bottle brand, just blew up, we blew up with them.
[00:10:10.840 --> 00:10:16.120] And what happened was we were positioned as the water bottle accessory company in the space.
[00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:21.080] Like, if you search water bottle accessories, char charms would pop up, whether it was on Google or TikTok.
[00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:24.360] And so, Urban Outfitters was the first one to take the chance on us.
[00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:27.400] They're such a good, like, boutique chain retailer to get started in the middle.
[00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:28.040] Oh, my God.
[00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:32.520] Yes, like, they will take a chance on a brand new brand, which I love.
[00:10:32.520 --> 00:10:33.960] I think it's amazing.
[00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:35.960] And the thing with Urban is, like, it's very in and out, right?
[00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:39.560] They'll have you in for like four weeks just to test it and see how it goes.
[00:10:39.560 --> 00:10:43.560] And I think that gives a lot of legitimacy because then you can go to other retailers.
[00:10:43.560 --> 00:10:46.320] So, Dick's Sporting Goods came to us afterwards.
[00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:47.600] And so we launched with them.
[00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:50.160] We did a test and then we went nationwide.
[00:10:44.760 --> 00:10:52.320] And then Target came to us after that.
[00:10:52.640 --> 00:11:00.240] And then we actually went immediately nationwide with Target with 17 SKUs, which like does not happen.
[00:11:00.560 --> 00:11:04.400] I think a lot of brands will do a test with Target, they'll go online with Target.
[00:11:04.400 --> 00:11:07.040] Maybe they launch one SKU or two SKUs.
[00:11:07.040 --> 00:11:11.440] And we did 17 immediately in 1700 locations.
[00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:11.920] Wow.
[00:11:11.920 --> 00:11:13.520] And also, what was your team at this time?
[00:11:13.520 --> 00:11:15.200] What, like three people?
[00:11:15.760 --> 00:11:17.520] I had one person at the time.
[00:11:17.920 --> 00:11:19.040] Okay, and you're bootstrapped.
[00:11:19.040 --> 00:11:23.680] How, like, the one thing that I hear from people is launching into Target is so expensive.
[00:11:23.680 --> 00:11:25.280] How did you, how did you do this?
[00:11:25.280 --> 00:11:26.000] Yeah, okay.
[00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:34.720] It was a really, like, this was probably the most stressful time of my business life, which I think, like, I look back on it, I'm like, oh my God, I can't believe I like made it through that.
[00:11:34.720 --> 00:11:35.760] I cried so much.
[00:11:35.760 --> 00:11:36.160] Yeah.
[00:11:36.160 --> 00:11:48.720] Or when we first got the Target order, I thought I was going to have to turn it down and I didn't know how we were going to pay for it because I needed like 400K to fund it.
[00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:50.160] And I'm like, I don't have that money.
[00:11:50.160 --> 00:11:51.200] I didn't have that in my savings.
[00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:55.680] We had used all of our savings for the Dick Sporting Goods orders to be able to fund that.
[00:11:55.680 --> 00:12:02.560] Because one thing most people don't know about retail is that I have to pay my factory for the products.
[00:12:02.880 --> 00:12:06.640] That then, like, 90 days later, I finally receive the products.
[00:12:06.640 --> 00:12:09.200] Then I ship them out to the retailer.
[00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:11.200] And then 90 days later, they pay me.
[00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:18.800] So that is a six-month process from me spending this money and then me getting the money back, if not more than six months.
[00:12:18.800 --> 00:12:23.840] So the cash flow with B2B retail is like very difficult.
[00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:24.560] Yeah, wow.
[00:12:24.560 --> 00:12:26.160] And so I didn't have any money.
[00:12:26.160 --> 00:12:29.800] Like the whole, basically all of 2024, I was riding on credit cards.
[00:12:29.800 --> 00:12:31.080] I was going to zero.
[00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:32.680] I was asking my sister for loans.
[00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:33.960] I'd be like, yo, I need 10K.
[00:12:34.040 --> 00:12:35.880] Like, please, can you just wire it to me?
[00:12:35.880 --> 00:12:44.040] Like, I was asking anyone I could to give me money that, and I knew they knew I would pay it back, but like, I just needed to clear my credit card balances.
[00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:47.240] And so it's not that I was worried about it.
[00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:51.960] I just, it was a time where we were very strapped on cash.
[00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:57.880] And so Target gave us an extension, and I was able, like, they gave us an extension on the order.
[00:12:57.880 --> 00:12:59.480] So, for example, so they gave me the order.
[00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:01.160] I said, I cannot fulfill this.
[00:13:01.160 --> 00:13:02.920] I don't have enough time to get the money.
[00:13:02.920 --> 00:13:06.280] I don't have enough time to make sure that everything's going to be set up for it.
[00:13:06.280 --> 00:13:08.600] So they gave us a couple extra weeks.
[00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:15.000] And I had a private individual finance the order.
[00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:16.920] So someone that I knew from college.
[00:13:16.920 --> 00:13:17.320] Wow.
[00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:20.200] I had not connected with him basically since college.
[00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:22.520] And I was like, hey, I know you do this.
[00:13:22.520 --> 00:13:24.920] Would you be interested in financing this?
[00:13:24.920 --> 00:13:33.800] And so there's this thing called PO financing, purchase order financing, where you get a PO and you can sell that PO to someone and they're going to say, okay, cool, I own the PO.
[00:13:33.800 --> 00:13:36.280] Once it gets paid, I will pay you your share.
[00:13:36.280 --> 00:13:38.840] I'm like, I just need to do that to like move forward.
[00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:42.280] So he did that for my first order, and it was like everything that we needed.
[00:13:42.280 --> 00:13:43.400] And it was amazing.
[00:13:43.400 --> 00:13:44.040] So yeah.
[00:13:44.040 --> 00:13:47.560] How did you make the launch into Target successful?
[00:13:47.560 --> 00:13:49.640] We didn't know if it was going to be successful.
[00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:51.240] It was a side cap.
[00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:54.040] So that's at the end of the aisle on the side.
[00:13:54.040 --> 00:13:55.480] So not an end cap, but on the side.
[00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:58.760] And it was 17 products, like I mentioned.
[00:13:58.760 --> 00:14:00.920] I didn't know what was going to work and what wouldn't.
[00:14:00.920 --> 00:14:03.080] They were, the buyer was leaning on us.
[00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:09.480] They're like, you tell us what products, you tell us what colors, you tell us how many and the quantity.
[00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:11.480] And I had no idea.
[00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:14.920] So we kind of just took a wild guess that, like, let's just do a little bit of everything.
[00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:23.440] And we very clearly saw like this certain SKUs that were going to be the top sellers and then the SKUs that were going to be the bottom sellers.
[00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:30.080] And then that's what's really helped our trajectory now moving forward with Target is we can use those initial numbers.
[00:14:30.400 --> 00:14:34.480] What advice do you have for someone who is dreaming about a target launch?
[00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:35.440] Like, how do you get?
[00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:41.440] I know that it was inbound for you, which is amazing, but like, how does someone get Target's attention?
[00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:44.560] I think the great thing is that Target is looking for newness.
[00:14:44.560 --> 00:14:46.400] Like they're in this phase right now.
[00:14:46.400 --> 00:14:49.280] We all know, you know, the news around Target that's happening.
[00:14:49.520 --> 00:14:52.240] And so I was at their summit last week.
[00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:53.840] And so I'm hearing about their strategies.
[00:14:53.840 --> 00:15:01.760] And so if you are someone that's looking to get into Target, it is show them why your brand is doing something different in that category.
[00:15:01.760 --> 00:15:08.080] And so I tell founders: go into Target, bring your products, put it on shelf.
[00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:09.680] Does it make sense there?
[00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:11.520] Is it differentiated?
[00:15:11.520 --> 00:15:13.920] Does it look good enough to be on a Target shelf?
[00:15:13.920 --> 00:15:16.000] Or is your packaging like up to par?
[00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:17.760] And if it's not, get it there.
[00:15:17.760 --> 00:15:22.560] And if you can get it to the point where like this makes sense in this space, it is differentiated.
[00:15:22.560 --> 00:15:23.520] It looks amazing.
[00:15:23.520 --> 00:15:25.040] The packaging is awesome.
[00:15:25.040 --> 00:15:32.000] Then I think you can reach out on LinkedIn and to the buyers, message them, and see if they respond.
[00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:33.600] Let's talk about hiring.
[00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:34.960] We were just speaking before the show.
[00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:39.120] You said that your team doubled on Monday this week.
[00:15:39.760 --> 00:15:40.800] So wild.
[00:15:40.800 --> 00:15:42.000] So there's six of you now.
[00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:43.520] There were three before then.
[00:15:44.400 --> 00:15:45.600] Who was your first hire?
[00:15:45.400 --> 00:15:47.040] Hire, how did you make that decision?
[00:15:47.040 --> 00:15:48.240] And how has the team grown?
[00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:49.280] I'm so curious.
[00:15:49.280 --> 00:15:49.680] Yeah.
[00:15:49.680 --> 00:15:52.400] So my first hire was my operations manager.
[00:15:52.400 --> 00:15:55.200] Was this when you were going into re like going into retail?
[00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:55.760] Yes.
[00:15:55.760 --> 00:15:58.240] So this was, yeah, March of 2024.
[00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:01.080] It's like we already had our first nationwide dick sporting goods order.
[00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:04.680] I knew I could afford having a full-time employee and I brought her on.
[00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:13.320] I had known her previously and she was like ready to leave her old job and someone that I knew I could work with consistently.
[00:16:13.320 --> 00:16:13.720] Yeah.
[00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:18.280] So that was something that I was like, I know I can talk to her on a daily basis.
[00:16:18.280 --> 00:16:21.960] And like, because of that, I think I can hire her.
[00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:26.120] And I think that she's just down to do anything because I didn't have a task list for her.
[00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:32.440] I'm like, you're going to show up and like, you're just going to work on whatever I have and whatever is going to make my day easier.
[00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:33.480] And so she did that.
[00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:40.280] And she was like the crucial initial employee to help me deal with all the operations of all of our orders.
[00:16:40.280 --> 00:16:44.440] And then our second hire wasn't until December of that same year.
[00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:47.480] So it was a really long gap of me just having one employee.
[00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:49.240] And then I hired my second employee.
[00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:52.360] She's our marketing manager many months later.
[00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:54.600] And I found her off of Indeed.
[00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:56.440] No, wait, not Indeed, Handshake.
[00:16:56.680 --> 00:16:57.080] Oh, yeah.
[00:16:57.080 --> 00:16:58.760] So I found her off of Handshake.
[00:16:58.760 --> 00:17:01.560] And I think that's more like student focused, actually.
[00:17:01.560 --> 00:17:03.400] And she was a graduating student.
[00:17:03.400 --> 00:17:04.520] I'm like, great.
[00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:07.240] She made some TikToks in that process.
[00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:09.160] And I was like, okay, you're phenomenal.
[00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:10.520] And so I hired her.
[00:17:10.520 --> 00:17:18.920] And then I hired a, he actually, so it's a crazy story because I hired him to be my sales manager, my third employee.
[00:17:18.920 --> 00:17:23.720] And I pretty much realized I have to do my own sales.
[00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:29.080] I thought hiring a sales manager would like really help us expand our retail footprint.
[00:17:29.080 --> 00:17:30.680] And it just didn't work out that way.
[00:17:30.680 --> 00:17:40.040] Like, I think me being the one that was doing the sales and doing the outreach was just way more powerful when it's like the founder is in the LinkedIn DMs versus like sales manager.
[00:17:40.040 --> 00:17:42.600] Like, no one wants a DM from a sales manager.
[00:17:42.600 --> 00:17:46.320] But when it's from a founder or CEO, like very different vibe.
[00:17:46.320 --> 00:17:49.920] And so, I didn't know what I was gonna do with him because I had hired him.
[00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:50.800] It was like three months later.
[00:17:50.800 --> 00:17:54.960] I'm like, oh, like, I feel so bad to have to let him go.
[00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.920] But I had been thinking, do I hire a supply chain manager?
[00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:00.640] Because supply chain was like the bane of my existence.
[00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:04.000] I'm on Alibaba every night, Jasmine.
[00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:05.760] Like, I am there at 8 p.m.
[00:18:05.840 --> 00:18:09.600] talking to China every night, and it was like draining me.
[00:18:09.600 --> 00:18:11.600] And so, I approached, approached my sales manager.
[00:18:11.600 --> 00:18:14.640] I'm like, hey, I think we need to try something different.
[00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:16.000] Like, are you open to this?
[00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:17.280] And he's like, Yeah, absolutely.
[00:18:17.520 --> 00:18:22.160] And he dove like straight in, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
[00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:29.600] And so, that's, I think that's one of those learning lessons of like, if you have this opportunity to pivot, you can do it.
[00:18:29.600 --> 00:18:30.800] There's nothing wrong with it.
[00:18:30.800 --> 00:18:32.320] Like, it's your business.
[00:18:32.320 --> 00:18:34.400] And you can kind of just like do whatever you want.
[00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:35.520] And so, that was that.
[00:18:35.520 --> 00:18:37.920] And then, yeah, on Monday, I hired three new employees.
[00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:38.240] Wow.
[00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:38.480] Okay.
[00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:39.680] What are the new employees doing?
[00:18:39.840 --> 00:18:43.920] Okay, so one of them is brand manager.
[00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:49.520] Mostly because I have felt like I'm not doing a good enough job of like pointing everyone in the right direction.
[00:18:49.520 --> 00:18:52.720] So we have a lot of contract workers and a lot of interns.
[00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:56.320] And I think everyone's, no one's working as a team.
[00:18:56.320 --> 00:19:01.440] And so I needed a brand manager to like bring us together and be like, this is what we're doing as a brand.
[00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:05.280] Here are the collections that are happening and how we're going to build out the campaigns for them.
[00:19:05.280 --> 00:19:06.800] So really excited about that.
[00:19:06.800 --> 00:19:14.640] And then I hired an e-comm manager because we were really lacking in e-comm in 2024 because we were so focused on retail.
[00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:16.880] So see, like all of this is coming from a challenge.
[00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:18.240] Like, I'm noticing challenges.
[00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:19.120] I hire someone.
[00:19:19.120 --> 00:19:21.400] Like, that's how I think founders hire best.
[00:19:21.560 --> 00:19:23.280] Like, something's wrong.
[00:19:23.280 --> 00:19:25.760] Let me see if I can bring someone in to fix it.
[00:19:25.760 --> 00:19:28.480] And then my third one was a selfish hire.
[00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:29.960] So she's in marketing.
[00:19:29.960 --> 00:19:34.040] She's a content creator and PR, but she's really my content creator.
[00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:36.200] So she's going to be building my personal brand.
[00:19:36.520 --> 00:19:37.960] Okay, talk to me about that.
[00:19:37.960 --> 00:19:41.880] It's been a wild time on TikTok for founder-led brands lately.
[00:19:42.360 --> 00:19:44.760] How do you feel about showing up like that?
[00:19:44.760 --> 00:19:45.560] I'm excited.
[00:19:45.560 --> 00:19:46.120] Yeah.
[00:19:46.120 --> 00:19:52.040] I see that there's so much space out there, and I'm not like, I don't feel like I'm competing with anyone.
[00:19:52.040 --> 00:19:59.720] It's just let me share my story and tell people what I'm doing and do it in a way that like I want to tell that story.
[00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:03.080] And the girl that I hired, I think she brings out the best in me.
[00:20:03.080 --> 00:20:06.360] Also, like the kind of more fun and like goofy side.
[00:20:06.360 --> 00:20:07.400] So I want that.
[00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:10.600] I don't want to show up as like five lessons from a CEO.
[00:20:10.600 --> 00:20:15.960] Like I want it to be like, let's go get Duncan and talk about stuff and like what's going on at the office.
[00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:16.760] I love that.
[00:20:16.760 --> 00:20:18.280] So I'm excited about it.
[00:20:18.280 --> 00:20:20.600] I think there's going to be a lot to it.
[00:20:20.600 --> 00:20:22.440] So I think we're going to do newsletter.
[00:20:22.440 --> 00:20:27.080] I think we're going to really try to build it out, especially since I'm hiring a full-time employee for it.
[00:20:27.080 --> 00:20:28.920] I'm so curious about this switch.
[00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:36.920] Like you, a few years ago, you were in college and like doing this little side hustle out of your parents' garage and now you're leading a team of six.
[00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:38.920] You're like going to the office every day.
[00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:41.240] You've got like a nine to five.
[00:20:41.800 --> 00:20:47.400] How have you bridged that gap as a leader and a CEO to be able to show up like that?
[00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:48.600] Like you're you 25?
[00:20:48.600 --> 00:20:49.080] I'm 25.
[00:20:49.080 --> 00:20:50.040] Yeah, you're 25.
[00:20:50.040 --> 00:20:50.680] Okay.
[00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:51.560] How?
[00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:53.400] Great question.
[00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:56.920] I think I was very always just like leadership oriented.
[00:20:56.920 --> 00:20:57.320] Yeah.
[00:20:57.320 --> 00:21:00.360] Even in high school, I was like part of all the clubs, like president.
[00:21:00.360 --> 00:21:02.280] So I think I grew up with that.
[00:21:02.600 --> 00:21:06.520] But now leading a team is probably like one of the most challenging things.
[00:21:06.520 --> 00:21:08.280] And I hear a lot of founders say that.
[00:21:08.280 --> 00:21:18.240] So I think that I'm probably not alone in this of like figuring out how to manage and make sure that everyone is happy is a big challenge.
[00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:24.400] And so in terms of leadership, I heard this amazing quote and I really, really like it.
[00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:27.680] And it's, I own the ship that we're all on.
[00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:29.920] And I'm also the captain of the ship.
[00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:33.760] And so I'm going to steer the ship to make sure that it doesn't crash.
[00:21:33.760 --> 00:21:35.040] And so like, that is my job.
[00:21:35.040 --> 00:21:39.120] And I'm also going to steer the ship to hopefully go in a direction to a land that we want to go, right?
[00:21:39.120 --> 00:21:40.720] I'm not just avoiding crashes.
[00:21:41.040 --> 00:21:44.400] I'm also taking us to a wonderful place.
[00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:52.080] And so I think that's something that I tell my team of like, it's so important that I own the ship because I'm not going to let it crash and burn.
[00:21:52.080 --> 00:21:54.640] And I'm going to take us to somewhere wonderful.
[00:21:54.640 --> 00:22:00.400] And so I'm just hoping that they trust me to grow it in the direction that I think that makes the most sense.
[00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:08.560] So many businesses are built on interns in the beginning and finding great talent, but it's really, it's actually a question we see in the FEMA Founder World group chat all the time.
[00:22:08.560 --> 00:22:10.160] Like, how do I find an intern?
[00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:11.680] How do I hire someone?
[00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:15.280] I would love to know your advice on how to do that.
[00:22:15.280 --> 00:22:15.840] Okay.
[00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:23.200] So reach out to the career counselors at your local high schools and community colleges and even regular colleges.
[00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:24.160] Email them directly.
[00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:25.200] Their emails are public.
[00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:26.480] Like it's on the website.
[00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:30.320] And just let them know that you are a local business and you're looking for interns.
[00:22:30.320 --> 00:22:32.720] I like to do 12-week internships.
[00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:40.320] If they're a high school student or early in their college career, I will lean towards unpaid if they have no experience.
[00:22:40.320 --> 00:22:43.360] I offer this as a, you know, as a resume builder.
[00:22:43.360 --> 00:22:48.560] And I think that, you know, I've gotten some backlash on that on previous TikToks that I've made about it.
[00:22:48.560 --> 00:22:53.120] But I think like in today's day and age, an unpaid internship is fully normal.
[00:22:53.120 --> 00:22:59.280] If they are someone that has experience and has has done jobs like this before, I'll do a paid internship.
[00:22:59.280 --> 00:23:02.920] If it's a second time intern I do paid internships.
[00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:06.600] I don't count hours in their first internship.
[00:23:06.600 --> 00:23:13.080] So if you're coming in, I'm going to give you five to ten hours a week of work based on my estimation of the work that I'm giving you.
[00:23:13.080 --> 00:23:19.640] And I'm going to meet with you once a week for 15 to 25 minutes to go over that project that you did and what we're working on next week.
[00:23:19.640 --> 00:23:24.280] Which is such a good opportunity for someone who's just getting started to be able to get that proximity to you.
[00:23:24.280 --> 00:23:25.640] Yeah, yeah, definitely.
[00:23:25.640 --> 00:23:33.080] So that's what we offer is we're offering them this opportunity to like learn so much and get feedback from me or whoever else that they're working with.
[00:23:33.080 --> 00:23:35.160] I recommend marketing interns.
[00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:37.000] I had the most marketing interns.
[00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:38.520] We've hosted 70 interns.
[00:23:38.520 --> 00:23:39.160] Wow.
[00:23:39.160 --> 00:23:39.560] Yeah.
[00:23:39.880 --> 00:23:43.240] So I think marketing interns are the easiest to start with.
[00:23:43.240 --> 00:23:48.040] If you can find a photography student, like huge because they'll come and do photos for you.
[00:23:48.040 --> 00:23:51.480] So yeah, my favorites are photography, photo shoot coordinator.
[00:23:51.480 --> 00:23:53.320] So that would work with a photographer.
[00:23:53.560 --> 00:23:58.760] TikTok interns are hard because you just have to, the skill set of TikTok is a little bit different.
[00:23:58.760 --> 00:24:02.120] But if you can find someone good, TikTok interns are great.
[00:24:02.120 --> 00:24:04.840] Blog writer, blogs are so easy.
[00:24:04.840 --> 00:24:08.280] You just give them their keywords and like the SEO that they need to hit on.
[00:24:08.280 --> 00:24:10.680] Pinterest interns, phenomenal.
[00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:12.440] What does that Pinterest intern do?
[00:24:12.520 --> 00:24:13.960] They just like run the Pinterest.
[00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:14.440] Doing what?
[00:24:14.680 --> 00:24:20.920] Like three posts a day, pulling from any photo shoots that we are doing or like whatever is important.
[00:24:20.920 --> 00:24:24.920] So like right now, my Pinterest intern is doing all 4th of July stuff.
[00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:31.720] So she's making graphics, memes, pulling from images from photo shoots and posting them onto Pinterest with like cute captions.
[00:24:31.720 --> 00:24:32.840] With like links back to your website.
[00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:38.760] With links back to the website or to whatever website it's pushing, whether it's Target or Academy Sports or Walmart.
[00:24:38.760 --> 00:24:41.080] So Pinterest, I love.
[00:24:41.080 --> 00:24:45.760] And then, yeah, I think those are kind of like my top immediate interns that I recommend.
[00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:46.720] Do you manage the interns?
[00:24:44.600 --> 00:24:48.160] Who manages the interns?
[00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:48.880] I usually manage them.
[00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:49.600] You manage them.
[00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:49.760] Yeah.
[00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:52.720] Okay, wow, because that's, you know, that's a lot of people that's come through.
[00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:54.080] That seems like a lot of work.
[00:24:54.080 --> 00:24:57.360] Well, at the beginning, you kind of need to learn how to manage people.
[00:24:57.360 --> 00:24:57.680] Yeah.
[00:24:57.680 --> 00:24:59.920] And interns are a really easy way to do that.
[00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:06.000] It's a really easy way to tell what actually moves the business forward and what doesn't.
[00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:13.520] So like, I would probably never pay for someone to like write blogs full-time for us.
[00:25:13.520 --> 00:25:20.240] But hey, if I can have someone doing it as an internship, like blogs here and there can move the needle like a little bit.
[00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:20.720] Interesting.
[00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:22.400] It's such a good way to test.
[00:25:22.560 --> 00:25:24.160] Yes, exactly.
[00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:28.000] And how do you know if someone is good in the interview process?
[00:25:28.320 --> 00:25:30.320] I think excitement.
[00:25:30.320 --> 00:25:32.880] Excitement, readiness to learn.
[00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:38.080] I actually usually will have like a very broad internship application.
[00:25:38.080 --> 00:25:42.160] And then when I interview with them, that is when I'm determining what they're going to do.
[00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:45.760] So they're not applying to do the blogs or the Pinterest.
[00:25:45.760 --> 00:25:48.720] I'm asking them, like, what's your favorite subject in school?
[00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:53.360] Do you find yourself better at math or writing or science or graphic design?
[00:25:53.360 --> 00:25:55.680] And then based on all their answers, like, what are their hobbies?
[00:25:55.680 --> 00:25:57.600] What do they like to do for fun?
[00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:01.040] Then I come back to them, okay, I think you're going to be really good at this.
[00:26:01.040 --> 00:26:02.640] Like, how do you feel about that?
[00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:06.480] And if they're like, oh my God, like, I would love to do that, then it's like, I think it's a perfect fit.
[00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:07.040] Amazing.
[00:26:07.040 --> 00:26:11.200] I think when you look at some of the revenue numbers that you've had, you've got this team now.
[00:26:11.520 --> 00:26:14.160] What does that mean for like you as the founder?
[00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:16.240] Like, are you paying yourself now?
[00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:17.440] Do you have a regular salary?
[00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:18.400] How does that work?
[00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:22.560] Yeah, so I take my own salary at the end of the year based on profits.
[00:26:22.560 --> 00:26:25.360] So if we like crush it, I'll take a little extra.
[00:26:25.360 --> 00:26:27.760] And if not, I don't need that much.
[00:26:27.760 --> 00:26:29.400] So I live a very modest life.
[00:26:29.400 --> 00:26:33.080] Like I split a townhouse with my boyfriend in the suburbs of Chicago.
[00:26:33.080 --> 00:26:34.120] I don't do anything crazy.
[00:26:29.280 --> 00:26:35.240] I don't feel like I've made it.
[00:26:35.560 --> 00:26:37.720] Like I don't own any luxury.
[00:26:37.720 --> 00:26:45.320] Like I think that there's a lot of founders or CEOs out there that like they make their first million and they go out and just like ball out.
[00:26:45.320 --> 00:26:47.000] Like that's not me at all.
[00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:54.280] So I think that's been an interesting way and perspective to look at kind of like I still feel like I have a very long journey ahead of me.
[00:26:54.280 --> 00:27:02.920] But that growth from just two years ago when I was like making TikToks in my basement to now we're in massive retailers.
[00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:07.240] There's just been so many changes in like I do have that nine to five job.
[00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:10.040] Like I show up at the office with everyone else at 9 a.m.
[00:27:10.120 --> 00:27:11.640] and I'm there until 5 p.m.
[00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:13.560] And I'm having lunch at the office.
[00:27:13.560 --> 00:27:15.560] Like I have my coworkers.
[00:27:15.560 --> 00:27:17.560] So it feels very real.
[00:27:17.560 --> 00:27:20.760] And I don't know what the next couple of years will look like.
[00:27:20.760 --> 00:27:23.000] I hope it just is continued growth.
[00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:25.960] But I'm really excited to continue to grow it.
[00:27:25.960 --> 00:27:27.320] And I love change.
[00:27:27.320 --> 00:27:30.520] Like 2024 brought the most change we've ever seen.
[00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:34.920] And I think that's something that I'm constantly chasing is like change is a good thing.
[00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:36.520] I want to see everyone evolving.
[00:27:36.520 --> 00:27:38.520] I want to see our business changing.
[00:27:38.520 --> 00:27:51.080] There's this another lesson that like I love is that the zero to one million is about like selling your one core product and then the one to 10 and slightly beyond is like how many more products can you sell to that market.
[00:27:51.080 --> 00:27:54.200] And so we're in that phase of like what else can we launch?
[00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:55.560] What else can we sell to retail?
[00:27:55.560 --> 00:27:59.000] What else can we sell to our customers to continue to accelerate it?
[00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:01.160] And that has a lot of challenges in of its own.
[00:28:01.160 --> 00:28:05.880] Like testing products and making sure they make a lot of sense is it's just so different.
[00:28:05.880 --> 00:28:07.720] So, what are some of the other products that you've launched?
[00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:11.560] You started off with like the water bottle charms, but now you have other accessories.
[00:28:11.560 --> 00:28:15.200] Yeah, so we did bag charms, which sold out so fast.
[00:28:14.600 --> 00:28:19.680] We did phone charms actually early on in our journey that also crushed it.
[00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:22.480] We just launched shoe charms, which are very trending.
[00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:27.520] They were super trending in 2024, and I'm like, I think we're gonna be able to bring them back.
[00:28:27.520 --> 00:28:31.920] So, shoe charms, I think that'll be a really fun product for retail, honestly.
[00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:37.280] And then we'll continue to launch into this like accessorized everyday carry item.
[00:28:37.280 --> 00:28:46.000] So, whether it's an accessorized lip balm or lunchbox or wallet or whatever it is, kind of just seeing like what else do people want accessories on?
[00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:47.360] Do you think that you will raise money?
[00:28:47.360 --> 00:28:48.080] Is that enough?
[00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:52.880] No, you know, we have cash flow now, so we can just like pay for everything we need.
[00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:54.320] Yeah, I love this view.
[00:28:54.320 --> 00:28:56.640] Yeah, how did Shark Tank happen?
[00:28:56.960 --> 00:29:03.520] I really wanted to be on Shark Tank, like it was just a core of as an entrepreneur.
[00:29:03.520 --> 00:29:15.040] I had a lot of, I still have a lot of these just like entrepreneur goals: Shark Tank, Forbes 30 under 30, maybe eventually being on the cover of Forbes EY Entrepreneur of the Year award.
[00:29:15.040 --> 00:29:20.960] Like, these are just some of my checklist items that, like, I feel like if I continue to grow, I can aim for those.
[00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:22.400] And so, Shark Tank was one of them.
[00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:24.160] I really, really wanted to be on.
[00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:26.960] And people always asked me, like, oh, are you going to be on Shark Tank?
[00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:29.040] And I'm like, this is a perfect product for it.
[00:29:29.040 --> 00:29:31.200] So, I actually auditioned three times.
[00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:37.280] I didn't get on the first two times, but even if I didn't get on this third time, I would have continued auditioning.
[00:29:37.280 --> 00:29:40.240] Like, it was just a matter of time until I got on.
[00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:42.320] And so, we finally got on.
[00:29:42.320 --> 00:29:46.160] I pitched in front of the sharks last July, like a full year ago.
[00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:48.000] Oh, my god, that's like so crazy.
[00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:48.400] Yeah.
[00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:50.640] And then we aired this January.
[00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:58.320] And I talked to so many Shark Tank founders within the process and made a lot of new friends that are in the Shark Tank space.
[00:29:58.320 --> 00:30:01.560] And I think everyone had such a different experience with Shark Tank.
[00:30:01.720 --> 00:30:08.280] Like I did not see the craziest D2C boost as some of my other friends.
[00:30:08.280 --> 00:30:11.480] Like some of my other friends did 100K on that day.
[00:30:11.480 --> 00:30:13.240] And like we didn't see that.
[00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:25.160] But I talked to other friends and like they're like, oh my God, we had no D2C sale or barely any D2C sales, but like we had so much interest from press and B2B and their buyers coming to us.
[00:30:25.160 --> 00:30:27.560] So I think the effects are different based on the business.
[00:30:27.560 --> 00:30:29.000] What was the effect on your business?
[00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:31.880] Did you see it really see anything on the B2B side or press?
[00:30:31.880 --> 00:30:36.920] Or was it just kind of, you know, a check mark for you as you're building yourself as a founder?
[00:30:36.920 --> 00:30:37.160] Yeah.
[00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:39.880] So we saw a very nice D2C boost, I would say.
[00:30:39.880 --> 00:30:41.560] Our team was really ready for it.
[00:30:41.800 --> 00:30:46.600] And then B2B was probably the best thing that happened.
[00:30:46.600 --> 00:30:49.240] Like after that, Walmart said yes to us.
[00:30:49.480 --> 00:30:50.440] So that was really nice.
[00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:51.560] Are you in Walmart now?
[00:30:51.560 --> 00:30:53.560] We launched in 2500 Walmart stores.
[00:30:53.800 --> 00:30:54.280] Amazing.
[00:30:54.280 --> 00:30:55.000] Congratulations.
[00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:55.560] Two months ago.
[00:30:55.560 --> 00:30:56.200] Are you kidding me?
[00:30:56.360 --> 00:30:58.280] Yeah, it was something like really chill.
[00:30:58.280 --> 00:31:00.760] I love, yeah, you're just like, oh, yeah, we just like launched into Walmart.
[00:31:00.760 --> 00:31:01.480] Two months ago.
[00:31:01.800 --> 00:31:04.040] It was like a chill eight, 10-week program.
[00:31:04.040 --> 00:31:05.000] So we just ended the program.
[00:31:05.320 --> 00:31:05.800] Okay.
[00:31:05.800 --> 00:31:06.920] But like Walmart said yes.
[00:31:07.080 --> 00:31:07.960] That was pretty nice.
[00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:08.280] Yeah.
[00:31:08.280 --> 00:31:11.080] And then we had retailers from like Canada reach out.
[00:31:11.080 --> 00:31:12.600] So that was pretty cool.
[00:31:12.600 --> 00:31:14.520] And then the press was really, really nice.
[00:31:14.520 --> 00:31:15.960] Like Bloomberg had us on.
[00:31:15.960 --> 00:31:17.880] I was on CNBC Make It.
[00:31:18.200 --> 00:31:20.280] So yeah, it's been great.
[00:31:20.280 --> 00:31:21.160] Very cool.
[00:31:21.160 --> 00:31:22.600] I want to talk about manufacturing.
[00:31:22.600 --> 00:31:28.680] You said when you first started, you were like, you know, you had all the kids in the neighborhood making your charm.
[00:31:28.680 --> 00:31:32.440] Obviously, that is not how you launch into Target.
[00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:34.520] You need something a little bit more sophisticated.
[00:31:34.520 --> 00:31:36.520] How did you find those manufacturers?
[00:31:36.520 --> 00:31:46.000] And what advice do you have for people who are in that kind of scaling phase and they're trying to figure out, you know, how do I find the right partners and suppliers to make that possible?
[00:31:46.320 --> 00:31:46.960] Totally.
[00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:51.120] I'm a big proponent of starting on your own first.
[00:31:51.120 --> 00:31:59.600] So if you can make your product or make it really cheaply at the very beginning, just before you even like start selling, like make as many prototypes as you can, handmade them.
[00:31:59.600 --> 00:32:01.120] Like, don't go to China yet.
[00:32:01.120 --> 00:32:05.360] Because I think from your initial idea to the final idea, like it's going to change so much.
[00:32:05.360 --> 00:32:11.200] So it sucks to like go to China, spend 10K on your first round of products, and you don't even end up selling them.
[00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:15.280] So that's what we basically did: we handmade our products for the first year and a half.
[00:32:15.280 --> 00:32:21.520] And then once we had our first Dick Sporting Goods order, actually, I handmade that first order too.
[00:32:21.520 --> 00:32:21.680] Wow.
[00:32:21.840 --> 00:32:27.120] Our second one, when we went nationwide, I was like, okay, cool, let's get this manufactured in China.
[00:32:27.120 --> 00:32:28.800] So we did that.
[00:32:28.800 --> 00:32:33.600] And then Target was, and all of this is through Alibaba.
[00:32:33.600 --> 00:32:35.280] So I'm on Alibaba.
[00:32:35.280 --> 00:32:37.040] I'm like Alibaba Pro.
[00:32:37.040 --> 00:32:38.800] I just search in what I'm looking for.
[00:32:38.800 --> 00:32:44.240] And if you're creating a product that has never existed before, you just look for similar products.
[00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:51.120] So I don't know, like great, great example would be the Nori, the Nori Iron that just launched in Target nationwide.
[00:32:51.120 --> 00:33:06.960] Like if I were sourcing that for them, like if they were, this is an idea that I have, I would go on Alibaba and I'd search like iron manufacturers, like steam iron manufacturers, and I'd reach out to one of those manufacturers and be like, hey, this is my idea for a product.
[00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:09.760] Can we, you know, start doing some samples for it?
[00:33:09.760 --> 00:33:12.800] So you would just reach out to factories that are doing similar things.
[00:33:12.800 --> 00:33:15.040] In my opinion, that's probably the best way to do it.
[00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:26.320] Yeah, I think that's really important to call out because we've seen a lot of, well, I've seen a lot of like pushback with fashion brands and different folks on TikTok who manufacture through Alibaba and people are like, oh, they just order it from Alibaba.
[00:33:26.320 --> 00:33:28.640] So, you know, you could just go on Alibaba and order it yourself.
[00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:29.520] They're not doing any design.
[00:33:29.520 --> 00:33:33.480] It's like, no, it's kind of this like marketplace to find suppliers.
[00:33:33.480 --> 00:33:35.880] It doesn't mean that you're just like ordering from their catalog.
[00:33:29.920 --> 00:33:36.040] Yeah.
[00:33:36.200 --> 00:33:40.920] And usually you need they have like crazy minimum order, not crazy, but like big minimum order quantities.
[00:33:40.920 --> 00:33:47.320] It's not like any old customer could just like go on and order something for like four dollars from Alibaba that costs $30 at retail.
[00:33:47.320 --> 00:33:47.560] Yeah.
[00:33:47.560 --> 00:33:47.800] Yeah.
[00:33:47.800 --> 00:33:50.360] I mean, I think that's similar or similar to like AliExpress.
[00:33:50.360 --> 00:33:50.920] Yes.
[00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:54.920] Where you can order like a one-off, but that's going to take like six months to get your video.
[00:33:55.320 --> 00:33:56.040] It's so funny.
[00:33:56.040 --> 00:33:58.760] My boyfriend ordered a grill brush off of AliExpress.
[00:33:58.760 --> 00:34:01.640] I'm like, we're not even going to get it in this summer.
[00:34:01.800 --> 00:34:03.000] Like, why would you do that?
[00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:07.160] But he's like, babe, the one on Amazon was $35 and AliExpress was $4.
[00:34:07.400 --> 00:34:08.680] I'm like, oh my God.
[00:34:08.680 --> 00:34:09.080] It's cool.
[00:34:09.080 --> 00:34:10.840] Well, we won't have it until next year.
[00:34:10.840 --> 00:34:11.400] Right?
[00:34:11.720 --> 00:34:16.600] And then it shows up and it's like super crappy and like it bends so easily.
[00:34:16.600 --> 00:34:17.000] Yeah.
[00:34:17.000 --> 00:34:20.840] So you don't know what you're going to get when you order from China on your own.
[00:34:21.080 --> 00:34:23.400] But yeah, Alibaba is a great resource.
[00:34:23.400 --> 00:34:24.600] So that's what we started doing.
[00:34:24.600 --> 00:34:25.640] And then I went to China.
[00:34:25.640 --> 00:34:31.240] I visited all our factories last year and that was key in building those relationships.
[00:34:31.240 --> 00:34:32.680] And I plan to go back every year.
[00:34:32.680 --> 00:34:33.240] I love that.
[00:34:33.240 --> 00:34:33.640] Yeah.
[00:34:33.640 --> 00:34:41.560] The last thing I want to ask you, Charlotte, is for a resource recommendation, something that you think other folks who are building and want to create businesses should go and check out.
[00:34:41.560 --> 00:34:53.320] Okay, so the Chart Charms YouTube channel has some amazing videos on like how to do street interviews because we that was one of our series that like on TikTok that blew us up was doing street interviews.
[00:34:53.320 --> 00:34:55.320] You know, I'm going to ask you how to do a street interview now.
[00:34:55.320 --> 00:34:56.920] Give me, give me like one tip.
[00:34:56.920 --> 00:34:59.560] Okay, have someone video you.
[00:34:59.560 --> 00:35:03.480] So like super important to have someone with you to film it.
[00:35:03.480 --> 00:35:04.040] Yeah.
[00:35:04.040 --> 00:35:06.440] And then it doesn't matter what kind of microphone.
[00:35:06.440 --> 00:35:08.200] It doesn't really matter the questions.
[00:35:08.200 --> 00:35:12.600] Just like you want to find people that are going to give you entertaining answers.
[00:35:12.600 --> 00:35:14.440] And that's really it.
[00:35:14.440 --> 00:35:16.880] Like, make it fun, and you'll have a viral video.
[00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:17.440] I love that.
[00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:18.960] Okay, what other tips do you have for us?
[00:35:14.840 --> 00:35:21.280] Yeah, so, okay, so YouTube on Char Charms.
[00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:26.000] And then I think that's really it in terms of resources.
[00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:27.920] Have you read any books or done any courses?
[00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:32.240] Like, it's you've gone so far in such a short amount of time.
[00:35:32.240 --> 00:35:38.480] Is there, is there a book, a course, a program, like something that's been helping you?
[00:35:38.480 --> 00:35:40.240] Yeah, I love this one book.
[00:35:40.240 --> 00:35:41.360] I'm reading it right now, actually.
[00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:43.520] It's called Ready, Fire, Aim.
[00:35:43.520 --> 00:35:48.320] And it just talks about how you need to move within different stages of business.
[00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:53.280] So I kind of probably mentioned that zero to one, one to ten, ten to fifty, and fifty to a hundred.
[00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:54.400] So love that book.
[00:35:54.400 --> 00:35:59.040] I think every founder should read it, especially in their, if they're in the beginning, any stage of the business.
[00:35:59.040 --> 00:36:05.280] And then I've really enjoyed listening to the podcasts of business owners.
[00:36:05.280 --> 00:36:16.560] So whether it's this podcast or how I built this, being able to see and listen to the stories, you start to see and like make correlations of like, oh, wow, a lot of founders did this.
[00:36:16.560 --> 00:36:18.160] Maybe I should do that.
[00:36:18.160 --> 00:36:26.480] So that gave me a lot of ideas and insights of like patterns that I noticed and then things that I could try if I noticed a lot of other founders doing them.
[00:36:26.480 --> 00:36:29.680] So I really think that that's something that more founders should do.
[00:36:29.680 --> 00:36:30.320] Love that.
[00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:30.800] Yes.
[00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:32.880] Charlotte, thank you so much for coming on the show.
[00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:36.400] I'm so impressed by what you've done and I can't wait to see where the brand goes.
[00:36:36.400 --> 00:36:37.680] Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
[00:36:37.680 --> 00:36:38.480] This was amazing.
[00:36:38.480 --> 00:36:46.000] I just wanted to jump in and end the show with a quick thank you and shout out to all of our paid business bestie subscribers.
[00:36:46.000 --> 00:36:54.640] Business besties bypass literally years of networking by getting access to all of the people that you need to build your dream business.
[00:36:54.640 --> 00:37:04.840] You also get invited to exclusive monthly group business coaching call sessions where you can speak to experts and founders and ask them all of those questions that you just can't Google.
[00:37:04.840 --> 00:37:06.360] You can cancel anytime.
[00:37:06.360 --> 00:37:11.400] Head to bestie.femarfounderworld.com or click the link in the show notes for more.

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": []}

Full Transcript

[00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.640] Hey business besties, welcome back to Female Founder World.
[00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:03.440] I'm Jasmine.
[00:00:03.440 --> 00:00:07.600] I'm the host of the show and the person behind all things Female Founder World.
[00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:09.840] Today I'm chatting with Charlotte Tricotton.
[00:00:09.840 --> 00:00:12.080] She's the founder and CEO of Char Charms.
[00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:13.520] Welcome to the show.
[00:00:13.520 --> 00:00:15.200] Hi, thank you so much for having me.
[00:00:15.200 --> 00:00:18.800] How do you explain your business and what you're doing to people that don't know you?
[00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:25.120] Okay, in the simplest terms, it is the biggest water bottle accessory company in America.
[00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:29.840] So we supply all of the water bottle accessories to the mass retailers.
[00:00:29.840 --> 00:00:37.440] So if you don't know what a water bottle accessory is, which most people don't, imagine a Stanley and then imagine all the fun things that go on it.
[00:00:37.440 --> 00:00:45.280] So straw toppers, straws, charms, bottle boots, pouches, handle charms, really kind of like jazzing up your water bottle.
[00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:46.720] But we're water bottle agnostic.
[00:00:46.720 --> 00:00:48.880] So we work on all water bottles.
[00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:51.360] But now our business is actually more than that.
[00:00:51.360 --> 00:00:57.760] We've expanded into shoe charms and bag charms and phone charms and all the charms and accessories.
[00:00:57.760 --> 00:00:59.360] And let's share some of the milestones.
[00:00:59.360 --> 00:01:00.800] Are there any milestones that you want to call out?
[00:01:00.800 --> 00:01:02.000] I've got if you're here as well.
[00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:05.440] I think the biggest, most recent one was probably Shark Tank.
[00:01:05.440 --> 00:01:14.480] So we aired January of this past year, 2025, and it was like such a surreal moment seeing myself on Shark Tank.
[00:01:14.480 --> 00:01:20.640] So I would say that's probably like my favorite accomplishment so far of Char Charms and it was such a positive experience.
[00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:24.240] You also hit six and a half million in revenue last year.
[00:01:24.240 --> 00:01:25.520] You're fully bootstrapped.
[00:01:25.520 --> 00:01:28.000] You started this business, what, like four years ago?
[00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:28.400] Yeah.
[00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:29.600] From your parents' garage.
[00:01:29.600 --> 00:01:30.000] Yeah.
[00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:31.040] Talked me through getting started.
[00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:32.480] You were at college at the time, right?
[00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:36.240] Yeah, so I had the idea during COVID, just like sitting at home doing nothing.
[00:01:36.240 --> 00:01:39.040] I'm like, what if you accessorized a water bottle?
[00:01:39.040 --> 00:01:41.440] And it was an idea that never left my brain.
[00:01:41.440 --> 00:01:47.200] So even through college and through my junior year, when I wasn't working on the business, I was like, oh my god, I have to do this.
[00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:48.240] I have to do this.
[00:01:48.240 --> 00:01:53.520] And I think that was such like a gut-telling feeling that like I needed to pursue it.
[00:01:53.520 --> 00:01:56.880] And so, after my junior year, I was at the University of Illinois.
[00:01:56.880 --> 00:01:59.440] It's like one of the big 10 schools here in America.
[00:01:59.440 --> 00:02:00.440] I finished my junior year.
[00:02:00.520 --> 00:02:01.880] It was like the hardest year of classes.
[00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:06.040] I'm like, okay, now is my time to go all in on this business.
[00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:07.480] I got a 3D printer.
[00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:09.320] I was prototyping.
[00:02:09.320 --> 00:02:11.160] I filed for a provisional patent.
[00:02:11.160 --> 00:02:13.080] I'm like, let's see what we can do.
[00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:17.880] I got a mentor, and then we launched Charcharms.com September of 2021.
[00:02:17.880 --> 00:02:23.240] I think the most important part of my story is the fact that I started during college.
[00:02:23.240 --> 00:02:28.200] Because if I had started any later, I probably would not have gotten to where I was.
[00:02:28.200 --> 00:02:29.320] Why do you say that?
[00:02:29.320 --> 00:02:38.040] I think the interesting thing is that, like, when you have school, it's kind of like your business is like, it's okay if it's not making money.
[00:02:38.360 --> 00:02:51.480] And so I think it's so empowering to the founders that are in college today or in high school today, or they still have a job where it's like you can work on your business for three to four years or whatever it is and like not have the craziest revenue and like it's okay.
[00:02:51.480 --> 00:03:00.680] But that timeframe of that buildup is so important to kind of like hit the luck or like strike it lucky when the timing is perfect.
[00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:04.280] So we were, it was a really slow growth at the very beginning.
[00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:06.280] Like I was only on Instagram posting.
[00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:11.000] We had like a couple sales a month and slowly it started to pick up.
[00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:13.560] And then I launched on TikTok.
[00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:20.440] And that was really like the first big switch for us of like, oh my God, this is a really big revenue generator now.
[00:03:20.760 --> 00:03:25.000] I want to learn a little bit more about that because you got a you got a TikTok coach, right?
[00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:25.560] Yeah.
[00:03:25.560 --> 00:03:27.320] So I had two TikTok coaches.
[00:03:27.320 --> 00:03:30.840] I started with one and it was like so expensive.
[00:03:30.840 --> 00:03:32.920] I'm like, this is not possible.
[00:03:32.920 --> 00:03:36.120] But the only thing that they taught me was like, volume is everything.
[00:03:36.440 --> 00:03:41.240] So I took that lesson and I had a friend that was doing TikTok coaching.
[00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:44.120] And I'm like, hey, would you want to coach me?
[00:03:44.120 --> 00:03:45.840] He was like a couple hundred bucks a month.
[00:03:44.920 --> 00:03:46.960] I'm like, perfect.
[00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:53.680] And really, how I look at him as a coach is he is more of like an accountability coach.
[00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:57.920] So more so the fact of that, like, okay, what are you posting today?
[00:03:58.240 --> 00:04:00.960] Here are some thoughts and ideas that I have on these posts.
[00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:09.040] And then post like three a day, no matter what, every day at 3 p.m., I would be making content and I would be posting at five, six, and seven.
[00:04:09.040 --> 00:04:12.160] Like I had alarms on my phone for like four months straight.
[00:04:12.160 --> 00:04:13.200] I was doing this.
[00:04:13.200 --> 00:04:20.480] And we grew from like 10 to 20,000 to 30,000 to 40,000, 50,000 to like 80,000 followers within those couple of months.
[00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:23.360] And with that, our revenue just soared.
[00:04:23.360 --> 00:04:31.760] So by the time I graduated in 2022, we were doing like 10, 15, 20K a month in revenue just from our website because of TikTok.
[00:04:31.760 --> 00:04:32.160] Yeah.
[00:04:32.160 --> 00:04:32.880] Wow.
[00:04:32.880 --> 00:04:38.400] I want to get into the specifics about what is actually like working on TikTok and what you've learned from that coach.
[00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:41.440] And also if your friend, like, I don't know if he still does coaching, but he doesn't.
[00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:42.400] Yeah, I wish.
[00:04:42.400 --> 00:04:46.000] I was going to say, we're going to put the link in the show notes, but that's totally fine.
[00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:49.840] Tell us what you learned through him and what you've learned growing the business on TikTok since then.
[00:04:49.840 --> 00:04:50.480] Totally.
[00:04:50.480 --> 00:04:59.200] So a couple of basic tips that I've learned for TikTok, and it's what I tell everyone is: if you are going to commit, post as many as you can every single day.
[00:04:59.200 --> 00:05:01.040] So it's like I was posting three times a day.
[00:05:01.040 --> 00:05:08.080] If you can do two times a day, one time a day, your number one job in the beginning of starting your business is selling.
[00:05:08.080 --> 00:05:11.520] And like TikTok is your one opportunity to do that for free.
[00:05:11.840 --> 00:05:17.600] So if you can get to a million dollars just through posting on TikTok, like that's what you need to do.
[00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:19.440] So volume was everything for me.
[00:05:19.440 --> 00:05:24.560] Like try everything, try every format of video, see what works, see what doesn't.
[00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:35.880] Oh my God, one thing I like totally messed up on, which I regret so badly in my TikTok journey, is that when a video went viral, I would just like move on and be like, okay, great, let's just make, you know, keep making videos.
[00:05:35.880 --> 00:05:45.800] And what I should have done, and I regret this so badly, is that when a video went viral, I should have made a bazillion more videos exactly like it, right?
[00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:50.440] Because you go to a creator's page and they're making all the same type of viral video.
[00:05:50.440 --> 00:05:53.320] And like, that's how you really gain followers.
[00:05:53.320 --> 00:06:01.880] And so I made this mistake of like just bouncing around to a bunch of different styles instead of sticking with the videos that were doing phenomenally well.
[00:06:01.880 --> 00:06:03.240] So yeah, that was a big mistake.
[00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:05.720] And I probably would have been so further along.
[00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:10.200] I actually think that that's like a lesson for all things in business and marketing.
[00:06:10.200 --> 00:06:13.240] It's kind of like when something works, just like do it again, do it again, do it again.
[00:06:13.240 --> 00:06:16.040] You don't have to be bouncing around trying everything at the same time.
[00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:18.520] Like double down on what's working.
[00:06:18.520 --> 00:06:19.400] Yeah, 100%.
[00:06:19.400 --> 00:06:21.400] So I would say those are the two biggest things.
[00:06:21.400 --> 00:06:41.240] And then I think kind of the last thing on TikTok that I would say, which is what I teach just people who like aren't even on TikTok or like TikTok savvy, is if you don't know what to post, look at the people that you admire, whether it's in the same field or the same type of business and just like mimic viral content.
[00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:42.680] Because that's how you learn, right?
[00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:45.720] Is you look at other videos and you're like, okay, let me try to remake that.
[00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:51.240] And so I think that's a really easy way to start posting if you're like, I have no idea what to post.
[00:06:51.240 --> 00:06:58.760] I'm always curious about those early days and how people afford to start businesses and like what it costs to get these, you know, certain things off the ground.
[00:06:58.760 --> 00:06:59.720] You didn't have any investors.
[00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:01.080] You were just using savings.
[00:07:01.080 --> 00:07:07.400] You're fully bootstrapped, which I think is so incredible, especially when you talk about these retailers that you've launched into.
[00:07:07.400 --> 00:07:11.560] But how did you kind of fund getting started and what did that cost?
[00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:14.960] Okay, business besties, let's switch gears for a second.
[00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:20.080] Real quick, I want to talk to you about this season's presenting sponsor, Vistaprint.
[00:07:20.400 --> 00:07:27.600] They are sponsoring this entire season of the Female Founder World podcast, and we love a supportive sponsor.
[00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:39.680] So much so that we're actually working with Vistaprint ourselves to create the merch and all of those beautiful event perks that you know and love from our in-real life Female Founder World events.
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[00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:34.240] Yeah, great question.
[00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:38.400] So I was, I had a job selling insurance.
[00:08:38.400 --> 00:08:40.880] I had another job selling coupon books door-to-door.
[00:08:40.880 --> 00:08:41.840] Like I was in sales.
[00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:42.400] Yeah.
[00:08:42.400 --> 00:08:44.800] And I just put all that money into char charms.
[00:08:44.800 --> 00:08:45.920] It wasn't expensive.
[00:08:45.920 --> 00:08:49.840] Like, I was buying beads at Hobby Lobby for you making it yourself.
[00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:51.360] Yeah, I was making it myself.
[00:08:51.360 --> 00:08:55.520] We were hand-pouring resin into molds to like make these little stick-on hooks.
[00:08:55.520 --> 00:09:01.400] And granted, I was hiring like every high schooler in my neighborhood to come and work for me in my dad's basement.
[00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:05.480] Like, I would literally go and like knock on everyone's door and be like, Hey, I have this business.
[00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:08.440] I'm wondering if anyone's curious and like wants to work.
[00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:09.320] It's hourly.
[00:09:09.320 --> 00:09:10.520] I will pay you cash.
[00:09:10.520 --> 00:09:17.640] And so, we had probably like a dozen different kids from the neighborhood helping and working with me, whether it was packing orders.
[00:09:17.640 --> 00:09:27.080] So, funding it wasn't that hard because we were hand-making everything, they're really cheap items, and then we just put everything back into the business.
[00:09:27.080 --> 00:09:30.520] When did you go full-time and you know, stop doing all the sales?
[00:09:30.520 --> 00:09:37.240] Yeah, yeah, well, I was doing sales only during the summer, and then, oh, and then my senior year of college, I was doing insurance sales too.
[00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:40.360] So, basically, when I graduated college, I'm like, okay, I'm done with this.
[00:09:40.360 --> 00:09:41.960] I'm gonna go all in on char charms.
[00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:46.120] Wow, yeah, it sounds like last year was kind of this like crazy inflection point.
[00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:54.760] I've got written down here that you did about 80,000 in revenue in your first, in like that first 12 months, but then last year you did six and a half million in revenue.
[00:09:54.760 --> 00:09:56.680] What changed in those two years?
[00:09:56.920 --> 00:09:57.960] Massive change.
[00:09:57.960 --> 00:09:59.640] Yeah, it was really exciting.
[00:09:59.640 --> 00:10:00.760] Retail.
[00:10:00.760 --> 00:10:05.320] So, we were fully direct-to-consumer for those first couple of years.
[00:10:05.320 --> 00:10:10.840] And then, when Stanley, the water bottle brand, just blew up, we blew up with them.
[00:10:10.840 --> 00:10:16.120] And what happened was we were positioned as the water bottle accessory company in the space.
[00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:21.080] Like, if you search water bottle accessories, char charms would pop up, whether it was on Google or TikTok.
[00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:24.360] And so, Urban Outfitters was the first one to take the chance on us.
[00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:27.400] They're such a good, like, boutique chain retailer to get started in the middle.
[00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:28.040] Oh, my God.
[00:10:28.360 --> 00:10:32.520] Yes, like, they will take a chance on a brand new brand, which I love.
[00:10:32.520 --> 00:10:33.960] I think it's amazing.
[00:10:33.960 --> 00:10:35.960] And the thing with Urban is, like, it's very in and out, right?
[00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:39.560] They'll have you in for like four weeks just to test it and see how it goes.
[00:10:39.560 --> 00:10:43.560] And I think that gives a lot of legitimacy because then you can go to other retailers.
[00:10:43.560 --> 00:10:46.320] So, Dick's Sporting Goods came to us afterwards.
[00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:47.600] And so we launched with them.
[00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:50.160] We did a test and then we went nationwide.
[00:10:44.760 --> 00:10:52.320] And then Target came to us after that.
[00:10:52.640 --> 00:11:00.240] And then we actually went immediately nationwide with Target with 17 SKUs, which like does not happen.
[00:11:00.560 --> 00:11:04.400] I think a lot of brands will do a test with Target, they'll go online with Target.
[00:11:04.400 --> 00:11:07.040] Maybe they launch one SKU or two SKUs.
[00:11:07.040 --> 00:11:11.440] And we did 17 immediately in 1700 locations.
[00:11:11.440 --> 00:11:11.920] Wow.
[00:11:11.920 --> 00:11:13.520] And also, what was your team at this time?
[00:11:13.520 --> 00:11:15.200] What, like three people?
[00:11:15.760 --> 00:11:17.520] I had one person at the time.
[00:11:17.920 --> 00:11:19.040] Okay, and you're bootstrapped.
[00:11:19.040 --> 00:11:23.680] How, like, the one thing that I hear from people is launching into Target is so expensive.
[00:11:23.680 --> 00:11:25.280] How did you, how did you do this?
[00:11:25.280 --> 00:11:26.000] Yeah, okay.
[00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:34.720] It was a really, like, this was probably the most stressful time of my business life, which I think, like, I look back on it, I'm like, oh my God, I can't believe I like made it through that.
[00:11:34.720 --> 00:11:35.760] I cried so much.
[00:11:35.760 --> 00:11:36.160] Yeah.
[00:11:36.160 --> 00:11:48.720] Or when we first got the Target order, I thought I was going to have to turn it down and I didn't know how we were going to pay for it because I needed like 400K to fund it.
[00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:50.160] And I'm like, I don't have that money.
[00:11:50.160 --> 00:11:51.200] I didn't have that in my savings.
[00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:55.680] We had used all of our savings for the Dick Sporting Goods orders to be able to fund that.
[00:11:55.680 --> 00:12:02.560] Because one thing most people don't know about retail is that I have to pay my factory for the products.
[00:12:02.880 --> 00:12:06.640] That then, like, 90 days later, I finally receive the products.
[00:12:06.640 --> 00:12:09.200] Then I ship them out to the retailer.
[00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:11.200] And then 90 days later, they pay me.
[00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:18.800] So that is a six-month process from me spending this money and then me getting the money back, if not more than six months.
[00:12:18.800 --> 00:12:23.840] So the cash flow with B2B retail is like very difficult.
[00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:24.560] Yeah, wow.
[00:12:24.560 --> 00:12:26.160] And so I didn't have any money.
[00:12:26.160 --> 00:12:29.800] Like the whole, basically all of 2024, I was riding on credit cards.
[00:12:29.800 --> 00:12:31.080] I was going to zero.
[00:12:31.080 --> 00:12:32.680] I was asking my sister for loans.
[00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:33.960] I'd be like, yo, I need 10K.
[00:12:34.040 --> 00:12:35.880] Like, please, can you just wire it to me?
[00:12:35.880 --> 00:12:44.040] Like, I was asking anyone I could to give me money that, and I knew they knew I would pay it back, but like, I just needed to clear my credit card balances.
[00:12:44.600 --> 00:12:47.240] And so it's not that I was worried about it.
[00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:51.960] I just, it was a time where we were very strapped on cash.
[00:12:51.960 --> 00:12:57.880] And so Target gave us an extension, and I was able, like, they gave us an extension on the order.
[00:12:57.880 --> 00:12:59.480] So, for example, so they gave me the order.
[00:12:59.480 --> 00:13:01.160] I said, I cannot fulfill this.
[00:13:01.160 --> 00:13:02.920] I don't have enough time to get the money.
[00:13:02.920 --> 00:13:06.280] I don't have enough time to make sure that everything's going to be set up for it.
[00:13:06.280 --> 00:13:08.600] So they gave us a couple extra weeks.
[00:13:08.600 --> 00:13:15.000] And I had a private individual finance the order.
[00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:16.920] So someone that I knew from college.
[00:13:16.920 --> 00:13:17.320] Wow.
[00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:20.200] I had not connected with him basically since college.
[00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:22.520] And I was like, hey, I know you do this.
[00:13:22.520 --> 00:13:24.920] Would you be interested in financing this?
[00:13:24.920 --> 00:13:33.800] And so there's this thing called PO financing, purchase order financing, where you get a PO and you can sell that PO to someone and they're going to say, okay, cool, I own the PO.
[00:13:33.800 --> 00:13:36.280] Once it gets paid, I will pay you your share.
[00:13:36.280 --> 00:13:38.840] I'm like, I just need to do that to like move forward.
[00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:42.280] So he did that for my first order, and it was like everything that we needed.
[00:13:42.280 --> 00:13:43.400] And it was amazing.
[00:13:43.400 --> 00:13:44.040] So yeah.
[00:13:44.040 --> 00:13:47.560] How did you make the launch into Target successful?
[00:13:47.560 --> 00:13:49.640] We didn't know if it was going to be successful.
[00:13:49.960 --> 00:13:51.240] It was a side cap.
[00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:54.040] So that's at the end of the aisle on the side.
[00:13:54.040 --> 00:13:55.480] So not an end cap, but on the side.
[00:13:55.480 --> 00:13:58.760] And it was 17 products, like I mentioned.
[00:13:58.760 --> 00:14:00.920] I didn't know what was going to work and what wouldn't.
[00:14:00.920 --> 00:14:03.080] They were, the buyer was leaning on us.
[00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:09.480] They're like, you tell us what products, you tell us what colors, you tell us how many and the quantity.
[00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:11.480] And I had no idea.
[00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:14.920] So we kind of just took a wild guess that, like, let's just do a little bit of everything.
[00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:23.440] And we very clearly saw like this certain SKUs that were going to be the top sellers and then the SKUs that were going to be the bottom sellers.
[00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:30.080] And then that's what's really helped our trajectory now moving forward with Target is we can use those initial numbers.
[00:14:30.400 --> 00:14:34.480] What advice do you have for someone who is dreaming about a target launch?
[00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:35.440] Like, how do you get?
[00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:41.440] I know that it was inbound for you, which is amazing, but like, how does someone get Target's attention?
[00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:44.560] I think the great thing is that Target is looking for newness.
[00:14:44.560 --> 00:14:46.400] Like they're in this phase right now.
[00:14:46.400 --> 00:14:49.280] We all know, you know, the news around Target that's happening.
[00:14:49.520 --> 00:14:52.240] And so I was at their summit last week.
[00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:53.840] And so I'm hearing about their strategies.
[00:14:53.840 --> 00:15:01.760] And so if you are someone that's looking to get into Target, it is show them why your brand is doing something different in that category.
[00:15:01.760 --> 00:15:08.080] And so I tell founders: go into Target, bring your products, put it on shelf.
[00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:09.680] Does it make sense there?
[00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:11.520] Is it differentiated?
[00:15:11.520 --> 00:15:13.920] Does it look good enough to be on a Target shelf?
[00:15:13.920 --> 00:15:16.000] Or is your packaging like up to par?
[00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:17.760] And if it's not, get it there.
[00:15:17.760 --> 00:15:22.560] And if you can get it to the point where like this makes sense in this space, it is differentiated.
[00:15:22.560 --> 00:15:23.520] It looks amazing.
[00:15:23.520 --> 00:15:25.040] The packaging is awesome.
[00:15:25.040 --> 00:15:32.000] Then I think you can reach out on LinkedIn and to the buyers, message them, and see if they respond.
[00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:33.600] Let's talk about hiring.
[00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:34.960] We were just speaking before the show.
[00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:39.120] You said that your team doubled on Monday this week.
[00:15:39.760 --> 00:15:40.800] So wild.
[00:15:40.800 --> 00:15:42.000] So there's six of you now.
[00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:43.520] There were three before then.
[00:15:44.400 --> 00:15:45.600] Who was your first hire?
[00:15:45.400 --> 00:15:47.040] Hire, how did you make that decision?
[00:15:47.040 --> 00:15:48.240] And how has the team grown?
[00:15:48.240 --> 00:15:49.280] I'm so curious.
[00:15:49.280 --> 00:15:49.680] Yeah.
[00:15:49.680 --> 00:15:52.400] So my first hire was my operations manager.
[00:15:52.400 --> 00:15:55.200] Was this when you were going into re like going into retail?
[00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:55.760] Yes.
[00:15:55.760 --> 00:15:58.240] So this was, yeah, March of 2024.
[00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:01.080] It's like we already had our first nationwide dick sporting goods order.
[00:15:59.840 --> 00:16:04.680] I knew I could afford having a full-time employee and I brought her on.
[00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:13.320] I had known her previously and she was like ready to leave her old job and someone that I knew I could work with consistently.
[00:16:13.320 --> 00:16:13.720] Yeah.
[00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:18.280] So that was something that I was like, I know I can talk to her on a daily basis.
[00:16:18.280 --> 00:16:21.960] And like, because of that, I think I can hire her.
[00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:26.120] And I think that she's just down to do anything because I didn't have a task list for her.
[00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:32.440] I'm like, you're going to show up and like, you're just going to work on whatever I have and whatever is going to make my day easier.
[00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:33.480] And so she did that.
[00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:40.280] And she was like the crucial initial employee to help me deal with all the operations of all of our orders.
[00:16:40.280 --> 00:16:44.440] And then our second hire wasn't until December of that same year.
[00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:47.480] So it was a really long gap of me just having one employee.
[00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:49.240] And then I hired my second employee.
[00:16:49.240 --> 00:16:52.360] She's our marketing manager many months later.
[00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:54.600] And I found her off of Indeed.
[00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:56.440] No, wait, not Indeed, Handshake.
[00:16:56.680 --> 00:16:57.080] Oh, yeah.
[00:16:57.080 --> 00:16:58.760] So I found her off of Handshake.
[00:16:58.760 --> 00:17:01.560] And I think that's more like student focused, actually.
[00:17:01.560 --> 00:17:03.400] And she was a graduating student.
[00:17:03.400 --> 00:17:04.520] I'm like, great.
[00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:07.240] She made some TikToks in that process.
[00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:09.160] And I was like, okay, you're phenomenal.
[00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:10.520] And so I hired her.
[00:17:10.520 --> 00:17:18.920] And then I hired a, he actually, so it's a crazy story because I hired him to be my sales manager, my third employee.
[00:17:18.920 --> 00:17:23.720] And I pretty much realized I have to do my own sales.
[00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:29.080] I thought hiring a sales manager would like really help us expand our retail footprint.
[00:17:29.080 --> 00:17:30.680] And it just didn't work out that way.
[00:17:30.680 --> 00:17:40.040] Like, I think me being the one that was doing the sales and doing the outreach was just way more powerful when it's like the founder is in the LinkedIn DMs versus like sales manager.
[00:17:40.040 --> 00:17:42.600] Like, no one wants a DM from a sales manager.
[00:17:42.600 --> 00:17:46.320] But when it's from a founder or CEO, like very different vibe.
[00:17:46.320 --> 00:17:49.920] And so, I didn't know what I was gonna do with him because I had hired him.
[00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:50.800] It was like three months later.
[00:17:50.800 --> 00:17:54.960] I'm like, oh, like, I feel so bad to have to let him go.
[00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.920] But I had been thinking, do I hire a supply chain manager?
[00:17:57.920 --> 00:18:00.640] Because supply chain was like the bane of my existence.
[00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:04.000] I'm on Alibaba every night, Jasmine.
[00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:05.760] Like, I am there at 8 p.m.
[00:18:05.840 --> 00:18:09.600] talking to China every night, and it was like draining me.
[00:18:09.600 --> 00:18:11.600] And so, I approached, approached my sales manager.
[00:18:11.600 --> 00:18:14.640] I'm like, hey, I think we need to try something different.
[00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:16.000] Like, are you open to this?
[00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:17.280] And he's like, Yeah, absolutely.
[00:18:17.520 --> 00:18:22.160] And he dove like straight in, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
[00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:29.600] And so, that's, I think that's one of those learning lessons of like, if you have this opportunity to pivot, you can do it.
[00:18:29.600 --> 00:18:30.800] There's nothing wrong with it.
[00:18:30.800 --> 00:18:32.320] Like, it's your business.
[00:18:32.320 --> 00:18:34.400] And you can kind of just like do whatever you want.
[00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:35.520] And so, that was that.
[00:18:35.520 --> 00:18:37.920] And then, yeah, on Monday, I hired three new employees.
[00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:38.240] Wow.
[00:18:38.240 --> 00:18:38.480] Okay.
[00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:39.680] What are the new employees doing?
[00:18:39.840 --> 00:18:43.920] Okay, so one of them is brand manager.
[00:18:43.920 --> 00:18:49.520] Mostly because I have felt like I'm not doing a good enough job of like pointing everyone in the right direction.
[00:18:49.520 --> 00:18:52.720] So we have a lot of contract workers and a lot of interns.
[00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:56.320] And I think everyone's, no one's working as a team.
[00:18:56.320 --> 00:19:01.440] And so I needed a brand manager to like bring us together and be like, this is what we're doing as a brand.
[00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:05.280] Here are the collections that are happening and how we're going to build out the campaigns for them.
[00:19:05.280 --> 00:19:06.800] So really excited about that.
[00:19:06.800 --> 00:19:14.640] And then I hired an e-comm manager because we were really lacking in e-comm in 2024 because we were so focused on retail.
[00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:16.880] So see, like all of this is coming from a challenge.
[00:19:16.880 --> 00:19:18.240] Like, I'm noticing challenges.
[00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:19.120] I hire someone.
[00:19:19.120 --> 00:19:21.400] Like, that's how I think founders hire best.
[00:19:21.560 --> 00:19:23.280] Like, something's wrong.
[00:19:23.280 --> 00:19:25.760] Let me see if I can bring someone in to fix it.
[00:19:25.760 --> 00:19:28.480] And then my third one was a selfish hire.
[00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:29.960] So she's in marketing.
[00:19:29.960 --> 00:19:34.040] She's a content creator and PR, but she's really my content creator.
[00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:36.200] So she's going to be building my personal brand.
[00:19:36.520 --> 00:19:37.960] Okay, talk to me about that.
[00:19:37.960 --> 00:19:41.880] It's been a wild time on TikTok for founder-led brands lately.
[00:19:42.360 --> 00:19:44.760] How do you feel about showing up like that?
[00:19:44.760 --> 00:19:45.560] I'm excited.
[00:19:45.560 --> 00:19:46.120] Yeah.
[00:19:46.120 --> 00:19:52.040] I see that there's so much space out there, and I'm not like, I don't feel like I'm competing with anyone.
[00:19:52.040 --> 00:19:59.720] It's just let me share my story and tell people what I'm doing and do it in a way that like I want to tell that story.
[00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:03.080] And the girl that I hired, I think she brings out the best in me.
[00:20:03.080 --> 00:20:06.360] Also, like the kind of more fun and like goofy side.
[00:20:06.360 --> 00:20:07.400] So I want that.
[00:20:07.400 --> 00:20:10.600] I don't want to show up as like five lessons from a CEO.
[00:20:10.600 --> 00:20:15.960] Like I want it to be like, let's go get Duncan and talk about stuff and like what's going on at the office.
[00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:16.760] I love that.
[00:20:16.760 --> 00:20:18.280] So I'm excited about it.
[00:20:18.280 --> 00:20:20.600] I think there's going to be a lot to it.
[00:20:20.600 --> 00:20:22.440] So I think we're going to do newsletter.
[00:20:22.440 --> 00:20:27.080] I think we're going to really try to build it out, especially since I'm hiring a full-time employee for it.
[00:20:27.080 --> 00:20:28.920] I'm so curious about this switch.
[00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:36.920] Like you, a few years ago, you were in college and like doing this little side hustle out of your parents' garage and now you're leading a team of six.
[00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:38.920] You're like going to the office every day.
[00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:41.240] You've got like a nine to five.
[00:20:41.800 --> 00:20:47.400] How have you bridged that gap as a leader and a CEO to be able to show up like that?
[00:20:47.400 --> 00:20:48.600] Like you're you 25?
[00:20:48.600 --> 00:20:49.080] I'm 25.
[00:20:49.080 --> 00:20:50.040] Yeah, you're 25.
[00:20:50.040 --> 00:20:50.680] Okay.
[00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:51.560] How?
[00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:53.400] Great question.
[00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:56.920] I think I was very always just like leadership oriented.
[00:20:56.920 --> 00:20:57.320] Yeah.
[00:20:57.320 --> 00:21:00.360] Even in high school, I was like part of all the clubs, like president.
[00:21:00.360 --> 00:21:02.280] So I think I grew up with that.
[00:21:02.600 --> 00:21:06.520] But now leading a team is probably like one of the most challenging things.
[00:21:06.520 --> 00:21:08.280] And I hear a lot of founders say that.
[00:21:08.280 --> 00:21:18.240] So I think that I'm probably not alone in this of like figuring out how to manage and make sure that everyone is happy is a big challenge.
[00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:24.400] And so in terms of leadership, I heard this amazing quote and I really, really like it.
[00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:27.680] And it's, I own the ship that we're all on.
[00:21:27.680 --> 00:21:29.920] And I'm also the captain of the ship.
[00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:33.760] And so I'm going to steer the ship to make sure that it doesn't crash.
[00:21:33.760 --> 00:21:35.040] And so like, that is my job.
[00:21:35.040 --> 00:21:39.120] And I'm also going to steer the ship to hopefully go in a direction to a land that we want to go, right?
[00:21:39.120 --> 00:21:40.720] I'm not just avoiding crashes.
[00:21:41.040 --> 00:21:44.400] I'm also taking us to a wonderful place.
[00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:52.080] And so I think that's something that I tell my team of like, it's so important that I own the ship because I'm not going to let it crash and burn.
[00:21:52.080 --> 00:21:54.640] And I'm going to take us to somewhere wonderful.
[00:21:54.640 --> 00:22:00.400] And so I'm just hoping that they trust me to grow it in the direction that I think that makes the most sense.
[00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:08.560] So many businesses are built on interns in the beginning and finding great talent, but it's really, it's actually a question we see in the FEMA Founder World group chat all the time.
[00:22:08.560 --> 00:22:10.160] Like, how do I find an intern?
[00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:11.680] How do I hire someone?
[00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:15.280] I would love to know your advice on how to do that.
[00:22:15.280 --> 00:22:15.840] Okay.
[00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:23.200] So reach out to the career counselors at your local high schools and community colleges and even regular colleges.
[00:22:23.200 --> 00:22:24.160] Email them directly.
[00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:25.200] Their emails are public.
[00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:26.480] Like it's on the website.
[00:22:26.480 --> 00:22:30.320] And just let them know that you are a local business and you're looking for interns.
[00:22:30.320 --> 00:22:32.720] I like to do 12-week internships.
[00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:40.320] If they're a high school student or early in their college career, I will lean towards unpaid if they have no experience.
[00:22:40.320 --> 00:22:43.360] I offer this as a, you know, as a resume builder.
[00:22:43.360 --> 00:22:48.560] And I think that, you know, I've gotten some backlash on that on previous TikToks that I've made about it.
[00:22:48.560 --> 00:22:53.120] But I think like in today's day and age, an unpaid internship is fully normal.
[00:22:53.120 --> 00:22:59.280] If they are someone that has experience and has has done jobs like this before, I'll do a paid internship.
[00:22:59.280 --> 00:23:02.920] If it's a second time intern I do paid internships.
[00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:06.600] I don't count hours in their first internship.
[00:23:06.600 --> 00:23:13.080] So if you're coming in, I'm going to give you five to ten hours a week of work based on my estimation of the work that I'm giving you.
[00:23:13.080 --> 00:23:19.640] And I'm going to meet with you once a week for 15 to 25 minutes to go over that project that you did and what we're working on next week.
[00:23:19.640 --> 00:23:24.280] Which is such a good opportunity for someone who's just getting started to be able to get that proximity to you.
[00:23:24.280 --> 00:23:25.640] Yeah, yeah, definitely.
[00:23:25.640 --> 00:23:33.080] So that's what we offer is we're offering them this opportunity to like learn so much and get feedback from me or whoever else that they're working with.
[00:23:33.080 --> 00:23:35.160] I recommend marketing interns.
[00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:37.000] I had the most marketing interns.
[00:23:37.000 --> 00:23:38.520] We've hosted 70 interns.
[00:23:38.520 --> 00:23:39.160] Wow.
[00:23:39.160 --> 00:23:39.560] Yeah.
[00:23:39.880 --> 00:23:43.240] So I think marketing interns are the easiest to start with.
[00:23:43.240 --> 00:23:48.040] If you can find a photography student, like huge because they'll come and do photos for you.
[00:23:48.040 --> 00:23:51.480] So yeah, my favorites are photography, photo shoot coordinator.
[00:23:51.480 --> 00:23:53.320] So that would work with a photographer.
[00:23:53.560 --> 00:23:58.760] TikTok interns are hard because you just have to, the skill set of TikTok is a little bit different.
[00:23:58.760 --> 00:24:02.120] But if you can find someone good, TikTok interns are great.
[00:24:02.120 --> 00:24:04.840] Blog writer, blogs are so easy.
[00:24:04.840 --> 00:24:08.280] You just give them their keywords and like the SEO that they need to hit on.
[00:24:08.280 --> 00:24:10.680] Pinterest interns, phenomenal.
[00:24:11.160 --> 00:24:12.440] What does that Pinterest intern do?
[00:24:12.520 --> 00:24:13.960] They just like run the Pinterest.
[00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:14.440] Doing what?
[00:24:14.680 --> 00:24:20.920] Like three posts a day, pulling from any photo shoots that we are doing or like whatever is important.
[00:24:20.920 --> 00:24:24.920] So like right now, my Pinterest intern is doing all 4th of July stuff.
[00:24:24.920 --> 00:24:31.720] So she's making graphics, memes, pulling from images from photo shoots and posting them onto Pinterest with like cute captions.
[00:24:31.720 --> 00:24:32.840] With like links back to your website.
[00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:38.760] With links back to the website or to whatever website it's pushing, whether it's Target or Academy Sports or Walmart.
[00:24:38.760 --> 00:24:41.080] So Pinterest, I love.
[00:24:41.080 --> 00:24:45.760] And then, yeah, I think those are kind of like my top immediate interns that I recommend.
[00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:46.720] Do you manage the interns?
[00:24:44.600 --> 00:24:48.160] Who manages the interns?
[00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:48.880] I usually manage them.
[00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:49.600] You manage them.
[00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:49.760] Yeah.
[00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:52.720] Okay, wow, because that's, you know, that's a lot of people that's come through.
[00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:54.080] That seems like a lot of work.
[00:24:54.080 --> 00:24:57.360] Well, at the beginning, you kind of need to learn how to manage people.
[00:24:57.360 --> 00:24:57.680] Yeah.
[00:24:57.680 --> 00:24:59.920] And interns are a really easy way to do that.
[00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:06.000] It's a really easy way to tell what actually moves the business forward and what doesn't.
[00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:13.520] So like, I would probably never pay for someone to like write blogs full-time for us.
[00:25:13.520 --> 00:25:20.240] But hey, if I can have someone doing it as an internship, like blogs here and there can move the needle like a little bit.
[00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:20.720] Interesting.
[00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:22.400] It's such a good way to test.
[00:25:22.560 --> 00:25:24.160] Yes, exactly.
[00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:28.000] And how do you know if someone is good in the interview process?
[00:25:28.320 --> 00:25:30.320] I think excitement.
[00:25:30.320 --> 00:25:32.880] Excitement, readiness to learn.
[00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:38.080] I actually usually will have like a very broad internship application.
[00:25:38.080 --> 00:25:42.160] And then when I interview with them, that is when I'm determining what they're going to do.
[00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:45.760] So they're not applying to do the blogs or the Pinterest.
[00:25:45.760 --> 00:25:48.720] I'm asking them, like, what's your favorite subject in school?
[00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:53.360] Do you find yourself better at math or writing or science or graphic design?
[00:25:53.360 --> 00:25:55.680] And then based on all their answers, like, what are their hobbies?
[00:25:55.680 --> 00:25:57.600] What do they like to do for fun?
[00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:01.040] Then I come back to them, okay, I think you're going to be really good at this.
[00:26:01.040 --> 00:26:02.640] Like, how do you feel about that?
[00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:06.480] And if they're like, oh my God, like, I would love to do that, then it's like, I think it's a perfect fit.
[00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:07.040] Amazing.
[00:26:07.040 --> 00:26:11.200] I think when you look at some of the revenue numbers that you've had, you've got this team now.
[00:26:11.520 --> 00:26:14.160] What does that mean for like you as the founder?
[00:26:14.160 --> 00:26:16.240] Like, are you paying yourself now?
[00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:17.440] Do you have a regular salary?
[00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:18.400] How does that work?
[00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:22.560] Yeah, so I take my own salary at the end of the year based on profits.
[00:26:22.560 --> 00:26:25.360] So if we like crush it, I'll take a little extra.
[00:26:25.360 --> 00:26:27.760] And if not, I don't need that much.
[00:26:27.760 --> 00:26:29.400] So I live a very modest life.
[00:26:29.400 --> 00:26:33.080] Like I split a townhouse with my boyfriend in the suburbs of Chicago.
[00:26:33.080 --> 00:26:34.120] I don't do anything crazy.
[00:26:29.280 --> 00:26:35.240] I don't feel like I've made it.
[00:26:35.560 --> 00:26:37.720] Like I don't own any luxury.
[00:26:37.720 --> 00:26:45.320] Like I think that there's a lot of founders or CEOs out there that like they make their first million and they go out and just like ball out.
[00:26:45.320 --> 00:26:47.000] Like that's not me at all.
[00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:54.280] So I think that's been an interesting way and perspective to look at kind of like I still feel like I have a very long journey ahead of me.
[00:26:54.280 --> 00:27:02.920] But that growth from just two years ago when I was like making TikToks in my basement to now we're in massive retailers.
[00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:07.240] There's just been so many changes in like I do have that nine to five job.
[00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:10.040] Like I show up at the office with everyone else at 9 a.m.
[00:27:10.120 --> 00:27:11.640] and I'm there until 5 p.m.
[00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:13.560] And I'm having lunch at the office.
[00:27:13.560 --> 00:27:15.560] Like I have my coworkers.
[00:27:15.560 --> 00:27:17.560] So it feels very real.
[00:27:17.560 --> 00:27:20.760] And I don't know what the next couple of years will look like.
[00:27:20.760 --> 00:27:23.000] I hope it just is continued growth.
[00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:25.960] But I'm really excited to continue to grow it.
[00:27:25.960 --> 00:27:27.320] And I love change.
[00:27:27.320 --> 00:27:30.520] Like 2024 brought the most change we've ever seen.
[00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:34.920] And I think that's something that I'm constantly chasing is like change is a good thing.
[00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:36.520] I want to see everyone evolving.
[00:27:36.520 --> 00:27:38.520] I want to see our business changing.
[00:27:38.520 --> 00:27:51.080] There's this another lesson that like I love is that the zero to one million is about like selling your one core product and then the one to 10 and slightly beyond is like how many more products can you sell to that market.
[00:27:51.080 --> 00:27:54.200] And so we're in that phase of like what else can we launch?
[00:27:54.200 --> 00:27:55.560] What else can we sell to retail?
[00:27:55.560 --> 00:27:59.000] What else can we sell to our customers to continue to accelerate it?
[00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:01.160] And that has a lot of challenges in of its own.
[00:28:01.160 --> 00:28:05.880] Like testing products and making sure they make a lot of sense is it's just so different.
[00:28:05.880 --> 00:28:07.720] So, what are some of the other products that you've launched?
[00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:11.560] You started off with like the water bottle charms, but now you have other accessories.
[00:28:11.560 --> 00:28:15.200] Yeah, so we did bag charms, which sold out so fast.
[00:28:14.600 --> 00:28:19.680] We did phone charms actually early on in our journey that also crushed it.
[00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:22.480] We just launched shoe charms, which are very trending.
[00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:27.520] They were super trending in 2024, and I'm like, I think we're gonna be able to bring them back.
[00:28:27.520 --> 00:28:31.920] So, shoe charms, I think that'll be a really fun product for retail, honestly.
[00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:37.280] And then we'll continue to launch into this like accessorized everyday carry item.
[00:28:37.280 --> 00:28:46.000] So, whether it's an accessorized lip balm or lunchbox or wallet or whatever it is, kind of just seeing like what else do people want accessories on?
[00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:47.360] Do you think that you will raise money?
[00:28:47.360 --> 00:28:48.080] Is that enough?
[00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:52.880] No, you know, we have cash flow now, so we can just like pay for everything we need.
[00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:54.320] Yeah, I love this view.
[00:28:54.320 --> 00:28:56.640] Yeah, how did Shark Tank happen?
[00:28:56.960 --> 00:29:03.520] I really wanted to be on Shark Tank, like it was just a core of as an entrepreneur.
[00:29:03.520 --> 00:29:15.040] I had a lot of, I still have a lot of these just like entrepreneur goals: Shark Tank, Forbes 30 under 30, maybe eventually being on the cover of Forbes EY Entrepreneur of the Year award.
[00:29:15.040 --> 00:29:20.960] Like, these are just some of my checklist items that, like, I feel like if I continue to grow, I can aim for those.
[00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:22.400] And so, Shark Tank was one of them.
[00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:24.160] I really, really wanted to be on.
[00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:26.960] And people always asked me, like, oh, are you going to be on Shark Tank?
[00:29:26.960 --> 00:29:29.040] And I'm like, this is a perfect product for it.
[00:29:29.040 --> 00:29:31.200] So, I actually auditioned three times.
[00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:37.280] I didn't get on the first two times, but even if I didn't get on this third time, I would have continued auditioning.
[00:29:37.280 --> 00:29:40.240] Like, it was just a matter of time until I got on.
[00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:42.320] And so, we finally got on.
[00:29:42.320 --> 00:29:46.160] I pitched in front of the sharks last July, like a full year ago.
[00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:48.000] Oh, my god, that's like so crazy.
[00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:48.400] Yeah.
[00:29:48.400 --> 00:29:50.640] And then we aired this January.
[00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:58.320] And I talked to so many Shark Tank founders within the process and made a lot of new friends that are in the Shark Tank space.
[00:29:58.320 --> 00:30:01.560] And I think everyone had such a different experience with Shark Tank.
[00:30:01.720 --> 00:30:08.280] Like I did not see the craziest D2C boost as some of my other friends.
[00:30:08.280 --> 00:30:11.480] Like some of my other friends did 100K on that day.
[00:30:11.480 --> 00:30:13.240] And like we didn't see that.
[00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:25.160] But I talked to other friends and like they're like, oh my God, we had no D2C sale or barely any D2C sales, but like we had so much interest from press and B2B and their buyers coming to us.
[00:30:25.160 --> 00:30:27.560] So I think the effects are different based on the business.
[00:30:27.560 --> 00:30:29.000] What was the effect on your business?
[00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:31.880] Did you see it really see anything on the B2B side or press?
[00:30:31.880 --> 00:30:36.920] Or was it just kind of, you know, a check mark for you as you're building yourself as a founder?
[00:30:36.920 --> 00:30:37.160] Yeah.
[00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:39.880] So we saw a very nice D2C boost, I would say.
[00:30:39.880 --> 00:30:41.560] Our team was really ready for it.
[00:30:41.800 --> 00:30:46.600] And then B2B was probably the best thing that happened.
[00:30:46.600 --> 00:30:49.240] Like after that, Walmart said yes to us.
[00:30:49.480 --> 00:30:50.440] So that was really nice.
[00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:51.560] Are you in Walmart now?
[00:30:51.560 --> 00:30:53.560] We launched in 2500 Walmart stores.
[00:30:53.800 --> 00:30:54.280] Amazing.
[00:30:54.280 --> 00:30:55.000] Congratulations.
[00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:55.560] Two months ago.
[00:30:55.560 --> 00:30:56.200] Are you kidding me?
[00:30:56.360 --> 00:30:58.280] Yeah, it was something like really chill.
[00:30:58.280 --> 00:31:00.760] I love, yeah, you're just like, oh, yeah, we just like launched into Walmart.
[00:31:00.760 --> 00:31:01.480] Two months ago.
[00:31:01.800 --> 00:31:04.040] It was like a chill eight, 10-week program.
[00:31:04.040 --> 00:31:05.000] So we just ended the program.
[00:31:05.320 --> 00:31:05.800] Okay.
[00:31:05.800 --> 00:31:06.920] But like Walmart said yes.
[00:31:07.080 --> 00:31:07.960] That was pretty nice.
[00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:08.280] Yeah.
[00:31:08.280 --> 00:31:11.080] And then we had retailers from like Canada reach out.
[00:31:11.080 --> 00:31:12.600] So that was pretty cool.
[00:31:12.600 --> 00:31:14.520] And then the press was really, really nice.
[00:31:14.520 --> 00:31:15.960] Like Bloomberg had us on.
[00:31:15.960 --> 00:31:17.880] I was on CNBC Make It.
[00:31:18.200 --> 00:31:20.280] So yeah, it's been great.
[00:31:20.280 --> 00:31:21.160] Very cool.
[00:31:21.160 --> 00:31:22.600] I want to talk about manufacturing.
[00:31:22.600 --> 00:31:28.680] You said when you first started, you were like, you know, you had all the kids in the neighborhood making your charm.
[00:31:28.680 --> 00:31:32.440] Obviously, that is not how you launch into Target.
[00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:34.520] You need something a little bit more sophisticated.
[00:31:34.520 --> 00:31:36.520] How did you find those manufacturers?
[00:31:36.520 --> 00:31:46.000] And what advice do you have for people who are in that kind of scaling phase and they're trying to figure out, you know, how do I find the right partners and suppliers to make that possible?
[00:31:46.320 --> 00:31:46.960] Totally.
[00:31:46.960 --> 00:31:51.120] I'm a big proponent of starting on your own first.
[00:31:51.120 --> 00:31:59.600] So if you can make your product or make it really cheaply at the very beginning, just before you even like start selling, like make as many prototypes as you can, handmade them.
[00:31:59.600 --> 00:32:01.120] Like, don't go to China yet.
[00:32:01.120 --> 00:32:05.360] Because I think from your initial idea to the final idea, like it's going to change so much.
[00:32:05.360 --> 00:32:11.200] So it sucks to like go to China, spend 10K on your first round of products, and you don't even end up selling them.
[00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:15.280] So that's what we basically did: we handmade our products for the first year and a half.
[00:32:15.280 --> 00:32:21.520] And then once we had our first Dick Sporting Goods order, actually, I handmade that first order too.
[00:32:21.520 --> 00:32:21.680] Wow.
[00:32:21.840 --> 00:32:27.120] Our second one, when we went nationwide, I was like, okay, cool, let's get this manufactured in China.
[00:32:27.120 --> 00:32:28.800] So we did that.
[00:32:28.800 --> 00:32:33.600] And then Target was, and all of this is through Alibaba.
[00:32:33.600 --> 00:32:35.280] So I'm on Alibaba.
[00:32:35.280 --> 00:32:37.040] I'm like Alibaba Pro.
[00:32:37.040 --> 00:32:38.800] I just search in what I'm looking for.
[00:32:38.800 --> 00:32:44.240] And if you're creating a product that has never existed before, you just look for similar products.
[00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:51.120] So I don't know, like great, great example would be the Nori, the Nori Iron that just launched in Target nationwide.
[00:32:51.120 --> 00:33:06.960] Like if I were sourcing that for them, like if they were, this is an idea that I have, I would go on Alibaba and I'd search like iron manufacturers, like steam iron manufacturers, and I'd reach out to one of those manufacturers and be like, hey, this is my idea for a product.
[00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:09.760] Can we, you know, start doing some samples for it?
[00:33:09.760 --> 00:33:12.800] So you would just reach out to factories that are doing similar things.
[00:33:12.800 --> 00:33:15.040] In my opinion, that's probably the best way to do it.
[00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:26.320] Yeah, I think that's really important to call out because we've seen a lot of, well, I've seen a lot of like pushback with fashion brands and different folks on TikTok who manufacture through Alibaba and people are like, oh, they just order it from Alibaba.
[00:33:26.320 --> 00:33:28.640] So, you know, you could just go on Alibaba and order it yourself.
[00:33:28.640 --> 00:33:29.520] They're not doing any design.
[00:33:29.520 --> 00:33:33.480] It's like, no, it's kind of this like marketplace to find suppliers.
[00:33:33.480 --> 00:33:35.880] It doesn't mean that you're just like ordering from their catalog.
[00:33:29.920 --> 00:33:36.040] Yeah.
[00:33:36.200 --> 00:33:40.920] And usually you need they have like crazy minimum order, not crazy, but like big minimum order quantities.
[00:33:40.920 --> 00:33:47.320] It's not like any old customer could just like go on and order something for like four dollars from Alibaba that costs $30 at retail.
[00:33:47.320 --> 00:33:47.560] Yeah.
[00:33:47.560 --> 00:33:47.800] Yeah.
[00:33:47.800 --> 00:33:50.360] I mean, I think that's similar or similar to like AliExpress.
[00:33:50.360 --> 00:33:50.920] Yes.
[00:33:50.920 --> 00:33:54.920] Where you can order like a one-off, but that's going to take like six months to get your video.
[00:33:55.320 --> 00:33:56.040] It's so funny.
[00:33:56.040 --> 00:33:58.760] My boyfriend ordered a grill brush off of AliExpress.
[00:33:58.760 --> 00:34:01.640] I'm like, we're not even going to get it in this summer.
[00:34:01.800 --> 00:34:03.000] Like, why would you do that?
[00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:07.160] But he's like, babe, the one on Amazon was $35 and AliExpress was $4.
[00:34:07.400 --> 00:34:08.680] I'm like, oh my God.
[00:34:08.680 --> 00:34:09.080] It's cool.
[00:34:09.080 --> 00:34:10.840] Well, we won't have it until next year.
[00:34:10.840 --> 00:34:11.400] Right?
[00:34:11.720 --> 00:34:16.600] And then it shows up and it's like super crappy and like it bends so easily.
[00:34:16.600 --> 00:34:17.000] Yeah.
[00:34:17.000 --> 00:34:20.840] So you don't know what you're going to get when you order from China on your own.
[00:34:21.080 --> 00:34:23.400] But yeah, Alibaba is a great resource.
[00:34:23.400 --> 00:34:24.600] So that's what we started doing.
[00:34:24.600 --> 00:34:25.640] And then I went to China.
[00:34:25.640 --> 00:34:31.240] I visited all our factories last year and that was key in building those relationships.
[00:34:31.240 --> 00:34:32.680] And I plan to go back every year.
[00:34:32.680 --> 00:34:33.240] I love that.
[00:34:33.240 --> 00:34:33.640] Yeah.
[00:34:33.640 --> 00:34:41.560] The last thing I want to ask you, Charlotte, is for a resource recommendation, something that you think other folks who are building and want to create businesses should go and check out.
[00:34:41.560 --> 00:34:53.320] Okay, so the Chart Charms YouTube channel has some amazing videos on like how to do street interviews because we that was one of our series that like on TikTok that blew us up was doing street interviews.
[00:34:53.320 --> 00:34:55.320] You know, I'm going to ask you how to do a street interview now.
[00:34:55.320 --> 00:34:56.920] Give me, give me like one tip.
[00:34:56.920 --> 00:34:59.560] Okay, have someone video you.
[00:34:59.560 --> 00:35:03.480] So like super important to have someone with you to film it.
[00:35:03.480 --> 00:35:04.040] Yeah.
[00:35:04.040 --> 00:35:06.440] And then it doesn't matter what kind of microphone.
[00:35:06.440 --> 00:35:08.200] It doesn't really matter the questions.
[00:35:08.200 --> 00:35:12.600] Just like you want to find people that are going to give you entertaining answers.
[00:35:12.600 --> 00:35:14.440] And that's really it.
[00:35:14.440 --> 00:35:16.880] Like, make it fun, and you'll have a viral video.
[00:35:16.960 --> 00:35:17.440] I love that.
[00:35:17.440 --> 00:35:18.960] Okay, what other tips do you have for us?
[00:35:14.840 --> 00:35:21.280] Yeah, so, okay, so YouTube on Char Charms.
[00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:26.000] And then I think that's really it in terms of resources.
[00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:27.920] Have you read any books or done any courses?
[00:35:27.920 --> 00:35:32.240] Like, it's you've gone so far in such a short amount of time.
[00:35:32.240 --> 00:35:38.480] Is there, is there a book, a course, a program, like something that's been helping you?
[00:35:38.480 --> 00:35:40.240] Yeah, I love this one book.
[00:35:40.240 --> 00:35:41.360] I'm reading it right now, actually.
[00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:43.520] It's called Ready, Fire, Aim.
[00:35:43.520 --> 00:35:48.320] And it just talks about how you need to move within different stages of business.
[00:35:48.320 --> 00:35:53.280] So I kind of probably mentioned that zero to one, one to ten, ten to fifty, and fifty to a hundred.
[00:35:53.280 --> 00:35:54.400] So love that book.
[00:35:54.400 --> 00:35:59.040] I think every founder should read it, especially in their, if they're in the beginning, any stage of the business.
[00:35:59.040 --> 00:36:05.280] And then I've really enjoyed listening to the podcasts of business owners.
[00:36:05.280 --> 00:36:16.560] So whether it's this podcast or how I built this, being able to see and listen to the stories, you start to see and like make correlations of like, oh, wow, a lot of founders did this.
[00:36:16.560 --> 00:36:18.160] Maybe I should do that.
[00:36:18.160 --> 00:36:26.480] So that gave me a lot of ideas and insights of like patterns that I noticed and then things that I could try if I noticed a lot of other founders doing them.
[00:36:26.480 --> 00:36:29.680] So I really think that that's something that more founders should do.
[00:36:29.680 --> 00:36:30.320] Love that.
[00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:30.800] Yes.
[00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:32.880] Charlotte, thank you so much for coming on the show.
[00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:36.400] I'm so impressed by what you've done and I can't wait to see where the brand goes.
[00:36:36.400 --> 00:36:37.680] Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
[00:36:37.680 --> 00:36:38.480] This was amazing.
[00:36:38.480 --> 00:36:46.000] I just wanted to jump in and end the show with a quick thank you and shout out to all of our paid business bestie subscribers.
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