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[00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:05.680] Hey, Entrepreneurs, it's Steph here with a special invite just for you.
[00:00:05.680 --> 00:00:10.800] Do you want to experience what it's like to be part of our Entrepreneursa League community of founders?
[00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:12.400] Now is your chance.
[00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:21.360] You can join me this month at one of our upcoming Entrepreneursa League info sessions where I'm going to share with you all you're going to get access to when you join the community.
[00:00:21.360 --> 00:00:27.040] Plus, I'll be giving away some big bonuses that you will only be able to get access to when you attend live.
[00:00:27.040 --> 00:00:35.600] Head over to refer.entrepanisa.com forward slash info session to join us at one of our virtual info sessions this month.
[00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:40.640] That's refer.entrepranista.com forward slash info session.
[00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:44.560] Or head over to the show notes right now and tap the link to join us.
[00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:49.280] I can't wait to meet you there and learn more about you and your business.
[00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:58.000] There's no way to possibly be an expert in all of these things, but you can be an expert in your product and your customer.
[00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:18.400] So I would just say over and over, just really know who you're selling to, really listen to their feedback of what they want and not just what they're buying online, because on an online purchase, you're just seeing what they're putting in their cart, but in the store, you're hearing what theme they didn't find or what they wanted you to have that you weren't able to supply to them, that kind of thing.
[00:01:25.440 --> 00:01:34.960] Rachel Huntington is the founder and CEO of Banjor Fett, a premium party supply company that's changing how we celebrate life's special moments.
[00:01:34.960 --> 00:01:41.120] What began as a business in her basement has grown into a seven-figure company that recently launched in Target.
[00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:55.280] For entrepreneurs looking to scale their business, you're going to want to listen to all of Rachel's insights today as she shares how she identified a gap in the market while planning her daughter's birthday party and she transformed that frustration into this incredible opportunity.
[00:01:55.280 --> 00:02:08.520] Get ready to hear Rachel's biggest business secrets as she's revealing the strategies for creating memorable customer experiences and expanding from a single location retail concept into a multi-channel brand.
[00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:16.520] This is the Entrepreneursa Podcast presented by Social Fly.
[00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:27.160] It's the best business meeting you'll ever have with must-hear real-life looks at how leading women in business are getting it done and what it takes to build and grow a successful company.
[00:02:27.160 --> 00:02:33.080] It's beyond the Graham with no filters, no limits, and plenty of surprises.
[00:02:38.440 --> 00:02:41.960] Rachel, I am so excited to finally be recording this episode with you.
[00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:49.000] This has been what, three, three years, three plus years in the making since we have talked about doing this episode.
[00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:53.400] And I know so much has happened for you and your life and your business over the years.
[00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:56.200] And you have so much to share with our incredible community.
[00:02:56.200 --> 00:02:59.720] So thank you for sitting down with me this afternoon to be able to share it all.
[00:02:59.720 --> 00:03:01.000] Thank you for having me.
[00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:03.000] And I just, I got so excited.
[00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:06.280] I wanted to just gab away in our little pre-interview chat.
[00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:10.200] So I'm going to save some for the podcast and get to the dating stuff.
[00:03:10.200 --> 00:03:11.640] But I'm so happy to be here.
[00:03:11.640 --> 00:03:12.360] Thank you.
[00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:24.920] Well, I have to share with everyone that we initially connected through our very own strategic advisor, Alyssa Arnold, who also works with you on your team as well.
[00:03:24.920 --> 00:03:28.520] And that's how we initially were introduced.
[00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:38.520] And, you know, I'll share with all of our listeners in our community, and I think I've shared this many times before, that Courtney and I both started angel investing probably five years ago now.
[00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:46.000] And when we met you and saw your business as well, we're like, yes, we have to invest in this business too, because what you are building is so incredible.
[00:03:46.160 --> 00:03:52.640] And we've just been so proud to champion you and support you and be here for you every step of the way.
[00:03:52.640 --> 00:03:58.400] So, I'm just so excited our whole community now gets to learn all about you and the bouncer of that story because it's incredible.
[00:03:58.400 --> 00:03:59.120] Thank you.
[00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:00.320] I love it so much.
[00:04:00.320 --> 00:04:08.400] And I, um, Alyssa is my COO now, and it's been amazing because she has so many touch points with so many businesses.
[00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:17.360] Um, and same for you guys-you hear a little about a lot of things, and there's a lot of value to be had there and to glean from that.
[00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:18.960] So, um, it's great.
[00:04:19.200 --> 00:04:21.440] I'm so excited to have you guys on the ride.
[00:04:21.440 --> 00:04:22.800] Yes, well, shout out to Alyssa.
[00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:24.960] We're going to chat more about Alyssa in a bit.
[00:04:24.960 --> 00:04:26.800] But, Rachel, I would love to know.
[00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:31.840] So, growing up, did you always know that you wanted to start your own business one day?
[00:04:31.840 --> 00:04:33.200] Absolutely not.
[00:04:33.520 --> 00:04:35.840] I was pre-med in college.
[00:04:35.840 --> 00:04:39.280] I, you know, thought I was going to be a doctor.
[00:04:39.280 --> 00:04:43.440] And the very last year I was in college, I said, it's not for me.
[00:04:43.440 --> 00:04:50.160] I switched to nursing and then, as one does, drives out to LA.
[00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:52.720] It has nothing to do with anything.
[00:04:53.360 --> 00:05:07.520] And, you know, being out here in a city that is so intertwined with the entertainment network and parties and events, et cetera, I started working at a talent agency in the TV talent department.
[00:05:07.520 --> 00:05:19.040] So it was really cool getting to work with talent, getting to know contracts and negotiations, even as an assistant in the mailroom and at a desk.
[00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:34.360] It's a really valuable lesson that I don't know that there's as many opportunities for now, but it really just gave me access, even being on a, you know, an earpiece listening to your bosses every call and how they handle things that are thrown at them.
[00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:38.040] I can't speak enough about that experience.
[00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:45.080] After that, I went to Water Brothers and worked in feature development, so on really large movies.
[00:05:45.080 --> 00:05:57.880] And it was really this experience that gave me the ability to pivot on anything and on a dime and you know to really do impossible tasks.
[00:05:58.120 --> 00:06:00.360] All of this was setting me up to be an entrepreneur.
[00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:01.560] I just didn't know it yet.
[00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:04.760] So that is kind of my background.
[00:06:04.760 --> 00:06:06.280] So, what was the next step?
[00:06:06.280 --> 00:06:09.240] What led you to actually start your own business?
[00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:12.120] Okay, well, it was having kids.
[00:06:12.760 --> 00:06:21.960] I had my son, and I was still working at Warner Brothers, and my husband got a job, and we moved to Montreal.
[00:06:21.960 --> 00:06:29.640] I was a new mom coming from this big corporate world, and all of a sudden, I was a stay-at-home mom.
[00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:35.800] I really just knew that I needed more.
[00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:40.760] And I think when you first become a mom and you have little kids, you're going to birthday parties.
[00:06:40.760 --> 00:06:47.320] And I think for me, I was living in this very fashionable city, and I would go to these amazing houses.
[00:06:47.320 --> 00:06:53.880] The women were dressed nice, the homes were so beautiful, everybody was into all this decor.
[00:06:53.880 --> 00:07:00.200] And then the party table was the same image for the cup, the plate, the napkin.
[00:07:00.200 --> 00:07:01.800] I was just uninspired.
[00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:02.600] And I don't know why.
[00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:05.400] It just hit me one day at one of these birthday parties.
[00:07:05.640 --> 00:07:08.360] I just said, you know, there has to be better.
[00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:09.480] How do we do this?
[00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:17.360] And as I started planning my son's party and then my daughter's party later, I realized that you had to get it from a million different places.
[00:07:14.840 --> 00:07:21.840] This person on Etsy, oh, there's this secret place in Australia that has this.
[00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:32.640] It was just a matter of collecting things and realizing that it needed to be easier and just kind of figuring out the solution myself.
[00:07:32.640 --> 00:07:39.280] So as someone that was living in Montreal at the time, Shopify was really growing.
[00:07:39.280 --> 00:07:41.520] It's Canada-based.
[00:07:41.520 --> 00:07:46.720] And so I just opened a Shopify site and started importing goods.
[00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:52.560] And next thing I knew, I was dishing out party bear to all my friends.
[00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:55.680] So what year was this when you first launched the website?
[00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:57.760] 2016.
[00:07:58.400 --> 00:08:00.880] Very basic Shopify.
[00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:03.360] It's gone.
[00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:08.000] It's so much further advanced at this point, but really basic.
[00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:14.000] Taking pictures in my basement, all the very cliche things that you might hear people say.
[00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:16.480] It was my actual experience.
[00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:16.960] Yeah.
[00:08:16.960 --> 00:08:18.000] Well, that's what you have to do.
[00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:20.800] Those are the first steps you take to literally just get started.
[00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:21.600] I talk about this all the time.
[00:08:21.840 --> 00:08:22.560] Put it on a mug.
[00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:24.720] Like you just have to, you just have to start.
[00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:26.000] Anyways, you did the thing.
[00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:28.800] Okay, so start the business in 2016.
[00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:30.640] Did you have a business plan at that time?
[00:08:30.640 --> 00:08:32.080] Like, did you have a vision for what this?
[00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:34.480] No, absolutely not.
[00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:38.160] I just knew that I wanted one place for people to get things.
[00:08:38.160 --> 00:08:48.160] And it felt like not every mom had the luxury of planning a party X amount of weeks in advance.
[00:08:48.160 --> 00:08:50.560] And so, and Etsy kind of made that challenging at the time.
[00:08:50.560 --> 00:08:52.400] There wasn't a lot of ready-made stuff.
[00:08:52.400 --> 00:08:56.480] So, I felt like, okay, well, I'll kind of hoard all these products.
[00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:58.560] And then when somebody needed them, they could get it from me.
[00:08:58.560 --> 00:09:01.000] And it's already ready to go and I could ship it out to them.
[00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:04.520] So it really just started organically, you know, in that way.
[00:09:04.840 --> 00:09:08.360] I didn't have the money or budget to go to any trade shows.
[00:09:08.680 --> 00:09:11.320] Instagram was still, you know, pretty new.
[00:09:11.320 --> 00:09:16.280] So I would follow the trade shows on Instagram and see who they were tagging.
[00:09:16.520 --> 00:09:18.120] Oh, what is that brand?
[00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:19.320] I will find them that way.
[00:09:19.320 --> 00:09:24.760] So I didn't have to go through the expense of the travel, walking the show floors, et cetera.
[00:09:24.760 --> 00:09:27.000] I just stocked them all online.
[00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:27.640] Very smart.
[00:09:27.640 --> 00:09:30.200] We call it the online researching on social media.
[00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:32.120] It's a very good skill to have.
[00:09:32.680 --> 00:09:33.400] Exactly.
[00:09:33.400 --> 00:09:35.560] Okay, so now what happened next?
[00:09:35.560 --> 00:09:42.200] Like, take me to: was there a moment when you were like, okay, this is something like I need to go all in on this business?
[00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:45.800] This can be so much more than only an online site?
[00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:46.520] Yeah.
[00:09:46.520 --> 00:09:55.800] So when we decided to move from Canada back to Los Angeles, I was packing up all these party products.
[00:09:55.800 --> 00:09:58.840] And, you know, I was really just overwhelmed.
[00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:06.600] Like, I had my network there in Montreal, but I didn't have that network of young moms in LA.
[00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:08.360] So I was really at a loss.
[00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:09.240] Like, what am I going to do?
[00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:11.640] Am I going to sell all this for a big discount?
[00:10:11.640 --> 00:10:12.840] Am I going to move it with me?
[00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:18.440] Am I going to put all this stuff in a moving van and drive, you know, from Montreal to LA?
[00:10:18.760 --> 00:10:24.840] So I did the reasonable thing, which was to Google how to open a store.
[00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:28.200] And I opened a retail store in Studio City.
[00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:29.160] It was very small.
[00:10:29.160 --> 00:10:30.440] It was very manageable.
[00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:34.280] I knew nothing about setting up a retail store.
[00:10:34.280 --> 00:10:39.640] I just knew that I was very passionate about products and I liked talking to people.
[00:10:39.640 --> 00:10:42.840] So packed everything up, opened a store.
[00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:44.360] My husband built it out.
[00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:47.760] Very scrappy, very quick.
[00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:48.880] It was tiny.
[00:10:48.880 --> 00:10:50.480] It was like 500 square feet.
[00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:51.440] It was really small.
[00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:53.520] So that's really it.
[00:10:53.520 --> 00:10:54.720] Just doing it.
[00:10:54.720 --> 00:11:05.360] Up next, Rachel shares all her learning lessons from opening and running a brick and mortar store and her best advice for entrepreneurs looking to get into retail.
[00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:12.400] Hi, Entrepreneurs.
[00:11:12.400 --> 00:11:13.440] It's Steph here.
[00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:20.080] As a founder, I know firsthand that building a business can feel so lonely, but it doesn't have to.
[00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:24.720] And that's why we created our Entrepreneursa Founders Weekend Wealth and Wellness Retreat.
[00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:26.880] And I can't wait to meet you in person there.
[00:11:26.880 --> 00:11:41.120] So you're officially invited to join us from April 30th to May 3rd, 2026 at the stunning PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida for three transformative days of connection, collaboration, and real business growth.
[00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:43.200] This isn't just another business conference.
[00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:51.600] It is a curated retreat designed to help you build authentic, lasting relationships with women who truly understand your journey.
[00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:58.400] From business panels and workshops to wellness activations and so much more, this is the room that you need to be in.
[00:11:58.400 --> 00:12:09.920] So if you are ready to invest in yourself and your business and your vision and your next level of success, head over to entrepreneurs.com forward slash foundersweekend to reserve your ticket today.
[00:12:09.920 --> 00:12:18.240] That's entrepreneur.com forward slash foundersweekend or head over to the show notes right now, and tap the invitation to reserve your ticket.
[00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:19.840] I'll see you there.
[00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:41.880] So, knowing what you know now about doing a build-up on a store, getting a lease for a store, just having a brick and mortar store for our entrepreneurs and our community that are thinking about opening a retail store.
[00:12:41.880 --> 00:12:44.920] What advice can you share with them based on all of your experience?
[00:12:44.920 --> 00:12:46.120] Oh my goodness.
[00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:52.360] I would say, like, really pay attention to the details in the actual contract.
[00:12:52.600 --> 00:13:07.160] A lot of them, you know, you sign up and you're so focused on the right now, the what is my rent now, you're not necessarily paying attention to what is my rent, you know, three, you know, three years from now, or can I do an automatic extension?
[00:13:07.160 --> 00:13:07.800] Things like that.
[00:13:07.800 --> 00:13:14.040] That now I'm really conscious about looking at, but really kind of focusing on those details.
[00:13:14.040 --> 00:13:21.000] You only have one shot at signing that lease, and that was not an area I got scrappy.
[00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:26.040] It was pay a lot of money for an attorney that specializes in that.
[00:13:26.040 --> 00:13:32.120] And it's helpful to have somebody kind of local that knows, you know, the market in that way, too.
[00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:33.560] So, yeah.
[00:13:33.880 --> 00:13:35.080] That is such good advice.
[00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:42.440] We recently had the founder of Solid Core Ann on the podcast, and she was, she built out like hundreds of retail locations.
[00:13:42.440 --> 00:13:53.960] And she was talking too about like, make sure you invest in really good legal for these agreements because, and we've learned too, just over the years, like that is not a place where you can really just try to be scrappy.
[00:13:53.960 --> 00:14:09.160] You could be scrappy in a lot of places in business, but on your contracts, go inside the Entrepreneurs League and talk to all of the amazing business attorneys that can help support because when you have trouble, it all goes back to what is actually in the contract.
[00:14:09.160 --> 00:14:11.000] And you can't change the words in a contract.
[00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:13.160] So, you cannot.
[00:14:13.160 --> 00:14:15.440] It's really easy to change a tile.
[00:14:14.680 --> 00:14:21.600] If you are doing so well and you want to spring for that really expensive lighting fixture, you can do that later.
[00:14:21.920 --> 00:14:34.080] It's so easy to get caught up when you decide to go into retail in, you know, the fixtures, the, you know, obviously a good flow is important, but really just you just have one shot at that contract.
[00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:50.480] And, you know, we'll get into it a little bit later in the podcast of what's happened to our Palisade store, but knowing exactly where you stand at all times is, you know, really important to get other opinions and advice.
[00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:50.960] Yeah.
[00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:51.680] Absolutely.
[00:14:51.680 --> 00:14:54.640] So, Rachel, you now have your, you know, online.com.
[00:14:54.640 --> 00:14:55.840] You're selling e-commerce.
[00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:57.920] You also have an in-person retail store.
[00:14:57.920 --> 00:15:02.000] And you said you started with the tiny 500 square foot location.
[00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:07.280] Like, when did you know you really needed to start building out additional stores?
[00:15:07.280 --> 00:15:10.640] Or how were you deciding whether to then go all in on e-commerce?
[00:15:10.640 --> 00:15:12.560] Like, what was your strategy?
[00:15:12.880 --> 00:15:16.960] So, on the retail side, we were literally bursting at our seams.
[00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:22.960] You know, I wanted to offer people a lot of variety in what party themes that they could select from.
[00:15:23.280 --> 00:15:26.800] And inherently, I can't just have one of everything, you know?
[00:15:26.800 --> 00:15:37.760] And so you needed to be able to be able to supply literally, you know, six packs of plates to somebody if they're, you know, having a big get together.
[00:15:37.760 --> 00:15:42.560] So we had to, we just inherently grew out of the space.
[00:15:42.560 --> 00:15:54.480] We also had, we're really at the forefront of the balloon momentum that was seven, eight years ago, building balloon garlands.
[00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:56.320] All these things take space.
[00:15:56.640 --> 00:15:59.680] It was, we were just bursting at the seams.
[00:15:59.680 --> 00:16:06.360] We were working out of a van in the back to blow up helium balloons and then bring them in the store for the customer.
[00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:07.800] It just got wild.
[00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:13.880] We knew that the opportunity was there for us to go into a larger footprint.
[00:16:13.880 --> 00:16:19.720] In LA, that's a very expensive endeavor that's not to be taken lightly.
[00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:26.360] You don't want to go into something too big and then you have to build out into a much larger space, you know, really quickly.
[00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:32.280] So I think, you know, some other cities have the opportunity where they have a lot of space.
[00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:34.440] I grew up in Houston.
[00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:37.800] We have big strip malls with big stores and things like that.
[00:16:37.800 --> 00:16:39.720] It's we don't have that luxury in LA.
[00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:48.280] So being really conscious about using your space wisely and merchandising wisely.
[00:16:48.280 --> 00:16:51.480] Online came as a result of COVID.
[00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:58.040] I was really had my hands full with the in-store part of the business.
[00:16:58.040 --> 00:17:00.200] It was doing very, very well.
[00:17:00.200 --> 00:17:03.720] And I really enjoyed the in-person interaction.
[00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:08.760] Online was not my first go-to for the expansion of the business.
[00:17:08.760 --> 00:17:13.800] If you had talked to me in 2019, I would have said, I want a bonjour fet in every major city.
[00:17:13.960 --> 00:17:15.720] That was the way to go.
[00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:22.120] And when COVID happened, you know, I immediately knew that I had to shift that.
[00:17:22.120 --> 00:17:27.240] And we have a business where there's a million little tiny things.
[00:17:27.240 --> 00:17:31.720] It's a lot of things to put on a website and to categorize and whatnot.
[00:17:31.720 --> 00:17:34.360] So I just threw myself into that.
[00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:39.960] Did you feel like you had to become your own marketing expert in everything in your business?
[00:17:40.280 --> 00:17:41.240] Yes.
[00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:41.560] Yes.
[00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:46.160] It's the wearing the mini hats is, yeah, it's not underrated.
[00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:48.240] It's the real deal.
[00:17:44.600 --> 00:17:50.400] And, you know, it's...
[00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:55.600] There's no way to possibly be an expert in all of these things.
[00:17:55.840 --> 00:17:59.280] But you can be an expert in your product and your customer.
[00:17:59.280 --> 00:18:14.640] So I would just say over and over, just, you know, really know who you're selling to, really listen to their feedback of what they want and not just what they're buying online, because, you know, on an online purchase, you're just seeing what they're putting in their cart.
[00:18:15.040 --> 00:18:25.520] But in the store, you're hearing what theme they didn't find or what they wanted you to have that you weren't able to supply to them, that kind of thing.
[00:18:25.520 --> 00:18:26.160] So.
[00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:42.560] Rachel, we have lots of members in our community that are trying to navigate whether they should raise capital from angels, from venture, or should they take out a credit card or a line of credit and really figuring out how to finance their business.
[00:18:42.560 --> 00:18:49.440] Now, you had initially bootstrapped your business for many years before you decided to actually raise outside capital.
[00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:54.080] What made you decide to go the route of deciding to raise outside capital?
[00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:55.760] What was going on in your business?
[00:18:56.080 --> 00:19:00.480] So in the beginning, I started with Shopify loans.
[00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:04.480] They are easily accessed.
[00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:07.280] They pop up on your Shopify backend.
[00:19:07.520 --> 00:19:15.360] You don't have to go through the exhausted, you know, reporting that you need to with banks.
[00:19:15.360 --> 00:19:16.560] They see your data.
[00:19:16.560 --> 00:19:18.640] You know, they see your sales.
[00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:20.400] They see your growth.
[00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:25.440] And, and you know, they, you know, output offers based on that.
[00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:28.720] So I did, I've actually done 11 of those.
[00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:29.200] Congrats.
[00:19:29.360 --> 00:19:29.880] That's amazing!
[00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:31.480] Amazing!
[00:19:29.760 --> 00:19:32.360] It's funny.
[00:19:32.520 --> 00:19:37.560] I go to that page sometimes on the back of Shopify, and it was usually for inventory.
[00:19:37.560 --> 00:19:39.960] And I would say that that's a good use for that.
[00:19:39.960 --> 00:19:45.160] It was: it's June or July, I need to buy all this stuff for Q4.
[00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:50.440] And this is our slow time because it's summer and people in LA are on vacation.
[00:19:50.440 --> 00:19:57.080] So it was really just reacting to that and saying, okay, I know I can, I know I'm going to make this in Q4.
[00:19:57.080 --> 00:19:59.880] So, you know, let me just take this nugget.
[00:19:59.880 --> 00:20:12.760] When COVID happened and we realized our online is taken off and, you know, there's so much we can do, then it was, I, I, we need outside capital.
[00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:16.040] We didn't really fit the mold for venture.
[00:20:16.040 --> 00:20:20.680] And so I just fully leaned into our customers.
[00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:25.480] And our customers are the ones that became our angel investors.
[00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:30.520] We used that money to build our warehouse so that we could fulfill their orders.
[00:20:30.520 --> 00:20:38.920] And that part was important to me versus the 3PL because at the time I was so missing having in-store experiences with our customers.
[00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:48.360] And I at least thought I need at least our hands to be the ones wrapping up their gifts, making sure that, you know, everything was done perfectly.
[00:20:48.360 --> 00:20:55.720] And it was also nice because you would see, like, oh, look at the way that they, this person is doing a fairy party or a dinosaur party.
[00:20:55.720 --> 00:20:57.080] Oh, they paired this with this.
[00:20:57.080 --> 00:20:58.040] That's interesting.
[00:20:58.040 --> 00:21:00.120] Or, oh my goodness, they didn't get this.
[00:21:00.120 --> 00:21:07.800] You know, it was just nice to have our own people touching those products and curating them and fulfilling them.
[00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:12.360] So that was the first big raise piece.
[00:21:12.360 --> 00:21:16.000] And yeah, I needed the angel help for that.
[00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:24.880] And I was very fortunate enough to get it from people that knew my work ethic and were already fans and customers of the brand.
[00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:28.080] And that was around the time, right, when Alyssa got involved in the business, correct?
[00:21:28.080 --> 00:21:28.640] It is.
[00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:29.280] It is.
[00:21:29.280 --> 00:21:36.960] She came in in that round to help me jumpstart that warehouse that we still use and love today.
[00:21:37.280 --> 00:21:44.880] So I have just learned in business over the years, you know, I am very blessed that I have an incredible business partner and we have completely opposite skill sets.
[00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:47.600] So I have always focused on sales and marketing.
[00:21:47.600 --> 00:21:50.000] Courtney's focused on finance and operations.
[00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.400] And like Courtney's actually good at like everything in the business, but like those have always been her areas of expertise.
[00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:57.120] But like finance, operations, like not my specialty.
[00:21:57.120 --> 00:22:00.960] I'm like, I focus on sales, marketing, our community, connecting.
[00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:03.280] Like that is what I love to do.
[00:22:03.280 --> 00:22:11.200] But it's so helpful to have that like other person who can do a lot of the things that maybe it's not the thing that we're best at.
[00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:20.240] So how have you figured out really how to grow your team and the people that are around you so you can really shine in what you're best at?
[00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:22.240] Oh goodness.
[00:22:22.800 --> 00:22:30.080] So it's, you know, that was a very capital intensive part of our growth as well.
[00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:48.320] Sometimes when you're making moves like that during, you know, times like COVID and when you're growing and need to do a warehouse and fill it with products, you're not left with a lot of budget for all these roles that technically should be all different people.
[00:22:48.960 --> 00:23:02.280] So it's, it hasn't been until the past couple years that we've been able to really dial that in and hone in on exactly like who the people are and what what what people are our team and what people can outsource.
[00:23:02.280 --> 00:23:20.360] I'm a huge fan of platforms like Store Tasker and things like that to get little knickknacks done on the website versus you know having this you know think tank within the business that you know knows everything.
[00:23:20.360 --> 00:23:35.480] I think that sometimes you have to outsource those little questions just to get them done quickly, pay the fee, get back into it, and then concentrate your team on building the brand and continuing with the messaging of the brand.
[00:23:35.480 --> 00:23:43.720] So when you've worked with Alyssa as a strategic advisor and COO, like how has she really helped you and help shape the strategy of the business?
[00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:46.680] We are both obsessed with the business.
[00:23:46.680 --> 00:23:51.800] So it's really helpful to wake up every morning and try to optimize.
[00:23:51.800 --> 00:23:58.120] Like we are optimize, we are just constantly trying to optimize everything.
[00:23:58.120 --> 00:24:14.040] Every single decision, every cash output, every container that we bring in, whether it's the actual space within the container or how are we, you know, the size of the plates inside the box, everything gets a second look.
[00:24:14.040 --> 00:24:16.120] We're really on the same wavelength.
[00:24:16.520 --> 00:24:22.200] I feel very blessed that we see so eye to eye.
[00:24:22.200 --> 00:24:23.640] I think it's rare.
[00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:28.520] I don't really know what to compare it to, but I feel like it's a rare, beautiful thing.
[00:24:28.520 --> 00:24:29.800] Yeah, no, she's amazing.
[00:24:29.800 --> 00:24:37.960] And, you know, I've shared with everyone, and everyone in our community knows like Alyssa's been an advisor for Entrepreneursa for the past, I guess it's been three plus years now.
[00:24:37.960 --> 00:24:39.320] Time just flies.
[00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:47.280] And she just has this strategic brain that, like, when she says stuff, I'm like, oh, I didn't think about it that way.
[00:24:47.600 --> 00:24:59.520] And she's now about to start leading our business strategy group inside the Entrepreneurista League to help even more members in our community because there's so many strategic decisions that we all have to make every single day.
[00:24:59.520 --> 00:25:03.040] I mean, you have something big that's coming up, your big news.
[00:25:03.040 --> 00:25:07.120] I'll let you share the big news before share with everyone.
[00:25:07.120 --> 00:25:08.080] Oh my goodness.
[00:25:08.080 --> 00:25:13.920] Well, we are launching in Target on April 20th, which is very, very exciting.
[00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:22.400] Coming up, you'll learn all about Bonjor Fett's exciting launch in Target and the process of getting into a major retailer.
[00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:31.120] Founders are always asking us, what has been the secret to our success building multiple seven-figure businesses?
[00:25:31.120 --> 00:25:32.560] Do you want to know how?
[00:25:32.560 --> 00:25:34.160] It's our community.
[00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:41.760] We created the Entrepreneurista League for founders like you because the most successful entrepreneurs do not navigate business alone.
[00:25:41.760 --> 00:25:47.600] We navigate the challenges and opportunities with the support of people we know, love, and trust.
[00:25:47.600 --> 00:25:51.440] The relationships you build in business will be the key to your success.
[00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:53.600] Trust me, it's how we've done it.
[00:25:53.600 --> 00:25:59.280] And I'm giving you access to everything we've used to grow and scale our businesses over the past decade.
[00:25:59.280 --> 00:26:03.680] Plus, you're going to meet your new best friends in business right inside the community.
[00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:26.080] Our members have access to everything we've used to grow our businesses over the past 10 plus years, from in-person events to virtual events, business education, funding resources, office hours with myself and other top founders in your industry, press opportunities, and access to our community platform where you can instantly get all of your business questions answered.
[00:26:26.080 --> 00:26:32.760] You can join us in the community over at refer.entreprenista.com forward slash join us.
[00:26:29.760 --> 00:26:38.600] That's refer.entrepranista.com forward slash join us to join the community.
[00:26:38.600 --> 00:26:41.960] Or head to the show notes right now and tap the link to join.
[00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:44.360] I cannot wait to meet you.
[00:26:45.000 --> 00:27:00.120] As a small business owner, to have that opportunity to be in such a, you know, big box landscape and to be accessible to so many communities outside of where our retail footprint is.
[00:27:00.760 --> 00:27:02.840] I mean, it's beyond.
[00:27:02.840 --> 00:27:04.200] We're so excited.
[00:27:04.200 --> 00:27:13.000] And I think what I love the most about it is offering a premium design at not premium prices.
[00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:14.440] And it's very accessible.
[00:27:14.440 --> 00:27:17.080] And it's a good intro to our brand.
[00:27:17.480 --> 00:27:20.040] We're launching with a graduation collection.
[00:27:20.040 --> 00:27:30.600] It's not something we make as bonjour fete, so it was nice to be able to make it for Target and to celebrate graduation, whether it's kindergarten or college.
[00:27:30.600 --> 00:27:31.160] It's happening.
[00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:37.000] So Alyssa was telling me, and I'm like, I am ordering all of this, or I'll just go right into Target.
[00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:38.200] We go to Target all the time.
[00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:39.480] So I am going there.
[00:27:39.480 --> 00:27:40.840] I'm getting the graduation line.
[00:27:40.840 --> 00:27:47.960] Molly's graduating from kindergarten and we are having a Target bonjour fet kindergarten party at the Carton household.
[00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:49.800] It is happening and I am so excited.
[00:27:49.800 --> 00:27:50.760] That's what you're launching with.
[00:27:50.760 --> 00:27:53.560] Perfect timing for graduation season.
[00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:58.040] And I don't think everyone needs to have, you know, over top over-the-top parties.
[00:27:58.040 --> 00:28:06.360] Like, I think sometimes these special moments are just breakfast the morning of, or it's, you know, the dinner that Friday night, or whatever it is.
[00:28:06.520 --> 00:28:11.000] Maybe it's just a banner that hangs on your mantle for that month or something like that.
[00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:23.600] But it's, it's, you know, it's really nice for people to feel special and this is giving you a low-cost way to celebrate.
[00:28:23.600 --> 00:28:24.400] I love it.
[00:28:24.400 --> 00:28:25.760] Well, I'm so excited.
[00:28:25.760 --> 00:28:31.840] So let's just talk about behind the scenes of actually getting into a major retailer like Target.
[00:28:31.840 --> 00:28:33.040] How does that happen?
[00:28:33.040 --> 00:28:34.480] What does it actually take?
[00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:37.040] Take me back to your past, what, it's probably been a year.
[00:28:37.040 --> 00:28:38.160] How, this is a long process.
[00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:39.200] This is not an overnight opportunity.
[00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:40.160] Two years.
[00:28:40.560 --> 00:28:41.120] All right, everyone.
[00:28:41.120 --> 00:28:42.080] Do you understand this?
[00:28:42.080 --> 00:28:44.560] Like, this is not an overnight opportunity.
[00:28:44.560 --> 00:28:47.360] Target calls, and you're in their stores the next day.
[00:28:47.360 --> 00:28:48.960] Two years in the making.
[00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:49.680] Two years.
[00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:50.320] What went down?
[00:28:50.320 --> 00:28:51.520] Tell me, Rachel.
[00:28:52.560 --> 00:29:04.240] I really, and this might not resonate for all people because I know that there are agencies that pitch to Target and there's competitions to pitch to some of these retailers as well.
[00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:06.720] I got an incoming email.
[00:29:07.280 --> 00:29:09.680] I didn't believe that it was real.
[00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:15.760] It was, you know, as you can imagine, so super exciting, jumping up and down.
[00:29:15.760 --> 00:29:16.560] Is this real?
[00:29:16.560 --> 00:29:19.120] Then going on LinkedIn, being like, is that person real?
[00:29:19.120 --> 00:29:23.200] Do they actually do this thing that their signature says?
[00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:26.320] And I remember getting on to the first Zoom.
[00:29:26.320 --> 00:29:40.640] I had no idea, you know, necessarily what it was going to be about, but really just, yeah, it was an opportunity that I had dreamed about so many times before.
[00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:49.520] And I think, you know, the process takes a while because it's not just about designing or creating a product.
[00:29:49.520 --> 00:30:04.280] The logistics involved in getting it at, you know, the numbers that Target needs for a lot of stores for in almost a thousand stores extensive.
[00:30:04.600 --> 00:30:14.040] And even to get some of these players that are used to doing it for Target to believe in you and to trust in you, I had the hardest time finding a 3PL.
[00:30:14.040 --> 00:30:28.200] I mean, it for Target because most of the 3PLs that dealt with Target and mass retailers have existing customers or they have brands that are carried year-round.
[00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:35.000] It was really difficult to have the entry point be something that was a limited time for Target.
[00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:42.360] Everything comes in really quickly, and it all has to go out at once to do one set date.
[00:30:42.840 --> 00:30:49.000] So it was, we pitched a lot of different 3PLs and we were told no over and over and over.
[00:30:49.000 --> 00:30:50.440] Oh, this is too small.
[00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:51.400] Oh, how cute.
[00:30:51.400 --> 00:30:52.520] Party supplies.
[00:30:52.520 --> 00:30:53.080] No.
[00:30:53.080 --> 00:30:57.160] Like, it just felt like, and I didn't realize that that was part of the process.
[00:30:57.160 --> 00:30:58.760] I didn't realize that it was going to be hard.
[00:30:58.760 --> 00:31:00.200] I'm like, here's my money to go.
[00:31:00.520 --> 00:31:01.400] I have an order for Target.
[00:31:02.360 --> 00:31:03.080] Yes.
[00:31:03.640 --> 00:31:05.880] And I thought that was going to be a golden ticket.
[00:31:06.280 --> 00:31:08.200] It's very involved.
[00:31:08.200 --> 00:31:11.720] And, you know, you do need a lot of help with that.
[00:31:12.280 --> 00:31:15.320] Alyssa was massively in play there.
[00:31:15.640 --> 00:31:27.800] One of my retail managers at my store in Palisades, who just really knew product and really knew our customers, turned into a project manager for the product.
[00:31:27.800 --> 00:31:30.760] I mean, you really need somebody on it 24/7.
[00:31:30.760 --> 00:31:35.000] And so, yes, it's very, very exciting.
[00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.240] And it's very hard.
[00:31:39.240 --> 00:31:43.640] Like, I don't know how to sugarcoat it because it is very difficult.
[00:31:43.640 --> 00:31:51.280] And, you know, right now we're beginning of April, but my containers landed three weeks ago.
[00:31:51.280 --> 00:32:00.160] If they had landed this week with, you know, tariffs, et cetera, it would have been a much different story to have to deal with.
[00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:08.080] So I think, you know, these decisions, you have to have backup plans and backup plans and backup plans for everything.
[00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:14.080] Assume everything's going to go wrong and yeah, keep persevering.
[00:32:14.080 --> 00:32:14.320] Yeah.
[00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:17.440] I'm just glad I'm in your hands.
[00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:20.480] And Barbara, we're recording this episode today.
[00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:28.080] You're probably going to hear this a few weeks from now when it's actually live, but we're recording this today when there's more changes right now with what's happening with the tariffs right now.
[00:32:28.080 --> 00:32:32.960] So now it's looking like there might be a 90-day window of potential peace right now.
[00:32:32.960 --> 00:32:34.320] And let's see what happens.
[00:32:34.320 --> 00:32:36.080] And there's negotiations happening.
[00:32:36.080 --> 00:32:49.440] But how have you just been handling and dealing with all of these just ups and downs, not just over the past couple of weeks with the tariffs, but you know, you dealt with, you know, the fires in the Palisades just a couple of months ago and COVID.
[00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:54.400] It's like you've just been so resilient, just getting through everything.
[00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:56.960] Like, how have you, how do you keep going?
[00:32:56.960 --> 00:32:58.560] How do you handle all this?
[00:32:59.280 --> 00:33:11.680] Well, I think, you know, to speak to Palisades, as someone that's lived in LA for a while, fires are something that you kind of see in the distance or hear about.
[00:33:12.080 --> 00:33:15.600] You know, just, it's just something you're sadly familiar with.
[00:33:15.600 --> 00:33:23.600] I would have never, ever guessed that this would have completely engulfed our community in the way it did.
[00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:28.560] It was, I just have no words.
[00:33:28.560 --> 00:33:33.480] Like, it just kept going and kept going and it was baffling.
[00:33:33.800 --> 00:33:41.080] And I just, it was the speed of all of it, you know, just the sheer devastation.
[00:33:41.960 --> 00:33:43.720] You know, it's.
[00:33:44.360 --> 00:35:11.120] it's it's not it was not even about the store or the the inventory or anything it was it was my customers and the people that i have shared so many moments with um you know birthdays baby showers you know all these things so it it it's it was a beyond devastating thing to say like how do you process something like that i still am processing it like i'm still some days waking up and being like what like how is this real and i'm sure the people that you know lost their homes like they're not just gonna wake up you know a month later and be like i got this like maybe certain days but not all days because um it's just devastating so you know for me my priority was you know getting my team out safely i had my wonderful store manager was like it's good i'll stay like you know some people there might be some people picking up some balloons later and i was like please get out like she could see it in the in the distance um but i think overall you know as we're you know as more time has gone by it just it really just affirms that celebrations matter even in hard times celebrations matter like it is important to celebrate what you have today right the second you know and and even if it's not everything that you've dreamed of for your business, if you have a business or you're excited about working on your business or whatnot, like celebrate that.
[00:35:11.120 --> 00:35:14.960] Like, you have to just, you know, literally take it one day at a time.
[00:35:14.960 --> 00:35:15.840] No, totally.
[00:35:15.840 --> 00:35:23.840] We have inside our entrepreneur community, we have a celebrate room in our community platform where I'm always sharing with everyone, like, celebrate even the little wins, right?
[00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:25.680] You literally got up and worked on your business today.
[00:35:25.680 --> 00:35:26.800] Like, let's celebrate it.
[00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:37.920] Like, we have to celebrate the little wins, the big wins, the beautiful moments, the hard moments, because building a business is really, really, really, really, really hard.
[00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:43.120] Like, it's just a roller coaster, and it's like so fun to celebrate all these incredible moments.
[00:35:43.120 --> 00:35:45.440] But we've got to get through all the hard times too.
[00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:49.520] And it's better when we can actually do that together and be there for each other.
[00:35:49.520 --> 00:35:50.960] So, agreed.
[00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:51.760] Agreed.
[00:35:51.760 --> 00:36:08.960] So, during that time when everything happened with the fires, we were sharing, you know, on entrepreneurista.com, we were sharing lots of resources and ways that we could continue to help and support founders that were just experiencing devastating loss from their homes and their stores and their businesses.
[00:36:08.960 --> 00:36:15.920] And so many incredible entrepreneurs also started sharing that they were doing grant programs and other opportunities.
[00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:24.000] And I know you were able to actually win one of those grant opportunities from one of our entrepreneurs to idols, Sarah Blakely.
[00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:24.960] How did that mean?
[00:36:25.520 --> 00:36:27.200] My idol, too.
[00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:31.120] I, you know, this one was not the traditional grant.
[00:36:31.120 --> 00:36:40.080] So I have to say that, I mean, we'll talk about Sarah in a second because she's her own category.
[00:36:40.080 --> 00:36:58.480] But this one was really meaningful to me because this was her putting out a call, you know, on her socials and other people that are in, you know, that follow her were able to nominate businesses that they thought should be recognized.
[00:36:58.480 --> 00:37:15.720] So the fact that I was put into her orbit through you know our customers our friends I was tagging you I was tagging you on Instagram yeah it was you it was you it's all you yeah so I mean that just made it so much more meaningful.
[00:37:15.720 --> 00:37:32.200] I think, you know, in general, when you're applying for a grant, I think that, you know, it's, it's, you really got to focus on the, the, you know, being confident in your story and your storytelling.
[00:37:32.200 --> 00:37:34.360] I think that's really, really important.
[00:37:34.360 --> 00:37:46.200] You know, it's, it's, you know, why are people, why, not just why do you deserve the money, because a lot of businesses deserve the money and a lot of women deserve the money, but you don't have to be perfect.
[00:37:46.200 --> 00:37:54.600] Just be clear about what you're going to do with it and what story you're trying to tell and, you know, what, what you're growing.
[00:37:54.600 --> 00:37:57.080] So, I mean, Sarah.
[00:37:57.080 --> 00:38:02.760] Sarah is so amazing because I, you know, I've been watching her for so many years.
[00:38:02.760 --> 00:38:07.720] And I think for me, it's, I mean, I've watched her masterclass a couple of times.
[00:38:07.720 --> 00:38:12.440] I really like her masterclass because it's a like roll up your sleeves kind of class.
[00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:15.400] It's not like this high-level advice.
[00:38:15.400 --> 00:38:16.600] It's real.
[00:38:16.600 --> 00:38:19.480] It's inspiring, that kind of thing.
[00:38:19.480 --> 00:38:28.360] And I think she, you know, she gives you some great tips, like allowing yourself to let your mind wander.
[00:38:28.360 --> 00:38:32.120] That's something I, you know, really try to do all the time.
[00:38:32.120 --> 00:38:35.560] And it might just be in my car ride to pick up the kids.
[00:38:35.560 --> 00:38:36.840] It might be in the shower.
[00:38:36.840 --> 00:38:40.520] It might be doing dishes and just putting headphones on and letting your mind wander.
[00:38:40.520 --> 00:38:41.560] I think that's really important.
[00:38:41.560 --> 00:38:43.080] She talks about that.
[00:38:43.080 --> 00:38:46.000] Keeping a little notebook and writing down your ideas.
[00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:49.440] You have no idea when those ideas become something big.
[00:38:49.440 --> 00:38:56.080] They might seem really small when you write them down, but later, if you refer back to them, you're like, oh, I was on to something there.
[00:38:56.080 --> 00:38:57.840] Let me explore that.
[00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:04.160] By the way, so I, several years ago, someone had posted about this on either Twitter or LinkedIn.
[00:39:04.160 --> 00:39:09.200] There's something called Aqua Notes or the shower notes where I always have best ideas.
[00:39:09.200 --> 00:39:10.720] Yes, I'm going to change your life right now.
[00:39:10.720 --> 00:39:16.000] I have all of my best ideas in the shower and I can't remember a thing the second I step out of the shower.
[00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:25.600] And Aqua Notes, it's like basically this waterproof pencil paper that you stick it on and you write all your ideas down if you have them in the shower because it's hard to remember.
[00:39:25.600 --> 00:39:27.200] So write down the ideas.
[00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:28.400] Love it.
[00:39:28.400 --> 00:39:42.160] My friend Jordan, when he was a writer and or he is a writer, and he would keep yellow like sticky notes in his car because he was always having his ideas in the car and he would write them and they would be like stuck to the window or the side of the door.
[00:39:42.160 --> 00:39:44.640] And I'm like, no one knows those to blow away when the window opens.
[00:39:44.800 --> 00:39:47.120] I was like, you dropped some ideas here.
[00:39:47.680 --> 00:39:55.600] But yeah, I think, you know, just her, you know, just being able to let your mind wander, I think is really important, writing down the ideas.
[00:39:55.600 --> 00:40:02.000] I mean, the fact that Sphinx didn't advertise for like 16 years, that like is really profound.
[00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:11.440] Like it, it just tells you that storytelling and, you know, your product and word of mouth, like those things really matter.
[00:40:11.760 --> 00:40:29.520] And to be able to build your community so that you don't have to necessarily pay for it, for those eyeballs is a really brilliant thing if you can harness that energy and, you know, and figure out that communication with your customer.
[00:40:29.520 --> 00:40:33.880] So I think that's really you know just an amazing thing she was able to accomplish.
[00:40:29.840 --> 00:40:36.840] And the fact that she is still innovating.
[00:40:37.400 --> 00:40:47.320] I just for the Target launch, I just wore sneaks for my whole day of shooting because I knew I was going to be on my feet in the parking lot and you know up and down the aisles, etc.
[00:40:47.640 --> 00:40:49.240] And it was the best day.
[00:40:49.240 --> 00:40:51.640] And I swear it was because the sneaks.
[00:40:51.640 --> 00:40:53.160] How comfortable were they?
[00:40:53.160 --> 00:40:55.320] They were so comfortable.
[00:40:55.320 --> 00:40:56.520] I loved them.
[00:40:56.520 --> 00:40:57.880] So they were amazing.
[00:40:57.880 --> 00:41:00.520] So I cannot wait to see all those photos.
[00:41:00.520 --> 00:41:01.160] You have to share them.
[00:41:01.480 --> 00:41:05.720] We'll be sharing them everywhere when this episode goes live too.
[00:41:05.720 --> 00:41:10.040] What did it feel like when you found out that she was awarding you that grant?
[00:41:10.760 --> 00:41:16.200] I mean, I don't know why my first reaction is always to not believe it.
[00:41:16.200 --> 00:41:20.680] I think it's because I've had too many friends over the years that was like, my Instagram was hacked.
[00:41:20.680 --> 00:41:22.760] And like, oh, this giveaway, whatever.
[00:41:22.760 --> 00:41:23.880] I was like, is this the real?
[00:41:24.040 --> 00:41:25.320] Does she have the check mark?
[00:41:25.320 --> 00:41:26.360] Is she following that person?
[00:41:26.360 --> 00:41:28.280] Does that follow that person follow her back?
[00:41:28.280 --> 00:41:31.320] Like, it took me a second to like, did she DM you?
[00:41:31.320 --> 00:41:32.040] Is that how you found out?
[00:41:32.040 --> 00:41:32.440] She did?
[00:41:32.760 --> 00:41:33.560] Yes.
[00:41:33.560 --> 00:41:34.360] Yes.
[00:41:34.680 --> 00:41:40.760] So, yeah, I did get a follow-up email from her organization.
[00:41:40.760 --> 00:41:44.200] But yeah, it was that.
[00:41:44.200 --> 00:41:45.640] And she started following me.
[00:41:45.640 --> 00:41:47.880] So it was when that happened, I was like, it's real.
[00:41:47.960 --> 00:41:48.440] It's real.
[00:41:48.440 --> 00:41:49.160] It's really happening.
[00:41:49.400 --> 00:41:49.720] Sarah.
[00:41:50.040 --> 00:41:50.440] Oh, my God.
[00:41:50.600 --> 00:41:51.160] I love it.
[00:41:51.320 --> 00:41:52.200] Yeah, she's amazing.
[00:41:52.200 --> 00:41:58.040] And it's just the power when everyone just connects and wants to collaborate and help each other and give back.
[00:41:58.040 --> 00:41:59.320] Like, I share this all the time.
[00:41:59.320 --> 00:42:12.200] Like, there's enough opportunity in business for everyone, but it's about us coming together as a community and just making it a little bit easier for the next person that's coming up because it's hard.
[00:42:12.200 --> 00:42:13.720] We talk about this on the podcast all the time.
[00:42:13.720 --> 00:42:18.480] It's why we have this show so we can all learn from each other because we can't sugarcoat it.
[00:42:14.920 --> 00:42:19.280] Like, this is really hard.
[00:42:19.360 --> 00:42:24.400] It's really fun and rewarding, and you meet all your best friends in life and business, but it's not easy.
[00:42:24.400 --> 00:42:25.920] So, we're here to help.
[00:42:25.920 --> 00:42:36.400] Yeah, those shared learnings are so important, whether you're sharing them with your friends, you know, at drinks or in the school pickup line, whatever.
[00:42:36.400 --> 00:42:47.040] If you, you know, it doesn't have to necessarily be like an aligned business, but I find that you can glean nuggets from, you know, anywhere, anytime.
[00:42:47.040 --> 00:42:48.320] So, listen.
[00:42:48.320 --> 00:42:50.000] Yeah, no, absolutely.
[00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:55.280] Okay, so before we even started recording this podcast, we were talking about some of our favorite business tools and solutions.
[00:42:55.280 --> 00:43:04.400] And I'm like, I'm obsessed with talking about all the latest tools, technology, all the things that are making our businesses run smoother, more efficiently, all the marketing tools.
[00:43:04.400 --> 00:43:10.800] I actually just started using, I haven't even talked about this on the podcast because I've only been using this for two days, but this could be something that could help you.
[00:43:10.800 --> 00:43:17.280] I just started using a tool called Fixer AI, and it helps manage your email inbox.
[00:43:17.280 --> 00:43:18.960] Have you seen these ads for this company?
[00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:20.480] It helps manage your email inbox.
[00:43:20.480 --> 00:43:21.920] It's gonna, it drafts all your emails.
[00:43:21.920 --> 00:43:23.840] I'm using it so far, so good.
[00:43:24.160 --> 00:43:26.240] And they record, they do all your meeting notes.
[00:43:26.240 --> 00:43:27.120] Everything is organized.
[00:43:27.120 --> 00:43:28.880] They can go into your calendar and set up meetings.
[00:43:28.880 --> 00:43:31.200] I'm like, this is what I've needed forever.
[00:43:31.200 --> 00:43:34.080] So I'm sharing this with everyone here, but Rachel, I want to hear from you.
[00:43:34.080 --> 00:43:35.600] Like, tell me all the tools you're using.
[00:43:35.600 --> 00:43:36.960] What are all your favorite ones?
[00:43:36.960 --> 00:43:38.400] What do we need?
[00:43:38.720 --> 00:43:40.720] First of all, I love that for you.
[00:43:40.720 --> 00:43:54.560] I'm a little nervous on the AI part because I had a big snafu last year, where it was one of the first days that I had downloaded like an update to my Gmail using an AI tool.
[00:43:54.560 --> 00:43:58.720] And I had a very important email to send out.
[00:43:59.400 --> 00:44:10.200] You know, it was actually me introducing Target to one of my investors who is an unnamed celebrity.
[00:44:10.200 --> 00:44:17.320] But I will just say that it was a big, important email, and I wanted to make sure that it sounded refined.
[00:44:17.320 --> 00:44:20.600] So it then spit out, here's a refined version.
[00:44:20.600 --> 00:44:27.080] And that's the version I sent where it said, Here is the refined version of your email.
[00:44:27.720 --> 00:44:31.480] And I thought it would just delete that part.
[00:44:31.480 --> 00:44:33.640] So how did you pull that one off?
[00:44:33.640 --> 00:44:34.440] Did you reply after?
[00:44:34.680 --> 00:44:35.640] Like, oh, sorry, that was fine.
[00:44:36.200 --> 00:44:42.040] I immediately replied after and said, so sorry about the update on my phone.
[00:44:42.040 --> 00:44:42.920] Ha ha.
[00:44:43.640 --> 00:44:46.360] But yeah, no, you're still launching a Target.
[00:44:46.360 --> 00:44:47.720] I'm still launching a Target.
[00:44:47.720 --> 00:44:48.680] It's fine.
[00:44:49.000 --> 00:44:53.000] And so hopefully that person will be too.
[00:44:53.000 --> 00:45:01.000] So anyway, what I am obsessed with, I haven't really dove into Fixer, but I'm going to look into it.
[00:45:01.000 --> 00:45:02.680] I am an Airtable.
[00:45:03.000 --> 00:45:06.520] I just propone it all day long.
[00:45:06.520 --> 00:45:09.160] I truly don't know what I would do without it.
[00:45:09.160 --> 00:45:15.080] It's our go-to solution for product development, marketing planning.
[00:45:15.080 --> 00:45:18.600] I love how customizable it is, how visual it is.
[00:45:19.080 --> 00:45:22.760] I truly don't know what I would do without it.
[00:45:23.160 --> 00:45:27.400] And then beyond Airtable, I would say I still use Canva.
[00:45:27.400 --> 00:45:30.520] Like I use Canva for our designs.
[00:45:30.840 --> 00:45:42.200] Our designs, our designers are using Adobe, but sometimes when I need to just show them something, I'll take, you know, I'll take something and remove the background and try to like scribble or draw on it.
[00:45:42.200 --> 00:45:44.520] And Canva makes that really easy.
[00:45:44.680 --> 00:45:47.840] I think they probably laugh at me a little bit when I send it back to them.
[00:45:47.840 --> 00:45:49.760] I'm like, see, I mean, like this.
[00:45:50.800 --> 00:45:51.440] Canva's amazing.
[00:45:51.600 --> 00:45:52.800] Canva is the best.
[00:45:52.800 --> 00:45:54.400] There's so many things that you can do in there.
[00:45:54.400 --> 00:45:57.120] And now they have all those AI features and tools too.
[00:45:57.120 --> 00:45:57.920] It's so good.
[00:45:57.920 --> 00:45:58.320] Yeah.
[00:45:58.320 --> 00:45:58.880] Yeah.
[00:45:58.880 --> 00:45:59.520] Yeah.
[00:45:59.520 --> 00:46:05.120] And then we were just talking about ShopMy, how you guys have been able to get onto that platform too.
[00:46:05.120 --> 00:46:12.960] Another one of our members in the community who's the founder of Hanny, she was the one that was talking to me first about ShopMy.
[00:46:12.960 --> 00:46:15.200] And like, I was like, oh my God, I'm so late to this game.
[00:46:15.200 --> 00:46:20.240] I feel like I used to be in it with running Social Fly and knowing all of the tools there.
[00:46:20.240 --> 00:46:22.720] But yeah, everyone's talking about ShopMy right now.
[00:46:22.720 --> 00:46:23.840] So I know you just got on there.
[00:46:23.840 --> 00:46:27.280] I don't know how much you want to share about how you've onboarded.
[00:46:27.840 --> 00:46:34.080] Yeah, I can share what I know, which, you know, I've only been on for about three weeks now.
[00:46:34.080 --> 00:46:45.040] The, you know, we got onto ShopMy because when the Palisades fire happened, we organically had influencers coming into our store and sharing content.
[00:46:45.040 --> 00:46:50.320] And then all of a sudden, those real in-life influencers were not available.
[00:46:50.320 --> 00:46:52.480] We didn't have a store where they were shooting all that.
[00:46:52.480 --> 00:47:01.680] And so I wanted to research and find a platform where some of those customers were, you know, were already set up so that I could gift them, et cetera.
[00:47:01.680 --> 00:47:04.160] Shop My makes that really, really easy.
[00:47:04.400 --> 00:47:07.280] And I'm really excited to explore it a little further.
[00:47:07.280 --> 00:47:17.680] It's, it's really, it's heavily right now on beauty and fashion, but I'm really excited because we're one of the first, I think the first party brand on the site.
[00:47:17.680 --> 00:47:24.000] And I think it'll give a lot of influencers access to, you know, our products and adding them to the shelf.
[00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:30.280] And from what we've seen so far, when they add them to their shelf, they are selling really well.
[00:47:30.280 --> 00:47:33.240] So I think it's mutually beneficial for all.
[00:47:33.480 --> 00:47:34.520] I love it.
[00:47:34.520 --> 00:47:35.560] Amazing.
[00:47:29.840 --> 00:47:35.880] All right.
[00:47:35.960 --> 00:47:39.880] So I have to ask you, Rachel, what is your biggest business secret?
[00:47:40.200 --> 00:47:41.320] Oh, goodness.
[00:47:42.120 --> 00:47:51.480] I think my biggest business secret is that I guess I don't believe in pretending to have it all figured out.
[00:47:51.480 --> 00:47:54.280] Is that a secret or is that a non-secret?
[00:47:54.280 --> 00:47:55.000] It's yours.
[00:47:55.800 --> 00:48:06.680] I think that, you know, in the early days of being a founder, I think you just like you want to have all the answers.
[00:48:06.680 --> 00:48:22.600] And but over time, like, I think that you realize that the most important thing you can do as a leader is admit that you don't know something and, you know, looking for the answers and staying curious.
[00:48:22.600 --> 00:48:23.240] Absolutely.
[00:48:23.240 --> 00:48:24.360] I always share this all the time.
[00:48:24.360 --> 00:48:27.560] When I, you know, I was on a call earlier today, and someone's like, I have a silly question.
[00:48:27.560 --> 00:48:29.880] I'm like, no, no, no, there's no such thing as a silly question.
[00:48:30.040 --> 00:48:30.760] We're stupid.
[00:48:30.920 --> 00:48:33.080] Like, all questions are so important.
[00:48:33.080 --> 00:48:36.360] That's how we're all able to learn together and grow together.
[00:48:36.360 --> 00:48:38.520] And the question that you have, someone else probably has it too.
[00:48:38.520 --> 00:48:40.680] So it's like, just ask the question so we can all learn.
[00:48:40.680 --> 00:48:44.520] And that's how we can then pass on and share all of that knowledge.
[00:48:44.520 --> 00:48:46.760] So I'm so glad that you shared that, Rachel.
[00:48:46.760 --> 00:48:49.480] What does being an entrepreneur mean to you?
[00:48:49.480 --> 00:48:50.600] Oh, goodness.
[00:48:50.920 --> 00:48:55.640] I think, you know, being an entrepreneur is about connection and inspiration.
[00:48:55.640 --> 00:49:00.520] I think that feeling truly seen as a founder.
[00:49:01.000 --> 00:49:05.080] You know, it's nice, like, you know, when we get on a call, I see you, you see me.
[00:49:05.080 --> 00:49:07.480] And we know that it's not always easy.
[00:49:07.480 --> 00:49:11.240] And we know to celebrate the good things when they come.
[00:49:11.240 --> 00:49:21.680] And having a community of like-minded women who are navigating the same challenges and chasing big dreams and all that stuff, it's really grounding and energizing.
[00:49:21.680 --> 00:49:24.400] So I think that's what it means to me.
[00:49:24.400 --> 00:49:28.480] Well, Rachel, thank you so much for sharing your journey and story.
[00:49:28.480 --> 00:49:30.400] We are so, so excited for you.
[00:49:30.400 --> 00:49:35.360] We are going to be celebrating you, Bonjour Fett, and all of our celebrations with Bonjour Fett and heading to.
[00:49:35.600 --> 00:49:39.200] I could just celebrate so many people at their own tables.
[00:49:39.200 --> 00:49:41.840] I think that is the most meaningful thing to me.
[00:49:41.840 --> 00:49:56.240] It's, it's, I think, you know, when somebody is buying our product, it's not just that they're, you know, wearing a t-shirt that they, you know, might get noticed once or or whatnot, but they're literally gathering around with their family and celebrating someone special.
[00:49:56.240 --> 00:49:56.880] I love that.
[00:49:56.880 --> 00:50:00.800] I love that we're able to do that in across the country.
[00:50:00.800 --> 00:50:03.040] I'm so excited.
[00:50:03.040 --> 00:50:04.000] So excited for you.
[00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:08.160] Where can everyone find you, follow you, buy your products online in Target?
[00:50:08.160 --> 00:50:10.560] Like share all the links, handles, all the things.
[00:50:10.560 --> 00:50:13.200] We're linking out to everything in the show notes that Rachel shares right now.
[00:50:13.200 --> 00:50:17.200] So go ahead to the show notes right now, tap all the links that Rachel's sharing with you.
[00:50:17.200 --> 00:50:21.200] And we'll also share all of the links to all of these awesome business tools that we just shared.
[00:50:21.200 --> 00:50:22.400] So link away, Rachel.
[00:50:22.400 --> 00:50:23.440] Tell me all the places.
[00:50:23.440 --> 00:50:27.440] Okay, so bonjourfette.com for our e-comm.
[00:50:27.600 --> 00:50:32.320] Our graduation collection is in Target by the time this airs.
[00:50:32.320 --> 00:50:36.880] So go shop in store and on target.com, which is exciting.
[00:50:36.880 --> 00:50:39.120] And I started my own Instagram.
[00:50:39.120 --> 00:50:41.680] It's rachel.huntington something.
[00:50:41.680 --> 00:50:42.800] I think something like that.
[00:50:43.600 --> 00:50:44.400] It will be in the link.
[00:50:44.400 --> 00:50:45.680] It'll be in link.
[00:50:45.680 --> 00:50:50.720] And I share a little bit more on the business side over there, but would love to chat.
[00:50:50.720 --> 00:50:53.440] So I am heavily in the DMs.
[00:50:53.440 --> 00:50:54.720] I love my DMs.
[00:50:54.720 --> 00:50:56.480] I love connecting with other founders.
[00:50:56.480 --> 00:50:57.760] So please hit me up.
[00:50:57.760 --> 00:50:58.160] Yes.
[00:50:58.160 --> 00:50:59.280] Go follow Rachel.
[00:50:59.280 --> 00:51:01.000] Follow Bonjour Fett.
[00:50:59.920 --> 00:51:02.360] We're linking out to everything.
[00:51:02.680 --> 00:51:09.480] And then, oh, Rachel, should we share with everyone you have a special entrepreneista code for on bonjourfett.com?
[00:51:09.480 --> 00:51:10.200] I do.
[00:51:10.200 --> 00:51:15.080] So we're going to be linking out the code for, the code is entrepreneurista.
[00:51:15.080 --> 00:51:17.720] So you can, it will be in the show notes.
[00:51:17.720 --> 00:51:18.520] It'll be in the show notes.
[00:51:18.520 --> 00:51:19.400] Head to the show notes.
[00:51:19.400 --> 00:51:23.880] And then when you shop on bonjourfett.com, you get a special entrepreneurista surprise discount code.
[00:51:23.880 --> 00:51:25.560] So everyone, head to those show notes right now.
[00:51:25.560 --> 00:51:27.480] Go follow Rachel and Bonjour Fett.
[00:51:27.560 --> 00:51:29.640] Rachel, thank you again for being here.
[00:51:29.640 --> 00:51:30.440] Thank you.
[00:51:30.440 --> 00:51:31.320] I'm Stephanie.
[00:51:31.320 --> 00:51:34.680] And this is the best business meeting I've ever had.
[00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:36.280] Hi, Entrepreneurs.
[00:51:36.280 --> 00:51:37.320] It's Steph here.
[00:51:37.320 --> 00:51:44.440] And I hope today's episode has left you feeling inspired and with some actionable tips that you can apply to your own business.
[00:51:44.440 --> 00:51:51.800] The way we've grown our community and resources is by sharing content like this for years and asking for help along the way.
[00:51:51.800 --> 00:51:57.320] So here's where we need your help so we can continue to make as much impact as possible together.
[00:51:57.320 --> 00:52:07.080] If you can leave us a five-star review and extra credit if you share this episode on Instagram, LinkedIn, or DM it to a founder friend who would benefit from hearing it.
[00:52:07.080 --> 00:52:14.440] Not only would it mean the world to us, but you sharing this episode is going to help someone who just may need to hear what we share today.
[00:52:14.440 --> 00:52:17.400] And you know I love nothing more than giveaways and prizes.
[00:52:17.400 --> 00:52:24.120] So every month I'll be giving away a one-on-one session with me to someone who has shared the episode and left a review.
[00:52:24.120 --> 00:52:27.000] So send me a personal DM over on Instagram.
[00:52:27.000 --> 00:52:29.480] I'm at Steph Jill Carton.
[00:52:29.480 --> 00:52:31.960] Once you've done it, so you can be entered to win.
[00:52:31.960 --> 00:52:37.640] Wishing you a productive week ahead and stay tuned for another impactful episode next week.

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

[00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:05.680] Hey, Entrepreneurs, it's Steph here with a special invite just for you.
[00:00:05.680 --> 00:00:10.800] Do you want to experience what it's like to be part of our Entrepreneursa League community of founders?
[00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:12.400] Now is your chance.
[00:00:12.400 --> 00:00:21.360] You can join me this month at one of our upcoming Entrepreneursa League info sessions where I'm going to share with you all you're going to get access to when you join the community.
[00:00:21.360 --> 00:00:27.040] Plus, I'll be giving away some big bonuses that you will only be able to get access to when you attend live.
[00:00:27.040 --> 00:00:35.600] Head over to refer.entrepanisa.com forward slash info session to join us at one of our virtual info sessions this month.
[00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:40.640] That's refer.entrepranista.com forward slash info session.
[00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:44.560] Or head over to the show notes right now and tap the link to join us.
[00:00:44.560 --> 00:00:49.280] I can't wait to meet you there and learn more about you and your business.
[00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:58.000] There's no way to possibly be an expert in all of these things, but you can be an expert in your product and your customer.
[00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:18.400] So I would just say over and over, just really know who you're selling to, really listen to their feedback of what they want and not just what they're buying online, because on an online purchase, you're just seeing what they're putting in their cart, but in the store, you're hearing what theme they didn't find or what they wanted you to have that you weren't able to supply to them, that kind of thing.
[00:01:25.440 --> 00:01:34.960] Rachel Huntington is the founder and CEO of Banjor Fett, a premium party supply company that's changing how we celebrate life's special moments.
[00:01:34.960 --> 00:01:41.120] What began as a business in her basement has grown into a seven-figure company that recently launched in Target.
[00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:55.280] For entrepreneurs looking to scale their business, you're going to want to listen to all of Rachel's insights today as she shares how she identified a gap in the market while planning her daughter's birthday party and she transformed that frustration into this incredible opportunity.
[00:01:55.280 --> 00:02:08.520] Get ready to hear Rachel's biggest business secrets as she's revealing the strategies for creating memorable customer experiences and expanding from a single location retail concept into a multi-channel brand.
[00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:16.520] This is the Entrepreneursa Podcast presented by Social Fly.
[00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:27.160] It's the best business meeting you'll ever have with must-hear real-life looks at how leading women in business are getting it done and what it takes to build and grow a successful company.
[00:02:27.160 --> 00:02:33.080] It's beyond the Graham with no filters, no limits, and plenty of surprises.
[00:02:38.440 --> 00:02:41.960] Rachel, I am so excited to finally be recording this episode with you.
[00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:49.000] This has been what, three, three years, three plus years in the making since we have talked about doing this episode.
[00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:53.400] And I know so much has happened for you and your life and your business over the years.
[00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:56.200] And you have so much to share with our incredible community.
[00:02:56.200 --> 00:02:59.720] So thank you for sitting down with me this afternoon to be able to share it all.
[00:02:59.720 --> 00:03:01.000] Thank you for having me.
[00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:03.000] And I just, I got so excited.
[00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:06.280] I wanted to just gab away in our little pre-interview chat.
[00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:10.200] So I'm going to save some for the podcast and get to the dating stuff.
[00:03:10.200 --> 00:03:11.640] But I'm so happy to be here.
[00:03:11.640 --> 00:03:12.360] Thank you.
[00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:24.920] Well, I have to share with everyone that we initially connected through our very own strategic advisor, Alyssa Arnold, who also works with you on your team as well.
[00:03:24.920 --> 00:03:28.520] And that's how we initially were introduced.
[00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:38.520] And, you know, I'll share with all of our listeners in our community, and I think I've shared this many times before, that Courtney and I both started angel investing probably five years ago now.
[00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:46.000] And when we met you and saw your business as well, we're like, yes, we have to invest in this business too, because what you are building is so incredible.
[00:03:46.160 --> 00:03:52.640] And we've just been so proud to champion you and support you and be here for you every step of the way.
[00:03:52.640 --> 00:03:58.400] So, I'm just so excited our whole community now gets to learn all about you and the bouncer of that story because it's incredible.
[00:03:58.400 --> 00:03:59.120] Thank you.
[00:03:59.120 --> 00:04:00.320] I love it so much.
[00:04:00.320 --> 00:04:08.400] And I, um, Alyssa is my COO now, and it's been amazing because she has so many touch points with so many businesses.
[00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:17.360] Um, and same for you guys-you hear a little about a lot of things, and there's a lot of value to be had there and to glean from that.
[00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:18.960] So, um, it's great.
[00:04:19.200 --> 00:04:21.440] I'm so excited to have you guys on the ride.
[00:04:21.440 --> 00:04:22.800] Yes, well, shout out to Alyssa.
[00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:24.960] We're going to chat more about Alyssa in a bit.
[00:04:24.960 --> 00:04:26.800] But, Rachel, I would love to know.
[00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:31.840] So, growing up, did you always know that you wanted to start your own business one day?
[00:04:31.840 --> 00:04:33.200] Absolutely not.
[00:04:33.520 --> 00:04:35.840] I was pre-med in college.
[00:04:35.840 --> 00:04:39.280] I, you know, thought I was going to be a doctor.
[00:04:39.280 --> 00:04:43.440] And the very last year I was in college, I said, it's not for me.
[00:04:43.440 --> 00:04:50.160] I switched to nursing and then, as one does, drives out to LA.
[00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:52.720] It has nothing to do with anything.
[00:04:53.360 --> 00:05:07.520] And, you know, being out here in a city that is so intertwined with the entertainment network and parties and events, et cetera, I started working at a talent agency in the TV talent department.
[00:05:07.520 --> 00:05:19.040] So it was really cool getting to work with talent, getting to know contracts and negotiations, even as an assistant in the mailroom and at a desk.
[00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:34.360] It's a really valuable lesson that I don't know that there's as many opportunities for now, but it really just gave me access, even being on a, you know, an earpiece listening to your bosses every call and how they handle things that are thrown at them.
[00:05:35.160 --> 00:05:38.040] I can't speak enough about that experience.
[00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:45.080] After that, I went to Water Brothers and worked in feature development, so on really large movies.
[00:05:45.080 --> 00:05:57.880] And it was really this experience that gave me the ability to pivot on anything and on a dime and you know to really do impossible tasks.
[00:05:58.120 --> 00:06:00.360] All of this was setting me up to be an entrepreneur.
[00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:01.560] I just didn't know it yet.
[00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:04.760] So that is kind of my background.
[00:06:04.760 --> 00:06:06.280] So, what was the next step?
[00:06:06.280 --> 00:06:09.240] What led you to actually start your own business?
[00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:12.120] Okay, well, it was having kids.
[00:06:12.760 --> 00:06:21.960] I had my son, and I was still working at Warner Brothers, and my husband got a job, and we moved to Montreal.
[00:06:21.960 --> 00:06:29.640] I was a new mom coming from this big corporate world, and all of a sudden, I was a stay-at-home mom.
[00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:35.800] I really just knew that I needed more.
[00:06:35.800 --> 00:06:40.760] And I think when you first become a mom and you have little kids, you're going to birthday parties.
[00:06:40.760 --> 00:06:47.320] And I think for me, I was living in this very fashionable city, and I would go to these amazing houses.
[00:06:47.320 --> 00:06:53.880] The women were dressed nice, the homes were so beautiful, everybody was into all this decor.
[00:06:53.880 --> 00:07:00.200] And then the party table was the same image for the cup, the plate, the napkin.
[00:07:00.200 --> 00:07:01.800] I was just uninspired.
[00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:02.600] And I don't know why.
[00:07:02.600 --> 00:07:05.400] It just hit me one day at one of these birthday parties.
[00:07:05.640 --> 00:07:08.360] I just said, you know, there has to be better.
[00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:09.480] How do we do this?
[00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:17.360] And as I started planning my son's party and then my daughter's party later, I realized that you had to get it from a million different places.
[00:07:14.840 --> 00:07:21.840] This person on Etsy, oh, there's this secret place in Australia that has this.
[00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:32.640] It was just a matter of collecting things and realizing that it needed to be easier and just kind of figuring out the solution myself.
[00:07:32.640 --> 00:07:39.280] So as someone that was living in Montreal at the time, Shopify was really growing.
[00:07:39.280 --> 00:07:41.520] It's Canada-based.
[00:07:41.520 --> 00:07:46.720] And so I just opened a Shopify site and started importing goods.
[00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:52.560] And next thing I knew, I was dishing out party bear to all my friends.
[00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:55.680] So what year was this when you first launched the website?
[00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:57.760] 2016.
[00:07:58.400 --> 00:08:00.880] Very basic Shopify.
[00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:03.360] It's gone.
[00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:08.000] It's so much further advanced at this point, but really basic.
[00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:14.000] Taking pictures in my basement, all the very cliche things that you might hear people say.
[00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:16.480] It was my actual experience.
[00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:16.960] Yeah.
[00:08:16.960 --> 00:08:18.000] Well, that's what you have to do.
[00:08:18.000 --> 00:08:20.800] Those are the first steps you take to literally just get started.
[00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:21.600] I talk about this all the time.
[00:08:21.840 --> 00:08:22.560] Put it on a mug.
[00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:24.720] Like you just have to, you just have to start.
[00:08:24.720 --> 00:08:26.000] Anyways, you did the thing.
[00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:28.800] Okay, so start the business in 2016.
[00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:30.640] Did you have a business plan at that time?
[00:08:30.640 --> 00:08:32.080] Like, did you have a vision for what this?
[00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:34.480] No, absolutely not.
[00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:38.160] I just knew that I wanted one place for people to get things.
[00:08:38.160 --> 00:08:48.160] And it felt like not every mom had the luxury of planning a party X amount of weeks in advance.
[00:08:48.160 --> 00:08:50.560] And so, and Etsy kind of made that challenging at the time.
[00:08:50.560 --> 00:08:52.400] There wasn't a lot of ready-made stuff.
[00:08:52.400 --> 00:08:56.480] So, I felt like, okay, well, I'll kind of hoard all these products.
[00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:58.560] And then when somebody needed them, they could get it from me.
[00:08:58.560 --> 00:09:01.000] And it's already ready to go and I could ship it out to them.
[00:08:59.440 --> 00:09:04.520] So it really just started organically, you know, in that way.
[00:09:04.840 --> 00:09:08.360] I didn't have the money or budget to go to any trade shows.
[00:09:08.680 --> 00:09:11.320] Instagram was still, you know, pretty new.
[00:09:11.320 --> 00:09:16.280] So I would follow the trade shows on Instagram and see who they were tagging.
[00:09:16.520 --> 00:09:18.120] Oh, what is that brand?
[00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:19.320] I will find them that way.
[00:09:19.320 --> 00:09:24.760] So I didn't have to go through the expense of the travel, walking the show floors, et cetera.
[00:09:24.760 --> 00:09:27.000] I just stocked them all online.
[00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:27.640] Very smart.
[00:09:27.640 --> 00:09:30.200] We call it the online researching on social media.
[00:09:30.200 --> 00:09:32.120] It's a very good skill to have.
[00:09:32.680 --> 00:09:33.400] Exactly.
[00:09:33.400 --> 00:09:35.560] Okay, so now what happened next?
[00:09:35.560 --> 00:09:42.200] Like, take me to: was there a moment when you were like, okay, this is something like I need to go all in on this business?
[00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:45.800] This can be so much more than only an online site?
[00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:46.520] Yeah.
[00:09:46.520 --> 00:09:55.800] So when we decided to move from Canada back to Los Angeles, I was packing up all these party products.
[00:09:55.800 --> 00:09:58.840] And, you know, I was really just overwhelmed.
[00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:06.600] Like, I had my network there in Montreal, but I didn't have that network of young moms in LA.
[00:10:06.600 --> 00:10:08.360] So I was really at a loss.
[00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:09.240] Like, what am I going to do?
[00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:11.640] Am I going to sell all this for a big discount?
[00:10:11.640 --> 00:10:12.840] Am I going to move it with me?
[00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:18.440] Am I going to put all this stuff in a moving van and drive, you know, from Montreal to LA?
[00:10:18.760 --> 00:10:24.840] So I did the reasonable thing, which was to Google how to open a store.
[00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:28.200] And I opened a retail store in Studio City.
[00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:29.160] It was very small.
[00:10:29.160 --> 00:10:30.440] It was very manageable.
[00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:34.280] I knew nothing about setting up a retail store.
[00:10:34.280 --> 00:10:39.640] I just knew that I was very passionate about products and I liked talking to people.
[00:10:39.640 --> 00:10:42.840] So packed everything up, opened a store.
[00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:44.360] My husband built it out.
[00:10:44.360 --> 00:10:47.760] Very scrappy, very quick.
[00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:48.880] It was tiny.
[00:10:48.880 --> 00:10:50.480] It was like 500 square feet.
[00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:51.440] It was really small.
[00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:53.520] So that's really it.
[00:10:53.520 --> 00:10:54.720] Just doing it.
[00:10:54.720 --> 00:11:05.360] Up next, Rachel shares all her learning lessons from opening and running a brick and mortar store and her best advice for entrepreneurs looking to get into retail.
[00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:12.400] Hi, Entrepreneurs.
[00:11:12.400 --> 00:11:13.440] It's Steph here.
[00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:20.080] As a founder, I know firsthand that building a business can feel so lonely, but it doesn't have to.
[00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:24.720] And that's why we created our Entrepreneursa Founders Weekend Wealth and Wellness Retreat.
[00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:26.880] And I can't wait to meet you in person there.
[00:11:26.880 --> 00:11:41.120] So you're officially invited to join us from April 30th to May 3rd, 2026 at the stunning PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida for three transformative days of connection, collaboration, and real business growth.
[00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:43.200] This isn't just another business conference.
[00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:51.600] It is a curated retreat designed to help you build authentic, lasting relationships with women who truly understand your journey.
[00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:58.400] From business panels and workshops to wellness activations and so much more, this is the room that you need to be in.
[00:11:58.400 --> 00:12:09.920] So if you are ready to invest in yourself and your business and your vision and your next level of success, head over to entrepreneurs.com forward slash foundersweekend to reserve your ticket today.
[00:12:09.920 --> 00:12:18.240] That's entrepreneur.com forward slash foundersweekend or head over to the show notes right now, and tap the invitation to reserve your ticket.
[00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:19.840] I'll see you there.
[00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:41.880] So, knowing what you know now about doing a build-up on a store, getting a lease for a store, just having a brick and mortar store for our entrepreneurs and our community that are thinking about opening a retail store.
[00:12:41.880 --> 00:12:44.920] What advice can you share with them based on all of your experience?
[00:12:44.920 --> 00:12:46.120] Oh my goodness.
[00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:52.360] I would say, like, really pay attention to the details in the actual contract.
[00:12:52.600 --> 00:13:07.160] A lot of them, you know, you sign up and you're so focused on the right now, the what is my rent now, you're not necessarily paying attention to what is my rent, you know, three, you know, three years from now, or can I do an automatic extension?
[00:13:07.160 --> 00:13:07.800] Things like that.
[00:13:07.800 --> 00:13:14.040] That now I'm really conscious about looking at, but really kind of focusing on those details.
[00:13:14.040 --> 00:13:21.000] You only have one shot at signing that lease, and that was not an area I got scrappy.
[00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:26.040] It was pay a lot of money for an attorney that specializes in that.
[00:13:26.040 --> 00:13:32.120] And it's helpful to have somebody kind of local that knows, you know, the market in that way, too.
[00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:33.560] So, yeah.
[00:13:33.880 --> 00:13:35.080] That is such good advice.
[00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:42.440] We recently had the founder of Solid Core Ann on the podcast, and she was, she built out like hundreds of retail locations.
[00:13:42.440 --> 00:13:53.960] And she was talking too about like, make sure you invest in really good legal for these agreements because, and we've learned too, just over the years, like that is not a place where you can really just try to be scrappy.
[00:13:53.960 --> 00:14:09.160] You could be scrappy in a lot of places in business, but on your contracts, go inside the Entrepreneurs League and talk to all of the amazing business attorneys that can help support because when you have trouble, it all goes back to what is actually in the contract.
[00:14:09.160 --> 00:14:11.000] And you can't change the words in a contract.
[00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:13.160] So, you cannot.
[00:14:13.160 --> 00:14:15.440] It's really easy to change a tile.
[00:14:14.680 --> 00:14:21.600] If you are doing so well and you want to spring for that really expensive lighting fixture, you can do that later.
[00:14:21.920 --> 00:14:34.080] It's so easy to get caught up when you decide to go into retail in, you know, the fixtures, the, you know, obviously a good flow is important, but really just you just have one shot at that contract.
[00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:50.480] And, you know, we'll get into it a little bit later in the podcast of what's happened to our Palisade store, but knowing exactly where you stand at all times is, you know, really important to get other opinions and advice.
[00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:50.960] Yeah.
[00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:51.680] Absolutely.
[00:14:51.680 --> 00:14:54.640] So, Rachel, you now have your, you know, online.com.
[00:14:54.640 --> 00:14:55.840] You're selling e-commerce.
[00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:57.920] You also have an in-person retail store.
[00:14:57.920 --> 00:15:02.000] And you said you started with the tiny 500 square foot location.
[00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:07.280] Like, when did you know you really needed to start building out additional stores?
[00:15:07.280 --> 00:15:10.640] Or how were you deciding whether to then go all in on e-commerce?
[00:15:10.640 --> 00:15:12.560] Like, what was your strategy?
[00:15:12.880 --> 00:15:16.960] So, on the retail side, we were literally bursting at our seams.
[00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:22.960] You know, I wanted to offer people a lot of variety in what party themes that they could select from.
[00:15:23.280 --> 00:15:26.800] And inherently, I can't just have one of everything, you know?
[00:15:26.800 --> 00:15:37.760] And so you needed to be able to be able to supply literally, you know, six packs of plates to somebody if they're, you know, having a big get together.
[00:15:37.760 --> 00:15:42.560] So we had to, we just inherently grew out of the space.
[00:15:42.560 --> 00:15:54.480] We also had, we're really at the forefront of the balloon momentum that was seven, eight years ago, building balloon garlands.
[00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:56.320] All these things take space.
[00:15:56.640 --> 00:15:59.680] It was, we were just bursting at the seams.
[00:15:59.680 --> 00:16:06.360] We were working out of a van in the back to blow up helium balloons and then bring them in the store for the customer.
[00:16:06.360 --> 00:16:07.800] It just got wild.
[00:16:08.120 --> 00:16:13.880] We knew that the opportunity was there for us to go into a larger footprint.
[00:16:13.880 --> 00:16:19.720] In LA, that's a very expensive endeavor that's not to be taken lightly.
[00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:26.360] You don't want to go into something too big and then you have to build out into a much larger space, you know, really quickly.
[00:16:26.360 --> 00:16:32.280] So I think, you know, some other cities have the opportunity where they have a lot of space.
[00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:34.440] I grew up in Houston.
[00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:37.800] We have big strip malls with big stores and things like that.
[00:16:37.800 --> 00:16:39.720] It's we don't have that luxury in LA.
[00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:48.280] So being really conscious about using your space wisely and merchandising wisely.
[00:16:48.280 --> 00:16:51.480] Online came as a result of COVID.
[00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:58.040] I was really had my hands full with the in-store part of the business.
[00:16:58.040 --> 00:17:00.200] It was doing very, very well.
[00:17:00.200 --> 00:17:03.720] And I really enjoyed the in-person interaction.
[00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:08.760] Online was not my first go-to for the expansion of the business.
[00:17:08.760 --> 00:17:13.800] If you had talked to me in 2019, I would have said, I want a bonjour fet in every major city.
[00:17:13.960 --> 00:17:15.720] That was the way to go.
[00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:22.120] And when COVID happened, you know, I immediately knew that I had to shift that.
[00:17:22.120 --> 00:17:27.240] And we have a business where there's a million little tiny things.
[00:17:27.240 --> 00:17:31.720] It's a lot of things to put on a website and to categorize and whatnot.
[00:17:31.720 --> 00:17:34.360] So I just threw myself into that.
[00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:39.960] Did you feel like you had to become your own marketing expert in everything in your business?
[00:17:40.280 --> 00:17:41.240] Yes.
[00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:41.560] Yes.
[00:17:41.640 --> 00:17:46.160] It's the wearing the mini hats is, yeah, it's not underrated.
[00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:48.240] It's the real deal.
[00:17:44.600 --> 00:17:50.400] And, you know, it's...
[00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:55.600] There's no way to possibly be an expert in all of these things.
[00:17:55.840 --> 00:17:59.280] But you can be an expert in your product and your customer.
[00:17:59.280 --> 00:18:14.640] So I would just say over and over, just, you know, really know who you're selling to, really listen to their feedback of what they want and not just what they're buying online, because, you know, on an online purchase, you're just seeing what they're putting in their cart.
[00:18:15.040 --> 00:18:25.520] But in the store, you're hearing what theme they didn't find or what they wanted you to have that you weren't able to supply to them, that kind of thing.
[00:18:25.520 --> 00:18:26.160] So.
[00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:42.560] Rachel, we have lots of members in our community that are trying to navigate whether they should raise capital from angels, from venture, or should they take out a credit card or a line of credit and really figuring out how to finance their business.
[00:18:42.560 --> 00:18:49.440] Now, you had initially bootstrapped your business for many years before you decided to actually raise outside capital.
[00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:54.080] What made you decide to go the route of deciding to raise outside capital?
[00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:55.760] What was going on in your business?
[00:18:56.080 --> 00:19:00.480] So in the beginning, I started with Shopify loans.
[00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:04.480] They are easily accessed.
[00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:07.280] They pop up on your Shopify backend.
[00:19:07.520 --> 00:19:15.360] You don't have to go through the exhausted, you know, reporting that you need to with banks.
[00:19:15.360 --> 00:19:16.560] They see your data.
[00:19:16.560 --> 00:19:18.640] You know, they see your sales.
[00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:20.400] They see your growth.
[00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:25.440] And, and you know, they, you know, output offers based on that.
[00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:28.720] So I did, I've actually done 11 of those.
[00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:29.200] Congrats.
[00:19:29.360 --> 00:19:29.880] That's amazing!
[00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:31.480] Amazing!
[00:19:29.760 --> 00:19:32.360] It's funny.
[00:19:32.520 --> 00:19:37.560] I go to that page sometimes on the back of Shopify, and it was usually for inventory.
[00:19:37.560 --> 00:19:39.960] And I would say that that's a good use for that.
[00:19:39.960 --> 00:19:45.160] It was: it's June or July, I need to buy all this stuff for Q4.
[00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:50.440] And this is our slow time because it's summer and people in LA are on vacation.
[00:19:50.440 --> 00:19:57.080] So it was really just reacting to that and saying, okay, I know I can, I know I'm going to make this in Q4.
[00:19:57.080 --> 00:19:59.880] So, you know, let me just take this nugget.
[00:19:59.880 --> 00:20:12.760] When COVID happened and we realized our online is taken off and, you know, there's so much we can do, then it was, I, I, we need outside capital.
[00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:16.040] We didn't really fit the mold for venture.
[00:20:16.040 --> 00:20:20.680] And so I just fully leaned into our customers.
[00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:25.480] And our customers are the ones that became our angel investors.
[00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:30.520] We used that money to build our warehouse so that we could fulfill their orders.
[00:20:30.520 --> 00:20:38.920] And that part was important to me versus the 3PL because at the time I was so missing having in-store experiences with our customers.
[00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:48.360] And I at least thought I need at least our hands to be the ones wrapping up their gifts, making sure that, you know, everything was done perfectly.
[00:20:48.360 --> 00:20:55.720] And it was also nice because you would see, like, oh, look at the way that they, this person is doing a fairy party or a dinosaur party.
[00:20:55.720 --> 00:20:57.080] Oh, they paired this with this.
[00:20:57.080 --> 00:20:58.040] That's interesting.
[00:20:58.040 --> 00:21:00.120] Or, oh my goodness, they didn't get this.
[00:21:00.120 --> 00:21:07.800] You know, it was just nice to have our own people touching those products and curating them and fulfilling them.
[00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:12.360] So that was the first big raise piece.
[00:21:12.360 --> 00:21:16.000] And yeah, I needed the angel help for that.
[00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:24.880] And I was very fortunate enough to get it from people that knew my work ethic and were already fans and customers of the brand.
[00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:28.080] And that was around the time, right, when Alyssa got involved in the business, correct?
[00:21:28.080 --> 00:21:28.640] It is.
[00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:29.280] It is.
[00:21:29.280 --> 00:21:36.960] She came in in that round to help me jumpstart that warehouse that we still use and love today.
[00:21:37.280 --> 00:21:44.880] So I have just learned in business over the years, you know, I am very blessed that I have an incredible business partner and we have completely opposite skill sets.
[00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:47.600] So I have always focused on sales and marketing.
[00:21:47.600 --> 00:21:50.000] Courtney's focused on finance and operations.
[00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.400] And like Courtney's actually good at like everything in the business, but like those have always been her areas of expertise.
[00:21:54.400 --> 00:21:57.120] But like finance, operations, like not my specialty.
[00:21:57.120 --> 00:22:00.960] I'm like, I focus on sales, marketing, our community, connecting.
[00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:03.280] Like that is what I love to do.
[00:22:03.280 --> 00:22:11.200] But it's so helpful to have that like other person who can do a lot of the things that maybe it's not the thing that we're best at.
[00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:20.240] So how have you figured out really how to grow your team and the people that are around you so you can really shine in what you're best at?
[00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:22.240] Oh goodness.
[00:22:22.800 --> 00:22:30.080] So it's, you know, that was a very capital intensive part of our growth as well.
[00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:48.320] Sometimes when you're making moves like that during, you know, times like COVID and when you're growing and need to do a warehouse and fill it with products, you're not left with a lot of budget for all these roles that technically should be all different people.
[00:22:48.960 --> 00:23:02.280] So it's, it hasn't been until the past couple years that we've been able to really dial that in and hone in on exactly like who the people are and what what what people are our team and what people can outsource.
[00:23:02.280 --> 00:23:20.360] I'm a huge fan of platforms like Store Tasker and things like that to get little knickknacks done on the website versus you know having this you know think tank within the business that you know knows everything.
[00:23:20.360 --> 00:23:35.480] I think that sometimes you have to outsource those little questions just to get them done quickly, pay the fee, get back into it, and then concentrate your team on building the brand and continuing with the messaging of the brand.
[00:23:35.480 --> 00:23:43.720] So when you've worked with Alyssa as a strategic advisor and COO, like how has she really helped you and help shape the strategy of the business?
[00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:46.680] We are both obsessed with the business.
[00:23:46.680 --> 00:23:51.800] So it's really helpful to wake up every morning and try to optimize.
[00:23:51.800 --> 00:23:58.120] Like we are optimize, we are just constantly trying to optimize everything.
[00:23:58.120 --> 00:24:14.040] Every single decision, every cash output, every container that we bring in, whether it's the actual space within the container or how are we, you know, the size of the plates inside the box, everything gets a second look.
[00:24:14.040 --> 00:24:16.120] We're really on the same wavelength.
[00:24:16.520 --> 00:24:22.200] I feel very blessed that we see so eye to eye.
[00:24:22.200 --> 00:24:23.640] I think it's rare.
[00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:28.520] I don't really know what to compare it to, but I feel like it's a rare, beautiful thing.
[00:24:28.520 --> 00:24:29.800] Yeah, no, she's amazing.
[00:24:29.800 --> 00:24:37.960] And, you know, I've shared with everyone, and everyone in our community knows like Alyssa's been an advisor for Entrepreneursa for the past, I guess it's been three plus years now.
[00:24:37.960 --> 00:24:39.320] Time just flies.
[00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:47.280] And she just has this strategic brain that, like, when she says stuff, I'm like, oh, I didn't think about it that way.
[00:24:47.600 --> 00:24:59.520] And she's now about to start leading our business strategy group inside the Entrepreneurista League to help even more members in our community because there's so many strategic decisions that we all have to make every single day.
[00:24:59.520 --> 00:25:03.040] I mean, you have something big that's coming up, your big news.
[00:25:03.040 --> 00:25:07.120] I'll let you share the big news before share with everyone.
[00:25:07.120 --> 00:25:08.080] Oh my goodness.
[00:25:08.080 --> 00:25:13.920] Well, we are launching in Target on April 20th, which is very, very exciting.
[00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:22.400] Coming up, you'll learn all about Bonjor Fett's exciting launch in Target and the process of getting into a major retailer.
[00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:31.120] Founders are always asking us, what has been the secret to our success building multiple seven-figure businesses?
[00:25:31.120 --> 00:25:32.560] Do you want to know how?
[00:25:32.560 --> 00:25:34.160] It's our community.
[00:25:34.160 --> 00:25:41.760] We created the Entrepreneurista League for founders like you because the most successful entrepreneurs do not navigate business alone.
[00:25:41.760 --> 00:25:47.600] We navigate the challenges and opportunities with the support of people we know, love, and trust.
[00:25:47.600 --> 00:25:51.440] The relationships you build in business will be the key to your success.
[00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:53.600] Trust me, it's how we've done it.
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[00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:26.080] Our members have access to everything we've used to grow our businesses over the past 10 plus years, from in-person events to virtual events, business education, funding resources, office hours with myself and other top founders in your industry, press opportunities, and access to our community platform where you can instantly get all of your business questions answered.
[00:26:26.080 --> 00:26:32.760] You can join us in the community over at refer.entreprenista.com forward slash join us.
[00:26:29.760 --> 00:26:38.600] That's refer.entrepranista.com forward slash join us to join the community.
[00:26:38.600 --> 00:26:41.960] Or head to the show notes right now and tap the link to join.
[00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:44.360] I cannot wait to meet you.
[00:26:45.000 --> 00:27:00.120] As a small business owner, to have that opportunity to be in such a, you know, big box landscape and to be accessible to so many communities outside of where our retail footprint is.
[00:27:00.760 --> 00:27:02.840] I mean, it's beyond.
[00:27:02.840 --> 00:27:04.200] We're so excited.
[00:27:04.200 --> 00:27:13.000] And I think what I love the most about it is offering a premium design at not premium prices.
[00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:14.440] And it's very accessible.
[00:27:14.440 --> 00:27:17.080] And it's a good intro to our brand.
[00:27:17.480 --> 00:27:20.040] We're launching with a graduation collection.
[00:27:20.040 --> 00:27:30.600] It's not something we make as bonjour fete, so it was nice to be able to make it for Target and to celebrate graduation, whether it's kindergarten or college.
[00:27:30.600 --> 00:27:31.160] It's happening.
[00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:37.000] So Alyssa was telling me, and I'm like, I am ordering all of this, or I'll just go right into Target.
[00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:38.200] We go to Target all the time.
[00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:39.480] So I am going there.
[00:27:39.480 --> 00:27:40.840] I'm getting the graduation line.
[00:27:40.840 --> 00:27:47.960] Molly's graduating from kindergarten and we are having a Target bonjour fet kindergarten party at the Carton household.
[00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:49.800] It is happening and I am so excited.
[00:27:49.800 --> 00:27:50.760] That's what you're launching with.
[00:27:50.760 --> 00:27:53.560] Perfect timing for graduation season.
[00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:58.040] And I don't think everyone needs to have, you know, over top over-the-top parties.
[00:27:58.040 --> 00:28:06.360] Like, I think sometimes these special moments are just breakfast the morning of, or it's, you know, the dinner that Friday night, or whatever it is.
[00:28:06.520 --> 00:28:11.000] Maybe it's just a banner that hangs on your mantle for that month or something like that.
[00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:23.600] But it's, it's, you know, it's really nice for people to feel special and this is giving you a low-cost way to celebrate.
[00:28:23.600 --> 00:28:24.400] I love it.
[00:28:24.400 --> 00:28:25.760] Well, I'm so excited.
[00:28:25.760 --> 00:28:31.840] So let's just talk about behind the scenes of actually getting into a major retailer like Target.
[00:28:31.840 --> 00:28:33.040] How does that happen?
[00:28:33.040 --> 00:28:34.480] What does it actually take?
[00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:37.040] Take me back to your past, what, it's probably been a year.
[00:28:37.040 --> 00:28:38.160] How, this is a long process.
[00:28:38.160 --> 00:28:39.200] This is not an overnight opportunity.
[00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:40.160] Two years.
[00:28:40.560 --> 00:28:41.120] All right, everyone.
[00:28:41.120 --> 00:28:42.080] Do you understand this?
[00:28:42.080 --> 00:28:44.560] Like, this is not an overnight opportunity.
[00:28:44.560 --> 00:28:47.360] Target calls, and you're in their stores the next day.
[00:28:47.360 --> 00:28:48.960] Two years in the making.
[00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:49.680] Two years.
[00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:50.320] What went down?
[00:28:50.320 --> 00:28:51.520] Tell me, Rachel.
[00:28:52.560 --> 00:29:04.240] I really, and this might not resonate for all people because I know that there are agencies that pitch to Target and there's competitions to pitch to some of these retailers as well.
[00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:06.720] I got an incoming email.
[00:29:07.280 --> 00:29:09.680] I didn't believe that it was real.
[00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:15.760] It was, you know, as you can imagine, so super exciting, jumping up and down.
[00:29:15.760 --> 00:29:16.560] Is this real?
[00:29:16.560 --> 00:29:19.120] Then going on LinkedIn, being like, is that person real?
[00:29:19.120 --> 00:29:23.200] Do they actually do this thing that their signature says?
[00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:26.320] And I remember getting on to the first Zoom.
[00:29:26.320 --> 00:29:40.640] I had no idea, you know, necessarily what it was going to be about, but really just, yeah, it was an opportunity that I had dreamed about so many times before.
[00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:49.520] And I think, you know, the process takes a while because it's not just about designing or creating a product.
[00:29:49.520 --> 00:30:04.280] The logistics involved in getting it at, you know, the numbers that Target needs for a lot of stores for in almost a thousand stores extensive.
[00:30:04.600 --> 00:30:14.040] And even to get some of these players that are used to doing it for Target to believe in you and to trust in you, I had the hardest time finding a 3PL.
[00:30:14.040 --> 00:30:28.200] I mean, it for Target because most of the 3PLs that dealt with Target and mass retailers have existing customers or they have brands that are carried year-round.
[00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:35.000] It was really difficult to have the entry point be something that was a limited time for Target.
[00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:42.360] Everything comes in really quickly, and it all has to go out at once to do one set date.
[00:30:42.840 --> 00:30:49.000] So it was, we pitched a lot of different 3PLs and we were told no over and over and over.
[00:30:49.000 --> 00:30:50.440] Oh, this is too small.
[00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:51.400] Oh, how cute.
[00:30:51.400 --> 00:30:52.520] Party supplies.
[00:30:52.520 --> 00:30:53.080] No.
[00:30:53.080 --> 00:30:57.160] Like, it just felt like, and I didn't realize that that was part of the process.
[00:30:57.160 --> 00:30:58.760] I didn't realize that it was going to be hard.
[00:30:58.760 --> 00:31:00.200] I'm like, here's my money to go.
[00:31:00.520 --> 00:31:01.400] I have an order for Target.
[00:31:02.360 --> 00:31:03.080] Yes.
[00:31:03.640 --> 00:31:05.880] And I thought that was going to be a golden ticket.
[00:31:06.280 --> 00:31:08.200] It's very involved.
[00:31:08.200 --> 00:31:11.720] And, you know, you do need a lot of help with that.
[00:31:12.280 --> 00:31:15.320] Alyssa was massively in play there.
[00:31:15.640 --> 00:31:27.800] One of my retail managers at my store in Palisades, who just really knew product and really knew our customers, turned into a project manager for the product.
[00:31:27.800 --> 00:31:30.760] I mean, you really need somebody on it 24/7.
[00:31:30.760 --> 00:31:35.000] And so, yes, it's very, very exciting.
[00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.240] And it's very hard.
[00:31:39.240 --> 00:31:43.640] Like, I don't know how to sugarcoat it because it is very difficult.
[00:31:43.640 --> 00:31:51.280] And, you know, right now we're beginning of April, but my containers landed three weeks ago.
[00:31:51.280 --> 00:32:00.160] If they had landed this week with, you know, tariffs, et cetera, it would have been a much different story to have to deal with.
[00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:08.080] So I think, you know, these decisions, you have to have backup plans and backup plans and backup plans for everything.
[00:32:08.400 --> 00:32:14.080] Assume everything's going to go wrong and yeah, keep persevering.
[00:32:14.080 --> 00:32:14.320] Yeah.
[00:32:14.720 --> 00:32:17.440] I'm just glad I'm in your hands.
[00:32:17.680 --> 00:32:20.480] And Barbara, we're recording this episode today.
[00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:28.080] You're probably going to hear this a few weeks from now when it's actually live, but we're recording this today when there's more changes right now with what's happening with the tariffs right now.
[00:32:28.080 --> 00:32:32.960] So now it's looking like there might be a 90-day window of potential peace right now.
[00:32:32.960 --> 00:32:34.320] And let's see what happens.
[00:32:34.320 --> 00:32:36.080] And there's negotiations happening.
[00:32:36.080 --> 00:32:49.440] But how have you just been handling and dealing with all of these just ups and downs, not just over the past couple of weeks with the tariffs, but you know, you dealt with, you know, the fires in the Palisades just a couple of months ago and COVID.
[00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:54.400] It's like you've just been so resilient, just getting through everything.
[00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:56.960] Like, how have you, how do you keep going?
[00:32:56.960 --> 00:32:58.560] How do you handle all this?
[00:32:59.280 --> 00:33:11.680] Well, I think, you know, to speak to Palisades, as someone that's lived in LA for a while, fires are something that you kind of see in the distance or hear about.
[00:33:12.080 --> 00:33:15.600] You know, just, it's just something you're sadly familiar with.
[00:33:15.600 --> 00:33:23.600] I would have never, ever guessed that this would have completely engulfed our community in the way it did.
[00:33:24.160 --> 00:33:28.560] It was, I just have no words.
[00:33:28.560 --> 00:33:33.480] Like, it just kept going and kept going and it was baffling.
[00:33:33.800 --> 00:33:41.080] And I just, it was the speed of all of it, you know, just the sheer devastation.
[00:33:41.960 --> 00:33:43.720] You know, it's.
[00:33:44.360 --> 00:35:11.120] it's it's not it was not even about the store or the the inventory or anything it was it was my customers and the people that i have shared so many moments with um you know birthdays baby showers you know all these things so it it it's it was a beyond devastating thing to say like how do you process something like that i still am processing it like i'm still some days waking up and being like what like how is this real and i'm sure the people that you know lost their homes like they're not just gonna wake up you know a month later and be like i got this like maybe certain days but not all days because um it's just devastating so you know for me my priority was you know getting my team out safely i had my wonderful store manager was like it's good i'll stay like you know some people there might be some people picking up some balloons later and i was like please get out like she could see it in the in the distance um but i think overall you know as we're you know as more time has gone by it just it really just affirms that celebrations matter even in hard times celebrations matter like it is important to celebrate what you have today right the second you know and and even if it's not everything that you've dreamed of for your business, if you have a business or you're excited about working on your business or whatnot, like celebrate that.
[00:35:11.120 --> 00:35:14.960] Like, you have to just, you know, literally take it one day at a time.
[00:35:14.960 --> 00:35:15.840] No, totally.
[00:35:15.840 --> 00:35:23.840] We have inside our entrepreneur community, we have a celebrate room in our community platform where I'm always sharing with everyone, like, celebrate even the little wins, right?
[00:35:23.840 --> 00:35:25.680] You literally got up and worked on your business today.
[00:35:25.680 --> 00:35:26.800] Like, let's celebrate it.
[00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:37.920] Like, we have to celebrate the little wins, the big wins, the beautiful moments, the hard moments, because building a business is really, really, really, really, really hard.
[00:35:37.920 --> 00:35:43.120] Like, it's just a roller coaster, and it's like so fun to celebrate all these incredible moments.
[00:35:43.120 --> 00:35:45.440] But we've got to get through all the hard times too.
[00:35:45.440 --> 00:35:49.520] And it's better when we can actually do that together and be there for each other.
[00:35:49.520 --> 00:35:50.960] So, agreed.
[00:35:50.960 --> 00:35:51.760] Agreed.
[00:35:51.760 --> 00:36:08.960] So, during that time when everything happened with the fires, we were sharing, you know, on entrepreneurista.com, we were sharing lots of resources and ways that we could continue to help and support founders that were just experiencing devastating loss from their homes and their stores and their businesses.
[00:36:08.960 --> 00:36:15.920] And so many incredible entrepreneurs also started sharing that they were doing grant programs and other opportunities.
[00:36:15.920 --> 00:36:24.000] And I know you were able to actually win one of those grant opportunities from one of our entrepreneurs to idols, Sarah Blakely.
[00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:24.960] How did that mean?
[00:36:25.520 --> 00:36:27.200] My idol, too.
[00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:31.120] I, you know, this one was not the traditional grant.
[00:36:31.120 --> 00:36:40.080] So I have to say that, I mean, we'll talk about Sarah in a second because she's her own category.
[00:36:40.080 --> 00:36:58.480] But this one was really meaningful to me because this was her putting out a call, you know, on her socials and other people that are in, you know, that follow her were able to nominate businesses that they thought should be recognized.
[00:36:58.480 --> 00:37:15.720] So the fact that I was put into her orbit through you know our customers our friends I was tagging you I was tagging you on Instagram yeah it was you it was you it's all you yeah so I mean that just made it so much more meaningful.
[00:37:15.720 --> 00:37:32.200] I think, you know, in general, when you're applying for a grant, I think that, you know, it's, it's, you really got to focus on the, the, you know, being confident in your story and your storytelling.
[00:37:32.200 --> 00:37:34.360] I think that's really, really important.
[00:37:34.360 --> 00:37:46.200] You know, it's, it's, you know, why are people, why, not just why do you deserve the money, because a lot of businesses deserve the money and a lot of women deserve the money, but you don't have to be perfect.
[00:37:46.200 --> 00:37:54.600] Just be clear about what you're going to do with it and what story you're trying to tell and, you know, what, what you're growing.
[00:37:54.600 --> 00:37:57.080] So, I mean, Sarah.
[00:37:57.080 --> 00:38:02.760] Sarah is so amazing because I, you know, I've been watching her for so many years.
[00:38:02.760 --> 00:38:07.720] And I think for me, it's, I mean, I've watched her masterclass a couple of times.
[00:38:07.720 --> 00:38:12.440] I really like her masterclass because it's a like roll up your sleeves kind of class.
[00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:15.400] It's not like this high-level advice.
[00:38:15.400 --> 00:38:16.600] It's real.
[00:38:16.600 --> 00:38:19.480] It's inspiring, that kind of thing.
[00:38:19.480 --> 00:38:28.360] And I think she, you know, she gives you some great tips, like allowing yourself to let your mind wander.
[00:38:28.360 --> 00:38:32.120] That's something I, you know, really try to do all the time.
[00:38:32.120 --> 00:38:35.560] And it might just be in my car ride to pick up the kids.
[00:38:35.560 --> 00:38:36.840] It might be in the shower.
[00:38:36.840 --> 00:38:40.520] It might be doing dishes and just putting headphones on and letting your mind wander.
[00:38:40.520 --> 00:38:41.560] I think that's really important.
[00:38:41.560 --> 00:38:43.080] She talks about that.
[00:38:43.080 --> 00:38:46.000] Keeping a little notebook and writing down your ideas.
[00:38:46.000 --> 00:38:49.440] You have no idea when those ideas become something big.
[00:38:49.440 --> 00:38:56.080] They might seem really small when you write them down, but later, if you refer back to them, you're like, oh, I was on to something there.
[00:38:56.080 --> 00:38:57.840] Let me explore that.
[00:38:57.840 --> 00:39:04.160] By the way, so I, several years ago, someone had posted about this on either Twitter or LinkedIn.
[00:39:04.160 --> 00:39:09.200] There's something called Aqua Notes or the shower notes where I always have best ideas.
[00:39:09.200 --> 00:39:10.720] Yes, I'm going to change your life right now.
[00:39:10.720 --> 00:39:16.000] I have all of my best ideas in the shower and I can't remember a thing the second I step out of the shower.
[00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:25.600] And Aqua Notes, it's like basically this waterproof pencil paper that you stick it on and you write all your ideas down if you have them in the shower because it's hard to remember.
[00:39:25.600 --> 00:39:27.200] So write down the ideas.
[00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:28.400] Love it.
[00:39:28.400 --> 00:39:42.160] My friend Jordan, when he was a writer and or he is a writer, and he would keep yellow like sticky notes in his car because he was always having his ideas in the car and he would write them and they would be like stuck to the window or the side of the door.
[00:39:42.160 --> 00:39:44.640] And I'm like, no one knows those to blow away when the window opens.
[00:39:44.800 --> 00:39:47.120] I was like, you dropped some ideas here.
[00:39:47.680 --> 00:39:55.600] But yeah, I think, you know, just her, you know, just being able to let your mind wander, I think is really important, writing down the ideas.
[00:39:55.600 --> 00:40:02.000] I mean, the fact that Sphinx didn't advertise for like 16 years, that like is really profound.
[00:40:02.000 --> 00:40:11.440] Like it, it just tells you that storytelling and, you know, your product and word of mouth, like those things really matter.
[00:40:11.760 --> 00:40:29.520] And to be able to build your community so that you don't have to necessarily pay for it, for those eyeballs is a really brilliant thing if you can harness that energy and, you know, and figure out that communication with your customer.
[00:40:29.520 --> 00:40:33.880] So I think that's really you know just an amazing thing she was able to accomplish.
[00:40:29.840 --> 00:40:36.840] And the fact that she is still innovating.
[00:40:37.400 --> 00:40:47.320] I just for the Target launch, I just wore sneaks for my whole day of shooting because I knew I was going to be on my feet in the parking lot and you know up and down the aisles, etc.
[00:40:47.640 --> 00:40:49.240] And it was the best day.
[00:40:49.240 --> 00:40:51.640] And I swear it was because the sneaks.
[00:40:51.640 --> 00:40:53.160] How comfortable were they?
[00:40:53.160 --> 00:40:55.320] They were so comfortable.
[00:40:55.320 --> 00:40:56.520] I loved them.
[00:40:56.520 --> 00:40:57.880] So they were amazing.
[00:40:57.880 --> 00:41:00.520] So I cannot wait to see all those photos.
[00:41:00.520 --> 00:41:01.160] You have to share them.
[00:41:01.480 --> 00:41:05.720] We'll be sharing them everywhere when this episode goes live too.
[00:41:05.720 --> 00:41:10.040] What did it feel like when you found out that she was awarding you that grant?
[00:41:10.760 --> 00:41:16.200] I mean, I don't know why my first reaction is always to not believe it.
[00:41:16.200 --> 00:41:20.680] I think it's because I've had too many friends over the years that was like, my Instagram was hacked.
[00:41:20.680 --> 00:41:22.760] And like, oh, this giveaway, whatever.
[00:41:22.760 --> 00:41:23.880] I was like, is this the real?
[00:41:24.040 --> 00:41:25.320] Does she have the check mark?
[00:41:25.320 --> 00:41:26.360] Is she following that person?
[00:41:26.360 --> 00:41:28.280] Does that follow that person follow her back?
[00:41:28.280 --> 00:41:31.320] Like, it took me a second to like, did she DM you?
[00:41:31.320 --> 00:41:32.040] Is that how you found out?
[00:41:32.040 --> 00:41:32.440] She did?
[00:41:32.760 --> 00:41:33.560] Yes.
[00:41:33.560 --> 00:41:34.360] Yes.
[00:41:34.680 --> 00:41:40.760] So, yeah, I did get a follow-up email from her organization.
[00:41:40.760 --> 00:41:44.200] But yeah, it was that.
[00:41:44.200 --> 00:41:45.640] And she started following me.
[00:41:45.640 --> 00:41:47.880] So it was when that happened, I was like, it's real.
[00:41:47.960 --> 00:41:48.440] It's real.
[00:41:48.440 --> 00:41:49.160] It's really happening.
[00:41:49.400 --> 00:41:49.720] Sarah.
[00:41:50.040 --> 00:41:50.440] Oh, my God.
[00:41:50.600 --> 00:41:51.160] I love it.
[00:41:51.320 --> 00:41:52.200] Yeah, she's amazing.
[00:41:52.200 --> 00:41:58.040] And it's just the power when everyone just connects and wants to collaborate and help each other and give back.
[00:41:58.040 --> 00:41:59.320] Like, I share this all the time.
[00:41:59.320 --> 00:42:12.200] Like, there's enough opportunity in business for everyone, but it's about us coming together as a community and just making it a little bit easier for the next person that's coming up because it's hard.
[00:42:12.200 --> 00:42:13.720] We talk about this on the podcast all the time.
[00:42:13.720 --> 00:42:18.480] It's why we have this show so we can all learn from each other because we can't sugarcoat it.
[00:42:14.920 --> 00:42:19.280] Like, this is really hard.
[00:42:19.360 --> 00:42:24.400] It's really fun and rewarding, and you meet all your best friends in life and business, but it's not easy.
[00:42:24.400 --> 00:42:25.920] So, we're here to help.
[00:42:25.920 --> 00:42:36.400] Yeah, those shared learnings are so important, whether you're sharing them with your friends, you know, at drinks or in the school pickup line, whatever.
[00:42:36.400 --> 00:42:47.040] If you, you know, it doesn't have to necessarily be like an aligned business, but I find that you can glean nuggets from, you know, anywhere, anytime.
[00:42:47.040 --> 00:42:48.320] So, listen.
[00:42:48.320 --> 00:42:50.000] Yeah, no, absolutely.
[00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:55.280] Okay, so before we even started recording this podcast, we were talking about some of our favorite business tools and solutions.
[00:42:55.280 --> 00:43:04.400] And I'm like, I'm obsessed with talking about all the latest tools, technology, all the things that are making our businesses run smoother, more efficiently, all the marketing tools.
[00:43:04.400 --> 00:43:10.800] I actually just started using, I haven't even talked about this on the podcast because I've only been using this for two days, but this could be something that could help you.
[00:43:10.800 --> 00:43:17.280] I just started using a tool called Fixer AI, and it helps manage your email inbox.
[00:43:17.280 --> 00:43:18.960] Have you seen these ads for this company?
[00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:20.480] It helps manage your email inbox.
[00:43:20.480 --> 00:43:21.920] It's gonna, it drafts all your emails.
[00:43:21.920 --> 00:43:23.840] I'm using it so far, so good.
[00:43:24.160 --> 00:43:26.240] And they record, they do all your meeting notes.
[00:43:26.240 --> 00:43:27.120] Everything is organized.
[00:43:27.120 --> 00:43:28.880] They can go into your calendar and set up meetings.
[00:43:28.880 --> 00:43:31.200] I'm like, this is what I've needed forever.
[00:43:31.200 --> 00:43:34.080] So I'm sharing this with everyone here, but Rachel, I want to hear from you.
[00:43:34.080 --> 00:43:35.600] Like, tell me all the tools you're using.
[00:43:35.600 --> 00:43:36.960] What are all your favorite ones?
[00:43:36.960 --> 00:43:38.400] What do we need?
[00:43:38.720 --> 00:43:40.720] First of all, I love that for you.
[00:43:40.720 --> 00:43:54.560] I'm a little nervous on the AI part because I had a big snafu last year, where it was one of the first days that I had downloaded like an update to my Gmail using an AI tool.
[00:43:54.560 --> 00:43:58.720] And I had a very important email to send out.
[00:43:59.400 --> 00:44:10.200] You know, it was actually me introducing Target to one of my investors who is an unnamed celebrity.
[00:44:10.200 --> 00:44:17.320] But I will just say that it was a big, important email, and I wanted to make sure that it sounded refined.
[00:44:17.320 --> 00:44:20.600] So it then spit out, here's a refined version.
[00:44:20.600 --> 00:44:27.080] And that's the version I sent where it said, Here is the refined version of your email.
[00:44:27.720 --> 00:44:31.480] And I thought it would just delete that part.
[00:44:31.480 --> 00:44:33.640] So how did you pull that one off?
[00:44:33.640 --> 00:44:34.440] Did you reply after?
[00:44:34.680 --> 00:44:35.640] Like, oh, sorry, that was fine.
[00:44:36.200 --> 00:44:42.040] I immediately replied after and said, so sorry about the update on my phone.
[00:44:42.040 --> 00:44:42.920] Ha ha.
[00:44:43.640 --> 00:44:46.360] But yeah, no, you're still launching a Target.
[00:44:46.360 --> 00:44:47.720] I'm still launching a Target.
[00:44:47.720 --> 00:44:48.680] It's fine.
[00:44:49.000 --> 00:44:53.000] And so hopefully that person will be too.
[00:44:53.000 --> 00:45:01.000] So anyway, what I am obsessed with, I haven't really dove into Fixer, but I'm going to look into it.
[00:45:01.000 --> 00:45:02.680] I am an Airtable.
[00:45:03.000 --> 00:45:06.520] I just propone it all day long.
[00:45:06.520 --> 00:45:09.160] I truly don't know what I would do without it.
[00:45:09.160 --> 00:45:15.080] It's our go-to solution for product development, marketing planning.
[00:45:15.080 --> 00:45:18.600] I love how customizable it is, how visual it is.
[00:45:19.080 --> 00:45:22.760] I truly don't know what I would do without it.
[00:45:23.160 --> 00:45:27.400] And then beyond Airtable, I would say I still use Canva.
[00:45:27.400 --> 00:45:30.520] Like I use Canva for our designs.
[00:45:30.840 --> 00:45:42.200] Our designs, our designers are using Adobe, but sometimes when I need to just show them something, I'll take, you know, I'll take something and remove the background and try to like scribble or draw on it.
[00:45:42.200 --> 00:45:44.520] And Canva makes that really easy.
[00:45:44.680 --> 00:45:47.840] I think they probably laugh at me a little bit when I send it back to them.
[00:45:47.840 --> 00:45:49.760] I'm like, see, I mean, like this.
[00:45:50.800 --> 00:45:51.440] Canva's amazing.
[00:45:51.600 --> 00:45:52.800] Canva is the best.
[00:45:52.800 --> 00:45:54.400] There's so many things that you can do in there.
[00:45:54.400 --> 00:45:57.120] And now they have all those AI features and tools too.
[00:45:57.120 --> 00:45:57.920] It's so good.
[00:45:57.920 --> 00:45:58.320] Yeah.
[00:45:58.320 --> 00:45:58.880] Yeah.
[00:45:58.880 --> 00:45:59.520] Yeah.
[00:45:59.520 --> 00:46:05.120] And then we were just talking about ShopMy, how you guys have been able to get onto that platform too.
[00:46:05.120 --> 00:46:12.960] Another one of our members in the community who's the founder of Hanny, she was the one that was talking to me first about ShopMy.
[00:46:12.960 --> 00:46:15.200] And like, I was like, oh my God, I'm so late to this game.
[00:46:15.200 --> 00:46:20.240] I feel like I used to be in it with running Social Fly and knowing all of the tools there.
[00:46:20.240 --> 00:46:22.720] But yeah, everyone's talking about ShopMy right now.
[00:46:22.720 --> 00:46:23.840] So I know you just got on there.
[00:46:23.840 --> 00:46:27.280] I don't know how much you want to share about how you've onboarded.
[00:46:27.840 --> 00:46:34.080] Yeah, I can share what I know, which, you know, I've only been on for about three weeks now.
[00:46:34.080 --> 00:46:45.040] The, you know, we got onto ShopMy because when the Palisades fire happened, we organically had influencers coming into our store and sharing content.
[00:46:45.040 --> 00:46:50.320] And then all of a sudden, those real in-life influencers were not available.
[00:46:50.320 --> 00:46:52.480] We didn't have a store where they were shooting all that.
[00:46:52.480 --> 00:47:01.680] And so I wanted to research and find a platform where some of those customers were, you know, were already set up so that I could gift them, et cetera.
[00:47:01.680 --> 00:47:04.160] Shop My makes that really, really easy.
[00:47:04.400 --> 00:47:07.280] And I'm really excited to explore it a little further.
[00:47:07.280 --> 00:47:17.680] It's, it's really, it's heavily right now on beauty and fashion, but I'm really excited because we're one of the first, I think the first party brand on the site.
[00:47:17.680 --> 00:47:24.000] And I think it'll give a lot of influencers access to, you know, our products and adding them to the shelf.
[00:47:24.000 --> 00:47:30.280] And from what we've seen so far, when they add them to their shelf, they are selling really well.
[00:47:30.280 --> 00:47:33.240] So I think it's mutually beneficial for all.
[00:47:33.480 --> 00:47:34.520] I love it.
[00:47:34.520 --> 00:47:35.560] Amazing.
[00:47:29.840 --> 00:47:35.880] All right.
[00:47:35.960 --> 00:47:39.880] So I have to ask you, Rachel, what is your biggest business secret?
[00:47:40.200 --> 00:47:41.320] Oh, goodness.
[00:47:42.120 --> 00:47:51.480] I think my biggest business secret is that I guess I don't believe in pretending to have it all figured out.
[00:47:51.480 --> 00:47:54.280] Is that a secret or is that a non-secret?
[00:47:54.280 --> 00:47:55.000] It's yours.
[00:47:55.800 --> 00:48:06.680] I think that, you know, in the early days of being a founder, I think you just like you want to have all the answers.
[00:48:06.680 --> 00:48:22.600] And but over time, like, I think that you realize that the most important thing you can do as a leader is admit that you don't know something and, you know, looking for the answers and staying curious.
[00:48:22.600 --> 00:48:23.240] Absolutely.
[00:48:23.240 --> 00:48:24.360] I always share this all the time.
[00:48:24.360 --> 00:48:27.560] When I, you know, I was on a call earlier today, and someone's like, I have a silly question.
[00:48:27.560 --> 00:48:29.880] I'm like, no, no, no, there's no such thing as a silly question.
[00:48:30.040 --> 00:48:30.760] We're stupid.
[00:48:30.920 --> 00:48:33.080] Like, all questions are so important.
[00:48:33.080 --> 00:48:36.360] That's how we're all able to learn together and grow together.
[00:48:36.360 --> 00:48:38.520] And the question that you have, someone else probably has it too.
[00:48:38.520 --> 00:48:40.680] So it's like, just ask the question so we can all learn.
[00:48:40.680 --> 00:48:44.520] And that's how we can then pass on and share all of that knowledge.
[00:48:44.520 --> 00:48:46.760] So I'm so glad that you shared that, Rachel.
[00:48:46.760 --> 00:48:49.480] What does being an entrepreneur mean to you?
[00:48:49.480 --> 00:48:50.600] Oh, goodness.
[00:48:50.920 --> 00:48:55.640] I think, you know, being an entrepreneur is about connection and inspiration.
[00:48:55.640 --> 00:49:00.520] I think that feeling truly seen as a founder.
[00:49:01.000 --> 00:49:05.080] You know, it's nice, like, you know, when we get on a call, I see you, you see me.
[00:49:05.080 --> 00:49:07.480] And we know that it's not always easy.
[00:49:07.480 --> 00:49:11.240] And we know to celebrate the good things when they come.
[00:49:11.240 --> 00:49:21.680] And having a community of like-minded women who are navigating the same challenges and chasing big dreams and all that stuff, it's really grounding and energizing.
[00:49:21.680 --> 00:49:24.400] So I think that's what it means to me.
[00:49:24.400 --> 00:49:28.480] Well, Rachel, thank you so much for sharing your journey and story.
[00:49:28.480 --> 00:49:30.400] We are so, so excited for you.
[00:49:30.400 --> 00:49:35.360] We are going to be celebrating you, Bonjour Fett, and all of our celebrations with Bonjour Fett and heading to.
[00:49:35.600 --> 00:49:39.200] I could just celebrate so many people at their own tables.
[00:49:39.200 --> 00:49:41.840] I think that is the most meaningful thing to me.
[00:49:41.840 --> 00:49:56.240] It's, it's, I think, you know, when somebody is buying our product, it's not just that they're, you know, wearing a t-shirt that they, you know, might get noticed once or or whatnot, but they're literally gathering around with their family and celebrating someone special.
[00:49:56.240 --> 00:49:56.880] I love that.
[00:49:56.880 --> 00:50:00.800] I love that we're able to do that in across the country.
[00:50:00.800 --> 00:50:03.040] I'm so excited.
[00:50:03.040 --> 00:50:04.000] So excited for you.
[00:50:04.000 --> 00:50:08.160] Where can everyone find you, follow you, buy your products online in Target?
[00:50:08.160 --> 00:50:10.560] Like share all the links, handles, all the things.
[00:50:10.560 --> 00:50:13.200] We're linking out to everything in the show notes that Rachel shares right now.
[00:50:13.200 --> 00:50:17.200] So go ahead to the show notes right now, tap all the links that Rachel's sharing with you.
[00:50:17.200 --> 00:50:21.200] And we'll also share all of the links to all of these awesome business tools that we just shared.
[00:50:21.200 --> 00:50:22.400] So link away, Rachel.
[00:50:22.400 --> 00:50:23.440] Tell me all the places.
[00:50:23.440 --> 00:50:27.440] Okay, so bonjourfette.com for our e-comm.
[00:50:27.600 --> 00:50:32.320] Our graduation collection is in Target by the time this airs.
[00:50:32.320 --> 00:50:36.880] So go shop in store and on target.com, which is exciting.
[00:50:36.880 --> 00:50:39.120] And I started my own Instagram.
[00:50:39.120 --> 00:50:41.680] It's rachel.huntington something.
[00:50:41.680 --> 00:50:42.800] I think something like that.
[00:50:43.600 --> 00:50:44.400] It will be in the link.
[00:50:44.400 --> 00:50:45.680] It'll be in link.
[00:50:45.680 --> 00:50:50.720] And I share a little bit more on the business side over there, but would love to chat.
[00:50:50.720 --> 00:50:53.440] So I am heavily in the DMs.
[00:50:53.440 --> 00:50:54.720] I love my DMs.
[00:50:54.720 --> 00:50:56.480] I love connecting with other founders.
[00:50:56.480 --> 00:50:57.760] So please hit me up.
[00:50:57.760 --> 00:50:58.160] Yes.
[00:50:58.160 --> 00:50:59.280] Go follow Rachel.
[00:50:59.280 --> 00:51:01.000] Follow Bonjour Fett.
[00:50:59.920 --> 00:51:02.360] We're linking out to everything.
[00:51:02.680 --> 00:51:09.480] And then, oh, Rachel, should we share with everyone you have a special entrepreneista code for on bonjourfett.com?
[00:51:09.480 --> 00:51:10.200] I do.
[00:51:10.200 --> 00:51:15.080] So we're going to be linking out the code for, the code is entrepreneurista.
[00:51:15.080 --> 00:51:17.720] So you can, it will be in the show notes.
[00:51:17.720 --> 00:51:18.520] It'll be in the show notes.
[00:51:18.520 --> 00:51:19.400] Head to the show notes.
[00:51:19.400 --> 00:51:23.880] And then when you shop on bonjourfett.com, you get a special entrepreneurista surprise discount code.
[00:51:23.880 --> 00:51:25.560] So everyone, head to those show notes right now.
[00:51:25.560 --> 00:51:27.480] Go follow Rachel and Bonjour Fett.
[00:51:27.560 --> 00:51:29.640] Rachel, thank you again for being here.
[00:51:29.640 --> 00:51:30.440] Thank you.
[00:51:30.440 --> 00:51:31.320] I'm Stephanie.
[00:51:31.320 --> 00:51:34.680] And this is the best business meeting I've ever had.
[00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:36.280] Hi, Entrepreneurs.
[00:51:36.280 --> 00:51:37.320] It's Steph here.
[00:51:37.320 --> 00:51:44.440] And I hope today's episode has left you feeling inspired and with some actionable tips that you can apply to your own business.
[00:51:44.440 --> 00:51:51.800] The way we've grown our community and resources is by sharing content like this for years and asking for help along the way.
[00:51:51.800 --> 00:51:57.320] So here's where we need your help so we can continue to make as much impact as possible together.
[00:51:57.320 --> 00:52:07.080] If you can leave us a five-star review and extra credit if you share this episode on Instagram, LinkedIn, or DM it to a founder friend who would benefit from hearing it.
[00:52:07.080 --> 00:52:14.440] Not only would it mean the world to us, but you sharing this episode is going to help someone who just may need to hear what we share today.
[00:52:14.440 --> 00:52:17.400] And you know I love nothing more than giveaways and prizes.
[00:52:17.400 --> 00:52:24.120] So every month I'll be giving away a one-on-one session with me to someone who has shared the episode and left a review.
[00:52:24.120 --> 00:52:27.000] So send me a personal DM over on Instagram.
[00:52:27.000 --> 00:52:29.480] I'm at Steph Jill Carton.
[00:52:29.480 --> 00:52:31.960] Once you've done it, so you can be entered to win.
[00:52:31.960 --> 00:52:37.640] Wishing you a productive week ahead and stay tuned for another impactful episode next week.