Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / When Sammy Leo sold 1000 units of her product in 3 minutes, she knew she had a major opportunity in front of her

Transcript

When Sammy Leo sold 1000 units of her product in 3 minutes, she knew she had a major opportunity in front of her · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  This is Episode 5 with Sammy Leo.
• 0:13
  Welcome back to another episode of Female Startup Club. Today I'm chatting to Sammy Leo, the founder of Breeze Balm. This is a story of a family recipe that goes all the way back to her grandfather and boy oh boy is it a goodie. Sammy shares her story with us and what she was doing before Breeze Balm. She talks about her influence on social media and the following she's built on YouTube and Instagram.
• 0:36
  and the day she launched Breeze Balm selling 1,000 units in just three minutes. I know, that's crazy. There's a bunch of tips and tactics throughout the episode, so make sure you have a pen and paper handy. I loved this episode so much and I'm sure you will too. I want to go back to the very beginning. So before you started Breeze Balm, where you grew up, what you were doing, what your spirit was like, I guess, who you were as a kid, that kind of thing.
• 1:03
  Yeah, so when I was seven, I started dancing. So I started ballet and jazz. And that kind of sparked a whole lot of creativity within me. And I just absolutely loved it. I would dance around the house. I would dance from, like, the bedroom to get something from the kitchen. I was always dancing. And everyone knew me as Sammy the Dancer. And so as I, like, went throughout the years and I did all my exams...
• 1:32
  I really, really, really thought I want to be a backup dancer. And so I started watching like all these, you know, the DVDs that you could buy for stage shows. I would have like every single. All of it. All of it. Justin Timberlake, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, like all of the top Spice Girls. Oh my God, that's so cool. That's such a cool dream to have as well. Like I feel like I wouldn't have thought of having that as a dream. I would see them on TV and be like, that's so freaking cool.
• 2:01
  Yeah, but I wouldn't actually think that could be me. Yeah, you know, no. So cool to have that vision as a kid. Yeah, I definitely feel it from the very get go of deciding what I want to do. I can be I'm really headstrong and nothing will get in my way. Why do you think you're like that? Are your parents like that?
• 2:21
  My parents are very driven. My family... So my dad is a pharmacist, and he owns a farm... Mom and dad owned a pharmacy in New Zealand. But my mom is also... When she was younger, she was into a lot of fitness, and she would love going to the gym, and that would make her feel good. She also danced. Right. And also, she's...
• 2:43
  a lawyer so she's super intelligent as well so I feel like to do those types of degrees you have to be really driven so maybe I got it from them I don't know maybe I don't know where it came from but also my grandma is a singer or my great grandma so that kind of creativity is already in the family yeah um performing family yeah totally and I'm really animated and I just I don't know I just loved it really filled my soul
• 3:10
  So I kind of grew up like that was what I wanted to do and no one was gonna stop me. And I remember watching this one DVD, it was an All For You Janet Jackson tour. And it's so crazy because I think I was like 12 or something when it first came out and there was a guy dancer on there and I think,
• 3:31
  I spoke to you about this. Mm. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we spoke about this the other day. Yeah. So he was amazing and he really caught my eye. And I was like, oh my god, I want to be like him. And I became really obsessed with him because he was so good. And then I started to follow what he did and read articles. And he'd be with Justin Timberlake. And he'd be with all these top, top A-list singers. Yeah.
• 3:58
  He was there. He was there, like in the bubble. He was hanging out with them. And then Instagram, like I went to a performing arts school in Sydney, moved to Australia when I was 18. And I actually wanted to move when I was 16, but my parents wouldn't let me. They were like, you have to finish school first. Not yet. Not yet. I was like, but I'm kind of glad that they did because I don't think mentally I would have been able to handle it.
• 4:24
  So when I moved, I'd never been to Australia before. I didn't know anybody. Oh, my gosh. I was moving into a house with people that I didn't know. Like, I'd never lived out of home. Wow. I had...
• 4:36
  no clue of what I was getting myself into. That's crazy. But the thing was good, it was good because I didn't, I was so naive. Mm. Whereas... You could dive in. Yeah. Like, I was like, I'll be fine. Like, what's the big deal? I'm moving to Australia. Whatever. Yeah. You can always move home. Yeah. And I was kind of in that, like, I'm 10 foot tall and bulletproof type of, like, cocky vibe. Yeah. As you do as a teenager. Like, I was 17, 18.
• 5:02
  And then I definitely couldn't have done it. It would be a lot harder to do it right now than back then. So I'm glad I did it when I did. And I did a year of performing arts with one of the top schools in Australia called Brent Street. And in that time, I ended up doing a workshop with the guy. The guy. So the guy's name is Eddie Morales. Okay. And he is absolutely amazing. If you Google him, he's like all over everything. Yeah. And I did a workshop with him and I was like,
• 5:32
  oh my god this guy's so cool and it's so ironic because eventually down the track we ended up instagram came along and i started following him and then i sent him a photo and i was like oh my god this is like the last workshop that we had done together he was like i remember you
• 5:51
  And we just kind of chatted and we became friends. And then when he came to Australia for the Mariah Carey tour, I met him. Yeah, I met up with him then and we just became friends. And it's so crazy because I never would have thought at 12 that this guy that I was looking at, I would be so close to like connecting with. Yeah. And that connection has kind of...
• 6:15
  made me realize that the world is not as big as you think it is. And especially with social media, it's so much easier to make connections. How good is social media? It's amazing. It's ridiculous. And I feel like people always say, you know, these people are, like, untouchable. You can't get in touch with these people. So many times I've just sent people a message who are massive. They reply. Yeah. Which is no big deal. Yeah. And I'm like, yeah, if you just...
• 6:43
  respectful and yourself and all that kind of thing. And it's not some weird, creepy message. People are like, yeah, Hey, happy to chat. Yeah. Whatever. It's, it's kind of luck of the draw too. You know, if you message them at the right time and if they are massive and they open their phone and you're there. Yeah. You know, like it's really social media is amazing. Definitely for me, because I feel like it's given me so many opportunities. I do think it's a double edged sword, but I think that because I,
• 7:13
  I think people don't understand recognizing their emotions and insecurities and understanding kind of the concept of social media if you see it for what it is rather than getting so
• 7:33
  into it and sucked in yeah and letting it and letting it versus you being like this is a tool i have at my fingertips yeah like this i mean everything is perspective even in life i feel like you could give two people an opportunity and one person could absolutely hate it and the other person would thrive yeah so yeah it's i feel like that's the same my opinion with social media yeah and i think it's absolutely amazing
• 7:56
  Yeah, I'm with you. I think it's so good. And it's especially for if you have like an e-commerce product or a business that thrives in the social media landscape, it's like, holy gosh, it opens all of these crazy doors. Yeah. And I also just find it so – I just love –
• 8:13
  finding you know for kinks my jewelry brand i find like i just love getting deep in a hole of like new pockets of people i've never seen before who are like amazing so on brand quirky out there and i'm like fuck this is so cool you girls are so cool yeah and i've never known about this corner of the internet before and like these whereas i think some people can get overwhelmed by that yeah
• 8:37
  totally but i love it i think it's so great yeah and i i love when i'm like scrolling through and i feel like sometimes i can see the same people over and over yeah and then when you do find like a new hole yeah and of all these people and then they're huge and i'm like wait how did i not know about this yeah someone will have 20 million followers i mean that's extreme but someone will have 20 million followers and i'm like
• 9:01
  huh? I've never seen that before. Never heard of you before. Yeah, like what do they do? And then it's really interesting to go back backwards and be like, what do they do? Like who are they friends with? Like how have they gotten 20 million followers? Yeah, I'm so into like all the k-pop girls at the moment. I just, they're so on brand for what I'm doing and I'm just fascinated and I also love
• 9:22
  just their style choice and how bold they are with color and glitter and weird stuff that I've never seen before. And I'm like, yeah, I resonate with you. K-pop's huge. It is huge. And it's crazy. But I feel like in Australia we don't get touched with a lot of the marketing. No.
• 9:40
  Well, if anything at all, really, it's only if you seek it out and you know to kind of go down that path. Yeah. We've diverged. Tell me about, you messaged that guy. Yeah. So I messaged him and we ended up catching up and it was so great because we became friends and we would talk about things and I just kind of realized that.
• 10:05
  I was feeling a little bit down or frustrated with myself because after my performing arts course, I felt like I had been given so many opportunities and maybe I had missed some or it just really didn't go the way that I had planned in my head. And for the first time ever in my life, it had not gone the way that I wanted and I couldn't control it. Yeah. And I was like, but I'm so good. Like, why did they do, why did they put me in this class? And,
• 10:32
  Like, I know I can do this, you know? So I had a lot of pressure on myself. And so it was really nice in that moment where I was feeling lost and like, what am I doing with my life? And like, why have I failed? And kind of feeling like a failure, talking to someone who is doing exactly what I want to do and realizing in that moment, oh my gosh, like he's still hustling. He's still working.
• 11:02
  like job to job yeah he's traveling all the time he doesn't have time for a relationship like that's a lot for someone and i was like i don't know if i want to live that life how old was he at the time um he would be probably late 30s for late 30s yeah so and especially in the dancing world like when you're getting to that age um
• 11:26
  there's new your body's a bit tired your body's a bit tired your you're a bit old news like you know like a lot of these young kids are coming in they've got next level talent yeah social media is another thing so if you haven't jumped on the social media bandwagon then you may be like lagging a little bit in that area because i know a lot of like
• 11:49
  dancers especially are huge on social media and that's people that are getting booked. Like there's a lot that kind of comes into what the industry is changing. And this was like, oh, maybe five or six years ago that I met him.
• 12:03
  And I had that feeling. And, like, he's absolutely amazing. He's the nicest guy. And I think what he does is amazing and that's his life. Good on him. But it's definitely not something that I want. It's so funny when you're like, yeah, I have this idol. I have this dream. And then you're like, okay, it's actually in reach now. And I've just realized that I don't want to be like you. I find that's also something that I've experienced a lot going through different jobs. When you look at the person that's your senior...
• 12:31
  And you look up the line and you're like, oh, I don't want to be you. I actually don't want your job. I don't want that life. It's a weird feeling. It's a weird feeling. And then you're like, okay, shit, I need to get out of this. Yeah. I need to do something different. Yeah. Did you at that point think, oh, I want to start a business? Or had you had any inkling or you were still more just like, okay, I've realized and now I don't know what? Yeah. I was like, I don't know what I want to do.
• 12:54
  Yeah. And then I started, I started a fitness journey. I met Ashley Bynes. Okay. So we, um, I went away to Europe and I knew that there was a position that they were looking for. And I was working in like, I've done so many jobs. I've been a barista, I've been a housekeeper, I've been like reception. Um,
• 13:13
  hotel manager on like front office. Oh, I've done so many things. I've been a dance teacher. I've been, I've worked in retail. You've got like a broad skillset. Yeah, but majority of it was kind of sales or people skills. Okay. So I think was really good for me because of where I am now.
• 13:34
  But I met Eshi and then, yeah, I knew that there was a position coming. She's also another amazing like Australian success story for someone who started when social media was. Yeah, she was kind of coming around and then next thing she's got this huge thing and you're like, holy heck, the power of social media again.
• 13:52
  Yeah, totally. And so, yeah, we ended up like getting on really well and I asked for the job and we ended up, I ended up working for her in sales for five years. And so along that time, I was in a really, I feel like I was fine. This is a long time. Yeah, I wasn't in a really great place.
• 14:12
  coming out of the performing arts school, like I got depression, I had to go on medication, like it was quite bad. And then coming out of that, you know, I met – I moved up here. I met some friends. I changed my lifestyle. And I met Ashy, met all my girlfriends. And – Being by the beach as well is something that's – Oh, my God, so nice. I feel even when you are struggling –
• 14:37
  just to see the ocean every day gives you a different sense of calm like yeah i'm a big city yeah i'm a water girl i'm not really um um i didn't love sydney sorry sydney people sydney's hard though yeah sydney's hard and i'm not really like yeah city girl i don't think so it's good being by the beach yeah um
• 15:00
  But where was I at? So you moved to the Gold Coast. You started finding your tribe of people. Yes. You started getting yourself kind of like. Yeah, my confidence was building. Yeah, back up. Yeah, my confidence was building and I was feeling like pretty good. And then 2014, my family sold the pharmacy and I didn't really know what was going on.
• 15:23
  Did you ever have anything to do with the business? No. Just more like, my dad owns a pharmacy, or my parents own a pharmacy. My parents own a pharmacy. That's what they do. I work there sometimes on the holidays. That's what they do. Like, they sold so many different products. Like, I used to get all the testers and makeup testers and everything.
• 15:41
  because I get all the free stuff. Yeah. You're like, this is what I'm interested in. Yeah. Yeah, so they sold the pharmacy, and the number one thing that came to my head was, cool, you sold the pharmacy, but can I get the lip balm? And so why did you want the lip balm? Or how did you know about the lip balm? Let's talk more about that. Okay, so I own a brand called Breeze Balm.
• 16:02
  And the breeze balm formula is made by my granddad. So my granddad in the 1950s owned the pharmacy. Oh my gosh. And he was like, I need to make a lip balm for people that actually works because my customers are coming in asking for lip balm and I can't give them something that I feel works. And so he created this formula and then that was passed down to my mom and dad when they bought the pharmacy.
• 16:29
  And my dad is a pharmacist, so he was taught how to make it. And then when they sold the pharmacy, he kept the recipe because it was really special because it's a family thing. Yeah. And I've used the breathe-bomb formula for my whole life. So I don't know any different. You would have used it. Yeah. But did you ever think anything about it or you were more just like –
• 16:53
  I'm like, this is just something that you've always used, that you love, but you hadn't thought this could be a business by itself. Not at all. And it was called something else? Yeah, it was called like Wilkinson's Lip Ointment or something. Right.
• 17:07
  Something that you buy from the pharmacy. Yeah. The label was so ugly. It was like a white pot with a stick-on label. Yeah. That was like printed from the computer. Like not cute. Yeah. At all. Like black and white text was so boring. And it just kept like flying out the shelves. It was a little secret in the area kind of thing. Yeah. And like people would come on cruise ships and stock up. I remember lots of Japanese people on a cruise ship would come in and because it's got lanolin in it,
• 17:37
  I would literally see them getting baskets and like shoveling them off the shelves into their basket. Oh my gosh. And I was like, this is so weird. That's weird. Why are you buying so much? That's so weird. Yeah. And then... I feel like I know it's good, but I didn't realize that it was like hot commodity. Yeah. And so then I started to like...
• 17:57
  look at other lip balms and i was like trying all different ones and definitely throughout my teens i would try other brands just because they were cool at the time but i always kept going back to my lip balm yeah and then i got my friends onto it my friends at school like everyone would ask me for it so my dad's like
• 18:16
  handing out lip balms he's the yeah he's the dealer of the lip balms yeah he's like coming to my drugstore yeah let me give you some balm yeah let me give you some balm so that was really interesting and then i knew it was good i just i didn't know any different and yeah it's like i got to australia you have to have that like moment of realization like whoa light bulb moment
• 18:39
  And a couple of my other friends were starting brands at the time. We were on holiday and I was like, oh, I kind of want to start something, but I don't really know what I want to do. And as I'm like applying to it, mom. Oh my God. So who had the light bulb moment?
• 18:59
  I feel like it wasn't really any moment that happened. I feel like the moment was when I sold everything. That I was like, ding, this is like, we're sitting on a gold mine here. So I was having a conversation with my friends and I was like, oh, I want to do something. And my friend, well, Ashley was one of them that said, like, why don't you sell the lip balm?
• 19:22
  And I guess it's interesting because you have been watching her at this point, like, build this empire and being inspired by another female, a young female who's, like, killing it and being like, yeah, okay, I want to do something too. I can see the possibility for, like, an opportunity that exists for us. Yeah. And then having her be like, you have something. Yeah, why don't you do it? And, like, and then, like, I talked to a couple of other people and they were like, oh, my God, yeah, I love that lip balm. And then –
• 19:52
  I was like, okay. And at that time, social media was very new. Yeah. And we were gaining followers really quickly. And so I was like, I'm just going to reach out to everyone on social media and ask. And I was like, hey, guys, do you think this is my lip balm? It's a family recipe. Showed them the pot that it came in. Would you guys be interested?
• 20:15
  And like within minutes I had this influx of like, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Of course they can say that and not, and it can still be a huge risk. So I was like, okay, I'm just going to try it. And so I put it on, made a website. What did you make the website on? Shopify. Shopify. And it's really good. I love Shopify because it comes out with all the templates. So I just have like a basic template. So I can't even remember if you had to pay for the month.
• 20:42
  I think it was like, I think it was a trial. Yeah. Yeah. It was on trial. Yeah. And I just did like basic, it looked so embarrassing, but it is what it is. I love that though. It's like, yeah, do it yourself. I actually looked back, um, cause in Shopify, you'd have a whole lot of themes of different. So a theme is like,
• 21:02
  um a style of your website so i had all of these different themes from way back in the day and it was like sorry you've got too many themes for like you need to delete some and i was like oh so i went back right down to the bottom and i actually opened our first ever website and i was like oh my gosh this is so embarrassing but it was really cool to see how far i'd come yeah i feel the same way like when when we started the or when i started the jewelry brand
• 21:31
  That day I built it and like, well, actually my partner did the website in like half a day or whatever. But I took the photos on my bedroom floor with like my phone and they're the worst photos you've ever seen in your life. I was really proud of it at the time. They were really good.
• 21:45
  I see them and I'm like, oh God. I know. It's so funny how you, yeah, so funny. And my girlfriend, Jess, is a graphics designer. So I was really lucky in that respect. She, she helped me a lot with like the website and, um,
• 22:02
  the design of the stickers that we put on the pots. So when you sent it out to people first, it was in the original branding, it wasn't in the new branding the way it looks now. It was just like the pot. So it came in a pot, but instead of having an ugly white and black label, I made it really cute. And I put a palm tree on the top and then I put Breeze Balm around the bottom. And the way I came out with Breeze Balm, the name is because I love the beach, I love vacays and
• 22:31
  Love a vacay. Love a vacay. And I love palm trees, so we wanted to put a palm tree in there. And I was just like, it's like a breezy balm. Like, it's easy breezy. It's easy breezy. Oh my God, I love it.
• 22:43
  I just called it Breeze Bomb. And I was like, yeah, that'll do. I just really didn't put much thought into it. And this is the same kind of thought process of me moving to Australia. It's like, yep, doing it, done. Don't think about the consequences, just do it. And so, yeah, I put stickers on and I was like sitting in front of the TV, sticking, sticking, sticking. And so when you did that, so to begin with, did you have a lot of capital to start? Did you have to buy ingredients or did you have to –
• 23:11
  buy like the I mean obviously you have to but was it a lot to buy the ingredients and the so what am I saying packaging packaging so for me I'm really I was really lucky because my dad had the ingredients okay he made it for me so it's not like I had to go to a manufacturer and yeah you could just do all of that stuff yeah he didn't have the pharmacy yeah anymore so he had because he was making the balms for like other pharmacies as a wholesaler and then okay okay okay
• 23:40
  So I was really lucky. I was like, hey, can you make me like a thousand? And these white pots are super easy and cheap to get from like a,
• 23:50
  packaging company and then I just literally printed out some stickers and I put them on myself. So there was no costing in that sense. And I said to dad, I was like, I'll pay you for making them and what they cost after I've sold them. And he was like, yep. Yeah. Kind of like on a loan basis. Exactly. So I'm really lucky.
• 24:10
  I mean, I know it's not that easy for everybody, but that's the beauty of having your own formula. Yeah, and it's such a cool story. Yeah, such a cool story. And so when you were filling those stickers out on the first 1000, was that to send as gifting to influencers? No, I didn't do any influencers. This was before influencers was a thing. Okay, right, right, right. Early days. Yeah, so that's why I feel like it was really strong. I feel like nowadays if someone wants to do this,
• 24:40
  it would be a lot harder. Yeah, you'd have to send a lot more. You'd have to send out to people. You would have to, like, the reach is just not the same anymore. So I definitely jumped in at the right time. But I literally just, like, put on my Instagram. I was like, these are up for sale. This is the website. They were $14.95, plus they had to pay shipping. And, oh, my God, the shipping is what killed me. I went to the post office and I was like, hi, yeah, I'd like to buy –
• 25:09
  200 postal bags because I thought like I'll probably sell definitely not 200 like maybe a hundred if that and they're like yeah that's like six thousand dollars I was like oh my god oh my gosh and that's because you pay like eight dollars something per
• 25:29
  Yeah. So what did you do? So I, thank goodness, had a credit card, and I put it on my credit card. Okay, okay, okay. And I was like, this is... This has to work now. This has to work now. I need that money back. I wish I had taken a photo of my face because I was so shocked. The lady across from me was like, yeah, that's how much it is. Oh, my gosh. What? What?
• 25:53
  And this is why shipping is such a thing. Like, people don't understand that you have to pay for shipping. They always want free shipping, but it's like someone's got to pay for it, and it's not that cheap.
• 26:03
  And especially in the beginning, like, you know, as you're – when you start sending mass orders and you can start having an account and you can build it in the cost and blah, blah, blah, blah. But when you're just starting out, like, it's tough. Even at the moment, as you can see behind me, I'm sending out gifting. And in Australia, just because of the number psychology, like in the UK, if I send something overseas, it's 14 pounds. And I'm like, yeah, cool, whatever, 14 pounds.
• 26:27
  But when I get to Australia and they're like, it's $28. And I'm like, oh, damn. It's the same amount. But just hearing those numbers, the psychology behind it, I'm like, god damn, Australia. Yeah. It's so expensive. It blows my mind. I'm like, ugh. It is really expensive. Can someone work on that as a new idea? Seriously, like $2 shipping would be great. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah. So, I sat at home and I put all the labels on and I put them up and...
• 26:54
  I actually remember speaking with my girlfriend Renee who owns Riteology. Oh yes. Yes. Yes. She actually as well. Yeah. Um, yes, I'm connecting the dots. Yeah. So then I was speaking with her and she was like, Oh my God, just put your website live. And I was like, no, I'm a little bit scared. She was like, no, just do it. And I was like, Oh, but what if no one buys? She's like, who cares? Like put it up. And so I did, I was like, okay, launching at this time, here's the website, blah, blah, blah. And I think,
• 27:24
  I posted on my Instagram. How many followers did you have at that time? I don't remember. Maybe like 30,000. So still a really sizable following. Yeah, a lot. You had people following you. And I'm pretty sure as she posted on hers, I don't remember how much she had, but she would have had a lot. Yeah. And also my girlfriend, Gretty, who runs Gretty Rose Label, she posted on her Instagram.
• 27:49
  And it was just like, oh, my God, congratulations, you launched your brand. Go, girl. And I had a thousand pots. And I was like, this is going to last me a while. And within three minutes, gone.
• 28:03
  holy shit, this blows my mind. Yeah, and the feeling was like, oh, my God. And you can see, like, the money going up so fast. I've never seen that amount of money before. And I was like, what is happening? What did you do? Did you cry? I didn't cry. I was just like, oh, my gosh. That's so cool. Have you listened to that episode of it's how I built this or how I built that with Tobias, the founder of Shopify? No.
• 28:33
  why he even started building the software from Shopify after, cause he had a snowboarding business, an econ business, and he was building his own software because he was struggling with what was available online. And then basically that led to him being like, I want to create this for other people because,
• 28:50
  When he sold his first product, he talks about the profound moment that you have when you're like, okay, I was doing this thing and I had this idea and blah, blah, blah. But until you sell a product, it's not a business. And so then you have this profound moment where you're like, I'm a business owner. Yeah. I did a thing. Yeah. It's official. And it's like crazy. But for you, it would have been like, I don't know. I don't even know how I would explain that. It's crazy. I was excited with one order. Yeah. Yeah.
• 29:18
  I expected maybe like 100, and that's probably high expectations for your first ever life launch. Yeah, it is.
• 29:27
  Yeah, that's, I mean, if you sell one product, that's amazing. And so to actually sell a thousand and stream it out. And that's when I realized I was like, okay, we're onto a good thing here. Like people want this and I'm on the right track. And it was just this excitement of like, oh my gosh, yes. I finally have something that's mine that I'm proud of. And I know this works. Like this is the best lip balm ever. And so just from there, I was like,
• 29:55
  I spoke to dad and my mom and dad were like blown away. They said that this is absolutely crazy. And I was like, so how, when can you buy, make some more? Like what's next? What's next? And how quick can we get it? Yeah. And so were you getting lots of messages as well now being like, okay, you're sold out, but I want some stuff. Yeah. I'm really, and like you became the dealer. Yeah. You became the bomb dealer. And it sucks because at that point I didn't realize that you should be taking in like email addresses to build your database.
• 30:24
  And I mean, I never read emails, those kind of spam emails, you might call them, or marketing emails. I'm not one that reads that. So I was at first like, well, I don't find that important. Whereas I feel like that's one of the key things that you should be doing. So that was a big learning curve. I was the same though. I was like, I'm only going to send one email a month. Like that's going to be my promise to my community. That's not how it works. No, that's not how you make sales. A lot of people, and a lot of people love emails.
• 30:52
  Emails. A lot of people love emails. The open rate's huge. Yeah. Crazy. And so when you spoke with your dad, sorry, your mom and your dad to be like, okay, this went really well. What happens next? Were they like, well, okay, what does happen next kind of thing? Yeah. Well, dad loves it. He gets really excited and he's really proud too. Yeah. Because it does come from a huge, like it's almost, it'll be 70 years old next year. Wow. So it's a huge family event.
• 31:20
  recipe that we can now share with so many people in the world like we had someone from Kenya the other day buy it I love that when you see all the different countries and you're like excites me I'm like what how like one how did they know yeah like who have they talked to who had it who had it like you just never know so
• 31:41
  It was really cool. And then I just said to dad, I was like, okay, like, what if I buy some flavors? Can we create something fun? Because you have a lot of flavors now. Yeah. I was like, oh, I'm kind of bored with this perfect power that I've been using for 30 years. Or actually, no, I think I was like 26 or 25, 26. No, wait, the business is only three years old. So I was 27.
• 32:07
  Yeah. Wow. See, I'm really not good with numbers. Neither. Neither. I couldn't jump in there. I was like, you're on your own. Yeah. I got nothing. Oh my gosh. So, um, he was like, yep, let's do it. Like, let's try and make some flavors. So I think I chose like a caramel flavor and that was like delicious. We tried some other ones too. I tried popcorn just for a laugh. That was disgusting.
• 32:32
  They were like, let's do that for April Fool's. I love popcorn. Oh, my God, that's such a cool idea every year to do an April Fool's. Oh, my gosh, I love that. Doing an April Fool's every year that actually exists. You can buy it, but it's the worst. Yeah. Yeah. So I did that one. I did a pizza, like a shape. It smelled like shapes, like a pizza one. Oh, I love that. But it smelled like BO. I was like, great, let's just sell that for April Fool's Day. Like, who's going to buy that, really? I would not put that on my lips.
• 32:59
  My mum was like... It would be kind of funny, though, a gimmick gift. Imagine being like, this lip balm smells like BO. Buy it. Yeah. People probably buy it, I reckon. Oh, God. Let us know. Send it to someone else. Like, gift someone this as a serious gift on April Fool's. I love that. I know. We did think about it, but I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. That's one of those tough ones. Yeah, we tried a lot. I find it really hard to choose flavours.
• 33:27
  We test and trial heaps and I usually pick the ones that I personally love. I don't usually think like, I'm really lucky because I feel like I've made the right decisions, but not consciously.
• 33:47
  Yeah. You've trusted your instinct. Yeah. I've kind of just gone with my gut. Yeah. And I'm like, oh, this flavor smells so good. I would wear this. Yeah. Let's do it. I think like it's a really nice way to start when you're kind of just relying on that versus like, oh, data tells me I should do this.
• 34:03
  with the jewelry brand when I got started, like I literally was, well, I was sourcing products in the beginning and I was just like, I love this. Maybe other people will love this. And like, I'm very into sparkles and bright things, et cetera, et cetera. And so it just started really organically that my friends also liked it and then their friends liked it and this kind of thing. And now,
• 34:24
  even though my brand is like very quirky and very out there in terms of like all the beads and the pearls and stuff, I'm always just like, well, I'm just doing it for myself. And then if other people like it, amazing. Yeah. Versus trying to be like fit in with the rest. Yeah. Yeah. And it feels better too. Yeah, it does. You just got to do what you love. And I feel like when you do that, it's like the best. It's good for yourself. It's good for yourself. And people are attracted to that.
• 34:53
  Yeah. So they're interested. Whereas if you're pushing something that you don't 100% believe in, I feel like it can be a little bit like, oh. Yeah, that's like it's when you work for a company that you're like, oh, I actually wouldn't buy this. Yeah. When you're like, oh, yeah, I shouldn't be in this company. It's like the vibe, the unspoken vibe. It's just, yeah. Yeah, it's not there. No.
• 35:14
  So now you have a whole range of crazy different products. You have everything. What has like, it's been a pretty quick like evolution really to be only three years old and to have started with one lip balm to multiple lip balms to multiple products Seems crazy. Yeah, well we started Introducing flavors and then I realized that everyone sort of became a collectible and
• 35:41
  And if they had two or three, then they wanted everything for flavor. Oh, yeah, right. Okay. And it's fun because they haven't got that flavor yet. And then there was a point where I, about a year and a half into the business, I was like, ugh, I'm so over this. Right. I'm bored. Like, I don't like the packaging anymore. I don't feel inspired. I don't feel passionate. I just feel, I almost had, like, this bitter feeling.
• 36:10
  And I went to my girlfriend, Jess, who's the designer of Breezebomb. And I said, oh, I'm feeling like this because I was living with her at the time. And she was like, okay, let's sit down and just brainstorm like what you see your brand being. And something that I've never done before is actually like write down every single thing that comes to my head. And I just started like talk, like saying random words like beach, blue, bright, fun, bubbly.
• 36:41
  makes you feel good, like self-love. And she was writing everything down. I'm like, why are you writing every single thing down? And she was like, because this is you. Like, this is your thought process. And then we pick from that all of these things. And it was random stuff. Like, it was, it could be like candy or a candy cane or anything that popped in mind, like gold. Yeah.
• 37:10
  And I really found that helped me, especially with trying to figure out what kind of brand look I wanted and how I wanted the brand to just kind of feel, what my mission was. And it kind of really took me into a place where I felt inspired again. And we started to, we were like, let's do a rebrand. Because the way that the brand looks at the moment is not me anymore. And as you grow as a person, you change, you like different things.
• 37:39
  And so we had a big enough database that I was like, okay, well, we have the funds to do it. We have the customers, like, let's give it a go.
• 37:49
  And so we rebranded the entire website, the logo changed, the colors changed. We changed from pots to tubes that look really professional. We made cute little boxes with patterns inside. Like I wanted it to look so upmarket and luxury. Yeah. Because this is a $20 lip balm. This is not a $2 thing that you grab at the supermarket. Like this is an experience. Yeah, it's a conscious choice to buy that lip balm. 100%. It lasts forever. It actually works and it looks cute. Mm-hmm.
• 38:18
  And so, and it feels cute too, because it's like a matte feel. I should have brought some for you today. I can't believe I didn't. You're welcome. I'll buy some. No. So when we did that, I think we got a manufacturer because I knew that it was at that point where we can't grow unless we get someone to make it. Right. And it was a really scary choice because we were giving our formula to someone who could,
• 38:49
  like ruin us they could do you know like of course we've got contracts in place there's no way that they could share it with anybody but it's essentially giving out the secret of the family and dad used to say to me like if i told you i'd have to kill you yeah so like i didn't know the formula i didn't know what was in it until i was he was making it for me
• 39:10
  And so what was that process like to find a manufacturer? When do you manufacture? It's so awful. Oh my God. Well, we're going to find these people to help you grow your business. I feel like Google is great. Yeah. But also I feel like you have to really do your research and you have to talk to people in terms of like, go to meetings, like explore your options. Yeah. And find someone that you also, for me, I have to be personally,
• 39:40
  like connected with. Yeah, yeah. You've got to have a vibe because you're going to be working with these people every day. And they have to believe in the product. Yeah. And if they don't, I'm out. So how many manufacturers did you speak to before you found the one? Well, we emailed probably about 10 to 15. And I think only like two replied because our units were the lowest. Right. So people are wanting us to do at least 10 to 20,000 of one unit.
• 40:09
  Flavor. One flavor. Oh gosh. And like for a brand new business, that's just not possible. Possible. Yeah. So, and that's so much money. Yeah. It's a lot of upfront capital when you're doing like formulations and getting that kind of locked in first and then scaling out the different flavors. Yeah. And we have six hero flavors. So that's like 120,000 units that they would expect of us to get on the first one. There's just no way. And so when you found the place that you use now.
• 40:38
  what were their numbers like for their minimum order in the beginning? Their minimum order was... I think it was pretty low. I think it was only like 2,000. Yeah, so still a lot though. Still a lot. But I was like, okay, well that's a risk that I can take. It's better than 20,000. Yeah. And also, after talking with two or three companies, I realized that this company that we went with was
• 41:08
  probably the best only because they seem to be like a family business and they also could do smaller units and similar values aligned. Yep. So we ended up going with them. I spent like all my money. I cleared out my personal savings. I cleared out the business account. That credit card again. I cleared out. I maxed out two credit cards, a loan, a loan.
• 41:31
  I had like $40. Yeah. This is actually, if this doesn't work, like I'm stuffed. I'm literally stuffed. Yeah. Wow. It's a lot of pressure as well. Yeah. Also, we had two months of no stock and income coming in because we had sold out of everything. Yeah. And I had an office. So I still had bills coming in up. Yeah. So I had that plus the whole manufacturing process, buying all the packaging, getting all the remarketing. I took my whole
• 42:01
  team up to Hamilton Island and spent like $10,000 on a photo shoot. Like stupid, bougie. But I did it. Because that's what I do. I'm like so extra, but it works out every time, thank God. And I think marketing is super important, so that's why I would spend a lot of money on marketing. Because you want it to look good, you want it to feel good, you want people to understand how you want them to see your brand. So yeah, I had like $40 in my account.
• 42:30
  the day before launch holy gosh and so what did you do for launching so i rebrand so the rebrand i sent it out to about 50 influencers a gift box with like a cute little note a little note yeah saying like why i love them and why i think that they should be they should be gifted bruise on
• 42:52
  And most of them posted, which was really nice. And I was like, so I didn't expect it. Yeah. But of course, like at the end of the day, that's what gifting is. So if they can do that, that's amazing. Yeah. But I wasn't gonna push it on anyone. I speak a lot about how, for me, when I started the brand,
• 43:13
  when I did my gifting, I still do gifting all the time. And even with my friends, I just, I gave gifts and I didn't ask anything specific, but I was like, if you love it, just wear it. And like, even if you don't post about it, but you love it and you wear it, you'll tell your friends, someone will ask, there'll be a trickle on effect. And I cannot stand when brands particularly message me and be like, oh, we want to do this, this, this, this, but, and we want these specific things from you, but like,
• 43:41
  It's free. Like, they expect – it's a weird transaction where you're like, is this a paid project or you're just expecting me to do all this stuff for, like, some random crappy phone case or, like, whatever. And it's, like, tacky. And I think where people succeed is when they don't ask something specific. They're more just like, if you love it, love it. If you don't, no worries. Like, it doesn't matter. Yeah. And I think, too, for me, I was really lucky because I also am an influencer. So –
• 44:10
  Um, so I feel like it was really good for me to see both sides. Yeah. And like you say, you can get brands who contact you and I would always be like, oh, I don't like that. I'm not doing that. Yeah. So I really learned the right way to approach people and how I would want to be approached. Yeah. So I was like, look, I want to send you a gift. No pressure, like purely for you.
• 44:33
  you know and and because the package was so cute they all posted i was like oh my god thank you so much like of course you want to make me feel appreciated and it means the world and yeah we like it's funny how many people get it wrong when it's just common sense this kind of thing and you're like this just makes sense yeah yeah you're just doing a nice thing yeah if people love it love it whatever whereas sometimes people get this weird approach and you're like doesn't work like that my friend yeah yeah
• 45:01
  And so we, yeah, I had $40 in my account and I was, I remember being like, oh my God, this is like make or break. Yeah. This is like good by business or. Hello business. We're on the rollercoaster. Yeah. We're in the bed. We're on the ride. Yeah. And I remember just like sweating. And I think.
• 45:22
  There was a fire alarm. So we were launching at 12 o'clock the next day. And it like, we were supposed to send an email out to our VIPs who got first access about, I think it was like 12 or 12.30. And the fire alarm went off like 10 minutes before.
• 45:40
  and we had to all exit the building. And I was like, I've just got all this stuff in here. If there is a fire, I'm going to strangle somebody. Oh my God, yes. Heck. Yes. So, and of course I'm thinking the worst because I'm like that, I'm so dramatic.
• 45:53
  and I'm sweating I'm like I've only got 40 toilets in my bank account I need these free spams if I'm exiting the building I'm taking everything with me and I need to send an email I promised these people excuse me sir I need to send an email yes this is like the most important email of my life so anyway it was a false alarm it was just a drill we got back in we sent the email and I kind of was like okay let's send it like
• 46:23
  Go. Yeah, let's do it. And, of course, I was, like, so scared. But within, like, a couple of minutes, everyone was on the website. Yeah. There was, like, sales just, like, flying out the door. And...
• 46:39
  I just remember thinking like, oh my gosh, like this is another reassurance that I'm on the right track. And like, I've made the right decision. Everyone basically who had bought a breeze on the past wanted the new ones. And I just blew me out of the water. I couldn't believe it. I was like shaking the whole day. Cause I just thought this is insane. Just flip on. And also I feel like it's like a great product, but also people who follow you from the very beginning and follow your journey.
• 47:09
  they're like, yeah, like I'm getting involved here. Like I love it kind of thing. And I love that like rallying of the troops kind of thing to come together for small businesses. It's such a nice feeling when you're like, I'm not some big corporate funded thing. I'm just this one woman show trying to do my thing with my special recipe. Love it. Totally. And it's so nice. It must have been a great feeling. It was. It was amazing. And it's, you know, the one thing that I've always wanted to do is look after my family in terms of
• 47:38
  financials when it gets to a point where you know mum and dad stop working and I really like they've looked after me they've put their house on the mortgage I'll back on the mortgage so I could go to Australia to dance yeah so they've really looked after me and they've never said no to me about something that I wanted to do with my dreams you know not going early to Sydney school first
• 48:02
  They've never seen... Gosh. Yeah. How unreasonable. How unreasonable. I'm so lucky. You know, I grew up with a great, great childhood, great family. I know not a lot of people have that. So I definitely feel blessed, but I want to also look after my family too. And if this is a family business, I mean, I purely own it, but it is a family recipe. So for me to be able to give back to my parents in that way
• 48:24
  and my family is really important. So it was just really nice to be like, okay, like I'm going to be able to do that. And that's amazing. It's just such a nice, humbling story. Just like, you know, true, true, like success story from humble beginnings. Yeah. I love it. It's so special. Yeah. It's so nice. And so you just had a Black Friday sale. You were telling me you did amazing things. What's happening for the brand like now this year? Well, yeah.
• 48:53
  my gosh it's literally oh my god next year what's next for you well we just went recently went to the States and had some really great meetings over there which was amazing retailers or with investment people with retailers with
• 49:15
  like influences with makeup artists and people that I can really connect with I think we want to do some events over there just to like build the brand and yeah we're gonna know about it over and over in the States but is the States your biggest market or Australia Australia at the moment yeah I really want to get into the States yeah because I mean who doesn't 100% you need to be like in Sephora worldwide and like
• 49:40
  Doing all that thing. So many people want it in Sephora. Sephora would be perfect. Literally perfect. Yeah. I really want to get into Sephora. So if you're listening, contact me. Sephora buyers, take note. Go and ask. Everyone who goes to Sephora, go and ask for free song. That's such a good idea. You should literally put that on your Instagram all the time. I know. Do you follow...
• 50:00
  sarah glow sarah underscore glow from glow recipe no i don't but i follow the brand you follow the brand i love the brand her instagram is fab she shows a lot of behind the scenes on um like being in the lab i think she maybe does it in south korea or something but she goes into the lab she and she posts this stuff that i'd never seen before like i have no idea about the beauty industry so it was really interesting seeing all of her kind of like behind the scenes stuff and she literally shows you you know the um
• 50:28
  the watermelon recipe and her stories, like her grandmother used to put cold watermelon on their faces when they were younger. Like if they had, I think it was like, if they got sunburned or it was like the family thing, you know, not a recipe, but just the, that was their like little secret to put watermelon on. So then she developed the recipe for it.
• 50:46
  behind the scenes she shows you like they cut up real watermelons and she shows you the whole process from start to finish. And it's just amazing. And I know she talks a lot on her channel about how she got into Sephora and like how that kind of all came about. So she's someone that could be useful for you to connect with. So you can be like,
• 51:02
  What did you do? How did you do it? Yeah. I feel she shares a lot, which is really cool. Oh, I need to check her out. Yeah, check her out. I love the brand. I don't know her in any way. Yeah. That's not. Yeah, I just see it and I'm like, she's amazing what she does. Yeah. It's a really cool, cool Instagram.
• 51:19
  Yeah, gosh, America. It's just such a big market. Huge. I feel like you'd kill it over there. And we've got some amazing people that wear breeze balm that just, I'm like, I don't even know how that happened. Like Selena Gomez has breeze balm. Yeah, what the holy devil. That's amazing. I know. How did she get it? Well, I'm –
• 51:38
  I built a relationship with her old personal assistant, who's also her friend, Teresa, who owns a swimwear brand called Crass. Okay. And I've been really supportive. I've liked Teresa from the get-go. I saw her on Instagram and I was like, oh my god, this girl is so cool. She's really laid back. She's so my vibe. And I just began messaging her back and forth, sent her some breeze bomb. She launched her swimwear line, Crass, and then...
• 52:07
  she was like do you want to put breeze balm in like a gifting box with crafts and i was like oh my god yes and then so she gifted the bikini and breeze balm to selena which was like insane like i didn't expect it she didn't tell me like she was gonna you know like that's so nice yeah so i feel like you just need to be nice to people and you just never know what opportunities you're gonna get hundred percent i have an amazing girlfriend um
• 52:31
  Jenna, who is a makeup artist, who I also met online. And I just think she's so talented. And I started messaging her. Yep. And sent us a breeze balm. And then she started sending us all these professional photos of models that she had worked with using breeze balm. Using breeze balm. I'm like, oh my gosh, this is insane. It's amazing. And again, it's another thing of like just being a kind, nice person, not being pushy.
• 52:55
  just being like, hey, just having a conversation, like being a normal person. Yeah. It's not a sales thing. And I feel like that's more, that's why people want to do stuff for you when you actually just like your genuine self. Yeah. Yeah. It's not the hard sell. It's more just like, if you like it, it's your vibe, love to send you something. Yeah. That's how I work, basically. And so you're going to spend more time in the US? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
• 53:22
  LA or um I think LA I missed I go to Vegas all the time okay I go I always want to go to Vegas I have a girlfriend in Vegas who is an amazing life coach she her name is Crystal Quintez
• 53:39
  And she's the ladies coach. I haven't heard of her. She's amazing with relationships and just like the relationship with yourself. So anyway, we became really good friends. So she lives in Vegas and I always love to catch up with her, but I missed it this time. Yeah. So I really want to go back to Vegas. And I just like it because outside of the party scene, it's actually a really cool city. I think. I love the shopping. I don't really know it.
• 54:04
  The shopping's amazing. The shows are amazing. And, of course, I'm a dancer, so I want to go to, like, every show. Of course. Of course. Yeah. So, but except every time I've gone, Brittany is not playing. Oh, my gosh. I went there for, like, three days, and she wasn't there at that time, and I was like, damn it.
• 54:21
  And then someone else was there that I wanted to see, but we couldn't get tickets. Oh, I think it was one of the playgirl dancers who were meant to be like, I forget which one it was, but she was meant to be really good. And I was like, I definitely want to go and see her do that thing, but I couldn't get tickets. Oh, fair enough. I didn't go, yeah. I know, every time I miss her, I miss JLo.
• 54:43
  Oh, my God, she'd be amazing. Wouldn't she? Have you seen that new movie with her in it, Hustlers? No, I really want to see it. Oh, my God. It's such a cool chick flick and for guys too, but it's got like Constance Wu, J-Lo, and then it's got like Usher. Usher.
• 54:58
  it's just got absolutely every celebrity you can imagine and it's so fucking cool i mean it's cool because it's a true story but yeah she's just such a great actress it was crazy i was like well good work i need to see it um so i'm gonna wrap up this part of the podcast so we can get onto the six cues which will be um filmed in a second but i just want to ask you where everyone can find you so if you want to let people know
• 55:22
  Yes, Breeze Balm is just, if you go to our website, it's www.breezebalm.com. We're on Instagram, just breeze.balm and Facebook. You can find my personal, Sammy Leo.
• 55:37
  And you have a really cool YouTube channel. Yes, I do, actually. I've been stalking you a little bit. Oh, yes. It's so funny. I always forget about that. Oh, my gosh. I have this series on YouTube called Life of Leo, and it's basically, like, behind the scenes of my life. And it's also – it's a little bit of business, but it's also kind of, like, a get-to-know-me. Yeah. I am kind of – I walk into the office and I –
• 55:58
  just like pull out stuff and I leave mess everywhere and everyone's like oh hurricane Sammy's coming like that's the thing so I feel like that's like what my life looks like representation yeah I like it though I like that it's behind the scenes so you can see that like you know I think
• 56:18
  on our Instagram life, everyone's very polished and put together and blah, blah, blah. And then you've got this like other kind of side where it's just like the real deal, like the raw kind of, this is just- Yeah, I'm crying. Yeah, or just like me just getting in the car. Yeah. Like just, you know, just chatting. Yeah, I don't live a love-ish life. I like, wow, so good. Well, thank you so much for talking to us. That's okay, thank you so much.
• 56:40
  Okay, you've been listening to us for a while now, but stick with us. At the end of every episode, I ask the same six quick questions to get more tactical advice directly from the founders. If you want to see the filmed interviews, you can find them on my Instagram at Doon Roisin.
• 56:56
  What's your why? Why are you doing what you're doing? Well, the recipe is a family recipe, so I really want to look after my family in the end. You know, my family is already all, my parents especially have supported me through all the things, my dreams and what I want. So to be able to give back to them would be really special.
• 57:16
  Yeah, that's such a nice, like, nice approach to have for, and we were just talking about how I have the same kind of answer, like, why I'm doing what I'm doing is because I want to be able to support my mom and support her, like, as she gets older in life. And it's such a motivating way to live your life. Yeah. And it is around financial, for me, financial freedom and financial goals, but to have someone else in mind is just a really nice thing.
• 57:42
  a nice way to be living life. Yeah. Really. And I also think that everyone needs the recipe because I think it's the best. It is the best. It's obviously the best. It's been around 70 years. Yeah. Crazy. Question number two is what's the thing that made your business pop?
• 57:58
  I feel like the rebrand, we did a rebrand about a year and a half ago and we went from a kind of average looking lip balm pot with a sticky label to a really glamorous, luxurious looking, fun, bubbly tube. And it's so fun. I will link it in the thing below so you can see.
• 58:17
  Yeah, they, I mean, it went crazy. Our sales went through the roof when we launched. So it was a huge, like, I guess you would say pop. Yeah. And it's kind of fitting because you've got such colour pops as well. Yeah, we've got all the colours of the rainbow. All the colours. Yeah, it's a really cool looking product and all the packaging is just so special. Yeah.
• 58:37
  Love it. Question number three is how do you win the day? And this is a question about your mindset and your rituals in the morning or in the evening that kind of set you up to succeed both in life and and in work. I definitely like to work out. I love a coffee.
• 58:55
  I love a coffee too. Yeah. When I'm in the shower, I actually write my goals or like my daily, just whatever's on my mind on the shower wall where it like goes all foggy. I love that. And so every day is like a fresh canvas. So it'll be like, I mean, like sometimes it's just like my signature or like sometimes it will be like, it'll be like super successful, super healthy, like what I want for the year. It's just whatever I'm thinking, it will go in the shower. What did you write today?
• 59:25
  Today I wrote really successful podcast. Yes. I hope our podcast is really successful. That's what I mean. Like the one with you. Come on. Yeah. Or just to like have fun. And I also wrote to like breathe. See, breath work again. This comes up often, the importance of breathing. When I spoke with Greta last week, she had that as one of her things. Renee as well, she talked about breathing. It's like when you get stressed, you're almost like...
• 59:56
  It's important. Your whole body. When you breathe and relax, I feel like, I guess you get more oxygen to your brain and then you can think clearer. Yeah, you can be calm. Yeah. Breathing is a really interesting one because I feel like had you have mentioned five years ago or 10 years ago, that's not something that would have been in our mind. But now it's something that's really crucial in our day to make sure that we're taking the right breaths. And I guess this plays into like meditation and things like that as well, which I don't do, but I wish that I did.
• 1:00:25
  I'm really bad at it too. I haven't been to say it, but I wish I did. I wish I did. I've done a course. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I need to be a bit better about that. Question number four is where do you hang out to get smarter? I YouTube a few things. Like what? Oh, like I YouTube...
• 1:00:48
  make a lot of beauty stuff like, um, beauty tutorials, especially cause I'm in the beauty industry. I want to know what's hot, what everyone's using. Um, so it's kind of like market research. Yeah. Um, and that kind of helps me make decisions for my business. And then I also actually have some really, really intelligent friends. So I like to hang out with them, just bounce ideas. Love that. Um, I like to talk to people. Yeah. I'm not a big reader, but,
• 1:01:17
  Um, you, I, I'm not very good at sitting still for very long. So I find reading really hard, like a big book. Um, and I do listen to podcasts as well, but I don't listen a lot.
• 1:01:30
  I listen a lot as you know I've listened to Kerwin Ray and interviewing a whole lot of people I don't know that one he is a I don't know how to describe him he's like an entrepreneur and he starts a whole lot of businesses and helps basically it's like a mentor and helps okay businesses grow yeah and he's talked to a lot of people who have had their own business and then like been amazing so
• 1:01:59
  Wow, cool. I'm going to check that one out. Yeah. I love a new podcast to listen to. I just like hearing from stories. Yeah, I like hearing stories too. And then a little bit of like tactical advice and strategy along the way. I also love YouTube. YouTube is just like,
• 1:02:14
  You learn anything on YouTube, literally anything. I've taught myself stuff to do with the jewelry business. I've taught myself everything to do with performance marketing and anything in the digital space. It's just all on there. There's so many whiz kids on there too. I know. I've actually looked at marketing advertisements and stuff, like YouTube stuff about it. Yeah, it's a really good place to hang out.
• 1:02:40
  Yeah. Um, question number five is around failure. And so when something specifically has happened or when you're dealing with a crisis management situation, what's your approach? How did you deal with it? Or how do you deal with it? And what have you learned? And so this could be like specific or it could be broad general. Yeah. Well, um, I've learned that like we have done a very small amount of paid advertising for influencers for our brand.
• 1:03:10
  And like, I'm talking like a handful, but one of them was an $8,000 story. Um, and, and that's a lot, it's a lot of money and my ego got in the way. And it was someone that had a huge following someone like huge. Yeah. And it was a couple of years ago and, um, I got no sales. I got not one, like.
• 1:03:38
  Not one sale from $8,000. It's just crazy when you think like... It was like the right target market. It was the right... Everything was right. Everything. The formula was right on paper and it just didn't work. No.
• 1:03:50
  And so, yeah, I guess... Promotion was fantastic. And what did you learn from that? Like, well, I learned... I knew I shouldn't have done it. Right. But my ego got in the way because I was like, this would be so cool if this person had to But why shouldn't you have done it? I feel like if all the formula makes sense, it's kind of like, yeah, this is the risk that you should take. I wasn't in the position to pay $8,000. Right. I should have waited and tried it when I was in more of a, like, financial position. But I was... This is what I do. I like...
• 1:04:19
  Let's do it. Let's go. Like, yeah. Yep. I feel like I'm a bit like that too. And so you're like, the opportunity is hot. It's here now. Yeah. Do it. Yeah. And so I did it and it didn't work and it taught me, it had happened a couple of times before, but it wasn't a big thing.
• 1:04:38
  Cash investment. Yeah, investment. Whereas this one was like huge. And it just is a really big lesson for a lot of brands that influencers, whether they've got 10 million followers or whether they've got 20,000 or 10,000, you just, it's a huge risk. You just don't know with influencer marketing how it's going to go. And you just have to really do your research on what's going to work for you and your brand. Because...
• 1:05:05
  Sometimes it's the smaller people that work the best. And so now what's your approach? Do you still do influencer marketing that's paid or are you more like we've wound it way back? We've wound it way back. We don't do any paid advertising at the moment. Yeah. We haven't done that for a really long time. And also I find like when you're – and we spoke about this a lot on the podcast –
• 1:05:27
  When you're gifting someone something and there's no pressure, it's just if they truly love it, you often yield better results than trying to force something that is sponsored. And people know that it's sponsored and they know that that person probably doesn't really use the product. You know? Yeah. It yields a bit better results when it's organic and it's just… 100%. Yeah. Yeah. It's crazy. I guess the problem is is the fine line between when you're like,
• 1:05:53
  a huge company. So people expect payment versus like being a startup. But essentially, I mean, you're still in your growth startup phase. You're a single, single, you're a female founder. I was going to say a one woman show, but you're clearly not a one woman show. But like, you know, you're definitely not a one woman show. You're this woman that started this thing. You're not this huge corporate. That's where I was getting at that point. And it's funny because a lot of people think that we are.
• 1:06:19
  from an outsider perspective. Yeah. And that's not the case at all. Yeah. And when they hear your story, they're like, okay, hang on. There's just this amazing woman behind this thing going all guns out, blazing. It's not some big company that started a little jewelry brand. What am I saying? Flip bomb? Yeah. Yeah. It's not, yeah, it's not a big corporation and it's not, um,
• 1:06:47
  we've had no investors. Like it's, it's really just me. Yeah. It's come down to your like hustling and I have an amazing team. I'm really lucky. Yeah. Yeah. Teamwork and the people you have behind you is so important. And question number six, final question is if you only had $1,000 left to spend in your business bank account, where would you spend it?
• 1:07:09
  It's a tough one. This is a really tough one. It's a gimmicky kind of question. That's so funny. The thing that keeps coming to my head is I would spend it on an influencer that I've used before that I know can make money. That's a good answer, though. That's a good answer. It's like a tried and tested plan that succeeded, and, of course, you would repeat the same steps that work. Yeah, I would definitely...
• 1:07:36
  do that and then I would get more money and then I could do it again. Yeah. And then I guess every time you worked with that same influencer, the results would multiply because their audience is again seeing like, yeah, this, this person really uses this brand and loves this brand. Yeah. Well,
• 1:07:53
  It can go both ways. It's really a hit on this. Tricky. Really tricky one. Well, that's the six questions, and thank you so much. Thank you. If you want to check out Sammy, I'm going to link her in the caption.
• 1:08:08
  below and also her company name which is breeze bomb you can find her on youtube she has life of leo as a series where she shows behind the scenes of her business and her life and it's really really cool she's very very fun thank you lots of laughs lots of tears lots of all of the things it's really great um and yeah you can check out her products on breeze bomb.com
• 1:08:30
  And if you haven't already, you know my final speech is to subscribe to Female Startup Club so you can get my emails direct to your inbox once a week. We haven't started them yet, but we're starting soon. You'll also be notified of the podcast and all the stuff that I'm putting out there. And yeah. Yay. Thanks. Thank you so much. You're so welcome.
• 1:08:56
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 1:09:21
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 1:09:43
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that.
• 1:10:00
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 1:10:24
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 1:10:47
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that.