Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / 6 quick questions with Geo Moriarty, Co Founder of CinCin (Part 2)
Transcript
- 0:00Welcome back. Here are the six quick questions. Question number one is, what's your why? Why do you wake up every day and work on Chin Chin? Hmm. Okay, so I think my why is the adventure. So think about what's an adventure? It's like
- 0:30chartering unknown territory or like the feeling of exhilaration or risk taking that like pays off that's adventure and to me that's the adventure of building a brand or building a business and I know of course the root of that is building an incredible product excites my customer but the reason why I'm driven to do that is the adventure
- 1:00female fashion brand owner, just everyone's like, oh, but you must just love designing and they think that I've got my watercolors out and I'm just like playing with fabric and colors. That's actually A, like 5% of what I spend my time doing, but B, it's not the most exciting part. I love like maybe you've had a hard week making decisions or things have been a bit monotonous and then you have a win. Like this buy that may come through tonight, that's just such a rut. 100%. And that's definitely the best thing about it.
- 1:30It makes all the sacrifices worth it because without a doubt you make a lot of sacrifices building a company, I think. Yeah. Love that. Question number two is what's been your favorite marketing moment so far? Oh, God. Oh, it has to be the Vogue inclusion, any of them.
- 1:51That's it. You can't beat that. Yeah, that's a pretty good one. You can't beat that. Yeah. What is your go-to resource for business if you have to think about, like, a podcast or a newsletter or a book that you've read that you can recommend? Okay, so it would definitely be this podcast for inspiration. Love it. And also, oh, the classics, How We Built This by Guy Raz. Vogue Business. Business of Fashion is awesome. Oh, WGSN as well.
- 2:20which is a trend forecasting website. But yeah, good old boss really is great. Diet Prada keeps you in the loop too. Love Diet Prada. So good. Question number four, how do you win the day? What are your AM or PM rituals and habits that keep you feeling happy and motivated and successful?
- 2:45Okay, wish I prepared this one. So I think it's really easy when you're in a startup or a business, you're working your ass off. There's not many rest periods, right? And I know it can weigh you down. And I think being present or taking moments in the day to be present, maybe without a device, is how I win my day. So resisting the urge to pick up the phone in the morning is,
- 3:09And just be with my dogs. I think my dogs know how I win my day because they are like this mechanism to pull me into the present. And when you just sit and be with them and they, oh, just the best, even watching the sunset with them. And my phone's not about to. 100%. They just keep you in the real world. And then other things like hot showers and, I don't know, really, it's just dogs. Yeah.
- 3:35I mean, I 100% agree with you. And you know how I don't win my day? When you wake up and you're in bed and you pull the laptop onto your lap, that's the first thing. And when you've gone to sleep the night before, that was the last thing you did. In a way, it's a sad little existence, you know. The other day I was like, I've got to enrich my life. I can't just work. That can't be all there is. So winning my day, dog. Enriching, like trying to do something else other than work. Love that. Stay sane. Yeah.
- 4:04Dogs are winning the day. I agree. What's been your worst money mistake in the business and how much did it cost you? Okay. I would have reiterated what I said before that I actually think mistakes are inevitable and if not your greatest teacher, without a doubt. And that's probably how you build an amazing business because if you're not making any mistakes, then what the hell are you doing?
- 4:34Get down to the nitty gritty. But the nitty gritty is a bit boring. It's just a photo shoot. I know we didn't use any of the images. So we paid for the photographer, the studio, the makeup artist, the model. And it was like a five-hour shoot. And nowadays, that would have been much more costly to us. But back then, the cost of our shoots was so much lower. But yeah, those shots never saw the light of day. So that's a waste. Waste of everyone's energy, everyone's time and money, of course.
- 5:04But, yeah, so that cost us $4,000. Did you know, like, on the shoot, yep, this isn't a vibe, we're not going to use it? Or was it when you got the pictures back, you were like, oh, shit, this isn't what I thought it was going to be? It wasn't an aesthetic reason that we didn't use the shots. But the model was actually so rude. I nearly said, look.
- 5:28It's really clear that you don't want to be here, so let's just call it a day. Let's not bother with this. I'm going home. See ya. But we needed the shots, and Lou wasn't in Bali at the time. And I was like, no, I need to get these shots. I've just got to work with this gal because she wanted to cancel the shoot and go to the Grand Prix. And we said, no, you can't. You have to do the shoot that you've been booked in to do because that's your job and you can't let us down.
- 5:52And she was pissed. She was really angry. That is so weird. I tried my best to stop in the situation, you know. I was like, oh, so how was your weekend? And she looked at me and went, well, how do you think? I'm not going to the Grand Prix now. I'm doing this to you. It's awkward. But anyway, you've got to do what you've got to do. I had to get the pics, so I thought. And anyway, it was the best decision not to use those pics anyway.
- 6:22Because we do wholesale. It's all about those imagery. It's not like as fluid as if it was doing retail. Yeah. Jesus. Wow. Crazy. Question number six, last question. What is just a crazy story, good or bad, that you've had from building Chin Chin? Crazy story. To me, the crazy moments are just what's crazy at the time. It was crazy for us to get asked.
- 6:50to be in the Motor Trunk show back in the day. And I remember being in an internet cafe. Is that even a thing? Just like a cafe. And Lou and I were so overwhelmed. And I just look back on that memory with such fondness. Like, that's so cute. Like, we were so – oh, yeah, I cried when it went live on Motor. I was like, yeah, it's so amazing. That is so amazing. It is pinch me. And then the other – the Vogue. I mean, they're the milestones that – especially if you love fashion
- 7:21grow up with Vogue plastered on your walls. I grew up in the ages of magazines, right? I was obsessed. My wall was a collage and I'd even rent Vogue from the library and use my Stanley knife to stealthily cut some good pages out. So when we got Vogue, I was like, oh my god, this is happening. That's crazy to me. It seriously is. You need to frame it. That's what keeps you going.
- 7:51Absolutely, I do. Why have I not done that? Too busy. Too busy. Yeah. Oh, my God, Gio, this was so, so cool. Thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing, like, the whole bloody playbook for building a successful fashion brand. Aw, thanks for listening to my babble. It was a pleasure. I mean, I love a babble.
- 8:17Hey, 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.
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