Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / 6 quick questions with Madison Stefanis Founder of 35mm co (Part 2)
Transcript
- 0:00Welcome back. Here are the six quick questions.
- 0:12Question number one, what's your why? Why are you waking up every day and building this business? That's a big question. I think at this stage and my why will continue to change through every stage of my career. But for now, I think that my why is really focused around personal development. I feel like I wake up every day and get slapped in the face in one way or another. The amount of setbacks or no's that I have to deal with, I think that it is such an incredible thing
- 0:41career and place to be in my life where I'm having to overcome so many things. And I just think that the character development and the learning that comes with it is incredible. I really like podcasts because I can listen to one that I did six months ago and I feel like a completely different person. It's almost like this.
- 0:57milestone where I can look back and say, hey, this is how much I've grown. So I'd say that's my why. Just seeing, finding my feet. I'm still in my early 20s. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with my life, but I like that I get to wake up every day and try out whatever I want. What's something that you've had to overcome recently?
- 1:17Probably learning my numbers, which has come far too late in my business journey. But I am not a maths girl. I walked out of my year 12 exam telling my maths teacher that I would just hire someone to do my numbers for me, which I did. We have amazing accountants, but it would have done the business a great deal of help for me to have known our numbers in the first place. Yep. I've heard that before on the show. Absolutely. Question number two is what's been your favorite marketing moment so far?
- 1:44Am I allowed to say Shark Tank? Of course. Shark Tank's been great. Shark Tank was really, really incredible. But I also think we did a newspaper activation at Sydney Fashion Week at the beginning of this year. And that was really cool as well. We handed out newspapers to the public. We created our own 35mm newspaper. And I think it tied in really well because we're so centred around nostalgia and memories. So that was really fun.
- 2:10Oh my God. I love that. That is that. Yeah. I feel like now that you say that, it's so true that your brand is just such a brand that can create these amazing moments, like getting a newspaper and like having that moment and connecting it back to the brand. Like I can just, yeah, I can see that. Cool. Love it. Very fun. Yeah, absolutely. Like we sell memories, not cameras. That is essentially what our brand is.
- 2:35That's strong. I love that. Question number three is what's your go-to business resource? If you have to think about a book or a podcast or a newsletter that you're learning from at the moment.
- 2:46Oh, probably podcasts. I listened to a lot of Dario Biceo. Love Steven. Even founder stories. I think that particularly in the beginning, listening to other people's founder stories was so incredibly comforting just hearing that other people have been through the same thing. I would honestly say my biggest resource though is my network.
- 3:05I was really, really lonely at the beginning of my business journey. I didn't know anyone who owned a business. And so I definitely have put some time into making those connections and finding friends in the industry. And I think that now, most of the time, probably 90% of the time, if I have a question, I can call someone on speed dial and they've got the answer, which is honestly the biggest blessing to come from this whole thing. Absolutely. 100% network is key.
- 3:31Question number four, how do you win the day? What are your a.m. or p.m. rituals and habits that keep you feeling happy and successful and motivated? I'm a huge morning person. So I'm a 5 a.m. out the door. Very fortunate that in Queensland, especially in summer, the sun is up at like 4.15, 4.30. So I sleep with the blinds open. Even if I wanted to sleep in, there's no chance. The sun is in my eyes.
- 3:55So I get up, head to Pilates, which is really nice. And it definitely helps me ground myself and feel ready for the day. I keep my phone on do not disturb. So that is just an hour in the morning solely for me.
- 4:07And then I'm not a nighttime worker. I very rarely will pull like an all nighter doing work. I really prioritize sleep. So I'll read for an hour before bed every single night because I feel like my nervous system really needs it to just chill and calm down. And I won't read about business. I make a point of reading fiction or something completely different that just takes me to another world and is so unrelated to my everyday life.
- 4:31Oh man, I resonate with that so much. I am like absolutely the person that is like, must read before I go to bed and it must not be anything about business or get my mind kind of like, you know, getting busy about like ideas or this could happen or I could do this or what about this? It has to be things that transport me to another place and just like, yeah, calms my nervous system.
- 4:54Exactly the same. Totally get you. Question number five. Maybe we've touched on this one already, but maybe you have a different one. What's the worst money mistake you've made in the business and how much did it cost you? Oh, I think the sea freight one was probably the most. We did. We had a run in with...
- 5:15a third party fulfillment center. So when I decided to move the business out of my parents' garage and into our first 3PL, I had 10,000 units in transit from China. I had nowhere to put them. They weren't going to fit in the garage. So we moved into a 3PL and they couldn't keep up with our volumes. They were just very underqualified to be able to actually handle the
- 5:39the volumes of our orders. So I had to exit that contract almost immediately. And I think it cost something like $15,000 just to get our orders out of there. And I could have sat there and fought it, but it was the decision of you can get lawyers involved or you can put your customers first and pay the money, get your stock out of here and start shipping orders now. Yeah. A hundred percent. Put your energy towards what matters and just like move forward. Love that. Totally.
- 6:05Last question, question number six. What is just a crazy story, good or bad, from your journey in building 35mm Co.?
- 6:15I think the craziest story or moment is just hearing customer feedback around the product and I guess how the product has helped them create memories. So we get a lot of people purchasing film cameras for their weddings, people photographing their kids when they're toddlers. I think that that is just a real full circle moment. It makes me really, really cherish how...
- 6:37We're selling an experience, getting your film photos developed, waiting for the pictures to come back and not remembering what's on the film roll. It's almost like a little bit of like we almost get to incite that little bit of joy when you receive your film photos back and remember those moments and those memories. So I would say that is probably, I guess, my craziest or my favorite part of this business.
- 6:57I love that. So beautiful. Well, this is going to be a memory. I loved this. This is so fun. Maddie, thank you so much for joining me on the show. I can't wait to hype girl you in your journey. And yeah, thank you so much. Thank you. It was so lovely speaking to you.
- 7:18Hey, 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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