Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / Why you don't need to reinvent the wheel but you can reinvent the packaging, with Kaylin Marcotte founder of Jiggy Puzzles

Transcript

Why you don't need to reinvent the wheel but you can reinvent the packaging, with Kaylin Marcotte founder of Jiggy Puzzles · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  This is Episode 10 with Kaylin Marcotte.
• 0:15
  Hey! Do you love puzzles? Do you love puzzles but not so much love the boring stock images we often see used on puzzles? Today I'm talking to Jiggy, a start-up company that makes stunning puzzles in partnership with female artists that you can then glue and hang up on the wall should you so desire.
• 0:33
  Kaylin started the brand after her own journey of a late night love of puzzling and soon decided she wanted to bring some sparkle to this space and do things a little differently. This brand is so, so cool and it's an episode packed with major value for your ears. This is Kaylin for Female Startup Club. Yeah, so...
• 0:54
  I, so my background's in media and marketing. So prior to founding Jiggy, I spent four years at a media startup based here in New York called The Skim. And I met the co-founders of The Skim in 2013. And they launched in 2012. I met them in 2013, joined them the end of that year and jumped on board as their first employee. So 2014 and 2015, we're just like,
• 1:24
  bonkers. Like we did our series a, we hit a million subscribers. We hired, moved into the first office, hired the first team, like amazing, incredible, the kind of rocket ship startup journey that, um, that was a dream of mine, but also all consuming, pretty stressful, you know, 24 seven. Um, so I started doing jigsaw puzzles in like 2015 as my kind of stress relief and
• 1:53
  meditation. And, you know, it was the only thing that really got me away from phones and computers. And I was always multitasking and like, there's no way to multitask and do a puzzle. You have to be all in. So it just, um, just like got me super present and, um, and fell in love with them. So I started doing puzzles about five years ago and the idea lodged somewhere in my mind that like,
• 2:19
  why can't these be elevated and reinvented and look better? You know, I was doing a lot of like cheesy stock photography or like watercolor cottages and you know, there's so much amazing art out there. And so the idea of just like reinventing puzzles with incredible artists lodged back like 2015, but I ended up staying with the skin through 2017.
• 2:47
  and didn't start working on it until I left. Um, and then ultimately launched in 2019. Wow. Cool. And so how did you decide to like quit your job and go full time without having that like income that you were getting from your salary? Yeah. Um, it was a combination of things. One, I had been at the skin for about four years and there was so much growth and change and it was incredible. And I was just
• 3:17
  like felt great about what I had accomplished there and was ready, just ready for my next challenge. So I was thinking about what was next for me already. And this idea was still there. And by then this was, you know, mid late 2017, there had been like the adult coloring book fad. And there were like these wine and paint nights and,
• 3:41
  you know, there just seemed like there was an appetite for creative analog activity, just, you know, back to the basics and doing something offline with your hands. So,
• 3:53
  Um, I had still been thinking on it. I was still doing puzzles myself and I was like, all right, I think there's actually a business to be made here. Um, and I want to be the one to do it. So I decided to dive in really just like spotting the opportunity, still caring about and having conviction in the idea. Um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um,
• 4:15
  And then like income wise was just like, all right, this is, this is what I'm going to do. How do we make this happen? So one, I moved in, I had let go of my apartment in New York and traveled for a little bit. And then when I got back, I moved in with my boyfriend and we started splitting rent on a studio apartment. And I also started consulting. So,
• 4:40
  While I was working on starting Jiggy, I started taking on freelance projects. Um, what I did with the skin was our kind of grassroots marketing. So our brand ambassador programs, the ambassadors, um, our social media and email content and, um, and basically a community building and grassroots marketing. So I started taking on some projects, uh, on a freelance basis just, and that was, uh, income stream and, um.
• 5:10
  and then working on Jiggy at the same time. Yeah, that's so cool. And also like that must've been so nice having them being supportive of your new kind of journey and taking you into that next phase and like nurturing that relationship you would have already had with them through your time from the very beginning. Yes, a hundred percent. And it's been so supportive and it's just, it's great to be surrounded, especially,
• 5:36
  You know, I'm a solo founder, so not having a co-founder, not having really a team yet, really just kind of being a one woman show. It's been so nice to have already networked in this female founder community and just find support there. Yeah, for sure.
• 5:54
  Wow. That's really cool. And so what did you do? Do you have to, like, how does it, how do you start a puzzle brand? Like, do you need a lot of capital to start? Like, how do you find the manufacturer? Let's, let's go from the very beginning. Yeah. So, um, coming from media, the whole physical product world was totally new to me. So I absolutely stumbled my way through every step of it. But, um,
• 6:22
  Basically, I mean, I knew like they're, you know, puzzles themselves aren't a new invention. So there are a bunch of puzzle manufacturers out there, but I knew that I wanted to make, make the puzzle itself higher quality, but also fully reinvent the packaging. So not that, you know, cardboard rectangular box, every puzzle ever made has come in with a plastic bag inside. I really wanted to,
• 6:50
  fully customize everything. So that itself was a journey. We have seven suppliers for the finished product and the pieces come in this reusable glass jar.
• 7:03
  Um, and so there's, you know, we have a glass factory, the puzzle, puzzle factory, the box is done by the same people. It's a paper mill. Um, the, the other component, which I haven't touched on yet is that each puzzle includes puzzle glue. So I also wanted to solve for the kind of questions of like, what do you do with a puzzle once you're done with it? You know, you've spent 10, 15, however long hours, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um, um,
• 7:31
  uh, constructing this image and then it's done and you essentially have this print. Um, and if it's real art that you actually enjoy, you know, cannot be something you keep and frame and hang. So, um, each puzzle, each jiggy comes with puzzle glue. So, you know, sourcing the puzzle glue. Okay. What do we put it in? I was very, um,
• 7:54
  very adamant that we don't use plastic. So basically every, I see now why it's such a dominant, you know, material in that the easiest and cheapest answer for almost anything is to use plastic, but definitely added more work and cost by choosing not to, but felt really strongly about that. So that's where the glass jar came in that the
• 8:21
  is coming. Um, and the tube that the puzzle glue comes in is aluminum. Um, and then there's a metal scraper straight edge tool to spread the glue. Um, but yeah, ultimately there are seven, seven vendors and each one was its own like circuitous, um, process to get there. You know, some were pretty straightforward. I searched on,
• 8:46
  you know, manufacturing like Maker's Row was one and even just Alibaba and just trying to get a feel for what was out there, what needed to be custom, what didn't. But then for the puzzles and the boxes that really needed to be like an experienced partner because we wanted to customize everything. So, and multiple rounds of sampling and all of that. So that ended up coming through a,
• 9:14
  I started talking about it with everybody. I think there's some advice out there to keep your idea close to the chest. I was excited. I wanted to get feedback. I wanted to share it and get people's thoughts and they ended up, a lot of them, being very helpful conversation. So I'm kind of in the camp of share your idea, let people help you and get feedback early on.
• 9:40
  And so I was catching up with this girl that I went to college with and we weren't even that good friends in college, but we ended up connecting afterwards. We met at the wing in New York and I told her about this idea and she introduced me to her high school friend's dad. That's what I mean. Like, it was just one of those things.
• 10:02
  who used to work in book publishing and knew this guy living in LA who represented this factory in Hong Kong that made books. And she's like, well, puzzles, like it's cardstock, right? So like, maybe if they make books, they can make this. And it was like totally just one of those, you know, six degrees of separation thing. So they ended up being our factory. And I will say that was a huge learning curve of, I just kind of thought like, you know,
• 10:32
  you have an idea for a product, there are factories out there that make things, you pay them to make it and like, that's it. And I didn't really realize the, especially for a new business and a small business, like we're certainly not a big order for them by their standards. So, um, you know, that, that they, that it's really a partnership and they see it as, you know, taking us on as well as, um, as a new business and, and risk there. And, um, so yeah, that,
• 11:01
  figuring out our manufacturing partners, convincing them to, you know, take a chance on us. That probably took six months. Yeah, it takes a while. I feel like,
• 11:15
  For myself personally and for anyone I speak to, manufacturing is just the biggest hurdle. And it takes so much longer than you expect. Like I was definitely the same as you, thinking it would just be like, oh, yeah, find a factory and there you go. Wrong. Right, right. Exactly. And did you start with like, did you have to have a lot of capital to start the business or you're able to kind of bootstrap it as you went along? Yeah.
• 11:40
  Yeah, luckily I was able to bootstrap it as I went along. I knew I didn't want to raise outside capital in the beginning. And I haven't yet, and I'm hoping to keep it that way. So it definitely like, it was a decision and it changed how I ended up doing things. If I had raised a bunch and could just like plow through certain things or just, you know, the time or money trade off, I definitely spent more time than money, but yeah.
• 12:10
  Yeah, there were some upfront costs. I mean, just the basic incorporating and setting up the company, legals, all of that. But on the actual manufacturing side, there were deposits I had to make upfront and that just came from savings.
• 12:28
  And then luckily I was able to start selling before I had to pay off the rest. So it was like a net 60 for payment terms for the factory. And I was able to actually start selling, taking orders on the site. So have some revenue before I had to pay it off. So I think, yeah, that was definitely a learning and would be advice to anyone in this position of just
• 12:57
  thinking creatively, you know, cashflow is, is the biggest, um, kind of factor to balance and, and keep in mind. So, um, just getting creative with, you know, payment terms and timelines and can you pre-order pre-sell or sell gift cards redeemable, you know, are there ways to, to make it work? Um,
• 13:22
  in terms of cashflow, but yeah, we, I bootstrapped and was able to make it work. And then, you know, other costs wise, it was mainly just the inventory, again, some legal fees,
• 13:36
  And then we're run on Shopify. I used one of the Shopify templates. So everyone's like, who did your site? Like, who did this? I'm like, ah, me and a Shopify template. I did. So yeah, I think just being scrappy and using what you can and making it work. And it's funny because people, like the feedback is in,
• 14:04
  you know, like it's so like minimalist and like nice and chic and minimal. And I'm like, super intentional, super intentional, like little do they know. It's like the only site I could really figure out how to do. So I think there are, you know, silver linings from having constraints and just going with it. Yeah.
• 14:24
  And I feel like as well for your product, you probably like sell people on the product before they even get to the site. You don't need all the bells and whistles. Like people are in when they see your Instagram and then they just click through and use the functionality to buy. Yeah, that is true. It's such a visual product. Instagram has been great for us. And, and it's like, there's not a ton of education. It's not a brand new, like people are familiar with puzzles. There's like already some nostalgia or association or memory, you know,
• 14:52
  And then seeing them elevated and artsy, and it just clicks and people are like, oh, I get it. This is cool. The price point, 40, 48, both SKUs are under $50. So it's like accessible enough that people convert just from seeing it on Facebook.
• 15:12
  It's social media. So yeah, there's, there's a lot less kind of education we have to do around it. We still want to storytell about us as a brand and the artists we work with and their work and stories, of course, but it is like a very kind of immediate experience.
• 15:29
  resonance that people are like, yeah. And I feel like your product really lends itself to word of mouth marketing because you see something on Instagram or you see something on someone's story and you're instantly like, Oh, what is that? Like that's real. I've had, when I've posted about you, multiple people have come back to me being like, that's so cool. I'm going to order one because you just see it and you're like, it's different. It's, it's exactly like, yeah.
• 15:51
  Yeah, the kind of thing you want to do in your spare time versus like a puzzle that's a stock photo. Right, right. Yes. I think it's very like social chatter, you know, worthy and that people see it and want to share it. And then once they receive it and have it in their homes and are doing it, you know, for days, weeks, then.
• 16:12
  you know, they kind of track the progress and show how they're doing. And then once it's done, they're proud of themselves and want to share it. So it's definitely a product kind of,
• 16:23
  with these moments of sharing embedded into it. Yeah, for sure. I want to talk a lot about how you actually launched and started to grow the community because I feel like you would have a very engaged, loyal kind of fan base from what you've been creating and especially with the artists that you're working with. So what was your launch strategy?
• 16:47
  Yeah. So we launched in November, right before the holidays. And the launch strategy started just super organic with my, just my network and friends and family and announcing it. We had started the Instagram probably about a month before, maybe a little longer. And so I started just kind of teasing things and building some traction there.
• 17:12
  but really just launched with an announcement to our social following and my friends and family that we were live and start sharing. Also, the artists that we work with, they're all emerging. They're not hugely established, but some of them have their own followings or listservs. And so
• 17:35
  They were excited to share it. So started super organically and then went into the holidays and pushed the holiday gifting and and press around gift guides and these product roundups and lists and started.
• 17:57
  Instagram then as well. So, um, some paid on Instagram and, and like gift guides, um, were probably the biggest growth factor in the first few weeks, months. Yeah, really cool. And
• 18:13
  And then as you've kind of become more known, and I've seen that you've had like really impressive press and on like Teen Vogue and these kinds of things, has your strategy changed? Or are you still doing those same kinds of things and getting great results? Yeah, still doing the same things. We've layered on a couple other initiatives that we started today.
• 18:36
  doing some in-person stuff, which has been really fun. Um, obviously that's on pause right now, given the circumstances, but before that we had had a series of puzzle parties. Um, so it was so cool. Yeah. Yeah. I was curious to see how it would go. We hosted our first one. It was like a soft launch party, puzzle party. And, um,
• 19:02
  I hosted it here in New York at the Soho house. And I was curious if people would like, you know, just like come and have a drink and kind of look at them, but like not really engage. And it was the opposite. People showed up to puzzle. They were like, all right, I'm here. I brought a friend. We have 90 minutes. Like how much can we get through? It was like competitive puzzling. Um, and so that was really fun to see. We hosted a couple others with
• 19:31
  hotel here and a co-working space, a couple in people's apartments. We started like kind of a very early beta version of like kind of an ambassador program where you host your own puzzle party, invite your friends, do one together. So yeah, that's been really fun to see. And it's fun for me to see because I started, as I mentioned, kind of the founding story, I started puzzling alone as like my kind of
• 20:00
  stress relief and meditation, but, um, it's, it's been really fun to see it as a social, you know, tool and activity of, of people coming together over puzzles. So, um, we started doing some in-person stuff with the parties and, uh, just continuing the, um, organic social of building our own content on Instagram, some paid, um,
• 20:26
  on Instagram and, um, and press. That's been kind of the, the, uh, magic combination for us. I feel like for you guys, partnerships will be such a, a wonderful thing as well, because your brand aligns with like other really cool brands that really thrive on social media and can do wonderful things and create magic together. Have you done any partnerships to date? Yeah.
• 20:52
  Yes, 100%. I am so excited about some of the partnership ideas that we have in the works. Have we launched any to date? We did a couple for March for Women's History Month. And we partnered with a, it's called the National Museum for Women in the Arts. And it's the only major museum in the world that is dedicated to championing women in the arts.
• 21:18
  So we partnered with them around international, uh, or March 8th, which was yeah. International women's day. Um, and then we also partnered there's this amazing, um, creative here based in New York as well, Jessica Walsh, and she has her own agency. You do me too. I've been like such a fan for a long time. And so, um, had been thinking about her for jiggy, even before we launched and then reached out and, um,
• 21:46
  we partnered with her nonprofit ladies wine design for March as well for women's history month. So we donated a percentage of sales and we're talking about collaborating on a design for a new puzzle. So yeah, we have a couple other brands that we're talking to and working on as well, but I'm, I'm really excited about some of the brand partnerships and like larger artists that, that we intend to work with too. Yeah.
• 22:15
  Yeah. Oh, wow. It's so cool. I only discovered her recently on Instagram and was just such a fangirl straight, straight from that moment. Maybe I'll try and get her on the podcast as well. Yeah, she's been great.
• 22:31
  I want to talk obviously about the current kind of climate with everything that's going on. Um, a lot of brands are obviously in sort of bad positions and everything, but I feel like you're probably a brand that's thriving. Um, and I know we spoke earlier about the fact that you were kind of like running out of stock and all this kind of stuff, but do you want to talk about how it's affected you? Yeah. So, um,
• 22:56
  you know, we were, we had kind of mapped out the, the rest of the year in terms of the big campaigns and moments we were doing. And then, you know, obviously this, this all happened and circumstances that, that you could never foresee or wish for. But one silver lining of everyone being home is a lot more time to discover, kind of just, I think, going back to the basics and, you know, putting things in perspective and just wanting to be present and,
• 23:25
  creative and do something with their hands and spend quality time, you know, with people or alone. So I think puzzles as, as a tool for that has, has been great to see people connect with and rediscover. So, I mean, we started, it was pretty, pretty direct, you know, correlation between when people started staying home more and when our sales
• 23:53
  and just shot up and we sold out of the best sellers pretty quickly and now have one design left. So for us, it just changed kind of the timeline and prioritization. And we just rushed right back into production and, you know, working on restocking and brought up the timeline of our new collection launch.
• 24:18
  And of course, with any spike in demand or sales, a ton more customer service.
• 24:26
  and outreach and social media and, you know, DMs and everything that we have to be on top of. So not to mention like shipping and logistics and fulfillment. So it has just kind of been a mad dash all around and, and thrown me way back into the weeds and, and kind of reactionary mode of just trying to keep up with everything. So yeah, it's been, it's been busy, but it's all, you know, talk about perspective. It's all,
• 24:56
  all good things and good problems to have. And so the initiative we're launching next week, we're donating all of our proceeds to COVID relief efforts and, you know, just supporting the artists in more ways. So, you know, just very aware that we've been really fortunate to, you know, we have a small team, but still able to keep everyone.
• 25:26
  and want to do our part and get back where we can. Who are the people that you have on your team? Are they all local in New York or are they like remote workers? Yeah. So we've, um, we have been remote from the start. So I have a part-time operations person. So I was very, I was very glad that I did everything once and, you know, for, for the first run for launch, every piece of it, you know, um,
• 25:56
  did myself. So know how everything works and the factory relationships and the fulfillment freight forwarders and, you know, all the things. Um, but also very quickly realized, like my, my time and strengths are so much better suited elsewhere in the business. So, um, let's, let's bring someone on for this. I have a part-time operations person in Michigan and
• 26:21
  So we've actually never met. She, we were introduced. She's amazing, but all remote. And then I have a couple graphic designers that I've used in product design. So all of our packaging and branding used product designers, graphic designers.
• 26:41
  two based in New York, but remote as well. And then I, for the holidays, for our launch and holiday season, enlisted a freelance PR person to help with some of that. And then I have an intern from my college when I went to school here in New York and I posted in our like, like a Facebook group I still have access to. And so I have a student who is interning
• 27:10
  And that's also now remote because school is closed. So she's at home. That's kind of great that you started off by having a remote team and just working in that kind of like manner from the very beginning and not having to adjust when all of this happened as well.
• 27:29
  Yeah. Yeah. Being having already worked from home a lot and and having the team kind of set up and familiar with processes and everything that way has definitely helped with kind of just the adjustment and learning curve. Do you think in hindsight there's anything that you would have done differently, especially around the packaging and like having all the different suppliers and that kind of thing?
• 27:57
  I've thought about that a lot because it has certainly not been the most economical decisions. The dimensions from the materials themselves that we use to then just the dimensions of the product mean that shipping can get expensive if the right box size isn't used because it enters dimensional weight and all these things. But then on the other side,
• 28:27
  And seeing people open and interact with and respond to the product, I still feel like it needed to be that way and it needs to be that way. And the art is amazing, but the packaging is such an experience and it's a big differentiator. And so I have days where I'm like, oh, I was way too precious about that and it took too long and it cost too much.
• 28:57
  And then, you know, I see the responses, even just like what were tagged in on Instagram, or I did these pop up markets. So I actually, you know, saw people in real time kind of touching and feeling it and, you know, their responses. And I think it's still what, you know, makes it special and feel like, um,
• 29:19
  an experience and a treat versus just like, you know, one of those dusty old puzzles. So that you shove in the back of the closet. Exactly, exactly. So I still go back and forth, but we're, we're sticking with it. And I think it really just comes down to like, what kind of a
• 29:41
  brand and product you want to build and how you want to position it in the market? You know, is it, is it a little bit more elevated? Is it a higher price point? Um, or are you trying to make it super habitual, accessible to everyone? You know? So, um, yeah, I think, I think it could evolve. I also could definitely see a world where we have a couple of different lines, you know, different product lines and, and at different price points with different materials. Um, so that's something I've been thinking about as well.
• 30:11
  How many collections do you plan to do in a year? And do you also like change the artists every time? Yeah, so right now we're planning like three to four collections a year. The first one that we launched with the debut collection was really just,
• 30:35
  kind of my eye, my taste, things that I curated and loves and artists I wanted to work with. We're moving to a little bit more kind of thematic and seasonal. So our collection launching next month is very kind of summery and new artists. A couple repeats, just because they were... I licensed, before we launched, I licensed
• 31:00
  30 to 40 pieces and we only manufactured six. And there were some that I just like felt, I fell in love with. And so we've included two of those in the next collection and then four new artists and yeah, planning to, and then we'll have another collection for for the end of this year for the holidays. So,
• 31:22
  just scaling up and getting up to speed to be able to do about three to four a year with different themes and, and, and seasons attached. And then on top of those kind of evergreen collections, we're also planning to do a kind of more limited edition, like drops of, of cool collaborations. So those will be kind of peppered in throughout the year.
• 31:47
  Oh, that sounds exciting. And are you guys at the moment, you're just a direct to consumer DTC. Are you planning to do wholesale and expand the business that way? Yeah, I was, I was definitely planning to before all this happened. And I actually went to our first trade show and got great feedback and a ton of interest. And now, you know, most people,
• 32:14
  all of the stores are closed. So we've kind of put a pause on that to, you know, meanwhile the store is closed and our online D2C demand shot up. So, um, we kind of just paused wholesale, but I'm definitely interested, especially with some of the kind of, you know, uh, smaller local boutiques and, and gift shops and the places where, you know, people who, who live there go to for discovery. And, you know, it's, it's just, um,
• 32:43
  Aligned with our kind of brand and mission and supporting artists. So, uh, yes, definitely interested in wholesale in the future. Um, and we actually, we, we had one small account, um,
• 32:57
  there's, I don't know if you've heard of feed the feed bags. They, there are these tote bags and now they launch backpacks and leather goods, but it's called feed and it was started by Lauren Bush, Lauren, who, who it's a donation model and supports feeding kids across the world. And so they have a,
• 33:23
  shop and cafe here in Brooklyn. So we have sold Jiggies in their store and a couple others here and there, but we were really planning on ramping up wholesale. And that's been one change that we just had to be dynamic with of potentially bringing on a salesperson or going to more trade shows and scaling that up. And now, you know, that was kind of the first thing that
• 33:51
  that we put pause on and, and, um, and deprioritize with everything happening. And where was the trade show that you went to? It was here in New York. It was at the Javits center. Um, and it was just really interesting. I mean, there were buyers from all over the world. Um, and you know, that side of the business is so new to me as you know, with the skim, it wasn't a physical product, but it was a consumer, you know, brand. So,
• 34:21
  how to talk to and interact with and, you know, sell to consumers. I was something, you know, I had done was familiar with, but the insider world and how to do that B2B was, is, is still totally new. So a lot of good feedback and learning to be taken from that. And yeah, we'll see. I'm excited to do more of them. And yeah,
• 34:50
  and some in New York and then there are big ones throughout the U S that we were looking at doing as well. Yeah. And I, I think like for the trade shows, it's obviously a really big investment to go into a trade show and you have to be super prepared. What did you have to do beforehand to make the most of it? When it was coming to like your outreach to other buyers and knowing who was even going to be there, did you have to prepare like a custom stall or,
• 35:17
  Yeah. So we, I will say we definitely did the smallest booth possible and just made it work. You know, yeah, I heard like people do whole build outs and construct walls and paints and it can be like tens of thousands of dollars. We very homemade version and got the smallest booth and I bought like a couple shelf furniture off Amazon. But...
• 35:45
  to prepare, you know, went through the attendee list and did some outreach beforehand, you know, sharing, we're going to be here. Here's our booth number. Um, you know, this is our line sheet come swing by with us to connect in person. So did a bunch of outreach beforehand that people who would be there. Um, and I really use it as an opportunity, of course, you know, wanted,
• 36:06
  sales and leads to come from it, to have conversations start there, but also really use it as like a test to see what was the appetite, you know, which kinds of designs resonated, what was it, was there certain geographies of people who thought that their customers would really like it versus others? You know, our gender split, we only used female artists, would like male buyers be interested? And so I kind of use it as,
• 36:33
  used it as an opportunity to really just kind of test some of my hypotheses and gather feedback. So it served both. I got a ton of feedback, learned a lot from our conversations, and also had interest and took some real orders. So all in all, I think it was a good learning to do early on.
• 36:59
  What was the learning that you got out of that that you were really surprised about that you maybe hadn't thought of yet? I think I just learned like how important like merchandising in terms of, because we played around with our display there and like, you know, we had a couple of the puzzles fully completed and framed to show like the end result. And yeah,
• 37:24
  you know, some of the skews that like hadn't really stood out before once they were completed and framed and kind of this like hero moment, everybody was interested in those, um, you know, telling the story of the artists behind them and, and people connecting with different aspects of, Oh, like this is, you know, a, this is an artist in New York who had a whole career before she discovered collage art and connecting with that, or, you know, um, this,
• 37:50
  Nigerian artists who now like I licensed from a year and a half ago and it's blowing up and she's had two New Yorker covers and people like really connected with that. So yeah, I think the learning about just merchandising and how to display, you know, how to connect the dots for people and display the product and kind of, I don't know, learn from like guiding, you know, which ones we, which ones do we want to sell? And so how do we,
• 38:20
  you know, show those off. It was interesting to play around with. What's your most popular product on the store from the current stuff? Yeah, our current bestseller is called Bathing with Flowers. And it's got this amazing Slovenian artist, Alja Horvath. And it's this,
• 38:40
  it's a woman in her bathtub surrounded by plants and flowers. And it's just like beautiful and colorful. Um, and so, yeah, that has been the best seller so far, but another learning, it's been interesting to see how it changes. Like, um, one of ours called Berlin Magalog. It's like a very striking and dramatic and kind of high fashion looking. And so the San Francisco MoMA museum of modern art, um,
• 39:09
  purchased her to wholesale in their show in their gift shop. And like a Vogue writer we were talking to chose her as a gift. And so that one's, it's been interesting to see a little more like the artsy kind of high fashion, sophisticated crowds.
• 39:27
  And then we have like a big flamingo that's like playful and beachy and fun. And so a lot of like Florida and like, you know, kind of a vacation town. So it's been fun to like see the difference, what resonates with who. I really love the boobs one. And I posted it on my Instagram today and I had a few girls write back and tell me which their boobs were. I love it. So I thought that one would have been the most popular. I just thought it was so good.
• 39:57
  Yeah, that's definitely. Where's your biggest customer base? I would say New York. I mean, last time I looked, it was kind of the big US markets that we would predict. Like New York, California, Texas, Chicago, Illinois, and I think some Georgia and Florida.
• 40:22
  internationally we get the most demand from the UK and Australia. Actually one of our artists is Australian. And so she posted about it a lot. And so I think a lot of her followers are Australian. So we have a lot of demand from Australia. And then we shipped to UK, Canada and lately have been getting interest from other European, a lot of outreach from Germany and Portugal and Spain. So
• 40:50
  hoping to figure out our shipping a little more and bring costs down and be able to, to serve more places. Yeah. The shipping's a really hard one. Are you thinking about going on Amazon? Not right now, less a logistics question than just a brand question. We don't want to be on Amazon quite yet, but yeah, I mean, shipping, I don't, I don't think I realized just as a consumer how, you know, Amazon has created these expectations that are like,
• 41:21
  fully impossible to me as a young company. And yeah, I don't think I realized how, how expensive shipping gets. So yeah, it's a theme I hear with everyone that I speak to and, and the question of like building it in or adding it on. It's just so tough. Yeah. Yeah, it really is. I mean, I just thought like transparency wise, we still subsidize, like we pay for, you know, half the shipping essentially right now,
• 41:51
  So it's still subsidized, but yeah, I don't know. Like baking it in, you know, it would put our, one of our price points like in the mid fifties. And I was just like, I don't want people to be like, what? I'm paying like $60 for a puzzle. I'm like, I know, but like,
• 42:06
  we have to get it to you and it costs a lot. So yeah. And I think as well, because your product is so great for gifting as well. And you want to keep in the bracket that's like gift appropriate. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So like, you know, both, both products are under $50. So yeah, like $50 for a nice gift. I think, you know, a lot of people are very comfortable with, but yeah, shipping, we've definitely,
• 42:33
  gotten gotten feedback on and I hope to bring it down it's it's just one of the biggest costs of the company right now yeah for sure nightmare um I usually ask everyone the same six questions but before I get to that I just wanted to ask um if you had any advice for someone who was wanting to start a business or go into the startup world what would that be yeah I think um
• 43:03
  I think for me, I, you know, I listened to a lot of these, how I built this and like different podcasts. And I think I still found it kind of unattainable or there's always something that, you know, you're like, oh, I could learn that more. I could, I need to like get more experience in this area and this area. And finally, I was just like, I don't know if there's ever a good time. I don't know if you ever feel totally prepared. And I think really what you need is just like
• 43:34
  grit to get through it. And, you know, listening to some of those podcasts, ultimately I was like, the only difference between having an idea and having a company is doing it. And so I just kept coming back to, um, to, you know, if they could do it, I can do it. And I think it's so true now having done it, like, you know, I think, I think there's no kind of secret sauce, silver bullet, you know, um,
• 44:03
  shortcuts, I think you just have to do the work and problem solve everything that comes up and, you know, work through obstacles. And so I hope that people who have an idea are just starting out and might think that, you know, there's something that they are missing or lacking or still need to learn or do. I think just, you know, dive in and take it one day at a time. And that's, that's really the only thing standing in the way.
• 44:33
  Yeah, it's just like a series of tiny, tiny steps that compound over the whole time. And then you look back and you're like, oh, my gosh. Exactly. Yeah. Cool. Okay, so six questions. It's like a quick fire kind of round. And I think I've shown them to you. You might have heard them already from some of my other episodes. Number one is what's your why?
• 45:00
  My why is to support female artists work and to reconnect people with the pleasure of some downtime. What is the number one marketing strategy that made your business pop? Or the number one thing that happened to you that made it pop? Oh, okay. Well, early on. So I'm,
• 45:25
  A month in post launch, we were on the Today Show. So that was like the biggest kind of single day, like wow factor. And then on kind of just an everyday, like slower burn, definitely Instagram, both paid and organic. Because it also allows, I mean, we're DMing people every day. It allows for like relationship building with people as well.
• 45:52
  Absolutely. You can really have that like dialogue and like hear what people are saying. Exactly. Love Instagram. Where do you hang out to get smarter? I, from going to college in New York and now having been here since 2008, so 12 years, I just have such a community here of people in different industries, which I love. I'm from LA, a lot of friends in San Francisco. I think kind of.
• 46:19
  My sister's in D.C. Like kind of like single industry towns, I think, are interesting. But one thing I love about New York is that everyone I know does something different. And so I get so much inspiration and creativity from, you know, these very kind of cross-functional, interdisciplinary groups of friends and networking groups that I'm in.
• 46:49
  Love that. How do you win the day is question number four. And this is around your like AM and PM rituals, things that you do to like keep productive, keep happy. Yeah. I...
• 47:08
  Definitely. So I'm not a morning person, which I feel like a lot of people's days like start with their morning. I finally read this article in the New York Times that was like being a morning person does not make you like moral or like, you know, like a good person. I think night owls like get some heat sometimes. But I when I feel like I've really won the day, it's when it's the days when I've like really nailed the.
• 47:38
  balance of prioritizing my friends and relationships and work and myself. So, um, it's always a negotiation to, to balance those things. But, um, the days when I've really, you know, now it looks like having a FaceTime or a phone call, um, with a friend and, you know, just being present for dinner with my fiance and, you know,
• 48:06
  banging through my to-do list and then getting some time to, I still puzzle as my unwind. So some days it's not possible, but the days that I really feel like I'm powered and like I've owned it are when I nail that balance. Yeah. And if you only had $1,000 left in your business bank account, where would you spend it or allocate those funds towards?
• 48:35
  Um, I think I would. That's a hard question. I think I would. Try to buy as many puzzles as we can and then, um, you know, the artists get a percentage of that. So, so, uh, some of it would go to the artists who we work with and, um,
• 49:03
  Yeah, I mean, ultimately I want to get as many people puzzling and reconnected with it as possible. So I think, yeah, more inventory and being able to serve more customers. And final question is how do you deal with failure? And that can be either a specific example or just a general approach. I'm like pretty
• 49:31
  kind of action oriented and that I, I like take a moment and kind of like, what can we learn? What can we grieve? But, um, I, I like move forward pretty quickly. Um, and so I think with failure, you know, that, that motion looks like, um, trying something new and just taking any lessons that can be learned, but,
• 49:58
  iterating what did work, what didn't work. Um, and just continuing, you know, I think a lot of times the failure, was it the idea? Was it the execution, you know, which, um, what made it a failure and then trying a different, different route, but always keep moving. Love it. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me. It's such a pleasure to talk to you today. I love that. Um, where can people find you?
• 50:27
  You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter at Jiggy Puzzles. And our website is JiggyPuzzles.com. Fab.
• 50:42
  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.
• 51:06
  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.
• 51:29
  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.
• 51:45
  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.
• 52:10
  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.
• 52:32
  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.