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Chanelle Chalazan on Building a National Jewelry Brand at 16 · It's Time for Success: The Business Insights Podcast

• Sharon: [00:00:03] Welcome to It's Time for Success, the Business Insights podcast. I'm your host, Sharon de Koning. I love business, I love working with businesses. I love learning about business. Hence the creation of this particular podcast. At this podcast, we get to interview other people and so they can share their wisdom and their insights with you, our listeners, and me as well. I get to learn a lot. This particular podcast is also sponsored by my company, It's Time Promotions, wherein I also get to work with businesses much like yourselves. At It's Time Promotions, we pride ourselves with doing the majority of our work in-house. So we do embroidery, we do screen printing, we do engraving, we do all the print for the signs, right up to fleet graphics, full wraps on your vehicles. We have three locations here in Alberta. If you have a company and you think that you can use our services, I would really appreciate the opportunity. If so, just kindly reach out to my team@itpromo.ca. Tell them you heard about us on this podcast and receive some special pricing. Thank you, everyone. Sharon: [1:03:00] Welcome back to It's Time for Success, the Business Insights Podcast. I'm your host, Sharon de Koning. And today we have a truly exceptional guest. If you ever need a reminder that drive and execution have absolutely no age limit, this episode is for you. Joining me today is Chanelle, the founder of Chic and Charmed Boutique. Chanelle's entrepreneurial journey began when she was 13 years old. I'll say that again. 13 years old. Now, at 16, she has successfully bootstrapped and built a national Canadian jewelry brand, all while attending high school full time. And I did some research keeping your grades up as well. Huge. Chanelle has expanded her business across the country through e-commerce and and trade shows. Chanelle's hard work has caught the attention of major media outlets with features on CTV Global News, City News, and Retail Insider. Maybe I missed some there, but you can add that tumor to your list if you want. So Chanelle, thank you for joining us today. Introduce yourself to our listeners if you could, please. Chanelle: [00:01:57] Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. My name is Chanelle Charles, and I'm the CEO and founder of Chic Boutique. Like you mentioned, national jewelry brand that I started at 13 and I'm 16 now, but it's brought me to, you know, so many amazing places. And I met so many amazing people from having this company. So I'm just so excited to be here to share a little bit about my experience with entrepreneurship. Sharon: [00:02:17] So tell us first of all, why, why did you go into starting this e-commerce and the trade show? Why did you do that? Chanelle: [00:02:39] Well, at first when I started my company, I didn't really think how big it would get. Today I didn't my goal wasn't to get where I am today. It was kind of just a hobby. And you know, my dad's an entrepreneur. So he showed me all the ropes when I started and he kind of guided me. But my mom always loved jewelry and bling. So I think those two interconnected to my idea. But I always loved jewelry from the get go. When I was a little girl, I always had my mom's jewelry or she was buying me something. And at first it was just me putting colors together and kind of thinking, what style do I really like? If I wanted to sell, where could it go? And then once I started, you know, picking the style I kind of liked and I obviously wore it all the time. It was that I kind of thought, you know, maybe I could start selling some of it for some money and think, where could it go? So then that started on Facebook Marketplace and what turned into, you know, one lady coming a day to buy turned into 20 ladies coming to buy a day. And I think that's when me and my, you know, my family were talking and we were like, this could, you know, be a business if I wanted to pursue it that far. And then that's kind of how it blew up. And then we started doing trade shows. And then that's just when it all went good. It went amazing. And that's when the Canada wide tour started, the trade shows online, the media. I could keep going, but there's so much. Sharon: [00:03:39] I'm just thinking of other people out there that want to do something that they have a passion. First of all, you had a passion. Chanelle: [00:03:41] Yes, that's. That's important. Yeah. Passion for jewelry. Sharon: [00:03:45] So you gotta have a passion is what you talked about. And then you started doing next to get awareness out of there on the marketplace. Facebook marketplace. More local. Chanelle: [00:03:54] Yes. And it's easier because it's free to put up listings, of course. And it's you have all the local people that you can connect with. And once somebody starts talking, then you know how it works. People talk and then your brands out there and it kind of just started that way. Sharon: [00:04:07] And then you said you went to local like, was it local like markets first? Chanelle: [00:04:11] Our first show was in Warman, Saskatchewan River from Saskatoon. So it was very local. And then kind of from there, then we started doing more bigger Saskatoon markets. So still local. We did the Rock and Gem show and big Christmas markets such as Candy Cane Lane, and then from there we did bigger shows like Alberta and B.C., but still pretty local around Canada. Doing that Warman show, I didn't really think much of it till after. And when I got there, lots of people were impressed because I was 14 when I started my first show, and lots of people loved the product because we're exactly a quarter of the price of our competition, right? And ours are waterproof and there's, you know, different quality to it. It's a little bit better. And that's when I started. I wanted to have a good product, but also at a low price because, you know, girls my age at 14, we could never afford $100 pair of earrings, but $15 to $20, you know, even if we had to ask her mom for $10 and chip in half, we could do that. So I think people found the affordability really good compared to the other brands, but they also wanted to support somebody young. And I think that's, you know, we got lots of good feedback and that's kind of started from there. And then we started doing bigger shows in Saskatoon, but they still cost a little bit more to do bigger ones. But it just kept the demand kept going up. And more people, you know, started coming to see me to buy in person. And it just kind of and I love doing trade shows because you get that personal connection as well, not just on the screen the whole time messaging back and forth. So then that started, but actually I was mostly invited to lots of the bigger shows. So the National Women's Show, they go Calgary, Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto, so forth. And they actually invited me to do the first Calgary Women's show. So that started our Alberta tour and then stampede. Calgary Stampede invited me. So it was lots of inviting because lots of people want to support, but lots of the time it's people talking and that's how you get your brand out there, of course, too. Sharon: [00:05:55] Okay, that's a good again, I'm totally off track from the list that I sent you. So it is important to have exposure. It is important some people don't feel comfortable doing that. You said they've reaching out to you, but you must have done something besides a great product for them to find you. Is there a way? Chanelle: [00:06:10] For sure you have to not be shy in business. You have to have some audacity and you have to. Sometimes it's different shows. I'm reaching out and you know, once you get your kind of name and people know what you're kind of about, of course you have to have a great product. But people started to get to know me and started knowing my product and me as a person and my passion. And of course, we were doing all different stuff behind the scenes. We were doing radio ads and we had billboards and I was going on interviews. So people were connecting from everywhere, everywhere in Canada. And that's kind of what led up to all these different things that happened. But you have to not be shy and reach out and connect with others. And network, of course. Sharon: [00:06:48] Network. Yes. As a business owner myself, networking is important. And sometimes as a business, you get into the trenches, we don't have enough time or you think you don't have enough time, or it's easy to bow out of it, but putting yourself out there is very, very important. We used was there local papers, that kind of thing. What would you suggest to our listeners if they wanted to do something like that? Where would they start to get their name out there? Chanelle: [00:07:11] I would say the first way is to get your product out there first, of course. Right? I would say even put posts on Facebook Marketplace, start a Facebook group, post your products, post who you are, your passion, whatever you're going to do, and start online because that's where you know the world is coming to. We're not all on these local newspapers or on TV much, but the media is perfect. But you have to get a little bit bigger first to get on there, because they just won't phone you back in general. So start online. Maybe it's Instagram, maybe it's selling to your friends. Maybe it's, you know, people talking first, your friends, your family helping you out. I would start there. Once you get that going and once you start getting strangers coming up to you and talking to you about your product, that's how you know you can. You got something going. And then you can start messaging media such as global news and so forth, right? Because they won't come to you if you don't message, you have to message them. And that's the number one thing in business. You have to have systems and strategy with getting your name out as well, because it's not as easy. People, you know, they see you in all these different interviews and podcasts, but it's not that they're all coming to me and I just got it easy. It's me messaging. You know, a whole year took me one year to get on global news, right? So there's lots of work that goes into it to get that exposure. Sharon: [00:08:20 And do you think the reason what's like you have a great product? I'm not doubting that. Unfortunately, I don't wear jewelry or earrings, but I don't even have holes in my ears, so I'm not that person. But do you think what does a combination for them to reach out to you or want to come back because global news is going to be picky. They're not going to be everybody. So you got your age or you got a great product. Well, obviously you got energy, right? So like what? Like, what do you think are the characteristics for them to want to come to you? Chanelle: [00:08:46] Well, global news, you can think about any news channel, CTV news, city news. They want to show off and promote something that aligns with them. These are big news companies, right? They have lots of things going behind them, but they have lots of good things behind them and positive feedbacks from them, right? They want, and I think, yes, I have my age, but I think it's really enough that I'm a young entrepreneur, but I have lots of energy, but I also have lots of ambition and drive, and they want to promote something like that because it's not just that I'm showing off, it's that I want to inspire people to do lots as well. And that's my whole mission with the brand. That's why I go on podcasts and interviews. It's not to kind of just show off that I did this and that it's to inspire others and say, you can do it, but you just need somebody who's done it to tell you that. So you know that there's some hope into it and you have some positive feedback that it does work because there is lots of work in business and not everything is going to go well, of course, but you need to have a little bit of a push to get to the first level. And then once you get to that first and second you, it's like a staircase. You just keep walking up. Sharon: [00:09:46] I just, you're 16 years old and you're telling me all this stuff. I'm 57 and I'm still learning this stuff. Like, that's amazing. I can't wait to see what you're doing at 30. I did research that you're going to become a doctor? Chanelle: [00:9:56] Yes. My goal is to pursue medicine as a backup plan. Sharon: [00:09:59] Yeah. Okay. So anyways, I find it remarkable that you know these things at your young age. And so you are way ahead of a lot of people. And the fact that you're willing to share this knowledge with others is, is exceptional. So one thing also right now as a business owner, there's a lot of I find, and I got a word this properly, so I don't offend people. The younger generation is different than my generation. Their work ethics, their belief, everything is different. They're different. I'm not saying they're wrong at all. They're just for me. I have to adjust and accommodate these this next generation, right? So for me, I'm always turning and trying to understand and and embrace, I think is the proper word. Do you find that your age, is it a are you abnormal, your energy and your ambition? Or do you find that there's more people at your age that are willing because, face it, during Covid with this whole thing that went on, like I have a young 20 year old and she was graduating during Covid. And I know it's. Because it affected her socialism, I know it did. But you were behind that kind of. Right. So you're coming up. So do you feel that there's more energy at your age than. People wanting to embrace. Do you see anything different with that? Chanelle: [00:11:08] Well, I think for me, the business kind of tied into more of my childhood in a way. And I think, well, when I was younger, my parents are lot older. My mom was 18 years younger than my dad, so they had a big age gap. But I was always around older people. Even my mom was a little bit older, having a child my age, so I was always around older people. My family was always older, so I grew to be mature at a young age, I was mature, I was kind of like this around 10 or 11. I kind of was just hanging alone. I wasn't really playing, but I was still very social, right? I was still friendly, and I, I knew I wanted to do at a young age. I always wanted to pursue medicine, but I just think I was a little bit of ahead of my age group, which kind of created a barrier. I was kind of older, I was older, I was an old soul, basically, you could say. So I think the business, it worked out great because I was mature and I kind of knew lots of these different things going into it. So I had some skill already. But I also think that I always had drive and ambition, like I mentioned, and that's what you need in business because if you don't have it, it's difficult. You have to have something behind you that's going to keep you motivated on the days that you're not that happy or things don't go well. Right? So I think that really helped me to get where I am today. But you also, you have to, you know, you have to trust yourself as well. Sharon: [00:12:31] Yeah, yeah. And also, I think it goes hand in hand. So when you're doing something you love and you're doing what you're doing, it also makes you feel good. Chanelle: [00:12:32] Yes. Like when I had my dad behind me as well, which helped. And you, if you have people behind you that are helping you and it's making you feel good and you know they're helping you feel good, of course, right? Everything goes well. You have to love what you do. Sharon: [00:12:44] Any other mentors or any inspiration that you've had to help you get to where you're at? Chanelle: [00:12:48] Well, my dad's my biggest one. Like I mentioned, every pod, he's the one who started it. He's kind of he's like my second hand guy in the company. He basically, he owns it more than I do because he helps so much. He's helping me at the shows. He's helping me with customers. He's telling me which designs women might like, and it's crazy because he's a guy and he has no idea about jewelry, but he's helping so much and it's so amazing. But he's like the main, he's the main reason where I am today. And I only take my I take so much inspiration, but he's my main inspiration for everything. Anything I do, anything I want to do, he's helping me, helping me. Which way I could do it, helping me. Which way is good, if it's good or bad, so forth. So he's my main inspiration. But anytime I see somebody, even when we were vendors at shows, if I see a business owner doing amazing things, I look up to them, right? Of course, that's where I want to achieve. And I don't believe in jealousy. I believe that we can be inspired by one another and we can learn from lots from one another. Sharon: [00:13:43] Yeah, that's so remarkable. The having your father do that, I find it so flippin cool. Like, I think that's I could just imagine him at the trade show and selling the jewelry and stuff. That's pretty cool because he's a construction also, he's a man, man. Right. Like it's yeah, he's a man, man. That's awesome. So the you talked about having like competition. So like even me. So like I'm, for example, I'm in promotional products. There's promotional products company around the globe everywhere. Every town has promotional products company, but I don't consider them competition. I want them as an alliance. I want them to be my friend. If I can't help them, I want to be able to confidently like my customers. I want to be able to confidently refer them to somebody else. So there's definitely so you embrace that already. Huge, huge, huge, huge. You always can learn something. Chanelle: [00:14:25] Even with my competition, I know there's so many other jewelers and there's so many similar styles, but you know, I don't believe in jealousy and competition. I believe that we can learn from one another. I can learn from competition, competition can learn from me, and we can help one another. But in business, some people don't think like that. And that's just what makes it harder for us to achieve more that we just don't help one another. Sharon: [00:14:45] Yeah. So you've probably started doing jewelry making it yourself, is that correct? Chanelle: [00:14:49] Yes. When I was 13, I started making it. But now we have local suppliers in BC that make it. And I still design and choose all the colors, but you know, a school and the business expanding, it was too much alone. Sharon: [00:15:00] Well, that's called growth and that's called like, that's what you need to get. And that's where people want to get. So that is really exciting. So how did you find these people to help you? Chanelle: [00:15:08] Well, my brother's a doctor in Vancouver. So at first we, you know, he has friends and then they had friends. So first we wanted to find chemists to test our jewelry and to see what you could wear it and what you couldn't, because my products were waterproof. But we wanted to see what kind of waterproof so forth. Right. But then they actually knew suppliers. Chemists knew because they work all together. And, you know, when we met them, I was 14 at the time and they said, you know, we don't really deal with kids. And they kind of laughed and they thought, you know, this girl's not for real. Right. But, you know, my dad said, well, you're dealing with me. You're not dealing with her. Right. So they said, okay, well, you know, if you still design everything and you pick out all the colors, so it's not on us if there's an error or if the colors don't look good, so forth, we'll do it. But that's on that one condition. So my dad said, you know, they shook his hand. He said, good, let's you know, that's a deal. So then, you know, every month, you know, he emails us back, you know, a year and a half later saying, it's amazing that we took a chance on you because, you know, your orders are getting more and more every time because our demand is more and more every time. Right. But at first, people kind of make assumptions on your age. They think you can't do it or you're fake, or you're not doing it for real purposes. And you don't have that passion, but you have to break them down. But I bet even at your age, you probably see assumptions at this time. And even being a young, you know, as a young entrepreneur, I see lots of it. But as a female entrepreneur, you see lots of it, of course. Sharon: [00:16:27] Yes. Yeah. Especially when you're young like that. People might think it's just a short period. So why are they investing their time? Right. So what's your summer been like? It's right now it's August, July and August. Are you working on your company? Chanelle: [00:16:38] Always. I'm always working on the company. Even after school. I'm on it 24 over seven. I, I, I'm working on it. So our once I got off of school in, I think the last week of June, we went to Calgary for Stampede. We were there for ten days. Then I had two weeks off just, you know, we still have lots of orders and so forth. So it wasn't really much of a break. And then now we have a Canada wide tour with Rock and Gem show. So like I mentioned on behind the Scenes, I was just in Kelowna, but then tomorrow we actually fly to Victoria, then we have Calgary and Edmonton, and then we have all different shows. We have Ottawa, we have Toronto. I'm trying to do some interviews and so forth out there going back to Vancouver, Montreal, so just all over the place. Sharon: [00:17:18] So dad goes with you to all these events. Chanelle: [00:17:20] He has to because for insurance purposes. Sharon: [00:17:23] That's another thing I was going to mention. Like, do you probably had to get a business license? Yes. How does that work for income tax when you're 16 years old? Chanelle: [00:17:31] Well, he's the director of the company, of course. Right. Because I'm not of age, but when my 18th birthday comes around, they're gonna roll over the shares to me. Sharon: [00:17:38] Gotcha. Okay. Chanelle: [00:17:39] But for now, he owns everything, and it's registered under his name. But I have shares to the company, so. But, you know, he's pretty good, I trust him. So as soon as I turn 18, they'll just roll it over. But to be honest, I still want him to have half the company because he's half. He's half the company now. So no, no different. Sharon: [00:17:57] Because there's definitely different like for having a business, there's all those legal things. Government stuff that you have to deal with, licenses you have to deal with insurance. You have to deal with, like you mentioned, like. Chanelle: [00:18:07] Yeah, we have insurance, but there's lots of things that go on behind the scenes, which is very difficult because when you're young, you can't get half the forms and you can't do half the stuff. So I think it's amazing that I had him and that's what I kind of want to get out too. You have to have a good support system behind you. So it might not be your dad, might be a friend, might be a friend of a friend. But if you have somebody just to have behind your back and looking out for you, you can go farther than what you would do by yourself. Sharon: [00:18:32] Yeah. You need somebody in your corner. Even at my age, I need somebody in my corner. And it could be a business coach. It could be whatever it is. But find that person. Absolutely. Okay. So again, we talked about before, before we started recording about how this podcast is meant to help other entrepreneurs. And we talked a little bit about how you started on Facebook, went to markets, and then you talked about social media platforms. Is there more? Is there different social media platforms that are more beneficial than the other ones? For example, Instagram people are selling on there. You got do you use TikTok? Do you use I know you're on LinkedIn because that's just the thing, but that's more of a business. Like tell us a little bit about the social platforms out there and what's benefited you the most? Chanelle: [00:19:09] Well, with LinkedIn, I use it to connect with other business owners. So I would suggest if you're starting something, do join on there because there's so much we can learn and there's different posts to learn business wise, but I wouldn't say to sell. It's not pretty. It's not great for selling with Facebook. I started on Facebook, so I have the most engagement from there. But you get more of the older generations on there, of course, because Facebook's, you know, you get all different people. Instagram's more for the younger generation. There's more young people on there. But the only way to really get far, if I'm thinking of the business kind of aspect, Instagram, you have to pay to get anywhere because then once you pay for those media ads, they'll start putting them out on people's feeds. I would say if you're doing it for free and you're just starting an account, that's a good way to start to add some credibility behind your back. I would say for Facebook, I've found more customers for free by going on Facebook groups and posting there and not even promoting and paying for it that you find more on there. So I would say if you're looking for to your company even further, but doing it in an affordable way, start with Facebook, go on Marketplace, post on groups, get a Facebook page. That's where your best bet. But once you get a little bit bigger and you want to expand to different audiences, Instagram ads are very well as to what you have to pay a lot to get far with them. Sharon: [00:20:25] Right? Okay. What about because you went on to you, You have your own website. What kind of platform do you use? Is it Shopify? Chanelle: [00:20:33] We use WordPress. So I dealt with we dealt with Ryan from Zeal Media. He does websites all across Canada. I think he's done websites for staples and big companies and flooring companies and so forth. But you have to get somebody who knows what they're doing for a website, because when I started, I tried to do one by myself and it was very complicated. There's so many things that go behind the scenes that I wouldn't even think about on a website. So that would be my advice. Get somebody who knows what they're doing and that's going to help you with your website. I know it costs a little bit more, but it helps you in the long run. You don't have to worry about much once it's up and running. You just have to worry about like me worrying about posting what's new collections and orders instead of the whole backend of the website. He deals with everything, and that's nice to have when you're very busy, but you have with the website you have to watch who you also partner with, your domains and so forth, and who you work with. Shopify, if it's WordPress and there's GoDaddy, I think, and so many, you have to kind of watch what they all, they all offer different things. So you have to think what works best for you because what works best for my company? Sharon: [00:21:33] Absolutely. Do your research. We use WordPress and WooCommerce. I think it's the is the platform for the. Chanelle: [00:21:38] Us as well. Sharon: [00:21:39] Yeah, yeah. All right. Okay. So that you don't suggest that right off the get go. Or would you suggest somebody starting right into a web, like to do an online platform for purchasing? Chanelle: [00:21:50] I would say first, you kind of have to think, do you have demand? Is people going to buy? So at first when I started, I went right to trade shows. We didn't even have a Facebook or an Instagram page for She Can Charm. It was just marketplace. And I think that's kind of what I wish I would have done first, because lots of people wanted to see all our products online, but they had nowhere to go, right? So if I started a business, it was all from fresh. Today. I would start by getting Instagram, Facebook pages because those are free and those are going to help you build credibility from the get go. But then I would start kind of getting your name out, do trade shows, then get a website. Once you know people are buying because a website costs a lot to per month, per year to have. And if you're not selling enough to keep that up, it doesn't look good to get a website and then get rid of it after six months. I would say make sure you know what you're doing first. Do your research. Sharon: [00:22:38] Do you fulfill all your orders when they come in? Who does the fulfilling for you? Chanelle: [00:22:42] I do everything from the company A to Z. I do it all. So I put all I put all the website orders together. I put everything on the website I do. I have a website trade show tab. I update that all the time. I'm always posting on Facebook. That's all me, Instagram photos, everything. That's all me. What trade shows I'm traveling. That's me. I'm still, even when I was on the airplane and at the airport, I'm posting ads. I'm messaging customers. There's so much. Even at school, during recess, I'm making sure orders are being taken care of. People are being taken care of. Sharon: [00:23:14] That's a lot. Good for you. That's awesome. Okay, let's talk about bootstrapping. Let's jump ahead here. Bootstrapping. So we had mentioned and again I did my research. So funding a business is tricky. Chanelle: [00:23:25] Yes, it is very tricky. Let's talk about starting out. Sharon: [00:23:28] How did you do it? Chanelle: [00:23:29] Well, I had my dad. Of course, he helped with the financial part of it. Starting out, we didn't have to spend much starting because there was not much to. We had a couple trade shows and we weren't getting big orders. Like suppliers. You have to order minimum. We weren't doing that. I was making it. So I just had the supplies and, you know, even $5,000 we were spending, that's not much. So even that's feasible today, right? To start a business. Yeah. But once you start selling lots, that's going to help you pay for everything going. So that's why I always say watch your demand and also know how much you're selling, because that's going to help, you know, if you should get a website or if you should go to another show, so forth. So once. Well, now I'm starting to make money where I pay for everything myself. My dad doesn't, but for the first kind of year, he had to help me because I don't have a job. I'm in school, of course. Right. So he helped pay for some shows, but of course I paid him back when we made money because it wasn't fair for him to lose money. But once I once you kind of start getting bigger and you start getting bigger orders and going bigger places and you make more. I'm paying for everything myself, so that feels good that I'm making enough to just keep everything go for myself. But I'm seeing in the next. I'm hoping in the next year I'm making more profit. And of course, in a business, you're not going to make profit off the front. And not for me, especially my mom. She always said, you know what? Why don't you not do billboards or maybe don't go to this show because it's so much money so you can save some money. And I said, you know what? But the company won't go any further. Then it won't get any bigger. And that's my goal. The next maybe five years, expand it all I can. Maybe I won't make money, maybe I'll break even. But in the next ten years, I'll see that money come back. Chanelle: [00:25:00] So you just have to you have to see who you talk to. And, you know, some people are really business and they kind of understand. And some people they just like where they are and they're, you know, like my dad says, some people are business people and some people are workers. Sharon: [00:25:12] No, there's two different breeds out there for sure. 100%. They say the average is about five years before you start generating money. Chanelle: [00:25:20] Yeah. That's you know, it makes me happy. I'm kind of gender generating enough to keep me going now and a little bit extra, but I'm just excited to see about next year or in two years where it'll be. But but you have to. But I also worked very hard in every day for the last year and a half. So you have to, like I said, you have to have that ambition and drive because if you don't have that, it's hard to get anywhere. Sharon: [00:25:39] Yeah. So how do you because you do balance your books. Do you use Excel? Do you use a program? What do you use for that stuff? Chanelle: [00:25:46] Not much. I have a bookkeeper that works with us and of course we have the company registered with the lawyers. So they work for everything tax wise. But you have to have some good people behind you. I have website Ryan. He's always updating the website. He helps with anything. He's on the back end, so that's nice. With that. I don't have to worry about that much. But everything else I kind of I worry about it myself. Sharon: [00:26:06] Gotcha. So you do need a team. You talked about Ryan. You mentioned you need a bookkeeper like that kind of stuff. So you do need a team 100% because reading numbers is tricky as well. So you need somebody in your corner to understand those numbers. It's not just the bottom number. There's a whole bunch of stuff that goes in between there, like profit margin and all that kind of stuff. Okay, so it asks, what's your one of the questions I have here is first steps, difficulty level. What's one of the main hurdles that you had to crawl over to get to? Because in business, we have hurdles all the time. So maybe 1 or 2 hurdles that you had to crawl over to keep going. Chanelle: [00:26:38] I would say making assumptions, like I mentioned, because when I, when I started finally kind of liking what I'm doing and having a passion for expanding the company, you kind of, once you reach some success, it's like file like fire and gasoline. Once you get a little bit, you want more. You want to see where it could go. And I think my dad as well wanted to see how far I could go. So that really helped. And I always wanted to do what's next. That's always my thing. What's next? I'm never looking behind me. I'm always looking at what's in front and I want to see what how big can I get the next month? Or what can I do next month to make it better than the last six months? Right? So it's nice to see that I always want to see growth, but people kind of make it hard when you're young because they have assumptions, right? Like, like, as mentioned for the billboards, Archie. That was for the suppliers. But when we wanted to do billboards. Phil from Pattison, I called and I said I wanted to do a billboard campaign. I was 15 at the time, and he's like, I don't deal with kids. Who are you? At first, they don't even think you're real, right? And then I gave him my dad's phone number and we met him in his office, and that's when he said, you know what? You're pretty, you know, impressive. You're mature and so forth, but you have to meet with me and talk to me first to find that out. Chanelle: [00:27:42] But at first, he didn't want to deal with it at all, of course, but now we do two Billboard campaigns in Saskatoon per year, and now we have billboards booked in Regina and Calgary. Right. But he had to kind of get to know me first. And if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have had a billboard in general. Right? So it's kind of hard. And even with Z95 radio in Saskatoon, I wanted a campaign. Well, who's your dad? Who's your mom? It's like, it's me. I, you know, I know what I'm talking about. I know what I want more than my dad does in some ways. But it's hard when people kind of don't want to help you until they know you're real. Right? But now it seems like from the past year and a half, two years, because our first trade show will be September 2nd, two years go. So that's how long she can charm was kind of around people kind of. They have I have more credibility behind my name. So I have more shows I've been to. I have different products, I have different interviews, so forth. People see that they trust you more. But when I started, they didn't really know who I was. So it made it harder for me to get these calls back to get on media. And that's kind of you have to break that down at first. Sharon: [00:28:42] Yeah, yeah. So what's the traction do you think you get out of the billboards? Is it big? Chanelle: [00:28:48] It's when you're. Sharon: [00:28:49] There an expense like that's a big expense. Chanelle: [00:28:52] Billboards are expensive, which you don't see back. You might not see the numbers come back to you in sales, but you do see it in getting recognized. So when I go into Costco, like I have my face on the bill, if I go into Costco or grocery store, people do recognize you. They come up to you right away and they say, oh, I seen you on the billboard. But that and that trade show, so forth, they say, I see your billboards. But what's nice about that is that you can keep talking to them and connect and talk about your product and then so forth. If you're on a billboard, they trust you a little bit more because of course, it costs lots of money, but they trust that you're real and you're selling a real product because billboard companies wouldn't deal with somebody who didn't know what they were doing. Of course, and that's what people know. But that's one nice thing. People see you at trade shows. They buy. That's what we kind of see. And you don't see the numbers the next day, but you might see it in the next year. You might get double or triple your numbers back. And that's in business in general. You don't see things back right away. You have to wait it out. Sharon: [00:29:44] That's those one. That's one of the things you can't track. Almost like radio. You can't track it. You can't like put it up. Chanelle: [00:29:50] Even with radio, we didn't see really much traction. I would suggest to maybe it was just our experience because I know other businesses say they do really well on radio advertising. Not many people heard it from people I know and customers. So I would say for us, radio was not great. I would never do radio again. But we've done radio interviews which were free, but lots of people heard that. So I would say that way we would do radio interviews, but not radio advertising in the commercial way in general. Sharon: [00:30:18] Right. I think it goes by your clientele who you're reaching. Everybody's got a different dynamic. Chanelle: [00:30:23] Even with billboards, they may go well for us, but they might not go well for a different company. So I always say, just try it and see. That's what I would say. Sharon: [00:30:31] Okay. I like the billboard idea. So Phil at Pattison’s, is he a local person that you reached out to? Chanelle: [00:30:37] Yeah, he's he's local. He did Saskatoon. And now this past year he's just became regional manager for Pattison Billboard. So he's a big deal in Saskatchewan now. He's well known all across businesses and he's really good. He designs most of the advertising on billboards and he's really good to deal with. So I would say if you're interested in billboards, he's pretty well to deal with. He knows lots of people, all the different regional managers and Alberta. I think you're in, of course, and B.C. and so forth. So, you know, he's you have to know who to talk to, of course, who's going to help, but he's one of the better guys, I would say. Sharon: [00:31:09] That's awesome. That's a nice shout out. Thank you for doing that. Okay, so I'm just going through some of my notes here. We talked about the website platform, which was WordPress and WooCommerce tricks for selling online. We. Is there any gimmicky things that you did for when you did the marketplace? Is there anything that gets traction that any tricks that goes on there or even on your website just acknowledging is that what you're talking about is just putting it on marketplace. Anything that stood. Chanelle: [00:31:33] You have to kind of watch. Because if you have to look at your competitors and what kind of industry you're in with me, I had lots of things behind my belt with my product. I had a better product for number one, they're waterproof, but I also had the affordability behind my belt about a quarter of the price. So anytime I advertise, my first thing is waterproof. Prices start at $15. That way people know they're affordable and they're waterproof. That's different. And of course you'll have pictures so people know what you're selling from off the hop when they look. But you have to have your first sentence. Should be easy to see and what you're selling and what they are a hook. That's anything. Even on a billboard. I say feel sparkle and feel confident. Number one, you must know it must be jewelry because it's sparkle. But you know you're going to feel confident and it has a feeling that ties behind it. So I would say you have to kind of understand people, right? That's all about advertising. Even when you go on your phone, they're listening to us. If right now, I bet I'll get ads for business. Or when I was in the airport yesterday, there was ads for Tim Hortons on my phone. There's Tim Hortons on the ad because they're listening, but it's because they kind of know how to get inside your head and they know what you kind of want, right? So that's what you have to do as a business person. It's not being, you know, weird or stalkery people will say, you know, that's kind of rude, but it's actually just, that's how life is now. That's how business works. You have to see what people want and go after them. Sharon: [00:32:53] It's true. I always say less is more. That's my as a as a mantra. It's like you don't want to consume it. They're not going to sit and read it. They're not going to get to you're gonna need something quick and then they might read it later after that. So yeah. Chanelle: [00:33:05] Yeah. Sharon: [00:33:07] Okay. So let's talk about school a little bit. In your high marks, school comes easy to you or do you have to work for it? Chanelle: [00:33:12] You have to work for it. In school, if I don't know, even with the smart kids right now, they work very hard. They're always studying. People think, you know, you're just born smart. You're not just born smart. It takes a lot of time to get that. Maybe when you're in elementary, because things are a little bit easier with math and so forth, it's more simple to get. But when you're in high school, it's not simple at all. Math is not simple. There's lots of calculations. Even you're doing visual art. It's difficult in high school, so you have to work really hard. But like I said, once you kind of understand and once you have have, you have to have a good teacher as well. You have to have teachers who want to help you and support you. And that's what I'm lucky with at school. They understand about my business. They understand that I might have to go 2 or 3 days to a show, but they also try to get me to understand it. And so I'm not falling behind. But if you don't have a teacher like that, it gets really difficult. And I had teachers like that in elementary where they don't want to help you. They don't want to see you succeed there. They may be jealous or so forth. So it doesn't help when you want to achieve big things because you don't have that big support system. And personally, we're at school, I'm at school more than I'm at home or more than I'm with my dad. So it's good to have good teachers helping you and supporting you and communicating what needs to be done, what doesn't need to be done. And it just works all great together. Sharon: [00:34:25] You know, when I was your age, I was a really good partier. Chanelle: [00:34:30] Yeah. Sharon: [00:34:31] Like really. Chanelle: [00:34:31] Good party. Sharon: [00:34:32] Yes. So I think that's you chose entrepreneurship over that. Am I picking that up? Right? Chanelle: [00:34:39] Yes. And I'm glad I did. Sharon: [00:34:41] Yeah. So I think that life is busy. What about sports. Do you do any like any sports that's through the school program or anything? Chanelle: [00:34:49] I'm lucky I never was into sports, but I think if I did sports, if I had to go to volleyball every night, I just couldn't have the company because sports is a whole nother thing. I know how many kids. Sharon: [00:34:57] It's big. Chanelle: [00:34:58] It's so huge and there's so many things. And you're either traveling for a tryout. Sharon: [00:35:02] Cause like, I know there's a lot of kids in dance, for example, they go to dance three times a week. Hockey. Like my, my sister runs after her grandson for hockey. And it's constant like, you know, you. Yeah. So I think, which is exciting. Don't get me wrong. Chanelle: [00:35:15] Oh yeah. For sure. Sharon: [00:35:16] It's a lot to it. Yes. You learn all kinds of things. So this is an entrepreneur what you're doing. The other one, I think when you're into sports, you're learning teamwork. You're learning all kinds of things. So whatever your path is, just embrace it and do it well. That's what I'm picking up from you. Chanelle: [00:35:29] Absolutely. Yes. Sharon: [00:35:30] Okay. What do you see? Or where do you see yourself in ten years? I know you talked about a little bit. You're going to be making money. You're going to be doing things. You're going to be a doctor. Tell me a little bit. What do you feel is going to be happening in ten years? Chanelle: [00:35:40] Well, for Chic and Charmed, it's going to be totally different than personally for me. So for Chic and Charmed, I see even in the next five years to cut it in half, I see us expanded all across Canada. I know lots of businesses. They say they're just Western, right? They say they're Canada, but they're just in the Western. I see us right from Vancouver to Newfoundland. I see us doing shows in Fredericton, in New Brunswick and going to Halifax. I see us going to the Yukon and Northwest Territories and being really big in Canada. I see billboards. Hopefully I see us in different cities such as Edmonton and Vancouver and Toronto and just expanding the brand Canada wide, not just in the western or eastern all over. And I see us even being on a bigger scale globally. I see us in the US in the next coming years. Hopefully everything kind of settles down there so I can start working out there and I see us maybe expanding to Australia and the UK. I know we're already trying to book shows in Australia for the Rock and gem show, so hopefully that's even bigger in Australia there. Chanelle: [00:36:35] But I see us just being bigger in Canada, even better products. But I see everywhere and trying to expand and who knows which country I'll be in next. You know, every time it's weird. In life we always plan out stuff, but it never works out that way. It always works out a different way. But like I say, it always works out everything. What's meant to be, will will be. But personally, of course, I see myself graduating high school, but I do want to take an undergrad in business in Calgary and then go to medicine that way. And then of course, like I said, medicine will be my backup plan because who knows what the company. It might soar and be perfect till the day I die. But things might go south. And in life we have to watch. And we have to protect ourselves in a way. So at least I have that degree behind my back. And then who knows what will happen in ten years? It's hard to see, but in five years, that's kind of where I see myself. Sharon: [00:37:21] That's where your focus, you know, when you focus on something, you can make it happen. Like that's what you're doing. Chanelle: [00:37:26] Things change things I would have never thought three years ago I would have a company. I want it to be a singer. I was trying, I was taking voice lessons to be a singer. But things change and but everything works out. And what's meant to be will be. Like I said. Sharon: [00:37:37] It will be. Yeah. I've actually found an old. We're in the transition of moving. And I found an old book that I wrote down like I journal, I'm a journaler. So I journaled and I found this old book and it was like, Holy hell. Like it literally happened. And I forgot about it. I wrote it down, but it actually manifested and it happened. So I think the key takeaway on that is if you see something, you're focused. So if you want something to happen, you got to focus, you got to put your energy towards it. Chanelle: [00:38:03] Absolutely. Sharon: [00:38:04] Like anything else. You have to add to that because I think it's very important. Chanelle: [00:38:07] It's very yeah, it's very important. You have to envision, of course, maybe your envision is to be successful and have a lovely life. Maybe that's your goal. That's everybody's goal, right? Maybe it's to have a husband and kids in a car. Maybe that's not you might not get rich by having a business. Maybe it's doing something else. Maybe you have to do something else to get that way. But if you have that big overall goal and that vision, that's where you'll go. You might have to go through some wind waves to get there, but it'll happen. But even in general, you have to you have to have a goal. I say this with anything in life. If you don't have a goal or a direction to go to, you stay where you are because you don't know where to go, right? You don't know what to do. You don't have that vision. So once you have that goal to go, you're perfect. You'll get there. It might not be today or tomorrow, it might be in ten years, it might be in 100 years. But you'll get there. Sharon: [00:38:55] It's 100% true. I love the fact that you're 16 and you already know that and are embracing it. What? How do you define success? Chanelle: [00:39:01] Success? When I was young, I always thought it meant money, right? But now to me it means having a wonderful life, having a non stress free life, and being able to enjoy yourself. And I'm, I'm happy that my dad's with me all the time. I'm with my mom. I have family time. Even with the company, I'm grateful I get to connect with others and have this beautiful company and, you know, be able to make a little bit of money and still be able to go to school and have friends and have a normal teenage life. But I think we also have to be grateful, right? Success just means being grateful for what you have and being grateful that what you've done for yourself to be able to have what you have. Of course, right? Because nothing is ever going to be handed to you in life. You have to work for it. Sharon: [00:39:42] Yeah, yeah. Success is so different for everybody. You a success could be a matter of, I don't know, getting yourself a new car. You know, it could be anything. It could be anything. So it's nice that you're able to pinpoint that as well. Chanelle: [00:39:55] Getting out of bed. Could be your successful point, right? Yes. Any anything in your life can be successful. Sharon: [00:40:00] Yeah. And I think to acknowledge it and share the win. Like embrace the win because life is fast. And I think you got to embrace those wins, which I think you're doing on a regular basis. Do you have anything else that you want to mention to our listeners that I have not touched on? Chanelle: [00:40:15] I do. I would say once you start making some money or in general, once you start having some success behind your back, you have to give back to your community, of course. Right. So last October, I donated 20% of proceeds of our rose opal hoops and studs to Z95’s breast cancer marathon that they had at Midtown Mall here in Saskatoon. But like I told my dad, I've always wanted to give back. My grandma, my baba, were Ukrainian. She had brain cancer. So it's good to have, you know, that kind of simplified feeling to know that once you give back, it's okay. Right? And I think it doesn't have to be with breast cancer. It can be with anything. It could be helping your community, helping pick up trash, anything just to give back because it makes you feel good and you're helping somebody else. Sharon: [00:40:59] You talked a little bit about networking. How do you network? Chanelle: [00:41:00] Well, basically at shows you connect with other business owners. So they tell. So for on a smaller scale, they tell you what shows are good, what's bad, you know, in Kelowna, another vendor said, Medicine Hat is not a good market. Don't go there. So it helped us to know don't go there. Right. But then that could be on a smaller scale, networking on another scale. When I go to shows for speaking like at schools, I spoke at some elementary schools here in Saskatoon. Actually, I met some NDP leaders. They were speaking at the same school and they connected. And now they Carla back for an NDP. She's ordering from me now, and I'm going to all their meetings and their leadership meetings, but I'm just saying that one. Her name is Vicki. She's an NDP here in Saskatoon. That one lady who met with me, we talked at that elementary school. She helped me to get involved with bigger people to get bigger. So it's just it's, it's who, you know, really and you know, more places you go. Of course, I spoke at the Women in Motion event and I met Cloris. She does the lead conference here in Saskatoon. She's gonna do it and she speaks all over. But it was good to meet with her. And she's, you know, she knows lots of people, of course, but once you meet somebody, they know somebody else and they just keeps going. And everything in business center connects. Of course. Sharon: [00:42:10] It does. What do you say to people that are introverted? Because I don't feel like you're introverted. Chanelle: [00:42:14] No, I was my dad was never shy. I was never shy. But I would say you have to connect either way. But what's introverts? I think it's who they feel comfortable with. They will come out. You will be an extrovert, but you have to. It's who you connect with. So if you have somebody you're comfortable with and you hit it off from the get go. That's perfect. Hopefully that person knows somebody to connect you. And over time in business, I mean, I was shy when I started my company, I was 13, I didn't know who to talk to or who would believe me. But once you start talking to people, you still you feel more comfortable. Of course. Right. Even doing my first podcast, I had no idea what to say. I was so nervous I was shaking. But now it's kind of normal to me. I've done so many. I kind of know what to say. But you work yourself up, right? You have to work your way up to things. Sharon: [00:42:57] Yeah. And even being entrepreneurial introvert, I feel that once they're focused on something, they're great. Like, so you don't need to be extroverted to have a successful business and doing what you're doing. You don't need to be, you could be introverted, you could be a little bit uncomfortable. And as everybody knows, growth happens outside your comfort zone. So you will be able to do it even if you're introverted. Okay. Do you have a favorite book? We like to ask this question to everybody. Chanelle: [00:43:21] Well, I don't have a favorite book, but lots of books I read are lots of business books of how to invest, of course, but also lots of, you know, there's books about advice. And I always love reading those kind of books because at the end of the day, I don't know everything, right? In business, there's so many things to learn about, but there's different authors, there's different people that they have so much advice to give that it's good that we connect from one another. And that's why I love reading, because there's so much things to know and learn about. Sharon: [00:43:48] You can always, always learn something from a book, always learn something from somebody else. And that's why this podcast is manifested, because we're hoping that what you shared today, which is very wise way beyond your years, you're able to help other people in entrepreneurship. But also I'm hoping that you can help some of the younger generation as well with some goals and maybe some, you know, some refocus or, you know, I can do it kind of thing confidence. So I'm hoping that that happens. Yes. So how do people, our listeners find your jewelry, find you? Can you explain your handles to everybody? Chanelle: [00:44:20] Yeah. So you can go on our website. Chicandcharmedjewelry.com. And then from there you'll have our Instagram: @chicandcharmedbychanelle and then our Facebook as well. That's connected. Sharon: [00:44:29] Thank you for that. One question that just popped, do you sell on Amazon too or just through your website? Chanelle: [00:44:32] We don’t. No, no. Sharon: [00:44:43] Okay. All right. Not that it matters. I'm just curious. I almost sometimes like it feels like people will find something on a website. Then they check it if it's available on, on Amazon for some weird reason. Chanelle: [00:44:11] Actually, with Amazon. for the companies, it's a little weird because I wasn't I inquired to go on Amazon to sell because it's such a big platform, but they actually take most of your sales anyways, so there's no point of losing. You know, if I sell an earring for $20, there's no point of losing $18 to make $2, right? Sharon: [00:45:02] Gotcha. And then what's going to happen? So even if you had to increase it even, is it a percentage goal? Chanelle: [00:45:06] When I started, the company was to not increase prices and to keep it affordable. So when you go on Amazon compared to, let's say, a local person, let's say I was buying actually a birthday card for my dad on Amazon. It was $22, but from the local person, it was $5 on their website. They had to raise it up. All that money to make their to make their initial what they would make off $5. No point. So Amazon's doing good, right? That's why they're $1 billion corporation and they have warehouses everywhere. So they have a big warehouse in Calgary. So it's just they have to make money somehow to keep everything afloat. But I just for my company, I just couldn't, I couldn't raise up my prices like that. Sharon: [00:45:45] No. How do you find yourself because you said you wanted to grow it. So how do you you're creative in your mind. So right now, what's your main line on jewelry? So you do the earrings. What else? Necklace. I see you're wearing a pretty necklace. Bracelets. Chanelle: [00:45:54] Yeah. Everything. Sharon: [00:45:58] So where do you see you're doing more of or just more variety? Chanelle: [00:46:00] More variety? I don't see more different things like belly button rings or so forth. People inquire for us to do those. But my brother said there's lots of infections with that, so there's lots of hassle. So my goal is to keep my small range, but just different designs, different styles, keep it, you know, fun and different so people can build a collection. But I see it that way. But I also see our products, you know, being in more hands across Canada. So then you're selling more. Of course you're going more places. Sharon: [00:46:25] Love it. So a couple key points I took. Get out there and reach out for exposure. Right. Chanelle: [00:46:35] Like reach out to other companies. Different business owners for sure. Sharon: [00:46:39] Okay. Giving back was something that's very important. Give back when and where you can. Okay. And then also to start on the Facebook marketplace, go from there some trade shows and then. Chanelle: [00:46:48] Start small and then that small thing will lead to something bigger. Sharon: [00:46:54] Okay. All right. Okay. Well, I think that's it. Unless you have something else you want to say. I'll sign off here. Chanelle: [00:46:57] Yeah, no, we’re all good. Sharon: [00:46:59] Thank you for that. So I really want to say thank you for jumping on with us today. I know our listeners are going to embrace it and enjoy it. And then the handles that you had given the our editors will put them on list down below so they can reach out to you and go to your website and find you that way. And then also on LinkedIn. So thank you for joining us. Chanelle: [00:47:15] Well, thank you for having me. Sharon: [00:47:16] Thank you Chanelle.