Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / Defining a new category, inventing products for women & using obsession to fuel resilience with Boob Armour’s Suzie Betts

Transcript

Defining a new category, inventing products for women & using obsession to fuel resilience with Boob Armour’s Suzie Betts · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  This is Suzy Betts for Female Startup Club.
• 0:12
  Hello everyone and welcome back to the show. It's Dune here, your host and hype girl. I want to make a big shout out to everyone who's been joining the Facebook group to share your stories, ask questions and get to know each other. I just love that vibe and it makes me so happy getting to know more of you. So if you're not already chiming in, please come and hang out with us in our Facebook group. It's called Female Startup Club.
• 0:41
  Alrighty, today we're learning from Susie Betts. She is the founder of a company called Boob Armor, and she started the company after finding lumps in her breast as a result of playing contact sports throughout her life. And now, with Susie being a mum of two daughters who also play contact sports, she wanted to set out to create safety gear for women and girls all around the world.
• 1:06
  It's a really interesting episode and we talk a lot about how she's approaching partnerships with major clubs like the Matildas right through to retail and schools and everything in between. If you love this episode, please do remember the girl code by sharing it with a friend who would benefit from hearing Susie's story or shouting about it online. You know how much I love it when you do that. Let's get into today's episode. This is Susie for Female Startup Club.
• 1:37
  Susie, hi. Welcome to the Female Startup Club podcast. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Oh, same, same. I want to give our listeners a little bit of context because I was lucky enough to hear you speak a couple of weeks ago and to hear your origin story. And that's how I came to know about you and what you're doing with Boob Armor, which is just such a brilliant and amazing concept that it's one of those things that I'm like,
• 2:05
  damn, how did this not exist before? Like, it's just so weird to me. But anyway, I met you a couple of weeks ago at the One Roof Pitch, and I've just been so excited to have you back on the show to kind of relive the story that you started telling us that night. And I guess I'd love to start by...
• 2:20
  Kind of going back to your story, your origin story and the catalyst that led you towards Boobama. Absolutely. So in my late 40s, I found lumps in my right breast. And when I went to my breast cancer surgeon, she asked me if I'd ever received a trauma. And I thought that was a really weird question.
• 2:39
  And I'm like, what do you mean? She said, well, did you play sport? And I said, of course I played sport. I played netball and tennis. She said, well, you might have got a whack. Do you remember anything? And I said, look, I actually don't. So then I had to have imaging, which actually found more lumps in my left breast. I then had to have biopsies and two lots of surgery to find out that I didn't have breast cancer. Now, for some reason, I never thought I did, which is great, because I was never really that stressed about it. But what I did have is something called fat necrosis, which are the lumps that I've
• 3:08
  that can appear after you have had a trauma in your young years and they appear later in life. Now, as I said, you can't get breast cancer from a trauma to the breasts, but they mimic breast cancer cells. So...
• 3:22
  Until we had them taken out and tested, we didn't know what they were. And thank God for me, that's exactly what they were. Now, I have to keep having my boobs tested every six months, whether it's an MRI, ultrasounds, just to find out that we are still on track there. So having two daughters who both played basketball and football, time I came home and I'm like, do you get hit in the boobs? They're like, what a stupid question, Mum, of course we do. And I'm like, whoa, okay, so this is real.
• 3:51
  people are getting injuries from being hit in the boobs. So I went looking on the internet for what research there'd been done. And really at the time, it was probably just 2020, there'd really been nothing. The only thing you could find was done in college sports, soccer, basketball, lacrosse, et cetera, which had done some surveys on some athletes. And yes, they had received injuries to the boobs, but no further than that, nothing as to what happened to me. Okay.
• 4:17
  Then I went looking, okay, what's on the market? Is there anything to protect girls? Because as my surgeon said, if you're protected, you know, and your boobs aren't impacted, you know, you're not going to get these fat necrosises. Necrosises. So really what I found was only things that were like vests or T-shirt style garments.
• 4:38
  to put over your bra. They had foam in them and they had compression. We discovered the research along the way, which was all about encapsulation. So you needed to keep your breasts in their natural shape, in like a shell. We also found research that was done in 1991 that actually did a number of different materials to prove the best form of protection or protection
• 5:05
  barrier between the breast and force impact, and that was polyethylene. So I knew what I needed to do. I knew I needed to make something out of polyethylene. I knew it needed to be inserts that girls could wear and adapt into what they already own, which is a crop top or a sports bra. We wanted them to be able to chuck them in
• 5:25
  When they're running out on the field or if they want to wear them from home, they can like they would a mouth guard or like they would a pair of shin guards. So I then also knew that it needed to be cup sizes. You can't have a girl in a small, medium, large T-shirt or top like thing with some padding that may not even be where your boobs are. And we wanted it to be light, not restrictive, flexible. So that's where we came up with our encapsulation inserts.
• 5:49
  that, as I said, you slip them in as you're running out. They weigh about 15 grams each, approximately, and about two millimetres thick, and the polyethylene absorbs any force impact.
• 6:00
  Wow. Yeah, it's so interesting. And I really kind of connect with your origin story. I'm someone who, you know, from a similar lens, I guess, I have like a lot of fibroadenoma across both of my boobs. And I don't think I've ever spoken about this on the show, but I had surgery last year to remove a lump that the doctor wasn't happy with. And so...
• 6:20
  That shit is scary. And you kind of think like, well, like, yeah, how do you prevent these kinds of things? And I personally didn't play contacts book, so I don't know what it's from or anything like that. But just knowing that as knowledge now, that's an important message for women to hear and for girls to know about for that, like early prevention, early protection situation for, you know, later in life and things like that.
• 6:43
  How does it work when you're developing something like this? Like, is it considered med tech? Like, did you have to consult, you know, medical professionals and go down that kind of clinical trial testing kind of pathway? We did consult. So we're really classified as PPE. PPE.
• 7:00
  So we did consult, obviously, with surgeons, physios, and we knew what we needed, as I said to you earlier, and then we trialled it on athletes across the board. And what was the most amazing thing was as soon as they put them in and they got something come to their chest, they're like, oh, my God, I can't feel this. So it was a lot of consultation and about six months' worth of trial with different areas, as I said, with physios, trainers and athletes
• 7:29
  And obviously getting that of what we really needed from the surgeon to start with. Right. And so in that early kind of, you know, 2020, when you're starting to do the research, you're starting to do the development and you're getting yourself to kind of like prototypes and then to launch, what was the kind of capital that you needed to initially invest? And how were you funding the business in the beginning? Yeah.
• 7:49
  So funny enough, I think I thought when I started this, I was doing it only for my daughters. It was like, I'll need 10 grand. So I did a website and that probably cost 10 grand at the time. And as I said, we just, you know, I paid for, you know, my samples and things like that along the way. And even to date, we've still bootstrapped the whole business. So which...
• 8:14
  you know, has its downfalls, obviously, to try and scale, but it's still good at the moment because I still own the shares in the business. But yeah, you know, and I was probably really naive when I went in thinking how much I needed. And how do you think about working capital now and kind of
• 8:31
  Do you approach the money piece of the business through grants or R&D tax benefits? Or are you thinking about getting investors? Or do you use debt? Like, how are you kind of growing? Because I know from when we spoke, and we'll get into the marketing piece, you know, you've got, you know, thousands and tens and thousands and thousands of units. So I'm wondering kind of how you're managing your cash flow.
• 8:54
  Well, you know what? That was another thing too, which I was really naive about cash flow. Someone once said to me, cash flow is key. And I'm like, you're talking about cash flow. And then I started having none. So then I really realised that is key to every day. That's when you can sleep again, when you've got that, you know, money coming in. Those 2am wake-ups, whoa, a woman my age, it's not fun. And then the stress starts coming in too. I do get the EDMG grant for exporting.
• 9:21
  The R&D, for some reason, I don't know why I couldn't get that at the time. I still don't really understand the reason. I did apply for the BFF grant years ago and I was one of those, I don't know if you read about it at the time, I was one of them who was told yes, then no.
• 9:40
  Oh, yeah. I mean, I've seen what's happening in the media now. For anyone listening, the boosting female founded or female founders grant initiative from the government is going through a bit of a shitstorm. Well, they also, about the last month ago, they sent us an email. They wanted us to do a survey, but they didn't BCC. They put everyone on it. That's right. Yeah. Oh, God. And you should see the replies that people are saying. It's actually quite funny, but quite terrible at the same time.
• 10:08
  So where were we at? We were talking about kind of how you're managing working capital, cash flow, how you're growing the business from the money perspective.
• 10:16
  Sure, sure. So, I mean, look, a blessing in disguise and a big boost was obviously selling into Rebel Sport. That was a really big purchase, which was done, that was June last year. So, even in 2020, when I was due to actually launch, it was March and it was the day before COVID was announced and our press release was going out the next day. So, I said to my PR guy, who was actually a friend at the time, well, still is, but, you know, at the time,
• 10:42
  I said, I think we should hold off. There's some virus people are talking about. So we did. And then we went into lockdown. So that actually changed our whole strategy. So we were actually really targeting community sport at the time. Our product is a grassroots product. So we really want to get into the hands of the young girls, obviously by their parents, the moment they start playing sports. So if you're an eight-year-old and you're taking up AFLW, you pack your mouth guard, your boob armor,
• 11:12
  Your footy boots. So you can obtain an injury when you're flat-chested that actually presents itself when your breasts grow, which could be deformity, asymmetry. And, you know, we also know that a lot of teenagers stop playing sport because of their boobs. That's, you know, I think in the UK, it was like 78% or something give up sport in their teens because of a body and specifically their boobs. Yeah.
• 11:36
  So as I said, that was a great boost. But, you know, it's very much because we're creating a new category as such. So much needs to be spent on marketing. And, you know, we've made a lot of mistakes through advertising because we're not hitting the right people. It's been a lot of trial and error. No one's looking for breast protection. We're still creating that need. Yeah, you need to educate the market first.
• 12:02
  I'd love to kind of go back to kind of the time around launch and preparing to launch. I know that you were saying you were going to kind of launch around COVID. Then COVID happened. You decided to change your go-to-market strategy. Let's talk through what the go-to-market strategy was and how you did start actually putting the word out there that led you towards getting these kind of big partnerships with someone like Rebel Sport.
• 12:24
  Sure, sure. So actually, COVID was in a way a favour as well, because it actually stopped us to just, you know, do some things we probably hadn't even thought of. I hadn't applied for trademarks and I hadn't done patients either. So, you know, we got the ball rolling there. And that was good because I hadn't gone to market.
• 12:43
  So, you know, in a way. But what was interesting too was, I mean, my husband's in real estate and real estate agents were one of the first to have to be stuck at home. So when I was, and remember, we didn't know how long we were going to be stuck in COVID. So we were, the AFL had kindly given us the, you know, state-by-state areas to really focus on, which we started making phone calls. Now, people wouldn't speak to me. Men in presidents in football clubs were like, no. No.
• 13:09
  So I said to my husband, can you get on the phone and talk man stuff and then talk about the product? He's like, sure thing. And he's a sales guy. And he's an ex-footballer. So he talked man stuff and then they'd have the conversation. But what happened was because a lot of the clubs rely on, you know, sign-ups and everything and that wasn't happening that year, a lot of them went broke. So that was why we really had to change the strategy today.
• 13:34
  to go into retail. But strangely enough, it must have been one day I was really bored just sitting at this desk I'm at now and I thought, I'm going to reach out to Rebel Sport. And they responded and I started having these Zooms with the guy in Sydney and he's like, unreal. We'll trial it in 30 stores and then we'll take it from there. Well, then it was like...
• 13:55
  he just ghosted me. Or I thought he died, actually. I was like, what's happened to this guy? He's fallen off the face of the earth. Anyway, last year, in about April, I decided to reach out. I'm like, hi, Susie Betts, you may not remember me, blah, blah. He goes, oh, yeah, of course I do. I went to shoes, footwear. And I'm like, oh, you just changed positions, forgot about breast protection, but in hindsight,
• 14:19
  That was a blessing too because I think we were too early for the market then. So then he put me on to the buyer, the football buyer. I flew up there. We had a great chat meeting and then they went into store, which has been, you know, great. But before that, end of 2020, we started working with SportsPow, which are regional stores, and then we're also going into intersport this coming February, which are more regional stores.
• 14:44
  Was that kind of the main driver for you then in your revenue? It's partnerships and retail and more of that focus versus direct-to-consumer sales via the website? Well, we do obviously do direct-to-consumer, but the pattern now is it's all overseas buyers. So we're really working out the best way to really launch sales.
• 15:09
  globally. So at the beginning of this year, I think I said this in the One Roof thing, but I became a top 10 finalist for a VC company in the US. So it's called Stadia and they have an accelerator program. So there were 750 global sports brands that applied and I made it, as I said, to top 10, I had to go to St. Louis, Missouri and pitch, which I think I settled. So I was glad I didn't have to go back there because I didn't like it there.
• 15:39
  Great experience, though. It was amazing. I took my daughter with me because she was going off to Canberra to ANU this year, but she's out of business herself, which she started at 16. She's actually made more money than I've made, which is pretty disappointing. I said, you can come and watch how this all works. So we had to pitch in front. Well, I did have to pitch in front of 100 judges, and they were from Under Armour to Adidas, Nike. There were obviously investors as well. There was people from the college system. There were people from the Olympic Committee.
• 16:08
  And they all had to vote. And I didn't make the top five, which is fine because I was the only woman, I was the only consumer product and I was up against betting and esports. Wait, no women made it into the top five?
• 16:24
  No, not a sole founder, no. That's crazy. I know. Oh, man. Did you call that out? Well, I sort of didn't at the time, but I did afterwards because I was like, this is really weird. They were all guys. There was one woman, but she had already had $6 million in investment, but she was part of a, you know, like she was, I think she had about 2% in the company, but she was pregnant and probably, you know, really pregnant
• 16:52
  pulling on those heartstrings. I mean, she was amazing. She pitched a zillion times. We couldn't actually watch each other's pictures, but I just knew from talking to her how amazing she was. She was rolled out to do it, but she was not a, you know, a majority shareholder. Yeah, or a female, you know, initial founder.
• 17:08
  Just part of the gang. And it was tech too. Wow, that's really disappointing. Really disappointing. I know. Look, there had been before. There's a great company called Ida Sports, Laura Youngson. I don't know if you've heard of her. And she developed the female football boot. So she's a number of years ahead of me. But she did make it to their top five.
• 17:27
  They did it on Zoom, though, because it was in COVID. So she didn't have to fly halfway across the world. Now, one of the reasons I didn't want to have to go back either was my ticket alone was $5,000. And everyone else was flying from interstate from the US. I was the only one from such a far away place. Okay.
• 17:43
  I'm wondering, like, though, since kind of doing that, was there any follow-up from those companies? You know, having someone in the audience that is high up in Adidas or having someone that is, you know, high up in Under Armour, did that lead to anything after? Well, it was interesting because I actually got a cease and desist from Under Armour in 2021.
• 18:03
  Afterwards? No, no, no. So this is before. So before, just when I was, you know, I was in the middle of COVID, a cease and desist from their Washington, D.C. office. It was a nine-page letter of saying everything that I wasn't allowed to do because I was using the word armour.
• 18:20
  And that costs a lot of money in itself because my legal team here are like, you're just going to have to change the name. I said, no, I'm not. I said, there's at least 300 other businesses using the word armour. And I said, no, I'm in the wrong class. You put me in class 28 for my trademark. That's apparel. I should be in class nine, which is PPE. And no one agreed with me until I found a lawyer who agreed with me. So it was like, even I had a New York lawyer who kept saying, no, you're going to have to change your name. I think his name was Chip.
• 18:49
  by the way, Chip said, you're going to have to change your name. And I'm like, no, I'm not. So we did withdraw and then go into class nine, which is where we fitted. And so their head of innovation was at that pitch. But I was told by the stadia people, she was watching my pitch, but she wouldn't judge me. And she actually wouldn't even meet me. God, I feel like you're just dropping all these...
• 19:15
  disappointing bombs over here. I'm like, what the hell? That is so bizarre. It was so bizarre because one woman to woman, she should be like loving me that I'm actually doing something that complements their apparel. As I said, you know, I'm not...
• 19:32
  infringing on them at all. Other than the word armor, my product fits beautifully in your crop top like it does a Nike one, like it does Adidas, Puma, et cetera. So it was a bit, it was a bit bullish. Wow. That is really, I mean, then there's the other side of me that's like, oh God, are we ever even surprised at this point? Because it just feels like it's this stuff on repeat at the moment where you just see these things, like, especially on LinkedIn, I'm like, oh,
• 19:59
  you know, all-male lineups and fake women AI profiles and, you know, all this other stuff that's going on. Oh, God, that's like infuriating. Okay, so that was last year or that was 2021? No, that was this year. That was this year. But when I got this, yeah, cease and desist, that was 2021. So I went backwards to that story because she was actually one of their, you know, their head of innovation was actually in the audience watching me.
• 20:24
  And if I sort of thought about it before I was told, you know, five minutes before I was going on that that was the case and I was number one too. So, you know, microphones weren't working and all these things at the same time and I'd never done a stand-up picture in my life, we're talking to slides, but I did. I might have said, hold on, she can leave the room because she wants to hear all about my business but she won't judge me or, you know, she's pulling back her vote. Right.
• 20:52
  Oh, that's very bizarre. That's very, very bizarre. I know. It was bizarre. What do I want to talk about now? I want to talk more about, I still want to stick in the marketing kind of space and understand more of what's working. And you mentioned you've had to educate the market a lot. So things haven't worked as well, but kind of your experience in what's working well now and what you've tried that hasn't worked.
• 21:13
  Sure. Well, ambassadors obviously are key. Influential athletes have been amazing. Some, like Libby Birch, who's a physio, the day I met her, she was like, love it, great, fantastic. She got it. She's been amazing. And it's not even about the elite athletes wearing it as such. I mean, of course I want them to wear it, but, you know, a lot of them don't want to change the way they play their games.
• 21:38
  and that's fair enough, but it's getting, it's influencing the grassroots girls. So then it creates the habit and then it's a no brainer. The elite athletes just take it through. So that has been amazing and worked really well, but we, we clearly need to do more, but that's where investment in the business will help me be able to scale it because marketing is so key to the success of our product. Are you going down the pathway of investment? Is that the plan?
• 22:06
  Absolutely. But I've changed my way on that. Maybe two years ago, I would have said, just give me the money. Just give me the money. Now I want strategic investment. I want, you know, people to share the vision, to want to be able to grow it, to see the potential. I've had some great conversations and, you know, you've got people who get it straight away and then you've got great conversations with people you think get it. And then they send you an email and you're like, you just didn't get any of it.
• 22:34
  Okay, because you just asked me a really weird question about the product that we went over and things like that. So it's really about, you know, having the operations guidance because I open a bazillion doors, but me working on my own with help where I can afford it, we're not doing the job well enough to get it to where it needs to be. And that, you know, that's just key. Right. Yeah.
• 22:59
  And when we're thinking about the marketing that hasn't worked for you, is that kind of in the paid advertising space and more of that area? Or is there other things you've tried that didn't work?
• 23:11
  Yeah, absolutely. So SEO was not great and I haven't revisited that yet because the keywords weren't there. So we were having to do keywords that might have been mouth guard or shin guard. You know, nothing was there that was, you know, people weren't Googling for breast protection. And a lot of the advertising too, which has been digital, has changed
• 23:35
  I suppose, missed the spot there because same thing again, you know, we're meant to be targeting the parents, but I'm a parent and I wasn't even seeing my own ads. I was the right demographic and I wasn't even getting them served to me. So we're sort of taking a step back. Oh,
• 23:50
  I'm actually working now on the flow because I had my website redone last year, but no one mentioned the flow, did they, to me? So I haven't been hassling people who get on my website. So, you know, I've needed to find some money to be able to do that. And then once we've got the flow, we'll then start reinvesting in the digital advertising. Got it. My main thing that everyone laughs at me, I just want one billboard. I love billboards. Billboards would be great. I love billboards too. It's also just such a fun moment for a brand, I think.
• 24:19
  And I really like the rock posters. I love that grungy look like a band under a train bridge and things like that. And it was, oh, Susie, and if they don't see them, I'm like, but I really want a billboard. Yeah.
• 24:33
  Because it's such a good talking point. Do it in partnership with someone. I know. Get someone on board that you can do it in partnership with someone. I would love to see that. Like in partnership with the Socceroos or in partnership with the Matildas or in partnership with the, I mean, I'm sorry, not in the sports industry here, so I'm probably saying all of this wrong, but in partnership with FIFA or something, you know?
• 24:56
  Absolutely. Absolutely. And as I said, it's such a good, being stuck in a traffic jam, looking at that and just contemplating, what the hell is that? Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Peeking curiosity. Yeah. And it's a conversation piece. You're right. That's actually a really good, really clever idea. I also feel like for you, an obvious move, and I assume that you're already doing this, is just working directly with schools, no? Yeah.
• 25:22
  Well, I decided to go principals, not PE departments, because, you know, they might change, you know, very quickly. Whereas the principal's there. I sent a letter and a sample, not early this year, last year, to every principal and not one of them responded. Yeah.
• 25:38
  Really? Not one. Wow. That's interesting. But we're doing, the schools is a target market in the UK because there's an affiliation I've got over there who go in and fit bras into the private school system. Like our private school system here, they all have to do sport. The public school system don't. And unfortunately, the public school system there, a lot of people are, you know, it's very hard to even pay for their lunches. So it is...
• 26:05
  Absolutely, it's a school thing. But again, it's all about the education. And you need one amazing principal who says it's a duty of care. I'm making this an option for the girls. They need to know about it.
• 26:19
  Isn't it weird, though, like for you, you have two girls. Could you not just be in the principal's office for your next meeting and be like, cool, like this meeting's actually going to be about this. Like this is I'm starting close to home here. Interestingly enough, my elder daughter, who's now the one at uni in two years ago, we fitted out their whole football team. Now, that football team never lost for a whole season. And every other school thought it was because they were wearing boob armor. Oh, that's amazing. Wow. And they were undefeated.
• 26:48
  Because, yeah, I feel like for you, your, like, grassroots marketing of just, like, girls who are wearing it and then in the changing room other girls being like, oh, what is that? Like, you know, it would spread that way. Absolutely. And that's why we did Cool Colours because, you know, girls don't want to talk about boobs and, you know, they're not – so it's like, what the hell is that? Oh, it's cute. It's pink. Oh, I can have an orange one. I mean, we can even do logos on them. Now, in saying this, and this always is my sort of what I talk about, is...
• 27:18
  You've never had a guy question putting on a cricket box. No. They would never question that because those crown jewels are more important than anything in the world. So it doesn't even fit snug. There's two sides. There's a youth. There's a men's. They sweat. It's made of the same plastic as Lego. It doesn't even absorb the impact. And they crack and apparently pinch. But not one man would question that.
• 27:41
  It's so interesting. It's so interesting. Isn't it bizarre? And you'd have a zillion in the PE department at a high school. Yeah. Let's hope they own their own, God. Literally. But they wouldn't question it. And apparently someone said to me the other day in one of the Australian matches the other day, the guy walked out to bat and he forgot his box and someone ran out. The game stopped and they ran out his cricket box.
• 28:06
  Wow. Yep. Crazy. It is indeed. The gender gap in, you know, another area. That's right. That's right. Exactly. I want to talk about, you know, with 2024 basically on our doorstep now, I want to talk about goal setting and how you're kind of thinking about your big goals for next year and what you're really excited about achieving.
• 28:28
  Sure. So we have really identified that soccer and AFLW are really where the growth is in female sport. Obviously, AFLW here, but soccer currently has 30 million girls playing. FIFA have predicted that by 2026, it'll be 60 million.
• 28:46
  around the globe. That's amazing. Can you imagine if we had a mandated product like a mouth guard or like shingards or like a cricket box, you couldn't play without having breast protection, which is so key and so important. So that is one of our goals. My long-term goal is to make it mandated globally, but we're really hitting our strides with the international market for next year.
• 29:14
  And when you think about, you know, that goal, for example, with FIFA coming out and saying that it's going to be 60 million in the next couple of years, how do you develop a partnership with someone like FIFA? Like, is that just you reaching out, you know, following up, all that kind of stuff? Or like, what does that look like? How do you get a partnership with someone like that?
• 29:32
  Well, interestingly enough, I did speak to the head of women's in Switzerland maybe two years ago, Sarai Behrman is her name, and she was divine. She's like, I love your product. I love what you're doing. I just don't know how we can work together. And then I've spoken to FFA here.
• 29:49
  They were sort of, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It really needs to, I suppose, if we can accelerate the process of going down the path of mandate, then there's, you know, it's just going to happen, isn't it? But it's not that easy. Yeah. Because even when I have conversations with women, some love it, some don't get it. So you've got to be speaking to the right person. Yeah, absolutely.
• 30:16
  Something I want to talk about more on the show because it's something that I struggle a lot with and I'm just curious to understand how other founders are handling it is all kind of around, you know, we all face challenges. Business is difficult. But mental health specifically, I feel like anytime I speak to someone, you know, it feels pretty like...
• 30:35
  Across the board, people struggle in lots of areas of life. I guess what I'm saying is more like entrepreneurship is hard. Burnout and overwhelm is a real thing. And I'm just wondering for you, you know, have you experienced that and how do you kind of balance, you know, life and taking care of your brain?
• 30:56
  Well, I love that question because, you know, no one tells you when you're a startup about the emotional side of it. And I suppose the whole cash flow thing, which I never thought about, it has been the biggest thing that keeps me up at night. Now, I'm at the age where, you know, you don't sleep that well anyway. So at two o'clock in the morning, if I wake up, that brain starts going and everything is worse in the middle of the night. And I'm like, yeah.
• 31:21
  I'm going to have to shut the doors. I'm going to have to, oh, this is just terrible. And then my husband starts snoring and I'm, you know, it's just, it is, it can be really stressful. And, you know, I'm so obsessed with this business too that I used to do a lot of sport. I really have given up a lot of the things that I normally do, which is so key for my mental health. And that was what I was thinking about the other night when I was awake.
• 31:44
  I need to start doing those daily walks. I need to get back into tennis. You know, I used to play tennis three times a week. I haven't played in three years. And, you know, that's why we want to keep the girls in sport. And by protecting them, that keeps them in sport, not only for the physical side but the mental side. Yeah. And how, you know, we all know how good we feel after we've burned some energy. You react better. It's just...
• 32:08
  But it's a really important question because I think no one thinks of that. I've got three kids too. I had a son finish year 12 this year, a daughter last year, and I've got one year off and then another one doing year 12. So, you know, they do say to me, mum, are you listening? I'm like, yep. I don't know. No, I'm not there. Yeah. Yeah, it just feels like, I don't know, maybe it's this year specifically, but I've spoken to so many people who are struggling and I feel like it just –
• 32:35
  Yeah, it's interesting to hear other people's perspectives about what people are doing to kind of make sure that their mental health is okay. And it's also just hard to kind of like understand, you know, of course, we do all the lifestyle changes. We do the walking and we do the movement and we do the things that we're meant to do to tick the box of like this is good for our soul and our mind. But it still feels like the burnout and the overwhelm is something that's hard to conquer.
• 33:01
  I think in the middle of the year when I was really having cash flow problems, I actually think I said to my mum, I really could have a nervous breakdown. Like I felt...
• 33:11
  everything. It doesn't help also, you know, the interest rates. Everything's really expensive. My husband's a real estate agent. They've had a really crappy year across the board because, you know, people are too scared to buy. Everyone's thinking that, you know, their houses are worth more than they are. So there's a lot of financial stress just in life. Yeah. Yeah. I agree. I agree. School fees, everything. It's just not, nothing's easy. Nothing is easy. Bloody hell.
• 33:38
  Knowing what you know now, you know, you're a few years into the journey. You've had some wonderful success. You are, you know, you've learned a lot, it sounds like. If you were to start a new business tomorrow, it could be any business, but just in general, you were starting a new business tomorrow. And for our listeners who are in the early stages of building a business, what would you do the same and what would you do differently next time around? Yeah.
• 34:03
  I think I wouldn't try and create a new market. I think that's been the biggest struggle of all, but that's what I'm obsessed with. So I have to. If you want instant cash, don't do that. And I think, you know, I just look at my daughter's business. She just wakes up and she's got sales in her account. What does she do? Yeah.
• 34:21
  So she's got a brand called Amoran Barchi, which are basically, she started off by doing Terry Tailing shorts. She now does, she did then Terry Tailing tracksuit pants. She does, but she also designs her logos and things like that. She's got the most divine polar fleece vests coming in. And she basically drops it and it's all teenagers upwards and it sells out overnight. Oh, my God. We need to have her on the show.
• 34:46
  We need to book her in. She's the one who just went in at the front door. So she's at uni studying commerce design, which will hopefully help with her business. So, you know, knowing what you know, as in doing what you do is an easier way to start a business. But if you're obsessed with it, with something, just go for it. Because I don't regret anything. Everything is part of...
• 35:10
  me today. If I didn't have those rejections and bad things happen, the good things wouldn't have happened. So it's all part of it. And that's exciting. Absolutely. It's just the money.
• 35:22
  Yeah. I mean, hell yeah. Amen. I actually wrote that on Instagram yesterday. If you're building a business, especially in the early stages, just you've got to be obsessed with the problem. And, you know, the solution can change, things can iterate, things can pivot, but you've got to be obsessed with the problem that you're solving and the customer that you're solving it for. And then everything else will eventually follow. Yeah.
• 35:44
  You've just got to keep that North Star. Absolutely. And my customer has changed. The customer that I created for was two daughters. The customer then became every athlete in the whole entire world. And now the customer has also become defence and military. And people in professions where their breasts can be impacted. In COVID, I had nurses reach out who were getting attacked in frontline emergencies. Dog groomers who were getting bitten on the boobs. Police officers in the riots.
• 36:14
  And as I said, you know, we've got military who their body armour is hurting their breasts. So, you know, every day I wake up, there's a new customer.
• 36:23
  Wow, that is amazing. Gosh, so cool. I'm just such a hype girl. I really love it. We like to wrap up these episodes with a series of six quick questions. Some of them we might have already asked, but I asked them all the same. It's part of what we do over here at Female Startup Club. So question number one is, what's your why? Why are you waking up every day and working on boob armor?
• 36:46
  I want to change the world and make sure that no girl has to go through what I've been through. And I bet, even though you didn't play contact sport, it's not just contact, it's ball, it's impact. I bet your lumps were caused by something along the way. It's to make sure the girls are protected and it's to bring the confidence because once they're protected, it changes everything. Yeah, I love that. I love that. Question number two is what's been your favourite
• 37:17
  There's lots. I get so excited. I'll tell you one. Oh, my God. Share a few, please. Okay. So the English Rugby League team wore it in the World Cup and one of the girls had had an injury prior. So they sent me some videos of her talking and she had the cutest little voice. And it was just, you know, she said, I think. And I loved the way she was so passionate about it. And people I know in the UK have come across her in her club and stuff, and she will not go on without it. So that made my year. Yeah.
• 37:45
  It's, I suppose the testimonials is what I love the most. So, you know, the real people out there just sending me the loveliest messages saying it's changed their life. And I'm like, you know what? That is the best thing I could ask for. Yeah, that's powerful. Really powerful.
• 38:03
  Question number three is what's a go-to resource for you at the moment when it comes to business learning, something like a podcast or a book or a newsletter that you can recommend to other small business owners, business owners, entrepreneurs, founders? I have to say a coffee date. I like meeting up with people who you chitter-chat,
• 38:25
  And it's all about real life for me. And if you can't meet up because you're in different states, it's having a Zoom and you'll find something and some way you can help each other.
• 38:36
  I love that. Yeah, it's so true. I think when you can find connection with people and learn from each other through networks and meetups and coffee dates, it can also be so powerful to have people to get support from and lean on. And if I had, I've got a list of podcasts, you're obviously on the top, that if I had the time, when I'm on my walk, I will listen to them. Newsletters or reading? No, because I'll do Kath and Kim reading.
• 39:03
  What's Kath and Kim reading? You know Kath and Kim. I know Kath and Kim, but what's their reading? So you know how she reads like that? She reads, she doesn't read it, she just does that. Because she's read about three words.
• 39:14
  Oh, my God, I love that. It's more like a scan because then I'm on to something else. So I need a conversation and visuals are great for me. As I said, that's why I love Female Startup Club because I love your colours and I love everything that it is visually. Yeah, I think that's the same for me, actually. I need things very visually pointed out to me and, yeah, to keep my attention I need to be stimulated in what I'm looking at.
• 39:41
  Question number four, how do you win the day? What are your AM or PM rituals or habits that make you feel happy and successful and motivated? Gosh, in life or in business? Either. Well, business is when I kick some goals, whether it's an order, whether it's meeting someone who loves what I'm doing. They make me do a little dance. I get very excited by things like that. And in life, it's just making sure my family's happy.
• 40:11
  At the end of the day, if someone's upset, I go to bed upset. Or struggling or stressed. Yeah, you feel the pain. Or a broken heart. You feel that pain like it's yourself. Oh, yeah. Gosh. Question number five is what's been your worst money mistake in business and how much did it cost you? Worst money mistake. I did a few. I've done a few sponsorships.
• 40:39
  which another time in COVID when I got a bit bored. And really, there was no return on investment. Some of them I haven't even heard of. And then I just get a bill.
• 40:49
  bill. There's a few $5,000 bills around. And yeah, they add up. Going off focus. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's the thing. Things add up. You think $5,000 isn't a lot in the moment. I mean, it is a lot. It actually is a lot of money. But you kind of are like, oh, this seems like a good idea or $1,000 over here or $500 over here. But then you look back over the course of a year or five years and you're like, damn. Yeah.
• 41:16
  Lit a lot of money on fire. I know. And I think when I did it, I thought, okay, well, I'm going to be making this money, you know, within the next few months. And then I'll have someone who will really drive what they're doing and make sure they're doing it. But, you know, like, it doesn't happen that quickly. Yeah, absolutely. Last question. Question number six. You've already shared so many good ones. But what is just a crazy story, good or bad, from your journey in building Boob Armour?
• 41:43
  Well, I can think of a crazy experience. My first retail deal was done with a company, a big one down here, and he sort of changed, you know, as we went along, didn't pay their bill, didn't pay their bill, then was trying to tell me it would be on sale or return. I'm like, no, it won't be on sale or return. And it was a lot of numbers. Then he told me he was going to discount it, that I was too expensive, and then I said, okay, we'll just take all the stock out, which was covered in their store stickers that actually –
• 42:13
  I could never use a game. So that was just a guy who was trying to bully me into the way he thought it should work, but it was never discussed. He's like, yeah, we always discuss title return. I'm like, we never discuss title return. So that was a horrible story. And really, you know, you do learn on those. So...
• 42:31
  I mean, they'd be, oh, but the great ones are when I go around to like a football club and do a fitting and, you know, the girls put them on, we've got the samples, and then they won't take them off because, and they start like jumping boob to boob with their, because they know they can't feel anything and they're great. And then I'm like, if you take those off,
• 42:49
  I can give you a new pair in a package. But they make my day. And, you know, I could travel like it might be 8 o'clock at night, 200km away, and we come home and I'm just like so happy. I'm like, that's made my day.
• 43:02
  Oh, my God, yeah. That is, yeah, brilliant. Honestly, Susie, thank you so much. I've loved chatting with you. I'm such a hype girl. I'm so excited to watch your journey and cheer for you on the sidelines. Oh, thank you. And everything you're doing is phenomenal, so keep doing you. Oh, thanks. I'll try.
• 43:30
  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.
• 43:54
  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.
• 44:17
  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.