Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / From lawyer to building two iconic consumer brands: The Daily Edited and In The Round House with Alyce Tran

Transcript

From lawyer to building two iconic consumer brands: The Daily Edited and In The Round House with Alyce Tran · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  This is Elise Tran for Female Startup Club. Hi, welcome back to the show. If you're new here, I'm Dune, your host and hype girl in business. Every week, we learn from seven, eight, and nine figure female founders to understand their blueprint in business when it comes to money, marketing, and mistakes.
• 0:29
  Women like Elise Tran, the co-founder of The Daily Edited and more recently, In the Roundhouse. In this episode, we're talking through Elise's approach to combining work and entrepreneur life and how she was building The Daily Edited versus her current business In the Roundhouse.
• 0:46
  And just quickly while I've got you here, you might have noticed already that I've been talking more and more about our newsletter. And that's because we've been crafting it to be an absolute go-to resource that delivers you weekly insights, resources, and extra content to keep you in the loop on all things women in business.
• 1:06
  like industry news that you should know about, quick lessons and strategies that you can use today, up-to-date grants, and special opportunities that we're offering just to our newsletter subscribers, aka more features and spotlights on you. It's totally free to sign up. Go to femalestartupclub.com and I would love to see you there. Let's jump into today's episode. This is Elise for Female Startup Club.
• 1:36
  Elise, hi, welcome to the Female Startup Club podcast. Hi, thanks for having me. Really excited to be here. I'm so excited to have you. Gosh, I feel like this has been a long time coming. I have this memory of maybe like when I very, very, very first started Female Startup Club, I'd sent you like some questions on email or something like way back in the day. And ever since then, I've been like, she's got to come on the show. And now here we are three years later.
• 2:04
  No, great. No, thanks for having me. How's your day going? Some days I think are going to be quite easy. And then all of a sudden, you know, they become really jam-packed. So I know you introduced me as one of the founders of In The Roundhouse, but I actually, and this is very interesting, also have a part-time job working for someone else. And I think this will unfold in our conversation. But I work three days a week for another business called Reward Star. It's now called LTK. Yeah.
• 2:34
  And there's a reason why I do that. And, you know, you can feel free to ask me about it. I will. Let's start there. Yeah. So I think I would now describe myself as the ultimate slashy in a sense that I think I have a very, I've created a very non-traditional career path for myself. And you just said you moved back to Sydney and you started.
• 3:00
  have seen like, obviously Sydney is great, but to be able to see that pot of dolphins from your house one day, you kind of need to have like either a very, very successful business or, you know, have some way of like being able to purchase that house where you can see the dolphins from in like 10 years time. Oh my God. No, I was on the beach. It wasn't from my house. But I want it to be from my house, right? This is why I work like three different, three or four different jobs.
• 3:30
  because you know, like I'm just like kind of going for it. But essentially, so I work three days a week for LTK because I quite like it. You know, I work with a lot of different brands on their influencer strategy. Like it's an area of marketing that I find very interesting. Like I love influencer marketing and I built my first business, The Daily Edited, really through working with content creators, right? And being a content creator myself.
• 3:52
  So I'm very interested in that space. So as a result, even though, you know, it's work for in another business, it's in a very enjoyable stream of topics that I like. But obviously, you know, like there's still the contact time, meetings, drafting documents, things like that, right? So obviously there's still that. But it gives me the three days a week gives me enough flexibility to work on other things. So, for example, work.
• 4:19
  The business in the roundhouse is a really good business, but it's got a very experienced team in it. So a lot of the team members that I worked with at the Daily Edited work at in the roundhouse now. They found their way back to me eventually. And so I've got a very good team. And so as a result, there's not enough in that business for me to work a 40 hour week unless I was doing like very manual functional things that I can easily get someone else to do.
• 4:48
  So in that business, I really, I'm only doing content and marketing strategy, product planning, things like that. But then obviously things like, you know, the boring side of the business, like accounting, freight operations all run by different team members. So there's not enough in there. Like I'm not, I can't be shooting 38 hours a week for you. This doesn't make sense. So there's that. And then I also do, um,
• 5:14
  a bit like consulting to a few different larger businesses. And so I always, I mean, I find that quite interesting. I always like feel quite chuffed when someone reaches out to me and I'm like, oh, you already know what you're doing. And they're like, oh no, you know, like, no, we, you know, would like your opinion. I'm always quite interested in that. And I'm also like looking at working on new businesses as well, because obviously I love consumer goods.
• 5:43
  I don't think it's going to end within the roundhouse. Like, you know, that is an interesting business. Um, but like I have a lot more to give in other consumer goods categories. So yeah. Anyway. So as a result, I think I'm a very interesting working professional cause I, you know, I started my career as a lawyer. So, you know, here we are doing all of these things. Um,
• 6:06
  you know, keeping it exciting, keeping it fresh to try to make ends meet. I love that for you. And I love, I'm so big on lifestyle design, like figuring out like what works for you and then making it work in your favor. And it sounds like for you specifically having this like three days a week, working on these really exciting, large scale campaigns, I'm assuming, and then having this creative outlet where you're able to do all the things you love, but delegate all the things you don't love.
• 6:34
  Yeah. And you spoke to me briefly about before, like who listens to this, right? And one of the things is, is I,
• 6:41
  not having all of my eggs in one basket with that business in their own house means that there's less pressure on it. So, you know, I'll get on a call with our digital marketing manager and she'll be like, you know, I'm not going to lie. Like, you know, I set quite high targets because we're not, you know, gap to goal is still, you know, 20% or whatever. And if I had everything in that business, I'd feel quite upset.
• 7:06
  And there's a lot of things happening in the market and especially in a product category like in the roundhouse where you can't control, you know, there's only so much you can control in terms of growth profile and stuff like that. So it does help. I feel like people get stressed when they're running a small business because they're relying on it for their income and I think it is really hard in this economic environment to
• 7:32
  on businesses where you are creating a product that's a discretionary purchase, not like an essential. I think obviously we all know that. I don't even know if you're sitting here and talking about interest rates. We know what's happening. Yeah, that's obviously not my area of expertise, but obviously that's going to impact people that have these styles of businesses. And then you've got to work out, well, how does that, how am I going to make my life work, right? So, yeah. Yeah, and I think what's also interesting is like,
• 8:04
  I always say to people, don't quit your day job. Like give yourself the freedom to build this business where you can invest your own money and you can take that pressure off where you have to kind of make things back and you're making the decisions based on like out of like sometimes desperation instead of basing it on what's best for the business and how the business will grow kind of organically over time. And so if someone's kind of like, when should I leave my job? It's like, well... I didn't leave my...
• 8:31
  job, you know, for the Daily Editor, the first business, until it was quite scaled. Like people were quite shocked by that because that was my first thing that I ever did in this space. Like, you know, I didn't know whether, A, it was going to end and whether, you know, what site and what potential it had. It was just too, it was hard to tell at the time.
• 8:52
  I don't know, but I'm very conservative in my approach like that. Right. How big was the business, you know, monthly rev or annual rev? The business had like eight employees before I even left. What? Oh, my God. How many years in was that? Like a year into it. Like it was that one was very quick. So this is the thing, you know, I think.
• 9:14
  The daily editor grew really quickly in like a five-year period. So like call it 2000. I left my job as a lawyer and show my age in 2015. And then between 2015 and 2020, that business really exploded, right? In the Roundhouse has been a different, like a slower growth profile. It's totally a different category.
• 9:34
  very niche. So, you know, just not that kind of explosive growth I had with that first business. So, you know, and as a result, like, you know, I don't know, it's really great when you kind of, it's not like one or the other is better actually financially as well. So it's just how much work it takes. And I think having, for me, it's like dealing with the contrast, like I'm actually still dealing with how to run a business that
• 10:01
  has a more niche clientele that seriously, I'm actually still kind of like, oh, I think, how do I, how do I deal with that? So like, I can just put this product everywhere. It is a certain stage in life that you would buy this product. It's a certain care factor for home and interior, and then a certain aesthetic as well. So it's like very niche. How did you land on this as like, what was the light bulb moment for you to start this business?
• 10:31
  Oh, yes. I know. Sorry, because we just went around in circles. But I love that. Sure. But basically, In the Roundhouse actually was born out of something that happened at the Daily Editor. So my friend, so the co-founder of In the Roundhouse is Brooke Bickmore. We've been friends for since we were in like year seven. Oh, my God. We met at school. Yeah. Cute. And Brooke
• 10:54
  had a big career in magazines. So she was an editorial coordinator at like Elle magazine and went to Jones at the David Jones magazine, various things. So we've been friends and sort of in the same industry for a number of years. And when she came back from London, like you, she wanted like something fun and stuff for her, you know, the house that she moved back into. And she was talking to me about it and I was like, oh, I don't know if I want to do that. Like I'm extremely busy with the daily. I said, I don't know why you would even ask me to do this. It's crazy. And...
• 11:23
  Then I started doing a lot of brand activations, you know, the classic things like dinners with influencers, lunches with influencers at the table. I did find it quite hard to find unique product to set the table with, like because you'd want to go on. And then I was like, oh, you know, maybe there's something here. I'm happy to, you know, I'm happy to do this with you. So that is where In the Roundhouse started. Like I do feel there is...
• 11:50
  a niche and obviously the business has gone this far because obviously you're fulfilling some sort of niche to be here to talk to you about it but it is a niche whereas the daily industry had such broad appeal like you know I could sell that product to anyone like I could walk
• 12:06
  into Bondi Junction and speak to a man about a wallet and a phone case, um, or an older lady about, um, a tote bag and a, what, you know, like, and a child about a little mini school, but God, like that product was super broad. Right. So if I were to, I think about it, if I were to walk into Bondi Junction now, I say Bondi Junction for those who don't listen, it's just like my local shopping center. Like if I had to drive and park and go to like a center, that would be where I go. Um,
• 12:35
  I don't know who I would approach to be like, buy my things, you know? Yeah. That's so interesting. Do you think when you think about like the journey with The Daily Editor and being so broad but kind of like not having too much, like it sounds like that was just the way that it was. It was super broad and then you've launched this new business where – There was no intention behind it. Exactly. A lot of it comes from, okay, when you think about it, what I say to people is so many people email me with like,
• 13:04
  queries and things like that. And I'm like, that's great. But, you know, each journey is really different. I don't like to give advice to anyone really, unless it's on something specific. So I do. And that even then won't be advice. It'll be my opinion. Like even at LTK, I go, this is a strategy that I think will work really well. Most of the time people are like, yes, I think that will work really well or it's open to discussion. Right. So I work collaboratively with people. And I don't think people realize that in order to help someone, you sort of have to put in that kind of time to understand that.
• 13:33
  um that person's business what their challenges are and then address the issue that you may have expertise in right and you're never going to have expertise across all things so when people just ask me blanket questions about business I do find it very difficult and I say oh you know is there a specific question you can ask me so one of the things that people ask me are like what do you think of my idea right and you're just like oh no I never would pass judgment on a single idea that anyone would you know kindly ask my opinion on
• 14:01
  My only thing is I say is that you must really like it because in order to peddle it and sell it is essentially what you're doing in any format. You have to really believe and like it because otherwise it becomes really hard to do. So I always really loved everything that I created at The Daily Editor. I loved every single product, you know, and I like to use it. And so in talking to people about it, it was authentic, you know what I mean?
• 14:32
  tried to like push something. And even with LTK, the reason why I work for them is I, you know, used to be a client and I believe in the product and I think, you know, it works for brands. And so therefore I'm happy to put myself out there and tell other people that it is a good piece of technology to use. Now, and same within the roundhouse, like, you know, I like the products. Like I do think it's very fun to be able to
• 14:57
  have toast on a plate that is more interesting than why. It's just like, you know, I'm a visual person. That's not for everyone. Some people will be like, that is a really ludicrous and unimportant thing. But, you know, I get up in the morning, I have a stand-up breakfast, as I call it, like every morning, and then, you know, I read the paper and I like it to look nice.
• 15:15
  And so, you know, I believe in that. So if I were to meet, you know, I'll say to you now, like, well, tell me what place you want. I'd love to send them to you. Or, you know, let me know what colours you like. I'd love to put that together. I already have them. I already have it all. Exactly. But I enjoy that. So I think part of like,
• 15:32
  people and businesses, like, it's not necessary, as you say, like finding a niche or having some weird strategy behind it. That'll probably come and that maybe there will be a U-curve where it comes from Epa and the Red House, but it actually hasn't yet, I don't feel, where, yeah, you've just got to love it.
• 15:50
  It's very interesting. I think, yeah, having a business that kind of like has that almost cult following moment where it just like explodes. Everyone's wearing it. You can target any audience and then building something which is maybe a bit slower to get started and it's a different blueprint. In your opinion, you know, I know that you said at the beginning of this recording, this isn't just the end of the brand for you in terms of you're going to do other brands and other businesses and things like that.
• 16:13
  In your opinion, which would you go for if you had to choose, like, trying to find, like, something really broad or something really niche? Oh, God. It just depends on the lifestyle, right? Like, okay, so, you know, the privilege of being across different industries is meeting different people. And I have to say...
• 16:33
  People want different things. In this vertical of lifestyle products, let's call it, homewares, I think the businesses are quite smaller than on the fashion and beauty side.
• 16:46
  But the people are much more relaxed. They are running smaller businesses. Their teams are invariably smaller. Like if you look at the team side, let's say iconic brands in the space, like age, right? It's a really big business in fashion. Like it's a really big team, heavy retail, lots of headcount in retail, lots of headcount at head office. Running that is a completely different exercise to say running retail.
• 17:11
  Dinosaur Designs, which is also an iconic brand in the homewares, you know, the decoration, home decoration space that they'd call art. I don't want anyone from Dinosaur Designs listening to this art. Okay. That is an invariably a much smaller business than age. Right. And it's a
• 17:33
  you know, people get stressed over different things. I hear a lot of things again, okay, so people will come to me with initial ideas or HR issues that they're having with staff and things like that. And I think the bigger the business, the more issues you have, but obviously, right, it goes without saying, neither is right, you know, or wrong. It just is like, what, where are you at in life? What do you want to do with your time? And
• 17:56
  what will give you fulfillment because so many people in the homeware space are so lovely they're so creative they're so interesting they're so chill and I don't know if you would necessarily say that on the other on the other side of the other spectrum of consumer goods yeah that's so interesting
• 18:14
  I want to switch gears a little bit and talk about the money piece. It's something we always talk about on the show. Specifically, what did it cost for you to get started within the roundhouse? When you think about your first inventory, getting your website up and running, how did it start?
• 18:30
  maybe like under $100,000. Like the thing is, is to start businesses that don't cost a lot of money these days. You know, that's the thing. There's no barrier to entry. I don't believe in any vertical, whether that be beauty, fashion, lifestyle goods. In the consumer space, I could say it is, I think the only things that have higher barrier to entry if you want to make like electronics or whatever.
• 18:54
  you know, medical products and, you know, actual things that have a utility. Yes, 100%. So $100,000, that gets you to launch. And then how are you specifically launching that brand like in the beginning? How are you kind of getting the word out there and spreading the good word?
• 19:12
  It's through social, right? For me, it's like creating the content, working with other content creators to get the word out, really. And it's not been like this super fast trajectory because actually the business had grown organically until last year. Last year was the first year we did ad spend.
• 19:31
  And that's, you know, that was a conscious decision by me. You know, I could have launched with Brooke another business having the experience that I had and gone, well, no, we're going to spend a million dollars launching it and doing this. But I think off the back of the Daily Edition, I'll be very honest. And I've said to people before, I don't really know what I want to do yet. So this is, you know, like I didn't know where I'm like, am I just going to like put it all into homewares? I don't know.
• 19:55
  I still can, right? The thing is, is you can start like that and then go, well, actually now I'm going to put a million dollars into it and I'm going to open three stores. I'm going to do a heavy marketing strategy with a household name. You know, like I could do a collaboration. I mean, Donna Hay has like a homewares brand already, but like someone like that and really like get this out there. Like these are things that I could still do today. So I think it's interesting. I don't know. I, again, because I'm quite conservative,
• 20:24
  I think, you know, if I had my time again, I'd probably still start it small, even if I had more direction. But at the time, like, and I think this is the thing, you know, I wasn't sure. Like, I don't really, again, I think I come across as someone who has a real assertiveness around what they're doing. And obviously, day by day, I do. But bigger picture, I think, you know, I'm still kind of figuring that out.
• 20:50
  Aren't we all? Yeah. It changes all the time. The goalposts change all the time. Yeah, exactly, exactly. I kind of want people to feel like more comfortable by that. I think it makes me feel uncomfortable. So, yeah. So in the daily editor, it was like, you know, run that business to eventuate and exit. That's what that was.
• 21:11
  for whereas like I'm like I don't know now you know what I'm doing yeah like you could do this for 10 years it could say a side hustle or well not a side hustle but you know what I mean yeah I'm not sure yeah it's got more like open-ended outcome kind of thing yes I think it sort of develops I don't know then I speak to other people who have just started business like oh they've got a very clear idea around you know what their strategy is who they will get to invest who
• 21:39
  you know, like the steps are being put in place. So, yeah. For you, when you're thinking about like what shifts the needle in terms of growth, obviously you have the organic content piece and you have these, you know, you do content so well. But when it comes to things like you did a pop-up over the kind of festive holiday period at Bondi Junction, which is the Westfield here in Sydney or one of, retail feels like a really important piece for you and pop-ups and real-life things feel important. Yeah.
• 22:07
  I love retail. Again, it's because, yeah, again, it's like what you like. If you don't like doing it, then don't do it. I love retail. Like I go to the shops on the weekend as recreation. Right. So, you know, that to me is part of like a brand ecosystem.
• 22:37
  And it has changed a lot how people shop. And I just think you need to show up wherever they are to, in order to get in front of them. And so I think, you know, one of those places, it's not to say that like Bondi Junction is dead. It's just different to what it was pre-COVID. So yeah, it is, it is interesting. Like I think if you were to listen to one of my podcasts when I was running the Daily Edited,
• 23:00
  That was pre-COVID stuff, right? And I was very clear around a retail strategy. You know, like you work with this department store, you open stores here and that, like this will happen. I definitely think that has changed. And I think a lot of people still aren't sure what the correct or what a formula is that you could roll out to have successful retail. Because I do think there's a, when people go shopping, it's very,
• 23:27
  it's very high intent because people aren't like getting out of their pyjama, like their active wear that they're doing their call in that I was in before getting in the car for no reason. So it's super high intent. Dwell time I think is lower. So it's like, how do you kind of deal with some of these new factors and changes in behavior that are sort of being displayed by consumers at a broad level and apply that to your business?
• 23:50
  I feel like for me, if I look at my consumer behavior, I just still love the retail piece. I love going into a store. I love seeing something, feeling something, and then buying it in person as opposed to online. I still do buy so much stuff online, but I like both. So the thing is, I think people are browsing...
• 24:12
  A lot. I mean, to a degree, but then dwell time is down. That is what the data is actually showing. Like people are spending, like the amount of time in the malls sometimes is lower than what it was pre-COVID. But then a lot of execution, because people are so happy to buy online now, they'll, you
• 24:27
  execute the purchase online and so for example on the weekend at Mecca completely I'd never been like offered to purchase something online like they would normally try like the girls working there would normally to me if I wanted something and they didn't have it they would sell me something else like an equivalent but then they were like just just go online it's free delivery and I'm like okay interesting you know so even in I don't I'm not sure I
• 24:50
  that might have been one instance and I'm like going oh that make us new strategy no I'm not saying that but I do think you know that was an acceptable answer to me I didn't think that was silly
• 24:59
  you know? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. What is your approach being like such a creative person and so involved in the design of, of the brand and the look and feel of the brand? How do you approach product development and design for new pieces? Like, is it just like your creative brain being like, this is it? Or are you using data to influence? Oh my God. It's like just all these, like I keep doing things and it is a little bit data driven now. I've learned my lesson, you
• 25:27
  So I will create tons of product, like once every couple of weeks. There'll be all these new things, but things that then go into production are based on data. It's like, dude, that color combination does not sell. Or, you know, we've got to, we're holding too much inventory within that category. Like, even though this is cute, you might have to park it for later, you know, that kind of thing. So, you know, I think,
• 25:54
  you know, invent all the things and then kind of cull back based on data is how I operate. Do you also do, like, is your brand community driven? Like, would you do like, hey, here's the potential pre-order, like, or what do you think or vote? Don't do any of that. I don't like doing that. So not into that. I'm so not into that. Mainly because I feel like as a
• 26:17
  creator. I'm here to guide the consumer around what I think is cool and what I think is on trend and present that to them. I don't think that that is a, I don't, I don't know what, I can't think, what brands do you think work collaboratively with their customers to develop products?
• 26:35
  So there's like beauty brands like Volition Beauty that actually work with customers and influencers and things like that to develop product and then it's kind of voted upon. But that's different. Sure, that's different. That's like a collaboration with an influencer. That's different.
• 26:50
  But I'm trying to think, I feel like I spoke with someone recently who did very like kind of like this or this and like customer votes and then that one goes into production kind of thing. Not necessarily votes, but just like putting things out there to get the reaction. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get a poll. We do a survey around everything from service to pricing and stuff like that. I think that's always like good advice.
• 27:13
  especially when, okay, so I did a survey recently where you got $50 to fill out our survey. So, we were like, you know, like fill it out with some level of,
• 27:22
  you know, as a goodwill thing, please fill it out properly. Don't give us spam answers around, you know, where people thought we sat in the market, what other products they were buying, what they'd like to see from us in terms of product lines. And the reason why I did that, do you know why, is because we don't have a set network of physical stores, I'm not getting to speak to customers that much. So at The Daily Editor, I would always spend time in stores.
• 27:49
  at least like a day a week, you know, spread across. And so I interacted with customers a lot and I don't have that now. So we had to do something. So yeah, I would probably work collaboratively with customers in, you know, in that way. But I think it happens more organically. I would never go like just yes or no, these things. It would be maybe like
• 28:13
  getting a sense check from team members who are speaking to customers at a national or international level. You know, for us, it would be getting feedback from buyers at, you know, David Jones, Saks, things like that. And going, you know, cause that, that's sort of our first, we have wholesale in this business. Like wholesale is totally new to me. Right. And so that's like a whole different thing. And then, you know, I do, if I go into David Jones, I'm like quite creepy. Like, Oh,
• 28:41
  tidy all of the in the roundhouse displays and stuff. And then if customers are looking, I'll be like, hey, have you heard of this brand before? And they're like, who are you? Like, why are you talking to me? And, you know, generally I then introduce myself and people are like really excited by that and then they give me their two cents. But I don't have a lot of that at the moment with this brand. So, yeah. Yeah. And I do think it is important to have that really direct touch point with your customers to really understand what they're thinking, how they're feeling, what they love, what they don't love.
• 29:11
  At the start of this episode, we were talking a little bit about your job with Reward Style, which is now known as LTK. Yeah. LTK. Yeah. LTK. Yeah. I remember it very much as Reward Style. Yeah. And I kind of want to circle back to that to understand, like, what are the kinds of campaigns you're working with them on that are kind of working in the market right now? Like, what's the kind of stuff that's... Yeah. Oh, my God. I love this question.
• 29:34
  What's happening there? So with LTK, right, just to take it back a step for those who don't know what it is, but essentially there's sort of three key aspects to it.
• 29:45
  influencers who are approved by real live girls, girls working in Double Bay, let's say, are able to get access to an app or a desktop widget that enables them to make a commissionable link to over 10,000 retailers, right? And that can be anyone from Dior, Bottega, Matches, Iconic, in the roundhouse, what have you, across beauty, fashion, lifestyle. So you get the app, and I know you've been on it before, and so then you can create these links that you can put into your Instagram stories or create a whole storefront that you can put into your
• 30:15
  bio or what have you. So that's like the baseline of what the business offers. Then, you know, obviously a brand, you know, signs onto the platform, let's say in the roundhouse comes along, we would really love to be on the platform. We integrate. And then it's like, okay, cool. I might have some influencers who already have my product who are actively using LTK. So they start being able to earn commission off when they set a table using, you know, a commissionable link to tell their audience to shop the plates here or whatever.
• 30:45
  So then their audience member clicks on the link, makes a purchase and they'll get the kickback. The thing that we also do though, if only life were as simple as just plugging into a platform and growing your sales through influencer, right? You've still got to like engage with influencers on some level, whether that be at a minimum gifting them product and at a maximum paying them for content and then at another maximum collaborating with them on the product line or something. So yeah.
• 31:13
  At LTK, we've seen like a lot of different things work differently for different brands. So we do like all of the influencer work for the iconic from gifting through to brand activations, right? And I think when you work...
• 31:30
  You need to work in a holistic way, I think is the main point. I think choosing to do one thing or the other and expecting results in this ecosystem of influencer marketing is really hard. Like you kind of need a player to all. It'd be like kind of turning on, I guess, like what people would understand, let's say meta ads and only running them on one segment.
• 31:52
  You know, like you want to create the full funnel for your influencer marketing from awareness through to conversion. Someone's singing here, someone's singing there. Letting someone like us build out that funnel for you. We've seen success though. Yeah, okay, that sounds really daunting. For smaller businesses, we've seen success on things like
• 32:10
  rates for influencers are really high in Australia, like the fixed fee rates, and that's got nothing to do with LTK. That is a symptom of the market. And, you know, being savvy, like we can help brands be savvy with how to engage with influencers, whether that be paying them for stories only content or paying them for TikTok content where they haven't yet grown a large audience, but, you know, still have, you know,
• 32:33
  a lot of their trusted audience have started, you know, or their super fans start following them on new platforms, right? If you really love someone on Instagram and they start TikTok, you're likely to follow them and you're one of the super fans anyway. So you're kind of like filtering out those who didn't care that much anyway. So, you know, we work, like I work in this space with my team a lot. So I think people underestimate how specific this knowledge is
• 33:01
  you know, of the space. So, yeah, so we've seen any, you know, for me, I guess, yeah, in a nutshell, full funnel sort of approach and also, you know, being savvy where you're speaking to someone where you have a limited budget rather than being like, I'm just going to try to do it, you know. If you're not sitting on these channels all the time, interacting with these people all the time, it is hard to,
• 33:22
  um, execute. Like I think a lot of people listening to this wouldn't execute their own meta-ads or Google AdWords. Like you go to an agency or you bring somebody in house to do that because they are doing it day in and day out. They know how to optimize your ads. They know how to create those audience sets. They know, you know, A, B testing of keywords. Like who's actually who is a founder of a business who also does that? Maybe there is, sorry, someone's going to like DM me and be like, I know how to do all of that.
• 33:49
  I definitely don't. I would work with someone else. You certainly know how to, right? But you still work with someone else. And it's so, it's the same with this influencer stuff. And it's also about like, you know, if you work with an expert, they're able to like see the problem that's about to happen and quickly fix it or tweak it. Whereas you have to go through a learning curve and then you only learn in hindsight after you've made the mistake.
• 34:12
  Exactly. And I think this game, the influencer marketing space, changes like year on year. It's faster, faster movement. Like it is really hard. And for me, you know, managing a team in this space where the industry is constantly changing is actually quite hard. It's much faster movement than like Google AdWords have not changed that much fundamentally for five years. Right. Whereas influencer marketing, I think you or everyone here would be.
• 34:40
  changed. Like there was not, TikTok was not a thing five years ago, you know, or whatever. It's shifting daily. Yeah, exactly. Absolutely. Before we get into our last kind of six final questions, the six quick questions part of the episode, and I know you said you don't like to leave kind of broad advice where it's not specific, but if you did have to leave kind of with a lesson or a piece of advice to share broadly with our audience, what would that be?
• 35:09
  don't be afraid to make mistakes. Like, look at me, I'm just out there trying, even though I am very experienced. And, you know, some would consider me like an e-commerce and retail expert every day, you know, like I'm putting myself or the brand out there and we're ready to roll with it. And, you know, whatever the outcome may be, whether that be success, I don't believe in anything being a failure because you've obviously learned something
• 35:39
  So, you know, be prepared to make those mistakes and just go out there. Go out there and try. I love that. Yeah. Great piece of advice. Great lesson for us. Thank you so much. Okay. At the end of every episode, we ask a series of six quick questions, some of which we might have covered, some of which we might not have, but we ask them all the same. Question number one, what's your why? Why are you dedicating your time in building in the roundhouse?
• 36:05
  Because I love it. I love how fun it is and how easy it is to bring joy to a table and to the act of eating, you know, either a simple or very fancy meal. I just love even just opening my drawer, my cupboard, and seeing all the colour. And I'm like, how did I live without this before? I love that. I had a nice set of white Wedgwood crockery, you know, like it was lovely. It is lovely.
• 36:34
  But like now it's just the latest colour trends and the latest, you know, translation of what I think is fashionable into a plate. I mean, I love it. 100%. Love that. Love colour. Love joy on a table. For sure. Who doesn't? Question number two is what's been your favourite marketing moment so far? And this could be from The Daily Edited or in The Roundhouse. Ooh, yeah.
• 37:02
  Well, we did something really fun with Milk Run for Mother's Day in the roundhouse. So, like, you know, I always love, one of my things is, like, the last mile for delivery and I always, like, I'm in awe of these, like, fast delivery services. I'm like, if only I could have guys on bikes driving plates around. Like, obviously that for me is not feasible, but why can't it be? I often ask myself a question, but why can't it be if Milk Run are doing it? So, yeah.
• 37:30
  We did like a last minute Mother's Day thing that you could buy. You know, the interface is quite good. Like you click and buy it and it had, you know, egg cups, a platter, and then the things that you would make your mum breakfast with. And that was cute. It's just a very easy one. It doesn't, you know, they're not always having to be,
• 37:45
  giant, giant things. Like we've done giant things within the roundhouse with, you know, some people we collaborate with and things like that. And that's all good. But sometimes just like little ones are like easy to get off the ground and cute. Yeah, I love that. That sounds so sweet. Fun. And I also love having fun in business, like doing the things that bring you actually joy in those kind of moments, especially in marketing. That's where you can have fun and do the more grassroots kind of stuff. Mm-hmm.
• 38:12
  Question number three is what's your go-to business resource if you have to think about a newsletter that you're reading at the moment or a book that you're reading? Oh, newsletter or books. Actually, a more podcast. Oh, a podcast, yes, or a podcast.
• 38:27
  I like to keep myself up to date, right? So it's not like I'm looking for instruction for someone, but from someone, but I'm generally wanting to ensure that I have the latest in knowledge of the industry. So, you know, I like to listen to like glossy and business of fashion podcasts, even if it's someone who has a completely different business to me. They, everyone's got a little point of view. And so, you know, you take, you always take away one thing like that. I don't have, I don't look at anything that's extremely instructional. It's more.
• 38:56
  inspo. Yep. Love it. Me too. Question number four is how do you win the day? What are your AM or PM rituals and habits that keep you feeling happy and motivated? Yeah. So one of the things that I do say to young team members that, you know, work in my teams and things is, you know, they're like, oh, you know, I'm tired or whatever. And people describe me as an energizer bunny. Like I am able to just, you know, get, keep going and do things.
• 39:24
  And it is having a very consistent lifestyle. So like in the mornings, like I get up, I go to the gym every day. I have breakfast. I take that time. I read the newspaper and then I'm ready to go. And I go to bed and sometimes I miss out on stuff. Like, you know, my sister's like, I think you miss out on all the goss because you leave so early, you know. So even if I'm out, I...
• 39:46
  leave because I'm tired by then. It's not because I want to be selling the goss or the fun part. I'm generally home before midnight, no matter what, what is going on that, that evening, whether like, for example, on the weekend, it was Mardi Gras, as you know, um, but you know, a lot was going on, but I still went home and then that means on Sunday that I can still do work and things. Cause if I don't, then it really does mess up the week, given the volume of work that I'm doing at the moment.
• 40:14
  So, yeah, it's that, you know, you have to have some sort of boundary. Yeah. Routine and boundary. Yeah. Absolutely. I agree. Question number five, what's been your worst money mistake and how much did it cost you? Ooh. Do what? Okay, so I'm single and I live in a five-bedroom house, right, on my own. It's lovely. And I kind of bought the house because I –
• 40:42
  felt like I needed to buy something post the daily edited that was,
• 40:48
  was like, oh, I've done something with my life. My life is so silly. And then I listened to this like podcast excerpt from Mark Boris and he was like, Australians define themselves too much by their property. And I'm like, yes. And I totally agreed with the sentiment. It's not like it's a waste of money, but like, I don't use it. Someone was, I took a photo of my, like my mum came in like
• 41:15
  My parents have keys to my house. I know. But she came in one night and she was like, so you watch TV on your bed, on your laptop, when you have three TV areas in your house. Yeah, and I'm like, I don't, the TV is here for sure. One of them I've never turned on. You're like, this is it. The room is the best. Yeah, exactly. So I still operate, like this is a,
• 41:42
  two bedroom, small house. And I'm just not like using, utilizing it. One thing is though, that now I can have friends and come and stay and things like that. And that is really nice to have that ability to host people and things like that.
• 41:56
  Absolutely. But, yeah, that was dumb and, yeah, it's really dumb. Australians are really into the property, you know, having the house thing. It's less my vibe. I'm more like rent and have the freedom to move if I want to move overseas.
• 42:13
  Yes, there's nothing wrong with that. And I do think people put a lot of pressure on themselves to do that, including myself, right? Like we got on this call and I was like, I must live in a house that where I can see dolphins. Maybe that'll change. Yeah. I mean, we all want that. Question number six. Last question. What is just a crazy story, good or bad from your entrepreneurial journey?
• 42:39
  I guess it's like my level of dedication to like finding things. So again, people always want these shortcuts. Like, oh, you know, emails from people about how to find suppliers. I'm like, dude, I don't know anything about like a,
• 42:52
  how to get a candle. Like it's not my, my vertical. And if you are in the same industry as me, I can't help you. Sorry. Generosity can only extend so far, but I've gone to the lengths of going to Jacksonville, Florida to a supplier who wouldn't respond to my emails. Um, you know, cause he was like this old man. He just wouldn't respond to my emails. I want to order stuff from him. And so I landed in like,
• 43:19
  Jacksonville, Florida, like this tiny American town. I've got off the plane and, you know, people were wearing Make America Great Again trucker caps and stuff. And my general manager was really scared. I was like, I'm just going to stop here on the way to New York. It'll be fine. I'm just going to go and see him because once I see him and I can secure the machinery, I will put DHL labels and I'll get them sent back to the office.
• 43:50
  motivation that I have. So I went to his random factory in the back, you know, in the suburbs of Jacksonville,
• 43:56
  knocked on his door and he was, and I was like, I'm Elise Tran. I've been emailing you. And he was like, oh my God. Like no one comes and sees me. He was actually really like, why are you here? Yeah. He's like, he's like, don't you live in Australia? And I was like, yes, yes, I do. But I'm here. Can I please have some machines? Hell yes. Did he give you the machines? Yeah. And he was like, well, these were actually on order for coach, but I will give you these because no one's ever come to see me before. No one bothered to come and see me. And I, you know,
• 44:26
  Take, give me the time. Oh my God. I love that. And then I was like, yes, yes. And then, you know, we went and had like, I've never had, cause you know, Australians, we go to America, but we go to LA, Miami, New York, like very few of us would go to like proper America where we went to this diner where the drinks were like the size of half my torso, you know, the plates of food. Oh my gosh.
• 44:51
  but it was worth it. Oh my God. I love that. Let's all operate on that level. Just go and get it done. Do whatever it takes to get it done. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I love that. I've loved chatting with you. I'm excited about all the things you're doing. I'm excited to see what else you start. Do you want to share any, anything else you have in the backseat? We can talk about it later. I'll send you it. And then you'll be like, oh,
• 45:17
  Amazing. Oh my gosh. Elise, thank you so much for taking the time. I've loved this.
• 45:28
  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.
• 45:53
  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.
• 46:15
  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.