Latest / thefashionroundtable / People Curse Us Out Because Our Dresses Sell Out Too Fast | Ft. Renike, Co-founder of Bawsty

Transcript

People Curse Us Out Because Our Dresses Sell Out Too Fast | Ft. Renike, Co-founder of Bawsty · thefashionroundtable

0:00
SPEAKER_00: This episode is brought to you by Credit Direct.
0:03
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the fashion roundtable.
0:04
SPEAKER_00: My name is Bemi and I'm very excited to speak with my guest today because uh her story is remarkable.
0:12
SPEAKER_00: First of all, you know, before this fashion thing, she was known as a visual artist.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: We used to, you know, just admire her artwork and everything.
0:20
SPEAKER_00: Then we used to admire her body and everything.
0:23
SPEAKER_00: And then she found she co-founded this fashion brand that will sell out pretty much every minute.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: So they would have these drops every Monday.
0:32
SPEAKER_00: And before you know what's happening, girls be wheeling on Twitter and Instagram saying, oh, it sold out in minutes and this and that.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: And I feel like their problem is what some fashion brands are praying for.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: Um, she built her community through art and then ventured into fashion.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: And in fact, just recently they had their first pop-up.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: And at this pop-up, people said while they were waiting, first of all, they are queuing to buy these clothes.
1:03
SPEAKER_00: And while they were waiting, oh, and before they even queued, they had to register to attend this event because they knew that the crowd would be crazy.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: You had to register to attend this event.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: People registered, they got in, they queued, and some people were obsessed because what they wanted to buy was sold out before they even got to look at the clothes.
1:21
SPEAKER_00: Again, some people are praying for this problem.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: Please put your hands together for the beautiful Renikare.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, thank you, thank you.
1:29
SPEAKER_00: Welcome.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: And the name of the brand is Busty.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: Yes, Busty.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: Tell me, and it's spelled B-A-W-S-T-Y.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: Tell me why, uh, how and why this brand came about.
1:40
SPEAKER_01: Right.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: So the brand was co-founded by me and my friend's sister-in-law as well, my brother's wife.
1:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, because we are both Busty women and we couldn't find clothes in the market.
1:52
SPEAKER_01: That was basically it.
1:53
SPEAKER_01: Are you serious?
1:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that was basically it.
1:55
SPEAKER_01: She called me one day because it's her idea.
1:57
SPEAKER_01: She called me one day and she was just like, we are tired of looking for clothes.
2:02
SPEAKER_01: Like it's just difficult to get clothes in the market.
2:04
SPEAKER_01: Anytime we want to get clothes, we want to buy a set.
2:06
SPEAKER_01: We have to think about how we'll convince the brand to let us shop um a bigger size up, a smaller size down.
2:14
SPEAKER_01: We couldn't find things that just flattered our bodies and things that just fit.
2:17
SPEAKER_01: And she was like, let us start our own.
2:19
SPEAKER_01: I said, okay.
2:20
SPEAKER_01: And just like that was it.
2:22
SPEAKER_01: Just was like, let us start our own.
2:23
SPEAKER_01: I said, okay, let's do it.
2:24
SPEAKER_01: And like play, like play, we started, and here we are today.
2:28
SPEAKER_01: What year did you start?
2:29
SPEAKER_01: We started in 2022.
2:31
SPEAKER_01: Recently.
2:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the brand just became three years old this October.
2:34
SPEAKER_00: How did you plan towards it?
2:36
SPEAKER_00: Um, I know, I mean, we know you because I've I met I came across you through Twitter.
2:42
SPEAKER_00: You know how even if you're not following somebody who shows you stuff, and then I was like, oh, okay, she does art.
2:48
SPEAKER_00: I knew, oh, she was that art girl, that art girl.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: That and then, okay.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: And then the next thing people are talking about your brand, and the next thing I'm like, oh, okay, I'm connecting the dots.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: So for your first, how you what did you guys start with?
3:01
SPEAKER_01: We started with, I think it was 20 pieces of clothes across maybe six designs.
3:06
SPEAKER_01: So very, very little.
3:08
SPEAKER_01: We are started making noise about it small, smaller, that we're starting something when people would complain that ah, clothes for busty women and all of that, we would jump on it and say, I know, something is coming.
3:17
SPEAKER_01: You know, just to create that um anticipation and hype around it.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, we started, I think we dropped our first clothes or first set of clothes in October 2022.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: It was some sort of a backless dress, but it was supportive because we knew that busty babes were looking for backless dresses.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: It was difficult to find that because we needed to find where to put our bras.
3:38
SPEAKER_01: So we never shopped backless dresses.
3:40
SPEAKER_01: So we we designed something that would show your back, but also hide your bra straps.
3:46
SPEAKER_01: And so that was what we started with with other clothes, and we just started to grow from there.
3:51
SPEAKER_01: We started in a BQ, in Damian's BQ, with one tailor and one quality control person that also is good to the market.
3:59
SPEAKER_01: She had um a bit of experience with tailoring and sewing as well.
4:04
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that was how we started.
4:06
SPEAKER_01: We modeled our own clothes.
4:07
SPEAKER_01: Dami and I started modeling before um she she ran away.
4:12
SPEAKER_01: At some point, at some part of the uh the part of recording and all of that, she just came to the studio with Mufti and we're like, how far?
4:20
SPEAKER_01: She said she's not doing anything, she's tired.
4:22
SPEAKER_01: It's not easy.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: I don't think people understand.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: Like in it, when you're shooting, how many outfits do you practice, like, do you typically try on and you know pose for the camera?
4:31
SPEAKER_00: Because you're not just taking pictures, you're also doing video.
4:34
SPEAKER_00: So approximately how many clothes per shoot day?
4:39
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes the most we've done is like I don't sometimes you can be more than 20 or over 20.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: And then we wear the clothes.
4:45
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes I wear the clothes and it doesn't sit right.
4:49
SPEAKER_01: And so we take it back to the table.
4:51
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes we make a new one, sometimes they just switch things up, sometimes we decide not to even release them because it's not being resolved.
4:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, it's it's it's wild.
5:02
SPEAKER_01: Shoot is crazy.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: And I also see, like in your um your captions or on your website, you say, oh, this model is wearing a bra, this model is not wearing a bra.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: Again, to capture the essence of the brand.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because and and let them know, okay, this is the busty girls, because people don't understand.
5:18
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's say you are a size 12, UK size 12, for example, you buy clothes.
5:23
SPEAKER_00: If you are bustier than the average woman, that size 12 is not going to fit because it's going to be super tight at the bust and you will look weird.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
5:30
SPEAKER_00: So what would what people would do is maybe buy a size or two up and then sometimes have it tailored and all that, just so that you can have, you know, and it's not your fault.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: That's it's what God gave you.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: So exactly.
5:43
SPEAKER_01: So we we we literally found ourselves having to, we wanted to really, really solve that problem.
5:49
SPEAKER_01: Um, we looked at the fashion industry and we're like, why are they just not considering women that are busty, especially in this part of the world?
5:57
SPEAKER_01: We have like fuller bodies.
5:59
SPEAKER_01: And so it was just like, why is it that anytime I go to a website, I want to shop, I see a dress.
6:05
SPEAKER_01: You know how people see dresses and they're just like, oh, I'm just going to get this.
6:08
SPEAKER_01: Well, me, I'm doing mental.
6:09
SPEAKER_01: Like, where will I put my brace?
6:11
SPEAKER_01: You are looking at the model.
6:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: Like, okay, but they usually, again, use typically slim models.
6:16
SPEAKER_00: So you are looking like, okay, I don't know how this is gonna look on me.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: Will I need Where will I hide my bra strap?
6:24
SPEAKER_01: Like, where's that going to go?
6:25
SPEAKER_01: How am I how will my bra show here?
6:28
SPEAKER_01: Will this happen?
6:29
SPEAKER_01: Is this something I can wear without a bra?
6:31
SPEAKER_01: Is it going to be supportive if I wear it without a bra?
6:35
SPEAKER_00: Can you please share your secret because you guys are doing something right?
6:40
SPEAKER_00: So I know that you, I don't know if you still do it, but you would drop, have new uh designs or new, or they call it new drop every Monday.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: I think at two o'clock or something.
6:49
SPEAKER_00: It's not every Monday, it's actually every weekday.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: But it started with every Monday?
6:52
SPEAKER_00: No, it's always been every weekday.
6:54
SPEAKER_01: You drop new designs every day.
6:56
SPEAKER_01: Yes, but it's one, it's one design.
6:58
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
6:58
SPEAKER_01: So we did it this way because so there is a process for and structure for production.
7:03
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
7:04
SPEAKER_01: Um, I handle everything on the front end, Dami handles everything on the back end.
7:07
SPEAKER_01: So operations, production, that's her strong and design.
7:11
SPEAKER_01: So she designs it, that's her strong points.
7:14
SPEAKER_01: Me, I know how to talk to people, I know how to calm people down, I know communications, I know how to market, I know how to make people want what I'm doing.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: Hello.
7:21
SPEAKER_00: Hello.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: By the way, she's also one of those gym girls.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: So she works out, stomach flat, everything, nothing, you know.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: So of course, by the time you wear the dress, people are like, forgetting that.
7:31
SPEAKER_00: Do you have her body?
7:33
SPEAKER_00: Because the body does not come with the dress.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm just saying.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so what we what we started with, especially when we realized that there was a lot of demand, we realized that if we dropped all the dresses at the same time, we won't have anything to sell again throughout the month.
7:47
SPEAKER_01: So we said, okay, we are going to be transparent about or transparent with how um we produce.
7:54
SPEAKER_01: We're going to say that this is what um this is when to expect to drop.
7:58
SPEAKER_01: We drop every weekdays for at 2 p.m.
8:01
SPEAKER_01: WAT.
8:02
SPEAKER_01: At first, we started dropping at 9 a.m., but then Canada and the US girls say insulting us that don't they deserve fashions as well?
8:10
SPEAKER_01: So we said, okay, serious babe, by 2 p.m.
8:14
SPEAKER_01: you should be up.
8:14
SPEAKER_01: That's um 8 a.m., 7 a.m.
8:17
SPEAKER_01: their time, they should be up.
8:18
SPEAKER_01: And so we moved that to 2 p.m.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: And so we'll drop one dress every day.
8:22
SPEAKER_01: Um, we also realized that that was problematic, especially for people that wanted to shop multiple dresses.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: So we started doing the stockpiling thing.
8:30
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
8:30
SPEAKER_01: So you can just place an order and just we'll hold it for you as long as you pay for it.
8:35
SPEAKER_01: And then at the end of the month, you carry all your orders and then we'll ship it to you at once.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: Oh wow.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: I mean, so um that also allows people to go to your is like people going to your site every day.
8:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
8:45
SPEAKER_00: So that's constant.
8:47
SPEAKER_01: It's constant engagement as well.
8:48
SPEAKER_01: That was another reason why I realized I I wanted to do it that way.
8:52
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's constant engagement.
8:54
SPEAKER_01: The page is always active, the website is always active.
8:56
SPEAKER_01: Even Saturdays, even Sundays?
8:57
SPEAKER_00: Oh, weekdays, you said.
8:58
SPEAKER_01: No, no, but even Saturdays and Sundays, people are hoping to see if there is something that will drop in secrets.
9:04
SPEAKER_00: How did you decide on sizing?
9:06
SPEAKER_00: Do you go into extended sizes for, for example, yeah, those sizes?
9:10
SPEAKER_01: We we a smaller size is a UK 8, and then a bigger size is a UK 22.
9:16
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
9:16
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's slightly different from the standard size because we are catering to busty women.
9:21
SPEAKER_01: So, busty women first and foremost, then other people.
9:25
SPEAKER_01: So the the bust area is always slightly bigger.
9:29
SPEAKER_01: We did it by doing tests and research, um, trying to get information about how different bodies are.
9:36
SPEAKER_01: It was it was very tricky because, for example, my co-founder and I were both busty, but we have different bodies.
9:42
SPEAKER_01: She has rounder features, I have elongated features.
9:45
SPEAKER_01: So sometimes she'll test something, it looks good on her body, and then I wear it, it does not look good on my body.
9:51
SPEAKER_01: Or I wear something, it looks good on my body, it does not look good on her body.
9:54
SPEAKER_01: So also trying to find that balance and seeing what works and considering that, yes, in the sizing, um, we had to do all of that before we concluded that okay, this is what works.
10:04
SPEAKER_01: And after we did that, we realized that there are people that are extra busty.
10:09
SPEAKER_01: So our sizes are also we wanted to do, we didn't want to do the typical small, medium, large.
10:15
SPEAKER_01: So we have small, medium, star, medium, thick, then large.
10:19
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
10:20
SPEAKER_01: Thick because in the fashion industry, fashion industry or like just um sizing in general, it makes a lot of women feel we don't want them to feel less than what they are.
10:33
SPEAKER_01: We don't because it's it ties back to personal feelings and also body dysmophia.
10:39
SPEAKER_01: There are some places where like you're maybe a size, 10, 12, and they call you plus size, and then that does not make sense because at least in this part of the world, your standard size, your normal size, right?
10:53
SPEAKER_01: Basically.
10:53
SPEAKER_01: So we wanted our language to communicate, uh like support inclusiveness or inclusivity, um, and just make you feel confident, really.
11:03
SPEAKER_00: I it's so interesting that I came across a a new term called mid-sized.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes.
11:09
SPEAKER_00: So those people who wear, because people always say, oh, that a woman wears a UK 14 or a US 10, 12, a 14, 16 is not plus size enough.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: Because yeah.
11:21
SPEAKER_00: So those ones, so there's a lot of there's lots of influencers now.
11:24
SPEAKER_00: If you just search on Instagram, mid-size.
11:27
SPEAKER_00: So they usually wear like a UK 14, 16, so they are in the middle, they're not tiny, they're also not plus plus plus plus size according to some people, so they're mid-size.
11:38
SPEAKER_00: So I was like, okay, I guess I'm mid-sized.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: I guess I'm not sure.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: Do you understand?
11:41
SPEAKER_00: So I go to their pages sometimes and say, oh, this looks good, this looks good, this looks good.
11:44
SPEAKER_00: And then that helps.
11:46
SPEAKER_00: And this is where inclusivity comes in.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: Because a lot of times, if a brand only uses a certain kind of model, other women with different body types who don't uh who don't see themselves, will not will not know how.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure a lot of times people ask, oh, what is what size does Warrenicare wear?
12:03
SPEAKER_00: Because I see that you use you you model it and you also use like a plus size model so that people can see.
12:08
SPEAKER_00: I've seen lots of pictures, lots of videos when you do your drops and you're both wearing the same size and the same dress and you turn around, you show people at different angles.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: Because look, women shop with our eyes.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: We need to see how it looks.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: We need to imagine what we're going to wear to.
12:23
SPEAKER_00: We're already thinking of what earring we match, what shoes will match, that sort of thing.
12:27
SPEAKER_00: So I get it.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: And that's the difference between when women own uh businesses, you know, they are thinking of the details that appeal to their audience, basically.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about pricing.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: How did you decide what price points you were going to put your because I think when I checked your page, at least as a last night, before, you know, I think the most the least expensive thing was 19,000.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I think it was at the last page, and I I doubt it was the old.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: It was a very hot dress.
12:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, I doubt if this dress is still available.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: And I think the most expensive was like an Ashok piece, which is also sold out.
13:05
SPEAKER_00: But it's usually between like 20-something to like 45k.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: So which is I I will consider affordable.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: So some people maybe not, but affordable.
13:15
SPEAKER_00: So how did you decide on this affordable price range?
13:18
SPEAKER_01: So I'll say I wouldn't call it affordable, I'll call it accessible because it's it's still not affordable to some people.
13:24
SPEAKER_01: We realized that one of the problems with getting um these hot clothes or busty people or busted women getting these hot clothes was that anytime they found something they thought worked, it was very expensive.
13:36
SPEAKER_01: So we're in this part of the world where, like, if you ask someone, oh, where can I get clothes for um that will fit my body, they'll say, Oh, maybe you check this site in the UK, check this site in the US, it's already too expensive.
13:48
SPEAKER_01: So we're like, okay, we're going to solve for that while we also solve for design.
13:52
SPEAKER_01: Um, and that was why we decided that we wanted to make it this accessible so that students can save up a bit to wear it.
13:59
SPEAKER_01: People that are working class can wear it.
14:02
SPEAKER_01: People that are high class, if they are looking for something quick, they can also pick it and wear it.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: I love that.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about your decision to stay online.
14:13
SPEAKER_00: So, right now, people can order on the website.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: Where else?
14:17
SPEAKER_00: It's just on the websites.
14:19
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so no DMs, no WhatsApp.
14:21
SPEAKER_01: When we started, we started with DMs and then What was your experience with that?
14:24
SPEAKER_01: It was hell.
14:25
SPEAKER_01: So I think I think every every part of every phase of this business grew shocked us.
14:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you learned, right?
14:31
SPEAKER_01: Because we first thought, oh, we don't need to do anything, DMs, and then we started to get too many DMs, we couldn't handle it.
14:37
SPEAKER_01: And then we um got introduced to Bumper, and then they they're like a website host.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: So we started using them, and now it's all on the websites.
14:47
SPEAKER_01: It's best for us, and it creates a more efficient workflow so that people working in the background with other fulfillment and all of that, there is a place they get their information.
14:57
SPEAKER_01: If we open up websites and then we open up DMs, sometimes there's like confusion.
15:02
SPEAKER_01: Oh, what's the quantity of stock remaining?
15:05
SPEAKER_01: What's available, the email?
15:06
SPEAKER_01: When you took this order on the DM, why didn't you tell us so we could remove it from the one on the website?
15:10
SPEAKER_01: All of that.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: So it's just on the website for now.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: As a business owner, fashion business owner, I remember like DMs.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: We still do DMs, but because remember when we did we went website only and people fought us.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: And what would happen via DMs is people will say, I have this post.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: I'm trying to match it to some shoes.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: Because you know, I have a shoe business and they will actually post pictures and say, Will it match this?
15:35
SPEAKER_00: Oh, so I'm I'm sitting there like God, I beg.
15:39
SPEAKER_00: I don't know the quality of your camera, I don't know if you are taking it with good lighting.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: There's so much, and some people still feel like they need to talk to someone.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: Nigerians are very interesting customers.
15:50
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure I don't have to tell you.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: Trust me, running a business is a lot, a lot of everything, good and bad sometimes.
15:59
SPEAKER_00: And anyone doing it knows how many moving parts are involved from payments to suppliers to expenses to growth, everything happening at the same time.
16:10
SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you, it can be a bit crazy.
16:13
SPEAKER_00: And this is where credit direct business is designed to bring structure to your business.
16:18
SPEAKER_00: Okay, it gives your businesses access to credit, automated payments, and tools that make managing finances less overwhelming.
16:28
SPEAKER_00: Now, the goal is not to rush your growth, it is to support it in a way that feels sustainable and organized.
16:35
SPEAKER_00: If you are building a business or you're thinking of one and you want that kind of structure, you can get started through the credit direct app.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: So there was this when we first started BMW issues, there was this customer who said she had not paid you.
16:49
SPEAKER_00: By a DM, she requested there were five colors in that particular style.
16:53
SPEAKER_00: And she said, Can you bring all the colors to my house?
16:56
SPEAKER_00: Let me try on one by one to see which one would fit my complexion.
17:02
SPEAKER_00: I was like, To her house.
17:04
SPEAKER_00: To her house first.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: Then she will pick.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: So what if we really foolishly load up our dispatch rider with five colors and you use dog to chase him?
17:17
SPEAKER_00: No, no, it's true.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: How do we get our money?
17:20
SPEAKER_00: And we refused, and she she was right, she wrote like um paragraphs upon paragraphs.
17:27
SPEAKER_00: Why would you do that?
17:29
SPEAKER_00: We had to eventually block her.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
17:31
SPEAKER_00: Because it was like, why?
17:32
SPEAKER_00: What happened?
17:33
SPEAKER_00: Did we steal your meats?
17:34
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't understand.
17:35
SPEAKER_01: We encounter customers or potential customers like that all the time.
17:40
SPEAKER_01: With the DM website thing, I know there is the trust part of it.
17:45
SPEAKER_01: So sometimes I don't blame some Nigerians.
17:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, they've gotten scammed before.
17:49
SPEAKER_01: I personally know someone that she wanted to buy bushmeats and they scammed this, they stole our money.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I I she deserves it.
17:56
SPEAKER_00: Why are you buying bushmeats in the first place?
17:58
SPEAKER_01: Even my mom tries to buy bushmeats from Instagram and they scammed her.
18:01
SPEAKER_01: So, but you don't know what meat it is.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: Leave my people.
18:06
SPEAKER_01: Anyway, it's a mystery bushmeat.
18:09
SPEAKER_01: So they scammed her.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: So I get that people sometimes people want to like have that conversation.
18:14
SPEAKER_01: RDMs are so open.
18:15
SPEAKER_01: They can come to ask questions if they're unsure, if they need advice with as regards sizing and all of that, but they will still place the order on the website.
18:24
SPEAKER_01: If they say, Oh, it's too stressful, we'll say, Okay, thank you.
18:27
SPEAKER_01: When you press this one, after you press this one, you will be press this one.
18:30
SPEAKER_01: If you bring us this one, then you will check out.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's let's talk about challenges.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: My first question is we already know one of your challenges is your things, your your clothes sell out quickly, which is quote unquote a good challenge.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: It is a good challenge, a good problem to have because there are some people right now on social media that have stock and won't sell unless they do something crazy.
18:54
SPEAKER_00: They resort to ridiculous content or funny content or have to shake bon or have to cry or whatever it is.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: So that's one.
19:05
SPEAKER_00: So that's a challenge for you guys.
19:07
SPEAKER_00: How do you plan to meet up with demand?
19:10
SPEAKER_01: Right.
19:10
SPEAKER_01: So I don't, I think it's actually false that all our stock sellers.
19:15
SPEAKER_01: It's not all, because I checked your website.
19:17
SPEAKER_01: I checked your website yesterday.
19:18
SPEAKER_01: But the best sellers, the ones that they they really want.
19:21
SPEAKER_01: Like the dress we're wearing.
19:22
SPEAKER_01: Yes, like the dress we're wearing.
19:23
SPEAKER_01: The ones that they really want, it it sells out like this.
19:26
SPEAKER_01: We've been accused of so many things.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: I I sometimes it still shocks me.
19:30
SPEAKER_01: Like we've been accused, some people say, Oh, we sell to just our friends, and I'm just like, even I don't have it.
19:35
SPEAKER_01: Why would I sell to my friends?
19:36
SPEAKER_01: And then some people say, Oh, these people produce only five.
19:40
SPEAKER_01: And we sell a hundred pieces in less than 10 minutes.
19:46
SPEAKER_01: When we are bringing out those bestsellers, we even bring in out, we bring them out in a lot more quantity than we will because we're not going to be able to do because you know that it's on sell.
19:54
SPEAKER_01: Like this dress right now.
19:56
SPEAKER_01: Like this dress, yes, because we know people know that it'll sell.
19:59
SPEAKER_01: And even we we sometimes we don't understand because we're like, oh, but we've increased production, but it's still selling out.
20:06
SPEAKER_01: Um, some people say it's a marketing strategy.
20:08
SPEAKER_01: They say, oh, they are using scarcity to um FOMO and all of that.
20:13
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, we're not, it's not a marketing strategy.
20:15
SPEAKER_01: If there at all there is a problem, the problem is supply, right?
20:19
SPEAKER_01: Because we get our supply from the Nigerian markets.
20:22
SPEAKER_01: Um it's been one of our biggest challenges because we've been looking for ways to balance the accessibility with supply.
20:28
SPEAKER_01: People have suggested that we do pre-orders.
20:30
SPEAKER_01: Um, pre-orders does not work because if we collect people's monies and it's say we're going to bring it back in this fabric, we don't find the fabric, what is going to happen?
20:40
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
20:40
SPEAKER_01: So we're like, no pre-orders.
20:42
SPEAKER_01: Um they say she would switch our business model to me to order.
20:45
SPEAKER_01: We're like, that's that's not why we started the business.
20:48
SPEAKER_01: We understand that you have this problem with us, but at the end of the day, we need to always think about why we started, and that's not that for now.
20:58
SPEAKER_00: We're about to run into a loss because exactly because are you going to start making a thousand?
21:03
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
21:03
SPEAKER_01: So they've said, oh, why don't you make your own patterns?
21:05
SPEAKER_01: If you make our own patterns, you're not going to get 35k clothes anymore.
21:08
SPEAKER_01: It's going to become expensive.
21:10
SPEAKER_01: It becomes expensive.
21:11
SPEAKER_01: Are you going to pattern like print?
21:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yes, they're saying we should we should recharge your own yeah, yeah, yeah, make your own.
21:17
SPEAKER_01: So we will get to that point when we're in contact with the manufacturers, which is something that we've already done.
21:22
SPEAKER_01: And in 2026, we're going to execute.
21:24
SPEAKER_01: Um, but the accusations, oh, you're not working, they like seeing us struggle, they like seeing women fight for clothes.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, why would you do that?
21:33
SPEAKER_00: Speaking of fighting for clothes, were people fighting for clothes at your pop-up?
21:37
SPEAKER_00: You had your first pop-up recently, and for you to attend this pop up, you had to even register online.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: How many people registered for this pop up?
21:45
SPEAKER_01: We the first, so we we put the first link.
21:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, in less than two hours, 500 people registered.
21:51
SPEAKER_01: And then we put out another link for a hundred more people and it got filled up in 10 minutes.
21:56
SPEAKER_01: 600 to 600.
21:58
SPEAKER_01: People registered for that.
21:59
SPEAKER_01: So if you do not register,
22:00
SPEAKER_00: For this pop-up, you couldn't attend.
22:01
SPEAKER_01: No, you couldn't attend.
22:02
SPEAKER_01: And we knew because you know, it's our business.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: We know our customers, right?
22:06
SPEAKER_01: We know um how people they behave when they really, really want a particular address.
22:11
SPEAKER_01: So that was our way of controlling it so that more people or intentional people have access.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: Well, we flopped.
22:19
SPEAKER_01: It did not work at the pop-up.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: Did people show up that did not register?
22:24
SPEAKER_01: No, no.
22:24
SPEAKER_01: Because it's not.
22:25
SPEAKER_01: Not to the best of my knowledge.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: You did not reveal the location on social media.
22:28
SPEAKER_01: We did not, yes, we did not reveal the location on social media.
22:31
SPEAKER_01: So we sent it to them via their emails.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: We had um wristbands, so we had a list, so we're cross-checking.
22:38
SPEAKER_01: We did they all show up?
22:40
SPEAKER_01: No, they did not all show up, which is typical, right?
22:43
SPEAKER_00: If you if things will come up because somebody knows they can't make it to legal.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so if if um I put out requests for 600 people, I know that maybe half of them will show up.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: That's typically how ticketed events are.
22:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
22:57
SPEAKER_01: Um, so I did not expect all of them to show up, but people showed up.
23:02
SPEAKER_01: Now, the pop-up was hell.
23:05
SPEAKER_01: To me at least, it was successful, right?
23:08
SPEAKER_01: But it was so it was our first time doing such a thing.
23:11
SPEAKER_01: Um, what I've really learned from it is that in Lagos, you cannot make one plan and assume that that plan is gonna work.
23:19
SPEAKER_01: That plan is gonna work.
23:20
SPEAKER_01: Like I have plan A, B, and C.
23:22
SPEAKER_01: And D and E.
23:24
SPEAKER_01: Because what happened was even though down to the weather.
23:27
SPEAKER_01: Whoa.
23:28
SPEAKER_01: Down to the weather, rain.
23:29
SPEAKER_01: It did not rain, but it there was a heat wave.
23:31
SPEAKER_01: It became so suddenly hot, we could not open the gates when we said we would open the gates because there was, and for this reason, we chose like a seaside.
23:40
SPEAKER_01: I had to close my mouth.
23:42
SPEAKER_01: Like, what?
23:43
SPEAKER_01: A seaside, so that it's it's breezy and it's like a fun green summer vibe.
23:48
SPEAKER_01: Hmm.
23:50
SPEAKER_01: First of all, one of our staff had like a really crazy accident.
23:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:55
SPEAKER_01: So it every then there was del there were delays getting the the items from the factory to the so it was just like people were at the end.
24:04
SPEAKER_01: Yes, people were going home, they were under the sun, getting hit strokes.
24:08
SPEAKER_01: I was, I got to the venue by 7 a.m., right?
24:13
SPEAKER_01: Because I was trying to like see what I could help.
24:16
SPEAKER_01: So I woke up, took a quick shower, put on sunscreen, brushed my teeth, and then I came.
24:20
SPEAKER_01: And what I wore on that day, what you went home, but there was no time for you to change.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: I could not even change because of how crazy everything.
24:28
SPEAKER_00: Did you have to hire like extra staff for that day?
24:31
SPEAKER_01: We had extra staff for that day, but people still had to help when they saw us in need.
24:34
SPEAKER_01: And that's where, like, our customers are really the best.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: So, of course, now you'd be agitated.
24:39
SPEAKER_01: If I were the one and you kept me outside in the sun for one hour or one hour, 30 minutes over the time you subscribe to the money, I would be so pissed.
24:48
SPEAKER_01: So we did not even try to, it was beg, we were begging them, give some of them water.
24:52
SPEAKER_01: Please, we are sorry.
24:53
SPEAKER_01: I was going out, please, we are so sorry.
24:55
SPEAKER_01: This happened.
24:56
SPEAKER_01: Just trying to explain to the people I had access to.
24:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, but after they were upset, but when they came in, when they came in and some of them were able to get what they wanted, they were saying, Ah, do you still need help?
25:08
SPEAKER_01: I can drop my clothes, let me drop my clothes in my bag.
25:11
SPEAKER_01: In my car, let me let me help you, because I can see you're struggling.
25:14
SPEAKER_01: There was this particular babe, she was so, so upset.
25:17
SPEAKER_01: I hugged her, I apologized, I said this was not planned, um, and all of that.
25:21
SPEAKER_01: She said that she's so pissed.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: I said, sorry.
25:24
SPEAKER_01: She said, Okay, she went.
25:25
SPEAKER_01: She now came back.
25:25
SPEAKER_01: She now said, I can help you.
25:27
SPEAKER_01: I said, I said, no, don't worry.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: So, even, you know, while they were angry, when they got what they wanted, they calmed down and they were just like, when they saw that, okay, it's not like we were doing it on purpose.
25:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, doing it on purpose.
25:40
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't like we're trying to deliberately hurt them.
25:43
SPEAKER_01: They were just so kind and so and that's one thing I like about our customers.
25:48
SPEAKER_01: When they want what they want, they want it, but they are also typically understanding.
25:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, they are patients, they also wait.
25:56
SPEAKER_01: But then there are some.
25:57
SPEAKER_01: The ones that are always dragging us on Twitter.
25:59
SPEAKER_01: If you check them, they've never bought a dress before.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: I mean, funny enough, um, I searched, you know, the the pop-up, and some lady was shadowed, she was already over it, she was on the queue and she saw that the dress that she wanted had sold out.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: Or whether before she could get to the to the rack, it was gone.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: Somebody said some people are greedy.
26:18
SPEAKER_00: Well, were they buying sticks of the same dress?
26:20
SPEAKER_00: So do you plan to?
26:22
SPEAKER_00: I know that some brands, for example, um um uh dialab, for example, allegedly places a limit on people to say you cannot buy more than two items.
26:31
SPEAKER_00: There was a limit.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: So, oh, there was a limit.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: There was a limit.
26:35
SPEAKER_01: I had I had a long conversation with my co-founder because I knew that this was going to happen.
26:41
SPEAKER_01: So was the limit?
26:42
SPEAKER_01: The limit was two items per style.
26:44
SPEAKER_01: So, how are people buying six outfits?
26:46
SPEAKER_01: We did not let them check out with those six outfits.
26:48
SPEAKER_01: So, well, you can pick six outfits if you want.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: So the thing is, if you want to buy 20 dresses, buy 20 dresses, but you're not going to pack 20 of the same dresses.
26:55
SPEAKER_01: You're going to shop from different styles.
26:57
SPEAKER_01: So the people that packed six and went to checkout, we took told we told them, pick two sizes you want.
27:03
SPEAKER_01: We are going to return um the rest of it.
27:05
SPEAKER_00: People don't want to do and call with their friends for the dresses or something.
27:08
SPEAKER_00: You know, like when some people, you know, now people don't just go on the what's it called on trips now.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: They plan out so maybe like I saw a birthday celebration where 20 of them wore the same exact print and dress and everything.
27:20
SPEAKER_00: So and they bought it from a Nigerian brand.
27:22
SPEAKER_01: But that's that was not something we knew that we need we needed to make it accessible to as many people as we could.
27:28
SPEAKER_01: So we put a cap on what people could get.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: So but the problem was that when we returned the ones, the excess that people had dropped, the people that wanted it had left.
27:38
SPEAKER_01: Oh, but did you put it on the website?
27:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we'll put it back on the website.
27:40
SPEAKER_01: That's not a problem.
27:41
SPEAKER_01: But they were already pissed.
27:42
SPEAKER_01: So I stood in the sun and then I came, they rushed everything.
27:46
SPEAKER_01: If you see the crowd, when when they came in, I ran.
27:51
SPEAKER_01: Ah.
27:51
SPEAKER_01: When they came in, when I saw what was happening at the game, because I tried to do it batch by batch, so it was organized.
27:56
SPEAKER_01: Of course they'll be agitated.
27:57
SPEAKER_01: We were like, I'm fast standing, you know, I want to do batch by batch.
28:00
SPEAKER_01: They're like, I'm there, get out.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: Will your next pop-up be outdoors?
28:05
SPEAKER_01: I like the idea of it, but what we're going to consider if we do it outdoors is the time.
28:10
SPEAKER_01: So we it was a 12 to 5 pm thing, and we did not think the heat wave, we did not expect it.
28:17
SPEAKER_01: So now, if we're going to do it outdoors to be cooler time, cooler time periods.
28:21
SPEAKER_01: We do not um plan to delay people like how we did before.
28:24
SPEAKER_01: Because now personally, I know I'm going to have like seven plans.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: You've learned your lesson.
28:27
SPEAKER_00: I've learned my lesson.
28:29
SPEAKER_01: Um so I don't know.
28:31
SPEAKER_01: I remember on that day, my co-founder, my co-founder, she said, God forbid, never again.
28:36
SPEAKER_01: I'm never doing pop-up again.
28:38
SPEAKER_01: You were doing pop-up again.
28:40
SPEAKER_01: Even when it was like, the next morning after she had slept and woke up, she now said, Okay.
28:45
SPEAKER_01: Can she do pop-up next?
28:47
SPEAKER_00: I said, I'm not doing because I was gonna ask you, like, are you gonna have another one?
28:51
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be this year.
28:52
SPEAKER_00: No, definitely not.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: But no, no, no.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: Will it be like a Christmas thing or you guys will figure that out?
28:59
SPEAKER_00: No, we're gonna do a whole new pop-up.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, we're gonna take the feedback from customers and work on the mistakes.
29:06
SPEAKER_01: Work on the mistakes and make sure we really do want to make because we're a very intentional brand.
29:10
SPEAKER_01: From the way we run the business, from the way we communicate, transparent from how transparent we are with even just the models, but it's what they're wearing, if they're wearing, what kind of underwear we're wearing, they're wearing, we want you to get all that information.
29:23
SPEAKER_01: We would not intentionally want to put our customers through that again sort of situation.
29:30
SPEAKER_01: Really?
29:31
SPEAKER_00: So that's not gonna happen again, hopefully.
29:33
SPEAKER_00: What are that, apart from the pop-up, apart from selling out so quickly, what other challenges?
29:38
SPEAKER_00: Now let me talk about money.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: Where to start the business, where did the money come from?
29:43
SPEAKER_01: We put in, I already had like a, I would say a successful career as an artist in Nigeria.
29:49
SPEAKER_01: My co-founder is an architect that owned a very good design agency.
29:55
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
29:55
SPEAKER_01: As well.
29:56
SPEAKER_01: So we had some of us for small monies.
29:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
29:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, so we put we took some monies from our savings, she took some monies from our savings, asked my brother, asked my boyfriend, asked just her sister, just like, how much do you have?
30:08
SPEAKER_01: Is it$200?
30:09
SPEAKER_01: Just come out, come and give us what's that business.
30:12
SPEAKER_01: So I think we gathered everything, it was about$2,500.
30:16
SPEAKER_01: And then we bought machines, hired, bought fabric, and then we started with what we called.
30:21
SPEAKER_01: And in like, was it three months?
30:23
SPEAKER_01: We broke even and then um the business became sustainable.
30:27
SPEAKER_00: Where did you have um staffing issues?
30:30
SPEAKER_00: I know friends who are in this business who complain about tailors a lot.
30:34
SPEAKER_00: Do you have to house your tailors?
30:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
30:37
SPEAKER_01: The tailors have accommodation in the factory because um I remember when um they first hired the first tailor, the first two tailors, Wura and Shekun, um, they didn't want to go home.
30:47
SPEAKER_01: We we found that they would sleep in a factory.
30:50
SPEAKER_01: That was not conducive.
30:51
SPEAKER_01: So when we expanded, we had to create like a live-in situation for them.
30:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, so right now, as part of the factories, because we have three three-bedroom flats, they have the girls' room and then they have the boys' room where we provide, we provide shelter, we provide food, we provide health insurance as well because they need to be taken to work, they need to be taken care of if they want to stay there.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: Do you know?
31:13
SPEAKER_00: And it's not just fashion.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: I thought it was just people in fashion.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: It's not just fashion.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: I have a friend who um has a salon.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: She has to house her staff.
31:21
SPEAKER_00: I have a friend who owns a restaurant, a couple of restaurants.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: They not only house their staff and feed them health insurance and all that, they also have a staff bus.
31:30
SPEAKER_00: So it's now a case of you can't just hire in certain businesses, you can't just hire staff and just expect them to show up at work.
31:38
SPEAKER_00: You have and the problem is number one, housing is expensive.
31:43
SPEAKER_00: Most of the hands that you have cannot afford to live near where the business is.
31:48
SPEAKER_00: So you have to put them somewhere near, somewhere conducive, you know, all these things.
31:53
SPEAKER_00: So I get it.
31:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm just like, I'm blown away.
31:56
SPEAKER_01: And if they really want to stay, the people that started with us three years ago, they are still with us.
32:00
SPEAKER_01: So I feel like if they really want to stay, it's a good sign that you are doing something right.
32:04
SPEAKER_01: At least the relationship or the environment is conducive enough for them to work in.
32:09
SPEAKER_01: But that was a bit shocking for me when I realized that.
32:11
SPEAKER_01: That you had to house them and do all these things.
32:14
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I understand health insurance, I understand maybe even lunch, you know, but to actually so you these are things, and I'm asking these questions so that people understand that all these costs go into the overhead.
32:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: And you can't you can't say, okay, yeah, you're only calculating the cost of fabric and cost of sewing and cost of electricity, the cost of your warehouse or your factory, the in terms of renting, whether you own it, cost of feeding the stuff, the house, so all of that.
32:44
SPEAKER_00: I'm just like, with this price point, how are these people breaking even?
32:48
SPEAKER_00: Like it's it's it's mind-blowing.
32:51
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's so that's why we try to get um the fabric, we get we try to explore the most affordable option available.
32:59
SPEAKER_01: Um if we decide that we want to do custom prints and customers, you will definitely see it in the price.
33:08
SPEAKER_01: It's more expensive, definitely.
33:09
SPEAKER_01: In my head, when I'm seeing some complaints, I'm like, you people have to choose one.
33:13
SPEAKER_01: Um do you still have people complaining?
33:15
SPEAKER_00: I'm so sorry, these people complain that it's too expensive.
33:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there are people complaining.
33:18
SPEAKER_01: There are also people complaining that it's too expensive, and I'm just even before we increased our prices, because when we started selling clothes, we were like 16,500, 18,000, 19,000.
33:27
SPEAKER_01: Exchange rates and all that.
33:28
SPEAKER_01: Then the exchange rates, and there was also things in the market just getting super expensive.
33:33
SPEAKER_01: We really tried to keep it as affordable and accessible as possible then, but we just like we needed to make profit, so we started to increase it a bit.
33:42
SPEAKER_01: Um, we have the one that is 120,000, which is the Asha OK Blazer, but that's special edition bus.
33:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's Ashokay.
33:49
SPEAKER_01: So it's you they have to weave it, they have to do all the things.
33:51
SPEAKER_01: The patterns, the joining, every single design is you cannot find it elsewhere.
33:55
SPEAKER_01: We design our patterns as well.
33:57
SPEAKER_01: So it's like, well, that costs money and all of that, and it's Ashwake.
34:02
SPEAKER_01: Um, we've even had people reach out to us to ask them that they want to get all the pieces of a particular design because they want it to be exclusive.
34:10
SPEAKER_01: And we're like, how can we make about a hundred pieces of clothes and you want to buy a hundred of them because you don't want anybody else to have it?
34:17
SPEAKER_01: I don't understand.
34:18
SPEAKER_01: Are they selling it?
34:18
SPEAKER_00: Are they reselling it?
34:19
SPEAKER_01: No, they just don't, they just don't want anybody else to have it.
34:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
34:24
SPEAKER_01: They just don't want anybody else to have it.
34:25
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just like, that does not work.
34:29
SPEAKER_00: Do you go to Zara and tell them that I want only this particular item?
34:34
SPEAKER_00: I don't understand.
34:34
SPEAKER_01: But when they were dragging us to do comparing us to Opoly and Zara, and we're like, our seniors, these people have exactly their algorithm.
34:42
SPEAKER_01: They've been in this industry for such even Opoly sold out 30,000 pieces of clothes recently, and they were still getting dragged that they did not make enough.
34:51
SPEAKER_01: Let me tell you something.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: Do your best.
34:53
SPEAKER_00: I like your do your best because you're gonna get dragged anyway.
34:57
SPEAKER_00: Yep, Jesus Christ got dragged.
34:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he's they just didn't have to time his time.
35:01
SPEAKER_00: As wonderful as he healed the sick, raised the dead.
35:04
SPEAKER_00: They still dragged this man.
35:05
SPEAKER_00: So who are you not to get dragged?
35:07
SPEAKER_00: So I'm just saying that please don't let that be your whatever.
35:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
35:12
SPEAKER_01: We did have a lot of people reaching out to me specifically to say, Oh, I mean, it's feedback, but don't let the noise get to you as well.
35:19
SPEAKER_01: Don't forget why you started, just remember that this is why you started.
35:23
SPEAKER_01: Um, it's good feedback.
35:26
SPEAKER_01: Take what is good and just leave the rest.
35:29
SPEAKER_01: How do you do marketing?
35:30
SPEAKER_01: Marketing, thankfully, has been organic.
35:32
SPEAKER_01: We've we've within the past three years, we've not had a marketing budget, which is good.
35:36
SPEAKER_01: And that's because the clothes really sell themselves.
35:39
SPEAKER_01: No IG ads, no things.
35:40
SPEAKER_01: Um, IG ads from time.
35:42
SPEAKER_01: We've done IG ads like two or three times.
35:44
SPEAKER_01: It didn't really work for us.
35:46
SPEAKER_01: Influencers.
35:47
SPEAKER_01: Influencers, not intentionally.
35:49
SPEAKER_01: We do not chase after influencers.
35:51
SPEAKER_01: We see when influencers interact with our product or, you know, say something.
35:55
SPEAKER_01: And just for marketing and capitalism, we're like, okay, let's let's do this, let's make it work.
36:00
SPEAKER_01: Or if we specifically like a person, we're like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, let's let's pay this person to wear the dress.
36:06
SPEAKER_01: But we've not done um any like intentional marketing except like the organic one, making noise about it, talking about it, um, telling customers, oh, please when you wear targets and all of those things.
36:21
SPEAKER_01: And like we're blessed with people that like to they like to talk about the brand.
36:25
SPEAKER_00: Because I found out about you guys, I think on on Twitter.
36:28
SPEAKER_00: Actually, people were talking about the brand.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: I was like, oh, let me go search.
36:31
SPEAKER_00: And I was like, oh, price reasonably, okay, okay.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: And then from there, then I started this fashion series thing this year, and I decided, you know, thank you.
36:39
SPEAKER_00: How's that been going going well?
36:41
SPEAKER_00: Is is a lot, it's a lot of work.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: Like, as at today, I've done 50, I've collaborated with 50 Nigerian brands.
36:49
SPEAKER_01: No, yeah, that is good.
36:51
SPEAKER_00: Congratulations, thank you in one year, Koisi.
36:54
SPEAKER_00: Well done, thank you.
36:56
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so but it's a lot of work, and then it was also speaking with these brands and realizing there's so many brands out there, there's so many brands that are still on my list that I haven't got into and we don't know their story, we don't understand what's happening behind the scenes.
37:12
SPEAKER_00: Speaking of behind the scenes, what is it like on a typical day when you're dropping?
37:18
SPEAKER_00: Like because it's every at what time?
37:21
SPEAKER_00: It's two o'clock.
37:22
SPEAKER_00: It's 2 p.m.
37:23
SPEAKER_01: So chaos, anxiety, a lot of a lot of anxiety.
37:31
SPEAKER_01: Um, especially if it's a bestseller, because we're just like you know that this flag going to drag us today.
37:36
SPEAKER_01: Me personally, I've gotten insulted, like someone like has emailed me to go to hell.
37:40
SPEAKER_01: No, it's not even, I'm not even talking about the public insults.
37:44
SPEAKER_01: I'm saying that people have constructed emails.
37:46
SPEAKER_01: They search they search for your email.
37:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they'll tell me we're in care, you, you, you, you are mad, you go to hell.
37:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, overclothes, overclothes.
37:55
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just like, it at first it shook me a bit because at first I was just like, is it this serious?
38:03
SPEAKER_01: But I think I've learned to empathize with customers.
38:07
SPEAKER_01: I I understand, no, I understand, I understand how it feels.
38:12
SPEAKER_01: No, but I understand what how it feels to passionately want something and the the disappointment in that moment.
38:19
SPEAKER_01: So because if you check on these people, or if you have conversations with them outside, you realize that they're not like that.
38:24
SPEAKER_01: But disappointment in that moment, sometimes the emotions, it causes them to act out.
38:29
SPEAKER_01: So when they abuse me, or when I'm just saying, I just see it as, ah, sorry.
38:35
SPEAKER_01: Sorry, please are there, sorry.
38:37
SPEAKER_00: Oh wow, yeah, yeah.
38:39
SPEAKER_00: One, what's one misconception about running a fast fashion business?
38:44
SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't even I wouldn't even call my business a fast fashion business.
38:46
SPEAKER_01: I don't think we're we're typically, it looks like it, but that's not, yeah, it's not, it's not, it's not fast.
38:52
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
38:52
SPEAKER_01: Because we're trying to run like a sustainable intentional business as well.
38:56
SPEAKER_01: We also do not mass produce.
38:58
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think one misconception is that they assume that it's easy to scale.
39:04
SPEAKER_01: They they say, I see a lot of comments where they say, just make more.
39:09
SPEAKER_01: And we're like, it's not job, it's not that simple.
39:12
SPEAKER_01: We cannot just make more.
39:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, the last time we tried to just make more, we employed more tailors, bought more machines, and just made more, we threw away about 300 pieces of clothes.
39:21
SPEAKER_01: Say that again.
39:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because they were not made well.
39:24
SPEAKER_01: And one thing about us is that we will not sell something.
39:26
SPEAKER_01: We've had to re the so this is the type of brand we are.
39:30
SPEAKER_01: If if if we buy fabric and we make it, there's always like the color check and all of that.
39:36
SPEAKER_01: We make it, we send it out.
39:38
SPEAKER_01: And it costs one customer reaches out to us and says, Oh, I washed this fabric and the colors stay.
39:45
SPEAKER_01: They washed.
39:45
SPEAKER_01: We will tell, we'll reach out to all the customers and we'll ask them that we've realized, I'm so sorry it's coming in, but we've realized that this is a problem with this fabric.
39:55
SPEAKER_01: We want to recall it and refund you.
39:57
SPEAKER_01: Some of them are like, ah, no, I wear my clothes like that.
39:59
SPEAKER_01: If you wash that, it's wash.
40:01
SPEAKER_01: But I will wear my clothes like that.
40:02
SPEAKER_01: Others will say, Oh, thanks for letting us know it's fine.
40:05
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to recall it, you don't have to give us a refund.
40:07
SPEAKER_01: And there are some people that are like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.
40:10
SPEAKER_01: Take your clothes back.
40:10
SPEAKER_01: That's how intentional we are.
40:12
SPEAKER_00: 300?
40:13
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
40:13
SPEAKER_00: People don't hear these stories.
40:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they don't.
40:15
SPEAKER_01: We there's a lot of like when you make rash and quick decisions, the loss.
40:22
SPEAKER_01: You pay for it.
40:23
SPEAKER_01: So because it's like, okay, we should expand.
40:25
SPEAKER_01: For us to expand, we have to, because every tailor, they have the amount of dresses they have to make in a month or per batch.
40:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, if you say we should expand, it means we need to employ more tailor because we know their capacity, we know what they can do.
40:39
SPEAKER_01: We have to employ more tailor, we have to get a space.
40:42
SPEAKER_01: When we get the tailors, we have to train them for a period of time so they don't make rubbish.
40:47
SPEAKER_01: So they are not like a desk hole with their with their finishing and all of that.
40:51
SPEAKER_01: And then we train these people, then we have to look for more supply.
40:56
SPEAKER_01: These things take time, right?
40:58
SPEAKER_01: And they don't understand, you're like, oh, just make more.
41:00
SPEAKER_01: We cannot just make more.
41:02
SPEAKER_01: Is the fabric growing in my backyard?
41:04
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
41:06
SPEAKER_01: We cannot just make more, but we will increase production every other, every other month.
41:11
SPEAKER_01: We are trying to actually make more.
41:13
SPEAKER_00: At the same time, you're also trying not to allow things waste because you don't want a situation whereby you go make like XYZ number and then it's not going basically.
41:22
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
41:23
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of lessons to be learned.
41:25
SPEAKER_00: What advice do you have for designers who want a brand and community like yours?
41:32
SPEAKER_01: Solve a problem.
41:33
SPEAKER_01: I think the first thing is to solve a problem.
41:35
SPEAKER_01: I think it's easier to scale or reach people when they are a community or a group of people with a shared problem.
41:43
SPEAKER_01: I think that was how Busty was about, was, was um able to grow very quickly and become the talk of the moment because we're like, oh, finally they're close for us that have big boobs.
41:54
SPEAKER_01: Um solve a problem and also just start.
41:59
SPEAKER_01: I've I've haven't I've had conversations with people where they're like, oh, I have this idea.
42:04
SPEAKER_01: I want to start my own fashion brand.
42:07
SPEAKER_01: Draft out the ideas, create a business plan and start.
42:10
SPEAKER_01: Just do something.
42:10
SPEAKER_01: Even if even if you're going to send the codes to two of your friends.
42:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
42:14
SPEAKER_01: You have to start.
42:15
SPEAKER_01: So you cannot think that um You have to have X, Y, Z number, amount of money.
42:20
SPEAKER_01: The amount of money before you start, you have to, your first batch has to be 100 something, something.
42:24
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, how do you, if you produce 100 and the people you want to sell to don't like it, what are you going to do?
42:30
SPEAKER_01: The first thing is that you have to start and then interact with your target audience.
42:33
SPEAKER_01: That's how you know what they like, what they don't like.
42:36
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
42:36
SPEAKER_01: You learn and you grow.
42:38
SPEAKER_01: When Ami and I started Busty, we had absolutely no idea what you were getting into.
42:42
SPEAKER_01: Oh my goodness.
42:43
SPEAKER_01: Even anything about I was not even a stylish person.
42:45
SPEAKER_01: I became stylish after I started Busty because when you create options or a solution to a problem, your mind also opens up to that.
42:53
SPEAKER_01: So I became I started to see more options.
42:57
SPEAKER_01: So it's like if you need to just start, just start, interact with your audience, see what they like, what they don't like, and then progress from there.
43:07
SPEAKER_01: And when you make mistakes, especially when you're new in an industry, you learn from it fast and correct the mistakes.
43:13
SPEAKER_01: And correct the mistakes and grow.
43:18
SPEAKER_01: Oh, people are angry with me.
43:20
SPEAKER_01: You tell them sorry.
43:21
SPEAKER_01: You be transparent, you explain your thought process, you learn from it and you grow.
43:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
43:26
SPEAKER_00: Collaborations.
43:28
SPEAKER_00: Um I see that you collaborated with Regirl.
43:31
SPEAKER_00: Um they are a brand that creates basically lab grown hair, they call it.
43:36
SPEAKER_00: So what was that like?
43:37
SPEAKER_00: And are you going to do more collaborations?
43:40
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes, definitely.
43:41
SPEAKER_01: We've collaborated with a lip gloss brand before.
43:43
SPEAKER_01: Um, Beauty by Task, they make really nice.
43:46
SPEAKER_01: I love the brand, basically.
43:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, and so the one with Regal, we just thought it worked, right?
43:52
SPEAKER_01: The people that love Regal love Boss C.
43:54
SPEAKER_01: Um, so we are definitely open to more intentional um collaborations.
43:59
SPEAKER_01: We're not just going to To do collaborations that don't make sense to us.
44:02
SPEAKER_01: We've also collaborated with Shopify as well.
44:05
SPEAKER_01: So something in fashion, we're not going to collaborate with competitors, of course.
44:10
SPEAKER_01: We get it.
44:11
SPEAKER_01: I understand that.
44:12
SPEAKER_01: I understand that.
44:12
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
44:13
SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, definitely more collaborations.
44:15
SPEAKER_01: Um, where women-owned brands and would like to also help other women-owned brands grow.
44:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, and yeah, let's just help each other grow.
44:23
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna collaborate with babies okay.
44:25
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we'll talk about it.
44:25
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about it.
44:27
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for coming.
44:28
SPEAKER_00: This has been a very interesting conversation, and this is why this podcast was created because you need to know what's happening behind the scenes, tell the stories.
44:37
SPEAKER_00: I think that the most beautiful stories are the ones where people look, it starts from somewhere, it's not gonna be great all the time, is how you recover from that, what you learn from that.
44:46
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, thank you again.
44:48
SPEAKER_00: This week, you get a chance to win a gift voucher to a Nigerian fashion business.
44:52
SPEAKER_00: All you need to do is download the Credit Direct app and show us proof in the DMs.
44:58
SPEAKER_00: Very simple.
44:58
SPEAKER_00: If you can do that, you might be the winner for this week.
45:01
SPEAKER_00: This was so much fun.
45:02
SPEAKER_00: I know.
45:03
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, thank you so much.
45:04
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me.
45:05
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
45:06
SPEAKER_00: This episode was brought to you by Credit Direct.