Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / 6 quick questions with Alyce Tran, Founder of In The Round House (Part 2)
Transcript
- 0:00Welcome back. Here are the six quick questions. Question number one, what's your why? Why are you dedicating your time in building in the roundhouse? Because I love it. I love how fun it is and how easy it is to bring
- 0:26joy 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. But like now it's just the latest
- 0:52color 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 color, love joy on a table, for sure. Who doesn't? Question number two is, what's been your favorite marketing moment so far? And this could be from The Daily Edited or in The Roundhouse. Ooh, yeah.
- 1:16Well, 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 Runner doing it? So, yeah.
- 1:44We 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,
- 1:59giant, 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 it's just like little ones that 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.
- 2:26Question 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. I actually am more podcast. Oh, a podcast, yes, or a podcast.
- 2:41I 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.
- 3:10inspo. Yeah. 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.
- 3:38And 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...
- 4:00leave 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, that, 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.
- 4:28So, 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 –
- 4:56felt like I needed to buy something post the daily edited that was,
- 5:02was 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
- 5:29my 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 the hero for show. 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
- 5:55two 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.
- 6:10Absolutely. 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. Yeah.
- 6:27Yes. 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, but 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?
- 6:53I 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 supplies. I'm like, dude, I don't know anything about like a,
- 7:06how 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 a
- 7:33Jacksonville, Florida, like this tiny American town. I 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.
- 8:04motivation that I have. So I went to his random factory in the back, you know, in the suburbs of Jacksonville,
- 8:10knocked 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'll give you these because no one's ever come to see me before. No one bothered to come and see me.
- 8:38And, you know, 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, because, 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 deep plates of food. Oh, my God.
- 9:05but 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,
- 9:30Amazing. Oh my gosh. Elise, thank you so much for taking the time. I've loved this.
- 9:43Hey, 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.
- 10:07And 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.
- 10:30As 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.
- 10:45Hey, 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.
- 11:10And 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.
- 11:32As 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.