Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / Telling your Grandma you’re selling vibrators with Dame’s Founder, Alexandra Fine (Part 1)

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Telling your Grandma you’re selling vibrators with Dame’s Founder, Alexandra Fine (Part 1) · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  This is Alex Fine for Female Startup Club.
• 0:13
  Welcome back to the show. It's Dune here, your host and hype girl. Oh my God, it has been a hot second. I have missed this. Wow. So today, after seven weeks of not recording, I'm jumping back on the show with a friend of mine, Alexandra Fine, the founder of Dame. She makes these really cool vibrators and is leading the charge when it comes to women and pleasure.
• 0:42
  Now, we actually recorded an episode a couple of years ago, which is such a vibe, and you should definitely go back to hear her startup story. But today, we're talking a lot about what it's been like having her second baby and managing all the things.
• 0:57
  launching into 300 plus target stores, what it's like managing a co-founder relationship breakdown. And at the very end, she shares a funny story about her grandma's best friends getting in on the vibe action.
• 1:13
  Love it. Loved that story. Love this episode. While I've got you here and before we jump into it, a quick refresher on the Girl Code. If you listen to an episode and you smile or you learn something from it, take a tiny action for me in return. Tell a friend, share it on Instagram, subscribe, leave a review. All of these things matter so much to me and so much to the show. And I appreciate it. I'm so grateful. And that's the Girl Code.
• 1:44
  I am so happy to be back recording and I hope you love this episode. I hope you love this update in business. Let's jump in. This is Alex Fine for Female Startup Club.
• 1:57
  Elle, hello. Welcome to the show. Welcome back to the show, rather. Oh, thank you. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. I'm so excited. I love this for us. I love a part two. I love a part two. I love a developed relationship. I love, like, you know, layers. Yeah, I'm subscribed to our story. I'm saying...
• 2:24
  I actually haven't recorded a podcast in like seven weeks because I've been traveling and I've been so excited about this episode because, you know, when you haven't done something for a real long time, so then the excitement builds up. And then because I already know you and we've like spoken before and I've kind of like got background on your, on your company, I'm just like really excited about it. That's amazing. Well, I'm excited to be here and I feel that I do feel like anticipation and like,
• 2:54
  You know, we've been teasing each other for quite some time on this. So really good foreplay. We have. We have. Yes. Good foreplay. How are you? You recently had baby number two. He is divine. How's it all going? It's going really well. You know, it's.
• 3:15
  Definitely a big workload. You know, it's so much effort and it's emotional labor and physical labor and labor, labor. And it's also just so incredibly rewarding. I think of parenting is just as like, you know, it's got like lots of high highs and lots of low lows, just like a lot. And having a second is it's just it's for me, it's been so different. It's been rich in a very different way than the first.
• 3:44
  Like what? What do you mean? With my first, I felt just so immediately in love. And then with my second, you know, in some ways, like, you know, you bring your baby home and it's still so much about the older one making sure that they feel well.
• 4:05
  okay and safe and what's their transition, what's their experience going to be like. And then you're like, wait, I'm still focused so much on this one. I want to make sure I'm focused and loving towards this, you know, new child that's in my space. And I'm,
• 4:19
  There's a lot more divide and conquer between you and your partner. I feel like there has been a lot of moments where, okay, like the first time you have a kid, you're becoming a parent. You're going from like two to three, which is this big dynamic shift. I was like so prepared to know that I was about to go through a transition.
• 4:39
  In a way that I didn't appreciate as much for the second. Because I was like, oh, I'm already a mom. I'm just momming more. I already have the blueprint. Yes, exactly. Like, I'm already doing it. But now I feel like I'm a real mother. And there was also just so many moments of transition within the family. You know, there are...
• 4:59
  Like, I think there are some sad moments, too, where I've just been, like, sitting there breastfeeding and watching my husband play with my daughter and feeling, like, a little bit separated from them. Well, because, you know, I'm a little bit more strapped to the baby. But, like, you know, this child is just so special. I'm just, like, loving watching him develop in my, you know, I feel...
• 5:27
  I do feel like, you know, even more room in my heart and so much love for him. But it feels like it took a little bit longer. It wasn't as like, I don't know, this time just felt like even more was happening. Just more. So interesting. Wow. Gosh. Moms are the best. You're a superwoman. Have you gone back to work? Are you back at work?
• 5:53
  Yeah, I'm working. So my parental leave policy is like for me personally, not like at the company is I write up a little plan in the beginning of my plan.
• 6:06
  is always like, hey, I just want you guys to know, like this plan is really reliant on like, soon to be child or unborn kid. And they're not very like, you know, it's hard to hold them accountable to the plan. Like, you know, dates may change, not strong accountability in this brief in this project. And also like giving myself space to change that plan, because I never know how I'm going to feel or what's going to happen. But
• 6:34
  It's really helpful to provide clarity or the beginning of a plan to your team. And I told them I was going to stay out for three weeks fully. That's almost what I did. I definitely took one or two meetings during that time. And then after that, I came back two days a week. I've been working two days a week, which for me has been really kind of overflowing.
• 6:58
  I'm working definitely more than two days a week, but also still very like part time and lightweight. And yeah, then I slowly kind of ramp it back up and about four months in, I'm like fully back. So in some ways I come back earlier and I start working earlier. But in some ways I give myself even more time to transition back into being full time.
• 7:21
  more times than three. And like, how do you feel about, like, are you excited to be fully back at work? Yes and no. I think like taking a step back and reprioritizing my life around this newborn child for a second gives me some perspective and I want to go back full time, but I want to step in differently than where I was before.
• 7:51
  There are so many things that just moves like, they did not need me. So many meetings, so many things that just happened. You know what I mean? And it's just so amazing to see that. It's such a great reminder. It's also a great reminder of maybe where the business could use my support more or what I could be doing as an add-on, like additive to the business instead of just supporting me.
• 8:15
  operations. So that's really exciting. So I'm excited to go back, but it's going to be different. And I'm excited about that. And I also do, yeah, and I know I said that, you know, I really, really want to try and stay high level and keep my stress down and keep my, you know, work-life balance in check.
• 8:44
  which is hard. Yeah. Definitely hard, but also probably amazing. Once you master it, being super productive when you're at work and then being super mom when you're at home.
• 8:57
  Yeah. Yeah. Or definitely. I think that that it's like also just giving myself the space to also for one week, just be like fully invested in one or the other. So like, I think balance can look different in different moments. Do you know what I mean? Like
• 9:20
  Some days feel balanced. And then sometimes I look at the month and the month feels balanced. Or sometimes it doesn't feel balanced at all. And then I need to like take a break and figure out how do I get back to a place of alignment. And like that's okay to feel unbalanced. Absolutely is. Yes. Yes, it happens all the time.
• 9:42
  On and off the balance. I want to hear like what's been happening in the business because, I mean, I've spoken to you since we had you on the podcast the first time around, but I want to hear kind of the highlights and the lowlights since then. When you were on the show last, you had, from memory, you had just won the lawsuit against suing the New York subway to get your advertising campaign live, and it was live, I think, at the time.
• 10:10
  And that feels like literally so long ago. And it probably was. It was probably 2021. So it probably is such a long time ago. But I'm like, shit, so much has happened since then. So like, give us the recap on the business. Where are things? What are some highlights and some lowlights? Tell us. All right. Since we last spoke, we launched in Sephora. We actually launched Sephora Australia too.
• 10:38
  So that's pretty cool. Right? You saw me there when I was there. Then this year we launched Target. We've also launched some new products. One highlight or two highlights would be Dip and our gummies. So Dip is a $35 US dollar. It's a very...
• 11:00
  We wanted to make like the best entry-level vibe that we could. It's a classic, you know, vibe classic. So it doesn't have as many bells and whistles and functionality, but that has been a really strong seller for us. It's a really great essential product. Yeah, that's amazing. And then, yeah, thank you. We've had a hard time keeping it in stock, which is always like a good but also real product problem. And then we also launched into...
• 11:28
  supplements, which has been amazing and so, so fascinating. I've always been into herbs and it's just been really cool to make a formula to learn more about that process. And then of course, like we did a third party clinical study with our formula and that was also a really interesting learning. So we developed something that really helps with connection.
• 11:57
  So it's adaptogen based and also has nootropics like L-theanine to help you kind of calm and stay connected. And then we also put some Mukana in it, which is an L-Dopa precursor. So it helps you make dopamine in your brain, which of course is like the pleasure reward. And that's kind of how we classically think of it. So it is a little bit more from my understanding, a neurotransmitter that's also about pleasure seeking and curiosity.
• 12:27
  So that makes so much sense as to why it's been effective at helping people get more connected to their sexual desire. So do you eat the gummy and you can kind of like feel a difference or it's more like a supplement where you take it over a long period of time and it builds up into your system?
• 12:43
  So it's mostly adaptogen based, which is the building. So adaptogens you want to take every day and they have more and more of effect. But things like L-theanine, which is also in it, has a more of an immediate calming effect. So a little bit of both, but it's really a daily supplement. You're really going to notice the impact by taking it daily.
• 13:07
  And for you, was that always kind of like a vision that you had or did you land on supplements because of some other light bulb moment? Like what led to supplements and this kind of new direction? So we had – yeah, we had – okay, so what has always been part is that we just wanted to help improve sex holistically. And we knew that was more than vibrators. We had some ideas, some things that are still in the works –
• 13:35
  But we had this Facebook group where we like really, we have a group called Dame Labs, which is a big group of consumers and fans who talk about products, try products for us, you know,
• 13:51
  are just like down to kind of shoot the shit about these. They're passionate about the category. And there was a conversation. And then also, you know what else also was happening is people will sign up or show up who are new or going through something difficult. And somebody posted that they were struggling with stuff.
• 14:14
  their antidepressants and how it was impacting their libido. And people started talking about supplements and teas and things that they were ingesting to kind of balance it out. And I had a light bulb moment of like, oh, we can create a proprietary blend of,
• 14:33
  that is generally supportive and how do we want to go about it? So we went about it from a really, you know, not from just making something that is a compliment to SSRIs, but more of a formulated a supplement that is, helps generally reduce anxiety and promote connection. But yeah, it really kind of came from a conversation of customers that we were facilitating with customers. Wow, that's amazing. And how long has it been in market?
• 15:04
  It launched last summer, July 2022. And what's the impact been? Like, I want to know the impact both, like, anecdotally through, like, customer impact, but then I want to also understand, like, in the business, what has the impact been? Yeah. So from, like, clinically, the formula 87% of people who were in our
• 15:33
  trial saw improvement in sexual desire and for like 90% saw a reduction in anxiety and stress. So that was very cool. It was, yes, I remember like the lab was like surprised, which was very cool because it was really nerve wracking to put all the effort in to make a formula and then go through a test like that and just like to find out if it's, you know, showing positive signs.
• 16:03
  And then as far as the impact on the business, you know, we have a product now that has a subscription model. And it's been really amazing to build that out and see the impact of, you know, having something like that, having more consumables, which have a higher, higher retention rate, um,
• 16:27
  Yeah. And I would say lastly, you actually just like, so impacting people in a different way to like the customer response has been really amazing. We definitely have people who love them and are super users. And it's been cool to impact people in that way. Yeah, I love that. That's so interesting.
• 16:51
  And it all makes so much sense as well. If you're thinking about it from a business objective of the LTV of a customer must be so much higher if they're an ongoing subscriber. But also in the sense of, yeah, building those super users and super fans who are like...
• 17:11
  Yeah, really connected on multiple layers into the business or into the brand rather. So cool. I love that. My gosh. Thank you. Yeah, no, it has been really cool. It's been really fun too for me because we always get to learn new manufacturing processes but still continue to work with our customers around the same topic, you know, all in service of the same mission.
• 17:40
  Yeah. I like what you said before. It's like you're taking more of the holistic approach now with your customer, which is really cool. I want to talk about the launch into Target and how Target happened, how Target came about. So I kind of want to get into a bit of a Target conversation to understand how your marketing changes when you launch into something like that and kind of...
• 18:02
  what you've learned from launching with a huge retailer like that. So to start at the beginning, how did the Target thing come about? And yeah, how did it happen? So we got the Target broker's email and we actually, so pretty much we reached out to a broker. So Target, there's a lot of brokers that help you sell into Target and,
• 18:27
  And it's very interesting because the broker, we ended up working with them and they were kind of, it turned out, going through their own internal transitions. And they just kind of gave us the email. And we're like, hey, they're just looking for line reviews. Here's the format. Send it in. So I did that. And they had heard of the brand. Target had heard of the brand.
• 18:47
  I was really excited to hear from us. I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't think I, you know, targeted. I mean, they were having in the news some challenges with inventory post-COVID. So I didn't think they'd actually be open to bringing in any questions.
• 19:04
  new vendors but of course you shouldn't assume and you should just apply you know and that's what i did you should never assume but i remember telling myself like this isn't going to be the year and then they reached out and they knew who we were and this category was performing really well and they wanted to have a like the premier brand in this space because i didn't feel like they had that
• 19:29
  So that was very cool. And they wanted to put us in 290 stores, a different assortment. And I do think like, if you are ever thinking about doing, going into Target,
• 19:46
  It's really important to have to do your research, know what price points sell and how you want to push on that, but be realistic about how much you can push and then believe in yourself because, you know, like...
• 20:02
  When it came to the assortment that we put in the store, some of those were really what Target wanted. And some of them, some of those items, I was like, no, I'm telling you guys, I think that this is the product that's going to sell more. And I'm really happy that I also pushed for some, like, you know, there was a part of me that was like, oh, the Target buyers, like of course they know better than me. But I was, you know, but I was also like, I'm positive that, you know,
• 20:28
  this product is going to do well there and I pushed for it and it does well there I'm I think that it's a good reminder to that like how do you want to position yourself in one of these stores are you trying to like who do you want to be in that store is that helpful
• 20:44
  Yeah. So helpful. Great. A hundred percent. Trust your, trust your intuition and your gut. Like, you know, your brand better than anyone else. You know what resonates with a customer and. And you know, your category too, because like, you know, like these category managers, like it's a lot, it's not just, you know, she does all personal, like she does a lot of personal care and sexual wellness and all the different categories within,
• 21:10
  the categories that she, you know, there's a lot. It's always good to remember that you're an expert. Okay. So they have sent a PO, like you're launching, it's official, contracts are signed. What is the next step for a company like yours when it comes to the marketing and assembling a team that are going to be supporting the target kind of launch and ongoing kind of target efforts to make sure that you've got high velocity, to make sure that people know you're in target? What happens there? Like what does that look like?
• 21:40
  There's so many ways you can go about it. And, you know, like there is everything from like running advertisements on Target's platform for Target's e-commerce business. So it's like you can run ads on Google or Amazon that, you know, like that's a whole system and that's an effort. And then I think you almost have, I believe we have to work with a broker in order to work with Target. Broker is an agency that kind of works as an in-between.
• 22:08
  And I think it's really important to make sure you get a broker that you love, that you trust, that is going to support you.
• 22:14
  make sure they're getting on the call and give you the right data when you need it. And so do you still work with a broker now? Is that what you're saying? Like it's an ongoing relationship. So what do they do? What does the broker like do ongoing? So they do a few things for you. And like, look, I think that there's a lot of nuance and like even just getting an order process from Target, it can be kind of like a heavy lift. Yeah.
• 22:39
  They use EDI. So you have to have like, you know, you just have a lot of logistics. There's making sure that the POs make sense. I've had a few, like put a few purchase orders where we're like, this is way too high. There's apps or like way too low. And like, Hey, you know, like, like they'll help us look at like what, what's moving in their, in their backend system at target. And we'll be like, this is weird that they're ordering so much of this and so much of that. And then, you know,
• 23:09
  They'll go back to Target and kind of ask questions. And often we get them fixed because we don't want Target to have too much of our inventory. We want them to have the right amount. So we're seeing that momentum. We don't want them to be overstocked of our of our product.
• 23:28
  And what have you found like shifts the needle to keep the momentum going? Like, is it, I've seen a lot of people who work kind of with like the TikTok target influencers who go in and review products on shelf and things like that, or, or is it just your classic paid ads linking to target or is it like in-store activation or what have you been working on? Yeah. So for us, yeah.
• 23:51
  Again, the taboo of the category does restrict us in what kind of in-store marketing or just marketing that we can do.
• 24:01
  both like in-store as well as out-of-store for the brand in general. But I do really think that general awareness is key. When people go into Target, it's not as much of a place that you go to learn. You kind of want to know the brand before you get there in some way, or maybe you learn about the brand there and like the awareness goes.
• 24:25
  gets to you, but there's not as much education in store there as compared to some other retailers that we're in. So I think the brand awareness, I think working with influencers who are, you know, target focused, anything like that can be so, so helpful figuring out a way of using the internet to get in front of an audience that goes to target. 100%. I've seen a lot of that actually. Do you think like...
• 24:54
  Considering, you know, you're such a well-established brand, and I know Target also takes in a lot of kind of like indie brands as well and like kind of earlier stage brands, when do you think is the good time to approach Target? Like if there's a founder listening who's like, my dream is to go into Target, like what would you give advice on that? Target and, you know, other –
• 25:21
  big FTM, you really want to make sure that you're going to be able to support them. And what that means is have the inventory, be able to plan for that inventory, be able to have the margins to support that partner too. So it's a profitable undertaking, or if you know it's not going to be profitable at first, if that's a calculated decision and have a go-to-market strategy,
• 25:51
  as well as sustaining marketing dollars for it. It can be anything. It could be your only store and you can focus all of your attention on it. And if it's not, you just have to make sure you have the right team. Like I'm just saying resources, resources, because it can be an effort and they'll charge you if you don't fulfill the PO on time. There's a lot of things that can be hard to do. So you want to make sure you're ready. You want to make sure you feel like it's a good brand fit.
• 26:21
  Because, yeah, make sure your warehouse is capable of fulfilling EDI orders and being compliant with their systems. It's just those kinds of, I don't know, we actually just did an account recently to, like,
• 26:34
  So we sell through distributors too. So for example, in Australia, we have an amazing, amazing partner who sells a lot of our products into the adult market as well as some like spas and premium wellness spaces.
• 26:55
  So I don't know all of her store counts. I don't know exactly how many stores we're in in Australia. Like 1,000 stores or like? Yeah, I mean, probably more, like definitely probably like 600 to 1,000 stores. We're in 300 targets. And then we're in quite a bit of adult stores as well. And then we've done like pop-up shops in Nordstrom's, we've worked with Bloomingdale's. So there are a lot of other online retailers like Revald.
• 27:24
  All of them sell our product. So let's...
• 27:29
  And is your kind of like focus now, like more retailers? Like, is that the expansion plan or is it like still focusing online? Where is the growth from here? We've always been omni-channel and that has been really supportive. Because there are so many restrictions when it comes to digitally advertising this category,
• 27:59
  I don't remember if the V yeah, digital native vertical. I think something like that. That's something like that. Like that. I didn't think that strategy was fully available to us. And when retailers came knocking,
• 28:14
  It just made sense. Like the cash flow of that channel seemed worth figuring out how to support them. So, you know, we said yes to a few stores. Like I remember, you know, Babeland, which is a very, to me, it's like the cool New York sex toy store that I grew up going to.
• 28:33
  called us. I was like, we're going to figure that out. And we started selling to wholesale pretty quickly. And I think that it always makes sense to focus first on your digital presence and your website. It's just how you can have the most direct relationship with your customer. So I kind of feel like if I can do things that succeed there and focus on building the brand there
• 28:58
  That's going to support my sales everywhere. So that's always been the strategy. And I feel, I mean, I don't know if luck is the right word because now the world has changed. And it's really, I think all of these consumer brands that have come about in the past 10 years are all realizing that they can't build their business only online. And there's been a big shift to figuring out how to make wholesale work and,
• 29:27
  Since we had, you know, wanted to make sure that channel was available to us from the beginning, you know, it's a profitable part of our business. And, yeah, it is definitely a bigger percentage of our revenue this year than it was last year at retail. And it's one of the channels I want to keep on growing. But I do see us growing digitally as well and, you know, through continuing to do it through partnerships and other things.
• 29:56
  I really want to do more pop-up stores. I love retail. I love in-person. I think in-person is just so much fun. Activations are fun. It's like meeting people in real life. We're a brand about intimacy and pleasure. And I'm both obsessed with how do we create that online? And I think we can, like,
• 30:17
  you and I've become friends halfway around the world. And that's like really beautiful. And it's really cool how we can do it in new different ways. But there's something about the old school IRL that I really want to honor. And I know it feels really almost important to the brand to like have intimate spaces. Yeah.
• 30:41
  A hundred percent. I love that. More offline, more connection, more intimacy. Love it. Something I wanted to ask you, actually, I think the last time we spoke, you had a co-founder at the time. Her name was Janet. I don't think she's in the business anymore. Is she still in the business? What's going on there? Yeah, she was. So she actually hasn't been working day-to-day in the business since 2020. So I actually think even last time we spoke, she had... Oh, maybe she
• 31:11
  Yeah, I don't think she was, just based on the timeline. She started the business together. And then at one point, actually, it was right before COVID, she just kind of hit a place where she wanted to take a step back. And she wanted to kind of shift her priorities. And I just feel really grateful and proud.
• 31:35
  of the grace for which we like figured that out because it was really hard. You know, it's just like a marriage and it, you know, her reasonings were, I really wanted to, you know, respect her and figure out a way for that to be sustainable for me moving forward with, without her. And she was, you know, it was hard. There was definitely like,
• 32:02
  very challenging conversations that we had to have. And we had to, you know, write up docs to figure out like what all of that was going to look like. And it can destroy businesses and it has. And I feel like it certainly did not destroy ours. I still feel very, very much like, you know, her energy and spirit is still very much at Dame. And she's since...
• 32:31
  started a family and, you know, checks in every now and then. And yeah, I don't know. It is really nice. I think there is some stat out there that like, you know, a lot of businesses fail because of the breakdown of co-founder relationships because, of course, like building a business is stressful, managing relationships is stressful. When you are having to figure out what it looks like for a co-founder to leave a business, yeah.
• 32:58
  Is it like you buying her out of the company or is it like she's still got equity and she's just not an operator anymore? Or you have to figure that out with a lawyer? You have to figure that out with each other, first and foremost, and lawyers. But I think kind of with each other as much as you can first, just to kind of keep the cost down. We actually worked...
• 33:22
  We had a consultant who was like, I think you guys should work with a mediator who is not a lawyer just to help you figure this out. And that was really helpful. So this way, like when we were like, hey, this is really important to me. We had, you know, a safe space to like to like have those conversations and put pen to paper because it's hard. You know, she.
• 33:48
  And I had built this really powerful thing together that both of our net worth was tied up in. And just through conversation, like there's no right way of doing it. There's no, I mean, I would say the wrong way is ways where you both end up with nothing by destroying the business. And that's not what either one of us wanted to do. I don't think.
• 34:15
  either one of us was bitter. I think we understood
• 34:19
  that it was time. And yeah, I don't know. I do. I like the more I look back on that, the more I'm just like, so proud. Seems like so many relationships can get so ugly in that moment. And it's just a lot like a divorce. And you just have to remember that ultimately, like you both have equity in this thing. So what's going to support that? What are you looking for? You know, like I know she really wanted more,
• 34:48
  just ease and stability in her life. And that's hard to get as an entrepreneur. So how can we also kind of construct that for her? And, you know, I wanted to, if it was going to be me without her, you know, I wanted to also make sure I was seeing more, you know, upside. So those are the things we negotiated. Yeah.
• 35:11
  and we're able to come to terms and figure it out. It's so interesting. I love this tip about getting a mediator involved versus like getting the lawyers to manage it because, of course, it is so personal and there are these kind of things that are important to you that it needs to be approached more with emotion versus legality at the beginning.
• 35:34
  Yeah, a little bit of both. I feel like you don't want to necessarily, I always struggle with this because I feel like emotion is so important. You don't want to be emotional and defensive during conversations, but you need to acknowledge your emotion in order to have a logical and grounded conversation. And you have to,
• 36:02
  know your needs and your desires. So, you know, you can know if they're being met or not. And in our case, we both had to be willing to compromise a little bit. And yeah. When you think about like the last couple of years, you know, you've gone through that, like a co-founder situation changing, then you've had, you know, crazy success with launching into hundreds of, you know, new retailers and stores. I'm sure you've probably had like,
• 36:30
  different low moments as well. What's the key kind of learnings that you could pass on to someone listening right now that kind of like sums up the last few years? I feel like that's such a big question, but like, you know, I feel like you've gone through a lot in the last couple of years and it's like, what advice or learnings could you share? Yeah.
• 36:50
  Also, COVID happened in the past few years, which was just so, so much. So many highs, so many lows. You know, it's, I've been thinking a lot about stability and how much, you know, I'm trying to create stability through the business, both for myself and for my employees. But I don't, you know, entrepreneurship is, you feel like.
• 37:17
  the instability more, you know, you can see it like, okay, there's going to be high, like there's target might be around the corner, but you also at the same time might be having a supply demand logistics, you know, fire to put out. And I think it can be,
• 37:36
  Just really hard to manage all of it and to see your success. I've definitely had moments where I stopped seeing my success or stopped seeing myself as successful.
• 37:49
  because I'm more focused on my inventory challenges and like, I don't know, like things internal or things that are happening or if everything's going well enough, then, Oh my God, I'm in target. I have a brand that's in target. Yeah. That's amazing. It's amazing. Like the dream.
• 38:14
  But then you get so obsessed with like, are you doing good enough in Target? And like, even like you were asking me, like, what do we need to be like? What do you think Browns need to do to be successful on Target? And I was having such a hard time, like not immediately slacking my team, being like, oh, my God, I have this other idea. Like, what if we like we should be doing more, you know, versus just. Yeah.
• 38:34
  Hey, dude, I'm in Target. Like, that's amazing. It's so, so cool. So I don't know. I think the advice is just to stay grounded and to take deep breaths before making big decisions and always try and have alignment. You know, it should feel good. Not that it's not hard, but, you know, nobody's mental health is really worth it.
• 39:04
  you had somebody on the show recently who was like, somebody, I forget who it was. They were like super successful. And then they like, you know, it takes a toll on your mental health. Like, or it can. So you just, you know, I had somebody be like, remember, nothing's worth your mental health. And I was just like, fuck yeah, nothing is worth my mental health.
• 39:25
  A hundred percent. One hundred percent. Mental health is hard, though. Like, we talk about it all the time. Like, everyone talks about it. But, like, it's pretty tricky to, like, get to the point where you're like, my mental health is great overall big picture. I feel pretty good right now. I was feeling real shitty, though, for a while. You know, I just had a kid. It was tough. It was hard. And it's hard to know.
• 39:52
  what to do when it's hard, you know, like, because I just wanted to be not hard. Like I wanted to be good. I want to be positive. I really think that if I put positivity out there, more positivity is going to come my way. I believe in all that. And then it's like, I'm hit with a moment where I'm like, Oh man, I just feel funky. I feel sad. I feel, um,
• 40:17
  I feel unsure of who I am and what my light is. And like, that's okay. I think we're just always going to have moments of that. Like you go through these cycles and just like allowing for it is just hard.
• 40:31
  Yeah. And I also think my husband told me something recently that either he heard or he read or, you know, whatever. But the goal, of course, like you want to be happy all the time and things like that, but that's just not how it works. And so it's just about like being in the season that you're in, even in a day, like, you know, you can have many seasons in a day and that's okay. Yeah.
• 40:53
  And that shouldn't, it shouldn't be this pressure that you have to be happy 100% of the time because we're emotional beings, there are ups and downs and that's just the way that it is and like acknowledging that is fine. Yeah, I think like, you know, the point isn't to not suffer at all. It's to, you know, like, I don't know.
• 41:14
  be at peace with your, with those moments. And like, it's totally fine to realize, like to acknowledge, like, oh, I'm in a transitional place. Like I'm in a place right now that like, just trying to always have so faith that you're going to find that footing again. 100%.
• 41:39
  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.
• 42:03
  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.
• 42:26
  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.
• 42:41
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 43:06
  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.
• 43:28
  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.