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School of Hard Knocks Podcast
Kendra Scott | From Single Mom & College Dropout to Billion-Dollar Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, and Fashion Icon
00:56:03
Kendra Scott is a single mom and college dropout who built a billion-dollar brand from her bedroom. With only $500 and a dream, she turned handmade jewelry into one of the most successful fashion empires in America. In this episode, she shares how she...
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- [00:00]
A
Kendra, you are one of 20 or so female founders that did what?
- [00:03]
B
Founded a billion dollar brand.
- [00:05]
C
How many retail stores do you guys have now?
- [00:06]
B
We'll be at 170 by the end of the year.
- [00:08]
C
So you started with one location.
- [00:10]
B
Yeah.
- [00:11]
C
And now you're at over 170 locations.
- [00:13]
B
I want to build a brand that my grandchildren are going to be proud of. This is my name on this brand.
- [00:18]
D
You're also on Shark Tank.
- [00:20]
B
Yeah.
- [00:20]
D
For those people that are out there that are thinking about, hey, I need to get some investors. What do they need to be doing in order to obtain investor relationships to get the capital that they need for their business?
- [00:29]
B
You got to have more than just an idea. You've got to have, and you've got to be able to tell me your.
- [00:34]
A
Did you have any strategy or any relationship building advice for young entrepreneurs when they're trying to build that Rolodex of people to have in their corner?
- [00:40]
B
Well, remember, you give what you get. You're coming with one strategic question where they can really make an impact. You're being thoughtful of their time, and I promise you, most people will give you that five minutes easily.
- [00:50]
A
Kendra, if me and you died tomorrow and you had one more guiding principle to lead with the younger generation, what would that be?
- [00:56]
B
Oh, gosh.
- [01:01]
A
What's going on, everyone? And welcome back to the School of Hard Knocks podcast. I'm James and I'm here with Jack and Josh. And we have an amazing guest for you all, our fellow Texas Longhorn. We're out in Austin, Texas, with the legendary jewelry mogul Kendra Scott, the founder of the billion dollar brand. Kendra Scott and Kendra, you are one of, like 20 or so female founders that did what?
- [01:24]
B
Founded a billion dollar brand. That's crazy.
- [01:26]
A
How does that even feel? Like, that's incredible.
- [01:29]
B
It doesn't feel real, quite honestly. Sometimes, I mean, when you start out of your extra bedroom on a card table, you know, it's hard to get your head around numbers like that. I mean, when I first heard the B B word and they're like, I think the valuation is going to come in over a billion. The only B word I had really known before that was potential bankruptcy. You know, so. So it was like. It was like, what? You know, you just never take it for granted when you build something from nothing and you rem. And how many times I almost lost the business. There were so many peaks and valleys throughout these last 23 years. You just never take it for granted. And you're always extremely grateful. And I'm extremely grateful every Day.
- [02:08]
A
I love it. And I want to start things off by kind of going back to the very beginning of it all. You had just had a newborn baby, and rather than just kind of being the stay at home mom, you decided to go all in and build a business. What was first of all your mindset like at the time? And talk to those people that think that everything has to be perfect in order to get going. We know that procrastination and inaction is one of the biggest things that holds us back as people. What was your mindset going back to when you had $500 and you're about to set out on a journey to build this billion dollar company?
- [02:40]
B
Well, let me tell you, when I started, I wasn't saying, oh, I'm going to build a billion dollar company out of my bedroom. It was really like more of I wanted to create a business that allowed me to provide for my family, but also allow me to be a mother first and foremost. And I could do that if I was an entrepreneur. Back to a job, to a desk job, I would be away from my kid all day. So could I create a business that allowed me to be a mom first, that I could bring my kid with me on sales calls, that he could be next to me when I'm designing my jewelry? And that was really important to me. I love to work, I love to create, I love to design. And I knew I wanted to be in business. I had a business before I had my sons that failed. It was a hat company. And I started that when I was 19 years old. So I had already had that entrepreneurial spirit in me. But I was making jewelry in that hat store. And when I closed that store, people, people didn't call me for the hats, they called me for the jewelry. And so I was kind of was my side hustle. As I was working a regular job, I was making jewelry on the side. And when I had my first son, I was like, you know what? I think I can make this into another business. I'm going to try again. I'm going to be brave and I'm going to try to start another business. After having a failed business, it's really hard. I didn't make a big production and tell people I'm starting this business because I was honestly afraid they'd laugh at me, be like, oh, here she goes again. She had that failed hat business, good luck sweetheart, you know, kind of thing. But I just remember, remember taking it day by day and each day that I'd get a win, I'd get an order and get another order. It was like, okay, a little bit more of that confidence built in me that maybe I have something here. It wasn't like, from day one, oh, I'm gonna take this, and I'm gonna build this huge company. It was like, what can I do to do something that I love, that I'm passionate about, where I can be present for my family? And also a big part for me was I wanted to do something good. My first company, we did headwear for men and women undergoing chemotherapy. I wanted to use the gifts I was given to do something good in this world. When I started Kendra Scott Jewelry, who would call me for a silent auction item or a charity item, I always felt like I could have something to give. I could make a pair of earrings. I could make a necklace. And so having purpose in this was also super important for me as well. And that's what led to my core values of family, fashion, and philanthropy. And that's really been at the heart of Kendra Scott from day one.
- [04:49]
A
I want to touch on how you intertwined family and business together. You hear a lot of big, successful entrepreneurs talk about there's no work life balance. You're going to have to miss the kids baseball games. But you didn't. I don't. You didn't want that to happen. You wanted to kind of be there for your kids.
- [05:02]
B
That's not the life I was gonna ever live. Everybody that works in my business knows that I'm a mom first before I'm a CEO, before I'm chairwoman. My kids, my family, they come first. I want the people that work for me, for their kids and their family to come first. I do not want Kendra Scott to be the first thing that they have to worry about. And a lot of business owners will be like, wait, what? You. You. You're not telling your people that they need to just not have a life and they just need to focus on working for you? No, because they're gonna be a hundred million times if they're happy at home. And when they're happy and stable at home, they're going to be rock stars at work. And so many business owners and entrepreneurs just don't understand that family can be part of your business. You can integrate it into your business. At Kendra Scott hq, we have a kids little area with teepees and games and tents. You can bring your kids in and play. We've got snacks galore for them. We have nursing rooms for our nursing moms where they can bring their babies up or they can pump. We've created an environment where we support family and that is something that's super magical and I hope can be a North Star for other businesses and brands.
- [06:07]
D
So 80% of businesses typically fail within the first five years. When you were first starting, Kendra Scott, what were some of those initial challenges that you faced that probably a bunch of entrepreneurs face, but they don't. They're not persistent enough to get past them. What were some of those initial challenges in the first couple years of your business that you pressed on, got through, and was able to help you get to a point to where you got like some of your first major wins?
- [06:30]
B
Yeah, you know, I mean, the early days, I was hand making everything myself, and then I hired a part time baby to come in and help me, and I trained her how to wire wrap. So when the baby was napping, we would be making jewelry together that wasn't gonna be sustainable. I knew that I had to figure out outsourcing and manufacturing. I couldn't make it off that card table forever. I shipped my first Nordstrom order from my dining room, you guys. I mean, Nordstrom had no idea. Like, it was a total fake it till you make it.
- [06:56]
D
How many, how many, how many products was that that you.
- [06:58]
B
Oh, I mean, we were probably like, I'd say 50 different SKUs in like three to four different colorways.
- [07:03]
D
Wow.
- [07:04]
B
So it was a lot. And that literally shipped off my dining room table. I had all my friends come over. We were ticketing and carting that order. But you know, I love that that was kind of the way that we started. But yeah, it's. I mean, it's, it's, it's amazing for me to think it. Back to your question. I want to make sure I hit it.
- [07:20]
D
What were those challenges that. The challenges you were facing that most people, they would give up if they were faced with that kind of adversity? In the first five years, the first.
- [07:27]
B
The biggest challenge was when I got my first really big order. And it was like 1500 units. And I was like, holy cow. And I remember the buyer. It's a store actually that doesn't exist anymore. It's called Harold's. They had stores all over. And she called me. It was a $75,000 order. Okay. So every order before this had been like $500, $700, you know, whatever, $75,000. I mean, it was like, what, had.
- [07:50]
A
You sold your product in Harold's before?
- [07:52]
B
No, I had had it. I was doing Dallas market and the buyer came in and I remember the lady who owned the. The showroom that I was in, she was like, oh, they always ask for samples. They never order. And I'm like, I don't care. I'm going to give her samples. And I wrapped those samples and tissue with ribbon. I sprayed perfume in the box. I wrote a handwritten letter. I mean, like, I just did the whole butterfly release. And she called. She's like, we love your product. We want to order it. We need it in eight weeks. It was like, all these, you know, over 1500 units and $75,000 order, and I had no idea how it was going to get produced. I was just like, okay, great. Like, didn't have any clue how we were going to do it. A huge obstacle to overcome. And I had to really start to think, okay, what am I going to do? You have to ask for help. As an entrepreneur, asking for help is not a sign of weakness, people. It is the greatest sign of strength. Who do I know in my network who might have access to manufacturing? And I reached out to a good friend of mine, Bill Fields. He used to be CEO of Walmart. He set up all of their production overseas. And I called Bill and I said, bill, hey, you know, I have this order. I'm building this little business out of my bedroom. Can you help me? And he said, absolutely, Kendra. I can help. And he used some of his connections to help me get that first order produced. That manufacturer was with us for so many years. Like, 12 years after that, we continued to grow that business with that manufacturer. So I think for me, it's like being vulnerable enough to know when I can't figure something out on my own and being able to pick up the phone and call people you really admire and respect and ask for help.
- [09:23]
C
It's never a bad time to ask for help, because one of the things that I love is that it's not what you know, it's who you know. And something that I think is really interesting about Kendra Scott and how you built the brand is when people think about fashion brands and fashion industry, they think about, like, New York City or Los Angeles being the hub for the business. But you built it out of Austin, Texas. Why did you insist on building out of Austin?
- [09:44]
B
Well, first of all, this is the coolest city in the United States of America. I'm not biased or anything. Hook em horns. But it is. It's just the most dynamic, amazing city. And when I founded my business in 2002, nobody really knew that about Austin. We were still like, you know, it was before we had the big ad campaign campaigns of like, Austin is the best in all the things. So it really. Nobody knew what I knew, that this was such a cultural hub of creativity, that there was such a huge entrepreneurial spirit here in the city. And it was. It was just dynamic and amazing. And I remember going to New York and la. Cause that's where all the shows were, where you'd have to show your product. And I had so many editors and people come through and they're like, oh, where are you? New York, Louisiana? And I'm like, no, I'm in Austin, Texas. They're like, oh, are you selling like western turquoise jewelry? You know? And I'm like, you don't know Austin. You have no idea. But Austin became part of the DNA of our brand. We didn't look like anybody else because we were influenced by the place we were in. And so when everybody else was just trying to copy each other or look the same, we stood out in the market because we had our own perspective. And it came a lot from the city that we were in. And I was like, I knew something that they didn't know how cool it was to have a brand here in Texas. The other thing that they didn't realize is that Texans love to support each other and entrepreneurs love to support each other. We feel like we are competing against the world. So in Texas, we hold hands and we lift each other up. I would not be the successful business or brand I am today if I would have started on the coasts. There's no way. The competition is crazy. No one is. Everyone's just dog eat dog. But being in this city, this state, gave me my wings to fly.
- [11:22]
A
So I wanted to touch on that real quick because there are some people that think it's not necessarily a bad idea to go into a competitive market. You know, they say that the best place to open up a gas station is right next to a gas station. But you like the idea of kind of coming out into a blue ocean where there isn't a lot, because you can differentiate, Differentiate yourself and stand out where there aren't a lot of players in the market.
- [11:40]
B
Yeah, you know, I mean, everybody's so worried about the coast. But when you think about where the world is, we started in Texas and we've gone into the Midwest and gone into the south, into Florida. Like, those areas are where a lot of the big brands never can reach those consumers because they can't relate to those consumers. They don't know those consumers. But that's where the heart of business is. You know, look at Texas. It's the number one economy in the United States. Right. So to start a business here is so powerful and you can connect with your customer in a way that's so unique and special and I think have a different voice than those businesses that start on the coasts.
- [12:12]
A
Yeah. I wanted to touch on, I think, one of the most important things that I think anybody can say, and I love that you shined light on it, was going to ask for help. Right. Another entrepreneur that we recently did was Michael Rubin in New York City, the Fanatics founder. And that was like one of my key takeaways from that interview with him. But, you know, and Josh, you know, you brought up, it's not what you know, it's who you know. But, you know, we recently did Robert Herjavec as well, you know, fellow Fellowship. And when I asked him, what do you think is more important, what you know or who you know, he actually says, he said the most bullshit advice is when people tell you it's who you know. Because super successful people aren't necessarily going to want to connect with you, like if you don't have something to provide value with to them and whatnot.
- [12:54]
B
Right.
- [12:54]
A
But when you get to that point where again, you have a $75,000 order and you kind of have a reason to reach out to a Walmart CEO, I'm curious, did you have a strategy and building your relationships, nurturing them over the years? Because I know we can say it is immensely. One of the most important and helpful things that you can have is to have some great people in your corner that can pour into you and you can pour into them as well. Did you have any strategy or any relationship building advice for young entrepreneurs when they're trying to build that Rolodex of people to have in their corner?
- [13:22]
B
Well, remember, you give what you get, and I think that's a really important thing. And be really thoughtful about how you approach people. It's not just about taking. Right. It's about also giving. And people that are giving advice, they get something from doing that for you. It makes people feel good to help other people. Now, there may be jerks out there that are like, no, I don't have time for that, or whatever. Hey, what have you lost? Nothing. You've asked and they didn't want to help you. But most of the people out there love to help other people. And if you're concise and thoughtful and respectful and go, look, I know you're busy, I respect the hell out of you. I respect the business you built. I respect the person that you are. I just. I really admire you. I've. I need five minutes. I've got one question in my business right now that's really struggling with me, and I just want to get your. Take five minutes of your time. Not 50 minutes, not an hour. You're not asking them to write your business plan for you. You're coming with one strategic question where they can really make an impact. You're being thoughtful of their time. And I promise you, most people will give you that five minutes easily, and they're going to want to do that for you. But if you go in and like, hey, can I just take you to lunch and talk? They don't. People don't have time for that. Right. So be concise, Be thoughtful of the person you're talking to. But I promise you, people love to help other people. It's human instinct.
- [14:35]
D
I want you to take us back to the thought process of wanting to open up your first store. How did you go from selling orders out of your dining room table all the way to when you decided the decision to, hey, I want to open a brick and mortar store and sell and sell Kendra Scott jewelry out of our own spot. What was that like?
- [14:52]
B
So my first business was brick and mortar. It was the hat box, and it was a hat store. And it was the hardest business. After five years of running that store, Monday through Sunday, open to close. Not really able to even hire people, I was like, I will never, ever go in retail again. Retail is the scariest business that's out there. I want to design, manufacture, and sell to other retailers and let them worry about selling it. I wasn't going to go into retail. And then this incredible thing happened. The 2008 Great Recession. And I say, for Kendra Scott, it was the greatest gift our business ever had. Because it's a shake the snow globe moment. It's a moment that made me have to look at my business and evaluate my business totally differently. So in 2008, I was just selling wholesale, and all of a sudden, a lot of these retailers, even the one I just mentioned, Heralds, filed for bankruptcy. They were shuttering left and right. Businesses that I relied on were closing every single day. Buyers that I had worked with for the big department stores that I had built relationships with, were getting laid off. And I realized that I had given all the power of my business to other people. The power of the pen rested in their hands, and I had no control or power over the most important person, my direct consumer. I didn't have a relationship with her or him. I only had relationship with the buyers and the owners of these boutiques. And it forced me to look at my business and go, we need to focus on direct to consumer. Every single thing we do from this moment on is we have to connect directly with our customer. And the only way we can do that is through connecting with her in brick and mortar and building an incredible e commerce site, creating something very unique and different. We created color bar online where customers could pick their own stone colors and settings and we would literally hand make them in Austin and ship them out the same day. We had to do something disruptive but connect directly. So that recession forced me to really change my whole trajectory of my business. 2010, I opened my first store and you look at where we were from that moment on, it was lightning in a bottle growth.
- [16:50]
D
Cause there were people that were buying Kendra Scott jewelry, but they were like, man, this is through somebody else. I don't have that direct line to the company. And so when you decide you're able to take things into your own hands on the e commerce side, and with your first store in 2010, and you brought up an interesting point, your hat business with the retail side, you were like, this is a nightmare. So what were those things that you learned from the hat business too? Like when you guys opened the first store in 2010, that was like night and day differences.
- [17:17]
B
I was a wholesaler.
- [17:18]
D
That's what you learned.
- [17:19]
B
So think about the margins. They were basically keystone margins, which is like 50% margins. You can't run a retail business with 50% margins. But as the manufacturer and the designer, my margins were much better. So my margins in retail were completely different. Way better even than when I was selling to my wholesale partners. Right? So I was able to take all of that margin and build it back into my business. The other big thing about brick and mortar that I think is so important for brands to realize, it's a laboratory. It is a place for you to learn and be a sponge every day. Stand in those stores, see what your customers are attracted to. What do they love? More importantly, what do they hate? What don't they want? What do they want more of? And that was why we built our first store. We put our offices right above the first store on South Congress and literally had to walk through the store to get to our offices. It forced everyone. In my little company, there was only 10 of us at the time. We were selling in the store. We were learning from our customer and we were making better products every Day because we had that little laboratory. That little laboratory, though, turned out to be a unbelievable gold mine. Customers were lined up outside the door. They had never experienced a jewelry brand like this, where they could freely touch jewelry that wasn't hidden behind glass, where they could sit up at a color bar and eat cupcakes and drink champagne and create their own pieces of jewelry. We were doing something so disruptive and we realized, hmm, maybe this is more than just a laboratory. Maybe we need to build our outer retail strategy.
- [18:41]
A
And you have a spot on South Congress, don't you?
- [18:43]
B
Yes. It's still, it's our flagship.
- [18:45]
A
So I have to ask this. There's probably no better person to ask this question to. You go up to South Congress. That's like prime real estate in Austin, probably pretty expensive. How are some of those places still in business? Because there's some places there that like, you never see a single customer.
- [19:01]
B
I started in South Congress during the recession, so everything was closing around me. Like literally there was nothing open. So my first deal, I did a pretty good, you know, had a pretty good retail real estate deal because it was a bad. Nobody was signing leases at that time.
- [19:16]
A
But there's so much value because you talk when there's crisis for others. Yes, that's if you, if you're ready, if you got a little bit of cash, then go take advantage of it.
- [19:24]
B
I mean, literally at the recession, it was incredible because I also had wholesale reps that were repping my line. And I realized that I, from now on, never want anyone to be my voice. I want to have the direct connection to every customer, whether that's the buyers of the, of the department stor or the owners of the boutiques or the customers coming in through my own stores. So we also opened our own showroom in New York during the recession because all these people, literally everyone's moving out of the garment district and we're moving in. We were one of the only brands moving in and we're still in that showroom today. But that's absolutely critical because we did something that was scary. It was scary to go in and take that on. But we were actually doing something really empowering because we were doing something nobody else was doing at the time. And that's where disruption comes in.
- [20:09]
C
How many, how many retail stores do you guys have now?
- [20:11]
B
We'll be at 170 by the end of the year.
- [20:13]
C
So you started with one location and now you're at over a hundred, and you're going to be scaling to over 170 locations. How does that happen? You know, did you have a mentor or someone that kind of brought you brought into the business or the team that kind of advised you on, hey, this is how we're going to scale this. We're going to go into this, we're going to start here, we're going to go into this state. Next. What did that early game plan look like? Like and before that, what? Why did you decide or when did you decide to open that second store? Yeah, what, at what point was like, okay, I got the first one, it's up and running. How can I go into that next one just for that ne that early entrepreneur out there?
- [20:47]
B
Well, first of all, you know, the strategy grows over time. I think for a lot of businesses people do crazy 10 year plans. 10 year plans are ridiculous. Nobody should be doing a 10 year plan. A three year plan is doable. I don't even like five year plans. You think about 2018 when I did a three year plan or 2017 had we ever could have thought would have happened in 20. You have to be able to pivot and be agile because even the best laid plans can absolutely be disrupted. So it grew over time and it was every year going, okay, what's the next three year strategy? As we are able to really look at, okay, what is happening this year? Where is the success coming from? We were able. If you think about a tr. A pyramid, right. The bottom of your pyramid is your wholesale business. We're an omnichannel brand so that means your wholesale which is like Nordstrom, Dillard's, Macy's, other businesses and brands. The middle section is your own retail stores and then the top is E Commerce which is like ah, like the best business that you can get. But for me, when wholesale and E commerce, when I started to see cities or places where customers were coming, they were shopping online and our business was growing with our wholesale partners in those cities. That was like ding ding, ding. That might be a great place for a Kendra Scott retail store. So I was able to take that data and those metrics to be able to figure out out where would the next place be. You can't always just say oh, I want to be in this city. I do not believe in vanity stores. So many brands are like I need a sexy New York address and maybe one in Beverly Hills. I thought that too in the early days. My only store that failed early on was in California in Beverly Hills. Because I thought, oh, I need to be in Beverly Hills. Nope, I needed to be in Plano, Texas. That's where my customer was.
- [22:21]
C
So you learned early on to never assume you have to follow the date.
- [22:25]
B
Yes. No, you don't have to, but you have to follow where your customers are, where there's demand. Right. So where your customers are is where you want to be. Forget trying to be all, you know, like, oh, I need this sexy store for this or that. Go where your customers are, especially when you're trying to be scrappy. I didn't have any investment capital. Every dollar I spent, I had to get it back. So I had to go where I could turn that dollar into $10 or $100. Right. I couldn't go where I was just blowing money just for marketing purposes.
- [22:53]
A
One of. One of my favorite pieces of advice that I've heard from you, and I know that you got it from a mentor as well, is the concept of if you build it, they will come. Yeah, you build it. You built the credibility. You have, you know, lines around the stores. The investors are coming to you. Now, this is a very important decision for people. And what I mean by is not just taking on investors, but getting money from the right people. Because we know that not all money is good money. Were there times where you were potentially maybe offered a large sum of money, but they maybe didn't align with you or your vision for your brand, or they wanted a certain amount of control and you kind of had to tell them, I'm out, I can't do this a thousand percent.
- [23:27]
B
I mean, I was really lucky because my very first investor was a mentor of mine. And in the early days, I didn't have any investors, but I wanted to have the discipline of having a board. So I hired, I had some advisors and I created an advisory board and I gave them a small earned in equity position because I couldn't pay them. But I knew that their time, their insight and their knowledge was so valuable to me. So I had three people on my advisory board that I would have quarterly board meetings with. So I had that discipline of showing my financials, having them poke holes in them. Absolutely. Tell me what they thought I was doing wrong. I wanted to have that so badly because being a founder on your own and having all that on your shoulders is so daunting. So that advisory board piece was super, super important. One of my advisors one day came to me and he's like, kendra, this thing is going to about to take off. I'd like to invest. And that's the first time somebody said they wanted to invest. I'd been told no, every which way you could have possibly been told no prior to that. And so he was my first investor. And it really, the first time I could take a breath that I felt like, okay, we have some capital now to start to open these stores. And I have somebody on my team who truly cares about me, cares about this business and has my back. And that felt so good to not be alone for the first time. And that was 10 years in. And then after that, within one year of that first investment, the business, literally, because we were able to open a few more stores. The second store was in Dallas, Texas. Again Texas. We had a huge Texas fan base. Base. They had loved our brand. They had seen us in Nordstrom and other department stores for years prior to me opening there. And so we moved in into Dallas. I got the tiniest store. 600 square feet was the tiniest store in Texas. And that thing again, lines out the block. I mean, just crazy excitement. But as we built this and, and you know, PE firms are going to these centers and they're investing in other brands and they're like, what is happening with this brand? Why are people lined up on the street? I mean, this is not Apple. We're not releasing an iPhone. No other stores having this kind of excitement around it. And literally the phone started ringing, and then it was like speed dating. I had eight different firms that wanted to invest in Kendra Scott. So going from literally no one in the world wanting to invest in me to eight firms fighting to be engaged and involved in our business. But for me at that point, it was also like, what do I want long term? I want to build a brand that my grandchildren are going to be proud of. This is my name. This is a family business. I don't want to give up control. I want to make sure that the integrity of our products, that the customer experience is amazing and that we continue to build a purpose full company that is fashion for philanthropy. And I knew I couldn't do that if I gave up control. So having that discipline of like, oh my God, I could sell right now so much more and bring in that money. It was that discipline of going, it's not worth it right now. This amount of money coming in will be life changing for me. But because I had no money and I was always in debt, but it wasn't to the point where it was like, oh, my God, I can just retire, right? I wouldn't want to retire. This is my life. This brand is part of who I am.
- [26:31]
A
Yeah, I, I, it, it just clicked for me, guys, while she was talking about the investors, the Cafstar Broadcasting gentleman. Do you know who I'm talking about?
- [26:40]
B
Yeah.
- [26:40]
A
Did you ever see the video that I did with him?
- [26:42]
B
Steve Hicks.
- [26:43]
A
Steve Hicks, yeah.
- [26:43]
B
That's my first investor.
- [26:44]
A
Did you remember that video I did with him when he. He was in his, like, version robe?
- [26:47]
B
No. Okay.
- [26:51]
A
Okay, so I'll show you off after the podcast. I don't, I don't want to sidetrack, but so, like, early on, like in the hard knocks days when we were kind of pivoted to the interviews, right, we didn't have, like, again, we didn't have a lot of credibility. So we couldn't just go out and like, get known known people or like big entrepreneurs unless we, like, ran into them. And so, you know, you know, we've got a pretty big presence on YouTube as well. And a concept that we would do is like a house, this video where we'd go literally door to door to like.
- [27:18]
B
Yeah.
- [27:18]
A
N Neighborhoods and just go up to them. I love it. And I was at this one in Austin and the guy, like, he's kind of like, he talks from like the intercom.
- [27:29]
C
It's the last house of the day.
- [27:30]
A
I was explaining. Yeah, literally the last house of the day. We'd been out there for hours. I was like, explaining like, what we do. And he comes down, he opens the door, he's in this like, nice big black Versace robe, and he does the interview at his door. And so it just clicked for me because I, you know, when I, when we had first met in Houston, I didn't tell you the story, but. But you know, he was, I guess one of your original investors.
- [27:50]
B
Steven Hicks. Yeah, Steve Hicks was my first investor.
- [27:52]
A
Mentioned you in the interview. So that's super cool. So after this, just remember, remind me to.
- [27:58]
B
I don't think he'd be mad if I said this, but he invested 5 million and it turned into close to 50 million within like a few years.
- [28:04]
A
That's so cool.
- [28:05]
B
Like a few years. So. But he's like a second dad to me. That's so cool. I just, I love him so much and I love our friendship and I value it so much and I've learned so much from him over the years.
- [28:15]
A
Is that a necessary component in businesses that, like, you kind of, you know, maybe not have to be like the best of friends with people, but have to have some sort of like something more than business related?
- [28:25]
B
You know, it's with every decision you make in business, who you hire, who you partner with, what vendors you use, if they do not share your core values and your heart. Do not work with them, period. Stop. I mean, that's, I can't say it anymore. You do not just take money for money. I had deals where the one off was offer was higher by millions of dollars. And I chose a different firm because of the people people. Because when I sat across the table from them, I felt their heart. It was, I felt that on a good day they're going to be great partners. But on a bad day, that's when you want to know what does a bad day look like on the partners you're going to choose and how are they going to behave when things aren't going well? Ask every single company they've invested with what happened on your bad days with them and get that feedback because that is critically important. Every single partner I've ever worked with, I always say, okay, how did they make me feel, feel when I'm with them? If I have knot in my stomach, if I feel tense, if I feel like something's off. We have this incredible human instinct that is telling us beware, fight or flight. Like run. Listen to it, listen to that. But when you're with somebody and you're like, God, I can't quit talking to this person. This person. I feel like you connect with them. You look em in the eye, you can see something in them. And you meet with them several times, go to lunch, go to coffee, see how they behave with other people. How do they treat waiters? Like every little thing I'm looking for because I want to know the human that I'm going to be sitting across the table with. It's not about just checks, folks, because the right humans will make those checks become so much bigger. The right partners will make bigger opportunities happen. So it's such a critical part of deciding who you work with.
- [30:05]
D
People will take you places that money.
- [30:07]
B
Can'T a hundred percent.
- [30:09]
D
And so there's going to be a lot of people watching this podcast that they, they want to build a billion dollar brand just like Kendra Scott. And so, so you're also on Shark Tank and the new season premiered.
- [30:20]
B
Yes.
- [30:20]
D
And so this is a great question for you for those people that are out there that are thinking about, hey, I need to get some investors, I need to get some money to, in order to change my business as an investor. What, what do they need to be doing in the pitch or in the, in just in, in their approach and building relationships in order to obtain investor relationships to get the capital that they need for their business?
- [30:44]
B
You gotta have More than just an idea. You've gotta have some proven results, period. Right? And you've gotta be able to tell me your why. Why this business? Because if you're just doing it to get a billion dollar brand and put money in your pocket, you're not gonna survive. Honey, you gotta have passion, you gotta have drive, you have to have purpose, you have to have a real why. As to why you're doing this, more than just I wanna get rich, that doesn't appease me. Because let me tell you, there are gonna be so many highs and lows in an entrepreneurial journey. There are gonna be times when you're gonna have to pick yourself up off the floor where you're go. And if you don't have true purpose, passion and drive, you will never make it through those moments. So I absolutely look like, look for that when I'm looking at an entrepreneur and I've got to see some results. I can't just have lip service. I can't just have pretty slides that are like, we're going to do all.
- [31:34]
D
These things pre revenue.
- [31:35]
B
Yeah, pre revenue. Come on. I want to see that.
- [31:38]
A
How many founders are there in Austin that like they've raised $40 million and they, and they literally have no revenue at all?
- [31:43]
B
Well, they may have raised it, but then how many of them have left lost it? Right? Because I think when you look at a lot of people who have taken a lot of VC capital up front, they burn and churn. They don't understand how to stretch a dollar, they don't understand how to budget, they don't understand what that takes. So I like a scrappy entrepreneur who has had to really do it on their own buck that's really had to figure out like, okay, bootstrap this. What does that mean? Because that discipline, that discipline is still with me 23 years in. And I, I, everyone I hire, I want them to have that same discipline of like, we've got to be thought thoughtful, not just reckless. Because you, when you get $40 million, people can become very reckless. It's like giving kid, you know, like young kids a bunch of money. Like, what are they gonna do? Buy a Lamborghini and they're gonna write. It's like, you gotta be really thoughtful about it. So I need some proven results. I need to see that you're doing something that is working, that there's connection happening with your customer and that you truly understand who you're selling to and why you're selling to them and what makes you different.
- [32:42]
D
How are you disruptive it's so interesting to hear that you say that. Like those two pieces of advice to people trying to get invest. Because after I've watched a lot of Shark Tank and a lot, Most of the people that instantly get all the sharks till their faces light up is when they, they have proven sales, they're like, okay, this is a great idea. But like what sale? Like what are your sales? What have you done? And they drop it and then everybody lights up. Or two they, they have a, like a story or a purpose. Like they came from nothing. Something like that. And it. You're almost like, I want to invest in the entrepreneur. How true is that?
- [33:12]
B
It's like, oh man, the entrepreneur is, is. I don't want to say everything because if you don't have a great product and you're not solving a problem, you can have the most passionate, excited entrepreneur on the planet. Right? If you don't have the product to support, it's not going to be great. But an entrepreneur is everything. Like, I can look at entrepreneurs and you. They use. They just have that spark, right? The ones that have that star quality and they, and then you just see it in them. You see, it's like almost maniacal of like, I am going to make this work. I'm going to be successful. I am driven and I am like so motivated. But I also love an entrepreneur has all those things, but isn't a know it all. So is open to criticism, is open to collaboration. Cause I may have ideas that may not be the best idea, but I want an entrepreneur at least that we can have those discussions and they're not so like, well, no, this is the plan. It's gotta be like this. So I want entrepreneurs that still can be flexible enough and that have that ability to be like, I wanna learn. I wanna learn something every day. I wake up every day and I go, what am I gonna learn today? You know, how am I gonna be better than I was yesterday? Never being complacent. And you can see that in certain entrepreneurs and that get.
- [34:18]
A
How much of a balance is it between like, you know, the concept of like fake it till you make it, but then also being like very transparent about where you are struggling. Like, you know, Will Ahmed, he's the founder of Whoop if you know.
- [34:29]
B
Yeah.
- [34:30]
A
You know, he's raised $500 million. I think they just were valued at 3.6 billion. And I kind of asked him like, you know, to raise that kind of money. How did you sell yourself to investors early on? And he said, you know, what his number one thing was, what is that he was transparent and honest about some of the areas where they were lacking. Do you think that that is kind of necessary to. To not, you know, kind of, like, lie to people, but also, like, be open about, hey, this is where we're struggling. This is what we're doing to. You have to be transparent with people.
- [34:53]
B
A thousand percent. Vulnerability is so powerful in today's world. Authenticity is so powerful. Be your most authentic, vulnerable self, and it will go so far in everything, not just business, in friendships and relationships. When you can be transparent and honest and say, hey, I'm struggling here. Here. I know this is an opportunity for our company. I mean, we are. We do that all the time with our investors still. I'll be like, we're doing all these things right, but this is an area where I know we can be better. And I'd really love to get your insight and your thoughts on how we can do that. When you bring somebody in, then they become part of the. The. The ability to solve the problem that gives incredible power to the organization. So, you know, I don't really agree with faking it till you make it. I think, you know, look, did Nordstrom know I was, you know, shipping that order off my dining room? No, I didn't tell. I had a big distribution center. I just didn't mention that it was coming out of my dining room. You know, we joke about it now. Pete Nordstrom knows that that's how it started, and he thinks it's amazing. But, you know, I remember, you know, those early days I had. I tell this story often because it's a good one, but my mom was in the kitchen, and I was up in the extra bedroom, and Nordstrom called, and they were like, we need to speak with somebody in Shipping and Receiving. And I'm like, oh, crap. And so I hug over the phone. I go, mom. And I'm like, yelling downstairs, it's Nordstrom. They want to talk to somebody in Shipping and receiving. She's like, I got this. She picks up the phone. She's like, janet Kendra Scott, Shipping and Receiving. How can I help you?
- [36:18]
C
Oh, my God.
- [36:20]
B
And. But, I mean, we laugh about that now, but, you know, look, that was our Shipping and receiving. It was happening in my kitchen. It wasn't a lie. It was really what was happening back then. And, you know, but those are the stories, and those are the things that give you that grit and. And. And that resilience to. To build something really cool.
- [36:38]
C
Something that I love that you said is that you have to be honest and authentic with where you're at. I look at the business that I started before Hard Knocks and one of my biggest regrets that I had is I would, I would ask for help in almost a half truth, I would say that I was doing better than I was. And I wouldn't actually get the advice that I needed to receive because it wasn't true. I was, I wasn't actually telling the.
- [37:00]
B
Full picture because you, you were lacking the confidence of like, if I say up front how bad it is, they're not going to want to even talk to me. Right.
- [37:08]
C
It's embarrassing.
- [37:09]
B
And you feel that that way. But honestly, I'm going to tell you a funny story. I went, I did an entrepreneurial master's course through entrepreneurs organization at MIT and they choose 65 entrepreneurs from around the world. It's a three year course. And I remember my first year coming in. I was one of four women and all these people, I mean, people from India, Australia, you name it, and they're going around the room, they're like, everybody introduce yourself, tell about your business, your background. It's like, Harvard mba, Stanford mba, blah, blah, blah. I am a college dropout, a single mother. And I, I'm like, oh my God, I don't belong here. And I remember the guy at the front of the class, he said, one of you is sitting in a billion dollar seat. And I'm looking around, I'm like, it's that guy from India for sure. His business, I mean that, you know, I'm looking at this. The Harvard, it's the Harvard master's guy. I go back and teach the class. I was the one sitting in the billion dollar seat. And I totally didn't believe in myself when they went around that room. And why I'm gonna share this with you is I was so intimidated. And I thought, what am I gonna say when I stand up? I mean, how am I gonna even. I shouldn't even be in this room. And I stood up and I said exactly who I was. I said, I have a master's degree in the school of hard knocks. I said, I'm a single mom, I'm a college dropout. I started this business on a card table in my extra bedroom. And I'm so excited to be here with all of you brilliant people. And I hope that I can learn a lot, you know, during these three years. And I'm honored, you know, to be in, be with y'. All. They all stood up, they all applauded me, and then all Of a sudden, all of their facades broke down. Everyone started having real conversations. They stopped being puffed up on the Harvard this. They were like, my business is really in bad shape right now. I've got this going on. I've got problem. It opened the door for everybody to be their authentic self. And it was so powerful. And I realized in that moment, Kendra, you don't have to be anybody than who you are, because being who you are and being genuine and authentic is the absolute best thing you can ever do. So don't be afraid to give the bad news, because that's the only way you're ever going to get good news.
- [38:59]
C
And I was just going to say, and in turn, that's going to create better relationships in the long run.
- [39:03]
B
A thousand.
- [39:05]
D
I want to touch on that. Not being afraid to get the bad news. One thing that we've tried to instill in our company and even just learning from other great entrepreneurs is that when you're building a team and you're hiring and you're bringing people on, you don't want people that are just going to just say yes to everything, all your ideas. You want a little bit of diversity of thought. People that are going to challenge you. And not even just at the founder and leadership level. You want everybody in the organization to bring their ideas forward. Is that sort of the philosophy that you had when bringing people onto your team and trying to. How did you scale the Kendra Scott team throughout the years?
- [39:36]
B
It's never been an I, it's been a we from day one. I'm the lucky person that gets their name on this brand. But the DNA of Kendra Scott is every single person who touches this brand every day. It's every single one of my 3,000 plus Kendra Scott family members that I get to work beside that I'm honored to work beside. We are creating this brand together. And so that collaboration, their insight, their knowledge, their strengths, their perspective is invalid to me. And so I couldn't have built this beautiful brand that gets to hold my name without these incredible people giving me those real tough conversations. And there are many times that I'll say like, hey guys, what do you think? And they may be like, well, you know, we like this part of it, but Kendra, I don't know, or, you know, whatever. And I'm like, thank you. I want you to be honest with me. I want you to be open with me. We're gonna figure things out together when we can have those real, honest conversations with one another. It's critically important. You gotta be so Hard, humble, as a leader and listen more than you talk.
- [40:37]
C
Something that you've reiterated throughout the conversation is your core values. Family, fashion, and philanthropy. And I even look at, like, the business that we're building right now. A media company is, as you start to grow, you know, you have to have that strong why to remember who you're making the content for, why you're building, what you're building. Because, like we've kind of said, not all money is good money. Not every opportunity is a good opportunity.
- [41:01]
B
Right.
- [41:01]
C
For the new founder that's watching this right now, why is it important to have such strong brand and core values to a company?
- [41:08]
B
Because it's your North Star. You've got to have a North Star. There's going to be so many things that you have to make decisions on every single day, whether it's partners you work with or outside consultants that you may bring on. And if you don't know your purpose, your why, and who you are, who you really want to work with, what is your brand doing for this world? And what kind of environment and culture do you want to create? Because it's not just the people that you hire in your company that create your culture. It's the people that you work with outside of your business that also represent your company, create your culture. So in order to create culture, you have to have core values, and you have to know those core values. And usually the founder or founders or partners sit together and go, what matters to us? What matters to us? And you write them all down, and you're going to see things that are going to cross over and you're going to go, we care about these things. When I started, it was family. I was a new mom. I wanted to create a business that allowed me to be present for my family and allowed other people in my company to be present for their families. And I hired people that had those same things that they wanted. That was what they dreamed about. It was like, can we create this utopia where we could be in this business, but we could also bring our kids to work with us and sit them by our desk and that would be cool, you know, it was an incredible thing. And when I started also, it's like, I know, losing my stepfather to brain cancer when I was young, starting the hatbox and meeting so many people and creating headwear for men and women undergoing chemotherapy, I knew I wanted to use the gifts I was given to do something good in this world. And so having purpose greater than just profit was really important to me and anyone that I worked with had to have that same. If they were just like, I don't get the whole philanthropy thing. That's like, we're just here to make money. Let's make money. Make money. You don't belong in Kendra Scott. You just don't. You won't be a partner, you won't be an investor, and you won't be an employee. You've got to align with my core values. And then fashion, hello, that's our business. You got to love our products. You got to be excited about the things that we're creating. You've got to get jazzed. It's got to be like, bring you joy. Right? Because that's the whole purpose of, of what our fashion does. And so if you don't share those three things, then it's not a right fit for us on the team, no matter what your resume looks like.
- [43:17]
A
I, I love that you brought up, you know, you can't have just money, mercenaries. You gotta have people that genuinely like. There's a much bigger picture there. We talked about it a little bit outside. You know, after building a billion dollar brand, a lot of people would maybe kind of get content. They'd get, you know, obviously, you know, you can be happy and still be content. I'm, I'm not disagreeing with that. But is it just that deep purpose that just. And that obsession with the brand and everything that you built that just kind of keeps you going?
- [43:43]
B
I think, you know, I see where this company is gonna go. I see what it's gonna be after I'm gone. And I've got so much work I wanna do. You know, I recently founded five years ago, it's not that recent anymore, the Kendra Scott Women's Entrepreneurial and Leadership Institute at the University of Texas. So a college dropout now has her own institute at one of the greatest colleges in the world. And I also teach entrepreneurship, so I'm Professor Scott. So that just goes to show everybody, you know, it doesn't matter what your background and craziest things can happen, but for me, there's so many things that like that that I want to achieve. I want to help other women. And it's open to men too, by the way. We've got some brave guys that come into our women's institute and want to learn, but I want entrepreneurship to be available to everybody. I put my center in the fine arts building because I remember somebody telling me once, oh, you're an artist. You can't be in business. You don't have that side of your brain. Doesn't work right, That's. Can I swear?
- [44:36]
C
Yeah, absolutely.
- [44:37]
B
That's bullshit. You just need a bridge from your right to your left brain. And once you're taught those tools, that entrepreneurial mindset that I was taught at that MIT course by amazing entrepreneurs, I think creatives make the best entrepreneurs. So I wanted that to be open to everybody. So for me, there's just so much I want to do. I want to inspire other women. I want to see that, you know, 17% of venture funding is going to female founded companies. I have a bigger purpose now to help other female founders reach their dreams and make those number. It just recently changed, but there were more CEOs named John than there were female CEOs now that just recently changed, but that's pretty crazy to think about. So I feel like my work is not just building this brand, my work is bigger than that. And I really want to try to inspire the next generation of female founders. And I can do that by continuing to grow the business that I have. The bigger the business grows, the more that I can do to make a positive impact on this world while I'm standing here today on this earth.
- [45:35]
A
So I want to tap in real quick to Professor Scott right here. I want to tap in because, you know, you mentioned that you did drop out of school. We. He dropped out as well. Jack and I got a degree from the University of Texas. But you know, let's be honest, a lot of business schools are not going to teach you the ins and outs of really how to run a business. And this is more of like a broad question. But if there's one lesson that you're going to be instilling and all the people that come and learn from you, that you learn from getting a master's degree at the school of hard knocks, doing it the real way and bootstrap. And what is that one lesson that you hope all the students that come through you that you're gonna instill in all them about business, it's not taught in a typical university.
- [46:12]
B
Get your hands dirty, you gotta do it to learn it. We don't learn just by sitting and watching people just there. You've gotta get your hands in it. You gotta roll your sleeves up, you gotta get in business if you're interested in a business, go work in that business. Learn every single thing. One of my sons right now, my 21 year old son, he wants to open restaurants someday and he started as a prep chef and he's like, I'm gonna be waiting tables and I'm gonna do every single part of Lear what it takes to run a successful business. And he sees things some days and he's like, mom, I don't understand why. Or, you know, one of you know, so maybe somebody's yelling at somebody or how they're leading. And I go, babe, you're learning something so invaluable right now. Your worst boss is gonna be your best boss. Cause they're gonna teach you exactly the kind of leader you don't want to be. So experience, experience, experience. Get in there. Don't just expect to learn from a book. You've gotta learn by doing. So get as much experience. Take internships, summer jobs in areas that excite you and that you're gonna take that know to harness it for opening your own business.
- [47:11]
D
Because you, you know, you could sit in a, in a classroom, in a lecture all day, but if you're, if you're not actually like, I would. I learned more from our first six months of running this, this company than I ever did in a university. We have a good saying that information can only change situations, but only through implementation.
- [47:27]
B
Yes.
- [47:28]
D
I wanted to go back to you touched on how much work you're doing for female founders and entrepreneurs. So one of our strategies for our business is we're trying to. Trying to increase distribution and then also open up opportunities for new markets through content. One of those is starting a channel for women entrepreneurs and having a female led host. I want to talk about how you increase distribution and other ventures that you, that you've started. You started Yellow Rose.
- [47:52]
B
Yeah.
- [47:52]
D
By Kendra Scott. Can you tell us a little bit about that and what was your thought process of wanting to open up that side of the business?
- [47:58]
B
So, you know, I think for me, and it's maybe a little bit of my ADHD brain, I think every entrepreneur has a little bit of adhd, by the way, which is a gift if you can harness it the right way. But for me, it was like I wanted to challenge myself into thinking about what could we do next. And being a full lifestyle brand is something that's really important to me. But it had to come from an authentic place. When I'm not in the boardroom, I'm in the barn. I'm on my ranch, which is called Yellow Rose Ranch. I'm with my horses, I'm in my garden, I'm riding my John Deere tractor. Like people would not believe it, but I absolutely. That's my happy place. And Texas has become such a big part of who I am. And this brand was a Love letter to the state of Texas. I wanted to do it, though, in a modern way. I'm not what I'm wearing. Western wear is, like, more chic. It's more 70s vintage. It's got a different vibe. You could wear it to festivals. It's not just like rodeo. It's much more like, chic, modern. And I wanted a brand that put the cowgirl front and center. Every other western brand was cowboy first, and then it was like, oh, yeah, let's do some stuff for the women. And the cuts were, like, not right. And the shape wasn't right of the clothing. We wanted to put her first. We do have some men's, though, by the way, coming in, and it is amazing. But it was fun for me to really think about broadening that. When you look at brands like Ralph Lauren, for example, and I really look at him as a great example. He started in men's ties and pocket squares, and he did that for 25 years before he started going into other categories and creating all these other brands like RRL and Polo by Ralph Lauren. He had to build a true connection and foundation with his customer, a solid base. We're now going on almost 24 years. We've built a base in jewelry. We've built trust. Trust. I'm going to say that word one more time. Trust with our customers. A true connection with our customers. Over now decades. She now is allowing us because she loves the brand. She's made that connection with us to go into other categories and us finding. Where can we find white space? How can we create products for her that are unique and that are different in the marketplace, but do it with this jewelry designer's perspective? And so it's really fun for us now because we've gained that respect and trust that we're now able to do all these other things and even create new brands to like yellow rose people.
- [50:13]
C
When people think about mentors, they always think that mentorship has to be in person. But I think you can get mentorship through books, YouTube videos, watching shows like Shark Tank. You can get mentorship through a variety of different ways. When you were first starting Kendra Scott, what did you kind of have as that north north star, that mentor that you kind of looked at as like, if I want to build a brand, I want to build it like this.
- [50:34]
B
Well, I mean, you know, we just talked about Ralph. I mean, I remember thinking about as I started getting traction and we started opening stores, I really started. Started to just look at our competitive landscape every single day. What businesses and brands not just in retail, but like in other. In other areas that I love. I remember at the same time I was starting, Clayton Christopher was starting Sweet Leaf Tea. He was starting out of his garage and I was starting out of my bedroom. And we were both totally different businesses, but the fundamentals of our business were so similar. We were both in an organization called Entrepreneurs Organization. And you have to remember, like, this is 2002, so we didn't have access to YouTube videos and all the things that this generation has when starting, starting a business. So we had to create our own network of people that we could share what are your struggles that you're going through? Or hey, I had to deal with that, or I went through funding, you know, a couple months ago, and we were sharing our insight and sharing our knowledge and really helping one another. Every business has the same fundamentals, whether you're selling jewelry, whether you're selling tea, whether you're selling, you know, a software, whatever it might be, right? And I think it's just so critical to be able to create those networks and like we talked about, have that vulnerability and those transparent conversations. I read every business book I could, from good to great Tipping point. All the classics, baby. I always had a business book on my nightstand and a highlighter just highlighting and taking notes in the, in the. You know, this was old school again. Like, we didn't have access to all the things that, that is available today. I think about now, God, if I would have started my business today versus in 2002. The access to information is so incredible. And it's just like you can just sit there and take this all in, be a sponge and learn from the. And you can just do it with one click.
- [52:13]
C
If you could, if you could mentor younger Kendra for just one minute, you can give her one lesson about business. What would you tell her?
- [52:21]
B
You know, I, I would definitely tell her hire on heart. And because I'd made that mistake early on, I hired on a resume and I brought a leader within our organization. That was a poison and it probably took me two years off of where I could have been by not having a purse. But. But the resume looks so good. But her core values were not representative of Min. She managed and led. People were completely opposite of how I lead. And so that was really a really hard thing and a hard lesson to learn, but one that I wish I would have known earlier on that, you know, the best people on paper are not always the best people for your business.
- [53:01]
A
We like to end these podcasts off with two quick questions for Our guests. So, Kendra, if me and you died tomorrow and you had one more guiding principle to lead with the younger generation, what would that be? Your last nugget, last message for the younger generation?
- [53:15]
B
You know, we've got a very small grain of sand time on this earth and take that time to go, why am I here? What is my purpose? And how can I make a positive impact on the people and the world around me? If you can do that, you will live a life that is full and happy and you can die tomorrow going. I get. And I was kind, I was good, I was thoughtful, and I did something good in this world. I made this world a better place by my contribution. That's the key, baby.
- [53:49]
D
And on that note, if it was all said and done, how do you want to be remembered?
- [53:55]
B
Oh, gosh. You know, I hope I'm remembered as a really great mom to my kids. I hope that I'm remembered as a really great good friend to my friends. I hope that I'm remembered as a woman who gave younger girls hope that it doesn't matter where you come from or how many times you're told no or told that you're not smart enough or good enough, that you can achieve anything in this world when you put your mind to it and don't let anybody tell you different.
- [54:26]
A
Amazing, amazing advice and truly a beautiful podcast. Thank you so much for everybody watching right now, guys. Be sure to like and subscribe. Subscribe, because every single week, we're bringing you guys the biggest and the most amazing business owners on this channel. And if we want to take things a step further, before we get into that, we're going to be putting all of your links down to your social media below. Anything else for them to kind of check out? That's coming soon.
- [54:49]
B
I mean, we've got so many exciting new categories coming out. Yellow Rose, we've got some new categories. I can't say what they are yet, but let me tell you, they're amazing. And we've got some stuff for you guys, too. So, guys and girls, these yellow store locations, we're opening some new ones as well, are just such a cool. Kendra Scott. We just came out with eyewear and sunglasses. They're so fine. Just so many exciting things. We've got so many philanthropic programs. We do yellow libraries where we bring Title 1 schools libraries into their schools. That program is expanding. And so please check out Kendra Scott foundation as well to see all the work that the company does. We'd love to have more of y' all get involved amazing.
- [55:29]
A
We'll put all the links below. And to go follow along with, I think Official Kendra Scott on Instagram is.
- [55:34]
B
The handle at Official Kendra Scott and then Kendra Kendra Scott, this the company. The company one.
- [55:39]
A
There we go. And also, we're going to put the link down the to the we're going to put the link down in the description to join and get access to the number one most powerful entrepreneur, community and network in the entire world. We launched it a year ago and have grown to over 6,000 members. And you get direct access every week to the multi millionaires and the billionaires that we interview on this channel where you ask your questions to them and get mentored directly from them. So we can't wait to see on the inside. With that being said, we'll see you in the next episode.