Loading summary
Transcript62 lines
- [00:00]
A
I'll get real vulnerable for a second. I did not think I'd make it. I was the biggest. I will not get anywhere. And why would anyone want to follow me? I need to be perfect to be able to do all this consistency at whatever you do and whatever you start, if you keep doing it and pursue it, then you will do well. Because if you're working on something every single day, there's no way that it's going to go backtrack. It's only going to grow. Sometimes you just need to hear it. If you're even thinking in the back of your head that you want to start something, do it now. And if you have nobody there for you, you have us. Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Tall Blonde Foreign and welcome back to Tall Blonde. Now, today we are sitting on business. Okay, I brought the blazer out for this one and I brought two friends in for this one. One being my brother, Peter Sinkowski, and one being my roommate and my best friend now, Amy Brown. So we are all entrepreneurs in our own way and very different sectors. One in fashion, one in social media, and one in tech. Now, entrepreneurship is a very broad term, but I know that a lot of people have a lot of questions about it and especially in all of our industries. So we wanted to kind of dig into it, let you know what's helped, what hasn't helped, what's worked, what's absolutely not worked, and we had to throw the out. But we will figure it out and we will take you through it and kind of give you if you're interested in it. Listen, if maybe this will interest you and get you more so wanting to be an entrepreneur in your own right. So we'll start off by just going, you know, through all three of our journeys. But I want to give you a bit of a breakdown as to what we do. So when we're talking about it, you understand where we're kind of going from. So how about we start off with both of you giving a little background into what your business is?
- [01:52]
B
Okay, so my name is Peter. I'm obviously Sarah's brother, and what my company does. So I'm a founder of my company, and we do technology hardware installations. So we have two different divisions in our company, one being residential and one being commercial. And in residential, we do TV and home theater installations, we do CCTV security system installations, and we also do smart device installations. And then in the commercial division, we specialize in digital signage. So that would be anything from menu boards in a fast food restaurant. We do LED Installations in different retail stores. We do airports at every different sector we do, but it's all digital signage. And then in commercial we also do security system installations as well, as well as access control and building. So it's really very, very broad of the things we do, but it's all in terms of technology, hardware. Yeah. So our company's name is Auxiliary, so AUX Inc. And you can find us on AUX ca. That's our main website. Our main email is infoox ca and we are on social media and Instagram. We're on Twitter, LinkedIn, you can find us. But primarily Instagram and LinkedIn.
- [03:04]
C
Perfect. Amazing. Hi, everyone, My name is Amy. I am Sarah's roommate. I own a company called Asta Intimates and Sleepwear. So we sell women's undergarments and sleepwear. We're primarily E commerce, but we also have some retail partners throughout Toronto and locally. I've been doing this for about five years now, so it's been quite a while and it's been quite the roller coaster, but wouldn't have it any other way. You can find us@asktasleepwear.com and astasleepwear on Instagram and TikTok.
- [03:38]
A
Now, how many times did you guys do those pitches for people? Every single time you meet someone. Do you guys pitch yourself?
- [03:44]
B
Yes. It's called an elevator pitch and you need to keep it short enough and succinct, but you need to try to get everything in there. So you practice it a lot for sure.
- [03:54]
C
Yeah. Mine changes every time. I never know what's gonna come out.
- [03:57]
A
But you're like, I don't know what's about to sprawl out of my mouth right now, but we're just gonna bitch it. Yeah, but it's like you are the master of your business because you've created it, you've started it, you've changed it, you've done everything. So the only person that can give a a better elevator pitch is you. So, I mean, how did you even come up with the elevator pitch? Was it after you started the business or was it. Is it kind of the last touch, like the cherry on top once everything is figured out, or do you kind of consistently change it throughout the process?
- [04:25]
C
I think it consistently changes as your business evolves, but my pitch has probably changed so much from when we first started. So you kind of adapt to it as your business changes and grows. But yeah, you just have to get all the key information in there.
- [04:41]
B
Yeah. And I would agree, obviously, your business changes over the years, so you have to adapt with that. But you kind of learn right when you start meeting people for the first time and actually get into business, you need to say what your business is to them. So that's the start of practicing it. And you want to make sure that they're not bored by you dragging it on too long and you get a good contact or something of that sort. So you have to. You work on it, but you have to start right when you start meeting people about business.
- [05:06]
A
Mm. And I mean, if we're going back to. I wanna just pitch in about a little bit about social media. Cause I totally forgot. But if some people wanna know, you know, the background for creating your own brand. And I guess Sarah Lauren is its own brand, even though I don't really think so, but we're getting there. But I've created this brand just from being me and doing my own thing and being consistent on social media as well as, yes, starting this podcast, which is exactly who I am. And just I get to yap a bit more. But being very authentic and being me and staying true to myself and just sharing almost too much of myself with the public. But with that comes a lot of brand deals and that is advertisement now. So I think both of your businesses, you do reach out to people within, you know, social media and things to either post or share your businesses to kind of get it out there. And at the end of the day, that sells and advertisement is advertisement. So I think that is kind of my journey at this point. But we'll get into to how we kind of make money with all of us. But I want to get into the nitty gritty because a lot of people now aren't going to school. They're just not a lot of people. But more people than not, or more people than, let's say five years ago are thinking that they don't have to go to school for their careers. So not that it's a right or wrong, but in your guys's opinion, has, you know, school or your university, whatever it may be, programs helped you start these businesses? Or was it totally unuseful or was it something that launched it?
- [06:41]
B
Yeah, I'll start this off. So for me, with ox, absolutely. University was crucial for our business because we actually started it in university. So we had a program that was an entrepreneurship program where it forced you to put 100 hours towards a business or towards consulting so you could pick one of the two strains. And we chose business. And from that we created our company aux. And it wasn't initially what we do now we did. We actually had the idea of doing the Uber for phone repair. So making it more efficient to get your screen reinstalled if it was broken or different things on your phone fixed. Now phones wasn't the biggest thing that was going to work with aux, so we ended up pivoting after some time. But it was a class that we had where we were forced to actually work on the business for so long and meet people and do research in the industry that caused us to actually do this. So for us it was crucial. On the other side of that though, school isn't going to teach you everything. So my big belief in school, it does teach you the ground level things in life and it also teaches you how to learn because that's something that is so important where you can actually focus on something that may not be super interesting to you, but it causes you to push through all the way learn. And it shows that if you're dedicated to actually finish school and do that, then you're going to be dedicated really to anything you do if you're not interested in that. So I'm a big believer that school is important. I don't think that it's going to make your company the biggest company because you may go down a different stream that you never learned in school, which is a lot of things out there these days. But I think it's a crucial first step and just learning and being dedicated and sticking to something. Yeah, exactly.
- [08:23]
C
I would agree with that. I definitely took a less traditional path, so I went to university, realized it wasn't for me, and I left and went to take a fashion business program in college. So that was way more aligned with what I wanted to do with my career and really helped propel me on my entrepreneurial journey. So I think it's really important for building your network in this space that you eventually want to work in. I'm sure, Pete, that came in handy for you. And like you said, you started your business with people that you went to school with. So I think that's goes without saying that it helps to build your network and really help you with that groundwork of the things that you need to know going into business. But I wouldn't say it's absolutely necessary. You can learn a lot of things these days on the Internet. You can learn by doing so. There's so many different routes that you can take to get to starting your own business. But I think in both of our cases, school definitely helped with our business.
- [09:23]
B
And yeah, I'll just add to that I fully agree with that. And I think in terms of having the basis of learning and that's what you did, you went to school, both different schools and learned. But I think in terms of working on your business and actually learning more about your industry and what you're actually passionate about, you can get that by having a more focused approach, like doing YouTube. And we've done that a lot for different areas of our business. So it's not. School is very broad. Like you learn things in basic university on different sciences and maths and everything and they force you to take a lot of courses that aren't really applicable later in life, but it is good in the start. And when you really want to hone in on your business and learn different things about your industry, it's way better to have a focused approach going at different blogs in your industry or YouTube. Like was said. Yeah, there's a lot of material on your industry if you really look for it, for sure.
- [10:18]
A
And I totally agree. I think you mentioned earlier that going into school is a great way to show that you Working towards something, working towards that, what is even called not a resume, a diploma. Diploma, sorry, brain fart. But so working towards that diploma and getting those good grades or whatever you, you know, are trying for within that school. But at the same point, I, you know, took fashion in undergrad and fashion in master's program and I'm doing yes, something that kind of has to do with fash, but totally not for it. And I don't think that people, if, let's say they're in like you were before med sci, that you can't get into business and be entrepreneur if you don't take the specific business class. I think yes, it does help and it does teach you the basics. But I mean, now it's like you can go on YouTube and learn how to do A, B and C, which is great, but I think that it holds you accountable. And I'm not disagreeing, but I do think that there are different ways now and you don't or you shouldn't feel stuck in exactly the degree that you're in or exactly the courses that you're taking. Because I mean, now I'm trying to be a life coach. Like what the hell does that have to do with fashion? But learning advertisement and learning, you know, social media in fashion helps me take it in a different way and doing it with advice and whether that's life coaching, whether that's humor, whatever that's going to be it, it's, it does benefit you in some sort of way, but like you said, in a very broad term. And do you guys disagree or agree with that?
- [11:58]
B
No, I fully agree with that. Yeah.
- [12:00]
A
And I feel like a lot of the times people do feel stuck with what they're taking and feel like they need to, you know, switch programs and do a whole different program and because they're kind of having iffies about it in the program that they are in. But at the end of the day, everything's benefiting you, whether you are in a certain program, whatever you're learning is beneficial to help you grow and be who you are. So, I mean, any program in any schooling is very beneficial.
- [12:27]
B
Yeah. And so, like I said, young school is key for. For that, for learning. But you have to, at some point go with what you like. And yeah, if you love something, you're going to spend the time on that. And if you like, having a passion is the big word. But if you're passionate about something, you will really work hard and be resilient towards a lot of things that come. Because business is not easy. No matter who you are or where you're starting it, there's gonna be. There's a problem every single day that you have to solve. And if you don't love it, you're gonna fizzle out at one point. So everyone kind of says in this world that you have to have a passion for what you're doing. Yeah, Love what you do and do what you love. Yeah. And do what you love. And our dad is a very big believer of that as well every day. But it's true, like, if you don't love what you're doing, you are going to hate it at one point because you're gonna be stuck, there's gonna be a lot of problems, and you're not gonna be able to get out and you're gonna quit. But if you do love what you're doing, it's not that bad. You're gonna push through it because it's something that you deep down enjoy.
- [13:26]
A
And there's a saying that dad said. What was it? You said it in my old, old podcast. Like, you. If you give 100% of what you do, or you're never going to be the best. But if you give.
- [13:39]
B
There's a lot of sayings with him, but he did say that. Well, one. One big thing is that you can make a million dollars in any single industry or job that you do. So whether you're a chef, whether you're an accountant, a bookkeeper, whether you're a Hockey player, anything. I'm trying to think of good. Good terms where you don't really think of that in certain work. But, for example, a chef, you know, the best chef in the world is going to be making a million dollars, is going to be a millionaire, and that's someone that's very passionate about it. So it doesn't matter what you do, as long as you love it. There's a possibility to make a million dollars if you work as hard as you can at it.
- [14:18]
C
I totally agree. I always tell myself, love what you do and you will do it well. So I think that applies to any industry, any job, whether you're an entrepreneur or you're working for someone else's business. I think if you truly love what you do, you're gonna excel at that because there's that passion behind it.
- [14:34]
A
I totally agree. And you couldn't have said it better with all of the sayings that we have. But in regards to us and finding your passion and finding the reason to, you know, start these ventures and brands and everything, what was your passion? What was. I know that you started it with school and you were kind of forced to start something, but what was it in you guys that made you think, this is the idea. This is the idea that I want to pursue?
- [15:01]
C
I was always very passionate about the fashion industry ever since I was young. And I think specifically in the space that I work in now, I used to love to watch the Victoria's Secret fashion shows, and just seeing the women look so confident and empowered, that really resonated with me. And so when I had the chance to start my business, I was originally kind of debating between swimwear and intimates, and swimwear was very oversaturated at the time. And I also loved the idea of women empowerment behind the intimate wear category. So I went with that route and never looked back. And that really worked for me. But it was a space that I was extremely passionate about, and I think that helped propel me in the growth that I achieved.
- [15:47]
B
Yeah, that's awesome. For me. For me, it was pretty different. It was, yeah, very different in a way of what I thought I wanted to do. So when I ended high school, I was, like, really good at chemistry, and from that I was interested in it, and I didn't really know I was young, but I wanted to go into university, into the sciences. So I went into school for medical sciences, and I was at that at Western, and that was good. But I just kind of, like, realized over some time that a lot of my friends and Buddies weren't kind of in my area, and I didn't have really many friends that were in medical sciences with me. And I would hang out, obviously, with my roommates. I lived in the house, and everyone was going into business. And I remember as a kid, and not to say this in a bad way, but my dad was never, like, a big believer in me as a business man or a business person. Yeah. And I really never knew why, but it was more because I was, I guess, in sciences a lot, and that was where my smarts were, in sciences. And, yeah, at some point, I remember, like, at the end of my schooling, I graduated from medical sciences, and I had the opportunity to go, I guess, in the next position of that would be like a lab, like a researcher at a lab or get my master's. So I was kind of thinking, like, that was my next step. I had to do that. But I wasn't really feeling like it was something that I wanted to do. And I remember, like, my last teacher in medical sciences, in one of our general classes, she said, don't become a doctor unless you absolutely love it. Similar to kind of what we were saying. And she said, many people have a lot of. There's a lot of problems in life if you don't love being a doctor, because it's a lot of money, a lot of schooling, and there's even suicides in that area if you don't really love what you're doing because you get locked in there and you can't get out. So she said, if you love. It's the best job in the world if you love what you're doing, but if you don't, don't do it. And then I kind of took that to heart, and I decided to apply for Ivy for business school, which is where I went. That's where the story goes, but.
- [17:50]
A
Which is where dad went, which is.
- [17:52]
B
Where my dad went as well. And it was the business school of Western, obviously. So it was very close to where I was going undergrad. But I just thought, I'm gonna try and apply to this, and if I don't get in, I already had a master's degree. I got accepted, and I had a research job for the summer lined up. So I said, if nothing works, I'm just gonna go do this. But I applied to it, and then. Yeah. And I remember I got waitlisted, and I didn't know if I was getting it. I was pretty upset about that. So I decided to take a trip to my buddy Wes. Shout out to Wes Cottage. And I remember on the way home, I was in a Tim Hortons, and then I got an email saying, you got accepted off the waitlist, like, you're in, which was amazing. And that was, like, one of the best days of my life. And it kind of proved to me that, like, I can do business when I thought forever that I couldn't do it.
- [18:43]
A
It's like you kind of needed that one push.
- [18:45]
B
Yeah, yeah. And I had, obviously, I want to not prove my dad wrong, but show that I could do this. And it was something that I was passionate about as well, because I knew that I liked the people in the area. It was something that I was interested in, so I wanted to do it. And, yeah, it was one of the best days of my life, getting accepted. And it was completely different from what I originally thought I wanted to do. But then when I went into Ivy Business School, it was the best decision I've ever made in my life. It was the best group of people. I have the best friends from that best experience, and I started my business from it that I'm still doing today, six years later. So crazy little spin, but definitely what you go into or what degree you pick from high school does not mean that that's what you need to do or what you want to do.
- [19:31]
A
You're so young, at the age of, what, 18, that you go into university. It's like, how are you even expected to know what you want? I feel like it should be. You should be allowed to switch at least once. You know, you should be allowed to have one free pass. Like, okay, you got into this school and you wanted to do business, but you actually wanted to switch into this. If you had the grades, then we'll let you slide and go into it because you're. You have no idea at that age. And, I mean, I had no idea. And I'll get real vulnerable for a second. I did not think I'd make it. I was the biggest. I will not get anywhere. No one. Why would anyone want to follow me? I need to be perfect to be able to do all of this. And I had no belief in myself. And a lot of people around me, nine out of ten had no belief. And I think it was only, like, my best friend and a few people in my family that were like, oh, no, like you're growing, or like, they saw my TikTok or something that I would do kind of behind the scenes and not really bring it up much. And when you get those few people believing in you, then you're like, okay, I'm gonna keep doing this. And the consistency at whatever you do and whatever you start, if you keep doing it and you wake up every day wanting to do it and pursue it consistently and work for more and higher and whatever, then you will do well. Because if you're consistently working on something every single day, there's no way that it's gonna go backtrack. It's only gonna grow. So me specifically working on myself and social media, not only looking at yourself on social media every day makes you a better person because I'm analyzing every single thing I say. I used to be so much worse in the way I spoke, but even my mom the other day, she was like, I am so proud of how much this podcast and speaking on CBC or these other things that people have interviewed me has made you so much better of a speaker and more confident in general. And so the journey is also going to make you grow, whether that is in any aspect of tech or fashion. Like you mentioned about confidence, I'm sure that your brand is making you more confident, just making other people feel more confident. I bet you. Yes. Every single person that you're helping and you're teaching and you're having partners and people join in and buy into your company, you're teaching them more and more every single day, which probably makes you feel so much better too. And it's a journey and you have to fall in love with it. Like we said before, we keep going back, but love what you do and do what you love. And even if people don't believe in you, keep doing it. Unless, obviously, maybe you might need a side hustle to make the money in the meantime. But keep doing it and hang in there because you'll get there if you really want it.
- [22:14]
B
Yeah, I remember the saying, it's do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life.
- [22:18]
A
Yes, that's the one. Glad we got there at some point.
- [22:20]
B
Circling back, I know I'll say too, with you, Sarah. Yeah, I mean, obviously I was a big supporter of Sarah in doing anything she does, and our family, too, always said, we just want you to do something and just pick what you like to do. And with Sarah, I remember even when I started getting into business a few years down the road, and my dad is obviously a big businessman, so she always wanted and had the idea of doing business. She wanted to have her own business as well. And that would make her feel some pride, just joining, kind of that having your own business. But when I saw her blowing up on Social media. And then she finally became, you know, very big. I said, this is what your business is like. It doesn't have to be a business that you have, you know, incorporated and all these things. Just, this is your business. It's you. It doesn't. You don't have to have other people. It doesn't have to be like a specific industry or anything. This is what you're doing, and you can make money from it and just keep going. But, like, this is what you're doing. And then now, as you have things on CNN or, you know, even with this podcast or anything that you're doing, everyone's so proud of you and you have your own business, like, you did it.
- [23:29]
A
And I don't know how much. I don't know if you know how much it means to me. When you said, when we were doing the family podcast, which is a few podcasts ago, but when you said that you've did it like this, you are starting a business, I never thought that this was anything as if it was a business. And the only reason why I'm sitting here with you guys today and saying my perspective on social media and Sarah, Lauren, or tall blonde or anything is because you made me believe in myself that this was a business. So sometimes you do need those people and those support systems to, you know, encourage you and tell you what you might not believe in yourself. Because we're also very hard on ourselves and we all need to give ourselves a pat on the back because we are doing so well. All three of us sitting on this couch are doing so well in all different industries. We're not competing against each other. We are here to lift each other up. The only reason why I want you guys on these couch is because I truly feel like people are gonna learn from you and be encouraged to start something on their own or even just believe in themselves. And that is very hard to do on your own. So sometimes you just need to hear it, and I hope you're hearing it from us. If you're even thinking in the back of your head that you want to start something, do it now. And if you have nobody there for you, you have us, okay? All three of us.
- [24:45]
B
Yeah. And there's no timeline, obviously, with business. There's some companies that get investment right off the start and they blow up and they get. Or, I mean, that you invested in bitcoin, let's say, very early, and you make, you know, millions of dollars within the first couple of years. That happens. There's some companies that don't make millions of dollars until you're 10 years down the road, but then they become $100 million companies. So obviously you have to be smart and know the trajectory that it's going to go based on how it's been going. But if it's something that you love, don't try to weigh other people as well and their success with yours, if it's starting to, if it's keep moving in the right direction and you have people with you and you have customers that are purchasing and like what you're doing, it's a business and you can be very successful. You just got to keep pushing.
- [25:32]
C
I agree. And I think there's never going to be the perfect moment to start your business. As soon as you feel equipped to start it, you should just go for it. You can learn as you go. I mean, that's what I did. I kind of threw myself in probably way too early looking back. But I learned so much. And I think that's the best way to learn is just by doing. And going back to what you said earlier about your support system and who you surround yourself with that is so important because a huge part of being an entrepreneur you deal with all the self doubt, you'll deal with the imposter syndrome. So to have strong people in your circle to remind you that what you're doing is worthwhile and just encourage you in little ways, I think that is so important as well.
- [26:13]
B
Yeah. And just to say to that, like, there's people, I mean there's people that when we started coming out of Ivy, which is a business school where you really go into like investment banking or consulting are kind of the two streams. So doing an entrepreneurial venture right at a school was something that was not what people did. It was like faux. And no one would, no one would touch that. It's so weird. Why are you doing that? And I remember the people that said that was weird when they were doing it and when we were doing it and I remember the people that supported very well. I can name them all. I'm not gonna do that. But I can name every single person throughout this journey that was there when no one was really. And yeah, and then there's certain people, funny enough that we've of our buddies that didn't really believe in at the start that we've have asked for jobs as well. So it's quite a full circle. But yeah, I mean, not everyone's gonna support you. And most people probably are not. When it's a big risky decision or something that's not normal like just getting a regular job. But if you keep pushing, there's gonna be people that you do remember along the way, and then it'll come full circle at one point.
- [27:21]
A
And sometimes people wish that it could be them so that they don't support it right away. So, you know, it comes off as they're not supportive, but it's just they have a little bit of jealousy in it. And that's okay. Jealousy is normal. But at the end of the day, you should be proud. And if you want to start something, do it, by all means. But also, I think I'm at fault too sometimes for telling other people about your business or your business and, you know, flaunting it and saying so much and pitching, you know, the best I can do of your elevator pitch and not saying it to you guys specifically, but being the kind of behind the scenes and saying it. And I don't know if you guys know it as I do that as much, but I promise you, I should say that I'm so proud of both of you and I should say it more and I will take that into heart and do that more. But don't worry, I'm your biggest supporter outside of this, maybe just not to your face.
- [28:14]
B
No, you are. You are to the face and outside.
- [28:17]
C
So, yeah, I've seen it. I've seen you telling people about my business when we go out, and you, you get so excited to talk about it, so you can see how genuine that is. And I think it goes without saying that both of us are also so proud of you and everything that you've done with your yourself and your brand. Not to get too sappy, but just wanted to let you know.
- [28:36]
A
Well, I'm bringing you both in with it, so you better like it.
- [28:39]
C
Here we are.
- [28:39]
A
If I fail, we all fail. I'm kidding. You gotta have your support system. And Pete's girlfriend is now on speakerphone listening to the rest of the podcast. So talk about support. Okay.
- [28:48]
C
My sister.
- [28:49]
A
Yeah. So we have a very supportive gang here and families involved. So I love that we talked about very sappy, happy, great. How did you get started? What do you love about it? But let's get into the nitty gritty. Okay? Let's get into Life isn't all rainbows and butterflies. And we all know that. But what are some of the challenges you faced? I mean, it doesn't have to be traumatizing things, but what were some of the things that, as you guys have had your businesses for over three to five years, whatever that May be. What did you guys go through? What are some of the tough things that you were like, oh, shit, we might have to rethink this.
- [29:28]
B
There's a lot of tough things. I'm sure Amy can say the same. I mean, obviously I won't even say I said the pivot originally. So that's one big one where we had to switch what we were doing from phone repairs. And then that wasn't going to allow us to become full time. Like just move. We had previous jobs and that wouldn't allowed us to be full time and with a company. So we did pivot and go into TV installations by researching in the industry and learning more about it. So that was one that was tough and we can probably talk about that later. But another one was Covid, for example. Covid was crazy and it was kind of. It was a killer for a lot of small businesses. And the world was basically shutting down. So we didn't really know what to do. So that was one of the scariest times of my life with Aux was just looking at this thing coming in the world and I had no idea what we were gonna do. I was scared that we were gonna have to lay people off. I didn't know how the revenue was gonna go and amount of customers were gonna want us to come in their homes. Cause that's what we do. We come into people's homes and do their home theater, install our TV security system. It's all in home. So very, very scary time. And we persevered through that. Certain services were deemed essential. That was the big word. So we were. That helped us keep going. But it was very scary time. And luckily we didn't have to lay off anybody as well with that. But it was definitely a time where budgets were crunched and we really had to just, yeah, figure out how we're going to make it through this thing. So that's probably one of the scariest. Was a bunch. But that's one of the main ones, I'll say.
- [31:05]
C
Yeah, I think building off of that, I mean, every business will face unique challenges. One of the challenges I faced was in retail. So my business first started to really blow up around September, October. So I thought, this is great. We're doing so many sales. But it just so happened that retail picks up a lot around that time. So I thought that our sales would be consistent. But come January, they dropped a lot. So going back to what you said about pivoting, like, sometimes the pivots that you are kind of forced to make end up being the best decisions for your business, and I'm sure it paid off for you. I was pushed to a point where I kind of had to pivot towards more sleepwear because that's what the customer kind of wanted. And so we changed our business a little bit, but it ended up being the best decision. And now that's a huge area for us. So I think sometimes the challenges present unique opportunities. And as a business owner, you just kind of have to know how to navigate that and how to find the opportunity in those challenges. Another challenge, like you said, was Covid. And so that ended up being a huge opportunity for my business. So we were really well positioned at that time to sell online. We were fully E commerce and nobody could shop in stores. So we totally capitalized on that and really drove our E commerce channel a lot to be able to pick up all those customers that weren't able to shop in person in stores. So that was a big opportunity for us kind of through a hard time. But I think it's all about just navigating those challenges and knowing how you can adapt.
- [32:38]
B
Yeah. And sometimes, like you said, those challenges can provide change in your business that's for the better for long term, like being more E commerce focused. Right. Which is big in the world right now. So, yeah, I think that's. That's awesome. But that's true. Like challenges. You're going to have a challenge or an issue every single day, but a lot of times you got to look for solution and the solution can be more beneficial just by going through that for a long term thing. It's not just dealing with that one problem, it can solve a million going forward.
- [33:05]
C
Yeah, definitely. I always say as a business owner, you're a professional problem solver. Like you're putting out fires every day, but you just have to navigate those problems in the best way for your business.
- [33:17]
B
Yeah, 100%.
- [33:20]
A
And I mean, if I needed to touch on this with social media, I still feel so weird because I'm not making the amount of money that I want to be making. So talking about entrepreneurship and business is a little weird for me. But we'll probably get into more about where I am at in that situation on a different podcast episode. But a biggest challenge for me, and if I wanted to touch on that question, it would be the monetizing it, making money out of it. I mean, I can make as many videos as I want every single day about whatever that may be. Yes. I had to switch content wise, as to what I was making because it looked like what I was saying and my opinions and talking and giving advice and things that I went through worked a lot better than just getting changed in the morning and going to work and taking a vlog that went to random music. So that was a shift that I had to do and go through. But also monetization and it's tough to do everything from sorting out your emails, getting brand deals, reaching out to people, taking all the content, editing all the content, posting all the content, doing all of that and making sure you have a routine so there are managements out there. And finally when I hit a certain amount of followers, I got people reaching out to try to be my managements and kind of like an agent, but in a way of they deal with all the emails, they reach out and they get the contracts, tell you what is necessary, you agree or disagree and then you produce that content. They approve or disapprove it, tell you what changes they want to be made. You go back and forth, kind of like a deal and then you come to a video content, whatever that may be, they pay you for that video. Sometimes they want to pay more for boosting it and engagement wise or sometimes they want you to also put it on your story on a different platform and that's extra money and things like that. And that's everything that the management takes care of. The only way I started monetizing and making money was getting a management involved because I couldn't do it all myself and I didn't know how much to ask for and do all that. So it is kind of secretive as to how much people make on social media, which is kind of tough. But the only way I could monetize was finding a management. And it is so exhilarating. Yes, you have to, you know, they make what you make, but at the end of the day they only make money if you make money and they do have to believe in you. So kind of like a partner, but in a different way.
- [35:42]
B
Yeah, not even different way. That's. That's a partner. A partner. Not a equity owning partner, but a partner of your business. That's exactly what that is. Yeah. So that's awesome. And it is true, like learning by doing, that's like the, the biggest thing obviously like we said. But you got to just do it and then you'll learn. And like now you would know pricing and everything probably like the back of your hand. Right. For your area. So yeah. And it helps like for future going forward. Now you've learned so much that you know what to ask for if anything. Changed and what a new manager or something happened like that you would know exactly what you're looking for.
- [36:18]
A
And in a sense of like, I've had bad partners or managements in my day, people that, you know, weren't pitching me or doing what they needed to do or doing what they needed to have promised. When you need to maybe fire someone or make those big changes in that business or you know, someone presents you with an idea and you don't want to take it, how do you go and tell yourself, like, we need to think of the business first. Because a lot of the times I think you are both very good people and you care about other people. Is it tough to say, like I need to tell them that they're not doing their job, they're not up to par, they're not pulling their own weight. How do you kind of go about that?
- [36:59]
B
Want me to start or do you want to.
- [37:00]
C
You have a team. So I feel like you're best to answer this question.
- [37:03]
B
I. Okay, I will. I don't know. Like, I found kind of early on that you got to look at it like aux or like your business is like a separate entity from yourself because everyone at the end of the day is there for the success of the business and their jobs. They're employed because the business is doing well. People that have equity care about the success of the business as a whole. So especially my position as being founder, but I am the CEO because I'm more of a people person in the company and I deal with people well. So it's my job to act on behalf of like the best for everyone. And by doing that, it's by thinking of the business as its own entity. So I don't know. It's hard in certain times, obviously because you have personal relationships with people. But at the same time, well, I'll say one, it's not beneficial for everyone if they continue to do that, whatever it is that's negatively impacting the business. And it's also not good for themselves as well because if they're not someone that is a long term good person for the company, then and they're constantly getting people angry at them because they didn't do this or they did this wrong and that's their life in work is just getting yelled at or people upset with them, they're not having the best quality of life ever in their work experience because it's just not a right good fit for them. So you have to think of it like one, you're thinking on behalf of the entity As a whole. And two, you're thinking on behalf of the person by guiding them to what's best, better fit for them if this is not the right position. So you have to. You have to kind of think of it like that. It's not really about personal, you know, you and them and feelings. It's more. Sometimes you do have to have a tough conversation to set them on their journey. That's best for them in the long run. And I'm sure a lot of people that we. That are no longer working for us are in a better position than they would have been if they're still. If they were still working for us and having that, you know, negative experience.
- [38:54]
C
That's so true. I think one of the challenges I faced was just as a business owner, your business is like your baby. And it's so hard to trust other people to manage the operations or different areas of the business. I wanted to do everything myself for the longest time because I thought no one could do it with the amount of care that I would do it. Or it's just hard to give people those roles, especially early on, because it's so personal. I mean, like you said, your business is totally separate from you, and you have to look at it that way. But I just had, like, such a personal attachment that it was hard to give those roles to other people in the business. But I think as you grow, it's so important to just hire people you trust and that you can really depend on to be experts in those areas so that as a business owner, you're not taking on too much on your plate.
- [39:44]
B
Well, I'll just say quick. That never goes away. Being your baby and it's so tough to let things go, no matter what it is. And I still have problems with that, but you have to. And they call it, like, let go of the vine. That's like the big saying in entrepreneurship. And it's true, though, you can't grow as a business if you're trying to do everything yourself, because one person is maxed at a certain point, right? You need it. If you. If you need other people to do things and your businesses grow in that direction, you need to hire to allow that to happen. And you can focus on what you're good at and what's most important for you to do in the business. And you also have to hire. Well, it's a different side of it, where you have to know to pick someone that has good values and is good to take on those roles that you can't do anymore or shouldn't be doing anymore. But yeah, like you need to do that. It's very hard and it never goes away being hard. And I still have problems with that to this day. Even though there's people directly managing different all our different departments and in our business. But it's never easy.
- [40:41]
A
Never easy what professionals they are. Okay, last but not least because I want to kind of touch on this and I don't know if you guys will have something that comes to your head right away, but we've touched on a lot of the process of the good, the bad. If you guys have any other questions on entrepreneurship, we can do a part two. We can do it. But let's give a little bit of a takeaway for people that, you know, again like I said, maybe are interested in it or have something in the back of their head that they kind of want to start or they're in school and they know that they want to start something. If you were to tell your younger self, let's say someone that was 16 years old that knew that they wanted to do it, or even 18 going into university, what would you tell your younger self to motivate you to keep doing it? Or you know, what is there to be scared of? You know, what would you tell your 18 year old self?
- [41:34]
B
Oh, I guess I'll start. So I would say do it like exactly. I'm very happy with what I did. And anybody in the same situation where you're thinking about doing something but you're scared of what people think, just do it honestly. And whether that works or whether it doesn't work, you'll gain so much learning experience in entrepreneurship and starting your own company that other people find extremely valuable. So I have friends who did not start their own company but or did start their own company, sorry. And it didn't work out. And then they were hired at another startup for significant amount of money in equity and they're doing amazing right now just because they had that experience of starting a company that didn't work out. Because doing business, learning, learning by doing is the best form of learning like we said many times. And yeah, regardless if it works or not, you are going to gain skills that allow you to do anything that you want to do by yourself. You know how to do accounting by yourself. You'll know how to do research that's an efficient form of research. You'll know how to sell products like anything that you do be create a website for yourself. Like all these things are crazy valuable that so many people who are starting a Business don't know how to do it. And if they need help and your business, for example, didn't work, they're gonna look for someone who did it and that's you. So do it. And maybe it does work out on the first run, or maybe it works out on the second run. Keep, keep going. Because there's, there's always something that is going to work. It just needs to be the right thing. So I think you just got to do it regardless of what it is. Like doing it is the best thing because you'll get that experience.
- [43:09]
C
I totally agree. I think Pete said it so well. I always tell myself, be scared and do it anyways because you're going to feel that anxiety, you're going to feel that imposter syndrome and not know if it's the right time or if you're in the right position, position to start a business. But you really do just learn so much by throwing yourself into it and figuring it out as you go. And even like you said, like those skills that you'll learn through starting a business are so applicable to so many areas in life. Even if you go work for a company and your business doesn't work out, that entrepreneur mindset is so applicable for any venture you take afterwards. So either way you're going to learn huge lessons and worst case scenario it doesn't work out and you can apply those skills to something else. But it's so fulfilling and rewarding when you do start your business and you do start to see the success pay off. So I agree, I think just go.
- [44:02]
A
For it, go for it and don't be scared. Like, yes, it's scary, it's like crazy to jump into something. But especially for social media, you are you, you're the only person that is you. Be authentic, be, be original and be yourself. Yes, you can use inspiration and things, but consistently portray yourself as who you are. And if you wanna, you know, make a name for yourself, you do gotta share a lot of your personal stories and be okay and own up to it. And it's a learning experience. But at the same time confidence. I think confidence is everything. Be confident in what you do and put everything into it. Don't half ass anything. If you're saying you want to start social media or whatever it is, be consistent with it every single day. So I guess mine are the two C's Consistency and confidence.
- [44:51]
C
Love that.
- [44:52]
A
So thank you guys for coming on the podcast. I feel, I sense there is maybe a part two coming because I didn't even hit all the questions that I had in my notes, and I don't even think I looked at the notes because we were just going with it. But I think you guys have taken something from it. If you haven't, I have. And if you guys want to start something, please comment what you want to start so you can share it with other people listening, even if it's just us reading the comments. We will write back to you and give you our support. But I love you guys and thank you so much for tuning in. I will see you next Thursday.