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- [00:00]
Ed Mylett
So, hey, guys, listen. We're all trying to get more productive and the question is, how do you find a way to get an edge? I'm a big believer that if you're getting mentoring or you're in an environment that causes growth, a growth based environment, that you're much more likely to grow and you're going to grow faster. And that's why I love Growth Day. Growth Day is an app that my friend Brendan Burchard has created that I'm a big fan of. Write this down. Growthday.com forward/ed. So if you want to be more productive, by the way, he's asked me, I post videos in there every single Monday that gets your day off to the right start. Got about $5,000, $10,000 worth of courses that are in there that come with the app. Also, some of the top influencers in the world are all posting content in there on a regular basis, like having the avengers of personal development and business in one app. And I'm honored that he asked me to be a part of it as well and contribute on a weekly basis. And I do. So go over there and get signed up. You're going to get a free tuition, free voucher to go to an event with Brendan and myself and a bunch of other influencers as well. So you get a free event out of it also. So go to growthday.com forward/ed. That's growthday.com forward slash ed. If you need three new reasons to love Jack wraps at Jack in the Box even more, here they are. Chicken fajita, chicken Caesar, and delicious starting at $3. Coincidentally, those are the same three reasons you should come to Jack in the Box right now at Jack, every bite's a big deal. This is the Ed Milet show. All right, welcome back to the show, everybody. So just so you all know, I listen to you. The lady that's going to join us today is one of the most requested guests in the history of the show. And when you guys really want somebody on, I'm like, okay, let me research them and figure out whether I agree with you. And the more I dug into her story, I was so moved. I actually was moved to tears listening to her story. And I'm so impressed with her and what she's built, what she's accomplished, particularly in light of where she's come from. And I would say she is in the top three most requested guests in the eight years of this show. And now I know why. And you're going to know why by the end of Today, today's going to be something that's going to move you, but you're going to learn so much about entrepreneurship, building your brand, but you're going to be moved more than anything today. She is better known as Buff Bunn. Going to get to know her today is Heidi Summers. She's built a nine figure apparel business, the Buffbunny collection. And she is one of the most impressive people that I have met in many, many years because we were going to do the show a few weeks ago or a week ago and we had to bump it because of some technical issues. So I already know how incredible this is going to be. So, Heidi Summers, welcome to the show. Finally.
- [02:46]
Heidi Summers
Wow, what an intro. Ed, thank you so much. It is such an honor to be on your show as someone who loves love love loves tuning in to listen to all your guests as well as you speak on here. So thank you for having me.
- [03:00]
Ed Mylett
Thank you. Well, I'm grateful you're here, like I said. And I know there's like a couple million people that are as well. So usually when I do the show, I'm not really someone who's like, let's take 20 minutes on someone's story. I want to get to the content and the facts. But I got to be honest with you, your story is so integrated with what everybody will learn today. And I just think it'll give everybody so much hope. So let's just start out in the beginning. First, I learned a term I didn't even know, the lower 48, which of synonymous. Anybody that lives in Alaska uses that term. But I didn't know that. I didn't even know I lived in the lower 48. So it tells you what I know. But start out, tell us a little bit about how you grew up. Because to go from where you grew up to building a nine figure apparel company and still doing it pretty young is remarkable. So tell them where you grew up and how you grew up.
- [03:44]
Heidi Summers
So I was born and raised in a small town, North Pole, Alaska, and I have five siblings. My parents homeschooled all of us because North Pole has a population of 2000 people. So real small. We grew up in the sticks, very isolated, very sheltered. Didn't wear pants till I was, I believe I was 14 and, you know, raised in a very traditional Baptist home. And I loved my upbringing. I have the best family. I am so incredibly blessed. But growing up in the sticks, as we call it, you know, you're very isolated and kind of sheltered from everyone.
- [04:22]
Ed Mylett
Yeah.
- [04:23]
Heidi Summers
So that was kind of what my upbringing was when I lived in Alaska, but I currently live in Texas now.
- [04:29]
Ed Mylett
What about you? So she literally grew up at a place called the North Pole, you guys. And, like, it's sort of like I want to kind of take them back. This is. I don't know, it's almost like another world or another time, the way you grew up. I mean, when you say the sticks, we're talking about the sticks here. So give us an idea. Like, is it like a Christmas town since it's called the North Pole? Or like, what was its vibe where you grew up with the 2,000 people? And I'm not laughing at where you grew up. I'm more laughing at how. Yeah, Ian, you know this. It's. It's more just because I know the after part of the story that's coming, and a lot of people here don't. It's just incredible to come from that to where you are now. So. And by the way, it is a beautiful upbringing you had, but it was. It. Was it, like, Christmasy there since it was the North Pole.
- [05:14]
Heidi Summers
It is Christmas 365 days around in North Pole Alaska. So we have. Our light posts are actually candy canes. So we have the whole red and white stripes. The. The roads are Kris Kringle Drive, Reindee. You name it. I mean, it is. It's like living in a Hallmark movie is how I grew up.
- [05:34]
Ed Mylett
Seriously. There's Kris Kringle Road. There's Kris Kringle Road.
- [05:38]
Heidi Summers
Sorry. Kris Kringle Drive, I believe.
- [05:40]
Ed Mylett
No way. I think that's probably what you said. That's great. That's so awesome. What a beautiful thing. So, but imagine this guy, as you go from you're around a couple thousand people and not really that you kind of around your family to now millions of people on a weekly basis view her messages and content. I mean, think about that just for a second. So I want to take them through the journey a little bit bit more. So at some point while you're living there, your parents agree to send you to public high school, correct?
- [06:10]
Heidi Summers
Yes. So the movie Mean Girls, when she was eating her lunch in the bathroom stall, that movie came out after. You know, I was. I think I was in high school or right after high school, but I was like, oh, my gosh. When she ate lunch in the bathroom, I was like, that was me. I totally did that on my first day because I was so nervous. But, yeah, I was homeschooled my whole life. And when I was 15, I begged my parents. I was like, please Let me go to public school. I just want to. I want to be around friends, and I would watch the movies, and it just looked like a lot of fun. So I eventually went to public school, and I remember feeling so nervous the first day. And this is when I learned you can actually. If you have a lot of anxiety, you can actually give yourself a fever. So that's what happened to me day one. So I had lunch in the bathroom, and then it was. I believe it was the next class after that, I just wasn't feeling well, and I went to the nurse, and she kind of knew. You know, she kind of knew where I was coming from. Because when I. I think it was the first day when I was choosing the classes, they. They were like, okay, you know, this is your counselor. And I was like, there's nothing wrong with me. I was just homeschooled. I don't need a counselor. But I didn't realize I was very behind. I would say, socially, a lot of the terms that, you know, the kids would say, I just didn't really understand. Everyone was given a counselor, you know, to guide you through high school. But I thought it was like a therapist, and I thought they were thinking there was something wrong with me or something. So, yeah, I was definitely very behind for a little while. It took me a little while to catch up.
- [07:35]
Ed Mylett
I think of that, you being in the bathroom, hiding, just because I have a very dear friend whose son had that type of anxiety, and he did that, and he didn't get past it. And unfortunately, he ended up taking his life and the anxiety of eating lunch, this precious little boy in the bathroom every single day. So I picture you, you know, with that level of anxiety, too. If I'd have told you or your family then, like, snapshot, this girl's walking into high school. Now you're eating lunch in the bathroom that day or hiding in there. And I would have told you, someday you're going to live in the lower 48, and you're going to have millions of people paying attention to you. Not the people just on Kris Kringle Road, but all over, on almost every road in the world are going to be listening to you or seeing your content every time. What would they have said to me? And then at that time, if you took a picture of yourself, who would you have told me you were then? If you had to describe you like, this is who I am, what would you say?
- [08:34]
Heidi Summers
Oh, gosh, I think back then, I was so shy. I was so not confident in myself. I was so quiet. I was, I just felt very. I sheltered, you know, I just didn't feel like I got along with any of the kids. I feel like I didn't fit in. I felt very lost. I think those are the. Some of, some of the feelings that I felt in that moment. Moment.
- [08:58]
Ed Mylett
You struggle with your mental health at some point in high school or before that. And then how did you get from that place right there to, hey, I might move? Was there like a dream in your heart? Was it just like escaping where you were and wanted to see something else? What made you ultimately make this move?
- [09:18]
Heidi Summers
Well, growing up in Alaska, I loved it. I loved living there. But I, at the time, I was like, I want to get my biology degree and I want to go to med school one day. And I would talk about it, but I just hadn't made the plunge yet to book the ticket to go down to the lower 48. But there was a time in my life, you know, I was in school, I was in college, I was going to University of Alaska, and I was, you know, I went through this period of time where I was cheated on, crashed my car, got laid off from my, my coffee job, and I was like, just sitting there with so much, you know, just spiraling into this stressful time in my life. And I kind of use that as there's nothing stopping me from now going to lower 48. So it's kind of. I took something that was so difficult to go through, and I found the silver lining in it. And that's kind of what I, what I use to kind of my inner compass, if you will. I try to find a silver lining in things. I booked my one way ticket. I gave myself four months. Months. I was like, get your life together. You have four months. We're gonna go to lower 48 and we're gonna do what we said we've been gonna do. During that time, I realized that, you know, I really had fallen out of love with myself, just with everything that I was going through. You know, you have this inner mean girl. I know the guys have an inner mean boy guy.
- [10:45]
Ed Mylett
Yep.
- [10:45]
Heidi Summers
And we, we just beat ourselves up. And especially when you go through, you know, everything that I went through at the same time, I just was beating myself up right and left. And the way that I kind of confronted myself was like, okay, I can either live in this or I can make my life better. Which was, you know, focusing on that inner mean girl and just standing up to her and just saying, no, no, no, sit down. I, I'm, I'm not, you know, I am driven, I am smart, I am capable, I can do hard things. And so I just, what I say is I kind of battled her out a little bit. You know, I had this inner mean girl I was tackling and I told myself, I'm gonna give myself one year where I date myself. I'm gonna buy myself flowers, I'm gonna take myself out on dates, I'm going to dress up for myself, I'm going to, you know, work hard on my career and my life. And in that one year, I turned that inner mean girl into my best friend. And she was my biggest hype girl and she advocated for me and she was cheering me on. And that one year ended up turning into three years. It wasn't on purpose. I just, I, during that one year, I found my self worth and I just realized how wonderful of a person I am. It doesn't mean you have this ego and I'm not like I'm the best. Yeah, but you realize things about yourself. You get to know yourself better and you realize like what you will put up with and what you won't and what you want to work for, what you won't settle for. And it truly just changed my life.
- [12:24]
Ed Mylett
Okay, I want to unpack this because I have a really good friend. So by the way, you've all heard the behind the scenes now. We're about to get into a minute to branding and building a nine figure company and making your dreams come true. But for me, this is really important. And this idea of dating yourself, everybody, you said something even more profound maybe before that, which is I had fallen out of love with myself. If you're listening to this, you're driving, you're on the treadmill, you're watching it on YouTube. Just ask yourself this, is that the case for you right now? Like, can you honestly say I love myself? I'm talking about guy or lady watching it. This has nothing to do with gender. But have you fallen out of love with yourself A little bit? Were you ever in love with yourself? You have the blessing of growing up in a beautiful family in this great environment. So there was love, but a lot of people have never had that. Maybe some of you need to take a year and date yourself and be kind to yourself. Maybe it's not a relationship you need to get into and maybe it's not starting a business yet. Maybe it's not those things yet. Maybe it's just taking some time. I have a very good friend and she's 39 and she's got A young son. And she just did this for the last year. She literally dated herself. She sent me a picture in a restaurant. She's eating dinner alone. I could never do that. And she's like, I'm just treating myself well. I take walks on the beach with me, I have conversations with me. And about six months into it, sort of like what you said. She probably heard this from you, by the way. She said, you know, I'm starting to really like me. And she said, and I believe this. I say this in my content. You can't really like yourself if you don't even know you. You don't even know yourself. And so thank you so much for that. So what a beautiful way to put it. I dated myself and now I've got my own inner best friend. So. Hey guys, I want to jump in here for a second and talk about change and growth. And you know, by the way, it's no secret how people get ahead in life or how they grow. And also taking a look at the future, if you want to change your future, you got to change the things you're doing. If you continue to do the same things, you're probably going to produce the same results. But if you get into a new environment where you're learning new things and you're around other people that are growth oriented, you're much more likely to do that yourself. And that's why I love Growth Day. Write this down for a second. Growthday.com forward/ed. My friend Brendan Burchard has created the most incredible personal development and business app that I've ever seen in my life. Everything from goal setting software to personal accountability, journaling courses, thousands of dollars worth of courses in there as well. I create content in there on Mondays where I contribute as do a whole bunch of other influencers like the Avengers of influencers and business minds in there. It's the Netflix for high achievers or people that want to be high achievers. So go check it out. My friend Brennan's made it very affordable, very easy to get involved. Go to growthday.com ed that's growthday.com ed. So a few weeks ago, I wore this cashmere sweater on the show. A lot of you said you loved it. And I got to be honest with you, when I used to try to elevate my style, you know, the brand stuff I'd buy would break the bank with me. I hated spending money on stuff like that. But with quints, I get high end, versatile pieces at prices that you and I can actually afford now. You can upgrade your lifestyle without spending all your money to do it and paying huge price tags. Quince has all the must haves like Mongolian cashmere crew neck sweaters from 50 bucks, iconic 100% leather jackets and versatile flow knit activewear. The best part of all, all Quince Items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. Indulge in affordable luxury. Go to quints.com ed for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I N C E.com/ed to get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com/ed people ask me all the time about owning a business. What are some of the critical things people? People matter. Things don't. And I got to be honest with you, every team that wins has great players. Right now you may have just realized your business needs to hire someone like yesterday. How can you find an amazing candidate really fast? Easy. You just need Indeed. When it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. Stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites. Indeed sponsored jobs posts help you stand out and hire fast. With sponsored Jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for relevant candidates so you reach people that you want to reach faster. You only pay for results, so there's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed and listeners of this show. Get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at indeed.com mylet just go to indeed.com SL mylet right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com mylet terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need. So from there, here we go guys. Now we're going to shift gears. This is where the Heidi, some of you know, begins to get sort of created. But the, the foundation for it, I believe was this inner best friend. Right? So from there, now, what happens? I think part of that treating yourself well was you're eating pretty good too, for a while there. And that's connected to the story, isn't it?
- [17:32]
Heidi Summers
Yes. So when I moved to San Antonio, I, you know, I was working on myself, but I had just gotten there. And because I was still kind of going through that spiraling time, I was still finding myself. I started, you know, eating out at every fast food place. You know, broke college student. I was living on fast food and I really enjoyed trying other foods because in North Pole we had Wendy's and McDonald's. That's it. Oh, sorry. And Taco Bell. We did have Taco Bell, so we had three. And so trying all these foods, I gained a good amount of weight in a short period of time. And when that happened, I remember trying on clothes, and I realized I had to go up quite a few sizes. And I remember looking in the the mirror at the fitting room, and I was like, man, like, I came here to better my life, and here I am. It wasn't the weight gain. It was how I felt in that moment. I remember I was like, I just feel sluggish and tired and exhausted and brain fog. And, I mean, you name it, I just didn't feel my vibrant self. And so from then on, I was like, I'm gonna start working out. I hated the gym, by the way. I took weightlifting in high school, skipped every single day.
- [18:47]
Ed Mylett
What, you're the most famous fitness influencers in the world and you hated working out? That's just bananas to me.
- [18:53]
Heidi Summers
Oh, my gosh. So I started going to the gym, and I remember that feeling of walking into the gym for the first time. I was like, I hate it here. I hate it so much. I don't want to be here. I wish I could be anywhere else. And I. That feeling that I had when I walked in is so important because I've built my brands off of that girl in that moment of walking the gym and just feeling that feeling. And so, you know, I tried. Tried the treadmill for a while, then tried weightlifting, then did Crossfit. So I eventually found my groove. And as I started losing weight, you know, there's a lot of women that were like, heidi, I like, what workouts are you doing? Share your. Share your recipes. So I started doing that on Instagram. Loved it. And I started building this community of women who, you know, they loved seeing me lift weights. Like, oh, wow, you're, you know, you're squatting. 135 pounds. That's more than your body weight. That's amazing. And, like, you look great. I can do that. So they started getting this confidence and, like, they started lifting weights. Because as myself, when I started lifting weights, I would see the men doing it, and I would say, I don't want to look like that, so I'm not going to do that. But me researching and, you know, going through my weight loss period, I learned so much. And so I wanted to share that with other women. Like, hey, you can lift weights. You're not going to get bulky. Trust me. Like, the guy that weighs 200 pounds, it took him years to put on that much. And Women just. They felt so comfortable coming to me and asking me questions. And so that's kind of what started my fitness journey and started with social media. And I love the community that I built with women. I mean, they. Even now, to this day, I take it so seriously. And I'm so careful what I put out into the world because I know they Trust me with 100% of the, you know, their being.
- [20:46]
Ed Mylett
Were you super uncomfortable in the beginning? I mean, I'm just picturing someone who's not comfortable at some point, just a few years before walking into the lunchroom in high school in Alaska. And now you're putting yourself. Because here's the thing. I think most people don't document their life because they don't think it's interesting. So they a, don't post on social media because they don't think they're interesting and they're wrong. And secondly, they don't want to show their weaknesses yet. That's the thing that connects you. Your imperfections are what connect you with people, not your perfections. But third, they're. They're afraid of, like, ridicule or feedback or it not going. Did you have that at some point too? Like, well, I have a camera on me now. I know I did. When I started, I was like, this is weird. Was it. Was that hard for you or. No?
- [21:30]
Heidi Summers
Oh, absolutely. I mean, go look, don't. I'm like, go look, but don't look at some of my first videos on YouTube. I mean, I was. If anything, I just felt like I was very robotic. I remember recording over and over and over again, like, the same video. I was like, hi, guys, it's me. Like, I was so nervous, and I did something that I still use to this day. I did it with shaking hands. So I was terrified. I was scared, I was nervous, and I was absolutely afraid. But I still did it with shaking hands. And that's kind of something that I take to this day whenever I'm conquering a fear is, you know, when people are like, don't be afraid. It's, you know, don't be scared. Don't be afraid. I tell people my, you should do it afraid, because if you're afraid, you will grow after you kind of tackle that head on. And a lot of my favorite moments in life is me doing something in fear and doing something. When I did have shaking hands, it's like afterwards I felt so much better about myself.
- [22:28]
Ed Mylett
Yep, I'm the same way. My biggest fear was public speaking. And so the first time I actually finally did it, you know, for real. I wasn't any good at it, but I finished it. And I was never the same human again. It was almost like on a cellular level, I changed a little bit, you know, and the next time I was 99% as scared, but not as 100%. And now, you know, it's what I do 80 nights a year. And so I'm exactly the same way. If you're afraid of it, you should probably do it because it'll change you. I totally agree with you on that. Okay, I know what everybody wants to know, so we're going to get to it now. So you have this. You have the. You have this time where you're dating yourself, you've gained a bunch of weight. Now you're hitting the gym. Now you're making content. How does buff bunny collection?
- [23:13]
Heidi Summers
So let's see. A lot of YouTubers, a lot of social media people, you know, they end up making merch. And I love me some merch. So I was like, I'm gonna make some T shirts, and I'm gonna put buffbunny on it. And I think because woman had learned so much through my channel. I mean, I've had women come up to me and say, I have lost hundreds of pounds watching your meal prep videos. And I'm like, I was just sharing my favorite tips. You know, I didn't realize how important sharing a meal prep video was. So I was like, I'm gonna make some T shirts. So I made some T shirts, and they sold out in, I mean, I think, under a minute. It was crazy. Just. Just like that. And I was like, oh, okay. I thought this was gonna last, like, two or three months. So then I bought more. And so I used the amount of money I put towards the clothing brand, and I just put it right back in. I never took money out. I just kept doubling, tripling, quadrupling my inventory. Merch I did about three times, and I think that started in January. And then by August, I had looked into manufacturing overseas. I was like, you know, I stand by the quote. Whatever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might. I believe it's in the Bible. It's in the bill. And I was like, you know, women are asking me for leggings, and they're asking me for joggers, and I just. I can't print it on these cheap hoodies. I just can't do it. I can't put it on the cheap leggings. I just can't do it. So I Started looking into textiles. Taught myself so much about fabrics, washes, recipes on how to create the most amazing fabrics. And I documented the whole thing on YouTube. So my community was seeing, ah, she's coming out leggings. And I was like, what color do you guys want? What rise do you guys want? What inseam length do you want? So I used my community and just asked them, I was like, what do you guys want? And I used their voice and I let them have a voice and you know, suggest colors and things like that. And I would just kept ordering more inventory, more pieces or like, we want crop tops, we want full length tops, we want hoodies, we want joggers. And I kind of built these collection based on customer demands. So that's kind of how it started. And I remember the first, I mean the first two years were just absolutely wild. I was doing everything out of my home. You know, I had this fear. I was like, I can't get a warehouse. I'm just, I'm too nervous to commit to a three year lease. Oh my gosh, there's no way. And so I had a, I had moved from a two bedroom apartment that had like one working outlet at a time to then moving into a four bedroom house that I was like, this will basically be my fulfillment center. And I utilized every room, I was like for backstock and printing orders. I was paying my best friends with Chipotle to come help me back orders.
- [26:06]
Ed Mylett
Oh my gosh.
- [26:07]
Heidi Summers
That was the start of it. And it's been eight years and we've just, we just keep growing this, you guys.
- [26:13]
Ed Mylett
Okay, so first off, this is real entrepreneurship here, which is like you do pay friends with Chipotle, you do work out of your apartment. It doesn't feel real. I don't think you actually feel successful for. I don't even know if you ever feel successful if you're a good entrepreneur. But like for years and years you don't. Right? Right now if you just give them a peek, I won't get too much into business. But your personal income a year is over a million dollars a year, correct?
- [26:38]
Heidi Summers
Yes.
- [26:38]
Ed Mylett
Yes. And it's over probably eight figures a year. Is that correct?
- [26:42]
Heidi Summers
Yes.
- [26:43]
Ed Mylett
Yes. Okay, did you all just hear what I just said? This is a nine figure brand that was built by a girl who gave herself a one way ticket to the us Ends up gaining weight, going to the gym, starts documenting her things she's doing out of fear and anxiety. Thinks nobody's going to be interested in it. Turns out people are interested in it. Builds this brand. Because guys, branding, by the way, business nowadays used to be who do you know? And that's why only a few people become successful. You have to have connections. Who do you know? Does your dad know? It was always the guy who. The lady whose dad knew someone or they went to Harvard and they got the alumni. Now it's not who do you know, it's who knows you. And when people know you and they started to know Heidi, then she start filling their needs. And it's built this incredible brand along the way, though. So the reason I wanted you on here's the main reason people see you. You've married your dream guy, which we'll talk about a little bit, right. You've married Christian and you've married this, you know, handsome other stud influencer dude. You're. If everybody sees Heidi on YouTube, she's a beautiful young lady, she's fit, she's making all this money, and you can look at her and say, oh, she's different than me. And what I want you to hear, whether you're a man or a woman, is she's not different than you. She's done different things than you, but she is not different than you. And there's been heartache along the way. How take us be the real entrepreneur now Because I have real entrepreneur conversations. Have you actually enjoyed this? Like out of a 30 day month, how many days are good days? Seriously? I mean, I mean it. Whether the last eight years or how many of them are like, man, that was heavier than I thought it would be when I started. Just curious what your answer would be.
- [28:25]
Heidi Summers
Oh, you mean one day with no fires?
- [28:28]
Ed Mylett
Yeah. Okay, let's go there first.
- [28:30]
Heidi Summers
Yeah, I would say maybe 25 are good days. Sometimes I might have a month where it's like 50. 50. But like, like I said, like I said kind of earlier, it's like I always see the silver lining in things. Like I might have, like, it might be a small fire one day, it might be a big fire one day, but I have an amazing team, three teams. And we, we tackle everything together and we figure it out.
- [28:56]
Ed Mylett
Yep.
- [28:56]
Heidi Summers
And I like to say I'm a professional problem solver.
- [28:59]
Ed Mylett
Yes.
- [29:00]
Heidi Summers
So that does help.
- [29:01]
Ed Mylett
Yep.
- [29:02]
Heidi Summers
And. But I enjoy what I do. I love what I do every single day.
- [29:06]
Ed Mylett
What about the first three years? What would you say? First three years, was it still 25 or was it like every day just hair's on fire, running around?
- [29:15]
Heidi Summers
Oh, yeah. I would say every single day was a hard day. Every single day with a hard day. So I would say it gets easier as, you know, your business grows and you have teams that help you. But that's why I'm like, you know, 75 to 80% of my month is, you know, the harder days. But there's still a lot of good in those days. You know, it's like, you win some, you lose some. You win some, you lose some.
- [29:36]
Ed Mylett
Do you think your temperament helps you? I'm just listening to you. Even the way you tell your story, it's this, like, remarkable story, but you sort of say it, I would say, almost like, in a matter of fact way, a little bit. And it's because you lived it and you're also on the other side of it. But I guess what I'm saying is, do you have an ability to kind of find equanimity, like peace under duress? Are you good at that when everyone's kind of burning your sense of calm, or do you have people around you that are the sense of calm?
- [30:09]
Heidi Summers
Actually, I would say I'm probably the sense of calm. I remember I hired a design director, and with manufacturing, when something happens that maybe we have a collection with three items that are late, we're like, okay, we have to wait for these item to come in to launch. So we have to push back a whole launch, which then cascades the whole year. It's a ripple effect, domino effect. And I remember it was, I think, her first couple months, and, you know, she was letting me know that she's all nervous, and I was like, okay, all right, we'll remove this over here. This is this. All right, what else you have? And she was like, you're not upset? I was like, like, there's some things that, you know, it's out of my control. It's out of your control, and stressing about it for hours is not going to do anything. I would say in the first couple years, the first year, I would say I, you know, I would take things differently. I'm like, oh, my. It's the end of the world. I have this fire to put out. But as you get used to it, it's like, the longer that you struggle or worry about these things that you can't control, it's just taking your energy, is taking your peace. And I've just learned 15 minutes. I have 15 minutes. And actually, Dr. Lyon was talking about this recently. Love her. And she was like, yeah, I just. I give myself 15 minutes. I was like, yeah, I kind of do that, too. It's like, I have 15 minutes to complain about it, to Be upset about it, to, you know, yell it out or call a friend if I need to. But then I have to move on because I have so many other things that I have to juggle.
- [31:26]
Ed Mylett
I think it's one of the number one qualities of successful people. You know, I think about if I look at a quarterback in football that I admire. You take a Tom Brady. It's, it's not how he is in the first quarter. How is he when it's the heat is the most hot in the fourth quarter under pressure? Can he find his best decision then? Or Serena Williams in tennis or a politician that you might admire, Entrepreneur like you that I admire. It's that ability to do that under pressure. Okay, couple more things. You know what hit my account today? One of the alerts from Rocket Money. I'm not kidding you happened today. Probably like me, you have probably signed up for something that you've forgotten about and they're dinging your account every single month. Whether it was like a trial period that ended. Now you're getting clicked on your account. But month after month, you're probably paying for things that you don't intend to pay for or don't even realize you're paying for. And these subscriptions keep clicking away, but you're not using them. And Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps you find and cancel unwanted subscriptions, monitors your spending, and helps you lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of $500 million in canceled subscriptions, saving members up to about $740 a year. When using all the app's premium features. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Go to RocketMoney.com MyLet today. That's RocketMoney.com MyLet RocketMoney.com MyLet all right, guys. Number one contributor to Better health in my life right now is a good night's sleep. It is something, as I've talked about on the show and on my social media for years, that I have really struggled with. It's getting up, it's back pain. It's not being comfortable, it's sweating at night. It's whatever. And I gotta tell you, all the health experts I have on the show constantly talk about how important great sleep is. And I got to tell you, one of the big changes for me has been my mattress. I switched a year ago to a Helix mattress, and all of a sudden I'm talking like within two nights, my sleep changed tremendously my deep sleep change, my HRV improved. I wasn't too hot or too cold and I was comfortable where I needed to be. I think that can help you too. Go to helixsleep.comed for 20% off site wide plus two free dream pillows with mattress purchase. That's helixsleep.comed for twenty percent off site wide plus two free dream Pillows with mattress purchase. Helixsleep.comed I know everybody wants me to ask you different stuff. Has it been worth it?
- [34:00]
Heidi Summers
Oh, absolutely. I can't imagine doing anything else than what I'm, what I'm doing right now. And I remember one pivotal moment that I had where I was in my apartment that had one working outlet. It's like I could either make my oatmeal or my coffee, I had to pick one or the other. And I remember I had worked so hard on my biology degree which I dropped out of school. I had six classes left. But I worked so hard and I worked so hard on my resume and, you know, building out my future to one day hopefully become a doctor. And I remember a conversation I had with a family member. They said, I was like, I think I'm gonna take time off and do this whole social media thing. And this was 10 years ago, possibly longer. No one was doing social media as a full time career. It's like it was, some people sort of were, but to full on be like, this is my career now. It wasn't as common. And so telling my family member there that I remember, they said like, oh my gosh, what if you're making a mistake? Like you're never going to make as much money as a doctor. And I remember in that moment I was like, for me it was never about the money on becoming a doctor. My love language is acts of service. I love, I love doing things for people, helping people. And I always felt like I had a calling for that, helping people in any way. And so for me I was like, it was never about the money. It was always about helping people. And right now I'm helping so many women just by making meal prep videos. I was like, I want to expand on this. I think that this could do so much good. And maybe it's not, you know, surgery, but it's a different version of helping people. And I remember that was a really hard fork in the road. It was like this. It's like I was at the end of the road and I was like, I got to go right or left. And I struggled with that because I had worked so hard And I had put myself through school, worked four jobs and did so much and. And completely doing a 180 and doing social media full time. Yeah. Was. Oh, my gosh, it made my stomach sick. That's the best life. It was so worth it. So worth it. I don't regret one decision.
- [36:14]
Ed Mylett
Oh, good. I'm so glad to hear that. That those butterflies you get in your stomach, I call those butterfly feelings. That's indication God's telling you you're about to have something great happen. You know, everything in life is preceded by the butterflies. That person you go into a relationship with hopefully got butterflies on the date. If you played high school sport, you know, before the game, you get the butterflies. You know, go to social media and drop out of becoming a doctor and getting your biology degree. Butterflies, you know, that's. That's the juice of life. This has been so good. I feel like I've been on this whole entrepreneurial life mindset, mental health journey with you. This is a real entrepreneur question because it's something I am sitting here a lot older than you that I still wonder if I struggle with. And I don't ask very many guests this, but I'm going to ask you, are you afraid it's all going to go away? And if you are, does that motivate you or paralyze you? In other words, I think a lot of people like to know when I get to this place that she's at, where I seem unstoppable, are you still? Do you live in some fear? I could lose it. It could go away. I could not be relevant. And if it does, if you do feel that, how does it affect you? Good or bad?
- [37:22]
Heidi Summers
That's a really great question. I would say that throughout, you know, the whole process of last 10 years on social media, when I first started with online programs, every single day, I was like, this is not forever. This is temporary. This is temporary. This is temporary. And so I just put money away. I just saved it, saved it, saved it. And then starting Buffbunny collection, same thing. I was like, every single launch I did, I was like, this is temporary. This is temporary. This is temporary. And then I remember, I think it was the first or second year we did. I think it was like. Like, in five minutes we did. I think it was like half a million dollars in just five minutes. And when that happened, I thought there was something wrong with the website. I'm calling my website guy. I'm like, oh, my gosh. I was like, something's going on. He was Like, Heidi, you sold out. I was like, no, there's no way. Like, it was five minutes, there's no way. And I looked at, I was like, oh my gosh, we sold out in five minutes. It was, it was wild. I'll never forget that moment. I was like, me and my assistant, we looked at each other, we were like, like, we gotta hire a bigger team. This isn't temporary. And so I started getting more confident, I think with each launch that went by. Now, I'm not gonna sit here and lie and say that I never have those feelings because I think any business, you know, some businesses have, you know, they're amaz, they do great for two years, they go down three years, five years, eight years, 10 years. I would say that I do my absolute best to not let that imposter syndrome pop up, but it does. And if anything, I just use it almost like as this like, fear to fuel me. I'm like, well then you better work really hard right now because it could go away. I don't know if that's the healthiest way to think about it, but I've, yeah, I've just kind of used that fear to fuel me a little bit more with business. And you know, I, I also have diversified with, you know, I, I have my three personal brands, but I still have a lot of other things that I've done in the back end. I've saved up, you know, money with all the different brands and I have investments going on and you know, at one point I was like, I'm going to save up X amount of money and I'm just going to live off the interest and that's how I'm retiring. And so I did that, I think a few years ago and I was like, oh no, I'm not done. Like, I love this. I love everything that I do. And at the end of the day, it's not about the money. I love what I'm able to do and provide for women.
- [39:45]
Ed Mylett
That's the best answer because that's exactly how it works. I did exactly the same thing. I'm like, I'm going to get to where I've got enough money because this is going to go away, to live off of it interest wise. And then I got there and I'm like, I don't want to stop doing this. I love doing it. But you only know that I think if you save a bunch of money. And so I think that's a great lesson for entrepreneurs is to continue to save money. Money. Along the way though, there's been tragedy as well. And one of them I was thinking about was someone that you lost along the way as you were building the business as well. And because I just think life happens to everyone, you know, and you don't. You don't go from I'm in Alaska on Kris Kringle road to I'm making 30 million bucks a year easy. Right. And I want people to see the behind the scenes on this. So along the way, probably the part of your video that I watched that got me the most emotional was you as a little girl growing up in Alaska, and then this particular loss that I'm referencing. So talk about that and then how you handled it. Tell them what happened, and then how you were able to process it even.
- [40:53]
Heidi Summers
Yeah, so that was a. That was a really, you know, heavy thing that I went through. But I was. Was moving to Houston, so I lived in San Antonio for a good chunk of time. And then my husband, now, we were dating at the time, and I moved to Houston, and a lot of my friends lived in San Antonio. And a lot of them, I mean, they were coming over, they were helping me pack packages. They were cheering me on. They were going to the gym with me. And I had one friend who. I mean, she was my biggest cheerleader. She was. I mean, she was repping the clothes. She. We would be out at H E B. And she's like, do you see these leggings? I mean, she was like the best cheerleader. So when I moved to Houston, I got a call one day, and, you know, I think loss of any friend is hard, But a friend that was there for you for every, you know, part of your journey, and a friend that was taken, you know, took her own life is. I mean, that's a. It's a heavy thing to carry. So when that happened, I mean, I was just lost. It was just a dark, dark time. And going through that, I think trying to run a business while going through that was probably the hardest because I had just uprooted my whole company to a new city, and I had two employees with a big, booming business. I was trying to build out my team. So trying to process that, the loss of a best friend by suicide, trying to be there for my company was. I mean, I can't even, like. Yeah, I can't even really describe that time. I think that what got me through that hard time was letting myself process it and taking some space away from my team. And again, it's hard because as entrepreneurs, when do you shut off? When do you take Care of yourself. There's not really a blueprint or a book that you can read to try to navigate those feelings. Every story is different. So for me, I just, I spoke to my friends very often about her. I think that's. That really helped me. It's like not shutting myself into a room. It was taking space that I needed to give myself grace and give myself time to process it. Speaking to friends of hers that were friends of mine and reliving all of the best moments, sharing, sharing videos and not being afraid to watch those. I think when people go through loss, a lot of times they try to not look at photos, not look at videos. But it's like I forced myself to do that because I was like, I want to remember the good times. I want to remember my favorite memories in a different way. And yeah, I mean, it was, it was a hard time. And it's just like, you know, it's like you'd cry before work, you'd cry after work, and like, while you're there, just. It's almost like you have to put this, like, shield on to be there for your team. Yeah, that was something that I learning. That was hard. Yeah, it was hard.
- [44:18]
Ed Mylett
God bless her. I. I was in my backyard. You. I told you this the last time we talked. It was in the backyard. I saw that part of the video. I just started crying alone in my backyard. Also for you too. You know, I think there's three types of people in the world and all are great. I mean, that, that move people. There's motivational people. They play to people's motives. Hey, I want to look like them or get a car, get a house. You have that, you know, you're a motivational person. Then there's inspirational people. And they to people, I say those people are in spirit. They move people's hearts, you know, not just their motives. And then there's aspirational people. Aspirational people are people that you look at and you go, I'd like to be more like them. I aspire to be more like them. And I think you're all three. I think that, I think a lot of people look at you, you've motivated them with the way your body changed and you're changing your life. And you've been very inspirational for so many people as they've rooted for you on your journey and you've interacted. And then I think this super small town girl who builds this massive brand, who's still got all this humility, that's the biggest thing about you. You have all this humility. I think people aspire to be like you. I want to acknowledge that in you. This message is from sponsor Intuit TurboTax Taxes was dealing with piles of paperwork and frustrating forms and then waiting and wondering and worrying if you were going to get any money back. Now taxes is easily uploading your forms to a TurboTax expert who's matched to your unique tax situation. An expert who's backed by the latest technology which cross checks millions of Data points for 100 accuracy. While they work on your taxes, you get real time updates on their progress and you'll get the most money back guaranteed. All while you go about your day. No stressing, no worrying, no waiting. Now this IS taxes intuit TurboTax get an expert now on TurboTax.com only available with TurboTax live full service real time updates only in iOS mobile app. See guaranteed details at TurboTax.com forward slash guarantees. And then I want to ask you something. As you've interacted with the world through your brand, what have you learned that most people struggle with? And your brand is more women, obviously than men. So we'll talk about women here. But I think whatever she's about to say, just so you know, in my brand it's probably 70% women now and 30% men. It's just changed over time. But people are people. You said you love your community. What is it that most of them struggle with? What do most people struggle with? And maybe did it surprise you how many do whatever that thing is?
- [46:53]
Heidi Summers
I think, you know, my brand is all about women and I love them. And this is something that I tell, you know, other women, like you can build a community. It just takes, takes one person and then two and three and you can build it over time. That's something that I try to tell women there, you know, they'll see my, my social media and they'll be like, we have millions of people that follow you. But I was like, but there was one day where I started and I had zero. It's like you can build your own community over time. And for mine, I've always focused on women. In the past, I've been suggested to, you know, add menswear to the buffbunny collection line or maybe to add men men's workouts to Grounds fitness app, which is my fitness app for women. And I've always been like, I just, I love men, but I know women so well and I want to give them more tools and everything they need and like this safe space where it's you know, woman only. They can just be themselves. And I think that is one of our superpowers is just having this community of only women. So I don't want to change that. With the brands at least. I was like, my husband has amazing brands where it's men and women. I'm like, so I just, I tell the men to go over there.
- [48:07]
Ed Mylett
Yep, you're right.
- [48:08]
Heidi Summers
But I think that what we do different is I really listen. And, you know, when women ask me for advice and men with, you know, building their brands, I'm like, have you ever asked your customers or your target audience, like, what do they want? What are their problems and how can you solve them? For buffbunny Collection, you know, I was solving a problem. Women in the weight room were like, we want pink leggings. That was one of the first things that I did is I made a bubblegum pink, obnoxious, fun, bright color legging because girls were like, I want to go to the gym and deadlift 200 pounds and do it in pink leggings. And I was like, cool, I can help you with that. And so that's kind of why I started, you know, making leggings and all these, like, fun, bright colors. And, you know, I try to do a little bit of everything for every woman. It's like, we have neutrals, brights, fun prints. And I just listen. I'm like, great. I am not afraid to. To look back at designs and being like, oh, I wish I would have, you know, listened to this other customer who wanted, I don't know, a different inseam. I think what you said about humility, I. I don't get my feelings hurt very easy. I'm like, oh, you guys don't like this legging? Don't worry, like, we have some more coming out, and I'm going to make exactly what you want.
- [49:18]
Ed Mylett
When you started, Heidi, I'm asking. I was just thinking about this. When you were talking one to a hundred, when you, the first one you, you know, got from somewhere else that you, that you ordered and you sold out of your apartment, from there, 1 to 100, what did you know about Merch Apparel manufacturing? Rank yourself. And then what would you say you're at now? Like, this is so critical. Okay, what would you say out of 1 to 100, what was your competency level in the industry in general?
- [49:47]
Heidi Summers
Is zero an option?
- [49:49]
Ed Mylett
Really? Really?
- [49:50]
Heidi Summers
Yeah. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I went to school for. I was in, you know, I was in school for science. I was. I love science. I'm Math. But anything with fashion. I mean, I don't know if you've looked up the fashion in Alaska. I mean, we wear carhartts, we wear flannel. It's not super, you know, high fashion by any means. And so I. I would say I started at zero. Yeah.
- [50:13]
Ed Mylett
Does everyone hear this? Because I really. I was hoping you were going to say 0 to 10, right? Because I. I think everyone's afraid to get into a business or pursue a passion because they know not thinking. Someone's, like, born, they know merch born, they know apparel, or they have a flair for these things, and that's not the case. Like, if you got a dream in your heart, you got something you want to do, just take the next step. Just print the first set of leggings, man. See what happens, right? Like, take a little risk. You're gonna. Life is short. This is gonna be over anyway. Live your damn dream. Look at this woman. Look what she's done. It's like we're having this very, like, back and forth conversation. And she's from a town of 2000 people. Kris Kringle Road, Candy cane street lights, for gosh sakes. Homeschooled, didn't wear pants till she's 14. Now she sells more pants than almost anybody on the planet. Like, hello. Right? Because she took a step and she's giving you the keys. It's like, you shouldn't be listening to my show to just passively listen. These are keys for your life. Look what this woman's built, right? And you can do this to your version of it. Maybe it's not a business. Maybe it's your body, maybe it's your finances. Maybe it's your faith. You know, it could be anything. Maybe it's your family, but you can do these things. But you got to take these keys. I just don't want people to lose that. Now, speaking of family, you mentioned him. And he's, you know, important part of your life now. Probably the most important part of your life. But you also kind of married kind of the competition, I guess, sort of, right? And Christian. So tell us about that relationship. Because it's not easy to marry someone who's going 3 million miles an hour like you are and climbing and climbing and climbing. That takes a very special man to be able to deal with the attention you get, the demand of your time. And I think because Christian was who he is and is who he is, probably made it him understand your journey pretty well. But talk about the two of you for a second.
- [52:18]
Heidi Summers
Yeah. Well, they say that, you know, you should keep your enemies close. So I always like to joke that I married mine. I married my enemy.
- [52:25]
Ed Mylett
Awesome.
- [52:26]
Heidi Summers
But Christian and I started dating eight years ago, and I. I just started Buff Bunny Collection. I. I think I was a few months into. It was my first year. I'm sorry. It was my first year. And, you know, he approached me and I was like, no, no, no. I am. I am just. I'm going to focus on my career, my business right now. I want nothing to do with dating. But he. He was persistent. He would message me, send me dms, and he found his way in, which was actually like, talking about business. So he was like, hey, so are you doing custom pantones? Are you doing overseas? What kind of were you manufacturing out of? So I started replying back, and then all of a sudden, it's this long discussion back and forth because he also had a business very similar to mine.
- [53:10]
Ed Mylett
That's awesome.
- [53:11]
Heidi Summers
But, yeah, so we. We started dating. And I mean, it was. It was amazing because we're both entrepreneurs. We had a lot in common. But I will say it's hard when it's two entrepreneurs because you don't know when to shut off. So we try to, like, fill each other in for a little bit when we get home about our businesses, and then we just try to be husband and wife and not talk about business all day. But it's hard because we both love what we do. We love it. For me, it's like, you know, I've built these brands, but. But it was great because we also also had this, like, little healthy competition because, you know, I have my personal brand, my fitness app, and then my athletic wear line. But, you know, he has a gym, his athletic wear line. He has an energy drink company. He has a bodybuilding league. So he has more companies than me, and some of them are quite bigger. So it was like this healthy competition where, you know, we'd be like, we would share insider information of like, hey, like, this. This type of legging does really well for us. Or like, ooh, this didn't do well. So it's almost like instead of being competitive in an unhealthy way, we. We actually shared, you know, colors that did really well, colors that absolutely bombed. And it was fun.
- [54:21]
Ed Mylett
It's the ultimate collaboration to these two titans. I love seeing a young power couple, by the way. I just love that if you were to start over right now, you had 500 bucks, what would you do? You're entrepreneur, someone to give you advice back. Then someone's listening to going, look, I don't have a million followers. I got got. I got two, and I only got a couple bucks. But I want to start something. I want to start a business. I want to start a journey. I'll tell you what my answer is after you tell me what your answer is. But what would you do with the $500?
- [54:50]
Heidi Summers
And to start, if I had $500, I mean, tough question. If it was me as a person, y I would probably use that to create some sort of service. So whether that's in the fitness industry, if you're selling, you know, downloadable program, let's say you want to start cleaning houses, whatever is in your niche, trying to find some sort of service, so you can turn that 500 into, you know, $5,000 over a period of time, and then you could take that money and invest it into the bigger picture. And that's kind of what I did with buffbunny Collection as well as I started doing online coaching. And I. I saved every single dollar until I could put it into buffbunny Collection.
- [55:29]
Ed Mylett
Okay, that might be.
- [55:30]
Heidi Summers
Depends on the individual. Everyone's answer is probably different, and it's probably fun to hear.
- [55:33]
Ed Mylett
Yeah, I know I should ask that question more on the show. Mine would be, I would probably put it into myself. I would probably invest in myself in some form of personal development, sales, persuasion, a coach or something like that. I would take that initial investment and grow you, because ultimately, I think you're probably going to get out of your life who you believe you are. And until you do, that journey that you talked about of dating yourself and really getting to know yourself and loving yourself, I think personal development is a way of doing that. And by the way, I'm not saying that because I'm in that industry. My podcast is free, and so I just would probably take the and do that. Have you ever had burnout? Just thinking about me as I was answering that question. The interview is about you, but have you ever had burnout? And if you have, how have you dealt with it?
- [56:17]
Heidi Summers
Oh, my gosh, yes. I remember there's a few times where I was just exhausted. I was like, I can't keep doing what I'm doing. There was a period of time, it was a few years ago, actually. So I grew the business without a marketing director. I was a marketing director. I was a creative director. I was doing a lot of the product development. I was going to the fulfillment center and, you know, doing audits on, like, hey, like, why can't we pack faster? How can we get the launches, you know, out quicker? Because with a launch based company, you can have a backlog of orders all in one day. So, you know, packaging them as quickly as possible. So I was, you know, at the full fulfillment center talking to the team like, hey, how can we get the orders out faster? And. And going through that again, a lot of times my superpower is just listing like, hey, what would make this faster? What tools could I give you guys to make us do this quicker so we could get people's orders out faster and then they'll place more orders? So I think there was a time a few years ago where I was just, again, I was doing everything. I was also doing a lot of the operations. So I was, I was wearing every single hat. And I had people that I had hired, but a lot of them, nobody, nobody had experience and anything they were doing. So I was teaching them. So I was wearing all the hats and then teaching all the hats. And so there just came a point where I was like, I'm exhausted. So I hired a COO slash cfo. She changed my life. She was like, heidi, you can't be, you can't keep doing what you're doing. This is. I love how hands on you are, but you are way too hands on. So she changed my life in the sense of she's like, we need to bring on people that, that have experience that are better at this than you. And I was like, absolutely. That is a dream. So we started hiring people that, you know, I'm like, I didn't go to fashion school. I didn't go to business school, I didn't go to marketing school. I know that there's a lot of other more brilliant, talented people out there than me. I just wanted to be able to work with them and, and show them, like, my special sauce, which is like, let women have a voice and make sure we are always connected to them. Make sure that they always feel. And that's what I try to tell my team is like, we sell apparel, but my thing is when women purchase the clothing, when they watch the campaign videos, when they look on the website, I want them to feel something. Not just put on a pair of leggings and be like, great, these will get me through a cardio session or a weightlift session. I want them to feel something.
- [58:45]
Ed Mylett
Whenever I'm around really brilliant, successful people like you, I listen really close for what I think their superpowers are that maybe even they don't know. And a couple things I've noticed about you, number One, you're really rooted in your own philosophy. You have a really intense philosophy, and you're not going to move away from it. And I think a lot of entrepreneurs just start businesses to solve problems, but they don't develop a rooted core value or philosophy. Yours is very, very deep. The other thing is, and this is what all great entrepreneurs do, Steve Jobs did this at Apple. You start with the customer experience first. Every single question I've asked you about your business, you've started with the lady. You started with them on your social media, not you on your social media. You started with what they wanted on the brand. You just started with the experience they're going to have. Everything you think about is them first working back to you, not the other way around. And it is the secret lens. It's this little subtle filter that the great entrepreneurs have that the not great ones just never possess. It's just, FYI, every question I've asked you has started with this audience that you love and respect, this community of yours, and you see them one at a time, not millions of them in a group. So just FYI, I noticed that about you.
- [60:03]
Heidi Summers
Thank you.
- [60:04]
Ed Mylett
It's an absolute fact. All right, now, really, the last question, I promise, okay. You embody the brand, and so you are fit. You do care about your community. You do train. How important is it when you have a brand or a business of any type to be the example? And when I think of you, I think she is kind of the buff bunny collection, because she's buff bunny. Like, she is the brand. She lives, trains, works out, eats like the brand itself. And I see a lot of other brands, I'm like, wow, it doesn't fit. So how important has that part been to you to actually be the brand, be what you say you are?
- [60:48]
Heidi Summers
That's a good question. I would say that, you know, you lead by example. And so, you know, I've had a lot of employees and, you know, customers who start following the brand and, you know, they. They see what I eat, they see how I train. They see, you know, my business tips that I give on YouTube. You know, for a while, it was like, all fitness content, but people are like, show us more business. So, I mean, I've been very open in my YouTube videos about, you know, launches and how everything works. And they love to see that part of the journey, even if they're not an entrepreneur. They're like, this is really interesting to see, you know, your day. Um, I think that the three words that we, like, I embody with my team and our customers is three words. It's excellent. So it's do everything with excellence. So whatever thy hand findeth to do, do with all thy might. Whether you are, you know, catering to a customer or you are designing a legging or you are thinking of a marketing plan, it's do it with excellence. And then transparency. I think that companies that have full transparency are the best companies because you're transparent with your customers. Never lie to them. Be transparent with your influencers, your athletes, or your sales team just being completely transparent. Don't try to hide things or, you know, shovel them under the rug. And then the last word for us is diversity. So everything we do is with diversity. I know that, that some women may relate to me, but some women may not. And so we actually work with. I think right now we have about 150 influencers that we work with that come in all different bodies, shapes, sizes, backgrounds, countries. And they actually, they actually shoot the brand. More like I. I talk about on YouTube, but I always joke, I'm like, oh, no. My marketing team, they fired me. They were like, get out of here. You don't need me to photo shoot. Like, go. Go build the brand. And we have plenty of influencers that we can work with. And so, yeah, it's, it's. I. I used to be the face of the brand, but now I've taken a step back and I love to show all the different women. You know, there's so many different amazing, brilliant, creative women that come in all different shapes and sizes. And we love, love, love, love to show that.
- [62:56]
Ed Mylett
I loved today. I love most how you honor the people that you serve. And so I'm sort of hoping that today was one of those occasions where you were honored, because I really admire you and I'm always going to be here to support and help you. I'm glad that we're going to become friends now after all this time. And I'm serious, you're. You're evidence that good things happen to good people eventually. So congratulations on all of your success. I'm really proud of you.
- [63:25]
Heidi Summers
Thank you so much. This means so much coming from you, by the way, because I don't think you realize it, but you are who I listen to when I work out when I'm getting ready in the morning. I mean, your YouTube videos are so amazing, and this is something that I wish I would have done in my earlier years. I'll be honest and say, like, it's only been the last few years that I've started listening more to podcasts and I'm like, man, if I had one regret, it's not doing this sooner. Because you. You come up, you. You. You hear these little nuggets. As I calm. I'm like, oh, that was a good nugget. And so a lot of the things that you say in your videos, and I listen to other podcasts as well. It's amazing. So it's like some of the things that you talk about, like the motivation, inspiration, aspirational. I was listening to a video of yours recently talking about that, and I was like, wow, aspirational. So you saying that was like, that made my day. I'm gonna be on a cloud all day today.
- [64:15]
Ed Mylett
That's absolute fact. Thank you for telling me that. That means the world to me. She's got so much stuff that I could send you to. You guys got the Grounds fitness app. You got the Buffbunny collection. Probably just go follow her on Instagram and TikTok and YouTube and. And just follow her on her journey. You guys, thank you for saying that at the end. I appreciate it. Heidi Summers, everybody. God bless y'all. Share today's episode. Max Out. This is the Ed and Milan show.