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The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan
656: How Chloe Built a $50K/Month Personalised Gifting Brand From Home
00:40:25
Chloe Widera spent 15 years as a freelance makeup artist, ran a hair and makeup agency, worked inside one of the world’s fastest-growing beauty brands, and still felt like something was missing — until she built a gifting brand from her living room that hit $54,000 USD in a single month.
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- [00:02]
A
Hey, founder fam. I want to talk to you about something super exciting. We're officially partnered with Omnisend, the email marketing and SMS platform built specifically for e commerce founders. We've been recommending Omnisend to founder students for a while now because it just works. Whether you're launching your first store or you're scaling to seven figures, it really helps you automate your marketing and get real results. Did you know, on average, OMNISEND customers make $68 for every $1 they spend, which is an insanely good return. And because you're part of the founder community, you get 50% off your first three months with the code. Founder50. Just head to omnisend.com founder without the e to get started. All right, now let's jump back into the show. Welcome to Little Empires, brought to you by the team at Founder at Founder. Our mission is to support the next generation of ECOM founders. So while you may know us for interviewing some of the world's most successful entrepreneurs, this series is a little different. Little Empires shines a spotlight on the builders inside our own founder community. The entrepreneurs who are in the trenches, taking action, learning and building their businesses in real time. These aren't overnight success stories. These are real journeys, real lessons, and real founders creating their own little empires one step at a time. This podcast is proudly produced by the founder team to give our students a platform to share their experiences, wins, challenges, and honest realities of building a business from the ground up. Now let's dive into today's episode.
- [01:40]
B
Welcome back to another episode of the Founder Little Empires podcast. My name is Leah Finch, community manager at Founder, and I am here with Chloe Widera. She's the founder of Inwards Gifting, and we are going to hear her story about how she's scaled her brand. She just did a 50k US dollar month last month. So, Chloe, it is so good to have you on the podcast. Welcome.
- [02:04]
C
Thank you so much, Leah. I'm so excited.
- [02:07]
B
Awesome. All right, so let's take our listeners on a journey of how the brand started, how it all began. Chloe, I want to learn a bit more about what your life was like before E commerce. So what pushed you to enter E commerce and launch a brand?
- [02:23]
C
All right, I'll take you on a bit of a journey for from the beginning. So I actually had this big dream of becoming a makeup artist when I was growing up, and I dedicated about 10 to 15 years of my life pursuing that goal. And that was my first step into entrepreneurship, because during that time I also opened a Hair and makeup agency. I started a brand of fake eyelashes. I tried many different things. Eventually I did become quite a well known makeup artist who I am. And during COVID time we were in Dubai, I was married with my husband and he lost his job and to be able to stay in the country you have to have, you know, a visa. And so I was freelancing at the time he lost his job. So I was. We needed to find a better solution to be able to stay. And I happened to know one of the co founder of Huda Beauty, Mona Kattan. I used to do her makeup. I used to do makeup on photoshoot for the brand and I kind of asked her for an opportunity within the makeup space to get something a bit more stable. I had a kid at the time as well and she offered me a position as a social media manager which was very surprising. Surprising. But I used to run my own social and this is also how I became well known as a makeup artist. So I took the opportunity and I stayed with her for three years. And it was amazing to see how you know, such a big global brand kind of function and see like you know. Yeah. How they run this, this incredible business with the power of social media mostly. But they were also very smart woman and amazing. And I learned a lot about entrepreneurship there. And then I remember how it felt like to be to have my freedom because I spent 10 years as a freelance makeup artist and I missed my freedom, I missed my space to create, I missed my time. I also was diagnosed with autoimmune disease. So I needed a change. I couldn't just live my life the way it was at that stable job and I had two kids. So I decided to go back to entrepreneurship and to start my own brand. Not really knowing exactly what I was going to do, but just building it because I wanted a certain lifestyle and I knew that entrepreneurship will give me that lifestyle that makes sense.
- [04:33]
B
Wow. Thank you. Thank you for sharing. And that would have been such an eye opener seeing how Huda Beauty operates and the kind of level that they operate at and the fact that you chose a path of E commerce for your lifestyle. I think that's something that a lot of our community members can probably relate to is that the ability to not necessarily work less, but just run your own schedule, run your own timetable, manage your time in a way that works best for you with family commitments, you experienced health issues and I can imagine it's given you a bit of freedom and flexibility from that perspective.
- [05:09]
C
Yeah, definitely. And I think once you test entrepreneurship Is really hard to go back to kind of, you know, a 9 to 5. And I really wanted to create a space as well. I mean, there's so many things I want for my life, and entrepreneurship is. Is ticking all those boxes. It is very hard and stressful, but it's my hard and it's my stress, and I working on my dream. It sounded a bit selfish, but it's just. Yeah, just the way I wanted to live my life, really.
- [05:35]
B
Wow. Okay. And so let's. Let's learn a bit about how inwards gifting came to life. So what problem did you set out to solve or what gap in the market did you set out to tackle?
- [05:50]
C
Yeah, so I didn't really exactly know that when I started. I think you get to really know your brand as you go along, and it's really. It was very interesting. But what I knew is that I wanted to have my creative space to put products out there that are special and make people feel special. So I started with, you know, tote bag with quotes on them and then special journals to help you stay motivated, and then many different cute things that really help people feel extra power in their life. Extra love, extra sin, extra heard. And then I realized, you know, as. That they were amazing gifts ideas. And then I look at the market, and I realized that there's not many meaningful gifts ideas out there. There's a lot of generic ideas. And I struggled to actually find very creative gifts out in myself. So I was like, I need to fill that gap and really make things very special, personalized. That will really make people feel extra. Yeah, Extra special.
- [06:48]
B
And so making people feel extra special and standing out in the gifting space. Right. So the gifting space is huge. Like it. You could argue that it is a saturated market. Right. So tell us a bit about what you saw in the market with competitors and similar types of products and how you stood out.
- [07:11]
C
I'm not gonna pretend I did a big market research, because I didn't. I don't have any, you know, business background. I stopped school at 18. I have no idea most of the day what I'm doing, so I'm not gonna spend pretend that I know. All I know is that I wanted to put in the market piece things, objects, pieces that are not there yet. And so everything that I create projects in my mind that somehow I bring to life. It's never a reaction to something I'm seeing or I'm never trying to copy and make it better. It's always something new because I want it to be One of a kind brand. I want to be a legacy brand and I want people to think, to find things in my shop that they can't find anywhere else. So I don't actually look much at the competition.
- [07:54]
B
Yeah. Okay, cool. And for those of you who aren't familiar with your brand in words, gifting, tell us a bit more about your range at the moment and, and really a description of what your products are.
- [08:07]
C
Yeah, so I always said inwards gifting, you know, meaningful gift idea for sensitive people. I think there's a lot of sensitive people on this planet and we don't cater to them enough. There's actually a term called hsp. It means highly sensitive person and it's just a way that your nervous system is built and there's actually about 20 to 30% of the population, global population, that is HSP. So I always think of those people when I create my. Because I'm one of them. I'm super sensitive. So it's a range of ideas of gifts from journals to memory keepsakes, way to keep your precious items to. Yeah, tote bags. And there's more, more things coming. So.
- [08:46]
B
Okay. And so that's your ideal customer Persona? Yes. Perhaps someone that you see yourself in like you identify with your ideal customer. Yeah. Was that helpful for you to get started to market a product to people that you feel like minded with so you're understanding what the customer would be looking for?
- [09:05]
C
Yeah, 100%. You have to, you have to. Because I spend a lot of time on social media. You know, I post every single day, multiple times a day. You need to have a person in mind when you talk on social media. You want to attract your tribe, as they say, and you want, you know, whatever I launch, I know that those products will resonate to a certain audience and that is super helpful. It's just, you know, it will attract naturally the right audience.
- [09:29]
B
Yeah, absolutely. The, the messaging that you're putting out there, you can truly understand what it's like so you know what your customers are looking for and what the type of solution that they're looking for. Highly sensitive people. I haven't heard that expression before. And so you mentioned that you didn't do a lot in terms of market research. What did you do in terms of validating the IDE before you put some serious money behind it?
- [09:55]
C
I would also love to tell you that I did something, but I did not. Again, I was very naive. Yeah, I actually didn't even know that you could use meta ads. I didn't know you could put ads out there to promote your products. I started with zero clue what I was doing. I was very delusional. So I did not validate my product. I just thought, well, surely if I like it, other people will like it too, which I know is the worst thing you should be doing. But there's also something about really trusting your intuition and your guts. And every time I see my products, I know, like, I just feel it. It just, it's amazing. But again, I'm a delusional person, so. But memory Memory Boxes was my first big product. That's where I invested most of my money. And I really saw that there was not many options out there. And I know that everybody has in their house a shoebox or a plastic box filled with their memories or a draw in your house. I mean, surely you have something in your house where you keep your little things that you don't want to lose. And oftentimes it's not a pretty box. And I wanted to give people really some a place, a special place for that. So I was surely I'm not the only one with this problem. And that's pretty much how I validated my idea.
- [11:02]
B
Of course, a memory box that is a keepsake, that's potentially something that you buy for your child as they're growing up. Or I saw that you've got a wedding one on your website, right? All those little keepsakes and special memorable things that you can package up, as you say, rather than putting in a shoebox. And let's talk a bit about the product development process. Right, so talk to us a bit about what the first version of the memory box looked like compared to how it is now.
- [11:33]
C
Yeah. So the creative process or the way I start my product is always, you know, an idea and then I kind of tried to do a little sketch and now we are in an amazing time when we have, you know, AI. So I'm actually able to creatively think with, you know, ChatGPT or MidJourney and kind of see my mock up in real life and Altair with AI until I really pinpoint exactly what I like. So I'm able to kind of unload what's in my brain to and see instead of having to go through, you know, I don't even know. I'm sure there's a job for it. But how do you call those people the creative designer? I don't know. I don't know people that do mockup and that would cost me a fortune. So I'm able to really do it myself with AI. And that's been super helpful. And then I start the sampling process and I go back and forth until I really get something that I like.
- [12:24]
B
Okay. All right. So using the power of AI to come up with a mockup image and tweak it and refine it over time for your memory box for every product. For every product. You're doing that. Okay, yeah, that's a really helpful hack. So you're using ChatGPT, you're using Mid Journey as well?
- [12:42]
C
Yeah.
- [12:42]
B
That's what you've used?
- [12:43]
C
Yeah, I use both. Yeah. It's. It's too. It's beyond helpful. It's, you know, you're thinking with your brain, with yourself, whether, as before, you had to think and trust somebody else. And it's. Things might get lost in translation, but right now, you know, you. It's just, I don't know, it's much more clear and I love it. I love the process.
- [13:03]
B
Yeah. And you can, you can tweak and iterate in real time right at your desk, and you don't have to wait.
- [13:08]
C
Yeah, you move much faster. For sure.
- [13:10]
B
Yeah. Tell us a bit about how you found your manufacturer or your supplier. Like what that first experience was like.
- [13:19]
C
Yeah, sure. So I pretty much Google, you know, and then I found platform like Alibaba, when you have thousands and thousands of different supplier, and then you kind of, you know, message as many as you can to, to. To find the best fit. And that, that takes a long time because it's not just obviously you can, you know, their reputation, you know, their reviews, all of this stuff, how long they've been on the market. But also it's down to the communication for me, every single time. It's like, do I have an easy communication? Is it, is it clear? Are they answering nicely to me? You know, is it. Is there must be a connection there when there is, there could be the most amazing manufacturer in the world. If there's a poor connection, I know down the line that is not going to be a right fit. So it's. It takes weeks, really, and then you go for the sampling process. And that also tells you exactly, you know, because they promise something and then something else arrives. So it's a long journey and every single, you know, box has to be ticked until you agree to kind of invest your money, of course.
- [14:26]
B
And so you've mentioned, you've mentioned there that a poor connection is a sign that a, a brand owner and a manufacturer are not going to be a good fit. What are some of those things to look out for? When you're connecting and finding the right supplier in your experience, what are some, some positive signs to look out for that it's going to be the right fit?
- [14:47]
C
What are some positive sign? Yeah. So again like just the, the flow of the, of the communication. Are they really? Because everything I do is like tailored. It's not. I just find something I buy. It's always very tailored. And they need to be patient, you know with, with me and, and go for the journey with me and be willing to experiment as well, which is not always. Some, some manufacturers don't want to, don't want to take that time because it takes a lot of time. So it's really when I see people that are caring and patient because they are, there are a lot of still, you know, factory that are, that's for me the good signs, you know.
- [15:22]
B
Yeah, of course that communication is so important when you're establishing that relationship early on and also giving, giving them those signals and signs that you are serious and you do want to form a long term relationship with them.
- [15:34]
C
Very true. Super true.
- [15:36]
B
What was that like in terms of that first order? So discussing minimum order quantities, pricing, timelines. Can you share a bit about that with us?
- [15:47]
C
Yeah, it was very surprising. Again when you don't know anything about E commerce it's like and I understand why most people give up or most people don't push through because it's really expensive. Sampling is expensive know shipping is expensive. The timelines as well, you know, it can take it, it can take. They will tell you it takes a month to have a sample but really probably six months. It will take you until you're happy with your sample. If you, if you're lucky. I have some products in the making that are one year old from my brain, you know. So it takes a long time and you have to be patient and you just have to stick with it. And the, it's very rewarding process but it is expensive and it is lengthy. And the mo, the mockup as well, the MOQ as well were very surprising at first. Now I'm like risk adverse, I'm fine. But at the beginning when they tell you it has to be 300, even 300 is nothing number at the time I was at 300 pieces. That's crazy. Yeah.
- [16:46]
B
Okay. And so could you share us some numbers there? So was 300 your first order?
- [16:52]
C
Yeah, I think it was. So I had a gratitude journal that one of my first product and the MOQ was 200 at the time I think it was around a thousand dollar more or less. And that was my first product and then my bigger moq which was a mistake. But I didn't know. I learned from it. I actually had this little double sided suction cup phone holder and I was actually the first one to create this double sided thingy because it used to be only one sided. And I made them cute and everything. And they're 5,000 units because I had to do my own mold for it. And the whole, you know, the total I think it was I paid like 5,000, over $5,000. And I have all those units and they actually there's, they don't really work well so I had to take them out of the, of my shop because I didn't want to risk my reputation. They have something, they don't work for everybody. So that was, you know, I lost, I lost money with that.
- [17:53]
B
But okay, so that was a huge learning experience for you.
- [17:56]
C
Yeah, that was a huge learning to have not to start with such high mock up and moq and to spend more time with the product, you know, to gather more feedback as what I didn't do. Yeah, that's life.
- [18:07]
B
And so that the first products that you ordered, those journals. So you ordered 200 journals. That was the minimum quantity. What did it cost per unit per journal?
- [18:17]
C
What did it cost? Perhaps I don't want to tell you something wrong, but I would say maybe like three, two or three dollars. I would say.
- [18:25]
B
And what would you say that first run all up cost you. So it was only the journals was your first real order. Can you remember the, the, the total cost?
- [18:37]
C
Yeah, I don't, I remember that it was around a thousand just to, to place my order to order my products. And then on top you obviously have the, the shipping fees. And I don't remember if I ship by air, by sea. I can't tell you the exact figure for that. But yes, I would say I started with maybe let's say spending a thousand five hundred dollars all together.
- [19:01]
B
All right. And let's, let's move on to the, the memory boxes. So the journals were the first products that you ordered. And then how did you go with the ordering of the memory boxes? Because it's a larger product.
- [19:15]
C
Yeah, complete delusion. So I launched a few things in between another journals and stuff. And once I had a bit more confidence, I used to have a memory box myself from the top of my shelf in my bedroom. And I was so I have to do something with this. And I was like, I look at my husband and I was like, should we just do it and he said, let's do it. And we actually borrowed some money to do it because it was crazy expensive to start. I didn't actually know how much volume they would also take. So naively, I thought that it would fit. Absolutely not. It was a complete disaster. Luckily, we had a friend that had a warehouse, so we were able to kind of rent the top of his warehouse to store the boxes. But, yeah, that was a huge order. I order around a thousand memory keepsake.
- [20:04]
B
This is a minimum order of 1,000 memory boxes that are about the size of a shoe box.
- [20:10]
C
No, they are much bigger, actually.
- [20:12]
B
It's bigger than a shoe.
- [20:13]
C
Quite. Yeah, they're much bigger in a shoebox. And I ordered, the first order was 300 units. I had two color, two SKU, 150 of each SKU. And it was blue, it was green and pink. And this sold quite well. So then I replaced a bigger order and this way I ordered over a thousand units. So now we nearly sold out. And I'm going to place a new order very soon as well. But we've been a bit delayed with, you know, the Middle east situation. But I'm very excited.
- [20:45]
B
Okay.
- [20:46]
A
All right.
- [20:46]
B
So I am keen to ask you, Chloe, a bit about your marketing.
- [20:51]
C
Right.
- [20:51]
B
So can you tell us a bit about what was the first channel that consistently brought in sales and why do you think it worked so well for your brand?
- [21:00]
C
I started with only organic content, which only, you know, Instagram posting very, very diligently every day on my social media, but it wasn't bringing enough sales. So then I discovered meta ads. And that is what really changed the game for me. As soon as I started placing ads, I was able to, you know, amplify my reach and get attention to my products. And because I was creating so much, so many videos, it just blew up with meta ads. So it's a mix of, you know, paid, paid and organic. Okay.
- [21:33]
B
And so did you do a bit of trialing of the creatives that worked well in your organic posts and then using that for your paid ads?
- [21:42]
C
Yeah, exactly. I would see what, what. But it's. It's very different as well. So that works. But it has this limitation. I think for meta ads, you can't be. You have to be kind of straight to the point. People need to be able to understand exactly what you are selling right away. You can't really be, you know, you have. It needs to hit and whereas on social media you can be a bit more like, poetic or, you know, a bit more creative. So it's still I think a different edit, I edit them different. Even what works on organic social media, I will make them shorter or, you know, more straight to the point for my, for my ads. But I do taste a lot on my social media.
- [22:21]
B
Okay, all right, so social media being your main channel, tell us what that was like. Like, how frequently did you post? Did you do face to the camera content? Tell us a bit about your social media as a, as a key channel.
- [22:36]
C
For me, it's, it's, it's essential. Every time I, my sales goes down, I just triple the amount of posts I put on social media. Founder, you know, face. I don't know how to say in English, I forgot. But you know, I, I am the founder and you see my face on my, on like brand social media and I talk directly to my customer. I actually sell a lot for a DM because when people have a question, they tend to DM. So if you are fast and send your DM, you will sell a lot for your DMs. And it's just a new way of approaching building brand. But I always say, founders, we know our stories and there's no one better than us to tell our stories. And oftentimes we give the power away to agencies or social media agencies thinking that they know better, but they don't. Nobody cares as much as we do. Nobody is in the trenches. I don't know, there's so much power into just putting yourself out there. And you know, it's like you have to think of your, it's not like you have to think of yourself as a celebrity, but it's the same principle. Celebrities have a spotlight on them. They are under the light. We are attracted to the light. You know, it's the same. You have to put the spotlight on yourself, on your brand to be seen. And if you really care about what you're putting out there and your products, it shouldn't be a problem because you should be proud of what you put out there and put your own spotlight and, you know, take. It's like I have, I don't know how to explain, but with social media, I have more power with my brand and I can just react fast and, you know, connect with people and it's just, it's a game changer. I don't even know how to build a brand without it.
- [24:16]
B
Yeah, and you could see it on your face. You're obviously really passionate about putting your face in front of the brand. And it's like you say, if you're, if you believe that you have a good quality product to bring to the world that solves a problem or a gap in the market. Then get out there in front of other people and tell them about it. And I love what you said there around how, how much you've sold through Instagram DMs because you've got customers checking out your product and when they've got questions, if you are engaged and you're responsive enough, that's the power of community building on social media. You're making sales through your DMs.
- [24:54]
C
You have to remember, like, your ads are on Instagram, like, you know, like, and Facebook. So those people are on their devices, are scrolling through their Instagram and for their Facebook. So it's natural that they will reply within that platform. And even if they see your ads, you know, outside, there's a very high chance they will also go see your page and scroll and you know, they want multiple touch points to trust your brand. And so they will, they will go through your social media and if they have a question, they're not going to go and check on the website and find the email address or find the box and then, and then wait until somebody replies. You know, they will go on the DMs and try to get an answer as fast as possible.
- [25:35]
B
And they know that they're getting straight to you, right? So they're starting to. We like to talk about impersonal branding. One of our founder courses, monetize your personal brand with Rory Vader. Know you, like you, trust you and to buy from you. And then how powerful is that for them to be familiar with the founder and DM you directly and get a, and get a response?
- [25:55]
C
Yeah, and I make a point to sign my name every time so they see that I am the founder and I, you know, I am the one replying and there's nobody else here, you know, and people really like that personal, personal touch. And yeah, the more they see me, the more they get used to me, the more they get to know me, the more they trust my brand. And some people, you know, it might take them six months to purchase, but eventually, because they hear me yapping about my boy box all day long every day, they, they understand, like, you know, it's, it's very special if I care enough, you know, over time people will also start to care and see the magic in it.
- [26:30]
B
Of course. And I can say that you care about your brand and it comes through in how you communicate with your, your customers and your broader community and so share with us. You, you've grown Your brand so much. Right. Like share with us what it was like. You joined the founder e commerce coaching program. You worked with Jackie d', Melian, one of our coaches. What was that like for you?
- [26:51]
C
It was honestly. So I joined because I, I used to listen to podcasts a lot. Every day I would listen to founder stories every, every single thing I can. I can to try to find informations about how to run my business. I had to listen to thousands of hours of people talking and I found Nathan podcast founder, the founder podcast. And it was just incredible to have an insight into all those founder stories. And then I was like, I need to join this platform and see what's like, they will give me answers. You know, I wanted answers. And then I joined and then quickly I just upgraded to having my own personal, you know, coach, which I thought was the best approach because again, I didn't want to keep fishing for information. I didn't want to have to listen to all the recordings, although they're all amazing. But I wanted to have that one on one. I wanted somebody invested in my business that would be able to see what I can't see and help work where I needed help. And so it was amazing. I was a bit worried at first, but it was actually really incredible. Jackie was able to tell me exactly what I needed to, to do and she was very respectful about the way I want to be in my brain as well. I'm just giving you the guidance I needed and just to, to show me what, you know, what, what are people actually doing? Since I never been to business school, I had no clue about many things. So it was very, very insightful. And my business now, you know, last month we had our best months at over 50, $54,000, which I didn't. I never thought I could make that much money. So you see, it's incredible. And I know how much the brand will grow this year.
- [28:25]
B
So over US$54,000 last month.
- [28:29]
C
That was last month. And it was me also being worried. I was worried to scale because I was worried I would not be able to keep up. So I was actually being very conservative into the way I was running my ads. But I know that if I had that confidence, I could have probably done more. And so that's why I'm excited to, you know, reorder more stock later this year and launch it properly because now I have all the technique on how to launch something and see how what happens.
- [28:56]
B
Wow, okay. And so yeah, continuing to scale so that 54, over US$54,000 in one month. Last month.
- [29:06]
C
Yeah.
- [29:06]
B
You're obviously really scaling your meta ads. Is meta ads your main channel, your main sales channel now?
- [29:12]
C
Yeah, I try, you know, I try everything. TikTok, Pinterest, Google. There's nothing like metaphor now for me.
- [29:18]
B
Yeah. And so you've recently joined our new membership, Founder, operators, membership. Very exciting. We've partnered with Nick Shackelford and his team of coach to help brands with scaling with their meta ads. So I know that you've just joined the membership, Chloe. What are you hoping to achieve receiving that guidance with scaling your brand?
- [29:41]
C
I just want to again, learn as much as possible because, you know, knowledge is powerful. Like, I want to be able to be a master of my ads. Even if one day I decide to outsource, at least I know exactly what's happening. I don't want to lose any money because it is very expensive. You know, it's about 30% of my, you know, revenue. So I want to try to lower that number and just know exactly what I'm doing so I know exactly how to control my sales. And I feel like once you nail social media and once you nail your ads, the sky is the limit. You know, I'll be able to launch any brand anywhere, anytime and keep growing and I just want to know, that's all.
- [30:21]
B
Have that knowledge and that power and just be really across your numbers, have full confidence in your numbers and what levers to pull. Week on week you're scaling your metarized and so I'm keen to learn more about the how the business has grown. Can you give us an idea of what your typical sales look like each month? Are you sitting at about an average? Is it similar to what it was
- [30:47]
C
last month with the situation in the Middle East? I did turn off my ads the first week because it was a bit of a shock for everybody. But then I actually, you know, turn their back on because my reasoning was that a lot of businesses are closing here and a lot of people are leaving, which actually makes more space for the people that are staying. And, and, and I think when people tend to go a bit more quiet when crisis happen, it's a good time to make more noise. And that actually paid off. So we are going to be probably reaching, I think, 40k this month knowing that we are in a war. So I'm pretty proud of my results, but average between 20 and 30k for the past 12 months. But again, we keep on growing, so.
- [31:36]
B
Wow, that's. Yeah, that's incredibly consistent, right? 20 to 30k a month.
- [31:41]
C
And for me it's like I'm also, you know, I could maybe scale more, but I'm a, you know, I'm a mother and I run this business alone. Nobody's packing, nobody's, nobody's doing nothing. But me and my husband is very helpful with the kids and we, we're working together as a team. But I run the business by myself, so it needs to be manageable. And I also want to grow very intentionally and organically, you know, to make sure that I don't make any wrong turn. So I do move a bit more slow, but that, that will pay off, I think, you know, in the long run. So, yeah, to say that it's just, just, it's, it's numbers I'm very proud of for Soto partner, knowing that I packed every single others myself and I never had a complain. So those are my little wins. It's not just the number, it's also how I'm building this brand, how I'm building this brand. And the way I'm, I'm able to also make it work with my life and still remain a present mother and still remaining healthy and, and all of that make it successful to me.
- [32:39]
B
Absolutely. And that's a, that's a really, that's a really nice reflection back to how you started the brand in the first place. Right. You experienced health issues, you are a mother. You were setting out for a career path that was alternative to what you'd done before. And so it's about reflecting and looking back to why did I start in the first place? And if I'm going to, if I'm going to grow this brand, let's do it sustainably. Yeah.
- [33:06]
C
And also the way that you want it as well. Because I see a lot of founders, they think they need ex employee and. But are you ready to be a manager? Do you know what it's like to be managing people? It's not easy. It's not for everybody. Some people might not enjoy it. I was a manager for those three years at Huda Beauty and I loved my team so much, but it wasn't something that is for me, you know, I did. I don't have the capacity right now to manage people because it takes a lot of nurturing and it's not something I'm willing to do right now, you know, So I know also what I want and I know that I don't want to be in an office space. I know that I don't want to be in a warehouse space. I want to run from my house. So I Can be with my family. I can hear them in the background. It's really like this journey of like knowing yourself and knowing how you want to run your business. Because if you say yes to what you think is the way we should run businesses, or what you see or what you read, if you, if you, if you say yes to all of those, you might end up having a business that you actually don't like, that you don't like to run, that you don't enjoy. And you might be in a situation when you actually, you know, hate your, hate your life. So I want to make sure I keep loving what I'm doing and that and only way to do this is to build it your way. You take advice, but you still make your own decision based on what you think is right and how you want it to be.
- [34:23]
B
This is incredibly powerful. It's about just. You have articulated that perfectly. It's about building a business that works with you in the way that works best for you. Your scenario, your situation. It's going to take hard work, no doubt, but build it to so that it's something that serves you and that
- [34:42]
C
you enjoy and that you love and you, that you're proud of, you know, and so if you are happy to sit at 20k for the rest of your life, then, then be it. You know, you're still independent and you're still living your own life and you still, if it's profitable for you, then that's great. That is success on its own. You don't always have to have a billion dollar brand to be successful. There's many founder that have billion dollar brand brand that are miserable, you know that, that do not enjoy their life, that do not have time and you can't get time back. So do your thing. And I'm very proud of everything I've achieved and I know it's going to keep on growing. I don't know to what extent, but
- [35:15]
B
you can see that you're really proud of how far you, how far you've brought it to today and what's changed the most for you. Like if you really reflect on now being the brand owner of inwards gifting, what's changed for you the most? Whether that be personally, mentally, financially, work wise.
- [35:37]
C
Well, out of so many things, I think, you know, we all know that entrepreneurship is a real, real journey and I started that journey. I was 18 when I, you know, when I was trying to become a makeup artist. And it really changes you because you have to be so resilient, so resourceful. It is really hard. It is really hard. And that's how not many people are doing it. It breaks you like nothing else. But it's such, it's such a beautiful. Know, it's such an amazing journey as well. Like, it's exciting. I wake up excited every single day. I'm excited to see, you know, what's next, what am I going to be able to build? It's like a. It's like a game, you know, like, I'm loving the game. So it changes you because it's strength. It makes you stronger. It makes you, I don't know, it just opens your world to different possibility, to different ways of living. I don't know, it makes you more. Feel more like. How do you say, like, not powerful, but like, I feel like I feel in charge. I feel in charge of my life. You know what I mean? Like, I, I. Nobody else decides for me how am I going to run my day or my schedule, maybe my kids. But apart from that, like, I'm in charge of the way I want to build my life and where I want my life to go and, and that's why I'm excited.
- [36:47]
B
And that would be the biggest change for you. Autonomy control. Autonomy driving.
- [36:51]
C
Exactly.
- [36:53]
B
You're driving where you're going. It's really enlightening and it's a really refreshing perspective. And to wrap up before we, before we finish up, if the, if the Chloe from the very start of the journey, when it all began, if she saw you today and where the brand's at today, what would she think?
- [37:12]
C
She'll be shocked. She'll obviously cry. As a highly sensitive person, I feel like crying right now as well. She'll be shocked that she, she did it. And really, because, you know, I have this one John, always score one win at a time. And that's everything. Because, you know, I don't come from much. I had a beautiful, you know, family and upbringing, but I don't, I didn't. I didn't have anyone in my industry. I didn't. Nobody helped me. Nobody gave me a hand. Like, it was really a hard world and I didn't, I never knew. I knew that I could accomplish big things, but I never knew how. And that's why it took me so long, because I was always fishing for information and, you know, aside from zero. So it is incredible to see, like, how far I was able to. This journey, how far I was able to go. And it was really, it really happened one win at a time. That's why I created this journal, because it didn't happen overnight. It's really a series of small, tiny win there after there that build into momentum and build into me living my dream twice because I achieved my first dream of becoming a successful makeup artist and I'm living my second dream of building my own brand. So it shows you that anyone can achieve anything and you should not fear like the journey. It's really if you just focus on trying to win daily and collect as many win as possible daily. Don't think about the big picture because it's way too overwhelming and it's crazy. Focus on your day to day and you'll be able to achieve anything. But it has to be a day to day thing. You know what I mean? You have to think day to day, eventually you will achieve big thing. Because I always thought that there was some, I always thought that successful people had something small, special or more than me or, you know, they had some as magic recipe, but they really don't. They just, they're just putting the work and they're very disciplined. It's a day by day thing. So to anyone that trying to achieve anything, just go day by day and collect those small wins and you'll be able to reach your dreams that you
- [39:10]
B
sum that up perfectly. Collecting small wins so they can compound. Collecting small wins so they can compound over time. Chloe, this has been an incredible interview. I've loved learning a bit more about in words gifting and I'm so excited for our community to become familiar with the brand and to follow your journey as you continue to build on from here. So thank you so much for for joining us.
- [39:36]
C
Thank you, Leah, thank you for giving me the space and time to share my stories.
- [39:40]
A
Hey, founder fam. Thank you so much for tuning in today and if you enjoyed this episode, please take the time to leave us a review and let us know what you think. This podcast is 100% free. We work so hard to go out and find the most successful entrepreneurs and founders in the world. Your feedback helps us grow, improve, and even bring on more incredible guests and insights. So if you have a second, please take a moment, leave us a review. It really makes a difference. Thanks again for listening and I'll catch you on the next show.