Why I Cried Myself to Sleep Running a Billion-Dollar Brand

Summary

Podcast Summary: The School of Greatness – “Why I Cried Myself to Sleep Running a Billion-Dollar Brand” (Jan 30, 2026)

Host: Lewis Howes
Guest: Kendra Scott (Entrepreneur, jewelry designer, author)
Main Theme: Kendra Scott’s journey from hardship to building a thriving billion-dollar brand, the personal and professional challenges behind the Instagram-perfect image, and the power of authenticity, vulnerability, and resilience.

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Overview

This episode features Kendra Scott, founder of the eponymous jewelry company, who opens up about the emotional, financial, and professional turbulence throughout her career, including major health scares, business failures, divorce, imposter syndrome, and the difficulties of leadership. Kendra shares lessons on embracing vulnerability, the myth of work-life balance, the importance of building teams, and why failure is a necessary part of success.

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Key Topics & Insights

1. The Hidden Struggles Behind Success

• The Breaking Point of 2020
  • Kendra details the overwhelming cascade of struggles in 2020: her father’s heart attacks, personal health scares, a divorce, hospitalizations, and the pandemic’s impact on her business.
  • She paints a behind-the-scenes picture, contrasting Instagram perfection with private suffering and the need for vulnerability.
  • Quote:

    "On the outside, everyone thought Kendra Scott was fine. The Instagrams are great, she's smiling, things are good. And I just felt so, you know, like, this isn't real and I'm suffering and why am I so afraid to say I'm suffering?" (01:40)

2. The Power and Imperfection of Vulnerability

• Rejecting Superwoman Myth
  • Kendra admits to never having it "all together" and denounces the myth of perfect work-life balance, especially for mothers and female entrepreneurs.
  • Quote:

    "If anyone tells you they've got it figured out, they are lying. Okay? That is a total myth." (03:51)

• Building Support Systems
  • Discusses the importance of mutual support—from “mom groups” to her “Super 7” team—over self-criticism or isolating perfectionism.

3. Impostor Syndrome & Embracing Authenticity

• Overcoming Insecurities
  • Kendra describes hiding her lack of a college degree and failed business, pretending to fit into entrepreneurial circles.
  • Confidence grew as buyers were attracted to her brand’s difference and authenticity.
  • Quote:

    "Being my authentic self, being vulnerable...I’m a single mom. I didn’t finish college, but I’m a hard worker..." (06:20)

• Gradual Evolution
  • Authenticity and confidence were built gradually through small wins, supportive connections, and open conversations.
  • Notable story: Her landlord held rent checks, building her belief in herself through his trust (08:48).

4. Failure as the Foundation for Success

• Origin Story: The “Hat Company” Failure
  • Kendra’s first hat business, inspired by her stepfather’s battle with cancer, failed after five years, leaving her feeling “like a loser.”
  • Yet, in this struggle, she discovered her talent for jewelry and listened to customer cues she previously overlooked.
  • Memorable moment: The “Yes, We’re Open” sign after closing her failed store became a metaphor for openness to new opportunities (16:09).
• Lessons of Resilience
  • Emphasizes reframing failure as a bridge to the next stage in life.

5. From Bootstrap to Boom: Strategic Pivots

• Organic Growth
  • Kendra’s jewelry brand began with small boutique placements, child-in-a-baby-carrier in hand, and personal relations with retailers.
  • Recession of 2008 forced a pivot from wholesale to direct-to-consumer, leading to her first Kendra Scott retail store and eventually over 120 stores nationwide.
• Customer Experience Innovation
  • Open display jewelry, “Color Bars,” champagne, cupcakes, and a nonjudgmental environment set her brand apart from traditional stores like Tiffany’s.
  • Quote:

    "We had lines around the block to come into this little store...it was this energy and community in the store." (27:26)

• COVID-19 Lessons
  • Pandemic disruptions led to creative solutions: curbside, virtual styling, and deepening customer connection.
  • Company values like “family” and the “sister rule” led to personal outreach to customers during lockdown, reinforcing authenticity.

6. Growth Mindset: Scaling to a Billion-Dollar Brand

• Hiring for Weaknesses
  • Recognizing and hiring for personal weaknesses, and trusting a strong team, is key to scaling.
  • Quote:

    "Know what you’re not good at and hire and create a team of people that are awesome at the things that you suck at." (33:24)

• Customer Obsession
  • Personally reads customer Instagram comments and insists on maintaining a close connection with customers at every level.

7. Personal Sacrifice, Emotional Health, & Leadership Transitions

• Enduring Divorce & Shame
  • The pain of divorce impacted Kendra deeply, especially as a mother, but ultimately led to personal and familial growth.
• Mental Health Revelation & Stepping Down as CEO
  • The stresses of maintaining “Superwoman” mode led to burnout; journaling, self-care, delegation, and a leadership transition (from CEO to Chairwoman and Head of Design) restored her energy and joy.
  • Quote:

    "Money does not make you happy. And that success is different for everybody...For me, it was just having more quiet time, more time with the people that I loved." (42:45-43:00)

8. Advice, Legacy, and Living “Born to Shine”

• On Comparison, Female Support, and Authentic Success
  • Kendra encourages celebrating others’ success, rejecting jealousy, and building uplifting cultures at home and work.
  • Quote:

    "When women fail, oh, they celebrate the failures... We've got to change that dialogue." (49:43-49:51)

• Lessons to Her Younger Self
  • Self-confidence, embracing “no” as the start of a conversation, and learning that “failure is a gift” (72:32-75:36).
• Three “Truths”
  1. Live with an optimistic lens—look for possibility even in the impossible.
  2. Be kind and compassionate; spread small moments of joy.
  3. Make your mark by helping others shine (76:47-78:31).
• Definition of Greatness:

  "Greatness is...shining a light in the dark places. It's bringing joy to those who need it on a bad day." (81:04)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Social Media and Perception:

  "You see everything you accomplished ... they see you on Shark Tank, they see you at the book... What is the thing that most people don’t see? ... No one is Superwoman." (03:07-03:43)

• On Authentic Leadership:

  "No single human founder on the planet has done it themselves. If they have, they're lying to you." (34:19)

• On Recession as Opportunity:

  "That recession was the greatest gift Kendra Scott ever got. And you would think that sounds crazy, but I say it's a ribbon wrapped in yellow." (28:13)

• On Building Legacy:

  "What I want is all these things have led me to this point...to have a voice to help others succeed in their own life." (48:12)

• On Overcoming Self-Doubt:

  "You are you. And you are a unique, amazing, beautiful human being that was put on this earth for a reason..." (72:33)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• [00:34] – Kendra’s difficult 2020 and the real story behind social media perception
• [03:43] – The myth of “having it all together” and support systems for women
• [11:47] – Reflections on authenticity and insecurity in entrepreneurship
• [13:22] – Failure of original hat business, birth of jewelry business
• [22:59] – Adapting to recession, the pivotal shift to direct-to-consumer
• [32:44] – Emotional and mental requirements of scaling to a billion-dollar brand
• [38:22] – Divorce as a personal and professional inflection point
• [41:02] – Mental health, burnout, and Kendra’s drive to open up for others
• [54:42] – First investor, financial shifts, and what changed as money worries eased
• [58:47] – Tactics for scaling from $25M to $75M: in-store magic, risk-taking, and innovation
• [62:20] – Differentiating Kendra Scott from traditional luxury brands like Tiffany’s
• [67:52] – The importance of relationships on resilience and business
• [72:32] – Advice to her younger self: confidence, learning from “no,” celebrating failure

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Final Takeaways:

• Authenticity, vulnerability, and community are at the heart of sustainable success.
• Failure is an inevitable and necessary step on the journey; embrace it, learn, and move forward.
• Building something meaningful requires a team, self-awareness, continuous learning, and the cultivation of joy—and joy is found in connection with others.

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For more inspiration and stories, check out Kendra Scott’s book, “Born to Shine.”

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. But how did you overcome all these obstacles in the last few years? And how long did that stress or pain last for?

[B]

Well, you know, you look at 2020, and obviously the whole world was suffering, you know, and you turn on the tv, you couldn't escape it, and you're stuck in your house just right, dealing with all this. But in the midst of all that, my father, who is my rock in my book, you'll just see he and I have this unbelievable bond. Had suffered two major heart attacks. I had to go pick him up in Wisconsin on New year's Eve of 2019, going into 2020. So New Year's Eve, welcoming. In this new year, I was on a plane flying from Colorado to Kenosha, Wisconsin, because he wasn't getting the medical care he needed and brought him to Austin, where I lived. Ambulances at the, you know, on the airport waiting to take him to the hospital and where he spent until March, almost March 12, from December 31. So ringing in that year was already starting out stressful. Going through a divorce, I had my own personal health issues happen. I ended up being in the same hospital that my dad was in during that time period. It was one of those years where but on the outside, everyone thought Kendra Scott was fine. The Instagrams are great, she's smiling, things are good. And. And I just felt so, you know, like, this isn't real and I'm suffering and why am I so afraid to say I'm suffering? So I started writing a journal and just keeping track of what was going on personally, emotionally, and wanting to share that the struggle is what makes us stronger. And now coming out on the other side of that really scary year for my business, for my family, myself, personally, is actually, I had to go through that to get to this next most beautiful place I'm at in my life. But when we're in the middle of it, sometimes it can feel hopeless and that you're alone and that you're the only one that is feeling like this and so sharing it. And I think there's so much power in being vulnerable. And I realized that my journal notes I needed to make into a book simply because I wanted anyone out there who might be struggling in their own place in life to know this is part of their journey and to own it and to know this is their unique, amazing life, and they're going through this for a reason. And something great is going to wait for them. It's waiting around the corner. Take a breath. This is only a moment in time and too shall pass.

[A]

Yeah, of course. You know, when I think people see you and they see everything you've accomplished in the last 20 years of your brand, spent 20 years with your brand.

[B]

Not an overnight success. I always love to be like, oh, this is an overnight success. I'm like, what? Well, 20 years.

[A]

Yeah, of course. But when they see the success in 20 years, they see you on Shark Tank, they see you at the book, they see you as this inspiring leader in the business world as well. What is the thing that most people don't see? What is the biggest insecurity, shame, or fear that you never share, that people, if they knew you were working on overcoming, would see you differently?

[B]

I think one of the things that's so important is that no one is Superwoman. And yet we try so hard in our life to make people think that we're Superman or Superwoman, that we are these. Just, we've got it all together, you know, And I think it's, you know, as a mom, I'm always struggling. The people will be like, oh, how do you balance it all, Kendra? That is a myth. No. If anyone tells you they've got it figured out, they are lying. Okay? That is a total myth. I work every day to be like, okay, how do I make sure that I'm there for my kids when they need me? Or if I forgot, is it a bake sale? Oh, my gosh. You know, I'm racing to the store, picking up cookies and trying to package them in a Tupperware so I don't feel like my kid doesn't think I actually baked the cookie. We do things right because we are doing the best that we can every day. And I think for us to say to one another and have these open conversations of, I've got this. Thank you for helping me, or reaching out and asking for help. I now have a group of moms at school where we are all working together. It's like, I can't do this today. Can you help? Yeah, I can do that. And instead of being critical of one another, oh, she didn't bake her own cookies. It's like, we support one another. And that is what I think is. I think for me is I've stopped trying to be perfect because no one's perfect. And I'VE started to laugh at myself more and be vulnerable and to just be like, you know, I don't have it all together today and be okay with that, you know, And I think that has taken time because in the early days of my business, I felt like I was always being judged as this girl from Texas who, you know, in Austin, where it was very tech savvy, you know, environment. I'm starting a fashion brand where, you know, I was laughed out of boardrooms asking for, you know, investment funding.

[A]

And unless it's cowboy boots and hats and it's like, what are you doing?

[B]

Well, not. No, I mean, it also. It's just.

[A]

It was.

[B]

It was just a different world. And they wanted me to be a tech company. And I'm not a tech company. I was a jewelry designer.

[A]

Designer. Yeah.

[B]

And, you know, I think then I felt like, well, I can't let anybody think that I'm not super smart and I don't have this. And I had to. I was afraid if somebody would ask me where I graduated from college, because I was a dropout. I was afraid for people to learn where my education from because it came from my first failed business. So that's not always a conversation starter you want to start with. And so I was trying to build up my own. Like, I want them to think I'm this person, because if they know who I really am, then I'm really out of luck.

[A]

Who were you really?

[B]

I was scared. I was scared that they would see that I wasn't all the things I thought I should be to be in that room and get their attention or get the check for my business. And that insecurity of trying to be someone I wasn't was the worst thing I could have done, really. Being my authentic self, being vulnerable and saying, I'm a single mom. I didn't finish college, but I'm a hard worker and I'm the first one there in the morning. And I am not going. I mean, if you give me money for my company, I am going to make sure you get a return. I will not let you down. But I was too scared to say that.

[A]

How long did it take you until you said you're to start stepping into being 100% authentic as opposed to controlling an identity or an image that you wanted others to see?

[B]

You know, I think it took a while. I love to say that it didn't, but I think it took. It didn't. Around the people around me. Right. I had a very small team of amazing women that I like to call the Super 7. And we were very vulnerable with each other. We were. A lot of us were new moms. We had young children. We'd bring them to the office. We had Pack N Plays at our office. We'd be passing around babies in between calls with buyers. And we were this village of support where we could just be ourselves. We could come in and talk about our day being difficult or, you know, and it was amazing. But I think, you know, on the outside, I felt like I had to be because I remember going to market in New York City, for example, and setting up my little trade show booth and, you know, and these buyers coming in and be like, oh, where are you from? And I'm like, austin, Texas. This is. Now, you have to remember probably 18 years ago when we were doing our first markets.

[A]

This isn't the hub of design and fashion.

[B]

No, it's not. What now people know of Austin and they're like, oh, well, you can't make it as a designer if you're not on the coasts. You need to be in New York or LA or San Francisco. In San Francisco. But in my heart of hearts, I knew that Austin was this special place, and it was part of the DNA of our brand. And so even though I had insecurities about some things, I had total dedication to others. Like, we are an Austin, Texas brand. We have our own voice. And when you walked through market, all these buyers would be attracted to our booth because we didn't look like everybody else. We weren't trying to do what everybody else was doing. We had our own unique personality, and that own unique personality was part of me. And so as I started to see people loving us for who we were, I started to have more confidence to just say, be yourself. This is. Yeah, just be myself.

[A]

Interesting. When would you say that was, though? 10 years? In 5 years? In? 20 years in?

[B]

You know, I think it was an evolution. You know, I don't think one day you wake up and you're like, today I'm just gonna be me. You know, it was. You'd get a win. You get a little win, and you go, okay. That gave me confidence or someone else believed in me, you know, I remember my first office. What a big deal. It was like renting an office space and not working out of the extra be. And my landlord was this great guy. He had a sub company, still has a subway. Like, it's not Subway, but it's a sub company. And he was from Wisconsin, where I'm from. And I would sometimes give him my rent Check. His name's Mike. And I'd say, Mike, you know, could you just hold it for a few days?

[A]

Right.

[B]

I've got some other, you know, payments coming in from different, you know, companies. And he'd be like, absolutely, Kendra. You just let me know when I should take it to the bank. His confidence in me gave me confidence. And it's those little interactions that people don't realize how powerful they are because of his faith and belief in me. It gave me belief in myself and I wanted to show him that I was good on my word because my word is everything. When I tell somebody I'm going to do something, I do it right. And I think over time, those interactions, buyers, Nordstrom, ordering from you, right? It was like more and more confidence, confidence. And I started to not be afraid. And I remember the first time I had to say, I actually went to a entrepreneurial master's course through Entrepreneurs eo, which is a fantastic organization. Any young entrepreneur out there, I say join an organization like EO because you start to meet other people who have their same insecurities, worries that you have, and you're in this safe environment where you can talk about those things. And you realize, I'm not alone in this anymore. And once you're opening up to someone else, they open up to you. And that's why I say there is such power in vulnerability where you think it's the opposite. But when you can actually say to somebody, this is something that always bothers me, then they feel like they can share that about themselves. And all of a sudden you're having a real conversation, you're not having a conversation anymore of, I did this and I'm this and I'm all my business is having, you know, and then they're just puffing back up and it's this whole. And there's nothing real happening. When you go, God, the first time I walked in this room with you all, I was so intimidated. I felt like I didn't belong here. You know, you have got Harvard grads in the room and I'm a college dropout. And then all of a sudden they're this welcoming force, right? Of, are you kidding me, Kendra? When you walked in the room and you had, you know, and it was this, it changes perspective. And I think if we could all embrace that, it's a dynamic, amazing thing to be part of.

[A]

If you could go back 20 years ago when you started and been the 100% authentic you public facing, where do you think you'd be today? Or do you Think it worked out perfectly, the lessons you needed to learn from that journey.

[B]

I think everyone, our story is our story for a reason. And I had to go through those aches and pains and knots in my stomach and feeling uncomfortable to become comfortable within myself. It wasn't like I could just wake up one day and have that. It's the failures that build the next success in your life. And I always say these things. We go through the heartache. Divorce, breakups, relationships, business failures. They're the bridge to get us to the next place we're going in our life. And no one can experience that for you but you. And even as a parent, you want to take those heartaches away and those steps or falls away from your kids, but they've got to scratch their knees, they've got to touch a hot surface to know not to do it again. You can only protect them from so much. But we need those lessons to build the person we're becoming. And we're always evolving. I'm not there yet.

[A]

You're not finished yet?

[B]

No. I've got so much more I want to do, and I know so much. I'm learning about myself. So still every day, which is a really cool place to be.

[A]

That's cool. What would you say was the biggest pain, personally and professionally you've gone through in the last 20 years?

[B]

We only have an hour.

[A]

No, you know, look, the biggest challenge or pain or what seemed like, oh, this is a big letdown or breakdown or failure potentially in your personal life and in your business. But also, what's the lesson you learned from each one of those experiences?

[B]

Yeah. You know, my first business was a hat company. I started it because my stepfather had brain cancer, and I was meeting a lot of men and women undergoing chemotherapy who had lost their hair. I had loved fashion since I was a little girl, and so I started sewing in cotton linings into hats and created a hat business at age 19, dropped out of college. And I think seeing this person that I love struggling, wanting to save his life, really, and at 19, you're kind of an idealist. This was my way I could do something right. I felt so helpless in that moment. And after five years of trying to run this little hat company and it not working, wanting hats to be the next big thing again, like, it was 1940. I had these big grand plans for this business, and it just failing day in and day out. And after five years, knowing I had to close it, and now I already just lost my stepfather to cancer. So the person I had done this for I had lost the business I had started is failing the thing he was so proud of me to do. I'm now a dropout. So all of my friends have graduated from college now are getting jobs. So I have dropped out or something.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

No degree. I have a failed business. I lost my stepfather. And I remember just thinking, wow, like, I'm a complete loser. I'm a loser. I really did. And now what am I going to do? Well, I've got to go get a job. I'm going to get an entry level job somewhere because I don't have a college degree. And I was able to get a job at a travel company that did a travel magazine in their marketing department. And I still had customers calling me from the hat store. And they weren't calling for hats. I was making jewelry in that little store and I'd put it on the counter and the day that it would go out, it would sell.

[A]

No way.

[B]

But I was so focused on the hats working. Yeah. That I couldn't see what was working.

[A]

Interesting. So this was like a little side project.

[B]

Yeah, I was just like. And I enjoyed making jewelry, and I loved making jewelry, and I loved semi precious stones. And I wanted to make jewelry that people could afford that was beautiful quality, but it was just a side thing. I made hat pins, too, and other things just by hand. But customers would call and say, kendra, I want a pair of earrings to match the necklace I bought in your store. Or, my sister loves that necklace I bought. I want to get her one for her birthday. Could you make one? So I'm going home from my day job now that I had to get after my business failed and I'm making jewelry for my old customers. And. And so it really was this, like, all of those things happen. But when you're in that moment when you're closing the store for the last time and you're sitting on the step and it literally starts to rain, and you look at your life and you.

[A]

Think, like, this is a movie.

[B]

Yeah, right? Yeah, it's a movie. No, it starts to rain. It was like a joke. Like, I started laughing at the sky, like, wow. And I had one of those signs, Louis, that on the door, it says, sorry, we're closed. And on the other side says, yes, we're open. I mean, obviously our marketing budget wasn't big, so I bought it at like Home Depot or Lowe's or something. And I remember trying, you know, thinking about closing it. And when I was sitting on the step crying and it rained and I moved Everything out. I looked and I saw the sign still said, yes, we're open. And I was pissed because I was like, I have to go back in now and turn, go through this whole emotional deal. But then I looked at it and I was like, this is a sign. This is an actual sign. And it was, yes, we're open. And I talk about it a lot because it was being open to the next thing that's going to happen.

[A]

The next possibility.

[B]

The next possibility. And sometimes it is actual signs that you have to kind of pay attention to, but you have to be open to it. And so even me taking this job, because I had to, I was open to my customers calling me, going, maybe there's something to this jewelry. Maybe there's something there that I wasn't seeing. And that led into Kendra Scott, Jewelry.

[A]

That's crazy. When did you say from that moment of closing that business, doing this side thing of the jewelry. When did you say, okay, I'm going all in on jewelry and leaving this job and actually going all in.

[B]

Yeah. So I was traveling. It was a travel magazine and travel company. So I was traveling to all these remote places doing marketing, selling ad space, negotiating contracts, like, all these things. And I met my future, you know, husband during this time. And I would be gone sometimes four to six weeks at a time. So we got married. And, you know, it was not a job that you really can have as a married person and.

[A]

Right. Because you're traveling.

[B]

No. And so I was like, okay, this isn't going to be good for our marriage for me to do this. So then I started doing PR and marketing for small businesses on the side while still making jewelry. And I just. That entrepreneurial spirit in me was huge.

[A]

So you're working the job or you left the job?

[B]

I left the job and I started doing PR myself. It was called glitter. Yeah, it was. JLo was big back then. You know, she still is, but it was sequenced glitter. It was all about the bling back in the day. Early two, you know, 19, 2000s, I guess. And so I did glitter PR and advertising, and I was still doing my jewelry just for customers. And we got pregnant. And I remember thinking, okay, what am I going to do next? And I made a little collection of jewelry while I was on, you know, basically pregnant with Kate, I went to jewelry making classes at a local bead shop to learn how to do even, you know, make things a little bit more intricate or different. And when he was three months old, I decided, you know, let's see if we can Sell this. So I didn't have any proper collection. This little collection. And we had a wooden tea box like that. You take out each little section of tea. And I put each color mixed collection in each of the little boxes in the tea box. And I put Kate in a Baby Bjorn. And we started to go to local boutiques in Austin, Texas. And I showed my collection and didn't want to really tell anyone I was starting a business. I thought it had a cause.

[A]

They didn't want to fail.

[B]

They didn't know I'm doing it. They already know that I'm a failure. Okay.

[A]

I'm not announcing this to the world that I fail again.

[B]

No. So, yeah, I took Cade and thought if I can create a business that allows me to be a present mom for this little unbelievable human and make.

[A]

Some money on the weekends.

[B]

Yeah. And bring money and help our family and, you know, that would be success.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

I didn't write the plan like I did for the hatbox of opening stores all over the country. And this being a huge thing, I started with it. Let's just. Small. Small. And I'd sell into a store and I'd make my little orders.

[A]

Were you doing consulting or were you doing.

[B]

You were doing. No. So I would write orders down and I'd show my collection. The first day is kind of an amazing day because I went to five boutiques. Four out of the five ended up placing orders in Austin. In Austin.

[A]

So they're buying orders, like wholesale, and then they're selling for double the price.

[B]

Exactly, exactly. So I would go in and they'd write orders based on my sample set. Well, the last store I went into, they were doing a fashion show, like in two days. And she's like, can I buy your samples for the show?

[A]

You'd already sold them, didn't you?

[B]

Well, no, I had the samples. I had written orders and I was gonna go produce those samples.

[A]

More of those?

[B]

Yeah, more of those, yes. And so I was kind of like, this is great, because I didn't know how I was gonna get more money to buy the materials I needed. So I sold my sample set for $1,200. It took me $500 and, you know, to make. To make. And I remember coming home with that check and like, show. Even Kate, my three month old, I'm like, baby, we have a business. Like, this is real. And I know it seems so silly, but that twelve hundred dollars led to the next ability to. So I was just kind of putting money in. And I mean, this is as bootstrapped My mom brought over a card table. I had a bead board in our little spare room. It was maybe a 10 by 11 bedroom and was fulfilling my orders. And I had them up on a board. I remember just thinking, like, I had four orders at one time. I'm like, this is like things are happening. And it just started to grow. I mean, they would sell out. I would go to the stores, I'd help them merchandise. If something wasn't selling, I'd go back in and replace it for them. Nobody had done that when I had my hat store. So I thought, I want to be a designer that is supportive of these retailers. I'll go in and do trunk shows. I'll meet their customers. I mean, I was like, I am going to do everything I wished would have been done for me when I owned my hat store. And it worked. And our stores were selling like crazy and the customers were happy. And it just grew from there. One store grew into 10 stores. 10 stores grew into 100 stores. 100 stores grew into a thousand.

[A]

This is where you had placement, not your own stores, right?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

You had placement, distribution.

[B]

And that's how I did it for 10 years of my business.

[A]

And then you decided, well, eight years.

[B]

Eight years.

[A]

Eight years. And then you said, I want to have my own store.

[B]

No, I didn't say that at all. This wonderful thing happened called the recession. I don't know if you've heard about it. Yeah, 2008.

[A]

So this was from 2000 to 2002.

[B]

2002 to 2008. Yeah, 2009.

[A]

Six years more full time. But two years kind of on the side, it sounds like. Right.

[B]

Well, so 2008, the world changed, and all of my eggs were in one basket. The power of my future was with the buyers at the department stores, with the store owners. I had no direct connection to my consumer, my customer.

[A]

You didn't have an audience?

[B]

I didn't have an audience.

[A]

You had an audience through retailers.

[B]

Exactly. And so when the recession hit, all that power was going away because buyers I had built relationships with were getting laid off.

[A]

So they weren't buying anymore?

[B]

No. A lot of them were going direct and creating their own private label. Store owners that I loved were shuddering. Every day I'd find out another store was closing.

[A]

How many stores were we in at that time? Before 2000? Eight?

[B]

Thousand. We were probably in about 600 stores across the country. Yeah.

[A]

And then after 2009, 10. How many stores were you in?

[B]

Probably 400.

[A]

Oh, 400. I was gonna say four.

[B]

No, 400.

[A]

I was like, jeez.

[B]

But 200 stores is a lot, right? So I'm going through this, and I'm thinking. I mean, I remember us shipping one huge order to a company that had been in business 100 years. Louis filed for bankruptcy two days after I shipped an order. Yes.

[A]

So what happens?

[B]

Never got all that money again? No.

[A]

And they didn't get the product back?

[B]

No. Oh, my gosh, no. That's what I'm saying. So it was a scary time. And here I have a line of credit. I have no investment capital. Nobody would invest in me. I've gone and pitched my idea.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Doors closed million times.

[A]

Had you already raised money, or were you just giving credit?

[B]

No, I just had a line of credit. I had signed everything I owned up for collateral. I used credit card debt. It was all on debt. My entire business to this day.

[A]

You never raised any money, Right.

[B]

Nobody would invest. I wanted to early on.

[A]

No one would lose.

[B]

I remember going to this store.

[A]

If you're in 100 stores, 500 stores.

[B]

No. I promise you. And I'm a good salesperson. Can't you see that? No, I. I would walk in, and they'd be like, yeah, no retail.

[A]

You don't have a college degree. I don't trust you.

[B]

Right, Exactly.

[A]

No.

[B]

But I'd go in sometimes. It'd be like. I remember going to this one networking group, and they were like, well, Kendra, you just need to get an angel. I was like, I need an angel. Yeah. Where do these angels hang out? I'd love to meet an angel angel investor. It wasn't even the access that you had today. If you think about social media. Wasn't there. It wasn't. There weren't groups that you could see. People looked at it.

[A]

It wasn't a trending thing either. It was, like, hard to get in. Old boys club type of thing.

[B]

Yeah. So, yeah, interesting. All of this was happening, and I realized I had to change my business model, otherwise we were gonna fail. I was gonna have another failure under my belt. And so I remember walking into my office and saying to my team, if you guys are with me, it's kind of like the Alamo, where you draw the line in the sand. You know, I'm a Texan, so we all know that story well, but it's like, if you cross the line, if you're with me, if you're not, I totally understand. And it was like, we're gonna change our business model. We're gonna still have our wholesale customers. We love them, but we are Gonna focus on direct to consumer. We are gonna build a website that is actually not just information, but E commerce.

[A]

Not just publicity, but it's actually how to buy one.

[B]

Right. An e commerce website we're gonna create, which we had Color bar, which was this customization tool where you could pick the stones you wanted and put it in any setting. We're gonna create that tool online. And we were going to open a retail store when stores all over Austin were shuttering. I sign a lease for a store with an office above it. So you'd walk through our retail store to get to our offices. I was like, this is going to be our laboratory. This is how we're going to learn about our customer. We're all going to work in that store. We're going to ask her what she loves, what she hates, what she wants more of. She's the boss. We have got to know what she needs and wants so that we can build the best company we can build. Not knowing that what we were actually doing was going to have this huge retail company. Because I said, if we're going to do it. I hate jewelry stores. I hate the way they are. I hate everything's under glass. I hate how judgy everyone is when you walk in. I'm excited. I said, I want to take all that away. We're going to have jewelry freely displayed on the tables where our customers can touch and feel them and try them on. We're going to create a real color bar where they can sit at the bar and drink champagne and eat a cupcake and watch their jewelry be made in front of them.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

We're going to be totally disruptive in a space that I did not personally like as a consumer. And I remember people saying, kendra, that's not going to work. You know how much you're going to lose. How many shoplifters are going to just take that jewelry? And I looked at them and I said, I believe that 98% of people are good. So I'm not going to build a business for the 2% of people that are bad.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And it worked. Wow. We had lines around the block to come into this little store. No, it was like. It was like red oak or whatever in Las Vegas. Like, we had to get stanchions. It would be like 5 in 5 out 5. It was unbelievable. It was this energy and community in the store. We were hosting community events with Kendra gives back events for local charities and color bar parties for birthdays. And it was unbelievable. And we realized that this is the missing link but it all came from a shake the snow globe moment of the recession for us to think differently because we were doing okay. We weren't, you know, making any big headlines, but we were paying the rent and I was being able to put my kids through school and things were good. Right. But that recession was the greatest gift Kendra Scott ever got. And you would think that sounds crazy, but I say it's a ribbon wrapped in yellow. Was our future was. Because it forced me to think differently.

[A]

What is this? What looks like recession forcing you to think differently about the next evolution?

[B]

Well, we don't know for sure if we're in a recession yet.

[A]

You know, look, it looks like.

[B]

But I also think, let's just call.

[A]

It this economic challenge.

[B]

I get excited now, which seems really weird.

[A]

What is the thing that. What's your blind spot that you haven't yet looked at within your business that if you really start to peel back or lean into in a different way, could explode it to the next level?

[B]

When you think about when I started my company, it was Kade was born two months after 9 11. I started at one of the most unstable times in our history. I started a business crazy. Here we are, 2008. One of the biggest economic crisis that we faced in our lifetime happens. My business becomes lightning in a bottle growth afterwards because of that shakeup, the pandemic. Scary. Closing stores. It made me think about how we relate to our customer differently. Where is she and how do I meet her there? Does she need curbside? Does we need to make mobile access better? Does she need virtual styling? Things that we weren't doing, we're doing now, as every day is part of our business, because the pandemic had us thinking about where our customer was. So when you think about these things that are happening, it is fear is good, fear's normal. But usually on the other side of fear, something great.

[A]

Yeah, of course.

[B]

And if you can get through that scary phase, that uncomfortable phase and go, how am I going to make my business better today? How am I going to make my customer happier today? How am I going to understand where they are so that I can be there for them in this moment of whatever it is we're going through, Those are the businesses that are not only going to make it through this period, but they're going to absolutely thrive.

[A]

So how many stores you started with one in Austin. How many stores did it get to before 2020?

[B]

We were at just about 100.

[A]

100 stores around the country. Around the country?

[B]

Yes, around the country. Outside of the US or all in the United States.

[A]

That's a lot of stores.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

100 of your own stores. Not like other.

[B]

No Kendra Scott stores. Hundred stores now we are over 120.

[A]

120. Did you have to close any, you said, though?

[B]

We just. We closed them temporarily during the pandemic. But we were really creative in 120. That's incredible. March 16th, I closed those stores.

[A]

It's my birthday.

[B]

Is it?

[A]

Yeah. That was like the week of the pandemic.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It hit and I was like, happy birthday to me.

[B]

Well, I was up at midnight for your birthday because I didn't sleep the night before, you know, I mean, it was.

[A]

Cause you're thinking, I got all these stores where people can't come, man, what am I gonna do?

[B]

Well, and I had all these employees that I love. They're my family. You know, at Kendra Scott, family is one of our core values. And thinking about how are we going to keep our family in a good place? How are we gonna be there for our customer? Family, you know, we have the sister rule at Kendra Scott. We treat her like our sister. So it was. I'm like, girls, get on the phone, start calling our customers. We had elderly customers that instead of us asking them what they wanted to buy in jewelry, we were delivering food to their doorsteps. We really started to reach out and just say, we've built a connection with our customer. And I think for anybody that sells anything, it's doing anything with a retail service mind. Make a connection first and the transaction will follow. When you're so focused on transaction, you lose the connection and you don't have that, especially when bad things happen. Our connection with our customer was so strong over the last 20 years. We were there in hospitals, 31 hospitals with our Kendra Cares program for pediatric cancer. We were there in oncology centers the month of October for our Buy one, give one program. Giving a woman battling breast cancer a gift and letting her try to have a little piece of joy. We show up when we aren't expecting to all the time, every single day. So when something bad happened to the world, our customers showed up for us and they had this loyalty to our brand that wasn't fake. It was authentic and real. And you know, I say this companies all the time, being an authentic brand, you have to be authentic. It's not something that you can just create.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

It has to come from doing it consistently day in and day out and leading by example.

[A]

Right. Man, this is inspiring. I didn't know this whole story. It's really Inspiring. I'm curious. There's a lot of entrepreneurs that watch and listen that are small businesses. You started as a small business. What's the difference between, you know, a few hundred thousand dollars a year or a million dollar business and a billion dollar business? What does it take emotionally, mentally, and psychologically to really excel, to get there? And then what are some. A few of the things that take in terms of strategy and execution to get there?

[B]

Well, no small business is small because first of all, to have the courage to start a business is real big and really amazing. So I always say that the smallest ideas can turn into things that you can't even imagine. But I think the biggest thing for me as an entrepreneur is knowing my weaknesses. And I think. You think, whoa, wait, why would you want to know that? We try as entrepreneurs to be like, we can do it all. We're like magical unicorns, right? We just have all the. And that is the biggest failure we can make as an entrepreneur. We've got to know what we're good at. Very important. Because if you can focus on the things you're great at, awesome. But more importantly, know what you're not good at and hire and create a team of people that are awesome at the things that you suck at. Because when you create this magical team, that is how you go from $200,000 a year to a billion dollar brand is identifying the places, the gaps where you need to bring in others that have that expertise, that knowledge that maybe have gone down that road before and can help avoid some of those pitfalls. And that is how you get there. No single human founder on the planet has done it themselves. If they have, they're lying to you. They're arrogant, and they're lying because it's not true.

[A]

So I'm hearing you say the awareness to know what your weaknesses are, and then the execution and strategy to find the right people, team and expand the.

[B]

Team, and expand the team. And then having trust and faith in that team and being collaborative, knowing that you may not always have the greatest idea in the room. You can be a leader and a visionary, but you also have to be able to absorb these awesome people around you. And more importantly, listen to your customers. Listen to them every single day. I read every comment on my Instagram you to my marketing teams, they're like, kendra, please don't read all these comments. I want to know. I'm like, has somebody gotten back to her? I literally said that on the way here. There was somebody had a question about something. I go, I didn't see a reply on Instagram. I mean, I'm doing a lot of things, but every day I want to hear from our customer and I think from entrepreneurs. You've got to get out of your office. Whether it's in a store, whether it's on your customer service calls, listening in, taking those calls yourself. Being engaged with the person that matters the most, and that is the person that is signing your check. It is not you signing your checks. Even though your name might be on the building. It is not you. It is your customer signing your checks.

[A]

She's the boss.

[B]

She's the boss. He's the boss. Now we've got a men's line, so he and she are the boss.

[A]

So I'm wearing Scott Brothers. It's funny because Matt was just saying that I never wore jewelry until a couple months ago. My girlfriend got me a chain and some rings. And then you put on a bunch of cool stuff. Why did you start a men's line? For 18 years, it was a women's only line.

[B]

Yeah. And we had so many men. First of all, like, Kendra, when are you gonna. And I never quite, like, got it. My boys became men.

[A]

They never wore jewelry as a 12 year old.

[B]

Yes. Kade, the three month old is now 20. Okay. So every year my business has become a year older. So has my oldest son. Crazy. And when we were in the pandemic together, I would be having all my design meetings around my dining table because we weren't really in the office. So, you know, a few of my designers, six feet apart, masks on, we would be designing collections and my boys were home with me, and they'd be walking in the dining room. They're like, mom, that is so cool. You need to make that for me or can you make that in a bigger size? And I started talking to them and I was watching kind of what they were wearing. They were kind of layering cool bracelets and really kind of seeing their style come out. And I said, wait, maybe we should do like a little line together, you know? And it kind of just became kind of a fun project for us. We launched Scott Brothers and it was, I think we exceeded by 70% or something crazy of our expectations for launch. But it was a line that came from a genuine place and the boys love being engaged and involved in it, and it's been something fun for us to do. But we had 36% customer base that were male prior to Scott Brothers because.

[A]

They were buying for their girlfriend, wives or whatever.

[B]

So now they can come in and buy for their girlfriend and wives and leave with something for themselves.

[A]

The women are probably the main buyers. They're gonna buy for their guys.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

They're gonna be there. They might as well get a gift for them, too.

[B]

Yeah. So it's been really fun. And it's growing. I mean, it keeps expanding. Interesting. Yeah.

[A]

You're like the Lululemon of jewelry now, right? It's like, only women's clothes. And now they had, like, a small men's section, and now it's like. Okay, it's bigger. Bigger.

[B]

Now it's more.

[A]

Men are in there shopping. That's pretty cool. So do you have, like, a. I gotta go to one of your stores and check it out.

[B]

Please. We have one.

[A]

It must be a cool experience.

[B]

Century City. You can go here in la.

[A]

It's here in Century City.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

At the mall.

[B]

At the mall.

[A]

Come on.

[B]

Yes. Right when you come up the escalator, like, where you go to valet, which I'm sure. Is that what you do? Cause you're fancy, Louis.

[A]

But what's it next to? I'm trying to see, because I'm over there all the time.

[B]

We're near Nordstrom area.

[A]

Okay. I'm gonna have to check it out.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm going to look at the men's section. Make sure it's good. Yeah. Now, okay. What was the biggest. You talked about the business challenge. What was the biggest personal challenge you've had to overcome and face and the lesson you've learned from that personal challenge in the last 20 years?

[B]

I mean, I think, you know, divorce is really hard. Right. And nobody walks down the aisle saying, I do forever and ever and expecting it to not work out that way. And, you know, it's such a devastating thing, no matter what. But then when you bring little kids, oh, my gosh. So my boys were 1 and 3, and I had a very young business that was just, you know, getting started. And it was, you know, it was a really. I think for me, that was. I felt like the biggest personal failure because I can do things like closing the business, and it's on me. Right. That's me. But when you have two little lives that you're responsible for, it's much bigger than that. And so you take those failures differently. Interesting, right? Because it's affecting these little humans that you love. And so that was, for me, really, really hard. But at the same time, you know, I look at it now, and I think. And I have a chapter in my book called the Average Family. There is no average family anymore. People go through marriages and divorces, I remarried. I had a little, you know, a younger son. So now I have three sons. My boy's got a little brother that they adore. He has these older brothers that he loves. My ex husband and I are great friends. You know, we get along wonderful. He's remarried as two little girls, so they have sisters through him. This is. Our family has evolved into this really amazing, you know, thing for everybody. But when you're in it, it doesn't feel like that's gonna be the outcome. But for me, at the time, it was. And it still is hard, you know, because it's not what you plan on happening. But life throws you curveballs, Louis, and you just gotta figure out how to catch it.

[A]

I thought that was just easy. That was just simple, and everything happens in a perfect way. I've made every mistake in the book in relationships and suffered for many years and struggled and did a lot of therapy to just kind of help myself heal and unwind and realize why I was making certain decisions and things like that.

[B]

And that's part of that personal growth that we're talking about, you know? And I think a lot of times we're judged, especially if you've gone through divorce. We can have monogamous relationships and break up, and for some reason that's okay.

[A]

When you say I do, and you.

[B]

Commit, commit, and then that doesn't work out, people are like, oh, especially like, the religious divorce. Yeah. You know. Oh. So it becomes harder. But I love love, and I believe in love. And, you know, I haven't given up on it. And, yeah, it didn't always work out the way I planned, but that doesn't mean that I don't deserve love and that I can't be in a relationship that's a committed relationship.

[A]

Was there ever a time where you didn't love yourself?

[B]

Oh, sure.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yes. You know, I think I've been hard on myself throughout my life. And I think in 2020 was a year where I just felt like I lost that ability to overcome obstacles really, like I had before, because there were so many. There was so many coming at me all at once that I would try to. And I was trying to be positive for everybody else because I didn't want my team at work or my kids to think mom was, you know, not okay. So I would be putting on this, like, mask of physically. Hi. Yeah. Hey. Great. I'm great. And then I'd go in my room at night and just sob and cry myself to sleep and feel like I didn't have it altogether, and that I was a fake like the world thought I did. And that's when I started journaling and writing this down to say I knew I needed people to know that I wasn't okay, because I had a feeling there are other people that weren't okay, too, and that we're going to overcome this. And I knew in my heart I was still going to overcome it. I mean, I wasn't at a point where I was like, I'm not. I'm giving up. But I was at a point where I was just like, yeah, this is. This is. And I didn't feel like myself, and I had to change the way I was doing things.

[A]

In 2020.

[B]

In 2020. But you'd been personally.

[A]

But you'd made a ton of money. Your business is everywhere. You're this big success. You've got, you know, your kids, you're healthy. I mean, you're healthy. You know, you've got stability in life. But you didn't feel like you were yourself.

[B]

No, I felt like a shadow of myself at that point. And money does not make you happy. And that success is different for everybody. And I think that's a really important thing to remember. Success.

[A]

What is success for you?

[B]

So I realized that success for me was just having more time, more quiet time, more time with the people that I loved. And in 2020, I think with my father being ill, going through another divorce in my life, that separation of another failure Covid the pandemic hitting the world and my business, there was just so many things out of my control that I felt out of control in a way, but I had to keep everybody thinking I was in control, which is the worst.

[A]

It's a lot of work.

[B]

It's a lot of work. It's a lot of work. And being able to finally just say, okay, I'm struggling, and I need a break. And writing down what I saw my next three years of my life look like, because I had been going at a pace that was so intense and trying to be superwoman for everybody. My kids, my business, my Kendra Scott family members, everybody. My own family. And finally just saying I've got to focus on me a little bit and taking a different role within the organization as the company, stepping down as CEO and becoming just chairwoman, head of design. And I'm the customer advocate, so, you know, queen of customer experience.

[A]

So this happened in the last two years.

[B]

Last two years, you stepped down into your wow. And said, I know I can do more for the business and for Myself and for everybody else, if I just focus on the things that I know I need to focus on.

[A]

Interesting.

[B]

I created this school for women's entrepreneurship so I could help and inspire other young women. I wanted to spend more time with my kids, which we were getting to do during COVID And I realized what a gift this was. Spending more time with my father, who I almost lost, realizing I wasn't spending as much time as I wanted to before. And even having a quieter life, like gardening and animals and being outside and hiking and taking care of myself, even physically doing yoga every morning. I'd never done yoga. Started doing yoga in 2020. Changed my life. I mean, if I don't do yoga every day, I feel like I'm missing something now. But it was making priorities. And what happened is those contributions to my company have caused the company to even grow and succeed more when I was killing myself. Right. You think you're working so hard, but you're not working effectively and efficiently. And so having that reflection and that time to do that was what inspired the book. Because it really was something that was important for me to put out there for others to realize that even when you don't feel it, there's this light inside of you still flickering away and surrounding yourself with people that help you find that light when you don't necessarily see it. And then it is going to come out. It's going to shine brighter than ever before.

[A]

Yeah. I like you, Kendra.

[B]

I like you, Lewis.

[A]

I like this story. This is really inspiring. What was your biggest fear then? Was it failure or success?

[B]

That's a good question. Because I felt it both at different times in my life. For a long time. It was failure because I failed. Right. And I didn't want to. I wanted to take away the failure cloak that I felt like was like.

[A]

The monkey on your back.

[B]

Yeah, the monkey on my back. And wanted to prove that I could be successful, that I wasn't gonna let that shadow follow me anymore. Then once you have this success and people all of a sudden look at you different, they talk to you a little different, they take you seriously more, you know, they act differently around you. You're like, whoa. But then you kind of feel that some people are talking to you for different reasons, not because they genuinely care about you or love you.

[A]

Right, right, right.

[B]

Or maybe they want something or they're.

[A]

And then you don't know why. The agenda.

[B]

Yeah. And that became something scarier for me because I'm very, like, open and giving and generous. And you got to a Point where I started to question some of the people, things in my life that were happening, why they were happening. So then that kind of scared me a little bit. And that trust of just wanting to trust everyone.

[A]

I know I had that for so long became.

[B]

I actually hated that feeling. But knowing that I'm not gonna let it change me, that, yeah, I'm gonna. I ended up that I had some things happen that were hurtful or things that happened. But if I allowed that person or that event to change my heart, to change who I am, then they won. So I'm not gonna let them win. I'm still gonna be the person I'm gonna be. Am I cautious? Yeah. Am I a little more thoughtful about things I do to certain? Of course I am. But at the end of the day, I'm still gonna be the person I am. And that is a person that looks for the good in somebody first.

[A]

What would you say you're more afraid of now? Fear or failure or success moving forward after this kind of transformation in the.

[B]

Last couple years, you know, I'm doing things that I haven't done before, so writing a book and starting a school. A college dropout has an institute at the University of Texas.

[A]

That's very cool.

[B]

I'm a professor. They call me professor Scott on campus, which is crazy. So that's what I'm saying. Anything is possible, folks. You don't believe it. I'm a professor and a college dropout at a university, a top university in the country. So anything is possible. But I want to do so well now for this legacy that I want. That all of these things have led me to this point has given me the opportunity to have a voice to help others succeed in their own life. And I want to see them succeed. And that would be, for me, that's what I'm fearful of, is that I want to make sure I can figure out how to do this in a way that they have great success, because I don't want them to fail. I want them to have success. So it's a cool place to be.

[A]

That's beautiful. What's the part of your voice that is yet to be heard?

[B]

My singing voice you don't want to hear on this show.

[A]

Is there anything you wanted to say that you haven't really fully said yet? You feel like it's still inside of you? I know you've written a lot of these things, these stories in your book, but is there something you feel like you still want to get out there?

[B]

I think the biggest thing I Want to say is, don't ever judge a book by its cover. And I think it's so easy for us to dismiss someone's success as a fluke, you know, just to just be like, oh, they got lucky. Or, you know, and especially women, Louis, we can be vicious. And I see women tearing other women down so much, especially if they see success. There's gotta be a reason. Or, you know, and then if a woman fails, oh, they celebrate the failures.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Oh, yeah. This is happening.

[A]

Women celebrate other women failing.

[B]

Yeah, but we've gotta change that dialogue.

[A]

And I think so why do they do that?

[B]

Because we have our own impersonal insecurities. So if we see someone else doing something, it could be jealousy. It could come from a place of insecurity, you know, and we've got to stop that. Right. Because if we can stop that and start celebrating each other's successes and put your hand down when somebody else has fallen and lift them out of that place, you will become more successful, more great. Your light is going to shine so bright, and that will attract so many great things in your life. That is what I want people to hear, is, let's not judge a book by the COVID Let's start to hold hands, lift each other up, support one another instead of tear each other down. And this would be an amazing world we could live in, men and women. I mean, I think men do it too, right? I'm just a woman, and I feel it. But in our company, we don't allow that. You know, we hire people on heart before resume, and we celebrate each other. Somebody gets a promotion, you'll see a hundred emails going, way to go. You so deserve this, Maggie, or whoever it is, rooting for one another. And that environment is infectious. It's contagious in a good way. And I think that is a message I want to get out there is like, find ourselves. When you're at that dinner table, and it's like, oh, so and so got a promotion. See the tone? Or so and so got a promotion. How awesome is that? You have the power to change that conversation in that moment. And we all have that ability. Sure. Yeah.

[A]

I'm curious about the mindset you developed around making money because you were in a hat business before and it wasn't thriving, right?

[B]

No, not at all.

[A]

So how did you learn? Because a lot of people kind of have this ceiling about how much they think they deserve to earn or make, and they kind of get stuck. That's from what I've seen. And it's hard for them to break through to the next level. So how did you, in your mind, psychologically know that you were deserving to earn more and to be able to build a business that had the potential to earn more? And how did you not have a ceiling at the different levels from $100,000 in sales to a million to 10 million to 100 million to a billion? How did you continue to break through that financial ceiling?

[B]

I think for me, I had a different relationship with money, really. Being a single mom, starting this business very bootstrapped, not having investors, it was survival for me, was always like, I can pay my rent, help my kids go to this school. You know, it was very much survival mode, hustle mode for a long time. And, you know, and even hiring my first coo, which was like my partner in crime for many years, Lance, you know, I couldn't afford him, but I couldn't not afford him. So what did I do? I cut my payback because I was investing in the future of our business. It was always this bigger idea of building something that was bigger than just my paycheck. I wasn't thinking about it as much as that. I felt like this business was this almost. You know, I always say all the time that, Kendra Scott, the company is the DNA of all the people that are part of it. And we've created this, like, I think now he's she. He is a tween, maybe. You know, we've still got a lot of. A lot of growth to go with that brand, but it was the DNA of all the people. And so each thought about it was, how are we going to continue to grow and do more? And success for us was also on our three core values, which was family, fashion, and philanthropy. We were always giving back, even from the very beginning. And the corporate bigger we grew, the more we were doing and making an impact. So it was like we were able to have this fashion brand, but also seeing how we could affect people's lives in a positive, positive way, and that was our fuel source, because it was like, yeah, we're paying. You have to pay your bills. But it was also seeing something else that we were building and growing that was really cool. I think the first time I had an investor, when I had those words said to me, I want to invest in you, Kendra. I was first like, wait, that's really weird. Did you say what? I couldn't believe it. And it was an advisor. I had built up an advisory board because I didn't have a typical board, really. And I wanted to get Other people's thoughts about my business. I wanted to be a sponge and learn from them. So I sought out people that I really respected in a very different fields, but that could help contribute to what I was trying to build. And one of my advisors ended up being my first investor. And saying, what you're building is phenomenal. Can I please invest?

[A]

That's cool.

[B]

And that in of itself was the first time I took money off the table.

[A]

What year is this?

[B]

2012. So 10 years in.

[A]

You took some money off.

[B]

Silence. But it wasn't a lot. I mean, but for me, I never had money, just in a bank account. I had a float, a personal float, and a business float.

[A]

You had to have money so you could buy inventory.

[B]

Yes. And it was always this chess game I was playing. That was the first time I actually felt like I could breathe a little easier. And then three years later, we brought in a private equity firm for 20% of the business.

[A]

So you got a little more cash.

[B]

And I got a little more. And then that was for me. I would have been fine. I was fine. I was happy. And what it did for me is I didn't have to worry about money anymore. I had to worry about my float. I didn't have to worry about rent, pay for my kids, school. I mean, we were fine. I was fine. I had everything I wanted. So I could really start to be kind of a little more aggressive on the business side. I could take more risks with the business because it wasn't like, if this.

[A]

Doesn'T work, I have no money, I'm out.

[B]

I'm living with my mom again.

[A]

I don't think people realize how challenging it is to run a business. Like, I think they see Shark Tank, which you're on and you've been on, and I think they see, like, people on Instagram or social media talk about their successful business, but I don't think they understand how stressful it can be to manage overhead, to manage your monthly payments, to manage people, to manage all the softwares you're paying for, all the logistics. There's so many things.

[B]

Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. You don't go into entrepreneurship because you think, ooh, I want to just have my own business and be my own boss. Nobody's going to tell me what to do. Oh, honey, you. Everyone will tell you what to do. Everyone's your boss. And you are going to be working so much harder than you've ever in your life. But if you're working for something that you're passionate about, you're excited about. I mean, for me, I would get up and still get up every morning. And I cannot wait to be part of my business. I love designing. I love my customers so much. I love their stories. I love meeting them. I love my family at Kendra Scott that we've built. You know, I love it. And if you don't love it, you can't do it. And if you're just doing it for money, stop right now because that's not gonna get you through. And you will never become successful.

[A]

Because for 10 years, you weren't really thriving financially. I mean, the business was growing and you were making good salary, but you weren't like, I've got all this money in the world now for me.

[B]

No, no.

[A]

For 10 years.

[B]

10. After 10 years, it was still so hard. Every day, so hard. But then you start to see. And again, the recession hit. Things changed. My business was changing and we were starting to see. And then it was lightning in a bottle.

[A]

That's cool.

[B]

It was 5 million to 25 million in sale. 25 million to 75 million the next year. I mean, we weren't just doing, we were growing at this unbelievable rate. But that 10 years of authentic dedication, love, standing by our core values, really just creating something and listening to our customer and being agile and pivoting when we needed to, not being so laser focused on it has to be this way. If the pandemic hasn't taught us that, I don't know what it is. I always say, if you looked at my plan in 2020, I wish I had a piece of paper. I ripped it in half before. Yeah, I ripped it in half. You have to be able to be agile and shift okay. With this upcoming recession that might be happening. We don't know. Be agile. Your plan that you have today may not be the plan that's going to look like it as you go down and traverse this next year or two or three years or whatever it is.

[A]

Be flexible.

[B]

Be flexible.

[A]

So where you're at now is completely different than the plan you had two years ago.

[B]

Totally.

[A]

What do you think was the factor that got you from the 25 to 75 million like, that fast? Was it. What were the couple of shifts that you did that allowed for that growth?

[B]

Yeah. So within you.

[A]

And then tactically.

[B]

Yeah, so within myself, you know, I felt like I had the confidence to, okay, my family's going to be okay. We're not going to be on the streets. I feel like we're going to be okay. I could really start to like, think outside of the box, take some risks. And I was seeing this magic happening in our store that we were walking into every day. And the lines and the. My office sat right above that store and I could hear the roar.

[A]

That's gotta be amazing.

[B]

Laughter and people having fun and the energy that the store was creating. And I knew that this was magic. And so we started opening stores.

[A]

So you just had one then. And then.

[B]

And then we started opening stores and opening stores, and each of those stores were creating this little ecosystem within that community. And we had a philanthropy outreach manager in every store. So we were building within the community all of our philanthropy projects. And it was like we just saw it and we were learning every one. I was learning something and making the next one better. Never being complacent. Today I'm never complacent. You know, people think, oh, you have a billion dollar brand. You can now just take a break. Are you kidding? This is when I really have to work. I know I can never be complacent. I wake up every day and I say, how am I going to surprise and delight my customer today?

[A]

Wow, that's beautiful.

[B]

How am I gonna surprise and delight them? You can't just go on yesterday's wins. You gotta think differently every day. Today I'm gonna do better than we did yesterday. I'm gonna make a bigger impact for her today. Surprise and delight.

[A]

Because there's always. I mean, there's always boutique brands coming out too. Right. There's all these. An influencer is launching a brand. There's all these different people that are coming up with retail and all these cool, different things. And if you stay the same, people are going to move on to some other brand. Oh, let me check this out.

[B]

And.

[A]

Oh, this is really cool. And become more of a customer over here than with you.

[B]

Right, right.

[A]

So you have to constantly be innovating.

[B]

It sounds innovating. And you know, we've grown and we see started we were a fashion jewelry brand. Now we have sterling silver, which is like demi fine. And we have fine jewelry, diamonds, engagement rings, you know, 14. We have all three, you know, categories of jewelry. We have a men's line. You know, we're doing so many different things. I mean, we have customers are layering their diamonds with our fashion brand that we bring out seasonally for spring or summer, you know, but we've grown with our customer. We have three generations of customers shopping in our store. We'll have the daughter, the mother and the grandmother, and they all leave with a little yellow bag and a smile on their face. There's not a lot of brands that can be generational like that as well. And that little girl grows with us. Maybe then she goes to college and she's wearing us on game day. Then she's getting married and she's getting our engagement ring. Then she's on her honeymoon, then she has kids and now she's getting teachers gifts and you know, and so we see our customers over 20 years, years who. And we've built such a connection with her and him now that it's this, it's such a, it's such a cool thing to see as a brand.

[A]

So how do you, I mean, with someone, I'm not in this, this industry, obviously I don't understand. But with, let's say a brand that only focuses on the high end jewelry, the engagement rings and the more expensive jewelry, and that's all they obsess about. They don't have the other two lines, right, the generations of lines, I guess. How do you compete as a brand with a specialist brand that just does that?

[B]

Well, first of all, I always tell everybody if you're doing what everybody else is doing, you're already failed. It's one of my favorite things to say, you got to be disruptive. So if you're doing high end fine jewelry, you have to have your own unique fingerprint on it. You are what makes it great, your personal brand, who you are, your aesthetic. So be you. Don't try to be all the jewelry brands that are, you know, out there. You have to be you and you have to be doing something different, unique, and bringing something to a customer that nobody else is offering her. So that's the most important thing. Whether that's through experience, whether that's through product, whatever it might be, it could be a combination. For us, it's a combination of all those things. Like the experience has to be amazing on wherever she's shopping. The product has to be amazing.

[A]

So give me. So the only. I don't know the jewelry world. So I know I've heard Tiffany's. Right. So it's like how do you, just an example, how would you compare yourself? Or how do you say, okay, we're going to try to draw in some of the audience that would normally go for a brand like Tiffany's and have them have one of our engagement rings?

[B]

Engagement rings, yes.

[A]

How do you think about that?

[B]

So I think about it from a customer perspective. I think about the shopping experience at Tiffany's. I love Tiffany's. I mean, hella who does it. Okay. But I think it's, you know, it's a very high end. It can be intimidating.

[A]

It's under the glass, and you can.

[B]

Go in there and you can white glove.

[A]

White people. Yeah.

[B]

And, you know, in any store. And I'm not. Because I'm not saying it's Tiffany's, but I've gone into stores as Kendra Scott in my workout clothes, my hair in a ponytail, sweaty.

[A]

After the kids intimidated.

[B]

And they don't really want to talk to me. Right. Kendra Scott's totally different vibe. You know, it's a more casual, more relaxed. We want your husband to come in and have fun. We're gonna give him a beer. We're gonna give you a glass of champagne. He can just try on some rings. You all can have fun. We're not. You know, it's a very relaxed experience. Right.

[A]

I'm about to go check it out now.

[B]

And it's fun, right. And you want it like it's a place you want to come hang out. And again, we're not here to. You want to just try on rings and try on rings and have fun today? Great. Because if you left with a smile on your face and you had a great time, we've succeeded seated at Kendra Scott because we made a connection.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

We made a connection. And you're going to share that. Even if you never buy something, you're going to share. We went into Kendra Scott store today. Oh, my God. They had a local beer. I got, you know, my girlfriend, she got to trying a bunch of rings. We had so much fun. They gave us cupcakes and champagne.

[A]

I mean, I'm going over there right now.

[B]

Hey, you can make any sale happen with cupcakes. Okay? That's their lesson that you can take from that.

[A]

When did you start. Start adding, I guess, beer, champagne, and food to the stores?

[B]

Right away, really? From day one, I wanted it to feel like you were coming into my house. So my house, we'd have a big thing of lemonade, and I'd have cookies out on a tray or little sweet treats. It was always like you were coming into my house. If you came into my house, I'd be like, hey, can I get you something to drink? Do you want a little treat? Thanks for being here. So I wanted to create this environment of a warmth, of welcoming, of community. And it feel like, hey, we're glad you're here.

[A]

I'm curious what the. I'm curious if you would have had it for two years without the food and drinks, and then you would have brought it. And if it would have increased sales or how that would have. That conversion would have been, you know.

[B]

I couldn't have imagined it without it. Now we have a store in Austin. Our flagship store is in this really cool old. If you go down on South Congress. And we have a little cafe called Sips and Sweets. Come on. Because that's what we used to call it in our advertising is come in for Kendra Scott for Kendrick is back event shop and have Sips and Sweets. So we named our little cafe Sips and Sweets.

[A]

You have an actual cafe?

[B]

A little cafe. So it's like next to the store, wine. We have froze all day, which is. Yep. On tap.

[A]

So it's an actual standalone coffee shop.

[B]

Cafe inside our store. Yes, it's inside the store. Yeah. But you can get to it outside, too. We have a little window. You could just go up and get your coffee. We have a patio where we have live music. Some days on game days, we have big TV so the men can sit out there. We have local beers, wine, champagne. So fun. And then all of the pastries and cookies are from local female makers. So they bring in all these amazing treats. And we're celebrating other entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs within the community. So it's really cool. So we're hoping to open more of those because that's been a huge hit in Austin.

[A]

That's a lot of fun.

[B]

Yeah, but that's the. Never be complacent. That's the surprise and delight. It was taking a small thing and growing it into something even more exciting and fun. Instead of just being like, well, this works, we'll just keep doing that. And I think that's where, as an entrepreneur, you're the visionary. Always trying to think some things aren't gonna always work. That's okay, too. But if you don't try, you won't know.

[A]

Absolutely. I'm curious about relationships, and I ask men this question a lot about. I really admire the men who have built an incredible business and who have a relationship also. Not just, oh, I'm this single guy and I've made millions, but, you know, a guy who's kind of stood the test of time in business and relationships. Not saying they have to have the perfect one and not saying they don't have to have failed ones and new relationships. But where do you think you'd be if you were, let's say, single for the last 20 years versus having relationships that had their ups and downs but also had connection in them? Where would you be if you were single? Versus being in relationships.

[B]

I think being in relationships has helped me be able to become the success I am today. Really, I am so thankful that I was a young mother. My boys drove me so much because I wanted to succeed for them. So they were such a driver of even not wanting to give up. When there are times when I felt like it'd just be easier to throw in the towel. I'd look at their little faces and be like, no, I'm not giving up. I'm not giving up because of them. And so having those relationships led me to all of those things that gave me the drive and that just, oh, I want to make this work. I'm going to do this. I'm going to make this work. And I think for any successful person to have a person that they can be their most vulnerable self with, where they don't have to be the rock star and the know every answer. And if you can have a person in your life that just allows you to be you, the messy, ugly, whatever, insecure times person, and they love you for that and they're there for you. Every strong person needs a rock, too. We need a rock. We need somebody that we can tether to every once in a while because we're flying high. But you need that person sometimes in your life that can tether you in a good way. Not keeping you from doing things. Things, but know that you're safe, that you've got a place to come home to, a chest to lie on, someone to cry to, and, and. And know that they're not going to judge you. So I think when you can find a person in your life that brings you that type of peace, and that's.

[A]

I think, the key, like the highest level of currency for me in my life right now because I had so much lack of peace for so many years in different relationships. I take responsibility for a lot of it. But like, right now, to have peace is incredible.

[B]

And it's the greatest feeling you want to say, like you want, oh, it's fireworks and it's this and it's that. It's all this, you know, And I now go in my life and I go, I want to breathe easy, relax, free. I want to. I think about coming home, being accepted, being. Yes. And just knowing it's like a warm blanket. Like when you're in your comfiest sweats and you're at home and you've ordered in takeout and you're with this person that just makes you breathe, that's when you found the right person.

[A]

What would you do if you could go back and speak to 20 year old Kendra? What would you say to her about love?

[B]

I would tell her it's gonna be okay. And that on those days we know you go through a breakup, it is. And you know, I see my sons in relationships now and like that young love and oh my God. And I just know, I like know how hard it is because I remember that you just feel like you're going to die. I mean, you really do. I mean when you go through some breakups it is not easy, but I think you're going to be okay. And that think about the things that you loved about this person and think about the things that maybe didn't work so good. And then next time when you start dating somebody, you're going to see some of those things that you loved in the person that you had this relationship with, but you may not see some of those things that you didn't or you'll identify the things that you didn't. And if we can start even with business and other failures, think about it with relationships the same way. This person may be the reason to get you to that next person. I know that seems horrible to think about because we want every love to be like the love. But there's a lesson in every relationship, even friendships that we have. The friends that make us feel so good when we're around them and bring out the best in us, the friends that make us feel bad about ourselves or bring out the worst in us, you start to see those in people, right? And as you start to grow in your own life. And some people are lucky. I mean, one of my best friends, they met at 14, they're married, they have grandkids.

[A]

Oh my God.

[B]

They have kids and grandkids, they're madly in love with each other. And I look at them all the time and think, wow, that is a beautiful, amazing thing. And not that they haven't gone through ups and downs over all these years together, but that's okay if your life doesn't turn out like that. Every person in our lives has come to our lives for a reason. And there's a lesson that we can learn from them, good and sometimes bad. That's going to get us to this next beautiful place to hopefully find peace and happiness.

[A]

I've got a couple final questions for you I'm curious about. If you could go back and tell her to learn three specific skills. It could be personal skills, emotional skills, business skills. What skills do you wish you would have been able to learn? Faster at 20.

[B]

At 20, I would have told myself, kendra, you are you. And you are a unique, amazing, beautiful human being that was put on this earth for a reason. And even though right now you don't think you're good enough, you are. You are good enough. And you are going to do great things. And I believe in you. I believe in you. And I see you. I see that light in you. And giving her that confidence that I think I lacked earlier and knowing that I don't have to be anybody but me.

[A]

Right? Self confidence.

[B]

That's self confidence. That skill of just owning who you are. And I think today, in a world of so many filters and social media where we're projecting, I just want us all to feel like we can be vulnerable and be us and know that that's awesome because there's no one else like you. You're the only you out there. How cool is that? So let's not try to be like anybody else. Just be you. You know, I think the other thing I'd tell her is that, yeah, there's going to come times when you're going to want to give up. You're going to want to throw in the towel. You're going to want to say, this is too hard. And that's the time when you've got to pick yourself up the bathroom floor and say, now it's our time to really go. And you're going to hear a lot of nos. You're going to have lots of doors shoved in your face. But I want you to look at that. No is what it says in a mirror. It says on. And that means you got to go. Because sometimes that no is going to lead you to ask more question questions about why they said no. What do you need that I'm not showing you? And it's actually the conversation is just getting started when you get that no sometimes. So don't be afraid of no's. Embrace them and get excited when you hear them.

[A]

Yes. Okay. The third skill was that the third.

[B]

I felt like I was three, but I can give you another one.

[A]

One more skill you wish you would learn.

[B]

I think the last skill I would tell myself is failure is a gift and you hear it all the time. But we are so afraid of it that it sometimes immobilizes us. And I think my company would have grown quicker than it had even. Not that it needed to. It all worked out okay, but I was so afraid of failure that I was too cautious at times. I was so afraid to fail that I wasn't moving forward. And I was stuck in the mud and just sitting there and that failure is a gift. And that when it happens to us, if we can go, ooh, okay, that stung a little. But if I hadn't done this, I wouldn't have gotten these three great amazing nuggets that now I'm going to use because, wow, that led me to this next cool thing I'm doing. So knowing that then and not being so afraid of it that it was such a scary, awful thing and realizing that it actually could be the greatest thing that could ever have happened to me.

[A]

You're inspiring, Kendra.

[B]

So are you.

[A]

I've got a couple final questions for you, but I want people to get your book Born to Shine. Do good, find your joy and build a life you love. Make sure you guys get a few copies of this, give it to your friends, spread the message out. Very inspiring. Message, story, life and lessons in here as well. So make sure you guys get Born to Shine. I asked you about the three skills you would tell yourself when you're 20, but this is a question I ask everyone towards the end called the three Truths. So it's a hypothetical question. Imagine you live as long as you want to live, but it's your last day, eventually far in the future, and you get to accomplish everything you want personally, professionally, impact wise, service wise. It all happens, which I believe it will for you. And for whatever reason, everything you've ever created has to go to the next place with you. So we don't have access to your book or this interview or anything you've ever done for whatever reason is gone from this earth. But you get to leave behind three lessons to the world. Three things you know to be true. This is all we have to remember you by. What would be those three truths that you would share to the world?

[B]

I would say first and foremost, try to live your life with an optimistic lens. I think it's easy to have a lot of self doubt, but when we can look at things from an optimistic mindset where you see possibility even in the impossible, that's when amazing things can happen. So having an optimistic mindset really can change anyone's life. And it doesn't mean that you just see things like butterflies and rainbows all the time, but you're looking for possibility in something. I would say the second is be kind. You don't have to be a aggressive, mean, you know, to be like taken seriously and strong. Leader, entrepreneur. Be a kind, loving, compassionate human. Try to be empathetic and put yourself in someone else's shoes and give them the benefit of the doubt before you just jump to, why did you do that? Maybe they did that because something else is going on. Right, Right. So I just. I think having a kind heart and thinking of your day, each day of spreading joy for me is how I would love that. Lesson is, is I don't just wake up and think, well, what can I do today to, you know, grow my business? Or I think about when I'm walking in the coffee shop, how can I make that person feel good today? How can I make them smile? How can I compliment them on something so that they know that they're seen? Because one small moment of joy that you impact is, it will spread like wildfire. So live a life that doesn't just with kindness, but live a life that you want to spread joy.

[A]

Okay, cool. I love this. I want to acknowledge you for a moment, Kendra, for your joy. I mean, the first moment I met you shined. You brought the joy and the positivity, and I could feel it right away. And I know why you've become so successful in your business, and I think it's because you want to see others shine. You want to see your customers shine. You want to see every person that comes in the store be treated like they're home.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Thank you for the gifts. I appreciate the gifts you got me. You made me feel like I'm home.

[B]

No, you look so cool.

[A]

You know, now I'd be like the trendy, cool, you know, guy over here. But I really acknowledge you for it because I think it's been. It's really hard for people to be successful in business for two decades, almost two decades. And for you to go through the different challenges you had personally in relationships. A divorce can break someone in a business, and you were able to get through that and shine even more. A recession can break someone. You know, there's so many different things. Health, challenges, and family can break someone. And for it to be something that builds you and not breaks you and just makes you stronger and opens your heart even more to being giving and joyful and loving, I think is really beautiful. So I acknowledge you for the gift that you are. Kendra, thank you so much for writing this book and starting to open up even more and give back even more with your voice now to the world. Is there anything else we can do to serve you before our final question?

[B]

No. I mean, first of all, thank you for saying that, but I appreciate it. And I do agree. All I want from this book, from everything, is that everyone is Born to Shine. So on this book it says, Kendra Scott, Born to Shine. I'm not talking about myself. I really am talking about all of us have this unbelievable light and an ability to do something great. Whatever that is. It doesn't mean you have to build a business, but whatever is going to bring you joy and happiness and make an impact in a positive way. We all have that light inside of us. So I'm hopeful that my story, along with so many other inspiring folks that you've interviewed and so many people around the world being vulnerable and sharing that and allowing us to help find that within one another is really something that I hope we can do.

[A]

That's beautiful. They can get the book anywhere online. Kendra Scott.com they can learn more about.

[B]

The jewelry anywhere where books are sold. Amazon, you can get it anywhere.

[A]

Kendra Scott on social media with two T's. Okay, Kendra, this is the final question. What's your definition of greatness?

[B]

My definition of greatness? My definition of greatness is pretty easy. For me it is. It's yellow. First of all, when I think of greatness, I think of bright. You know, my color is yellow. But it's, it's sunshine, it's light. It's shining a light in the dark places. It's bringing joy to those who need it on a bad day. That, for me is greatness is when you can shine a light where there needs to be a light. Shine. Shined. Shawn. Shone. Shone.

[A]

Don.

[B]

Shawn. Dawn. I think that that for me is greatness.

[A]

Kendra, thanks so much.

[B]

Thank you. Appreciate you. Thanks for having me.

[A]

I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links and if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally as well as ad free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our greatness+channel exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as well. Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review. I really love hearing feedback from you and it helps us figure out how we can support and serve you moving forward. And I want to remind you of no one has told you lately that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out out there and do something great.