A Vision for the Future: DEZI Eyewear

Summary

The Unshakeables Podcast: A Vision for the Future – DEZI Eyewear

Episode Overview: In this compelling episode of The Unshakeables, hosted by Ben Walter of Chase for Business and co-hosted by Tanya Nebo, listeners are introduced to the inspiring journey of Desi and Stephen Perkins. From facing significant challenges in a major collaboration to successfully launching their own eyewear and skincare brands, Desi and Stephen exemplify resilience and entrepreneurial spirit. This episode delves deep into their experiences, offering valuable insights and lessons for aspiring business owners.

---

1. Introduction to Desi Perkins and Her Early Career

Timestamp: 00:00 - 02:22

Ben Walter introduces makeup artist and beauty influencer Desi Perkins, highlighting her initial foray into the eyewear industry through a collaboration in 2016. Desi's proactive approach during the collaboration sets the stage for the challenges and triumphs that follow.

Notable Quote:

Desi Perkins (00:24): "I would really love to design my own sunglasses if that's a possibility."

---

2. The Initial Collaboration and Its Downfall

Timestamp: 02:22 - 10:42

Desi recounts her collaboration with a major sunglasses company, emphasizing her hands-on role in designing and marketing. As the collaboration scales and the company gets acquired, tensions arise over fair recognition and compensation. The pivotal moment occurs when the CEO dismissively refers to Desi as "a little girl," leading to the termination of their partnership.

Notable Quote:

Desi Perkins (08:44): "That's a lot of money for a little girl."

---

3. Transitioning to Entrepreneurship: Founding DEZI Eyewear

Timestamp: 10:42 - 17:57

Faced with unfair treatment, Desi and Stephen decide to embark on their entrepreneurial journey by launching DEZI Eyewear. Lacking experience in manufacturing and logistics, they seek guidance from consultants, paving the way for their first original eyewear line. Leveraging Desi's substantial social media following, they successfully launch their brand, overcoming initial hurdles such as overwhelming demand and shipping issues.

Notable Quote:

Stephen Perkins (14:21): "Let’s just go. Let’s see what happens."

---

4. Overcoming Launch Challenges and Building the Brand

Timestamp: 17:57 - 20:35

The couple navigates significant challenges during their brand launch, including inventory management and shipping mishaps that threatened customer satisfaction. Their hands-on approach to customer service and transparent communication helped maintain trust and loyalty among their rapidly growing customer base.

Notable Quote:

Stephen Perkins (18:09): "I would go in and I’d be like, hey, this is Stephen. I swear to you, I personally pack your package."

---

5. Scaling Multiple Ventures and Maintaining Balance

Timestamp: 20:35 - 30:12

With DEZI Eyewear flourishing, Desi and Stephen diversify by launching a skincare line, DESI SKIN. Balancing multiple businesses alongside family life presented new challenges, particularly in defining roles and responsibilities. Their success is attributed to clear communication, role delineation, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Notable Quote:

Desi Perkins (20:48): "I trust him. There’s not going to be somebody else who cares about it more than him, you know, and vice versa."

---

6. Lessons Learned and Entrepreneurial Insights

Timestamp: 30:12 - 31:18

Ben and Tanya reflect on the Perkins' journey, extracting key lessons such as the importance of adaptability, hands-on involvement, and the necessity of owning and addressing mistakes transparently. Their story underscores the non-passive nature of entrepreneurship and the critical role of personal accountability.

Notable Quote:

Tanya Nebo (25:18): "You can't just say yes, and I paid so and so to get this thing done and then just assume that it's going to get handled. It's on you to make sure that it actually gets done."

---

7. Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Timestamp: 30:18 - 31:18

Desi and Stephen offer practical advice for those looking to start their own businesses. They emphasize the value of learning from existing business owners, being prepared for unforeseen challenges, and the importance of adaptability and quick decision-making in the entrepreneurial landscape.

Notable Quote:

Desi Perkins (30:18): "Try to have conversations with people who have started businesses and really get all the information about what the hard points are."

---

8. Conclusion and Reflections

Timestamp: 31:18 - End

Ben Walter wraps up the season by celebrating the tenacity and achievements of small business owners featured in The Unshakeables. The Perkins' story serves as a testament to the power of belief in oneself, the significance of resilience, and the impact of maintaining authentic relationships with customers.

Notable Quote:

Ben Walter (30:06): "They totally bet on themselves. They took their hits in stride and they stuck with it. And they've built something I think is going to last and create sort of lasting value for them and their family."

---

Key Takeaways:

1. Proactive Involvement: Desi's desire to design her own sunglasses exemplifies the importance of taking initiative and seeking meaningful involvement in collaborations.

2. Resilience in Adversity: Facing disrespect and unfair treatment, Desi and Stephen's decision to start their own brand highlights the significance of standing firm in one's convictions.

3. Adaptability: Navigating unexpected challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and shipping issues, underscores the need for flexibility and quick problem-solving in business.

4. Customer-Centric Approach: Transparent communication and personal accountability in customer service can preserve and even enhance customer trust during crises.

5. Clear Role Definition: Success in managing multiple ventures is facilitated by clearly defined roles and responsibilities, ensuring efficient collaboration and business management.

6. Continuous Learning: Engaging with experienced business owners and being open to learning new aspects of the business are crucial for sustainable growth.

---

Final Thoughts:

Desi and Stephen Perkins' journey from a challenging collaboration to building a successful entrepreneurial empire serves as a powerful narrative of determination, adaptability, and strategic vision. Their story provides invaluable lessons for anyone looking to navigate the complexities of starting and scaling a business, emphasizing that with resilience and the right mindset, obstacles can be transformed into opportunities for growth and success.

Transcript

[Ben Walter]

Makeup artist and influencer Desi Perkins has a little bit of a golden touch. In 2016, she had a collab with a major sunglass company.

[Desi Perkins]

So they offered me this deal, and they said, it'll just be a quick little three month collaboration. You'll have about four sunglasses. It'll be great.

[Ben Walter]

While this was originally intended to be a collaboration between Desi and the sunglass company, Desi was way more hands on.

[Desi Perkins]

I showed up to the first meeting with them, and they laid out a bunch of sunglasses on the table. They said, is there anything that you like here that you can pick? We can put your name on it, market it, whatever. I said, I would really love to design my own sunglasses if that's a possibility.

[Ben Walter]

So when it came time to renegotiate their contract, Desi wanted to be recognized as more than a collaborator. She was designing, marketing, and successfully selling. She asked for a contract that reflected her work.

[Desi Perkins]

We had met with the company to try and renegotiate a more fair contract. And the Circle CEO at the time, he was there running the meeting, and he really downplayed my contribution to the brand. And as we were sitting there trying to negotiate, he looked over at me and said, that's a lot of money for a little girl. I was actually in disbelief. For me, that was something that there was really no coming back from. And after that, we all looked at each other and we all walked out.

[Ben Walter]

Welcome to the Unshakeables from Chase for Business and Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia. I'm Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business.

[Tanya Nebo]

And I'm Tanya Nebo, a lawyer and consultant for business owners.

[Ben Walter]

Well, it's hard to believe we're here, but this is the final episode of season one of the Unshakeables. For the past few months, we've been sharing the daring moments of small business owners facing their crisis points and telling the stories of how they got it. We're going to close out this season with the story of an influencer turned entrepreneur who is willing to take the biggest risk of them all on herself. Hey, Tonya.

[Tanya Nebo]

Hey, Ben. I am so sad the season is over, but I am pretty excited to hear this next story. I love Desi's designs. They're so stylish and they're unique, and I just. I love them.

[Ben Walter]

Well, this one's a doozy.

[Tanya Nebo]

Well, I'm here for the doozy. Let's get to it.

[Ben Walter]

On today's episode, Desi Eyewear from Los Angeles, California. You just heard from Desi Perkins, who today is A designer, makeup artist, and beauty influencer. But years before that, she was a cocktail server, and her husband, Stephen Perkins, was a freelance photographer.

[Desi Perkins]

I was a cocktail server. I had a toxic work environment, really hated my job. And Steven came in to visit me one day, and I just started crying because I was so stressed. And my manager, you know, was horrible.

[Stephen Perkins]

So I just looked at her, and I was like, look, you don't have to work here. We're gonna figure this out. Like, literally, you should quit tonight. And we are gonna go from there.

[Ben Walter]

While Desi was figuring out her next step, Steven was working as a club photographer. And In October of 2012, Steven asked Desi to help him with a costume for a Halloween party he had to shoot. Desi had always loved makeup, so she helped Steven with his before he went to work for the night.

[Desi Perkins]

Because I was a painter, an artist, I watched this YouTube video, and it was telling me how to do special effects makeup. And I said, listen, I've never done it before, but let's try it. And I did this really cool special effects skull. It was really awesome.

[Ben Walter]

At the party, everyone asked who had done his makeup, and he said that Desi had.

[Desi Perkins]

He went out that night, and all of these people asked if he had got his makeup professionally done. I was with him, and he said, no. My girlfriend did it. And they said, do you do this for a living? And I said yes. I had no kit, no experience. I just said, yes, I do. And then I started taking appointments for, like, $50 a face out of our apartment. I faked it till I made it, let me tell you.

[Ben Walter]

Soon, Desi was getting offered gigs doing makeup for tv. Even though she had no experience, she still said yes. To help drum up even more business, Steven recommended she join a new social media site. You may have heard of it.

[Stephen Perkins]

Instagram was brand new at the time. And I convinced her to download Instagram. She used it as kind of like a portfolio, as a creative escape, and it took off. You know, someone reposted one of her photos, and it got 10,000 followers overnight.

[Desi Perkins]

I remember sitting in our apartment, and my phone was on the couch, and it just started going like notifications, like, were going off like crazy.

[Ben Walter]

Someone commented on one of her Instagram photos that she should launch a YouTube channel.

[Desi Perkins]

We had no idea what we were doing with YouTube either, but Steven had his camera that he did club photography with. So we took that, and we got a couple lights, and we set it up, and I just went and started filming.

[Ben Walter]

Steven was her defacto manager. He helped Film all of her content. And after a year, he left his job to focus on Desi and her brand full time.

[Stephen Perkins]

And it was just makeup tutorials, and it kind of just took off. She had a really good personality. People loved her story and just like hanging out, getting ready with her.

[Desi Perkins]

Next thing you know, I'm doing this for a few months and I get an email from a company and they say, we would love to send you some free product. And I was shocked. It wasn't a thing yet to get paid to post videos or pictures or promote product. All of that we were learning and the brands were learning at the same time. So it was really tricky.

[Stephen Perkins]

It was the wild west of influencing because, like, no one knew what was going on or how it could be. Like, when Desi got that first offer, it clicked in my business mind, like, wait a minute, there's an opportunity here. If they want to send you something, they might have money behind it. And that's where, like, we kind of went back in and we started negotiating these deals.

[Ben Walter]

After a few years, Desi's YouTube channel had a million followers. A big following brought bigger opportunities. In 2016, a sunglasses company reached out in hopes of collaborating with Desi. She and Steven took the meeting.

[Desi Perkins]

This sunglass company approached me and they said, hey, we've done collabs with a few other celebrities and we would love to do something with you. So they offered me this deal. It was a one page, typed out paper napkin contract deal. And they said, it'll just be a quick little three month deal collaboration. You'll have about four sunglasses. It'll be great. I showed up to the first meeting with them and they laid out a bunch of sunglasses on the table. They said, is there anything that you like here that you can pick? We can put your name on it, market it, whatever. I said, I would really love to design my own sunglasses if that's a possibility.

[Ben Walter]

The company agreed, and Steven and Desi dove in.

[Stephen Perkins]

Desi scoured her archives of sunglasses that she's had. We've gone online and we started pulling just different inspirations into Photoshop and Desi and were literally sitting together at night dissecting sunglasses, putting them together in Photoshop and making them into the exact frame that she wanted to develop.

[Ben Walter]

Finally, the collab launched with four different styles. Desi promoted the glasses on her social media.

[Desi Perkins]

I remember the day before launch, I was super anxious and I said, are we sure everything's okay? And they said, we've done this before. Everything's gonna be perfectly fine. The day of launch happens. And the traffic for launch was so massive that their whole website shut down.

[Ben Walter]

Wow.

[Desi Perkins]

Everybody was panicking. We were freaking out. All the sunglasses sold out. And I was shocked. I had no idea that I even had that selling power. It was an incredible feeling.

[Ben Walter]

The line was originally supposed to be a limited release, but it was a home run.

[Stephen Perkins]

Everyone loved the glasses, and then it instantly became a call from them like, hey, we need to keep going.

[Ben Walter]

Desi and Steven signed on for another year. While they were hard at work designing their next round of styles, the sunglass company grew and had even been acquired by a private equity firm.

[Stephen Perkins]

We'd go in their meetings with them, and they'd show us graphs of Desi trending and totally attribute a lot of the success of the company back to Desi. The sunglasses she created became the number two selling sku in Nordstrom. So after a while, we decided, hey, we want to get a little bit more stake in this game.

[Desi Perkins]

At this point, the brand got so big, and once they got acquired, we went into a meeting to really renegotiate and see what we could do to make it more fair.

[Ben Walter]

They came to the next meeting prepared for the discussion of a new contract, and they made their ask.

[Desi Perkins]

The CEO at the time, he was there running the meeting, and he really downplayed my contribution to the brand and really, through the whole meeting, kind of devaluing me as a business partner. And as we were sitting there trying to negotiate, he looked over at me and said, that's a lot of money for a little girl.

[Ben Walter]

Wow.

[Stephen Perkins]

The room fell silent on both sides.

[Desi Perkins]

I was actually in disbelief. The only thing I remember doing is turning around, like, I know you're not talking to me. I couldn't believe it.

[Tanya Nebo]

Hold on, Ben. What? That's a lot of money for a little girl. The audacity of that guy to say that.

[Ben Walter]

What an ass.

[Tanya Nebo]

Yeah, really?

[Ben Walter]

Well, as awful as that was, I think you're gonna love what happened next in the meeting, Tanya, in the moment.

[Desi Perkins]

Where I was actually shocked, couldn't get a word out, One of my agents stood up and looked at him and said, well, this little girl has made your company a lot of money.

[Ben Walter]

Oh. So he came back with the little girl line. I mean, that's pretty fantastic.

[Desi Perkins]

He did. He said, this little girl has made you X amount of dollars. It is the reason why we were.

[Stephen Perkins]

You were acquired.

[Ben Walter]

You were doing this.

[Stephen Perkins]

He dropped every fact that we had done for that company and every number that we had sold for them.

[Ben Walter]

That's really powerful.

[Desi Perkins]

After that, we all looked at each other and knew it was time to go, and we all walked out. That meeting was a turning point for me, and I think for a lot of women in business, moments like this happen all the time. I knew that it was time for us to start our new chapter. And it was a scary decision because this is at this time, my only collaboration that I've ever done, my only form of steady income. It was a huge passion project that I was in love with doing. I was so sad to walk away from, but I just knew that it was the right thing for me.

[Ben Walter]

After that disastrous meeting, Desi and Steven decided they'd start their own eyewear company. This was a huge moment, taking a social media brand to a physical product. But they'd get to own 100% of the company and all the profit. It also meant they were now on the hook for everything. Funding, sourcing product, you name it. It all fell on Desi and Steven.

[Desi Perkins]

Did we know the first step to do that? Absolutely not. We had learned all the creative side of the sunglass business, but not so much the other side. So it was definitely going to be a journey into the unknown for us.

[Ben Walter]

While they knew how to design and market eyewear, they still had no idea how to manufacture it. So they brought on two consultants.

[Stephen Perkins]

Through that year, I had them teach me the ropes, teach me manufacturing, teach me logistics, teach me freight forwarding, teach me all the behind the scenes stuff.

[Ben Walter]

By 2019, they were ready to design their first line of original eyewear. That brand would be called Desi Eyewear, not D E, S I, the way Desi spells it, but Desi with a.

[Desi Perkins]

Z. I named the brand after myself. I felt like there was a lot of power in that and I wanted it to be all of me. I think people told me, yeah, maybe you shouldn't name it your name. And so I said, all right, fine, I'll change it to a D E Z instead of D E S. Okay? They were like, you're not being slick. It sounds the same. And I'm like, it felt right. So that's what I named it.

[Ben Walter]

Desi's digital brand had also grown significantly in that time. She now had 4 million followers watching her every move. And if they wanted to launch, they had to go all in and launch big.

[Stephen Perkins]

We didn't have room for error like most businesses do. If we were to launch something and it was a complete flop, like, that's all gonna fall back on us. And knowing the numbers that we did with the sunglass company, we knew what the volume would be. So it made our margin for error extremely small because we had to launch at scale was obviously a huge risk for us because you could start a business right for close to nothing and grow it over time, but we didn't have that luxury.

[Ben Walter]

But they did have the luxury of doing everything exactly the way they wanted to. They had to be certain their line of sunglasses was perfect from the beginning.

[Stephen Perkins]

The whole point of Desi eyewear is like luxury product at an affordable price. Desi will never put anything out that she truly would not use or wear herself. So now a huge challenge is how are we producing the quality that we want for the price point that we're going to sell it at? As a public figure and having a significant following like that, everything is under the microscope. And that's why, you know, when it came to product quality, everything was meticulously designed.

[Ben Walter]

After months of development, they were ready to roll out the sunglasses they targeted their launch date for. Drum roll, please. March of 2020.

[Desi Perkins]

This was a really stressful time for us because we were trying to sell sunglasses when nobody was allowed to go outside, which I feel like was really stressful for me. I was sitting there. We had put everything into this brand, and we felt like not only was it a bad time, I thought to myself, it's not an appropriate time.

[Ben Walter]

They delayed the launch three months, but every day they waited was just another day. The product was sitting unused, wasting money in a warehouse.

[Stephen Perkins]

So now this is the situation we're in, and we're just sitting on our hands and just like, what are we going to do? Like, shit. What did we just get into? How are we going to pivot from this? And then just decided, like, okay, we need to at least put something out there. We can't sit on this. We need to launch it. Let's just go. Let's see what happens.

[Ben Walter]

They finally chose a launch date. Now all that was left to do was announce. They chose one day in July 2020 for the announcement. And Desi started this business the same way. She launched her brand with a social.

[Stephen Perkins]

Media post Desi had mentioned, like, okay, I'm coming out with a product. This is the Instagram. Go follow it. Completely blank Instagram, nothing on it. Within the first, I think it was 12 hours, it gained 300,000 followers. We were just like, oh, my God.

[Ben Walter]

The huge response to Desi's video was. Wasn't just from her fans.

[Stephen Perkins]

We were getting calls and emails from every brand that had worked as a wholesaler with the other sunglass company because they knew the power and the movement that Desi could do with her eyewear. But we turned down every single one of those because we wanted to launch as a D2C brand. So we wanted to get it to our customers and knew that we wanted to hold on to that control.

[Ben Walter]

And with that, it was finally time. They launched Desi Eyewear in July of 2020.

[Desi Perkins]

It was amazing. It was a huge success. I think we were crying. We were, like, in disbelief. And then we went straight into panic mode after, like, the first moment of celebration. It was like, oh, my gosh, we're customer service now, too. We are handling all of the after now. Also, it's us.

[Stephen Perkins]

We ended up selling through, you know, 90% of our inventory within the first, I think, four hours.

[Ben Walter]

Turns out there was no need to worry if anyone would buy the sunglasses. Now. The problem was getting their sunglasses to the customers. The shipping company had picked up all the sunglasses, but they never got mailed out, and customers took to social media to complain.

[Stephen Perkins]

Packages were getting lost for weeks, and there was nothing that we could do as a company. And now we're sold out of product, and customers are writing in my package never got here. And then we're just writing them like normal customer service, as just saying, hey, you know, package is delivered personally out of the warehouse. It's on its way to you. Come to find out that FedEx parked our truck behind another truck, and they never got offloaded at the FedEx warehouse. And it took, I would say, probably seven days for them to find that truck. And we were. We were responding to now thousands of customers that have this trust in Desi and the brand that we're going to deliver, and our packages are nowhere to be found.

[Ben Walter]

Stephen estimates that 20% of that first release got lost in shipping. For reference, usually only 1 or 2% of shipments get lost. So this was a major issue for Desi Eyewear.

[Stephen Perkins]

The problem with a brand as an influencer is that you look at a bigger brand. There's no one really to talk to, to yell at, except for customer service. With us at being a personality, there's multiple avenues. There's the YouTube comment section, there's Instagram. There's Desi's personal pages. There's the brand pages. So what happens with customer service is it floods to every single channel, and it becomes very transparent to what's going on, and you have to handle that in a very careful way.

[Desi Perkins]

I think for me, it's just that I have had such a direct closeness to everyone that subscribes to Me. And so they feel the closeness to be able to then tell me when there's a problem. And one of the things that hurts is that they're disappointed in their experience. And it weighed very heavy on me. So all I could do in that moment is be super upfront and say exactly what had happened and apologize and rectify the situation.

[Stephen Perkins]

We spent literally two weeks of just responding to people like, hey, you know, your package is on the way, it's going to get to you. Check tracking. That didn't work. They respond back in and it's like, where's my shit?

[Ben Walter]

After days of that, Steven decided to take a more personal approach.

[Stephen Perkins]

I would go in and I'd be like, hey, this is Stephen. I swear to you, I personally pack your package. It's on the way. And it's funny enough, like when we would give that personal touch, it would diffuse the situation to where now we were able to maintain that trust and keep those customers and they continually come back and they are purchasing every single time something new comes out.

[Ben Walter]

Well, I mean, you must have been writing emails until 4:00 in the morning.

[Desi Perkins]

But yes, I was just going to say that.

[Stephen Perkins]

Yeah, it was, it was exhausting. Definitely learned some lessons from that, Built a team around customer service, was able to train them and let them know the tone of the company, the voice of the brand.

[Ben Walter]

So they'd figured out the shipping catastrophe and finally the brand started to really cruise. They released more styles. The company was by all accounts a success. They had made their initial investment back and then some. Desi Eyewear is obviously a huge success. It sounds like every time you come out with a new set of sunglasses, people snap em up. And then you decided to launch another company, right?

[Desi Perkins]

Yeah.

[Ben Walter]

Because your gut was for punishment.

[Desi Perkins]

Because I'm crazy.

[Stephen Perkins]

This was also after having one baby, so we have a one year old. We launched this company, Desi Eyewear, and then we decide that we're gonna do skincare as well.

[Ben Walter]

They reinvested the profits from Desi Eyewear into the skincare line. And just a few months after Desi Eyewear launched, Desi Skin was born. Three years later, both brands are still going strong. And Desi and Steven have worked hard to find the right balance of working together as a couple.

[Desi Perkins]

When we first started working together, there was arguments, there was fights. It was like things weren't, you know, working out. And I think the problem was we needed to find our proper positions, our roles. Right. Like, so in the beginning, Steven was very much a content creator husband and he hated That I think, like, deep down, you know, I'd be like, can you take my picture? He hated it. We would argue it was not it. But once we started the businesses, I think that's where he really shined because of a lot of his background was in these kinds of tasks and websites and business management. And he started thriving. And then I feel like, for me, that is not my place of expertise. Mine is the creative, the designing, the marketing, all of these things. And so we were both able to find our passions within building these companies. And I think that's what all of a sudden made us okay working together.

[Ben Walter]

You found your swim lanes.

[Desi Perkins]

Yes. And that's what the key was, finding your swim lanes. And now it's easy. It just, like, makes sense. I trust him. There's not going to be somebody else who cares about it more than him, you know, and vice versa.

[Stephen Perkins]

There used to be a rule, no business before coffee and after the kids are asleep.

[Desi Perkins]

No, there is that rule for me. After dinner. No, we do not talk about work. I said, there has to be a line here because so many years we were all work. And I said, After 6pm now, let's not talk about work. Let's just be. And that works out really well.

[Ben Walter]

So tell me, where is the Perkins empire going next?

[Desi Perkins]

I'm tired. You know, I got two kids, two companies. I think I'm good. Like my mom told me in the past, she said, you know, you have too many passions. And I think now what I see is me seeing these passions through, but again, in a more collaborative sense. So things that I've really been wanting to do, but in collaborations with companies that already do them. And I think that's something that I'm excited to see today.

[Ben Walter]

Desi eyewear sells over 20 different styles of sunglasses and can be found on Nordstrom's website and in 23 store locations. And yes, Stephen still sometimes answers customer service emails.

[Desi Perkins]

I think a lot of my life experiences have made me feel a little bit out of control and people sort of dictating what my life is going to be like, whether that's in personal things or work situations. And so for me, simultaneously starting this company and also starting a family that we so badly wanted and at the same time really made us stronger as a couple, as business partners, as parents. And I really love knowing that my son can, like, see what we're doing day to day and aspire to also want to go down his own path. And my daughter, now that I've had my daughter, it especially means more to me to see how you know your mom is kick ass and you can be too and it just makes me so excited to see her grow up and have the same courage.

[N/A]

When you run a business, it helps to have a full service banking solution that has products, tools and resources designed with your growth in mind. That's what you'll get when you switch to Chase for business as a new customer, you'll even get rewarded with a special bonus. Choose Chase and you'll receive the personal attention you deserve. Along with a large scale presence including 4700 local branches and 15,000 ATMs. Plus you can enjoy innovations like the Chase Mobile app which lets you do your banking on your phone. There are so many easy ways to get the guidance and tools you need to grow with Chase. You can meet with a banker in person, use the online support center, or find helpful information in the resource center. And Chase Business Complete Banking offers built in card acceptance, a wide range of options for accepting payments and making deposits. So switch [e-mail] choosechase and get rewarded with a special bonus. This account has a monthly service fee that can be reduced from $15 to $0. Chase mobile app is available for select mobile devices. Message and data rates may apply. Deposit and credit card products provided by JPMorgan Chase Bank NA Member FDIC Copyright 2024 JP Morgan Chase & Co. Tanya.

[Ben Walter]

What did you think?

[Tanya Nebo]

I loved that interview.

[Ben Walter]

I thought they're pretty cute. I mean, come on.

[Tanya Nebo]

Yes, they're very cute. And Ben, there's so many lessons that came out of that story. So it was exciting. I mean, I really liked it.

[Ben Walter]

It's interesting because it's a different set of lessons than we have learned in other interviews because there are very few where they say sort of like we started this thing and it just blew up and took off and it was out the gate. Usually that part is sort of the hard part is like making your first sale or getting your first contract. Whereas for them, because she was already a social media presence, like that was not even an issue. She was just like they knew they could sell and they were selling so that a whole different set of challenges they did.

[Tanya Nebo]

There's so many different ways to get this entrepreneurial thing done and I like that this was another example of how you could do it differently and instead of, you know, like Steven said, kind of grow in a way that a more typical small business would grow, they had to jump in at scale and they knew it from the beginning.

[Ben Walter]

I was taken by the conversation about what happened when they launched their brand and the fact that the packages didn't get delivered because we talked about they had to do it at scale, and they had to do it at scale quickly. But clearly, like, you know, they couldn't deliver the packages themselves. They had to rely on logistics companies and shipping companies. And I think there's a real lesson in there. Just because you outsource something doesn't mean you can assume it's taken care of. You can have the best contract in the world.

[Tanya Nebo]

Tell me about it.

[Ben Walter]

But if you don't have a way to know that it's done, then it might not be done.

[Tanya Nebo]

Yeah, that is so true. And I hear this a lot. You probably hear it from entrepreneurs as well. You know, folks want to get into business and they want to kind of set it and forget it. They want it to be passive income, that kind of thing. And what we learned from this story is that they really had to get their hands dirty, too. They had to jump in when things weren't going the way that they were supposed to go. Because you can't just say yes, and I paid so and so to get this thing done and then just assume that it's going to get handled. It's on you to make sure that it actually gets done.

[Ben Walter]

Yeah. It's never really passive, is it?

[Tanya Nebo]

It's not.

[Ben Walter]

Look, and I give Stephen and Des even a ton of credit because they owned it in different ways. Right? So Desi went on her social media platforms and owned it, and Steven got to work customer by customer and owned it in a personal way. The one other thing they did when they had that customer service challenge, Tanya, is they both were willing to say, I'm sorry I let you down. We'll do better next time. And my experience with brands that when they make a mistake, they own it is much better than when they try to deflect and assemble. You know, they told the truth, they were honest, and they did what they could to make it right. And I think people appreciated that direct honesty.

[Tanya Nebo]

I think people definitely appreciate that honesty. But they use the word transparency, and that goes along with kind of the relationship that Desi had been building with her community from the beginning. And when things didn't go as expected, they kind of fell on their swords and said, like, listen, we're sorry this is what happened, and we're going to do our best to fix it. And I admire companies who take that approach. And I try to do the same in my business as well. Like, mistakes happen, things don't go as planned, and it's just how you address the issue that matters the most.

[Ben Walter]

Yeah, there's just no such thing as not my problem. If you make a mistake, it's your problem. If your partner makes a mistake, it's your problem. If someone downstream makes a mistake, it's your problem.

[Tanya Nebo]

The buck stops with you.

[Ben Walter]

Can we talk a little bit about this? We've had a few husband and wife teams come on this show, so it's a common theme that we see. Successful husband, wife teams. Do you work with a lot of them? What do you find makes them successful or less so in your experience?

[Tanya Nebo]

That's a good question. I would say, like what we saw with the Desi and Steven stories, the importance of playing your position. I find that the couples who do the best in business are very clear on who is doing what in the business and what, you know, what their responsibilities are, what the roles are, and working together just like one would if they weren't married. And when it comes to my married clients and even just folks in a relationship, it's understanding what they're supposed to be bringing to the table in the business and being consistent in that regard.

[Ben Walter]

So, Tanya, what percent of your clients would you say have more than one business? Is it a lot or is it very few?

[Tanya Nebo]

I would say that a lot of them have had more than one business.

[Ben Walter]

That's interesting.

[Tanya Nebo]

That's what I would say.

[Ben Walter]

More. Say more.

[Tanya Nebo]

They have had more than one business, but typically there's one business that is doing particularly well. But what I don't see much of is what we saw here, where there are multiple ones that are doing extraordinarily well all at the same time. So, Ben, what do you think about, you know, running two major companies at the same time?

[Ben Walter]

Well, look, so first of all, as I reflect on it, I think it's two companies, but they're sibling companies. They're not even cousins. They're siblings because they're both selling physical products that are, based on her social media personality, as the core sales generator. So these are very closely related businesses, which does make it easier. That said, we didn't get into the detail, but what I would be interested to know over time is how they plan to staff up to support that. Because really, what I have found is that, and this is true in the corporate world and it's true in. In the small business world is when you don't wake up every day worried about something all day long, it's easy for bad stuff to happen. And so I apply that at work. You know, if there's something that is really important to my business. I make sure there is someone who is. That's their job. Not part of their job, not some of their job, but all of their job. And so I'm sure it's working quite well. But I would imagine as they continue to scale those brands that they will find that they need some infrastructure of their own.

[Tanya Nebo]

That's such a good point. If it is that important, it needs to be someone's sole job.

[Ben Walter]

Yeah. So look, I have to say, like we've talked to a lot of businesses. What I love about their story is that they are completely self made and they are self made on their own belief in themselves and their capabilities. Whether that was Desi's ability to design or her ability to generate following in sales or his ability to rely on the things that he knew and to support the business. They totally bet on themselves. They took their hits in stride and they stuck with it. And they've built something I think is going to last and create sort of lasting value for them and their family.

[Tanya Nebo]

Yeah, it's awesome that they're in Nordstrom and just continuing to grow and I look forward to seeing what else they do.

[Ben Walter]

Tanya, you and I have pulled a lot of lessons from there, but let's go listen to the advice that they had for our listeners.

[Desi Perkins]

I think I would tell somebody who wants to start a business to sit down and try to have conversations with people who have started businesses and really get all the information about what the hard points are. What I've heard from a lot of my friends who have started businesses is that they were so blindsided by all the difficulties and all the things that go into starting a business. So I think having as many conversations with business owners as you, you can and really getting all the information so that you can be prepared going into it.

[Stephen Perkins]

When we were building these brands, nothing ever goes as planned. It's kind of like raising kids. And every stage is different. You have to adapt to every stage of the business. Every time you launch a new product, something else is going to happen, but it's really just about adapting to what's happening. To be able to roll with those punches and act quick on your feet. You're not going to get all the advice from a book. It's really about adapting and like experiencing the business and then figuring it as you go.

[Ben Walter]

Before we wrap up, I want to take just a moment to reflect on this season's eight episodes. We call this show the Unshakables because it's no easy feat to start a small business. The stories we've told show the tenacity and guts it takes to build a business out of what was once just an idea. There's something to take from each and every person's journey, whether it's Alex Vega's newfound appreciation for contracts, Desi and Stephen Perkins dedication to customer service, or Doug and Jason Barrow's business saving risk management strategies. By any measure, these are great lessons to learn and fantastic triumphs to celebrate. Thanks so much for listening to the first season of the Unshakeables. If you haven't already, please rate and review the show. It'll help us reach more listeners. I'm Ben Walter and this is the Unshakeables from Chase for Business and Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia.

[Desi Perkins]

The Unshakeables is a production of Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia and Wheelhouse.