KENDRA SCOTT: Why Being True to Yourself Will Unlock Your Greatest Growth

Wow.

That was incredible.

That was incredible.

Thank you.

Wow. Was she amazing? Are you inspired? Look, standing ovation. Thank you. Yeah. Awesome.

Well, let's have a seat. More questions. She's going to ask me personal things now.

I don't know. Yeah, we want to know.

Hang on. I'm not. I don't like having the remote control in my house. I feel like my husband takes it. I'm almost like. I feel like I'm not. I'm not used to having it.

I can't even figure out the dang remote control.

Yeah.

So, wow. That was incredible. You are. You shared your heart, you shared your soul and just so much wisdom.

Thank you.

And so inspiring. So I truly, truly appreciate you coming here. I mean, she's kind of a busy lady, right? To be able to take the time to come here and share her wisdom with you all. So thank you. So I so appreciate that. And so, you know, and as a businesswoman, myself and many business owners here, watching how quickly your business now, of course, there's always that 20 year overnight success story kind of thing.

I love it when they say that to me, like, you're such an overnight success. I'm like 15 years.

I don't know. Yeah. So let me preface. I know you've been doing this a long time, but when I look at revenue from 2010 at about 1.8 million to 2017, and you know, over 150 million, and your company was just recent, like a couple weeks ago, valued at a billion dollars. Right.

Believe me, it took me a while. I was like, wait, excuse me, B, did you say billion? Yeah, it was. Yeah. I'm still in shock. It's surreal.

Yeah. Well, you did it.

Thank you.

You did it and you're doing it. And so congratulations. Thank you. So, of course my mind is like, okay, so 1.8 to a billion in six years. So that's rapid growth. So I'd love to know something, you shared so much here, but what were some of your strategies when you decided, okay, I'm going retail, and can you give us some of those more hard strategies? And then also some of that mindset behind taking that giant leap.

You know, it was a moment of impact. You guys are going to hear a lot of that from me. It was this wonderful thing called the recession. Wasn't it just lovely time? And all my eggs were in one basket, so I was afraid to go into retail and I was just selling to other retailers. Well, when the recession hit, buyers I had worked with for years were losing their jobs getting laid off stores that I had worked with for years were shuddering. Herald stores, for example, I had just shipped a $25,000 order. Two weeks later, they filed for bankruptcy. A company that was formed in 1918. Who would have thought they would have filed for bankruptcy? I mean, basically the world as I knew it was a different world. And all my eggs were in this one basket. And my company wasn't going to survive that way. And I did not have the power. My other retailers had the power. And I was so worried. For seven years of pleasing them, I was sending them cupcakes and trying to win over buyers. And the recession taught me I don't need to worry about the buyers. I need to worry about my customer. Because if my customer wants my product, the buyers from the department stores are going to have to write the purchase orders. So our complete focus changed. There were seven of us. I walked in and I said, you guys, we're putting all the chips on the table. We're going to go big or we're going to go home. This is it. But we're changing our strategy completely. We are going to focus on direct to consumer. We are not going to worry about our wholesale partners. Now, look, I was still filling their orders. Let's not be crazy. But I was focusing on our consumer. So the rest of the money that I could max out of my credit cards and my line of credit. I built a direct to consumer website. I created Color Bar, which was innovative in where the customer could design their own jewelry, pick the colors that they wanted, the metals that they wanted. I had a developer in Austin, Texas. It's a very tech town. Build it for $10,000. Now I tell my IT department that story, like every day, and they're like, kendra, really? That was like, don't give the I walked uphill in the snow with mittens on my hand story anymore. But it was true. And so we did that. And then we opened our first retail. And retail was shuddering everywhere. So I was able to negotiate a great lease. I pulled out from having reps rep my line for wholesale, and I opened my own showroom in New York City. Again, showrooms were closing and everyone thought I had completely lost my mind because they were all pulling back. It was the recession, and I was putting everything I had into marketing our brand and trying to stand above everyone else and do something innovative, disruptive, create it, and also to always to be my own voice. I wasn't going to ever let anybody speak for me again. I was going to build the relationships with my buyers personally. I was going to be the one in the store communicating with my customer to find out what she loved, what she hated, what she wanted more of. And that's when the magic happened. I mean, that was when you saw the company that was like this. Go from there to that. Wow, the recession, a great moment of impact, right?

So you really stepped in and you know, as the CEO, which. And here you are, you're staying, you are still the CEO. A lot of times when the company grows to this level, you bring someone in.

I love it. I mean, I love the business side of the business. I think it's, for me, it excites me. I love the design side. That's where, you know, when I'm in the design room is my play space. And my husband always does say when I come home from work, I got remarried because I heard. Told you I got remarried. I met Ms. Prince Charming. We have a three year old, and he's wonderful. But I come home and he'll be like, you spent your day in the design room today, didn't you, honey? And I'm like, how can you tell? He's like, you're just so effervescent. So it definitely is my happiest place. But. But I love the business aspect. I love building a brand. I love anything that the customer touches or feels I want to be involved in. I design every single store. I am so engaged in the customer experience. What she's seeing on our websites, how we're communicating with her through social media, Anything she touches, I'm involved in.

That's awesome. That's awesome. So now you talked a lot about your team and core values and shining stars and all that. And that is just so helpful. And you have you said 2,000 employees now. Oh, my gosh, that's awesome.

Well, I have three boys. Everyone's like, kendra, you need a girl. I go, I have like 2,000 daughters.

Yeah.

So they call me Mama K. I mean, I have all these, like, beautiful women that work for me and I am their mother. And so I have a lot of daughters. So no one needs to worry about me not having a girl.

Yeah, well, and you're obviously a great leader.

And.

And so what are some things that you do? I mean, are you taking people through several interview processes? Maybe break it down a little bit for us?

It was hilarious because last night, Fashion Valley team, if you guys are in the room somewhere. But I took them out to dinner last night. One of the girls I was with, me, she's like, I've never been on more Interview, like, had so many interviews in a company in my life than when I interviewed for Kendra. And the reason we do that is, again, it's that identifying the core values. So we may have people in the company interviewing that you don't. Maybe somebody lower a position lower than what you're even applying for. But they represent our core values so well. They can identify it in people. And we want to have a mixed bag of people, and you want to get them at different times. You want to take them to lunch. You want to see how they react to certain things. So we do put them through the wringer because we want them to really want these things. And we want to know that they're passionate about our brand, our company, that. That they care about family. We have so many Kendra Scott babies. We have a nursing room in our corporate headquarters where we have a refrigerator for mother's milk. We have a playroom area for toddlers and small kids. We have a teen area for Xbox. And if they need to pick them up after school, we support families. And if you don't get that, if you're like, I don't really get, you know, like, I don't really like having kids around or whatever, that's okay, you know, you don't have to work for us. I mean, you're not going to hurt my feelings. I've gotten really good at being like, it's okay. So we really go through a lot to get the right people, and that's why we have very, very low turnover. We have great folks. They stay for years. My original seven, the Super 7, are all still with my company. We treat people the way we want to be treated, and we try to get people that really share that vision.

That's awesome. That's fantastic. And you probably are, just because of your core values and because you take such good care of your people and hiring the right people, people just come to you.

Rather than birds of a feather flock together. That is a really true statement. My mother used to always say that about identity, picking your friends in school. She's like, birds of a feather flock together you are the people that you surround yourself with. You will be judged by the people you surround yourself with. So. So don't hang out with her because she's smoking pot. People are going to think these are simple childhood things that you learn from your parents, but it's true. Birds with feather flock together. We have these amazing people in our company. They're these just shining stars and people, they're like magnets. And you want to be Part of that. When you're around that, you want to be part of that. And we have so many referrals, I can't tell you. We have so many siblings, sisters, brothers, married couples. We've got people then to have gotten married, too. But we have. I mean, it's so wonderful that we have cousins that work in our company. I mean, it really is a family. Mothers, daughters. My mom has worked for me since day one. We worked together. So it really is special environment.

That's great. Yeah. Well, there's a store here in San Diego at Fashion Valley Mall that you're going to have to check out while you guys are here. So tell us. Okay. You're so busy, you're running all these stores. You have all these people depending on you, and then you have a husband, you have children, and then you have you that you want to take care of. So what are some strategies or processes that you put in place to support you?

One is, I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a mom first. I don't have to be big, tough CEO and prove anything to anybody. I want to be a great mom, and I make a priority to my family. And the people that work for me know that I want to pick my kids up from school. It's really important to me. It's just one thing that is really important to me. And I block it off in my calendar. I'm busy during carpool time, and I get them going, and then I'm back on. But there are moments, and it can be anything to you, what's important to you. But those are the moments I find that I like to connect with the kids, find out what their homework is, get them going, and then I can, like, feel good that everyone's rolling in the right direction and then go. So I block time off, and then I surround myself with people that appreciate what is important to me, and I hire people and I take care of them the same way. No one in my company is going to miss a recital, a rehearsal, a soccer game, a doctor's appointment. If their kid is sick, they're going to be home with them. I mean, literally, I will get upset if I hear that. If you've missed one of those things, it's just not okay for me. And what has happened is that we've created a culture and a company and that people work so hard. They're doing their jobs. They love what they do because they're appreciated and they're respected. I don't need to be their mother. Like, are you Doing your work and you have to be here from this time to this time and you know, and you have a 35 minute break and you. That's not real. That's not how life is. We are crazy. We're trying to balance a ton of things. So respect your people. They're grown ups. If they're not doing their job, address that. But give them the opportunity and then reward them when they do it.

Right? Yeah. And that's the thing. As long as they're committed and passionate. Right. And it takes two to tango.

We did a store tour before I got here. So I visited a store in our Arizona and then we went to San Francisco and then we went to la and then we came here and one of our girls, beautiful, pregnant and she was like Kendra. I hadn't met her before and she was just emotional and she said when I found I was pregnant I was scared at first. She just started working for a company and to tell my district manager that I was pregnant, you know, and she goes and I told her and she starts screaming and jumping up and down and they're like, I'm so excited and they're like throwing me baby showers. And she's like, I just couldn't even believe it. And I said, why? I said, it's just so sad to me that that's how it doesn't have to be that way. And I said, you can have everything you want in your life. You are going to be an amazing mother and if you want to have a career, we're gonna help you figure that out too. So don't worry. Enjoy this time of your life. Her commitment to us, I know, like is, you know, right.

Forget about it.

And it's just so simple. It's really just so simple when you think about it. But it's so different.

It really is different.

Right?

Be nice and be respectful. Yeah, right. So what are some last words of wisdom here? And you know, I think that, I mean earlier people were standing up and talking about their businesses from all different industries, all different business models. But there's a tendency when you see someone very successful to say, oh, she can do it. But I could never do that. So how would you know?

I'm up here and I have orange shoes on which very confident. They're all little things to give me confidence. There are so many days when I am not this confident orange shoed woman. And I'll sit on my kitchen floor and I'm scared and I have a lot of responsibility And I have 2,000 families now not just my family, but 2,000 families. I want to make the right decisions. I want to be thoughtful. And sometimes I think I'm not smart enough for this or I don't have a Harvard business degree. I mean, how am I put in this place? I'm gonna let somebody down. And I think you have to surround yourself with people that believe in you even when you don't believe in yourself. Because there's a lot of times I don't believe in myself and then I lose that confidence. And I'm not all like, yes, I can conquer the world. And I have an unbelievable amount of people from family, my parents, my sister, my best friend, some of my co workers who will remind me, you got this. You've got this. Don't be scared. Don't be afraid. And we have your back. So just surround yourself with good people who believe in you. If there are naysayers in your life and people that are telling you you can't do something or you're not good enough or you're not smart enough or all of these other things, remove them from your life and surround yourself with people that believe in you and see the best in you even when you don't see it in yourself.

That's awesome. That's awesome. So what is next?

Yes.

Yeah. And wear orange shoes.

And wear orange shoes.

And so what is next for Kendra Scott?

You know, it's so fun now because people say, oh, would you have ever imagined? I mean, when you hear are companies worth a billion dollars? I mean, I'm laughing because I can't. No, I never imagined that I could have never in a million years, billion years thought that that little thing in the extra bedroom of my house could have grown into a billion dollar brand. But now I feel like I've just scratched the surface. Now I see what I can do and where we are going, and we have just scratched the surface. My dream now is to build a legacy brand. To build a brand that will be here long after I'm gone, that my children and my grandchildren could be proud to be a part of. To build products that are filling white space in a market that are doing good, reaching communities. We're now in 53 different communities at a local level. So we're hitting everything from national organizations like the Go Red campaign to a hometown Crisis like the St. Louis floods, to a friend in need. We just hosted a KGB for a little girl who had a heart transplant in one of our stores. That is cool. This year we're giving back $2 million in Kendra gives back dollars and over 85,000 pieces of jewelry. We still don't say no. So if any of you have any organization that you are involved in, you call Kendra Scott. We will have something to give. We will help you. So please let us know. Really?

That's amazing. Well, thank you.

Well, I have a present for you. I can't leave without. You are wearing. She's wearing some Ks. She's representing. But you need a little more.

Oh, my goodness.

Because once you get a taste. See, I look all sweet and kind of like a 1950s housewife up here, but. But I'm a devil inside. You get a taste, and then you want more. Here's a little gift. And I feel like this is kind of wrong, giving presents in front of all of you guys. Should I give. We might have a few more gifts.

That would be so nice to give out.

Maybe a couple more.

A couple. That would be nice.

I mean, but then that would be bad, because if you got a gift and you got a gift but your friend didn't, that would be kind of. I think everybody should get jewelry. Oh, my God. Everybody gets jewelry. Whoa.