#13 Scaling a Million Dollar Brand from your Kitchen Table, with Meredith Jurica, Founder of Makeup Junkie Bags

Welcome to episode number 13 with makeup junkie Bags herself, Meredith Jerica.

Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works from mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub and I can't wait to chat.

Do you love stories with happy endings? Just over a year ago, a fresh face joined our community at the Boutique Hub. A bright fun woman from Texas who was hand making makeup bags at our kitchen table along with her husband. Each week she was having a live sale on Facebook together with her husband that I'm telling you was like watching prime TV entertainment and and then her bags would immediately sell out. She was brand new to the business, but her personality resonated with everyone watching. A few months in, we announced our very first Boutique Summit after she joined and she was quickly going to sign up to come to Dallas. Once Meredith reached out and signed up as a sponsor of the summit, it was a total gamble for her. She'd never done something like this. But she'd quickly decided that she was going all out, not only attending but spiritual sponsoring and coming to set up a booth. And not only that, as most sponsors of events do, they maybe throw in a logo, chapstick or a pen or a product, but she was going to include a full size bag in each and every swag bag for attendees. More than 300 guests attending. Now to be honest, that's more than a $10,000 investment of product. When the week of the summit arrived, I'll never forget the first morning of the event when I was thanking sponsors in the room. Our community was all bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to learn. And as I went through each of the sponsors and heard cheers of thank yous for each of the sponsors, when makeup Junkie bags was announced, there was an extra pep in the step in the room. They loved the sample bags that they'd received. And then on day two of the event, when our sponsors set up booth before the dinner, it looked like a tornado had gone through the Makeup Junkie booth because you know what happened? She had sold out of every single bag, every single one. And more than $50,000 in wholesale orders after everyone had gone through and experienced what she had to offer to say that I'm proud of Meredith and the business that she's created is a complete understatement. Not just because of its success, but because of the woman that's running the business. She's a giver, she's kind, she's supportive, and she's there for every other woman in the Boutique Hub community. If you're coming back to the Boutique summit in 2018, we're so thrilled to see this business come full circle, as Meredith's coming back as one of our keynote speakers to tell us all about how our business has exploded and how you can do the same thing. And today, you guys are in for such a treat on the podcast, you get to hear firsthand about how this whole story has evolved. So, without further ado, let's kick off this week's show with Meredith Jericha, the founder of Makeup Junkie Bags.

Hey, guys, welcome back to the podcast. This week you are in for such a treat because this is one of my favorite people that we are so blessed and fortunate to work with on a daily basis at the Boutique Hub and someone that you are no doubt going to know and love yourself. So. So today we're going to tell the story of a brand that is a mere 16 months old, that has gone from product discovery and creation at a kitchen table to a massive warehouse and a team, and now being carried in over 1200 stores. This is the story of Makeup Junkie Bags and Meredith Jarica. Meredith, welcome to the show.

Hi. Thanks for having me.

I'm so excited that you're here. I feel like we've been waiting for this forever, right?

Yes, I know. I was just thinking about it the other day, how quickly it was coming up and looking forward to it. And here we are.

Yes. And the bonus to this is we are going to have the podcast. But the big news is everyone is going to get to meet you and hear you speak at the summit too, right?

Yes, absolutely. I am very much looking forward to that. I have made so many friends in the industry that are going to be there, and I can't wait to actually see everybody in person.

Right. You know, we were chatting before we got started recording the podcast, and I was just saying, I cannot believe what has happened to your company in two years time. It is just so unbelievable to watch it all grow and unfold. Do you feel like you have to pinch yourself sometimes? Like, how did this happen so quickly? And oh, my goodness, look at what I created.

Definitely. I am like, let me just run out the gate with that answer. Definitely. I always tell my husband, you know how when you see your kids Every day. And you don't notice that they grow, but then they go to camp for a week and they come home and you are like, oh, you got so big. Well, sometimes we are so knee deep in the work that we do and the chaos that we don't really see the growth until we step back and compare it to six months ago or a year ago. And then we're like, oh, my gosh, how you've grown. Yeah, it happens so fast. And it's kind of a fairy tale to this day. And sometimes we don't even believe it ourselves.

So true. Well, I can't wait for you to tell the story today because I want to have everyone hear and understand how this whole progression took place. So take us back to the beginning. How did you get started making these bags in the first place? And what were you doing as a career when. While that was happening?

Okay, well, for the last 10 years or so, my background, I'm a speech pathologist. I have a bachelor's and master's degree in speech pathology. I've worked in the medical field and in the local school districts. With that, I've been married for 10 years and I have two little girls. So when I had my youngest, I decided I wanted to stay home with my kids just because they were sick all the time, it'd be easier. And then go back to work in another year or two. Well, about five months into my stay at home mom gig, this. The bag. The bag thing, as I like to call it, the bag thing happened. So I am a self professed makeup junkie. The lashes, the hair, the contour kits, everything. I'm all about it and always have been. I'm that girl who posted lipstick tutorials on her Facebook page, you know, for the last several years. You know, so I wanted a makeup bag that would hold all my palettes on my brushes and have a wipeable interior. So I just literally went to the local craft store and made these for my kind of fashioned after an old school pencil pouch with a zipper down the middle, everything. And, you know, they were very functional, very cute. I had friends asking where I got it. You know, I told them I made it. And of course I got, no, you didn't. And so I had to. I had to defend myself. But so a lot of people requested them. Hey, it's my mom's birthday. Can you make one of those little bags you make? You know, if we had an event coming up for someone, I would make one for them. And they just became kind of popular amongst my friends. Group and things like that. So after being home for a while, you know, I, you know, losing the income from me deciding to be a stay at home mom, My sister and I were talking. She said, those little bags you make are super cute. Why don't you put one on Facebook? Christmas is coming. Maybe you can, you know, score a little Christmas gift cash. So I, you know, was like, no, no, no, no. I cannot sell my craft on Facebook. That's so silly. I'm not going to do that. And a little while later, I did. I put a picture. I think the picture's still on there somewhere. You know, hey, guys, I make these little flat makeup bags if anybody wants one, and that the rest, as they say, it's history. I don't know. I started getting private messages from people locally especially that I didn't even know. I mean, I'm talking the first few weeks, hundreds. Hey, are you the girl that makes those little flat makeup bags? Can I get some for my granddaughters? Can I get some for this person? For this person? So, so I made like a makeup junkyahoo.com email and I decided to make a business Facebook page. I had like, I don't know, 100 followers. And then what I was going to call them, Well, I love makeup and my nickname is mj and that could also be for makeup junkie. So that's where my branding kind of came from. It was very personal. So that's kind of how it took off. And then there was a point where I was just making them here in my house for everyone, and it got a little overwhelming.

I remember the videos that you used to do at that time of you and your husband sitting at your kitchen table making and packing the bags.

Yes. It was a family operation. My husband's mother is the one who taught me how to sew. I sew on an old Elden machine she gave me. It's solid as a rock, though. And so she actually, when the orders became overwhelming, she came to help me start making orders. And my husband would, you know, repair like pull out seams that we messed up and help package tassel and stuff like that. So it was kind of a family operation. Well, then we kind of realized this could really be something like, holy moly, you know, look at the list of people that want them. So a series of people led me to the decision to make it a business. My financial person, who we do life, retirement through, led me to an accountant who's still my accountant. She's very sweet. She encouraged me to look at, you know, Maybe protecting the product since there wasn't anything really like it on the market. So she led me to my patent and trademark lawyer who also led me to my graphic design guy who did my website. So all these people came wrapped up in a red bow and they all helped me to make a website, do trademark, copyright, just all of those business type things.

So at what point when you were in the middle of that, because I'm sure it was so overwhelming, the orders that were coming in and you trying to sleep at night wondering how you're going to fulfill those orders. How did you make the decision to begin hiring additional seamstresses and the investment to pay for that and then to even move on to more of your manufacturing operation?

Okay, well my husband always jokes she doesn't like to watch grass grow. I am a creature of productivity and progress. If something's gonna happen, I like to help it along a little bit. So I definitely knew I needed help sewing. I am a self proclaimed Google taught business owner. I mean the first time someone said do you wholesale? I was like Google wholesale for dummies trying to figure all of this out. So I googled seamstresses in Montgomery county, which is the county I live in. And it led me to people who worked at sewing shops, it led me to alterations places and tailors where they had people who did like clothing alterations. And I went door to door with my bag and said, would you like to help me? I will pay you per bag. Would you like to help me? I will pay you per bag. And progressively I had one person help and then I had another person help. And then there was a handful of us in my home, you know, I did not, could not take a paycheck. I had to dump every dime of profit from what we were selling into paying for help purchasing supplies, things like that. So with very little cash to start up with. Yeah, so it was a very organic cash based business with no profit in the beginning because I had to use it to grow.

Absolutely. So when did you like, what was the timeframe that that happened? And then when did you move into the location you're in now?

Let's see, that was, I want to say that was about three to four months in that it all happened very quickly because basically you just get someone, you teach them how to make the bag. And I learned later that they have to sign a paper called a non disclosure that they won't copy. Now that we have all the legal framework in place, you know, I get stuff like that. So I guess about not even four Months in or so I have a friend who's a realtor and I said, oh my gosh, my house. You cannot even walk in any of the rooms. It's just, it's horrid, you know, and so can you find me a little space? And so she found a beautiful office space where we ended up subletting, you know, one room and then another room and another room in the warehouse. And next thing you know, we have a full blown operation. And we had one employee and then we had another one, another one. And we were growing so fast, astronomically. The app, the store applications that we would get, you know, five a week. Then we started getting 25 a week. And so it seemed like every time I hired another office person or another seamstress, by the time they became proficient, it was time to hire another one because we still couldn't keep up. And that's how this story snowball has been since day one. It's just it has not stopped rolling and it has collected and collected more as it's gone on.

That is so amazing. You know, as you go along, I find just in talking to a number of different business owners, there's times throughout your business when you're growing at a rapid rate like that that sometimes it'll scare people. Like, you grow so fast, it'll scare you. Were there ever times along the way that you were like, oh my gosh, and you almost like checked yourself because of that fear or were you able to push through that and go, nope, I see the vision, I'm just gonna keep going. Fear doesn't serve me. I'm not slowing down.

The fear was definitely there. There were a handful of times where we had possible mega, what I would call mega orders in front of us that could have been executed with large, you know, entities. And most of those did not work out just because of different, you know, whether it's the pay schedule or the order size or stuff like that. But I did always worry, you know, how would I fulfill that if that happens? And then we started commit instead of, I do have my seamstress staff here. That's amazing people. They're just my favorite people in the whole world. And we also started contracting through actual sewing facilities. Like we have facilities all over Texas that do large batch production. So like we have our Dallas one that does thousands of kids pieces for us. We're actually probably going to start expanding into the US because we have a factory in North Carolina we just started working with and things like that. So definitely I've lost sleep over wondering, you know, is this going to be a one hit wonder? Is this going to go away tomorrow when you know, the tidal wave is done washing upon the shore. But it's just kept going. It seems like every time I tell my girls, I say, whenever the dust settles and we get a minute to breathe, we're going to work on this new project or this new project, it's so dusty, it never settles. So we're just hanging on tight, working hard every day, trying to meet the needs, you know, 360 degrees of the business. And that's all we can do.

Absolutely. Well, you've done an awesome job at what you've created, not only from like the business standpoint and the product standpoint, but I think something that's so unique about you as I watch your growth is the way that you've injected yourself and you've humanized your brand. When people buy with makeup junkie bags, they aren't just buying a bag, but they're buying part of you. And I don't know if you've done that consciously or unconsciously as you've grown, but it's been so evident and so clear. So talk about kind of that strategy and how you look at the customer service and the relationship that you provide, not only from your retail customers, but also the wholesale customers that you work with and why you think that's become so magnetic for your brand.

Well, I think that when this whole thing first started, it was so unbelievable. And so like I said when I had like 200 followers on Facebook and you know, I would say, oh my gosh, you guys, look, we got into our first store. Can you believe it? And it was always like, I was just talking to friends, you know, like, you had tears in my eyes. Oh, my gosh, y' all go over to the store, go see. And then the followers started developing. And not just followers, but customers. You know, we have, you know, my website tracks new customers versus returning customers and we have an extremely high return customer rate. So then we started sending emails, blast out, and I'll be like, hey, guys, it's me. Guess what's happening this week? And if time would go by when I would not update them on stuff, we would get messages. Hey, how are y' all doing? And then I learned, I'm like, oh my gosh, they want to be a part of it. So. So, I mean, sometimes, you know, I have people that do marketing on my social media, but I'll hop on there sometimes and just gush. And it's because I can't help it. I have to get it out. I have to tell them what's happening. And there's been times I've done that with good news or bad news, either way. So I definitely did not, I guess, consciously do it. It just kind of was. It's who I am. And I can't. The cold, commercial way of some businesses works for them. This is me, and I feel like if I'm talking to a woman about my product and what it means and what she's getting, I don't just want to put a picture of it and list the facts. I want to be like, no, you have to listen to me, Susie. Let me tell you how this whole thing happened. And everybody who purchased from us felt like they were a part of the growth because, let's be honest, they're the reason we exist. And so every time we hit a new milestone, you know, we hit 10,000 bags sold, 20,000 bags sold. We hit 500 stores. We hit 1,000 stores. I wanted to scream it at them and say, yo, look at this. We honestly have the most loyal followers and customers. They are our cheerleaders. Like, sometimes they get me through stuff. For real.

You've built a true community, not just a tribe of customers, right?

Yes, exactly. And like, with wholesale, honest to God, whenever the first person said, do you wholesale? I was like, huh? Do I what? So I had to learn very quickly what that was. I went through a slew of months in the very beginning of changing my wholesale margins while I was trying to understand what the norm was, you know, what the standards were, what the stores needed. And I have some OGs, as we call them, that have been with me since the beginning who've seen me through all of that. And of course, now we have a slew of amazing retailers, but I really try to develop relationships with them. When they open accounts, we try to call and say, welcome. If we make a mistake, which, you know, does happen on occasion, I just call and say, oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry. You're getting a beautiful box tomorrow, compliments of me, because I made it. Boo Boo. So we just communicate with them as best that we can. We try to show them we appreciate them and we try to put protect them. Due to the amazing success we've seen in the demand, we're able to take back prints that don't sell and give them ones that do and just kind of protect their investment. And I think that especially my wholesalers have appreciated that very much.

Absolutely. It's a fresh take on what's happening today because that is. That's rare in terms of the wholesale industry. A lot of times it's. This is what it is and you're stuck with it. Right. So let's go. Let's go deeper on that. I would love to hear more about how you've set up your minimum orders or returning orders and how you do those protections and your buyback program, because I know specifically the buyback program that is really unique. So talk more about those terms that you have set up in wholesale.

Okay. So again, this is something that has evolved multiple times since we started 16 months ago. I take everything to heart that wholesalers tell me that my retailers tell me, anybody I can learn from, I try to and incorporate all of that information to make the best decisions I can for the business. So as it exists today, we have a $300 opening order. We have two different lines, a pink label line and a brand new black label line that sprouted in January based off of a store's request for higher end fabrics. So Basically it's a $300 buy in. If they average $250 a month on ordering, that means they can order $1,000 in January and be good for four months or however they want to do it. We do zip code protect them, because in my mind, that's about 12 bags. If a store does not average having about 12 bags on the shelf for customers to come and see, that's not enough product out in that area for me to lock down that location. Just logically, I want to send customers to two locations that actually have stock to shop from. So that's kind of how I structured that are basically, if no one else is competing for your zip code, you can order as little or as lot as you like and not have to worry about that. But if we get an application in your zip code, we'll call you and say, hey, you haven't ordered in a few months. Did you want to continue being the carrier or kind of pass the baton on? And the buyback program started because, you know, we produce as many as we can, thousands and thousands every month. But our website still would be completely wiped out over and over again. So then we had a store, a store owner had something happen to her and she had to shut her store down and it was a medical problem she had. So I said, you know what, just give all that back to me. I can sell it. Why am I going to not give you your money back when I can sell it? So she sends me back this big box of some Stuff that we'd been out of for a while, we put it on the website. It was gone in a day. And that's when my wheels started turning. And I said, why are we going to tie up their investment when we can get rid of this product in a day? So, because when it comes to products, sometimes, you know, the glass slipper doesn't fit. Sometimes they do everything they can to sell it, but the customers just don't respond. And other time it's the opposite. They can't keep them in stock. So that's where the buyback program came from. And then I had another store owner say, hey, I've been wanting to order. I sold all of this, all of this, all of this. But all I have are like, these striped ones left. Nobody wants them. And my policy is I have to move that before I, you know, put more money in. So then I told her, send those back to me. Let me send you more hot pink and cheetah and all the stuff your girls want. So now we have our swap out program and our buyback program in place. And if it ever turns into something where I'm getting, you know, 50 requests a month for buybacks and swap outs, obviously we'll have to change with the times and change our policies. But for right now, it doesn't happen very often. And we are so proud to offer that to our retailers. And I think that's one of the biggest reasons we got so many accounts at market is. Well, because the low risk investment is, you know, popular. Absolutely.

So talk about selling, because you just went and set up at your first market. Otherwise, traditionally, because they move so fast, you've been selling online to all of these retailers. What does that look like today as you've grown from 0 to 1200 stores? How'd that progression happen?

Well, locally, there were some local stores that I kind of went in there with my, you know, like I joke with my little briefcase, door to door, hey, I have this. Would you like it? I'll consign. Just. Just thought it'd be cool to just be on a shelf somewhere, you know, and then actually, the hub is a big part of how we grew so quickly. I had a friend of mine add me to the group. I didn't know what it was. I was still just making them, you know, here in my house. And, you know, I started posting pictures. And then I noticed people would comment and I thought, huh, well, that was nice. You know, she wants information. And then the next time, you know, because my quality, my symmetry, everything about my Product has improved over time. So every month or so I would just post in the hub and I got actually several hundred hub accounts. So we have a marked pink on our master spreadsheet. And I said, oh, I love all the pink. So the hub really opened the door for that. And I think true in boutique trend fashion, other boutiques follow other boutiques. So even stores that are not on the hub maybe saw them posting about this new product they had. So like I said earlier, we went from getting five apps a week to getting 25 apps a week. And now we just like, we have a person dedicated to applications because we get that many a week. I think we have about 75 on our wait list right now because there's zip codes are locked down with active stores who carry active product. So we never had to go to market. And then we decided to try it just to see. I, you know, I'm an out of the box marketing person. I try to think of something, you know, different. So I went on Facebook, on my business page and said, makeup junkies, tag your favorite store, tell them to come see me at market. And wow, we got a huge. I boosted that. I sponsored that post and we got a huge response. We opened over 100 new stores at Dallas Apparel Market in January. We had a line to get into our booth. We had, you know, like they said, we were the beehive, the bees were buzzing around. And it made us so proud. We hit our sales goal in the first day that we had planned for the entire market.

Oh, my goodness.

So that was cool.

Does it remind you I'm thinking about the boutique summit last year and the booth that you had set up the night before our banquet? Same thing. You had your bag set up, you had your booth set up, and then boom, like, your booth was empty within like four hours. It was just unbelievable.

Yes. You know how like there's, there's people in the world who will tell you they'll RSVP to parties and there's people who don't. I feel like, you know, last year we posted that we were coming and we were bringing bags, and I said, oh, there's some people that are excited to see us. Yay, we can meet. Think. I don't think I really knew it. I mean, I think you remembered. Jen, my director and I were both kind of crying because we didn't even have time to go change for the, for the dinner, for the gala dinner because our booth was so swamped. We took over 600 bags and by the time dinner was over, our Booth was just ransacked and empty. It looked like a bomb went off. And my husband. I had told my husband that I wanted to get 10 stores and sell, like 100 bags. We sold over six, and I think we got what, over 50 store counts that day. So he's like, did you get your 10 stores? And I was just crying. I was like, yes, we did. So one of my favorite memories, probably because when you make something, something that you made yourself, right, and it's not just your friend using it because she's your friend and she's supposed to, but other people are using it, and they're saying, this is great. I love this. It does something to you. It's like being proud of your child who made straight A's. Oh.

So, yeah, it's a part of you that they're buying. It's just so cool to watch it happen.

Yeah. Yeah, I would say it's pretty cool.

Let's talk about another thing unique that I see in your company and I think is a good talking point in the industry today, is the fact that you are selling both retail and wholesale. And you and I have had this conversation a number of times because I know there's differing opinions out there, right, about do should wholesale brands be selling retail? And the argument I always make in terms of your brand is, wow, look at. Because she sells retail and because her brand has exploded in the way that it has, it makes those boutiques that carry her wholesale even stronger. It creates more demand because there's so much buzz around this product. Did you know when you set those policies up that way, kind of that path, the direction that you were headed down, or has it just kind of flowed that way for you?

It definitely kind of flowed. As I was learning about the industry with wholesale and margins and all that kind of stuff, I started out fully retail, selling them for direct to the consumer, first via a Facebook page, then on my website that I had made before I had any store accounts. So I had, like, this little nest of loyal followers on the retail end. And it grew over time. And then slowly as stores started adding, you know, my retail side grew as well. I didn't want to give that up. These are the people that. That my company exists because of them, you know? And so, you know, there's different. There's different ways to look at it. I know some stores feel like if you're a wholesaler, you should only wholesale. But there have been many times that we will do things like do an event in an area and maybe sell, you know, A certain number of bags. Well, then we leave, the event goes away and people are hungry for more. Where can I get these? Oh, my gosh. Who sells them locally? And I think a good evidence of that is, I mean, my office is here in Conroe, Texas. There's a boutique here called hello Beautiful Boutique. I love those ladies they have. That's where I get all my Kendra Scott, all my good stuff. But even with my office being where people can buy stuff, being five minutes from their location, in December alone, they sold 900 makeup junkie bags.

Wow.

So 900 for Christmas. I told my husband I'm the only woman in Montgomery county not getting one of these bags for Christmas. So that just goes to show I do full retail on my website and in person. And they're killing it because they have their own customer base. Their customers love them, their customers trust them. And I think that if I continue selling retail on my site, it will push people towards the stores. Because first of all, my stock is always low. My seamstress time is tied heavily up with filling store orders that come in on order forms and what we call an mto, a made to order. So whatever's left, we throw it on the website. So that leaves for. That leaves them hungry for more and they go after the stores trying to get what they want. So. And I think many of my stores can vouch for the fact that they get customers from all over contacting them. Do you have this bag? Do you have that bag? So we did consider going only wholesale, but the need is there. There are some customers out there that don't shop at boutiques or don't have a boutique home that they shop at. And we want to cater to everybody.

Absolutely. Let's talk about the. In terms of wholesale retail, just product development today, the need of having your work protected. You talked about having your patent and trademark attorney. As you are speaking to others who are listening to this, who are designers or they have products, what would your advice be to them? Just about entering the wholesale market with a product and making sure that your work and your intellectual property is protected?

Well, I think that this topic of discussion in our industry, it's definitely a hot topic, kind of like politics. You know, sometimes I feel like I should go Dolly Parton and say no comment. But definitely I feel that if you're going to be a wholesaler, you're either going to be a wholesaler or a designer. And a wholesaler. If you're a designer, you need to come up with products that are original products that are not mass produced in the market yet that are original. Otherwise if you are just going to copy a product and sell it, you're just a wholesaler. So I think that you have to differentiate yourself. Right? First of all, I also think that there's a huge trend in the market or for copycat products because you have higher price points. Lower price points. Everybody wants style. We get that. I mean, Kendra Scott, you can get knockoffs, you know, at grocery stores of hurt earrings for $5, they'll turn your ears green and they don't come with a lifetime warranty, but they do exist. So I am aware that that is something that is prevalent in the industry. I just think that the more people that make the shift to try to be original and independent, that it'll only better them in the long run because then if they have a great idea, they don't have to worry about it. I also fully believe in legal protection. Trademark, copyright, design, patents. There's people, it's kind of like, like I joke, it's like a sign on the fence that says beware of dogs, beware of patent. You know, do you really want to cross that fence and see what that dog has to say? It's a matter of how bold is the person copycatting and what, how far will they go to get to ride the coattails of your product, you know?

Yeah, absolutely. So true, so true. And you know the thing I think that excites me about this, I just talked about this yesterday doing another podcast episode. I was talking about how the Internet is the thing that makes it so easy for people to go be over inspired, right. With a couple clicks of a mouse, they can find someone else's idea and try to copy it. So that's the downside. But the upside is because of the Internet we also can build community of like minded people like what we do at the hub. And within that community you can bring people together who believe in original design and who believe in that protection and who believe in supporting each other. And so within another couple clicks of a mouse, you can rally a movement of people around you to help support you and stand up for you when those occurrences happen. Wouldn't you say?

I could not agree with this more. And part of that community feel that protection you're talking about for me has come from the hud. We've definitely had a handful of people, you know, making my product and you know, not on a large scale, but going in the back room and making some up and put them in the store and we, you know, Served paperwork. But the biggest army that we have is my hub accounts and my friends in the community, you know, going on there and saying, you guys may want to contact makeup junkie. You know, this looks very similar, and we kind of have 100% success rate with having their copycat products removed from. From social media, things like that on the smaller scale. So I do agree that, gosh, it takes a village, and I am thankful I am part of a good village.

Absolutely. I think kind of on that note, too, just in terms of collaboration, I know you work with a lot of other wholesalers and creatives to collaborate, as well as influencers and endorses that sort of thing. And I always tell people, in terms of marketing, you know, collaboration is the future of what we're doing here. Right. It's not about what you know, but it's about who you know and how.

You can work with them.

So how have you used that in your business to kind of continue to spread the knowledge of your company?

I think we. We have two different approaches. The first approach is trying to collaborate with people that fit our market customer. So, for example, you know, people who love makeup, who love, you know, travel, all that kind of stuff is our ideal customer. Well, we do collaborations with makeup artists a lot who give away a free makeover. So the customers will say, whoever orders on our website between this day and this day and puts the makeup artist name in the notes, you're going to get entered in a contest for a free. You know, some of These makeovers are 3, $400. So for a free makeover with them. And so, you know, we get exposure from the makeup artist, they get exposure from us, vice versa. We also believe in philanthropy, marketing, meaning I feel like the more we give back, the more that comes back. My accountant, even last year, she was like, no more charity campaigns. Sorry, Janet. Just kidding. She's so sweet. But really, you know, this is a business, and we have bills to pay. So basically, we have done partners with autism campaigns. We do cleft palate for my niece. We do breast cancer. We sponsor the local school district special ed. We sponsor the local school district pride lunches. Anything we can do to get our logo on a billboard, so to speak. But while helping people, I try to say yes, partly because I think that if you're successful and you're not giving back, that there's a piece missing there. And partly because we have been so blessed. I just want God to know how much I appreciate it, and I want to give back as much as I can. So we work with local organizations for charity. We also work with influencers for. Just basically for marketing.

When you think about tithing in that way and just the growth of your business and how that's gone on, do you feel like your why behind what you do? I mean, obviously, you sell a bag for makeup. That's a great part of it. You're serving women. But obviously, there's a greater mission behind the company. Can you talk about that?

Yeah. This is something that might even make me emotional. Nobody can argue that this opportunity was laid at my feet on a silver platter, but that's all it was. It was an opportunity. The growth happened from the work, and I knew that he wanted me to do something bigger with it, because why else would something so miraculous happen so quickly, you know? And there are times, I mean, like, my niece who had, you know, a cleft palate. My sister. I remember that day, her bawling. And now my niece is 5, and she was our cover girl for the cleft palate campaign. We raised thousands of dollars through her bag that she designed, and we donated that to help a family who needed it for surgeries and stuff like that. Like, here I go. But when you talk about moving mountains, that term that we all use, moving mountains, that's the kind of mountain I want to move. Yeah. So sorry.

No. I have goosebumps just listening to. Because you're absolutely right. It's not. We all have opportunities to do something right, and it takes a certain amount of hard work and ingenuity that we come up with on our own. But I am right there with you. I firmly believe that what you create with that opportunity is going to define what happens next. So you've completely nailed it. So let's go. Let's switch to some personal questions. Sound good?

Yeah.

So if you didn't own makeup junkie bags, if you weren't doing this, what would you be doing?

Well, I really enjoyed speech pathology, which is why that was my career choice for so long. But if I could do anything I want, I would want to be a professional organizer. Really? Oh, my gosh.

You need to come to my house.

I need to come to my house, too. Practice what I preach. But I find so much peace in organization and decluttering. It's like, literally, like, I feel like it's cleaning my soul out when I throw things away. Oh, that's awesome. If I could pick anything, that's what I would do.

I'm impressed by that. I think there's some people listening that are raising their hand Right now, like, amen. Clone yourself. How about your favorite book?

Okay, so asking me to pick my favorite book is torture because I am a bookworm. I like fiction. I think to me it feels like watching a movie. You escape for a minute. And I go through like a book a week on my Kindle, so I can't. I cannot really give you a title. I follow Reese Witherspoon's book club religiously, though, and I've read everything on her list. So if you're looking for a place to start, there you go.

How do you find time to do that? I'm impressed.

I don't know. It's become a therapeutic way to fall asleep at this point. I can't fall asleep easily unless I've read at least a few pages. It's how I shut my brain off. If I try to lay down at night without, you know, taking my mind somewhere else, I will think about work. I will pull my phone out and go, well, let me just see if that person emailed. Well, let me just see. Check on that one store. So I think it kind of became a way for me to shut my brain off. But I enjoy it. So it's like my daily ritual now when I go to sleep.

There you go. I like it. How about, where do you go to learn? Is there a favorite YouTube channel, podcast, mentor, that sort of thing?

Honestly, anything goes. I. Everything I read, I try to evaluate the source and see where it's coming from. I read anything from, you know, Wall street stuff, it's like legitimate fact based stuff to, you know, business for dummies on Google. If I want to know something, I Google. I don't just sit there and go, well, darn it, I wish I knew that you can find anything you need on the Internet. You truly, truly can. Now if you. If there's a concept or something that I can find online that I don't really understand, sometimes I'll reach out to people, hey, help me wrap my brain around this. But I teach myself every day. I literally, I Google every day something about business, something about marketing, something about staffing, something about reducing overhead. No matter where in the scope of business it is. I teach myself something on the Internet every day.

Such a yes. Amen. And if you're not learning, you're not growing right as you scaled. This kind of brings me back just to the thought of how fast you've had to scale. Do you think the biggest challenge or the thing you've had to learn the most about along the way is hiring and staffing just to keep up with that.

Absolutely. Because it doesn't matter how. You know, I think we have a very fun work environment. I mean, we cut up a lot, we work hard, we cut up a lot. We'll get a giant roll of bubble wrap and run and belly bump each other. I don't know. Just weird things happen at the Makeup Junkie warehouse. So also finding people in general who have the same passion as you, finding people who are going to pick up the phone to a potential customer, hey, thank you for calling Makeup Junkie and try to execute it the way you would. There's a lot of good people out there, but are they good for you and good for your business? And, you know, I've been lucky thus far. My girls are amazing. My wholesale accounts compliment them constantly. I get emails. Oh my gosh, you know, so and so I talked to Jen, I talked to Dawn, I talked to Heather. Wow, they're amazing. Stuff like that, which makes me proud. But when we get into a bind where we can't do all the work ourselves because there's not enough manpower, I call my husband, I call my family, they help out. Because sometimes you can't hire good people overnight. It takes time and that's hard. Trying to figure out, you know, salaries and hours. And one week we may have boxes stacked to the ceiling and then the next week I'm like, is there a recession that I'm not aware of? Because there's like 10 boxes in the hallway. So trying to gauge, you know, having the manpower when you need it but not wasting the overhead when you don't need it. You have to find that balance.

Absolutely. So what scares you the most? Snakes. Payroll taxes or Internet trolls?

Taxes. Taxes. You know, because with, with great success comes great taxes. That's my quote of the month of April. So I think that, you know, realizing just how much goes away of the income is scary. We're a cash based business. We don't have loans, we don't have lines of credit. We just used our profits organically grew. So when you run on cash, and then in April, the government says, and I'll take a hefty piece of that, you know, then you kind of have to, you know, go into your frugal mode. You know, like, maybe we don't buy lunches for everybody as often. Maybe we buy the cheap tape, not the good stuff, stuff like that for a while. So taxes scare me, but I think if you're smart about it and you tuck away what you're supposed to put it out of Sight out of mind every month, like it's not even there. You won't get that slap in the face come tax time, like many small businesses do, you know?

Yeah. Isn't it funny? And I even think about this, just going through taxes myself. Just the change in mindset, like living on, starting a business, having zero, not making any money, to scaling and growing a business, and just the change in perspective it gives you on the government and your accounting and all the above. It's a big difference, isn't it? Yes.

I mean, never in the past would I have written a letter to Congress supporting small business tax cuts. But I have my pencils nice and sharpened now, you know, and you also. I also consider when I started in the business and we saw great success, I'd be like, oh, my gosh, follow this income. I can support my family. This is amazing. And now, of course, every time we, you know, hit huge sales, I'm like, that's not all mine. That's not all mine. Put that away. So you definitely have to change the way you think and the way you look at, you know, the finances of the business.

Absolutely. All right, well, before we kind of wrap up with our final question here, I want to go back to your family. What it was like sitting at the kitchen table with your husband and your kids, and now you're running this huge, successful business. I think the one question I hear most often from all types of business owners and being a mom myself is, how do you find the balance between your personal life and your business life? And how do you raise kids and be a mom and find peace and balance in both areas? What do you see your life as in that regard?

I think that somebody who grows quickly, I think that that's something that has to happen organically and through, basically through the school of hard knocks. And I'm not gonna, you know, say it was roses. From the beginning, my house was a wreck. We were exhausted. My husband was working full time, and we were up till 2 o' clock in the morning. Shipping orders. You know, the girls always knew, mommy's at the table sewing. Mommy, do you have to? So there were things like that that were hard in the beginning. We've grown from that. Hiring staff and having help has given me back my life. I can honestly say I have my life back. But having a business never goes away. You know, it's something that needs attention every single day. And so you just have to figure out which part of the day will least distract from your family time, whether it be 5 to 6am with a cup of coffee while everyone's sleeping. So you don't pull from the precious time you get with them, you know? Absolutely. I just. I think that also having them be a part of it. Like, my girls and my husband are up at the office helping me all the time. So doing things together definitely helps with that. So I remember when we first started, and we didn't have much money, obviously, and I knew people were wanting the bags. Wanting the bags. My husband had an old truck, and he had saved up just a couple thousand dollars to buy himself a new truck. And I remember sitting on her bed, and I said, I just don't know how I'm gonna, you know, buy all this fabric and do all this stuff, because I can't charge people till I make it. And he's like, do you really think you can sell these? And I said, yes. And he gave me that down payment for his truck. And I believe in everything comes full circle. And not. Not even a few months later did he get a new job, and they gave him a company vehicle, so he didn't even need the money for the truck. And it was. There's things like that that happen, and I. A series of very grand coincidences is what I would call the last 16 months of my life.

Pretty amazing. So as you think about the future and where the business is going, let's just fast forward all the way past that, right? Let's say that the business is now sold, you had a grand exit, and you retired, and your kiddos are grown, and you now have grandkids, and you're sitting there on the porch one day with your grandkids on your lap, and they're asking you about makeup junkie bags and what that time period in your life was like. But more importantly, what do you want them to remember about this period of your life? And what do you want that legacy that you leave to be for those who come behind you as they reflect.

On what you've created? That's a tough question. Well, I definitely. I would definitely want people I love who are, you know, who are young and growing to understand. You know, how we always tell our kids and grandparents tell their grandkids, you can do anything you want to do. And it's become an American catchphrase that we're supposed to tell little ones that we love, that I want to tell people, you can. You can absolutely do anything you want to do. Opportunity is just a thing sitting there. You have to go pick it up, and you have to make it grow. And in Life. Anything that you put effort into, it's going to grow, you know, whether it's business, whether it's your health, no matter what. And I can't say that wholeheartedly enough. I also want my hope for my brand, if it outlives, you know, decades, is that the quality and the customer service will always still be there, no matter who's running the show. I mean, have you ever heard of Chick Fil A? All the moms are like, oh, I love it. Chick Fil? A. The reason that people go there is because their customer service, I mean, the lines are quick. They'll save tables for you. They give, you know, free food to cops and teachers and everything. They're known more so for their customer service than for their food. And I really hope that that integrity stays with the brand and that I can tell my grandkids, you know, look what grandma did. Let me help you. You can do what you want to do. You just have to do it.

Absolutely. It's the true American dream, isn't it?

It really is. And I know that sounds, you know, very cheesy and very corny, but there's no other way to describe it, Ashley. There's not. We wake up every day going, well, here we go. This is unbelievable, but it feels like every week I open my email or I check my call log and there's another amazing opportunity someone has given my company to grow or to be put out there in the world. And it's just astonishing the opportunities that we've been given. And we have lots of irons in the fire for this year, so stay tuned.

I know you've got some big announcements you're excited to make, so we're crossing our fingers. We get to make them at the Boutique Summit, right?

Yes, we are.

Awesome. Well, last bit. I just am dying to know which makeup junkie bag you currently have sitting on your bathroom counter.

Okay. That would be the Cabernet bag. It is a wine colored bag. It's very dimensional. Not like our Merlot bag. That's just like a solid matte color. It's a very dimensional, like, purpley kind of wine color. It was. There's this luxury discontinued warehouse where I can get, like, super expensive fabrics for super cheap because they're discontinued. And I got it from there. I think I only made like 60 in existence, and I hope there's women out there who have one cheering right now that they have one. But so that is sitting on my counter right now. It is my absolute favorite. It is just beautiful and timeless.

Perfect. Well, Meredith, thank you so much for coming on the show today. It is just such a pleasure to get to chat with you and to get to share your story. You are such a light for all kinds of women in all walks of life, in business or not. Thank you for who you are and just for being a light for what you believe in. It's so appreciated.

Well, thank you guys for having me on here. I look forward to meeting everyone and speaking at the Summit and I'm proud to be in the member of the Hub. It's just done nothing but propel my business and I hope I can get back one day.

Hey, thanks so much for listening to.

The show this week you guys.

I hope that you love this episode with Meredith. Isn't she awesome?

We are so lucky to have her.

As a part of our community at the Hub and I'm just so proud of her business to see her continue, continue to grow and flourish the way that she has. I want to pause for just a minute this week and thank our Listener of the Week for the show who subscribed to the show and left a rating and review over on Apple Podcasts. This week's Listener of the week is 513 studio. Who said this podcast and membership have been a godsend for my business. The insight, available resources and camaraderie are always right on time. I highly recommend listing listening. I know you won't be disappointed. Thanks again 513 studio. And to everyone who's taken the time to leave a review a rating and subscribe to the show. It means a ton to our entire team this week. Our team at the Boutique Hub headquarters are a hustling and a bustling as we get ready for the 2018 Boutique Summit, which makes me nauseous is right around the corner.

We have so much to do.

If you enjoy this interview with Meredith, buckle up because you already know that.

She'S going to be joining us again.

As a keynote speaker this year at the event. And Makeup Junkie is back again as a sponsor, so you better be prepared for some pretty awesome swag bags. Now, if you weren't lucky enough to snag a live ticket for this year's Boutique Summit, no worries. We're going to be releasing very soon your chance to watch the 2018 speakers through our digital recordings that cover all speakers, breakout sessions and our events at the Summit. If you want to get on that waiting list and not miss your opportunity.

At a ticket, make sure you check.

Out the show notes from this episode to be notified when tickets go live. There's going to be a link that you're going to want to put your name and email address in so you can sign up. You can also find that link over at our 2018 Boutique Summit event on Facebook. Now, if you signed up for that.

Wait list, can I just let you.

In on the little secret? You're also going to have an excellent, exclusive opportunity to hear from all of the 2017 speakers from the Summit as well. That's right, a little blast from the past that I know you guys are going to appreciate. Okay, guys, I hope you have an awesome week ahead. That's it for this week, but we will see you right back here next Tuesday for another episode of Boutique Chat. Hey guys, thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope that you loved it.

It.

Don't forget to hit subscribe and leave a rating and review down below for a chance to be one of our featured listeners each and every week. For more information on our spirit of community over competition and how to access complete show notes and bonus downloads from our guests, head on over to the boutiquehub.com and join the community. We'll see you next week.

Sam.