#330: Key Principles For Boutique Owner Success

Hey, it's episode number 330, and I'm telling you what, you guys. Today's guest I have wanted to have on the podcast for a long time because she's been in this industry for a long time. She is someone who I feel does a really great job of leading by example and also at the same time, I'm going to say leading from behind the curtain. So sometimes you hear successful boutiques, the owner has to be at the forefront of everything that's done well. In this case, the. Holly McClanahan, the CEO and founder of the Vintage Leopard, has done a really great job of building a business that is sustainable and growing without her being the face of the company. So today, Holly's going to talk about how she started the Vintage Leopard, how she grew the Vintage Leopard, her experience with Facebook ads, how she's now grown this to be a family business, and what she would do if she had to do it all over again. I love Holly's advice. She is such a genuine spirit, and I hope you guys get a ton of value out of this episode. Holly is a former speaker at the Boutique Summit and a longtime member of the Boutique Hub, and I'm so proud to watch her business grow and to have her share her experience with you guys today. So please Enjoy episode number three thirty with my friend Holly McClanahan, the CEO of the Vintage Leopard.

Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works for 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.

Hey, guys. Welcome back to the podcast. This week, I am back with, I think, just one of the leading ladies of the boutique industry today, and I have to highlight this Holly before we formally tell your story. We both have bareback riders in our household, and I feel like that's a pretty rare feat today to even know what bareback riding is in our industry. But to have two cowboys that are bareback riders. Right?

That's very true. Mine's not walking very good these days just because he's getting older, you know.

Just what happens after the sport is over. Right? The things we don't talk about.

Yeah, it's a little hard on the body.

A little hard. A little hard. Mine wishes he was a Team Roper back in the day. But unfortunately, you can't change that now, right?

They probably wouldn't have listened anyway.

Very true. Very true. Well, Holly, I'm so happy to have you on the show so we can tell your story. I think you've got so, so many unique angles that your business brings to this industry that we all can learn from. And for those of you that are listening, Holly, the founder and owner of Vintage Leopard was also a speaker at the Boutique Summit. Was that in 2019, I believe?

Yes, I think so. I think that's right. Gosh, that was a while back, huh?

I know. It feels like, you know, anything like BC before COVID Our world has changed so fast. So BC and whatever we're going to call this point after Covid. Well, as we get started today, Holly, I just want to jump back. I know you have been in this industry for a long time. You've got a lot of history. You built a business that is sustained and had to evolve as it's gone. So I would love to hear just the founding story of how did you start the Vintage Leopard and. And how you got growth in the early days.

Okay. Well, it. Actually, how I started was a complete accident. It was back in 2011 and my daughter, my oldest daughter was in high school and, you know, she was kind of starting to drive and need money for this and that, thinking about college. And I kept thinking, well, you know, there's things that we could do. It was back when Facebook kind of was new and they, you know, all the towns, the local areas were starting off the for sale groups, you know, for selling. Canadian was ours and that sort of thing. And I thought, well, you know, I've got my sales tax number. We could just order a few little things and maybe she could sell them on there and deliver them and give her something to do and have some extra money. So we started doing that. Of course, she wasn't as excited to do it as I thought that she would probably should or probably would be or should be. So we kind of did that sort of thing. And then, you know, I kind of felt like I was crowding the for sale group. So I thought, well, maybe I'll just make a page, you know. So I made a page and we just kind of started adding a few things, maybe like one or two things every week. And mostly I just sold it like to locally to local people. And then, you know, I started posting in other towns and kind of just really just random things of jewelry or T shirts or hats that. That sort of thing. Then a friend of mine asked me, she sent me a picture of a sneaker, this real cute like leopard tennis shoe, and asked if I could find this particular shoe. So I found it and it was like a pre order item, which. Goodness, that's a whole nother story. But so I started, you know, posting this shoe that was going to be coming and people kind of just went crazy over it and it was taking up a lot of my time and I was working, you know, I worked in the oil field. So I was working, you know, 8 to 5 and I didn't have time to do it. You know, I was going home in the evening and sending invoices for people wanting this particular shoe. So I thought, well, you know, it would be nice if I had like some sort of, you know, like a website or something where it could process their payments. And I didn't have to do it, I didn't have to invoice people and make sure they paid and that sort of thing. So I started a website and I put this one shoe on it and that was the only thing that was on this website. So I'm kind of always just like amazed that people actually went there and purchased it knowing that was the only thing on there. But they did. And so this shoe kind of went crazy. We sold a couple thousand pairs of those over like, I don't know, three or four months. And so when that was over, and of course it was a pre order and it didn't come when it was supposed to, which was a whole lesson learned that I just don't do anymore after that, you know, I was like, gosh, I need another something big, like another big item. So I just happened to stumble upon this other shoe and this other shoe company, excuse me. And it was a wedge with fringe on it and it just went crazy. And you know, it was back in the time when Facebook first started and you could post something and you know, millions of people would see it. You didn't have to worry about, you know, who was, all the algorithms and that sort of thing. So I just, you know, you posted something and everyone saw it. And then I noticed like once and I posted it. There was like a little button at the bottom that was, you know, said boost your post. And so I just started kind of playing around with it. I didn't know anything about it, but again, it was a long time ago and things were quite a bit simpler. So I started paying, you know, so much per day for, for this picture to be boosted and it just, you know, There was, like hundreds of orders coming every day for this shoe. It was just crazy. And so, you know, the shoes would come in and I'd work during the day and I'd get home. And I had, you know, my daughter in high school, I had a son in kindergarten and a two year old. And we all just sat in the living room at night and taped shoeboxes over and over and over, just for hours. My kids would beg if they could do their homework. And I would say, well, you know, let's do, you know, 10 more boxes, 10 more orders, and then everyone can do their homework. And it just kind of started taking over our life. Our living room, I mean, the hallway. We had shoes everywhere. And it was great, but it just kind of got, you know, a little out of hand. It's not anything I was particularly trying to do. It just kind of grew. So, you know, we did. We did really good with that shoe. They stopped counting. It was. The brand was. This was Spica. And they had messaged me one day and said, gosh, you know, you sold like 8,500 pairs of these. You, like, surpassed Amazon. And I mean, it was over, you know, probably a year worth of time. And so it just. It just was crazy. So, you know, it kind of got to the point where I was like, I've got to, you know, either stop doing this and just do my job or stop my job and just do this. I was, you know, working all day and coming home and doing orders, like, all night long. So I just decided to bite the bullet, quit my job, started doing this full time, moved it out of my house and found a place in town. And, you know, within a few months, we grew out of it. So we moved into another place, and then we grew out of it within about six months. And so we just moved. Well, not just. We moved into a warehouse probably two years ago, so. And it's actually kind of starting to get a little bit full, too. But I don't think I have any more options around here. So we're. We're doing the best that we can. But again, like I said, it was just really an accident. I kind of fell into Facebook at the right time when things were super easy. There weren't a whole lot of online boutiques at the time. I mean, there was, you know, something, but I. I don't feel like there was as many as. It's kind of grown to be now, and so that helped with me being able to grow, and everything just kind of fell into place. So anyway, that's how we got started.

I love that. I think the best things happen by accident, right?

They do. They do. I think so, too.

I am curious, and I know there's so many boutique owners, I'm sure, that are listening, going, oh, man, I wish I was here when Facebook, you know, had just gotten started and I could have that organic reach and that growth. So we'll talk about in a minute what it's like to maximize engagement and traffic and growth today. But before we get there, I want to go back to something that you said, because I know you're like the shoe queen. Like, you kill it in shoes and you bring up a really interesting perspective, and that's going deep versus going wide. It seems to me like you did a really good job of finding a hot product and really exploring exploiting that hot product, which I think so many boutiques today, I don't know that I would call this a mistake, but a common scenario they find themselves in is they want to go wide and they're just. Just trying little tidbits and categories and, you know, buying trend and just buying one, maybe two packs. But I feel like it's never enough to really get ahead and create the momentum and the growth like what you did. So tell me your thought process and if you still really focus on going deeper versus wider and. And how could someone learn from that perspective?

For sure, at the beginning, I went deeper. I just kind of got one product and just kind of went with it. As time has gone on, I have gone a little bit wider, but I still. I still order a lot of certain items so that I can go deep on some things. And it just you know, kind of seems like, especially with shoes. It seems like shoes and then T shirts are probably our number one or top and number one and number two seller for sure, with shoes being number one. And so I do order deep when it comes to shoes just because that's, I would say, a majority of what our orders are. I probably don't order as deep as I did just because of everything that has changed. But if I feel like I've, you know, an item is going to be a super hot item, I do order pretty deep. And just because that's worked for me in the past and it doesn't always mean that it's going to. I have lots and lots of failures, probably lots more failures than successes. But I think that's kind of how I learn or, you know, that's. By doing it the wrong way is probably how it teaches me maybe to do it the Right way or to do it different the next time. I would say that's probably taught me the most is by doing something wrong.

Yeah.

Or unsuccessfully. That's such a good point. Yeah.

It's kind of like you just kind.

Of have to play it by ear. A lot of times, you know, I might think something's going to be a huge seller and so I order deep on it and maybe one person buys it, you know, or I think something's not really going to do very good, and so I might just order a case of it and, you know, it sells out within seconds and then I can't get any more. So it just kind of. It just kind of depends. You know, it's like you don't really can't ever pick for sure what people are gonna want.

Yeah. I feel like sometimes being a boutique owner is like a glorified gambler in Las Vegas when it comes to picking inventory.

Exactly. I completely agree. And sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn't.

The opportunity to fail fast. Talk to me about some of those failures that you have had along the way that you did learn the most from.

Probably my thing that I learned the most and it was, like I said right when I was first starting, was doing a pre order and just because, you know, it just doesn't work out the way that you think it does. And lots of people do pre orders and it works great for them. It just does not ever work for me. Like, when I did the pre order with the shoe, you know, like the shoes were supposed to come in like, I think, like October. Well, then they had the strikes at the ports, and so they were delayed by months and months and months. And, you know, there was people that were going to arrest me and throw me in jail because they didn't get their shoes.

It was just.

It was too stressful. And it's just something that I've. I've learned does not work for me. I don't know if I'm unlucky, but things when I've done that, they don't ever come when they're supposed to. And so I just don't do that anymore.

Yeah, and I echo that. We actually had a conversation about this a while back in the Hub, and I was shocked at how many people are really still using this model today. And some, I say, maybe haven't been burned yet. Like, they're still having good luck with it. And maybe it's because there's so many more apps and drop shippers and like, there's kind of a mini little industry that's unfolding around that business model. But man, if I could have a dollar for every time I've seen some terrible drama unfold around a bad pre order, I would be rich on that alone. Because there's always that one time that ends so badly it burns you for the rest of your life.

It does. Or, you know, it could be that it does arrive on time, but then you get it and it doesn't look anything like what it's supposed to look like. So just for me and my anxiety level, I think it's best that I don't put stuff online until I have it.

Yes, I love that. How about when it comes to failures around or lessons learned? Failures are always opportunities. Lessons learned around that period of time where you were scaling and growing and going deeper and reinvesting in inventory and getting into your warehouse. To me, that like puberty stage of business, once it's really started to grow and take off, really takes a lot of systems and processes. Was there ever any growing pains in there that you really had to learn from?

Oh, yeah. But you know, again, I think I was really, really blessed. Whenever I was doing good starting off, I still had my job and so we didn't rely on any of the boutique stuff, you know, for to live on or anything. So everything I made, I just turned around and sunk back into more inventory. I didn't have any bills or overhead because, you know, it was at my house and I didn't have any employees. And so I was really just really fortunate that I could just kind of use that money to keep growing. And so when I did get to the point of being able to get a warehouse, I didn't have any, you know, debt or any expenses. And so I feel like I'm fortunate in that aspect because, you know, a lot of people are, are just opening up a store and you've got, you know, you're just starting off a brand new business and you've got rent and utilities and employees and that sort of thing. And I was kind of fortunate that I didn't have to do that. So when I was ready to make that move, I was kind of established and I had a good income coming in from it. I would highly recommend, if that's something that anyone could do, to do that, not to just jump in, you know, to all this debt and brand new business. And you know, I just think it's, it's hard to succeed when you have all that stress on you if you have to make it work.

Yeah, 100% just taking that slow and not comparing your business and where it's at in its infancy to someone else's more advanced stages and feeling like you have to keep up for sure. If that was you today, like, if you were just restarting your business today and you know a whole other algorithm situation and you're struggling to get traction, how would you relaunch your business today? What is the strategy you would take with inventory and just how you would market yourself today, given the algorithm being different as it is now?

Gosh, you know, I don't even know. I wouldn't really actually even know how to. Where to start and how to do it different now. I have discovered that everything's way above my head. So I have people that know what they're doing, do those sort of things. You know, I was doing the ads on my own, and they did great in the beginning, but then it just moved so far above my head that I was wasting my money and didn't have a clue what I was doing. So, you know, now I have, like, a lady that does my ads for me, and she knows all the ins and knows all the outs and knows exactly, you know, how to spend less money, but make it more beneficial and get more turnaround and more conversions and more orders. So, you know, having. Having the people that you can hire that are experts to do those sort of things, but it's kind of hard to do that when you're just starting off and you don't have that income to be able to hire the people. I think, you know, just doing the best that you can and maybe putting aside a little here and there to maybe get some professional help, which sounds terrible, but I just feel like it's all just so complicated now, or it is for me, and there's people that can do a much better job at it than I can. So. And it's been hard for me to let those things go. I think once you start on your own, you do everything on your own. It's super hard to delegate to other people, but you just learn that you have to do that. You know, they might not do it the right way or the way that you think is the right way, but they can bring something to the table and they can help free up your time to where you can do other things that are more beneficial. So, you know, that's kind of things that I've done. I've tried to let things go. My daughter works for me, and she started. We do a newsletter, and I handed that over to her about a year ago. And then again, that kind of got a little bit over our heads with the conversions and all that. So now we have a lady that does our newsletters that can, you know, send certain ones to certain people that have expressed interest in dresses or shoes. You know, all that stuff she's an expert at. So, you know, it does cost a little bit more money to get the experts to help you, but really beneficially, I think it's more beneficial for you in the long run.

Yeah.

Kind of open the doors and look at other people that do these things for a living and know about what they're doing.

It's a good balance between do what you do best and hire the rest. But you probably had a lot of success, too, because you had to walk through fire first. Like, you built your brand first. You knew your customer, you knew the products. You were dangerous enough in Facebook ads that you knew what was working and what wasn't before you handed it off versus just handing everything off from the start.

Yeah, I think probably I just, you know, I kind of looked at it like, I guess I was gambling. I thought, you know, I'm not using this money, so if I lose it, yeah, it's going to make me sick. But. But, you know, I'm going to take everything I made this month and roll it into ads or more inventory or, you know, more types of advertising. And. And so, you know, it's not technically costing me anything as far as, you know, since it's just using that money that was coming in. So I did just really take a gamble, and I was just really fortunate that it paid off because it could have very easily not paid off.

Yeah. Yeah. Your business today, it's primarily like traditional E commerce. Right. There's not a lot of live selling. Or is that a part of your strategy today as well?

Well, you know, it's funny that you say that, because we don't do live sales, but we are actually doing our first one tomorrow. You know, I've watched all these other people just do amazing at it. And I'm just not a person that likes to be camera. I like to be behind the scenes and just kind of lay low. But, you know, everyone's talked to us about it for several years. You should do it. You should do it. And it just made me super uncomfortable. My daughter works for me and she loves. She's real outgoing. She's one of the mod or the main model of our clothes, and she was actually the one that. And she's kind of like me. She's not real Crazy about being in front of the camera live, but she was like, you know, I think we should give it a try. This is what everybody is doing. So I said, okay, you're, you know, it's your call. You're in front of the camera. So. So we've been working on getting all of that set up for the past month and, you know, getting the app going with. Because we had an app, but we, you know, had to switch it over to comments sold and just all that sort of stuff. We actually just got off a meeting a little bit ago, and so we have our first live tomorrow. I'm going to Oklahoma City where she lives, and we're going to do our first one. So we'll see how it goes.

I love that. Look at the evolution that's happening. And I really wanted to ask you about this by way of you've built this great business with E commerce alone, which I think says a lot about what can be done. I love that you're still trying something new, but I want to stay on this topic by way of building a business without you having to be the face of that. And I know you've got your daughter so she can step in and go live, but maybe if there's someone listening that's like, you know what? I really don't want to go live either. I want to build an E commerce business. Do you have any tips for them on. On how to stay true to what really works best for them?

You know, what I have learned the most is to not put all of my eggs in one basket, which I've heard, you know, my whole life. But really, when you think about it, it's. It seems to be pretty accurate with Facebook changes these days. You kind of don't know or. I feel like I don't really know where I stand with them always. So, of course, that's where I started. That's where our main advertising is with Facebook. But we also do, like I said, we do a daily newsletter, we have a text club, we have an app, and we're doing Google Ads. So I just, you know, we're doing Instagram. We started TikTok. I just feel like we should have several different ways of reaching people other than just Facebook, just in case something happened to it or in case something happened to any of the others. I just don't want to ever rely on one particular social network, you know, and so really, I just want to gain my customers and be able to get that relationship with them and, you know, kind of just do it. E Commerce. I just. It's just kind of how we've done it and it's just worked that way.

Yeah, I think that's smart because we've all seen the algorithm come and go and people losing different accounts. And so I think you mentioned earlier the email list and how important that is and the segmentation you're doing. And I mean, really, that's all you own is your email list and your text list. So making sure you're diverse is so powerful. I want to ask you, Holly, about just a inventory process that you have for new arrivals and how you're pushing them out on a weekly basis. I always think this is an interesting question because everyone does this a little bit different and what works for one may not work for another. So I always love seeing, you know, the flow of something comes in and then we upload it here and then we push it there. And here's how we measure success. It's not just by sales, but by traffic and these other KPIs. Can you kind of walk me through the back end of what that process looks like for you?

Sure. We have several new arrivals that we put on like every day and we just kind of started a new thing where we, like my daughter puts some on and I put some on. But we probably do around 10 a day. But we don't make them live until 5 o'. Clock. So we'll have, you know, all day long to add them and then at 5 o', clock, then they'll come live on the website and we'll start advertising, you know, on the social media that, you know, they're live and we just kind of want, you know, to be consistent. And that's kind of what I think is. Helps you be successful also is no matter what you do do the same thing every day. You know, it doesn't matter if you're doing it at 5 o' clock or at 2 o' clock or at 10.

O' clock in the morning.

Just whatever you choose to do, try to do it every day. So we're trying to do the new arrivals the same time every day so that people, you know, will kind of get trained. Oh, you know, it's five o', clock, they might have their new stuff up and you know, doing a newsletter every day or doing a text every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, whatever it is you want to do, you know, just do it every day or every week, even when you don't feel like it. Just, I think people kind of lose sight or give up on, on things when people aren't consistent. So I just feel like that's probably one of the most important things that I feel like has worked for us is that we do the same thing every day. Even though it seems like, you know, it might not be working, it usually does in the long run. People say that you have the same routine and. And I think they like, you know, they like that they know and like, with the lives, they know that their favorite boutiques are going to do a live on Thursday or, you know, two or three times a week. Whatever it is that works for you, just keep doing it. Because I think you lose people when you're not consistent.

Totally agree. And it feels like it's such a slow burn trying to get there, but always worth it in the long run. And we're such an instant gratification society anymore that I feel like our industry is so easy come, easy go. Right? It's really easy to start a boutique today. So really easy. Anyone can go to fashion go. Anyone can get the business license. But sticking through the hard part and continuing to show up even when you feel like no one's there and no one's watching, that's the hard part. And that's where success comes from.

And I think that goes against a lot of people. I think customers know that there's so many boutiques starting, you know, starting and stopping that they're not real trustful maybe. And so I feel like it does take you. It's a little bit harder for a boutique to start because, you know, there's been boutiques that are supposed boutiques that have scammed people. So I think people are a little leery. And, you know, they really have to follow a boutique for a while before they're going to order because they've been burned. So I feel like that kind of has worked against us because that sometimes us older ones and newer ones really have to prove ourselves to new customers because they're Larry. Which, you know, they should be, but. Yeah. So I feel like if you're consistent, then they think, you know, they're doing the same thing every day. I don't feel like they would be a scammer if. If, you know, they were this much into their business.

Yeah, completely agree. You know, what's ironically is this week I had a business magazine reach out to me that was doing. And it's a, you know, national international business magazine magazine, and they were doing a story on Instagram boutiques that were ordering things from, you know, like Fairy Season or Wish or whatever Sheen and then sending them out to Customers without even taking the tags out. And there was this huge blow up on it on Twitter about this whole thing. And this reporter had asked me, like, what's your opinion on this? And I went through several different scenarios that I don't necessarily think it's the boutiques issue, but now we have drop shipping and we have these big brands, you know, re cutting things that boutiques have already been selling and they're stealing their photos. And we've got so much education to do for our customers. Just like you said, they're leery because they've been burnt. They've seen these things blow up on social media and we have to prove that they can trust us over time. And I know you've been a part of that too. I think you've had your photos stolen umpteen million times and sold on these other websites, right?

I have. And you know, it's tricky because, you know, you want to watermark your pictures, but it's not really the look that you're going for. And so we just kind of take a chance. And my daughter, it was a couple months ago, called me and she was so excited, and I didn't understand what she was excited about. And she said, mom, I am famous. I made fairy or fair. She said, I am on there. They stole our picture. I was like, well, that's a good way to look at it. I mean, there's not anything you can do about it, so I guess we'll just go with it. And, you know, I think after you're around for a while, I think that your customers, once they. Once you've built that rapport with them, they'll say, hey, you know, that's not your picture. That belongs to so and so. You know, they start to. To kind of recognize your models and they start taking up for you. So I feel like that's kind of a success when people recognize that that's your photo and your name's not even on it.

Yeah. There's two ways to look at every situation. I love the optimism in that. What an opportunity. Is this happening to me versus is this happening for me?

Well, yeah, I know. Well, you know, you just figure it's free advertising, really. Yeah.

Right. Holly, as you look at you as an entrepreneur and the business that you've built, if I asked you, what is your superpower, what do you do really well, better than the rest, what would that be?

Oh, gosh. Well, I'm probably a good multitasker. The older I get, I think I'm not as good at it, you know, doing several things, you know, at the same time. We'll have orders, shipping out, printing labels, inventory's coming in, people are asking questions. Not that I don't get stressed out about it, but I usually handle it pretty well on top of my kids calling, can you get this for me for lunch? Can you? I gotta do this. You know, I think as a mom, you kind of just learn those things. And I think the older I get, I get more laid back about things. When I first started this, you know, gosh, if someone told me I ruined their Christmas because the shirt they got for so and so was not the right color red, you know, it broke my heart. And now I just kind of take it with a grain of salt and realize that, you know, some people you can't. You can't make happy always, and it'll be okay, and you can't fix everything. So I think getting laid, more laid back the older that I get has helped me a lot. And I handle things differently as well. You know, I don't. I mean, I still get my feelings hurt. You know, it never fails. If you're having a rough day, then someone calls or emails and, you know, says things that probably aren't very nice when they could have done it a different way. But usually when you don't react and you just kind of listen to what they have to say, even when you don't want to or even when you would rather say something ugly back to them, it usually all works out. So I feel like I can just. I'm kind of laid back. I try to always be positive. Maybe not inside my head, but I try to always come off as, you know, being kind because I want that for my kids. I want my kids to always try and be kind. So I feel like I have to start and show them the example. Even when you don't want to be.

Yeah. What an opportunity for them and to see how you've built your business all the way along and for them to be a part of it. But as you were speaking, I kept just thinking in my mind, man, this. This also means you do a great job of staying in your own lane. And whether that's with your customers or, you know, tough issues or even just watching the boutique industry grow around you as fast as it has, You've done a really great job of just maintaining, I think, kind of a leadership spot in the industry and staying in your own lane. Would you agree with that?

Aww, that's so sweet. Well, you know, I try really hard and, like, I said, I'm not like a feisty person, so things don't really bother, bother me. You know, if, if stores I've had, you know, several people ask me, you know, oh, this is so awesome. Where did you get it? I don't mind sharing that at all because I feel like I don't really see other people as a, as a competition, I guess, like we're all kind of doing the same thing and you know, if we have the same thing, their customers are going to buy it from them, my customers are going to buy it from me, so it's not going to hurt me or them, you know, that we all have some, something that's similar. So that, that thing doesn't bother me at all. And I feel like it helps you establish relationships with people that you can confide in. You know, I've got great friends that are boutique owners and, you know, half of them I've probably never met. But it's nice that I can say, hey, have you seen this shirt? This shirt, I think it's, you know, a china picture. But have you seen it as an actual thing? And you know, they can help me out or, or I can say, gosh, you know, I did this and I think I really did a bad job of it. What should I have done better? You know, because you, you tell your husband those sort of things at night and you know, I mean, they want to understand, but once you, you don't really get it unless you've actually done this boutique stuff. And so it's nice to have some camaraderie with people that do it and they can say, oh yeah, no, you probably shouldn't have done it that way, or you shouldn't have said that, or, you know, just to kind of help you out a little bit. So I don't know, I just feel like I'm all up for helping people and because, you know, a lot of people have helped me, a lot of people have helped me. So I feel like I should pay that back.

What goes around comes around. That's perfect. Well, Holly, I always ask this question at the end of the podcast because I think it's such a nod to why we all do what we do. And that's far beyond selling a product, right? Your lifelong dream probably wasn't to like kill it in shoe sales, but it's something much bigger than that. So just curious, I mean, you've got a 25 year old daughter and kids in high school and just that busy stage of life. As you fast forward a few years and you're a grandma and you're sitting on the front porch with those grandbabies, and you're talking about the business that you built and the life that you lived. What's the thing that you want them to remember most about you and how you lived during this time?

I've, you know, my biggest thing that I want my kids to remember me by. I want them to always say that I was kind, and I want them to say that I helped people that couldn't help themselves. And I do think that that's probably one of my favorite things about this business, is that it's allowed me to do things for people, maybe in the community or for our town that I wasn't able to do before. And so now, you know, we're kind of fortunate and we can kind of do kind things for people and, you know, they don't have to know about it. And it's just. It's just a good feeling. So I hope that my kids would say that, you know, she always tried to be kind and always tried to help others. And, you know, I don't want to be a person that's very successful but knocks everyone down. You know, getting to the finish line. I want to get to the finish line, but I'd rather cross it with all my friends and have people around me versus being alone.

Well said. Well, Holly, thanks so much for your time today on the podcast and for sharing your story and your wisdom and just those takeaways on what it means to live as a good person in this industry beyond just having success. I think he said a lot of great things today, and thanks for being a part of our community at the Hub. Thank you.

Thank you so much. I appreciate all you do, and I really appreciate the opportunity. I feel honored.

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