#615: Building a Brand: Lessons in Customer Service, Sales, and Overcoming Challenges
25 Jun 2024 · 38 min
Lindsay, founder of Lenny Co jewelry in Dallas, spent nine years as a professional race car driver before starting the brand from home. She discusses scaling from handmade earrings to wholesale, navigating a 10-week sales cycle, and her zero-questions-asked customer service policy.
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Business can be a lonely game, but it doesn't have to be. Welcome to Boutique Chat where we explore community over competition and how to scale your company with the balance and the happiness that we all seek. We'll hear from product based businesses of all types, retailers, e commerce and wholesale brands, along with industry experts shaping the.
Future of our industry.
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 just learned something that I did not know off camera, so I can't wait to start this conversation. Lindsay on camera so you guys can hear this. Too many of you, as I said in the intro, you know, have probably met Lindsay in person at market and know her wonderful brand and her style. But today I'm so excited about like the deeper things that we're going to.
Get to talk about.
So Lindsay, welcome to the show.
Oh, thanks, Ashley.
Oh, it's going to be so good. So in case anyone doesn't know about Lenny and company, why don't you start by telling us a little bit about the brand and then we'll dig into what came before the brand. Perfect.
Yeah. So Lenny Co is a Dallas based jewelry brand. We specialize in ultra lightweight sensitivity safe earrings. We primarily have earrings. We also have hair clips and handbags. But we love bright color and big fun statement earrings that are accessible and easy to wear.
I love it. You're. You always have my vibe. I feel like when I see you at market or I see you in photos, like I'm a dress in boots kind of girl and a big statement earring kind of girl. And that's you to a team. Every time.
Yes.
I'm like, oh, oh my heart.
I think I literally have one pair of jeans in my entire closet. Like I always wear dresses or athletic clothes. It's like one or the other. There is no balance. It is either full send dressing in boots, dress in heels, or like leggings.
I'm pretty sure if I lived in the South I could do that. The thing about the Midwest is it's just too cold. Yeah.
No, we have great weather in Dallas. Yeah.
So good. So you've got this great brand and you've been a part of the Hub for a long time as well. So I know lots of our stores have gotten to meet you. But as long as you've been around the Hub, I did not know your backstory. So take me back. How did you get into the. The earrings were your first product, correct?
Yes.
Okay, so Take me back. How did you get here?
Yeah. So my story is a little bit of a wild one and one that I. Most people don't know, like the full story of my history and my past. But for nine years of my life, starting at age 14, I was a professional race car driver. And it's as crazy as it sounds. I took three years off after high school before college and, and race professionally. I think we can get into a little bit more of the end of my career later on in our conversation because it's, you know, obviously probably the biggest part of that story. But ended up found myself in College at age 22 and quickly got into politics. I was a political science major and specifically political campaigns, which, if you don't know, is basically glorified sales. I mean, that's all that it is. After I got pregnant with our son, I decided that I really wanted to stay home with him and hang up that political cap, if you will, but really wanted to still do something that was creative. And so I literally started like making earrings on my couch during nap time. Fast forward about six years. I launched into wholesale and rebranded my company in January of 2021. And three years later, my husband works with me now. And this is a full blown family business.
Oh, I love that. That's incredible. I want to go back to just the starting the earrings from your couch piece, right? Cause I think a lot of creatives start making something at home in a similar fashion, right? At what point did you realize, oh, I've got something here, like this is going to catch on. It's something unique, something in demand. Like, were you a statement earring person before you got to that point? And then at what point did you go, oh, really going to grow?
Yeah, totally. Yeah. So I think the phrase start simply and simply start is so huge to so many creative people. I am a creative person, but more than I'm even a creative person, I'm a business minded person. So that is how my brain is wired. The creativity has to be a little bit more forced, whereas the business side of it comes more naturally to me. However, it did sort of take off like right from the get go, but it was just like on Instagram. And then we started a little website and it was exclusively retail. And then I had a friend who worked at a store here in Dallas. It's one of the oldest boutiques in Dallas and very well respected. And she was like, hey Lindsay, you should come over here and pitch your line to our owner. And I was like, oh my gosh, like Fangirling, big time. So excited, went in for that meeting and she was like, okay, so I brought my samples with me. Nothing was tagged, nothing was named, and nothing was priced. And she was like, you know what, what's our pricing here? And I was like, well, this is the retail pricing of like, of these pieces. And she was like, okay, so what's your wholesale pricing? And I was like, 30% off of retail. And she put all of my samples back in the box, handed me the box and was like, I don't think you have a clue what you're doing. I'm not in. I'm not interested. And I was like, like, floored. Got in the car, burst into tears, called my husband and was like, I don't know what I'm doing.
Like, I don't have a clue what I'm doing.
And this was October of. And I was like, so blessed by her frankness because she was right. I didn't know what I was doing. I hadn't really done my homework. I didn't really know, like, pricing structure. And so I completely rebranded my business. It was called Law Designs, which are my initials. Started calling it Lenny Co, which is my nickname. My high, you know, my growing up, that was my nickname was Lenny. So Lenny Co became the name and launched at January market. And it exploded, like, I think we wrote into like over 80 stores, our first market. And it just took off from there.
I mean, that's pretty incredible. But had someone not tough love. Well, I mean, had someone not told you no. I think that's like, I got to hang on that for a minute because we're so scared of hearing no. Like, don't get me on a soapbox, but I might stay on it. Anyway, about kids today, like youth today, as parents, we're such helicopter parents protecting our kids from ever being disappointed or ever hearing no. And because of that, they become adults and they don't know how to handle it. But no can be the biggest blessing if you let it. And you teach people resilience in the process. So you must have walked away from that meeting after you hung up with your husband and wiped away your tears.
And.
But you could either choose to get bitter or you could choose to get better. And you chose to get better. So how did you start to educate yourself? And obviously you also, knowing that you launched at a market, you had a lot to learn about markets and wholesale, but you also probably had a lot to learn about production. If you were hand making everything on your own, you had to be able to ramp up to take orders. And that couldn't be you doing it all by yourself, I'm assuming. Well, it was.
I was flying solo. I had one little helper that would come a couple hours a week. I was still hand making everything. And after that market, it's so funny, I look back now and you know, when you first get going, you're just doing the best you can, you know, and you're winging it. And so I was still making everything by hand, I was assembling everything by hand. And I took payment at market and like typically when you take payment, that means something's going to ship. And so a week later, you know, I'm getting all these phone calls from all of these retailers and they're like, how come my card has been charged and you haven't shipped my order? And I just like that component. I didn't know, but I just hopped on Google and figured out like, well, these are the margins, these are the products. I had changed a lot of my products from a lot of the handmade goods to pieces that I had designed. And then I had had a person who had a laser cut the pieces and I'd put them together. And so I very quickly learned by March market that my customers hadn't received like they had just gotten their January orders by March market they weren't ready to reorder. So I knew that that was how I needed to change the structure of, you know, my business altogether.
Yeah, so good. So you went back, you asked for help, you created some designs that were easier to flow through. What else do you think, like for somebody who's listening and they're like, hey, I, I have this idea and I want to start in wholesale too. What do you think are the other most important components that brand new wholesalers need to know that they may not already?
Yeah, I think that from that January market to that March market was even a bigger learning curve than from that first wholesale meeting to my first market. So I learned so much from the customer specifically and I think most importantly the sales cycle. So we try to keep our buyers, our retailers on a 10 week sales cycle. And so this is kind of where like the strategy of my political campaign background really comes into play because I think that a lot of people go in with like these great big ideas and these beautiful products and they are really frustrated when those specific products don't sell and then other things might. And so 10 week sales cycle, you need to realize that, that these buyers if, if you're going to charge them at market, the Goal is to get their product in their hands by week one. They have it shot in merchandise and on the floor by week two or three and then they have seven weeks to sell, sell through that product so that they can reorder at market. And that's how you build your business is that you keep your core customers happy and ordering five times a year at market with little fill in orders, hopefully between and then you build more new customers at every market. And so I think that the biggest hang up that I see with new brands that come to market is that they aren't getting the product in the hands of the customer fast enough. And so whether you need to outsource, you need to change manufacturers, you need to hire fulfillment or get into a three plus, like that is the most important factor. I think if you are going to have a successful business in wholesale markets.
I completely agree with that. And I'll add to that. Someone has to be managing customer service.
Yes.
Because I feel like I've seen so many brands even come into the hub and they have a great product and it catches fire, right. And they take all these orders and then boom. There's nothing like we've had to remove brands from the hub for doing this multiple times. And it's this one man show, maybe it's two people and all of a sudden they're getting all these customer service emails and they aren't communicating or there's just such long breaks in communication. And now I mean if a retailer has a bad experience, they talk like wildfire. It's not good. So what about customer service? How did you figure out how to handle that piece of your business as well?
Yeah, and you know, I don't want to like over spiritualize this but my faith is a huge part of my Life. In John 6 we see the most recognizable story in the Bible besides the birth and crucifixion of Christ and it's the feeding of the 5,000. And what do we see Jesus do over and over and over again? He met those physical needs and he fed these hungry people and they listened to him. And so I think that it is our calling and our job to take care of the people who trust us. And, and so for me it's a zero questions asked, like I don't care if a customer broke something in the store or they wore it 50 times and then it broke. It is immediate. You get a replacement item at no charge to you. And you, if you want to reorder anything at that time, you're getting free shipping. So we always throw that in there. Like, is there anything you need to restock on? You're going to get free shipping on this order. And it happens all the time. Like they, yeah, it's just a quick little upsell. Whether, like. And then we throw in freebies here and there. Somebody, you know, it was really, it was really sad for me. And it, it's hard to not take it personally. Like, when a product breaks, you get so upset. You're like, you know, this is who we are. And how come this one customer is having this problem, like, over and over and over again. But it happens, right? Like when you're dealing in high levels of volume, then you're going to have problems. And we had one earring that, the backs, the, the earrings, the stud kept coming off and it was happening across all channels. And, you know, it's like, you don't really want to do a recall because what if it's not a problem for some people? But we started giving, you know, we're replacing the item, it's been double checked, plus we're giving you something else. So just meeting those physical needs and no questions asked and doing it quickly. And my husband Jared handles all of the customer service. I did it for the longest time until I was kind of like, there's, you know, the more stores you're in, the more problems that sadly you're going to have just based upon volume. But it's the way we deal with those problems. We want people to have an incredible experience that, you know, a customer drops a clutch and it breaks in the store, they didn't get a chance to sell it. Not a problem sending you a replacement today. So that's really important to us. We put a lot of value on that. Does that answer your question?
Yeah, I think that was really, really important because it's overlooked. Right. And I like that you said, you know, you've taken yourself out of it because there are more problems. But also, do you ever find that dealing with customer service as the creative or as the owner can also be a little bit emotionally draining and it takes away from your creativity on the other side. Like, does that bother you along the way too?
I think so. I think that the way that I'm wired, I think pretty logically, however, it's hard to not get bogged down in that. And Jared, my husband, runs the brand with me and is such like a calm and steady influence in my life. And, you know, he'll remind me constantly, like, we sold 30,000 hair clips last year and we had what A dozen returns. Like, I know that those 12 emails, like, stay in your mind, but like, think about the, the ratio there. Like, that's solid. Like, that's really, really good. Like you're, you know, we're doing great. Like, we're, you know, there's going to be problems. Like, it's unavoidable. And so we have to compartmentalize those problems and allow them to make us better. And like you said, either bitter or better, you know.
Yeah, yeah, it's definitely a choice.
Yeah.
Something you mentioned a minute ago, that is a strength of yours and the lesson you learned at your second market was the importance of charging at market, but of course, delivering right away. I think that there and again, it depends maybe on what you sell. Like, large apparel brands are probably different than accessories. Right. Gift, it's all a little bit different. But there's this train of thought with some boutique owners that I should not give my credit card at market. Or I should say, you must call me in order to charge the card. But from a brand perspective, that's really like, you're a small business too. You can't expect to, you know, take the order and get the order placed immediately if it's not paid. So what's your opinion on charging at market and your best, like, relationships with retailers on how they provide their credit card? Like, what's the most seamless process for you?
Yeah, you know, I think that it is something that I really understand, like from the retailer perspective, you know, they're a little bit scared to give their credit card at market. However, we ship same day. So like our orders are going out while we're at market and we hear all the time my order got home before I did. And that is like the best possible thing. And we weren't always there. Like that wasn't always the place that we were in. But we changed the product that we bought so that we could. We changed the way we packaged it, we changed the way we assembled it. We outsource all of those things now. So I design and then everything assembled by a manufacturing team. And then we received the product ready to go. And then we hired a fulfillment person, Melinda, who comes in and daily. That's her job. Like she gets orders out. We thought about A3PL, but it's important to me to have a team and to have my product in house. And literally when I say in house, like we have a 1500 square foot studio in my house. My team is here. We ship orders out of here. Like, this is, this is home for all of us. But to get back to charging at market, I think if your orders are going out right away, you can charge at market. We have a lot of customers, and I think that this is a really great pointer for retailers. We have one of my best buyers, she gets her credit card company to issue her a temporary card. Every market that doesn't have any reoccurring charges on it in case her card gets hacked. And so that's what she uses to pay at market. It's brilliant. Like, so smart. But I think if you're fulfilling within seven business days, you can charge at market. And I'm working right now on a how to wholesale ebook of, like, the apps to use. We, we can. We hear all the time, like, people be like, I want to write an order, but I don't have time. I only have 10 minutes. And like, you know, they don't want to, like, wait around for you to write down their order. We have everything barcoded. We use scanners, we use an iPad. It's ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. We charge their credit card, they're gone. We can have somebody in and out in like five minutes. So it's really fast. And I think that they appreciate that efficiency. And I think that the ebook that we're working on right now will answer all those questions of like, what kind of barcodings app are you using? What barcode scanner are you using? How are you, like, what kind of point of sale are you using? How is it going through your website? We get all of that and it'll also be in the ebook, like, how to synchronize retail and wholesale website inventories into one central inventory. All of this will be answered in our ebook.
Have you thought about what it really.
Takes to scale, to break through where you're at right now in your business and overcome some of the most common hurdles that we see in businesses trying to just become more profitable or to build more time into their personal calendar and to get their life back while they run a business that can operate without them. Well, that's what we do inside of retail bootcamp here at the Boutique Hub. Two semesters a year, once in January and once in June. 14 weeks of live group coaching. And inside I want to share with you. There are some very common obstacles we see retailers facing that are simple fixes to help you break through to that next level. But it all has to come in order. You know, I often hear people say.
Hey, Ashley, should I just run Facebook.
Ads for more traffic? And they think that's going to solve all of their problems. But the truth is you can't run Facebook ads or add more traffic if you don't have the right products or know your customer or have a team and efficient processes built into your business. So inside of Retail Bootcamp there's a six layer strategy that we go through step by step with your business all the way from foundations and branding and your ideal customer to CEO and leadership management to building a team and profitability and being a profit first business understanding, inventory management in turn, retail math and formulas all the way up through sales strategy, e commerce, merchandising, all of the content management, management of all of your social media channels, emails, text, and of course Facebook ads.
But we saved the best for last.
So if you're interested in joining us and deep diving into scaling your business, no matter what you sell, and whether you're new or you're a multimillion dollar brand just trying to break through to the next level, Retail Bootcamp has something for you.
So check out our link in the.
Show notes and enroll in retail boot camp right now.
Awesome. We'll link that up in the show notes. That'd be super helpful for anyone who's interested. Yeah, for sure. Okay, let me go back to your political science background for a second.
Sure.
You talked about how many, I mean, I've heard you mention it a few times. How many different ways that's helped you and benefited you now? Like just the sales strategy side of it. I think that selling gets a bad rap for people because people have been sold to in not so great ways. Like we think of like used car salesmen. Right?
Sure.
What other sales strategies have you brought from that piece of your background that you think everybody can learn from that have really benefited you?
Yeah. Honestly, fulfilling a need. Like we hear all the time of like, I have a problem and I need a solution. And that's how we should really approach sales in the retail perspective. Like anywhere from the brand. Like, you know, a buyer comes in and they don't know how to reach the tween category and they want to have a little section in their store for tween. Tween is trending right now. It's insane. It's everywhere. And so helping them meet that need while still staying on brand for their store. And it's the same thing for a customer that walks into a retail store. Like they need an outfit for an event or, you know, they're a new mom and their body is changing and they, you know, want some new clothes. Like, these are all Problems. And I know they're okay, whatever, you know, not big problems, but like, these are problems. And we have the joy of, of, of meeting those needs and fulfilling those problems.
You know, it's so funny. My husband has been in sales his whole life before he came to work for the Hub. And it was like high level sales where it was like a 6 to 12 month sales cycle. Right. And so he would always say to me, he's like, ashley, sales is a noble process because you're just counseling someone through a decision that's going to solve a problem they have. Like, it's just, it is noble if you approach it in that way.
Yeah.
So I love that you bring that.
Up of it to be perfect. Like, you know, and, and like, I think there's a difference between like being salesy and knowing your customer, having a relationship with them and caring for them. And you know, I was talking to a dear friend, Tatiana, with Treasure Jewels, and she love her, I know, I love her single today, she's like so dear to me. And Tati and I were talking about how like sad it is when we see a buyer that we've worked with for so long, they're not ready to reorder or they, you know, they're just like, they're not ordering at that market jewelry. And so they like won't come by the booth because then they feel bad. And I'm like, I want to hug your neck. I want to know you, I care about you. Like, I don't just want your money. Like, I want, I want to see you like, you're my friend. This is my market family. Like, you better come and see me. You better come hug me. Like, I don't care if you write an order or not, you know?
Yeah, I completely agree. I even feel like that about the Hub, right? Like, if people still are not in the hub, there's so many people we have relationships with, with, and business is business, but life is life. And life is much more important at the end of the day.
Totally. Yes.
So good.
So, okay.
I'm always when I'm speaking to retailers, harping on average order value and units per transaction. And even this morning I was on retail bootcamp and I was harping on, you sell what you show. So I think a huge piece of that process for retailers is really getting good at merchandising and having multiple layers of pieces put together. And accessories are such a huge piece of that. So when you look across, like your stores, your customers, what do you feel like your most successful retailers have in common in terms of, like, just sell through and how they're utilizing accessories to really grow their business.
I think they have a strategy. Like, I think they're intentional and they have a plan. People that come to market and don't have an accessories budget or don't know what their plan is, like, we don't see them doing as well. We see them over ordering too deep into a season, and then they don't have any money left for accessories or they're scared to spend again. And so we tell people all the time like, that are, you know, just coming or just getting started. Order small and order immediately. So get started. Get started small. Like, we don't sell our product in pack sizes. Everything is individual because we want people to be able to sell through what they buy. And so, like, our opening order is $350 wholesale. And we tell people all the time we would rather you go wide instead of deep so that you can have a more. A better variety and then selling through your product. Whereas, you know, if you come in real hot and you're buying 10 of one thing because you love it or because it's pink and it goes with everything, like, you're trapping yourself if you're not ready for that kind of inventory. And from the brand perspective, this is kind of switching gears. I think that a lot of times brands get really tied up. And I spent so much time designing this product, and I brought it in in 30 different colors or 10 different colors, and I need this product to do well. And realizing that, you know, we have to take ego out of it altogether because really, we're not in this for fun. And I, yes, we talk about relationships and loving people well, and that's priority number one. But priority two is to be successful and make money for your family. I want my retailers to be successful, and I want to be successful as well. And so we have to take the ego out of, you know, I just designed this. I want this product to sell to. You know, what if it doesn't matter that one product is selling over another? Like, let's continue to bring in that product that's selling. And, you know, okay, I'm not a bow girl, but bows are trending. Like, let's keep this bow train going as long as we possibly can because it's working. People are loving it. They're buying it. So it's kind of a twofold answer.
I love that. I think there's so much truth to that. All. All the pieces. Having a plan, having a strategy, and taking the pride out of it. That's so good. All right, so we did not hit on the race car thing. We've got to go all the way back to the beginning because I really need to hear the end of the story about how your career ended because I have so many thoughts and follow ups on how this directly impacts so many business owners listening today.
No, totally. And I think that, you know, for me, my racing career was a both dark and really joyful time of my life. I was living out my dream, I was doing what I felt God had created me to do. And I had a relationship with the Lord, but I wasn't like transformed by the gospel at this point in my life. And, and so I think that, you know, for a very long time I felt like this was my mission in life. This was my dream. I'm going to just keep dreaming. I'm going to dream big dreams. And I still say that all the time, but for a very long time I believed that all of my worth was tied up in my racing career, that I had no value outside of that title, that my parents, my sponsors, my management team, my friends, guys that I was, you know, dating. Like, if I don't have this, if this isn't who I am, then what am I even worth? And so I really struggled with just my identity, being in my career and not seeing any value outside of it. And so when God finally, you know, it's funny, like he opens the door and we don't walk through it. And I tell people all the time, I know what it's like to live outside of the will of God and it is a really uncomfortable place to be. The Lord was closing that door to my life and I kept pushing, kept saying, I'm not ready, I'm not ready. And then finally when the door slammed shut, it was all. Everything came to a catastrophic end and it was devastating for me as a person. It tanked my self confidence, everything. And then I finally realized over time that my identity is not found in what I do. It's found in who I am as a child of God. And I'm not going to get overly spiritual on you, Ashley, but I just really believe that that oftentimes, whether it's politics. I wanted to go to law school and then I got pregnant, you know, and I wanted to, I always wanted to have my own business. But then I chose to be a stay at home mom and struggled again with, oh my gosh, I feel like I'm losing myself. Like as a mother, who am I even? And this struggle of identity is something that I think women and men across all walks of life experience of, you know, we put so much value into what we do that we lose track of what's important.
Yeah, I think women especially. That's such a good point. I think women especially struggle with that because, you know, if you choose to be a mom, your life changes. If you choose not to be a mom, your life also changes. Like, there's so many seasons of our life. And, you know, if I look across our industry today and I hear the struggles of boutique owners, you know, some are doing great and some this is a tougher season. But ultimately, when I hear boutique owners talk about their fears and their struggles, it is, you know, they're scared of failure. They're scared of, you know, this not working out because it has become so much of their identity. And I think, too, that's a big difference between people who are like, entrepreneurs versus people who are CEOs. And I talk a lot about, like, the shift in that mindset. Yeah, entrepreneurs make their business all about them. They don't know how to get out of that, that it's their identity. And CEOs have learned it's a game. I want to build this business, but I have to build this business in a manner that it can operate without me because I'm an individual, and I want to have a life outside of this thing. So, like, that's a journey we all must go on. But what would you say to, you know, a retailer or a wholesaler, anyone who's listening, that has, you know, unfortunately let their business, you know, become who they are, and they have a fear of, I'll say, failure because they don't know who they would be next. What advice would you give to them?
As a person who has started over many times, I can tell you that there is great joy and great freedom in a new beginning. And we often don't know what that looks like. We don't know. You know, we think we do, but we don't really know, like, what that looks like. And so I think. I think community is really important when it comes to this. I think walking alone is really dangerous. I think isolating yourself is really dangerous. I think in success and in failure, if you isolate yourself, then you are a target for failure. And so I think that we should have a circle yet, a small circle of people that we really trust that we go to in total vulnerability, and we share the good, bad, and ugly and. And allow them to provide counsel. Because if you're walking alone, and you're counseling only yourself. You're not going to meet your full potential.
So good. You can become such an echo chamber.
Yeah. Yeah. My friend was telling me this morning, I was talking to her and she was saying that there she, she heard this analogy about, you know, we have our lives and let's say they're in two rooms and you can walk into a room, into room number one, and there's post its all over the wall and on the post its there's negative thoughts and all of these frustrations and all of these fears and all of that. And then in room number two there's also post its on the wall. And perhaps there's not as many because life is harder or we're struggling, but on those post its are the things we're thankful for, the people we're thankful for, the things that bring us joy. And what if we chose to live in room number two and we chose to see the good, to choose joy. And you know, when it comes to moving on and starting over, like, is it a fear or is it a joy what you do? And I can honestly tell you that, like, I love what I do. Like I find great joy and great fulfillment in my job. That doesn't mean that's who I am, but I do get to delight in what I do. And there's freedom in that. You know, like, we don't have to be chained to it. And if, and if you're finding that your business is in room number one, all of the negativity, all of the frustration, like, what would it look like to choose room number two? Like, what would that look like for you? Do you know what I mean?
That's such a good analogy. And it also kind of goes to show the power of like, my mom always said this and I always rolled my eyes at her as a teenager, but she'd say, Ashley, you are who you hang out with. And I mean, that's life as a business owner. I know you mentioned Tati and you know so many other people that you're friends with, but you truly are the people that you are surrounding yourself with. I think that's like the power of the hub. And being like a member of the community to me is so important for that reason is because hopefully you're going to be surrounded by some really like minded people that are going to uplift you in good times and in bad, share and celebrate your wins and successes, but man, not ever allow you to be alone. And there's plenty of people out there that don't want that. They want to relish in the negativity and be in room number one.
It's true. And those are not the kinds of people that I want to spend my time with. And the same friend that shared the analogy with me said, you become what you behold. And I think that that is exactly what we're talking about. Like, you know, where are your boundaries with those negative people, those negative thoughts, and, you know, making the choice for room number one. Room number two.
Room number two.
Room number 2 is in room number 2.
That is so good. All right, Lindsay, so last question. You've been so gracious with your time today. This has been awesome. I was thinking as you were talking, like, man, she needs to write a book. She's so well spoken. I mean, you're gonna have an ebook. But, like, literally, this has been so good and so helpful for so many. So thank you for your time. But last question. So I can hear clearly, just as you eloquently speak about your faith and about your life and about the journey that you've been on, that, you know, your life is about far more than just the products that you're creating and selling. It's about much more than that. So I'm curious, as you think about your life 30 years down the road, and you're on this front porch and you're surrounded by your family, your friends, your kids, your grandkids, and you're reflecting on this journey that you've been living and the businesses you've built and all the way back to being a professional driver. What's the thing that you want them to remember the most about who you are and how you lived?
I think that I had great gratitude. Like, that's what I want. I want people to say, she was so generous. Like, that is the most important thing for me from, you know, giving financially and also physically. Like, I want there to be great gratitude marked by great generosity. And I think that that is probably the most important thing to me is that I give generously of my time and my money and my products. You know, I. I recently met a hub member who lived in McAllen, Texas, and she was talking about that her day job was being a border patrol officer. And I was so floored by her that I was like, I want to give you product for free. Like, I want you to take your order. Like, take these pieces, and they're yours. Like, and what else can I do for you? Like, I want to pray for you. Like, I want to know your story. I want to follow you. I shared her boutique with. And I'm not saying, like, we do this all the time, but, like, I want to be marked by great generosity and great gratitude.
So good. So helpful. You'll have to share with me who that is Now. I'm curious to follow along. So good. Okay, Lindsay, I guess there is one last question, right? The ultimate question. Who has more speeding tickets, you or your husband?
Oh, my gosh. He never gets a speeding ticket because he has a chl. Concealed handgun license. So I, like, every single time we get pulled over, he gets, like, let off because he has a chl. I always get the speeding ticket. But you know what's funny is I don't, like, ever drive anymore. Like, my husband drives us everywhere. Like, I practically don't drive.
Really?
He says that I'm, like, a reckless driver. He was like. He's like, you know you. And I'm like, that's because I feel like I've got solid reaction timing, and so if something goes wrong, like, I'll be just fine. Yeah. I had so many speeding tickets back when I was racing. Oh, my gosh. I think my worst was, like, a 96 and half a 45. Like, really shameful. I hope my kids don't ever listen to this. So good.
I'm sure there's no backseat driving that happens in your family.
Oh, gosh. I think if you walked into my marriage and my husband said, like, what's the biggest issue that would be it backset me driving. I don't want to drive, but I want to tell you how to drive.
So good. Well, this was wonderful. Thank you so much for your time today and your wisdom. And there's just so many great nuggets. And again, it's just so fun to watch you and your brand continue to grow and your unique style, your unique products. We're so thankful that you're part of our hub community. So thanks again for your time today.
Thanks so much, Ashley.
Thanks for listening, guys. I hope you took away all kinds of nuggets and new ideas from this week's episode. Don't forget, forget to subscribe and leave.
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