#730 From Attorney to Boutique Owner: How Whitney Pope Built Lolo Viv

I love big energy. I love women who have big ideas. They're motivated, they're driven, and they've got big energy for what they're doing. And today, you guys, I'm so excited for you to meet Whitney Pope. She's been a longtime member of the Hub, a longtime member of Boutique Black, and she is the owner and founder of her boutique, Lolo Viv. Whitney has done an excellent job transitioning from being a full time attorney to working part time on a side hustle, growing her business, to transitioning away from her business as an attorney to, to full time running her boutique. And how she did that by learning how to run her own Facebook ads. Today, we're going to dig into the details of if you're someone making that transition of going from your business or, I'm sorry, going from your career into your business full time. But we're also going to dig deep into the power of Facebook ads and driving traffic on repeat, even if you're a solopreneur. And we're going to bust all the myths that you might have around running your own Facebook ads. So get ready to meet Whitney Pope again, longtime member of the Hub and member of Boutique Hub Black, and the founder and owner of Lola Viv.

Hey, guys.

Welcome back to the podcast this week. Whitney, I'm so excited that you're here. Thanks for jumping on with me today.

Thank you for having me. I'm excited.

I keep hearing Whitney Pope, Whitney Pope, guess what, guess what? Inside of our Slack channels at the Boutique Hub, because you have been a huge part of Boutique of Black and everyone's singing your praises. So I can't wait to dig into all of your story today.

Yes. Awesome. That's exciting.

Yes. Well, let's start at the beginning. Take me back. There's a lot of people listening who I know, you know, they're maybe in the beginning stages of starting their boutique and they're still working a career and they're like, give me hope that I can, you know, transition to just running my business. And I know that's a part of your background. So tell me how you got started.

Yes. So my background is. So I was actually an attorney. I still am licensed. And then from there I kind of worked in the financial world. Did that for eight and a half years. Years. I loved it. I love my corporate job. But I, I kind of had peaked and I wasn't really ready yet in my life to kind of peak at a career. And I really just kind of started getting interested in the boutique world and just Kind of my own journey from. Kind of going from, you know, before having kids, being able to shop easily, and then having kids, and my body changed. So this was something interesting to me. But, yeah, when I first started, I was working a very, you know, nine to five job, picking up kids. I was married and started this, and I did this together for, like, the first year. So, yes, it can be challenging, but you can definitely do it. If you want to do it and you have the drive, you're going to have to definitely carve out some time. But it is. It is manageable, guys, if you want and if it's your dream, you. You know, if you really want to do it. And for me, the Boutique hub was big. And the podcasts were, like, huge for me. When I was first starting out, listening to the podcast and how people were starting and things that worked or didn't, like, I would sit there on my lunch guys and take notes and write in my, like, little, like, Google sheet all like, okay, this is like, let me look at this, Let me look at that. Y', all, like, use the resources out there, too, and give yourself grace and take it slow, too. It's okay to go slow and steady.

Oh, slow, steady, consistent. Like, that's. I couldn't say it any more than that. So true. So when you. When you were in the thick of it, like, how did you. When you were doing both jobs, like, how'd you carve out time? What'd your day look like? What did you find that worked for your schedule so that you could get the important things done?

Yes, so I was super big on definitely in the beginning of. While I was working my corporate job, and I still now. But guys like batching. And I know Ashley Boutique says that she. Like, when you're starting to get into doing things, batching out, whether it's content or scheduling your days, because again, you only have so much time, especially if you're kind of working like a regular 9 to 5 and you need to focus on that or you. Again, like I said, kids in the evening, like, so if it was okay. These days are going to be when I'm focusing maybe on social media. Okay, these days, or when I need to listen to maybe some podcasts or go back to some things or, okay, I need to look at these resources, batch them out. I think that will keep you sane. Don't try to think you can do everything at once, because I think that's. I think that's big. I think when you're starting any business, you just get so Excited and you want to go full force. And I think having that energy is great, but I think you have to be smart about how you go about it. And again, like, and, and figuring out like what the schedule is going to be like for you. So for me it was evenings and then maybe some weekend mornings. And again, probably my lunch breaks is kind of. I would listen to things in my, you know, on, on a podcast or whatnot. So yes, you may have to get creative and batch out that time and like I said, be okay with not doing everything at once because you can't and that's okay. But you're gonna still succeed.

Yeah, that's. It's so important that you can only do it in batches versus running around like a chicken with your head cut off 24 7. And that allows you to plan ahead, which I'm sure you did. I'm sure you finally created yourself some Runway of. All right, I need to hit this number or get to the place before I'm okay walking away. Talk me through that process.

So when I first was like, okay, I'm gonna do this, you know, then it was kind of the pre planning stages of like, okay, I need to look, you know, I'm like looking at inventory. I was also because I'm, I'm online only, so I was kind of like planning out my. Then it was like, okay, you know, I, I did, I did definitely like pre planning, you know. And then again is. It's like, okay, I'm looking at doing, you know, social media and again, let me go and look at these resources and batch things out. Let me look at how I'm going to look at finance it. And I'm making sure, you know, I do a lot of it myself. And then I do use a CPA, but okay, I need to go into. I use QuickBooks. When am I going to start going in and looking at all of this? So, so scheduling that out, making, realizing all of it's. It's all important. It's all important. And giving yourself and kind of like a setting. You're setting your days or times and it's kind of like if you're working a nine to five, you know too, like what projects do you have maybe in your normal 9 to 5 and where's the priority need to be and use the skills that you have from that into. Into starting this business and giving yourself that time.

Yeah, it's critical. Absolutely critical. So once you made that transition and how to plan. One thing we talk a lot about at the boutique Hub is do what you do best and hire the rest.

Absolutely.

And you, I know you, you asked for like, you got some help, you brought some people on to help, you know, support different areas of your business. How'd you prioritize? What was your priority versus where you needed to ask for help?

Yes. Okay. So definitely, while I was working corporate, a hundred percent, I am a very much like, you need to hire things out because it is, you cannot do it all. So I am a big believer in that. So where you can afford to or where you can hire those things out, definitely do it. I do think too, when you're doing it, which was a lesson I learned. So I do think it's good to sometimes make either mistakes or learn from things that maybe didn't work out well. Like, you need to also though, know your business, and that does take some time. You can't necessarily expect someone else to know your business for you. So you need to kind of dive in a little bit too. But yes, I hire out where you can because you cannot, you cannot do everything. You will burn out so fast. You'll feel deflated and defeated and you will stop. Okay, so hire out where you can and learn what you need to do and then like take those skills and things that you're learning and help those that you're bringing on to understand, like, what your goal is so that they can do it too.

Yeah. How did you lean into? I would say, you know, it's a generic. You should know your numbers. Right. To have all of this information. But I feel like you've gotten very specific about knowing what numbers are important and what dollars are important. So you know where to double down.

Yes. So in the beginning, for sure, I was a little more like, I want to say willy nilly, and probably part of it is my background to being in the financial world a little bit just kind of saying, okay, I need to understand what I'm spending now. That doesn't mean just because if you're not in the financial world, you shouldn't know that. But yes, you need to kind of understand, what am I spending, where do I want to be, what do I need to have to be able to get there? What are some of these costs? And like, whether it's your POS system or things that you're adding on, whether you're going to use a CPA or not or whatnot. But yes, you need to have an idea of your costs and then go from there because it can be really easy to get, let that stuff get out of hand. And not have a good idea. And I, I did not do this in the beginning. I 100%. I know Christine Gray talks about it and Ashley too. Pay yourself first 100%. So I did not do this early on. I 100% do it now. I would say for everybody, pay yourself first. Even if it is minimal. Get that in your mindset you are, you are doing this as a career to support yourself or family. But if you're not paying yourself first and reinvesting everything, like how are you ever going to get to a point to pay to pay yourself or, or do this as, as I said, a career versus a hobby and it depends what you're looking at it as I'm looking at this as a career. So yes, know your numbers and know your expenses and know you know where you can reinvest and not. Yeah, but it's, it's very important. It's super important because it can get out of hand fast if you don't look at that.

Well, it's really, it's a mindset, right? It's a mindset and it's, we all are going to face burnout at some point. Like it's a part of business. Business goes up and down. But if we aren' used to at least knowing the numbers to the extent we can pay ourselves first, even if it's small, right. It's easy to get to that point of burnout and then go, what am I even doing this for?

A hundred percent, 100%. And that's what I mean. Like, you have to know that. And like so I use certain reports all the time too that help with what, like for inventory, what's moving and what's not, what are my sizes that are doing good, what's not. So when I'm, when I'm going and buying for the next week, the next season, whatever it is, like I have a good idea of where, what I'm doing so that I can profit because I need to make sure again, I can pay myself, I'm having margins to reinvest, I can continue to grow. So things like that are super important because otherwise you can just be doing like I said, willy nilly and this looks great or this is what you have no idea, you have no idea what you're doing. So it's super important to look at that and not just even numbers with, I mean, dollars and cents, but also like if you're doing things with social media, like are you, and I know, like are you getting new followers? Are you tracking all of that? Are you, if you're doing emails, are you. What's working? What's not? Like, is it a certain tone or a certain style? So you just need to be cognizant of all of, all of that.

Yeah, absolutely. Let's, let's talk about inventory first. I think there's two big, big ways to look at numbers. Right? One is the financial and inventory management piece. And then the other is the traffic and the social piece, which I want to. That's a big topic. But inventory wise, tell me about your tech stack. You're on Shopify and then. Did you say better reports? Is that what you're.

Yes. Okay. So I talked to Mary Believe Management one. I did like an initial. So I did like, just an initial call. I was super, super small and so helpful. So anyone, like, again, you'll use the resources out there because these, these individuals and companies are so there to help you guys. But she was the one who was like, you need to look at better reports. Like, yeah, Shopify has reports. And nothing bad about Shopify, but she's like, these, this will really. You can really get as granular as you want. And that for me, again, has been like a game changer because I can go in and say, I can look, I can sort these reports so many different ways and tag things. So that's been huge for me to know, like, when I'm buying inventory, like, okay, what items are selling awesome, what's not, what brand, what sizes? So that's been huge, hugely important. Because otherwise if you're buying stuff that's just sitting there stale because you like it but your customers don't, well, that's not helping anybody. Right?

And you've got to have, you've got to have the right inventory in order to know how to pour traffic onto it. That's going to lead to the amount of sales that you need to hit those goals and continue to grow and scale. Inventory is the core of everything that you do.

Absolutely. I mean, even I'm online. So for me, you know, I can show it. You know, I can have a lot of different things on my site and change it up a little bit. I'm thinking even when I go though, to boutiques or I'm traveling and I walk by, the thing that's gonna stop me to look in is like, what do they have on their mannequins? Like, oh my gosh, that's so cute. Before I even know whether they have amazing customer service or they're gonna help me one on one, like, what are they showing oh, my gosh. So, yeah, that's gonna help. Can get people. Whether it's in the door or click on your site or whatnot, it's going.

To stop the walk and it's going to stop the scroll for sure to merchandise and have the right inventory. So you. You mastered that piece like you're. I wouldn't say master. Do we ever master it? Yes, we're always learning. It's a work in progress. But then something that you did early on that I think is really smart is you understood the power of additional traffic and page wrapping. And so I think the first step was you started with an agency to start running ads. Now that's evolved. Tell me about that decision that you first made. Like, hey, I do need to step my foot in the ring of paid traffic. Yes. And where did you start with that whole process?

A hundred percent. So me being online only, like ads, to me is critical. I think if you're online only, I am going to say I really think ads are incredibly important to get traffic to your site. I think if you're brick and mortar and you do have a website, it's still just as important. I had used an agency, um, which was fine cause I was working full time. And then when I stopped, when I decided I'm going to focus on my boutique full time, I said, I, you know, I really. I myself really want to get to understand this better. So I did join the boutique hublot. So that for me was like a game changer, really getting to understand the traffic that was coming to my site. The traffic. Maybe I wanted to come to my site and how I was going to, you know, mesh all that together, make sure, like, I'm getting the right people coming, I'm getting the right inventory, I'm getting that. That revenue and then that profit coming. Um, but I. I mean, ads are, to me, a game changer. And I feel like it's a necessary. I don't even. I don't want to say it's an expense. It's an investment, 100% to grow your business and you can start. I mean, I think people think that you have to have such a high budget to do it, and. And you do not. You can start very, very small to grow. So I. I think people get scared about that too. And. And they shouldn't.

Yeah. That is a big misconception, is that it takes a bunch of cash. And I mean, sometimes there are agencies that do require a ton of cash. So I think it's really important to know what's Sustainable, what you're capable of. But that was really. That's kind of why we built Boutique Black. That was Jeff's idea behind Boutique Black as well, is how do we make this more manageable, sustainable, how do we put the power back in the retailer's hands of understanding what. What's happening with paid traffic? So you've been in there for, I think, over a year.

Yeah, I think it's just over a year. Cause I think I had done my first call, like, in July. I remember. I think I did it in July with Jeff. I was like, on vacation. I was like, we're doing this call.

So when you got in, what was your first, like, what were the first things you worked on when you joined Boutique Black?

So, okay, when I joined, I mean, the first things I did is, like, I scoured that resource library. So for me, that was like, big. Cause I'm like, okay, I don't know a lot because I focus actually now really much more on, like, social media ads, like Facebook and Instagram. I think before, I was kind of doing a little bit more of, like, Google Ads. So we're kind of switching it up. And I didn't know a lot about maybe Facebook ads or certain things. So I, like, scoured that resource library, and that was super beneficial just for me to see maybe the terms that. That they're using. So I understand that, like, what are some of the basics of, like, could I, like, so when I'm talking to them, do I understand what's going on? So that was super helpful. The weekly lessons, too, that. The weekly classes. Amazing. I mean, I think that's great. Like, so you could, like, they're showing, you know, Jeff and the team are showing you how to kind of go through and set up things that. That are working right now real time. Like, hey, we have all these boutiques doing this right now that are working. So it's not like these things from months ago. And I like that so many boutiques were on there. And like, everyone's asking questions. You're hearing other people's questions. The. The Boutique Black team is answered. I mean, like, it was just such a good. It's such a good way to learn and be and really be involved.

Yeah, there's so many. I think you feel surrounded by boutiques who are just of a similar mindset, like, hungry, driven, like, willing to show up and figure it out. And then also you're probably seeing their successes real time of what's working.

And I think what I like too, is, like, for me, I'M starting off small, and then there are other small boutiques, and then there are boutiques that are crushing it, like, majorly crushing it. And I'm like, wow. They're. They're doing their own ads, like, this massive boutique that I see all over, and they're talking about their numbers, and I'm like, this is crazy. So I'm like, whether I get there or not, but you're just seeing all different levels and you can learn from them. So I was like, this, and. And nobody was. Everyone was willing to share, so it was really cool in that regard. It wasn't like, I do all this and you're new and whatever. Everyone was so open to sharing and learning. So I thought that was awesome.

That's really. That the whole idea behind community over competition, I mean, at its core, that's what it is, is, hey, a rising tide lifts all ships, and if we can help one another, it's better for the whole industry. So I'm so proud of everyone in there, and I'm proud of Jeff, too. I feel like Jeff sets everyone up from the start of, like, this is the expectation. If we find something that's working with you, just, like, if we find something that's working with Susan down the street, we're going to share it so that everybody can learn from one another.

Absolutely. And I love to, like, he'll go through, like, I mean, the boutiques. Like, he'll show like. Like, ads going in a boutique and saying, like, we've set it up this way, you know, the boutique's fine, whatever. Like, no. No one's, like, trying to hide anything. Like, this is only for me. It's like, let's all do well.

Yeah.

Okay.

You've got to know about this if you have three thought about being a member of the boutique hub or if you're already a member of the boutique Hub. This year we added something that I just can't wait to get into your hands. Okay, so if you're a monthly member of the Hub, awesome. Glad to have you. It's a great experience. But we were like, people who are really serious about their business and growing it into the future. They don't just join the hub monthly. They join for the whole year because it takes more than a month to impact and make real, lasting change in your. Your business. So this year, we have updated our annual offer for those of you who are our members are thinking about becoming a member and joining for the entire year. You want to hear about it? All right. If you're an Annual member of the Hub. Not only do you get access to everything the Hub has to offer from all of the education, live, training every single week, all of our exclusive discounts, resources, wholesale brands, all the things. But now, as an annual member of the Hub, you also have access to some of our very best selling master classes and. And handbooks. That's right. I'm throwing all of these crazy things in for free. If you are an annual member of the Boutique Hub, this includes our best selling Small business Marketing Handbook, which is over 100 pages of content, calendars, live sale ideas, TikTok ideas, real ideas, social media ideas for literally every day of the month, engagement questions for literally every month of the year, collections, event ideas to run in your brick and mortar, and so much more. The Small Business Marketing Handbook is a must have for every type of retailer, no matter what you sell, I guarantee it. We're also throwing in our Small Business Hiring Handbook, which is all the things you know to hire train, onboard job descriptions, everything you need to know to grow a team. Plus our holiday marketing masterclass, our Content Sanity masterclass, Best of our Boutique Summit videos, and so much more. There's over $1,300 added in courses, masterclasses and handbooks just for you. Plus, when you're an annual member of the Boutique Hub, you get access to join one on one coaching calls with myself and several members of our team. We don't give out an opportunity to do one on one coaching anywhere other than for our VIP students in Retail Bootcamp or those who are members of Boutique Hub Black. So this is a real opportunity for those of you who are a member of the Hub and you're like, hey, I just need to pick Ashley's brain for an hour and a half. I need to pick Sarah's brain for an hour. What does that look like? You can book an annual coaching call if you are an annual member of the Hub. Did I say annual coaching call? I meant anytime. You can book a coaching call only if you're an annual member of the Hub. So that's it. I'm excited. I'm rambling. I just want you to know if you're going to join the Hub, this is the best opportunity to get the most out of your membership. If you're already a member, reach out to our team at happypeople@the boutiquehub.com we can get you upgraded to annual you. If you're not yet a member, scroll all the way down to the join page at the boutiquehub.com and click annual to join us now. I can't wait to see you inside and get you all of these extras. We're going to do a lot together to grow, scale, optimize and secure your business together in the next year. Let's get started. Tell me more about your evolution. You started to work. I don't know if you just work with Jeff or if you've worked with the other coaches one on one, but in boutique black, there's a one on one component of getting into your ads account together. Talk me through that process. When you first started started, was it overwhelming at first?

Was it intimidating?

Like, how did it go?

It probably was intimidating. First, I worked probably primarily with Jeff. I have worked with some of the other boutique black coaches as well. So everyone has been. Everyone's been great that I've worked with. I do work with Jeff primarily. Yes. I think at the beginning it was like, it was like, okay. Like, we. We really, like, started kind of over My. Like, we just. We were like, let's just start over. We are. We are kind of. Because, you know, also, like, I just have bad data in my ad account and all kinds of stuff. So we really started, like, ground zero. And Jeff, like, worked with me through it. I mean, and he would be very honest. Like, he'd be like, this is greater if things weren't good. He's like, no, we got to change that, like, or this isn't working. And for me, I like that honesty because how am I going to do better if someone's like, oh, here's a pat on the back. Like, he's not. No one is rude or anything. But everyone's like, they want you to do well. So they're going to tell you, like, what you need to. If you need to change something, what you need to change or what we need to do to grow. And now our calls are like, you know, they're short, you know, seven minutes. Like, sweet. Like, okay. Like this, you know, hey, this is working great. Let's do this. Let's change this. If I have questions, great. If I, like, need to email, great. I mean, I do our. I still do the weekly group chats and meetings and I ask all kinds of questions. I mean, I. I think it's great. I mean, the one on ones to me are. I mean, a game changer to have that kind of one on one with someone who knows ads. Like, that's amazing.

Yeah. And to empower you with the knowledge. Absolutely not just saying, hey, here's what's working. Here's what's not. But like you get the power to understand and move things around yourself.

Right. And I think that's why, I mean, our meetings are short really. Also because of me, because like, he's taught me so much on how to like set things up. So, like I go in now, like, I know what I'm looking at. I know the data that I'm looking at. I know how to set something up. Like, I don't need him at this stage. Like, hold my hand and do it. So you will learn how to do all that and feel confident in your own abilities. I think that's mass. I think that's huge to feel that kind of confidence.

Yeah. How has that for you? Like when you look at what's happened with ads and just getting confident understanding traffic, how has that changed how you launch things on social media? Like how's it changed your organic social media schedule every single week and how has it changed your inventory planning every week? Talk about both sides of that.

Yeah. So how it changed, like with me, launching on social media is like if I'm going to with an ad. And so right now, like, if game day is really hot, like I'm gonna then have my collection, I'm gonna set up an ad behind it and that's how I'm going to maybe push things out. So instead of it just kind of like, hey, I'm putting it on my site. No one knows it's here. Now I'm getting all this ad. And I'm also, when I'm thinking of ads or collections, I'm also trying to think too, like seasonally, what's going on. I'm not trying to launch, you know, something that's totally not going to work for right now. So obviously game day's big. When the holidays come out, they're big. Certain things with again with game day, when there were certain teams, you know, in certain playoffs, I did look at that. What's going a little heavier or even with game day now too, again, like, what are some of the. You know, I'm. I'm buying licensed items. So I will say that. So I'm buying things specific for schools that are licensed. So then I'm looking at though too what schools are getting high viewership. So do I need to maybe invest in that? So I'm looking at things like that. And I'm looking again then at my reports and saying where also some of my customers coming from. Oh, they're coming from this. These three states. Like a high percentage. Well, maybe I need to focus on buying stuff for those areas. So I'm looking at all of that and that's how I'm focusing against certain collections. Again, even with holidays than two, I have a lot more southern buyers. I may not be buying super heavy duty stuff as much because it's not as cold.

Yeah.

So I'm looking at all that when I'm, when I'm doing that, but my ads are giving me that data.

Yeah, that's the thing. It's a cycle. Your ads are the things that are feeding how you're going to plan. And I would bet as I was looking. Actually two things I have to mention first real quick, you mentioned licensed.

Yes, 100%.

It's really important, especially you as an attorney and for people who maybe go investigate your social media after this and they see all of your game day because you have a ton of it.

I do have a lot of game day.

Yes. Yeah, but it is licensed. And how about since you're the attorney, how about you like let everyone know and remind them why license is so important?

It's super important, guys, because these schools, I mean you like, you don't want your, well one, you don't want your site taken down, you don't want to have some sort of lawsuit. You don't want any kind of cease and desist. Like, I mean there's just so many issues. People licensing, I mean these schools, I mean they have licensing to protect themselves and people don't necessarily. And I get it, when you're buying these licensed products, I mean, I'm buying them. They are not, they are not on the cheaper end of items to buy. So yes, some people may shy away from that. But guess what? You can, you can sell them for good, for, for, you know, people want them, people want those items. So don't, I don't know, my thing would be don't, don't, don't do things the wrong way, guys. The wrong way. You know, if you want those items, don't be afraid of maybe the higher wholesale price point because people will want that. So just, just do things the right way. You're going to save yourself so many headaches later on.

That's so true. Amen. And cheap. I always say this, cheap ain't oil.

It's so true. I will tell you 100%. People will, I can get these, I mean I can get some of these items and people have, I've had no problem having customers who want that. I will be honest. My sales stuff does not move. So people want new, people want unique and people will pay for that. So that's definitely a lesson. People will pay for. Unique. They want. They want quality.

Absolutely. All right, so second half, my question thinking about the license is key. If you guys go check out Whitney's socials. But then I'm just curious again, how ads. Doubling down on how ads changed how you post on social. So when you do a Facebook page and a Facebook group and then how much. Like, how much and what do you post in each. Every week?

Yes. So I post. I try and do a couple posts in both, honestly, a day. Some stuff will be from my Facebook group. Some will be the same. I'm sorry. From my Facebook page. Some will be the same that's going into my group. So I will do that. Which maybe isn't always the best because you're trying to really make your group a little bit more unique. But my group, I will post things that are also more personal. So, like, things like with my, like, kids or hey, we're doing this. Or I'll ask more of the questions in there. We'll do polls or what do you guys want to see? And I will do that on my page too, because I do want my customers to get to know me on both. Both sides. But my page, I will get a little bit more personal with either me or things that I'm asking of them or if I am doing. Let's say I am doing some sort of sale or something I'll do. I'll try and do it more in there versus, like, on my site or as a big thing so that people feel like they're getting some sort of also benefit or they're kind of like the first to know or here's sneak peek. And I'll do things like that. So, yeah, I'll do sneak peeks in there too. But so people get a little first look.

It's so true. And this is. I love that you said that because that's been my strategy in retail bootcamp too, is the group is more personal. The page is more like, oh, I'm gonna go check out what kind of product she has. Am I interested? And then I'll click in and get more information in the group or the website or whatever. Yeah. But I did notice, like, your style of posting on your page. I. I call it like a recap style post, where it's like multiple products on one post.

There will be some. Mm.

Yeah. Tell me more about your strategy behind it. Because I think it's more valuable. The more products you can show, the better.

Yes.

And I try to Help people get away from like stop posting just one product at a time. You've got to give multiple options.

Well, and that's the thing is like I try to do. So I will say ChatGPT is my best friend. So I do, I will, I, I love Chat GBT to say and I'm, you know, to help with posts. But no, I do, I do like to have multiple posts for everything because one style may not speak to somebody else. So I want to show a couple different things, especially if I'm, if I'm trying to push maybe a collection or a certain category, say, hey, we've got new XYZ and here's, here's what we've got in. Or hey, here's like, you know, or if it's again, you know, for holiday or if it's fall, hey, here's like a top and a couple different bottom options and a headband option or earrings or whatever. So I try to do that because one, if I only do one item that might not capture someone's attention, they may be like that. Well, that doesn't speak to me but these other things do. So I try to get different things out there really as much as I can because I don't know. People, people like again, people want to scroll, people want to see things. One, one doesn't usually maybe do it. Maybe that's, or maybe that's just my opinion. For me, it doesn't.

Yeah. Oh, perfect. Well, I think it's, I think it's a good option because it's like more bang for your buck. People get to see more content in one place when they have such a limited amount of time.

Well, that's the thing. It's like people have so much time and if I, for me, if I only did one thing at a time, people are not going to see enough of like the new things maybe that are coming. So if I'm, and I'm constantly. So I used to be much more like here are launches or only do things. I know that works for a lot of boutiques. So I think if it works for you, definitely do it. I'm probably getting new stuff. I get new stuff in, I feel like almost every day. So I'm kind of posting as it's coming in. Whether that's good, bad, whatever, it's. It does work for me. So I, I go with it. But so then again, as things are coming in, I'm trying to get it out there for people to see, you know, so if I only did one thing at a Time. I'm just not, I'm not, I'm not getting enough out there for people to see the things that are there.

Yeah. And that, that it all like coming full circle. It all wraps back into your ad strategy. Like, it all allows you to set up your ads.

Absolutely correct. Right, right. And so again, like, part of it is like my ads. Like, yes, it is so full circle. You set up your ads, you start knowing your inventory, you know your customers, you know what they want to see. Then you're setting up ads again that way. So it is, it's very full circle. 100.

What advice would you give to somebody who's just thinking about starting ads and they're like, should I just hire someone else? Should I dig in and figure it out? Like, where, where do you think people should start?

So I, Well, I think it depends, I guess where you're at. Like if you don't have the time to do ads and you want to do ads, yes, maybe pay someone. But I, I'm a big believer. Learn first, learn first. If you end up wanting to have someone, fine. I think for me, I think going in and learning, it has been so beneficial. Again, and knowing then inventory, customers, all of that, because you can't, like I said, you cannot expect somebody else to know your business for you. And they're never, they're never going to have as much of an interest in your business as you are.

Yeah.

So I, I'm a big believer. Like, go in and know your business. And I would say again, like, don't, don't be scared. Don't be scared. Don't be scared. If you only have a small budget, like, learn, go from there. Like you, like, you're going to be okay. You don't have to have a huge budget to start. Don't let that scare you.

Yeah. And just one more thing to reiterate on that. You don't have to have a huge team. You're still solo, right?

Absolutely. Like, you do not. I mean, like, I, I do it. I mean, I carve out time. Like, here's what I'm going to make my. Do my ads. Here's what I'm going to do. This, here's what I'm going to do. New inventory. Like, you can make it 100%, you can make it work. And again, as you start learning and you become more confident, you start to know what's working, what's not. You're not second guessing all of this. So absolutely, you do not need like a huge team. You don't need that at all if you can get there. Amazing. But you do not have to have that to start. No way.

So good. Whitney, this is awesome. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

I've got a couple more questions. Quick lightning round.

Absolutely. You ready? Yeah. Let's hear them. Okay. Okay.

All right, first question. I give you two hours back in your day to work on income generating activities. What do you focus on first?

Well, gosh, if it's income generating, I mean, I always. I'm gonna probably go. I almost want to go back to ads. I almost want to. Is that cheesy to say that? But that's really almost what I want to go back to is because I feel like. And I've seen the question before, I think, where it's like, if you had $1,000, would you want to spend it on ads or inventory? And I'm like, I want to spend it on ads because that's going to make me so much more to invest back for inventory. So I'm going to dive in. If I'm going to do anything, I'm going to look at ads or I'm going to dive into my numbers to figure out how I'm going to make more.

I love it. I love it. Okay, well, this is going to feed into my second question. What is the unsexiest but most impactful process that you have in your business?

Oh, my gosh. The unsexiest. Oh, probably the. Probably going through my reports. It's not sexy. Going through that or going through and doing your accounting is not sexy at all. But knowing your numbers, whether, again, it's like revenue, knowing, like, you're in, like, inventory, that's working or not, like, that's so important to go forward and be profitable. So no, that's not sexy.

So true. I could shout it from the rooftops. I love it.

I agree.

What's been the hardest lesson you've had to learn in business?

Oh, my goodness. Hardest lesson. I. I don't even know if it's hard. I think it's like, I think for other people, like, I would say it's okay to make mistakes. Like, you need. I would say, I'd almost say, like, you need to make mistakes. And maybe that's hard to say, like, you need to make mistakes because I think hearing from others their mistakes, I think it's. I think it's good. But sometimes I think you're going to learn so much from your own. So I would say that. I would say again, like, for me, in the beginning, it was not Knowing my business maybe enough before I tried to bring others on. So again, I'm not opposed. I think you should bring people on when you can. But I think you have to know your business and your customer. You can't expect someone else to tell you that truth.

Truth bomb right there. I love it. What's been the best business advice you've received that always sticks with you?

I think I put this, I think, like one thing that's important that I read, but I think it's so true. My husband, I will say it's like, would you want a billion dollars or like a billion friends? And it's like you'd rather have a billion friends because the relationships are so much more important than. Than the. I don't say then the money, but the relationships are going to give you so much more. It. Maybe it's going to bring money, maybe it's going to bring you the right connection. So I think building strong relationships is key for any business.

Oh, that's so good. So true. And building a community. Building community around you.

Yeah, I love that.

All right, last, last thing. Best advice for retailers listening. If they were going to go home and work on something in their business, where should they focus to get an impact?

Well, I think it probably depends. I would say, you know, go look. I would say first dive into your numbers a little bit. Look at some of these things that are working or not. If you have, like, if you have things that aren't working. Like, my biggest thing is like, don't. Do not be afraid to like, get rid. I mean, don't be. Everyone's like so afraid to put things either on sale or d. Stash, whatever. Like, if something isn't working, like, get rid of it, like mentally, like, get it out of your space, but get it mentally out of your head too. Like, it's not working, it's dead, it's done, whatever, get rid of it. So I would say, like, be okay with that and. And again, be okay. I think we're such a culture now of instant gratification that be okay with there being a process and learning and it's okay if it takes a little time, you know, and be okay with that and learn from it and don't. And don't think everything has to happen overnight or if it doesn't, that you're like a failure. Like, I think people get. Get into their heads too much.

Oh, that's a huge issue right now. I mean, instant gratification is a huge problem. Yeah, I could go, I could write a book about that, especially as a parent and as a business owner, like.

So many different ones.

Um, but amen to that. All right, Whitney, this has been so good. I have one last question, and it's kind of the big, you know, the big question, right? Why we do what we do. And so if. If I were in your shoes, you know, if you're 30 years down the road and you're sitting on the front porch and you're talking to your family and your friends about this business you created and the life that you lived, and you're reflecting, what's the thing you really want them to remember most about you and how you live this life and the businesses you built.

Hopefully that they would think, like, you know, I like to say I'm a. I'm a glass half full kind of person, that I'm going to have the right mindset. I like to think I'm realistic. I'm optimistic, but realistic. And that if you work hard, I mean, it sounds cheese. Like, if you work hard, you can do it, but, like, whatever that means in your regard, whether that's educating yourself, like, nothing. Nothing is unattainable if you want it. And so I would hope people will think that that was my mindset and that hopefully I can pass that on to others or others can also feel like they have that energy me that. That, you know, we're here to build each other up and we can all do this.

Yeah. Oh, so good. And so, so powerful. Yeah. Gosh, Whitney, thank you so much for.

Being on the podcast today. I am so excited to get to.

Share your story with everybody.

Oh, thank you so, so much. I'm so happy that you guys asked. And it's just. It's everything. It's just been great, been fantastic.

Keep being a light. Keep showing up the way that you're showing up. It's awesome. We appreciate you.

All right, thank you.

Thanks for listening, guys. I hope you took away all kinds of nuggets and new ideas from this week's episode. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a rating and review. We love to hear your feedback and give you a chance to be featured on the show each and every week. For more information on our spirit of community over competition and to access guest downloads and bonuses and all the resources we talked about on the show, head on over to the boutiquehub.com and join the community be. We'll see you next week.