#737 Building a Boutique That Stands Out with Authenticity and Strategy

Foreign.

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 and I can't wait to chat.

Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast this week. Becca, I'm so excited that you're here.

Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

So I'm sure everyone knows like we record these podcasts in advance and you happen to be somewhere special today. While we're recording, you want to tell.

Us where you're at? I am on 30A. We are in Seagrove beach for the array beach market. So we paused market for a little bit so we could come do this.

Well, I'm so glad that you had an opportunity to jump on and join and we'll talk about 30A and your business and how things are flowing. How did you get there? All the things in a minute. But I go back to the beginning. We always have to have the origin story. So tell me how you first got into business. Where did this all start for you?

Okay, so my grandfather had a store growing up. He had a salvage store which I don't know if you know what that is, but back in the day he, he actually started, he worked at a grocery store and he like dropped there was like damaged canned goods and he would sell those damaged goods at a discount and that kind of spurred his idea to start this salvage business and then it turned into where they would buy from. Insurance companies say my boutique called on fire and the water heads went off and so nothing was really burned. But it, we filed an insurance claim on that. That insurance company then goes and tries to sell those items to get some of their loss back and he was one that would buy those deals. So it was originally called his, the, his original store was called the fire sale store which I think, you know, came from that.

And then it evolved into Merchandise Warehouse, which was the name of it. And then my dad took over it. So my whole childhood was I was, I ran this store like I ran around like, no, you can't sell this couch. I am playing house on this couch right now. You know, because it was a, it was a resale store. But he also ended up going into furniture and carrying furniture year round. So I really grew up in the retail industry. Literally, like just. That was my summer. One summer when I was in second grade, my dad had a, a huge deal in Pennsylvania. I'm in Mississippi. And so I went on a road trip with him and I stayed with him in Pennsylvania for the whole summer in second grade, just running around this big, huge store that he had bought out. But it took months to clean it out because it was that big of a store. And so that was just my life growing up. So when I got to college, I went to Mississippi State, which is in Starkville, Mississippi. And I'll never forget the first home game weekend. We were trying to find something to wear and we had to drive 45 minutes to.

Another town where they had a mall and we went to Dillard's to buy an outfit for the weekend. And I was like, there's nowhere to shop in this town. Like, there was one town, there was one store, but it was a very high end store. And I just remember thinking, okay, we've really got to get some, some stores in here. Then I was majoring in interior design. And my sophomore year of college I was like, this is not for me. This, I don't want to do this anymore. I want to go home and work and make money. So I went home and started working for my dad. And around that time, I'm sure you're familiar with Deep South Pout, but they opened in Startville. They were one of the first stores in Starkville. And I was like, dang it, okay, well now going to have to open one here then. And so I was still working for my dad at his store and it actually was 200. When did I get married? When was the real estate market crash? You know what I'm talking 09, 09 09. Always 0908 or nine. Okay, so I got married in 09. So in right after I got married, my dad closed his store and. And I went on to get pregnant and have two babies. And so after the second one, I was back in my hometown and I was like, okay, I'm not going back to work. I'm going to do it. I'm going to open a store. There's nowhere around here now. I was in this new motherhood journey and I wanted somewhere that was like friendly for a mom to shop and go find something that you felt comfortable in postpartum and just to kind of get, get back to feeling you. At the time, I think I was in my earth. Well, we've been open for 12 years and I'm 39 so you know, whatever that equals to. I was in my 20s, math is not my specialty, but I was one of the younger, like I had children young I guess in my out of my friend group. And so I just felt like I need to go somewhere where I can shop. All the places around where I lived were more geared towards the more young and you know, I was just had two babies and things didn't fit right and it was the year of the pico tops and and.

Scott was 13, you know what I'm talking about? So. So yeah, I drove through. I'm. I live in Madison, Mississippi but there was a little suburb that was just up and coming right past Madison and it was called Glutstadt and there was one little strip and it had a liquor store in it.

A trust care kids like a doctor office and an eye doctor. And there was this one little space in between that hadn't filled yet and it was locally owned, it wasn't owned by like a big corporation or anything until I called the guy and we.

Like sign sealed in July and we're open by September and it just took off from there and two years later we moved into, he built another building behind us and we went from 1100 square feet to 3400 square feet two years later and we are still there now. So amazing.

Okay, so I've got a lot of things to dive into. This is awesome. So okay, back up to the salvage store because most people like you're, you're a rare person that I talk to that has any retail experience before this business. Like that doesn't ever happen, let alone a salvage store. Which I think is awesome because really I think if people understood how this entire industry worked, like that's still a very big part of even the apparel industry when we have jobbers like if you go to the off price show, that's where and how, you know a lot of that originates. And I'm sort of fascinated to see that this is also becoming a trend with Gen Z. So I don't know if you've seen this, but literally the other day the mall in my community is pretty bad. Like it's going out of business bad. But there was a new store that opened the other day and it's a salvage store where they're bringing in like boxes of stuff and you just go dig through the boxes and it's like $2 an item and there it was like full of people. So I just find this whole movement fascinating. But it's just such a huge part of what all of our industries do like you said, from furniture to home and gift to the Amazons of the world to apparel. So I love that you're able to bring that into starting your own brand and your own business now.

I mean, it was crazy. It was from. I mean I remember being young and there was a gas station around the corner from my dad's door that had caught fire. And he bought that gas station. And I remember thinking, ah, I have candy for days because I just got that candy. And you know, like he just filled up like he. Eventually they had gotten so big that they were renting. I think it's like JB Hunt or some trailers were parked in their back warehouse just full of, you know, stuff that they couldn't fit in the store. But it was like they had year round inventory. But then when they would do big things, like depending on the big things, he would go and rent buildings specifically for that. In my freshman year of college, Katrina happened and he bought all him. They bought all the inventory out of the Boat Ravage Hotel and that included the bed frames, the mirrors, like the hotel furniture. And so in the Beaurovage they also had like a. There was a hair. You know how all the hotels have hair salons in them. So he got all the like BB hair products. And I'll just never forget my first that Christmas I came home and it was like those were my Christmas presents was all this BB hair products and bumble and bumble I think is what it's called.

But when he, when they did that deal, like they rented a store somewhere else because it was, I mean, massive. Massive. I mean they spent months on the coast in a trailer, you know, loading all that, all those things. Yeah, but I also remember there was times where he would buy brands. A lot of brands had certain like restrictions. He did a whole deal one year with.

A designer, I can't remember, but they have to like cut the tags out so that. And they can't use that brand name in the, in the promotion of it because that brand doesn't want it to damage their reputation. So it's definitely an interesting thing to grow up in and see that side of it. But I also don't know anything different in it. But I do know what you're talking about because there's a girl that popped up on my Instagram the other day who has like 2 million followers and that's what she does is she buys old brands and stuff on sale and then she resells it on tick tock and is killing It. And. But I do think back in the day, there was a ton of that going on, a ton of the salvage door, because my dad had competitors, they had to, like, phone in their bids, you know, like, they would give 30 cents on the dollar for it. And, you know, the highest bidder won. So it's like, I know he had competition, but I do think that at that, I don't know if it died out. Like, it's kind of like what TJ Maxx and Marshalls are today, you know?

Yeah, it is. And there's still even a whole. There's a whole industry behind supplying those brands, just like, just what you're saying.

So I.

The moral of the story is this.

There's.

What's the terrible saying? There's more than one way to skin a cat. There's lots of different ways to make money in this industry. But it's fascinating to hear, you know, firsthand how you grew up in it. So I love that. So fast forward to your business now. So you started storefront. The storefront expanded quickly.

Thank you.

Picotops and bubble necklaces probably on top of it.

Oh, we were talking about that. Yep.

And bubble necklaces. Yeah. So then you did a really great job. I feel like early on, like, you were great on social. You started to go live right away. Like, you started to build this brand and build, you know, a pretty sizable following right away. Talk to me about, like, just that launch into social, which is something I think you feel so comfortable with. What. How did that evolve for you?

So I opened in 2013, and I don't know what year Instagram started, but it was around that time. And so Instagram was really the first social channel. I just remember getting picotops in and it was like, that's literally the post that I made on Instagram, you know, was. And people would come in minutes after me posting, like, hey, they were walking in the door right after I posted it. I saw you got those pico tops back in. And it just. It was like a post equal bringing the customers into my store. So it wasn't until the two years later when I moved next door that I. So when I originally opened, I feel like we were just barely, like, we painted the store ourselves. My dad laid the. The trim on the floor. Like, we did it all ourselves because we were trying to save as much money as we could. And my husband is really good with electronics and digital stuff, so he created me a point of Sal system. So those first two years, I had this weird rigged system. So when I moved to the new store. I transferred over to Shopify and I had been seeing. That was, I think the year that Comet sold start arc. It was around in there. And so I was like, okay, we're, you know, people are commenting wanting to buy this stuff, but I didn't know how to send in. I don't even know if Shopify had invoices at that point. So it was not very long after we started with Shopify that we started like with comments sold as well. So before I started going live, I was really posting in my Facebook group that I started, which I got a notification this because I opened the end of September and I got a notification like one day this week that it was 13 years since I started my Facebook group, which is just crazy.

Yeah.

So we just, it just took off. I mean, it just took off immediately. And I laugh about it now because there was like you said, the pico tops, the, the printed leggings, the reindeer leggings with the frilly lace sticking out of them. I mean it was crazy because they were just, people were dying for it and we, we were selling it like crazy and it just.

It took off. It did.

So through the years, I mean you've been through all kinds of not only trends, fashion trends, but highs and lows in social and in what works when. In what you post and what works when you go live to what doesn't work when you go live and when you post. So fast forward me to like your strategy today. Like when I look through your social like it's a mix of product photos that are tagged, links back to your website, behind the scenes content, fun, goofy reels, you going live. Like all the things when you look at exactly today and what's working today. How are you planning out your content right now and deciding what your strategy is going to be this next week?

I'm really kind of like you said, I kind of like to mix it up. Not in a like hot mess of a way. But you know, it's hard to get people to engage on social media. So that's why sometimes I do the photos and I'll say comment, shop to shop this look. And I really don't necessarily care if they're actually comment, like if they're actually shopping that look. It's more just getting the comments on that post to tell the algorithm that people are enjoying my content and they're commenting on it and they're sharing it.

But also people love to see the movement of the items. So that's what some of the Videos are for Everyone loves an outfit of the day video.

But we love funny reels. At Pink Possum, we. I remember taking a course with. I think it was manifest with Tara Alston and Josh Orr, and they were talking about how there's like three people on, you know, there's the educator, so someone who is telling you how to style something.

Then there is the influencer and then there's like the comedian. And I felt like out of all of those, I felt more like a comedian. I don't consider myself a professional styler. Like, fashion doesn't come natural to me. I don't feel like I opened a store because I knew it would do well and I knew how to sell stuff. Not necessarily because I was like, I have the cutest outfits ever. Because every time I look back I'm like, what was I wearing? What were we doing there? So I could relate more to the being funny and felt like if that's what gets people to relate to me, then that's what works for us. And some of my most liked and most watched videos are me making fun of Amazon or, you know, the goofier we are, the better engagement it is because people can relate to it and we're not taking it seriously. And that's what this brand is all about, honestly, is we're all. Or I like to. I would say my target customer is my age or mothers. We're just winging it in life. And so if you can get some enjoyment out of my video today, then that, that makes me happy.

I love it. It's all relatable. And I mean, that's the truth. No matter what. If you're just selling, selling, selling, not everyone's ready to buy and not everybody wants to be sold to. But when you can build a relationship and be relatable, and especially through humor, it makes such a huge difference. So when you're sitting down every week and you're thinking about, okay, I have all this content I'm going to create this week. I've got new arrivals. I know I'm going to go live on this day. Like, specifically, walk me through how you plan, what post and when you're going to post it.

What's your last week? I normally do drops on Wednesday nights. Wednesday nights are new arrivals. So my typical week is Mondays are kind of where I do markdown. Mondays, it's like, okay, usually on Saturday or Sunday, I'm already looking through, you know what, Inventory hasn't moved. It's been here this long. I'm gonna probably Mark that down Sunday night. And then Monday I'm gonna push out either a text alert or an email or post in my group Markdown Monday with markdown. So the post on Instagram that day is definitely gonna be at least one markdown Monday with stories relating to that. And then Tuesday, I usually do sneak peeks of what we're launching on Wednesday. Whether that's a reel, that's a sneak peek of us trying them on, I always do try on videos. So it depends on the schedule and how crazy we are. So I either post those Tuesday or Wednesday morning. And then Wednesday I usually do a reminder post. You know, that's like either it's set the reminder on Instagram, which those do. Well, whenever I do the set the reminders, I get the notifications that people are actually setting a reminder. So, you know, you can't say no to that. So that's kind of how I plan out my week. Then Thursday is going to be obviously posting what items didn't move great yesterday and that's what I'm going to focus on. Like, you know, they didn't sell out or do great Wednesday night. What do I need to focus on today? As far as Thursday goes, which Thursday is typically our busiest day in the store. And I'm pretty sure that's because we launch stuff Wednesday night. My in store customers want to come in and shop that on Thursdays. And then Friday is just kind of a free for all. You know, like it's the weekend I might run a special or I might post something that I haven't posted in a few weeks before I mark it down. I'm gonna try one more time. So this week, last week I knew I was going to be out of town this week. And we're not dropping necessarily a new launch this week. So this week I knew that we were going to be filming some outfits of the day while we're here at market. We're going to be doing behind the scenes on the story all week. So I didn't necessarily have specific things planned, but I did know that that would be kind of the theme we had.

I had someone come and do my makeup for. We shot photos while we're here. So we rented this pink little Jeep from this precious girl. So we got here Sunday. On Monday, we shot our Christmas looks in this pink Jeep in Alice Beach. So the makeup artist that came and did my makeup has a big following on TikTok. And so she was filming content and we were filming content. And so it's like kind of a Little sneak peek of that, but also circle back to market, because this is what, you know, we're looking at. I always see great engagement on be the buyers. So whether that's a real or in the stories, I kind of like to do a little bit of both. Um, and then Facebook, because my Instagram people are different than my Facebook people, and they're two different things. And so I kind of already knew this week what we were planning out as far as the content. And then other than that, it's just us hopping on there and being goofy. And like, we went live Sunday night from the bed in our pajamas, showing some of the jewelry that we were thinking about showing, you know, And I woke up the next morning, I had text messages from my friends that were like, okay, yes, the jewelry is a yes, you need to get that. So that's kind of a typical week. This week's just a little different, but kind of the same plan.

I love it. I love it. How far out are you planning? Because you're obviously you're going to a lot of markets, right? And array is a big deal to get to go to. So there's got to be a strategy probably in turn with both. How much do I need to buy, but how can I maximize this market opportunity? Yes. And so how far out are you, like, kind of meshing those two plans together?

I'm not the best future planner that would. I would love to be that organized, but I'm not. I am ADHD queen, so I don't get too far. Well, October is a busy month for us because that's when I celebrate our birthday and I typically do our biggest sale of the year, like, aside from Black Friday. I do a big birthday sale. So I have, I'd probably say, a few weeks out. I plan now. I do already have Black Friday items in the warehouse. I am already working on, like, our Black Friday plan or Shop Friday. You know, all the things. So I'm gonna say through December. It's not written down anywhere, but in here. I kind of know what we're working towards. Some of those door busters are already starting to be added to the computer in the system. But as far as content goes, I really just make a note in my planner. I keep my planner from every year and try to look back. I don't have the boutique planner. I should get that. But every year I look back at my planner to be like, you know, what were we doing this type of. And. And just try to. Did this work or did this not work? Okay. And let Me plan accordingly. And I do always use one of y' all Sunday socials that y' all post in the group. I love just like the little. To break it up, the little word ones. Y', all. Y' all post.

Yeah, Social Sunday. Shannon posts Social Sunday. And it's every Sunday in the group. We post like, kind of like what a theme or a strategy for the week could be, and then a whole bunch of, like, quotes.

They're always perfect. It's like the ones for the first of the month or. Yeah, Sundays are my day that I feel like I'm the one who does all of our social media at the moment. And the weekend is where if I don't have it planned out, like, scheduled on Instagram, I'm probably not gonna think about it or it's gonna not be the best post because I didn't think it through. So those are always my good, like saved in my album for a good, easy. That'll work post perfect.

Hey, are you on the list yet? I know you want to be on this list. You don't want to miss this list because we are deep diving into your business college style. Not 101 style, not 301 style, 501 style. And that is inside of our college level course for boutique owners called Retail Bootcamp. Now, many of you may have already taken Retail Bootcamp, because the cool part about this course is not only do you get to watch it at your leisure, but then join us for. For 14 weeks of live group coaching twice a year. That's 28 weeks of live group coaching every single year. Once you're inside of Retail Bootcamp, you're always inside. So you get that same two semesters of group coaching every single year for as long as you want to join us this year inside of Retail Bootcamp, I can't wait to go back to deep dive into the six layers of your business strategically, step by step. What do you need to grow before you're ready for the Facebook ads and digital traffic, which we definitely cover? First, we have to make sure, how's your pricing? How's your profit? How's your inventory? How's your team management? We're going into literally every single topic of your business throughout Retail Bootcamp. So it only opens twice a year, January and June. Make sure you're on the wait list again. Once you get in, you're in for life. Why didn't college allow us to do that?

Right.

Whatever happened to all that college debt we had? That was silly. I can make way better use of your Time inside of Retail Bootcamp. So I hope you're on the list. Get on the waitlist right now. So you're the first to know when we open the doors of our 2025 session. I can't wait to see you inside of Retail Bootcamp. Yeah. What about. How do you use. Like, are you using email marketing? Are you using ads? What else is then enhancing the social strategy?

I do all the things. We have the text service, we have a mobile app. I use Klaviyo for emails, and I use them all. I mean.

You know, they're all great tools, and I do feel like I know our app. You know, you have to turn on the notifications for your app. So I know that not everyone gets the app notification. So I try to, you know.

Be strategic on how I do all those, because I don't want you to get a text message, an email, and an app notification from Pink Possum all at the same time. And I actually was listening to the podcast maybe two weeks ago about marketing and email marketing, and she said something that I do, and I was like, oh, man, I do that shout out when y' all have launches. And, you know, you're sending out emails and how those are kind of lost clicks because those people have been following your social media all day, and they know that you're launching stuff. So you don't necessarily need to send out the email that night. You can send it the next day. And so I was listening to that, and I kind of rescheduled some of my emails based on that and tried to narrow down some of my flows of. Instead of sending a text message to everyone on my text list, you know, trying to do the. The segments of different customers. But I definitely send out at least three emails a week, at least two text messages a week. And app notifications every day, just depending on the launches. Restocks. We do restocks every week, so that's. That's going to be an app notification. Just depends on when they all fall during the week. So I don't want to send. I try to wait till all the Restocks are here for the week. So I'm just. Okay, by Thursday, we've had all these Restocks and send that, you know, one big push for all the different things that have come back.

So.

But they all, I feel like, are beneficial and all have. They reach different people and they're great.

Yeah, they're all different. Like you said, they're. They're all different. They're all sisters, not twins. So they all have to be Treated just a little bit different. I want to shift gears a little bit because I think something that's been positive, obviously, from all of, you know, your great social, the branding you've done, the brand you've built, it's built you this great business. But it's also kind of set you up where I know you get photos stolen and videos stolen. And while I think Sheen and Temu have taken a bit of a shift this year, like, it was a huge, huge deal at the beginning of the year, I think there's been change where it's not quite as bad as it once was, but it's still an issue of you getting knocked off and all the things that come with it. So I'd love to hear more about how that's been from your perspective, like, what your experience has been with it, kind of how you see that shifting as we speak.

So I will say I've gotten better, and I will take it with a grain of salt.

I'm gonna call out my friend Lauren on here, who has a boutique in my town. And we were laughing about this the other day. So I've been the model from day one. So it's funny for me to, like, see my face on someone else's page. It's kind of like a double take. But one time, this girl Lauren that I'm friends with had used my photo, my. My feet photo of. Of the. Of these shoes. And I didn't know who she was, and I was just livid. And I shared on Facebook, like, I saw her post and shared it and was like, these are my feet and these are my shoes. And I don't know who this girl is, but she stole my photos and she automatically messaged me, was like, I am so sorry. Like, I just saved this photo off the Internet. I didn't know they were your feet or, you know, and.

So. So fast forward 10 years, she opened a store and she's like. She sent me a message the other day and was like, hey, this is so ironic because I know I stole your photo 10 years ago, but this girl in Alabama is using your photos. You know, I just want to let you know. And she's like, because I still remember the day you called me out for using your photo. And, like, it's burned into my brain. And I was like, okay, so there's local people that use them, but there's also. I've seen my photo on Dear Lover. And the problem with that, that just really rubs me wrong is, you know, I pay a photographer to do my Photos every week. Yeah, you know, she's a local mama and I pay her and then someone takes that hard work that I paid for and they're using my work to sell it. But a lot of times it's not even the same product, so. And people think my face is my brand, so people think, A lot of people think that's me selling it and it's not. Cuz, you know, if you don't, if you don't work in the industry, you have no idea. So people are like, oh, I saw you selling something on blah blah blah. And I'm like, that's not me.

That.

No, like I'm pink possum. You're not. I'm not going to be selling some. You shouldn't see my photo anywhere else. And if you do, it's not me. And that's what I think hurts the business and the brand and other brands like Intro. You know, if someone uses my Intro photo but they're getting it a knockoff made from China and it's not the same quality and it's not going to fit the same and it just, it just hurts everybody because it just brings down everybody.

It creates a lot of confusion And I think TikTok has really brought a.

Lot of light to that where I.

Feel like TikTok trolls are the worst. They're worse than any other platform. And I feel like the trolls on TikTok are always like, well, boutique owners are actually the ones that are stealing the photos from Shane and blah, blah, blah. And you're like, whoa, you are way off base here. But bless them, they have no idea. They don't know.

They don't.

I know this works. Have you found a way to combat this or how do you talk about this publicly?

How do you. Yes. Okay, so I, I know, I don't, I don't like to ruffle too many feathers, obviously, because I'm in business, so. But I did get fed up back. I made a tick tock and I've made a few Instagram reels after having my photos stolen and I see other boutique owners all the time and I, I am the first one. If I see, you know, I know what Ruthie Grace's model looks like and I know what impressions model looks like and I, if I see someone else's model on a page that is not their page, I will find out who that owner is and I will message them or I'll message Ruthie Grace, hey, this person's using your photo. The most frustrating part of that is they probably when it first started happening, like, when someone sent me a picture of my photo, they were using, you know, there's these Facebook, like, buy in groups, and someone was using my photo posting. They were selling whatever I was wearing in this Facebook group. And when I reached out to that person, she was like, well, this is the photo that my vendor gave me. And I was like, okay, so this person's not, like, out for me. She just doesn't know. She. That's the thing is some of some people that are just starting out don't realize that that's not just a. That's not a general model. That is someone else's model, and you're using it, and it does create a lot of confusion. So I tried to make a. I've made several posts, and I'm like, if y' all see a photo and the person's head is missing, that's your first red flag. If the head is cut off, that's probably not their photo.

Because generally, like, if you're on Amazon, I feel like they're all the heads are cut off because they don't want to get called out for stealing that model. So they cut her head off. And so I'm like. I was trying to educate. Basically, I've made several posts just trying to educate that, you know, I was like, hey, look, this is Ruthie Grace's model. This is Amazon. This is. Do you see the difference? And I only had, like, one negative, and I think it was on Tick Tock someone, because I was talking about how unfair I think it is that people are like, get this Lululemon dupe for. You know, they're basically selling knockoffs by using Lululemon or whoever else they're knocking off. And that's so unfair to said brand. And, you know, like, Lululemon. I don't know anything about Lululemon, but I just feel like it's unfair that they built this brand and now someone's like, you know, I'm like, why don't you just know what you're selling and not use Lululemon's name in it? It has nothing. I don't know if I'm making any.

Sense, but let's break it into two parts, okay? Because I am fully on board and I'm following right along. I think what you're addressing. There's two sides of it. Yeah. There's the consumer end.

Right?

Like, there's the consumer who doesn't know any better. And they're shopping on Shein and Temu and Amazon thinking they're getting a great deal, blah, blah, blah. But it's really just a knockoff of an actual quality manufacturer that a boutique has, you know, been selling. And it's a knockoff or a stolen boutique photo. So there's the consumer education piece, but then there's also the retailer education piece. And exactly to your point, I feel like I've been in this industry, you know, we're very similar in. In age of when we started our companies. And I think if you've been in this industry for a while, you do know who some of the models are and you know who the big boutiques are. And so you can commonly call those things out. But when you're new. So if you're new and you're listening to this, this is an opportunity to learn not all vendors are the same, and not all vendors have the same, you know, moral standards. And we do need to talk about the dupe culture and the knockoff culture because it is, in fact, illegal. So let's first just talk about the vendor thing. So when you're. When you're identifying a good vendor from a vendor who's using stolen photos, which is, you know, it's going to be a deer lover and you know, it's some kind of crappy wholesale vendor who's knocking off an entre, how are you as a boutique owner using discernment to find the best quality vendor? And what's your red flags when you're looking at vendor photos to know if they're good or if they're not good?

Okay, so I shop on Fashion Go a lot. And so I used to. I don't know if you know or not, but on Fashion Go, there is a tab that you can click that shows wholesaler versus what's the other one? Distributor. That.

Yeah.

So for a while there, like you said, I would order something from, I don't know, a company on Fashion Go. And when it came in, they all had different labels. And I remember thinking, wait a minute, I bought this from someone. But why are they all different brands? You know, And I think, like, Fascination is one on Fashion Go, that is a distributor. So they're distributing several other brands. So I realized, okay, they're marking that up more because they're the middlemans. I need to shop directly with this vendor. So I started separating the two on that. But then when you're looking at wholesalers and their model pictures aren't all the same model. Okay, first red flag, you know, because most of the companies are using the same model for all of Their photos. And you can see your head.

So that was. You can use those things. And then I'm gonna go and read the reviews. I am not a big review reader, but on Fashion Go, I am. I'm gonna go see if they have one star, five stars. Because a lot of times I'll be like, man, that is so cute. But that looks a little off, like a little sketchy. And sure enough, I'll go read the reviews. If it's a company I've never bought from before, and it's like, this is trash. This is paper thin, does not look like the photo, you know, And I'm like, okay, then I'm not buying anything from that company, no matter how cute or cheap it is. Because.

Yeah, so. And I, I'm going to go back because I think you said wholesaler versus and I said just distributor. I think it's manufacturer.

You're right.

You're right are the two words. So I love that you brought that up because manufacturer, you should always look for that on Fashion Go. But then I. It's a good example. You're at array right now. Right. So you're at this wholesale show. And I think going to wholesale events in person is important because you get to know the brand.

Yes.

See the quality, touch and feel it. And then you build a relationship with vendors. So if you're a new boutique owner listening and you're just starting to shop on Fashion Go. Like, that's step one. But you should really get to a show, I think as fast as you can so that you can kind of again, discern quality from not.

I almost use Fashion Go as like my. Where I can browse and.

You know, save images for. I don't use their images on our website, but sometimes if I'm working on a board on Canva, like to know what I have coming in in the next few weeks, I'll go and save all those photos. So I know that what's coming in. But like you said to me, the relationships are so important. And it's one thing that I wasn't aware of when I first started, but I've been to LA and you know, it's. Shopping is so much easier when you know a vendor and you can text them and say, hey, sold out of the stress instantly. Can I get any more? And you know, I'm not saying you should text all your vendors because all your vendors might not want you to text them, but once you have those contacts and you've made that, it, it makes my job a lot easier to Be able to. Or they'll say, hey, there was a shoe vendor, and I had sold out of a shoe. And she was like, look, we've had a lot come back, you know, like, the soul keeps breaking. I wouldn't recommend you buying anymore. Okay, well, I could have ordered those off Fashion Go, and no one would have told me any different. And then I would have had a lot come back because those. You know, there was a defect, basically, and the soles were breaking. So I do think the vendor relationships are very important. And, I mean, some of them have basically seen my kids grow up, you know, And.

I do think it makes a difference in the buying process. And you can trust them. Like, hey, this is the best. You know, I never put it pat. Like, yesterday we were at Risen Jeans, and I was like, what's okay? I know what I want. But what have y' all been selling the most of also? And let me see if that falls into my brand as well, because obviously, you know what you've sold a thousand of today. I don't. I'm kind of winging it here, so. And if you trust them to tell you what they're actually selling and not to just say what they want to sell, I think there's value in that.

Yeah, that's so true. All of that. And take your own photos when the goods come in. Don't rely on stock photos. Like you said. You said, I never use their photos. And that, I think, is why your brand is elevated, right? And why you've done so well over the years is you've taken your own photos. You have put your own stamp on it. You've made it your own. Your customers know that it's yours.

You.

And that sets you apart from everybody else.

It does. I mean, and you. You know, when.

You don't. Like, people have seen me for 12 years at this point, so they know if I say, this is tight on me, how, like, okay, you know, normally everything is true to size, but I'm like, if this is tight on me, then you need to size up.

Like.

And I think that that builds a trust with me and my customer, because they see it on me every single day, and I am the face of the brand, whether that's me or another model, and not just a generic photo of a girl who you don't know how. You know, I have so many people that come in the store, and they're like, I am shaped just like you. So I know that if you're wearing a small, I'm gonna wear a small or I'll have people that come in, and they're like, you're five, two. So I need to know what the inseam is on that, because that's not gonna. You know. But I do think that branding is important and putting. You know.

Yeah.

Sticking with it, because.

Like I said, I think that's helped build my customer base because they can. They know, like, you know, so many. So many people don't love to shop online because they want to try it on. So the better I can model it. And the description of how it fits me is very important to help build that trust with my customers.

Yes.

Okay.

Amen to all of this. And the second part of this conversation was the dupe culture that is, like, running rampant today. And I don't. I just want to make sure if everyone that's listening is brand new, you know, that it's illegal. So if something becomes famous by another brand, or, like you said, your face. It's illegal to steal your face, put it on another product, sell it for a profit, and then not give the profit back to you, which is no different if you're selling a shirt that has Diet Coke's logo on it. That's illegal. Or Louis Vuitton or any of these brands. The Dallas Cowboys.

The Chiefs.

Oh, for the love of Pete, if I see one more Chiefs thing, I'm gonna just vomit. Because it's all trademarked. It does not belong to you. If you are selling something making a profit because of someone else's fame associated with it, it's illegal.

So off of my soapbox now, Becca.

Tell me what you think about dupe culture.

I mean, I am scared to death to, like, I remember. I've been in the boutique hub since I, like, for a long time now, and nothing has scared me more than seeing someone's Facebook deleted because they posted a Dallas Cowboys T shirt. Like, now, I did have my Facebook hacked, and I did lose my original Facebook a few years ago, and that was traumatizing enough. But if my business, Instagram, and Facebook that I poured my heart and soul to were to be deleted because of something silly like a T shirt, I would be so upset.

I remember years ago.

There was a sweatshirt that we had ordered from a vendor on Fashion Go. I can't remember what it said.

Like, it might have been the Panther with the word Gucci on it or something. And I probably had it in the store for, like, two days. And then I was like, oh, my gosh. Like, that is okay. I, like, called the store. I was like, give those Sweatshirts away right now. Like, go find someone. Do y' all want one? Y' all take one home. Take one home for your sister. I don't want them in the store. Like, I just saw someone who was rated for Louis Vuitton purses and get them out of there. Like, burn them. I don't want to see them. And I'm just ever. I will not. Like, if it is Louis Vuitton. No. Chanel, all the. The cc. Like, no. Anything that is even, like, remotely close to a trademark. A steer away from. No, thank you.

That's good. Build your own brand. Rely on your own ability to build your brand.

Because it's completely possible for everyone to do that. I mean, and you know, no one's gonna. Yeah, if. If you start off with other people's photos, how is that ever gonna build your base, your. Your brand?

Amen.

Same with other products.

This. We're just dishing out soap boxes in this episode. I mean, if you're listening, you're just like, oh, my Lord.

Soap.

What else do you want me to talk about?

Let's get real controversial. Okay. Oh, my gosh. No. I'm actually totally gonna shift gears because our time is flying by. Thank you for all the soapboxes with me. I love it. But I have a couple lightning round questions for you real quick if you're good. Okay. First one, I'm going to give you two hours back in your day to focus on income generating activity for your business. What are you going to focus on first?

Income. Okay. Ads. Ads. And try on videos for me. Those are two. I mean, those are two completely different items. But ads and Tron videos are the two things that I feel like are the most time consuming for me.

Yeah, but impactful. Are you running your own ads?

Yes.

Yes.

Okay, awesome. All right.

Unsexiest process that has the most impact on your business.

Like refluffing the store. There's nothing sexy about, like.

You know, sometimes I'm just. I walk in there and I'm like, ugh, this place, this whole place just needs a facelift. And it's like grit work, you know, Like, I'm gonna pick up this table all by myself and move it all the way across the store because it's just not. It's not doing its job. And sometimes the girls come in and they're like, what in the heck has happened? And I'm pouring down sweat and I'm like, well, we were slow for five minutes and I decided I'm going to flip this whole store by Myself. There's nothing cute about that. But I tell you what, a customer is going to walk in and be like, wow, it looks so good in here. And they're going to buy that sweater that I just moved from, you know, the back rack to the front. It makes a difference.

As far as there is money in merchandising. There's so much money in remerchandising. Such an opportunity.

Crazy.

Hangs around.

Yes.

Getting sweaty for a reason. Okay, what is the best business advice that always sticks with you?

Hmm. Ooh.

So.

Like, you know, my father was in business, and he. He, like, drilled into me. Customer service.

Yeah.

And it's. It's so important to me to greet every customer and whether they came in and said absolutely nothing to me, to, you know, also talk to them as they leave the door. Like, yeah, If a customer ever comes to my store and is not greeted, hey, how are you? And is not left with, thank you. Have a good day. Yeah, my day is ruined if. Because it.

But, you know, I think people shopped with my dad because they loved him and he had great customer service. And it's important to me as well, because people not just shop with your brand, they're shopping with me. You know, I had customers tell me before, like, you know, I know everyone else has the same dress, but we shop with you because we like you.

Not enough.

Do you know what I mean? Like, I'm not trying to like, but. But because they. You're building that relationship.

Yeah.

So customer service is the best advice, I guess, to answer your question. Yeah.

Your brand is an extension of you, and people want to do business with people.

So for sure, you should be taking it personally.

Also, if you guys are listening to this podcast and you are not watching it on YouTube and watching Becca's mannerisms and facial expressions as I ask these, by far, this is my favorite response to a lightning round I think I've ever had.

I'm sorry.

Your facial expressions are killing me.

I'm surprised I can make any, due to the Botox that I've had recently. But.

Good for me.

Surprised with you.

Oh, my gosh. Okay, shifting gears almost. Last question, but best lesson. But what's been the hardest lesson you've had to learn? What's been tough?

Okay, I'm gonna say that kind of like, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Bigger isn't better. And, like, just because everyone else is doing something doesn't mean you have to do it. Which is like three in one. But, you know, in 2021. I closed my storefront for three months because everyone else was doing it. And it seemed like that was the. That was the new norm. Like, you know, why have this storefront when you could just go online and do it all online? And that was a disaster from day one. When I closed, people were literally banging on my door, like, what do you mean you closed? And we'd be like, oh, well, we're online only. You can go shop online. And they would just stand there at the door like, no. Like, what do you mean? And I. I get my hair done at the salon next to the store, and I was getting my hair washed one day, and someone was getting their hair washed next to me, and she was talking to her stylist, and she was like, so, what's going on next door? What's up with that girl? Why did she close her store? That was so silly. And I was like, hello.

I'm sorry. I had a midlife crisis. I thought that it would be much easier to go online only. But it wasn't. And it wasn't for me. It wasn't for my brand. My customers were so upset. And.

I opened back up three months later, and I was like, I sold half of the furniture in my store because I thought, I don't need this anymore. And I was, like, giving everything away.

So that was a big lesson for me to learn that just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean that that's what you need to do. That didn't serve my brand better. And, you know, I lost some money on that because I literally, like I just said, was giving away displays, and.

What was I doing? I don't know. And then I reopened, and that was four years ago, and people still call the store today and say, hey, is your storefront back open? I'm like, it's for three months. Three months. Yes, we're open.

Oh, man. Hard lessons, but good lessons. I love that. Yeah. Okay, well, I have one last question for you. This is so fun. I could do this all day. We could just keep chatting all day, but you have a life to live, so I got to let you go. But last question.

If.

If you were to, like, fast forward 20, 30 years from now, and you're looking back on all the good and the bad and the ugly, all the journey that you've had so far in business, and. And, yes, that three months didn't. Where you closed the store, but you're sitting there with your family, and you're reflecting on this journey you've been on, and Talking about the life you lived. What's the thing that you really want them to remember most about your story, about you as a person, how you lived, and the person that you are.

Who is. Who is this? Who do. Who is remembering this?

You are capping to your grandkids. You're sitting on the front porch with your grandkids, your kids, you're reflecting. What do you want them to remember the most?

I mean, we had a good time. We had fun while doing it. We work hard, but we play hard, too.

Since day one. Like I said, Lanny, Kate was six months old when I opened Pink Possum, and she has been going to market with me since then. Yeah, she's not here right now. She's 12 now and she's pretty mad about it, honestly. She's pretty mad that she didn't come to the beach. So it was really it. From day one, it's been a family affair. You know, there was a market in Orlando and we. I trucked the whole family along and we did that market and we did Disney World. So from day one, I did want to be my own boss, but I also wanted my family to be able to tag along. And I think that's because I. How I grew up was part of it. So I just want to be able to remember that, you know, I might have been on my phone a lot and working late on the laptop, but also we made some great memories and did some great things along the way.

Ah, I love it. Business and family. And it's the same way that you grow up, that you grew up. So how cool to see that come full circle.

Becca, thank you so much. This was so fun to have you on the podcast. I loved it. Congratulations on all the success, all the lessons, all the highs and lows along the way. And thanks for being a part of the Hub for so long, too. That means I love it.

I enjoy it.

Awesome.

Thanks for listening, guys. I hope you took away all kinds of nuggets and new ideas from this week's episode. 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. We'll see you next week.