Boutique Chat #033 |How 2 Sisters Grew An Audience & Started a Boutique on Youtube| Madison&Mallory

Hey, guys, get ready for episode number 33, and you're gonna meet the 2018 global boutique of the Year award winner, Madison and Mallory Boutique Hayling from Alabama. Can you believe it? Our first runner up and our Global Boutique of the Year winners were both from Alabama. You guys are in for a real treat. Madison and Mallory have a combined over 1 million YouTube followers. And you're gonna hear why in just a minute. Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details. Actually works. From mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it, how do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts, and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub, and I can't wait to chat. Have you ever met someone who you felt like you had an instant connection with? Like someone you wanted to be your gal pal, you wanted to go shopping with and know their beauty routines and secrets and what actually happens on a daily basis? Well, that's exactly how Tracy and Stephanie, the sisters behind Madison and Mallory Boutique, first got their start online, actually, back in 2009, when they started their YouTube channels, their fans began to follow them for the fun and infectious energy that they brought to social media on a regular basis. So it's no surprise why Madison and Mallory stemmed from that early conversation on YouTube. Because their customers and fans were asking for more fashion advice, product information, and where to buy the items specifically that these girls were talking about. So after building nearly 2 million followers on YouTube on their two channels, 11th Gorgeous and TNS, the ladies transitioned into owning their own boutique, Madison and Mallory. Now, today, I want you to hear from Tracy and Stephanie and hear all about their story of what it was like to build that following on YouTube, how it worked for them to transition into owning their own boutique, and again, learning from the ground up exactly how to operate, how to build inventory, how to set up their warehouse, but also the takeaways that you can pick up in terms of working with influencers and building a following that follows you across all platforms. Now, these girls are a ton of fun, and I feel like I've known them for a whole lot longer than I actually have, so I can't wait to meet them in person, which I'm sure will happen soon. You guys enjoy this episode. I know there's tons of tips and takeaways that you're really going to appreciate. And congratulations again, Tracy and Stephanie of Madison and Mallory Boutique, our 2018 global boutique of the Year.

Hey, guys, welcome back to the podcast. You are in for such a treat today because, ta da. We have the 2018 global boutique of the Year. Madison and Mallory and owners Tracy and Stephanie are both with us today. So welcome to the show, you guys.

Yeah.

Hi.

Thank you for having us.

Oh, my gosh, I'm so excited. We were just talking about how cool it is to finally get to meet even though we aren't face to face. But isn't it weird how you get to have these friends online from all over the world who you know on this level, but you aren't in the same, like, community as them? Isn't that crazy?

It's what we love about the Internet. I mean, it takes the world and makes it a little bit smaller and everyone can be more connected. So we love it.

Love it. So you guys were saying before we got onto the podcast, you're like, oh, you know, your voice, it sounds like an old friend. Just because you've been listening to the podcast, and I'm sure with you guys having a successful YouTube channel, it's the same thing. You've got to tell me what that's like when people come and recognize you off the street.

I would say the most recent experience was really fun. We were actually going to get a spray tan because Stephanie and I were jumping in and doing some photos for the website. And I had just come out of the booth, I was still sticky from my spray tan, and this girl ran up to me and she was like, 11th gorgeous, and immediately went for the hug. And I was like, oh, I'm sticky. I'm sorry. You know, and she remembered me. Well, she knew us from YouTube, but we had bumped into her recently in Winn Dixie. And so it was kind of like meeting again. But it was. Yeah, it was really funny.

I don't think we ever get used to it, but it's always an amazing experience and it always feels just like an old friend that you're getting to see again. So it's. It's been really amazing.

That's pretty cool. And it's hard to explain that to people, isn't it? Like, I think about explaining to my mom, you know, what I do for a living and how I actually have these friends online. Right. And I think it's just hard for people to understand that that's reality, which is so cool.

Yeah.

So we've got to talk about, first of all, congratulations for being named our Global Boutique of the year in 2018. You guys, I Mean, it was quite a race to the finish. Both you guys and our first runner up are from Alabama. So what is it in water with boutiques in Alabama?

I mean, I think it's amazing. We're actually in the same town, and I think that it's, you know, representing for Alabama Southern, small town.

I don't want to harp on Alabama being a winning state, but I think we're a winning state.

Yeah. National champions. I mean, we do. We do love football, too, so we just. We just have some winners here. Oh, man.

Well, we've got to give a shout out to Jenna and Generation Boutique because they did an excellent job. I know she's got a tremendous following all around the world, too. So congratulations to you both.

Yes, absolutely. I. We would not be where we are if we had not been, you know, learning from all of the boutiques out there. I mean, there are amazing women in the space that have been working so hard, and we admire all of them, and we definitely couldn't be doing what we were doing today without all of the people that have come before us, man.

Community over competition right there.

Yeah. That is one of our favorite quotes that, you know, we've heard from you. That and, you know, not to compare your beginning to someone else's middle. That's really helped us, too.

Aw, it's so true. I mean, because it's easy, this online world, while it's got the perks that we talked about, that's a struggle for a lot of people. It's easy to fall into that trap, for sure. So game plan for today for everybody who's listening. I'm excited you guys are here for a number of reasons. I'd love to talk about kind of the backstory of how you guys, you know, for anyone who doesn't know your story, the backstory of how you guys are in family business with one another, not just the boutique, but for anyone who doesn't know, you guys have two very popular YouTube channels as well, which kind of spawned this business. So I'd love to hear kind of about. About both sides, really. The YouTube side and the boutique side, how they work together, and some kind of plans and strategies that have spawned from that. So before we get started with that kind of thing, though, will you guys give me some context, kind of your background, how you grew up and what led you to this online social media business in the first place?

Sure. So Stephanie and I are sisters. Not everyone knows that. It's funny how some people think that we're twins, and then some people won't even think we're related. We're actually almost six years apart. So that was really interesting growing up, because we didn't always get along, but.

Our dad was in the military, so we moved around a lot, and we didn't. A lot of times, we didn't stay in a place long enough to make a good, solid friendship. And so family was always really important to us because that was what we had. We had each other. And so I think that kind of is the reason. Kind of the reason why we're in business together. But going back a little bit to the YouTube, me and Tracy are best friends, and so we found YouTube, and she wanted to do it, and she didn't want to do it alone. And so instead of going to one of her friends, which she didn't really have any, I didn't really have any. She was gonna grab me. So we started that together.

It was actually funny. I had an extreme fear of public speaking, and I don't know why. I wanted to make YouTube videos where we have now gone on to talk to thousands and millions of people, and the fear has died down a lot. But I was too afraid to make videos in the beginning. So I told Stephanie. I was like, I'm seeing all these really cool girls making YouTube videos about makeup and fashion, and it looks really fun, but I don't want to do it alone. So, yeah, we started making videos for my apartment back in 2009. Yeah, it was 2009 when we first started making videos.

Kind of the beginning of social media.

It really was. It was very much just a hobby for us. There weren't ways to make any money from it, and it was just talking about what you love and sharing it with a community and getting that feedback from people, and it was really cool. It was a really cool experience.

Fast forward to 2012. We left our jobs for YouTube specifically, and we were both married at the time, and our husbands took us to dinner and told us that, you know, they were behind us to get our jobs and go for it on the YouTube side. And, I mean, we. We did that for a few years, and it was amazing. We got to travel a lot and meet a lot of our viewers. And then about. What was it, summer of 2016? Actually, let me rewind. 2011. Before we quit our jobs, we started a jewelry business called EG's Jewelry, and we loved it. That was before we really knew about the space. I don't think we were quite as knowledgeable about wholesaling and all of the stuff, but we ended up only running that for about a year because we were so concentrated on our YouTube channel and we didn't want to split our time.

I mean, we had a full time job. You were in school, we were doing YouTube. It was a lot. So we just decided to focus on YouTube because that was our, our real love at the time.

And we promised ourselves that we would revisit it when we felt like we could and maybe own our own business later on in life. But then summer of 2016, we just, spur of the moment, just had that feeling that, that gut feeling that we just wanted to do something. And we just kind of started spitballing the idea of owning our own online store and started the research.

Yeah, we just dove right in. We. We didn't think twice about it and just started learning all we could and making it a reality.

That's pretty cool. I mean, it seems like a natural progression because, you know, for anyone who doesn't know, we should back up and talk about the YouTube channels because there's two. For anyone who doesn't know about those, I mean, it is a natural progression to go into the boutique space just because it is fashion and beauty and that type of lifestyle. So I want to talk more about the boutique specifically, but tell me about the two channels and the differences. And I'm curious, what were the first two videos you made and are they still on your channel and can you watch them?

Yes. So on 11th, gorgeous. That was the first channel that we created and it's all about, you know, keeping things affordable with makeup, fashion, lifestyle.

Making it not as scary, easy to.

Do because for me, I, I was never super into makeup or fashion because I found it a little bit intimidating. And so when I was watching these girls apply makeup in such an easy to follow and comfortable way, it made me not afraid to try what they were doing. So for us, that, that channel, we still have our first video. You can actually go back and watch it.

It's called New makeup randomness or something like that. It's terrible quality.

The lighting is very green. There's a beep that starts when we first start recording. And it's just us letting people know that we're gonna make videos about makeup and fashion. And if you like it, awesome. And if not, there's plenty, plenty of other things out there to watch. But it was just kind of an introduction and we left it up there because we felt like it was important for people to see where we started. And then our second channel, it's had a couple names. It started out other side of vg and then we changed it to tns. T for Tracy and S for Stephanie. And it is kind of a catch all of anything we want to do that's not really makeup, fashion, and lifestyle.

Yeah, we have a lot of vlogs on there, A lot of the behind the scenes. We've even shared some behind the scenes of, of owning a boutique. We want to do more, but there's time.

Yeah, absolutely. It's so fun to be able to have those videos to look back on and see, you know, how things have progressed and changed and. Yeah, so there's, there's blogs, there's taste tests, there's all kinds of different videos on tns.

So how did both of those channels take off the way that they did? I mean, was it just the consistency and being started early and I mean, obviously it's great content and it's great quality. You guys are both fun and so easy to relate to. Was there one thing that you think really attributed to the way that it grew?

I mean, I think for our 11th gorgeous channel, we started so long ago, there wasn't a lot of channels and it's always been a steady growth for us. I don't think we ever had that one viral moment. We've had years that we grew more years that we didn't grow as much, but for the most part, it's been a steady, hard working growth that we.

Had to work for consistency. I think when you really love something and you're willing to put in the hard work, it's pays off in that way. You know, it's just been something that we're not, like, giving up is not in the cards for us. We're always going to keep working harder if something doesn't work out for us. Try a different way and, and pivot and keep going with it.

Absolutely. What does behind the scenes look like? How many days a week do you guys put up videos and how do you plan for those?

Got to be honest, the boutique has definitely become our baby. Um, YouTube has not taken a full backseat. It's right there in the middle. Um, but on a, on a perfect week, we would like to have three videos up. Um, that's a real perfect week. I said perfect. On a good week, we might get one to two videos up. Um, on our 11th gorgeous channel and then our vlog channel, we like to do one a week.

Um, but we also don't like to force the content if it doesn't feel right for us, if it's not something we're excited about doing. And I think that's another thing with us. We've always tried to stay true to who we are. And we get so much feedback from people that, you know, they tell us, you guys are the same as when you started. Our hair is a little different. Mine's a little blonder. But for the most part, I feel like we've, you know, stayed who we are. And so, yeah, I think that that's helped us too.

Yeah.

So when you started the business, the boutique business now, you had this idea, you researched it, you went for it, you bought some inventory. I think you said you went to America's Mart, you went to Atlanta, right?

Yes.

You brought it home. And tell me what happened next.

Well, we actually had a small office space at the time because we were. When you were working from home, sometimes it's really hard to be disciplined, to keep to a schedule. And so Stephanie and I decided that we wanted to rent a small space for our YouTube. For our YouTube. And we also had an assistant working with us. She's still with us today. And so it was a good place for us to be that would keep us on a schedule, keep us productive. And so that's where our first inventory started coming in. And honestly, we had to have. We had to have invoices of things before we could even attend America's Mark. So we actually had the stuff coming into our space before we even went to market, which was a whole other experience. The first day of market was very interesting.

Yeah, we set a launch date. I think, honestly, we launched it within about maybe a month and a half to two months of the idea even sparking. So to say we hit the ground running is kind of an understatement.

We.

We packed it in, but we set a launch date, and I think we started promoting it about a month in advance on our YouTube channel and on our Instagram for eleventhgorgeous. And so we started buying the inventory, set the launch date, and on that launch day, we opened with, I don't know, maybe like, 20 styles, a little bit more than that.

I don't remember how many. I just remember we felt like we had done. We should have done so much more. Yeah. Um, but Stephanie and I were the models, the photographers. We were editing. We did the website. Um, we were. Do. We were wearing many hats at the time. Yeah, I. I know that when we were trying to choose the inventory to launch with, we had, like, magnetic boards, whiteboards, and we printed out pictures of all of the items we wanted on the site to see how it Looked, you know, if it was a good aesthetic, kind of like your Instagram page. And we had them all up there, and we really liked the story it was telling. And, yeah, I think we definitely underestimated our audience support. Kind of similar to the Boutique Awards. You know, I think we were hopeful, but we definitely underestimated their power.

Definitely. They were excited. They were behind you. How did you plan that launch strategy? I mean, what did you have in mind? You must have, along with the YouTube channel, you must have a great email list or some other tangible list that you were able to market the business to as well.

You know, I think that's something with having a YouTube channel that we lack as YouTubers. We don't have emails and we don't have access to our viewers except for YouTube. And that's one of the many reasons why we've wanted to branch out in what we're doing, because if YouTube went away tomorrow, we have no way to reach those people. So by having a tangible business that we can collect emails and, you know, reach them on a different level, that's really good.

And so we were afraid of having all of our eggs in one basket, in just the YouTube basket. So it was important for us to. To diversify in that way. And we knew, too, that, you know, our audience, they loved the things we would wear and the things we would talk about. We would go to Target, we would go to Forever 21, and we would buy things, and they would be interested in getting those things from, you know, from where we purchased it. And it just seemed like the perfect fit. We could go and find these pieces that we thought they would enjoy and making sure that they were still affordable. Because Stephanie and I have always been about affordability. Growing up, my mom, she would refuse to buy me $50 Calvin Klein jeans. And she told me, you know, when I had a job, I could buy as many $50 pair of Calvin Klein jeans as I wanted. And when I got my job and I realized that that would only buy maybe four pairs of Calvin Klein jeans, I realized that the $20 Levi's were looking pretty good at the time. So for us, it's just ingrained in who we are to be affordable. And our audience loves that. So it's just been a really good fit. And that's what we set out for with the boutique was finding the super cute, affordable pieces that people would want to know, hey, that looks super cute and trendy. And you're like, it won't break the bank either.

Yeah. Do you find that? That's kind of your ideal customer. Both with YouTube and the business is like, say that younger, like still 20s, maybe early 30s, you know, first time career, definitely budget conscious consumer.

I think because of our YouTube channel, the Age range really spans. I mean, we've got moms that watch with their daughters and it's just, it's all across the board. But there's definitely that affordability element that goes across everyone. We have college students, we have, you know, people starting their careers that are telling us, you know, thank you for showing me affordable options. And that makes us really happy to hear that they appreciate and value that from us.

What was it like the night before you launched? Was it, you know, did it feel different just knowing that you were gonna go through your videos and promote something that was actually yours for once? Like, did that have a different feeling when you push submit on that video?

Yeah, and I think that's something that's always scared us away from putting out product. Is that fear of, oh, gosh, how is this gonna be received? You know, a couple of our fears were they're gonna be mad at us because now we're trying to sell them something and you know, our videos are free to watch and, and so it's a little bit terrifying that they're going to get upset that you're trying to sell something. On the flip side, you're like, is anyone going to buy it? Is this going to be a total flop?

Right.

I think I was looking back at my memories on my Facebook recently and I saw my post because we just hit two years this past September or past September 1st.

Yeah.

And so I saw a post from right before we launched and it said, I'm so nervous, I'm going to puke.

Yeah.

So we were, we were very nervous.

It was, it was an amazing first day though. We had so many people there helping us. Our husbands were there, Aaron, our assistant, and we had a friend there helping us pack orders. It was such a whirlwind day. We had a couple mistakes. We were sorting through packages, looking through, trying to find ones where labels had gotten messed up. And I mean, we're still perfecting our system today, but it was, I was not ready for it.

So you've got to tell us what happened because you bought this inventory and how quickly did you. It all sell out?

I mean, gosh, it was, it was almost gone the first day. Like that was our biggest complaint in the beginning was that we had so many cute things, but everything was sold out. Yeah, we couldn't get the inventory in fast. Enough, take pictures of it, get it up on the site for the people that wanted it. So we were kind of struggling with this supply and demand issue really early on, and. And so it's kind of like, do we get more people right now? How do we balance this? It was crazy.

So did you guys have mentors or someone or somewhere that you went to kind of help solve some of those issues as you grew?

I believe I would say Google.

Google's my biggest mentor.

You know, I was thinking about this this morning, and there's so much information on the Internet, and I think, you know, a lot of people know that, obviously, but I think, you know, some of the. When I was 14, I feel like that's when we first really got the Internet. And for me, I don't take it for granted. There are people who are born. You know, some of the people that work with us are really young, and that's. They've always known the Internet. So I think it's kind of like if you grew up with encyclopedias, you kind of were like, what? I'm not going to open those? I mean, not exactly, but kind of. And so we've never been afraid to, you know, research and find anything and everything. I mean, YouTube videos are amazing. Podcasts are amazing.

So many people ask us for tips and tricks on how to open a boutique, and I'm like, man, we didn't have anyone to help us. We just Googled and did our research.

And when we wanted to find brands, you know, we would go to stores where we would shop and we would look and see, you know, what kind of brands are in these stores that we can go and find online. We found Fashion Go, and that was an amazing place for us to shop before we would go to market. But, yeah, it was just. It was just researching and, and, and trying to find information. Yeah. Is that.

That's how you found the Boutique Hub, too? Was Google Podcast? Is that how we came?

Yes. Yeah. We first found it looking for wholesale brands, and then we rediscovered it when we were listening to the podcast. Yeah, and it's. It's my morning drive ritual. I'll turn it on in the morning, and then on my way home from work, I'll listen to it.

That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. And you've met some amazing people through that, right? With comments sold as well. And I think some other service providers on the hub that you connected with. So awesome.

Yeah, the resources are amazing. I think it's somewhere that, you know, if someone is interested in getting into this. There's a wealth of information there.

I wish that we had discovered it back when we were first starting, but anytime is good. I mean, we use it now. We still have questions. We go to the Facebook group for questions and answers. And. And it's fun to help other people, too.

It is.

I enjoy that, man. Is there, as you think about just, like, this evolution of how you've grown even in the last two years, do you feel like there's one point where there was a failure you overcame along the way that you're glad happened? I mean, as you think about, like, those shipping orders or things that got started and you're like, oh, my gosh, I could have done this so much better. Are you thankful you had those experiences because they've kind of helped catapult you even further each time they happen?

I think the. The main. One of the main ones would be like a location system of our items that. I can't believe we went so long without having a location system. We would be looking for pieces for 20 minutes. And that sounds so terrible to say out loud, but, you know, there. There are a lot of. We use Shopify, and I think that there are a lot of downfalls as far as, you know, what's the right app to fix the solution. You're trying to fix the today, and there's not a great location system. So I think because it was difficult to come up with a solution, we put it off until we absolutely could not go any further. So I feel like there was time lost in not having that sooner that.

In barcoding, we started barcoding everything, and that has saved us so many errors on shipping. I think in the beginning, we didn't have a lot of errors.

Right.

But I mean, to be now down to almost no errors with the barcode, that's something. But with the location service, that has saved us a lot of time with shipping.

Right.

What is your. You guys moved into a new space, right? A new, larger space warehouse so that you could house everything.

So from the small space, we moved into a larger office. It's still kind of like a divided office space, so we have to be creative with it.

Right.

Our first space was about 1,200 square feet. We're in about 3,300 square feet right now. But like Tracy said, it's an office building, so it's not really a warehouse.

Very segmented.

But as of today, we're potentially getting a new warehouse that's about 5,000 square feet. So we're really excited about that.

Yes. Waiting on the email to come in. We're very excited. And Stephanie and I just, like with the boutique, when we just jumped right in ground running, we would pack everything up and try to move today, because that's just how we do things.

So as you have grown over the last two years, think about strategies that have worked. Obviously, you've got that initial push from YouTube to grow the boutique because your fans came over and we both know that algorithms, Facebook, Instagram, everything ebbs and flows. Right. So are there strategies that you guys have found in terms of driving that ongoing traffic to the site that have been helpful for you?

Yeah, I think most of our career being on social media, we've had to fight the algorithm. So that was something going into it. We knew we had to do social media for the store, but it was also going to be just as hard as it was for us on the YouTube side. You know, in the beginning, we were not, I don't think, as good at doing the social media. I think now we're kind of starting to get it down. A big thing for us is stories on Instagram, having lots of stories being consistent with posting Instagram. Something we had to learn kind of the hard way is that you don't want to always sell to people on Instagram. You've got to get them interacting, you know, with something other than, hey, buy the shirt more, you know, asking them questions and getting their opinion and getting them interacting and then sell to them. That's something that we've. We've worked on, I think, more so recently.

And then another thing I think is, is keeping us in the brand. Our audience knows our face so much and we can tell such a difference when we are in the photos for our Instagram. And it's. It's hard because you. You want to find a way to manage your time and be able to do all of the things you need to do. But it's hard to deny the numbers when we post photos where we're in them on our Madison and Mallory Instagram. So I think keeping you in the brand has been a really important thing for us.

I think that separates you from, you know, just a random retailer. If you built your business and your customers know you and that you are the brand, I think that really helps them connect and makes it more meaningful.

Yeah.

How do you help schedule that during the week? Because you guys have, you know, professional photos that you have as your product photos on your website, but you guys do kind of the mirror selfie photo for Instagram and Facebook or Your Facebook group, correct?

Yes, yes.

Yeah, we have both, both of those. And I just have to give a shout out to the girl that photo photographs for us. Her name's Maddie. She's only 20 years old and she has been with us for about a year now and she has grown with us with the photography on our website. So we're really proud. We are of her for that. But yeah, we do the mirror selfies on Facebook. I feel like it's a little more, hey, look at this cute top. That's from my closet. You know, you should have it too.

The Facebook group feels a little bit more intimate in that way and I think that's why the mirror selfies work because it's kind of like this is my top and it's super cute and you would love it. But versus the styling IT experience you're getting on the website.

Yeah, I agree. I've heard that from a lot and I see that like just stats wise with a lot of boutiques that we work with. I think that's spot on. Do you do the same your Insta stories, do you do a lot of like try on sessions and that sort of same feel?

That's something that we're working on. We've done some try on sessions. Maddie did one yesterday and it was really cute.

It was really cute.

I think for us, finding the time to do everything is the biggest struggle. We want to do everything and I mean if we stayed here all day, every day, all hours of the night, we could do everything. But no, I think that that try ons are very key. I think that people really resonate with those. So that's something we're, we're wanting to do.

I think also the fit videos, they love seeing the items moving. We've got friends and family that, you know, our, our comment shoppers and boutique shoppers and they say I won't buy it unless it has a fit video. So they are pretty die hard. And when we've posted FIT videos, they've specifically commented and interacted with that content. So I know that with social media there's so much content and people are hungry for it. They want to see everything they possibly can before they make that choice. So sometimes it makes it difficult, but when you know what they want and, and how to, how to make it work, it's just, it's just about finding the time to do it all.

Isn't that the truth? What's your number one like social media channel that refers to your website?

Instagram.

Yeah, 100% Instagram. Like, even with our YouTube channel, Instagram is the highest. And Instagram, our Madison and Mallory Instagram.

Yeah.

That's pretty awesome. How many, what is the follower count on your Instagram?

53,000, I believe on Madison and Mallory.

Awesome. And there's, I think I look, you've got about 17,000, your Facebook group. And they're pretty active in there too.

Yes.

Yeah, shockingly so. I didn't realize that, you know how many people have Facebook groups that are bigger that don't have as many active members, but ours are pretty dang active.

Yeah, we're struggling right now with our added versus wait list metrics and we're trying to. It's so hard when you go in to buy so many more packs than what you're used to. So we're trying to learn that, navigate it. Yeah, it's scary, but it's exciting.

Outside of the website, you guys just built an app, Correct. Is that up and running as well?

The app for our website? Yep. So that app is kind of like sort of template.

It's tied into Shopify.

Right. So for us, we didn't feel like it made sense to spend, you know, 10, $15,000 on an app because, I mean, we've, we've actually had an app made for us through YouTube and social media type stuff and it was great. But I know that they were a startup and those types of things are so expensive. It just, it didn't seem when you could get a template that was a monthly fee versus coming out of pocket so much. It just felt like the right fit for us and less of, I don't know, room for mistakes. Right. I just, I could not put that much into just an app.

Yeah. And it makes sense when you're testing the waters and seeing really where the conversions are going to lie at this point. So I think that's smart. Is it still kind of a battle for you when you think about, like, how often do you post about your own personal brand on your YouTube videos? Do you still have to balance that as you go along?

Oh, like mentioning Madison and Mallory on 11th. Gorgeous.

Yep, yep.

Yeah, that's a really big balance because, like from the night before we launched, I was worried about them being upset that we were selling to them because, you know, the whole thing on YouTube is advertising and when you're advertising your own brand, you don't want to make anyone upset. So we do still mention it. If we're wearing tops from the store, we mention it. If we're having sale, mention it. But it's A very delicate balance.

But I mean, we get so many comments from people saying that, you know, they love seeing how hard working we are. And I think that shows when we do our behind the scenes blogs on TNS and people can see that, you know, we are opening the boxes and we are doing the photos for the website and we're shipping and we are a part of everything that's going on. So I think, you know, there are some times where influencers are involved in projects where they're more hands off. And for us, this is something that we want to be involved in every single step that we can.

Yeah, that's something that we do have to remind them that this isn't something that was set up for us. We're not just putting our name on something. This is something we're building from the ground up that we started. So I think when they're reminded that it's us doing it, they receive it a lot better.

Yeah, it's so interesting to me just to, to watch what's happening and to hear from you guys because I think it says a lot about where the industry is going, you know, this whole reality, influencer, behind the scenes trend, which is not just a trend. I mean, it's here to stay. People want to do people. People want, you know, to follow both of you because you're real, it's an authentic brand. It's not just put on. Right. But at the same time, like this industry is changing so fast. And, you know, the whole reason why big box stores are closing and malls are closing is because, same thing, people want to do business with people. Surprise. So they're going to these boutiques where they feel like they are loved and served and have a connection and relationship. So have you guys. I mean, you kind of walked into this really best of both worlds opportunity. Do you kind of see that same thing happening in terms of the industry or what's your view on where the boutique industry is moving?

Well, I know for us, you know, with advertising, you could already see that they were wanting to go to the influencers on YouTube, the normal girls in their bedroom talking about their favorite makeup products instead of just putting another advertisement on tv. And so I think that we have kind of earned that trust from our audience. And they know that when we're talking about something we love, they can take our word for it. So it just kind of, it made sense for us instead of, you know, continuing to promote all of these other brands that we had, one that was our own that we could promote and love and we were choosing the pieces and, you know, we felt 100% about them, that everyone else would love them too. It was just an easy.

Yeah, I think with social media, like you said, being, being so big and being so popular now, people really like to connect with people. And that's just kind of ingrained in us now. And so people would much rather, you know, learn a brand and learn about the people behind the brand and be loyal to that brand because they know that at the end of the day, they're going to be happy with what they get. And if they're not, then they're going to, you know, fix it because they're loyal to them. So I think it's definitely headed towards more personal business because, like, people want to be connected.

Absolutely. So let's talk about the influencer side of things for a minute. Cause I know there's going to be boutique owners that are listening and it's such a big topic in the industry, but I think there's confusion out there for a lot of people on how to work with influencers. So as influencers yourselves, can you give any tips on, you know, how to approach an influencer or how to make sure you're working with somebody who's really a good fit for your business and your brand?

I think something that we've noticed as being influencers is a lot of brands will go to the same influencers, and I think it's really important to not only look at the influencer for their following, look at their engagement, look at what their brand is, and make sure it matches with your brand. As influencers, I think that we also enjoy building relationships with brands. So we would much rather have a working relationship with a company over the course of a year and do multiple integrations than just one offs, because it's more meaningful. And I feel like we can really get behind the product more if we're constantly working with them. So I think finding that influencer that really speaks to your brand is really important.

I think that's really smart and I think people often forget that. Right. Just, hey, can I send you something? And you post about it? That's not the way to approach an influencer.

Right.

Which I'm sure I can't imagine how many times you get that question.

But truly, you know, we, when we first started YouTube, we were so excited to get that first, like, brand reach out and want to send us something. We were so excited. I think there is a time and a place for the free items and things like that. But if, if it's an established influencer. I think you should respect the audience that they have built and that there is value.

And on the same side, you know, as influencers, we've had smaller brands reach out to us and we know that they're a smaller brand and we will work with them because we like their stuff and, you know, we're not going to work with them for the same rate as we would work with, I don't know, a big, huge makeup brand. It would be completely different, really personal and I think just not being afraid to contact an influencer that you think would work with, with your brand and just reach out because you would be surprised. There are some very good people out there that would love to help.

I think that's great advice. And influencers, micro influencers. I think you said something a minute ago that was really important. You said it's not the size of the following, but it's the engagement that really matters. Right? Yeah, Great, great points. Do you think, you know, just the success that you've had with the YouTube channel and with the business with the boutique combined, do you think there's a misconception that the business grew because of the YouTube channel? And just, you know, you were, we were talking about before getting on the podcast, what it's been like for you behind the scenes to truly dig in and to start from scratch and to learn the business from the ground up. Do you think it's been different, like telling that side of your story? You know, kind of don't compare yourself to someone else's middle because everybody is starting from somewhere, no matter if they have that audience or not.

I know from listening to some of the other podcasts, there have been boutiques that have had, you know, I feel like almost things to kind of jump start where they are. You know, some boutiques got really lucky during the Facebook time where the algorithm wasn't super stifling and they were able to grow for us. You know, we worked so hard for so many years where YouTube was just a hobby for us and we were working full time jobs and when we came home from our jobs in the evening, we would be editing videos and our Saturdays and Sundays we would be filming videos. Yeah.

So while our hard work wasn't, I mean, I'm not saying we didn't work hard on the boutique, but while our work to get that audience wasn't necessarily seen at the beginning of our boutique, it was at the beginning of our YouTube. So us working to grow that audience and then help transfer that audience to customers is kind of not seen. I guess the same because it was done so long ago. But we don't ignore the fact that our YouTube is definitely how our boutique has jump started. And I think we're proud of that because we did work so hard on our YouTube channel to cultivate that, to.

Get it to where it is. Yeah.

And our audience has been amazing in sticking with us. You know, we've had people that we recognize their names. They've been with us, you know, since 2009. It's almost been 10 years since we first started making YouTube videos. And it's so amazing that to hear them say, I was in high school when I started watching you, and now I'm graduating college, or, you know, I was in middle school, and now I'm about to graduate high school. And so I think it's really cool because they've been on the same journey with us, and they've seen us go from. I mean, we both got married while we were on YouTube, so, like, our marriage videos are up on YouTube, and it's just a really special group that has stuck with us. And, you know, we. We started with the jewelry way back when, and it's just kind of like we're picking it back up and making it even bigger than it was, Man.

I think the greatest takeaway, like, as I hear you say that is don't be discouraged by hearing someone else's story and inserting, like, what you think happened, Because I think you guys clearly demonstrate that while it looks like one catapulted the other, there was hard work every single step of the way. That cannot be denied. Right. So it's that idea. Don't ever compare yourself to what someone else has got going on or the reason you think they're successful, because the truth is all hard work and consistency at the end of the day.

Yeah. I think that what we're doing with the boutique is almost, In a way, YouTube is so rewarding to us, but now there is something so rewarding in the hard work that we put in to the boutique to see what comes out of it. It's been really fulfilling for us, and we're really happy that we were able to make it what it is and are so excited to see where it keeps going.

You've got to tell me about your husbands, because your husbands, you guys are sisters, Your husbands are best friends and live across the street. Is that right?

Right.

And this is our second house that we've bought across the street from each other.

Yeah, we. Okay. So I. Tracy, I met my husband in high school we actually were in band camp and I just.

We just moved to Alabama already, right?

Yeah.

So it wasn't like the sleep away band camp though. It was just like the really grueling eight hour a day in the sun Alabama heat. He was in percussion and I played French horn. But we met in ninth grade and we liked each other immediately on and off through high school. We started dating in college and then we got married. I would like to say not long after that, but he drug his feet a little bit, so. But we've pretty much stayed together. I mean we've known each other for a very long time.

Yeah, we both married high school sweethearts. So we've been with our guys for a good while now and they just left their full time jobs in January to work with us. So we are families all in.

Yes, it's really exciting. There are challenges along the way. You know, we're all, I think, strong personalities and we butt heads from time to time. But it's so cool to be able to work with your husband and see them every day and spend a lot of time with them. But there's also times where we, you know, go most of the day where we don't see each other because we're super busy.

Yeah, we have separate offices.

We definitely have to have separate offices. Well, Stephanie and I are side by side in our office, but yeah, I.

Was wondering, what's your tips for success for working with your husband? Because we're making that transition ourselves where my husband Eric is coming to work at the boutique Hub. And so we work from home and our team is all remote. So that. What's your advice for working with your husband?

You know, in the beginning we were carpooling together and that. That stopped. I'm not sure that would help you. But so we started driving separately to have that me time in the car. And then honestly, in the evenings, my husband really likes to play video games. So after we've done like food and all of that, he'll go play his video game and I'll go do what I need to do. And we have a little bit of alone time at home.

I think separate projects when you're in the office for us, I mean, they do a lot of our, you know, shipping and fulfillment side. And Stephanie and I are more on, you know, the buying and the creative side. So I think that little bit of separation is really good for us. But it is nice to be able to have the crossover walk next door and just be like hi. And yeah, it's really cool. Because for Stephanie, her husband used to. To work. He had a commute, so he was driving over an hour each way to get to work. So he would leave at like, what, 5:30? Yeah.

And not get home till like, 5. So.

And then he would have to go to bed really early. So that was just. It's so much nicer now. And our schedules can sync up when we want to take time off because we don't have to, you know, have set vacation time. Although it's hard to get away. Yeah, super hard.

Absolutely. So how do you. With a busy schedule that all four of you have, what are your tips for staying organized? Are you a paper planner? Are you a Google Calendar person? Like, what apps do you use? How do you keep that together?

I wish I had the perfect answer, but I would say we are fairly good at being not organized.

Most of mine are in my, like, Mental app. I don't. I don't really have a good one. That's. I would say that's somewhere where we need to get better. I like to write stuff down. We bought planners from Hobby Lobby recently. Yeah, I don't think we've written in them. No.

We do have a group message, us and the husbands that we.

We try to keep, you know, a.

Little bit of organized in there, but.

Organized chaos.

Yeah, we're very organized. Chaos.

Yeah. Slack or. Where's your group message at the group.

Me.

All right, perfect. Yeah. How about. Do you have daily routines or things that help you kind of remain focused and your mindset in place every day? Anything else? Tips for success.

I think for us, in the last six months or so, everything has gotten so ramped up that we're very much trying to find that balance and that organization. I think it's something that we're. I'm kind of hoping with our transition to this next space that it's going to help us have a little bit more organization. So I would say get back to us on it, because it's definitely.

We're in a chaotic moment.

Yeah. Work in progress.

So, related question, Ben, what scares you the most? Snakes. Taxes, payroll, or Internet trolls?

Can we. Can we put taxes and payroll together?

Yeah, I mean, honestly, everything but Internet trolls.

I think we got Internet trolls. Yeah, we've got that covered.

We've been working with those since 2009. And, you know, I think my best advice for Internet trolls is that whoever leaves you a nasty comment or whatever it is, they're just going through something themselves and they're projecting that onto you, and it's not about you. Because as much as they think they know the ins and out and everything about you, they don't. And so, you know, don't take it too hard or personally laugh it off and. And you can always delete it.

Yep.

So. But, yeah, definitely payroll and taxes, and I don't really like snakes either.

So if you could go back and change one thing in your businesses, let's say both YouTube and go back and change them, what would they be?

I don't think I would change anything about YouTube.

Yeah.

Because I love it. I'm so. We're so thankful for all of the experiences, all of the. The memories, the traveling. We've taken our mom and sister on.

Trips with us to places they never would have gone.

Yeah. They never would have had a reason to go. And that is priceless to us. The store. I don't. I don't.

I mean, I think there's things I would have done sooner.

Yeah.

But other than that, I mean, I think you learned so much from your journey, and I think all of the experiences you have make you who you are, and I. I just don't think.

We would change anything.

Yeah, I know that's not maybe the right or the answer that someone might want to hear, but, I mean, I.

Would always be more organized.

Oh, gosh, yes. I would. Always.

Yeah. I mean, there are small things I.

Would change, but nothing big I should have said. Something you would have done differently. Not necessarily change, but like, oh, one thing you wish you would have known.

I mean, I just wish I could be blessed with more organizational skills and being a tidy person because it does not make things easy. But, yeah, I. I don't know. It's just. It's a lot of hard work knowing that. Not giving up. I feel. I feel pretty good about everything.

Perfect. How about if there's someone listening and they're new to their business, whatever it is, what would be, you know, I know you guys empower a lot of women with what you do, which I'm sure you get those messages on a regular basis for the boutique and for YouTube. Just that you're inspiring people. What would be, you know, your one success tip? If you could give someone one thing to just go and do it, to follow their dreams, what would that one success tip be?

I mean, I think don't give up is the biggest thing, because through YouTube and the story, you know, you're going to have good days and you're going to have really, really bad days, but the good days outweigh the bad ones, so. As long as you don't give up and just know that tomorrow's gonna be better, you're gonna get it tomorrow, it's gonna happen.

Yeah.

Just having that good mindset of positivity.

We've been talking about manifesting things. I kind of maybe laughed about it a little bit when I first started hearing about manifesting, but now, you know, I'm. I'm getting on board with it.

Yeah.

Because I think just getting in the mindset and being positive about something that you want to happen and it keeps it at the forefront and you're working on it and whatever it is that you want to happen, you know, I think obviously you have to take steps to make it happen.

Something that was just to go off that. That was big to us with being on YouTube and talking about a lot of people that would put their names on stuff. That was something that we've always wanted to do. And it's always felt like we were waiting for somebody else to do it for us. And so we just took it into our own hands and said, hey, like, we want our own brand, we're gonna make our own brand. We don't need somebody to do it for us.

Right.

So having that go getter attitude and not giving up.

Yeah. Don't feel like you have to wait on somebody to help you do it or to help you figure something out. I mean, knowledge is power, and there's so much out there. And I think don't give up, work hard, and don't let the down days just ruin it for you. Just know tomorrow will be better.

Oh, man, that's like five awesome tips right there.

Awesome. Yeah, we're terrible about lists. If you watch our YouTube videos, we'll have our five top makeup products and it'll be 10. So we're not good with lists. Well, list organization things.

I. I have to go back, though, to you talking about the manifestation thing, because I'm. I was right there with you. Like, the first time I even heard that word, I was like, what? That is way too fluffy for me. I think it's.

Yes, absolutely.

But really, when you think about it, like, now, I am gung ho, and you've probably heard me talk about this, but I'm so gung ho about vision boards and really, truly, which is manifestation. Right. It's finding that idea, that purpose, that feeling, or who you want to be most importantly. And when it is forefront of your mind and you're focused on it on a regular basis, then you naturally start to take actions that move you closer to that end goal, which is pretty cool without you thinking about it, which. That's what manifestation is, right?

Yeah. Stephanie was saying last week, she said, I'm going to manifest a new warehouse because we're coming up on the end of a lease, and we just knew that the space wasn't right for us, and we want to find the perfect space. And so she said, I'm going to manifest it. And that just had us, you know, looking at it every day and working on it. And, I mean, I'm hoping we'll get an email by the end of the day. I'm going to manifest it because we would love to get it signed, but, yeah, I think just you got to make things happen for yourself and go out there and do it, man.

So as we wrap up our time together today, you guys, which I feel like has flown by, by the way, I've got one final question, but before I ask it, I just really want to thank you. This has been so much fun to get to visit with you and get to know you, and, I mean, your energy is just contagious. So I can see. Thank you. That it has for you. So thank you for being here.

Yes. Thank you so much for having us. I feel like a fan girl because we have been. We've been listening, and it's. Yeah, it's really fun to be a part of it now. So thank you for having us.

Oh, so cool to have you in the community. So, last question. And I ask everybody this question, so you're probably prepared for it. But I know you guys are, you know, young, newly married, you know, maybe you'll have kids someday, which, again, I'm sure you probably get that question a million times over. But someday, when you're in your rocking chair on the front porch, right, and you're looking back at this wild ride that you had in life and business, I would love to know, what is it that you feel like you're really building that you want to be remembered for someday? What is it that you want to leave for the generation that comes after you?

I mean, for us, I think our mom has always said that, you know, you've. You've got to be able to take care of yourself and you don't have to worry about. And it sounds almost negative to say that you don't have to rely on other people, but I think just inspiring girls, not even just girls, but everyone, to go after the things that they want in life and the dreams that they have and to find ways to make them happen, manifest them And. And just that inspiration. Yeah, we've always said it on YouTube. You know, people will say, I wish I could do what you do. And we say, you can. I mean, if you've got a phone or you have a camera or webcam. And we started with a webcam. You know, don't. Don't let your negative self talk make you believe that you can't do anything you want to do.

Yeah, I think. I think we want people to remember us for being empowering women that empower other women. There's so much negativity in the world that, you know, as women, we need to empower each other. And I think that is something that we want to be known for.

Yeah. Positivity and just encouraging people to go after their dreams.

So good. Well, Tracy and Stephanie, thank you so much again for your time. Congratulations again on the big award. Really? That's such a.

Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, it's totally surreal for us. We can't believe it. And if we haven't said it already, our viewers, our customers, everyone that voted us and made it a reality, we thank them so much for it.

Awesome. Well, thanks again, ladies.

All right, guys, admit it. Who is more excited than ever to start using more video in your business? Whether it's YouTube or Insta stories or just building more of a daily connection with your followers. I know. I'm inspired after listening to Tracy and Stephanie and their story of success. Congratulations again, ladies, being our 2018 Global Boutique of the Year in the 2018 Boutique Awards. Hey, guys, I hope you're enjoying all of these episodes on Boutique Chat. I love this opportunity to get to meet so many different people in all facets of business in the independent retail industry and wholesale. And I would love to hear from you. I'd love to know who else would you love to to hear on the show? What other tips and topics would you like to have covered? Please reach out to me anytime on Instagram. That's probably my favorite hangout. You can DM me at ajalderson again over on Instagram. And don't forget, while you're listening to the show, take a screenshot, take a selfie, and send me an Insta story. I'd love to see what you're doing while you're listening to the show. Guys, I appreciate you so much. Thank you for showing up for your business, for doing the hard work that nobody else sees or does, and for putting your best foot forward to live in community over competition every single day. I appreciate you guys and I'll be back next week. I can't wait to see you here. Hey guys, thank you so much for.

Listening to this episode.

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Sam.