Boutique Chat #220 | Marketing to Your Audience On a Personal Level | Erica Kelley

Who's ready for episode number 220? How'd we get here already? Right. With my friend Erica Kelly, who is going to crush it with the Facebook ads and talking about branding for your boutique. She is a longtime member of the Hub with Whiskey Darling Boutique. Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what 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 a balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts, and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub, and I can't wait to chat. Hey, guys. So today on the show, I'm really excited that our friend Erica Kelly, the founder of Whiskey Darling Boutique, is going to join us because not only is she on the show, but she was recently also on our marketing panel. It was called Marketing From Moms to millennials. At the 20002019 Boutique Summit. Erica and I had an opportunity to talk a little bit before the panel about her strategy with branding and photography and Facebook ads and just why it is that she thinks her boutique has taken off like it has in the last two years. Specifically. You see, Erica serves a very unique demographic of customers, and you may not realize it at first glance when you visit her store, but when we talk about self love and body issues, I think it's really easy as a whole in society to lump people into different groups. Meaning you think people that have curves are the ones that mainly have body issues. But the truth is that body issues and self love and having curves and having muffin tops comes in all shapes and sizes, even someone that you might perceive as small. So today we're going to uncover the type of marketing that it really takes to drill down and get to know your customers so you can serve them on such a personal level. We're also going to talk about Facebook ads and photography, what it's like to work with your family, and what it means to really serve your customers on a personal level every single day. Guys, I'm so excited about this episode. Erica is an awesome person, great business owner. I know you're going to like this one, too. All right, you guys. We have such an awesome guest today. Erica Kelly, the owner and founder of Whiskey Darling Boutique, was our guest at the Boutique Summit, also on our marketing panel at the Summit, and we heard such great feedback on what she was able to share with the community that wanted to bring her on the Podcast so you could get to know her even more because she's got a pretty cool backstory. So, Erica, thank you for being on the show today.

Hey, guys, thanks for having me. I'm super excited.

Awesome. So let's get started here, like we usually do. Talk to me about Whiskey Darling about what it is now and how you got started in the business and how it grew to be what it is today.

Yeah. So Whiskey Darling has definitely come a long way. The last two years have really taken off for us. We currently have nine employees. We have an amazing group of girls, and one awesome boy. That is our photographer. He's my brother. So we have a lot of fun. And I have, like, the best work environment with, like, the most amazing employees ever. So it definitely makes coming to work every day, like, so much fun. But how it started is actually kind of funny because you would never have thought, like, where I came from in high school, as far as how I dressed. You would never think I'd be where I was at now. And in high school, I was not, like, the most fit. I wouldn't say I was, like, super overweight, but, you know, I just wasn't comfortable with my body. And I tried to dress the way that all the other cool girls dress. The popular girls wore, like, tight jeans and, like, these tight, fitted shirts, and I always tried to, like, fit in and dress like them, but it didn't work for my body type. It just wasn't me. It didn't make me feel comfortable or pretty. And so after I graduated high school, I actually, like, lost a little bit of weight. And I think it was, like, all the stress from high school is, like, why I was a little bit heavier. And then once I graduated and I, like, wasn't around all those girls all the time, it kind of just, like, fell off. And I started shopping through stores on Instagram and Facebook, and rather than going to, like, the stores in the mall, and I was talking with my family, they own three businesses, and I'm like, what can I do? What do I want to do? Like, I always knew I wanted to own my own store, and it kind of just fell into that. I started buying clothes that fit me, that were loose and cute and comfy, and I just, like, my attitude changed completely. So that's kind of how the store started. I started dressing for myself. I'd post pictures, and people were liking it. And it's evolved from there. I'm a big part of the company's face. And when I talk about how I have muffin tops and my arms are like, not as fit as I want them to be. But I'm wearing this outfit because it makes me feel good. That's where customers can relate. And they're like, you know, I have a muffin top too. And if Eric has a muffin top, let me try that shirt. It'll probably make me feel more comfortable. So it's kind of evolved into we have more relatable stories to share with our customers. And when we started to become honest and open and raw about how we were, why we choose these clothes, why they look good on us, and then more customers were able to relate. So it's awesome to see how far we've evolved. And now every time you go on our Facebook page, you see so many girls of different shapes and sizes posting pictures, feeling so beautiful and confident in their clothes, and it literally just puts a smile on my face every time.

I think that's really important to talk about because so many people, I would just say that so many times today you see people with body issues or self love issues, right? Was there a time when you were at first in your business scared to share that topic with them or maybe like share your own insecurities that you had about your body? Did you ever hesitate sharing that initially with your customers?

100%. So everybody has this idea of I have to be perfect, I have to look 100% all the time. And yes, I will be the first one to admit I will not go on a live video or a photo shoot without full makeup. That's just who I am. And I always want to be presentable. But at the same time, it was hard for me to like let go and say, you know, hey, sometimes I size up in a pair of jeans because when I sit down, I don't like how my stomach rolls over them. And but the second that I was able to convey that to my customers, they're like, holy cow, I see this. They see a beautiful girl with eyelashes and hair extensions and tanned skin up on the video and she's talking about how she has a muffin top and they didn't take it as like, oh, she's, she's not being real. I was 100% real. And once they ordered the clothes, they got them and they're like, wow, she was right. I don't have to wear a sexy bodycon dress all the time to feel good or look sexy. And for me and my like one of my day to day life, I wear like loose clothes. I like to tuck my shirts in. I like to Wear jeans and then have my shirt tucked in or knotted, and that's just me. And when I was able to, you know, tell them that not everybody is a stick or feels confident. I mean, even people you would think have the perfect body, they don't. So just being able to relate and letting go of that, I'm perfect. It has been phenomenal to kind of relate with a lot of other women.

I love seeing that unfold, like, in society in general, just how important authenticity is in marketing, because it's not at the end of the day about you selling a product. It's about you providing a service.

Right.

Or you filling somebody's need. Is that something that you think is going to continue to change in terms of marketing in the next couple of years, or how do you see authenticity becoming more and more prevalent?

I think it's like the first way to go, being real and being honest. And my customers know that I wear my clothes, I'm wearing them, I love them. So whenever I bring them something, they know Erica likes this. So I'm going to like it because it's. It's real. I'm not selling them fake stuff. And I source clothes that fit that kind of body type. The person that's not perfect, that doesn't have muscles and isn't like the fittest, but still wants to dress cute and feel cute when she goes out, you know, and has that. Once you feel good and you put your outfit on, your body language changes, your mood changes, you just are more confident. And like, that's the best thing that I feel that we bring is bringing smiles to girls faces when they get dressed. Because I remember when it, like, I would have tears in my eyes trying to get dressed to go to school to look the best, and it just never fit. It was never me. It just wasn't. And once I let that go and found what fits my body type, I started to realize there's more people that are like me than there are the girls that I went to high school with that were super skinny and fit. So I think the more. And then also, what's also the funny part is I kind of like fell into this. Like, we started doing Facebook lives, and I'm just. I like to be funny and real joke around. And I would joke about, oh my, like, muffin tops showing in these pants, and I sized up and like, it kind of just turned into, like, just being funny and real. And then the more real I am, they laugh. And it's entertaining and it just makes the mood of the video. Better. They comment more. They're laughing with me. They're like, yeah, girl too. So just being real and being yourself is like the main piece of advice I could give anyone that's the face of their brand or even the models.

So there's also someone else that seems to get a lot of interaction on your Facebook lives, and that's your brother. Talk to me about working with family in your business.

Oh, my family is like such an integral part of my business. I wouldn't be where I was at if I didn't have them. I have a super supportive family. My aunt actually works in the warehouse one day a week when she has off of her real job. And Chase, my brother, is actually our photographer. So he has been through the woodworks when we used to photo shoot outside in 100 degree weather, we'd fight the rain. He's been through thick and thin, or he's dealt with me calling him last minute saying, oh, my gosh, I have to take pictures really fast. Like, let's go. And he's like, I had plans. And I'm like, you gotta help me. And he's like, fine. So he's been awesome. He has a great personality. We get along very well, like we're two peas in a pod. And then he actually made his debut on one of our Facebook Live videos. It was kind of a joke because everybody's like, who's this mystery man Chase behind the computer? What's he look like? And Chase and I look really similar. So the other model on our video, Corey, she's like, just picture Erica with no makeup and she chopped her hair off as a boy. That's Chase. So he actually made his debut and the girls love him. They eat him up. And I tell them all the time, like, you need to come on the video more often. They want to see you.

It sounds like a professional dating service. Like, bring Chase on the video and we'll find him a girlfriend in the audience. Right?

Right. They'll comment on the video and they'll say, oh, my daughter's single. And you know, so and so. And then sometimes they think we're him and I are together. But Chase does have a beautiful girlfriend now, so he's taken. But all the ladies on the video are like, dang it.

That'S too cute. One other thing I wanted to ask you about, kind of going back to your background too, that we didn't cover yet was your career as a professional cheerleader. And I'm curious as I'm thinking about your story and, like, evolving with body issues and just like self love. Was it after high school when you started to get into, like, fitness more and just owning your body type that you started in cheerleading or how did that part come about?

Yeah, so after high school, I can't remember exactly how many years after high school, like I mentioned the kind of the stress from just like trying to be perfect. It was kind of the opposite for me because I know some people that get stressed out and they kind of just like the weight falls off of them. I was like the opposite. It held on, and as soon as I graduated, I kind of just like started eating better. The weight fell off. I tried out for the Lightning, which is a professional hockey team in Tampa, and the Lightning girls are the cheerleaders for the team. And they were all into fitness. We worked out three times a week. And so it kind of just fell into that mold. But at the same time, there are still, to this day, and back then, there are things about my body that, you know, I didn't like. And I feel like everybody has about them. There's something that you wish you could change.