Building a Thriving Business With Your Spouse

One of the most commonly asked questions that I see from especially scaling and growing boutique owners inside of the Boutique hub is, Ashley, I want to work with my spouse. I want to bring my husband on board. We might kill each other, but it all also might be magical. You never know. So this week I'm pumped because two of my favorite people, an amazing couple that I have been so blessed and so lucky to get to spend time with this last year, are here to tell you all about working together and. And not only working together, but how they have scaled an awesome business maximizing systems and processes and love languages of their team members along the way. Not only have they built a business that we all could admire, they've built a culture that we could all admire as well. This week, you're going to hear from Amy and Anthony Ekren, the owners of Inherit clothing company, and they're going to talk about their not traditional journey into the boutique world by actually not starting the business, but purchasing and scaling the business. You're gonna see an inside view of their life working together as a husband and wife couple and how they have grown this awesome business and even talk about the unglamorous side of systems and processes that have helped them along the way. I'm so excited for you to meet these two. They are a ton of fun, and I'm telling you, they are go getters. So get ready to learn from Amy and Anthony this week on the podcast. 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 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.

Hey, guys.

Welcome back to the podcast. I am so excited about this one. You guys better buckle up because two of my favorite people are joining me. I love getting to have married couples on the podcast. I feel like it doesn't happen very often. So, Amy and Anthony, you guys, I'm so pumped to have you here today. Welcome to the show.

Thanks so much.

We're so excited to be here.

Oh, my gosh. I am so used to seeing you guys on two separate screens on our mastermind call. So to see you together in one space, I mean, let the snuggling begin, right, Anthony?

This is hard for me, Ashley. Absolutely hard.

Yeah, he keeps shoving me off the screen.

I like my space.

Well, we've got lots to uncover today. Being a married couple, all the things you guys have done with this business, your systems, your processes, the things that I just think you guys do an amazing job at. But in case those listening haven't had a chance to meet you yet, take me back through your story because your guys's business story is very unique. It's different than most other boutiques. So whoever wants to start, take me back to this beginning of this journey for you.

Yeah. So in 2017, I was a wedding and lifestyle photographer and had been getting super Busy and had 37 weddings in a year. And it was just a time for me to be like, wait, what am I doing? This is a lot for our family. And I kind of started it as a stay at home mom and it just grew from there and it was great for evenings and weekends and fit with that lifestyle. And so then it started to be evenings and weekends away from my family. And so we had just talked as a couple and decided to let's cut down. I actually rebranded my wedding photography business and upped my prices, changed who my client was and then started going to the cities more, which is like a three hour drive for me and it half the weddings, but still not what I thought I wanted. So then I got an email in my inbox from my cousin who lived in Illinois and we're based in Minnesota, and he was like, hey, there's this business and there's this lady doing this thing and she really wants to sell and it needs to be the right person. And I think you're a fit. And we're an entrepreneurial family. My dad started businesses and I was a part of that journey. And so he's like, this is the fit for you. So I went and told Anthony right away and thought, what is this? Like, we just got life figured out. There's no way I'm not buying this boutique. Are you kidding me? It was a modest women's clothing company. And Anthony, what'd you say?

Like in 10 seconds after an email, I'm like, let's do this. We got this.

And he is not a risk taker. I am. So that kind of stopped me in my tracks. So this business was in existence for 12 years and it's a modest women's clothing company and she had sold denim skirts door to door, kind of like a Tupperware style with a U Haul trailer and went around all over the United States and did that. And then she got on Instagram and the Website and it just grew to a point where she was like, this isn't what I want anymore. So it was doing well. It just needs someone to take the reins. And I'm a modest dresser. When I was 24, I turned my life to the Lord and changed how I dressed. And I love fashion and I had to basically go in my mom's closet and I was like, this is ridiculous. So depressing. But knew I needed to change the way I dressed and there's just nothing out there. And so for me, when this business came, it was like, oh my word, this is a need. So that was really exciting to me and more of like an what I thought was an 8 to 5. I'm like, oh yeah. Which we all know it's more of a 24 hour thing. So that kind of learned me in. So we definitely prayed about it for a while, thought about it, kind of went back and forth and then decided like, this is what God has planned for us. And it felt very purpose driven because it's so hard to find trendy, cool, modest clothing on the market. And so that's what really drove us and that's what we felt like God was telling us to do. So that's kind of how we started.

I love that. Anthony, I've got to ask you this because I know you're very like processes and funnels and numbers and opportunities. Like you're very metric driven. So I'm curious as you guys are making that decision. Like Amy, I know you're also very heart driven. Anthony, how did you analyze the business business at that point and just decide like, okay, here's the potential. I see. And I, I know we could, you know, implement these systems or processes or whatever it might be to make this.

Yeah. So I think, you know, I just poured over the books and talked with the previous owners and they were really excited because they actually had their own brand and they had everything. They had like the framework set up to grow that brand. And that was really exciting. Looking at, they just had a few products with their brand and they're like, but if you just took it a little bit further, we could just do more. Like, you guys got this, we'll help you start. And that's what really got me excited, that hey, this, this could be a thing. There's already a customer base, a brand following, like, and there was some, there were some opportunities there that we saw in the finances that could help us along the way right away.

Yeah, that's so good. So you guys decided to take this on you came in. I'm sure the first couple of months were a little, maybe tricky or overwhelming, I'm assuming. Right. But then you made this decision eventually to rebrand and really make this company your own. I feel like I see that question a lot in the hub of, okay, should I rebrand? How can I go about the process? How long should it take? Best practices. Walk me through that process for you guys. What worked to make this brand your own?

Well, first of all, we probably did everything wrong when rebranding, so it was probably. It was exciting, but a really scary time for us, I would say.

Yeah. And I didn't mess around. I hired a company to help us do that. So there is a company in Minnesota, and we hired them, and they interviewed me and, you know, just. I spoke my heart of what I want the business to be like. I figured out our values. They walked me through vision, mission, belief, statement, and, like, I really set the core of our business. So we had traction, you know, going forward. So that really helped. We picked. I picked, like, the colors. I liked a logo, a name that meant something to me. So it really was a process, and it just. It took time. Like, you know, four weeks. It wasn't, like, a quick thing. But that foundation has served us every single day. And when I look back at that brand guide that we've created, it's still true today. And so that's what I always go back to in doing anything. So that really helped us. The thing he's talking about is we went from the name used to be the Skirt outlet to Inherit clothing company. And inherit, for me is, you know, you inherit a home in heaven someday, and that's just to always remind us why we're here on this earth. So that's why I picked that. But Skirt is SEO driven. Yeah. So we took Skirt out of our name, and our organic traffic, like, boop, went way down. And we didn't, like, think through that.

So just.

Those are some things you can think about when rebranding. But we.

We.

We figured it out since then, and it's okay to choose a name that isn't SEO driven, but it just went from one to the other.

So, yeah, that was the scary part. But, like, building that foundation, it's crazy. Looking back, we did this four years ago, the branding. Five years.

Five years ago.

Yeah. It rings true today, and that's really awesome. A testament to how good that company did for us, for sure.

That's so good. So walk me through just a couple of checklist items for a second. If Someone's like, I should rebrand, but I don't want to miss something. I don't want to totally screw up my SEO. And I think to your point, a lot of people don't even think about that. They don't think about all the value they've built in organic traffic over the years. So if there were like a couple of. Okay, don't forget these three things when you're rebranding.

Yeah, I think.

What would those be?

There's two pieces, and it's like the people piece, like your heart and purpose. And so figuring out what is your purpose and ours is, you know, we're, we want to build a global brand that inspires a community of women to live joyfully and provide modest clothing trend sends the trends to the world. And when we, if anything you buy, say or do goes along with that, you're doing the right thing. And then also core values, you know, when you're hiring, those are super important. And then also when you're talking about the marketing, like, so your name, your brand colors, your logo, your font. And honestly, it can sound overwhelming, but it helps you on later. So it's like you choose, you know, four different fonts and use those all the day, and pretty soon it's like the Target logo or Nike, you know, when it's on there, who it is. And if a Target store somewhere uses a different font, you kind of look twice like that's not their font. But you don't, like, think about it. So it actually makes your life easier and makes your customer recognize you. And so I think those things are so important and you can kind of get swayed with, oh, let's change it because it's cute. But if you really just use the, the, the same ones, and then you can, you know, you can add a new font in here or there or. But we use the same brand colors and all the things. And that's really helpful for sure. Yeah.

I would bet that your photography has a lot to do with that too, even at that stage of branding. And I feel like that's maybe an issue in our industry today, especially with so much drop shipping happening, is that so many stores start to look like one another, but because they don't have their own. Would you have any tips on, like, how do I make my photography look like my own along the way?

Yeah. So honestly, I had a style when I came in from my photography, so it's light and airy, and I do like to use blurred background, which isn't really standard in the industry. But it's more of a lifestyle photography. So that carries on our brand. It actually helps it look like you can use this clothing in real life. And it just so it's not like front, back, side, it's like movement, like all those things. So we have a brand guide for our photography style as well. Like what to do, what not to do. So movement is huge. And then that light and airy look.

I love that. I love the brand guide piece of all of it that flows into everything else that you guys do. Something else I think you guys do really well is just again going back to the modest women's clothing. Right. Like, you know your customer. Talk to me about how you continue to speak to your customer and understand her as she evolves and changes and how you go about finding more, more customers just like her. I feel like the, I always say this in the hub. The riches are in the niches. Right. Like if we all just knew who our customer really was and we could solve her problems, our life would be so much easier.

Yeah. So we know we have, we made Personas with our brand style guide. But if you could just like take a step back. Our customers, Amy and her sisters. Right. And so the more we can just speak to Amy and her sisters and.

My grandma and my mom and all the people in my life. And so those Personas do keep evolving. And I know did retail boost camp, sent out a survey to my customers. And you talk niche and like age, ours are literally 0 to 100. So modest is niche in itself. But like how do I serve my Grandma and a 2 year old? It's, it's kind of a struggle. But we do have some, you know, like a stay at home mom, conservative, loves target. Joanna Gaines, you know, that sort of feel. But then we also have teacher or someone who necessarily isn't conservative, Christian, but like doesn't want to wear a crop top, you know. So like we have these different Personas that we buy for and think about and then like teen tween and also a little girl. So we do have those names and those people that we buy for and that's so helpful.

And then market to those people as well.

Yes, Yep. And that's evolving each year.

You also in your photography too, are you trying to like make sure you've got models that kind of fit all those different demographics?

We do. It's a struggle because we are live in small town USA, 9,000 people in our county. But we have, we have different demographics. So we have teen, we have little girls, we have maternity and then we have 50 plus model, plus size, all the things we try to represent each of those categories.

And then you're, you're constantly, you know, we can look at products with who took the model that took the picture and then decide, hey, is this working or not based on sales. And you just kind of pivot from there and make those decisions. And a little bit of that's kind of like your gut feeling. But I mean that served us well as well.

Anthony, I know you're so good at analyzing on the marketing piece, I would say like the SEO and the traffic and understanding. Like you said, is this model performing or is it the product that's performing all those pieces? Walk me through a day in the life of your brain when it comes to marketing and how you start to analyze those processes to help Amy better understand the social media and the marketing piece, but also the buying piece. What are the things you're looking for?

Oh boy, that's a big question. Ashley.

So margins.

Margins. It's really, no, it's really just like. So I didn't have a background in boutique obviously as well, but I came from more of an analytical background in the agriculture industry. So it's really just finding like sometimes I come to work, it's like, okay, what am I going to find today that could help? And then it's thinking through the process and figuring out, okay, what metric would work well. And so sometimes it's a little non traditional in terms of like the verbiage the boutique uses and the marketing world uses, but a lot of it revolves around margin or you know, what's working in any of the social medias or email campaigns and you know, and then why did it work and how can we replicate it and grow that?

That's so good. So do you guys, how do you communicate that on a daily basis? How do you take what you found and make changes and implement it and how do you argue it out when you disagree?

247 all over. Just kidding. We do a metric meetings with our team and so once every two weeks we're meeting with each individual here and we have big goals as a team and then we break those up into action items every two weeks. So we just chink away at it. We have a big vision meeting planned here soon and I have two folders this big that scare everybody and he takes it to the team and breaks them down into little ones but we get there that way instead of the way that I have with the big folders. And so we just check in every two weeks. We all work on something together and individually and get those knocked off.

Yeah. So, like a great example right now is the person that runs our website. We're working with some after purchase upsells. Right? It's like you have all the options in the world to do and it's like, okay, so how do you, where do you start? And then how do you get better at it? And it's just a lot of times it's honestly. And this is Amy's help, but just starting, right? Just do the first thing, you know, like, I can get ahead of myself and never start something because it's overwhelming or I'm just not quite sure how to do it. But just start it and then measure it and then get it better. So we're working with like after purchase upsells right now and figuring out the right combination of product to that complements whatever the customer's purchasing, and then just increasing the upsell percentage a little bit. A little bit. A little bit. Until finally it's like, okay, I think we got this, we understand it. And then moving on to the next thing. So that's like an example of something we would work through on our metric meetings.

That's so helpful. And it's funny because I just, knowing you two, I can see how your personalities are so complimentary in that way. Like, Amy, like, has this great idea, hey, let's do this thing. And then Anthony's like, okay, like, one piece at a time. But like, what a great compliment to one another. But I know you guys also have built an amazing team around you. Talk me through that process. Because, Amy, I know it goes back to what you were saying about even just your mission, vision, values, and the very initial branding you did, that's at the core and the foundation of all of your team. Right. How did you first start to grow that team as you took the company over? And then we'll talk about what it is today.

Yeah, I think we've been in a lot of different stages in our business and currently we're like, you know, if you have our values of keep it classic and simple, if you have a strong work ethic, if you're here to create a community of positive people, if you have integrity, spirit of humility, and you want to serve others, you can be on this team. And if I totally trust all those things, then we're going to be okay. And a lot of things are teachable. And if you don't have those values, then I don't care if you are the smartest SEO person in the world. And you're in our door. If you don't have those, it's not going to work here. And you have to believe in the purpose, too. I think as people come in the door and they're with us, they, you know, you start to bleed the brand and you really believe in it and you work together towards something, and that feels really good. And so now we are hiring for more specific talent in different areas. But those values are still so important. And so that's kind of the core of our employees. And we make sure they have those when they walk in the door. And you don't want to just quick hire someone to get something done. You know, sometimes that takes time, so.

And really, too, it's like we end up on our own systems first and make sure that whoever comes in the door, we can set them up for success because we've had. Yeah. The other way is not very fun.

Yeah. So systems are everything. Yeah. Yeah.

I want to talk more about your systems in just a minute, but good. Just going back to this team. As you've, like, identified, they fit the culture, right. Like pay the cut and they're on the team. But then I see you guys going above and beyond with always doing, like, personality profiles. And you've got these, like, pictures of all your team on the wall that talks about who they are. How do you continue, like, as your teammates, even continue to grow as individuals and change as individuals. How do you continue to maintain that culture over time and help them to grow in their positions over time?

Yeah, and this is some things I've learned from our other family business. But who you are at home and who you're at work are the same person and they need to be. And like, I want to encourage personal growth as much as growth. And if you're not okay at home, you're not going to be okay here. And that's super important to us. And so faith first, then family, and then work. And how can we help you grow in your faith and your family so that when you come here, you're ready to rock and you're not worried about everything else. And I think the most important thing is getting people in their joy spot. And so we do a disc profile test, and that is a free one online. That's. And you can also buy a version that's better. But then also the enneagram test. And also we do working genius, which is a new one. And so their personality test to see where your strengths are. And the working genius is actually where your working strengths are. And if you're not in your joy spot there, you're going to be. It's going to be awful. You're going to feel that. And so before we actually hire a person, we analyze all those things and make sure that the position they're going to be in is going to fulfill their joy spot. And then that helps so much. Read out through any. Anything in the beginning and gets them right where they need to be almost at the start. Yeah. And then we have an employee break room and we have all the pictures everywhere of everybody and it's like your favorite food, all those things posted. So that when you're working with others in the business and you're maybe frustrated with something, you can look at that sheet and be like, oh, right, she's an enneagram 8. She needs control. Okay. We got to make her feel like she's got control in this situation so that she will perform well. And it's not manipulative, it's actually just understanding. And it's so important. And I think you can get so inundated with day to day tasks and like we just got to get stuff done. But if you care and work with others in that way, the work will get performed at top level. And that's so important.

Yeah, that's so important. I mean, just the way that like you said, it's not manipulative, but it's just understanding what makes people tick. I would also venture to guess that that works well for you guys because you also have analyzed making sure people are in the right seats in terms of like your accountability chart. Right. Like there's very clear distinction between what is Amy's role, what is Anthony's role, what is everyone else's role. How do you like maintain that even flowchart and accountability chart of making sure people are in the right seats?

Yeah. We have an organizational chart with our team and we just had a vision meeting too. And Anthony is, I mean, not to go into the working genius, but his enablement is one of them. And that means you do the task well. He doesn't have that on his thing at all. Like he hates. So if you give him something to do, he ain't gonna do it. Drives me bonkers. And I'm like, well, can you at least do some tasks here? Like you can't just walk around with coffee and laugh at people and wonder and invent ideas. We need you to do things. But actually it's not his choice spot, so we need to surround him with people who can't invent ways to do things. Who can't make systems who aren't analytical to do the task. They just want to be told what to do and how to do it. And he will be there for them. Him. But my personality is like, well, just do some things. Can you help out a little bit here? But he is in a different capacity. So you can see how you get super frustrated with people if. If they're not in the right spot. So we're trying to get him to a spot where he can just walk around with a coffee cup that says coach on it. And that's all he's going to do. And I'm going to need to be okay with that.

The calm within the storm. Ashley.

I totally believe that. I totally believe that. Anthony, you are. You're in the right spot. Right? It's. I. I feel like I see a coffee cup coming in your future as a gift. That's perfect. So talking through what you said, Amy, what I. What I heard you say that Anthony is really good at. Is those systems, too. You both are really good at systems.

Yeah. So I think he's really good at thinking about what the possibility of the system could be. And then him and I get it. Inventing them together. Like, what does that look like on an Excel document or with a metrics meeting? You know, to hold people accountable to that system. And then I'm good at making sure it gets done. That's tenacity in the working genius. So I'll make sure it gets finished. He might just wonder for the rest of the year and never actually action it. And I'm like, that's my piece. To get his butt in gear to get it to the rest of the team. So, yeah, all those uses are important.

Yeah. And we didn't know that going into this business, any of that stuff, but we work well together. And it's like, oh, that's why. Because she does the things I can't do. So it's awesome.

Yeah, man.

Let's talk about this piece because I'm sure there's a lot of people listening that are like, okay, either I would die to work with my spouse. It would be so great. Or I am working with my spouse and I'm struggling. Or, oh, my gosh, I could never work with my spouse. We would kill each other. Right. It was probably those three categories. So talk me through the biggest lessons you've learned working with one another. I. And I'll just even say this. Like, when Eric and I started working together, it took us a while to find our places and not kill each other like we, we really had to define each other's roles and understand, again, personality types, all that. So what are some of the biggest lessons you guys have learned?

I would just say the first thing is you're never going to.