EPISODE #212: Maximizing Vendor Events & Pop Ups with Jenifer Burnett of Punchy's

Hey, let's get started with episode 212 with my friend Jennifer Burnett, the owner and founder at Punchies. And if you guys set up at vendor shows or do any kind of roadshows or pop ups, this is an episode you're going to want to take notes in. 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 happ 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. You know, if there's a topic that we hear an awful lot about in our industry today, it's about vendor shows and setting up on the road and doing pop ups. And I think this trend is only going to continue to grow because today part of the strategy, if you're an online boutique in terms of customer acquisition, is setting up an vendor events and roadshows to meet new customers. Now, I want to give you a little bit of framework as you think about this in your own business. Maybe you're a brick and mortar store and you host pop ups somewhere outside of your store, or maybe you are an online boutique and you host pop ups and go to vendor events to meet new customers. Well, sometimes I think the thing that people don't always think about is when I do a vendor event or a pop up, is the purpose of me going there to sell out of my merchandise to make a huge profit margin or, or is it new customer acquisition? And in that strategy of new customer acquisition, am I working on gathering email addresses or getting people on my text list or offering items that will quickly sell so that I know I can get somebody on my customer list, treat them with outstanding customer service and get them to come back again and again. Today in our episode, we're talking with my friend Jennifer Burnett, the owner and founder at Punchies. And for those of you who have any sort of experience in the western industry, Jen has been setting up at the National Finals Rodeo, the nfr, which is one of the hugest trade show events, the largest trade show events in Las Vegas in December over 10 days. So she understands what it's like to be there day in and day out, no matter what the foot traffic is. And she's got some really great strategies on how you can maximize those experiences. What you need in terms of staff time and merchandising and what type of inventory you should bring and how do you approach that situation so you get the ROI you're really looking for, whether that's a new customer list or taking home a great roi. So guys, get out the pen and paper. This is a really awesome episode. I know you're going to appreciate it and I can't wait to hear your feedback. So make sure you let us know over on Instagram DM me anytime you guys. AJ Alderson or Boutique Hub Business. I always love to hear what you're doing when you listen to the show and give me your feedback. I can't wait to hear if you set up at vendor events, if you do pop ups, and if you love this strategy for new customer acquisition. So let's talk to Jen. I hope you guys love this week's episode. All right, guys, welcome back to the podcast this week. I'm so excited because I have a boutique owner on the show today who I know you guys are going to love. I've got to meet her a number of times in person and I just really admire the work that she does. So please help me welcome the owner of Punchies, Jennifer Burnett. Hi. I'm so excited to finally have you on the show. I know you and I have talked about doing this for a while because you have a unique background and man in the western industry. I love what you've been up to. So I can't wait to like get into all the details today.

Awesome. Me too. I'm very excited to be here.

So if someone's listening and they don't yet know or follow Punchies, let's start with Tell me about the business now about where Punchies is at, how you sell online, offline, vendor shows, all of those things. And then let's back up into how that started just to kind of give everyone some context.

Absolutely. Punchies is located in Stephenville, Texas. We have been at our current location for a little over two years this April and I have been in business this coming August for five years. Our current business model, we sell online as well as in our store location and then we do roadshows to grow the online aspect. We maintain a social media presence and do a lot of the marketing aspects that drive traffic to all of those. But as a whole, they all three work together. Like the business entity currently wouldn't function without the roadshows and the storefront and the website.

So if someone is listening and they don't yet know. Stephenville, Texas can you elaborate on Just like the customer and the climate there. Because the western industry is so strong.

We participate in a huge fashion show that they put on in September every year and it's designated as the cowboy capital of the world around that. They do a huge rodeo here, but there is a ton of western. I can't. My brain just forgot the word. But that lifestyle is very present here. There's a huge rodeo arena around here. And it's definitely climate wise. It's warm, it's hot. We live in Texas for the most part, but the weather is usually pretty optimal around here. We live in Central Texas, so we don't fight a lot of like the bad weather from the coast and stuff like that. But very, very much competitive, driven, team roping, cutting horses. A lot of the big ranches and horse training facilities are in this area. So that's a big part of what makes up the demographics around here.

Got it. So some of the road shows that you're doing, can you also kind of elaborate on what type of vendor events they are and specifically speak to the NFR for those who are familiar with that?

Absolutely. So we went to Vegas for the first time last year and I loved it. That was a huge bucket list for me. So that is a client that we already knew really, really well from our first store location. And a lot of my background experience, we do a lot of the western driven events, like we go to team ropings and those type of events because we know that customer. The other road shows we typically focus on, we do junior leagues or ladies night out that are in some of the larger cities that are not my Western cl, that are more of what we consider like crossover modern styles. Just so that we have that variation in demographics of a customer. I like to carry both styles. And so we really try to reach two different customers when we're on the road.

So we'll have to come back to NFR in just a second. Cause I want to follow up a question just about how someone manages to be on the road for 10 days for a huge show like that. But also if you're listening and you're thinking, okay, Western versus non Western, do you feel like when you style that customer of yours, that even if she's western, that doesn't necessarily mean she's buying western things. Can you elaborate on kind of what that customer is like?

Yes, 100%. That customer may work in the western industry every day, training horses, doing different types of things, but when they get dressed up and they go out, they want to feel beautiful, like Any of the rest of us, but they want it to be functional. And so really what we focus on when we choose options are different types of maybe tops that they can wear casually with jeans and boots or that can be put with a skirt, tucked in with a nice belt and really dressed up. If they're going to church or going out to a lady sign event or to some type of a banquet, but they would still feel inside their element. They don't feel like they're in a suit or something super proper. They still feel like themselves and what they do every day, but comfortable.

So you've been doing this for five years now. Tell me about how you got started in this business because I know you came about it a little bit unique.

Yes. So I had just recently left a job doing marketing in home health and was doing all consulting work for events and business consulting and saw on Facebook, you know, social media world, a mutual friend of mine, her mom was going to sublease out her booth and I had another client that was kind of looking to do some of that stuff. So I just reached out and asked her, you know, hey, can you give me some information on this? I've got a client that I think this show would really benefit her. And she actually was going to have to have a surgery and had to immediately remove herself from the show. And it was like gonna happen in six weeks. And it's a huge 10 day show down in Warrington, Texas. It's the Texas Antiques Week, so very well known and outside. So it's a, it's a hard show to definitely pull off. Just got to visit with her a little bit and kind of brought it to my client and she was, she didn't really know, like, I don't know. That's a good fit for me. And through the process of the conversation she's like, you know, would you ever be interested in purchasing the business? And I kind of spent a day or two talking about it and called my parents and they were like, well, if you think you want to do it, let's. You should do it. And so in like 24 hours I was like, why not? Let's try this.

That's awesome. So you decided to jump in and you did you try the roadshow first and then you decided to buy the business or you just went all in and bought the business?

We went all in and bought the business. And I had a little bit of familiar experience with market because of the job I had in the middle of my twenties. We had been to market for that store. So I knew some basics about, you know, how market worked and selling. I'd worked. I've worked in the hospitality industry the majority of my adult career, so that aspect didn't really intimidate me. But I honestly don't think I really thought through a lot of the logistics. It just, it was established and the show is in six weeks and so you don't really have a lot of time to go, hey, is this gonna work? You just, you just do it, you know. And I was very fortunate to have a lot of friends and family that, you know, helped me get to the road because I had never traveled like that ever before. I really had no clue what I was doing.

I think there's probably a lot of boutique owners listening that are nodding their heads like, huh. I remember starting and I had no clue what I was doing either. You just kind of get in and it's trial by fire, right?

Putting grid walls up so that your whole wall doesn't fall over. Because mine did fall over once and like hooking a trailer up, you know, different things. Like, I didn't grow up doing a lot of that stuff. And so I remember they're like, what size hitch is it? And I was like, well, I didn't know logistics and I never really slowed down to think about how to do all of those things. I mean, by fire. And I had really good friends that were like, let me show you. I was like, thank God they love me. Because it just didn't occur to me. I was like, okay, yeah, that we're going to do this. It's going to be great. And the logistics of it. And it was, it was so much fun and such a good learning experience, but it definitely was baptism by fire for a long time.

So tell me this because I think there's probably people again listening, thinking, man, I could expand my business by buying another boutique. Or maybe there's someone listening that thinks, man, I could buy a boutique versus just start my own. Having been through that whole process yourself, what would you like going back and purchasing an existing business? Would you do that again or would you start yourself? Or if there's something you did that you would have done differently, what would that be?

I think that if I had to start all over and go back to five years, purchasing a pre existing business is not a bad choice. Me personally would have approached it a different way, mainly because I did not slow down to look at Target customers. The business I bought was very well established, had a great group of customers. She sold online as well as in the store and she had it lined out and mapped out what worked best for her and my lifestyle and what I was doing was at a completely different page in life. And so trying to implement that to make it work exactly for me, it just didn't work. And then along the way I had a completely different vision for a what type of clothes I wanted to carry. The target customer I wanted to really niche in and meet their needs. So I spent the first two years I was in business really trying to figure out what I wanted out of it. And that's probably something that should have ever. I should have had that lined out long before I said let's buy a business. You know, it happened so fast and, and it, and it worked for us. But if you're going to purchase a pre existing business, you really need to know how that is going to line up with your current lifestyle and is it lined up how you want. You can adjust some things in business, but I started carrying a completely different style and this customer base that was super established and well engaged. They didn't like it and so it really. I ended up starting over and not really meaning to.

Man, that's really good advice. And something to think about is I think a lot of people think, man, I could get this email list or I could reach out to this customer base. But the question really is, is that your customer and is that who you want your customer to be for the long run? Because that's what, that's what's most important. Can you speak to how you've really, I would say you've really nailed who your ideal customer is right now. And you do such an awesome job merchandising for her and styling for her. And I know you've even talked to me your role as a style educator. Can you talk to me about what you think sets Punties apart right now makes you different from the rest of the boutiques in how you serve that customer?

Absolutely. This was something that I wanted to be able to do. I at least knew this when I bought the business was that I always really hated shopping growing up. It's still not one of my favorite things to do to go into a department store or things like that because you cannot find things that fit your body. I really feel like that's a huge success point for a lot of smaller boutiques that they can reach a human being that has touched it, that knows, hey, this is going to work for you. And so the biggest thing that makes us different is I have a huge clientele base that they can Shoot me a text with a screenshot and say, hey, is this going to fit me? No, you're long waisted. Don't buy that. You're going to be mad. But you'll look at this. I think you'll like this style and it'll actually fit your body. Because everybody wants to wear, you know, the stuff that's put together in pictures and we really have created a stylized image like for our customers. They want to see it put together and sometimes, you know, for us that's. It can get exhausting. But it also makes you really think through what you want to see as when you're buying pieces. How am I going to tell her to wear that? If she's a mom, can she wear that? Is it going to rise up? Is it going to bunch up while she's trying to pick up kids and pick up bags and you know, that's not functional for her? Or is this maybe geared more towards my younger 20s group that are transitioning out of college but need pieces that can float into their professional careers as well as they still are super active and going out and they want to be trendy and they want to be cute. But most of them are on budgets too. So how do you really meet those different demographics as well as you show them why they need that piece? This needs to go and hang in your closet and here's why. It fits you well. It's a great color with your skin tone. And there's four different ways that you can wear this with a simple switch up of accessories.

I love that. And that transfers into your merchandising as well. Right. When you set up at vendor events. Like your booth at the NFR was so beautiful. I feel like for that reason because it was so well merchandised when I feel like sometimes booths are just hanging shirts on a hanger on a grid wall. Right?

Yes, yes. And thank you. I love Vegas was like my baby project that I, I definitely am still a wing it human. And we did not wing it. I did a pre setup and made sure like the logistics and visual identity of the booth were very pleasing. And for people that have maybe never met us or seen us on social media, they would still feel like that was a snippet of my store. You want them to experience you as a, as a service as, you know, they give them an experience. You want them to know if they came all the way to our store in Texas, what would they see? I want it to look somewhat the same. Even though, I mean we did a 10 by 10 in Vegas and our store here is 1800 square feet, so it's not super big, but you want that to still feel the same and have the same identity as well as your website and social media to where no matter where they see you, they know, hey, that's punchies. And I know what she's going to.

Put together when you're set up at a big show like that. You talked about wanting that to be a driver for your online traffic. Did you have a strategy going into again, the NFR, if you're not familiar, is a 10 day long show and I know you mentioned a couple other shows just as long. Do you have a strategy going in to build your email list or your text list or how are you transitioning even just a looker or a shopper that comes to your booth into an online customer?

Yes. So we have a system that allows us to take and put in their customer information. It takes like all of a minute to put email, cell phone, address and all of those things. So anybody who purchased with us, they have the option to set up a customer profile and that runs with all of our other systems and reward programs. It automatically links. So it takes out lot of the extra effort to us. I kind of have a different philosophy when it comes to converting on road shows and like passing out business cards and things like that. We recently just made a choice that we print a business card that's like big and huge. A everybody can read it, but we have them take pictures of it with their phone and they're like, oh my gosh, I can't shop with you today. You know, can you, can you give me a business card? I know for me, I get home and I cannot remember where 30 of those cards came from. But if they took a picture of the card, more than likely they got a part of our booth in and it gives them a little bit more of an identity to remember, hey, I need to go visit with them or get them on your website. Because most people aren't going to lose a cell phone. They keep it with them at all times.

So are you inviting them to take a picture or how do you initiate that part of the conversation?

So yes, absolutely. If they come in or they're like, oh my gosh, I love your stuff. But I just, you know, we're with a big group and I do not have time to stop or like, oh, well, take a picture. It's got our website on it and you know, we're online because you have to be really strategic with roadshows. I know for us and a lot of our larger shows in the last couple years, if in the middle of a sale and you tell them, hey, we're online, it very much could kill the sale right then and there. And there's a lot of overhead that go into your road shows so you want to convert that customer but you also still want to make the sale while you're there and keep that customer engaged and they get to choose. You know, like in FR it's a 10 day show and there's a lot of shopping to be done and then they have to also figure out how to get all that product back to them. You know, am I going to put this in my suitcase? Can you ship it for them like different ways like that, that you can serve them and get them engaged into what you do.

So it's also kind of a long term strategy. Do you market to that customer who.

Shops with you at a show in.

A different way once you get back home, just to kind of like remind them and re familiarize them with you.

Away from the show? Yes. So we recently have just implemented that actually this year is like a welcome email for any of our customers that we have signed up within the month on roadshows. Get one, one kind of welcome and then our storefront gets a different kind of welcome. And all it is is hey, welcome. Just a reminder, this is how we know you, these are the reward systems and how we can serve you. And then also for us, we talk about our styling services and other options that they have that they may not have known or we didn't get an opportunity to tell them about when we met them on the road.

Oh, I love that. So that must drive like good repeat traffic to you when you're on the road too because now you're building up like a bank and a data of people who maybe have attended certain shows that you might come back to annually.

Yes, absolutely. How do you remind them that you're there? So absolutely that's exactly what that's for.

I love it. I love it. I wish more people attended shows like with a strategy just like you're talking about because I don't know, I'm curious your thoughts on this. So many people feel like I'm going to go to the NFR or I'm going to go to this big vendor show and I'm just going to make bank. Right. But they don't realize the overhead that comes with it and, and that your conversion rate is probably going to be low compared to the amount of people that are Walking past your booth. So how do you go into it looking for a realistic form of roi?

Right. And you know, I wish if I could go back to the first two years I was in business. I just did shows, you know, I really focused on what I thought they would buy and carrying like specific products and things like that. I didn't spend a lot of time getting their information and that's something I really like. If I could go back and really focus in those first two years, our online would be so much further along than where we are. Because online is not something. If you build it, they will come like it is a constant evolution and it's a lot of work. When I sit down and really have shows and I have focused this way for the last two years, I have a. I know you're not going to make a ton of money on roadshows. You have to feed your employees and yourself. And if the best lesson I ever learned in Vegas it was to take help because I very much am, I can do this myself. And I have learned over the last three years and been a lot more successful when I don't do that. A girlfriend of mine came and worked this year in Vegas and I just saw the success. She was fresh minded, she was fresh with the product. You know, you spend a lot of time as an owner and a buyer and all those things. We spent months picking out what's going, how we're going to merchandise it, how we're going to do some of those things. And sometimes you get to a point when you're engaging with that customer and you're mentally just exhausted, you're not giving them your best and that's not benefiting you or those things. So I know for us, our ROI changed a lot this year with we take the help, I know that cuts into the bottom dollar, but I saw a much better sales rate with taking those team members because a, they wanted to be there and they did a great job, better than I would have done because I mentally have done merchandising and all the signs and all these things that, you know, then you're not, you're not fresh. Your brain is still kind of tired the first couple of days. But we're strategic. Some of my shows, we go to just move product out of your store. You know, some things that just, that's a good piece, but it's not moving there. I can take them to certain shows, merchandise them a certain way, and it's my top seller and that we kind of try to strategize roadshows certain times of the year when I know before it's going to be a huge season changeover or something like that, that I have the best potential to get that out of my door without having to do markdown. And if I have to mark it down after that, I've already done all the work for it. That's totally okay. So ROI is for us is if they turn into an online customer. But did I also get an opportunity to move product that wasn't as successful in my store as I thought it would be or online as well?

That's really interesting. My next question was going to be so you played right into it is how do you even begin to plan your buy for an event like that, especially if you've not done that event previously. But I love that you're really focusing on how do you get the dollars out of what you've already purchased versus spending more money on something brand new and really taking a big gamble.

Absolutely. And like our show that we do in Texas, that's Texas Antiques Week in Warrington, it's a, it's a very different customer that than what we see in our store. And for the first couple of years that shows twice a year. So it's real, it's a great show. If you're trying to transition out of it's one in the spring and one in the fall. That's really kind of how we learned, oh, let's move these out of our store. But that customer that shops with me there, I used to really spend a lot of time and energy allotting, I should buy this. It'll sell at Warrington and I should buy this. But in reality, what am I going to do when I get it back? So if it wasn't a hit there, you still have to figure out how to sell that or be able to take a markdown on it. If it's an off the wall, bright colored piece that your customers in your store aren't going to buy, that wasn't a good move for us. Maybe it served the customers, but did it serve myself and my team that they're trying to sell this piece? They're like this, this is not our customer. Where did you, where did you get this? There? You know, they're like, why did you buy this? And trying to explain it to them. So that really shifted my mindset on in the last couple of years. And shows aren't always successful. You know, we were super fortunate at a lot of ours that I've been very successful with the shows. But in the beginning They've become more successful through the years from us utilizing what we have resource wise and maybe just adding a couple of new ones. Reality is the bulk of the people that shop out on your road shows, some may follow you, but it's 1 in 20. They are, most of them are going to be new customers, they're new faces, they're new to you. They haven't seen this product before and you've taken it out of your store and created a mini shop that it's a completely different merchandised experience. They're not going to really know. They don't know if you've had that shirt 30 days or 60 days. And if you think it's a good piece and you think you can merchandise it, well, it's a piece usually worth pulling.

I love that, man. That makes a ton of sense right there. So you're getting the most bang for your buck and not just spending dollars, spending dollars. Tell me about analyzing those numbers like on a daily and a weekly and a monthly basis because I know you had an accounting background before the business. So what numbers have become most important to you?

Absolutely. So if I could say anything to a test that I do have a very familiar background with like QuickBooks and all the accounting world is that retail numbers are very different from your accounting numbers and they need to be your best friend. We focus a lot on our margins and figuring out, you know, can I get them up one point or two points or you know, percentages or what ours are on and overall, how, how well was it that I move, you know, older stock product? Because that's usually our ultimate goal is I really want the stuff that's older to be moved out of the shows we do. I created in Excel just a basic, I call it a profit and loss sheet for a show. And I just, I know I'm in my head backwards and forwards, but I now fill them out the moment I get back from a show. And if my sales were down, you know, maybe the weather was really bad and I document all of that so that I don't have to remember it year to year. But we just go in and put, these are our sales, these were our margins and just details that I might remember current that moment, like, hey, you should have packed more of this style. It would have sold 10 times better than what I did pack or things like that, that. So I have a black and white number that says was this show successful? And it, you know, I, I allocate my rent, my mileage, any of the meals and like overhead and labor expenses, as well as the time it took us to load the trailer and to unload the trailer. Because I used to not think about how much time it takes to prepare yourself to get ready for these shows. And that's money that ties up into did that show make money? And so we look at that aspect and then I kind of write all my notes down and then I really step back and say, as a whole, did this benefit me from a long term growth potential? Are these customers going to shop with me online? Am I ever going to see them again? Or did I make enough money that it's worth going back to that show, whether they shop online or they're on our social media? Because I got rid of a lot of product that needed to get rid of out of my store. So there's a bunch of different ways to define the success outside of just your profit and loss and kind of how your time was spent.

All right, so when you look at your reports, it's not just did I make money or did I not make money, but it's all the other factors that go into it. And I love what you said about even the time loading the trailer because, man, would you agree that I think boutique owners forget to value their time. Like, they'll work for free without even realizing it.

Oh, like, I just raised my hand. Guilty as charged right here. Like, I'll allocate everybody that works for us and all our overhead. And I'm like, yeah. How much time did you just spend today doing all those things? Like, yeah, no, that was. It's been a challenge. That's been the biggest thing to work on personally for me is time management. And not that I don't get stuff done, but am I efficient with my time? Like, could I tell make a list, a pack list, and hand it to one of our team members? And could they do that just as well as I could? And my time could be spent on some of the bigger picture projects.

Oh, I love that. So you and I were talking before we started even recording the show about, do you ask yourself that question daily? Could I do this or could I hand this off to someone else?

Like 30 times a day? And I hope my team can attest to this through the years. A lot of them, I'm very fortunate. I have a wonderful team and they stay on the team. Like most of ours have been on our team for up to a year and a half or two years. And that has been the biggest thing that I would say has benefited my business is learning how to say I need your help. I need you to do this because I have these things to take care of and trusting that they know how to do it. I mean, they do. They watch. And people are smart and they want the team to be successful. So allowing them to be a part of it really changed how our whole business functioned. I enjoy getting to hear their opinion. They work with our customers, they work the shows. They have really good ideas that I never would think of. So it's really important. I ask myself almost all day long, do you need to do this or should somebody else be handling this task and really aligning which projects I need to be working on that are long term growth plans and not the day to day details? Because they're really good at it, because they do it every day. I don't mess with a lot of that stuff. So I can't remember some of those things.

Yeah, man, and that's so smart. That's the only way to grow. That's the difference between a solopreneur and a CEO is just being able to make that distinction. So I'm so glad that you mentioned that.

Yes, absolutely.

I want to go back to just the reporting and the accounting piece of things one more time because I wanted to dive into. For anyone who's listening who also has brick and mortar, does roadshows, sells online, talk to me about your point of sale system and how you integrate all of those pieces and then sit down again and analyze those key reports.

Okay. So for us, we have lightspeed. And when I first purchased the pre existing business, she had an online platform that I don't even remember the name of. But it was back in the good old days where it was like $9.99 a month to host a website. I was like, oh, definitely not that price point anymore. But I bought a pre existing business and then my first store location that was in an event facility. We went in there and helped clean up some of the older stuff and we transitioned into that store location. So I worked with QuickBooks point of sales and I was super familiar with QuickBooks and it was not my favorite because it didn't even have basic functionality of like a matrix. You had to physically go into your store to go see, hey, do I have that in a small, medium and large or unless you wanted to put an item in three times. When we were getting started, Shopify was the name of the game. And that's who I had a website through at first. But the bulk of how my business was making money was the retail store. And that was the one thing at that time Shopify's point of sales wouldn't even process a return. I remember setting it up and I'm like, I need to return a shirt. And they're like, it doesn't do that. And I'm like, what do you mean it doesn't do that? Like that is basic functionality of a point of sale system. In my previous job I had for about six years too. I ran a restaurant bar. And so we had Micro's point of sales and it was super robust and did everything. And that's kind of where my expectation level was for what I wanted Punchies to be able to function like. But those robust huge systems come with a huge price point that we just weren't at that level. So I stumbled onto a girlfriend of ours, she's like, you need to look at Lightspeed. And that's. They were still in the process of developing their online side. But for me, where I was from, a business owner and a single business owner that is trying to figure out how to fund all these things. I loved that it had one single inventory. It was one of the only systems I had found up to that point that had a single inventory. So I did not have to have that's in the back room, we have to transfer it here. Because previous to that we, we set up Lightspeed and I, I chose to keep my Shopify website because I had just spent all this money getting it up and running and we paid a, a third party company to make it work and talk to each other. And for the most part it did work. They were super successful and had great customer service. But when anytime they did an API update or Mozilla did an update or anybody else, it would knock it off track. And you spent a whole day calling both companies trying to figure out whose problem it was that you wasted a lot of time or for me, a lot of my team members wasted a lot of time. I felt like trying to find a problem that nobody really knew what it broke from. It just broke and they were sorry. But sorry really didn't fix the issue that we were having with running an inventory system. And there's so many out there and there's so many questions that go into what works for you. I mean, we ultimately made the decision to switch to where now we run everything through Lightspeed. I use Lightspeed retail, I use Lightspeed E. Com. We pay for Lightspeed accounting because it sinks everything into my QuickBooks online. And the cost associated with that is cheaper than an employee doing it. And it's for the most part efficient. We have somebody that double checks all of the journal entries and things like that. But the human error factor not being there, it was worth the time aspect that goes into a lot of how those accounting systems worked. And I chose that I didn't want to spend my time entering all that information as much as I want to be able to analyze it and how I look at it. So we use all of Lightspeed right now and I've been super happy with a lot of the improvements. They get better every year and it's definitely not the cheapest system out there, but they work cohesively and it has 24 hour customer support. So from a business owner standpoint, I don't have to fix all the problems. My team has access and know how to call them. So if they have a basic issue come up, it doesn't get brought to me. It gets. They know how to solve it without me having to get in the middle of it. And prior to us moving to this system, that was not the case. I spent a lot of my time managing a lot of the problems and didn't get any of my jobs done. So I just stayed behind. I felt like 247 and not getting people taken care of because I'm trying to figure out why is the website not taking inventory out of lightspeed. And it's double selling. And you know, you'd make an online sell and would be so excited and then you're like, we don't have that. We haven't had that in six months. Like how did they even buy that? It's the most depressing feeling when you're trying to get a website up and running. So in Lightspeed we spend a lot of time in the reports by categories, sales by hours. And I spend a lot of time just in general in my sales reports. Just recently we really spent a lot of time slowing down and figuring out how to manage our inventory because I will say it kind of manages me some days because. Because it's hard to know. Like we were talking about buying for shows and buying for that like 100% honest. When we went to Vegas, I overbought for it because I was so afraid. What if I run out? What if we're so busy? I don't want these customers to be disappointed. But you know, in the flip side of that, you still have to figure out how to manage that when you go home. And you know, also for the number side, knowing what is successful on shows versus in our store, there are certain pieces that we carry in our store that require you to really engage with the customer and tell them, hey, this is really how it sells. That is not a piece that we want to take on a roadshow. That is not something from a number standpoint. You don't have time to talk to a thousand people a day to sell that. You need them to be able to walk by and see that and go, I want that. Pick it up and go. And then learning how your numbers can tell you those things is the most beneficial aspect of why we really chose some of the systems we chose. I had a lot of background in knowing accounting and handled all of the books. And so I at least knew from the beginning. For us, we really didn't go with Shopify because it didn't have reporting. You had to pay these third party companies. And I, I still struggle with this today, but I feel like I get pecked to death with fees. Like pecked like chickens to death because 9.99, 12.99, I'm like, great, what's the monthly fee for that like? And it adds up, you know, it doesn't sound like a lot, but when you have to pay this flat rate fee, but then to make it do all these things you want, at the end of the day we ended up saving money going this other alternative route because you were gonna pay it anyways. If you really were gonna get a functioning system that did all the things that you need, you were gonna spend the money either way. So you might as well. For me, I was like, I have one human that I call if it breaks, I call one location. We don't have to figure out, okay, which part broke and how we have to get to that point.

I love it. That makes it so much simpler. Yes.

I think if I could go back and like pick the one thing I would have told myself going through finding point of sale systems, it doesn't matter who you pick, every single one of them is going to have some limitations. We're in like a weird gap software wise, you know, I was super annoyed when QuickBooks for desktop, they really don't support it anymore. And that's where my bread and butter knowledge was. I had spent 10 plus years I could have my eyes closed and tell you where to click to do things. And they're like, yeah, but we really want to go cloud based and it's not going to work the same and nothing's going to be in the same place, but you have to use it. Oh, I was so mad. I spent probably weeks that I was so Mad in reality, it's just growth process because now it's so much more beneficial. I can be anywhere that I need to be and log into any of these programs and I'm not tied to a desk. And I couldn't see that benefit in that moment because it was so different than what I knew. I wasted a lot of energy being so frustrated that, well, this system does this. Why can't you do it? You have to pick what fits you most for in the moment, as well as you need to know where you're going. I knew for me at that moment, the retail store was really where we needed it to be functioning. Even though they were a little. They were way far behind in e comm world when we started. But for the immediate fix, it was the best solution. And then you grow together and you need to pick one you want to stick with. I've had lightspeed now for almost four full years, and I will just tell you, I still find things daily that I'm like, I didn't even know you did that. And it makes your life so much simpler. But you spend a long time figuring out the system and then you get to step back and figure out, hey, what does this do for me? And it really does a lot of stuff for me that we didn't even notice until we slowed down to really dig into the reporting side.

Man, that's a lot of golden nuggets. You just dropped a lot of wisdom that I think also questions that a lot of boutique owners have because, I mean, you just mentioned the word point of sale and obviously most people think you're talking about piece of shit. But it's a lot to try to understand and learn as you're making that decision. So that's been been really helpful. I want to kind of ask you a related question because I think you and I were even talking about this before the show, and that is, you know, there's ebbs and flows in retail. There's busy months, and then there's a little bit slower months. There's always going to be ups and downs that you have to plan for. So when you know you're in a slower season, what do you do that benefits your business the most?

When times are slow for us, we work on the bigger projects that are going to be in the future. So currently right now. Well, I'm gonna back up for a second. The first thing that we do is we clean up our inventory. Like we're going into summer. We all know that it is going to be slow. There's Just no doubt about that. But we've kind of changed our mindset that just because our store is low doesn't mean maybe online is slow. You know, you serve customers from all over the world, not just in your immediate physical location, but we in our slow times. If I want to implement anything, we are required to do it during the slow months. If I want to update the website and do a huge overhaul, redesign project, or I want to switch out co hangers or anything that's I want to figure out how to upload videos to my products on my website. Those are not projects we are allowed to take on during roadshow season or during busy seasons or holiday seasons. We spend a lot of our, like, slower months. The summertime for us is a huge, huge productivity time that we plan out all of our marketing. We really spend a lot of time planning out our events and, you know, knowing kind of like when we're going to do certain sales. And we get a tentative calendar put together, which also allows my team to know you can't take off that weekend because they know way ahead of schedule. This is kind of what we're looking at for the last six months of the year. And it really takes a lot of pressure off of me to not, I know where we're headed, I know all of the things that we have going, but I've taken these slow months to line all those out. And I spend some time digging through numbers and inventory. Summertime is a big time. I look at the previous six months, I analyze it from the two years before, and I start to really try to figure out, okay, what really sold then that was maybe on trend and is it a trend coming back or how do we figure out like, no, that worked really well. Then how do we do that again this year but with different pieces or different things or this event worked really well, but maybe we should try to do it at a different time. Something like that.

Perfect. There's always an upside, I think, to being slow. And I think, gosh, every retailer just.

Has to be prepared for that.

How do you make lemons out of lemonade? There has to be a slow season so you can prepare for the busy ones.

Yes. And I used to just dread it, you know, God, it's going to be slow. That's going to just be miserable. I enjoy the summer because I feel like I get a breath of fresh air. I get some time to take care of myself. I usually take a full week off and go visit girlfriends or go do something where I'm not at a computer at all. I had a friend that lived in Alaska and I went for a full week. We did not. We went hiking. We did anything but what I normally do day to day. And I came back so refreshed. I was like a whole new person. I was like, oh, this is going to be a tradition. We do this every year because you're married to a computer or a phone with what we do. And I don't think I realize how mentally sometimes taxing that can be that you just never turn it off. And it was super beneficial to me as well as our whole team. You know, like, we came back and really hit the ground running instead of just constantly trying to make ourselves work harder, work harder, work harder. We gave ourselves a little bit of the break we need and everybody needs that. It doesn't matter who you are. True that.

You should drop the microphone. Everyone's like, yep, could use for it. Break could use a day off and a nap. All right, are you ready for the lightning round?

Absolutely.

Okay, tell me your favorite podcast.

Well, Boutique Chat and then Carol, I think it's. Dang, my brain just went dead. She does style your mind and it is so good because it's not. I listen to a ton of stuff that's retailer business based and hers is just more about you. Do you? You know, and I love. I listen to Rachel Hollis as well. She's one of my other favorite ones.

Love it. Thanks for mentioning us in the same sentence. I feel. I feel very honored today. Much appreciate it. And we'll link all those up in the show notes too. All right. Who is your go to mentor?

My. Well, I have two. My friend Elizabeth, who we play squirrel like every morning and she owns her own business and so it's so refreshing to have somebody that you can say the things you can't really say to your team members or other people. They're like, I'm so frustrated. And she's like, I get it. I totally get it.

But.

But she can also help you figure out, well, okay, well, you can't say that out loud. So here's how we're going to. And everybody needs those. And then my parents, my dad owns a business. And that's just been so refreshing because, you know, he's been in business for, I think over 30 years and he's like, we still have rough years and they still have rough patches. And it's refreshing to know, like, it does get easier, but you're always going to have those challenges no matter what, and you just have to figure out what works. Best for you and the business. Business. And you know, pop back up and get going with it, man.

Well said. I need. Needed to be remembered. Reminded. Remembered and reminded. I just combined those two words. You're welcome. All right. Your favorite book or books.

Currently I am reading Profit Verse and I love it because it's a totally different way to look at things. I loved the book Redeeming. Love it. Dean Rivers.

Yes.

My girlfriend gave it to me in college and I still read it every couple years.

Years.

It's the best thing ever.

You know, if you haven't read Redeeming Love and someone would tell you it's set in the old west, but it's about a prostitute, you might wonder, why would I want to read this book? But literally it is the best book ever.

It's so good. And it's, it's just a daily reminder. Everybody should tell themselves. So I love those. Those are two of my favorites right now.

All right, what is your favorite trend at the moment?

My favorite trend is self care. And that. I know that's kind of not what everybody thinks. Oh, trend with fashion. But I'm super passionate about emotional health and therapy and really taking care of yourself. And people didn't talk about it until the last couple years. So I love that it's on trend and on topic and people promote. Yes. Take care of you, do what's best for you and how you balance all those things with daily life.

I love that. Well said. All right. Trend you wish would go away.

Way high waisted jeans. What? I hate them. Why do you hate them?

They function as a second bra. And who wouldn't love that? I.

For me, they are not flattering and they never happen on me. They look so good on some people. But for me, I'm like, I can't wear those. They make my butt look way bigger than they already are. And I, I can't tuck a shirt in with them. That's the biggest thing I don't like about high waisted jeans. The way my body is built now, I see people in them. I'm like, that looks amazing, but it would not look like that on me. And that is okay.

Does it make you want to go Back to like 1994 in any way, shape or form where you had like the curly shoelaces and the like geometric windbreaker jacket? Because I love those trends.

Yes. Because they were easy. You just slid them on and went, you know, they're not. I more so probably channel the 80s because I love big hair and some bright colors. But yeah, Definitely. That's. They're not for me.

All right, last one. What frightens you the most? A snake's payroll or Internet trolls?

Payroll.

I am with you there.

Yeah, it's not bad, but it comes with a lot of elements that you have to know what you're doing.

Do you have a favorite business quote?

Experience is what you get when it didn't work out the way you planned.

Experience is what you get when things don't go as planned.

I love that. Yeah, it's something my dad said, and I was like, well, I don't like this experience that I'm going through right now. But he was like, it'll serve you well later in life.

Well said. All right, so as we wrap up our time together. You've heard the podcast, so, you know, this is always my last question, but I think it's so important to ask because you and I both know that we aren't in this business just to sell clothes or to sell things. But we're all here for a greater purpose and mission that we're all trying to fulfill. So I would love to know, as you look back at your business, you know, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, whatever happens to the business, but you look back on what you built in the life that you lived. What is the thing that you hope people will remember about you and the.

Business the most, how we made them feel. It's the core value of what I set apart for our customer service is that no matter what they're there to see you for, if they're buying a gift, maybe they're buying something for themselves. Maybe they just walked in that day because they needed to get out of the house and not sit by themselves. But you have the opportunity, no matter where you're at in life, to engage with a human and make them feel their best, whether it doesn't matter what size they are, it doesn't matter what they wear or why they walk through your door, you really can take five minutes and brighten their day just by saying hello.

Oh, I love that. And that's something that Amazon or big retail can never compete with. That's exactly why people love shopping with boutiques. Well said, man. Well, Jen, thank you so much for spending time with me today and sharing all this.

I think this was so helpful, you.

Know, just coming from such a real place that so many boutique owners are in balancing online and in store and vendor shows and just the real nature of what you're doing and how you're growing every step of the way. So thanks for spending this time and just sharing your knowledge with us.

Absolutely. It was such a treat. I'm so excited to be here.

Awesome. All right, well, thank you so much. We appreciate you and wish you all the best the rest of the year.

Thank you.

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