From Brick and Mortar to eCommerce

You guys are in for a real raw treat. I have been looking forward to having Carly Harris Pennington on the podcast for quite some time now. Every time I run into Carly, whether it's been a part of Retail bootcamp or running into her at market, she is a magnet for other boutique owners because she is so willing to sit down, have real and raw conversations and talk openly about how her business has grown from being a brick and mortar to launching online. And not just launching online and using live sales only builder business, but truly launching an E commerce business using Shopify. I've been so intrigued with following Carly's journey that not only is she on the podcast today, but she's also joining us to speak at the Boutique Summit with her very own breakout session talking about her e commerce funnel maximizing her Shopify store and how she's built a growing average order value by launching with collections. Get ready to take notes. I know you're going to love this one. Meet my friend Carly Harris Pennington I of Everyday Chic Boutique right here on Boutique Chat. 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. So you guys have probably heard me talk about this thing called the Boutique Summit and I just want to take a minute to personally invite you to the largest gathering of boutique owners in the world. It is the one and only business conference designed for boutique owners and gift stores, e commerce sellers and live sellers to come together to learn, to strategize, to network and to see what is working right now from top experts and boutique owners in our industry. So if you are able I would love to meet you in person. March 20th and 21st in Dallas, Texas right before Dallas Apparel Market so you can get some buying in at the same time or if you are not able to join us in person or if the date is already passed, you can always grab a digital ticket to either watch our speakers live in the moment or catch all of the replays. And we're talking about not only keynotes from myself and Sarah Burks and Jeff Fenn on our team we have but also experts in our industry like Brandon Cruz from Comet Sold or Paul Erickson from Management one or our Boutique owner success panel with Sassy Jones, Cherise Jones and Allison Grooms from Jules and James. Or top keynote speakers like Lori Harder or Jesse Itzler. You guys, Jesse Itzler is Sarah Blakely's husband and a massive successful entrepreneur. He is such a badass. So that plus tons of breakout speakers, our VIP mentor sessions, and everything you need to know about what's working right now in our industry. So go ahead and grab a ticket or grab a digital ticket and I would love to see you either in person or digitally online. To catch all the Boutique Summit speakers, go to the boutiquehub.com boutique summit-2022 and I'll see you there. Hey, guys, welcome back to the podcast this week. Carly Harris, thanks so much for coming today.

Yes, I'm excited to hear.

We have talked about this for a long time. Not only do you get to be on the podcast today, which I cannot wait to tell your story, but I know so many boutique owners are looking forward to chatting with you in person at the Boutique Summit.

Yes. Yes, I can't wait for that too.

So many times when we have been at Market or at our LA experience through Bootcamp, I know you're someone who has always been so real and so honest and really embodied the idea of community over competition for so many of our boutiques and just sharing your experience and just sharing what works for you. And so today I really want to unpack a lot of that. So before we do, I want to start, I want to hear the origin story. Tell me the first piece of how did you get started owning a boutique?

Oh, sure. Yeah. So I actually started. It's been seven years ago. I was working at a local credit union. It's a large credit union, but a local credit union. I worked there through college, but then I started working on small business loans. So I. My dad was an entrepreneur, though. So I was raised in an entrepreneur household. Like, it was. It was bred in me early. But I started working on small business loans and I would work with these people and they were so inspiring and they had such stories and such passion for everything that they did. And I was just like, I like my job and like, I love the company, but did I, like, love it? Did I feel like it was like my purpose? Was it my why? Like, you know? And so I was like, this isn't it for me. So I kind of just started talking to my dad and other people like, what? What do you think I should do? I want to do something. And my dad's like, well, what do you love? And I'm like, well, I love shopping. And he knew that early on. He's been financing it for years at that point. And so he was like. He's like, you think? And we were in. Actually in the middle of like a recession. Depression. Exactly like where I'm located. So where I'm located. DHL was huge. And it actually, it was the biggest thing. Our commute. Our community has like 15, 000 people or something in it. It's not a big town. And the bulk of the people here were here because of DHL and ABX Air. And it. It left. So when it left it. It completely ruined our entire town. It was a big. It was. Our storefront were empty. Everyone had left. All of our us natives were still here, but everyone else had left. And so it was huge and everything was empty. And I was like, I think I'm gonna open up a storefront. And my dad's like, oh, great. Yeah, you're gonna open up a clothing store. You know, at the age I think I was 21, 22, and in the middle of nothing. There's nothing else on our main streets, pretty much. And so I did, and it thrived. I think people loved it. And it's just continued to grow. A year later, we bought a building that we completely renovated. That's where we are at today. My warehouse is in the same location. So we. We have about 7,500 square feet total between the storefront and the warehouse.

Wow.

Here. Yeah. Which logistically speaking, is heaven on earth. Now that we've grown our online business being in the same space, I always say I'm like, we're scaling until we grow this space because then that'll be a whole new beast. But so it's been fantastic ever since. It's been growing. My community supported me 100% through Covid, my local group, and now growing online and building that community nationwide has been. Has been such a blessing. But honestly, so much fun.

I love that. So what's interesting to me. So you started as a brick and mortar first, and then at what point did you decide, I've got to also build this business online?

Truthfully, the big online push happened during COVID during the shutdowns. That's when I was like, okay, I was actually personally six months pregnant when Covid shut us down. And I. I had a staff probably then of like seven people, eight people maybe. And I was like, I had two locations at that point. That's the part I left out. I'd opened Up a second storefront.

Okay.

About 45 minutes from where I'm at right now. I ended up closing it when my daughter was born. And. And because the online thing grew during COVID so you can kind of see how that goes hand in hand. We did some online before that and we did, I mean, a decent amount, but nothing like we're doing now. And during COVID I was just like, it's sink or swim, girls. Like, it's time. We have got to figure some stuff out. I'm pregnant. This is my livelihood. This is your livelihood. Like we have to figure out what we're going to do if something was to happen and we stay closed. So that's actually when I started live selling then, which I only go live once a week. So I go live every single Tuesday at 7 o' clock religiously. They know I'm there. I've never missed one. I've missed one personally. Like my first one I ever missed personally is because I was being induced with my daughter. So I did it for a while and then I probably missed like 5 total where the girls come in and do my lives for me. But that my Customer knows that ECB is live on Tuesdays at 7. But like, that's a very small portion of our revenue and our exposure. It's just something that they can count on us to be there.

Yeah, I want to talk about that because I feel like a lot of times. So hearing you were brick and mortar first, Covid really thrust you into being online and lives were lives were central to that. But what's interesting is you are not a typical live selling boutique. Like your business is more traditional E commerce. And I feel like there's a lot of boutique owners that maybe struggle with that transition. Like maybe they could see how they could become just a live seller. But you have gotten your customers trained and accustomed to going to your website to buy. So was that strategic? Or tell me, how did you start to first grease the wheels to get your customers trained to go to your e commerce site versus just shopping off of your live?

Sure. And honestly, it's something that I had heard from the boutique hub and something from you. I don't remember exactly who said it, but they were like, you know, Grey's Anatomy is Monday is the date or whenever it was like you rely, you know it's going to be there. And so I kind of took that and rolled with it. I was like, we sat down and we were like, let's pick these days that we're going to do this stuff and honestly, it was throwing spaghetti at the wall. We're like Tuesdays for lives. That sounds great. I don't want to do it on a Monday. I don't want to do it on a Friday. Like I just rolled with it. And then since our lives were on Tuesdays then and honestly now I guess there's like been. It's been proven, some research has proven that like Tuesdays is the day that like the majority of people stay home. Tuesday nights, like shows like in the Midwest, the majority of people. So I nail on the head, I killed it. I would like to say that's the reason I chose Tuesdays. It's not. I'm going to roll with it and say it is. So then when we chose Tuesdays, then we decided to go into Thursdays on Thursdays for our new arrival launches. And those are kind of our big deals. So Tuesday nights are something that we'll like, we'll preview, we'll show them some sneak peeks on Tuesdays for what's going live on Thursday. But for the most part, Thursdays is like the brand new. And what we do that's different than a lot of like live sellers is like we're selling full looks, head to toe accessories, shoes, jeans. Like we style collections. We actually pick our collections and then style outfits around the collections obviously. But we do those every single Thursday. And our customer just knows like on Thursday night, on Tuesday nights, their husbands will come into the store and they're like, oh, there you are again. I have to look at you every single Tuesday. And then on Thursday my wife's like, it's almost seven. Like I have to be there because Carly's going to like launch all these new things. And so yeah, they just know. Like they, and we, we hype it on our hero image on our website. We hype it on everything. I do little sneak peek stories, single Thursday on our Instagram that are fun. And another way for me to build that relationship on Instagram with my customer because I don't go live on Instagram, but like to know that I'm fun and I'm sassy and we cuss a little, but like we're good. Like, they just, they know. I'm like, hey sis, I'm gonna show you some good shit today and you gonna like it. And they're like, yes. And they love it. They love that like conversation and obviously it helps the algorithm because they sit there and hold their finger down and, and read all my, my spiel. But it's just fun. It creates some like, personality. It makes you want to be friends with us. And like, we have an incredible community and I want to be that. I want our customer to swipe up and be like, wow, you did kill that. Like, that's fantastic. I love this. Can't wait. Like, and they'll just, they're there for it. So yeah, that's so important.

I want to hit on that a little, even a little bit more because I think first I want to say this and make this really clear. There is no one way to success. There is no one way to do things. And so there are so many boutiques who kill it, like making live selling online their main revenue source. There's others who brick and mortar is their source. There are others who E Commerce is theirs. What I find really fascinating about you and how I think this has worked so well is you're owning your traffic by driving, you know, a true E commerce funnel. But I love how you are styling things in collections. And when I think about why, why has her business been successful, I think that is a huge piece of it. You have really mastered that art of filling your customer's needs, understanding what her struggles are, and being the true style educator. And like putting all those pieces of together in a collection where someone on a live sale might show how to style something. And that's how they're building style education during that show. But you're doing that every single week. So talk to me about that process of building a collection and how you've made that such a central part of your strategy.

Sure. So we'll talk about Bailey. So in everyday chic headquarters, Bailey's well known. So Bailey is. My mom was going to name me Bailey. That's how we came up with this name. But Bailey is our target customer. And so we talk all the time about Bailey. Like, Bailey, what is she doing? Like, where's Bailey, Bailey going this month? Like, what? I even asked my customers in the live or like in polls, like, what do you guys have coming up? What's in the pipeline? Like, where are you headed? And so, like, what's Bailey doing? Is she going on vacation? Is she getting family photos? Is Bailey like going back to college? Like, what's Bailey have going on? And what needs does she have? Need to have filled? And our big meeting happens in January. So the first Monday of every year is our vision board day. We close the store, we do a big like eight hour team meeting, team bonding, vision board thing. But then it's like, it's like a true conference. Let's all Sit down and like, let's talk about this. And it gets us on the same page, but it lets us know because we're all Bailey in some ways. Like, every person that works here has a touch of Bailey in her. And so what. What my college girl is doing versus me as a. As a mom is completely different. But we can still fill our needs the same. So we talk about Bailey. We map out our collections for the entire year that week. So our collections all the way up until the end of the year are already mapped out. So when I'm buying, I know, like, that's going in this collection. And so I don't know, like, oh, we're going to hold on to that because that pant is going to elevate that basic and we're just going to sit on it for a second. So. And that's been a thing that didn't happen originally. Couldn't. Couldn't start out by sitting on inventory like that. But now we're to the point and to the level where if I have to, to put some cash out and sit on it for a month to make that thing where it is a must have and you don't even hesitate to purchase the item, it's completely worth it. So we kind of just meet about Bailey, then we create the collections, then I buy around the collections, and then we shoot. We only operate a week and a half in advance. We tried to get two and a half weeks in advance, but it honestly killed our vibe. Like, I was no longer excited about it two and a half weeks later. Like, I wanted it to still be fresh and still be exciting. So we. We shoot every single Tuesday. It's my live day, so I wash my hair on Tuesdays. I wash my hair once a week. Tuesday's hair wash day. My customer knows that. So I wash my hair on Tuesdays, and then we do photo shoots on Tuesdays. I do model. It's a way to keep me branded within the brand as well. And then it launches the following Thursday.

Okay.

Every single. So that's kind of our timeline of events there.

Yeah, that's really helpful. You. The last time I saw you at Market, I think your exact words were, I'm going to be lame and I'm going to go back to my hotel room and I'm going to plan out my collection. Tell just go a little bit deeper in that, like planning out your collection and that calendar, like, again of how you map that out and then bringing it home and strategically being able to really increase your average order value every Week. Because it's not just buy this top, but here's how it's styled, this top and all the different pieces I would show with it.

Oh, 100%. And I think market is something that, it is fun. Like, market's fun and it is fun and like, you're supposed to go and have fun. But I see so many people that ask me the same question of like, how do I do this? I can't get ahead. I'm struggling. And I'm like, yeah, and you're out until 2 o' clock in the morning in Las Vegas, which I want to be out with you. But I'm like, I am spending real money here and this is real time for my family. And I have to, to delegate my brain and understand why I'm purchasing the things that I'm purchasing. Like, it's an investing trip. Like, you've said that a hundred times. Yeah. And so I do go back and I, I take photos of everything that I buy and then I go through, like, hey, should I got more than that? Because I've had a pair of pants after that. Like, I should have went and did that. Like, and just little things of figuring out, like, what do I still need. I'll even get on, like, fashion go that night and be like, okay, who has a pair of pants that will go with this basic? Because I'm going to go see them tomorrow. Like, I need to go see these pants in person or something like that. And then I, it will change. When I got home, I was like, okay, this is what shipping, when maybe we have to push that collection to July. And now we launch this in April. Like, we're going to split flop this a little bit. And it's always something. I always say, I have erasable pens. It's the best thing I ever had because I don't like pencils. So an erasable pen gets us through, but, like, that's what we do. It's not set in stone, but we, we, we don't ever miss a deadline either. So we're always there, but we may just have to tweak it a little.

I love that. So you've got them planned and you're, and you're able to be nimble by those arrival dates. So they come. You shoot a week and a half in advance. You launch them on Thursdays. Tell me the rest of your funnel. So how many pieces are you launching a week? And they go live on the website first and then do you push them out in text, email, social? Like, what does the Rest of that funnel look like.

Okay, so we launch them every single Thursday night. Anywhere between like 100, 150. We've had 200 items before. It just depends on like, there's no huge plan there. It's a matter of like, what our inventory looks like. And I'll be like, oh, we don't have anything for new arrivals next. Like, we need to pull this back. Like, one of the girls that helps me style Bria, she's actually like my web operations manager. She's, she's my lead stylist too. For the collections. I'll be like, brian, we got to pull it back. Like, you can't have that. That's for this collection. That's for this. And so we all kind of work together to build these outfits. And then once they're live, they go live at 7 o'. Clock. When they go live, we tell our customer via text. We use postscript for our texting. So we tell them via text. We have five to six emails that go out. We do like campaigns, five to six email campaigns a week. So we're emailing you about every day, not including our flows. And then we do, I think she hits them again on Sunday. If they didn't purchase from Thursday to Sunday, we hit them again Sunday with another postscript to like, be like, hey, you need to see this. Yeah. And then I'll put stuff in the live on Tuesday that showed on Thursday and then we'll see. I mean, and I buy deep. So I'm a little different too. I don't buy super. I buy wide. I buy wide and deep. Because another huge thing that we do is Facebook ads. And Facebook ads aren't worth the money. I don't, in my personal, in my experience, I'm like, if you're not going to buy deep in these items, there's no reason running a Facebook ad on them. You're just wasting money. So I buy pretty deep when I know I'm going to run ads around certain things. And ads are a huge part of what scaled my business.

That's such good advice. And, and I feel like I see so many boutiques who end up running ads to sold out items. And that just becomes like a money turn and burn. Right? How have you just, through that process, tracked your average order value? And because again, going back to the difference in like E commerce and live selling, they're both great strategies. They're just very different strategies. When we're talking about live selling, we're talking about one piece, right? And you're turning Turning A customer may buy four or five times a week by just watching lives and buying single items at a time. Whereas in E commerce it's very different. You're trying to get them to buy several pieces at once. What is your average order value now and how have you tracked and strategically tried to grow your average order value?

Our average order value right now is like $146 or something like that, which is pretty good. So we, we. Last year our biggest number was average order value that we, we. That was like our main metric that we kind of watched. We watch them all, but that was our main metric. This year it's a little bit different. We're actually doing return customer rate because of the ads that we're running. So our average order value needs to stay that and it's continuing to grow. But I'm like, if my customer acquisition cost is $62, if they spend $142, like I'm barely even making anything off that transaction. So we need to make sure that they come back and they buy again. And then I'm like, so if we are doing our jobs right, then they're coming back and the return customer rate needs to sell stay. Like, I want it to be above 75%. I'm like, there's no reason. Like, we're fantastic. Our customer service, like I will say this with everything on my Bing. My customers like girls and their customer service is not matched in this entire industry. I refuse to let it be. Like, that's comes from my banking background. Like we. There's this video, it's called this old guys talking about giving them the pickle. And like we know, like we give our customer the pickle in every, in every aspect of their lives. Like, we will not. We're not the Nordstrom way, but we, we treat you the way we want to be treated. And I demand outstanding customer service for myself. So like they must give that out and I think they hold true to that. So that sets us apart too. But I think going back to that return customer rate and the average order value, these collections and these outfits make it to where it's just in the customer's head. It's like non negotiable. What's the point in that shirt? If I didn't get those shoes with it, like, then I don't need them. So they just buy it. We do use the shop the look app on our website, which I, I think is for me is huge. It's a very good. People go in and they just buy the whole Outfit. And, like, we love it when we watch people buy the whole outfits. Look at that. And, like, there'll be outfits that are mine or outfits that are Emily's or outfits that are Bria's that, like, we styled. And when it sells, we're like, oh, they bought our outfit. They love it. Like, you know, we come in on Fridays and we see the shipping tables and we see the orders being pulled, and we're like, it's so cool to see it from start to finish and be like, oh, my gosh, like, it's working. But when you hit check out on our website, that's not finished for us. Like, we hand package every single order. We don't. I'm like, we don't leave it in the plastic. So that sets us apart. But we also are charging a price for that. It's not. We're not the cheapest boutique, but I don't want to be. I want to be the place where you know that you will be treated the best. You'll be styled the best, you'll be taking care of the best. I will stand by the quality of everything that I have. I think that's a little different. We do the handwritten notes. We do all of that. All of that jazz to make the customer feel special. Yeah.

I want to talk about. I want to hear you talk more about price. What you just said was really interesting to me. First of all, let me back up a second, because all I can think about right now is pickles. I'm not pregnant, but you're making me hungry for pickles, so I just have to say that out loud. I'm going to need to get you some pickles. But from pickles to price, you're not the cheapest boutique, and you don't want to be, because cheap isn't loyal. We all know that. But I think you can charge a different price when you're selling through E commerce than maybe you can through live selling. What is that like? Like, what is your pricing strategy? And when a customer says, well, I can get it cheaper over here, how do you respond to that?

What's ironic? And, like, maybe. Maybe they do, and I just don't hear. But no one says that. They don't even. They don't even. My customer is so loyal to us that they don't even know that Junior's down the street, and I don't have the clue what's going on anywhere else. I don't have. I don't even have enough time to run my own life. Let Alone, that kind of stuff. So, yeah, I do believe my strongest point as a business owner is that I 100,000% stay in my own lane, because I don't know, like, which I need to go. I need to be on free people dot com. I need to be, like, out there looking at what, like, the big people are doing, but I don't even know what they're doing, let alone like, another boutique or anything like that. So I. I do 100 stay in my own lane, but I'm like, if we are going to be able to house this inventory and to buy this deep and to buy this many items and to curate these collections, we need cash flow. Yeah, you can't do that without money. And so I'm like, how are we going to be able to make our prices match what we're doing? And, like, if we have incredible service and not cute outfits, then, like, what's the point? You know what I mean? Like, I'm like, we need to make it to where people are like, wow, the styling, the website, the branding, the. All of it. The price. I'm here to pay 89 for that sweater because this is cute. And, like, they're gonna treat me like a queen. Like a queen. And so. And we will. And I'm like, it's not a matter of a matter of, like, the price even. I think that's just an exchange. They are getting a full. Like, I'm like, I'm providing the value without any doubt in my mind. I'm always like, we could do so much more. And my girls are completely trained to think that exact way. They. They're like, we. How do we make this customer be like, oh, my gosh, I've never had anyone treat me like this. And we get those emails from people daily. That's like, no one's ever been this cool to me. And I look at returns way different than other people, too. So returns are not. I see people in, like, the boutique hub and different things complaining about returns. When someone comes in to return something, especially like those Christmas returns, I'm like, this is the biggest opportunity that we've ever had. How much money would we pay to have a direct conversation with a customer? Like, we do, like, look what we pay for all these marketing services. And so I'm like, when they email us, we're gonna be like, girl, I know what jeans you need. You're right. Those aren't the ones for you. Like, here is the ones for you and our. Our. And people. Then they. That's like, they're like, oh, my gosh, thank you. And a lot of times they may be heavy on the keyboard. People are keyboard warrior. That's why I'm like, you have to take that with a grain of salt. Like, okay, when you see that email, just breathe in and breathe out. And then now go back and be like, all right. Hey, girl, we're still us. Like, we're not gonna let. And I think a lot of times people are, like, heavy on their fingers because they've had bad experiences where boutique owners hold out their money or they don't. Or, like, stores, you know, say, like, you can't return this, and they're like, so they come at it with an attitude. But I look at those as a huge opportunity, and I think that definitely sets us apart as well.

The, like, boutique mama in me, like, the retail bootcamp mama in me, is so proud right now. I just want to, like, shake you, because I'm so pumped to hear you say those things, because, number one, you're demonstrating, and I feel like I preach this on a soapbox a lot, but you're actually demonstrating when you increase the idea of value, when you actually provide value, that outweighs the pain of someone paying the price. So you can increase whatever your prices are to match that value. But so often, like, we're just trying to do what's quick and easy, and we're lowering the price down to here, so they're just really not equal. So this, like, level of customer service is such a huge deal as our return policies. I heard someone say this the other day about being fascinated instead of furious by things like return policies and why someone is returning. There is such a huge opportunity to wow that customer and get them to come back. And if your customer lifetime value, let's just say, is, you know, 2,500 bucks or 3,500 bucks, whatever it is, I mean, what is that worth versus losing the customer over the $20 profit you made on one cheap top that they're pissed because now they can't return?

Oh, yeah.

Huge difference if you just look at it that way.

And most of them don't even really want to return. They bought that top for a reason. Yeah. It just isn't working. So the question is, why isn't it working? Yeah. So then they say it's not working because of xyz, where you're like, well, here's the thing that will work. And so I'm like, our returns aren't really returns. They're just exchanges. We'll do. We do cash back returns, which is something that not a lot of stores do either. We do cash back returns because I'm like, we are small. And so when you find us, it's your first time purchase. You know, if you don't know me, you're like, why is this place holding out my money? Like, that's not what I want to be either. Yeah. But I think that, like, looking at it as like, how do you educate them and how to educate yourself, like, maybe those pants were terrible. You know, a lot of times I'm like, I didn't love those. Which now we don't. We don't. We're to the point now where I don't launch something that I don't love. But at a time, you know, you had to. It's what you had.

Can we talk about your email marketing for a second? Especially today when algorithms are so limiting. I know the one thing that we actually have control over is our list. It's email marketing and it's text marketing. So if you need help building out your email flows or building your list or making sure your text messages are TCPA compliant, which is such a big deal right now, or if you just want to make sure you're making more money from email marketing and text marketing, I have to recommend you guys. My friend Jane Casper is the go to guru that you definitely want to know. Not only has Jane built her own multi, multi million dollar business specializing in footwear, a boutique specializing in footwear, but she's also built out flows for over a thousand e commerce store owners, many of them inside of the boutique hub. She's run over 300 AB tests in the last year alone and she's grown delivery rates and open rates for hundreds of stores. So if you would love to get in touch with Jane, she has specials just for podcast listeners and for hub members. Please reach out to her. It is Glow Group. Glow G L O W Group llcmail.com and we'll definitely put Jane's info in today's show notes. Okay, I might upset some people if I say this, but I'm curious your thoughts on this. What you just said is the exact reason why I am so leery about pre orders and drop shipping. Because how do you know? How do you know if it's not good? Like, your reputation's on the line now.

Here, here's the real upset or like I'm going to put. I can't believe I'm even saying this, but like, what is the difference between dropshipping and like the whole MLM thing, you know, I'm like, are you truly a business? Are you truly getting the things that you're passionate about? Are you truly putting any personal touch on this? Why am I buying from you if someone else is giving it to me? That picked it out, styled it, photographed it, like all these things, I just, I'm like, am I even purchasing from you? I am, but like, I don't know, it just doesn't. It doesn't feel true to me. It doesn't feel. It doesn't feel personal. People shop with me because they love me, they love my girls, they love small business and they love entrepreneurship and the dream and supporting all of that. And I just feel like it's getting, it's getting like tainted with that kind of. I don't know.

I love that you shared it because I think our industry is really changing. Like, I think we're on the cusp of, you know, there's such like a wave of influencer e commerce versus like true, like small business coming from a brick and mortar, like a local business owner type of commerce. There's just so many different facets. So I think that's really going to separate a lot of businesses going forward. So I'm glad we can have this conversation. I'm curious about when you started to find traction online. Obviously you were coming out of COVID you were going live, so you had a little bit of momentum. I hear from boutique owners often who are transitioning from brick and mortar to online just struggles. Like, how do I get that traction? I know you see that too. So do you think there's the most common mistake that business owners make when they're trying to get started in E commerce and they're just not getting the return that they want?

Yeah, I mean, I think it could be a combination of things, but the way that we did it is I was like going back to where we just like pick those items and make that collection. But if you launch a website that you a customer goes to and they're confused really as even while why they're there, like who are you when they get there? That's the biggest question. And then if you're sending your regular customers there, so if you're sending your in store customers that you have there, like why should they purchase there versus just walking into the store? What's different about it? What's exciting about it? Like your storefront's already excited, they're already their customer, your customer. So they'll just be like, okay, I'll just go get it. Tomorrow when I'm going into town or whatever. And so I think creating that, that like impulse and creating that like I'm getting this right now. It's. It's amazing to me the amount of people that do in store pickups for us. We still have a huge like local following. And they do in store pickup where I would be like, I mean, I'm lazy, so I'm like, I'm going nowhere. I go to ECB at home is about the two places that I go. And so I'm like, I would never for free shipping. Like I'd ship it. But they come in and they're like, well, we want to see what else you have. Because the store does look a little bit different. And we style, we use our photography to create our walls and merchand our walls. However, we style the pieces differently in store than we styled on the models. Because most of the people walk into our store already shopped at 6:00'. Clock. They know what, they know what went live. Now they're coming to see it again. And so they've already bought and then they're like, oh, I'm gonna buy that too. So I think it's just kind of like understanding that it their sis. Like your storefront and your website are Swiss sisters. They're not twins. Yes. And so it's a matter of understanding. Like, how do you get them to tell the same story but to get me, if you don't have a huge customer base or you don't have the money to invest into ads, how do you get them to purchase online and in store? And why should that. Yeah, you know, I'm like, because otherwise you're kind of competing against yourself. It's like, why are you investing all this time? I will say with ads too. One thing that I did that I know people have been like, oh, that good. Like I find those margin builders and what are those things? Like, what are which now we custom and we manufacture our own stuff. So it makes it to where those margins are much more to where I can afford to pay for the ads. But I run ads on the things that I am going to make money on. So I need to have a good margin. If I run an ad on a jacket, I had better have like a good margin on that jacket or otherwise. Ads are expensive, especially now. Like, they're expensive and I kind of just got into them after the iOS change. Like, that's when I started hitting them hard. And when people say ads aren't working, ads are working, working, your content isn't working or your website like you're, you know. So I think that's kind of a, a mind shift too, of understanding why you're running an ad to something I.

Think that's really powerful. First, I love the fact that you said your storefront, your online are sisters and not twins. I think that's such a good perspective.

They're like eyebrows. They're sisters.

That's so good. That's so true. And I love that you said it's not that the ads aren't working. It maybe is your content isn't working working or your website isn't working. I, I feel like another common struggle. And I know you said ads are a huge part of this for you. I'm curious if there's anything else that was a part of this. But when you first go online and you're trying to reach people outside of your local community, how do you feel like you really started to grow and expand your reach to people who weren't already local to you or had some sort of connection to you?

Otherwise, I think word of mouth, Instagram, Facebook's actually our largest traffic driver. Pinterest is actually huge for us too. So we do a lot of Pinterest stuff. I've never done Pinterest ads, but we've had lots of like viral. There's a cardigan that I keep in stock from literally probably three years ago. It doesn't ever come on my floor, but it's the, it's still getting pinned daily on Pinterest. That's where we talk about Pinterest stuff doesn't die there, it just keeps living. And so, and they always say, like, Pinterest is a year or a month or so in advance. And that's so true. So, like our fall collection from last year will start going crazy in July of this year. And so then I'll be like, which ones are getting repinned? And then I repurchase those items and we just keep them in the basement for like, in our warehouse for the people that are coming from Pinterest. So then the item's still in stock and they can purchase it. Which. Pinterest is a little out of our control. So you can't always control what, what hits and what runs. But when it does, I tried to try to monetize that and be like, how can I? The worst thing on Pinterest, when you click on it and you love it, you go there and it's gone. You're like, I don't want that skirt. I want that Skirt, like, that's the one I want. And so I try to make sure that it's always available to them. When I recognize those trends and I see those things running on Pinterest, then we make sure we have them in stock, which then gets someone to convert, which then gets them into our funnels, which then gets our customer to come back and our average order values to go up and our return customer rate to go up, and all the fun numbers on our little tracking sheet every month make me happy.

I love it.

I love it.

You're acquiring a new customer and I love that you're tracking all of these numbers. You're. I'm still like, my mama heart is.

Like, so proud right now.

I love hearing that.

We actually use our. Our tracking sheet from Bootcamp, but we've added to it, so that's the heart of it. That Excel spreadsheet is like the first, like 10 or 15 things came from that, and then now it's like way down more. But the base of it, 100 came from boot camp, so.

So good. Only a track number grows.

Yes.

What is the biggest and best failure you've ever had?

Honestly, my head park location. So my second location and the irony around it is my dad. Like I said, he's an entrepreneur. We're farmers. We're in a farming community. My dad and his own fertilizer business. He's crazy, but he's fantastic. But he said, like, why are you going? Why you want another storefront 45 minutes away? Like, it's got a lot of work. Like, why don't you go online? This online thing's big, you know, he's like, I think you could do something online. And I'm like, no, I want another storefront. Like, this is what I want. It's crazy. Good area. It's great. It's the best part of Cincinnati. Like, we're going there and he, like goes and looks at it and he's like, how much for that much square foot? You know, it was crazy expensive. And I'm like, I don't care. It'll be great. I love it. Like, it's going to be perfect. So we rode with that and it was good for a year, and then covet happened and it's a tourist driven area, and so it died when that happened. But when I was there, the best thing about it is when I was there, which that also helped grow my reach too, because a lot of tourists come there. So when tourists would come to our Hyde park store, they would meet us and they'd shop online. So I'm like, I can think of one of our best customers from, like, South Dakota right now. And I met her in that store, so that helped grow, like, our reach, too. But anyways, that store, it was not good. And so. But why? While I sat there waiting on someone to walk through the door, which we never had that here at this location. Like, our storefront is booming. Like, we are busy all the time. Like, Monday, we're open seven days a week in Wilmington, and we are busy seven days a week. Like, we do not have downtime on our storefront. This community is just wild. They're so good. But there, it was just different. And so I'm like, oh, my gosh, I have downtime. But during that downtime, I didn't sit there. I was like, okay, I actually have free time now. I'm gonna take retail bootcamp. I'm gonna learn how to build this website. I'm gonna build this thing myself. I come from a marketing background, so I was a marketing major and a graphic. I double majored in college in marketing and graphic design. So advertising and, like, that's kind of my thing. So I was like, I'm gonna build this myself. I want to know how to do this. And then, like, kind of meet with my girls, and then we. We just. It was a failure in the sense that the store was a dud, but it was not a failure in the sense that that created us some time to be like, okay, let's slow down. Let's figure out what we're going to do to grow this. And it turned into this website that's. That's been unimaginable.

That's so awesome. I love that there's opportunity. There's opportunity in every bad situation if you choose to look for it, right.

When I think Covid's a good explanation of that. Also, I. I heard on a podcast once about Coca Cola, and during, like, World War II, Coca Cola was like, I don't know exactly what happened, but I can't remember. But anyways, they took Coca Cola and delivered it to all the troops overseas in World War II. And something that they like. Coke should have died in World War. And it thrived because he was like, this is an opportunity. I'm going to give this to the troops. Like, I'm going to do use this as, like, America's drink, you know? And that's exactly what happened. And so even during COVID that. That whole spiel just lived in my head, like, how can I make this thrive during Something that everyone else is crumbling and falling. Yeah.

What is this happening to me? Or is this happening for me? What is the opportunity? That's so good. I did not know that that Coke story is so good. So just a couple more questions. Okay. You have a daughter and are now balancing being a wife and a mother and having a business. And I. I would venture to guess you're gonna probably have the same belief system I do around the idea of balance is bs, right? There's no perfect way to do it all. But I think that now more than ever, like Post Covet, I think we all are living in this time of bigger is not always better, but better is better and being fulfilled is better. So I'm curious, how do you approach, like, both your work life and your family. Family life and making sure you feel fulfilled in both areas?

It's been a learning curve, let's put it that way. So I. I'm not like an old mom, but I was an old mother. I got. I had my daughter when I was 30, so kind of older in that sense. And so I was very set in my ways. And the store was my first baby, and I was 100% balls to the wall about, like, this is exactly, exactly what my plan is for my life. This is my why. This is everything. And so it was. It was an adjustment. It was an adjustment for all of us. And I mean, you say not to be the bottleneck of our business, and. And I was. And so I actually, I remember when I found out I was pregnant, and I was like, I'm going. I'm like, I guess we're doing this. So it was, how do I start delegating these tasks out? And how do I start using the staff that's been here 100 of the time? They can handle it, but they've. I've just always been right by their side. And so I had a employee that is a unicorn that is an absolute godsend savior. Also one of my best friends. Love her to death. She's been here since day one. But she really stepped up. And she was like, you know, Carly's going to need our help, and one day I'm going to have a baby, and she's going to be here for us. And so we have to understand, like, we have to be there for her. So it was kind of. It was hard at first, but I was like, okay, I got to start delegating these things out. We've outgrown my hands, like, every day. She cannot all be hands handled by me anymore. With the help of you guys. Like, you guys have to take leadership and ownership in this. And I know a lot of times people have trouble with employees, and they're like, it's hard to find employees that care as much as you do. And I don't know why, but my employees care more than I do. And some. I'm like, you guys need to calm down. Like, it's okay. Like, it'll be fine. Like, they. I have hit the jackpot in them. And so I think that that part has really helped me with transitioning into this. And my mom goes. My mom's my babysitter, and she goes to Florida for three months out of the year. When she's gone, my babysitter's gone. And so it's been like, that's. My mom comes home next month. Like, thank God. But this year has been kind of like, I'm like, I feel like I am just five steps behind, just constantly. But I'm taking that time off to be with my daughter, and it's so nice. Even when I was in Vegas for market, I came home and I'm like, I used to leave the store and be like, everything's on point. Pause everything. Like, I. I know I'm leaving, and it'll be here when I'm back. But, like, it's not thriving while I'm gone. Like, it is thriving and more is they. They have it under control. And I know that I can step away. But the good part is, is I'm like, I want Harrison. That's my daughter. I want her to be in the store. I want her. My customers know her. My employees. I mean, my employees know her. They love her. I want her to understand that, like, her mom worked really hard and built this, but I also want her to know that she comes first and that she is more important. Like, we talked about, like, you know, putting your phone down. So her bedtime helps. But as she gets older, I think it's going to be a constant. A constant learning curve. But we've gotten so much better about it. And my husband's fantastic. He supports me. He's. He's here helping, and he's incredible with her. So I really lucked out. But I don't have any real great advice in that department, because I'm. I'm. I'm trying to. I'm trying.

Yeah, Well, I. We're all there with you, but I think. I think you demonstrated that really well. Well, last question. Carly, I know. You know, something I. Something else I admire about you is you're so authentic about not just real life and your business, but also you're an amputee. And I think that's a huge part of your personality as an achiever, as an overcomer, as someone who is so determined, but also somebody who wants to give back on social media and give back and inspire others. So I'm curious if you would be willing to share just your story of. Of that process and now how you look to inspire others who see you as a leader with such an opportunity.

Oh, absolutely. So when I was 10, I got hit by a car on my four wheeler. We're in a farming community, so I was going to feed my 4H animals. I had done it every day forever, but I didn't look. We were in a back road. I got hit by a car. So I ended up losing my left leg when I was 10. So originally. And I can take it back to the moment, I went to children's hospital. I was there for a month. And I. After my amputation, my dad had me taken. My parents were having me taken down to, like, the food court is the first time I was able to, like, go about. And someone was staring at my leg because I was still in my wheelchair. And I took a blanket and covered it up. And my parents saw that and they took me up to my room and my dad was like, hey, we're going to talk for a second. He's like, you don't ever cover that up. And I'm like, what? And he's like, I. And I was kind of embarrassed, like, oh, you saw that? You know? And he was like, you don't cover that up. People are curious. You're different. And you're going to show them that, like, you can do it and you can do anything that you want to do. And. And I have. And I think it's. It's fascinating because no one ever looks at me, meets me, talks to me or anything and knows that I'm handicapped, if that's what we're going to call it. But I'm like. Because I'm not. I'm like, I'm handicapable. There's nothing wrong with me. I'm like, I use that. Especially from a business perspective. That leg sets this entire business apart from every other boutique in the entire country. And so I'm like, what makes there. And there's so many amputees out there that are like, how do you wear shoes? How do you wear shorts? How do you wear this kind of stuff? Because I can't. And so I. I have a very niche following within the amputee world. But then also there's people with so many different things, you know, like, batting anything. And I just think it's fascinating to know that Instagram's out there to connect us people. But then from a business standpoint, I'm like, we. We do use it to inspire. Like, we are very uplifting. Like, my goal, my always. I have it written on my mirror. Like, what is your why? What does success look like to you? And I just want to change the world. I want. I want people to know that, like. Like my leg getting amputated is honestly probably the best thing that ever happened to me, which is not the way I saw it when I was 10. But I'm like, now as an adult, like, it made me be kind, it made me be compassionate, it made me work harder, it made me appreciate things. You know, I'm like, I just think it gave me a different.

Yeah.

A different appreciation for life and people in it and everything. So I know your story. Like, you. You. You have the same. The same mindset. And I think I just wish the world could all be more like that, you know, like, could all just see that there's a why. And you can. You can. You. It's all about mindset and which way you want to look at it. Yeah.

Oh, man. I. I have chills hearing you say that because. And. And thinking about your dad and your mom, what. That feeling, like seeing you cover up your leg for the first time, that had to be like a real gut check moment for them. So for them to go and have that conversation with you is so powerful as a parent.

Well, and the catch is, I didn't know that they were amputating my leg. So I was in the hospital for a couple of weeks, and they were trying to save it. And then I went into surgery for a cleaning. During the cleaning, while I was out, they found infection, gangrene type situation. And they went and told my parents, like, we're going to have to amputate her leg. So my dad had to deliver that information to me on his. And now as a parent, I'm like, my parents always like, you made this easy on us because we could have hated ourselves. Like, we put you on that four wheeler. We let you do that. Like, you. You're our responsibility. And, like, we failed. But my parents were like, you guys, you. You made this easy on me because you didn't. You were never a victim. You know, I cheered all through high school. I cheered in college. I played basket Tried to play basketball. I mean, I'm not super athletic, but I did it. I'm like, there's nothing I can't do. I won, like, in 4H camp. I had the best talent because I could take my leg off. Like, you can find me at the bar now. Like, people take shots out of my leg. Like, we. We. I'm like, I'm. It's a. It's a disaster. But, like, I think that it's all about how you want to look at it. Do you want to be a victim, or do you want to show other people that you can? And I think that every person can relate to that in some way.

I love it.

I love it.

I get goosebumps just hearing it. So thank you. Because it brings it back. You know, it is. Are you going to be the victim of your mindset? Are you going to be the victor? Are you going to be victorious over this? And when I tell people about, like, the cancer story and I say it's the best thing that ever happened to me, people look at me like, how dare you say that? Because it's horrible. And, yes, it is. Like, the C word itself is horrible. But that. And being hit by a car, like, you just casually said, I was hit by a car. That's terrible. But the opportunity that comes, like, the character that is built in those times and the opportunity for something good to come from every bad situation is there if you choose to look for it. And it's the choice that creates the mental toughness that's going to carry you through every single piece of adversity you face for the rest of your life. So I love. I love that you have a platform. It's not about selling clothes. That is not what you do. That you have a platform to reach people on such a deeper level that I think all of us are called to. Right? Everyone has an opportunity to share some piece of their story if they're willing to get vulnerable and honest and raw in that way. So thank you for that.

Oh, 100%. Yes. Yes.

Well, Carly, this has been. I feel like time's flown by, but thank you so much for being on the podcast this week. We're so excited to have you at the Boutique Summit. So everyone who has an opportunity to meet Carly in person, I cannot wait for that. To see you in your own boutique Breakout session at our VIP mentor sessions and around markets. You're always at the hub meetups, so I appreciate that.

Oh, absolutely.

All right, well, thank you for being on the show today, you guys. We are going to link up all the ways to follow Carly in today's show notes. Give her a hello and take a shot out of her leg the next time you see her at the bar too.

Hey, hey. We're here for it.

Hey guys, thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope that you loved it. Don't forget to hit subscribe and leave a rating and review down below for a chance to be one of our featured listeners each and every week. For more information on our spirit of community over competition and how to access complete show notes and bonus downloads from our guests, head on over to the boutiquehub.com and join the community. We'll see you next week.

Sam.