From Influencer to CEO: Building an Authentic Community in Western Fashion

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Business can be a lonely game. But it doesn't have to be. Welcome to Boutique Chat, where we explore community over competition and how to scale your company with the balance and the happiness that we all seek. We'll hear from product based businesses of all types, retailers, e commerce and wholesale brands, along with industry experts shaping the future of our industry. I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub and I can't wait to chat. Facebook groups aren't dead. Let me repeat, Facebook groups aren't dead. In today's episode, I couldn't be more excited to have this conversation because I share the same opinion as today's guest, my friend, Megan Erie, the founder of Turquoise and Style. Megan is a huge influence in the.

Western world, has been a western fashion.

Influencer for a number of years, but also has an amazing turquoise business. Over the last year, I've been so lucky to get a bit of a front row seat to watch Megan's business grow and unfold as she's been a part of Retail Bootcamp and many of our offerings here at the Boutique Hub. So today I couldn't wait to unpack all of this with her and ask her about where this growth is coming from. How she has such a crazy, engaged community, how she's leveraging Facebook lives, and how a Facebook group with I think just over 5,000 people maybe is so incredible. And you guys, she's got great advice for you on how you can continue to leverage your own community, whether it's on Facebook, whether it's in a group, or whether it's on Instagram. How you can sell yourself more than you're selling your products. You guys are going to love this episode. Although Megan is an amazing jewelry business owner and is wildly known in the Western fashion world, this episode is literally for everyone listening.

So buckle up.

Hope you enjoy it.

Meet my friend, Megan Erie with Turquoise and Style.

Hey guys.

Welcome back to the podcast. This week. I have been looking forward to recording this episode for a while because, Megan, I feel like our paths have crossed in the strangest ways this year.

You?

I don't know, we just spent a lot of time together in Vegas. I'll let you tell this story. And now all of a sudden, I've been watching your journey from like, I feel like the front row seat and I'm like, holy crap, girl, you have had an incredible year. Take me back to first. Like how we ran into each other, but you got to walk me through what's been happening in your life lately.

Yes. So I actually had Already committed to work for somebody for the nfr, which is in December, which is retail busy month. But I'm a person that doesn't back out on commitments. So I was there, and we were both staying at the Westgate, and it was like, elevators, hallways, the. What was it? The shuttle to the Thomas and Mac that. I don't think it showed up. Maybe. I don't know. It was late. Um, but I just kept running into you, and I really feel like that's just so true of my life. Like, God continues to place people in my path, situations in my path, to put me in two situations that really are needed in my life. Because I was like, ashley, I really think I need the boutique cup. Like, I literally don't know what I'm doing, but it's working. So I don't know. It was just crazy how we kept running into each other. I was like, okay, this is a sign.

It was a sign. And you jumped into the Hub. You jumped into retail Bootcamp. I've seen you take massive action this year and see some massive results, which is really cool. Before we get to the results, I don't want to be, like, a spoiler, because we've got to talk about what's happening now. Take me back. So before you were at the nfr, before all of this became really serious this year, tell me about what you were doing before that in your life. Influencing and starting. Starting a business a while ago.

So I've always been somebody. I mean, like, I grew up in a rodeo family. I grew up in the Western industry. Like, that's so in my heart, in my blood, like, horses, rodeo, fashion, all of that is just me to the core. And then I found myself, like, needing to promote a small business on social media, our small business. And it was like, well, I can do what they're doing. This was, like, at the very, very beginning of influencing. Not quite the beginning with, you know, you and, like, Ursula and all of that stuff, like gypsy soul, because, you know, that's huge. But it was still towards the beginning, and I was like, I can do this. Like, I love fashion. I love dressing up. I love inspiring women. So I found myself doing that. And then that just continued to where photo shoots were starting to kind of become a thing. But it was like, you had to be somebody. You had to be, like, the elite, the cool people. I felt like. And I was like, I can do that. So I started planning photo shoots, and then it just turned into creating this huge love for small businesses. I love helping small businesses and Bringing people together. So then I really got to where I was promoting a lot of different people's small businesses and working then working for small businesses. Like, it just kept evolving into more and more and more. And then I found myself like almost a 40 year old in this industry of young 20s. It really, really shifted. And it's like this huge influx of young girls and there's nothing wrong with that. That's great. But me as a mom, almost 40, I can't really relate to them. I don't really dress like them. Like, I feel like I'm kind of on the bubble still where I might dress a little young, but, like, my tastes are changing. So I felt like I was kind of lost. Like, Shailey and I had had some conversations and I just didn't really know what I was doing. I didn't feel relevant anymore because I felt like, unfortunately the algorithms or the tastes of the viewers were going towards liking those younger girls. And I'm not somebody that's going to get on camera and dance. Like, I'm not going to do that. Like, I'm not going to learn a TikTok dance. I think I've done like a couple of them as a joke with friends, but, like, that's just not me. So it just kept going from there. And I sat down and had a conversation with Pascal, the Bijou fabric at WESA last year. And I'd had my business since February 22, 2022. Just a hobby. Like, I like turquoise. I like selling turquoise. And her. And I had a conversation and I went home and worked my business every single day, all day. And what I found was I had created this little community and this little niche that liked my live sales, that liked that I was a scattered hot mess. And I just kept working it every single day. That little itty bitty Facebook group. I think I maybe had 1500 members at that point in time.

Oh, my gosh.

There's just.

I gotta pause because there's a whole lot of pieces of this story that we could unpack and go deep in. Yeah, I have to go all the way back to the beginning, though. So starting out as an influencer, I still think that's like kind of a foreign land for a lot of people to really understand. What does that mean? How did you build a following? That sort of thing. So just start with, like, how do you think as an influencer? Like, what could retailers learn from the way that you started to build relationships and build community early on? What was it that made people first start to Know, you start to follow. You be attracted just to being in your presence and being in your space.

I think because I was. I've always tried to be real and authentic and raw and off the cuff. And like, I am. I always say it like, I am such a hot mess. I'm so scattered. But I'm. I am adhd. And you probably can tell, like from my little rambling, it kind of ping pongs all over the place. But I just try to be like, real and like, tell people how I was feeling and like, like the things that I stand on, I'm firm in my beliefs. Like, they liked the fashion. They liked. I've always dressed a little differently, a little louder, a little more colorful. I was one of the first people. I'm not saying I was the first. I'm not claiming anything, but like my turquoise hat. I was like one of the first in the industry to have turquoise hat. And then I feel like it kind of took off from there because that was a point where I was doing a lot of photo shoots and a lot of my friends were wearing my turquoise hat. So my turquoise hat, I feel like has gone. It's been around the Internet a lot.

You know what I think is really cool about that, as you talk about, because your photo shoots have always been amazing and that was something that you did really early on. But it's neat to see you say, I pair the photo shoot, like the beautiful edited piece of influencing with the day to day. Here I am, I'm a hot mess. This is my daily life. You get to see both sides. And I think whether you're an influencer or whether you're a business owner, people are still hungry for both of those experiences. Would you agree?

Oh, absolutely, yes. I think that's what they crave more than anything now. They don't want those pretty, edited, beautiful feeds. I mean, yes, it looks great, but like, what.

What's deeper?

Like, what's on the inside? What's behind that? Like, who's the person behind the brand? Yeah, because I feel like our industry is so saturated and at the click of, you know, or the flick of a swipe, you can have so many boutiques and so many different products literally at your fingertips like that. So you have to go deeper than that. And I remember one of the first things I did was I would post my outtakes, like, where I'm like, like ridiculous, you know, like about to fall off a rock. Like there was one, and they ate that up. Like the real, like, the polish is beautiful. Don't get me wrong. Like, I love beautifully edited photoshoots, but, like, those are what I remember. Probably more like the funny outtakes than those great shots. Yeah. You know, the memories.

Totally agree. When you think about now, how specific, Like, Western fashion, Western influencers, all of that. And it is a lot of really young girls coming in, which is awesome. Right? Like, the influence that Western has on mainstream right now is just incredible. What advice would you give to those who are aging through that process to not stop, but your tastes evolve, your, you know, commentary probably evolves, your. All of it evolves. What advice would you have for someone who is young coming up through that process?

Just be authentic to you and stay true to yourself and your style. Don't feel like you have to fit in any kind of mold, you know, to make it. Like, I think people want to attach themselves to something and maybe it's not really them, but just be you. Like, I think that's what more and more time has shown is people want you. They don't want the pretty package with the bow. They just want you. And I think that's what will attract people to you. That's what I know. That's how I grew my following. Yeah, 1,000%. Because I like, I probably cuss too much or I probably, you know, have a little glass of wine and get on a rant or something, like. And I. I don't do that as much anymore. But I just was, like, very. I had a lot to say at one point in time. And, yeah, I think people appreciated that. I was just real. Yeah. Yeah.

So the ones that are in this space, like you that have now, I'll just say, like, they're 40 or they're almost 40 and continuing to grow. What's neat to see is so many have these amazing businesses they've created or they've made, like, a real career out of it. And I think about, like, really, at.

The end of the day, whether you're.

A boutique owner or wholesale brand or an influencer, what everyone has in common is you've built a lifestyle brand, you build a community. And when you build a lifestyle brand or a community, you can sell anything. Doesn't matter if it's yours or if it's someone else's. But in your case, you decided, hey, guess what? I love turquoise. I'm going to sell turquoise jewelry. I'm going to make a business out of this. And what you said earlier was you had this conversation that led you to, okay, I'm going to work my business every day. I'M going to take it seriously now. What does that mean and what does that look like on a daily basis?

It was just funny like because her and I were having this conversation with another influencer who had started a business. And like I'm like telling her these things and I'm like, but I'm not applying these to my life. Like I'm not showing up for my people every day because my group, my community of women will be my proudest accomplishment of anything. I mean, other than my children, of course. But like I have built this community of fierce, God fearing women that pray for each other. They have my back, they love my business. I mean I could get on there and sell them like cheese sticks and they would buy it, you know, like they just, they are there for me. They post their stacks every day. Like it's crazy. But I started showing up for them every single day. Whether it was posting something funny, something that was like ridiculous that I did in my life, like wore two of the wrong shoes or something, like just, just like the reality of what I am doing every single day. And then I just kept finding new and different things, like things that other people didn't know existed because I had gone out there and I had gone to the wholesale shows. I feel like a lot of people sit at home and buy online and that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. But there's so much more to be gained by going to the shows, going to different shows. And I just started showing up for them every single day and doing live sales. Live sales, they, I can sell all day, every day. Literally. They will sit on my live sales. But it was funny. I did the, the poll and people were like, your lives are too long. I was like, if y' all are selling, I'm staying on. Unless I have to go.

If they're buying something, you're gonna keep going. How did you tell me about your first live sales and are you using comments sold or what are you using to do your lives? Tell me about like what they look like.

My first live sale. I'm trying to think. It had to have been 2019 maybe. Like I feel like before live sales really took off, I feel like that was like the baby start of live sales. I don't know, maybe I just didn't know about them but. And like my brother was in the background wrestling one of my friends. It was at my parents house. I ring lights I don't think existed at that point. I didn't even know if they did, but I did not Have a ring light. It was really funny. But then I just randomly, like, I have an inventory buying problem. Like, I'm. I'm a lover of jewelry, so I have a lot of jewelry. So I would get on there, like, before I would go to market, and it was. I think last summer, I just popped on and started selling. And then I was like, whoa, I've done, like, $5,000 this week. Like, what the heck? Like, this could actually work. And then I just started doing it more and more and more and more and more and more and more. Like, I had no idea that it would. Yeah, but it did.

So this year, fast forward to I kept running into you in December. You jumped in the hub. I've seen your name pop up. You were super active, like, in all the groups, asking questions, answering other people's questions. And then you jumped into retail boot camp, and you were like, every live just showing up, whether or not you could implement all the things. That's a whole other thing in retail boot Camp. It's. It's pretty massive. But you showed up, and then all of a sudden you're like, dude, my numbers are. This is what's happening. My business is really growing. Tell me about, like, as you started to learn things, what did you implement and what results did you start to see based on what you were implementing?

So because I do live sales and I do a lot of single items, like, I might only have, like, a couple of this necklace or one of this necklace, I was entering everything as custom items, and in custom items in Shopify, that does not give you very much reporting. It does not give you, like, any kind of breakdown of anything. So that was, like, the very one. One of the very first things I implement. Implemented, you know, because you were like, attract. What is it you say the attract number.

Attract number grows.

Yes. And there's something else, like, about, like, keeping track of. I don't remember. But anyway, so I started doing that so I could see where I was at. How much money am I spending? How much money am I making? Like, what is doing the best for me? What is not so good for me? And then I have been a horrible bookkeeper because this has happened so fast. I mean, we're talking, like, September to December. I did my whole year's goal in under 12 weeks. Like, it was. It was crazy. And I had not kept track of anything. Like, nothing. So that was the second thing I did, was I hired a bookkeeper and an accountant because I know it has grown beyond where I can even manage it. So, yeah, I knew I needed help.

I love so do what you do best and hire the rest, right? So you're amazing at being with people. Like you're a people person. You're a community builder. You're, you do excellent on lives. So you have to know your numbers in order to like you said, if you don't know what's selling, how do you know what to buy next? How do you know what to sell? Like, it is all willy nilly. And what's funny about that is I think this is probably one of the most common things I hear from people who are new in business or new to taking their business seriously. In your case, where you get started with Shopify, but you don't have any of the product categories set up right? Or like the classes aren't broken down. So. So those of you who are listening that are in apparel, I'll just say you're tracking tops, but you're not tracking sweaters, short sleeve blouses, graphic tees, basic tank tops. Like that's five different ways to track tops and that drastically changes what you're going to go to market and buy. And in your case, same with all your jewelry categories.

Yes. Yeah.

Makes a huge difference.

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What other actions did you take that made some impact as you started to grow?

You preach about being the are you the bottleneck of your business or are you the CEO and like. And I'm still struggling with that. Finding help is hard because this isn't my home. And I don't. I have advertised a little bit, but I'm just very wary to trust. So I've been working with, like, virtual assistants and somebody to help me at market because I cannot keep all the plates spinning. So it's. It's even paying my friends to come help me pack orders or something like that, because you can't do everything. So I. I knew. I know I need to continue that. It's just finding the right person for that. And I do these little brain dumps every night and try to, like, plan out my day because I will sit and do the same task all day if I don't time block myself. Like, okay, set a timer, and then you need to go do something else.

Yeah, that's a really good point. And I love that you said earlier, like, I'm an ADHD brain. And I honestly think most business owners are, like, that's a pretty common trait because it allows you to be creative and to, like, chase all these wild squirrels.

But.

But to your point, if you don't keep them a little bit harnessed and, like, give them a boundary of some kind, we'll just squirrel chase all day long, but never really accomplish anything at the end of the day.

No, no, not at all.

Yeah.

So I have learned that I have to keep myself somewhat organized. I have to write things down. I have, like, another little to do whiteboard right here because I have to see it. I'm a visual person. It's out of sight. It's out of mine. I mean, I forget about inventory that I have if I don't see it. So, like, my inventory is everywhere. It's just finding out and implement, implementing systems that will help you and set you up for success in the future, like, planning ahead. Because I am a squirrel brain. I am very, very busy. Mom. My life is crazy. You know, kids, doctor's appointments, horses, sports. Exactly. I mean, like, your life. Like, we are very, very busy. So you have to set yourself up for future success.

Yeah, absolutely.

Otherwise your squirrels will be raving.

I had a lot of raving squirrels.

Right there with you.

Talk to me about your products. So those who are listening that understand the western industry and turquoise specifically, understand the value of your products. But an objection that I hear from a lot of retailers that are worried about raising their prices or they're talking about markups and what they sell. You know, my customers would never pay $50 for a top. Well, let's flip it and let's look at your business. And yes, a Customer, you know, may balk at a $50 top, but they aren't going to back at a $4,000 necklace.

So, I mean, they're harder sells. I have to have those, right? You know what I mean? I have to have those, but then I have to have the lower end, so. But people that. I feel like people that get into this industry get it in their head, they're like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna be a affordable boutique, or I'm going to do affordable, affordable. Because I got into it with that same thought, like, I'm gonna sell affordable jewelry. Well, I want to sell accessible, affordable jewelry, but I want to sell those $4,000 squashes, too. So while this is great, if your margins aren't there, you're really not going to do anything for yourself. You're. You're just chasing your tail, and what. What are you going to do? How are you making money? How are you going to stay afloat? How are you going to pay your bills? How are you going to feed your family? You're going to. And now, looking back on it, I'm like, that is really not good for the industry either, because I had that same mindset. Like, I'm going to be affordable. No, you don't want to be affordable. You want to be accessible. I love things, but I want to sell those $4,000 squashes.

Yeah.

Granted, the $50 net.