From Online to Brick and Mortar During a Pandemic

This week, I'm so pumped to talk to Tessa Blakeney, the founder of Silk and Honey Boutique, who I adore following on Instagram. They have such cute branding, such cute clothes. I bought a really cute pair of shoes there recently, to be honest. And Tessa and I today are going to talk all about her journey through starting online, then opening a brick and mortar in the middle of 2020, and what she's learned along the way as a brand new boutique owner. So those of you who are newer in business that are looking for getting traction, and what do I learn from the start about marketing and managing my money and how do I get that first push to grow my business? This is a really good podcast for you. Tessa is so sweet and genuine and has done a tremendous job building her business and paying herself using the profit first method. So I hope you enjoy meeting Tessa, the founder of Silk and Honey Boutique. This is such a great episode, guys. 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. All right. Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast. This week I am so pumped. I just bought the cutest pair of shoes, this awesome online and brick and mortar boutique from Tennessee, and I happen to have the owner here, Tessa Blakeney. Thank you so much for joining me on the show today.

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here and talk with you today.

Yes. I want to start with where you started. So I know now we we're going to refer to it as BC right before COVID So you got started in this business first online, Correct. Talk me through how you got started and why you got started and in owning a boutique.

Okay, so I started back in 2018 and, well, I grew up in South Haven, Mississippi, and ever since I was a little girl, I would always dress up in my mom's clothes and shoes. So I have a vivid memory of these brown cowgirl boots that were in back then and I would always put them on and walk around the house as if it was a Runway and they were way too big. They came all the way up to my thighs. And that's kind of what introduced me into getting into fashion. And so I decided to Go to school for business administration. And of course, while in school, I worked in retail. So while working in retail, of course I learned, you know, within the industry, like how to do customer service and merchandising and marketing. So that's what kind of introduced me to it. And I realized within working there some things that I'm like, hey, I could do this myself. So I used my college refund check to, you know, set up my business foundation and buy my first batch of inventory.

Awesome.

Perfect.

So did you start. That was 2018, you started online when you decided to go on your own first?

Yes, ma'. Am. And of course I was still working at the time.

Okay, how long did you do that before you decided to open a brick and mortar?

2020. I opened my store in 2020 in September.

In September. Okay. So near the end of all the shutdowns.

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

So I'm curious when you got into it because you had a retail background and you're lucky to have a retail background. A lot of people come into this business being teachers and nurses and just, you know, all walks of life. Was there something that surprised you when you got started? Like, okay, I knew retail this way and I thought owning a business was going to be like this. Was there anything that was really surprising for you from the start when it was you being the owner versus working for somebody else in retail?

Yes, I will say putting myself out there a little bit more of people wanting to get to know like the face behind the brand rather than just you putting models out there and branding it. They wanted to the more personalized experience of who was behind the business. So I've been trying to put myself out there a little bit more.

Yeah, it's so true. Because people want to do business with people, right? So they're so curious. They want to know who you are, how that's hard for a lot of people, to be honest. Like, I do hear that. Whether that's, I don't want to go live, I don't want to go face to camera. How did you from the start, how did you overcome that fear to put yourself out there and just like get to know people on that level?

I started out with stories and doing try ons and interacting with my customers in person. Now that helps out a lot. I still have a fear of going live so that I'm still working on that for sure. Yeah. Just doing it step by step, little thing at a time. Like, oh, and I also have like a HQ page on Instagram. So interacting with people that you Know, like, really want to get to know you and your business. That helps out a lot rather than people that are just, you know, following you, if that makes.

Yeah, it does. Do you feel like the more you started to do that and it got more comfortable for you, the more your business started to grow? Like, was there a direct correlation between your level of visibility behind the brand and how your business took off?

Yes, it definitely was.

Yeah. So today, how are you? You've got your brick and mortar in Memphis. Right. And your online business. What are your main marketing channels right now? How are you growing your business right now? What's important to you?

For sure, Instagram reels and being consistent. I've noticed more when we do videos, more so, like styling, tip type videos, people engage with those a little bit more rather than just posting pictures. So that would be one. And then I've tapped into trying to market through email. So that's been pretty good.

Yeah, that's so important, especially right now. Like, email is making such a huge comeback right now. So for you, for everybody listening, I think that's really good advice. I want to go back because you said reels, you feel strong about reels. And just recently, Instagram made another big change publicly about the importance of reels. So I think for any of us, if you notice when you're scrolling Instagram, like, it's like a three to one ratio of reels to an image, and that's huge for people who are really maximizing reels. Would you have any tips for anyone who's maybe new and they're trying to figure out, like, what kind of content should I share in reels and how do I make that content? Anything you've learned?

What's worked for me is there's. I've broken down to four different types of reels. You have inspirational, educational, and skids. I hope I said it right. Skits like we're acting. Okay, that and inspirational. That's how I would do it. So if you can break it down into four things and try to do it like that, That's. That's what's worked for us. We try to break it down into those four categories and then go dive in a little bit deeper with those.

That's helpful. How often do you post in each category? Like, how many times are you posting on reels per week? And then how often are you pulling from each of those categories?

Two to three a week, and we just pick them randomly. Whatever is working for us that week, we'll go and analyze what worked well from the past reels that we post and we'll go from there.

Yeah, that's so good. And I think that sometimes is overlooked by people. Like the power of just going into your analytics and saying, oh, people are reacting to this but obviously they want more of it.

Yeah.

And just double downing in that. Going double down in that category. What about. So TikTok is so similar to Reels. How is your TikTok game? Would you like pick one over the other?

I would definitely pick. Reels would be my favorite. TikTok is definitely easier to navigate to me especially as far as like with the. Put it the wording on the videos. We still haven't quite figured out Tick Tock yet, but this year's our. Our goal is to dive into Tick Tock a little bit more because it's crazy how one video can make your whole business go viral and just take you to the next level.

Yeah, it's a powerful tool and it's. It kind of speaks to like our short attention spans. We all have such short attention spans now. So like you have to talk in like tick tock terms. It's got to go so fast. But to your point, your business can go viral and the video can go viral, but if you don't have great inventory and if you don't have a powerful website to drive them to, it's kind of all for not, right?

Yes. Yeah.

So besides the marketing part of your business, how have you strengthened the money part of your business and the inventory part of your business? What have been some lessons you've learned to like merge both the retail art, which is all social media, and the retail science, which is the numbers side of your business.

I would say separating business from personal and breaking the categories down a little bit more. Like, I have, for example, I have five different accounts associated with my business, so that's okay.

Are you doing profit first, like having five accounts?

I actually have seven. But yes, the main ones that I use are the five important ones. Yes. Yeah, that book definitely helped out a lot. So I definitely encourage everyone to go out and read it. It's been very helpful.

So when you got started with Profit first, was it overwhelming once you read the book or did you feel like it was easy enough to follow and implement the different accounts you needed? And were you able to start like putting away money for yourself right away from the start?

I didn't really think it was that hard or faced any challenges. I was pretty excited to start doing it. Like, I went out the next day and I went and opened all of the accounts and just put a certain amount of money in each one. Well, the percentage that they gave me, I started with that. And then, you know, they say each quarter change your numbers up and play around with it. So that's what I did. So it wasn't really challenging for me.

Yeah, you followed the steps.

Yeah, basically right.

You know, as you think about those growth decisions, starting then opening a brick and mortar and your marketing and your money and all of that, is there like a hardest decision you feel like you've had to make in this journey so far?

Deciding how many people to hire and how much to pay them would be one of the hardest decisions, especially now.

I mean, that, that is really a moving target right now. Your first hire, how did you decide that it was time to hire your very first employee?

I was getting overwhelmed and I had to realize that you can't grow and get to the next level all by yourself. Like, you have to have help. And if I'm overwhelmed and uninspired, then it's going to show in my brand and people are going to notice that. So that's what made me decide to hire my first employee. And she was a big help. She took a lot of the load off of me and I was able to do what I needed to do. Yeah.

What did she, what she, what did she do? What did you hire her to do? Your first employee?

So she managed the day to day operations at the store as far as opening sales, closing, merchandising, she did all of that. Her job was to basically run the store. And I was going to focus on our online store and our social media.

And is it still like that today or have you hired more to help with that process as well?

Well, I've. Hi. Well, she's no longer here, but I've definitely hired more people. And the person that I have now, she's amazing. I love her. She's definitely been a huge help in helping me run my business and keep things afloat and keeping me inspired and motivated. Because working in this industry you can definitely. It's easy to get unmotivated and overwhelmed with things.

I'm glad you said that because I wanted to ask you this question. Ironically, this morning, an amazing boutique owner, actually two sisters in the hub, sent me a package because they saw on social media, my word for the year is joy.

Yes.

And to be intentional about finding Joy. So they sent me this traveling bracelet that they wore for the last year and now they sent it to me to wear and it says Joy on it ironically. So I wanted to ask you that question. This is such a tough industry. We all make it look easy online.

Yes.

But there's all kinds of highs and lows. So where do you find joy? How do you remain inspired?

I would say my customers keep me inspired. And when they message me or DM me on Instagram or they come into the store and they tell me that they wore this outfit or piece that they bought from me and they just loved it and they got so many compliments and they just. Or they walked out feeling more confident than they did walking in. That's what keeps me inspired and motivated.

I love that. That means the heart of your business, really, your why, it sounds like, is serving people.

Yes.

Would you agree and have you always, like, thought of it that way? Like your why goes back to how you make your customers feel?

Yes. Yes.

When you think back on the decision to be online versus brick and mortar, there's pros and cons, right. To both. But there's opportunity in both to be omnichannel. What's your opinion? Do you think one is harder than the other, or is there one that you're more attracted to than the other?

I would say in store is a little bit more easier than being online because people can actually come in and try the clothes on and see it in person and touch and feel like the fabric, the fit and the material of everything versus online. You have to try to make them realize that or see that within the description of the product that they click on.

Mm. Yeah. It's trickier. It's hard to convey that sometimes online, isn't it?

Yes. And then just finding the right people to target, like those specific. The specific items that you sell online?

Yeah. Is there anything like, as you think about that decision and your journey so far, is there anything you would go back and tell yourself when you were new if you were going to do this all over again? Is there any, like, lessons that you would lay out?

I would. I would tell myself to invest more in marketing from the start, before launch date and to hire a cpa or invest more in learning more about your numbers and figure and being able to read your numbers. And that's one thing that I'm still struggling with now is reading and understanding my numbers. So that's definitely what I would say.

So you. So you read Profit first and you implemented profit first. Have you had somebody help you? Like, have you been working through, analyzing your reports? Have you're in the hub? Have you been doing that in the hub as well?

Yes, I have now so I've started with like the little reports and Shopify and reading those and understand that like my conversion rate and my top five items that are selling and the add to cart and trying to analyze my abandoned cart rate and those things.

Yeah. And sometimes it's just the consistency, isn't it, of just going in there. And Sarah always says this in retail Bootcamp, she always says, make a date with your numbers and put it on the calendar. Right.

Yeah.

So every Friday or whatever your day is to go in and just read those things and just notice what is the trend over time. What did I do in marketing this week that is now affecting my conversion rate this week? And how are those two things connected? And it's funny because I always feel like numbers, like, once you start to analyze them like that, they speak to you. Like, they'll always tell you a story if you're willing to listen. But so many times we're way too overwhelmed to ever go in and actually listen to what they're trying to tell us.

Yes. And pay attention. But I've. I've started doing that. I've. I said that was one of my goals this year too, is to be more disciplined and picking a date and sticking with it because it's so easy for me to get distracted.

We're all. We're all squirrels. We all like shiny objects. Is there anywhere else you see yourself going in the next year you're really excited about? Like, what? Tell me about the goals that you've set for yourself this year.

My goals is I would love to have a second location. Right now I'm in downtown Memphis. I would love to have one out of state. That would be my goal. But if not, then I would find another one here in Memphis. That's my goal.

Cool. What about who else you look up to in this industry? Where. Where do you go to find inspiration? Whether it's in the industry, other boutique owners, other retailers, or maybe it's outside the industry. Some other entrepreneur that inspires you.

Okay, I'm going to say another entrepreneur. Her name is Jante. I don't know if you've heard of her.

Yeah. Yes, I do. I know her.

I love her. I definitely look up to her a lot, and she's been very helpful. And everything that she posts on her instagram and her YouTube is so inspirational and motivational, motivating for me. And it just. It keeps me. You know, it keeps me. It makes me think. It challenges me every day. Everything she posts.

Yeah.

She.

I'm trying to remember. I don't believe she's been on the podcast yet, but she was a part of our virtual summit in the middle of 2020. So, yes, she's got some amazing things going on. I love that. Awesome. Well, one last question, Tessa. Today is I always like to think about, like, the why that we were talking about in our future. And if you fast forward 30 years down the road, right, and you're looking back at starting silk and honey and the life that you lived. And let's say you're, you're sitting on your front porch and you've got grandbabies, right, surrounding you, got family surrounding you, and they're asking you about this life that you lived and this business that you created. What is the thing that you want them in that moment to remember the most about who you were and the life that you lived?

I would say to chase your dreams and don't settle and don't stop dreaming.

I love that. So you went for your dreams. You had big ideas and you went for them. And yes, no regrets. I love it. Well, Tessa, thanks so much for joining me today on the podcast, for sharing your journey and your lessons, the highs and the lows along the way. Thanks for being a part of our community at the Boutique Hub. We certainly appreciate having you here.

Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate the opportunity to talk to you today.

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