559. Real talk about starting a brand and company - with Jenn Jordan + Nikki Lang

Once you fully commit to something, when you truly fully commit and you take advantage of the opportunities that are put in front of you, I think the universe starts opening doors for you.

Welcome to the earn your happy podcast. I'm Lori Harder, founder of The Bliss Project, 3 Time Fitness World champion, fitness expert and cover model, turned self love junkie, lifestyle entrepreneur and author. Each week I'll bring you a guest or a thought that will help you bust through your fears, connect to your soul, and get focused and clear so you can elevate your life, business and relationships. We don't wait until we're ready for someone to tell us we're good enough. We take what we want and we anoint ourselves. Get ready to earn, own and unapologetically rock your happiness every single day. Are you with me? Here we go. What's up everyone? You guys, I'm so excited to be back home. I just got back from being gone for a month and a half, almost two months, and it is pretty cool to be talking into a real live microphone and not my cell phone recording. So here we are. And I am thrilled about today's podcast. Let me tell you why. Let me tell you why I'm so freaking excited is because anytime I get to talk to female founders, I get super freaking giddy right now because you guys know I'm starting my company Light Pink, which if you haven't followed yet on Instagram, it is at Drink Light Pink. That's drink L I T E P I N K. And so I'm in it. Like, I'm in it. I'm learning. I want to be talking to people who are doing the same thing. And today was so awesome because I am talking to two women, not just one founder, but two founders of Happy little One. And I had so much fun with them because they have gone through so much of the things that I am going through right now. And I'm telling you, that's what real connection is. And it's also when you are building a similar dream together and I'm telling you, it is like the best. You guys know what I'm talking about. When you could just like you're in flow, you're having, having so much fun. It's an amazing conversation. So you guys, I don't care if you're building a company or if you are just somebody who has incredible goals or wants to think positive. These interviews are just all about mindset and about the way that you think and that you process problems and you move into solutions. That's all it is you guys are all like entrepreneurs. No matter if you have a business or not, you are creating solutions and connections. So throw a product into that and there you go. Wham, bam, you can do it. So today I have the co founders of Happy Little One and it is Jen and Nikki. And let me tell you, they are freaking awesome. So let me tell you a little bit about them. Jen started practicing law as a mergers and acquisitions attorney at a top law firm and is currently serving as senior corporate counsel for a rapidly growing startup. Applying the knowledge and experience she has gained from her legal career and mothering three small children, Jen is in her element as the co founder and CEO of Happy Little One. Nikki, a soon to be mother of two, was a top sales performer in the healthcare aesthetic and software software markets for over eight years before venturing off to start her own business. With an eye and background in style and design, she reveals in her role or she revels in her role as co founder and chief creative officer for Happy Little One. Okay, guys, so I just got a box of baby clothes that I am going to be gifting to two of my incredible friends who just had babies and these baby clothes. Okay, I don't even have a baby and I'm so freaking excited about it because we're going to talk all about it in the interview and just how you even start to come up with the concept of what it is that you want to do. But I'm telling you, if you have kids or you have all of these gifts to buy for people like I do, this is an incredible gift to get people. So cute, so durable, so cozy. I can't even take it. Let's get started with the interview. Hey, everyone. I am sitting here, well, virtually sitting here with Jen and Nikki, who are two super close sisters who just launched an amazing company that we're going to dive into because I'm obsessed with how they launched it and when they launched it and what they were able to do. So, you guys, I'm so excited that you're here. Thank you for coming on.

Thank you so much, Lori, for having us.

So this is going to be super fun because I have been just loving the journey of kind of reading about different companies and busting the myths around all those things that we tell ourselves. I think sometimes, especially as women, we can be like, you know, if I don't have the network to fund my dream or maybe I don't have the money that I want for the startup, that it's really easy to just stop there and look at other people and say, well, maybe they had money or maybe they had access to a network, or maybe they had access to their, you know, their husband's network or her network or whatever that looks like. And I really think that the way you guys did it can really show people that there's so many different ways to fund your dream. So what I would love to start out with is why don't we start with you, Jen, Just a little bit about your background and what kind of just brought you to this moment of wanting to or launching what you launched. And you can also tell us what your you launched, and then we'll go to you, Nikki.

Okay, Absolutely. So I'm actually an attorney. That's my day job, and I work full time still, so you can have a whole nother conversation around a side hustle. And I have. Right. And I have three kids, the oldest of which is five. So this quarantine has been very interesting with three toddlers, I will say. But they were pretty much the catalyst for the idea for Happy Little One for our clothing line, because they were messy and they drooled a lot, and they were always wet. And their clothing is not functional. Kids, clothing is just not functional right now. It's a lot of cotton that stays wet, that stays smelly, that move with your kid, who literally, my son will go from climbing a tree to jumping in the pool to jumping in a puddle. So Nikki and I really wanted to come up with a babywear line that, you know, fit in a child's life. And we kind of look at it as athleisure for kids that can transition from every phase of the day with the kids. So I had the idea. I brought it up to Nikki, and she loved the idea. So we kind of started brainstorming it together of how we were going to do it. We have no background in retail. We have no background in clothing. We have no background in design. We have no background in manufacturing. We literally have no background in anything it takes to make clothes. And we knew no one in the industry, not one person to reach out to. So it was basically putting one foot in front of the other, you know, taking the first step. Okay, what's the blueprint for a piece of clothing? You know, how do you start the process? So I think it's important to just say that we literally knew nothing, and we just tried to do one thing after the other to kind of get this off the ground.

I'm dying laughing right now because, same thing. I'm starting an alcohol company. I know nobody in this space. I have no experience whatsoever. But it's so funny because you have so much experience with being frustrated with what you currently have for your choices of kids clothing. And I have so much experience being frustrated with wanting like a better cocktail and lots of hours of drinking, you know, years of drinking.

So that's great.

I am like, so yeah. Oh my God. Literally best time to get into it. And honestly, like, great time to get into kids clothing because they're just like at home and wearing like something that they want that's functional. Like all those cute clothes that mom's bought forever is now like out the window. They're not going anywhere. So. Okay. I love that you just shared that. Okay. Nikki, how about you?

So I have always had a career in sales and you know, my sister and I have kind of toyed with the idea of starting a business together for quite some time, a few years. And we've played with different ideas, but nothing really stuck with us. I don't think anything was truly right until we came up with the concept of happy low one. And we kind of looked at each other and thought, you know, the light bulb went off and we thought that this is it. This is the one that we have to run with. And I remember saying to my sister in the kitchen at my mom's house, I said, okay. And this is before we started anything. And I said, either we fail miserably or we succeed, but no matter what, we're not quitting. Because so many times we stop ourselves before we ever even really get something started because of either a voice in our head or self doubt or other people's opinions. And I was like, okay, I'm so sick of that story. We're going to keep going no matter what and see whether this thing takes off or not. And so that has kind of driven us. We're two and a half years into the process and we just launched last month. So, you know, it doesn't happen overnight. And especially the pre launch phase, it takes a ton of internal kind of fortitude and reassurance from one another, from yourself that you have to kind of have on this playback loop because you're not getting the outside validation from people loving your product because it's not out there yet. And you have to believe so wholeheartedly in what you're doing that you and your co founder or your partner, your family and friends are the ones that are kind of, you know, encouraging you to keep moving forward. I was fortunate enough to be able to quit my day job at the beginning of the year. So I have just been focusing on happy little one this year. I have a two year old at home. I am due with my second at the beginning of June. So I am very pregnant right now. And, and again, like we live this lifestyle of, of seeing what works and what doesn't work in terms of child wear, you know, for our own children. And obviously we have a lot of prototypes and it's all like, the reason I know that this is going to work and we're onto something is because it's the only thing that I want to put my child in and it's the only thing that my child wants to wear. So, you know, we see firsthand kind of the application of it and we really are our own customer. So we kind of can design and create for the like minded, millennial active mother. And we're just incredibly excited to finally be at this point of launch, two and a half years into it, even though we then found out that we were launching in the middle of a global pandemic.

Oh, I love everything about this because you are describing to a T. It doesn't matter when you're launching, it doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't. Like there will always be the same types of challenges. They just wear different outfits. Right. Like it will always come up in this way. And I love that you just said like you are the customer, like you know what you want and it doesn't really exist for you right now. So.

Right.

For a lot of people, they think like, well, I'm not an expert in this area or that area. Like I feel like the businesses that you get most excited about. So I'd love to hear like what, what was it about the difference that kept you excited about this company? Because I kind of feel like the businesses we get most excited about are the ones like seem the most kind of fun or creative or it fills like a need for you and you can see the different parts that'll really keep you going and that you're interested in. So like, what were some of the ideas that died that you just felt like, wow, I don't think we're going to be as excited. And what made this one stand out to you guys?

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This is Jen. I'll take this. So Nikki and I, yeah, we definitely had a bunch of different ideas. We had an idea for a salon, kind of, you know, with a bar type thing. We had an idea. We actually toyed with the idea of starting a podcast for a while and did it for a little bit.

We did start.

Yeah.

We actually. There are a few episodes out there in cyberland of our podcast. Yeah.

But we'll stick with that. Yeah, that fizzled. I think the biggest thing about Happy Little One is that we were solving our own problems. We knew that it was an issue that we were facing, you know, and so I think that's really what kept us passionate about it. You know, I want this clothing. This doesn't exist. Why is baby clothing, you know, have like these huge patterns on them that I don't want? Why aren't they functional? Why aren't they pretty? You know? So I think that was the biggest part, is knowing that we were solving our own problem. And then you do have to get into something, Lori, kind of to what you were saying that drives you. Right? So Nikki has an eye for design. She's an amazing designer as far as designing her house, clothing designer, all of that. She has that natural eye. So for the clothing. It's fun for her to pick out fabrics and patterns and design clothing, and it keeps her inspired. She's also a natural sales woman. Right. That was her career prior to coming into hlo, so that also keeps her inspired. And I would say that I like executing. I like coming up with a plan, figuring out what the next step is, problem solving, which might be the lawyer in me, because I feel like that's basically what lawyers do, is we try to problem solve. And that really drove me. So I think between the two of us, we complimented each other's strengths really well. We knew we were solving a problem that we already had. And, you know, it was something we were truly passionate about.

I love that.

And just to add, if I can just add on real quickly, Lori, I think you have to. Something almost clicks within you where, like, subconsciously, you know that this is the one. It's kind of like when you meet the right guy, you know what I mean? It's like you got to kiss a few frogs to feel it out and see, like, what. What feels right and what doesn't. But when you meet the right. 1. It's like you have this aha moment and something clicks and you're like, this is. This is freaking it. You know, and we had that. We've had that over and over and over again in different. Throughout this journey of happy little one. And, you know, and sometimes, yeah, the motivation can wane or things can wear on you. And obviously there's really, really, really tough moments. And you have to. You struggle and your co founder has to. Or your partner, whoever, has to kind of pull you up, but you never stop knowing that this is worth fighting for. And it really is. Like, we joke that this is like one of our children, you know, or another relationship that we're in. It takes that much energy and work, but it also has that much payoff, and it is that rewarding, and it kind of.

It has to be right. And I. I think, you know, well, you just said you are pretty close to delivering a child, and you just moved into a new house today, which I'm like, oh, my God, we could have, like, rescheduled this.

No, no, I didn't want to reschedule. We make it work.

I was like, you're amazing. Okay, so with that said, there is this level of. I just. I'm so resonating with your story right now because I kept asking the question, like, you know, because you sit on the idea for a while, right? Like, you go back and forth and you play with it. You try to picture your life and what will this all entail? And you picture the hardest parts and, like, what's going to pull you through? And for me, I just kept asking, like, if not this, then what will it be? And does this seem fun to me? And could I, like, could I see myself not doing this? Like, if somebody said to me, you know, you can do anything you want, but you're not allowed to. Like, if they said, create any clothing or baby clothes or a business with your sister, you'd be like, oh, my God, no. Like, give me that. I need that opportunity. Like, I want that opportunity, you would freak out. It's like, I always kind of do the takeaway. Like, could I not start this company and be happy for the rest of my life? And when the answer is like, no, this is really what I want, and I can see, you know, it being really fun, then you kind of decide to deal with all the shit that comes with it.

Yeah.

And in that. In that same vein, Lori, we were also thinking for a second, we thought there was another company doing something similar to what we were doing. Turns out. They weren't at all. But that feeling that you get to say, you decide, okay, it's not worth it. I'm gonna stop. Have the thought in your mind, well, what if somebody else comes along and does this? If they do, they're gonna be successful because it's a good idea. Then you get this sick feeling in your stomach, like, okay, we didn't do it. Now this other person, we have to be the ones.

Yes.

Yeah. I feel like it's that gut test. When you think about the idea of somebody else doing it, you're like, no, no, no. I got to make this work. I know this can work, and I got to keep going.

Okay. I have full body chills. So this just happened to me yesterday. Like, my idea was pretty original in the space, like, for exactly what it is. And I found somebody who just launched their company yesterday, and it was like, all, like. I was like, oh, my God. And then I was like, wait, they're not doing it at all. Like, I'm doing it, but it can. These are all the little roadblocks where I think a lot of people are like, oh, this company with all this money just launched. And they went before me, and I was like, yeah, but it looks nothing like it. I bet it tastes nothing like it. And their mission is completely different. So, you know, even if that other company would have launched, like, you guys would have done it so different because.

Yes. Yeah.

And you just get it, like, where. Where you're at, and it would have been a completely different. It's just different. Right. So I love that you shared that room.

You know, there's room for. There really is room for everybody. And if you do. If you build a brand, which we could have a whole nother show about building a brand, you know, people are going to resonate with your company for more reasons than just the properties of your fabric. Right. They're going to. To resonate with your voice and what you represent and what you stand for, and they'll be loyal to you on a larger scale. And. And we have always had that in mind. It's really important for us to build a brand, not just a great product, but to be advocates for mothers and to remember about the mother struggle and not just. You're not just Johnny's mom, you know, like, you're. You know, you're still Nikki, you're still Jen. You're still an incredible, powerful woman that just happens to have kids that she needs to close, you know? So we. I think when you build a brand and a whole Idea and philosophy behind your product. Someone else can come out with a.

Copycat product, but it's not gonna be.

The same, you know? So.

Yes. So tell me about where. Okay, so. So here we are. You have the idea, you've decided, you committed, you had the burn the boats moment. Like, we're not gonna quit until we get a result, and now you know nothing about what direction to go in. Like, what's the first few steps? You're like, okay, so what do we need first? And what did you figure out? Like, did you have a little pow wow? Did you have a meeting? Like, what'd you do?

So we sat down together, and I. I got, like, a notebook for our new company that we were starting, and Nikki and I sat down together and we. We started deciding what are the first things that we need to know.

I'm kind of dying right now, though, because, like, the first thing that we do is we're like, we need a cute notebook.

Yeah, that's why I said that 100%. I still have it to this day. I'm like, no, I can't. I, like, live with it. I'm going to go buy the most beautiful notebook, and this will inspire us to keep going, because I could take notes in it, and I'm going to get really colorful pens.

That's exactly what I did.

It gets me. And really, we were like, okay, we just need to understand what the steps are. You know, we have no idea. So Nikki said to me, you know what? I have a friend who works in a warehouse for clothing. She probably knows things about clothing. She's helped this company, somebody we went to high school with that we hadn't talked to since high school. We reached out to her. She's like, yeah, 100%. I'll let you pick my brain, you know? So we just sat down and had coffee with her, and we just started picking her brain. And she's like, you know, I think you should. She wasn't doing exactly what we're doing. She didn't have the perfect answers, but she did say, okay, this is what you need to send to a manufacturer to get clothes made. And it's. I don't want to get technical, but it's basically like the blueprint for the clothing. We can't sketch that. We can't do that, but you can start going down that path of like, okay, I need a tech pack. How do I get a tech pack? You can either Google it, You can go to upwork and see who creates tech packs. You can go to fiverr and see who creates tech packs. You can start talking to those people. You can ask them to send you one. You can say, this is my idea. Can you make it happen for me? Like, all you need is just, like a slither of an opening. Someone gives you a little piece of information on what you're trying to do, and you take that information and you run with it, like, as far as you can run. And you get to the next person who gives you some information, and you get to the next person who gives you some information, and before you know it, you're six, seven, eight months in, and you know so much more about this industry that you knew before, because you're taking advantage of every single person that comes your way and, like, sucking as much information from them as you can. And then you're running with that. You know, that's.

And I also.

Go ahead.

Sorry, if I can add. I also. Both of us really believe in kind of following the flow of the universe. Like, you know, we believe that the universe is going to lead you down a path. And as long as it's like this, this natural progression, and you kind of follow the signs and you look for the signs, and you're grateful and appreciative of each stepping stone that is placed before you, and you. And you, like, consciously take that next step and say, okay, thank you. Like, replacing this person in my life or this recommendation, and really recognizing that it's this bigger network and picture that's coming together, that's so much bigger than you. Jen and I have been led down this path of meeting the right people, of getting the right contacts, of these incredible, serendipitous moments, that each point along the way, we are reassured that we're going down the right path. And if something feels wrong or it feels like a roadblock, or it feels like we're banging our head against the wall, like, that's not the direction we're supposed to go, and we're supposed to go in this direction. And that has happened to us so many times. Whether it be the wrong fabric or the wrong manufacturer or, you know, working with the wrong producer or whatever. We kind of. You have to pivot, you have to be flexible, and you have to really pay attention to what the universe puts in front of you and continue down that path.

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Did it it.

There are so many challenges to business that I don't want starting to be one of them for you.

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I couldn't I every single point that you're making, you guys, I just I couldn't be more excited that these are coming up like the you really are sharing the natural progression of how a dream truly gets delivered to you. And, you know, Nikki, you just said, like, a belie you, you have a belief. And I think every good idea and path for your idea has to start with the belief that you'll be supported. And it's kind of crazy because I, I, I completely understand the feeling of wanting to, wanting to know and kind of wanting to control it and feeling like you need to go out and search for these different people who are going to connect you to things, but I really believe they're already in your, like, they're already in your life. You just have to kind of start really opening up the vortex of, like, who do I know? Who do I know? Who does she know? Like, who's in that network?

That's 100% true. And I think to add to what you and Nikki were just saying, once you fully commit to something, when you truly fully commit and you take advantage of the opportunities that are put in front of you, I think the universe starts opening doors for you just like anything else. So, you know, that's a big aspect of it, is fully committing. And the other thing I would say is, you know, it sounds a little esoteric. It's definitely 100% true. But it's also a combination of putting yourself out there and taking advantage of things that do get presented to you. You know, there are going to be uncomfortable situations where you think, do I belong here? Someone invited me to this. I'm just an imposter. I'm not far, not so long to be here. But you get invited to an event, you're walking around, you happen to talk to somebody who knows somebody who can offer you something, who has a great piece of insight. So, yes, doors open for you, but you have to walk through them, and you have to put yourself in vulnerable position to learn new things.

You know, it is this huge journey of overcoming internal fears and vulnerabilities, and you have to do that on an everyday basis. It can be exhausting. But if you're not willing to do that, you know, you won't get very far.

It's exhausting, but it's an exhaustion that comes with the craziest fulfillment. So it's like a different version of exhaustion. It's like exhaustion that is, like, so epically, like, sweet at the end of the day, where, like, there's something that's.

What having a kid is. Yeah, he just described parenthood. It is the most epically exhausting and rewarding thing ever. And it is, it is the Same thing. It's like you're constantly putting yourself out there, but then you have these moments where you are just like, I cannot believe how far we've come. And with this great amount of just pride and, you know, just gratitude.

And I. I do want to add a caveat, because I will say, when we started out, I had a lot of doubts. I had a lot of moments where I thought, I'm not cut out for this. I don't deserve this. I don't deserve to have a successful company. I'm not like the women that I see on TV or that I listen to in the podcast. Who do I think I am starting a business that I know nothing about. Right. I had very doubtful, negative thoughts in the beginning. So if people think, oh, I'm not strong enough, I can't persevere. I can't do what they're doing. I also think that's a muscle. You know, every step that you take forward, you get a little more confident. You're like, okay, I overcame that obstacle. Okay, I figured that out. You know, and then you become a little more confident and a little more confident, and it starts snowballing as things start happening. So you don't have to have this 100% confidence when you're starting a business. You have to. You have to take the first step, and you will have doubts. But I, you know, I want to put out there that it is like a muscle. So, you know, I don't want people to think, oh, I have to be super confident right off the bat, you.

Know, I totally agree. I had so many moments where thankfully. So you have the burn the boats moment, right? And that usually makes you commit to something big. Thank God. Or commit to something or put money in or start talking about it or commit to another person, even if it's your friend, even if it's not a partner. And because what happens is on the other side of that, I can tell you, I had so many nights, I was up at, like, 2am thinking, oh, my God, what am I thinking? Like, I'm gonna invest so much money or people will invest in me and I could lose their money, then what if that means losing friendship? Like, I. I went down that rabbit hole, and it's. It's, like, so important that you do support yourself around it. And it sounds like you guys completely supported yourself around those things, like having people involved and making sure that your idea was already rolling. And it's like, I think those are the things that pull you. You through those. Just like you said, like, you're gonna get pulled through those moments of, like, not feeling worthy or being so afraid. But, Matt, it doesn't stop. It's not like, oh, I'm committed, and then it stops. It's like, we probably have 10,000 more of these moments in front of us, especially as things grow, you know there's more at stake.

Absolutely.

So one of the coolest things that I have heard from you guys, guys, tons of you have reached out to me and let me know how many of you are loving skillshare right now. And you've signed up because of this podcast. Skillshare is an online learning community with thousands of classes. Picture anything that you would ever want to learn. It's like college online, but way better, way more fun, and at your own pace, you guys, you can explore pretty much any skill you can possibly think of. Or if you're like me, sometimes I love to just get lost in creativity, in learning, in playing and figuring things out. So that's exactly what skillshare is amazing for. Let me tell you what they have. Like, this is literally mind blowing. And I know for all of you who listen, you're either an entrepreneur, a creative, or you're just obsessed with learning, which I am. So listen to this 1. Creative Breakthroughs 8 Exercises to Power your creativity, confidence and career by Danielle Krissa. Okay, we could probably all use that. Not to mention the incredible classes that they have on marketing, on social media. And you guys know I'm launching my new company and I need to learn everything I possibly can about marketing. And I'm doing that on skillshare. So it offers members so much to explore, real projects to create, and the support of fellow creative skillshare people. It is a beautiful, amazing community of so many incredible creative people. You guys, you have to go and check it out. It's incredibly affordable. Affordable, especially when compared to pricey in person classes and workshops. An annual subscription is less than $10 a month and it has classes to fit your schedule on every skill level. So explore your creativity and get two free months of premium membership at skillshare.com forward/happy. You guys, for real? That's two whole free months of unlimited access to thousands of classes for free. How many things could you learn right now in two months? Get started and join today by heading to skillshare.com forward/happy. Two free months, free. I hope you try it. Okay, so let's. Let's go to the place where you've already decided, like you are fully in your manufacturing. You're realizing the Actual path of how this is getting delivered, like trusting and then shaking the trees and putting in the work. So then we're getting to the point where now it's like, okay, we're. We're doing the product, and it's kind of the fun stuff, right? Like, maybe the designing and learning about all this stuff. And then there's this idea of, how are you going to launch? How are you going to. Are we going to raise money? Are we putting in our own money? Are we asking our friends, Are we crowdfunding? Are we getting big investors? Would you tell me about how that conversation went?

So it's like all of the above. Yes. So, yeah. So, you know, Jen and I, we went through the whole gamut of possibilities. First of all, yes, we put in our own money. Yes, we asked our parents for money. And then ultimately, we just closed our crowdfunding campaign yesterday. It ran for a month. So we raised money through crowdfunding. And we have also made a pitch deck to potentially pitch larger investors. So we have considered all of the options. Where Jen and I agree is that we want to bootstrap and hold on to our company's equity as long as we possibly can. It is very likely that there will come a day where we have to take investment money and give away equity, you know, in the future, hopefully not too soon. But this is something that people and entrepreneurs really, really have to think about, because everyone loves the idea of getting an angel investor or a seed investor or, you know, round a whatever. But with that comes a cost. You know, you have to give away a percentage of your company. Usually the earlier on in the process that you're giving away or that you're. You're accepting money, you're giving away a larger chunk of your company. And, you know, that that is something that obviously funding is a huge blessing to many companies, but it is a really big decision. It's not always, you know, an automatic yes. So we really wanted to make it work as much as we could with our own funding. So we love crowdfunding, the idea of crowdfunding, because you're basically taking small amounts of money from a large crowd of people so that you don't have to give away equity in your company. So our goal was to raise $30,000. We raised 29,100 and change. So, you know, we basically hit our goal. And so now we have this chunk of change that we can use to help with our initial production run without having to give away a piece of our company. So basically, people can choose to Contribute in exchange for your product. Right. Most of us know the GoFundMe or the Indiegogo platforms. We used ifund Women because it's a platform specifically for women run companies which everything that we are about is about supporting women, obviously. And they did an amazing job. They have incredible resources. They made it a really seamless experience for us. They actually gave us, supported us, and gave us a grant of $900. They contributed $900 to our campaign and really have shown us a ton of support. They have a great network as well.

They give back. They give back a percentage of everything they make from the crowdfunding campaigns into active campaigns.

That is so cool.

And we were lucky enough to be one of those campaigns. So.

Yeah.

So what they do a lot of tools.

That's the big. Oh, sorry. Go ahead, Laurie.

No, no, no, go ahead.

I was going to say, so ifund women gives you a lot of tools, which I think is a big difference than other crowdfunding campaigns. So they basically say, there's no magic money else. You know, I think people think, I'm going to put a campaign up, and then people are going to show up and give me money. Now, there's a lot of work that goes into launching a campaign the month before the campaign, and they give you a whole kind of workbook to work through and start the process. Because the idea of doing a crowdfunding campaign, if you just think, I'm going to do a crowdfunding campaign, and it feels a little overwhelming. Right. How do I put it together? Where do I start? What do I put on my page? What are people going to respond to? So they kind of have a playbook that says, all right, here's all the things you're going to need to do. Here's what you need to do two months out, three months out, one month out. And then here's our suggestions during the campaign. And they really support you throughout the process, which I think is not. I think I know, is what made our campaign so successful.

So when I was first seeing that you guys were doing it, because I was going down the crowdfunding rabbit hole for a little bit, not sure if we're going to go that route or not.

But it's.

I am so glad I learned about it, especially just for other people in future things that could potentially happen. And maybe I. Maybe I will open it up for some of that, which is so cool that there's so many options. But when I first saw that you guys were doing it and I was looking at, I fund Women. I had gotten on your list for just your crowdfunding launch, and it was so awesome. Like, number one. Just the. It was very clear. It was. It felt very well thought out, really planned out. It felt exciting. Like, I had no idea if I was going to. Like, I didn't have any intention of helping fund whatsoever, to be totally honest. I was like, I'm getting on here to just check it out. And then I was so bought in because it was so much fun. Like, you guys were taking me along this journey, and your clothes are so cute. And it was also just like, I think you did such a great job of showing, like, you know, this is women. This is what we're doing. This is. Here's what's to offer. Like, you got people really excited.

So.

So, yeah, it was just really cool.

Seeing the process for contributing to our campaign. Your support means everything to us. But you're right. Like, it is all about telling a story. And we have been fortunate enough to work with some incredible women in terms of creating our video for the campaign and our content. And they are just so good at really creating that storyboard and taking people along on that journey with us so that you really felt like you were coming along for the ride. And, you know, when people get it, I think, you know, when people. When it clicks, you're like, this makes total sense, you know, but you really have to kind of go through that journey and that story to really. For it to resonate, and click. And then I think people are bought in. So having that story or that pitch, as they call it, where people have an emotional response to it, feel like they're going on the journey with you, and then they have that aha moment themselves, you know, in terms of your product or your company, then they're in, you know, so I'm glad that you had that experience, because it was very.

Intentional, and you have no idea why people are connecting. Like, you guys connected to me from a bit, from business women standpoint. Like, I was just like, I'm all in from that standpoint. I just was. That's the people I want to run with and the people who are putting their neck out there and trying different things as well. Um, so I just. That is. It's so vital for people to hear that. Here's something that I want people to know, like, whether or not you guys succeed, which you will, I 100% feel it in my bones. Whether or not you succeed, the. The journey of what you are learning for your next venture or whatever that is, is like so priceless, like the learning that goes with this. Can you imagine trading in what you have learned from this? Like, doesn't it open up just so many, like worlds and conversations and connections with people?

Our network has completely changed since we started going down this path. I can't imagine not knowing, you know, not being able to learn what we've learned. And the women that we've met along the way, because we very intentionally have worked basically solely with women, have been so inspiring. There are amazing women out there doing amazing things and every time we meet someone or have a conversation, it gets you excited again. And I will say one thing that truly is priceless to me is how much you grow as a person when you put yourself out there in an industry you don't know, doing something you don't know in a male dominated kind of startup world. The person that I am now and I've become is completely different than the person who had the idea to start the business. And I think that is also priceless.

Yeah, absolutely.

How about you, Nikki? Like, what has changed for you from start to finish that like in an everyday that comes up every day for you that you're just like, wow, I'm either so proud of myself or I love this new gift that this company's brought me.

So for me, I mean, 100% is the fact that I only work for myself now. I mean, I truly control my, my destiny. And you know, that moment where I took the huge leap of quitting my day job was terrifying. And I had to have, you know, sit down with my husband and have a very serious conversation and say, hey, can we do this? Is this possible financially? Are you willing to take on the total burden of our family financially so that I can have the opportunity to truly put all of my time and energy into this thing that I so wholeheartedly believe in. And luckily he believes in it and in me just as much. So he said yes. And we've had to make some adjustments, some life adjustments. But I cannot tell you how every day I wake up and I feel so fortunate that I work for myself and I control my destiny. And you know, I asked myself, like, okay, am I willing to go work for somebody else? And for me, like, I will do whatever I can. I'm scrappy. Like, I will sell, I will hustle, I will do whatever I have to do to keep this freedom that I have gained in working, you know, just for the company. And to me, like, that is the greatest gift that this could have ever brought to my life. And it's it is an empowering feeling that is hard to describe. So for me it's just obviously it's been a huge growing experience. It's been really scary. But really believing in yourself 100% enough to quit your day job is, it's an interesting feeling and it's new.

What you just described is that thing that I think people realize when they do go out on their own and they follow their vision. Like they follow like a calling or that, that one little feeling that got delivered that's like, yes, this is for you. And then it totally fricking disappears for a long time. Like that clarity and surety. Like I think what happens with that is it's. You take the feeling of being reliant on others for your, you know, your kind of, your earnings, your life, your happiness, your fulfillment and you.

Destiny. Yeah.

That you're the creator. You realize that you've always had the power and you're the creator. And whether it's this or something else, like that's the most powerful feeling I think on the planet is to know that you are the source of creating your survival destiny.

Yes. And Jen and I have had that conversation so many times. You know Jen, like she said, she's an attorney, she has a big family, she, she's still working her full time job and she's put a lot of years of education, an investment into her career and obviously I have a ton of respect for that. But we have had that conversation of, you know, and this was before I quit my day job, but of thinking, is this enough for us to just, you know, to work for somebody else for the rest of our lives and that's what you know, you're gonna do for the rest of your life. And the question, you know, the answer was no, that's not enough. Like it's okay for right now, but I need to know that there's something bigger and there's something more out that I'm controlling that I'm working towards. Even if it never becomes as big as we want it to be, just the possibility of something kind of keeps you motivated and moving forward. Right. So I think, you know, just having that like that dream and keeping that dream alive can be enough to get us through really, really tough times like this pandemic. It's like if you just think your life is going to be the same every single day for the rest of your life, that can be really daunting. But to know that there's a possibility for something great, that, that's intriguing.

I love that. Because it's just, you know, whether people are entrepreneurs or whether they have something that's like, you know, a challenge in their life that they want to reach, whether they want to climb Mount Kilimanjaro or whatever that is, like, we seek as human beings, we. We seek big challenges. We want to overcome things. We want to grow. We want purpose. So I think for so many of us, especially who listen to this podcast, it really is like the entrepreneur journey. But for also people, it's just you have to seek that challenge that has the reward on the other side. Otherwise, life is just gonna hand you crappy challenges left and right, and they won't fulfill you. So I do. It's, like, vital. I think it's vital to keep the human spirit going.

Yeah.

And feel like you're working towards something that's bigger than yourself. Yes. I think that that just gives your life so much more meaning and purpose, whatever that may be. And that might not be a business for everybody. That could be service or whatever. But, you know, I think just finding that thing that you can progress towards and chip away at every day and get closer to your goal that you feel is truly meaningful can. Can really make your life okay.

So I have a question for you both, because this is. It's just like every single journey kind of has a similar path, which I think that if we all learned about each other's experience, we would just feel so much. We would just know. We'd just be like, okay, it's all part of it. We don't have to worry about it. Like, every. It feels like every time there's something that's going so well, there's also something equally that is, you know, a huge challenge. So you guys just essentially hit your incredible crowdfunding goal. You had an incredible campaign. People are really excited. Excited during a pandemic, by the way, which is just absolutely, like, mind blowing. I think anything is possible. And now you have your money, you're excited, there's momentum, and your manufacturers are not working at this time. So tell me what's going on with that, because this is. Oh, this is always the case. Like, maybe not in this outfit, but always the case. So what are you doing?

So, yeah, so, yeah, so our manufacturer, we.

Max.

We manufacture all of our clothing in Colombia, South America, and obviously, this is a world issue, so the manufacturer has shut down. I will say that a little piece of the manufacturing plant opened to make masks for people in Colombia, which is really exciting, too, that they're doing that. And there's Amazing women working there. But, you know, we basically were making so much progress, and they had to let us know that, okay, we can't make your clothing. We're ready to go, but we have to stop and we can't make your clothing. And Nikki and I, you know, our first reaction was like, oh, my God, it took us so much to get to this point, but I think you can take advantage of any situation. So, okay, the manufacturing's on pause. Let's let everyone know who, you know, contributed to the campaign and looking for product. Let's keep them updated. They'll understand they're part of this pandemic. And then what can we spend this time focusing on? What can we get stronger on while we're here? We can work on our social media planning. We can work on our digital marketing. We can work on our scheduling out our designs for the rest of the year. There's plenty for us to do in this time. Did we have to switch our focus quickly? Yes. Did we have to kind of. And I will say it took Nikki and I a day, you know, to really reassimilate to the situation. At first we were like, okay, there's a pandemic. Do we keep talking about our campaign? Do we keep asking for money? Do we keep trying to push this forward? Like, what do we do? You know, we had to readjust for sure. But once we kind of got our bearings again, we thought, okay, how can we best use this time? There's plenty of things that we can still do to move our business forward during this time. And, you know, we're focusing on those things.

I have to. I want to add, it did, like, knock the wind out of us. You know, the fact that we had been building up to this launch for over two and a half years, and then literally the week before our launch, you know, everyone was on a globe, like on a nationwide shutdown, and everyone was quarantined at home, and everyone was worried about losing their job. And. And it did feel a little. There was a moment where we were both a little woe is me. Like, what are the chances? Literally, what are the chances that there's a global pandemic the same week we were launching our company or our crowdfunding campaign? Literally 0% chance, but somehow here we are. But it took us a beat to kind of get muster our strength back and our motivation back. You know, we are going through this experience with everybody else, and I think that there is a bit of a global grieving that's happening, and there's a Lot of fear of the unknown. And we are not, you know, we're susceptible to that just like everybody else is. So we really had to take a moment and ground ourselves, spend some time with our families, take, you know, take a breath, and then come back and say, we have worked too hard and too long to let this thing take us out. And we truly believe that this pandemic is either going to. Obviously, it's going to make or break a lot of companies, but I think a lot of entrepreneurs are either going to thrive or. Or not during this time, depending on their fortitude and their willingness and their strength to really persevere. Because when we talk about overcoming obstacles, this is one that none of us saw coming. You know, so we had a conversation and we were saying, we have a choice here. We have a choice to let this thing really knock us down, or we have a choice to be the leaders that we think we can be and step up and rise to the occasion and pivot if we need to make the best of the situation and continue moving forward. And it always comes back to the fact that we will not quit. And so we did, and we kept moving forward in a very, you know, conscious and I would say, sensitive way. And not just blasting people for money, but, you know, explaining to people like, look, we are small businesses are in trouble here, and we are in that same boat. We're another small business that's trying to survive this time, and we need support from the people that can lend it, even if it's just five or ten dollars, you know, to help us survive this. This really challenging time. And I think that, you know, in that there is a bit of camaraderie and banding together and supporting one another, and luckily, we have incredible people around us that were willing to support us, and we were still able to ultimately reach our goal in the midst of a global pandemic. And, you know, there's. I can't say enough of just how much gratitude we have for the support that we have seen around us and that we truly would not be able to do this on our own. We are not on an island. And, you know, it really does take a community, and it's been a beautiful experience even through all of this craziness. So.

Oh, it's so beautiful. And we. It's. It's so true. We can't.

We.

No matter what happens in the world, we can historically look back at when there have been crazy, horrible or, you know, different things happening going on. It's like you have to adapt and There are always people who, you know, thrive and also help lead people during those times. And it's just their choice to adapt and keep showing up. They're not certain. They had no idea what was going on. We have no idea what's going on. And I always try to remember, and I know that you, you are both, both doing this in such a beautiful way. Like, just by you showing up still and doing the do and continuing on, like, it gave so many people hope and permission, like, to just keep going and do the do and like, hey, we're, we have to just show up. Like, that has to be a choice and that you're going to create the outcome. It's funny, Chris and I did a podcast this morning on the. There's something called the seven levels of awareness. And it's like level six and seven is all about, like, no matter what is facing you, knowing that your choices and your discipline and you facing your fear to show up will always create your outcomes. And that's just like, once you realize that, it's kind of like you understand the secret sauce to life. And it's never easy, but it truly is like kind of the secret sauce to life that you'll figure it out and you'll find fulfillment. Whether that looks like monetary success or whether that's just like massive internal fulfillment and creating a huge, you know, ripple effect for the world, whatever that looks like, that you're always the creator of that. And I think you guys have shown that so much throughout this entire podcast of just the vulnerability, but also the pure grit of what happens when you say yes and fully commit to a dream. The universe does show up and all the people come with it. So you guys, where are you currently at as far as, like, what's next? I know we kind of touched on it, but just for all the listeners, like, where can they find you, follow you? What's next for you both?

So we, since the crowdfunding campaign just ended, everyone can go to our website to check out our clothing. Happylow1.com we're in the process of setting up a pre order option. So if people go on love the clothing they want to get, you know, the first out of the first batch that we'll be producing. The second our manufacturer opens up, people can pre order@happylo1.com and as soon as we can start producing again, then people can order in real time. We're also very active on Instagram. We love to interact with people on Instagram, so we're happy lil1 on Instagram if you want to follow us and talk to us and give us feedback on anything, we love it. And we're also present on Facebook. You can find us on Facebook at Happy little one.

Yeah, I'd love hopefully go ahead, Nikki.

And hopefully, like Jen said, we, the manufacturer will be up and running again within the next couple of weeks and then we'll have products shortly thereafter. You know, we hopefully will run out of this, sell out of this first production run quickly because we already have pre orders through the crowdfunding campaign. So, you know, go ahead and pre order if you guys are interested and make sure you kind of reserve your, your spot because we do have a limited number that are going to be that first batch that are coming out.

And it is so freaking cute. Like, I'm literally ordering it for a couple of my friends. I'm not going to say who because I want it to be a surprise. No, it's ridiculously cute. Like, it's so cute. It's super chic while being super like, like you said, like leisure wear. It's, it's literally the, the new leisure wear for kids because it's just the most adorable thing ever.

If we really pointed out the features. But it, it's quick dry. It's made out of quick dry material. So it's quick drying, it's stain resistant, it's odor resistant, and it's UVA UVB protected. So it has all these amazing functional, you know, features to it. But then it's very, very comfortable and chic for your child as well.

It's adorable. And I'm not gonna lie, I mean, I have other things on pre order right now, not baby clothes, but, but it's, it's literally brilliant because I just want to point out to everybody, like, they're still functioning, they're still doing their pre orders, they're still moving forward. Even though there's a level of uncertainty, we know that it's going there, it's going to happen. So it's just take a note of that and know that everybody can still move forward and it's adaptability in that choice. So you guys, if you didn't hear before, it was happy.little.1 correct on Instagram.

Yeah.

Lil is L I L. Yes.

Okay.

Lil is L I L, you guys, just so you know. But go find them, go follow them cutest page. And yes, you guys are super active. It's so much fun. So it's just a great community, right? Like, you also get the community aspect of following you guys because you're sharing your story. So if you guys want to launch a business like go follow them and see exactly what they're doing, whether the products for you or not, you're going to learn so much. That's, I mean, literally, I'm following play by play because I want to know what you guys were doing with your, your campaign and everything. And it's just been super enlightening. So I just want to say thank you to both of you for sharing so much. Like it was so much fun. This is so beautiful. I. I'm like, whenever you guys are in California, I don't know where are you guys at?

We're both in Florida.

Well, if you ever come to California for your happy little one, launch in some amazing stories or I want to be your, either your non alcoholic sponsor or your alcoholic sponsor.

What? Hopefully if I'm not pregnant, definitely our alcoholic sponsor.

It's so funny when we were talking, I'm like, oh my God, they should do like a baby mama box. And I'll provide the non alcoholic rose can and we can send a box to someone. We'll chat on that later. See, that's what happens when I talk to other business women. It's just too much going on. Okay, you guys, I just want to say thank you so much. We're going to connect everyone in the show. Notes, notes. If you loved this podcast as much as I did, what I would love for you to do is to tag happy little one and to also tag me and let us know what your biggest takeaway was from Jen and Nikki. Because truly this was so enlightening. So make sure you share that or text this to a friend who is kind of feeling like I'm not sure what to do or I'm feeling stuck right now because it's really going to help them. It means the world when you do that. That that's truly how all of these different businesses and podcasts thrive is getting the word out. So we need more of that as women and you guys, until next time, earn your happy.

Bye everyone.

Thank you guys so much for spending this time with me on the earn your happy podcast. I am so glad that you stopped by. If you could take one second to share this episode with someone you think would love it, that would be a absolutely amazing and we would be forever grateful. Also, please leave us a review if you feel so moved by going to itunes and leaving us an honest thought, an honest comment. Tell us what you think, tell us what you want to hear more of. It would really help us out on our journey to helping thousands and thousands of people. Until then, don't forget to earn your happy. Thanks again, guys. Bye Bye.