007: Get Started Right Away with Fast and Messy Action | Launch your subscription box with Sarah ...

Have you been dreaming of starting a subscription box, but you keep letting the what-ifs get in the way? On today's episode, I'm chatting with a Launch Your Box member who took my $10 coaching week and instantly launched her subscription, breaking through all the fears that had been in her way. You're going to love Molly and you are going to love this episode. Come listen.

Welcome to the Launch Your Box podcast with weekly tips, tricks, and strategies to start, launch, and grow your subscription box. Now, Now here's your host, Sarah Williams.

Hey everybody. I'm so excited because I have Molly Young here with me today. And Molly is a Launch Your Box member. She has bluelotusholisticwellness.com, a brand new business for her. We're gonna talk about that too. And I have this cute little box in front of me and it's the Blue Lotus Intentions Box. And so Molly, will you just say hi? I want you to tell our listeners, what is in your box? And then we're going to talk about your journey. So just say hi to everybody.

Hello, everybody. And thanks, Sarah. I'm super excited to talk to you today. My box is an intentions box. The idea is that it's a monthly time where you can give yourself a little self-love, think about what you want for your future, maybe some issues that you're working through. And it's really just a time to sit quietly and reflect. It's great for people who are just learning mindfulness and meditation. And in the box is some tea and a candle and a cleansing herb bundle. And then also I have a stone, a different stone every month that's in there and some essential oil. And then I create a mindfulness exercise and a mantra. And the idea is that you focus on one area of your life and you use the oils and the mantra throughout the month to stay focused on whatever it is that you're working on.

You've got the greatest little box. And do you remember when I opened your box in the box every month inside our group? I do member box openings. And so when I opened Molly's box, it was like if I could hear them, they would say, ooh, ah, you know, like that. They were like, that's so awesome. I could see the comments rolling by. And I know that was like a win for you because sometimes you just need someone to tell you that you're doing a good job. And when you could see other members just, you know, gushing over your box, I know that felt good for you. What we are going to talk about today is Molly's journey, and it is a good one, y'all. We might even need to get the tissues out because we have already had tears as we were prepping for this call. But Molly came into my world during an event this fall called Coaching Week, and I am getting ready to do Coaching Week again at the end of this month. So, I wanted to bring Molly on so we could talk about that. Now, Coaching Week was something that I threw together at the last minute, like literally 2 weeks before I started my launch. My mentor said, what would you do? How would you get people to sign up? And I said, well, people just get to need to get to know me. He goes, well, how do you get people to know you? And I said, I think if people could just hang out with me for a week, they would want to join my membership. And he goes, well, you got to figure out how you can get them to hang out with you. And so for me, I'm just, you either love me or you hate me. You know, like I'm just, I'm either your cup of tea or I'm not. And I feel like I just thought if people would get to know me, I'm not a bro marketer. I'm not some slimy salesperson. I I'm just a real person doing this thing every single day that all my members are doing. And so I created this week called Coaching Week and what I wanted to happen during Coaching Week, I wanted to create a safe space where people could get to know me. We could kind of hash out our ideas for a subscription box, because I think that's the hardest part is figuring out what it looks like for you. And once you can lay it out, so we laid out 6 months at a time during Coaching Week. And once you can see to see it on paper, like we laid out in Coaching Week, it just gets your mind racing and your wheels turning and it is like go time. So, we laid out our plan. I gave some action steps on what to do next. Then we had a really fun box opening like I do inside my membership at the end of the week. So, that is, that is where you found me, right? So, you saw one of my ads, you clicked on it. Tell me what your thoughts were going into Coaching Week, like Had you been thinking about a subscription box for a while?

I had not been thinking about a subscription box. I thought about this business and the Intentions Box as just kind of a one-time box way back at the beginning of 2020. And then of course the pandemic kind of interrupted all of that. But my boss at the time and I used to listen to podcasts together and we heard an entrepreneurial podcast and she said, that's what you need to do. You need to make this a subscription box. Subscription box. And I thought she was crazy. And I just did not see that as something for me. I was thinking very small monthly market, maybe sell 20 one-time boxes at these markets. And then yeah, I saw your ad on Facebook and I thought, that's a reasonable price for a week of my life. Let's just see what the subscription box is all about. At least I could go back to Emily and say, yeah, this isn't going to work for me. This is This will be too hard.

You felt like that $10 commitment was not a lot of— there wasn't a lot of skin in the game there. You could like, well, I could either like it and I'm in and it didn't only take me $10 to figure that out. Or you spent $10 and you realize this is not the direction you wanted to go. So it really was a no-brainer for you to join Coaching Week. So you joined Coaching Week, you had this vision, you were doing these kind of local markets, right? And you, you were wanting to sell 20 boxes a month, but you planned out 6 months of subscription boxes in coaching week during our Post-it Note Challenge. And I want you to tell me about your experience in coaching week, like what happened, who'd you connect with, and how did that week end for you?

Well, I found out really quickly that you definitely are my cup of tea. I connected with you and your personality right, right away. You're just such a fun and like normal average person you'd go have a glass of wine with. So that was great. And by the second day, I already signed up to be part of the group. Because I knew this was for me. But I did the 6-month challenge. In fact, I finished the challenge during the training that I was— by the end, like my Post-it notes were all done and I'm like, okay, I got to start ordering this stuff. And I— the very second day I met a woman who was in the group who's an aromatherapist, and I thought, I'm just going to play around with this idea Sarah has of just reaching out to people and asking if they would be willing to support you and supply things for your boxes. She said yes. And before coaching week was even over, my first order of 50 essential oil roller balls were like paid for and on the way to me. So then it was like, well, there's no turning back now. And within a week after that, I had everything for the first box ordered, paid for, and on the way.

So something that I talked about— this was October. So in my mind, it's always better to try this one-off box just to see if your idea will stick, just to see if you have an audience that are buyers. And you can do that different seasons out of the year, but it's kind of perfect right before Christmas. And it's also perfect right now if you're kind of a gift box to do it right before Mother's Day. So we can definitely talk about Mother's Day one-time boxes during this coaching week. But we were talking about doing a Christmas gift box. And in your mind, you already decided, I'm going to do 50 boxes. How did you come up with that number?

Well, that is all your fault. So I didn't think I wanted to do a Christmas theme, but I knew I could do with what I do, I could do a goodbye 2022. 2020 theme. Let's get this horrible year behind us. And I thought, okay, let's up it from 20 to 25. Let's be courageous and do 25. And then something you said in one of your trainings was like, you're thinking way too small. You need to think much bigger. And I was like, okay, if I'm going to do 25, I might as well just do 50. If they don't sell, I'll figure out what to do with all this stuff.

So here you are in my coaching week, You have— you don't have an online store. You had not sold anything online before. You had not sold subscription boxes before, and you just go all in both feet. I'm going to sell 50 boxes and worst case scenario, I'll figure out how to sell them later. That's your mindset, right?

Yeah. I figure everyone will get late Christmas presents, right?

I love this. So now we're— we've gone through coaching week. You're excited, you're pumped, you join LuncherBox. You're in there with all the new people and you're, you've got to build an e-commerce store, right? That's something new for you. Tell me about that process.

Right. So I had secured a website the year before. So the beginning of 2020, when I thought it was going to start doing this just to get the name in there and make sure I got that, but I'd never done anything on the site. Like it was empty, empty. So, um, I, I decided to use Shopify because of your advice. And some others' advice. And I signed up for Shopify and started building my website still during coaching week. And, um, by the 8th of November, I had a front page with a waitlist.

So from October 22nd to November 8th, you had planned out your idea, you had got your website going, and you were ready to start launching. That's incredible.

Yeah. Well, if you're going to do it right.

And can you tell people that you work a full-time job too? I do.

I'm a college professor. I do work a full-time job.

So all these people that say they don't have time, Molly is just get her done. Like get it done. Quit procrastinating on things. Make a list, start checking it off, or you're not going to move forward. So Molly, you've got this brand new business. That you starting, you quickly sold 50 of your one-time boxes for Christmas gifts and for December. You sold those in November, you sold out of them. And then what also happened with that, you were, you're getting ready to launch your subscription in January. You wanted to kind of figure things out with the December one-time box. You also gained subscribers for January that month too, didn't you?

I did. Yeah. As soon as it was sold out, which was the first week of December, I decided, okay, I guess we're doing this. And I put up the waitlist for the subscription box. And I mean, immediately had people that had the box in hand that, that signed up for January. And I ended up with 18 subscribers for January.

So you had 18 subscribers in January. And then I know that that grew to 31 subscribers in February. And now we're 3 months in. And how many subscribers do we have?

Well, the box for March doesn't close until Tuesday, but I'm up to 40 subscribers.

That's so incredible. I'm so proud of you. And I know, I know, when we were talking just before we jumped on the podcast that this really, this really is a big moment for you. This means a lot to you. This is something that you've had on your heart for over a year. I know that I sat on my idea for over a year too. And I just, Man, I just can't even tell you how proud I am of you. I just love your story. And I know that you're out there inspiring people that are listening right now who think that there's all these reasons that they can't do it. And I just, you know, I think that someone that works full-time, what is it like running a subscription box business for someone that's, that's working full-time?

It can be a little challenging. I have finally figured out the whole idea of taking pictures and making content on the weekend and getting that all scheduled and ready to go for the week. So that I'm— I was originally getting up every morning a couple hours before my regular job and doing all that every day. So I'm organized that way. That helps a lot. I have a very supportive partner and he helps me pack all the boxes. And I have a handful of people who've already said, look, when this gets to be too much for the two of you to do, let us know. We'll come over and pack boxes too. So I have a lot of community support from my friends and my family, which is amazing. But it, you know, some of it is really just time I would have spent on social media anyway, but now it's me interacting with my subscribers and my potential customers. And I think when it's something you love and you feel so passionate about, it doesn't feel like work. And I know that that's a cliché that people say all the time, but I'm, I'm just thrilled to be able to share what I've learned about mindfulness with other people and to be able to get these stories stories of people who are saying this time locked in their bedroom away from their kids for an hour a month or taking their box down to the beach. Or I have another person who just checked into a hotel for the weekend and took the box with her to, to do some planning for the year for her small business. I mean, these moments are— it's incredible. It makes me feel so proud that I— yeah, it doesn't make it feel like work.

I think that because you have a purpose. With this. Like, you— this, this is your purpose. You've created this box out of something that you love and that you're passionate about. And when we can do that, it's so much more than a box. It's so much more than doing the work. It's, it's your purpose. And these are like your little babies that are going out every month. And someone in the group posted this weekend, she just sent her first shipment out, and she said, oh my gosh, this feeling— does this feeling of sending these out, the excitement, the love, the care, does that ever go away? And I told her, I'm 4 years in. I get just as excited when my box leaves my warehouse as I did the very first day. And I know that you're feeling that too. And the best part is it's not when those boxes leave, it's when the feedback comes in from your subscribers. You've spent time loving on them. You're curating this very special experience for them. And when you get that feedback from them, I mean, you're in it like that. You're in it for the long term because that feeling, that's what we're going for. It's not about a box, right?

Right. Yeah. And the other part for me too, and you mentioned this when you showcased my box on your, on your other episode, when you were opening it, you know, I put a card in there every month of the women small businesses whose products I'm curating because I don't make the products myself. I make the mindfulness exercise and the mantra, but I showcase them and how to get ahold of them and how to buy more product from them. And I've gotten feedback that they have increased as well. People are asking them how to buy their product outside of my box. And I mean, I think that's what this is all about, finding people who can support each other in this so that we can all do what we're called to do. And, and I just have my products in the hands. And, you know, the women making these things are so incredibly talented. And I'm really grateful that they're coming along with me for this ride. So it's my little way of being able to, to pay them back for that.

I love it. And I know you were getting teary-eyed as we were talking about all of this. But I want, I want you to take in this moment because I think sometimes, especially you, you work a full-time job and you're doing this in your waking hours that you're, you know, I want you to soak this in because you've done a lot of things very fast. You've created a whole e-commerce business. You just told me you're getting weekly sales every day aside from the box. You're getting weekly sales on your website. You're gaining subscribers every single month and you're really doing something special. And I just want you to take this moment, soak it all in and be I'm super proud of it because you're doing a great thing. And I, and I know that you're inspiring people as we're listening. And so what I'd like to ask you is what advice would you give for someone listening? They've been sitting on their idea for a year, like you, like me. How, what would you say to them?

Yeah, I think these things that are on our hearts, I think we let sometimes fear get in the way of that. And I would just say jump all in. Before your mind can catch up and change your heart, I think you just jump in and go for it. And then before your mind realizes this may or may not be possible, the wheels are already in motion. And, and then you get to do what's really on your heart and what you're passionate about. And I think the longer you wait, the harder it might be. I think you just jump.

Yep. And you can come over and join Molly and I in coaching week because we're going to be in there loving on all this all these new people coming in and helping them figure out what their passion is and what their purpose is. And it's going to be incredible to watch people go through that week and really come out of it with a plan like you did. And so many others did too. And then just telling yourself, it's go time. It's go time. I'm doing this now. I've sat on this too long. It's, it's do it. Let's do it. And I think that that's what I just love about you. It's like, take it and run. And so Molly, where can, where can our listeners find you? Tell them what the best place to find you at.

Yeah. I'm on Instagram more often than anything else with social media. It's Blue Lotus Holistic Wellness. Also on Facebook. And I have a website, as you said, it's bluelotusholisticwellness.com.

Guys, go check out Molly's awesome box, her great website, and show her some love because she sure deserves it. Molly, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. It was a great episode.

Thank you, Sarah.

Wondering if a subscription box is right for you? Join my $10 coaching week from March 21st through 26th. I'm going to show you how to develop your idea into a plan. Sign up today at launchyourboxwithsarah.com.