035: We All Start from Scratch – How Donna Ended her First Launch with 65 Subscribers!

Starting from scratch can be hard, but let's face it, we all started our businesses from scratch in the beginning. When Donna's launch day arrived and she only had 1 subscriber, she didn't hit the brakes. She actually stepped on the gas and ended her first month with 65 subscribers. Come listen. Welcome to the Launch Your Box podcast with weekly tips, tricks, and strategies to start, launch, and grow your subscription box. Now here's your host, Sarah Williams. Welcome back to the podcast, everybody. I am excited because I'm here with a special guest today. I'm here with Donna Prudhomme from Plan Lead Educate, not just from Plan Lead Educate. She's the founder of Plan Lead Educate. And I invited Donna to join me on the podcast because I saw a post from her inside Launch Your Box this week. And it instantly grabbed me because I was so excited about it. It said from 0 to 65 subscribers in in one month. And I was like, yes, we need to talk about this. We need to talk about it, Donna, because so many people are just getting started and they're starting at zero. They're starting at zero audience. They're starting with, with nothing from scratch like you did. And so I thought it would be a great time for me to get you on the podcast and let's just talk through that zero to 65. So Donna, why don't you say hi and why don't you give everybody kind of the backstory of who you are and what you do?

Okay, hi Sarah, thank you for having me on the podcast today. I am super excited. As Sarah mentioned, I am the founder and chief leader of Plan Lead Educate. I'm formerly a high school principal, and I've been in education for 25 years, all in public school education, and I currently work full-time as the director of career and technical education. And so I really just wanted to just find something, anything that could help women leaders in education because it's lonely at the top. And I know firsthand the struggles and the challenges that we face as women leaders in education because we have to make critical decisions. And sometimes parents, students, our business partners, community members, they don't like the decisions we make and they do not understand the reason behind it. And so you're often criticized. You know, or sometimes you make local news, national news, and it's not a good feeling. I've been there. And so I researched, just, I just wanted to find something for leaders in public school education, not private school education. I really wanted to hone in on public school education because we face different challenges. And then I didn't really find anything, so I said, well, I need to create something. I don't know what I'm going to create. I just need to create something. Because there were days that I would come home, especially as when I was a principal, where I would just like zone out, would just be so exhausted to where you sacrifice your family. Yeah, sometimes. And, um, and I was just thinking, you know, I just wish I had something happy, but, you know, besides your family, coming home to your kids, just a surprise, just anything just to put a smile on your face when you have those days. Not every day is bad, but most of them are, you know. And so that's why I created the box because I just wanted them to have a professional and personal development, some type of experience every month.

I think it's important because you said something about the top is lonely, right? And I think we as business owners can feel that sometimes too, whether we're at the bottom or the top or somewhere in the middle, but it's, it's a lonely place to be because you as a principal or any other woman principal, um, can feel that. They can feel that on every level. They can feel it emotionally. They can feel it physically. They can feel it mentally. And there's not that person right next to you that you can talk to, right? Because you are, you are the person, you're the person at the top of that grid that everybody looks to. And you might not always have the right answer.

Right.

And then, and, and there it could go so many ways. And I think that's the same in business as it is like in the school system. But, you know, I know that our educators have been faced with so many hard things over the last 2 years. Um, and it is a lonely place to be. And when you were looking for really something to, to create for them, I love that you decided on a subscription box. And it's not just a subscription box about self-care, but it's about, it's about this person, this woman in this position that you can relate to 100%. And they're gonna feel that when they receive the subscription box, right?

Yes. Yes, yes, because, you know, as you mentioned, with COVID at-home learning or remote online learning, it has completely changed the face of education.

Yes.

And just in, you know, where I work, we've lost several teachers to retirement, you know, and so, and that's not just us, it's just, you know, nationwide, but it's painful, you know. And when you speak with your teachers, you know, the challenges they face in the classroom. Yeah. And there was so many subscription boxes for teachers. And I'm like, but what about us?

What about us, right? Right, right.

So I was like, well, y'all forgot about us? And so, you know, because I love our teachers, you know, of course I taught, you have to start there, and that's really the hardest job, you know, because they actually are the boots on the ground, they do the work, you know? And so I definitely appreciate all of our teachers, but I just wanted something for not just principal, superintendent, it doesn't matter what your title is, you know, you could be the CFO or you can be instructional coach, you know, it does not matter. If you have a leadership role, there's a lot of pressure on you.

Yeah.

Different type of pressure than, of course, the teachers, but it's all the same because we want the best for our students. But when you're talking about accountability, you're talking about your student discipline, attendance, it's like it never ends. And so you could feel the weight on your shoulders, like you said, when everyone looks at you like, okay, I need you to make a decision. What if I make the wrong decision? You know?

And you're going to sometimes, right? Yes. You're going to, no matter if that's in life, in business, in, in school, you're going going to make the wrong decisions, but it's, it's having that support system around you when you've got to figure it out. And I love that this, that you found your why in this. Like, it's really important when we start our businesses that we find a why, because when things go left, when, when the train goes off the track, we have to sit down and we have to remember why we're doing this. And so when you sit down at the end of the day, your why is you've had this feeling and you know other people have, have this feeling, had, have, or are going to have this feeling. And how can you be a resource? How can you be that soft place to fall for someone that just needs to pick me up whenever they need it? And I, and I love that about you. And so when you made, when you found your why and you said, I'm going to do this box, I feel like you just froze because of all the things you had to do, right? Like you're starting from scratch.

Yes.

You're in the education system. Yes. You know, a lot of people in, in that industry, but you don't have a Facebook page, you don't have a social media presence, you haven't collected an email list. Like, how did you start your journey once you figured out your why?

Well, I'm not a social media person. That social media is not my jam because I just don't have time for it. So I'm, I'm thinking like, how am I going to do this? And I don't have a following. I don't want to, you know, buy all the products and put all this work in and no one buys it, you know. And so I was just like, but I still have to do it. I have to figure out a way to do it because if I don't do this, I don't know what, what would have happened, you know, down the line. And so I just wanted an extension, um, outside of my job, something else that I can do, not only helping the people I work with but also helping other educators. So I said, I'm just gonna jump in anyway because what do I have to lose? I have zero subscribers, I have zero, uh, followers on, uh, on my email list. And also, you know, I didn't have my business page. Yes, I had a Facebook page, but I just really didn't engage too much because it's just not what I do.

Yeah.

And so, um, I think when I took time to research a lot of this and, um, just really hone in on the process, and I said, okay, I'm gonna get to that. I know I have to build this following. I— the way I am, I knew I needed to get my product in place so I could visualize what I wanted to present to the world. And so I just jumped in there. I created the, the, my Facebook page and my Instagram page. And I just said, let me just start posting. I just started posting. I did a giveaway, KingSumo giveaway.

Okay. There's tip number 1, everyone. She did a giveaway and that's important when we're just, it's, it's important when we're starting out and it's important as we're continuing to grow our audience, having a reason for someone to get on our list is important. And with KingSumo is really great because You get their email, but then you can get them on your social as well. So they can like your Instagram, they can like your Facebook page. So it's really a lot of different hits in an audience building all in one, one thing.

Right. Right. So I did the giveaway and of course created a free downloadable, and I really wanted to zone in on building your personal brand, you know? And so as a leader, you know, people need to know what you stand for because kids will try you, your students will try you. And they know, well, I know I can do this and get around her. But if they know what you stand for, then that kind of pushes some things, some foolishness to the side. Some things that they would do that you wouldn't approve of, it kind of just quiets that. And so I think—

So was that your opt-in? That was your opt-in, creating your personal brand around that?

Yes. That's a great opt-in. Yeah, how to create your personal brand statement. Because if you work in a school setting, you have your vision and your mission statement, of course, your core values. But what is your personal brand statement? You know, how do you sell yourself to your, you know, your constituents? You know, whether it's your stakeholders, your students, or whoever that may be, what would they say about you? So that was my, my PDF, my actual free download. And so I was generating, you know, emails from that. And then also the giveaway was really instrumental. And of course, I was thinking Okay, but am I going to attract the right people? Because some people just like free things. And I just said, I'm gonna just trust the process, whether it's some people who want to really subscribe, or they may not even be in education. You know what? And that's okay, because I'm gonna just bless them, you know, with something. At least I've given something away, you know, they can help someone.

And I love that we were talking before we got on the podcast, but you said you hired a VA. And I think that's important because You're busy. You just said you don't, you don't have time for social media. So you really hired someone to help you outline a plan for your social media and really help you get going with that. And I think if we're in that situation where, you know, social media is not your jam, I love social media. It is my jam. So that's the one thing I hold onto all the time because I'm like, I love the social media, but if it's not your thing, you definitely need to hire from it because hire out for it. Because if you don't have social media, I mean, it's a huge marketing tool for launch watching your subscription box. And so I love that you really just realized, hey, if I'm gonna do this, I need some help, and you weren't afraid of hiring some help to get started. So how long before you started posting, you did your giveaway, you had your opt-in going, how long were you building an audience before you started to launch?

Um, I started working on this, my plan. I was just trying develop what is Plan Lead Educate going to look like. Is it going to be a digital course? Is it going to be a subscription box? What do I want to do first? And in all honesty, Sarah, I was actually going to do a digital course, and somehow I just pivoted and I said, well, let me start with the box first and build my audience that way, and then I could possibly launch that digital course. Because of course I couldn't do them, do them both together. And so I just said, let me just work the process, you know, because in education, you know, if you're an educator, you already know all the shiny things, the systems, the policies, the process. I needed to work through the process so that I could understand it. And so I actually started working on this a year ago, and I wanted to make sure that it would be like a back-to-school special, um, because COVID— of course, we were in COVID. I said, I'm not doing anything extra while we are in COVID learning. Let me just work through COVID, you know, our online process, our online learning with COVID and let me just be patient and just plan this thing out. And so, um, along the way, I just, I just started posting, and we're still building the, the actual social media platform for Plan Lead Educate. But in that research, I found that people were just saying, you really need your list because you own that list, you know, that's your list, you know, that's your baby. So I just said, well, let me just really plan that out. And so I So I think we started working on that probably maybe the past 3 months. We really did not hone in on subscribers.

Okay. So you've been, you've been building your audience on social media. You're getting ready to launch. Tell me about your launch plan. You've been, you have your opt-in running. You've been posting on social media. Have you been doing Facebook Lives yet at this point?

I, okay. That, that was so scary to me. I did my first Facebook Live a few weeks ago, to be honest with you. You. And it was so scary. I said, you know what, I'm going to get out of my own way. I'm going to get out of my comfort zone and I'm going to just jump right in. And I did it. And it wasn't so bad. It really wasn't.

It gets easier, doesn't it?

Right. It gets easier. And so, and I was, I was surprised at how confident I was just doing it. I did say, hey, full disclaimer, you know, this is my first time, so be gentle with me. But it was actually fun. If I could be completely honest, it was actually fun. On their first Facebook Live.

So now you're, you're getting ready to launch. So let's, let's talk through your launch plans, how you launched, how the launch went. Let's, let's talk through some of that.

So, um, we, you know, I'll just say August 1st was when we, we launched. August 1st.

Okay.

And, um, I think on August 1st when I woke up, when we launched and I had one, one subscriber.

And I started on launch day.

Yes, yes. And I started— I'm just gonna— I'm gonna be honest, I started to panic. I'm like, oh my gosh, I only have one subscriber, this is not working, what am I gonna do? And I was like, you know, regroup, keep working the process, just be patient, you still have time. And so, and then, uh, eventually, you know, I started getting more subscribers, just kept emailing, you know, posting of course did some Facebook advertising and that giveaway ended maybe like the middle of August. And then that's when the magic started happening.

Okay. So you, you launched August 1st. You just said it's available, go buy. You didn't do a big like 4-day launch, open cart, come by. So you just said the doors are open. You can come buy it now. You had one subscriber and you started to panic. And I think that's important to talk about because because so many people go through that and I want them to know that they're not alone and it's okay. But the important thing that Donna did was she didn't give up and she didn't say she's a failure and she didn't say that this is not going to work and she didn't tell herself to just shut it down. I can't do this, right? You said, okay, I got to figure out how to make this work. I got to figure out how I'm going to get more subscribers. So you kept pushing and tell me what you did to keep driving traffic over to your site to your subscription box?

So I would consider that being my soft launch because of course once the giveaway ended, that's when we just zoned in on Facebook advertising. We zoned in on that, and then we had the founding members launch, of course. And, uh, I still didn't get to the goal that I set, so I extended that founding members launch. Okay. So, uh, and I think extending it really opened up that door. And so we just really started drilling the con— the social media content and just sending emails. And then— and I did call on some of my colleagues. I said, hey, don't forget, we've launched. And they're like, oh, thanks for reminding me. And so don't be afraid to call on some of your coworkers or your friends, because you'd be surprised. Many of them really want you to be successful. And so I did that as well. But I think extending that founding members launch and looking at our advertising and tweaking a few things is when we started seeing more subscribers jumping aboard.

And so you ended the month with how many subscribers?

We are currently at 71 subscribers.

71 subscribers. Yes. I'm celebrating. That's— to go from 1 subscriber on your open cart day to then 71 subscribers like a month later, like, it's like, okay, this is going to work. This is like all that you've been holding your breath, right? Like this whole time. And you finally can just Breathe freely knowing that, okay, what I have is important. What I have is special. What I have is gonna work. And that 71 is gonna turn into 100 and it's gonna turn into 150 and then it's gonna turn into 300 and you're just gonna keep growing and growing because you did all the hard stuff.

Right, right. Yeah.

Started social media. You started an email list. You started showing up live. You went through your very first launch. And let me just say that that is really hard to go through your first launch because because you don't know what to expect. You don't know if it's going to be successful. There's so many unknown variables in your very first launch. And when things aren't going the way you had hoped or expected, you've got to pivot. And you said that multiple times. Okay. We adjusted this. Okay. We went back and looked at this. I sent more emails. Did you do lives during the month?

Yes. That was the first live that, that I actually did. And you know, I said, okay, I have to do this. Let me just jump on Facebook Live, you know, just— and, you know, I just have to do it. I just have to do it because I tried to stay away from it, but I felt like if I did that and then actually showed myself, you know, in front of the brand, that people would relate. And so I'll be honest with you, you know, I know I've said honest like several times throughout this interview, but I just really feel like sometimes as business owners, you, you hear other people share their story and they're not telling you everything, you know. And so that's why I just really want people to understand that I'm just an average, you know, educator. I do not have a business degree, and, and I did it. And so once I said, let me just jump on Facebook Live, putting myself out there and receiving so much positive feedback, you know, from other educators, like, yes, thank you for doing this, oh, we need this, oh my gosh, you know, I love this, that actually drove my momentum.

Because they needed to hear that they weren't alone, alone.

Right.

You know, you said that before, you're, it's lonely at the top. They needed to know that other people felt that way too, because sometimes we feel like I'm the only person going through this. I'm the only person that feels this way. I'm the only one that feels stuck and unappreciated. And, and, and like, I don't know what to do. Like sometimes we, we bear that burden so heavily and it, and if you know someone else that's in your same shoes, space that goes through the same thing that you deal with and they're feeling that way too, like it's almost like, okay, I'm not alone in this. And I'm able to, you know, move past that too. So now that you've gone through your audience building, your very first launch, tell me what was the most challenging part for you?

Building the email list, you know, building the audience. That was the most challenging. You know, piece for me. It wasn't about, you know, finding the products and, you know, getting your color scheme together and your theme, because I used to make gift baskets. That's easy for me.

That's the fun part, right?

Yeah, that's the fun part. It's just, you know, just building the audience, finding your tribe, those people who actually believe in you and believe in your vision. And so, and you're wanting to reach people outside of your community. Because of course, you know, everyone is dealing with the same challenges in education. And so, and that's what it was for me, in all honesty, was the email list and the audience and social media.

How do you feel about it now?

I feel comfortable with it. I mean, it's a learning curve. I'm still learning. It's a lot to learn, but at least I have people who believe in what I'm doing. And so right now we just want to focus on, you know, retention and growth. I feel comfortable with it, you know?

Yes. So let me ask you this. Anyone that's listening right now, maybe they've been thinking about a subscription box, maybe they've been holding themselves back from getting started. What advice would you give to them?

Okay, so I would say take your time, do your research, follow and trust the process. And one of my favorite quotes is from Jim Rohn. He said, success leaves clues. So follow the clues, like the cartoon Blue's Clues, which is my son's favorite cartoon. Yes. So follow the clues. Build your email list early. Sell the pain points because people need help. So sell the pain points. Um, and the last and most important piece of advice is this, is that your box will not be for everyone, but it would be for someone. So give yourself I love that.

It will be for someone and it doesn't have to be for everyone. And I think that we tell ourselves it does sometimes, but you've niched down and the people in our community that have really niched down and found their sweet spot are really the ones thriving. So I love that piece of advice. Very good advice, Donna. If we have anybody listening that needs to go get that box of yours, where can they find you?

They can find us on our— they can find us on our website at www.planleadeducate.com. Awesome.

We will have that in the show notes for all of you to click on. Donna, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today, and I'll be back next week with another great episode.

Thanks, Sarah.

If the idea of creating a subscription box is swirling around in your head, I encourage you to head over to Launch Your Box launchyourboxwithsarah.com, get on our waitlist, and grab some of our free downloads to help you get started. That's launchyourboxwithsarah.com.