038: From Nurse Practitioner to Subscription Box Owner

From nurse practitioner to subscription box owner, Pam's journey from building a business from scratch. Come join us. 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. This week, I'm so excited. I have Pam Rogers here with Stella Chroma. You're gonna learn about Stella Chroma and most recently her nurse practitioner Entrepreneur's Subscription Box. Pam, say hi to everybody.

Hello, everybody.

We are going to dig into Pam's story and it's unique and different, and that's what I love about it. And that's why I've asked Pam to join me today, because we're going to take a couple different turns on her story and her subscription box journey. And what I want you to get out of it is starting something, trying something new, and just going for it, just like Pam did. So Pam, let's just start by telling them for 15 years you've been a nurse practitioner and you still are, right?

Yes, correct.

And just if you're listening, I'm talking to, I'm talking to Pam. She's in her car. She calls this her mobile office because she's seeing patients today. So she had to run out to the car to talk to me. So tell me what life is like as a nurse practitioner right now.

It's insanity. Um, and, and I have to say like, God bless all of the healthcare people. Yes. From the cleaning lady to the people processing dirty equipment after somebody gets intubated to first responders to direct care providers, everybody, because it's nuts right now, y'all.

Yes.

And I thank God that I got out of inpatient practice. So it's a whole different ballgame. Outpatient. Um, but everybody's kind of focused on, on the COVID thing right now. So I do see my share of those people, but I'm, I'm trying to make sure that my people that are healthy get to stay that way. Yes. And it's nuts.

Well, just know that on the other side of it, people that are not in healthcare appreciate the people that have been fighting that fight for a long time right now. And I know it's been hard and exhausting.

Um, yeah.

So we appreciate you very, very much.

Thank you very much.

Let's, let's go back We've talked about, okay, you've been a nurse practitioner for 15 years, but 9 years ago you decided to start a company that had nothing to do with nurses or nurse practitioners or doctors or healthcare. Tell us about that.

So I, as a child, I was a nail biter and nothing like nursing school to make you realize that's disgusting. And I found that if I kept my nails painted, I stopped biting them. And well, then in nursing school, I moved from biting to picking because it's stressful, and that's what I would do. So I learned that if I kept my nails painted and done, I left them alone. And then I quickly started coming up with, you know, I need to find a gray that has this particular tone or this shimmer or this something. And I couldn't find it at Sally Beauty or in my salon or wherever I was buying nail polish.

So you kind of got, you kind of got obsessed with nail polish, right? Like, did that— yeah, it became a thing. Like, yeah, you were going to nursing school, you were doing all the things, but you were, you were loving the nail polish, but now you were being obsessed with it, and you, you were very particular about what you were looking for, right?

Right. And there were things that I wanted that I couldn't find, and I was, I was reading blogs, and I discovered a thing called indie polish. So I started researching and discovered, hey, I can make this stuff on my own. And a lot of trial and error later, I started doing that and people that I work with wanted to buy it. And so Stella Chroma was born.

So you started a nail polish company 9 years ago called Stella Chroma.

Yep.

Because out of it, out of a passion, out of a desire to have something that you couldn't find, you're like, I'm just going to make it. Like, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make it. So tell me, the process of formulating nail polish or creating a brand? Tell me about that a little bit, because you're not in, you're not in an entrepreneurial space at this point. You are— you're going to school to be in healthcare, and now you're starting a nail polish company. So I want to just know what's going on in your brain, in your life, and you're having to now figure all this stuff out, how to start a business.

Yeah, the, the two things that nail polish and nursing have in common are science.

Okay.

And so it— you learn that certain polymers work with other things, and there's formulas and percentages and, um, and things like that. So I, I'm essentially— I joke and I tell people I'm a mad scientist in my basement. Um, and I believe it's not, it's not a lie. I have an outfit that looks like Walter White from Breaking Bad that I wear when I mix because it's not good to breathe that stuff in. Um, so, so yeah, it was basically basically finding suppliers and just buying small amounts of things and playing and testing and finding what I preferred and what, what wore well and things like that. So once I found what I liked, which took months, then that kind of gives you a narrower space to look because it can be pretty overwhelming to begin with, with all the options that are available. So Um, it just took testing and trialing and lots of tiny little bottles and lots of big messes and a husband that doesn't mind the house stinking like nail polish all the time, bless his soul. And, and eventually I found what I preferred. Um, and luckily other people liked it too.

So you start selling it online, right? You start selling it to people you work with, then you start selling it online and it's really become a business of yours, right? You told me it's a figure business. That's a legit business. And so are you still making this stuff in your science lab at home, or are you— someone else— you're still making it?

It's me. There, there are companies that will, you know, some companies you get a catalog and the swatches are in there and you buy that color and they'll put it in your bottles and they'll print your bottles and they'll do it all. And so you just pick from a catalog. There are other companies that, like, I could send them a bottle and say, this is what I want, and they'll mass produce it. But I'm a little tiny bit of a control freak, and it's also fun and I enjoy it. So yeah, my, my basement has racks of glitters and pigments and nail polish base. And if, if you have a bottle of Stellacroma, either I or my husband have put that nail polish in that bottle and I mixed it because he, he, he's not gotten that far yet.

Well, I had one of the— one of my team members is a subscriber of Stellacroma's Polish of the Month and she is obsessed with it. She, she got a green color, I think, this month, and she just shows me her nails every month. She, she loves the colors. Um, she is— she's always been nail polish obsessed. Like, she's always just had nail polish all the time, but she's really obsessed with Stellacroma. And so When did you decide to put it into a subscription, like the Polish of the Month? Tell us about— yeah, when you decided that and how did that go and what's going on with that now?

So I, I originally thought of the idea because in another business group that I'm in, Leila Barker's Lucky Break Think Tank, we have like a topic every month and we talked about subscription models one month. And a lot of the people in the group with me, they do like soap or laundry detergent or, you know, more of a consumable product. And so the focus was on like, you know, if you sign up to get your laundry soap every month or every 3 months, get a discount. Like that's kind of what they had focused on. And we had talked about like subscription models, like you have for the Framed Monogram Box. And I thought, you know, I have, accumulated a lot of glitters and pigments and things that have been discontinued that I just have small quantities of. So I don't want to put that out in a regular polish and then not be able to make that polish anymore. So originally the idea was, hey, I can do this to use up these little bits of things that I have that I can't get anymore and not have to worry about making them again.

Kind of like exclusive, exclusive colors, exclusive things, very exclusive VIP type of situation.

Yes. And so at that point I was like, hey, I'm going to create this subscription and I'm going to put it on Instagram. I'm going to tout that it's not getting sent to swatchers, it's not getting sent to bloggers. No one's getting it but subscribers. And if I have leftovers, I'm No one— it's, you know, it goes in the lockbox or actually gets disposed of. Like, no one's getting it.

It's like retired. So you're creating a big element of scarcity, which is one of the best things that we can do with our subscription boxes. So I love the way that you did this.

Yes. And, and those were the ideas that I had. And then I discovered when I launched it that, that you don't just put it out there and it works. Like, you have to do things. And so, so it didn't do bad. It did okay. I think the first month month I launched, I had 14 people, and like the next month I think I went up to 20, and then I stayed pretty stagnant there. Um, and then I can't remember how I found Launch Your Box. It may have been through Susan Bradley and the Social Sales Girls, but I saw an advertisement for your coaching week, your $10 coaching week, and I signed up for it. And then I thought, whoa, like Wait a minute, I can do lives and I can do other things to talk to people. And, and I basically learned through you what to do to make it more successful. Okay. And last month, my monthly nail polish— my monthly mystery nail polish subscription was up to 85 subscribers.

85? That is awesome. Yeah. And you're still making all of those? In your base. Yes.

Yep. And the beauty of that too is that if it's a color that's advertised, I have to— I'm tempted to want to do nice photos and sneak peeks and this kind of thing. But the beauty of a mystery is that nobody knows what it looks like. Therefore, I don't have to worry about promoting anything beforehand, and I can— I literally go down with my number, I sit at my bench and I make the polish right away. So whatever I want to do, and it's one batch and it's done. And it's so much fun because I don't have to factor in anything really, just is it there and what do I want to put in that, in that jar right now.

And, and they're so beautiful. I saw this one on your Instagram the other day. It's like a kind of a rustic orange with flecks in it. I'm like, it's just so pretty and it's so unique. And I love that you just get to be creative. So all those blocks of I have to do this, I have to do this, they're all removed because you know that you're making a small batch and it's for your perfect customer. It's for your ideal customer that wants something unique and special and different, um, and you get to just create that for them. And you curate a very awesome experience because you have created scarcity, you have created FOMO. They don't know what they're getting. So then by the time you're showing that beautiful color on the nails on your social media, like, sorry, you can't get this. You know, so it's making them want, like, I gotta get in before I can't get the, whatever she shows us next month. So I really love the way that you've built it. Um, and so, you know, I have a lot of, I have a lot more questions about that, but I want to talk about, we'll get to that in a minute, but now we've got 80, 85-ish subscribers and you're like, hey Sarah, I'm going to do this new thing. And, um, I watched you really develop your idea and then I watched you use some really great marketing tactics. Um, and then you launched and you had a super successful launch. So something happened. You were listening to the podcast because you're an avid podcast listener of mine, which I love, but you listened to podcast episode number 3, which was the very first interview that I ever did for my podcast, and that was with Anne Stuccio. And she's amazing. She is a practicing dentist. Um, so instantly there was that connection for you. Like, she's a practicing dentist, you're in the healthcare space together, you're professional women, and she started a subscription box for women dentists. So you're listening to this episode and light bulbs are going off for you. Tell me what was happening as you were listening to that.

So originally when I joined Launch Your Box, I went in with the only thought of I'm going to learn how to do this monthly nail polish subscription right. And then I dove into the classroom and I thought, holy moly, now I have to— I, I need to do something else. So I was telling myself that I was going to do something like Bath and Beauty based off of Stellachroma, and I would have a Stellachroma polish every month and I would feature these other— like, I wanted to do women entrepreneurs. I had it. In my head what I wanted, but it just didn't feel right. And I can't put my finger on what wasn't right about it, but I just wasn't super excited about it. But I knew I wanted to do something. So then I listened to Anne's podcast episode, and I like literally was driving into work and I thought, hello, You're a nurse practitioner, and as a nurse practitioner, we are forever being shoved into another box because we're nurses, but not really.

But not— I mean, way more than that.

We do more.

Yes.

And then we get shoved in the doctor's box, but we are not doctors, and a doctor will be the first to tell you that that's the case. And honestly, we will too. So So nothing exists for nurse practitioners. You find keychains, shirts, t-shirts, laptop cases, you name it, and you can find things specifically for doctors or specifically for nurses. But there is nothing for nurse practitioners. And I thought, oh my goodness, duh, like light bulb on. So I literally— or no, no, I was coming home from work because I went in the house And I told my husband, oh my gosh, and you know, I have this idea. And he says, well, no, um, well, there's not just nurse practitioners, there's physician assistants too. And I said no. And he goes, and what about men nurse practitioners? And I said no. I said, Sarah says it all the time, the riches are in the niches.

That's right.

So my people are going to be women nurse practitioners. And if a PA wants to start a box, hey, I'll help them figure it out. Like We're not talking to physician's assistants. And it just flew from there. Like the ideas were coming and literally as fast as I could design things and type things and create Facebook accounts, because this is a whole new thing. And I had zero audience. Yeah. No one at all.

Because they're not your nail polish people. Sure. A nurse practitioner likes, could like some nail polish, but that wasn't your audience there. You're basically starting a brand new business from scratch.

Yep.

Yeah, exactly.

So am I crazy? Yes.

Yeah, pretty much. Um, so let's talk about curating the box. So I— so your ideas start forming and you know exactly what it is to be a woman nurse practitioner. So you know what you would like. So how do you start curating what this box would look like?

Post-it note challenge.

Yes.

Post-it note challenge and a Trello board. Just Like you said, um, literally I sat down and I planned out— originally when I did— when I was thinking— when I did my first Post-it note challenge, I was thinking about the Bath and Beauty thing. So I started, I think I did like July and had 6 months worth of boxes planned, um, but then that all kind of screeched and turned around and came to a whole different thing. So, so like I kept with the same themes for what I wanted to do, but I just pivoted a bit on what I was going to have in the box.

Okay.

So I've decided that I want to have at least one specific to NP thing because there's no way I'm going to do a whole box with all of that.

Right.

And then I just build the box around it. So yeah, just like you said in our training, I've got— did the Post-it note challenge and made a Trello board. I've got some items that I've reached out to people in the Launch Your Box group. Kelly Rickert did my first, my tumblers that I'm putting in the first box. And then I've got some folks that I've connected with through other business groups that I've gotten things from. And then I've also used Faire to source some things as well. So my, my problem now is I just, I want to get all the things and put them all in the box, and we can't do that.

Because we can't— got to be profitable. As much as we want to have this most amazing box and experience, the goal at the end of the day is not to do this for fun, but to be profitable. It is a business. So you've, you've done the work, you've planned out some boxes, you've been curating it. Um, and I know you're getting ready for launch and you've been, you've been planning this for a while. So you've had months in advance and there were some really specific things that you were doing when you were, when you had some marketing ideas, because remember, Pam is starting her business from scratch. She doesn't have an already built audience. Audience of nurse practitioners. She may have nurse practitioner friends, but she's not built a business audience of these people yet. So what types of things did you do to collect these people, to bring these people into your space and start collecting them in one place so that you could launch to them eventually?

Sure. So the first thing that I did was I made a, yet another Instagram account and Facebook account. Um, specifically for the nurse practitioner subscription box. And I have— I followed colleagues, and then I peeped a look at who they were following and followed a bunch of other nurse practitioners that a lot of them have, um, like coaching businesses and education businesses and things like that. So I started following those people and started posting on Instagram and Facebook, and I got some traction, but honestly, I didn't get much from that. Um, and then I had gotten something in the mail about a primary care education seminar that was happening in Indianapolis, which is just a couple hours, like an hour and some change away from me. And it's for nurse practitioners, physicians, and physician's assistants. So yes, I need continuing education to keep up with my licensure, but also that would be dropping me right in the middle of a bunch of my people. It's like a building full of your like perfect audience, right?

Like it's exactly, I gotta go here. My people are here. I've gotta figure out a way to collect them now once I get there. Right?

Yes. Yes. Yep. So I signed up for the conference thinking that, hey, this will, this will get me out there. And then I kind of had another light bulb moment. I don't know where this came from. It just popped in there one day and I thought, I'm going to get a t-shirt printed that says, ask me about the nurse practitioner subscription box. So I did. And then, and I got that from another Launch Your Box member, and then she had mentioned a tote bag. So I got a tote bag made too with the logo that I had just designed quickly on Canva. So I got those printed, and then I made like a, like a 3x5 flyer that I designed in Canva that said, you know, coming soon or coming this fall. The nurse practitioner subscription box. And in all of my material, I made sure to hit home, hey guys, nothing— I'm one of you and nothing exists for us. So I am making this about us and we're going to celebrate the woman nurse practitioner. And on my flyer, I had a QR code that took people to my waitlist that I created in Klaviyo.

Yes, yes, you're doing all the things. I love this.

I am real good at following directions. So I think, um, prior to the conference, I think I had gotten up to like 15 to 20 people on my list.

So let me just, let me just inform our listeners, if they're not part of Launch Your Box, they might be wondering, what are we talking about? One of the first things that I encourage all of our members to do is to build a waitlist. It's a way for, to collect emails onto a list of people that are telling you they're interested in your subscription box before they can actually buy the subscription box. So once we get everything set, I encourage you to build a waitlist, a landing page with a waitlist opt-in, and get them on your list. So Pam has built her list. You have about 30 people on that list now. Now you go to the nurse practitioner conference, and how many people do you leave with that are on your list?

Well, I left with the conference up over 100.

Oh my goodness.

Yeah. So I did that.

And that's just from you walking around with your shirt and your tote bag and your flyers, talking to people, creating connections, and just talking about your box, right?

Yep.

Yeah.

And then in addition to that, I used the training in the Launch Your Box classroom from Susan Bradley about how to do a Facebook ad. And what I did was I I took the graphic that I had created for the flyer that I passed out at the conference, and I just, I had posted that on Facebook and Instagram. And so I turned that, that I had already made for something else and repurposed it into an ad that drove more people to my waitlist.

Because a lot of times, I mean, they already saw it. So then when they saw it on Facebook, it was recognizable to them. It wasn't some different graphic. It was the exact logo that you were walking around the conference wearing. And it's so smart because we know that the law of 7 says you have to see something 7 times before you make a purchase. They've already seen it once. Maybe they saw it every day. Maybe they saw you a couple times during the day, but now they're seeing it in their Facebook feed and they're like, oh yeah, that's— and maybe they got to talk to Pam. I'm like, there's an awesome person I talked to at the conference, let me click, let me click on this link.

Yep. And also that was less work that I had to do because I didn't have to create a different graphic. Like, it's completely good and smart to reuse things for that purpose as well.

Yeah.

So, and also I had, I had set what I thought was a very lofty goal of 25 boxes. For my first month. That's what I was shooting for. And I know that you had said to count on 10% of your waitlist buying. So I broke 100 and I was so excited. And then I started running the ad and things started going up higher and higher. And I've—

how many did— how many people did you have on your waitlist at that time?

At that time, I think I was up to about 500.

Yeah, you were. Yeah.

And I, and I kind of had a freakout moment where I was like, oh, because I had already ordered stuff, like 25 boxes worth of stuff was in my nail polish lab in the basement.

Yeah.

And I was like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. And I was talking to my husband, who admitted to me after my launch that he thought this whole thing was crazy. Um, I was talking to him and I'm like, I, I feel like I maybe need to do more. But then I thought, what if I don't? Like, if I buy 50 worth of nurse practitioner tumblers, my family's going to be getting NP tumblers for Christmas for the next 3 years.

Like, I think it's a legit fear, Pam. Like, everybody, it is, it— everybody goes through that. Even I go through it, even still at this stage. Like How much is too much? How much is not enough? What's the perfect formula for the right amount? Because one, on one hand, you want to capture them while you have their attention. They're telling you you're interested. You want to let them buy when they want to buy, because if you wait, you might not get them later, right? And on the other hand, we know how much inventory costs, and inventory that's not sold is just like stacks of money sitting on your shelf. So there's constant fear that Okay, I'm putting a lot of money into this because I have to buy inventory and I don't know if it's going to sell. And so trying to find that magic number is hard because the sweet spot is hard. Yeah.

And, and I remember I, I posted because— and I'll be completely honest here, like, I knew deep down that I could get 50. I knew it because I, I was doing what I was told. And you've been doing this for a while and you're good at this. And the people in Launch Your Box have done it for a while and they're good at it. And all of my resources— like, I had good resources and I know how to run a business. And deep down I knew I could get 50, but also I was like, girl, this is brand new, you don't know that you can get 50. But that was the number that I was thinking about. So I got to 525, I think. And I had posted. First, I freaked out and I shut off my ad because I was like, I can't have so many that people are angry at me. Um, so I shut off my ad and I stopped posting on Instagram and Facebook. And then I came to Launch Your Box and I was like, guys, I'm thinking about 50. Is this crazy? What should I do? And, and I had some people suggested doing just an open cart, which I don't have the guts to do that because, because I also didn't want to be scrambling.

Like, I've got a full-time job and you were working with other small businesses that had to have time in their, in their schedule to make the things for you too. So you had to be conscious of their ability and their time and what they had on their plate as well as, as your own, right? Yeah.

So if it went crazy and I got 100, I would be stuck, and that would be worse. So I didn't want to just do a balls-to-the-wall open cart, see what happens. I'm not that brave.

Not yet.

So I decided— not yet, not yet. So I, so I decided to open it up to 50.

Yeah, I'm glad.

And I, I am too, because I sold 50 in 2 hours.

In 2 hours. 2 hours. It reminds me of, you know, Cheryl. I don't know if you remember Cheryl's story. She's on the podcast too with Yarnable, but she Yes. When she freaked out and she's like, I got to shut it down. I'm at 700 subscribers. But, you know, sometimes we don't know. And it's the unknown that makes us doubt ourselves. And it makes us question every single thing that we are doing when maybe 3 days ago we didn't question anything that we were doing. And so having, having that group there saying, yes, you're not crazy for doing 50, maybe that little reassurance. I know I saw that post. I'm like, yes, you need to do 50. Um, just having someone to reassure you that you're not crazy and that you're on the right track and what you're doing is working. Because Pam, what I'm most proud about is that you did the things. Like, you, you did the training, you knew what to do, you did it, and then you got the results. And so many people just come in and think, oh, I'm going to start a subscription box. Well, they don't do the things, they don't do the audience building. And what I even love about you is that you really thought outside of of just the basic audience building steps that we talk about. You thought, I'm gonna immerse myself into a space that has all of my perfect person in there.

Mm-hmm.

And I'm gonna be open to it and I'm gonna put myself out there and I'm gonna connect with people. And what happened is you built this know, like, and trust factor very quickly. You can't do that behind the screen on social media as fast as you did it one-to-one at that conference. People already knew you. They had conversations with you. They got to meet you in person. They got to see that you're a real person, a real nurse practitioner, doing the same thing that they're doing. And so everything you did at that conference just amplified what was about to happen for your launch. And then throwing that— just being so smart about that, Pam, about throwing that logo in there in your ads, you just giving them another connection to who you were. And then the fact that they probably met you— oh, that's that lady walking around with a t-shirt on that I got to talk to— just solidified that, oh, she's a legit business, here's her business on Facebook. And it just— everything come together. And now you sold out in 2 hours, 50 boxes of your Nurse Practitioner Box. Tell me what the price is of your box.

$64.99 plus shipping.

That's amazing. I'm so excited for you. What is, what does the future look like for this Nurse Practitioner Box?

Girl, I don't know yet, but I'm super excited to be taking over one of my barns one day. That's my goal. Because, because in addition, in addition to being a nurse practitioner who owns a nail polish company, my— we also own a small farm. And my husband— it's just a small one. My husband, my husband runs ours and my in-laws' farm right across the road. And, and I help him after work and on the weekends and things. So We're, we joke about how he wants another barn in a different place configured the way he wants it configured. So I kind of offhandedly one day said, oh, well, I can, originally I was going to turn the barn that we have into the Stellachroma barn. And I was being facetious, but I'm not quite so facetious anymore because it could totally be that you're going to need room to pack.

Right? You've got— it's not just little bottles of nail polish you're packing anymore, you're packing big boxes of stuff. And so I guess that leads me to like a question about Stellachroma. So now that, now that you've pivoted into this new arena and you're loving it and you're passionate about it, what does that mean for Stellachroma and all your polishes? Well, I have—

I've already— so, so no one in business is going to be shocked about this one, but COVID has really messed with supply chains. And, um, I had originally— well, not originally, I'd say a year and a half ago— I sold nail polish, and I've also formulated a cuticle oil formula. So I had a little twist-up brush pen for cuticle oils And then I formulated a balm that you could use on your elbows or cuticles when it was really dry out. And then I formulated a sugar scrub, and then I formulated a coffee scrub because I just like doing that stuff.

I can see you're like geeking out on all the scientific stuff behind this. Yeah, I can see it in your face right now.

Yeah, totally. So, so I had a lot of products that I launched and they did okay. And then I realized like, this is, this is too much. Like the Stellachroma bread and butter is nail polishes and I do really well with my cuticle oils too. So I had chipped away at products that weren't selling as well, even though I loved them. And let me tell you, that is hard when you make a thing and you love it. It's just hard. To take it away, but that's, but that's what you have to do as a smart business person.

Yeah.

Um, so I have pared back to nail polish, cuticle oils, sugar scrubs, and I had hand lotion as well. Um, and then I only offer the balm during the winter months because it melts when it's hot, so I can't ship it during summer. And so I can't get my lotion bottles anymore. Like, well, I can maybe in March if I'm lucky.

Yeah. So I thought, you know, I'm, I'm picking up with this NP thing, so it's time to pare back more, focus on what's working with Stellachroma and really drive the business to those profit-making, revenue-making items, and then see what plays out with the nurse practitioner subscription box, right?

And who knows, maybe someday I won't have to sit in my car on the lunch break anymore.

I'll be talking to you in the barn next time. Heck yeah. Heck yeah.

That would be amazing and also terrifying.

I think what it is, it's amazing to get to decide what you want to do, right? Sometimes we do things because we have to, and, and that's, we pick a path in life and, and we go all in with it with our school and everything. And then We get older and we, we do other things and we realize that I get to choose what I want to do. And I love that you get to choose what you want to do, um, from day to day. Um, as you create your businesses and you watch them grow. And so I'm really, really excited to see where your future heads with all this amazing goodness coming your way. But I know there's people listening. Um, yes. And they say, you know, so I'm going to ask you, Pam, what advice What advice would you give to someone that is currently working full-time? Because I know a lot of people are still doing it and dreaming about starting their subscription box.

What advice would you give to them? The biggest thing is to know what you know and know what you don't, because when you are focused on 40 hours, 36 hours, 80 hours, whatever, at your full-time job, you've got that income, you can't do everything. Or maybe you can. If you are, you're better than me. So like photography is not my skill. So I have somebody that does that for me. You know, I, my husband has fortunately times when he's at home with nothing to do. So train him how to pack up a box. Oh, yes. So, so know what you don't know how to do. I don't know how to run— well, I do now, but I didn't know how to do Facebook ads properly. So I found a business that does it. I thought I knew how to do a subscription box, but I did not. So find a place that teaches you that kind of thing so that you know what to do. Other people have done the work, so take advantage of finding those people and learning and doing what they tell you to do.

And don't try to do it alone, right? Like, that's the biggest lesson here. You don't have to do it alone. There are groups like Launch Your Box that we get to do stuff together. There are people you can hire to do the things that you're not really good at or don't love doing. And then that gives— frees up time for you to be the mad scientist and you to do the things that you love doing when you're not— you're not great at taking pictures or don't love it. Um, and so I love, I love that advice. And, and people are listening that maybe been thinking about it for a long time, and what's your advice to just to get them going? Like, what would you say to them?

Nothing's gonna happen until you start doing something, you know? And it doesn't have to be a big giant, like, roll out the red carpet and it's all done thing. Like, I don't have business cards for the nurse practitioner subscription box. I'll get them someday. Like, I don't have my inserts printed for my first box that I have sold. I'm not shipping those out for another 3 weeks, so it's fine. Like, you don't have to have everything all in a row. You don't have to have it to get going. Yeah, nope. You've just— you've got to start. You've got a plan, but then you've got to start doing that plan.

Yes.

Yeah, plan that sits there is no good, right?

So, um, any of our listeners that are obsessed with nail polish, where can they find Stellachroma?

I am everywhere at Stellachroma. So my website, stellachroma.com, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, all the things. It's just @stellachroma. Okay.

And then if we've got nurse practitioners listening and they want in on all this goodness that you've got going on, where can they find you?

Yes. So my website is thenursepractitionersubscriptionbox.com. Which is a mouthful.

It is.

Um, and so my, my Facebook page is that as well. My Instagram handle is the NP Subscription Box. Okay. Because my fingers got tired. It— exactly.

You can find Pam all the places. Pam, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. I know it's great, and I know that our listeners got a lot out of it. I hope that Pam can inspire you to just get going and figure it out as you go. Pam, thank you. Have a great day, everybody. We'll see you back here next week. Wondering if a subscription box is right for you? Join my $10 coaching week from October 17th through 22nd. I'm going to show you how to develop your idea into a plan. Sign up today at launchyourboxwithsarah.com.