041: From 50 to 580 subscribers with Cassandra Ross of ThreadCrate

Hey there, we just finished Subscription Box Coaching Week and it was filled with tons of amazing people with lots of inspiring stories. One of my favorite interviews was with Cassandra. Cassandra found a way to fill a need in the market and gain over 500 subscribers. Come listen in on our interview. 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. Hello, everybody. Welcome. I have got a special guest with me today. This is Cassandra. Say hi, Cassandra.

Hey, everyone.

From Thread Crate. And let me tell you just a little bit about Cassandra because you're going to want to stay for our conversation today. But she started— was it a year ago or a little more than a year ago? It was a year ago. She started a year ago when the fabric stores started closing down with COVID and because of COVID And so she started offering her subscription a year ago. She started with 50 subscribers. And I think on our call the other day, did you say you had 580?

Are you—

you're pretty close to 600 right now. So in one year, she went from zero to almost 600 box subscribers. And she works a full-time job. So we're going to talk about all of that today because I know many of you are in this situation. Let me know that you're here. We'd love to say say hi to you this morning. And then we're just going to, we're going to dive into it because I know that Cassandra's story is inspiring and it's going to help a lot of you just get out of your own head and get this thing going. Let me say hi to everyone that's here this morning. I see Jay is here. Hi, Jay. Margaret's here. Patrice is in the house. Launch Your Box members over here. Shanti is here. And our friend Stephanie's in the house this morning. Bobby's here. Bonnie, good morning. Scott, Pamela's here. I see Johnny is here with us today. So many awesome faces I'm seeing this morning. But Cassandra, let's just dive in because I think, I think your story is going to really open their eyes about some things. Let's go back to a year ago. Let's just start by telling me what you were dealing with and What happened? Where did this idea stem from?

So I started a year ago, and I think it happened right around the time where all the clothes, uh, all the stores started closing. And I was like, man, I'm a last-minute sewer, and so like I need last-minute thread, needles. And then so I buy the fabric and then I try to color match online, and I found out that I was— it's impossible because the colors are off. And I'm like, man, if I'm having this problem then everybody else is having this problem too, that, you know, isn't really savvy as far as buying fabric and things online. And so I was like, you know what, I'm gonna just start a subscription box and I'm gonna put everything in the box you need to create a garment. That way you don't have to worry about color matching online, you don't have to worry about what zipper, what kind of fabric, what pattern. I'll do it all for you and I'll send it to your, uh, door every month. And that's how I got started.

Were you already selling things or were you just sewing as a hobby? So you weren't a small business owner yet?

No, not at all.

So you were sewing as a hobby and you like to sew garments, and so you would have your fabric, you would take your fabric to the, the local store, and you would match like your, your zippers and your thread and everything to it. But what happened was you were having to start to do that online, and so things were coming in and they weren't matching what you needed. Is that what was happening? And so you said, you know what, I'm going to do this. Tell me in your mind, like, where you went from, like, just being a hobbyist to now I'm going to, I'm going to sell stuff. I'm going to be a business owner.

So I was on the phone with my mom and I was like, you know what, Mom? I was like, I'm gonna start this subscription box. She's like, do it. And I was like, Mom, I don't know what I'm doing. I just like, I'm gonna throw it out there and see what happens. Again, I don't have, I didn't have a huge audience on my personal Instagram or a business Instagram, period. And so I was the type of person that would post every 10 to 15 days and then want everybody to like it, but nobody liked it. And so I'm like, I don't know how I'm gonna start this business. Um, and I wasn't really a social media person to begin with, like I'm kind of private. And so I was like, oh my gosh, this is going to be hard. And so I was like, you know what, I started in July. I said, okay, October 23rd is my birthday. So I was like, this is going to be a birthday present to myself. So October 1st I'm gonna launch. And in 90 days I made this whole plan and I launched. I built my own site, I got Recharge started, I got some janky photos started, and I just kind of started from there.

So you just, you just scrap it together, right? Like when we don't know what to do, we don't know what we're supposed to do. So you're like, okay, I gotta, I gotta build an audience, so I need to create some social media handles. And so you started there. Then you gotta have a website to, to sell this on, and you went Shopify because I heard you say that you use Recharge, and Recharge is one of those subscription apps that you use on Shopify to sell your goods. So you started social media, you started building your own website. Have you ever built a website before?

No, no, no, no.

How was that process for you?

Um, it was daunting because I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing. And then like, I went through Fiverr, I went through like 8 different people to try to find a logo because I didn't like it. Um, it was very daunting, but I said, you know what, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna pull some stock photos and go with it. And it turned out great and I still, it's the same as what it was a year ago.

And I think that's important with the logo. I always have the need, you know, I'm a creative person and I always want, I always wanted to like change stuff up and make it new and fresh, but people recognize the logo. So don't change it, just leave it and it is what it is. It becomes recognizable, it becomes your brand. And so, okay, so we've got our website, now we're gonna go, we're launching our subscription and Have you ever launched anything before? No. So tell me how you went through this. Tell me the steps of what you did to launch your subscription.

So I think I started on Instagram maybe 3 weeks prior to the launch. Like, I, I didn't pay attention to anybody's steps, so don't be me, guys. Um, I just went— I just winged it. I, I literally winged it, and I started posting pictures. They were the most terrible, and they're still on my Instagram, so you, you'll go see how horrible my pictures were. But I just like threw some fabric on the floor, threw some like fake leaves because it was fall time and like took a picture. I'm like, this is what you're gonna get. Um, and I think my email list was maybe 100 when I launched. And so I kind of just started trying to build anticipation, like, hey, this is what you're gonna get. And funny thing is that when I sent out my first box, everybody hated it, but they stayed subscribed. Yeah, because I threw a bunch of trinkets and keychains and stuff people really didn't like.

People didn't need it.

Yeah. And so now I've learned that whatever I hate, everybody will love. That's kind of like how I pick items. Um, and it's the funniest thing, the fabric that everybody loves, I'm like, eh, but they love it, so I go with it. But, um, I basically started sending out emails once a week, and then leading up to launch, I think that first week before I launched, I did emails every single day to try to, you know, build up the anticipation. And then as soon as midnight hit um, I opened up the cart and then I started getting a few subscriptions.

Um, okay, and so you open your cart and then how did you end that first launch? You ended with 50 subscribers?

Yeah, so by October 8th I was ready to quit. I remember this day like a T, like I was done. I was like, man, nobody's signing up. I got like my first 10. I just told my husband, I was like, everybody hates it, you know, there's other sewing subscription boxes out there. So I'm like, I just can't compete with these people. It's just not for me. But I think that last weekend of my launch is when I got a lot of my people.

And what changed? What changed from that October 8th to that last weekend of your launch?

Um, differently, I changed my emails. I think every email I was just selling, selling, selling.

Okay.

Um, I changed it and I tried to get more personable, tried to get them to know me, kind of how I got started, um, the benefits of the box, and not necessarily necessarily pushing the box in their face like, hey, buy it, it's brand new. You know, I kind of had to change my tactic.

So you went from being salesy to more let me provide value, let me show you how I'm providing value to you, let me show you how I'm going to serve you. And we talk about that a lot inside our membership, from being, you know, salesy to how do you— you got to serve your audience before you can sell to your audience. So you were trying to sell to them before you were serving them. And so when you switched your mindset up, like, okay, I've got serve them. I've got to show them why. I got to show them the benefits. I got to show them the problems that this is going to solve before they're going to, they're going to buy it. They've got to get to know me. They got to like me. They got to trust me before they're making a commitment to you. They're not just buying one item from you. They're giving you their credit card and making a commitment to you. And you have to build that trust up a little bit. And I love the way that you kind of just switched your mindset right before that ended up for you. So you had a huge, you know, a huge launch. 50 subscribers when you are brand new and have a tiny audience, like she did not have thousands of people following her. 50 subscribers is huge. It's huge. Now you sent out your first box. They hated it. I love how you said that. And let me just rewind a minute so everybody can, can really understand. Cassandra just threw this together. Okay. A lot of us just throw it together. It's not perfect. It's messy. We figure it out as we go. But if you're waiting until the day that you have everything perfect, you are never going to launch your box. I will guarantee you that you will never launch your box. So we put it out there and then we make tweaks as we go, just the way Cassandra has done. So the first box went out. She realized that what they wanted wasn't what she thought they wanted. And a good business owner knows how to make changes and not afraid of making changes. So you made some changes for the next box. And then tell me about the journey over the next year. Just walk us through what was happening.

So by the end of December, I grew to about 180, and that was mind-blowing. And I know it was the holidays, and so that helped a lot. By December, I had joined with Baby Lock, which is a sewing machine company. And so that also helped with my promotions. And I think by March is when I was busting out of the seams, like I could no longer do it in my house anymore. And I was like, man, I don't want to go get a building and then 6 months later it fails, you know, and trying to figure out all the things. And I was in my head and I was like, oh my gosh, I cannot do this. I'm done. I committed to these people for 6 months, just going through all the things. Um, I was like, you know what, I'm gonna go get a building. I'm going to do this. Um, by March I had about 280. Um, and I was like, oh my gosh, like, how did this happen? Um, and then I believe in June or July I added a men's box and a kids box. And so I have a box for women's, kids', and men's, um, subscriptions because men sew too. And then you have people that want to sew for their grandchildren Um, but then I got into a thing where everyone's like, oh, your box is too expensive. And I was like, okay, because then everybody's like, well, I can go on Amazon and buy fabric for this, or I can go— it's like, okay, you know what, I'm gonna start a mini subscription. I'm still gonna capture these people some kind of way, you know, when they, when they cancel. Um, so I kind of had to pivot again. Um, and I feel like I have been pivoting since day one. Um, yes. So, you know, still to this day I'm at I think I'm at like 590 since, um, since we last talked. And I still am amazed, um, because I grow every day, um, and I, I don't know, I don't know how I did it still to this day. Like, I don't know, y'all gonna make me cry on camera. I don't know, um, I worked really, really hard to get here. And, um, in 2015, I didn't have anything.

I was homeless.

And so to be able to start this and to have 580 people is amazing.

It's amazing.

I'm thankful every day. And I can say, don't give up, guys. There's some days I get a nasty email and I want to give up, but don't do it. Just keep going.

It's, it's hard work, right? No one's here saying owning a business or having a subscription box is easy. Like, no, no one's saying that. Um, and so it's hard work, and we put put so much of ourself into what we do because we generally care. This is our baby and every month we put together a new baby and we send it out in the world and we're hoping that people love it and we're hoping that we've done a good job and we want to continue to grow and you have just grown, you have exploded so fast because what you're doing, you're creating a huge value for people and you saw a need that needed to be met. And I did this talk a couple weeks ago on my Facebook page about finding the gap and filling that gap. There was a gap in the market that needed to be filled and you stepped up and you said, you know what, I can do this. And you work full-time and you're still pounding out 600 subscriptions a month. And it's amazing to watch you grow because you're so humble and you're so, You're just awesome. And if you guys don't know, she was featured in one of the largest sewing magazines in the country recently, and that is amazing. You were also nominated for a Cube Award at Sub Summit recently. These are big things. Big things are opening up for you because you decided, I'm going to do this. I'm going to fill this gap that people aren't filling. I'm going to help them know, like, and trust me. I'm going to connect with people so they feel comfortable making a commitment to me with their credit cards. And I think that for everyone watching that has maybe thought about their idea, maybe you sat on your idea like me. I sat on my idea for a whole year before I ever even started because I couldn't figure it out. I couldn't. I was in my head and I, and I needed to get out of my own way. And I think a lot of times we just need to get out of our own way and make this easier for us. So let's talk a little bit about the challenges because it's not all easy. And we know one of the challenges is that you still work full time, right?

Yeah.

And so you're on a— you're on— you're at a crossroads here with your 600 subscribers. If we're going to grow and scale, we got to figure out what we— what we— you know, what we have to give up. And it's a scary thing. It's a scary thing to give up our steady income to something that's unknown. I was, I was at that crossroads myself at one point. And then the other, the other challenge that you mentioned to me was letting go. Let's talk through that a little bit.

Yeah. So I'm at a point where I need to hire, but it's super scary because Third Crate is my baby and to let go of one email or what if it's not responded to the right way? What if a box is packed incorrectly or the fabric isn't exactly 3 yards and I have complaints? Um, it's super hard to kind of let that go, um, and kind of like divvy out tasks because I've been doing it and it's been perfect, quote unquote. So then if I give it out, is it still going to be perfect? Yeah. Um, that's one of my biggest fears.

I think it's everyone's biggest fear. When I hired my first person, my fear was that I was going to give them a regular paycheck before I could even give myself a regular paycheck, and that was super scary to have the responsibility of someone else's livelihood. But I can tell you from my experience, I have now a team of over 20 people, that when we let some things go, and for me it was a little bit at a time, I'm a control freak just like you, I wanna have my hands in every bit of everything, they do it better than we do it because it's their one job. And we have all the jobs on our shoulders, and when we can take a couple of those jobs and give them to one person, They own it, they enjoy it, and sometimes they do it better than we do it. And don't be afraid to let that go. There was a question I saw in the comments I would love to address with you, but how did you get those first 100 emails? You said you had 100 people on your email list when you launched. Take us through how you built that email list.

So on my website, I had a pop-up. Um, and I know a lot of people, um, say don't do pop-ups, and I was like, well, I'm doing a pop-up. Am I going to get the emails if I don't have a pop-up? Um, but, and I use Klaviyo, and so in Klaviyo what helps as well is that I can have my pop-up set to go on certain pages. And so on a checkout page, I don't want my pop-up because that might irritate somebody and then they won't check out. Um, and so I used the pop-up and then I had like a coupon code, um, to give because I was also told that, hey, you have to give and take. So I want them to give me their email, I have to give them something. Um, and so I did a coupon code, which I'm changing it because what you said, I am changing it to something else. Um, but that's kind of how I got my first 100 emails, is kind of a give and take thing. If you subscribe and give me your email, then I'll give you a coupon code.

Yeah, I love that. Um, we'd love to take some— we'd love to take some questions if you have questions for Cassandra. I want to talk about Launch Your Box a little bit. So you came into Launch Your Box. Tell me, tell me a little bit about what that's been like for you to be there.

It's been amazing. I've met a lot of cool people, people that I didn't even know was in the same realm. I've kind of created like a group of friends. So like I have Patrice, I have, I have, I have so many new friends that, you know, I— that I didn't know that I could make. And, um, if anybody is like me, my husband doesn't want to hear about anything subscription box related.

Mine either.

Yeah, like when I got my sale, every time I would get a sale, I was like, I gotta sell! And he was like, yeah, okay. Um, and so it's great to have this, this group of people, this community, that when I do have a win, I can share it with them, or when they have a win, I can congratulate them. Um, and I know when I first started Launch Your Box, I'm like, well, I've already started, so I might not need it. Um, boy, I was totally wrong. Totally wrong. Um, I didn't know how much I needed this community. And so it has helped me a lot, um, just with small things, because everybody in Launch Box is on a different path. But when you link with somebody that is on the same path, it helps a lot. And, um, like Cheryl, she has Yarnable. It, you know, that's one of the people that I look up to because she's killing it. Um, so you just never know who you might you know, you might need.

I think that when we have small businesses, when we're running our businesses, it can feel super lonely, super lonely, and you feel like you are alone most of the time. And a lot of us are alone. We, you know, I started my business as a solo entrepreneur. I'm alone working in my house every day, and I just want to have someone that can relate to me. And if all I talk about is my business when I go to lunch with my friends, they're going to stop inviting me to lunch, right? Like, they don't want it. They don't understand, and they don't want to hear it anymore. And so when we can have a community similar similar to what we have going on in coaching week this week, we have that community, you know, inside Launch Your Box. Not only is it providing resources for you, but you have that community. I think the community is so special because I see over here in the comments, Cassandra, I don't know if you can see, but how many of them have shown up for you today. You mentioned Patrice, you mentioned Stephanie. They are here supporting you on your live today. And that's what the community is all about. And so I really, I really love it. I love that you're a part of the community. I love that you're able to come and share your story with us today because someone's sitting there right now thinking they can't do it. And I know that your story is going to inspire them. What would you say to anyone that has been sitting on their idea for a while and they're either scared or they think they can't do it?

I would say to just do it. Learn as you go. I'm still learning as I go. Like, I do surveys every month to all my people, like, hey, what do you guys think? What can we improve on? I do surveys in my Facebook group. Just go with it. A lot of it I winged, but the only way that I learned is by making mistakes. Don't make a huge mistake, but the only way you'll learn is by making mistakes along the way. So if you hold on to it, somebody else is going to do it. And then you're like, man, I should have did it. So just do it, you know, just, just do it. Jump out there and do it.

Do it messy.

Yes.

We figure it out. Like there's so many— we talk about this all the time. We kind of laugh at ourselves sometimes because we do things and we're like, oh, I should, I should have done it a different way. But you know what? It worked and you're going to refine it and it's going to get better and you're going to grow. And I said something last night during our Post-it Note Challenge that we don't start a subscription as just a quick win. It is a long game. We're playing the long game. We're building our business. For the long haul. It's not just a quick win. And so it doesn't have to be perfect when you get it started. We're just gonna get it out there and then we're gonna tweak it. You say you've been pivoting since you started. You've been tweaking it all every month. Every time you turn around, you're figuring out what is it that your audience wants from you. It wasn't that first box. Maybe it wasn't even the second box, but you're, you're learning and you're adjusting. And that's the best thing that we can do as business owners. And so just get it out there and get it going. And then having a great community along the way to help you through all the stumbling blocks, because we are on our own journeys, we're different places in our journeys. And there are so many people at every different level that you're going to connect with people, one, like-minded industries. That's a great place to connect with people that are in similar industries or they're in a similar season in their business. We're in lots of different seasons in our businesses or on a personal level. You're going to connect with someone on a personal level because of who they are or how you can relate to them. So there's all kinds of different ways that we can connect. I know in, I know in the comments, um, there was questions of how, where are you, how can we find you, what are you on Instagram, are you Thread Crate on Instagram?

Yep, on Instagram I'm thread_crate.

Okay, and then Facebook, you're Thread Crate on Facebook, and you can also find, um, Cassandra@threadcrate.com. Um, and let me see if there's Any questions over here before I let you go? Let's see. Jenny wants to know, do you have a private Facebook group for your subscribers?

I do. I'm torn on keeping it. It can be great as far as building a community, but then on the downside, if you have somebody that doesn't like your box or somebody that is up upset, or it can be— it can open up a can of worms. Um, and so you kind of have to pick your poison on what you want. Do you want the community and you're just going to deal with, you know, the downside? You know, you kind of have to, have to pick and choose.

So are you teaching tutorials, um, to them, or is that all included in their box, like a step-by-step, or do they just make whatever they want for your box?

Yeah, I have sew-along classes that I do, um, but then I also do monthly sewing chats. And so I still have a community. So if I decide to get rid of the Facebook group, can do that too. Um, I also have like a membership portal on Kartra that they can sign up to, um, to view all the sew-along videos. Because the thing with the Facebook groups is people don't use their real names. And so as I try— so when people unsubscribe, I kick them out of the Facebook group. But if they don't use their real name, it's kind of hard to keep track. And so I keep all my member exclusive stuff on the membership portal. That way you have to have your real name, so I can just kind of kick you off of there.

Yeah. Okay. And I know that we get that question a lot, like, do I have to have a private Facebook group to create a community? And I'm telling you, you don't have to have that. I don't have a community, a private Facebook group for my subscription box. I do everything kind of front-facing on my Facebook page and I create a community on that page. And then everyone else that's seeing it that's not part of the community, they're having some serious FOMO. So I'm just, I'm talking to my subscriber there. I'm sharing stuff from the subscriptions there. And it's really generating a lot of, I wanna be a part of this because it's not behind closed doors. And that's one thing that we talk about a lot. If you're doing everything behind closed doors, the people that are not a part of it are not seeing what they're missing. And so that's just some advice that I have, um, for you on that. Let's see, there's a couple more questions. Um, Leticia wants to know, how did you become a partner with Baby Lock?

Um, I honestly just sent them an email. Um, I kind of just pitched myself, kind of pitched my vision. I didn't have like a whole, um, what do you call it, like a slide deck of like my numbers. I didn't have any of that. I just sent them an email and they responded and I was shocked.

So that's awesome. You just put yourself out there and I think we're afraid to do that, right? Like, because we're— what's the worst case scenario? They don't respond, right? They, they delete our email. That's the worst case scenario. No one's going to reply negatively. They're just, no thanks, delete. So don't be afraid to put yourself out there. Let's see. So Angela, so on the— her website is a Shopify site. What are you using for your membership portal?

Kartra.

Kartra with a K. K-A-R-T-R-A. Yeah. I was like, I shouldn't be spelling on live video ever. Okay. I think there was a lot of questions. Okay. One question from Nas says, can you get people out if they're negative in the group? All complaining can be done by email only. You can do whatever you want in your own group, right? Like, that's our prerogative to do what we want. I've not had to remove anybody from coaching week so far. Yay. But in the past I have because people, one, break the rules that I've set for the group. Two, they're negative and nasty and we just don't deal with that. We just remove people. If someone has a legit issue Like if your strap broke on the purse that you just bought from me or it was in your subscription box, I'm happy to replace that, send me an email. And so I think you can just address things differently. But if someone is just a negative Nelly, bye.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm. All right, so if you need Thread Crate in your life, go over to threadcrate.com. You can follow Cassandra on Thread Crate on Instagram and Facebook. Thank you so much for joining me today. I know you're going to inspire everyone and you can find Cassandra over in Launch Your Box with the rest of us. I know she's hanging out in coaching week with us this week. And if you've already joined Cassandra, we have over 60 new members as of today. And so I'll be jumping on a Zoom call with them tonight to get to know them. I can't wait to get to know them. But You'll see us over in Launch Your Box. So thank you so much, Cassandra. I appreciate you being here.

You're welcome, guys. Just do it. At the end of the day, just do it.

Just do it like Nike.

Yep.

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