What Changed Everything in Her Subscription Box Launch with The Crafty Brick

Have you ever poured your heart into a launch and heard nothing but crickets? Today's guest has more than once, but instead of quitting, she pivoted, she tried again, and this time she launched her subscription box with 37 subscribers in just one week and hit 50 by month 2. In this episode, Courtney from The Crafty Brick shares what changed what she did differently, and how following a proven launch plan turned failed launches into recurring revenue. If you've ever felt discouraged, this episode is going to light a fire in you. 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 Launch Your Box podcast. I have the most fun guest for you today. Hopefully she's not going to require me to get up and start dancing on video if you're watching us on YouTube. And when you leave this episode, you're going to have to go follow her on Instagram. That's just all I'm saying right here. I've got Courtney Brickner here from The Crafty Brick, and Courtney is new to Launch Your Box. And so new in the last— did you join back in September?

September. Yeah.

Okay. So we had the launch in September. It's been September, October, November. Well, October, November, December, January, February. It's been 5 months. It's been 5 months since she came to launch her box. She figured it out so quickly. She's launched. She has recurring revenue. She has subscribers. And we're going to talk all about it today on this episode. Courtney, welcome. I'm so glad to have you here. Why don't we start with giving our listeners a little bit of what you— who you are and what you do, and then we'll take them back on the journey.

Okay. I am— I, I always say first I'm a stay-at-home mom. I've been a stay-at-home mom for like 23 years, so I don't, I don't know if that still counts because my oldest is 20, almost 23 now, but my youngest just turned 16, so she just got her license and you know, I've been just ripping and running around doing stuff for them constantly. I started the Crafty Brick in 2019 just because I wanted, you know, another way to bring in income for the family and support all of these sports that these kids do. And, um, I wanted something that kind of encompassed what I love to do, which is just make things. I love to create but I was like, how can I put those two together? Because really I've done all kinds of like little odds and ends jobs like throughout the years, and nothing just really filled that void with the creativity component that I wanted. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna start this. My husband was like, you love making stuff all the time, why don't you do it? And I'm like, okay, I'm gonna do it. So here I am, I've got The Crafty Brick, and basically in between running kids' places, I am making stuff for bachelor parties, bachelorette parties, birthdays, lots of different things. And I do content creation. So I'm showing people how to do the things that I do and behind the scenes.

Okay. Now let's— first of all, you can be a stay-at-home mom when they're 30 because listen, I have an 18 and a 20-year-old and I feel like my day is still consumed by them even though one of them doesn't live at home anymore. So that is totally valid. And we're going to, we're going to live that role for as long as we can. Perfect. Let's talk about your subscription box. So now that we know about your business, let's actually, let's go back and then we'll bring in the subscription box. Let's go back to you started this business and I want to, I want to hear how this journey came to the subscription box.

Okay. So I started 2019 right before COVID And I opened up an Etsy shop. I was selling, you know, one-off mugs, tumblers, t-shirts type things like that. COVID came and face masks went crazy. So I started making custom face masks and the business just took off. After that, I started, um, just doing more stuff. My Etsy store was taking off and people were hearing about me. I had done Instagram. I wasn't really big into being on camera or anything, so I would just show pictures and stuff. And then Reels hit the scene and I was super nervous about doing that because I didn't like being on camera, but I was like, okay, I'm going to try it. I went to Vegas with some friends and we're like, let's do the— let's do a dance reel. And I did a dance reel. It took off like crazy on my page. I'm like, I had so much fun doing that. Let me do some more. So I started doing more on-screen stuff of myself, showing more of me. And I, I don't know, I love making, I love dancing, I love having a lot of fun. So I just kind of brought all that in. Long story short, it took me down the route of meeting brands and doing content creation. And I won a trip to Italy with Siser and went there for the launch of their new machine, and that opened up a whole new world of content creation.

Okay, wait a minute, you were doing content— are you talking about Caesar's Palace?

No, no, Caesar's like— sorry, Caesar Crafting. Caesar, um, oh, like the vinyl. Caesar Vinyl. Yes. Okay, vinyl. Okay.

And so you were doing content for these other brands that you, you said Vegas, so I'm thinking Caesars, like you're, you're dancing next to a slot machine and you get a brand deal. That's I'm sorry, I jumped.

I can carry on.

No, I'm with you now. So you start meeting and networking with crafting vendors.

And so you— To be honest, let me take you back because it wasn't— I wasn't actually doing— I wasn't working with brands at the time. I just started doing content creation. I started showing other people how to do the things that I was making. Okay. And Siser had a competition. And they said, you know, we're launching a new machine. It was like a 5-month competition. Whoever wins gets to go with themselves and another person to Italy for the launch of our new machine. So at that moment, I tell my husband, I'm like, we're going to Italy. And he was like, okay, whatever, babe. Sure. I'm telling you, I posted constantly. Like I was Caesar everything. I already used Caesar. I already loved them. But at that point I was like, oh, I'm posting every day. I'm going live. Cause you've got different points for going live and a static post. I posted everything. I ended up winning. So I go to Italy and I meet all these brands that are there at the launch. That is what opened the door for me working with brands and doing content creation. And I fell into content creator and I don't even know how that happened.

Wait a minute, because I'm so— I love this. And I didn't know this about you. So you're now live all the time, you're posting content about crafting. Are you attracting— is your following growing? Because, and they're like, you're getting crafters following you because you're using this product that they use and love. So is this happening to your social media?

It's— I mean, I'm telling you, I, I had a business before and I, I've struggled. It took me like 6 years to get 1,000 followers. It was I, it's because I didn't love that. I didn't love what I was doing. I was doing personal training. I didn't love it. I love making crafts and creating and content. I think, I mean, I didn't do anything really different. I just, I was just me showing up constantly. And then all of a sudden I had like 30,000 followers. I'm like, wait, what just happened? I don't even know what happened.

Like, not visible. You got visible and you made yourself visible by doing the things, doing the things on a regular basis.

I mean, I posted every single day and yeah, and so that started working. I started showing up as my true self and just sharing what I love and followers came and brands were like, hey, would, would you like to, I'd like to send you this. Do you think you could share about this and use it? We want to see what you think about it. And I'm like, I— this never crossed my mind when I opened an Etsy store that I was going to be working with brands and creating content. I, I don't know. So now I'm creating content. Now I've got lots of content creator friends in like that I've met throughout the years.

Yep.

And I love competitions and I love crafting. So I was like, you know what? I kind of feel like, how about I weld the two together? And I do like a craft competition. So I reached out to some content creator friends and I'm like, hey, I'm thinking of doing this thing called the Crafty Challenge. And they're like, okay, what is that? I mean, they were down, they were like, whatever, what is— what do you want to do, Courtney? I'll be there for you. And I was like, okay, I'm going to send you all the materials that you need to make this project. We're going to make it live together on my YouTube channel and we're going to see who finishes fastest and who gets crowned the crafty champion. And They were like, yes, let's do it, let's do it. I mean, some of them were like, you know, I really don't like competition, like I just like to craft. And some people said no, which is fine, but some people were super on board. So I started that once a month. I would take and have another content creator, we would make a project together, and it was so much fun. So after a whole year of doing that, I had 12 craftestants that had competed throughout the year. So I was like, okay guys, what do you think about doing like a whole crafty challenge weekend? Like we've got only 10 people were able to do the, the, the final challenge, but I had 5 people the first night, 5 the second night. And then the winner of both those nights competed the last night to see who won the final. It was so much fun. Oh my gosh.

I bet you got so many views from that. And like, here's the other thing. My little strategic brain just goes. Goes into overdrive. You've got these other creators that have their own followings that are now bringing their own followings over to watch what you're doing on your page. Like, this is strategic genius right here, Courtney.

Oh, it was so much fun. So at that point, I've got a lot of, um, followers that had been watching and they really liked it and they kept asking me, they were like, you know what, we want the project too. And I was like, hmm, how do I, how do I make that happen? I can't send everybody projects. Like, I don't, I don't know how that works. So I just kept thinking about it and I was like, okay guys, here's what I'm going to do. I will send you the project. I'm not telling you what it is. It's a mystery. So you're going to find out what we're making on the crafty challenge, but you're going to find out early because I'm sending it to you. So people were purchasing the crafty challenge mystery box. But some of them also wanted to compete. So I had— I started— I still had the Crafty Challenge, the regular one, but then I created the Crafty Fan Challenge. So these are people that were not content creators, just were other crafters that wanted to participate in the fun. So then we started the Crafty Fan Challenge. So I had both of them going on. And to be honest, the Fan Challenge was a little, a little stressful for me. Because I'm dealing with people that aren't accustomed to being live.

Yeah.

Um, don't necessarily have the equipment to be live, so we can't always see what they're working on. And not everybody— like, they cancel. Like, sometimes they would cancel last minute, and I'm like, oh, this is really hard for me. I— and the, the sound issues because they don't have the equipment. It was just a lot. So I ended up stopping that and I ended up stopping the whole thing. It just, it was getting challenging for me, so I stopped the whole thing. Then that was in 2024 that I stopped it. Okay. And then people were just asking for it. They're like, when are you going to bring the challenge back? I know you were stressed about, but when are you going to bring it back? So then I was like, let me, let me just give me some time. Maybe I'll bring it back. Maybe I'll like figure out how I can make it a little bit less stressful for me. And then it was August of last year that I decided to bring it back. But I was like, you know what? And I didn't bring it back as a subscription. I just brought it back. And it was only available to purchase 3 days out of the month. So 3 days at the end of the month, people could purchase for the next month because I needed time to get everything together. So it was, it was a very small window. I emailed people to tell them about it, talked about it on social media, but people were still missing it and they were upset that they were missing it because it was a short window.

Yeah.

So then they were like, you should make it a subscription. And I was like, I never thought about a subscription. I'm like, I think maybe I'm going to do a subscription. And then all of a sudden, I don't know, the heavens opened up.

The Facebook heavens opened up.

Facebook heavens opened up and I started seeing your ads. And I was like, this is weird. I didn't even tell anybody I was thinking about a subscription box. So I never mentioned it out loud for the internet to hear me. But I don't know, God was like, this is what you need, Courtney.

And you need this girl over here named Sarah in your life, Courtney.

You need Sarah in your life. So I started seeing your ads and I was like, I don't know if that's going to be worth it. I don't know. I see all these courses and everything, and I've purchased courses before, and I'm like, this is— I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. But it kept popping up, and it was a 1-week commitment, and it was $15. And I was like, what have I got to lose? I have nothing to lose. So I'm like, all right, I'm going to do this Subscription Box Week. I'm going to sign up and see what Sarah's talking about. $15, no big deal, whatever. Oh my gosh, that's all I can say. Like, life changed. Like, it just—

light bulbs went off for you that week, right?

Light bulbs went off. And Sarah, I have to say, at the beginning of the week, I had no intention of joining Launch Your Box. I was just like, I'm gonna get what I can from this week because I'm a do-it-yourself person. I, I grab things from here and there and I'm like, I can do it, I can put this together, I can figure this out. I don't really need to join her group to figure out what I need to do. I can do it. And then like by day 3, I was like, should I join her group? I maybe I should join the group. And then I just kept listening. I think I joined on day 4 and I was like, forget it. I, I need in this group. I need more. I, I know she's going to give me more in Launch Your Box. So then I joined and I have not looked back.

Okay. Exciting. So you join and you start consuming the content in the library, right? You're like, okay, I need to figure out all the things because subscription box idea, it's fun. It's sexy is what we call it in the industry. It's a sexy thing to think about because it's physical and it's visual. And then the unsexy part of it is all the logistics, right?

A whole lot of unsexy.

Yeah. And so now it's like, okay, I'm excited about this idea because the idea is fun and sexy. But now building it, I have to figure this out. But you figured it out very quickly and you launched. So talk to our audience about what you ended up launching and how that went.

Okay, so I brought back the Crafty Challenge Mystery Box in— and I think the first one was in September. So September, October, they were just getting the box. And, um, with that 3-day window— with the 3-day window, yep. So that was September, October. And then I— so I joined in October— the end of September of Launch Your Box. I start reading through everything, and I was like, okay, I think I'm going to finish out this year the way I've been doing it with my regular one-off, get it once a month box, and I'm going to launch in January. So 2026 I am going to only do subscriptions. So I just started talking to them about it, and I'm like, you guys, you know what I'm thinking about? You guys don't ever have to worry about missing a box again. I'm thinking about doing a subscription. What do you guys think about that? And they were like, yes, then I can just get every box, I never have to worry about missing it, and I just— I, I know I'm gonna get all the stuff. I love all the boxes. I'm gonna do it. Um, so I was like, okay, you guys, I think I'm gonna set it up. So then in November, that's when I started my waitlist. Okay, so I had gone through all this content in October of Launch Your Box, and I decided November I'm gonna start the waitlist. I had already planned on doing a 12 Days of Christmas live thing, like, already, that was already happening. I was like, oh my gosh, this is gonna be perfect. So I, I launched the waitlist in November. I start getting people on it, and then December comes. I'm already doing lives. So December 1st, I start my, uh, my, my giveaway. So I'm going to be giving away 2 3-month subscriptions, one for you, one for your bestie, so you guys can craft together. So I launched that December 1st. December 1st, I also start my 12 Days of Christmas lives. So I'm talking about this stuff every single day in December, and I'm just telling them, you guys, the subscription is coming. I've already started on the projects for next year. It's going to be so much fun. Make sure you're on the waitlist. It's going to be great. And at that time, I'm also just posting content on Instagram and, and YouTube, on all the places I post, um, just about, hey, it's coming, there's something new coming, it's going to be so much fun. If you like crafting, if you like games, this is totally where you need to be. And then I sat down with your launch plan. So I'm like, okay, I've got my 12 Days of Christmas Craftmas, and I'm launching at the end of, um, December because I want January 1st to be the purchase day. So I'm like, okay, let me track back my days for my launch. And Sarah, I think this is the, the difference for my launches. I've done launches before. I've done launches that sold zero things. Okay, like, I know—

wait, let's pause here because this is a— this is a— we have to normalize that because people get in their head about those things and they feel like a failure.

I'm about to cry, like So many, so many failures.

And someone listening right now is probably in tears listening to you because they've had— they've launched products or things that have not sold anything, and you pour your heart into them.

You pour your heart into it. I'm telling you, months and months of prepping for these things, and then you launch it and nobody buys.

It's crickets.

It's crickets. It's awful.

So let's talk about, let's talk about what changed for this launch for you, because I think that people that have launched things, not sold them, they feel like a failure and they give up. But you haven't given up.

That's the thing. I never give up. I cry and then I move on to the next thing. I'm like, like, dang, that sucked so bad.

Yeah.

And I don't jump to the next thing like right away, but I sulk for a minute. But then I'm like, I want this so bad. I want something to work out. I want it to be crafting. I want it to be something I like to do, and I want to share it with people. Yep. So I just keep coming back. Okay, but what was different about this launch? And I don't, I don't know why I'm getting so emotional. It's just I did so many things different. So one thing is I don't ever want to like annoy people. I don't want to, I don't want to talk about stuff too much. So I know in my last launches I would talk about it maybe once, maybe twice a week, and then I would continue with my regularly scheduled programming and do what I do. But I didn't talk about it that much. People probably missed the post that I was talking about because they didn't even— they probably missed it. So it wasn't even that they didn't want it, it's like they didn't even know about it. So, um, and emails— I'm not good with emails. Emails scare me. I feel like I'm bothering people. I don't want to be in their inbox that much. And a lot of times I feel like, um, I'm losing, losing people on my email list because they're unsubscribing and I'm like, oh, they don't want to subscribe to me. Like, I'm just, I'm bothering people. I don't want, I don't want too many unsubscribes. So I'm like, I don't want to email too much. No, I can't email too much. I just got to email sometimes. So this with your launch plan is, it's like on steroids, right? Emails on steroids. I was like, oh my gosh. I don't know if I can send that many emails, okay? But I'm going to do what Sarah said I should do, okay? So I scheduled all those damn emails. I scheduled all those emails. And so on the last day, there were 2 emails every day. Yeah. And I'm like, all right, I'm gonna email in the morning and I'm gonna email them at night. I don't want to email them now, but I'm going to email them anyway. And I just did. I'm gonna— let me show you. So this is my content plan. These were all the lives that I had scheduled. This was, this was content every single day, sometimes twice a day. So like it says, like on, on the 31st, a live, a post of my finished project, a post of me wearing the shirt, a sneak peek, email 5. That was 5 things in 1 day.

That was on the launch plan, right? And I I think that's where— here's, here's the benefit of having a plan. All you have to do is execute it, right? And I have perfected the plan for the last 13 years, and I'm really proud of that plan. And I know it works, or I wouldn't tell you to do it, right? And so it, it takes a lot of the guesswork out of the business owner's brain because we're overthinking everything already. And so if you say, okay, Sarah says I gotta go live, I gotta post 3 times, I gotta send an email every dang day. I'm gonna try her way because apparently my way isn't working that well. Let's see if it works. And it just worked beautifully.

It worked beautifully. And I think that was the whole thing. You know, I said I, I've done everything myself. Yeah. What I was doing, I didn't know everything, obviously. And it wasn't working. So when I decided to sign up for Launch Your Box, I committed to myself that I am going to do things differently this time. I'm going to listen to someone else that has done this before. I don't have to do all this myself. I don't have to figure it all out, right? And I'm going to try something new. And that was, that was the part that was scary. I'm going to try something new and I'm going to listen to somebody else and do what they say. And that launch plan was something, man.

Okay. So tell us what happens during the launch. Tell us your results.

So my goal was to get 40 people signed up and my husband was like, that, that, that's a good goal. But, um, you know, maybe, maybe not as many because I—

He's the realist, right? He's, he's the realist. He's like, great goal, but let's bring it down a little bit so you don't get— you don't you don't get upset if it doesn't happen, right?

Because he's seen, he's seen the, the upset. He's seen these launches that don't work. So he was just like, maybe not quite 40, maybe 30. And I was like, I'm sticking with 40. I think I— because initially I was like 50. I'm like, maybe bring it down a little bit, 40. Okay, I'm sticking with 40. I feel good with 40. I'm gonna do 40. And then at the end of that week I had 37.

I had 37 people. Now listen, it's not just purchase. It is 37 people that have handed you their credit card and said, charge me month after month. 37 people made a commitment to you because they know, like, and trust you because of the way you've been showing up in their feed.

Yes, they did. And I was like, oh my gosh. And I— okay, so in your launch plan, you've got the Post-it notes.

Yes.

And to be honest, to be totally honest, that was what made me join Launch Your Box. I was like, I want in this. I, I want my name on that wall. I want to be part of this, whatever it is. I want to build my business. I want to connect with these people. I want in. Put my name on that wall. So I joined, and you actually wrote my name one of those days, and I got my name on that wall. And I— the way that that wall spoke to me, I knew I had to do that with my, with my launch. And I don't even have a wall, but I have this. So I just stacked Post-it notes behind me. I stuck them to each other and Every day people were added to the wall and I would ask them, is your name on my wall? And I would show them and they're like, I want my name up there. And, and actually, so I have 3 levels of my subscription. I have the base level, which is just entry into the clubhouse. We have a private Facebook group. So the name of the box is the Crafty Challenge Club. And I just went all in with the whole club game. So we've got a clubhouse where we have activities and lives and talking, um, community. So to enter into the clubhouse, you do not get the project, but you can join the clubhouse, and that's just the base. Then we have the, um, just for fun package, and it just has the project. And that's if you do not want to compete in the challenge, you just want to come do the project on your own time, you just, you it's just for fun. You're in it for the fun of it. And then you have the Bring It On package, which is you want everything. Bring on all the crafty fun that you can. You want the— you want in the challenge, you want the club, you want the project, and you want a t-shirt. So I design a t-shirt every single month that goes in the package, and it corresponds with the project that month. Um, someone signed up on the first day and joined just the Clubhouse package. Okay. As the week went on, she said, and quote, the FOMO is real. I want to get in the Bring It On. Can you please switch my package to the Bring It On? And I was like, what? And that was the first week. Within a few days she wanted it because she saw the lives. She saw people talking about they were in, in the chats on the lives. She saw my wall growing. And she wanted her name up there and she wanted more. So that was, that was really fun to see her want to switch her package and upgrade in the first week.

Well, we're, we're recording this before this airs, but we're now in February when we're recording this. So you launched in January, then what happened next?

So I, um, let's see. I just continued on with what I was doing. I took your advice of when I'm building a box, all the content that you can get from a box— mind blown. I get probably 20 posts.

Yep.

From packaging up, making— like, it's behind the scenes. So making the t-shirt, maybe, um, because sometimes the project might have— I've got multiple things to put in a little bag that goes in the, in the package. I just film me putting everything in the bag. I film me folding up the boxes. I film me putting everything in the box. I film all the time. So when I—

again, say it again for everybody listening, because I can't make reels.

Say it again. I'm telling you, it's, it's simple. So like right here, like I've got every month now, and I showed my friend my calendar in December. I'm like, look at all these Post-its. And she's like, are you going to keep that up? I don't know if you're going to keep that up, Courtney. And then I showed her January. I'm like, um, yes I am. So this is every post for January, and basically it's picture with the project, making the tees, printing the tees, a picture with the supplies, a reel with the supplies. So when, like, um, next week is like the week that starts. So at the end of every month is kind of when we really start talking. I talk about it all month long, but This Sunday in the Clubhouse, we're making the project together. Monday, I'm doing the unboxing on YouTube. So everyone will see what the materials are. I don't tell them what we're making yet. I just show them everything that's in the package. So then they're still wondering, what are we making with all these materials? And then Tuesday, I post just a picture of all of the supplies. So yesterday I unbox it. Today I'm showing you all the supplies. Tune in tonight for the challenge to see what we're making. So the challenge is always the last Tuesday of the fourth Tuesday of the month. So the challenge will be next week. And then after that, I have a picture of the finished project, a picture of me holding the project, a picture of the t-shirt, because I haven't revealed all of that all month. Basically, the month is my storytelling of the whole box. It's just— that's what goes into it.

And the difference between this now versus what Courtney used to do— we're talking about it every day. And, and it doesn't feel old and stale, like you're talking about the same thing.

It's—

I'm talking about it in a different way almost every day. And that's keeping it visible, and that's keeping it top of mind. Where old Courtney would say one or two times, here's what we're doing, launch the Cricut. New Courtney is saying, I'm talking about this all time, and I've got it planned out, and I have been able to create so much content from one box that keeps it relevant in my feed and not stale. It's not the same picture, it's not the same video, it's not the same spiel. It's something different all the time, and it creates that visibility and it creates that excitement for people to subscribe. And more people have subscribed, right?

And more people have subscribed. So now I am at 50.

You're at 50 by month 2.

Yes.

Um, and that's going to continue to build. And here's the other difference: old Courtney was selling one-time things, new Courtney is selling recurring revenue. And so every month these new people are compounding on the people that were here before. And so it grows, um, with a huge level of compounding versus I'm having to chase a sale every single month. I have my customers month after month, and when I'm able to compound on them every month after, it's building a very sustainable, long-term, stable business for you. And that's what you've been longing for all this time, right?

What I've been longing for. Yes.

Yeah, it changes the game. It changes, it changes our mental capacity. I don't know about you, but before I started my subscription box, like, when that second month, when those charges hit again automatically, it was like I could finally breathe. Like a deep exhale of, okay, I can pay the bills this month. Okay, I, I don't have to start the month at zero again.

Yeah. Hey, okay, let's go get 10 more next month, and let's go get 10 more the next month.

And when you look at it that way, it doesn't feel overwhelming and it doesn't feel hard. And I had this this little Post-it note on my desk back in old one-time sales Sarah. It said, your rent is due every day. And so I would look at that and I would be like, my rent is due every day. I have to show up and make sales every day. And now I can breathe because the sales are automatic. All I have to do is work on compounding those month after month, and then boom, Years later, I have a million-dollar subscription box business that started with 44 subscribers, not unlike you who's starting with 37 subscribers. And so I love this story because it feels like me too. It feels like me, Sarah, circa 2016, um, because it just starts with one, knowing there's a better way to make sales as a product-based business owner. Two, what I love about your story so much is that you're so passionate about what you do, and that makes you the best business owner. That makes you— helps you show up in a way that's exciting and fun. And that's what I try to get across to people that want to start a subscription. I'm like, what are you passionate about? Like, I always ask them, like, what could you sit and talk to anybody about any day of the week, right? And that, that's going to be crafts for you, right? And so, um, when we think about starting business, that's where we should start because our energy about what we do shows on camera. Your energy shows on camera every single time I see you on the Instagram. And I just, I say the Instagram. Do you know my mom used to call it the Walmarts? Like there were the Walmarts. Like we got to go to the Walmarts. I'm like, Mom, it's Walmart. See, now I'm the old person calling it the Instagram. And so what I want people to really feel encouraged by is that you just have to start. And here's the other thing, you don't have to have it figured all out because you can walk into a situation like you where you walked into me handing you the map, right? And all you had to do was follow the map and now you're on your way and you can ebb and flow and you can change that launch plan and you can do whatever feels good for Courtney. But if you don't ever start on the right map, you're never going to to get your— find your way, right? And that's all we're lacking sometimes. And I've spent, I've spent years perfecting that map. And the other beautiful part, you know, you mentioned, and this is a stigma that we get online about coaches and courses and programs. Um, anybody can say they're an expert at anything. Anybody can develop a course or a program, but it's someone that's still doing the work that her students are doing. So I still get to test and try things. I still get to perfect the plans. I still get to— because our world is ever-changing. And so what may have worked when I launched in 2017 definitely does not work in 2026. And so I get to still update that in real time, in real life, in our community, in our training programs. In our resources. And I think that that's like the best part for me is that I still get to do it with you. Like, I get to be a part of your journey. I'm seeing your journey unfold in our community, and it makes me so excited for you.

And I love that you're that— you're like that. Like, I love that you're doing it as well, so you understand completely what I'm dealing with, what all of us are dealing with.

Yeah, because I've been there. I've been there at zero. I've been there— like, you have way more followers than I do, let's just say that. Like, I've been there with, you know, getting social media feels hard. I've been there when I'm trying to launch the thing and it's failing. I know how you're feeling in those moments, and so I'm able to speak to you in a way that a lot of people can't.

Yeah, yeah. And I have to point out one more thing that I feel like was a huge game changer just with your program. Um, one of the lessons that you talk about is, uh, fulfilling the boxes and dealing with variations. So I have t-shirts in some of the boxes and some of the boxes don't. I was filling all of them at the same time. I was, um, tallying. I had a piece of paper and I was tallying t-shirts so, and so that I could order the right sizes. And, you know, tally marks are not always accurate. They're not always accurate. True. I might order the wrong number of extra larges that I needed, and I'm like, oh my gosh. And then when I'm putting the packages together, I'm like, oh wait, wait, no, that one should have had an extra large. That— oh my, I put the wrong size, and now Oh my gosh, so now I have a spreadsheet with everything in it, and it's actually nice because I, I set up this app so when an order comes through, the t-shirt sizes are already calculated. So now I don't even have to tally. I look in and say, you know what, I need 6 XLs, I need 5 large, and whatever. I can just order. It's so much faster for me to order, and I'm printing out labels to put on the boxes. I'm only filling the ones with the t-shirts all at the same time, and then the ones without the t-shirts, those are all next. And man, that, that's a game changer, having that label to put on the box. Yeah, know that this is what goes in this box. It's just, I never, I hadn't, I wouldn't have thought of that. I mean, maybe down the line I would have, but yeah, you would have because here's what happens.

44 is fine, 37 is fine. But what happens when you're fulfilling 300? Tally marks no longer work. And so as I grew, I figured out how to make this scalable, how to manage it when it started to scale. So those things that I'm teaching you were things I figured out by the 300 mark or the 100 mark, or like, okay, this hand note on how many sizes I need, um, is no longer gonna work because I have 200 t-shirts that I have to order in, and I'm not counting those one time, you know what I mean?

One more time. That's what it is. I was counting like 4 or 5 times just to double check because then I knew— I'm like, I messed up last month, I can't mess up again this month. I gotta count them again, I gotta count them again. And now I'm not counting at all. So I really am thinking about scaling, and I'm thinking, just what am I doing? Can I do this when I get bigger? And to be honest, I don't know if tissue paper is something that I can continue doing.

Hey, not getting rid of it now before people expect it too much. Oh my God, I never did tissue paper, I never did shreds, and I am so grateful because it's not— it's something that it can scale, but is it worth it in the overall worth it, right?

And I know that you said 100 boxes to get the custom box, but even at this point I'm like, I don't know if this is what I want to continue doing, putting I mean, this is my box and it's got red tape. I'm putting 2 strips of red tape on and a sticker.

It's a lot of labor.

Yeah, it's a lot of labor. And when I look at the price of my box and I priced it out with some custom boxes, yeah, it was maybe 20 cents more.

Okay, that's worth it, 100%. Here's, here's what you— once you start to build, you start with what you have. If we needed to do tape We needed to do tape. But as you grow and scale, you buy back your time. That $0.20 that it's going to cost you is probably going to buy you back, what, 10 minutes per box?

Oh my gosh.

And that's going to add up. And so you have to start thinking like a business owner and being more productive because at some point your time becomes the most valuable asset that you have in your business. And so that's what scaling is, is figuring out how to create systems, how to create processes, how to streamline things, to buy back your time constantly. I love this episode. I want to, I want to ask you a question. If someone's listening right now and they are feeling all the feels of failure, like you have mentioned before, what advice would you give someone about moving forward and starting their subscription box?

I think I have a few things. One, you just got to do it scared. Like you just have to do it. I know I was so, so scared to send those emails. You just have to do it and don't quit. You have to just keep coming back. Like, I was— I mean, I have done so many things. I have shifted and pivoted so many times to get here, and I just feel like, oh, this feels so right now. Um, so just, I think, don't quit. And just do it scared. Just keep— yeah, do it scared, I think, is the biggest one.

Like, I always call it do it messy. Like, you don't have to figure— you don't have to figure it all out. You've got to get going so you can figure it out.

Exactly. All right, let me share real quick just like one thing I have figured out as of yesterday. So 50 subscribers, I lost 4. Already. Okay. Um, and I know that I'm gonna lose subscribers, but I was like a little bit down because I'm like, well, why are— they've only been with me one month. Do they just not like the project? What is it? So I have all those people that have been following me, like, know Courtney, they've known Courtney for years. None of those people have left. These were people that I believe joined from ads and know nothing about me. What I found out— so yesterday someone who does know me emailed and said, hey Courtney, how do I join the Clubhouse? I never got any information about that. And I was like, that's weird because I have an email sequence set up for everyone when they, when they join, when they purchase it. This is what happens. This is what to expect. You're going to get your box on the 15th, or I'll ship them on the 15th. Join the Clubhouse, here's the link to join. There's a 3-email sequence for them. I looked last night. Do you know that they're in— those people that actually canceled, they never received anything from me. They never received an email. There was something— so what happened, what I found out last night, I did a whole bunch of digging because I'm like, why is this not working? Shopify had them set up as a double opt in. They didn't— they didn't approve— they didn't approve my emails, so they never got in my email, um, list. They never got a single email. So some of these people joined at like, um, maybe January 10th. They didn't see a single thing from me. They weren't getting January's box. They weren't even getting a box until February. So they've got maybe 30 days of nothing from me.

Yeah.

And they don't know me. They just joined from an ad. So that I fixed that last night. So hopefully that, I mean, I just feel like I'm going to be continuing to learn stuff as we go, but just so people know, like, obviously, yes, things are going well right now, but that was definitely a setback yesterday knowing that so many people didn't get my emails and canceled.

Yeah. Well, it's good that you figured it out now before that number grows. And that's why you have to start because you figure things out along the way. And hopefully you can reach out to them and they'll rejoin. Give them a free month. Say, I'm so sorry this happened. Here's what happened. I'd love to have you back. Let me give you a free month. Here's what we did in January. I can get it all to you. I would love to have you back. You know, I would reach out because that's going to do a lot for you. But I want you to remember this. This is Coach Sarah coming out.

Okay.

The nature of our business is that we are going to have cancellations. It's not that they don't like you. It's not that they don't like your box. A lot of times it's about them. And I want you to remember that every month you're going to have cancellations. Okay? It's part of what we do and we can't internalize it. And at some point— excuse me— at some point, I want you to turn that over to someone you're going to hire in the future because it protects your energy by not seeing that. Okay, so that's my advice for you. Courtney, if they want in on the Crafty Challenge, where can they find you?

You can find me at The Crafty Brick on every social media channel, and my website is www.thecraftybrick.com. And you can get information there as well. Awesome.

This has been such a great episode. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for being transparent and open, because that's what makes the difference in, um, I think for women and business owners is like, we need to know, we need to normalize the no sales, we need to normalize the failures, um, and we also need to normalize the wins if we don't quit.

Yes. Yes. All right, thank you so much for having me.

Thank you, Courtney. We'll be back on the Laundry Box Podcast with another great episode next week. Bye.