Randi Seiff: Clarity Comes From Doing

Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.

¡Hola!

All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Randi Seife with us. She owns a consulting company called Randi Seife Design and she does product design and all-over branding for fashion, hotels, and brands that give back. So welcome to the show, Randi.

Thank you so much for having me, Tyler.

Of course, thanks for joining us. We'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Randy, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

I would say do things that make you uncomfortable. And here's an example of what I mean. I've been working in design in the fashion industry for many years for various companies. And about 10 years ago, I found myself out of a job. So I started working on my own. After a while, an opportunity came up that was outside the realm of what I would normally do. We had a few meetings and they were very nice, but it wasn't entirely clear to me what they actually wanted me to do, but I decided to give it a go. It was a consultancy project for a big hotel in Las Vegas and I live in New York City, so I would be traveling there for meetings every few weeks and working from my home base in New New York. And so when we first started, they asked me to come to a meeting to meet the team, and I thought it was going to be in a small conference room with a few people. And when I got there, I opened the door to find hundreds of people in this giant room with the head of retail giving a speech on the stage, and then she gave a whole introduction and then announced my name as their new head of product development for this brand new retail concept for the hotel. And I was just as surprised as everyone else in the room. They were all surprised because I was this outsider from New York. Um, but once I started working on it, it turned out to be the best gig I ever had, and it was truly a dream job. It was so creative. I was able to create everything from clothing and accessories to kitschy fun lifestyle products to jewelry to gourmet food packaging and so much more. And creatively, I was able to extend their brand's reach into new products and categories that had never even been— they hadn't thought of before, and creating new revenue-generating opportunities in areas that had previously been untapped. And I then learned that these same skill sets I had from working in the fashion industry totally applied here as well. And this has led me into new arenas besides fashion, like fitness, hospitality, entertainment, and it's opened up new opportunities for my business. So the underlying message is to do things that make you uncomfortable, that push you out of your comfort zone, and just put yourself out there. Because had I not done this, I never would have imagined this whole world of creative opportunity for me and my business. And I still work in fashion, but now I also have all these other sandboxes to play in too. Yes.

And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that is within your expertise or industry?

I would say stick with your gut. Um, when I was coming up in the fashion industry, I would always be told you have to pick your area of expertise and no one does it all. And most companies were structured that way too. You were either in design or you were in production or you were in marketing, etc. And I was in design, but I always felt boxed in. I was always able to see the larger vision and ideas of what that should be. So when I went out on my own, I had the freedom to do that, and I still do it today. It's actually my point of difference from others. So taking something from a concept through design and branding, through sourcing and production, through packaging and the visuals and graphics, through to the finished product on shelf at retail. Plus creating marketing solutions that tell a brand story and bring its personality to life. So stick with your gut, it can be done. And I'll quote that iconic line from Dirty Dancing, "No one puts baby in the corner." And what is your best piece of overall business advice, not necessarily industry-specific? I would say to infuse you into your business. You want to infuse your personality, your voice, your heart, and your unique stories and your values into your brand, like your uniqueness. And that virtually eliminates your competition because if you think about it, there's only one of you on the planet and that's all there's ever going to be. So your everyday stories give you an emotional edge and help you stand out from the crowd. And your message will resonate because it's based on something real and authentic. So leverage your uniqueness.

And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

Um, I would say start before you're ready. Action creates progress and momentum, and constant action is all you need to make anything happen in your life. So avoid getting into that analysis paralysis zone and don't go down that rabbit hole. You want to move the needle forward and just Start. I know for myself that too many times I would wait to start something until everything was perfect, but when you do that, you limit yourself and your progress. So just take the leap and start.

And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?

Other than a slice of the birthday cake at Milk Bar, because that really makes me happy, I would say doing things you are really passionate about. And this will fuel you on a daily basis and motivate you. You'll be happier overall, and in turn, your relationships will be better and every aspect of your life. So do what makes you happy and always try to do things from a place of kindness.

And what's the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?

I have to admit, I don't read a lot of books these days, but I do read a lot of blogs and articles online. And one of my favorites is Seth Godin's blog. He's always such an easy read. His writing is short, to the point, and unique, and he tells great stories. But while he's entertaining us readers, he's also teaching and inspiring us at the same time. He's always so authentic, and he lets us know that we're not alone in our fears and our ordinariness, so you kind of begin to relax. And he just has a natural sense simplifying complex ideas and gets you to believe that if someone else can do it, I can do it too. He's just very grounding to me.

Yes, I love Seth Godin as well.

Yeah, he's awesome.

And what is your favorite quote and why?

That would be clarity comes from engagement, not thought by Marie Forleo, meaning clarity comes from doing, not thinking. And here's an example from my own experience. My— for many years in the fashion industry, I was designing jackets and coats among other things, but I was feeling completely unfulfilled, like what I was doing wasn't really all that important in the big scheme of things, and I needed something with more purpose, but I had no idea what that meant and if it was even possible, and I was struggling to find that purpose, something to feel passionate about. And then as time went on, I took a chance on getting involved with launching a new startup. Much of which was based on the premise that a portion of the proceeds of every item we sold gets donated to a charity. And besides creating the collection, part of my wheelhouse was to identify which charities or organizations we would work with in this regard. And this really got me energized because we'd be making a difference. And so I realized this same purposeful agenda could be instilled into the DNA of my own business and I made a conscious decision to change the way I operate and to make that happen. And now I have a business with more purpose than just making money. But turns out it's also very strategic because this purpose motivates me and fuels me every day. And I never would have thought of this had I not started working on that new startup. So engagement and doing got me here to this more purposeful place. By doing, you somehow just figure it out.

Yes, thank you so much for coming on. This episode was so valuable. The last question that I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?

Well, my email is randy@randysipe.com, and you can go to my website and get the spelling on that, and the website is randysipe.com.

Perfect. Thank you again. We appreciate you coming on.

Thanks very much, Tyler Wagner.

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