A multi-hyphenate is someone who does a lot of stuff and has a lot of passions.A woman who is a multi-hyphenate refuses to be defined by just one title.Know anyone like that?
But what does it take to succeed when you're gonna juggle a bunch of things at once?The conventional advice is to just do one thing at a time and do it well.What does it look like to intentionally say screw that advice?
I'm working on all the projects that I want to work on.I'm exploring this question with the famous supermodel turned powerhouse businesswoman, Kathy Ireland.She's famously on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
We all know that our culture underestimates women who are models.But Kathy is not playing around with her business savvy.Her portfolio of billion-dollar companies ranges from socks to furniture to health to tech.
So her career really embodies what it means to be a multi-hyphenate. So what's the formula for juggling lots of projects at once?I gotta know, cause most of the time I'm just struggling to keep my head above water.
Okay, so this show is about leaning into your inner boss and unleashing your inner boss, and I wanna start us off by playing a game, Kathy.I'm gonna call this game the Model Boss Rapid Fire.
Okay, so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna show you some iconic modeling photos from you, but we're gonna incorporate business into it. We're going to bring in the business.
So what I want to want you to tell me is for each photo, what was going on business wise, like what kind of businesses were you working on thinking about launching and also what's happening in the photo?All right.Okay.Okay, let's start.
You know what, Tara?This is such a great question.I got to tell you, ever since I started having children, life is a blur. It's like one year to the next.I think I think our children were very, very young.Chloe probably wasn't born yet.
Yeah, that's how I gauge time.What was I thinking?Honestly, I can't remember.Have you launched a business at this point?Oh, yeah.Yeah, this is this is post business.This is what this is working on around this time. a few years into it.
Well, we started with socks in 93.Yeah.And I am picking up on that 90s vibe.I am thinking this was early 90s.And I'm thinking by this time, the socks had grown into athletic wear apparel,
I had probably, in preparation for athletic wear, I went and got certified as a fitness instructor because I needed credibility.I didn't want to follow someone else's lead.
I know enough to know that you can do your body a lot more harm than good if you're following bad instructions.So that's a big responsibility.
Okay, we can look at the clue.This is good clue finding in the photos.Let's maybe look at one more.
Okay, let's see.I think that was, goodness, this had to be in the 80s.Look at that short little Azzedine Alaia dress.Yeah!That was the 80s.I think it was a David Letterman appearance.Okay.And it was right around St.Patrick's Day.
I'm pretty sure that's what it was.With the green. with the green.And I was playing a prank on one of my colleagues who had set up that the time for the pickup from the hotel.And I pretended that Oh, he said, How did the interview go?
Oh, they never picked me up.And it was just a whole funny thing.So was this before you had launched a business then?Yeah, this this was very early on.Okay, very, very early on.It was either right when we were starting the socks or just before.
OK, and you had you been thinking about the stock brand for a while.So even if we look at your photos pre first business and I think 1993, you were thinking about entrepreneurship or no entrepreneurship always.
I mean, since I was four years old, I've always worked and been entrepreneurial the entire time I worked in the modeling industry.I was trying and failing at businesses.
So I didn't necessarily know that I wanted to start my brand with socks, yet I was actually offered an opportunity to model a pair of socks and not quite as glamorous as it sounds.It was a tiny budget.
And they weren't sure if they were going to use, you know, maybe they just crop at the waist and get my feet.OK.But it was it was a job offer when not a lot of job offers were coming my way.I was a pregnant aging model at my kitchen table.
And I really like the people, John and Marilyn Barrett from North Carolina, and just started the process.We started with surprise factory inspections because you learn a lot when you show up unexpectedly.Yeah. I loved their how I loved how they work.
And I thought this would be I don't want to model your socks, but this would be a really great place to start.
Oh my gosh, I don't want to model your socks, but I want to start my own socks company is what you said.Yeah, let's go into business together. I love that.
Okay, so if I kind of go through your timeline, right, there's sock brand, which is where you started.And then by like 1999, you're added furniture brands.
And then there are a bunch of different licensing stuff that you did around cabinets, jewelry, fine dining, swimwear.Like I haven't even covered all of the businesses that you are part of and have been part of.
And I think about this concept of being a multi-hyphenate, that you have lots of different passions, lots of different things that you do.
And I contrast that with the concept of pivoting a lot, meaning you start with one thing and then you stop that and you turn to another thing.I think a lot of our viewers identify themselves as rapid pivoters.They know when to move.
And also a lot identify as multi-hyphenates.There's a lot of things that they love and they want to do and want to be part of.Which one of those two do you most identify as?
You know, Tara, it's a combination.I think when you focus on what you're doing and why and who you're serving.So there's a, though our company is vast and we work in many different sectors, the common thread is our customer.
And it's all about bringing her value and serving her.I say her because when we started our brand, we began with a mission of finding solutions for families, especially busy moms.
As a brand new mom, I was just overwhelmed at how underserved moms are.I mean, it's like, going to the store was absolutely heroic.So we had to make sure that her shopping experience was excellent.
And today there's many different options, yet it's still her time is valuable.So we've got to make sure that the, that the process is good and smooth, that we have the right price to value ratio at every price point, that the quality is there.
Brands are, it's about a trusted relationship.So today we, we serve women, men, children of all different ages and demographics, yet it's that common consistency.It's about solutions.
And if your life is perfect and you don't need any solutions, our brand is not for you.But if you need some solutions, that's what we seek to bring. whether it is products or services.
And you've got all kinds of solutions and services and things that you're part of.
If I kind of look at from the outside looking in at your trajectory, there is an initial pivot from I'm a model to I'm also going to be a businesswoman and I'm gonna transition out of being a model to just being a businesswoman.
How did you know you needed to make that pivot?
The modeling was a surprise.It was not part of the plan.My first job, I was four years old.I sold painted rocks from my wagon door to door.All of those things, watering plants, taking care of animals.I had a paper route for three and a half years.
Modeling was offered to me and I thought this could be a chance for me to save money to go to college or to start a business. The entire time I worked in that industry, I was trying and failing at businesses.And I look at failure as education.
So in that respect, I'm very well educated.The monthly career would not have gone on as long as it did if one of those earlier business ventures would have taken off.It just took me a while.
Interesting.So many of our listeners are there working on an existing job and they're trying entrepreneurship on the side.They're launching things.
And I think when people look at you in your career, they might think, oh, the modeling was intentional.That was initially the path.And then you pivoted.I just said that is my perception.
But I'm hearing you say no, the modeling was paying the bills as you were working on other types of entrepreneurship.What failed?What were some things that failed before you kind of got a business that took off?
Let's see, one was, I was working on a skincare line and I was working with, I met a scientist and I'd go back and forth, back and forth.I just was not satisfied with the quality and the process.
I met a lot of people I didn't appreciate the house, you know, how they're bringing this product to market.It's like, okay, that's not going to work with my values.
finding the right people who know your values, know what you believe and why you believe it, so you'd be willing to fight for it and walk away from situations if they don't align.Another business venture I tried was beer.So I'm not a good cook.
Someone gave me a book on how to make beer.I made my first batch it was really good.And I was, I mean, I'm not a big beer drinker, but I made it.It's like, wow, the price to value ratio, the margins was really exciting.It's like, Oh, my goodness.
Yeah, I make a big profit with beer and alcohol. I got a big head and I thought I was going to put those big brewers out of business.I invested time, my resources into that business.Basically, the next batch tasted like a science project.
It was horrible. I found this was in the 80s, and UC Davis had a brewing course, and I called the professor, said, do you have any grad students who might be interested?And I needed to learn.I needed to learn from people who were good.
So I met these guys, and I actually did a little partnership with a microbrewery.They were just coming on the scene, slow brewing. And they're doing great.
I sold my portion long ago because what I learned in that process, no judgment to anyone else, but I just learned that I. it's okay, but I don't love beer.I don't love being at events where people have had too much beer.
And I just, you have to love what you do.It wasn't enjoyable for me.So I just said, you know what, I don't want to be I don't want to earn my money off of this.It's not I don't have enough passion for it.
One thing that's really cool that I'm hearing about your entrepreneurial journey, though, is that you do a thing, maybe you like make some beer for fun or you have a modeling sock job.
Like these are seemingly small things that you get exposed to and you go, what What about a business about that?
If I contrast that to some friends that I have that are thinking about launching a business, they're sitting there trying to write a 20-page business plan, hmming and hawing and pondering, they're not really following the passion of like, ooh, I like this thing, let me try, ooh, I like this thing, let me try.
It sounds like you have a different approach, which is I like a lot of things, let me lean in, and then the second that I decide I don't want to do that, I'll lean out.Does that resonate with you?Do you think of it differently?
Yeah, Tara, it does resonate with me.And I do recognize, I am very blessed by that long ago modeling career.The greatest gift, I did not appreciate it at the time, but was all the rejection. There's a lot of rejection in that industry.
And so when I would present my ideas to people, you can imagine the responses that I got.People laughed at my face.When I was banging on doors, presenting socks to retailers, people said, you can never start a brand with a pair of socks.
I heard Jay Leno laughed at you about starting your furniture brand and was like, I don't see that.And then you're like, let me show you.
He's such a kind man.He didn't mean any harm.He was just having fun.I wasn't taken seriously.It's wonderful to be underestimated.It's totally fine.You know what you want to do and how you want to do it.
the rejection no means now we're talking it's like okay first of all i've got to be humble enough to learn is there something i've done my research i think you and i would be great partners it would be a great retail experience for our customer i've done my homework on you i think we're a great fit i see that i see that the
opportunity space there for us, what's the challenge?And they might have some good advice.You know what?You need to have this in your assortment or that or whatever it might be, the price points, whatever it is.But sometimes they don't have any.
it's just negativity.So we have to be discerning to know, all right, is there something I can learn from it?
Even if it's just awful criticism developed in a nasty package, you got to open that package to discern if there's anything we can learn from it.
And then, you know, you make the corrections if that's appropriate and say, all right, I'm going to come back.And I do recommend you put it in your calendar six months later.
I was maybe a little stalky, I'd come back the next day, but maybe six months later.It's giving, persistent, it's giving, I'm doing this no matter what, I love that.
If you believe in it, but it goes back to when you have a passion for something, you believe in it, and you care about it, and you know it's gonna make someone's day better, so you're willing to fight for it, and maybe the person who's rejecting you, maybe they will no longer be the decision maker, or maybe they'll be in a better mood.
But you don't know if you don't keep going back But it's so common for entrepreneurs to encounter people who do not understand what the heck you're doing Like for so long my mother was like what are you talking about?I don't understand.
Why would you not have this job at Microsoft?Why would you not stay and do this thing and I think like you have to I'm hearing you talk about the reps and that you've gotten in your modeling career to start of getting no's.
And that maybe even if that person, let's say that that person gives you feedback and says no and I don't really get it, at minimum the value I'm hearing you say that you get from them is another rep of a no.
Because you kind of have to be unafraid of the no's. Yes.
Well, I love what you said there, Tara.Unafraid.My favorite book says, don't be afraid over 500 times.So there is no room for fear, no room for it at all.There's going to be a lot of battles.And we got to face them.
We got to recognize if it's worthwhile, if it's a good battle.And if it is, we just move forward. with wisdom.
I was doing this activity recently where I was writing down things that I perceive myself to be good at and I was starting to write down like fearless and I was like well I don't really know if I'm actually fearless.I think I'm brave.
Like the fear is still there. I'm definitely freaked the F out.I'm like, oh my gosh, this is not gonna work.I'm crying on my couch.My boyfriends were like, you can do it, trying to hype me up.So I'm definitely still scared.
I think I've just developed a muscle of doing it scared anyway, like the bravery part of it.And bravery is different.I think you've had bravery to pivot when you need to, to work on multiple things.
There's a conventional business advice, which is do one thing. Do one thing, focus just on that, and go laser in, and you've had the bravery to be like, actually, that's not my vibe.
My vibe is I like different things, and I get involved in different kinds of businesses.We all have a different zone of genius in this front.But Kathy, I'm hearing you say that you can work on multiple things.
I think if you work on multiple things, you tell me if this is true or false.If you're working on multiple things, you have to be good at delegating and getting help.Is that true?
It's absolutely true.No, it's absolutely true, Tara.It's great advice.The most successful entrepreneurs I know are ones who are humble enough to recognize I need help in this area.
there are people who are smarter than me here and I need to I need their help and also those who empower others and bring opportunity for growth and that's that's exciting to me as well.And I in a sense I've got a singular focus.
And that's about bringing solutions.But the how, that's multifaceted.So that can be through FinTech, through health and wellness, telemedicine, fashion, home, entertainment.There's many areas where we can bring solutions and values.
But it's about being of service in many different ways and touching people's lives.And you talk about pivoting.That's so important.And I believe we Pivot when we're alert.We've got to be really alert and listen more than we speak.
When we engage with our customer, like I love spending time with our sales teams because we have ways of communicating with our customers and collecting information, yet they're on the front lines every single day.
And sales is the lifeblood of every business.Nothing happens without the sale.So when I can spend time with our sales teams,
They learn from me what was the inspiration, what are the innovations on this product or service that you're designing and marketing.And when I get to hear from them, I'm learning, okay, what is our customer responding to?
What are they not responding to?What are they looking for that we could do better?So it's just a great ongoing education.
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Yeah, no, I talk to so many entrepreneurs who are so doggone scared of sales.Like, particularly if they're early stage and they're the only person to be selling, or maybe there's one other salesperson.
Like, they just do not want to get on the phone to talk to people, to talk to customers, it's so scary.But that is like the fastest way to get the insight about what people want and don't want.
Do you, have you ever, so you talk to the salespeople and you ask them, do you join the call?Like, what have you done? in that way?
Yes.I mean, all of it, all of it.I've done everything from, you know, picking up the phone and calling, um, retail partners and just asking for an opportunity to audition our products that, that we really believe this would be a great fit.
Or when a sales person is getting blocked, it's okay.Let me know when you are getting blocked.So if I can be of assistance and jump on a call with you and we can talk about it.Let's learn from the person who is rejecting us what it's all about.
Is their concern valid or not?And maybe we can learn and get better or maybe they'll learn and they'll give us a chance.So it's not, but again, it goes back to having a passion for what you're doing because it's
You know, I don't have to tell you, Tara, you know how hard it is.And that there's a there's some 24 seven days.And so you got to have a passion for what you're doing.It gives you energy.And it just, it just makes it sustainable.
Yeah, to just keep fighting another day.
If Kathy is here on the sales calls, then we all need to get our butts on sales calls.I love this and actually talk to our customers.That's so
I want to go back to the conversation we were having about like getting help because I know for myself like as a woman as a woman of color I have to do so much work to deprogram the like no worries.
I can do it all by myself thing that we do and changing that to let me lean into asking my team for help and asking people to be involved I think I'm curious with your brands, what is your level of overall involvement?
I would imagine some of them you're more or less maybe early stage as it gets developed.How does that work in terms of how you're involved or not involved?
What you just shared resonates so much with me, Tara.And I think women, generally speaking, we're multitaskers and we care deeply about what we're doing.We want to make sure it's done well and right.And we can take on too much.
We have a hard time saying no.I was 40 before I learned that no is a complete sentence. No thank you is better, but no works.And oftentimes we have to say no to good things in order to say yes to great things.
It's recognizing that it's actually kinder to other people if you empower them and give them opportunities to grow rather than trying to control everything yourself.
like our listeners, if they're thinking about what are the ways that I can take my business that I started or that I want to start and not do all the things for it, right?
Like I don't have to be the one that does all the distribution, all of the packaging, all of the everything.I want to walk through some ways that they can do that.
But I kind of want to understand a little bit more about sort of how your business has worked.So for the sock brand, for example, when you started, you found an existing sock manufacturer and brand. And then you partnered with them.
When you partnered with them, did you start a separate line of business with them?Tell me how that worked.
Yes.So these were the people that kindly offered me the chance to model their socks.I loved the socks.So my husband and I, we did a family-based focus group.We did a lot of backpacking back then.
And my husband, being an ER doctor on his feet all the time, he's like, these are great socks.They were really, really good socks.Very plain. And I thought, okay, what could our team, I had assembled a little team.
And just what could we bring as far as fashion?Innovative, just wonderful, innovative fabrics and technologies.What could we bring to a basic pair of socks?It's something that people need.And that's how we started.We started our own line.
And it was hard in the beginning.
Did the line have your name and branding on it or not necessarily?
It did.Yeah, the team outvoted me on that.I was like, I don't know if I want to have my name on it.Yeah.Anyway, that's how we started.And, and we just we grew it from there.
you're almost like touching on it lightly, like it's no big deal, the brilliance of building a business where you're not doing every single thing and where you're leaning on partnerships.
And I wanna kinda do a deep dive of what that could look like for some of our listeners, because sometimes it's hard to imagine if you're a woman entrepreneur, if you're a starting entrepreneur, like what do you mean I could not do everything?
So I'll give an example, like I'll give an example for myself.This podcast that I do, It is typical.Most of my friends do their own podcast and their own studio.And I partnered with Morning Brew to do this show, and they do a lot of the work for me.
And it's been a really interesting model that is different from how I normally do business, which is I do everything myself.That is normally how I approach things.But this time, I was like, you know what?
I'm going to diversify that and lean on a partner.Let's say that you have an e-commerce
business, right, and you sell t-shirts or clothing or whatever it is, you can partner with a dropshipper so you do the sales and then they do all of the fulfillment and getting it to customers.
That's an example of a way you don't have to do everything.Or if you have a marketing agency, right, maybe you run, maybe the agency has ads and you run the ads for customers.So that's part of what you offer as a service.
But maybe copywriting is not your thing.So like writing the content of the ad is not your thing.So maybe you hire a small agency like a copywriting agency to work in partnership with you so they do the copywriting part and you do all the rest of it.
Or let's say you have a coaching business, and maybe one part of coaching you're really good at and a part you're less familiar with, so you bring in another coach to do it with you.Or you work at a job.
Actually, the producer of our show, Gabby, I've watched her over the years get really good at this, at delegating and asking for help.When you think about bosses, a boss is not doing everything themselves.They're just not doing it.
They're the one who's like, they're good conductors. And I'm hearing you talk about being a good conductor.I would love to ask our audience to kind of participate in this conversation too.
So come to YouTube, go into the comments, share with us one thing either in your business or your job that you think you could maybe delegate to someone else or pull in a partnership so you don't have to do every single thing.
I think Kathy is really kind of getting my mind turning about this, about what it looks like to not have to do every single thing.
And you know, Tara, for somebody who's just starting out too, you might not be able to afford the people that you need to hire.That doesn't need to stop you.There are many ways you can work creatively.
So perhaps you can go to a college and maybe there's a grad student who's really good at graphic design and maybe that's not your thing. So see if there's something that you can do.You can trade.You can do babysitting.
You can help them with, you know, how can I help you?Let's work out a trade.Maybe it's not monetary, but services.Also, you can think about, I say, make your contracts very carefully and just be
think forward and have terms that work for you that give you an opportunity to renegotiate.And maybe somebody gets a percentage of your company, of your business, and you set the terms, make terms that are good.
So even if you don't have the money to hire people needed to get your business off the ground, there's ways of moving it forward.
That's such a great point.I did so much bartering when I was starting.I remember there was a PR firm that I really wanted to work with, and I did not have the budget to work with them.
And I got on a call with them, and instead of me trying to figure out how I get what I wanted from them, I just kind of backed up and asked them, what are you guys up to with the business?What are you doing to scale?What are your priorities?
And it turns out that one of the things that they really wanted to focus on was building out more sales funnels and marketing pages and things that I was particularly good at.So I was like, okay, I found an in here.
Let me suggest that I help you with what you need and you help me with what I need.I had no money to pay them, but we did a barter and it worked out really well.So that's totally a good way. I love that, Tara.
That's brilliant.That is absolutely brilliant.So inspiring.
I know a lot of entrepreneurs where they do not want to be front and center the whole time for their brand.They don't want to be the face of it.
And I think you've kind of had an interesting hybrid approach because you're licensing, you're using your name, you're using your brand, but it's not like your face plastered everywhere in the same way we see some other brands.
What do you think would be a good, if someone wanted to research the way that you've done this and kind of found this middle ground hybrid?They're an entrepreneur.They don't want to be front and center the whole time.
They're willing to do some, but they don't want to be the front and center only thing.What could we look at in your archives to kind of see how this has worked?Is it social media posts?Is it how you launched a certain brand?
Is there anything we could research to see how you've done that?
When you come from the modeling industry, it's not the healthiest of industries.And you're made to feel old at a young age.There can be a lot of pressure in that area.And so something that we developed was the aging of Kathy Ireland.
And not everybody sees that the way I do.But the way I see aging is it is not dependent upon how I look. I'm going to grow old and that's okay.And I celebrate that.I'm not going to fight it.I'm not going to pretend that I'm 20 when, when I'm not.
And it's about our customer.So I would just say, you know, know what you're doing, why you're doing it and have a plan for sustainability.I want to go back to this document that you had.
Cause I, I, You have a document internally at your company that is called The Aging of Kathy Ireland.Is that what you're saying?It's something you guys wrote up?Okay.
And the premise of the document is to think about what if Kathy doesn't want to always be the face of the brand?Is that kind of the point of it?Is it like how you age and how the brand will transform with that?What's the document about?
So it's how to have it be sustainable.So when I'm no longer in my 20s, how am I going to reach that 20-something customer?How will the brand grow with me?What is the plan for that?And how will it not be dependent upon my outward appearance?
And there's times when I have to remind, somebody gets a hold of a photo, it's like, No, don't be retouching.Yeah.It's okay.It's really I think for you to look how you look.Yes.
And I think our customer we built our brand on trust on a trusted relationship.And I think our customers smart enough to want that authenticity and a celebrity endorsement is fine.If you're a celebrity. I'm not and I haven't been.
So again, that's why our brand, it's not about me.It's about our customer and celebrity can be very, um, it can be a very fickle thing.Um, it's not very secure.
It's, um, so I would rather build something that wasn't based on if somebody likes me one week or doesn't the next week, it's not, it's not about that.
It makes a lot of sense, and it is particularly relevant today in this age of social media, where so many people feel like in order to sell a product, they need to be a personal brand and posting every day, three times a day on social media with their face talking about the product.
And I'm hearing you say that you literally have an internal document that talks about, like, how does the company diversify beyond just the way that you look at that time?
How do you still serve different customers who respond differently to your personal brand?And this is something that I think about for my own brand, right?
I have operated very much as the face of my brand, and we're in the middle of talking about how do we switch that up and diversify that?
Is it brand ambassadors and different people get like the United Colors of Benetton, like a bunch of different people have different backgrounds.Is that the approach or is it just faceless?
I think in today's day and age people respond more to like a face than just a logo and so figuring out like is it other faces, is it we bring in brand ambassadors, is it bring in, like what does that look like?
That's something that I'm thinking through and I think a lot of entrepreneurs are thinking through because today it feels like you have to put yourself on social media and you have to be the brand.
So we've been talking a lot about like doing multiple things, either pivoting from one thing to another or having a portfolio of brands and things that you work on and being a multi hyphenate.
I imagine, though, that there are some downsides to working on many things at once. And one of them is maybe, like, you've got to think a lot about timing.Like, there's a right and a wrong time to add something to your portfolio.
If you're an entrepreneur, you've got three different ideas.Maybe you don't start with all three.Maybe you kind of come up with a plan for when you add.
So I'm curious, when you think about your first few businesses, how did you know it was time to add new ones?
What a great question that is.
And it's a bigger question, even beyond business, because for life, it's, and again, it can be hard to say no when there's good opportunities, but boundaries are really important, both in our personal life and our business life.
It's so important to figure out, like, what are your values?What are your priorities? and put boundaries in place to protect them because they will be challenged.Yeah.And life comes in seasons and we can't do everything all at once.
But maybe at this season of my life, I'm going to I'm going to work in this industry.And down the road, I'm going to bring in this one.And you you strategize it and you sometimes something else and things ebb and flow.
You also look at you look at the market and you say, okay, how are home sales right now?What's going on in that industry?How is this going to impact my products?
How do I help people who are really struggling and they need to sell products in their stores?Maybe I can think of items that are less expensive and it can be incremental sales to them.Maybe they wouldn't necessarily
think of selling a candle at a furniture store, but you know what, maybe somebody's not going to buy a sofa today, but they'll buy some candles and they'll tell their friends and bringing that, that quality of service.
So it doesn't mean abandoning the sector that you're in, but thinking of new ways to approach it and then working in other sectors as well.It allows you to pivot quickly.
I have a project right now that I would love to launch about self-awareness.And I keep going back and forth, so it's like a content series about self-awareness.I keep going back and forth about timing of when to do and launch this project.
And I keep coming up with the fact that I feel overwhelmed by all the other stuff I have going on, and I kind of know maybe I need to change the timeline, move it around.
And part of me feels really guilty because I'm moving the timeline around, it's kind of changing in my plan.
And the other part of me feels like no, actually you're listening to what feels like the right alignment and timing and you're being kind of tapped into that feminine intuition about when timing is right or wrong.
So I'm kind of like juggling the guilt around when is the right time or not time.And I think that's one of the things that's particularly challenging if you are gonna do multiple different things in multiple projects.
I would imagine that one other thing that comes up is figuring out how many different customers you're gonna serve.So when I think about your brand, I think you've been pretty corely focused on who your customer is.
If I contrast that to an example like a Tommy Hilfiger brand, right, who started as this high-end, premium brand, and then kind of expanded to having these more affordable brands that kind of,
diluted the prestige of the brand and sort of how that brand has had to sort of respond to that.Like, that's a good example of where if you're doing too many things, you're trying to do products for a lot of different people, it makes things harder.
Do you think singularly about serving one customer but lots of different brands, or do you allow yourself to diversify across different types of customers?
I allow myself to diversify, yet with consistency and cohesion.For example, people said to us, our socks originally were in a handful of sporting goods stores.Then Kmart asked for exclusivity.Our brand grew there.
People said, you can't start at Mass and go upstairs.It's never been done.And again, it's never been done does not mean that it can't be done.That's not a reason.
We, it's hard work, you know, banging on doors, but having products in both opening price point and luxury, that serves a multitude of people.
I see it as the same customer, because whether you're buying a $300 rug or a $30,000 rug, you want value, you want good quality, you want those same things.
and it's having the luxury, it helps the opening price point because maybe you can't afford the the dress with the diamonds that are embedded in it, you'll buy something that is in your budget from the designer who is offering that luxury.
And so I see the customer as one and the same.We go through different phases in our lives, and most people are going to be in different facing different economics throughout their life.There's times of plenty and there's times of not.
So let's serve them where they are and be consistent and treat the person with the opening price point with the same dignity that we're giving the luxury.Let's bring them, this is something my dad taught me when I had my paper out.
He said, Kathy, give 110%.If the customer expects the paper on the driveway, you put it on the front porch. That was the foundation of learning to under promise and over deliver.And it is foundational in life and business today.
So whatever we're doing, let's try to learn what are our customers expectations and let's exceed them.
My favorite part of this conversation is that you're taking some of the like rules, quote unquote, about what you're supposed to do.You're supposed to just do one thing in focus.You're supposed to have one customer in focus.
You're supposed to do everything yourself. And you're like, screw that.I'm gonna do this the way that feels good and aligned to me.
And I think it's giving me and a lot of our listeners and viewers permission to do the same and kind of write their own rules.So I wanna close us out with one more little game that we'll play together.
I wanna give you three different models who have pivoted into business.I'll tell you who they are.And you can tell me of those three, which one you would most want to partner with on something.
Doesn't have to be a specific partnership, but who you'd wanna work with on something.Okay, so option number one is Bella Hadid.She has a brand called Orabella, which is her fragrance line.Really done well on social media.
Yeah, yeah number two Candace when opal has a tropic of sea, which is her a swimsuit line She's a former Victoria's Secret model.That's option number two, okay?
And she does a lot of partnerships with programs that support women all over the world and then number three I'll give you Kendall Jenner's 818 she said the tequila brand
Of those three, who would you partner with on some future business venture who would be fun to work with?
I say congratulations to each of those three.And I can't tell you who without doing a deep dive on each one.
What do we need to kind of look into if we need to like build a little framework of like what do we need to research that are things aligned to you or things that you want to partner with and maybe some things aligned to the brand?
Like what would you look into?
I would look into seeing if we had shared values and things that really matter.Again, it goes down to that.So maybe what's going on in the factories isn't going to be as important to someone else. So that's, that would be definitely one thing.
I want to know, like, I don't care how much I think they're amazing, gorgeous, brilliant, everything.That's irrelevant.I need to understand the how.How are you bringing this product to market?And What is, I need to understand your work ethic.
I need to understand your character.
Factory ethics, your work ethic, what else that we look at?
Yes, I need to understand character.I need to understand what that is.And I need to see a business plan.I need to see, you know, what does it look like today?So I just, honestly, I,
These women are all amazing, but I just haven't taken the time to learn about their business models to really get excited about partnering with any of them.
I love that, especially since we're talking a lot about being a multi-hyphenate, working with other people in partnerships and what you need to look into to determine if that person is a good partner and not to help you.So I loved this conversation.
Thank you so much for hanging out with me and talking about working on many different things.
I have to tell you, I'm so inspired by you and proud of you for what you've done and what you've built in your young years.And I'm really excited for your future.
Thank you so much.We will talk to you soon.
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