Proof to Product

For our Thanksgiving break, we've lined up something special just for you. We'll be airing two episodes I recorded with my friends Kelly and Caroline at Creative Biz Rebellion. These ladies were kind enough to have me on their podcast, not just once, but twice. The first time we talked about all things wholesale, and then then invited me back to talk about trade shows. This week we're running both episodes over here on Proof to Product. Big thanks to Kelly and Caroline for having me on their show. If you're not already familiar with Creative Biz Rebellion, go check it out. Kelly and Caroline do an amazing job of supporting product based businesses through their programs and podcast. They were also guests on Proof to Product — visit the links below to find them over at Creative Biz Rebellion and here on Proof to Product. Links: Creative Biz Rebellion Proof to Product with Caroline Hull (Ep 45) Proof to Product with Kelly Parker Smith (Ep 56) Have a wonderful week friends and thank you for listening to and supporting Proof to Product. I'm so grateful for each and every one of you! What if you could sit in a room with 30 other product makers who are doing exactly what you're doing -- building a business they love! You could share resources, leverage each other's experiences and learn from those who are where you want to be. Imagine the growth potential! Join us March 14-15th in Los Angeles for our Paper Camp Conference. Over 800 brands have attended Paper Camp. Brands that sell to stores like Target, Paper Source, Container Store, Anthropologie and independent boutiques internationally. This program is for you if you're a stationery or gift company interested in selling wholesale, exhibiting at trade shows or looking to expand your outreach to wholesale customers. We believe in the power of community, collaboration and sharing everything we know. Get all the details and register at www.tradeshowcamp.com/papercamp SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

Alison Prince is an e-commerce expert and a woman on a mission. She is a business-savvy determined woman who knows how to create something amazing out of nothing. Over the last seven years, Allison has started eight e-commerce businesses, many of which are multi-million dollar brands. She's sold everything from apparel to technology to household items — she's sold everything under the sun — growing dollars into millions and pennies into thousands. On today's episode, we talk about how Allison built her deal of a day website and then leveraged best selling products to create their own site and brand. She also shares how she leverages influencers to sell her product and why testing your product is the most important thing you can do in e-commerce. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: Alison's career background Why she left the classroom for entrepreneurship Her first experience selling products online The different types of products she has sold online & how she decides what to sell How & when she first introduced her daughters to entrepreneurship Where she is selling products The benefits of testing a product before investing in a large quantity What she does with overstock of products How she uses influencers in her marketing Alison's tips on approaching influencers How she leverages discounts on her products The biggest driver of Alison's success in business How she uses ClickFunnels & the success that she has had with it What's next for Alison KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "I started going to the library and checking out books and magazines on how people made money." - Alison Prince "I realized the entrepreneur journey isn't a straight line. It is literally a rollercoaster ride, and if I got in, I'm going for that ride." - Alison Prince "Remember the school teacher who was qualified for food stamps? Like, I had a multimillion-dollar business because I didn't give up." - Alison Prince "I think that's where a lot of people can flub up, is they go and they buy a couple grand in product. Don't do that." - Alison Prince " I couldn't go and build a huge eCommerce site with a whole bunch of SKUs and a whole bunch of variations, because I literally could not afford to do that, so I could only put up one product a day." - Alison Prince "Just test it. Buy a small amount, get a small amount, and then send out an email list. If it doesn't sell, that's fine; you've got Christmas presents for all your friends and family." - Alison Prince "I think the reason why I succeeded is because I failed so much." - Alison Prince "Don't be so confident and stuck in your head that you're not willing to test. You have to test your product, and then you can invest the money." - Alison Prince "The key to success is a micro-influencer. Don't go after the big guys." - Alison Prince "The more engagement you can have, the better results you're going to have. It's not about the numbers anymore; it's all about community." - Alison Prince "I have to make sure my product's good, I have to make sure my pricing's good, I've got to make sure it will convert, because an influencer can drive traffic, but it's up to you to make sure that you've got a good offer." - Alison Prince "I love discounts because it helps me to control my lifestyle." - Alison Prince "I feel like you can create a Black Friday special any day of the year." - Alison Prince "I'm not afraid to test. I'm not afraid to fail. I'm not afraid to be a hot mess, because that's just who I am, right?" - Alison Prince "With ClickFunnels, you can put blinders on your customers to help them focus." - Alison Prince "We don't have to go out and get big huge bank loans anymore. We don't have to have brick and mortar, we don't have to go to China anymore to manufacture our products. We've got technology, we've got the Internet right here in our hands to be able to use." - Alison Prince 'My heart is in watching others succeed." - Alison Prince CONNECT WITH ALISON PRINCE Website: https://www.alisonjprince.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/becauseicanclan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alisonjprince/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIRyTXZMYxyyhB8VTpthLpw LINKS Shopify ClickFunnels PickYourPlum PTP Episode 067 | Don Hejny, Nerdwax Nerdwax Fiverr Because I Can Clan What if you could sit in a room with 30 other product makers who are doing exactly what you're doing -- building a business they love! You could share resources, leverage each other's experiences and learn from those who are where you want to be. Imagine the growth potential! Join us March 14-15th in Los Angeles for our Paper Camp Conference. Over 800 brands have attended Paper Camp. Brands that sell to stores like Target, Paper Source, Container Store, Anthropologie and independent boutiques internationally. This program is for you if you're a stationery or gift company interested in selling wholesale, exhibiting at trade shows or looking to expand your outreach to wholesale customers. We believe in the power of community, collaboration and shar

Taylor Elliott is the founder of Taylor Elliott Designs, a fun desk accessory and gift company. Taylor started this company as a side hustle while working a full-time job, but through a lot of hard work and persistence, she has grown this into a thriving gift company whose products are sold in more than 450 stores nationwide. On today's episode, Taylor talks about why she decided to use a fulfillment house to store and ship her products, what questions she asked when she was choosing a partner and what her priorities were for outsourcing this piece of her business. She also talks about how she's brought on 40 sales reps and how working with them and attending markets with her reps has enhanced her business. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: The products Taylor Elliott Designs offer How Taylor originally started her business as a side hustle while working a full-time job How her product offerings have evolved over the years What systems she has in place to streamline both the retail and wholesale arms of her business Why she decided to outsource her shipping to a fulfillment house How she found the fulfillment house she is currently working with The questions she asked during the process of finding a fulfillment house How pricing works for a third party warehouse The time that she saves by outsourcing her shipping How she found the 40 sales reps that she is working with How going to market with her sales reps has enhanced her business and her reach to new wholesale accounts The upfront cost of working with 40 sales reps and how she determined it was worth it How she nurtures relationships with her sales reps & the tools she provides them with Taylor's advice for someone just starting out in a product-based business What's next for Taylor Elliott Designs KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "I started with my laptop and an inkjet printer from college, and I started making customized stationery on Etsy." - Taylor Elliott "It was a nights and weekends hustled for quite a while until it wasn't, and it became my full-time job." - Taylor Elliott "I've tried very hard to keep true to me and what I love, and I've tried to stay true to the bright colors and very upbeat and motivational products." - Taylor Elliott " I really try to work smarter and not harder, and one of the ways that have streamlined my process is by outsourcing all of my shipping to a third party fulfillment house." - Taylor Elliott "It was also very important to me that they handled my products with care. My brand is very girly and it's very fun, we package a lot of our products in hot pink bubble mailers." - Taylor Elliott "In general, the more simple the pricing is, the more I liked the warehouses. If it was just easy and clear to understand." - Taylor Elliott "I think as a small business, that's one of the things that help set me apart from much larger businesses is that we're able to be so efficient and so quick." - Taylor Elliott "We calculated it right after we transitioned to the fulfillment house and it saves me about 25 hours a week." - Taylor Elliott "I really feel like by outsourcing fulfillment that that has really allowed me to work on the business and not as much in the business." - Taylor Elliott "I love how Instagram, it's a great market for selling things, but it's also a great way to connect with other people in the industry whether it's buyers, or reps, or even just colleagues." - Katie Hunt "Market is an amazing exposure especially like these gift markets, there are so much foot traffic. During markets, wholesalers are looking to buy, they're looking for new brands to bring into their store, they're looking for new products." - Taylor Elliott "Attending market and working with rep groups has helped me grow my wholesale business so much." - Taylor Elliott "Don't go into debt buying the fancy stuff, you don't need it." - Taylor Elliott "You have to keep showing up. Consistency is one of the most important things in starting a business." - Taylor Elliott "Very rarely does opportunity come knocking, but you have to go out and make that opportunity for yourself." - Taylor Elliott CONNECT WITH TAYLOR ELLIOTT Website: http://www.taylorelliottdesigns.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/taylorelliottdesigns/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylorelliottdesigns/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tedesigns/ LINKS The E Myth by Michael Gerber What if you could sit in a room with 30 other product makers who are doing exactly what you're doing -- building a business they love! You could share resources, leverage each other's experiences and learn from those who are where you want to be. Imagine the growth potential! Join us March 14-15th in Los Angeles for our Paper Camp Conference. Over 800 brands have attended Paper Camp. Brands that sell to stores like Target, Paper Source, Container Store, Anthropologie and independent boutiques internationally. This program is for you if you're a stationery or gift company interested in selling wholesale, exhibiting at trade sh

TSBC Alum, Tanya Wheeless is the founder of Happy Grace and author of three workbooks on soulful living. She has leveraged her decades of experience as a CEO, senior executive in the NBA, and community leader to teach women how to live the good life while struggling to balance work and family. In 2016, Tanya saw a need in the market for physical products that busy women could use daily to motivate and center themselves. With that, Happy Grace was born! She took all of her coaching goodness, combined it with her love of paper and created a beautiful line of guided journals, inspiration decks, lip balms and more. When she's not working, you can find her traveling the globe with her husband and son. On today's episode, Tanya shares why she never wanted to be an entrepreneur, how she's weaved both products and services into her business and why she prioritizes and invests in professional development. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: How she became an entrepreneur when she didn't originally want to be one The catalyst to starting her own business The first service she offered The physical products that Happy Grace offers Why design almost kept her from pursuing physical products What the design process is like for her products Tanya's coaching services and how they have shifted over time The importance of wellness self-care Happy Grace's new digital membership program Why it's important for her to invest in professional development What Tanya finds most challenging about being an entrepreneur How she has updated her brand story Tanya's advice for someone just getting started in a product-based business What's next for Happy Grace KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "In my mind, I wanted to show up every day, know what I was supposed to do, know that the paycheck was going to be there, and have a ladder that I could climb because I'm all about climbing ladders." - Tanya Wheeless "I can't figure out Asana. I can't do Trello. And you know what? We got through. We used Google Docs. We used Gmail. It was all fine." - Tanya Wheeless "Timeout on the "shoulds" and really get clear about what you actually need, because I think every team's different, and I do not believe there's one way to do this whole entrepreneurship thing." - Tanya Wheeless "Product's a whole different ballgame because I had to outlend a lot of money before I ever had anything to sell — designers, production, and my coaching funded that." - Tanya Wheeless "We tend to think that there are two of us. There's work Katie, and then there's mom Katie, and there's not. There's just one Katie." - Tanya Wheeless "It feels safe for people to hire a leadership coach or an executive coach but what I know most of us really need is more of that wellness self-care." - Tanya Wheeless "Mental health, self-care, just being kind to ourselves is such an important facet for all of us regardless of whether we're an entrepreneur or not." - Katie Hunt "It's okay to have your hands in multiple things until you find the thing that really excites you, and that you can make sustainable and fuel yourself financially as well as like in your heart." - Katie Hunt "If you are a newbie, go to Paper Camp because the women and the men that you are going to meet, some of them will be at your level, but so many are going to be far ahead." - Tanya Wheeless "There's so much value in being curious and learning about things that may be of interest to you because even finding out, "No, that's not for me," is incredibly valuable." - Katie Hunt "One of the things that I did not appreciate when I started, Katie, was the importance of me and my brand, and people having a connection with who I was and what I was about." - Tanya Wheeless "When people were exposed to me, when they got my personality, when they saw my passion what I was doing, they lined up to buy my product." - Tanya Wheeless "Know that everyone started exactly where you started with an idea, with your computer, and with a hope that someday someone was going to send your card to someone for a meaningful birthday." - Tanya Wheeless "Be patient with yourself because it's not as easy as everyone else is making it look." - Tanya Wheeless CONNECT WITH TANYA WHEELESS Website: http://www.happygrace.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MyHappyGrace Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myhappygrace/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/MyHappyGrace Twitter: https://twitter.com/MyHappyGrace LINKS: The One Thing: https://amzn.to/2NNYj6E Essentialism: https://amzn.to/2wKR9ti Big Magic: https://amzn.to/2wH1ju8 Soul Pancake: http://soulpancake.com/ Funny or Die: https://www.funnyordie.com/ Indigo Faire: https://www.faire.com/ Pinners Conference: https://www.pinnersconference.com/ Magnolia: https://magnolia.com/ Digital Lizard: http://www.digitallizard.com/ PAPER CAMP What if you could sit in a room with 30 other product makers who are doing exactly what you're doing -- building a business they love! You could share resources, leverage each other's experiences and learn from th

Kaye Putnam is a psychology-driven brand strategist for entrepreneurs. Through work with hundreds of clients from global brands to solo business owners, she developed The Clarity Code. She believes that when you have a clear brand, that your clients love and respect, they will be willing to pay premium prices for your work. Kaye believes that a strong brand gives you the clarity and confidence to scale your impact and income. When she's not transforming brands, she's exploring the world with her husband and two little ones. They love eating their way across their home of Naples, Italy. On today's episode, we talk about key components of a strong brand, how Kaye has created a location independent business and she shares a branding exercise that you can do right now! ON TODAY'S EPISODE: A misconception that online business owners have about branding How Kaye helps clients define their unique brand advantage How she works with companies to figure out their "why" and the meaning behind what they're doing What key components that go into creating a strong brand The common fears she sees among her clients The challenges Kaye faced early on in her business How her brand culture impacts her hiring decisions How moving every few years has impacted her business and how she works with her clients Kaye's experience with transitions and how she handles things when they don't go as planned The things Kaye tells people to take a look at first and foremost to strengthen their brand What's next for Kaye KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "Instead of trying to mold your brand or mold your business into what you thinking that the market wants from you, it's actually much, much more productive to first figure out who you are at your best, at your strongest." - Kaye Putnam "Let's name your strength so that you can step into it, and own it." - Kaye Putnam "You want to build your brand on a truth not trend." - Kaye Putnam "When you're building a brand, you're building a long-term relationship with your clients and customers." - Kaye Putnam "It's a feedback loop where you're putting stuff out into the market, you're getting responses from the market, and then you're continually getting better and better being your brand." - Kaye Putnam "Once we're consistent and cohesive and compelling, then people start to pay attention." - Kaye Putnam "Scale has always been my arch nemesis, and it's actually where my focus is now." - Kaye Putnam "Figure out what that higher order movement is behind your brand and that's what also gets your team really excited about building this bigger thing." - Kaye Putnam "We've been traveling all over Europe for the last couple of years, two toddlers in tow, because this business is set up this way." - Kaye Putnam "I've had times in my business where I'm really focusing on the business and then you also need to have times where you're really just focusing on life." - Kaye Putnam "There's a lot to be said for building up your own website or creating the blog post because you own that space, it's not at the mercy of algorithms or Facebook rules or whatever it might be." - Kaye Putnam "I think people are fearful of repelling people that aren't the right fit but really, it just enables you to take to the right people more clearly and speak to their needs better." - Kaye Putnam CONNECT WITH KAYE PUTNAM Website: http://kayeputnam.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/marketingkaye Instagram: http://instagram.com/kayeputnam Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/kayeputnam LINKS Free Five Day Challenge: https://kayeputnam.com/miniclass BOOTH BLUEPRINT If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass. I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end. To join me for this FREE workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes an

TSBC alum, Shelley Seguinot began her creative journey in 2013 when she opened I'm Inkpressed, a wholesale stationery company specializing in children's products. As the paper industry evolved and she saw the digital market expanding, she adjusted her business to focused her effort on the art licensing world. She now licenses her art to various companies that put her work on a wide range of products. On today's episode, Shelley shares how she left a 20-year career in law enforcement to start her businesses. She tells us how she got her first licensing deal, fears she had when she first started licensing her art and why it's so valuable to find mentors and community if licensing is something you want to pursue for your business. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: Shelley's career path prior to starting her stationery business How she knew she wanted to jump into her business full-time When she realized licensing was a potential revenue source for her Her first licensing deal The fears she had surrounding licensing her art The process of licensing artwork When she transitioned her business to solely licensing work How she makes it easier for people to see her work & the importance of seeking out companies for licensing opportunities The buying seasons for licensing art Whether she likes working within parameters or having freedom and flexibility in her work What a buyout is versus a limited buyout The industry standard price ranges Shelley's favorite licensing project Her advice to someone just getting started in licensing The common misconceptions around licensing What's next for Shelley KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "I just don't mind putting myself out there and speaking to people and just digging in and getting to the root of things." - Shelley Seguinot "I saw a big change in the paper industry. Everything was starting to go digital." - Shelley Seguinot "This affords me the opportunity to still make money while I'm mostly just producing art." - Shelley Seguinot "For artists like myself who aren't represented by an agent, you really have to go out there and seek these companies." - Shelley Seguinot "It's a lot of follow up. It's just about building a relationship, because there's a lot of artists and they have a lot of places where they can go and buy their art." - Shelley Seguinot "I like freedom. I definitely like freedom because I have a color problem." - Shelley Seguinot "Everyone has their own model and not everything's licensing. A lot of them just want to buy the art outright." - Shelley Seguinot "Once you're in front of the customer, you really just have to wing it and come up with your own. You have to price out how attached you are to the art." - Shelley Seguinot "I'm one of those diehard snail mail people, so I know that paper is where my heart is at. It's what gave me my start. So, designing greeting cards and designing invitations is still my passion." - Shelley Seguinot "The best money you could ever spend if you're trying to make it in that industry is just get someone to give you professional advice." - Shelley Seguinot "It takes a lot of research. It's a lot of making connections and building that community and finding people to guide you." - Shelley Seguinot CONNECT WITH SHELLEY SEGUINOT Website: http://www.shelleyseguinot.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iminkpressed/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/shelleyseguinot LINKS: Blueprint Ronnie Walter Shelley's Skillshare Courses BOOTH BLUEPRINT If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass. I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end. To join me for this FREE workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave

Elle Drouin is the founder of three businesses that she currently runs — wonderfelle MEDIA, Styled Stock Society and she's the human behind @mochiandthecity. After several years working as the Director of Marketing & Digital Strategy for e-commerce businesses, Elle launched her own business to focus on helping other women build brands that are as profitable as they are pretty. Elle currently runs the Styled Stock Society, a stylish stock photography membership for women entrepreneurs, as well as works as a commercial photographer for beauty and lifestyle brands. Elle's dog Mochi is a 4 year old maltipoo model and influencer with over 100,000 Instagram followers. Elle and Mochi have been featured on Entrepreneur, CNBC, the Today Show, and a number of other media outlets. They've collaborated with brands like American Express, Disney, Google, and The Ritz-Carlton and also use their platform to raise awareness for organizations like the Humane Society and local shelters. On today's episode we talked about the benefits of using stock photography, strategies, processes and tools for streamlining social media and and why we need to focus on solving a problem as we build our products and services. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: Her three business & what she does for each Her career path prior to becoming an entrepreneur The types of customers Styled Stock Society caters to How her customers are using her images and how she customizes her photos for specific brands and needs The aesthetic of her photos & collections When she realized that Styled Stock Society was going to be successful How Mochi became a social media influencer Mochi's online persona How Elle came up with who Mochi's ideal follower is The processes and programs Elle uses for social media scheduling Which social media platform has been the most profitable for Elle Her advice for entrepreneurs What's next for Styled Stock Society & Mochi KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "I wanted to figure out a way that I could help people with their marketing that didn't involve me talking all-day long." - Elle Drouin "You're solving a problem for these business owners that are wearing so many hats, and they just can't do all of these things themselves." - Katie Hunt "There are a lot of different ways you can customize the photos to be more specific to your brand." - Elle Drouin "One of the things that we try to do is have a lot of negative space in certain photos in our collections so that there is room if you have maybe a desktop that has a few different items on it. You could actually drop a product image in it so it would look like it's sitting on the desktop with the rest of the other things." - Elle Drouin "The level of effort that I put into the business just makes so much more sense to me than all the time I was spending doing things that were more one-on-one versus one-to-many." - Elle Drouin "Mochi is a very Cosmopolitan dog in New York. She dresses up. She goes out for cocktails. She's currently in the middle of a summer in the Hamptons." - Elle Drouin "Similar to creating any other type of brand for business or your person, just really thought about who the people are that were following her at that point and decided to be more strategic about creating content specifically for them." - Elle Drouin "It's less about her real life, because her real life is 90% napping, and more just like a fun, creative outlet and a way that we have found to connect with people all over the world." - Elle Drouin "I would say 80% of the time, we are trying to create engaging content, trying to get to know our audience, trying to relate to them and find ways that we can help them. Then, that 20% is the more obvious promotional sales focus." - Elle Drouin "I'm creating visual content and selling photos to people, so people are more likely to find me on visual platforms." - Elle Drouin "Solve a problem. Don't start with an idea because it's just something that you want to do but really think about who you want to serve and how you're helping them." - Elle Drouin "The types of content that you create, everything you put out there is going to be affected by your why and what you're just trying to do." - Elle Drouin CONNECT WITH ELLE DROUIN Website: https://elledrouin.com/ Elle's social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elledrouin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elledrouin/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/elledrouin/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/elledrouin Mochi's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mochiandthecity/ Styled Stock Society social media: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/styledstocksociety/ BOOTH BLUEPRINT If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass. I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end. To join me for this FREE workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register

This week is a special one in that we're bringing you a series of episodes that closely mirror what we teach during our our signature Paper Camp program. We've cut together some of our favorite episodes featuring our Tradeshow Bootcamp alumni and speakers where we discuss product development, sales strategies for wholesale and exhibiting at wholesale trade shows. During this episode we hear from: Kimberley Yurkiewicz, Crow & Canary Katie Wilson, The Good Twin Rebekah Tennis, Wild Ink Press Rosanna Kvernmo, Iron Curtain Press Jeanette Champion-Fanning, Sweet Perversion I hope these compilation episodes inspire you to push forward in your business, and if you need a helping hand we invite you to join us for the Paper Camp E-Course which starts next week. It's a four week course featuring live group coaching calls with me and some of my favorite guest experts including Kristen Ley of Thimblepress, Carina Murray of Crow & Canary, Rachael Hetzel from Pistachio Press and Heather Haynie of Rock Paper Scissors. For more information head to http://www.tradeshowcamp.com/pce. Registration closes on Friday and this is the last time Paper Camp will be offered in 2018! Join us! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know!

This week is a special one in that we're bringing you a series of episodes that closely mirror what we teach during our our signature Paper Camp program. We've cut together some of our favorite episodes featuring our Tradeshow Bootcamp alumni and speakers where we discuss product development, sales strategies for wholesale and exhibiting at wholesale trade shows. During this episode we hear from: Kathryn from Blackbird Letterpress Kim from Ramona & Ruth Pippi from E. Frances Paper Stefanie from Halifax Paper Hearts I hope these compilation episodes inspire you to push forward in your business, and if you need a helping hand we invite you to join us for the Paper Camp E-Course which starts next week. It's a four week course featuring live group coaching calls with me and some of my favorite guest experts including Kristen Ley of Thimblepress, Carina Murray of Crow & Canary, Rachael Hetzel from Pistachio Press and Heather Haynie of Rock Paper Scissors. For more information head to http://www.tradeshowcamp.com/pce. Registration closes on Friday and this is the last time Paper Camp will be offered in 2018! Join us! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know!

This week is a special one in that we're bringing you a series of episodes that closely mirror what we teach during our our signature Paper Camp program. We've cut together some of our favorite episodes featuring our Tradeshow Bootcamp alumni and speakers where we discuss product development, sales strategies for wholesale and exhibiting at wholesale trade shows. During this episode we hear from: Katie Wilson, The Good Twin Heather Harris, Copper Bottom Design Sara McNally, Constellation & Co Cara Underwood, Underwood Letterpress Kimberley Yurkiewicz, Crow & Canary I hope these compilation episodes inspire you to push forward in your business, and if you need a helping hand we invite you to join us for the Paper Camp E-Course which starts next week. It's a four week course featuring live group coaching calls with me and some of my favorite guest experts including Kristen Ley of Thimblepress, Carina Murray of Crow & Canary, Rachael Hetzel from Pistachio Press and Heather Haynie of Rock Paper Scissors. For more information head to http://www.tradeshowcamp.com/pce. Registration closes on Friday and this is the last time Paper Camp will be offered in 2018! Join us! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know!

Catherine Hildner is the founder of Kitty Meow Boutique, an online stationery show where you can peruse beautifully designed paper goods based on your many moods. Catherine came through our Paper Camp conference in 2017 and since then she's undergone a rebrand, built a new retail website, revamped her product line and she launched to the wholesale market! On today's episode Catherine shared how her product line has shifted over the years, fears she's had during the last year of growth and how she combatted them and how she reaches out to her wholesale buyers. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: What motivated Catherine to start Kitty Meow The products that she offers now & how that has shifted over the years What the rebranding process Kitty Meow looked like The fears and doubts Catherine had to work through during the rebranding process Her experience entering into the wholesale market & the three things she did to prepare her business for wholesale Catherine's process for outreach to retailers How she manages marketing both the wholesale and the retail sides of her business The tasks that Catherine's VA is responsible for Her advice for someone just starting out in a product based business What's next for Kitty Meow KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "I'm really grateful that I've been able to take Kitty Meow with me wherever the heck we've been, and it's come a long way since that lonely little baby shower design in my sad little Etsy shop." - Catherine Hildner "I said, "If I'm going to invest money, I just want to do it right", and I'm not a website designer, so I'm not even going to waste my time doing something that's not my strengths." - Catherine Hildner "I wasn't foolish enough to think that if I build it they will come, because I don't think it's just as easy as that." - Catherine Hildner "I want my two little girls to know that they can do anything. It doesn't matter what other people think. If they care, that is enough." - Catherine Hildner "None of this stuff happens overnight, and it's a daily struggle no matter how pretty pictures might look on Instagram or any of that garbage." - Catherine Hildner "If I didn't do the Tradeshow Bootcamp, I would just be looking around, not knowing what the hell I'm doing because there's so many things you need to do, and you don't know what you don't know." - Catherine Hildner "I don't have time to do all the things that maybe I would make time to do before I had children." - Catherine Hildner "There was a long time I didn't even know that there was this creative community of women who were totally killing it." - Catherine Hildner "Having a professional who's doing what you want to do, that can give you advice and feedback, so you're not wasting your time doing stuff that's just a waste of your time is so valuable." - Catherine Hildner "I've been an entrepreneur for 10 years now. There's always ways that we can improve our businesses. There's always ways that we can streamline things or improve." - Katie Hunt CONNECT WITH CATHERINE HILDNER: Website: http://www.kittymeowboutique.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/kittymeowboutique Instagram: http://instagram.com/kittymeowboutique Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/kmeowboutique PAPER CAMP E COURSE I'm thrilled to tell you that the fall session of our Paper Camp E Course is now open for enrollment! This is our four-week program that includes a mix of do-it-yourself videos and live coaching calls with me and some pretty amazing guest experts. We will cover developing your product line, wholesale sales tools, working with sales reps, and marketing to retailers. Classes will begin on October 8th, and this will be the very last time that Paper Camp is offered in 2018. So if you're doing any winter shows like New York Now, Las Vegas Market, or even the Stationery Show in February, you want to sign up for this program because we're not going to offer it again before those shows. To register, head to http://www.tradeshowcamp.com/pce If you have any questions, or if you're wondering if this is the right program for you, feel free to email me [email protected]. SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hun

Danielle Spurge is a maker and craft business consultant who loves iced lattes and pop music. Through her work at The Merriweather Council, Danielle teaches creative people how to turn their crafty tendencies into profits. On her blog and podcast, Danielle aims to inspire and support makers in business and share insights from her eight years of experience selling handmade work online. Danielle believes in celebrating the reality of gainful self employment through craft and wants to help more artists, crafters and designers share their work with more confidence. On today's episode we talk about Danielle's journey of starting her business, how she manages both a product and service based business and she shares why Etsy is a great platform for makers. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: How she got started with her business, The Merriweather Council What she sold in her original Etsy shop Her favorite materials to work with The educational curve you have with customers when introducing something that's new to them How she has created a community of makers that she supports How she splits her attention to give both sides of her business the attention they need What kind of makers are in her community and the services she provides them Why Etsy is a good option to get your products out into the market How can makers ensure their listings are being seen on Etsy Danielle's tips for getting selected to be promoted by Etsy on their social media channels A common mistake people are making on Etsy Her thoughts on all of the recent Etsy changes What inspires her to create new products or services KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "I really just love fabric, love embroidery floss, I love to cut things up and sew them back together. I love anything really colorful and soft materials." - Danielle Spurge "I don't have a lot of patience for giant projects. I like to be able to sit and finish something and it's over. I love the instant gratification." - Danielle Spurge "There's really no way for me to do 50/50 but I've always been happy with the amount of product work I was doing because it fit really well into the amount of other work I was doing." - Danielle Spurge "With Etsy or your own site with your products, if you're not doing a ton of wholesale, you can kinda throttle how much you produce. You have a lot of control over what are you offering." - Danielle Spurge "I want to be the person who makes my products. I want to make however many I want to make of them." - Danielle Spurge "I always wanted to maintain my product business because it helps me relate to my students." - Danielle Spurge "We can provide better service and we can create a better product when we are more thoughtful in our approach for things." - Katie Hunt "Most of us don't want the stress of a seven figure business. That's a whole other ball game." - Danielle Spurge "Let's never send our hard earned traffic to Etsy. Because that traffic is going to disperse. There's no guarantee that that traffic's gonna stay with you." - Danielle Spurge "I will never shut up about this until it's not true anymore. Etsy is the best tool." - Danielle Spurge "You can appeal to Etsy's systems to get seen." - Danielle Spurge "Etsy cares about your titles, and your tags, and all the little things you fill in as you're listing." - Danielle Spurge "No one goes on Instagram with the intent to buy something the way that people go on Etsy with the intent to buy something. So that's really why I think Etsy is such a useful tool for a new seller because people are going there, looking to buy things, and they're the kind of people who want to buy the kind of products that you are selling." - Danielle Spurge "The biggest mistake I see people make on Etsy is that they just don't list enough." - Danielle Spurge "Etsy is really a numbers game. The more listings you have, the better your chances are of showing up, and being found, and being seen, and making sales." - Danielle Spurge "It's still one of the cheapest ways that you can sell online. Amazon's fees are more. If you had your own website, up front it's more." - Danielle Spurge " I want to help people be who they want to be." - Danielle Spurge CONNECT WITH DANIELLE SPURGE: Website: http://merriweathercouncil.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/merriweathercouncil Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/creativelifehappylife/ Instagram: http://instagram.com/merriweatherc LINKS Free Etsy Lesson Email Series IS WHOLESALE RIGHT FOR ME? Many of you are in the process of contemplating whether wholesale is the right next step for your business. I get it, I know that it feels like a big scary decision and there are lots of things to consider. That's why I'm offering a free online workshop to help you determine "Is Wholesale Right For Me". I'll walk you through 12 questions that I want you to ask yourself before you jump into wholesale and why each is important. This free workshop will take place on Thursday, September 20th at noon Pacific and space will be limited

Today I sat down with Amber Rae, an author, artist and speaker. Her recent book, Choose Wonder Over Worry invites you to live your truth, befriend your emotions, and express your gifts. Her writing has reached over 5 million people in 195 countries, her public art has spread to over twenty countries, and she's spoken to and collaborated with brands like Kate Spade, Apple, Amazon, and Unilever. She's been featured in The New York Times, TIME, Fast Company, BBC, ABC World News, Tim Ferriss's blog, and more. Previously, Amber helped launch six best-selling books as Chief Evangelist of Seth Godin's publishing experiment. On today's episode, Amber shares strategies for combating worry, fear and anxiety and infusing more wonder and creativity into our days. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: A misconception that people have around the feelings of fear and doubt Her career path and what lead her to be an author, an artist, an inspirational speaker Amber's experience working with Seth Godin What motivated her to write Choose Wonder Over Worry Her advice for working through imposter syndrome The two types of worry What wonder is and how it is a counterpart to worry How we can infuse more wonder into our lives and work The effect worry and fear have on us The importance of making friends with our feelings and questioning our feelings How we can infuse more positive feelings and more creativity in our day to day Amber's advice for product-based business owners who have anxiety, worry, and fear What's next for her KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "When I was able to detach it from being a reflection of my self-worth, whether or not things go how I wanted, but rather just a better story, that created so much more wonder, and fun, and freedom." - Amber Rae "He [Seth Godin] wasn't going to hand us approval, but he was going to push us way pass what we thought we could do and show us that we were capable of much more." - Amber Rae "I had all these limiting stories inside of my head about who I thought I was, and what I thought I was capable of that really paralyzed me creatively, and paralyzed what I decided to go after or whether or not I spoke up." - Amber Rae "I'm the only one who thinks I'm not worthy enough. No, actually, most people struggle with that. That's actually what unites us as humans." - Amber Rae "If the impostor syndrome is coming up for you, that means you're outside your comfort zone and growing." - Amber Rae "Worry protects us, keeps us safe, keeps us accountable. Where it becomes toxic worry is when it says obsessive looping thoughts where we ruminate and ruminate and stay stuck on these thoughts that really hold us back and paralyze us." - Amber Rae "Before we can step into really embody and embrace wonder, it's about really checking worry." - Amber Rae "When we name it, we tame it. Name when that worry is showing up so that we can put it in its place, set a boundary and really create space for our creative artist to step up and thrive." - Amber Rae "I literally think that the world will change when we can have a healthy relationship with our feelings and ourselves." - Amber Rae "Infusing play and white space in our day also helps with addressing the feelings and also inspiring that creativity and the wonder." - Katie Hunt CONNECT WITH AMBER RAE: Website: http://choosewonder.com Website: http://amberrae.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/heyamberrae Twitter http://twitter.com/heyamberrae LINKS:Choose Wonder Over Worry War of Art by Steven Pressfield Do the Work by Steven Pressfield Elizabeth Gilbert's TED Talk IS WHOLESALE RIGHT FOR ME? Many of you are in the process of contemplating whether wholesale is the right next step for your business. I get it, I know that it feels like a big scary decision and there are lots of things to consider. That's why I'm offering a free online workshop to help you determine "Is Wholesale Right For Me". I'll walk you through 12 questions that I want you to ask yourself before you jump into wholesale and why each is important. This free workshop will take place on Thursday, September 20th at noon Pacific and space will be limited. To snag your seat, head to tradeshowcamp.com/wholesale to register. A replay will be available for everyone that registers ahead of time. SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owner

Katie Hunt shares why she pushed pause on replacing her operations manager earlier this year and why its important to get super clear on what your business needs before you hire someone. When you know what you want in terms of skills, experience and fit it makes for an easier hiring process and ensures that you're bringing the right people on the team. The Tradeshow Bootcamp and Proof to Product team are currently hiring an operations manager with strong project management, online marketing and team management skills. For more information about the job, please go to www.tradeshowcamp.com/joinourteam.

Lillian Farag is a free-form and free-spirited artist, with a love for all things playful and expressive. Pulling inspiration from colors found in life and nature, she adds her own twist and perspective to each aspect of her work. Along with offering unique hand-painted leather accessories and products, Lillian Farag works on collaborations with both leading industry and boutique brands including: Papyrus, Urban Outfitters, Oh Joy!, Osh Kosh, Flagpole Swim, Talking out of Turn, as well as her recent artist collaboration with Anthropologie. On today's episode we talk about her multiple revenue streams, licensing & collaborations as well as growing pains of being an entrepreneur. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: The types of products Lillian creates Where she gets her inspiration when she's creating What prompted her to start this business & how it started out as a hobby When Lillian realized she wanted to have her own line The collaborations she has been able to do with influencers and brands How certain collaborations came to be and what manufacturing look liked for those The growing pains of being an entrepreneur Her considerations while weighing hiring decisions Lillian's challenges with social media and how she has approached it The advice she would give herself when she had just started her business What's next for Lillian KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "Going into freelance, I knew I would be able to have a little bit more flexibility and control over the jobs that I was taking on." - Lillian Farag "A lot of my partnerships come through my work on Instagram." - Lillian Farag "I love collaborating. That's one of the main reasons I chose to keep my print business as a part of my business now, is because I really love to work with other brands and collaborate on ideas." - Lillian Farag "I needed to stick to what I knew best, which was creating artwork and creating it for myself. And then those other things would come later in forms of collaborations." - Lillian Farag "The growing pains never go away. I feel like you're always restructuring, rethinking about how you want to grow." - Lillian Farag "I want to find somebody that's excellent in the areas where I'm weak." - Katie Hunt "It's really important to continue your education in whatever it is that you do." - Lillian Farag "It's really important to be around other people who are also creative. It's beneficial in ways you don't realize for creativity, and also to connect with other people. You never know what kind of partnerships will come out of it later." - Lillian Farag CONNECT WITH LILLIAN FARAG: Website: http://www.lillianf.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lillian-Farag-1331313560221126/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lillianfarag/ LINKS:Surtex: https://www.surtex.com/ NEED 1-1 HELP? If you need help in your business growing your product line, getting ready for wholesale shows, or maybe you want some help on the operation side - hiring a team, refining your systems, looking at your finances, we have experts and mentors available to help you. I personally take on a very limited number of new coaching clients each month, and I have one spot left for September and two for October. If you are interested in working with me or one of our other Tradeshow Bootcamp speakers that offers coaching, head on over to tradeshowcamp.com/coaching and let me know what your current struggles are, so that we can get you paired with the right person. You don't have to go it alone. We have people and resources here to help you! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

We're taking the next two weeks off for an end of summer break. While we're gone, we're bringing you four of our most popular episodes pulled from the archives. I hand picked these episodes based on feedback in our Proof to Product Facebook group, emails I've received from listeners and convos I've had with all of you. We hope you enjoy these episodes and learn something new! Owned and operated by Briana Feola and Jason Snyder, Brainstorm is a print shop and collaborative design studio rooted in the production of original art prints inspired by science, nature, and the outdoors. Briana & Jason have done some creative collaborative projects with big brands such as Lollapalooza, Patgonia, Airstream trailers and an upcoming project with L.L. Bean. On today's episode Briana and Jason talk about how their love of learning inspires their work, using a strong brand to attract the right clients and why your business should always be in some state of transition. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: [01:00] Building a business out of a recession. [03:00] Working side hustles while growing the business.[05:00] Working with a significant other.[07:00] How their life interests & love of learning inspire their work.[11:00] Professional collaborations & partnerships with Lollapalooza, Patagonia and Airstream.[12:00] Custom clients found them through their print work[19:00] Attracting the right clients using a strong brand.[20:00] Hiring their first employee & the importance of finding someone with flexibility [24:00] Winning the airstream trailer design competition[29:00] Summer travel plans in the Airstream trailer[32:00] Transitions they've experienced as they've grown[36:00] Benefits of staying small and nimble.[37:30] Focusing on what is going to work, and not letting failures get you down.[39:00] Upcoming project with L.L. Bean[32:30] What's next for We Are Brainstorm KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "We always dig deep into our own lives for inspiration" - Briana Feola "We're eternal students and want to keep learning no matter what the subject is" - Briana Feola "As entrepreneurs, we tend to be more critical of ourselves than anyone else is" - Katie Hunt "Going to Tradeshow Bootcamp was an eye opening experience that was necessary to set us in motion for the next four, five years now." - Briana Feola "I feel like your business should always be in some state of transition" - Jason Snyder "One benefit of being a small business owner is that we can be nimble and make our own decisions, shift gears however we need to" - Katie Hunt "We pride ourselves on the fact that we stay super small and adaptable" - Briana Feola 'I need to get out of my own way, sometimes" - Briana Feola LINKS: Brainstorm National Park series Brainstorm's work for Lollapalooza C3 Presents Brainstorm for Patagonia Airstream Trailer Contest Mama's Sauce Adobe Max Renegade Craft Fair Brainstorm for L.L. Bean Paper Camp MEET BRIANA & JASON: Brainstorm is a print shop and collaborative design studio working from a historic mill in Dover, New Hampshire. Owned and operated by Briana Feola and Jason Snyder, Brainstorm is rooted in the production of original art prints inspired by science, nature, and the outdoors. They also design for people and companies that appreciate the creative process, enjoy collaboration, and want to make something tangible in an increasingly digital world. Website: http://www.wearebrainstorm.com Facebook: @wearebrainstorm Instagram: @wearebrainstorm Twitter: @wearebrainstorm JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY: Interested in learning more about launching or refining a wholesale line or exhibiting at trade shows? Join us for our next Paper Camp conference in Los Angeles. Get more details and register at www.tradeshowcamp.com/papercamp ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode.

We're taking the next two weeks off for an end of summer break. While we're gone, we're bringing you four of our most popular episodes pulled from the archives. I hand picked these episodes based on feedback in our Proof to Product Facebook group, emails I've received from listeners and convos I've had with all of you. We hope you enjoy these episodes and learn something new! Heather Haynie and Dani Antol are the owners of Rock Paper Scissors, a custom invitation and paper goods shop in Charlottesville, Virginia. Rock Paper Scissors is the go-to destination for locals and visitors alike looking for laugh-out-loud greeting cards, journals, dec accessories, calendars, planners and modern gifts. On today's episode we talk about a wide range of topics including what it takes to run a retail storefront, how they divide responsibilities as business partners and what success looks like for each of them. We also got personal. Dani shares her story of battling cancer. We also discuss how Heather & Dani were able to unify their local community after the hateful rallies in Charlottesville. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: What prompted Heather & Dani to go into business together What their day-to-day looks like running a retail storefront The custom design side of their business The benefits of buying an existing storefront and how they made it their own The growth of Rock Paper Scissors over the years How Heather & Dani divide responsibilities and how it has changed over the years as they have grown The things people should think about before jumping into a business partnership with someone Dani's battle with breast cancer and why she decided to share her story publicly How breast cancer changed Dani's perspective and her motivations Heather & Dani's involvement in the C'ville Heart Project & the purpose behind it The things they have accomplished in their business that they are very proud of What's next for Rock Paper Scissors KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "I'm extremely thankful that we purchased the business because as Dani said, there were so many things that were already in place that were really helpful for us, from the relationships with vendors, as well as relationships with existing clients." - Heather Haynie "We trust each other in those roles because we know that that's what we're good at." - Dani Antol "One of the greatest benefits [of our partnership] is that we don't have the same strengths." - Heather Haynie "I mean, she [Dani] would have chemo and then be sending me proofs. This girl's work ethic is amazing." - Heather Haynie "Some really terrible people came to our town and invaded our town and that's something that we always want to be really clear about. They are not Charlottesville and that's not what our town is like at all." - Heather Haynie "We've grown our business every year, some years higher percentage than others. But every year we have grown and I'm super proud of that." - Heather Haynie "Running a small business is hard and it is time consuming. There's always a million hats that we're wearing, and so I think it's important to remind ourselves that, "No, we set the rules here and we can decide what we do and not do to some extent." We do need to carve out that time for our personal lives." - Katie Hunt LINKSWebsite: www.thinkrockpaperscissors.com Website: www.rpscvilleheart.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkrockpaperscissors Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rps_cville/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rps_dani/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rps_heather/ JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY: Do you want to scale your business and add new revenue streams? Are you ready to get a handle on your cash flow and tuck money away for retirement? Maybe you are interested in increasing your visibility and fine-tuning your marketing outreach? Perhaps you have a team that you want to nurture or need help building your team? Our newest on demand program, Paper Camp+ can help you with all of these things and more. The program includes 5 keynote presentations and 2 panels from a wide range of business experts. You can watch what you need, when you need it most and revisit the videos as often as you'd like. This course was built for anyone running a product based business, and extends way beyond the paper industry. Enroll at www.tradeshowcamp.com/pcplus! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

We're taking the next two weeks off for an end of summer break. While we're gone, we're bringing you four of our most popular episodes pulled from the archives. I hand picked these episodes based on feedback in our Proof to Product Facebook group, emails I've received from listeners and convos I've had with all of you. We hope you enjoy these episodes and learn something new! Erin Ozer is the owner of Knot & Bow. Erin got her start on Etsy in 2010 and has had tremendous, but organic growth, over the last seven years. Her stationery, gift wrap and party goods can be found in more than 1500 retail shops around the world, including Paper Source, Anthropologie, Container Store, and Hallmark just to name a few. On this episode Erin talks about her humble beginnings, manufacturing challenges she experienced, and how she slowly but strategically added members to her team. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: [01:30] Building a business while staying home with the kids and with $200. [03:30] Starting on Etsy.[05:30] Adding new products to the line.[07:30] Utilizing customer feedback in product development.[09:30] Manufacturing challenges as Knot & Bow grew.[12:00] Picking & choosing which products to move forward with.[13:00] Expanding to wholesale.[15:30] Selling to Terrain -- her first wholesale order![17:00] Selling wholesale before doing trade shows[18:00] Working with Sales Reps[22:00] Hiring her first employee & growing her team[24:00] Hiring Process & having an operations manual[28:00] Knot & Bow retail shop & selling retail vs selling wholesale[30:00] What's next for Knot & Bow KEY TAKE-AWAYS: 'It is always a challenge to bring new product to the market and be innovative in some way but you also have a budget and spatial constraints to take into account' - Erin Ozer "Housing 1000 greeting cards is one thing. Housing 1000 plates is a totally different thing." -Erin Ozer "The numbers can get really, really big with custom manufacturing sometimes and it can be tough when you're really small." - Erin Ozer "The wholesale side of our business grew pretty dramatically when we first signed with reps." - Erin Ozer MEET ERIN OZER: Knot & Bow is a line of simple and stylish paper goods and party supplies. Erin Ozer started the brand as a solo venture in 2010, inspired by simple gifts wrapped with kraft paper and twine. The line has developed to include a wide variety of paper goods and colorful party supplies, and is now sold at more than 1500 stores around the globe. Products are manufactured in the United States and assembled in Knot & Bow's Brooklyn studio. Knot & Bow also launched a flagship retail location in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn in late 2015. Website: https://www.knotandbow.com/ Facebook: @knotandbow Instagram: @knotandbow Twitter: @knotandbow JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY: Interested in learning more about launching or refining a wholesale line or exhibiting at trade shows? Join us for our next Paper Camp conference in Los Angeles. Get more details and register at www.tradeshowcamp.com/papercamp ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode.

We're taking the next two weeks off for an end of summer break. While we're gone, we're bringing you four of our most popular episodes pulled from the archives. I hand picked these episodes based on feedback in our Proof to Product Facebook group, emails I've received from listeners and convos I've had with all of you. We hope you enjoy these episodes and learn something new! Kristen Ley is the sole owner and founder of Thimblepress, a lifestyle brand that focuses on creating products and experiences that make you smile and want to celebrate life's moments, big and small. Kristen created Thimblepress out of her garage in 2012 and the company has seen tremendous growth since then. She now has a team of 15 full-time and part time employees and the company occupies 7000 square feet that includes 2 brick and mortar retail locations. Kristen's products are now sold in over 1500 retail stores internationally and she continuing to work with brands to create unique collaboration and partnership opportunities! Kristen attended Tradeshow Bootcamp in 2013, prior to launching to the wholesale market. On today's episode we're talking about hiring from within, fostering a team environment, things to consider when entering professional partnerships and how she fell into business backwards. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: [01:00] Thimblepress' story[02:00] Two ways to start a business: Intentionally or falling in backwards.[03:00] Naming Thimblpress[05:30] Making the jump to wholesale & googling what wholesale means.[08:00] HIring and growing the Thimblpress team & promoting from within.[12:30] Using partnerships & collaborations to diversify revenue streams[13:00] Setting clear expectations in partnerships with contracts.[15:30] Collaborating with Hallmark[17:00] Negotiating & protecting yourself when big brands want to work with you.[18:30] Transitions, shifting in business & what she credits her success to.[23:00] Kristen's advice on product development and how she gathers new ideas.[26:00] Thimblepress' social media tips, planning tools & how far out they schedule their posts.[33:30] Creating sub-brands to reach different markets[39:00] Taking a break from trade shows this year. KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "I think there's two ways you start a company. You literally fall into it from a hobby or you start with a purpose of wanting to start a company." - Kristen Ley "Sometimes our line is very eclectic and just all over the place. Honestly, that's my personality. I used to get really down and out about it. I was like, "Man, I wish I had a more cohesive look to all my products, like Megan Bellannion." I feel like she has a great cohesive look. I sat there one day and I thought, "You know what though? This is totally my personality." I'm wacky, and crazy, and weird. I love lots of color. I love drawing. I love painting. I love trying new things. Truly, this line is my personality come to life. Because I never wanted to ask for help, but I've learned how to now." - Kristen Ley "We're very picky with all of our products and make sure they're the highest of quality standards." - Kristen Ley "I never want to stop learning and stop trying to make Thimblepress better. Because I think when you stop, you become complacent." - Kristen Ley Running a business can get very uncomfortable at times because you are making tough decisions that play into the longevity of the business, the sustainability of the business. If you're not feeling a little uncomfortable in whatever you're doing, then you're doing something wrong. - Katie Hunt "Your products need to solve a problem for your customer" -Katie Hunt "Social media is intended to be social. It is a place to have conversations" -Katie Hunt "You don't need to do trade shows to have a successful wholesale line." - Katie Hunt "I've always done things how I wanted to do it. March to the beat of my own drum and not let the industry decide for me." -Kristen Ley LINKS: Paper Camp Thimblpress ShopThimblepress for Target (the secret March release she alluded to!) Grum.co MEET KRISTEN LEY: Kristen Ley is the sole owner and founder of Thimblepress®, a lifestyle brand that focuses on creating products and experiences that make you smile and want to celebrate life's moments, big and small. I created the company out of my garage in 2012 and since then have been going strong, growing my team, and continuing to develop products that I truly love. I create all the art for every single one of our products. Thimblepress now has a team of 15 full-time and part time team members, occupies 7000 square feet, has 2 brick and mortar retail locations, is sold in over 1500 retail stores and is continuing to work with other brands to create unique collaboration opportunities! Website: thimblepress.com Facebook: @thimblepress Instagram: @thimblepress Pinterest: @thimblepress Twitter: @thimblepress JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY: Interested in learning more about launching or refining a wholesale line or exhibiting at trade shows? Join us for our nex

Johnny and Joanna are the husband-and-wife co-founders of Letterfolk, a contemporary American brand whose mission is to create meaningful products inspired by simpler times. Letterfolk started in June 2015 while the couple searched for a unique way to capture their daughter's monthly baby milestone photos. They designed a modern, versatile letter board that was tailored and repurposed for today's home. Letter boards are now a staple of social media art direction, home decor, and milestone photography. As Letterfolk has grown, so has the brand vision and product offerings. Letterfolk products are proudly made in the United States with premium materials, craftsmanship, and processes. On today's episode we're talking about how Johnny & Joanna reinvented the letter board market, their thoughts on copy cats and how they leverage social media to nurture their customers and share their company story. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: The most unique and interesting way they've ever seen a letter board used How Johnny & Joanna came up with the idea for Letterfolk The light bulb moment they had when they knew they wanted to create a business The original letter boards they started Letterfolk with When they decided to branch out into other product categories What Johnny & Joanna learned about wholesale and how not all of their products work as wholesale products How they nurture a strong community within their customers online How Johnny & Joanna feel now vs. how they felt at the beginning when people started copying their products The way their vision for Letterfolk has changed as the company has grown Johnny & Joanna's advice for someone just starting out in a product-based business What's next for Letterfolk KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "It's so humbling to see our product involved in these life changing moments." - Johnny Galbraith "To be honest, we were so in over our heads in the beginning with trying to keep up with demand that there was just no time for product development." - Johnny Galbraith "If your margins don't work, if your pricing doesn't work, you don't have to sell everything you create to both the wholesale and the retail market." - Katie Hunt "Words are our business." - Johnny Galbraith "Johnny and I have tried to insert ourselves as part of the brand as well just so that people remember that it's a human brand. It's a brand that there are people who actually care who are buying it." - Joanna Galbraith "It [copycats] started motivating us and making us just want to put blinders on and still move forward as a brand and figure out how we were going to become a lasting brand." - Joanna Galbraith "We've got to move forward, we've got to build a brand that's bigger than letter boards and prove that we're more than a one hit wonder." - Johnny Galbraith "It's given us pretty thick skin in this mentality that we should just expect that everything's going to be ripped off. So, how are we going to make it X times better from the outset so that when the knockoffs do come knocking, we'll already have a product differentiation right from the outset?" - Johnny Galbraith "Our focus is keeping our mission the same, but just broadening our product categories." - Joanna Galbraith "I think it's a good test to say, "If I'm passionate enough about this product or this idea, then I will put in the hours when I don't have them." If you don't, then I don't think you're passionate enough about it and you probably shouldn't quit your day job and just go full speed into the world of entrepreneurship." - Johnny Galbraith CONNECT WITH JOHNNY & JOANNA: Website: https://letterfolk.com Facebook: https://facebook.com/letterfolk Instagram: https://instagram.com/letterfolk If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass. I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end. To join me for this FREE workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based busin

Kate Woodrow is the founder of Present Perfect, a full service literary agency serving clients from across the globe. Kate launched the agency in 2015 with the goal of advocating for artists and creatives in publishing and is recognized as an industry leader in design driven nonfiction work. Kate specializes in developing visually arresting books that offer a unique perspective across a wide range of topics, particularly art, lifestyle, personal growth, and anything with a practical bent. Before becoming an agent, Kate was an acquisitions editor at Chronicle Books where her experience spanned 10 years and hundreds of books and gift products. Bringing that many projects from a simple brainstorm to the bookshelf gave Kate a keen sense of what makes a book commercially successful and how to be a professional collaborator. On today's episode, we're talking about the process for finding an agent, how to create your pitch, and how to find the right publishers. If you have ever wanted to write a book or wondered what the process was like, this episode is for you. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: The misconceptions people have in regards to writing a book Kate's career path & how she ended up starting her own business When she knew it was the right time to go out on her own Her role as a literary agent The benefits of an author hiring a literary agent and how to find one What Kate looks for when she is scouting artists to work with How she finds the right publishers for her clients What goes into a pitch A typical payment structure for an author & industry standards with regards to royalty percentages What's next for Present Perfect KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "One of the hardest things about writing a book is the maintaining momentum and enthusiasm for the project across a really long period of time." - Kate Woodrow "I had my first kid and I slowly started to realize that my priorities were shifting and that my dream had changed, so I needed to find something else to support my new dream and my new lifestyle." - Kate Woodrow "I represent authors and artists and across the globe and help them get book deals. That's the main part of it, but the bigger picture is that I am their advocate and coach and guide and I help them navigate the very opaque world of publishing." - Kate Woodrow " I work with my clients to develop their book ideas and I sell them to major publishers and I help my clients strategically build their publishing career beyond just that one book idea." - Kate Woodrow "Most often authors thank their agent in their acknowledgements so you can start compiling a list of the relevant agents who might have the category expertise that you're looking for and start targeting them." - Kate Woodrow "The first step is finding an agent with the right category expertise." - Kate Woodrow "Showing that you can thoughtfully articulate a specific book concept is going to go a long way in capturing the agent's attention." - Kate Woodrow "When I send the proposal and that lands in an editor's inbox, I know she's going to open it right away and respond right away. Whereas if you're sending to a generic submissions, email address, not so much." - Kate Woodrow "We feel putting together a very thoughtful, compelling vision from the get go is going to get you the best possible deal with the best possible publisher." - Kate Woodrow "Publishers are really looking for authors who are motivated to help make the book a success and reach a wide audience." - Kate Woodrow "An author should expect to get an advance in royalties. The advance is money that's paid up front and is the author's to keep, no matter if the publisher sells zero copies or a million copies." - Kate Woodrow "One important thing about putting together a pitch for an agent or for a publisher is you want to look professional and polished, but don't feel the need that you need to figure everything out." - Kate Woodrow "There are a lot of cooks in the kitchen developing the idea and to the strongest possible book, and so I think entering into it with truly a genuinely open mind about making the strongest book is going to set you up for success." - Kate Woodrow CONNECT WITH KATE: Website: http://presentperfectdept.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/presentperfectlit/ If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass. I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end. To join me for this FREE workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF

Don Hejny is the inventor of Nerdwax, a wax based product that keeps your glasses in place. Nerdwax was launched on Kickstarter in 2014 and featured on the hit television show Shark Tank the following year. Nerdwax is hand made in Nashville, TN and shipped all over the world. On today's episode we talked about managing risk, running a debt free business and why Don strives to work smarter, not harder. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: How Don came up with the idea for Nerdwax Starting a Kickstarter campaign & what his experience was with it The timeline for fulfilling orders after the Kickstarter campaign The importance of planning for success What the Shark Tank experience was like & what his goals were for it How they handled the influx of orders after their episode aired The infrastructure of Nerdwax & how they have approached scaling Why Don strives to work smarter, not harder Don's priority to stay debt-free How Don creates a great customer experience Don's advice for someone just starting out in a product-based business The fact that many entrepreneurs over-think things, especially at the beginning What's next for Nerdwax When they decided to branch out into other product categories What Don has learned about himself through starting and growing Nerdwax KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "I thought if surfers use wax on their boards in the water, I bet I can make something like that for your glasses." - Don Hejny "That's really the power of the internet, if you really put yourself out there, and you do it in a way where people get it, you can have that energy and it doesn't all have to be manufactured." - Don Hejny "With the Kickstarter community if you tell your story, it's a community of people like you who have ideas, who love new ideas, who love adopting new ideas, and they're totally willing to take that risk with you, as long as it's a manageable risk." - Don Hejny "The thing about Kickstarter though is, even though we pushed that deadline, if you are honest and open, and you keep people updated, and you keep people engaged, there's so much forgiveness within that community." - Don Hejny "You can never mitigate risk entirely." - Don Hejny "That was one of the most nerve wracking parts about Shark Tank is that you don't know what piece of that puzzle they're going to actually air." - Don Hejny "Once we aired on Shark Tank, that episode, we had like $130,000 in sales. We did that in the weekend after we aired on Shark Tank. So, it was just like rocket ship." - Don Hejny "One of the things that happens on Shark Tank all the time, is companies get this huge influx in orders, and then they just totally screw their people because they don't prep for it." - Don Hejny "We've just DIYed it from the beginning, and stayed scrappy, and kept going within our means." - Don Hejny "You're going to reach a point where you just can't throw more bodies at it. You can't throw more time at it. You can't throw more energy at it, you've got to work smarter. Then there's times where it's like, no, you've just got to put your shoulder down and just dig in and do some work." - Don Hejny "Figure out how to create the business that allows you to have margin to grow more efficiently." - Don Hejny "If you don't like it, you just let us know, we'll shoot you a refund, super easy." - Don Hejny "If you can give yourself more margin, and you can assume positive intent, I think you can just treat people the way that you want to be retreated." - Don Hejny "If you think you're going to make one thing and you don't have the resources for that, think, what could I make with what I have today, and how do I transition it into that?" - Don Hejny "Being four years into this, I've learned a lot to just fail quicker, don't drag things out. If it's not working, figure out a new path, and transition quicker." - Don Hejny "When you're climbing the mountain, and all you see is the rocks in front of you, and all of you see as the challenges, and you got to turn around and look out once in a while." - Don Hejny "If you're sitting out there trying to make waves in the ocean, you're never going to get anywhere. You have to wait for the wave to come." - Don Hejny CONNECT WITH DON: Website: http://www.nerdwax.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nerdwax Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nerdwax/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbqydh_ENh0SkU37Ka1Kc-Q Twitter: https://twitter.com/nerdwax LINKS: Episode 64 with Rosie of Sugarfina If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass. I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end. To join me for this FREE workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register! To learn more and register, head to https://tsbc.teachable.com/p/pce. I look forward to having you there! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe t

Brittney Lynn a PR and marketing strategist who works with online entrepreneurs worldwide. She's also the host of Day in the Life podcast. Brittney has nearly 10 years of experience working in the online marketing industry, and has a passion for helping others grow their reach, their revenue, and impact through strategic PR. On today's episode of Proof to Product, we talked about the importance of building a brand story, how to find the right media opportunities for you, and strategies for gaining visibility for your brand. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: The type of work Brittney is doing & how she helps creative entrepreneurs Her career history & how she started her own PR business Why it's important to know your story when you're reaching out to press How you can be leveraging your story in your marketing The biggest misconception about PR The steps creative entrepreneurs can take to make their products & services more visible An example of how honing in on your story & knowing your audience can lead to the perfect press mention What's next for Brittney How PR is a long game & an ongoing process The importance of following up KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "This job, what I do right now, it just didn't really exist when I graduated." - Brittney Lynn "About half the clients that I currently work with, they have worked with an agency in the past, and they felt like it wasn't a good use of money because they [the agency] didn't really understand what the creative entrepreneur community was like." - Brittney Lynn "You probably saw a need in the market, otherwise you wouldn't have created these products in the first place." - Brittney Lynn "Humans relate more to stories than they do to a sales pitch." - Brittney Lynn "Really strong stories and knowing who you are, who you serve, how your product stands out from your competitors -- that's gonna catch a journalist's eye, or a podcast host." - Brittney Lynn "I'm always checking in and making sure that what we're doing from a PR perspective is in line with what your business's goals and mission is." - Brittney Lynn "Most times when people are getting press. They're going after it." - Brittney Lynn "It's the long game, so if you're not committed to really doing it and seeing it through, maybe you're not quite ready to do PR and press." - Brittney Lynn "Follow up, please please follow up." - Brittney Lynn CONNECT WITH BRITTNEY: Website: http://brittneyllynn.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brittneyllynndotcom/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brittneyllynn/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/brittneyllynn/ Twitter:https://twitter.com/BrittneyLLynn Links Day in the LIfe Podcast Episode 65 with Caroline from Paloma's Nest Episode 7 with Meg from Belle & Union Co If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass. I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end. To join me for this FREE workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register! To learn more and register, head to https://tsbc.teachable.com/p/pce. I look forward to having you there! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

During Episode 65 Katie Hunt sat down with Caroline Vasquez of Paloma's Nest and the topics of having a brand story and establish core values for the company kept coming up. Caroline talked about how it shaped the products they made, the story they told about the brand as well as the products and ultimately, how they communicate with their customers. When we're starting our businesses, most people skip over the part where we identify our mission, core values and long term goals for our business. We get excited about the process of creating, selling and connecting with customers. But, having a strong brand story and leveraging your company's core values within this story are going to help you in several ways. It will provide clarify in your decision making, hiring processes and long term goals for your business. Our core values at Tradeshow Bootcamp are: Community, Collaboration, Education and Giving Back. We treat everyone in our community like family and want to foster a collaborative and supportive network for people to lean on as they grow their business. We educate entrepreneurs so they can make the best decisions possible for their business and I believe in giving back to our community and supporting other entrepreneurs. If you don't have a clear brand story or set of core values. Katie wants you to ask yourself these three questions: What does the company stand for & value Where is the company going & what impact does it want to make? Why does this company exist? Without clarity around these questions, you may struggle in your decision making and stay stagnant. What are your core values? I'd love for you to join us in our free Facebook Group for Proof to Product and weigh in with what your core values and brand. https://www.facebook.com/groups/prooftoproduct/

TSBC Alum, Caroline Vasquez is the founder of Paloma's Nest, a family-run business, founded in 2007, that creates timeless, heirloom-quality pieces and new traditions for modern families to celebrate wedding, baby, home and holiday. The brand has been featured in countless publications including Martha Stewart, the New York Times, Magnolia Journal and more, and their work has been carried by Anthropologie and Nordstrom. Today, Caroline combines her education as a professional counselor with her experience and passion for small creative business through Handcrafted Consulting, where she provides education on the marketing, growth and management of online business to clients worldwide. She also serves as the marketing consultant for the web design firm, Aeolidia. All while also running Paloma's Nest and nurturing her family. On today's episode, Caroline talks about the growth of Paloma's nest, staying true to your brand story in both your messaging and the products you sell, why we need to be proactive in press and marketing outreach and why it's so important to know who your customer is. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: When Caroline & her husband decided to start Paloma's Nest Her experience when she started selling her products on Etsy How she came up with the name Paloma's Nest Her product line & how it has grown over the last 11 years The steps she takes to protect her product line from copycats The importance of expanding to different product categories How Caroline and her husband split responsibilities & balance each other out when they are working together The press mentions that Paloma's Nest has received & Caroline's proactive approach towards getting her name out there Her mentoring & coaching business The types of services she offers in her coaching business Caroline's advice for entrepreneurs just starting out in a product based business What's next for Paloma's Nest KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "Our kids were definitely raised in the studio. To this day they're right by our sides every day." - Caroline Vásquez "A dove represents peace, and hope, and all of those wonderful things that we really do think comes through in our collection, and in our product." - Caroline Vásquez "Our mission, our tagline, the essence of what we do is to create modern heirlooms." - Caroline Vásquez "I've always sort of had a reverence for that, and for creating things that have so much meaning that families want to hang onto them, and want to pass them on to generations." - Caroline Vásquez "We really pay attention to the core values of our brand in creating items that are going to be passed on, and we look to see where we can create products that will add to traditions, or create traditions in their own rights." - Caroline Vásquez "One of the frustrations of being in the creative world is having your ideas stolen, or taken, or recreated, however you want to put that nicely." - Caroline Vásquez "While people might sort of take your design, or take your idea, they can't take your brand. And they can't take your target customer." - Caroline Vásquez "The ideas come and go. Trends and styles come and go and as long as you continue to offer the best possible quality product, and you're known for the service, and for the ideas and things that you're known for everything else will follow. - Caroline Vásquez "I think most importantly in working with your spouse is, we share the same work ethic for better or for worse. We're both really driven, we tend to let work consume us quite a bit, but at least we're doing it together." - Caroline Vásquez "There's something really neat about knowing that the two of us fully created that together from scratch." - Caroline Vásquez "It's important to develop your own brand aesthetic and to understand that may vary from your own personal preferences." - Katie Hunt "You can't really do anything new for your business if you're not open to the process of change." - Caroline Vásquez "The most successful businesses are successful because they focus on doing one thing and doing it really well." - Caroline Vásquez CONNECT WITH CAROLINE: Website: http://Palomasnest.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/palomasnest/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/palomasnest/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/palomasnest/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/palomasnest LINKS: Handcrafted Consulting FREE WORKSHOP ALERT! SEO is a HOAX: Why search ranking should NOT be a priority for creative entrepreneurs Join us for a free live workshop with Brice McBeth of Reap Marketing. You may remember Brice from episode 62 of Proof to Product! During this free one-hour workshop, Brice will uncover the traps of traditional SEO methods. Things he has experienced first-hand with his own startups. He'll reshape our thinking and teach us some unconventional methods to use great content to get more customers quickly. Space is limited and a replay will be made available but only to those that register. Save your seat at www.tradeshowcamp.com/convert. SUBSCRI

I've been thinking a lot about boundaries, particularly as it relates to what I say yes to and what I say no to in both my personal and business life. I don't know about you guys but I have a tendency to take one too much, or under estimate how long things will take. I mostly get excited about opportunities, say yes and then find myself over scheduled and stretched thin. I know I'm not alone in this. But here's the deal. We all have the same amount of hours in the day, and as entrepreneurs we have a lot of different things pulling on us for our time — projects, family, friends, exciting opportunities, daily grind of running a business. Its exhausting trying to do all these things, keep everyone happy and yet still have time for ourselves. When I interviewed Rosie from Sugarfina on episode 64 she stressed how important self care is, why we need to take action before things are perfect, and we both acknowledged that its difficult to protect our time because as entrepreneurs the running to do list is never ending. Rosie shared how she decides what to say and what to say no to, and I thought it might be helpful to share some of the things I consider with you This is something I'm working on, and I've definitely been more diligent in protecting my time in recent months. But here are some of the questions I ask myself when I'm considering whether to say yes to something or no to something: Does this align with my long term goals? Does this align with my short term goals? What is the time commitment? What are the benefits for me, my business, my family? What is my excitement level? I'd love to hear from your in our Proof to Product Facebook group. What questions do you ask yourself when you're deciding whether or not to move forward with a project? Weigh in and let me now. You can join our free Facebook group by going to tradeshowcamp.com/join.

Rosie O'Neill is the co-founder of Sugarfina, a luxury candy boutique that features the finest sweets from artisan candy makers around the world. Rosie and her fiancé Josh Resnick launched Sugarfina in July 2012. The idea for the company was inspired by their third date — when they watched the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and they were left wondering why their wasn't candy boutiques for grown ups. Rosie was named to Fast Company's "100 Most Creative People" list, and Goldman Sachs' "100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs,". She is disrupting the sweets space with an innovative approach to confections and retail. Before candy, Rosie played with dolls for 7 years as Director of Marketing for Barbie at Mattel, where she led a global business unit that sold more than 50 million Barbie dolls annually. She received her MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BA in Communication Studies from UCLA. Her favorite candies are Champagne Bears, Peach Bellini and Sparkle Pops. On today's episode, Rosie shares her start up story as well as lessons she learned as they scaled Sugarfina into the large brand it is today -- with wholesale and retail channels, a bustling online shop, 50 retail locations and a range of licensing collaborations. Rosie offers some really great suggestions — including the importance of self-care, why we need to be careful about which opportunities we say yes and no to and things she looks for when hiring members of her team. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: Her favorite Sugarfina candy right now & the most popular flavors with customers How much she loves getting to dream up & invent different candies Rosie's background prior to Sugarfina Her transition to entrepreneurship & how she decided upon luxury candy The hurdles at the beginning & how she navigated that How her previous position at Mattel helped her start & scale Sugarfina What her early goals were for the business The experience of adding brick & mortar stores very quickly Her first hires & what she looked for in an employee when she first started hiring Whether or not she fears hiring people who one day might become a competitor The fact that they did not have a business plan when they first started & why she thinks it can be beneficial sometimes not to have one at the start Moments and decisions that propelled her business forward The criteria she uses for deciding to pursue an opportunity or not How she cultivates a positive work culture An important lesson Rosie has learned through her entrepreneurial journey Rosie's advice on creating your product & getting your product to market How she decides when to discontinue a product What's next for Sugarfina KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "It's like we get to play Willy Wonka because we dream up and invent all these crazy, fun flavors and cute shapes and fun colors, and then we get to bring them to life." - Rosie O'Neill "I had always in the back of my head wanted to do something entrepreneurial, but I thought I was going to do it in my fifties. It came way, way, way sooner than I imagined, but I think sometimes you just have those moments of luck where everything kind of comes together and you just don't overthink it." - Rosie O'Neil "It [Sugarfina] is a dream and I love it but it's also the absolute hardest thing I've ever done and just exhausting at times." - Rosie O'Neil "I'm really proud of the fact that as we have grown, we have always been able to deliver on that quality and that amazing customer experience, but everything under the surface has just been chaos and a mess." - Rosie O'Neil "I'm always kind of looking at what's coming up but it's important to take a moment and look back on how far we've come and it's pretty cool." - Rosie O'Neil "We love to bring in people who one day want to start their own company but they're not quite ready and Sugarfina can be a learning environment for them." - Rosie O'Neil "I want to make sure that we have an environment where people want to stay because they're continuing to grow, and learn, and feel empowered." - Rose O'Neil "I am all for people going out and starting their new company if they want to, but stay with us as long as you can and really get to know all the things you're going to need to know to start a business because it's hard." - Rosie O'Neill "I think sometimes you got to just go for it and be willing to put out something that's not perfect and then learn and continue to perfect." - Rosie O'Neill "You really need to create a culture where people feel connected to the big picture and like they're really making an impact." - Rosie O'Neill "I don't care if you have hours that are slightly different than a normal working day, I just care about the output of your work and that's how I'm going to look at things." - Rosie O'Neill "We have a no assholes policy." - Rosie O'Neill "You really have to take care of yourself because there is an endless amount of work to do when you run your business." - Rosie O'Neill "Get your product out in fron

There's a lot of talk on the internet about knowing your ideal customer, but a lot of it doesn't resonate with me. Maybe you feel this way too? On Episode 63, Mary Bruno shared how she is her ideal customer. And, that she focuses on creating things that she loves & that she finds funny even if it doesn't resonate with everyone. It got me thinking about something I've talked about in the past in my emails, but I'm not sure I've talked about it on the podcast. Your products aren't for everyone. And, that's ok. In fact, it's fantastic. You don't want to be everything to everyone. Just like Mary talked about past ideas falling flat, sometimes you're going to make duds. Or, sometimes what you make is going to appeal to a smaller audience. You make beautiful products, that are likely hand crafted or personally designed by you. You have your own unique style & aesthetic that you're continuing to develop. Instead of feeling like you need to appeal to the masses, I want you to focus on four key areas: - I want you to focus on reaching your unique customer base — fill a void or provide a solution specifically for the - I want you to focus on developing your own style, point of view and a strong, extensive product line. - I want you to focus on creating work that feels good to you, that you're proud of and that you want to put your name on. - I want you to focus on making the best decisions for your business, without worrying what everyone else thinks. I want you to make decisions for your business without looking around at what others are doing in their businesses or feeling like you need to follow the crowd. I know these things are easier said than done, but the strongest brands, the ones that build profitable, sustainable businesses are creating unique products that they are passionate about. They put their heads down when they are designing and try not to be influenced by others. They also recognize that their work is special and may not resonate with everyone. And, that's ok. I'd love to have you weigh in on this discussion in our free Proof to Product Facebook group. How do you stay motivated and create work you love and build a brand that includes that work. How do you tune out the noise and ensure that you're not being influenced by others when you're designing new work. Join us here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prooftoproduct/ But you guys. Please remember, that your products aren't for everyone. And, that is more than ok.

Mary Bruno is the owner of Bruno Press, a printer, artist, and advocate for her local creative community. She grew up in a small town in central Minnesota and learned the love of printing from her father Don Bruno. Mary has an irreverent line of greeting cards that is sold nationwide and she teaches the old school art of letterpress printing the way her father taught her. Mary loves to collaborate with other printers, poets, musicians, kids, designers, you name it. And, we'll talk about some of those collaborations today. On today's episode Mary tells it like it is, shares her story and how she organically grew her business through hard work and learning as she went. We also talked about her personal growth—why she no longer let's the criticism of one person overpower the praise of hundreds. She also shares about why she's her ideal customer. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: The oldest piece of machinery that she has in her print shop Where she learned her love of printing Her background prior to starting Bruno Press and how losing her dad lead her to taking over his print shop How she decided on the product line she wanted to create The backstory behind her logo How she essentially fell into wholesale & working with sales reps Her personal journey to not letting the criticism of one person overpower the praise of hundreds Her first experience at the National Stationery Show What the design process looks like for Mary Mary's work as an advocate for her local creative community How Kid Collab got started Mary's advice for anyone just starting out in a product-based business KEY TAKE-AWAYS: " I inherited my love of big iron machines from my dad. I dig how machines like this were built to last." - Mary Bruno "This ain't Hallmark. I want to print the cards that nobody else is printing." - Mary Bruno "Sometimes I feel like if I don't offend someone my shit ain't doing its job." - Mary Bruno "I didn't know there was other people making cards like me so I felt super alone in that for a long time. I just kept my head down and kept printing and people kept buying." - Mary Bruno "If I'm not goo goo staring at this card for the next three days then I shouldn't even bother printing it." - Mary Bruno "A lot of the success that I've had with my business has been because of the support of my community and I don't want to take that for granted and I want to give back and I want to make this community better." - Mary Bruno "The working with kids thing has been awesome. That's something that fills my cup." - Mary Bruno "It's interesting when you get into because it's what was presented to you rather than something you sought out because you were so into it. The fact of the matter is that if my dad was a shoe cobbler or like a freaking offset printer my life would be a lot different. Maybe I'd be cobbling some shoes right now. I can't say for sure that I wouldn't." - Mary Bruno "I say my target audience is me. It has been from day one and it is still. I think that is sort of what defines my work." - Mary Bruno "I print what I think is cool or funny or needed or lacking in stores or whatever the case may be." - Mary Bruno "A lot of people helped me along the way and I want to be like that as well for people coming up because hopefully people will continue this forever and snail mail won't ever go away and tangible cards will be a forever thing." - Mary Bruno CONNECT WITH MARY: Website: http://www.mcbrunopress.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrunoPress/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brunopress/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bruno_Press?lang=en LINKS: Kid Collab BOOTH BLUEPRINT: If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass. I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end. To join me for this FREE workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustaina

On this mini episode, Katie Hunt reiterates something Brice McBeth of Reap marketing talked about on Episode 62 of Proof to Product — the difference between search engine optimization and conversion rate optimization. Here's what we learned from Brice: Search engine optimization is driving traffic to your website. Conversion Rate Optimization is getting people on your website to take action & buy. Brice shares a lot of great ideas and strategies in episode 62, if you haven't listened yet I highly recommend it. There's so much more to dive into here, so Brice and I will be hosting a free online masterclass next month to talk about why SEO is a hoax. And, how you can be leveraging your existing marketing to get more customers. If you to be notified about the details when we open registration. Head to http://www.tradeshowcamp.com/join and make sure you're on our mailing list.

Brice McBeth is the founder of Reap Marketing, the only digital agency that hired itself to build an e-commerce business and optimize its own conversations by over 950% on its way to creating a multi-million dollar store that disrupted the salon equipment industry. Brice also wrote about his journey in his book, Salon Chairs Don't Sell Themselves which is a fascinating read. He speaks and provides education on the topic of Conversion Rate Optimization to help companies, like us, get better results from their current marketing efforts. On today's episode, Brice explains the difference between conversion rate optimization and search engine optimization and why you need to be thinking about both. He shares a shocking statistic, that typically 99% of your online shop visitors aren't buying from you and why slick and sexy websites don't always sell more of your product. I wanted to let you in on a secret. We're going to be doing a free online masterclass with Brice next month, where we'll talk about why SEO is a hoax and he'll teach us some unconventional ways to use great content to get more customers. If you want to be notified about the details when we open registration, head to tradeshowcamp.com/join and make sure you're on our mailing list. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: A common misconception people have around digital marketing The difference between search engine optimization and conversion rate optimization The industry standard for conversion rates on eCommerce sites The concept, four pillars of optimization, developed to help guide people through discovering what is going on with their website What prompted Brice to do a live case study & how he landed on salon furniture as the product The first steps he takes to ensure that a site is focused more on the conversion aspect than about the aesthetics Why he had to forfeit some of the aesthetic of the Standish site for functionality The common fears of his clients as they make changes to their sites to increase conversions conversions Brice's book, Salon Chairs Don't Sell Themselves The most important data points to collect through Google Analytics What surprised Brice most through the testing they ran on Standish How to determine a reasonable amount of time to test something on your site Brice's advice for increasing CRO on your website The services that Brice offers & how you can work with him KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "CRO and SEO are two different things and they shouldn't be confused with each other." - Brice McBeth "SEO refers to the practice of writing content on your website for the purpose of getting indexed by search engines like Google." - Brice McBeth "CRO refers to the process of exploring ways to get more people or to convince more people who are already on your website to do business with you." - Brice McBeth "There's not really just one definition of what a conversion is, but certainly getting people to engage and become a customer is the endgame." - Brice McBeth "It seems we sort of glorify this serial entrepreneur, but it can be really difficult, and we forget to glorify the people who can keep it real and have a good of work-life balance." - Brice McBeth "Nobody comes to a marketing agency and asks for ugly website. Has anybody said, "Hey, I want my website to look just like Wikipedia's website"?. That would be amazing, but you're talking about one of the highest converting websites on the planet." - Brice McBeth "As long as you know beauty isn't the only purpose driving the design, you can usually get the job done." - Brice McBeth "We had to really kind of take a hard look at that [the Standish site] and kind of change the aesthetic and forfeit some of the aesthetic for functionality and something that was a little bit more familiar for our audience. " - Brice McBeth "It [Salon Chairs Don't Sell Themselves] is definitely a story of the journey that we went through to optimize our own conversions and sort of the pitfalls we fell into along the ways and how we got ourselves out of those pitfalls." - Brice McBeth "People are six times more likely to watch a video than read the same exact content that's written on the page and after having watched the video, they're 65% more likely to buy from you." - Brice McBeth CONNECT WITH BRICE: Website: https://reapmarketing.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReapMarketing/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reapmarketing/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/reap-marketing/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/reapmarketing Website: http://bricemcbeth.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bricemcbeth/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bricemcbeth/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bricemcbeth Twitter: https://twitter.com/bricemcbeth LINKS: Salon Chairs Don't Sell Themselves BOOTH BLUEPRINT: If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass. I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show inve

Katie Hunt, founder of Tradeshow Bootcamp dives deeper into how to create a wholesale resource section on your website, something she and Rhonda Warren talked about briefly on episode 61. Katie shares what to include in your resource center, how to structure things and why it is important to make it easy for your wholesale customers to buy. Listen to Episode 61 Here: http://tradeshowcamp.com/prooftoproduct061/ SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know!

Rhonda Warren is the owner of Color Box Design & Letterpress, a letterpress studio located in Dallas Texas. Rhonda has a multi-faceted business. She has a line of paper goods that she sells to both the retail and wholesale markets; as well as a bustling custom invitation arm through which she creates wedding invitations, corporate event invitations and everything in between. On today's episode Rhonda jokes that she accidentally started this business that is still going strong after 13 years. She shares details about the custom side of her business and why relationships with local vendors and word of mouth referrals make up almost 70% of her business. Rhonda also shares information about her team - how she knew it was time to hire, everyone's roles and why she wished she had hired sooner. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: What Rhonda was doing before Color Box Design & Letterpress How she first go into letterpress by accident Where she gets her inspiration from How Color Box marries three different design styles and aesthetics into one brand Her team's roles & how she splits up responsibilities How her business & products have shifted over the years Her experience with certain products being a good fit for retail but not wholesale The need to educate consumers, store owners, & wholesale customers on what a product is and how it is supposed to be used What Rhonda loves about custom work The importance of networking and how she meets people and establishes relationships How she balances all three arms of her business -- custom, retail, and wholesale Rhonda's advice to those just starting out in custom work How she defines success The advice she would give to someone just starting out in a product-based business How she knew it was time to hire a team KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "I fell into letterpress by accident." - Rhonda Warren "We're kind of an eclectic brand, which is how we marry it together." - Rhonda Warren "We come up with ideas and at the end of the day we honestly don't know who came up with the idea and who finished it." - Rhonda Warren on how she designs with her team. "You don't have to sell everything to both wholesale and retail. If it doesn't work for your margins to wholesale it, you don't need to sell it there." - Katie Hunt "It's a little bit of trial and error, trying to explain your product when you're not there to explain it." - Rhonda Warren "I love getting to hear about an event and then having that come to life in someone's mailbox so it's an introduction to the event." - Rhonda Warren "I don't think we'll ever give up that [custom] side of the business just because we all love it and it's the money maker." - Rhonda Warren "The [wedding] planners are key just because of the repeat business." - Rhonda Warren "If the clients happy, I'm happy." - Rhonda Warren "It's good to step out there before you think you're really ready to do it." - Rhonda Warren "When you need to hire people you should hire people. It's only going to help you. It's scary at first but it always gets easier." - Rhonda Warren "As we would get where we just couldn't handle it all then we would bring on another person." - Rhonda Warren CONNECT WITH RHONDA: Website: www.colorboxletterpress.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColorboxDesignLetterpress/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colorboxletterpress/ BOOTH BLUEPRINT: If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass. I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end. To join me for this FREE workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episod

Katie talks about the importance of building relationships with your manufacturing partners. She shares some of her own experiences, fears and missteps when searching for her own print partners. The risks she faced and what you should look for when reaching out to new manufacturing partners. Want to join the conversation in our free Proof to Product Facebook group? Join us: https://www.facebook.com/groups/prooftoproduct/ SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know!

Ronnie Williams is the owner of DeFrance Printing, which is a full-service commercial print shop located in Southern California. Ronnie grew up in the print industry and is the third generation to own and operate DeFrance. His grandfather began printing in the late 1930s, followed by his father in the early 1970s, and Ronnie was a fixture in the print shop by the young age of five. Ronnie's background brings a unique perspective, in that he has expertise in both the print process, as well as the outcome. This episode is a little bit different than most, in that we're diving into some of the technical aspects of printing, common mistakes that people make in file setup, ways to save money on your print runs, and how DeFrance helps a wide range of industries with packaging, catalogs, marketing materials, and more. Ronnie, and the team at DeFrance, have recently expanded their services to include warehousing and fulfillment, helping independent brands with not only printing, but also storage, fulfillment, and distribution of their products. They have particular expertise handling orders for big box stores, such as Paper Source. Ronnie, and the team at DeFrance, have been strong supporters of our Tradeshow Bootcamp community and advocates for education around the print process. I know you'll learn a lot from Ronnie! ON TODAY'S EPISODE: The history of DeFrance Printing and how long Ronnie's family has owned it Their core clients and the type of work they do for them All of the different print methods DeFrance offers The fulfillment services that they offer Paper Source's specific rules and regulations as to how things need to be shipped Ronnie's favorite projects to print The things that people should figure out before reaching out to a printer Some common mistakes he sees people making when submitting art files A Pantone color versus a CMYK color and what the benefits are to both Turnaround times and the expectations people should have When he recommends getting proofs versus not The materials, other than paper, DeFrance prints on The types of products they are getting the most inquiries on right now How DeFrance prints gift wrapping Some cost-cutting or cost-saving tips to maximize print runs Products outside of the stationery world that DeFrance prints What's next for DeFrance Printing KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "Most people carry low inventory because they don't want to prepay for all the cards, not knowing whether the order's coming. When they get one that's 500, 1000, 4000+ , they then come to us, and we can print the job, sleeve it, package it, UPC barcode it again, and get it out to Paper Source in time. It's something we do very regularly, and our bindery guys have it down pat. " - Ronnie Williams "You can market your business, create new products, and sell more product, while we worry about all the other work and get it off your back, so you're not up until midnight or 1:00 a.m., sleeving cards the night before it's got to go," - Ronnie Williams "They don't see the value in [our services], until they start doing it themselves, and then they realize the time it consumes. It's the same as when people are printing for themselves. It's amazing that they can learn these trades and they can do it, but at some point it does cross over and start to consume their time, rather than allow them to grow the business." - Ronnie Williams "Greeting cards, letterpress, and foil are still some of my favorite. I do get on press still every once in a while. I was just on press last week, doing some art prints." - Ronnie Williams "I just love the process of seeing how it comes together and gets completed." - Ronnie Williams "Specs are very important, to make sure we're talking "apples to apples" to each other." - Ronnie Williams "I find that you're not just a printer. You're not just taking the jobs as they come and just pushing them out. You're trying to make sure that you're maximizing the time,the money, and the effort and energy that everyone's putting forth to create the best possible product." - Katie Hunt "The first time we produce or make anything, we like an extra day or two to make sure we're double-checking." - Ronnie Williams "Paper adds up to a lot of money in this process, and so if you're in love with a high-end paper, it's going to make the job more." - Ronnie Williams "I've seen you try to bend over backwards to help people make their dreams come true. " - Katie Hunt CONNECT WITH RONNIE: Website: http://www.defranceprinting.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeFrancePrint Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/defranceprint/ BOOTH BLUEPRINT: If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass. I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end. To join me for this FREE workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register! SUBSCR

Suann Song is a graphic designer and founder of Appointed, an American-made brand of carefully designed desktop products that make utility look luxurious. Prior to starting Appointed, Suann conducted an exhaustive but unsuccessful search when she tried to find refined and well-made desktop products that are manufactured in the US, so she decided to create her own. In March 2015, Suann launched Appointed through a kickstarter campaign reaching her goal of $25,000 dollars in the first five days. On today's episode, Suann is sharing what it was like to launch a brand and product line through Kickstarter. She's also sharing some behind the scenes info on why she's redesigning the Appointed website and what that process has looked like. Suann also reminds us that relationships and fresh product are at the core of a successful product based business. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: How Suann got started in this creative field Transitioning from a service-based business with Simple Song Design to a product based business with Appointed Why she chose to launch Appointed with Kickstarter and what the process was like What surprised her about the Kickstarter campaign How her background in PR has helped her strategize and build momentum The motivation behind launching a brand new website for Appointed Why she decided to outsource the whole website -- the redesign and the development Her experience being on the "other side" of the design process Missteps that Suann sees product-based business owners make when they're redesigning their websites How she is sharing the news of their new website with wholesale clients versus with retail clients Suann's advice for product-based business owners who are just getting started KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "I got the idea for Appointed about five years ago where I saw a need in the market for just gender neutral, really well-made, American made products." - Suann Song "I spent a solid year of researching, finding manufacturers, figuring out how much money I would need, figuring how much money I would need in year one, two, and three." - Suann Song "If the Kickstarter was going to be a flop, and I literally put everything out there, invested in a video, produced a video, put all of the information on the Kickstarter page, and if people weren't going to support it, then I thought, 'Okay, maybe this isn't a good idea.'"- Suann Song "I think that there is definitely a market for men in stationery paper goods, office." - Suann Song "I really believe people buy from people." - Suann Song "Business is all about the relationships we're building. You never know when somebody in your life is going to come back in and be a buying customer or have a referral for you." - Katie Hunt "We're very proudly American made, every single component of our products." - Suann Song "It was really important that we show the depth of our story, but it really is about the user experience and making it enjoyable, easy, and most importantly, convenient." - Suann Song "You have to keep it fresh. You have to have something to talk about, and not for the sake of just doing that, but you just need to keep your product line relevant and interesting and release new products." - Suann Song LINKS:Kickstarter CONNECT WITH SUANN: Website: https://www.appntd.com/ Instagram: http://instagram.com/appointedco http://instagram.com/suannsong Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/simplesong/pins/ BOOTH BLUEPRINT: If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass. I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end. To join me for this FREE workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and su

I'm back with our third and final National Stationery show recap. Today you'll hear from four of our Tradeshow Bootcamp alumni. We talk about sharing a booth, the benefits of planning ahead and how you gotta roll with the punches when things don't go quite as planned. Today's episode features interviews with Jessica of Little Well Paper Co, Robyn from Lake & Loft, Meghan from And Here We Are and Allison from The Social Type. Before we get started, I wanted to let you know that we're running our first ever summer session of the Paper Camp E-Course. This course will help you get your product line ready for wholesale, refine your sales tools, strengthen your marketing and exhibit at shows. We helped over 800 brands launch or refine their wholesale program. Brands that you'll find on the shelves of Target, Anthropologie, Container Store, Paper Source and independent boutiques internationally. If you want to build a strong wholesale foundation and see your products on the shelves of retail shops, I invite you to join us. Classes start on June 4th. Learn more and register here.

I'm back with Part 2 of our National Stationery Show recap. Today you'll hear from three of our TSBC alumni about what went well at the show for them, where they skimped & splurged in their spending and benefits to being at a wholesale show like, National Stationery Show. Today's episode features interviews with Katie from Page Stationery, Monique from Violet Flamingos and Katie from The Good Twin. Also before we get started, I wanted to let you know that we're running our first ever summer session of the Paper Camp E-Course. This course will help you get your product line ready for wholesale, refine your sales tools, strengthen your marketing and exhibit at shows. We helped over 800 brands launch or refine their wholesale program. Brands that you'll find on the shelves of Target, Anthropologie, Container Store, Paper Source and independent boutiques internationally. Classes start on June 4th! Learn more and register here. Enjoy Part 2 of our National Stationery Show special series.

I recently was in New York for the National Stationery Show where approximately 55 of our Tradeshow Bootcamp alumni were exhibiting. And, I thought it would be fun to bring the show to you. While I was in New York, I chatted with a handful of exhibitors, everyone from first timers to seasoned pros. This episode is part one of a three part special edition series and it features interviews with Kathryn from Blackbird Letterpress, Kim from Ramona & Ruth, Pippi from E. Frances Paper and Stefanie from Halifax Paper Hearts. Before we get started, I wanted to let you know that we're running our first ever summer session of the Paper Camp E-Course. This course will help you get your product line ready for wholesale, refine your sales tools, strengthen your marketing and exhibit at shows. This isn't your ordinary online course where you're left to do everything yourself. The class runs for four weeks and every week we'll have a live coaching call with me and special guest experts. Classes start on June 4th! Learn more and register here. Enjoy Part 1 of our National Stationery Show special series.

Chelsea Sonksen is the founder and Editor in Chief of Bossladies, a movement that began with a print magazine in 2016 and has grown into a vibrant in-person and online community of entrepreneurs through her monthly event series, Work Sesh. On today's episode we're talking about the mission behind Bossladies, how Chelsea is layering new products and services that will give her the freedom and flexibility to work from both California and Maine. Chelsea also shares her thoughts on why making a good first impression is so important. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: Chelsea's motivation for starting Bossladies and why she choose publishing as her method for sharing her message with the world Her background as an editorial assistant Why she decided to stop reading other publications for the first six months of Bossladies The mission behind Bossladies How she decides which women to feature and which brands to include in each issue How Chelsea is layering in new products and services while staying true to the mission of Bossladies What Work Sesh is, how she facilitates it, and what the goal is Chelsea's experience working with a significant number of contractors all over the country How she has found her contractors The way Chelsea decides what questions to ask the women featured in Bossladies How she defines success The advice she would give to a new entrepreneur What's next for Bossladies & Work Sesh KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "I try really hard to take a month before we start designing the magazine, not to actually look at any publications for that month because I find that my design preferences and tendencies get swayed by whatever I'm seeing at that time. I think it's just easier to be original when you have periods of time where you sort of hibernate and block out all of the input." - Chelsea Sonksen "The Bossladies mission has three parts. It's to inspire, educate, and provide community for the growing group of women who are wanting to create their own businesses." - Chelsea Sonksen "I feel like that's really important for founders, as you're starting a company, it has to be what you want to be doing and what you want spending your hours doing and the people you want to be spending your hours with." - Chelsea Sonksen "My company is a people first company." - Katie Hunt "I love seeing the natural progressions that happen when people come together, when women come together, entrepreneurs. There's just so many things we have in common, and so many ways that we can leverage each other's experiences for good. We can help each other where we feel weak in something, we can leverage other people's skills and experiences, and also give back ourselves." - Katie Hunt "Communication is always the most important thing and I've learned how to be a more efficient and effective communicator before launching into a project." - Chelsea Sonksen "I find that whenever it's time to do the interviews, I'm usually in a certain season of life and I'm interested in certain kinds of things. So that's where I start every interview, what are the things that I'm most interested in in that moment and what are their thoughts on those things." - Chelsea Sonksen "I view success as freedom." - Chelsea Sonksen "It's really important to study other companies. You have to learn from people that are experts at what you are trying to do." - Chelsea Sonksen "You have one opportunity to make a first impression, and your branding and what you present of your brand, is that first impression." - Chelsea Sonksen LINKS:I Love CreativesUpwork CONNECT WITH CHELSEA: Website: http://bossladies.us Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bossladiesmag Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bossladiesmagazine/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/Bossladiesmag PAPER CAMP ECOURSE: Many of you have been patiently waiting for the return of our Paper Camp E-course and I'm excited to tell you that it's here. This is a 4 week online program that kicks off on June 4th. You'll get new videos to watch each week on your own and we'll have a live Q&A call every week with me and special guest experts. But you've got to act fast, because registration closes on June 2nd. If you've want to see your products on the shelves of retail stores big & small, if you want to launch or refine your wholesale program, or maybe you want to exhibit at large scale trade shows, this is the program for you! We'll cover product development, sales tools for wholesale, working with reps, marketing to retailers and exhibiting at shows. To learn more and register, head to https://tsbc.teachable.com/p/pce. I look forward to having you there! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Insta

TSBC alum, Christine Miller is the creator and designer of Bundle Design — home to cheerful, cheeky greeting cards, balloons, party supplies and Good Day Decals. On today's episode Christine shares her journey of turning her hobby into a business, lessons learned from exhibiting at the National Stationery Show and how being at the show opened the door to working with Paper Source. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: What Christine was doing before Bundle Design How starting her family influenced her decision to step away from her full time job Starting her business a hobby and a creative outlet after having her son and transitioning it to a business a few years ago Opening her Etsy shop in 2011 and what made her realize that Etsy may not be the best path for her Making the decision that wholesale was the direction she wanted to go The difficulty she faced in establishing her own brand identity and creating products that had a cohesive aesthetic How her style has changed over the years The fears and concerns she had going into her first National Stationery Show and the mistakes she made The importance of sending out mailers and advertising your booth number to anyone and everyone prior to the show The changes Christine made her second year at the National Stationery Show Meeting the Paper Source buyer at the show and how it has been fruitful even years later The advice Christine would give to someone just starting out in a product based business The goals she is setting for herself and for Bundle Designs What's next for Bundle Designs KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "My mentality is, "Well, if I just make it people will just buy it." Unfortunately it doesn't quite work that way." - Christine Miller "When you're developing a line, one of the most important things is to have a unique style, a brand that's recognizable." - Christine Miller "The biggest fear is no one is going to buy anything." - Christine Miller "That first year, my mantra was, 'Okay, I want to make sales but if I don't make sales at least I'm still learning this and I'm making connections and I'll know more for the next year.'" - Christine Miller "Your booth number is your address on the show so you want to make sure that you're telling everyone where you're going to be at all times, add it to your social media profile, your bio. Make sure you're sending out those mailers, include it in the footer of your emails that go out. Don't keep that a secret, shout it from the rooftops where you're going to be." - Katie Hunt "I never would've made that connection had I not been to the show. I'm sure I could've found out her information another way, LinkedIn or asking around and things like that, but I think her maybe seeing it in person gave it a little bit of an edge when they made their final selections." - Christine Miller "I've always had the mentality of slow and steady. So, if I'm making steps, even if they're small steps, I'm moving in the right direction then that's what I'm always striving for." - Christine Miller LINKS:Portfolio CenterNational Stationery ShowPaper CampPaper SourceFarewell Paperie CONNECT WITH CHRISTINE: Website: http://bundledesign.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BundleDesignOnline Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bundledesign/ THE BOOTH BLUEPRINT: If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass. I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end. To join me for this free workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register! SUBSCRIBE To subscribe on iOS, go to the iTunes page and subscribe to Proof to Product. On Android, you can listen using your favorite podcast app. WRITE A REVIEW Writing a review on iTunes will help other product based business owners find Proof to Product as they are working to up level, scale, and build profitable and sustainable companies. FOLLOW PROOF TO PRODUCT Follow Proof to Product on Instagram for the latest updates. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. SHARE Be sure to share Proof to Product with all of the product based business owners that you know! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

Kelly Parker Smith is a multi-talented business owner and creative artist. Kelly is a rubber stamp designer and manufacturer living just outside St. Louis. She has grown her shop, Hello World Paper Co., with the idea that great products become even better when paired with top-notch customer service, a little surprise and delight, and the perfect packaging! Kelly is also the co-host of the Creative Biz Rebellion podcast where she and Caroline Hull show other business owners how to build, maintain, and grow a profitable online shop through their podcast and online workshops. In her free time Kelly enjoys painting and drawing on her iPad Pro and is soon to release her second fabric collection with Sweet Bee Designs fabric company. On today's episode Kelly is sharing how she juggles multiple arms of her business - manufacturing stamps, designing fabric and mentoring through her podcast. We also talked about time management, prioritizing profitable tasks and setting boundaries to protect our time. Kelly also share three strategies for enhancing your Etsy shop. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: All of the different arms of her business How she got started designing a fabric collection The benefits of trying something new and how it influences all areas of her business How Kelly balances all of the different aspects of her business The way that she maps out her week & how she prioritizes tasks The importance of setting boundaries and saying "no" The responsibilities of Kelly's office manager and why she decided to hire her from the beginning Why she decided to have a secondary site in addition to Etsy Kelly's tips on enhancing your Etsy listings Her advice for someone just starting out in a product based business What's next for Hello World Paper Co. KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "When you feel stuck in one area of your life creatively, it's so important to try something new." - Kelly Parker Smith "For me, money talks. What do I need to get done first? Who's paying me to do what that I have to get done? Then, when I have that scheduled out for the week, I look at what do I need to do to move forward in my business? Then, I schedule that out." - Kelly Parker Smith "When our calendar gets so full it doesn't leave a space to breathe. It doesn't leave a space to think and to plan and to really execute on the high priority things." - Katie Hunt "I don't have notifications on for my Etsy shop, I don't have notifications on my phone for my emails." - Kelly Parker Smith "Every time I brought somebody on my team, my business grew, my revenue grew, and my sanity came back." - Katie Hunt "Etsy is amazing. It's a great place to start, it's a great place to be. We'll never leave Etsy as long as it's there, but the thing is that you can't put everything you have into one platform, especially if you don't own it." - Kelly Parker Smith "You have to think like a buyer." - Kelly Parker Smith "I went in the direction that my business was telling me to go in. I listened to where the money was coming in, I was very meticulous in my bookkeeping, and I really looked at patterns and what was selling and what was making me profit and what wasn't. I just followed essentially what my business and my customers were telling me." - Kelly Parker Smith LINKS:Lisa Congdon's Creativebug ClassesPattern Camp with Jessica SwiftInkwell Press Planner CONNECT WITH KELLY: Website(s): http://www.helloworldpaperco.com http://www.creativebizrebellion.com http://www.kellyparkersmith.com Social Media Links: Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/helloworldpaperco http://www.instagram.com/creativebizrebellion http://www.instagram.com/kellyparkersmith Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/helloworldpaperco http://www.facebook.com/creativebizrebellion http://www.twitter.com/creativebizreb Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/helloworldpaper Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/helloworldpaper FREE TRADESHOW WORKSHOP: If you're gearing up for trade show season and need help creating a beautiful booth that doesn't break the bank, I want to invite you to my free masterclass. I'm sharing my three secrets to maximize your trade show investment and keep wholesale orders coming in long after you trade show end. To join me for this free workshop, head to www.theboothblueprint.com to register! SUBSCRIBE TO PROOF TO PRODUCT: If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next

TSBC alum, Lisa Sarmento is the owner of Tiramisu Paperie a sassy brand located in Nashville that sells greeting cards, gift wrap, pencils and other gift items. Lisa has had tremendous growth in her business over the last two years. She attended our Paper Camp conference in February 2016 and describes those two days as the launching point for Tiramisu Paperie. Her products are currently carried in hundreds of retail shops throughout the United States. Lisa works with sales reps nationally and has exhibited at several trade shows including NSS, Las Vegas Market and Dallas Market. On today's episode, Lisa shares her personal story of getting laid off from her high level advertising agency and how 'entrepreneurial gardening' and motivation from her son prompted her to start this business. She shares how she connected with sales reps, what she skimped and splurged on at her first trade show and reminds us to not let fear hold us back from what we want in life and business. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: Her time at a graphic design agency and how that led to her becoming her own boss How losing her mom allowed to recognize a need for honest cards Her season of entrepreneurial gardening The importance of having an inner circle of friends and family supporting and pushing you The why behind her business and the motivation her son prompted in her Finding and building connections with the right sales reps Lisa's experience at trade shows & how she decided on which ones to attend The pros and cons of doing a showroom booth with reps versus a booth on your own What she skimped and splurged on at her first wholesale trade show The advice that Lisa would give to someone just starting out in a product based business What's next for Tiramisu Paperie KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "Just plant the seeds, see what grows. Water it all equally, and whatever you're supposed to do is going to rise to the top." - Lisa Sarmento "I started watching him work, and then it just dawned on me. I'm like, "I think I know why I'm going to do this." Because once he turns 18, all services go away. The college education life he's going to have is going to be different from somebody else. His work or career path is going to be different, so I'm like, "I think I know what I'm going to do. I'm creating this company for him." - Lisa Sarmento "The way I look at my reps is, 'You're part of my family. Be honest with me and I'll be honest with you. Whatever you need, I'll help you and you help me.'" - Lisa Sarmento "I splurged because I was putting up the stuff by myself." - Lisa Sarmento "Lighting's super important, but you need to find something that works in your budget and highlights your products in the best possible way." - Katie Hunt "If you know you want to do it, just do it. Just jump. If you don't try, you'll never know." - Lisa Sarmento CONNECT WITH LISA: Website: http://www.tiramisupaperie.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TiramisuPaperieGifts Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tiramisupaperie/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tiramisupaperie/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/tiramisupaperie SUBSCRIBE TO PROOF TO PRODUCT: If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

Jessica McSweeney is the owner of Little Well Paper Co, a letterpress greeting card company aimed at celebrating and deepening the connections between loved ones. Prior to starting Little Well she taught herself calligraphy and offered wedding calligraphy and invitation services. Jessica's calligraphy work has been featured in The Knot, Southern Weddings Magazine, and Once Wed. Jess attended Paper Camp in fall 2016 when Little Well was just a spark of an idea, and she launched to the retail and wholesale markets in fall 2017. On today's episode we're talking about shifting from a service based business to a product based business, her vision for Little Well Paper Co., and why relationships are critical to building a successful business. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: How she got started her calligraphy business & Little Well Paper Co. Taking online courses to learn calligraphy The impact relationships within the wedding industry had on her business What the calligraphy side of her business looks like now What prompted Jessica to create Little Well Paper Co. The most challenging part of adding a second brand and a new business model How she manages both the retail side and the wholesale side of her business Fostering relationships with her wholesale customers Her decision to do New York Now last minute & her experience sharing a booth The advice she would give to someone just starting out in a product based business What's next for Jessica McSweeney & Little Well Paper Co. KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "I'm a big believer that business is 90% relationships." - Jessica McSweeney "To me, to have a card that can be a vehicle to help somebody else start a conversation with someone they love about something that might be really hard like that is just the best thing." - Jessica McSweeney "So many of the logistical things were things that if I hadn't gone to Paper Camp, I would have no idea about." - Jessica McSweeney "I felt if I don't change this, I will be way more uncomfortable than if just taking this leap of maybe this won't work out, this new venture." - Jessica McSweeney "It's important to have a brand voice that carries through everything, that brings in retail people and wholesale people alike." - Jessica McSweeney "Make sure that what you're doing is something that feels good for you that you can be passionate about that also is not something that is already saturating out there." - Jessica McSweeney CONNECT WITH JESSICA: Website: http://www.littlewellpaperco.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/littlewellpaperco Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/littlewellpaperco SUBSCRIBE TO PROOF TO PRODUCT: If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

Megan Auman is a designer, metalsmith, educator, and entrepreneur who has built a multi-faceted business around her passion for art, commerce, and visual content creation! (Which is just a fancy way of saying she's obsessed with Instagram and Pinterest.) In addition to running her Megan Auman jewelry line, she runs the site Designing an MBA, where she writes and teaches about the intersection of art and business. On today's episode we're talking about product photography and why you should be leveraging pinterest to get more sales. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: A common mistake that Megan sees product-based business owners making around marketing strategies When she started her jewelry line and how it lead to her starting her Designing an MBA program Her product photography & the importance of having high quality photos of your products Megan's tips on preparing for a photo shoot The editing software that Megan uses How she is leveraging her product photography and Pinterest for sales Some of Megan's struggles when she first got started on Pinterest How she measures conversions and the effectiveness of her Pinterest strategy Utilizing Pinterest scheduling apps to batch content Megan's experience with Pinterest ads The advice she would offer to someone just starting out in a product based business What's next for Megan KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "It's really easy to get sidetracked just by all the information online about running a business, and trying to know what applies to you and what doesn't." - Megan Auman "You have to show your customers how it fits into their lives, otherwise they're not going to buy it." - Megan Auman "Your life will be so much easier if you batch your photography, whether that's product photography or social media photography, it doesn't matter, the easiest thing is to batch." - Megan Auman "Shoot like crazy and then pick your best ones and delete everything, because it's better to have a lot of options when you're editing." - Megan Auman "Shoot from far away and then get in and shoot the detail, and shoot somewhere in the middle. Shoot from those different distances and you going to have a lot more options." - Megan Auman "One of the reasons that people get frustrated with Pinterest, is sometimes they just pin their product photography directly from their online shop, which is good, but it's not ultimately the best way to use it, especially if your price point is higher." - Megan Auman "If you're starting out and you're only putting your images with your images, and no one else is pinning your content, Pinterest isn't showing it to anybody." - Megan Auman "As soon as you start putting your content across other boards with other people's pins, it greatly increases the chances that Pinterest is going to show them to other people." - Megan Auman "More often than not, stuff doesn't go viral immediately, people call it the Pinterest lag." - Megan Auman "The biggest challenge with Pinterest ads is that, they're better at keyword targeting than audience targeting." - Megan Auman "You really cannot compete if you don't have that email list and you're not using it regularly." - Megan Auman LINKS: Afterlight: https://afterlight.co/ Snapseed: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/snapseed/id439438619?mt=8 Retouchup.com: https://www.retouchup.com/ Viraltag: https://www.viraltag.com/ Tailwind: https://www.tailwindapp.com/ CONNECT WITH MEGAN: Website: http://designinganmba.com Instagram: http://instagram.com/meganauman Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/meganauman Twitter: http://twitter.com/meganauman Market Your Selfie: http://www.marketyourselfie.com Megan Auman's Pinterest for Makers class on CreativeLive SUBSCRIBE TO PROOF TO PRODUCT: If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

On this episode, Katie shares how she overextended herself in 2016 and how it caused her to refocus her priorities and make some difficult decisions about her business. If you've ever felt stuck, stretched thin or pulled in too many directions, this episode is for you. Katie talks about how she realized she was over scheduled and how she fixed things — including discontinuing manufacturing, pushing pause on speaking at conferences and asking for help / investing in a team.

Lichia Liu is the founder and creative director of Gotamago, a stationery & gifts brand based in Toronto, Canada. A self-taught illustrator, Lichia took a detour from her urban design career in 2013 to start Gotamago when she realized that she needed more authenticity, autonomy and artistic exploration in her work. Besides running Gotamago and being a mom, Lichia is a musician, an urban sketcher, a member of a Japanese Taiko drumming group, and a foster dog parent. On today's episode we're talking about how Lichia left her day job to pursue her passion, how she involves her team in building systems to automate and streamline her business and why she thinks it is important to jump before you feel ready ON TODAY'S EPISODE: What Lichia was doing before she started Gotamango & how that lead her to start her business The first time she was reached out to by a retailer who wanted to carry her line & what her reaction was When she decided to leave her full time job Where Lichia gains inspiration for her work How she makes time for designing while trying to balance the rest of Gotamago How becoming a mom has changed her routines and schedules within her business Lichia's team & the systems she has in place that allow her to step back and prioritize her family The types of canned email responses that she has written How her team grew slowly over time Some of the challenges that she faces being a Canadian exhibitor at U.S. based shows How preparing for her second National Stationery Show is different from preparing for her first The advice she would give to someone who is just starting out in a product based business What's coming up for Gotamago KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "I was working on weekends and I thought, what am I doing? I really need to be grabbing this creative force that I have inside of me and giving it a chance." - Lichia Liu "It's just such a different feeling when you know that strangers who don't know you at all are really liking your products, it gave me a lot of confidence." - Lichia Liu "Everything I've done is pretty much a reflection of what I've been going through in my life." - Lichia Liu "I was kind of a workaholic before I had my baby." - Lichia Liu "Leading up to the baby being born, I really took time to start to systemize everything and delegate it out." - Lichia Liu "Because I feel so much emotional attachment to my products that I'm not the best person to be dealing with things when things go wrong." - Lichia Liu "The first lesson I learned was that when you take your stuff across the border you have to have all your forms filled. So make sure you get your forms filled." - Lichia Liu "If I had waited until I thought it was perfect, I would have spent way more time on getting it to what I thought people wanted rather than actually making a good product that people actually will want." - Lichia Liu LINKS: Website: http://gotamago.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/shopgotamago Instagram: http://Instagram.com/go.tamago Twitter: http://twitter.com/shopgotamago SUBSCRIBE TO PROOF TO PRODUCT: If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

TSBC alum, Kim Burks is the founder of Ramona & Ruth is a boutique letterpress studio located in Omaha, Nebraska. Kim started Ramona & Ruth in 2009 with her tabletop letterpress in a spare bedroom of her home. Kim makes simple and thoughtful letterpress greeting cards and a variety of other paper goods including gift wrap, notebooks and planners. Ramona & Ruth products can be found in retail shops across the country. On today's episode we're talking about Kim's decision to change her business name after being in business for five years, how her design aesthetic has evolved and how bringing on sales reps has enhanced her business. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: Kim's business journey and whether she always wanted to be an entrepreneur How she learned to do letterpress When she decided to take her new hobby and make it into a business The catalyst for changing her business name & why it was a difficult decision The story behind the name Ramona & Ruth How she communicated her name change to retailers What inspires Kim the most when creating her work & how that has changed over the years How she manages doing most of her own printing, designing new ideas, and running her business When she first entered into the wholesale market and how she has grown her wholesale program The factors Kim considered when going to her first stationery show The impact sales reps have had on her business How to nurture relationships with sales reps & the tools that she provides her reps Kim's advice to anyone starting out in a product based business What's next for Ramona & Ruth KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "It was a super scary thing to do and probably pretty risky, but I'm glad that I did it. I feel so comfortable with my new business name. I'm proud of it." - Kim Burks "It took me a while to figure out that I needed help... but it has been amazing asking for help. ." - Kim Burks "You can send out mailers and emails until you're blue in the face, but there's something about a real person, a rep, going to that store physically."- Kim Burks "It's so valuable to have our reps' input when they're on the front lines." - Kim Burks "Working with reps has made me hone down on systems even more and how can we get an order out the door the quickest" - Kim Burks "The most important thing is to really hone in on your voice and your aesthetic, because honestly, there's so many of us." - Kim Burks "It's easy to see some sort of style doing well and say, "Oh, maybe I should do that because that's selling," but I think when it comes down to it, you have to be true to your own voice and really focus on developing that, and that'll set you apart." - Kim Burks LINKS: Website: http://www.ramonaandruth.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ramonaandruth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ramonaandruth/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ramonaandruth/ SUBSCRIBE TO PROOF TO PRODUCT: If you'd like to receive more information about our upcoming episodes of Proof to Product including show notes and information about our guests, head over to www.prooftoproduct.com and sign up for our email list. ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!

TSBC alum Zoe Scarf is the co-founder and Chief Brand Officer at Greetabl–a personal and easy way to make your friends feel super loved. If you're not familiar with Greetabl, you should be. It's an impressive gifting service where you choose your packaging, gift and personalize your message and they take care of the rest — getting it in the hands of your recipient. Greetabl has delivered 200,000 happy moments and is continuing to quickly grow. On today's episode Zoe shares how they unsuccessfully chased wholesale, struggled with figuring out who their audience was and how impactful their fulfillment relationships have been. We also spent a good amount of time talking about how Greetabl sought funding from angel investors. They achieved three rounds for $50k, $750k and most recently $1.5M — we talked about how the process worked, what they did with the money and she shared some resources for those interested in learning more. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: How Zoe and her business partner, Joe, came up with the idea for Greetabl Her background as a graphic designer Their experience in the wholesale industry and why they decided to pivot to retail Narrowing down their audience & identifying their core customer How customers order their gifts through Greetabl The process of finding a fulfillment partner & how they landed their current partnership How Zoe & Joe decide what gift items to purchase & what their requirements are How featuring products on Greetabl has helped other small business grow The number one requested product What the Greetabl team look like & when they started bringing people on The fundraising process & how they decided to work with angel investors What they had to provide to the angel investors to get them interested What it looks like if an angel investors decide they want to move forward with you The importance of women investing in and pouring into other women Resources out there to help entrepreneurs connect with angel investors The benefits of a mastermind group What's coming up for Greetabl KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "Buyers need simplicity, and they need to really clearly understand the product." - Katie Hunt "We really wanted to help those women fill what we call the gifting gap. That $15-30 price point where you want something that's really personal, really beautiful, and not gonna break your bank." - Zoe Scharf "Greetabl is like a greeting card that you customize with your photos and a message and then it folds up to become this gift box." - Zoe Scharf "We love these makers and empowering them, and helping them as much as we can, because we were and are in the same boat." - Zoe Scharf "The more connections we can make, and the more we can be involved with companies, the happier I personally feel." - Zoe Scharf "The most effective way to do things was to work with Angel groups, because that's when you talk to anywhere from 10-50 Angel investors at once." - Zoe Scharf "Because our product is very unique, if it sees as much success as we want it to, there are gonna be other people out there who try to do the same exact thing, and it's just up to us to do the best job fastest." - Zoe Scharf "We need more women investing in other women's businesses." - Katie Hunt "I feel very strongly that designers and women just need some more examples to know that it's possible for them to do this stuff." - Zoe Scharf LINKS: Website: http://www.greetabl.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/greetabl Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greetabl Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/greetabl/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/greetabl Sequoia Capital resources for business planning, writing a pitch deck and pricing your products: https://www.sequoiacap.com/build/ JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY: Do you want to scale your business and add new revenue streams? Are you ready to get a handle on your cash flow and tuck money away for retirement? Maybe you are interested in increasing your visibility and fine-tuning your marketing outreach? Perhaps you have a team that you want to nurture or need help building your team? Our newest on demand program, Paper Camp+ can help you with all of these things and more. The program includes 5 keynote presentations and 2 panels from a wide range of business experts. You can watch what you need, when you need it most and revisit the videos as often as you'd like. This course was built for anyone running a product based business, and extends way beyond the paper industry. Enroll at www.tradeshowcamp.com/pcplus! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new e

Emily Thompson is an author, educator and web designer. She's the founder of Indie Shopography and co-host of the Being Boss podcast, where she inspires, writes and curates content to help creatives own their path and be more boss. With over 3 million listens, the impact of the podcast inspired Emily and her business partner and co-host on Being Boss, Kathleen Shannon to write their first book called Being Boss: Take Control of your Work and Live Life on your Own Terms. This episode is a fun one and we talked about some key topics in the book. Emily shared her thoughts on why being boss requires vision and hustle, the importance of setting boundaries that align with your values and why you need to do the work. ON TODAY'S EPISODE: The biggest misconception that people have around being an entrepreneur The career path that has led Emily to multiple businesses, an amazing podcast, and a book How she met her podcast co-host, Kathleen Shannon, and how they grew their "business bestie" relationship Starting the Being Boss podcast & the inspiration behind it What lead to Emily & Kathleen deciding to write a book & how their experiences shaped it How Emily balances being both a visionary and an implementer How values set the stage for decision making within business The advice Emily has for people pleasers who want to say "yes" to everything The red flags people experience when they need to set better boundaries Emily's definition of success What's next for Emily and the Being Boss brand KEY TAKE-AWAYS: "My life probably looks a lot easier to some people than it actually is." - Emily Thompson "Most successful people have super windy roads that get them to the place they are now." - Emily Thompson "Once you make that first leap, all the other leaps are easier. " - Emily Thompson "I understand that I have to know what those day to day tasks are, in order to reach that big vision, and so it was a practice of finding a system that worked for me, and then just implementing it, day after day after day." - Emily Thompson "As creative entrepreneurs, we live our work, and our work in a lot of ways, defines who we are." - Emily Thompson "If you have some good parameters around what you allow yourself to say yes to, you can say yes with confidence and no resentment, to things that are going to fit, and you can say no with confidence and no fear, to the things that don't fit." - Emily Thompson "Once you are good at holding your boundaries, it's so much easier to be fluid and maintain control." - Emily Thompson "Just because somebody else is doing it, does not mean you need to do it. You need to do what is best for you, your company, your business, your circumstances, your family." - Katie Hunt "My success looks like doing whatever I want to do, but also being super productive while I'm doing it." - Emily Thompson LINKSBook: https://www.amazon.com/Being-Boss-Take-Control-Terms/dp/0762490462/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1520391475&sr=8-1&keywords=being+boss+kathleen+shannon&dpID=51hskd%252BskIL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch&linkCode=sl1&tag=tradesbootc07-20&linkId=82b7a7e0f16f088a9455de3037cfc23c Website: https://beingboss.club Facebook: https://facebook.com/beingbossclub Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beingbossclub/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/beingbossclub JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY: Do you want to scale your business and add new revenue streams? Are you ready to get a handle on your cash flow and tuck money away for retirement? Maybe you are interested in increasing your visibility and fine-tuning your marketing outreach? Perhaps you have a team that you want to nurture or need help building your team? Our newest on demand program, Paper Camp+ can help you with all of these things and more. The program includes 5 keynote presentations and 2 panels from a wide range of business experts. You can watch what you need, when you need it most and revisit the videos as often as you'd like. This course was built for anyone running a product based business, and extends way beyond the paper industry. Enroll at www.tradeshowcamp.com/pcplus! ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT: Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!