019 – It started on a Trip to Peru … with Stacey Horowitz of Shopping for a Change
Stacey is the founder of Shopping for a Change. This online marketplace consists of fair trade products made by artisans from economically disadvantaged areas across the globe. The local artisans set their own price points, time, where they work and how they’re paid. When you purchase from Shopping for a Change, half the net proceeds go to fund improvement projects abroad in the artisan communities … while the other half is directed by you, the shopper to a US based non-profit of your choice during the online checkout process.
Currently they are working with 60 artisan groups from 30 countries on 3 continents.
Stacey has received the Jefferson Award for Public Service and has been featured in a number of places including CNN, Mashable, Fast Company and Fine Cooking Magazine.
Motivational Quote
Business Inspiration
A trip to Peru and Stacey’s reaction afterwards led to her commitment and plan on how to “give back”. [7:19]
A Candle Flickering Moment
How Stacey handles the overwhelm that inevitably comes with starting and building a business. [14:35]
Business Insight
Live events are challenging based on the business model but they always product great sales results. [18:14]
Success Trait
Self discipline is a necessity when you work out of the house. [24:55]
Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Shipping Easy – Shopify syncs automatically with ShippingEasy, downloading all your order details in minutes and helping you assign shipping preferences, rates and delivery options in real-time. No cut and paste. No manual updates.
Valuable Book
This is No Ordinary Joy by Sarah Symons
Contact Links
If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
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Transcript
Gift biz unwrapped episode 19.
Speaker:Hi, this is John Lee Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to give to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:and now it's time to light it up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped your source for industry specific insights and advice to develop
Speaker:and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Monheit And welcome to the gift unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:Whether You own a brick and mortar store sell online or
Speaker:are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. After you listened to the show,
Speaker:if you like what you're hearing,
Speaker:make sure to jump over and subscribe to the show on
Speaker:iTunes. That way you'll automatically get the newest episodes when they
Speaker:go live.
Speaker:And thank you to those who have already left a rating
Speaker:and review by subscribing rating and reviewing you help to increase
Speaker:the visibility of gift biz unwrapped.
Speaker:It's a great way to pay it forward,
Speaker:to help others with their entrepreneurial journey as well.
Speaker:And today I am so honored to have with us.
Speaker:Stacy Horowitz,
Speaker:Stacy is the founder of shopping for a change.
Speaker:This is an online marketplace for fair trade products made by
Speaker:artisans from economically disadvantaged areas across the globe.
Speaker:When you purchase from shopping for a change,
Speaker:half the net proceeds go to fund the community improvement projects
Speaker:that they do in the artisans community while the other half
Speaker:is directed by you.
Speaker:The shopper to a US-based non-profit of your choice,
Speaker:which is accomplished during the online checkout process.
Speaker:Currently they're working with 60 artists and groups from 30 countries
Speaker:and on three continents,
Speaker:Stacy has received the prestigious Jefferson award for public service and
Speaker:has also been featured in more places than I can even
Speaker:list here.
Speaker:Some include CNN Mashable,
Speaker:fast company,
Speaker:and the fine cooking magazine,
Speaker:Stacy, welcome to the show.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:So I'm so honored to be amongst the fascinating group of
Speaker:individuals that you've been interviewing for your library of podcasts.
Speaker:I've been listening to them myself and I find them all
Speaker:so incredibly interesting.
Speaker:Well, thank you so much for that.
Speaker:I appreciate it.
Speaker:Is there anything that you would like to add to your
Speaker:intro before we get started?
Speaker:No, I think you've covered a lot of it and I'm
Speaker:sure we'll get into more of it as we move on.
Speaker:Absolutely. Well,
Speaker:I like to align the conversation around the life of a
Speaker:motivational candle.
Speaker:The light shines on you while you share your stories and
Speaker:experiences. So Stacy shall we light it up?
Speaker:Absolutely wonderful.
Speaker:So help us envision your candle.
Speaker:What color is It?
Speaker:For some reason,
Speaker:I am always drawn to a very rich aubergine color,
Speaker:which for those who aren't familiar with it,
Speaker:it's like a deep eggplant purple-y sort of color.
Speaker:And when I've researched a little bit about colors and personality
Speaker:and so forth,
Speaker:it pretty well holds true for me because they say that
Speaker:that shade tends to reflect creativity.
Speaker:You're kind of an unconventional sort of person idealistic and intuitive,
Speaker:and that pretty well describes me and I happen to find
Speaker:it a very soothing color.
Speaker:So that's probably why I've also incorporated it throughout our website.
Speaker:And what quote would be on your candle?
Speaker:It's from Mahatma Gandhi.
Speaker:You must be the change you want to see in the
Speaker:world. It took me a long time to really understand that
Speaker:as one single person,
Speaker:I actually had the ability to make change throughout the world.
Speaker:I think I grew up feeling like,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you had to be somebody like a Mahatma Gandhi or a
Speaker:mother Teresa or some big celebrity in order to make that
Speaker:happen, to have some sort of an impact.
Speaker:And it wasn't until very recently in my early fifties that
Speaker:I really learned that that's not the case.
Speaker:Well, let's Talk about that a little bit more.
Speaker:Stacy, what was that spark that got you started in thinking
Speaker:about starting a company,
Speaker:much less shopping for a change?
Speaker:Well, I've always had a very entrepreneurial streak.
Speaker:I've done a number of things over the years that have
Speaker:included venturing out and doing some things on my own.
Speaker:I do love being my own boss,
Speaker:specifically shopping for a change.
Speaker:There were like three different events that kind of took place
Speaker:all within one year back in 2008,
Speaker:we took a family vacation that was to the Galapagos islands,
Speaker:which is just off the coast in Ecuador.
Speaker:And then we went to Peru afterwards and I'd always dreamt
Speaker:of going to the Galapagos islands.
Speaker:I'm very into animals and nature.
Speaker:And so I was very excited about that.
Speaker:And my husband was the one who made the suggestion of,
Speaker:well, since we're already going to be down that way,
Speaker:let's go to Peru as well.
Speaker:And I really didn't know a lot about Peru and I
Speaker:didn't take the time to research it very much.
Speaker:Although he had,
Speaker:I was kind of like,
Speaker:okay, my bags are packed.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you could tell me we're going anywhere.
Speaker:I'm basically my bags are packed.
Speaker:I'm ready to go.
Speaker:Let's do it.
Speaker:So we were taking this vacation and at the same time
Speaker:that year I was getting ready to turn 50 years old.
Speaker:And it was a point in my life where I was
Speaker:starting to feel my mortality.
Speaker:And I was thinking back on,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:wow, you know,
Speaker:what have I done with my life?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:aside from my different jobs and my having my family and
Speaker:my close friends and you know,
Speaker:how have I made a difference being here has my life
Speaker:had meaning.
Speaker:And I was a little disappointed in myself thinking,
Speaker:wow, you know,
Speaker:I don't really know that I have really done anything to
Speaker:make a difference.
Speaker:So, you know,
Speaker:I had that kind of going in the back of my
Speaker:mind. And at the same time that year in school,
Speaker:my son's seventh grade class was doing a year long philanthropic
Speaker:project where they were learning all about nonprofit.
Speaker:And they took the time to pick a favorite organization for
Speaker:each of the students.
Speaker:They picked their own,
Speaker:they interviewed them.
Speaker:They learned about what made a good organization,
Speaker:what didn't,
Speaker:how to raise money.
Speaker:And they incorporated that actually through all of their studies,
Speaker:they found ways to interweave it into their social studies on
Speaker:their math and their science and so forth.
Speaker:And ultimately the kids raised there were like 24 kids and
Speaker:they raised $30,000
Speaker:in about a five month period.
Speaker:And instead of just giving it out to the different nonprofits
Speaker:that they each were passionate about,
Speaker:they had to sit down as a board of directors and
Speaker:determine and persuade one another as to why certain organizations,
Speaker:they felt deserved more of this money than the rest.
Speaker:And they also had to make these big presentations to their
Speaker:fellow students about the research they had done and what they
Speaker:learned about each organization.
Speaker:So it was very inspiring to sit down and be part
Speaker:of these presentations and listen to the work that the students
Speaker:had done and to see how so many of them thinking,
Speaker:oh, this is going to be so boring.
Speaker:I don't want to do this to being so incredibly passionate
Speaker:about helping others when they came out the other side.
Speaker:So when we took this vacation,
Speaker:but we had a wonderful time,
Speaker:it was,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:definitely a trip of a lifetime.
Speaker:And I was very surprised at how much I fell in
Speaker:love with Peru.
Speaker:There was so much beauty amongst the people,
Speaker:both visually,
Speaker:it's a very colorful country,
Speaker:artistically as well.
Speaker:There's a tremendous amount of artistic history and indigenous designs and
Speaker:things like that that are on techniques that are passed down
Speaker:through generations.
Speaker:However many of them are,
Speaker:and this holds true around the world.
Speaker:Many of them are starting to die off because there is
Speaker:no means for people to make a living at it.
Speaker:And so people are struggling.
Speaker:And what I saw in Peru was in contrast to this
Speaker:tremendous beauty was there was also a tremendous amount of poverty.
Speaker:What I thought was really interesting was I never really saw
Speaker:anybody begging.
Speaker:They were still,
Speaker:even though that they were,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:hard for a hard up for money,
Speaker:in some cases,
Speaker:they were still trying to do something in order to earn
Speaker:it. So you might have a mother and her young child
Speaker:coming up to you with their baby llama in their arms
Speaker:offering to take a picture with you.
Speaker:And in exchange,
Speaker:you would give them some money.
Speaker:They were trying to do something to earn a living.
Speaker:The other thing that really,
Speaker:really struck me hard was I was a mother this go
Speaker:around versus other times in the past,
Speaker:when I had traveled internationally,
Speaker:it had been a long time since we had taken an
Speaker:international trip and this time it really hit me differently because
Speaker:I could relate to the other women that I was seeing
Speaker:who happened to be mothers as well.
Speaker:And what I realized was that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:even though these women are halfway across the world from me,
Speaker:they still really want a lot of the same things for
Speaker:their children.
Speaker:As I wanted for mine,
Speaker:they want a roof over their heads.
Speaker:They want to be able to feed their children.
Speaker:They love to try and give them a better life than
Speaker:maybe what they have.
Speaker:They want to see them get educated to some degree.
Speaker:I really related to these women who I was just meeting
Speaker:for the first time and I felt a real sisterhood there.
Speaker:So you had some groundwork in terms of these,
Speaker:you talk about these three things coming together,
Speaker:your son's class project that lasted the whole year,
Speaker:a significant birthday,
Speaker:and feeling like the need to give back in some way.
Speaker:And then the trip when you were in Peru,
Speaker:all of a sudden,
Speaker:did it come together for you?
Speaker:Like, oh my gosh,
Speaker:I have an idea.
Speaker:Was there a spark?
Speaker:Like, this is what I want to do.
Speaker:No, actually what happened was I came home from this magnificent
Speaker:vacation depressed,
Speaker:which seems like,
Speaker:how crazy could that be?
Speaker:But I came home,
Speaker:not being able to let go of what I saw and
Speaker:feeling like there must be something that I could do that
Speaker:would make a difference in these people's lives.
Speaker:I'm smart enough to know that just writing a check and
Speaker:giving it to somebody is not a solution.
Speaker:It's not a sustainable solution.
Speaker:So when I came back and I was really struggling with
Speaker:this depression for a few months,
Speaker:I've had to think about what is it in my background
Speaker:that I've done that could help me maybe pull together some
Speaker:sort of a business model that I could then take and
Speaker:apply to the talents,
Speaker:the artistic abilities that I saw there,
Speaker:because I saw that as a potential means for these people
Speaker:being able to lift themselves from poverty and not just being
Speaker:given money.
Speaker:I wanted to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:teach these people and help them learn how to lift themselves
Speaker:from poverty so that they could keep their dignity intact because
Speaker:people really want to help themselves.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:they want to feel pride and work hard and do good
Speaker:for their families.
Speaker:So how did that come to merge into creating the business?
Speaker:I did a lot of research when I got back and
Speaker:try to think about what kind of a business model that
Speaker:would be,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:would it be a nonprofit business?
Speaker:What kind of products would it entail?
Speaker:Would I be designing the products and having them make them,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:would that require being on the ground with them and going
Speaker:back frequently,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:and was it going to be just people in Peru that
Speaker:I was going to help,
Speaker:or what I realized was,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the same situation that I'm viewing and wanting to make a
Speaker:difference in with these women that I'm meeting in Peru really
Speaker:existed all around the world.
Speaker:And I wanted to not exclusively have as be about helping
Speaker:women. But I learned that worldwide,
Speaker:there is a very large amount of women that end up
Speaker:being responsible for the survival of their families.
Speaker:For various reasons,
Speaker:whether the husbands are killed in war or disease,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:affects an AR or it's vast unemployment or a spousal abuse
Speaker:or any number of different things that can affect a family.
Speaker:There were many,
Speaker:many women around the world who were responsible for taking care
Speaker:of their children.
Speaker:So like I started to say,
Speaker:I did a lot of research.
Speaker:I looked at what other businesses were like that were in
Speaker:this similar vein in terms of artists and type products,
Speaker:fair trade how're,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:where they for-profit,
Speaker:what types of products were they bringing in and what could
Speaker:I do to set mine apart?
Speaker:And it was at the same time as we here in
Speaker:the U S we're going through our big recession,
Speaker:not an ideal time to start a business,
Speaker:especially something that tends to be a non-muscle city.
Speaker:It's not like it was the food that you have to
Speaker:put on your table.
Speaker:This was gifts for yourself or your home or for somebody
Speaker:else. I tried not to think about that.
Speaker:This is a recession right now.
Speaker:What are you doing?
Speaker:Starting this?
Speaker:I just went ahead and plowed forward with,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:this is something I feel very compelled to do.
Speaker:I have to start somewhere and I have to start at
Speaker:some time.
Speaker:So let's just do it now.
Speaker:Right. Okay.
Speaker:And what,
Speaker:what year did the business actually launch?
Speaker:Well, we incorporated in December of 2009,
Speaker:however, we did not launch the website and go public until
Speaker:September of 2010.
Speaker:So Along the way,
Speaker:as you're putting this together and doing all of your research
Speaker:and figuring out how all of it was going to work,
Speaker:I'm sure it wasn't all smooth and you ran into some
Speaker:issues and some problems along the way as we all do.
Speaker:Could you take us to one specific situation where it was
Speaker:really a struggle and maybe you even thought,
Speaker:is this even worth doing,
Speaker:can I even overcome this issue?
Speaker:Can you take us to something like that?
Speaker:Explain the situation and then how you overcame it.
Speaker:Wow. So this is something that I go back to periodically,
Speaker:I would say at least once a year,
Speaker:because we are a very small nonprofit organization.
Speaker:We have no paid employees and that's including myself.
Speaker:If I had the funds,
Speaker:I would much rather actually pay someone to help me then
Speaker:to pay myself at this point in time,
Speaker:I still wear most of the hats in the business and
Speaker:I have done so since the beginning.
Speaker:So there isn't necessarily one specific time,
Speaker:as much as there in general can be some very overwhelming
Speaker:periods of time throughout the year where I have to step
Speaker:back and I have to take a deep breath and I
Speaker:have to be reminded that not only what we've accomplished so
Speaker:far, where we've come from,
Speaker:because when you start with a blank canvas,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:anything you put on it,
Speaker:and this is an accomplishment.
Speaker:And so,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:building a business from nothing and taking it to a certain
Speaker:place is,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:way farther than you were in the beginning.
Speaker:And so I have to remind myself not only of where
Speaker:I've come from,
Speaker:but that no matter how stressful various times get and how
Speaker:much is on my plate and the deadlines that I might
Speaker:be up against that somehow or another,
Speaker:I always managed to get it done.
Speaker:Once I remind myself of that each time I encounter a
Speaker:situation like that,
Speaker:I take a deep breath and I go,
Speaker:okay, okay,
Speaker:I'm going to do this.
Speaker:I can do it if I need to reach out.
Speaker:And if there's people that can help me with various things
Speaker:that I'm going to do that as well.
Speaker:And there are people who are always willing to help in
Speaker:various ways.
Speaker:And I get through it.
Speaker:I think that starting a business,
Speaker:if you really look at the entire picture without breaking it
Speaker:down piece by piece,
Speaker:it can be very overwhelming and it can stop you dead
Speaker:in your tracks.
Speaker:And I think for me,
Speaker:when I don't look at the entire thing and I try
Speaker:to just break it down a little piece by piece,
Speaker:I'm much more productive and I don't get so overwhelmed,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:in building a house,
Speaker:you're having to figure out not only what the design is
Speaker:going to look like,
Speaker:but you're figuring out exactly what color each screw is going
Speaker:to be.
Speaker:That's going to hold something in your wall and be exposed
Speaker:As listeners.
Speaker:A lot of starting your own business is the reward that
Speaker:you get through the journey like Stacey's doing.
Speaker:She started with a blank slate and started with the very
Speaker:first thing.
Speaker:What should the structure of the company be like,
Speaker:then what are the products and walked the path and built
Speaker:the company.
Speaker:Just like she's saying built a house brick by brick.
Speaker:It's so easy for us to forget about those little successes
Speaker:along the way.
Speaker:And honestly,
Speaker:those can be the most rewarding as you build onto and
Speaker:create a successful business,
Speaker:Same sort of thing with,
Speaker:with building a website.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:I never knew how to do any of these things before
Speaker:I started and jumped in with both feet and never realized
Speaker:the finer,
Speaker:finer details of what I needed to think about in terms
Speaker:of the way,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the, the website flowed and the look of it,
Speaker:and every aspect for the user engagement and how that was
Speaker:going to work.
Speaker:So we had done and redone our website three times now,
Speaker:and with each time going through it,
Speaker:I made changes and improvements based upon what I learned in
Speaker:the previous one and why I wasn't happy with it.
Speaker:Well, in your website,
Speaker:just by nature of your company,
Speaker:because people will order through the website is the most portion
Speaker:in terms of some type of online presence.
Speaker:Absolutely because we are not brick and mortar.
Speaker:The only thing we do beyond our website is we have
Speaker:an occasional live event where we are face-to-face with our customers.
Speaker:Let's talk a little bit about that.
Speaker:Can you share with us either an event or a promotion
Speaker:or something that you're seeing moves the needle for you?
Speaker:I would say every time we do a live event,
Speaker:it's definitely given a good bump to our business.
Speaker:Now they're challenging for us to do,
Speaker:because it requires a lot of manpower or womanpower.
Speaker:It's packing up a lot of inventory.
Speaker:It's bringing it onsite to a particular location to making sure
Speaker:that everything that we have in actually has a price tag
Speaker:on it.
Speaker:Whereas if we didn't do live events,
Speaker:I really wouldn't need to be pricing our products because they
Speaker:would just be going from our shelves into a box and
Speaker:getting shipped to somebody.
Speaker:So it definitely creates a whole nother step involved for us.
Speaker:So what's the advantage.
Speaker:The advantage is that I get to meet face to face
Speaker:with our customers.
Speaker:I get to tell them about our business model,
Speaker:which is very different as a nonprofit,
Speaker:not just because we are putting all the money back into
Speaker:the business and so forth,
Speaker:and we're not taking income in our case.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:some nonprofits have paid employees in this case.
Speaker:At this point,
Speaker:we are not,
Speaker:but more because our business model is such that we're paying
Speaker:the artisans upfront for their products.
Speaker:So they're already getting work that they didn't have before.
Speaker:They're getting paid ahead of time.
Speaker:And when we saw their products on our website,
Speaker:we are actually splitting our net proceeds.
Speaker:And half of it,
Speaker:we put towards a community improvement project that we do in
Speaker:one of the artisans communities each year,
Speaker:that is focused on either clean water,
Speaker:healthcare, or education.
Speaker:The other half of the net proceeds actually go to fund
Speaker:US-based nonprofits that the customer's choosing during the checkout process,
Speaker:which was important to me when we were developing the business
Speaker:model. Because as I mentioned earlier,
Speaker:there was a recession going on here.
Speaker:And people were very torn between supporting the small neighborhood store
Speaker:down the block versus helping somebody in need halfway around the
Speaker:world, who they also knew had a much tougher life than
Speaker:themselves. So I wanted to find a way to blend both
Speaker:worlds, so where we were making a difference abroad.
Speaker:And we were making a difference here at home and our
Speaker:customers that seems to have really resonated with them.
Speaker:And they love the fact that when they make a purchase,
Speaker:they're not making an extra donation or anything like that.
Speaker:They're just simply purchasing the product and by doing so,
Speaker:they're helping the artisans.
Speaker:They're helping in the community with a community improvement project,
Speaker:and they're getting to direct some of the proceeds to a
Speaker:nonprofit of their choice,
Speaker:It a spectacular and extremely creative business model.
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:One, you should be very proud of on the customer service
Speaker:end or possibly in your case,
Speaker:Stacy, on the artisan's end.
Speaker:How do you make someone feel really unique and valued?
Speaker:Wow, that's a,
Speaker:that's a big question.
Speaker:I think at this point I would like to address it
Speaker:on the shoppers.
Speaker:And I try to look at it as what makes me
Speaker:feel special when I am purchasing something or I received some
Speaker:package in the mail or in a store.
Speaker:What I know is really important of course,
Speaker:is customer service,
Speaker:but also presentation.
Speaker:I get a different feeling from opening a box that has
Speaker:something I've ordered in,
Speaker:and it's just in its plastic wrap and it's gotten thrown
Speaker:in the box by Amazon or wherever it happens to be
Speaker:coming from.
Speaker:And it's something that I wanted and,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:yes, I'm excited to have it,
Speaker:but it's a different feeling getting that versus opening a box
Speaker:and having it gift wrapped in some fashion to where it's
Speaker:a beautiful package inside.
Speaker:And then I had the excitement of opening it,
Speaker:even if it's something that's for me and not a gift
Speaker:that I'm giving to somebody else.
Speaker:It's that whole,
Speaker:Ooh, how pretty you know,
Speaker:and I,
Speaker:and you get to open it up and it gives an
Speaker:added value.
Speaker:I believe an added,
Speaker:perceived value to the item that's inside.
Speaker:When I get an order and I'm shipping it out.
Speaker:I used to be where I would gift wrap each item
Speaker:in colored tissue that matched our colors.
Speaker:And then I would put ribbons around it and it would
Speaker:go into the box and get shipped off.
Speaker:It had an also inside the box,
Speaker:I would include a handwritten note that was on the packing
Speaker:slip. If it was going directly to the customer that ordered
Speaker:it versus a gift.
Speaker:And then I would also include some informational materials that tell
Speaker:them again,
Speaker:what our business model is and how their purchases helped this
Speaker:last year,
Speaker:I moved to a different type of product for wrapping that
Speaker:actually also helped secure the product for shipping purposes.
Speaker:So it's kind of this,
Speaker:not really a corrugated craft,
Speaker:but it's this long sheet of craft paper that comes in
Speaker:a role that is FOSS cut in many different ways.
Speaker:So it kind of expands out a little bit and on
Speaker:the underside of it glued to it very lightly is a
Speaker:colored tissue.
Speaker:I've ordered mine with a colored tissue that is one of
Speaker:our company's colors.
Speaker:And so when it gets wrapped in this,
Speaker:even though it may not be wrapped on all four sides,
Speaker:it may just be wrapped around,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:two sides of the package.
Speaker:And then with two ribbons that are our company's colors that
Speaker:make a really nice bow that drapes down.
Speaker:When I put it in that it still gives the impression
Speaker:of being a gift wrapped item.
Speaker:And yet it's also serving another purpose.
Speaker:It's securing it in its I've had many customers comments on
Speaker:how beautiful that looks.
Speaker:And it's a lot quicker for me to wrap in that
Speaker:than it was in the tissue that I had been using
Speaker:previously. So it served two purposes.
Speaker:It served two purposes.
Speaker:Absolutely. The other thing is when I can tell that a
Speaker:customer has ordered something,
Speaker:that's a gift because it's ordered from them,
Speaker:but it's shipping to somebody else,
Speaker:but maybe they missed the spot on the website where they
Speaker:could put in a little note where I would then hand
Speaker:write it in a gift card.
Speaker:I will go out of my way and call them or
Speaker:email them and ask them,
Speaker:would you like me to include a handwritten gift note to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:your friend,
Speaker:your mom,
Speaker:whoever it happens to be going to.
Speaker:And they're like,
Speaker:oh my God,
Speaker:yes. You know,
Speaker:thank you so much.
Speaker:If the whole concept behind your business,
Speaker:isn't unique enough,
Speaker:you're doing this as well,
Speaker:which just keeps adding on and separating you from anybody else
Speaker:who might be trying to do something similar.
Speaker:Okay. We're going to circle around now into our reflection section.
Speaker:This is where we take a look at you,
Speaker:Stacy, and what's helped with your success along the way.
Speaker:Can you talk to us about one natural trait you have
Speaker:that you think has helped you to succeed?
Speaker:I am really self-disciplined,
Speaker:I'm one of those people who has no problem working say
Speaker:from home,
Speaker:which is still where our businesses operating out of getting myself
Speaker:to sit down and get my work done has never been
Speaker:an issue.
Speaker:So this Next question kind of falls right in line with
Speaker:that, particularly since your business is based out of the house,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:so often people who are home-based can get distracted,
Speaker:just like your saying,
Speaker:or they go the totally opposite direction.
Speaker:And I would venture to guess that this would be used
Speaker:Daisy. They sway towards so much time with their work.
Speaker:What tool do you use regularly that keeps you productive or
Speaker:helps you create balance between your business life and your personal?
Speaker:Well, this has been a real learning experience because I would
Speaker:tell you for the first few years I was very out
Speaker:of balance.
Speaker:It was work 24 seven,
Speaker:and I nearly burned out even every moment that I would
Speaker:take to,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:read anything.
Speaker:It was about business.
Speaker:So few things that have changed for me is first of
Speaker:all, I'm a big list-maker.
Speaker:I need to make lots of lists.
Speaker:And sometimes it's on post-it notes,
Speaker:but one of the biggest tools that was in a sense
Speaker:given to me last year was I received a phone call
Speaker:from a company called shipping,
Speaker:easy, that integrated well with the platform that my shopping cart
Speaker:is built on.
Speaker:And I,
Speaker:I built this most recent website was built through Shopify shipping
Speaker:easy is an app per se,
Speaker:that allows it to integrate very easily on the backend of
Speaker:my shopping cart,
Speaker:to where I no longer have to go onto the post
Speaker:office website,
Speaker:FedEx's website,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:all these different separate websites,
Speaker:depending on how somebody shipping and put in all the shipping
Speaker:information, myself and so forth in order to get my labels
Speaker:printed. Every order that's placed on my site immediately downloads into
Speaker:shipping, easy it,
Speaker:fully populates all the information.
Speaker:I just simply go in and select what the shipping method
Speaker:is, the size of my box.
Speaker:And it immediately gives me my costs.
Speaker:I pay for the postage and like two seconds,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I can do it in bulk.
Speaker:I load up all my orders going out and within minutes,
Speaker:everything is done.
Speaker:Whereas before it could have taken me hours of added Work,
Speaker:it sounds so streamlined.
Speaker:Oh my God,
Speaker:it was such a blessing that I wrote to the person
Speaker:who started the company who happened to be a woman and
Speaker:raved about what a difference last holiday season was for me
Speaker:using her product.
Speaker:The only other thing I would want to add to that
Speaker:is on a more personal note.
Speaker:I've learned that I really have to take time for myself.
Speaker:I walk my dogs a few miles each morning.
Speaker:First thing,
Speaker:it's a great time for me to do my creative thinking
Speaker:and organizing if I have any notes that I need to
Speaker:take, I'll dictate them into my iPhone.
Speaker:And then I also make sure that I get to an
Speaker:exercise class a few days a week,
Speaker:because that really helps alleviate my stress.
Speaker:And it's personally challenging.
Speaker:What book have you read lately that you think our listeners
Speaker:could find value in?
Speaker:To be honest,
Speaker:most of my reading lately has been for pleasure because again,
Speaker:it's striking that balance of not having it be all work
Speaker:and no play.
Speaker:However, with that said,
Speaker:I love reading fast company magazine and Inc magazine because I
Speaker:learned so much from other people's businesses and their articles.
Speaker:And then there's one other book that I'd love to bring
Speaker:to people's attention.
Speaker:It was written by a woman named Sarah Simmons who wrote
Speaker:a book called this is no ordinary joy,
Speaker:how the courage of survivors transformed my life.
Speaker:And she is a woman who started an organization.
Speaker:One of the groups that we work with that was rescuing
Speaker:young girls from sex trafficking.
Speaker:She moved her family from the United States,
Speaker:cleaning her children.
Speaker:And she went into this whole thing with a passion.
Speaker:And what I love about her book is that she writes
Speaker:like she speaks,
Speaker:it's very easy reading,
Speaker:but it can be very emotional at times.
Speaker:It can be funny at times,
Speaker:she's just kind of opened up her soul about what this
Speaker:journey was like for her.
Speaker:And there were so many things,
Speaker:both as a woman,
Speaker:as a mother,
Speaker:as a business woman that I was able to relate to
Speaker:and go,
Speaker:oh my God,
Speaker:I, you know,
Speaker:I so get that Gift biz listeners,
Speaker:as you're listening to the podcast today,
Speaker:you can also listen to audio books with ease.
Speaker:I've teamed up with audible for you to be able to
Speaker:get an audio book just like recommending for free.
Speaker:All you need to do is go to gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and make a selection.
Speaker:And that's where I'm headed right after we're done taping Stacy.
Speaker:So we're almost done with our time together,
Speaker:but before I let you go,
Speaker:I have one final question and it is the dare to
Speaker:dream question,
Speaker:Stacy, I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:This is your dream or goal of almost unreachable Heights that
Speaker:you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside?
Speaker:This was a tough one for me.
Speaker:When I started shopping for a change,
Speaker:I really had a big vision that one day,
Speaker:our name shopping for a change would be widely recognized and
Speaker:could become one of the go-to websites for a socially conscious
Speaker:individual. That's looking for stylish exquisitely,
Speaker:handcrafted gifts that give back.
Speaker:And that's why I actually went so far as to trademark
Speaker:our name and our tagline when we first decided upon it.
Speaker:And so what I envision is that one day we will
Speaker:no longer be working out of my home,
Speaker:but be in an office and warehouse space that has been
Speaker:donated to us for our work and that we would be
Speaker:providing work for thousands of women and men in the developing
Speaker:world where we'd be able to do community improvement projects in
Speaker:more than one community per year,
Speaker:which is what we've been able to do thus far.
Speaker:And that we would be also making significant donations to the
Speaker:U S charities that our customers are choosing at checkout.
Speaker:So we'd be making an impact that is many,
Speaker:many more times greater than what we are currently doing Well
Speaker:on behalf of myself and the listeners.
Speaker:I think all of us would like to see you have
Speaker:that gift realized.
Speaker:So how can Everybody,
Speaker:if they want to look into shopping for a change or
Speaker:possibly purchase something online,
Speaker:or just get to know you better and the business,
Speaker:how can people reach out to you?
Speaker:We are on various social media,
Speaker:but the website itself is shopping for a change.
Speaker:And that's F O R not the numeral four.org.
Speaker:So shopping for a change.org.
Speaker:Fabulous. Yes.
Speaker:And as everybody knows,
Speaker:if you jump over to our website,
Speaker:gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com, you will find Stacey's show notes page.
Speaker:It will have the link to her website,
Speaker:also all of the social media platforms.
Speaker:And so if you're walking the dog now or you're at
Speaker:work and listening to us,
Speaker:possibly even while you're commuting to work,
Speaker:don't worry.
Speaker:Don't pull to the side,
Speaker:look for a pen or anything.
Speaker:You'll be able to get all the information right on the
Speaker:show notes page Stacy,
Speaker:thank you so much for all of the valuable information and
Speaker:insight you've shared with us today.
Speaker:And may your candle always burn bright pleasure,
Speaker:How to work smarter while developing and growing your business.
Speaker:Download our guide called 25 free tools to enhance your business
Speaker:in life.
Speaker:It's our gift to you and available at gift biz,
Speaker:unwrap.com/tools. Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for
Speaker:the next step.
Speaker:So Would you like to be on the show or do
Speaker:you know someone who can provide valuable insight from their experiences?
Speaker:If so,
Speaker:we'd love to hear from you.
Speaker:All you need to do is submit a form for consideration.
Speaker:You can access the form@giftunwrapped.com
Speaker:forward slash guest that's gift biz,
Speaker:unwrap.com forward slash G U E S T today's show is
Speaker:sponsored by the ribbon print company,
Speaker:looking for a new income source for your gift business.
Speaker:Customization is more popular now than ever granted product from your
Speaker:logo or print,
Speaker:a happy birthday,
Speaker:Jessica, to add to a gift,
Speaker:right at checkout,
Speaker:it's all done right in your shop for cross studio in
Speaker:seconds. Check out the ribbon printing company.com