Gift biz unwrapped episode 242 when he saw this product and

he heard my vision,

he was like,

you have to do this At Tintin,

gifters, bakers,

crafters and makers pursuing your dream can be fun whether you

have an established business or looking to start one now you

are in the right place.

This is give to biz unwrapped,

helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.

Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,

resources and the support you need to grow your gift biz.

Here is your host gift biz gal Sue moon Heights.

Hi there Sue,

and I'm so glad you're joining me here today.

Before I tell you about this show,

I want to jump into a past guest spotlight,

so this is where we catch up with someone we've talked

to before and see what's happening with them now.

Today's update is from Carra of Caras vineyard weddings.

She was one of my early guests,

so somewhere around three years ago or so and a lot

has happened since then.

At that time,

Carra was selling upscale place card holders made out of wine

corks primarily for weddings.

Today Kara focuses on the same audience with a popular podcast

called a wedding planning podcast and has helped tens of thousands

of engaged couples streamline and simplify their wedding plans with straightforward

down to earth wedding advice.

She also has two new product lines,

just married holiday ornaments,

which allows her to remark it to married couples who became

clients while planning their weddings.

How smart is that and align of DIY products to help

budget savvy couples design their own wedding decor.

Congratulations Cara,

on your tremendous growth.

This is a great example of how you can start and

build a business around a single product.

Check out episode 74 of gift biz unwrapped.

If you'd like to hear more about how Kara got her

start and the details behind her journey.

Moving on to our show today.

I want to start off with a question for you.

Throughout your life,

have you always been a creator of ideas and take an

action on some of those ideas?

Maybe you had lemonade stands as a child or created plays

and had your parents or anyone who'd watch take in the

story as you acted out the scenes perhaps all these years

in the back of your mind,

you've been rolling around the idea of starting a company around

some sort of product and you're on the lookout for just

the right thing.

If so,

then you'll be able to relate perfectly with our guest.

Not only has she experienced all these things in one version

or another,

she's also interested in giving back to empower women in some

way. All this has become reality with the company story your

about to hear.

She's proof that all that glitters can turn into gold.

Pleasure to introduce you to Pamela GORT,

the creator of bling Z.

Blink is the clever way to store or bring your bling

wherever you go.

It's a unique jewelry carrier solution that is made of a

patented combination of materials,

a gorgeous fabric on the outside and a special grippy liner

on the inside.

It all started just five years ago when Pamela lost her

job. She decided to make a huge career shift toward giving

back in a more personal way.

So she founded simply sewn a for purpose socially conscious business.

It's purpose is to provide a flexible sewing income opportunities for

women in need.

The tagline sowing seeds of kindness reinforces the ripple effect of

women helping women.

She wanted to launch her jewelry carrier invention,

but needed the right someone to sew it.

Fortuitously, she met sister Jean and sister Sheila from hope house

at a garage sale where they were selling a sewn tote

bag. It was a magical meeting and Navy became Pamela's first

partner. They run a safe house for trafficked women and four

of the women,

so blink Z.

I am sure you're like me.

Anxious to hear more about all of the creation of bling.

Z. Pamela,

welcome to the gift biz on wrapped podcast.

Thank you so much Sue.

I am extremely excited to be here to talk about what's

going on in my life,

but most important,

I wanted to thank you for the beautiful advice and guidance

that you've provided me.

I love your podcast and I think any woman who is

starting a business as a maker or someone who's already doing

it and wants to get a little bit bigger could value

everything that you offer on that podcast.

I'm so excited.

That's so sweet.

Pamela, thank you so much for that.

I truly mean it.

It's been a wonderful addition to my podcast list.

Oh, love that so much.

Thank you again.

So there is so much to you.

I'm so excited to dive into your story.

But before we do,

share with us a little bit more about you as you

were describing yourself through a motivational candle.

So if you would give us a color and a quote

that would be a candle that speaks all about you,

Pamela. I would have to say that my candle would be

a rainbow and that is because I love the layers of

colors, the differences,

the depths I am,

if you would say a very distractable.

So I love lots of things,

so I'm always bouncing around like a ping pong ball,

which can be a detriment when you're a business owner.

And I would say that that candle represents all the different

layers of what I have in my life.

But mostly if you look at my Blinky business,

I started off with five solid colors and now I'm in

every color of the rainbow and their prints galore.

So there is a color for everyone there.

Beautiful. And what about a quote?

Oh my quote.

So important ladies and gentlemen,

makers start with why.

If you don't start your engine with Y,

you will not get anywhere.

So it start with why and the rest will follow.

And literally it has for me.

Yeah. You know,

I think that whole why question brings the depth to what

your mission is,

right? The purpose and the importance of why you're spending the

time, money,

commitment, heartbreak.

Sometimes with business cause things get frustrating.

And if you don't have that deeper level of understanding that

you've committed to yourself,

that you consciously recognize you're not gonna be able to get

through some of those harder times.

It's so true.

And with my mission to help these women specifically in human

trafficking. Well,

I've learned so much and I wouldn't have come out with

this product.

I don't think if I didn't have that extra thing going

on with them.

Well let's talk about how this all came together then.

Can you take it from the top?

Where were you in your corporate life?

What did you leave to come to create blink Z?

I worked in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry and I traveled

all over the U S I was literally zigzagging across the

country so you could say I was on it.

Planes, jets,

airplanes, trains,

rental cars.

I lived my life traveling.

That meant a carry bag cause I never checked anything,

a briefcase,

computer bag and anything that I needed to keep myself comfortable.

But that was a constant travel.

I left either Monday and came back Thursday or Friday or

left Tuesday,

came back Saturday.

It was a crazy life.

Oh man.

I lived that life too in my corporate time,

so I completely get it.

Is this then where you identified the need for something to

carry your jewelry while you travel?

I would say that's where identified the need.

But a product was always in the back of my mind.

I started my life as a little entrepreneur.

So probably around age seven I had a big bank account.

My parents used to borrow money for me.

I sold all the vegetables out of our own garden,

which is crazy.

When I was 14 I started mowing lawns on a sit

down lawnmower in a bikini.

That's how I got my customers.

And when I was 10 I started a library in my

neighborhood. Everyone looks at me like that's crazy.

So my dad built me this,

I called it a Fort,

it was a 14 by like a house in the backyard

and one summer cause I love to read.

I said I wish there was a library close cause my

mom didn't drive so we had to hang out or get

rides. And I went around the neighborhood with a wagon and

I said do you have some books you could lend me?

I'm starting a library for the kids in the summer.

And it was the coolest thing.

So I would have kids come and check out books and

it was just really fun and I love doing it and

I didn't make any money on that.

Maybe I sold them the library card,

I'm not really sure,

but I always had this inmate and I lived in Canada

for a while and the company I worked for got taken

over. And so I was coming back to the States and

I'd always in the back of my mind had the thought

for a product that could help other people to make it

and get them off the street or out of bad lives.

And it was sort of a gift box that would be

painted in an art therapy class.

So they would be helped.

They would get money for it and it would be a

cool creative thing.

But the practicality of it that what I wanted to make

it out of and everything,

it didn't make sense.

It was going to be too costly.

So I was still,

there was something percolating in the back of my mind.

There had to be something that could be easily made by

people in need and that would serve a huge need out

there. And one day I was deciding to buy some more

jewelry. My friends were giving me jewelry,

I was buying it and loving it.

Prior to that I just wore one necklace that my mom

had given me a cross and I started wearing all this

jewelry. So I'm like,

I need to put it in something.

So I bought a jewelry roll up and it tangled all

my jewelry and I'm like,

there has to be something better.

So I bought another one and another one.

The last one I bought was a $90 beautiful red leather

jewelry thing.

And it frustrated me to no end.

So here I am with six or seven jewelry things and

none of them are working.

And I'm saying there's got to be a better way.

And one day the idea came to me and it was

this special material that is now the liner for blink Z.

And I knew this was the answer and this is the

thing. So I wasn't just building another mousetrap because every jewelry

carrier out there was very similar.

They might've looked a little different,

but it was a similar concept.

They had hooks,

snaps, zipper pockets,

and you'd roll them up or fold them up.

But nothing could grip the jewelry and keep it in place.

So I knew I was onto building a much better mouse

trap, literally outside the box.

Have you ever heard Sally Hogshead quote that is different,

is better than better?

Have you heard that before?

Well, it's the pharmaceutical industry's most precious thing to say,

we don't want to have a me too drug.

We want to have a completely new drug.

So that is a great quote.

I love it.

Yeah, and it's so true.

Right? And I think give biz listeners,

this is for you to consider too with your product is

you don't need to copy the same product and be better.

That's too hard because you're competing head to head with somebody.

But if you do something that's different,

Pamela, like exactly what you're saying,

like the liner is totally different.

It's still a product that everyone can relate to.

And understand because it carries your blame,

right? Yes.

But it's different and it makes your path so much easier.

And when I actually glued the first one I made and

I started carrying my jewelry with me and it worked brilliantly

and I'm like,

Oh my gosh,

this is so cool.

Right off the bat,

it worked Right off the bat.

And then I said,

okay, I need to make this look really pretty and be

a little different.

So I spent many hours walking in the woods with my

dogs meditating and all of these ideas just started coming forth

to me,

how to make it better.

And I'm like,

okay, I really want to do this.

And my friends were loving it.

So I sowed my first one.

I took out my old singer sewing machine and I'm not

a seamstress by any stretch of the imagination.

So I sewed a very simple template,

if you will,

or prototype.

And then that's what I used to show the nuns and

when I finally met them,

and that's a story you're going to want to hear very

quickly in a minute.

And then they helped me find a woman through their church

that literally took me through all the steps a through Z

on how to sew this and make it super simple for

these women to so Love it.

Okay. I definitely want to get to the story.

There's so much here I want to talk about.

But one other thing that I want to point out,

you might have some comments on this too,

Pamela, is there may be some of our listeners who have

had, like you did,

you know,

you were always creating and innovating,

whether it was the library or the idea that you wanted

to have a product that had some type of a give

back or helped another woman.

Right. But you didn't know exactly what it is and you

just kind of let it sit inside you and work through

you until the actual right solution came out.

So I liked that thought and the way this conversation has

gone, because there may be people who are listening who are

thinking it too,

but they just can't get to that place yet.

Yes. And I take some time,

I think It does.

And if you have an idea,

look into it,

but don't count on it being the idea.

It may be a variation of an idea or it may

take you in a completely different direction.

I know that this other idea I had,

which I was just so bent on bringing to the market,

but it didn't make sense from a financial perspective and I

was excited about it.

But when I thought of the idea for blink Z,

that's when I realized,

Oh my gosh,

this is truly the product that can work,

that can be affordable to make and also have a nice

profit margin and it's so easy to so that anyone,

even someone without sewing skills could easily learn to sew.

So it could literally help more people make extra income at

home And the numbers work better that way.

Too much better.

Yeah. So you saw that the numbers for this first product,

that box wasn't going to work,

but you didn't give up on the idea,

you just found a different direction to your ultimate goal,

you know,

different product.

Yes. And you know what's interesting is I was working a

full time job and it was all encompassing.

I mean when you're in that industry you are working,

working hard and the emails that come once you get off

the plane and come during the night,

I live on the West coast,

the company's on the East coast.

Before I even wake up,

there's a hundred emails in my inbox.

I felt like I was working a 24 seven job and

with the traveling that I was doing every week in some

weeks I was in three different cities.

So you know,

my jewelry was getting moved around a lot in that roller

bag. Right.

And when you're in it,

as you know,

Sue, you don't think that much about how difficult it is.

You just put one foot in front of the other.

People will say things like,

Oh, that must be so glamorous.

You're flying,

staying in hotels,

eating out.

Well, it's not that glamorous.

We know you make the best of it.

But it wasn't until I left it that I realized,

how did I do that week after week after week,

I don't know.

But I sure did.

Well, I don't know if you were like,

I was Pamela.

I really liked my corporate job,

but I loved my children and I didn't want to miss

out on everything and I was also traveling like my husband

and I would cross in the airport because he was also

traveling. So like I'd be coming in,

he'd be going out.

We had young kids at home.

I mean it was just crazy.

But I think as long as you don't hate your job,

you don't realize the difference of lifestyle until you're out of

it. Just like you're saying.

I actually loved my job and I worked in a great

part of pharmaceutical industry.

I worked in HIV and we literally took a death sentence

and turned it into a chronic manageable disease with the drugs.

So I felt a lot of satisfaction working in that industry.

I wasn't selling a pain pill that was going to addict

people or another high blood pressure medication.

This was just really significant stuff and it felt great.

I was in management for a large part of my career

and I loved my teams,

but there was always something out there for me to be

an entrepreneur,

to do it on my own.

My dad was an entrepreneur for part of his life.

My mom actually made him go back and get a job.

And I always heard my mom's words having a job is

security. So then how much security did I have when my

company said we are downsizing and we don't need you anymore.

That wasn't security.

So I figured security is what you can control and I

can control my own business.

Yeah. And I think it was true years back,

it was true because people would stay at a company forever,

right? Yes.

And companies would retain employees for a long,

long time.

Yeah. There were cut back sometimes,

but not like it is today.

So I think that held true.

But that's also a reason why those of us who decided

to go into business for ourselves,

and I think it's right at this generation right now,

have family members who are older who don't get it and

don't understand.

And it looks really super scary to them because they know

just what you're describing from the past.

They don't know the new way.

But here I want to lead to a question here.

How far then in advancement of the bling Z product were

you when you lost your job?

It was very conceptual.

I was using it,

but I wasn't really thinking about making it,

but I was conceptualizing,

well what if I could,

and with the amount of work that I had,

there was no way I could take time away and do

this product.

So I think the universe delivered me getting laid off so

that now I had a chance because I got a really

nice severance package.

Now, like you,

my former partner and I had taken into beautiful foster daughters

and I was never home except on the weekend.

And when I was home on the weekend,

what was really sad is that my mind wasn't present with

the kids.

So even though I was playing blocks with my littlest one

who was three and a half at the time,

and trying to understand my 16 year old teenage daughter,

I was not present.

So a part of me is very sad that I missed

some of those years.

But then I just said,

okay, this is a great opportunity for me and I have

both my girls involved in my business too.

My youngest,

she could sell anything to anyone and the older one is

super organized,

so she helps me with inventory.

She comes to shows with me and I think she's better

than I am at selling the product.

So it's really exciting to have them involved and I wish

they could be more involved someday.

Maybe. Well,

and what a great example for you showing them both types

of careers,

corporate career,

where you're on the road working for somebody else,

but then now also transitioning to your own business.

I think it's a great model.

Thank you.

I'm thinking you're probably very similar to me.

I mean,

me and my kids talk about it with me now that

they weren't hurt by me being a working mom,

you know,

they understand it.

Although I loved being home for that about four or five

years I was home and I loved that as well.

So nice.

But okay,

so we're getting a little off topic here just a little.

Let's talk about that meeting you had with sister Jean and

sister Sheila.

How did that happen?

Well, what was really cool was not only did the company

gave me a severance package,

but they also gave me career coaching.

So I went to this guy,

he was wonderful and we whiteboard at all these things that

I might do next.

Do I want to stay in this industry?

Do I want to work for Obama and work at the

office of AIDS in DC?

And I go,

no, that's travel.

And one of the things was,

well I have this product that is super cool.

And then there were a couple other things we talked about.

Well when he saw this product and he heard my vision,

he was like,

you have to do this.

So I was like,

okay, well I'm not going to sew it myself.

So how do I find these Sowers?

So he said,

well, write down all of the organizations you know and start

calling. So I was a volunteer for the women's resource center,

which is a shelter for domestic violence.

And they were the first people that I was going to

call. So I'm writing this list one Friday night and I'm

putting down all these people and literally putting it out in

the universe.

The next morning our neighborhood had a garage sale.

So you know,

you get up really early in the morning,

you start putting stuff on your driveway.

And I went to my next door neighbor to see what

she was putting on her driveway.

And there are these two women there who were selling Swiss

shard raspberries,

beautiful raspberries and these sown tote bags.

So I say,

ladies, are these your vegetables?

Did you sew these bags?

And they said,

no, our women,

so them.

And I said,

well, who are you?

Who are your women and what are you doing in my

neighbor's driveway?

So they introduced themselves as sister Jane and sister Sheila,

and they said,

we run a safe house for trafficked women and our ladies.

So these bags.

So instantly it hit me and I thought,

wow, God really works fast because I just put this out,

or the universe,

whatever you want to call it.

I just literally put this out to the universe yesterday and

here it is.

So we met for coffee.

I shared the idea with them.

They said,

well, we'll ask.

And four of the women said yes,

they wanted to sew and make some extra income.

We had a little breakfast meeting at my house and the

rest is history.

Probably seven months later we launched blink Z online.

And then I went to shows.

Uh, shows were really my main way of making the business

go. Okay,

stop. Sorry.

Getting ahead of myself.

No, you're not getting ahead at all.

But I do have a question for you on bringing on

people to,

so for you,

what type of agreement or arrangements or structure did you put

behind that?

Yes, I had a little contract and you needed to 10

99 them.

So they had to fill that paperwork out.

I had a contract that they would not share this,

that they would be paid by the piece and we had

an initial price while they were getting started and they're going

to get paid more in the beginning and then a little

bit less later,

but it's by per piece and that they could,

so wherever they were.

So at this point they were still in the safe house,

so the nuns had set up a little area in the

garage for them and they would all go out there in

the evenings when they weren't working or doing therapy or whatever

they were doing at the safe house to recover their lives.

And they had fun out there.

Now these women were from Indonesia,

Costa Rica,

Kenya, and Ethiopia.

So they weren't even speaking the same language.

And what was so cute about them,

they were learning English.

So they were interacting.

They're still really good friends today.

And they were having a little girl time plus they were

creating something that made them feel good and they were getting

paid for it.

So it was kind of a win win for everybody.

Absolutely. Yeah.

And what I loved about it was that the experience they

had was more than I had even expected right now that

they're all living independently.

Actually two of them have moved and I am not able

to get the material to them.

One has a cataract,

so there's one sower left.

So I'm in the process of finding more Sowers and this

woman sows all the time.

She's really good at it and she's able to keep up

with my volume at this point in time.

But I know as things get bigger,

yeah, I'm going to need more sower.

So I'm going to find them somehow.

You just put that out there in the environment and come

back to you.

No question about that.

But question on this and the reason I'm asking you this,

so this might help answer it the best.

I mean obviously truthfully,

but just how you position it is I think a lot

of people who make product are afraid of handing off their

product to someone else to do it because of the quality

or will they put as much love into a product or

you know,

all of that that's involved.

So how did you make that transition from,

okay this is what I'm doing and I get that you

weren't a sower,

you know you had the prototype,

but how did you check the work or,

well I have two questions.

Let's start with that.

How did you check the work to make sure that it

was going to match what you needed to command the price

that you do?

Yes. Well at this point they were all sewing it a

little differently and what was nice is that gave it that

sort of handmade feel We had the nuns doing was after

they sewed it,

they would do a quick quality check,

cut off any extra threads and things of that nature.

But because it was,

we gave them great direction,

showed them how to sew,

it, gave them all the measurements and stuff.

Now I didn't quite create a pattern but there was sort

of a pattern and because of the ease of making it,

it just really worked out brilliantly for them.

They all did a beautiful job and I got the fabric.

So here's how it worked.

I got the fabric,

I had it all precut I would put in these plastic

bins, the fabric,

the liner,

the straps and the thread and I gave them instructions to

this fabric goes with this liner cause we have different color

liners. And then they would sew it after they got done

sewing it and they had their own methodology of sewing it.

They would either,

so one from start to finish or so the straps on

first and this part second.

So they were allowed to have a little bit of flexibility

and I was just so impressed and they were anxious to

know, do you like our work?

They had this sense of pride,

which was really nice.

They were so happy when they saw me just beam with

all my,

gosh, these are beautiful.

So initially what I did is I had them practice and

so a bunch and then when we figured out that they

were doing a great job,

then we continued on.

So there was a little curve,

if you will,

to get them up to where they needed to be.

But your product made it easier for them to be able

to do that pretty quick it sounds like.

Yes. You also have a nice personal overlay about the individuality

of the product because I believe the Sowers are the people

you have on the website.

Yes. Right.

You have them highlighted as the makers.

Yes, I have information about them.

And the cool thing is each one comes with a bookmark

telling the story of the woman who sewed it.

Oh, I love that.

Well, and what's crazy is when I'm at a show and

women are coming back year after year at this particular show

and they're like,

I'm so glad you're here.

I need presence,

I need presence.

And I asked them,

now I go,

what do you guys do with the bookmark?

Oh we just throw it away.

And I'm like,

Oh I was hoping you would use it as a bookmark.

So I'm kind of rethinking,

and this is what I would say to the other makers

out there just because you are packaging your product a certain

way or using a certain thing,

you should be open to changing it to either improving it

or deleting it or doing it in a different way that

maybe doubling up things.

Cause I also have a folded eight and a half by

11 piece of paper that has a really cute,

how do you use it?

It's a caricature that I drew and then had professionally made

and then a little information thanking you for purchasing it and

what our mission is.

And that is added into a cellophane bag,

like a wine bag with the blink Z in it.

And it's a nice little packaging thing,

but there's all different ways to do it.

So be open to doing your product a little differently and

take some of your feedback from either your customer and or

the person who is going to help you make it.

So you're thinking of maybe eliminating the bookmarks but still having

the story maybe on the other eight and a half by

11 or something.

Yes. Or just saying if you want to know specifically about

our Sowers,

go to this Facebook page or website.

Well, my 2 cents.

I love the idea of being able to know who was

the sower behind my exact piece that I bought.

I love that idea.

So that's my 2 cents.

Thank you for that.

And then another thing that happened in the early phases of

it, one of my really good friends who travels just like

I was at the time,

she said,

I tried to put too much in it and the straps

aren't long enough to tie or really difficult to tie.

Could you make the straps a little longer?

I said,

how much you said just an inch.

And I said perfect.

So I made him an inch longer.

There you go.

Product research.

Yeah. Product research.

I did focus groups in the beginning too for pricing.

So focus groups are really important.

Ladies and gentlemen who are makers,

I don't want to leave you guys out.

The maker men,

maker men,

okay. Are just makers,

all makers,

all you makers out there.

If you feel like you've got a great product,

make sure that there is a market for your product.

We all say that.

Amen. You can surveys and I did a survey.

What is the biggest frustration you have in traveling with your

jewelry? And 44% of the women said it was tangling.

So my product is the tangle free way to travel.

So I knew I had something there.

A lot of them said that these travel things were too

difficult to use.

It took 30 just to pack your Jewelry.

Well mine takes literally a minute to pack it.

I think you can also see your jewelry with yours too.

Cause my other one mine would have been tangling.

And then also not being able to see and find like

the earrings that I want or the ring I want because

they're in the little side pockets,

you know?

So you have to look in every single one of them

to find what you need.

Yeah, you unroll it and you can see everything you have

and you roll it up.

It's super cool.

And so it's super easy.

And that was a really important one.

And then a lot of people said they needed something that

was smaller or bigger or whatever.

And it's so easy to pack and the tangles don't happen.

So that came through a survey that I did,

I think it's called survey monkey.

So you can easily send that out.

You could put it on a Facebook page or you could

just send it to your friends.

And I had a hundred people answer.

So that was good statistics.

The other thing you can do too is have a focus

group. So sit down with a bunch of your best friends

who you think could use whatever product it is.

Have a list of questions that you're going to ask,

record it or video it and with their permission and have

some wine and appetizers.

I know all my friends will come if I offer wine

and I'm there,

let's go.

So I did three or four of those.

I got a price point.

What is the most you'd pay?

What do you think I should charge?

When would it be too cheap?

Or when would it sound too cheap and wow,

that was such great information.

And did you land your price point right at the beginning?

Yes, I did.

Beautiful. I've made some adjustments to it when I'm at a

show. So if someone,

especially around the holidays,

if you buy three or more,

you get them for 20 each instead of 24 99 Well

that makes sense.

I didn't know.

I was just going to say,

we know when you're pricing product,

it's good to have some extra margin in there so that

you can do promotional offers because if you only put as

much margin as you need to make a little bit of

money yourself,

run your business,

all the things we talk about with price,

then any time that you're doing any type of a discount,

you're breaking into your stable support money.

Oh, for sure.

So you don't want to do that,

so yeah,

I'm glad we brought that up too.

All right,

let's talk about the shows.

Okay, so you started the business.

You have people now making the product.

Oh, let me ask you this.

What about quotas?

You say that you were paying them by the piece.

Did you have like a certain amount you wanted them to

try and do a week so that you knew what to

do on the sales end or how did that work?

I was a little loosey goosey on that.

What I would do is I would bring the bins to

the nuns and then I would say,

when do you think you could have these done?

And so she would text me and say that the girls

said they could get them done by the end of the

week or whatever.

So it had to be a little bit loose because they

did have a lot of activities that they were supposed to

participate in as part of their recovery.

Now once they were independent living in their own homes,

then it was a matter of,

Hey, I need this by the end of the week,

can you do it?

And if they could,

then they would get the fabric.

So I picked out the fabric and they did the sewing

and I put the label on myself.

So I wanted to have sort of a role in this

too. So I had sort of a creative role in picking

the fabrics.

And then I had the role of gluing the blink Z

label on,

which gave me that feeling of finality for each piece that

I got to touch each piece and I did my own

quality check at that point as well.

Yeah, really important.

Especially for the beginning ones,

you know when you're getting your name established and your brand

known. Yes.

I've heard some jewelry people who are now getting some people

to make the jewelry for them that they do that same

type of quality check and maybe they're attaching a little tag

onto it,

an engraved tag or something that gives them that feeling.

Right. But they're still part of this even if they're not

making that actual piece from start to finish.

Would you in any way say it's a control issue Wanting

to do that label at the end?

You know the label,

I literally struggled.

I didn't want to do it cause it takes a lot

of time and I have it down to a science and

the glue.

The fabric gets all over my finger so it is kind

of a mess and it's something I really don't want to

do. So I looked at having them so it,

but the machines that I gave them are not strong enough

to go through three layers.

It's just more of a technical thing.

It'd be a little bit difficult for them to sow it

where we want it and it didn't make sense.

So if I go though with a manufacturer in the future

when my volume increases,

then I will definitely have them.

So that label on,

because they do have the industrial machines,

so I'm open to it not controlling that piece.

Okay, I got it.

I kind of asked just out of curiosity,

because where this podcast is concerned,

we're going to go through our whole conversation.

Then it goes out to editing and I always get kicked

back from people because I always have to have it come

back to me first and I have to listen through the

whole thing.

And then I add the intro like you know everything that

we do to bring the show together.

But I always want to hear it again because I want

to know what's going out,

what everyone's hearing and people are like,

Sue, that takes so long.

Why do you do that?

Why do you do it?

And I guess it's a control thing,

but I want to know that it's the quality I want

everyone hearing.

That was why I asked you.

I can totally appreciate that.

That is super important for me as well to make sure

that that what's out there now I guess I am a

control freak around the shows though.

I would have to say.

Okay, that's a perfect segue.

Let's go there.

Going to shows or getting customers overall.

That is the number one thing I hear you guys questioning

all the time.

We're going to get Pamela's take on this right after a

quick word from our sponsor.

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Yeah, so this product needs to be demonstrated to differentiate it.

If I just got it on target shelf for example,

people wouldn't really know they'd see jewelry travel carrier,

but I don't think they would really get it.

Let's say they decided to buy it,

they brought it home,

they enrolled it and they're like,

how does this work?

Because they're so used to the other paradigm of hooks,

zippers and snaps.

Now even with my little instruction sheet,

I think it could be confusing and then they might not

even go to my video online to see how it works.

So then I feel like they wouldn't be able to use

it the way it's supposed to be used now.

It just takes one demonstration and then people get it.

But I felt like having it in a place like on

a shelf just wouldn't work.

Now I am in a couple of boutiques and these are

boutiques where the sales people are walking around helping with the

shopping and if someone buys jewelry or is looking for a

gift and they'll say,

Hey, we have this really cool product and she does really

good with it,

you know,

helps people.

Do you want to check it out and then they demonstrate

it. So I feel that it needs to be demonstrated as

a result.

That video on my webpage was extremely important,

but at a show I'm demonstrating it and people are crowding

my booth after I roll the jewelry up in it and

I throw it in the air and it circles around like

30 feet in the air and I catch it and unroll

it and everything is in place.

Like I'll say,

Hey ladies,

do you think this is a tangled mess?

Cause it would be if it was any other material and

they all go,

no, it won't be because of your liner.

And then I unroll it.

Everything's in place and they all clap and they all say

you should be on QVC or shark tank.

And I'm like,

woo. It's so much fun.

And you know,

I have to say I love that part.

I love it when women crowd the booth and now my

daughter does it,

but she doesn't throw it as high as that.

And so she's really good at selling it.

My older daughter.

But I have to say that I probably give the best

presentation, but she's really getting close.

So do you guys both throw it up in the air?

She only throws it a little bit because I was a

softball pitcher.

I played softball.

She is not an athlete,

so if she threw it in the air,

she probably hit herself or somebody else.

But that's fun because it's like what is going on in

that booth and what is going up in the air there?

I mean that's an attractor right to your booth.

I would think it is.

And if I can also give a little bit of guidance

to your makers right now,

if you sell at a booth and you just sit in

a chair the whole time at the end of the show

you said,

I didn't sell anything.

You have one person to blame and that's you.

And I'll just give you an example.

One of my first shows was downtown San Diego in this

beautiful mall and I was next to a woman with gorgeous

photographs and note cards.

She was an excellent photographer.

Her stuff was beautiful.

Her booth was beautiful.

She didn't sell anything.

And halfway through I said,

why don't you go out and try to bring people in,

you know,

to see your stuff.

She goes,

Oh, I don't like doing that.

So would you like to be the person like me who

goes out and asks your audience?

Like just say,

Hey, you know,

have you ever seen a blink Z?

Would you like to see it?

Come on in.

I promise I won't bite unless you want me to say

things like that.

And I'll say something like,

you know,

do you travel?

Do you love your jewelry?

I will do whatever I can to bring people in.

Because if I don't guess what happens?

I sell nothing and I'm not helping these women anymore and

I'm not able to help these safe houses either.

So why am I even doing this?

And what really was surprising to me is that she wasn't

willing to get the audience in there to see the beautiful

stuff that she had.

And as a consequence,

I sold a lot.

She sold nothing.

And it's not easy if you're not a good salesperson,

but you have to ask yourself,

do I want to walk away empty handed or do I

want to get some product?

So if you just stand there,

Oh you know,

are you looking for a gift,

are you buying something for yourself?

You can ask all sorts of questions.

You can help them find other gifts to buy in at

the show.

You can be of service to them and they'll probably say,

so what do you have?

Well exactly.

Or you could even just say,

hi, how are you this morning?

Or how's the show going for you today?

Or anything to start a conversation.

Then you can see from there it gets easier for people

who are a little shyer.

So are you doing trade shows or consumer shows?

I guess it's consumer shows that I'm doing.

I need to do B to BS too.

Yeah. So people are buying right then and there?

Oh yes.

And they see one for themselves,

a gift for a friend at Christmas time.

They buy five or 10 and they love it and it's

crazy. So like I said,

it feels to me like it really needs to be demonstrated

and that's why I'm so successful at the shows versus online

because online if someone's looking for a jewelry travel thing,

they probably end up on Amazon and they probably never get

to me.

Even if I had amazing search engine optimization,

I don't think I would be coming up first.

So it's been a struggle for me online and this is

something I'm still struggling with so the challenges don't go away.

Even if you've done your business for a couple of years,

they keep coming and you just have to keep dealing with

them. And so your current way of dealing with that,

of getting people to know the product and then buying from

you online is going out to the shows?

Yes. I have a Facebook page and I do some creative

stuff there.

Not enough,

but I do some stuff there and then also I am

trying to utilize my email list and grow that by offering

something free like maybe a tip book on how to protect

your jewelry.

Love that.

The free is not a discount.

Love that.

Because when you know your investment in terms of making whatever

that's going to be,

you have to make it once and then you can be

offering it out over and over and over again.

So beautiful example,

A digital tip book.

So that's another thing I think you've mentioned on shows too.

You've got to have leads,

you've got to grow your list.

As somebody once said,

your email list is the keys to your kingdom.

So if you are selling online,

you've got to have a big list.

And one way to do it is to give something away

free. That is likely a digital product.

So if you sell jewelry or a jewelry carrier,

maybe you sell tips on how to take care of your

jewelry, how to pack your jewelry,

how to travel with jewelry.

And if you say that,

then you might want to say you should check out blink

Z. Yeah,

absolutely. Yeah.

So I'm going to continue with this a little bit.

So the last thing people want to do these days is

give their email address cause they know exactly what's going to

happen. They're going to get emails,

they're going to get marketed to.

And most people don't know how to do emails well,

and all it is is selling their stuff all the time,

right? But if you start conditioning people,

like I'm sure you are Pamela,

of if they're on your list,

you're sending them email that might show like the newest things

going on with the business.

Maybe it's profiling of one of the people who's sewing,

maybe it's business tips,

all of that.

You start conditioning people to be saying,

Oh, here's an email from Pamela.

I'm going to open it because there's going to be something

valuable in there besides just being sold to once again,

You're right.

And that's so important because we all experience it ourselves.

So my emails that come out two or three times a

month, so I'm not inundating them.

If I get something from someone three times a week,

I am unsubscribing right on the spot.

I don't care if it's great stuff.

So at the end,

so I'm providing them with great tips or information or something

funny. People love to laugh.

And then I say,

by the way,

if you need a gift or if you're looking for this

or looking for that,

then I do something there about my product.

And usually once a month I'll do some sort of a

coupon code or something like that.

Yeah. So it's not all the time.

I usually try to tell people between 20 and 25% of

the time are you really promoting?

That's good.

Yeah. So one in four,

one in five social media also,

same way.

I'm on Facebook pretty strongly and I know I should be

on Instagram and Pinterest,

but how much can you do ladies and gentlemen,

I'm sitting here saying to myself,

there's only so much time in the day.

There's only so many things you can do.

So sometimes you just have to balance it.

So Facebook seems to work pretty well for me.

I get some good engagement,

I do funny stuff.

I try to do positive things,

jokes, surveys.

There's this cool thing called a fun holidays.

So every day of the year is a fun holiday and

one was eat an extra dessert day.

And people love that one.

So I had a picture of this great two desserts standing

next to each other.

You know,

so people want to laugh.

I have a friend right now who's going through a lot

of pain and she said,

I just love your Facebook page because it makes me laugh

every day.

So if you can make your future customers laugh or your

current customers laugh and they're going to think of you when

they need something,

Great advice.

And the Facebook pages,

bling Z,

It's bring my bling,

Bring my bling on Facebook and give biz listeners,

you know,

on the show notes page,

as always,

I'll have all the links,

but we should be checking out your page.

You'll give us some other ideas for our own audiences for

sure. Yes.

Yeah. So is there one other tip you can share with

us? And I'm thinking specifically of shows once again,

because a lot of our listeners are at craft shows or

if they listen to me,

they know that I tell people to great place to test

your product.

But is there anything that you learned,

maybe you did right and it was really working,

or maybe it was something you wish you would have done

better? In the beginning when it comes to craft shows,

I spent a considerable amount of money on some marketing banners

that got people's attention because people were literally walking by my

booth if I didn't say something to get them in.

Like, how are you?

Are you enjoying the show or have you ever heard of

a blink Z?

So I had these really cool marketing banners that were designed

by a marketing person with some great art and pictures and

color. So people would be walking by and literally like you

would see that they'd be reading my banners so it at

least got their attention.

And as they walked by a little slower because they were

reading them,

I could ask,

what was it that attracted you to that banner?

Oh, well it says human trafficking,

or Oh,

it says jewelry.

And then you could easily continue on a conversation with them.

Because of that,

you have to have something that attracts them.

Either your booth is absolutely gorgeous.

And if you're selling jewelry,

the jewelry is hanging and there's lights on it and it's

really drawing people to you or you have to have something

else that draws people to you.

Now some people will have candy and chotskies and things like

that, but they're just going to grab it and go.

And then the other thing too is occasionally at a show,

someone doesn't buy.

If someone comes to my booth,

they're going to buy nine times out of 10 so the

ones that don't,

I don't want to say anything to them,

but then I thought it's a great time to do a

little survey.

So I go,

Hey, you seem to be really interested in my product.

I was wondering,

was there anything that I could have done or a different

color or whatever that would have gotten your business today?

And they'll give you an honest answer because they can tell

that you're not trying to resell them or sell them again.

And usually it's,

well I don't travel or I don't have jewelry,

or you know,

it's just not a good time of the month for me

to spend money.

And then you know that you did your best to get

their business if they needed it.

I literally have people that are looking at it going,

Oh my gosh,

this is so cool.

I need one.

But then they walk away.

So those are the kinds of people that I'll ask that

question up.

But it gives you great feedback.

If they said,

Oh, you don't have the color I want,

what color would you have purchased?

Oh, that's another question I asked.

This is cool.

I go,

they're looking at all my colors and I go,

so which one is your favorite color?

Which one do you like the best?

Which one speaks to you?

And then they'll say,

Oh, this one,

I really like this one.

Once they touch it and say,

I really like this one,

then you have a better chance that they're going to buy

that. Yeah.

Once you get them to talk to it,

there's been some research done.

I don't recall exactly what it is,

but if you start people interacting with your product like that,

you are way far along in the sale.

They'll most likely buy.

And that's what you're saying you're seeing,

right Pamela?

Yes, for sure.

It's kind of like trying on something in a store.

What's the first thing that the sales person says?

Can I get a dressing room started for you?

If you get a dressing room starter for someone they try

it on or they touch it or whatever,

they're more likely to buy it than if they didn't touch

it or try it on.

Well, Oh my gosh,

this has been such an interesting progression of a product development.

That's so interesting to hear the whole story,

how it's happened.

I would have loved to have been buying books from you

at your little library.

You were a little,

I could just see pictures of that.

That sounds so adorable.

So as your looking into the future,

what are you seeing for yourself?

What's going to come next for you?

Wow. Well.

Um, I hope that my work in this area,

I'm not a human trafficking organization,

but because I talk about human trafficking,

when I talk about these women,

I get to educate more and put it out there for

people to be aware.

And as a mom of a 12 year old and a

25 year old now,

it's really important that you watch what your kids are doing

and where they are because this stuff is getting bigger and

it's in your backyard,

it's in your local schools.

So if the one thing I can do is help educate

and I hope through this that we can end human trafficking.

And I think that is my biggest thing is getting people

to stop this,

to stop buying sex and labor like this.

So my dream would be that we end human trafficking and

slavery of every kind.

And along with that,

if I could have play a small role,

then I think I would love to be on one of

those big home shopping network shows,

demonstrating my blings either throwing it up in the air.

I mean my customers are saying I should be on those

shows. So maybe I should,

I mean your product is just made for that.

And to your point about,

you know,

it needs to be demonstrated.

And I think,

I mean I watched the video online.

I mean it doesn't take that long to demonstrate either though.

Not at all.

But it's the throwing in the air.

That's really good to do it though.

Yeah. I don't throw it up on that video.

I just shake it now.

I literally toss it.

I think it's 30 feet in the air.

Maybe I'm just overestimating.

But I did want to share with you when I came

up with the name.

Yeah, cause bling,

bling Z,

lots of blink cause it carries lots of bling.

We have fires here in Southern California and a lot of

people say,

Oh we had our fire and I throw all my jewelry

into my backpack and it's a tangled mess and it's been

two years and I haven't untangled it.

So we had fires here two or three years ago and

it was really close to me.

So we were in the voluntary evacuation.

So I said,

you know what,

I better get my jewelry packed.

So I had all my photos and important papers and stuff

and I pack.

I have a lot of jewelry.

Most of it's costume,

but I love my costume jewelry.

You know,

it's not like,

but I do have some really nice heirlooms and things of

that nature.

I packed my heirlooms.

They're always packed in a blink Z hidden in my closet.

But I packed five blink jerseys in five minutes.

Oh no kidding.

It was so easy.

So if you're moving,

let's say you're moving and you just don't know what to

do with your jewelry,

so it doesn't get all tangled.

You need some Linksys.

You definitely need a few blings these.

Yeah. Not just one obviously.

And not just one.

And my sister loves to travel with really big stuff,

so she has to have two blends.

These every time she travels.

What I was going to say is I came up with

this motto again,

all this stuff just floods into your head.

So write it all down.

My motto is live the bling life.

Be tangled free and when I really thought about it,

it's not just about the jewelry on the outside,

but we are bling on the inside and being tangled.

Free means get rid of the fears,

the doubts,

the self limiting beliefs and all that stuff that keeps you

from being your authentic self.

And if you have that dream inside of you to be

a maker,

to do something,

build something,

create something,

make something,

go and do it.

Be you and the world will love what you bring out

because that's what this is all about.

This is bringing your best foot forward.

One of the things that I do every morning besides my

gratitude prayer is I look at this thing called mantra and

it's an app that says something different.

Every day you just press the button and I'm going to

read what today said.

It said you are one in 7 billion.

Yes, you are one in 7 billion.

You are unique,

so you've got it,

you've got it inside of you and no one else has

exactly what you have inside.

So live the bling life,

be tango free and you'll enjoy every day.

I love that.

Now tell me what that was that you read that from.

Is it an app or something?

So there's two apps I use every day.

One is called simple habit and it's a meditation and there's

some really great ones in there.

They're there as short as five minutes.

You know,

we always heard,

Oh you gotta meditate 30 minutes twice a day if you

do transcendental meditation and who has time for that?

These are five,

10 15 minute meditations,

your choice.

So it's called simple habit.

But the one I just read,

you I've read from was called mantra and it's free.

And every day you just hit this button and up pops,

you have to hold onto it and up pops your mantra

for the day.

So this actually,

I said it a little bit wrong,

it says I may be one in 7 billion,

but I am also one in 7 billion.

I am unique.

Yep. Oh my gosh,

I love that so much.

And is that on your phone?

It's, I'm like,

Oh, so simple habit is one and it does cost.

Do you have a 14 day free trial?

I love simple habits.

I've subscribed to it for a few years and then the

other app on my phone is this one called mantra,

M. A.

N. T.

R. A.

Oh my gosh.

Well, besides All of the gifts of all the valuable information

you've just shared with us,

he wrote two more right at the end.

Could I add one thing?

Absolutely. I Don't know if you could tell,

but I kind of go all over the place.

I get very distracted.

This has been the biggest challenge for me running a business,

so I would just like to say to people out there

that you have your cake and your cringe.

You have the stuff you love to do,

that's your cake.

It's like,

Oh my gosh,

I could do this constantly,

all day long and I'd be so happy and I'd have

all the energy and the cringe is the stuff that,

Oh, I hate this.

I hate behind the scenes business part.

I like being out in front of people,

but I don't like doing my inventory.

That's why I gave it to my daughter.

So if you can get someone to do your cringe and

you do your cake,

that'll be great.

But in the beginning when it's just you,

you might have to do it all.

So just know that.

But also if you do get distracted,

I have two tips for you or three tips actually.

Remember your why.

Why are you doing this?

Secondly, put like a time limit on what you're going to

do. Say I'm going to spend one hour every day from

this time to this time working on my business.

And lastly is do it and get it done.

Done is better than perfect.

So don't let yourself get distracted from what one thing you

have chosen to do in that hour.

Do that one thing.

Love it.

And you know what?

I would also say,

tell me if you agree,

cringe first.

Otherwise it'll never get done.

Get it out of the way.

Just do it and then you'll feel so much better.

Like one the thing that is most cringe-worthy for you day,

just get it out of the way.

Right in the beginning.

I agree.

So read advice.

Oh, Oh,

I love that.

I'm so glad you added that in on the end.

So Pam,

like through this whole conversation,

what I kept hearing from you is really,

yeah, we went through the tactics and how the product was

developed and all of that.

But it really all started with what you said in the

beginning, which was why you know,

and you put the why first always.

I mean I can hear it as we're talking and it's

the why first and the product second.

And I think that's a great message to leave everybody with.

And to your point in the beginning,

start with why the whole Simon Sinek thing,

right? Yes.

But really important.

So I'm going to just make a statement and you can

add on to it Pamela.

But I think for those of you who are listening,

who are selling a product already,

or you're thinking about selling a product,

really think down through the why.

Like what is that why for you?

Because it's going to serve you really well as you go

forward. What would you add to that,

Pamela? Then after that,

why outline what steps you need to take and do them

one at a time.

and to your point,

if it doesn't actually bring you to the result the first

time, don't change the result.

Just change what you're doing to get to that result.

Don't give up.

Go back to your why,

but if you don't have a why,

then it's so easy To give up.

Yep. If you don't have the why,

it's so easy to give up.

That's beautiful.

Love it.

Thank you so,

so much.

Pamela, you have just delivered the gold here,

the gold bling.

It has been a joy to be on the show with

you. Thank you so much.

I really appreciate your time today.

Take care.

Thank you.

So take care.

So FYI,

I've already ordered a three blinged disease as holiday gifts.

Well actually that's not true.

One is for me anyway.

Pam offers a great point for us all to remember and

I want to just pull up that audio one more time

so that I can kind of underline and emphasize it for

us as we go forward.

Being tango free means get rid of the fears,

the doubts,

the self limiting beliefs and all that stuff that keeps you

from being your authentic self.

Another way to be tangled free in your business is to

have solid plans to sell during the holidays and move out

all leftover holiday inventory.

Sure, you can reserve March of it for next year,

but those are really dollars you could use for growing your

business sooner versus later.

That's the topic on deck for next week.

Meanwhile, as we enter into Thanksgiving this week,

I want you to know how very grateful I am for

you, the fact that you show up week after week,

listen to the shows,

leave reviews,

and share how this podcast is helping you means the world

to me.

Enjoy your time with family and friends and I'll be back

with you again next Monday.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook

group called gift is free.

It's a place where we all gather and our community to

support each other.

We've got a really fun post in there.

That's my favorite of the week,

I have to say where I invite all of you to

share what you're doing,

to show pictures of your product,

to show them what you're working on for the week,

to get reaction from other people and just for fun because

we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody in

the community is making.

My favorite post every single week without doubt,

wait, what aren't you part of the group already?

If not,

make sure to jump over to Facebook and search for the

group gift biz breeze.

Don't delay.