135 – Oops! Macys! with Liz Wain of Wain’s World

You're listening to gift biz unwrapped episode 135.

Guess this was very much an accident.

Hi, this is John Lee Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,

and you're listening to the gift to biz unwrapped,

and now it's time to light it up.

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I have the pleasure of introducing you to Liz Wayne Wayne's

Barney's of New York.

There, she made a name for herself with a single napkin,

Liz Valter couture linen collection into a lifestyle brand with a

Since then,

she's been intimately involved with such brands as the Thomas Kincaid

collection of fine jewelry,

nostalgia, health fashions,

and SPL things remembered.

And today she is a sought after consultant through her company

Wayne's world,

where she works with an elite list of top world brands.

This prides herself on building businesses through developing relevant and compelling

collections with products and services.

She focuses on creating and implementing strategic initiatives across branding,

product design and development and sourcing and licensing.

I'm hoping today she's going to share with us some of

her trade secrets and certainly her insights about the design industry

today. Liz,

I am so thrilled to have you on the show.

Welcome. Thanks so much to it's pleasure to be here.

So You know this already because you had to prep for

this question and this'll be a no-brainer for you because it's

a creative one.

If you were to share a little bit about yourself in

a different way,

through creating your own motivational candle,

describe for us what that would look like.

So what would the color of the candle be?

And then what would be a quote that you would put

on your candle?

Well, my candle would most definitely be an off-white pillar that

would be inscribed on it.

The theater hurts.

So if not now,

when I liked the idea of surrounding my environment and a

blank slate,

something that I can transform into whatever the mood is or

whatever mood that I want to create.

The purity that goes along with a white candle allows for

unlimited possibilities and just gives you a good place to think

forward and create the world that you want.

It's a perfect start for us,

Liz, because a lot of the people who are listening right

now are now thinking about a business or perhaps they've started

a business and they're listening because they want more motivation.

But in the beginning,

especially when you decide you're going to go off on your

own, it is a blank slate,

right? You can create anything you want.

The scary part sometimes though is how do you start?

Like you think you have to be perfect right from the

beginning. Right?

So to talk about maybe your canvas,

just picking that first color and making that first stroke,

even in a business can be kind of hard.

Talk to us a little bit about how your career began

way back.

I'm guessing,

Right? Oh yeah.

Actually before that,

it's interesting.

When you think about it,

because I think you bring up a really important piece here,

which is just the scariness taking that first jump.

And I had a lot of good luck and my business

was very much,

it came out of an accident,

but anybody who knows me and watched me grow up really

would not be surprised.

I was very entrepreneurial as a kid.

I actually sold the most girl scout cookies in Los Angeles.

Oh, you were one of those back in the early seventies.

I can sell ice to Eskimos,

but I have to love that ice.

So I was always very entrepreneurial.

I ran a business in high school and I always was

very creative for a sixth grade graduation.

I got to decorate my room and I found bedsheets that

I loved right away,

but my mother wanted to wallpaper the room.

And it took about two years for me to find a

wallpaper that I could agree to wallpaper my room with.

So my mother should have known very early on that I

had very particular taste and I knew what I wanted.

I just took a while and finding it.

So it's interesting because I went to university and I have

a degree in economics and city planning.

I had my eyes on business school and the seemed,

it was a soft way to actually get myself into investment

banking, which was kind of what I always thought that I

would do being a child of the seventies,

but interestingly enough kind of time to shop for college.

And I had a hard time finding bedsheets.

And so I didn't like the choices that were out there.

And at the time I remember it took quite some time,

but I found this brand new brand,

Mary Meko,

and I bought those sheets.

I actually still have them today.

I use them in terms as a painting.

Okay. Can I just tell you that my college bed sheets

are also Marimekko and I also still have them.

Oh, you're kidding me.

I'm not even kidding you.

We have the same one.

So anyway,

that's so funny.

But back in the seventies prints were not what they are

today and there wasn't the range in the selection.

And anyhow,

so I was on my way to get my MBA and

I took a turn and of course of events happened and

I decided actually to go to New York and pursue a

career in design.

And I had convinced my family that I could actually have

a year at design school and get a great job in

textile design.

So You were already in college and then you're like,

this is not really working for me.

My passion is somewhere else.

And so you made that switch through college,

right? Well,

actually I graduated college with honors with a degree in economics

and it applied and been accepted to get my MBA.

Oh, so you were well on the road when you made

the change Deferred my admittance and I convinced my grandparents that

they should support me for a year in New York and

I could get a great job.

And so they said fine.

And I ended up going to Parsons and I studied surface

pattern design because I wanted to design bedsheets,

but dating back to,

I couldn't find sheets that I liked.

And as the situation would have it at the end of

my year,

my grandmother,

I remember her writing me a letter and reminding me that

I had agreed to a year of school and that I

would find a great job.

And so I did in fact,

find a job selling printed fabric,

not designing fabric.

So I ended up getting a job in decorative fabric,

selling it,

Stop you here real quick,

because this is really important for all of us to always

continue to remember is when you were just going on your

normal day,

right, you were getting ready for college.

You had identified whether you knew it or not.

Liz, I need in the market that if you had possibly

other people had,

which was,

you couldn't find what you wanted.

You couldn't find the designs that you liked.

And instead of just glossing over that,

you recognize that as an opportunity.

So I would challenge anyone who's listening,

who is thinking they want to get into something,

but they're not sure what it is.

Keep that radar up.

What is it as you go along your life,

are you looking at that?

You can't find exactly what you need or you're trying to

do something.

And it's really hard to do that could be an idea

that could trigger a whole business for you just as it

did for Liz.

The other thing that I think was really good,

Liz is your grandmother challenging you and saying,

okay, now you've got your degree.

Now you said you were going to get the job.

So she almost pushed you into action,

whether you were going to do it or not.

Accountability is a big thing.

So I think we all need to surround ourselves with a

method to hold us accountable because you can kind of get

lost and go down too many detours.

But I think something that you bring back to,

which I've never really thought of is that I think that

one of the biggest reasons to start a business is to

find a void in the marketplace.

And this is something that I talk to people about all

the time when they are deciding whether or not to start

a business or not.

And so if you have a void,

if you have identified a void and you have an ability

to fill that void,

that is a big trigger to actually start a business.

I subliminally I'm not exactly sure that I pack in the

early eighties had quite gone after that point,

but let's just say kismet absolutely did.

But fast forward a few years,

it's interesting because I was reading an article about a gal

who sold decorative fabric.

And my mother had told me that if I ever read

an article about somebody that I thought I'd like to meet,

that I should always write them back a letter.

This is back before there was email or anything.

them. And that's actually what I did.

I wrote this total stranger,

a letter.

She had an article about her in a magazine.

I found her address.

I probably called the magazine and found out how to contact

her. And I made a meeting and we met and she

liked me.

And she gave me a job.

The interesting thing that I can relate back to the world

today is that appearances are not always as they seem,

because it is article that was in a home furnishings magazine

made this gal looked like a big fancy fabric manufacturer.

When in fact truth is she was a trust fund baby

who wanted to have a fine art career.

She was actually painting fabric and upholstering fabric as a means

to launch a fine art career.

And she gave me a job earning $10 an hour to

do her books.

Not that I knew the first thing about accounting,

but I read the first chapter of an accounting book.

And I basically became her best friend and used to hang

out with her all the time.

Interestingly enough,

this gal who was very well connected,

another person wrote an article about her.

It wasn't really an article about her,

but rather think about when you're looking through the pages of

bone Appetit or food and wine,

there's the recipe of the chicken that you are going to

make. But it's also displayed on a plate with silverware and

a napkin.

And what had happened is this editor had taken one of

my friend's painting rags,

literally one of her painting brags,

and she ironed it and use it as a napkin.

And so back in the day,

when you were part of a magazine article,

there was in the back of the magazine,

a list of resources,

and you would write the magazine and tell them you wanted

more information about the product.

And so what we got back were these triplicate forms of

labels to send back information,

to inquiring readers,

Two inquiring readers who wanted to know about how they could

purchase a rag napkin.

Exactly. That's Crazy This to the internet and everybody is mad

about social media and looking at Snapchat and Instagram,

and you're all thinking,

wow, how do I look this good?

And how can I come across this way?

You know,

sometimes it's just an accident or sometimes it's really just Trump

lawyer and that it doesn't really exist.

And that's one of the things I think that this generation

of entrepreneur can really,

you can create a business out of thin air.

So again,

if you will,

it, it is no dream.

If not now,

when, so I literally suggested to my friend that,

well, all we have to do is put together a tear

sheet of six styles of these napkins and you can sell

them and she wanted to have income.

She didn't want to just be taking money from her trust.

And I said,

you want a business?

Here's a business.

And she's like,

well, I don't have any interest in doing this.

You should do this.

I'm like,

I can't do this.

You should do it.

And so we did this back and forth in any way.

She wasn't going to do it.

And fast forward I did it and a complete and total

accident and less than a year later,

my product was in Barney's.

Then I was in Bergdorf's.

Then I started doing the complete assortment of table and ends.

We did bath towels.

We started doing baby bedding,

adult bedding,

and it turned into a whole lifestyle brand.

So it was really very much an accident.

This is a spectacular story.

First, before we go into this with all these questions for

you, Liz,

I just want to make this point that you had mentioned

that when you see someone who's published in a magazine or

their online presence looks so stellar,

they look like this star in their field.

It doesn't mean that they're not,

but it doesn't mean either that they're not approachable.

And it's really important to remember,

cause think about it for yourself.

I mean,

you put up always the best things on social media or

wherever you are.

Everyone's seen the edited reel of your life and your career.

And Liz's example in terms of being a letter here,

it could be maybe in this day and age,

a tweet or connecting up with them through direct message on

Instagram or whatever it is.

People can still be approached.

And they're honored many times when people do approach them.

So I think it's probably something,

not many people do Liz.

And I think it's a great thing that you brought up.

Well, I think it's really important for everybody to remember that

we're all people and we all started somewhere.

You very few people are Dylan,

Lauren, Ralph Lauren's daughter of Dylan candy,

who had a father who was the King of design merchandising

and licensing.

So most of us started literally from nothing and built a

business and how we've come through that journey.

Each of us are different for our experiences,

but I will tell you that it's always an honor to

be able to help others along that journey and to give

back and pay forward.

Another thing about my story,

I think that's really kind of important to share is that

I like to call myself the first Jewish son and there

were great things expected of me growing up.

I was very verbal.

That's a burden in a way.

Well, I will tell you that.

I do believe had I not moved to New York city,

an entire continent away from my family.

I don't know that I would have started this business.

There was nobody watching every little step.

I had a lot of independence.

I was on my own.

I got to make my own mistakes and correct my own

mistakes. And my family was very,

very supportive,

but I didn't have to endure their continual scrutiny because there

was no scrutiny.

Got it.

In that.

I think that that was a big thing for me because

I had the freedom to create and to make my mistakes

and not have them gone over it.

Wasn't a constant discussion every Sunday night at family dinner.

Well, it was how did you then stay motivated?

I'm sure there were some times when it was frustrating or

you weren't sure what to do.

Like how did you,

is it just something that's already innate in you that keeps

you going?

I'm pretty focused and I'm pretty motivated.

So I would say that that's not something that I needed

somebody to light a fire under me as my business grew

going back ahead.

I think that it's important to surround yourself with your trusted

people, your board early on.

It was suggested to me that I gather people with whom

I trusted from a variety of disciplines who could advise me

in the big decisions that I made.

And so I was lucky that I had a group of

mentors, if you will,

from across my life,

that really helped guide me.

And I think that that was a big thing.

Stop you here for just a second too,

in that having some people who have a different eye on

your business,

they're looking at it from a different perspective is super valuable

as, I mean,

that's a lot of reasons why people will hire business coaches.

They need someone who's understanding what doing,

but is sitting a little bit outside of the business.

Now, when you actually create a business,

you don't legally need to have a board of directors unless

you're going to be a corporation.

But even if you're an LLC or an S Corp,

it's not a bad idea.

Like Liz has just been sharing here to gather some people.

Maybe they're not involved in the intimate numbers behind your business,

but grab a couple people who come from different disciplines where

you can all share each other's businesses,

challenges, et cetera.

This type of a concept is now called masterminding,

right? And you can certainly create something like that for yourself

and loses sharing here.

How valuable it's been to her.

Absolutely. One thing I remember very clearly about my early days

of being in business and my peers who are also thinking

about doing businesses,

my business was very much an accident.

It literally an opportunity happened.

I took advantage of that opportunity and then I worked really,

really hard honing and fine tuning.

And I learned a lot along the way,

but I also watched several friends think their businesses to deaths.

And I remember thinking back to a girlfriend of mine from

university who was actually getting her MBA and she saw this

really cool ring watch in Europe when she had been traveling

on vacation.

And she wanted to make that a reality in the U

S because we didn't have those over here at the time.

This is again,

back in the mid eighties.

And I remember her putting together a whole business school plan

for this business and the financing and everything around it.

And by the time she got done with it,

it was already in the market.

So I think that there is something to be said about

when you identify a boy,

then to be able to jump on it and make things

happen. Excellent point,

let's go back to the single napkin,

which now it's all clear.

I said that in the intro and it didn't no know

the story.

And now I like the story even more.

But if someone is sitting in that type of a situation

right now,

they've identified,

they've been thinking about something.

What are the first steps that you would take to start

taking some action?

Let's say someone really,

isn't sure they have the idea,

but they're not sure what to do.

Do you start right away and establish a company?

Do you start a prototype?

Like how would you get started with this?

How did you get started with the napkin?

What were the first steps To fine tune my story a

little bit.

I actually received,

and again,

I made it up as I went.

So what the nuts and bolts of the story are that

I had received a directory for all the bed bath and

linen companies that were in the marketplace.

And it was an annual directory.

And all the subscribers were asked to list their businesses in

this directory.

And so I filled a form and I had,

this is before my business was started.

And even before I even conceived the business and I made

up a business and I called it Liz Wayne designs,

and they said,

what do you make?

And they probably had about 50 product categories that you would

circle what you manufactured.

And so I literally went through and circled every single category.

I thought that I could hand paint because that's what the

member going back to the bone Appetit food spread.

It was a hand painted napkin in the food spread.

And so I probably circled maybe 20 or 25 different categories.

And I mailed back this form and I completely forgot about

it. So when fast forward,

I'd say four or five months,

I'm picking up my mail and I'm looking at my mail

and I'm going to date myself here.

I turn on my phone machine and I listened to my

messages. And there's a message from the corporate buyer at Macy's,

who wants to make an appointment to see my line.

And you have no line,

right? I don't even know what the guy's talking about.

How's he see my line.

And so I'm literally in my bedroom with my mail in

my hands,

and there's this like two inch thick book,

and I'm going through the book and there I am in

black and white Liz Wayne designs.

And they have my address and I have,

it's probably a three inch ad or posting listing.

Cause I didn't pay for it.

And everybody else's listing is like a half of an inch

because they make three things.

They make potholders,

kitchen, aprons and towels,

but I make everything,

Oh my gosh.

I'm like,

wow, look at this.

And so again,

I had the gift for gab.

I was always very like on the spot.

And so I called back the person who had left the

message. And I told him that I would be creating my

new spring collection and I would be happy to preview it

for prior to market.

And we made an appointment for him to see my new

spring line.

And that was that.

And I called my then boyfriend,

who eventually became my husband.

And I said,

Eric, Eric,

I've got an appointment to show Macy's my line.

He's like,

yeah, what line?

I said,

this is great.

And I said,

my hand-painted napkins.

He was like,

you don't have one.

I said,

I know,

but well,

so what ended up happening?

And granted,

I knew a lot of,

I had been keeping my eyes open.

I was in this industry peripherally.

I mean,

I was a kid.

I was 24,

25 years old in New York.

I was all over town.

I was looking and being aware of things,

but I went to a trade show and I found several

different types of napkins.

And I decided that I liked him,

stitch napkins and hem stitch,

or the hand drawn pull threads that people's grandmothers.

They learned how to do this in school.

So I identified a fabricated napkin that I liked in a

place mat.

And I literally bought three dozen of each and I hold

myself up.

My then boyfriend's medical school dorm.

And in two weekends I put together a line of like

10 minute napkins and 10 placemats.

And I went off and I showed the buyer the line,

he bought it,

I quit my job.

And I started a business.

So I guess I got lucky and he bought the land

Nine. So you were showing him your original pieces.

What do you do then to actually get it to be

My collection,

my couture collection,

as I referred to,

it was always hand painted one at a time with a

brush. And initially I painted everything myself.

And then when the demand for my product grew,

I started to hire people that I went to design school

with. And then I started to hire other people and the

business grew over time.

So again,

it was kind of a lot of crazy things happened.

And I got this initial order.

Macy's Herald square was reopening.

They had gone through this major renovation.

And so my napkins were purchased to kind of highlight,

be the showcase around this new department.

And so my first order was for five dozen placemats and

five dozen napkins and probably took me,

I don't know,

three weeks to paint those pieces.

And then I went and I went to Los Angeles where

I was from.

And I went to the store where my mother registered for

linens and I showed them my samples and they placed an

order. So then I had to paint that order.

And then every time I went to a new town,

when I went to visit my future in-laws I went to

the fancy bridal registry in West Hartford and they bought my

linens. So I was having a big stroke,

a lot everywhere.

I went purchase my stuff.

And then another moment of serendipity,

I lived about five blocks from Barney's and I went into

Barney's just to kind of survey the land.

It was very intimidating to me.

I mean,

I was a kid with no money and I knew Barneys

was a fancy store,

but I also knew I couldn't afford anything in the store,

but I went in nonetheless and I checked out the linen

department and the manager of the Lin department stopped me.

And she asked me when she started talking to me and

I was asking her about these napkins while people have called

me the mother of the hand,

painted niche and home furnishings.

I'm not the first person to paint a napkin.

And there was a line of napkins there that were hand

painted. And I inquired about those napkins.

The manager was telling me how they didn't sell and couldn't

give them away.

And I said,

well, I have a line of hand painted napkins,

but they look nothing like this at all.

And so she actually said,

well, I'd love to see them.

We made an appointment.

And again,

I had to come up with something completely different because the

line of napkins that were there were very contemporary and my

initial collection was very contemporary.

And so they were very whimsical.

So what ended up happening is I came up with the

idea to just create a solid border around a hem stitch

napkin, which is when you refer to a single napkin,

that's my goal border solid border napkin was really what launched

my business.

You know,

when I listened to your story,

there are two words that come out to me.

One is courage.

And the other is bravery because it's like scary to walk

all the different steps that you did,

but you did it anyway.

Had you not had you rethought it or like,

Oh, it's just me.

They'll never be interested.

You didn't do any of that.

You took a step each and every time It didn't even

occur to me.

I had no reason to be scared.

I was a kid.

I didn't know any different for people who are older.

It is scary.

Absolutely. But I figured why not just go for it?

It kind Of goes back to don't overthink this,

Please. Don't you have something and you like it and your

friends, like it,

go with it.

I mean,

give it a shot.

But your question to go back is how do you go

about doing all this is that you have to have a

sense of what the marketplace is and what things cost.

So when I went into Barney's and they had this very

whimsical napkin,

and it didn't sell,

I knew that I needed to come back with something that

was truly very simple,

very tailored.

And I came back with an idea that was completely the

opposite of what I ended up showing her.

She ended up buying and she bought a lot of it

because she wanted an exclusive from Bergdorf Goodman.

And so at the time I sold her,

I want to say like $10,000

worth of two items,

which back then was a lot.

And I said that she could have a six month exclusive

and not sell it to burgers.

The big thing that really happened that cemented the launching of

this business was that I delivered these napkins to Barneys the

week before the tabletop show.

Now I didn't even know that again,

this was a lot of kismet,

but back in the day,

when buyers would come to New York to tabletop market,

they would come in early and they would go to Bergdorf's

and they would go to Barney's and they would see what

lines these stores had.

And they would then look to the marketplace to try to

purchase these lines.

These two stores were truly the trendsetting stores in the country.

And because I was in Barney's and I also was at

the tabletop show,

it was my first trade show.

People would come into my booth and would say,

are these the napkins at Barney's?

And I would say yes,

and they'd write an order.

Now I had no idea any of that was going to

happen. So I think today it's a little different.

Let me say,

don't think it to death,

but you do need to be aware of what's going on

in the marketplace and what the trade shows are or how

to bring your product to market.

And there's many ways to do that now,

which were not didn't even exist back in the day when

I started my business.

But similarly,

to being in Barney's or Bergdorf's,

you've got influencers out there,

there's still retail stores that are highly coveted.

You've got websites,

you've got all different ways that you can get people to

find out about your product.

You can buy followers.

I mean,

you can go online.

And if you have a strategy,

a web strategy such that you actually can get out in

front of people,

push your Instagram or your Facebook to a broader audience.

I mean,

there's ways that you can get word out about your product

depending on customer.

I want to make sure to make this point really clear

in terms of buying followers through social media,

please, you guys don't fall prey to give me $500 and

I'll get you 5,000

followers because half of those are bats and they're not worth

it. I think what Liz is referring to is Facebook ads

are targeting to your correct community.

So you're spending money to attract the right audience,

but please don't go the other way,

because that is just setting you up for a whole lot

of trouble down the road.

Sue, I think it's important to be a very aware consumer.

So he'd,

Sue's advice on this very specifically.

So Liz,

all of this sounds so great and there are challenges.

There are road bumps along the way.

Can you share with us something that has happened that makes

us think you're even human,

that you didn't just take all these actions and everything turned

into gold and rainbows?

Well, much of my early business success was an accident.

I'm an incredibly strategic planner with always a plan B before

I even knew what a plan B was.

I was always prepared for a rainy day.

When I started my business,

it was very strategic in how I open new accounts.

Barney's took a tremendous amount of care and a lot of

attention to service that account as did Bergdorfs that I opened

a year later and I opened every account with the same

care and attention that I opened those.

And some people had to wait over a year in order

to receive my product,

but I made sure that I only grew as fast as

I could grow to service these accounts as I brought them

on in.

Was there something though that didn't work and you bring us

to a story of a challenge or something that really got

messed up that you had to fix or some type of

a story like that?

I imported all of my linen from Europe and there was,

we had to plan an order in advance and Talking years

ago now.

So it wasn't as easy as it is now in terms

of timing and getting it over,

I would imagine,

Well, we had to plan our production.

And so we would plan out three months,

six months after a couple of years,

you kind of had a sense of the business cycle,

but we ran into a problem where we lost a complete

shipment of linen.

And I ran out of linen at the same time that

the demand for my product was increasing and our sales were

going up and I had to switch suppliers at our busiest

time of year.

And that ended up being an enormous mess.

And so there were limited ways where I could actually get

the product that we painted on.

And so I basically bought every piece of hem,

stitch linen,

but I could get my hands on from the three or

four people that would import it into the United States.

And what ended up happening in the end,

because it was so stressful is that I ended up keeping

a year's inventory of linen on hand at all times.

So that whether it was a weather problem or linen problem,

or you lose a shipment.

So that never happened again.

No, but I owned probably a hundred thousand dollars worth of

blank linen at any one time and for a relatively small

business, that was a huge investment,

but it was one that was worth making because without the

Lin, we couldn't ship our product.

Yeah. Let's face it.

You are working with some really prestigious companies and if you

weren't able to fill their orders when they asked for it,

you're not going to have much of a future.

Sure. Well,

and we were considered one of the most knocked off companies

in the marketplace.

It was very easy to replicate our product because it was

literally a piece of hem,

stitch linen that was painted.

So, but I'm very proud to say that none of our

premier retailers bought knockoff product.

They stayed with us and we always,

we had a signature product that we continue to deliver on

time. And that was important to me and to make sure

that people were serviced correctly.

So this is It's interesting,

Liz, because you could be knocked off.

People could try and replicate what you're doing and offer it

at a lower price,

but they stayed with you.

Was it because of the service?

Partly the service.

I think a lot of it had to do with the

service it had to do with our integrity,

very clearly known as the originator.

It was my idea.

And we grew that business and I made a lot of

friends and I did favors for everybody.

I really made myself indispensable to the people who were loyal

to me.

And so I think that that had a part of it.

Excellent. You know,

relationships, lots of times it always comes back to the relationships,

right? Well,

absolutely. And I'm still,

relationships with those people.

And many of those people are the people who have since

brought me business as a consultant.

So I think that one's network is key and talk about

like how to build a business.

And to me,

it's, it's all about who,

you know,

and how you can help them.

And eventually one day they'll probably help you.

This is a perfect segue into a conversation that you and

I had had before we started recording here.

And that is things are so different today used to be

in the past that you had to get the eye of

a top-line design name or something like that.

And you were sharing with me your thoughts of how you

feel things have changed.

Can you talk about that a little bit with our listeners?

Well, so much of the world today is impart social media.

It is so important to have a very clean and focused

and directed presence.

Your website or your Instagram is your digital business card,

if you will.

But at the end of the day,

it all comes back to the integrity of the brand and

the integrity of the product.

And so you have this opportunity to get your message out

to millions and millions of people with a click,

but it needs to be authentic.

And it needs to be able to convey the true essence

of your brand,

your product.

So it really,

in the end circles back to the same reason that I

started my business and became successful was that I had an

original idea.

That was a quality product.

It was unique in the marketplace and it was sold through

channels where people were interested.

And that's not to say that you have to be at

Barney's or Bergdorf's.

I think that it's important to focus on understanding who your

customer is.

And that's really the first question that I talked to any

client about today is understanding who is your client and what

do they want and how do I get it to them?

And that's where we start.

And we build a strategic plan around beginning of business,

around evolving a business,

growing a business.

A lot of time,

my clients come to me because they have identified a void

in the marketplace,

but they don't know how to take their business in a

new direction to solve that.

Or I have people that have a great idea for a

business, but don't know how to actually manufacture the product.

There's all sorts of different reasons to start a business.

And there's all sorts of different reasons to seek help or

guidance. But again,

maintaining that focus,

the integrity and an authentic quality idea is really key.

Yeah. And I think what you're also saying here is that

you don't need to sit back like it used to be,

although I didn't hear any part of your story where you

sat back and waited,

but you don't have to wait to get noticed or recognized

you can initiate all of it.

Absolutely. You have to have your brand defined.

You have to have something.

If people are interested somewhere to take them so that they

can see,

But that could be as simple as going into your local

gift store and showing them this new product that you have

a concept of and having them buy it and test it.

There's nothing like getting customer feedback to understand what's great about

your product and how you refine your product.

I mean,

the first napkins that I shipped to Barney's or when I

say shipped actually walked to Barney's are a lot different than

the ones I sold.

Two months later,

my product clearly evolved very quickly because we got customer feedback.

So I encourage people with new ideas to put together a

prototype they'll put together a couple dozen,

take them,

show them there's so many opportunities today with local farmer's markets

or craft shows,

holiday shows,

or even local regional gift shows where you can actually talk

to merchants to store owners,

get feedback on your idea and you can evolve your concept.

It doesn't have to stay exactly the same way.

In fact,

if it does things actually the same way,

you're probably not doing something right,

Right. It needs to change with the times with what's in

fashion, for example,

or customer base might change All of the above with my

business with Liz Wayne,

I will say that every two to three years,

we introduce an entirely new product category because your customers need

to see something new.

They need to see that you are evolving.

They might not buy it.

They might only buy what they used to buy,

but the newness is what's going to drive the growth of

your business.

I agree with you 100%.

Okay. As we wind down here,

I want to bring you in just a little bit of

a different direction,

kind of similar,

but a little bit different,

because I think this will really,

really help people who are right on the edge.

They're like,

I get what Liz is saying,

but I can't do that.

Like how would I do this?

So share with us a little bit.

If you were advising someone,

when you say,

take them,

show them.

Okay. A lot of our listeners go to craft shows,

maybe even a little bit more organized,

larger trade shows,

but in terms of walking into your local gift shop or

kitchen shopper,

whatever relates in terms of a product,

get down to the specifics.

Do you just,

what would you suggest they do walk in call first?

What do you say?

Walk through a little bit of that for us?

Well, I'll take you through my experience.

And I think that it works somewhat the same way.

I think you have to understand who your customer is and

you need to see what's resonating or what they're doing well

with. So do your homework.

I think that you should be aware of the retailers in

your area or the craft shows,

understand what the environment is.

So for instance,

if you want to sell to your local artisan gift store,

you need to be aware of how they merchandise.

You need to have a sense of what they're doing well

with, or if you're going to be at a local Renegade

craft fair or market,

understand what booths look like,

what do the displays look like?

Be prepared and understand what you like about how other people

are merchandising their product and take away from that,

how you would envision your product in that same kind of

a space so that when you do go to a craft

show or you do go into a gift store,

you are able to present your product in a way that

elevates your product and speaks to the customer.

Be it the owner of a gift store or the people

that are walking a craft show.

So if I was going into my local gift store and

I had a line of linens,

I would make sure that I had them presented,

able to show it in a way that elevated the product

that showed the product off at its best.

And you walk into the store,

I'm trying to get really tactical here.

So do you already have your product with you or do

you walk in and find out who the owner or who

you would speak with and have an informal conversation or do

you come prepared for the whole meeting then?

I don't like to touch anybody by surprise.

So I would identify the store in your town where you

would like to actually sell your product.

And then I would understand the products that the store has.

I would see how my products were different.

I would find out who the owner of the store is.

And I would probably either send that person an email or

send them a phone call and make an appointment to show

them your product.

I would call and introduce yourself and say,

I have this new collection of lovely linens.

And I think that they would compliment your dinnerware.

And I would know what dinner where they had.

I would be ready to say why your product was different

than the actual linens that they had in their store.

Give the owner a reason to take the appointment.

And then once you get that appointment,

you would go in there and be prepared to show your

linens along with the dinnerware that they have in the store.

Maybe show them how they can be used.

A napkin,

rings, understand how your product is different,

differentiated, how it's going to help this store owner make more

money Well said.

So we are going to wind down here.

I'm looking at the time.

What advice would you give that newbie?

Who's listening to you right now.

Liz who really wants to jump in,

they're still a little bit uncertain if they should,

or they shouldn't.

What piece of advice would you give them?

Trust your gut.

If you see that you have an idea and it's not

out there in the marketplace and you have discussed this with

colleagues, friends,

family, and they think it's a good idea.

Why not give it a whirl?

I'm not saying quit your day job.

But I think that there's plenty of time to turn a

passion into a business.

I mean,

I've been very blessed in that.

I don't consider myself somebody who goes to work because I

love what I do.

And I've had the incredible opportunity to make my passion,

my financial living.

And I think that there's no greater joy than being able

to do that.

So if not,

now, when There you go,

well, and now Liz,

I'm going to dare you to reach even further by daring

to dream about your future.

I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.

It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.

So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable

Heights that you would wish to obtain.

Please accept this gift on behalf of myself and the listeners

and tell us what would be in your box.

Well, I love making new things and there's limitless possibilities out

there, but I like being given a blank canvas and I

would love the opportunity to relocate myself and reinvent myself every

couple of years and go off to a far away land

for six months.

The first place I'd like to go is Cecily.

I'm recently remarried and my husband is Sicilian and we met

his family and Sicily last year.

And I would love to purchase a home and started a

second life there and create some sort of an environment,

whether it's possibly either a restaurant or a little shop or

a combination of the two,

maybe a nursery,

I love to garden,

but a way to meet the people way to get involved

in the culture and the lifestyle.

And I would love to,

after a few years go somewhere else and do it again.

To me,

traveling has been one of the incredible gifts that I've been

afforded by my profession and the people that I've met across

the globe have taught me so much about their way of

life and have helped me grow as a better person and

more fully.

And I'd like to be able to continue to do that.

I love that a blank canvas and you've been a creator

your whole life.

So you just keep creating.

That's where your passion is.

If someone was really interested in wanting to connect with you,

what would be the best way for them to reach out?

Well, I think the easiest way would be to send me

a message via LinkedIn.

I'm a big believer in LinkedIn.

And I think that it's really a very valuable tool in

developing your own professional network.

And so please,

I invite anybody here who has a specific question or something

that I can help you with to send me a message

via LinkedIn.

I was kind of thinking you were going to say,

write a letter If you want to,

I guess like you did way back in the day,

right? We've advanced a little bit from snail mail.

LinkedIn is pretty quick.

Okay. And give biz listeners.

Of course,

you know,

there'll be a show notes page.

The link will be there as well as all the other

pieces of information and tidbits that we've talked about during this

interview. So Liz appreciate so much all of the information,

love your story.

It's so unique.

So interesting.

You've given our listeners quite a bit of information that they

can take then and move forward and listeners,

I'm challenging.

You choose a color,

make that first line on that blank slate for yourself and

your future and your own business.

Liz, once again,

thank you.

And may your candle always burn bright.

Thank you very much.

The show is sponsored by the ribbon print company,

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