384 – BASH – The How, What and When for Hiring Help
You know what successful business owners say when I ask what they’d do differently if they were starting again?
Hire help sooner.
Are you surprised? For some reason, we get it in our minds that hiring an employee is reserved only for those who have grown to a certain level.
But the truth is – delaying this move can actually hold you back and limit your potential.
So, that’s what today’s training is all about – the how, what, and when of getting some support for your business so you don’t have to do *everything* yourself.
Here’s the thing – the holidays are coming soon, so this might be the perfect time for you to broaden your thinking of what’s possible!
What’s In This Bash?
1. Free Training: the How, What & When Of Hiring Help
In this BASH, I dive into the details you need to know about hiring help for your handmade business, including:
- Deciding which tasks to delegate
- Defining the jobs in your business
- Tips for employee interaction
- Learning how to let go
- What you can learn from your employees
- Where to find employee candidates
- Best practices for making your first hires
2. Q&A about this topic with Bash attendees.
- Did your question get asked and answered? If not, come ask it in the Facebook Group.
3. Business Showcases
Listen to the full episode to hear about discounts, collaboration opportunities, and more!
- Amy – Weedpatch Studio
- Andril – Andrils Sweet Kitchen
- Bridget – Sunny Stowaways
- Cassie – Cassie’s Country Cupboard
- Isheka – Extra Fashizz
Listen to this free training to discover how you CAN get help in your handmade business and so much more!
Resources mentioned:
Be part of the newest Gift Biz Opportunities!
The Gift Biz Bash offers you the chance to get added visibility for your business – for free. Who can’t use that?! But seats are limited. To see the dates and times and to grab your spot, click here.
A Gift Biz Boost is a free one-on-one strategy session discussing a part of your business you’re trying to grow. Maybe it’s the first steps to getting started, or how to attract more sales, whatever your current focus is. You’ll leave with actionable steps to “boost” you forward.
Join our community of handmade product makers
Gift Biz Breeze is an active and inspiring group of creators at all levels of business development. Ask questions, see what others are working on, learn new things, it’s all there and we’re waiting for you to join us!
Finally, would you please leave a review? Thanks!
It helps other makers like you find the show and build their businesses too. You can do so right here: Rate This Podcast
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Transcript
Gift biz on rapt episode 384.
Speaker:And yes,
Speaker:it's a bash At Tinton gifters bakers,
Speaker:crafters, and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.
Speaker:Whether you have an established business or looking to start one.
Speaker:Now you are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode,
Speaker:packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources, and the support you need to grow.
Speaker:Your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue and I am so happy that you've joined us
Speaker:here for bash number eight.
Speaker:I can't believe we're at this point already.
Speaker:And I'm excited for you to hear from our fabulous handmade
Speaker:makers who are going to share some business opportunities with you
Speaker:a little bit later in the show.
Speaker:But first one of the most fulfilling things I've discovered through
Speaker:starting gift biz unwrapped is the warmth comradery and generosity of
Speaker:the community that we formed.
Speaker:You're so giving and so talented.
Speaker:And of course,
Speaker:I always want to give back to you too,
Speaker:to do something that can make your efforts easier and your
Speaker:result greater.
Speaker:So I asked you how you surprised me.
Speaker:It wasn't help with an email marketing strategy.
Speaker:It wasn't about selling it shows or any other number of
Speaker:topics that make up a solid growing business.
Speaker:Nope. What you're overwhelmingly asking for is help with social media
Speaker:posting. You've been telling me that you're putting in the time
Speaker:you're posting frequently and you're discouraged because you aren't seeing any
Speaker:of this move the needle for your sales message received,
Speaker:putting in more and more time posting in the same way.
Speaker:Isn't going to magically bring you in the sales.
Speaker:You need to change the way you're posting and what you're
Speaker:posting. You don't need to put in more work.
Speaker:You need to put in the right work.
Speaker:And that's when you'll see things change.
Speaker:And I've created your guide to do just that.
Speaker:It's called content for makers and it's specially designed for handmade
Speaker:product makers.
Speaker:Like you content for makers will help you understand why your
Speaker:current social media activities aren't converting into sales.
Speaker:It will also show you how to put in less time
Speaker:and start seeing activity through social that will lead to increased
Speaker:sales. Just imagine knowing exactly what to post and getting it
Speaker:done in just minutes each day,
Speaker:that frees up space for you to interact with potential clients,
Speaker:deepen relationships with those you already know.
Speaker:And all of this continues to build upon itself naturally.
Speaker:Yes, this really is passable content for makers will accomplish this
Speaker:for you to see all the details,
Speaker:jump over to gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash content for makers.
Speaker:But honestly at only $27,
Speaker:it's a no brainer.
Speaker:Plus you only have to pay for it once for use
Speaker:year after year.
Speaker:Why carry on posting as you've been doing all along expecting
Speaker:different results,
Speaker:sign up for content for makers now and see the transformation
Speaker:of your posting experience change right before your very eyes,
Speaker:gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash content for makers it's ready and waiting for
Speaker:your immediate access right now at the start of each bash.
Speaker:Before we get into the maker's showcases,
Speaker:I do a short learning session and I can't overemphasize the
Speaker:importance of our topic today.
Speaker:Hiring help.
Speaker:Most people wait way too long to do this and their
Speaker:business suffers as a result,
Speaker:both with a ceiling on your sales potential and the energy
Speaker:you have as the maker and the business owner.
Speaker:It can be so draining when you're doing everything yourself or
Speaker:trying to anyway,
Speaker:it's particularly timely with the holiday season coming upon us.
Speaker:And I know a lot of people don't hire support because
Speaker:they aren't sure how to go about it.
Speaker:My friends,
Speaker:that is what this episode is all about.
Speaker:So just as we shouldn't be putting off holiday planning overall,
Speaker:I'm not going to put off getting right into the details.
Speaker:Here we go.
Speaker:Hello, hello and welcome to our eighth gift.
Speaker:BizBash I am really excited to introduce you very shortly to
Speaker:some amazing handmade product business owners.
Speaker:But before we do that,
Speaker:as we do with every bash,
Speaker:we do a little bit of training up at the top
Speaker:of the show.
Speaker:And what I want to talk with you guys about today
Speaker:is when,
Speaker:what, and how to hire out for help.
Speaker:And I'm specifically talking about this topic right now,
Speaker:because it's August the end of the summer.
Speaker:If you haven't started thinking about holidays and Christmas and that
Speaker:big workload that's on the horizon,
Speaker:we should start thinking,
Speaker:and this could be a great opportunity for you to bring
Speaker:in some extra help,
Speaker:no matter what size business you have.
Speaker:So we're going to talk about that,
Speaker:bringing in help some best practices,
Speaker:and then also some steps for hiring.
Speaker:I will tell you when it gets to the idea of
Speaker:bringing in help employees word,
Speaker:you want to say that makes you feel more comfortable talking
Speaker:about it.
Speaker:Everybody does this too late.
Speaker:I think without exception,
Speaker:I've heard people saying,
Speaker:gosh, I wish I would have done this earlier.
Speaker:And I did the same thing.
Speaker:So I'm just as guilty.
Speaker:It took me a long,
Speaker:long time specially with one of my first businesses.
Speaker:That was my own business.
Speaker:I was working out of the house.
Speaker:So it felt really funny having somebody possibly that I didn't
Speaker:even know coming into the house and helping work.
Speaker:Like I had all the excuses in the world when I
Speaker:finally decided I was going to do it because I really
Speaker:had no choice.
Speaker:It was such a relief,
Speaker:but I get it.
Speaker:Like we think we're super women.
Speaker:We want to save money.
Speaker:We can do everything ourselves.
Speaker:Even if we have to learn it,
Speaker:we probably are thinking we should learn it because we're the
Speaker:owner of the business.
Speaker:And we have to know everything.
Speaker:Like there's all these reasons that we'll tell ourselves of why
Speaker:we shouldn't hire out.
Speaker:How, what happens then is you start to burn out.
Speaker:You get completely overwhelmed as your business starts to grow.
Speaker:And then what happens?
Speaker:Your energy starts to lag because you're doing everything and your
Speaker:enthusiasm and excitement for the business starts to wind off to
Speaker:like get reduced because you're just so exhausted.
Speaker:And that's no good.
Speaker:If you're out at craft shows and you have to be
Speaker:enthusiastic and show energy and excitement and love for your product
Speaker:and for us as handmade product creators,
Speaker:there's an extra spin to this too,
Speaker:in that the more you sell,
Speaker:the more work you've just created for yourself.
Speaker:If you're doing everything because you're producing it and you're shipping
Speaker:it and all the things,
Speaker:so more sales,
Speaker:which you think is good for handmade creators also means more
Speaker:work. And it just keeps going like this and you don't
Speaker:get a break.
Speaker:And there is a ceiling for you.
Speaker:Like at some point you will explode.
Speaker:So you have to hire help.
Speaker:So let's talk a little bit about the four best practices.
Speaker:I'll call them for hiring help.
Speaker:And this very first one I learned early on in my
Speaker:corporate world.
Speaker:And that is hire for the job.
Speaker:That's required,
Speaker:not skills that your best friend has,
Speaker:who says they're willing to come in and help you,
Speaker:right? Or not someone who seems like they'd be really fun
Speaker:to have around and is interested in working with you because
Speaker:that gets you in trouble.
Speaker:You bring someone in who doesn't actually have the ability to
Speaker:accomplish a job that you need.
Speaker:So you need to hire for what the skills are that
Speaker:you need for the job that's required.
Speaker:And I'm going to talk about that again in a minute.
Speaker:Number two is once you have somebody in train them on
Speaker:the job that has to be done.
Speaker:So whether you have a written step-by-step,
Speaker:whether you side by side,
Speaker:show them a couple times,
Speaker:make sure that they've got it,
Speaker:et cetera,
Speaker:once they've been trained and you know that they can produce
Speaker:the result that you're looking for with the quality that you
Speaker:need, the sizings,
Speaker:right? Like everything that's required is right.
Speaker:Let them free to do it their own way.
Speaker:If the end result of what they do is the same
Speaker:as what your steps are,
Speaker:let them do it their way.
Speaker:And I learned this with my first company basket time,
Speaker:it was a gift basket business.
Speaker:And Laurie,
Speaker:who's still with me today.
Speaker:I'm going to talk about her again in a minute,
Speaker:likes to do one gift basket from start to finish.
Speaker:And then the next gift basket from start to finish.
Speaker:And then the third gift basket from start to finish.
Speaker:And I'm like,
Speaker:oh my gosh,
Speaker:if we don't do a production line,
Speaker:we're going to be wasting a ton of time.
Speaker:It's much better.
Speaker:Like Lori,
Speaker:lay out all the baskets and lay out all this.
Speaker:I was trying to force her into my way of doing
Speaker:things. Guess what her way was just as good,
Speaker:just as fast.
Speaker:She liked it better.
Speaker:It worked better for her.
Speaker:And that's where I learned.
Speaker:Let them do it their way.
Speaker:As long as the end result is the same as if
Speaker:you would have done it.
Speaker:And of course,
Speaker:if it doesn't affect something else within the whole system,
Speaker:it doesn't blow up everything else that you're doing.
Speaker:Okay. So it's the end result.
Speaker:It's not how you get there.
Speaker:Once you've trained them best practice.
Speaker:Number three,
Speaker:seek advice and input on the work that they're doing.
Speaker:I have found that some people who've worked with me have
Speaker:the best ideas.
Speaker:They come from a different perspective.
Speaker:They have experienced that I might not have had maybe in
Speaker:a different production line or other jobs that they've had.
Speaker:We don't need to know it all.
Speaker:Listen to them and let them give advice.
Speaker:Plus, as they do this more and more,
Speaker:they're closer to it too.
Speaker:They're closer to the shipping or the making or social media,
Speaker:whatever it is.
Speaker:So listen to what they have to say.
Speaker:You're still the final decision maker.
Speaker:When you're the owner of the business,
Speaker:you still decide what happens,
Speaker:but take their input because it can be really,
Speaker:really valuable.
Speaker:And 0.4
Speaker:is when you hire in someone,
Speaker:you've done the things that I've just talked about,
Speaker:truly delegate the job.
Speaker:And here,
Speaker:I'm going to say,
Speaker:there's the helicopter parents,
Speaker:no helicopter bosses.
Speaker:Let them fly because that gives them pride and a feeling
Speaker:of achievement and ownership over their position.
Speaker:And that's a really,
Speaker:really helpful as you start looking at employee retention.
Speaker:So these four best practices,
Speaker:again, hire for the job.
Speaker:That's required,
Speaker:train them on the job and then let them at the,
Speaker:after that focus on the result and do it their way,
Speaker:seek advice from people who are closest to that position and
Speaker:hear what they have to say,
Speaker:because they might have some really great ideas for improvement and
Speaker:then truly delegate once they've proven that they know what they're
Speaker:doing in their position.
Speaker:No helicopter crossing.
Speaker:Okay. All right.
Speaker:So how do you do all this though?
Speaker:Like that sounds all great.
Speaker:I get these concepts,
Speaker:but what do I do to actually get there where I
Speaker:actually have somebody here?
Speaker:So I'm going to go through three steps of hiring,
Speaker:and this is going to be helpful for if you're just
Speaker:starting. And there might be a few tips if you already
Speaker:have employees,
Speaker:but you're going to bring on more or your next tire.
Speaker:So the very first thing that you want to do is
Speaker:define what the role or the job is that you're hiring
Speaker:for. Okay.
Speaker:If it's bookkeeping,
Speaker:that looks a lot different than if you're having someone come
Speaker:in and doing a portion of the production process,
Speaker:or if they're coming in and shipping,
Speaker:what you shouldn't do is just say,
Speaker:oh, I need someone to come in and help me.
Speaker:Well, what are you going to do?
Speaker:Because that doesn't help you get the right person.
Speaker:And it doesn't start to establish any structure for your help
Speaker:too. One way to do this is observe your workdays.
Speaker:What are all the jobs that you do in your day?
Speaker:And which ones do you really not like doing which ones
Speaker:could be the easiest to spin off,
Speaker:look at all of that type of thing.
Speaker:What are the easiest things that you could teach somebody else
Speaker:to do?
Speaker:The way you can identify that is just walking through and
Speaker:observing your day.
Speaker:Then once you see all the different things that you do
Speaker:in a day,
Speaker:divide them into different skillsets.
Speaker:Somebody who might do your newsletter could also potentially do social
Speaker:media, but I don't know that they should be doing your
Speaker:bookkeeping, right?
Speaker:So like you start divvying up some things that could go
Speaker:under some different skill sets,
Speaker:right? And then figure out from there.
Speaker:Which one is it?
Speaker:That's the best one for you to do?
Speaker:First. It feels easier and safer to you.
Speaker:It's the one that you really hate.
Speaker:You spend so much time on and you know,
Speaker:someone else could be doing it so much better than you
Speaker:just pick one for now and then kind of get a
Speaker:feel for how many hours you think that should take in
Speaker:a week.
Speaker:Okay. Cause that helps you decide,
Speaker:is this going to be a full-time person?
Speaker:Is it going to be a part-time person?
Speaker:What's the structure going to look like?
Speaker:Which leads into it.
Speaker:Doesn't have to be an hour by hour job either.
Speaker:So my content manager has specific tasks that she does and
Speaker:I pay her X amount a month for these tasks that
Speaker:get done each month.
Speaker:I don't care if it takes her 10 minutes or 10
Speaker:hours, as long as those tasks are done,
Speaker:I don't even care where she does it or when she
Speaker:does it,
Speaker:because they're not time sensitive.
Speaker:Same thing with the person that I have who edits this
Speaker:podcast, she's in the Philippines.
Speaker:So it's really helpful that we don't have to be working
Speaker:at the same time.
Speaker:Cause obviously we're half day differences.
Speaker:Right. But she knows specifically what she's responsible for with the
Speaker:podcast. She gets it done when she can,
Speaker:when she wants.
Speaker:And that's perfect for us.
Speaker:I also honestly do that with people who come in and
Speaker:fill orders and such too,
Speaker:I don't care if someone comes in early in the morning
Speaker:because their kids are in school and they just want to
Speaker:get it done or they want to do it after they
Speaker:go and do the school lunch and then come in and
Speaker:fill orders.
Speaker:As long as the orders get out within the time that
Speaker:we've told our clients,
Speaker:sometimes they have to drive it to the post office if
Speaker:the postman's already been here.
Speaker:But they understand that already.
Speaker:As long as those get out each and every day,
Speaker:I don't care when they come in and we've had no
Speaker:issues with this at all.
Speaker:So think that through.
Speaker:Do you have to have someone there the same hours you
Speaker:do? Do they have to be there the same hours or
Speaker:days of the week?
Speaker:We do have some type of a structure,
Speaker:but they all know it's flexible.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:if they need to change it,
Speaker:it's not like you have to call or ask for a
Speaker:permission slip or something like that.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:we're all adults,
Speaker:we get our jobs done and we're responsible for our jobs.
Speaker:That's what I mean by defining the role of the job.
Speaker:What is it specifically you're looking for them to do?
Speaker:What are the skill sets that are needed?
Speaker:How much time?
Speaker:And do you want this to be a very fixed time?
Speaker:Or can it be a flex situation where it has to
Speaker:be done by a certain time?
Speaker:Okay. So those are all things that you can think about.
Speaker:Second thing in terms of actually finding who your candidates could
Speaker:be to interview.
Speaker:I've done this a few ways.
Speaker:One in my personal community,
Speaker:I've had people ask if they could work for me and
Speaker:if they fit what I just talked about before the structure
Speaker:and the position,
Speaker:Lori's one of them.
Speaker:I pushed Lori off from working for me for so long.
Speaker:We met on the basketball bleachers of our girl's basketball games.
Speaker:And because she kept saying,
Speaker:Sue, I want to come work for you.
Speaker:It sounds so fun.
Speaker:I want to come work.
Speaker:And I'm like,
Speaker:no, we are already friends and you can not work for
Speaker:me. Well,
Speaker:now she's been working for me for like eight years.
Speaker:I don't know something like that.
Speaker:Obviously I caved.
Speaker:She's awesome.
Speaker:I don't know what I would do without her.
Speaker:So when people say don't ever hire friends,
Speaker:I'm not sure that that's.
Speaker:So now the one thing we did agree is that if
Speaker:ever anything we were doing with work threatened our friendship,
Speaker:she obviously has to go cause I can't,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:so we would both always be very cognizant of that.
Speaker:If that ever happened,
Speaker:we've had some challenging moments,
Speaker:but not that would sacrifice a friendship.
Speaker:Okay. So that's one place just like within your personal community,
Speaker:if you're in any networking groups,
Speaker:if you're in local Facebook groups,
Speaker:this has been a really interesting and great place for me
Speaker:to find employees.
Speaker:So there are some moms groups right in my community and
Speaker:my kids are far out of school.
Speaker:So I'm not running into them in the school system anymore.
Speaker:Plus I want someone who's a different age than me,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:just to add another perspective to the business.
Speaker:And so I went into some of the Highland park moms,
Speaker:Facebook groups,
Speaker:and told them that I had a position.
Speaker:You know what it was about.
Speaker:Obviously I'd written down a full description of what I had
Speaker:talked about just a minute ago.
Speaker:And that's where I got Nancy.
Speaker:Who's working with us now.
Speaker:I also in the past have people from a more formal
Speaker:environment like indeed,
Speaker:which is a great place to go and hire people.
Speaker:So lots of different options get creative.
Speaker:Another good place to go.
Speaker:If you need a job for a limited amount of time
Speaker:is your high school seek out those juniors who want internships
Speaker:for them to put on their resumes,
Speaker:going to college.
Speaker:They want to do a good job.
Speaker:They're motivated for that.
Speaker:And you then in turn are helping them,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:show responsibility.
Speaker:If you have a job that matches what they're going to
Speaker:school for even better,
Speaker:don't discount that it's a great resource.
Speaker:And then the other thing I do once you've identified somebody,
Speaker:the first thing you do is make sure that the person
Speaker:you are offering the job to accept before you tell the
Speaker:people that you're not offering the job to,
Speaker:that they didn't get it because what if your first person
Speaker:doesn't accept?
Speaker:Right? So don't do that.
Speaker:Make sure your first person is in first,
Speaker:then always,
Speaker:always do some type of a 30,
Speaker:60, 90 day trial.
Speaker:This is really helpful because let's say they are just totally
Speaker:not working out for you.
Speaker:Then you have an easy release date,
Speaker:but the way you can say this really nicely is let's
Speaker:see if we're fit.
Speaker:Let's see if you like the work that I have available
Speaker:to do.
Speaker:Like if we're coming together and if things are working well,
Speaker:let's review this at the 30 fields a little soon to
Speaker:me, but maybe 60 day mark and decide if we should
Speaker:continue. So it's not guaranteed by any means that they're going
Speaker:to continue another thing.
Speaker:And this is a great opportunity right now with potential holiday
Speaker:help is hire someone just for the holiday.
Speaker:That is the job for the holiday,
Speaker:for whatever the skill set is,
Speaker:you need whatever the jobs are that you need done.
Speaker:And then if you see that they did a great job
Speaker:and you want to bring them on further,
Speaker:you can ask them that after the fact,
Speaker:but it was never the expectation in the beginning.
Speaker:It was only a holiday job if you will.
Speaker:So those are my steps for now for hiring.
Speaker:We're not going into any interviewing or any of that type
Speaker:of thing.
Speaker:So the points were defined,
Speaker:the job and role that you have because one job is
Speaker:different from another.
Speaker:Then I gave you tips on how to find the right
Speaker:person and then that all important trial period versus bringing them
Speaker:on as a employee for life from day one in summary
Speaker:hire sooner versus later,
Speaker:everybody like I could line people up behind me who would
Speaker:say the same thing.
Speaker:So let's learn from other people,
Speaker:not fall into our own thing that we think we can
Speaker:be the superwoman,
Speaker:because what that allows you to do is open up your
Speaker:potential for what's possible.
Speaker:If you don't,
Speaker:you're just going to get yourself stuck,
Speaker:where you pretty much created your own ceiling on your potential.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:That is what I have for the training portion.
Speaker:I'd like to open it up.
Speaker:Now, does anyone have any questions,
Speaker:any experience with hiring that you would like to add on
Speaker:in terms of tips or thoughts or anything and Amy?
Speaker:No surprise.
Speaker:You have something for me here.
Speaker:One of the things that came to my mind when you
Speaker:were talking,
Speaker:and one of the things that I've found the most helpful
Speaker:in hiring in my previous business was making sure that I
Speaker:laid out expectations.
Speaker:Not only for the person I was hiring,
Speaker:but also for me,
Speaker:like making sure that I could let go of,
Speaker:and these are the things that this person was doing.
Speaker:And reminding myself of that,
Speaker:I don't want to be a micromanager.
Speaker:I've been micromanaged.
Speaker:It's why I work for myself now and not for other
Speaker:people and making sure that you're both on the same playing
Speaker:field with that.
Speaker:And one of the ways that I helped my new hires
Speaker:was to give them a document,
Speaker:to introduce them to the company,
Speaker:introduced them to any other people that were working for me
Speaker:so that they came in and felt welcomed.
Speaker:They knew more information than coming in and being blindsided.
Speaker:What was in the document,
Speaker:Amy, It was everything from here's our social media.
Speaker:Here's what our target audiences like,
Speaker:go check it out,
Speaker:pay attention.
Speaker:Here's some of our competitors,
Speaker:all of those types of things.
Speaker:So that,
Speaker:for example,
Speaker:hiring somebody,
Speaker:doing social media,
Speaker:you want them to be aware of what everybody else around
Speaker:you is doing so that your fitting into the world,
Speaker:it was in a different space in the crafters for the
Speaker:Makerspace, but it was important to have that additional knowledge,
Speaker:not just be tunnel,
Speaker:vision. Love it.
Speaker:Yeah. So they're seeing the full scope of the business and
Speaker:where their position fits into the whole.
Speaker:Exactly. Yeah.
Speaker:Orientation kind of.
Speaker:That's a good point.
Speaker:Really good point.
Speaker:Anything else before we get onto the showcases?
Speaker:Any other questions or anything?
Speaker:Okay, wonderful.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So this is my favorite part of these bashes.
Speaker:Let me explain to those of you who are listening.
Speaker:And this is maybe the first time you've landed on a
Speaker:bash format.
Speaker:Episode of the podcast.
Speaker:What we do here is I invite makers in to share
Speaker:with us what they have going on and lots of opportunities.
Speaker:They are going to talk to you a little bit about
Speaker:their business,
Speaker:what they have happening here,
Speaker:collaborations in some cases,
Speaker:so opportunities where you can join in.
Speaker:And so you'll hear what they have to say.
Speaker:They'll tell you where you can meet up with them to
Speaker:for whatever reason that might be.
Speaker:But there's another reason I want you to listen to them,
Speaker:how they represent their businesses,
Speaker:like the words they say or how they talk about their
Speaker:business, because let's face it.
Speaker:We all I know,
Speaker:get a little bit nervous right before we have to talk
Speaker:about our business or some people who are new aren't necessarily
Speaker:sure how to represent your business.
Speaker:Use these women as a role model for you of different
Speaker:ways that you can talk about your business.
Speaker:I think you can get a lot out of just listening
Speaker:to their presentation styles as well.
Speaker:And I don't want to freak all of you out who
Speaker:are here.
Speaker:Like, oh my gosh,
Speaker:now, What Am I going to say?
Speaker:What am I going to do?
Speaker:This is a comfortable place for all of us.
Speaker:And when you're comfortable,
Speaker:you represent your best self anyway.
Speaker:So no matter what,
Speaker:even if it's a formal environment,
Speaker:Amy, I know you've done a lot of speaking.
Speaker:I've done speaking.
Speaker:All of us have listened to speakers.
Speaker:You don't want to have someone get up there and be
Speaker:so professional that they're not relatable.
Speaker:So it's not like that at all.
Speaker:We're just all being ourselves.
Speaker:Okay. So with that,
Speaker:Cassie, you know,
Speaker:you're going to start.
Speaker:So what you're doing one more time is you're going to
Speaker:say who you are,
Speaker:what your company is and what you sell.
Speaker:If it's not automatically apparent what you have going on right
Speaker:now, it's the end of August.
Speaker:As people are listening,
Speaker:August 20th is actually when this is airing.
Speaker:And so let us know what's happening there.
Speaker:Or if you have a collaboration or something you're looking to
Speaker:do and where you're looking for other makers to partner with
Speaker:you in some manner,
Speaker:and then finally one place where we can go to find
Speaker:out more about you.
Speaker:Okay. And Cassie,
Speaker:I'm going to let you go ahead and unmute yourself and
Speaker:go first.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Hi everyone.
Speaker:I'm Cassie mend,
Speaker:chauffeur owner of Cassie's country cover here in rural Ohio.
Speaker:And I create pantry items such as soup mixes,
Speaker:baking mixes,
Speaker:and spice blends to help busy families get food on the
Speaker:table, healthy meals on the table without losing their sanity.
Speaker:So that can be anything from that soup starter that just
Speaker:gets your meal going.
Speaker:It's kind of like a hamburger helper,
Speaker:but way elevated beyond that and a much healthier for you
Speaker:too. So no matter how busy you are,
Speaker:you can have dinner on the table in less than 30
Speaker:minutes with my products.
Speaker:And because school is starting up,
Speaker:it doesn't matter if you work from home or if you
Speaker:work outside the home dinner is always the witching hour.
Speaker:So I want to make sure that everybody has a chance
Speaker:to grab some of my products at a discount here at
Speaker:school gets started.
Speaker:So if you go to my website,
Speaker:which is the best place to find me at www dot
Speaker:Cassius country,
Speaker:cupboard and Cassius spelled with C a S S I E
Speaker:Cassius country,
Speaker:cupboard.com. And to get that discount,
Speaker:it does put in bash 10 for a 10% discount there
Speaker:at checkout.
Speaker:Wonderful. And is that then for first time buyers or up
Speaker:to a certain,
Speaker:It is anybody all through September 30th.
Speaker:So just that beginning school time.
Speaker:Okay. Through September 30th.
Speaker:And I've got to say it,
Speaker:Cassie, the garlic beer bread is to die for.
Speaker:I at no time am allowed to have less than three
Speaker:mixes in my cabinet per my husband period.
Speaker:So that's my favorite product of yours.
Speaker:Although there's a lot of other ones too.
Speaker:Anyway, enough of that,
Speaker:I could talk about those products all day long.
Speaker:Okay. All right,
Speaker:Bridget, why don't you go ahead and go next.
Speaker:Hi, I'm Bridget and I make handmade heirloom custom dolls,
Speaker:my businesses,
Speaker:sunny stowaways.
Speaker:And so they are made for years of play.
Speaker:And then even more years of keeping those memories,
Speaker:I would love to collaborate with another handmade business that has
Speaker:audiences, moms,
Speaker:grandmas, and who are looking for a one of a kind
Speaker:gifts for the holidays who would like to collaborate with me.
Speaker:You can see my dolls and see if my aesthetic matches
Speaker:and we could work together on a gift guide for the
Speaker:whole. Okay.
Speaker:So it kind of combined,
Speaker:if your audiences are the same,
Speaker:then you could combine whatever their product is with your product
Speaker:to offer a joint gift.
Speaker:Yeah. I love that.
Speaker:Especially for the holidays.
Speaker:Those kinds of match-ups are good.
Speaker:Or just share with each other's audience.
Speaker:If we think we have,
Speaker:it would be interested in the others.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:Okay. Okay.
Speaker:I love that.
Speaker:And tell us where people can find you again.
Speaker:Bridget Sunny,
Speaker:stowaways.com. Perfect.
Speaker:Sunny stowaways.com.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:Amy. You're up?
Speaker:Put me on the spot.
Speaker:Darn right.
Speaker:Hello, fellow makers.
Speaker:I'm Amy Fairman artist and owner at weed patch,
Speaker:the studio at weed pet studio.
Speaker:I re-imagined outdated forgotten furniture pieces and give them a new
Speaker:life. So they fit comfortably into the modern home.
Speaker:I don't know about you,
Speaker:but if you've looked out there to find affordable quality furniture,
Speaker:it's become more challenging.
Speaker:Mass market MDF and particle board kind of rules the roost
Speaker:at big box retailers and furniture stores these days.
Speaker:And so they don't make furniture like they used to really
Speaker:stands true.
Speaker:I don't know if you've ever gone to a thrift restore
Speaker:quality furniture is there.
Speaker:And so what I've started doing is upcycling furniture,
Speaker:which allows me to provide affordable furniture to my customers while
Speaker:being kind to the environment,
Speaker:by keeping these big,
Speaker:bulky pieces out of the landfill,
Speaker:whether they're old pieces that have been leading some love or
Speaker:they're newer pieces that lasts 30 seconds before your kid falls
Speaker:on them and they break what I'd like to invite.
Speaker:My fellow listeners to do is to come and follow me
Speaker:on Instagram at weed patch,
Speaker:underscore studio.
Speaker:Right now I'm trying a new marketing technique.
Speaker:I have opened a window display on main street in my
Speaker:town to try and drum up some more business in a
Speaker:different way.
Speaker:And I'm sharing my journey over on Instagram.
Speaker:And I'd love to invite you if something you're interested in
Speaker:or not something you'd ever thought of,
Speaker:come and follow on the journey and see if it's something
Speaker:that fits what you're doing as well.
Speaker:Okay, Amy,
Speaker:we're going to continue this cause I got to understand this
Speaker:a little bit more.
Speaker:Okay. So you have a storefront window on main street,
Speaker:correct. Is one of the stores that's baking currently.
Speaker:So you're using so many of us have that in our
Speaker:downtowns, right?
Speaker:A lot of downtowns these days have vacancies and I went
Speaker:and talked to the owner of the building.
Speaker:They're not doing anything with it for the next eight months.
Speaker:And I said,
Speaker:can I rent your window space?
Speaker:And so I now have a 25 foot by,
Speaker:I have 20 feet back so I can have storage behind
Speaker:it, but I use about six feet of it.
Speaker:And I have my furniture staged and fully displayed in it
Speaker:now. And it's a way to get my local people to
Speaker:know that I'm here because Facebook marketplace doesn't always show things
Speaker:to locals.
Speaker:Even though they say they do the algorithm just isn't friendly.
Speaker:And so this was me seeing a vacant spot and taking
Speaker:advantage of it.
Speaker:And I think that it could be something that you could
Speaker:do with other local makers and have many people go in
Speaker:and do it.
Speaker:I'm actually looking for local makers that can fit in along
Speaker:with my furniture as staging items.
Speaker:And so I'm aware Of,
Speaker:are you Amy?
Speaker:You may have local people right here where I Am in
Speaker:Royersford Pennsylvania.
Speaker:Perfect. So if you are interested and you are a maker
Speaker:in this area,
Speaker:three county area around me,
Speaker:then hit me up on Instagram and maybe we can make
Speaker:something happen.
Speaker:That is so cool,
Speaker:Amy. Like that is such a great idea over and above
Speaker:everything. We have so much goodness happening here.
Speaker:This is amazing.
Speaker:Thank you so much,
Speaker:Andrew. Why don't you go now?
Speaker:I know we can hear you.
Speaker:Great. So my name is Andrew Ruben and I am the
Speaker:owner of ask Andrew pension.
Speaker:And what I do is provide or made tweaks to those
Speaker:who would like to provide it as a gift,
Speaker:or you just want something tasty.
Speaker:You can order.
Speaker:I specialize in homemade caramel popcorn.
Speaker:I have another are two more sellers with homemade butter cookies
Speaker:as well as Graham cracker Fraley.
Speaker:I am on Instagram.
Speaker:My website is www dot Andrew's sweet kitchen.com.
Speaker:That's a N D R I L F S w E
Speaker:E T K I P h.com.
Speaker:Along with the popcorn,
Speaker:although it's homemade caramel,
Speaker:I also provide at least 15 different flavors of popcorn.
Speaker:The website shows some other things or other items that I
Speaker:have. And yet check me out on there.
Speaker:I am located in Houston,
Speaker:Texas. I think that's probably Okay.
Speaker:So if you are a business,
Speaker:that's looking for local products and you're in the Houston area,
Speaker:then Andrew would be a perfect person for you to hit
Speaker:up and get some local products.
Speaker:So, and lots of flavors of popcorn that pops my ears
Speaker:going. Yay.
Speaker:One more thing is back to school.
Speaker:I do have back the schools that show where rice Krispie
Speaker:treat rice Krispie,
Speaker:treats pretzel rods,
Speaker:and covered Oreo that looked like pencils,
Speaker:notebook, paper,
Speaker:and a pencil sharpener,
Speaker:and all of it is palatable and it would be a
Speaker:great treat for a teacher or a first time teacher,
Speaker:a back to school gift for a teacher.
Speaker:It's a gift to support your child.
Speaker:The thing that struck me the idea was send it to
Speaker:first year.
Speaker:So freshmen in college,
Speaker:kids with a note that says,
Speaker:remember why you're there?
Speaker:I do have one that's going away as well.
Speaker:Okay. Perfect.
Speaker:Perfect. Perfect.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Wonderful. Thank you so much,
Speaker:Andrew. We appreciate it.
Speaker:Okay. Shika,
Speaker:why don't you go ahead and go.
Speaker:Hi guys.
Speaker:My name is Asheeka.
Speaker:The name of my business is extra fascist mark to you.
Speaker:It's a,
Speaker:I focus on making Afra Bohemian juries and vegan skincare along
Speaker:with natural teas.
Speaker:That's inspired by my Jamaican roots.
Speaker:All jewelers are made from biodegradable materials that only use cycle
Speaker:fabric, wood or natural stones.
Speaker:And then for my vegan skincare,
Speaker:I do believe that whatever you put on your skin is
Speaker:just as important as what you put inside your mouth.
Speaker:So if you wouldn't eat it,
Speaker:then you shouldn't be putting it on your skin.
Speaker:So all my vegan skincare products,
Speaker:I made some simple edible ingredients that I have in my
Speaker:home. And I'm sure some of you might have inside your
Speaker:kitchen as well.
Speaker:All products are naturally fragrance and they're also naturally colored.
Speaker:So there's no added anything.
Speaker:It's just all natural for clean skin,
Speaker:for sensitive skin as well.
Speaker:And then for my teas,
Speaker:I grew up in Jamaica.
Speaker:And so we didn't go to the store to buy teas.
Speaker:It was just natural leaves.
Speaker:The natural fruit leaves,
Speaker:natural fruit,
Speaker:the skin from the fruit we would dried.
Speaker:And then those would be used to make teas.
Speaker:And so I came here as a cultural educator and I
Speaker:wanted to pass on my culture in the products that I
Speaker:make and sell as well.
Speaker:Now I'm here today because usually I do popups,
Speaker:but I have a few disasters in the last couple of
Speaker:months, rained out and most shows are saying rain or shine.
Speaker:They are getting more expensive.
Speaker:When I first started last year,
Speaker:you could get a show for $25 with a table and
Speaker:two chairs,
Speaker:no shows up,
Speaker:increased the 50 with nothing.
Speaker:You bring everything for yourself.
Speaker:I've lost three tens in what?
Speaker:In three months I've got Randolph,
Speaker:I've got lost a lot of products.
Speaker:And so I came up with the idea,
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:There must be something else I can do instead of being
Speaker:here complaining,
Speaker:oh, these pop-ups are not working out.
Speaker:Let me see what I can do.
Speaker:I try getting a space,
Speaker:but it's a bit difficult to almost one.
Speaker:So I said,
Speaker:okay, let's try something else.
Speaker:The high gas price,
Speaker:the heat out there and all that.
Speaker:I decided to try something.<inaudible>
Speaker:markets. I started a new group last week called extra flashes
Speaker:in France.
Speaker:We currently have 10 members and I'm looking for like-minded handmade
Speaker:vendors who are looking for some way to sell their products
Speaker:virtually online and network with like-minded vendors to share best practices.
Speaker:The market or product side simply make some sales.
Speaker:The name of the group on Facebook is called extra fascist
Speaker:and friends.
Speaker:That's E X,
Speaker:T R a F a S H I Z,
Speaker:Z and friends.
Speaker:Now you guys can also find me on my website@extrafascist.com,
Speaker:which is w w dot E X,
Speaker:T R a F a S H I Z z.com.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Okay. So are there any specific types of handmade creators you're
Speaker:looking for or is it open to anybody It's open to
Speaker:anybody because you know,
Speaker:you might come the first time you call me,
Speaker:you don't have to come to sell.
Speaker:You can come and we can share best practices.
Speaker:I can learn from you.
Speaker:You can learn from me and you know the same thing.
Speaker:You can come and decide if it's a good fit for
Speaker:you. I'll of course,
Speaker:we'll look at the products and see how good they are.
Speaker:Because at the same time,
Speaker:even though we want handmade vendors,
Speaker:we want quality handmade vendors.
Speaker:And some people might say,
Speaker:well, there are other people doing this.
Speaker:What the difference is with mine.
Speaker:We're not trying to get more than 15 people for each
Speaker:event. And one vendor from each category.
Speaker:It's about collaboration,
Speaker:not competition.
Speaker:So we're not trying to have jewelry vendors at the event
Speaker:and three vegan or something,
Speaker:one from each.
Speaker:So everybody will be able to at least benefit.
Speaker:And when you do come here,
Speaker:I would encourage you to invite that these 20 to 25
Speaker:people and you pay $20 and the market lasts for about
Speaker:four days and you get to do three posts per day.
Speaker:That sounds like something to check out,
Speaker:particularly for those of you who are doing your business specifically
Speaker:and exclusively online,
Speaker:or you're looking for something just to enhance what you're already
Speaker:doing. So definitely go check that out for sure.
Speaker:Okay. You guys,
Speaker:this has been great.
Speaker:Each of you has such a different line of handmade.
Speaker:It's been absolutely wonderful.
Speaker:Those of you who are listening,
Speaker:make sure to check out all of these women.
Speaker:If there's something that is resonating specifically with you,
Speaker:make sure you get in touch and do it right away.
Speaker:You know how it is you think like,
Speaker:oh my gosh,
Speaker:I want to talk to Amy or I want to see
Speaker:what Cassie has for back to school.
Speaker:And then you forget,
Speaker:right? So if you're thinking about this,
Speaker:now, put it in your daytimer or do it right now.
Speaker:If you're interested in being part of one of these bashes,
Speaker:where you get to come and represent your business,
Speaker:just as we've done here,
Speaker:I've just put up two dates in September,
Speaker:the way you would go and sign up for one or
Speaker:both of them is through gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash bash.
Speaker:So thank you for my showcase people.
Speaker:I really appreciate you coming on,
Speaker:sharing behind the scenes of your business,
Speaker:giving us some promotions,
Speaker:giving us some opportunities to work with you,
Speaker:all different types of things.
Speaker:For those of you who are listening.
Speaker:Thank you for staying until the end of the show.
Speaker:And I look forward to having you join me once again
Speaker:on gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped Bye for now,
Speaker:Before you move on to your next activity today,
Speaker:make sure to get your name on the list for at
Speaker:least one gift biz bash.
Speaker:You can see the dates and times for upcoming sessions and
Speaker:get signed up over at gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com forward slash bash.
Speaker:And if you're enjoying the podcast and would like to show
Speaker:support a rating and review would be wonderful.
Speaker:It helps spread the word about the show too.
Speaker:So it's a great way to pay it forward.
Speaker:There's also another way to get something tangible in exchange for
Speaker:your support.
Speaker:Visit my merch shop for a wide variety of inspirational items
Speaker:like mugs,
Speaker:journals, water bottles,
Speaker:and more featuring logos images and quotes to inspire you throughout
Speaker:your day makes a great gift to,
Speaker:and we've just added some new products for the season,
Speaker:which is my favorite design right now.
Speaker:It's a up with that gorgeous lemonade image and a quote
Speaker:about refreshing and the beautiful butterfly design.
Speaker:What's yours.
Speaker:Turn it around as quick.
Speaker:And the quality is top notch,
Speaker:nothing but the best for you.
Speaker:Take a look@alltheoptionsatgiftbizonrapt.com
Speaker:forward slash shop.
Speaker:All proceeds from these purchases helps me offset the costs of
Speaker:producing this podcast and now be safe and well.
Speaker:And I'll see you again.
Speaker:Next time on the gift biz unwrapped podcast.
Speaker:I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook
Speaker:group called gift is free.
Speaker:It's a place where we all gather and are a community
Speaker:to support each other.
Speaker:Got a really fun post in there.
Speaker:That's my favorite of the week.
Speaker:I have to say where I invite all of you to
Speaker:share what you're doing to show pictures of your product,
Speaker:to show what you're working on for the week to get
Speaker:reaction from other people and just for fun,
Speaker:because we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody
Speaker:in the community is making my favorite posts every single week,
Speaker:without doubt.
Speaker:Wait, what aren't you part of the group already,
Speaker:if not make sure to jump over to Facebook and search
Speaker:for the group gift biz breeze don't delay.