095 – Cookbooks to Mixes to This! with Lisa Shively of Kitcheneez
Kitcheneez is the Direct Sales division of Lisa Shively’s Kitchen Helpers, LLC.
Kitchen Helpers is a food manufacturer geared to helping families enjoy more meals at home.
Lisa started her business by writing cookbooks. Then after years of hearing, “we want it quicker and easier,” she decided that the only way to do this (other than going to their house and cook dinner herself), would be to create Quick Meal Mixes so they could have “her cooking” in their own home.
Lisa now has over 100 mixes that they mix and package daily to ship all over the US.
The Kitcheneez Story
In the beginning … [5:02]
The identification and creation of Kitcheneez [20:17]
A friend’s need sparked the change of the Kitcheneez sales structure. [25:06]
Facebook’s role in the growth of Kitcheneez [26:29] and [27:24]
Candle Flickering Moments
Be careful who you trust as you build your business. [7:28]
Business Building Insights
A perfect example of a business’ message. [3:53]
Listen to your gut. [9:42]
Do you know your customer avatar? Lisa does! [21:22]
Getting customer feedback. [28:01]
How consultants sell under the Kitcheneez structure. [30:17]
The legal stuff. [31:38]
Advice on Craft Shows
2 booth display tips. [11:42]
Interacting with customers in a booth. [13:25]
Managing the flow in a booth with multiple workers. [16:28]
Food sampling and cooking to attract customers. [18:26]
Analysis results and the success of a show. [22:01]
Success Trait
Lisa loves to talk! Specially on the Celebrity Cooking Stage of the Southern Women’s Shows [32:59]
Productivity/Lifestyle Tool
Having time for herself and reflect. [34:06]
Recommended Reading and Listening
The Wisdom of Walt Disney: Leadership Lessons from the Happiest Place on Earth by Jeffrey A. Barnes
Contact Links
If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe and leave a review in Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. That helps us spread the word to more makers just like you. Thanks! Sue
Transcript
Hi there.
Speaker:You're listening to gift biz on rapt episode 95.
Speaker:It's never really worked to me because I love this.
Speaker:I can't imagine doing anything else.
Speaker:Hi, This is John Lee,
Speaker:Dumas of entrepreneur on fire,
Speaker:and you're listening to the gift of biz unwrapped.
Speaker:And now it's time to light it up.
Speaker:Welcome to gift bears on wrapped your source for industry specific
Speaker:insights and advice to develop and grow your business.
Speaker:And now here's your host,
Speaker:Sue Mona height.
Speaker:Before we get into the show,
Speaker:I have a question for you.
Speaker:Do you know that you should be out networking,
Speaker:but you just can't get yourself to do it because it's
Speaker:scary. Are you afraid that you might walk into the room
Speaker:and not know anybody or that you're going to freeze?
Speaker:When you get up to do that infamous elevator speech,
Speaker:where you talk about yourself and your business?
Speaker:Well, I'm here to tell you that it doesn't need to
Speaker:be scary.
Speaker:If you know what to do to help you with this,
Speaker:I would like to offer you a coffee chat for the
Speaker:price of buying me a cup of coffee.
Speaker:We can sit down and I'll tell you everything that I
Speaker:know about networking and how I have personally built two multi-six
Speaker:figure businesses,
Speaker:primarily through networking to learn more about this opportunity.
Speaker:Just go over to Bitly forward slash network Ninja.
Speaker:That's B I T dot L Y network Ninja.
Speaker:And now let's move on to the show.
Speaker:Hi there I'm Sue and welcome to the gift biz unwrapped
Speaker:podcast. Whether you own a brick and mortar shop sell online
Speaker:or are just getting started,
Speaker:you'll discover new insight to gain traction and to grow your
Speaker:business. And today I am super excited to have Lisa Shively.
Speaker:The owner of kitchen ease with us.
Speaker:Kitchen EAs is the direct sales division of Lisa Lee's kitchen
Speaker:helpers, LLC.
Speaker:Kitchen helpers is a food manufacturer geared to helping families enjoy
Speaker:more meals at home.
Speaker:Lisa started her business by writing cookbooks.
Speaker:Then after years of hearing,
Speaker:we want it quicker and we want it faster.
Speaker:She decided that the only way to do this other than
Speaker:going to their house and cooking dinner for them herself would
Speaker:be to create quick meal mixes so they could have her
Speaker:cooking in their home.
Speaker:Now Lisa has over a hundred mixes and they mix and
Speaker:package daily to ship all over the U S you may
Speaker:very well have already tried some Oak Lisa's mixes.
Speaker:Lisa, welcome to the show.
Speaker:Good morning,
Speaker:Sue. I am so excited to have you here.
Speaker:You and I met years ago at a trade show and
Speaker:your business has just boomed.
Speaker:I am so excited to hear the whole story.
Speaker:I am so excited to be here.
Speaker:I have loved you for many,
Speaker:many years and never see you enough.
Speaker:So to get to share this with you is amazing to
Speaker:me. I totally agree.
Speaker:We're going to start out in our traditional way in that
Speaker:is by having you describe a motivational candle,
Speaker:it helps our audience see you just a little bit differently.
Speaker:So if you were to,
Speaker:to describe your ideal motivational candle,
Speaker:what color would it be and what would be the quote
Speaker:on the candle?
Speaker:Well, the color is very easy.
Speaker:And if you see anything with kitchen on it,
Speaker:you already know the color that I'm going to say.
Speaker:My color is hot pink.
Speaker:I love hot pink.
Speaker:It, it screams everything.
Speaker:I feel so hot.
Speaker:Pink is may all the way I wear it almost every
Speaker:day. And it's on everything I seem to touch.
Speaker:My inspirational quote would be,
Speaker:and we use this a lot.
Speaker:Keep in mind,
Speaker:I'm a food manufacturer.
Speaker:So this one really speaks to me.
Speaker:We use this.
Speaker:It's blessed the food before us,
Speaker:the family beside us,
Speaker:and the love between us and the food that we are
Speaker:blessing is the food that we put together and send out
Speaker:all over the country every day.
Speaker:The family beside us is everybody.
Speaker:That's enjoying that food.
Speaker:If you're eating my food,
Speaker:it's like,
Speaker:I've been there cooking for you.
Speaker:And I don't cook for strangers.
Speaker:So you are family.
Speaker:If you're eating my food and the love between us,
Speaker:that's self-explanatory,
Speaker:we put love in everything we do.
Speaker:And we want people to know that,
Speaker:feel it and taste it.
Speaker:Oh, I have shivers.
Speaker:That is so beautiful.
Speaker:Gift Listeners.
Speaker:When I talk about branding your product,
Speaker:you just heard it right there.
Speaker:Love it.
Speaker:Lisa, love it.
Speaker:Love it,
Speaker:love it.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:I want you to go back and tell the story.
Speaker:And I know there's a lot of stories that come from
Speaker:this, but how did you in the very beginning start deciding
Speaker:you were going to start cooking because that's not your education.
Speaker:As I recall,
Speaker:It is not my education.
Speaker:My background is in the chemistry lab.
Speaker:I was a stay at home mom at the time.
Speaker:This was in 2003,
Speaker:I'm in North Carolina.
Speaker:We had a terrible ice storm.
Speaker:We were home for about three weeks.
Speaker:The kids couldn't go to school.
Speaker:Thanks for getting nuts at my house.
Speaker:Everybody needed a project.
Speaker:My project became putting all my recipes together.
Speaker:And once I got down together,
Speaker:I thought,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:this could really help a lot of people because all I
Speaker:do is normal ingredient cooking that anybody can do,
Speaker:but it makes you feel good that you can put a
Speaker:delicious meal on the table,
Speaker:yourself at your house.
Speaker:So that was always helping people was the basis.
Speaker:Even from day one.
Speaker:I didn't even realize that at the time,
Speaker:but I started with cookbooks and every time people would see
Speaker:me, they would want another book.
Speaker:And by that time I was touring with the Southern women's.
Speaker:I was setting up,
Speaker:I was doing events and books on ins all over the
Speaker:place and face to face with a lot of people,
Speaker:they kept wanting quicker and easier with my background in chemistry.
Speaker:It was just a normal step to go right into food
Speaker:production. And so that's what I did.
Speaker:I started with six basic mixes,
Speaker:like my meatloaf and my spaghetti,
Speaker:and it's just grown and grown and grown from there.
Speaker:And so it all started just with this idea from your
Speaker:kitchen. Yes.
Speaker:Let's talk about these six mixes way in the beginning.
Speaker:Give our listeners an idea of how that worked.
Speaker:Were you mixing in the kitchen?
Speaker:Did you get a license right after the idea?
Speaker:What was the very next step right after the initial idea?
Speaker:Well, I had already made a lot of connections with all
Speaker:the events that I was doing with the cookbooks and I've
Speaker:written eight in total now.
Speaker:And so I knew that to produce food.
Speaker:I needed a certified kitchen.
Speaker:So I started there with the people that I knew and
Speaker:through the state and I,
Speaker:we had another property and I had my kitchen certified there
Speaker:and that's where it started.
Speaker:But you,
Speaker:you have to do your research and do things the right
Speaker:way from the beginning.
Speaker:And that will just save you tons of headache later.
Speaker:Is there anything looking back now that you wish you would
Speaker:have done differently?
Speaker:Yes. That was a fast response.
Speaker:I don't know a business owner that would not answer that
Speaker:really quickly for me.
Speaker:It is to be very sure and careful on who you
Speaker:let into your business and put your trust into.
Speaker:That has been a very hard lesson for me to learn
Speaker:because I love people and I trust people and I realize,
Speaker:I don't know every aspect to run a business.
Speaker:I knew that from the beginning,
Speaker:my background was not in business.
Speaker:So I would have people come to me in pitch to
Speaker:me and how much they were going to help me grow
Speaker:and make things great.
Speaker:And I needed the help and I believed them and I
Speaker:trusted them be very careful about that.
Speaker:Okay. So you're talking about,
Speaker:just to make sure to clarify,
Speaker:you're talking about not people that you're hiring into work side
Speaker:by side with you,
Speaker:which of course,
Speaker:you always have to be careful with that as well.
Speaker:But you're talking about people who might approach you with big
Speaker:promises of what to do with the business.
Speaker:And you were willing to take the help,
Speaker:obviously, because those are things that you never needed to know
Speaker:before. That's right.
Speaker:And I knew,
Speaker:I didn't know that.
Speaker:And here they were telling me they had the answers and
Speaker:I needed the answers.
Speaker:So I think what I would take from that is have
Speaker:more confidence in yourself.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you don't know everything,
Speaker:nobody does,
Speaker:but you can research it and you can learn and have
Speaker:your own education on it.
Speaker:Before you hand it over to somebody else,
Speaker:then you have an educated idea of what it should be.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:I, what you just said there too,
Speaker:Because as we grow our businesses,
Speaker:there's no way we can have our hands in everything as
Speaker:things get bigger,
Speaker:but your point is,
Speaker:have a baseline knowledge so that when you're looking and going
Speaker:through, and I know that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I've had a million people in the course of my Bo
Speaker:both my businesses call me,
Speaker:offering me SEO,
Speaker:help, or website help or merchant services or all these things.
Speaker:Some of which,
Speaker:of course you need,
Speaker:but you want to have that baseline.
Speaker:So that then you make the best decision and an informed
Speaker:decision and a good decision because you know the questions to
Speaker:ask, to make sure these people are credible.
Speaker:Right? I do something that may be,
Speaker:we all do it.
Speaker:And we probably do.
Speaker:And if we don't,
Speaker:we should be how's that,
Speaker:there you go.
Speaker:What is it?
Speaker:I pray a lot.
Speaker:And I listened to my gut because to me,
Speaker:you want to be led in the right direction.
Speaker:And that's how God talks to us.
Speaker:If it's not right,
Speaker:you're going to feel it in your gut.
Speaker:And you need to listen to that.
Speaker:If something says,
Speaker:I'm not sure about this,
Speaker:I'm not sure about them.
Speaker:I don't know if this is the path I want to
Speaker:take this,
Speaker:listen to it.
Speaker:If you have questions,
Speaker:find out more because that feeling's there for a reason.
Speaker:Oh gosh,
Speaker:I am.
Speaker:So with you on this,
Speaker:I can tell you,
Speaker:because I've,
Speaker:I'll say fallen victim,
Speaker:because I don't have any other words right now,
Speaker:but you know,
Speaker:you just want that help so much that you do bring
Speaker:someone else in to help you,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:not in physically,
Speaker:but to do whatever that service is.
Speaker:Every single time I've made the wrong decision.
Speaker:I can look back and say,
Speaker:I had that question in my gut,
Speaker:but it just seemed like the easy solution because they were
Speaker:going to fix it.
Speaker:And then you end up having more problems.
Speaker:Yes. Listen to your gut.
Speaker:Yes. And as a food manufacturer,
Speaker:I listen to my gut a lot.
Speaker:I was just going to go there.
Speaker:I was going,
Speaker:I was,
Speaker:what I was going to say is,
Speaker:but your gut is going to be really happy.
Speaker:If you have food that has Lisa's mix in it.
Speaker:We make happy guts.
Speaker:Oh my gosh.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So dry in this back end a little bit.
Speaker:And I'm still taking,
Speaker:Can you back in time for a minute?
Speaker:Okay. So you were going out to trade shows with your
Speaker:mixes, with your initial six.
Speaker:I remember the table,
Speaker:cause that's when I met you,
Speaker:we had a booth next to each other.
Speaker:But talk to me about the beginning in terms of setting
Speaker:up. Cause we do have a lot of listeners who go
Speaker:to craft shows.
Speaker:They don't have all this fancy stuff yet because they're putting
Speaker:all their money into their product and growing their business.
Speaker:Talk to us through a little bit about those first shows,
Speaker:setting up of the booth.
Speaker:Any logistics,
Speaker:working with customers,
Speaker:any value that you could bring in that category?
Speaker:Well, I have done hundreds and hundreds of events.
Speaker:So I have a lot of experience and knowledge on this.
Speaker:It does not take a lot of money to make a
Speaker:really display.
Speaker:Don't feel like I've got to budget thousands in to do
Speaker:this big event.
Speaker:You don't need to do that.
Speaker:One of the major things you need to do is cover
Speaker:your table to the floor.
Speaker:And whenever I see anybody who just flops the tablecloth across
Speaker:the top and you can see all their boxes underneath,
Speaker:I don't even stop there because I know they're not,
Speaker:they're not really there to do what they need to do.
Speaker:They haven't covered that detail.
Speaker:There's other details they're missing.
Speaker:So be sure to cover your table to the floor,
Speaker:always have a tablecloth of some kind.
Speaker:You don't want it to be too busy because that will
Speaker:take away from your product and always use height.
Speaker:I'm notorious for packing in small boxes,
Speaker:taking all my little boxes in and have an extra black
Speaker:table calls,
Speaker:unload my boxes,
Speaker:put them on my table,
Speaker:cover them with the tablecloth to make height.
Speaker:And it looks like I have nice shelves underneath there.
Speaker:They're just the boxes I brought product in with.
Speaker:And that's a really good way.
Speaker:You need to build some height.
Speaker:You don't want to just have a plain flat table and
Speaker:you need space in the center of your table for people
Speaker:to stand and talk to you.
Speaker:Don't make it where you're peeking around things,
Speaker:because then it's like,
Speaker:you're hiding and they don't want that.
Speaker:They want eye contact.
Speaker:And that's very important.
Speaker:Excellent. Yeah.
Speaker:Let's go further with this in terms of communicating and working
Speaker:with customers right at the booth,
Speaker:what do you do there?
Speaker:That's huge to me and that's my favorite part of everything
Speaker:I do is working with people.
Speaker:I don't get as much of it as I used to
Speaker:because we have sales reps.
Speaker:Now that sell my products many times,
Speaker:I say,
Speaker:I wish I was with you this weekend because I love
Speaker:that part.
Speaker:But it's very important.
Speaker:You are not eating.
Speaker:You're not reading a book.
Speaker:You're not on your phone.
Speaker:Put all that aside.
Speaker:You're there at a fit for these people.
Speaker:Keep that in mind,
Speaker:they are your focus and make them feel like that.
Speaker:Make them feel important when they walk up to you that
Speaker:you are their only focus.
Speaker:That's what you're there for.
Speaker:You make connections with people don't ever over emphasize things that
Speaker:aren't exactly true because that will bite you every time don't
Speaker:do that.
Speaker:Be completely upfront.
Speaker:If you can only make this many of this in this
Speaker:timeframe, don't say I can make 10 times that you need
Speaker:people to trust you because you're going into a relationship with
Speaker:them. Great advice.
Speaker:I really appreciate it.
Speaker:And the portion on displays is really important because that's what
Speaker:attracts someone over to you.
Speaker:If someone's at a trade show or a craft fair,
Speaker:they're walking down the aisle,
Speaker:there are a million opportunities,
Speaker:right? Every single display,
Speaker:you want to have something that's attention grabbing,
Speaker:but not cluttered like Lisa's talking about and where you're going
Speaker:to be able to interact.
Speaker:And then as Lisa saying,
Speaker:interaction is key.
Speaker:Personality sells at these shows and you can hear just in
Speaker:Lisa's voice,
Speaker:how fun she is.
Speaker:And she's just as fun in person as she sounded right
Speaker:here. I guarantee you that,
Speaker:but you want to be lively and energized.
Speaker:And it's fun talking with people and not that person behind
Speaker:the booth,
Speaker:looking at their cell phone or reading a book and you
Speaker:know, just answering questions.
Speaker:If someone comes up,
Speaker:you want to be engaged and that will sell your product.
Speaker:Did you want to add anything?
Speaker:Lisa? I do.
Speaker:I get asked this a lot.
Speaker:People want to take their husbands with them to work behind
Speaker:the table or their kids don't do that.
Speaker:I've always found that doing a show by myself was the
Speaker:best way,
Speaker:because if there's somebody else behind the table with you,
Speaker:you're going to talk to them.
Speaker:And when people walk by it,
Speaker:they're going to feel like they're interrupting you if they walk
Speaker:up and they'll keep going.
Speaker:But if you're there and you look friendly and you greet
Speaker:them as they come by,
Speaker:they're gonna stop and want to talk to you.
Speaker:It's all a matter of comfort and letting them know you
Speaker:are there for them.
Speaker:And would you say that for what about like just country
Speaker:craft fairs?
Speaker:I love country craft fairs.
Speaker:Would you loosen that requirement of not having family with you
Speaker:at the booth?
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:some people have multiple people at the booth cause they need
Speaker:it to take care of everybody.
Speaker:Well, when that's the case,
Speaker:because when you,
Speaker:you build up and you do the bigger events,
Speaker:you really do need help.
Speaker:I wouldn't make really certain that both people know their role.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you have one that talks to the customers and you have
Speaker:one that handles orders.
Speaker:Keep the one who handles orders behind,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:so it's obvious when they come up,
Speaker:who they need to talk to.
Speaker:Now, when you're in the middle of the sale,
Speaker:then you'll hand them over to the other person.
Speaker:But I wouldn't make sure they have a work area behind.
Speaker:So that it's all about you when you're out there in
Speaker:front of people and yes,
Speaker:the smaller craft fairs,
Speaker:the church bazaars,
Speaker:things like that.
Speaker:They can be so successful.
Speaker:I do worry sometimes about people bring in their children because
Speaker:of course your children going to want to run around my
Speaker:dad. I took them with me sometimes.
Speaker:And that's when I learned they're not going with me anymore
Speaker:because I would be distracted because I would see my oldest,
Speaker:Casey, when he was little across the room,
Speaker:getting ready to get into something.
Speaker:And I wasn't there with the customer and I wanted to
Speaker:be, even at that level,
Speaker:every level you need to be there for them.
Speaker:I really do.
Speaker:And this is the first time I've heard this from anybody.
Speaker:I really like your idea of systematizing the table in terms
Speaker:of one person being the person,
Speaker:interacting with the customer,
Speaker:possibly sampling.
Speaker:Because I don't know if,
Speaker:if you're still sampling,
Speaker:but you were at one time sampling and all of that.
Speaker:But when it comes time to order,
Speaker:you hand them off,
Speaker:which is really a nice smooth flow,
Speaker:because then you're able to continue talking to more customers.
Speaker:But that person who's ready to place the order moves on.
Speaker:And then the person,
Speaker:the order taker person also has their flow.
Speaker:So you're not constantly shifting from talking to placing orders,
Speaker:talking to placing orders.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:Well, and the person that is selling the product is not
Speaker:busy doing something else.
Speaker:Right. You know,
Speaker:so they see,
Speaker:I need to ask her a question about this.
Speaker:Then you're going to have her attention.
Speaker:There is something else went with it.
Speaker:Oh, about food samples.
Speaker:Of course we sample foods because I say,
Speaker:if I can get it in your mouth,
Speaker:you're going to want more.
Speaker:And we do a lot of that.
Speaker:It is true.
Speaker:If you are selling food,
Speaker:be sure you're wearing gloves.
Speaker:When you're handling everything.
Speaker:There are health department issues you need to deal with at
Speaker:different events.
Speaker:It's different.
Speaker:Every single one.
Speaker:Find those out before you get there and make sure you
Speaker:have a small trash can near the front of your sampling
Speaker:for the taster spoons or napkins or whatever.
Speaker:Because if not,
Speaker:they'll take a bite and leave their spoon on your table
Speaker:and walk away.
Speaker:And then you're left with a table full of dirty spoons.
Speaker:That's really important to keep clean,
Speaker:especially when you're selling food.
Speaker:Another thing you've seen me,
Speaker:I know I cook in my booth.
Speaker:I'm going to get the smell in the entire building.
Speaker:You're going to know when you walk in the door that
Speaker:Lisa Shively with KitchenAid is there and you're going to follow
Speaker:that smell straight to me.
Speaker:If you have a product that you can heat and cook
Speaker:and prepare that will get the smell going,
Speaker:do it.
Speaker:It's important.
Speaker:It makes a big difference.
Speaker:You can't tell from a package of my spices,
Speaker:what that tastes like,
Speaker:even what it smells like.
Speaker:So if I can draw you over and get in your
Speaker:mouth or even just get it in your nose and then
Speaker:you've got a better chance to make in the sale.
Speaker:Excellent tips.
Speaker:You guys,
Speaker:I'm going to have all of this over on the show
Speaker:notes. So if you didn't catch everything,
Speaker:it's going to be sitting over there.
Speaker:Okay? So at this point,
Speaker:really we've been talking about the past,
Speaker:which was really the kitchen helpers brand.
Speaker:Let's move on to kitchen,
Speaker:ease. Tell us what that's all about.
Speaker:Okay. About 2008,
Speaker:maybe I was exporting pallet fools,
Speaker:a product to Canada.
Speaker:I was selling wholesale to lots of stores and it was
Speaker:good and it felt successful.
Speaker:And, but it did not feel what I needed and any
Speaker:true businessman is just going LA right now.
Speaker:It doesn't matter.
Speaker:You have to be happy with what your business is doing
Speaker:for you.
Speaker:I, out of exporting,
Speaker:I pulled out of the larger stores because I don't want
Speaker:to, to get my products to the people who really needed
Speaker:them. And I know with like a recipe,
Speaker:you cut out a newspaper.
Speaker:You're just going to cut that out and throw it in
Speaker:your junk drawer in the kitchen.
Speaker:You're never going to touch that.
Speaker:But if a friend of yours walks up and says,
Speaker:here, try this recipe,
Speaker:it's great.
Speaker:You are a lot more likely to try that.
Speaker:Then if you did it on your own and stuffed it
Speaker:away. So my thinking was,
Speaker:I need to get it into the homes of the people
Speaker:who needed.
Speaker:For me,
Speaker:that's busy families,
Speaker:busy moms.
Speaker:They have soccer practice.
Speaker:They have afterschool things.
Speaker:They're getting in late after work,
Speaker:but you still want to put a good meal on the
Speaker:table. So I changed my company and went direct sales at
Speaker:that point.
Speaker:And now we have sales reps all over the country and
Speaker:we're looking into moving into Canada,
Speaker:but it was pivotal to what I do.
Speaker:Now. We are back into some stores and I change and
Speaker:grow as we need.
Speaker:I again,
Speaker:follow your gut.
Speaker:And don't say,
Speaker:no too quickly,
Speaker:all kinds of possibilities come up.
Speaker:Especially at events.
Speaker:If you go to an event and you sell $20 worth,
Speaker:and you're really disappointed,
Speaker:and you think this whole day was a waste.
Speaker:It probably wasn't if you did it right,
Speaker:if you did it right,
Speaker:that means you got information into people's hands.
Speaker:You talk to people.
Speaker:You may not know,
Speaker:six months to a year after the event,
Speaker:if it was successful or not.
Speaker:So don't ever beat yourself up after an event.
Speaker:If you've done everything you could,
Speaker:that's really important to do.
Speaker:It's really important because I know a lot of people may.
Speaker:Now it's nice.
Speaker:If you're at an event,
Speaker:if you can at least cover your initial costs,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the Bouchard's travel,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:all of that.
Speaker:If you break even that's really nice.
Speaker:But the one thing everybody you really should be thinking about
Speaker:is exactly what Lisa just said is exposure of your product,
Speaker:because that lasts well into the future.
Speaker:You just don't want,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you are forever going to events then to keep up.
Speaker:If all you were doing was selling right at an event.
Speaker:So really important that also goes along with brochures and everything
Speaker:else that you might have at a table that people can
Speaker:take away with them because you want to make sure that
Speaker:they're able to remember your product,
Speaker:whether they've made a purchase or not.
Speaker:The second thing that Lisa just talked about that I really
Speaker:also want to drive home is growth does not always equal
Speaker:happiness. Having a huge company does not mean you have the
Speaker:lifestyle that you went into this for in the first place.
Speaker:Success and value of your own business is different to everybody.
Speaker:Some of you have nine to five jobs and you have
Speaker:a hobby and you just want to make extra money on
Speaker:the side with a business that's success.
Speaker:Some of you want to replace your nine to five job
Speaker:with a,
Speaker:that can be success.
Speaker:Some people want to grow to be the,
Speaker:I don't know,
Speaker:Mrs. Fields,
Speaker:cookies of the world.
Speaker:It all depends on what your wanting and every single level
Speaker:can be successful.
Speaker:Don't don't just always be thinking it's always the dollars that
Speaker:equals success.
Speaker:So why don't you to go back and think in your
Speaker:heart? And as Lisa says in your gut,
Speaker:what are you really trying to accomplish when you're starting and
Speaker:growing your businesses?
Speaker:Okay. Lisa,
Speaker:back to you.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:So now when you're transitioning into kitchen EAs,
Speaker:it's going to look entirely different.
Speaker:You've already talked about that a little bit,
Speaker:that you're not out at shows anymore.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:your whole day in terms of what you're doing has changed.
Speaker:Talk to us about how number one,
Speaker:you started acquiring people to be in kitchen EAs.
Speaker:How did you develop the structure?
Speaker:So that then you're working with,
Speaker:do you call them sales associates?
Speaker:What do you,
Speaker:what do you call them?
Speaker:Okay. So talk us through how that developed.
Speaker:Well, My background was not direct sales,
Speaker:so I had to do a lot of research on that.
Speaker:I knew that was the way I wanted to take it,
Speaker:but needed to know how to make that happen.
Speaker:What pushed me over was one afternoon,
Speaker:a friend of mine called and said,
Speaker:I've lost my job.
Speaker:Can you help me?
Speaker:And you know,
Speaker:me and helping people,
Speaker:I thought,
Speaker:well, yeah,
Speaker:I can help you.
Speaker:So that's when I decided I wanted a way for people
Speaker:to be able to sell my products and for them to
Speaker:also make a living doing it,
Speaker:whatever they're looking for.
Speaker:If they're looking for just spinning money on the weekends,
Speaker:whatever they're wanting out of it,
Speaker:they have their own business with us.
Speaker:My website designer is really who built the site so that
Speaker:it is multilevel and people sign up under other people.
Speaker:And because my background is not in direct sales,
Speaker:I don't do minimums.
Speaker:We don't beat you down.
Speaker:If you haven't had so many people join you this month,
Speaker:there's none of that.
Speaker:It's much more important to me that we are a family
Speaker:that support each other,
Speaker:no matter what.
Speaker:And it's not just in the business.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:we just had a baby born last night and we've all
Speaker:welcomed the baby Lexi to the KitchenAid,
Speaker:his family this morning.
Speaker:There's so much more to it.
Speaker:And that's what brings me happiness and joy.
Speaker:It doesn't matter who you're under.
Speaker:Everybody helps everybody.
Speaker:When I first started,
Speaker:I thought I had to do it all.
Speaker:I had to be the one I have to answer all
Speaker:the questions.
Speaker:I don't a lot of what we do is on Facebook.
Speaker:I built the company basically on Facebook,
Speaker:the direct sales end of it.
Speaker:We have a private group for just the consultants and they
Speaker:share ideas and they make,
Speaker:and any question anybody has,
Speaker:there's always somebody there to help.
Speaker:I can sit back now and just watch and smile and
Speaker:know this is good.
Speaker:And this is what I wanted.
Speaker:And this is what I'm supposed to be doing.
Speaker:That's Awesome.
Speaker:How many consultants do you now have We have almost 500
Speaker:across the country.
Speaker:Yeah, I remember when you were just starting that and just,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:attract, starting to attract people.
Speaker:So initially you had your first friend who called you and
Speaker:then how did you build up?
Speaker:Let's say that first 25,
Speaker:before the ball starts rolling in,
Speaker:the word gets out and all of that,
Speaker:This book,
Speaker:it was all Facebook.
Speaker:Well, I use Facebook as a tool for research to find
Speaker:out how all this worked.
Speaker:And once I saw how it worked,
Speaker:I thought,
Speaker:well, I can do that.
Speaker:And you can,
Speaker:knowledge is power and don't be afraid to poke around and
Speaker:figure things out because that's how we learn and how we
Speaker:grow. And you have to always learn and grow.
Speaker:Another really important thing is,
Speaker:is one,
Speaker:never think,
Speaker:you know everything about anything because you don't,
Speaker:and you won't always be open to learn more and to
Speaker:take suggestions of huge thing that I do twice a year,
Speaker:we changed the catalog.
Speaker:So in the next few weeks,
Speaker:I'll be testing for the spring summer catalog.
Speaker:I don't do that by myself.
Speaker:I go to my consultants and I say,
Speaker:I'm going to send you a survey.
Speaker:I want to hear everything you like about us and everything
Speaker:you don't like about us.
Speaker:Every product that you've had.
Speaker:People walk up to your booth and ask for that.
Speaker:We don't have any criticism,
Speaker:everything I want to hear at all.
Speaker:And you cannot take that personal,
Speaker:even though it'd be really easy because these are my recipes.
Speaker:This is me.
Speaker:You have me in a package when you buy my products,
Speaker:but you have to cut that off because you want it
Speaker:to be the best it is.
Speaker:And just because I think it is,
Speaker:maybe it's not.
Speaker:So you have to cut your ego away,
Speaker:but still have the self-confidence to do what you need to
Speaker:do. Wonderful.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:really what's happened to you is your customer has changed from
Speaker:being the direct end customer,
Speaker:the user of your product to your consultants,
Speaker:your consultants are now all your customers.
Speaker:And you've been talking right now about the importance of staying
Speaker:close, asking questions,
Speaker:getting direction and guidance of what you do next by communicating
Speaker:with your customers,
Speaker:which is so important.
Speaker:It makes actually your life a lot easier.
Speaker:Except when there's things that they say that can be done
Speaker:better or whatever your,
Speaker:to your point about not taking it personally,
Speaker:but you don't have to guess anymore.
Speaker:When you're talking directly with your customers,
Speaker:they tell you what to do next Well.
Speaker:And they're out there talking to people where I'm not anymore.
Speaker:So we need the feedback and it's important.
Speaker:And it does is a huge help to me because I
Speaker:can think I know what we need,
Speaker:but if they're hearing something different than that's what I want
Speaker:to give them,
Speaker:I want to give them everything they need to be successful.
Speaker:So I put it in their hands and say,
Speaker:let me hear what you're hearing and I'll make it happen
Speaker:if I can't.
Speaker:Okay. One more question here on all of this.
Speaker:And that is what direction are you giving all your consultants
Speaker:or what framework or if it's,
Speaker:if the actions are bracketed in some way,
Speaker:how do they then go and sell the product?
Speaker:Every day,
Speaker:Everybody has their own thing.
Speaker:We have a lot of people who sell online only sometimes
Speaker:they are not able to get out and do events and
Speaker:carry heavy products.
Speaker:And, or that's just not their thing with us.
Speaker:It's really easy to find your niche and what you're good
Speaker:at. And just roll with that.
Speaker:If you're not good at events,
Speaker:don't do events,
Speaker:just do online parties.
Speaker:We do tons of those.
Speaker:We make it really easy,
Speaker:but it's all a matter of you.
Speaker:It's a personal thing.
Speaker:This is your business.
Speaker:I'm the behind the scenes.
Speaker:Now you're the one out there face to face.
Speaker:Do what makes you comfortable and make you feel good because
Speaker:they'll feel that,
Speaker:and they'll be comfortable with you and you'll create a repeat
Speaker:customer over and over and over So they can virtually do
Speaker:whatever they want in terms of acquiring business.
Speaker:Okay, this does lead to another question.
Speaker:It is your brand.
Speaker:So you certainly want to make sure that the energy behind
Speaker:it, the presentation of it,
Speaker:use of your logo stays consistent across anything that reflects your
Speaker:brand. I'm quite,
Speaker:I didn't ask you that,
Speaker:but I'm quite sure that that's the case.
Speaker:There has to be some type of a contract or legal
Speaker:documentation or something.
Speaker:When you bring on a new consultant,
Speaker:There is when you join us,
Speaker:we have a manual that goes out and in the very
Speaker:back page of the manual is a signed agreement saying that,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:you won't do this.
Speaker:We don't allow people with competing companies because of liability insurance.
Speaker:And it's just not good business to be selling to different
Speaker:food companies on the same table.
Speaker:But all of that is very clear.
Speaker:It's all very easy written.
Speaker:There's nothing in big legal lingo that nobody will understand.
Speaker:I am very upfront.
Speaker:We have a Facebook page of potentials where our actual consultants,
Speaker:man, this page and people who have questions that have never
Speaker:heard of us before go there and ask questions about joining
Speaker:us. And sometimes they do,
Speaker:sometimes they don't,
Speaker:but it gives them a comfortable feeling immediately.
Speaker:We're not some big corporate head.
Speaker:We are still real and every day and therefore the people,
Speaker:I Love that.
Speaker:Okay. Super.
Speaker:And you went and got some legal advice or someone helped
Speaker:you with the terminology as you were putting that into.
Speaker:Yeah. Okay.
Speaker:All right,
Speaker:Lisa, we're going to turn now into our reflection section.
Speaker:Okay. What is it about you just as a person that
Speaker:you think you've drawn on that has helped you to succeed
Speaker:with both kitchen helpers and kitchen?
Speaker:Well, you're going to find this shocking,
Speaker:but I like to talk,
Speaker:no, my grandmother in South Georgia,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:after I started my cookbooks,
Speaker:I started touring with the Southern women's shows and hosting the
Speaker:celebrity cooking stage.
Speaker:And my grandmother said,
Speaker:one day,
Speaker:she said,
Speaker:well, you've always had the gift of gab and now you
Speaker:finally found a way to use it.
Speaker:That's perfect.
Speaker:And it's true.
Speaker:Find what you're good at FA find what you like.
Speaker:I like talking to people and if you're good at that,
Speaker:run with it,
Speaker:if you're good at just the artwork,
Speaker:then find somebody that counter balances you and gives you the
Speaker:other parts you need,
Speaker:but you don't have to give your business away to them.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:you still are the business and in terms of productivity And
Speaker:it doesn't matter if you go back to earlier time or
Speaker:now, but is there something,
Speaker:a tool you use or something you do that helps you
Speaker:accomplish everything that you need to during your day?
Speaker:Well, I'd love to say I accomplished everything I need to
Speaker:in a day.
Speaker:I don't.
Speaker:And that's another thing you have to get the grips with.
Speaker:You can only do as much as you can do.
Speaker:And you have to realize that because you do want to
Speaker:grow your business and you do want it to become more
Speaker:successful. But at the same time,
Speaker:you have to know your limitations.
Speaker:Because if you start doing too much,
Speaker:you're not doing anything well and you want it to all
Speaker:be done well.
Speaker:So my balance is to be alone.
Speaker:First thing in the morning,
Speaker:get my thoughts together.
Speaker:And I wake up in this mood and that's really important.
Speaker:A lot of people wake up and it's like,
Speaker:Ooh, it's Monday.
Speaker:I never have that.
Speaker:It's a whole mindset.
Speaker:If you love what you're doing,
Speaker:it shows in everything you do.
Speaker:What I do.
Speaker:I go to work.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I have an office,
Speaker:I have a work place,
Speaker:but it's never really worked to me because I love this.
Speaker:I can't imagine doing anything else.
Speaker:And when you find that balance of happiness and work,
Speaker:it's not work anymore.
Speaker:It's just passion.
Speaker:And what you love to do Beautifully said,
Speaker:moving on.
Speaker:I almost can't,
Speaker:but I'm not.
Speaker:Have you read a book lately that you think our listeners
Speaker:could find value in?
Speaker:Do you know?
Speaker:I don't read a lot because I don't sit down much,
Speaker:but I am a huge fan of the whole Walt Disney
Speaker:world. Walt Disney was such a visionary and he got it.
Speaker:He knew that you had to take care of the customer.
Speaker:He knew that they needed to feel comfortable.
Speaker:And there is a book called the wisdom of Walt Disney.
Speaker:No, we're not building a theme park and that's not even
Speaker:what he's talking about.
Speaker:It's just basic do this.
Speaker:This will happen.
Speaker:Feel good about it.
Speaker:It's a very positive book and I think it would help
Speaker:a lot of people to read it.
Speaker:Perfect. Thank you,
Speaker:Lisa and gift biz listeners,
Speaker:just as you're listening to the podcast today,
Speaker:you can also listen to audio books with ease.
Speaker:I've teamed up with audible for you to be able to
Speaker:get a book,
Speaker:possibly even the wisdom of Walt Disney for free on me.
Speaker:All you need to do is go to gift biz,
Speaker:book.com and make a selection.
Speaker:That's gift biz book.com.
Speaker:Okay. Lisa,
Speaker:I would like now to invite you to dare to dream,
Speaker:I'd like to present you with a virtual gift.
Speaker:It's a magical box containing unlimited possibilities for your future.
Speaker:So this is your dream or your goal of almost unreachable
Speaker:Heights that you would wish to obtain.
Speaker:Please accept this gift and open it in our presence.
Speaker:What is inside your box?
Speaker:Well, that would probably sound like a very complicated question,
Speaker:but it's not to me in my box.
Speaker:There's people,
Speaker:there's people that are positive and supportive and like-minded,
Speaker:and are there to give you what you need on every
Speaker:level on spiritual,
Speaker:financial, on advice,
Speaker:on personal day-to-day conflicts,
Speaker:the people around you can make all the difference in your
Speaker:life period,
Speaker:but especially in your business.
Speaker:So to me,
Speaker:I would,
Speaker:I would have a box full of people.
Speaker:I'm thinking of one of those little circus cars,
Speaker:where the doors open and all these people keep coming out.
Speaker:I've got a whole lot of them in there.
Speaker:Lisa, how can people find you?
Speaker:I'm very easy to be found.
Speaker:Our website is kitchen AEs.
Speaker:That's kitchen,
Speaker:EEZ dot B I Z.
Speaker:So it's kitchen,
Speaker:A's dot biz,
Speaker:or I'm all over Facebook.
Speaker:We have a fan page.
Speaker:That's kitchen.
Speaker:He is direct sales.
Speaker:You can go to my personal page.
Speaker:It's Lisa Shively.
Speaker:I'm everywhere.
Speaker:I'm very easy to get in touch with.
Speaker:I answer any questions.
Speaker:Anybody has.
Speaker:We have a sign-up special going on right now.
Speaker:I want to be something for everyone.
Speaker:There's no browbeating.
Speaker:There's no talking down to anyone in what we do.
Speaker:And that's very important to me.
Speaker:And we're all equal on whatever level you're on.
Speaker:So I'm just as obtainable as anybody and give listeners,
Speaker:as you Note,
Speaker:there's a show notes page and you can go over there
Speaker:and you can capture all the information and also jump to
Speaker:different segments because I have everything timestamped dumped to different segments
Speaker:of this show.
Speaker:If there's something that you want to hear again,
Speaker:specifically from Lisa,
Speaker:you can find the show notes page at gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped.com. Lisa.
Speaker:Yes, there is no question why you're successful.
Speaker:You have this spirit in you.
Speaker:You can hear it in your voice.
Speaker:It just draws people to you.
Speaker:People want to know you and people want to be with
Speaker:you. And it's so encompassing in your entire brand.
Speaker:It's just absolutely beautiful.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:just interject your personality in everything you do.
Speaker:I am so happy for you.
Speaker:I am so proud of you and all your development.
Speaker:I remember you way back when,
Speaker:when you were afraid to fly,
Speaker:because you got invited to Paris to talk about your product.
Speaker:I wish you continued success and may your candle always burn
Speaker:bright. Thank you so much.
Speaker:So I really enjoyed that.
Speaker:Where are you in your business building journey,
Speaker:whether you're just starting out or already running a business and
Speaker:you want to know your setup for success.
Speaker:Find out by taking the gift biz quiz,
Speaker:access the quiz from your computer at bit dot L Y
Speaker:slash gift biz quiz or from your phone like texting gift
Speaker:biz quiz to four four,
Speaker:two, two,
Speaker:two. Thanks for listening and be sure to join us for
Speaker:the next episode.
Speaker:Today's show is sponsored by the ribbon print company,
Speaker:looking for a new income source for your gift business.
Speaker:Customization is more popular now than ever grant your products with
Speaker:your logo for print,
Speaker:a happy birthday,
Speaker:Jessica bourbon,
Speaker:to add to a gift,
Speaker:right at checkout,
Speaker:it's all done right in your shop or cross BBO in
Speaker:seconds. Check out print company.com
Speaker:for more information after you listened to the show,
Speaker:if you like what you're hearing,
Speaker:make sure to jump over and subscribe to the show on
Speaker:iTunes. That way you'll automatically get the newest episodes when they
Speaker:go live.
Speaker:And thank you to those who have already left a rating
Speaker:and by subscribing rating and reviewing help to increase the visibility
Speaker:on round.
Speaker:It's a great way to pay it forward,
1 Comment
Leave a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Woooo Hooooo Lisa! I’m proud and happy to call you my “boss” and most of all, my friend!