0:00:03 - (Salena Knight): Hey, there, and welcome to the bringing business to retail podcast. If you're looking to get more sales, more customers, master your marketing, and ultimately take control of your retail or e commerce business, then you're in the right place. I'm Selena Knight, a retail growth strategist and multi award winning store owner whose superpower is uncovering exactly what your business requires to move to the next level.

0:00:33 - (Salena Knight): I'll provide you with the strategies, the tools, and the insight you need to scale your store. All you need to do is take action. Ready to get started?

0:00:52 - (Salena Knight): Let's get into the nitty gritty. Christine, did you have ever have a goal of someone that you really, really wanted to work with in the fashion industry?

0:01:01 - (Christine): You know, like, anthropology was that brand. But you know, what's funny, and I think it just speaks to, like, having imposter syndrome, is that I look at my resume, so to speak, and I'm like, it sounds great, but, like, so what?

0:01:19 - (Salena Knight): It was just life.

0:01:22 - (Christine): Yeah. Yeah. And it just, you know, it just kind of happened. The funny part of it was even though I kind of, like, you know, checked these brands off my list, it was like there was still. I still wanted something more. You know, I never. I always kind of wanted to have my own business and, like, be my own boss and not pursue that corporate life, even though I found myself in the corporate world, you know? Yeah, I always felt that pull to just break out on my own.

0:01:52 - (Salena Knight): So you took the leap. You had this little side business, and you decided to put the money that you'd saved in and go all in. What happened?

0:02:02 - (Christine): Well, you know, at first, it was. I had a little bit of, like, a taste of success, so to speak. I had, you know, friends and family that supported me, and I was making sales here and there, and. But it was never enough to. To, like, make a living off of, and I just kind of hit a roadblock where I was just like, you know, what do I do? And, you know, when it's your own money you're investing into your business, you're like, I can't spend another dime until I know what that dime needs to be spent on.

0:02:40 - (Salena Knight): And what's my return gonna be if I spend the dime? Yeah, what am I getting?

0:02:43 - (Christine): You know? And you're just watching these, like, your reserves lower and lower, and you're just like, you know, I didn't want to lose money without making money, and I just didn't know what I was doing with it, really. So that's kind of where I was when I ended up in your world.

0:03:02 - (Salena Knight): I have a question.

0:03:03 - (Salena Knight): When you jumped all in, did you know what success looked like? Because I'm going to put my sal the strategist hat on here and say, like you said earlier, so many people from the outside would be like, oh, my gosh, Christine, you have seen so much success and you're just kind of like, ah, it just kind of happened. It's life. And, I mean, it's very humbling to say that, but by the same token, I can see that if you had said, like, if my ultimate goal was to work with anthropology, once you've done it, the celebration that comes with that and that feeling of, oh, my goodness, I'm here, I've made it. This was the thing I always wanted. And the great part is then you go, okay, what's next?

0:03:45 - (Salena Knight): But you're just kind of like, yeah, it just happened. So I want to know, when you went into business for yourself and you jumped all in, what was the goal? Like, what was going to be success to you?

0:03:57 - (Christine): You know whats funny is that the only goal I had was can I pay the bills and can I pay my salary? I didnt know what that number was, but I was like, you know, ill know it. When I can pay the bills and I can give myself a salary. Thatll be success. And what's funny is that I had my, you know, my strategy call with Jennifer on your team, and she was like, well, what's your goal? I'm like, I don't know, like six figures. And she's like, why? I was like, I don't know.

0:04:28 - (Christine): It just sounds like a good number. I don't know. You know, and I think that that was, like, part of the issue, right? Is that, like, I didn't know where I was going, and I'm just like a creative at heart, so I'm just like, wherever the world takes me, you know, like just followed.

0:04:46 - (Salena Knight): That's where the work world takes you? Work.

0:04:49 - (Christine): Exactly. Literally that. And I was like, you know what? I need to have more, a more solid idea of, like, where I want to go with this. And I just, you know, I was just, like, flying by the seat of my pants.

0:05:01 - (Salena Knight): You know, it's funny that initial call, their whole job is just to ask you some questions and find out, like, to help you uncover what are the things that are holding you back. Like, they're nothing. They're not going to help you implement the strategy. Their whole thing is just, they're really good diagnosticians. Is that a word? It's not a word. It is now, they're really good at diagnostics, and that's what we picked them for. And it's funny, because you are not alone when you say, I didn't know what I wanted. I would say, because I review a lot of those calls, I would say 97% of people can't actually answer that question. And it is one of the first things we do inside of scale. Your stories, what do you actually want? Because if we don't know what it is and you don't know what it is, how the freaking heck do we put something in place to get you to that point?

0:05:48 - (Christine): Yes, exactly.

0:05:50 - (Salena Knight): From that call when you went away, what were you thinking?

0:05:53 - (Christine): I was thinking that I had learned more in that 30 minutes talking to her than I had in five years of trying to do it on my own. She really helped me drill down where in my business I should focus. And, like you said, diagnosing it and not really telling you the how to. And it was just helpful to know, like, what I should even be looking at, what should I focus on? And, like, I feel like I. Cause I'm creative. I have so much fun on, like, the buying side, the styling side, you know, like, setting up, like, you know, social media posts.

0:06:33 - (Salena Knight): What about this money thing? These are just sort of out.

0:06:36 - (Christine): The money will work. Exactly. And it's like, no, I'm out.

0:06:41 - (Salena Knight): Yeah. The dollars follow the cents.

0:06:44 - (Christine): Yeah. Yeah. And I had no sense.

0:06:47 - (Salena Knight): Okay, so you had your call, and you've realized that one. You're kind of not sure what you. What this business even needs to do for you to make it a success. What were you like, where was your business at? You don't have to, you know, reveal anything that you don't want to reveal. But in terms of where was your business at with regards to how you felt it was giving back to you and how much it was taking from you.

0:07:10 - (Christine): Yeah. Well, I looked at my numbers, so if I'm looking at Q three of last year, what I put, like, what was outgoing was about three times what was incoming. And we've had this conversation, and, you know, but I almost was, like, literally $75 from breaking even, and I had never broke even in my business, ever. Like, I was always sort of funding it to keep it afloat. And the sales side was just, you know, not.

0:07:44 - (Christine): Not working. And I was always like, you know, what's not working? What's not working? I just. I can't turn a profit. I can't break even. I don't know, you know, what I'm doing. And that was, like, the big aha moment for me was that, holy crap, like, I can actually, like, be in the black.

0:08:03 - (Salena Knight): So we're talking 10 million plus businesses where owners are still putting money in, which is just. It seems absurd if you're watching the videos.

0:08:13 - (Christine): Absolutely not. Absolutely not. I was tracking it in the sense of, like, you know, I do. I. You know, I have, like, quickbooks for my accountant was about as much as I was, like, tracking it, you know, like, categorizing things.

0:08:30 - (Salena Knight): So that's a wrap. I'd love to hear what insight you've gotten from this episode and how you're going to put it into action. If you're a social kind of person, follow me, Heselena Knight, and make sure.

0:08:44 - (Salena Knight): To leave a comment and let me know.

0:08:47 - (Salena Knight): And if this episode made you think a little bit differently or gave you some inspiration or perhaps gave you the kick that you needed to take action, then please take a couple of minutes to leave me a review on your platform of choice, because the more reviews the show gets, the more independent retail and e commerce stores just like yours that we can help to scale. And when that happens, it's a win for you, a win for your community, and a win for your customers.

0:09:18 - (Salena Knight): I'll see you on the next episode.

Kristine Zwick is the CEO of Curated Dry Goods. She founded her brand in 2018. Today, Curated Dry Goods is where you can find gifts and apparel curated for the bold and daring.