Modern Picnic: Final
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[00:00:00] Hey, business besties. Welcome back to the Female Founder World podcast. I'm Jasmine. I'm the host of the show and the creator of the Female Founder World Universe. Today I'm chatting with Allie Kamenetsky. She's the founder of Modern Picnic. Allie, welcome to Female Founder World. You are now entering Female Founder World with your host, Jasmine Gronsworthy.
Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here. For people that don't know Modern Picnic, what are you building? We are building the first to market insulated vegan leather lunchbox company catered towards women. Okay. So you're building basically very chic lunchboxes, very chic lunchbox. And if you're watching this on YouTube, you can actually see a couple of the products in the front of us here.
I've got them on camera and also in the Apple podcast app, uh, you can actually watch the video there. Cause I feel like you need to see it to really understand what it is that you've created, because when you say lunchbox, you don't think. About these. You think of like beautiful, like vegan leather products.
Childish. Yes. Little kid, you know? Yes. Janky lunchboxes that we're used to. So you started the business in [00:01:00] 2016. You had just. graduated college, right? How did the idea come about? Yeah, so we launched in 2018. I graduated from college in 2016. And moved to New York City, was working in the fashion industry. I was working at Macy's doing Vine for them.
And from like the first You were doing Vine? Vine for them. Oh, I was like, Vine! Vine, oh my god, TV, TV. I used to love buying, no, not, not buying, I was doing buying for them and I was bringing my lunch to work every day just because especially as a recent graduate living in the city doing so so much faster, cheaper, and healthier.
Plus, all the girls in my office are doing this, so I was like, okay, I have to start doing this, too. But when I went online to buy myself a lunchbox, I saw so many options for little kids, so many options for men, but none for women who wanted to look good or do good. So given the options on the market from there, the idea to start Modern Picnic was born.
But I was only 22, I'd graduated like a week prior, and so it took me two years from like idea in my head to [00:02:00] actually launching in May of 2018. Amazing. And I was working at the time. And you launched, you were fully bootstrapped, you didn't have any investor funding. Were you just putting in the money from, that you were earning from Macy's into building the business?
Exactly. And we were able, like, There was not a lot of spend, like the spend was really on product development and those kind of like first step legal formalities, like getting information, um, and so was really scrappy and when we launched, quote unquote launched, really just like made the Instagram public and kind of like took it from there.
Incredible. And like you said, you started with 0 marketing spend. So what was it that was kind of driving traction in the business? Because I feel like you immediately kind of like looked bigger than you were, which I think is kind of the goal for a lot of us. And I think that's just like the name of the game.
Even now people are like, Oh, like how big is the team? I'm like, Oh, no, no, no. We are tiny, tiny, tiny. Fake it till you make it. But yeah, so our strategy in the beginning was to, [00:03:00] Press. Yeah, reason for that was I was creating a new category before modern picnic. There was no Chic lunchbox on the market lunchbox.
It had kind of like a negative childish connotation And so I knew if I was gonna get my girl to carry a lunchbox Somebody was gonna have to say it's cool It would have to, you know, she'd go to Vogue and Vogue would have to give it the stamp of approval. We'd have to get that social validation elsewhere.
And at the time in 2018, that was through press. Now, you know, there's like influencers, there's TikTok. It was just a little different back then. And so I went straight to like the media. And what I did, because we didn't have a PR firm or anything like that. I just, with Google, like, Any and all article like best lunch boxes for women best work bags for women best vegan leather products Um female founded companies you should look out for etc, etc And i'd find the editor find her instagram handle and I just dm her and tell her like a little blurb about the [00:04:00] story And then I would connect with her on email and then kind of go from there And so we got written up our first year of launching in cosmo real simple vogue Countless others I think we had like over 20 press hits our first year of launch we launched in May and to date we've been in the media over 400 times So that was definitely our strategy in the beginning and still is I'd love to hear from someone who, um, you know, you're really scrappy and you did it all yourself in the beginning.
This is something that we chat about in the Female Founderboard group chat all the time about how to DIY press because it's kind of, uh, it's one of those things where that it is really relationship driven, but I think that if you have a good story and if your product is different, then Then you're going to be able to cut through, like it's just, I think that people who are like hitting that brick wall, you need to either find someone who has the relationship who can kind of like get you in, or maybe your product isn't differentiated enough, or you're not explaining what's different about it.
Like clearly enough. [00:05:00] You have to, and this goes for like, everything, whoever you're pitching, whether that's an investor or an editor or an advisor that you're trying to bring on, you need to make it easy for them and hand it to them. You don't want them to have to do any work for you. And so when I would be really intentional with my outreach and cater it towards and link to an article they had previously written about, and now, you know, there's like shortly there's long lead and we make sure I'm, you know, pitching to relevant stories and talking to the product in a way that they would want to hear about it.
Um, and slicing and dicing. I think the reason Modern Picnic has been successful in the press is there's a lot of ways to talk to it. Whether that's the healthy eating component, the sustainability component, the kind of first of its kind component, fashion focus, function focus, female founded focus, like whatever it kind of is.
There's a big, you know, new moms market, um, health and fitness, etc. So There's a lot of ways to kind of talk to it and, um, the [00:06:00] media. But did you kind of like sit down in the beginning and think about like, okay, what are all of those kind of like what you just listed out? Was that something that you intentionally did in the beginning or were you just kind of like seeing what was hitting and then doubling down?
Definitely not. Like in the beginning, like you, We have to understand, I was 22, like, I was so naive. I was walking to work every day, and was like, I need this product for myself. It was very insular, it was like, I need this, and I know my girlfriends need this. And so, I'm gonna do it. And I think there was this like, naivete, about being so young, and that I was just kind of like, going with it.
I really was like, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Mm hmm. What's the worst that can happen? Me and my girlfriends need this. Well, that was very, you know, short sighted, small minded, that thinking just for me and my friends. Because once we launched and I started seeing, you know, people coming forward like, wow, I have an allergy and this is really great for me or I'm a vegan.
This is great. I'm a new mom. All of the different kind of, you know, markets. I was like, [00:07:00] wow, this is, this is great. This is bigger than I thought. And there's really a lot of ways for us to talk to this. You were shipping from your parents garage at the time, which is like relatable. PTSD for my parents and for me, but for my parents mostly.
What were some of the lessons that you had from that time as you were kind of trying to get all those, pieces in place and kind of professionalize your process with working with your manufacturers and shipping and all of that like nitty gritty stuff that you need to get nailed before you can properly scale.
Oh my God. I mean. It was a crazy time. I don't regret it at all because I learned so much. I was doing the pickpack shit. I was a 3PL. It's like kind of crazy, some of these stories. Like, we were doing over a million dollars at one point, shipping out of my parents garage. At that point, it didn't make sense.
At that point, it was almost like, this is poor, like, Business decision like [00:08:00] you you have to move out We had totally outgrown the space to say the least and we were I mean There's so many stories underneath that of like how we kind of did that but in the beginning it made a lot of sense Yeah, three pills are Incredibly expensive expensive and it's so important when you're start I mean starting and no matter what stage to really have an understanding of the product and pick pack and the process of Just the whole supply chain process.
And so I was able to get really in tune with that and learn and understand and understand like, why were products coming back? Why were, we are also able to have excellent customer service because of it. We still try to have excellent high touch customer service, but you know, there's, there's only so much you can do.
But for instance, like if I would mess up an order, the next order, you know, I'd send them something with a handwritten note from me and like, It's not scalable, but it was like these little high touch, um, [00:09:00] interactions that we had in the beginning that I think really paid dividends because, you know, They're lifelong customers.
I think there's something really to be said for like you, like you just mentioned being in it so much in the early days, because when you go to a 3PL, like if you've been shipping yourself up until a million in revenue or whatever, maybe not quite that much, but you understand exactly what's working in terms of your processes, you know, what questions to ask and like.
Going to a three pl, you have to go in, physically visit the space, I think, and ask all of the questions about their standard operating procedures, how they handle returns, and then compare it with what you know works. Otherwise, like some of these three pls can truly make or break a business. A hundred percent.
And I mean, like, we're kind of seeing this now, like we're, we've been with our three PL for a couple of years now and like it might be time to move on and like Yeah. Understanding your process is so key, because otherwise, like you said, like, how do you know what questions to ask? I was able to train [00:10:00] them on the process, and then also learn from them of ways we can, you know, actually operationalize and streamline the process.
But, um, I think there's just so many learnings to be had with customer service, PICPAT. The whole thing, working with our suppliers, um, So it was crazy. It was a crazy time, but I don't regret it at all. I know that you also had a really big lesson with the way that you worked with your factory. Tell me about what happened.
Oh my god. So in the beginning, when I thought of the idea for Modern Picnic, I immediately got to work, like, that day. I, like, scurried home to my apartment with, like, a bunch of roommates, and I thought of the name for Modern Picnic that day. And I actually wanted Urban Picnic, but Urban Picnic was taken, so I was like, okay, Modern Picnic will do, which I'm so happy, because it's a better name anyways.
And that day, I got the domain and got all of our social handles. There was no TikTok at the time, but I got, like, Pinterest, Instagram, uh, uh, Twitter. And I bought our domain. I immediately kind of [00:11:00] got to work and everything felt very tangible and within reach to learn except for manufacturing. Yeah. Felt literally and figuratively far off.
I have no design experience, no manufacturing experience. Like, I had no idea how to begin the process. Everything else, like graphic design, legal, I was like, I don't know this, but like, I know someone who's a lawyer or I can watch a graphic design video or. I can kind of figure it out. Manufacturing, not so much.
So I ended up going through a broker in the beginning, which pros and cons, um, it ended up not being the right fit broker, um, because it's just, I'll go through kind of like the pros and cons of that. The pro was like, I had no relationship to any kind of factory. Even if I was able to find a factory, we hadn't even launched yet.
We were two years out from launching. So I don't know why they would take us seriously. I didn't speak the language, not just the actual language, but also the [00:12:00] manufacturing product development language. And for those reasons, I went through a, um, a broker. The cons of that is I was working through someone and I wasn't his only client.
And all of a sudden I had. zero to no visibility to our supply chain, to our factory. Because they own those relationships. They own the relationship. Why would he tell me? So I, it was kind of crazy for the first like two plus years of business. I never emailed with our factory. Yeah. Okay. In the beginning it worked.
It was okay. Cause it gave us a chance to get started and learn about everything. But there was a certain point we started raising capital and we started really scaling. And I was like, okay. There's no way I can like do this and not have visibility. Yeah, huge risk. Totally. Oh my god I was like, so this isn't gonna work and at that point we had enough leverage to be able to go straight to a Factory and kind of establish our own relationships and start over in that regard But it was definitely [00:13:00] like the thing that kept me up at night the most, those like first two years of business amongst other things.
But just like the fact that I had no idea what was going on. Oh my goodness. Okay. That's such a good learning there. In 2019 you launched an ambassador program. Now there's like nearly a thousand women in there. What, first of all, what is your ambassador program? Like how is it structured? That's what I want to know.
And then also, How did that actually impact the bottom line? Like, does, does it actually lead to sales? What's the goal there? And then how did you get it started? Yeah. Lots of questions there. Yeah. So our ambassador program, I definitely credit Michelle Grant for this. Yes. Who's the founder of Lively and Gorgie, been on the show several times.
So we love her. Amazing. Love her. So Lively had an incredible ambassador program at the time. I think they still do. And so I learned a lot from her, but, um, In 2018, we launched this program really just because people were asking us for us. These young women were asking if we had an ambassador program. And so, at the time, there wasn't that many [00:14:00] ambassador programs out there.
Like, it's kind of crazy, like, HBO had, like, a college ambassador program, Rent the Runway had an ambassador program, but there wasn't, it wasn't the norm. It's just a different time. And so we, our ambassador program is not, there's no ROI attached to the program. We put zero dollars into acquiring ambassadors.
It's completely community driven. I think the real, like, big lesson with the ambassador program is to have that steady flow of communication with them. It's not enough to just send out all One email blast a month and just keep them engaged that way. So basically I'll back up and explain how our ambassador program works.
So you go online, you fill out a really brief, um, application once you're accepted. So before we used to do our ambassador programs, basically you're joined into the community for us. That's a WhatsApp group in a Facebook group. Okay. You've got like an actual, like. Closed online space. Yes. And so when you get accepted into our ambassador program, you get invited to events, activations.
We just did a photo [00:15:00] shoot, like with our products and the women can come and they didn't even need to use modern picnic. If they just wanted to get a headshot, that was totally cool. They find about, about new product launches. First, they get early access and we just have these kind of like meetups and events.
Um, so it used to be, they would also get a discount code and they would The more they sold with their discount code, we give them these milestone prizes. And I think this is an important lesson of just listening to the community and evolving. A couple of years ago, that model worked. Now, Anybody, regardless of kind of size, is an influencer in some way, shape, or form in their own right.
And people want to earn money. And so, we used to give these prizes and we'd work with brands. Like we had a partnership with Swell, for instance. And if they hit X number of sales, like, they'd get like a branded Swell bottle. And the prizes would get, like, uh, larger the more they sold. Recently, I [00:16:00] mean a year and a half ago ish, we switched the model to a commission structure.
So now when they sell, they get a commission. So it's kind of like an affiliate ambassador. It's an affiliate program with like a bit more like love behind it. Very cool. Do you use like a certain platform or something to manage all of this? For people who are like, Oh, I'm going to do this. Yeah, we use Buzzbassador.
Yeah. And I met them at a conference and their platform is just like easy to use, um, was affordable for the brand side and yeah, it's been good so far. It's still fairly new that we've switched over, but I think the girls are happy. Okay. Love it. And then let's move forward 2020. So you're a couple of years into business.
Talk me through what was happening that year. So it was in 2020 that I knew, um, We were getting, like, the garage just wasn't working anymore. You need to get out of mom and dad's house. I had to get out of mom and dad's house, like, immediately. And I was like, okay, and I really just needed to, like, [00:17:00] operationalize.
Yeah. Even like, just on the back end ops, like I was paying contractors via like Venmo, like I needed to get on Gusto, like it was time for me to kind of like level up a little, like it wasn't working anymore, and so I was like, okay, I need to, like money to move to 3PL, and like I think it's time for me to raise my first round of capital.
And so, for me, I was like, What does that mean? And you've done like a million in revenue by this point. Yeah, we had like, we were doubling and tripling every year. Like, we were like, it was time for us to like, get serious. Yeah. So I have to raise capital and was told by other people, Ali, you have to go raise capital.
I was like, okay, great. Like, how do I do that? What does that mean? Like, I know, I didn't even know like the definitions. Yeah. I didn't know like, angel investor, VC, what's the safe? What's the convertible? I really, I had no idea. Yeah. So what I did was, and this is just like, And I told, actually, I, at, uh, Michelle's event that we were both at, I saw Rebecca Minkoff, and I told her, I was like, your [00:18:00] program, literally changed my life.
So in 2020, Rebecca Minkoff in partnership and Allie Wyatt in partnership with UBS launched this accelerator program called Project Entrepreneur. Yep. Oh my gosh. I remember being part of like, I, um, wasn't in the program, but I was like part of the community and got all the emails. And then what happened to that?
They stopped doing it. I was just so sad, but for the listeners, Project Entrepreneur was an accelerator program catered towards female founders, ready to raise and scale. And I was like, That's me. That's me. Perfect. Hi. That's me. Um, so I applied for the program and in the program it was just amazing because you learned the foundation of raising capital, the etiquette of raising capital, the definitions, the process.
Like I didn't know anything and so it was such a great program not just from like the community and networking aspect but also just like the education that I needed. Like I really needed to be educated on everything. So. It was also during [00:19:00] COVID. And so it's like really nice to have like, you know, something to look forward to like that.
So when I graduated from the program, I was like, okay, I know how to do this. Now I need to actually go out and do it. And so we ended up raising it at that point, it was now turning into 2021 ended up raising like, Kind of like a pre seed and it was a very much of a hodgepodge round because it was our first time raising capital.
So we had friends and family in the round. We had high profile angel investors in the round like Michelle, and then we also had one VC. So it was just kind of like a hodgepodge, but we were able to raise a little bit of capital and that allowed us to move to 3PL and really like operationalize and also allowed us to triple the business, um, which is great.
So I was like, okay, Now we're moving and grooving. Where are you at now in terms of revenue? Can you say, or is that a secret triple of revenue? Like in my head, I'm doing the math of like, Hey, you're at a million. Like where we're a seven figure brand. Amazing. Yeah. Okay, cool. Yeah. And, um, I'm [00:20:00] very curious about when you quit that Macy's job in the back of my head.
I'm like, okay, when did that, when did you decide that this was. thing. Yeah. So I got really lucky in that Macy's put you through an incredible training program. And Thank you. we would like go to class the first couple months and like it would be like four o'clock and the class would be over and like we didn't have a desk we didn't have a team at the time so they'd be like okay you guys could like go now bye and so i'd be like okay so i was able to like you had time i had time yeah and then even once i got placed at my desk like we were so bottom of the totem pole like assistant we didn't even have a laptop to take home we didn't have a phone to so when i'd leave at like It was, I'd had the whole day and so I was really lucky in that I had like that before work, the after work [00:21:00] weekends to really work on Modern Picnic, like a lot of different career, different careers like that are more, you know, demanding, at least in the beginning, like I wouldn't have had the luxury to be able to work on Modern Picnic day in day out like I did.
So I was working on Modern Picnic, I'm sorry, I was working on Macy's for two years while I was working at, uh. So you're getting close to that million in revenue mark. Oh, no, before we launch. Oh, 2016 to 2018. Sorry. Yeah, so and it was it was crazy like I would like during my lunch week like run to like go look at like like materials that like for samples and things like that because we were kind of in the garment district and then like one month before two months before launching so in like February I Quit my job reason being Was with Macy's you were not allowed in your contract to be a chief officer of any other company Yeah, and even though my company hadn't launched yet I was technically by the formation docs [00:22:00] the chief officer.
My mom's a lawyer I was like, I didn't want to get in trouble with Macy's and so I was like, let me just you know I have nothing to lose everything to gain. Let me just give this a go. Mm hmm, and it was really scary because I I'd worked really hard to get that job. I'd gotten the internship that led to the job offer Macy's is an incredible company.
There was a really clear growth trajectory that if you work hard There was a steady kind of path to rise up and I liked it, but I like modern picnic more Yeah, I was like i'm gonna just give this a go nothing to lose everything to gain like what's the worst that can happen I'll get another job. Yeah, if this doesn't work.
Yeah good for you Now I know that wholesale is kind of a bigger part of your focus. When did that start becoming part of the business? Yeah. So we started as a DTC brand and then effort to prove the concept, build our brand equity first, and also tighten up our supply chain back to the garage. Like. Even if we had the opportunity to go into [00:23:00] retail wholesale, like we wouldn't have been able to operationally execute.
We didn't have EDI in the garage. So anyways, um. Also for people that don't know what's EDI? Oh, electronic, uh, what does EDI say? I was It's basically how orders, uh, transmit from like, uh, the retailer to the, oh my god, that's horrible. I'm like, wait, what does CDI stand for? I don't know what it stands for, but it means, it basically means, it's like the communication system basically, for like, when you're trying to do wholesale.
Yes. You need it. You need it. Um, yeah. So anyways, yeah, we wanted to do some things before, you know, we needed to build the brand equity We needed to tighten up and so then in 2023 really last year. I was like, okay, it's like time Let me start like focusing on this and actually, you know start going to trade shows, which is a whole other conversation Start really outreaching and start focusing on wholesale expansion And so last year we launched with sacks sacks off fifth the container store Um, we got up on like a handful [00:24:00] of boutiques around the country.
Um, and we're launching Bloomingdale's in the next couple of weeks. We actually, the holdup is some last minute EDI integration, but we're ready to launch with them. So it's been really, yeah. Did you, so you're doing a mix of like those mass retailers and the like independent boutiques as well. I always find that really interesting.
Um, how did you, so you said trade shows before, is that the main way that The bigger guys found you, the smaller guys found you. Like, how did, how, what was your outreach and what was your inbound like? Our trade shows. So our trade shows were mostly for like boutiques. Yeah. I'm actually going to Chicago next week for the first time to the inspired home show.
Uh huh. Um, so giving it a go. The trade shows are, I feel stressful as, because they're really expensive. And there's no way to guarantee, nothing in life is guaranteed, but with like, you know, marketing, you can, you have data behind it, and you have case studies, and [00:25:00] you know that this is a calculated risk.
Whereas a trade show, you can't control who's gonna come, and who's gonna come by your booth, and Mm hmm. But, um, anyways. doing so mindfully because they're very expensive. Um, but it's been a mix of outbound and inbound. Yeah, I would say it's like a half and half mix of us reaching out and then also them reaching out.
Are there any specific trade shows that have worked really well that you want to call out or is it they all Have they all kind of been a mix? All a mix. Yeah, because like we did Coterie. Yep They're like gonna be like you're never allowed back We did Coterie, but it's so expensive people need to know like what's working.
What's not working. One thing I will say though is They asked the show for like say i'm an emerging brand if you're an emerging brand. Yeah Coterie we got Coterie Like an emerging brand booth. Yeah, and it was a tenth of the price right Chicago again I probably shouldn't be saying this but I want everybody to know that I got a free booth, right?
It's not a full booth. It's kind of like a stand. I was like, [00:26:00] I'll take it. Yeah, I'll be there Yeah, I get to Chicago really inexpensively. It's done. So ask the show I will say Atlanta We did the Atlanta show last January and that we properly like paid for a booth and I would say like We weren't ready.
That was a miss. It was too expensive and I wouldn't Probably do that again until like, you know We were in a better spot to make that kind of like financial commitment So i'd just be really mindful to trade shows trade show industry has changed. It's like different now um because you can just get to anybody via dm email linkedin like The barrier to entry totally the gatekeeping has like ended totally Uh, the last thing I want to ask you about is crowdfunding.
You, you know, you raised a little bit of money earlier on, but then you went the crowdfunding route in 2022. Why did you do that? What platforms did you use? Like, what are the learnings for someone who's thinking, okay, I think that crowdfunding might be right for me. And was it equity [00:27:00] crowdfunding? right?
It was equity crowdfunding. All these people in your community have a piece of the business now. Yeah. Which is you, like, You just said it, like, it's amazing, like, we were this community driven brand. I thought, like, how cool to kind of, like, flip the script and rewrite the rules on what it means to raise capital as a female founder, which we know the staggering stats against.
But also, to flip the script on what it means to invest in a brand you love. Investments is kind of like this, like, gate keeping, um, game changing, um, game You know wall that you can't get access to an angel investor by definition is a high net worth individual so Right then and there you're every day, you know, you're woman like woman might not have access to deal flow And so I wanted to kind of put the script and it was really cool at the republic You could invest in modern picnic for as little as 150.
That's a platform republic. Oh, yes You use republic. There's tons of them now and I can actually go into I would do it differently I'd use a different platform if we were doing it again You Again, [00:28:00] another one that's going to be like, okay, modern picnics out. Never again. Um, but yeah, so it was really cool.
You can invest in modern picnic for as little as 150, regardless of age, income, demographic, any other barrier. And what's really cool for us is all of a sudden. We have a hundred plus now brand ambassadors that are rooting for us and want us to win and are going to think of us as their next gift and are just going to be these, you know.
It's so powerful. It's so powerful. It's cool. We rate, I mean, like we raised about like 120, 000. It wasn't, it wasn't, a million dollars. It was something. It was, it was something. And, but I think more importantly, aside from the money, it was just like this really cool thing that we did. And I, yeah, it's, it's really cool.
And we use Republic, but there's WeFunder, there's um, Why wouldn't you use Republic? Like what was the thing that was missing? Or have you, there's better ones now.[00:29:00]
investments this whole investor world has changed, I think that's also trickled down to the equity crowdfunding. And back in the day, you know, equity crowdfunding and still now has this kind of like poo poo to, you know, it's kind of, um, you It's not as kosher and like the VCs look down on it, but that's a change.
And back then because it's kind of equity crowdfunding was kind of looked down upon Republic was kind of like the gold standard of equity crowdfunding. Like if you were going to do this, like you'd go to Republic. It's kind of like the gold star. It's not the same anymore. That's not the case. Republic takes more equity than the other platforms.
Republic charges So they take a piece, basically, that's part of the model. They take a piece. Yeah. And I thought, okay, well, let me go to the one that's like the most respected. Yeah. The most well known. But it's just, that's just not the case. Yeah. I'd also say if anybody was going to do, um, crowdfunding, Plan for [00:30:00] taking whatever they tell you how long it takes at least on Republic plan for it to take 2x that yeah We were on top of it.
We were handing things in there's an insane amount of due diligence with sec, uh regulations that comes with equity funding um, so you really kind of have to Have your ducks in a row to do it but it I think it's so worth it if you're willing to put in the time and effort and make sure you're you're marketing it correctly because Like for our ambassadors and for just Your everyday consumer, like, you have to really, there's education involved.
It's different than going to an angel or a VC or an angel syndicate group. Who understands what it means. Totally. You know, you had, so there was that education involved, which like, I think we We really realized from the beginning. Okay. Amazing. I said that was the last thing, but I have one more quick thing because you were on Shark Tank and now you're profitable.
And I just need to understand what happened this year, because it's like the beginning of the year that we're talking and two big things have happened. Talk me through. It's been like a buzzy [00:31:00] year. Well, we filmed in September. Okay. So I filmed last year. Yeah. Yeah. I also applied. Got rejected. So if anyone's listening and it's like feeling like intimidated or they, by applying or unsure, just apply.
Yeah, we, we applied. And if you got rejected, do it again. Yeah. Applied 2022 got pretty far along. Didn't get it. I was like, ah, shoot. Okay. They told me reapply, reapplied. And I got it this time. Applied in Jan of 2023. Filmed in September of 23. aired in Feb of 2014. So the whole process is like a year. And, um, yeah, it was crazy.
So February, it's now we're in the beginning of March and filmed like aired a month ago. So February was definitely like a buzzy, fun month. It was just kind of like crazy in terms of not just sales, but just like the PR that came from it and just like the social that came from it. And, um, we're just trying to kind of like, you know, stretch it out as far as we can now.
Amazing. That is so cool. [00:32:00] Um, well, congratulations on everything you're building. I'm just so impressed. Same to you. I mean, I'm so impressed. Oh, thank you. I mean, it's been, yeah, again, I need to do some more episodes about like how we're, how we're growing. Um, leave us with a resource. What's something that's been helping you as you've been building the business that you can recommend that other people check out a book, a habit that you have.
I don't know. I'm trying to think outside of the box. Shopify app. Yeah. Um, I think To kind of shift your mindset and you don't have to do things, you get to do things, especially in the early days, like you're in the weeds, you're always going to be in the weeds and like there's going to be things you don't like, things you do like, but just like try to remember you don't, this is such an incredible opportunity and you don't get to do things, you don't have to do things, you get to do things.
I, that's so true. It's exactly, especially since having a baby, I'm like, no, no, no, I get to be doing this. Right. This is, I've, I've a hundred percent been trying to change that mindset because it does make a difference. It [00:33:00] does. Um, well, thank you so much for coming on the show, Allie. This has been awesome.
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