Lorena (Lo) Hixson is not only a full-time nurse who at one point practiced in ER and Trauma, she's also the founder of a powerful monthly subscription box, Passion & Growth. The idea to combine two of her favorite things - receiving something fun in the mail and helping to empower women to accept who they are, expand their mindset, and change their narrative - came to her while at a winery in Fredericksburg. (side note: if you are ever in the Austin area, we do have quite the array of wineries, distilleries, and breweries throughout the Hill Country). As it is with most entrepreneurs, she took 'messy action' at the beginning, learning as she went - starting with creating a website and a blog and building her business from there.

Some discussion highlights:

COVID-19 Impact

• Anticipated numbers would drop, decreased her inventory
• Numbers increased; more people shopping online, looking for self-care products
• Anticipated one thing, had to shift when the opposite happened

First Steps in Building a Subscription Box Business

• Was a member of Sparkle Hustle, Grow, a box for female entrepreneurs. Turned to that community for insight. 
  • Discovered that the founder, Julie Ball, offered a digital course 'Subscription Box Bootcamp', enrolled in that  (she also has a podcast, 'Subscription Box Basics with Julie Ball' )
• The six things to do when embarking on your subscription box biz
• The #1 thing to ensure when identifying vendors to work with
• Ways to conduct vendor outreach
• The importance of continuing to niche your focus down
• Wholesale marketplaces mentioned: 
  • Faire
  • Tundra
  • Abound

Growing Your Clientele

• Consistency on social media to gain traction
• Running Facebook and Instagram ads as top of the funnel tool
• Converting your email list to subscribers, the power of nurturing with consistent content and messaging
• Showering your early adopters with perks and insider access

Lessons Learned

• Ask for dimensions and/or samples - product size is everything for a subscription box
• Remember that you came this far by figuring it out, use the same mindset for any obstacle you come across

 Future Goals

• Leverages the Start Today Journal to write out gratitude and goals as if they've already happened
• Meditating from time to time and sets a time to read and be present
• Long-term goal: grow this full-time
• Short-term goal: have box subscribers in every state. Only state that is missing is Mississippi - come on Mississippi, where you at? Time for some self-love!

Muscle Creative Wrap-Up

• If you could listen to only one music artist for the rest of your life who would it be? The Beatles 
• Where can people find you online?
• Website
• Instagram
• Facebook