Freedom to Fail

Shannon Warr is the owner and creator of Clad & Cloth, a women's clothing boutique that has been blowing up since she started it just a few years ago. They have hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers and have collaborated with some of the most influential people in the fashion world to create awesome, unique collections. It's grown from a one person show to now needing an entire team to make running it possible.

Yet Shannon is the first person to say that she's not special. In fact, that was one of the most interesting things about this interview. She knows that she's been blessed with good people working around her, and that other people could have done what she's done. But because she's self-aware enough to know her own limitations it makes her able to recognize where she needs help the most, and by doing so find a lot of success.

This was such an interesting interview for me because I love her outlook on life and success. It reminded me that I really need to dig deep and find my own weaknesses in business so that I can find people who complement my skillset too.

Links
Show Notes: Click Here
Clad & Cloth Website: Click Here
Freedom to Fail Monthly Giveaways: Click Here

*From now until 11/24/2021 you can receive 15% off any Grandpa Beck's Games purchased on Amazon or grandpabecksgames.com when you use code "FREE2FAIL"*

Brent Beck has always loved games. In fact, he proposed to his wife during a game of Scrabble. This love of games and creativity led him and his wife to start a business, Grandpa Beck's Games, and create games such as Cover Your Assets and Skull King. These games are some of my favorites that I had been playing well before meeting Brent, and their popularity is one of the reasons Brent and his family have done well with their business.

Yet he has chosen a very uncommon path. Grandpa Beck's Games has been around for over 10 years, but he's only recently been working on it full-time. Because he just retired from being a pilot! So at the time when most people plan on taking golf vacations or moving somewhere warm (my lifelong dream), Brent is now spending more time than ever to continue growing his company.

Luckily, they have been able to build a successful company and create thousands of avid fans by their personal touch. In an industry dominated by Mattel and Hasbro, they have managed to stand out by naming the company after their family, having Brent's face on each box, as well as including their actual phone number on each box where families can reach out to them and give them their thoughts about the games.

Episode Links
Show Notes: Click Here
Amazon: Click Here
Grandpa Beck's Games Website: Click Here

Kelley Higney is an inspiration when it comes to business. Her business, Bug Bite Thing, does 8-figures in revenue annually, and was featured on Shark Tank, where she got a deal with Lori Greiner and received her Golden Ticket.

Before she went on Shark Tank they did over $500,000 in sales, and in the time since then they have gone international, thanks in large part to the 30,000+ reviews they have on Amazon. Kelley has done an amazing job collecting feedback from customers and getting reviews.

In this episode we talk about how she tracks and documents all the feedback and how it has helped them expand their business. We also talk about what she would do in her first year of business if she were to start all over again, giving practical advice for all entrepreneurs listening.

This episode is a very raw episode that I recorded a few weeks ago after my breakup with my ex. It was very unexpected and sudden, and I have still been reeling from it now two months since. Life can be very hard, and sometimes from our own doing. I have really struggled since then due to the fact that I still love this woman so much and unintentionally did something that really hurt her. 

My depression and dark thoughts have returned stronger than ever, but I'm determined to not let them affect me as long as they might have in the past. The purpose of this podcast is to talk about areas where I struggled in my past relationships and the lessons I've learned that I will use moving forward, as well as the 6 things I've found most important for a relationship to be successful.

Oh, and I share my first poem. Random, I know, but it's something that actually has really helped me and been therapeutic.

This episode with Betsy Mikesell has been a year and a half in the making. We were initially scheduled to have the interview last March, but Covid happened. Then we rescheduled for August, but also had to cancel that because she and some of her family actually were in a plane crash. They all survived, but now face injuries and recoveries that may last a lifetime. During the first few months after the crash, her company, Beddy's, actually was thriving because earlier that year she had established systems that would allow her to step back, if needed. Unfortunately, she needed to, but it was thanks to this smart planning that allowed her company to still push forward without her needing to be hands on. 

Listen to this week's episode to learn all about how she and her family are bouncing back from the plane crash, and see how she set her business up to be successful without her having to be there all the time (every entrepreneur's dream).

For these solo episodes I want to share more about my personal entrepreneurial journey and give practical tips to help you in your businesses. My goal is to provide you with personal stories about how I did what I suggest so that you have different stories to draw from for inspiration. Today I want to help you learn how to market your business.

Three Takeaways:
1. Constantly evaluate what is working in your business systems and make changes whenever you notice something isn't working.
2. Take what is working for your competitors and apply them in your business.
3. Study other industries to find unique marketing strategies that you can use to set your business apart.

To read more about this topic and learn more about how to market your business, click here.

This week's episode is a Legends episode with Liz Findlay from March 2020. Her story was so good and impactful that I wanted to share it again for all our new listeners who may not have listened to it the first time around.

One of the smartest people I've ever met, Liz received a Master's degree and was 4 years into a PhD program when she decided to start Albion Fit with her husband, Dave in order to try and save her family's factory in Guatemala. What started as a rescue attempt turned into one of the fastest-growing companies in Utah. They have 4 brick and mortar stores in 3 states, and have expanded from just women's clothing to include both men's and children's clothing as well.

Growing up, Chase Harrington always thought he was going to be a dentist. That was part of his identity. But fate said it wasn't to be. Instead, he ended up working at a plasma center and helping grow it to a lucrative, interstate business, one he was set to take over. But fate intervened once again, and in a drastic change of events the company was forced to shut down.

That didn't deter Chase though, as he showed his resiliency by working his way up at a small tech startup called PropertySolutions, first as a support guy, then sales rep, and moving up to his current role of President and COO at Entrata (after their name change), which does over $200 million annually.

His story is absolutely fascinating and you will learn a lot about him that you may not have known in the past. He is a living example of how to keep working after disaster strikes, and in this episode you can listen to his suggestions of how to start a business, because they are spot on with a lot of things.

Having a successful company is exciting. Going from hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue to zero overnight is not. But that's exactly what happened to Kylie Chenn with her company, Acanela Expeditions, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

How do you know it's time to pivot to a new idea or business? Are you quitting or being smart by moving on? These are some of the questions that I discuss with Kylie about her journey, and discover how she was able to creatively think of business opportunities that came because of COVID-19.

She is an inspiration in resiliency and not letting bad situations keep you down, and I am super excited for you to learn from her in this episode.

In this episode, you will learn about how Fernanda and her sister had the idea for Bohme in 2006, and since then grown the company to have over 200 employees and 17 locations, with no signs of slowing down. 

If you look at where they are now it's a great success, but their first attempt was a financial failure, and along the way almost got shut down by their landlords because of struggles as well. Yet through it all, they persevered and reimagined their company to make it more streamlined, and they are now running an extremely successful, award-winning company.

Listen to this episode to learn more about their struggles and successes, and hear Fernanda's advice for succeeding in the retail industry.