KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST

 

 

THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE…

 

Don’t go looking for customers/clients in the wrong places!

 

HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN’T MISS

 

 

CHECK JENNIFER OUT:

 

Website

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Transcript

 

Teresa: Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the podcast. How are you doing? Did you catch last week's episode? If not, pause this, go back and listen to it is a really good one. It was a behind the scenes of the types of questions I get asked at a coaching call and it was a very authentic and I guess a little bit vulnerable, sort of open up into my world.

Teresa: Just because my members who are on that call or who in the clips. I know them really well. I make a real effort to get to know my members, to get to understand what their businesses are, regardless of how many members I've got. If you're sat on a call with me or your coming on a Q and A with me, then I want to know as much as I can get to know you to make sure I give you the right information or advice or strategy.

Teresa: So like I said, it was a little bit kind of vulnerable, but it was great. It was really, really good. And if you caught the episode and you liked the idea of joining me for a coaching call or coming on and having a Q and A with me, then do, please check out the club at teresaheathwareing.com/theclub.

Teresa: Okay. This week we have a really good interview for you. So I was listening to Rachel Rogers' podcast and Jennifer Kem was one of the guests. And as you'll hear me say to her at the beginning of this interview, the interview was one of those ones that you're like, oh, that's so good. Oh, that's so good.

Teresa: Oh, that's a good. And like, I actually physically took things away, wrote them down, like put some things into action. Did her lead magnet and all that jazz. And it was really, really good, but I loved her story. There was just so much to the interview. So I reached out and very kindly, she agreed to come on the podcast, which is awesome.

Teresa: So in this interview, we talk about loads of different things. She tells about her story, which is fascinating in terms of like some of the early businesses that she had. We then talk about branding and micro branding and how we stand out in a very busy world where anyone can go online. We talk about how we can create a brand that represents us.

Teresa: Reflects us and attracts the right people. But she was so good. Fun to talk to. It's a really good interview and I know you're going to love it. So without further ado here is the lovely Jen. So I am very excited to welcome to the podcast today Jennifer Kem. Jen, how are you doing?

Jennifer: Uh, I'm so excited to be here, Teresa. Thanks for having me on.

Teresa: My pleasure. I was listening to Rachel Rogers' podcast from hello seven. And she had you on and oh, my word, I just loved it. Like the episode was so good. Your stories are amazing. And so many good points from the podcast, which sometimes like focus a great to listen to, but you don't always walk away with something that you think I need to do that that needs to change. And it was brilliant. So I knew I just had to have you on. I knew my audience would love you.

Jennifer: That's great.

Teresa: We always start the same way by you sharing with us, how you got to do what you do today.

Jennifer: Now that's a long winding yarn, so I'll try to give the summary, but with enough juice to get you all enough to help you see where I've been.

I, again, my name is Jennifer Kem and most people call me Jen Kem. So either way I'll respond, but if you call me Jennifer, I'll think we're not friends yet. So I hope you'll call me, Jen. And I have been doing entrepreneurship and running my own company, actually chloral companies for over 15 years. In fact, December 1st, 2021 is my 15 year business anniversary.

Jennifer: And I didn't start as an entrepreneur. In fact, I didn't have any idea. I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I spent almost the same amount of time, uh, as a marketing executive for big companies. In fact, my last job was a VP of marketing for the west coast, for Verizon, which is a fortune 50 company.

Jennifer: And part of the reason I left. It's a big reason I left actually it's the only reason I left is because I was passed up for promotion that I had been promised. And at that time being a mother to two young daughters and sacrificing a lot to climb the corporate ladder and then be told that my job was going to be given to my white male counterpart, who, by the way, I always tell people I have nothing against Nick.

Jennifer: His name is Nick and he's happy for me to name him. It wasn't his fault that he got promoted. It was the system. And I realized that the system wasn't set up for somebody who looked like me, who was me to be treated in a, in a, just an equitable way. And so I needed to make a decision to either chart my own path and creepy autonomy that I wanted, especially for the future I wanted to have, especially for the feature I wanted to have with my kids, or stay within the same system and eventually become a CMO and then maybe a CEO of a high-tech company, but it was a big crossroads for me.

Jennifer: And this was again, 15 years ago to at the time of this recording yesterday, it was my 15 year business anniversary. And. And I don't regret a damn thing. Like I like to tell people I'm not a spring chicken, I'm a seasoned chicken. Uh, and because my background in corporate, in marketing and bringing brands to market, I was able to translate that to entrepreneurs because I feel like entrepreneurs, especially women don't have the same tools that big businesses have, obviously the resources.

Jennifer: But part of that is I, I like to remind people that every single brand and big business that we admire and we purchase from today started where we did in, you know, in a garage, across a dining room table, at a restaurant, talking a friend's about their big dreams and desires to change something that didn't work in their lives.

Jennifer: And it's just so happens that Sarah Blakely or Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, they decided to bring it to another level. They decided that they wanted to create something really big. I think for most of the people probably listened to your podcast. That may not be the vision you have, which is absolutely brilliant.

Jennifer: That's awesome. Maybe you're more interested in building something more of a lifestyle, AKA or freedom-based type of business. But that's perfect. That's the, that's the that's, that's good. It's knowing that that is the post important part. And for me, I think what's missing in this industry is that the same basics and foundations that apply to big corporations actually do apply to entrepreneurs.

Jennifer: But we're so angry or resentful of the man or the system that we forget that the same business rules apply and that's, what's made those brands so successful. And so many of the brands, frankly, that I've been able to advise in the entrepreneur space is the same thing that I advise them to. So back to your first question, like where do I come from?

Jennifer: Ultimately, I came from the corporate world. I translated that to make it easy for entrepreneurs to access the same. And I have three kids. I have a 25 year old now. She's a grown woman, a 21 year old and a seven year old. And so I I'm busy and live in the San Francisco bay area to me is what I do. So that's a little bit about me.

Teresa: No, that's awesome. And I think you're right. I think because my background is marketing. I came from corporate, I worked at Land Rover and worked the big brands and even I when I came into my own world, even I forgot that some of those things still stand like how important it is to look at the brands and go into it.

Teresa: And I think often when people are starting, I think they just think it's just not for them. Isn't it? It's, it's only for the big brands. It's only for those people that need to consider and take that much interest in creating a brand. And so how did you, well, what was the first role you did when you left the corporate job? What did you end up doing immediately?

Jennifer: Well, the funny thing is, is that we'll get long winding guide, but I made a mistake, but also I don't believe in mistakes. I thought in order to be an entrepreneur, I needed to do something radically different than what I was doing in the corporate world in order for me to be a bonafide legitimate entrepreneur.

Jennifer: And that just goes to show that even as a corporate executive who earned $400,000 a year and was known as a pretty smart person, uh, and, and led huge initiatives that as an entrepreneur, again, I liked what you said. You almost forget, like you think you have to be this completely different thing in order to be successful.

Jennifer: And I learned that that's not true. So to answer your question directly, I started a brick and mortar business and in underwear, so women's underwear. And the reason for that is because one of my gifts is I could smell the money. And the reason I can smell the money in a brand or a business is because I know where the market need something and I know how to create something that will fill that need.

Jennifer: And that's what I did in the corporate world. So what I noticed, I was traveling to Dallas from Hawaii because my base was in Hawaii. So not a bad deal. Right. I lived in Hawaii, but I was, I was traveling to Dallas where Verizon's corporate headquarters were like every three to four weeks, which was brutal, brutal.

Jennifer: It's like a seven hour flight. And I've young girls at the time, young daughters. And anyway, Every time I would fly back to Hawaii every three to four weeks, I would notice that the women on the plane would exit the plane and have a carry-on that looked like a pink bag. And it said, Victoria, secret on the side of it.

Jennifer: And I realize you had to get on a plane to get underwear. If you lived in Hawaii. Because the only place you could buy underwear was Walmart, which I don't buy underwear at Walmart. I know about you, but that's just also I don't want it to go buy underwear. And I immediately said, oh gosh, if I want to leave my job, I need to pick something that I know will make money.

Jennifer: And I didn't have any background in retail or underwear, except for the fact that I love to shop at, I wore underwear, but I knew what my gifts were. And I said, I can turn this into a brand and bring it to market. And that's what I did. I, I made a nine month plan to exit my job. I took half of my paycheck and I re mortgage my house and I started an underwear company.

Jennifer: And because I knew, I know it's crazy. So. I got to tell you, Teresa, I wasn't interested in making it a global brand. I just thought, okay. I can, if I can establish a multi-site operation here locally, that's enough money and, and, and autonomy for me. Right. And what happened was because I am so good. I have a super sniffer around the money just started, like get crazy.

Jennifer: I opened their first shop within 24 hours everything the shop was stripped down to its bare bone was I'd sold out everything. So I had to figure out, I know wild, right? And I, I realized, oh my gosh, I gotta get good at operations because I was always good at growing the brand. But in terms of the backend, that wasn't a strong thing for me.

Jennifer: I was at a team and we put get an entrepreneur, you don't have a team, right. When you first start out, you know, the corporate world, that's one of the luxury, actually. I think people don't, uh, they don't appreciate it until it's gone right. To have a team around you to support them things done. And so I had to quickly figure out, not just like how to manage inventory, how to order things ahead of time, how to figure out like 90 day cash flows, things like that.

Jennifer: And so let's just fast forward, 18 months into the business of the underwear business. I had turned it already into a $10 million business.

Teresa: Oh my words! Like I know, can you. Like leaving corporate and starting a business is one thing, starting a business where it's product and it's bricks and mortar that just that see, that feels like a real business to me.

Teresa: And I feel like what I do a bit like a bit of a pretend business, but to turn it that speed, that amount of money, like, will you go in, was there a case of I know I can make this work. And when you got to that point, you were like, I knew I could, and I did it? Or was there a point when you got to him was like, what on earth just happened? And how the hell am I here?

Jennifer: It was the latter. It was the latter. It was exactly what you said. It was more like, I just kept addressing what needs to be get done. And I kept knowing that I was going to screw it up, but I was already committed. I think that once you commit. If you're really committed, momentum will pull you forward.

Jennifer: Even if you're not ready. In fact, none of us are ever ready for anything. And what I learned was, oh shit, I can, yeah, I can actually do this. I didn't feel proud of it on I was more freaked out daily and I felt like, honestly, my nervous system was activated in a way that helps support what had to get done.

Jennifer: But when I finally took a pause and a breath, 18 months later, and now I had multiple stores, I was opening and the media was calling me to under styler. I was getting all of this. Uh, to be honest with you, I did get like, wow, I can't believe this is happening. And I really believe that. And I want to, it's funny.

Jennifer: Cause I knew I could do it. Let's put it that way because of my background. I didn't expect for it to not just happen so quickly, but also for it to teach me so much about leadership of myself. Teach me about how to get humble around what I didn't know and how to go ask for it quicker because the business required me to not be scared to ask for support.

Jennifer: So in that way, I feel grateful of the speed that happened, but I also want to acknowledge which I can now I couldn't at the time, but I came to acknowledge now that I had the skills to do this. And I think that's a big problem today in entrepreneurship. As I'm with you now, I'd actually, don't run brick and mortar anymore.

Jennifer: I'm with you. I'm in the vaporware business I call it like we sell vaporware services, teaching a business, which has a high value, but it doesn't have as much tangibility obviously as that business. But it, but I will say. I'm so glad that I got my feet completely wet in the tangibleness, because it allows me now to in be intangible business, just structure my value even more.

Jennifer: And I think that these are all benefits of doing things you didn't expect, like you learn so much from the things you shouldn't do. And I, I gotta say like, looking back, would I ever start another brick and mortar business again? Hell no. Oh my God. It's so labor intensive it's so you're dealing with a lot of frankly like staff that are, don't care as much because it's retail.

Jennifer: So you have to really develop a culture around, you know, what, what is expected, uh, in servicing clientele, especially with something so intimate, like intimates, you know, like, um, and we had whacked that stories Teresa. Oh gosh. Of the people who come into story, including male clients, that it was interesting.

Jennifer: Let's put it that way. Um, and, and I will say like but without that experience, I wouldn't be so successful in the services world because it allowed me to understand what I didn't want to do anymore. It helped me understand how you could actually make and scale money in a different way. And it made me appreciate my skills from the corporate world a lot more. So that that all worked out, but it wasn't easy in any way, shape or form.

Jennifer: I don't want anybody who's listening right now to think, oh my God, She's so amazing. She's such an outlier. You're right. I am an outlier. Most people don't have the success out of the gate that I had, but it was spike. It was because without mindfully knowing it, Teresa. They didn't understand that there are reason I was so successful was because I actually was using the skills from my corporate job, but I didn't really put two and two together like that.

Jennifer: I thought I was supposed to struggle harder, but where I struggled was the backend. I didn't struggle at the scope I was good at. And I think if people trusted what they were good at. Out of the gate for, they would have faster monetary success that they could turn that into something different. And so I