Keeping Shop: A Brick and Mortar Podcast

Today I’m releasing my conversation with Molly Avellar of Adorn in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Molly is a terrific supporter of the show and always sends me much appreciated little check-ins and words of encouragement. I’m so happy to finally be featuring her on the show.

Molly is not only a shopkeeper but she’s an accomplished jewelry maker. She shares with us the ways she juggles the day-to-day demands of constantly switching gears between her art and running her shop. We commiserate about the naysayers in our past and about choosing to learn from the set-backs rather than letting them slow us down. We also talk a lot about maintaining a strong relationship with your business partner which is something that I especially relate to. Molly owns her shop with her mother and the two have an incredible working partnership. As you’ll hear in this episode, they make it work by playing to each other’s strengths and openly communicating through everything from hurt feelings to huge financial decisions. As a member of a strong business partnership that’s always changing and growing, I love hearing stories of people coming together with the common goal of providing their business with the best possible solutions.

Find more from Molly at www.adorncapecod.com and from me at www.lovekeepingshop.com.

I’m so excited to be chatting with a brick and mortar business owner that I truly admire. Amy Driscoll owns Susanna which has two locations in Massachusetts, one in Cambridge and one in Jamaica Plain. Amy and I both own shops in the same area and while we sell different things, our experiences, successes and challenges certainly overlap. Amy is a lovely person to be around. She’s considerate and engaging, she’s whip-smart yet approachable and I just really like her. I was thrilled that she agreed to be interviewed despite the fact she was 8 months pregnant and had just opened her second store location. And I was especially thrilled that she didn’t freak out on me when I lost the audio from our first recording and had to re-record the entire conversation. Thanks, Amy!

And our second conversation was so much better! Susanna, Jamaica Plain had been open for a little while longer and Amy was able to share more about operating two spaces. In this episode, you’ll hear us talk about managing a strong team across multiple stores, staying focused on what our customers truly want, and keeping our “blinders on” when it comes to what other shops are doing. Amy is also one of the only business owners I know that is making good money (enough in part to open a second store!) on social media. She graciously shares her simple processes on this and how she got used to being in front of the camera. This is a great conversation and I’m grateful for Amy’s perspective on this brick and mortar life. Enjoy the show.

**The last of my re-releases (new episode drops next week), this is my value-packed conversation with Nesha Frazier of Work Nest. Enjoy**

Today I'm speaking with Nesha Frazier of Work Nest in Summerville, South Carolina. Work Nest is a one of a kind, baby-friendly co-working space that aims to help parents get closer to achieving real work/life balance. Nesha herself struggled with feeling torn between a job that she loved and raising her two babies and she wanted to find a way to make it easier for parents, often mothers, to reach their career goals.

Nesha and I talk about her process for opening Work Nest and she shares the amazing 100-day accountability plan that she created for herself to ensure that her business would have the greatest chance of coming to fruition. We chat being financially responsible when finding space and why likes on social media shouldn't be the indicator of how successful you'll be. Nesha shares her process for setting her prices and why she doesn't struggle with presenting her costs to clients. We talk about storytelling in marketing and testing and pivoting when determining what works. Nesha is a wealth of knowledge and I'm so excited to see where her business goes (hopefully to Boston and Cambridge!). Enjoy the show.

We talk about:

-How to wade through the "analysis paralysis" of starting a business.

-Understanding your "why."

-Leveraging your current resources and strengths and applying them to the business you're starting.

-Why you need people to shoot holes in your idea when you're fleshing it out.

-Giving yourself financial breathing room.

-Why storytelling matters in marketing.

-Planning for partnering with corporations to grow and scale her business.

-Being ridiculously obsessed with overcoming obstacles

-Why mindset matters so much in business.

-Deciding how much to charge for your goods and services and being confident in your costs.

-Why you need to know your numbers in and out.

-Personalizing your customer service experience across the board.

**Kinsey has experienced lots of changes since this episode aired a couple of years ago. Namely, she opened another spaced, closed her original space and now operates out of her gorgeous 2nd space in Dedham, Ma. This is still a super valuable episode because Kinsey just really epitomizes what building community is all about. Enjoy.**

Today I'm speaking with Kinsey Rosene owner of Crose Nest in Lowell, Massachusetts. Kinsey describes her shop as a botanical pharmacopoeia; essentially, she's created a DIY herbal pharmacy where people can come and blend their own teas or body products. The point is to give people the tools and the instruction, and then to let them create what's best for their body and their needs. I've got so much admiration for the way that Kinsey has structured her brick and mortar as an interactive space that helps people take an active roll in the remedies that help heal their bodies. Follow Kinsey's work here and here. Enjoy the show!

We talk about:

-Taking risks even when you've got no idea what you're doing.

-What herbs can work for busy (stressed out, anxious, Type A) business owners.

-Sharing your political views as a business owner.

-Using your business to create a community and build a friend group of like-minded people.

-Using the moon cycles to reflect, renew and grow your business.

-Why you need to think you're kinda cool to be a successful business owner.

-Tips for finding your "plant allies" to help run your business and your life!

**Here's the second of the re-releases. It's with one of my personal brick and mortar favorites, Emily Kanter of Cambridge Naturals. This conversation doesn't disappoint. Tune in and remember that a new Keeping Shop episode drops on Tuesday, October 29th**

Once I had a terrible sinus headache and I when I say headache, I mean this thing was crushing me. One of my Winks clients suggested that I get my sick self to Cambridge Naturals and while I'd been there many times it was always for fun stuff like make-up, probiotics, oils, teas...never to heal something like a headache. The super knowledgeable women in herbs gave me lots of suggestions including the insanely potent, locally sourced and incredibly powerful ground ginger that ultimately kicked my sinus headache to the curb. That stuff works.

So when Cambridge Naturals owner Emily Kanter reached out to me I was flattered and a little star-struck. I think she and her team are kind of a big deal, but as you'll hear in the show she's super down to earth about the success of her business. It's been around since the 70's and has a ride or die following of people from all walks of life. Started by Emily's parents, the store was originally mostly natural and organic food stuff but has expanded over the years to include more products that make it more of a lifestyle shop rather than just a grocery store.

From taking over the family business to expanding her space to being a champion for a natural lifestyle to selling authentically, Emily generously shares her experiences with us. Her story is valuable to us all, but especially to those looking to level up our shops in a way that keeps our values front and center. Emily shares how important it is to come into a situation with wide-open eyes and to observe thoroughly before trying to make changes. This chat was a pleasure. I hope you enjoy it too.

We dive into:

-Taking over a family business.

-Allowing yourself the time to see the full picture of the business instead of jumping to make changes too quickly.

-Opening a second location.

-Creating a mission-centered business and continuing to build based on your core values.

-Providing the education necessary to ensure that your client is comfortable buying your product.

-The power of non-salesy selling.

Enjoy!

**I'm re-releasing this episode because it gave me actual chills while I was recording it. And made me cry. It's a good one.

New Episode releases on October 29th.

**

Today I'm speaking with Debi Beard, owner of Debi's Design Diary in Solana Beach, CA. In the brick and mortar game for over 20 years, Debi is also the star of her own YouTube channel, the creator of her own chalk paint brand, DIY Paint Company and the founder of the DIY Bootcamp which is a 3-day intensive program that helps shopkeepers run their businesses.

Sure, Debi is super successful, but it wasn't always easy. As you'll hear in the episode, getting to this point took some major time and even more than time, it took grit. Debi's stories (she's got a ton!) illustrate her truly remarkable process; from selling Christmas ornaments to moving back in with her parents to reaching millions of views on YouTube. In listening to the finished episode (yes, I listen to every one before it goes live) I was re-struck by Debi's tenacity and her flat out refusal to give up on her dreams. She's incredibly self-deprecating about her path, but it's clear that Debi's success is the result of some hard-ass work and sacrifice.

We get real about listening to your intuition but being practical about it, about commitment and tenacity in the face of setbacks and why we need to build up our fellow brick and mortar business owners. Debi also offers up some tough love in this episode by explaining why we can't be profitable brick and mortar owners without exploring other revenue steams. As Debi says, you can't just stand behind a counter all day. Enjoy the show.

We talk about:

The stress of being a human factory when your wholesale product takes off.

Knowing when something is right for your business and the tenacity it requires to stick to your guns.

Learning to read the signs and signals from the universe but also tapping into the practicality that comes from age and experience.

The long process of building a brand.

Pitching a big magazine for PR without an agent or any connections.

Being an introvert while building a huge Youtube presence.

Being held back by exposure to all kinds of talent via social media.

Getting over her fear of speaking in public and the major lessons she learned from her self-doubt around this.

The humbling experience she had in deciding to move into her parents home to keep her store open and to build her YouTube channel.

The way you stand out and beat the big box stores is by creating a connection and an experience for your clients.

Time management skills and setting up structures within your business that allow you to do what's best for YOU.

Why brick and mortar space is only one piece to the puzzle.

Being an expert in your field and finding a way to stand out.

Today I'm speaking with Lauren Campbell owner of The Witch’s Fix in Ontario Canada. The day before we recorded, I'd been working with a coaching client, one-on-one. We were chatting about goals and dreams and she shared with me that she'd always wanted to tap into a lifestyle lived by Meg Ryan's book store owning character in You've Got Mail. And then, while recording with Lauren, it came out that she too had always fantasized about life like the one in YGM.

Now while I find many elements of You've Got Mail extremely problematic (sorry don't hate me!), I think what resonates so hard about the YGM lifestyle is that it's a fairly accurate depiction of a woman who's creating her very own life through her business. She's not making millions, she's not traveling the world with all her free time and she's taking scary risks all the damn time. But she's also created a community that values her, a shop that contributes to its neighborhood and presumably enough money to live in a dope (albeit dated) apartment in NYC. Plus she has a pretty dreamy commute.

Isn't this what we are all trying to create? Something that gives us security and freedom to live our life on our own terms? I've said it a million times now, my business isn't successful because we're franchising all over the countries and taking baths in money, we're successful because our business serves our lifestyle as new moms, as people with other projects and as leaders wanting to grow our shop in innovative ways. Often we focus so much on the financial aspects and forget that our lives are enriched by things other than money. So when you're at a low point or frustrated by your business, stop and think of the ways that it IS serving you. It's can be an amazing perspective to gain.

So back to Lauren! The Witch's Fix came about by one of the best examples of manifestation I've ever heard. It was definitely a plan sent directly from somewhere else. Through self-doubt, logistical setbacks and money woes, Lauren stayed tuned into the greater plan for her space.

Lauren and I talk about finding our respective "boss" voices, which is something I've been struggling with lately (ahem, always) and why we need to set clear, strong boundaries and expectations at the very beginning of any working relationship. We talk about figuring out how YOU work best and then sticking to your style despite everyone else's. And my favorite takeaway, why we need to sit in our spaces and as they just wash over us, to practice gratitude for all the things these little shops and spaces give to our lives. Thanks for listening.

Today's episode is slightly different from the others. One, it's my first repeat guest and two, it's the first interview I've done with someone that's closing their brick and mortar. My episode 38 guest Annie Rocchio reached out to me with the generous offer of talking us through her difficult decision to close her shop, Sun and Glory in NYC. While I am clearly sad to hear that the shop is closing, I'm also so grateful for Annie's willingness to share this part of her story with us.

Annie and I talk through a lot of feelings in the episode. And If I'm being honest, these tougher conversations are the ones that bring me the most value lately. This life isn't usually the easy choice despite what outsiders might see. We carry our respective loads well; we are vulnerable about our fears but not so vulnerable that it weirds out our customers. We contribute to our local communities and grin and bear it when our communities don't support us with their dollars. Sometimes the clear path forward includes leaving our shops and spaces in the past and moving into something better for our souls.

Annie's decision to close her shop wasn't always this clear but it was a thought that nagged at her. She shares the very moment when she knew she had to close and the exact feelings that washed over her. We also talk a lot about real-life finances in this episode; both sharing our monthly numbers and our frustrations with profitability and financial sustainability. Whether or not you're thinking about closing your space, this conversation is one you'll want to sit with. Thanks, as always for listening.

Today I'm speaking with Brandi Morpurgo, owner of Daisy Chain Book Co. in Alberta, Canada. I heard the story of Brandi's book store on wheels on the podcast Don't Keep Your Day Job and now am delighted to be sharing it with you on Keeping Shop.

Brandi shares her startup story; both how difficult it was to be the first of her kind and also how her natural drive and resilience forged a path to a successful opening. We talk about the myth of social media, building community wherever you go and providing a truly impactful customer experience. Brandi also shares her thoughts on writing a business plan that goes beyond just the nitty-gritty and encourages us all to think bigger for our businesses. I love this. By acknowledging that we're even thinking of a 5-year plan we're imprinting big growth and big success on our business from the very beginning. If our big dreams change that's okay (!!!), at least we're allowing ourselves to be confident in the power of our businesses even when they're young.

Brandi shares some of her favorite books and you'll hear me nerd out on why fiction is my ultimate brain escape. This is a wonderful episode. Brandi is warm, engaging and offers nuggets of wisdom that we can start using immediately. Enjoy the show.

Leading Change On Main Street - Jess Carter of The Local Variety by Rachel Wentworth