1:34 Jill Putnam's Background and Transition to Entrepreneurship

Jill introduces herself as the owner of Red Sprite Hats and shares her background in corporate accounting.

She explains her decision to leave the corporate world to start Red Sprite Hats and her ongoing work as a fractional CFO for small businesses.

Mariah and Jill discuss the common transition from corporate to entrepreneurial roles, sharing anecdotes from other founders.

Jill elaborates on her motivation to start her own company for better work-life balance and the flexibility it offers.

8:57 The Idea Behind Red Sprite Hats

Jill recounts her initial frustration with existing hats that didn't accommodate messy buns and how it inspired her to create a better solution.

She describes the process of developing the idea, including researching and validating the market need.

Jill shares her husband's supportive reaction to her idea and how it led to further exploration and validation.

She explains the design process, emphasizing the importance of a hidden opening for the hat to work with any hairstyle.

16:03 Patent Process and Crowdfunding Strategy

Jill discusses the importance of getting a patent for her unique product design and the challenges of the patent process.

She shares her experience of connecting with Mackenzie Bauer and using the same attorneys for her patent application.

Jill explains the timeline and costs involved in obtaining a patent and the relief of achieving patent status.

She talks about the decision to use crowdfunding to fund the patent process and inventory, highlighting the importance of market validation.

27:16 Manufacturing Challenges and Pricing Strategy

Jill delves into the manufacturing process, including the high costs associated with creating a new product.

She discusses the importance of setting realistic price points to stay competitive while ensuring profitability.

Jill mentions the potential for price increases in the future due to rising costs and market conditions.

She emphasizes the need for careful planning and negotiations with manufacturers to ensure cost-effectiveness.

31:56 Customer Experience and Retention

Jill outlines her strategy for building customer trust and loyalty through high-quality products and excellent customer service.

She shares examples of customer feedback and the joy of seeing repeat purchases and referrals.

Jill describes the packaging process, including red-themed elements to enhance the unboxing experience.

She plans to enhance the customer experience with additional emails and content that provide styling tips and product care information.

37:28 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Mariah and Jill reflect on the key points discussed, including the importance of patents, crowdfunding, and customer experience.

Jill expresses gratitude for the opportunity to share her journey and insights with the audience.

Mariah thanks Jill for her time and contributions to the episode, wrapping up the conversation on a positive note.

The episode concludes with a reminder to check out Red Sprite Hats and the various ways Jill is innovating in the e-commerce space.

2:16 Becca Mijares's Background and Romp Stomp Brand Introduction

Becca Mijares introduces herself and her brand, Romp Stomp, which makes shoes for toddlers that are easy to wear and protect their feet.

She shares her entrepreneurial journey, mentioning her father's influence as a violin maker and entrepreneur.

Becca explains the inspiration behind Romp Stomp, stemming from her sister's dislike for wearing shoes as a child.

She describes the initial stages of her brand, including creating a crappy website and running Facebook ads to test the market.

3:46 Challenges and Learning in Product Development

Becca discusses the importance of starting with a minimum viable product and iterating based on customer feedback.

She emphasizes the value of customer feedback in improving the product and making it more appealing to parents.

Becca shares her experience with rebranding from Memoir Kids to Romp Stomp to better reflect the fun and bold personalities of toddlers.

She talks about the process of choosing colors, names, and brand kits, and the importance of standing out in the market.

4:02 Product Development and Trends

Becca explains the balance between being on-trend and meeting customer needs, using the example of checkered shoes.

She mentions the importance of small launches to test new designs and gather feedback.

Becca discusses her approach to trend prediction, including looking at trending colors and trusting her gut.

She highlights the role of social media and Pinterest in finding inspiration for new designs and activities.

4:18 Social Media Strategy and Community Building

Becca talks about using Instagram for community building rather than direct customer acquisition.

She explains the importance of responding to negative comments and using messaging for detailed feedback.

Becca shares her strategy for creating valuable content, focusing on quality over quantity.

She mentions using tools like Ask the Public to find popular search terms and create relevant content.

30:17 Advertising and Retention Strategies

Becca shares her early experience with Facebook ads and the importance of demonstrating the product in ads.

She emphasizes the value of showing the problem the product solves and using user-generated content.

Becca discusses the importance of testing new ads regularly to maintain performance.

She highlights the role of email and SMS marketing in retaining customers and providing personalized service.

37:40 Future Plans and Resources for Founders

Becca talks about the challenge of serving customers for only a few years due to the rapid growth of toddlers' feet.

She mentions the goal of expanding the product line to serve customers longer.

Becca shares her approach to consuming content and making decisions based on what's best for her business.

She emphasizes the value of in-person events and networking for problem-solving and finding solutions.

43:08 Final Thoughts and Promotions

Becca mentions upcoming Black Friday sales and encourages listeners to sign up for email updates.

Mariah thanks Becca for sharing her insights and experiences.

The episode concludes with Mariah expressing her excitement for the audience to hear the conversation.

7:46 Nino's Perspective on Customer Service

Mariah asks Nina about her early career experiences in customer service.

Nina explains the misunderstanding of the complexity of customer support within companies and the high expectations placed on support agents.

She shares how she excelled in customer service by turning unhappy customers into satisfied ones and quickly moved into leadership roles.

Nina highlights the value of customer insights from support teams and how she changed the narrative about support within companies.

13:22 Current Roles and Vision

Mariah asks Nino about his current role and the founding of Swift CX.

Nino explains his frustration with the effort required to get value from support tools and his desire to build a tool that leverages AI to deliver amazing customer experiences.

He emphasizes the importance of making support operations efficient and high-quality without high effort or cost.

Leanna shares her vision for Victoria Beckham Beauty, focusing on elevating customer experience and leveraging AI to free up time for support teams to handle more strategic tasks.

20:55 Integration of Swift CX and Malomo

Mariah discusses the integration of Swift CX and Malomo, highlighting the benefits for customer experience.

Nino praises Leanna's thoughtful approach to embedding AI in the customer experience and shares positive feedback from customers interacting with the AI bot.

Leanna explains how the integration will help customers get immediate answers to common questions, freeing up support teams to handle more complex issues.

Mariah and Leanna discuss the importance of providing a seamless and branded order tracking experience for customers.

40:54 Challenges and Opportunities in Customer Experience

Mariah asks Leanna about the challenges and opportunities in her current role at Victoria Beckham Beauty.

Leanna discusses the importance of providing a luxury experience with convenience and how AI can help achieve this.

She emphasizes the need to free up time for support teams to handle more strategic tasks and improve customer satisfaction.

Mariah and Leanna discuss the potential of AI to enhance customer experience and the importance of providing immediate and accurate information to customers.

42:44 Leveraging AI in Customer Support

Mariah and Leanna discuss the potential of AI to enhance customer support and the importance of providing a seamless and branded experience.

Leanna explains how AI can help customers get immediate answers to common questions and free up support teams to handle more strategic tasks.

Mariah highlights the importance of providing a positive customer experience to build brand loyalty and improve retention.

Leanna shares her vision for using AI to enhance customer experience and the potential benefits for Victoria Beckham Beauty.

1:51 Jesse's Background and HiTide's Origin

Jesse introduces himself as one of the co-founders of High Tide, a solution for Shopify brands to grow their email and SMS lists.

He explains that High Tide focuses on direct message automation, bridging the gap between social and brand-owned channels.

Jesse shares his background, including his experience at Meta and Google, and the initial idea of helping creators organize messages.

He describes the pivot from the Creator space to the Shopify ecosystem, emphasizing the success of their current platform.

8:00 The Role of Social Media in Retention

Mariah and Jesse discuss the importance of social media in the Shopify ecosystem and the challenges of managing inboxes.

Jesse explains the inconsistent reach of social media and the value of direct messages in reaching consumers.

He highlights the potential of SMS as a personal and professional communication channel, with consumers signed up to fewer brand text lists.

Jesse shares insights on the high conversion rates of SMS opt-ins and the importance of measuring the value of subscribers.

13:12 Best Practices for SMS and Email Marketing

Jesse outlines the best practices for SMS and email marketing, including the importance of welcome automations and event-specific campaigns.

He emphasizes the need for brands to understand the value of individual subscribers and measure the success of new channels.

Jesse discusses the importance of having a well-tested program for both welcome automations and event-specific campaigns.

He highlights the role of SMS platforms in optimizing messages and the importance of measuring the output of new channels.

21:07 Segmentation and Retention Strategies

Mariah and Jesse discuss the importance of segmenting customers based on their engagement and purchase history.

Jesse explains how High Tide helps brands fill out customer profiles and send targeted messages based on engagement data.

He highlights the potential of re-engaging customers who have previously opted out of SMS or email lists.

Jesse shares insights on the untapped potential of social followings and the importance of capturing serendipitous interactions.

30:40 Leveraging Social Media for Retention

Mariah and Jesse discuss the potential of social media for retention, emphasizing the importance of timing and engagement.

Jesse shares examples of how brands can use social media to alert customers about product availability and sales.

He highlights the importance of capturing moments of engagement, such as comments and tags, to build long-lasting impressions.

Jesse emphasizes the role of direct messages in building trust and winning lifelong customers.

41:29 Best Practices for Direct Messaging

Jesse provides an overview of the best practices for direct messaging on social media platforms.

He explains the importance of reactive messaging and the rules set by Meta to avoid spam.

Jesse highlights the potential of direct messages to convert social followers into subscribers and the importance of following specific rules.

He emphasizes the role of High Tide in keeping accounts safe and ensuring compliance with Meta's guidelines.

1:48 Lissy's Background and Skincare Brand

Lissy introduces herself as the founder of Lissy Skincare, a brand focused on acne and fungal acne-safe skincare.

Lissy explains the brand's mission to create products that are safe for acne-prone skin, pregnancy, and breastfeeding.

Mariah asks Lissy to explain the difference between typical acne and fungal acne.

Lissy describes typical acne as lesions that come to a head and heal, while fungal acne is an overgrowth of yeast on the skin that looks like flesh-colored bumps and does not react to typical acne treatments.

21:55 Lissy's Journey to Founding Lissy Skincare

Lissy shares her background as an esthetician and her struggles with acne since middle school.

Lissy discusses her decision to attend esthetician school to learn how to clear up her own acne and help others.

Despite her training and using various skincare products and treatments, Lissy's acne persisted, leading to a teacher's concern about her job prospects.

Lissy's research into fungal acne triggers and her frustration with finding fungal acne-safe products inspired her to create her own skincare line.

22:11 Product Development and Launch

Lissy describes the process of developing Lissy Skincare products, starting with the Mandelic serum.

The Mandelic serum cleared Lissy's acne and fungal acne within days, leading to the brand's launch in 2022.

Lissy explains the importance of ensuring all products are fungal acne-safe and safe for pregnancy.

The brand has since added three more products: a Hydrating Serum, a Vitamin C serum, and a cleanser, all of which are fungal acne-safe.

22:27 Customer Experience and Retention Strategies

Mariah and Lissy discuss the importance of customer experience and retention in e-commerce.

Lissy acknowledges the need to improve customer experience and mentions her team's efforts to provide excellent customer service.

Lissy highlights the role of TikTok in driving sales and the challenges of not having customer emails from TikTok shop.

The brand uses email flows, social media, and a subscription model to retain customers and encourage repeat purchases.

22:46 TikTok Strategy and Paid Advertising

Lissy shares the success of TikTok shop in driving viral videos and sales for Lissy Skincare.

Despite the saturation of TikTok shop, Lissy continues to post videos and engage with customers on the platform.

The brand has recently started experimenting with paid advertising on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok to diversify its marketing efforts.

Lissy emphasizes the importance of video content for selling products and sharing customer testimonials.

40:08 Future Plans and Final Thoughts

Lissy teases the upcoming launch of a moisturizer on October 24, which has been in development for almost a year.

The moisturizer is a significant product for the brand, as it is challenging to find fungal acne-safe moisturizers.

Lissy mentions plans for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals to attract more customers.

Mariah wraps up the episode by congratulating Lissy on her upcoming launch and thanking her for sharing her journey and insights.

0:05 Recap of ShopTalk Fall Conference

Mariah announces this episode will be a solo recap of the ShopTalk Fall conference in Chicago.

She highlights the excitement around the first fall conference and her recent move to Chicago.

 4:29 Overview of ShopTalk Fall Conference Structure

She notes the busiest day was Thursday due to the all-conference concert by Busta Rhymes.

The conference had a main stage, showroom floor with sponsor booths, and multiple content session rooms.

Attendees could choose from various sessions, and there were breaks for networking and wellness activities.

4:48 Networking and Meeting New People

Mariah emphasizes the opportunity to meet many people in a short time at the conference

Mariah appreciates the caliber of people brought together by ShopTalk.

15:23 Content Sessions and Key Takeaways

Mariah discusses the various content sessions she attended, featuring leaders from companies like Thredup, Farm Rio, CrunchyRoll, Studs, Winky Lux, Kendra Scott, Hard Candy, Malbon Golf, David Yurman, Pandora, Tonies, Vera Bradley, Skims, Zumiez and more.

She highlights the theme of activities drawing conference goers and customers alike.

The core pickleball court and Dot Digital's friendship bracelet and trucker hat booths were popular activities.

Lowe's keynote on in-person events and ThredUp's use of AI for image search and styling were notable takeaways.

15:23 Consumer Engagement and Retail Innovations

Mariah talks about the importance of asking consumers for their opinions, as seen with GE Appliances.

She mentions Winky Lux's strategy of offering free lip gloss for customer feedback.

Retailers enabling tech in stores, like Ulta Beauty's skin analysis and robot application of lashes, were highlighted.

The concept of "dupe shopping" and the development of dupe score technology were discussed.

21:45 Tech Innovations and Future Trends

Mariah mentions the trend of reselling and trading old items, with examples from ThredUp and TipTap.

Live selling, especially in Asia, was discussed as a potential future trend in the US.

The importance of staying updated with Federal Trade Commission regulations was emphasized.Mariah plans to have a detailed conversation with Kae Majmundar from Sway Tech on this topic.

25:43 Fun Elements and Experiences at ShopTalk

Mariah appreciates the themed elements of the conference, such as the Mission Possible theme and live band transitions.

She highlights the all-women keynote panel and the women-only happy hour before the Busta Rhymes concert.

The shopping experience at the Vault, featuring both up-and-coming and established brands, was a favorite part of the conference.

Mariah shares her excitement about discovering new brands and meeting their founders.

31:09 Product Discoveries and Favorites

Mariah lists various products she discovered at the conference, including Fun Fact Co.'s Would You Rather game and Royce Chocolates.

She mentions Devine's hair and body wash, mini Mac room's nail stickers, and Elf's Power Grip Primer and Lip Oil.

Other products included Erzo Laszlo's deep cleansing bar, Char Charms' tumbler and straws, and Tangle Teezer's hair brush, and more

Mariah expresses her excitement to try out these products, especially during the holiday season.

3:06 Challenges of Starting a New Company

3:55 Importance of Marketing and Customer Engagement

6:18 Remarkable AI's Services and Customer Engagement

7:14 Data Analysis and Customer Insights

10:25 Social Media and Community Engagement

14:39 Influencer Marketing and Product Seeding

18:34 Email Marketing and Retention Strategies

20:17 Expanding LTV and Cross-Selling

2:24 Kess's Background and Branding Philosophy

5:25 The Importance of Branding in Customer Experience

8:24 Challenges and Opportunities in Branding

8:39 The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Branding

37:08 The Impact of Branding on Societal Issues

43:39 Collaborations and Partnerships

48:19 The Future of Branding in Ecommerce

1:56 Ross Martin's Background and Early Career

5:55 Marketing Insights and Innovative Strategies

6:41 Known Agency's Origins and Capabilities

24:26 Challenges and Opportunities in the Agency World

26:06 Lunch Partners Venture Fund

31:20 Investment Thesis and Founder Traits

36:43 Innovative Campaigns and Collaborations

41:15 Ecommerce Innovations and Future Opportunities