She Had A Vision

Heather Eaton and Jane Dong are the co-founders of Frankly Apparel, a braless clothing brand that started as a class project in business school and officially launched in 2021. These pieces of clothing range from bodysuits, dresses, tops and are constructed with innovative sewing technique and high quality fabrics to allow for better sizing and support for a variety of chest sizes. We will discuss the importance of establishing a co-founder relationship around trust, their successful product market fit strategy, and their overall resiliency when it comes to dealing with development and production obstacles. They have a keen eye for building a social following even when thinking through pre-launch marketing strategy. They have gone viral TikTok and have seen the value of connecting with influencers and new customers. Their authenticity as leaders and new entrepreneurs makes it such a fun listen, and we also explore how their brand will be evolving for years to come. 

SJ Bailey is the founder and designer of Spence Designs, an ecommerce custom jewelry line based in Atlanta. SJ began making jewelry for herself as early as 16 and wanted to make pieces that had that feminine and whimsy touch. As family members continued to keep asking for her pieces, she started her jewelry line with no expectation of it growing beyond a hobby. SJ officially launched her jewelry business after college in 2019 as a side hustle. The wedding industry and TikTok have launched her platform far beyond than she could have ever imagined. She has excellent insight in social strategy and influencer marketing. SJ has not only developed a custom jewelry business but has embraced this line as a lifestyle brand. She simply loves what she does and creates while still maintaining her brand and events marketing position for a software company. 

Sammy Handler is the Founder,  CEO and Artist of KicksBySammy in New York, a custom and one-of-a-kind e-commerce accessories company featuring Sammy’s artwork on a variety of goods that started with sneakers and now has expanded to a variety of products across home, art and fashion. She has tapped into the gifting industry that celebrates the many milestones of life such as baby showers and birthdays to bachelorettes, to summer camp and college life. Her direct-to-consumer company began in college after painting on a pair of sneakers and it quickly launched into her self made accessories business that it is today. Sammy’s fresh, custom designs continue to grow across industry such as real estate, events and corporate gifting and even celeb and brand collaborations. Through her creative sales strategy,  I’ve learned various new terms such as “the kid influencer” business, bachelorette party planners and the overall importance of establishing loyal customer base.

Alix Greenberg is the Founder and CEO of ArtSugar in New York, an ecommerce platform that enables emerging, underrepresented artists to market and sell their work while also giving back to charitable organizations that they care about. ArtSugar launched in 2017 and helps bridge the gap for those artists that do not have bandwidth or expertise when it comes to selling their art and scaling their business. ArtSugar is democratizing the art selling process. Alix has created an innovative and a pay-it-forward platform that enables artists to focus more on their creative process. We will discuss the various ways Alix has disrupted the art market industry and the many lessons learned of a new entrepreneur. 

Sarah Pierre is the owner of 3 Parks Wine Shop in Atlanta and bought the wine shop in 2013. She discusses her original career path, but began building a passion in the hospitality and restaurant industry and began taking jobs in New York and Atlanta in restaurant management. We will explore Sarah’s thought process when it came to the ultimate decision to buy a business and how she transformed this turnkey operation into her own brand. Sarah has gained extensive knowledge over the years as a wine shop owner so we will also learn more from her on the natural wine trend. During the pandemic, Sarah’s business boomed instead of stalling, so Sarah will also share how she has evolved as a more resilient and fearless business owner. 

Aly Giampolo and Colette Dong are the co-founders of the ness, a low-impact and high intensity trampoline cardio and sculpt workout studio in New York City that has also gone digital. Both Aly and Colette were professional dancers and met in New York. They launched a private training service together and discovered the trampoline was the perfect tool that embodies their dance and ballet training that includes choreography with a killer sweat!  Colette and Aly curated a beautiful fitness brand that brings back the joy in movement. Some of the takeaways from the episode is that Aly and Colette learned that they were trying to take on everything in the beginning but now have learned to set boundaries, speak up for themselves and trust their gut.  They emphasize that being an entrepreneur means you have to be willing to be uncomfortable and push yourself. 

Cameron Armstrong is the founder of Kitty and Vibe, and she disrupted the swimwear industry by inventing a new sizing metric that takes hips and butt size into account for better fitting swim bottoms. The brand is also purposely e-commerce because Cameron discovered through her focus groups how much women despise trying on swimsuits in a store. We will explore how Cameron began her entrepreneurship journey by researching problems to solve or products that needed improvement and landed on the swimwear industry. Cameron was very creative with her growing her customer base way before she launched. In the beginning she was more focused on the next big step in front of her rather than thinking too far ahead just so she could start. Starting is always the hardest part.  We will dive into the different steps it took for her to grow her idea, reach her customer base and to build the production and Kitty and Vibe brand. And last but not least, how she went viral on Tik Tok! 

Cristina Lynch is the founder of Mi Golondrina, a Dallas-based clothing line that consists of hand-embroidered dresses and shirts skillfully made by artisan partners from all over Mexico. Mi Golondrina partners with over 600 artisans in Mexico. The clothing line launched in 2013, which is inspired by Cristina’s mother’s Mexican heritage and love of Mexican art. The intricate detail on each hand-stitched garment is so beautifully made and beautifully balanced with pops of complementary colors. Cristina didn’t always plan to do clothing in which Cristina explains the importance of evolving and pivoting when launching a company. She has great insight on being a leader, building a solid in-house infrastructure, and how to manage a full time job and two young children. I love Cristina's enthusiasm and overall passion for the creative process and brand of Mi Golondrina. 

Tune in to learn how Cristina turned this vision into a successful and unique women’s clothing line supporting so many communities in Mexico. 

Whitney Rowell is the founder of Miracle Milkookies, a lactation cookie company based in Dallas, TX. These kookies support nursing moms to produce more milk. Whitney walks through her entrepreneurial journey of jobs and an unexpected life change, which led her to discover the supportive market for nursing moms and all moms. When she was nursing  a friend dropped off freshly baked lactation cookies on her doorstep with a note and Whitney began baking her own lactation cookies and her recipe went viral. Whitney will explain how the “fourth” trimester” is one of the most precious, but difficult times for a mom, especially a new mom. These kookies not only support nursing mothers, but Miracle Milkookies’ mission is to to be a resourceful and supportive place for mothers. She is also the host of the podcast, Message from Mom, which is a great platform for relatable content when it comes to being a new mom and navigating motherhood all together. Whitney will tell the many lessons learned, such as dealing with investor sharks and tuning into her inner voice, but Whitney knew in her gut that she was building a product that would help so many moms out there who go through this beautiful yet difficult phase with newborns.

This episode is not only good for moms, but also students and young professionals because she breaks down her entire school and career journey. It sometimes takes a few opportunities to finally understand your ultimate career path. You aren’t supposed to have all of the answers in the beginning. 

Barrett Ervin is an Atlanta-based artist known for her contemporary abstract paintings and prints that also stunningly compliment many of the interior designers’ work that she has admired over the years. She minored in studio art at Ole Miss and in the episode she walks through her decision making process around battling the decision of pursuing a corporate career or becoming a full time artist.   This episode will also feature her partner, Lucy Wellborn, who has been managing Barrett’s branding and social, whom is also an artist herself! They discuss how they found each other as partners and explain how running your art as a successful biz is not an easy one man show. They walk through how Barrett’s collections have evolved over the last two years which has led her to really hone in on her color-fun abstract style. In the episode, they also point out how networking through social has been a game changer in marketing and growing Barrett Ervin Art. Barrett’s work has exploded in just two years and I love Lucy and Barrett’s enthusiasm for the future of this brand!