July 29, 2024 • 31 mins
In Episode Two of ‘Bored to Boss’, Georgia is thrilled to be joined by Devon Eastwood, the owner of Silver Linings Collective, where she designs stunning silver and 18K gold jewellery.
Devon shares the inspiring story of how she transitioned from her previous role at Mitre 10 to starting her own company. She delves into the daunting experience of finding manufacturers, handling stock and ordering.
From balancing the demands of running a small business and raising her toddler, Devon also opens up about juggling family and work life, as well as the ups and downs of her entrepreneurial journey, all while offering valuable insights for anyone looking to start their own.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
From ZM and iHeartRadio. It's Bored to Boss.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Real stories of how to navigate starting your own business
with me Georgia Patton, Welcome, Welcome to episode two of
Board to Boss Today. I am so lucky to have
my first gift of this podcast be a close friend
and a fellow small business owner.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Hi Devin, Hello, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Georgia Devin is the owner and designer of a stunning
jewelry company called Silver Linings Collective.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
How are you.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
I'm nervous first time, obviously being on a podcast, but
I'm happy to be here, honored.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I'm nervous too, and I selfishly put you on this
podcast as my first guest.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
To make me feel a little bit more comfortable.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
So selfish, but also I'm super excited to have you
here now. Not only did I want you on as
a first guest because you are super inspirational, but you
helped me navigate all of my first year through business.
Actually we're going to get to that later, but first
I want to see the scene for you. So we're
both waiting at the airport. We don't know each other,
we have delayed flights. We're sitting next to each other,
(01:07):
at the gate and start chatting, and I asked.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
What do you do for a living? How are you
gonna pitch me what you do?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
I would start by saying, I am a jewelry designer
slash business owner. I craft a jewelry, we get it
manufactured overseas. We are stopped and just under fifty stores
in New Zealand and sal online as well.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
You've already got me. I'm impressed.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I feel like it's always like that.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
I just heard nineteen and when I met in the airport.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
When you came running up to me and asked to
be my friend. Tell the tree no, I remember you
because you stood out like a sore thumb.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
You're height, and we were both going on our oe.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
And I thought you were so pretty, and I was like,
I'm going to try and make friends with us. Well
before coming up here, I looked at all our messages
and I scrolled all the way back up to the
very top, and I messaged you first, and we figured
out that we were actually only going to be living
not far away from each and any minutes apart from
each other in London.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I never met each other before, and so we were like, okay,
cool built and bestie.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
We were both moving over there with no friends.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
And then we had like small connections. You worked with
my cousin, Yeah, just like real random ay.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
And then we both went out on our first date
to the circus and it just kind of got from there.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
It was fourteen pounds to go to the circus show.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
How do you know? Because they saw it in the chat.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I was like, oh my gosh, so Ga.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
What made you go overseas? Like why did you make
the decision to move so young?
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Man, I dropped out of school when I was seventeen,
and I didn't want to go to university and do
something that I was unsure about studying and then have
massive debt and then not like work in that field anyway.
So my dad said, why don't you go on and
our way. It was, honestly, it was such a cool
time to be selfish, selfish time in my life where
(02:48):
and I went traveling like by myself, and I would
wake up and it would be eleven o'clock and then
may it would be, you know, telling you to get
out of the hostel.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Or whatever, and I was like, God, where am I
going today?
Speaker 4 (02:57):
And I'd put on skyscanner at like from Buslana to anywhere,
and it would come up with the cheapest flight and
I'd be like, Okay, I guess that's where I'm going.
That's where I'm eating today. Whereas you just can't do
that when you've got other people to like consider.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
You know, when you move back to New Zealand, where
did you work? What did you feel was missing in
that job that made you think about starting your own business?
Speaker 4 (03:15):
So I came back to New Zealand got a job
working at mighty ten, New Zealand. At first, it was
all going through like a recruiter and I thought, oh
my god, I'm going to have to be working with,
you know, the crazy old men.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
With tool bounce and walking down the aisles.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
I was like, oh dear lord.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
But when I went for the interview, it was in
a brand new office building. There were like three hundred
and fifty staff there, and you instantly saw the people
your age and the.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Culture just slatched off the bat like.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
So good, and I thought, actually, this this could be,
you know, the start of something, maybe a career path.
I would say, I'm a people person, so I think
that helped me get the job.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
What was the job.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
It was a category assistant for outdoor furniture, so pretty
much set the range for New Zealand as being sold in.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Mighty ten and mighty ten meger.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
And you had no experience, no experience like it till
you make a day. But in saying that, I do
remember the HR lady she said to my boss that
she didn't think I was a good candidate because I
didn't go to UNI. I didn't have a degree typical
he you know, he took a chance on me, and honestly,
I don't think i'd be here today if it wasn't.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
For that career that I had. There for three years, I.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
Was in the perfect possession to soak up all this
new knowledge on how to like source cost prices, negotiate
and import export. I was all there, so I was
in like the best place possible.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
So after learning all of this, you just thought, why
am I doing it for someone else when I could
do it for myself?
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Yeah, every weekend I was going out Friday Saturday partying.
I felt like I was just missing something I needed
more And after three years it might a teen I
needed something else, Like I needed.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
That's it, ding thing.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
I just needed a new challenge, but I loved Gray
worsh So I ended up starting Silver Linings Collective, which
my mum helped name, and my Detine was so supportive
of that. It was a side hustle, It was a
little you know, it was just some she all my
spare time.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
It was a hobby.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Where did the name come from?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Well, mum named it.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
She was like, what about Silver Lightnings Collective? So if
you ever add anything into the range that isn't jewelry,
then it's a collective part of it.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
That's my smart But then you have people know something
jewelry or something and they can't expand exactly. So I
wanted to ask her one day, white's in her head?
Because surely there's a reason. I know she's really good
to actually come up with names. Run me through that
first year of telling people what you're up to, because
I know for me, I think for like the first
year and a half, I had a slight embarrassment that
I was doing something a little bit off the grain.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Did you tell people?
Speaker 4 (05:32):
I remember sitting down with some colleagues at mine to ten,
I was like, so the sworm thing of doing and
I was showing them the designs that we had got
drawn up, and I think feel like almost across the
line of getting them like in production, and while there
was a group of them and the girls just made
me feel like a little bit of an idiot, didn't.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Take you seriously.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, And I remember that feeling to this day.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
I don't know if it was like, oh, here we go,
you know, one of those situations, but safe decay.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
I didn't really talk to them, probably too much afterwards
about about the business to.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
See, won't your true friends? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Why jewelry? Why jewelry? Oh my gosh, okay. I looked
into so many different venues. I looked at light letters
that you hire out for weddings, you know those big
like Mester and missus, and I.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Was like, with the big bolstly, yeah, I was going
to get.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Them all made. It would have been a huge out.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Like my dad sent me down after I had like
pitched him this idea and he was like, Devin, where
are you going to store them? At that time, I
was living at home and we did not have like
a huge garage. How are you going to get them there?
You're going to have to learn to like back a trailer?
What about the insurance of them, Like what happens if
the light bulb blows and you know it's on the weekend,
you're doing something, Who's going to go and serface it?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Like what about warranty? Like what happens if someone trips
over one and you know, ruins it?
Speaker 4 (06:42):
And I was like, oh my gosh, you're so right.
I didn't think about that. And then yeah, and then
I looked into jewelry. I only had enough budget to
really bring out about six pieces of jewelry.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Yeah, yeah, So the emo cues were.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Achievable to be able to hit emocues as an minimum
water quantity. So I was able to because I was like,
I mean, wherever you look at sourcing some units you
have to source like five thousand of one design.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
So it took me weeks to find someone that would
drop the down.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Likewise, so do.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
You look at the numbers you order now and you go,
oh my gosh, this is wild?
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Yes and no, like it still works for us that MOQ,
but I feel like I'm ordering so much more frequently
our solo s range. We just got a shipmentton two
weeks ago and already I've had to play an order
last week. So I really should be ordering more quantities.
The price doesn't change, it's just more of like a
cost for you out front.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Right, and then shipping and fright and stuff.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
At coming to you, Oh my gosh, And you had
just put out the first six peers and you wanted
me to model one of them. And we were on
the back of your house and I had these like
hoop harth hanging things.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
How can you take pictures of your new website?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
And I think it was then that I really felt
inspired to do something myself. I realized how bored I
was in my job and I was watching you do this.
I actually think it was around at the same time
we talked.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
About applying for the book.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
My god, no, George, will we dared apply for the
block And no we did not get.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
The call up. No, we we had aspirations.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Implication was so long, wasn't it. God? I don't know
why they didn't take us on.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
With that first piece you designed, it's called the Solace
I have it myself. What inspired you to design that?
And what's the design process like for you?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
The Solace range.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
We do earrings and necklace and I'm actually wearing the
necklace limited edition. Now we get a lot of inspiration
from overseas, so it could be European websites, and we
do feel like Europe is ahead of the treats, right, Yeah,
and then we also look at the other states, and
then we also look at Pinterest, So mixing all of
those up, we saw a shape that we particularly liked
(08:48):
on Pinterest and I thought, man, that would look cool
as like an air ring or a necklace, and we
decided to send it off to our manufacturer.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Was obviously really specific instructions.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
Yeah, there can be so had and mess with interpreting
what you want done right, And my manufacturer absolutely nailed
the brief.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
First, is this the first manufacturer you contact?
Speaker 4 (09:10):
And I've still oh no, Honestly, that took like a
month to find this manufacturer. She nailed it, absolutely nailed it.
And we were someone telling me, don't try to fix
something that isn't broken, and with this design we just
have not not had to fix it.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Found that one style that completely sours out every time.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
And it's been nearly six years we've done i think
nearly six thousand.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Peers of the Solar Spirit obviously changed.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Down the street and see people wearing your earrings and
necklace and I'm.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Like, oh, that's cool, likewise with you. Honestly, it's such
a weird feeling scene.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
It's such a cool feeling though no one understand when
you see someone wearing something you made and go, oh
my god, why are you wearing that?
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Like why do you like it?
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Living in a small town now and Cambridge. I when
got some blood work downe the other day and someone
was wearing my ear rings.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
It was getting you know.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
I was like, oh my gosh, my marketing is working,
and like the kimissed and then I just you know,
both just had a new daycare and I was like,
oh my gosh, you're wearing my earrings and she's like, oh,
do you have them tail? I was like no, no,
I design them.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah you do.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
You get like little like moments of like, oh my gosh,
this is so cold. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I even sometimes later we were stripped and there was
two ladies sitting at a restaurant, both wearing my piper
tor Oh my god, and I feel like I just
stared at them as I walked away. I didn't say anything.
I was just walking looking at you.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
Do you think they sometimes recognize you because obviously you
are such your brand, like you are your brand.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
I don't know, it's hard to tell with that generation
if they're on socials as much as I think they are,
But definitely with my generation.
Speaker 5 (10:37):
Yes, a little bit of a thing, Yeah, totally. You
mentioned Bo before. You have a little daughter and she
is so cute. Yes, how did you feel when you
found out you were pregnant with her? Because you were
kind of right in the hustle and bustle of rowing
is our sea for sure.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
I got pregnant just after we had moved into our
new new belt and Cambridge, and it wasn't planned, but
it was a nice shot. I was still working like
twenty hours a week at the design which was just
a little retail outlet.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
I was just doing the website stuff.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
I was going to spend the rest of the week
focusing on silver linings, just try and give it a
little bit more time. When I found out I was pregnant,
I thought, that's totally cold. I will be able to
spend so much of my matt leave on my jewelry
business and it's going to grow. Because it hadn't really
taken off yet. It didn't come easily to me trying
to grow my social media. Nothing went viral, but I
(11:24):
feel that.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
A grind.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Obviously we did have like quite a few stock us
from the get go, so that was a good reliable
kind of income even a month, although you did obviously
have to try and hustle, right and so I yeah,
I assumed I'd be able to have all this time,
and honestly I had none.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
It was so hard.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
I think that's one of the biggest challenges actually, is
getting pregnant or having a child and balancing and juggling work.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Honestly, especially when it's for yourself.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
It's like such a conversation in my life at the moment.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
I would say every second day I meet a business
owner is trying to work out how to start a
family and how to own a business. There's no one
out there who helps you with.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
This sort of stuff.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
It is hard, especially when you're the person who runs
the actual backbone of the business. You may have three,
four or five people who help with their daily workings,
but who's going to talk to the manufacturers, who's going
to order the stock designs?
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Literally do anything? That luck is only in your brain.
It's quite scary, it is.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
And I've got another one on the way, so I'm
having another baby in January. Really excited and I feel
a lot more prepared as to what to expect. We
have got a few contractors on board, so a lot
more help. I really want to enjoy it because I
was so stressed out bang a new mum, and I
feel like I was really young as well, like I
just turned twenty six, trying to like navigate my business
(12:46):
and try and get that off the ground, you.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Know, buying house, owning a business or in the first year.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
But the pressure will still be on. Bells still need
to be paid.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
You know, what.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Contractors have you brought on to help out and what
are you doing to prepare for this.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
So we have a publicist and that's helping us hates
without advertising. We have a brier as well, so she
helps a lot with our advertising in terms of Google ads,
Meta ads.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
I also use machine.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
And we have Carla who does our ADM so email
direct marketing yep.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
She works from London. She's just gone on her OA.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
And then we also have Kayla who helps ship our
product out to our customers as well as our stores.
But it's like the first time this year that we
have invested back into the business in order for us
to grow.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
As then you've been putting money in the business, but
you haven't put in such a substantial aid to fast
grow for sure.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
I mean, you know, you get your website whipped on
here and there by other people and that kind of thing,
and you invest in you know, photoships and photography and
content creators and that. So it's like pretty much my
drawings that I haven't haven't touched your pay literally, yeah,
but you've just got to do it. You have to
do it in all to grow.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Is that with the goal of reaching more people to
help boost your online sales or is that for both
online and your retails because you're in stores too overall.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
So getting people in the brain doors, yeah, getting people
in stores and buying from them, but also buying from
us if they can. Everything else is really to help
generate online sales because we've been so focused on wholesale
for so long. I think we're like seventy percent wholesale
where and it's always been that way where and then.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
You're relying on someone else to make your sales.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Totally, especially the sign other times.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Right, Like it's been a crazy year for people in
business this year and everyone is feeling it and if
stores aren't ordering, then essentially you're not making as much money. Yeah,
we're talking about going Tozzy because obviously we've been Tozzy
together a few times and that's a huge investment in itself,
isn't it.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Got The last trap I think cost us twelve grand aage.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
I think really expensive because we're at the wrong show land.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Research before you go spend money to go to away
trade show in Australia. We didn't realize there was three
on in the same and you do, You live and
you learn. Speaking of mistakes, can you tell me some
of the mistakes you've made in your business that stand out,
Maybe some of the things you still can't quite believe happened,
a funny story, something that you maybe didn't show on
(15:14):
social media because at the time you were like, oh
my god, I've screwed up.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
I remember we did this design called the Zulu earrings.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
I had the Zulu earrings.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
They were really cold, and to this day of still
get emails been like do you have any leaf?
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Do you know any stores that have them?
Speaker 4 (15:28):
They came and they kind of like sat sideways in
your ears almost say the way the class shut or closed,
it could be become really loose, really easily.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Yeah, So I had to go through.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
All these pairs of earrings, and obviously there's like Tom
makes up a peer, and I had to get like
pliers and a piece of metal and like really squeeze
it so that it would, you know, hold this clasp
and when you close the earring.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
And I remember being like, oh my god, like this
is going to take up so much of my time,
just sit there doing hundreds and dreds hundreds and it
was like, I can't believe this is a bag.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Those shopping bags I got designed for our pop up shop,
we had two weeks. Again I thought I double checked
those measurements over and over, and I thought they would
fit two pairs of sunglasses and a luxe multi case
in it, which is like a big foldable case. And
they arrived and I was so excited and I was
showing my family, going how beautiful they are.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
And then I opened them up and they fit one
pair of Sunnis.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
So if someone came into my store and said they
wanted to buy two, I'd be like, oh my god, this.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Eggs because I can't fit your two Sunnis or not.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
They stole great though, and I ordered like seven hundred
of them as well, so I'm stuck with them for
a long time.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
You make it work, and that's the thing on business.
You have to make it work. You always go.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Your story reminded me of one other story when you
said you were sitting there fixing class before you sent
them out to stores. I can laugh about the story now,
but at the time I was honestly crying and I
was so stranged.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
You rang me, actually, no, this one. I think I
know what this one is. Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
It wasn't good at the time, but now like the
issue's been and gone. I had pre sold two hundred
and fifty to three hundred of our best sellers of
the piper Torts, maybe like a month ahead of time,
as I normally do. They our best seller, I know
I can pre sell them. They arrive, I check them
and they have the wrong print on the temple, which
is like the boat goes behind your ears and it
(17:19):
seed bioacetate. These were not the bioacetate material, so legally
I can't sell them. Put the wrong information on, and
I had two hundred and fifty customers waiting for these.
So I went into absolute panic mode and created a
manufacturing plant in my dad's garage with a polishing wheel,
(17:39):
car polish, nail polish remover, and a cotton bud And
we sat there for three days and removed this print
from the sunglasses and polished to buff the sunglasses back
up to get them back out to customers.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
And saying what you can do when you put your
mind to it.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
And nobody knew about this. And I was sitting there crying, going,
oh my god, I can't believe I'm doing this. But
if my dad didn't help me, honestly, I know I
would have been in trouble.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
The business that we're in. Small business owners know each
other like it's this. It's this Titanan circle in New Zealand,
especially in Auckland, where you follow each other's journeys closely.
You go to all the same events, networking events. You
know everybody's stories, everybody's issues, support one another.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Support one another.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
But with knowing all of that, do you find that
you compare yourself your business we're at.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
It's the toxic trait of mine. It's so easy to do, though,
isn't it.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Yeah, when you see it like all online on socials, Yeah,
you start comparing, even though you you might be so different,
but you do compare. You go, oh my gosh, how
many sales they got on their launch? How come I'm
not heading there?
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Or you know, and you really see those viral tiktoks
with people doing four hundred.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Looking at your launch, going where's my four hundred?
Speaker 3 (18:56):
On my other active?
Speaker 1 (18:57):
The products active.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Make a fake order just leave us work.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Literally is. But hey, you have good days and bad
days and business.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
For me, I've got to remember that a lot of
our revenue comes from stores and that's what we're trying
to grow as our online so it will come with time.
But yeah, when you do, you do compute yourself to others.
I know I'm guilty of it. Like I said, toxic trait.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yeah, it is your toxic trait. Slap it out of
you every time.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
I know, I found out going to the point where
I look at someone's success and I go, it's a
highlight reel. I know what I share on socials, and
I try to be as real as possible, but there's
still some stuff even I don't share in that saying
a lot that I know all these people wouldn't share.
So when I see something good, I'm like, there's been
twenty bad things to get into this one.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
Usually totally as like when you had that photo shirt
and I remember you you're crying and You're like, I've
prepared a day of it, and I'm like, but it.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Was success, Like it was, it was so great.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
And I cried because the warehouse stationary lady couldn't print
a three poster.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
But everything else to get stress.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
That leads up to these things, and then you just
show this fantastic day the next day, everything's looking beautiful
and working out, But you don't show you doing eight
hours of driving the day before, your props and your
outfits and child.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
And I don't think customers necessarily see that unless you
post it.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Have you had any big surprises during your business journey?
Anything that straight out you're like, oh my gosh, that
was amazing.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I can't believe that happened.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Getting Max Fashion on Bush that was a really neat surprise. Yeah,
although I had like reached out to them and it
was a bit of you know, toying back and forwards.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Anyways, how long have you been with them now?
Speaker 4 (20:40):
Same amount of time you've been with them, so about
three two years, three years, Yeah, probably the unsuccessful trip
that we did in Ossie. Yeah, and then they ended
up seeing us in Aussie and so.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Again it's the more you do, the more people see
you more seriously they'll take you. And ironically a lot
of New Zealand stores do take you on when they
see you in Australia because they see the legitimate and
maybe putting a little bit more time and money into
your business than they originally thought it.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
I mean, prime example, when we went to Ossie last year,
we got seven stores on board, six from New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Yeah that was from Australia.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Yeah. Where do you see Silver Linings Collective going in
the next let's say five years.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
In the next five years, I really want to focus
on New Zealand and do that really well. You know,
you can go to Ozzie and try and brunch out
into the Australian market and say that you're in the market.
Is awesome to say that you're in some Australian stores.
I still feel like we could do New Zealand so
much better.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
I know this conversation well, as a conversation I had
with my business coach.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
He told me.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Imagine that you were walking down the streets in Auckland
City or standing there and you asked one hundred people
if they knew your brand, and only two people would
probably say that they've.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Heard of your brand, so well, so many more people
you could be reaching.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Imagine if you get three percent of the population four
percent even just recognizing your brand, that's doubling tripling your
rivenue straight off the bat. There's so many more people
and so many more buyers and so much more money
out there in New Zealand. I think we recognize totally, and.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
I think that is like one of our strategy is
worth growing our online presence and generating those sales online
as we have so many more people we could be reaching.
We're doing so many more things this year that we
haven't done in the past five years.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
First time doing paid advertising.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Yeah, which is why I can't believe it there. Yes,
sexe business.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah, there's a lot of business owners out there who
are going to look at that and say that as
why or the revenue that you but in without paid ads.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
You should be so proud.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Really loyal customers actually, like someone just maybe a fourteenth
order the other day, I feel like It all comes
down to time as well, and that's why offsetting a
few tasks to different people, eg. Contractors, I mean you've
done the same, Like how many people you've taken on.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Yeah, it's pretty wild, it is.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
And that's a whole nother story. Like cash flow.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
I was thinking about that on the way up here,
because you're investing all this money into other people to
make your business grow and you're waiting for stores to
seven weeks you know, to get that money come through.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Cash Flow is a real big one for me this year.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
I've never really had to think about that the last
five years because we've always had it there because we
haven't well.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
You're lucky, I haven't had money like you.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Know, for people to pay.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
I feel like I'm always on the edge with my financials.
It's still one thing I need to nail. And it's just,
oh my god, learning every single day about reading your
P and L.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Yeah. P and OW is your profit and loss.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
So it's just a report that you can pull easily
through your accounting platform.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
I think most of us.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Year zero, yes, and it quickly lays out your spending,
your outgoings, your income, your sales, and it gives you
just like a really quick overview of where your money's
going and where your income is coming from. And I
think it's just the easiest way to understand your financials
is to look at that. I am starting to learn
a lot more about my what's the second one, But
(23:48):
I've got your balance sheet?
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Balance sheet, balance sheet.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
I've always looked at my balance sheet and said to
my accountant, I have no idea what I'm looking at.
You need to explain it to me. And I feel
like it's been two years of me saying that and
I still don't quite understand it. But that's fine. Numbers
aren't my strong points. She's need to point me in
the right direction. But I feel like once I get
that under wraps, it'll be so much easier just to
get well, just to understand. And I think another thing
that's really helped is my business coach set up a really,
(24:16):
really easy spreadsheet that helps me with my forecasting. So
it helps me with how much I'm spending in a
certain month. And it is the hardest thing. We constantly
are looking at up here now going what's standing out,
what's wrong?
Speaker 4 (24:28):
Looking, where's the money though the money showing all the
positives that you're like, where's the money.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
I know, it looks like we had a grate your
last year. Where's the money?
Speaker 4 (24:37):
And people, you know, just assume, oh my gosh, you
must be doing well, or they see what it's like
sex online, they thank you creaming it.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
But your business may be doing it well. It doesn't
mean you personally are taking that money for yourself.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Hold my god. There there's been months where I've just
said to my partner, have you got us this month?
Speaker 3 (24:55):
I know, relative all this year, I'm like Campbell, you
got me, you got the more?
Speaker 1 (25:01):
And then two months later I'll be like, oh, I'm good.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Yeah, I'm like, yeah, I'll take you out for dinner.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
My treat business the street.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Literally, I don't think I should say that.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
I'm gonna wrap up there with one more question, and
this is something Pixie asked me on episode number one.
I kind of liked it, and I'm going to bring
it in through okay the rest of the episodes.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Are you proud of yourself and what you've achieved?
Speaker 3 (25:25):
That's a good question.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
I am proud of myself for where the business is today. Yeah,
when you look at where we start it, how far
we've come, and I think I'm really guilty of chasing
that next goal and.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Not appreciated totally where.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
You are at the moment, because you know, just say
you get Max Fashion on board, you're like, oh my
gosh and saying so cool. Two weeks later you're like,
so we need more stores, and you're kind of back
to the grind. You know, you don't just really reflect
upon the whole journey that you've been on and go.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Shit, this has been a pretty cool ride. Yeah, I
get to work thirty hours a week.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
You know, thirty hours a week.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Why have bo on Friday?
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
Obviously you work on the weekends and stuff we needed
and late nights of you know, things are pressing. But yeah,
those are day hours, like thirty thirty four hours a week.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Week.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Gosh, maybe I should get a baby.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
That's it, Like, that's what I mean. When you have
a kid, it changes.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Yeah, I don't think I'm quite prepared for how much
it'll change the way I work. And Jay seems to
think I'll be sitting there after birth with my laptop
on my lap and a baby in one hand.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
And I said to him, are you joke?
Speaker 4 (26:30):
But that's like, I mean, BO was away on Monday,
I had to stay at home. Like Campbell just automately
assumed I've got it, and I'm like, well, I have
to work.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Too, I do you know, Campbell?
Speaker 4 (26:42):
And then Tuesday was a bit you know, hit and
mess and he's like, oh, I can do half a
day and it's just that communication and you just need
to work your way around it. All work late nights,
and that's what I did. She family comes first. Ultimately,
I'm proud of you, Thank you. I'm proud of you,
absolutely crushing it.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Do we have for a question, PLEXI.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
Totally, We've got time for questions.
Speaker 4 (27:01):
Laura Catherine Lee would like to ask how to get
started and finding supply or manufacturers?
Speaker 3 (27:07):
So how do you get into it?
Speaker 4 (27:08):
We looked on Ali Barber. That's where we sourced our manufacturer.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Ali Baba's just kind of like this massive site that
are lots of business duos and it's just got this
massive database of manufacturers and they make it really easy
to send out requests or send out what you're looking for.
You can refine it by your minimum order quantities or
by what country you want to purchase from.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
It just makes it really easy.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Ali Barber is a good place to get started and
then you can actually see if you can afford it
or not, now if it works for your brand or not.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Well, what I did, and I think a lot of
other businesses do the same as I sent out I
don't even know, twenty to thirty requests to all sunglasses manufacturers,
seeing if they can hit my smaller MOQ for my
first order, seeing what their prices are, seeing where they
import their materials from. For me, I import from Italy,
so I needed to make sure they could bring those
(28:00):
materials in and if they couldn't, then I'd cross them off.
And I think it was about three months of questions, messaging,
making sure you find the right team that you click with.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
And we were the same.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
I mean, I remember staying up most nights for about
three weeks dealing with someone in India because that's where
we were looking at getting our jewelry manufacturers.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
The time zone thing that's something you don't quite think
about when you're finding a manufacturer is that when you're
going to bed, they're getting to work. So Jay always
knows that China's awake because my phone makes the specific dinging.
All my manufacturers start writing in their questions for the
day and he's like, put your phone away, and I'm like,
but otherwise I go to sleep and then when I.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Wake up there asleep.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Once your business is running and you have a website
and maybe you have a bit of a brand profile,
you do start getting in or I do at least
start getting emails from manufacturers that have found you online
and are wanting to see if you want to test
some And at first I would just put them straight
into my trash.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
I wouldn't read them.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
And then one day something just clicked and I decided
that I would start researching into these manufacturers, and I
now manufacture with one of them. So I run two
factories side by side. One was one I found on
Ali Barber. One was one who actually contacted me and
found me through my website. And yeah, they're both super successful.
It's just keeping those relationships is that is the best
(29:21):
thing for you. Whenever they message, make sure to reply
because they your lifeline. Without your manufacturers, you don't have a.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
Business, and it's so good to have a back up
as well.
Speaker 4 (29:30):
Well.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
That was my main reason for looking into other ones
was that during COVID you heard all of these stories
of factories closing businesses, not being able to bring in
their staff, having to cut your load because they couldn't
have as many people in the factories. And that's when
I started to think, oh my gosh, if my factory closes,
I need to start my business again from the ground up.
And if I think about how long it took me
(29:50):
to nail my first design, I'm going to have to
do that with a whole other factories. And it took
us a year to get to get that factory manufacturing
sunglasses that matched the quality of our factory that we'd
been running for two and a half years. If I
had done that while the first factory had closed, I
wouldn't have had a business three years.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
So it's something to think about. Yeah, oh well, I'm
going to end it there. I'd like to say thanks,
thank you for coming on. I've actually had so much fun.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Thank you so much for having you episode when you
walked in your hands, Honestly, I like partners get it together.
I'm so proud of what you've achieved, and thank you
for coming on to bored de boss.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
So yeah, so thankful for having me. And I think
you're amazing, absolutely crushing it. You've got the drive and
determination to do anything that you put your mind to.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Boord Boss is a z M podcast for iHeartRadio with
me Georgia Patten. This episode was produced by Pixi Copperrell,
engineered by Meg pud and Call It with production help
from Sam Harvey.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
If you liked it, hit subscribe to get notified whenever
we release a new episode.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Listen every Tuesday on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts,
and make your business idea a reality
Speaker 5 (31:01):
To Baman
From ZM and iHeartRadio. It's Bored to Boss.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Real stories of how to navigate starting your own business
with me Georgia Patton, Welcome, Welcome to episode two of
Board to Boss Today. I am so lucky to have
my first gift of this podcast be a close friend
and a fellow small business owner.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Hi Devin, Hello, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Georgia Devin is the owner and designer of a stunning
jewelry company called Silver Linings Collective.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
How are you.
Speaker 4 (00:34):
I'm nervous first time, obviously being on a podcast, but
I'm happy to be here, honored.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
I'm nervous too, and I selfishly put you on this
podcast as my first guest.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
To make me feel a little bit more comfortable.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
So selfish, but also I'm super excited to have you
here now. Not only did I want you on as
a first guest because you are super inspirational, but you
helped me navigate all of my first year through business.
Actually we're going to get to that later, but first
I want to see the scene for you. So we're
both waiting at the airport. We don't know each other,
we have delayed flights. We're sitting next to each other,
(01:07):
at the gate and start chatting, and I asked.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
What do you do for a living? How are you
gonna pitch me what you do?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
I would start by saying, I am a jewelry designer
slash business owner. I craft a jewelry, we get it
manufactured overseas. We are stopped and just under fifty stores
in New Zealand and sal online as well.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
You've already got me. I'm impressed.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
I feel like it's always like that.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
I just heard nineteen and when I met in the airport.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
When you came running up to me and asked to
be my friend. Tell the tree no, I remember you
because you stood out like a sore thumb.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
You're height, and we were both going on our oe.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
And I thought you were so pretty, and I was like,
I'm going to try and make friends with us. Well
before coming up here, I looked at all our messages
and I scrolled all the way back up to the
very top, and I messaged you first, and we figured
out that we were actually only going to be living
not far away from each and any minutes apart from
each other in London.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
I never met each other before, and so we were like, okay,
cool built and bestie.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
We were both moving over there with no friends.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
And then we had like small connections. You worked with
my cousin, Yeah, just like real random ay.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
And then we both went out on our first date
to the circus and it just kind of got from there.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
It was fourteen pounds to go to the circus show.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
How do you know? Because they saw it in the chat.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I was like, oh my gosh, so Ga.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
What made you go overseas? Like why did you make
the decision to move so young?
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Man, I dropped out of school when I was seventeen,
and I didn't want to go to university and do
something that I was unsure about studying and then have
massive debt and then not like work in that field anyway.
So my dad said, why don't you go on and
our way. It was, honestly, it was such a cool
time to be selfish, selfish time in my life where
(02:48):
and I went traveling like by myself, and I would
wake up and it would be eleven o'clock and then
may it would be, you know, telling you to get
out of the hostel.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
Or whatever, and I was like, God, where am I
going today?
Speaker 4 (02:57):
And I'd put on skyscanner at like from Buslana to anywhere,
and it would come up with the cheapest flight and
I'd be like, Okay, I guess that's where I'm going.
That's where I'm eating today. Whereas you just can't do
that when you've got other people to like consider.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
You know, when you move back to New Zealand, where
did you work? What did you feel was missing in
that job that made you think about starting your own business?
Speaker 4 (03:15):
So I came back to New Zealand got a job
working at mighty ten, New Zealand. At first, it was
all going through like a recruiter and I thought, oh
my god, I'm going to have to be working with,
you know, the crazy old men.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
With tool bounce and walking down the aisles.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
I was like, oh dear lord.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
But when I went for the interview, it was in
a brand new office building. There were like three hundred
and fifty staff there, and you instantly saw the people
your age and the.
Speaker 3 (03:39):
Culture just slatched off the bat like.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
So good, and I thought, actually, this this could be,
you know, the start of something, maybe a career path.
I would say, I'm a people person, so I think
that helped me get the job.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
What was the job.
Speaker 4 (03:50):
It was a category assistant for outdoor furniture, so pretty
much set the range for New Zealand as being sold in.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Mighty ten and mighty ten meger.
Speaker 4 (03:57):
And you had no experience, no experience like it till
you make a day. But in saying that, I do
remember the HR lady she said to my boss that
she didn't think I was a good candidate because I
didn't go to UNI. I didn't have a degree typical
he you know, he took a chance on me, and honestly,
I don't think i'd be here today if it wasn't.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
For that career that I had. There for three years, I.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
Was in the perfect possession to soak up all this
new knowledge on how to like source cost prices, negotiate
and import export. I was all there, so I was
in like the best place possible.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
So after learning all of this, you just thought, why
am I doing it for someone else when I could
do it for myself?
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Yeah, every weekend I was going out Friday Saturday partying.
I felt like I was just missing something I needed
more And after three years it might a teen I
needed something else, Like I needed.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
That's it, ding thing.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
I just needed a new challenge, but I loved Gray
worsh So I ended up starting Silver Linings Collective, which
my mum helped name, and my Detine was so supportive
of that. It was a side hustle, It was a
little you know, it was just some she all my
spare time.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
It was a hobby.
Speaker 1 (05:01):
Where did the name come from?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Well, mum named it.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
She was like, what about Silver Lightnings Collective? So if
you ever add anything into the range that isn't jewelry,
then it's a collective part of it.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
That's my smart But then you have people know something
jewelry or something and they can't expand exactly. So I
wanted to ask her one day, white's in her head?
Because surely there's a reason. I know she's really good
to actually come up with names. Run me through that
first year of telling people what you're up to, because
I know for me, I think for like the first
year and a half, I had a slight embarrassment that
I was doing something a little bit off the grain.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Did you tell people?
Speaker 4 (05:32):
I remember sitting down with some colleagues at mine to ten,
I was like, so the sworm thing of doing and
I was showing them the designs that we had got
drawn up, and I think feel like almost across the
line of getting them like in production, and while there
was a group of them and the girls just made
me feel like a little bit of an idiot, didn't.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
Take you seriously.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Yeah, And I remember that feeling to this day.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
I don't know if it was like, oh, here we go,
you know, one of those situations, but safe decay.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
I didn't really talk to them, probably too much afterwards
about about the business to.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
See, won't your true friends? Yeah?
Speaker 4 (06:01):
Why jewelry? Why jewelry? Oh my gosh, okay. I looked
into so many different venues. I looked at light letters
that you hire out for weddings, you know those big
like Mester and missus, and I.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Was like, with the big bolstly, yeah, I was going
to get.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Them all made. It would have been a huge out.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Like my dad sent me down after I had like
pitched him this idea and he was like, Devin, where
are you going to store them? At that time, I
was living at home and we did not have like
a huge garage. How are you going to get them there?
You're going to have to learn to like back a trailer?
What about the insurance of them, Like what happens if
the light bulb blows and you know it's on the weekend,
you're doing something, Who's going to go and serface it?
Speaker 3 (06:38):
Like what about warranty? Like what happens if someone trips
over one and you know, ruins it?
Speaker 4 (06:42):
And I was like, oh my gosh, you're so right.
I didn't think about that. And then yeah, and then
I looked into jewelry. I only had enough budget to
really bring out about six pieces of jewelry.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Yeah, yeah, So the emo cues were.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Achievable to be able to hit emocues as an minimum
water quantity. So I was able to because I was like,
I mean, wherever you look at sourcing some units you
have to source like five thousand of one design.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
So it took me weeks to find someone that would
drop the down.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Likewise, so do.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
You look at the numbers you order now and you go,
oh my gosh, this is wild?
Speaker 4 (07:14):
Yes and no, like it still works for us that MOQ,
but I feel like I'm ordering so much more frequently
our solo s range. We just got a shipmentton two
weeks ago and already I've had to play an order
last week. So I really should be ordering more quantities.
The price doesn't change, it's just more of like a
cost for you out front.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Right, and then shipping and fright and stuff.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
At coming to you, Oh my gosh, And you had
just put out the first six peers and you wanted
me to model one of them. And we were on
the back of your house and I had these like
hoop harth hanging things.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
How can you take pictures of your new website?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
And I think it was then that I really felt
inspired to do something myself. I realized how bored I
was in my job and I was watching you do this.
I actually think it was around at the same time
we talked.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
About applying for the book.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
My god, no, George, will we dared apply for the
block And no we did not get.
Speaker 1 (08:01):
The call up. No, we we had aspirations.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
Implication was so long, wasn't it. God? I don't know
why they didn't take us on.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
With that first piece you designed, it's called the Solace
I have it myself. What inspired you to design that?
And what's the design process like for you?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
The Solace range.
Speaker 4 (08:26):
We do earrings and necklace and I'm actually wearing the
necklace limited edition. Now we get a lot of inspiration
from overseas, so it could be European websites, and we
do feel like Europe is ahead of the treats, right, Yeah,
and then we also look at the other states, and
then we also look at Pinterest, So mixing all of
those up, we saw a shape that we particularly liked
(08:48):
on Pinterest and I thought, man, that would look cool
as like an air ring or a necklace, and we
decided to send it off to our manufacturer.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Was obviously really specific instructions.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
Yeah, there can be so had and mess with interpreting
what you want done right, And my manufacturer absolutely nailed
the brief.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
First, is this the first manufacturer you contact?
Speaker 4 (09:10):
And I've still oh no, Honestly, that took like a
month to find this manufacturer. She nailed it, absolutely nailed it.
And we were someone telling me, don't try to fix
something that isn't broken, and with this design we just
have not not had to fix it.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Found that one style that completely sours out every time.
Speaker 4 (09:29):
And it's been nearly six years we've done i think
nearly six thousand.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Peers of the Solar Spirit obviously changed.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Down the street and see people wearing your earrings and
necklace and I'm.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Like, oh, that's cool, likewise with you. Honestly, it's such
a weird feeling scene.
Speaker 2 (09:44):
It's such a cool feeling though no one understand when
you see someone wearing something you made and go, oh
my god, why are you wearing that?
Speaker 1 (09:49):
Like why do you like it?
Speaker 4 (09:51):
Living in a small town now and Cambridge. I when
got some blood work downe the other day and someone
was wearing my ear rings.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
It was getting you know.
Speaker 4 (09:57):
I was like, oh my gosh, my marketing is working,
and like the kimissed and then I just you know,
both just had a new daycare and I was like,
oh my gosh, you're wearing my earrings and she's like, oh,
do you have them tail? I was like no, no,
I design them.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Yeah you do.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
You get like little like moments of like, oh my gosh,
this is so cold. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
I even sometimes later we were stripped and there was
two ladies sitting at a restaurant, both wearing my piper
tor Oh my god, and I feel like I just
stared at them as I walked away. I didn't say anything.
I was just walking looking at you.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
Do you think they sometimes recognize you because obviously you
are such your brand, like you are your brand.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
I don't know, it's hard to tell with that generation
if they're on socials as much as I think they are,
But definitely with my generation.
Speaker 5 (10:37):
Yes, a little bit of a thing, Yeah, totally. You
mentioned Bo before. You have a little daughter and she
is so cute. Yes, how did you feel when you
found out you were pregnant with her? Because you were
kind of right in the hustle and bustle of rowing
is our sea for sure.
Speaker 4 (10:50):
I got pregnant just after we had moved into our
new new belt and Cambridge, and it wasn't planned, but
it was a nice shot. I was still working like
twenty hours a week at the design which was just
a little retail outlet.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
I was just doing the website stuff.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
I was going to spend the rest of the week
focusing on silver linings, just try and give it a
little bit more time. When I found out I was pregnant,
I thought, that's totally cold. I will be able to
spend so much of my matt leave on my jewelry
business and it's going to grow. Because it hadn't really
taken off yet. It didn't come easily to me trying
to grow my social media. Nothing went viral, but I
(11:24):
feel that.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
A grind.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
Obviously we did have like quite a few stock us
from the get go, so that was a good reliable
kind of income even a month, although you did obviously
have to try and hustle, right and so I yeah,
I assumed I'd be able to have all this time,
and honestly I had none.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
It was so hard.
Speaker 4 (11:45):
I think that's one of the biggest challenges actually, is
getting pregnant or having a child and balancing and juggling work.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Honestly, especially when it's for yourself.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
It's like such a conversation in my life at the moment.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
I would say every second day I meet a business
owner is trying to work out how to start a
family and how to own a business. There's no one
out there who helps you with.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
This sort of stuff.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
It is hard, especially when you're the person who runs
the actual backbone of the business. You may have three,
four or five people who help with their daily workings,
but who's going to talk to the manufacturers, who's going
to order the stock designs?
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Literally do anything? That luck is only in your brain.
It's quite scary, it is.
Speaker 4 (12:24):
And I've got another one on the way, so I'm
having another baby in January. Really excited and I feel
a lot more prepared as to what to expect. We
have got a few contractors on board, so a lot
more help. I really want to enjoy it because I
was so stressed out bang a new mum, and I
feel like I was really young as well, like I
just turned twenty six, trying to like navigate my business
(12:46):
and try and get that off the ground, you.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
Know, buying house, owning a business or in the first year.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
But the pressure will still be on. Bells still need
to be paid.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
You know, what.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Contractors have you brought on to help out and what
are you doing to prepare for this.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
So we have a publicist and that's helping us hates
without advertising. We have a brier as well, so she
helps a lot with our advertising in terms of Google ads,
Meta ads.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
I also use machine.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
And we have Carla who does our ADM so email
direct marketing yep.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
She works from London. She's just gone on her OA.
Speaker 4 (13:22):
And then we also have Kayla who helps ship our
product out to our customers as well as our stores.
But it's like the first time this year that we
have invested back into the business in order for us
to grow.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
As then you've been putting money in the business, but
you haven't put in such a substantial aid to fast
grow for sure.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
I mean, you know, you get your website whipped on
here and there by other people and that kind of thing,
and you invest in you know, photoships and photography and
content creators and that. So it's like pretty much my
drawings that I haven't haven't touched your pay literally, yeah,
but you've just got to do it. You have to
do it in all to grow.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
Is that with the goal of reaching more people to
help boost your online sales or is that for both
online and your retails because you're in stores too overall.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
So getting people in the brain doors, yeah, getting people
in stores and buying from them, but also buying from
us if they can. Everything else is really to help
generate online sales because we've been so focused on wholesale
for so long. I think we're like seventy percent wholesale
where and it's always been that way where and then.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
You're relying on someone else to make your sales.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Totally, especially the sign other times.
Speaker 4 (14:29):
Right, Like it's been a crazy year for people in
business this year and everyone is feeling it and if
stores aren't ordering, then essentially you're not making as much money. Yeah,
we're talking about going Tozzy because obviously we've been Tozzy
together a few times and that's a huge investment in itself,
isn't it.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Got The last trap I think cost us twelve grand aage.
Speaker 4 (14:46):
I think really expensive because we're at the wrong show land.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Research before you go spend money to go to away
trade show in Australia. We didn't realize there was three
on in the same and you do, You live and
you learn. Speaking of mistakes, can you tell me some
of the mistakes you've made in your business that stand out,
Maybe some of the things you still can't quite believe happened,
a funny story, something that you maybe didn't show on
(15:14):
social media because at the time you were like, oh
my god, I've screwed up.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
I remember we did this design called the Zulu earrings.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
I had the Zulu earrings.
Speaker 4 (15:23):
They were really cold, and to this day of still
get emails been like do you have any leaf?
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Do you know any stores that have them?
Speaker 4 (15:28):
They came and they kind of like sat sideways in
your ears almost say the way the class shut or closed,
it could be become really loose, really easily.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
Yeah, So I had to go through.
Speaker 4 (15:42):
All these pairs of earrings, and obviously there's like Tom
makes up a peer, and I had to get like
pliers and a piece of metal and like really squeeze
it so that it would, you know, hold this clasp
and when you close the earring.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
And I remember being like, oh my god, like this
is going to take up so much of my time,
just sit there doing hundreds and dreds hundreds and it
was like, I can't believe this is a bag.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
Those shopping bags I got designed for our pop up shop,
we had two weeks. Again I thought I double checked
those measurements over and over, and I thought they would
fit two pairs of sunglasses and a luxe multi case
in it, which is like a big foldable case. And
they arrived and I was so excited and I was
showing my family, going how beautiful they are.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
And then I opened them up and they fit one
pair of Sunnis.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
So if someone came into my store and said they
wanted to buy two, I'd be like, oh my god, this.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
Eggs because I can't fit your two Sunnis or not.
Speaker 2 (16:32):
They stole great though, and I ordered like seven hundred
of them as well, so I'm stuck with them for
a long time.
Speaker 3 (16:38):
You make it work, and that's the thing on business.
You have to make it work. You always go.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
Your story reminded me of one other story when you
said you were sitting there fixing class before you sent
them out to stores. I can laugh about the story now,
but at the time I was honestly crying and I
was so stranged.
Speaker 3 (16:53):
You rang me, actually, no, this one. I think I
know what this one is. Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
It wasn't good at the time, but now like the
issue's been and gone. I had pre sold two hundred
and fifty to three hundred of our best sellers of
the piper Torts, maybe like a month ahead of time,
as I normally do. They our best seller, I know
I can pre sell them. They arrive, I check them
and they have the wrong print on the temple, which
is like the boat goes behind your ears and it
(17:19):
seed bioacetate. These were not the bioacetate material, so legally
I can't sell them. Put the wrong information on, and
I had two hundred and fifty customers waiting for these.
So I went into absolute panic mode and created a
manufacturing plant in my dad's garage with a polishing wheel,
(17:39):
car polish, nail polish remover, and a cotton bud And
we sat there for three days and removed this print
from the sunglasses and polished to buff the sunglasses back
up to get them back out to customers.
Speaker 3 (17:50):
And saying what you can do when you put your
mind to it.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
And nobody knew about this. And I was sitting there crying, going,
oh my god, I can't believe I'm doing this. But
if my dad didn't help me, honestly, I know I
would have been in trouble.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
The business that we're in. Small business owners know each
other like it's this. It's this Titanan circle in New Zealand,
especially in Auckland, where you follow each other's journeys closely.
You go to all the same events, networking events. You
know everybody's stories, everybody's issues, support one another.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Support one another.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
But with knowing all of that, do you find that
you compare yourself your business we're at.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
It's the toxic trait of mine. It's so easy to do, though,
isn't it.
Speaker 4 (18:36):
Yeah, when you see it like all online on socials, Yeah,
you start comparing, even though you you might be so different,
but you do compare. You go, oh my gosh, how
many sales they got on their launch? How come I'm
not heading there?
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Or you know, and you really see those viral tiktoks
with people doing four hundred.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Looking at your launch, going where's my four hundred?
Speaker 3 (18:56):
On my other active?
Speaker 1 (18:57):
The products active.
Speaker 4 (19:02):
Make a fake order just leave us work.
Speaker 3 (19:06):
Literally is. But hey, you have good days and bad
days and business.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
For me, I've got to remember that a lot of
our revenue comes from stores and that's what we're trying
to grow as our online so it will come with time.
But yeah, when you do, you do compute yourself to others.
I know I'm guilty of it. Like I said, toxic trait.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Yeah, it is your toxic trait. Slap it out of
you every time.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
I know, I found out going to the point where
I look at someone's success and I go, it's a
highlight reel. I know what I share on socials, and
I try to be as real as possible, but there's
still some stuff even I don't share in that saying
a lot that I know all these people wouldn't share.
So when I see something good, I'm like, there's been
twenty bad things to get into this one.
Speaker 4 (19:45):
Usually totally as like when you had that photo shirt
and I remember you you're crying and You're like, I've
prepared a day of it, and I'm like, but it.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
Was success, Like it was, it was so great.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
And I cried because the warehouse stationary lady couldn't print
a three poster.
Speaker 3 (19:58):
But everything else to get stress.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
That leads up to these things, and then you just
show this fantastic day the next day, everything's looking beautiful
and working out, But you don't show you doing eight
hours of driving the day before, your props and your
outfits and child.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
And I don't think customers necessarily see that unless you
post it.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Have you had any big surprises during your business journey?
Anything that straight out you're like, oh my gosh, that
was amazing.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
I can't believe that happened.
Speaker 4 (20:27):
Getting Max Fashion on Bush that was a really neat surprise. Yeah,
although I had like reached out to them and it
was a bit of you know, toying back and forwards.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
Anyways, how long have you been with them now?
Speaker 4 (20:40):
Same amount of time you've been with them, so about
three two years, three years, Yeah, probably the unsuccessful trip
that we did in Ossie. Yeah, and then they ended
up seeing us in Aussie and so.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Again it's the more you do, the more people see
you more seriously they'll take you. And ironically a lot
of New Zealand stores do take you on when they
see you in Australia because they see the legitimate and
maybe putting a little bit more time and money into
your business than they originally thought it.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
I mean, prime example, when we went to Ossie last year,
we got seven stores on board, six from New Zealand.
Speaker 3 (21:09):
Yeah that was from Australia.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
Yeah. Where do you see Silver Linings Collective going in
the next let's say five years.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
In the next five years, I really want to focus
on New Zealand and do that really well. You know,
you can go to Ozzie and try and brunch out
into the Australian market and say that you're in the market.
Is awesome to say that you're in some Australian stores.
I still feel like we could do New Zealand so
much better.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
I know this conversation well, as a conversation I had
with my business coach.
Speaker 1 (21:35):
He told me.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Imagine that you were walking down the streets in Auckland
City or standing there and you asked one hundred people
if they knew your brand, and only two people would
probably say that they've.
Speaker 3 (21:46):
Heard of your brand, so well, so many more people
you could be reaching.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
Imagine if you get three percent of the population four
percent even just recognizing your brand, that's doubling tripling your
rivenue straight off the bat. There's so many more people
and so many more buyers and so much more money
out there in New Zealand. I think we recognize totally, and.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
I think that is like one of our strategy is
worth growing our online presence and generating those sales online
as we have so many more people we could be reaching.
We're doing so many more things this year that we
haven't done in the past five years.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
First time doing paid advertising.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
Yeah, which is why I can't believe it there. Yes,
sexe business.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Yeah, there's a lot of business owners out there who
are going to look at that and say that as
why or the revenue that you but in without paid ads.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
You should be so proud.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Really loyal customers actually, like someone just maybe a fourteenth
order the other day, I feel like It all comes
down to time as well, and that's why offsetting a
few tasks to different people, eg. Contractors, I mean you've
done the same, Like how many people you've taken on.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Yeah, it's pretty wild, it is.
Speaker 3 (22:46):
And that's a whole nother story. Like cash flow.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
I was thinking about that on the way up here,
because you're investing all this money into other people to
make your business grow and you're waiting for stores to
seven weeks you know, to get that money come through.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Cash Flow is a real big one for me this year.
Speaker 4 (23:01):
I've never really had to think about that the last
five years because we've always had it there because we
haven't well.
Speaker 1 (23:06):
You're lucky, I haven't had money like you.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Know, for people to pay.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
I feel like I'm always on the edge with my financials.
It's still one thing I need to nail. And it's just,
oh my god, learning every single day about reading your
P and L.
Speaker 1 (23:18):
Yeah. P and OW is your profit and loss.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
So it's just a report that you can pull easily
through your accounting platform.
Speaker 1 (23:25):
I think most of us.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Year zero, yes, and it quickly lays out your spending,
your outgoings, your income, your sales, and it gives you
just like a really quick overview of where your money's
going and where your income is coming from. And I
think it's just the easiest way to understand your financials
is to look at that. I am starting to learn
a lot more about my what's the second one, But
(23:48):
I've got your balance sheet?
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Balance sheet, balance sheet.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
I've always looked at my balance sheet and said to
my accountant, I have no idea what I'm looking at.
You need to explain it to me. And I feel
like it's been two years of me saying that and
I still don't quite understand it. But that's fine. Numbers
aren't my strong points. She's need to point me in
the right direction. But I feel like once I get
that under wraps, it'll be so much easier just to
get well, just to understand. And I think another thing
that's really helped is my business coach set up a really,
(24:16):
really easy spreadsheet that helps me with my forecasting. So
it helps me with how much I'm spending in a
certain month. And it is the hardest thing. We constantly
are looking at up here now going what's standing out,
what's wrong?
Speaker 4 (24:28):
Looking, where's the money though the money showing all the
positives that you're like, where's the money.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
I know, it looks like we had a grate your
last year. Where's the money?
Speaker 4 (24:37):
And people, you know, just assume, oh my gosh, you
must be doing well, or they see what it's like
sex online, they thank you creaming it.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
But your business may be doing it well. It doesn't
mean you personally are taking that money for yourself.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Hold my god. There there's been months where I've just
said to my partner, have you got us this month?
Speaker 3 (24:55):
I know, relative all this year, I'm like Campbell, you
got me, you got the more?
Speaker 1 (25:01):
And then two months later I'll be like, oh, I'm good.
Speaker 3 (25:03):
Yeah, I'm like, yeah, I'll take you out for dinner.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
My treat business the street.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Literally, I don't think I should say that.
Speaker 2 (25:12):
I'm gonna wrap up there with one more question, and
this is something Pixie asked me on episode number one.
I kind of liked it, and I'm going to bring
it in through okay the rest of the episodes.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
Are you proud of yourself and what you've achieved?
Speaker 3 (25:25):
That's a good question.
Speaker 4 (25:26):
I am proud of myself for where the business is today. Yeah,
when you look at where we start it, how far
we've come, and I think I'm really guilty of chasing
that next goal and.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
Not appreciated totally where.
Speaker 4 (25:42):
You are at the moment, because you know, just say
you get Max Fashion on board, you're like, oh my
gosh and saying so cool. Two weeks later you're like,
so we need more stores, and you're kind of back
to the grind. You know, you don't just really reflect
upon the whole journey that you've been on and go.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Shit, this has been a pretty cool ride. Yeah, I
get to work thirty hours a week.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
You know, thirty hours a week.
Speaker 3 (26:03):
Why have bo on Friday?
Speaker 1 (26:04):
Oh my gosh.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
Obviously you work on the weekends and stuff we needed
and late nights of you know, things are pressing. But yeah,
those are day hours, like thirty thirty four hours a week.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Week.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Gosh, maybe I should get a baby.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
That's it, Like, that's what I mean. When you have
a kid, it changes.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
Yeah, I don't think I'm quite prepared for how much
it'll change the way I work. And Jay seems to
think I'll be sitting there after birth with my laptop
on my lap and a baby in one hand.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
And I said to him, are you joke?
Speaker 4 (26:30):
But that's like, I mean, BO was away on Monday,
I had to stay at home. Like Campbell just automately
assumed I've got it, and I'm like, well, I have
to work.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Too, I do you know, Campbell?
Speaker 4 (26:42):
And then Tuesday was a bit you know, hit and
mess and he's like, oh, I can do half a
day and it's just that communication and you just need
to work your way around it. All work late nights,
and that's what I did. She family comes first. Ultimately,
I'm proud of you, Thank you. I'm proud of you,
absolutely crushing it.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Do we have for a question, PLEXI.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
Totally, We've got time for questions.
Speaker 4 (27:01):
Laura Catherine Lee would like to ask how to get
started and finding supply or manufacturers?
Speaker 3 (27:07):
So how do you get into it?
Speaker 4 (27:08):
We looked on Ali Barber. That's where we sourced our manufacturer.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Ali Baba's just kind of like this massive site that
are lots of business duos and it's just got this
massive database of manufacturers and they make it really easy
to send out requests or send out what you're looking for.
You can refine it by your minimum order quantities or
by what country you want to purchase from.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
It just makes it really easy.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Ali Barber is a good place to get started and
then you can actually see if you can afford it
or not, now if it works for your brand or not.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
Well, what I did, and I think a lot of
other businesses do the same as I sent out I
don't even know, twenty to thirty requests to all sunglasses manufacturers,
seeing if they can hit my smaller MOQ for my
first order, seeing what their prices are, seeing where they
import their materials from. For me, I import from Italy,
so I needed to make sure they could bring those
(28:00):
materials in and if they couldn't, then I'd cross them off.
And I think it was about three months of questions, messaging,
making sure you find the right team that you click with.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
And we were the same.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
I mean, I remember staying up most nights for about
three weeks dealing with someone in India because that's where
we were looking at getting our jewelry manufacturers.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
The time zone thing that's something you don't quite think
about when you're finding a manufacturer is that when you're
going to bed, they're getting to work. So Jay always
knows that China's awake because my phone makes the specific dinging.
All my manufacturers start writing in their questions for the
day and he's like, put your phone away, and I'm like,
but otherwise I go to sleep and then when I.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Wake up there asleep.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
Once your business is running and you have a website
and maybe you have a bit of a brand profile,
you do start getting in or I do at least
start getting emails from manufacturers that have found you online
and are wanting to see if you want to test
some And at first I would just put them straight
into my trash.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
I wouldn't read them.
Speaker 2 (29:00):
And then one day something just clicked and I decided
that I would start researching into these manufacturers, and I
now manufacture with one of them. So I run two
factories side by side. One was one I found on
Ali Barber. One was one who actually contacted me and
found me through my website. And yeah, they're both super successful.
It's just keeping those relationships is that is the best
(29:21):
thing for you. Whenever they message, make sure to reply
because they your lifeline. Without your manufacturers, you don't have a.
Speaker 3 (29:27):
Business, and it's so good to have a back up
as well.
Speaker 4 (29:30):
Well.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
That was my main reason for looking into other ones
was that during COVID you heard all of these stories
of factories closing businesses, not being able to bring in
their staff, having to cut your load because they couldn't
have as many people in the factories. And that's when
I started to think, oh my gosh, if my factory closes,
I need to start my business again from the ground up.
And if I think about how long it took me
(29:50):
to nail my first design, I'm going to have to
do that with a whole other factories. And it took
us a year to get to get that factory manufacturing
sunglasses that matched the quality of our factory that we'd
been running for two and a half years. If I
had done that while the first factory had closed, I
wouldn't have had a business three years.
Speaker 1 (30:08):
So it's something to think about. Yeah, oh well, I'm
going to end it there. I'd like to say thanks,
thank you for coming on. I've actually had so much fun.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Thank you so much for having you episode when you
walked in your hands, Honestly, I like partners get it together.
I'm so proud of what you've achieved, and thank you
for coming on to bored de boss.
Speaker 4 (30:26):
So yeah, so thankful for having me. And I think
you're amazing, absolutely crushing it. You've got the drive and
determination to do anything that you put your mind to.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
Thanks for listening.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Boord Boss is a z M podcast for iHeartRadio with
me Georgia Patten. This episode was produced by Pixi Copperrell,
engineered by Meg pud and Call It with production help
from Sam Harvey.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
If you liked it, hit subscribe to get notified whenever
we release a new episode.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Listen every Tuesday on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts,
and make your business idea a reality
Speaker 5 (31:01):
To Baman
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