From Punchline to Powerhouse: Heather Zeitzwolfe Turned Her Swatch Store Around Part 2

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Anytime you get to talk to Heather, you have fun, for real!
Joins us as we discuss life lessons in business and how to make lemonade out of lemons! (and how she turned the worst store into one of the best stores!)

She's a great story teller and has a great sense of humor about herself and life!
She never shoves her vegan lifestyle down your face. She's always gracious and happy to answer any and all questions....

Heather Zeitzwolfe: Savvy Frugal Vegan 

"Compassion starts on our plates because we are what we eat."

Heather is a passionate speaker and advocate dedicated to helping people transition into veganism and adopt a plant-based diet. Her mission is to challenge the status quo and encourage others to think differently, particularly regarding veganism and ethical living. Heather guides people toward embracing the benefits of veganism and provides the tools needed to maintain a cruelty-free lifestyle.  She is dedicated to animal rights, equality, and justice, inspiring others to make compassionate choices.

Heather is a GenX'r, nerd, doll collector, film geek, cat mom, entrepreneur, AI enthusiast, content creator, Tofu Wizard, and podcaster. She lives each day, sharing laughter and positive energy.

Heather Zeitzwolfe, the Savvy Frugal Vegan, empowers individuals and entrepreneurs to embrace a compassionate, plant-based lifestyle through in-person and virtual coaching, workshops, retreats, and events. A dynamic speaker, activist, and YouTuber, Heather’s mission is to support one million people in adopting and maintaining a healthy, affordable, plant-based diet. She challenges the status quo, encouraging others to rethink their diet, ethics, and environmental impact, all while making vegan living fun, accessible, delicious, and impactful. 

LINKS: 

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@SavvyFrugalVegan

Website: https://www.savvyfrugalvegan.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savvyfrugalvegan/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SavvyFrugalVegan

It’s a Plant Based Party (Sign up to be on the live panel):  REGISTER for the event to get the participation link. (You can register for future shows as well - see all the dates when you sign up) https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvce2ppzgvHdODn3Z8gbdsSajuQibA02Ea

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Episode Transcript

(00:06):
I'm just so happy to have you.
So hi everybody.
My name is Elaine.
I am here.
Captivate the mic.
I am here with the magnificentFabulous.
Heather Zaitzwolf, who I'm sograteful.
She's so busy running threedifferent companies that she
took time out of her busyschedule to be with us.
Because Heather, you are justsuch a delight.

(00:27):
I was watching this thing.
There's a new documentary withWill Ferrell and his best friend
who transitioned.
Oh yeah.
From a man to a woman and thatthe previews, who isn't a big
Will Ferrell fan, right?
And so one of the things I wasgoing down the Tik Tok rabbit
hole of Will Ferrell and becauseI love how he supported his
friend and they did this crosscountry thing Will Ferrell talks

(00:49):
about how he had graduatedcollege and he was doing open
mics and going up in LA.
And he said to his dad, I thinkI really want to try this comedy
thing.
And his dad said, okay.
Look, it's really hard.
Like it's really, it doesn'tjust take talent.
It takes a lot of luck.

(01:11):
And so if you try it for awhile, it's okay if you have to
give yourself permission toquit.
There's nothing wrong if itdoesn't work out if you quit.
And Will Ferrell said that gavehim some space and it helped him
not feel so, and this is myword, desperate.

(01:32):
I didn't say that, but that'show I felt about so much of who
I was being running around NewYork was a little bit like, it
was, I was, I'm sure I cameacross as a desperate, crazy
lady.
Sometimes I was committed andfocused and grounded I just love
what he said about he had somespace.
And that's where the funny canhappen.

(01:52):
That's where funny shit justhappens.
Cause he was just being truthfulin the moment instead of trying
to push or force and that'sHeather.
That's what I think about youthat you are such a loving,
brilliant woman.
And every time I get to be withyou in person, I'm better for
it.
And you're so creative and yes,you're a brilliant, the thing

(02:15):
you're doing.
I like to think of you as afractional CFO.
You have space for yourself.
You have space for everybodyelse.
Even though you are so committedto your lifestyle, if someone
Was next to you eating a rack oflamb and fo gra and all the
things you're not a jerk aboutit.
And so you make me think of WillFerrell.

(02:36):
So that is, oh, that is acompliment.
Yes.
Okay.
I love that.
Truth be told, I'm tired, but, Ihave learned in this.
And this business that I startedlike when I was a little tiny
kid it's showtime.
It's showtime.
I te tabled this weekend and I'mlike, I kept telling everybody
at my table, it's showtime.

(02:58):
We've got to put on the face.
It's it doesn't matter what'sgoing on out in that other
world.
You're here now.
You gotta like, Put it on turnit on and it's not a fake thing.
It's just I'm putting yourselfto 11, you know that yeah, I
love it.
There's that, Judy Garland,right?
She somebody said she was, theywere in her dressing room with
her.
This is towards the end of herlife.

(03:19):
And she was in a house coat andshe was just doing her makeup
and just and all of a sudden,it's time and she went Yeah.
She brought it, she brought thatpresence and and you learn how
to do that.
She's a professional.
She's a professional, and andyou learn that as a clown, as a
clown, you were a clown withyour parents, which I think is
so freaking fun.

(03:39):
And if you don't know HeatherZes please everybody, you need
to go follow her.
She's doing the sas.
I almost said sassy.
I am sassy.
I'm so sassy.
And it's so I'm the savvy frugalvegan, but I could have easily
been called the sassy cheapvegans, Let's call her sassy
cheap and savvy frugal.
And I have learned a lot abouteating and the planet and making

(04:03):
choices, not just in order toget into a size six pair of
jeans, which is how I lived mylife for a long time.
From your choices haverepercussions and they affect
the globe.
Can you just tell us reallyquick about the swatch Store
story, because I think this issuch a magnificent story of

(04:24):
leadership and creativity.
Oh, okay.
I thought it was going to betalking about my style my time
in New York yeah, we're going tobe doing that too, but I just,
the swatch thing popped in myhead and I just think it's just,
there's so many good thingsOkay.
I was between jobs and I foundout that the Swatch store here

(04:45):
in Portland, Oregon, it wasstill in existence at the time,
was looking for someone tomanage the store.
And I'd been a project managerand I'd never been a store
manager, and I was a huge Swatchfan.
And so I.
Got the job in the, it turnedout that the store was like one
of the worst performing storesin the country.

(05:07):
And so I had my challenge ofokay this business started in
Portland, probably I think fiveyears prior.
And They had a, great year, thefirst year.
And then every year it went downfrom there.
And it was the laughing stock ofstores.
Yeah, it was, Oh no.
The laughing stock of swatchstores in America.

(05:28):
Yeah.
It was like the ugliest.
Stepchild or whatever, it wasjust like, Oh, them, so I put on
my market research hat, whichI'd been in that field for many
years and was like, okay, I wantto get to know the staff,
stepping into the situationwhere there's an existing staff
and they've already been doingthings a certain way.
They're not getting paid a tonof money.

(05:49):
So it's not like they're like,they've got a lot vested into
it.
But and then I got to know allthe people that came into the
store.
We had some regulars, we were indowntown Portland and, you had
your homeless people that wouldshow up.
You'd have the people that allthey wanted to do was just chit
chat and never buy anything.
That mixed bag of this is, itwas like, cheers.

(06:12):
Like people would come in andjust hang out, except for they
wouldn't buy anything.
So I had to discover what it wasthat people wanted and then find
creative ways to draw morepeople into the store.
So it wasn't just these quoteunquote regulars that weren't
ever going to buy anything.
They were like, Oh, I'm justcoming to see what it is.

(06:32):
It's okay, I know you're nevergoing to buy anything.
Had a background in advertisingas well.
So it was like, okay, how can wemerchandise the store and kind
of switch things up and makethings more fun?
And, we bent the rules in someways, cause they had, certain
things We were supposed topresent in a certain way, and I
just found what people liked andfilled the store with more of

(06:54):
those types of things.
And we got the sales up.
So it ended up being the best,the first year I was there, it
was the best year that store hadever performed.
And it was something that peoplewere just shocked.
And then they allowed me to goto other stores that were.
Fledgling.
Anyways.
And I helped them, they werestruggling.

(07:15):
Yes.
And I helped them.
And so I got to travel a littlebit because of that.
And wasn't the laughing stockanymore.
So it was really great.
And I, the employees said I waslike the best manager they've
ever had.
I think because I listened tothem and I was going to say,
you've told me how you would goin and talk to them and actually

(07:36):
listen to what was important tothem, which helped them then buy
in to the new work culture.
Yeah, exactly.
And so I gamified things.
I, it was every day was like,just this like dorky games that
we would do about around quotas.
And I had parties in the storeand I had no budget.

(07:58):
So it was all about beingcreative and luckily watches a.
It's a kind of a quirky kind ofbrand and so they even have this
vibe called, they call it thevibe.
It was like a swatchy vibe andso it's like around like being
yourself and being weird was Itwas all part of it.

(08:20):
And like they were doing an adcampaign where they had women on
roller skates with bright Afrosthat were like pink and blue and
stuff.
And I was like, can I get aholdof those?
Can you send me some of thoseAfros?
And so they sent them to me.
And so I did some events aroundthat and I was just stand out.
So I was like the circus barker,I'd be out there Hey, come on

(08:41):
in, blah, blah, blah.
And bringing people in.
And then we had a local newschannel that was walking by.
I'm like, Hey, come on in.
And, then I got on that, like acommercial thing.
And I just, it was all justbeing very open marketing.
I love it.
And he turned it around.
Thank you.
I love that story.
Thank you.
I just think it's such a,there's so many great moments of

(09:04):
being creative and listening andsaying, okay, I have no budget.
What can I do?
And throwing things against thewall and see what's going to
stick.
And You were so good at it.
You became like this regionalsuperstar.
Cause that's just who you are,Heather.
That's who you are.
And, because we were the lonelystore that was not doing well,

(09:24):
they didn't really want to giveus a lot of the new products and
the new product was like whatcollectors wanted and
everything.
So then I discovered Oh, wait aminute.
Swatch has this huge warehouseof old stuff and the vintage
swatches were My clientelereally wanted.
And so we started stocking a lotof that stuff.
So we had stuff that peoplecould not find anywhere else.

(09:47):
So that made it very cool.
Exclusive.
I love it.
We love exclusive.
For that.
OK, awesome.
All right.
Thank you, my friend.
I love you madly.
I appreciate you.
Okay, bye.
Bye, sweetheart.