Proof to Product

If you work with independent contractors in your business, you will want to listen closely to this podcast episode. In March 2024, the US Department of Labor issued new stricter guidelines regarding independent contractor workers. 

Today's guest is HR consultant and expert, Kira La Forgia of Paradigm Consulting. She is breaking it all down for us so we avoid penalties and audits. 

We talk abou...

If you have ever considered exiting your business or even acquiring another person's business, today's podcast episode is for you. My guests today are two of my clients and also friends: Meghan Hopkins Sokorai of And Here We Are, and Kiwi Schloffel of Your Gal Kiwi. 

Last year, Kiwi made the decision that she wanted to exit her product-based business and specifically exit the day-to-day operations of manuf...

One of the things that sets Proof to Product apart from other people teaching about wholesale is the breadth and depth of not only my personal knowledge but also the fact that we bring in a variety of other perspectives from buyers to sales reps to consultants and manufacturers. 

This wide lens allows us to share best practices and current trends that we're seeing in the market currently. We're not sharing...

Did you know that almost 70% of shoppers abandon their online shopping carts and don't follow through with a sale? 

That means that only 3 out of 10 of your customers who go to your website and load up their shopping cart complete their purchase. The same report from Baymard Institute said that more than $18,000,000,000 in e-commerce sales are lost annually due to abandoned carts.

That is a wh...

Our focus here at Proof to Product is teaching people how to successfully sell their products to the wholesale market. But many of our community members sell through multiple sales channels, including licensing, custom work, direct-to-consumer online sales, and in-person retail markets. 

For today's episode, we're sharing a portion of a recent coffee chat that we hosted inside our LABS program. It was a ro...

The last time Brittany O'Brien was on the podcast was back in 2022, and we were talking about how she scaled her business to 500 wholesale accounts.

Earlier this year, Brittany crossed a new milestone. Her products are now sold in over 1,000 stores, and today, we're going to dig into what the last year and a half has looked like for her. Specifically, we're talking about customer acquisition versus custome...

We have shared many incredible business growth stories here on the Proof to Product podcast. One thing that I always try to emphasize is that business is not one size fits all. Every business will look different, operate differently, and have different goals they're working towards.

To build a profitable, successful long-term business, we have to be very intentional about the choices that we make. And that...

Last week on episode 331, you met my friends Ginny and Elli from the Supported CEO. They very candidly shared their stories of experiencing burnout in entrepreneurship, including what that was like, what they felt, and they shared their journey back from burnout and what they did to get to where they are today. 

Today is part 2 in the discussion with Elli and Ginny, and they are sharing strategies and tact...

The topic of burnout is popping up a lot in my business circles. People are tired, and they are struggling with decision fatigue. Many people I talk to are questioning whether to even continue with their business or whether they should make an exit, but these types of conversations typically happen behind closed doors, or worse, they don't happen at all, and people end up struggling alone in silence, which is not what ...

If you're looking for ways to be a stronger leader within your business or you're considering expanding your team, please block off some quiet time to carefully listen today. 

Our guest for this episode is Tatiana O'Hara, a team and leadership development consultant who helps successful yet overwhelmed online business owners create the structure needed for their team and daily operations so that they can f...

We are gearing up for the 43rd round of Paper Camp and we are so excited! 

This is our wholesale intensive program, and I wanted to do something fun for this week's podcast episode to celebrate this milestone and the fact that enrollment for Paper Camp is currently open. 

I asked our past Paper Camp students to answer 1 question: How have you and your business grown since participating in Pape...

Have you ever wondered what it's like to attend our Paper Camp program? If so, today's episode is for you! 

I am sharing an inside peek into one of our Paper Camp coaching calls. This one is with Alex Gagne of Chez Gagné. Alex has been a longtime member of our Paper Camp community. When she first attended as a student, she had been in business a little less than 2 years. 

She was working out o...

If you’re listening today that means you’re likely interested in applying for our Paper Camp scholarship!

Giving back is one of our core values here at Proof to Product and we give back through our time, knowledge as well as financial scholarships.

Since 2011, we’ve awarded over $275,000+ in scholarship funds to creative entrepreneurs who sell physical products to the wholesale market. These b...

I have been doing so much good content for other people and I’m doing my best to bring it back around so that you all have access to it and know about these resources.

Recently, the team of Aeolidia asked me to weigh in with my thoughts on the changing landscape of wholesale trade shows for their blog. The post features comments from Arianne Foulks of Aeolidia, Abby Glassenbeg of Craft Industry Alliance, M...

I’ve been thinking a lot about how our past work experience and general lived experience shape how we start and build our businesses. For me, I spent 12 years in the corporate world leading business development and strategic marketing teams for large law firms before starting my product line. That time in my life taught me about project management, budgeting, and how important relationships are in business. These are l...

Happy New Year! I hope you had a restful and relaxing holiday season. I enjoyed a lot of downtime with my family and also worked on a few things behind the scenes to get Proof to Product ready for 2024.

I thought it might be helpful to share some of the things that I look at as I’m wrapping up one year and starting a new one.

So today’s episode is going to focus on your New Year checklist. I’m...

There is a lot of noise on the internet. Lots of gurus, experts, and other people claim you have to do things a certain way in order to be successful.  We see ads on social media telling us there is a magic formula or 5-step process that will make all of our dreams come true.

It seems that a new business coach is popping up on the scene every day with some new system or lived experience that we have to fol...

Hey everyone! I was recently on Shirlee Fisher's podcast, The Tillage Podcast, where we talked about a variety of topics: how to navigate challenges during a crisis, how to make informed decisions with my four-factor framework, how to embrace knowing your numbers as a neutral tool for success and so much more. 

I had such a good time that I asked Shirlee if I could air the episode on our podcast, so that'...