FreeMind Network: Unveiling The Grit
Shanti Grossman: Launching A Brighter Year During a Pandemic | EP84 - FreeMind Network Podcast
Join Shanti Grossman as she shares her inspiring journey of launching A Brighter Year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Discover her motivations, the challenges she faced, and her commitment to promoting mental health and wellness through her business. Perfect for aspiring entrepreneurs and anyone interested in the intersection of art and mental health.
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction and Background
02:00 Entrepreneurial Journey
05:00 Time and Freedom Motivation
10:00 Launching During the Pandemic
20:00 Overcoming Challenges
30:00 Selling a Business
Follow Shanti Grossman:
Instagram: A Brighter Year
TikTok: A Brighter Year
Website: A Brighter Year
#ShantiGrossman #ABrighterYear #Entrepreneurship #MentalHealth #PandemicBusiness
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/freemind-network-unveiling-the-grit--5189978/support.
- Duration:
- 45m
- Broadcast on:
- 17 Aug 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
(upbeat music) ♪ You know my story, right? ♪ ♪ Rise the fame from the pain and glory, right? ♪ - I'm Jonathan Grossman. My business is a brighter year. We make simple and easy coloring books for adults. And I launched in 2020 because that was what was on my agenda, was to launch in 2020. And I was not gonna let a pandemic stop me from that because that's like the type of, I am a type A person. So I was like, no, it's written on our calendar. We have the products we're launching in June of 2020. And I didn't know at that time that like my kids weren't going back to school for a year and a half. Like we were, I had a kindergartner and first grader that like went home from spring break and then went back to school a year and a half later, right? So I was virtual, our kids were doing virtual school, which many people know was very reliant on the parents. I was launching this business and I already had another entire business that I had founded and I had sent my entire staff home because we worked from my house. And at that point, we weren't in a position where we could or felt comfortable having just like loads of people come into our house every day, which is what was happening. So sent all them home. So I'm trying to get this business run by myself, virtual school, my kids. And then at the same time, I'm like, we're launching another business. Let's do this. So that is kind of how we got to where we are today. If all goes as planned and the stars align, that other business is actually selling and the close of that sale is on Saturday. So we have come a long way since 2020 for sure. - Wow, congratulations. That is so awesome. That is so awesome. So the virtual school piece is what's going out. - Oh, so virtual school is, that's done. My other business, we sell custom party decorations, but everything is very hands-on custom made to order. So there's, you don't even start the order until the order comes in. And from there, people get to choose the color of the party. They get to add the name. They get to add the age, whatever. So it was very, very hands-on. And actually about five years into that business, which for any other entrepreneur, they would have said, this business is so successful. Like, why are you even questioning it? But it was, everything was so hands-on. I was so tied to the workspace that I told my husband. I was like, I'm not retiring on this business. Like, I work way too hard. And I'm too location-based. Like, if I'm not here in the garage working in the studio, like, we're not making money, right? And so I knew that I wanted something that was a little bit more pack and ship. I didn't want to drop ship from China. I wanted to like create a product that was able to be manufactured. And that was a little bit more like a pack and ship style of business. - So, and that's the one that is potentially closing? - Yeah, so the party business is the one that we're selling. And then the coloring books, that's the more pack and ship one, that is the one that I settled on, which is the one that we're keeping, which went from doing not very much to seven-figure business in about nine months. - I do want to talk about that too, because so first off, congratulations on that. So is this your first business that you're selling? - It's the first one I'm selling, not the first one that I started. - I read, I read once that most entrepreneurs start 10 businesses before one takes off. I don't know if I'm exactly at 10, but I feel like I'm probably pretty close. - Oh, well, we got to get you started, 'cause I think I was at 16, 17. I have a thing on my LinkedIn profile that has all my failed businesses. So if you're embarrassed about 10, don't worry, you got plenty more to go. (laughs) - Okay, so I came, my degrees in music business. So I came from the service industry. So I was like managing band. I started working bands in '08. - Oh, really? Okay, so yeah. - I started business in '08, booking bands. Yeah, I was free-minded LLC, yep. - So I was booking tours like nationwide. I was working for big music festivals. Like I'm in Austin, so I would work for South by Southwest every year. I was working for Miami Music Festival. People would fly me out to work with the big festivals. I was also managing bands, but I loved that there was not a lot of money in that, as you know. (laughs) And it got to the point where I knew that we were gonna have kids. And I actually talked to, there's not a lot of female band managers that last. And I talked to quite a few of them. And I'm talking like big bands, signed to major labels. I had the opportunity to talk to a lot of their female managers and all of them said like it's not impossible to have kids, to have a family and be a road manager, but it's really, really hard. And so you just have to know that going into it. And at that point, I was like, that's not the kind of mom that I want to be. I don't want to be the mom that's like gone most of the time and here it stops in occasionally. And so at that point, I kind of pulled back from the music industry and then started dabbling in like other entrepreneurial aspects. My first business was not scalable at all. I learned that the hard way. My second business was scalable, which that was the party business, but I was very tied to a location base. And then this business gives me just a lot more freedom overall. - That's awesome. And so when you were doing the managing and stuff like that, how deep were you, where did the, there's so many questions here because we have similar lives and I'm assuming, so it could be the years when you were in the band in the music industry. - So I graduated in '05. So 2005 to... - And exact time, yep. - Yeah, so 2005 to, I think, 2009 or '10, probably was when I finally was like, I got to, it also was getting to a point where I was like working up in my career that I was like, it's either getting to a point where you're going all in or you've got to start up. - But also like you said, I knew, I had a feeling you were going to say, 'cause 2010 is exactly when my band management and poking and promotions, that's when I stopped that. I moved into the alcohol industry because that was when the money really dried up in '09 and 2010 and there was nothing. And I was like, yeah, you know, I was fronting the money every time. I was the one taking the risk and taking the cut at the end. And it was like, it got to be a couple of months in a row where I was like, man, I'm fueling this business out of life savings and I'm out of here. - Well, and also working like 60, 70 hour weeks on, like that was like a slow week, right? I remember-- - You just had our baby too. Like my daughter, she's gonna be 14 in a couple of months and she doesn't have these memories, but we have video and footage of her in her crib and we used to have the bands to save money. They would stay at our house and we would go on tour with them and stuff. So we have like photos of her in her crib and this one musician, Will Knox, out of London that we used to ice the sign his green card papers every year. And he's sitting there while she's in the crib and he's playing lullabies for her. And it is the most beautiful thing in the world. And I'm like, these are the experience. Like, even though I look back and I'm like, I didn't make a dollar and I lost a shitload of money. I have so many amazing stories like of being with those musicians and creating such great experiences for us as well as other people. And I know you feel the same exact way where it's like, from a business standpoint, oh, it's the worst line of work to be in. But from a like a sensory emotional and like just creating a good will feeling, oh, it's the best. - Oh, and also just like learning so much about yourself and other people and being able to see so much of the United States like in a totally different way. I mean, all of those things. I mean, I'm definitely one of those like lifelong learners but like, I look back and I'm like, man, I learned so much about myself, about other people. And yeah, it was like an incredible time, I think, of growth, which also just happens in your 20s. So there's that too. - It does, but it doesn't happen in a certain, I got to have credit to people like yourself and that's why I got to, you have to remember, I always do the same thing where I'm like, yeah, we were in our 20s, but not many were in their 20s with the experiences that they didn't have to go pay for as a consumer because the behind the scenes, like all that stuff, there's experiences. So many people could be like, yeah, I went to shows in the 20s, in one of my 20s, but when you go to the shows as the puppet master of the whole show and the organizer of the show and part of the crew, yeah, that's a different experience, but let's talk a little bit about with where that all went. I really, now knowing that history of you and I did not, that's the fun part about, I don't do any prep for these at all. So I literally am just going off of your TikTok, TikToks and the social media follow and I wanna compliment you on your style and it actually makes 100% a sense when you give you your background now as to what you're doing now. So is it safe to say like this has been kind of a culmination of different things that come together and you've been seeing 'cause you definitely are seeing content gaps that you're executing on as well as deliverable, tangible things for a society that need to happen. So I think those X and Y axis is, I wanna compliment you on matching them and it's not a surprise to see the following you have because of the quality content as well as the quality products that you're creating. - Yeah, absolutely. So I will say, I remember for years, I would be up working when I had just launched the other business, I would be up working when the kids were a little like at midnight, 1 a.m., 2 a.m., right? And I remember listening to the podcast, How I Built This, which was, they just interview entrepreneurs, right? And I remember just like a reoccurring theme in there, he would ask people how they got to be so successful and they would oftentimes they would say, it's a culmination of like hard work and good luck, right? Like you have to be in the right place the right time but you have to have your foundation poured and it has to be really strong. So when that luck presents itself, you don't crumble, right? And that is absolutely what happened with this business. Like I had a really strong foundation as an entrepreneur with, for a brighter year. I was an early-ish adapter to TikTok and, but I was an early adapter to TikTok shop and it took me three months to get my business launched on TikTok shop. Some people put in their paperwork and they're up and running in five minutes. The other people will tell you the story like I do, they hit all these roadblocks, they were getting error messages, AI was shutting stuff down, everything was still in beta, beta like major beta there, but I didn't give up. So for three months, almost every single day I would turn in a customer support chat and be like, this, help, do this, why am I getting this? And I got through, I launched my TikTok shop on July 20th of 2023 and I went viral on July 21st. And that completely just turned on the faucet for this business and everything just started pouring in. Orders were pouring in, not only on TikTok shop, it also turned on the faucet on Amazon. Of course, we were getting orders on our website and Etsy as well, but really for Amazon and TikTok, it flipped this switch. Because I went viral, we had incredible, really quick growth in sales. And that is when people on the inside say, hey, who is this, right? And so what happened was, I have a lot of feelings about this next statement, but what happened was both TikTok and Amazon came to me and said, we want to be on your team. We want to help you. Here you're not. - It's my opinions when you say that, yeah. - And part of me was like, okay, like, great. I'm really thankful for the help. I'm really like, they were literally holding my hands and still due to an extent. But at the same time, the other part of me was like, yeah, but like three years ago when I launched this business, that's when I needed someone to hold my hand. But like, you want to jump on this bandwagon now that it's like roaring downhill, right? Now you're like, oh yeah, let's go help her. So I do have a little bit of like, I really wish there would have been someone to help me out because there's a lot of entrepreneurs that could be this successful if people would give them that opportunity. But at the same time, I was like, okay, well, you finally worked for 20 years to put all the pieces in place to have this opportunity. Like obviously I'm not gonna shut the door in either of their faces. So what happened was I have been able to really stay on top of the algorithm, stay on top of growth because I have these reps that do help me, that do send me the opportunities that put me in beta programs that do all this stuff to work alongside me to help me. With that being said, there are very, very few things that my Amazon rep or my TikTok rep asked me to do that I say no. Last week and the week before, TikTok was here in our studio in Austin. My rep flew down from Seattle two weeks in a row to come work with us here in the studio because he needed to work on a project with the seller. I have, and some of these things are not fun. They're hard, but I also know they're all just trying to check boxes too, right? They have a list of things they have to accomplish to keep their job and when I can help them do that, luckily I'm one of the go-to people they're like, will you help me with this? When I'm able to help them do that, then if I get into a pinch and I need them, they're normally willing to help me as well. So yeah, it has definitely been the last year, has definitely been like an interesting experience, not only as a business owner, as an entrepreneur, but also kind of like as a social experiment. Like I look at it from the outside and I'm like, this is so weird. - It is, and it's like, it isn't the best way possible. And I love how you're not, some people are too humble, I'll be honest with you. And they're like, oh well, you know, this happened, I went viral, you knit the nail on the head. I actually painted a picture similar where I tell people, you know, everybody always says, oh, I was lucky. And then what happens is the mass public just looks at that and says, oh yeah, they were lucky, I'm never lucky, therefore I'm never gonna be successful. And that's one of the problems I think with our society is, we've, and one of the reasons I have this podcast the way it is, is I don't like, I like the way you're presenting it because it's not polished. It's like, you know what, this was hard. Like this, I didn't just jump on TikTok shop, spend 15 minutes uploading my query info and then I went viral. I mean, there is a process, there's a strategy, it is a really intentional thing. And while I don't say that to like scare people, I actually say that to say to other people that wanted to start businesses that it's not, most of it is the luck because my thing is I say, you made it to the stage a long time ago with your execution. So years ago, you made it to the stage, the lights were off on the stage, but you have to stay on that stage because the lights are gonna come on. And if you're not there, they're just gonna be like, oh, nobody's here and flip the lights back off. And like, I try to say it as simple as that because it takes effort to stay on this stage, it takes patience, it takes focus. It's to sit in the dark, to sit in the dark in a literal sense, it takes focus. Running a business before you hit a sustainable revenue stream of cash is sitting in the dark. It is the same thing. And I think that that's what happens is that dark is scary because the dark, you said months that you're in there communicating on a message thread to a help desk. I mean, that's before you got to the point where now, yeah, somebody's flying to see you, but there were months and months where you just, you were grinding in the dark. - Yeah, and I mean, even before I went viral, I had listened to a podcast of somebody who had talked about like the TikTok equation kind of. And she was like, go all in for 90 days. And she said, do three posts a day for 90 days. And that's when you're really gonna see the momentum start picking up. And actually, I was about to come to the end of that 90 days when my TikTok shop finally got turned on. So it was also like me listening and doing a lot of research, finding out what is the actual formula for what is working for people and pushing through that. And then also it's like not getting complacent. Like I still do three to four pieces of content a day, but they're different. And like I don't love doing TikTok Live's, TikTok knows this, I do this 'cause they ask. - I hate them, I hate themselves. I just started doing them because they requested and it is, yeah, I'm not good by myself. I have to riff off somebody. - So like, yeah, I'll do the TikTok Live's because that's what they're really focusing on right now. And those people are gonna stay on top of the algorithm. Like I will constantly test and try things that are working that don't work because you can't become complacent in a social media culture. There's consumer, there's a consumer fatigue or content fatigue where even though the thing that used to work and used to go viral every single time last year, like it's just not delivering anymore and probably because they've heard that message so many times now. So like, how do we deliver that same message in a way that is going to start peeking people's interest again? So it's like even when you're on top, you don't, especially in social media, you don't stay on top. You gotta continually fight to like keep there, which is also exhausting. - Exactly, but at the same time when you keep the focus of what you just said, where you didn't call it a platform. And I catch myself calling it a platform and I'm trying to stop recently because you actually use the term that I just wrote down and I'm gonna use moving forward. You call it a culture. And one of the things about a culture that kind of keep it in your mind is a culture is ever evolving and it's a living breathing thing. So if you take of a platform, then you're in IT world and it's like static and it's constructed, culture is a, that's a great way to, I'm taking that from this moving forward, is that's a great way to look at it because you know cultures are gonna change by the day, by the hour, whatever, so yeah. - Yeah, and also a culture across different platforms. Like our TikTok content delivers, like your Instagram content needs to be very different than your TikTok content. YouTube shorts is like, right now, so I don't think anyone knows what's gonna work. So we're just kind of like, throw some stuff up there and see what happens. - Yeah, 'cause I'm doing the same things on YouTube shorts that I am on TikTok and I'll get the opposite, like I watch your stuff and I get the opposite on YouTube shorts. Like I'm going, I'll get like a random thing that'll go 10,000 on YouTube shorts and then I'll put the same thing on TikTok and I'll get 240 or whatever, you know. - Yeah, and that's definitely the case and that's not just you, it's happening to me too and a lot of my small business friends because I don't, YouTube shorts I feel like is so, so new in the scheme of things, like even that algorithm, I don't think really knows what it's supposed to be doing yet. - No, 'cause yeah, we're in that transition of that following based versus interest based and I think what people don't understand is they're still stuck in the following base where it doesn't matter anymore, how many likes you have on your page or how many downloads on your podcast, that's actually now irrelevant. And this is in my opinion, like this is literally, if you go up and you look up interest based platforms, which is what these algorithms are now, they're all embracing that TikTok algorithm because Instagram and Facebook, like I know, last time I've been on Facebook, but when's the last time on Facebook you ever saw something that was interesting? - You didn't because it's full of all the pages you follow that page for ads to be in your news feed. I don't even see my own friend's stuff on Facebook anymore. Like it's not anymore like where I can scroll and catch up personally on anything. Like I don't even log in anymore, I just push out now. Like I don't like peruse it anymore, you know? - Yeah, if it wasn't for the school pages that like you have to stay relevant on to like hear information, I've always said like, that's the whole reason I get on is for my kids, the parent page at the school because for some reason we're all still very tied into that. I'm just like, can we start any other platform that we can-- - Yeah, like we can, I'd rather move to an SMS for the parent communications than this crazy, like let's go back to the chain letters than doing login to Facebook because it's just like, yeah, I'm 100% with you. There's a couple times where I showed up at the school and they'd be like, oh, that's earlier or later. I'm like, oh, wait, what's on our Facebook page? I'm like, come on, dude. Like that's where we're communicating this these last minute changes. - Yeah, exactly, yeah. But other than that, yeah, no, it's just been, Facebook has also come so, just like watching how that like started in my college years and then that entire trend that like started as like the really hip like in by only colleges. And now it's only like 65 plus advertising and misinformation, I feel like. - When you look at it that way, it's so funny 'cause like I tell people, I tell people this story a lot on here and it's actually relevant to this. I was one of the first people that signed on to Facebook. Like I was at Drexel University and our college was one of the ones it was chosen. And so I was also working in the beer world in Philadelphia selling beer. And I was, you know, I was back when we had to like hit text messages three times to get the different things. I was always doing, I was always doing promotions all night long. So I had a, you know, Heineken promotion here from seven to six and then another meet the brewer thing over here. I've got like six hours at four different places or whatever. And I was trying to get people to come because all my accounts were like, oh yeah, like we'd love to see more people in the door. You know, like anybody wants to get more people in the door like fans and all that stuff. And I was booking all the bands. So I had no way to communicate. And I started one of the first Facebook groups and it was called Nate's Bar Promotions. And it grew like like wildfire in Philadelphia like 25,000 followers. And it was incredible. Cause I was like, man, I could write one thing and send this communication to 25,000 people that just want to go drink with me. And like that would, so I'd run around and people would be like, oh, how'd you hear about this? And they're all like, oh, Facebook, Nate's Bar Promotions that nobody knew who Nate was. Because it wasn't my face or anything like that. It was just the image was, it was actually it was a, it was a popular image of a t-shirt when you and I were in our twenties. It was like the evolution of drinking where the guy's drinking and walking and then he slowly like is just face down. That was the cup of photo. So nobody knew who I was or anything like that. They would just show up and I never said who I was. Like, all my friends knew. And 2009 to 2011 presenting Facebook social media marketing campaigns to distributors and brands. I can't tell you I over 100 presentations and pitches. All of them laughed me out of the building. And then literally 12 months later, all of them were calling but I had already gone into an exclusive contract with one that had said yes. And it was just incredible watching how many of them knew they were asleep at the wheel. And they hear how arrogant and ego because some of them were funny laughs where they're like, dude, you're out of your mind. And now it's like what I was presenting was, it was called Cities on Tap. And it was a singular website where it was a map. And all the brands and all the different areas, like if it was like that, it was Austin. You could click on Austin. And what it did is aggregated all of the different happy hours and promotions that were going on and put them all into one place. So if you were traveling around the country and you were driving to Austin, you're like, oh, I really want to Heineken. You could click on this, type in Heineken. And it would pull, and this is now everybody's hearing me say this and you're like, oh, that's easy. No, back then this was, nobody was doing, like this was a non-existent. And so it was like, I bought all these domains. I mean, I had like about $5,000 worth of domains. And I had everything Austin on tap, Philly on tap, Seattle on tap. And I bought them all. And I went and presented this network. And everybody thought I was at that shit crazy. And then sure enough, it turned, then what happened was that's what turned into my career was one wholesaler, Ace Distributing in York, Pennsylvania, bought into the idea. And for the next seven years, they made millions of dollars and in perpetuity, millions of dollars in distribution contracts because they bought in on it. - Yeah. - And everybody else was like watching and was like really pissed on you. - And you're like, I tried, I tried to tell you. - Yeah. And unfortunately, I didn't make millions of dollars, but they did. But it's a great part of it. It's a great quote on my case study and resume. And moving forward, I always make the joke to any entrepreneur. Don't ever do things for cash just because you need it. Always sign up for the rev share in addition to cash. - Exactly. - That's my one key advice to any budding entrepreneur. Always put a rev share into your work. - Exactly. Yeah, definitely. 'Cause you only say that after you've learned the hard way. - I look back at 2017 and I was like, man, there's seven years of really fun, but I could've had a great life looking forward. But I want to go back also to your mission. And I want to bring back over here. And I want to also tell you that my partner has a trading card business where he creates custom trading cards and sells business to business. I want to put you guys in touch because I think with your work and his work, you guys, whether it's a collaboration or whatever else, you guys are very like-minded people and very creative. And I think there's some good things that can come out of that. So just letting you know, off of this, I'm gonna send you an email and introduce to my partner. And yeah, his name's Calabunga Johnny. And you guys get along really well, yeah. I've known him since I was at Drexel. We were roommates and everything like that. We played rugby together. I've known him 20 years, yeah. - Perfect. Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I love, I mean, I just love connecting. So who ever knows what's gonna come out of this? I always go in with an open mind. I'm like, I don't know what's gonna come out of it. Let's just talk and see. - Not to mention, I've been to Austin one time. And I keep telling him, I'm like, I wanna go back so bad. Like there's certain cities, like in certain areas and Denver is one of them for me. I've always been there, I've been there a ton. I used to go there every six months for work. And Austin's another one. I wanna get in there more than just the one day that I spent one time. I was in there way too quick. And I keep hearing a lot of amazing stories about the area and the community and the culture. - Yeah, just don't come in the summer because it is just very, very hot. But like, you have to come like in the spring or the fall. Even the winter is nice because it's still like warm here, right? But yeah, it is, when we moved here right out of college, I actually told my husband, I was like, we're going to New York, LA or Nashville because I was in the music industry. And he said, we were just dating at that time. But he was like, well, let's try Austin. I've heard it's nice. And I, you know, I had the live music capital world. So I was like, all right. And I told him I was like, if it sucks, like we're leaving. So I graduated on a Thursday, loaded up, drove down on Saturday. And we've been here ever since. So it doesn't suck. Although as we get older, sometimes we're like, oh, why do we still live here? But for the most part. - Yeah, what you're going to ask is, is it fun from the, is it the context of who I hear the stories from? Where it's like, when you get to a certain age and you're having kids, it's like, you know, you move like, maybe you move 15 minutes outside, you know, that kind of thing, yeah. - Yeah, it's not even necessarily that for us specifically was like, because so much of tech has started moving here, the cost of living has just gone up, like exponentially. And that is what you definitely feel, especially when you have kids. Like that cost of living creep, living in the city that used to be like really affordable for a big city. And it's like, now it's not super affordable. You're like, oh yeah, that now I understand. Like this is actually kind of expensive. - I thought, what do you think like, what are you here, what do you think from the back end? Like actually, do you think it was the live music that started bringing people in? Or what do you think was the, was the magnet? - Well, it was pretty quick. Like, 'cause I went there when it wasn't what it is now. Like, that's why my perception of it's off. Yeah, I remember when you're talking about, like it was a really quaint, quiet, cool, chill town. - Yeah. So I mean, there's always been like big corporations here, like for instance, Dell has always been here. And I think what happened was there was always these bigger corporations here, but I mean, I don't, I don't know, I haven't spent that much time really thinking about this. But it seems like-- - Context anybody else, this is your anecdotal opinion. This is not the county commissioner giving the information to the mayor. - I feel like a lot of these companies, but the younger generation would move here because they could get the like entry level jobs. But I feel like the bigger corporations that are coming in now, I guess I don't really know, but I don't feel like they're necessarily the entry level positions that are coming in now. And so I feel like right now we really are competing more with like the San Francisco, the big tech hubs, like Seattle, San Francisco. And even a lot of those places that have HQs in those areas are also now have HQs in Austin. And so like all of these kind of tech people are moving in with the bigger salaries, the bigger budgets, all of these things. And then the normal people that lived in Austin forever, like wait a minute, actually we don't have those budgets and you all are moving in and you do have those budgets. So-- - No, I can see that now. Yes, I'm out of home advertising and slicing up those pies. I can see that type of stuff sometimes getting really competitive out of the blue, yeah. - Yeah, yeah, definitely like home price it. Like all, it's just like the basic stuff. Like home prices, all that stuff just has skyrocketed. And then, but even for us, it's just like when everything starts skyrocketing, then like even going out to eat at restaurants is like way more expensive because they're right as gone. - Yep. - And yeah. - What do you think like, like I, so what it is from my, from an outsider's perspective is, you see that the light I grew up with that was live music. It was Austin city limits was the, was the creme de la creme. I get chills just saying the word just now. Like it's like that was for me, the most quality thing that was on television at that time. And I watched it insensibly like just like all the time, it was always on and it was always on repeat. And I watched it on reruns. When, when that started happening, what I find interesting now is like you said about tech coming there. But what also is interesting is between Austin city limits, the live music area. Now you have things like Kiltoni, which is the largest live podcast in the world. That's that station down there. You have Joe Rogan that's bringing all these podcasters down there. So what is interesting is from like, for my perspective on the outside, what it looks like is really live music and entertainment and creation has become like a magnet. And this is my outside of anecdotal opinion, has become a magnet to all that. Or is it manufactured? I don't know, like between that and then Austin city limits and all that it was like, and that, or not Austin city limits, South by Southwest. Then it was South by Southwest you're bringing all these other people and creators and thinkers. And do you think that's it? Is like everything got tied to like, that is like an experiential place for creation and ideas? Well, I don't really know. And what's really ironic is it used to be the live music capital, but a lot of musicians can't even afford to live here anymore. That was my follow-up question. Was it changed? Yeah. And so really around here, what's happening is all the live, all the musicians that are still trying to do live music, they're moving out to like, but dripping springs and lock heart and places like that. And is it like an hour, hour and a half drive to get from those places to downtown? Yes, that's like a normal-ish commute for some people in big cities, like right? In LA, that's like an hour and a half is like nothing. But- We've gone to the store to get groceries. Yeah, exactly. But I feel like those people who really created like that keep Austin weird, really grounded artistic community. I feel like we've also priced them out and they're all getting pushed out as well. And so there's a lot of these more artistic communities that are happening in other cities that kind of surround Austin, because that's the only place they can afford to live. It's interesting when you watch cultures evolve like that, because I mean, I guess in that same time, I spent a lot of time in Seattle and Portland and even San Francisco. And during those hubbub times of when I was traveling from '08 all the way to 2017, those areas also became the same way where over time it started out as it was creators, it was entrepreneurs, it was thinkers. But then over time, those people had to move farther and farther outside of the Palo Alto's and the San Francisco's. And I mean, I remember, I have three sets of cousins who are like-minded like us and went to Portland and didn't even make it a year. 'Cause they were just like, it is not possible to live there and start. Now, if you go there with a big budget and live off your savings, that's great. But to start from scratch, you can't do it there. - Yeah, and I definitely feel like there's still a creative culture here. I just feel like it's a different creative culture. - Yeah, that's kind of what I was getting at. I appreciate you saying that part. It's like, yeah, there's always different ways to, sorry, there was a wasp that just came in, so I was trying to, while we're talking here. So this is why we do it live and we don't predict, we know it's why we do post-production afterwards. Yeah, definitely just landed on my hand. I don't know where else. (laughs) So, yeah, it's a hot day, so I have the window open. So I was asking for that, coming in for my coffee. When you started out in the Austin area and you started doing the shipping and stuff like that, how did you scale from when you started, was it your self, I'm paying attention to time to worry, it will be good. - Sure. - Were you by yourself and kind of walked me through the initial days of starting this out and also while you're doing that, you had the planning project, or the party planning and party gifts where you had the very custom v-spoke things. This is similar in a custom v-spoke way as well. How do you kind of, how do you have that end scaling and kind of balance out where you started with it and then where you are kind of today. And being that, obviously it's been less than a year, which is just incredible about the speed in which you kind of continually evolved and been agile. - Yeah, so this, the coloring books were definitely just what I considered like my side hustle to my day job, which most people would have considered at one point a side hustle, right? Like most people say if you're an entrepreneur, like, oh, that's whatever. That's like a whole other conversation. But that was like the one that was like bringing in the paychecks, I had the employees, but like I knew there wasn't the long-term vision there by about five years into that. So, but there was also a lot that I had learned through that about like packing and shipping, really understanding busy seasons, really trying to figure out who your target market is and how we get to them and those things. So then when I started a brighter year, the coloring book business, it was really like a side business. I put very little work into it. And what I struggled with as an entrepreneur was, I felt like I was giving a lot of time to one of the businesses and let the other one go on, autopilot, and then I would switch and I'd be like, oh, no, and then I'd put a lot of time and energy into this business and let this one go on autopilot. And I saw that neither of them were thriving in that situation. And so I had followed this other podcast for a very long time called The Product Boss. They have this course called MultiStream Machine. And I was like really on the fence if I wanted to do this, but basically what I realized I needed at that point was like guide rails on myself. And what their whole thing was if you're thriving on one platform, you really need multi streams of income to be a successful business owner. And so I was like, you know, like, I could find most of this information. I could figure out most of these things, but like I'm too tired and I need to put guide rails on myself. So I bought this course and I basically said, I'm not going past this section until I do it for both businesses. So like I'm gonna launch Amazon, I'm gonna do it really well for both businesses. And I'm not allowed to go on until it's done for both businesses. And then I was like, and then I'm gonna do email marketing and I'm gonna get the systems and set up in place for both businesses and I don't get to go on until that's done, right? So I put those guide rails on myself. And that was finally when I got into a rhythm where I saw both businesses really thriving. And then from there kind of what happened was for a brighter year, the coloring book business, I launched in 2020, I went viral in 2023. But in January of 2023 was when things really started, the tide kind of turned on the business. I was reached out to a buyer from Magnolia reached out to me. And I ended up doing two products for Magnolia silos with Chip and Joanna Gaines. So we did a large coloring book and a small coloring book. And that was kind of the first time that not only did I realize like, oh, I might have something here that people actually care about, but also it was a little bit of like the confidence boost I needed for my side hustle business to be like, oh, okay, like maybe this is actually a thing, right? And so then I started doing that collaboration and then I started really leaning into TikTok by March-ish and really went in for my three posts a day for 90 days, then launched the TikTok shop and then went viral. And so, and then from there, we more or less chased the business for like eight months before we finally like caught on top of it. But it was kind of during that time that I was like, oh, I can't do both of these things, nor am I the person that I want to be by running both businesses. And so then I had to really choose like, do we pull one back? Do I sell one? Like, how do we kind of go forward with this? And I will say when I did decide to sell the party business, I had put it up for, I had the business, you know, valued at whatever. We went through this whole evaluation process and I put it up for sale. And everyone who was coming forward that was willing are able to put that sort of money upfront. It never set well with my gut to give my business to someone who only wanted an investment business. These are people that were telling me straight up, I have no desire to work in this business. I don't care what your business does. I just want to add it to my portfolio. And I was like, like that doesn't feel great to me. So on a whim, I recorded a raw video on my phone, like it was super emotional and I posted it in a mom group. And I just said, hey, I have this business, I'm selling it, I'm doing something super unconventional, I'm willing to sell it for a percentage of revenue over five years. And I want to give the opportunity to another mom or woman or person of color who isn't going to have this opportunity. To take this business, if it's someone who really cares about it. And it was a huge risk and it still is. Like I could sell this business and make absolutely nothing 'cause I'm taking a five year revenue stream, right? They could get it and say, I don't actually want to do this anymore and I'm out nothing. But even with that, I feel so much better selling the business that way than I would have taking a check and walking away. You know, my husband sometimes is still like, but we could have taken a check. (laughing) - There's always that counterpart in the internship. But it isn't that check nice. - Yeah, so yeah, so then we kind of got to the point and so I ended up interviewing 20 people, got it narrowed down eventually to one and she's been working alongside us since March actually in that other business. So we're getting ready to close on Saturday but it has been like a great collaboration. She's worked alongside us since March really learning the business, really understanding how we work, what has made us successful up to this point. And then through that, I was actually able to also split my entire staff. So like part of my staff is staying with my current business that I'm keeping coloring books. The other staff is staying with her. Like no one lost their jobs. Everyone got more hours, you know? Like it's been like such a dream best case scenario to be where we are now. So then now that we're just going all in for coloring books, I mean, it is definitely different because we don't do as much like hands on manufacturing. Like I print here locally in Austin, Texas or in central Texas. So like we don't even work with manufacturers overseas for our coloring books. Everything gets manufactured here, gets dropped off at our warehouse. We're still like, we're really big successful business but it's like still definitely small town, like family oriented businesses sort of like vibe and culture. - That's perfect. Well, I appreciate you taking the time today. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and I feel like I say this all the time but I really mean it after these conversations. I'm looking forward to many more with you. And I'm like, when we get down, we're gonna get down to Austin and I'm gonna take you up on that Q4, Q1. We'll grab coffee, whatever you can show us. So a little bit of whatever your favorite spot is for coffee and would love to meet you in person. And I really appreciate you taking the time today to talk about your business because one thing we didn't talk about and I want everybody to check it out, a brighter year, get on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, all of that. What we didn't get into is the real core, the mission here is really evolving mental health, moving forward and positive energy. So everything you just heard about what her mission is and exactly, I knew it did not know your structure of the sale of this business but it exactly exemplifies your mission. And I want to thank you for constantly being core to your mission. And no matter what money you end up making or if this business lasts that that 100 years or 10 more years, right now in this moment, I want to feel this with you because your business is called a brighter year and you've built a seven figure business in less than a year and not just for yourself. You built it while it was empowering other people, while it's been bringing joy to strangers that you've never met. And no matter what money you've made, just thank you for being that kind of catalyst in the world. And especially, I say this with a little fear of anger over the next few months that business is like yours, I feel like are going to bring the joy to people that really don't have a lot of joy in their life and a few months and beyond. But I just, there's a lot of things that I share in my episodes about my own mental health and things like that. I think that there's moments where even as an adult, I am 63, 250 and covered in tattoos. I find soothing time, sketching, coloring, and in the lines and all this stuff. And it is something that if you're in that mindset and that neurodivergence or that mental health or just that anxiety and eating to check out because the world's fucked up and then check out a brighter year, get some of these books in there. If nothing else, if you're nervous to buy something offline, watch the videos, see her process, listen to the passion in her voice, watch this episode. Thank you so much for taking the time today and I really do look forward to many more conversations with you. - Yeah, no problem, it was great talking to you too and yeah, we'll connect again soon. - Excellent, you have a great rest of your day, you take care. - You too. - If you're an aspiring entrepreneur, one that's looking to expand, contact the free mind network today and we'll help you scale, we'll help you start.