Girl Gang Craft Podcast Episode #78 “Foodie Feminism and Opening a Flagship”

Phoebe Sherman interview with Amy Larson

Phoebe Sherman
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INTRO
Welcome to the Girl Gang Craft Podcast where we dive in deep to all things business, wellness, creativity, and activism for artists and entrepreneurs. We talk with impactful female driven companies and founders for an inside look at the entrepreneurial experience where you'll come away with tangible steps to elevate your business. Are you ready? I'm your host, Phoebe Sherman, founder of Girl Gang Craft artist and designer, and marketing obsessed. We're here to learn together how to expand our revenue, implement new organizational techniques, and cultivate best business practices as we work towards creating a life doing what we love. Let's get started.

Hello. Hello. Hey, creatives, welcome back to Girl Gang Craft podcast Phoebe here we have Amy Larson from Overseasoned and Matriarch Rhode Island. We'll talk about her in just a moment. As this episode is live, things that are happening. We have kept our Providence applications open till April 12th, and that is also when the Mother's Day gift guide is due.
So if you are interested in being in our Providence Show or our Mother's Day gift guide, go ahead and make sure that you apply on our site right now. Get those apps in. And actually, for the mother's Day guide, everyone gets in. So it is a $75 investment. You sign up online and then we send out our Mother's Day guide. It'll be on our website, and we will send it out to our community and beyond. It's a great opportunity to get in front of small business supporters who want to shop for their mom and support small businesses while doing it. So go ahead, check that out. You can find information about both things both activations Providence and Mother's Day guide GirlGangCraft.com/apply.

And yes, today we have Amy on the podcast. Amy and I met at SOWA a few years ago, like, right when I moved here and loved her staff obviously is super in alignment with our stuff here at GGC feminist and also food apparel. So Amy is the owner of Matriarch, a gift and book store featuring woman owned businesses in Newport, Rhode Island, as well as the founder of Overseasoned and a culinary retail brand. Her businesses represent her combined passion for food and intersectional feminism. She has been designing and selling apparel and kitchen accessories through her Overseasoned brand since 2017. Merchandise. With signature slogans like Smash the Garlic and the Patriarchy and Ice Cream for Reproductive Rights, both empower and give back to the community through nonprofit contributions. Amy, open matriarch and May 2023 as a flagship brick and mortar store for Overseasoned. And in addition to her own Overseasoned products, she also sells jewelry, accessories, art books, and uniquely fun gifts made primarily by women owned businesses at Matriarch, including our stuff. The shop is also a space for community and creativity, hosting workshops like crafting classes and wellness events. Let's get right into it. Oh hello. Hello creatives. Welcome back to Girl Gang Craft the Podcast.


Hello. Hello creatives. Welcome back to Girl Gang Craft the Podcast. Today we have Amy on the podcast. You might know her from Overseasoned or the store Matriarch in Newport, Rhode Island. Welcome to the podcast, Amy.

Amy
Thank you so much for having me, Phoebe. I listen to this all the time, so it's a joy to be here.

Phoebe
Oh my goodness. Yay, well thank you so much for being here. Can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do?

Amy
Sure. So my brand is Overseasoned and I launched that in 2017. And so within that brand I have feminist and foodie design. So for example, smash the garlic and the patriarchy Cabernet equal pay. And I produce those on tea towels and aprons. So kitchen accessories as well as adult and baby apparel and some other fun products every once in a while, like oyster shucking knives and things that sort of support the foodie feminist brand identity that I have. And in addition to that, in 2023. So last spring, I opened a store called Matriarch, which is the flagship store for my brand Overseasoned. But I also have outfitted it with other women owned business products and books and cookbooks and all types of fun gifts and cards, and just sort of like a colorful, nice space to go to buy gifts or hang out or find something unique and support women businesses.

Phoebe
So exciting. So I was thinking about, well, first of all, when I was writing up your podcast questions, I wrote unseasoned like naturally. And I was like, no, that's not right, so I can tell you that. But so we first met at SOWA and I was just an attendee and I bought your Shuck the Patriarchy tote, and I was so excited because I had someone perfect to give it to. And our brands are very in alignment. Like you know, we have the feminist apparel. Yours is so niche. I love that it's from a kitchen lens. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?

Amy
Sure. So yes, I think that so in 2017, like right after the first Women's March, I just I attended the march in Boston and, you know, everything was, you know, people were going nuts about like, we need to do this, need to do that. It was very reactive to the current politics. So at some point, like in my head, I just thought smash the garlic and the patriarchy. And I envisioned it with this, like, feminist like fist and having it in purple to symbolize the women's movement. But essentially, I think that my interests and values of feminism and food just sort of fuzed together in my brain. And so everything that I do is like that Venn diagram, which, like you said, is very niche. And so it's been really interesting. And what I've been doing, because I started producing just that one design and I have on three products, and I was working another job, a full time job at the time, and people really liked it. And so I was like, I thought this was funny and cute and I like tea towels, so I made it. But other people have that like center of the Venn diagram interest as well, feminist foods. So it just sort of kept going from there. And I thought, so I did Culinary Goddess and ice cream for reproductive justice, fruit for women cabernet equal pay. I mean, these are all like it's literally just like, I just take those two things and I use them together. And that's definitely been like my most successful designs. I also do some other designs that are just visual or. Yeah, but that's just like it's just me, my interest out there and other people like it too, which is great. So I kind of feel like this whole thing started by accident and with me just kind of putting out a funny idea, and then I just kept following the opportunities of people who like to buy it.

Phoebe
So you are doing a full time job. Can you tell us a little bit about was that an artsy job? I don't actually personally know. What's your other job?

Amy
So I was working in HR. So yeah, so I did undergrad and business school, but I just kind of was like since college I worked as a restaurant manager and then I was working in marketing. Then I was working in HR and like working as a server at restaurants also in between. So like my overall passion from basically my whole life at food and cooking, baking, etc. so I've always kind of been looking for ways to have a foray into that. So I think in 2016 I started a food blog, as there are so many food blogs out there, but I felt like it was really tiring to like, get online and write blogs after like working on the computer all day at like my marketing job. So then I sort of pivoted into printing actual like recipes. And so I was doing that for about a year and distributing recipes that way. And so I was always kind of like trying to get food into some element of my life. And doing it like in my free time.

Phoebe
And where did the graphic stuff come from? Have you been always doing art your whole life just for fun, or how did that become integrated?

Amy
No, not really. I just like, I think I had the idea for my slogan and then I had the idea for how to draw it. And so I just kind of practiced a little bit. But yeah, my designs are like a means to communicate my ideas. So I love color and art and design and everything. But I would say like, I just use the design as a way to get the ideas out there.

Phoebe
So interesting. Okay, so tell us a little bit about what the transition was like from, you know, running your business and working a full time job and how you transitioned to full time?

Amy
Yeah, definitely. So I was definitely side hustling pretty hard for several years of when I started my business. So I had my own website and I had like a couple of products for about like a year and a half before I even had any other ideas. So that was actually kind of like it's been kind of a slow build, but sort of evolving at the right time. So I think if I like look back on it. But so yeah, so when I was doing it as a side hustle, the first couple of years, I would do a couple of pop of the year, like on the weekends, markets like the one that you run and bought the women's market and some other pop up like. So I, like you said, where we met while kind of doing all of my other life stuff, and I was also growing like my wholesale business as well. So that kind of helped me get in a lot of having a lot more exposure. And I still think that wholesale is an amazing strategy and so, so helpful for me. And anyways.

Phoebe
We'll talk about wholesale later, I promise. Yeah, yeah. Everyone listening it is important.

Amy
Yeah. So I was, you know, doing pop ups, getting in front of the community, hearing from people as much as I could while working my full time job and doing also other crazy things like doing making people's wedding cakes and just doing all kinds of little, like dinners and classes and stuff like that. And just going nuts with pursuing all of my interests at the same time, which is really chaotic.I have a tendency to do sometimes, but then I was still running my business as a side hustle in 2020, and things really shifted. My online business was growing a ton because everybody was at home wanting to buy things online. Not only that, but I have like the softest sweatshirts ever. And so people were wanting to buy those. So I was like, it was very well positioned. What I was selling was very positioned for what people were looking for at that time. So that really helped me scale to the point where I could exit my full time job, which I did in early 2021. And then the world was kind of starting to open up again. And so then I sort of went all out of, I'm going to just do all the markets and just be out there as much as possible. And I did a course retail feel good retail with Janine, who you know, and that also really helped me. Like I'm like I was like really overwhelmed when I first was like, okay, this is my whole job. This is my whole income. Even though I kind of already met the point where I was like, okay, this is financially viable for me to do this. I was like, really overwhelmed of everything that I could possibly do, everything I needed to do. And so I took that course that was really helpful for me. And then I started scaling the whole family even more, getting out to a lot, a lot of markets. And then in 2022, I was doing so many markets and realized like, that was just an amazing opportunity, that I hired two people to help me get out there and be at multiple markets on the same day. So scaling the footprint for the pop up that way, and that was going really well as well. But then as you probably know, like for being a small business, like at the end of 2022 and early 2023. So last year online being a small business selling online got really, really hard. I think like it was just like everyone was showing up and like online sales were doing so well, like the beginning of the pandemic and then the transition out of that, I guess just maybe just I could speak to my own experience of like early 2023 was just tough and with my online sales. So I started getting out there and doing all of my markets again. And even in like the winter, they were going really, really well. And so I was just like, okay, in-person shopping is like the trend, at least for my category right now. And I was really overwhelmed by that because I was like, that means that I personally, or me and my one employee then will need to be out here all the time. And that's really tiring. It's awesome. But it's also really hard because I was driving like up to malls, Salem, like all over the place. New York City multiple times, like just using all of my energy to be out there and get in front of customers, because I knew that that was I physically had to be in front of customers and so I was like, okay, I need to be in person. I need to be in front of people. But this like, strategy is like really difficult for me personally. In my time. So I was just like sort of stuck with like, what am I going to do? This feels like really. I don't know what. I don't know what's going to happen next. I don't know if I'm going to be able to, like, take on all of this in order to, you know, kind of keep up with the sales that I wanted to do. And then I was trying to take a break because I was like extremely burnt out. So it's like, okay, I'm going to just like, not work sick or like play around like play tennis, read whatever. And like I want to say like the first or second day of my break, I saw a real estate listing for an awesome space in Newport on Thames street. And so I was like, reach out to them. And in my like, you know, real estate panic. I was like, is this place still available? And they like, yeah, we just put up like an hour ago. Like no one else has talked to us. I’m like, okay, like, let me come and see this and, you know, like the location, the price is so good. And I already had, like, the vision of what I wanted to do because I've been thinking about this for like two years of, like, what would it look like if I had my own space? And so then even though I was in my like break, I was like, okay, here we go. Execute the business plan that I've been thinking about and put up together my brick and mortar store over the course of like 3 or 4 weeks in May, so I could get it open before summer, which was crazy. But yeah, so that was kind of an interesting and very well timed and really kind of like magical evolution. But I was also like I had been in communication with the commercial real estate agent for probably like a year and a half, just kind of thinking like, okay, this would be really good. Like, let me see what's out there. And I had seen 2 or 3 places, that is, they weren't quite right. And so I was kind of already looking for the right opportunity, but not like just trying to force and just be in any store, because I knew and even now that I have the physical store, which I've had for like over six months, it's like it's that location, so, so important. So I'm so glad that I, like, waited for the right place and executed at the right time. So I think that's a very, very long winded summary of how I am here with the different arms of my business.

Phoebe
I love it. Well, first of all, congratulations. So exciting. I'm so glad the timing worked out and the location worked out. Were you in Rhode Island at that point? Were you still in Boston?

Amy
Yeah, I was in Rhode Island. So yes, I was living in Boston for like eight years. And then I moved to Rhode Island in 2022 Fall.. So yeah, I've been here for, I don't know, almost a year. Yeah. So that was another good positioning of the timing, because some of the time that I was sort of thinking about commercial real estate, I wasn't even in this state, which I don't think that's like totally would have precluded me from being able to pursue something. But I think it just felt right. Like things were starting to align. And I was I was in the right place at the right time.

Phoebe
So I kind of want to go back to this like pandemic moment, because I think especially you're just such a good case study for a product based business. Yeah. And like, I think so many people have been having this like hard transition out of the pandemic. And there's a lot of reasons for that, right? Like so many reasons, I'm not going to list all the reasons. But like, I mean, I think a lot of small businesses did really well and yours included, I mean, how niche was yours too when everyone's inside baking? Also, you know, they have to have the matching outfit to the things that they're baking. But like, I don't know, I mean, we talked about you getting the store and like these other ways that you sort of made the business work, but I don't know, like what were some of those strategies that you were also trying to utilize during that time to also increase your online sales or like, I don't know, any sort of observations that you were seeing in that like transitional time.

Amy
Yeah. So definitely. Yeah. I'm glad that's a really good question because it's not like I was just like, okay, things are going well. So I'm just like doing well all the time. It was a well timed moment, like in the beginning where everybody wanted to support small businesses, which was great, and I was seizing that moment. But I was also responding and like trying to add value as much as I could. So for example, like I mentioned before, how I started out, like I was like my first time hustle doing recipes and then sending them out and like little handwritten recipes in a lo fi format. I decided to reprise that the summer of 2020, because everybody like just that, everybody was cooking like, let me learn something new. I literally have to cook for myself. I can't go to my fave restaurant, etc. so I reissued, like, all of my favorite summer recipes in that summer and sold that. People really liked that. And on that same note, I like did a design about like helping restaurants that went back to, I don't know, I think it's called Restaurant Coalition or something like that. But there were a lot of nonprofits before there was like the federal funding for helping restaurants and small businesses that were like, let's save restaurants. So I did a design about that. I also like, you know, all the music festivals and events in general or canceled. So I did like, summer, my own version of like a music festival tee that has the lineup, but instead of the lineup, it was like all the different summer things like watermelon, gala, you know, just clam chowder, all those kinds of things. And so I was definitely playing with the moment and seeing where inspiration came at that time. And then also when it trends like became winter and everyone was like, whoa, okay. This is still like really, really bad. I'm stuck at home. All sorts of issues with that. I created this thing called the Stay at home that I call the stay at home starter kit, where it had like one of my soft sweatshirts, a book, a coloring book with coloring materials, maybe like a nail polish, a candle like, sort of like activity, but also comforting things, sort of like a self-care sort of bundle. And I worked with like other small businesses and I like bought them wholesale for that. So that was also kind of like a foreshadowing of like a lot of the products that I carry now in my store and sort of how I would bundle and package them alongside my products and feel really like that as well. Yeah. So I think a lot of what I've done is like, I don't respond to every single, you know, moment or thing that's happening in the world, because that would be hard. But I do have like a sort of community and social responsibility like mission aligned with my business. And so I'm kind of looking out for ways to speak to those things that people are really caring about.

BREAK

Phoebe
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Phoebe
So I'd like to talk a little bit about like sourcing and inventory, like, you know, sort of test an idea. How do you do that? How do you know a product's going to do? Well, I mean, I'm sitting here looking at some of my stuff that's just, you know, sitting here that's on sale right now at the time of this recording, like, how do you sort of manage, like, first of all, like what products you pack and like how many to order? Let's start with that.

Amy
Okay. Yeah. So that's just a huge I don't want to say game because it's not a game. It's like my business, but it's a.

Phoebe
It's our livelihood.

Amy
It's an ongoing calculation and prediction which you can never predict. And so yeah I can definitely speak to that. So something in terms of what products I pick, something that's been really cool that I didn't set out to do, but has really informed how I do business, is that it's very customer driven. Like, for example, I just had the tea towel on the apron and the tote bag and then people are like, can you put this on a shirt? And people ask me to put on a shirt for like over a year. And I was trying to figure out what to do because I knew that I was going to have to carry multiple sizes. And what color to pick and what type of shirt to pick. And so then I finally did that.

Phoebe
And then they also want a tank top and a sweatshirt and and multiple different colors and one for their baby.

Amy
Yeah.

Phoebe
So but then who's going to buy which item and are they going to commit to that?

Amy
That is exactly it all the time. So then yeah then I created those and then people were like okay, but I can you put it on a baby bib, you put on a baby onesie and then it just and I follow a lot of those requests like, I think I have something about me as I've created. I don't know what it is exactly, but people see me as like an open door. They ask me in person all the time, well, what if you put it on, keep it on that. Can you do a zipper sweatshirt? Can you do, hoodie? Can you do a crop top, can you do a not crop up, etc.. And people email me all the time, DM me. And so I've definitely created this approachability. I have this approachability, which is great because a lot of the times the ideas are awesome and I pursue them, or I wait for there to be a certain number of requests and then I'm like, okay, people want this, I've got to do it. But that being said, sometimes, you know, people were always asking me for hoodies and so I did them. I think I did like one hoodie for each design maybe. yeah. I'm sitting on the hoodies right now, like people say, can you can do a hoodie and then they don't actually want it. So it's really I have no solution for that. I really don't know. Except if I wanted to do production through something like bonfire, where it's like made to order, but I.

Phoebe
Haven't heard of bonfire. It's like print on demand, like printful or printify

Amy
Exactly. Yeah. But my process is that I work with a screen printer in Summerville called , and they're awesome. I've worked with them for a long time, so they're basically my production partner. And so I sort of put myself, I decide to select Bella and Canvas as like the exact, like the type of sweatshirt and shirt. And so I sort of work with them to look at colors and they'll do a sample for me, which is really great. And it used to be crazy because I had a whole room in my apartment slash it went the hallway slash I went into the living room of all these cardboard boxes of my product. Now I have like the store in the stockroom, but for sure, if you have a lot of inventory and you work for yourself, you know how much inventory you have because you literally live with it. So yeah, I think I would. It's definitely something that I'm constantly been thinking about that I don't have like an exact process yet for testing things out. I've tried a couple like preorders. I've tried that a couple times. I think that could possibly be something that could work, but I think I ultimately am just like, okay, I'm going to send it like I'm gonna go for this. And if people don't respond right away, I just sort of figure out how to remarket it, reposition it, that kind of thing.

Phoebe
Yeah. And making sure that you had enough inventory on hand for multiple markets in a day. What was that process like?

Amy
Okay. Yeah. So the opposite problem like that, what you just said, which is running out of inventory, is also a calculation and a really difficult balance because I also sell on multiple channel. And so yeah, like you said, the multiple markets in a day, online store, my wholesale business which I sell through faire but I also sell directly. So faire is like a little platform where people can find it's not little, it's huge. So I could just get an order then anytime somebody wants to buy it, like 30 shuck the patriarchy tells, okay, now I'm sold out because I do kind of prioritize my wholesale client. I want them to get it. So I would definitely take it off the floor for them. But yes, that's another really tricky thing with balancing the online inventory, especially because sometimes something happens in the world where then all of a sudden people are reacting and buying up a bunch of one of my certain products, because a lot of them are like aligned with social movements. So then I'm sold out of that and but everybody wants it. So all of these things are quite the dance that I now have enough sort of historical data to kind of know what, how much to order for a market per se, because they typically have the same foot traffic again and again, like holiday markets, etc.. I can plan a little bit better for that, but I can't like always plan for like, what if some influencer wears it and then everyone buys it up and then it's sold out and everybody wants them, which is also a good problem to have. But the thing about have a good problem to have is that it's still a problem that you have to resolve.

Phoebe
So are you using any like inventory management system?

Amy
So I run my website now through Shopify. Up until this time last year, I think Squarespace and Shopify definitely has more analytical insights for me. And then it's also linked up with QuickBooks. And they have like all these things about how much you have. But because I only just switched over to that last year, those insights haven’t quite linked up. So I think essentially to answer the question, a lot of it is like it's a combination of like looking in at the insights and like taking chances and also having good faith in your ideas.

Phoebe
Yes. And also getting inventory is expensive. So how is that something that you integrate into your strategy?

Amy
Yeah. So I kind of try to have like buying periods where I'm stocking up on inventory with the hopes that they are like sort of moving through and selling at that time. And then when I do seasonal things, I try to have them. I kind of and have been working on the numbers of like, how much seasonal do I order? Because I've definitely ordered too much seasonal in the past. And then same thing now that I have the store with ordering other brands and other products for the store I'm trying to look at. Okay, this is how much budget I have for this season or this category, depending on what I'm seeing in terms of the categories moving, because I do think that it's important to have new things, but you can't always be adding new things. But it's that's another dance because people have been buying from me from since 2017, are like my close friends and they have like, what's new, what's new, or even like my wholesale accounts, what's new, what's new? But you can't always be doing that because there's that. Then, I mean, maybe I could be doing that if I had fulfillment or a larger space or something like that. But it's stuff that's definitely a balance when you're sort of running a lean business.

Phoebe
It's so hard, and I identify so hard because I probably have less SKUs than you. But there's definitely some clear, you know, best sellers. And so I lean into the best sellers, my best sellers and my most expensive items. Right. So like are divinity sweatshirt as well. It's also the most expensive upfront. Right. So it's like yeah. But also some people have been shopping with me and you know, 2017 also have everything I've made. So it is really hard. Yeah. It's really hard to be like, okay, well I want to make this new stuff, but you have to clear out the old stuff too. Do you have sales or do you have any strategies to get rid of sticky inventory, if you will?

Amy
Yeah, every once in a while. Like if something was really sticky, I do something where I mean, this is a strategy that businesses use a lot. And like I see through it now and I see other people doing it, but I figure if I do it, which is that like, I'll like package it with something or I'll be like, okay, if you buy a hoodie, you're getting two tea towels or something like that. And so consumers love it because they feel like they're getting something. So those are some things that I like to try and but it's also I don't know. The thing is, is that people love to see a sale. So like even like in my store right now, the little sale corner, which is literally just like tank tops and crop tops, people just go straight there and then they're like, oh, this is only summer things. It's like, yeah, that's a bummer that that they do in Rhode Island. But they do like to like they like to see it. So I definitely am not against like having things on sale for a while, knowing that they're going to come back, like the same exact things that are on my sale right now are going to be full price in like two months. So yeah, another thing that I've done is like if something is sort of sticky but is popular, like there's interest in it, I'll do like a giveaway with another brands where like I have like a couple, you know, friends where I'm like, let's just get together because it's mutually beneficial. I love doing things like that because even if people don't buy the exact thing that's sticky and you're trying to get rid of that, you're promoting in the giveaway, you got this cross promotion, and if you do the right number of like collab giveaways like that, I think they work really well.I don't think you can do them like, cause people contact me a lot for them. And so I don't think you can do them like every month or even every other month. But when you do them with the right brands, people really like it.

Phoebe
I know we've kind of given up on giveaways for a little bit, but not on purpose, but it's just sort of hasn't been part of our strategy. And like I'm feeling it. Lots of people have been mentioning giveaways. I've been like, okay, it's time to bring the giveaways back.

Amy
Yeah, that's how I feel about it too. It's like, I feel like when I'm like, oh, let me try a giveaway. Like it's not something that I think about all the time. It's definitely not like a mainstream strategy for me. But yeah, totally agree.

Phoebe
Okay, let's talk about wholesale. And you're in an interesting position because you buy wholesale and you sell wholesale. So okay, you've said this is Faire. Tell us a little bit about your wholesale strategy. Like what that looks like, how you get new buyers.

Amy
Yeah sure. Yeah. So like I said I really believe in wholesale because these people who and like if you're listening to this and you're thinking about doing it, do it. You have a small business, you have a brand, just do it. Try and get into a couple stores. It's awesome because these people are my salespeople all over the country. Atlanta, Georgia, Seattle. They're awesome. So that's my pitch for wholesale.

Phoebe
But make sure your margins are good that you're still getting paid, y'all.

Amy
Yes, that's the other thing. Is that like I'm talking it up so much, but I do recognize that I'm making less money on my wholesale stuff. However, I'm gaining that traction in these stores and these places where people might never have seen my product before, and it sticks with them too. People will now be in my store and be like, oh, I saw this at Magpie in Somerville, or I saw this at some place. So it does stick because they trust that store and they like it. And so they're like, oh, this person that my favorite store picked this, I like it. So anyways, when I first started, like I was like, I want to get into a couple stores and this is when I only had a couple products. I literally would just go into stores and talk to them face to face. And it was a good strategy for me because I was putting myself out there, but it was limited to where I could, like literally drive. But I got into some of the accounts that are really great and I'm still been with them. So it's been quite a long time, like over five years that I've been in these places. And one of them who you know, I went into in like late summer 2017, I went to HausWitch in Somerville or Salem - sorry. And you know her well and this was such a memorable moment for me. I'm sure she completely forgot about it, but for me it was amazing because I walked in there and I kind of at the time, like would bring a teatowel or bring a sticker and something cute to leave behind that they would like kind of remember, but wasn't that expensive for me to give away. And so I was kind of like going in there being like, oh, I Amy, here's my brand. And if you want to buy some tea towels and kind of like very shyly saying that. And I was going to like, slink away and be like, she can think about it. But Erica stopped and was like, well, what's your deal? Like gimme your pitch. And I was like, uhhh

Phoebe
It sounds like her.

Amy
It was awesome. I mean, she just directly was like, sell me. Like you came here to sell me. You got to sell me. And so I was like, turned it on and was like, here's my brand. And it was amazing. And I still remember that. And especially now, like you said, like, I have my own store and sometimes people come in and show me their work and I still don't have the confidence to be like, pitch to me, but I will. I'm definitely aspiring to be at that Erica level of direct, confident, like amazing, like very decisive person. So that was great. But on that note, I think that selling wholesale like you do have to have the short pitch, because then I went into the process of like, I just have this gigantic spreadsheet that I think has like over 1200 shops now that I've contacted where I would send them cold emails, and understanding that like at first it was sort of disappointing and it was something I kind of like plug away at in my free time, like, let me send some cold emails right now. And that was just like from me googling like gift shops in Austin, Texas, you know? So I built this whole thing, contacting people, some people, you just have to reach out to them multiple times over the course of multiple years. And now that I'm on Faire, some of those people that I emailed over and over and over and over again and got no response, and now they're ordering from me and maybe, maybe they read the email one point and it sunk in. But when I do those pitches, I say like, okay, this is a book store. Like I'm going to pitch them my well read, well fed or this is a gift store, I'm going to pitch them Cabernet equal pay or always be kind or something like that. So I try and I try to be a little bit more targeted with those pitches. Now and then I joined Faire. I was really dragging my heels about joining fair because they take commission. And so I thought that that was like.
Phoebe
On top of the 50%.

Amy
I felt that that was a deal breaker for me for a long time. And then last year and then I joined faire, but I was like, okay, let me just put it up there because at least the margins there, I can stretch more of my margin there. It's really hard to stretch like a wholesale margin on the apparel for me because of the profit margin. But yeah, like these, when you're selling wholesale, the person who's buying from you wants to mark it up 50%. So if my products are already marked up 50%, that would mean that I'm not making any money. So I do play a lot with the pricing there, and knowing that my wholesale customers are spending a little bit more. But anyways, I was dragging my feet about joining Faire for a long time because of that commission thing. But once I joined, I just sort of adjusted my prices to account for that commission. And then last year I attended New York Now. So I was exhibiting there, which it did not yield anything even remotely close to what they said it was going to. It was honestly like a really like almost like a complete waste of time.

Phoebe
And you're paying what, like $3,000 for a booth or something?

Amy
Yeah, I think it was actually five. So in my experience, it was almost I mean, it was an enormous amount to spend for what I actually yielded in terms of my wholesale clients. But when I was there, I was talking with a lot of the other vendors in my area, and they were all just talking about how you should get on Faire and become a top shop. And so you only have to do a couple of criteria things to become a top shop. Like you have to fulfill a certain number of orders or repeat orders. You have to add a couple new products every once in a while. And I think you have to run a marketing campaign. But honestly, the criteria are pretty manageable for any business, I think. And they're like, just play the game, just become a top shop because then when buyers are looking through faire and they see Top Shop like they're more likely to click on it, which I can now attest that when I'm looking on fair and I see topshop, I'm like, oh, let me check this out. Not that I'm like only looking at that now that I'm a buyer, but it shows me something. And then also like as a buyer, I think that like packaging or like how the product is presented is really important because you can have amazing, really well-made candles. But if they don't have a flashy, not flashy, but if they don't have a something, a good label.

Phoebe
For the label, we need a good label.

Amy
But it really is true like that I've seen with my customers in the store, so that hasn't necessarily like inform how I present my products necessarily. But I do see what products are the most successful for sure. And I do a lot of my buying through Faire.

Phoebe
So is NY now the only wholesale trade show you've done?

Amy
Yeah. So it was happening, I think, at the same time as a Shop Object, which a lot of people and these are both happening like right now I think, which is February.

Phoebe
At the time of this recording

Amy
Courtney. Yes. Time stamp February.

Phoebe
So you haven't done the New England one for New England?

Amy
No, I haven't okay.

Phoebe
I've been hearing about that lately.

Amy
Oh, is that the one that's in Maine?

Phoebe
I think they have a Massachusetts one. And like Maine ones for one spring or something.

Amy
Yeah. So I always say but like even though that was like really disappointing in terms of like what they promised their like buyers from target are here, buyers from blah blah blah. And like they were they just were walking the floor and like looking at their phone like not looking at products in my experience, which was very surprising and weird. And anyway, I feel like I never do a show and I'm like, that was 100% a waste of time. There's always something to learn or to be gained. And that was my take away from that. And like, even if I did another show on, I didn't like break even or something. I just always think that there's something to be gained.

Phoebe
So you're doing a lot right now, right? So you have your product, you're selling D2C, you're also still working your wholesale angle. Right? That's an active pitching situation. You're still doing events even though you have your retail store right. You're planning on that for the summer. You don't know.

Amy
Yeah. So well, right now I'm actually like mostly like hosting events at the store. I haven't been doing like, the catering or like doing outside events.

Phoebe
No, I mean, like, are you going to do other markets too.

Amy
Oh, markets attending markets. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So I'm sort of like last year I kind of had to step out of all I like, bailed on a lot of my summer markets because I was setting up the store. But this year, now that I sort of have more feet on the ground, I'm definitely going to have choice places where I go. Yeah.

Phoebe
Okay. So I guess my question for you. Well, I guess I want to talk about wholesale first, and then I want to come back to how are you balancing all of this? But when you're looking for wholesale for your own shop, we talked about labels like, what else are you looking for? Like, what are you looking for in your retail shop?

Amy
That's a really good question. Well, first of all, I refine it to women owned business. So that's a good way to like, you know, cut out a lot of other things that I see online. But then I also try to and then like the values of the store are like the same as my brand; food and feminism. So I really try to have the products be somehow connected to food, because I just want it to have this cohesive foodie theme to the store. Sometimes they're not, but so that's like another thing that I look for, but definitely things that are unique, something that someone wouldn't have seen before, but that they're like really excited to be seeing right now. Like for example, I have this candle that the shape of an heirloom tomato, and then I have another candle that's the shape of a farfalle pasta. And so like, people are like, well, oh my God, I love this. And so it's like I like to like kind of provide the unexpected or something funny. So I like, like I have this sticker that says hello, I'm on my way to buy myself a little treat, and people laugh out loud at that every single day. I probably sell one every single day. I'm constantly going through those, so something funny is another value I think that I look for. Yeah. Another thing is that, like, I like to have these unexpected things, and I also want to be a place to introduce people to brands, especially if they're really small or they're getting started or they have like this unique offering and they're like, you know, amazing artist. But then there's also an element of it where I want people to see things that they recognize, because I think that also makes people feel comfortable shopping like, for example, I have like the Fly by Jean Chili Crisp, which is like a really popular chili crisp on the market. I have fish wife tinned fish. So like these are things that I feel like show up on TikTok and social media. A lot of people are aware of them. So I think positioning like popular brands is important to, you know, Grassa Olive oil, that kind of thing.

Phoebe
But so exciting. And this is okay. Well, I want to pop in and say, you're going to have my bumper stickers there. Abortions are health care bumper stickers, and our new girl dinner sticker, which I'm so excited about. But as you're talking about this, I'm just like thinking that I did– okay. So normally with my products, especially stickers, I write Girl Gang Craft them somewhere, and I'm just in this moment processing that. I didn't do that on the girls in our stickers. So learn from my mistakes, people as a name. Make sure that especially if you're having stickers or any sort of item period, needs to have some sort of mark back to your brand for advertising purposes, right? You want to be an introduction when the store serves as an introduction to your brand, and you want people to not only frequent the store again, but also follow you on social media, check out, you know, be involved in you as a brand. Yeah. So whether that's hang tags or like a sticker on a sticker, or like, I don't know, put your information somewhere on all your items.

Amy
Yes, 100%. There are a lot of people who and my products included, when you have them, and then you go to use them like you take the sticker off a sheet or whatever, and you just put it on like it's divorced from the original maker. And so, yeah, of course someone can Google it or reverse image search or something, but I love when people have a QR code on their product, or they just package it as a presentation with their brand information. For sure. And for I literally, I probably like last year, just started putting Overseasoned on my tea towl, but for the longest time it was just like, I has to design and I because I didn't want to disrupt the design by putting something on it. And I don't want to do that. On the apparel, but I literally just started doing that.

Phoebe
Do you do hang tags for your? Ok.

Amy
Yeah, so I have the hang tags, but 100% context of your brand is great.

Phoebe
Yeah, we were doing custom labels on all of our products for a little bit, and then I had a seamstress doing them for me in California, and I don't have that here. So I sort of I sort of dropped the ball on that. But yeah, it's a whole other step and it's a whole other expense.

Amy
Yeah, I would love to do that. Like where you have the little thing that's stitched on, like you said, with your brands. I feel like that's like a 3.0 evolution for me. That would be really, really cool. But I haven't done that yet either.

Phoebe
Yeah, I was looking into like mini screen printing that you could just do in the like the tag area. Anyways, it's again, it's an, you know, it's an extra expense.

Amy
Yes. And a time. Yeah yeah yeah.

Phoebe
Okay. How do you balance all of this?

Amy
Well when you first said that I laughed and I just laughed again because. You try your best. Yeah. I don't have a meaningful solution or answer to it. One of my responses to it was to get a tattoo of a flamingo standing on one leg to symbolize balance. Obviously, that's done pretty much nothing for me and my.

Phoebe
You have that.

Amy
That. I got the tattoo. Yeah. The imagery is there permanently. So I look at it all the time and I'm like, I wonder how I'm going to figure out how to balance everything. But as a real answer, I try to like something that I try to do lately is like be in sprints. So, like being a sprint of, okay, right now I'm pursuing a lot of wholesale people because it's a good time for it. And then it's like, okay, maybe like last September, I was in a sprint of like designing things where I had a couple ideas and I was like, I'm just going to get into a practice of having time, sit down and do my digital drawing and design a couple of things I put, I think three things out there. So I just kind of went through a little mini sprint. And so because there's certain times they're just not appropriate for doing certain things, like when it's so big.

Phoebe
I don't do anything in the summer. I don't plan for anything. I like.

Amy
Exactly. And like December, I don't even think about my wholesale clients, no offense, but like, because.

Phoebe
They don't think about you during December either.

Amy
So I'm going to think about them in January and that's great. And I'm not going to think about me. So I'm saying that's like that's sort of the overall goal. It doesn't always work that way because, you know, things come up and like when you're the founder and you're running things like issues are coming to you, you got to solve them on a day to day. So like, I could spend my whole day just responding to things that come in. But I try to do like the sprints or even on a day to day basis. Okay, today I'm doing I'm meeting with my assistant. We're doing marketing. We're doing content. I think that's really important in terms of if you're the one doing everything, like you have to make your content, you've got to do your marketing email, you've got to do your taxes and everything. I think it's so important to, especially when it comes to content, dedicate a day to it. Because if you're like, oh, I have to make a reel today. And every single day you're like, let me do this. And then it eats up two hours of your time. It's just I was doing that for so long and just completely hamster wheeling, so yeah, I guess that's. But another answer to the question about balance is like, I also try to be pursuing something that I think is really fun and interesting, and adding something new to the brand, like in terms of like, okay, now I'm doing a new design, or now I'm going to put myself out there in a different type of store. I'm going to try and contact somebody new because that to me, helps me stay motivated and interested in what I'm doing. So like, for example, in January I started hosting events at the store and I call them cozy and crafty. So we have like, you know, the coziest, which is like, you know, yoga and sound bath. And then the crafty, which is like, like knit, learn to embroider like collage. And so that has been something that's exciting and also generating more ideas for me. So I understand that there are seasons to work on certain things. And then I also just push for more fun things.

Phoebe
I love it. Okay, well this has been so amazing. Amy, can you tell the listeners where they can find you?

Amy
Absolutely. So my website is overseasoned.com, and that's where you can find all of my products, including all of the cool products that I sell at Matriarch. So Matriarch is my store it’s at 468 Thames street in Newport, you can't miss it has all these lemons outside and in the summer has all these window boxes are exploding with flowers that my mom won an award for last year. But, on my website, you can also buy the cookbooks, the books. And so I tried to get everything so you can have like the in-store experience online as well. And I am technically on TikTok but not very active. So check it out I guess. yeah. Thank you so much for having me and helping me talk through some of these things that clearly I still need to find solutions for now.

Phoebe
I love it, it's been so helpful. Okay. Thank you so much, Amy.

Amy
Thank you.

OUTRO

Phoebe
Thank you so much for listening to the Girl Gang Craft Podcast. Head to Girlgangcraft.com/podcast for show notes and more. See you next time.