RACHEL JONES - Nostalgia Tacos

Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke. I'm your host, Colleen Witt, and today we have another special guest. We have Rachel Jones from Trill Pause, owner, founder, creator of trill Pause, which is a luxury accessory lifestyle brand for our little pups and our guests. Right sure, So what caught my attention was a couple of things why we have Rachel here today. But one of the things that I like about your brand is can you

Yeah.

Absolutely, So. Our best selling tag is have your people call my people.

We've had that tag.

Since we launched the brand and it is still the best selling to this day. We have not not all who wander are loss but I am.

Oh, yeah, that's the one I like too, Okay.

Super cute.

Another one that I love is Extra. It's so it has the word extra on it with an avocado, so it's like, you know when you're at chipolt and you ask for the glock and.

They're like, it's gonna be extra.

And it's also for those dogs like mine who just has a ridiculous over the top personality. Cuddly as fuck is gonna be a good one.

I like that one, Love that one, love that one.

Yeah, so a lot of them are funny, and I just the goal is to make people laugh and somehow associate the name of the tag to their dog somehow, And so I feel like we've kind of found that magic.

Yes, And then when I look at your leashes, I did try to get my hands on some of your accessories, but even her leashes, like the materials like really soft. It looks very high quality, not your typical, you know, run to the pet store leash. So that's pretty exciting too.

Yeah. Yeah, the leashes are great.

I design them with the goal to be able to clean them, you know, because their dogs can get dirty or like get into things, and I wanted to be able to put a warm paper towel to it and clean it and it not be smelly.

And so that's that.

And the tolls that I can play with different colors with this material, like I love this red, but I can do like a deep forest green.

I can do a neon green if I feel like it.

And yeah, so it's great. I had a lot of fun designing the leashes and collars.

I love the creativity you put into it because it like really brings the personality and matches the dog and the owner. And if I ever saw a dog with that type of name tag, no matter how cute and expensive that dog is, I feel like, oh, I have to return it just because of the tag. You know what I'm saying. You feel like, uh, yeah, I'm gonna

Gonna miss the dog.

Yeah, clear, the owner is gonna miss this dog definitely. So before I get into like the who, why and where you came up with this whole trill pause thing, we gotta know what you were eating when you were broke. Yes, So what is the dish you're gonna have me eating for breakfast today?

So they are ground turkey tacos aka budget tacos.

And it was a dish that I did grow up eating.

My dad made a more elevated version of this with better ingredients. But when I stepped out on my own and moved into my apartment with no furniture. This was a meal that I would make.

Every Tuesday, Taco Tuesday.

And you know, with twenty dollars, I could feed twenty people with these ingredients. And so you know, over the years the recipe has been perfected. You know, I use better ingredients today if I do do it. But in the beginning, it was just ground turkey, taco seasoning, corn, tortillas and cheese, and everyone would be beyond satisfied. And it was just it was just a time back then. You know.

Everyone would come over.

Sit on the floor, yep, you know, and we would just eat our ground turkey tacos on paper plates and just you know, live our young lives.

It's so funny when you say, like no furniture, you literally take me back to like every girlfriend of mine, when we get an apartment. It would be like a one bedroom apartment. They would literally be no furniture in it. It was like rent was paid and there was a bunch of blankets, but furniture was not an option. And even for myself, I remember all the way up to like I was twenty six, at the bed on the little square thing with the wheels. Do you know what

You don't mind, yes, So first things first, it's always cooking the turkey first because it takes the longest.

Yes. And then you don't put oil in your pan? Do you?

I actually do. I just put a little bit of oil, so.

Yeah, I'll just put put a hair back. In the day, it was definitely vegetable oil. To day when I make the talks, it's all oil.

So you know what I learned after being on eating while broke is that I used to think olive oil is like, okay, you know, the better more premium oil. But what I've been learning is is that each oil burns differently, And I didn't know that. I think we had a couple of chefs teach me a couple lessons, like what oil to use for what? Okay, but if you asked me to tell you what oil is for what right now, I couldn't tell you, you know, But you're right.

Like summer smokier. I don't have that knowledge. I just want to make sure the burner. I think it might be on too high. But yeah, I mean for me, if this is vegetable oil, yeah, no, it's canola.

Oh there's a difference. Oh, I don't know.

That's my knowledge. I guess know.

It was like you can get this big bottle for what like three forty nine?

Yeah, you know, and it's like you'll.

Have it for months. Yeah. So it's funny because back in the day, if you went grocery shopping, it was cheaper. But now when I go grocery shop and I'm like, I don't know.

Like, how did I spend two hundred dollars on nothing?

On nothing? And usually when you spend two hundred dollars, you're like, okay, I walked away with like three things of protein. Yeah, it'd be like I didn't walk away with no protein, nothing, nothing, nothing.

Yeah, it's wild. It's definitely wild.

Oh that's sizzling.

Yeah.

So while you're doing these tacos, and I feel bad for all our listeners because I can literally hear the sizzle.

Hear it.

She's cooking, guys, it's a cooking show. Take me back to, like what was going on in the home of you when you were making these tacos. And I think you could take me back. I know you said you did it later on after you got your first apartment, but kind of take me back to you a little bit of your home life growing up.

Yeah, So I grew up. I grew up in La.

My parents were together until I was thirteen, and after thirteen, you know, my dad moved out. He didn't move far, but he moved out, and he was the sort of disciplinarian of the family. So the second he moved out,

It took me.

I just had a lot of trouble in high school, a lot of trouble, and you know, got out of high school, enrolled myself in La Valley College, which isn't far from here, decided to study child development meant and completely turned everything around somehow, by the grace of God, turned everything around.

And I was like, okay, I'm setting child development. I need a job. Let me get a job as a nanny.

I hear it pays well, I hear it's paid cash. Like, let me try this out during and so nanny's let you live with them, right yeah yeah, travel with them?

Oh wow, you know.

And so I was like, this is interesting. I want to learn about children, and I need money. And so I got a job with a family and stayed with that family for ten years.

Stop school, yep, stop.

Like or was it were they paid enough where you were like cool?

Or they were paying they were paying enough? And it was it was cushiony. It was.

I was very comfortable the kids, and I grew to be very pardon me, the kids and I grew to be very close, and I just, yeah, I like quit all of my school ambitions and did this full time.

Wow, And how old were you at the time I started?

When I was twenty nineteen twenty jeez.

Yes, that's a long dedication. It just long. Yeah, So what makes you at that point decide, Okay, I'm gonna pivot. I'm gonna pivot out of this because that's that's a lot of comfort. Yeah.

So I was very as comfortable as I was.

I wanted more and I just didn't know how to get it.

I didn't know what to do to get more, and I didn't know what that more was.

And so I would.

Look for different jobs, and every job that I was interested in required a degree, and so I was just so discouraged, you know, I'm like, damn, like, what am I gonna do? And so I sort of figured that if I wanted to be successful, I had to start a business because everything, you know, if I wanted to go work here, they there were just so many.

It was just so impossible for me.

And so I just started to idate and think about different businesses that I could start in. A friend of mine attempted to start a bikini brand, and you know, there was a juice company that I wanted to start, and I just didn't really have the skill set and the knowledge too. I could start something, but to fully execute with something that I just I couldn't refine that task. And so I got to a point in my late twenties where I was like, okay, like something has to give.

So I'm surprised you did you see an entrepreneur something, because usually people don't just well, I don't know if people do this, and people could correct me, but like I didn't know. People just randomly will say like, Okay, I think I want to start a business, because that's such a big feat. No, I didn't.

I did not grow up with any entrepreneurs in my family at all. But I was very entrepreneurial as a kid when I sat and thought about my.

You were in school like sodas and chips or something exactly, Okay, Yeah.

And I at our elementary school were sitting around one day and I think.

We saw on TV at like the cooler kids in high.

School had student stores and we were in elementary school, and I was like, well, why can't we have a student store? So we literally built out a student store that remained at the school years after, and every.

I think it was once a week, let's just call it Thursday.

They cleared out a classroom and brought in books, pencils, paper, Domino's Pizza would come in and sell pizza.

And so we we did that, you.

Know, and I think there were a handful of things.

That things like that that showed me.

You know, it's like, yeah, you had it in you you were Yeah, it was already there.

It was there, it was, and it was it was definitely dormant during my twenties. I was just focused on anything but personal growth. And I think once all the noise sort of you know, quieted itself, I was like, okay.

Like let's let's let's revisit that and let's.

Focus because you've got I have so many ideas. I will always have an idea. Let me just figure out how to execute. Yeah, And so I actually started a business prior to the pet Tag company where I saw the girls that I was babysitting, they were wearing Air Force ones and we wore Air Force ones back in

Remember I remember people doing it, you know, And so I was like.

If that was pop And then I think I can make this pot now. And it was just a hustle. It was, yeah, trying to figure out how you can get extra cash. And so a friend of mine and I did all the research, figured out how to get faux luxury prints, but learn we wanted to make it more feminine, make it more cool, make it more trendy. So we added a few details to the air Force one, and we sold so many air Force ones, so much so that Kylie Jenner.

Were the Air Force ones. And what it was just it just it made us a lot of money fast.

And you did it before the trend hit.

Before the trend hit brilliant, So yeah.

Wow, that's that's that's extremely impressive to see the eye for that, to even have the eye.

For that, And I was, I guess I was hungry at that.

You were hungry, but you were you were paying attention. That was like natural, little little bit of natural in you right there. I would definitely say, yeah, I don't even know how to say that, because that's that's really natural for you to pick up and observe that.

I'll take it.

So I guess you know what, I will say, the hustle are in you because because it would take a hustle to like even peep that. But very impressive move. I would say, very impressive, like if you were on a basketball court, I would say that that's a that's a strong pivot game. And how are you selling them?

So we sold.

Them online, created a website, sold them online primarily Instagram, just all the like hot Instagram girls loved them.

We would give them a lot just for organic marketing.

Yes, okay, okay, we made that business acumen was good, right, That business agument was good. Okay, that wasn't That wasn't your average business acumen, to be honest.

It was.

It was wild and it was fun and we at some point were going to get shut down because we were selling you know, these fo Gucci and it was and it was blown up and so we may or may not have got a few like cease and desist letters, and our website was like, we can no longer accept your pain. You gotta find, you know, a third party. And so it just we kept running into these roadblocks. And my husband boyfriend at the time but now a husband would joke and say like this is cool, but

I love it, and so it's funny.

We sat down and we went to coffee one Saturday morning and he was like, let's figure it out.

Let's sit down and let's figure it out.

He was like, let's let's turn you legitimate.

We got we got your.

Your your your illegal side out, we got your hustle spear because you had and I could see why he did it. You had all the ingredients of a successful entrepreneur.

Who was it.

We were interviewing a country Wayne and he was doing like a legal activity and he just his focus was like I want to get out of a legal activity, and that was like became his focus. He was good at it, but he needed a transition. And it sounds like you, I mean, you're a legal activity. Obviously sounds

So we tried to move quickly because I understood that it was a trend it was a trendy product. So source the fabric from overseas, bought a bunch of air force ones retail.

And just spent a week two weeks.

Trying to find someone that could actually sew these these prints onto the shoe. So that took about two three weeks, and then at that point it was just all right, let's start the Instagram. Let's take as many photos as we can. So we were putting on the shoes and going to what's that street Beverly to like take photos in front of the pink wall, and let's just do as much as we can get the website going, upload those photos to the website, and let's just press go.

Let's let know, let people know that we exist.

And I still use that tactic today.

You know, it's going on.

Someone's page who appears to be the ideal customer, liking a few photos, commenting and basically saying.

We're here, Like, hey, we're here. And so we did a lot of that.

We did a little bit of gifting to macro and micro influencers, people that weren't asking.

Us to pay them for these posts.

And it just slowly took off and eventually it caught fire. And so you know, it was a lot of organic, a lot of learning on the fly.

I knew nothing.

Did you end up when you were buying the sneakers? Did you wait for people to place the order to buy the sneaker or did you end up with like, oh damn, we're out of size eights.

It was we were sold out a lot, and so there would be mind you, I was still working as a nanny full time, so after I got off work, I would head to the mall and hit this foot locker, that foot locker, this foot locker.

Do you have a size eight all white air Force one?

No, okay, lady footlocker might And so it was just a lot of me running around town grabbing as many women's all white shoes as I possibly could.

And women were your top purchase.

Ye, And we had I mean, we definitely had men that were inquiring.

But the whole brand, and I say that in quotes that we established it was for women.

The name of the company was v okay okay, you know, so if you can.

Read between the lines, and it was just it was just a brand for women. Yeah. So and that helped because otherwise.

I can't imagine running around town trying to find both sizes.

And well, I would definitely say you for your first business, that was the most gangst the first business I've seen, and you you did it great. So now let's talk about trill pass so or the conversation with your husband or your boyfriend at the time kind of walk me through what's going on. He's like, baby, girl friends are about to pull up on us.

Yes, in so many words.

Yeah.

And so we sat down for coffee and the goal during that session was we can't leave until we figure it out. Because I had been scratching my head for months knowing that this wasn't practical, this wasn't real.

So I was like, what is it? I don't know, I don't know, I'll think about it later.

But he was like, no more, I don't know, Like, let's sit down and figure it out. And so, you know, I started to ask myself in that conversation, what do I love? You know, when people you hear established entrepreneurs talk about their business, they often go back to, well, you know, they say like, do what you love? And I hated that thought because I love, I truly love so much.

Like I love food more than anyone I know.

I love music more than anyone I know, Like I love there's just you know, there's just so that's that's so difficult for me to just sit and think about a thing that I love.

But when I thought.

About my everyday life and what I spend most of my time thinking about, were like, what brings the greatest reaction out of me. It's dogs.

I will pet you, I will ask you, but I will pet your dog. I will pet your dog. I will ask you, but I will pet your dog.

If you're trying to get a nice quiet walk and you passed Rachel, you're probably.

Like, so I'm that person. You know, to this day, I'm that person. And so I was like, Okay, that's.

Interesting, maybe there's something there.

And so I started to think about when you have a dog, what are the things that you need to get for that dog. You need the food, you need the bulls to put.

The food in. You need the you know, you need the least, you need, the collar, you need this. And so I'm like, okay, the pet. You need a pet. You need a pet. Tack, God forbid your dog gets out.

You need one. But I think what I like about Trail Pause is the flavor in like the and I say flavor as in like the lifestyle, the trend that you have of just the uniqueness of you know, like when I describe my dog, it's like he's a muck with attitude, or he's you know, of course everyone thinks their dog, especially I'm like my dog could join the Olympics. He's so fast, you know, he can out run a groundhog.

Absolutely, Like how can you make your dog's day? It is the mentality for a lot of people these days.

Yeah, you know. And so I think that I grew up with dogs. We've I was born into a house with dogs.

We've never not had a dog, And so I'm very familiar with going to the pet.

Store and just going crazy.

And I'm also familiar with, you know, we've got this new dog and we need to put a tag on him or her, and I'm you know, going going onto the kiosk and purchasing like that standard bone tag tag.

It's like, ill, like you never look at tags the same, right, right.

I know I've become that person too, But it was it was that, It's like, okay, that.

Was cool, but it was boring.

Yeah.

After you, you know, you get the tag, it's like okay, and it's just a bone and it starts to rust and it's not special.

And so I'm like, okay, how can we make that special?

They will wear it every day, you know, I mean, it can be so much more than what it is.

And so that's when I started to explore. After we left the coffee.

Shop, I was gonna say, so, like at the coffee shop where you like, you know what I think it is? We gonna make dog tags? Cool? Was it that? Or was it like I think I'm going to go in the arena of dogs.

Nope, it was I think we're gonna make dog tags. I was pumped.

I was like dog tags. So we went from Air Force once the dog No.

He I mean he also grew up around dogs and he gets it.

He's like that's it. Yeah, like you got it.

And so I left the coffee shop high off of coffee and caffeine, like we're going, and so I just started to do the research. How do I make dog tags? How do I make them special? How do I make them durable?

How do I you know?

So I did about, you know, two three months of R and.

D, and I was like, okay, I think, I think, I think I have a product.

Now I need a website. And so just going back to the basics and that stuff I learned from my side hustle business.

So that was easy to do.

And put the tags up on the site, launched the site crickets for a while.

Did you start doing the Instagram?

Did the Instagram?

But it was it was harder going from marketing you know, shoes.

Two cool girls to like dog tags to dog owners. It was very different.

So it took me a while to figure it out and I'm still figuring it out, but it was I did take it to Instagram and eventually we got a sale, and we got another sale, and then I learned, okay, I need to be in these pet stores too, so I would awesome.

Okay, so what'd you do? You went door knocking?

I went door knocking. Okay, yes, I was door knocking any pet store. I'd be, you know, driving whatever, going to the gym, and if I saw a pet store, I would write it down and then I would call the pet store and I would just pitch. Wouldn't work, I would refine my pitch, and sometimes I would go into the store because a lot of times the owners don't want to be bothered, and so I'd bring the display, bring some tags.

Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

So I would engrave the stores a name with the store's and phone number on the back of the tag, and you know.

And so eventually after doing.

That, that worked. And it was also it's also of marketing. I myself, if I walked into a pet store and saw this cool display, maybe I won't buy it immediately, but I might say, oh, what's the name of the company?

Oh, okay, okay, cool, you know.

And so even if the stores, some stores don't perform well, some stores knock it out of the.

Park, but it's a it's a billboard, yeah, yeah.

You know, and so yeah, and so just between the retail marketing, the Instagram, just all of that stuff, I started to figure out, you know, just just what my angle was.

Were you still nannying during this?

I quit?

Oh, you got to wait.

The pressure was on The pressure was on. Geez, yeah, the press.

You know what I will say about that though, like jumping off the cliff and like just building your wings on the way down. Like I will say that nothing, nothing motivates you more than no backup playing.

Yeah yeah, it's like burn the boats.

Yeah yeah, it's definitely like think or swim yep.

Yeah.

Damn. That pressure must have been real because I can't imagine how many dog tags you'd have to sell to make rent.

Yeah. Yeah, the pressure like two and fifty dogs.

We're at forty nine.

The pressure was on, and you know, to be honest, that first year was really slow.

I was just trying to figure it out, which is in that first year when I was like, Okay, I need to sell these tags to people into store, which is where the idea came about.

And are you going to markets and stuff too.

I did a market and the market was so much fun because I had been selling online, you know, there was no real interaction with people, and it was so special to have people come up to the booth look at the tags, laugh at the tags, you know, like like bring their daughter over and say like do you think this tag would work for you know, Buster and then pick out a tag and me engrave it and then them Actually it was just so special.

I should do more of them, but they're just it's a lot.

Yeah, new mom too, now.

Oh yeah, it's it's not happening all your listeners.

If you're thinking about it, baby, you could damn region. So what would you say was the hardest part in building your business? Was it the first couple of years or was it like, what was the part where you were like, seriously, I'm going to cry off all my makeup.

Now if I'm being honest right now is yeah, I just think it's like I am a new mom and so balancing being a new mom and trying to run a business that my only focus was this business for the last you know, four and a.

Half year baby.

It was my baby, you know, and I now have a real baby, and so it's hard to think about dividing my time.

You know. It's it's it's a lot. So I feel like now is when I'm experiencing the just a lot of anngst, a lot of anxiety all as well, you know, but just it's a it's.

A new challenge that I am currently just trying to figure out.

Yeah, yeah, I'm glad you spoke on that because we were talking before we were taping. Like that pressure of you know, sink or swim gets real real when there's a baby sitting in front of you that's helpless. Like I didn't ask to be here, you summoned me.

Uh.

It's one of the things that caught my eye about you. Was my favorite rapper of all time. Okay, so my favorite rapper of all time. You walked past it. I don't know if you saw it, but there's a huge jay Z painting in Yes, it's literally the only one in the world. I think Sypher sounds he's gonna try and get jay Z to sign it for me, but you know, I still got to follow up on that.

The song was called Entrepreneur by Pharrell featuring jay Z.

Yes, and of course all all I saw was jay Z. But back to the most iconic So, if you're a huge jay Z fan, this moment for you had to have been like, holy shit.

Yeah, I thought, well, so I received an email from the director's assistant and they kind of spelled it out enough for me to understand what this was, and I thought it was fake.

No, there's no.

But like, how did they know you?

I don't.

I don't know, so I do not do know that the director of the music video is also from LA and I do know. I don't know him personally, but I absolutely know that we have a lot of like mutual friends. So I don't know how I appeared on his radar. And I should have asked, but I was just so like just shocked.

Well, first you said you did you didn't believe it.

I didn't believe it.

So like, did you ignore or did you still respond?

I know I and I do this generally. If I receive an email, I have to sit on it, you know. So I'm like, I'm sitting on it, I'm thinking about it, overthinking this can't be real. Well, if it is real, you can't miss your opportunity, so.

You need to respond.

So of course, I, you know, at some point, responded quickly thereafter, and you know, it was very it was it was real, clearly, you know.

So who did you.

Reach out to first when you got that? Obviously your husband or your boyfriend?

Yeah, fiance at the time.

Oh shit, mab, look at this.

Yeah, he was the first person I probably forwarded him in the email, knowing me and our relationship, and he knows how much I love jay Z, you know, and so it is.

I just know how.

Happy he was and it didn't really feel real. And I think that's just a lot of how I'm wired. Until it happens, I'm.

And you don't want to get your hopes up and then it pops.

Yeah, exactly exactly.

So it took the crew arriving to my house for me to be like, oh, this is happening, and you know, it's funny.

I'm having this thought. I huge jay Z fan. He must be aware of who I am.

Like, first of all, jay Z, the way he's so meticulous, there's no way he did not He does not know who you are. Definitely watched the video.

That's crazy, you know, just thinking.

About that, you're even doper and.

Did you just realize that just I just realized that that's crazy.

Wow, Okay, that's really crazy. That is so crazy.

Yeah, I'm just I don't imagine your hero knows you. That's crazy. I mean, I don't know if he's your hero, but like, yeah, you know, it's.

Someone that I've looked up to forever.

So so you get your feature in this video, what impact does it have on your business?

So I at the time, I was also receiving a lot of press just for other reasons, and so it just I feel like the press at the time, and then the music video was just a culmination of the work that I had been doing for the last few years, and so I got more opportunities from it, and I just think it it sort of validated things for me. I'm you know, just at the time, I was just working with my head down. I didn't have help at

Very important, very important. Remember Johnny Cupcakes brand Okay, Okay, he blew up and he his thing was like he would even take like a random toy from his house and like throw it in a box or.

To make it personal.

Yeah, and he would just scribble whatever or you know it like literally built his brand to like a gigantic brand. And he was like he'll be in London, He'll see someone with a tattoo of his brand on him. Wow, Because he was just like, you know, I think I'm just gonna throw this mug in there. I have to look into that just like really built like this personal connection with his people writing notes. So I love that you were writing the thank yous.

Yes yeah, yeah for for a long time. And so I when that happened, I think things got a little too a little too hard for me to manage. So it actually pushed me to, Okay, I need to hire someone. I can't do everything. So I ended up hiring someone. So it really it really helped me take things to the next level where I am now. So I'm I will forever be grateful for that opportunity and just the just the acknowledgement. It was like a validation for me that i'd be doing something right.

Did you frame like a screenshot of the vie?

You should?

Oh, come on, I should? Are you Like, you know, I'm one of those people that I definitely won't do it. But I remember the first company I had was a high school magazine called Celebrity High And like, every time something went wrong, this is how I operate. I never call anybody when something's going good. I'm like, something went wrong, It'd be like a parking ticket that would just mess.

Up my day.

I'd be like, yo, I'm already struggling. You're gonna give me a fifty dollars parking ticket. I'd be like calling my dad from the backseat of car, and my dad would always be like, I don't think you can see how far you came. And that was always even with Nick, my partner, I felt like that was always a thing for me, like I just couldn't see how far it came.

Your head is just in it. Yeah, you don't come up for air.

And I say all this to say, Rachel, if I don't get a text or an email with a nice, beautiful blow up picture of that moment, like you know, you need to do it for yourself.

Yeah, yeah, no, you're right, You're right. It's yeah, I've got like a perfect spot on my wall. I can see it, like I can.

You have to, because like it's so easy to get caught up in the weeds in the next milestone and then, like I feel like as entrepreneurs, once you accomplished one thing that a little bit of confidence goes, well, let's go try something else.

Yeah yeah, yeah, you gotta.

Do it for yourself. I mean it's an iconic moment.

I love it.

That's great advice, it really is. I don't I don't stop and smell the flowers. I'm just like, go go, go next XX. You're not doing enough.

It's not enough.

It's never, it's never. Yeah, And I feel like there's always those challenges. How did you deal with Oh, well, I haven't eaten yet, let's try these tackles. Yes, okay, take a BikeE okay. And these are corn tortillas everybody, which I usually don't eat a lot of, so I'm excited to Yeah.

Mmm, it don't do on a budget. Mm hmmm.

I know we were talking recently.

And I said, I like salta and then I feel like it's a real deal. Right, But I like that you didn't add salsa because it was like I taste brokeness that.

Was the goal.

You nailed it, Like if I do, if I do it today, I've got all that. I've got an onion, yeah, avocado, let it. But like this is this is the the bare minimum here.

Taco mhm wit taco. My reviews on this is even with inflation, this meal cost me, I would say ten eleven dollars and you get like, I don't know how many tacos coming that thing, like fifty or one hundred a lot. And the meat was six dollars. I think the seasoning was a dollar or two, and the cheese was a couple of dollars. So you nailed it because on this budget, guys, if you are at home thinking about doing your own business and you want to survive the week. This will land you there.

I agree, well, I agree.

If you refrigerate the meat, the juices kind of solidify is better the next day.

It will get you through.

You will get you through.

Yes, shout outs to this dish.

And then you know, if you really broke, maybe you can throw some ketchup on it.

Mmm?

Does that work?

Why not? I love that?

So, looking at your whole entrepreneur journey, what is something you would tell your younger self? Like, what was that miles somewhere you us? I'll give you an example. I was having a conversation with somebody yesterday and the debate for my whole career. I feel like, is will I bring Celebrityhigh Magazine back? But I always people know absolutely not. I'm sorry, guys, but I said, if I could go back in time and talk to my younger self, I

That's a good question, you know. I think it's think bigger.

I think that I often, maybe to prevent myself from ache, I will just kind of put limits on myself, whether it's you know, putting limits on the product line or you know, okay, I'm only going to order a thousand of these pieces, or I should be ordering five thousand. I just always think small, just to kind of put the the bumpers around me. But I think I would tell myself just think bigger, you know, and inevitably, if you think bigger, you're kind of forced to level up

So I definitely need to start killing myself that now.

I can see that. I think coming from being you're black, you're mixed. Yeah, you look like me, We look like you just have like really cute freckles, so like that would make us like not be sisters. But yeah, you look like me, so you're mixed. But I will say, like, I think part of the for lack of better words, the hinderance is that black culture has, like as far as opportunities prior to the Black Lives movement has been

Yeah, you know, it's it's so I toyed with that thought. I'm going to say two three years ago was on my New Year's you know, these are the goals that I want to reach and I would love I would love like an NBA license where I can you know, make tags out of the players and just different jerseys and do it legally because.

I am I've done things, yeah, okay, or just.

You know, it's like I yes, that is such a key, key way to grow.

I love it.

And that's just you know, there's the NFL, there's san Rio. There are like so many ways that we can take it. But it's to you know, to your point, it's like it's just it's doing it, you know, and it's just like putting myself up against.

The putting it out there, you know, like putting it out there that like this is what I want to do, and you never know who's listening or who's in the room. But I tell to get that little bit of a roadblock mentally on like you know, but I think it's also like a lack of knowledge.

Yeah right, yeah, experience.

Like, like I said, I met this other lady and looks like you and me. You know, she's obviously the first black and she's she's the first black licensed character in all these stores. And it's like we're in two thousand and twenty three, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, so that's why I have to drop the blackness in it. Like I know some people don't like it, but it's like we still are breaking barriers in twenty and twenty one,

Yeah, I appreciate that. I do. I do, And I think the business has so much potential.

You know, it's grown too much flavor. Yeah, it's too much flavor. It's too much flavor. So where do you see, Well, I guess you see yourself doing the NBA Like.

Sure, yes, absolutely, I mean that would be yeah, another dream come true to have those partnerships.

But where I see myself down the line.

Just more, just more growth. We have such a huge market in the US, but I know that there are dog lovers across the globe. So it's you know, in my head at some point figuring out how to really get product to the Canadian customers, to just every market, the UK, the you know, Australian market, to really figure out how to get it out there. Shipping is so expensive these days, so it's not it's not as easy as you think or I thought it would be. So

So it's happening. Yeah, it's happening.

It's just now, are you going after these deals yourself or they coming to.

A little bit of both Chewy I you know, I inquired and they took us on immediately. They were happy to and I have been selling product with them for three years and all as well.

Pet Co approached us.

Chewy is the box that comes to your house.

Right, Yeah, well, Chewy is the so they're the online pet retail store. They're the go to so you know, they're like the the pet Co of the online world. They're actually owned by pet smart. But anything you need is you know food, literally anything you need. And then they also do like dog prescriptions if God forbid, your dog has any you know need for it.

So they're they're a big they're a huge player in the game.

So you go and then you drop ship.

Yeah yeah, so yeah, that's a lot of our business is chewy. So just the big retailers. I think for a while that it was big, that was big.

Well, it's like the day when you found out that deal went through, where you like run into the house and girl, you would not believe what happened today.

I was pumped. I was, and it just there.

Have a group text that you have your family on that you stream it through.

I don't.

I celebrate like the winds with my husband, you know, whether it's just like acknowledging it, like talking about it.

And I have like a handful of friends.

Where we just share our winds on a phone call or like when we're out whatever it is.

So I definitely, you know.

Really humble. They're really humble because I'd be like hello world, No, I will say, you know, I take it aback. I have a little brother that I'm very close with, so we definitely jump on a text. Matter of fact, we he's like literally my best friend, so like we jump on text all the time, and we talk about our losses together, and we talk about our wins and our insecurities together. Yeah, but he's definitely my goal to for both, but I have a core group that, yeah, we may jump on a text.

Yeah, it's funny saying that my brother is my go to is what I actually call him on the way here just to talk about the mommy stuff. So he's definitely that someone that I share my my.

Wins with as well.

But it still is kind of small, you know, for for whatever whatever the reason.

Yeah.

Yeah, so from an outside perspective, this brand looks larger than life. What is a day in the life of you now, especially with you being a mom, because that's a whole nother And I just became a mom now, guys, so I'm learning it's like thug life over here, Okay, right, it's thug life. Like literally, mom life is like I promise you, I don't even think girls have a sense of humor until they become a mom, right, because like everybody all of a sudden has like a WTF attitude

Yeah, so I have we currently have what is it for employees, So I've got someone she's incredible. She handles all of the fulfillment so all you know, all the Chewy orders, everything that comes in online, She's engraving, packaging and making sure it gets shipped out. I have someone that handles customer service, so just every everything is being handled. And for me now it's just thinking about growth and product development and what I can do to just take

You're not in the weeds, but you're in the You're definitely in the executive suite. You're out there. You're the CEO cml C. Yes, yes, well are you the CEO?

Well yeah, all of it, yeah, all of it, and I you know, and I feel it, but that's what comes with being an entrepreneur, like you took this on, you know, like you decided to do this.

Do you ever struggle with cash flow? Because I feel like cashlow has never discussed, especially when you have employees. I think it can be a little strenuous, but I I'm just curious, do you deal with it?

Yeah, so I the beauty of the product, and that was one of the things that I thought about when launching the business was my profit margin, because.

I struggled with that with my little illegal side hustle.

It just it wasn't, you know, like it just it didn't the math didn't math. Whereas when I started this business, I just wanted to make sure I was profiting a lot, so the cash flow was never an issue.

We profit a lot.

And my employee, I've had two employees in the fulfillment seat. This employee's part time and she can like power it out and get it done, so you know, I'm not paying a forty.

Hour a week salary.

And then my person that handles customer services actually based in the Philippines. I found her on upwork and so she you're not paying what you would You're not paying a US salary, You're you're paying a Philippine salary, and so it makes sense.

So no cash flow, We're okay.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, So what's a day in the life.

A day in the life is okay, so.

You can include.

Yeah, because I need all the moms to like still be listening, like know that they can do. Yeah, you're living and I don't care if you cry every day. You're a living proof. You're like literally like what jay Z is to us, Like you gotta think there's a mom out there that is trying to figure it out, Like do you inspire pitch? Tell us what a rael is?

Okay, so so you know what I'll do.

Yesterday is a great example of a day in the life. My son woke up at.

One in the morning and three in the morning, and I I eventually had to figure out how to put him back down. I then woke up, it.

Woke back up a let's call it six thirty worked

Do you go now, do you go to your desk with do you initially pull out a pad and do a list? I know I used to do that back in the day. I need to go back to doing that because I can get distracted all over the place, but that used to be my go so I'd be like, you're not leaving this desk, You're not getting on any social media, so this list is done? Yes, yeah, I'll just add to the list even throughout, like and I do the little checks.

Do you still, Yeah, So when I'm when I am my most efficient self, I have a list for the week. We're all just go on to Google calendars and I will plug in. This is what so timee blocking like you need you know, you'll get the emails done between ten and twelve, and then at twelve you'll have a fifteen minute lunch and then you know. And so when I'm like yesterday, I was incredibly efficient and that was because a few days prior I.

Planned you know.

Now, when I don't do that, I'm just rolling with it, you know, and I get things done, but it's not in an efficient way. And so yesterday it was just a remind or that this is this is the way that works for me.

And so I need to spend more time.

And it takes time to create the list and to think about the next week, the next month, the next year, what needs to get done? What can I do today or next week? So that takes time in itself, but that's I am.

I can.

I feel like I can conquer my world when I'm checking checking things off of the like I'll have I have.

I used to.

I'm a dry erase board fanatic. If you went into my room, it's definitely not girl. But I definitely have like the perseverance poster, the integrity poster at that time. And then I have I do have a TV, but I have goal board, which is the long term goals for the whole year, and then it has like the micro goals all broken out. It's like, you know, and I don't even like if I updated some mom, I'm like, you ain't coming in my room because it's too personal.

By the way, absolutely you got more color, more color.

I think I just did a black and white one, but I think the picture was actually black and white. But I if you see my cards, black on black, so I'm probably gonna get the black on black, clean Lambo with the white interior. Though the only thing that scares me about white interia is like I wear a lot of jeans and if you've seen white interaar cars the jeans like message. But no, I remember at one point I did put personal goals and one was a family.

Her room because he's gonna be like a family, right, that's a lot of pressure.

Yeah. And I put like a mixed family too, because I didn't know what race like the person I was gonna be with was gonna be. But I was like, well, I'm mixed, so we was gonna just do a mixed family and uh. And then I put like investment property and usually I don't do that, but I just was like one year, I was like I'm gonna put pictures or whatever, and I ended up with a family and I was like, oh wow, this isn't little too. I couldn't get the lambeau before the kid.

Is that the order? Or maybe you should have been more specific about the.

I should have Yeah, I should have pulled one. And it's funny because I did put eating walk Broke. We had the drawings of eating while broke, and it's it's on there. And then the only thing is I just I can't believe I didn't get the lambo first. Yeah, you know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna take all the other pictures down, just put the lamba, you know, thank you so much for feeding me and just sharing your greatness with me and mom to mom mad respect, you know, to think of it. You in the think

Yes, yes, I need to do that.

I'm going And you know, I know it's not gonna seem like a priority because that's how I am. But you gotta make it a priority because those mama days when they will as you won't be like okay I was, I okay, yes, But shout out to all my listeners. Take check out Rachel Jones. Trill pause. How can they keep up with you? How can they follow you?

Yeah, So if you are looking for direct if you're looking for a pet tag, anything for your dog, pet tag, leash collar, and we're expanding the line, so anything that you would.

Need for your dog.

You can go to troll Pause dot com and if you want to follow us on Instagram, it's at trill Pause.

Yes, so get all those cool trendy lifestyle pieces personality pieces for your pet at trill Pause. So it's not your traditional pet accessories. So I want y'all to think, very exciting, very cool, very hip personal ad your dog with a little bit of flair when he's walking around the block being lost. You know, you know what I'm saying. I let my dog out of the garage and my friends are always like, a Coita is gonna get him,

Peace out

For more eating while broke from iHeartRadio and The Black Effect, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.