Listen, I know how emotional it can be to buy for your boutique or to create a product YOU love, but it doesn't land with your customers. Rather than pushing a boulder up the hill, its important to take the emotional response out when looking at numbers- it doesn't make sense to take up floor or digital space if its not bringing in that $$$$. The Best Seller Secrets Challenge is awesome for both brands AND boutiques, because it shows you why and how leaning into the things that are already prove...
Feb 10, 2022•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast This past week I returned from a road trip to Austin Texas to make a special delivery to my brother and SIL- a dog! Since I do a lot of wholesale business to Texas, I knew that I wanted to create a product inspired by Texas for all of my customers there ( shout out to you!) but I just didn't have the time or mental space to make it happen. Until I spent 40 hours in a car... Its amazing what a road trip can do for ideas and mental space! In this episode I walk through the exact process of coming ...
Sep 22, 2021•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast When you're growing your brand, whether that is as a boutique, a product, a subscription box...its easy to feel discouraged by larger, more established players who seem to have it all dialed in. Well, this episode is proof that a lot happens BTS that is not documented, and as someone who values transparency and aligned action, I wanted to give the WHY behind our own shift and allow you to see that pivoting is part of the process. Being that Mercury Retrograde is upon us, this is a great time to ...
Sep 08, 2021•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ready to start your week with some major inspiration? Inspiration that can lead to MORE PROFIT? Ummm....yes please! What if you had the ability to sell a product that cost you dollars, yet allowed you a 3, 5, 7X mark up (or more)? I'm pretty sure you'd say "MARY STOP IT RIGHT HECKIN NOW AND SHOW ME IT" Well, I'd love to do just that but there's one thing... YOU haven't made it yet. That's right. YOU have the unique power to develop, create and sell a product that your customers will love. In thi...
Aug 30, 2021•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you're a fellow product maker or brand who has been doing the retail thing well for a while and are thinking about wholesale- this episode is for you! As a former award-winning boutique owner, I am sharing my unique perspective as both a wholesale product brand AND retailer plus the #1 thing I see most brands and makers overlooking when starting their wholesale journey. Hint- its proobably *not* what you think. And, for those of you who already have a viable product with profitable wholesale ...
Jun 09, 2021•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast In all of my 20 years of business, I went through everything under the sun to help grow it. Even when I followed something someone else was doing, I never seemed to get the same results. Why?! Isn't that the way to do it? To follow the footsteps of someone who is successful in our field? Well, yes and no. We all have our own path and its up to us to determine what works, when, why and how. One of the things that has worked really well for me is meditation, mindset and journaling with the moon cy...
May 08, 2021•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Wow, its a year since the ‘Rona came around and completely turned the world upside down. Isn’t it crazy how quickly yet painfully slow the past year has gone? For my businesses, 2020 was supposed to be the year we really rolled out working on doing farm events, building up our farm as far as flower beds for flower sales were concerned, and working on in person events. Welp… needless to say that was not happening. 2020 was the year of forced pivots, creative ideas, massive trial and error. But, o...
Mar 10, 2021•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you are a brick and mortar boutique owner, pull up a chair because I have some juicy, actionable tips for you to think about and try out in your space. With a degree in Merchandising Management, nearly 10 years as a home/ lifestyle/ design retailer and nearly a decade in creative consulting...you can definitely say that all things visual is MY JAM. I am here to give you some of my favorite tips and tricks from how to make amazing displays from IKEA furniture to spotlighting a product that you...
Feb 17, 2021•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Are you a brand or a product maker and have always wondered how boutiques go about choosing new merchandise or products to bring into their store? Or maybe you’ve wanted to get your wholesale product into brick and mortar but have no idea how to go about doing it? Well, in my 9 years of experience in retail, I’ve seen it all and am giving you the behind the scenes look on how products and brands are often chosen! We also take a step-by-step look into some of the best methods to get i...
Jan 29, 2021•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast 2020 has been a sh*t show for most of us, hasn't it? Before the pandemic hit and changed everything for us, I was constantly wrapped up in MAKING the details happen. Worrying over how it would play out, when it would play out, and what exactly -step by step- it would look and feel like. I had no idea I was actively doing this and how stressful it was- it totally bummed out the creative process. But, after coming the realization that my plans for 2020 were now dust, I found myse...
Oct 12, 2020•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Wow, ok that grabbed your attention, didn't it? By now, you may know that this time last year I closed my boutique, had no income coming in, and 6 months later had a fully operational membership site that still has all of the original members in it! Its like Christmas every day! Going from the up and down sales cycle of retail to having a membership that literally DOES make money while I sleep has been one of the most freeing experiences that has allowed me to live a really, really, REALLY good ...
Apr 21, 2020•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast What a wild, weird and uncertain time we are living in. I am so thankful I closed my boutique last year and am no longer a retailer with the weight of a physical location. I can't imagine the stress of having all that overhead looming over you at this time. Because I have been there (granted, without global pandemic), I wanted to offer some ideas and ways to pivot an offline business to an online. If you're someone with a physical location and have felt suddenly thrust into the arena of online, ...
Mar 31, 2020•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you've ever seen people hanging from the ceiling from fabric, seemingly defying gravity or marveled at the skillful grace of a trapeze artist or seen someone making gorgeous, bendy shapes inside a hanging metal hoop...well, that my friend is aerial. Chances are you have heard of it by now as aerial arts have been gaining a lot of momentum in popularity. With more people being exposed to this art, the more questions they may have. We dig into how someone like Tera, a serious grad student with ...
Jan 31, 2020•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Woohoo! To mark the 1 year anniversary of The Foundry podcast, I am interviewing Michelle Elise of 27 Houses; an interior design studio and retail boutique in the cute downtown of Grayslake, IL. Its the perfect interview for this occasion because Michelle gets down to how she left her full time job, opened her own business from her home, and later opened a studio/ store-front even though she was technically not looking for that at the time- NOT looking before leaping and taking messy, imperfect ...
Jan 10, 2020•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast In an extroverted world, can an introvert not only compete, but excel in business? Or are they doomed to be "shy, socially awkward and people repellent" forever? In today's episode I examine the common myths associated with being an introvert and uncover the secret super powers that lurk just beneath that still surface. As an introvert myself (an INFJ on Myers-Briggs) and almost 20 years of entrepreneurship under my belt, I can safely say that YES, not only can you make it as an introvert busine...
Jan 04, 2020•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ya'll into a little woo woo or what? If you're feeling stuck in your business and have tried all the course, listen to all the podcasts and have put in the hard work of following the funnels but you're still stuck... Oh baby, today is for you. Earlier this year I took Emily Aaron's Business Made Simple course and it legitimately changed my life. That is no joke- it gave me the tools to access my intuition and use it with left-brain strategy to speed pass my growth and reach the people who wanted...
Dec 11, 2019•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Its hard to escape the onslaught of Black Friday sales slapping you across the face, and if you're a business owner, Etsy shop, boutique owner you may be thinking "Well EVERYONE is offering a sale or discount, I should probably do that, too" But, should you? Is that strategy in alignment for you? In today's episode we discuss how leaning too heavily on sales can actually hurt your brand and what you can offer instead of a discount or mark down. HINT: think MORE not LESS! Wishing you a successful...
Nov 26, 2019•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Have you ever seen a brand- personal or business- who just has a look and feel that is so tight? You know exactly what they do, they make you feel a certain way and you wish you could take a little of that magic and apply it to your own Etsy shop, online store, or boutique? Now, I am no expert but I am pretty good at dialing this in. People constantly asked if my boutique was a franchise because it was so "professional: looking , as they said. What it comes down to is keeping your message, fonts...
Nov 20, 2019•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast The snow came early this year, unseasonably so- we had only 4 months of "warm" and a lot of us are feeling bummed the F out over enduring another 6 months of dark, cold and wet. But, we don't have to. What if instead of bonding over bitching, we bonded over beauty? What if we found things to be excited about this winter? Iceland taught me so much, one of the things I learned is to lean into what sucks- those thermal pools would not have felt nearly as good if we didn't have to shower with strang...
Nov 11, 2019•14 min•Transcript available on Metacast This episode came from Soulful Boss Babe group member Rebekah. She asked: "How did you come up with the idea to build your business around?" This question is so awesome because there are so many layers to how this business came to be. There were MANY false starts before it. Many "failed" businesses. What I had to learn was how to unlearn...unlearn perfection, unlearn that failure is bad and is an endpoint. Failure is the catalyst! In this episode I walk through ALL of my past b...
Oct 22, 2019•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast MORE. I want MORE...but what? How? I have no idea. Yes, that is something that I hear so often from the women around me. They feel this something inside and are not sure what it is, but they are constantly asking "This is it? This can't be all I am here to do, right?" First off, you're not alone, sista. When this came up for me a couple years ago, I thought I was going crazy. Seriously. That's why I am so dead set on creating a community that celebrates the hunt and desire to learn and grow, whi...
Sep 30, 2019•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Fellow dog lovers, this episode is for you! You know how amazing dogs are and how beautifully they see life, well I took my top 4 lessons that I learned from adopting Finley 7 years ago. They are so simple but so easy to implement a little bit more every single day. Why? Because dogs know how to live life! They're in the moment, quick to forgive, supportive and kind. And if this is totally up your alley, you are going to love my soon to be released monthly online membership for career-focus, pur...
Sep 17, 2019•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Hey gurl. If you're tired of feeling like good things are constantly happening to everyone BUT you, this episode is for you! For years I was wrapped up in what I call Toxic Sadness... and endless cycle of constant complaining, constant disappointment, constant annoyance. Then, one day I got sick of it all. Sick of feeling like life was happening TO me and that I had zero control over it all. Sick of feeling like good things were happening to everyone but me. Here, we dive into the cycle of const...
Sep 04, 2019•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast WHOA... Have you ever felt the need to make a massive change or pivot in life or in your business? Yeah, me too. I thought I had pivoted enough this year but the desire to change the name and focus of my business just kept coming up. And the timing couldn't be "worse", but when the universe says leap, sometimes you get a boot in the ass. Let's chat about being "ready", being "badass", and how being in a flow state can really bring on a massive break through. OH! And, you definitely need these ca...
Aug 19, 2019•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Are you living your life in alignment or....? Sometimes a better place to start is knowing what it can look and feel like if you're NOT in alignment, if you're NOT living authentically and life just feels heavy . I share some insight on what living out of alignment for years felt like for me in hopes that in may spark a lil something-something in you, too. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thefoundrypodcast/support...
Jun 25, 2019•17 min•Transcript available on Metacast Unless you've been hanging out in your hobbit hole, you've probably heard about CBD, the "magical" hemp oil that everyone is talking about. It seems like for any ailment, CBD is a cure- but, is that really true? If you've never tried it, but are curious if its right for you, here is my first-hand account with it. I first experimented with CBD on my dog, Finley, before myself because you know, dogs can't lie. Everyone knows this is #Science. The results were, well, let's just say this is an episo...
Jun 17, 2019•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Its a literal rainy season here at Foundry Farm, has been since the start of April. All of our projects have been rained out, we haven't planted a thing, the grass is waist high, full of ticks and we're on the brink of shaving our heads and becoming Bug People. But, we're looking for that silver lining and knowing that we're here for a reason. We know its our job to find the WHY behind it when things feel like crap. So, if you feel like life is a bit of a dumpster fire right now, I invite you to...
May 29, 2019•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast The Foundry podcast is back! I recently closed my boutique of nearly a decade- while it was somewhat bittersweet, it was a very necessary change. If you're feeling like life is whizzing by and you're constantly missing out on actually LIVING, this is the episode for you. I talk about how waking up early and taking it slow are my favorite ways to ease into my day- PLUS the best time to drink coffee according to "science" (hint- its not upon waking!) Do you want to live a little slower? Define "li...
May 06, 2019•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Its been a while, guys! The reason why I haven't uploaded any new episodes is because my car was broken into and everything important I own was stolen. Major bummer. BUT... it also taught me about how important my intuition is- even when it told me to take my stuff (which I normally would), there was an underlying push to leave it. Having my stuff stolen was actually a major blessing in disguise that saved me from experiencing something much worse. Intuition is not a special gift that some peopl...
Mar 27, 2019•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast What's up, friend! If you're in business, chances are that you have been tempted to offer discounts or sales, especially when things are slower than you'd like. In this episode we talk about why that is not the best strategy and how it could be detrimental to your brand in the long run. Law of Attraction Planner - this is the planner I was raving about! Great tool to stay organized and focused. Instagram: Hey! Come hang out for business, marketing, mindset AND some farm pics! Soulful Boss Babes ...
Feb 28, 2019•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
