SPEAKER_01
Welcome to the Jewelry Business Academy podcast. I'm your host, Robin Clark. And if you're a jewelry business owner looking to break through to the next level, then my courses, coaching programs and podcast are for you.

You'll learn how to overcome the biggest challenges in your business and build and scale your business with as much ease and simplicity as possible. I'm here to inspire and guide you with weekly episodes with ambitious entrepreneurs, where we chat about everything from marketing, mindset and sales to life as an entrepreneur and more. There will be lots of actionable tips for you to level up your business, your mindset and your life.

And let's face it, you can apply all of these strategies to any product-based business. I'm so glad you're here. Let's dive in.

Hello and welcome back to another episode. It is so good to have you here with me today. I've had a very good week so far.

I actually celebrated my birthday this week and I can honestly say it was one of the most meaningful and special birthdays I've had. And I was just surrounded by so much love and such incredible people. So I might do a little podcast about this at some point because, you know, birthdays can be challenging sometimes, especially if you're not hitting certain milestones that you thought you would be at different ages.

And I know I have had birthdays in the past where I have struggled with maybe where I'm at in life or where my business has been at. And this year has been completely different. And I mean, there's so many reasons for this.

So I will maybe do an episode for anyone who has experienced the same thing where they've struggled hitting those milestone birthdays and just not being at the place in their life or in their business where they thought they would be by that stage. So yeah, it's been such a beautiful week and I'm just so excited for the next year and all the things that I am going to be working on and that I am going to bring to life over the next year and all the people that are going to be entering my life over the next year as well. So yep, I've had that.

And then the other thing is that we welcomed a new member into the Jory Business Academy for a one on one starting in July. So I'm really excited to work with this new Jory business owner. And I have two more one on one spots available starting in July.

So if you are a Jory business owner and you're listening to this and you're ready to enter a season of growth in your business and feel supported, then send me a message on Instagram. It's RobinClarkCoaching and we'll chat and see if you and your business are a good fit for the program. So today I'm really, really excited to bring our latest guest to you.

I chatted to Madeline Gallier, who is the founder of Parker & Co, which is a Canadian natural vegan and cruelty free line of high quality luxury pet products. So Madeline founded Parker & Co in 2017 and initially it was actually a pet services business, but she pivoted during the pandemic very successfully into a product based business and over the past two years has experienced such tremendous growth. So Madeline's actually really experienced this growth through mainly TikTok.

And that's why I wanted to chat to her and bring her on the show to share her experience of entrepreneurship and how she's so successfully made that pivot from service space business to a product based business, but also how she has managed to build a community around her brand. And just really grow her business. So during our episode, we chatted about so many different topics.

Madeline shared her story of going into entrepreneurship and that transition from service based to a product based business, how she so successfully pivoted her business at the beginning of the pandemic. Madeline shares her tips for building your audience through social media and how TikTok was one of the biggest factors in scaling Parker & Co. She shares the importance of showing up authentically on social media, which can be challenging, especially in your first few years of business.

And we also chatted about the one mistake that so many new business owners make when they do show up on social media. So if you're a newbie, you'll definitely want to listen to this. We chatted about reposting content on TikTok and Instagram and all the things that you need to know when you're doing that.

The difference in culture on TikTok and on Instagram and the different language and filming styles used, how to scale your business through TikTok and create viral content. All the algorithm changes that you need to look out for on both Instagram and TikTok Madeline's advice to business owners looking to build a community on social media. We chatted about all of this.

We also talked a lot about consistency, which is very underrated often and how important consistency is in building a community around your brand. We chatted about what types of video content is best, how to build your confidence and rarely show up on video. And Madeline over the years has done some very big events with her business and she shares how they've impacted her brand and the value that she's experienced of meeting her customers in person.

Madeline also has her products in a couple of retail stores. So she shared the process of actually getting her products into stores and her recommendations for anyone wanting to get into wholesale and wanting to get your products into stores. And Madeline also very generously shares the website and the resources that she uses to sell two stores.

We chatted a little bit about Madeline's highlights of our entrepreneurial journey as well as the challenges that she has faced. And we also talk about burnout as an entrepreneur and why it's so important to set boundaries in your business. So we chatted about all of this.

Madeline also shared how she plans and tracks her business goals each year and each quarter. And she also talks a little bit about her product line and how she developed it and the biggest lesson she has learned during her years of entrepreneurship. So this is a truly interesting and value packed episode.

You're going to learn so so much about this and you can definitely start implementing a lot of tips and pieces of advice from this episode into your business right away. So you may want to grab a notebook before we dive in. If you enjoyed this episode or you're listening to it now screenshot it and tag me on Instagram stories at Rub and Clark Coaching.

I love seeing that you are listening to the podcast and if you want to share your favorite takeaways with me I'd love to hear those as well. So let's dive right in. You're going to love this episode.

It was such a fun one and Madeline is such a joy to talk to. So let's dive right in. Madeline it's so good to have you on the Jory Business Academy podcast today.

Thank you so much for joining me. Yeah thanks for having me and thanks for inviting me. I've never done a podcast so this is super exciting.

Oh really amazing. Well I'm happy to be your first podcast and yeah I'm really excited to chat to you today. I first came across you and your brand a couple of years ago actually your sister I met her at one of the big events in Toronto and she shared your Instagram with me and I think at the time you had a dog walking business and you also had those paw balms and a couple of different products and so I found you from then and I've watched you grow your business into what it is today and it's changed quite a bit and it's grown dramatically and so I'm really excited to hear more about that but for anyone who doesn't know who you are do you want to share a little bit of your story and how you got to where you are today? Yeah I mean it's

SPEAKER_00
been quite the journey as you mentioned. I did start out dog walking in the beginning and I absolutely loved that. It just I knew I couldn't keep with dog walking because I wanted to move and I plan to move a bit farther away as well within the next year or so.

So really within the last two years it took a turn I think because of COVID essentially when COVID hit dog walking really slowed down people were obviously and rightfully so scared to have someone enter their home and initially when no one knew what it was right. So it took a really slow turn and I had I went from walking about seven hours a day to two hours. Oh wow. So yeah I had a lot of free time and I was just thinking you know what does this mean for my business? We had no idea how long COVID was going to last at that time so in that moment I was just trying to keep myself busy essentially and I started making leashes and essentially one of my friends was like those are really nice like you should sell those. I was like you know what maybe I'll try maybe I'll try selling them because in the beginning I really did not envision products.

I thought I would grow a dog services business and I really as you said I only had those bombs and that was because clients would ask me about them and what to do for their dog's paws since you know we were walking

SPEAKER_01
so much. Yeah with all the salts as well I'm sure it protects me. Yeah exactly so it just took a

SPEAKER_00
turn from there and I launched a few products online and everyone really liked them and then it just

SPEAKER_01
kind of snowball effect from there. Oh wow that's incredible. I mean you've you've pivoted through one of the most challenging times so successfully and really grown such a an established business in such a short period of time.

So I'd love to chat a little bit more about Instagram and TikTok because I know that you've had a lot of success in scaling your business on Instagram and on TikTok. I see you do a lot of video content and you have built a really strong social media presence over the years. So you have like over 68,000 followers on TikTok and numerous videos going viral.

It's all one had 1.1 million views as well and yeah you also have a really strong following on Instagram and really high real views. So do you want to start with TikTok? Can you tell me a little bit more about how TikTok has helped you grow your business and do you have one piece of advice you can share with our listeners who are looking to do the same?

SPEAKER_00
Yeah I think TikTok was maybe one of the biggest factors to scaling my business so quickly. I think a lot of people especially two years ago a lot of businesses didn't really consider TikTok a good way to advertise or reach new customers. They thought it was a bit of a joke kids app but I mean TikTok the ability to organically reach millions of people for free is tremendous.

It's really blown me away. I think maybe the one piece of advice would just be be authentic. I think trying too hard or giving your videos maybe too much thought even can really limit your growth on TikTok because it's all about authenticity and just being yourself and honest I guess with the viewers and that's what they really like to see.

Amazing so did you just

SPEAKER_01
start on TikTok at the beginning of the pandemic? Is that when you started your account?

SPEAKER_00
Yeah I just I only started it yeah so that was about two years ago and I just at first I started it just for fun and I think I had I maybe posted two dog walking videos and then from there I started posting more about how I was making my products I would post making dog leashes and then what the outcome is and making the the dog tags and people really like to see how it's made and kind of the behind the scenes of it and I think that's why it took off so well and then just showcasing the products a lot and sometimes I would talk to the camera or show my face just so they get to know who's behind the brand. I think a lot of people like to see that as well. Yeah that's a really good

SPEAKER_01
point. I know some people some business owners like to hide away from the camera in their first year or two because they feel a bit self-conscious about being there and it's so important because you're the person that that people connect to you know. Yeah exactly I mean you especially

SPEAKER_00
write coaching you're always up to show your face. Yep all the time but I mean for a lot of pet businesses or any other businesses really yeah you're right a lot of people do get scared to show their face and they don't think it's also important but I think especially nowadays it is very important. People like to know who they're buying from who they're supporting because that's

SPEAKER_01
their choice. Oh yeah for sure I couldn't agree with you more there and yeah the days of having a very formal business as well are gone. People want to connect to people they want to see the real like behind the scenes they don't care if things are going wrong they don't care if you're running it from your home they want to see like the real authentic side of you and your business so yeah that's that's so true.

So do you post different types of content on Instagram and TikTok or

SPEAKER_00
are you just reposting? So sometimes I repost but I have noticed Instagram is very different to TikTok. Funny enough I do find some more negativity on Instagram than TikTok and I've noticed other people say that as well I'm not sure the reasoning behind it though but I think Instagram is kind of a highlight real people like you know things that are aesthetically pleasing and whatnot where TikTok they do like behind the scenes so I'm trying to kind of navigate what works better on Instagram what works better on TikTok I'm still navigating that. Yeah it's quite something to

SPEAKER_01
navigate through because I mean they're completely different cultures the way they speak the way things are filmed the language I find to be completely different on TikTok but yeah it's much more relaxed I think it's much easier in some ways than Instagram but if you're used to

SPEAKER_00
Instagram it's a hard transition. Yeah I think so too. TikTok to me at least has been more organic and natural I guess whereas Instagram the real side is a bit more difficult.

Yeah for sure.

SPEAKER_01
Okay so for someone who has been posting TikToks or Instagram reels and they're doing their best they're being consistent and they just not seeing any results they're not getting any viral videos

SPEAKER_00
do you have one piece of advice for them? I mean the algorithm is constantly changing I would just do a bit of research into the algorithm and what they're focusing on more usually new features they like to see people use those so I've seen even success with that myself but otherwise I would look into your videos and just pinpoint what are you consistently doing what video had the most views and kind of dive into why and and go from there trying new things always is a good option and really I think it's just consistency and putting the content out there and eventually one of them

SPEAKER_01
will get views and you'll see what works. Yeah that's really good advice consistency is key and also looking at what's working, replicating it and just keep going because it is it is a journey

SPEAKER_00
it is it can't be frustrating to I know and disheartening at times for a lot of people

SPEAKER_01
definitely especially when you put the time and energy and effort in and you're not seeing results in everyone else around you looks like they're overnight successes so you know I think that's

SPEAKER_00
the toughest part about social media it makes it look really easy right so I think a lot of people get discouraged they try to run a business within a month or two and they think they should be super successful when in reality it takes years and years to build a business and a lot of people

SPEAKER_01
don't show that all the time. I love that you bought that up actually because I know before your product based business obviously you had the dog walking business and how do you think that has actually impacted your business I feel like it's probably built really strong foundations in your branding and your messaging in terms of building a community around your brand because just looking at social media it's clear that the people who follow you they're not just following they actively support you they love you they're obsessed with your products they're just obsessed with everything that you're putting out there so you've built like a really strong tight-knit community that is actually growing like significantly all the time do you do you think that having that in-person contact at the beginning of your business has had an impact on that? I think so because even

SPEAKER_00
in the beginning just when I had the bombs and was trying to promote dog walking I would do trade shows I get to meet so many different potential customers and see also what they wanted and just talk to them and I think people just really seeing who I was and getting to meet me they they realized oh wow this is just a person at the end of the day it's just trying to make a living and doing what she loves so I think that was an important factor for sure. Amazing so

SPEAKER_01
how many shows did you end up doing I know you did a couple of big ones did you find that they are worthwhile for a new business to do to get that in-person feedback or do you find they were too

SPEAKER_00
depends on what you're doing yeah I think it depends on what you're doing I think we just did a show in I believe that was April over Easter we spend the Canadian Pet Expo and we had a tremendous result and that was the first time we've done a show with all of our products we only ever in the past did ones about dog walking or just paw balm and whatnot and so this show really blew me away I did not expect that much yeah it was we sold out of colors there were so many people coming to our booth saying they saw us on TikTok or Instagram so that was really cool. Wow I'm so happy to hear

SPEAKER_01
that and that was post COVID as well so you never really know how those events are going to be after this two-year thing that we've had going on in Toronto so I'm so happy to hear that it did so well and I saw some video snippets it's so cute how you got to meet all the little dog customers coming to you and just the energy of your page as well you could clearly see that you guys were enjoying the event. I know you sell your products in a couple of retailers and you do wholesale and I'd love to learn a little bit more about that when did you first start selling to retailers?

SPEAKER_00
I sold to retailers initially when I launched the paw balm and snap balm and the dog sunscreen and I really started doing that just by cold calling a bunch of different stores and seeing who would give me the time of day and I even went into a few in person to show them and let them feel it out. Sending samples was always a good way as well just so they could actually try out the product but that's so I started that about that would have been about 2018 I believe. Oh wow. That's because that's when I launched the paw balms for the leashes and all of our new products. I've been in a few it's definitely been more tough since COVID for wholesalers and retailers I just think because everyone's shopping online so it's been a bit slower side to the business but still consistent.

There's a website actually called Fair. I'm sure you've heard of it yeah yeah so they've been a great addition really to just help people organically find your brand and like it in order and that's been an easy way to reach wholesalers so I definitely would recommend that to any small business wanting to get into some stores. Amazing and do you have

SPEAKER_01
one piece of advice for somebody who doesn't want to hear no when they start cold calling or going into stores because I mean that's like a fear that a lot of people have how do you get past that and just accept you're going to get nosed you're going to get some nosed to get some yeses.

SPEAKER_00
Yeah I mean I just think you have to know going into it that not everyone's going to say yes all the time because it is a very competitive market within any industry that you're going to be in and I think just don't give up and just keep trying and eventually you will get that one yes

SPEAKER_01
and that will keep you going. I love that yeah it's it's challenging and entrepreneurship but you you do have to keep going no matter what's popping up all the noses you're getting all of that. So I'd love to hear what are some of the highlights of your entrepreneurial journey.

SPEAKER_00
That's a good question. That's probably a whole lot. Yeah I mean there's so many different sides to it I think dog walking giving that up was so bittersweet because I absolutely loved meeting everyone the families that owned the dogs and getting to know the dogs themselves.

So that was one of the highs honestly for that side of the business just getting to know people's families and stuff so well and then the other high I would say is just really meeting and talking to so many new people because I never would know this many people or have this many connections if not for my business. So that's been a really nice nice feature of it. I love that.

It's so true I feel

SPEAKER_01
like entrepreneurship depending on which avenue you've gone into does open up your world to a whole other community of people and not only other like customers and that but also other business owners and yeah you definitely get put in contact with a whole lot more people than you necessarily would in a normal job. So I love that and so yeah now we've done the highlights I'd love to know what are some of the challenges that you've had over the past few years if you're open to

SPEAKER_00
sharing any of those. Yeah I think the challenges there's definitely a lot then people don't talk about them but I think a main one is probably just making sure to time manage so I don't burn myself out because there has been times that I've had to work almost 30 days straight without a day off and that can be extremely challenging as someone could imagine. In the beginning I was working about 14 to 15 hour days just to keep up with the orders which is a good problem to have but it can be definitely challenging.

So that was definitely something that I need to work on and time manage and just have set boundaries. I think it's hard to make boundaries for yourself as an entrepreneur for sure because you just feel like you're constantly working. I'm sure you can understand that as well.

Being a business coach I'm sure clients are messaging you all the time. Yep for

SPEAKER_01
sure because what I find happens is the first few years of business you have to fight for survival. I mean there's an element of fighting for survival. You're fighting not to have to go back to whatever you came from which is usually the corporate world it was for me.

Exactly and I mean it's like how hard are you willing to fight for that. People are willing to fight very hard because we want the freedom down the line to have control over our lives. We want to be working in a job that we are passionate about and we want to have that control.

So yeah that's totally normal. I mean struggle to stop working because you also are attracting a certain type of person into entrepreneurship. They're very determined, very dedicated and very passionate about what you do.

So yeah almost obsessive to a point I think. Yeah and I mean that's good and bad sides to that but it's totally normal and yeah I was actually chatting to another podcast guest about this yesterday because he was saying at the stage of his business now the hardest thing is actually saying no to opportunities and taking steps back and it's hard to make that transition when you've been in like the go-go-go

SPEAKER_00
phase for so long. Exactly it is definitely a challenging transition to make and even I'm still learning it. Yeah but I think slowly setting boundaries for yourself is definitely the way to

SPEAKER_01
go. Yeah yeah for sure. Okay so I'd love to chat a little bit more about mindset I know you've sort of just touched on it but I'd love to chat about mindset when it comes to entrepreneurship when it comes to burning out and avoiding burnout especially with everything that's going on.

I feel like since the pandemic started there's just been like all these world events after one after the other and I think it's taken a toll on people in general but especially entrepreneurs. So do you have any advice to somebody who's listening to this who's a business owner who has sort of lost their spark for showing up in their business they have reached burnout so they just rarely struggling. Do you have any advice for them? I think it's definitely normal and I think

SPEAKER_00
they need to know that it is normal to feel that way and to reach a burnout but the most important thing to do is just not keep going at that point. I would say just take a break take two days off take three days off do what you need to do do something you love to do just to regain that happiness in your life if you really burnt yourself out and then that will just automatically and naturally I feel reignite your passion for whatever you've started and even with myself I found that a few times like I love what I do but I definitely have reached a point where I push myself too hard and then the next day I just I'm honest with myself and what I feel and I say you know what I need to go out and do something that I love today and then we'll get back to it tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01
I love that it is so important to take time to do things that you love when especially when you're feeling burnt out but preferably before you reach that point. Yeah you want to avoid the actual burnout but when you sense that you're getting close or even just incorporating it into your weekly routine doing things that you love. Exactly I think that's definitely a good point

SPEAKER_00
to make preemptively incorporating things into your routine because that will just naturally

SPEAKER_01
make your work life balance a lot better. Okay so I'd love to know a little bit more about your morning routine I'm always curious how people start their days and how they start their mornings. I'm a morning person so I know not everybody is but like I love learning you're not.

That's okay I still have to hear your sort of morning routine and how you sort of get started and set yourself up for the day or if it's an evening routine we can do that too.

SPEAKER_00
No I definitely I don't like working late so because of that I have to wake up early but I don't love waking up early so you usually I'll be woken up by my dog. That's usually how I'm woken up and then I just have to take them for a walk feed them wash my face. I'll usually have a coffee and then I'll get straight to work and that's it's pretty simple.

If I can I like to work out in the morning it doesn't happen every day sometimes I have to push it back so mine I don't have a really a consistent morning routine but the consistent part I guess of it is is my dogs.

SPEAKER_01
Your dogs. I love that it fits in with your brand. It's very unbranded.

SPEAKER_00
I think any pet owner would say the same thing too that in their life the one consistent thing

SPEAKER_01
would be their dog. I know oh so sweet okay so you obviously have a lot going on and you're working very long hours some of the time so with everything that you have got going on

SPEAKER_00
how do you stay focused on your goals? I usually write so actually every new year I will sit down take a booklet out and I'll write the goals that I have for the year and then every quarter I would say I look back at those goals that I wrote down and I see am I close to achieving them have I achieved them already and if so then I set new goals for myself and so I think that's a definitely important thing to do actually writing it down I don't know why for me it makes it more

SPEAKER_01
definitive like I have to do it. Oh yeah no it's so important to write them down and then actually check them because some people are really good at the beginning of the year they get a new notebook and they like write down their goals and then they forget about the notebook you know so actually checking them is also so important and then recognizing if you've hit them if you're on track if you're a little bit behind making tweaks making changes so yeah exactly um so this is something I'm always curious about learning about entrepreneur's as well is did you always know that you wanted to become an entrepreneur like what do you think was the driving force which made you choose this life because it's not the easy option for sure. No it's definitely not the easy

SPEAKER_00
option um I think in a in a way I always knew just based on my dislike for working for people I think by that I always knew a bit and I think that's a lot of a common factor I think a lot of people too it's funny a lot of other entrepreneurs that I've met they always said that they were terrible workers terrible employees because they just didn't want to be there they didn't want to do something for someone else and I mean it's good and it's bad but I think in a way I always knew my family is quite entrepreneurial so I'm lucky to have that support system and kind of see it's possible already I don't know if my family wasn't that way if I would have turned out this way myself so it's definitely an interesting factor to see. Yeah that's so lucky that you you've had it sort of

SPEAKER_01
shown by your parents and your family ahead of you like you've seen it can be done I definitely

SPEAKER_00
think that has an impact um yeah my and my sister who you met and her husband they were definitely one of the biggest helps in the beginning to starting my business and my sister especially it was one of the biggest support and cheerleaders out there she was I think my original fan.

SPEAKER_01
Oh that's so sweet it's so special to have family members who are super fans of you and really encourage you to go out on your own and start your business because it's not the case for

SPEAKER_00
a lot of people. Yeah it's a lot easier as well I find just in terms of knowledge like my sister was kind of the first one out there and our family to do something like that on her own and she just from doing it on her own learned so much and was able to pass so much of that on to me so it was she was just a huge huge help. Amazing and your sister's the sweetest I like I

SPEAKER_01
even met her once but she was so kind and so supportive and I was in my early days of entrepreneurship when I met her as well so yeah that was amazing and she makes the best skincare. Oh my gosh yeah she is she got me hooked on that. Oh she got me hooked she got everyone in our family hooked yeah I can see why it's such a good product um okay so I'd love to chat about imposter syndrome have you ever experienced imposter syndrome as you've been building your business um where you just don't feel qualified enough or you just have that feeling of am I good enough to be doing this or selling or have you been fine from the get go? I don't think I felt imposter syndrome I definitely

SPEAKER_00
can see how people do feel that way um but I think I felt more so the opposite even like I should be doing more or this isn't where I should be by now or something like that so maybe that negative aspect to it but I haven't felt the actual definitive imposter syndrome.

SPEAKER_01
You know what I actually love that you shared that because that feeling of you should be further ahead or you should be doing more when you're already working you've shared crazy crazy hours you already have experienced so much growth like you the point that you're at in your business now I'm sure four years ago you was like your dream level um I don't even think

SPEAKER_00
yeah I don't even think four years ago I wouldn't imagine this so I know I definitely am doing okay but it's weird you do just get those feelings just seeing what other people are doing and constantly comparing yourself and I think that goes back to social media one of the negatives to social media

SPEAKER_01
oh yeah oh yeah it's so important to recognize how much you've achieved and just enjoyed in the moment because unfortunately the pros and cons of entrepreneurship means there's no cap to your earning and your potential for growth which means which is good but it also means that you're just going to keep pushing because you know every time you think that's the level I want well when you get there you're like well you've already raised your standard so it's a bit addicting I think for

SPEAKER_00
most people too yeah you want to just see how far you can go and yeah I think that's probably a common

SPEAKER_01
theme amongst a lot of entrepreneurs and especially when you're passionate about your products and you want people to enjoy them and you want to impact the world in that way so your your products are adorable I don't think we've actually chatted about them so can you just share a little bit more in detail about your your product line you have the product line for dogs you have the product line for the owners it is so so cute so can you just share that and a little bit of the process

SPEAKER_00
as well yeah so we do like you said we have a bunch of different product lines um the first was the the pawbombs and the snowbomb and that was formulated and helped by my sister actually as well and that really was the the start product where I just wanted to help heal the dog's paws and and get something out there that actually worked because myself I would use other products and they just would not work um and then for the leashes aspect of the business and kind of those accessories and collars uh we started out by all handmade that was an important factor to me I wanted to make sure they were in-house and support other Canadian businesses so any materials we can get sourced within Canada we do um that was a really high priority on my list and and then yeah so the further human side as well uh those are really fun products and I love to do them um so the way it works is people upload a photo of their pet whether it's a dog or a cat or I think I've even done some withers oh no way yeah and so they upload a photo of their their pet on the website and then we take that photo um and digitally illustrate it using a variety of different techniques um the main software being Adobe Illustrator and then also for kind of the finer details we can go on our iPad and use Procreate um with the iPad pencil and whatnot and then there's a process of printing that image and pressing it onto whichever item they choose so you can get custom items with your pet's face on it on a a glass or a mug or a sweater and even tote bags and we constantly are looking for new products to add I think I just added this year of baby onesies which people absolutely love

SPEAKER_01
so sweet I know and you know what I love the look of the um what they called the images that are going on to like the hoodies and stuff because you've taken you've picked like you've definitely captured the essence of each dog but it's also very minimalist and modern and like it's so cute

SPEAKER_00
exactly so even like I'm sure you've seen um by just looking at my brand it's a very minimal look minimal brand um that's kind of what I was going for which with the each piece uh especially our new uh Solace set line with very minimal very cute you know basic colors and I think a lot of people

SPEAKER_01
like that nowadays as well yeah I know I love it I think they're adorable um are you still making

SPEAKER_00
everything in your home uh so at first I actually started two years ago I started the business out of my mother's house and I'm sure she was happy about that oh she was very patient with me and I do have to shout out my mom because if she didn't let me stay there for that time being then I wouldn't have been able to I wouldn't have had the space to to start it um so I really do credit that to her and how fast I was able to grow my business is largely thanks to her because she gave me the space to do so for free so that was that was really nice of her um but yeah I started out of her house and now I am in my own home we just bought it and moved in and so exciting we've set up the whole

SPEAKER_01
basement as our office so we have a lot more space oh my goodness that's so exciting and yeah congrats on the new home and it's so nice to have your office space in your basement like it is really nice yeah your dogs can join you sometimes they'll come down they'll take a look

SPEAKER_00
and they'll run back upstairs because we don't get attention but usually like right now Marty's

SPEAKER_01
just sitting on my lap hi oh my goodness he's adorable what type of dog is he he's a Brussels

SPEAKER_00
griffin I actually just we adopted him my boyfriend and I last September um from a really sweet family and he's just been absolutely splendid so cute oh my goodness he's the first dog on the podcast

SPEAKER_01
too really good for you already good job um okay so I'd love to know do you have one book that has really impacted your entrepreneurial journey that you would recommend other entrepreneurs to read

SPEAKER_00
yeah so I'm actually still working through it I've read it multiple times it's called traction um and it's an amazing book if you want to scale your business and just learn the different strategies on how to um the the owner of duck duck go I actually wrote it and he just provides a bunch of different frameworks on how to gain traction with customers and scale your business very quickly

SPEAKER_01
amazing so we'll link that in the show notes for anyone who wants to add that to their reading list I'll definitely be adding it to mine it's an awesome read it's definitely worth it yeah no it sounds really good so thank you so much for being here today Madeline it has been so so good chatting to you and hearing about your business and how much you've grown over the past few years um I have one last question for you before we let you go but I'd love to know what is the biggest lesson that you've learned in all your years of entrepreneurship I think to just please follow your

SPEAKER_00
gut and just do it I think that's been the main the main lesson that I've learned because if you don't start you never will so I think just being bold that's such good advice just when when you

SPEAKER_01
get the inspiration to start just getting started and I'm getting the motivation as you go

SPEAKER_00
exactly over planning yeah exactly over planning will just ruin your confidence I think you just have to to really just go for it and and see what happens and obviously plan to a point yeah

SPEAKER_01
there's definitely planning to a point but um yeah I'm more talking about people who plan for years and never get started yeah exactly then that's too long yeah just get started and see how things go I love that um well thank you so much for being here today Madeline it has been so good chatting to you and learning from you and I know a lot of listeners are going to be feeling very inspired and excited and a lot of them are going to have dogs and they're going to want to connect with you and follow along on your journey and take a look at your product line so where can our listeners find you and how can our listeners support you uh you could always find us and support us by

SPEAKER_00
following us on our TikTok or Instagram it's Parker and co-dogs and we're always constantly updating on stories there so you just be much appreciated we love every single follower we have

SPEAKER_01
amazing thank you so much Madeline it's been so great chatting thank you so much for listening I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as I did and that it shifted your mindset and inspired you take take action to get your business to the next level if you did enjoy this episode screenshot it and tag me on Instagram at robinclarkcoaching I'd love to hear from you and connect with you on your entrepreneurial journey I mentioned before this episode that I have two one-on-one spots within the jewelry business academy left starting in July so the jewelry business academy is by far the most expensive container for jewelry business owners who want to accelerate their growth and are ready to take their business to the next level so this is very high level individualized support with me with an emphasis on building solid foundations in your business and scaling with a simplified strategy and streamlined systems you're going to get a lot of one-on-one time with me strategy sessions coaching calls and so much more so if this is something you feel a pull towards or you are ready to enter that season of growth and start seeing results in your business then send me a message on Instagram it's robinclarkcoaching and we will connect there and get you into the program if you and your business are a good fit so send me a message and I'm really looking forward to seeing you there I'm also excited to bring our next guest on the podcast next week so I have another incredibly inspiring female founder and she has a really incredible story of how she got into entrepreneurship and how she balances motherhood and entrepreneurship as well so keep an eye out for that episode I'll be dropping next week and yes as I said feel free to send me a DM on Instagram at robinclarkcoaching if you have any questions if you enjoyed this episode or if you're ready to dive into the jewelry business academy I'm looking forward to seeing you there