WEBVTT - How To Secure Brand Partnerships (BA Q&A) 0:00:03.520 --> 0:00:07.320 It's time for the b a q a A, the 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:11.080 b a q a A, the b a q eight 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:13.880 with Man Day, the b a q eight with Tiffany, 0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:15.360 the b a q a. 0:00:15.480 --> 0:00:17.439 We also have a guest from the studio today and 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:18.360 then mine. 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:24.200 Today only contribute something to that song and it's the 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:26.520 A at the end, and you just try to snatch 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:26.920 it from me. 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:30.520 But so we have a guest in the step. But 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:33.279 remember first and foremost when it comes to the b 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:35.640 a q a. We are not your doctors. We're not 0:00:35.680 --> 0:00:38.880 your attorneys. We're not your your mom, your dad. 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:41.720 But we are smart brown girls and know a thing 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:46.080 or two about business, about career. You know about about 0:00:46.280 --> 0:00:50.120 uh career what I say, career working, business, entrepreneurship. And 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:52.240 you are gonna take our advice with the smallest wade 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:54.000 of salt. You're gonna lean into the people that you 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:58.360 pay for advice aka Suya granny, not us. All the 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:01.600 lawyer people love, but we do this disclaimer. Oh my gosh, 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:05.399 the people love to call me today's spam. All the rented, 0:01:05.480 --> 0:01:08.840 all the attorney people love the disclaimer. So in this 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:14.240 to today we have brandis Daniel. The crowd goes wild 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:16.800 if you were here as you ought to have been 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:20.440 for Wednesday's episode, you would know who Brandis is already. 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:22.240 But if you're not, that's okay. I'm going to introduce 0:01:22.280 --> 0:01:23.640 her briefly. 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:29.520 Brandis is not only a personal friend of mine, she is. 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:32.360 A forging strategic brand well. 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:36.479 With over fifteen years of invaluable experience, Brandis has forged 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:41.200 strategic partnerships with Fortune five hundred companies. She has been 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:45.080 this global catalyst for transformative change when it comes to 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:50.760 introducing black and brown designers to the larger finance, the 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:55.880 larger fashion world. So, for example, if you remember when 0:01:56.600 --> 0:01:59.760 the Lebron James decided to do a sneaker, a basketball 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:03.560 sneaker for women, they came to Brandes's and hfr And 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:06.640 and Brandis helped to connect him right with three black 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:12.440 women fashion designers. Yep, and those sneakers. 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:15.280 Just exploded so much about minutes, sold out. 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:16.840 In five minutes, and Brandi's shared, I don't know if 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:19.079 this was off air on air, but shared that those 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:23.320 sneakers had over seven billion impressions on social media. Yes, 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:27.200 you know, And so Brandis makes that connection Brandon. So 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:30.520 she founded Harlem Fashion Row, which started off at first 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:33.440 as fashion shows, but now has expanded to be this 0:02:33.560 --> 0:02:37.359 connector of the industry. She also has Icons sixty, which 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:40.200 is a five oh one c three nonprofit organization. 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:44.320 Brandis has her own podcast, Fashion. 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:47.799 In Color and this beautifully shot it's the podcast, but 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:50.240 it's also this really beautifully shot show that like you 0:02:50.400 --> 0:02:51.440 have to go and watch. 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:52.919 We're worth it. Where can they watch that show? 0:02:52.919 --> 0:02:54.280 Brand on YouTube? 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:55.320 On YouTube? 0:02:55.600 --> 0:02:59.240 And so she's just honestly like there are she is 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:01.720 a true Renns women. So it's funny that's Harlem because 0:03:01.720 --> 0:03:05.560 Harlem Harlem Renaissance. But when it comes to the fashion 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:09.320 industry being inclusive of black and brown people, if you 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:12.840 are not familiar with her book, Volume one, Fashion and Color, 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:15.480 I mean it is absolutely beautiful. It's a to Z 0:03:16.040 --> 0:03:18.120 black is it also Latin X are just black? 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.320 I think there's black designers in this one right, And 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:23.720 so the volumes. 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:26.680 Will include black and brown yers of color. 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:31.639 Your promise of Volume one, yes, yes, there will be more. 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:36.240 And that's you having accountability. I can see I never 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:38.720 should do that. That's on that there's going to be 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.320 the one. Then there people are going to expect the two. 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:43.880 So let's go And so this is what Brandis does 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:46.080 and so but also too so we know that the 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:49.400 fashion side of Brandess, but for the b a QA purposes, 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:52.800 Brandis is a amazing business woman and this is one 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:54.880 of the ways that we connect. You know that we 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:57.760 go on walks and talks and talk about business for hours. 0:03:58.080 --> 0:03:59.720 And so Brenda's also has a book when it comes 0:03:59.720 --> 0:04:01.400 to busin it's called what is that book called again? 0:04:02.400 --> 0:04:04.920 Small Business Big Partnerships. 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:05.840 Small Business Big Partnerships. 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:08.640 And so Brandon's is going to answer, you know, a 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:11.320 business question but also ask a business question. So we 0:04:11.320 --> 0:04:14.240 welcome Brandis Daniel to the podcast Ride Up A. 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:19.040 Plus, Thank you, thank you. You are passive here. 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:21.560 But honestly go back on y'all on Wednesday and listen 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:25.279 to that interview. It was a plus plus. Okay, So 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:26.920 we're going to write into a Brandess. Do you want 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:28.360 to answer a question first? Or do you want to 0:04:28.400 --> 0:04:29.080 ask a question? 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:31.400 I have a burning question? Is that okay? 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:32.760 About X? Okay? 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:37.160 So, as I'm building, we're in the process of continuing 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:42.680 to scale HFR and grow, and so we're trying to 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:44.880 figure out or I am really trying to figure out, 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:48.320 like what is that right mark for payroll. So how 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:51.880 when you're thinking about your business, like what percentage of 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:54.000 your gross revenue. 0:04:55.279 --> 0:04:58.640 Do you pay in in payroll to a staff. 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:01.080 So this is a really good question, Manday, do you 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:01.839 have any feedback? 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:02.799 Girl, I ain't got staff. 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:03.240 Go ahead. 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:07.640 Well, so this is how we figured out keeping it 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:12.480 worth from my company. So there's two things you want 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:16.120 to consider. One is what is gross revenue. You know, 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:18.640 you're making a hundred thousand, making a million, one hundred 0:05:18.680 --> 0:05:21.440 million like, so that that is part of it, like 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.360 how large is the company? And then the second thing 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:27.480 that you want to consider is what type of business 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:30.680 are you in. So if you are in a business 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:36.680 where you're producing physical things, you know, then the highest 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:38.960 expense is really going to be probably production of that 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:42.040 physical thing. If you are in a business like mine, 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:45.400 which is largely a service business, my highest expense is 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:48.159 likely going to be on payroll in people. So you 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:50.839 have to be clear on the size of the company, 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:52.920 but also how do we produce the thing? 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:53.320 You know? 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:55.520 Is it a physical thing? Is it a service thing? 0:05:55.880 --> 0:05:59.880 And so my CFO what she did, she did a 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:03.120 research to see size of company. 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:04.080 You know. 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:05.599 At the time, I think the budget MESA was like 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:07.360 I don't know, maybe like making like two million dollars 0:06:07.400 --> 0:06:09.919 a year, plus the fact that we were largely a 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:14.120 service based business, and you know, a quick search found 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:17.560 that in general thirty percent was what was healthy. Try 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:20.600 not to exceed thirty percent. And so that's going to 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:23.479 shift if we shift. So if the business becomes a 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:26.120 five million dollar year company, it might be something else, like, 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:29.120 for example, Literature Academy is a little bit different because 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:33.240 that's a much larger company, and so we have and 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:35.840 also too the BUDGETNISA doesn't spend any money on ads, 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:37.880 we don't run as, but the Academy does, so the 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:42.080 large chunk of change goes to marketing over there at 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:43.040 the Literature Academy. 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:44.599 So you want to consider those things. 0:06:44.720 --> 0:06:47.120 So for us, it's thirty percent, which you know, I 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:50.240 think we probably a similar size brand as I didn't 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:52.400 know you're you're largely I mean, although you have the 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:56.839 books now, largely you're a service based company. So I 0:06:56.839 --> 0:07:00.000 could safely say, without knowing anything else, that like maybe 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:03.160 that thirty percent range. And so what that means is 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:04.880 is that once you kind of know your range, Like 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:07.120 if I'm being fully candid, it was a really hard 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:09.279 year this year, but I didn't want to reduce salaries. 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:12.040 We are currently up to fifty percent, which is way 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:15.160 too high. But the reason why that's important is that 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:18.320 I've had people on my team ask for raises because 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:21.160 it's been a couple of years. But I know because 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:24.480 I see the number, there's no money for raises. And 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:27.239 so instead of saying, ain't no money for no raiss, 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:29.720 I believe because the way I run the company, and 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:31.600 it's fairly small a Bunchets as a team of like 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:34.680 five of us, is that we share our monthly, our 0:07:34.760 --> 0:07:38.240 numbers monthly, I share gross what we made, I share 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:41.400 what we spent, and then what's left over net, you know, 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:43.920 And that made it easy to say, I'm not saying 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:47.000 no to a raise because you're not amazing. I'm saying 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:50.720 no because the numbers ain't numbering. So but it's like, 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:54.120 so a solution to not being able to pay maybe 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:56.120 as much as you'd like is that I am not 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:59.840 integrating profit sharing into my company starting twenty twenty four, 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:03.560 where here's your base salary, which I'd love to pay 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:06.680 you more, but we are already over what's really healthy 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:08.600 for a size of a company, you know, So that 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:11.400 means we have to make more before I can consider raises, 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:14.560 but that doesn't mean that we don't have some really 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:17.760 good quarters. And so what happens is now every quarter 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:20.480 they get paid, like I get paid, I have a 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.320 base salary that I receive, but I also get an 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:24.119 owner's draw. 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:25.920 And that's when everything. 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:28.640 Is paid and taxes are taxed and saving is saved, 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:31.920 there's money left over and I can draw money out 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:35.160 of the company. Sometimes it's a lot, sometimes a little, 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:38.080 sometimes it's nothing. But now every quarter they're going to 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:41.880 get a percentage of my owner's draw. And for the 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:44.920 size company that we are, now I've decided yeah, so 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:46.440 it's a basically a bonus, but it really. 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:49.920 Is a profit share. Right. So now instead of asking 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:51.439 me for a raise, because I was like, this is 0:08:51.520 --> 0:08:51.959 the raise. 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:54.240 Just so we're clear, that's what I told them, I said, 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:56.880 now you don't have to ask me. Now you can 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:59.120 look in your department that you're working in and say, 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:01.959 are we ending too much in this capacity? 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:02.880 Can we reduce it? 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:05.480 Also, where can I put my energy that's going to 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:08.120 generate a larger return on investment? Because I know when 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:11.200 the quarter comes around, we spent less we've made more, 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:14.080 maybe just an additional fifty thousand dollars. Let's just say 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:17.040 one hundred for easy math, twenty percent of one hundred 0:09:17.040 --> 0:09:19.040 thousand dollars is twenty thousand dollars goes. 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:19.800 In the bonus pool. 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:22.360 And the way we split the bonus pool is that 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:25.640 everybody's assigned a percentage based upon what they do and 0:09:25.720 --> 0:09:27.840 payroll and stuff like that. So now you can do 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:30.520 the own math, like, ooh, of that bonus pool, six 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:33.560 thousand is mine. So even though there's no raise for 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:38.040 your base, and it never puts the company in additional 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:40.559 danger because you only get paid that access when there 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:41.199 is excess. 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:44.880 Now that's good, Tiffany. That's really when I tell you 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:47.679 to figure out that solution. I was. 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:51.600 I was worried because I have really amazing team members 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:53.920 and they can go someplace else and make more money. 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:56.600 But I know they really love and enjoy working here. 0:09:56.800 --> 0:09:59.079 But we're adults. I have to make money to. 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:02.960 Survive, and so I how do I say to a 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:06.400 good person, I would love to pay you more, there's 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:09.360 just not more money, and they understood that. But also 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:11.240 how do I maintain them because they can take their 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:14.959 goodness someplace else many knows I was stressed, right right, 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:17.560 I was because I'm like but I was like, you know, 0:10:17.600 --> 0:10:20.000 so I'm like, I wanted to be able to pay more, 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:22.120 but I also am looking at the budget, like, so 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:25.400 if I overextend ourselves and then I crashed the company, 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:26.240 that we're all out. 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:28.040 Of business next year and no one has a job. 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:31.000 And so your job as a leader is to balance 0:10:31.040 --> 0:10:33.960 the good of the company versus the good of you know, 0:10:34.120 --> 0:10:37.679 the individual people working there, including yourself. And so I 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:39.680 am willing to give up a chunk of what I 0:10:39.720 --> 0:10:42.360 would take home to make sure everybody is good and 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:46.520 everybody can eat, you know. But so now that alleviates 0:10:46.559 --> 0:10:49.520 some of this like feeling. So now they know that 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:52.200 we're at fifty percent. So I said, we can't even 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:56.120 consider raises until payroll is under thirty percent, because once 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:57.920 you get to twenty twenty five percent, that means you're 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:00.680 underpaid or you don't have enough PEP go on staff. 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:02.880 Now we can consider razs Oh, we are twenty percent. 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:03.800 We had an amazing year. 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:07.880 Now we can consider increasing your base because the numbers dictate. 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:10.680 So just in business, when you're navigating, and this is 0:11:10.679 --> 0:11:13.079 why I started my mentortivity dot Com to have these 0:11:13.120 --> 0:11:16.400 kinds of conversations with black women, especially right, is that 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:19.719 just like understand when you're navigating that, like you know, 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:22.560 like everyone is always going to want more and that 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:23.760 is a natural human thing. 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:24.079 You know. 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:27.080 I'm not upset about people wanting more because we're adults 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:28.280 and you know, we want to be able to take 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:31.800 care of ourselves. But it's like, how do I navigate 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:34.200 so we can sustain that? Is that is the role 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:36.280 with you as a leader. Now, everyone doesn't have to 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:38.120 open the books up like I do. I just believe 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:40.320 in doing so that they get to see, you know, 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:42.440 because you can't do that with every team. If you 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:44.480 know you have a team that everyone is not really 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:46.680 pulling their weight, and they can use that against you. 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:50.000 But I have already curated the best of the best, 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:52.080 you know, so I know I can share the full 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:54.679 numbers and say this is what we're working with. If 0:11:54.720 --> 0:11:57.600 you want more, here's some things. Bring me some ideas 0:11:57.679 --> 0:12:00.240 what can we do? And when I tell you they 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:03.240 were working hard before, but the way they're working smart 0:12:03.320 --> 0:12:07.120 and more strategic is amazing to see. I mean it's 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:09.680 mind blowing. Like the way people are like you know 0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:12.280 what we should do that would have never happened before 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:14.720 if I was just mom, Tiffany, I'm the mom of 0:12:14.720 --> 0:12:15.199 the business. 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:17.880 We are all now CEOs. Everybody gets paid like I 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:18.320 get paid. 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:20.920 We all get a base, we all get an owner's draw, 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:23.480 we all get to see the numbers, and so like, yeah, 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:25.360 that's a and I know that's a long answer to 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:27.920 the question, but I wanted to give you greater context 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:30.560 that you know, as you are considering paying people to 0:12:31.080 --> 0:12:35.120 consider size of company. Consider are you product or service base? 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:38.199 You know, do your research on this size of company 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:41.000 and product and service base. Where should I be not 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:43.360 only with payroll, but where should I be with marketing spend? 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:46.240 What's help and safety there? You should really be where 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:48.520 should be with operational expenses? And you shouldn't know what 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:50.719 your percentages are because I check on them every two 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:53.240 weeks to see are we flexing too high or too low? 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:55.440 Because too low is bad too. At one point, I 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:57.720 was underpaying That's why I gave everybody like a twenty 0:12:57.760 --> 0:12:59.880 thousand dollars raise that year because we were at like 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:01.199 fifteen percent. 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:03.960 That means I'm underpaying you or we need more more staff. 0:13:04.080 --> 0:13:06.680 So that's gonna help guide you, you know, not not 0:13:06.800 --> 0:13:09.560 your emotions, not how you feel about people, you know, 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:12.199 but about like how how business is best. 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:15.800 Run in the most optimal setting. So I hope that's help. 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:21.079 That's incredibly helpful. Thank you so much for that. 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:22.480 No problem. 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:25.000 Well, actually, you know what, We're gonna pause for commercial 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:27.600 break and we'll be right back and black and I 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:35.000 have a question for brands, and we're back in black 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:38.760 and brown. So brand, that's my question for you in business, 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:43.680 is you have gotten like you like you are literally 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:47.240 known for your ability to partner with brands in a 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:48.880 way that I've never seen before. I mean, I get 0:13:48.880 --> 0:13:53.400 brand partnerships, but like, even during rough times, brands still 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.120 seek you out to partner with you, Like what do 0:13:56.160 --> 0:13:58.960 you think that, like, what is that? What is that 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:02.960 it factor that you're presenting that attracts brands even when 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:05.720 like this was a rough year for influencers in general, 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:07.360 I've seen a lot of influencers go back to work 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:10.200 because they're no longer attracting brands. And that has not 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:13.160 been you know, maybe money has reduced or it's slowed 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:15.600 a little bit, but you very much are still connected 0:14:15.640 --> 0:14:17.640 with the brand. So why what's the IT factor that 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:19.720 you're bringing to the table that like we can all 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:20.800 learn from. 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:26.120 So there's a few things that we've done that I 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:27.360 think has been really helpful. 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:30.840 Number One, we from day. 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:35.040 One we had press, and people don't realize how important 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:38.360 press is. And because we took the time to really 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:41.560 build relationships with editors, a lot of times when we 0:14:41.600 --> 0:14:44.720 get featured in something, the editors will also mention the 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:47.840 brand that we're partnering with. Well, the brand can't do that. 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:51.280 You know that that is something that is very unique 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:54.640 to partnership with with HFR. Most brands know that if 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:56.920 they do something really dope with HFR is going to 0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:57.720 get covered. 0:14:57.800 --> 0:14:58.920 It's going to get picked up. 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:02.680 So I highly recommend people who want to get brand 0:15:02.720 --> 0:15:07.240 partnerships hire a publicist. You know, if you don't know 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:10.840 what a publicist is, a publicist is someone who helps 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:14.960 to get whatever you're doing covered impress and media. And 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:18.800 it's so important to brand partnerships because it's another way 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:22.080 that they kind of track value, right, they're tracking value 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:26.480 through through press. The other thing is like we try 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:29.840 to keep relationships outside of just when we want to 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:33.080 do a brand partnership, and so our goal is like, 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:37.120 let's host dinners and breakfasts, like sometimes I'll host things 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:40.480 that are my home for our brand partners, whether they're 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:44.400 partnering with us or not, to really build this relationship 0:15:44.640 --> 0:15:48.400 where we're having constant communication. And when I talk to them, 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:51.160 I'm not asking brands like Okay, can you go and 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:51.840 partner with me? 0:15:51.960 --> 0:15:53.680 I used to have this whole pitch. 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:57.120 That I used to do. I don't have a pitch anymore. Now. 0:15:57.160 --> 0:15:59.920 When I get on with a brand, I'm really interested 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:05.240 and hearing what they're up to, what their goals are, how. 0:16:04.920 --> 0:16:08.000 I can help support them through HFRS. 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:10.600 So I had a call yesterday with a huge brand, 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:13.120 probably one of the top five brands in the world, 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:15.160 and I. 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:18.640 Was going to pitch them sponsoring some events. 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:21.640 But before I did that, I said, well, why don't 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:23.640 you tell me kind of like what have you done 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.320 this year that's worked and how are you guys moving forward? 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:29.280 And she said to me, brand is we need more 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:33.640 things that provide us a real ROI. So I started 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.520 talking to her about our Fashion and Color show, which 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:40.720 is I'm claiming the number one fashion podcast in the world, 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:45.440 claiming it now, and I started talking to her about that, 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:48.680 and she was like, that's something that I can actually measure, 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:51.640 you know what, let me know what it looks like 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:57.160 to sponsor your second season the all sixteen episodes. Yes, 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:01.200 but it's because I sat back and instead of pushing. 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:03.520 My event that I wanted them to sponsor. 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:07.280 I asked the question that gave me the answer to 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:10.120 know what to tell her, you know, something that could 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:13.439 actually maybe provide a solution for her. So I'm always 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:17.320 looking at like, how do how do we serve our 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:23.520 brand partners through our platform? And I think that has 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:27.560 been like so valuable. The way that we approach brand 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:32.920 partnerships is very service base versus I'm just gonna pitch 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:33.480 you and see if. 0:17:33.440 --> 0:17:34.399 You're going to come on board. 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:38.320 And we do things for brands for free all the time. 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:40.800 We just hold they were brand for free. I didn't 0:17:40.840 --> 0:17:44.320 charge them anything because it's a relationship and I don't 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:46.959 want the relationship to always be transactional. And so I 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:49.120 saw this thing. I saw the brand. I could tell 0:17:49.119 --> 0:17:51.960 they were struggling to get the word out to the designers, 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:53.280 and I said, do you know what, do you want 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:57.879 us to host a meeting for you with designers? And 0:17:57.920 --> 0:17:59.720 they were like, yeah, and so we got like fifty 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:03.280 design on a zoom. You know that they may not 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:06.199 have been able to reach, but for us, that's the 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:07.560 way that I can serve them. 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:09.280 They've been a partner. 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:11.359 For ours for five years, so I don't have to 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:15.119 charge them for everything we do for them. So it's like, 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:18.480 how do you how do you serve? That is the 0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:21.199 best way to approach brand partnerships. 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:23.520 That's really good. 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:27.240 The outreach has to be massive, Like a lot of 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:30.000 times people reach out to like two brands or three 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:34.080 brands and then they're like, oh, nobody partnered with me, 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:38.119 Like we reach out to hundreds of brands, Like we 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:44.200 our effort is massive on our outreach, so that we 0:18:44.480 --> 0:18:46.400 at the end of the day, sometimes we have options. 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:49.280 Sometimes we have to decide, Okay, we can't actually do 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:52.640 that brand in that brand, so let's go with this one. 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:56.119 So your outreach needs to be massive in order to 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:57.040 make sure. 0:18:56.840 --> 0:19:01.040 That I just read read a book over subscribe. 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:05.199 Tiffany, which Mandy, you would love that book too, And 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:08.159 so how do you stay over subscribed? Which basically you 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:12.040 have more demand than you even have. You know, you 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:17.639 have more demand than supply. You need, you need to 0:19:17.680 --> 0:19:21.080 have your sponsorship deck ready, and you need to know 0:19:21.160 --> 0:19:23.560 what value you have to offer. 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:26.440 To a brand that is really really important. 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:28.679