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Speaker 1: What's up his way up at Angela Yee, I'm Angela Yee.

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Speaker 1: Of course it's a Wealth Wednesday. So my girls, Stacy

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Speaker 1: Tisdale is here.

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Speaker 2: Woo woo.

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Speaker 3: Happy Wealth Wednesday everybody, and we are styling today.

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Speaker 2: You know I had to do that.

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Speaker 4: I love back, I love.

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Speaker 2: We love.

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Speaker 3: This is our favorite. We are so thrilled to be

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Speaker 3: joined by the one and only Alexandria Ali and She

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Speaker 3: is the founder and CEO of fm W Style and

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Speaker 3: an incredible star is among us. Alexandria has been featured

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Speaker 3: in Oprah, Daily, Vogue, Essence in Style, Black, Enterprise, and

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Speaker 3: she has created an unbelievable luxury handbag and accessory company

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Speaker 3: that is in over fifteen twelve hundred over twelve hundred

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Speaker 3: stores nationwide, including TJ Max, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's.

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Speaker 2: And Marshalls. Yes, I'm like your new pr here. That's

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Speaker 2: awesome and you.

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Speaker 4: Know I love some bag talk. Yes, so this is exciting.

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Speaker 1: I met you at the Digital Undivided and what I

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Speaker 1: also love is the fact that you really are out

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Speaker 1: there networking in those spaces too, which is something that's

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Speaker 1: important for a lot of entrepreneurs to do.

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Speaker 5: Definitely, I mean I feel like that's something I wish

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Speaker 5: I started at the beginning of my business. I learned

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Speaker 5: that as I went on, and it's like just meeting people,

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Speaker 5: you just never know how that can connect you to

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Speaker 5: something else, like this opportunity right now.

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Speaker 1: And the importance of the pitch too, because being able

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Speaker 1: to get up in those high pressure situations in front

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Speaker 1: of people and discuss your business and also know what

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Speaker 1: people are listening to is about like scale and numbers

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Speaker 1: and things like that. So let's start from the beginning

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Speaker 1: of how you first started, because this was like in

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Speaker 1: your blood.

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Speaker 3: Yes, and before you even do that, when you were

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Speaker 3: talking about networking, you had told me before it did

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Speaker 3: not come easy to you.

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Speaker 2: You do not like it, and you had to put

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Speaker 2: a system in place.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I had to put a system in place. Like

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Speaker 5: people see me now and they think I'm very extroverted,

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Speaker 5: and really I had to teach myself to become this way.

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Speaker 5: So what I did when I first started my business,

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Speaker 5: I'm like, Okay, you need to go out there and

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Speaker 5: meet people. What you're gonna do is go to these events.

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Speaker 5: You're gonna have five business cards. Once you give it

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Speaker 5: to five people, you can leave and So what happened

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Speaker 5: is I kept doing that and after a while I

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Speaker 5: would go to these networking events and people would be like,

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Speaker 5: oh have you met Alexandria? Oh, hey, meet this person,

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Speaker 5: and then it just kept going from there.

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Speaker 1: Now I love that because a lot of people tell

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Speaker 1: me they're not comfortable. I mean, I'm not comfortable in

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Speaker 1: those spaces all the time. And so for a lot

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Speaker 1: of people that is part of the business. They call

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Speaker 1: it networking because it is still part of working, you know.

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Speaker 1: But let's start at the beginning, because, like we said,

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Speaker 1: this is in your blood, this fashion.

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Speaker 5: Yes it is. So I started out My mom was

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Speaker 5: a designer. Actually when I was growing up in Vegos, Nigeria,

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Speaker 5: she owned a design studio where we used to go

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Speaker 5: and weekends and every day out of school and didn't

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Speaker 5: know back then I was actually learning things that will

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Speaker 5: help me with my brand. When we moved here to

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Speaker 5: the States, I started modeling. Wanted a time modeling, Yeah, yes,

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Speaker 5: I was modeling. Wanted to become the next Naomi Campbell.

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Speaker 5: That didn't happen. So I was like, you know what,

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Speaker 5: I need to go to business school, get my MBA.

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Speaker 5: I did, and I worked in banking for a long time,

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Speaker 5: but I just never felt fulfilled. I was not happy there.

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Speaker 5: I knew I wanted something in fashion, and back then

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Speaker 5: nobody was owning their own brand. When I would talk

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Speaker 5: to people about it, it was kind of like, what

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Speaker 5: do you mean? But my husband was just pushing me,

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Speaker 5: and he said, if you want to start, it doesn't

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Speaker 5: matter what anybody else is saying. You should start and

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Speaker 5: find what your happiness will made within this. And that's

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Speaker 5: how I started sketching and talking to people.

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Speaker 1: I just see a lie from your background that has

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Speaker 1: led you to this place where you've been so successful today.

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Speaker 1: When it comes to growing up and having the access

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Speaker 1: that you didn't even think about it kind of as

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Speaker 1: us moss of you understanding and learning fashion, then working

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Speaker 1: as a model that really helps you understand fashion from

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Speaker 1: a different aspect, to then working as in banking, which

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Speaker 1: helps you understand finance. All of those things do come

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Speaker 1: together to create like the perfect entrepreneur. And then your

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Speaker 1: husband feels like also a piece of the puzzle too.

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Speaker 4: Can you talk about how that's been.

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Speaker 5: Look he has been because I have two kids as well,

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Speaker 5: and just having somebody to support me and kind of

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Speaker 5: have my back when. Sometimes I mean, as an entrepreneur,

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Speaker 5: you feel like you're an island by yourself. So having

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Speaker 5: somebody to be like, you know what you can do it,

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Speaker 5: go ahead. We're good. We're a team together. He's very

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Speaker 5: much a part of the business, and he does all

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Speaker 5: the stuff that I don't want to do, like the

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Speaker 5: financial part of it, the it part of it. He

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Speaker 5: does a lot of that, and we work together so well.

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Speaker 5: But he knows he has his own lane. I have

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Speaker 5: my own lane.

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Speaker 2: And I love about your stories.

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Speaker 3: You spent nine years in corporate and you got your

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Speaker 3: MBA yes, and then when you came to this realization

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Speaker 3: with your husband's help, that you didn't want to stay

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Speaker 3: in corporate anymore. You're very strategic about how you went

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Speaker 3: into entrepreneurship.

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Speaker 2: Tell us about that.

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Speaker 5: So I feel like a lot of people they say, oh,

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Speaker 5: you want to be an entrepreneur, you know, leave your

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Speaker 5: work and chase your dreams. That's great and all. But

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Speaker 5: for me, one thing I know is it's hard to

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Speaker 5: be creative when you're worried about where your next paycheck

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Speaker 5: is going to come from, or how you're going to

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Speaker 5: pay or how you're even going to survive. So what

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Speaker 5: I did was I started I was like, okay, if

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Speaker 5: you were to go part time, how much would you

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Speaker 5: have to make in your business in order to be

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Speaker 5: able to do that. So I put all the things

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Speaker 5: in place. I would be an event. I would be

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Speaker 5: going from store to store trying to get them to

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Speaker 5: carry the line. Once we got to a point where

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Speaker 5: we were making enough for me to go part time,

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Speaker 5: I did, and then again started working to be able

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Speaker 5: to go full time doing my business, and I did

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Speaker 5: the plan for that, and once again to the point

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Speaker 5: where it was like, Okay, you need to make a

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Speaker 5: decision if you're going to do the business or stay

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Speaker 5: at work. Then I did. But it was a step

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Speaker 5: by step.

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Speaker 4: It was never as a process.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, how did you find the right manufacturer to help?

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Speaker 1: Because I can imagine how hard it would be. You

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Speaker 1: want to design these amazing quality bags, as you can

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Speaker 1: see if you're watching, but at the same time, it's

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Speaker 1: not easy to find somebody that can fulfill that for you.

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Speaker 4: So tell me what that process was like.

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Speaker 5: It was a lie and we wasted a lot of money.

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Speaker 5: So my first order of bags that we did from

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Speaker 5: a manufacturer that was recommended by somebody came back, and

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Speaker 5: all of our name was spelled so instead of f

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Speaker 5: W style, it was f W Stelle like and when

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Speaker 5: you know, you're like really, you know, and when you

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Speaker 5: have something like that, it's like, what do you do

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Speaker 5: shipping it back? The cargo alone?

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Speaker 3: You know?

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Speaker 4: Do you still have to pay for that?

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Speaker 2: Oh?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, it's already been paid for by the time it

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Speaker 5: got to me. So it's like, so.

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Speaker 2: They didn't take it back because they'd made a mistake.

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Speaker 5: They will take it back, but I would have to

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Speaker 5: pay for that cargo and then go back.

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Speaker 4: That is a wild mistake to make.

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Speaker 5: A very wild mistake. And you know there was others

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Speaker 5: like that on So what did you do with those bags?

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Speaker 5: We gave them to It was a charity dress for success. Okay,

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Speaker 5: so it was years ago and we were able to

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Speaker 5: because there was nothing else that we could do it, right,

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Speaker 5: that's awful. Yeah, So we did that and then we've

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Speaker 5: just been kind of trial and error and also knowing

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Speaker 5: that I don't have to have as much inventory as

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Speaker 5: people tell you that you have to have. So finally

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Speaker 5: we landed on our manufacturer. We've been with them for

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Speaker 5: ten years, one of them and then the other one

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Speaker 5: for about seven years and now actually we partner with

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Speaker 5: them to help other brands a private label and manufacture

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Speaker 5: their handbags for their brand as well.

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Speaker 3: You touched on something interesting, and I know, based on

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Speaker 3: a conversation we had had prior, you said, if you

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Speaker 3: had it to do over again, you might not have

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Speaker 3: spent so much of your own money upfront.

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Speaker 5: Yes, I won't have because I feel like we're told

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Speaker 5: that you have to have two hundred three hundred one

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Speaker 5: thousand in inventory, but you can negotiate. You know, a

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Speaker 5: lot of the places where we're manufacturing, they're used to

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Speaker 5: that negotiation. So do that and just create the minimum

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Speaker 5: that you can. Once you learn how to sell that

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Speaker 5: and it sells, you can always order more. But you

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Speaker 5: don't have to start out with a million bags or

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Speaker 5: even ten bags and ten different colors and all of that.

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Speaker 5: So people want to pair big, but it's like grow.

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Speaker 4: To Yeah, take your time.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, because now when it comes to you said you

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Speaker 1: were going yourself to stores and retail to try to

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Speaker 1: get your bags in there.

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Speaker 4: What was the first place that picked you up.

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Speaker 5: So I'll never forget it. It was called It's called Moonkeys.

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Speaker 5: It was a sugar loaf where I worked in Atlanta

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Speaker 5: and I was working as a banker at the time,

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Speaker 5: and I would go from to a store to store.

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Speaker 5: Everybody said no, absolutely not because I literally only had

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Speaker 5: three bags in my collection, not different colors, just three bags,

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Speaker 5: and they're like no. And then also back then, as

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Speaker 5: a black woman in the luxury space, people were not

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Speaker 5: open to that. They didn't understand it. What do you know,

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Speaker 5: what family do you come from that you know this?

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Speaker 5: So it was hard. But I found this lady that said,

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Speaker 5: if you do a pop up in my store and

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Speaker 5: you bring people and people buy, I will start to

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Speaker 5: carry you and carry your brand. So I called every

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Speaker 5: family member, every friend. Some friends were like, well, I

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Speaker 5: don't have money to buy. I was like, well, I'll

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Speaker 5: pay you. I'll give you the money and you can

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Speaker 5: buy it. Like I did all that, and we packed

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Speaker 5: the place out and she started carrying my line. She

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Speaker 5: was the first one. And then she referred me to

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Speaker 5: a hotel Rich Carlton at the time with a static carline,

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Speaker 5: and then other Carlton started carrying my line, and we

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Speaker 5: just kept going.

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Speaker 3: Those are fancy places and I know now, like we mentioned,

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Speaker 3: you're like in Bloomingdale's and norsetrums. But your mission was

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Speaker 3: really to make this type of luxury affordable to working women.

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Speaker 2: And that's that. It goes back to some things you

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Speaker 2: observed when you were modeling.

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Speaker 5: Yes, yes, I mean I've always loved even when I modeled,

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Speaker 5: I loved luxury handbags and things like that, and I

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Speaker 5: could not afford it at all, even while I was working.

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Speaker 5: I couldn't afford it all these two thousand, three thousand,

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Speaker 5: ten thousand dollars bags. So I said, how about if

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Speaker 5: I make something that's the same quality, that's beautiful colors

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Speaker 5: and affordable for women and made with the best grade leathers,

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Speaker 5: and you know, do that And so that's what I did.

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Speaker 5: I just have worked hard to make sure that it

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Speaker 5: was affordable in all these spaces, because even when you

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Speaker 5: go to Bloomingdales now and you buy some of our bags,

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Speaker 5: it's a lower price point, but the quality is unmatched.

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Speaker 1: And let me ask you this, some people are hesitant

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Speaker 1: to be in like a TJ. Max and a Marshall's

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Speaker 1: so because sometimes they think, oh, you see my stuff there,

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Speaker 1: and they do, and trust I like to shop in

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Speaker 1: both of those places, by the way, But I know

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Speaker 1: for some people in on that side that you're on,

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Speaker 1: they can be a little hesit and what were your

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Speaker 1: thoughts about that?

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Speaker 5: While I'm not gonna lie at first when they approached me,

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Speaker 5: I was just kind of like, oh, what does that

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Speaker 5: say about our brand or does it like devalue it

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Speaker 5: in any way? But absolutely not. The same woman that's

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Speaker 5: shopping at Blooming Years is also the hell is also

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Speaker 5: looking for it Max Marshalls the same day, the same day,

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Speaker 5: So it actually opened us up to a wider audience.

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Speaker 5: We were able to do essence last year and so

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Speaker 5: many people are like, oh my god, I have that

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Speaker 5: bag from TJ Max, I have that bag from Marshals,

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Speaker 5: and it has really helped to expand us in different category.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I've heard financially it's good to be in stores

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Speaker 1: like that, which people don't understand. That's why I wanted

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Speaker 1: you to expand on that, because a lot of times

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Speaker 1: you're like, I want to be in I want to

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Speaker 1: be in Name and Marcus Norsehims, I want to be

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Speaker 1: in stores like that, not understanding financially it can actually

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Speaker 1: be better for you.

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Speaker 5: Yes, you know, to be definitely, I mean because they're

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Speaker 5: ordering thousands and thousands hundreds and thousands of bags, you know,

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Speaker 5: in these stores because they have so many locations. So

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Speaker 5: it's yeah, so that has been a blessing. And also

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Speaker 5: we don't the same things. We carry at the same

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Speaker 5: quality and everything, but it's not the same exact styles. Okay,

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Speaker 5: carry in TJ Max, Marshals that we would carry and

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Speaker 5: like a Bloomingdale's.

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Speaker 3: So how to talk about how the first big retailer

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Speaker 3: found you.

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Speaker 5: So we'll talk about one of them reaching out to

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Speaker 5: us on Instagram, so they reach out to us. It

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Speaker 5: was a buyer and literally she has her profile picture.

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Speaker 5: It was a cat, and I'm like, She's like, hey,

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Speaker 5: I'm a buyer for a large retailer and I would

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Speaker 5: like to talk to you. And I'm like, okay, here

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Speaker 5: we go. So I'm like, okay, here's the email address.

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Speaker 5: But it was she was a buyer and she just

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Speaker 5: loved our branding that was Marshals, that was with Max

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Speaker 5: TJ Max. So she was just loved our brand and

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Speaker 5: then decided to go with that, and then same with

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Speaker 5: even Bloomingdale's. It was an event that talk about networking

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Speaker 5: that we were doing. They saw our production we did

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Speaker 5: for Atlanta Fashion Week, they thought it was beautiful, and

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Speaker 5: they invited us for a two week pop up, then

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Speaker 5: a month long pop up. Then now we're carried in

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Speaker 5: their stores and we'll be online next month as well.

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Speaker 5: Talk you talk about white labeling too for other brands

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Speaker 5: now and trying to help other brands out. So what

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Speaker 5: would you tell somebody who is starting their own line

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Speaker 5: and they're like, this is so hard to be able

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Speaker 5: to do.

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Speaker 1: How do I get myself out there? The branding is

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Speaker 1: so difficult, the market is oversaturated. What would you tell someone.

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Speaker 5: You know when it comes to oversaturation. I feel like

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Speaker 5: sometimes we spend too much time thinking about that. I mean, Beyonce,

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Speaker 5: at the level that she's doing it, she's not worried

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Speaker 5: about oversaturation. So the more you elevate your brand, the

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Speaker 5: less you have to worry about that. So my advice

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Speaker 5: would just be focused on what you're doing. Focus on

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Speaker 5: doing this so well that they can't ignore that you're there.

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Speaker 5: Start one step at a time, do something, one thing,

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Speaker 5: just every single day for your business. That's what I

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Speaker 5: did while I was working full time, is every single

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Speaker 5: day I would do one thing, make one phone call,

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Speaker 5: reach out to one new person, and after a while,

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Speaker 5: all those things start to accumulate.

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Speaker 3: And you really focus on even though the success you've reached,

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Speaker 3: on staying right there in terms of what you should

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Speaker 3: be doing to grow your business. You're actually in New

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Speaker 3: York right now on a business program with Goldman Sacks.

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Speaker 3: Talk to our entrepreneurs out there about finding those business

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Speaker 3: development programs.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I think stay tuned to a lot of those

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Speaker 5: companies and like Digital on Divided, like New Voices, Goldman Sacks,

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Speaker 5: they have these programs that really help entrepreneurs get you

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Speaker 5: to the next level. So this program I was in

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Speaker 5: with them. They look through every single inch of our

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Speaker 5: business and told us how to grow, how to become

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Speaker 5: the next multimillion dollar brand. And that's what this program

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Speaker 5: was about. It was a grueling six months because it

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Speaker 5: was almost four days a week we did stuff with

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Speaker 5: this program, and being a mom and a wife and

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Speaker 5: a running a whole business, it was a lot, but

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Speaker 5: I did it and I'm here for the graduation and yeah,

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Speaker 5: so that's why I'm here in.

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Speaker 3: New You must have excelled because I heard you're given

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Speaker 3: the keynote at the graduation.

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Speaker 4: I am, ah, congratulations.

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Speaker 2: Thank you.

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Speaker 5: So that that's gonna be tonight and yeah, I'll be

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Speaker 5: giving the keynote and just getting everybody pumped up for

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Speaker 5: this amazing week that we're.

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Speaker 1: About to How hard is it when this is something

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Speaker 1: that is your baby and then you have to take

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Speaker 1: like critique and feedback and criticism because sometimes you have

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Speaker 1: to like not take it personal.

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Speaker 4: But it is personal.

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Speaker 5: Yes, it's very personal, especially like as a creative that

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Speaker 5: I'm drawing it so like I'm sketching out ideas that

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Speaker 5: I'm having that I'm so passionate about everything that I sketch.

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Speaker 5: But sometimes we make it and people are just like

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Speaker 5: it's giving no, and I just have to I just

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Speaker 5: have to give so and I just have to like

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Speaker 5: take that and understand that it's not only about my creativity.

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Speaker 5: It's also about what people want and what they want

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Speaker 5: to see, and that what's going to keep my business

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Speaker 5: around for a long time. So I have to realize,

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Speaker 5: you know, I've just had to realize that over time,

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Speaker 5: it's not just about what I want to create. Yes,

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Speaker 5: that's a major part of it, but it's also about

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Speaker 5: what the market is asking me for.

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Speaker 2: One last thing for me.

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Speaker 3: I know you have a lot to talk about, but

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Speaker 3: you make the point entrepreneurs have to realize it's not

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Speaker 3: just a one way street up and to have the

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Speaker 3: multiple streams of income and to pivot and not always

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Speaker 3: expect things to go.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I know, you know sometimes you make we make

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Speaker 5: it Seeman and I'm included in this on Instagram that

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Speaker 5: it's like you just put your stuff on Instagram and

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Speaker 5: hundreds and thousands of people are just buying it, and

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Speaker 5: it's just not true, especially in this economy. With my business,

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Speaker 5: in order for us to be successful, there's several things

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Speaker 5: that we do. We do events. If you look on

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Speaker 5: our page, we're always doing some kind of event. We

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Speaker 5: sell wholesale to stores and boutiques. We also do private

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Speaker 5: labeling and also work with other designers to manufacture their brand.

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Speaker 5: Then we have our e commerce. So all these things

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Speaker 5: together is what makes it successful because it's always going

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Speaker 5: to be up and down. It's never a straight shot up,

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Speaker 5: so you need all those other things to lift you

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Speaker 5: up when one is going down.

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Speaker 1: And you talked about earlier spending your own money, Right,

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Speaker 1: have you gotten investors and yeah, okay.

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Speaker 2: I have not.

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Speaker 5: No, I haven't gotten any investors yet. But it's something

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Speaker 5: that I'm really thinking about because in order to be

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Speaker 5: able to scale to the level that I want my

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Speaker 5: brand to become a household name brand. So I know

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Speaker 5: that at some point is going to have to come in.

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Speaker 5: But thankfully we've been able to fund ourselves, you know,

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Speaker 5: with my own brand right now. But we'll see what happens.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, because people have to understand how difficult that is,

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Speaker 1: just using your own money to fund your own brand.

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Speaker 1: But it is also a great way to make sure

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Speaker 1: you have a lot more power when it is time

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Speaker 1: for you to get an investor to see what you've

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Speaker 1: been able to do and accomplish on your own so

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Speaker 1: they can see how viable this is to take it

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Speaker 1: to the next level.

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Speaker 5: Yes, yes, and as we continue to grow. The hard

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Speaker 5: part is when you have orders from you know, large

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Speaker 5: retailers that you have to fulfill. But then you have

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Speaker 5: to wait. You're not getting your money that you won't

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Speaker 5: get your money, right you wa four manufacturers to finish.

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Speaker 5: Then you're waiting for sixty to ninety days after they

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Speaker 5: received the product to pay you. That is a long time.

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Speaker 3: Yeah really yeah, putting out that man, and we can

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Speaker 3: get people you own money.

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Speaker 5: Too, exactly, So that is a long time to not have.

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Speaker 5: So that's where I see why so many people are

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Speaker 5: getting investors, because as you continue to grow, it really

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Speaker 5: is tough to do that on your own.

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Speaker 1: And you did also a spinoff line, right, so text

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Speaker 1: us about that.

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Speaker 5: Yeah. So we have f W Corp. Which we talked

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Speaker 5: about the private labeling, and we provide handbags for brands

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Speaker 5: like Hallmark, Mahogany and things like that. But then we

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Speaker 5: also have Lena Rich, which is a new line that

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Speaker 5: is named after my son and my daughter, Alena and Aldrich.

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Speaker 5: This line is more of a vegan leather line that

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Speaker 5: is going to be launching soon in a big box store.

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Speaker 5: I don't know if I can say yet, but anyway,

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Speaker 5: it's going to be launched.

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Speaker 3: Some place we shop, Yes, began a shopping You are

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Speaker 3: you have a pop up Bloomingdale's this week?

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Speaker 5: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: People want to come and touch season person.

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Speaker 5: Yes. So Bloomingdale's has been such a fantastic partner of us.

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Speaker 5: I'm just excited to be with the company that wants

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Speaker 5: us to do all these pop ups and events and

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Speaker 5: they want to partner with us for things like this.

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Speaker 5: So this Saturday, I will be at the Bloomingdale Soho

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Speaker 5: from one to four we'll be having a pop up there,

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Speaker 5: so if you're in the New York area, please come

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Speaker 5: out and see us. All right, well, I love it

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Speaker 5: shot at Yeah, shop at FUW style dot com and

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Speaker 5: then follow us on Instagram f W Style.

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Speaker 4: I love it. Well, thank you so much for Wednesday.

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Speaker 2: I do.

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Speaker 4: I think these bags are so beautiful, y'all know, I.

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Speaker 1: Love some bags so a nice crossbody.

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Speaker 3: It was lovely having you on the show.

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Speaker 1: But honestly, congratulations with everything that you've been doing. Every

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Speaker 1: time I see you, it's like a whole other level.

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Speaker 1: So that is the goal.

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Speaker 2: We're very proud of you.

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Speaker 3: Thank you, Thank you so much, and you can check

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Speaker 3: out Wealth Wednesdays Entrepreneurs Facebook group will have a lot

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Speaker 3: more with Alexandria and we have some great free resources

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Speaker 3: for all the entrepreneurs out there.

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Speaker 1: All right, well, thank you, thank you,