WEBVTT - Building an Eyewear Empire, with Coco and Breezy 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.640 We are so proud to partner with Secret Deodorant for 0:00:02.680 --> 0:00:06.600 today's episode of Made by Women. Just as women entrepreneurs 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:10.000 have long fought for equality in business, Secret has been 0:00:10.039 --> 0:00:13.000 a long time advocate of equal pay and equal treatment 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:16.800 for women through initiatives such as their Equal Work, Equal Sweat, 0:00:17.079 --> 0:00:19.960 Equal Pay campaign with the U S Women's National soccer 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:23.320 team and Women Owned Wednesdays to support women owned businesses. 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:26.280 We'd love to see Secret continuing to work to ensure 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:29.760 that all the things that make women sweat, inequality isn't 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:41.320 one of them. Secret All Strength, No Sweat. Welcome to 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:44.160 Made by Women, a new podcast by the Seneca Women 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:49.040 Podcast Network and I Heart Radio. At a moment when 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:51.720 businesses face some of the biggest challenges in recent history, 0:00:52.080 --> 0:00:56.440 we bring you inspiring stories, practical insights, and shared learnings 0:00:56.640 --> 0:01:02.240 to help you successfully navigate in today's environment. Every Thursday, 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:06.560 Made by Women will showcase the experiences of legendary women entrepreneurs, 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:11.640 fierce up and comers, and everyday women who found success 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:17.240 their own way. Consider this your Real World NBA designed 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:21.440 for the New Now. I'm Kim Azzarelli and thanks so 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:28.880 much for joining us today. From a young age Coco 0:01:28.959 --> 0:01:31.720 and Breezy Dots and turned to crafting and creativity to 0:01:31.760 --> 0:01:35.240 get through tough times during their adolescence. Today, the twin 0:01:35.319 --> 0:01:38.520 sisters run a highly successful eyewear company that has been 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:41.520 spotted not only on the fashion forward, but also on 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:45.280 the red carpet worn by superstars like Beyonce and Lady Gaga. 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:49.160 So how did two sisters from humble beginnings in Minnesota 0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:52.800 build their fashion eyewear empire? I was thrilled to talk 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:56.080 with Coco and Breezy about their killer style, incredible outlook 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:59.600 on entrepreneurship, and their drive to succeed. I also talked 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:01.520 to them a out what makes them sweat and what 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:08.080 gives them strength. Enjoy our conversation. Thank you both so 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:11.800 much for joining us. We are huge, huge fans, and 0:02:11.960 --> 0:02:14.680 your product is incredible and the style is unbelievable, but 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:18.720 your story is also amazing. So thanks for joining us, 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:21.840 Thank you for having us. We're super excited to be here. 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:25.720 So uh, we've read that from an early age both 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:28.480 of you were creative pretty much by birth and had 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:31.400 your own sense of style. Can you describe that and 0:02:31.440 --> 0:02:33.520 what it was like to grow up in the Midwest 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:37.519 and how your creativity was received. Um. I would say 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:41.040 growing up in the Midwest, especially being women of color, 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:43.160 and not only just women of color, but being black 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:46.760 women in Minnesota, not only did we get bullied for 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:50.320 having eclectic styles, but we also got bullied for being black. 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:54.440 And I think if we didn't have such supportive parents, 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:57.440 it would have been a very tough time for us 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:00.639 as kids. And something that we're really grateful for is 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:04.280 that even though our parents couldn't necessarily financially support us, 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:11.160 they they support us emotionally like so well, because they 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:15.160 really pushed us to show our individual styles and they 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:19.240 pushed us to really understand the meaning of being an individualist. 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:22.200 And so I'm really grateful for that. And I think 0:03:22.240 --> 0:03:24.720 that since I did have a twin sister who we 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:27.080 kind of shared that same vision that we are going 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:29.919 to do something or we're always going to push the needo. 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:32.160 And I think when you grow up with not a 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:35.480 lot of resources, you like create your own resources and 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:37.680 you create your own world. So if you're in a 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:40.480 world where you feel like you're not accepted, on top 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:42.680 of in a world where you may not be in 0:03:43.040 --> 0:03:46.600 a financial place to get what everyone else has, you're 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:51.240 almost like forced to be creative. And I'm very grateful 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:53.080 for the way that we grew up because it made 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:56.600 us the entrepreneurs that we are today. By the time 0:03:56.640 --> 0:04:00.480 you got to that point in in middle gool, you 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:03.280 were able to sort of just let out your creativity 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:06.240 more publicly, and that must have been very free. It 0:04:06.280 --> 0:04:10.040 was very free because I mean, we got really good grades. 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:12.000 As long as we got good grades, we were able 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:14.280 to do anything we wanted. And I think because our 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:17.680 parents did give us freedom to be creative and they 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:20.120 didn't put their hard ways on us. We were very 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:23.000 obedient kids, and so we knew that if we broke 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:25.479 their trust with being free, they would take it away 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:28.080 from us. And so we were you know, our mom 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:30.800 let us pierce our nose when we were thirteen. Um, 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:33.760 she let us cut our hair really short when we 0:04:33.760 --> 0:04:36.679 were like twelve. She let us cover our hair pink 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:40.400 and red and blue in middle school. And our mom 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:42.000 and dad were both with it, you know. And I 0:04:42.040 --> 0:04:43.680 think the reason why they let us do that is 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:46.080 because they're like, are we going to hold back these 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:49.479 young ladies that want to express themselves because we're afraid 0:04:49.520 --> 0:04:51.720 about the world is going to think of them? Or 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:57.080 do we let them express themselves and they're getting good grades. 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:00.320 Maybe they're able to think better and good get grades 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:02.599 because they don't feel trapped. I mean, we used to 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:05.880 walk around and people would just stare at us, and 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:08.240 it was very hard for us. But I think fortunately, 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:11.280 since we are twins, we had each other and it 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:16.520 was very challenging and difficult. But I feel so grateful that, 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:19.720 you know, our parents let us have pink hair and 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:23.039 have our nose pierced when we were so young, because 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:27.280 that was our way of expressing ourselves. Honestly, I feel 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:29.680 like we have the best parents in the world. First 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.479 of all, they killed it with co parenting and secondly 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:37.640 they killed it with like raising creative kids. So then 0:05:37.720 --> 0:05:39.919 you came to New York City and I grew up 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:41.719 in the East Village. I grew up with people who 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:43.600 had pink hair and all the things that were so 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:46.719 different in the Midwest. What brought you to New York 0:05:46.800 --> 0:05:49.440 And how did you feel when you arrived? So what 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:52.479 brought us to New York first was I think we 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:54.880 first got introduced to the New York style from like 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:57.479 looking at magazines and being like, oh, wow, that's in 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:01.440 New York. But what really brought our interest us. Um, 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:03.160 you know, back in the day, we had a MySpace 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:07.440 page and my Space was the jam back then. You know, 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:09.400 in Minnesota, we didn't have a lot of friends, but 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:12.279 on MySpace we had friends. Right, we had like fifty 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:15.360 thou plus followers, and my parents died. It was so weird. 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:19.159 So we're like sixteen years old with this huge MySpace following, 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:22.359 and most people were in New York and they looked 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:25.839 like us, like their styles were eclectic, and so it 0:06:26.000 --> 0:06:28.640 was all people on in New York and so we 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:32.120 were like, hold on, there are more people like us 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:35.480 out in the world. And so we actually, I think 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:38.520 we were about seventeen, and we back to our parents. 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:40.080 We said, can we please go to New York with 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:42.800 our friends? Mind you, we're seventeen, but we're like, we 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:45.960 have friends, Our friends are eighteen, they're adults, Like, please 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:48.600 let us go, and they let us go. We were 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:52.440 seventeen years old. Interpreted in context, we've been financially on 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:54.920 our own since we were fifteen. So our parents knew 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:57.599 that we were a different type of responsible at seventeen 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:00.120 because at that time we had already been working. Like 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:02.480 by the time we were seventeen, we were working three 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:05.359 jobs each, so they almost couldn't say no. They're like, okay, 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:08.320 these girls pay their car note, pay their cell phone bill, 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:12.480 go to work three jobs each. At seventeen. Of course 0:07:12.560 --> 0:07:14.640 you can go to New York with your friends. Wow. 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:17.800 That's so we went to New York and we just 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:20.320 kicked it. We actually graduated high school early, so that's 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:22.560 why we were able to do that. We graduated November 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:24.880 of our senior year with extra credits, so we had 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:26.560 time and we you know, we were able to take 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:28.720 off work. And so when we first stepped foot in 0:07:28.720 --> 0:07:31.920 New York, our whole lives changed. And then on our 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:34.960 nineteenth birthday, we were like, you know what, let's spend 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:37.200 a couple of weeks in New York to see how 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:40.560 it really feels like to live here. And so, you know, 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:43.160 when you get that feeling in your gut, you get 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:46.920 this gut feeling that it's so rare. This one particular trip, 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:48.960 we had this gut feeling that said, you know what, 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:52.640 move right now, And it's weird because I have I 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.880 rarely get those gut feelings. It's so important to listen 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:59.120 to your intuition because your intuition does not lie, and 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:01.200 so at this moment meant we had this feeling of 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:04.320 being like, we have to move here. So that last trip, 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:08.080 we went back home packed our bags. We said, Mom, Dad, 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:10.760 we're gonna move in two weeks, and they're like, what 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.360 how much money do you have? Said, We're like like 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:15.760 five hundred each, But you know, we've been working in 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:18.000 retail and restaurant for like, you know, not even a 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:20.080 real restaurant. We're working at like a fast food spot. 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:21.880 We've been doing that for like so many years. So 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.160 we have a good resumes. On top of that, Cocoa, 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:26.320 we had applied to go to college, and so on 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:28.480 top of tell them we're moving to New York, we 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:31.800 had to also tell them that college it wasn't for 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:34.040 us as well. So we had everything set up and 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:36.600 we had to pretty much cancel all of that because 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:39.400 we went with our intuition. I remember the person who 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:42.640 had to cancel with he was trying to like tell 0:08:42.720 --> 0:08:45.320 us that it was a bad idea, But at that moment, 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:47.280 I had this feeling that I felt like if I 0:08:47.280 --> 0:08:50.319 would have waited three or four years later, we wouldn't 0:08:50.320 --> 0:08:52.880 be where we are right now at all that's so 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:55.000 important that you listen to your gut, you're able to 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:57.040 hear it. I mean, sometimes other people can sort of 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:58.760 talk you out of what you know is the right 0:08:58.800 --> 0:09:00.880 thing for you. And I think one thing we learned 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:03.120 is that people always talked us out. I had some 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:04.920 of my friend's parents say like, what do you You 0:09:04.920 --> 0:09:06.960 guys are crazy? How are you going to move to 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:09.240 New York? We weren't when we went to in high 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:11.520 school when people are doing all the bad stuff. Even 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:13.720 though we looked like rock stars, we weren't rock stars. 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:16.400 Like our outside looks like rock stars, but our actions 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:19.000 weren't rock star movements at all, you know, And so 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:22.559 um people could never persuade us, and we were never 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:25.640 peer pressured. And so even when people would like say 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:28.920 you're crazy, we're like, we're still gonna do it. And 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.280 my parents kept saying like, if it does not work out, 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:33.719 you can just always come back home, and that was 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:35.600 always a comfort to be like, Okay, we can come 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:38.920 back home, but we're gonna make it work somehow, some way. 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:41.600 When did you decide that you wanted to start your 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:44.840 own company? You knew about money and responsibility, and you 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:46.400 were willing to take that risk and move all the 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:47.840 way to New York, as you said, with like no 0:09:47.960 --> 0:09:50.840 financial backing. But when did you decide that you wanted 0:09:50.840 --> 0:09:53.520 to start a business, and specifically, when did you decide 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:57.199 that you wanted to be an eyewear So I would 0:09:57.200 --> 0:10:01.840 say that ever since I was in grade, the idea 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:05.280 of being an entrepreneur came up, and I remember asking, like, 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:07.760 how do you spell entrepreneur? And to be honest, I 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:11.000 have no idea where that even came from. We've come 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:16.000 from super super humble beginnings and so I never had 0:10:16.000 --> 0:10:18.160 a family member that like worked in corporate, so I 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:21.679 never even knew like what a corporate experience was at all. 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:24.360 But yeah, that Philly would be an entrepreneur and being 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:27.440 our own bosses has been something that has internally been 0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:30.480 inside of us. I think since we were born. I 0:10:30.520 --> 0:10:36.000 would say that what really inspired us to actually being 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:39.959 I Wear is from being bullied. That's what inspired I 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:42.560 love for I Wear. So Cocoa and I when we 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:45.880 were in Minnesota getting like the crazy stairs and back 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:47.760 then we were like if you look at our old photos, 0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:52.120 we were super like punk, like mohawks, you know, black boots, 0:10:52.200 --> 0:10:55.040 all black, black lipstick, like Coco said we were rock 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:58.040 stars that caused us to be bullied and people would 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:01.880 stare at us, point at us, and we were so 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:05.000 from the outside we looked so confident, but internally we 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:07.680 were torn to pieces. And we would buy like cheap 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:11.120 sunglasses to kind of give us this level of confidence. 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:14.599 And then we started making our own glasses. It was 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:17.800 very d i y, and with us posting them on 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:20.840 my Space, people are like, oh my gosh, where can 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:23.880 I buy those? And then that trip that Coco told 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:27.719 you about of us coming to New York, people were like, 0:11:28.160 --> 0:11:30.520 I need those glasses, And so they gave us a 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:32.959 confidence to be like, okay, cool, Like we can make 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:36.600 this into a business. Mind you. We had no business experience. 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:38.720 No one's had like a really big business in our 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:42.360 in our family. It was all like internally that we 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:44.840 I don't know. We just had this feeling. We're like, okay, 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:47.600 we're gonna start this and we'll figure it out. But 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:50.040 one thing that we did always have is that we 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:53.480 had tenacity. We have something in us where we can 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:56.559 go through, like quote unquote a really bad situation. But 0:11:56.600 --> 0:11:58.640 the way that we look at life and we've been 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:01.600 we started practicing this since we were kids. Our way 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:04.760 of life is that any situation you go through, you 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:07.840 make it your own. So if it's a quote unquote 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:09.960 bad situation, the way that we look at it is 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:12.160 that it's just part of the story and it's part 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:15.760 of the journey. So we try to take everything at ease. 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:18.600 So going through I call it the roller coaster effect, 0:12:18.640 --> 0:12:21.920 going through the ups and the downs, where if something 0:12:22.240 --> 0:12:24.880 tragic happens to your life, something bad happens, how can 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:28.640 we use that as a learning curve? And I know 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.960 that that's a huge part of being an entrepreneur is Yeah, 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:35.319 we may not have a college degree, Yeah we may 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:37.600 not come from money. At that time, we had no 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:39.280 idea how to run a business. But what we did 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:42.200 have was we had the figure that ish out. Like 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:44.320 we knew how to figure some stuff out, and we 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:49.120 were amazing problem solvers, and we were amazing like make 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:52.200 a mistake, and we love figuring stuff out. What you 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:55.600 just said really resonated with me was the fact your 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:58.200 your philosophy of life and the way that you think 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:00.240 about life and you think about the ups and downs 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:03.040 as a journey and the lessons you can get from it. 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:05.680 Um as opposed to sort of some people get really 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.040 devastated when we know that life is going to have 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:09.640 ups and downs. So the fact that you were able 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:12.880 to come to that type of philosophy so early in 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:15.559 your life, do you think that had helped you and 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:18.640 gave you a big advantage. I definitely think that gave 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:20.760 us a huge advantage. And I also think that we 0:13:20.840 --> 0:13:23.439 just grew up with a lot of adversities and so 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:27.280 we kind of um taught ourselves that at an early age. 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:29.200 And I do think that you do have to have 0:13:29.240 --> 0:13:31.800 some of those traits because it's not as easy and 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:34.600 fun as you think, but it is fun once you 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:39.079 like grow that emotional intelligence and the understanding that you're 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:43.000 gonna go through so many roller coasters and it's okay. 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:44.880 I always say, whenever we go through something, I'm like, 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:46.439 this is just part of the book in the movie. 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:49.520 Like everything everything we do, it's part of the book, 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:51.480 and it's part of the movie. I'm like, I swear 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:53.320 in like twenty years there's gonna be a We're gonna 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:54.880 have a book and then there will be a movie 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:57.559 about our story. Like that's that's what keeps me motivated. 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:00.760 And I'm like, we're just really like createing a blueprint 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:03.880 for other people, and that's the goal. But I really 0:14:03.880 --> 0:14:07.400 do think that um keeping that mindset has been extremely 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:10.520 helpful because you go through all these up times and 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:13.640 then you also go through downtimes, and literally it's a 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:15.679 really big roller coaster. You think when you're going up, 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:18.040 that's gonna stay up, but then you go down. But 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:20.480 you know, it's so important is that you have to 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:23.520 have those down times because how do you learn? And 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:26.120 so each time you have that up time, something's gonna 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.680 happen and you have to learn from that mistake and 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:31.320 then keep going because otherwise, there was a point in 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:33.600 our lives where everything kept going up, up and up, 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:36.480 and then it crashed, right and then we had in 0:14:36.480 --> 0:14:39.240 that crash was was beautiful because we had to reshift 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:41.640 our full business model and make a huge pivot and 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:44.040 then we start growing again. So I think that being 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:46.720 aware that that's going to happen, and being aware to 0:14:46.800 --> 0:14:49.840 look at the minute things that are happening when you 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:53.520 have that downtime is very important. I'm so glad you're 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:56.840 bringing this up because I think that this is really 0:14:56.880 --> 0:15:00.640 an important nugget for anybody in business but also in life. 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.160 It's just to expose the reality of life and the 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:05.920 reality of business is not just one long happy face, 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:08.800 not just one big happy emoji, but that there are 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:10.840 all of us are going through ups and downs, and 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:13.840 everything has hardship and no one is spared from that. 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:16.120 And you know it's different for different people at different times, 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:19.440 but business in particular, especially right now in this economy 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:21.560 and what we're all going through, it's going to be very, 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:23.920 very tough. But if you can embrace it as you're 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:25.800 sort of suggesting and look at it as a learning 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:30.040 opportunity and not be surprised. Um, that's such a huge 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:32.040 piece of advice that you're giving people. I think that's 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:33.560 that's one of the most important things I think we 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:37.880 can share with people. What in this particular moment of 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:40.280 this incredible up people that we're going through in the world. 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:42.520 You know, how do you how do you think about 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:44.680 pivoting when when you have to pivot in your business? 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:47.600 How have you dealt with that? You know, in the beginning, 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:50.520 we actually i would say our first big pivot because 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:53.800 the way we started was very scrappy, Like it's whatever 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:57.000 is scrappier than scrappy. That's how we started was very 0:15:57.040 --> 0:15:59.560 d i y and like what we what we made, 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:02.440 Like glasses that we made were like, you know, we're 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:05.360 buying safety goggles, gluing studs and spikes on them. They 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:07.400 were such a fat and then as fast as they 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.080 were hot, we're as fast as they weren't hot. So 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:12.440 that was a challenging moment for us because we knew 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:16.800 nothing about actually like you know, producing and designing real 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:19.600 eye wear. We knew nothing about how to source the factory. 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:22.720 We didn't have the funds like which we had like 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:24.880 a little bit but not really a lot because again 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:27.440 we're self funded and still self funded to date for 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:30.560 our pivots, which we've had so many of them. Um, 0:16:30.560 --> 0:16:35.200 it was really just like listening, taking advice, seeing when 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:37.920 we have our downfalls, and understanding how do we like 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:41.680 go to this next this next step. And I think 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:44.400 the in the beginning, our brand was very niche. It 0:16:44.440 --> 0:16:46.600 was it was really about us. So we were just 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:49.200 making glasses that we would wear, and then we had 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:51.840 to say, like, how do we create a product that 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:54.160 everyone can wear where we don't have to be the 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:56.520 faces of it, it's not only about us, And so 0:16:56.600 --> 0:16:58.800 that was a huge pivot. But I think pivots are 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:01.600 beautiful because you kind of realize them once you go 0:17:01.680 --> 0:17:05.080 through a quote unquote downtime. But it's not really a downtime. 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:07.280 It's just a challenge and it just means that you 0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:09.960 need shift because one business model is not going to 0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:13.439 work from start to finish. Like you're always gonna make changes, 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:15.560 and you have to be open and not afraid to 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.920 make those changes. And that's why I always tell people 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:22.040 because I think when people first start a business, they 0:17:22.040 --> 0:17:23.879 have such an idea, like they come up with this 0:17:24.040 --> 0:17:26.840 master plan, and I think where people fail is that 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:29.040 they get so stuck on the master plan that they 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:32.719 don't give theirselves room to make changes as they go. 0:17:33.240 --> 0:17:35.639 So I always tell people like, you might have a 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:38.280 plan A, but like it won't your plan E might 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:40.680 be the one that's like the winner, and so it's 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:44.640 important to be open so test things out. Would be like, Okay, cool, 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.879 I have this plan, but this didn't work. Let me 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:51.639 try a little something different. So it's very important to 0:17:51.640 --> 0:17:55.720 be flexible with your plans. Is there anything that has 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:59.400 really been so tough that it's really made you sweat, 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:02.200 Like there's one where you just said that was we 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:04.800 didn't think we'd get through it. There's something that you 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:08.399 can point to. Yeah, So there was one time where 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:13.480 we got a really big order from distributor in Korea 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:15.360 and they placed a huge order, and at this time 0:18:15.400 --> 0:18:18.679 we were still new to like production, supply chain and 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:20.959 all of that, since we have been so funded. When 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:22.679 we got this huge order, we didn't we didn't have 0:18:22.760 --> 0:18:25.919 the funds to produce it, and so we went to 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:28.239 a front of ours. We were like, hey, we have 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:31.200 this list of orders from this distributor. He loaned this 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:34.600 money just enough for the production, and we're shipping it 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:36.560 out in three months, so we'll pay you all the 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:39.720 way back. Because it wasn't really it wasn't an investment. 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:41.840 It was a quick loan because we knew that we 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:46.560 had orders that that we're gonna get purchased. And I 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:49.199 think this order like almost a fifty order that we 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:51.600 would have received, and I think the production was maybe 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:56.080 like twenty or twenty thousand or something or again, we 0:18:56.080 --> 0:18:58.679 were still new to production and so we didn't really 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:01.880 know the full process of I wear. And so once 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:07.040 the product got shipped to the distributors, they emailed us 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:10.160 and they go, hi, we would like to return all 0:19:10.200 --> 0:19:13.560 the product because there are too many damages. And I 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:18.480 remember getting that email and I call Breezy. Then we 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:22.000 call our co founder Dwyane, and we're pretty like even 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:25.480 and like our personalities are very chill. So you know, 0:19:25.520 --> 0:19:27.439 we're not the ones to be like, oh my gosh, 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:29.800 like what're we gonna do? Like, we're not those people 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:31.879 were like, hey, did you get that email? Yeah? I 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:35.000 got that email. Did you get it too? Okay, so 0:19:35.119 --> 0:19:38.199 what's next, y'all? Like what you thought about this? What 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:40.720 we're gonna do? All right, Let's just receive this product 0:19:41.320 --> 0:19:43.719 and let's do a sample sale should I get rid 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:46.640 of it, Let's be extremely honest with our friend who 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:50.119 loaned us money and tell her exactly what happened. And 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:52.600 so for us, we were like, let's be super upfront 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:55.800 and let her know what happened, because this is what 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:57.879 it is, right, And so we said, hey, you know, 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:01.679 the product got returned, and so we had to do 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:04.800