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Speaker 2: Hey everyone, I'm Austin Hankwitz.
Speaker 1: And I'm Jinny's Torres. Welcome to Mind the Business Small
Speaker 1: Business Success Stories, a podcast brought to you by Into
Speaker 1: It QuickBooks and iHeartRadio's Ruby Studio. In each episode, Austin
Speaker 1: and I chat with small business owners as they share
Speaker 1: their stories about the ups and downs of owning a
Speaker 1: small business. Plus we'll learn from their experience about how
Speaker 1: you can help fortify and strengthen your own businesiness. Austin,
Speaker 1: we talk a lot about the excitement and rewards of
Speaker 1: starting our own business. But it's not all smiles and unicorns,
Speaker 1: is it.
Speaker 2: It is not all rainbows and unicorns, definitely not right.
Speaker 2: On one hand, going into business for yourself is very rewarding,
Speaker 2: but on the other hand, it can also be very difficult.
Speaker 1: You know, I will never forget about five years ago
Speaker 1: when I got my first surprise four figure tax bill
Speaker 1: after having my taxes done professionally for the first time.
Speaker 1: I want to say, I made like twenty six thousand
Speaker 1: dollars with my side hustle, and I didn't know anything
Speaker 1: about estimated taxes until I got my tax return and
Speaker 1: a payment voucher that said I owed like eight grand.
Speaker 1: And I was like, excuse me, what is happening? And
Speaker 1: I think that's the first moment that AI realized I
Speaker 1: had a whole business that I needed to figure out
Speaker 1: how to manage. But also I was way out of
Speaker 1: my league and I needed support. And so I tell
Speaker 1: folks now, as a business as coach, please get yourself
Speaker 1: some financial expert that is going to help you navigate
Speaker 1: these treacherous entrepreneurial waters, because they are very unfamiliar to
Speaker 1: many of us.
Speaker 2: Not just unfamiliar, but unforgiving. Oh my goodness, find a professional,
Speaker 2: put them in your corner, and to that point to
Speaker 2: nize right, I got my undergraduate degree in finance and economics,
Speaker 2: so I kind of had an idea of how to
Speaker 2: just navigate taxes a little bit as a solopreneur in
Speaker 2: the beginning. But the mistake I made was forgetting that
Speaker 2: the State of Tennessee, in my experience, had like an
Speaker 2: extra business tax that I had no idea existed. So
Speaker 2: when I got a lovely love letter from the State
Speaker 2: of Tennessee for a thirteen thousand dollars tax bill in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one that I wasn't expecting, I was equally
Speaker 2: as surprised and taken back.
Speaker 3: Yikes.
Speaker 1: Well, our guest actually has an incredibly inspiring story relating
Speaker 1: to this topic, so let's go ahead and introduce her.
Speaker 1: Taylor Randall grew up on a farm in Washington State,
Speaker 1: where she learned to appreciate making things by hand and
Speaker 1: being self reliant. Her earliest memories are of sitting on
Speaker 1: her grandmother's floor measuring yarns and hand tying quilts. Eventually,
Speaker 1: her grandmother gifted her the prized vintage Montgomery Ward sewing machine,
Speaker 1: and Taylor would go on to create quilts as a
Speaker 1: side job from then on. When a financial emergency forced
Speaker 1: her to get creative, she did just that, starting craft
Speaker 1: Vintage Garments to sell on Deepop. After more orders started
Speaker 1: coming in, she moved her business to Instagram and found
Speaker 1: herself featured in The New York Times a month later.
Speaker 1: Taylor is no stranger to the challenges of starting her
Speaker 1: own business and faced near ruinous adversity while trying to
Speaker 1: navigate the unique and complicated taxes that come with self employment.
Speaker 1: She is very vocal about overcoming her own hurdles and
Speaker 1: helping others overcome theirs. Today, she runs her own business
Speaker 1: called Soft Paw Vintage, where she creates clothing and accessories
Speaker 1: from the text eyes.
Speaker 3: Taylor, Welcome to the show. Hi, thank you for having me.
Speaker 3: I'm tickled pink.
Speaker 2: This is going to be such a fun conversation. Now,
Speaker 2: before we jump into the navigating taxes part of the conversation,
Speaker 2: I want to learn a little bit more about your business, Taylor.
Speaker 2: Starting with the name. Is there a story behind the
Speaker 2: name Softpaw Vintage?
Speaker 3: I mean kind of so.
Speaker 4: I have two dogs and I had two cats at
Speaker 4: the time, and they would walk all over the fabric,
Speaker 4: and it kind of came through that I wanted something
Speaker 4: short and sweet that people could like digest easily, and
Speaker 4: soft Paw kind of just stuck.
Speaker 2: It's such a cool name. Now let's jump into the
Speaker 2: nitty gritty a little bit. I'm curious how much of
Speaker 2: your childhood was spent learning to sew and create. Did
Speaker 2: you get to appreciate it right away?
Speaker 4: I think so, yeah. I mean, and I think it's
Speaker 4: a generational thing for sure. And I've always been drawn
Speaker 4: to crocheting or knitting and hand sewing, and then my
Speaker 4: grandma would make the quilts and then to like fashion
Speaker 4: them all together.
Speaker 3: You do yarn ties.
Speaker 4: So I remember quilts being laid out in the living
Speaker 4: room and like helping her like do the yarn ties
Speaker 4: and stuff. So I feel like it's just been part
Speaker 4: of my childhood and how I grew up absolutely.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: Jenise talked about you selling your first coat on Deepop.
Speaker 2: What went through your mind when you were like, wait
Speaker 2: a second, I'm on Deepop. It just sold, I'm making money.
Speaker 2: How cool was that for you?
Speaker 3: Well?
Speaker 4: I think it was like out of necessity because it
Speaker 4: was like the common COVID story of I actually was
Speaker 4: bartending prior and selling vintage was just like a side hustle,
Speaker 4: and when everything shut down, luckily I had a decent
Speaker 4: amount of like inventory, So I had like distressed vintage
Speaker 4: denim and like a stack of quilts I just collected
Speaker 4: because I liked them. And I had made a coat
Speaker 4: for myself prior, and a lot of people when I'd
Speaker 4: wear it out, like, I got a lot of compliments
Speaker 4: on it, and so I kind of was just being
Speaker 4: resourceful where I was like, I can't go and source
Speaker 4: more vintage to sustain myself, but I have these quilts,
Speaker 4: and so I made that first jacket and when it sold,
Speaker 4: I definitely was really encouraging and rewarding. And then I
Speaker 4: started getting this influx of like messages for like custom orders,
Speaker 4: and I kind of just dove all in. I mean,
Speaker 4: I thought I would bartend the rest of my life.
Speaker 4: It was good money and I was really good at it,
Speaker 4: and it would be able to afford for me to
Speaker 4: like do my hobbies and like crafts on the side.
Speaker 4: And so when it just kind of jumped off like that,
Speaker 4: something did kind of click where I was like, oh,
Speaker 4: maybe this is what I'm meant to be doing, and
Speaker 4: there was that imposter syndrome of like I knew how
Speaker 4: to seb but not like garment construction. I wasn't familiar
Speaker 4: with the ins and outs of technical sewing. So as
Speaker 4: it kind of snowballed, I had to kind of catch
Speaker 4: up to the demand of what people were expecting, and
Speaker 4: I think it was the fire that I needed under me.
Speaker 1: I love it, and it's just such a common narrative
Speaker 1: that we hear from so many entrepreneurs. This happens by accident.
Speaker 1: It's one of those things that you don't even realize
Speaker 1: you're starting a business. Yeah, and so with that comes
Speaker 1: real life business problems.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 1: So the thing about a lot of business owners is
Speaker 1: they tend to share their victory stories on social media, right.
Speaker 1: But you're very open about the challenges that you face
Speaker 1: and how you've overcome them, which is great because I
Speaker 1: feel like you're helping other people avoid those same mistakes.
Speaker 1: So when you first started selling online, what was the
Speaker 1: first hurdle that you faced?
Speaker 4: I would say, honestly, for me, it was kind of
Speaker 4: like comparison bingo, because I think there was this influx
Speaker 4: of other people in a similar vein to what I
Speaker 4: was doing, and I want to support the community and
Speaker 4: like be a part of it in that way of
Speaker 4: like sustainability and uplifting other artists and makers. But for me,
Speaker 4: it was really I was getting in my own head.
Speaker 4: And I think when I kind of released that and
Speaker 4: just stayed in my own lane and wasn't looking to
Speaker 4: what others were doing, I think that really like shifted
Speaker 4: my creativity and it expanded my mind. And I think
Speaker 4: that definitely having a good healthy boundary with like social
Speaker 4: media is important for me. I mean, that's how I
Speaker 4: make money is through promoting and marketing through Instagram, and
Speaker 4: I'm very thankful for the following that I have, But
Speaker 4: it feels like a double edged sword because I feel
Speaker 4: like at times I'm considered like a content creator, like
Speaker 4: people like to see how I live just as much
Speaker 4: as they like to support my art, which is like
Speaker 4: a conflicting feeling, you know what I mean, Like it's
Speaker 4: kind of a weird feeling.
Speaker 1: I think it can almost feel like you don't necessarily
Speaker 1: own any part of your existence when you're sharing all
Speaker 1: of it. So I think that's where that healthy boundary
Speaker 1: comes in, of just being okay with not necessarily having
Speaker 1: to show your entire existence on social media and utilizing
Speaker 1: what is most effective from a content perspective to get
Speaker 1: to your business goals without kind of losing what belongs
Speaker 1: to you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and that's kind of why I've navigated towards like
Speaker 4: doing a newsletter for paid subscribers to kind of like
Speaker 4: funnel them, like the people who want to hear it
Speaker 4: can where I can talk about more vulnerable things versus
Speaker 4: like just feeling like I'm on blast on Instagram and
Speaker 4: like some people just want to see the stuff that
Speaker 4: I make in you know, and some people want to
Speaker 4: see my dogs and like hear about my sobriety and
Speaker 4: like how I navigate my tax is and like small
Speaker 4: business stuff. So I think funneling people into that newsletter
Speaker 4: is like the best of both worlds where.
Speaker 3: I can kind of keep it separate. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So you mentioned the word taxes. Let's talk a little
Speaker 1: bit about that. So we talk a lot about revenue,
Speaker 1: but you know they say, mo money, more problems, right,
Speaker 1: So can you talk about how you've learned maybe the
Speaker 1: hard way to navigate the taxes that come with having
Speaker 1: a business.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So, I mean they don't teach you that stuff
Speaker 4: in school, you know, like I knew taxes were real.
Speaker 4: They say death and taxes the two things that are
Speaker 4: unavoidable in life. And I think that I was just
Speaker 4: like turning my head the first couple two years, just
Speaker 4: would go plug in the numbers from the forms that
Speaker 4: I got, and then just like okay, I did the thing.
Speaker 4: You know, like the irs is not forgiving. You can't
Speaker 4: be off a couple numbers. You can't just guess, you know, right.
Speaker 4: So I think if I could go back in time,
Speaker 4: I would tell my younger self, like, just buck up
Speaker 4: and get the account and get stuff squared away to
Speaker 4: stay up on your quarterly. That is something that I
Speaker 4: kind of knew existed but did not want to participate in.
Speaker 4: I just didn't know what I was doing, and I'm
Speaker 4: definitely still paying for it. I mean, it's hard to
Speaker 4: speak from the wound, you know what I mean, Like
Speaker 4: I haven't really rounded the corner fully yet. I'm still
Speaker 4: sorting it out and kind of untangling the mess that
Speaker 4: I had created.
Speaker 1: Yeah, taxes are one of the most excruciating parts of
Speaker 1: owning a small business, and I've had my fair share
Speaker 1: of unexpected tax bills multiple times. So can you tell
Speaker 1: us about what your experience has been like and how
Speaker 1: you've navigated that tax bill.
Speaker 4: Well, how I kind of found out about the immense
Speaker 4: taxtet that I'm in is, you know, my business was
Speaker 4: growing and I thought I was in a position to
Speaker 4: potentially buy a house. So in doing so, when you
Speaker 4: start talking to the broker and such like, we need
Speaker 4: three years of back taxes. But through that I kind
Speaker 4: of unearthed the fact that I had done twenty twenty wrong.
Speaker 4: And in doing so, I got, you know, my accountant,
Speaker 4: and we amended that return. And I was living in
Speaker 4: my cute, perfect dream cabin on Mount Hood, you know,
Speaker 4: just chopping my firewood, taking my dogs on hikes, and
Speaker 4: just sewing all day, living my literal dream. And then
Speaker 4: I found out that like, oh, instead of the eight
Speaker 4: hundred that I had paid the IRS, I actually owed
Speaker 4: them closer to ten thousand dollars, and that was just
Speaker 4: through the IRS, because federal and state are different, and so.
Speaker 3: I owed the IRS about eight.
Speaker 4: Thousand, and then I owed Oregan State about three I think,
Speaker 4: and then finding out I had done that that you're wrong,
Speaker 4: and you know, I think it was twenty twenty two
Speaker 4: at that time. And then twenty twenty one, those numbers
Speaker 4: were about the same, and so it's just kind of
Speaker 4: snowballs into the point where I owe about thirty thousand
Speaker 4: to the IRS. So it was definitely overwhelming.
Speaker 3: I cried a lot.
Speaker 4: And I threw my hands up, and I was like,
Speaker 4: I can either keep going forward and hope that it
Speaker 4: works out, or I can just give up and go
Speaker 4: back to bartending. But I've really gotten accustomed to being
Speaker 4: my own boss and making my own hours, and I
Speaker 4: still enjoy sewing and I don't want.
Speaker 3: To give that up.
Speaker 4: So I just took a deep breath and started looking
Speaker 4: for an accountant. And the thing about the IRS, even
Speaker 4: though they are like big, mean and scary and inevitable,
Speaker 4: as long as you're in communication with them and actively
Speaker 4: making payments, they're not going to come and take your car.
Speaker 4: They're not going to come and take your TV or
Speaker 4: your dogs or.
Speaker 3: You know what I mean.
Speaker 4: Like, I'm on a payment plan with them every month,
Speaker 4: and it's for what I can afford, you know. I've
Speaker 4: looked at my budget and realistically, like what can I
Speaker 4: get away with giving them without sacrificing a lot in
Speaker 4: my day to day life for myself personally and still
Speaker 4: maintaining the business.
Speaker 2: So what was the one thing you did that you
Speaker 2: think was really effective in getting yourself set up for
Speaker 2: success moving forward?
Speaker 4: I switch from an LLC to an S CODE, and
Speaker 4: I'm on a payroll company, so I pay myself out
Speaker 4: through the payroll company, and through that, I don't have
Speaker 4: to deal with figuring out taxes. So it's kind of
Speaker 4: programmed in there. Just like if I was to go
Speaker 4: work at a restaurant and get a W two, my
Speaker 4: taxes already get taken out, and so that kind of
Speaker 4: takes out the guessing game of like just chucking money
Speaker 4: at the irs and like trying to anticipate based off
Speaker 4: of last year cells what I should be setting aside.
Speaker 4: And when I learned that and my landlord was raising
Speaker 4: the rent at the cabin, I was like, this just
Speaker 4: isn't sustainable. I can't pay two thousand dollars in rent
Speaker 4: by myself and also be trying to get ahead of
Speaker 4: quarterly and you know, material and everything else that goes
Speaker 4: into running a business and also paying off that tax deet,
Speaker 4: you know what I mean. So I had this opportunity
Speaker 4: to go live and work on this farm, in.
Speaker 3: This work trade situation.
Speaker 4: The house I lived in was unfinished, but I wasn't
Speaker 4: paying rent, and so in that nine month period I
Speaker 4: was able to check twenty thousand dollars at the irs.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 4: I was so privileged to have this opportunity. I wasn't
Speaker 4: paying electricity, I wasn't paying for anything. But it was
Speaker 4: like hard labor and I learned a lot and then
Speaker 4: come guy, I was like, okay, I'm ahead of like
Speaker 4: my quarterly for last year. Like I was in a
Speaker 4: good spot where I was like, I want to come home.
Speaker 4: I come back to Portland. I don't want to be,
Speaker 4: you know, living off grid, even though that's in line
Speaker 4: with the sustainability that I like. It was hard living
Speaker 4: on solar and it's hard not having a washer and
Speaker 4: dryer and showering with like pond water.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I could imagine that is.
Speaker 1: An intense way to tackle your text.
Speaker 3: At my gosh. Yeah, and I don't want to look
Speaker 3: at it.
Speaker 4: It's like part of me thought I was like punishing myself,
Speaker 4: you know, and I kind of wish I would have
Speaker 4: not been so hard on myself about it. And like
Speaker 4: the farm was beautiful and I learned so much and
Speaker 4: it served its purpose. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 4: I'm just so happy to be back in Portland and
Speaker 4: like have the lights on past six pm and like
Speaker 4: have clean running water, and just like the whole journey
Speaker 4: has just shaped me to really appreciate every little thing,
Speaker 4: And so it was necessary.
Speaker 1: I really appreciate your perspective, Taylor, because I think a
Speaker 1: lot of people who could encounter that that might be
Speaker 1: the thing that discourages them from even continuing to run
Speaker 1: their business. Yeah, right, And so I think it's important
Speaker 1: to know there are options for managing unexpected tax bills.
Speaker 1: So just know you're not alone in the struggle, but
Speaker 1: there are tools out there to help you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 4: And it's allowing me to pivot in different ways where
Speaker 4: I'm now actively trying to create passive income. I started
Speaker 4: making patterns where people who are like, oh, I love
Speaker 4: that dress I wish I could make that, they can
Speaker 4: go to my website and buy the pattern. I've also
Speaker 4: taught classes live on Zoom that is recorded that can
Speaker 4: just be sold. And then also with the newsletter, it's
Speaker 4: five bucks a month and people who want to access
Speaker 4: that part of my life can.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're speaking my love language. Multiple income streams are
Speaker 1: the best, so you know, the way that you share
Speaker 1: your challenges and your successes on social media. I think
Speaker 1: that's honestly one of the best things we can do
Speaker 1: is entrepreneurs because it helps everyone. And the thing that
Speaker 1: I love about QuickBooks and specifically their QuickBooks Money tool,
Speaker 1: is that they're helping entrepreneurs navigate exactly what you're talking about, Yeah,
Speaker 1: keeping track of getting paid, keeping track of your taxes
Speaker 1: and all those things. So can you talk about what
Speaker 1: strategies you're now using to keep track of your finances
Speaker 1: and your regular product output when things need to be
Speaker 1: sent on top of you know, managing custom requests. How
Speaker 1: do you keep all of that straight?
Speaker 4: So in terms of quick books, I actually use the
Speaker 4: QuickBooks app.
Speaker 3: So they have like an umbrella for self employment.
Speaker 4: And I think it was my second year I was like, Okay,
Speaker 4: I gotta get serious. I got to figure it's out.
Speaker 4: So that was one of the first steps that I
Speaker 4: did on my own. And then I hired an accountant
Speaker 4: who helps me with my profits and loss and kind
Speaker 4: of keeps that stuff dialed for me, like the stuff
Speaker 4: that I can't wrap my head around, Like I'm i outsource.
Speaker 4: That is the only thing I outsource in terms of
Speaker 4: like work, is I have an assistant who takes care
Speaker 4: of like the back end of stuff in terms of
Speaker 4: like emails and custom orders and shipping.
Speaker 3: I had an.
Speaker 4: Assistant for a while. But I think a lot of
Speaker 4: people can relate to this in terms of like it
Speaker 4: being your own business and feeling like kind of a
Speaker 4: control freak, you know, me being the face of my company.
Speaker 4: It feels weird to have someone else replying to my emails,
Speaker 4: and I feel like with custom stuff, it's such a
Speaker 4: visual thing, and so I'm extremely hands on with ninety percent.
Speaker 3: Of my business.
Speaker 1: Coming up after the break.
Speaker 4: Those are really pivotal times when you kind of step up,
Speaker 4: and that's what I did, and then a month later
Speaker 4: I was in the New York Times.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back with Mine the Business. Welcome back
Speaker 1: to Mind the Business, Small business success stories from iHeartMedia's
Speaker 1: Ruby Studio and Into It QuickBooks.
Speaker 2: Let's pretend we're talking to the solopreneur who's really excited
Speaker 2: about twenty twenty four because they're going to finally start
Speaker 2: their solopreneurship journey starting this year. What piece of advice
Speaker 2: could you give that new business owner listening right now
Speaker 2: to help them avoid the challenges that you faced in
Speaker 2: your business back then.
Speaker 4: I would say definitely get the QuickBooks app and the
Speaker 4: self employment and just get familiar with your profits and loss.
Speaker 4: And another thing that I think is been really helpful
Speaker 4: for me is just like sticking with my gut. As
Speaker 4: my business started to gain my I had a lot
Speaker 4: of opportunities to do things that didn't really resonate with
Speaker 4: me or my business. I think staying true to myself
Speaker 4: and my gut is what got me to this point.
Speaker 4: And I think people appreciate that that I'm not trying
Speaker 4: to sell them something that I don't support.
Speaker 2: What incredible advice, Taylor.
Speaker 1: Thanks, Yeah, that's fantastic. Let's talk a little bit about
Speaker 1: your marketing strategy for your business. So you started on
Speaker 1: deepop and then eventually moved to Instagram to sell your products.
Speaker 1: Can you tell us what that transition was like and
Speaker 1: did you have to rebuild an audience or did customers
Speaker 1: kind of just follow you from one site to another.
Speaker 4: The reason why I chose to go to Instagram was
Speaker 4: deepop had so many fees and it felt like such
Speaker 4: a huge blow where I was like I made this
Speaker 4: jacket for two hundred dollars and they're taking twenty five
Speaker 4: and then the shipping and everything else. So I started
Speaker 4: the Instagram just kind of throwing in at the wall
Speaker 4: and seeing what's stuck. I mean, I was just trying
Speaker 4: to make money in any form of creativity. It wasn't
Speaker 4: specifically just quilts, and so through that I think, I mean,
Speaker 4: again that COVID story, people were just at home kind
Speaker 4: of on their phones and there was this huge like
Speaker 4: quilt movement, and I think it was just like the
Speaker 4: perfect storm for me, honestly. But I started utilizing my
Speaker 4: platform to also I lived in this cabin on Mount
Speaker 4: Hood and you know, I'd film me like chopping wood
Speaker 4: or like, you know, people were just interested in like
Speaker 4: this weird little chick who's just like living in the
Speaker 4: woods with her dogs and like making clothes out of
Speaker 4: quilts and like chopping her own firewood. You know. So
Speaker 4: I think it was me just being me and also
Speaker 4: like making cool shit. People were just there for it,
Speaker 4: and it just grew.
Speaker 1: Well because it feels very authentic when you see someone
Speaker 1: living a lifestyle that then feeds into the products that
Speaker 1: they're selling, right, Like you live as a state of
Speaker 1: a lifestyle. That is a very important aspect of just
Speaker 1: who you are. And so the fact that your product
Speaker 1: that you're selling reflects that. I think that's why people
Speaker 1: resonate with it so much, because it's real. It's not
Speaker 1: just something you're hopping on because it's trendy. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: let's talk more about that. Do you actually research what
Speaker 1: is selling and what is falling out of style? And
Speaker 1: how much do you lean on trends versus just taking
Speaker 1: inspiration from your own originality when you design something.
Speaker 4: So I think in terms of sustainability, I think the
Speaker 4: word trends just needs to disappear. But this full circle
Speaker 4: movement of like these quilts were made in like the
Speaker 4: early nineteen hundreds from clothes and so me turning them
Speaker 4: back into clothes, I would like to think that it's
Speaker 4: a timeless movement versus like a trend. So I don't
Speaker 4: really look to anything else other than just like putting
Speaker 4: out stuff that I think is cool and looks good
Speaker 4: and hoping that other people agree. So to answer your question,
Speaker 4: I just think that like even the word trend just
Speaker 4: shouldn't be a thing in terms of like fashion, because
Speaker 4: that's like what's killing the planet?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you've actually said when sewing magazines interview you,
Speaker 2: they often asked the same question, when did you start
Speaker 2: your business? And you share an answer that just gives
Speaker 2: me goosebumps every single time I read it here, which
Speaker 2: is saying it wasn't when you sold your first garment
Speaker 2: or started your LLC, but instead when you started to
Speaker 2: take yourself seriously. Talk to me about that. When did
Speaker 2: you realize that and what moment really inspired an answer
Speaker 2: like that.
Speaker 4: So I was living with a partner at the time
Speaker 4: and a roommate, and it was during COVID and my
Speaker 4: roommate she ended up leaving, and then me and my
Speaker 4: partner broke up and he moved out, and so I
Speaker 4: kind of just surrendered, and I was like, if I
Speaker 4: can just get creative and like hay Rent and like
Speaker 4: put food on the table and like feed my dogs,
Speaker 4: then I will have been successful. And instead of just
Speaker 4: like being a victim to the situation and just throwing
Speaker 4: my hands up and like poor me, I just was like,
Speaker 4: I'm going to start taking myself seriously and this is
Speaker 4: something that I want to do. And I think those
Speaker 4: are really pivotal times when you kind of step up.
Speaker 4: And that's what I did. And then a month later
Speaker 4: I was in the New York Times.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, I could not imagine that. And I
Speaker 2: totally agree. Right, I think something that resonates here with
Speaker 2: me back in the day when I first started my
Speaker 2: business and the same time you did, was I had
Speaker 2: to look myself in the mirror and says, wait a second,
Speaker 2: there's not a plan B. It's either Plan A we
Speaker 2: make it work, or Plan A we make it work. Right,
Speaker 2: So shout out to you for making it work and
Speaker 2: making it into the New York Times. Now I'm curious.
Speaker 2: You know you do clothing. There's quilts, there's accessories. Do
Speaker 2: you have a favorite piece you enjoy creating the most.
Speaker 3: I think just the jackets.
Speaker 4: I feel like they're timeless, and I think I've made
Speaker 4: so many of them that maybe I'm just the most
Speaker 4: comfortable like throwing one together, like I could probably just
Speaker 4: cut it out without even using a pattern. I think
Speaker 4: that's my favorite. But also when I get a piece
Speaker 4: of material, sometimes I'll just know, like, Okay, this I'm
Speaker 4: making into a shirt, or like this is going to
Speaker 4: be a skirt, And that's when I feel the most
Speaker 4: fulfilled is when I'm just like that inspired by something.
Speaker 2: Well, let's figure out how we can get those quote
Speaker 2: jackets in front of as many listeners as possible. Where
Speaker 2: can they go and check out your awesome work buy
Speaker 2: some of these amazing handmade vintage products.
Speaker 4: Okay, So that's going to be on my website at
Speaker 4: Softpa Vintage dot com. And then that is also my
Speaker 4: Instagram handle, And then for people curious about my life
Speaker 4: and sobriety and small business stuff, you could go to
Speaker 4: my sub stack, which is called off Leash because I
Speaker 4: know I feel the most free when I can just
Speaker 4: say what I want, and my dogs feel the most
Speaker 4: free when they're off leash, and my dogs are like
Speaker 4: a part of my business. My dog Howdy is like
Speaker 4: on my sticker. I've made like sweatshirts before out of
Speaker 4: like vintage crew necks. So yeah, off Leash is my
Speaker 4: sub stack, and a Softpa Vintage is my website.
Speaker 2: Love the shout out to Howdy. I wish I had
Speaker 2: a dog named Howdy. That sound looks fun. Taylor, What's
Speaker 2: next for you? What is next for Taylor Randall?
Speaker 4: So actually podcasting, I don't know. I've just felt really
Speaker 4: called to do it. I don't really see myself as
Speaker 4: a writer, but I think that I'm good at speaking
Speaker 4: and articulating myself in like more of a flow state
Speaker 4: instead of sitting down and like trying to get my
Speaker 4: ideas out. So on substack there's actually an area where
Speaker 4: you can add podcasts to it, and so I think
Speaker 4: that would be a good place for me to kind
Speaker 4: of dip my toe in and just do little recordings
Speaker 4: like that or whatever. But I'm going to keep sewing forever.
Speaker 3: I think.
Speaker 4: I think I'm just going to keep sewing until my
Speaker 4: hands fall off.
Speaker 2: So as you should. You are super talented and I
Speaker 2: cannot wait to tune into the podcast on your substack.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for being here, Taylor, Thank you.
Speaker 2: Denise. Could you imagine being on a farm for nine
Speaker 2: months just grinding away, like shout out to Taylor for
Speaker 2: paying off twenty thousand dollars during that period of time.
Speaker 2: That is so inspirational. But oh my goodness, I would
Speaker 2: fold in the first week. I couldn't do it. I
Speaker 2: don't know how she got away with this. This was
Speaker 2: incredible of her.
Speaker 1: I think it just speaks to the resilience that is
Speaker 1: required when it comes to navigating this world of entrepreneurship,
Speaker 1: you just really don't know what's going to come. And
Speaker 1: her ability to make those hard choices to know that
Speaker 1: she was going to be able to put herself in
Speaker 1: a better place financially. I think it's brilliant and I
Speaker 1: give her so many props because I don't think I
Speaker 1: could do the same thing.
Speaker 2: I'm right there with you. You know, something else that she
Speaker 2: mentioned that really resonated with me was being a victor
Speaker 2: and not a victim. I think a lot of entrepreneurs
Speaker 2: and just solopreneurs in general, small business owners, there comes
Speaker 2: a day where you have to make that decision of Okay,
Speaker 2: this is what I'm doing, and I'm going to make
Speaker 2: it work like there's no Plan B, there's no alternative,
Speaker 2: it's Plan A or Plan A. And she made it
Speaker 2: work right. She busted her butt, she got it done,
Speaker 2: and she is thriving now because of that.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And I think her conversation was a really good
Speaker 1: reminder that we don't have to go at it alone.
Speaker 1: You know, a lot of us are navigating our business
Speaker 1: finances in the beginning by ourselves, and we think we
Speaker 1: have to be the smartest person in the room. And
Speaker 1: when it comes to managing your business finances as a
Speaker 1: money coach, I like to remind folks it's a completely
Speaker 1: different process than managing your personal finances. You know, we're
Speaker 1: not talking about profit and loss and cash flow and
Speaker 1: tax strategies as much in the personal finance side of things.
Speaker 1: So just understanding that the language of money is completely
Speaker 1: different for an entrepreneur than it is for somebody who
Speaker 1: is used to getting a steady paycheck. It's a good
Speaker 1: reminder that if you don't know what's happening, it's actually
Speaker 1: really normal to feel that way, but you don't have
Speaker 1: to go at it alone.
Speaker 2: Yeah, not only is it really normal, but it's actually
Speaker 2: encouraged to go see help. Right. I wish I would
Speaker 2: have seeked accountant help or professional help in general regarding
Speaker 2: my business taxes and finances way back in the day,
Speaker 2: similar to Taylor's situation here. Right, So, if you are
Speaker 2: starting a small business in twenty twenty four, for an
Speaker 2: existing small business owner solopreneur in general, don't be afraid
Speaker 2: to ask for help. It is absolutely encouraged. There are
Speaker 2: no dumb questions when it comes.
Speaker 1: To taxes, absolutely, and you can start by checking out
Speaker 1: QuickBooks Money.
Speaker 2: That is correct.
Speaker 1: Well, that's it for today's episode. You can find me
Speaker 1: on social media at Jocciero Dinetto podcast and.
Speaker 2: You can find me at Austin Hankwitz. You can follow
Speaker 2: Into It QuickBooks on all social media at QuickBooks. To
Speaker 2: get the tools you need to start, run and grow
Speaker 2: your business, head to QuickBooks dot com today.
Speaker 1: Don't forget to follow this show wherever you listen to
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Speaker 2: We also want to hear from you, so be sure
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Speaker 1: See you next time.
Speaker 2: This podcast is a production of iHeartRadio and Into It QuickBooks.
Speaker 2: Our executive producer is Malay Sosha, Our supervising producer is
Speaker 2: Nikias Swinton, and our writer is Eric Lijah.
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