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Speaker 1: What's up his way up at Angela Yee on Our

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Speaker 1: Wealth Wednesday with Stacy Tisdale.

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Speaker 2: Happy weal with Wednesdays everybody, and boy, do we have

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Speaker 2: gifts for you today and we are wrapping them up

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Speaker 2: beautifully because we have our Dean Miller Marbley, who's the

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Speaker 2: founder and CEO of Mom Melanin, which is the first

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Speaker 2: black owned brand in the gift stop category at Sam's Club,

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Speaker 2: Loew's and Hallmark Mahogany. How does that feel?

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Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, it feels amazing, you know, to be

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Speaker 3: the first and to break barriers and to be able

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Speaker 3: to open doors for other black owned businesses, It's just amazing.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's hard to put words to it.

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Speaker 1: And you know, we all need gift wrapping paper. This

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Speaker 1: is that time of the season. But you saw something

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Speaker 1: that you felt like was missing in the marketplace, and

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Speaker 1: I'm sure.

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Speaker 4: A lot of us have experienced.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 1: What was that like when you realized this is what

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Speaker 1: I need so other people needed to.

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Speaker 3: Oh yeah, definitely. So it goes with the saying, you know,

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Speaker 3: you can mess with me, but don't mess with my kids. Right. So,

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Speaker 3: growing up my kids constantly purchasing wrapping paper for them

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Speaker 3: and not actually seeing them reflected on the wrapping paper.

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Speaker 3: I'm like, I need to change this. After going to

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Speaker 3: store after store and not finding that product, I'm like, no,

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Speaker 3: I'm going to be the one that introduced this to

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Speaker 3: the world, but not only just introduce it to the world,

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Speaker 3: introduce it to the world in a way where the

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Speaker 3: characters are relatable to our experiences and our traditions and

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Speaker 3: what we look like as a people.

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Speaker 1: There are just so many subtle things, like when you

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Speaker 1: go to the doctor's office and you see like the

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Speaker 1: white families and the pictures, there's all things around us

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Speaker 1: sometimes that it's just like little subtle reminders that make

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Speaker 1: us feel left out of things like we don't belong here.

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Speaker 2: Oh, and it affects self esteem everything.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, And I can definitely relate to that because that's

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Speaker 3: one of the things that our brands hands on and

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Speaker 3: one of the missions is to improve self positive self

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Speaker 3: esteem from the ground up. So not only are we

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Speaker 3: working to improve self esteem from the children as they're growing,

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Speaker 3: but for the adults who have grown up and not

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Speaker 3: seeing themselves represented or win represented, not seeing themselves represented beautifully.

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Speaker 3: Like we've all been to the toy store looking for

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Speaker 3: the perfect toy and either not having it there or

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Speaker 3: it not reflecting who we are as black and brown individuals, and.

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Speaker 2: The danger of that becoming normal yes to us.

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Speaker 1: Yes, So I want to also discuss just your journey

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Speaker 1: because I know that even before you went in, you

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Speaker 1: have to do your research before you got this done,

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Speaker 1: You have to get a manufacturer, do all of those things.

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Speaker 1: But it was a little scary for you at first

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Speaker 1: to convince yourself to do this and invest in yourself

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Speaker 1: and take a chance. Tell me what that was like

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Speaker 1: for you and what made you over come that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that is that's really deep with me because what

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Speaker 3: made me under overcome it was understanding the need for

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Speaker 3: it right and that someone has to do it first.

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Speaker 3: If no one else is doing it, someone has to

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Speaker 3: do it to make a change in the world. So

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Speaker 3: it was a little scary, but with the knowledge and

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Speaker 3: the research and mind determination, it was easily accomplished for me.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, I tell you, but a thousand roles because

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Speaker 1: you have to pay for that and get it upfront,

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Speaker 1: and they sold out like in just a few months.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. So yeah. So in twenty twenty, when we first

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Speaker 3: literally launched, we went live in August on our website

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Speaker 3: and by November we had over three hundred orders in

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Speaker 3: one day. So initially, starting that first one thousand roles

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Speaker 3: that I purchased, it was it's really scary because it

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Speaker 3: was will it sell or will it not sell? But

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Speaker 3: guess what, within a few months I was ordering even

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Speaker 3: more than the one thousand, and we created additional design

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Speaker 3: because the people wanted it, they desired it, and they

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Speaker 3: wanted to be seen in a positive way.

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Speaker 2: You were talking about your early story. I know your

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Speaker 2: parents were also a really big inspiration in that and

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Speaker 2: you actually literally just put them on display and Sam's Club.

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Speaker 2: What's their story and how did they Yeah?

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Speaker 3: Definitely so my mom and dad. They're from a small

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Speaker 3: town in Louisiana called New Sarpi, and it's a community

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Speaker 3: that many people look down on. You know, we worked

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Speaker 3: really hard in that community. And my parents were definitely

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Speaker 3: two of the individuals that were My mom she was

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Speaker 3: a custodian. My father he worked for the parish or county,

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Speaker 3: and every day they would go to work and deal

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Speaker 3: with hardships, but they never gave up. They continue to

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Speaker 3: push and severe. Why because of the mission, and that

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Speaker 3: mission was to give their children a great life, and

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Speaker 3: so that is in full alignment with what my Melanine

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Speaker 3: is and and I feel that their story is the

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Speaker 3: basis for my melon and story because I wanted to

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Speaker 3: make sure that their hard work never went in vain,

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Speaker 3: like the things that they dealt with on their jobs

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Speaker 3: and the things that they dealt with from other people

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Speaker 3: and how they were looked at, never went in vain.

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Speaker 3: So I worked hard, we created the brand, and this

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Speaker 3: year I was able to place them for the first

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Speaker 3: time on display. Talk about giving them their.

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Speaker 1: Flower right and then also all those people that had

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Speaker 1: things to say, go to Sam's Club, buy a little

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Speaker 1: toilet paper, but also check out.

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Speaker 4: My parents on displaying this.

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Speaker 3: Stay there you go. Yeah, it's nice because everyone's success.

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Speaker 3: Everyone's walking up to them and recognizing them, and yeah,

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Speaker 3: it's it's just so beautiful to see it. And one

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Speaker 3: thing about my melanin we loved doing things for others,

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Speaker 3: for the community, for my children, for the parents, for

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Speaker 3: people who are inspired. So that's something that really sets

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Speaker 3: the brand apart.

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Speaker 4: As well.

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Speaker 3: You surprise them, Oh, I surprised them, Yes, yes, So

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Speaker 3: we actually had a surprise unveiling in Sam's Club and

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Speaker 3: a lot of our customers and fans attending the event.

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Speaker 3: It was a full fledged event where Sam's and I partnered,

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Speaker 3: and when we pulled off the actual covering of the

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Speaker 3: display and they see themselves, it was nothing but tears,

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Speaker 3: nothing but tears. And my mom said something, she said, Wow,

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Speaker 3: look at us. Who would have ever thought?

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Speaker 1: And even with you betting on your self the way

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Speaker 1: that you did. I want to talk about your marketing

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Speaker 1: strategy too, because it's one thing to have a great

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Speaker 1: product that you know people will want, but how do

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Speaker 1: they even know about it? So what I want to

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Speaker 1: know is the steps that you took. And I know

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Speaker 1: you used a lot of different social media outlets and

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Speaker 1: things like that, but how were you able to get

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Speaker 1: the word out?

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Speaker 3: Yes, so when I first started, there was a post

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Speaker 3: that was going around and it went something like, keep

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Speaker 3: screaming until someone hears you. At some point they will

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Speaker 3: hear about your brand sis And so that was my foundation.

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Speaker 3: So basically, anyone who wanted to hear about the brand,

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Speaker 3: I'm telling them about the brand, raising awareness on Instagram,

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Speaker 3: on Facebook, on TikTok, I'm reaching out through inboxes, and

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Speaker 3: our brand just blew up. We also a partner with

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Speaker 3: Loads through a contest and we were able to seal

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Speaker 3: our first retail partnership with Lows and so definitely understanding

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Speaker 3: your brand, speaking about your brand, but surrounding yourself with

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Speaker 3: the right people with the right knowledge. So big shout

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Speaker 3: out to my brand manager Ken Geal with less Launch

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Speaker 3: Agency like she has been so instrumental and even getting

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Speaker 3: more up the information out than when I first started.

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Speaker 3: So it's all about surrounding yourself with the right people

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Speaker 3: as well.

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Speaker 2: What are some strategies. There's a lot of black entrepreneurs

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Speaker 2: in the retail space that would love to be a

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Speaker 2: national retailers. What would you tell them?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. First I would tell them to understand your brand,

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Speaker 3: research your brand, who's your target audience, and then be

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Speaker 3: realistic with what your capabilities are. Are you ready to

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Speaker 3: get into retail. Make sure that you understand supply chain

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Speaker 3: and distribution chains and then all of the fees that

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Speaker 3: goes with those things. Is very doable to get into retail,

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Speaker 3: it's a very successful area to be in, but you

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Speaker 3: have to gain that initial knowledge as well and get

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Speaker 3: a mentor like I provide mentorings, My braind provide mentorings

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Speaker 3: so it's very important to surround yourself with the people

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Speaker 3: that do have the knowledge. If you don't, yeah.

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Speaker 1: It's disappointing to get into a store and then it's

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Speaker 1: not selling. And then once they decide, well, this didn't work,

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Speaker 1: it's harder to get back in.

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Speaker 3: That is so true. Yes, that is so true. So

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Speaker 3: that's why it's so important that once you get in

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Speaker 3: the store. There's even more work to do. Once you

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Speaker 3: get in the store, there's marketing to get those products

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Speaker 3: flying off of the shelves, and that's where we really

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Speaker 3: depend on our community to really just back us up

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Speaker 3: and to support the brand. But that is so true,

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Speaker 3: and so yeah.

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Speaker 1: I've seen people's brands just kind of like it can

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Speaker 1: take a real hit because you spend so much money

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Speaker 1: getting into like you said, like with distribute, and you

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Speaker 1: have to pay everybody, and so sometimes those margins aren't

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Speaker 1: what it would be if you were selling it directly

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Speaker 1: on your website. But the marketing and the people seeing

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Speaker 1: your brand in stores and having access to it and

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Speaker 1: then being able to scale up from there, you know,

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Speaker 1: that's important. But it's also something that I feel like,

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Speaker 1: like you said, you have to be ready for that too.

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Speaker 3: Yes, you definitely have to be ready because there are

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Speaker 3: a lot of fees and fines that can incur if

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Speaker 3: you do things the wrong way. Yeah, and so those

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Speaker 3: type of fees and finds can actually bankrupt a business

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Speaker 3: and even get them pulled from retail. And also you

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Speaker 3: want to make sure that you have a strong sale

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Speaker 3: through rate. A lot of retailers they pay a very

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Speaker 3: close attention to the sale through rate, how much of

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Speaker 3: the product is selling within a certain amount of time.

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Speaker 3: So you want to make sure that you're on that

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Speaker 3: as well. So just being very realistic your capabilities and

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Speaker 3: where you are as a business owner at that moment.

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Speaker 1: What are some things you did physically in store just

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Speaker 1: to make sure that you were creating awareness when the

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Speaker 1: brand got there, Because I know there are certain things

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Speaker 1: like if it's a food company, they'll do some sampling.

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Speaker 1: I know, like I have my coffee company and we

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Speaker 1: would go to Whole Foods and do sampling for that,

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Speaker 1: and then hopefully while people are shopping, they'll be like, oh,

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Speaker 1: you know, let me go buy some coffee.

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Speaker 4: Uplifts people.

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Speaker 1: But what made it harder now is there's so many

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Speaker 1: people that are ordering online and have shoppers and it's

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Speaker 1: so different when you go to the supermarket because it's

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Speaker 1: not the actual person.

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Speaker 4: It's like shopper shopper.

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Speaker 3: Yah. Yeah, yeah, So we did several things. One of

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Speaker 3: the things that we did was visit the stores and

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Speaker 3: we have this very large Santa Can. He's our official Santa.

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Speaker 3: He's a large Mas Scott, So we bring him to

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Speaker 3: the stores. We walk around, we speak to the customers,

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Speaker 3: we raise awareness about our brand. We have also done

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Speaker 3: live activations in the store, so, as I mentioned earlier,

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Speaker 3: a fully live activation with the revealed this year with

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Speaker 3: my parents. We also make sure that we are communicating

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Speaker 3: with each store and speaking with them about the importance

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Speaker 3: of our placement. Yes, because policement in the store is

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Speaker 3: everything as well. So in addition to that, we have

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Speaker 3: done press releases even haag. Everything matters.

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Speaker 4: So what does your team look like to execute all this? Yeah?

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Speaker 3: So actually I have my brand manager, Ken Gala, I

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Speaker 3: have a my graphic designer myself to assistance, and I

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Speaker 3: pull in the dream team, which are my parents, yes,

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Speaker 3: and my husband and my son. You trust people I

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Speaker 3: trust and they come in and they make it happen.

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Speaker 3: But everyone is very knowledgeable within their field.

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Speaker 1: If I saw Ardane in the store and she came

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Speaker 1: up to me like, Hey, have you seen me? I

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Speaker 1: would go like, I just think that things like that

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Speaker 1: do matter when you are going to and you're trying

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Speaker 1: something new or something catches your eye, like you said placement.

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Speaker 1: But if you came up to me and you were like, hey, Jess,

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Speaker 1: so you know Mardine, this is my brand, I would

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Speaker 1: love for you to I would be like, let's go

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Speaker 1: buy some because I think people care so much of

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Speaker 1: the story behind a brand that wanted to support it.

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Speaker 4: Because you've had people try to knock off your.

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Speaker 1: Brand too, Yes, and I can imagine that was a

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Speaker 1: huge problem.

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Speaker 4: So how do you handle that?

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Speaker 2: Yes?

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Speaker 4: What tell that story?

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Speaker 3: Yes?

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Speaker 2: Wild?

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Speaker 3: Okay, it is a very wild story, very wild story.

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Speaker 3: So we actually went viral on TikTok in August and

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Speaker 3: we were shipping out like two hundred and seventy six

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Speaker 3: orders a day.

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Speaker 4: Good friend, this amazing.

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Speaker 3: This is very amazing. And unfortunately during that time, there

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Speaker 3: were several Chinese knockoffs that got hold of our brand

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Speaker 3: and started reproducing our products based on the product photo.

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Speaker 4: Wow like them, they moved.

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Speaker 3: Fast fast based on the product photo and what I

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Speaker 3: found out later is that there were over seventy five

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Speaker 3: manufacturers in China who were producing our products illegally. Hold

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Speaker 3: on because the numbers get bigger, and over one thousand

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Speaker 3: ads being ran on Facebook ads ads. And then also

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Speaker 3: in addition to that, I found over eighty websites said

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Speaker 3: they were leading these people too. And so you know,

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Speaker 3: that's why IP is so important because I'm ensured that

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Speaker 3: my product, my images were protected by copyright laws, protected

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Speaker 3: by trademark. I was able to go in and have

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Speaker 3: one thousand removed. I was able to have websites taken down.

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Speaker 3: I was able to also have like all of the

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Speaker 3: infringements removed from TikTok. But hey, that's why it's so

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Speaker 3: important as a small business to protect your IP in

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Speaker 3: the street.

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Speaker 1: That's a great conversation to have too, as you're starting

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Speaker 1: something and not sometimes we don't predict how successful something

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Speaker 1: will be, but you have to protect it from the beginning.

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Speaker 3: You definitely have to protect it from the beginning. Especially,

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Speaker 3: you know, I feel that after doing my research, these

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Speaker 3: brand these knockoffs actually target small black owned businesses really yes,

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Speaker 3: because they feel that we are the ones that are

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Speaker 3: not protected.

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Speaker 4: That we're vulnerable to that.

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Speaker 3: We're very vulnerable.

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Speaker 2: Oh this is not a Louis Vauton knockoff. Back into

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Speaker 2: a small business, this can be devastating.

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Speaker 3: It can be very devastating, and it's very detrimental to

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Speaker 3: the small business. I mean it could literally make you

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Speaker 3: go bankrupt. It's like you're competing with your own knockoff brand.

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Speaker 3: And so that's it's very crazy. And we have actually

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Speaker 3: had individuals reach out to us stating that they've purchased

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Speaker 3: products from us and they received a sheet of paper

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Speaker 3: or they received wrapping paper with a white Santa on it,

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Speaker 3: and I'm like, wait, that's not us. And I've held

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Speaker 3: those conversations with them, and you know they in turn

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Speaker 3: do purchase from us, but it's consumers.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and they could go and if they leave a

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Speaker 1: bad review, if.

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Speaker 3: They don't you speaking of reviews, they have left bad

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Speaker 3: reviews and I would have to reach out. But guess

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Speaker 3: what now that you mentioned that the infringers they are smart.

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Speaker 3: They have literally taken some of my good reviews and

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Speaker 3: placed it on their website. Really sophisticated. Yes it is.

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Speaker 3: And there's a whole chain, it's a whole train.

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Speaker 1: Well, we want to make sure people go directly to

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Speaker 1: my melan and to get their products and not you know,

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Speaker 1: buying it third party somewhere else or so just making

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Speaker 1: sure that we put that out there. You've also done

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Speaker 1: some great collaborations. Yeah, so tell us about that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so we actually did a collaboration with the movie

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Speaker 3: The Unexpected Christmas. It was a full, beautiful collaboration and

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Speaker 3: our products were on their red carpets in La in Atlanta,

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Speaker 3: and then we were also able to do a full

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Speaker 3: movie premiere on last Friday in New Orleans and the

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Speaker 3: movie signed out an actress, an actual cast member, which

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Speaker 3: is Corene Hawthorne. She's the bomb, And so that was

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Speaker 3: really exciting to be able to see all of that

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Speaker 3: come together.

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Speaker 4: How did that come about?

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Speaker 3: Oh definitely. I have to give kudos to my brand

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Speaker 3: manager for that. What she did is that's her thing.

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Speaker 3: She knows collaborations, she knows partnerships. She's into the eyepiece,

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Speaker 3: and she's seen that My melanin as well as The

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Speaker 3: Unexpected Christmas movie. Those brands aligned because why not, Like,

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Speaker 3: why would you not have?

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Speaker 4: Yes, I've seen that, Yeah so amazing. Yeah, So yes, I.

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Speaker 3: Mean so why not? It makes perfectly sense, good sense.

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Speaker 3: So ken Yell did her thing with that one.

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Speaker 4: Look at I love how happy you look.

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Speaker 1: And because you talk about knowing your brand but being

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Speaker 1: passionate about your brand, people could feel that too.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, And I'm passionate because I know, I know the struggle,

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Speaker 3: like I've seen my parents with the struggle. And to

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Speaker 3: be where I am from where I come from, as

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Speaker 3: I mentioned earlier, new s RP or community that everyone

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Speaker 3: looked down on, that people said we can't accomplish our dreams.

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Speaker 3: And to walk and step high over all of those

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Speaker 3: obstacles and prove them wrong, and to be where I am,

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Speaker 3: I mean, it's so I'm so passionate about it, and

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Speaker 3: I just love having the opportunity to be in this

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Speaker 3: spot and to empower other individuals to be able to

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Speaker 3: do the same and chase their dreams and their passions.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and sometimes it's just such First of all, I

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Speaker 1: can't believe that there was nothing before twenty twenty. And

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Speaker 1: like I just can't believe that it's such a simple

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Speaker 1: but amazing idea, you know what I mean, Like that's

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Speaker 1: shocking to me that that didn't that wasn't in these

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Speaker 1: major retailers prior to that, and you also expanded out

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Speaker 1: of the wrapping paper too, right, also into backpacks apparel.

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Speaker 3: Oh yeah, so we actually have backpacks as you mentioned, apparel, pillows,

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Speaker 3: we have an assortment of products. We have shirts and teas,

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Speaker 3: and we have beautiful Santa Sax. So we are not

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Speaker 3: only just a Christmas brand. We are an all occasion brand.

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Speaker 3: Think of your feel good brand where you want to

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Speaker 3: feel represented and you want to see your traditions in

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Speaker 3: your designs. And that's what my melanine is.

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Speaker 2: You feel good your traditions and you give back. Toy

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Speaker 2: drives everything tell us about time.

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Speaker 3: Yes, definitely. So we do an annual toy drive once

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Speaker 3: a year in our community and we give back to

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Speaker 3: the community. We have toy giveaways, we have a coloring station,

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Speaker 3: Santa comes out and takes photos. We actually have gift

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Speaker 3: wrap challenges, and we'll even wrap the gifts. So it's just.

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Speaker 4: I'll be there.

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Speaker 1: I love wrapping gifts and and my household. Whenever it

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Speaker 1: was a time to wrap the presence, it was always

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Speaker 1: me that would sit there and do it. I really

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Speaker 1: enjoy it. For some reason, It's a capricorn in me.

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Speaker 1: It's like very precise the way that you have to

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Speaker 1: do it.

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Speaker 4: Yes, I gotta make it perfect, so I enjoy that.

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Speaker 1: So I appreciate wrapping paper more than average person because

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna be the one sending there doing it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm reminding you of this in a couple of weeks,

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Speaker 2: as long as those presents mind.

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Speaker 3: And we have that good wrapping paper, very nice thick quality,

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Speaker 3: the kind that you don't have to worry about tearing

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Speaker 3: when you're folding and doing all of your beautiful designs.

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Speaker 3: And yeah, that's what we bring to the table.

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Speaker 2: Okay, we're talking about this together earlier. How important and

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Speaker 2: just I just love hearing this. Do you think it

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Speaker 2: is for those kids, especially those kids you give back to,

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Speaker 2: to see black Santa Clauses, to see that wrapping paper

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Speaker 2: because it's just not you know, normal for them.

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Speaker 3: It's not normal. And that is what we aim to

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Speaker 3: do to normalize it and to make it normal, and

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Speaker 3: not just for the kids, but for the adults too,

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Speaker 3: because as you mentioned, since twenty twenty, like you didn't

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Speaker 3: realize that there was a cab, right, So when we

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Speaker 3: bring out our Santa the kids, first of all, he's

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Speaker 3: a dance in Santa yeah, okay. So he loves getting

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Speaker 3: in and and you know, the dancing moving. He is moving,

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Speaker 3: he is breakdancing. Santa is moving, okay. So he loves

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Speaker 3: to bring the party and the feel good right. So

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Speaker 3: the kids all they love being around him and dancing.

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Speaker 3: But then the adults do as well. So they're dancing

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Speaker 3: and having fun. And when it's time to take photos,

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Speaker 3: I have to literally ask the adults, hold on, let's

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Speaker 3: share with the kids. Let's let the kids get their

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Speaker 3: pictures first. But they absolutely adore being able to take

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Speaker 3: photos with Santa. And what I love the most about

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Speaker 3: that with the kids is their normal, right, It is

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Speaker 3: that they're normal, and that's what we want to do.

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Speaker 3: That's what we want to make giffrap with African American

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Speaker 3: characters and products that with African American characters that accurately

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Speaker 3: reflect those individuals. We want to make it feel normal.

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Speaker 4: Yeah, as it should.

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Speaker 2: Let is also feel good work.

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Speaker 3: I love.

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Speaker 2: Actually find the real ones.

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Speaker 3: Yes, the real ones is gonna be found at www

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Speaker 3: dot momelanon dot com, m A H m ah yes,

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Speaker 3: my my melon in m A hmelanon dot com, as

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Speaker 3: well as Sam's Club dot com online and select sam stores.

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Speaker 2: This is perfects We're kicking into that holiday shopping.

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Speaker 4: I know, I'm so excited for that.

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Speaker 1: When I was in high school, one of one of

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Speaker 1: my friends, her dad did this song Santa Claus is

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Speaker 1: a black Oh yeah, you know that's and that was

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Speaker 1: such a big deal, like for us that her dad

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Speaker 1: made that song, because you gotta think, like for us, well,

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Speaker 1: not for me, because my dad's not black, he's Chinese,

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Speaker 1: but in the community, like in our community, everybody's like,

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Speaker 1: your dad is Santa Claus and he was a black

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Speaker 1: man like that regular.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I was Santa. He wears a go train

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00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:06,639
Speaker 3: matching issues you. Yeah. Yeah. He brings like all the

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Speaker 3: flavor and infuses the culture. So that's something that everyone

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Speaker 3: really loves about him. He's a Santa that you can

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Speaker 3: relate to, a Santa that will walk into your home,

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Speaker 3: my home and give.

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Speaker 4: Gifts because when they see Santa kiss in.

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Speaker 1: Their mind all that okay direction, And you know, holiday

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Speaker 1: shopping is coming up. Black Friday's coming up. So what's

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Speaker 1: some advice that you would give to our listeners.

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Speaker 3: Yes, definitely. The advice that I would give is to

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Speaker 3: be intentional when shopping this holiday season. We have black

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Speaker 3: Friday coming up, and just ensuring that you are shopping

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Speaker 3: with black small owned businesses. That intentional shopping will number one,

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00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,960
Speaker 3: could keep businesses running, can keep businesses on shelves, and

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Speaker 3: it can also allow us to continue to be able

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Speaker 3: to give back to the community and empower the community.

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Speaker 3: So we're not asking that you not shopped, We're just

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Speaker 3: asking that you shop intentionally and shop black.

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Speaker 4: You're right about that.

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Speaker 1: I had a whole conversation earlier today about how hard

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Speaker 1: it is for business owners right now because the cost

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Speaker 1: of everything is so high and then you kind of

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Speaker 1: have to unfortunately pass some of those costs on, and

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Speaker 1: a lot of businesses I see a lot of places

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00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 1: are going out of business because it's tough right now.

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Speaker 1: And then people also aren't spending as much money, you know,

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Speaker 1: and rightfully, so it's a difficult time. So just that

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00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,480
Speaker 1: cycle of things costing more, passing those costs on the

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Speaker 1: consumers who don't have it like that right now, who

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Speaker 1: aren't trying to spend in that way anymore. It's just

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Speaker 1: something that is like a time that we can uplift

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Speaker 1: each other as much as possible.

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Speaker 3: Yes, I totally agree, and as small black businesses we

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Speaker 3: are depending on our community to help us to continue

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Speaker 3: to push forward and to stay in business.

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Speaker 4: Very important. Yes, well, thank you Arden.

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Speaker 1: It was a pleasure to have you, and congratulations on

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Speaker 1: all of your success and so much more to come.

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Speaker 2: I already know, and what a great way to usher

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00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:16,040
Speaker 2: in the holiday season, and everybody. Go to Teamwealth wednesdays

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00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:19,360
Speaker 2: dot com. There's a feature on our dean and sign

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00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:21,480
Speaker 2: up for our free newsletter and you'll learn even more

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00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:22,080
Speaker 2: about her.

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Speaker 4: Thank you for having Wealth Wednesdays