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Speaker 2: Hey everyone, I'm Austin Hankwitz.
Speaker 1: And I'm Jennise Torres. Welcome to Mind the Business Small
Speaker 1: Business Success Stories, a podcast brought to you by Intowit,
Speaker 1: QuickBooks and iHeartRadio's Ruby Studio. In each episode, Austin and
Speaker 1: I chat with small business owners as they share their
Speaker 1: stories about the ups and downs of owning a small business.
Speaker 2: That's right, Jenise, and I'm really excited to talk to
Speaker 2: this episode's guests. But before we do that, let me
Speaker 2: ask you. We've both traveled a lot. I know you
Speaker 2: just got back from New York, which was really exciting,
Speaker 2: and being an entrepreneur, we both have a little bit
Speaker 2: of freedom as it relates to scheduling our trips. So
Speaker 2: do you prefer to go on vacation and travel with
Speaker 2: a group or by yourself?
Speaker 1: I think there's a time and place for both. I
Speaker 1: like the group travel. I like traveling with my family
Speaker 1: and friends. But I also have been very intentional about
Speaker 1: doing quarterly retreats as a solopreneur, and these are solo retreats,
Speaker 1: so it's kind of my time to reset, plan for
Speaker 1: the next quarter and just really give myself a break
Speaker 1: from all the responsibilities that come with owning a business.
Speaker 2: Mmm. I like that a lot, kind of giving yourself
Speaker 2: the opportunity to reflect upon the last couple months here
Speaker 2: and build the business that you know you're doing a
Speaker 2: really good job of building. So you mentioned traveling solo
Speaker 2: and doing that on a quarterly basis here, but it's
Speaker 2: important to remember you're not ever really alone, right. You
Speaker 2: still need that Uber driver, you still need the airplane pilot,
Speaker 2: the hotel employees, or even just the random people you
Speaker 2: meet at the coffee shops that are helping you out
Speaker 2: and allowing you to have a good time, which is
Speaker 2: just like when you're a solopreneur. No matter what industry
Speaker 2: your enterprise falls into, you still need to have some
Speaker 2: people in your corner, whether they're other founders with more experience,
Speaker 2: or mentors that can help you out with business, or
Speaker 2: even people that can guide you through the intricate paperwork
Speaker 2: side of things. I've personally had a lot of intricate
Speaker 2: paperwork come my way now that we are navigating tax season,
Speaker 2: which is why I think QuickBooks Live is such an
Speaker 2: instrumental tool in helping people build their businesses. Now with
Speaker 2: QuickBooks Live, you'll have access to expert bookkeepers who will
Speaker 2: help you keep your books organized and balanced.
Speaker 1: And who doesn't need that, honestly, because when you're a
Speaker 1: solopreneur with a good team, you basically get the best
Speaker 1: of both worlds. You run your own show, but you
Speaker 1: still get live experts helping you achieve success.
Speaker 2: Lloyd knows I need that same.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, you know. It's just you got to
Speaker 1: be able to not always try to be the smartest
Speaker 1: person in the room. And I think as a solopreneur,
Speaker 1: I've gotten really good at just knowing where my limitations lie,
Speaker 1: not trying to DII why my way to success in
Speaker 1: areas where I just don't have the expertise, and really
Speaker 1: knowing and getting good at relying on my community to
Speaker 1: source potential, you know, connections or new ideas that I
Speaker 1: didn't even think.
Speaker 2: About one hundred percent, right, is like, wait a second,
Speaker 2: I need to start caring about bookkeeping. I need to
Speaker 2: start caring about taxes and payroll and things like that.
Speaker 2: So what did I do. I've reached out to my
Speaker 2: community of other solopreneurs and content creators to see what
Speaker 2: they were doing right. And being able to lean on
Speaker 2: your community when you have these types of problems, as
Speaker 2: well as provide feedback to other people when they have
Speaker 2: problems is probably one of the most rewarding things that
Speaker 2: comes from being a solopreneur.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I think it's also really important as someone who
Speaker 1: is hyper independent, right, And I'd like to say it's
Speaker 1: the trauma response of being an eldest daughter and just
Speaker 1: not wanting to ask for help. But one of the
Speaker 1: things that I've learned in entrepreneurship is how critical it
Speaker 1: is to have a sounding board that community. I think
Speaker 1: about it a specific example where I got my first,
Speaker 1: like multiple five figure influencer marketing brand deal, and I
Speaker 1: was just like, I don't feel qualified to read these
Speaker 1: legal contracts and I don't feel comfortable signing my life
Speaker 1: away potentially, And so I called my mentor and I'm like,
Speaker 1: do you have anybody who can help me with this?
Speaker 1: And she actually introduced me to her agent, who now
Speaker 1: manages my own partnerships too. And so it's just the
Speaker 1: power of community is something that I don't think we
Speaker 1: can emphasize enough because unless you're in this world of entrepreneurship,
Speaker 1: most people around you are not even going to know how.
Speaker 2: To help you one hundred percent. And I just want
Speaker 2: to also hammer home the idea that at least this
Speaker 2: has been my experience and I'm sure it's been yours
Speaker 2: as well, Janie, but like people are really excited to
Speaker 2: meet other people who are solopreneurs or building small businesses. Right,
Speaker 2: everyone believes that it's not a zero sum game. We
Speaker 2: can all win together. And by me sharing with you
Speaker 2: a tool or a resource, right, your mentor introducing you
Speaker 2: to her agent didn't mean that you're taking anything from her.
Speaker 2: I mean, we're all here to help each other. And
Speaker 2: I think that's such a big, big, big thing for
Speaker 2: solopreneurs to understand as they build their business. Right, It's
Speaker 2: not a zero sum game and we can all win together.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. With that being said, let's meet our next guest.
Speaker 1: Sierra Monti May is an entrepreneur based out of New
Speaker 1: York City. After suffering from one too many itchy scalps
Speaker 1: while wearing her favorite protective styles, Sierra realized she deserved
Speaker 1: better and set out on a mission to find it
Speaker 1: for all of us. And when she couldn't find any
Speaker 1: quality sustainable hair extension products, she decided to make her own.
Speaker 1: Siara founded the first ever plant based faux hair brand, Rebundle.
Speaker 1: In twenty twenty. She left her fintech job to pursue
Speaker 1: Rebundle full time. She launched her first product, bread Better,
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one, and has since relaunched as a
Speaker 1: direct to consumer brand and raised two point five million
Speaker 1: dollars in seed money. Siera is passionate about providing quality products,
Speaker 1: building a better Earth, and about the importance of black
Speaker 1: women being cared for. Siera, Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3: Thank you, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: I first of all, love the name Rebundle. Can you
Speaker 1: tell us the story behind it.
Speaker 3: Yes, it's a short one because I didn't come up
Speaker 3: with the name myself, and I actually wasn't sold on
Speaker 3: it at first. I didn't think it made sense for
Speaker 3: what I thought we were going to be doing at
Speaker 3: the time, but it was really catchy, so we stuck
Speaker 3: with it and we've grown into the name.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I love that that it's not necessarily the first
Speaker 1: idea that would come to your head. But when did
Speaker 1: you know that this was the name that you wanted
Speaker 1: to continue with, Like, what was that sign? Well?
Speaker 3: I would sometimes feel not connected to the name rebundle
Speaker 3: in those early days because the word bundle, in as
Speaker 3: it relates to hair and pertains to hair, is a
Speaker 3: colloquialism for human hair bundles, and I was squarely focused
Speaker 3: on creating an alternative to synthetic hair, so I didn't
Speaker 3: think it made sense in the context. But as the
Speaker 3: product evolved and the brand evolved, it did make sense
Speaker 3: because we started calling our products bundles rather than packs,
Speaker 3: because we're providing a more luxurious experience and elevated experience,
Speaker 3: and I wanted to disassociate from packs that are, you know,
Speaker 3: anywhere from a dollar to eight dollars, something more premium,
Speaker 3: like what we pay for human hair extensions. So it
Speaker 3: started to make sense to me then, and I was like, oh, okay,
Speaker 3: well we can we can keep I mean, we had
Speaker 3: already spent so much on the branding at that point,
Speaker 3: but I always had a nagging thought in the back
Speaker 3: of mind, like someone's gonna call out that it doesn't
Speaker 3: make sense to call it bundles. And then no one
Speaker 3: ever did because we started moving in that direction.
Speaker 1: You have to believe it before anybody else does, right,
Speaker 1: So I think it's part of just the importance of
Speaker 1: having conviction when you're putting yourself out there as an
Speaker 1: entrepreneur and as a brand.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's exactly what happened.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that. Okay, So have you always been
Speaker 1: into like sustainability in the environment.
Speaker 3: In a way, I can say that for as long
Speaker 3: as I can remember, I've always had an inkling or
Speaker 3: a desire to learn more about sustainability and what it
Speaker 3: looks like, and just curious about how my presence on
Speaker 3: Earth impacts the environment and the well being of the
Speaker 3: environment in ways that I could mitigate, mitigate my individual contribution.
Speaker 3: And I've always been very encouraging to other people at
Speaker 3: the bare minimum, recycle and recycling really is the bare minimum,
Speaker 3: And that was all that I knew of until I
Speaker 3: started grad school. I went to USC and studied social entrepreneurship,
Speaker 3: and I was just exposed to one a totally different
Speaker 3: lifestyle in Los Angeles compared to the Midwest where I
Speaker 3: grew up. But the projects that my classmates were working
Speaker 3: on also exposed me to different types of sustainability and
Speaker 3: just expanded that definition for me. So I took those
Speaker 3: learnings and started to apply them to my own life
Speaker 3: and got more curious about the movement for sustainability and
Speaker 3: the zero waste lifestyle and content that was being created
Speaker 3: around environmental justice and intersectional environmentalism. Just all these concepts
Speaker 3: that I was learning about that really resonated with me
Speaker 3: and then subsequently translated into the products that I was
Speaker 3: using and am familiar with. And hair just made the
Speaker 3: list because it was part of my life and my
Speaker 3: identity at that time.
Speaker 1: That's brilliant. It's I think it's a good example of
Speaker 1: just like how your environment and can influence you as
Speaker 1: an entrepreneur, and how the community that you surround yourself
Speaker 1: with can have a direct impact on what that business
Speaker 1: turns into. So I'm curious for you, when did you
Speaker 1: realize that there was a market for this that wasn't
Speaker 1: being fulfilled.
Speaker 3: The summer of twenty nineteen, so I was working at
Speaker 3: an HBCU and was wearing braids really often because I
Speaker 3: was trying to figure out how to be an adult
Speaker 3: and go to work on time and minimize my morning routine.
Speaker 3: So at this very same time that I was learning
Speaker 3: more about sustainability, I was having issues with scalp irritation
Speaker 3: from the hair and just had this sort of aha
Speaker 3: moment that maybe there was something more that could be
Speaker 3: done about the way synthetic hare is disposed of. And
Speaker 3: then that meant understanding, well what is it made out of?
Speaker 3: And that brought up all this stuff about synthetic hair
Speaker 3: being plastic. And I think at this time twenty nineteen,
Speaker 3: somebody had just passed a law or some regulation change
Speaker 3: that we couldn't ship our trash to China anymore, and
Speaker 3: all these things that was coming up about the world
Speaker 3: changing and responding to climate change, and I'm just sitting
Speaker 3: here scratching my head and like, well, this is a
Speaker 3: plastic product that is probably not on anyone's radar and
Speaker 3: could use innovation like everything else.
Speaker 2: It's kind of amazing that this all came together the
Speaker 2: way it did because you built something that falls in
Speaker 2: line with your values of sustainability and also is providing
Speaker 2: a solution to scalp irritation when people get synthetic extensions,
Speaker 2: And just for those listening who may not know, oftentimes,
Speaker 2: when people get extensions in a form like braids, like
Speaker 2: you mentioned, you can use human hair, which costs a
Speaker 2: lot more money, or you can use synthetic hare, which
Speaker 2: is more popular because the lower costs and higher access,
Speaker 2: but the quality is not as good as human hair.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I remember being really excited about this question of
Speaker 3: if it's plastic, can it be recycled, which I then
Speaker 3: learned that all plastics are technically recyclable, but it's dependent
Speaker 3: on the municipality and what they want what they don't want.
Speaker 3: Hair was likely never going to make the list, but
Speaker 3: I wanted to know for the heart to recycle plastics
Speaker 3: like synthetic hair, you know, where could you send it
Speaker 3: for it to be properly disposed of? And there were
Speaker 3: not any initiatives that were focused on this waststream in
Speaker 3: particular because it's a product that's predominantly used and worn
Speaker 3: by black women. So I knew that if I wanted
Speaker 3: to find a way to sustainably dispose of it, I
Speaker 3: was probably going to have to create it myself, because
Speaker 3: nobody was looking at this waste stream as one that
Speaker 3: needed attention. So the recycling program was developed and has
Speaker 3: since been maintained as a way for people to choose
Speaker 3: sustainability no matter where they are in their journeys, and
Speaker 3: to help mitigate some of the waste that's created by
Speaker 3: this industry. Overall.
Speaker 2: I love that. I think it's so powerful, and I
Speaker 2: really commend you for sort of building that from scratch.
Speaker 2: You talked about studying entrepreneurship in school, and you know,
Speaker 2: I studied a little bit of entrepreneurship. I think I
Speaker 2: took a couple classes in college myself, But I don't
Speaker 2: think school really prepares you for entrepreneurship, right, So were
Speaker 2: there maybe challenges that school did prepare you for versus
Speaker 2: have anything you know blindsided you? You've phraised two point
Speaker 2: one million dollars. I don't remember learning how to do
Speaker 2: that in school.
Speaker 3: I didn't learn how to do that in school either,
Speaker 3: And I've actually raised two and a half million dollars
Speaker 3: since twenty twenty one.
Speaker 2: Two and a half. Okay, I stand corrected.
Speaker 3: But I think that the only thing that can teach
Speaker 3: you how to be an entrepreneur is to be one
Speaker 3: and to like be in the thick of it. But
Speaker 3: what I was grateful for in both undergrad and grad
Speaker 3: was to help develop my entrepreneurial mindset and to give
Speaker 3: me the right community who were also working on challenging
Speaker 3: problems and starting things from scratch. Also helped with the
Speaker 3: vocabulary and certain concepts and practices that I didn't know beforehand.
Speaker 3: And it was interesting and I didn't know I could
Speaker 3: make a career out of it before I started school,
Speaker 3: So I feel like I got a lot of that.
Speaker 3: And I do find that people who are just starting
Speaker 3: out and didn't study entrepreneurship in school are like starting
Speaker 3: from scratch.
Speaker 1: You mentioned something really important, which was community. When you're
Speaker 1: in school, you're surrounded by other people who are excited
Speaker 1: about entrepreneurship. I'm curious how that community has followed you
Speaker 1: outside of school. Have you leaned on them at all
Speaker 1: with different problems over the past few years.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say yes to all of the above.
Speaker 3: There are definitely people that I met in undergrad that
Speaker 3: I've gone back to, whether that be professors or students alike,
Speaker 3: that I've been able to go back to for questions
Speaker 3: or feedback, support, introductions, etc. And then following me from
Speaker 3: undergrad all the way way through my fellowship with VFA,
Speaker 3: I'm friends with a lot of those fellows, some that
Speaker 3: have started businesses and some that work at startups. So
Speaker 3: I think there are different communities within those communities that
Speaker 3: I can leverage for different purposes that you know, I've
Speaker 3: helped in ways that I can't even begin to recall,
Speaker 3: even if it's an intro or just an ear. Things
Speaker 3: just come up. Things just happen for you when you
Speaker 3: when you expand your network with people that are interested
Speaker 3: in some of the same things that you are, whether
Speaker 3: you're following the same path or not.
Speaker 2: Most definitely, and you know, speaking of expanding your network
Speaker 2: of people interested in the same things, you know you
Speaker 2: are definitely a part of this environmentalist community as well
Speaker 2: as now the entrepreneurial community. So maybe can you double
Speaker 2: click on how you're expanding your network with keeping school
Speaker 2: in college away for a second, but like post college
Speaker 2: and post schooling, how have you been able to expand
Speaker 2: your network of other environmentalists or other just entrepreneurs in
Speaker 2: your surrounding area.
Speaker 3: So it's a pretty tight knit community, and many of them,
Speaker 3: you know, you meet one and then they introduce you
Speaker 3: to another person in their community, and even if that
Speaker 3: one on one connection doesn't happen, I also get to
Speaker 3: see who's a part of their community. So I was
Speaker 3: finding a lot of people that were involved in the
Speaker 3: environmentalist movement from creators that I was following and entrepreneurs
Speaker 3: that I was following, and she exposed me to people
Speaker 3: who were like minded and were doing, you know, their
Speaker 3: own thing. I would say. Another good example is I
Speaker 3: was asked to mentor in the Times of Main incubator program.
Speaker 3: So there were both mentors like myself who had some
Speaker 3: level of involvement in environmentalism and then activists who as
Speaker 3: another layer of people involved in the environmentalism movement. And
Speaker 3: so one of the other mentors posted about an event
Speaker 3: happening here in New York tomorrow, So I'm going to
Speaker 3: go to that, So who knows who all while meet there,
Speaker 3: But you know, just capping in with people following their
Speaker 3: work and networking not always vertically, but also be horizontal,
Speaker 3: like people that are working at different level different stages
Speaker 3: that you know are still maybe on the ground level
Speaker 3: one hundred percent.
Speaker 2: You know, being the founder of such an innovative business
Speaker 2: means that you have to really use every part of
Speaker 2: your brand, which means the logistical side of running the
Speaker 2: business every day as well as the creative side. So, Sierra,
Speaker 2: do you have any strategies for keeping your books balanced
Speaker 2: while using community connections and networking to raise money and
Speaker 2: crew your business at the same time.
Speaker 3: First, you need a good bookkeeper. I really love the
Speaker 3: bookkeeping team that we have. What they have really impressed
Speaker 3: me with is they built us a financial dashboard that
Speaker 3: lists all of our spending in and out. We have
Speaker 3: budget templates and all the sales are linked to transactions
Speaker 3: in quick books, so I can always see in real
Speaker 3: time time how far or how close we are to
Speaker 3: being on budget. So I would say that has been
Speaker 3: a really monumental process that we've implemented. It really gives
Speaker 3: me peace of mind. And that was a connection that
Speaker 3: I had made through someone else who I knew through
Speaker 3: someone else who I knew through someone else.
Speaker 2: It's that mental rolodex.
Speaker 3: I mean, come on now, Yeah, it goes back deep,
Speaker 3: coming up after the break. The only way we're going
Speaker 3: to grow is by serving this community and serving them well.
Speaker 3: So I want to give them the opportunity to help
Speaker 3: guide our product development roadmap. With a few dollars we have.
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. So, Sierra, you've spoken
Speaker 1: in interviews about the challenges of being a black business owner,
Speaker 1: and as an entrepreneur coach myself, I know very well
Speaker 1: the statistics do not favor people of color, especially when
Speaker 1: it comes to raising capital and funding. Can you talk
Speaker 1: about what have been some of the challenges that you've
Speaker 1: faced in your journey and do you have any examples
Speaker 1: of where your community has come in to overcome them
Speaker 1: or to help you overcome them.
Speaker 3: I'll start with that one. So with the product like
Speaker 3: hours that is predominantly used by black women and people
Speaker 3: of color in general who wear braids, I would say
Speaker 3: I don't have to spend as much time explaining or
Speaker 3: convincing them that this problem exists and that the solution
Speaker 3: should also exist, and so I get a lot of
Speaker 3: excitement when I tell people within our community about what
Speaker 3: we're doing, and you know, they want to refer their
Speaker 3: friends and their co workers, their family members who identify
Speaker 3: with this issue. On average, one in three wearers are
Speaker 3: going to experience scalp rotation while wearing braids. So if
Speaker 3: I'm talking to someone who looks like me, if they
Speaker 3: themselves are not prone to scalp rotation, they know someone
Speaker 3: else that is. And so we've been able to leverage
Speaker 3: word of mouth in that regard. But with that has
Speaker 3: come challenges on the funding side and the storytelling side
Speaker 3: of making a compelling case for this problem that we're
Speaker 3: solving in the solution that we've developed, because there's very
Speaker 3: limited data that exists around consumer behavior in this category
Speaker 3: spend in terms of how the market is segmented players
Speaker 3: along the value chain. These are privately held companies whose
Speaker 3: data is not made public, So we're making assumptions and
Speaker 3: educated guesses based on the data that we can find.
Speaker 3: And venture capitalists are data driven. They make decisions based
Speaker 3: on biases that they see in their portfolio, but also
Speaker 3: readily available data that helps drive their investment decisions. So
Speaker 3: that's two things that I can't always provide in a
Speaker 3: very astute manner because it doesn't exist. So when I
Speaker 3: get frustrated, I find myself saying, like, what you're asking
Speaker 3: me for does not exist.
Speaker 2: It literally doesn't exist.
Speaker 3: Here's what I can tell you. And so having to
Speaker 3: give really thoughtful answers while also being candidate that we're
Speaker 3: building in a white space, and we know that there's
Speaker 3: money flowing through here because that much is available online,
Speaker 3: but some of the more nitty gritty details that are
Speaker 3: more readily available through consumer research is not quite there
Speaker 3: for hair extensions today.
Speaker 1: Well that makes sense, right, because it really depends on
Speaker 1: who's doing the research and who they're talking to, and
Speaker 1: a lot of this information can be very anecdotal, and
Speaker 1: it's not something that you'd necessarily have a pie chart
Speaker 1: that you can go and reference to. So it makes
Speaker 1: sense why you'd have those challenges. There was a recent
Speaker 1: statistics that I read the other day that was about
Speaker 1: forty six percent of black business owners site community support
Speaker 1: as a primary motivation of their business. Would you say
Speaker 1: that that's a primary motivating factor for you one hundred percent.
Speaker 3: I would say since the beginning, we've always had a
Speaker 3: good relationship with our community, and more so today because
Speaker 3: a lot of my focus this quarter, in this year
Speaker 3: is on building relationships with beauty supply stores and salons,
Speaker 3: and so I get a lot of energy from talking
Speaker 3: with these usually sole proprietors about their small business and
Speaker 3: their challenges and what they need to succeed, and why
Speaker 3: we should work together, why they should carry a product
Speaker 3: like hours in their store. Many of them are taking
Speaker 3: a bet on us because we're a new product and
Speaker 3: a higher price point in a category that has not
Speaker 3: seen partly any innovation, and so I have to explain
Speaker 3: to them why we're doing what we're doing, what success
Speaker 3: we've seen to date, and then in return, I get
Speaker 3: to learn about their individual businesses, how they came into
Speaker 3: the beauty industry, what questions they get from their customer base.
Speaker 3: So it's really rewarding to be able to network pretty horizontally. Actually,
Speaker 3: they are small business owners like I am.
Speaker 1: Technically all right, So we've talked about the importance of
Speaker 1: networking amongst your entrepreneurial circle, and we did talk about
Speaker 1: how community has impacted your own mission as an entrepreneur.
Speaker 1: What strategies do you have for fostering returning and happy customers.
Speaker 3: Good customer service and authenticity, also being able to connect
Speaker 3: with your community in person. So we're prioritizing more of
Speaker 3: that this year as well. But I would say I've
Speaker 3: seen huge returns from providing customers with a pleasant experience
Speaker 3: from checkout to install. So we have our Braiker's directory
Speaker 3: on our site, which allows our customers to browse professionals
Speaker 3: near them if they want to go to a rebund
Speaker 3: to approved breider, and even something as simple as software
Speaker 3: that we have on the site that makes suggestions, our
Speaker 3: FAQs that are really thorough, and having a chatbot on
Speaker 3: our website for quick answers. So you know, really just
Speaker 3: trying to provide a seamless shopping experience for our audience
Speaker 3: has really paid off in terms of returning customer rate,
Speaker 3: but also building a really strong opportunity for referrals from
Speaker 3: one customer to another.
Speaker 1: That's great. That word of mouth is really powerful, so
Speaker 1: when it's harnessed in a way that's strategic, I think
Speaker 1: it can have a really big impact on building out
Speaker 1: that community for sure.
Speaker 2: So before this interview, Sierra, I jumped on your website
Speaker 2: and I clicked around on your products, and I saw
Speaker 2: you had a bunch of great reviews. But while looking
Speaker 2: at these reviews, I also saw that you were doing
Speaker 2: a really good job of getting back to people right,
Speaker 2: thanking them for their feedback or even their considerations moving
Speaker 2: forward for your products. So how has reviews helped you
Speaker 2: foster community, helped you find your super fans and those
Speaker 2: awesome returning customers.
Speaker 3: It's a great question. The reviews can be scary, Like
Speaker 3: whenever I get that email they have a new review,
Speaker 3: my heart always drops good or bad, and so I
Speaker 3: always make a point in as usually me responding if
Speaker 3: not one more person from my team. But I always
Speaker 3: think it's a good idea to make sure people feel
Speaker 3: validated with their reviews because they're leaving it for the
Speaker 3: company to see, but they're also leaving it for other
Speaker 3: people to see. So I just want to make sure
Speaker 3: that they feel like their concerns have been acknowledged. In
Speaker 3: some of them, we may send them an email separately
Speaker 3: asking for more questions or asking them if we can
Speaker 3: use their review for content, etc. So I think that
Speaker 3: reviews are a really key way to build trust among
Speaker 3: new customers. Your current customers are probably not reviewing the
Speaker 3: reviews till after the fact, but it does give new
Speaker 3: customers an opportunity to make an informed purchase. The only
Speaker 3: way we're going to grow is by serving this community
Speaker 3: and serving them well. So I want to give them
Speaker 3: the opportunity to help guide our product development roadmap with
Speaker 3: a few dollars we have.
Speaker 2: I love that perspective, and Jennie and I are always
Speaker 2: looking for sort of you know, the happy customers and
Speaker 2: the people who are leaving the reviews, especially the positive ones,
Speaker 2: are the people who go out and tell people about
Speaker 2: your product, right So having that awesome relationship with them
Speaker 2: and sort of building a community of those super fans
Speaker 2: I think is incredibly important for all solopreneurs out there
Speaker 2: right now.
Speaker 3: Yep him in percent.
Speaker 1: So you've talked about the importance of black women feeling
Speaker 1: comfortable and cared for. How does that mission inform the
Speaker 1: way that you build your brand and your market your products.
Speaker 1: I would say in the.
Speaker 3: Early days, we really wanted to evoke the feeling of
Speaker 3: resting and being at peace and at ease and not
Speaker 3: having to worry when you get your hair braided. And
Speaker 3: since then that motif has evolved in the end to
Speaker 3: end experience of getting your hair braided. So the other
Speaker 3: products that we've added on in edge jail, which can
Speaker 3: also be used as a do it all jail for
Speaker 3: your install, high quality edgebrush, and we're launching some other
Speaker 3: products later this year. We believe that when people get
Speaker 3: their hair braided and they make an investment in this experience,
Speaker 3: they're making an investment in the hair, but also in
Speaker 3: the takedown and all the other steps that are involved
Speaker 3: with getting braids, even to the person that's installing them.
Speaker 3: So we're focused on making sure that when people think
Speaker 3: about the future of hair extensions, it includes safe and
Speaker 3: non toxic ingredients, a seamless checkout experience, a seamless install experience,
Speaker 3: a seamless takedown experience, and reusing. Our bundles are on
Speaker 3: average about an ounce and a half bigger than standard
Speaker 3: plastic bundle, so you don't need as much hair for
Speaker 3: an install with rebundle, and then because of the thickness
Speaker 3: of the fibers, they're also better candidates to take down
Speaker 3: and reuse them after your install. You can reuse the
Speaker 3: bundles up to three times. You can wash them like normal.
Speaker 3: You can also use drash shampoo if you're in a
Speaker 3: rush and do it all over again, and once you're
Speaker 3: done with the hair, it can be composted.
Speaker 1: I love that. It's like you're infusing the idea of
Speaker 1: luxury and that soft girl life into the brand.
Speaker 3: I guess so, yeah, I don't live a soft life,
Speaker 3: but hopefully our customers do.
Speaker 1: I love it. So your products are great for the
Speaker 1: health of the planet and the environment, but they're also
Speaker 1: great for the health of your customers. What are the
Speaker 1: plans that you have for Rebundle's future.
Speaker 3: We are continuing to explore other applications for the fiber
Speaker 3: technology that we've developed, so other types of hair extensions
Speaker 3: beyond just braids. And then I'm also really focused on
Speaker 3: how we make this product more accessible and available. So
Speaker 3: pricing is always going to be a point of contingency
Speaker 3: for people that are trading up from a lower price synthetic,
Speaker 3: but we know we can capture more of them with
Speaker 3: different strategies in our pricing strategy. This one area that
Speaker 3: we're working on this year, but also making sure that
Speaker 3: the products are available in beauty supply stores, in big
Speaker 3: box retailers where prestige beauty is because we do see
Speaker 3: our product as a luxurious experience, So there's some development
Speaker 3: on that side that we're working on to make this
Speaker 3: product more widely available.
Speaker 1: I love it. Do you have a story that sticks
Speaker 1: out to you from your community that's really shifted your
Speaker 1: mindset in any way?
Speaker 3: Yeah. I would say there's been a number of customers
Speaker 3: who've told us that they're wearing braids again for the
Speaker 3: first time in several years. It is something that they
Speaker 3: thought just wasn't for them anymore. Their scalps couldn't tolerate it,
Speaker 3: and so they've just sort of given up on it.
Speaker 3: Which braids are an really intricate part of black culture
Speaker 3: and black hair, So I can't imagine what it would
Speaker 3: be like to not be able to wear braids, but
Speaker 3: that is a lot of people's reality. So it's really
Speaker 3: invigorating to hear from someone say that, you know, they
Speaker 3: were able to wear braids again for the first time
Speaker 3: in a long time, and they're able to rejoin part
Speaker 3: of their culture.
Speaker 1: That's really important, and you're literally allowing folks to rejoin
Speaker 1: the community that they're a part of and experience what
Speaker 1: it is to embrace your culture proudly wear it. And
Speaker 1: I think only a person from the community can understand
Speaker 1: how to best serve that community in this case, and
Speaker 1: I think you're doing an amazing job at this, Sierra,
Speaker 1: So I just want to congratulate you and the team
Speaker 1: at Rebundle. It's such an inspiring story, and I know
Speaker 1: this is just the beginning of so many waves that
Speaker 1: you're going to make in the haircare industry.
Speaker 3: Thank you appreciate that.
Speaker 1: Where can we find you online?
Speaker 3: You can find us online at rebundle dot co and
Speaker 3: on Instagram and TikTok with the same handle.
Speaker 1: Amazing. Thank you Sierra for being here.
Speaker 2: Thanks so much.
Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you both.
Speaker 1: Sierra and her story is such an inspiring example of
Speaker 1: what success looks like, especially when you rely on your community. Austin,
Speaker 1: I'm curious for you, what was your favorite part of
Speaker 1: our discussion today.
Speaker 2: I learned a lot from Sierra, not just from a solopreneur,
Speaker 2: but also from someone who also studied a little bit
Speaker 2: of entrepreneurship in school and was able to take that
Speaker 2: into my own sort of journey here. But I think
Speaker 2: the biggest takeaway for me was how important she thought
Speaker 2: customer feedback and customer reviews were not just for her
Speaker 2: business in real time right. She mentioned like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: my heart drops because of how important it is to me,
Speaker 2: you know, as the CEO of this business. So I
Speaker 2: think just kind of leaning in on how important it
Speaker 2: is for customer reviews, customer feedback to not just you know,
Speaker 2: build new products and services for your customers, but also
Speaker 2: find those super fans, right because the customers who love
Speaker 2: your products are going to be the ones that drive
Speaker 2: the new ten, fifteen, twenty customers.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: Just having that one customer to refer you to all
Speaker 2: their friends is so important, and I've certainly seen that
Speaker 2: in my own entrepreneurial journey myself. So I would really
Speaker 2: say that being able to identify and build community around
Speaker 2: your biggest fans as customers and take their feedback into
Speaker 2: account and launch new products with that feedback is just
Speaker 2: really really important, while also reminding them like listen, here's
Speaker 2: an email address. Send us all your positive feedback, negative feedback,
Speaker 2: like we're here for it because it is what's part
Speaker 2: of building a long standing business. What about you?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I love that perspective, Austin, because I often get
Speaker 1: the question should you launch the product or should you
Speaker 1: build the community first? And I'm a firm believer that
Speaker 1: you need to build the community first. You need to
Speaker 1: get people excited about what it is that you're building,
Speaker 1: and maybe even like bringing them along for the ride
Speaker 1: can be such an awesome part of your whole marketing
Speaker 1: strategy as a business. And I loved Sierra's perspective of
Speaker 1: being a member of the community that she's trying to serve.
Speaker 1: Right when she's able to identify the known issues that
Speaker 1: come with installing synthetic hair. It just gives her a
Speaker 1: unique perspective that I think makes her a better entrepreneur.
Speaker 1: I think it gives her a strategic advantage versus someone
Speaker 1: who would be coming in without any knowledge of what
Speaker 1: those real pain points are from the customers that you're
Speaker 1: trying to serve.
Speaker 2: I totally agree, right, And I think it was some
Speaker 2: really good advice that she gave when we asked her
Speaker 2: about what sort of piece of advice would you have
Speaker 2: for someone who's trying to create a more sustainable product
Speaker 2: that already exists out in the marketplace, and she said,
Speaker 2: you know, you don't have to reinvent the wheel, right,
Speaker 2: there's a ton of products out there right now that
Speaker 2: do need a little bit of reinventing from a sustainability side.
Speaker 2: Of the equation and that's exactly what she did. It's
Speaker 2: just it's so inspiring.
Speaker 1: Absolutely another incredible episode that was fantastic, And if you're
Speaker 1: loving this show, you need to subscribe and continue.
Speaker 2: To follow us absolutely so, guys, you.
Speaker 1: Can find me on social media at jokerotinto Podcast and.
Speaker 2: You can find me at Austin Hankwitz. You can follow
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