April 27, 2020 • 29 mins
FYI!!! Carla Marie is no longer the host of a morning show in Seattle but she is still supporting small businesses in every way possible. She’s even started her own small business with her radio cohost and best friend, Anthony. All of the links below will help you stay up to date!
Follow Carla Marie on Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/thecarlamarie/
Watch Carla Marie and Anthony’s Show on Twitch
twitch.tv/carlamarieandanthony
Sign up for The Carla Marie and Anthony Show newsletter to stay up to date:
https://view.flodesk.com/pages/5f516ae62c60490027b9ec20
Email Carla Marie
SideHustlersPodcast@gmail.com
Text Carla Marie and Anthony:
201-305-0894
Follow Carla Marie and Anthony on Instagram
http://instagram.com/carlamarieandanthony
Subscribe to Carla Marie and Anthony on YouTube:
YouTube.com/CarlaMarieAnthony
Follow Carla Marie and Anthony on Facebook
http://facebook.com/carlamarieandanthony
Email Carla Marie and Anthony
CarlaMarieandAnthony@gmail.com
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Side Hustlers podcast. I'm your host from
my Heart Radio, Carla Marie, and each week I talked
to a different person who is following a passion outside
of their day job. But if you've been listening to
the last few episodes, you've noticed that there's been a
bunch of people in those episodes. And what I've been
doing is, during this whole COVID nineteen stay at Home
Social Distancing Order is talking to previous guests and small
(00:24):
businesses to see what they're doing differently right now during
this time and learning how we can help them and
help their small business get through this. And it's been
wild hearing how each and every business is pivoting during
this and it makes you realize why these people are
small business owners. So if you haven't listened to those,
(00:44):
go back and listen to the last few episodes. It's
really cool and it kind of catches you up on
everyone who has been on this podcast. But this week,
we've got someone who's going to help you if you're
new to working from home. So we're gonna talk to
Jordan's Jordan moved from Seattle to Amsterdam and when she moved,
she had been working from home and realized she needed
a work from home shoe because a lot of times
(01:05):
we're either in our socks or slippers and we'll have
on our cute work from home outfit and it just
doesn't work right. So Jordan created Dewey's. It is a
work from home slip on shoe. They're super cute. It
was her side hustle. Now she's been able to leave
her day job and do this full time. You can
check them out. It's Dewey's dot com d O O
(01:26):
E y s dot com. Let's find out how Jordan
created the work from home shoe that we all need
right now for a lot of people. You know, why
are you wait? Do you know what you want to do?
And this is what you want to do, and do it.
I'm a hustles side side hustle, do it. I'm a
hustles sho do it. I'm a hustles side hustlove. Come on,
(01:47):
ask about me, yo yo'. It's the side Hustless podcast
we call the Root. Okay, so joining me from Amsterdam?
I think you might be the first person to join
side Hustlers from another country. Is Jordan Hi? Jordan's Hi.
So you're in Amsterdam now, but you're from Seattle. You
have this really cool comedy that you launched called Dewey's.
(02:09):
Am I saying it correctly? By the way, Yes, Dewey's,
Which is such a bizarre time for you to launch
something that was made for people who work from home.
So give us a quick rundown as to what Dewey's is,
and then we're going to talk about the whole story
about how you did all of this. Yeah. So Dewey's
are stylish and supportive house shoes, or as we've terned them,
(02:30):
slip shoes that are made of sustainable materials. So the
idea is like around the brand is I just wanted
to serve women in their everyday life at home, whether
that's getting stuff done around the house, working from home,
or just kicking back. I thought every woman should have
a stylish, supportive shoe to wear every day at home. Yeah,
(02:50):
because currently right now, actually I will show you the
slipper that I'm wearing online, but right now, and it
is a cat. It says welcome home, and it's not
that stylish. It's really you know what I'm really if
they are cozy. So you are right though, and the
fact that if you are someone who works at home
or not work from home, you got your maybe you're
(03:11):
doing zoom meetings, got your cool outfit on, but what
are you wearing on your feet? And it really does
make a difference in your attitude. So it's cool that
you've made these super cute styla shoes and they're also sustainable.
But when did this idea pop into your head? I
moved to Amsterdam two and a half years ago, and
in doing that, I transitioned from being a management consultant
(03:31):
and working in client offices every day to working from home.
And you know, pretty quickly, I realized every day at
home I was having to choose between wearing comfortable outdoor
sneakers or unsupportive indoor slippers. And I was trying to
build better habits, Like I have an Ikea crank desk
that you can sit or stand, so I was trying
to stand more at home and just not sit all day,
(03:53):
like a lot of us can kind of fall into
that trap of and so I just realized, hey, there's
got to be a better option out there, and I
started looking, but I couldn't find any issue that was
kind of fit the style I was looking for and
also had sufficient support. So I decided to create my
own solution that was stylish, supportive, and it should be
(04:13):
sustainable while we're at it. So, like many side us
words are on the podcast, it's people who wanted something
for themselves I couldn't find it and just that I'm
going to make it, and it's like it's crazy that
they're not everyone is like that, like there are certain
people who function that way or can function that way.
Have you always thought of yourself as a I'm just
gonna create it myself kind of person. No, I mean, honestly,
(04:36):
I think I've had some ideas in the past, but
never was like I'm actually gonna go do this. This
was the first idea that I just couldn't get out
of my head. And I think it was at a
point in my life too, where I knew I wanted
to consider a career change and I just didn't know
what that was, and I just kind of fell into
entrepreneurship and it it really has been like meant to be.
(04:58):
I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
So when you came up with the idea for doings
and you're standing at your crying desk. Talk a little
bit about what your day job was at the time,
because I know now do is is your full time job?
So what were you doing? Originally when I moved from Seattle,
I was a management consultant, and then I joined a
new firm that actually had a remote work model, so
(05:19):
that made me feel more comfortable because then although I
lived in Amsterdam, everybody worked remote, so it wasn't just me.
And so I was, you know, working for a small
consulting firm with a couple of clients and a small
team and just working abroad. And at that time, I
think I was working about like thirty five hours a
week because when I moved here, I kind of made
(05:39):
a commitment to myself. I wanted to have that time
to enjoy this new sace that I was moving to
Acrome and half the time to travel. So I think
that little bit of extra time in the week, paired
with like knowing that I wanted to make some sort
of change in my life, really was a good set
up for me to to launch and and move forward
(06:00):
with this idea. So how far into the idea of
Dewey's was it still a side hustle like at what
point did you say, all right, I'm done with my
day job. I'm just going to focus on Dewey's. So
I think by the point I quit my job was
I had all the conceptual designs done and it was
really time to move into like the sourcing of material.
(06:20):
So it was like I had an idea, I had
them down on paper, and it was time to go
out and say, all right, how are these going to
be made? What are they going to be made out of?
And I'm really glad that I did leave my job
at that time because sourcing ended up being a tremendous
amount of work and I'm so proud of what the
result is, but it took a lot of time and effort.
So when I did leave my job, it was looking back,
(06:43):
I'm like, it was the perfect time. But obviously that's
a hard decision to make and not and it's difficult
to manage. And I'm lucky to have a partner that
was able to help kind of support that transition. That
kind of leads me into what did your husband say
when you were like I want to make shoes, Like what?
He's just awesome, Like, I don't think he ever doubted it.
(07:05):
I even have friends and family that are like, how shoes?
What Jordan, what are he's thinking. I think James since
the very beginning, has been like, yeah, go for it.
That's that's yeah. That obviously helps because if he was like,
that's kind of dumb ideas, and how are you going
to be at home and doing this? And yeah, that's
the one person you need to support you. So the
(07:25):
family members that say it's crazy, do they still think
you're crazy now this far into it, No, they don't.
It just helps seeing the physical products. So now that
I have the final shoes, I can actually for people
that can wear the sample size. Uh, if they have
tiny feet like me, they they're like, I get it.
Oh my gosh, I get it. But in the beginning,
it's kind of like a lot of us are used
(07:46):
to kind of free cozy, you know, slippers at home,
but maybe not needing the support, or maybe it's women
that need the support but are like, I don't need
anything that's good looking. So once I put it together,
I think people could really see, Oh, I see where
you're gets at. I could use a pair. Did you
know anything about designing shoes before this? No? No, I
(08:10):
like to joke that I bought a book for anybody
interested in starting a shoe company. It's literally called how
to Start a Shoe Company top So that's a great
place to start. Did you like, how did you find
that book? Just Google search? Yeah? I think I was
just googling, And you can buy it on Amazon. And
there's actually a couple of versions. There's been like one
about shoe materials and diving a little bit deeper. But
(08:33):
that's a great place to start. So then what are
do he's made out of? That's I think the part
that I love the most. I'm going to grab them here.
So so duties are made out of earth friendly materials.
So I'm holding the loafers right now. So they're made
out of vegan apple leather. So that's apple leather uses
apples from the juice industry and basically takes cores and
(08:58):
the skins that would thrown away anyways, and is able
to mix them into a form that can be put
into a vegan you know, leather alternative. Who knew that
that was possible. It's crazy what they can do now.
So we have the vegan apple weather, we have the
vegan suede made from recycled polyester. We have in souls
made from cork lining that's super soft and cozy. And
(09:21):
it's going to say that looks soft. Yeah, it's really soft,
and it's made from tree fibers, and then the soles
are made with sugarcane, so they're like they're sneaker like souls,
but they replaced the petroleum based material with a bio alternative,
which is raw sugar cane. So it's pretty cool. What's
out there now? Is it hard to have a sustainable company? Now?
(09:42):
I know that is a very broad question, but I
had someone on the podcast last summer who was trying
to take her bathing suit line to go more sustainable
and ended up shutting down because it was just so
expensive and so hard to find sustainable materials and shipping
and all of the So, as someone who's kind of
just launching a company, what is it like trying to
(10:04):
be sustainable from the beginning? I mean, the first thing
that comes to mind is time. It takes a lot
of time to find these materials because they're not readily available.
Like if I wanted to just do a vegan leather,
like great, I can find that anywhere. It's just made
from all plastic and it's like it's easy to source,
but if you want to find like eco friendly materials
(10:25):
that are truly eco friendly. For me, it was like
going to that event, meeting that person that then connect
me with that other person that then gave me the email.
It was connecting all these dots. So I would say, yeah,
finding like the whole sourcing process is difficult, and I think,
like from what the person that you talked to with
the swimwear line, it's more expensive. So yes, the price
(10:47):
point for sustainable shoes is probably higher than the unsustainable
slippers that you might buy. But if that's important to you,
then hopefully you see the value in it absolutely, and
you're right, the people who understand the portant of it
will understand why you decided to launch a kickstarter. When
did you officially launched the kickstarter? So I officially launched
on March three, and then the campaign ran until April night. Okay,
(11:13):
so a little over a month and you hit your
goal and above you've raised over fourteen thousand dollars. Did
you think you were going to hit that? Like that's insane? Yeah,
I mean I think going into it, I tried to
be optimistic, but I didn't think I'd hit the goal
that quickly. I mean, in the first two days we
raised ten thousand dollars, so that felt really good. So
(11:33):
was it family, wasn't friends, wasn't marketing? What was it? Like?
How did people find out about Dewey's. I did some
pre launch marketing, so a bit of Facebook ads and
things like that. But honestly, when it came down to it,
like through you know, Google analytics, and when I've been
able to see it's my friends, my family, my friends
of friends, it's the network. It's the women that believe
(11:56):
in me and then have shared it with their friends,
who then have come and just cover Dewey's and bought
a hair for themselves. So I'm so grateful to the
female community that I have. And yeah, that's really what
it comes down to with kickstarters, tapping into your personal
network and getting the word out. So I went in
and I supported because I'm really pumped. I've been working
for Thank You, so which is new for me. So
(12:19):
I'm like, well, I want cool shoes to wear when
I'm at home, So what will the price point be
when they are live? And there isn't a Kickstarter and
people can just go on and buy their shoes. I'll
preface it with because they're sustainable, they do cost more
than like a pair of ugs. So the price point
is one forty five dollars and they can be bought
on Dewey's dot com. I hope to come out with
(12:41):
more styles in the future at different price points, but
we're going to start there with the two styles that
I do have, the loafer in the mules. Listen, people
spend way more money than that on shoes that are
crappy and not sustainable. So on the Kickstarter though you
could do it was on so you were kind of
giving people a disc for supporting you. Yes, yeah, and
(13:02):
so we had a couple of price points for Kickstarter,
basically depending on when you purchased during the campaign. But yeah,
it was right. It was between one fifteen and cool.
So I'm excited to get my fair I'm pumped to
wear them now. Well, i'd be allowed to wear them
outside at all, that is up to you. These are
high quality materials. They're durable, you know, the souls like
(13:24):
the compound that I used in all that is durable
enough to go on pavement. Shoes will not fall apart.
But something that I like to think about is I
believe the home is a sanctuary and your shoes should
respect that. So you can have as many outdoor shoes
as you want, but like, maybe have one pair that's
(13:45):
kind of sacred that keeps your home clean and that
you just feel good, and especially right now when we're
focusing on cleaning things and keeping them clean. Um, I
do you mentioned the website. So it's Dewey's dot com
d O O E y S so people can go
check it out. And then your Instagram is Dewey's dot
slip Shoes. Okay, yeah, so they can follow along. Look
(14:08):
at what we're talking about. I saw at one point
you had up this cool photo that kind of shows
what every part of the shoe is made out of,
which is amazing and I love that you You've done
that so people can kind of follow along. But where
did the name Dewey's come from the word dewey in
Dutch it means goodbye, And it's my favorite Dutch word
because when people say it, they say it's very enthusiastically.
(14:32):
It sounds like this. So when you have your window open,
like I'm living in Amsterdam's when you have your window
up and we lived down there's the street from a school.
You hear all these moms in the morning dropping their
kids off, being like do you do? So it's just
this word I love. And then when I created the
(14:52):
idea for these shoes, I wanted them to be all
about up time at home as opposed to downtime, which
a lot of slippers are about. They're kicking. Yeah, I
want women to be comfortable on their feet in these shoes.
And so I love that the word dewey has the
word do in it, like it just captures that feeling.
That's really cool. Yeah, that's the story that I love
(15:12):
that though I'm no, I don't think anyone's really ever
said I love this word. So oh it's great. It
is really cool. So on this podcast, I always talking
about connections and how I find people, and you kind
of got sent to me in two different ways, which
was really cool. So Kayla from C Town Sweets, who
has been on this podcast before, um I mentioned her
recently on how to Help a Small Business episode. She
(15:35):
made cookies for your launch party event. Did I get
that right? Yeah? So my best friend brought these amazing
cookies to the Kickstarter launch party. They were the cutest thing.
They had the logo Dewey's and then the other half
of them had an actual photo of our slip shoes
on them, and she was like, yeah, ce Town Suits
made these. So I'm so grateful for Kayleb for sending
(15:59):
my information to you. Yeah. So Kayla tells me, was like,
this girl would be great for your podcast. I was like, okay, cool,
So I started following Dewey's and then a few days later,
Sarah Lemon, who has also been on this podcast and
does pr for a lot of amazing local Seattle companies,
has been sending me amazing people. She sent me Kim
from Fresh Tangerine and now You. So it was like, okay, well,
(16:20):
I have to get her on the podcast because two
people who I really respect told me I have to
get her on the podcast. And now here we are.
So you also got hit with a double prong of
Kayla telling you you got to be on this podcast
and then Sarah and you're probably like, who is this
girl that they're talking about? No, I was so excited.
I love this podcast. So I'm I'm grieved to be
here and there is amazing I was glad that she
(16:42):
recommended it because I didn't trust anything that she she
tells me. So, then how did you and Sarah link up? Honestly,
I just found her on LinkedIn. I'm big on like,
when I want to work with someone, I a lot
of times I try to work with other female business owners.
So I just go on LinkedIn, search for Seattle and
find what I'm looking for. And honestly, she was the
first person that showed up. I reached out to her.
(17:04):
She was quick and responding and yeah, I'm I'm so
grateful to be working with her. Yes, Sarah is seriously Aman,
have you actually met her then? If you're from just
just like this just over FaceTime? Oh my goodness. Wait
when you your launch party happened? Were you not here
for your launch party? I actually was. I was in
Seattle right before the travel ban and happened to Yeah,
(17:29):
I was there for that. So I was hanging out
with friends and just focused on my launch and had
the support of my family, and then I flew back
to Amsterdam like a week or so after the launch.
So Dewey's is technically a Seattle company, Yes, it's a
Washington company. What is your plan? You've been in Amsterdam
for two and a half years. What is the plan?
Are you going back to Seattle? What do we what's
(17:51):
going on? I mean, I can't say too much because
I'm sure if my family listens to this, they'll be like, oh,
I'm gonna hold you to that. But as a family sad.
My husband and I we love it here in Amsterdam,
but we miss our family and friends back in Seattle.
So I'm sure moving home for us is in our
near future. We just don't have a date. Okay, spoken
(18:14):
very politically correct way for a family listening. What is
the next step for doing? So the Kickstarter wraps up,
I don't know much about the Kickstarter world. I think, um,
the guys from Seattle that I found in the podcast
Tubby's from Tubby, you should link up with them. They're
super cool. They made really cool wide drinking glasses so
for whatever you want to drink or eat, ice came
(18:34):
out of They're awesome. They use Kickstarter as well, and
they were I think the only other people that I've
had in the podcast who use Kickstarter. So I'm not
familiar with the Kickstarter world. So as the campaign wrapped up,
what happens now? So basically once the campaign ends and
it's successfully funded, the funds transfer I think within a
few days kind of thing. But basically you switch from
(18:57):
marketing and raising funds to make the shoes. So before
the Kickstarter eve Ben launched, I purchased all the equipment,
shoe equipment and molds and things like that because I
just want to be ready to go. I didn't want
women to have to wait too long, and so basically, yeah,
so what what I did is, uh, last week we
placed all the material orders except I think we have
(19:20):
one material that still needs to be ordered. So we're
in a period now just waiting for those materials to
arrive at the factory. So hopefully those will all arrive
by the end of April, and then the shoes will
be made in May, and then they'll be put on
a boat shipped to the US because I'm making them
in Portugal, which is known for making very high quality shoes,
(19:41):
and then we'll ship to customers in June. So wow,
that's kind of the focus right now. So when you
said that you purchased the equipment, how does that work?
So you're buying equipment for the people in Portugal making
the shoes. Yeah, So basically for instance, like they have
a lot of their you know, like the big industrial equipment,
but what they don't have is my soul is custom design.
(20:03):
So we need to make molds in every single half
size of the shoe to make the soul itself, so
things like that, and then um, to make the actual
shape of the shoe. It's called the last and that
is what this like big green thing goes inside the
shoe and then the shoes made around it, those have
(20:24):
to be purchased, so things like that that go to
the actual construction of the shoe. What was the date
that you conceptualize the idea of doings? Yeah, I think
it was March, so like exactly two years ago that
I came up with the idea, and then it was
Fall is when I actually like created the business entity
(20:44):
and really hit the ground running. You went into that
two years ago knowing nothing about making shoes, and listening
to you talk about it, it would be like you've
done this your whole life. It's crazy and it's cool.
It's nice to hear you know it's true, because you
know you're telling me about things. I'm like, I'm learning
so much from someone who didn't know anything about it
two years ago. But you've clearly done your research, and
(21:04):
that is the base of having an amazing company. You know,
you can jump into anything and just you know, just
do it, which is great and all, but if you
truly do your research, you will have a great product
and you'll have a great foundation. And you've clearly done that,
and you've got amazing marketing, Like your website looks great,
the Instagram looks great. You're doing all the things. So
it is really cool and I'm excited to see what
(21:26):
happens now, like once you're up and running out of
this kickstarter phase. It's funny how your kickstarter launched at
least in Seattle, we were literally shut down as a city.
You said, March thirty launched March five was my birthday,
and that was the day that Amazon closed their offices
here and made everyone work from home, which it was
a great time to launch your kickstarter for work from
(21:48):
home shoes. Yeah, no, it I think it's a I
don't know if you'd said like a double edged sword.
But on one side, yes, the product is very much
in line I think with what a lot of women
are facing with having to work from home, and maybe
you know, adjusting what they wear on a day to
day basis. But I also will say, and I really
appreciated your the recent podcast if you did highlighting small businesses.
(22:10):
Is even kickstarter campaigns everybody's taking a hit right now.
You know, there are a lot of people that aren't
in a position or feeling a little scared to buy.
So I think it is really trickling down to everybody now.
It is definitely scary with so much uncertainty and all
we we all have these love for small businesses, but
you kind of think like, well, what if I don't
(22:31):
have a job in a month and I just spent
all this money on takeout or Kickstarter campaigns or whatever
it may be. So there, it does get scary, but
you still hit your goal, which is amazing, and you've
still are now able to launch your dream, your baby.
So after you get the shoes up and running on
the website for people to shop. And I don't want
(22:52):
you to think too far ahead in the future, but
what are like your next goals for dois? Do you
have like I want to have a storefront or I
want to be wholesale? What are your goals in that world?
Stepping back like, first and foremost, I want to hear
from the women wearing my shoes. So I can't wait
to get these on people's feet and say what do
you think, what do you like? What can we do better?
(23:12):
And so I want to start there, and then if
people really like these shoes, I want to come out
with more colors. I want to, you know, talk to
the customers and say what color do you want next?
And then I'd love to come up with more styles.
I'd love to launch a men's line. I think men, Yeah,
men deserve good looking, supportive, sustainable shoes for home too.
(23:33):
So that's really like where my head's at in terms
of growth and really taking this company the next level.
Is just expanding the product line, expanding the customer base,
and really just I want Deweys to be the go
to shoes for everybody at home, so so making them
the best shoes that I can they absolutely will be
(23:54):
because they are the freaking cutes. I haven't warned them yet.
And they look comfortable. So I've never seen to see
that look comfortable. That wasn't it's the ones that you
look I like that she's not comfortable, and you know
it's not comfortable, and I love that you haven't made
heels for at home. Don't do that. Don't do it.
Don't do that to us. So you've had a few
(24:14):
different day jobs when you're in Seattle, correct, Like you did?
You mentioned the management company and I know you worked
for fair Start or worked with fair Start, right, Yeah,
I worked with fair Start as a management consultant. Okay,
so they're just amazing, an amazing organization. Yeah, can you
actually hit on what fair Start is because I've never
been there, but I've heard about what fair Start does
and I know it has nothing to do with but
(24:36):
you do with Dewey's right now. But I think it's
really cool for people to hear about and ask someone
who's worked with them. Yeah. So fair Start offers food
service training. So for people that you know might either
be down on their left, they you know, are given
a second chance and it's hard for them to go
out and get a job. Fair Start gives them skills
they need to get into the food service industry, so
(24:58):
they'll train them in everything from front of house to
backup house, and they partner with a lot of really
great restaurants in Seattle that then hire those people into
full time jobs. And so the project that I worked
on was actually a partnership with Amazon of opening up
a coffee shop and a restaurant in one of the
Amazon buildings in South Lake Union. That's really cool. Yeah,
(25:21):
I mean it's a great partnership and it's a it's
an awesome way for these people to get just really
great food service experience and be able to go out
and you know, have this professional training and go out
and get great jobs in a Seattle area. Oh, it
is such a cool idea. So then, is there anything
(25:41):
that you had, any skills that you learned in your
day job that kind of spilled over into creating and
launching Dewey's because obviously wasn't making Choose. Yeah. Before I
got into management consulting, I worked at a startup for
just over four years and I learned so much there
and I think that's where I really got the startup
ug as I'm like, I like this, and so I
(26:02):
think from the startup world, I learned that you've got
to be scrappy. Just because you can't have that team
of one right now, it doesn't mean you can't get
the job done. So being scrappy and through management consulting.
I really learned as we were talking about the beginning
of the podcast, just like if you don't know something,
it doesn't mean you can't figure it out. And I
think that's a really important lesson being an entrepreneur because
(26:23):
you're not going to know a lot of stuff and
you're gonna have to figure it out along the way. Well,
you mentioned not having a team of a hundred people.
Do you have anyone that works with you or for
you with Dewey's right now? Yeah, So I would say
like officially I'm a team of one, but there have
been many people along the way that I've engaged with,
whether it's through like contractors that I've worked with too,
(26:45):
you know, do copyrighting or kind of bounce ideas off
with the brand. You know, I had amazing two amazing
women help me shoot the Kickstarter video and and do
the photography. I have a footwear agent in Portugal who's
kind of like my man on the ground, who can
you know, some of the things that I need to
communicate with the factory need to be translated into Portuguese.
So yeah, I have a lot of support. And then
(27:06):
I'm also just started working with the virtual assistant. So
that's helping me just offload, like you know, about five
hours a week off my plate to just get some
support on. So, yeah, you a lot of people would
talking about the virtual assistant thing lately and it sounded
real good, and it sounds like it is very worthwhile
because getting time is the best thing a small business
(27:29):
owner or a new business owner can have. So if
it takes gives you more time, it's so worth that investment.
And definitely, obviously for you, five hours a week is
it's almost a whole working day right there. It really is.
I mean it's five hours less than maybe I would
have spent on that Saturday morning when I just need
a little bit of time to you know, reboot. So
(27:50):
I'm really grateful for it, and I do think it
takes a little bit of investment and time to figure
out how to make it work. But for those interested
in it, I listened to a podcast called Clone Yourself
Cool and Sam, the host does a really great job
of walking you through kind of hiring a virtual assistant.
So I just wanted to recommend that for anybody just
(28:12):
getting started. That is actually a genius name for a
podcast that is about that and I'm going to go
listen to it, so thank you for that. Well, Jordan's,
this is really cool. I'm excited that we got to
talk at this point in your Dewey's timeline because I
can't wait to see where you are in a year
from now. We're gonna have to do a recap and
see where Doing's is at. How many stores do hes
(28:33):
are sold in, because I know that's going to happen
for sure, and I'll have my shoes at that point.
I'm so excited. So thank you for being here. Thank
you so much for having me, and I'd love to
come back in the future. Thank you so so much
for listening to Side Hustlers. Every time you listen to
an episode, you are helping a small business owner because
you're gonna spread that love. You're gonna tell a friend
what you heard on this podcast, and word of mouth
(28:54):
is how these small businesses grow. So to support Jordan's
you can go to Dewey's dot com d O O
E y s dot com to get your work from
home shoes and go back and listen to the last
few episodes of Side Hustlers. They're pretty magical, which is
kind of cliche to say, but it is super motivating
and inspirational to hear how these small business owners are
(29:16):
getting through this tough time. And it's gonna either make
you want to support them, make you come out of
this quarantine ready to kick butt, or it's gonna make
you want to start your own side hustle and open
your own small business. So go listen to the last
few episodes of Side Hustlers until next week. Wash your hands,
stay safe, and keep hustling.
This is the Side Hustlers podcast. I'm your host from
my Heart Radio, Carla Marie, and each week I talked
to a different person who is following a passion outside
of their day job. But if you've been listening to
the last few episodes, you've noticed that there's been a
bunch of people in those episodes. And what I've been
doing is, during this whole COVID nineteen stay at Home
Social Distancing Order is talking to previous guests and small
(00:24):
businesses to see what they're doing differently right now during
this time and learning how we can help them and
help their small business get through this. And it's been
wild hearing how each and every business is pivoting during
this and it makes you realize why these people are
small business owners. So if you haven't listened to those,
(00:44):
go back and listen to the last few episodes. It's
really cool and it kind of catches you up on
everyone who has been on this podcast. But this week,
we've got someone who's going to help you if you're
new to working from home. So we're gonna talk to
Jordan's Jordan moved from Seattle to Amsterdam and when she moved,
she had been working from home and realized she needed
a work from home shoe because a lot of times
(01:05):
we're either in our socks or slippers and we'll have
on our cute work from home outfit and it just
doesn't work right. So Jordan created Dewey's. It is a
work from home slip on shoe. They're super cute. It
was her side hustle. Now she's been able to leave
her day job and do this full time. You can
check them out. It's Dewey's dot com d O O
(01:26):
E y s dot com. Let's find out how Jordan
created the work from home shoe that we all need
right now for a lot of people. You know, why
are you wait? Do you know what you want to do?
And this is what you want to do, and do it.
I'm a hustles side side hustle, do it. I'm a
hustles sho do it. I'm a hustles side hustlove. Come on,
(01:47):
ask about me, yo yo'. It's the side Hustless podcast
we call the Root. Okay, so joining me from Amsterdam?
I think you might be the first person to join
side Hustlers from another country. Is Jordan Hi? Jordan's Hi.
So you're in Amsterdam now, but you're from Seattle. You
have this really cool comedy that you launched called Dewey's.
(02:09):
Am I saying it correctly? By the way, Yes, Dewey's,
Which is such a bizarre time for you to launch
something that was made for people who work from home.
So give us a quick rundown as to what Dewey's is,
and then we're going to talk about the whole story
about how you did all of this. Yeah. So Dewey's
are stylish and supportive house shoes, or as we've terned them,
(02:30):
slip shoes that are made of sustainable materials. So the
idea is like around the brand is I just wanted
to serve women in their everyday life at home, whether
that's getting stuff done around the house, working from home,
or just kicking back. I thought every woman should have
a stylish, supportive shoe to wear every day at home. Yeah,
(02:50):
because currently right now, actually I will show you the
slipper that I'm wearing online, but right now, and it
is a cat. It says welcome home, and it's not
that stylish. It's really you know what I'm really if
they are cozy. So you are right though, and the
fact that if you are someone who works at home
or not work from home, you got your maybe you're
(03:11):
doing zoom meetings, got your cool outfit on, but what
are you wearing on your feet? And it really does
make a difference in your attitude. So it's cool that
you've made these super cute styla shoes and they're also sustainable.
But when did this idea pop into your head? I
moved to Amsterdam two and a half years ago, and
in doing that, I transitioned from being a management consultant
(03:31):
and working in client offices every day to working from home.
And you know, pretty quickly, I realized every day at
home I was having to choose between wearing comfortable outdoor
sneakers or unsupportive indoor slippers. And I was trying to
build better habits, Like I have an Ikea crank desk
that you can sit or stand, so I was trying
to stand more at home and just not sit all day,
(03:53):
like a lot of us can kind of fall into
that trap of and so I just realized, hey, there's
got to be a better option out there, and I
started looking, but I couldn't find any issue that was
kind of fit the style I was looking for and
also had sufficient support. So I decided to create my
own solution that was stylish, supportive, and it should be
(04:13):
sustainable while we're at it. So, like many side us
words are on the podcast, it's people who wanted something
for themselves I couldn't find it and just that I'm
going to make it, and it's like it's crazy that
they're not everyone is like that, like there are certain
people who function that way or can function that way.
Have you always thought of yourself as a I'm just
gonna create it myself kind of person. No, I mean, honestly,
(04:36):
I think I've had some ideas in the past, but
never was like I'm actually gonna go do this. This
was the first idea that I just couldn't get out
of my head. And I think it was at a
point in my life too, where I knew I wanted
to consider a career change and I just didn't know
what that was, and I just kind of fell into
entrepreneurship and it it really has been like meant to be.
(04:58):
I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.
So when you came up with the idea for doings
and you're standing at your crying desk. Talk a little
bit about what your day job was at the time,
because I know now do is is your full time job?
So what were you doing? Originally when I moved from Seattle,
I was a management consultant, and then I joined a
new firm that actually had a remote work model, so
(05:19):
that made me feel more comfortable because then although I
lived in Amsterdam, everybody worked remote, so it wasn't just me.
And so I was, you know, working for a small
consulting firm with a couple of clients and a small
team and just working abroad. And at that time, I
think I was working about like thirty five hours a
week because when I moved here, I kind of made
(05:39):
a commitment to myself. I wanted to have that time
to enjoy this new sace that I was moving to
Acrome and half the time to travel. So I think
that little bit of extra time in the week, paired
with like knowing that I wanted to make some sort
of change in my life, really was a good set
up for me to to launch and and move forward
(06:00):
with this idea. So how far into the idea of
Dewey's was it still a side hustle like at what
point did you say, all right, I'm done with my
day job. I'm just going to focus on Dewey's. So
I think by the point I quit my job was
I had all the conceptual designs done and it was
really time to move into like the sourcing of material.
(06:20):
So it was like I had an idea, I had
them down on paper, and it was time to go
out and say, all right, how are these going to
be made? What are they going to be made out of?
And I'm really glad that I did leave my job
at that time because sourcing ended up being a tremendous
amount of work and I'm so proud of what the
result is, but it took a lot of time and effort.
So when I did leave my job, it was looking back,
(06:43):
I'm like, it was the perfect time. But obviously that's
a hard decision to make and not and it's difficult
to manage. And I'm lucky to have a partner that
was able to help kind of support that transition. That
kind of leads me into what did your husband say
when you were like I want to make shoes, Like what?
He's just awesome, Like, I don't think he ever doubted it.
(07:05):
I even have friends and family that are like, how shoes?
What Jordan, what are he's thinking. I think James since
the very beginning, has been like, yeah, go for it.
That's that's yeah. That obviously helps because if he was like,
that's kind of dumb ideas, and how are you going
to be at home and doing this? And yeah, that's
the one person you need to support you. So the
(07:25):
family members that say it's crazy, do they still think
you're crazy now this far into it, No, they don't.
It just helps seeing the physical products. So now that
I have the final shoes, I can actually for people
that can wear the sample size. Uh, if they have
tiny feet like me, they they're like, I get it.
Oh my gosh, I get it. But in the beginning,
it's kind of like a lot of us are used
(07:46):
to kind of free cozy, you know, slippers at home,
but maybe not needing the support, or maybe it's women
that need the support but are like, I don't need
anything that's good looking. So once I put it together,
I think people could really see, Oh, I see where
you're gets at. I could use a pair. Did you
know anything about designing shoes before this? No? No, I
(08:10):
like to joke that I bought a book for anybody
interested in starting a shoe company. It's literally called how
to Start a Shoe Company top So that's a great
place to start. Did you like, how did you find
that book? Just Google search? Yeah? I think I was
just googling, And you can buy it on Amazon. And
there's actually a couple of versions. There's been like one
about shoe materials and diving a little bit deeper. But
(08:33):
that's a great place to start. So then what are
do he's made out of? That's I think the part
that I love the most. I'm going to grab them here.
So so duties are made out of earth friendly materials.
So I'm holding the loafers right now. So they're made
out of vegan apple leather. So that's apple leather uses
apples from the juice industry and basically takes cores and
(08:58):
the skins that would thrown away anyways, and is able
to mix them into a form that can be put
into a vegan you know, leather alternative. Who knew that
that was possible. It's crazy what they can do now.
So we have the vegan apple weather, we have the
vegan suede made from recycled polyester. We have in souls
made from cork lining that's super soft and cozy. And
(09:21):
it's going to say that looks soft. Yeah, it's really soft,
and it's made from tree fibers, and then the soles
are made with sugarcane, so they're like they're sneaker like souls,
but they replaced the petroleum based material with a bio alternative,
which is raw sugar cane. So it's pretty cool. What's
out there now? Is it hard to have a sustainable company? Now?
(09:42):
I know that is a very broad question, but I
had someone on the podcast last summer who was trying
to take her bathing suit line to go more sustainable
and ended up shutting down because it was just so
expensive and so hard to find sustainable materials and shipping
and all of the So, as someone who's kind of
just launching a company, what is it like trying to
(10:04):
be sustainable from the beginning? I mean, the first thing
that comes to mind is time. It takes a lot
of time to find these materials because they're not readily available.
Like if I wanted to just do a vegan leather,
like great, I can find that anywhere. It's just made
from all plastic and it's like it's easy to source,
but if you want to find like eco friendly materials
(10:25):
that are truly eco friendly. For me, it was like
going to that event, meeting that person that then connect
me with that other person that then gave me the email.
It was connecting all these dots. So I would say, yeah,
finding like the whole sourcing process is difficult, and I think,
like from what the person that you talked to with
the swimwear line, it's more expensive. So yes, the price
(10:47):
point for sustainable shoes is probably higher than the unsustainable
slippers that you might buy. But if that's important to you,
then hopefully you see the value in it absolutely, and
you're right, the people who understand the portant of it
will understand why you decided to launch a kickstarter. When
did you officially launched the kickstarter? So I officially launched
on March three, and then the campaign ran until April night. Okay,
(11:13):
so a little over a month and you hit your
goal and above you've raised over fourteen thousand dollars. Did
you think you were going to hit that? Like that's insane? Yeah,
I mean I think going into it, I tried to
be optimistic, but I didn't think I'd hit the goal
that quickly. I mean, in the first two days we
raised ten thousand dollars, so that felt really good. So
(11:33):
was it family, wasn't friends, wasn't marketing? What was it? Like?
How did people find out about Dewey's. I did some
pre launch marketing, so a bit of Facebook ads and
things like that. But honestly, when it came down to it,
like through you know, Google analytics, and when I've been
able to see it's my friends, my family, my friends
of friends, it's the network. It's the women that believe
(11:56):
in me and then have shared it with their friends,
who then have come and just cover Dewey's and bought
a hair for themselves. So I'm so grateful to the
female community that I have. And yeah, that's really what
it comes down to with kickstarters, tapping into your personal
network and getting the word out. So I went in
and I supported because I'm really pumped. I've been working
for Thank You, so which is new for me. So
(12:19):
I'm like, well, I want cool shoes to wear when
I'm at home, So what will the price point be
when they are live? And there isn't a Kickstarter and
people can just go on and buy their shoes. I'll
preface it with because they're sustainable, they do cost more
than like a pair of ugs. So the price point
is one forty five dollars and they can be bought
on Dewey's dot com. I hope to come out with
(12:41):
more styles in the future at different price points, but
we're going to start there with the two styles that
I do have, the loafer in the mules. Listen, people
spend way more money than that on shoes that are
crappy and not sustainable. So on the Kickstarter though you
could do it was on so you were kind of
giving people a disc for supporting you. Yes, yeah, and
(13:02):
so we had a couple of price points for Kickstarter,
basically depending on when you purchased during the campaign. But yeah,
it was right. It was between one fifteen and cool.
So I'm excited to get my fair I'm pumped to
wear them now. Well, i'd be allowed to wear them
outside at all, that is up to you. These are
high quality materials. They're durable, you know, the souls like
(13:24):
the compound that I used in all that is durable
enough to go on pavement. Shoes will not fall apart.
But something that I like to think about is I
believe the home is a sanctuary and your shoes should
respect that. So you can have as many outdoor shoes
as you want, but like, maybe have one pair that's
(13:45):
kind of sacred that keeps your home clean and that
you just feel good, and especially right now when we're
focusing on cleaning things and keeping them clean. Um, I
do you mentioned the website. So it's Dewey's dot com
d O O E y S so people can go
check it out. And then your Instagram is Dewey's dot
slip Shoes. Okay, yeah, so they can follow along. Look
(14:08):
at what we're talking about. I saw at one point
you had up this cool photo that kind of shows
what every part of the shoe is made out of,
which is amazing and I love that you You've done
that so people can kind of follow along. But where
did the name Dewey's come from the word dewey in
Dutch it means goodbye, And it's my favorite Dutch word
because when people say it, they say it's very enthusiastically.
(14:32):
It sounds like this. So when you have your window open,
like I'm living in Amsterdam's when you have your window
up and we lived down there's the street from a school.
You hear all these moms in the morning dropping their
kids off, being like do you do? So it's just
this word I love. And then when I created the
(14:52):
idea for these shoes, I wanted them to be all
about up time at home as opposed to downtime, which
a lot of slippers are about. They're kicking. Yeah, I
want women to be comfortable on their feet in these shoes.
And so I love that the word dewey has the
word do in it, like it just captures that feeling.
That's really cool. Yeah, that's the story that I love
(15:12):
that though I'm no, I don't think anyone's really ever
said I love this word. So oh it's great. It
is really cool. So on this podcast, I always talking
about connections and how I find people, and you kind
of got sent to me in two different ways, which
was really cool. So Kayla from C Town Sweets, who
has been on this podcast before, um I mentioned her
recently on how to Help a Small Business episode. She
(15:35):
made cookies for your launch party event. Did I get
that right? Yeah? So my best friend brought these amazing
cookies to the Kickstarter launch party. They were the cutest thing.
They had the logo Dewey's and then the other half
of them had an actual photo of our slip shoes
on them, and she was like, yeah, ce Town Suits
made these. So I'm so grateful for Kayleb for sending
(15:59):
my information to you. Yeah. So Kayla tells me, was like,
this girl would be great for your podcast. I was like, okay, cool,
So I started following Dewey's and then a few days later,
Sarah Lemon, who has also been on this podcast and
does pr for a lot of amazing local Seattle companies,
has been sending me amazing people. She sent me Kim
from Fresh Tangerine and now You. So it was like, okay, well,
(16:20):
I have to get her on the podcast because two
people who I really respect told me I have to
get her on the podcast. And now here we are.
So you also got hit with a double prong of
Kayla telling you you got to be on this podcast
and then Sarah and you're probably like, who is this
girl that they're talking about? No, I was so excited.
I love this podcast. So I'm I'm grieved to be
here and there is amazing I was glad that she
(16:42):
recommended it because I didn't trust anything that she she
tells me. So, then how did you and Sarah link up? Honestly,
I just found her on LinkedIn. I'm big on like,
when I want to work with someone, I a lot
of times I try to work with other female business owners.
So I just go on LinkedIn, search for Seattle and
find what I'm looking for. And honestly, she was the
first person that showed up. I reached out to her.
(17:04):
She was quick and responding and yeah, I'm I'm so
grateful to be working with her. Yes, Sarah is seriously Aman,
have you actually met her then? If you're from just
just like this just over FaceTime? Oh my goodness. Wait
when you your launch party happened? Were you not here
for your launch party? I actually was. I was in
Seattle right before the travel ban and happened to Yeah,
(17:29):
I was there for that. So I was hanging out
with friends and just focused on my launch and had
the support of my family, and then I flew back
to Amsterdam like a week or so after the launch.
So Dewey's is technically a Seattle company, Yes, it's a
Washington company. What is your plan? You've been in Amsterdam
for two and a half years. What is the plan?
Are you going back to Seattle? What do we what's
(17:51):
going on? I mean, I can't say too much because
I'm sure if my family listens to this, they'll be like, oh,
I'm gonna hold you to that. But as a family sad.
My husband and I we love it here in Amsterdam,
but we miss our family and friends back in Seattle.
So I'm sure moving home for us is in our
near future. We just don't have a date. Okay, spoken
(18:14):
very politically correct way for a family listening. What is
the next step for doing? So the Kickstarter wraps up,
I don't know much about the Kickstarter world. I think, um,
the guys from Seattle that I found in the podcast
Tubby's from Tubby, you should link up with them. They're
super cool. They made really cool wide drinking glasses so
for whatever you want to drink or eat, ice came
(18:34):
out of They're awesome. They use Kickstarter as well, and
they were I think the only other people that I've
had in the podcast who use Kickstarter. So I'm not
familiar with the Kickstarter world. So as the campaign wrapped up,
what happens now? So basically once the campaign ends and
it's successfully funded, the funds transfer I think within a
few days kind of thing. But basically you switch from
(18:57):
marketing and raising funds to make the shoes. So before
the Kickstarter eve Ben launched, I purchased all the equipment,
shoe equipment and molds and things like that because I
just want to be ready to go. I didn't want
women to have to wait too long, and so basically, yeah,
so what what I did is, uh, last week we
placed all the material orders except I think we have
(19:20):
one material that still needs to be ordered. So we're
in a period now just waiting for those materials to
arrive at the factory. So hopefully those will all arrive
by the end of April, and then the shoes will
be made in May, and then they'll be put on
a boat shipped to the US because I'm making them
in Portugal, which is known for making very high quality shoes,
(19:41):
and then we'll ship to customers in June. So wow,
that's kind of the focus right now. So when you
said that you purchased the equipment, how does that work?
So you're buying equipment for the people in Portugal making
the shoes. Yeah, So basically for instance, like they have
a lot of their you know, like the big industrial equipment,
but what they don't have is my soul is custom design.
(20:03):
So we need to make molds in every single half
size of the shoe to make the soul itself, so
things like that, and then um, to make the actual
shape of the shoe. It's called the last and that
is what this like big green thing goes inside the
shoe and then the shoes made around it, those have
(20:24):
to be purchased, so things like that that go to
the actual construction of the shoe. What was the date
that you conceptualize the idea of doings? Yeah, I think
it was March, so like exactly two years ago that
I came up with the idea, and then it was
Fall is when I actually like created the business entity
(20:44):
and really hit the ground running. You went into that
two years ago knowing nothing about making shoes, and listening
to you talk about it, it would be like you've
done this your whole life. It's crazy and it's cool.
It's nice to hear you know it's true, because you
know you're telling me about things. I'm like, I'm learning
so much from someone who didn't know anything about it
two years ago. But you've clearly done your research, and
(21:04):
that is the base of having an amazing company. You know,
you can jump into anything and just you know, just
do it, which is great and all, but if you
truly do your research, you will have a great product
and you'll have a great foundation. And you've clearly done that,
and you've got amazing marketing, Like your website looks great,
the Instagram looks great. You're doing all the things. So
it is really cool and I'm excited to see what
(21:26):
happens now, like once you're up and running out of
this kickstarter phase. It's funny how your kickstarter launched at
least in Seattle, we were literally shut down as a city.
You said, March thirty launched March five was my birthday,
and that was the day that Amazon closed their offices
here and made everyone work from home, which it was
a great time to launch your kickstarter for work from
(21:48):
home shoes. Yeah, no, it I think it's a I
don't know if you'd said like a double edged sword.
But on one side, yes, the product is very much
in line I think with what a lot of women
are facing with having to work from home, and maybe
you know, adjusting what they wear on a day to
day basis. But I also will say, and I really
appreciated your the recent podcast if you did highlighting small businesses.
(22:10):
Is even kickstarter campaigns everybody's taking a hit right now.
You know, there are a lot of people that aren't
in a position or feeling a little scared to buy.
So I think it is really trickling down to everybody now.
It is definitely scary with so much uncertainty and all
we we all have these love for small businesses, but
you kind of think like, well, what if I don't
(22:31):
have a job in a month and I just spent
all this money on takeout or Kickstarter campaigns or whatever
it may be. So there, it does get scary, but
you still hit your goal, which is amazing, and you've
still are now able to launch your dream, your baby.
So after you get the shoes up and running on
the website for people to shop. And I don't want
(22:52):
you to think too far ahead in the future, but
what are like your next goals for dois? Do you
have like I want to have a storefront or I
want to be wholesale? What are your goals in that world?
Stepping back like, first and foremost, I want to hear
from the women wearing my shoes. So I can't wait
to get these on people's feet and say what do
you think, what do you like? What can we do better?
(23:12):
And so I want to start there, and then if
people really like these shoes, I want to come out
with more colors. I want to, you know, talk to
the customers and say what color do you want next?
And then I'd love to come up with more styles.
I'd love to launch a men's line. I think men, Yeah,
men deserve good looking, supportive, sustainable shoes for home too.
(23:33):
So that's really like where my head's at in terms
of growth and really taking this company the next level.
Is just expanding the product line, expanding the customer base,
and really just I want Deweys to be the go
to shoes for everybody at home, so so making them
the best shoes that I can they absolutely will be
(23:54):
because they are the freaking cutes. I haven't warned them yet.
And they look comfortable. So I've never seen to see
that look comfortable. That wasn't it's the ones that you
look I like that she's not comfortable, and you know
it's not comfortable, and I love that you haven't made
heels for at home. Don't do that. Don't do it.
Don't do that to us. So you've had a few
(24:14):
different day jobs when you're in Seattle, correct, Like you did?
You mentioned the management company and I know you worked
for fair Start or worked with fair Start, right, Yeah,
I worked with fair Start as a management consultant. Okay,
so they're just amazing, an amazing organization. Yeah, can you
actually hit on what fair Start is because I've never
been there, but I've heard about what fair Start does
and I know it has nothing to do with but
(24:36):
you do with Dewey's right now. But I think it's
really cool for people to hear about and ask someone
who's worked with them. Yeah. So fair Start offers food
service training. So for people that you know might either
be down on their left, they you know, are given
a second chance and it's hard for them to go
out and get a job. Fair Start gives them skills
they need to get into the food service industry, so
(24:58):
they'll train them in everything from front of house to
backup house, and they partner with a lot of really
great restaurants in Seattle that then hire those people into
full time jobs. And so the project that I worked
on was actually a partnership with Amazon of opening up
a coffee shop and a restaurant in one of the
Amazon buildings in South Lake Union. That's really cool. Yeah,
(25:21):
I mean it's a great partnership and it's a it's
an awesome way for these people to get just really
great food service experience and be able to go out
and you know, have this professional training and go out
and get great jobs in a Seattle area. Oh, it
is such a cool idea. So then, is there anything
(25:41):
that you had, any skills that you learned in your
day job that kind of spilled over into creating and
launching Dewey's because obviously wasn't making Choose. Yeah. Before I
got into management consulting, I worked at a startup for
just over four years and I learned so much there
and I think that's where I really got the startup
ug as I'm like, I like this, and so I
(26:02):
think from the startup world, I learned that you've got
to be scrappy. Just because you can't have that team
of one right now, it doesn't mean you can't get
the job done. So being scrappy and through management consulting.
I really learned as we were talking about the beginning
of the podcast, just like if you don't know something,
it doesn't mean you can't figure it out. And I
think that's a really important lesson being an entrepreneur because
(26:23):
you're not going to know a lot of stuff and
you're gonna have to figure it out along the way. Well,
you mentioned not having a team of a hundred people.
Do you have anyone that works with you or for
you with Dewey's right now? Yeah, So I would say
like officially I'm a team of one, but there have
been many people along the way that I've engaged with,
whether it's through like contractors that I've worked with too,
(26:45):
you know, do copyrighting or kind of bounce ideas off
with the brand. You know, I had amazing two amazing
women help me shoot the Kickstarter video and and do
the photography. I have a footwear agent in Portugal who's
kind of like my man on the ground, who can
you know, some of the things that I need to
communicate with the factory need to be translated into Portuguese.
So yeah, I have a lot of support. And then
(27:06):
I'm also just started working with the virtual assistant. So
that's helping me just offload, like you know, about five
hours a week off my plate to just get some
support on. So, yeah, you a lot of people would
talking about the virtual assistant thing lately and it sounded
real good, and it sounds like it is very worthwhile
because getting time is the best thing a small business
(27:29):
owner or a new business owner can have. So if
it takes gives you more time, it's so worth that investment.
And definitely, obviously for you, five hours a week is
it's almost a whole working day right there. It really is.
I mean it's five hours less than maybe I would
have spent on that Saturday morning when I just need
a little bit of time to you know, reboot. So
(27:50):
I'm really grateful for it, and I do think it
takes a little bit of investment and time to figure
out how to make it work. But for those interested
in it, I listened to a podcast called Clone Yourself
Cool and Sam, the host does a really great job
of walking you through kind of hiring a virtual assistant.
So I just wanted to recommend that for anybody just
(28:12):
getting started. That is actually a genius name for a
podcast that is about that and I'm going to go
listen to it, so thank you for that. Well, Jordan's,
this is really cool. I'm excited that we got to
talk at this point in your Dewey's timeline because I
can't wait to see where you are in a year
from now. We're gonna have to do a recap and
see where Doing's is at. How many stores do hes
(28:33):
are sold in, because I know that's going to happen
for sure, and I'll have my shoes at that point.
I'm so excited. So thank you for being here. Thank
you so much for having me, and I'd love to
come back in the future. Thank you so so much
for listening to Side Hustlers. Every time you listen to
an episode, you are helping a small business owner because
you're gonna spread that love. You're gonna tell a friend
what you heard on this podcast, and word of mouth
(28:54):
is how these small businesses grow. So to support Jordan's
you can go to Dewey's dot com d O O
E y s dot com to get your work from
home shoes and go back and listen to the last
few episodes of Side Hustlers. They're pretty magical, which is
kind of cliche to say, but it is super motivating
and inspirational to hear how these small business owners are
(29:16):
getting through this tough time. And it's gonna either make
you want to support them, make you come out of
this quarantine ready to kick butt, or it's gonna make
you want to start your own side hustle and open
your own small business. So go listen to the last
few episodes of Side Hustlers until next week. Wash your hands,
stay safe, and keep hustling.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.