Say Yes to Big Opportunities

Speaker 1: hi I'm Melanie bar welcome to the she builted experience with Melanie you're here because you want to experience the life and business that you crave join me as I talk to women who have successfully built it a career and business that they love we dive into the topic of how they built it and talk about everything from Having the courage to make career leaps to the details of how to lead effectively create successful teams Implement strategies for growth and Infuse Tech innovation magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy so let's dive in carolan is the brand founder and senior director of sales and Merchandising at Mobby her love of fashion began and grew throughout her career when she worked for Sanctuary clothing Lucky Brand Bloomingdales and more Carol is a Philly native a graduate of Villanova University and she is passionate about giving back to foundations and supporting women and children specifically regarding homelessness domestic violence and education she lives in Los Angeles California with her husband two kids and her dog Mozart thank you so much for joining us today Carol please tell us about your early career experiences and what led you to become the brand founder

Speaker 2: at Mobby after graduating from Villanova I moved to New York I was able to get an internship at like Esquire Louis Vuitton and Burberry that's where I got my feet wet in that whole world of special events and PR and it was a great experience and I got my first job as a fashion assistant at K nastat Lucky Magazine that's kind of where I learned a lot about how the fashion industry Works Lucky Magazine folded and I had the opportunity it was actually a blessing in disguise where I was able to get into bloomingdales.com and that's when they were launching their e-commerce site and so I was part of that early team and it was an amazing experience New York is a different level of hustling especially right out of college it was it was like camaraderie with other Merchant assistants and assistant buyers it taught me efficiency and followup and just to get everything done in a timely manner it was a great education I had buying experience how

Speaker 1: great that you were able to work for such big Brands and isn't it so interesting how when life will just push you in a direction you think you're sad about it at the time but then once it

Speaker 2: happens it's the right for you yeah when I was let go from Lucky Magazine I thought it was the end of the world I was 22 years old and I was like Mom like what am I going to do I just put myself out there I emailed recruiters buyers and got a call back and it was the best thing that ever happened to me I had the experience and opportunity to be in the buying world for a little bit and then after I got married I moved to the West Coast with my husband at the time the West CL had more opportunities in wholesale and sales versus buying that's slowly changing my long stretch was

Speaker 1: really at Sanctuary clothing where I went in as an account executive it was in the off-price private label division they gave me the opportunity to grow it as much as I wanted and they gave me the support design team and make it what you can and it grew to be an enormous piece of the business I learned so much about product development sales and creating a cohesive colle CS I was there for about 6 years and in early 2020 I was connected with a woman named Doris korus at Stony apparel which is my parent company they have been around for a really long time were looking to expand their portfolio and business into more branded women's contemporary so they reached out and asked me to come join and launch a brand from scratch really from the name of the brand to the aesthetic to marketing everything it was opportunity of a lifetime and I I was nervous because I was pretty comfortable at the position I was at and to take a chance on something that was new to me was a little bit scary but it was a

Speaker 2: great decision through all of your learning experiences you were able to learn all the various aspects of the business and it seems like you've already built a brand from scratch in

Speaker 1: your previous role yes I kind of had a foundation from my previous jobs in PR sales and product development and I just had to bring it all together but once I came here and I launched Mobby it was lightning speed a lot of it was you make the most of what you can it was myself just at first it was a lot of evenings just trying to figure out like how has PR evolved since 10 years ago you know who are the new players um who should I be reaching out to what are the new Publications and doing all my research it's uh it's come a long way but it's

Speaker 2: been good what has building a successful career in the apparel industry taught you and how does that help you in running your business today you took all of those aspects and and put them into one as an entrepreneur we take days off and we make sure to live our joy but are we

Speaker 1: ever really off yeah um it's never off

Speaker 2: right right I can tell you that for sure

Speaker 1: Sanctuary it was a really small team for my division but I had to be nimble and I think being Nimble and kind of being a Jill of all trades has been the best thing in my career being able to take pieces and bring it all together certain roles at companies you just I don't know if I could ever go back to it but I feel like if I were just to do sales or just to do design it wouldn't be as fulfilling so I love that I can bring all of these different pieces that I've learned in every job that I've had and bring it together and brainstorm and create a vision for what the brand can be and

Speaker 2: executing it can you tell us about a most memorable experience that you had throughout your career that you carry

Speaker 1: with you today growing up I went shopping every weekend with my mom our favorite department store was bloomings just at the time I didn't know they had different divisions I would go there every weekend and just look at the new apparel and Collections and learn about all the designers and look for the best sales and when I finally was able to like be at Bloomingdales I remember going into my first interview and being like Oh my God I can't believe I'm in bloy Dell's headquarters like this is outrageous and I'd call my mom be like Mom like it went well and I got the job and working at bloomings it was just it felt like such a proud moment for me Bloomingdales was this big company that I never saw myself being part of I was just the consumer the customer and to be on the other side putting out product that the customers are purchasing and knowing that my mom is on the floor shopping those designers and pieces it

Speaker 2: was such a proud moment that's so nice and how fun it to have those memories and then to move on and actually be a part of them yes it's amazing what gave you the courage to

Speaker 1: launch Mobby what gave me courage to launch Mobby is the story of my parents them being immigrants coming to the country and taking those chances and risks and seeing what a beautiful life they were able to build for both my sister and I that has always stuck with me I always wanted security like to Bo for for a big company and know that a salary is coming in and feeling secure and going into Mobi I didn't know if it was going to succeed I knew it would require more hours my time and I had two young children but you can create something so amazing for your customers and create something that your children can be proud of that you can be proud of and don't be afraid because Mom and Dad did it they created their own American dream and for me to take that courage into my workplace has given me the strength to keep going and know that you know anything's possible it seems

Speaker 2: like you're taking your parents Legacy and moving forward and also giving that to your children yeah what do you like the most about what you do now what I

Speaker 1: like most is that although I have a parent company and I do report to upper management there is an autonomy that they give me to really create something that they have always tried to explore and I can bring that to them for example social media digital advertising doing podcasts and creating relationships within the community has been really great for me I think being able to connect with other women and entrepreneurs hearing their stories and learning from them has been what I really love about this position whatever I put in I feel like that's what I get back and so um that's that's been really

Speaker 2: rewarding that's so great and can you share with us a little bit about your

Speaker 1: blog when I moved to LA I was able to meet a lot of different creatives everyone's kind of pursuing their dream um in the Arts and entrepreneurs and for my blog especially with Mobby I wanted to initially connect with women that were inspiring to me that helped me along the way encouraged me and share their stories it's been a really great opportunity to brought in my network and also create a Mobby community that's one of my favorite things to do too is to share the stories and it seems like you've done an amazing job of bringing in the apparel side of things within your blog thank you what is your strategy for management for staying on task to accomplish what you set out to do as well as motivating your teams and the people around

Speaker 2: you so lists obviously yes organization and making lists are really important and communication I realized that everyone has a different communication type the way that they receive and also give communication I love to learn more about them and find effective ways where if someone is more of like a word like they need that encouragement I make sure that like I give positive feedback but also if I need something I can say it in a more Gentle Way and then there's other times where someone just needs to hear it as is and more like data and facts and so communication is really important um especially with so many moving pieces to have daily touch points and I like to make work not just work it's about coming into the office and feeling like you're part of a team I don't want them to feel like a job is a job I want all of us really to feel like we're part of something of movement and creating a brand that needs something once or twice a week I like to order lunch or Boba and just like okay everyone get off your phones your computers emails we're just going to go into the conference room and have fun lunch and what's going on in life it's more of like I want to create a relationship with my team members

Speaker 1: that's so great because it will build even stronger teams and it's such good advice to look at communication style because often we get busy and we just want to get things done but it's so smart of you to really take the time to see what each individual team members or team leaders how they communicate the most effectively really good advice thanks how has your business shifted over the last year what obstacles have you been able to overcome and what

Speaker 2: successes have you had well I joined Mobby right before the pandemic so February of 2020 and the lockdown happened of March 2020 so a lot definitely changed within the first month of uh my joining the team but I think that being Nimble has really been the strongest suit that I was able to bring to Mobi I had accounts set up like The Collection that I was going to do and and once the shutdown happened Department stories were all closed my buyers were just on hold I had to kind of adapt and what I wanted to produce I had to eliminate half of it just be smart about not having too much inventory and communication with management about my strategy the retail industry I had to just constantly be checking in with my buyers constantly reading reports and what's happening in the retail world to make sure that I was ready to get the buyers attentions once dollars were open and I feel like with the vaccine coming out it's been better and there's more opportunity I am ready to launch my holiday in Spring 2022 it's um really exciting and

Speaker 1: I have some great appointments lined up and the product looks amazing it's more on track of where Mobi was hopefully supposed to be last year during the pandemic I really focused on what I can't control right now is department stores being closed the buyers aren't buying right now because they also have no idea what was going to happen and so I think being able to focus on let's think about what are the sustainable Fabrics that we can go after what are the new customers that I could go after how can we improve our social media presence who can we reach out to there were different areas of growing a brand that I could focus my attention on and so during the pandemic I had to shift and focus more on different areas than just the sales yeah the marketing the digital advertising the Outreach that's kind that kind of

Speaker 2: became my big Focus we can't wait to see your collection and it was really smart of you to continue reaching out to the buyers and to stay top of mind because things will change and we're starting to see a little bit of that right now thankfully but it was really smart of you to do that yeah things are changing so that's really exciting just don't give up especially starting a brand when no one knows you you're going to get a lot of production you're going to get a lot of nose or maybe next season and

Speaker 1: there were definitely moments where I would go home I need a glass of wine every talked to my husband like oh my God babe it's like it's been rough but I have mentors who I talk to and they're like you have to keep going don't take the no you go with new product you come up with a new strategy change the message a little bit and that's what I kept doing and so I've constantly been in contact with the buyers and I think that was a good move so can't take rejection and just stay with it you have

Speaker 2: to keep moving forward absolutely and good for you I have a background in business development and I think the more you ask the more you also are able to perfect to get to a yes but it's great advice to keep going and to keep believing in yourself and to keep pushing forward when you start a brand from nothing you have to introduce it to

Speaker 1: everyone something that I had to overcome was also putting myself out there being the face and the voice of mobes that's something that I didn't really have to do in any of my previous positions And I'm more of an introvert but I think this has really taught me to put myself out there and get more comfortable in my voice and I have this conversation often with women within the she builted Community who are building Brands it's how much of ourselves do we put into the brand because people want to know the person behind the brand and feel like they have a relationship with that person yeah definitely trying and uh some of the team members have been encouraging me to tell more my story and speak to the customer on Instagram stories and oh my God Tik Tok it takes so much practice and then all of a sudden it just becomes something that you wake up and do speaking of stories can you share the story of how you came

Speaker 2: up with the name yeah one of my best friends was out at lunch with his co-workers they the whole group had uh found an abandoned puppy they asked would anyone on your team want to Foster the puppy my friend and his wife ended up adopting him and they named him Mobby after mobber Avenue where they found him when I was thinking of the name I want to encourage others to live kindly and Mobby was the perfect name because their act of kindness really changed his life I have photos of him when they the first day they picked him up and to see the transformation of their kindness and their love and bringing him into their family has changed the trajectory of his life and he's just so happy and he's an inspiration so that's how I came up in

Speaker 1: the day mby what a great story and such a great story to build a brand around and to focus on kindness magic happens when we focus on the part of ourselves and our business that brings us joy what is one tip you can leave with us today about how you find and live your joy

Speaker 2: that has been something that I've been trying to figure out especially since I launched Mobi on a personal note I highly encourage therapy I I realized I needed to make time for myself and this is actually a question my therapist has been asking me how can you find joy and make time for yourself I've been trying to focus so much on the brand and you know my two children my husband and my friends and especially with the pandemic and so I realized I wasn't living life with joy I was just kind of surviving I needed to really reflect and take the time to figure out what brings me joy and how can I find that joy and I think aside from the mission statement of Mobby to really live kindly and have family time I think it's really being able to make time for myself as it might sound selfish but I think I want to encourage other women to make time

Speaker 1: not at all especially as entrepreneurs someone running a business you're a mother we we lose ourselves because we're so busy taking care of everything and everyone else and then you stop and think wait a minute I matter too you know you matter too and your well-being matters the most because how can you run anything or or take care of children if you're not taking care of yourself first I like that you said you lose yourself

Speaker 2: yeah we've all experienced that cuz we're so busy too we don't stop and think of okay what is bringing me joy and how do I build that into my day and my week mom guilt is so real but that's something I've been working through and I realized I can't take care of this brand or my children or my husband or my friends unless I can take care of myself which made me really reflect like what brings me joy and it's the little things I think just going on walks after work right after work when I when I used to come home it was like the kids are like Mom and it's crazy and so before I went into the house I would just take a 5 10 minute walk around my neighborhood and just relax myself and I do ask my husband I just need 1 hour to do something for myself and he's like do it he's the most supportive husband ever

Speaker 1: that's great I had to overcome the guilt and not doing enough and realize I needed to um focus on things that made me happy and I can be able to take care of other people and bring the magic to other people once I can take care of myself I love the suggestion of going for a walk right before you walk in the door because you can kind of Center yourself before you enter a new aspect of life and therapy is great too one reason why I wanted to launch she built it is because growing a business and a career can be lonely I wanted to create she built it so that we could come together and share resources and talk about our experiences like this because it it really is hard it could be really challenging another thing I do with the kids is sometimes I say okay I'm going to sit for 15 minutes with them and I just do that throughout the day like 15 minutes of just totally focusing on them I mean we play games and watch movies and screen time due to co has gone up unfortunately I'm looking forward to that going back down but sometimes I just say okay I'm going to sit next to Elliott for 15 minutes and just be next to him and that's what I'm going to do for the next few minutes and I found that that they love just that few minutes of connection throughout the day has been really helpful yeah to just be present in the moment with them and let them feel your presence but you have to be very intentional with the you do that's what I've been really working through intention in like almost everything that I do yeah cuz we're there but we're cooking and we're caring for them but that intention like you said so important once I launched Mobi I was like it's my mission to really reach out to women my old mentors my old bosses my co-workers what's their story how are they doing and I realized through the process that a lot of them are doing therapy and I felt like they normalized it and so I really appreciated hearing that from them and I think that's what also gave me the courage to take that next step and it's been really life-changing for me too

Speaker 2: that's great especially during covid we're all so isolated and when you're growing a business sometimes you just need someone else to talk to that's maybe not a team member or a family member yeah could be incredibly helpful

Speaker 1: yeah thank you so much for sharing your

Speaker 2: story with us today of course thank you

Speaker 1: for having me can you share with us how

Speaker 2: and where we can find you visit Mobby official.com our Instagram is Mobby official and for me personally it's Minore Carol on

Speaker 1: Instagram if you are new to Sheil it we'd love for you to join us we offer

Speaker 1: our she built it shop curated products from women-owned businesses who put their heart and soul into their beautiful and Innovative products we offer Sheil it business Consulting and the Sheil it blog thank you to everyone around the world who joined today thank you to my editor Rich stalino please download And subscribe wherever you get your podcast and until next time together let's let nothing stop us from experiencing the life That We crave