Where Retail Stops Being Polite…And Starts Getting Real

Happy almost-Summer, retail besties! 🌞

We’re kicking off a new season of Retail for the Rest of Us, and I’m so excited to be back in your earbuds.

In this episode, I share the big question I’ve been grappling with lately — what is enough?

And I tell you about my new vision for Feel Good Retail and indie retailers everywhere…including why this podcast might not be for everyone currently listening. 🤷‍♀️

Join me in getting super clear on what we believe about business and retail. Then let’s have some fun this season!

🕸 feelgoodretail.com

📱 @feelgoodretail

✉️ hiii@feelgoodretail.com

Transcript

0:04

Welcome to Retail for the Rest of Us, a podcast for indie retailers, makers, and shop owners who want to do business differently. I'm your host, Janine Malone, retail expert, small business cheerleader, and the founder of Feel Good Retail. On this show, you'll hear insights, strategies, and ideas on how to sustain and scale your shop without sacrificing your sanity. Each week you'll hear from me and the occasional guest expert in what I hope feels more like voice note from your retail BFF than a business podcast. Additional goodies and support can be found in our show notes and at feelgoodretail.com. Now, let's get into the show. Music. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Retail for the Rest of Us. I'm your host, Janine Malone. And today, I am welcoming you back to the podcast to summertime, to the midway point-ish or close. Of the year. And I am really excited to be back and to tell you about some of the changes that we're making here to the podcast that I think you're really going to like. But I also thought it could be a good time to sort of reintroduce myself and reground everyone into what Feel Good retail is, what it does, and who we're exactly for. Because frankly, over the past few years with the pandemic, and just like running a business online, and all the comparison traps of doing that, I think I found myself trying to like be a little bit too much to everyone. And I'm sure you can relate. Something that I'm hearing from folks all the time these days is that like for retailers this year, 2023 is feeling more challenging than maybe 2020, 2021, 22 had felt. And I think part of that is because through those years, in order for our businesses to survive, we expanded pretty rapidly and pretty drastically in some cases. Maybe you opened your first online store for a while, maybe you brought in additional products, whether they're things like, cute masks or just kind of like more, I don't know, scented candles that was seemingly like the gold standard in the early days of the pandemic. And now we're kind of at this point where the world is, quote unquote, returning to normal. And we are trying to find. The new normal for what retail is, what business is, what shape and purpose and values that your business can get back to, you know, like looking in that rear view mirror and thinking like, okay, what was working and how do I kind of recalibrate now that we're not in this moment of survival anymore necessarily. And so that's been coming up for me a lot too. And I think that again, in my desire to... Help and support. I think that I extended myself a little bit too far, and I'm still recovering from that. I'm definitely healing some serious burnout, not just from the last few years, but probably my entire working life, and recognizing that I just took way too much on. And maybe you feel the same. So the question that I've been coming up against is like, what is enough and how does feel good retail and how do I as a person and a creator and someone who. Really cares about their work, how do I want to show up and who do I want to show up for? And so that's kind of led me down this path of like really getting back to like what I believe about indie retail. And I want to share some of that today if you'll let me. So as you know, I'm Janine Malone. For the last decade, I have been helping indie retailers grow their communities and their bank accounts and build brands that are sustainable, scalable, and fulfilling. I am your go-to girl for Bezos bashing, for retailer therapy, and strategy that you can implement and afford no matter what stage you're at. I try to do this. I try my very best to share equal amounts of like no bullshit, real talk, consulting, and advice, as well as lighthearted, cheerleader-esque support. I think I can do both. I try. That's that Cancer Sun, Cap Moon, baby. Also, Libra Rising. She loves balance. She loves to try and do both things. All of that is to say that like there are people who this space is designed for, and others that maybe just aren't gonna vibe with what we're doing here. And that's totally fine. That's something I am working to be totally, totally fine with. So I wanted to explain kind of who Feel Good Retail and Retail for the Rest of Us is for to make sure that we're on the same page. Because listen, I don't want to be cluttering up your podcast feed. I don't want hate listens. I don't think anyone does that. But I don't want you to feel like you should have to fit into the mold of the kind of businesses that Feel Good Retail supports. And I also want those of you who are like totally aligned to feel like, yes, this is 1000% the space for me. So this space, retail for the rest of us, the rest of us are folks who sell thoughtful products, whether they make them or curate them, who love sharing their passions and their point of view with their community. But they might need a little help creating systems and strategies that align with that vision. Because fundamentally, what feel good retail is about and what I think I'm best at is bridging the gap between what you want and how to get there. And so creating that plan, creating those systems, creating a million different ideas of like how that could look and what you could try and how to implement it into your day-to-day, week-to-week business is like my happy place, you know, and creating that in a way that. Honors the integrity of what you believe in. Number two, we are for people who feel like business misfits, right? Who maybe don't subscribe to the business as usual mentality. They may identify as an anti-capitalist. That's something that I feel really passionate about, that capitalism is not commerce and commerce is not capitalism. Trying to work on an episode all about that. So stay tuned. But basically, people who want to do things differently while creating sustainable success, that's who we're for, right? Like, who want to challenge things, but also recognize that in order to thrive and survive in this system, there needs to be revenue coming in. And they want to explore a way not to completely reject the idea of making money, or having money, or using money as a tool in this system, but are also like, there are certain things I'm not going to do, and I want to find a different way, who are curious, and creative, and a little bit radical. And of course, people who are curious and ambitious, because this space is about business growth. I guess sometimes I worry that there is... Little too much like cheerleading, right? And just like, you're doing amazing, sweetie, which you are like, I think you're doing a great, great job. But my favorite clients and favorite folks who I have gotten to know through the creation of this business are those who are willing to learn and experiment and implement and take a really critical eye to their own systems and strategies in order to achieve their goals. They dream big, they play hard, and they're trying to figure out how to feel good along the way. I think ambition is something that, is really challenging under a system like capitalism. And for many of us who are first time entrepreneurs or have kind of a more traditional background and try to come out and have success and want to grow and want to feel fulfilled in their work, but also feel a little bit of shame around that, or don't want their work to be their entire lives, but also it's really meaningful to them. It's a messy, messy soup of how do I run a business that feels. Supportive to my life, and also is fulfilling to me, but doesn't become my entire identity. It's a question we're not maybe ever going to solve, but the people who that weighs on and who are just as interested in tactical, actionable business advice, but also want to think a little bit bigger about the impact, the way that they run their business or the way that their business impacts their community. I think those are the people for us. Those are the people for me. That's the community here. So that means there's a huge swath of indie retailers who I don't think. Are my people. And that's not to say that they're doing anything wrong or bad, or that I hate them. I actually love them. And I think their businesses are going to be great. And I hope that they survive and do a great job. But I am not interested in magical, quick fix, viral type overnight success. It doesn't exist in my mind. And I also just find like the idea of like, make six figures, or like, I don't know, any of that kind of like really clickbaity language is just not. Gonna work here. It's just not for me. I think I've tried it on because that's what it sounds like service providers on the internet are supposed to do, but it just doesn't feel right to me. I like to under promise and over deliver, not over promise and under deliver. So if you're looking for that magic bullet, that perfect roadmap that everyone can follow for success, I'm so sorry, I don't have it. And frankly, if I ever do have it, I'm happy to give it to you. I will probably be a billionaire at that point. I promise to be a good one. But this is a space for nuance. This is a place where I really want us to think about all the options and the pros and cons of each one. Because for each business owner, there's going to be different gains and payoffs and things that are going to feel aligned for them or right for them or right for their product and somewhere it's not going to. So this is a space where you can take a critical eye. Use your critical thinking, and apply a bit of nuance. I also have to say a big pet peeve of mine is business owners who are not prepared to invest the time, effort, or money required to set up their shop and be successful. Because it does take time, and it takes creativity, and it takes energy, and it takes expansion and contraction. And yes, it takes money. I think it's really worth it in the end. But again, this is not the quick fix factory. And I think that folks who meet those kind of criteria I laid out earlier, who are really curious and really experimental and nuanced and critical, they know that there's work that goes into building a business, especially that challenges norms and business norms and systems that maybe helps you as a person unlearn some of the habits and language and tactics that like the regular business world want to teach us. And so, if that's something that you're like, listen, I'm not here for that. This is kind of like a side hustle or like, I'm just trying to float along. That's totally fine. Great. Love that for you, this might not be the podcast. You want it to be. And lastly, if you aren't interested in learning new business skills, or hearing the real stories of other retailers, or becoming more strategic, becoming a better operator, and you really only want to make and sell what you want, when you want, and aren't, interested in the business side of retail – which, again, nothing wrong with that. It just means maybe your shop is a hobby and not a career. And that's totally okay. It's just not where I specialize and where feel good retail and retail for the rest of us really shine. So hopefully I haven't scared you all off. Like maybe there's crickets on the other end of this, but after being in indie retail game for the last decade, I definitely like have my share of beliefs and opinions about business and retail. And I think some people will agree and others won't. And when I thought about how to continue this podcast in integrity with my own values and in a way that would really excite me and in a way that I think will be really helpful and really help us stand out, I just kept coming back to like you have to get more nuanced. You have to do like this kind of real talk that you do in your real life. And that's not to say I wasn't doing that, but I could feel myself trying to please this like imaginary invisible audience. So, you know, if you've been nodding along with me, and you're still here, and you're like, whispering like, yes, to everything I'm sharing, or like, that's me, I hope that you're picking, up what I'm putting down. And I just want to get extra super duper clear on a couple of things that we really believe here at Feel Good Retail. Business is not a no feeling zone. That would be insane. We spend so much of our time and our precious energy creating and shaping and growing and nurturing our businesses, it would be wild to think that there was never emotion involved in how we run our shops. But from my perspective, the more we honor our intuition and our emotions and our gut, the stronger our brands become. And I think that there are a lot of different ways to grow your business. Very few of them involve spending thousands and thousands of dollars on paid ads every month. So depending on your vision and your goals, the path will vary. Success in retail is not about one size fits all. It's very much take what you like, leave the rest, experiment with everything. Keep only what's working. Lastly, I think that life is just too short to be wasted building a business that you don't love doing things you hate. Maybe that's a radical hot take. I don't know. But if you're going to go out and do this on your own and really try to like make something special, then go the extra mile and make it really special and make it something that feels so different than any job that you could go find. And I know a lot of us just don't want to have a boss, and maybe that was some of the motivation of being an entrepreneur, and I think that's extraordinarily valid. But I think it's also really critical that. You look around and you ask yourself, like, am I making this workplace work for me? Because as you grow and maybe you bring on team members and maybe like you're the boss someday, I want you to think like that you're creating an environment that's better for yourself and better for your employees than maybe what you had. So now that I've been waxing poetic and some of you may have left, some of you are still here, I think we're gonna get along just fine. We probably already get along just fine. But there are some changes coming to the podcast. We are back. We are going back to being a bi-weekly show. I am bringing back interviews, and I am so excited to share some of the conversations that I've already started having. We'll be doing an indie retail advice column where I answer one of your questions in depth. So we have a couple of those upcoming. And if you want to submit a question, you can DM us on Instagram at feelgoodretail or email me at hiiii, H-I-I-I, at feelgoodretail.com. That information is in the show notes. Let me know what you're struggling with, what you would ask an advice columnist specializing in indie retail, and you could hear your question on an episode. And of course, there will occasionally be episodes of just me, just like this, talking about what's going on in business, observations I've had, hot takes that I need to dissect publicly and the occasional very actionable advice or tool or tactic that I think could serve you. I know the show has been kind of in ups and downs, expanding, contracting, ghosting, returning. And that's just a product of me being a human being who's trying to figure out what this business looks like and what this space really needs to be because sometimes it feels bigger than me, frankly. And I'm just one lady doing her very, very best and occasionally taking a nap. So if you like what you hear, I think you're going to love the show. We will be back every other week for a little bit of time. I will do my very best to give you a warning next time we take a break. And as you can see, two episodes went live today. So you can go and listen to our very first interview on the next part of your feed. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being in business. Cheers to feeling good. Thanks for listening to Retail for the Rest of Us. Find additional information and resources related to this episode in the show notes or on our website, feelgoodretail.com. This, show was lovingly produced and edited by Softer Sounds, a feminist podcast studio. If you, enjoyed this episode, please take a minute to text it to your business bestie, share, it on social media and leave us a rating or review. It really helps the show grow organically and we love making new friends. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being in business and cheers to feeling good. Music.