IAM974- Brand Launch Expert Helps Fashion Startups to Succeed

Today's guest is a brand launch expert Carley Johnson, Founder of Unzipped. Carley launched Unzipped at the start of 2019, with the primary focus of helping fashion startups to launch and succeed online.

Unzipped helps startups through 2 key services; their online course – 6-steps to launch a fashion brand – perfect for those with an idea & drive to launch an online business and startup growth services – targetted at small fashion brands that have launched and are looking to refine and grow.

• CEO Hack: Always bringing it back to the basics
• CEO Nugget: You're going to be successful in the market if you know what you're niche is
• CEO Defined: Achieving a status in a male dominated industry

Website: https://unzipped.co/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unzippedconnections/
Fcaebook: https://www.facebook.com/Unzippedfashionconnections
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/unzipped/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuVpMTMEAWiZLW7Hlb-urIw
Blog: https://unzipped.co/blog-fashion-insights/

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Transcription

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[00:00:22.30] – Intro

Are you ready Please remember the following text business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview. If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I Am CEO podcast. Hello.

[00:00:49.29] – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I Am CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Carly Johnson of Unzipped. Carly, it's awesome to have you on the show.

[00:00:57.89] – Carley Johnson

Thanks for having me.

[00:01:00.29] – Gresham Harkless

Yes. Super excited to have you on and hear about all the awesome work that you're doing. Before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about Carly so you can hear about all of the awesome work that she's doing. And today's guest is a brand launch expert, Carly Johnson, founder of Unzipped. Carly launched Unzipped at the start of twenty nineteen with the primary focus of helping fashion startups to launch and succeed online. Unzipped helped startups through two key services, their online course, six steps to launch a fashion brand, perfect for those with an idea and drive to launch an online business, and startup growth services targeted at small fashion brands that have launched and are looking to refine and grow. Carly, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO  community?

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[00:01:39.40] – Carley Johnson

I am. Yeah. Bring it on.

[00:01:41.29] – Gresham Harkless

Let's do it then. So to kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit and hear a little bit more about how you guys started with all the awesome work you're doing with Unzipped.

[00:01:50.40] – Carley Johnson

Cool. Of course. So, yeah, it's been a long, career so far. So I've been in fashion for about fifteen years, so that's not new. But yeah, I guess the story behind why I started unzipped in twenty nineteen was simply to see an opportunity. So, I moved to Australia two years prior and, yeah, pretty much just saw how behind the times they were with regards to e-commerce. So people just didn't shop online. It was, like, unknown, really slow. It took, like, the quickest delivery was, like, five days.

So for for me moving from the UK where I worked in, London and Germany, there was just a huge opportunity for me to share my skill sets and knowledge and help fashion brands to kind of get ahead of the trend because I knew the trend was coming. And to, yeah, to start a business where I could help fashion brands to, yeah, get online. So that was the primary reason was seeing opportunity. And then, yeah, I guess secondary to that why I started Unzipped was simply sick of working for the big large brands where you don't have that appreciation and wanting to get closer to helping people and feeling the reward.

So a bit of a self-needed. And then yeah, finally was simply work-life balance. Like, working for big fast fashion brands, it's extremely demanding. Working for any corporation is extremely demanding. So, yeah, my goal was to launch a business where I could actually, achieve a good balance in life. So that's pretty much the main reason why I moved into being a business owner.

[00:03:37.59] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That's huge. I appreciate you sharing that with us. And I think I often say, like, of course, you wanna know how somebody does it, but I think if you really wanna know about the person, about the brand, and then and the business that they have, ask them why they do what they did and what you've done.

And I love you breaking that down because I think so many times, we forget, the human aspect of business, that mission-driven, that why, and you being able to kinda see that opportunity, but also be able to make a bigger impact than you were in the position you had before and the experience that you had is huge. And I think it's something we all should take into account.

[00:04:12.00] – Carley Johnson

Yeah. Definitely. Thank you.

[00:04:14.59] – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. And so I wanted to hear, I guess, a little bit more about the HAP now. So could you take us through a little bit more on how you serve your clients and the products and services I touched on?

[00:04:23.30] – Carley Johnson

Yeah. Of course. We're a small, agency, but we do actually have quite ambitious, skills and services that we offer, so we do work with, quite a wide reach, so we work yeah, around the world with UK, US, and Australian clients. So pretty much what we do is as small and as localized as we are in Australia, like, we do have a big reach. So yeah, so pretty much, as you mentioned in the intro, there's the consulting side of the business and then there's the online courses. So, pretty much the consulting side, is really where we work with brands that have launched. So they have launched and they're at a point of, I've launched my brand, why is it not selling?

So there's something wrong, which pretty much is generally always I'm not making any money, why aren't people landing on my website? So, we, yeah, we pretty much offer a service which is all around sales growth. So the key five areas that we focus on are sales strategy, customer experience, strategic partnership, which is looking at, like, third party opportunities, operational refinement, and then actually looking at the very basics of, like, how are you set up? Like, did you successfully set up your operation, to enable you to be able to sell to x, y, and z?

So, the sales growth is multifaceted. It can focus very much on whatever the brand's pain points are. But yeah. So five key areas with that one. And then also with our consulting clients, we help them, to grow via wholesale and marketplace. So omnichannel is such a powerful strategy. So we encourage brands to not just sell via their website, to look at another strategic partnership, to kind of leverage another big brand, reach, logistical operations, whatever it might be, that they'll have something that's probably bigger and better than a start-up brand. So, yeah, loads of juicy, services that we do to help brands grow.

And then within the actual course, so we have, unzip fashion courses, which are on teachable. And we have two two key, courses at the moment. So one that you mentioned is, yeah, how to launch. So this is it's pretty comprehensive, and it is everything I have learned in my career in a course. So it's everything from idea validation, to how to know that you've got a really good brand and product that's going to sell, which is so important to success. It covers how to plan a collection, how to source, how to make, how to ship, how to market it, how to grow, how to do your finances, so much. Everything that, like, a startup would need to know to launch a fashion brand.

And just to highlight with our courses, I'm very passionate about making people successful. And so we do have a side course for people that are very much focused on profitability. So we talk through, like, the success formula. So how do you use data to validate your idea, how do you touch base with your customer and your market, and and, again, validate that your product is going to sell and that someone would get their wallet out and pay for it? So, yeah, so pretty much the courses, we match it back with a bit of coaching because they must get to talk to a human. But, yeah, so that is pretty much how we, yeah, service our, current clients.

[00:07:59.30] – Gresham Harkless

Nice. I love that holistic approach and the different, prongs, I guess you can say, that you have. But it also the prongs, I guess, the sub-prongs within each of the different services you provide as well. And it sounds, you know, great, of course, if you're you're starting to be able to kinda take that course to get a lay of the land and understanding of, hey. I want to be successful.

So how do I make that happen, that success formula that you touched on? But I also love, that you have those different rungs that you outlined because I think after you establish and sometimes get your business to a certain level, you want to figure out how do or why maybe the success that I hope to have isn't happening, and being able to have those services those consulting services is absolutely who you should do that.

[00:08:39.50] – Carley Johnson

Definitely. Yeah. I couldn't agree more. Again, this is especially true for a lot of them that I work with, they may not have, worked with someone from a third-party perspective, and they're trying to do it all themselves. So it is really important to, to kind of seek expert advice, as, as much as you possibly can. So definitely.

[00:08:59.79] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. One of the best ways to be successful. I think the quote is standing on the shoulders of giants. So people that are experts at what it is that they do, they have that experience that you've outlined and talked about that you've been able to have, is the one of the best ways to not that's not necessarily always guarantee success, but it puts you very close to being able to be successful. So I appreciate you for offering those services.

[00:09:18.50] – Carley Johnson

Absolutely. Thank you.

[00:09:19.70] – Gresham Harkless

And, I want to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce. This could be for you or your business or a combination of both, but what do you feel kinda sets you apart and makes you unique?

[00:09:28.29] – Carley Johnson

Yeah. Okay. So I guess, really, and this sounds quite self-centered, but, you know, I'm the founder of the business, and really what makes Unzipped unique is this multifaceted, spectrum that we offer. And it comes down to the different roles I've had and therefore the expertise that I can bring to the team and the table. So, yeah, just to call out, I started as a textile textile designer, so I was a print and embroidery designer. I moved then into fashion buying.

So I've been, in buying roles in jewelry and plus-size clothing. I moved into wholesale account management, which was trading, setting up, and trading multimillion-dollar revenue accounts. So big deals and that was across apparel, footwear, accessories, so many categories. And then, yeah, my most recent role pre-unzipped was all around new business, so how can we seek new global sales channels?

So what makes us unique is that we can resonate with our pure clients, creatives, who purely just know how to design and the actual again creative side of the business, but then we can resonate with our clients that are from say an accounting background that saw an opportunity to create a collection, we can really understand the strengths and weaknesses in our clients and then how to guide them into thinking, quite a broad spectrum and introducing them to the areas of business that you need to understand, too, to run a fashion brand.

So I'd say that pretty much makes us unique. And our niche which whittles us down a little bit more. Because we are very much fashion-focused. It's it's all about fashion. But we are about how to help clients increase their sales, but we're not just a sales agency. We're not just getting a quick book for your bang. It's actually how can we look at long-term, sustainable growth. So I'd say we are quite multifaceted is pretty much what makes us different.

[00:11:46.00] – Gresham Harkless

I wanted to, switch gears a little bit, and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

[00:11:55.50] – Carley Johnson

One thing that as much as I've talked about all these multifaceted and so many things going on, I just have to bring it back to simplicity. So that is in a sense my hack. So I'll always bring it back to basics. Like, why are you overcomplicating it? Why are you having a meeting for meeting's sake? Like, why are you running and wanting to open ten thousand accounts? Like, walk before you can run and focus on who your customer is. Like, all of these simplistic things that we sometimes quite easily lose sight of.

[00:12:29.50] – Gresham Harkless

I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So that could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client, or if you hopped into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

[00:12:39.10] – Carley Johnson

For me, advice to any fashion brand, if you're starting, like you've not launched or if you have launched, but you're looking to launch a new product or something, the same, what I'm about to say still applies. So it is simply that you're going to be successful if what your niche is in the market. And by niche, it's doing all the research, pricing, market, and competitor, but it's finding that product that has high demand with a medium to low competition.

[00:13:11.00] – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Carly, what does a CEO mean to you?

[00:13:21.00] – Carley Johnson

Yeah. So for me in fashion, I must be a female CEO because the industry is actually in a CEO status, and is led by many males. It's very male-orientated at the top and actually, fashion is pretty heavily run by females. So designers, buyers, and the actual people manufacturing the product. So it's quite an important fact that I've made it to that status of being able to tag myself as a female CEO within the fashion industry. So that's, yeah, kind of the the first, what it does mean to me in in a sensitive, state.

[00:14:10.10] – Gresham Harkless

I love that, definition. I appreciate all the awesome work and the blazing trails that you're doing as well.

[00:14:15.60] – Carley Johnson

Thank you so much. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Bring on more of us.

[00:14:21.70] – Gresham Harkless

Yes. Absolutely. Break down the walls. Right? Yeah. Well well, awesome. Awesome. Well, Carly, truly appreciate that definition. I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and listeners know and, of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.

[00:14:39.50] – Carley Johnson

Cool. Thank you. Yeah. I guess, to be honest, I don't have that much more as in tips and tactics or anything to share but I guess I would just simply say I am very much open to connecting and meeting new people so please don't be shy, come and say hello if it's anything remotely close to what I've talked about today that's good. But yeah, just come knock at my door, and we can have a free consultation if it's something work-related or not, but yeah, don't be shy, connect with me, I'm not scary, I promise.

And, yeah, ways that you can get in touch, so, the website is simply unzipped.com and on there you can send an email directly to me, and you can check out more info. On Instagram, we are at unzipped connections. So that's plural, so Unzipped connections. On Facebook, we have Unzipped Fashion Connections. Just to add one more word in there.

And then you can connect with me on LinkedIn by all means. It's just simply my name, which I'm sure will be in the notes. It's Carly Johnson. And then our business page is on there too, which is unzipped. So connect with me on all of them or just one of them. The choice is yours. And just don't be shy. Reach out. I'm more than happy to help, wherever you are in the stage of your career.

[00:16:01.10] – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much again, Carly. As you said, we will have the links and information in the show notes to make it even easier to connect. And I appreciate you for providing so much knowledge and information. And, as you said, a lot of times, really great things happen from just taking action, saying hi, and asking for help. So I appreciate you for being that resource for us today, but in so many different ways as you've shown and we can see in all the work that you're doing. So appreciate you so much again, and I hope you have a great rest of the day

[00:16:27.20] – Carley Johnson

Thank you.

[00:16:28.39] – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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