IAM1745 – Entrepreneur Creates Clothing Space for Women Over a Size 12

Why it was selected for “CBNation Architects”:  In this episode of the “I Am CEO” podcast, Gresham Harkless interviews Amanda Watson. Her organization and community provide plus-size reselling options. In her CEO Hack, she spoke about how important it was to her to hire people, especially for social media and operations while she was working her full-time job. The saying is if you are the smartest person in the room, find a different room.

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Transcription:

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Amanda Watson Teaser 00:00

And so we're trying to create a community-based platform as well for women within the plus-size space. So it's really important for us to look at other maybe new designers that are making fashion across, over a size 12.

Intro 00:13

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs, without listening to a long, long, long interview?

If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you are in search of.

This is the I AM CEO podcast.

Gresham Harkless 00:39

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I appreciate you listening to this episode. If you've been listening this year, you know that we hit 1600 episodes at the beginning of this year. We're doing something a little bit different where we're repurposing our favorite episodes around certain categories or topics or as I like to call them, the business pillars that we think are going to be extremely impactful for CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business owners, and what I like to call the CB nation architects who are looking to level up their organization.

This month we are focused on our greatest asset- talent management and hiring. Think from great resignation to the great renovation and if you disagree with me, maybe these episodes might be especially for you. Life and especially business has changed. It has forced those that are within organizations to look differently at talent, and how it's being managed.

When we talk about change, think about it, we have to realize that business as usual is no longer here. That's evident in attracting and retaining clients, but also in setting up people within organizations to succeed. Think onboarding, think DEI- diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. How it is working from home and even going back into the office.

Things are different in this month. We are going to explore these topics by featuring CEO hacks and CEO nuggets, but also interviews that focus on these changes and how organizations can make sure they care for and attract the most valuable asset- their people. Sit back and enjoy this special episode of the I AM CEO podcast.

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Amanda Watson of StyleForit. Amanda, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Amanda Watson 02:11

Thank you for having me.

Gresham Harkless 02:12

No problem. Super excited to have you on, and what I want to do is just read a little bit more about Amanda so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing.

With over 20 years in apparel buying and merchandising for the majors, she started StyleForit out of her own need. Women over size 12 did not have a specific resale and consignment platform for their clothing style. StyleForit has created a space just for them.

Amanda, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Amanda Watson 02:38

I am. Yes.

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Gresham Harkless 02:40

Awesome. Let's do it. So they kick everything off. I wanted to hear a little bit more about what I call your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Amanda Watson 02:47

So, like you said my background is in the apparel business and has been my entire career. I'm constantly buying clothes. At one point I was able to sell some things and then I looked at a wardrobe of suits that I no longer wear because the lifestyle has changed in San Francisco and the overall landscape.

But what am I gonna do with these things? You can sell them on other sites, and I'm not gonna name names, but they're not specific to the world of girls over size 12. So I thought what an opportunity. Three years ago I did some research and decided to custom build out a website. styleforit.com was born.

Gresham Harkless 03:22

Nice. I definitely appreciate that. In true entrepreneurial form, it's you find that something isn't really I guess focused on the target that you're focused on. And rather than, saying, oh, I wish they did X, Y, and Z, you decided to create it yourself.

Amanda Watson 03:35

Correct. Yes.

Gresham Harkless 03:36

Nice. So could you, take us a little bit more through StyleForit. What can we find there? How does it work? And tell us a little bit more on how it serves your clients you work with.

Amanda Watson 03:46

So, we are a resale specific right now, and there are two ways for women to sell to the site. One, you can go ahead and post on your own, create an account, and take photographs of the picture of items, rather than yourself.

We encourage people to take, fun photos of themselves and of course a simple photo of the product and just create a description, price it and then we will take it from there and upload it for you.

You get an 80% commission, which is a really high commission that is really important to the model. You could also request a bag and I can send that to you and you can fill it up and we'll post for you with photographs.

Gresham Harkless 04:26

Nice. So even if you aren't, let's just say tech savvy, you can basically go and sign up and then you can get it mailed to you and you guys are mailed to it and do all the fulfillment and all those things.

Amanda Watson 04:35

Exactly. So we'll mail you the bag, you fill it up and the postage is prepaid. Drop it back at the post office and we'll take care of it from there.

Gresham Harkless 04:44

Nice. I definitely appreciate that. Again, because I always say especially when you're building something, if you can make it as simple as possible for people to use it and to leverage it and manage it, it makes it a lot easier for people to take on and to run with it.

Amanda Watson 04:57

We want women to have the best experience possible when reselling their clothes. So, we make it easy because I know people are busy.

Gresham Harkless 05:03

Absolutely. Would you consider that to be like your secret sauce? It could be for you or it could be for your organization, but what you feel makes you unique and it helps you stand out?

Amanda Watson 05:11

I think because we're a higher commission rate. I think in most resale spaces, you're getting like probably 20, 25, 30% Yeah. Of what the price was, or I should say what the current price is. The resale price is, you're probably looking more like 10% of the original retail price. So we're looking at 70 to 80% commission depending on which way you choose either mail-in or post on your own.

So, We want people to get more bang for their buck. If you're going to sell something, we wanna be different. We want you to get as much as you can out of it. Then also the customer service component.

Gresham Harkless 05:43

Yeah. That's actually what I was gonna touch on because it sounds like everything is very customer-focused and customer-centric, so to speak, where you are putting a customer first. Because a lot of times, when you're reselling something you get such a low commission that you wonder if you even want to sell it. You might just keep it.

But the fact that it's so high and it sounds like you guys have such a customer experience, great customer experience, it seems like more people will be coming back.

Amanda Watson 06:07

That's what we're hoping. So we're trying to create a community-based platform as well for women within the plus-size space. So it's really important for us to look at other maybe new designers that are making fashion girls over a size 12. So we're trying to see if we can work together maybe to get some of their overruns at some point.

We really wanna create a sense of community for these women.

Gresham Harkless 06:27

Yeah, absolutely. I feel like inherent in us as humans, you always wanna belong and be part of a community, so it's great, that you're doing that and you're empowering people as well too, to be able to resell their clothing and things that they wanna resell. So I definitely appreciate that.

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

Amanda Watson 06:53

One thing I learned for the first year and a half of doing this, I was doing literally everything by myself and I was also still working full-time. So I found start hiring the right people. So I hired a social media manager. She's amazing. So that was really that. She's in this space, the plus space that has changed everything. We've got more traction on the site.

It's also a collaborative thing to work with somebody. I think that if you can afford it, hire the right person to either manage your social media or manage your operations. Start looking for people that can support you. You'll have to pay them, but you're looking for people that are within the space that you're working on and let them support you, even if it's just on a part-time basis. It'll change everything.

Gresham Harkless 07:39

Yeah that makes perfect sense. Always getting the right people in the right spaces is definitely the key to being successful.

Do you have anything that you noticed that you did or maybe you've heard people haven't done, but yet you have been able to do, to make sure that you're getting the right people in those right spaces?

Amanda Watson 07:55

That's just hiring the social media manager. She seemed to know all the right people, all the right bloggers, influencers, and whoever needed to be contacted. Even though I come from that world, I didn't know anything about influencers and blogs. I know of them, but it wasn't where my area of expertise came from.

So she's not only helped the website but she's helped teach me how to do things better, approaching people from a social media standpoint, it's been a wonderful experience hiring her.

Gresham Harkless 08:21

Yeah, absolutely. I think that's a phenomenal point because I think that a lot of times I think it's a reflection upon leadership because I think you always wanna surround yourself with experts and people that are really great at what it is they do. Because when you're able to do that, it also helps the brand, helps out the clients as well too, but also helps you out as far as growing, I find.

Amanda Watson 08:40

Yes. I had heard this nugget from years ago in the nineties from a CEO, and he said hire people that are smarter than you. I always liked that one.

Gresham Harkless 08:48

Exactly, exactly. So is that your CEO nugget what you feel?

Amanda Watson 08:51

Yes. Yes.

Gresham Harkless 08:55

Yeah, absolutely. I think that's a huge thing just because a lot of times some people can be threatened by hiring people that are smarter than you. But in order to do that, it helps build the entire company, the organization, and the brand as a whole. So I think that's a great CEO nugget.

Now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO and we're hoping to have different CEOs on this show. So, Amanda, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Amanda Watson 09:19

If I wrote down a few words that I feel are really important. Number one is being an innovator. You have to, you can't be complacent. You have a great idea and you went with that, and that's working. You have to keep working towards the next part of it. Think in the future, like what does this look like in a year? What does it look like in five years? Where can we still expand?

You can reach your pinnacle, but you're not there yet. There's more to do. So I think innovators, are one of them. I think being a manager, not too hands-on, but managing sort of the process not necessarily the people, I think it's really important and having the ability to problem solve because you're gonna have a problem. That's a negative problem, but things are gonna crop up that you're gonna have to like, really, switch it on quickly and fix it quickly.

Gresham Harkless 10:02

Absolutely. I think those are all great, characteristics of a great CEO. Especially the problem solvers because you know, sometimes you feel like you're a part-time firefighter because there are things that always pop up. But being able to put those on and also think of creative and innovative ways to solve problems or to think about 5 years, 10 years ahead is definitely a great thing as well too. So I appreciate that definition.

Now I wanted to pass you to the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know and then of course, how best they can get ahold of you.

Amanda Watson 10:34

I think that just as a word of advice to have a clear plan and if you're going to execute that plan, make sure you have the finance to back it up, because I've ebbed and flowed in that particular arena when it comes to the money and just make sure that it's there so you don't do a lot of work then you get to a point where it's I can't go any further. I'd hate to see that for somebody.

I have a clear finance and a clear plan to back that up so you can run things smoothly and manage it easier. I think it'll make your life a lot better. If you would like to check out styleforit.com, we're all over the place. We're on Facebook and Instagram and of course our website styleforit.com.

Gresham Harkless 11:14

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much again, Amanda. We'll have those links as well on the show notes so that anybody can follow up with you and see all the awesome things that you guys are creating and working on. I just truly appreciate you for building, StyleForit and I appreciate your time today and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Amanda Watson 11:31

Thank you so much for having me.

Outro 11:33

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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