Throwback: From Wedding Invitations to Eight-Figure Success: The Entrepreneurial Journey of Hadley Designs

In this Throwback episode, Chad Franzen interviews Josh, co-founder of Hadley Designs, about his journey from door-to-door sales and custom wedding invitations to building an eight-figure Amazon brand with over 1,300 SKUs. Josh shares how resilience, leveraging Facebook ads, and continuous learning fueled his growth. He discusses the transition from bespoke products to scalable e-commerce, the impact of mentorship, and the importance of reinvesting profits. Josh also introduces his new podcast, aimed at helping seven-figure business owners scale to eight figures by sharing real-world lessons and strategies from successful entrepreneurs.

Chapters:

Introduction and Early Entrepreneurial Drive (00:00:00)
Josh discusses resilience, shaking off criticism, and introduces Chad Frandsen as the interviewer.

Lifelong Entrepreneurial Spirit (00:00:44)
Josh describes his restless drive for business ideas and entrepreneurial mindset.

Starting Hadley Designs (00:01:03)
Josh recounts working at American Airlines, Becca’s passion for art, and launching Hadley Designs.

First Wedding Invitation Sales & Facebook Groups (00:01:51)
Becca’s first wedding invitation project, joining Facebook groups, and early sales tactics.

Early Revenue and Facebook Group Marketing (00:03:43)
Josh explains how Facebook groups drove initial revenue and his extensive involvement in them.

Sales Approach and Door-to-Door Experience (00:04:13)
Josh credits his sales process and door-to-door pest control sales for refining his approach.

Applying Sales Tactics to Wedding Invitations (00:05:00)
Josh details his copy-paste sales messages and qualifying questions for potential clients.

Lessons from Door-to-Door Sales (00:05:33)
Josh shares how door-to-door sales taught him perseverance, handling rejection, and maintaining momentum.

Resilience and Bouncing Back (00:07:47)
Josh discusses shaking off criticism, confidence, and how resilience helps in business and relationships.

Evolution of Marketing Strategy (00:08:35)
Josh describes shifting from Facebook groups to Facebook ads, and the impact on Hadley Designs’ growth.

Transition to Amazon and Product Expansion (00:09:39)
Josh explains moving from custom invitations to mass-produced products, launching on Amazon, and scaling SKUs.

Mentorship and Continuous Learning (00:11:35)
Josh talks about his college mentor, Troy D’Ambrosio, and the importance of ongoing education and learning from others.

Key to Success: Willingness to Learn (00:13:33)
Josh affirms that continuous learning and seeking knowledge have been crucial to his success.

Launching a New Podcast (00:13:36)
Josh introduces his new podcast aimed at helping entrepreneurs scale from seven to eight figures on Amazon.

Podcast Focus and Value (00:13:56)
Josh outlines the podcast’s mission: sharing lessons, overcoming plateaus, and interviewing successful entrepreneurs.

Conclusion and Farewell (00:15:21)
Chad thanks Josh, expresses interest in the podcast, and the episode wraps up.

Links and Mentions:

Tools and Websites  
Adobe Illustrator 
Facebook Groups
Facebook Advertising
Amazon 

Courses  
Facebook Ads Course
Amazon Course

Mentors  
Troy D'Ambrosio on LinkedIn 

Transcript:

Josh 00:00:00  But you got to just shake things off and some people would be like, You seem like super scammy. Like, I don't, you know, you're you're a creepy dude. Like, why are you in these Facebook groups? It's mostly women in here. It's like, you know, you just got to shake it off and go the next person because, you know, you're doing people a service, right? And it's not like I was trying to do anything maliciously. So to me, it's I had full confidence going forward and being like, hey, all right, let's just go to the next person. Let's let whatever people say just literally slide off my back. And today I have Chad Franzen here of rise 25, who has done thousands of interviews with successful entrepreneurs and CEOs. We have flipped the script and he's going to be interviewing me today. Welcome, Chad.

Chad 00:00:44  Hey Josh, thanks so much. It's great to be here. Hey, question for you. Would you consider yourself a lifelong entrepreneur?

Josh 00:00:51  Yeah, I would definitely say I'm a lifelong entrepreneur.

Josh 00:00:54  For whatever reason, there's there's just something inside of me that, doesn't allow me to rest at night. I've always got a lot of business ideas going.

Chad 00:01:03  You kind of. You graduated with your MBA and with your, bachelor's degree. And you went to American Airlines. You were working there for five years, and then you were you were working nights with your wife, and that was that Hadley designed?

Josh 00:01:15  Yes, yes. So that's where Hadley Designs was born. So I started at American Airlines in August of 2014, and then Hadley Designs officially became an entity in March of 2015. So I had a good job with American Airlines, and we kind of asked ourselves, like, what is it that, you know, you should do? Becca. what? And she she didn't necessarily want to go work for somebody. right off the bat, which I thought was interesting. I was like, I fully support that. Like, let's go explore. Like, we've got time on our hands, right? No kids at this point.

Josh 00:01:51  Like, we just graduated college. And so she actually She's always had a passion for art and creativity, and so she kind of explored that. And so she ended up, I think a friend was getting married and she's like, hey, you know, ...