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Proof to Product

Latest episodes

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Mar 26, 2024 • 59min

335 | In-Person Retail Markets with Emily Chiang, Danella McKinnon, and Kate Pinto

Emily Chiang, the owner of Emii Creations, Danella McKinnon of McKinnon Collective, and Kate Pinto from Bean Horse Car Designs gather to discuss the in-person retail market landscape. They highlight strategies for engaging consumers and adapting to post-pandemic changes. The trio shares insights on logistics, maximizing social media presence, and the challenges of outdoor events. They also touch on effective cash handling and the importance of creating memorable customer experiences, ensuring vendors can thrive amidst evolving shopping behaviors.
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Mar 19, 2024 • 34min

334 | Expanding into 1,000 Stores with Brittany O'Brien, Brittany Paige

Brittany O'Brien, a New York City-based illustrator and founder of Brittany Paige, shares her journey from scaling her stationery and gift company to over 1,000 stores. She dives into the balance between customer acquisition and retention and the pivotal role of trade shows in her growth strategy. Brittany discusses leveraging SEO, the impact of TikTok for business branding, and the significance of consistent email marketing. With a witty flair, she offers insights on adapting to market demands and nurturing relationships in her evolving business landscape.
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Mar 12, 2024 • 31min

333 | Scaling without Employees with Beth Roszkowski, Tiny Hooray

Beth Roszkowski, the creative force behind Tiny Hooray, shares her unique journey from hobbyist letterpress printer to thriving entrepreneur. With over 300 retail partnerships, she discusses her preference for utilizing independent contractors over hiring employees, enabling her to scale smartly. The conversation dives into the importance of adaptability, creative collaboration in product design, and the art of delegation, emphasizing how these strategies empower her to align business growth with personal goals.
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Mar 5, 2024 • 23min

332 | Rebuilding Self-Trust and Confidence as a Business Owner with Ginny Krauss & Elli Runkles, Supported CEO (Part 2)

Entrepreneurs Ginny and Elli from Supported CEO share strategies to prevent burnout, rebuild self-confidence, and establish support pockets for managing stress effectively. They discuss practical tips for combatting burnout, empowering women entrepreneurs with self-care practices, and the importance of journaling for self-coaching and trust building. They emphasize sustainable practices, self-responsibility, and community support to avoid burnout in entrepreneurship.
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Feb 27, 2024 • 36min

331 | Back From Burnout with Ginny Krauss & Elli Runkles, Supported CEO (Part 1)

The topic of burnout is popping up a lot in my business circles. People are tired, and they are struggling with decision fatigue. Many people I talk to are questioning whether to even continue with their business or whether they should make an exit, but these types of conversations typically happen behind closed doors, or worse, they don't happen at all, and people end up struggling alone in silence, which is not what I want for any of you. That all changes today.  Ginny Krauss and Elli Runkles are sharing their journey back from burnout on the podcast. What it felt like, how they knew something needed to change, what type of help they sought out, and how they've gotten to their recovery point today where they're helping other business owners.  We also discuss decision fatigue, building self-trust as a business owner, and how your definition of “success” as a business owner can change over time. Ginny Krauss and Elli Runkles are the cofounders of Supported CEO. Their mission is to help busy entrepreneurs thrive in both life and business without burning out by becoming a more supported version of themselves. Ginny and Elli have over 15 years of entrepreneurial experience. Both of them had previous businesses before coming together to cofound Supported CEO in 2023. They are also both Americans who have had the unique experience of living abroad for over a decade. Ginny lives in Germany, and Elli lives in Portugal. They are also the hosts of the Supported CEO podcast.  Today's episode is brought to you by a brand new page on our website, where you can access our free and lower-priced products. Head to http://prooftoproduct.com/courses to learn more.  We want to make it easy for you to get the help that you need when you need it most. We have incredible resources including our wholesale audio series or our unlock buyer secrets interview series which sheds light on how the wholesale buying cycles and retailer buying preferences have changed (and is only $27!). SIGN UP You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/331  Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp
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Feb 20, 2024 • 36min

330 | How to Have Tough Conversations with Your Team with Tatiana O'Hara, T. O'Hara Consulting

If you're looking for ways to be a stronger leader within your business or you're considering expanding your team, please block off some quiet time to carefully listen today.  Our guest for this episode is Tatiana O'Hara, a team and leadership development consultant who helps successful yet overwhelmed online business owners create the structure needed for their team and daily operations so that they can focus on scaling sustainably.  As a corporate leader turned business coach, she has helped dozens of leaders optimize and build their teams and learn essential leadership skills that have yielded 100 of 1,000 of dollars in sales growth.  Overall, if you're ready to stop being the doer of all the things and you're ready to build a business that doesn't run you, Tatiana is your gal.  In this episode, we're talking about mistakes that folks make when they are hiring, how to identify appropriate KPIs, (key performance indicators for the individual roles you're hiring for), and how to have tough conversations when managing a team.  Tatiana also shares her personal story of laying off her higher team after having her first baby last year. It's a relatable story about how life circumstances shifted her priorities and her goals for the business, something I'm sure many of us have experience with. Today’s episode is brought to you by our Deciding What to Delegate free workshop. As busy entrepreneurs, one of our biggest challenges is knowing where to dedicate our time and energy. We’re usually so busy doing the work in our business that we have a tough time identifying what we can hand off to someone else. This on-demand free workshop will provide you with 3 simple steps so that you can identify what projects to outsource so that you can stop being the bottleneck in your business. SIGN UP You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/330  Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp Deciding What to Delegate free workshop
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Feb 13, 2024 • 17min

329 | How These 9 Businesses Have Grown Since Attending Paper Camp

We are gearing up for the 43rd round of Paper Camp and we are so excited!  This is our wholesale intensive program, and I wanted to do something fun for this week's podcast episode to celebrate this milestone and the fact that enrollment for Paper Camp is currently open.  I asked our past Paper Camp students to answer 1 question: How have you and your business grown since participating in Paper Camp?  The responses we received were incredible. In this episode, you're gonna hear from 9 women who represent a small sampling of our community. They sell a wide range of home decor, jewelry, embroidery, stationery, and consumer gift products. They sell their products to stores big and small across the world. Some came through Paper Camp several years ago while a couple just attended our last round in fall 2023, and yet each of them took advantage of everything that Paper Camp had to offer: the coaching, the community, and the coursework.  They implemented what they learned, and now they are seeing incredible results. Check out the links of everyone featured below and be sure to head to this link to enroll in the 43rd round of Paper Camp. Class starts on Monday, February 19th! Businesses featured in this episode Chelsea Ward, Sketchy Notions: Follow on Instagram Christy Asper, Paper Baristas: Follow on Instagram Riki Inge, Rikrack Embroidery: Follow on Instagram Sandra Alcorn, Petals & Pins: Follow on Instagram Shelley Schmidt, Sunny Day Designs: Follow on Instagram Kate Murray, Quick Brown Fox Letterpress: Follow on Instagram Nellys Siria, Cocoa Loves Grey: Follow on Instagram Keli Change, PärdēPress: Follow on Instagram Ashley Sutton, Hustle and Hope: Follow on Instagram You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/329 Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp
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Feb 6, 2024 • 17min

328 | An inside look at what Paper Camp is like

Have you ever wondered what it's like to attend our Paper Camp program? If so, today's episode is for you!  I am sharing an inside peek into one of our Paper Camp coaching calls. This one is with Alex Gagne of Chez Gagné. Alex has been a longtime member of our Paper Camp community. When she first attended as a student, she had been in business a little less than 2 years.  She was working out of her living room and had designed a collection of 80 SKUs. Alex knew that wholesale was her end game, so she soaked up everything that Paper Camp had to offer and went home and put what she learned into practice.  As you will hear during the episode, Alex has done an incredible job of thoughtfully expanding her product line with an eye toward profit margins, sell-through rates, and intentional partnerships. We talk about the profit margins that she seeks when adding new product categories to her line. We also discuss discontinuing products and the pros and cons of working with big box retail stores among other things. This is just a tiny sliver of my conversation with Alex, and it's a tiny sliver of what the Paper Camp experience is like. You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/328 Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp  
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Jan 30, 2024 • 7min

327 | How to apply for a Paper Camp scholarship with Katie Hunt

If you’re listening today that means you’re likely interested in applying for our Paper Camp scholarship! Giving back is one of our core values here at Proof to Product and we give back through our time, knowledge as well as financial scholarships. Since 2011, we’ve awarded over $275,000+ in scholarship funds to creative entrepreneurs who sell physical products to the wholesale market. These brands had big dreams of seeing their products on the shelves of their favorite stores and they have obtained huge results. These scholarships are a big deal and we treat them that way. We typically have anywhere from 80-90 scholarship applications every round of Paper Camp. My team and I dedicate several days to view all the videos, read the applications, review websites, and ultimately whittle it down to one full tuition scholarship winner. It’s never an easy choice, but we do put a lot of care into our selections. And, today I want to share 5 ways that you can stand out when submitting your Paper Camp application. You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/327  Quick Links: Free Wholesale Audio Series Free Resources Library Free Email Marketing for Product Makers PTP LABS Paper Camp  
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Jan 23, 2024 • 15min

326 | The State of Trade Shows in 2024 with Katie Hunt

The podcast dives into the evolving landscape of wholesale trade shows as we approach 2024. It discusses effective strategies for engaging with buyers and the importance of making a great first impression. Listeners learn about the advantages and misconceptions of trade shows, especially for new businesses. The conversation highlights how trade shows can foster essential connections and adapt to changing buying patterns post-pandemic, revealing new challenges and opportunities in the wholesale market.

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