Episode 33 Transcript
Heather:
All right, welcome to the show, Melissa. I am so happy you are here. I have to give a little bit of backstory before I bring you in on why I chose you, because there's so many people in my community of all the websites and social media marketing and stuff that we do that are looking for more of what you do. And we're gonna get into this conversation as we go through this episode, but welcome. I wanna say hi to you first, hello.
Melissa Robbins:
Thank you, hello, thanks for having me here.
Heather:
I'm so excited.
Melissa Robbins:
Yes.
Heather:
Now, you have an incredible wealth of experience. And I actually just want to do a little bit of backstory about what you do before we kick into some of your tips around anti-hustle tips and how to, you know, get through those moments of overwhelm. So you have like over 25 years experience in the retail and wholesale industry. Talk to me about this. What did you do and how did you start your business?
Melissa Robbins:
Well, so it started way back when, you know, if I add up my first jobs, you know, all those sort of things to it actually probably be more like 30, 35. But I've always worked in customer service, retail, worked in fashion as a sort of first jobs in, you know, fashion stores, boutiques, things like that.
Heather:
Yeah.
Melissa Robbins:
And I had a little side part for a while there where I was a high school teacher. So
Heather:
Oh!
Melissa Robbins:
yeah, it's a high school science and maths teacher, of all things. But then
Heather:
Wow.
Melissa Robbins:
I've always sort of, and then I've always had my own business sort of on the side as well. So very few of those years have not been running my own business. So yeah, I've loved retail, I love products, I love this whole landscape of people designing, creating, coming up with their own ideas and bringing things to life. And yeah, it's just sort of evolved over time that I've incorporated my experience with Um, the products and retail and wholesale side, and then the teaching side. And I was a lecturer in fashion business. So it's sort of all sort of come together, like, you know, as Joel, as life, you know, cycles do of what sort of job you do, I think they all add to each other and they all, um, contribute to the next thing that you're going to be doing. So yeah. And then I've had my own retail store, had my own brand. So I'm sort of coming from things with, um, having worn all the hats. So. now the businesses that I work with, I've sort of can get all the different perspectives, which helps because yeah, just for them knowing what it's like to be the buyer or the seller of their products or having been in the trenches and as a lot of product businesses are, they wear every single hat under the sun, you know, they're doing all the different types of jobs. So knowing how that works as well, it's just gives a bit of empathy, I guess, and to understanding where they're coming from.
Heather:
And that's what I really love about you. And I'm getting pickier as I'm sort of looking for people to interview because there's a lot of amazing people out there that have taken a course or, you know, have a little bit of experience under their belt and then they go out and teach it, but I want people like you that really have done it. Like you do the thing that you
Melissa Robbins:
Mm.
Heather:
are coaching businesses to do. And that is, I find that more and more rare. So, um, I feel like our conversation is going to be good. All
Melissa Robbins:
That's good,
Heather:
right.
Melissa Robbins:
that's good, that's good. Yeah.
Heather:
Yeah. So, so the first question I have is I want to go straight into tips. I always like to start with a few meaty tips before we kind of talk more
Melissa Robbins:
Mm-hmm.
Heather:
about what you do and how you work with businesses. And I want to start with three tips that you have around the space of, we'll call it working smarter, less anti-hustle to build a business. So like whether that's in your business, do you have three tips that you do with yourself or your clients? What are they?
Melissa Robbins:
That is a great question. It was really hard to sort of trim this down to three suggestions, but I think one of the biggest things that when someone's either starting their business or they have been doing it for a little while and then they sort of need to evolve or change, I think knowing what success looks like to you is super important so that
Heather:
Yeah.
Melissa Robbins:
you're not trying to be anyone else or run your business like anyone else. because everyone's got different demands of their time or a different time of their life. So knowing what success looks like to you is super important and not having these other ideals of what someone else's version looks like. That allows you to then focus a little bit more on not hustling all the time but just being comfortable in what you've got or creating the life that you want essentially.
Heather:
Yeah, I like that. That's
Melissa Robbins:
So
Heather:
good.
Melissa Robbins:
that's number one, that was the first one.
Heather:
Yep.
Melissa Robbins:
So then being clear, yeah, being really clear on what you want to achieve, like what is your why, why are you doing it, and why is that important? Because if you don't have a really strong hold on that, then everything does become harder, because you're sort of like, what am I doing this for? You know, why am I hustling this hard, or what's pushing me to keep going type of thing? Because, you know, everyone who has a business or has been in business for a while knows it's definitely not. simple and easy, but it doesn't also have to be hard in terms of,
Heather:
Exactly.
Melissa Robbins:
yeah, like it's definitely not simple or smooth, I guess you could say smooth sailing, but it doesn't also have to be hard and as you say, you don't have to hustle. I think that's really hard to get over that, you know, work hard means more income or more success. Like I think it's about working smarter and working in a way that feels good to you, not necessarily to anyone else.
Heather:
I love that. And on your point too, as well, if somebody is still struggling to know what their why is, because there's a lot of us out there that literally have been in business five years, 10 years, and we still struggle with
Melissa Robbins:
Hmm.
Heather:
the why,
Melissa Robbins:
Yes.
Heather:
do you have any advice around helping people uncover theirs?
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah, well, one practice that I've seen or used is one that I did with Dean Graziosi, which is a
Heather:
Yeah.
Melissa Robbins:
sort of a mentor, you know, business coach. One thing he does is the seven, seven levels of why so seven levels deep of why so really going and his thing is online, you can sort of go and search for that seven levels of why but it's really diving deeper into well, you know, some people just say, well, I want to do it for my kids or I want to do it for this reason. It's like, well, why is that important? And then sort of really uncovering that further and further. And the examples that he gives and the examples that I sort of run through this with lots of my clients too. And it's like, well, what does that actually mean? And so trying to get deeper than that surface level, oh, well, I want to, I want to show my, you know, family that I can do it, but why is that important? And so, yeah, really trying to continue the questioning of yourself. probably to a level you haven't done before. And that's why seven levels is probably that, no one's really probably gone that far, I guess.
Heather:
No, yeah,
Melissa Robbins:
Yep.
Heather:
that's really smart. OK, yeah,
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah.
Heather:
I like that because everyone's watched like sort of the Simon Sinek video, um, Power
Melissa Robbins:
Yes.
Heather:
of Your Wire, whatever that is. And everyone's like, oh, this is amazing. But how do I do it? So having a bit of an infrastructure is really important.
Melissa Robbins:
Mm.
Heather:
Love it. OK, tip number three.
Melissa Robbins:
So tip number three on there is setting up the business how you want it to be set up from the sort of start or as you go. So, you know, like if you want to be able to have school holidays off, say with your kids, then make sure that you incorporate that into your, you know, your practice. If you want to work from home a few days a week, or, you know, going, have a warehouse space that you have your office from, then do that. But setting it up from the sort of start how you want it to run. and not just doing things because other people are doing them. So it comes back to the wire, you know, the, what success looks like to you, you know, just because someone else has a, um, warehouse space, does that mean that you need to as well? Or if someone
Heather:
Yeah.
Melissa Robbins:
has, you know, a big company with 10 employees, does that mean you need to as well? You know, I think, and I think the longer you're in business, all the more iterations of a business you have, like, as I said, I've been doing different ones for 25
Heather:
Hehehe
Melissa Robbins:
years plus. then it sort of gets to the point where you're like, no, well, I want it to look like this. For me, this is what works. Not doing it because someone else is doing it.
Heather:
Yeah, great tips, love them. I wanna transition
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah.
Heather:
into how you work. So first of all, Melissa, who are your clients that you help?
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah, so clients are, I call a generalization product based businesses. So anyone who has a product because that's sort of my specialty or my background and my knowledge, I do of course have service based businesses as well as customers. But then it's like, okay, just,
Heather:
I'm gonna go to bed.
Melissa Robbins:
you know, niche of, you know, who people are that I work with. And so because my background is in the retail and wholesale space, they're the sort of clients that I work with. So product based businesses who have either a retail store, physical retail store. or they have just an online store, so direct to consumer sales, and then also brands who want to wholesale as well. So they're looking at how can they have a product business that's not just one, you know, eggs in one basket of selling online, but then they wanna have multiple revenue streams of selling wholesale or selling, you know, to US or selling to different countries, selling to different areas and in different ways. So it's not just one sales channel. that
Heather:
Perfect.
Melissa Robbins:
they're my customers
Heather:
Love it.
Melissa Robbins:
and it could be any product. Like this is one of the questions
Heather:
Yeah.
Melissa Robbins:
too. Like I generally don't work in food products. Like that is one thing I generally don't work with because that's that fast, you know, moving consumer good. I work with like lifestyle products, beauty, fashion, homewares, ceramics, jewelry, accessories, all that sort of thing is my forte.
Heather:
Great. We have, we have loads of people in our community that are, you know, beauty businesses that either are looking to sell wholesale or already do, and then they're wanting to now sell retail. So,
Melissa Robbins:
Mmm.
Heather:
um, we'll, we'll get to some tips, I think coming
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah.
Heather:
up a little bit later, but I want to go into a case study. I love case studies cause it really helps people to know how you work. So tell me about somebody that you've helped recently talk to me a little bit about their business. Happy for you to say their business name if you want to. What was their problem when they came to you? as a result of that relationship.
Melissa Robbins:
All right, so one of the ones that I do, I just actually had her on the podcast, so I do talk about her a lot, but I mean, it's Kelly who has a brand called Clipstar. So it's one of these products that's, I guess you could call it a widget almost in terms of it's not, it doesn't fit into neatly into any category, but it's a hat clip to, you know, carry your hat when you're not wearing it on your bag or on anything else that you might use it for. That's her first product. She's got more now and she's adding more to it. Essentially, when she first came to me, she'd been going for a year and she wanted to expand her wholesale and grow her wholesale area. She also wanted help with selling online in a way that worked for her. And so one of the things that we started with is how to set up her systems and the back end of her product business so that it was smooth and automated a little bit more. she just so that she had confidence in what she was putting out to when she was contacting stores or trying to get into different regions that
Heather:
Yeah.
Melissa Robbins:
what she was giving out was her best self I guess and a lot of people who I work with they've you know come from other corporate jobs or other careers that they're very highly skilled in and very knowledgeable in but this is just something sometimes that they just have no idea of the terminology or expectations of what when people are buying their product what they should put out. So it's giving them the confidence that what they're showing is accurate or what expectations buyers have and that they're pricing the right way and offering the right information. And being on the side of the buyer, because I've had my retail stores and being on that side of things, it's buyers are busy, they've got lots of things thrown at them all the time and they're trying to do their job as well as possible. So it's about removing barriers for them as well. So
Heather:
Yeah.
Melissa Robbins:
sometimes it's just streamlining what you give out to people in terms of the catalog that you send or the email that you might send or even how someone buys from you. So remove, it's similar to a website as well, I guess, you know, that the more barriers you can remove, the smoother the process and the
Heather:
Exactly.
Melissa Robbins:
less issues, it's easier, right? And more people buy
Heather:
Yep.
Melissa Robbins:
because it's just converting more. So same thing with her. It was just getting her in a place where she was putting her best foot forward, had the right pricing structure, had the right packaging, we worked on all of those things. And then I also helped to expand into the US. So like that first
Heather:
Ooh.
Melissa Robbins:
step into the US of, again, expectations, trade shows. We went to trade show New York Now, actually it was last August, so not quite a year ago now, we were there. And yeah, just really helping her set herself up in the right way and give her the confidence that she's approaching things in the way that's expected.
Heather:
When you help people go into new markets, like you did with her in the States, for example, like what steps do you do to help a client do that?
Melissa Robbins:
So again, it's about removing barriers. So often people will go in, let's say for example, you know, if you're an Australian business, which I work with a lot of Australian businesses, but you're going with, this is my price in Australian dollars and you can get it picked up from my warehouse for this price, which is an okay way to start because you know, you're just sort of starting to set yourself up. But for example, and I do this with trade shows, I've done a lot of trade shows in New Zealand as well. So it's about when you go to a trade show there, you need to have prices that are US dollars. You need to have landed prices. People don't want to, they want it to be an unknown of how much shipping is gonna cost, for example, or if they have to pay import duties. So making it as simple as easy as possible. So putting your prices in landed prices in the US and having a system so that you can either send it to a 3PL warehouse, which is like a distribution center. and then they send out your orders for you. Or you know, you might, she has eventually now, she's got a three PL warehouse in San Diego. So then when people place orders, they get them fast. So
Heather:
Wow.
Melissa Robbins:
all of those sort of things to make it smooth as possible for the buyer.
Heather:
There's so much to consider. They're
Melissa Robbins:
And
Heather:
really.
Melissa Robbins:
yeah, I haven't even got into the legal and tax implications there
Heather:
No.
Melissa Robbins:
because that's a whole other kettle of it.
Heather:
I don't even know
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah.
Heather:
where to go with
Melissa Robbins:
It
Heather:
it,
Melissa Robbins:
is
Heather:
but
Melissa Robbins:
a bit,
Heather:
yes.
Melissa Robbins:
and it's. It is one of those things that can be overwhelming. And that's where having that step by step or structure to go, well, these are just the things you're going to do first, second, third, and so on. It makes it easier because then you know that you're ticking the boxes, so to speak. And so it does remove a bit of the overwhelm. If you're like, okay, well, yeah, I need to do this first. Another client's just setting up in the U S and I'm like, well, she's a U S citizen. So for her, she's got to be a company set up in Australia and then just be employed. through that as opposed to earning income in the US because then it changed all the tax and all sorts of things. But it's like, okay, we'll just set up the company then. That's step one. Let's do this. Next, you know, we'll do some other stuff. But yeah, really helping remove barriers, make it smooth. And yeah, my sister and I did many a trade show in the US years ago when we had our product. And you know, we made some mistakes in that time. And so it's all these things that lessons learned. You're like, oh, I'd get make sure I've got payment beforehand. You know, we got caught out by not getting paid by a few people, which is really hard to chase up and follow up and yeah.
Heather:
What was your product?
Melissa Robbins:
Children's Wear. So Children's
Heather:
Ah,
Melissa Robbins:
Wear brand. Yeah. So we
Heather:
that's
Melissa Robbins:
had
Heather:
right.
Melissa Robbins:
fashion, but then also some accessories we added to. And that's like we added sunglasses and then we had to we tried to get into the US and it became a they needed a we realized I needed an import certificate that because they were classed as a medical device. So therefore
Heather:
Wow.
Melissa Robbins:
we had to get this, you know, all these little things you like. But
Heather:
There's
Melissa Robbins:
anyway, it's
Heather:
so
Melissa Robbins:
practice
Heather:
much.
Melissa Robbins:
and time. Yeah.
Heather:
Yeah, but gosh, to have your experience and truly for somebody that wants this help. I mean, you just come from such a wealth of knowledge and experience. So yeah, it's
Melissa Robbins:
Mm.
Heather:
really cool to hear. And yeah, I'd love to, I could sit here and start asking deeper questions on that, but I'm going to
Melissa Robbins:
You
Heather:
change
Melissa Robbins:
need to
Heather:
gears
Melissa Robbins:
take
Heather:
a
Melissa Robbins:
care.
Heather:
little bit. I actually want to talk a bit big picture. I'm going to start first out with wholesale, then we'll go to retail with wholesale. What are some trends or things that you're noticing for your clients that are working really well?
Melissa Robbins:
Good question. Okay so trends in general over time I would say like especially with fashion there's less and less and less people buying ahead of time indent so it used to be that people would buy six months ahead and you know place their orders and budget for those amounts or stock now because of the change and how fast things move and the uncertainty of economy and or obviously everything else that goes on in the world. people are less inclined to order in front. So then you really have to, as a wholesaler, as a brand, you have to almost take more risks in what stock you have because you have to almost guess what people are gonna order or want. So there's definitely that, but it does mean then that you don't miss out if you haven't got ahead, got in six months behind because bigger department stores are still gonna be ordering ahead of time. That's just what they
Heather:
year.
Melissa Robbins:
do because they're planned that far ahead. But smaller boutiques and independents are buying all the time now, whereas they never used to. So they're buying constantly and they're
Heather:
Okay.
Melissa Robbins:
buying probably smaller amounts to protect their cash flow a little. But just because you start with a smaller amount doesn't mean that it's going to stay that way. So I would say trends are definitely that people are buying smaller quantities to start with but then they'll buy more often. And that the retail, the wholesale, the brand has to... really take a bit more risk in what stock they have and what they carry.
Heather:
Yeah, a lot.
Melissa Robbins:
But as well, they're also able to sell it through their own channels like Direct-to-Consumer online. So then they've got that option too.
Heather:
So then let's talk retail trends. What
Melissa Robbins:
Mm-hmm.
Heather:
are you noticing in the space of retail?
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah. So I think in, uh, I think one thing is that people are always going to spend money, even if it's in economic times where things are, you know, tighter or tough, people will still buy gifts for people. They'll still buy, um, you know, um, things for themselves. They'll
Heather:
Yes.
Melissa Robbins:
use, they'll still get purchasing taking place. So I think that knowing the cycle, like I've been in it ups and downs and I had my retail store during the 2008-9 global financial crisis. You know,
Heather:
Okay.
Melissa Robbins:
I went through some ups and downs there. And knowing that there's always cycles as well helps you realise it's not just you, but what can you keep doing to maintain momentum and keep pushing forward and keep turning up and showing up and selling and marketing. So yeah, in terms of trends for retail, I think definitely people... People want service as a customer. So it's about, if you're a physical retail store, then you really need to make sure that you are going above and beyond for your service and actually giving your customers something that they can't get from online. So it's that personal factor and really diving deep into that and how you can support that even more, whether it's the VIP list and getting to know your customers even more. And I
Heather:
Mmm.
Melissa Robbins:
think anyone who's had a retail store or got one. They do know that if you've been around for, you know, at least a year or whatever, you know, your best customers, you know, the ones who will support you and continue to come in and continue to show up, you know, and be there. So really getting to know them even more. And then, um, trying to, if you're online business, add that element to your, your offering as well. So really again, going above and beyond, like looking after your email subscribers. Um, giving them, giving back, you know, giving gift with purchases when, you know, just because throwing things in or, you know, if something's wrong, really making sure that you're servicing them and looking after them. If, you know, assume that they're, they're not trying to get their money back or, you know, not trying to get refunds,
Heather:
Yeah.
Melissa Robbins:
but looking after people and assuming the best, I say.
Heather:
Really, really good. And just what you said in that last answer, I think applies to any business with
Melissa Robbins:
Mmm.
Heather:
their customer service and just caring, caring genuinely about
Melissa Robbins:
Good.
Heather:
your community, your clients. And like, I love what you said as well as recognizing your best clients and
Melissa Robbins:
Mm.
Heather:
doing things that are special for them as well. So many people these days are so focused on the front end and getting more people in, but they
Melissa Robbins:
Yes.
Heather:
forget, they forget what can happen in that journey after that point. So.
Melissa Robbins:
And I think just what you said there, like it's that customer journey, like what
Heather:
Yep.
Melissa Robbins:
is the journey someone takes with you and being aware of all the touch points someone has with your brand and your business so that you understand from their perspective, so really mapping out what the touch points are. So then you're ticking the box and making sure that it's smooth all the way as well.
Heather:
Absolutely. And with beautiful people out there to help you do that for your business and amazing tools these days, I feel like
Melissa Robbins:
Yes!
Heather:
we have it so much easier than people like 10, 15 years ago.
Melissa Robbins:
So much easier. And yeah, the tools available, like there's just amazing things that you can add to your business and yeah, to help you.
Heather:
So good. Okay. Let's talk overwhelm. We all go there. We all go in these spirals.
Melissa Robbins:
Mm.
Heather:
What do you do personally when you have a moment, maybe like a hundred clients that have just come into your business or your kids are at home from school holidays, like as they are now, what do you do in moments of overwhelm to bring yourself back down and ground yourself?
Melissa Robbins:
That is a good question. So a few things there, I think, so just, I'll just put a little side note in, my husband is a psychologist who works in mindfulness and practicing all of that
Heather:
This
Melissa Robbins:
as
Heather:
is
Melissa Robbins:
well.
Heather:
so
Melissa Robbins:
So,
Heather:
good!
Melissa Robbins:
so that is definitely one of the things that is sort of in our household and in our life that I not perfect at, but try and do. So practice in mindfulness. So being And I'm just reading a book now at the moment, which is the power of now, the Eckhart, Eckhart Tolle, yeah. So really trying to do that in terms of being in the now. And I think overwhelm comes from stressing about all the stuff you've got to do and thinking about everything that you've got to do and get to, you know, have to focus on, or if you don't do that, then this won't work. And, you know, you really start to speak to yourself in a way that is like, I'm so busy, I've got so much to do. And... think the language you use, so I'm gonna go back, there's two things, language that you use with yourself about how you speak to yourself like you know and then being centered and focusing on the now which comes from
Heather:
Yeah.
Melissa Robbins:
practicing mindfulness. So I think the way you speak to yourself and my daughter's in year 12 studying you know doing exams and we often she's like I'm just so stressed and we're like you need to stop speaking to yourself in that way because the more you say these things to yourself the more your body sort of almost feels it as well like how can you speak to yourself in a different way and then focus on what you're doing now and not what could happen if you don't do this almost. So focusing on the now and to do that, you really probably need to practise meditation and mindfulness and focusing on your breath. I even saw something the other day, which was like put a little reminder on your phone to come back to where you are now, like just to take that little step back. So when this reminder comes up, just go. Am I in the now? Am I focused on my breathing now, on the actions that I'm taking right now? Or am I thinking, you know, about something next week that I probably can't control? So
Heather:
So
Melissa Robbins:
really
Heather:
true.
Melissa Robbins:
focusing on the way you speak to yourself and as much as you can, being present in what you're doing at that time.
Heather:
Really fantastic tips, thank you. And interesting about your partner as well, and
Melissa Robbins:
Yes.
Heather:
having that in your house and around what
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah.
Heather:
you do. Yeah, really cool. Okay, so this is a question that tends to make people squirm a little bit because especially
Melissa Robbins:
Hello.
Heather:
in Australia or the UK, we're not used to sort of. I guess tooting our own horn, so to speak. But I do
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah.
Heather:
want to know what makes you extraordinary Melissa, truly, honestly, like out of any other coach that may do some, like a similar thing to you.
Melissa Robbins:
It's funny, someone said to me the other day, you have just such an ability to be practical and creative at the same time. And I think, I don't know, this is, I think this is it. I didn't realise it was something that was different until more
Heather:
Yeah.
Melissa Robbins:
recently where I've got a science background in, you know, what I used to teach and a maths science and maths background and then I've got a creative background. And so I often have both of those things going on at the same time. So I can be really creative, but then also focus back down into like the analytical, practical side of things too. So yeah, I think I've come to realize that is something that is a bit different. And so I think that is something that, you know, lots of my clients do comment on and talk about. So yeah, I think that is something that I probably need to use more on or celebrate more as well.
Heather:
Absolutely. I would say I'd agree that it's quite rare. It really is. I mean, you kind of either wired one way or the other. So if
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah,
Heather:
you have both quite a gift
Melissa Robbins:
quite
Heather:
and I love
Melissa Robbins:
unusual.
Heather:
that you're, yeah. And I love that your clients tell you that as well. I mean,
Melissa Robbins:
Yes,
Heather:
that's,
Melissa Robbins:
yeah.
Heather:
that's beautiful. So.
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah, no, it's been, it was good. I was like, yeah. Oh, thanks. Yeah. Okay. Maybe actually that is true.
Heather:
I need to listen to that. I should
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah.
Heather:
use that in my messaging.
Melissa Robbins:
I, it's exactly what I thought. It's exactly. I was like, Oh, okay. Yes. And I have noted in the different roles that I've played in terms of, you know, what I've done, but, um, yeah, maybe it just comes out other time more as well. Now.
Heather:
I think it's really important to celebrate our strengths and also know what they are. And that's why I like to ask that question. It's fun
Melissa Robbins:
Mm.
Heather:
to also see how people respond and I love that you had a really good succinct answer. So thank you.
Melissa Robbins:
Mm, yeah, yeah.
Heather:
Last thing I just wanted to touch on before we close is a little bit of your love of design and style. I know it's kind
Melissa Robbins:
Mm-hmm.
Heather:
of a left wing question that you might not
Melissa Robbins:
Yes.
Heather:
have not seen coming, but I know like just through reading your bio and looking at what you do that this is like aesthetics are very important to you.
Melissa Robbins:
Thank you.
Heather:
What are a few things that you're loving right now?
Melissa Robbins:
You know, when I have got this passion and love for interiors and interior design and everything and I know that it's something that I'm passionate about because as soon as I see something like a beautiful image or a magazine or something like that, it just makes me feel something.
Heather:
Yeah.
Melissa Robbins:
And so I just dive into that world just all the time. And that's why again, I like I love packaging, I love the way a product, you know, is showcased and all that sort of stuff too. So Things so the question was the things I'm saying is that what you that
Heather:
Things
Melissa Robbins:
yes
Heather:
that you're loving right
Melissa Robbins:
Loving
Heather:
now.
Melissa Robbins:
yeah,
Heather:
You
Melissa Robbins:
okay
Heather:
personally, yeah.
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah, I'm loving I'm loving bold color and I'm loving texture so
Heather:
Okay.
Melissa Robbins:
in terms of and I was probably talking more interiors, but like website websites, for example bold color strong color like whether it's I'm actually going to add yellow to my branding soon, because I'm like, yes, I just want to be bold in it. And
Heather:
Hehehe
Melissa Robbins:
I love deep aubergines and deep greens and things like that. I think bold color is definitely a trend coming back more.
Heather:
Yes.
Melissa Robbins:
And then textures and whether it's touch or in fabrications of interiors and stuff like that, but just layers of textures and things, I definitely have seen that. I don't know how you
Heather:
Perfect.
Melissa Robbins:
incorporate that. Actually, in your website, that would be incorporated, I think, by having... different fonts, so having like, you know, a Serif font and then a Sans Serif font as well, like mixing those two things up, so it's sort of like adding those elements of comparison.
Heather:
Yes, really good point. And we played around with sort of edges of photos or
Melissa Robbins:
Hmm
Heather:
adding interesting layers on top and
Melissa Robbins:
Yes,
Heather:
yeah, I like,
Melissa Robbins:
yes
Heather:
I
Melissa Robbins:
stacking
Heather:
like the
Melissa Robbins:
yeah all
Heather:
stacking.
Melissa Robbins:
of that sort of thing too. Yeah,
Heather:
Yeah. Very cool.
Melissa Robbins:
I could talk all day about that sort of thing as well
Heather:
That we'll have to have another conversation specifically on that. Oh, this is such a great chat. Where do people learn more about you and do you like have any special gifts or trainings or things that they can download as well?
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah, absolutely. So I've got, my website is thelotco.com.au. And originally that name was started because I did lots of different things. And so that's sort of how that name came about just for reference there as well.
Heather:
great.
Melissa Robbins:
So thelotco.com.au and then on Instagram and I'm about to start a TikTok on the LotCo as well. And it's all about, yeah, I've got lots of different downloads for whether it's how to wholesale or how to price your products. And then even just like eight things that you need to build a profitable product business. That's one of the ones I love people to dive into to really just see if they've got all those elements in there in place already.
Heather:
Is that good for somebody that does not yet have a product and is wanting to bring
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah,
Heather:
one into
Melissa Robbins:
definitely.
Heather:
the business?
Melissa Robbins:
Because it's like figuring out what are the important things to focus on if you're about to start or you'll want to start. Yes.
Heather:
Very, very cool. Okay, you
Melissa Robbins:
Yeah.
Heather:
guys, as always, that stuff's in the show notes, all the links so you can go and check it out. One last question before we say goodbye. Do you have any last thoughts or ideas that have come up as a result of this conversation?
Melissa Robbins:
Wow.
Heather:
Hmm.
Melissa Robbins:
That is a tough one to answer on the spot. Okay. So I think helping people figure out that, well, first of all, if someone's thinking about starting a product business, I think they should definitely, if they're passionate about something, they should definitely just take that step and take that risk because business is risk as well. And I think you've got to just step out of your comfort zone a little bit. And then- Yeah, really, I think just knowing who you are and what you want is super important. So really making sure that why is something you dive into more, I would say.
Heather:
Beautiful way to end this episode. Thank you, Melissa, so much for being on for this chat. Thanks you guys so much for tuning in and listening. And we will speak very, very soon.
Melissa Robbins:
Thank you so much for having me, Heather. Thank you.
