Embracing the Entrepreneurial Journey with Fashion Mogul Angela Taylor George

Episode 196

Are you ready to tap into the mind of a fashion powerhouse? We had an invigorating chat with Angela Taylor George, the creative genius behind Alice and Trixie, who has been leaving her stylish mark on the fashion industry for more than forty years. Angela offers an honest recount of her transition from retail to entrepreneurship, shedding light on the importance of knowing your customer, having a product-market fit and the continuous evolution in business. Her entrepreneurial journey and her firing-the-man story is both motivating and enlightening, offering invaluable lessons for those ready to take the leap into entrepreneurship.

Angela’s extensive experience with both wholesale and direct-to-consumer sales channels provides a wealth of insights for other entrepreneurs navigating these paths. We dive into the nitty-gritty of each channel, dissecting their profitability, complexity, and their role in a brand’s success story. Angela, a staunch supporter of the retail resurgence, also emphasizes the role of physical stores in branding, offering actionable advice for e-commerce entrepreneurs looking to venture into retail.

Our conversation takes a fascinating turn as we journey through Angela’s experiences in the bustling NYC fashion industry. Her anecdotes from the New York City Garment Center are gems of wisdom for those just starting out. Angela also generously shares a free resource for fashion enthusiasts looking to create samples using outsourced help. We wrap up with a sneak peek into her upcoming book and a discussion on the importance of carving out a niche in business and fostering a sense of community. Follow Angela’s inspiring journey across various platforms as she continues to shake up the fashion industry.

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00;00;06;07 – 00;00;26;07
Unknown
Before we get into the video, i wanted to share a special tool that David and I have been using for over two years to manage our inventory on Amazon. The tool is called so stocked and it is a very powerful tool. It’s designed specifically for inventory management. If you’re into physical products business selling on Amazon, you need to be in stock, especially with the entry restrictions lately.

00;00;26;10 – 00;00;49;20
Unknown
This tool is incredibly powerful. If you’re having trouble with inventory management, this might be a tool to help you. So STOCK has partnered with Barrington Demand and they’ve offered our guests, our listeners a 30 day free trial. So click the link and the video description to get a 30 day free trial onto the video.

00;00;49;22 – 00;01;09;24
Unknown
Before we get into the video, I wanted to share a special tool that David and I have been using for over two years to manage our inventory on Amazon. The tool is called so stocked and it is a very powerful tool. It’s designed specifically for inventory management. If you’re in a physical products business selling on Amazon, you need to be in stock, especially with the entry restrictions lately.

00;01;09;26 – 00;01;29;14
Unknown
This tool is incredibly powerful. If you’re having trouble with inventory management, this might be a tool to help you. So stock is partnered with buying demand, and they’ve offered our guests, our listeners a 30 day free trial. So click the link and the video description to get a 30 day free trial. Onto the video. Welcome, everyone, to the Firing The Man Podcast.

00;01;29;14 – 00;02;17;11
Unknown
On today’s episode, we have the pleasure to interview Angela Taylor George. Angela is the founder of Trendsetting Multi-brand Showroom Times two and renowned New York label Alice and Trixie. She’s an entrepreneur, fashion designer, creative director and author, hailed early as the voice of authority by New York Daily News. Angela has made an indelible mark on the fashion industry internationally for over four decades, playing a vital role in the co-creation and launch of major fashion trends widely copied today and originating design still cherished and traded around the world when not in pursuit of the next big fashion trend, she’s designing interiors, snapping artsy pics with her trusty iPhone and, of course, eyeing her next travel destination.

00;02;17;12 – 00;02;33;29
Unknown
Angela resides in New York City and East Hampton, New York, with her adorable rescue pup, Chloe. Welcome to the show, Angela. Thank you so much for having me. I’m so happy to be here. Absolutely. So to start things off, can you please share with our listeners a little bit about your background and your current projects that you spend your time on?

00;02;34;00 – 00;02;48;15
Unknown
So my background is, oh, I’ve always been in fashion since I was a kid. I actually write about it in my at the age of ten, I had my first fashion fix, which was a pair of hot pants on. From there I worked in retail and I started retail at the age of 16, working on the selling floor.

00;02;48;15 – 00;03;07;27
Unknown
But then I had some fits and starts before I kind of went back to retail. I can say I’m a beauty school dropout. I’m an acting school dropout, but fashion was always in my blood. So after I had fits and starts and other things, I went back to fashion a few years, really when I was 19 years old, and I started to go to 40 at night.

00;03;07;27 – 00;03;27;24
Unknown
And I grew up in New York and I was working in Manhattan, and that was, you know, I was working on the retail selling floor for a number of years. A manager became a manager and then a buyer. And I did that for like 13 years. I was in retail for 13 years, and then I started a showroom, wholesale showroom for for Fashion Brands 1989, and I did that for ten years.

00;03;27;24 – 00;03;49;20
Unknown
So this was all pre-Internet before, you know, the only way to get to retail was to open your own store, print your own catalog, or sell wholesale to retail stores. So I was a liaison between the brand and the retailer in my showroom. So we had a sales I had a sales and marketing agency called Times, too. And then in 97, I started my own fashion brand called Alison Trixie, which I had for 22 years.

00;03;49;20 – 00;04;07;28
Unknown
Again, just all in New York, designed in New York, made in New York. And we distributed that internationally through wholesale channels and direct to consumer. Excellent. Well, thanks for sharing all that. I’m excited to dive in and ask some questions. And so before we get into any questions you had mentioned before, prior to the taping of the show, you have a firing demand story.

00;04;07;28 – 00;04;30;16
Unknown
So I wanted to ask you if you can share your firing man’s story with the audience. I’d be happy to. It was such a great day. I was working retail and I was a buyer at the time, and I worked for these two brothers ritual Remain nameless. That was like was like a good cop, bad cop situation. But I remember I had asked for a raise and the nice straw brother was seemed like it was going to be like a good you know, it was going to be okay.

00;04;30;16 – 00;04;46;26
Unknown
And then the mean brother, he ended up he decided that that I was he was incensed by the fact that I would even think they weren’t paying me enough money. He actually took offense to the fact that I was asking for a raise. And in that moment I was like, That was my moment. I’m like, I’m done. I’m like, Boom, right on the spot.

00;04;46;26 – 00;05;01;06
Unknown
I quit. And that was it. And then I went and started my own company. So it was just it was one of those it was it was a crazy it just because it just happened and it wasn’t anything that was premeditated. I was asking for a raise, and the next minute I quit and, you know, off I am in my entrepreneurship journey.

00;05;01;06 – 00;05;19;14
Unknown
So that’s that’s my story. Yeah. No, that’s awesome. I like that. You know, whenever they they second guess your worth, you were like, I don’t think so. I’m out. So that’s cool. You mentioned, you know, starting founding and growing Alice and Trixie. Can you share with the listeners your top three lessons learned from from from growing the brand?

00;05;19;19 – 00;05;40;02
Unknown
Absolutely. I think, you know, I actually have more than three, but I’ll die then. I think, number one, you have to have product market fit. You have to know your customer. And if you don’t know your customer, that like that is the number one thing. I think any in any business you have to know your customer and then you have to have a product that aligns with what that customer needs wants and will actually pay for.

00;05;40;03 – 00;06;01;14
Unknown
So that’s like the first thing I would say always be evolving. I think that’s really important that you can never stay complacent and especially in fashion. And that’s my background, my roots, you know, things are always changing. You have to you have to really be evolving. But then I’m going to contradict myself. But there are times when you need to lean in and know that you’re milking an item like you’re onto something.

00;06;01;14 – 00;06;15;04
Unknown
I need to lean in and and kind of amplify what that is that people are wanting, finding new ways to give it to them, maybe more colors. Or you need to know how to evolve because some people will just like have an item and then they’re just like, Well, we’re done were sold out and then they move on with life.

00;06;15;04 – 00;06;29;23
Unknown
And it’s that whole 8020 rule that you will do 80% of your business on 20% of your styles. So when you get something that’s a hit, you really want to be able to lean in and evolve that, you know, how can you evolve that style? So that’s really importance. And knowing when to when to back off and when to lean in.

00;06;29;23 – 00;06;54;22
Unknown
I think the biggest thing is innovation. You have to be innovating. As for myself, I was a 22 year old brand and, you know, I got to a point where I wasn’t innovating at, you know, like and I write about in my book where I really take people through like the whole my whole entrepreneurial journey and and really what that was like and what, you know, where you need to be evolving, where you need to constantly be in, you know, speaking to your customers, you have to get another big lesson.

00;06;54;23 – 00;07;12;07
Unknown
You got to be in contact with your customers to really hear things firsthand, what their experiences of the brand, what they want, what they don’t want and things like that. And and again, never be. Yeah, I’m just repeating myself at this point. But I think innovate, innovate and innovate very important, especially for a legacy, a brand that’s been around for a while.

00;07;12;07 – 00;07;32;10
Unknown
You need to because what happens is, in my case, like there is like a cycle through of like you have certain customers that have grown with your brand over the years, other customers that were like you were a moment in time and now they’re on to the next brand and then you have new people coming in. So, you know, it’s like it’s a delicate balance to be, you know, kind of being the right thing for all those audiences.

00;07;32;10 – 00;07;52;02
Unknown
So that was those would be my tips. Very nice. Very nice. Now, you’ve talked about selling direct to consumer. You’ve also talked about selling wholesale. And I would imagine there’s quite a few differences between that. And so can you talk about some of the primary differences and how maybe your marketing strategy would differ between wholesale and direct consumer?

00;07;52;02 – 00;08;12;28
Unknown
Absolutely. Well, obviously, when you’re doing wholesale, you’re pricing, you know, you probably have to I mean, depending on I don’t know, you know, who’s listening, the businesses you’re in. But in fashion, I would say you take the retail and, you know, it’s a general rule of thumb. Again, nothing ground in stone. But, you know, if you divided like your retail divided by two point to think about, that should be your wholesale price.

00;08;12;28 – 00;08;30;09
Unknown
So, you know, you have to be able to, number one, have the margin in your retail. If you’re if you’ve been a direct to consumer brand, you want to make sure that the margins are built in to be able to sell wholesale. I mean, wholesale, the calendar is very different. They’re buying things, you know, three, six months in advance, nine months in advance sometimes.

00;08;30;09 – 00;08;46;27
Unknown
So so you have to have a collection ready very early on. Whereas when you’re direct to consumer, it’s like, okay, it’s, you know, August, we’re going to start putting some false stuff on the website, whereas like the stuff that’s in August, you would have had to sold back, you would have had to have sold to the retailers back in February and your collection would have to be ready.

00;08;46;27 – 00;09;08;00
Unknown
So that means you would have to be. I’ve been designing it for maybe three months before that, so you’re kind of always working like almost a year in advance, practically. So that’s a that’s a very big difference when you’re working with, you know, going from a wholesale to direct to consumer. That’s a huge difference. And then obviously, I think I think wholesale, you know, you want to be able to be selling stores that align with your brands, right?

00;09;08;00 – 00;09;23;16
Unknown
I mean, I think I’ll say one of the good things about wholesale, especially for a newer direct to consumer brand, is that if you sell to a certain store that can kind of brand you like in fashion, for instance, if for instance you have a brand and you’re able to get it into say and then over recommend this brand new brand.

00;09;23;16 – 00;09;41;29
Unknown
But I’m just just to illustrate my point, if you’re able to, you know, get into like a name because people would know Neiman Marcus, we say, okay, Neiman Marcus, that’s a luxury retailer. If your brand is there, well, your brand must be good, too, because you’re a Neiman Marcus. So it’s almost like the company that, you know, the retailer that you’re selling to can help brands you as a new brand.

00;09;41;29 – 00;10;04;00
Unknown
So that’s a good thing about, you know, selling to selling wholesale. And then I think, you know, one of the other things is, you know, I think I’m I’m a big fan of like, you know, like as omnichannel hybrid approach of having key retailers in certain areas. And again, if you’re a new e-commerce brand, I would say go with boutiques like you don’t want to be messing with department stores or, you know, anything like big box, whatever.

00;10;04;00 – 00;10;21;03
Unknown
Don’t even go there. When you’re brand new, you want to be finding boutiques, like searching out the boutiques that you feel have your customer base and selling in those boutiques. So that way you have a presence where people can go see, feel and touch the product and then they can come to your website to buy it online. Those are some of the is more, but those are two.

00;10;21;04 – 00;10;39;07
Unknown
Some of the differences. I think, between the two. Now for the brands that are starting out in DTC, what do you think are some of the things that they miss out on completely? Well, it’s I feel like it’s a lot because I think because of the Internet, it’s, you know, in digital, it’s the good news and the bad news.

00;10;39;07 – 00;10;56;07
Unknown
It’s like the barrier to entry is so low. It’s the good news. But it’s also the bad news because anybody that has a half baked idea that they thought about in their, you know, bedroom pops up a website or, you know, or tries to get an Amazon store. And I think that’s the problem why they’re so much like me to product out there.

00;10;56;08 – 00;11;12;10
Unknown
There’s a lot of, you know, very similar offerings in the marketplace. And I think that that is an issue. And it’s not to say that you have to be a unicorn and you have to reinvent the wheel and you have to be Uber or whatever. I’m not saying that, but you can take a category and make a make a change to a category.

00;11;12;10 – 00;11;29;05
Unknown
You know, we’re missing out now. It’s we’re not doing razors anymore. We’re doing, you know, something else that we used to shave. You know, it’s like obviously it’s a razor. But if you look at, like, what, Dollar Shave Club, you know, whatever. Okay. They did a subscription service. Yeah. They created something new within the category. So I think that’s what that’s what entrepreneurs should be looking for.

00;11;29;05 – 00;11;56;15
Unknown
How can I bring newness to a category? How can I do something that hasn’t been done in a category that’s relevant and important? So I think yeah, so I think is back to the question of the mistakes. I think that people don’t do competitive research, they don’t really understand the market they’re entering into. They’re just having an idea and just like, you know, popping up and trying to get an Amazon store or do some dropshipping or whatever they’re doing without really having a full understanding of the landscape in which they ventured and are playing.

00;11;56;15 – 00;12;17;17
Unknown
And at this point, the me too business is like to me it’s the big pop. I think MeToo is fine, but like MeToo, but it’s X-Y-Z MeToo, but it’s ABC. That’s okay. But so many people are coming in. And then the other thing is branding. If you don’t really understand branding, how are you branding yourself? A lot of times with these like Amazon sellers, it’s like kind of a race to the bottom in price.

00;12;17;17 – 00;12;33;02
Unknown
It’s, you know, it’s it’s it’s not really building a brand. And the thing and, you know, I don’t know if the podcast is centered a lot or on Amazon, but I’ll say what I don’t like about Amazon, I guess I think Amazon has that big audience, but at the same time, you don’t own a relationship with the customer.

00;12;33;02 – 00;12;50;13
Unknown
So that’s why I think it’s important to have something that goes along with that. You know, you could be on Amazon but have your own website, you know, those type of things. But I don’t know, I hope that answer the question. Yeah, absolutely. And David and I are huge fans of, you know, utilizing Amazon as a sales channel and selling direct as well.

00;12;50;13 – 00;13;13;03
Unknown
So you can get that email and you can kind of all that. And so now, Angela, you’ve got a lot of experience with wholesale as well as some direct to consumer, you know, speaking from the the point of a business owner or brand owner, what what are those sales channels do you prefer in terms of you had mentioned some pros and cons, you know, with the wholesaling piece, you can kind of get into stores and kind of be spread.

00;13;13;03 – 00;13;37;10
Unknown
But in terms of profitability, the other piece is complex complexity. So so maybe wholesale suppliers are hard to work with or maybe you don’t get as much cash in. So DTC or wholesale, what, what as a business owner and profitability, what is your favorite channel? I think I mean, DTC, I think is hands down. But I do think and I think that should be I think that should be like maybe say 75% of your business.

00;13;37;10 – 00;13;57;12
Unknown
But I think you should have some type of physical you know, there has been a return to retail, there has been a retail resurgence right now, like everything was going online. And then a lot of people and it’s it’s it’s not didn’t just happen. Like if you look at somebody like Warby Parker, for instance, the eyeglasses, they started out direct to consumer and then they started opening physical stores.

00;13;57;12 – 00;14;17;09
Unknown
You know, bonobos started, you know, they were not direct well, they were direct to consumer. Then they, then they were I’m trying to remember now the bonobos story, but when they did go to physical they were no, they were online and when they went to physical retail they went after they were online. So I think there is this people are realizing that customers need to see people touch the product.

00;14;17;09 – 00;14;36;01
Unknown
And it’s also good for branding. It’s like for branding, for brand awareness. It’s that’s good from, you know, marketing as well. To have a physical store, it opens up. It opened, I think as a brand it helps you as a brand and it opens up, you know, new new customer acquisition channel with the retail. But yes, I think I do like direct to consumer.

00;14;36;01 – 00;14;55;14
Unknown
I’m not a big fan of wholesale, only to the point where it’s strategic basically placed in areas. And it can also help you to see that, you know, when you do sell to certain stores that, you know, these stores have certain towers and stuff and it can help you in that maybe one day you’re going to want to have a store in that area because, you know, certain regions are doing well, you know, that kind of thing.

00;14;55;15 – 00;15;11;00
Unknown
I would say direct to consumer would be my if I had to go, if you had like I’ve had a gun to my head and you said also direct to consumer, I’d say direct to consumer up. And I do like your hybrid approach of having a little bit of wholesale for a day exposure, maybe the market research piece of it.

00;15;11;04 – 00;15;30;14
Unknown
I like that. Thank you. Yes. I thought and that’s that’s I like it’s very nice. So if an e-commerce entrepreneur wants to make that step to open a retail store, what are your recommended steps? I would say go to your heatmap and see where your, you know, see where your stores are, where your consumers are. I’m sorry, where your consumers are.

00;15;30;15 – 00;15;49;27
Unknown
That’s that’s what I would do. I would you know, if you have a lot of people in Florida and Miami or in Los Angeles or New York or Austin, Texas, wherever, I would think that would be a good place to have a retail store because. And why do I think that? Because I think, number one, you already know that you have a client base there.

00;15;49;27 – 00;16;18;22
Unknown
You can also increase the lifetime value of those clientele that can come, you know, and and also, it was funny, I have I can’t take credit for this last 50 to my friend Brian who owns he has a men’s wear brand outside Stratford direct to consumer. You know something he brought up that I didn’t think about because we’d been talking about this recently and he said what he liked about it was also that because of the returns, that it would minimize the returns because people would, you know, they they would be able to come and try this stuff on.

00;16;18;22 – 00;16;35;24
Unknown
So there’s no need to, you know, buy the wrong size or that kind of thing. So and we know returns is like it’s a huge problem with direct to consumer with online brands, it’s a huge problem. So the fact that you could offset some of those returns, I definitely think that anything that does that is also a help as well.

00;16;35;24 – 00;16;55;13
Unknown
One thing I want to point out to our listeners is that in terms of the geographical location of the store, Angela did not say where you live, it’s where your customers live. And I think that that’s something that we see a lot of in I can speak to small town Missouri, where we see retail stores go up in and you know, within six months it’s going to be shutting down.

00;16;55;13 – 00;17;16;27
Unknown
It just is not going to make it. And so I think that’s that’s a really practical and really good recommendation. So so another question, Angela, and this probably falls in line with a little bit with my last one, the the wholesale versus the direct to consumer water. Can you go through some of the benefits of owning a retail store versus an online store?

00;17;16;27 – 00;17;39;22
Unknown
Pros and cons of each, I would say. I mean, the retail store, it’s that physical that I rl experience with the customer, seeing the customers. And that’s what I loved being on the retail selling floor is talk about that a lot in my book. I loved seeing something sell out. I loved seeing the customer trying things on. I love you know, you can see firsthand, like you can see different body types.

00;17;39;22 – 00;17;56;10
Unknown
You can see how the merchandise looks on people. You can see what their what what they’re complaining about. Like I was in a store recently and rag and bone and I tried on a jacket and then once I didn’t fit and another one didn’t fit because it was like it seemed like it was two sizes, like the shoulders were one size and the waist was another.

00;17;56;10 – 00;18;13;03
Unknown
And they had said, Oh yeah, customers had been complaining about that. Like, that’s a definite fit issue. And if you’re online and you don’t know that and customers are just returning things, you have no idea why is being returned. You’re not able to, you know, fixture pattern picture, production if you you know, if in this case you probably wouldn’t be cutting it again.

00;18;13;03 – 00;18;35;17
Unknown
But it’s a missed opportunity because because I love the style that I tried on, but it was had a fit issue. So, you know, it’s something to mold, to see, you know, what the customers are saying about something. So I think that physical experience IRL being with the customer, that’s what I love about physical retail. And also the other thing I love about physical retail is that you can bring the experience of your brand into the four walls.

00;18;35;17 – 00;18;54;18
Unknown
Like it’s this is my This is the World X-Y-Z brand, whatever it is And and that that I think that helps to build the awareness helps to build the brand affinity when they can walk in and they’re walk, they’ve walked into an environment that is yours. This is my world, you know. So I think and we know we, you know, emotion is very important when it comes to selling.

00;18;54;18 – 00;19;19;04
Unknown
It’s all about emotion. This is how people are buy based on emotion. So when you’re able to be in that physical space with the merchandise, with the people that are buying, I think that’s when you can feel that that that energy, that’s all important. Yeah, I think that’s I think especially for fashion when like you had mentioned the return rates are like sky high and so people want to try the clothes on and see it in a physical retail store.

00;19;19;05 – 00;19;43;10
Unknown
You can have that in as well as, you know, getting into the market research again or not even research, but feedback, direct feedback. You said, Hey, if something’s not fitting right, we can kick that down to the production, you know, or whatever and make make changes on the fly. And so a lot of a lot of good stuff can come out of retail store and things in terms of like profitability and not like the expense of a retail store is is considerably higher than an online store.

00;19;43;10 – 00;20;13;05
Unknown
But I think one of the pros would be getting that direct feedback, especially if you have a fashion brand, clothing, something like that, where fit and feel that is crucial versus selling online where there’s a gap there still. Yeah, totally. And the other thing I wanted to say about that and I just want to say this because I think also you need to anybody who’s contemplating a retail store, I think it’s really important to kind of have all your numbers, you know, because you don’t want to you can end up going somewhere and taking a bath because you didn’t do your numbers.

00;20;13;05 – 00;20;30;09
Unknown
You have to look at the rents, what what you’re paying for rent, for staffing, for insurances, for, you know, everything, the build out, this, that, the other. And then you really have to look and say well how many you know how many of whatever you’re selling, how many do I have to sell. Like you know, what does my volume need to be annually in order for it to make sense.

00;20;30;09 – 00;20;46;13
Unknown
And and I think a lot of people just like they’ll open a store without really like knowing the numbers. And I think that is so, so important when you realize, well, I need to sell like, you know, 7525 of these every six months, you know, like, I don’t think that’s going to happen, you know, whatever. So, you know, in order to be profitable.

00;20;46;13 – 00;21;03;08
Unknown
So I think it’s really important to really, really look at the numbers. And the other thing is, but you also, you know, and again, if you are looking at it as a marketing expense, you want to know that too. Like, I’m like, you know what? Like I live in Soho, New York City, right? There are many stores down here in Soho and they I know they pay very high rents.

00;21;03;08 – 00;21;22;29
Unknown
I’ve been part owner in a retail location myself and you know, they pay very high rents some, but they’re fine with that because they’re like, well, it’s marketing. This is we’re going to pay all these high rents, but this is this is part of our marketing budget. So, you know, I’m thinking the listeners that maybe don’t have that kind of, you know, these I’m from a big brands, you know, big huge brands.

00;21;22;29 – 00;21;43;01
Unknown
So but that but that’s something to consider as well because if it’s not a marketing budget, you really need to do your math and make sure that you’re going to be able to you know, sell enough to to pay for all the expenses. So absolutely. Now, I would like to dive into your new book titled Hot Pursuit A True Tale of Fashion, Fortune and Fierce Ambition in New York City.

00;21;43;01 – 00;22;01;19
Unknown
Great title, by the way. Can you tell us about the book? Yeah, you know, the book started out as a how to it was how to start a fashion brand was how the book started. And I started writing this book and I, I started telling my own story in the beginning of the book and, you know, and then I kind of went into like the nuts and bolts of how to start a fashion brand.

00;22;01;19 – 00;22;19;13
Unknown
And I gave it to a friend of mine. He’s like a 30 year marketer, and his name is Antonio White. And I was just like, Antonio read the book, and he got back to me and he said, I you know, I loved hearing your story. I was so engaged. And then all of a sudden, like Angela, the professor, came out on the pages and is like, I don’t want to know how to do it.

00;22;19;13 – 00;22;35;15
Unknown
He said, I want to know how you did it. So I literally it was like, believe me, I was writing for a long time. And then when he said that, I was like, Oh. So I went back and I kind of discarded two thirds of the book and I rewrote my whole story, which was my my own journey of entrepreneurship.

00;22;35;15 – 00;22;52;28
Unknown
I’ve been a three time founder. I even had a retail store at one point in New York City, and it mentioned that. So I really went back to tell my story. But in the telling of my story, I take the readers through the New York City in the eighties and the nineties and, you know, the aughts and like, you know, 20 tens.

00;22;53;02 – 00;23;12;25
Unknown
The book starts in 1970 and comes to 2022. So it really is like all about the fashion industry, all about what New York was like back in the day, all about the New York City Garment Center, you know, when it was all the hustle and bustle. And it was a very robust industry before everything went overseas. So it chronicles my journey.

00;23;12;25 – 00;23;40;18
Unknown
But it’s a lot of storytelling and a lot of lessons, all the lessons baked in that I learned all along my my career. So it’s a fun read. A lot of people are saying it’s a fun read. It’s you know, there’s like bite size chapters and again, chalk filled. I have like a madonna story in there. I you know, so I do there’s like it’s it’s a lot of fun so yeah and I’m excited about it and I just released that and looking forward to, you know, where the next steps are in my journey.

00;23;40;20 – 00;23;59;10
Unknown
Awesome. And if our listeners are interested in getting their copy, what would be the best way? Yeah, it’s available on Amazon, it’s available on my website. Hopefully you’ll have the links down in the show notes and even go to my website. Angela Taylor Drugstore.com. It’s right there in the front. On the top, you can click the link. It’s in e-book and in paperback.

00;23;59;12 – 00;24;24;16
Unknown
Very nice, very nice. And we will put a link to all of that in the show notes. And you have mentioned before the podcast you had a free resource for our listeners. Would you like to go through that? Yes, I do. Anybody that’s contemplating, you know, something that they want to make and fashion, a lot of people think that it’s Project Runway, whereas like in Project Runway, it’s like they’re making the pattern, they’re cutting the fabric, they’re sewing the fabric, they’re sending it down the runway.

00;24;24;16 – 00;24;46;07
Unknown
And that is really not the way the real world works. There are professionals that do pattern making and do sewing and cutting for the designers. So my resource is really how to create a sample. But using outsourced people, you know, like the way professionals do. I’ll just say about Project Runway, I mean, Tim Gunn, who was he was I think he was the dean at at Parsons.

00;24;46;07 – 00;25;03;12
Unknown
And he really you know, he was part of Project Runway. The success in the beginning. Now they’ve left the show, him and Heidi Klum. But that’s the way you do it. If you’re at Parsons, like you’re doing all of those things. But in the real world, you know, if you’re not preparing for your fashion runway show at school, like you’re for your final grade, it’s like, that’s really not the way the world works.

00;25;03;12 – 00;25;19;00
Unknown
So my resource will help you to know how to make a first sample domestically. Awesome. And we will post a link to that in the show notes as well. Thank you. Thank you. All right, Ken, over to you. Foot by around. Absolutely. So, Angela, we run all of our guests through the ringer. It’s called the Fire Round. Are you ready?

00;25;19;01 – 00;25;40;16
Unknown
I’m ready. What is your favorite book? The MF by Michael E Gerber E-Myth Revisited by Michael E Gerber loved that book. Great for any entrepreneur. Every entrepreneur needs to read it. It’s that that’s I mentioned that specifically for your your listeners. Awesome. Thank you. What are your hobbies? I love to take pictures with my iPhone, actually. I love to I love to go vintage shopping.

00;25;40;16 – 00;26;02;10
Unknown
I love traveling. I yeah, I interior design. I love doing interior design, actually. What is one of your favorite places that you’ve traveled to? The Greek islands? Yeah. Yeah. What is one thing that you do not miss about working for the man? I don’t. I, I don’t miss having to do it their way because I feel like I.

00;26;02;10 – 00;26;18;02
Unknown
I actually had one boss who told me. You can’t work for anybody. You need to work for yourself. I guess I always wanted to do it my way so that I don’t I don’t miss having to do it their way because I want to do it my way. Fair enough. They can’t fit you in a box right now.

00;26;18;05 – 00;26;38;14
Unknown
All right, last one. What do you think sets apart successful entrepreneurs from those who give up, fail or never get started? Wow. Okay. I think there there a little bit differences there with the ones like the ones that never get started. I’ll just I’m going to start with them specifically because I think they lack clarity. I think if you I think what happens is when you don’t have clarity, you don’t know what to do.

00;26;38;15 – 00;26;55;11
Unknown
So I think when you lack clarity and you lack like, you know, without that, that northstar that goal, like if you have a gaps and you’re not putting in a destination, you’re not going to get anywhere. So I think but I think clarity will help to clear the path to where you need to go. So you can make that goal.

00;26;55;12 – 00;27;14;04
Unknown
So I think that’s really important for somebody who’s maybe struggling right now or not knowing what to do, but know they want to do something. It is it is about the clarity and and then one other thing I’ll say about that again, just for your listeners, it’s like when you’re think about doing something like think about something that you’re going to want to do in the next two, three, five years, You know what I mean?

00;27;14;04 – 00;27;31;11
Unknown
Like, sometimes we will go for like a money grab and then they’re not happy after because they went for a money grab in the very beginning. So think about, you know, does this have longevity for you? That is something that you’re going to want to be doing. And then I think for the ones that Bill, I really I’ll be honest with you, I wrote the book because I really want to reverse the failure rate.

00;27;31;11 – 00;27;52;22
Unknown
The failure rate for new businesses is dismal. And I think a big part of it is that the you know, a lot of people today, it’s like the blind leading the clueless, like people think they can youtube their way to success. And while YouTube has its place, it it’s it’s very hard to cobble together a lot of different information and then create a game plan for yourself.

00;27;52;24 – 00;28;10;25
Unknown
So I think that I think part of the thing is that people do need to get some hands on experience, even if it’s interning somewhere, because a lot of people are going right to this like and I think there’s no shame. You know, look, site hustling is great, but I think sometimes people are doing something without ever having any experience doing it.

00;28;10;25 – 00;28;33;09
Unknown
They’re just making it harder on themselves. So it’s better to stack the cards in your favor by, you know, taking, going and working somewhere for a year in the business you want to be in. And then, you know, you will have so much more information than just starting without without that or or be with like minded people or something or tap into some type of community or, you know, there has to be something, I think, too.

00;28;33;16 – 00;28;54;04
Unknown
So I think that’s part of it. And I think the biggest part of why businesses fail is that they don’t have product market fit. That is the bottom line. It’s like there are plenty of people out there and there’s plenty of things you could be making. But if the product you’re making, if you don’t know who your audience as your customers, you’re not making a product that aligns with that audience.

00;28;54;07 – 00;29;11;00
Unknown
And again, that audience needs to pay for it. And friends and family giving you a high five is not that is not, you know, this is not that’s the thing for success, you know what I’m saying? It’s like you need to be, you know, like, yeah, great idea. But all right, well, are you going to pay me for it?

00;29;11;06 – 00;29;31;26
Unknown
You know, it’s that kind of thing. So I think it’s really important to test and test what you’re doing. I guess the listing all lands on is if you have an idea, like test them out, start to build a community. Like, I think it’s really important right now, like, you know, because we didn’t have this when, you know, when I was coming up, like we didn’t have social media, we didn’t have the Internet.

00;29;31;29 – 00;29;52;05
Unknown
And I think today, you know, we have these resources and tools that we could leverage where we could build out a community, where we could start to talk to customers. I’ll just say one thing I had I was mentoring a brand through an affinity program, which is the Fashion Institute technology in New York. They they were doing something around Acro yoga, but that was their that they were enthusiast.

00;29;52;09 – 00;30;13;18
Unknown
That’s what they liked. They started an Instagram group and the woman, you know, the founder, the co-founder, she wanted something to wear after Acro Yoga that wasn’t leggings. She wanted to wear something that you can go food shopping and, you know, whatever after she did her acro yoga practice. So she created this style, this onesie, nice, yummy fabric.

00;30;13;20 – 00;30;34;12
Unknown
And she just started Fuller After she had 10,000 followers on Instagram. She just started these were like minded enthusiasts of this Acro yoga. She started flirting the product and their style direct to consumer. It sold this day, you know, and they’re and they have customers and our customer base is growing. That’s one other thing I’ll say is like also don’t be a generalist.

00;30;34;14 – 00;30;53;28
Unknown
You Zig Ziglar said it best. He said, you know, he said, be a meaningful, specific, not a wandering generality. And I think that’s really important to have, you know, stand for something and have a bit of a niche. And this more I could talk about, but I’ll leave it at No, it nowhere is an excellent answer, a very thorough what a great way to cap off the show.

00;30;53;28 – 00;31;14;26
Unknown
So absolutely, if people are interested in learning more about you or following your content, what would be the best way? Okay, so I’m all over. I’m on LinkedIn. Angela Taylor, George, I’m on YouTube. My channel is Hot Pursuit, the name of the book, also Angela Eldridge on Tik Tok Hot Pursuit Instagram. Angela George and Hot Pursuit book. So everywhere I’m everywhere.

00;31;14;26 – 00;31;33;27
Unknown
You are awesome. Awesome. Well, thank you very much. We appreciate you being a guest on the Firing the Man podcast. We’re looking forward to staying in touch. Thanks for having me. Thanks for watching this video. If you got some value out of this, would you please hit the like, unsubscribe button? This is a free way to support the show and it really helps us build our audience.