Preppy Podcast
The Preppy Podcast features interviews every Tuesday with the brands, businesses and influencers who are keeping the modern preppy lifestyle alive.
Preppy Podcast
LBS Designs
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Lalania Balas is the founder of LBS Designs, creating hand painted canvas totes and Italian silk scarves inspired by the places we love and the places we want to go.
Her career began in New York City’s Garment Center, spanning fashion, product development and accessories companies including Daniel Wellington, where she worked with early influencer programs and brand partnerships. She later moved into talent management in Los Angeles, helping influencers translate their personal brands into product.
Covid took her to Boca Grande to hide out with family and recharge. A longtime boat & tote girl from growing up in Maine, she wanted to paint the places she loved onto the bags she was already carrying and realized she wasn’t seeing them in the local shops she loved. So she figured out how to paint on canvas and built LBS around bringing that idea to retail.
Today, LBS works with local retailers near Boca Grande and Palm Beach in the winter, then heads north for summer collaborations with partners including Erica Wilson, Coniglio and Montauk Yacht Club, creating small batch pieces rooted in place, heritage and a little imperfection. Shop at https://lbsdesignshop.com/
You're listening to the Preppy Podcast, and I'm your host, Patricia May Olson. I'll be interviewing the brands, businesses, and influencers who are keeping the modern preppy lifestyle alive. Each Tuesday, I'll bring you a new episode, but if you're craving more preppy, then shop the merch and listen to past episodes at thepreppy podcast.com and be sure to follow at the Preppy Podcast and me, Patricia underscore May underscore Olson on Instagram. She is a talented artist and designer making these wonderful hand-painted bags. And I just get so many compliments on that bag because a lot of you DM'd me about it. So it was really fun learning about how she started this business, the inspiration of seeing a similar bag on her sister, and even her background in fashion. I think you guys are really going to enjoy it. But before we get into this week's episode, a few reminders. One, join us at Club Preppy, our virtual monthly membership, where we do at least one virtual event per month, and we also send out little gifts to our members, and it's a great community and Instagram chat, just sharing different finds and the preppy lifestyle with like-minded people. I also have two camp preppies coming up for the rest of this year. So we have Kenny Bunkport in October. That is our one-year anniversary, and I am so excited for it. I've been working behind the scenes planning very special details, and you can't beat New England in the fall. And after that, we are headed to Barnsley Resort in Georgia at the end of November for our first ever Camp Reppy that's Christmas holiday themed. It is going to be so beautiful. I just I'm really excited for these two camp reppies. So if you want more information or tickets, feel free to shoot me a DM or you can find them at thepreppypodcast.com as well as how to join Club Preppy there. Lastly, before you get started, um, we did a little giveaway on the Preppy Podcast Instagram for one of the gift bags from our Camp Reppy out in Colorado with a bunch of the swags and gift. And I have another one because that was so popular. I know so many of you wanted to win it. So I thought we would do this giveaway just for podcast listeners. Um, so all you have to do to enter is to make sure that you are subscribed and follow our YouTube channel as I'm trying to grow that, and then comment on this video just saying something about the episode. And I will reach out to one of you and let you know if you've won our other Camp Reppy goodie bag from Colorado. But I just wanted to give back to you guys, and like I said, I appreciate my listeners in addition to our followers, and I am trying to grow that YouTube. So feel free here if you're watching on video. Um, make sure you're subscribed, comment below, let me know that you're watching um and you listen to the podcast, and you are automatically entered, and one lucky winner will win this. All right, let's get into this week's episode. All right, so why don't you first let everyone know who you are, where you live, and what you do?
SPEAKER_00Okay, so my name's Lilenia Ballas Sears now. I recently got married. Um, I'm located here just outside of Boca Grand. Um and okay, what else am I saying?
SPEAKER_01And what do you do? What's your brand or business?
SPEAKER_00So I started LBS Designs. It's just my initials, LBS, and I use the logo of a hummingbird, which is a special um symbol to me. Uh, it relates to the brand as my motto is kind of heritage you can hold. It's um from my grandmother. It was always her favorite bird, and she was like the matriarch and the inspiration in our family, strong woman, and um in Maine, grew where I grew up. And so I incorporated the hummingbird into the logo. So I started this brand two years ago in November, and I started initially by um wanting to create these silk Hermes type of scarves um with paintings from places that were important and special to me and to other people, um, that I wanted them to be hand painted, that I wanted the scarves to capture the emotion of the place. Um so I started like with the scarves in mind, and you know what they say, you make a plan and God laughs, you know. So I it had been about six months that I was working on developing the scarves, and then it was my wedding week in Boca Grande. I got married barefoot at the end of the island, and my sister arrived, and she had this uh hand painted LL bean tote bag, and I was obsessed. And, you know, she said she just got it in a shop, and it was a private label bag that, you know, somebody locally had just painted, and it was for sale in the shop for $600. And it was LL Bean, and I grew up in Maine, you know, and so LL bean to me is like in my DNA. And I'm like, I'm gonna get as soon as I get home, like from this like wedding week mayhem, I'm going to pull an LL bean bag because of course I had them here in the house. Yeah. And I was like, I'm gonna paint it and I'm gonna sell it. And it just, you know, the scarves got they were in the back burner, and I was obsessed. And I painted my first tote. I know you said we could, you know, show a little pro. Yeah, show it off. I have the original one here, it was for Boca Grande, and they're known for this cute pink elephant. And it's just the original LLB in bag, and so I I I knew where it had to be sold. Um, it had to be sold here in Boca Grande. There's this shop called Boca Blooms that just has the best of everything from all over the world, and it's also got Bouga Velias, and they do flowers for the all the weddings incorporation with the Gasparilla Inn, and they just have the most special curated items in there. And I knew they were the perfect place for this tote. So I march in there and I'm like, I've got this idea. I feel like it really should live here among your like special keepsake souvenirs, but not souvenir hokey, like just special, you know, Boca Grand souvenir, but like, you know, personal. So of course the timing couldn't have been better. All the stars aligned. This was in October. They said yes. I like stay and I said, Well, who's doing your social media for Christmas? And they were like, Oh, we had this girl, but she got married and had to quit. And I said, How let me do your 10 days of Christmas. And they were like, Oh, great, you know, so I was able to feature this bag under their Christmas tree, because they do a beautiful Christmas tree, stuffed with stuff from Boca Blooms. And I posted it and it just went viral. They immediately got like 300 likes, and usually their their photos get like 20, 30, you know, and it had like a hundred comments, and everyone's like, the bag, the bag. So I was like, that was the moment I'm like, okay, these bags are important, they mean something. I can do something with this. And we retailed those the initially, I think at 228, just very basic, one-sided, you know, and that was just the start. I didn't even realize that I could do both sides and interior, you know, decoration. So that was kind of the beginning, and it was just from there off to the races, like from basic, just you know, name and one symbol to some of the ones I've done in partnership with Caniglia now and Erica Wilson that are just like elevated. I, you know, I'm like, if they ask and we can dream it, I'll figure out a way to paint it onto this bag.
SPEAKER_01It's say yes and figure it out later. I always say that on this podcast, right? So I'm curious, did you have a background in art then or fashion? Or like, did you teach yourself to paint? Like, how where did that skill and that craft and artisan come from?
SPEAKER_00Sure. So growing up in Maine, like, you know, I've had no formal art per se uh training, but I was always obsessed with fashion. Um from I was a little girl, I had the fashion plates. I was always convinced I was gonna be a fashion designer. Um, I used to go down to New York with my father because my relatives were down in New Jersey. So we would, my grandmother would take me in the city shopping, and I was always obsessed with fashion. But, you know, in Maine, there wasn't much fashion um sort of stuff there. So I did a lot of creative things. I was a member of 4H, you know, I took sewing classes, I was doing things outdoors. We would, you know, we have a cabin on a lake up there that's on an island with no electricity. So kids, we figure out how to get creative. So we were always painting, um, nothing serious, but painting oars with our family sign for the cabin, or we'd write plays and you know, act them out. So creativity was always a part of my life, but nothing like formal. So when I saw my sister's bag, I was like, okay, because hers was just a very simple saying. Hers didn't even have any really, you know, an elephant or anything. It was just some words. I was like, I can figure out how to do this. And, you know, a ruler and a pencil, and you know, some some a lot of experimental until you kind of get down to um figuring it out. Again, it just goes back to my background in fashion. In I worked in the city when I graduated. Okay. Um from 2000. I I went straight to a headhunter who said, get a big name on your resume to start in the city. And so in college, I studied business and marketing and fashion. I had gone to URI for pharmacy originally because I was like coming from Maine. I'm like, oh, I'll just get a job I could do anywhere and I'll figure out all the creative fashion stuff later. Let me satisfy my parents. Like, I'll go get a real job and then I'll do my creative stuff. I just didn't know it was before the internet. I didn't know I could go to FIT. I didn't know, I didn't have a counselor saying, oh, there's other things you could do in fashion besides, you know, like create a collection. You can do merchandising, you can do product development, you can do sales, you can work with buyers. I only thought you could be a buyer or a like a full out fashion designer.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So when I moved to New York City and I I, you know, I got my first job was at Calvin Klein, and that was the big name to get on the resume. And there I got introduced to people that were like, these in-between people, they were merchandisers, they worked with product development, they'd worked on the floor. Like I would go into Bloomingdales and Sacks, and we would style and merchandise the floor and talk to customers and bring some feedback back to the designers. And then there was all these other opportunities. So it started there. And for like 15 years, I worked in the city with various fashion companies in private label development, in sales and managing sales reps that had different territories, and just um, you know, getting my hands in all the different aspects of what it takes to build a brand, to merchandise a brand, to work with retail partners. So all of that foundation really brought me to what happened here. Um, you know, after from New York, I ended up going out to LA for a little bit. A boyfriend was from Newport Beach, and he's like, we were kind of at a weird place in New York. It was 2016. I'd been there 15 years, and he's like, My dad wants me to come work for this company that we run out there as a family. I said, okay, you know, so we packed up, we drove cross country. And I worked in LA, uh Newport Beach area. Um, it wasn't really for me. Being an East Coast girl, I really Yeah, just so different. So I didn't really, I didn't love it out there, but I had an opportunity to work with a talent management and uh a brand company that worked with influencers in the talent agency, and we produced items for them. Like um, a lot of these influencers, they we did a lippy for them, and this is right when Kylie's lippy came out and was like viral. So when our influencers did these, I helped develop packaging, I helped with the colors, I helped with their pop-ups. I would organize their pop-ups um, like we would do them up in LA from Newport Beach, and they'd have a line around the block. So I worked with influencers then. So it's just all of that foundation kind of got me to starting something on my own during COVID. So how I got to Boca Grand was I was in LA and my boss was like, listen, we're gonna open a New York office. I know you're over LA. You can go run the New York office, move back there. I know that's where you want to be. And it was working out, and me and the boyfriend had broken up, and I was like, great. So that's right when COVID hit. Um, because they were ultimately a global company based in China, so they had brought it back, they'd been there at Christmas, and so we our whole office got it right around February, March of 2020. And so my dad lived here, he he retired in the Boca Grande area. And um he's like, why don't you just come hang out here for a little bit? What are you hustling back to Manhattan for? Like, just come and hang out. Yeah, and I'm thinking it's all old people here. It's you know, I was like, Dad, I'll come hang out. I was like, this isn't my scene, there's nothing to know, you know, and COVID, I mean, it just went on and on. And like FOMO left. I started doing beach yoga, I got out of the rat race, I calmed down, I reconnected with who I am as a person, nature, I just got back to basics and just really settled down. And once I quieted all that noise and just, you know, the hustle of New York or the hustle of LA and keeping up with the Jones, and here there, you know, Boca Grand is the opposite. Even though I'm directly across of Palm Beach, it's like very quiet, not flashy, like just, I mean, there is a lot of fashion and to be found there. Like the Lily Pulser that's on Boca Grand is actually one of the um only Lily Pulzers that isn't um that's still freestanding. They don't have to necessarily adhere to all of the um direction from corporate, like they're kind of their own entity. There's all these little special things about Boca Grand that I started slowly learning. And I started working with a designer out there in the mornings, bo uh Boo Jeans, who you may know. Um there. And so, yeah, so in a roundabout way, and then I met my husband here, and we got married barefoot, and I saw my sister's bag, and then you know, here we go.
SPEAKER_01I love it. It was like meant to be, and it sounds like you found yourself, you found your creativity, um, and it started this journey of your business. So then tell me, you know, you see this bag on your sister, you make your own, you're selling it at this local boutique. Then how do you sort of take it to the next level of having more bags to make and to supply, doing more trunk shows, creating a website? Like what was the step from this one-off bag, this one idea to a business?
SPEAKER_00Sure. Um so once I knew I had something with that holiday post, I started trying to order a bunch of LL Bean bags. And this is when S-H-I-T got real. You know, like they're like, oh, we're sold out. And I was like, what do you mean you're sold out? Like I was online trying to order. I signed up to be a business partner with them, and they were like, six months wait, this and that, because all of a sudden, like New York Times had featured boat and totes, and all of a sudden there was this viral boat and tote thing two years ago. I mean, it's still, especially after the, you know, the Carolyn Kennedy, you know, JFK thing this summer, especially after that. But that's died down. Now it's just whatever. Anyway, I was like, what am I gonna do? I I see a need, I have to fill fill these orders for Boca Grand. And then I went to Cabbage Key, which is local here, um, and I sold them some bags. And who else did I sell around here? But I I already had my thoughts on summer, so I was kind of just servicing the winter customer here. And for summer, I was like, I, you know, I'm going back to Maine and I'm gonna target some people in Maine. But I, of course, being a New Yorker, like I was like, who am I gonna go to in New York? And I always went to Montauk, and so I DM'd everybody in Montauk I could think of. And the one that was the most cohesive was the Montauk Yacht Club because they had just been renovated and bought by Proper. And Proper has this like corporate vision that understood their team understood, you know, what I was doing and how it would work with them. It was a little different vibe than some of the stuff that's going on in Montauk these days, with like it being overrun with like unauthentic, like Long Island, Hamptons typical stuff and being more mainstream. Like Montauk Yacht Club was trying to be just a little bit more unique and authentic and not so so it worked out. But um, back to the LL Bean story. So they were sold out. So I was like, I have a neat. What am I gonna do? So I start scouring, and I had heard of Fair, the wholesale online company. So I signed up, I got an account, I got a tax number, and so I tap in there, so then I'm scouring, and I come upon shore bags, and I was like, this looks interesting. I love the interior pockets, I love their story, women-owned, I loved um the quality. I ordered a sample, it was comparative to LLB and then it with the interior pockets, and then I also was selling them to the boutique Boo Jeans that I was working with. Um, she wanted to do an exclusive to her, the longitude and latitude of Boca Grande on the back, which resonates with all of the nautical people that come off the boat at Boca Grande. We had so many people they come in barefoot off the boat to shop. Um, so they love the boat and tow. So I was really just selling it locally, and I had started Instagram a little bit, but it was really just word of mouth. Okay. And so Shore Club, I mean, shore the shore bags, they sent me the sample, and so I started ordering um, you know, 10 pieces at a time and being really scared. And then I started ordering a case and being really scared, and then it kept selling. And then, you know, the gals at Shore Bags were like, Hey, do you want to put some bags into production? I was like, oh no, I couldn't do that. You know, and they were so amazing to work with because they were like, oh, well, you don't have to put into production our minimum. We'll give you an opportunity to do half of our standard minimum. Like they had seen me grow and wanted to support me, and they were just such a perfect partner, so much better than you know, any of the other ones that I had dabbled in. And so I started getting on a regular schedule with them. And then people started asking me, Oh, do you have mini totes? Do you have pouches, or do you have the medium tote? Like the, you know, so it I had requests for other sizes. So the business was organically growing. And then once um, then I started to build a website with um some people on Fiverr, which was a full-time job. Um, that's that's challenging. So my, I mean, and this is, you know, these are some of the things like where do I put the money? Like, do I invest it in a better website? Do I use it for travel to go do a pop-up at Caniglia in East Hampton? You know, do I use the money for the money from sales? You know, so it's it's there's so many things, and I and I don't know, I've never had my own business. I'm just trying to figure it out the best I can, you know. Totally. So the has been kind of on the back burner because I've been able to sell through just the links. I mean, I did it once and then I had somebody else redo it. So that's kind of on my bucket list to get that done soon.
SPEAKER_01Well, you're killing it regardless. I see you popping up everywhere, um, which I kind of want to talk about next because you're so good at that. Like we were talking about you've been in Nantucket, the Hamptons, all these stores. How are you making those connections, getting those accounts, popping up at those places? I think a lot of people have trouble with that when starting a business. Like, I don't know if they don't have the confidence or they don't know about how to get those introductions, but any advice around how you've been able to make those connections and grow your brand that way?
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. I mean, that's that just comes down to my background in fashion. Like I was in sales for a while and I it was just like, I mean, it Was like Wolf of Wall Street. Like it's just like my bosses would be like, you know, every night we'd have to send a recap of, you know, the sales. And like when I was working for one brand, I remember I had Foot Locker Europe as an account. And I and I convinced my boss to send me to a trade show over there called Bread and Butter in Barcelona. And then Foot Locker Europe was in Amsterdam. And I convinced him to let me go there to write the orders. And so, you know, it's that hustle of getting the introduction comes from working in the Garment Center in New York City and having to answer to these, like, you know, just, I mean, very intimidating people. And a lot of people that were on boards that had to report numbers. So I've had that ingrained in me, that garmento mentality since I was 20 years old working at Calvin Klein. So it translated into this business. And that's what I think there's a disconnect because some of these people that are starting small businesses, like nothing was scarier than walking into Boca Blooms that day with this tote bag, you know, trying to pitch them. And once I got over that, it's the same reason, like people like, you know, it's the hemming and hawing of posting, like I hate it's it so, but I was like, I know once this sold, I was like, I know there's a market for this. And so I just started DMP DMing people. And with Caniglia, I was obsessed with her fashion since I started going over there and seeing her in Southampton when I went there two years ago. And I was like, my stuff, I can do something for her. Like, I don't know what it is, but I am gonna be a part of whatever she's doing. I'm obsessed with her. It just comes from whole passion that when I reach out to these people and with Erica Wilson, I knew I needed to be on Nantucket. And when I started the conversation with them, they were super receptive. And I immediately painted a bag and sent it to one of them in Palm Beach, and I painted another bag and I drove it down. They were here for a trunk show in Naples. I drove down, I brought them the bag, I pitched them in person, I expressed my passion, and I said, you know, I want to be a partner, whatever it takes. Like, and I'll paint whatever you need me to paint, I'll deliver whatever ship shapes you need me to ship, and I will come there. Initially, she had told me no, I don't have room, no, no, no. She told me no for a year. And I finally saw, I actually saw Caniglia was doing a trunk show in Martha's Vineyard, and I messaged her. I said, let me come and do a trunk show. No commitment is necessary from you. Just give me an opportunity to pop up in your store. And that led to the conversation of, okay, you're gonna come and do a pop-up. Why don't we test a couple bags online first? And I knew that was it. So it's just like that. Like, if you're passionate enough about you, just be shameless. Like I was shameless. I just kept messaging her. I showed up at her trunk show. I was like, here's your bag with your initials on it. I painted it just for you. Like in your face. Like I mean, I know when I know how I felt when I saw my sister show up at my wedding. I was obsessed. I was like, you and this bag, like, and I know that feeling as a consumer. We know when we're obsessed with something. And if I felt that way, other I knew other people would feel that way. So I love that.
SPEAKER_01I mean, you said the hustle, the passion, and then I love a little thing you said there as well. Was you asked them how you could be a partner. And I think that's a really key important aspect is how how can you help them? How can you work together and not just self-serve, right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and I think um sometimes it's almost like I had to be coming from a point of view, even if I lose money on anything initially, it's long game. Like every single thing I've done in this, like from the scarves to the bags, everything's been long game. I used to be all about instant gratification and I gotta have, I gotta make money and the margins and this. On these, I've just took an taken hits and taken a leap, but the setbacks financially in terms of gifting have come to fruition tenfold on so many levels. Like I had to just let it all go and just be absolutely fearless and just send bags to people that I wanted it to be in their hands, whether they were um somebody influential or just somebody I cared about or whatever it may be. I just was, I just left all of that stuff about being accountable for the bottom line at the door when I launched this. And I was just like, I know that it is gonna come back tenfold. So it was that that that jump.
SPEAKER_01Um and I had a good point, yeah, is sending sending out samples. I mean, me working in PR the all the time, I tell clients to send the samples. Like, even though it's hard to part with, you know, a couple hundred dollar product, it's so important that it is part of that long game. Um, and a lot of it, you know, even with this podcast, sometimes things cost money, but it's written off as marketing because, like you said, it's a it's a long game. It's not necessarily not everything is so transactional, right?
SPEAKER_00Right. It was a hard lesson.
SPEAKER_01So it sounds like you are super inspired by travel and places. Um, even when you're talking about when you worked for the shoe brand, like getting your boss to send you to these destinations. Uh, so I'm curious, like, hey, how does travel inspire you? And then what are some of your favorite places to travel to? And like, what's a bucket list place?
SPEAKER_00Um, so I just um I'm painting these totes to have a reason to get to these places. Um, like next on my list is to partner with is in Jackson Hole. Like, I'm obsessed. My my sister goes skiing out there, and growing up in Maine, we skied, and that's been missing in my life. I've got the beach aspect checked off, I've got the city aspect checked off. And then, I mean, potentially global. Like, I had just um, I'm actually going to Italy this week for our honeymoon. It's it's two years later, but um I designed a whole little collection of bags that I was gonna bring and photograph for the trip, and then I was like, I hate all of this, and I went in a completely different direction, and now I still have to paint it, and this one's gonna be fun neons and all kinds of stuff. But um, so it's just kind of like so that was inspired by I went down a rabbit hole on Copenhagen fashion the other day. So it's like now that I got Beach off my list because I live here, like I'm all about I want to go to Berlin and Copenhagen and get back to Amsterdam and go more to the cities and and get reconnected with some of that fashion. Like I'm kind of over New York, it's changed a lot since when I lived there. Um, I'm sure it's different and it's fabulous in its own way, but personally, like I want to go like global and like get to Japan and more like cities that are, yeah.
SPEAKER_01So that's kind of I could totally see your bags doing so well in Japan. Um, and I love that. Like, even a lot of people ask me when I do my camp reppy retreats, like, how do I pick the places? And I'm like, most of the time it's where I want to go.
SPEAKER_00Like that's exactly what it is. Yeah, it's not necessarily because there's an account there or there's you know, something specific. It's I want to go.
SPEAKER_01So I'm curious then. Obviously, you love to travel. That's I'm assuming one of the favorite parts about what you do. So, what is the hardest or worst parts about having this business? And then what's your favorite or the best like pinch me moments that you love and it's like why you wake up every day and do this business?
SPEAKER_00Um, okay, so some of the pinch me moments have really come from partnering with Erica Wilson and the connection. I didn't realize, I mean, the fashion industry in New York, it was it was very competitive and it wasn't this connection. So I've been blown away by the community that exists in this, like, just in the support. It's it's it was so it was the most unexpected thing. I thought I was just gonna be painting bags and selling them, and but it I've gotten these bonds with these women that are mostly entrepreneurs, whether I connect with them on Instagram or in store. Um, that's been one of the most surprising and one of the best parts about it. And the partnerships with the retailers, like when I went to Montauk Yacht Club last summer and met everyone and the team, like all the team dissolved. One of them went on to start her own event uh planning company. One of the chefs there went over to Sag Harbor to Faraway, and then one of the other gals is this major influencer doing all these wild things, partnering with Shopop. So it's this crazy community and connection. Like it was a very tiny thing there last summer, and now these people are going off. And so one of the gals in the event community uh event planning is like, oh, I want to do mini totes for some brides. And then this other influencer is like, oh, we could do drop shipping on my website. Um, why don't we pick five cities? You know, so it's the most amazing thing is it goes back to the partnership initially and just being your organ organic, authentic self, um, and treating every encounter as professional and every detail and every I dotted and T-crossed when I ship out a bag, I hand well, you received it. It's it's wrapped, it's ribboned, it's got a note inside, it's the personal touch that doesn't really exist. I get so many packages all the time, and I'm just like, this is so unpersonal and just you know generic, and it's been packed in a warehouse. Like, I want to make it an experience. And that experience has paid off in terms of people, it resonates and they remember, and then they come back and they're like, hey, I thought of you for this host gift, I thought of you for this bachelor party that my friend is throwing, I thought of you for this new drop on my new website, whatever it may be. So, my favorite part about all of this has been the connection with the community and the women and the drive that I've met. Like doing the collaboration with Blue Canary Canvas was just this organic thing by us just being like on the grind and excited about the product and the connection with Erica Wilson. And it's just been so soul fulfilling because I'm a bit isolated here. Um, I don't have like a friend group that I meet with all the time. My friend group is getting on the phone with my girlfriend that is a real estate gal in New York, and my sister is in Cali, and my cousin's in DC. Like my crew is is not physically here. So to connect with everyone through this business, it hasn't really been a business per se. It's been more of just this community of you know, creativity and like I said, soul fulfilling. The worst part is painting for hours when sometimes I want to be working on the website, when I want to be working on content, when I want to do photography for the bags, when I want to be developing and targeting new people, like when I targeted Christina at Caniglia, or when I targeted Erica Wilson. Like I know nothing about Jackson Hall, but I know Veronica Beard is doing some stuff. I'm just putting it out there. Like, you know, I want to do some stuff with that. Like, you know, I want to be um looking for new business, looking for new partners, looking for new um business owners and women like myself that I could partner. I believe in this, the way to tap into more customers, the most quick and successful way is to partner with somebody doing something in a different niche that kind of aligns with what you're doing, like what I did with Blue Canary Canvas. Um I'm looking for more people that I can partner with. And I don't know what that's gonna look like per se, but it's like when Supreme partnered with like, you know, somebody completely on the other spectrum, like tablecloths, or just I'm just saying, like, I want to partner with um, you know, somebody that's way out in left field, like a car company. I don't even know, but I'm manifesting some crazy partnership because I believe that putting those two things together really just like it takes it to the next level. So if I could put more of my time into that, I'd like to get a um a student from an art school to come and be my apprentice. So I can say, listen, here's what we need to paint. I need 10 of those bags, but I need to sit next to you. I'll look over your shoulder, but I need to sit here and be um, you know, doing my thing and getting new business and making new connections. So that's my most frustrating day-to-day on um the business in terms of, you know, what I don't, what, what I struggle with. That's the hardest.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. That makes total sense. And I mean, I think every entrepreneur feels that way. Like it's hard to be in the business while still trying to grow it at the same time. Like, even me with PR, it's like I need to be at my computer pitching editors and writers, but at the same time, I need to be having coffee with potential new clients. So everyone feels, you know, those those growing pains. Um, so since this is the Preppy podcast, I always ask everyone, what does Preppy mean to you? So, how would you describe Preppy?
SPEAKER_00Sure, sure. Um, to me, Preppy, um, it's the traditional, it's Ralph, it's Lily. Um, but then to me, it's also um the messy, like in Maine, like, you know, the driving the Boston whaler, you know, myself from age seven, you know, in an LL bean flannel with an LL bean boat and tote, you know, having s'mores at a campfire. And then it's also at the Gasparilla Inn. Like when I moved here, I still had a New York mentality. I remember the first time going there, I had all black on. Like, let me tell you, like they they basically like like blocked the door and said, like, you're not allowed in here, you know. Gasparilla Inn is to me the epitome locally of preppy. It's you know, it's the refined, it's the put together outfits, the pearls, the attention to detail, and the beauty and the respect for presentation of yourself, um, and just being um yeah, um, I think that's yeah, and your totes are definitely preppy.
SPEAKER_01Um, you uh created the most beautiful tote for me that says Club Preppy, and it's just pink and green. It's so good, so preppy. I am obsessed with it. I shared it on my Instagram um and we'll share it again once this comes out. But you're just so beyond talented. I love how you can capture, you know, each per each of your customers' personality or like the brand's personality um and put put a spin on it. So I just I want to say that I love my tote.
SPEAKER_00I'm so happy and it's so functional. That's what's so great about it. I mean, it looks great, but you can keep your stuff organized, especially as an entrepreneurial woman. You know, it fits your laptop and it fits a bottled water and it fits like I don't I don't even know. Like I put sneakers in there or a pair of flip-flops, I'll wear heel, you know, whatever. It just in makeup, I mean your wallet, it's great. So totally.
SPEAKER_01So what's next for you? Any sneak peeks, any where you're popping up, or new designs you're working on that you want to tease?
SPEAKER_00So well, I will tease one because it's we're gonna announce it soon. So I figure I may as well just take this time to announce it with you. So everybody, when I did the Boca Grand Scarf, um, we have another scarf that we're gonna release this holiday, but what I will tell you that I am doing is we're doing a twilly. I saw you we had to. It um it's gonna be in both colors. Um, this one's the um the the midnight pass, but we're gonna we're going to have it um we're gonna have it this holiday season um in both colors, the same Boca Grand. Um, because everybody just asked me for them. They were like, Oh, you're doing a scarf? Like, why don't you have a twili? I'm like, I just did a scarf, like I need a minute. Like, I don't know how I I figured out how to source the scarves in Italy, and they have hand-rolled seams, and the material is almost just like Hermes, it's next level. And then they were like, Well, where's the twilly? I'm like, okay, let me get on that.
SPEAKER_01I love they're beautiful, and I love how vibrant they are. Like the colors just really pop, they're stunning.
SPEAKER_00And that was the same thing with the scarves. It was like there wasn't an artist doing artwork that made Boca Grand feel and look like this. So that's I had the artist um locally here. I had her, um, I commissioned her. This is the original piece. Like I had the vision in my head, but I couldn't paint it. Yeah. And I couldn't find a local artist that did know what I was talking about or a graphic designer. And this gal I just connected with. And so I, you know, her and I spent six months doing that, and then you know, but the scarves is a whole nother conversation. But the twilly is a teaser.
SPEAKER_01In terms of the bags, I'm trying to think if I have anything new that I could maybe this winter you'll head out west, then it sounds like potentially, right?
SPEAKER_00That's I don't know what it's gonna look like, the logistics, but I'm saying it's I'm putting it out there. Something's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_01Totally. I love it. Okay, so final question is where can people find you? Let them know your website, um, social media handles, anything so they can shop and support.
SPEAKER_00Sure. So you can find my bags on ericawilson.com. You can find my whole website at um LBSdesign shop. It's just designshop1s.com. And on there you can do your own custom tote. You can shop some of the existing styles that I have available. Uh, you can see the scarf. You can find me on LBS Designs on Instagram. That's the handle, LBS Designs. And yeah, that's it. I'm here in the Boca Grande area. I'm gonna be doing a bunch of pop-ups in Naples, um, independent pop-ups, which I've never done. It's always been affiliated either with somebody else. Oh, and I'm doing a huge boat show for the um Fort Lauderdale. That's a new partnership. I forgot about that. Yeah, we're doing a I'm gonna do a big boat show pop-up thing. This is brand new. So that's new. Um, that's this fall. There'll be details on Instagram.
SPEAKER_01So oh, yay! Okay, well, thank you so much. This was such a blast to chat with you, learn more about you and your business. Um, so thank you for being on the preppy podcast. Thanks, Patricia. Thank you so much for listening to the Preppy Podcast. I hope this put a little prep in your step for the day. Please subscribe, rate, and review on wherever you listen to your podcast. And follow along with at the preppy podcast on social media.