S7E14 - Unveiling the Magic of Swag in Event Curation and Influencing Branding With Promotional Products!!

Are you curious about the creative world of swag and unconventional careers? Tag along as we unravel the captivating journey of our guest, Hildee, who has carved her niche as a swag expert. Hildee takes us through her inspiring voyage, navigating from her initial dreams of teaching and acting to her unorthodox passion in the promotional products industry. Listen as she shares her experiences, from her early struggles, her stint in the restaurant business, and her eventual realization of the power of swag in marketing.

In this intriguing episode, we tread into the deeper aspects of branding, sales meetings, and the crucial role of early planning. We stress on the importance of involving a marketing team while planning national sales meetings and events. With an example of a successful Costa Rica themed event, we illustrate the smart use of eco-friendly swag items, clever taglines, and the impact of thoughtful branding. Additionally, we delve into the fascinating realm of corporate gifting, discussing the cost, process, and the magic of personalization in gift boxes.

Join us as we explore the role of swag in curating memorable experiences and the art of creating swag that mirrors the theme of the event. We also offer a sneak peek into my upcoming book and potential swag ideas for its launch. Our personal experiences with swag and our insights into incorporating swag into marketing strategies are sure to provide you with a wealth of information. With a focus on the power of creating lasting memories through swag, this episode is set to leave you with a better understanding of the world of swag. So, gear up and get ready to immerse yourself in this compelling conversation.

Hildee, a recovering New Yorker who spent most of her life in Manhattan and Long Island before relocating to Atlanta in 1993 with a film degree from NYU, has a diverse professional background in film, the garment industry, owning a restaurant, and selling swag since 2002. 

Married for over 20 years with one son, she's a health-conscious morning person. Hildee is a passionate gamer, embracing activities like Pokemon, Mah Jong, Canasta, golf, weightlifting, biking, hiking, poker, and blackjack. Despite her aversion to math, her film background fosters

Transcript

Journey Into Swag and Creative Careers

Speaker 1 0:00

So then I ended up going to NYU film school three amazing jobs when I graduated from NYU film school. But each time I was told fuck me or you're fired. And after that happened three times, I thought, okay, the film industry isn't for me. And I worked in the Garmin Center in Manhattan. I always worked in restaurants, even during college I waitress, bartended, hostess, managed. And so when the Garmin Center didn't work out and the film industry didn't work out and I thought, maybe it's New York, so I got in the car and I was actually on my way to my what was my grandparents house in Florida and I stopped in Atlanta one night to rest and I never left and started waitressing here in Atlanta, which is where I currently am, and again waitressing, bartending, hostessing and summer hi shit talkers.

Speaker 2 0:59

Welcome to talk show repeat, and I am your host, paula the shit talker. I mean, don't we all like talking shit anyway? Are you a creator? If so, you are in the right space. Talk show repeat is a place where we showcase and celebrate the talents, works and stories of creative minds from all walks of life, while also raising awareness for mental health through providing a supportive space to share their stories, insights and experiences. We will be discussing creative journeys, the high lows and the ways we manage our mental health. Through it all. Join us each week for inspiring conversations, useful resources and a community of like-minded creators as we dive into the minds of creative beings to explore their journeys, struggles and triumphs.

Speaker 2 1:51

So, whether you are a seasonal creative or just starting out, talk show repeat is the podcast for you. So, shit talkers, I have an amazing guest today with me and I've been planning on having this incredible woman since I have met her and we were supposed to record on the weekend, but I wasn't after the now just and it was too noisy to record. So I'm grateful she was able to reschedule. But here we are and funny thing is, I met when I was invited for this foodies event, where a bunch of people who love to eat and explore through food meet together and have amazing time over food, and she was hosting it and she was an incredible hostess. An amazing human apartment is not what am I saying apartment, her house is incredible and the tour was spectacular because she was sharing everything she did from the top to the bottom and energy. Oh my God, that could go on and on and on. Here they welcome to talk, show, repeat.

Speaker 1 3:00

Thank you, I love talking shit with you P.

Speaker 2 3:05

I'm glad you could finally fit me on your schedule because she's a busy person and I'll make sure you all follow on Instagram, because Instagram is always amazing. She always is doing something fascinating and you get to learn a lot about swag just by watching her stories, and that's why we're here today. She's the queen of swag. So, hilde, how did you get into swag? Can you walk at I'm sorry, my voice, I overdid it at Afro Zenage this week. But, hilde, can you walk us through the process of your journey with swag? Like, how did you venture into this career?

Speaker 1 3:57

Like, why swag? So it's fascinating to me because swag, promotional products, ad specialty, whatever you wanna call it it's been around over a hundred years and people spend billions and billions. But when people go to college and decide they wanna get a marketing degree, no one teaches them about it. I can't even begin to tell you how many people in marketing are. Like what's that? So I am on a journey to teach the entire world about my industry and hopefully get some people to join me on the dark side of marketing and do the part of marketing that leaves a memory forever.

Speaker 1 4:37

And I started out when I was a little girl. I wanted to be a teacher. My dad did his research and he said no, when you graduate college there's gonna be no teaching jobs. You can't be a teacher. And then in high school I got into acting and my acting teacher in high school said yeah, no, you're never gonna be a good actress, so give that up. So then I ended up going to NYU film school three amazing jobs when I graduated from NYU film school. But each time I was told fuck me or you're fired. And after that happened three times, I thought okay, the film industry isn't for me.

Speaker 1 5:15

And I worked in the Garmin Center in Manhattan. I always worked in restaurants, even during college. I waitress, bartended, hostess, managed, and so when the Garmin Center didn't work out and the film industry didn't work out, and I thought, maybe it's New York. So I got in the car and I was actually on my way to my what was my grandparents house in Florida and I stopped in Atlanta one night to rest and I never left and started waitressing here in Atlanta, which is where I currently am, and again waitressing, bartending, hostessing, and someone had a business that they were looking to sell and the business was making soups and sandwiches and salads and going to businesses where people couldn't get out for lunch, like hairdressers and stockbrokers. So I would do that. I would get to them, wake up before in the morning, make all these fresh soup, salads and sandwiches. I would go to hair salons and stockbrokers and I would sell. Not only the workers, but the people in the chairs were also not able to eat, break away for lunch cause they're busy getting their hair done, and that parlayed into a restaurant which was called Secret Garden Gourmet and I lasted about nine months up in Alpharetta because it was all food that's healthy and helps your body, fight cancer and heart disease, which is how I cook to this day, and I still love cooking and I'm an amazing cook, as you know.

Speaker 1 6:47

And after nine months in Alpharetta I went out of business because 23 years ago no one cared for sure. Not in Alpharetta. Had I opened Indicator or somewhere more Earthy Crunchy, I probably would still be a restaurant owner. But it was definitely a blessing that I lost $100,000 and the restaurant went out of business in nine months. And so when it did, the girl who sold me my embroidered apron said come work for me, I'll teach you the business.

Speaker 1 7:15

And that's how my journey started with promotional products.

Speaker 1 7:19

And in the 23 years I've been in the business, I've gone from walking trade shows and just talking to the marketing people at their booths and building my business to over a million dollars a year in sales. So when you think about a pen as a dollar, I do pretty well and I'm a hustler and no matter where I am in the world, I can work. I went for a month to Italy this summer and I worked every single day and I post a one minute educational video every single day since January because I am on a mission to not only teach everybody on the planet about our industry one minute a day, because I don't think anybody wants to listen to anything more than one minute a day. But I'm trying to help people in my industry help promote products, because a lot of people don't know how to make videos and with my NYU film background it's come very easy to me and just bring more people into the fold of sales. Creativity and the idea of the perfect promotional product will be a memory for a lifetime.

Speaker 2 8:25

Oh my God, you've said so much that I wanna jump into and I don't even know where to step back on it, Just like because you're talking.

Speaker 1 8:32

Well, you asked me a question.

Speaker 2 8:34

No, I love it. And one thing I like about like to be honest, I really don't like America right now, but I feel like I should have maybe been in America doing my undergrad, compared to grad school, because I love how in America it's so easy to get to work experience in every sector. Like, kids start working at a younger age. Every other country I've lived in, either because you're international student, you can't work, or you just can't work until a certain age. So every time I look at people I was about 10, I did this I get excited because there's so many experiences and sometimes you don't know what that experience will bring into your life. But later on, like, okay, you went to film school, they told you won't be a good actor, but look, right now that film education is working for your videos. So there will always be a way to bring them back together and make it work for you. So that's why I never take any opportunity for granted, even like when I used to work in retail and I would take it, see us, because I wanted to learn everything, because I'm like I want to want to own my own business. You never know the things I learned from here, how I can incorporate. Because, yes, when you're working at retail, you're always looking at the bad shit that the management is doing, but we never also take a considerate and a good shit where I can implement that in my life or in my future business and know from the bad shit what not to incorporate. So I like taking everything see us and learning, because I believe there's always a way of it to connect.

Speaker 2 10:11

And I've always been into merchandising. You know, at that time I never called it swag, but it's just a part of swag, right. So when I mentioned you told me you were in swag I was like, oh my God, yes, because every time I started something I'd always look at it, like, how will this logo go in my merchandising? How will it look in my merchandise? How will the tagline feel? So I've always had that mentality and he used to bother me that people don't think about that because it's part of your branding. So, with all that saying, what do you believe sets an exceptional event swag apart from the ordinary one? Like, what does swag bring? Like you know, when you go to an event, I was in an event this weekend and I received some swag right. Right. Now we're going to fall. Everybody needs a lever, you know. And it has the lager.

Speaker 2 11:10

She has a podcast about sex, right, and she was giving these things out and I was like what the hell is in here? And it's condoms, right, because her tagline is be responsible and ratchet, right, go get you some, but be responsible. So it brings me like, when I look at this, I might not remember who the girl exactly is, because you get to meet a lot of people, but you're like, oh my God, she has that. I'm going to go check out because she gave me. Okay, I kind of don't like how, but oh shit, but I'm very well put together because once you open it goes upside down. But since you're the queen of swag For the people who don't know they all have events, they never have merchandise or swag to give out Can you tell them how swag is important in an event, what it brings out from the event?

Speaker 1 12:07

Sure, so an event is very generic. Let's hone in, let's say this is a company convention.

Branding and Planning for Sales Meetings

Speaker 1 12:22

So, everybody who's going to this. Let's just say I don't know. Two years ago my company we had our national sales meeting in Memphis. So usually, if it's done right, the marketing team is starting to pre-plan as soon as the year before ends, like maybe they take a month off, but it should be about an 11 month process. It shouldn't be something that you reach out oh, I got something coming on in two weeks. What do you have that I can get in two weeks, which I get all the time and I'm gifted. I'm super creative, so I will always come up with ideas better than what my client comes up with. But ultimately, everybody knows about events in advance and some people are better at planning and some people are not. And I'll work with again, I'll work with anybody who can spend at least $1,000 or more per item, per event. Less than that and I just make pennies per hour and I just I can't afford that. So national sales meeting hopefully people have some sort of a marketing team, or I already heard what you said, paula, that you have a marketing brain, because I would say 95% of the people I talk to never, ever think about how a logo will look on things. They just decide whether they like the logo period, and that's not how it should be. And I always tell people if they're rebranding, please have a Hildi way in to make sure it embroiders nice, and it'll look good on a small imprint like a lapel pin or a pen, or it'll look just as big on, like these banners behind me. It's gotta be multi-purpose. So kudos to you that you think that way, but I gotta tell you most people don't right. So national sales meeting, and it's gonna be in Memphis. So then the team should get together and talk about well, we definitely want Memphis themed items. We already have a logo, right, so we've got this Geiger logo. But how's it gonna translate to meld together our national sales meeting in Memphis? Or actually, I'm gonna parlay because I do have the box that they sent out when it was a sale. It was a sales incentive trip and we all want to trip to Costa Rica and I went in May. It was amazing. So they reach out and they talk to vendors and they say, listen, we're going to Costa Rica. Costa Rica is known as very eco-friendly, so everything we want to do, we want to be eco-friendly.

Speaker 1 14:55

You can have the logo, but there has to be something themed, so sometimes it could be something as simple as a tag line. So when I give out tumblers, yes, it says Hildi on it, but on the other side it says poured myself a cup of ambition. And some people don't know what that is, but that is a line from Dolly Parton, song nine to five. And just to have a cup that says poured myself a cup of ambition and be drinking out of it, it's positive, it's thought-promoting, it's something more than just throwing a logo on something, and I think that that's where people drop the ball.

Speaker 1 15:34

You could go into chat GPT and say, hey, my podcast is talk shit with P. I want to give out T-shirts, what's a clever tagline? And chat GPT will come up with 100 of them for you until there's one that resonates with you. It's not hard to figure out something that makes it more than just a logo. So and I did do an unboxing for this one, and again, this is what my marketing team at Geiger gave out for Purevita Galaxy of Stars, costa Rica 2023. So you start with when this box comes to the house, it's not an Amazon box, it's not a UPS box, it's fully, fully branded, and so I'm going to open this before the typical brown cardboard right, and then when you open it, it's the whole. It's the whole vibe.

Speaker 2 16:27

Oh yes.

Speaker 1 16:29

And so it says. Purevita translates to pure life or simple life. By living a purevita lifestyle, people can find balance in their lives, prioritize their well-being and cultivate meaningful connections with others. The Geiger family hopes everyone at Galaxy enjoys their time while embodying the purevita spirit. Purevita Costa Rica 2023. And then it's not only filled with swag, but everything is colors. The colors are all cohesive and works with the theme of the box and the theme of purevita, eco-friendly and Geiger, so we can go into each item. So this is from a retail brand called Clean Canteen, and Clean Canteen was the first tumbler that you were able to get in there with a brush and wash everything. Before then, there were narrow openings.

Speaker 1 17:22

And they didn't clean properly. So this one is gorgeous. It's like the perfect size. It's got that full color wrap imprint, it's got a great drinking opening and it's, if you know, clean Canteen. You know they're eco-friendly. Genius, right.

Speaker 2 17:43

Yes.

Speaker 1 17:46

Then pouches these days are super duper popular. Everybody wants it, whether it's for your toiletries, or your cables or jewelry.

Speaker 2 17:58

I'm casting shit in my mics and my headphones and all that.

Speaker 1 18:04

And so, and this says, this bag used to be bottles, so we're staying in the theme of eco. It says Geiger, really tiny, but the purevita living, the purevita lifestyle. So if you look at the new product, we're going to be seeing what we have here on the screen, and the news inside that bag was this cable, which I don't think. Maybe I can show you. So it's.

Speaker 2 18:34

It's a USB cable, and can I plug it in somewhere so you can see it? The one with the three?

Speaker 1 18:40

Oh my God, they're giving cables in case you lost your charger. I forgot. I love that Apple, which is the iPhone. And what happens is when this is not lit up, you just see Costa Rica, geiger. But when I plug it in, let's see, do I have a USB port handy? I can't find a USB port handy, but anyway it will light up blue. I think it lights up.

Speaker 1 19:02

Oh right, it lights up. Where's a USB port? Ah, whatever, I've got a MacBook. They don't do USBs anymore. All right, play cord and again eco-friendly. And then they gave me this. So you see the colors. We're still staying in those kind of khakis. Yeah, because the books are the natural color yeah, and then when I open this up, it's a bag carry bag.

Speaker 1 19:33

It's a coat bag, right, but it comes so small. And then, when you open it up the right way, it says again Purevita, costa Rica, geiger, and it's the green with the black, and it's such a cute tote bag.

Speaker 1 19:51

I love it and also, like you got the lip balm, they also did lip balm. I will tell you there's two different choices with lip balm. If you get organic lip balm, which is my choice, it won't have any sunscreen in it. If it's not organic, then it will have sunscreen in it. So some people would rather have the organic, some people would rather have the sunscreen lip protection. It's one or the other. You can't have both. This one says Papa's sunscreen. So there you go. So it's not organic, which is fine. It'll make sure your lips don't get. It's not like one is better than the other, just like I.

Speaker 2 20:26

Preferences, preferences, yeah that's all.

Speaker 1 20:30

Then they gave us this, and I'm guessing you don't know what this is as cuff. No, it's a cooling towel. Oh, no, so you wet it and I usually will wrap it around my neck and as long as it's wet, it's like wearing an air conditioner around my neck. Yeah, I'm obsessed with cooling towels. Anytime you've seen me in a summer video, I have something like this wrapped around my neck because otherwise I'm sweating like you don't want to. Once it's wet, how long does it?

Speaker 2 21:00

last on your neck for.

Speaker 1 21:01

Until the water dries up, and then you just wet it again.

Speaker 2 21:05

All right, you just wet it again.

Speaker 1 21:07

Wetting it and wetting it, and then it'll ultimately need to be washed. You throw it in the washing machine and you're ready to go again. So they also gave us a luggage tag, and this time the theme is different. This time it says adventure awaits. Because you don't want, I wouldn't want, pure Vita and everything. It's got to be the right thing.

Speaker 2 21:28

And I'm about to head to the adventure. So adventure awaits. Yes, I'm getting excited. That's what I'm heading, it's all exciting.

Speaker 1 21:36

All right, what else did they put in here? Ah, here's another good one. So this is again. The imprint is what we call fully disublimated, and you can tell what. This is right. Can you tell Um, um, by the shape? Now I'll help you.

Speaker 2 21:58

Sunglasses.

Speaker 1 22:00

Yeah, and so even the sunglasses. They say geiger, and there's like a wooden a wooden and lava.

Speaker 2 22:09

Oh yeah, there's a really big oh it.

Speaker 1 22:14

Oh, I had to do that for you, you're welcome.

Speaker 2 22:23

You're about to be my favorite guest, okay.

Speaker 1 22:28

And then I hate it when the vendors do these white tuck boxes. I feel like it's such a waste. But we're slowly my industry going to more eco friendly. But this was also another gift. Can you believe all the stuff coming out of that one little box? I know, yeah, so Candle, and it's a soy candle. So again, it's very earth friendly, with the pure Vita Costa Rica geiger and then the last, saving the best for last. So see, this is a smarter box. Let it be one of these eco brown boxes as opposed to the white. And it says it's an eye dock multi eco wireless charging pad. And it says it's a wireless charging pad. And it says it's an eye dock multi eco wireless charging pad. And it says it's an eye dock multi eco wireless charging pad. Okay, I know, I know these boxes all the freaking time. So this is, this is a full color imprint, and one spot is for a watch, one spot is for a phone.

Speaker 2 23:30

And one spot is for your apple ear buds, so it charges three things, not just Three.

Speaker 1 23:36

I know you're coming over right now and taking that whole box for me. I'm a little bit of an expert.

Speaker 2 23:43

I'm a little bit of an expert, but you know two people. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 23:48

Well, how much would a company spend on one box like that? Well, look, because of it's what we do for a living, I am guessing they got a deal. But I would say, let's say I was going to sell that to someone, it would cost them somewhere around $200. Plus shipping. Right, I know this item on its own is 40 or 50. So then I'm just kind of adding it all together. Then you have to pay somebody to put it all together in the box with the shred and package them and then ship them out. So each piece of this somebody. That's why I said you have to book this 11 months in advance, because you got to come up with the art. You got to make sure the vendors have stock. You got to bring all the items into one place and then put them in and then package everything.

Speaker 2 24:38

Make sure every box has the right package, the right presentation.

Speaker 1 24:45

And there were, I think, 100 of us that earned the trip this year.

Speaker 2 24:50

So let's, we're going to say 300 to 400 per box.

Speaker 1 24:55

No, no, no, 200. That one is 200. And I did one recently and I can show you that for a client of mine and it was more like $100 a box. Again, a different box.

Speaker 2 25:09

Can I see the $100 box? You know, actually we're using like a budget limit, so let's see what the $100 box.

Speaker 1 25:20

I hope everything's in here Like I keep okay. So it didn't spur for a client and basically it's news.

Speaker 1 25:30

And it was fully charged by Chevrolet. So we did, I think, a thousand of these boxes and news one was really the people that I worked with and it's a it's, I think it's. No, it's a smaller box. It's, I like this size box. It's a smaller box. And what we did see the orange dot here that's because this client wanted t-shirts and to make it subtle to know what size t-shirt is inside, she did a different color, so she was handing them out at events. She didn't ship them home, she was handing them out at events. What size t-shirt are you? Okay, you get orange, you get yellow, you get color.

Speaker 2 26:11

And she just needed the boxes to know what color, what size was in there.

Speaker 1 26:17

And so for this she had four events that she was giving them out, and each event they were talking about different things. So this was last year. So one was in Washington DC they talked about higher education access. Then one in Atlanta was policy justice reform. Then one in Philadelphia, we talked about mental health and wellness. And the last one was in Houston, texas, talking about financial freedom. So nice, and they're doing this.

Speaker 2 26:46

I love how they gave every you know.

Speaker 1 26:51

Right, right. And so this was the first thing I did, and this bag has been discontinued. They're not making it anymore, but I had given her a sample with this art and they loved it so much they kind of stole it from me. Can you see what it says?

Speaker 2 27:04

Follow me stuff me, watch me, feel me.

Speaker 1 27:09

Right. And so it starts that small with the logo and then when you open it up, it's not only a beautiful tote bag, but it has the real. It says big issues, small steps, real change.

Speaker 2 27:27

I love that.

Speaker 1 27:28

And it's a really big tote bag and it's got a zippered closure, so this is really good, Like when you go to hotels and you want to put your dirty laundry. This is my laundry bag.

Speaker 2 27:37

That's why you fold me, help me, wash me, feel me.

Speaker 1 27:43

Yeah, the machine washable. And then we did these really nice cleaning cloths which you can use this side to clean your glasses, your iPhones, your laptop, and then the other side is terry cloths. You got two different ways to clean items and it's again a great way to promote the logo. And then we did so. This is my favorite. So we decided we wanted to do drinkwear and I said let's do something that isn't the logo, let's think of something more clever than just the real talk drives real change because it's a water bottle. So they came up with this.

Speaker 2 28:23

That's the for real change. I love that.

Speaker 1 28:26

Yes, Okay now, Paula, if you were walking around with this and somebody saw that, the odds that they'd say what does that mean? And it gets the conversation going. So after the event, my goal is that conversations continue to happen. Remember this is dishwasher safe. This water bottle will probably stick around for 10 or 20 years, and every single time person drinks out of it, they're going to remember where they got it. Excuse me, they're going to think about what kind of change are they making in the world, and I just love that.

Speaker 2 29:05

And even if you're going on hiking right and sometimes somebody doesn't have a choice what it is, but they just read it and either they're working on their own change or wanting a particular change they just start a conversation with you like man. That's for real man. If you see what's going on right now, I would do this, this, this next thing. You know you're either rocking together or something, so it really is a conversation starter.

Curating Swag for Event Themes

Speaker 1 29:31

This is what I'm hoping people will stop thinking of what I do as landfill and really thinking that it could be huge. The right item at the right event for the right reason. And that's what this water bottle represents to me. And it's a great water bottle. Not only is it dishwasher safe, but you got a place to put your ice. And then I don't personally I don't like wide opening bottles. I want a small opening. So it's got the hook to hook things, and then, when I'm ready to drink out of it, it's got a small mouthpiece. I love this bottle.

Speaker 2 30:07

I love that, and you said something which I was also going to ask about, because you literally just said you want people's perception to change about swath right For it to be more. So how do you ensure that each item reflects the event's theme efficiently, but not only the theme of the event, because in a swath we wanted to match the theme, like the books you just showed us earlier for a posterico. It really matched with the adventure you're about to have where, also staying in theme with keeping the conversation alive later on, you know, and reflecting your brand.

Speaker 1 30:54

So, unfortunately, I would say 70% of my clients. They're not interested in anything that I just tried to promote. They just want Cool swag. Yeah, they're like look, hildi, this is how much I have to spend. Just give me ideas. And so I can't always be a bossy bear. I try to be a bossy bear, but a lot of times I'm just like okay, here are three ideas, here's five ideas, because I am super creative, but if they want.

Speaker 2 31:27

Oh, yes, you are.

Speaker 1 31:28

Thank you. If they want to give away something that's against either Geiger's beliefs or my beliefs, I will say to them I'm not comfortable selling that to you and you're going to have to find it from someone else.

Speaker 2 31:43

I love that. I love that and that's so important, because you yourself, because this is your brand, your business, whatever that you put out that reflects your brand and your business has to be aligned with your core values and what you believe. And I think sometimes in the world that's what people are scared of saying no, because they just concentrated that dollar sign. If the money makes sense, they're like you know, it's just this one time, but it's never that one time you're selling yourself for coins and you're ruining your brand, because sometimes we think that people might not notice, but there's always that one person.

Speaker 1 32:21

Well, you know what you don't think about, but you should. If, let's say, you go online and you buy cheap umbrellas because you think that's the perfect Christmas gift, and let's say you spend $5 an umbrella, so you give out, let's say, a hundred umbrellas, like $5 each, which is a lot of money. By the time it's shipped to you and everything is probably around $700 worth of umbrellas and it's got your logo on it and you've given out 100. And even one person who gets in a rainstorm uses your umbrella and it breaks because you didn't spend enough. Not only are they wet, but they get mad at you. And then you would have gotten mad at not me, because I wouldn't have sold it to you, but you would have called that person and been like this sucks, I want my money back. That umbrella didn't last. And that person would be like well, you only spent $5 an umbrella. Why didn't we spend $2 more and get one with a lifetime warranty?

Speaker 1 33:19

So that's, that's what's important about not just going online and ordering the cheapest thing, but having an advisor, and doesn't always have to be me. I love to promote my competitors because I can't do all the business and there are plenty of people who maybe they're not as creative as me, but there is ethical as me and there's knowledgeable as me. There's millions of us who do, and just in my company, we have 400 Hildes and my company. So it's important. It's important to be knowledgeable, it's important to be educated. That's why I post the one minute video. I post them now on YouTube, linkedin, facebook, instagram threads and TikTok every single day.

Speaker 2 33:59

I see them Even today, like literally an hour before you came on here. You're just posted a video because you're on my timeline and I can't wait for the day that I end up being the one who does the opening, because I've seen some people do opening. I'm waiting for my, my opening day. But what you say, it is right, chip can be expensive and that's what people don't understand. Like, there is certain things where it's okay to go cheap, if you know you just want it for one time. Shit, that's okay.

Speaker 2 34:27

You know, like, if I decide, like you know I'm about this cause right after I'm done with it and throwing it or anything cool, but if you want to leave something with memorable, you know. So, speaking of that, you know I'm writing a book and I might want some, some specific swag to go out to this and I'm thinking my book, I want it out like around either mental health, which is month, which is May next year, or June, my birthday. So how soon should me and you sit down and start talking about my swag when I love you?

Speaker 1 34:58

on here. Oh my gosh, you're so funny. Well, again, remember what I said I need a thousand dollars or more to start. But my ideas, my ideas at this point are free and I would just say do a seed paper bookmark and you're done.

Speaker 2 35:15

Seed paper bookmark. Don't say it over here. Somebody might be listening to this and she might do it before. She might have a book coming out before mine and take my idea. Save my ideas for later. I'll call you. You know, I'll call you. They are paying for for for having you. I'm just joking, but anyways.

Speaker 1 35:34

So last, item that was in the hundred dollar box was the.

Speaker 2 35:37

T-shirt.

Speaker 1 35:39

And so what I'm? When I source this T-shirt, I made sure that it came. This is called a belly band, so each T-shirt was folded, nicely wrapped. The belly band says the size. This case was large and I said to her let's do a QR code so that people can go somewhere and again, talk about real change driving real change. And then we ended up doing a what's called a super soft, ring spun cotton T-shirt and we, we, we did what's called a butter wash. So there it is again the real talk drives real change.

Speaker 1 36:17

But when, when you feel this usually when you get a T-shirt, a giveaway T-shirt it feels like there's a bandaid on your bosom. This has been washed into it. You can't even feel the imprint. It's gorgeous. This is a T-shirt People will never, ever throw away and they'll wear it all the time. Because of the conversation starter, because of how soft the T-shirt is and because the imprint is like like you bought it at a Taylor Swift concert. It's amazing. So that that was a hundred dollar box, so it was a. Oh wait, there's one more thing in here.

Speaker 2 36:50

So it was a water bottle.

Speaker 1 36:52

It was there, it is Okay. So water bottle, it's laundry bag Bag, the cleaning cloth, and then this is just a USB wall outlet. So it's got the wall outlet to USB. So that's it.

Speaker 2 37:08

That's still pretty a lot for a hundred bucks, yeah, and that you know, for some reason I always thought because I love seeing how people get those delivered to their house and they do the open but in my head I always thought, man, that one box might, might, so probably, cause they're like 300, 400 just to put together, which I know, depending on the box and everything. But I didn't know that you could actually get one to even a hundred and still have incredible stuff. I've been sleeping. I need to start doing better for talk show with Pima. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got you.

Speaker 2 37:46

So could you provide us with an example of a particular challenging event where you had to curate swag that perfectly aligned with the events message or theme, and how did you get through that challenge? I don't know your marketing career and I don't know you get very creative. I know sometimes we also get our own blockage depending on an event. Or sometimes an event can be easy, coming up with ideas can be easy, but convincing that people could be the challenging part, or the finances. So you know some share with us some.

Selecting and Designing Swag for Events

Speaker 1 38:29

I mean, there's definitely a lot of stories. I guess I had an opportunity. I met somebody in Clubhouse and they were having a huge event and it was about NFTs I think, and so they asked me to quote and I just had a bad feeling about the whole thing and so I came up with great ideas. I probably spent a whole day and never heard from them. And they had the event, they got swag. So I'm guessing they just went with whoever's the cheapest and I get it. But that's not my wheelhouse. I just I'm okay with not getting picked because you went with somebody who had cheap ideas. I won't do cheap ideas, I just won't. I don't want. I don't want to do that whole landfill thing.

Speaker 2 39:16

But it's just like it's okay to change your mind or to say, listen, rest above our budget or we can't afford that. But just say something instead of just, especially when you know I took the time and put it. But also that's why following our intuition is always our God feeling is always your idea, the bad feeling. You could have run with that and said fuck, you're all I am doing, shit it's true, it's true, it's a hard industry.

Speaker 1 39:44

And I think again when people call me today and say I forgot and I need something by Friday. I definitely have vendors who, if I place the order today, they will ship tomorrow.

Speaker 2 39:59

They just have to be willing to pay the price because you're late, correct, and that's the thing. Anything can happen depends on your budget. So if you're going to call me two weeks before you, you should be willing to spend the money, because that's what I can do best for you in two weeks time. So what would you say are some of the key factors to consider when selecting, designing and advising on swag items for an event, occasion, book launch in a minute.

Speaker 1 40:35

The most important things is how much do you want to spend?

Speaker 2 40:40

Budgeting.

Speaker 1 40:41

How? How many items do you need? What's the goal Meaning? Is it something you want to make sure someone has a phone number? Is it something you want people to have a QR code? Is it something you just want to make sure that they keep forever and ever? Or is it something you just want to have a snack at an event Like there's? You know you can do cookies. The other thing is what? When do they need to arrive by and do you have a ship to address? Do you, are you going to pay by credit card or do you want to try and get a line of credit?

Speaker 1 41:18

And hopefully most people watching this have a Hildi in their life and trusting in the person who does the selling. Like if I had questions about podcasts, I'm going to ask you I don't know anything about podcasts Like this is the third one I've ever been on. I don't know if I'm doing well or not, and I would hope that you would tell me if I was doing awful or great or in between. So, at the end of the day, don't try and tell me how to do my business and I won't tell you how to do your business. And even though sometimes I'll have a conversation be like look, you know, I think that the t-shirt screen print should be from here to here.

Speaker 1 41:59

I just had this conversation yesterday. I always think a t-shirt screen print should be, I say, from nipple to nipple, so that way if someone's wearing a cardigan or a jacket you can still see the whole logo. And then the conversation when he said you know what? Most people in my company don't wear a jacket over it. It's a new logo, so we want it as big as possible. So we had the conversation and I'm like okay, that makes sense to me. Just be warned, when somebody does wear a jacket, you're not going to see the first. Let you know that first corner piece on either side. Paula, have you ever done swag? I see you have a t-shirt on. Is that one or just like 20?

Speaker 2 42:42

So I had a Shopify shop and I was just ordering stuff for me to see them before people actually buy them, so I can show that they are worth it, and that's why right now it's shut down, because I'm working on behind, but I've always been, you know, like. So I have this because this was an image of mine from when I was jumping off a plane and my friend made an illustration, and because I'm a fan believer. I don't believe in regrets. I did it, I learned something, or it wasn't, but I probably will still do it because of the experience at that time. So I was like, fuck, regrets. I figured it was like a perfect thing, but I don't like it. So I took it out because of you see, like I don't want and you try to wash it by come. I don't want people to have that experience of, oh my God, we have to consider, you know. So I have. I do some swag, even these t-shirts, but these are from Sticker Mew. I do get a lot of their deals and that's when I order them to get an idea of how my logo of my timeline will look, because they, when they come on their deals, they're cheaper. That's why, if I do want to do it and spend. I already have an idea of how it looks.

Speaker 2 44:02

So I do have like key chains, fridge magnets, and I went to my conference. I have a friend who hunt paint sneakers and they just did. I'll show you before the end of this. They they painted my logo on my Nike Air Force ones. So at the conference everybody was like, oh right, so there's certain things I do, just for me to walk to have a conversation, for somebody will be like what's that? Oh, that's my podcast. You're not here, buddy, like you know.

Speaker 2 44:37

And the stickers and key chains, even I just had costas made it's for when I go out like I don't go out as much in Atlanta anymore because you know, but when I do go out to come to conferences or to music festivals or any event, and I meet people, you meet a lot of people and sometimes people want to remember your name or your podcast because they're talking to so many people and me. Just the two weekends ago when we were the dean, if you tell me to mention, everybody's name was there. I'm not going to remember, but I give them out the sticker or the costa, cause they're going to work up and be like what's this talk? She will be Let me go look it up.

Speaker 2 45:24

But I learned that when I met essay, I wasn't doing any of that and essays to my eyes in the podcasting, the king of branding like man, man, where's this brand? So every time when you say why aren't you wearing your brand, I was like excuse me and say this is what you got to do. This is since then, every conference I've went like I'll tell you all socks, I have a bookmark, I have coffee. And then when somebody's like yo, can I keep this, I'm like, yeah, take it. You know I'm going to do something else, but at least it's in your house, right? So, but that's good for you, yeah.

Speaker 1 46:04

You get it Again. Most people don't get it. Oh my gosh, I love it. It's so you, and that looks really cozy.

Speaker 2 46:17

And then the front logo has the name and then the back. It just looks, because when you see me around the room and we're going to definitely stop me, excuse me, is that you? What is that?

Speaker 1 46:32

It works right.

Speaker 2 46:35

Because sometimes much shouldn't just be about people following you. Sometimes it could also be a way of setting a conversation, because the person walking behind me wouldn't have stopped me for just wearing a white black t-shirt or have a conversation. But they'll be curious, like yo, and then, especially if they come face to face, they're like wait, is this you? What is this about? Are you a musician? Are you this? It brings back that conversation. We need to start having more conversations than just being on our screens, agreed?

Speaker 1 47:10

Totally agree with that.

Speaker 2 47:13

So let me ask you this the world right now, every day, is something new, like we've seen. Also, ai is taking over the world. I didn't know one. I even put AI, but there's no going out of it, like there's no escaping it. You're either joined or be left behind. You know so, in a world where it's constantly updated with latest trends and preferences when it comes to events Swab, how do you incorporate these trends into your curation process and make it part of the events theme?

Speaker 1 48:05

It seems like now there's a lot of professional speakers that are really good at talking about AI. I can say for me, I'm on chat GPT every single day and what I do with it is when I'm creating my one minute video, I just put in 10 clever hashtags for, and then copy and paste the description of the item and it comes up with 10 hashtags that I would never come up with. So I've got my usual hashtags, like Hildy Swag, which is kind of my thing, and then I add chat GPTs. I think that to feel like, oh, I'm not using AI, I'm not using, but you are, everybody is, everybody has, everybody will. You know it's not like the horror movie Best to watch the movie. They're not going to rise up from the grass and take off the world, but it should be something that complements whatever anybody's doing, whether it's swag, whether it's podcasts. It should be something that lifts up and complements.

Speaker 2 49:09

It does. Let me too, like I use chat GPT to get titles for my podcast episodes. I use to look for questions. It's not like I'm going to copy and paste, I read to them and sometimes the two questions go along, so I make it into one. I play around with it, but it has really made life easier. So thank you, rari, for being out there and promoting you know what I did, which I bet you haven't thought of, but I did it.

Speaker 1 49:39

I have a niece with two little kids. They live in Connecticut and I want to see them, so I would put into chat GPT. I said what's an even amount of driving from Connecticut and Atlanta, what's midway that would be fun for little kids? And it came up with like three genius ideas that's again halfway driving point and told me why these different places like I think Asheville, North Carolina was one of them, and why it would be great for kids and adults and how far it is for me and how far it is from Connecticut. But that's what chat GPT did. I never thought to use it like that. I'm like, oh, let's see what happens, and it was perfect.

Speaker 2 50:20

Because it would have taken longer to just Google it by yourself, trying to figure a distance from trying to find first the route where you all will be driving. Where was that? Somebody asked me to ask chat GPT what should I have for dinner tonight, and I still haven't done that. I should start asking chat GPT to make my food decisions. You know those times when you can't decide what you want to eat Like. Ok, now I don't Chat GPT you decide for us Now.

Speaker 1 50:50

Right now I'm cooking. I started it right before our call, like literally, the reason that I got on exactly on time was because I'm starting a big pot of mushroom soup.

Speaker 2 51:01

Why you got to tell me. You know you're right around the corner. And next thing, you know, I'm like hey, I figured, since we did a virtual one, the sun was not so good, so we should do a personal one while eating the mushroom soup you were creating.

Speaker 1 51:16

Yeah, I don't like mushrooms, but I'm all about a nice, thick, hearty cup of soup today.

Speaker 2 51:25

Hilda, every time you say certain words I just hear them so very different, like I don't know what it is with you and saying certain words it just gets my mind in a different.

Speaker 1 51:35

Are you talking sexual?

Speaker 2 51:39

Thick heart. So, Hilda, let me get this to, so I can let you enjoy your mushrooms. Thick heart Mushrooms. What would you say are the biggest challenges you're faced in this swag industry?

Speaker 1 52:07

Right now I'm looking for my next whale. I had a huge client. I made some mistakes and they basically said no soup for you. And so for me, right now it's rebuilding my business and that's why I want to be a speaker on stages, that's why I'd like to be on podcasts, that's why I post my one minute educational videos, because I love what I do. I want to do it till the day I drop dead, and I just need to connect with like-minded people who care more about the end result than saving $10.

Speaker 1 52:46

And it's not easy to find them, and I don't like the sexy, and what I mean by that is I would never go after the name brands that everybody knows, because typically they're not loyal and they will cut you at the knees just to save a couple of dollars. So I try not to go after the names that everybody who does what I do would go after. And again, it's more about relationships. I will do anything for anybody, whether you're a client, whether you're a friend or whether I just find you on the street. I just that's my nature, my nature, for sure, and with the state of the world today, while it is scary for me because I am Jewish and I know that a lot of my neighborhoods are getting really ransacked if they find out you're Jewish. But I'm just really hoping that people will just see me as a creative, as an honest person, and give me an opportunity to work with them.

SWAG's Role in Creating Memorable Experiences

Speaker 2 53:43

And I love that. And, jewish or not, you are an incredible human being and a proposal like me who reads vibes and energy. When you're in a room. They can tell that you're one of the nicest people I know and the sweetest and the funniest, and I love your creativity style. So, speaking of that, because you mentioned you want to be on different stages, I just received a LinkedIn message after I presented this weekend where there's a woman empowerment conference. I haven't looked into it because when I came back I just wanted to rest. I am an introvert, but sometimes also being outside for all weekend with so many people, when you come back, you just need one day to just recover.

Speaker 2 54:40

And they did reach out. They have a conference in New York July 11th to 12, 13 next year and they're looking for speakers. They wanted me and they're looking for other speakers. So I'll share that with you in case you're interested. And also, we need to get you at Port Fest. The people you're looking for, the community, the amazing people at Port Fest. You will just fit right in and a lot of collaborations will come from that. So me and Riley need to get you to Port Fest next year in January. I don't know why.

Speaker 1 55:10

That was crazy when I saw that post with you and Larry, because, did you see, he was on my One Minute yesterday.

Speaker 2 55:17

I didn't know. I haven't seen it yet. As I said, yesterday I even wrote I put a story only on Instagram that out of office powering down, so I wasn't on Instagram until today, but I'll go check it out.

Speaker 1 55:31

Look at my post from yesterday, because it was Larry Roberts.

Speaker 2 55:35

That's what I'm saying. I can't wait for me to make my come here for my first visit, because when he came to Atlanta he also said when you had his first fall off, you're the one who took him to have it. I was like, oh my god, it's such a small. It's a big world, yet a small industry as well. And I love Ryan and that's why I also love the podcasting community, the Port Fest. I met Larry because of Port Fest. I met essay because of Port Fest, which brought me to all year. So I am going to be your accountability person to make sure you get on stages in 2024, angels, because sometimes that's all you need, a place where we all support each other. And I love that.

Speaker 2 56:13

You say you don't like going for big brands, because I'm a person who was growing up Not that I couldn't afford it, well, I was a kid I couldn't afford it but I knew if I cried to my dad he would buy it and he would be able to afford it for me. But I've never been the girl who wanted what everybody had, and that's why I also grew up at Tomboy. So I don't care if you're all wearing micro-cross. If I see you all are wearing them, I ain't wearing them. That was always my stand. But unless they have something specific that I really love, and not just because, oh, I now also have a micro-cross part of the team, so I've always been their person.

Speaker 2 56:50

Fuck big brands. We always thinking Louis Vuitton and all this and all this, but they are nicer, smaller brands who do even an amazing job, great stuff, but they just don't have the visibility because of the marketing or the money like the big brands have. So I like that about you. So, as we come to an end of this, actually, I have two last questions. In your opinion, what role does SWAG play in enhancing overall experience of an event or a moment? Because not only people who get SWAG are for events. Because, just like I said, I'm thinking of having a book launch, I could want a SWAG for my book launches and my book launch can be not that I'm actually doing an event, well, I just send specific people books before the book comes out. So how does SWAG play a role in making that experience and enhancing that experience?

Speaker 1 57:59

So if you have the right advisor and you have a decent budget, then it can be so much fun, whether it's a book launch. Although somebody referred me maybe eight months ago, to someone and they were like, hey, we're having a book launch, what SWAG do you recommend? And it was her very first book and she's kind of new. And I said I don't recommend any Because if you put out a table of swag you're going to have to watch and make sure people don't take more than one and you should be by your books. And we closed that video meeting and I told her don't get anything. And I never heard from them again, which I'm hoping they liked my advice.

Speaker 1 58:41

I don't always think that swag is the answer. I think sometimes in a book launch, if you're actually having a book signing, I feel like the book should be the swag, the book should be the takeaway. I don't think you need anything else. But if you're, let's say, promoting something in advance or you're having a hiring fair, right. So then if you're having a hiring fair, you want all the potential employees to walk away feeling good about maybe working for the company and something that's usable. So it's having a conversation what's usable now, even if it's something as simple as this plug to USB.

Speaker 1 59:17

people seem to need these all the time, right Because they're in a hotel and the hotel doesn't have a USB port, so to just have something like this, which is, I don't know, $2 maybe. So that's it.

Speaker 2 59:32

Even a dollar general. You can find them Like the plain ones. Just the blog you can yeah.

Speaker 1 59:40

But again, if it has a logo on it, then every time it's being used, the person's going to remember where they got it, why they got it. It's a memory For me. I create memories. That's what I do for a living.

Speaker 2 59:54

I create memories. I love that. Well, I can't wait for you to create some of Toxin WP memories. Well, you've already created polar memories, so now we're starting a Toxin WP memory journey with Hilda Swag and.

Speaker 1 1:00:13

I'm glad your voice lasted this whole little bit.

Speaker 2 1:00:20

Because I was like I am not about to text you and you're sick and we're going to schedule again. I'm about to do this shit. And I was excited because, again, I just came from an event and I was like oh my god, I want to talk about swag, and especially with how my shoe should. Let me show you my shoe real quick, one sec, ok.

Speaker 1 1:00:39

And then I'm going to show you what Larry told me to get for your voice. I ordered it on Amazon. Let me just send it to you. Let's see, here it is.

Speaker 2 1:00:48

All right, look at this.

Speaker 1 1:00:52

Those are amazing. Those are amazing Amazing.

Speaker 2 1:00:58

How are they? Yeah, and then I had my varsity jacket.

Speaker 1 1:01:05

Gorgeous.

Speaker 2 1:01:07

So that was when I was on the stage. So these are all just for me while I'm there, that, even if they don't remember me, they'll have a picture which you will have my shoe, my logo, and they'll be like oh my god, I remember that logo, you know. So the shoes were $180 including the shoes. That's not bad, it was, and that's what I said. And it's not like it's just a normal sneaker, it's a Nike Air Force One. But also he knew how this, like you can bring your own shoe, as long as it's white and plain, or I can get it for you, but if I'm getting, I only get Nike Air Force Ones.

Speaker 2 1:01:47

I was like I want you to do everything, just bring it to me when it's done, because I didn't want to start going to look for a shoe and then figuring out and I like how, with the Nike, you see, because it's creativity you have to cast the Nike and then and that brings more like I was just like sometimes, and in my head I'm like 180 people would. In my head I thought creating my own shoe, like that would be like 200 and something, but 180 180 that I could have spent it on stupid shit. But I branded myself to go for people where they can remember me. So you know I'm falling in love. I'm letting people remember me, no matter what.

Speaker 1 1:02:34

Look at the link that I put in the chat. Larry Roberts talk turns me on to this and it seems like you might need it.

Speaker 2 1:02:42

Thank you very much. All right, I'm clicking on it. All right, I've saved it on my laptop. I'm going to order it so as we come to an end of this. Miss Sylvie, first of all, thank you for hanging out with me and talking all things well. So what advice would you give to event organizers looking to create memorable experiences through unique and thoughtful swag, and also for anybody out there, whether podcast or event, or not only event organizer, whatever it is and they were doubting on the on the value of swag, incorporating swag in their businesses.

Speaker 1 1:03:31

Yeah, it's even even human resources. We found out yesterday that when you, when a company, hire somebody, between onboarding and the benefits package and everything else, it costs them about four thousand dollars to hire a new employee. So why would you hire somebody and not give them a hoodie or a water bottle that makes them feel like they're more than just a way for the company to make money, feel like they're part of the family? So my advice is, at the end of the day, whether you're in human resources or event planning or the marketing team, give yourself three times more weeks than you thought you needed. And they're blowing the leaves. I hope you can hear it. I hope my my microphone is so close. Can you hear them blowing the leaves like?

Speaker 2 1:04:23

I can hear for, because they have right there, we'll go better.

Speaker 1 1:04:28

Oh like, right there, I want. I want Macbooks, because you know they've got all these things now, but for talk shit with P it's got to be this one. And when you do this, little poop emoji should drop down.

Speaker 2 1:04:42

I know.

Speaker 1 1:04:44

But that's what I want for you. Anyway, getting back, getting back, have if you, if your event is, give three to four months and advance notice. Reach out to the Hildi in your life and start the conversations early, because then there's an opportunity to go overseas, get something super custom at a reasonable price. It's the best advice.

Speaker 2 1:05:14

Well, thank you so much. Let the people know where they can find you, how they can find you on all the amazing things you do.

Speaker 1 1:05:22

I think if you Google hashtag Hildi swag, you can find me everywhere. I think that's the easiest.

Speaker 2 1:05:32

She said. She said Google and I also have information over there. But thank you so much, hildi, for spending an hour with me, and don't be surprised if you see me next to your door knocking for that mushroom soap. I'm just saying Thank you, shit talkers, for tuning in and spending a valuable time with us. We appreciate you to connect with us more. Make sure you subscribe to our newsletter and catch all the shit talking vials before anybody else. You can subscribe to our newsletter through our website, wwwtalkshitrepeacom, and all our merchandise website, wwwtalkshitrepeashop. And while you're there, feel free to shop away.

Speaker 2 1:06:20

Talkshitrepea is available on all social media platforms with a handle talkshitrepea. Follow us and engage with us. Better yet, if you're feeling generous, give us a review on our podcast and all raters on Spotify. You can also share a beer with me. We're my beer lovers, that I mean. What better way to support the movement than sharing a beer with me by buying me a beer at buymecoffeecom? Thank you for listening, sharing, engaging and supporting in any way that you do. Remember, new episodes are out every Wednesday and for part 2 is ending on Fridays. Let's talk and all listen to some shit. Happy shit talking.