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The Art of Starting: Danielle Mead on Passionate Pursuits

• Ed Drozda

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🚀 Dive into the world of serial starting with Danielle Mead from Duck Soup E-Commerce! Discover the joy of starting new ventures with no strings attached & learn how to embrace creativity! Listen to our latest episode of #TheWaterTroughPodcast  #Entrepreneurship

Ed Drozda:

Welcome to The Water Trough where we can't make you drink, but we will make you think. My name is Ed Drozda, The Small Business Doctor, and I'm really excited you chose to join me here as we discuss topics that are important for small business folks just like you. If you're looking for ideas, inspiration, and possibility, you've come to the right place. Join us as we take steps to help you create the healthy business that you've all. Always wanted. Welcome back to The Water Trough folks this is Ed Drozda, The Small Business Doctor. Today I'm joined by Danielle Mead. Danielle is the founder of Duck Soup E-Commerce, and a professional web designer and consultant. When she's not working she's what she calls a serial starter, exploring new personal, creative, and business ideas, to see where they might take her. Danielle, how you doing?

Danielle Mead:

I'm doing great. How are you doing today?

Ed Drozda:

I'm doing well, and I'm glad that your serial start brought you to us.

Danielle Mead:

Absolutely. Yeah, I'm excited.

Ed Drozda:

So tell me more about a serial starter. What is this? Who are you?

Danielle Mead:

You know it's funny, I kind of came up with this term. People talk about serial entrepreneurs, people who just keep starting one business after another, and while I'd love to say that I'm a serial finisher, I tend to be the kind of person; I get really excited about an idea, whether it's a potential business, a hobby, or some sort of creative endeavor that I might wanna do. And, I'm great at starting things. I get very excited about them. Some of them I do take through to the end, and some of them I discover, hey it's not for me or it doesn't hold my interest. But, you know, I'm great at starting new things, and sometimes that leads to something really successful. Sometimes it doesn't, but I always enjoy the process. I get really revved up by diving into something. I get very excited about it, really passionate about it, and I really enjoy that experience, whether or not it ends up with something that I can point to as a finished product or some sort of material success.

Ed Drozda:

I refer to my entrepreneurial clients, those who are, quote unquote, true entrepreneurs; I call them shiny penny people. Mm. I call'em shiny penny people because they are always attracted to the next best or the next new thing. I don't see you in that sense to be vastly different than the day-to-day entrepreneur. So how would you distinguish yourself from my definition of entrepreneur and the serial starter?

Danielle Mead:

A lot of times I'm starting something because I think it could be a good side business or a good side hustle, or potentially a way to grow my existing business. Mm-hmm. But a lot of times I'm just doing things because I find them interesting. I'll read an article or I'll see someone else doing something, or I'll hear a story about somebody who's involved in some sort of hobby or whatever, and I go, oh that seems like it could be fun. You know? And then I'll just decide that I'm gonna throw myself into that for a short period of time. The end goal is not always to make money or to create a business out of it. Sometimes it works the other way where I just get into something because I'm interested in it, and then it does become a little side business and I didn't intend for that to happen. I'm kind of open to it both ways. When I think of serial entrepreneurs I think of this mindset of, I'm gonna start something, I'm gonna grow it, scale it, sell it, then start over, right? That's kind of the process, this churning process, and I'm not really looking at things that way, I guess.

Ed Drozda:

I think that's a really great distinction, and thank you for sharing that. I have to admit, I was simplifying it when I said it sounded like there were similarities. You appear to be untethered to the notion that it has to be something of a certain size, a certain level of accomplishment or what have you. You're really in it for what satisfies you.

Danielle Mead:

Exactly. Exactly. And what I'm gonna learn along the way, or just to be able to have, you know, I was saying to my husband the other day, I think part of it I get from my father, because growing up he always had a new hobby. And my mom used to joke about like, but you already have a kayak that you've bought, now you're getting into boxing. He would just get interested in something and he would try it. Some of the things he stuck with; he still does cycling. He still does weightlifting, he still fishes. But other things he just did for short periods of time. He enjoyed it, and then when he stopped enjoying it, he moved on. I think that a lot of people feel if they're gonna start something, they either have to commit to it really long term and then it keeps them from starting something, or that they need to become the best at it, and they need to achieve some sort of, oh I ran a six minute mile or something if I'm gonna get into running. You can enjoy doing things and when you're finished with them, it's okay to let them go too and not see that as a failure.

Ed Drozda:

I think a lot of people would like to be able to do precisely that. They'd like to be able to acknowledge the value of something for the time that it has value. Right. And then be able to move on. But I don't think a lot of people, I imagine a lot of people, certainly the clients that I've worked with, they don't seem to have either the foresight or the courage to think that way.

Danielle Mead:

Yeah it almost seems like in the world we live in now, people have limited time. And maybe some of it is a feeling that if they're not making the most of every minute of every day in a way that they can point to as being productive. And I am definitely guilty of that. I've really had to work on myself as I've gotten older that weekends are for relaxing. At least for a few hours. That every Saturday I don't need to be like, what can I do for my business when I'm not working? Maybe I should write some new blog posts or, spin up some new side thing or set up a new Etsy store. Because I do have that drive, where if I'm not doing something productive, I'm wasting time. But I've had to teach myself that it's also okay to do things that are fun and things that are rewarding in ways that are not designed to be financially successful. And you can learn stuff from those activities or hobbies or whatever you might wanna call them, that do impact your business and make you more successful in your business. But that's not their purpose.

Ed Drozda:

You have to be open to accepting, to learning those lessons. Yes?

Danielle Mead:

Absolutely. Absolutely. Depending on what you're doing, it opens you up to new people. It opens you up to new communities. You can learn from those people. An example, I started making homemade bath and body stuff for my husband and I. Shampoos, conditioners, body bombs, things like that, not with an intention to sell them. Although many years ago I thought it would be fun to have a little homemade soap business, and I tried it and it did not go well. I found it very difficult and this time around I wasn't thinking that way. I was thinking I would just like to be able to control what we're putting on our bodies. So I'm gonna make the formulas myself. And I made some conditioner gave some to my husband and he came down and after a shower I was like, oh my God, this is the best conditioner I've ever used. Like it is amazing, and I felt so proud and happy, like that was a success, right? That day I had a win and it had nothing to do with my work or anything else. And I think the more people open themselves up to situations where you feel proud of something you've accomplished instead of dividing your life into work stuff is where I achieve things and home stuff is not, you can kind of... one, you're not always gonna have a great day at work. So if you can have something at home that makes you feel good about yourself, it offsets it, right? Mm-hmm. I look at it as looking at my whole life a little bit more holistically and seeing how can I feel like I'm achieving, accomplishing, even if it has nothing to do with money. I felt a tremendous sense of pride and accomplishment when he said that.

Ed Drozda:

I think you should. Let me ask you this. In that moment when you realized how satisfying the product was for your husband and how gratified you were to be able to do that, did you have any inkling at that moment, like, I should go out there with this thing, or, of course you know that's, yes, a natural tendency, not that we have to act on it, but did you feel something at that moment or...?

Danielle Mead:

Yeah, I think after I had made a few products and I felt like I liked them all I was like, ah, maybe you know, this is something I could sell. But I also know from working with clients who sell bath and body stuff, it is a tough industry. It's a lot of going to craft fairs, farmers markets, events, selling, building a brand, and I know in my mind I'm not really interested in doing that right now. So even though I had that idea, and that's not to say it won't happen in the future, I also kind of tempered it. I said let's just do this for me, because as soon as I have that mind shift of maybe this should be a business, then I get caught up in, oh, let's whip up an Excel spreadsheet. What would I have to... what are the ingredients costs? What would I have to charge for it? And then that takes all the fun out of it, right? On some level now I'm thinking of it like a business. I don't get the enjoyment and the actual pure gratification of it because I'm thinking, well then how come I haven't made this a business? I'm losing out on money, and it just shifts my whole mindset into something that's not what I intended it to be.

Ed Drozda:

On a path you had no intention of going. Right. That's a really important thing. One of the things that I stress with my clientele and with my students as well, is the notion of first be aware. That can relate to anything but in this case, in most cases it's about be aware of those things both within and outside of yourself and where you fit in. If you aren't aware of these things, first, then you're not in a position to either take advantage of them, avoid them, whatever the case might be. We package this up to some degree in emotional intelligence. I'm sure you're familiar with that. Mm-hmm. Or self-awareness is a major component. First be aware is really critical, and that's what I'm hearing you say. You are very much in tune to what you could do with something and how you would be able to work with it or not. That's a great starting place.

Danielle Mead:

Yeah, absolutely, and I think it's just knowing yourself too, like what you're good at, what you actually enjoy doing. Yeah. I think over time as I've aged, I've kind of just become more, like you said, self-aware like, this is who I am, these are the things I like doing. I can say, oh I should start this business doing X, and I can look at a piece of paper and know that this is what would be required to make it successful and convince myself... right... I'm gonna go do all those things to make it work, but at this point in my life you know what, I have to be honest, I know I'm not gonna do those things. That's just not something that I'm gonna enjoy. I can force myself to do it for a little while. I'm not gonna see it through, whatever that might be, it's different for different people. But I think you have to be honest with yourself, and not force yourself to do something, and set yourself up for failure because you thought, I can make myself do that. I can change my entire personality and what I do. You really can't, let's just be honest. Not to that extent. No. Yeah, we're all good at certain things. We all have strengths, we all have weaknesses. And if we can recognize that, then we can figure out which things are gonna be beneficial to see through to some sort of financially successful endeavor and which things are gonna be more like hobbies or things we just enjoy doing.

Ed Drozda:

You know, when we were younger, and some of us as we've grown older and may never get over it, the old adage keeping up with the Joneses comes to mind. And in business those of us, especially starting a business, we often look at the various Joneses. They're not our neighbors, but they are business people. They may not even be related to us in any way, shape or form, but we look to them and say I need to be like them, I want to be like them, I should be like them. In my mind, it all comes down to this concept of success and what is it? And I want to pose this question to you carefully'cause I don't want to ask you what your definition of success is per se. I'd like to know what you think of the concept of success in business.

Danielle Mead:

That is a hard question to answer. I'm glad you didn't ask me for the definition. That's even harder. But...

Ed Drozda:

Well, it could be your definition for yourself. Yeah. But that's so unique to every individual it's not really fair to ask that question, is it? Not that your definition for you is unimportant, but it's yours and it shouldn't be meant to influence myself or somebody else. But the concept overall, what does that mean, what is it? How do you see this?

Danielle Mead:

It's a great question. Obviously I think it's gonna be different for everyone. When I started my career, it was the early like.com boom, and I really thought my trajectory professionally was gonna be, I was gonna work at a bunch of dot coms. I was gonna get equity, I was gonna move up, I was gonna eventually sell that equity. Something would go public. I'd be a millionaire, and you know, this very familiar concept of what those kind of.com people are, right? And then I would flit around to different companies. I mean this is a dream, right? I mean, this happens for very few people, but I thought that that was a trajectory that I could potentially follow, right? Mm-hmm. Because of circumstances that were outside of my control I ended up being self-employed. And that has been a challenge. But to be honest, when there have been challenging times or when I felt like am I gonna be able to keep this company going financially, my parents would always say, well you could go back to work full-time. And at that point I would always stop and be like, but then I'd have to give up controlling my schedule. I would have to have a commute. I would think about all the things that I'd be giving up. Mm. And even though there was potentially a financial benefit to going back to work full-time, I really enjoyed owning my own business, being able to control how I branded it, what kind of clients I worked with. I also took a lot of pride in being able to brand myself and grow myself personally, and not just being part of a company where the company is the brand, the company as a stock price, and that's how it's measured financially. I was able to feel that sense of accomplishment, me personally, because when I worked with a client and I got good feedback, that made me feel good because I knew they liked working with me. I think that over time has become more my feeling of what successful is. When I know that someone has really appreciated working with me, I've been able to bring value to them. That I appreciate more than maybe whatever they paid me, because that's like a feeling that I can take with me. The money you spend over time, right? But that feeling you can always look to if you're having a bad day or if you're working with a client that maybe isn't a great fit for you. Those little wins, that feeling of I can make a difference in someone's business, and I'm sure you have that same experience, that to me is more important I guess. So I would say that's how I define success is that feeling. It's hard to define it really tightly, but that's what I would say.

Ed Drozda:

In terms of success, would your younger self recognize you today?

Danielle Mead:

Probably not. Okay. I can tell you that especially when I was younger, I hated making decisions. I would make these pro and con lists and assign them values to make decisions. I considered myself to be an introvert. I did not like talking to people I didn't know. I was terrible at small talk. Both of those things I think I have significantly moved away from, and some of that's because of the job I do. Some of it's because of past experiences I've had, but I don't think if I had told my teenage or even college self that you're going to run your own business where you make all the decisions yourself and that a good part of what you do is gonna be talking to people you don't know and having to, within a few minutes understand who they are, what their needs are, talk about yourself, have a casual conversation, I don't think I would've thought I could do that. I probably don't think about that enough that I have really moved away from the person who I was decades ago, I could say.

Ed Drozda:

We all do. Of course it is a progression and things do change over the course of time. I think it's fascinating the lessons that we learn about ourselves, because hey I have to know who I am. And I'm not saying that we don't, but all the same, we learn so much along the way that we do evolve, and the one that we were when we were an adolescent is not the one we are in our late twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, and so on and so forth. Yes, of course they physically change, but they've changed in so many other ways too, and I think that's a really important lesson to share with business people, because in my world, in my estimation in business, there is a certain amount of acceleration of the rate of emotional and personal growth. Mm. It's imposed upon you as a business owner. I believe the typical timeline of uh, going from 25 to 45 in 20 years, but if that person was in business they might accomplish those 20 years in the first five. Right. And I think you know what I'm saying here. So the question that I have is what lessons have you learned from allowing yourself to evolve as you have? What lessons have you learned that you could share with the young business person or younger business person who is going through this, if you will, rapid growth spurt, now. And you're looking back on this, you've been through this, okay? Mm-hmm. What could you share with them about your own experience? What have you learned that could be a value to them? It's a long-winded question, isn't it? It is, and I'm not quite sure the best way to answer. One of the things I learned was to bet on myself, and that was a huge risk for me.

Danielle Mead:

I still appreciate outside pressure as a motivator, so I never thought that I'd be able to be in business for myself. And what's funny is we are talking about being a serial starter on some level, and the fact that I have learned over time that I actually can be a self-starter. I can chase things and motivate myself to do things without outside pressure. Mm-hmm. I think a lot of that is because you have wins and you build on them and you get more confidence in yourself, in whatever it might be. And so I would say don't shortchange yourself. Don't be afraid of actually doing something that you don't know. I remember reading a quote from a woman who said that if you're gonna take a new job, you should feel like 60% of the stuff they're asking you to do you can do with your eyes closed. You're super comfortable with it. 20% should be things that you're pretty sure you can do based on your past experience, and 20% can be things that you have absolutely no idea how to do. But that's okay because that kind of a role is how you're going to learn, right? And how you're gonna grow as a business person. And I think a lot of times, especially when I was younger, I felt part of me was afraid to say I don't know anything about that, but it sounds really interesting and I'd like to learn it and I'm happy to learn it on the job. I did volunteer to do a lot of things and that's how I ended up moving up in my career, because I would raise my hand, but I think a lot of people are scared to do that'cause they're scared to fail, right? And they're scared to maybe not do as good of a job as was expected, but that is the only way that you push yourself to grow is by that extra 20% that you really have no idea what you're doing, but you're gonna learn it. Yeah. I think that's where doing stuff in your free time, having hobbies, things you don't know anything about gives you the opportunity to gain that confidence too, because no one cares. If you start a new hobby and you're not good at it, who cares. There's nothing on the line. But if you discover you're good at it or you have a propensity to do something, or you start a new running routine, and then you meet your goals, it gives you the confidence that then does translate over into your work environment too.

Ed Drozda:

All right, I have a very important question for you. I think I already have the answer, but I'm gonna go ahead and throw it out there. You named your business, Duck Soup E-Commerce. Is that correct? Yes. Yes. Hmm. All right, so you know what my next question is, why Duck Soup? Why yes.

Danielle Mead:

So duck soup means something that's easy to do, and for older listeners or people who are into old movies, the Marx Brothers had a movie called Duck Soup. Oh yeah. Which I saw when I was a child. My dad and my grandfather were super into. Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy and whatnot. And in the movie, just as a quick overview, they end up in a foreign country, and without trying at all one of them ends up being the leader of the country, and they're all running the country together without any effort at all. So, when I first started my business it was geared towards people who were startups, who didn't know anything about e-commerce, and my whole goal was to try to make it easy. Not talk in tech-speak, explain things to people, give people advice, and just super basic stuff about how to sell online that a lot of companies weren't doing because they assumed that you had this knowledge. So that's where Duck Soup came from and I've really stuck with that. I think it's one of the things that when I get feedback from clients, they're always like, she made the process so easy. It was, you know, easier than I thought. I've been putting this off for years and if only had known it was gonna be this easy, and I'm not saying e-commerce is easy, but my goal is to try to take away some of that text speak and talking over your head kind of thing that you might get with someone else. Took away the mystique and make it real. Exactly. Yeah. Make it accessible for more people.

Ed Drozda:

Accessible. That is essential. Danielle, I can't tell you how important that is. And so many people don't appreciate the fact that it does need to be brought down to a level that's suitable for your client. No matter what they might be doing, you need to make it relatable and something that they can act upon. So that is fantastic.

Danielle Mead:

One thing that I try to do, anytime there are acronyms I will always say the acronym and then tell people what the acronym stands for. And I find this is super valuable, not just in business, but in other situations. I'm on the local planning commission for my city, and anytime people just start talking using acronyms, anyone who's listening, who's not an expert feels like now they don't have anything to contribute. They don't know what those acronyms mean, they feel stupid. Mm-hmm. It's a way to bring in more people, whatever the situation is, and just make it more accessible and build more of a community.

Ed Drozda:

Absolutely. Acronyms and jargon, they isolate us from the conversation. I'm not sure that was the intent, but I do believe that's what they do. It is unfortunate because there's a good chance that they who are isolated have something important to offer. Absolutely. And we're missing out. So listen, our time is just about coming to an end here, but before we go I'd like to ask you, the serial starter, is there any things you'd like to leave us with?

Danielle Mead:

Don't be afraid to try something new, is what I would say and even if you end up investing in a lot of gear you can always sell it on eBay. People are always looking for used equipment and used gear of whatever. I got into wine making a few years ago, and I bought a lot of my equipment from people who had tried it and then decided it wasn't for them and great for me, I got some used equipment.

Ed Drozda:

If you don't have the expectation that I've got to get this or I've got to get that, but rather I'm going to do this for that, mm-hmm, at the very least then we didn't miss out on something. Exactly. But when you start applying these expectations and things, I think that's where our creativity is kind of shrunk. The boundaries turn into fences, and doors get locked. So I think that what you've provided here, your own way, is very inspirational. I think it's really important for people to hear. It's almost like giving permission yes to be a child again in a way, if that makes any sense.

Danielle Mead:

Yeah, absolutely. When you are a child a lot of people's parents encourage them to try lots of new things until you find one that you like. I think we just have to be our own parents in that way and just encourage ourselves to try new things, and not be so concerned about whether or not we're gonna stick with it long term, or whether or not we're gonna be good at it.

Ed Drozda:

Well, I have been given permission now, as long as I can avoid the tantrums I'll be okay. I'll try my best and if I should happen to have one I will find you.

Danielle Mead:

I'll be here.

Ed Drozda:

I know you will. Danielle, I want to thank you once again for being here with me today.

Danielle Mead:

Thanks for having me. This has been a lot of fun to talk about.

Ed Drozda:

Likewise. Folks, this is Ed Drozda, The Small Business Doctor, and again I'd like to thank my guest, Danielle Mead, the Duck Soup E-Commerce founder and the serial starter who has given us all reason to believe in our childhood wonder and the potential, the possibility of opening ourselves up to things that don't have to have a particular outcome. This is really great stuff. Thank you so much.

Danielle Mead:

Thank you.

Ed Drozda:

Folks, this is Ed Drozda and here at The Water Trough, as always I wanna wish you a healthy business.