Sincere & Straight Talk with Stunning Style

How does a woman go from corporate → stay-at-home-mom → building a successful business? April Grow, fashion follower turned style superhero, shares her very candid advice on how she did it, all while managing to keep her husband and six kids (yes, six!) her top priority.

In this episode we talk:

• Imposter syndrome - everyone’s got it. Feel the fear and do it anyway.
• Support systems - sometimes, your biggest fan can see your dreams before you do
• Outsource - outsource what you can, so you can focus on your strengths; it’s more affordable than you think!
• Build your castle on your own land.

Stunning Style Resources & Courses: 

• What’s your classic style twist? Take the quiz here
• Perfectly Put Together Masterclass

Learn more and connect with April at StunningStyle.com. 

ICYMI you can also check out the Personal Style IS Self-Care episode from Season 1. 

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Transcript

Kristen: 0:10

You have a great life, maybe even perfect life on paper. Yet, do you ever feel like you're not doing enough either at home or at work? Have you followed all the so-called"rules" yet somehow feel like you're missing something? Don't worry. You are not alone. Because guess what? The traditional path society let us to blindly follow were not designed for today's women. We are dreamers. We are doers and we get to write our own stories. And this podcast is about taking ownership of your beautiful life, prioritizing your dreams and building your own fairytale. Hi, I'm your host. Kristen Lettini. Join me each episode and we'll learn from real people who have boldly gone before us and share candid stories from their journeys. Because this is a team sport. When one of us wins, we all win by carving out new pathways for ourselves, our friends and our children. There's room for everyone to build their own fairytale. And listen, I get it because I'm a wife, a twin mom and a cat mom. I've worked in a small company and I've worked in a massive global company. I've gotten the degrees. I've been the primary breadwinner. I've also stayed at home with my kids briefly. I called in my summer of fun though. Technically it started out pretty far from that with the whole family getting COVID. But anywho- now I've changed my current status to entrepreneur, which is super exciting and scary at the same time. I'm calling time on sitting around and waiting for someone else or some one to swoop in and make it all happen. Because unlike those stories, we own the pen to this one. So consider yourself sprinkled with fairy dust and let's go. welcome back to another episode of bill drone fairytale. This week, we are combining two topics of interest here. So the first, if you've been listening to season two, You know, we're focusing on the non-traditional career paths and if you're new to listening, welcome, that is what we're talking about. And the second topic is style. So again, on season one, this is something we started to explore. We had McNeil staffer on the podcast to talk about personal style as a form of self-care. So it's something that I've. I have struggled with, that I would love to get better at. So I liked being able to combine those two topics in today's episode. So today you'll meet April gro. She is the owner of stunning style and a fashion follower turned style superhero. She offers products and courses to help you do the same. And I think you'll love the honesty and transparency that April shares about her learnings in growing a business She went from corporate America to me in a stay-at-home mom. Going through that identity crisis and finding herself style again. To now having a successful business. So I think you're going to love this conversation, please. Welcome April grow. April, welcome to the podcast. So excited to have you.

April: 2:53

Thank you so much. I am thrilled to be here. I appreciate you inviting me.

Kristen: 2:57

Sure. And I know, I'm excited to hear more about stunning style and your career journey. So can you start at the beginning You started in corporate America, you had some kids and now you run the successful business. I'm sure it wasn't that simple as I just summarized, like can you take us through that journey with you?

April: 3:17

So I always wanted to be a stay at home mom. That was always my top priority before I had kids. I was the director of PR and marketing for an engineering consulting firm, and I really enjoyed that a lot. I loved the company I worked for, I loved the people I worked with. It was a lot of fun. But I always knew that I would happily leave because I really did wanna be a stay at home mom. It just so happened that our first were triplets and,

Kristen: 3:49

So wait, it went from, Yes. Someday I wanna have kids be a stay home mom to now you're pregnant and they're triplets. Okay.

April: 3:55

Yeah,

Kristen: 3:55

Wow. Was, was that a little bit of a shock change of plans? What do I, what do I do here or,

April: 4:01

you could not have shocked me more

Kristen: 4:03

and are they identical for turn? I mean, we have identical twins and I remember it was just massive shock when I, but I went for that first ultrasound. Like, what? What? There's two

April: 4:11

yeah, yeah. No, they're all fraternal.

Kristen: 4:14

Oh, wow. Okay. So the shock of there's three in there.

April: 4:18

there's three in there. So I went from corporate America to a stay at home mom, and we had six kids in six years.

Kristen: 4:26

Oh

April: 4:26

And when our, Yeah, we had five in three years and then I took a little break and cuz we always wanted six also. That was always the plan. Every pregnancy was planned.

Kristen: 4:39

were you worried? after the three that you were gonna get another two or three or hope maybe

April: 4:44

it was always a possibility.

Kristen: 4:45

Wow. Okay.

April: 4:46

And every time I got pregnant, they wanted to see me right away. And then when our youngest was starting school, my husband came to me. And said, I think you're gonna be bored once she is in school and you're gonna need something to do. And I've set aside money. I think you should start a website. I think you should call it this, and I think you'll really love doing it. And at first I said, No, thank you. I am not interested

Kristen: 5:15

Okay,

April: 5:16

and. He is persistent. And he kept bringing up the topic he really thought I should write about style.

Kristen: 5:23

He, he thought this for you. He knew you had this interest and

April: 5:27

Mm-hmm.

Kristen: 5:28

Did you know you had it?

April: 5:29

Well, no, I've always loved clothes and, and style and shoes and bags, but this was a personal journey I was on after having six kids. I called them the lost years. When you have a major life change whether it's a move or a career change a divorce, a marriage, anything weight loss, weight gain, that can make you question your identity and your clothes are really an expression of your identity. You're a walking billboard and the way you dress tells people who you are, how you expect to be treated. It should. And we knew we were done at six, I had to be done. I, I couldn't have any more children, and so I decided I needed to find my style again. Because corporate clothes are my favorite I would wear those all day every day, but that does not work with my lifestyle. And so I did not know what I liked casually, how I wanted to dress casually. And so I was on this journey to find my style and I had just done so much to figure this out for myself. So it was definitely a passion project. A personal passion project, and I had women who would ask me for advice or ask me about my style journey, and he just felt like it was something more women would wanna hear about and I didn't think they would

Kristen: 6:56

Wow. I think it's so sweet and like caring that he thought to suggest that for you. And I'm also intrigued, like what, what was the research like how did you define, how did you uncover that? Because it's definitely an area I've struggled with. We had someone on season one we talked about style and it's just, it's a area that I'm always working on, so I am intrigued like, what were you doing to figure it out for.

April: 7:19

Oh gosh. Well, I started out by copying other people's style. Other women I knew who I really liked their style, and so I was like, She looks so great all the time. I'll wear what she wears and then I'll look really great too. But it didn't look great on me because I wasn't her.

Kristen: 7:38

Yeah,

April: 7:38

It wasn't really my style. I was on Pinterest. I would copy Pinterest outfits. It was like trying on Halloween costume. It really was. I was trying on personalities in some ways. I read a lot of style blogs. The frustration I had there is they would just say, Here's my outfit, and isn't it so great? And I'd be like, But why? Why is that a great outfit? I want, I have to know why. I wanna understand. And so it's really important to me that I share the why. With my community. I don't just say, do this because I don't want them to necessarily copy me. That wouldn't be the right thing for them. I explain to them why, and then they can figure out how that applies to their style. So, I mean, I took courses, I, I did all kinds of things. This went on for years. I mean, she's nine. My daughter is nine now nine and a half. So this wasn't just like a few weeks of stuff. This went on and on and on.

Kristen: 8:44

Okay. Well, the scientist in me loves the, like you broke it down to a formula, like X plus Y is Z. There you go. Formula. Okay,.All right. So, you had gone on this journey, you had this personal passion. He was encouraging you. Then what got you to take the plunger? What was the first step you took?

April: 9:02

Well, the first step I took is, well, he bought the domain name It. Yeah. The, he, I mean, I love the name he chose, but it was, its like, Yeah, he came up with a name. Yeah. And I started out, I had a wicked case of imposter syndrome and I really didn't feel like I had the right to talk about style and so I buried the style content. Under other topics. So see if I can remember how I did. I did Mommy Mondays where I shared parenting tips, travel Tuesdays because we love to travel and,

Kristen: 9:43

You were traveling. Oh my gosh.

April: 9:45

oh yeah. My husband and I go away on a, a big trip once a year, just the two of us.

Kristen: 9:50

That's awesome.

April: 9:52

making time for us is, is really important. Yeah. So we love to travel, so I, and I'm really good at planning travel and, and trips and so I would share that what I wore Wednesday.

Kristen: 10:04

Okay. There was some fashion style.

April: 10:06

So I did, there were five topic. Recipes was another one Anyway, you get the point. But at the end of the year, I, I launched my blog on February 13th at the end of the year looking at the analytics, it was the style content that they were reading

Kristen: 10:28

Wow. and that was one of the five.

April: 10:29

Yeah. And so I was publishing a post every day of, of the five days a week. And but it was the style content they wanted. I'm like, Do you have any idea how much time and effort I put into these travel posts? They're really good. You should be reading them They're so good. But it was the style content they wanted. And so at the end of that year it took a lot of courage, but I decided to only start publishing style content. And that was really hard for me to do. I it, I had to step into some huge discomfort to do that.

Kristen: 11:02

Yeah. Did you have a online network of people doing something similar or had experience, Like who did you lean on to get through that master syndrome? Because that's something that comes up all the time is like, what's that pep that you give yourself, or who do you turn to to get out of that space?

April: 11:19

I had no one. And for me, the sad thing is in this niche, it's very competitive, which I don't agree with. They look at each other as competition, and they come at it from a scarcity mentality. There's not enough. And if she has more than, I have less, and there are 5 billion people on this planet, let's say roughly half of them are women. There is plenty And the truth is, if they like my content, my content is different than yours. They were never going to. Your client. And if they love your stuff, which is different than mine, then that's perfect for them and they should be with you. Right? And on top of that, even if we share similar ideas, well that's just all the better for these women who are interested in it. They're getting an even greater education and what a blessing to them. And so I, I. Wanted a network of women that have this same passion of sharing the beauty of style and fashion and how it can improve your life, and I have found a few. Honestly, the group of people I lean on and who sup, we support one another. None of them are in this field, but they support me and we support each other in more fundamental and important ways. And it is so amazing to have that. So my husband is the only person that I had to discuss that with when I was stepping into that imposter syndrome discomfort and really making that decision. And he's a wonderful support, but he had his own career at the time now we're business partners, but He just is a man. Men understand imposter syndrome, but not coming to the internet.

Kristen: 13:19

Yeah. Yeah, they understand to an extent. It's just not the same as.

April: 13:24

Yeah. It was just a different anyway, but he was wonderfully supportive of it and he's, you know, he has encouraged me all along the way to do this. So I really am blessed that I have.

Kristen: 13:35

That is, that's special. So part of the business did to help with your business.

April: 13:43

was almost three years ago, I believe.

Kristen: 13:49

And what was the turning point? Like what did, was it one night at dinner you looked at each other and said, We should do this or,

April: 13:56

Well, he traveled a lot for his job, the whole, from the beginning of our marriage, he was gone a lot and that was really hard. With that many kids. It was hard on our relationship. It was hard on me being home alone with the kids so much, and it was hard on the kids not getting to see them. It was hard on him because he missed us. And we went to this date. Because we go on a date every week. We always have, and it was this date night, It wasn't a seminar. I can't come up with the word of what you would call it, but it was run by this organization, and it was just for an evening. And they talked about the power in your relationships of having a shared. And knowing what your partner's dreams are and supporting your partner's dreams and having a shared dream, something you're working toward together. And a lot of this has to do with when you do eventually reach that empt nest stage and you're like, Who are you that, Who am I? Right? And and so there was this exercise where you went through and you shared your personal dreams and then you talked about shared dreams. We actually, I think, had already come up with one before that. But we had a shared dream of him leaving his career and coming to work with me. And also we wanted to go on a family gap year with our. Travel the world for a year and show them the world because we've only taken them out of the country twice and it's been to the same place both times. And we just wanted to show them the amazing world we live in and all these incredible places and expose them to new cultures and new people. And so that was the shared dream we were working towards. That was in June. And so we started working. How can we make this happen? What needs to happen? And I think it was a year and a half.

Kristen: 15:59

so pretty quick from the grand scheme of things.

April: 16:01

It really was. He, he joined my company in November. But he did. Once I had always done, every penny I made went back into the business and I was very fortunate in that, that I could do that, that I was not paying the. With my business. And that was a real blessing that I was able to put all the money I made back into growing the business. And that did allow me to grow faster. And I think that's really important for people to know that I wasn't doing this and taking the money and paying my rent and paying for food, and making my car payment and paying utilities. I had the support. All of our bills were already paid by my husband's income.

Kristen: 16:45

And that's such a luxury when you're trying to build this business, right? Because you don't have that, you already have enough stress of trying to figure out how to run the business and also your family home life, right? But then without having an added financial stress, Okay.

April: 17:00

and it wasn't a side hustle either where I had a full time job and then I was doing, you know, and then taking care of my kids and then doing this late into the night either. So I think that's really important for women to know. That was my situation.

Kristen: 17:12

Do you think, I mean, it still would've been possible if those factors were changed? Just maybe a little. The timeline may have been stretched further.

April: 17:18

definitely. definitely. Yes. It absolutely can happen. You can do it that way. I just don't want them to compare their experience and their timeline with mine and be like, How did she do it so fast? Well, I look at what I had to start with, where I started.

Kristen: 17:36

Well, that's what I'm so excited to about this season is talking to women who've done it in all different ways, right? Different family shapes and sizes and different industries and yeah. So I think it's important to to share that aspect of it. and it could be done in a variety of ways, so thank you for sharing that. I'm also intrigued about this. Family work life balance because you've got the six kids, you've got the super supportive partner. The weekly date night, I thought I was doing well when we were like gonna have monthly dates. It was my 2022 goals. But you at the weekly So, so tell me how you juggled it all and keep it so it seems quite balanced.

April: 18:13

The very first thing that I want every listener, every. Everyone to know is I don't do it all and I don't do it alone. That is essential for you to know. not immaculate. My, I have not cleaned up the breakfast dishes today. I've been busy with other things. My laundry room is a wreck and I. Don't do it all. I am not perfect. I am a human being, not a machine. And I prioritize. Some things get more of my attention at different times than others. So for example, we have a seasonal launch for the Stunning style Society and for a few weeks I work a lot more hours than I typically do. The rest of the time, we both try to make sure we're done by the time the get the kids get home from school and not to work weekends, when we are working on the classic wardrobe guides, that rule doesn't stick. And so we ha we have to get it done in this small amount of time. And so I am still working after school, but I am also at the table for dinner and. My family comes first. I was live on Tuesday. It was a special live on the last day of our launch cart. Was closing that night, like this is a critical right. This is the last opportunity to share my product, live with my community. And I excused myself. I, I stayed in my chair but a few times to say, I need to pause for a second. I'm not normally live at this time of day. I need to make sure my daughter is being picked up at at school. And so I would pause and text. I needed to know that my daughter was picked up by her brother He was, Yeah. So like he was meeting her but he was not responding to my. You know, acknowledging he had hurt in his possession, that she had been safely picked up, right? And so I kept pausing to say, I need to make sure my daughter has been picked up. I didn't give him the whole story, but it was, that was my number one priority. I have answered phone calls during lives. If it's from the school, I always answer the phone if the school calls. Because it could be an emergency, right? And so my family always comes first. And we tell our kids all the time, You're our top priority. It doesn't matter what we're doing. I'm here to help you. And so if one of my kids comes into my office while we're working frantically on the guide or some other big thing, and if he needs. My help with a homework thing or, you know, then I just stop what I'm doing and I, I help him with that. So I fell for the solopreneur. And that was probably the biggest mental stumbling block I encountered. You read these blogs or you, you hear these women and they're like, You know, I'm answering your questions today. How do you schedule your day? Well, I play with the kids in the morning, you know, I feed'em breakfast and we play in the morning and I read books and, and we do Legos or blocks and, and then we have lunch and I read'em some stories. Then when they go down for a nap, I work. And then when they get up from nap and my other kid comes from from school, we have snacks and blah, blah, blah, blah, and I might work it a little bit after dinner, but then I spend some time with my husband. I'm like, She's doing this in like three hours a day. I am killing myself and I'm nowhere near where she is. I'm not getting this done. What, what is wrong with me? That she can get it done in three hours a day and I'm working on this eight hours a day, five days a week. Do you know why? Because they have a team of people and they don't tell you that they have at least one assistant. They have house cleaners, they have PR agencies. Sometimes they have graphic designers, they have a team of people supporting and helping them. They're not answering their own emails. They have a social media person who posts for them. And so that gives her the opportunity to focus on just the creative aspect in three hours a day because she's not doing it alone. And I really, honestly, truly believed that she was. And I remember. The very first blogger, it was Alison Haley, who I read a similar post, and at the time she was single and didn't have kids and she was working full time, but still just like knocking it out of the park. And she was the first one who said, My assistant, this is I. She introduced us to her, her assistant. This is my assistant and this is what she does for me in a day. And. I actually started crying when I read that post because I was like, She doesn't do this alone.

Kristen: 23:31

Yeah.

April: 23:31

do this alone. My gosh, She has, there are two people doing this right, and she is the first person I ever saw. Be transparent about it. And now that I know more women in this space, and I know what goes on behind the scenes in their business, They have help. They just don't talk about it for whatever reason. I don't know what their motives are. They just don't talk about it. And so ever since I started getting help, I, I talk about it all the time. I am so transparent. I, I, I thank my team for everything that they do. I acknowledge the parts that they've done. You know, if they say, Hey, we love. Such and such about your business. I'll say, rj, my assistant did that. It doesn't, She make incredible graphics. Thank goodness we have her. Or you know, we have a Facebook community manager and isn't she awesome? Thank you so much for supporting her as she does this on my behalf. It's so important to me, number one, to acknowledge the people who help me and who are just doing such an incredible job. Number two. So that if there is anyone out there looking at me thinking, Gosh, she does it all. What is wrong with me? I want them to know I don't do it all and I definitely don't do it alone. My husband is my business partner. He handles all of the technology and business side, and I am the creative. And then we outsource things to different companies and we have our own internal team, and that is how these things get done. And if nothing else comes out of this interview, hope you share that.

Kristen: 25:22

Wow. I will absolutely share that piece. I love that you focus on sharing this transparency and letting other people know, like, look, it's not. I am at the forefront here, but there's a team behind me, big or small, right? I love just being able to focus on and share that. And even reflecting too on my time in corporate, which you may have had as well, like when you had that manager or person on your team who would give you the credit right when they got up there for the presentation, but you did that part of the piece and they're like, Oh, well that thanks to April. Or that thanks to Kristen. Like that felt great just to be acknowledged. Right? So even whether it's as part of a large company or when you're saying, Look, it's not just me here, not a solo entrepreneur. It feels good for the people and lets people know, like it's not just you doing all the things right. Cause that's not sustainable,

April: 26:07

It really isn't.

Kristen: 26:08

so. Alright. I love that. I didn't know we were gonna go there, but I like it can you speak a little bit to the the style guide. So can you share with our audience exactly what it is that you do, because I think it's so fun and interesting and what you offer to, to your clients.

April: 26:22

Sure. So I have a few different products. The first product I ever created was the stunning style classic wardrobe guides. They're eBooks, that they're a capsule wardrobe. But you don't have to use in that way. They can really just be inspiration of how to. Wear your own wardrobe in new and fresh ways is specifically for women who love classic style and who wear a winter color palette. And that comes out every season. I go shopping, I check everything. I try it on. I either see it in the stores or I order it. I choose 30 to 40 things for that season, and then I create 100 outfit templates out of that so they know how to wear these items. I put those outfits on calendars so they don't have to pick their outfit for the day. And we have a shopping portal if they want to add anything new to freshen up their wardrobes or replace some basics that maybe have worn out. And we always encourage them to shop their closets first. So it's really about making the most of what you have first. And that comes out every season. We just closed the doors to the fall launch. And then I have perfectly put together Find Your Style is a course that I help women go through a process to find their own style. This is not about convincing you to like a certain kind of style. It is 100% about learning your personal. Preferences what you do and don't love. And coming up with a few outfit formulas that are perfect for you, that you can easily put some outfits together at a moment's notice cuz you know, I love to wear this type of combination and that's always a killer outfit for me, and I can do that. And if you look at any style icon, they have uniform.

Kristen: 28:19

I like the idea of uniforms. I could, that's easy for me to follow

April: 28:23

Well, for some women they get really, Ugh, that, like that no, I do not wanna wear a uniform. I'm, I want more variety. But every, every style icon has uniforms and once you know what it is, you'll see it and be like, Oh yeah, that is her uniform. It works so well for her. And you can mix up that uniform in a variety of ways, but it's this basic formula that they have just. Serves them well

Kristen: 28:48

So what's your uniform? I'm intrigued.

April: 28:50

pick a season and I'll tell you,

Kristen: 28:52

Okay. Fall.

April: 28:53

I love to wear a sweater or a button up or, you know, a t-shirt jeans and flats or boots. And that is my go to uniform. So it would like when it's warmer like it is, right now it's the t-shirts because it's too hot to wear a sweater. But if we're talking actual fall weather, it's a sweater, jeans, and flats or boots. If it's a little cooler, I love a button up. I love them. And jeans, flats, or boots, That's my uniform. So you can go to my Instagram and be. There it is. That is April's uniform. But I mix it up and you in all the different ways. You know, different colors, different color combinations, different accessories, and it feels fresh and new just because of that. But that's my, my fall uniform.

Kristen: 29:46

Okay, awesome. Sorry for interrupting. I wanted to know the uniform

April: 29:50

Oh, I'm happy to share. It's a great question. So the final product that we currently have is Body Shape Courses, Stio Silhouette Course One and course two. It's actually, it's actually 10 courses because each body shape is its own course and there are five basic body shapes and each body shape has course one and course two. So that, that was a labor of love, but it was It was one of those things that I got asked all the time for a body shape course and I was like, I don't, I don't wanna make one. There's so many resources out there, I don't feel the need to add another one. I mean, there is everywhere. Until I realized that I had a unique spin on it and I did have something important to say and that is what changed my mind about it. And I mean, they love it. They love it. And then we have, I'm finishing up another five courses right now. They'll be launching soon. And it's all about finding your signature style based on the five style classic style twists that I've written about. I did not invent these styles. They just are, I observed them and broke them down and. All the elements to dress in this style, and then you can pick and choose which of those elements work for you. And so those are coming out soon, like in the next month?

Kristen: 31:17

that's a lot. And I can see now why on your website you have it described as classic style wardrobe architect. Right? So hearing like when I wrote that down I was like, Oh, that's interesting. And now hearing you explain it through'em, like that makes total sense. All that sounds really exciting. We talked about how you got there and you had that support from your husband, but what's one piece of advice, if you could go back in time to when you were starting that you wish you had?

April: 31:41

You know, that's a really good question. I could give you several answers. But the best advice. That I got that really changed things for me. We were out to dinner. Well, it came from two sources kind of simultaneously. We had hired this incredible woman named Mandy O'Neil to do our first marketing funnel. I didn't even know there was such a thing and I sh to, to this day, she is one of my dear friends and she is one, she is part of that support network that I. Her field is totally different, but we cheer each other on and support one another. And she's incredible and she does great marketing funnels. So she was like, You need to have a virtual assistant doing this part. You don't have time to do this part. Why are you doing that? And I was like a virtual assistant, like that's for other people. That's for. CEOs and she's like, No, April, you need to be focused on the creative content. That's the part. No one else can do the things that someone else can do. You need to hire out. And she helped me find my first virtual assistant. And by virtual assistant, I mean, they don't come into the office here, they work from home. And so our assistant rj works from her house and she lives in a different state than I do. And at the same time, we had gone to dinner with some my husband's college roommate, who is also an extraordinarily successful entrepreneur, and we were talking and he said, Listen, what are your strengths? What do you bring to the business that makes your business special? What is it that you do that no one else can do? You spend your time and energy on that and outsource the rest, pay someone else to do that.

Kristen: 33:40

Yeah.

April: 33:40

And you know, there's a great website called Fiber that you can outsource small or big projects that I found Mandy on upwork. Yeah. So that's where I found Mandy to do the marketing funnel. If you want stuff that's more like graphic design and those kinds of things fiber is a great place to do that. And so it doesn't have to be a full-time person. You can outsource by project and you might be surprised at how affordable that can be, and you're supporting other entrepreneurs who are building their businesses and it frees you up to do the things that make your business. Which is where your creativity comes in. That is what you bring. And that is in my, on, you know, my imposter syndrome kicked in big time. Like, who am I to have an assistant? Who am I to be out? Because at that time I was doing the solopreneur thing and killing myself and, and just not, My business was not growing the way it was because I was doing it all and not that well, to be honest. I was doing jobs that people dedicate entire careers to, and I did not. I did not have the time and space to master all of those things. And so we started outsourcing and so those two. Came together at the same time to give me that same advice and that changed everything. Getting a virtual assistant freed me up so much to do the things that build the revenue that allow me to create the things that make our money and. A virtual assistant doesn't have to be a full-time thing and. You can just get the help you can afford and the help that you actually need. And you don't have to worry about like, gosh, 40 hours a week and benefits like, how am I gonna do that You don't have to there's someone out there who wants to fill a little extras time in their week you need a little extra help in that week and you'll find each other.

Kristen: 35:43

Yeah, I mean, just hearing you walk through it, it's almost like once you can let go of that, I need to keep every dollar here cause I can't spend because I'm still so small or whatever that mindset is. Once you can let go of that, then you really sort of let your wings take flight. I don't know what the expression is there, but like you can really soar after that because you have that time, you have that brain space.

April: 36:04

and your business will grow more quickly. You'll start creating more revenue more quickly because you can do the thing that makes your business special people wanna pay for.

Kristen: 36:14

Yeah. That's uplifting, freeing,

April: 36:19

Good. I hope so. I mean, it was for me when we decided to take that advice immediately and things really changed very quickly. so there's actually one more thing that was like, it was absolutely a game changer.

Kristen: 36:36

What was that?

April: 36:37

It was the first game changer. So I was taking a course on SEO and she introduced me to this concept. There's a book about it. It's called The 1000 True Fans Concept. So if you think about your typical style or. Fashion entrepreneur they're selling other people's products. And when you work with affiliate, it, it depends on the brand. It depends on how big you are, but you know, three to 5% is your commission in the early days. And then as you sell more, you'll get bigger commissions. But really to. A hundred thousand dollars. Think about how many hundreds of thousands of dollars of other people's products you need to sell and how enormous your email list has to be. Right. And that is so overwhelming when you're like, I need a hundred thousand, 500,000 a million subscribers on my website. I mean, that's gonna take forever. When you have your own product, let's say you have 1000 true fans who spend$100 a year with you, that's a hundred thousand dollars,

Kristen: 37:56

Yep.

April: 37:57

You can get a thousand true fans, like 1000, or do you wanna chase a hundred thousand? And so it was August when I heard that concept and I was like, what product am I gonna create? And it was right after Thanksgiving. And I had an idea to create those classic wardrobe guides, and I was like, Hey, I'll be in my office. I, I have this idea and I'm gonna make it. And I did. And my goal was to sell 50 that first week. And I did. And I ended up selling 120 in total. And that was my very first product, and I sold it for 20. 9 99 I think. And that was the first time I really made any, It was, it was the first year of my business, but was the real revenue that I made that year.

Kristen: 38:52

How amazing did that feel when you got that? Even just the first sale, like, wow, 30 bucks, here we go.

April: 38:57

It was amazing. And I'll, you know, I'll be honest, it was so hard to. Put it out there again, that imposter syndrome. Are they gonna like it Are they gonna want it? You know, like, Oh, what if nobody buys it? But they did like, they couldn't get it fast enough. And it was amazing. I only had an email list of 350 people at the time.

Kristen: 39:21

Wow. You said 120 of the three 50 bought it. That first thing that you weren't sure anybody was gonna buy?

April: 39:26

Yeah. 120 people out of the 350 people on my email list bought it.

Kristen: 39:31

Some pretty amazing odds.

April: 39:33

It is, that's. Yeah, that's an incredible conversion rate. I don't have the same conversion rate percentage now, but it was amazing. And so you don't have to have a million subscribers to be successful.

Kristen: 39:47

And this is back to that, we can all succeed. We can have multiple people in the same industry, same network

April: 39:54

yeah, There's more than enough.

Kristen: 39:56

I love it. Well, that is a really good one. I'm glad that you added that one in.

April: 40:00

It was life changing for me, like I went from, it was so overwhelming to me to think about growing my list like that. And then actually the other piece of advice is to build your castle on your own land. Meaning, Your website, you own your website, you own your email list. You do not own social media, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, whatever, they can delete your account. They, they change their algorithm and suddenly you're not showing up in people's feed. And if you have built your castle on someone else's land, They can evict you at any time and your business is gone. I mean, I still utilize those resources, but my castle, my kingdom is on my land and That is critical to know. Okay.

Kristen: 40:45

I've definitely heard one or two people mention whatever you build on social media could go away. They take away Instagram tomorrow, like your platform is then done. But I haven't heard the castle analogy, so I like it even more.

April: 40:57

Good.

Kristen: 40:59

thank you for sharing that one too. You got lots of good ones,

April: 41:02

you're welcome.

Kristen: 41:03

I feel like you've shared so much. I wanna know a little bit more about you personally. So if you could be a fairy Taylor fictional character, who would you be? Is it someone with this classic style, or who resonates for you?

April: 41:15

No, it actually has nothing to do with style. Have you ever watched Ted Lasso?

Kristen: 41:20

No, we don't have, Was it Apple tv?

April: 41:22

Oh, you're missing out.

Kristen: 41:23

I, I've heard, I've heard I'm missing out. So tell me

April: 41:26

So listen, I do not watch a lot of tv. I never have. But Ted Lasso is number one, hilarious. Number two, it's a very positive and uplifting show. It kind of makes you feel like I can do anything. And the character Keely on Ted Lasso, she is strong. But she's also very feminine, and she's not ashamed of her femininity. She has healthy boundaries and she sticks to her boundaries while still being kind. There's nothing negative about it. She supports and lifts those around her, especially other women. She's kind, she's positive, and she's a great friend she really embodies the women that I have surrounded myself with this network of women that we lift and support one another. And, she's just a great, everybody, everyone in the whole world. Well, who watches this show has a crush on Keely? I have a crush on Keely. My husband has a crush on Keely. There is nothing not to love about Keely. She's just magnetic You just like, I would love to hang out with Keely.

Kristen: 42:38

Yeah. Well now, like that wasn't, I hadn't heard that reason for one to watch, but now like I need to watch, just so I can see who Keely is.

April: 42:44

Keely's. Awesome. Yeah.

Kristen: 42:46

Okay. All right. So Keely is the character, and I also wanna know, have you gone on that family gap year

April: 42:52

Well, no, because, Covid hit

Kristen: 42:55

Oh, this was a pre covid idea.

April: 42:57

mm-hmm. So we were supposed to leave on September 16th, 2020,

Kristen: 43:02

Oh yeah, we know how that went then.

April: 43:04

Yeah. It hit in March. We were leaving on September 16th.

Kristen: 43:08

And were you gonna pause the business for that year? How was that? So gonna

April: 43:11

No. That is the base thing about being an online entrepreneur. We had been streamlining our business so that we could work from the road a minimum number of hours a week, and that's why having a great virtual assistant and setting up all these things was so important because then we could work from the road X number of hours a week. and I mean, cuz you can, I can do this anywhere. That's why we moved. We were like, Hey, I mean, we had set it up so we could go on this gap year, but then when that wasn't happening, my husband was like, You do realize we could live anywhere we want because we had already made all these plans so we moved

Kristen: 43:50

wow. All right, so these are, these are Some nice expectations for fellow fairytale builders to set that we can have these goals and, and make them own true. Right? So where can our listeners find you work with you?

April: 44:03

Stunning style dot. That's my public website and you can find information about each of the products I offer there.

Kristen: 44:13

Awesome. Well, thank you. This has been so insightful. I love the fact that we have this freedom of we don't have to do it alone, and you can actually grow even faster if you open yourself up to that opportunity and just to see how much you've grown and built your business, your family, and have all those shared dreams together. So thank you April for sharing.

April: 44:30

You're welcome so much.

Kristen: 44:33

Hearing from April and her honesty, you can see it. Wasn't always a fairy tale, but it's pretty awesome today. Now that her husband has been in middle, leave his career, join her business. She's built this mobile castle she can take anywhere. And I really hope they get to go on that family gap year. Right. That sounds pretty cool. My key takeaways from the conversation are number one. Don't compare your chapter one to someone else's chapter 20. Start where you April was really transparent and open about, how she started her business, what the financial situation was and how she was able to put all the money back into the business without worrying about other finances. So that very well may be different from where you are. So. It's important not to complain that comparison game. It's really not helpful. Number two, know your strengths and don't be afraid to outsource the rest, you know, keep what you're good at. Keep what makes the business, the business because of you. And get help wherever else you can. And number three, you know, I love it because it's got the castle, but build your castle on your own land, social media and other tools can play a part. But the only way to maintain control is to own the place where you build your empire. If you need help in the style department, I've got all the links to April's products in the show notes, including a link to her brand new product style, your silhouette. Last, but not least. I want to thank you again for being here. It means so much to me that we are on this journey together. And if you know someone who may benefit from the episode, please go ahead and share it with them. I'm not getting up on my dreams and I hope you won't either. Um, Kristen Latine and this is bill drawn fairytale.