Subscription Box Answers

A Subscription Box Business Can Change Your Life - (With Julie Ball & Lo Hixson)

• Liam Brennan

Share episode

In this episode of Subscription Box Answers, I sit down with Julie Ball, the founder of Sparkle Hustle Grow, and Lo Hixson, the founder of Passion & Growth, to discuss how their subscription box businesses completely changed their lives. Both of them started their subscription boxes from the comfort of their homes, and in a short period of time, they were making a full-time income. They each went on to achieve multi-seven figures in sales, with Julie eventually having a multi-six-figure exit.

This episode covers their inspiring stories, and they both share valuable advice on how you can achieve the same success. These are just two examples out of literally hundreds of people I know who have built highly successful subscription boxes from home. Take inspiration from this episode and know that a subscription box business can truly change your life for the better.

If you're on the fence about starting your own subscription box, you should do it. You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain.

If you have a question you want answered on the show head over to www.SubscriptionBoxResources.com and join the Free Facebook group and post it there.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Subscription Box Answers with your host, liam Brennan. You're no rubbish, no crap. Straight to the point podcast with real, actionable tips, real strategies and insights from the industry which will help you start and grow your own successful subscription box business. You ask the questions, you ask the questions, you ask the questions. Liam gives the answers. It's as simple as that.

Speaker 2:

Welcome back to a brand new episode of Subscription Box Answers. I hope everybody is having a great day. On today's episode, we're doing something a bit different and I have two very special guests I'd like to welcome to the show. We have Julie Ball, who is the founder of Sparkle Hustle Grow, and we have Lo Higson, who is the founder of Passion and Growth, and we're just going to talk about our subscription box experiences and what a subscription box can do for your life. So how are you? And welcome on.

Speaker 4:

Hi thanks for having me. Hey, I'm so happy to be here. Thank you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, thanks. Thanks very much for jumping on. We have a big announcement to make at the end of the podcast as well, so definitely tune into that. You don't want to miss it, so we'll jump straight into it. Julie, do you want to talk a bit about your subscription box career and your experiences so far and what it did for your life?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's crazy to think about. If you had asked me, you know, eight years ago when I got started, that if this was what this was going to do for me, I never would have been able to paint this picture. But I'll try to keep it short. I'll try to keep this like impactful, where you can see that this was a massively like pivotal moment in my career. So I had done some corporate ladder climbing and then, when I had my daughter McKenna in 2011, I left my corporate career and started my first business, just kind of working in the margins naps, nights and weekends and fast forward to 2016,. She turned five and at the same year we moved from Charlotte, north Carolina, to Asheville, north Carolina, and it was just like this big change for us.

Speaker 3:

Mckenna was about to start kindergarten, I was in a new community, there was just a lot going on, and while I was getting used to my new community and trying to make friends, I was a little bit lonely. I'm just being very honest. I was a little bit lonely behind the screen because I was doing some digital marketing for my career freelancing, you know and so I turned to retail therapy. I know, don't judge, but I bought Stitch Fix and I bought Yogi Surprise. Like those are two like OG subscription boxes here in the States and one Stitch Fix is clothing. Yogi Surprise was things for your yoga practice, and when I would open those boxes, I just felt so happy, like I felt fulfilled. And you know how retail therapy works Like sometimes you just need to treat yourself. And so, as I had this experience with subscription boxes, I just have this very entrepreneurial mind, very curious person, and I thought to myself, well, why don't I start one of these? And I could just start it for female entrepreneurs, because that's who I am, that's who I was serving, and so that's where my idea came from. And just to give you a little bit of the timeline, it took me four months to hit a hundred boxes or a hundred subscribers, and that's when my business became profitable as well. Like I was no longer in the red, and so that was an eyeopening moment where I thought, okay, this idea has legs. So I put my all into it and fast forward.

Speaker 3:

Nine months in, I replaced my full-time income as a digital marketer and I went all in, and one of the moments that was just such an aha moment was they created this spreadsheet and I said, okay, this is what it's going to is super, super basic, like this is what I'm going to sell it for, these are my costs. So this is my profit, super basic. And then I said, okay, what if I sell a hundred boxes? What if I sell 500 boxes? What if I sell a thousand? You can kind of see this picture I'm painting as the spreadsheet went on with you know the quantity, it blew my mind that I could make this type of profit month after month after month and so, like this recurring revenue model just took over my business, like that's. I went all in on it. When I showed my husband that spreadsheet too, he's like oh yeah, you got to pursue this. This. This is not just you know a little hobby that you're doing anymore.

Speaker 3:

And I have to point out too I think subscription boxes make a great career, part or full-time. They make a great part-time gig, but they do not make a good hobby. So you have to make sure those profit numbers are there. And that spreadsheet told the story. So, fast forward, six years into my box business, with lots of five figure months, like take home five figure months, I sold my business for multi six figures. So I had an exit and throughout that time, you know, I became a public speaker, I became a subscription box coach. It's like I made so many great friends and colleagues in the industry like you, like Liam and Lo here We've become friends over the years, so hopefully that paints the picture of my subscription box story. If you want to hear the whole launch story, I'll give you guys. Liam, I'll give you a link to my launch story for my podcast. Um, if anyone's interested, yeah, that's. That's the big picture yeah, thanks very much.

Speaker 2:

I'll add it to the show notes. When you set up your subscription box, could you imagine back then where it would lead you to like that you turn it into a profitable venture working from home, because I know so many people want to do that these days and you would sell the business for a lot of money pretty much a big exit no way I'm one of those people that, um, you know, I just keep moving forward like every little step is progress, and then, when I have a gut feeling or if there's data that suggests it, I'll pivot, and for my exit, it is not something that I had planned in advance.

Speaker 3:

Some people build to sell For me. I got to a point in my business where I was ready for my next season, my next chapter, whatever that was. At the time I sold the business. Mckenna was starting middle school and so I wanted to be there more for her. We were packing boxes from home the last year or so and my husband was ready to be a little more hands off with something like that and pursue his own career again, and so it just felt like the right season and we were so lucky that I got a great broker and found literally my dream buyers.

Speaker 2:

They're still running the box business doing great, and so it felt really, really good really great, and it's kind of like it's crazy that you can create something from your house and you can reach people from all over the world with a relatively low amount of money to set something like this up like. It's not like 25 years ago, when you'd be going to the bank and you'd have to, like get a loan, like a big 50-page plan and a lot of risk taking over a retail operation or something. It's absolutely crazy, and there's so many examples of people who achieved similar things. We all did, really, on this call. We all went full time through quite significant businesses. Do you want to speak about passion and growth, though?

Speaker 4:

Of course, I'll try to keep this short and sweet. Also, I've done several podcasts telling this whole story, but I'll try to keep it succinct. So when I started my box, I was working as a nurse. So I had graduated from college, worked eight years in the nursing field it was 2019.

Speaker 4:

Actually, I would say my first like little dabble into entrepreneurship was I used to sell Scentsy, and it's something that I actually forget about. But as I was going through a lot of just like archives lately, I remember that I was like that was the really first time I looked at it and I saw how well I was doing in Scentsy and I kind of had this moment of, you know, wow, if I can sell like someone else's product and be like making money, I bet I could sell my own Like, I bet I could do this, and so that was like the first kind of like clue of you know, maybe I wanted to do something, but I would say the big, really, you know, pivot for me just came from, you know, spending months and a couple of years just working on my own personal growth journey, and I felt very passionate about just trying to learn how to change my mindset and growing up in a society where you know we're constantly told we're not good enough or we need to look a certain way, or, you know the standards always changing. We're never going to be what society says we need to be, and so I was doing a lot of just kind of undoing of all those narratives that I'd been told. I felt like I was living this story that wasn't even mine. Someone else wrote my story and I was just a character just living in it, and so I had these big eye opening moments in 2019 about. You know, I have accomplished so much in this journey and it's an ongoing journey, but, you know, if I can start to see these small changes that I'm making in my life and my mindset's improving, I'm not feeling as negative. I'm not talking as negatively to myself. How could I reach other people? Because a big thing for me was you know, I didn't have a community that was talking about this. You know we all kind of you know me and my friends like we were having fun, we were doing our young 20s things, mid-20s things that we weren't talking about. Tell me about your childhood trauma and how that's impacted you.

Speaker 4:

And so it was this idea of I need to create some kind of community and other people, surround myself with other women who are also on the same journey, and that is where I came up with this idea of self-care for women and really personal growth. I didn't know the avenue for that, I didn't know what the vehicle was going to be. And here enters Julie Ball. I was actually subscribed to her box and saw that she every month I got these like really cool, you know things for being a female entrepreneur. It came in this like beautiful box. It made me feel just so good. Like every time I opened it I was like, oh, that was a surprise for me. And so that was my first introduction to Julie.

Speaker 4:

And over the next few months, as I was thinking about how do I want to present this like story and what I want to do in this impact to the world, one day I was at a winery, a few glasses of champagne in, and I thought about the subscription box that I get from Julie Sparkle Hustle Grow and so I was like, wait a minute, can I take the same idea that she has where she's collecting all these tools and books and learnings and sending it? Can I do that in the self-care, personal growth space and I was like, yeah, why not? I don't know what I was doing, but why not, sounds great. And I went home that night, sat on my couch, had no clue what I was about to, what adventure I was about to go on, and just Googled. You know how do I start a subscription box course and or a subscription box, sorry, and I actually I went to Julie's group first. She had a group within her subscription box and I was like, let me just do a quick search, maybe this, maybe she has a course or has talked about it before. And, sure enough, she had a course called Subscription Box Bootcamp and I jumped right on it. I think I bought it, I think I messaged her, we talked back and forth. I was like I have this crazy idea. We messaged, I decided it was a good fit, I purchased it and that was in September, like end of September 2019. And I launched my box at the very end of December 2019 as a to VIP and then launched to the public January of 2020.

Speaker 4:

So it was a pretty short timeframe and I am so lucky I had Julie and that course to really navigate these waters, because I was clueless. How do I, you know, register an LLC. How do I like what do I? Okay, I got to separate accounts. I got to start an email. I mean, I didn't know anything. I was starting from ground level, zero knowledge. If you're having a heart attack, I got you. If we're starting a business, I need help. So that's how I launched and pretty quickly got a hundred subscribers, I think within the second month. By four months, I think, I had 350 subscribers. This is in the middle of the pandemic. I, you know I launched a business too much. Two months later, like the world shut down. I was like, oh, that probably, I guess, wasn't a good idea. And then it turned out everyone's at home, everyone. Mental health and wellness is becoming a huge part of our world, and so my subscription box. Actually, I got tons of subscribers during that time and I was able to leave my full-time job as a nurse in September of 2020. So that's nine months after launching.

Speaker 4:

I was able to go full time in my business and it got to this point of I kind of did the numbers and did the math, like Julie said and saw. You know, this is a great opportunity for me. I mean, I'm able to make an impact. I'm doing something I really love. I need to make a decision on if I want to keep doing this part-time, in the weekends and evenings, or if I want to go all in. And it was scary as heck. You know, I went from this. I was taught, I was raised to you. Have a stable job. Have a stable job. That's the only thing that matters here. Have a stable job. You're going to be okay.

Speaker 4:

And taking a leap on my own to start to start to run this business was was not what you would consider a quote stable but I did it. I did it. I believed in myself. I knew that if this was going to, if I wanted to see where it was going to go, I had to give it the time and since then, I mean things have just, I mean drastic changes. So, left my full-time job, I was able to support my income. You know, within a year and a half, I was able to move to like a mini warehouse. It was tiny but it worked, because I started packing in my apartment, like most of us have started this business in my kitchen and before you knew it, I was living basically in just a house of boxes and so, moving to, you know, this mini warehouse was a huge step in 2022.

Speaker 4:

So two years later I was able to move to like a real warehouse with a dock. That was a huge pivot and fantastic. I was able to hire other team members. You know, my whole life kind of changed. You know I was the long-term partner at the time and they were able to come on and help with the business. And I have since I just this weekend or not this weekend, like two weeks ago celebrated hitting 2 million in sales. So that journey, you know it's been four and a half years now I've hit 2 million in sales. Overall We've sent over like 50,000 boxes. I mean the impact we've had on women, thousands and thousands of women and so you know this has absolutely changed my entire life.

Speaker 4:

I never thought I would be here doing podcasts or, you know, considering doing speaking events. I, you know, was at I just moved into a fulfillment center I had. I forget that I was just at my fulfillment center this morning they were packing my box for the first time and even after four and a half years, I sat there looking at this and stared at other people packing my box in this giant warehouse and had that moment where I have a real business. I have a real business and that I never in a thousand years would have pictured this moment. So no, five years ago when I first had this idea, I had no clue it was going to take me and I had no clue I would be in this spot, right here, with Julie and Liam, and you know both of you have been pivotal in my success.

Speaker 4:

I mean I, after I finished Julie's course, I launched into Liam's and I think we're going to talk about that. Both of these things a little bit more, but I mean these people right here are pivotal in my success. And now I've been able to help other people and I have a passion for early stage entrepreneurs. So starting this box can change your life, not just in a, you know. You can change what you do for work and become an entrepreneur, but it now opens up so many different avenues to meet more people and just connect in ways that you know I or anyone can't even imagine when you're just dreaming this up. So it's life-changing.

Speaker 2:

It's an amazing story and congratulations hitting 2 million in sales. I think I can't remember the exact numbers off the top of my head, but only a small percentage of businesses ever surpass even a million in sales.

Speaker 4:

Oh, I can tell you this number actually. So I wrote this on my whiteboard for a long time when I was actually trying to hit my first six figures. I think it's around like 10% of women-owned businesses ever hit six figures, just period. And then I think it's around like 1% or less than 1% of women-owned businesses ever reach seven figures. So that was a powerful statistic for me. I was like I'm in than 1% of women-owned businesses ever reach seven figures, so that was a powerful statistic for me. I was like I'm in that 1% and never in my life did I think I would be in the 1% of anything. But here we are and Julie is in that 1%, and that, to me, is pretty incredible.

Speaker 2:

That is incredible. That's across all businesses, yeah, that's across literally everything. That's amazing.

Speaker 4:

Well, women owned like businesses specifically businesses.

Speaker 2:

That's, uh yeah, absolutely amazing, I think with the subscription box model. I don't know if the two of you agree, but the barriers to entry are quite low to set up a subscription box. So if you're like a new enough entrepreneur and you're getting up, even if you've been a seasoned entrepreneur, it's a great opportunity. But the opportunity is really there with this because you don't need to code anything, you don't need to hire a big team of developers, you don't need any crazy ip, you don't need to invent products. You don't really need to do any of that. You need to have a good idea and you need to have the information and you need to invent products. You don't really need to do any of that. You need to have a good idea and you need to have the information and you need to execute the idea well. I always say that the money is in the execution. With a subscription box business, if you know what to do, you can really do well with this business model.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I agree with that, and I started my box in 2016. And so much has changed since 2016. You can start a subscription box so much easier with the software that's out there now. The access to like 250 boxes and I was like man, that just seems like a lot. I don't know how I'm going to sell 250 boxes, but I'm going to sell my tail off until I get rid of all these boxes, because I'm not going to be stuck with 250 boxes.

Speaker 3:

Now you can order as low as like 12 boxes for a custom print, and I think one of the things to add on to what you need to start, liam, is that it has to be a must-have. Like. You can no longer just send a box of random stuff that might've flown back in 2016, even 2020 during the pandemic, but now people need, like, when you send a box, they need it every single month. So make sure that you are sending a box that is needed and that is solving a problem or helping in their journey, and I think that it's not oversaturated. But, as you're thinking about who you're going to serve with your subscription box, really, really niche down. I know, liam, you have a Facebook group of subscription box owners, and one of the ones that's been really active in there lately, is that the chicken box.

Speaker 2:

What is it called the box box?

Speaker 3:

or something.

Speaker 2:

That's Jack. He was on this podcast a few weeks ago. I've worked with him and he's in subscription box experts. He's doing really well. Chicken box.

Speaker 3:

Yes, so it is specifically for people who are obsessed with, like, caring for chickens and they have them at their house. Not, it's not for like farmers necessarily, or like people who have these, um, all these animals, but there's like chicken enthusiasts and so he created a box and I think liam it has like t-shirts that say like chicken enthusiasts, slogans and stuff. It's just such a niche audience and they obsess over it. They love it. But if you just said I'm going to send a box for animal lovers, like that is so wide and like you will never be able to please everyone. So I am on team niche down when it comes to your concept, um, niching down to an audience that is really enthusiastic about the topic yeah, 100% I agree, and there are so many different examples of that like I'm taking off the top of my head.

Speaker 2:

There is obviously Thomas Anzio with the burn box as well, for firefighters doing unbelievably well built a really really good business. You've got my island box they're doing really well. And jocelyn with dog mom and that's doing really well seeing she moved into a new warehouse where you see, you're hearing things like this all the time from different subscribers in the community and stuff and it's really really good to see. Just on my story and stuff, I'm not going to go on about it too much because I've covered it a lot in this podcast, but for anyone new tuning in, I'm one of the co-founders of BusterBox dog subscription box company. We set it up in early 2016.

Speaker 2:

We came up with the idea in 2015. We got the idea from a Gary Feinerchuk presentation talking about subscription boxes. Back in 2015 I was just coming off a different business that never worked out too well. It was a job marketplace, really really tough business, really really hard to work. And then something funny I tried to do and it worked all right but it flopped in the end selling bow ties online I've had failed businesses as well.

Speaker 3:

So if you're listening to this and and you're like, well, what if it fails? It's okay. Like we all have failures, not everything's gonna stick no, I've never seen you in a bow tie we jumped on the trend.

Speaker 2:

They got very popular for a short period of time and we said the company called flashballs never worked out because the unit economics never made sense. You could sell them, but there was no profit in selling a bow tie. So when we jumped into BusterBox, what really pulled me in was the recurring revenue and the fact you could afford to acquire customers, you could build recurring revenue and you could actually build a profitable business. So we've been running that company for like eight years now, is it? Yeah, eight years sold a lot of boxes, millions of dollars worth of revenue.

Speaker 2:

We're in multiple markets, we've been on tv multiple times, we've done a lot with that company and in 2020, I'd set up a program subscription box experts to basically help people scale up their subscription box business, and I've worked with so many different companies over the years and so many different niches and I've helped them scale up, launched this podcast, obviously, and my book came out last year the subscription box blueprint. So I've been around this industry for a long time and I've seen a lot at this stage about what works and what doesn't work and what's just a complete waste of time.

Speaker 4:

I think I was the first person to sign up for the Subscription Box Experts course, wasn't I?

Speaker 2:

You were. You were the first person. Yeah, you were the you're the first one. Yeah, you were the first person, so I I put a post up in. It was one of the older facebook groups back years ago um subscription school, I think it was, but I don't even think it's that anymore and I put up is anybody in this group getting over 100 people signed up today?

Speaker 2:

Because we were, and I was like I want to connect with people who are doing that. I want to see can we learn anything? And people were writing back underneath it. That's impossible. It could take you years to get 100 people signed up and all this. So we actually are doing it and this is exactly what we're doing.

Speaker 2:

I had a flood of people message me going do you offer a consultant? Do you offer like, are you doing any consultant? I was like no, but I am now just to give it a go. Pretty much Very quickly. I ended up with like about 40 clients, like literally out and out, like 40, 40 clients, and I was flat out. I was getting up in the middle of the night to talk to people before I worked on BusterBox, before I went to the office, because it was all like different time zones and stuff. Then we came to the pandemic and I was like I'm going to be sitting at home for the next few months. I'm going to cut down the one-on-one client work don't have scope for it anymore and I'll create a program and that's where Subscription Box Experts came from. So yeah, it's funny looking back.

Speaker 3:

That's so funny. That's very full circle. Liam, I remember connecting with you back during the pandemic because you had said we were doing a video chat one time and you're like, yeah, I guess I'm just at my house all the time, so I might as well record some videos.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that was exactly it.

Speaker 3:

I remember and I was telling you, um, so you know, as a subscription box coach, I was like you know I am. I had subscription box boot camp, which is for those early stage entrepreneurs. It's for the ones that were hold I'm holding their their hand like low. When you came in, you're like I know nothing, like dumb it down and tell me everything I need to do. And I said I feel like people go through my program and they sort of like graduate, but there's nowhere to graduate next to. And I'm not really interested in creating a next level course, I'd rather just like prepare them and then hand them off to the next coach. And that's when, liam, you and I started really connecting about okay, well, why don't you share about subscription box experts with your bootcampers and whatnot? And so we've seen over the years so many people start with my program and then move into yours as they grow.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, that's exactly what I did. So I found Liam in 2020 and I'm sure it was in one of those groups. I'm sure, yeah, I just I love Liam because he's you're just so straightforward, like you just you say what you say and like you're like this will work or not, that won't work, or so I was drawn to like you're just the way you talked about things and you're like you know this, this will work, and you know you could try that, but you know from all like the data and stuff, like it probably won't work. But so I liked your approach and you were very upfront and it's kind of like I went, you know, through mom's course first. I went through Julie's course but she like held my hand and I was an infant and she like got me to like the toddler phase and I'm like up walking and I'm like, okay, I've got subscribers, this is great. What do I do next? And then I stumbled into Liam's world and I feel like I found dad and he was like okay, like let's get this going, like let's market, like let's make your, let's make all this look good. And you know, I was able to succeed with Liam's program quickly because I had all my foundation set. You know Julie's core subscription box bootcamp. I mean, I kid you not, it holds your hand and walks you through it. You know, I was the perfect example of someone that knew absolutely nothing about the business world, and I was able to start a successful business and hit six figures in my first year because of that foundation. And so, just like Julie said, though, I kind of felt like I graduated. I'm like cool, I'm out here, my numbers are growing, I need more resources. You know how does this all look.

Speaker 4:

And then I stumbled into, I think, a post that Liam must have made, and I got into his world. And then I was one of those people sliding into the DMs, being, like you do, one-to-one coaching, and so he did. He took me on, you know, as a client and did that, and I ended up I don't know if it was before or after Subscription Box Experts came out, maybe after I became a client, but I was also like I was the first person to buy his course, because I knew that marketing and paid advertising was really where I was going to find a lot of like success, because I'd already seen success with that. So I knew that was my next big jump and so you know, between a full year, you know I did like started with Julie and did like six months of hardcore for that and was just set up fantastic by the time I got to Liam and it was like you need to do this, this, this, this and everything was linked. All my pixels were set up, my Google analytics was done, like I was prepared for what he had, and it was a seamless transition for me.

Speaker 4:

But I've seen it now on the flip side, now that I have helped people and have coached people and also just like seeing and hearing, you know if you really don't come with that foundation set and ready to go, it can be difficult switching to you know a higher level, like course, like subscription box experts, because you know you're having to kind of backtrack and set up some of these pieces that maybe you didn't get in the beginning.

Speaker 4:

And so I think the two of these is just the perfect linear path.

Speaker 4:

I mean it's it's you start, how you get every single thing you need to start launch, post-launch, and then you can navigate into the marketing side of things, where Liam just gives you 800 million resources to figure out how to make ads and marketing work for you in this specific type of business, and that's another thing I got caught up in like shiny object syndrome in this first year of me, you know, launching, and so it's easy to get distracted by people who promise a bunch of things.

Speaker 4:

Here's what I have to say to that, though there is not that many courses and things about product-based businesses, there's a lot of stuff about service-based businesses, and that does not apply to subscription books. It's not the same, and so that I got hung up in a lot trying to listen to people who have different types of businesses and different models, and I have no doubt that works fantastic for them. It doesn't work for subscription box, and the people here right now on this call have, you know, done the work, have put in, have seen real results and know what can work for this business, and that is where you should be learning if you're trying to start.

Speaker 2:

A subscription box is for people who've done it and know the model yeah, definitely I agree, and that's the perfect way to move on to our next topic. So we've a very exciting announcement to make. You might be aware of this already, but we'll explain everything here. On September 30th, subscription Box Founders is opening. What is Subscription Box Founders? So over the last few years I have had so many people reach out to me saying to me, I want to join Subscription Box Experts but I'm not ready. I'm basically not ready to join Subscription Box Experts. Do you offer any beginner program? And at the time I never offered any beginner program. I would just send the people to Julie at the time Like I'll go and buy Julie Ball's program.

Speaker 2:

Over the last few months, we have decided to launch a new membership Subscription Box Founders. It's a school membership, so those who don't know what school is, I'll explain really quickly. So those who don't know what school is, I'll explain really quickly. It's a platform which makes it really easy and engaging to learn. It's a Facebook group. It's a hub for courses. It's a place where you can host live calls. It has everything in one place and it's a really great experience for the user. So we're excited to do that.

Speaker 2:

Now, how this is going to work is me and Lo have come together to run this beginner membership, subscription Box Founders and the first thing we did was we spoke to Julie and we have licensed the newest version of Subscription Box Bootcamp for Subscription Box founders. So the whole Subscription Box Bootcamp course can be found in Subscription Box founders. But that's not the only thing you'll find. You will find lots of other information in there and courses and training. It will be updated regularly and, yeah, if you're looking to start a subscription box business, whether you're in the idea stage or you've just recently launched, subscription Box Founders is going to give you all the knowledge and support you need to grow a successful business.

Speaker 3:

I have a couple of things to say too, because I'm super pumped about this One. If you're starting a business, you need community. You need to be surrounded by people who are at your same level and several steps ahead of you. That is the best way to learn, and so I was so excited when you guys both said that that was going to be a part of this. And the other thing is, you may or may not have heard, but I'm actually retiring subscription box bootcamp in my own business, and so you actually can no longer enroll in my program through my business because I'm closing some doors to pursue other opportunities, and so this is just like the new way to access subscription box bootcamp and more. So think about it, as you're going to get your foundation, but you're also going to get the experience and the training from Liam and Lo leading you, and so I think it's just going to be such an impactful place to be. If I were starting a box, this is where I would want to go. Yeah, same.

Speaker 4:

If I were starting a box, this is what I would want as well. It's I think it's this beautiful, just like you know compilation of all the things that you really really need to see success. And I know I mean Julie and Liam. Both have just tons of stories of people that they've helped and who have seen success with this model. And Julie's absolutely correct Community is huge, it's so big, and it also ties in with what I said before too, of kind of not getting sidetracked by shiny object.

Speaker 4:

You know you want to be in community with people who are doing the same thing you are and people who can ask questions. And you know so many of us have found, you know, some of our like biz besties or like box besties, and, like you know, you meet these people who can help you and inspire you and you can help each other grow, and so the community aspect alone is worth having, along with all the knowledge. And then you know, liam and I plan on every month releasing, you know, new topics, new videos. It's going to be, you know we want to ask, you know, the people in the membership to you know what do you want? And we have so much knowledge between us.

Speaker 4:

You. Obviously you know we don't want to fill this in the beginning with so many videos. You can't, you know, find what you need. But we will be bringing new content all the time and updating what works, because the market's changing all the time. We know that and so we are constantly on the forefront of what's working and we can bring that to you yeah, and to start off, I believe there is over 75 training videos, I think there's like 80 videos right off the bat.

Speaker 3:

So it's like they're not. You're not going to be sitting there for an hour to get through a video. These videos are short and actionable and when you guys were talking to me earlier about like what, what your vision for this is, I love the way you painted the picture. When you say it's going to be their hub for all things of you know, growing their business and creating the foundation and all the things. So I love that word in the way. That makes me think, ok, that's where I'm going to go. I'm going to plan it in my schedule to go into the hub, you know, tuesdays and Thursdays, twice a week, and invest in my own growth, something like that. So I think it's going to be amazing and I'm so excited that I'm playing a small part in it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, thanks very much for allowing us to license the course. You only have to look at the testimonials that course got over the years from people. It's a really good course which only had to set up the subscription box business. So, yeah, really excited to have that there and like in the future we may we'll obviously be adding our own content too, but we may license other courses that would help people and other information. We just want to build the best hope for subscription box college that can help people actually build a successful business, because when you get this right it really can change your life. Just one thing I've had I've had a few people reach out to me asking what? What's happening with subscription box experts, as ofcription Box Experts is completely separate. That's my advanced program. That's when you're really going into scaling mode. This Subscription Box Founders program, our membership is for people who are in the early stages. At some point in the future something may change there.

Speaker 4:

We may make some kind of singular offer, but as of now, subscription box experts is separate and we plan on too I mean it also won't just be me and liam, uh, providing information. Obviously we already have julie's extensive knowledge in there. Um, and liam and I are available, you know, for Q and A's and office hours and things of that nature, but not only that. I mean between all of us we've accumulated just like awesome resources and friendships and connections. I guess is a great word for it. But you know so, not only us, but you know Julie's offered to come in and speak. We have other people who have offered to come in and speak.

Speaker 4:

I mean we just have a large community that you can access through us. I mean we've got connections with fulfillment centers and people to do procurement and, you know, curation and VAs web developer. I mean we have just all the things. And between the three of us, I mean we just know we've got a huge network and we can leverage that. And you know, have some of these people also come in and provide their expert knowledge on topics, which is just a fantastic place.

Speaker 4:

I mean to have that hub where you can then get a lot of expert knowledge on different topics, is is just I I talking about it just like blows my mind too, because I'm like this is going to be so cool and it's. I'm lucky to be a part of this and you know, this is just the perfect example, too, of you start something, you don't know what you're doing, and then look at where you end up. Here Four and a half years later, I'm on a call with you two and we're like starting a membership and using you know, the program that I got started on. I mean it's come like almost full circle and it's beautiful.

Speaker 3:

Again, if I was starting a box, one of the things that I'd be most excited about is the templates. You don't have to build anything from scratch. We've had talked about videos, but man, the amount of templates that you'll have to keep your business streamlined, all that stuff we built like the hard way, where we're trudging through the mud, we're trying to figure it out, and now you, as the listener, you get to access all of those templates that we actually run our businesses with, and so I think that's really important to say that this is not just videos. You're going to get the training, the videos, the templates, and, yeah, they're just plug and play, and I just think the support would have made such a difference in my early stages. So, yeah, I'm excited.

Speaker 2:

Say again when you guys are launching September 30th yes, september 30th, yes, september 30th. And just to let people know, it will be very accessible for people. It's a monthly fee to join. It's like the Netflix, basically, of building a subscription box business. That's the way we're looking at it. There'll be a library of content that's constantly updated. There'll be a library of content that's constantly updated, and the first 250 people who join will lock in a founding member's lifetime discount. So for one of the first 250 people, you will always have that discount.

Speaker 4:

Very nice. Speaking of templates, julie, I love that you point that because there is tons of templates, I still use the same template when I'm reaching out to vendors that I got from a subscription box bootcamp course five years ago.

Speaker 3:

You're not the first one to tell me that. I think it was Katie from Year Cheer who was one of my students through bootcamp and then also went through Liam's program. She was on stage. We recorded a live podcast with her at Sub Summit last year or this past year and I think it was her that was telling me that she still uses the same project planning template in there, like the box planning, where you outline your expenses and what items are going to go in there.

Speaker 3:

I know Jocelyn Mizrahi from Dog Mom Lifestyles talks about stuff like that too, and she's been through both of our programs and so it's fun to hear and they're so relevant. Like, those types of things don't go out of style. That's not what changes. What changes is the marketing side of it, and that's where Liam is like really the expert at. In my opinion, and I think as one of your members, they can really take advantage of the fact that you have a budget that you're testing things with and as a newbie, you usually don't have a budget to test things with so they can then look to you and say, hey, what's working right now and you have data because you've tested it already and I think that there's just so much to learn from that.

Speaker 2:

Oh, it's really valuable, Really really valuable to find out, gives time, gives money, Big time Saves so much time and money.

Speaker 4:

I was going to say one more thing really quick, because you were saying you said something so perfect. You said you know the templates doesn't go out of style. So you're correct, it is the marketing that's changing. And I will say, from everything you know, like my website and all the foundational work that I set up and subscription box bouquet, I have not had to change. You know, like my website that was built like have I, you know, made modifications and updates and just sure? But that foundational stuff that I set up, um, some of the, you know, the pixels, the websites, everything I haven't had to touch that. I set that up in the beginning with your program, with the subscription box boot program, and I've just added I haven't had to change that, and so my website was first built in 2019. So I think that's a great point to say.

Speaker 4:

You know, a lot of that foundational stuff doesn't go out of style. You have to update things. But it's really that marketing piece where Liam is in his genius zone, where it's constantly changing. But if you get the foundation right and I cannot stress how important it is, the foundation of it it's like if you build a house if your foundation sucks, the rest of it's not going to be good going to be good. So the foundation piece is so, so, so, so important. So when you are making all these changing with marketing and meta decides to do whatever they decide to do change their name or change the way we pay to play and all these things you can do that because you are set in your foundation already and you know that that's already working. So you have room and to play with these other things that are constantly driving us crazy and updating.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, same with us Like, even like the outlying of our website and stuff. It hasn't really changed that much since even 2016. It's been updated now, but still converting quite well. Well, look, thanks very much for the two of you coming on today. I really appreciate it. So, lo, if somebody wants to find out information on Subscription Box Founders, where would they go?

Speaker 4:

Yeah, so we've set up social media. We're on LinkedIn, facebook, instagram and you can find us on all of those under Subscription Box Founders, so if you head over there, you can get updates on what's going on. You can also join our waitlist, which is also SubscriptionBoxFounderscom, and that is where you're going to get the most up-to-date information and where you'll be sure to be the first to know when we launch, so you can be one of those 250 that lock in the founding members discount.

Speaker 2:

Perfect, I'll be back next week at the exact same time as always. If you have a question you want answered on the show, head over to subscriptionboxresourcescom, join the free Facebook group and post it there. Chat to you next week. Bye-bye.