Ep 126: BTS I'm building ANOTHER million dollar brand

How I’m starting a brand new game day clothing line, Club Gameday, and how I’m engineering it to become the next multimillion-dollar brand in my portfolio.

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Follow the Ali Dee on TikTok and Instagram @ali.dee.ceo

Transcript

Recording On The Commute

0:00

Hello. Welcome to another episode of the Ally D Show. Today, we're doing another Ally D show on the go because your girl is commuting once again from Dallas back to the country out where I live, which is about 90 miles. And I love when I get to be in the car and just get to, like, zen out and record podcasts. It's just one of my favorite things in the world. And what I wanna talk to you about today is going to be very juicy for those of you who are interested in growing a million-dollar company, which I know you are, because the cool thing is that I'm in the process of starting a new clothing line. So I'm gonna kind of walk you through some of the behind the scenes of what's been going on and how I'm going to turn this into another multimillion-dollar brand. I've already created two multimillion-dollar clothing brands, if you guys don't know. I have Ally D, which is my women's western lifestyle brand, and I have Rodeo Ranch, which is my men's western lifestyle brand. So feel free to stalk us on social media if you don't already. Uh, my Ally D brand is @allydbrand, and my Rodeo Ranch on Instagram is @rodeo.ranch. So two incredible brands, very successful brands that I have absolutely loved creating and growing and have spent just years nurturing them and making them be... to be the incredible brands that they are. Ab- about, I would say about, I don't know, four, five months ago or so, I decided that I wanted to start another brand, and I already, like, I had already been dabbling in it a little bit, but I was like, "You know what? This is so dumb. It's time to go all in, like, hello, this makes perfect sense." And so what I did was I started a brand called Club Game Day. You guys, I don't know what's going on. You probably can't hear it right now, but there's, like, cars just racing by me making so much noise. Hello, I'm trying to record a podcast here, people. Like, keep it down with your exhaust pipes on the interstate. Anyways, so I just started... decided to start the brand Club Game Day, which- I have so many things to say about this. Oh my gosh. Okay,

Sports Host Life Sparks A Brand

2:20

first, let me tell you why. So it- for those of you that don't know, in addition to running my multi-million dollar companies, I also am an on-camera personality for multiple professional sports teams. So if you follow me on ally.d.ceo, you probably see me occasionally posting some of my sports stuff. Like right now, I'm in the middle of being an in-stadium host for the FIFA World Cup at Dallas Stadium, which is absolutely incredible. And what this entails is me being on the video board in the stadium, hosting like some pre-game show stuff, some in-game stuff, some post-game. So you see me on the big screen. Like, that's my job on the mic and, you know, doing various hits, is what we call them. Like, you know, components where you'll see me be like, "Hey, welcome to Dallas Stadium. I'm Ally D. I'm gonna be hanging out with you all the way until kickoff. We're so excited you're here. We've got an incredible match between England and Norway," yada, yada, yada, right? You, you get the drill. So right now I'm doing that for, uh, the FIFA World Cup, which is absolutely insane, you guys. This is like It was such a blessing and an honor to be asked to be a part of this. It has been truly amazing. Um, so there's that, which I'm currently doing. But I, but my backstory as well is I do this same position, the same job, I'm an in-stadium host for the Texas Rangers, okay? For Major League Baseball. I'm in the middle of baseball season right now. I'm actually driving home from a Rangers game. And I have been working for the Dallas Mavericks as their in-arena host for many, many, many, many years as well. So that is the NBA. And it's the same thing. I'm on, on camera during the timeouts. I'll be on the court running promotions, games, all the things, talking to the fans, right? Like, "Hey, it's Ally D. I'm down on the court. Let's see if you can make a free throw," or whatever. And then I also, for the Dallas Cowboys, I have the trifecta, you guys. And I don't know that there's anybody that's ever done this literally on the planet. I have to investigate this, 'cause I think I'm the first person to ever do this, to have the NFL. I'm, I'm the pre-game host for the Dallas Cowboys, so I host a pre-game show that's four hours long at Dallas Stadium. Uh, well, it's AT&T Stadium when we're in Cowboy season. Um, so I work for the NFL on camera, Major League Baseball, and the NBA. So I have all three professional sports that I'm doing which is in- insane and crazy and just, you know, put the cherry on top with the FIFA World Cup. So it's very, very amazing. So I have always loved sports. I am a sports girly, and so game day is very close and special to my heart. I was a cheerleader. I was a cheerleader in college. By the way, I was also... Just some more fun information about me, 'cause it's all, it's all about the background of the Club Game Day brand. I was an NBA dancer for the Seattle SuperSonics for four years. I was an NFL cheerleader for the Seattle Seahawks for one year after college, and I was also a, a cheerleader in college at the University of Miami. I was a all-star cheerleader. I cheered in high school, the whole... Like, I started cheerleading in eighth grade, okay? So my love for sports goes... No, not eighth. Seventh grade. Sixth grade. I don't know. It goes way, way, way, way back is what I'm trying to say, okay? And I have always, like, thought that, you know, game day would be super fun to get into, but really, this s- r- this surgence, this, this skyrocketing game day thing has really only become a thing in the past few years. So, um, now, game day is one of the highest searched terms on Faire marketplace, which is a wholesale marketplace where you guys do a lot of your shopping for your boutiques. Um, and then a lot of you brands out there, you sell on Faire. M- all of my lines are on Faire. We're, you know, we're about to put Club Game Day up on Faire as well, so we, we are, um... You can shop from all of our brands on there as, uh, if you guys are retailers and you're on there, you can check us out. Um, but we dabbled in game day just a little bit, but I decided, like I said, about four, five months ago, I don't know the exact timeline, that I wanted to start an

Defining The Exact Game Day Girl

6:40

entire game day line. And I knew exactly the person that I wanted to target, and that was the first thing I did. So when we're looking at the behind the scenes of me growing another multi-million dollar brand, which I know it will become, like, this is not even a... It, it will. It's absolutely gonna blow the F up. And it all started with the customer Okay? That's, like, literally where it starts. It's not starting with the product. It's not starting with, you know, the, um, branding and the logos and, like, this and that and all these things. No, it starts with who is the customer first, and I knew that I wanted to target a very specific customer. And I know, as someone who has been doing this for, you know, 13, 14 years now, that at the end of the day, this is all that matters. You've gotta know who your customer is. Everything else will take care of your- itself as long as you know that. So that was the first thing I did, was, "Okay, who am I g- who am I gonna target?" Well, I already knew the answer. It was gonna be girls like me, game day girlies that are, like, girly sports girlies. Like, you're wearing the cute cowboy boots to the game. You have your hair done. You got your glam makeup on and your cute eyelashes. You have a great outfit on, a great fit, like a game day fit, right? You're a girly sports, sports girly, okay? That is who I wanted to target. And so as I was, as I was completing who my ideal customer was first, again, that's the first thing I did, then I started to let, like, part two, three, four, five kind of unfold. So step number one was getting clear on who my ideal customer was before I ever did any kind of branding, logo, anything like that. And you... So many people do this backwards. And you, like, create a logo, and you're like, "Oh, it's cute, it has flowers and, like, cute colors." And, like, it means nothing because there's no intention behind the logo to match it to your customer. You guys, everything has to go back to appealing who your ideal customer is. So since I knew who my customer was first, everything else just goes back to

Naming And Branding With Intention

8:40

making it appealing for that person. So what I'm going in on, on, let's say, like, p- step two, okay? So step one, I was, I was figuring out who my ideal customer was and nailing that down. Step two was I started to create what is the branding and the aesthetic that's going to be attractive to this person. So as I was creating the logo, I was running through different options, and a lot of them kept feeling like too tailgate-y, too, um, masculine, too, like, just too basic, right? And, um- I do wanna say I also thought about a lot of different names, and what was important for me was that the Game Day girlies felt like it was, like, their special place. Okay? So I knew this Game Day brand, I wanted them to, to feel like when they wore this brand, it represented what kind of Game Day girlies they were. Okay? Like, I wanted it to feel like a community, like a special little place for them. So when I was exploring names, I wanted something that included some kind of word that made it feel like a group, like a community. So I thought of the name Club Game Day, and let me tell you guys, when I saw that the domain name was available, the Instagram handle was available, the, um, TikTok was available, like there was no Club Game Day anywhere to be found, number one, I was shocked because literally every single name of every single everything... Like, if you've tried to name your boutique or your brand, like, good luck. Every name's been taken, right? Club Game Day was not, and I was beside myself because it was exactly what I wanted to represent. I knew I wanted the word Game Day in the name because for me, it's, it needs to be very clear exactly what this is for. It's for game day. Okay? So I wanted that identifier, and then I wanted something that felt like a group, like a community, and Club Game Day, the name, was born, and I was just like, "This is perfect." Right? Again, because I knew it goes back to my customer. I didn't just say like, "Oh, I want, you know, I want a, a... Like, I just want, like, you know-" Game day something, like it's game day or whatever. Like, I- no, I wanted something very specific that I knew my ideal customer was gonna like because the word club also feels a little bit exclusive. And my girl at game day, she likes to feel some exclusivity, okay? Maybe she's hanging out in like the club, the lounge, like the fancy ticket area, right? Like she's, she likes to feel a little bit exclusivity, so the word club gives you a little bit of that. So you see how everything is like psychological, everything revolves around the, the psychological triggers of my customer and what they're, what's gonna be... they're gonna be into. Nothing is left for chance. It's not like, you know, I'm just using the word game day and like some flowers and calling it a day, which so many people do in their branding. Like, they don't even know who their customer is, you know, months, years down the road. There's women that I work with that are like, "I don't know who my ideal customer is." And I'm like, "Okay, cool. We're gonna figure it out, and then your business is gonna explode, so just be ready." And it always does, right? But that's why I know this is the, what has to happen first. But most people that haven't been clothing brand owners or boutique owners or product-based business owners yet, they don't understand that this is really the whole key So then we named our club Game Day. That was our second thing, and again, the name, of course, went with the exact vibe of the customer I wanted. And then the third thing is figuring out, okay, what is going to be the logo and the aesthetic? So for me, again, this was very easy because I already knew that my ideal customer was a little more upscale. She's a little more ritzy. Um, I came up with a slogan that I'm obsessed with that is, um, you know, basically what Club Game Day represents, and it's, "For the girls who love sports and spritzers," okay? And I used a little champagne emoji. Can you see how this is all coming together without even having one thing for sale? And the reason why I said that is because for me, if you're saying, like, you love sports and spritzers, you're a very specific type of girl, right? You're, like, not chugging the beers and slamming down the this. You're like, "Ooh, I'm gonna have, like, a little spritzer. I'm gonna go watch my game. It's gonna be so fun," right? Like, that is the type of person that I wanna reach. There's a million different fans on game day, and they're all different types of people. But I don't wanna just be a game day brand. I wanna be a specific brand because I know that's how you blow up. Like, if you just make game day, good luck standing out. But you make game day for a very specific niche, okay, now we're onto something. So for the girls who love sports and spritzers. I also knew upscale. Okay, so for me, color scheme, cream and forest green. Both old money colors, both colors that give luxe vibes. So I was like, boomski, done. I knew I wanted it to feel, again, like a club, so I knew I wanted the logo to represent some kind of crest, and I wanted to, it to be very simple and something when I... Whenever I'm doing logos, it needs to be simple, something that could be, you know, two inches by two inches and clearly be seen or 200 feet by 200 feet on a billboard or whatever and be clearly seen. So I knew that it had to be, uh, very simple and clean. I'm always like that when it comes to logos. Some of you got these crazy logos that when you're, it's on your little Instagram profile, can't even fricking see what it is 'cause it's so, so over the top. You gotta get simple, simple with these things. So the crest, the cream, and the green, and then of course the fonts. I had to have fonts that felt elevated. And so you can go to my Club Game Day on Instagram and look at all this so it'll help you, like, visualize what I'm saying. So this is how the logo and the aesthetic came together, okay? So it was very much so very well thought out, very planned, very particular And that's how it, the, the basics of the brand were born, the foundation, okay? Still no products, still no Shopify site, still, even to this day, not one thing for sale online yet. So then the next thing was, okay, let me secure all of my, um, social media handles and kind of get rolling with that. I

Content And Samples Before Sales

15:30

wanted the social media to start going out almost immediately. So what I did after I had, like, the idea and the aesthetic and everything solid for the brand, I then came up with my first collection, which was gonna be baseball themed because that was the, um, that is the season that I'm in right now. It's top of mind. Normally, we work ahead, but I wanted to be in season for this particular launch and this particular strategy because I wanted it to feel very in the moment. I also wanted to be able to get content of me wearing the product, you know, as I'm working for the Rangers and doing things out and about and being out in the sports world. So it's all very thought out and very methodical. Nothing is left up to chance here, and it's all very s- skilled and strategy based. So I've got my first little collection ready to go. I think we had, like, six designs that I created. Again, all of the designs geared towards this particular ideal customer. So that means the fonts that I'm using, the words that I'm saying, everything goes back to is this girl gonna look at that and go, "Oh my God, I'm obsessed. I have to have it"? This is where I always talk about alignment between the brand, the customer, and the product. You guys, it all has to be aligned. It's extremely important, and if things aren't aligned, there will be leaks in your business, and you will not have sales, and you will get very, very annoyed and very peeved off. I think we talked about this a little bit last episode. So the products then I designed, created, and I'm able to sample them at my warehouse because we have everything that we need to do to make clothing, so that part was easy. Um, we had our first samples ready to roll, and I was like, "Okay, cool. I'm gonna start wearing these and get some, you know, content." So we can start rolling on social media. So I started wearing the product, um, and just basically created a photo album that I will then share with my social media, um, gal, who will then implement the strategy that I tell her to implement. So that's another thing. So at... the next step was I had to have a conversation with that person and say, "This is the vibe of this brand, and this is what needs to happen. This is, this is, you know, A to Z who this customer is. This is how we need to speak to her." And so we had this whole conversation around what the brand is, what kind of messaging. And she is so freaking good, you guys. Like, she got it, and she was like, "Yes, she's also a sports girly, though," right? So that... like, I had a little bonus there. So she has been absolutely incredible executing this entire plan, like 10 out of 10, absolutely killing it. So before we even got rolling on social media, though, you know, I, like I said, I already had the conversation. We had me starting to get content with me and the product going, getting some videos, loading it into a shared album. So that's what I do. So if you guys wanna do that too for your businesses, um, if you do have someone that posts for you, or even if it's just you doing it, I highly recommend that you create an album that's dedicated to your business, and anytime you get content for anything related to your business, you put it in that album. That way, it doesn't get lost in your 20,000 photos and videos that you have on your phone, and you're not, like, endlessly scrolling. You have things organized and cleaned up on there. So that's what we did. I started posting, or I started, um, collecting content and getting it into this shared album. The next thing I did was I said, "Okay, now we need a photo shoot." Again, still no Shopify site, still, you know, just working on the foundation and being okay with all of this being very methodical. So then I hired my favorite photographer, which we use her all the time. Um, I told her exactly what the vibe was for this brand and what type of location I wanted, that it was gonna be baseball themed, and I needed it to feel, um, really cute, really happy, you know, and all the things. And then I said, "Send me, you know, some options for models." So then I selected the models based on the brand and what I want, who I want to buy the brand, right? So, like, as I was picking the models, which you guys need to be doing this too, when you have photo shoots, you need to make sure the models represent the customer you wanna reach So if you're trying to reach, like, the young girlies, and you don't fit the young girlies' situation anymore, then you need to make sure that whoever's modeling in the pictures is who you're trying to target. Okay? So for example, if you're trying to reach, like, 18, 19, 20-year-olds, you need to have, you know, 18 to 20-somethings as your models. And a lot of people make this mistake here. This is, again, alignment. Everything must be in alignment. So that's what I did. I got the great models. So now we were starting to build content, which was the next thing. Okay? Trying to build up some content. Also, this is good because it allows you to kind of see the brand coming together and seeing all the pieces coming together. And you And it really helps you visualize and, um, get, like, the actual vision for the brand more in your face instead of just in your head. So you can't just keep all this stuff in your head either, by the way, and, like, wait for the perfect time to start. Like, as you can see, like, I made the decision and I got rolling. And, like, the only way you're gonna be successful is by moving forward, getting the momentum going. So after having all these conversations, then we have the photo shoot. We get the, um, pictures back. They're absolutely great. All of that goes into the shared album, and then it's time to roll. So we start posting on social media. We've been posting probably, like, two months or so now. Again, we still don't even have anything for sale, and it doesn't even matter. It does not even matter because what I'm doing is creating the foundations, creating the vibes, so when someone gets to the page and they see us, they're gonna go, "Oh my God, this is so cute. Yes, I am a girl that loves sports and spritzers. Follow." Right? And I'm also not gonna be a weirdo obsessed about how long it takes me to grow this brand. Like, I already know, like I said, I already know this is gonna grow into a multimillion-dollar brand. Like, I have no qualms about it. It absolutely will happen. It's fricking amazing. Everything about it's amazing. But there's a lot of things still, guys, that I don't know how it's going to unfold, and that is okay. I know that with the skills that I have and the foundation that I'm building, the rest of it can kind of be a little bit more loosey-goosey, and we can kind of see, like, ooh, well, this product's really gonna hit, or, ooh, we should bring in this or that, or... Like, I have some really cute ideas for, like, some dresses that I wanna make, and sweaters, and all this fun stuff for the Game Day girlies. But you can't have everything done perfectly right away in the beginning, and I am okay, and you need to be okay with this too, with doing this in steps. So the first step is just, like, let's get the vibes out there. Let's get the foundation going. Let's get some, some buzz around it. I also have some feelers out. You know, I have a lot of friends in the industry, so another step that I'm gonna be doing is, um, I'll be sending out product to my friends and being like, "Hey, guys," other hosts, other, you know, sports girlies, "Hey," like, "take some pictures in the stuff, send it to me. It would be so great," blah, blah, blah. I'll use my network. I'll, you know, get some, um, some more, like, you know, uh, excitement around the brand by doing that and by getting people to know the brand better. But I, again, I don't have expectations of anything happening overnight. And you know what else I'm not doing? I'm not showing up like we only have 58 followers, which we do. We only have 58 followers right now. But that does not affect the way that we show up, meaning we show up like we have 58,000 followers. Like, our social media kicks ass right now. Like, our trendsetter content strategy that I teach, you guys can see it in action in Club Game Day. Like, go to the page and look, and you'll see everything that I teach, like, you can see right there. And what I know about growing social media is it is a long game, and so many people just, like, think that they're gonna have, like, cute, great products and go viral overnight. Like, that's just not how this works. Like, everything I'm doing is absolutely cute, obsessed. I love it, but I know it's gonna take time. So I'm not over there, like, going to the social media girl like, "Oh, you gotta get better," blah, blah, blah. Like, no. Everything she's doing is absolutely amazing. It's exactly the strategy that I use to grow businesses, and she knows exactly what I like with my brands, and it's, it's being executed to a T. And

Ignore Vanity Metrics And Show Up

24:30

now the rest is just time, and that's okay So what I wanna tell you guys is, number one, let this take time, okay? All good things take time. There is no cheat code. You cannot just think that, like, you're going to bypass what it takes to grow a successful business, so we just accept that. So that's the first thing. You just gotta, like, let it take some time. And number two, you gotta show up like you have 58,000 people watching, like you really care. Okay, we're not half-assing it oca- over here. We're not just, like, kinda showing up once in a while. No, we post every single day. We, you know, post on our stories. Again, we don't even have anything for sale yet, okay? And it's like some of you just overthink this part so much to the point where it just, like, halts your progress. And you think, "Oh, well, like, only 10 people are watching my stories, so, uh, what's the point?" Or, "No one's gonna like my social media posts, so why am I even doing this?" Like, no. That's gonna get you nowhere, sister. You gotta learn some strategy, okay? You, like, I have a zillion episodes on social media content and strategy. You know in the Trendsetter University I literally spell it out for you. I help you do this if you need help. I have one-to-one coaching, like, all the things, right? And I get, I get that, like, it's, it can be frustrating, listen, and when you don't have a strategy. I understand that. But I already have a strategy, so I just know what... I know exactly what to do, and I know it takes time. But if you don't have the strategy, part two, that's where it can be really, really annoying, 'cause then you're like, "Oh my God, I'm posting and I don't even know what the frick I'm doing." You gotta know what you're doing, okay? And then once you know what you're doing, then you gotta accept the fact that it takes a while. So that's the other thing, is showing up like you have a zillion people watching you and paying attention to you, not letting the vanity metrics affect how much effort you put into your social media. It's an important piece. Okay? It's gonna drive online sales. It's gonna drive in-person sales. It's gonna create you a customer base that's obsessed with you. But you gotta let it happen. You gotta show up and give it your all. You can't just check the box and go, "Okay, cool, I'm moving on to the next thing," or, "No one's gonna see this story anyways. Why am I even posting it?" Or, "I don't even know," like, you know, "I shouldn't even post on my Instagram today. I'm too tired, and, like, no one's gonna care anyways." All that stuff crushes your business, and it crushes your success, okay? So I am living, breathing proof that with 58 followers over here, our content kicks ass. It's so good. Like, I love sharing it and on my Instagram stories, so I'm like, "Oh my God, I'm just obsessed with everything." So I wanted to give you a little bit of behind the scenes of where we're at with this

Next Steps And Final Takeaways

27:10

business, 'cause I think, again, it's very helpful for you to understand how I'm going to create this and how this is all gonna come together. And who knows? Maybe in a year from now, you know, we'll do a little update, and we'll see what kind of situation we're in. We do already have samples in our showroom in Dallas. Um, we have already, like, been, you know, we've already, uh, sold to stores. We just haven't launched anything to the public yet. Um, and I'm really excited to do that. We've got our, you know, like I said, we've got our Shopify that just needs to get finished up. We've got our Faire, uh, marketplace account that just needs to get finished up, and all that stuff will happen. But I know we gotta have the customer base rolling, so that's where my effort is now is, like, just showing up, creating the vibes, giving the brand some notoriety, getting it out there, letting the content do its thing, and just getting it going. That's the whole point. And like I said, the rest will always take care of itself. Like, I could, I could even not have something for sale for six months and be totally fine with that because I know then once I do have products, I'm already gonna have the foundation in place, and people are gonna be excited for it. You know what? Maybe I will do that. We'll see. We'll see what happens, but yes, very, very exciting times over here. I wanted to tell you the behind the scenes of what this looks like so you can make sure that you are not making mistakes that I've mentioned in here, and you're not killing your vibes by being so obsessed with every little vanity metric that you let it halt your creativity, you let it halt the way you show up, or you let it halt your success. Don't do that, okay? So hopefully this helped. I love these episodes where I'm just, like, rolling down the road chatting with you guys. They're so fun. I feel like I could just talk for hours and hours and hours, but I want you to get the most out of this podcast and I feel like this was a really, really good, juicy podcast that you can go back and listen to again and again and make sure you're doing all these things, okay? This is how you're gonna... This is how you're gonna sell millions of dollars. This is it. Know your customer. Make sure everything is aligned. Don't get in your head. You're always... The hardest thing to control in this whole equation is you and your mental drama, okay? And let everything take care of itself. All right, I love you. Have a great day. And don't forget to DM me. Let me know what you thought of this episode, and if you wouldn't mind leaving us a review, like a five-star review, um, that certainly helps us reach more people that would enjoy this podcast, and that's really important to me. That's my goal, is to make sure our industry, the retail girlies, have all the information that you need to build a successful business. That is my whole thing, my whole point of doing all this. I'm just obsessed with our industry growing and getting stronger and better every single day, and that's why I'm doing this. So thank you for coming along on the journey, and I will talk to you soon.