Handbag Designer 101: The Stories Behind Handbag Designers, Brands, and Industry Icons

What You Don’t Know About Marketing with Petia Abdur-Razzaaq of the Stylista Group | Emily Blumenthal & Petia Abdur-Razzaaq

• Emily Blumenthal • Season 1

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Petia Abdur-Razzaaq, a marketing expert who transitioned from pharmacy to branding, blends scientific precision with creative storytelling to offer strategies for building standout brands. Emphasizing authenticity, consistency, and engagement, she shares actionable advice on crafting memorable first impressions, thoughtful networking, and leveraging modern tools. Petia empowers small businesses to define their value, refine messaging, and connect with ideal customers. Drawing on examples like Zappos, she shows how challenges can foster loyalty and growth. Her insights highlight the importance of focusing on a niche, using platforms like Pinterest and email marketing, and consistently engaging with customers.

Key Takeaways:

  • First Impressions Matter: Build strong relationships with a memorable introduction.
  • Define Your Value: Clearly communicate what sets your brand apart.
  • Specialize to Stand Out: Focus on a niche to differentiate in a crowded market.

Our Guest, Petia Abdur-Razzaaq, is a branding strategist passionate about helping small businesses thrive with her company, The Stylista Group. With a background in pharmacy and a talent for storytelling, she bridges traditional branding principles with modern tools to drive success. She helps entrepreneurs define their value, connect with their audience, and build impactful brands.

Host Emily Blumenthal is a handbag industry expert, author of Handbag Designer 101, and founder of The Handbag Awards. Known as the “Handbag Fairy Godmother,” Emily also teaches entrepreneurship at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She is dedicated to celebrating creativity, craftsmanship, and the art of building iconic handbag brands.

Find Handbag Designer 101 Merch, HBD101 Masterclass, one-on-one sessions, and opportunities to book Emily Blumenthal as a speaker at emilyblumenthal.com. 

Buy Emily’s Books: “Handbag Designer 101” & “Savvy Suzanna’s Amazing Adventures in Handbags”

Youtube: / Handbagdesigner101-ihda | Instagram:/ Handbagdesigner

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Speaker 1:

Hi and welcome to the Handbag Designer 101 podcast with your host, emily Blumenthal, handbag designer expert and handbag fairy godmother, where we cover everything about handbags from making, marketing, designing and talking to handbag designers and industry experts about what it takes to make a successful handbag hello, patia.

Speaker 2:

I want to make sure I say your name, patia abdubazak. Yes, you got it. Oh my gosh, love from the stylista group. Welcome. Welcome to handbag designer 101. The podcast welcome back, I guess not like we don't talk enough.

Speaker 3:

We have known each other for so long, so yeah, this is the next new frontier.

Speaker 2:

Here we go. Honestly, I feel like if our conversations were recorded, other than being like a little like oh my God, what did we just say? They're so educational. People should really listen, Absolutely, Absolutely so we have so much to gain.

Speaker 2:

I know, I know, I know. So, my dear you and I met because you were a publicist, marketing, basically salvation saver, for one particular brand. And then we connected and you know, wink, wink, don't ever not be nice to everybody, because you just never know. Say hello to everybody, any event, any opportunity, because obviously you never, ever know where these relationships will take you. And I think, honestly, even in this day and age, people tend to forget that networking is organic, thoughtful networking, it's not an art, it's a science, and being authentic is obviously these connections, and that's what it'll take you to being close with someone as amazing as you.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely and vice versa for sure. And you know the payback for meeting someone. It may not be immediate, it could be years later, but people never forget how you make them feel. I think that's really important and so even a brief interaction. You know you have to be very careful how you interact and how you present yourself. Because you know you have to be very careful how you interact and how you present yourself, because you know you never know what future opportunities may be missed because you didn't make a good first impression. But fortunately that was not the case with us. So here we are, many years later.

Speaker 2:

Oh my God. So, patia, what's your start? What did you study? How did you fall into this world? Was this something that, organically, you knew kind of how to position things without even knowing it?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely not. When I went to college many moons ago, I was going to be a pharmacist. Can you picture me being a pharmacist?

Speaker 2:

And I made that decision. You would look good in a white coat. I'm not going to lie.

Speaker 3:

You're very smart, I am. I just made that decision, you know you're 17. What do you know? Based on the fact that I was good at chemistry. So I thought, what can I do with chemistry? I can be a pharmacist, right.

Speaker 3:

However, about two years into that, I really was not enjoying the four-hour labs and you know, my lab counterparts were not very outgoing the way I am. So I'm like these people are not my tribe and I'm not enjoying this. So really quickly at that time I was kind of halfway through. It was a very strict program and so my advisor recommended that I go to summer school and just take classes that I would never have taken because, right, I keep a marketing course and something just clicked. I think it was the combination of science, which I did enjoy, with the creative part, which is just who I am, naturally Right, and it blended together and I was like this is what I should be doing. I guess how I, you know, turn my major really quickly, change it to marketing, and I've been doing it ever since. I really enjoy uncovering what makes a brand tick.

Speaker 2:

Right.

Speaker 3:

And also figuring out who the tribe of that specific brand is. There's something really exciting when you figure that piece out, and it isn't easy, and I think that that's the part that a lot of especially small businesses struggle with right. First of all, articulating what is special and unique about what you do Because, let's be honest, it's 2024. Uniqueness in itself, right, can be very hard to articulate, and so you know, I spend a lot of time with my clients and you know I also teach, trying to really impress upon people that they really have to be able to understand what is unique about their brand. They have to articulate it well. Right, because that is the only way that they can really figure out who their people are. Their tribe is right it's never everybody and people tend to say that it's everybody.

Speaker 2:

Oh, my God.

Speaker 3:

Everybody who likes makeup. Really, find your tribe, find your tribe, right. That's the part that I really enjoy working with my clients with. And so here I am. It's been 20, we won't say 20, how many years but here we are, it's 20-something. It's 20-something years later, right, and things are constantly evolving. The way we connect with people have changed so much over the last 25 years, but I think that the foundational principles of good branding and marketing remain the same and we should never forget that.

Speaker 2:

So, when you start working with the brand, what are the first things you review with them and what's the homework that you give them to get started? Because I have found that a lot of people put a lot of work in, but the work is just all over the place. And having someone like you to come in and saying, okay, you've done so much of this and so much of that, let's piece it together because it's all over the shop.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I think that the two areas that people struggle with is definitely that UVP what's unique, special about the brand and then their correct or ideal target customer. Many people honestly have no idea who their target customer is. We've spoken about this before, right? Yep, they make these really broad general assumptions based on not much right Right and, as a result, they struggle to be successful because the people that they're trying to sell to aren't their people.

Speaker 2:

Nope, Well, I think people get so caught up in this notion that you know their customer is fabulous and, at the end of the day, your customer has money that's green. And you shouldn't try to push away the people who aren't metropolitan and fabulous and cool and live in a city and are buying the best and most beautiful things, because nine times out of 10, they're probably not.

Speaker 3:

They're probably not. They're probably not right. And then also, you know many smaller brands especially. They can't really articulate themselves what the brand is about and I don't think people realize that, your customers. There's some sort of emotional connection that happens, even if it's an unconscious one, and there's a reason why people like the things they like and support the brands they support. And if you yourself can't articulate that, you're never going to make that emotional connection with your ideal target customer. Right, and it's a lot of work and it's not easy and people don't like to do it, you know. And I really think that unless you're able to do that, it's really hard for you to grow a brand and to really connect with the people, I mean.

Speaker 3:

And then that morphs into everything else. You know everybody's in love with social media and they think they have to do all of the things, but you know it's not about doing all of the things. It's doing the things that will give you return and investment over time. And you need to figure out where your people are in that space and sometimes they're in that space but there are other places as well, right, and people forget about that, right? So, really understanding who your target customer really is why they would want to interact or support a brand like yours. That is always the starting point, because there's no way that you can develop any sort of marketing campaigns, pr campaigns, everything unless you really understand that. So for me, that's where I spend the majority of my time, and people don't like to do it for whatever reason, but you just have to?

Speaker 2:

Is that where you start with them? When you sit down and evaluate their brand, is that the first thing you do?

Speaker 3:

One of the first things. So I have different types of clients, right? Sometimes I have clients who have been, you know, doing sometimes successful marketing campaigns, and so they know that stuff already. What they're looking for is a way to improve what they're already doing or to figure out even if what they're doing is being done correctly. So for those types of clients, a starting point is usually an audit, right? So taking an honest, in-depth look at what's going on and kind of like figuring out, you know, stop doing this, do more of this.

Speaker 3:

You know, have you even noticed that your customer may have evolved and changed over the last 10 years? Now they're interested in this, as opposed to this when you started. Right, are you aware that there's this new segment of the market that may be interested in what you're doing or what you're offering, but because you're not aware of that, you're not taking the opportunity to appeal to them. Right, that's the brand that's a little bit more mature. And then there are the startups, right, who really need to even gain traction to begin with. Right, there's no historical data to analyze, there's none of that going on, and they really need the UVP, the target audience, the branding. What's your brand strategy? What's your brand message? What's your brand voice? Like who the hell?

Speaker 2:

are you trying?

Speaker 3:

to be. What's your story here? Right? So it can depend, and those are usually the two buckets that most people fall into.

Speaker 2:

How do you deal with designers or brands that you're dealing with that you are so aware that their customer is not who they think it is? How are you able to share with them?

Speaker 3:

that, yeah. So the example I like to use with that is I was working with a pretty established hair care brand and you know, again they came. It was like 35 years later and they just knew their stuff. I love when people hire you and they tell you we already know what's happening and you're like why am I here?

Speaker 3:

Right, right right People already know right, and so they had these target profiles and whatever. And so the great thing about social media is that you can do research and you can find other things out, because it's so transparent and open reason. There were people in Hawaii that were buying a particular conditioner because, you know, people in Hawaii sometimes have kinky or curly hair, even though they're not considered Black right and so we found that there were influencers. All of these people that they had no idea were using their products and I'm like they didn't know this so easy YouTube videos like these people are using your products. I think you also need to change your messaging to kind of like include them more, right, because these are your customers. And at first they resisted. They were like no, that's not who the product is made for, and we were like but they're using it. What do you mean? Maybe initially, because you weren't aware, but how do you ignore the fact that these people are part of your customer segments? Now? Yep, right.

Speaker 2:

Their money is green. What's wrong their?

Speaker 3:

money is green. What's wrong with right? And you can actually. You know, brands should evolve over time, so this is just part of your evolution. It doesn't mean that you're no longer the brand that somebody created 30 years ago in their kitchen or whatever. And it doesn't mean that you're no longer the brand that somebody created 30 years ago in their kitchen or whatever. You're still that brand. But it's really good for you to show that you have evolved over time and, most importantly, that you're actually paying attention to your customers. These people are buying the products and they're, you know, giving you reviews for free. This is just when influencer marketing became a thing, when people were just doing it because they were excited about products or whatever.

Speaker 3:

Right Now, you would have to pay that person oh yeah, how much money to do that same video that they just willingly for you for no reason. So I try as much as possible to show them real life examples of what we're recommending and unfortunately, sometimes people still don't listen and at that point you know I have learned and this is something that can be hard to do, but I have also learned sometimes that sometimes it's just better, as a service provider, to walk away from a client that is resisting good advice. Yep, not easy to do. It took me a while to get to this place where I'm able to do it, right, right, but you just have to sometimes because there's no good end result for that. It never ends well for anyone.

Speaker 2:

How, when you're working with a new brand and you know they have a product and they believe this is the voice. They believe this is the voice, they believe this is the vision, what do you do? What are your steps Like? Okay, if this is your customer, let's talk marketing strategy. How would you evaluate that?

Speaker 3:

Yes, focus groups are great, informal, formal. I have someone on my team who's great at facilitating those things and a lot of times when clients don't listen to you or they don't believe what you say, the best thing to do is to have them hear it directly from the customer. So this is your, and I think I pulled you into one of those things.

Speaker 3:

I was you remember when I pulled you in and I was like please do this for me, and you were very honest, like most of the other women, and you know how do you argue with that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I know, nope, nope. The best part is when the brand is like it's just they don't get it. Actually, they're not using it right. They don't understand Exactly exactly, but maybe that's a shortcoming of your product and it's an opportunity to go back to them. I have found and you know, I have this case study from Zappos and I don't know if they still do this, but anybody who works for the company has to go through working for customer support. I mean, that was how it used to be. I can't speak to you if that's how it is. And they had this thing. Always get someone who is American not that there's anything wrong from any other country Right.

Speaker 2:

But as a result of that I call it the pain in the ass clause that if you're calling to complain, the first thing they do is reward you for your time because that person is so angry to take the time to write a review, to do something. Instead of fighting them, you contact them or you say okay, you know, for your time and your trouble, I'm going to give you extra. You're now, from this point forward, for the rest of your life, you're going to get next day shipping for free. And again, if someone is going to go out of their way and take the time, they're the easiest people to flip True, absolutely, instead of saying you're wrong, it's like you know what you are right. Thank you for pointing that out. I appreciate that.

Speaker 3:

I appreciate you Exactly, I value Exactly.

Speaker 2:

Exactly Because of what you've done and taken that time because you were so angry. I want to thank you and I want to apologize.

Speaker 3:

And what can I?

Speaker 2:

do to make this better for you. And I think that's one of the lost causes of people that they don't realize that those people are a lifeline because they got big mouths and they can shout good things just as well as they can shout bad things, exactly. Exactly, exactly you wouldn't believe what they did. Oh my God, my experience was so horrible. They called me up personally and said what can we do to make it better? How can we repay you?

Speaker 1:

Right, right, oh, exactly so if you ever wanted to start a handbag brand and didn't know where to start, this is for you. If you had dreams of becoming a handbag designer but aren't trained in design, this is for you. If you have a handbag brand and need strategy and direction, this is for you. I'm Emily Blumenthal, handbag designer expert and handbag fairy godmother, and this is the Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass. Over the next 10 classes, I will break down everything you need to know to make, manufacture and market a handbag brand, broken down to ensure that you will not only skip steps in the handbag building process, but also to save money to avoid the learning curve of costly mistakes.

Speaker 1:

For the past 20 years, I've been teaching at the top fashion universities in New York City, wrote the Handbag Designer Bible, founded the Handbag Awards and created the only Handbag Designer podcast. I'm going to show you like I have countless brands to create in this in-depth course, from sketch to sample to sale. Whether you're just starting out and don't even know where to start or begin, or if you've had a brand and need some strategic direction, the Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass is just for you. So let's get started and you'll be the creator of the next it Bag. Join me, emily Blumenthal in the Handbag Designer 101 Masterclass. So be sure to sign up at emilyblumenthalcom slash masterclass and type in the code PINECAST to get 10% off your masterclass today.

Speaker 3:

You know that's so uncommon that of course they're going to talk about it, right, you can actually use that and flip that right. But you know, a lot of times people are. So it's the whole tunnel vision thing. I know, I know this is what I know and you know, unfortunately, you know brands that I've worked with that have had that sort of outlook in life. Sooner or later it comes back and you know it bites them in the butt and you're like, well, yeah, you should have listened. You know the other thing. The other thing, the third thing that I think a lot of people don't pay attention to, is the competitive space. There's so much to be learned from competitors, so much, so many mistakes that can be avoided doing a competitive analysis is one of my core tenets.

Speaker 2:

Of everything you do, yes, why?

Speaker 3:

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for every single competitor right, and you can really get a feel for the landscape and where you belong or where you could belong, or opportunities. We have seen so many upstart brands that come and take over a marketplace. Right, how do they do that? Right, because they see the opportunity. I'm just going to slung over right here and I'm going to seize the moment and I'm going to do this one thing better. That's another thing. Can't be everything to everyone, but figure out that one thing that you can be a rock star.

Speaker 2:

I say you have to be the fastest, the first or the best. Yes, and you got to check one of those boxes. You got to check one of those boxes.

Speaker 3:

Right, you got to check one of those boxes, yeah. So competitive analysis let's add that to the UVP and target audience Definitely competitive analysis. You have to know the space that you're in and I find that many smaller brands particularly don't do enough, if any, competitive analysis and they're not really still alive.

Speaker 2:

I know I've had a lot of designers that have been categorized within, specifically, handbag designers, within the Black-owned handbag designer space, and editorially it is something that is always lumped together. What are the BIPOC designers? What are the Black designers? So when I've spoken to designers of color, those are the only brands they ever reference. And I've said you have to think bigger, because when someone's shopping, they see a handbag before they see the person who made it Exactly.

Speaker 2:

So you need to look beyond who the makers are and look at who's in the space, who's in the same retail, who is selling at the same price point, whose aesthetic is similar. It's not so much the story the story comes after, because people are shopping for product. People shop for product and price and then, if they become invested, that's when they go forward. It's great for editorial that you're within that space and wonderful you can always become part of those stories, because at least you're guaranteed. You're guaranteed editorial at least three times a year for that alone, which is great. But that's not something you should ever hang your hat on, because you're not a black designer.

Speaker 3:

You're a designer for a agree with you 100 percent, absolutely, you know and that's what I always want to clarify.

Speaker 2:

It's wonderful to identify with something, but when you are making a product, that's what people are identifying with the solution item that you're creating Absolutely, with the solution item that you're creating Absolutely. So I think it's always important to get people out of that space of saying, like, okay, when I'm doing a competitive analysis, let me go to Shopbop and see who I'm merchandised with, let me see who the price points. Let me try and do a scan of my product within all different kinds of great infographics to see.

Speaker 3:

A hundred percent. A hundred percent. I absolutely agree with that. And you know, apart from you know putting yourself in a box, the learning part of it there's so much to be learned if you just look at everything right. So much to be learned. And so people make a lot of those mistakes that we hope, after listening to our chat, they will not continue to do right, but for sure. The other thing that I want to encourage brands to do is you know we all have social media overload, right? You have to.

Speaker 3:

I think that, especially if you're launching, you know, look for opportunities outside of what everybody else may be doing right, where you have the opportunity to connect with an audience that's more engaged because it's not so oversaturated. And I think Do you have some examples of something like that? I'm going to mention specifically Pinterest, because Pinterest has been a favorite platform of mine for years, and they did themselves a disservice because when they rolled out their business services, they really just went after the bigger businesses and not the smaller businesses. However, I think, as time has evolved, they're catching up and specifically for brands in our space handbags and beauty and fashion I don't think that people really realize the opportunities that are there. Everybody's distracted with Facebook. Tiktok's great, of course and Instagram and Google Shopping. Shopping intent is really high there. I get it. But then there's also Pinterest, and I think it's a real opportunity for brands to get through clutter that's not so cluttered for want of a better word.

Speaker 2:

How can you use Pinterest in that capacity? How does that?

Speaker 3:

work. So here are some stats. Pinterest has all of the business marketing functionality that everybody else has. You can run ads, you can do targeted campaigns. They just did not do a really good job of letting smaller businesses know this.

Speaker 3:

Now let's talk about the community of Pinterest. Buyer intent on Pinterest is 85%, so people on Pinterest are actively shopping, so they're going there to shop. Over 90% of Pinterest searches are unbranded. What an opportunity for a startup brand. So nobody is going to Pinterest or the majority of Pinterest searches.

Speaker 3:

They're not saying I want a Gucci bag. They're saying I want a bag with I don't know this sort of hardware. Right, it's unbranded. They're looking for specific things. Therefore, if you're a startup, right, and you make that particular bag with the characteristics they're looking for, even without advertising, you have just as much as chance as a known brand as coming up in searches. That's a great opportunity, right, because now you're actually able. The ability for you to be found as a smaller brand or unknown brand is on par with a brand who may be spending thousands of dollars in ads every month, right, and so you know, as things evolve and change I'm sure there are going to be other platforms and other things that happen. But also, you know, being honest with yourself and analyzing the whole landscape right Like you can't compete with whoever that has the big dollars, right? What other opportunities are out there that may make sense for you?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, pinterest is an interesting one because I think a lot of people have difficulty navigating it. Like, okay, should I upload pictures of my product? Am I uploading it to shop? I think that's one of those things that they have to. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3:

And they're trying. I would say over the last two years I've really seen them making an effort to educate a lot.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And to help people to use the platform better. I just wish they weren't 10 years too late with that. I feel like they're 10 years too late, like, ah, you guys should have done this right. But for the brands who are engaging with them, they're actually seeing the results. And they're seeing the results at a lower cost, because most people think of it as a secondary platform, right. So everybody's like focused on the Facebook and the IG and the TikTok and everything else, and this is kind of like territory that, as a small brand, if you learn how to use it, you can actually do pretty well. And then also target audience, right, I mean predominantly still female, right, that's some sage advice.

Speaker 2:

Is that part of the strategy that when you're working with a client that you go through, you have them understand? You call it UVP. What's the V in yours? Because I say USP Value?

Speaker 3:

What's your V Value? Oh, okay, selling.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, unique selling point, unique value point Okay, interchangeable, yeah, interchangeable. Having them do that, do a breakdown of who their customer is, doing a competitive analysis and then moving forward. If you're looking to market because marketing is such a broad scope of a term, right, and advertising is not marketing, but advertising is part of marketing, pr is part of marketing, part of it, so it's this full 360. What are those key points that you always say, like, okay, to get your product to market? Here are the things that I always put on my hit list to do.

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So first of all, figuring out where that ideal customer is actively interacting with brands that are similar to yours, right? Where are they spending money? How do you know they're spending money? Because they're posting reviews and posting pictures of the product in their hands. That's it, right. I mean you know it's not just only sharing or liking or, you know, making nonsense comments Like do they have the brand in their hands, right? Are they sharing a great experience about the brand? Like, that's how you know they're actually spending money, right? Are people actively asking questions about the experience of the brand? Like, that's how you know.

Speaker 3:

And then you know there are times when, yeah, they may be on all five major platforms, but, as a smaller brand, what can you afford? Right? And out of those five, which of those platforms are you most likely to be able to make the connection with whatever resources or whatever that you have? Right? Because people get distracted. I have to be everywhere and I have to do. You know, I recommend that if you can only handle one platform, well, then go for. Just focus on that one and expand later.

Speaker 3:

I cannot stand to see like you go on a website and they have all the icons, right, and then you click on the icons and they're all half done and I'm like that is such bad right, it's a bad first impression. I'm good with you just having Pinterest or IG or whatever it is, but it's amazing. It's telling the story of the brand you can see this customer interaction Like. To me, that's much more impressive than you. You know, a smaller brand attempting to be everywhere and not doing it. Well, because people also judge you based on that Right, like the product or service may be amazing, but because you're showing up in a way that's not really complimentary online and now we're all judged by our online presences. We know this right. Then someone may come to you, come to a conclusion about your brand or your product that is incorrect just because of that.

Speaker 2:

Yep, no, I totally understand that, and it's one of those things that I think brands have to take into consideration where the best place for them to be and not to waste their time being places that they shouldn't. So I, yeah, because you just can't like people have a wish list of where they think they should be. But, realistically, if it's not going to give them a return on investment, then don't bother.

Speaker 3:

Then don't bother. Why are you there Just spinning your wheels and it'll never really work out for you. So you have to. You have to be really careful about that. I also think that people forget about the power of email marketing. Everybody's like in love with social media, not realizing that social media can also be very one-off right. Email marketing is where the conversion happens more over time not spamming people.

Speaker 3:

I always have to put that disclaimer in right. That's how you build that deeper connection with your audience, that's how you get repeat customers, that's how you get referrals right, and so if you're doing it right, like that's where the majority of your conversion will happen. So you get the brand awareness on social, you pull them into your email list and you nurture that relationship over time. And that's another thing. Like all of this has to work together right, like you, people want to choose. I'm only going to do this, I'm only going to do that. That's not good marketing, that's cherry picking. You have to have that wheel going right In a way that makes sense and is complimentary. And then over time and another thing, this takes time. You know I get calls from people and they're like I've been doing this for three months, it doesn't work. And I'm just like three months is nothing, you're just starting. Tell me after it's been three years, right, tell me it's not working after three years. And are you even paying attention to what's happening within those three months? Because marketing is testing. That's all it is Testing, reiterating, trying something else until you finally get a formula that works. And that formula will only work for a time.

Speaker 3:

Yep, at some point you're going to have to change it up a little bit, right? Yeah, before we're all evolving, things are changing. Ai is the next big thing that's coming to disrupt, you know, this entire space. It already has started to disrupt the space, so you know you have to give this stuff time. There's no overnight success, even for things that seem like overnight success. That's another thing that I think people aren't aware of, or they get distracted when they think that, oh well, this person, I saw them and you know I never heard of them, and now they're making whatever $20 million. Well, for starters, maybe they're not. Maybe they just have really good marketing.

Speaker 3:

That's the first thing, and, second of all, you know. You don't know what hell this person has been through 10 years, 20 years. You know before you knew about them. Right, there's no overnight success at all.

Speaker 2:

Oh my God, Just exhausted from this conversation. Oh my God, Just exhausted from this conversation. Oh my God, Patia, I'm going to have to do a follow-up update because I love talking to you. It's just so good, there's just so many good nuggets. How can we find you, follow you and just do everything in the world? Very simple.

Speaker 3:

Website, thestylistagroupcom, and all platforms at Stylistagroup, and if you want to connect with me personally on LinkedIn, it's Patia A Abdul-Razak. I'm the only one I believe. Just send a little note, because LinkedIn has become very spammy.

Speaker 2:

Oh yeah, so spammy.

Speaker 3:

Hey, I saw you in Emily's thing and I'll connect with you. I ignore everything else. I'm sorry. But just too much hard selling going on lately and I can't.

Speaker 2:

I know, yeah, I know, patia. You've been a breath of fresh air. Talk to you soon. Thank you, I'll see you soon Bye.

Speaker 1:

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Emily Blumenthal

Host