The Truth About: Reselling with @commonthreads The Reseller Making $26K in a Month on Whatnot—While Raising 4 Kids

Amanda Anderson @commonthreads is a stay-at-home mom of four, a former boutique owner, and a full-time reseller who’s grown a thriving Whatnot business—pulling in up to $3,000 in a single show and $26k in just one month on Whatnot and $15k on TikTok Shop. In this episode, she talks candidly about the mental load of motherhood, religious deconstruction, parenting on one income, and how she clawed her way out of financial fear by finding something for herself.

Whether you’re a mom trying to make ends meet, someone burned out from corporate life, or just curious about how reselling really works, this conversation is equal parts validating and motivating.

We cover:

• What it’s really like to raise 4 kids on a single income
• The shame spiral of not “contributing financially”
• Reselling as financial empowerment—and why Amanda says it saved her
• Growing up Mormon and figuring out your own beliefs
• The myth of “having it all” and why everything feels like a no-win scenario
• Making money on Whatnot, TikTok, and how she hit $26K in one month

Follow Amanda:
TikTok: @amanda.comandthreads
Instagram: @commonthreadsLLC
Whatnot: commonthreadsLLC

Resources:

Postpartum Support International

Mothers for Mothers

National Maternal Mental Health Hotline (U.S.): 1-833-9-HELP4MOMS

Chapters

• 0:00 From SAHM to Side Hustle
• 9:48 Navigating Life With Four Kids
• 21:15 Starting a Children's Boutique
• 34:02 The WhatNot Reselling Revolution
• 44:38 Mormon Upbringing and Parenting Evolution
• 55:00 TikTok Income and Platform Building
• 1:06:43 Motherhood, Money, and Marriage Balance

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:28

Today's guest is Amanda Anderson not to be confused with Andy Anderson from how to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and she's here to show you how to build a six-figure business from your garage without losing your mind or your kid's chicken nuggets. This is a follow-up episode to our layoff talk because, let's be real. This is a follow-up to our layoff episode because, let's be real. Whether you were laid off or just over-relying on somebody else's paycheck, amanda's story might light a fire under you. She went from being a stay-at-home mom of four with no income to making her own money, and when I talk about money, I mean real money. She has made $26 in just one month on Whatnot, and back in December she pulled in $15,000 from TikTok shop.

Speaker 1: 1:13

So pay attention to this episode If you're looking to earn a little money on the side. We talk about what it was like to grow up Mormon, get married young, start over after a failed business and find something that's just yours without sacrificing the family you built. Amanda was one of the first people I followed when I started reselling, and this conversation feels like such an honest, inspiring pep talk that so many of us need when we're trying to start over. So we hope you love our chat with Amanda of Common Threads.

Speaker 2: 1:41

Sam and I are like always talking about this Two corporate jobs as parents. I'm not going to say it's impossible, because clearly a lot of families are making it work, but I think it's next to impossible. I think if you don't have a ton of support, either via like family, or you know the ability to outsource a lot of support, it is flat out not possible to do it.

Speaker 3: 2:04

Oh no, I totally agree. I feel like I have an interesting perspective on that too, because I have been a stay at home mom since I was 21,. That too, because I have been a stay at home mom since I was 21, which is wild, yeah. So I and we kind of I mean, I was raised in a very conservative household, like conservative religion, and so that was kind of just like expected, and even though that is what I wanted, I don't know that I was like given the ability to want anything else, even though, like I, I still think it was exactly what I would have chosen.

Speaker 3: 2:31

But we made so many sacrifices so that I could stay home but only have one income, which is really interesting because a lot of people are trying to do both and it's still not working. So it almost seems like you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't, because it's hard to have one income in this economy but it's hard to pay all the costs if you don't have help to both work full time. You know, it almost seems impossible, no matter which way you do it, unless you have these interesting side hustles that you can do while staying at home with your kids and then like that's a whole other thing, because then you're doing so much that you're spread so thin.

Speaker 2: 3:04

Yeah, I my kids are home with me today and I was just telling Sam the last part of the month is always the busiest time for me work-wise, and I just feel like my head's going to explode trying to keep two six-year-olds fed and safe and happy and entertained and also trying to like file all my deadlines by the end of the month.

Speaker 2: 3:23

And people will always tell you you have the best of both worlds and in some ways I do feel like I do, but in other ways it's just a recipe to feel like you are failing every second every day in every part of your life. Yeah, exactly. You all feel like Zara. You feel like that too. A hundred percent.

Speaker 1: 3:39

Wait, and Amanda, you do.

Speaker 2: 3:41

I thought this was like a unique.

Speaker 1: 3:42

Okay, cause I like I we have this podcast, I do the reselling, I am working on a school thing, and then there's like the kids stuff and every, and then your relationship and I'm like everything's always a mess. I feel like there's nothing ever, oh, 100%.

Speaker 3: 3:58

Yeah, yes, I agree A hundred percent. I also also like feel like the worst version of myself when I have everything on my plate in that exact moment. You know, it's like I can't. I don't know if it's like my stress just overflows, but it's like then I almost feel like I can't do any of it, because it's just like when I'm needed in 15 different directions all at the same time, it's like that is, it's hard, it's nearly impossible, yeah.

Speaker 1: 4:21

And then how do you not snap, like I snapped at my husband a lot this weekend and he snapped at me a lot this weekend, and we're going on vacation this week and I'm like, okay, we just need to like breathe, but we're so annoyed with each other because it's just like and, to be honest, it's mostly my shit, cause like stuff is everywhere. Well, you know, with reselling Amanda, like stuff it's so easy to acquire things, so, amanda so welcome to the podcast Amanda Um on Tik TOK.

Speaker 1: 4:47

You are known as common threads, amanda. Yep, that's right, and we'll link you in the show notes. But I first discovered you when I so I stopped working about a year ago, and actually exactly a year ago, and just like started looking at TikTok. Like how are people making money? Because there is this stay-at-home stigma and a lot of it's true In California. I am very protected because of the laws in place here, but being a stay at home mom can be dangerous financially, for your skills, for your future. I was like, well, how can I not like fully rely on my husband, which I do like this is not, this is like a hobby for me.

Speaker 3: 5:24

Still, yeah, yeah and the same way, so oh okay.

Speaker 1: 5:27

So it's like how can I keep my skills up? I'm just going to start reselling and you're one of the first people I saw, you and Angela, the five hour reseller.

Speaker 2: 5:35

And I was like yep Okay.

Speaker 1: 5:37

So these two people have children, and that's also something Paige, who was doing the podcast before, always talks about how she doesn't like to take advice from men because she's a mom she wants to take advice from women. I feel that their experience, and so I started following the two of you, and then Casa Chic, because I'm like, okay, these are women who have created a lifestyle brand and are actually like, well, not Casa Chic, so much in the thick of it, but y'all are in the thick of parenting, yeah little kids.

Speaker 3: 6:02

How old are your kids? So I have four kids. I have a 10 year old, a seven year old, a five year old and a three year old wow and yeah, so it's a lot.

Speaker 2: 6:10

I was just complaining about my 260.

Speaker 3: 6:13

I get it, I feel like, honestly, I truly believe it's like once you hit two like the rest, it just adds the chaos, but it's already chaos, so it's just more chaos.

Speaker 2: 6:23

Also. I want to caveat I'm not complaining about my kids.

Speaker 1: 6:25

I love my kids Like before the internet comes for me.

Speaker 2: 6:28

I'm just complaining about how hard it is to be a mom. I love my kids putting that out there.

Speaker 1: 6:33

Yeah Well, and you jumped into Azara with two twins. I mean, I complain about one. I'm like I can't know. This is too I do. You always know you wanted a big family, amanda.

Speaker 3: 6:42

Yeah, so I come from a family of four and my husband does as well, so we knew four was probably our number and like I sometimes I think like the fourth one. That's when I felt like we have a lot of kids and like obviously we don't regret it, she's fabulous and so fun and like sits perfectly in our family. But I think that jump from three to four is like wow, like four kids is a lot of kids and like logistically like cars, houses, like taking people to activities it's just like that's a lot of kids. So I think like I always thought we wanted four and I think like we probably would have never changed our mind, but for I'm like looking back, I'm like that's a lot of kids. I think that every day like this is a lot of kids well you're young this is three and that's yeah, like the hardest.

Speaker 3: 7:24

I think I feel like oh yeah, yeah, she just turned three a couple weeks ago and I'm like this age, like I am. I firmly believe that twos are not the hard age, it's always three, agree three I love two.

Speaker 2: 7:35

I thought I know it was so much fun.

Speaker 3: 7:36

So fun and they're cute and they're learning so much. And then three they're opinionated and spicy and yeah, yeah it's tough.

Speaker 1: 7:42

But and then once you so, do you? What do you drive?

Speaker 3: 7:46

to. I drive a minivan, okay, and we are like grown out of it. Okay, honestly, like we, we are capped out. We were camping at a family reunion all weekend and we had like a cargo hold on top. We had like stuff shoved in every crevice and crack in the whole entire car. We probably need a Suburban, but honestly, I've been thinking I need to take that to TikTok and see if, like, do you really have much more space? I don't know, it's just, it's a lot.

Speaker 1: 8:10

I don't know, it's just, it's a lot. And then even like there's a lot of space in those.

Speaker 3: 8:18

Yeah, I'm thinking we'd have to. We've been looking at like the expedition XL or like the expedition max, I think it is, and that has like a little bit of extra cargo space. I think we'd have to have something like that, Just just survive.

Speaker 1: 8:26

Honestly it's a lot. What is gas like on activities like in driving to school and yeah's not.

Speaker 3: 8:32

It's not too bad for us honestly. We actually live like right down the road from my kids elementary school, so all of that isn't bad, and my husband actually works from home, so, like we gas for us isn't that bad. You know, we're like usually pretty local. We live in a fairly small town, I feel like it's like a mid-sized town, so everything's close to us and so not too bad bad. And honestly, on our minivan, like our gas is not too bad. I think you get into big SUVs and it gets a lot worse.

Speaker 1: 9:00

Yeah, maybe I'm also thinking California, because I think gas here is like $5, $6 a gallon, and so, yeah, gas is not bad here it's. What is it like where yours are in terms of gas?

Speaker 3: 9:14

it's. What is it like where yours are in terms of gas? She's like I don't know, it's princess treatment no, my husband gives me a bad time because I never even look at the price of gas because I'm like I have to put it in regardless, so I don't yeah I don't need to pay attention, it's going in car.

Speaker 2: 9:30

Well, yeah, I mean I. I don't want to sound like the princess treatment lady, but my husband always fills the gas because he is one of those people who loves an errand.

Speaker 1: 9:41

So if my car is, running low.

Speaker 2: 9:43

He would rather just go out and do it. And I was just telling my mom this. I don't remember the last time I filled gas, because I love that. Also, our big car seats are in my car, so whoever's taking the kids anywhere just takes my car and so often he'll, like you know, drop the kids at school and then get my gas on the way home. Yeah, I truly I can't remember, which is probably a bad thing. To admit, I don't my husband.

Speaker 1: 10:09

We have a second car. His mom recently gave us her car because she's too she should not be driving, and before that we, we shared a car and my husband was always like when was the last time you filled up? Cause I never knew what side the tank was on. And I was like, oh yeah, he's like I do more than you think. I'm like yeah, yeah, and now. I'm responsible for charging the car, so okay. So, amanda, you grew up in a very conservative religious.

Speaker 3: 10:34

I don't know, are you?

Speaker 1: 10:35

still in that kind of.

Speaker 3: 10:37

Not really no. So I was raised Mormon. All of my family, like my family, my husband's family, I mean we have plenty of people that have left the religion too. But yeah, like generations raised in the Mormon religion, so kind of interesting. I feel like a lot of people always have questions because if you're not from like the Idaho, utah area, it's not very common. But around us, like most of the people we grew up around were, or at least like knew enough that it wasn't weird.

Speaker 2: 11:05

So yeah, and I feel like Mormonism has had such a moment in pop culture recently.

Speaker 1: 11:11

Yeah, you know the.

Speaker 2: 11:12

Secret Lives.

Speaker 1: 11:15

So many influencers Right? Yes, the.

Speaker 3: 11:17

Dancing with the Stars. Girls, I love Dancing with the Stars. I do too, I know.

Speaker 2: 11:20

The dancers on there.

Speaker 3: 11:22

Yeah really A lot are from.

Speaker 1: 11:24

Utah.

Speaker 2: 11:24

I mean, those are previous Okay, but how do you feel about kind of the pop culture depiction of Mormonism? Do you think it's accurate?

Speaker 3: 11:33

I think it's fabulous. Yeah, To be honest, I don't really care if it's accurate. My opinion is like they can live their lives however they want. I also think like even especially with the Secret Lives of Mormon Lives, I'm like that was a marketing ploy, so like of course, they're putting on there whether or not the girls are practicing or not or at some like level of like I don't care, I think it's entertaining. I think that they should be able to live their lives however they want and I'm sure other people have different opinions on that, and me 10 years ago would have had different opinions on that. But now I'm like I think it's fabulous. Whatever they want to do, it's great and it makes for good entertainment, yeah, okay.

Speaker 1: 12:08

So that makes sense to me, though, why you had kids so young, having that context being like 21. Because 21, I was blacking out at the club, oh yeah, which is a little bit different. I don't know if you were ever in that phase, but I was in my blazer you know my high heels?

Speaker 2: 12:24

Oh yeah, the statement necklaces. Oh yeah, I still have my statement necklaces.

Speaker 1: 12:30

I love that. Yeah, so you always knew you wanted to be a stay at home mom. Your husband was bringing in income. What got you to open the boutique, the children's boutique?

Speaker 3: 12:41

So I think like one of my biggest pain points in motherhood I mean especially because I was young like kind of to go back. I do feel like, especially with my oldest he's 10, which is wild to me to think like I've been a parent for 10 years and I feel like we've grown up together because I was such a baby when I had kids which, again, like thinking about my daughters, I'm like would I ever recommend that? No, you need to like let your brain develop, and but it's like I feel like we grew up together. So in the beginning it was great and I loved being a stay at home mom. But I think pretty quickly I was feeling like I have nothing for myself. I have, I'm not a person, I'm just a mom. I was just a mom. I was only home. I was one of the first of my friends to have kids. I was the first and I'm the oldest right, my husband is the oldest, so also like our siblings weren't having kids, and so I quickly felt like I don't have anything for myself. I'm at home with my kids all the time. We lived away from family for a while. We're back by family now, but it was really hard. So I. I remember thinking like something I need to be able to do something from home. Like I loved staying home.

Speaker 3: 13:44

I was never that person that was like, oh, this isn't for me, like I loved it, but I also knew I needed something else. So it was after my third daughter was born. I was like what if I just start selling clothes? Like I'll make myself a website and I'm kind of just like I'll figure it out, I'll figure things out. So I was like I did that. I built my own website, I started sourcing and quickly I felt like it sounds weird to say, but I felt icky about it. It was like almost as soon as I started, I knew like it didn't feel good to me. I was sourcing from China, I was marking these prices up a lot and I there was just something about it that just never really like settled and felt really good. Like I didn't really feel good about it, like I was proud of what I had built. But then, once it was built, I was like I don't know if I enjoy this, I don't know if I feel good about this, and I think like I liked the process of doing it and then not the process of running it. So then COVID hit and I was just like I think that was kind of my excuse, my excuse to say like, okay, I'm done, I'm out.

Speaker 3: 14:41

And the interesting thing is like that really led to reselling. And so when I look back I'm like I think that was the whole purpose of that little one year children's boutique. Like I learned a lot. I learned how to file taxes, I learned a lot of things that I needed now, but that was never. That was never. I don't think that was ever meant for me. I think much more it led me to this reselling, which I love. It is interesting, it is fulfilling, it is always changing. So I have that like I'm always learning new things. I'm always like switching things up.

Speaker 3: 15:11

So yeah, so I ended up having a bunch of inventory left after I shut my website down and I went to Facebook groups and I started selling that inventory in these Facebook groups which most people were selling like their old Zara baby clothes or like higher end stuff that they could still make money on after their kids wore it. But I was like going crazy with my inventory, probably making more money on these Facebook groups than I ever made on my website with all the fees and stuff. So I went over there and sold this. And then I was like, well, I have like cute clothes that my kids have worn and have grown out of, so let's start selling there.

Speaker 3: 15:41

And then I started shopping like the Zara sales, and I would buy things that were no tags like, cause they would have like crazy, crazy discounts. You could get expensive clothes for two or $3. If you like, stock their website, I would buy that and then I would just sell them on these Facebook groups. And so then I realized it was like, well, I could start doing this, like I could start actually thrifting, I could start going out and specifically sourcing, and that's kind of where it happened. So I feel like the boutique really led me into what I, what I'm doing now and what I think I'll probably always do. Even if I don't always actively resell, I do think I'll always be able to fall back on that, or I will always do it in like some capacity, even if it's much smaller than I'm doing now.

Speaker 1: 16:21

Yeah, and for context, amanda has recently started buying pallets of clothing, often with tags. It includes some used stuff too, right, Occasionally.

Speaker 3: 16:37

Yeah, every once in a while, which is so random. Yeah, sometimes we'll get, we can always tell because it smells of like very strong detergent and I'll be like, oh, that was that one's not new, but honestly it's a lot of that.

Speaker 1: 16:41

Stuff is really good too. So, yeah, and before you were selling on primarily Poshmark, is that?

Speaker 3: 16:46

yeah, yep, so I've always been like a Poshmark eBay person and like I love Poshmark and eBay and yeah, then I moved on to whatnot and that's where I mean I would like to say I still list on Poshmark and eBay, but it's very, very rare, just because my time is split between a lot of stuff. So I've kind of been focusing on whatnot for the last six months.

Speaker 2: 17:06

Is there a platform that you would recommend for someone who's like a very casually just trying to sell one or two pieces and maybe doesn't want to like build up their name on a platform and build up a lot of followers? Doesn't have time for that part of it.

Speaker 3: 17:19

Yeah, I would always recommend Poshmark. I think Poshmark is the easiest to kind. I mean, there are some weird little games you have to play on Poshmark which is annoying, but if you can figure that out, I think Poshmark is the easiest platform to sell stuff on and also to ship, once you do that, because shipping is always like a pain point for people. So I think Poshmark would be where I would recommend starting, and I have I even have an aunt. She has started posting on Poshmark and she's doing really well and it's just little things that she isn't wearing anymore or whatever.

Speaker 1: 17:49

So, and it's all about setting offers of like people, like your stuff. Make sure to send offers. And if you don't want to get like an automation platform, then just manually do it. Because I didn't know that tip until I started following you actually, Cause I was like oh, really, yeah. I was like why is this not going anywhere? What is going on? And then you were talking about.

Speaker 1: 18:07

PrimeLister and I was like, okay, I'm going to try this, Cause my husband's like you're buying a lot of stuff, but I'm not saying a lot of stuff going out and. I was like I know it's good stuff and yeah, because I know, zara, you have a few things that you wanted to sell, right? So that was like a personal question.

Speaker 3: 18:22

Yes it does. No, I would definitely do that, and that's kind of what I said like or why I said I'll always fall back on it is. It's like I might not actively source who knows, like what the future holds, but it is like kind of comforting to know that like we could always fall back on that. Or you could just like get a little bit of cash for your nice stuff that you don't want to just donate or take to Plato's closet and get three dollars for you know it's nice to have a place you can sell.

Speaker 2: 18:42

That that's easy as a parent, not having to leave the house to list things and not having to drive somewhere with like five boxes of stuff in your backseat.

Speaker 3: 18:51

That's huge. Oh yeah, I mean sometimes I'll drive for three weeks with stuff to donate to Goodwill.

Speaker 1: 18:56

It's just hard to get over there, so and you don't have to talk to anyone. So I try to sell on Facebook our bigger stuff and I will list it and then I never respond to anyone because I get so much anxiety about like. Oh, I feel that, yeah, like how do you plan it? Okay, and then they negotiate with you. I don't want to negotiate with you.

Speaker 3: 19:11

And then they show up and they negotiate and I'm like, fine, whatever, I just like get out of here and then you're like introducing them to where you live, and no, I yes, yeah, I actually have a lot of anxiety with like posting on Facebook marketplace because in some ways, it's like there is no fees. They're giving you cash, so like it should be better. But honestly, just like the fact that you have to like coordinate a time to me and I'm so busy I feel like we're always jumping from like one activity to the next and then I'm like forgetting. And people are showing up at my house and then I'm having to apologize because they throw. I just don't like the coordination of Facebook marketplace, even though, like, I think the money might be a little bit better if it is especially for bigger stuff.

Speaker 1: 19:46

Yeah, dude, they should have like a calendly thing where you can like book a time and you don't even have to talk to them that integration would be so cool. It's like book a time Great and then, like move on, and we'll have it outside and you pay. And like I wish I could just automate it, Cause I I hate the like communicating part Cause I'll just never sell stuff Like I have a bed right in front of me that we need to sell.

Speaker 1: 20:06

My husband has been begging me to sell for like a year, so but I know, yeah, it's hard.

Speaker 3: 20:11

I know I've been started to do just like porch pickup. I'm like I know it's a gamble because technically they could just come and take it without paying, but I'm like I will risk it because I don't want to have to talk to people.

Speaker 1: 20:20

Maybe I'll try that, cause I have some stuff downstairs. So what not is a newer platform. It's a live selling platform, and I know eBay has live selling as well as Poshmark but well as Poshmark but people.

Speaker 1: 20:30

I'm seeing people make a shit ton of money on whatnot and it seems I mean, I know whatnot is a lot of effort to do stuff but you don't have to list things, which is like most folks are, like I don't know how to list it, I don't know the keywords and all of that. So are people. It reminds me kind of what TikTok was back in the day, where like people were like I'm making a lot of money. It seems like that's happening on whatnot. Can you give us like an idea of what the numbers kind of look like? Like it doesn't have to be exact, but like yeah.

Speaker 3: 20:57

So I will say that in my biggest show that I've had I've been on the platform since January, so about six months I do one show a week. Sometimes I'll add in some extras, but generally I do one show a week. The most I've made in a two hour show is $3,000, which I think is pretty crazy for pretty minimal work and I would say I average probably around $1,500 per show, maybe closer to 2000,. But we're getting into that sweet spot spots where it's like depending on what items I have, like I can kind of depend or I can kind of expect what I'm going to make on those items.

Speaker 1: 21:38

And so what does the profit look like on, let's say, a $1,500 show? Is it 50% profit?

Speaker 3: 21:40

I know you buy things in pallets, so probably much more than 50%. Yeah, so I I would say I make much more than 50%. I need to like sit down and like organize all my numbers, but kind of how I look at it is, one of my whatnot shows will pay for my pallet, and I will usually get five whatnot shows out of that palette. So, yeah, so I'm making pretty good profits almost immediately and that is really nice. And then whatnot I think takes like 18% is their fees, which is better than most other platforms too, and so I have no problem with that. I think those fees are not bad at all and it works out. It's not too bad.

Speaker 1: 22:15

So you're clearing at least like five grand a month then yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 22:19

I think when I looked in May I had made $26,000 on whatnot and that's just like sales on whatnot. But that's the thing about that that I think is crazy it's that that's doing one show a week. That's doing one show a week. That's doing one show a week.

Speaker 1: 22:34

And then you have your other streams of revenue, which is Poshmark, ebay. So anyone listening, like everyone we know, the economy is kind of up and down right now and it can be really scary, you don't know.

Speaker 2: 22:48

Like I have friends with so much experience who cannot even get a job interview who have degrees, who have 20 years of experience and they can't get a job.

Speaker 1: 22:52

And what I keep telling everyone is start selling your shit, like you have a dresser that you don't like, whatever it is, or even a book. So, amazon, you can sell used books. I used to love selling used books on Amazon I need to list them now but my husband was always like this is crazy and I'm like no cause if you just donate them. Cause, that's. That's. Another misconception is, when you donate things, it's going to somebody who needs it. Oftentimes it's going to the landfill, yeah, and so you've also sourced at the bins, right, or Google outlet.

Speaker 3: 23:19

Yeah, I feel like this is. This is a battle I have on Tik TOK with a lot of people and it's that like they, they beg me for my source where I'm buying my palettes and they tell me the only way they can be successful is if they have my exact source and they do exactly what I'm doing. But what I want to say is, like that's not true. That is absolutely not true and I don't only source in one way. It's not like I only buy palettes and I close off all of my other options. I source in a lot of different ways and a lot of people have access to a Goodwill bins. That is probably like the best way to source. You can get insane brands that are going to sell for a lot of money and you're paying like a dollar to $2 depending on the weight of the item. So I think there are so many ways like I source. The other day, I went to my local buy sell trade store and I bought hundreds of items and spent like 150 bucks and like it. There's so many ways. So, whatever you want to do but you just have to look out Like people will buy, like lots from people on Facebook marketplace that are getting rid of it.

Speaker 3: 24:16

A lot of people love garage sales. I hate garage sales. I don't. I think they're uncomfortable. I don't like haggling with people. That's not my thing, but you can get crazy deals at garage sales. I just think there are so many, so many ways for you to get inventory. It's not just just because I buy pallets doesn't mean that's the way to do it. And if you go to whatnot and you look at some of the biggest sellers, they're all getting their inventory from many different ways.

Speaker 1: 24:38

Yeah, and yeah, it is interesting. How is it? Okay, so you were a stay at home mom, but I know, I know how much work reselling takes and you mentioned that it was part-time, now it's nearly full-time. Your husband works full-time. You have four kids. It's summer.

Speaker 3: 24:51

But what does?

Speaker 1: 24:52

your life look like.

Speaker 3: 25:01

So our life is chaos. Honestly, I feel like I, especially with summer, it is tough. Next year, or comes August, I will have three kids in school full day, so that's going to like I'm just like looking at that is like the light at the end of the tunnel, because I think like I will be able to do much more when it comes to that. But right now life is chaotic. We June we had sometimes six baseball games a week because I had three kids playing baseball, so we were just like all over the place. So my day to day is honestly different. I I like a routine, but I'm kind of in that stage of life where I can't hold too tightly to a routine because there's always something messing that up. So I stick with one whatnot show a week. It's always on Wednesday nights. That's just like my customers depend on that. That is what like we have going on and my mother-in-law and my mom they always take turns and they come and put my kids to bed so that me and my husband can do that whatnot show. And again, like I'm so grateful for them because we have done shows where we're just like okay, go upstairs and watch a movie, and it's chaos, you know they're coming down or someone's crying or someone is fighting, you know. So I'm lucky that I live close to my family and they can come and help. But yeah, so for now that's like one day I will say whatnot does take a lot of prep, so I usually have to have like a couple of hours of hanging up all of my items and then we do the show, which is usually a couple of hours, and then afterwards shipping is a beast. So I used to when my kids were in school. I was shipping the next day, so I would have my show on Wednesday, I'd ship on Thursday and it'd probably take me like three or four hours to ship 50 to a hundred packages. But me and my husband have just been staying up late since the kids got out of school and doing it like until one in the morning, because it is so hard to do it when I'm getting interrupted 500 times and then, like we live in a small house, my stuff is all over when I have to ship, because we have to pull it all in from the garage, and so it's just like a nightmare for everyone. I feel like they're not happy because I can't give them the attention that they want or they need, and then I'm not happy because I keep getting interrupted and have to like stop what I'm doing, which is just really hard for me to feel like. I'm constantly like having to stop and then come back and then take some of the bathroom and then come back or make lunch and then come back. So, anyways, that's what. That's what my day-to-day life looks like right now.

Speaker 3: 27:06

I feel like one of the biggest things that I'm struggling with right now is just the fact that I see so much potential with whatnot and I feel like I have the means to get to this bigger place and to make more money for my family, but I don't have the capacity to do that right now and I think that's really, really hard as a parent. It's like I feel like I have. I have the inventory, I have like the structure set up that if I wanted to scale this business like I could do it 100%. But because I have like the structure set up that if I wanted to scale this business like I could do it 100%, but because I have very little kids at home that require a lot and we're very busy, like I just have to be okay with just saying like it's not my time, not yet, like we can't do that quite yet.

Speaker 3: 27:45

And I think I think that is hard because I do see so much potential and I see that like it could benefit our family in like really massive ways. And I feel like I'm always battling like is it worth the sacrifice now? And like, do I look at getting childcare, which I've never done? Do I look at hiring someone to ship my items so that I could do more shows per week and put my money or put my time into that? You know it's like I keep battling with this. Or do I just stay still for now and do what I'm doing and understand that my time will come when I have more time and capacity to scale the business? I don't know, it's really hard. I think that's one of the hard things about being a stay-at-home mom who is doing something on the side is it's like that constant battle between like what is best for my kids and like what is best for our family as a whole.

Speaker 1: 28:31

I don't know and what is best for you as a person, exactly Because there's three different things and they don't always align.

Speaker 3: 28:38

Yeah, and I think for me it's like I'm like I want to do it. I want to go full in, like if I could, I would want to do this full time. I would want to be doing shows every single day. I would want that, but I just I don't know how to get there and still feel good about being present with my kids and making sure that, like, I'm just not totally distracted for their summers. I don't know, it's just, it's really tricky, it's a weird position to be in.

Speaker 2: 29:03

Yeah, and it's, it's still kind of a rare position to be in. It's still kind of a new problem, right.

Speaker 3: 29:09

Yeah, that's true.

Speaker 2: 29:10

Yeah, for so long you were either a stay-at-home mom or you were a working mom, and then, when you're kind of trying to do this in between a little bit of both thing it's like you just don't have a model for how to do it, because so few people have really done it and you don't know how to compartmentalize, you don't know when and where to outsource. So, yeah, it's really hard, no-transcript.

Speaker 3: 30:02

Would that be better for my family long term because we could get into a home with a backyard, and so it's like it's this constant battle of who have small businesses at home. It's just also different.

Speaker 1: 30:16

Ask chat GPT, I tell it tell it who you want it to be. You're like okay, I want you to be like a parenting expert and a financial expert, and but you have to prompt it with like what? Oh?

Speaker 3: 30:27

my gosh, you're the chat GPT queen, so I need to do that. I might have to pick your brain.

Speaker 1: 30:31

Yeah, yeah, I'm happy to help because I I I stopped therapy a while ago because I was realizing I was just kind of getting stuck and I was like I just want to kind of live my life and not have to like I up my Zoloft and I dropped the therapy and so I go, and I'm sure there are people on here who are going to be like you are not using chat to be too right. And I actually talked with my my son's well friend's dad yesterday, because he is an AI engineer and he's been. He has his PhD in machine learning and AI and he's had it I mean, he's older, so he's had it forever and we were talking about like usage and energy usage, because this is something that comes up with reselling as well. Right, the ethics of it? What are the ethics of it? What are the ethics of using chat GPT?

Speaker 1: 31:12

And I've been seeing these things circulating that chat GPT uses less energy than streaming Netflix for an hour or having your lights on for an hour, which is true, but he was that you know chat GPT per query uses a lot more. But they're trying. It's kind of like what the sustainability movement did, where they put the onus on individuals instead of businesses, where it's like don't waste water while you brush your teeth or recycle, but then you look at it and you're like, well, that company over there, like XYZ company, is like doing all of this stuff. And that's kind of the same thing with AI. Like I look at Salesforce, I look at Google, open AI in general, like the businesses doing queries every day is so much more than any of us could use as consumers. So yeah, anyway, I want to get into the ethics kind of reselling and we have a non reseller here Zara.

Speaker 1: 31:58

And so cause there is this reputation of stealing from the poor and reselling things at a markup, which is what resellers do. We, we take things from wherever we source, whether it's returns, whatever. So you've been doing this for longer. What are your thoughts on it?

Speaker 3: 32:15

So I think it was actually something I struggled with in the beginning. I think I was letting like all those voices get into my head and I was thinking like, am I a bad person? Am I a bad person for doing this? And I think ultimately it's like such a deeper issue than the surface level of what people like to fight about. It's a deeper issue. The overconsumption, the fast fashion, all of that that's really what is doing damage. And also then, like, on the flip side of that, it's like we have these thrift stores a lot of them are thrift stores for profit or goodwill, which is pretty much a corrupt corporation who is saying that they are doing all these good things, but the owner or the ceo is making insane, absurd amounts of money. You know so. So I think I kind of it's like what you were saying with AI is. It's like are we the ones doing the damage? Like are we the ones doing the damage? And I think, like people like to say, well, I'm saving the planet, and it's like, sure, I don't. I don't like to say that because I'm selling I don't know X amount of things a year, like I'm not single-handedly saving the planet or saving landfills from overflowing. You know, I think that's. I don't see anything wrong with that. I don't think.

Speaker 3: 33:19

On the ethics, I don't think that anyone is stealing from the poor. I think there is always insane amounts of stuff. I mean even my local thrift stores. They will have bins of stuff just sitting outside that they don't even have anywhere to put it inside. I also know, like my local Goodwill, they ship so much stuff anything they think could be Halloween related they ship it out to a warehouse where it just sits there until they bring it onto the floor once a year. There's no shortage. There's no shortage of stuff.

Speaker 3: 33:44

I think the price is raising. That is. That's another conversation. I've actually had this conversation on TikTok before with like do we think resellers are the reasons that thrift store prices are rising or is it corporate greed? I think that's. I think that's an interesting conversation to have. And I don't. I'm not saying that resellers aren't impacting that at all. Probably people like me who are posting what amazing finds for getting them for really cheap, like maybe we are impacting that to some degree. But I just think it's so much more complex than what people like to say. And yeah, I don't know.

Speaker 2: 34:17

I think it is an interesting conversation to have, though. Zara, what do you think about all this? I mean, I think our world is always going to find a way to make women feel like shit for making money. So that's kind of my first instinct, without really knowing the ins and outs. You know, I think that's kind of at the core of this, because every corporation that sells clothing is making money, right, well, right.

Speaker 3: 34:38

Any consumer business is buying something for cheaper and selling it at a markup. That is literally how businesses are run, so I don't know why reselling gets targeted for that. It's like any business, whether it's like on a small scale or a large scale, is going to buy something for cheap and they're going to mark it up so that they have a profit margin. Like that's not, it's not a new concept, but for some reason people really do like to attack resellers and I think the stigma is sad because, like like you were saying earlier, sam, is like there's so much potential to make money. But I think this conversation is what holds a lot of people back.

Speaker 1: 35:16

Yeah, when I started, even like my sister-in-law who I love was, like you know, resellers have made it not fun to go to the thrift store anymore, and then I started feeling guilty.

Speaker 1: 35:19

I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm stealing, and all of this because I did grow up poor and but thrift stores back in like the nineties we're not the same as they are today because we go through consumerism was not capitalism, All that stuff was not how it is now and like so much stuff is generated every single day and it just goes and it's like well, nobody can get through it. There was another reseller what was her name? Jack Jack, and she was talking about Jack, she's great, yeah, she just well, and she is somebody who once she kind of works through stuff, we'll have her on too. But she just left a relationship and she was able to save up for two years by reselling and buy a house and so like this is changing people's lives. But she was talking about how she donated a pair of shoes.

Speaker 1: 36:00

Seven days later was at the bins and they were there. And the bins for anyone who doesn't know, goodwill bins are where Goodwill sends stuff that has been on the floor that is not purchased. They send it to this big warehouse where people dig through it and then the next step, I believe- do they sell it to China or do they just send it directly to landfills?

Speaker 3: 36:20

Do you know, Amanda? I think it's a mix. I think it just depends on the place. But yeah, a lot of them go straight to the landfills or they'll sell them. I mean, you even look at like African countries and they will literally just dump mass amounts of textiles in their wilderness areas. It's crazy.

Speaker 1: 36:34

That's awful. So her point was it took seven days from the day she donated it at Goodwill. So did they even make it to the floor? Or are they just infiltrated with so much shit that they can't even make it onto the floor? So you might feel like you're doing really good things by donating, but it might not even be seen by anyone and just might be going directly to a landfill.

Speaker 1: 36:55

So there's also like you can look at ethics that way to be like, is it ethical to donate to these places or should you be taking the responsibility to sell your own items so that they don't end up in a landfill? Cause that's like another way you could look at it and it's a way to make money. And I think that, zara, your point was really good about making women feel like shit, cause I don't know that they're saying this to the resale bros who sell, like Lego kits.

Speaker 3: 37:15

I guarantee it's less than they are to the women or like records or whatever.

Speaker 1: 37:20

It's like almost like. Well, if you sell clothes, you have less value. Yeah, has your real reselling changed the way? Like your fight, has it like impacted your financial outcome? Or like your finances and your family hasn't made your life better financially?

Speaker 3: 37:35

Massively, massively. I mean when you were talking I was just thinking it's like I might not necessarily be the breadwinner and sometimes I like tease my husband because, like I get to pay for all the fun stuff you know, like I get to pay for like the vacations or the trips or like the things that we just want, but that is because he is paying for the not fun stuff. You know, like all of the boring bills and stuff. But I don't like in today's day and age, I don't know that we'd be able to survive if I wasn't reselling. You know, I don't think we'd be able to survive as me being a stay at home mom and not contributing to our finances. I mean I know that we wouldn't.

Speaker 3: 38:07

I shouldn't say I don't know that we that like it's hard to not have multiple streams of income coming in to a family, especially like having four kids. It's very expensive. I do feel lucky that we live in Idaho. I mean it is much cheaper to live here than it is in many, many places across the United States. But yeah, we wouldn't be able to survive if I didn't do it. And the truth is it's like even looking at buying a home, which now is like the worst time to buy a home, it feels like, but it's like there's no way we could do that on just his income, like the only way that that would even be possible is with this extra income.

Speaker 2: 38:44

Yeah, can you speak to like some of the sacrifices that you had to make in order to make it on one income at the beginning of your motherhood journey?

Speaker 3: 38:54

Oh yeah, I mean. So I'll kind of give you guys an update or like a look at my husband's career, because it's like we've had that's been like our biggest pain point, and it's not by any fault of his, but he, when we got married, he was in school, about to start a master's degree in athletic administration. So everyone's like, oh, you want to be a PE teacher. And he's like, no, I never wanted that, I never wanted to be a PE teacher. He really wanted to work in marketing for a university, so like in their athletic marketing. So you think like any, like halftime promotions or like the music or anything like that, like it's a whole thing and it's so fun and like perfect for his personality. And so after he graduated we had our oldest and he was interviewing like all over the United States and it just never panned out and I think that was really heartbreaking for him.

Speaker 3: 39:41

Now we learn it's not like a very family friendly profession. You're busy during all of the times. You wouldn't want to be busy like you're busy all during the summer. You're busy like Saturday, like weekends and evenings. You know things that are hard when you have little kids. But so after that he started working in retail and we moved to Wyoming for a year and then we moved straight to Denver, colorado, and we were there for a couple of years and in all of this time, like we were not making much money, I would say, like we were just barely getting by, and even when my oldest was young, like I, like little little, I remember, like I didn't leave the house because we didn't have money to go do anything, like we were just at home because that was all we could afford. And then we move out and Denver is a very expensive place to live, like very high cost of living and just expensive, and we were there for a few years. But the main reason we made the decision to move home was because they were pricing us out. You know, like rent was outrageous and this was like seven years ago, six, seven years ago. So I'm sure it's even worse now. But like we were, like we can't.

Speaker 3: 40:39

So he quit his job and we came back to Idaho without a job and we that was like our only option at that point, cause we felt like we could not financially stay in Colorado any longer. So we came back to Idaho and, luckily, the job that he was working there they had an opening in our hometown which was just like I guess meant to be, so he started working here and then, anyway, so he's been in retail. He's not in retail anymore, but we've made a lot of sacrifices. I mean, we've never owned a home. Part of that is because we were moving from state to state and we were never with like the way that the job he was working. It was like they were always just like moving him to a bigger store in a bigger store, so we never felt a lot of stability in staying in one place and then we come home without a job, knowing he wasn't going to stay with that company for long.

Speaker 3: 41:28

We never bought a house, and so now we're in this point where interest rates are so high that, like we almost feel like we can't. My parents they are in the process of building a new home and selling their old one, and my dad said something and this was very validating to me, but he was like I don't know how people are buying a house when they don't have a house to sell because, like with the horrible interest rates and again like disclaimers, that we live in a place where the home prices are not as high as a lot of other places, but it's still hard, you know. It still feels like it's almost impossible where we don't have any equity in a home that we can sell. It feels like that is the biggest sacrifice, that like we because I never had an income, we didn't have that and then I also feel like and this is maybe more from like a religious look and something like I have two daughters now, so I think a lot about like what I'm going to encourage them to do when they're older is it's like I think personally like a sacrifice I've made by being a stay at home mom, is the fact that, like I don't have anything to fall back on If me and my husband were to get divorced or if something were to happen to him.

Speaker 3: 42:29

I never felt comfortable. Feeling like we got married so young, I'd never finished college, I didn't have like anything. I felt like I we got married so young I'd never finished college, I didn't have like anything. I felt like I could go back to Like I would have been legitimately screwed. I would have had to go find like a fast food job or like anything that would take me with four little kids and an expensive like it's expensive to raise little kids.

Speaker 3: 42:47

I would have been, and I think I think about that a lot is it's like that's a major sacrifice for women who are stay at home-home moms who don't have and I see that a lot in like my communities. It's women who just don't go to school. They just want to find a husband and they just want to start a family and I think about talking to my daughters about that a lot when they get older is that like I always want them to have, even if they choose to be a stay-at-home mom. That is fabulous and that is fine, and I would never like I'm grateful I've been able to do that and it has worked out for us I would never want them to do that, not having any sort of security blanket of their own and something that they could rely on. Heaven forbid something that happened.

Speaker 2: 43:26

Yeah, I feel like we need more nuanced conversations like this, because everything on social media is either like being a stay-at-home mom is the best thing in the world, like I don't know if you've seen this trend on TikTok now, where these moms are posting like from the pool and they're like me on a random Thursday because I married a provider, or like because I didn't marry a loser yes yes, and then, and like for reference, I was a stay-at-home mom when my kids were born and I freelance now.

Speaker 2: 43:53

So I'm still sort of a stay-at-home mom when my kids were born and I freelance now. So I'm still sort of a stay-at-home mom. I don't really know exactly what to call myself, but I feel like work, part-time, you each work you each work here it's also do the like.

Speaker 1: 44:04

I'm sure your kid just walked in immediate focus. Oh cute.

Speaker 1: 44:07

No, I love that that is like the perfect example of like motherhood trying to get anything done and it's. It's not like you have to do it, you just instinctively, your focus immediately there. What, what do they need? How can I help them? Are they safe? Are, and I and I think that has been something. Being a mom which everyone always talks about too is like the mental load of it and like how you're constantly doing mental gymnastics. How am I going to pay for this summer camp? How am I going to do that? How am I going?

Speaker 2: 44:36

to like.

Speaker 1: 44:37

I'm picking my son up in three hours and I'm so lucky that I found a summer camp last minute. But it's like, okay, I have to work on these modules and how do I get this and how do I get this done. And then we're going away and I need to pack and which now I make my son pack himself. And now this will be our second time. I mean, I pack with him. But I saw someone I think it was not actually golden. She was like yeah, my son's 10 and he packs for me. And I'm like oh, my son's four. I bet he could do this.

Speaker 3: 45:01

And yeah, he like given me opportunity, that's cool yeah.

Speaker 1: 45:05

He packs like weird things, like purses that he doesn't use. But he'll like pack and I'm like you know what? Bring a purse, it's fine. You won't use it and it'll be fine. Make you happy, yeah. But Zara, to your point about the nuanced conversation, I do.

Speaker 2: 45:19

I think there's these really two distinct sets of thought there, where it's either like working is terrible if you have kids and you should only stay at home, or it's like staying at home is so dangerous and it's a terrible idea, and there's nuance right there is there's things?

Speaker 2: 45:33

we can do to protect ourselves. There's things we can do to set ourselves up for a safety net in case things fall apart, and I wish we were having more of those conversations with women instead because, like we've said, like having two demanding jobs is almost impossible when you have kids.

Speaker 1: 45:50

Yeah, unless you have a bunch of family to help.

Speaker 2: 45:52

Yeah, I think most moms just feel like they are.

Speaker 1: 45:55

Yeah totally.

Speaker 2: 45:56

I think they, like everybody, feels like they just have no win choice after no win choice, and I just wish we could give women more nuanced options and teach them how to protect themselves if they want to stay home.

Speaker 3: 46:10

Yeah, I completely agree. I feel like that's never been a conversation I've had with anyone, Like I've never had that conversation where it's like you do need to think about, like you as an individual, as well as your family as a unit.

Speaker 1: 46:23

What does your family think of you? Know you? I imagine being a stay at home mom in the Mormon religion is very common when you started do? You said you left the religion. Are you still active in the church?

Speaker 3: 46:35

I am not actively participating. I don't really believe in it, I don't have any of that Like, but I still want to be sensitive to it because I do have a lot of family members that are very you know, very active in it. So it's kind of an interesting position to be in. I am very lucky in that instance that, like, my family is very supportive and there's like no hard feelings on that way.

Speaker 3: 46:58

But I mean it impacts everything I do. It impacts the way that I was raised, the way that I think about things, the way that like the lens in which I view the world, because it was such a high demand, like immersive religion, if that makes sense if that makes sense.

Speaker 1: 47:16

How do you deal with that? Because we had a friend come over for dinner the other night and the daughter is going to be in a religious school and they are very religious people and I love them so much and the daughter was talking to my son about God and talking to me about going to church and had us pray over our meal, which I'm like great, If you want to pray, I don't pray, but if you want to pray, wonderful, Pray over our food. But how, how do you handle those conversations? Because then my son is like who is God? And I'm like, yeah, I will talk about it one day, Cause I don't know how to have that conversation yet. Like I can't even. And did you have to kind of like, have your kids being around that environment? Have they asked those questions and how do you handle it?

Speaker 3: 47:53

Yeah, yeah, they've asked those questions a lot and I think I think I have a unique perspective because I kind of I saw this TikTok the other day and I sent it to my sisters who are very much in the same kind of experience that I have had. But it's kind of like doesn't everyone just kind of outgrow a religion and it kind of just made us laugh. But I kind of think, like some of those things I think are good for little kids, like giving them some direction or something to bring them peace, is good for little kids. And if I'm kind of in the thought process, if, like, if that makes them feel good, then that's okay. And I like to just like turn around a lot of questions on them and just say like, well, what do you think? Like, how would you feel about that, about that, because I think something growing up Mormon is.

Speaker 3: 48:36

It's like I want my kids to be critical thinkers. I don't ever want them to feel like there is one way to do thing or like like you have to do this to get this or whatever, and so I want them to be critical thinkers. So I like to just turn the questions around on them a lot and just kind of like see where their brain goes, and it's always fascinating. It's always fascinating what the kids will say. Instead of just like kind of feeding them things, I mean I feel like I don't have any answers. If that's one thing growing up Mormon has taught me is that, like I have no answers, you think so much until you don't, and so I never want to teach my kids like. This is what it is. I just want them to be able to be free thinkers and to contemplate things and to be able to think about it, but I don't ever want to like. This is the answer, and this is like the exact truth, because I don't, I don't believe that and I don't know that.

Speaker 1: 49:18

Yeah, I think that's hard, Like he's asked me, cause he's dealt with a lot my son's dealt with a lot of death in his short time, like of people around us, and so I've always been really open with him and my parents and I do the thing. Where do you think? And he was like I don't know. And then he like moves on and he's like let's go play trucks.

Speaker 1: 49:39

But it is one of those things I'm like. I don't know how to answer these things. Do you think there's ever a time that you might end up being the breadwinner and your husband works for you as you scale your business?

Speaker 3: 49:51

And, yeah, honestly, that's the ultimate goal. I we talk about this a lot. I don't feel like my husband because he went to school with kind of like a certain vision in mind, and I feel like this is a pretty common occurrence these days is that people go to school thinking they're doing this and then it doesn't pan out, for whatever reason. He doesn't love his job. Like his job is good, he works for the government, so, like the benefits are fabulous, I think we will be able to have a really hard time leaving. Yeah, like it's like the benefits are so good, so that part will be hard. But like we talk about this all the time that if we could scale this and he could just work alongside with me, whether it was like on the backend or he is the I always joke on my whatnot shows. Is that, like he is the extrovert of our family, like I am not, and so he's the one who has, like a bigger than life personality. It's funny that I'm the one in front of the camera, but like I would love for him to run whatnot shows on his own too, because he would be a natural at it.

Speaker 3: 50:42

So, yeah, we talk about this all the time. If we could get to that place, and I think that is like kind of back to my earlier point. Why why it's hard is like we see so much potential in it that it's it's hard not to just go full send towards that, knowing that it could do so much, I do think. On the other hand, though, I do wonder how long whatnot will be sustainable. I like again, I don't have any like data to back that up, but I do think like it's at a peak right now. Like and maybe live selling will just keep going up and get getting like more mainstream. But it does scare me a little bit to put all of my eggs in one basket In that sense To have him not have any job, us to not have those benefits from a full-time employer.

Speaker 1: 51:27

I mean there's insurance and all of that.

Speaker 2: 51:29

That's important. Yeah, yeah yeah. When you started reselling, did you Were you intentionally trying to pursue it as a career or did you just kind of start doing it as a hobby?

Speaker 3: 51:43

I just did it because I needed something for myself. I needed something that was like this is mine, this is mine, all only mine, and I just like want to do that. And also just because, like it is hard if you I don't know if either of you have been in that place where you're not making any money for your family, it's hard. And I think after a while, that like really started wearing on me.

Speaker 3: 52:04

One in like the fact that, like I saw all of the pressure and like stuff that my husband was holding to provide for us and I wanted to help. I wanted to help like ease that. But also it's just like it feels good to be a person making your own money, and so I more did this as like the fun money, like just let's go in and do this. It's like the extra give us like just let's go in and do this, as like the extra give us like a little bit of like a reprieve from all of that pressure, and knowing that we have like some other sorts of income. I honestly never expected that it would turn into what it did, and I think what not was also really unexpected, because I never had any intention of starting whatnot, like I've had friends in my like TikTok community that I've been doing it a couple of years and I just never thought that would be me.

Speaker 1: 52:44

That also brings me to another question about finances. You all have another stream of income that we haven't even touched on, which is TikTok content creation and being a TikTok creator. Does that also bring in revenue?

Speaker 3: 52:54

for you? Yes, it does. So the interesting I'll kind of touch on two spots of that, because the reason I started WhatNot was because of the TikTok ban. Spots of that. Because the reason I started whatnot was because of the TikTok ban, because so I had been doing. I've been on TikTok since January 2024. So I was about a full year, when you're still new, though.

Speaker 1: 53:10

That's really new.

Speaker 3: 53:12

Yeah, so it has. I think I guess it's been about a year and a half. So when TikTok was going to be banned it had only been a year. Like it was almost exactly a year from when I had started and I was making money on my reselling TikTok through like not not a lot of money like through some brand deals, and I had a couple of high months.

Speaker 3: 53:27

Once I got into the creator rewards program, which is once you have 10,000 followers, tiktok will pay you for views. I had a couple months that I was like, wow, that's crazy. Like I can't believe I made that much money just on views. How much money are we talking? So I made like $1,100 in one month just on views. Wow, which was crazy to me because I was like I didn't even know that was possible. It's like I wasn't doing anything different than I had been doing. It was just like all of a sudden I was able to monetize it and they were just paying me for doing exactly what I had always been doing, and that ebbs and flows Like I don't think. I think most creators would agree that like that is getting worse and worse and they're paying you less and less for views.

Speaker 3: 54:03

But so I also then started at like probably around this time last year. I was like I want to get into TikTok shop and see what I could do there. But that's really hard. Like I feel like with reselling it feels a little less about myself, like it's not as attached to my person I'm not like it's not about my family, like people don't know a lot about my personal life, which I love that. It feels very separated. Also, like it doesn't hurt as much when people have opinions about me because it just feels like a little separated from me.

Speaker 3: 54:31

So I was like how am I supposed to get into TikTok shop? I have to start posting about me at least. And again, I didn't want my kids to be involved in that. So I started trying to get into TikTok shop. I got into TikTok shop, I think around October and that's when I started making a lot of money on TikTok, like a lot of money, and that was all through a lot of money about products. I made $15,000 in December from in commission yeah, just in commission, yeah his face.

Speaker 1: 54:59

I know if you're listening Zara's face. She just looked a little shocked. Yeah, that was I remember that video that you posted about this. It was like a chopping thing, right.

Speaker 3: 55:07

Yeah, so I had it was. The main one that made me a lot of money was a cheese grater. It's still making money me money to this day. I still make money on it every day.

Speaker 2: 55:16

Yeah, I see. I see all these TikToks about things like that, where people will talk about the item that made them the most money, and it's always just the most random thing.

Speaker 3: 55:24

Oh yeah, I had another one that in like one day made me a thousand dollars and it was a little Barbie bag. It was like a pink box. It kind of looked like the bog bags, like the squishy one.

Speaker 2: 55:32

Oh the mini sew one. Yeah, my daughter has that. It's so cute, I mean I like I have two little girls.

Speaker 3: 55:37

They loved it, it was fabulous. But yeah, that one like in one day made me a thousand bucks, which is just why I might have to, just took off that you really should.

Speaker 3: 55:44

I mean, so it's crazy. So I was doing that and I like, obviously in December I made so much money. But the thing is is I was like killing myself. I was posting like five to 10 videos a day and it was December, so it was busy, it was the holidays. I was killing myself and I was really burned out. And then I started panicking and thinking like, wow, I'm making like life-changing money doing TikTok and they're going to ban it, and we had no idea how serious to take that. I mean, now I am much more chill when they're like oh, there's a ban, whatever. But no one knew if that was going to, straight up, be the end of TikTok or what was going to happen. So in my mind I was like, well, I just built this platform.

Speaker 3: 56:20

I have to get my people from TikTok to whatnot if I want to keep making money, because I feel like I would work so hard to build a platform, especially my reselling platform, which it was two different accounts, but I'd work so hard to build my reselling platform.

Speaker 3: 56:32

But I was like if I want to have success on whatnot, I have to take people from TikTok to whatnot. Because if you're on whatnot and you don't have anyone to bring there, it's kind of hard to build a platform. You're just hoping that people see you when they're scrolling and they think you're interesting enough to buy from you. And so I knew that was not going to be the way I was going to do well on whatnot. So I took so that's when I essentially like hardcore left turn pivoted straight into whatnot and I bought my first pallet in January and then we sold it on whatnot and things very quickly were pretty successful, which I feel grateful for.

Speaker 3: 57:08

I kind of expected my first little while on whatnot to be really rough and I would probably lose money, but I knew like that was the investment I had to make in order to grow. So yeah, and I think I think that was like that's where TikTok really came in to be vital for my whatnot business and the reason I'm so successful, I think, still to this day, is because of TikTok and sometimes I feel guilty about that because I'll have people say, like, well, I don't have a, I don't have a following. But the other part of me says but I built that. So, like I worked hard and didn't get paid for a long time to build that. So it's like which one do you want to build?

Speaker 3: 57:42

Do you want to build a TikTok or an Instagram or something like that and then bring your followers over to whatnot, or do you want to build on whatnot and it will take time? Because it's like the same way that TikTok took me a lot of time to build a following that trusted me enough to come to whatnot. So I kind of think it's like I was doing a lot of unpaid work for a long time on TikTok and I just got lucky that people would follow me to whatnot, if that makes sense. But you have to build it somewhere. You have to build it. Whatever platform you decide, you have to build it somewhere.

Speaker 1: 58:10

Yeah, you have to focus, which is hard. I think that's the something we've all talked about at the beginning of this is how do you focus, like when there's so much as a mom or a parent to focus on. But I do think this is specifically a mom problem. I feel like men are. It's easier for them to compartmentalize, like my husband. He works from home but he goes to work and he is at work.

Speaker 2: 58:26

Oh yeah, he goes to the gym and he is at the gym and I'm like what?

Speaker 1: 58:29

And so I've started. Have you ever done this with your husbands, where you start telling them your thoughts in your head? My husband was like you are a psycho Cause. I was like you don't you don't think like this he's like no, I don't have. He doesn't have an inner monologue, though I think he's one of those people he has, like a little bit of an inner monologue.

Speaker 1: 58:47

but yeah, I'm like you don't wake up. And you're like, oh, I have to do this and I have to do that. He's like no, I just go and I brush my teeth and I take a shower. You're like what, what are you talking?

Speaker 3: 58:55

too.

Speaker 2: 58:56

Okay yeah, we were just talking about that today I was like my husband like owns so many tasks in our house but even though he's the one doing them, I'm doing so much delegating around them. Like he handles all this stuff around our kids' swim lessons and like he has the app on his phone and he communicates with them. But I always have to tell him, like can you make sure that you reschedule this class or can you make sure you call and talk to them about canceling? And there's so much of that happening. As a mom, I think that you just can never completely shut it off.

Speaker 3: 59:32

Yeah, I agree.

Speaker 1: 59:33

As I know we're at time, but I have one more question and, zara, I don't know if you have another one before we get into our final, but do you ever have guilt?

Speaker 1: 59:44

Because all three of us in this conversation, our husbands- pay the bills like the main bills, and so how do you like work out whether they're helping with the kids in the evening or the or the weekends? Because I have a lot of guilt about it because my husband participates a lot and I'm always like, well shit, like I got to go hang out with a friend for all day on Saturday this weekend and I felt so much guilt because I always like, well shit, like I got to go hang out with a friend for all day on Saturday this weekend and I felt so much guilt because I'm like, well, he's working and he's now having to do this, but he wanted to take our son to his mom's, but then he's stressed because he doesn't get a break. So how do you all deal with that and do you have that? Do you have that guilt?

Speaker 2: 1:00:22

I do. Okay, sorry, I love that for you. I don't, I don't. I mean my husband would not be able to do his job without me doing what I do in our home. So no, I mean it's, it's very much interdependent. I think that I, you know, I think a lot of, and I think a lot of the TikTok discourse is taking us away from that right. Partnership means interdependence. It means you're on equal footing, your contributions are of equal value.

Speaker 3: 1:00:42

Are you?

Speaker 1: 1:00:43

really good at housework. It's our money. It's our money.

Speaker 2: 1:00:45

Yeah, are you good at I am pretty good at it. I think Okay, but he's also pretty good at it. My husband's a pretty good cook and I have no issue with him hopping in and making dinner. I just don't think him making a lot more money than I do absolves him from any of that.

Speaker 1: 1:01:00

Yeah, I need to channel that, amanda. What about you?

Speaker 3: 1:01:04

So I feel like this is like a really interesting question. I feel like, because I was raised in a religious upbringing, this is really interesting because most women do all the household work and most men do all the providing and there isn't a lot of crossover, and I hope that that is changing. I feel like early in motherhood I didn't, I couldn't ask for what I needed, because I felt like it was my responsibility to be the mom, to be the at home, and then, like, if this stuff wasn't done when my husband got home, I still felt like that was my responsibility because I was home all day. Like what was I doing? And there was that kind of narrative of like but you're home all day, so like you have all the time in the world to do all of the household things and like it should be taken care of because you're home all day. But even I mean we all know that's not how it works with little kids, but so I think that's like really interesting and I think as I've gotten older, I'd like really deconstructed all of that and I don't feel that way at all and I think a lot of it comes down to like.

Speaker 3: 1:01:52

For that he needs to say like, like that is his responsibility. And sometimes I feel like I used to micromanage that and be like you should go do this, you need to do that. And it's like, yeah, and I'm like that's not my responsibility anymore. That is like he I asked for what I need and he is fabulous at meeting me where I'm at and like saying like yes, I got this, I will take it. Like, go, but that also is his responsibility to ask for what he needs. And then, like, I know that I will be the same way that if he needs something, I would do whatever I need to. Like clear my schedule to make sure he can get what he needs.

Speaker 3: 1:02:29

But I did use to carry a lot of that of like let me make sure we're both getting what we need. And then like, but that's too much to hold, it's too much to hold all of that. So, yeah, I do like that is, I feel like he he's good, though. Like he took laundry off my plate, which has been the best thing of my whole life, because laundry was the thing in my existence. Like we have six people in our family and there's so much laundry and he saw that and he was like I'm going to do it. He works from home, so like while he's on a call he can be folding laundry. The best thing that's ever happened to me is him taking laundry off of my plate, you know so.

Speaker 1: 1:02:59

I plate, you know, I don't know. That's an interesting question. I feel like guys aren't as annoyed by laundry Like my husband's always like it's not a big deal and I'm like, but it is, and yeah, I'm so overwhelmed overwhelmed.

Speaker 3: 1:03:08

It's always, it's never ending, never ending.

Speaker 2: 1:03:10

Yeah, never ending. When people talk about inbox zero, I'm like that's fine, but have you ever accomplished hamper zero? I never have.

Speaker 1: 1:03:19

I keep thinking that. I'm going to like today, I'm like I'm going to get it to zero. I'm going to get it to zero and then I'm like now the hamper is already half full and I'm like what is happening? Yeah?

Speaker 1: 1:03:29

And but I guess that's life, right. We're constantly having kids over, and so, like all weekend, there were kids three kids taking a bath in the bath last night, and so now I'm like I just washed all the towels, now it's time for our shells again. Now there's more. We usually wrap up with two questions, but I kind of want to change one of them, because we've talked a lot about reselling and like kind of giving yourself a little bit more financial independence or autonomy. And if you were to give advice to somebody who was like I need to make money or I want to get into reselling, what is like the number one piece of advice you would give them?

Speaker 3: 1:04:07

I would tell them to start selling stuff around their house and to never go into debt for reselling. I would say that like you need to find stuff and then you need to sell and then, once you sell, that that's when you use money to go and buy other stuff and that like then you just let that snowball. Because I can see I mean, Sam, I wonder if you feel this way, but it's like you can hoard so much stuff and like the shopping is the fun part, Like that is the exciting part. But I can see quickly how people would go into debt just buying because of the potential of what they could make and that is so dangerous. So I would say like and like I had someone ask me on TikTok like a month ago.

Speaker 3: 1:04:36

They were like how much debt or how long did it take for you to be profitable? And I'm like I was profitable instantly because I sold stuff from my closet and then I use that money to source and then I just continue to build upon that and I mean I don't have like a really strict strategy when it comes to like I spend this amount of my profit on inventory and then I don't have that Like I put my money aside for taxes and then I just kind of do what feels good in like what I need, inventory wise. But I would say that like you need to just use what you have first and you would be shocked at how much stuff around your house will sell. And also, I think, like on the research side of it, like that really helps you get to know, like what sells and what doesn't, and how fast certain things sell and how fast they don't, without like that pressure of like, oh, I spent a hundred dollars on this item. I need to recoup that cost really quickly.

Speaker 1: 1:05:24

Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, I think that's really good advice. And there's like no entry fee if you're just selling stuff around your house.

Speaker 2: 1:05:30

It's like you need to make money. Sell this dresser.

Speaker 1: 1:05:32

Sell that I need to sell that dresser. That's why I keep referring to that yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:05:39

And then what's a part of parenthood that's brought you unexpected joy? Well, that's a good question.

Speaker 3: 1:05:45

I feel like right now, and maybe it's just because we're in sport mode, but I love watching my kids play sports. I think it is so fun and it's fun for me because, like I have very I have a. My oldest son is like very intense. He is like all in, like he wants to do it. My middle son is. He's so chill and like we're like, do you want to play?

Speaker 3: 1:06:01

He's music and we put them on a team and he's just there to enjoy it and I think like that has been so good for me to just see that like my kids can just like do something fun and like, if they love it, they love it and they're going like all the way in and some of them are just there and happy to be. And I think it's fun to like watch them improve and to be able to cheer them on. It's fun to like watch family come and cheer them on and watch them light up as, as they are, like know that they have support of a lot of people. So maybe that's just the top of my mind, because we have just been in full baseball mode for the last month, but I think that has been like so much fun and I didn't know, I wanted to be a soccer mom, but apparently I do, or a baseball mom, or a football mom, or whatever.

Speaker 1: 1:06:42

So, yeah, that's awesome. It's almost like you're watching them become little people, which is what one of my favorite things is like my son's best friend wanted to FaceTime him last night or yesterday, before we went and played with him, and so there were FaceTiming and nobody really knows what to do. But they're FaceTiming each other and then they're like dancing for each other and it is you?

Speaker 1: 1:07:00

watch you, watch them just become these little humans in like sports, I feel like, is like fully them. They are responsible for it all and it's really cool to see it is.

Speaker 3: 1:07:10

I know I had my son, my oldest son, he's 10. He was on a travel baseball team this year, which is obviously just much more intense, and he loved it, like he thrives. But I looked at one of the other moms one day and they were like just joking around and I'm like, but they're little kids, like we're putting so much pressure on them and but they're little kids, like they're just little 10 year olds. They're just out here having fun and like that's it's so fun just to see that like all the pressure aside, it's like just doesn't really matter. It's like they're just little kids, like they're still only 10. Like people are trying to make 10-year-old or like there's like kids grow up so fast. I feel like 10 is this weird stage. But I'm like he's still just a little kid. He's still just a little kid and I don't know it's just interesting yeah.

Speaker 3: 1:07:56

I think there's some places that don't do scorekeeping anymore so that the parents don't get crazy. Oh, my kids my youngest or my middle two, seven and five they baseball. They didn't keep score so they won every game. That's what they thought.

Speaker 2: 1:08:05

Yeah, they're like we won and I'm like oh great, my kids are in a league that doesn't keep score, but there's this little boy on the team who keeps score the entire game.

Speaker 3: 1:08:15

He's like no, I'm thinking it's so cute yeah it's really cute, I love and so he's like getting everyone.

Speaker 1: 1:08:21

He's like, no, okay, we need to do this because we lost the game or we won. Well, I love it. Well, amanda, you have given us so much of your time. I know you have four kids to get back to reselling business and a whole life, so thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us, and I have a feeling this episode is going to probably come out soon, maybe even next week, just because it is such a timely topic. I think for people with, like, the uncertainty of everything, it actually could really help people.

Speaker 1: 1:08:51

So well, thank you guys so much, yeah, and where can people find you? And we'll link it in the show notes too.

Speaker 3: 1:08:56

Yeah, I appreciate that. I really appreciate you guys. This was so fun. I am on TikTok at Amandacom and thread. Really appreciate you guys. This was so fun. I am on Tik TOK at Amandacom and thread. You can find me on whatnot at common threads LLC. I'm also on Instagram with the same handle. Facebook with the same handle. Youtube I don't really touch but I do have a YouTube channel, so if you wanted to follow me there, you could as well.

Speaker 1: 1:09:15

Awesome, and again we'll link this all in the show notes. I first found solid starts when my son was little. I was spending most of my meals silently screaming into a fork. He had gone from loving tiki masala to gagging on bread yes, bread. And dinner went from a super fun activity to one that was just so tense and unenjoyable. So in this episode we sit down with Kim and Carrie of Solid Starts. They are occupational feeding therapists and developmental experts. Behind the evidence-based magic of solid starts, we talk picky eating, arfid, why toddlers suddenly act like food is poison, and how to keep your sanity when all they want is dino nuggets or, in my case, when they won't even try the dino nuggets. We go deep on parenting grief, being an only child, building community and trying to hold on to the person you were before you became a parent. And if you're wondering if I ended up delivering that sandwich to my son because I overcooked the nuggets, I did, but he was on a field trip, so I sat in the car and I ate the sandwich myself. Welcome to Parenting. We hope you enjoy the episode.

Speaker 1: 1:10:19

Today's guest is Amanda Anderson, not to be confused with Andy Anderson from how to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and she's here to show you how to build a six-figure business from your garage without losing your mind or your kids' chicken nuggets. This is a follow-up episode to our layoff talk because let's be real. This is a follow-up to our layoff episode because let's be real. Whether you were laid off or just over-relying on somebody else's paycheck, amanda's story might light a fire under you.

Speaker 1: 1:10:48

She went from being a stay-at-home mom of four with no income to making her own money, and when I talk about money, I mean like real money. She has made $26 in just one month on whatnot, and back in December she pulled in 15,000 from TikTok shop. So pay attention to this episode if you're looking to earn a little money on the side. We talk about what it was like to grow up Mormon, get married young, start over after a failed business and find something that's just yours without sacrificing the family you built. Amanda was one of the first people I followed when I started reselling, and this conversation feels like such an honest, inspiring pep talk that so many of us need when we're trying to start over. So we hope you love our chat with Amanda of Common Threads.