With Hart

Ep. 2 | The Basement Hustle That Started It All

• Karlee Hart • Season 1 • Episode 2

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In this episode of With Hart, Karlee reflects on the early days of starting Beachkrew and the real challenges of entrepreneurship. She dives into the mindset shifts, failures, and lessons learned while building a brand from scratch, from ironing patches onto hats in her basement to navigating wholesale, pricing, and social media growth. Karlee also emphasizes the importance of taking risks, trusting your instincts, and pushing past the fear of judgment. This episode is an honest look at the messy beginnings of building something meaningful, proving that you don’t need all the answers to start—you just need to begin.

Karlee Hart

Beachkrew Website

With Hart – Real Talk on Entrepreneurship, Brand Building & Business Ownership

Hosted by Karlee Hart, founder of Beachkrew. With Hart dives into the highs, lows, and lessons of building a brand from the ground up. Whether you're a dreamer, doer, or in the thick of scaling your business, this podcast is your go-to for unfiltered insights, mindset shifts, and actionable advice.

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So today we are going to start by going way back to the very beginning of Beachkrew. If you didn't get a chance to listen to the intro episode, that's just kind of an overview of everything going back into my childhood a little bit. The reason behind starting this podcast. But just to kind of give you a quick glimpse once again and recap all of that. I. The journey isn't just about what you're building. It's about who you have to become to make it happen. The mindset, the pressure, the lessons you only can learn by showing up and doing the work. That's what with heart is all about. I'm Karlee, founder of Beachkrew, and I built my brand from the ground up with no roadmap, just a vision and the willingness to figure it out. Time and time again, this podcast is about what it really takes to build a company the growth stages, the risks, the pivots and the messy middle that no one's talking about. So if you're in the thick of it, building something, navigating what's next? Or just here for the real talk. I'm so glad you're here. You're definitely in the right place. Let's get into it. First off, I want to go more into depth about the real challenges and the faces or the adversity that you'll face as an entrepreneur and anybody really who is chasing after a dream. It might be in sports or really anything. You have a place here, you're understood here. And I just want to create that community between all of us. I know there's a lot of aspiring entrepreneurs who are listening today, and I feel so lucky to be able to talk to you guys. And it's exactly why I wanted to start this podcast. I know that when I was growing up and, you know, through many, many hard and good all the stages of my business, I would listen to podcasts and listen to hosts and the people they're interviewing and just be so inspired and also feel very understood and validated in what I was doing and that I was maybe on the right path, or maybe need to switch gears and take a different approach at something. So it's inspired me so much. I want to be able to do the same for all of you as well. So with that being said, let's just absolutely dive back into 2021. I feel like I'm going on a time warp back. But I want to try to think of as many details and as many tips along that early, early stage of business. It's been really fun for me that actually a lot of my like, friends and even some family have started businesses or side hustles, and I love it when they come to me and ask for different things. And, you know, I think everybody in their own entrepreneur personal journey as well, like you're going to figure it out yourself. So even with my friends, I try not to be too overbearing, but I think it's really fun, just that conversation that naturally happens with business, and I want to be able to encourage it even more because I absolutely love talking about it. It's truly my passion is just all things business. And, you know, really going after something and chasing something and all the steps and the adversity and the perspective that you do need to have to be able to face those challenges and to be able to see the growth and the expansion in your life and your business and all of that. So if you didn't listen to the first one, I'll just again give a little recap. So I grew up in new Jersey, southern new Jersey, and I went to the University of Delaware. So I would have gone freshman year in 2018. And then it was my junior year in 2021. Covid had happened the year prior, and I was home a lot more than I had maybe expected. As any other college student thinking that we'll just be on campus all the time. Living it up. But I just was not feeling fulfilled at college. I didn't necessarily feel like I fit in in the environments. Maybe where I was putting myself. I was an athlete my whole life. I always just wanted to be chasing after something, and I couldn't just do anything like half assed. I really always had to go all in. And I think that not being involved in sports and kind of going more of that sorority route, it just wasn't a right fit for me personally. And then Covid kind of gave me a nice excuse to kind of get out of it. So again, I was just home and I kind of was rethinking everything, like, what do I want out of my life? I've always been somebody who is striving for something. I always am having this really big dream, and maybe a lot of people don't understand it, but that's kind of been the fun part too. Is like just being able to prove to myself that I can become who I want to be, and I can show up for myself. And then the confidence does grow, and it's just all those micro habits and macro, that kind of will really like get you in the direction of, you know, going in the route that you want to go, if that makes any sense. But so I was kind of in this like very in-between stage, and I honestly don't remember a whole lot of that year. I remember I was just kind of hanging out with friends from home and just doing a lot of things at home. But I was sitting at my kitchen counter the one day, and I started, I guess, really seeing these trucker hats and the patches, the cute, like, fun, the creations that girls would make, maybe down south especially more. They were popular. So I was like, hey, let me try to bring this up north and just like create a business again, definitely go back and listen to that first episode. But I am very, very self-motivated kind of person. I get really inspired and really fired up about things and I just have so much passion. I think that has always gone into everything I do. So when I'm not passionate about something, I have to find something to be passionate about. So I would throw myself into like so many random little businesses or different activities. But I started seeing the trucker hats turning and I was like, you know what? Let me try to make one myself. So obviously there weren't really my style at the time. This one I'm wearing is actually a custom one, which is really fun to dive into that moving forward. But anyway, so I ordered a couple hats off of Amazon. I ordered a couple patches off of Amazon and YouTube became my best friend. And learning how to grow a business. I will probably say that a million times that between podcasts and YouTube, I definitely learned how to grow and scale each grow and really, honestly, just my life and as a human as well. So my purpose for this podcast is hoping that I can do the same for you guys and just sharing very real time things about business. So between YouTube and I guess podcasts or whatever, I learned how to get these Ironman patches on to the hats. Well, for me at that time, I probably if I looked a little harder, I could have realized that there's like hot presses out there, but maybe even with my budget at the time, which it was like zero, I was like, all right, I'll just figure it out at home. So I used a bowl that I flipped upside down so I can picture like a small ball that you just pull out of your, you know, whatever kitchen and put it on the upside down, put the hat like the foam part on top of the bowl. I have to add a picture to the Instagram or something of that. So that was amazing and funny. Thinking back onto it, then I would put a pillowcase on top of that to basically protect the heat from my mom's like, you know, regular iron. That was like looking and basically there is a picture actually, of me sitting at my dining room table with like four different color hats in front of me, all these patches that I had then collected over time and again that I probably would just get from like Etsy or Amazon and just me plugging away, like putting the pillowcase over. I figured out that I had to get, heat resistant tape and tape the pads on to the hat. I would be rolling like that's a word, but using a roller for each side of the pouch and making sure was perfectly center. And then you're probably wondering, well, who are you making them for? And how are you even getting orders? So funny enough, one of the first girls who ever ordered from me, I literally just went crazy and started following a ton of people like locally. People I didn't know, people I didn't know. On Instagram, I was like, this is kind of embarrassing, which I hate that word because nothing should be embarrassing if you're passionate about it. But let's be real. Like it was uncomfortable, I should say, for me to be following all these people with like 30 followers at the time. Shout out my family and friends who supported Hats by Karlee from day one, and literally was just trying to figure out a way to get like, followers and traction on the page. So one of the first girls who ever order from me actually has become one of my really good friends. And just like such a funny long story, how so many things connected. But I had a notepad, like a a notebook where I would literally write down their order, write down their address, write down the price. I don't even know if I knew to put like the cost of goods sold at that point. And figure out that, my dad definitely help me figure that out along the way, as he knew that was very important to know your numbers. But yeah. So I would I guess the girls would just see the Instagram and then that sample, they would message me and be like, oh my gosh, that's so cute. I would love to have the blue one with the yellow smiley face or whatever. So I'd be like, okay. And I would write in my notebook, blue hat times, why Dot smile like I had all these abbreviations and then I think I sold them for maybe 24 bucks at the time. Again, having no idea about like profit margins to be able to like grow and scale a business and actually make money or anything. I just thought it was fun and I was excited to do it. So as much as I would love to say that it was something that just kind of happened, it quickly, I think became an opportunity for me to start a business that I always had desired to start and like just figure things out as I went on. It was a really fun challenge for me. In the summer, between my junior and senior year of college, I again, I think I was just kind of looking for an out or at least looking for. I don't even want to say it out of college in my degree, because that was something that I really wanted. I was an accounting major and I didn't have the best grades. I wasn't sure if I loved accounting, I had no idea what I was doing, but again, just kind of an insight to the way that my brain works. I knew that to get into the Big four was like a big thing with accounting. So I went directly and I think I like would go to these events and meet with people when they were on campus. So if you're somebody who's striving for a certain career, definitely go to all those events. I would always, like fail too shy maybe, or like anxious at times and not want to show up to them. But I can remember the ones that I did and then I would purposely like email people afterwards. I would maybe connect with them on LinkedIn. I was very crafty, I will say, on how I kind of made my connections in the industries that I wanted to pursue, and that's something that I always encourage people. It's like, if you have a dream and certain you know what your niche is or you know it's direction like start messaging, emailing, connecting, whatever it is like, you have to put yourself in front of the people who are going to get you where you want to go. Because if you're a good person and if you know you have a good head on your shoulders, even if your grades or maybe your overall skills aren't fully up to match like your work ethic, your personality, all of that stuff I truly believe are going to get you to where you need to go. And again, just being open to that overall, like self expansion and just willingness to learn and be curious, that is going to get you so far. So if somebody is in college right now or high school and you're listening to this and you'd love to start a business, but maybe there's a few years before it even would be, you know, an opportunity for you to and you're in class or whatever it is. Like, I don't want to say get involved because I feel like that's so cheesy, but kind of get crafty, get creative and figure out who you need to get connected with or involved with to reach your dreams. Let that also be a message to like. If you're not involved in the right crowds or the right things, you have every reason to step away from them. Give yourself excuses with like workout classes or maybe starting to travel. Whatever it is like. Just know that you're never stuck. I think that that's something that is so important for me, like looking back on college and when I started that business again, I think I was just looking for a way out of a lot of the scenes that I just didn't care for or overall really just wanting more. I don't even want to look down on that experience. I think everything in college again, you're learning from everything that happens. But yeah, so once I started this, you know, little business or a side hustle, I call it, I was like, I'm going all into this. And I remember I was sitting at the counter and studying for finals that, spring semester of my junior year, and my brother was like, home at that time. And I was just kind of like, hey, he's like, what's up? I'm like, I should be studying for finals. But I think I just thought of a business idea and I'll never forget it's such part of my story. He, like, laughed. And I was kind of like, oh, it's like he laughed at my idea. But in hindsight, he clarified. And I knew deep down, like he wasn't laughing at me. He was just like, of course you're, you know, coming up with the business idea instead of studying, like good luck, kid kind of thing. And boy, did I need that. So I think that's the thing to, like, take your dream seriously, but always be able to kind of like, have a laugh. Like, yes, if you have big dreams, like, you're going to have to be able to laugh at yourself a little bit because no one's going to fully understand what you're chasing after. And it's like, hey, you have to be your biggest cheerleader. I mean, let's be real. I think sometimes people are looking a little bit too much for validation from maybe their significant other or their family, their best friends. And trust me, the right people will support you. I have to say, my family is seriously so selfless and supportive, and they all just want to give anything that they can while they're living their own lives. Of course, I try not to bother them too much about things, but you know, for example, my brother has helped me out with so many marketing tools and my dad has helped me out with so many financial things and so many more people that I could name. So that's been a huge blessing, and I'm really thankful for that, because I've definitely had no idea what I've been doing at so many times. But yeah, so kind of just jumping back in, I was following girls on Instagram. I don't even think I knew what boosting, definitely. I don't know what boosting ads were at that time. I still honestly trying to figure out how to work all that game, where we can show up on people's pages, you know more and you get more traction and attention to the business. But it was just super organic, and that's what was so fun for me. And it's how we are so helpful for me to know going forward to, to tell you like you do not need to have all the resources or all the tools to get started. You've probably heard that before, but I will confirm that I had probably like $5 or maybe 20 at the time to buy a couple of hats and a couple of patches. And it was really cool, is I really know I knew kind of what needed to happen on Instagram, which was a lot of a static content and did well, and then just a lot of engagement. So I was commenting on other people's posts. Then they would be like, oh, what's this hat by Karlie account? And click on it and then hopefully DM me. I was building my website out at that time, but I'm not sure. Even I don't think I got that fully set up for a couple of months. So, you know, it's in the heat of the summer. It's beautiful weather out, down by the beach and Ocean City, new Jersey, and I was just cranking out hats. I would drive home to my house up near Philadelphia, and the fully covering the basin at that time, with a ton of hats. I was messaging a bunch of boutiques all over the East Coast being like, hey, I'm Cali, I'm making these hats. I would love to do wholesale because I figured out what that was like via YouTube or a podcast, so I didn't even know they taught me like so. The boutique owners made me realize how wholesale pricing works different from regular pricing. So that was a big lesson that I learned just by like messaging random people on Instagram. Obviously like setting up a Venmo account and then tracking orders, tracking cost, like I said, realizing that maybe Amazon's not the most efficient way to order hats, but maybe I can find some other websites, websites and some other, suppliers that would get me, you know, the equipment that I needed. So again, I think, like, I want to always encourage everyone to start a business, to start a side hustle, but it's a real choice to be extremely curious, want to soak up a ton of knowledge and be able to be that sponge where you want to talk to people, you want to listen to podcasts? You're on YouTube all night. Like that is a passion. I think that's burning inside of you, that carries you way forward because at first it's kind of fun. It's exciting. It's defeating in ways where, you know, oh my gosh, I only have 50 followers on Instagram. But let me remind you, like quality over quantity, it's kind of funny how sometimes, you know, Instagram accounts just skyrocket, which is really cool. But at the same time, like those people versus somebody who has like 100 followers, like maybe your 100 followers are all super plugged in and they're ball and and you're just like really connecting with them. Like that's great. So again, it's kind of like make sure you have your own personal beliefs and goals and you know what matters to you. And you're not just like comparing yourself to other people the whole time. Trust me, I definitely did. But the lesson that I've learned where I'm like, we're on our own page, you know, or we're on our own lane and we can kind of create our own story here. We can define what success means to us. And I think that even the early stages, I was just like, I have so long to go, I don't know what this is about to become, but 100 followers is awesome. These pictures that I'm taking on myself, like on my back porch with hats on which are cringe you for me at this point, but honestly, I look back and I'm like, go girl, go! Like I just didn't care. And for somebody who my whole life I feel like I have cared and kind of maybe shied away from things again, just anxiety that maybe I didn't even know how to pinpoint at that time or even knew what anxiety was, maybe growing up. And now I can look back and be like, oh yeah, I probably was feeling pretty anxious. And that's why I acted this way or whatever. But I think looking back, like it was just one of those things where I was like, let them. First off, we all know that theory that Mel Robbins preaches was just amazing, and I've been using it so much in my day to day because it's so true. Like the fear of other people's opinions cannot, let me repeat, cannot hold you back from anything that you honestly just enjoy, I think. Yeah, chasing a dream, fine. But like, what fires you up? Why would you ever let somebody else kind of dim that light for you? And trust me, you'll know when those people are not really seeing you for who you truly are or encouraging you in the right direction. Again, like you can make those changes in friends or location, college, whatever it is, it's your life. It's your story. You're in the driver's seat and I truly believe that. So just let that be a a side note, you know, with college and everything, I'm not sure exactly who I'm going to be attracting with this episode about dropping out of college, starting a business. I know that's a couple different angles. There, but yeah, let me definitely just say that I had to realize that that at the end of the day, I didn't want my decisions to directly affect other people. But if it was something where I wasn't, you know, intentionally doing anything to them, they would be fine with my decisions, and I would know that I'm following the right path that I'm called to follow. Then I'm making that decision. That has, you know, definitely held true with the decisions that I've made for Beachkrew. But yeah, so that summer I was making hats, I was wholesaling, everyone was DMing me on Instagram. Then I think I had a lot of my hats on my Etsy account, so I was figuring out how to get them all up and uploaded to Etsy. I think we got really busy on Etsy for a little bit with hats by Karlee. And I was just again, I'm just picturing like my basement of my house just covered with hats, covered with patches. I would be like, blast ING, like SoundCloud remixes, as if I maybe was still in college and just having so much fun and like knowing that it didn't matter almost at that point. It wasn't life or death. It wasn't my career at that time. But that was my summer job, and I was just going to go all in and and do something with it. Let me know, because this will be an important part of my story. I ended up that spring. So when I was like kind of finishing my junior year, right before I started Hats by Karlee, I randomly got a job at the Lululemon in Avalon, new Jersey. So it was in the beach town where we're about to open up our third store, which is crazy, actually, just two doors down. So we will get into all of that. But I ended up getting a job there. I can't remember exactly what prompted me to do it, but I was driving like an hour and a half to either from my college campus at Delaware to the shore. Maybe it was like two hours at that point. Even further, I can't remember or like an hour or whatever driving all the way there for like maybe a couple hours shifts, maybe one day a week, two days a week. And what's cool is I love that I had that small experience. It wasn't a beautiful one by any means. I was just starting my business college was. And then like, it was kind of a chaotic period for me, and I think I could have showed up better, than I maybe did, as just like being passionate about, you know, anything I put myself into or whatever. But at the same time, I got a little taste into retail, and that's a big part because obviously now I'm a retail lifestyle brand owner, and we have going on three stores with different pop ups that we've had in different things. And something that that was really cool that has stuck with me is that specific? Lululemon had a very much more like relaxed, go with the flow attitude. They would treat customers with that way. They would treat, you know, each other with that way. And it was just like a cool, again, relaxed, laid back vibe, which I remember. I was really impressed by that because there was other stores that I would go into, which maybe I wouldn't always feel like that, which I do want to say they overall do a great job. I just walked into a store recently and Kiawah Island and I was like really impressed by their retail staff. So shout out, those people. But basically, I think that kind of stuck with me of like, okay, that's definitely the same dynamic. Once I realized that I was, you know, moving in that direction that I wanted to bring forward. And it's also cool, too, because it's just show me so many little things, like the way that, you know, they would have a clipboard with certain things on it, the way they staffed people. They had this person in this area, this person was at the register, like all of those things. I was just mentally taking notes, naturally, not knowing what I was about to get into. And looking back, I was like, wow, like that was three months I think only. But I can kind of see how things should look, how I've kind of emulated things. So look and just knowing where we possibly could get with a little more efficiency and better systems and some upgraded things like chips and tags to track items or whatever, because that's been quite the interesting and fun journey to figure out as inventory and tracking and all that, which we can definitely get into. It's been quite the lesson that we've learned. But yeah, again, I just wanted to reference that because I think that taught me a lot about business and, retail and and clothing and all of that fabrics, quality customer service. I really, you know, took the pros and the cons of the things that I learned and was able to apply it. So definitely. And even my girls coming on now onto our team, I, I told them, like, I want to know from your previous jobs what you liked, what you didn't like, how you want to show up. And I do a lot of vision projects for them as well. Like what's your dream role here? How can I be supporting you even though, you know, obviously they're supporting me and and my mission and my company. So that was really cool. And I'm very glad that I did have that. But yeah. So back to hats by Karlee. I'll never forget my friend and I, I can't remember if I had already. I think I already started designing the sweatshirts, which if you're a very OG, you remember that my first ever graphics were get busy 11 and stay wavy baby. So God knows where I found either of those sayings or how I came up with them. Again, kind of crazy, but some people love them and I still think that they're fun, but get busy 11 I think and stay wavy baby. Probably show you like those two sides of the business that we still carry on today, which is like just lifestyle laid back, but still like active in the community. Like everything you picture when you're in your beach town in the summer, you're probably not posted up on the couch like you are out living life and just under the sun. And like so many good things, I just fully want a Beachkrew to represent that. So I was living at the beach that summer, so that kind of like put that part into the business. And then I think the other part that made me really shape Beachkrew was, you know, the shore if you're from Jersey or nearby, you understand those are like all of our beach towns along the coast. It's called the Jersey shore. Way better than the TV show shows. Not like that. We all know that. Or hopefully you do now you do. But so basically we I was living at the beach and I was just like, okay, like, these beach towns are so cool. People are obsessed with their beach towns, and the apparel that kind of reflects them are very kind of all the same. And, cliche, maybe low quality kind of way where they're just smack in these designs and prints on sweatshirts and getting them out to as many people as they can. And trust me, I respect them. I get it, there's a lot of people in those towns at once, and there's only so much you can do. So maybe do it faster. But I think for me, I was like, okay, I would love to have a sweatshirt that really represents this beach town and this lifestyle that I'm going to have for maybe forever. And maybe I'm passing it down to my kids, and maybe they're passing it down to their kids. We can all probably picture, you know, maybe your dad or whatever your guardians like, crewneck, maybe that's super beat up and distressed. Now it's almost vintage, and to you it's like your favorite thing. It makes you think of the person and the place they experience all of that. I just think that it's fun buying clothes and like tapping into a lifestyle and not just kind of supporting, like the trend or the person or whatever. Like it's about you here at Beachkrew, not us. If that makes sense, like, I don't, I've never really again had any type of following. I'm not an influencer at all, but I was like, let me just do something that's fun and that's creative. It's different. It's kind of solving this issue of like, again, just a lot of beach town apparel being so basic when I feel like every beach town represents so much. So that was kind of the philosophy behind it. And again, just kind of feeling like I wanted this like community vibe to go with the brand. So I'll never forget my friend and I, this is probably like mid July. So I know I'm explaining, but a lot kind of happened. I started making a lot of hats only in like a month or two span of time. I just went so all in. So then I think it was maybe mid to late July, I'll say, and my friend and I were spitballing names back and forth. I mean, I have a list on my phone of all these names that are like so opposite direction and are just so random. And, you know, at the time they were great, whatever, great ideas. But basically we came up with spitballing back and forth like an hour car ride. We were just like, what should I name? You know, this business? Because I wanted to switch from hats by Cali so that I could make sweatshirts, make whatever I wanted, and not be like a hat. You know, titled For the brand. So we were going back and forth beach, the speech that coast waves, probably all this stuff and beach career really came like thinking beach and then you yo, I've just like your crew, like your, you know, group that you go to the beach with the people that you love the most, the memories that you make with those quality people in your life. And then we were like, oh, I'm Cali with the K crew, Lehi. So we're like, what's new crew with a K? So I'll never forget. I ran into my house once I got back from the beach that day and I was like, Mom and Dad, they're sitting on the couch just having a normal day, and I run in and I'm like, I came up with the name. I know what it's going to be. It's going to be Beachkrew. And they're like, great, like, cool. All right. Because I mean, at that time I think they were just, you know, trying to support their daughter doing her thing, but they had no idea that next, I was going to tell them that I felt like I wasn't supposed to go back to college or whatever. So I dropped the stay, wavy baby and then get busy. 11 sweatshirts I will not mention the brand in case anyone else uses them, but I'll just say I did what I could to get sweatshirts out there. But I think in that moment and like with the resources that I had, but at that moment and with my conviction, kind of just about making high quality and really everything that I do, hopefully. But just like this podcast, you know, really going in and making sure it's kind of that quality again over quantity. But I wasn't thrilled with the sweatshirts that maybe we launched at the first time. I thought they looked great. They were were cozy. Some people love them, but deep down to me, I knew that, you know, it wasn't something that I was going to massively grow this business off of or that I would honestly be proud to because it honestly maybe kind of they weren't, you know, super low quality. They were great. They were what I could find at the time. But it was kind of right after that I was like, okay, I really need to do my research. I really need to figure out how to get the best quality sweatshirts that I can. And I just want to say to. With that being said, a lot of people will meet me right away and ask me where I get stuff made. And my answer to them is always, it's been a journey. And I will say that in this podcast and I will say that to you, if you ask me, and I encourage you to say that to other people, like the hustle and the grind of finding out the answers and seeing doors open for your business is the coolest, most encouraging part. No one's going to feed you the answers on a silver platter. The amount of times when I started looking for manufacturers and factories to look for, and I will have an episode specifically about building an apparel brand and really talking about the retail and apparel side. But if somebody had handed me the answers, like, yeah, that would have been awesome. But it's fun for me and I feel so much more pride in what I do and the quality and the clothing that I offer. Knowing how much hard work went into every single piece. And I will say, like the girls, we hire, the people on our teams, the way we're training our staff, even moving forward, that's important that they know that, that they explain that to customers. Like, this has been a wild, crazy, very challenging journey. And if I gave up when I couldn't find the answers I was looking for, there would be no Beachkrew today. So that's why it's very important that I also, and I'm just so excited to talk to you guys about how to kind of face those adversities, where to look for things. And let me tell you, every single supplier, factory manufacturer I found has been through a connection that I've made. I tried to Google everything I could. Honestly, I figured that it probably would bring me to a very, you know, maybe low quality, avenue again. And that just was not what I would do. I honestly did not want to launch anything ever. If I wasn't proud of it. And that's another side of the business that I'm very proud of. I've come up with designs on Canva, or I've tried to like work with people on certain designs, and I look back and I'm like, Thank God I never launched that because I think from day one I don't know how or why, but I just saw that it was a longevity thing. I was playing for the long game and every girl on my team, a lot of people who know me and hear me talk about Beach Girl, like we are maybe just getting to where I want us to be this year. I'm so proud of everything that we have. When I walk in stores and we're like, completely sold out of stuff, I am, I feel like a failure and I'm like petrified. I'm like, oh my gosh, I should have done more reports. I should have knew this was coming. I should have believed in myself more. But once again, it's like I can sit there and beat myself up. Or what I do is I have a five second funeral sometimes, maybe a little bit more than that. Let's be real. I'm not perfect, but like, I try to have a five second funeral and be like, Holy crap, that did not go well. We should have ordered more. I should have trusted my gut. Or maybe I had no idea what was coming. I mean, yes, sometimes you know a big name or post in your store. Sometimes you open a new location and you have no idea what to expect from it. But at the end of the day, like you can only do so much planning, you can only do so much, and it's still going to happen either way. So I think I've always given myself grace of, okay, I can't do this. Perfect, I can only my other point is going to make, which is this one is like, just no to like when you get started, it's kind of up to you. Like, are you going to put raise all this money? Are you going to put a ton of years and effort into launching the brand? And once you have the perfect product, or are you going to kind of start small, which I naturally did just being in college, I had no idea, honestly, what I was getting myself into. I had no idea what I was doing. I didn't know if I'd be able to make apparel that people would be obsessed with, you know, and kind of just threw myself into it. But I think that there's different avenues to go. For me, it was starting small with one hat, with one patch growing to five hats to five patches. Then those the money I made from that went to buying a hundred hats and then, you know, making money in bulk from wholesale. That would help me pay for something. There was times, guys, in the beginning where I was literally trying to buy a coffee and could not even pay because I was waiting for Etsy, you know, dollars to come in. And I knew I had to go buy more hats because those people just ordered more or whatever. Like, it's been such a journey and I'm excited to go more into that side of things, which is, you know, personal, but it's real about the struggles of running a business and, you know, managing finances and knowing what you can afford and you can't. So I just want to kind of wrap that topic up by saying, like, start where you're ready to start with the resources that you have. I'm going to say start small, of course, but hey, maybe you're, you know, able to go and buy a thousand of something and you're super pumped. You know, your market, you have a huge following maybe already, I don't know. There's a lot of different factors that go into that. But get ready for the grind that goes into the beginning of a business because holy crap, if I knew how hard everything would be when I started, I probably, maybe wouldn't have started to be honest and that's where you have to be, I think a little naive, a little delusional and just kind of be like, hey, no matter what comes like, I'm just going to keep learning. And that's exactly what we've done. And that's why I wanted to start this podcast. So back in, you know, that summer I was making hats, I was learning how to wholesale. Then I dove into learning how to build a website again. If I can do it, you can do it. Let me say that, you have to have the passion and the why and your mission behind it, that's for sure. So I started getting these DMs from people, and they were like, just be so nice. I feel like over message. And it just made me like, believe in humanity too. And I was like, this is so fun for me to connect with people. I'm sitting in my basement grinding, making these hats, you know, for them, and they're being so nice. I remember these girls went to Hawaii and something happened with the order. I shipped their hats. I'm pretty sure directly to Hawaii, and they took the coolest pictures for me in their hats in Hawaii. I can think of a bunch of different little things that just gave me so much courage. I was like, no way. Like, this is so cool. It wasn't about the money that I got from them, honestly. It was the experience. And again, like, I know that I was impacting them. They got to have a fun time with their hats and their trip, but they were impacting and really encouraging me. And sometimes, you know, now I can't spend all this time in my stores or else there'd be nothing in here and I would get nothing done. But those moments in the store, truly. And I'm really excited to connect with more of you, maybe, who are just entrepreneurs as well, because that has been such the fire that has been under me. And I've just really, really, really appreciated that as a young entrepreneur. So let me say that, definitely hold on to, you know, those moments and the good things that do come along the way. And, and those are the things that do get you through the hard times besides just knowing that hopefully you're growing and, you know, developing as a person is knowing that there's people who are waiting for you to, you know, come out with something or, or to figure it out. To really, my community and the kind souls that we serve are everything. So that's what I wanted to make sure I was focusing on. I think I had literally changed the beach curl, the name, the beach curl. And the moment that I had my first ever or I think was my second, like, pop up event. And I'll never forget, there was this girl who's also selling sweatshirts, and she was a little more local, but she was Cara Rushing, and I was I remember my parents showed up to the event and it was this weird moment because I think I just wanted them to be so proud of me, which I knew they were. But I knew like, my table wasn't necessarily getting maybe as much traffic or traction as hers or the jewelry girl, or like whoever's wise. And I remember they came up and they got there only maybe an hour or two after it started. And, they were like, by the way, they had driven all the way there. I was like in New York or something, which was so nice of them, like super supportive. And I love them so much. But I remember I almost started crying, and I think it was just this moment of feeling so defeated that my stuff, you know, was new and I didn't maybe market it enough or I'm not doing enough. My is not growing as fast as theirs is or, you know, whatever. But again, in that moment, it was probably exhaustion too. I'm just all these feelings, you know, always being inside of me. And I'm just remembering this as I'm talking to you guys right now. I did not plan to talk about this, but I think there's been so many moments like that where it's like this embarrassed but like, uncomfortable failure type of feeling of like, I'm not the best and that's the moment where you have a very small window where you have to ask yourself, are you going to soak in that and kind of quit and give up because you're not the best? Or are you going to believe in what you're doing so much that you flip that around and make good of that situation and give yourself the lesson and the chance to grow? That's why I just love, love, love about entrepreneurship, especially. And really, anyone who's chasing a dream like you can't really like deal with how your cards are dealt. And I know we wish we could. We don't know why things happen to us, but I truly believe that God uses everything for something. And I also believe that the way we show up and honestly, the hardest moments of our lives and good moments, but, you know, feels like those hard moments approach us the most where it's like, that was my opportunity to, you know, fold up the table. My best friend came with me. We were sweating. It was so hard, and I was so thankful for her being there. And then and I kind of closed up and threw in the towel for really no reason at all besides my own. Just like, you know, I guess the goals I had for myself or whatever at the time and just beating myself up for no reason. But then there was a moment where this girl came, like whipping around the corner of our pop up tent. She was like, oh my gosh, I saw you guys on Instagram. I had to come and get this sweatshirt. And it was like, in that moment, I have no idea what her name is. I wish I connected with her further and who knows if she'll ever be listening to this. But I was like, wow, somebody literally saw our stuff online, thought it was cool enough, or thought our vibe was cool, whatever brought them in. And she drove all the way here. A stranger to get Beach Girl and that line. I saw you on Instagram. I had to come in. I saw you on TikTok. I had to come in. That has been such a massive part of the business, the online marketing, which again, I'll love to get into that. But a lot of hard work went in after that. I think in that moment and a couple others, I realized when I only had two sweatshirts and maybe like two colors and I was just making any which kind of combination of trucker hats that a person wanted, that I was like, okay, you know, I need to start going all in on this social media thing because I think I was, you know, definitely before was at that time where I was like, oh, no, no, no, like, this has power to it. And I really want to figure out how to do it. So I will say, I think it was maybe after, though, that I actually left college, that I started posting on TikTok like five times a day. I would lie in bed every single night and I would make five that I guess I would then post like on spot or the next day. I ended up hiring an intern to keep going with the TikTok and shout out Cara! She's been like my biggest fan and stuff, which is just been so fun to connect again with girls I grew up with, as she was also from my hometown, and just so much support and love again through, you know, her and her friends even at college now, which was cool, but just things like that. Like I'm, you know, obviously just explaining, like I've truly meant the world to me. And I hope that you had those little moments too, with anything, you know, that you're kind of building or growing. It's like, put yourself again in those situations where you can, you know, kind of see the impact in the fruit of your labor and get people's feedback. One, you know, people come to the pop ups. It's like, hey, what color do you want to see next year? See what quotes they love the best? What are they saying about the quality? All of it. Like those are the things that really have fueled beach career. You guys have been so like, interactive, which has been so much fun for us. But yeah, so I will say I don't remember the ins and outs of actually deciding to leave college. What I do remember was that looming, looming, lurking feeling over my head. It was like a depression set in when I realized, I was having so much fun with my business. I was super, super busy again, making a lot of hats and coming up with more beach days at the time. And working on the swirl design and all of that. And I was like, I know I have momentum here, but I'm not necessarily making all this money. It's like like, oh my gosh, you know, like obviously we go to college and hope to get a degree and make connections and go have a career and make money and have a life. And I saw that all flash in front of me where I had two choices, and it was stick to what I was doing, go to the big four. I had secured, an early offer internship and stuff program with them. Through all the connection, connecting and networking that I had done before. But it was kind of just like that was not what I wanted. And I knew in that moment that I was not an accounting star. I probably was not going to love it. But if I was in the big four, I'd want to, you know, try to be a partner or whatever. Like, that was exciting for me to try to really grow to the top. If I could. So I definitely had that hustle that I knew I could do, but it was just this gut feeling where I was like, this is not for me. And maybe it's the location, the campus, the major, whatever. But I knew that I had something and I had to be crazy enough. You know, sometimes you're crazy or whatever is like the worst phrase, but it's kind of a beautiful thing for me of like that. That was just me. That was me accepting to be different and put myself out there and understand that, okay. Yeah. Be crazy for what you love and understand. Like that's okay. I'm here to tell you, like, those are the, you know, feel and the energy that are going to take you on as being so passionate and worked up about the thing that you love. So for me, at the time, yes, it was making sweatshirts. Yes, I was making hats because I loved the business side of it. I loved figuring out how to, you know, build my website. And also though, like at the end of the day, I just thought connecting with you guys in my audience was the coolest thing ever. I was like, okay, if I have these people who are supporting, I know I can find a lot more of people out there that are like it and just, you know, also nurture those relationships that I did have even further. So for me, it was just a real choice of, I don't feel like this environment is the right fit for me to be able to excel as a human being. And again, just kind of being addicted to that, like self expansion. It was one of those moments and it also was I knew I could make it kind of short term in a way. So I had asked my parents, just, you know, being young at the time, it felt like the thing to do was, you know, talk to them about it and talk it over. And I was like, I really want to take one semester off. I did have four and a half years that I needed to do to complete my, accounting credits that I needed and then to study for my KPIs. So I knew if I take one semester off and this does not work out, I can make it up on the back end to have like technically five years, if that makes sense of school before going in with them over that summer. But I was just like, I'm going to take one semester off. Life is short. I gotta go all in. I don't want to regret the decision of not going all in. It's just my personality, honestly. So kind of just knowing my own character and strengths. At that point, I knew I couldn't be like in class and still giving my business my all because let me tell you, it takes so much time and energy. Like yesterday, three years later, I'm on my phone for or my laptop for probably 15 hours straight from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed. And and that's just what it takes. So I'm willing to do that. But I knew that I had the world of opportunity in front of me at that time. So I just think, like, I am so proud of myself, looking back, that I had that ambition and that belief in myself and my ability. But I think I also just believes in the mission in the community and saw the feedback was so positive. I knew I could only I knew I could only get better and do more. And I still feel like that. Honestly, every day today I'm like, oh my gosh, we can touch on these things. And that's what I was kind of saying about launching a business. It's like you have to give yourself grace. You can only do so much at once. So it's kind of knowing that in the moment and again, playing for the long game, do not start a business to think you're going to, you know, quit your job tomorrow or you're going to become rich tomorrow. It is a journey. It's a process. And I feel like so many podcasts that I listened to did really validate that for me, that, you know, to become profitable, to expand, to, grow a team like it has to all happen in its own right time. And that stuff does not happen overnight. So definitely make sure to be, you know, envisioning and and strategizing what you do want, where you do want to go. But you need to see that to be able to get there. It's not going to happen overnight. And there's a lot of baby steps that do get you there. So for me, I was like, all right, one semester off, I'm going to go all in. But let me say this, I did still have a lease with some friends, at that time. So I did end up technically dropping out, but I went to college and was living at my, townhouse with my five other roommates at the time, and I had my desk. I had my Cricut set up. I had my hat, purse set up. I had packing and shipping supplies. I had, you know, the hats, the patches, computer or my laptop at the time. Whatever it was. And I made it work. I was packing and shipping orders. I was coming up a social media post right out of my college bedroom at the time. That's why it's funny. Sometimes when I'm posting about, I'm like, my bedroom, my basement, like my college room. There's just a lot of different pieces that went into everything, but it was only like a month later. I'm pretty sure it was in, September, October, I really had the realization that, again, that was just not the right fit for me, and I was petrified to tell my roommates I felt so bad to have to, like, leave them. It was our senior year. We were all excited, but I had my own dreams and my own goals that I had to pursue at that time and again, I just wanted to go all in. I knew I had this feeling and this intuition that I could make something if I really, really tried and not only put in the hard work, but grow as a person and tapped into, you know, all that self-development kind of stuff. And with that, I was kind of taking care of myself and my mental state, maybe not being at college when at that point I wasn't even a college student. So I was kind of just probably awkward for me to be there. So thankfully, a girl that we knew was able to take my room. I'm so thankful that that worked out, for everyone's sake. And then I ended up going home. So you guys can imagine that transition when you're supposed to be a senior in college and then you're back at home. Everyone thinks you're crazy. I would love to find a better word than crazy, but let's be real. It's true. It was a wild decision at the time, and it just felt right to me. And I will continue to say that as I open up more stories, as I expand to different locations, higher people, like all of people, whatever it is like, it has to make sense to me. It has to align with the vision and the mission of my life, the direction I want, you know, Beachkrew to go in, how I see, you know, hopefully my future shaping up, what I want from my day to day because it all affects I am the heart and the pulse of the business. You know, as the founder and CEO and so many other hats that I wear. So, you know, at that time that was very difficult. And I just wish I could kind of give myself a hug at that time because I remember a lot of, you know, long nights and kind of just crying and asking God like that. I knew it was right, but why? It had to happen in a way that was kind of painful. It's just not an easy experience for really anyone to, again, kind of like back out of a lease and, you know, leave college and put an education that I was so privileged and blessed to have on hold to pursue a dream. So I do just want to say that's a huge part of Beachkrew is kind of that risk that went in and so many others that have followed. I don't just jump out of a plane for no reason. I definitely make sure I kind of joke, like it's an educated guess that something's going to work. But there have been many where I'm like, I have belief in this thing. I don't have all the proof, but I know that I can figure anything out and making sure that I had the support around me at that time. So it was right after I moved all my stuff back home, I was back making hats and, sweatshirts out of my basement. My friends and I just decided to go down to the beach one night in the offseason in the fall. So I guess it was early October of 2022. That or sorry, 2021 still. So then I bumped into a smoothie shop owner and again, there's all these little things that add up. So let me kind of explain this. I was messaging her over that summer asking if I could wholesale or do a pop up at her smoothie shop in Ocean City, new Jersey. It's called Spoon and SIP. So I was like, oh, this place is so cute. I love it. Like, I totally think my have to be such a great fit with her clients and really, really like a fun dynamic to the store. So I am so grateful for her and that experience because we just really hit it off. I literally bumped into her on this random morning in October. After that summer had passed. We she was interested in the wholesale, but we didn't end up making it work. The summer down the shore is just crazy. There's a lot going on. But anyways. So I bumped into her that morning and I was like, hey, like, are you so and so? Like, I'm Karlee and you know, I was messaging you this summer, like, just so, like random, but kind of just throwing myself out there. My friend was ready to leave. My other friend was in the car and I was like, let me, you know, talk to her. I'm really glad I got to bump into her right now. So again, she was great. She is such a dreamer and go getter as well. So she was like super young, just like me. And we hit it off in that way. And she was like, so funny. I actually think we should fully sell like retail in here. I think that could be a really fun, dynamic, like the sip and the shop aspect, which I was fired up for. So we ended up standing there on spot that random morning, like a week after I left college. Talked about how Beachkrew could set up on a wall space that probably was like ten, maybe to 15ft. I can't do the math wide. I went in and I got poles built and my sign, she helped me make, actually, for, you know, our Beachkrew logo to be in her store. And a lot happened after that. So I think something that I'll kind of wrap up that story. I'm sure there's a million more, you know, granular things I could go into again, such as, like actually building a website or, you know, the thoughts that did go into certain things, building, you know, the engaging clients and the social media aspect of branding and all of that, that I worked really hard and put a lot of time and energy into. But I'll wrap all of that up to say, every decision that I have made with Beachkrew, no matter how big or small. Again, it always felt right to me, and I think it was just that momentum. I was always moving the needle and I was always trying to figure out even where to thread the needle and where to, you know, poke at this angle. Got to understand the direction that I wanted to go in and how I thought I could get there. So whether it was popping in on random stores and talking to them or asking, you know, certain people, to maybe grab coffee, doing pop ups at places that then connected us with someone. So many things have been a part of this journey, but there's always that momentum and then the resilience, you know, that went kind of hand in hand. I was like, I can't get over this. And then, oh, look, I went over that bump. I got over that hurdle. And now here was this opportunity. And that just I never looked back. I never really even kind of thought about the fact that I don't have my college degree too much because I was so busy doing what I was doing and really chasing after, you know, growing an apparel company that has really awesome graphics, really high quality stuff, totally gives back to the community. And that being the most important aspect to me. I mean, there's a million things that go into all of those things. And a big, you know, hustle has been making sure that our quality is only ever getting better and we're only ever growing and expanding. So, so many little things go into that. And again, I kind of thank the Karlee at that age who was so, naive to think that she could do something because I have been able to prove that to myself and showing up for myself, making those decisions has only given me so much confidence to now make the next one again. It's like you get over that hurdle and then there's the next thing, but then there's the next hurdle. Like it only gets harder, but you get stronger. And I've seen that. I've seen it in my team. I've seen it in the girls, like Leah, who has been with me for years now and came with me right after college. She was my intern. Like, it's so cool to see when you really plug into somebody and believe in somebody, or you really plug in and believe in something that you're doing, you're going to see those little things add up. And I would just encourage you, like, if you're in the grind of your business right now, do not let the hard times faze you. I know they're going to, but you have to see what can I learn from this moment that is going to put me in the right direction? Because give yourself credit like you didn't have all the knowledge and resources then that you do now. So it's like continue to grab them. Always preference that and that way of like oh shoot. Not like, oh, you know, we messed up on this angle or this thing. We didn't do it right. Well now you can. And that's the way that, you know we approach things and beach career. That's the way that I approach everything in my life. It's like, okay, I have to get myself credit. We just did that however we thought we could. We were growing really fast. And, you know, I was running really headfirst towards a lot of dreams and goals too. I maybe could have done things a little bit slower or steadier. But, you know, I've had the support of my family and my friends. My friends have been the ones who are models for the past three years. Most of the time, I've been the one taking the pictures half the time, like, you just have to make it work and again, we'll go into so much of this. I hope this was a good, you know, kind of story of how I started and hopefully encouraged any of you guys to make the leap that you have to make or just trust in yourself and believe in yourself a little bit more than you are now because you're so capable. I have so much imposter syndrome. Trust me, even thinking in my brain that I'm sitting here talking to you and this will go live, it's definitely uncomfortable for me, but I hope that the reward of knowing that I inspired or encouraged any of you guys is way greater than the fear that I have of sitting here and wondering what the heck I'm looking like talking right now. So, thank you guys so much for tuning in. Please let me know what you want me to cover next. I have a few ideas of some things I'm really excited to talk about to help you grow your life and your business. And again, just be really granular about all those things that do occur and happen. And let's just grow together. I'm totally in the thick of all my decisions and some very hard moments I'm facing right now. That I would love to chat about. And again, yeah, thanks so much for tuning in. I hope that this was helpful and let me know what you want to hear next. That's it for today's episode of With Heart. But I don't want this conversation to end here. Tell me what stuck with you? What hit home, what do you want to hear more about, or what you're working through right now? Send me a message. Share this with someone who needs a or let me know what I should talk about next. We're all figuring this out as we go, and I'm right here with you. I can't wait to chat again next time. Thank you so much for tuning in for.