She Opened a Boutique With No Degree or Business Plan | India Davis

India Socials:
@indiaa_davis
https://shoppejml.com/

For Profit Links:
https://matthewpearce.biz/
https://www.instagram.com/forprofitpod/

India Davis never went to business school, had no formal business background, and opened her boutique without a traditional business plan. She simply believed she could do it—and got to work.

In this episode of the For Profit Podcast, Matthew Pierce sits down with his lifelong childhood friend to discuss India’s journey from helping at her grandmother’s snowball stand to becoming the co-owner of Jolie & Myrtle Boutique in Donaldsonville, Louisiana.

India shares how being raised by her grandparents shaped her work ethic, why she refuses to see herself as a victim, and how years of side hustles prepared her to take the biggest risk of her career. She also takes us behind the scenes of sourcing products at the Dallas Market, building a storefront from scratch, navigating customer feedback, and opening a thriving local business in only a few months.

This conversation is for anyone who has a dream but feels unqualified, unprepared, or afraid to begin.

In this episode:

The childhood experiences that created India’s work ethic
Choosing responsibility instead of a victim mindset
The role her husband and family played in her journey
How Jolie & Myrtle Boutique began
Opening a storefront without a formal business plan
What it is really like to source boutique inventory
Serving a small town without overcharging customers
Learning from the market and adapting quickly
Building a business while raising a family
Why profit means more than money

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Know someone in Louisiana doing incredible work? Share their name in the comments so we can consider inviting them onto the show.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and meeting India Davis
01:44 Learning business at her grandmother’s snowball stand
06:26 Refusing to adopt a victim mindset
09:09 Work ethic, side hustles and her husband’s support
12:31 How Jolie & Myrtle Boutique began
16:30 Opening a store without a business plan
17:23 Buying inventory at the Dallas Market
20:14 Advice for small-town dreamers
24:28 Building the store, opening day and early growth
33:38 Routines, mentors and what profit really means

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Hey guys, before we get started, I've got a quick favor to ask. I need you to like, subscribe, and share this podcast if you feel you're getting value from it. That's how we're going to get these conversations in front of more people. And just as important, if not more important, is your feedback. The good, the bad, the ugly. I want the critical information on how we can make this podcast better for you and deliver value every time. And if you know somebody in Louisiana who's doing big things in their field, industry, or business, please drop their name in the comments. We'd love to have the opportunity to bring them on the show. At the end of the day, this is all about the youth of Louisiana and putting local leaders in front of them and giving them something real to learn from. Now let's get it. What's up, everybody? It's your host for the For-Profit Podcast, Matthew Pierce, and I am so excited to introduce my next guest, uh, one of my lifelong childhood friends, Miss India Trapnier Davis. India, why don't you tell the audience who you are and where you're from?

SPEAKER_00 1:10

All right. I am India. I am from Donatinville, where me and Fro grew up together. Went to school there.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

You all know Fro is one of my nicknames, one of the many.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

I guess nobody except for people that you went to school was gonna know that, huh?

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

All right. So I still live in Donatinville, have two kids, um, a great husband, and I now own a boutique.

SPEAKER_01 1:33

And that's how she found her way to the For-Profit Podcast. She is now a business owner and entrepreneur. Um, but you you were that very early in life. Let's talk a little bit about our childhood, your childhood, um, and where that entrepreneurial, that hardworking spirit uh came from.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Perfect. So uh um I was raised with my grandparents, um, and she actually, my grandmother, had a uh snowball stand. So started in there um after school, all summers, stuff like that, slinging snowballs. Slinging snowballs, hooking my boy up with some extra juice.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Extra juice, India, put extra juice on our snowballs. Come on, hook it up, hook it up. Yeah, Miss Bobby Jean. I mean, she was she was so strict with us with the boys in the neighborhood. Like I remember her stern talking. How I can hear her voice now. God rest her soul. We love her, and you know, she's in heaven right now with Papa Tony, and uh, but no, I just we grew up a few blocks away from one another. We have uh another mutual friend, uh old Tanner Tusa, whose grandparents lived on the other side of you a few blocks away, and we would kind of all converge in the middle at grandma's hospital. I was the middle. Yeah, she was the middle. So um, yeah, so growing up, um, had your grandmother uh what what was it that your grandfather did for work? Was he self-employed or no?

SPEAKER_00 3:04

He was um I don't I don't even know what his title was, but he was with PCS Nitrogen. Okay. Um one of the refineries, yeah. Yeah, just hired. Maybe that, yeah. But I mean that's where he he was there for as long as I knew. So he retired when, you know, and um a lot of the hazmat. He was part of the hazmat team and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

So and Bobby Jean, she she always had her own business, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:31

She did hair at one point, she had to snowball stand, what no, just the snowball stand, but she also sold like circuly candles on the side, like at the house, the hustler stuff like that. Yeah, but she actually um worked for Cliff Uso.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

Okay, State Forum.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

State Forum.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Cliff has been on the podcast, so he's one of the things.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

I saw that, yeah. So um, yeah, she helped with um Jennifer and and Cliff a lot for Mr. Cliff and stuff like that. I all the stories she would say, tell us about that, helping them after school and stuff. Um, but she not only did she help at State Forum, she did Uso's funeral home.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

She was a bookkeeper there.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:10

So like after school sometimes, um some days or most days before middle school sports started, like primary school, going there, and um, if she would print the prayer cards, they're already perforated. So I would be the one to like bend them up, tear them apart, stick them, you know.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

And this was in elementary school.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Elementary school.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

Well, do you remember the first summer you went to work for the snowball stand? Was it in middle school or were you working earlier than that?

SPEAKER_00 4:38

I'm sure it was middle school. I don't I mean, in there probably helping the high schooler she had in there. Yeah. You know, because she um had a select few of the high school girls that would work it, and I would go in there and, you know, chit-chat with them and help them feel cool because I was in there with the high schoolers selling snowballs.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Yeah, you know? Heck yeah, heck yeah. What did you learn, like I guess like humble beginnings in in business and uh, you know, working at such a young age? What are some of the things you remember that Bobby Jean taught you?

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Um, I feel like even though she had those high schools in there, she was in there. She was in and out, in and out, in and out. So I feel like um probably one of the things she's instilled in me is like, you still have to do the work.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

You still need to be in there. Yeah. You know, she would go inside, maybe put supper on or something, but she'd be back in there. Yeah. You know, looking at looking at the the syrup levels or you know, need if this needs to be made or we need to order some more of this product.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

Like you said, the syrup levels are getting low. Because Lil Matthew, Lil' Fro's coming over asking for extra juice and not paying for extra juice. Correct. Tanner getting the condensed milk. And Tanner getting a condensed milk. He'll put a half a can on a snowball, boy. And that you know what, Tanner is so funny because he's the only person I know of just put just mana on a sandwich.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

I was thinking about him the other night. We were talking about my what? We were talking about it, and I'm the only person he'd probably eat the sandwich just mayonnaise.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

That is just disgusting. Yeah, so for any manaz lovers out there, we don't get you. We don't understand it. I got a ham sandwich.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

I eat a ham sandwich, mixed a little bit of mustard and mayonnaise up together.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Yeah, but not just man ez.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

No, he would get extra male. Yeah. Like instead of Big Mac sauce, extra male.

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Yeah, yeah. Crazy, crazy, crazy. So um I know uh you were raised primarily by your grandparents. Your parents, uh, when do you recall when what age did they split?

SPEAKER_00 6:34

I believe I was 10.

SPEAKER_01 6:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

Eleven when they divorced.

SPEAKER_01 6:37

And your dad still lived in Donaldsonville. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

And my mom moved back to Texas. Yeah, yeah. So well for a little while she was in like Gonzalez area and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

I just remember when I was younger. I like, I mean, I knew you had a mom, everybody's got a mom, but um, you know, uh we were I was guessed never around when she would come into town to visit.

SPEAKER_00 6:55

Right.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

But I knew your daddy, right? Mr. Till. Oh shit. He was tough. Yeah. What was it like living under his roof? He he he My grandpa, right?

SPEAKER_00 7:05

That's your mom out.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Both. Big Tony, little Tony.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

Well you talk about the last Tony, but I mean, primarily I was with my grandfather and grandmother, you know. But um, of course, dad's more lenient with their their daughter. So my dad was never Of course I wasn't a problem child either though. No. I had something to look up to, you know, what not to do. But um, I never my dad was, you know, dad.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

You know, I can't, you know, but I never had it did anything to be disciplined besides, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 7:41

I know. You were never in trouble as a kid. Like a lot of times you hear uh people, you know, who maybe go to live with their grandparents or their parents are divorced and they kind of lash out. I mean, you just you always were trying to do the right things. Like I just remember you working, paying your way in high school. Yeah. I know Matt Davis would get a little excited about this conversation. Uh, you know, you're you're you want to talk about that? How your brother, your brother seemed to get all the breaks, but they they wanted you to work hard and earn everything you had.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Which and look, I I have to absolutely I have never been the one to play victim.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

Hell no.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

You know, I've never been that type of I've never been that. And I feel like maybe that's why I've I've succeeded in such things in life and stuff like that, and my life looks a lot different than his life. Yeah, you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

Um I think that's one of the things I get in chills thinking about it. Um, you know, I know several cases of this, um, like siblings that are close in age, and you know, one goes left, one goes right. Um, and it's life is all a matter of perspective. Um, and like you said, not playing victim, right? Yeah, is uh, you know, how could I make the best of the situation instead of why is this situation happening to me?

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

At some point it's a choice. It's a choice. Like everything in life, every day we make choices.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

You know, love him to death, even though he may not think I love him.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:04

But I do, and I care about him, think about him all the time.

SPEAKER_01 9:06

Yeah. And I know that's what built you for this, for this entrepreneurial journey. I was so excited for you when I found out because you've always been a hustler, you've always had something on the side, making the yard signs a decor for the different holidays, Easter, Thanksgiving, the wreaths on the front doors. Um, and you always had a job. You were never afraid to work. And your husband is a damn hard worker, and he he has a great job, earns a great living.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

Yes, best provider.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

The best work ethic ever.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Can't say anything bad about that man.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

Yeah, no. And I know he loves and supports you and all that you do.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

Yeah, for sure. I mean, there's not the only thing he tells me no far is for a dang pool. He won't let you get the swimming pool. He'll not let me get the swimming pool. He built that damn shop in the backyard, though, huh? But that shop got a lot of my stuff in it.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

They got a lot of your stuff. Oh, shoot.

SPEAKER_00 10:00

So I can't complain about the shop. I don't look. He can do and have whatever he wants to have. He has worked his tail off, his entire, you know, even in high school, same thing.

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Y'all are very similar, like both hard workers, both kind of come from a similar background, like families that, you know, mom and dad had split. Um, I know his grandmother was a big influence in his life. Uh, but y'all both refuse to play victim. Yep. And hard work is gonna get us ahead. Doing the right things and hard work. Because Matthew, I mean he's a few years older than me. I'm a year older than you in school. Uh, he was never in trouble. He was never a trouble kid. Uh, never got in trouble with the law, never, never like put out of school or anything like that. Same with you. Um, and both of y'all good athletes, too. Matthew is a good baseball player coming up, and you played just about anything. Uh anything that had a cool set of shoes to go with it, right?

SPEAKER_00 10:52

I had them shocked, but Mikey shocks. That was my shoe.

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

I probably had every color. I you had every color.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

When you had high school, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

When them air max came out?

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Yep. Air Max. Um, no, that's that's beautiful. When two people like-minded, especially when it comes to work ethic and doing things the right way, come together. Um, what does that support meant to you when you decided to go to Matthew and say, like, hey, I think I will go all in on this business thing. I'm not gonna be doing this on the side. Like, this is gonna be storefront. We're gonna have some business cost and overhead.

SPEAKER_00 11:31

But I could let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

He has never been apprehensive in any way. Um at least didn't tell me. Now, in his mind, I'm sure, because his mind don't stop neither. I'm sure he has thought about every which way this will go good or go south. Go good or go bad.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:53

But yeah, he he's been he's my everything.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

He is. He is, he allowed me to, and I say allowed me to, but you know what I'm saying. He I um always told him before when we got married, like, God, I would love to stay home raise my kids. And he made that happen.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

Yeah, I know you got to spend a lot of time at home, and that's where the side hustles.

SPEAKER_00 12:15

That's when, yep, I was like, Oh, I can do this. I can yeah, I'll pick up, I'll make some um Easter eggs and some bunny yard signs and everything. That always just went so well. So yeah, it was always I mean, he backs me with everything.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Yeah. So tell so tell me a little bit about Jolie and Myrtle Lane boutique. Um, I know you were working for a boutique.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

We were housed, yeah. So it was like a collab in the one up the street. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

So this is when you went back to work. I know you had done a few different jobs, like you were working for Williamson Eye Center.

SPEAKER_00 12:50

Yep, Williamson Eye Center.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

And then you went uh go see Dr.

SPEAKER_00 12:54

Blake Williamson, get you LASIK.

SPEAKER_01 12:56

Get your LASIK. He's not, he's not uh, he's not sponsoring the podcast yet, but maybe we'll show him this clip and Dr. Blake, you need to sponsor us.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

He would probably come sit in here. He does podcasts. He does that.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Um, I don't know him. I mean, we're very dependent on our guests. I've run this podcast based on the people I admire in my life, the people who I think who have achieved some success uh or some level of success and are aspiring to be the best in whatever it is that they're pursuing. Um the whole mission behind this podcast is using local people to inspire the next local youth, right? The next generation. Um, there's so many people out there who have podcasts. Uh, I really hate the thought of um idolizing celebrities. You know, there's an amazing life that's so much more attainable um through local inspiration, you know. And so that's what my mission is. It's it's really a passion project of mine um to do this with people that I've come to know. Yeah, you know I've never met a stranger, right? No.

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

Most of the people on this podcast I met, you know, over the last several years and me being in a new place.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Right. And so that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 14:09

No, uh, so talk about get back to the boutique.

SPEAKER_00 14:11

So you went tell us when you went to work for so Left Williamson i Center last February, March area. Uh went into this um storefront on the Avenue. Yeah. Um worked there for a while. Um, and then we just went we had different ideas. We wanted different things. Different vision. Different vision, yeah. So I um the girl that's actually in there right now, that I'm with my partner now.

SPEAKER_01 14:43

I was like, who's your business partner?

SPEAKER_00 14:45

Renee Sterling.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Renee Sterling. Shout out Renee.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

She's actually from Baton Rouge.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

She's from Baton Rouge, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

She is from Bat from Baton Rouge, her and her husband.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Um, anyways, I'll I'll tell her how we met.

SPEAKER_01 14:57

We'll definitely get a joint episode in the future.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Yeah. So that's how I met Renee at the co at the other storefront. And um her husband works for the Zarangs in town.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

And she had a children's um online boutique, and she wanted to get like her stuff in a storefront. I was like, perfect. We don't have any of that.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

That would be great. So she had the angle from the the small children's clothes and things like that. Yep. Toddlers all the way up to like elementary, middle school stuff.

SPEAKER_00 15:29

Yep. So she came in, it was great. You know, the owner, we just different visions. Yeah, no, no hard feelings. Yeah, you know, um we learn from everybody. Very thankful for her even allowing me to come into her store, you know?

SPEAKER_01 15:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

So I just told her and I was like, look, I'm thinking about gonna go ahead and do someone. She was like, Well, I'm coming.

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 15:52

So we found a place.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

And so this was like you started working for the other boutique in February or March.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Yeah. It was the old Bank of Donna. It was doing 1892.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Goodness.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

The man that that we leased from, he um re um redid it into an amazing. I mean, you've been in there. Yeah, yeah. It looked amazing.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

I was at the ribbon cutting ceremony.

SPEAKER_00 16:20

Show was. Came out to support my people. Brought him a little crew.

SPEAKER_01 16:24

Yep. I'm always gonna support.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

He you do always support. So, yeah. So jumped in head first. No business plan.

unknown 16:33

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Nothing I said, I'm doing this.

SPEAKER_01 16:35

Yeah, just just hard work and I'm gonna figure it out. And you got a husband who's gonna make sure you figure it out.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

So I I love talking to you about this one aspect of a boutique and a storefront place. So I took a uh class in college, fashion merchandising and marketing, and uh I was very fortunate to go um to a professor who was a buyer for Dillard's Dillard's. So he took us on a field trip to Dallas and we got to go see the World Trade Center in Dallas. That's your favorite place. So let's talk a little bit about World Trade Center experience for those of who don't who don't know retail and like what does it look like to outfit a store um with inventory? So talk about that because I know about that from my my academic background and my uh major in business and marketing.

SPEAKER_00 17:22

So yeah. So I have two boys. Yeah. And my main focus was to, I wanted to do men's and boys clothing. So that was my first, that was my check on my when we went to Dallas Market.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

That was the wish list.

SPEAKER_00 17:41

This is what I'm going in for. Burley Bows hot and popping. We're going in there first. Yeah. So like when you go in there and you're looking at all of their new Describe World Market.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

People don't know what this is that we're talking about.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

I mean, it's a hundred seventeen floors of straight stores.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

Yeah, like it looks like the mall of Louisiana.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

It could be a whole showroom. It's the Mall Louisiana Times.

SPEAKER_01 18:07

17 floors up.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

And it's it's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

It's all wholesalers and vendors who provide products to all retailers throughout the entire world and the country.

SPEAKER_00 18:17

Yep. Um I mean, you see all every single type of person you could think of walking in. It's just so awesome to just be around it all.

SPEAKER_01 18:26

Yeah, that's what I wanted you to. I love the excitement on your face. Because I remember my mind was blown. I never had a vision for doing something like that. Yeah. But when it's so funny because I know about it. I've been to a World Trade Center. So yeah, just to I love that.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

So yeah, so like from clothing. So going there and you're looking at all these clothing and you're feeling the fabrics and you're feeling looking at their new what what's what's the spring drop? What's the fall drop? You know, and you know, I was going in there for my home decor and um the men's line. So like all the ribbons, all the different types of ribbon. That's so overwhelming to walk in there though, because it's, you know, a thousand different shapes, sizes, colors. First time I walked in there, and if we're neighbors right here, she'd look at me and smile. First time we walked into the ribbon showroom, I was like, no, we got to, we gotta walk out. Information. We're gonna come back tomorrow when we gotta when I gotta clear mine because there's no way.

SPEAKER_01 19:25

Whole new world.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

Oh my gosh, it's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

And for those of you who don't know, India's uh we said it earlier, but from Donovanville, like me, maybe five or six thousand people. So you getting out to experience something like that, and I know you've traveled, but there's just so many different levels to life and and and how business happens and how money is made, and and like what would you what were you feeling in those moments and when you were in such a big place, like knowing where you came from, how did that feel?

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Well, if you excited, nervous, what? I felt like damn, I did it.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

I love that.

SPEAKER_00 19:59

Like I did it.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

I'm so proud of you.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

You know, and or we did it, you know. It's crazy. It's crazy to look at that. Overwhelming, a hundred percent, but the overwhelming feeling of like let's go, girl.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

What would you tell the next little girl? The next little girl who maybe maybe's coming from the the split family, maybe he's being raised by the grandparents, maybe feels like there's not a future for her.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

Just do it. Just do it. You you if you think about it, put your mind to it, just do it. Yeah, just go for it. I'm I'm telling you, I have no business background. I did not go to college.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

I didn't. I have my husband who is a a brain genius of any type of money on the five. He's finance.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

He's being as a bean counter.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Absolutely, absolutely. So I have him uh b uh backing me all the time, but like You're a dream. We were, yeah. A small town dream, lit like literally. And I've always wanted to give back to my community or like provide, and especially as I had kid as I got older, like kids and doing all of the the decor or our wreaths and stuff, and going to like these other places like in Gonzales or Baton Rouge and looking at the markup and I was like, this is this is this is crazy.

SPEAKER_01 21:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

I can do this for a fraction of it. Still, you know, make a good living. Still, yeah, still doing my 50%, not a hundred and a hundred and twenty percent what other these other places, you know. The markup hydrangea stem, I'm not going in there and paying twenty dollars for one when you know you know what it costs, yeah. Yeah. I was like, Oh no. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

I can do this. Yeah. And man, I just I you Think, and we talked about it today. Uh, India came into town, she was at my B I uh chapter meeting. I actually gave the feature presentation. She uh she brought the waterworks and she made me, you know, get emotional. Yeah, but um I I'm just really big on just giving more than you ask in return and just that go giver, one of my favorite books, very short book, 120, 140 pages.

SPEAKER_00 22:22

I wrote it down in my thing. I'm gonna go on Amazon.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

Yeah, but just over-delivering in value what you ask in price, and then your compensation is based on how many people you can serve, yep, and at what level you can serve them, how well you serve them. And that's what determines what you make.

SPEAKER_00 22:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

And so you got it naturally, you know.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

My mama always said you can sell ice, an igloo, what is it, ice to Eskimo?

SPEAKER_01 22:51

Yeah, yeah, ice to Eskimo.

SPEAKER_00 22:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:53

But I just w when you talk about you know, giving back to our small community and and doing something for us, having something in Donaldsonville that they don't have to travel for. Um, and y'all have an online presence. So you can, if you live in Baton Rouge, you could get these same great products uh you know for less at a local boutique and you can order online so they can receive those savings as well.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

We've had a lot, our presence on the on online has been absolutely incredible, like out-of-state purchases, bro.

SPEAKER_01 23:24

Really?

SPEAKER_00 23:24

Yeah, a lot.

SPEAKER_01 23:26

A lot of cool.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

It's great. It's been so great. It's been so great. It's better than what I expected.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

I didn't expect to fall flat on my face. Okay, it's not an option. Yeah. But I didn't expect this good so soon.

SPEAKER_01 23:43

But when you sow good, you get good in return, right? I mean, the Bible tells us that. I mean, me and you are both Catholics, Christians. Um, we're trying to be the light in the world and do good things. Um, and I think when you put that foot forward, it's gonna come back tenfold every time. Um I mean, you saw that today in our meeting. I mean, just like I never imagined I would have grown that group to like that and just like you know, that was awesome to see, you know, I mean you were pulling tables in there to for more people. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

That was great. It was great to see you, you know, in your element, but still you.

SPEAKER_01 24:16

Yeah. Oh, I'm off.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

You've never changed.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

No.

SPEAKER_00 24:19

Not once.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:21

Not once.

SPEAKER_01 24:21

I'm learning new things, but I'm I still try to be authentic.

SPEAKER_00 24:24

If we're not learning new things, then right. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

All right, so let's get back to it. So let's get let's get to the uh ribbon cutting ceremony. So y'all went to a World Trade Center, y'all got the product, we got the pack. Let's go back and sling some product.

SPEAKER_00 24:39

So walked in, I mean, we had to literally, I think I did what the ribbon cutting August 16th or something like that. We did it.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

Worked for a boutique in February or March, and by August opened our own storefront with a partner. Yes. With Renee.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

With Renee, nay, nay.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

That's what is that four or five months?

SPEAKER_00 24:59

Yeah. If and in between that, you're picking out fixtures because we are walking into a blank canvas. Yeah, that's right. There's nothing on the walls.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

There's nothing. So we're loving nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Matthew and Mr. Paul went to Vale Plat to get this huge our our checkout table, yeah. Desk. Um, that's where we got that from. It was a custom built.

SPEAKER_01 25:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

And then me and Renee are like, okay, what we put in here, what we put in here. Um, we need tables, we need racks, we need two-ways, we need this, this. And we did it. And Matthew, handyman he is, my my blue-collar man.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

I remember the day of the ribbon cutting ceremony. I think he was doing something with a railing or something, like for the steps.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

Nothing that man can't do.

SPEAKER_01 25:50

Yeah, well.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

I might that's maintenance, JML maintenance.

SPEAKER_01 25:55

You know, I know he's um his upbringing, right? He knew he had to job, had to have a job always. He knew what it was like to come up without. And he is, you know, he's a hard worker and he he earns a great income and living for you guys. If he could get out of that, I get I don't even want to, it's not like a negative thing, but like, you know, he he likes a job. There's security in a job. I think he's like kind of betting on you, like he's backed you 110%, right?

SPEAKER_00 26:27

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

Matthew could have his own business because how Matthew works, he wouldn't fail. He just gotta believe that. I believe that for him, but he would have to want it, and not everybody wants it. Not that's not everybody's path. Um, but he most certainly has the work ethic that drive the unwillingness to quit or give up.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

Oh, 100%.

SPEAKER_01 26:48

He could be he could own a car lot, car dealership, uh maintenance services, you know. He could run crews. Uh I mean he's a top dog at the refinery or facility that he works at. You know, he's through hard work and uh leadership has risen the ranks.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

Um and I know that was big for him to get off a shift work now. He's right, he's on straight days so he can watch it.

SPEAKER_00 27:12

He loves that money.

SPEAKER_01 27:13

Yeah, yeah. But he loves his sons.

SPEAKER_00 27:16

Oh, God, yeah. Oh, god, yeah. I mean, he worked shift work. I mean, he did shift work for how many years?

SPEAKER_01 27:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

I don't even know.

SPEAKER_01 27:23

Yeah. I mean, shit, y'all were together probably.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

We got together in 09.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

I was gonna say 09 to it was just recent, so probably 13 years, probably 2023.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

Like with all the overtime, he probably worked 20 years of shift work.

SPEAKER_01 27:35

Yeah, yeah, right, right. Seriously. Uh overtime. Literally. I guess.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

I we I don't know where I was. I think getting the all change or something in my car, and um, a guy that he works with was like, where the overtime king at?

SPEAKER_01 27:51

The overtime king. That's funny. That's funny. So uh so open the storefront, the ribbon cutting ceremony. Tell me the emotions of that day.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

Oh god, they were high. They were high. They were so like, are people gonna show up for us? Yeah, or are people gonna like it? What are people gonna think about, you know? And I and I do I do think about that. What people are gonna think.

SPEAKER_01 28:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

I care. I think that's the part of caring.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

Yeah, you know, so but I don't think it comes from probably fear. It doesn't come from fear. The market space is gonna take the market will speak to you. Are you listening, right? Yep, and you wouldn't have taken it as a rejection, only as a suggestion of, hey, we're not buying this or this isn't hitting for us. That doesn't mean we don't like you. Right. Maybe change up the products or offer something different, bring in more variety.

SPEAKER_00 28:41

I mean, we've done that so many times already. Yeah, we're not even a year in.

SPEAKER_01 28:46

Steadily been hitting.

SPEAKER_00 28:47

Absolutely. Absolutely. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

And it goes back to mindset, right?

SPEAKER_00 28:52

Yeah, yeah. And I don't think you're running a business if you're not evaluating or re-evaluating, you know? So yeah, grand opening came, amazing day. Um, and me and Renee were just draw, our jaw was literally wide open at the end of that day. We couldn't believe it. We know that knowing that my community and that my little my little small town needed this or wanted it, you know, and it was so um, I don't know. It was the best feeling ever for both of us to know that we did it. We did it, and it was a hit. And look at all these people that showed up to support us. The local people.

SPEAKER_01 29:43

Yeah, you had me driving from Baton Rouge. I brought my people, I brought some people with finance, I brought some people, you know.

SPEAKER_00 29:48

Sure did, but like all the locals, like they came out the woodworks for us. Yeah, they still do.

SPEAKER_01 29:53

Yeah, foot traffic we get. I drove when I was in last in Donna Seville, that bar of soap that y'all sell, bro. That thing could put some miles on me. Look, I'm 6'6 audience. I don't know if you can tell from this, it's Duke Cannon bars of soap. Yes. I tell I said I got about 50,000 miles going up and down my body with that bar of soap. I mean, one will last year, and I take a shower every day, you know. But I I went swing by your shop just to pick up the soap. You did Baton Rouge.

unknown 30:19

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 30:19

Yep. So yeah, it it I mean, it's been great.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

Yeah, I love that. I love that. What's what's next? What do you see next for in the future for the boutique?

SPEAKER_00 30:31

We've already done renovations, we've already knocked the wall out.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

Had to expand.

SPEAKER_00 30:36

Had to. And I'm afraid that we might outgrow it. And I don't we don't want to. We love our spot.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

Yeah. I love it being on the avenue around the other small businesses.

SPEAKER_00 30:46

Oh my gosh, we love our spot.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Just the rejuvenation of Donatinville in that area to see other local small business owners come and thrive and just provide something like because before you'd come to Donisonville, I mean, for a long time, after I finished playing college ball, like, what am I going to Donisonville for other than to see my parents and Chef's Fried Chicken, which is no more?

unknown 31:04

Oh God.

SPEAKER_00 31:05

You are upset, honey.

SPEAKER_01 31:07

Oh man, I was broken.

SPEAKER_00 31:08

He was distraught about that chef's fried chicken. Not to mention how many times he's come to my house, went pick up chef's fried chicken, and not brought us some.

SPEAKER_01 31:15

That's a lie. I used to call you. And then he'd eat up all my snacks in the in the pantry. Well, that was before I had a kid. You know, you had all the kids with the good snacks in the pantry, you know.

SPEAKER_00 31:25

Whatever year it was you would say, 225 snacks, what you got? Yeah, yeah. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:30

No, that's so funny.

SPEAKER_00 31:32

And but we started this before the steel meal was coming in town. We started this last February.

SPEAKER_01 31:39

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:40

That wasn't out yet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:41

No, there's gonna be a lot of opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 31:43

Yeah, I feel like we hit we we opened up at a great point, but it wasn't because.

SPEAKER_01 31:48

Yeah, it was just Yeah, it was just a good thing. Right.

SPEAKER_00 31:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:55

Um man, so what uh what things are you looking for? What what what resources do you need, if any? Um, you know, what's what's marketing looking like for the business? How are you guys getting the word out? You obviously offer a great product at great prices.

SPEAKER_00 32:10

Um so social media is really all we have right now. Yeah, you know, um as we grow, we've gotten to be able to get more things to help us succeed in in, you know, pushing more.

SPEAKER_01 32:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

But I probably, you know, I know we talked about me and Renee talked about doing like headshots and like photo shoot to like, you know.

SPEAKER_01 32:32

I know the people. I'd I'd y'all need to do like a commercial, right? Like a legitimate have something, you know. Yes, that would be great. So people know about it. Yeah. Um, I know this podcast is gonna blow you up. People are gonna love getting to know you. Uh just getting to understand that thought process of uh, you know, taking the leap of faith. Um man, who are some of the uh I know Matthew's dad helped Matthew, obviously, with uh you know, setting the shop up. Who are some other people you want to shout out who made this, you know, a success?

SPEAKER_00 33:06

Um Renee's mom, dad, and her husband helped a lot when they could. Um of course Matthew's there anytime. Yeah. Even if we need him to change of the air vent. Yeah, the uh filter, I mean, yeah, he's there. Um I mean, everybody who supported us. Yeah. Everybody in this transition of life that's been there for us. Ever uh the our village that helps us take care of our kids because without them, you know, I wouldn't be able to be at the store at like I am.

SPEAKER_01 33:38

So what uh what are some of the things that keep you motivated and positive? Like what are do you have any daily routines, um things that you live by, things that you remember maybe from your grandfather your or your grandmother? That made a big impact on your life and how you lead it today.

SPEAKER_00 33:54

Yeah. Um routine is sticking in my head, so I'm gonna go with that. I started um like get the get the kids up in the morning, get them out the door, and instead of going back home, because I don't open till 10, instead of going back home and jumping back in the bed, I'm like, no. Okay, we gotta get up. We're up, we're we're gonna start a routine, we're gonna get it going, we're gonna get to the shop for 9 39, 45, get it open, whatever else. But um I don't know. That's a hard question.

SPEAKER_01 34:28

That's a hard question. All right. Who's been some of your mentors up up until this point in your life? Like who are some of the people you look to?

SPEAKER_00 34:38

I mean, besides my husband.

SPEAKER_01 34:40

Yeah. He's more of a supporter, I would say, like he's your back end support below. Yeah, kind of advice. And that's like my best friend. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:47

You know what I mean? Like anything I think about, I'm like, what you think about this?

SPEAKER_01 34:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:53

But I would say the person I've looked up to, like just as a person, you know, is my grandfather forever. You know, he was always so kind and respectful, like was so respected. And I always was like, damn, I want to when I walk into a room like he like he used to walk into a room and everybody was like, Oh, Tony. You know, everybody walk up to him or flock to him. And it's not because he demanded you know, that the room, but he just took it, he just had it. Yeah. It was great, it was awesome to watch.

SPEAKER_01 35:26

He had the juice.

SPEAKER_00 35:27

He did.

SPEAKER_01 35:27

Yeah. You got the juice. I got the juice. I got the juice. I love it. I love it. Um, you know, I asked all of my guests this question. Um, the podcast is called for profit. And that could mean any number of things to a person personally, right? It's it's what it means to you, not just a business sense of the term, you know, like what's left after operating expenses and all that stuff. When you hear for profit or profit um applied to your life, what does that mean to you and your business, your family?

SPEAKER_00 35:57

Um, success. Yeah. Success. Me, um it's not just it's not just about the money. It's it's the success part. If if purpose fulfilled or fulfilled purpose, however which way you're gonna do it. I like that purpose fulfilled. Yeah. Um people walking into the store and saying, Andy, it looks great, a profit. Yeah. Like that the cash register in my brain went off. You know what I mean? Not even just them paying for something from their transaction. Just just from them saying, Andy, it looks so good in here. Y'all did a great job, you know, or hey, can you do this for me? Like even a custom bow. Can you do this for me? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And they come get and they're like, Oh, you succeeded like what I wanted. Profit. Yeah. You know, success. And I think it just anybody walking into that store is pure success at this point.

SPEAKER_01 36:55

Is there anything you'd like to leave the audience with today? You'll be back on again. I mean, we're gonna have you and Renee, but like from your episode.

SPEAKER_00 37:03

Um just do it. I mean, literally.

SPEAKER_01 37:08

If and I'm telling you She always had them Nikes, y'all. Just do it.

SPEAKER_00 37:13

I didn't think about it like that. Um Go for it.

SPEAKER_01 37:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:20

Not in a million years that I ever think I was going to open up a boutique in my hometown. I'd always think about it, yeah, but never did I think we were gonna make it happen.

SPEAKER_01 37:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:32

And just one little thought, I could do this, I could do this by myself. I or you know.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

It's just a planting the planting of a seed.

SPEAKER_00 37:40

Literally. And it grew.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:42

It took off and we did it.

SPEAKER_01 37:45

And we are doing it.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

And we're doing it.

SPEAKER_01 37:47

Yeah. I love that. All right, everybody. That's gonna be the conclusion of this episode. Can't wait to see you next week. Thank you, India, for coming on for today's show. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 37:57

Thank you.