Catherine Langman:
Well, hello there. It’s Catherine Langman, here, back with another episode of the Productpreneur Success Podcast. And today on the show, I am welcoming Laura Furiosi, who was the founder of Rashoodz baby and kids swimwear brand. And we’re going to have a chat about her journey as an entrepreneur, as a Productpreneur. And it’s a really, really cool story that I think you’re going to love to hear about. So she started her business in a way that… well, it was kind of similar to my first business origin story, but I think it will be quite familiar to many of you. She initially invented her product, or came up with the product idea, when she was a fairly new mom. And she kind of identified this need in her own life for a swimsuit for her child that had the hat attached, so her baby couldn’t keep pulling the hat off. And not being a sewer, she had to find ways to go about creating this product.
And then, of course, she had a lot of people saying, “Oh, can I have one. That’s a really cool idea. Where can I get one?” And from there she kind of launched and was the impetus for growing this amazing global brand. So Rashoodz grew into a incredible global brand. She was selling through export markets all over the world, major export markets from the US to Europe, the UK, all over Asia. So really, really successful export market, but also really successful nationally around Australia as well. So selling online on her own online store, as well as through major retailers, like department stores, David Jones, and big retail chains like Chemist Warehouse, and many, many other retailers as well.
And as you can imagine… Well, even if you’ve had five minutes of working in your own business, I’m sure that you can imagine that going from that kind of really humble point of beginning of business to scaling up to that state, there are a lot of challenges and new skills that you need to learn along the way. And Laura shares many of those details with us in today’s interview and imparts her pearls of wisdom in a very, very friendly and engaging manner. So I invite you to pull up a pew, get your cup of tea and your pen and pad of paper out, ready to take notes. Let’s welcome Laura to the show.
Catherine Langman:
So, welcome to the show, Laura. It’s really cool to have you here.
Laura Furiosi:
Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Catherine Langman:
It’s very cool. So we’re going to have a bit of a chat about your entrepreneurial career, which has been quite some time now. And I really wanted to kick start with asking about how you really started as an entrepreneur. What was the origin story for your first business?
Laura Furiosi:
I love that [inaudible 00:00:30], my origin story. It’s not [inaudible 00:00:34]. Well, I was at home. I used to be a teacher, and I worked as primary school teacher. I did get sick, I have endometriosis and fibroids, so I couldn’t be a full-time teacher anymore, and I was at home with my baby and I was bored. She hated wearing a hat and it drove me nuts, and so I came up with this idea to stick it on to the back of her hat, because she was only pulling it forwards not backwards. And then an idea came from that, which milled around in my head. I got a lady to make one so that she wouldn’t pull her hat off, and then other people were like, “Oh, where’d you get that?”
And then I think from there this little nugget in my head went, “Oh, I could do something with this.” And then I just went for it. I didn’t plan on it becoming massive, I think I just wanted it to be something for me to do, something to bring some income into the home, and something for me to keep me busy and keep me happy, and that nice feeling you get when you’ve got your own brand, I guess, and your own products.
Catherine Langman:
Your own project.
Laura Furiosi:
So, I got bitten by the bug of it and then it was just, “What’s next? What do I do next? What do I do next?” kind of thing. So yeah, I think that’s my origin story, I guess.
Catherine Langman:
I think that’s probably a pretty familiar one to a lot of our audience. I know it’s similar to mine, I guess, as well. Yeah, had a couple of little babies and mine were really close together, so I couldn’t go back to, well, I suppose I could’ve gone back to work, but at the time my boss had said it’s full time or nothing, and full-time hours in a Sydney based ad agency is a really long week, so I quit. And then I need something to do. So yeah, it was kind of a similar origin story. So what year was that? Because I think it was mid 2000’s, wasn’t it?
Laura Furiosi:
I think between 2007, 2008. It took about a year to get a prototype properly designed because I don’t have any skills in fashion. I think I did home ec in grade 10, but that’s it. So I had no idea what I was doing. So I would go and see a pattern maker, and I’d go back and visit her every week, and we’d make some changes, tried it on my baby. And then over that year I got it to a point that it was really good. And then my mum, being a lawyer, was like, “Don’t do anything with that until you patented it and trademarked it [inaudible 00:03:22].” So that took another half a year to get the design drawn and all that legal stuff done. And I think, yeah, in that year is when it really… And I met this lovely factory, little old lady, who went and made 50 of them for me, that was when it was really real. I was like, “Whoa, I’ve got stock in my linen cupboard.” So, [inaudible 00:03:49] time, about a year, I’d say.
Catherine Langman:
That’s so cool. So when you first started working with that pattern maker, was that really just for your own daughter’s version of this idea or had you already realized you could do something with it?
Laura Furiosi:
I think it was in the back of my head. I thought, “If this doesn’t work out, [inaudible 00:04:12] my daughter anyway.” But I always, in the back of my head, thought, “This is a really good idea and people are going to like it,” and people were saying that they liked it. So I think it was, at that time, you could just put it away and not think about it for another six months and then go back to it. I think I was in that phase where I was either, “I do it or I don’t.” So I thought I’d do it.
Catherine Langman:
And then you got that first small run of product. And what did you do next? What did you do to launch it out, big or small, and then get people to know about it?
Laura Furiosi:
I started at markets. This was pre, I think Facebook existed, but not that well, Instagram definitely wasn’t around and websites were about 20 grand to get made, there was no Shopify or anything. So, back in those days I didn’t start on a website, I just went to markets. And I thought, “I can sell this, make a little profit.” And then I quickly realized after about a year of markets was that I’ve got small children, and the reason I stopped doing what I was doing was because I can’t stand up and do all this physical work. So that’s when I went, “I need to do something else with this.” And the popularity was there, so I went, “Well, why don’t I get other people to sell my stuff for me, and why don’t I sell it online?” So that was that next progression.
Catherine Langman:
Yeah, that’s so cool. And so I guess, as you were moving through that, what was the point where you really decided that it was something that you could really scale up? Did you dip your toe into that wholesale market first? Or did you know at that point that, yeah, you’re really onto something and you’re going to gun it?
Laura Furiosi:
Well, I think at the markets and the baby trade shows in the beginning, the feedback I got was, “Oh my God, this is amazing, what a genius idea.” And then they’d look at the price and go, “Oh.” So, I knew it was a great idea. I knew people were loving it because the feedback at the markets and it was selling. And I think I was selling them for something ridiculously expensive, like $80 or $90.
Catherine Langman:
Oh, wow.
Laura Furiosi:
But people were buying them. So I was like, “Okay, I’m onto something, but I need to get it cheaper.” And I think I dipped my toe in the wholesale world by going to, I think it was Fashion Exposed, was my first show ever. And I met a lot of stores and a lot of people loved it, but because it was so expensive in the beginning, because I was still making it in Australia.
I got into Terry White Chemist in Sydney through a consignment. So they would, because I was naive, take stock and then they’d pay me when they sold something. I thought that was amazing. And then I was like, “Okay, this is the way I’ve got to go, but I’ve got to get it cheaper.” So that’s when I knew I had to find a better manufacturer and move forward in that regard. But yeah, the first trade show I went to, when I was like, “Okay, this is going to work.” And I really had to put my money where my mouth is and hope it went well. Meanwhile, breastfeeding my baby behind the stand, still juggling all my babies, but yeah, it was fun and eye opening. I learnt a lot in that one trade show.
Catherine Langman:
I bet. And so obviously a big lesson there was the production costs, the cost of goods, and what the market’s going to support in a price point. So what did you do to solve that problem? Because that would be something I think a lot of Ozzie inventors would face, I imagine.
Laura Furiosi:
Yeah. Well, funnily enough at that trade show, at Fashion Exposed, is when I met Angela, who has connections in China. And she said to me, “Oh, I could be making these way cheaper for you.” And I was like, “Really?” And then she talks me through the process, and I was summing and aging over the difference between Australia made, and I was worried that that would affect my customers already. It was a struggle to get over that line. But yeah, I met her at the trade show. I actually met a whole bunch of manufacturers at the trade show. So, funnily enough, when you do go to those things, you don’t just meet potential wholesalers or buyers, you also meet manufacturers and marketing people. You meet everybody. So actually, it was really good. But that’s where I met her.
Catherine Langman:
Yeah, fantastic. And for the listeners’ sake, that’s Angela Halkiotis from Product and Garment Solutions, I think, is what she’s called now. And she manages, well, from design and prototyping through to production for other people, so that’s very cool. And then, so really, I guess beyond that, so you were really getting stuck into the wholesale side of things through the trade shows, and you were selling online as well at this point throughout Australia?
Laura Furiosi:
Once I got my first giant order from China, because your minimum order is, I think I had 250 for each minimum, which now in hindsight it’s actually pretty good compared to what most people get. So I went, “Oh my goodness, I need to sell these.” So I created a website through a company, and got the website online and got that started online. So I was online. And then at the baby show, at the baby toddler expos and all those ones back in those days. And then I started attending trade shows, so Life Instyle I think it was, and the Reed Gift Fair, to get it out and about.
And I came across a lot of resistance because there already was a lot of swimwear in Australia, so it was really very competitive, even though I had a difference with the hat being attached and the nappy clips and all of that. It was really hard to get anyone’s attention in the big stores. And that’s why I decided, “All right, I’m going to go overseas and get into the big stores over there, and then maybe they’ll pay attention to me in Australia.” Which is a stupid idea when you think about it, because the market overseas is way bigger than Australia anyway. So I capitalized on the fact that I was an Australian swimsuit, and the other countries loved that idea. Aussie swimsuits sell really well over there. So I got into House of Fraser through the trade show over there, I think it’s called Bubble. And Japan, and Thailand, Taiwan, and America, and China.
Catherine Langman:
Wow.
Laura Furiosi:
That’s how we [inaudible 00:11:21].
Catherine Langman:
Yeah. A swimsuit made in China to the Chinese, pitched as an Australian thing. I love it.
Laura Furiosi:
That was the easiest thing to do ever. I cannot recommend it enough. If you’ve got products made in China, try and get them sold in China, get a distributor in China, because they love anything Australian. Even if it’s made in China, the fact that it’s an Australian company, they love it.
Catherine Langman:
Yeah. I remember talking with another product brand owner. So they sell all over the world as well, but she was saying that with their Chinese distributor, they actually want stuff that has come from Australia. So they make it in China, ship it to Australia and then back to China. It’s bonkers. I hope they’re not still doing that because that’s…
Laura Furiosi:
No, [inaudible 00:12:07] somewhere in China that’s technically not China. So what they do is they move it out into that space and then move it back in. So it has to go through customs. So yeah, they do that now too.
Catherine Langman:
That’s crazy.
Laura Furiosi:
I know. Whatever works for them, right?
Catherine Langman:
That’s true. And I suppose doing that kind of export focus initially helped you to fund scaling up with the production and the marketing and all of that jazz, yeah?
Laura Furiosi:
Exactly. It’s that classic old, “Oh, if I can get higher quantity, I can get the cheaper price. If I can get a cheaper price, I can sell to more people.” And getting a distributor in all those different countries made it a lot easier because I wouldn’t even see the product. Obviously I see the samples, but it would get shipped to all the different countries. I would still see the Australian portion, but then, it was cheaper. I’d get my pay portion out of whatever they were selling but at the distributor price, which isn’t amazing, but it’s better than having higher [inaudible 00:00:13:20] price.
So, I think I did always have this obsession with selling it in Australia, and I finally got into David Jones after I’d done and gotten into every other store all over the world. I don’t know why I was fixated on that, and it wasn’t that great anyway, no offense. [crosstalk 00:13:37].
Catherine Langman:
It didn’t change the whole world for you, to get in there.
Laura Furiosi:
No. It’s a really important thing to note, if I look back now, I go, “Why was I fixated on that?” When money was coming from these other places and it was easier. And so, yeah, it’s always good to look from outside your point of view and to say, “Am I doing the right thing?”
Catherine Langman:
Yeah, what’s the reason I’m doing that for. [crosstalk 00:14:03]. Well, yeah, maybe. I guess it’s so easy for us to operate telling ourselves, “I’m going to be happy and feel successful when X, Y, Z happens.” And so we become so fixated on it, and then when it actually happens, it’s like, “Oh, nothing really changed. Why was I doing that?”
But, you’ve been really talented at some very fun and cool PR exercises. Let’s talk about that first really big exercise that you did that probably got the attention of DJs and some other big retailers in Australia.
Laura Furiosi:
Yeah. Well, I had, by then, had a person who helped me, because a lot of it I did all on my own with Angela. But it was just me working from home and I finally got this lovely lady to come help me, and she was a bit younger, and she was talking about flash mobs and she kept showing me these videos. And we had a marketing budget, but magazines have fallen by the white side. And we tried TV commercials, and that was a bit, I don’t know. And obviously I’m not that tech savvy with marketing, so we were throwing money into marketing. I should have used you.
And then I was like, “How can we get everyone’s attention but without spending too much money?” And then I was like, “Let’s do a baby flash mob.” And everyone was like, “You are insane, that is insane.” And after I’d put it out there, and I couldn’t bring it back, I went, “Oh my God, I am insane.” Because I’d advertised it or asked for people’s interest, if they’d like to bring their baby along in their outfits for photo shoot and a video, and the media might be there at South Bank, “Is anyone interested?” And we just got smashed with people, because we had a really good community. People were a little bit obsessed with our brand, it was like a bit of a cult. And they loved the idea of it, and they had all met at other events that we’d held and everyone wanted to be involved. Because, I guess, what else do you do when you’re sitting at home? You’re like, “Sure I’ll bring Amy to that, that sounds fun.”
We got the Brisbane Lions to bring their mascot and give out free stuff. We had a mermaid singing and blowing bubbles or something. So we had entertainment as well. So all these people signed up, and then I realized, “Oh, my God, I’m going to have to do it.” So I had to talk to South Bank. They’re separate from Brisbane City Council, they have their own rules, so we had to go through all of that, make sure we weren’t going to damage their park lands. Then we have to get lifeguards, all of that kind of stuff sorted, and the workplace health and safety. It was huge. And I got a lot of my-
Catherine Langman:
[crosstalk 00:17:05]. Like a nightmare.
Laura Furiosi:
Yes. But it really paid off. It paid off because we had 120 babies in our swimsuits, either the peach or the blue, so it was very obvious. And when we got the mums to finally put the babies down and step away so we could get that magic photo, which I thought would be what everyone would like see, all the babies just started screaming.
Catherine Langman:
Oh, no.
Laura Furiosi:
It was terrible, but you could hear it from ages away. So people could hear it and they came running to see what it was. And all the media were there. And obviously the babies had a great time, because they were enjoying it, there was the entertainment and everything. They were having a ball, but just for that one photo, they scream their lungs out. And it was for two seconds, but that is what the media picked up.
Catherine Langman:
Yeah, I bet that went viral.
Laura Furiosi:
The Project, they had it on there. They like, “Oh my God, check this out.” It was funny, but it went viral everywhere. It was viral in all the countries that we were selling in, and on the news, internationally and in Australia. And it’s a Facebook video that channel seven or channel nine, I can’t remember, it clicked up massively and people thought it was hilarious. And it got our name out there. And we were able to donate a lot of money to Sun Cancer charity as well, so that was good. So yeah, I think that was mental, but if you can think outside the box, or something to really get everyone’s attention, then do it. You’ve just got to think outside the box.
Catherine Langman:
Yeah, absolutely. That kind of publicity, you can’t really pay for it. It’s not like putting an ad in a magazine or anything like that. So yeah, absolute gold, but crazy as well.
Laura Furiosi:
I think I laid down for about two weeks after that happening, but [inaudible 00:19:17] really good.
Catherine Langman:
And it helped you to get on the map of some very big retailers, so end goal achieved there too, I suppose.
Laura Furiosi:
Yes. The [inaudible 00:19:30] out of the crowd, I guess. Don’t be unsafe, but think outside the box and be a little crazy. And I think one thing I did in regards to that, is I put it out there so I couldn’t back out. Sometimes, if it scares you, it’s probably a good thing, but yes, put it out there so you don’t change your mind and backtrack.
Catherine Langman:
So cool. And so, I guess by this point, you’ve really had some momentum building in a fairly big way with growing the business and growing the brand. So, usually when that starts to happen there’s a few logistical things in the business that you also need to get into place to manage that growth. So how did you approach that part of the puzzle?
Laura Furiosi:
Well, it was pretty much straight after that, that we went a little bit mental, and we just kept getting bigger. Because the distributor ones weren’t a problem because we never had to warehouse any of the products, because it just went straight to their warehouses. But once Australia went gangbusters, I didn’t have any more garage space and I didn’t have the time to pack everything myself or Kelly, my partner that was helping me, she didn’t have time. So we had to do that next step. And that was terrifying, handing over my product to a 3PL and trusting other people to help. And that was an epic disaster, it lasted three months and I went, “Nope, this is disaster.” Because my customer service went down the hill, people weren’t getting their orders, I was getting bad reviews and I’d always had great reviews. So, I pulled it back in and went and got a warehouse, and bit the bullet, and then started hiring pickers and packers and went from there.
Catherine Langman:
Yeah. Golly, gosh, such a stressful experience to go through.
Laura Furiosi:
Yeah, it is pretty stressful. I think the one thing that saved me was I got some really good systems put in place for the warehouse side of things so that we didn’t lose our minds. And once those systems were in place it was easy to educate any part-timers that would come in, or casuals. So if it was really busy you could hire extra people to come in and they would understand, “Okay, this is what we do and this is how we pack him.”
But yeah, it is a big step from that to that. Because you’re in your house, you know what you’re doing, you’re packing it yourself and then the next [crosstalk 00:22:10]. It feels a little bit scary and I think that is the tipping point. And you can decide to reign it in if you don’t want to do that. But I always say to myself, “If I was on my death bed, am I going to look back and regret not giving it a go?” And then the other thing I ask is, “What’s the worst that could happen from that decision?” And if I could live with it and it’s not going to ruin the world or ruin my life then I’m going to give it a shot. It took a lot of courage to take that step though.
Catherine Langman:
It does take courage to take that step. But also, there’s freedom on the other side of persisting through that and figuring out what kind of experience do you want to give your customers and how can you ensure that your team achieves that on your behalf?
Laura Furiosi:
Yeah. That freedom that you mentioned, it’s like you’re literally tied to your business when it’s just you or somebody else in your house. Because if you’re not there packing your orders then you’ve got to put that away message on your website. And once I went through the pain of getting stuff, and the training, and setting it all up, I could then go away for a little bit longer overseas without worrying I was going to lose anything in sales. In saying that though, I got a phone call on the tarmac to China saying, “I can’t log into the computers, they’re all locked out.”
Catherine Langman:
Oh, great.
Laura Furiosi:
I’m like, “I’m about to go on a very long flight.” So, there’s always going to be that stuff. It was a lot of pain, but if you persist through it, I see it like a tunnel, run through it, get out the other side and then you’re great until something [inaudible 00:24:01].
Catherine Langman:
Oh, well, there’s always a bit of a series of steps as you grow, isn’t there? Transition points.
Laura Furiosi:
Yes.
Catherine Langman:
I was talking to someone yesterday and he was trying to reframe my point of view and not look at these things as challenges but as opportunities for transition. Yeah, nice, I like that.
Laura Furiosi:
Yeah, I like that too.
Catherine Langman:
And so, I guess another big challenge a lot of entrepreneurs face in scaling up, particularly, obviously, when you are in a product business is quality control in the manufacturing side of things. So I guess for you, you had addressed some of that already when you moved from the Australian-based factory to using Angela’s factory. Because you were saying that you’ve got products on order for international distributors and you’re not seeing any of that stuff, it’s just being delivered, which sounds awesome, but it also opens the opportunity for stuff to go wrong, right?
Laura Furiosi:
Well, there are quality control companies that you can hire in China, you can pay them per hour and they go and check everything out for you. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn’t. It is a bit risky, I guess, and I was going over to the factory myself. But there’s always going to be a problem, and you’ve just got to set up enough systems in place to make sure, at your best, that there’s nothing going to fall through the net.
I did have one season where all the girls swimsuits came back with the zipper bottom missing, and that was the end of the world to me. And the samples, and everything, the pre-production and everything that comes through didn’t have that issue. But just someone, somewhere, decided, “Let’s not put the zipper bottoms on,” so many suits I can’t even count. And I guess in that instance, I was less in a bad position than others because I had Angela as my agent, so the factories respect her, and she has buying power because she has all these other brands, so they don’t want to upset her. I mean, I had buying power in my own right, but actually they’re massive factories, they make stuff for everybody. So they were able to take it back, fix it up and bring it back and it just added about a month to the delay of the delivery. So that does happen. And right at the beginning, even moving to China, when I made my first back in Australia, I don’t know why, but the fabric I bought, the purple swimsuit ran.
Catherine Langman:
I’ve heard of that happening. I think the purple and blue is quite difficult to produce in fabric and have it color fast.
Laura Furiosi:
Yeah. And they had white sleeves.
Catherine Langman:
No!
Laura Furiosi:
I mean, there was only 50 or so, but back then, I was like, “Oh, my God.” So, it happens. When they send you out your samples, and when they send out your pre-production, give them rigorous testing, check it over with a fine tooth comb. I know you’re too busy, you get samples sent to you and you’re like, “Oh yeah, that was great, that’s fine, whatever.” But really, pay super attention to the detail. And one thing I did find that helped was doing my own diagrams with no words, but with pictures, et cetera, pointing to things so that it was super clear to the factory, what was what, because it was the language barrier that does sometimes cause dramas.
Catherine Langman:
Yes, definitely. Oh, that’s really great advice. I guess, throughout all of those developments, as you were growing the business, you must have had to upgrade your mindset as well, along the way. How did you grow your own leadership abilities and confidence and all of that, to keep pace?
Laura Furiosi:
Yeah, that’s a good point. I think because I started at markets, and that was nerve wracking, and then I got used to it. Then I went to baby shows, and that was nerve wracking, then I got used to it. When I started going to the trade shows, and my first trade show, people would say, “Tell your boss.” They didn’t talk to me with any respect at all, that freaked me out as well. And then, when I started doing the international shows, and I really felt out of place at the international ones, but I made friends with a lot of the people from Australia, or just the stands next to me.
And I got the confidence through finding out that they were just like me. Not the big, big stands, but a lot of the other brands were just people like me. And I think that’s when I realized, “Oh, we’re all kind of half don’t know what we’re doing and we’re doing paranoid as hell that no one’s going to buy our product.” So that really helped me to realize, because we all put on our best face and we all put on our best show at these things. And then I realized, “Wait, we’re all the same. We’re all crapping ourselves.”
And talking to the big retailers and wholesalers, like the buyers, I realized they’re freaking out as well, because if they don’t make the right buy, they lose their jobs. So they’re just as paranoid about doing this as you are about selling it. So we’re all a little bit scared and everyone’s a little bit freaked out, so that helps me slowly build up my confidence, I think, to just go, “Okay.”
And the more people you talk to, that don’t ever go to a show and don’t talk to anyone, I know you feel like they’re your competition, but I found by making friends with a lot of the other swimwear brands, we really were able to help each other out and say, “Oh, watch out for that buyer because they’ll try and rip you,” or, “This person never pays.” And when we’d go to shows in other countries, because we’d all do it, we’d help each other carry our stuff or give it to other lifts. So it just helps that as well.
Catherine Langman:
Yeah, I love that. I love that advice so much. And in retrospect, I think I was a lot like that in the modern cloth nappy industry as well. I was really good friends with most of my competitors and we did help each other out as well. And just accept that you have your own unique point of difference and you have your own slice of the market pie, and move on and just have each other’s back. I think that’s great.
Laura Furiosi:
Yeah, that’s right.
Catherine Langman:
So if we are talking to brands who want to move from that early startup growth stage into the scaling upstage and potentially achieve what you did with rash hoods, what would be one or two key factors or key pieces of advice that you would pass on to people like that?
Laura Furiosi:
I think the one thing I did was I put myself out there. I could’ve just stayed at home with my online website and just sold and never approached anyone, never asked, never gone to a show. And I had to put myself out there and just ask. You’re going to get no’s all the time, but if you put yourself out there and let everyone know you’re there, you’ve got a better chance of building that next stage. So just put yourself out there and don’t be afraid to get the no, and don’t be afraid of what other people think.
The other thing, I guess, is you’ve got to be prepared, but also wing it a little bit. You’re never going to know a hundred percent what you’re doing, so prepare as much as you can but don’t wait until you think you’re a hundred percent prepared because then you’ll probably miss the opportunity or you’ll never be a hundred percent prepared. I know a lot of people that go, “I’m just going to refine this a little bit more,” and they’ve been doing it for three years. And I’m like, “You’ve just got to [crosstalk 00:32:38] get it out there.” And you can refine as you go. That’s what I did. I changed my products, and I didn’t even know what minimum order quantity, I didn’t know wholesalers had one. I learnt that on the fly.
So, you learn as you go. Obviously be prepared, educate yourself, but there’s always going to be things you don’t know. But if you’re there and you’re willing to learn, and you get out there and just start, you’re ahead of the pool.
Catherine Langman:
Absolutely. Such a really important concept for everyone to take on board. I think that not waiting until you’ve you feel like completely, 100%, perfectly ready because opportunities do miss you by. If you look at the most successful brands out there, like Apple, for instance, they didn’t wait till they had everything completely perfect and bug free, and they’re still not like that. They just iterate every year.
Laura Furiosi:
[inaudible 00:33:35]. That’s so true. I think we worry so much about, “Oh, what if no one does this, or what if no one buys anything?” But if you don’t give it a go you’ll never know whether they did or not. And even in that trade show where I only got a consignment with Terry White Chemists, if I hadn’t of got that, I wouldn’t have met Angela, I wouldn’t have been able to expand my manufacturing in China and make my quantities cheaper. I wouldn’t have been out into Chemist Warehouse later on because I’d had that experience already with pharmacies and that helps me develop a relationship with pharmacies. So I think there’s all these little stepping blocks that you don’t even realize you’re taking, but each time you’re leveling up, kind of like a computer game.
Catherine Langman:
Yeah, very true. I think the underlying message there for everyone to take home is that there is no overnight silver bullet success pill that you can take. Many analogies rolled into one there. But yeah, you just have to keep one step in front of the other and pivot as you go.
Laura Furiosi:
The fun bit is, you don’t know where it’s going to end up either. You can have your goal, but you’ll be surprised at the opportunities that come your way by putting yourself out there, that you hadn’t even thought of, that when they present to you, you go, “Oh, that’s fantastic.”
Catherine Langman:
Yeah, definitely. And opportunities come up, not just that you didn’t think about it, but also because new platforms are invented and the way that the market operates changes and this, that, and the other. So, lots of ways forward. Fantastic. So what are you doing these days? I know, obviously, but I want you to share because I think it will be of interest.
Laura Furiosi:
Yeah. Well, when I was doing rashes out of the way I have, I did have space and I multi tasked, and had a logistics company where I was helping smaller brands be their 3PL because, let’s face it, 3PL’s are a nightmare. So I was doing that. Then on top of that I was helping people with their brands as well. So I have developed that and now I’m called Boss Mummy and I work in that coaching space where I offer help. I also have a podcast with my mum, called The Divorce Course, because we’re launching our online digital product called The Divorce Course where we help people do their own divorces. Mum’s a very, very experienced lawyer in family law, and so we’re in that space as well. So I’m a bit of a multi-tasker at the moment doing a lot of things.
Catherine Langman:
Yeah, it’s very exciting. So we will share the links to Bossy Mummy. So where’s the best place for people to find out, follow you on socials, or head to your website if they want to check you out?
Laura Furiosi:
Here’s the website: bossymummy.com.au or jump onto Instagram, Bossy Mummy, or you can go on our Facebook, Bossy and Friends. So yeah, I just like to motivate, and inspire and give tips.
Catherine Langman:
Yeah. Fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing many of those tips with us today and your story as well. It’s been an absolute pleasure having you on the show today.
Laura Furiosi:
Thanks Cath, thanks for having me.