How TikTok Made My Business An Overnight Success with Mia Plecic

This is Happy Hour with Lucy and the Key. I literally said I'm going to set my alarm for five minutes and I'm just going to cry. I literally just rolled up in a fetal position. I felt so defeated and I said I'm just going to cry. And you just feel so alone and bleep. So alone. I felt so alone. So I cried for five minutes. The alarm went off and I was like I need to make a decision. I mean they're going to go head to head with these motherfuckers or I'm just going to say you know what? This business whole business thing is just not for me. Cheers babe. So I'm going to happy hour with Lucy and Nikki. The real life shit you're in the discuss over a drink. But before we start a little disclaimer. So we are here for a good time and not a long time. So if you are easily offended then you should scot right. Scram dooski. So today we have got the lovely Mia on. So Miss Mia. Miss Mia. She is an absolute doll. We love chatting to her. Mia is the founder of the Slick Hair Company which created Slick Stick. The famous Slick Stick. You're the famous Slick Stick. The original. If you guys haven't heard of it it's basically it's almost looks like a little mascara one. And it's a product for your hair that tames your flyaways. And can I just say as two birds and a couple of flyaways it's the product that we needed in our life and we just got our hands on one. Well exactly I'm like what bird doesn't have flyaways. Like it's actually genius. She popped off during COVID. I've got the word popped off. Popped off I love it. But we have her in today and she honestly talks about her whole business journey and you know like Slick Stick is doing amazing but it certainly has not come easy for her. No she I actually did not know a lot of this about Mia. I actually found out about Mia years ago when she was managing Michael Finch. That was my first interaction with Mia but I haven't followed her journey as closely. But after today I'm like wow. That was such an inspiring and wild journey. That would be one of my favourite business chats we've ever had I think. Yeah she's honestly so she's been in business since she was the ripe age of 22. She's 29 now and Slick Stick is ripping off. Slick Stick is ripping off but you know it just is so inspiring like if anyone's out there like working on their side hustle or grinding or you know even just with your general jobs like this is honestly such an inspiring podcast to listen to because she's had so many. Challenges that she's had to overcome and you know the whole thing is that she just kept going. Yeah she really did she got knocked down but she got back up again and it's just really interesting to I think there are a lot of businesses out there nowadays that are these kind of products that I don't know I feel like the Slick Stick kind of falls in that high smile, a la skin, bondaisans kind of market where it's these like young entrepreneurs who have seen an opportunity and gone with it and it's just really paid off and I find these chats like the most inspiring of all because it just goes to show like you don't have to have gone to uni you don't have to have done you know gone to entrepreneur school if there's such thing and you can really make such a cool online business these days and just like back your idea. Yeah like that's if you like e-commerce is a beast man like it's just for like that kind of category of products it's just insane like them like the volume that they move and the growth that they see and we speak a bit about her success with tiktok as well which I found very interesting and he's just like fuck on it. I'm like I can't right. We're going to start poppin Jagger's tiktok. Poppin up. What's poppin? What's poppin? Jagger's tiktok's poppin. Everyone sign up. I mean follow. Don't even take chocolate. Anyway let's spring mayor in. She's an absolute lord and we've really enjoyed this chat so we hope you guys do too. So welcome and miss me. Hello. Hello. We are absolutely good. I'll be honest I'm actually waking up still because me too. I'm a bit hungover. Me too. I knew. What did you last night? Etzoo. Oh yeah girl. Bubble tea cocktails. I've never had one. We can't go past the um like you Martin. Oh they literally have them waiting for us when we arrive. That's goals. It well it's we fortunately to go to the same gym as him. I swear the same gym is the only he's a legend. Lovely guy. So when he and I always book through him direct. Sounds so wonky but whatever. Um you know whatever and then so then every time we book a table he's already got a large martini waiting for. Do you want to hear a funny story? Yeah. So you know I'm telling you me. Our friend. I'm like yeah. Tell me. Our friend's room lives in the apartment building right now. And he's not younger than us and he's like he's so sweet. And he's been going to Etzoo a fair bit just got so close and he goes. I just want to get to the point where you know I walk in and they go. Hey Jerome. I got you. That real local vibe. Yeah. That you know that real local vibe. Oh my god. I love it. That's the best. Well yeah. So what did we do last night to be hungover? You didn't even ask you to tell you we were into rituals. No. No. I was getting there. I brought you a quite sweet. We're like sorry to sorry today. We're talking over the guest. Sorry. No. Please. So what are you on the Gold Coast for at the moment? Well, what am I here for? So friends of mine from Melbourne moved up here. Just pre lockdown last year. So they've got some kick ass house on the home island. And I've just been watching them live it up. You know, and I'm like I need to come and see that house. Yeah. So me, are you obviously from Melbourne? How did the last lockdown impact you and your and business like? From a business perspective, it was phenomenal. We, like our sales just grew through the roof. And I think that had a lot to do with the fact that people were sitting at home not doing anything other than getting that instant gratification of shopping online. Yep. So we were flying, which was awesome. Yeah. Eventually it was challenging, but I think that was for everyone. It was a really tough year. I feel so sorry for Victorians. It's already gloomy and cold enough down there as it is. Don't give them a COVID-2, pervastance. I know. It was awful. It was like 160 days of being stuck inside. Yeah. It was so fucked. Yeah. I wish it upon my worst nightmare. It was just awful. Yeah. Far out. It would have been so, like such an amazing feeling when things started opening up down there though. Like it was. It was nice to see. And I think a lot of the local governments were, I don't know if you guys did, but a lot of outdoor dining started to happen. So, yeah. Our car parks were being turned into outdoor dining area. That's so cool. I've had a little bit of a little bit of a beer. Yeah. Very much so. It's a big thing in New York too, when they started mainly more so because of, they think that if you're outside, you don't catch COVID. You know how it's like the square meter, everything kind of is more lenient when you're outside. It's like with festivals, you know, if it's outdoors, whatever. So, in New York, they do that as well. It's like a lot of outdoor restaurants. And imagine being in New York in summer, a full of outdoor restaurants. Absolutely. A big five. Yeah. It's pretty cool. Well, let's kick off with actual chat. Yeah. What is your Wilder story, Miss Miao? I was having a think about this yesterday and I didn't know what to share. I've got a few, but I'm going to stick with the topic of business because I think that one of my wildest stories in business would be a huge lesson for a lot of people. So, I think it's a good thing to share. Love that. So, when I was 22, I started my first ever business, which was called Perly White, Australia. It was an in-home teeth whitening kit. It was back in 2016, I think it was when I first started that business. And you were 22 then? That was 22. Making you 26 now? Wait, no. I'm 29. So, once you start the business? Am I just bad at maths? I think I'm bad at maths. 22. 23. So, anyways. Yeah. Yeah. Is that my math? Yeah. I'm bad at maths. It's so mad. Anyway. Anyway. I lose his face right now. I do. I do. So, I came out of high school. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I think a lot of people like that. But I knew I had this desire to do something good. I wanted to have a good life. So, I decided to become a personal trainer because everyone else was doing that. So, I was like, cool. I'll do that too. And that didn't last so long. I got over that pretty quickly. And I came across this idea. I was scrolling through Instagram. It was actually a Brisbane influencer who posted about this in Home Teeth whitening kit. And this was just as, you know, influencer marketing was pretty much just starting. Yep. And, um, long story short, she was posting these products. And I thought, that's a really smart idea. I wonder if that product actually works. So, I purchased it myself. It worked. I got great results from it. So, I thought, you know, this could be a fun little business that I could start on the side. Yeah. I just started a business before I had no idea what I was doing. Clueless. Absolutely, Clueless. We're bored in there. Yeah. So, I, you know, kind of took a stab in the dark and had a go, had a crack. And, you know, the business was doing pretty well. Again, had no idea what I was doing. But I was just going with the punches. Yeah. Learning as I was going basically. And I had a mutual friend. Well, I wouldn't really call him a friend. But someone who I knew from where I'm from, knew this guy. Who I bumped into one time at an airport on my way to Thailand. And we got chatting about this new business venture that I just started. And, you know, his kind of the light bulb was probably flashing for him. And I ended up getting an email. Actually, it was an Instagram DM or a Facebook message. I can't remember. He was like, I really love your idea. You know, if you want any help, let me know like I could possibly invest. And for me at that stage was a huge opportunity, I guess, because no one around me was supporting me. Everyone was like, what are you doing? Like go to university, get a real job. And I ended up giving him a call. 49% of my business for a 20,000-dollar loan, which is just like Bob Barrick. Like look at that now. Like what an absolute donkey. Like I couldn't have. For a loan, too, to get to pay back. Yeah, it was a bike. Yeah, so the business paid him back when profits started coming in. And then he owned 49% of it. Yeah, I know. So he got his loan back and then got dividends? Yeah, correct. He was like owner of the business, yeah. Yeah, so he was the director and I know from the start, but he knew that he was going to get his capital back. Wow. And this is still the teeth whitening. Yeah, yeah. This is pearly whites. So anyway, I was. Business was going really well. You know, we did a million dollars in the first, probably four months of business. Wow. Again, I still had really no idea what I was doing, but we were just going with it. And one day he came to me and he said, "Look, I've got an opportunity for us to launch in the US." And I said, "Oh, that sounds like a good opportunity." "Let's do it." He said, "The only thing is you have to sell 18% of your shares to this investor overseas." And little did I know at the time that, you know, three directors in a business isn't always the best situation because, you know, two people have power over one, right? So he. I ended up signing these shares off to this random person that I'd never met before in the US. Like, I look back on myself. I'm like, "What a dickhead. Like, how stupid can you be?" And, yeah, I got an email from a local lawyer about three days later saying that I'm now, obviously, a minority shareholder because I've given 18% of my equity to some rando. And I. Did you ever. Sorry, keep going. I'm just. I'm so intrigued about the new questions. Yeah, so I got this letter from a lawyer. I remember sitting at my desk and I just. I looked at this envelope and I was like, "This looks really suss." Like, it looked like it was just a white envelope, but I kind of felt the energy of that envelope was going to be a really bad outcome. And I read it and it pretty much said that, you know, you've been removed as a director from this company. You no longer have any, you know, power over this brand. Bank accounts shut down. Access to social shut down. Everything gone good. So I, at that stage, owned. I think it was 38%. So again, I was a minority. Had been removed as a director and lost everything. Done. Finish. See you later. Wow. Did you get your 38%? I did, but, you know, it was obviously his. I guess his motive at that point was that he didn't want me be a part of the business. So any profits or dividends would have been going straight back into the business. I wouldn't get anything. And because I was, you know, I was so young, I was so vulnerable. I was relying on this business to kind of get me through, right? And, yeah, I lost everything. I lost my job because I was on a wage. Obviously, for that business, I lost everything. I was back to square one. And it was a really, really fucking scary time. Did you try and. What? Absolutely. Yep. I did. I got a lawyer. Again, like 22 years old. Clueless. And like, you know, that cost money too. Like, I had nothing. Lawyers are expensive for those people playing around. And because I was just starting off in my business, you know, journey. So cliché journey. I didn't have any friends in business. No one around me was in business. I didn't have anyone to like get some advice off. For, you know, I was just kind of doing it on my own in the dark. And it was just the most scary, awful time. And I remember going into this random lawyer's office. And I was like, crying. I'm like, help me. And 25 grand later, we got absolutely nowhere in legal fees. Yeah, it was so good. So that's probably my wildest business story. Fuck, that's dark, man. But it gets worse. It's like, yeah. I don't want to say that make that sound positive. Perla. Perly whites. No pun. Oh, that's a perly white. It's a perly white. It's still going. It is, I think it is. It is. Yeah. And the craziest thing as well is. Did you ever just go on punch him in the face? I really wanted to. Yeah. What do you do? I would. I'm. It reminds me of Charlotte of Sex and the City. I curse the day you were born. It's really. So I was actually starting a cold press juice business at the same time in Jalon, where I'm from. And I, you know, back in the day, I saw he's scapping the market for, you know, a cold press juice bar. Like, I'd never do bricks and mortar now. But back in the day, I had no idea. It was called owner cafe when you were 22, apparently. Yeah. Moose juice vibes. Like that was, yeah. Yeah. So I stupidly had given this guy and another guy, the same 33% equity in this business at the same time. Like, before all this perly white stuff happened. So I got the same letter about two months later with the Bronx press juices. So I lost two businesses from this guy in a matter of three months. So he did it to me all over again. Sorry. Tell that story. Yeah. So it was pretty much that. We were in the process of opening up a cold press juice bar. Together. Yeah, with another friend of mine. Well, friend, law. Let's say that's very loosely now. Yeah. So the shop was fitted out. We're like three, three weeks from launching from opening. And I got the same letter, you know, you've been removed as a director. Yeah. So I lost two businesses in three months from this same person. And yeah, it's crazy. It's just the weirdest. So while you were working for Perly Wives, you had started this. Yeah. Well, I had this dream to own this juice bar pre-perly white. But obviously, Brooks and Morty need a lot more money to start up. Yeah, then. So it was a lot more of a lengthy, you know, start-up operation. And yeah, I said to him, look, let's go. If you want to be a part of it, like, let's the three of us do it. And he was like, that sounds amazing. And yeah, he did the exact same thing to me. How old was this guy? He would have been about five years older than me. He wasn't that old. He was in his 20s as well. Smart man. Like, he was just, and it's just how he groomed me for so many months. Like, he'd take me to church with his family on a Sunday. And like, just, yeah, hang on. We rooting? No. Oh, no. I just had to ask. No, no, no. Just in general, not actually. No. I don't know. I'm also in the care, like, with his family. No. His kids or his, like, mum and dad. No, he's, so he's parents. Oh, yeah, no, no. So we were both single, but no, I didn't never went there. Well, thank God. Because you have a heartache and business. Right. You have no money in a body where I can heart, or worse. Wow. So it was wild. Can I, can you tell us about the first moment when you saw him after you received the letter? Oh, gosh. I think I said to him, let's sit down and, like, try and chat it out. And I remember recording that conversation on my phone, like, just as, you know, this is full, like, FBI stuff. Yeah. And I look back and I've still got it actually on my computer. And I look, I listen back at myself as a 22-year-old. And I was just so, like, frail and just so scared and intimidated. I wouldn't listen to that ever. Yeah. And I just look at my child self. And I was like, wow, I just wish I had a little bit more strength to get through that. But, you know, it's crazy learning, though. I know. Do you have a major trust issue going into business now? I'd be fucking-- Surprisingly not. Thank God. No, I don't. I don't. I'm a real risk taker. And I'm just, I'll just keep getting fucked over if I need to. Oh, hopefully not. No, I'm really, I don't know. That's a bad and good attitude at the same time. Like, I think it's good to just get back on that horse and keep going. Because some-- You have to, I think. Yeah. And some people would see that and get so, you know, from that challenge, just never get back up. And just-- Yeah, or not want to keep doing things for themselves. And that's the biggest lesson out of it. I look back at it now and think it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It was a business degree. You know, I learned so much about business law. You know, I had to. I was in front of me. I was in a legal battle with this guy. And, yeah, I learned so much about business and partnerships and, you know, all this sort of stuff that you need to know in business. That I just, I learned through this awful experience. So, yeah, I ended up getting, as a someone to pretend to be a buyer for those 38-- I think it was 38% that I had in Perly Whites. And, you know, it's a really long story. But I ended up paying someone 20 grand to be a fake buyer of my shares. And that person, he knew. And he would never want it to be in business with him. So, that encouraged him to find an actual real buyer to buy my equity. And that's exactly what I did. So, I ended up selling my shares in the business and getting a nice little chunk out of it, which was good. It was a little light at the end of the tunnel. But I am-- Wow, babe. Yeah. I know. Wow. That's so much to go through when you do it. Yeah. I love that you're like, I paid someone to be a fake buyer of my equity. I'm like, what? I needed to get out. I needed the money to do something else to start something new. And why? Because he just would have sat on it and not-- There was no urgency to sell your shares. 100%. What I want to know really is why? Why did he want you out of the business? A, and B, even when you weren't a majority shareholder anymore. Why didn't he just keep you on board as like an employee? Like, did you and him just not get along? Oh, it's funny. I look back now. Have you ever seen that movie The Founder? The McDonald's? Oh, yes. I started watching it once in Palestine. No, I'm thinking super size me. No, I do really want to watch that. It's really good. So it's pretty much a story of how McDonald's-- Is it about like the real estate of McDonald's? Yeah, yeah. I really do want to watch that. So I've watched that movie and I really saw myself as the other people, the-- I can't even remember the storyline. But basically what I'm trying to say, hungover brain. It feels that I kind of look back on the situation now and somewhat understand why he did what he did. I was, Again, I had a really great idea. And I still to this day I'm very good at coming up with great business ideas. What I wasn't so great at that age was executing. I didn't know what I was doing. And I'm the first to admit that. And he obviously just saw this opportunity. He was like, fuck it, she's too slow. She doesn't know what she's doing. Let's just leave it behind. And he's opposed to, like, let's learn together and you grow with the business. - Like, he was just like, let's go. - It's like the business just kind of, you had the idea, but the business algorithm, quite quickly, and instead of trying to develop you. - Yeah, he was like, let's just run without her. So I kind of look back and go, I can see why he was doing what he did, but it's still very morally incorrect. Like it was my business idea. - Yeah. - But that, I can kind of see what you're doing. - And you already had the business running at that point before you even made it. - I did, but not, I mean, I'm like very, I say that very loosely. I was running it out of my spare bedroom. Like it was very small. I wasn't doing heaps of sales, but there was big potential there. - Yeah. Wow. - Wow. - That's crazy. - I think this is the perfect place to keep going with the podcast. So that was your first ever business. - Yeah. - What's happened since then? - Yeah, so that was the teeth whitening and then the juice company. And then I sold my shares, like I said. And-- - Within a few years or within-- - No, within like a few months. - Oh, fantastic. - I got out really quickly because I needed the money. I didn't get it. - Thank goodness. - I knew that I had no other choice. And so I then, for some stupid reason, I was like, I'm gonna go head to head with these guys. I remember sitting at my office desk one day after I got that second letter from the lawyer about the Bronx press juices. And I said to myself, I literally said, I'm gonna set my alarm for five minutes and I'm just gonna cry. I felt so defeated. And I said, I'm just gonna cry. - And you just feel so alone and bleak. - So alone. - Yeah. - I felt so alone. So I cried for five minutes, the alarm went off and I was like, I need to make a decision. I mean, they're gonna go head to head with these motherfuckers or I'm just gonna say, you know what? This business, the whole business thing is just not for me. So that's exactly what I did. I decided to go head to head with them. And I started another called press juice company called Downtown Press Juices. And I, for some how, I started this, you know, this big manufacturing facility in Jalong. We had this factory with these huge machinery pressing these juice on my own. Yeah. - Yeah. - Like this machine that's the size of a car. I just went all in. I was like, I'm absolutely gonna go head to head with this. - With your shares that you told. - Yes. - Like with that capital. - Yeah, correct. - So that's it, it's straight back in. - Yeah, and I look back and I go, within three months, I had set up an entire factory, all the machinery had, you know, 20,000 glass bottles shipped in from China. I had stuff, I had everything. I'd gone to every single cafe in Jalong and kind of somewhat told them the story and I was like, can you support me and stock my juice? - Whoa. - So before I even launched, I had like 50 stockers. And there was this one drive through coffee chain. - Did I run in Jalong kind of note? - Everyone. - Because it's in the front page of the GT magazine. Like it was everyone knew about it. - I heard that so you were the underdog. - Yeah. - Whoa. - So it was kind of like in my favor, I got a lot of good press from it. - Yeah. - Because people like, oh, poor me, we need to support me. - Because you were like the younger the golfers drove us. - Yeah, correct. - It's crazy. - It's crazy. - So I started this cold press juice company and there was this one drive through coffee chain called Bean Squeeze in the city of Jalong. And there was like 12 drive through coffee shops that they owned and to get a contract with them, to supply them cold press juice was like, that was the dream. And I remember I had an interview with the founders of the coffee shop at their head office to show them the juices that we had, the whole range. And as I was arriving, the boys from the Bronx were walking out. - The guys from my office. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Yeah, so they were in there doing the same thing. So it was like, I got it. - Oh, go offices. - Yeah, I got it. And that was the introduction. - Did you guys even acknowledge each other? - No, 'cause I was in my car and they were walking out and I was, again, quite scared. I didn't want to see them. So, hit in my car. But it ended up getting that contract, which was amazing. And the business did really, really well. - For which your main support at that time? - I didn't have any. - You just really didn't have any. - I mean, my family were there. But they didn't really know what I was doing. Like they didn't get it. I remember one night I was in the factory pressing juices at like 11 p.m. And my grandfather walked in with a bowl of soup that my daughter had made at a bottle of orange juice. And I was like, if that's not the perfect example of my family, I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. Like, I'm an deduced company and they bring a new juice and they put it in a little load. - Bless. They've got no idea what's going on here. - So I ended up selling that company to the New Zealand Natural Ice Cream. That, they ended up-- - Oh, wow. - They ended up-- - Yeah, you. - Yeah, so they ended up taking over that business. - So how long did you have it running for before you sold it? - 12, 12 months, I was out. - How does that work? Like did you get approached for them to buy? - Yeah, they approached me. Yeah, so the CEO of New Zealand Natural Ice Cream, he was actually the fake buyer that I had for Perly Whites. - Oh. - Oh. - The places that friends in high places do. - Well, I didn't feel like I did at the time. It's weird, I look back and I went through five businesses in two years. - What? - Okay, he got one. - Let's keep going. We're hanging on to everywhere. - Oh my God. - So these two guys from, well, the CEO of New Zealand Natural Ice Cream and the CEO of Back Then Catch of the Day. So he was the CEO back then. They were in the same office as I was. So we shared an office and they knew exactly what was going on. They were somewhat supporting me through the second phase of it all. And that was when they said to me, like let's start our own teeth whining company. So we started another one called Bondi Smile. - Oh. - Which-- - So basically then your all your businesses became about taking down your business partner. - Correct, exactly. - Which is really poisonous. - Wow. - Running a business from a place of hate and, you know, - Revenge. - Conjunction and revenge is just toxic. - Yeah, it's just toxic, which is why after a while I just thought, you know what, I don't want to be in this space anymore. This is not healthy. - Yeah. - So those guys ended up taking over Bondi Smile and I took like two years off. I went to Europe and I just kind of did my own thing. - So you sold your shares in Bondi Smile? - Yeah, yeah. I remember one day he walked into the office and he had $60,000 in cash. And you just put on the table and goes, like just let us take over. And I was like, 100% take it. - But they knew you wanted out. - Yeah, they knew I wanted out. So it was great. I was just like, I'm done. - And then I went to Europe fucking oath. - Yeah. - Then I went to Europe to 10 years. - Yeah. - I was retired at 24 for a couple of, I was probably many. - How was your mental health by this point? Because you said you felt very like poisonous and you wanted to get out. - Look, that's a really, I don't know. I think I look back at that time. It was just a massive blow. I think I was just in constant adrenaline and just like, it's really. - Yeah, it's really. - But after it all kind of died down and everything settled and I sold everything and I was kind of back to square one with a little bit of cash, I was like, I need a break. And I think I did. I went quite a bad, I was having panic attacks quite bad and I just needed to stop. I needed to stop. I needed to reassess what I wanted to do with my life. I was 24 at the time, I felt like I was 50. Like I'd been through more business shit in this two years than anyone else had probably in 30 years of business. - Yeah, that's a lot. - It's crazy though to think that you just kept starting and selling like, and it's just interesting to hear that because from our perspective, we obviously own our business. - I would never sell Jagger and Stone right now. But unless maybe someone came in off of something that was too good to be true, but it's like, I love my business so much. I don't want to do it. I don't know, it's like, you're like a serial entrepreneur, I guess. - Yeah, and I think I start, again, I was very emotionally attached to all of my businesses. So I looked at them as like losing a baby. - Yeah. - And what I learnt from that is you can't be emotionally attached to business. So now, I'm not at all. Like my business, like Herko, I mean, it's the biggest business I've had out of all of them. And I look at it more as a company because it's structured properly and I have 100% equity in the business. It's all my decisions. And the team, we have a great team and all that sort of stuff. I didn't really have that before. So I think I was just kind of, you know, going along with the motions as a young, you know, a young teen, I guess. And just in my stride, just doing my thing, just learning all these lessons that I need to learn for then, you know, the big bang that would come later on in my 20s, which is where I am now. - So before we go on with any more questions with me, let's have a quick moment to talk about today's sponsor, which is high-tech studios. - Yeah, so you guys know how much we love talking about other small businesses, especially when they are from Australia, homegrown. So this little gem of a business was started by a Melbourne-based stylist, the Hierach Fairy, herself, Tessa McGregor in 2014. Inspired by fashion and trends from decades past, Tessa designs everything from footwear, flares and the original signature sublime bikers, which were inspired by wearing her fiance's underwear around the house and feeling super sexy in them. So she wanted to elevate the design and drew in-spo from the iconic 90s Chanel briefs, and now they are one of her best sellers. And honestly, they are everywhere. - Everywhere. So Hierach Studio designs caught the eyes of so many people since launching, and they've been spotted on the likes of Kylie Jenner, the Victoria Secret Angel, Rummy, and Rachel Zo, even wrote an article about them on the Zo report, and we know what icon she is, seriously. and they were also mentioned in Vogue, another iconic moment. - Seriously, so Tessa started Hyak Studios believing that looking good and doing good for the planet go hand in hand and has put so many incredible things into place to set her apart and do her part for the planet. So one amazing thing, they partner with one tree planted, donating one US dollar from every order placed and that goes into planting a tree. She believes that because they use her business uses paper, I mean, like every business, it's their duty to participate in the restoration efforts across the globe. Love that. - Yeah, that's so good. - It's so important to do what we can to help the planet and the fact that you can order from Hyak Studios and know that you're doing your part, what a vibe. - What a vibe. - Yeah, so you guys can actually treat yourself to some of Tessa's trendy little designs. Just head to @hyrak_studios or www.hyrakstudios.com and use our code Happy Hour at the checkout to receive 20% off. This will be valid until the 23rd of June. And guys, you know these undies, they're those really cool black and white undies with the little logo kind of at the center front. They're so cool. So jump on it. - Wow. - Wow. - So then you go to your room. - What happened in Europe? (laughing) - She's like, I started for business in Europe. - Yeah, Europe was wild. - Did you see her there? - To you, to yourself. - I'm not a huge party girl, perst, like I've only really, it's funny. I've only really started drinking in the last two years. Before then, I never was drinking. - I was drinking. - Yeah. - What's made you drink? - And what? - I'm drinking. - Oh, feels. - And what did you do in Europe for two years? - No, I wasn't there for two years. I was there for probably, I don't know, two or three months. I went probably three times in a year. I was just back and forth. Oh my God, it was wild. I ended up in Saint-Jupès, met this French pilot who flew me to Monaco and niece in his helicopter with the sheep and the fricking. - Like as in a boy for a love interest? - Yeah, he was like a summer romance. - Ooh, that was great. - That's exactly what it was. - It was so good. - The one to slick her is just popping off the door. - Yeah. - That's what Nikki always is like, oh, you know, I always thought when I was single, I would go and have some European romance. - I thought I would end up at least for a little bit, like living on the seaside with some Italian man, just, and you always say that she reckons she'd have a three-sem at Scorpio's in McDonald's. - Well, that was a private conversation, but I guess not anymore. (laughing) - I've been to Scorpio's as fucking Barbie man. (laughing) - It's like, have you been to Scorpio's man? - I've been to meet him. - Every time that Nikki and I talk about the things that we could have should have would have done, Nikki's like, and I bet you any money, the place I'd have a three-sem at Scorpio's in McDonald's. I'm like, you have, it's kind of got strong vision. - I know, I have to happen for you at some point. - It's also European, too. European ties. - It could be like, - It's like, to Lumen in Europe. - It's to Lumen in Europe. It's like the perfect combo. It's fucking Barbie. - It's pretty, anyway. - Anyway, music, anything. - It's a few Nikki's having a three-sem at Scorpio's. - I love that. - Moving forward. - So you had this fun summer fling. - Yeah. - You didn't do any business while you were overseas. I'll just enjoy yourself. - Yeah. - Amazing. - I do know what I want to do. I kind of felt like I was, you know, needed to make that decision. Am I gonna fully through with this, you know, quote unquote entrepreneurship? Or am I gonna go and get a quote unquote real job? - Yeah. - It was kind of a, I had to really-- - What would your real job have been? 'Cause you said you did PT. - I have no idea. - Yeah, because it really kind of-- - And I was that teenager that had every single casual job. Like I was a barista. I was a kitchen hand. I was-- - I feel like I was so entrepreneurial though, 'cause you really need to get anything to go. - Instructed horse riding. I was just a huge bar teacher. I did everything lifeguard, like I, literally trying to everything. And I was like, I just hate this whole working for someone else around. It's just not for me. Don't like it at all. 'Cause I had no choice, but to kind of find my own two feet, you know what I mean? - Yeah. - So what was the next business then? - So the next business from there was, what was the next business from there? - I came back and I became quite good friends with, you know, Michael Finch. - Oh, yes, yes. - The man who says. - So I ended up starting to manage Michael because he didn't have a manager at the time and we were good friends and he needed someone to help broker all of his deals with brands and stuff like that. So I started doing that on the side just, you know, as a friend for him. - Yep. - And then I saw an opportunity with him to do this, you know, some sort of a master class or, you know, leverage of him and help him to-- - I remember. - Michael's master class. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - So that was all me. I went in partnership with him on those master classes and we organized, I think, a seven shows around Australia and New Zealand. And that was a huge success. That was really good fun. We loved that. And it was something very different to what I was doing, but I still got to sit in that, you know, that boss. - Yep. - Seat, which I clearly was loving. Because I get coming back for more. And yeah, we did that for about a year, which was good fun. But, you know, he didn't really want to continue that. That wasn't really what he wanted to do. So-- - It's kind of cool, like you think of bands, where they go on tour for a thing and then that, like for like maybe like three months. And then once the tour finishes, then they don't tour again for a whole nother year or two. Like I can kind of see how the long, like having the future full of tours or like master classes or, you know, just knowing that it was going to keep happening. It's a pretty exhausting lifestyle. - It is. - Yeah, it definitely has to be like project based. - Yeah. - And like you have to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. - Yeah. - Because it really does. - I don't know. - Take a toll. - It really does. Okay, so do go on, babe. What was next? - What was next? Okay, so after Michael's productions, I, God, I can't even remember what was next. And I do, I do. Okay, so Heroic Annex was the next business. - Fuck me man. - Me man. - You're coming, holy poly. - Heroic Annex is a subscription based tampon company, an organic tampon company. So I saw this idea, all this niche, I guess for me personally, every month, I'd forget to buy my sanitary items. So I was like, Magy, things could be delivered to my door on a subscription basis. - Oh, fuck. - And I saw it as a really-- - Well, it's like, you know, you get your period once a month. That's inevitable. - Yeah. I got tampons coming out the wazoo. Last night, I literally offered a girl that we were dinner with a whole packet. I was like, here, take 14 because I've got them here in my handbag. - I was not a person. - So yeah, that was the next idea that I executed with a best friend of mine and-- - She ripped out of the box of tampons. - She just slapped down the box of tampons on the table. Thank you sister. - They're full of bleachers and chemicals. They're not good for you. - You know what I'm trying to palm them off, don't you? - You need organic cotton tampons. - Oh, I'm not fafing organic. - As long as I'm not bleeding all over my pants, I'm going to-- - So does her organic silk run. - Yeah, it does. - I'm-- - You're searing Lucy talk about it. It doesn't even bleed for my right heart. - It does, but I don't run it. - I believe she just said, bleed all over my pants. Sorry, listen. It does, but you don't run it. - So fuck, okay. - Yeah. - It's the same thing happening again. Please tell me you didn't get kicked out of it. - No, I didn't get kicked out of it. I stepped away. - Okay. - Thank God. - No. - I'm not getting trust issues. - Yeah, no, no. - Just saying it from here. - It's time. - You stepped away, but you still friends with owner? - I've sort of. - Okay. - Story time. - Oh my god. - I know. - 16. - I've started to think there's something wrong with me. - I'm not going to lie, so am I. I'm looking at you like, I'm never going into business. Are you crazy? - I know. - Tell us, tell us. - Okay, very-- I have to be-- Yeah, I can't talk too much about it because I don't want to upset anyone. But long story short, again, I had this great idea and my friends loved it and they were like, we really want to be a part of it. And I was like, I was really reluctant. And they were like, we'll be the cash cow. Like, we'll give you all the capital that you need to make this run. You run the business yourself happy days. And I was like, mm, okay, let's do it. - Okay. - Because they're like very good family friends. And I think because of COVID and everything that happened, you know, their money kind of stopped. So they weren't making as much money as they were prior. And I think their whole initial agreement of, we'll give you as much money as you need wasn't really on the table anymore. So as you guys know, just start a business and run a business. You need money for marketing. You need money for-- - That's flow. - You know, you need cash flow and we didn't have it. So that was when I was like, you know what, I'm not even going to kind of worry about this too much. I'm just going to step away and I want to do my own thing. And you guys can sort your stuff out with this business. If you want to put more money into it, you do that. But they weren't really interested at the time to put more than they already had. So, yeah. So that business still exists. - That's a great idea though. - It is. It has great potential, but you know. - That's like a learning though. It's like you do have to spend money to make money. Like you can't be too-- - 100% - Too tight. - I still like 50% of that business. And I hope, you know, that one day they might think to actually do something about growing it. - Yeah. - But it's not a priority of mine. So we're probably like end of 2019 at this stage. And I'm kind of back to square one. I'm 20%-- - Like 18 months ago. - Yeah. - Yeah. - I was like, I need to do something like this is a joke. Like I feel like I've run 100 businesses. - Fuck you, it would have learnt so much at this point. - I have learnt so much. It's crazy. And that's when it was just as COVID was starting. And I saw this idea, you know, I was kind of scrolling through Instagram again and I got this random ad from a Canadian company selling a very, very similar product to the Slickstick. But it was branded disgustingly. The bottle was very ugly and it had no leg. And I said, again, I was like, wow, this is cool. Like I have the worst flyaways in the world. And I want to try this product. And it was funny because like a deja vu back in 2016 when I started, really wise, it does smell nice. And I purchased one. I loved it. and I kind of got on the phone to some manufacturers and I was like, let's do this, like let's go hard. Like I'm done with all this crap, with all these other business partners and stuff. Like I'm doing this 100% on my own. - Yep, totally. - I'm gonna bootstrap this by myself. Like let's go. And yeah, here we are 18 months later in business is huge. We're selling like thousands of these things a week. - And stuff. - Epic fame. - Well, I'm so glad that this is where all these lessons that I ended for you. - Yeah, same. - Yeah, it's like a really, it's a Cinderella story, don't you? - It really is, because I look back and I remember thinking that I was never really good enough in business to do it by myself. Like I always needed someone to do it with me, whether it was someone that had business knowledge or experience or someone who had money that would be able to, you know, invest that capital. You know, now with Slick Hairco, I look back and go, it's funny, 'cause this is the biggest business by far and I own 100% of it and I've done it all on my own. - Get it going. - Now what? - You're good lesson though. It's like, it really sounds quite dark, but like you can't trust anyone. You just have to be able to back yourself. - Excuse yourself. - Well, obviously, we're one person. - No, but like I feel like that's such a good lesson, like, you know, always be ready to just have your own back. - Yeah. - Yeah, well. - No, I look back and think I could have given up so many times. - I'm fucking old. - I could have quit so many times. - Just to be honest, I just like it. - I would fall down, I'd get back up, brush myself off and just see what, you know, what's next. - That is a true meaning of the word resilience. - Yes. - You got back down, but you got-- - Get back up again. You never gonna keep you down. - We say that about one of our friends that gets fucked over by boys all the time. - She's been dating world. - And she's just out there. - She's out there. - She gets back up every time. - I'm not forced to love that. - So, well, okay, fast forward to this moment when you have this idea of starting Slickstig. I feel like this is what everyone's gonna be really interested in. Like how did you take this product from the idea to where it is now? - Yeah, so I knew that this could be huge. And that's one thing that I really pride myself in is I have that ability to kind of visualize a product and end product and what it could be in the marketplace. And that's exactly what I saw with the Slickstig. So I was like, this product's great, let's do it. I need to brand this, I need to find my niche, I need to find my demographic of who's gonna use this product and I need to make it aesthetically pleasing that they're gonna wanna buy it. And I did that in, I don't know, I was so confident in this business, it was gonna be big that I just day and night was just working so hard to get this off the ground. And within a couple of months, we was ready to go. So that's exactly what happened. I imported a lot and we branded it really pretty. It's pink. - Yeah, absolutely. - And we've sold like 150,000 of them in the last 12 months. - So like how did you need much initial cash flow to get? - Not really, I started really small. So my first Slickstig was like a white label bottle and I got a label and I actually was hand labeling every single one of them myself. - Oh wow. - Yeah, so I say I rolled, I put 50,000 labels on Slickstig before I got them custom made. - Oh, but yeah. - That's 50,000 too many. - Yeah, I know. - Because I was scared to take that financial risk without knowing that it was going to do well. - Yeah. And for those of you playing at home, what she's referring to is that when you order, say for example, I'm looking at the Slickstig right now and it's in this really cool custom made bottle to do that, you have to place really large minimum order quantities. - Correct. - So it's kind of a big gamble when you haven't actually sold a product yet to just go in and be like, yeah, I'm gonna order 100,000 of these in case you get them back here in cell five and then you're stuck with whatever five. - Where's if you would buy a white label one, you minimum order quantities might be 100 units. - Exactly. - So I would then get labels made and I would just put the labels on myself. - Yeah. - Which looked dreadful. I mean, I look back at my first prototype of this product and I cringe, but I always live by that quote. I can't remember who said it, but if you're not embarrassed by your first concept, you launched far too late. So I could still be sitting here like trying to save money to do that M.O.Q. of 100,000, but I would have missed the boat. So you guys will jump all in at the start and it may be a little ugly. Your website might be crappy. Your product might not look great, but you've got to just start. - Yeah, no, that's him. - What do you think there was like one key moment that really shot it up for you? - I think when I started using some bigger influences and I was seeing, you know, we were getting like, you know, 10 times return on our investment with influencers and that were working incredibly well. And I thought, wow, this works. Like this is going to be huge. And I just knew I just had this gut feeling. And I think the product too, - Like for everyone. - The slick stick is so well suited to, like exactly what you said, influencer marketing. Like there's certain products out there that are just so well suited to. - Teeth whitening. - Teeth whitening. It's like something that it doesn't matter. Any girl can use a slick stick. - Correct. - Any person can wipe their teeth. - Yeah. - It's not like with fashion like Jagger and Stone, where it's like, - It's a niche. - It's more niche. And it's like, and even when you are in that niche, it's like, oh, all I like that top, but not that, whereas you just have like one skew to focus on pretty much. - Yeah, epic. - Yeah. So yeah, it was crazy. We just grew and grew and grew and we started getting wholesale inquiries, which was massive. And I remember my first big wholesale was Princess Polly and they ordered. - My guys. - My husband. - They ordered 1500 units straight off the bat. And I was like, wow, like these guys are backing me. And within three weeks, they were ordering another head. There was another purchase order that came through. And like this morning on my way here, like another massive purchase order, like they're just selling bulk. - Are they your biggest wholesale, would you say? - Yes, online retailer they would be. We've got quite a few. We've got over 500 wholesalers around the world now. - Five hundred. - Yeah, but we've just secured price line and calls. - Oh my God. - Oh my God. - Yeah, I know. - You hear it here first. - So we just secured calls last week. - That is so exciting. - Yeah. - Wow. - Babe, you know, I started another moment, another product where that fits into this kind of category. - 10. - Bondo sense. - Yeah. - That's another one that kind of reminds me of it. - Wow, babe. So you are like running a huge wholesale business as well. So I think it's good to explain. - 500 accounts too. That's a little bit. - Who's managing your wholesale? - I do most of it myself. - Yeah, I'm at that point in the business where we're growing, but I'm struggling to know what my next hire is. - Yeah. - It's really hard. - What's your team look like at the moment? - Yeah, so it's myself and I've got a full-time marketing manager, Emily, who's like my right-hand girl. She's amazing. - Okay. - And so she looks after all things marketing. - All your influencers and. - EEMs, everything like that. And then we've got casual staff, so they do the pick and pack-in. - Yep. - And they look after customer service. - Yep. - Another beauty of your brand, your product. They're not going to pack the wrong thing. - Yeah, well, yeah. - You could bang that many out in the day, like in terms of speed and like. - Well, that was originally yes, but then we started to introduce like the true pack and the three pack. So by three, you know, save money. Now we have like our silk scrunchies, so we had to do a lot of bundles. We got a lot of hair accessories now that have come in. So we've got a few more skews than originally, but gosh, it was easy at the start. - Oh my God, you just banged so many times. - Actually, just throw the menu. - Yeah. - So cool, babe. - Yeah. - And so your online is obviously not quite as big as your wholesale now. - No, online is huge. I mean, we get a really consistent amount of sales every single day. - Amazing. - On our e-commerce site. And your wholesale is just another whole other, you know, part of the business that not many people really know about. - Yeah. - So it's this interesting thing that I was explaining to Nick once a year ago, and we're all like, "Oh, what the hell?" So when you stock too big, like bricks and mortar fashion retailers, you pay. It's the same thing. You pay essentially to have like a window. So it might be like, "Oh, in March, my Jaguar and Stone is going to be in the window here for it hypothetically." And I just could not believe when I was this young fashion girl that you had to pay for that. As if the brand pays for it, surely the shop that's making the money is going to pay for it, but it's all just drive sales through. So then you're getting bigger orders. It's all kind of, yeah, it's a funny little thing. - It is. It's crazy. - Wow. - Yeah. - I was just thinking, "So what do you think your next hire will be?" - I think probably like a purchase officer, someone who is in charge of looking after all the wholesale, making sure, because the thing is, like, it's all good and well to send 60,000 units to calls, but they're going to want like weekly replenishments, right? So you've got to be on top of that. And you're managing all your own purchase orders as well, like with your suppliers. - Which is stressful. - Yeah, and that would be huge. - And making sure that we're constantly got stock. - Yeah. - What's your only time to like. - It's probably around a six week turnaround time to get, you know, let's say, 100,000 units from A to B. - Yeah. - Wow. - Making sure that we're always on, you know, it's doing forecasting for the future. How many six sicks are going to sell in the next, you know, three months? - Like, that's way over my head and I'm the first to put my head up and say, "You need buy a babe. I reckon you need a. " - You need like a. - It's like you need someone that can not only manage your, like, forecasting for your own buying the slick sticks. But then at the same time, they can also manage all the purchase orders coming in so that in that way, it's like they're basically just managing it. The order's coming in, the order's going to the factory. - Yeah. - The order's coming in, the order's going to the factory. putting big budgets into influence. like you need to make sure you've got so many ready to go. - Yeah, that's the other thing that you just never know. - It's way more planning than what you've been. - Yeah, it gives you new influence. You just have no, like you really don't know what to express. - Yes. - Who is the best influence that you've ever worked with? - Sophie K. Shah. - Who's that? - I don't even know who that is. - She is. - Do you have enough in the dragon right now? - Yeah. - So she's phenomenal. We've just signed her as an ambassador now on a long term contract. - Like a contract? Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah. - She started off as a mummy blogger from Melbourne, but she's really now stepped into that entrepreneurial, you know, she's got her own, - That's called K. Shah. - I never heard of this. - She's been sitting there, everyone. - She's huge down in Victor. I thought she was huge. Everyone, I'm surprised you haven't heard of her. - Oh, look at her. - She owns a massive pajama brand called K. Shah. - Cool. - Yeah, she is cool. - Not gonna lie, there's a lot of, Nick and I always talk about this. There's so many influences in Melbourne specifically that we've never even heard of. It's a real like WAG kind of scene down there. - Like it's like a whole different kind of celebrity scene to the rest of the show. - Your mummy bloggers. - I feel like that's really, yeah. - Yeah, totally. - I've never seen that before. - Well, babe, I love this story. Like I'm hooked. So I think we need to break it down a little bit more for everyone because we've kind of been jumping around a bunch of different things with Slickstick. So you started, you bought the products, you got them shipped over here, you're selling them yourself, you started going into the influencer marketing thing, putting your budget behind influencer marketing, and then things just incrementally kept growing from there. A huge, huge factor of the success of this brand was TikTok. So when, let's go over to it. I decided to start sharing some behind the scenes, like, you know, of running an online business on TikTok. And I didn't know what to expect. I was a consumer of TikTok for a long time. I loved, you know, aimlessly scrolling through and watching these videos, but I would never ever post anything. Because I don't know, I thought you had to dance and stuff and I wasn't really into that. And I started to, my algorithm changed a little bit. And I started to see a lot of small businesses sharing the behind the scenes. And I thought, wow, this is like kind of cool. Like, I could do that. Like, I'm, you know, I've recently started a new business. Why wouldn't I share it? And I remember waking up one morning, I'd posted a vlog, like, not a vlog, but like a little behind the scenes video at 9pm the night before. I went to bed, I woke up the next morning, I had 35 grand in sales. And, bam! Wild. And I had, like, I'd grown to like 70,000 TikTok followers, two million likes on TikTok. And it just went viral. That's viral. And I was like, this is crazy. And it was great, but I didn't have the stock to fulfill those orders. Like, it was, how did you, how did your website keep selling when do you not keep stock? At the time I wasn't. Ooh, yeah. But I knew I had stock coming. So it was kind of more of a case of life. You just didn't think that you would ever get to that anymore. You wouldn't even. No, I don't. No. It's a, did you have to email a problem 5,000 people saying, "Hey, sorry, actually, we're out of stock." I don't remember how many, but we did 35 grand in sales. Yeah. But yeah, we had to let everyone know saying, "Look, we've, you know, we've got a bit of a delay." It's a pretty sale. You know, we had a couple of weeks, and people were fine with that. But yeah, it was crazy. I was running it out of my one bedroom apartment, and I just, I'm like, "Fuck, it means stock for days." I'm impressed. I'm like, "Fuck and go off, sis. This is awesome." So this, so you started running it from your apartment? Yeah. Yeah. And then when did you, because of COVID, yeah, we're in an office now, but because of COVID, we weren't able to inspect commercial properties. You know, we're in stage 4 lockdown. So I had no choice but to run it from home. I couldn't, you know, move into any other facility at the time because everything was shut. Wow. That is, that is what you call like a, I did, that's something you really overlooking COVID. Like, I wouldn't even think about, "Oh, you can't even go to inspection." Well, you have to inspect the property, so you, you can't. You couldn't even go and look at them. Everything was closed. They wouldn't let you do like kind of like facetime inspection. No, it was because it wasn't really relevant for me. I needed to see, I needed to kind of see where I could, you know, a big decision to make it. And I didn't, it was hard because although we had some small growth spurts, like, you know, a one viral TikTok video, that doesn't mean it's sustainable, right? So it's all good and well to have one great night of sales and like, "Oh, I've got to go get it to, I'm just going to get a warehouse." It doesn't really work like that. So the next step was me, for me, was to get a, I got a small little storage unit up the road. It was like a, it was literally like a shipping container, but had Wi-Fi and power. So I was like, "Oh, it's working." I held the stock in there and we ran the business out of there for probably two months. That was kind of months. Our first as well, except it was in like, it was a shipping container in a cool, really cool, go-work, it's still like same concept. Same concept. Yeah. So since then, it's been, I think we've moved three times in six months. Oh, I know. It's so annoying. Oh, I'm like, "Hey, that for you, babe." But also, not a bad problem, Tom. Yeah. So then I think we'll have to, we're in a, like a two story office now, sort of similar to this, but more industrial. No, no. And we'll probably have to move into a warehouse. That'll be our next step. Yeah. It's such a good, that's like a really, really quick growth. Huge. Yeah. Did you ever hear anything from your old business partners? No, but God, they were saying-- No, congratulations. No. That's it. None of them, not even the tampon people. No. I don't want that for me. But they would see me, like I got some good press a few weeks ago, so they would have probably seen it. Are you still living in Jolong? No. You're in Melbourne now. Oh, that's good. Yeah, I've been in Melbourne for four years now. Oh, that's good. Wow. So what's next, babe? Just keep scaling and running this business. Slickstick and for life. Yeah. Love that. Yeah, we've got new products coming in August, which is really exciting. We started formulating our own products about eight months ago. So some cool new hair products coming soon. Amazing. And yeah, it was kind of a-- you know, at the start, it was like, is this going to be, you know, a little fad product, or is this going to be a long-term business? And I've quickly realized that people are repurchasing. This is becoming a part of everyone's staple with their-- Yeah, yeah. --and bag, part of their daily hair routine. And yeah. That's really exciting. That's actually so great that you can keep that in your handbag too. Yeah. Yeah, it's great. I was in my friend's buggy yesterday, and she's got a little slick, sticky, sticky, thing in her buggy. I was like, I love that. She's like, I need it when I'm on the buggy. My hair's go crazy. So I just lift my hair back. So, so cool. Oh my god. I can already see a cool, like, video campaign you could do of, like, someone driving, like, on the coast with a convertible and getting it out and like, it looks sticking to your hand, the convertible vibes. You should do that. You should do that. Payton that. You see the video, it's me and you. You can convert it. In a pink convertible. All right, Mia. So we are going to finish off this episode. I could listen to you all day, honestly. And I don't say that to everyone. So, right. We're going to finish off this episode with a couple of Queenie questions. Queenie questions. Yes. What is the biggest challenge you've had since you started your business journeys? I guess that would be. Oh my lord. Like, did this business or all of them? All of them. Just you as a business person. I think it's just having that self. It sounds super corny, but it's relevant. I think it's just having that self-pulley for you can just keep going, keep going, keep going until you hit that, you know, now on the head. And you know, six businesses deep, I mean, far out, proven to myself that, you know, you just got to keep getting up. If you get kicked down, you've just got to keep persevering towards your goal. Because you will get there eventually. That's going to be so inspiring for us. I think. Like, that's such an amazing lesson because six is a lot. I genuinely inspired. Like, I'm genuinely inspired by it. It makes me just feel like, fuck, you just don't know what's around the corner. Like how exciting is that? How exciting is that? Just keep going. Yeah. Anything's possible. You only fail if you stop trying, right? Yeah. All right. Next, Queenie question. If you could give a business advice to like girls in their, you know, 20s wanting to start or at any age, wanting to start their own businesses, what would it be? Three tips. Self-belief that you have the ability to achieve those goals that you want to do. Second tip would probably be making sure that you're a leader in the industry not a follower. So try and come up with some unique ideas. I feel like in their stay and age, everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and everyone wants to own an e-commerce business. But people are doing so by just finding someone that's doing something in San Cool. I'm just going to mimic that. Which is going to, you know, lessen your chance of success. You want to be a leader of the pack. Yep. That would be my second tip. Third tip. Oh God. I don't know. Get a good lawyer. Yeah, good lawyer. That's actually a really good tip. You know, you know, you business names, make sure everything is legally bound. And if you go into partnership with someone, make sure that you know what you're doing. Yeah. Yeah. Make sure you try communication, open comms. Yeah. From a few of the interviews we've had actually on lately, like yourself and Jane Lou, who started Shopo, it's interesting. Some people do just work better on their own and some people do work better in a partnership. And it's like, it is just interesting, like I find it, when I hear these different stories of like failed business partnerships, it makes me really sad because I'm like, I could just never imagine ripping Nikki off, for instance, like, ever. But you guys, your dynamic is very rare. Like you realize that, right? Like the chances of partnership success is working is, it's rare. See, I feel like, yeah. I'm like hearing that. I totally understand. But I think, I always think of like, you know, the Saba girls and like, I always think that that's almost like a similar dynamic to us. Because it's like your team, you know, they're sisters, they know they're cousins. In laws, I think. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of the partnerships, especially in fashion, are actually related by blood. Like the Verge girls, sisters, Tigermist, IMG, are sisters. Yeah. So true. The Saba girls, in laws, Nikki and I, friends. I don't know, Jim, in laws. I would love that. Anyway, me and that, it's all we have time for today. Thank you so much for sharing. I, Jane, that's stories. I didn't know what to expect that is a great story. I think the people playing it on the other side. I'm so glad that you have found success babe because you deserve it. I agree. Yeah, true. And if everyone wants to find you, Mayor, where can they find you online? So we are at Slick Airco on Instagram and my personal page is me a plesseck. I share a lot of behind the scenes of what I do every day as just everyone else I suppose. And anything? Or yeah, if you are interested in looking at the products, it's Slick AirCompany.com. Go off there. I am going to be Slick in my hand. Me too. See you, babs. Thank you.