Social Media Transformation: Overcoming Fear and Resistance for Your Business with Michelle Smith

Crystal Vilkaitis  

In this episode of Rooted in Retail, I am sitting down in person with Michelle Smith, the owner of Piccolo Mondo Toys. Michelle is one of my favorite retailers. We have worked with her at Crystal media for several years now. And she has just this epic transformation story. When I first met Michelle, and I was looking at her Instagram posts way back when she first started, there was over a year where she had no face in her Instagram posts, there was no humanized content, you never saw Michelle, there was no pictures, there was no video, and then you fast forward. And Michelle embraced being uncomfortable in front of the camera, putting herself out there being a little bit more vulnerable. And doing it afraid, like I always say and like my grandma says. And now Michelle is doing weekly live selling, she has so much personality on her videos. And she’s just really increased her social media efforts, which has also increased her results. And we’re talking about all that today. You know, Michelle didn’t start this confident person in front of the camera and just ready to do all these videos, she absolutely did not want to do them. And so she takes us through kind of that transformation, what helped her get more comfortable where she is now. And she’s got a lot of great tips that I’m sure a lot of our listeners can find a lot of value in a lot of encouragement, and she’s got a lot of great ideas for you too. And even if you feel confident in front of the camera, I think you’re really going to love what Michelle has to say. Now, this is also airing in the first week of October. And October is sort of a themed month around holidays and burnout. And so Michelle and I are also talking about some burnout, it can be a lot to be a retail store owner, you are a small business owner, you wear a lot of hats, retail itself can definitely be a big job. And then as we’re approaching the holidays, you know, it can sometimes just be a recipe for burnout, especially when we’re trying to do it all including our social media content. Just creating all that content can really have us feeling overwhelmed too. So we talk about some tips for you, the store owner and your team to really help you through this holiday season with that burnout, maybe help prevent it or if you’re in it. Some ways to kind of have some more balance. Now Michelle, you can learn more about her at Piccolomondotoys.com She’s on Instagram, Piccolo Mondo Toys, and be sure to follow her so you can see her awesome social media content. I also just want to point out that Michelle was on my other podcast Crystal Uncorked on episode 40. I will link to this in the show notes as well. We talked about building a business from passion, Michelle’s passion for creating her store and we go deeper into her store. We talk about some of these vulnerabilities as well. It’s very much an Uncorked episode. So if you love hearing from Michelle, I think you’d love that episode too. So go check out episode 40 on Crystal uncorked. And let’s do Oh, and I just want to say if you’re watching this, we are sitting down in person at the Las Vegas market. So honored to have that opportunity to be there with Michelle and she’s got one of the coolest T shirts that anyone in the world has. So you’re gonna want to see what her t-shirt is. All right, enjoy this episode. Welcome to Rooted in Retail, the show that’s dedicated to helping independent retailers thrive in today’s ever evolving retail landscape. I’m your host, Crystal Vilkaitis, and I’m thrilled to have you join me weekly as we explore topics that are vital to the success of your store. from marketing to mindset, money to merchandising, sales to leadership, we’ll cover it all. Each episode features interviews with industry experts and accomplished retailers who share their real life insights and actionable advice. Get ready for a great conversation on how to build your dream business with Rooted in Retail. Okay, Michelle, welcome to Rooted in Retail. I’m thrilled you’re here. So exciting. Okay, let’s talk about the shirt. The shirt. Okay, if you’re watching this, Michelle has an Evolve t shirt on she was at Evolve 2023 Yeah. And what did you say?

 

Michelle Smith  

I said, Can I buy the ticket for next year now? And I want to be the first I want to be the first one to commit to Evolve 2024 Yep, he’s so excited. And not knowing that I was gonna get this awesome shirt. Right a

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

team. My team made a shirt. And if you want someone to read it, it says I was the first to purchase and evolve 2024 tickets. We got her heck yes, Michelle. So it’s an honor that you’re here on so many levels. I always love talking to you. And you have had such a transformation. I mean, talk about Evolve. Yes, it’s going to be so fun to see you there next year. And I really just want to talk About kind of your transformation today on this episode, because I think it’s really going to resonate with a lot of retailers. But before we dive into that, what was the spark that led you to open a toy store? And what keeps that spark alive today?

 

Michelle Smith  

Yeah, I think when it comes down to it, it was combining my passions. We talked about this and Crystal Uncorked passion for learning about countries and cultures around the world, sharing information with kids so that they grow up, embracing diversity, wanting to really change the world by contributing to my community and the international community at large. What else just constantly learning and then also, I love Star Wars, Marvel games. I love to play games, and yeah, strategy games, party games. Not great at word games, but you know, yeah, I move on. We’ll see. But I love to play puzzles. I was influenced by my grandmother, who who played that was her thing we played Yahtzee And she just Yeah. imagination, creativity.

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Yeah. And then what keeps it going today?

 

Michelle Smith  

All of those same things. Actually. That’s one of the reasons why when people when business coaches will ask you for your why. I’ve been doing it the whole time. And so I do go through times where I feel like maybe I’m burning out slightly. And then I just remember the why of why I started my store. And my team, they are so awesome. And that keeps me going because I want to do great for them. For my community, I want to do great for them for my family. So yeah, and you know, I want to be the trendsetter on some things. So that kind of is inspiring. And there’s always something new and I’m toy industry, you know, Oh, yeah. So there’s a lot. And then I think, making sure that I take time for myself and take breaks. Yeah, I told you about that. Take a break there. Yeah, I don’t know, somebody else probably said it. But I picked up on that. And I go on vacation. I love, you know, traveling, I love going to different conventions, I get reenergize with the people I surround myself with.

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Yeah, well, I think that’s why one of the reasons why market something like this is so important, you know, yes, you get to see in touch and you get the connection, you get to be in person, you have to have that I think too. So those are all so many great things that keep the spark alive. We’ll talk a little bit about burnout towards the end of this episode. But I want to talk about social media. I want to talk about video putting ourselves out there. Obviously, being in the public eye, especially on social media can be daunting, can you share the journey you took to overcome your initial fears and resistance?

 

Michelle Smith  

Yeah. So for me, I don’t really even like to take a picture of myself, like my kids are like “get the picture.” And I’m like, because I have this vision of what I used to look like and what I want to look like, and it’s that in between kind of mode. And so I usually am the person who takes a picture. And I did, I wasn’t putting myself out there for my company for my social media. And then 2020 happened. And that was a game=changer, because we had to do things differently. And you know, before I would just like, you know, make a cute display. And I had a reason why I brought the product in. But I wasn’t telling the story of why I brought those products in to my customers. And then we just invited them in, they purchased it was easy. So 2020 just shook everything up. And then that’s when I was like, Okay, I need to try new things. And that’s when I met you in July of 2020. And you were telling us you know, this has been successful, other people are doing this, and be brave, and just do it and do it afraid. That’s something you say a lot. And and so that truly was challenging for me. I wanted I was that classic person who wanted to buy the right equipment and do it perfectly. And the first time I went live, I was sideways. But in the relationships that I grew with my customers for showing up, I was so afraid that people in the industry, were going to judge me if I said something wrong. You know, if I wasn’t an expert in everything that I would have this impostor syndrome, kind of it was coming out. And so I was afraid and I was really holding myself back by being afraid. And then I realized that it’s about my customer. It’s about connecting, why I chose something and how can I help them. And it also helped that I invited my friend Kathleen and we do a lot of times our lives together. But then I started playing around and having fun and doing some reels and I love music. I love dancing. I don’t do those things professionally, you know what I ever did, I was more of a athletic person, but I love dancing, and I love music. And so just to, like, have fun and try things that were new was really fun and exciting for me. And then I got, you know, feedback from people like, oh my gosh, look, it’s so awesome. You’re having fun. And, you know, I’m so glad you’re just having fun because they knew how hard we worked in 2020. And so 2021 was trying new things, after being coming in insider with Crystal Media. And Steph would teach us something, and I would go try to do it, you know, and that was awesome.

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Well, your mindset, I feel like you just really evolved your mindset around showing up, and social and the content. And it is scary, but you did it afraid. And then when you get that feedback from your customers, that’s when that momentum I feel like sets in. And so that’s where we’re always trying to get people to show up because your customers want to see you. And I use you as an example, in some of my presentations, where they’re talking about, like, you’ll do a video just saying, Hey, I’m Michelle, this is what we do. This is my store. And there’s these comments on there that say, we shopped for our seven nieces with you, you’ve been a part of our family for so long. I mean, it’s so meaningful. And you can’t do that with just displays, right? Like, you have to have the human elements. I’m so proud of you.

 

Michelle Smith  

Yeah. And I felt like I did that really well. When I first opened my store, I had one store, and I knew I pretty much knew everybody, right. And I was working a lot of hours. And I was there a lot. And I knew my community and I knew what they wanted. And I thought of them. And and then I when I open the second store, it’s hard to be in two places at the same time. So then when you have three stores, flashforward, 2017, we have three stores. Social media allows all customers from all three of those stores to connect with me. And I can’t possibly be in all three spots. I’ve said that before. And so to me, this is an opportunity. Now, I know that I need to do more short form content and not the long always, sometimes it’s like by the time we set up, it’s just easier. And we’ve made it more of a not a game. But we do trivia and we do prizes, and we show games. And so we do that the the one hour generally almost means 45 minutes to an hour is kind of where we’re trying to be. But it because it’s a lot to set up. Like with the product and everything. I know we need to evolve and continue to try different things. I’ve done reels and I like that. We’re you know, carousels, we’re seeing the different aspects. And we’re trying new things. I also know that I need to be more consistent. There’s still things I can improve on. But I am so proud of my team. One of my team members just did the show with me, I asked you know, for a volunteer, and Avi stepped up and came on camera. And again, if I saw the evolution of Avi for the last few years, I was so proud of him. And and so to me, it’s like, you know, sometimes I’m pushing my team a little bit too. But we’ve had, the payoff has been huge for our for our store, our sales went up, you know, we saw the increase. Yeah, so it’s good. Well,

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

so you’re talking about your toy talks, right? My toy toy, okay. And I feel like this is just such a great thing that you’re doing a great show that you have. And so break down just kind of that show because it could give some retailers some fun ideas for them. You know, you have a weekly live show you we gave it a name. So it’s branded. Yes. And just kind of quickly take us through that whole process of what you do in the setup and how you do that show.

 

Michelle Smith  

So I invited because I was very nervous. In the beginning, I invited my friend who used to be a toy rep, she’s retired, she’s a grandma. And she has another like she has some other side hustles. Okay, as we all do, right? And she’s fabulous. She’s a friend, and she doesn’t live that far from my store. And so we decided, okay, we’re going to have some wine, you know, and talk about toys and make it fun for the customer. So we called it a Toy Talk, and we decided Tuesday evening would be the best at the time for our schedules. So it’s Toy Talk Tuesday. And I wanted to tell the story. So we usually have a theme, we choose a theme, but that’s how I merchandise in my store. So it’s not like we provide something completely new. It’s just telling the story of the theme, and pulling it together. And so then she would look up fun facts about the theme. So let’s say we just a couple weeks ago did space exploration. And so we I in January, new a customer asked us to do space. And so we started buying the product. So we have enough product and content. And then she loves space and all the facts about space. So she’s doing like little fun facts. And then we do usually some jokes people seem to like it. And what we’re really doing also is increasing our engagement so that future posts that they might see, and then they feel a connection with us. We give away prizes. Sometimes probably more than I, you know, 100% need to but I love giving away things to people and people get excited. And some people the feedback has been the you know, when they were in a tough time, which is kind of how I felt when I was having a tough time and I met you, and you were being real. And you told me about or told me when I say me, it feels like you’re directly talking to me. But through your podcast or through Crystal Media, you had talked about some challenges that you were able to break through. And that’s being brave and telling us that you’re not perfect. So then I tried to give that to my customers. And so there’s been times where they were like, wow, I was really going through a tough time. And because they watched the Toy Talk. It helped them in some way. And if I can help people, then I want to show up every week. And so there’s been times when I didn’t feel like it, you know, and there’s been a few times we joke that we move it to what is it called? What’s New Wednesday, if I can’t do it on Tuesday, move it to Wednesday, and it was like something I can’t remember. But now the customer told me to call it Mondo Monday. Oh, Piccolo Mondo, right. But it was like no Must-have Monday. I tried to say must have money just for fun. Yeah, like, okay, Tuesday’s become a must have, you know, Monday. Yeah. So it’s really about bringing toys together. Because that’s how we merchandise and telling the customers and then they can ask me questions. So it’s interactive. That’s what we’re trying,

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

which I love. And I mean, it’s the ripple effects to yes, you’re doing the show. So you can show merchandise, and ideally, sell some of the items that you’re showcasing. But the ripple of you’re helping somebody in a challenging time. And having that connection is such a gift that independent stores have. But we have to be showing up to do it. And you just never know how you’re impacting somebody. But if you’re consistently showing up, you are like, it’s just so, so great that you’re doing that and showing up for your community. Now, well, how would you say, like, I’m sure somebody’s watching and they’re thinking, okay, I can do it. I’m gonna put myself out there. I’m gonna use video more, but I’m terrified. I’m gonna do it anyways. And they’re thinking, Michelle, how long did it take you to feel comfortable? Because now you’re doing it a lot. And you feel more? A lot more.

 

Michelle Smith  

Right? Yeah, it’s amazing. And just practicing and keep doing Yes. And now I look back, I don’t look back. So in the beginning, I would rewatch every single video and critique myself, and be like, Okay, I’m not gonna do that. I’m gonna do this better. I’m gonna, you know, all the things, right? I did watch a few videos on YouTube of how to be better. And I watched yours that help with showing up on camera. And so I was kind of obsessed with trying to look better, truly. But it isn’t about that anymore. It’s about the content. And so I think the more I’m just myself and try not to think overthink it. And sure some of the industry friends are on there. I might say something wrong. I might not know the answer to something. I tried to get back to them. And just Yeah, I guess I think the more we did it, the better both Kathleen and I got on there. Now we like we put silly glasses on we do funny things. But we don’t have to, you know, sometimes we don’t sometimes we do. Sometimes we have wine, sometimes we don’t. We’re in a spell right now. Or we’re not we’re kind of cutting back. Yeah, which is fine, right? Because it’s the beginning, it was to try to let us like relax a little totally. But I met a customer when I was out just being a human. And she did had no idea. She thought, you know, I was just did the wine just for fun. And she’s like, Oh, and I’m having my wine with you. Oh, and I was like, well, actually, I did that one because I was nervous. Yeah. And so you know, I don’t want to have to do that. And , you know, but it’s fun. And and when we celebrate Sure. But of course, it’s also late at night. And I’ve found that it doesn’t help you sleep.

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Very true. Yes. If you have an aura ring, I will tell you that. But the thing that I love what you’re saying here is one, just the more you do it, you’ll speed up the comfort. And two, it’s your show. Yeah, it’s your content. It can look however you want. It can be flexible, it doesn’t have to be exactly the same. I think that when we feel like oh, I’ve set myself in this box, and I have to be exactly this way. But all of a sudden we change or it doesn’t. We don’t feel like we want to do that this week or life gets in the way we have to modify a little bit we can totally modify doesn’t have to be exactly like that. And I think people hold themselves back thinking they have to be a very specific way. But you can be flexible. You’re so proof of that.

 

Michelle Smith  

And then I also have invited guests, that’s fine. And I have vendors I’ve had reps I’ve had others in the community, other businesses, I love to promote other people. But I have vendors who are saying hey, you know they want to be featured. They have given me a free product to give to the customers. Sometimes they don’t give me the free product and I just give the product away. And you know what, it’s kind of all of it. It’s like, I can choose the menu. Yeah, you know, sometimes we joke sometimes not. Sometimes we give the prize away the next week, it just all varies. But just showing up, that’s the biggest thing is just trying. And I think I’ve gotten so much better. I don’t really watch the videos again, I have now added comments sold. Oh, yeah. And I started that last year, I had to, there were certain things I had to change my point of sale, changed my website, there were things that needed to link together. So that was really a two year process of all of that, being able to tag products and social media. But as my wonderful account manager has said, don’t do that all the time. Don’t tag the products all the time. And what you have told us is to show up, 80% not selling, right. And I think I still need to do better at that. So there’s always something you can improve, but don’t let it hold you back.

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Exactly. Such good advice. You can’t you can’t let it hold you back. I mean, the keys consistency, but then the other things can be flexible. Now, what would you say has been the most successful thing that you’ve done with social media? Is it your Toy Talk Tuesdays? Or is there something else that’s working better from a social perspective?

 

Michelle Smith  

I think probably the Toy Talk Tuesday so. So some customers watch it live, you know, we have a pretty good group. We’re trying to figure out how we could grow that and we have ideas. The second thing is a lot of people watch the replay, lots more than I ever dreamed. And that was surprising. So some people buy through social media, and most people come in the store still, which is also great. You know, I think anytime you can be personal. And so when I have shown my grandmother, or I just lost my grandmother, who was 99 and a half, I haven’t shared that with everyone now yet, but yeah, and so there’s been some you know, like when I’m able to be sharing Thanksgiving with our family, from our family to yours. You know, we’re wishing you Happy Thanksgiving, and people love that they want to see behind the scenes. And you tell us that they really do. And sometimes I am comfortable with that. And sometimes not like I share my dogs no problem. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, my coworkers. So any of those types of things? I think people really don’t want the like, too sophisticated advertising look. If it’s too professional, I feel like it doesn’t work. Yeah, I don’t know. 

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

I agree. And one, I think that there can be a time and place for that for certain brands, certain bigger brands, high fashion, things like that. But when we’re talking about a small business, the thing that’s going to make you the choice and build a lifetime relationship is the people you know, I mean, like those brands, you don’t get to know anybody at those brands. And so, obviously, social is such a great tool for us to do that and have that connection. If there was anyone listening to this, who was you 2020 you know, who’s like, I’m terrified. I just can’t even imagine doing it. Nobody wants to hear me. I don’t like how I look or sound all those things. What would you say to them?

 

Michelle Smith  

Do it afraid. And don’t you don’t have to have all the gear? You know, yes, lighting is important. Sound is important. But just keep doing it and you’ll tweak you can tweak along the way don’t try to make it so perfect so that you don’t even do it. Exactly. just do it. Just start get started. Get Started love sometimes even if you just said I’m okay, I’m just going to do it for like a minute. And then as you’re going you’re going to be more comfortable. Somebody might ask you a question. And then before you know it, it’s five minutes before you know it, it’s 50 minutes. Yeah, you know, whatever, like it doesn’t have and that’s the other thing is you can do it your own way. Like you don’t need to do it like somebody else did it. Exactly. So whatever works for your life, this works for my life Tuesdays, you know, three years ago but if I need to change I will I mean you know we’ve changed a lot to Wednesdays because one of our stores has a Tuesday night market and so we want to encourage our customers to go to that right so how can we be doing our live and have them you know,

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Yep, yeah, again goes back to that flexibility which is great advice and do it afraid. Just do it.

 

Michelle Smith  

Yeah. do it and it just you can change something if you you can try something and then if it doesn’t work for you then you could change it you know. Don’t change it too soon. It takes some time to build up like our first lives we might have two three people you know and then we got to seven you know now we’re like you no more Yeah, we have an app I mean all of the things I wouldn’t have thought so people can watch us on our app they can watch on our on our website, they can watch us on Instagram and Facebook all at the same time. And so that is pretty awesome. And you’re doing that because the CommentSold. Yeah. Through them. Yeah. Okay, that helps. Yeah, we’ll link to the comments sold because they are such a great app to help get those live streams done they have their struggles are not every but you know, and again for me with it’s not for everyone I know some retailers who tried it and it didn’t work for them. I three stores. So for me, it’s that streamline, you know, to be able to communicate to my team rather than us. It’s all automated. And that helps.

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Oh, hands down. No kidding. I love that. Yeah. 

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Retailers, it is time to step out of the day to day of running your store and step in to a new perspective, I would like to invite you to join me in Denver, Colorado at my conference Evolve. This is built for independent retailers looking to transform their business, retail is changing faster than we have ever seen before. So is marketing, and so are the tools to help us build our business. This conference is one of the best places for you to stay up to date, and stay relevant. And it’s super, super early bird pricing right now. So you can get a ticket for as low as $197. Go to Crystalmediaco.com/evolve to secure your ticket, and I can’t wait to see you in Denver and help transform and grow your store. 

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Okay, let’s talk about burnout, Michelle. The pressure of running a business can often lead to burnout, can you share some of the tactics you’ve employed to balance the demands of your business like content creation, buying, training, leading all the things you do?

 

Michelle Smith  

Well, family first, so spending time and carving out time for my husband. And so we do now we’re doing Thursday date nights again, for my kids too. I always did that. That was one of the reasons why I opened my business so I can be flexible to be at all of their activities. So that is super important. Spending time with friends. You know, just getting in on the schedule. And like my best friend, you know, calling her that fills me up and, and then I’m not like, oh, I want to call her but I didn’t do it. And then I feel guilty, right. And that just hangs with you. And then you’re like, feel burned out because you never have time to call your friend. Just do it. Just pick up the phone and you can pull off that other thing for a few minutes just to make the phone call. Getting out in nature, walking with and snuggling with my dogs, like they’re so they’re like therapy dogs really just that time on the couch, and giving my self that permission to not be doing something. You know, maybe the closets aren’t cleaned out perfect. But I had fun that day. I went, you know, I love music. That’s the latest thing I discovered is I’ve always loved music, but for some reason I wasn’t listening to music as much. And I love music and I love dancing. And so turning the music on and then just like kind of releasing a little bit of that, you know, stress I guess Yeah, move your body. Yeah. And you know, singing the songs out loud. You know, really loud. Really? Dance party. I probably should do that. Yeah, so just some fun just having fun. Yeah. Laughing I’ve been listening to podcast Smartless they’re hilarious. And I love to laugh. So most the time I’m on this podcast, trying to improve myself in some way. And business, a lot of business podcasts or self development podcasts. But sometimes I just need to laugh. I love to laugh. And so this one, I’m not like learning how to be better. I’m learning about other people. And something you say is always be curious. I one thing that you said that was so powerful to me, It’s not related to burnout. The time you said at the beginning of Evolve conference is to try to be the most curious person, the most interesting to be the most interested. Exactly. And I employed that in many situations recently, this year. That was like something I kept repeating to myself.

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

It really changes your mindset when you’re in a room and you’re like, I’m going to be interested. And and curious versus talk to me. I’m interesting. Like, yeah, and it can be really intimidating if you’re in a networking situation or a community event or something. And that that frame of reference for me has totally switched everything and then you just make deeper connections. When you are curious when you ask questions. It’s just more meaningful.

 

Michelle Smith  

Definitely. Yeah, I did the I think I’ve told you the 10,000 small business program shout out to Goldman Sachs for the 10,000 small business program. It was unbelievable. It was like in a crash Executive MBA program. And there’s a lot of networking and there was a lot of there’s 40 People in our cohort and it was just actually 160 in our cohort. And then in our section there was 40. And then in my growth group, there were six of us and just meeting different people from different backgrounds across the US different industries. But being interested again, you know, and I went back to New York when we wrapped up our program and I graduated, and I, you know, had to give a presentation all of the things that I’ve been listening to you I, I really appreciate it has helped me to be a better version of myself, which is kind of my goal. And yeah, so I owe you a lot. 

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Oh, Michelle. I mean, we love working with you is that you do the work, you know, like I can I can say stuff and I can share my journey and I can do all those things. But you are somebody who’s willing to do the hard stuff. Yeah. And be uncomfortable. And I do want you to tell people about this business program, because I feel like some people might be like, what was that? What is that? So will you just take a couple of seconds or minutes and talk about what is that program, so they offer

 

Michelle Smith  

it in some of their cities where you would would take it like I think Chicago and for Baltimore, Houston. I can’t remember all of them. But I did the national program. So that means that there isn’t an office like a and it’s through that I could go to I could drive to. So it’s through Babson College, Goldman Sachs. And they put together this program. So we are learning. And I think it was like 14 weeks total, 12 weeks of curriculum. So there was faculty that would teach on a subject we did finances, marketing, leadership, your team, all the different things that you need all the different hats that we were as small business owners. And so then there were, what do they call them? Paired partner assignments. And so I’d be partnered with another business. And we had, we developed a growth plan for our businesses. And we needed to try to figure out what the best opportunity was we did a risk assessments, what you know, is the best course of growing your business, the best path based on all of the research that we did. And and then we in the end, we needed to be EEC. This is a great little acronym that they have, and that is efficient, effective, and compelling. And so they had us do a three minute pitch, basically. At their office in New York, and we presented our growth plan and answered questions about it. It was great. Actually, there’s one thing that they had us introduce a partner, and so we had a paired partner. And then I needed to do a I think it was a one minute. And I did a reel because of you. So I introduced another business owner in Washington, DC. And so because sometimes I can talk a lot, so I was okay, let’s make sure this is precise. So I did it. it was all because of you guys and people were blown away. You know, it’s fun to do. Marketing. Yeah. Yeah. So that was fun. Oh, that’s right. Used. I’m trying to use all the things I’ve learned along the way. And yeah, that’s one thing powerful though. There was a woman She’s younger than me. And she was in my growth group. Fiona. I love her. Shout out. Anyway, she said, You know, I wish you could see yourself how I see you. She said that to me, because I was worried and scared to do my three minute pitch and I had all the self doubt still and everything. And when she said I was like very interesting how somebody else can see you. And I’ve had a lot of people say that when I said, I’m going to speak about confidence. And they’re like, I can’t believe that you didn’t have confidence. You always seem so confident, but I didn’t. So yeah, there it is.

 

Michelle Smith  

I love that. She said that. Yeah, I mean, that’s powerful. 

 

Michelle Smith  

It was. I was very emotional. I cried. Yeah, just kind of like I cried. Of course, when you shared your Evolves, when you started to how you are now, I also want to do Invisalign, by the way. Like, you weren’t perfect. I see, you know, and I’m like, wow, Crystal, you know, and but you just let us in. And I was like, wow, it’s like I could see I know, I’m gonna do some other amazing things. And I have them on my radar. I am not overdoing it. So I don’t burn out. Right. I had to finish some other things first, but I have some stuff up my sleeves. Oh, heck yeah, I bet you do.

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Yeah. And the thing is, are you saying that yeah, what I hear you saying and I think oh, there’s so I want to be so much better. Right? And this is the thing is that we’re evolving. It’s why I have a conference called evolve. I mean, we have to because then you learn something you get better and we want to grow we don’t want to just stop and that’s it. Like we always want to be better. So speaking of being better, are you ready for the resilience round? 

 

Michelle Smith  

Okay yes

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Okay, let’s do it. Let’s do it. Best Business Book?

 

Michelle Smith  

Oh my gosh. There’s so many it’s really hard to narrow it down, but the Gap VS the Gain. Yeah. I think it’s exactly right. Yeah, sorry. Dan Sullivan Benjamin Hardy. Again, I’ve done the who not how I mean, all of their books are really great. Very valuable. I’m on the next one. Yeah. And that next 10 times… 10 Times is Easier than to 2X. Right? Yeah. To grow. So imagine yourself being 10 times bigger or larger, whatever in your life. And then how do you act if you were 10 times?

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

So good. They have so many great books, great suggestions. Best retail technology, like an app or software?

 

Michelle Smith  

Shopify.

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Good one. How do you keep up with the ever changing retail landscape?

 

Michelle Smith  

I am not afraid to change and try new things. I surround myself with amazing people who are also not afraid to try stuff and breakout. And also, I actually don’t just surround myself with toy industry people. So I do other things as well and meet other types of business owners that was really fun in Eolve to because not everybody was from the toy industry. In fact, I just saw Ginni in the hallway. And so like, That’s so great. And then supporting each other cheering and you know, that is big. I love it.

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Awesome. Okay, because retail is ever changing. What do you do to recharge your batteries? We talked a little bit about this. But..

 

Michelle Smith  

yeah, I mean, the dogs and the laughing parts pretty good right now, the dancing and the music, I love I mean, because you can’t always take a vacation. Again, I love to take vacations and get away and really like not connect and like put the phone away. I love to play games with my kids and family and my husband and you know, just go for a walk, things like that. The other thing is just having gratitude. That’s huge. Like just, you know, just sitting there for a moment and reflecting. And it’s kind of like that Gap versus the Gain, like reflecting how far I came, like, I’m a small town girl from a very small town in Oregon. And you know, and look at where I am and now being kind of proud of it, not braggy. No, no, not at all. braggy I don’t want to ever be like that, like, Oh, look at me. No. And that’s kind of what I thought I would come across like maybe before, but you don’t have to be you can just share from the heart. And I think that when you let your guard down, others then tell you actually I felt this way or actually this happened to me. Yes. And you can help other people and we’re all in it together. Right? And not that I’m trying to help everybody all the time. But just if they can connect and and somehow my story helps them in some way, whatever way that is not even to grow their business, but maybe just, you know, I talk about my teenagers and my kids and things that I’ve learned. And I share that on my Toy Talk. It’s not all selling toys. I’m not doing this, like, you know, how did this make my life or me feel better as a parent or connect with my kids in some way? 

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

I love it. Well, and I’m glad that you say that you’re not bragging. I think that I wish that more people. And I think this is more of an issue with women versus men, but would be say, I’m proud of myself or I’m killing it at like, lately I’ve been we’re feeling a lot of momentum, we’re growing. We’re doing so great. And that’s why saying like, I’m crushing it, we’re killing it, it feels so good. It’s never a brag. And what ends up happening is there will be other people like, I have this friend of mine who has an insurance agency and she’ll be like, so am I and we’ll go out to dinner. We’re just like how awesome we are. But it’s never a brag. It’s like, take the moment to be grateful for where you are today to look back and reflect and an honor that versus like, we just start you know, you go on to the next thing

 

Michelle Smith  

Right. you just there’s always ways you can do better. Yeah, exactly. Let’s take a moment. Sometimes I like I see you I’m going to do that. But I’m not doing it yet. Because I don’t want to overwhelm myself. And I need to you know, I’m gonna get there though.

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Yep. Love it. Okay, love it. We did a little tangent there. That’s a good one. It’s a good one. To help retailers be stronger, more rooted in success. What is a retail best practice?

 

Michelle Smith  

Get out there, go to the shows. Go network, go. If you’re curious about something, you know, ask questions like, yeah, I would say I mean it really get to know people, I think because knowing their why. Then you can kind of partner and it’s a win win more. Totally. Yep. Love it.

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Finally, what do you think the future of independent retail looks?

 

Michelle Smith  

I was excited for this question. I’m optimistic. I know that there’s some doom and gloom right now. Everybody’s a little worried about you know, it’s not what it was last year. It’s different. But for me, I had the best year ever last year and Yeah, and so it’s kind of like what you decide, where you put your focus is where things your path leads. I don’t know like the perception like what you decide in your brain is like it’s your mindset and So I can make myself have a bad year if I keep worrying and thinking about how bad it is out there, or I can talk to my customers, listen to what they’re needing, figure out ways that I can change. And that’s what I think about small independent retailers, we have the ability to change much faster than the big box. And we can compete because we can be personal and people want to shop with people I think more or do business with people. not all the time, and I get it. And I’m not going to make them feel guilty or anything like that, if they can’t, you know, but I hope that I have, it’s like the three things. So you have to have the most awesome product for a retailer. For me, I have to have fair prices, and then I have the people. So right now I’m focused on my team. And let’s train our team so that we can have the best experience in that triangle. And then I can compete, because I’m never gonna have the most unique product because Internet has levelled that. I’m not going to be the cheapest, the most, you know, I think I have very fair pricing, but maybe they’re gonna find it cheaper somewhere. But can I have that experience with the people and bringing it all together? And can I change quickly to address the needs of my community? And that seems to be compelling for people to want to do business with us. Exactly. Yeah. So I think that we’re gonna kill it. I’m not gonna say, Oh, this isn’t gonna be like last year, right? You know, I’m gonna like, tweak and I know my numbers, and I’m running reports, and I’m working with my vendors. That’s why I’m here. I have had great relationships, I have set goals with my vendors. And where I put my focus is like, where I see the growth

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

here focus goes, energy flows are okay. Like,  I knew there was a quote, you don’t know exactly, but basically, it’s a little like, kind of like manifesting anyway. Yeah, but I definitely. I like that. Yeah,

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

there’s a lot of opportunities for sure. Final question, Michelle, what’s the future look like for Piccolo Mundo Toys? 

 

Michelle Smith  

Oooh wow. Ah, well, I had mentioned, I think that the growing our little Toy Talk and you know, branching out a little, I think that we’re going to be focusing on some of our loyalty programs and kind of strengthening the more experiences for our customers. Because now that we’re through some of the covid, you know, and people are the world has opened back up more, there’s just other opportunities for us to connect. And I think that I was inspired by the Belonging to a Brand, you know, and that whole thing and so I just feel like there’s a way that we can grow our community, and with Piccolo Mondo, and learn from our customers and provide some memorable experiences. We’ve always been about memorable experiences, but like, let’s tweak that part. So again, this year was about my team, you know, and of course, we never forget the customer, customer is always there. Because if we don’t have customers, we’re not going to be there. But it’s like, how can we listen more, shift, evolve? Yeah, yeah. And then social media, you know, always, like, try new things. Don’t be afraid to try the new thing. Green Screen, whatever it is, is hilarious. Like, there’s always something it’s always changing. And that is, and so just just try, just do it afraid.

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

I know, do it afraid. And that is what my grandma always says. So I say it too. And for anybody listening Belonging to the Brand is a book by Mark Schaefer, and he was one of our keynote speakers at Evolve. We’re actually going to air his session later in the year on Rooted in Retail. It was so good it was so you’ll want to tune into that. But Michelle, how can people connect with you online?

 

Michelle Smith  

Ah, you can well let’s see. Well, we @piccolomondotoys. So we have an Instagram, we have a Tik Tok. We have Facebook, they can send me an email, I guess I don’t know if anybody emails anymore. They do they do. michelle@piccolomondotoys.com. Yeah, so, but yeah, probably a DM through Piccolo Mondo Toys is probably the best. Cool. Okay,

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

thank you so much for taking time. This is so good. I appreciate you and everybody I’m rooting for your success. Have a great week and bye. 

 

Crystal Vilkaitis  

Thank you so much for being here. It means the world to me. Don’t forget to join the Rise and Shine newsletter which is social media news you need to know sent via email every Monday morning. Go to crystalmediaco.com/rise to join and don’t miss the newest episode of Rooted and Retail which drops every Sunday morning.