Willerette Flowers – After the Show

Hello, and welcome back to After the Show.

[00:00:03] Why I decided to bring After the Show back

I’m Crystal Vilkaitis, and this is a segment called After the Show. Where it’s a solo episode, just with me, short and bite size, where I share my top takeaways from this week’s episode. We used to do this on Rooted in Retail, so maybe you’ve listened to After the Show before.

If you’re new, welcome. These are really fun for me to just connect and so I actually, we actually took the summer off and I brought it back for a couple of reasons. One, the retailers had spoken. I asked in our Facebook group, do you miss After the Show? Let me know, yes or no. And we had a lot of people liking that post saying, yeah, they did miss After the Show.

Then I had some people saying, I don’t know what After the Show is. And so I explained what it is. And they were like, I would love to hear your insights so we brought it back. We’re here again, but also I brought it back because of the metrics too. I actually want to take you through in this After the Show.

[00:01:03] The power of testing and analyzing your marketing data

I want to take you through a little bit why I did a pause on After the Show. And then what made me bring it back? Because I think that there’s an educational moment in here on the power of testing and analyzing. And I think so often as small businesses, we’ll just do stuff, but we don’t often take that pause to really analyze the data and really understand like, okay, what happened when we did X? What happened when we did Y? And really get clear on where you want to go.

And then the best way to get there by trying different things and analyzing. And that’s exactly what I did with After the Show. So After the Show was born, because I wanted a way to just engage with our listeners even more. A big goal for me here at Rooted in Retail is to just create a community of retailers who are rooted in the industry, who need that support.

They want to connect and they really just want retail education, inspiration, and community. And so a weekly episode is great, but I was feeling like I wanted to talk a little bit more. I wanted to show up and connect a little bit more often now. Also for my OGs, you may know, or have heard of Crystal Uncorked, which is my other podcast, which is currently on a break.

I don’t know if I’m going to bring it back, but I filmed a hundred episodes there and that podcast was more of a personal podcast where I can share it more business tips, not social media or not retail specific or behind the scenes or talk to all sorts of entrepreneurs. And it just really fulfilled this desire I had in this want that I wanted to create that type of content.

And it also got me into podcasting. And I learned a lot about podcasting by doing Crystal Uncorked that helped me get up and running for Rooted in Retail quicker. My After the Shows make me think of Crystal Uncorked, because you get that little bit of a time with me and my insights and my take on it.

And sometimes some of the behind the scenes stuff that no one’s really seeing or hearing anywhere else but in After the Show. So what I did, I decided to take it down for June, July, August for a couple of reasons. And again, this is all education for you as you’re also analyzing your marketing or the way that you’re doing things in your store.

That’s why I want to quickly take you through this process. So we’re doing After the Show, great engagement, pretty easy to do, but of course it’s a second episode a week. So it’s extra work on me. And as we were coming into the summer, I wanted to ease up my workload a little bit. So summer also for our retailers tends to be a harder time to engage with them.

I’ve actually heard in the internet marketing world as well. And in a broader sense that it’s very challenging to market to people and sell to people during the summer, because the kids are out of school and people are traveling and we’re just trying to enjoy the outdoors and barbecues and picnics and friends and family and all of that.

And so it’s harder to get that attention. And so I felt like the summertime might be also a good time to not have After the Show. Our retailers might be busy, listenership might be down, but also I wanted to measure. I wanted to look and see what, what not doing After the Show would do to our download numbers, and really get a good grasp on how many people are listening.

How are they engaging? What’s the feedback when we do it and then when we don’t do it. And I went to the Facebook group and I recently asked, you know, anybody missing After the Show? Some retailers said, yes, they are. Some said, I haven’t heard of it. And the majority of people wanted it back. They wanted to hear it.

If they’ve never heard of After the Show, they wanted to see it. So I got that feedback. And it did drop our download numbers. And for me, I really want to grow this show. I love doing the show. The more downloads we have, the better credibility we can get in front of some of the bigger potential sponsors by having sponsors that helps us do this show, because obviously there’s expenses to getting this done.

Done. It’s just kind of the ripple effect of we want as many, we want to help as many retailers as possible and we want to have them consume the content. And we saw in the downloads, they certainly were with After the Show. So we’re back. It’s September. However, it’s weird because I’m filming this mid July.

However, but this episode is going to be live the first week of September. And this week’s guest was Willerette Flowers. And I had the best time ever talking to these ladies. We really had so much fun in this conversation. If you had the chance to listen to this episode, then you know how fun it was.

And also there’s a really good chance that you have like at least a page long of event ideas, inspiration, content ideas. These ladies are doing so much within their community and their marketing and they’re in their store for events. They also really have a strong hospitality background. And so they know how to take care of their customers and they know how to engage their community.

How I prepare for these After the Shows is I put the show in, I listen to it and I walk. So as I was walking around my neighborhood, I’m like I’m smiling, I’m laughing out loud because they are so fun. And then I’m just thinking, man, the ideas in this episode are so good. So good.

So if you have not listened to that episode, you’re going to want to make sure that you do, and you’re probably going to want some paper to take some notes. So my big takeaways from this week’s episode was, I had a couple. One, the word allow. This happened later in the episode.

And by the way, for anybody who’s new listening to After the Show right now, this isn’t a recap of the episode. This is my take and my insights. So don’t feel like, Oh, I don’t need to listen to the full episodes. Crystal’s giving me a recap. Nope. I’m not, I’m leaving all the good stuff into that episode.

[00:07:00] Allow yourself to do things messy in business

This is totally different and new content. So you would want to listen to both. So the word allow. We were talking about that word towards the end as it related to allowing yourself to create the content, allowing yourself to create it, even though it might not be perfect. And it just so made me think of something I say a lot, which is done is better than perfect.

I have talked to so many retailers over the years who, and we’ve talked about this on the show who really hold themselves back because they feel like they have to be perfect before they can put anything out there. The design has to be perfect. The logo has to be perfect. The colors have to be perfect. I have to say the perfect thing.

I have to look a perfect on the camera, all the things. And that is farther from the truth because as we know, if we’re waiting for perfect, it will never get done. And secondly, when it comes to social media, which is the context that we were talking about on the show, people relate more when you are you.

It’s really when you mess up when you’re human, they want somebody they relate to. I actually often think about Taylor Swift. I’m not a Swifty, but I’ve been watching what’s happening on TikTok and with her Eras tour and just the passion that her fans have. And I feel like there’s so much we can learn from Taylor Swift as it relates to connecting with our customers and marketing and building a brand.

And people love Taylor Swift because of her relatability, because she’s herself. They feel connected to her. She doesn’t have to be perfect. Now, look, she is a star and she’s a celebrity. So she’s got a ton of practice and really talented. So that’s, next level, of course, next 5, 000 levels. But the thing is here is they relate to her lyrics.

It’s real, it’s honest, it’s vulnerable. And that’s what people are wanting and seeking and what they actually pay attention to in marketing. And just with brands that they like and that they shop from, and they can feel that in the marketing and in the messaging and in the emails and in the store.

So the word allow, I just really wanted to sort of double tap on that because I think that there are opportunities for a possible listener that needs to allow. Allow for it to be messy, allow for it to not be perfect, allow for you to just do the best that you can with what you have and get the thing done.

Whatever that thing might be, do might be, it might be social media, but it might be something totally different that you are resisting, that you’re holding yourself back because you are waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect opportunity, the perfect time. None of that exists. Just do it. You’re going to learn so much through the doing. And I just want to be honest that I, as I was preparing for this and I’m on my walk and I’m like, Ooh allow.

I got to talk about that. And I’m like, Oh, you need to hear that too. So I am filming this episode for myself. I need to hear that message as well. I need to allow myself to do things messy. There’s things that I have that I’m working on right now that are a little behind the scenes. So hopefully by the time this is live, you can hear a little bit more about what I’m working on right now, but that I do need to allow.

It’s new. It’s just a matter of putting myself out there more, being seen more, following the drive, following my heart and doing it afraid, like my grandma says. And it’s just so funny cause I talk about this on Stages. I feel like this topic is very big in the professional development world, of fear and holding us back, but we all struggle with it. It’s all something that that we have to work through, not fight through, and not overcome because new levels, new devils. You know, there’s always something, but we can allow.

And I almost energetically feel this like door open. Where it feels safer to do the thing when I’m thinking about allowing myself to do it. So that was a really big takeaway for me. And obviously Kat and Mary Grace, my guests, were allowing themselves to do it and it not be perfect.

[00:11:10] Why attention to detail stood out the most to Crystal

And that’s the things that people were loving, right? That’s how it always works. The other thing that really stood out for me was the attention to detail. We talk about this towards the beginning of the episode. And I mentioned in the episode that that’s really their superpower. I can tell just by how they were talking and how they operate their business. And it made me feel like there might be a listener who could focus on that attention to detail a little bit more because we get so caught up in running our business that we won’t, like you just brush over stuff.

We won’t think about something for a while. We won’t look at something for a while. We won’t touch something for a while. And it might be time to block your calendar and to look at that thing, whatever that may be. But really having that attention to detail, it may give you the opportunity to maybe you have something that’s working well right now to drive in traffic.

But if you thought a little bit more about it, and if you could get a little bit more detailed in there. And specific on what you’re trying to do and how you’re trying to help. It could actually amplify those results for you. In the context of this episode, it was we were really talking about attention to detail and customer service and that hospitality aspect.

There might be opportunities for you to just like look at everything and really get detailed and really focus and see where the areas are that you can have that excellent attention to detail, and just really dial something in. But I want to encourage you to start small. Like in this episode, the ladies, my Willerette Flowers ladies are giving kids a balloon that walk in.

Like it’s as easy as that, but they want to make sure that the kids feel happiness and excitement when they come in the store. And that’s the attention to detail. It’s like, how do we want every single type of person that walks through our doors to feel when they come in? And that’s the attention to detail.

And what is the experience that they’re having and think about the five senses. That’s such an attention to detail aspect. And so when we get a little bit in the weeds, they’re like dig a little bit deeper. I think that we can find some real gems and opportunities. To surprise and delight our customers to be memorable, to create those experiences.

And as we all know, that’s what an independence superpower is. That’s where you can shine versus big boxes because you can create those quick. You can be agile. You can make things happen, test them out and really take care of your customers and create amazing experiences. So allow. And have some attention to detail where in your store, can you dig in a little deeper and provide some more of that hospitality and that connection for your customers?

I bet there’s some awesome opportunities for you. So those are my big takeaways as I sign off today, usually here on After the Show, I might have a quick announcement or events that are happening or things that are going on. I always want to encourage you to join our Facebook group. If you just go to Facebook and search Rooted in Retail.

I am there almost every day. Join the group, introduce your store, and whether you’re new to the group or you’ve been in there for a while, I have an ask. I would love to see your current window or in store displays as it relates to fall or Halloween. So the easiest way to do this, go to the Facebook group, upload in the Facebook group.

If for some reason you don’t want to share in the group or you don’t use Facebook, you can email me as well. The best email to send this to is going to be CV at thisiscrystal. com. CV for crystal blockitis at this is crystal. com and send me over those pictures as attachments or a link where I can see them.

And I would love, I’ll say this, if you’re sending these photos or uploading to the group, you’re giving me access to potentially use them. I’m working, I’m scheming on something and a great resource. And I would love to see. See what you got going on for fall and Halloween. So please upload those, share with me.

Thank you for being here. Remember that I’m rooting for your success. Have a great rest of the week and I’ll see you on our next main episode, which our guests are Wool Tribe. Wool Tribe is just a phenomenal company. I loved my conversation. Again, it’s a dual. I’m talking to both the co owners in that episode.

And it was really such a strong episode around the environment and sustainability and really being thoughtful about the products and the manufacturing process and really just incredible women who run this company with incredible products. So be on the lookout for that. That’s coming out on Sunday and I’ll see you there.

All right. Have a great rest of your week. Bye bye.

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 crystal media, co. com slash rise to join and don’t miss the newest episode of Rooted in Retail, which drops every Sunday morning.