Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:14] Speaker B: Hey Victors. Welcome to this week's victory show. If this is the first time you're joining us, I'm Travis Cody, best selling author, 16 books and I've had the privilege of helping hundreds of business consultants, founders and entrepreneurs write and publish their own best selling books. And along that journey, I've discovered a really fascinating pattern. A lot of businesses hit a revenue plateau, usually half a million to a million five employees, maybe 10 employees, and they really struggle to break through. That'll be stuck there for years. So on this show, I sit down with some of the world's most successful CEOs, leaders, business owners, to uncover the strategies they use to overcome those plateaus and scale their businesses to new heights. So if you're looking to learn from the best and get actionable insights that can propel your business forward, you're in the right place. Today I have the privilege of introducing a guest who is redefining what it means to create luxury experiences for women. Can in January is the visionary of Ambiance, a company dedicated to bringing the essence of California luxury to modern women worldwide. With a deep passion for fashion innovation and excellence, Canon has made it her mission to curate exclusive high end collections that blend timeless elegance with contemporary style. Her journey in luxury retail has been fueled by a commitment to purposeful leadership and an unwavering focus on delivering extraordinary customer experiences. From brand development to e commerce growth, Cannon's expertise has elevated Ambiance into a beacon of sophistication and inspiration for women seeking to express their individuality through fashion. As if running a global luxury brand wasn't enough, Cannon also now gives back to the next generation of leaders through her leadership first consulting group. So get ready to be inspired by Canon's insights on leadership, innovation and how she's transforming the standard of luxury retail one curated collection at a time. Cannon, thanks so much for being here.
[00:01:53] Speaker A: Thanks for having me.
[00:01:54] Speaker B: So we were talking a little bit earlier and I always bring it up. I lived in Southern California and you want to Cal Polytech. So let's talk about that. Cause it's a pretty prestigious school.
[00:02:04] Speaker A: Cal Polytech, San Luis Obispo.
[00:02:05] Speaker B: We got, we got to put the San Luis Obispo. I got, I've got it for. We got to tag that on there. So let's talk about what. So what. Because you're in retail now, but that's not where you thought you were headed when you went to school. So let's talk about why. What was your vision when you went to school and what were you thinking? You were going to do with your life at that point in time?
[00:02:22] Speaker A: I have a biochemistry degree, so my plan was to go to medical school. And while I was in college, I ended up getting hired to work at the store I now own. And I moved up from, you know, a stylist to an assistant manager. I ended up being the bookkeeper for the owner, and then I ended up being the main manager. And she was pretty removed. So I. I actually approached her and said, I, you know, I'd love to take out an SBA loan and buy the business.
[00:02:53] Speaker B: Wow. Now, was this when you were still in college?
[00:02:55] Speaker A: Yes, I was. I was 23. I still had two quarters left at Cal Poly.
[00:03:01] Speaker B: Wow. School wasn't keeping you busy enough?
[00:03:04] Speaker A: Both my parents are self employed, and so at the time, I just. I was like, oh, you want to do something, you just figure it out and do it. Looking back, I realized that I made a lot of mistakes, especially in the beginning.
[00:03:16] Speaker B: So you did go ahead and do.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: It, figure it out.
I did. I actually. My banker, I remember, and I was applying for the SBA loan, and the banker, my banker at the time, he like, walked into the store. Cause I opened the doors before I actually got fully got funded, maxed out my credit cards to pay for merchandise. And he commended me on how brazen I was to just go for it without all the funding in place.
[00:03:40] Speaker B: So what was it about the. That particular store that made you think, Yeah, I want to. Was it just because you'd kind of started as a stylist and had worked through kind of a lot of the positions in the store already, that you felt like you had a brief, good handle on it?
[00:03:52] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, my. My plan was to grow it, sell it, and pay for medical school. And, you know, owning it is definitely different than working in a business just a little bit. And. And I changed it. You know, I paid for a business, and then I wanted to put my stamp on it, which was a huge mistake because it had an established clientele based on the way the business was. So I actually, I think I did like, one tenth of the fir of the sal volume that the store was doing my first year open.
[00:04:25] Speaker B: So. What. What. So that was. It's like, did you do a big pivot then? Like, did you change, like. And what was the change that you made?
[00:04:32] Speaker A: I repainted the store and I changed the direction and the way I was buying the brands. And then I. So I think I doubled the next year. And then, like, kind of, as you were talking, I had this Very slow, painful growth. You know, I think I was at like $550,000 at the time. And it was. I hired a retail analyst to help me manage my inventory cadence cash flow. And I think the first thing he told me was that I should rent a storage unit and move out. And like, he was just basically like this, what you're doing is not working. And I just said, well, yeah, I can't do that. So, you know, you just grind it, grind away.
[00:05:14] Speaker B: You buy the business with the expectation of here's what it's been making year over year for however many years, and then you take over and you lost. Lose 90% of that revenue.
[00:05:23] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:05:24] Speaker B: Ouch.
[00:05:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:05:25] Speaker B: So I want to. So this is what I'm excited to talk to you today is most of the business owners I'm talking to, a lot of them are running digital spaces, right? They're consulting or they're digital marketing or online E commerce. You're in brick and mortar retail. And that is such a different economics and business model and challenges that I think most, in some ways I probably look at E commerce and be like, that's so much easier for those guys.
So let's talk about some of the challenges. So you were saying like with, with your business, you've got to move, move your inventory every 90 days. And is that because of the. Basically the season. So every 90 days there's a new season.
[00:06:02] Speaker A: The seasonality.
That time has really changed over the last 20 years because major retailers have become way more aggressive with how quickly they want to turn product. I have, you know, a handful of vendors that based on how they ship and the seasonality of their product, it may not be quite that 90 day period, but. But yes.
[00:06:27] Speaker B: So all right, so you were into it a couple of years before you hired the analyst.
[00:06:31] Speaker A: I know I hired, I hired one analyst probably within the first year.
I switched analysts in 2000.
I think I fired my analyst in 2007 and then hired another analyst and 2008. And that's when I actually doubled the business.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: So let's. So for people that are not familiar with the, especially the, the luxury retail space and clothing and that sort of thing, like what, what does an analyst do?
[00:07:00] Speaker A: So they, the analyst that I had worked with and I'm actually a retail expert as well, so I do this for other companies. We break down every department in your business and determine what the correct inventory is for you to hit projected sales number.
You know, you may need three T shirts to sell one T shirt and you can have too little inventory and you can have too much inventory. It's the company that I work with, they have really advanced algorithms and AI that help determine the amount of denim you need to carry in your store in March, you know, and that's going to look different in April and that's different in December.
[00:07:42] Speaker B: That is so bizarre to me, like, not knowing anything about your space. I'm like, what? That's, that sounds so complicated.
[00:07:48] Speaker A: It is. I actually, I love numbers. You know, looking like I, I would have loved being an accountant. I always feel like numbers are my superpower. I don't know that my team appreciates that as much as I do, but.
[00:08:00] Speaker B: Well, Schwarzenegger always said that that was one of the reasons why he was so good at real estate, is that he just naturally could look at the, the numbers for it all, and it all made sense to him really quickly. So there's, that is, that is definitely a superpower. So your first couple of years, you were really just kind of limping along and hanging on by the skin of your teeth. And so it was year four that you hired a new analyst and that, that doubled the business.
[00:08:22] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I, you know, we were, we were going through the real estate recession at that time, and I had fired everybody in the business for various reasons.
I had a son at that point. I had a four year old son and I had a one year old son. Gosh, 2008. Yeah, he was a year, year and a half. And I was like, well, if I can't take home a paycheck, then I'm not going to pay anyone else. You know, that doesn't make sense. So I, it was, it was very freeing to let everybody go.
And I said, the next person I hire, she's going to be amazing. And me and her together doubled the business during, you know, economic downturn.
[00:09:06] Speaker B: Wow.
When you did that, then like, after a few years of like, oh my God, what I got myself into, did that, that was that pretty. And you're like, okay, yes, I just doubled my business. And did you, did you continue that sort of growth for a couple years?
[00:09:21] Speaker A: Yes. And then, you know, and then I started opening more locations. But I, when I hired the new analyst, I remember he sat me down and he said, you know, how would you like to work 20 hours a week and make, you know, over six figures? And I hadn't made anywhere near that.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: You were like, what is this magical world you're speaking of?
[00:09:40] Speaker A: Yes, sign me up.
And it was almost just the idea that it was possible that changed my whole outlook because I still had this idea that I am going to go to med school and that's the future that's going to provide, you know, a wonderful life for my family and him. You know, the idea that it was possible totally reframed how I was making decisions in the business.
[00:10:08] Speaker B: Yeah, I could see that. Making six figures, you're making a doctor's salary, and you're doing that on 20 hours a week. That's.
That's pretty. That's. That's. That's a good aspiration to have. So how did that change your decision making then? What was it about that specifically that you want? Oh, I need to. I need to do things differently.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: I really started to drill down to, like, what it meant to be financially sound in every aspect of my business, whether it's, you know, marketing staffing for retailers. It's. It's really merchandise and staff, especially brick and mortar retailers. That's. Those are your two biggest costs, you know, but at the time, it's you. It's crazy how in any business you can get very loose with how. And what you're spending your money on and how when you take the time to really dig in, you know, to your p. L and go, you know, how much did I spend on travel last year? How much, you know, you. You're like, okay, I.
I can do this differently. And doing it differently, it really impacts your financial freedom for the long term.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And that's the thing I think most. Well, again, most people, again, I shouldn't say most people. In my experience, a lot of the smaller, smaller businesses, and I say smaller businesses doing under a million a year, they're almost kind of scared to look at their numbers or they're intimidated by them. They're like, nah, my cash flows cover my bills. I don't need to worry about it. But in the meantime that, you know, the debt's going up because they're not tracking. They're not tracking it, so.
[00:11:31] Speaker A: Right. Well. And I. And. And they don't know that it's okay to say no or they don't know there. You know, I think for a lot of us, we, our business become an extension of ourselves and we, you know, we build relationships and make decisions, and sometimes the decisions are the right decisions, and sometimes they're not the right decisions, and then having to kind of face that decision and change it. And I can give you an example. One of the people I've coached, she was spending, I can't remember how much a month, but she was spending a ton of money. In marketing and way more money than her business could afford. And I think when I asked her, she said, oh, well, you know, I'm getting these photo shoots done and I'm friends with a photographer. And I said, you know, hey, the bottom line is you can't afford it. And you're at, you know, you coming to me and you're wanting to figure out how to get out of debt and you know, we have to take a look at. And that was an uncomfortable conversation for her to have with me, let alone then go back to her friend and say, you know, hey, I can't afford this. But at the end of the day, you have to protect your interests in the business. You'd rather have a business and not be doing photo shoots monthly.
Right. Than go out of business? Because you weren't. It was an uncomfortable conversation.
[00:12:48] Speaker B: Yeah. So at what point then, like how many years into this then did you start thinking about expanding?
[00:12:53] Speaker A: Actually somebody brought the opportunity to me. I hadn't thought about expanding when she did.
You know, I realized because it's. The stores are 30 minutes apart, just you're so centrally located. I'm not doubling my expenses. That was the biggest light bulb for me. Like I can open up this store and I'm not doubling everything. Right. Because I have a built in back house, I have a buyer already. I have pieces of the business that I'm doing already that are costing me X amount of money. And even if those costs increase, they're not doubling. So the ability to be profitable with two locations as a retailer is.
Yeah. Goes up exponentially. I did have four locations though, and sometimes more is not more.
[00:13:41] Speaker B: So how quickly of a time frame did you go from 1 to 4? Was that over like a few years or did you do that pretty quickly?
[00:13:47] Speaker A: I think it was with. It was like five years. Five or six years.
[00:13:51] Speaker B: So pretty much there for a while, about every 12, 12 months or so. You were, you were opening a new location.
[00:13:56] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I think the, the fourth one I opened knowing I was going to close the third one I had opened. The distance between the stores obviously grew. And it staffing honestly was the hardest part for me in having stores that are five hours away from where I live.
[00:14:15] Speaker B: Wow. That's. The fourth one was five hours away.
Wow.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: Well, no, the third one and then the fourth one was about two and a half hours away.
[00:14:23] Speaker B: Wow. So it's really interesting what you're saying there. We had somebody on a few episodes ago and he was running a, he had six companies, he had a contracting And a cement company and a bunch of other things. And he was. And he was saying that one of the. When I was asking him about that, he said one of the things that allowed them to do that was that they essentially created their own internal, like, accounting firm that handled the accounting for all five businesses. So each business didn't have to pay its own thing. It was all just one expense. And so the success of one business was covering accounting and bookkeeping and a lot of the, you know, 1K and HR for all the other four. So those four were actually able to be a lot more profitable because of that. So I think you. You. You sort of inadvertently discovered that. Now you're saying earlier we. You opened number. Number four. And so did. Did you get to a point where you had pretty much a system of like, here's how we launch us open a store, get it launched, get foot traffic coming in the door. Did that kind of turn into a process at that point in time?
[00:15:17] Speaker A: I actually had not discovered the.
That would have made opening the stores a lot easier. The fourth location, I actually was a already existing store, and so I actually just assumed the lease and purchased fixtures and rebranded. Yeah. So that was the easiest one to open. I actually, like, again, I learned as I was opening kind of ideal pieces that would change the, you know, investment and the time that it would take to get open. The third store actually was a huge investment.
I mean, I felt like I learned a lot the hard way, many times over.
[00:16:00] Speaker B: What was. What. What was it made? The third one did like, that made it such a bigger investment than the other three.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: We built it out from scratch, and we ended up. It was a really old building. There was water damage. We ended up having to replace some plumbing. And it. And then it just extended our opening date. We had product arriving, but that. That store, my other. My fourth store was in Montecito. And they're very. They were, like, very similar demographics, or if they do, they're working for Google, Right?
[00:16:31] Speaker B: Yep. Wow. And then. Then, of course, shortly after that, there was a bit of a pivot.
[00:16:37] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:16:37] Speaker B: So what were the challenges you had as a retail business during that whole scenario, and how long were you forced to kind of have everything closed down?
[00:16:46] Speaker A: Well, I'm in California, so we were forced to be closed for a good chunk of time. Open, close, open, close. And because I was brick and mortar, it had. We had unique challenges. That was the moment I realized I should have been focusing on my online. We had a website, but we weren't taking it very seriously.
And then we got very serious and my goal was to keep all of my full time people employed. So all of us learned how to navigate Shopify E commerce real quick. So we, and then my husband, like we did a lot through social media. We had a very strong social media presence and so we, we did a lot of home deliveries.
[00:17:28] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:17:29] Speaker A: And we supported a lot of local businesses by interviewing owners and getting them on our social media, like featuring. I think we had like a restaurant day and we just were trying to help everybody.
[00:17:42] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:17:43] Speaker A: You know.
[00:17:43] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: As a business owner we, yeah, it was a hard time for all of.
[00:17:47] Speaker B: Us, for everybody for sure.
So. And how did you, like, how did that, how did you do revenue wise then pivoting to the online. Were you enough to like essentially keep things afloat or were you able to like, you know, did you quintuple your online revenue from that and did that launch kind of a new phase of the, of the company at that point?
[00:18:06] Speaker A: We definitely, we grew online.
But that first part of the year was pretty scary. I mean I, my banker said I was the first person to get my paperwork in for ppp. I had, I, I had been doing research to kind of see how the government was going to come in and support us and I was like submitting paperwork I found from other banks, trying to get ahead of it, trying to make sure that we got the money and really just to pay my staff because even giving, getting rid of part time people, it was all my, you know, my leadership team, my managers. And so it was still a considerable amount of money that we were out every, every couple weeks.
Go ahead.
[00:18:47] Speaker B: No, I was going to say so now. So you survived thankfully, but you also now you've scaled back. So you were at four, you knew you were shutting down three, but now you're back down to two stores.
[00:18:57] Speaker A: I have two stores and then I have the E Commerce. And you know, I, I did realize that more is not more and I actually letting go of the third store, I became more profitable and then I let go of that fourth store because of COVID But I, I took the energy and the time and the effort. I was spending, you know, training and buying for those additional locations and I built more of our own proprietary product. So you know, I have, like I said, I find jewelry line, handbag line, we have cl and then accessories and candles that have all launched within the last, you know, six months to a year.
[00:19:40] Speaker B: Wow. Well, that's a pretty big pivot.
And so revenue wise then like these last few years, like have they. These been some of the best years you've had out of the.
[00:19:49] Speaker A: Yes. I mean I think a lot of retailers would say, you know, 2021 was, was a great year for retail because everybody had so much money saved from pent up energy to get outside, they were ready to go shopping, they wanted new clothes, they wanted out of their sweatpants. Yeah, 2021 was good.
[00:20:08] Speaker B: Okay. And so you were sharing earlier that one of the big things that's made a difference this, this last little year is you discovered eos, the entrepreneur operating system. So how did you find that? Were you looking for something specific for, for your management and running the business or did. And what was it about that particular philosophy that appealed to you?
[00:20:27] Speaker A: I, I actually had taken my management, my to Disney Institute two or three day retreat right before COVID It was the February, February of 2020. So. And I had, I had sent my team away to different. And I had gone to different retail management or sales training seminars. I had been doing that for a long time. So I love personal professional development. I think I'm always reading four or five books at a time. I have like, you know, hard, hard copies of paperbacks and then I have my books on my phone that I'm listening to and I actually think the first book I read was the Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Have you read that one?
[00:21:12] Speaker B: I haven't read that one yet, but I'm familiar with it.
[00:21:14] Speaker A: And then I, So that one you're.
[00:21:16] Speaker B: Reading through again, you were like, oh, I recognize that, that one.
[00:21:21] Speaker A: Oh yes. It's a really short read I think of the, the book on tapes like three and a half hours long and I, you know, it just made so much sense. So then I got get a grip and rocket fuel and traction and you know, and then I decided to hire an implementer.
Yeah, the rest is history. It's been great.
[00:21:41] Speaker B: Traction really made a big, the biggest difference for me and my business and helped me see just the way I was looking. It made a lot of sense because of the fact that I'm a visionary. So I was like that makes so much sense. So I have like 30 half finished projects.
[00:21:53] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm also a visionary. Although I do, I'm a visionary who has also a high integrator. Like I couldn't do either. Which according to our implementer, you know, isn't as common.
[00:22:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:22:08] Speaker A: And it, it's allowed me to be able to kind of do so much, so many roles in the business and.
[00:22:15] Speaker B: Wow. So along this process and obviously you're, this is growing, you launched Your leadership First consulting group. Let's talk about what is that and how are you now taking all this like you know, hard won wisdom and experience over two decades. How are you now using that in your consulting group?
[00:22:33] Speaker A: So I'm a retail analyst, which is something that I offer as part of coaching. But really where I feel like I'm able to make the biggest difference is just being able to have one on one conversations with retailers like myself who maybe are stuck like you had mentioned in their journey and not able to see how they could do it differently. You know, I believe that leadership isn't something that we focus enough on as we're raising our kids or you know, going to college. It's not something that you, it's not, it's not something you're forced to take. Right. We're all, we're all forced to take these specific classes but nobody really unless was, you know, my dad was really into Jim Rohn so he probably planted the seed for me. Yeah, I remember him listening to the Jim Rohn those books on tape. We'd be like in his van and he'd have, you know, the motivational stuff. Yes, totally. You know, I, we, we talk a lot of managing, which I have found in, in my business is not necessarily going to yield to the results that we're all looking for. And I have found that, you know, leading first and really leaning into leaders as a group of people that are running a company, you can just, you can more.
[00:23:52] Speaker B: Well, nobody likes to be managed either, but we do like to be led. Somebody's got a vision and they're clear and it gets, excites us like we love to follow that person but somebody coming and trying to manhandle you or you know, micromanage.
[00:24:03] Speaker A: I think as business owners we often get stuck, you know, managing or micromanaging because we start so small, right. So we know, we know how to do everything really well and then we start to bring in people and we, we teach them. But I think a very comm. Common mistake that we all make is I can do that the way I want it done. So I want to do it or I can do it faster or I can do it better because I've been doing it for longer. And one of the great things about, you know, EOS is really understanding that when you have the right people in the right roles and even if they're, you know, maybe they're not doing it to the same degree that you're doing having them do it good or having them do it well, frees up your energy and time to take on different aspects of the business that either aren't getting addressed or need to get addressed so that you can grow.
[00:24:54] Speaker B: You know, we just maybe three or four interviews ago speaking with somebody named Parul and she's an executive advisor and she was saying that's one of the biggest things with CEOs when they get to a certain point is learning how to. The thing that holds them back the most is learning how to let go.
And that to that point because they're like, but I can do they, I can do this better or I can do this faster. I can do whatever. And so we had the conversation about in certain aspects of your business you have to get comfortable getting things to good enough if it frees that time from you to be able to go do the bigger picture stuff. So I think that's a, that, that, that's a really big, big lesson. And I frankly 90% of people that that's probably going to be one of their biggest challenges is because we always, especially if it's something we're good at, we're always going to be able to do it better.
[00:25:40] Speaker A: So being able to something that you love doing, sure. Sometimes it's like I just love doing this thing in my business. I love helping women. Honestly, that's why I fell in love with retail. I, it fills my bucket having that interaction where you just, you're solving a problem and you know, they walk out feeling excited and sometimes better than they felt walking in. But there, there's that, that idea what got you here won't get you there. Right. So if you're, you're interested in growing and you're interested in growth in your business or for you personally. You know, the person that manages a million dollar business isn't the same person that, that's, that can successfully manage a $5 million business or a $10 million business and so on and so forth. A facilitate our facilitator, she said that at one point she had to take a look at her business because she sold it. And they said are you capable, you've been a CEO of this business this whole time. Are you capable of running it at this level? And it was a very hard, you know, look in the mirror to determine whether or not she was the right person to continue to grow her business or keep her business from, you know, not imploding. Because I don't care how big you are, if something's not managed well, you know, I don't, I don't know what the average Life of a business is, but you know, even the big guys, they go down.
[00:26:56] Speaker B: Sure. Kodak was around for a hundred years and then they weren't.
[00:26:59] Speaker A: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:27:00] Speaker B: You know that, that, that's a great statement. It was one of my mentors in, in my early career. He runs a very successful business, you know, in eight figures. And he was telling me about the time when he got invited to Necker island with a bunch of entrepreneurs. And he was having dinner and he was happened to be sitting next to Richard Br.
So during dinner he asked him, he said, okay, I'm running an eight figure business and you know, I want to become a billionaire, so what do I have to do to go from eight figure business to eventually having a business worth a billion dollars? And he said, Richard Branson just looked at him and he said, you have to get rid of all of your bad millionaire habits because that's what's preventing you from becoming a billionaire. And he said he didn't hear anything the whole rest of the dinner. He just sat there going like bad millionaire. Because all these things that he was being lauded for, like, my God, you do this and this and this and Richard Branson's like, that's all the stuff that's going to prevent you from getting to the next level. So I just thought that was very insightful. And it's like you were saying, right? When you run business is half a million a year and you get to a million, there's different challenges and there's different thing. And now to go from there to, as you said, getting to 5 million and now there's a whole other level that you weren't even aware existed unless you're doing personal development and willing to either upscale your thing or also recognize I'm not the right person for this and I need to step back and let somebody else do it. Then, then you could get stuck. So you've had a fantastic.
[00:28:11] Speaker A: So I said thank being humble enough to, to learn from people that are smarter than you, you know, or to, from learn to people from people who've done it already, like if you have. And I think people always think that it's about the money, but I do think it's about looking, looking at your mentors and not just the amount of money they make, but look at their lifestyle. You know, is that a lifestyle that I want? You know, because I have been involved in the professional development. I've met a lot of coaches, right. And I'm not someone who would want to, to travel and speak all over the World because I really value my time. I value, if I'm going to travel, it's going to be with my family. And people look at, you know, very successful people in that field and think, you know, wow, look at, look at how much money they make. But you also just want to make sure again that you want to live the life that they're living.
[00:29:01] Speaker B: Yeah, I, A few years ago I was doing some consulting with a company and the owner was, I think they were probably going to do 40 million that year. But he was so stressed out from the business of the way it was structured. I think that year he spent almost four months in the hospital from like stress related stuff. And at the same time I have a good friend, he has a little E Commerce. I say it's a E commerce, it makes about a million a year. And I remember having this conversation with him one time and he was making the comment that I worked too much and I was like, well, I do this and this and this. And his response was kind of, it was a good metaphorical slap in the face because he said, dude, if I'm working more than an hour a day, something's broken in my business.
And I was so shocked because I was just coming off of working with this guy doing 40 million a year and here he was and this guy was just like, nah man, if it takes me more than an hour, like some sort he. Because he systematized everything. So he was like, if the systems are broken. And I, that was and to the point, right? And we had, we were having conversations about business growth and I was like, well, you could do this and triple your revenue and do this and quadruple it. And he's like, yeah, but if we do that, then I gotta go do this thing. And I don't like doing that. And oh, I could do that, but then I gotta manage and I don't like managing people. And he finally just said, said I spend seven days a week riding my mountain bike and skiing in Colorado. He's like, what is a three million dollar a year business going to get me that my one million dollars a year business isn't already providing?
And for me that was the lesson I learned from that was I had come from this online arena where the guys that are successful there, they're always like, there's always more online, you can always make more money. So they launch something and it makes $10 million. And the next time around they're like, well, it's got to make 12 million or I'm a failure. It was Always like, and this is the first person I met who was. Got to a point was all, this is enough. I don't need more than this. Let me just. If I can get here and just stay where I'm at with this, with this lifestyle, that's enough. It was shocking for me. And the capital have a capitalist person going, and this is enough. We're good here. So you.
[00:30:53] Speaker A: There's a, There's a story that's similar where, you know, some CEO sees a fisherman and, you know, sees him bring in this huge catch, and he goes, you know, I could help you scale this business. You know, that guy's like, like, okay, well, what does that look like? And he's like, well, we'd get some investors and we'd get you more boats. And he's like, okay, well then what? And he goes, well, we, you know, we could make it big enough where you, you know, you're able to make enough money where you, you don't, you don't have to work. And he goes, well, you know, as it is now, like, I'm done fishing now. It's early in the day and I get to go home and spend time with my family and play the guitar. And he says, all this work that you're going to have me do is going to, to give me that same outcome. But what are the Next, you know, 5, 10, 15 years look like to get me to where I am right now?
[00:31:44] Speaker B: Yep. Jim Carrey a while back said something I thought was really interesting because in the Hollywood space, it seems like everybody's got a, an alcohol line and a perfume line and a clothing line. And it's not like, you know, all. Once they get to a certain point, they just start piling all these businesses. And Jim Carrey was like, yeah, I just got to this point where I realized, you know, I am enough. He's like, like, I don't need to have a social media presence. I don't need to have an alcohol line. I don't need to have my car line. I don't need to have the. Whatever. He's like, who I am is just enough. Why do I need more? And it was, it was kind of funny because at the time, it kind of came across as like a spit in the face to Hollywood because everybody was so like, I'm the brand and I've got to do all these sort of things. And Jim Carrey's like, but why, why do we need to do that? Why can't you just do. Do what you're doing? Have A good life. So. Well, you, you've had a fantastic run of 20 years. I mean, you know, it's definitely been a roller coaster.
Where do you envision this next phase of your life going with ambiance and your leadership consulting? Like, where's your vision taking you from here?
[00:32:37] Speaker A: Well, growth. I am growth oriented, so I wouldn't be happy any other way.
My plan is to build it up enough to sell it. Brick and mortar is definitely a harder, harder arena to sell your business in, but that would be my ultimate goal.
Just like I like helping women, I love help helping other business owners.
Having more time to do that and then just more time to spend with my family. You know, I have, my kids are growing up. I have one that's going to go to college next year, and I want to be able to travel and, and visit and, you know, just not be a slave to my business. You know, I'm very blessed. I, I recognize that I have an amazing business and an amazing team. Probably the best team I've ever had.
And. And yet sometimes it's hard to keep things balanced, not work too much.
[00:33:35] Speaker B: Sure. Yeah. There's. There's always something else that can be done. So. So final thoughts then on somebody who's in the realtail retail space, has their own business. They hear this. What, what are a couple of pieces of advice you'd give to somebody who's, who's playing the retail game right now?
[00:33:48] Speaker A: I would say that, you know, make decisions based on what your customer would want, not what, what you would want. That, you know, anytime you buy any business, especially retail business, you're buying yourself a job. So make sure you, you really want to do that job every day to, you know, believe in yourself. I think that's another simple thing that we don't instill in our, in our kids or really teach in school. You know, you have to believe it to achieve it. So. And if you, if you don't, if you don't. What is it the saying? It's if you don't plan.
Something about failure. I just said it to my colleague today. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. So, you know, have a plan. Hope is not a plan. I say that to my team all the time. And Yoda says, do or do not. There is no try. I tell you how many times, hey, I'm going to try. I'm going to try to do that. I said, are you. Just do it.
[00:34:41] Speaker B: So for people listening, if they want to support what you're doing, how do they, how they get involved with what you're doing. How do they find you? So where do they go if they want to shop online?
[00:34:49] Speaker A: It's www.shopshopambiance ambiance.com and you can follow us on Social at Shop Ambiance. It's my first name. Canon K A N N Y N. @shopambiance.com I will have a website in the next six months for my Leadership first consulting business. And it's Leadership first consulting.com so. And then I'm on LinkedIn.
[00:35:12] Speaker B: Awesome.
Good place. Can I thank you so much for the time today. This has been fascinating. I really appreciate your time.
[00:35:18] Speaker A: Time. Yeah.
[00:35:18] Speaker B: Good luck in the future.
[00:35:20] Speaker A: Thank you. You as well.
