Jun 19, 2018
Do you love a good fail-to-succeed story? If your answer is a resounding, internal air guitar of a yes, then you're going to love this week's conversation with a FEST-ive founder who, while still in her early twenties, turned job rejection into fuel for a company that's amassed diehard fans with its boho chic festival-inspired take on style, grown 300 percent year over year and graduated from its beginnings on a rack in her mom's living room to a Los Angeles warehouse. Add in the fact that she's a master thrifter who's turned repurposed vintage denim into a core part of her business and wasn't afraid to hop in her car and go campus-by-campus in her early days to bring her brand to as many California college girls as she could, and you will see why I was thrilled to showcase her perspective on the Spirit of 608 podcast this week. It's a perfect-for-summer story that will inspired you to keep at it even when life brings the heat.
Word-of-mouth, grass roots brand building is alive and well. For proof, look no further than 12th Tribe's story. When Demi wanted to get the word out about the clothes she was selling to twenty-somethings seeking the festival look, she hit the road to host impromptu pop-ups at California colleges and universities. Holding 30 different events in 30 days at one point during the early months of her business, she dressed and styled hundreds of women - and would even meet customers in grocery store parking lots or on the side of the highway to get the job done. And yes, social media came into play as one of the chief ways to get the word out about her next event, but it was her hustle and willingness to show up strong to serve her customer in person that led her to the next level.
Demi ditched her plan B and walked away from high-profile styling gigs (she worked with the likes of Bea Miller, Christen Press and Nick Jonas, to name a few) to pursue her 12th Tribe dream. "I just knew my mind was so committed to something else," she says of turning down those job offers during the show. "I'm not someone who's going to put in half the work for something that I want to see come out 110 percent." Do you have a plan B? What if it's the very thing holding you back from the entrepreneurial leap you want the most?
Have you heard about the 25-year-old founder of 12th Tribe? When she broke up with her significant other and didn't get the job she was dying for, she started a business that led her to style hundreds of women in her special brand of festival fashion and then went on to grow her ecommerce site into one beloved by boho chic twenty-somethings and an Instagram fan base of over 80K. You'll hear how this young entrepreneur is well on her way to creating her own mini-empire in this week's episode.
Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist: She may be tech-savvy and very much dialed into the here and now, but Demi skipped the apps and tools many founders who come on the show recommend to suggest putting down your phone in favor of good, old-fashioned pen, paper and books, including Coelho's classic read.
Website: 12thtribe.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/12thtribeshop
Twitter: @shop12thtribe
Instagram: @shop12thtribe
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/12thTribe/
The Code of the Extraordinary Mind