Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cassie Sellers. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Cassie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Folks often look at a successful business and imagine it was an overnight success, but from what we’ve seen this is often far from the truth. We’d love to hear your scaling up story – walk us through how you grew over time – what were some of the big things you had to do to grow and what was that scaling up journey like?
When I started Serendipity Doo’s, I had one key product. I worked tirelessly to formulate my hand & body lotion, but knew I had more to offer, I continued to expand my product catalog to include more items I knew my customers would love. In the beginning, I was participating in the occasional farm’s market and reaching out to local shops one by one. I realized the reach that social media has, not only to showcase my brand, but also to connect with customers I wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to meet. I stepped out of my comfort zone and started hosting live selling events on Facebook and Instagram. At first I would only have a few participants, but the numbers continued to grow. I invested in my website and started to grow my online presence. I began to save up my profits from small expos and online sales to push myself towards bigger goals. Especially today, there can be a lot of pressure to keep up with current trends. This can force brands to expand outside of their niche and not always in a good way. I have come to understand that keeping true to my brand’s voice and category is more important than being quick to adopt the latest fad. I know that Serendipity Doo’s has so much more to grow and that my vision for this brand is attainable. It can be hard to see other people getting the things you are working towards, but I’ve found that it’s a lot more beneficial to be happy for those people than to focus on the comparisons. I have made lifelong friends with other small business owners that are technically my “competition” and have learned valuable lessons from watching them grow. For anyone looking to scale up their brand I would encourage them to be consistent, take risks, be true to their brand and focus on their own growth and not that of others.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
In 2016, I was a single mom looking for a way to make a life for my daughter, after overcoming serious medial issues. I knew I couldn’t keep working in retail sales and felt I owed it to myself to take a chance and start a business. I started Serendipity Doo’s from a passion for clean bath and body products. I knew there was a market for luxurious products that weren’t full of excessive chemicals and dyes. I started my brand with a selection of rich hand and body lotions and ventured to expand my catalog to include bath bombs, body butters, candles, women’s clothing and home decor. Even after the initial risk of starting my my business, I continue to take risks everyday. I constantly challenge myself to participate in bigger expos and formulate new products. I truly believe that you have to be your biggest supporter, because no one is ever going to take as big of a chance on you as yourself. I still battle with my health, but use my struggles to fuel my passion.
Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?
As with many small businesses, COVID was a crippling period for Serendipity Doo’s. We experienced supply chain challenges in every aspect of our business, from packaging to products. I didn’t know if there was going to be a light at the end of the tunnel and I had to drastically scale back my inventory to cut costs and labor. At times, it was very discouraging to see my products sitting in boxes all around my home office, with no way to sell them. All of the local events I had planned to participate in were cancelled and many people were terrified to order products online. Thankfully we survived the storm, but it truly test my strength as a business owner.
Any fun sales or marketing stories?
This season I had the opportunity to participate in a large local holiday expo. It was projected to be one of the largest events I had ever been part of. I was confident that I could produce enough products to fill my booth, but felt my current packaging wasn’t reflecting the quality of my products. Four months before the show, I did a complete overhaul of my labels. I changes fonts, colors and product descriptions. It was grueling to take on this challenge alongside preparing for the show, butIn the end, I knew it was worth it to see my beautifully marked products on display. This experience showed me the importance of marketing my brand visually.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://serendipitydoos.com
- Instagram: @serendipitydoos
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Serendipitydoosdoughbowlcandles
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/serendipitydoos/