We were lucky to catch up with Kameron Brooks recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kameron, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.
Kameron and Stephanie Brooks, owners of The Charlotte Letter (TCL), started their company for the underserved populations of kids most don’t notice or choose not to pay attention to, kids with special needs.
Kameron, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
The Brooks family started their company when an event transpired from their daughter, Charlotte, having a seizure in a local restaurant. Charlotte’s seizure lasted for more than fifteen minutes.
Charlotte had to be laid down on public floors and stripped of her clothing to access her medical port to administrate rescue mediations through her gtube. Kameron had enough of the lack of clothing options needed to help take care of his daughter in public settings without diminishing her dignity.
Stephanie and Kameron met an elderly woman who lived in an assisted living home and previously served as a seamstress. The Brooks expressed their needs for their daughter, Charlotte. Once they explained why this was important to them, their seamstress started the process of adding medical ports that are invisible to those not knowing they are adaptive clothing.
Once they noticed the clothing would be accessible, fashionable, and functional, they began meeting with Dallas manufacturers. They soon realized the cost would be too much in America. They couldn’t reason charging parents eighty dollars to have accessible clothing to families to have kids with chronic illnesses. So, they opened their manufacturing shop to control their timeline and diminish costs by 27% from start to finish of the product. Making it affordable for parents.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Our company received notification we couldn’t market to special needs families; we had to learn new ways to reach our customers without losing 79% of our ad budget. Our CAC cost was $123.00. AWFUL!!!!
Social media policies are constantly changing; what can you do to what you can do. I had to brainstorm how we could reach our customers without bleeding funds. We learned our target audience was kids who spent hours, days, and sometimes months in the ICU. So we started reaching out to hospitals and therapy centers that deal with kids with chronic illnesses. Now, we are in the largest Children’s Hospital in Texas.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
RELATIONSHIPS!
LISTEN!!! You won’t be successful without relationships. One of the biggest lies we believe as business owners are that we must figure it out ourselves. When you build your business by yourself, understand your business will NEVER grow with just you!
Early on, I learned that my customers don’t feel like they have a voice. Our company had to learn to invite people to the table to give them a voice. When you give people a voice, time, a meal, etc., their respect for you begins to change the trajectory of your company.
Let’s move beyond your customers, NEED. Relationship with your employees! They need to know they matter to you and are not another paycheck to you. When your team begins to realize they matter to you more than dollars. They will love coming to work because you’ve learned to value them. Again, LISTEN to me when I say, “people don’t quit bad jobs. They quit bad bosses.” If you want to keep long-termed employees, learn to be the boss they need you to be versus what you think they need.
Here are a couple of examples;
1. Customers: Before we bring out new designs, we send ideas to some of our clients, asking for their advice. Give people a voice. We met a little kid who’s deaf and wanted a t-shirt with all of the alphabets in sign language so people could start a conversation by spelling the letters on his shirt. The kid was nine years old. The design of the shirt is now named after the kid. We sent one to him in the mail.
2. Employees: I can’t pay each employee $30 an hour. Instead, I turned our breakroom into a living room. I am building an environment of hospitality. Every so often our company may provide meals for the whole team. If you honor them, they will stay because of how you love them. Besides, who said bribing is illegal.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thecharlotteletter.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kameron_dion_brooks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009184212122
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kameron-brooks-46b689227/
Image Credits
N/A