Category Archives: Podcast Episodes

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Podcast 008: Terri King ~ Creativity Reigns!

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Terri King
Chief Creative Officer & Owner 
My Secret Garden ~ Bay City, Michigan

Today’s podcast guest is one of the most creative, gifted, savvy, smart and yes, REMARKABLE retailers that I have ever met, and she is a great friend and retail accountability partner! Terri King is the owner of My Secret Garden in Bay City, Michigan. Today you’ll hear some words of wisdom from this exceptional entrepreneur!

Terri King, My Secret Garden

Pure Imagination!
Terri brings passion and incredible creativity to her beautiful store in Bay City, Michigan.  Her store encompasses over 7,000 square feet and the displays are absolutely delightful!

Terri scours markets in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Chicago, High Point and locally to bring the best selection of unique products to her customers. Constantly changing merchandise and displays keep My Secret Garden fresh and exciting!

She is highly respected within the Retail Community and has been featured in several publications including GiftBeat and the Off-Price Market Magazine, along with many articles in her local market area.  Her shop is a true destination shopping location for locals and those who travel to the Bay City, Michigan area. Her shop buzzes with creative displays and fun events for customers!
~Click “Continue Reading” for photos and details!

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Podcast 007: Molly Wilson ~ Rock Star Entrepreneur!

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Today’s Remarkable Retailer episode features an interview with long time friend and exceptional entrepreneur, Molly Wilson who owns molly & drew – The Beer Bread Company.

Screenshot 2014-12-30 20.14.03

The Beer Bread Company’s fearless leader is a small-town girl with a big-city spirit. After ten years in retail, she brought that spirit, heart, and experience to her new role as owner of molly & drew. Molly’s young family is ‘on the team’ – daughter Samantha loves to add strawberry soda to American Original Beer Bread Mix while her son Wilson craves the BLT dip with crackers.

molly & drew had their beginning in small-town Iowa with 100 bags of homemade beer bread mix at a craft show. Today, they’re in thousands of retail stores around the country, BUT they’re still inspired by the small town values and work ethic that started them on this amazing journey.

“Born and BREAD (we couldn’t resist!) in the heartland, our products, just like our people, are INSPIRED! We are inspired daily by our families, our friends, our work, and our customers.” ~Molly

If you listened to Remarkable Retailer’s Podcast Episode 006, you heard about our decision several years ago to set our store apart by offering gourmet foods and totally committing to that department as a way to enhance the shopping experience for our customers at Adrian’s Boutique. molly & drew – The Beer Bread Company has been an important part of our gourmet department and a consistent top seller!

I think you will LOVE this interview! Be sure to stay till the end where we’ll have a special offer from Molly and some great tips for the upcoming Atlanta Market.

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Podcast 006: 5 Great Reasons to Get Going With Gourmet!

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Be Our Guest!

I am on the same journey and quest to become a Remarkable Retailer that you are on…and have tried many different approaches to product selection over the years, but one decision that we made many years ago has continued to pay off in a variety of ways. To be a Remarkable Retailer or an Exceptional Entrepreneur, you must step outside of your comfort zone and do something that other businesses are NOT doing!

Honey Apple Pecan Dessert

Honey Apple Pecan Dessert…Click Image for Recipe

Zig when everyone else Zags!

My friend and co-worker, Sandy Brooks gave me a book titled “Crazy is a Compliment: The Power of Zigging when everyone else Zags” by Linda Rottenberg (I mentioned this in an earlier post as well), and I think adding a Gourmet & Kitchenware department to your existing store may seem a little “Crazy” to some store owners. However, you need to take steps to set your store apart from all of the other cookie-cutter businesses that are out there!

That one decision I mentioned earlier was the decision to commit to a Gourmet Foods/Kitchenware Department in our retail store, stop dabbling in gourmet foods and take our selection and our service to a new level. We made this decision several years ago and it has been a game changer for our store!  It changes the atmosphere of your business when you offer drinks and a small snack to the customers shopping in your store.

Today we’re going to talk about 5 Great Reasons to Go Gourmet!!!

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Podcast 005: Q&A ~ Crazy is a Compliment!

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In the end, mastering the art of entrepreneurship is not simply about starting a business. It’s about taking chances, overcoming doubts, managing risk, dealing with chaos, cultivating employees, coping with stumbles and successes, integrating work and family, and paying it forward to ensure that the next generation can dream big as well.  And it’s realizing that all those people calling you crazy are giving you a huge compliment! ~ Linda Rottenberg from “Crazy is a Compliment: The Power of Zigging when Everyone Else Zags”

Florist working on laptop

I am so thankful to the retailers who are listening to this Podcast, and appreciate the fact that they are willing to listen even while I am learning to “find my voice” as a new Podcaster.

My desire is to bring real world inspiration and education to retailers and entrepreneurs who may be struggling with different issues in their business.

This week a listener sent an email with several questions and I am honored to try to give some feedback. Here are a few of the questions along with  my responses.  You can read this synopsis, or just listen to the podcast.

What did you include in the goodie bags for the fashion shows ?
This time we had a cute Houndstooth Bag with Pink & Black Tissue, which tied into our table decor and the Vera Bradley lead up to the new Houndstooth pattern coming in December.  Inside we had a Thymes Frazier Fir votive candle (which we can only order once per year for promotional purposes. They are FABULOUS!  We had purchased some really nice necklaces/earring sets on clearance, then we included a cute scarf in each of the bags.  We also included a $10 off $10 purchase for the store Gift Certificate. 
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Podcast 004: Ready for your next Opportunity?

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© Rawpixel - Fotolia.com

© Rawpixel – Fotolia.com

Thank you for taking time to listen to today’s Remarkable Retailer Podcast. We’re going to look at Preparing for Opportunities that will come your way.

Which Comes First?
It’s always hard to know which comes first, the Opportunity or the Preparation. I think it always goes hand in hand. We are “given” opportunities because of preparation and follow through we have done on other projects. When one of your staff members really steps up to the plate and delivers an exceptional project or does a great job in a particular area, it is easy to open the door for additional opportunities to that person. In the same way, as leaders of our team, when we are given an opportunity, we need to go outside of our comfort zone, walk through those doors, and take the leap!

Recent Fashion Show = OPPORTUNITY for Growth
In this episode, we talk about a recent Fashion Show and Gourmet Dinner that our store hosted for about 165 ladies. There were some real challenges to hosting this event. First of all, our store is too small to host that type of a crowd, and in our little town, there isn’t a restaurant or venue that would seat that many people. We had to think creatively and “outside the box” and host this event in a neighboring town about 15 miles away. This provided lots of opportunity to be very well prepared by the night our event rolled around!

We had to coordinate models, a trailer to transport all of the clothing, decorations, goodie bags for our attendees, staff members and more. Because the private club has other events during the day, we had a limited time for setting up our event. This made coordinating and planning our schedule down to the minute even more important. Fortunately, this was the fourth time we have hosted a large event like this and we have learned a lot along the way! We still struggled with some last minute details! Fortunately, those were all behind the scenes and the night was magical for our clients!

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Podcast 002: Top 10 Habits of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs

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Top 10 Habits of Highly Successful-2

Thank you for taking time to listen to today’s Remarkable Retailer Podcast. Today we’re going to talk about 10 qualities & characteristics that successful entrepreneurs share.

  1. They get up early and make effective use of their time
  2. Leaders are Readers! They are voracious readers, – Never stop learning!
  3. They have learned the art of networking and asking questions, and are very willing to learn from beginners in their industry as well as seasoned veterans.
  4. They are list makers… A favorite tool of mine is the Wunderlist App. I personally love this simple app!
  5. They “Do the Work” which is also the title to a great book by Steven Pressfield. (I will include link in show notes).
  6. They are professional…this business is not their hobby, it is their profession.
  7. They lead with a servant heart.
    1. They care about their customers and their staff
    2. They freely credit others for their success
    3. They are givers – both with their time and their resources. Terri King
  8. Successful entrepreneurs schedule time away to work ON their business, not IN their business. (Carol & Nancy planning session)
  1. Remarkable Retailers and Entrepreneurs embrace change and know that how they did business last year or even last month, needs to be improved upon.
  2. Exceptional entrepreneurs surround themselves with others who are smarter than they are! Jim Rohm quote “You are the average of the FIVE people you spend the most time with.” Start your own Mastermind Group, Join a private Facebook group that is related to your industry, and be an active participant!
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Podcast 001: Welcome to Remarkable Retailer Podcast!

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Welcome to the Remarkable Retailer Podcast! It doesn’t matter if you’re a brand new entrepreneur, if you have been a business owner for many years, or are just dreaming of opening your own enterprise! It’s time to travel the road from Ordinary to Remarkable! This podcast will focus on taking your business to the next level through Relationship Marketing, and tell the story of “Remarkable” retailers and entrepreneurs from across the country. We will offer inspiration, encouragement and resources along with the tools to get it done.