On the Road with iV » Retail

Lara Merriam-Smith-2. BRA BARRETTE: Lessons from Route 66. Episode #129

peggy — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:49:40 +0000

Lara Merriam-Smith started Bra Barrette while working full-time, using her paycheck and a small inheritance to get it going. iV learns how much Lara started with, what she spent the money on (R&D), and how she protected her idea. A true entrepreneurial “trial and error” process, Lara shares how a Japanese firm inspired her to grow faster, and where she turned to raise the money, as well as her thoughts on Route 66/startups.

Shelley Foster-3. BABYGAGS: Offending Your Mom & Other Keys to Success. Episode #59

peggy — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:56:08 +0000

The founder of babygags had to go through a rebranding to the name Silly Souls & shares how she might do things differently if given a chance. This includes product familiarity, selling kids clothes w/o having any kids and what her favorite thing is about her business. Plus her keys to success (think Nike) & how offending her Mom (carefully) was part of it.

Shelley Foster-2. BABYGAGS: Rebranding Your Baby & Turning Down Giants. Episode #58

peggy — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 22:48:10 +0000

iV gets silly with Shelley Foster as she talks about rebranding her babygags because a retailer (a little co. called the GAP) wanting to carry it was concerned about market confusion. Learn how she handled it and started babygags on $25,000 & living off her day job. AND see if you think Shelley is silly herself after turning down Walmart.

Shelley Foster-1. BABYGAGS: Finding Silly Souls in the Baby Business. Episode #57

peggy — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 22:44:24 +0000

Shelley Foster started babygags as a side gig with her friends after working at Nike & Reef. They all left the business so she was left holding the ‘baby’. iV’s interview with her uncovers how Boobies, Screamer, Dude & Milk Junkies are now seen on babies everywhere because of it & how that idea is now 300 SKUs strong and in 1,000 boutiques across US & Europe.

Kassie Rempel-3. SIMPLYSOLES: Flying South to Find Simple Soul of the Business. Episode #53

peggy — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 19:07:20 +0000

Nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year award after only 4 years in business & numerous mentions in national magazines, Kassie Rempel shares some lessons learned looking back over her success during that timeframe. Business plans, Brazilian shoe makers, fundamental beliefs and key relationshps are just a few of the tibidts Kassie shares with iV on this episode of the On the Road with iV.

Kassie Rempel-2. SIMPLYSOLES: So Many Shoes, So Little Time. Episode #52

peggy — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:04:32 +0000

SimplySoles’ founder, Kassie Rempel, leveraged her house and her faith to start the company and built an incredible shoe line with a $150,000 nest egg. Kassie tells iV about her the challenges doing it on her own & how that money funded 2 catalogs and put shoes on her families feet. This and more on iV’s interview with Kassie.