Speaker: 00:00:00

Tariffs.

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Let's talk about it.

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Are you wondering how the tariffs are going to affect your small business, whether you're

a boutique, a retailer, a product seller?

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In this video, I want to talk about what the impact we expect to see from tariffs.

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I want to give you some strategies on how to navigate this and hopefully give you some

ideas on how to capitalize on it.

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So depending on when you're watching this and depending on when this gets published, I

don't know what the tariff rates are.

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They are constantly changing.

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I did a call yesterday and they changed midday.

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So I am just going to let you know that the idea of being comfortable in uncomfortable

situations is a superpower for a business owner.

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There's already been so many uncomfortable things you face to get your business started

and growing.

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This is just another one of them.

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Right out the gate, like it's so easy to have two sides of the coin of the

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Okay, we're gonna trust this.

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We're gonna like see how it plays out.

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We're gonna wait and see.

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We're gonna trust this process.

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And there's on the other hand, my God, are we going into a recession?

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Oh my gosh, what is happening?

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The world feels so different.

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My name is Emily Benson and I as an elder millennial have seen so many shifts in the

fashion industry in the United States in my life and

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like this is only halfway through my life.

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So I want to in this video give you some strategies to navigate through this.

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Like I wouldn't say that we've been through this before, but I will say that owning a

business is basically like walking a tightrope a lot of the time and figuring out what

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parts of the tightrope are going to be loose, thick.

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wobbly, like we're in a bit of a wobbly stage at the moment.

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I think there's a lot of uncertainty from consumers and from business owners and from

government.

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And at the same time, I would like to think that we all want the best for each other.

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We all want each other to be successful and have a nice life.

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Even though the specific rates of tariffs might be changing over time, the important thing

to know is that 97 % of clothing, toys, like soft good materials are made outside of the

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United States.

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So we now as business owners, whether you're a wholesaler, a retailer or consumer, it's

going to hit at every level.

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We're going to be paying more for goods because a tariff is a tax on imported goods.

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Let's say that you have an order of a thousand dollars of something coming from China.

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You send that thousand dollars to the vendor that you're working with that pays for the

goods.

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What it does not pay for is when it gets to our border.

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So at the United States border,

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Customs will check all the documentation, and that's where they will collect this tariff.

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The tariff is a tax.

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Now, instead of the tariff being, let's say, 20%, so on $1,000 order, we're going to pay

$200, we're paying 100%, which means on $1,000 order, we're paying $1,000 to get it in the

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country.

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So we're basically doubling the cost of goods right out the gate.

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Now,

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Again, the number is changing basically every hour at this point.

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So I'm just trying to give you examples.

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Don't get like so hung up on the actual numbers.

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I just want you to understand what the impact in real life is gonna look like and explain

this a little bit.

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I think a lot of people just, we just don't understand.

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When I worked at Abercrombie and Fitch, we had an entire department that was in charge of

importing goods and understanding all of the tariffs, all of the laws.

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You'd be surprised actually how much tariffs we already pay on certain items.

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The way that the tariffs have always been built too can tend to be material specific.

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So again, I was working at Abercrombie, we were developing sandals that had shells on

them.

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Were they real shells?

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Were they fake shells?

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What were the shells made of?

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And then how were they attached to the top?

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All of those factors played in to how much of a tariff we paid on it, a tax, right?

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And that's why we had that department to help us make choices around materials, around

location, around factory, around what we were gonna do.

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We needed more of that information on how what we wanted to make would then end up costing

in real life here in our stores.

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The reason why people are upset is because this happened quickly.

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We thought they were going to be 20%.

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We thought they were going be 10%.

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Now, again, they're different every day.

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The last I checked, there were 104 % from China.

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Double the cost.

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So on one hand, we weren't really surprised that this was coming.

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I think the hard part is that they're like effective immediately.

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They're like effective today, at midnight, in a month.

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Like for planning and sourcing and production, especially for clothing and toys and shoes,

all of this stuff.

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We're planning months out, like months, years out sometimes.

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I mean, to make a pair of denim, you have to be tracking cotton production from three

years ago to make sure you have enough cotton to grow, to make the denim, to make the

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yarn.

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Like, I don't think consumers necessarily understand how long the sourcing line is to get

a garment into a store or a toy into a store.

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All right.

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So let's transition into what you can do as a boutique owner.

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That's why we're here.

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Okay, it's really important for you to focus on profit right now and see where you can

make some edits.

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So number one, I need you to audit your inventory.

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What do you have in stock?

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What do you have in your basement?

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What do you have in a storage unit?

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And also like, what do you have coming and how is that gonna affect you?

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As of today, when I'm filming this, we haven't heard a ton from vendors about how this

will change things for the season coming up.

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That said, I think no one knows because it's literally changing every day.

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So.

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I do think this is a don't panic moment.

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It's a what do I have in my basement?

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What do I have on order?

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And what do I need to get through this?

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Do I have the inventory that I need to make the sales that I want to make?

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And obviously talk to your vendors.

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If you're a bigger boutique owner and you work with some major vendors, like call them if

you haven't yet.

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Let them know.

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that you're concerned, ask them what to expect.

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I mean, at least if you can get some sort of like vision or guidance from them on what

their plan is, maybe you can start to make a plan.

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But again, I think at this point, we have to figure out what works for us.

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This is also another time to think about where else could you get inventory.

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So yeah, you have the vendors you have now, but.

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Are there places in the US that you could get inventory that are all made in the US?

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Like, is there the opportunity for you to get inventory from another boutique that's

closing, that's de-stashing?

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Is there an opportunity for you to bring in items for resale or consignment?

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Like, the thing is, is why this affects boutique owners so much and why it like sort of

makes me sick to my stomach is the only way we make money is from our inventory.

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And so now our inventory is getting more expensive because it's going to get more

expensive.

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I need you to also start looking at your pricing strategy.

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How affordable do you want to be?

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What does affordable look like for you?

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I think this is gonna vary depending on your customer.

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I work with people that have higher end customers.

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They're selling $300 dresses.

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I work with people who are selling $40 shirts.

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It's going to affect everyone.

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And I think you just have to use some of your intuition and some of your spidey senses.

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to see how this is gonna affect your customer.

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Because obviously the other piece of this is like, if you have a Gen Z customer versus a

Boomer customer versus a Gen, like cost increases will affect different generations and

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different income levels differently.

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And so I think you've got to look at with your own pricing structure, how might you need

to make some edits?

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When you look at pricing, the easiest place to start to make changes is your best sellers.

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Those best sellers, because they are that,

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you can actually charge more for them.

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And now again, I'm not saying like add $10, $20.

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I'm saying like add $3, add $5.

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It doesn't have to be massive, but start to build that in with your best sellers now

because it's the easiest place to do it.

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The other thing to do, especially if you have a boutique business that's a brick and

mortar, is host events.

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Like host things that people can come to.

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I think now more than ever, we're kind of like having this backlash from...

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COVID where we're all lonely and we're like, we need to get out and have something to do.

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So I don't care what it is, but like, could you host some events?

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Could you allow other people to rent your space to host an event?

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Like maybe you have a big brick and mortar and you have some empty space.

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Like you could figure that out.

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What are some other ways that you could utilize what you have now to make more money?

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Whether that is like something like an event rental or...

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even just services, doing more styling, doing some closet clean outs, like what are some

other things that you might be able to add?

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Now, I don't want you to change your business model.

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I don't need you to like freak out and add all these other things, okay?

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I am simply trying to open up the opportunity door for you so that we can see this as an

opportunity and not as like, my God, everything's crumbling and falling down.

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Cause that's kind of how my brain works.

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So maybe it's how your brain works too.

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And truly, like we have been through hard things before, okay?

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We're in this together.

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We're all riding this out together.

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So I wanna encourage you to do a couple things.

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One is use your voice.

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Like your story is important.

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As a small business owner, you're important to the fabric of the United States of America.

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And your voice, even though you might think I have a small store, I have what, you're

important.

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Your business is important.

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You having financial stability is important.

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I want you to feel comfortable calling and emailing your local elected representatives,

your state level representatives and your representatives in Washington DC, whether that

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be in the House of Representatives or your senators, like call them, text them, tell them

your story.

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It doesn't have to be a call where like, I can't believe this is happening, you know, like

tell them your story.

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They need stories.

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So hi.

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My name is Emily.

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have a store on Main Street in Springfield, Texas, and I've noticed the traffic's really

down.

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I've noticed that we have people coming in, but they're nervous to buy.

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You it's never been like this.

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And what's going on?

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Like, we don't love the tariffs.

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We don't love this.

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But for me, like, I'm worried about this.

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I'm worried about my future.

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Like, express those concerns, because honestly, like, this is your chance to have your

voice heard.

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So whether it's an elected official or

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I want to direct you to the National Retail Federation.

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The National Retail Federation is the lobbying group for retailers.

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They have specific committees that work on trade, that work on costs, that work on food.

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I mean, it's a huge organization.

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They should be lobbying to help us, especially as small retailers.

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Big retailer.

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I mean, this is going to affect every retailer, right?

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Like it's not just us, but the more voices in the mix, the better.

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So.

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down below in the show notes or the comments, I'm gonna put phone numbers for the US

Congress switchboard so you can call and talk to your people that are from your state or

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your district.

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And I'm gonna leave the information for the National Retail Federation.

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Please do not hesitate.

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These people work for us.

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If what they're doing is affecting our life, good or bad, call and let them know.

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They need to hear from you.

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Whether they want you to call them or not, you deserve to have a voice.

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All right, the thing that's honestly giving me so much hope right now,

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And like, I would love for you to drop any successes down in the comments or leave a

rating and review.

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Like, leave me what's working in your business or how this helped you.

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This is the moment where we see this as a movement.

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Our country is changing, but we're not alone.

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Like, five million people protested this past Saturday.

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Boycotts of Target are like killing their business.

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So if not now, when will you...

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join the movement.

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When will you be a part of it?

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Whether it's a small way or a big way.

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If you're a woman, if you're a small business, if you have a family, all of this is gonna

affect us.

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And that's why I feel like I have to talk about it, even though I'm very uncomfortable

doing so.

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Okay, so even in the middle of all this, right, we're seeing movement out there, we're

seeing more voices speak up, and we're getting lots of ideas out onto the table.

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We also have people that...

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have had some really good successes recently.

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My friend Jackie launched a product last year, sweat wicking pajamas for people that have

night sweats.

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And last week she was featured on Drew Barrymore and it was incredible.

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Like Drew had everyone filling the fabrics and talking about it.

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And she said after she heard cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching from Shopify like all day.

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Things are working.

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People are buying.

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I have another client, Sydney.

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She moved her business from the suburbs to the city.

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And after a good holiday season and a like kind of weird Jan and Feb, her march took off.

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Her neighborhood is blooming.

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They are spending.

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They are buying what she is selling.

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And so don't be afraid right now to try something out of the box, to use your intuition,

to do something new and to believe in yourself.

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The thing we can control right now is us.

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So take care of yourself, find ways to laugh, drink lots of water, get lots of sleep.

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And remember, women are 70 % of all consumers in the US.

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If you can sell something that women love, they will buy it.

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All right, thanks for listening.

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I hope I've given you some other ideas to think about.

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I mean, the big overarching thing is like, don't panic.

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We can get through this together.

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Use your voice and be strategic.

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Let's go through this together.

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I'm sending you a really big hug and hoping that this message finds you really well.

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or at least helps you feel a little bit better.

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Here's to making lots of friends and making lots of money.

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Talk to you soon.