Glenn: Well. Welcome, everybody. Another edition of Empowering
Entrepreneurs, The Harper and Company Way.
I'm Glenn Harper.
Julie: And Julie Smith
Glenn: And Julie is usually in charge of coffee, but today she's in
charge of logistics.
And, oh, just things happen again.
Julie: I failed.
Glenn: It's no, there's no fail.
You just sit back, pivoted, made things work.
I want to introduce our guest today.
We're very, very excited to have Rebekah Scott, a fellow
entrepreneur who was the brains behind multiple companies.
She's the owner of Rebekah Scott Designs, a company that
produces fashionable handcrafted handbags and accessories
that are built in the heartland of America.
She's also the owner of the 1948 Leather, which you guessed
it, manufactures genuine, handcrafted leather bags and
accessories as well as because there's always more the
visionary for the Encourager Academy.
All this is coming us to us from the fields of South Dakota
Valley Springs, to be precise, which is really, really
Minnesota. It's only like five miles from the border, but
that's okay. And our spare time should be found on the
prairie, running, chasing kids, riding horses, enjoying the
great outdoors.
Even though she looks like she's there, she's all brains
and a fashionista.
She likes to get dirty and experience nature and manual
labor. Thanks, Rebekah, for being on the show today.
Rebekah: Yeah, thank you.
Hey, funny story about the Minnesota thing where our farm
is in Valley Springs.
Just try and wrap your brains around this.
Business owners. I live in South Dakota, my address of
South Dakota. We farm Iowa and our livestock is in
Minnesota. All right, like.
Glenn: Already I'm apportioning income.
Yeah, that sounds that sounds crazy.
Yes. Yeah, well, I wanted the other part was we just share
an affinity of the great outdoors.
I was watching your little video on the Y and everything on
your website and just it's always great having a
conversation with a fellow steward of the land because we
always the discussions people, normal people that don't
live on a farm or ranch cannot comprehend how you can just
drop right in the fertile and get into commiserate on
things that most people cannot even fathom can happen on a
daily basis. And that's what's the fun part, right?
As you would agree, being on a farm, just crazy stuff
happens every day. It's not normal city living.
No. So I think when I looked at your video, I feel like
you're totally misrepresenting South Dakota.
It was all sunny and warm and general cumulus clouds.
And I'm like, it is not like that.
It's not 80 degrees. You're on.
I've been there. And this goes from like 70 to 20 in like 2
hours. So I do like that.
And again, that's a funny thing how when you're on the farm
or you're in the in big changes in weather, you just really
appreciate the great days because you got to be outside
doing something. And it's literally all day, every day, you
know, the farming thing, you know, sunup, sundown,
whatever. But it's kind of cool that even though when it's
-50 out, you still got to go take care of the animals.
You still got to go do what you got to do.
It doesn't matter.
Rebekah: Absolutely. I always say, like farmers and ranchers were the
start of entrepreneurism because like you just don't have a
choice. You just dig in and figure it out and you have to
come up with plans as you roll with it because of the
weather. Like you can't control Mother Nature.
Glenn: And you guys get you're not like North Dakota where it's
like that's like Arctic, but you're close to that, which is
kind of cool.
Rebekah: Pretty much. Yeah.
Glenn: And again, for those you haven't been to South Dakota, it's
an amazing, humbling experience to just be able to look out
your window and see the vastness of the Midwest.
And it's literally the vibe you get.
It's like goosebumps. It's just total freedom, total
self-reliance and just how great America is when you can
get out away from the city and where everything's
controlled. It's just the coolest thing ever.
Rebekah: Absolutely.
Julie: If you can't tell Glennn's a real big fan of where you are
and he kind of probably wishes a little bit that he was
where you are right now and doing all the all those things
and all the chores, because for whatever reason, that
distresses him.
Glenn: I grew up on a farm and I just love it.
So it's there's something really cool.
It's a great experience as a kid.
And again, that gets me to this this funny story that you
mentioned on a little note here that you once had to trade
two cows for some cash, too, so you can publish your book,
which is fantastic.
Now, when we grew up, we named our cows, even though we
knew we were going to eat them later, but we weren't
supposed to. But I suspect you probably did the same thing.
But tell me about this cow story, because I think that's
hilarious.
Rebekah: First of all, I invite you to South Dakota and experience it
our way because it's it's as many beautiful things as you
say it is and it's fantastic.
And the kids always laugh that they have seven yards in
their town. Buddies only have one yard and they can't
imagine what that would be like.
So yeah, we definitely have it.
Good. The cow story.
So I wanted to write a book off of my podcast because the
listeners kept saying like, I want something tangible.
So I thought, okay, I'm going to write a book.
Well, how do you write a book with at the time I had four
kids. One of them was just five months old.
So I did the entrepreneur thing and got up at 4 a.m.
for six weeks in a row and wrote So I could have this book,
but I didn't quite think through.
I mean, I did.
But the cost involved to write the book and.
Well, I'll just keep working harder.
Will. The podcast at that time was not grossing any money.
I hadn't turned in anything. It was more like just, I want
to tell people how I do this because I want them to know
what's possible. And so that where am I going to get the
money for this? I didn't want to borrow it from my sewing
business. The purse is an accessories, so I went to my
husband and said, okay, I need some money and it's quite a
bit of money to make my first down payment on the book.
And he goes, Well, we don't have it.
How far along are you in the book?
Well, they're like 30 hours in.
He's like, okay, well, let's just think and pray about it.
So thought about it and then was outside doing chores and
that what if so?
Then asked Nicholas, my husband, like, you know, these we
were going to get rid of anyways.
Can I have the money off of these?
And so he said, absolutely.
And so that's I mean, you do what you got to do and I
should have put it in the beginning of the book is like
this is a two cow book, the.
Glenn: Cookbook we got rid of Bessie.
The family milk cow is gone.
So we have next book.
Do you guys do only livestock or do you guys do crops as
well?
Rebekah: We do crops, so we have a cow calf combination about 80
head. We can do up to 120 with a feedlot, with roping
steers and then quite a few horses.
And then we do corn and soybeans.
Glenn: Fantastic.
Julie: Wow.
Rebekah: Yeah.
Glenn: So also, you know, as I stalked you a little bit earlier, I
was looking at you went to South Dakota State and then did
you do that in booking Brookings?
Is that where you went to school at or.
Rebekah: Yes, you.
Glenn: Know, you know.
Rebekah: That's.
Glenn: The fourth the fourth largest city.
And I'm trying to figure out why you decide on South Dakota
State. Other than that, it looks like a really nice
university. But I didn't know if it was just you wanted to
drive the bookmobile or what was that all about?
Rebekah: Yes. Oh, several things.
Okay. I grew up West River.
So South Dakota, they call it two different things.
They call it West River and East River.
So North and South Dakota, a little less in here should be
more like East and West Dakota because of the huge
difference culturally and landscape wise.
So too is when I was West River, it was like, I can't wait
to go cross state, get away from all these people, which
there's not a lot of people anyways though, and go to SDSU
and my family, all of my cousins, there's 32 of us that
went to SDSU. So it's basically like you're out of the
family unless you go to SDSU, so got it.
Glenn: Yeah, well, that's exciting.
Have you ever driven to Julie?
Have you ever driven through South Dakota?
You've got to stop it all. Draw gets the coolest place
ever, but.
Rebekah: Well, yes, he's got a really cool entrepreneur story.
Glenn: It's unbelievable. With the with the cell and the ice water
and the signage, it's just the craziest thing.
Well, I guess what we wanted to do now is now we've got
everybody all happy and talking here and some good stuff, I
guess. One a little.
No, a little bit. What is it, your online academy that you
do you want to share a little bit about what that is and
what that does and a little bit in your into your your
purses and handbags and such, just to get a feel of what
that is. So the listeners kind of know that and then we're
going to pivot from there and go into some other deeper
questions.
Rebekah: Oh, awesome. I love it.
Well, I would actually start with RHD first.
So that's Rebekah Scott Designs.
That's my personal accessory business.
I started doing that because we were poor newlyweds and I
didn't know why I would give for Christmas gifts.
But I love fabric and I love purses.
And I had a sewing machine, so I thought, okay, well, so a
couple of purses as gifts.
And then I started getting orders and it started rolling.
I was working in radio, but it wasn't quite as creative as
I wanted it to be. And I thought, Oh my gosh, if I can get
this up and rolling, then I could raise a bunch of kids
right here on the farm and do what my mom got to do.
But I will make a living at sewing, not just sell it for my
family. So first business starts.
I start realizing, Oh my gosh, I have to really dial in how
to have all these children and produce as much as we are
producing, thankfully, blessedly.
So I start coming up with these systems and I'm writing and
I'm journaling about how to just become better and better
and better at it. And some of my seamstresses that were
working for me, there was this distinct moment where I
pulled into this parking lot to meet her to exchange
product. She had sewn some linings.
I need to get them and give her the next week's lines.
And she rolled in and like her tracksuit and her kids were
in their PJs and it was like a hot mess.
And I had four kids at the time.
They were ready for the day, blah, blah, blah.
And I say this and stark difference because she seemed too
disheveled and she said, Oh my gosh, tell me you are not
like this, because I was put together and I said, No, no,
no, no. We totally have mornings like that too.
But then immediately felt a gut punch because the truth was
I really did have it together and most days I did.
Believe me, I'm human.
But I my thought was, oh, my goodness, I can I can teach
you how to do this. This is not rocket science.
I just have some systems.
So then I really started dialing those in so that I could
do a podcast from my radio background.
And then I got going with the podcast and then they were
asking for a book and then even more like, How can we get
more of your coaching?
So that is how the encourage your cat.
He was born. It's like I want to be able for them to just
really quickly and consume it in like 25, 30 minute spots.
And they're like, My food sucks.
Like, I'm so tired of making food and I can't think through
it anymore that they could watch this and go, okay, that's
right. Here's some very edible, simple, practical things to
get started with. Organize my food.
Whether you are feeding two people or four people or a
family of six or whatever it is, and the whole academy is
really geared toward whatever the unique situation is.
I give them examples of what I do, but mostly I just make
them make decisions.
And so we get all this decision fatigue because we're
running so many different roles.
So I have them define What are your roles so that they can
decide what's important to them?
And then I have them start making decisions within each
system. And I think the systems that I keep mentioning is
your food system. How are you going to feed everybody,
including yourself, your me system?
How are you going to take care of yourself?
Because we just we don't as well as we should.
We should just ask those questions.
How are you going to do your work system?
A lot of us are working from home now.
I've done it for 17 years.
We did it before. It was cool.
But you know, I have them ask questions within their work
system, how do you want to do this?
And then also your family system, what are your traditions?
What kind of legacies do you want to leave behind?
And then I'm now developing a fifth system, which is your
home system. How do you take care of your home?
And so within each one of those systems, the academy walks
them through how to make decisions for their unique setup.
If they don't like food and they want to do whatever the
latest thing is that can deliver to your door, great.
But just make the decision.
Sometimes they don't even make the decision.
And then also reminding them like if you can't answer any
of the questions, you're completely depleted.
Like no wonder you can't get anything done because you have
no charge. And so it just walks them through how to do
those. And so whatever their job is, whether they're
working out at home or their maker like me, I attract a lot
of makers and they're trying to figure out how do you keep
making and manage the family?
I walk them through how I do it.
Julie: So I was you know, we had some free time due to my mishap
this morning. And I was on there and I literally were
sitting around this roundtable with a couple of people and
I was like, I need to sign up for this.
I need this.
Oh, good. And I went to sign up, but it's all full.
You got you're not accepting anymore any more people.
So tell, tell me.
Speaker1: Make an.
Julie: Exception. Tell me when you when we can all sign up again.
Rebekah: On May 1st. So we debut it every two months so that during
those two months I can take care of that class really well
and you get live coaching with me because we all have
different situations or like, you know what, this part
doesn't work for me, what would you do?
And so then as a group, we can fill this woman in with
what's working for us or not.
So we do it every two months.
We debut it again.
Glenn: I think the coolest thing about that piece is that here you
are. I want to make some purses.
I'm going to cut some leather up.
We're going to get some people work in.
And then all of a sudden, like a typical entrepreneur, we
never stop thinking there's always opportunity.
And you're like, Huh, I can do that.
And then you find out it's great building all the product
that you do, and that's a very rewarding, but helping
people be the best they can be.
I mean, that's like that's the apex right there, right?
I mean, that's what it's all about 100%.
Julie: I always say I believe when people create, they have joy.
And so whether they're creating a spreadsheet or like a
menu for their family or a purse like you will have joy.
It starts to just surge inside of you and then you can give
it out. So I give a lot of joy out because I get to create
every day.
Glenn: You know, it's a you know, as an entrepreneur, you're out
there trying to figure out, you know, what is that thing
that I'm going to do to take to market?
And it could be you have a skill set for a product that
people need, like they have to have something.
But then as an entrepreneur, you're always trying to figure
out what is it that you really, really sell?
Like what is that? What is, what is, what is your product?
Do people think it's a thing and people would assume that
it's a purse or a leather good, but that's not it.
You're selling a vibe, a feeling, a swag, whatever it is.
That's what people are buying.
They don't need another purse.
They need this feeling thing, which is the coolest thing
ever when you can, even if it's not what people need, it's
what they want. And that's kind of cool, I think in your
situation.
Rebekah: Well, on our website you can design your own.
So again, the problem that I'm solving is like you can buy
a bag that everybody else has and it serves us perfect
since practical. But I walk them through like you pick the
outside, you pick the lining, you pick the zipper, which is
my favorite part. You pick the lining, and then you pick
special features like, do you need a conceal pocket in the
back to Hydra Twizzlers from your kids?
Do you need an extra keyring in there so that you feel more
collected and less chaotic when you're like, I knew I have
a pen in this purse somewhere.
So they're also like, super well organized too, because I
don't want those moments for moms when we feel really
chaotic or for just women in general.
I wanted them to have a place for everything so that this
practical thing could actually serve as a little confidence
thing and notoriously, which is totally outside of myself
when they design their own and a woman in the target line
behind them says, Oh my gosh, that's a cute bag.
And she says, Oh, thanks, I designed it.
And the other guy was like, Really cool.
Meanwhile, my name Rebecca Scott is never mentioned at all.
It's just this exchange between this one woman giving extra
boost of confidence to her very own design, like the only
bag that's hers. And the other woman is like, Well, I want
that experience. Where did you get it?
So then eventually I get mentioned, but I love that.
It's like she throws her shoulders back.
She's like, Thanks, I designed it.
Julie: I love that story.
Like you're selling the confidence to a woman and like he
just talked about, you know, it's not the tangible.
You're selling something completely different that you gave
that woman that she didn't even know she had or could talk
about.
Rebekah: Or open her up to like you.
We have a lot of people say, Oh, I'm just not creative.
I could never do that. And I think, no, no, no, but give me
give me just 5 minutes of your time.
Tell me what you like about these two fabrics.
And they're like, I don't like that.
I'm like, okay, guess what?
You do have an opinion and you can't do this.
And then when they're done, they're like, That's not bad.
Julie: Well, no, as a mom, I'm sitting here like, Oh, I could
design a purse that fit for what I need.
Like I have a person and it's sitting over there and you
could go through it and you would know everything about my
life, where I shopped, what receipt was in there, what my
kids ate, what gum they chewed, all the things.
But I'm like, I always need a place for like markers and
things because, you know, you go out and you're like, All
right, kids, like, let me get this out.
So I carry it around in this plastic bag and like, you've
got to search down. And I can hear the plastic rumbling,
but I'm like, I'm going to get there and I'm going to get
it out. So I think that's so cool because everyone's has
something different or a different priority to them, and
not every purse is one size fits all.
Rebekah: No. Oh, my God. No, no, no.
I always laugh that black nylon is my arch nemesis.
I've even had customers make t shirts for me because, like,
we feel like we have to choose the super trendy bag that's
got all the right logos and everything on it, but it's a
dump zone, there's no organizing in it.
Or we're like, Nope, no more.
I'm going to do an organized bag.
Then we buy this black nylon atrocity and it's like, No,
I'm neither one of those. So we strike a note right between
them like they're still stylish.
You get to pick all the elements, but they're still really
well organized, so you don't have to do either one of those
other parties.
Glenn: It seems like if you're if you're a potential designer,
customer takes the class first, then goes back and does the
purse, it's you're going to see a whole different kind of
purse that getting developed, I would imagine.
Rebekah: That's so true.
So true. If they would have picked a solid fabric, but then
taking the course like you want.
I took care of myself.
I want a.
Glenn: Little flair in there.
Rebekah: Yeah, yeah, I do want a little bit of extra.
Yeah.
Glenn: It's funny, you know, I love talking about chicks and dudes,
how we just look at things different, right?
And like, a dude, like, I just need a little, little
wallet. I'm good. I don't.
I don't need all that stuff.
But for some reason, chicks got to have this stuff, and
it's just. I don't know what it is.
They, they have their whole life in there.
And the amazing amount of time that is wasted and the
stress of things not being organized.
This just as a casual observer is like, why is it like
that? And then when you can do something like this where
it's everything has its place, that's life changing, that
that buys people time and gets rid of frustration and
everybody has a better experience.
So I think it's a very powerful thing that you're doing.
Rebekah: Yeah. I also think like to the creative process too, like
even if you were able to organize the things, the fabric
choice that you had triggers something inside of you like
I've always loved Pink and maybe it was because your best
friend did or a memory of yours.
But even just the fabrics like usher in this joy that's
outside and that's like you want to just like I just like
this bag, period. I just like the fabric because I don't
even know why. But I picked it out and I love it.
So I love those little like it's organized.
It sparks joint, gives them confidence they walk better.
It's it's amazing.
By the way, I do have mail wallets in my leather
collection.
Glenn: I didn't see those on there.
I was I was poaching, but I didn't see it.
Well, I got to take a look.
Rebekah: Well, see, the leather collection was another.
A bit alongside the creative, but I want them to leave
legacies. Did you know the lifespan of a leather bag is 40
years?
Glenn: I can believe.
Rebekah: That the tonne of time.
And so with those pieces that has been a different
audience. It's been really fun as an entrepreneur to shift
gears and go like, okay, well what kind of buyer wants this
bag? And those are pieces that they can hand down.
So like our leather Bible case, I can't wait.
But that will be a generational piece where somebody's got
Dad's Bible case or Mom's bucket bag, because you remember
from the seventies, they're like, Oh, my mom had this
bucket bag that was adorable.
We're now creating it for this generation.
That will then be a legacy piece hand down and they will
last.
Glenn: I think if you're using American leather, I think it's going
to last even longer.
So that makes me happy.
Rebekah: And with the Western Tuna, I should show you a picture of
it. The logo on there is the brand we put on our cows when
I was growing up.
Glenn: Nice. So, you know, one of the cool things about
entrepreneurs is that there's always this sometimes they're
born with it, sometimes there's a trigger point, sometimes
an event happens.
But it sounds like you've had this entrepreneurial bug
thing since the time you were probably walking and talk.
And and you know, when that happens, how did you decide
that the purses and the design thing was the thing to go
with versus something else?
Is it just because you got sucked into it and you're like,
Well, I can dominate the space?
Or was it? I just knew this is what I wanted to be.
Rebekah: Well, I sold stuff on the playground, like, solicited all
the time. Joker, boxers, whatever I could do.
Like, whatever I was sewing. So, yes, it was a neat.
The bag started because of that newlywed story.
And I have loved purses all my life.
Like, I think if you have like a gray V-neck t shirt on,
it's like, well, but if you put a cool style bag with it,
rather leather or wax canvas or anything like hmm.
She tried so.
I love purses anyways, but I do have to joke about, I
think. God, why did you pick purses for me?
But it's working, so I'll stay in this lane.
But I've also been able to adjust, obviously add the
leather collection and do some of my radio background with
podcasts. They encourage academy but purses.
It was a quick project, so part of it was practical.
I like that I could make it in under 3 hours.
I like that I can change gears if I didn't like it and it
wasn't a ton of value into it, if I just didn't like it.
And yeah, I just love them myself.
So I kept designing for my new situation.
I have three kids versus two kids now.
I need something. When I go to tournaments, I don't have to
take off my body. So a lot of it was just because of my own
lifestyle, just designing for what my current stage was.
Julie: So you I read a cool story about you that, you know, when
you were young, you used to sit underneath your mom's
sewing machine and you used to use all the scraps and
Kleenex is to make Barbie clothes.
And I suspect you probably tried to sell those to your
peers as well.
Rebekah: Oh, yeah.
Julie: And then it was a cool story because you said, well, once
she figured out that I was really into it, she bought me my
own sewing machine.
So what was the first thing that you used?
That machine? I'm sure you remember.
What did you. So what was your first?
First product.
Rebekah: Yeah, my first sewing machine was five.
And the reason why is because Kleenex is and a stapler.
And I pretended that the stapler was the sewing machine.
So Mom said, okay, and I have a twin sister too.
So she was playing with me also.
So then I got my sewing machine just to hand me down at
five. The first thing I sewed was probably something to get
my twin sister to wear like you wear.
And then if it goes well, you know, probably something like
that. And I did a lot of scrunchies.
I'm grateful that they're back and back and trending.
But yeah, I started pretty much right out of the chute
trying to do clothes and bags and bathrooms, whatever I
could figure out. And I didn't want to follow patterns, but
I learned sometimes you need to all those lessons.
Glenn: When did you start? Start selling those things?
What age?
Rebekah: Eight. Nine.
Like a third grader.
Glenn: That's fantastic.
Rebekah: And my mom drew the line.
I would sell like they were fleece joke hats that were
really popular. And I would sell those and then I would sew
some mittens. But then I realized early on what cogs were.
I was like, Wait a minute, if I'm only selling this for $5,
I know I paid $7 for the yard.
So even then I was like, Ooh, now we're going out.
And then I tried to sew.
They were cool. It used to be cool to wear boxer shorts to
volleyball practice when we were seventh graders, and I
made a bunch of them for my friends.
But then I thought I could like sell them.
And my mom's like, Nope, we're not selling boys underwear.
Glenn: Come on, Mom.
Rebekah: She had some limits.
Glenn: So I think the the take away from this story is that if you
have a passion for something and you really believe in it,
there has to be there had to be someone else suspected your
mom. But you're going to tell us here in a minute.
But that says, okay, my daughter is obviously off on her
rocker here. We got to figure this out.
So we're going to instead of telling her no, we're going to
encourage her and basically be the person that says, hey,
you can do whatever you want, make this happen, we'll help
you. Was that person, that mentor?
Was that your mom?
Rebekah: Both my mom and dad because we grew up west.
There's not a lot of resources out there.
We farm and ranch, but you make do with what you have.
And that I didn't realize at the time.
I thought it was like stifling, but it's amazing gift for
me. So I use what I have because the nearest place to get
anything else is 80 miles.
And so that was a blessing.
And my mom had crazy amounts of talent.
But again, back down to like she would.
So these denim shirts and an application thing on them,
everybody is rolling their eyes, you know, early nineties.
And I remember her selling them for $35 and I was only like
a seventh grader and I was like, Mom, I know you've spent 6
hours on the shirt.
She was going to this crash. I'm like, We have to charge
more. We mom, we have to charge more.
And she was like, No, it's just I just want people to enjoy
it. And I quite literally remember thinking, I know where I
was standing in that house going, No, no, people should pay
for such a beautiful, time worn talent, and I'm going to do
that someday. And so then I kind of lost track of it.
But then in college, when I started to take off, I'm like,
You know what I'm going to prove to my mom and her awesome
five sisters and my grandmother that you can make a living
sewing. You know, it was just such like, Oh, no, you just
do it to save money or whatever.
I thought, No, it's a time worn tradition and I proved them
wrong every year since.
Julie: What a great story.
So do you. You know, I think what Glenn was kind of getting
at was going through, you know, even at the age of five and
eight and going through and then college.
And even now, has your mom remained kind of your mentor
through all of that, or is there someone else that you can
think of that has just really been that person to you
through, you know, being an entrepreneur and going through
these businesses?
Rebekah: Yeah, both mom still works for me.
She's my most full time seamstress and she's amazing, I
bet. And she's a big cheerleader.
But still, to this day, like, if I want cheerleading, like
taking risks, I don't ask her because she is still like,
that seems really scary, but she's a fantastic cheerleader
and employee. And then also my dad.
So my dad had to switch careers.
We were ranching. He had a falling out with his dad and
literally within three days we moved across the state.
And to understand that when you're a ranch kid, you're
married to the land, like what you're going to do.
Both my brothers were in school for it.
We're going to come back. We're going to run this ranch.
And in three days, like a Lifetime movie, we moved.
And so watching my dad go through that and pick up the
pieces and work with what he had, he's still like takes big
machineries. A mechanic puts it together.
He's just an amazing guy.
So he also is just a big mentor to me.
Like, Dad, how did you move your family of six across the
state? No job, no home, no school, no nothing but watching
him. Just like, I mean, it's kind of overused, but pulling
his bootstraps up and just working with what he had and the
skills that he had, Jack of all trades would figure it out.
Was quite impressive. So I still ask him like, Dad, what
would you do in this situation?
And also my mom like, how did you support that kind of risk
and these kind of decisions?
Glenn: I think that goes back to the whole premise of being an
entrepreneur, being a rancher or whatever.
There is no f word fail you, don't you just you you can't
let that even come in your conversation.
It has to be, oh, we're not doing this now.
We've got to do this.
There is no here.
Hold my beer. I got this over here and I think your dad
probably did that. And he's like, Well, I got to take care
of everybody, so, okay, I'm not doing this anymore.
We're going to do this. And as an entrepreneur, I think
that is the biggest I think a big holdup for entrepreneurs
that they just don't realize they're so scared to
potentially fail that they don't realize you just got to go
all in and just you have to make it work.
There is no second, you know, you just can't not do it
right. And I suspect watching your dad and mom do all that
and again, you could really like make a Lifetime movie out
of that for sure. The only thing lacking if is a single
person and there's the local handyman there that would
help. But like literally, but literally.
Julie: That's what you watch those movies?
Glenn: No, I would never I never watch a Lifetime movie.
I think I've seen like 5 minutes of one, but they're all
the same anyway. But no, I think that's the coolest thing.
And so I think for you, the message to the entrepreneurs
is, don't ever give up, be smart, follow your mentors,
follow your gut, do what you're supposed to do.
And I think it's going to always turn out well.
And ultimately what that does is it lets you think more
clearly and look at you.
You want to make a purse, and next thing you know, you got
37 companies, you got 12,000 employees.
You're empowering people.
I mean, how cool is that?
I mean, that's what it's all about.
Rebekah: So I think I have a phrase in my house that says it's hard
to beat a person who never gives up.
And so I just remind my kids of that frequently.
And then we ask at the supper table like, Hey, what'd you
fail at today? I didn't know that as a kid, but I think now
that that's such an important thing to be like, Oh, shoot,
that didn't work out. Like, just didn't work.
Let's try a different thing today.
Or like, how did you bounce back?
Or What did you decide to do?
Julie: I like that. So you you're the way you grew up and all of
the things that you've kind of been through.
You kind of know how to work as a team, work with others.
At what point in your career with Rebecca Scott did you
decide that, Hey, I need a team.
Obviously you have your mom, but at what point you had that
that other mom that was coming, you know, to the parking
lot that you needed to build a team.
And that's what was going to differentiate you and take you
to the next step.
Rebekah: Well, thankfully, I couldn't keep up with some of the
orders, and I knew that I couldn't keep going until two or
three in the morning and then wake up at four.
So I was like, okay, we're going to have to do something
here. So my mom was my first one, and then I did collect
another seamstress and I contacted the church and said,
Who's in the little sewing group at church?
Use your resources. Right.
And so that I got one there.
And then I had this moment where entrepreneurs understand
this, where you're checking email for 6 hours and you're
actually only making for 2 hours, but you love the making
part. And the email part is what's draining you.
And so I called SDSU, a friend of mine there who ran the
entrepreneurship program. I said, I want to hire SEO.
I think he's like, Becca, you can't.
It's your thing. Like, Well, I am so tired.
So I said, Write down a list of all the things you love
doing, all the things you don't like doing, and then let's
reevaluate what's in there.
So I did that, and when I wrote down what I was spending my
time on, he realized, like, you just need an office
manager, you need somebody to order the supplies and to
respond to some customers.
So let's get you an office manager or an admin assistant.
And so that was the next position I hired.
Then I could lead better, and then that's where light bulbs
just started going off because of the things that she could
handle. I created more, which sold more so that I needed
more seamstresses and then definitely hire a tax person
because remember, we're three states and two independent
businesses, so like we need the accountant a tax person.
And then it seemed like every time I had another kiddo, it
was like, okay, we probably need somebody else to manage a
few things. So that's how it worked for me.
But also because I'm a maker, I can do it like I can do it
like a ninja. So there are still parts of the sewing
process that I do and I probably won't give up because I
love them and it's very therapeutic and it just grounds me
in my business.
Glenn: It's fun, actually.
It's not. You don't want to be.
You have to do it.
You want to do it.
And that's the difference because again, there's only so
many hours in a day. It's an entrepreneur.
If you're doing all the work, you just are going to have to
stop at some point.
So that's when.
So we call that when our little podcast, we call it Getting
Out of Your Own Way and basically recognizing that you
don't have to do it all.
You can hand that off to somebody else and it's okay and
it's okay to do that. And all of a sudden, wow, here we
are. Things are happening.
Julie: When I love what you said is like you were able to create
more so you made more so obviously your profit went up and
so it was just a trickle down effect.
And a lot of we find that a lot of people have a hard time
seeing the big picture of doing that.
Rebekah: There was a definite shift when I had about five
seamstresses working for me where I realized they would
bring me back the outside of the purse.
And I was like, This is way better than I could have done
it. And then the next one, I was like, Oh crap, they are
way better than me. And without knowing, you know, it was
like, Gosh, I got to take back hold of it.
And I thought, Wait a minute. If we're going to grow, then
I do want them better than me.
I want to show them my version.
So now it's a really cool text read between the
seamstresses and I'm like, Guys, I'm trying to make this
bag both cross-body and backpack.
Somebody help and three of them pop in with ideas and stuff
that I wouldn't come up with.
I'm like, Good. Later I'm going to go pick out a new
limited collection. So but there was a shift where you have
to be like, okay, this is about my ego, or This is exactly
what I've set up for myself.
I want this. And so once I was able to let go and utilize
everybody's skills.
Glenn: Huge. Like, why would you not?
As an entrepreneur, we think we know everything.
But why would you not hire, employ, engage, corroborate
with people that are smarter than you at every level?
I mean, 100% you never play like did you play sports
growing up at all? Oh yeah.
Would you play all of them?
All of them. Let's say.
Rebekah: Volleyball, basketball, cross country.
Glenn: All right, so you're playing Let's Go Basketball.
If you're in eighth grade playing basketball, you're never
going to get better. If you play against the sixth grader,
you always want to play against the senior because they're
going to kick your butt every day and make you get better.
And next thing you know, next year you're playing at 11th
grade versus as a freshman, right?
So it's the same thing in business.
Why wouldn't you surround yourself with the best or people
way smarter and make that happen?
So entrepreneurs out there listening to this, do not check
your ego at the door. It's not about that.
It's about creating something that's bigger than you.
You're the visionary. You're going to you're going to be
able to do that. But it's about how do you get whatever
that product or service is into the marketplace the best
way possible.
Rebekah: I think, to like if you can really dial in your why why you
started it stuff, there are still things that I offer the
team that they just couldn't possibly do and I don't even
know how to train it. And when you find out what that is,
that's that's your ticket.
So the rest of it can go to anyone else on your team and
you can train that because they're like, I don't know how
you do it. I don't know how you come up with these
combinations. Becca But for whatever reason, they're
working. That's, that's just my skill.
And my other skill is mass producing.
Like, I never look at anything without thinking, let's make
three of them. And so that just comes naturally to me.
So I'll offer that every day, but I'll definitely keep
asking the others, where are their skills?
Yeah, use them.
Glenn: Would you say that you're insatiable when it comes to what
you want to do? It's there is no cap to this thing.
I mean, I don't know how many people we have working for
you, but if you've got 20, you probably want 40.
If you have 41, 170, like it.
Just like why would you stop?
And again, we always say bigger isn't better, better is
better, but if you can control how you do it and utilize
your superpower, which appears to be that serial
entrepreneur with some issues and those big issues, the big
superpower is the creative wisdom.
You just have that it factor where you can just see things
that nobody else can see, right?
And you can then coach people with that.
Is that what you think your superpower is?
Rebekah: Yes. I love to see women light up.
And I when I'm coaching, I look for that one.
There's a look in their eyes where like it just goes off,
like they figure out whether it's a purse or like I did
this and all of a sudden they're just way more confident or
it's an entrepreneur. She's a mom and she's overwhelmed and
she's like, Oh, I get it.
It doesn't have to be this difficult.
I could just 1% the dream or whatever.
So I think it's just recognizing people's moment of, wait,
I think I can do this.
I usually can spot that out.
Glenn: Is it a trick question?
Do you are you doing this?
You're doing this only for the money, right?
I mean, that's why you do this.
I mean, that's why that's why you're an entrepreneur,
because you just want to make billions and be that evil
corporation. I don't think that's the case.
Tell us why.
I think I know why you do it.
But why don't you tell our audience why you do what you do
it mainly as an entrepreneur.
Why do you do it?
Rebekah: Oh, gosh. That the woman's look on her face when she's like,
Hey, I could do this.
I could create. And there's just this little tiny boost of
joy or boost of confidence.
That's why I do it every time and any time when I do get
overwhelmed, because I am an entrepreneur and I do have a
lot of things going on, it's like, Gosh, this is
exhausting. I notoriously get some kind of message or even
a card. People send me cards that are like this experience
of designing changed my life.
Thank you for offering it. We do really cool honor projects
where I take a loved one's button down shirt and put it
inside a Phillip Bay in memory of my brother.
And so those cards are like, good, they can carry their
loved one with them.
And then we do some military projects too.
So whenever I get those, it's like, this is what it's
about. It's about being able to incorporate their families,
to incorporate joy, to make them feel more confident.
Yeah. Every day before the dollar.
That's what matters.
The dollars matter.
Glenn: Don't get me. Oh, yeah, they're important.
But that's not the why.
Rebekah: If you don't have that feeling, then I think you would
definitely burn out.
Glenn: Well, I think the we always have a joke about if you want
something done, have a busy working mom, do it.
Because for some reason they just had this weird skill set
that they can just do more. And I think with you, you
whenever you think you're too busy, you decide to have
another kid. And then I think that's what you do and and
look how it's turned out for you.
So are we going to expect another couple of kids walking
around? Is that what's in the plan?
No, no.
Okay. Chicken.
I want chicken snacks.
I've been begging for chickens.
I let the goat thing go, but now I want chickens.
Well, you've got to do some goat yoga or something out there
on the farm. It'd be a lot of fun.
And the chickens are always fun, too.
What is when you were doing this, did you have like did you
have like this wall or this ceiling, this thing that says,
Man, I just can't do it.
I'm just scared of this.
Did you have a fear that you had to like, man, I got to
grind through that. And if you did what how did you what
did you do to get through that, to break through that
barrier that you set for yourself?
Because everybody has that like I can't do I can only go to
here. How did you break through that and what was that?
Rebekah: My original thought when I started it was This would be fun.
I can raise kids on the side.
On the side. Is that like a confession right there?
Right. I can raise the kids.
I can do the business.
This will be fun. I'll travel to a few shows.
I'll keep it in the Midwest.
And then there was just about five or six years in where I
just thought, this is really cool.
Why can't I bring this around the USA?
And I just wrestled with that thought for probably a year.
I was like, Well, I was going to write it down and it still
hangs up over there. It says, I will be the nation's
largest handmade business.
And again, that was that like heritage thing where I'm
like, I'm going to prove everybody that you can make a
handcrafted project and it can go well.
And this is before Etsy.
And now thankfully, makers are really well received.
But yeah, it was a year, Ross and I was like, Why can't
this be big? And that was the hiring of people and the
right people and letting go of things.
But there's no build up to it other than I just looked
around and I'm like, Why can't somebody in New Jersey enjoy
this too? Why does this just have to be a source of
Midwesterners? Like, I'm going to be I'm going to go across
the nation and that's what I'm doing.
Glenn: We we always say that or I.
I think the premise is when you look in the mirror and
you're you're having that moment where you're like, man,
the world's crushing down on me, and you're like, Why is
this so hard? Then you look and you go, Wait a minute.
If everybody else can do it, why not me?
And then when you when you give that, I don't know what you
call it, but that just supercharged, you know, shot in the
arm to yourself. Say, why can't it be me?
And then why not?
And then you just throw off all those shackles and you just
go do it.
Rebekah: Well, then your mindset changes, too.
So when I would be designing, I would just design for our
weather here. I was like, You know what?
Maybe I would look also for the trends on the coastlines.
It takes a little bit longer to get to us.
So what's trending over there?
Let's introduce it when they introduce it.
And I started reaching out to other people across it.
It just changes everything.
I sort of went, Hmm, well, how could I do this at ten X?
Or Why can't we collaborate with somebody on the East
Coast? Let's try it. So it did definitely kick things up.
Glenn: Do you have a point in time where when you sit back right
now and again because you have all this free time, but I'm
suspecting when you're jogging on the country roads and
thinking about life and looking at the sunset or sunrise,
are you a morning jogger at the evening jog or what do you
do?
Rebekah: Probably morning. 515.
Glenn: The only way to roll.
Speaker3: Comes.
Glenn: Up. Yep.
So do you jog into the sun or is the sun at your back?
Rebekah: Sunset my back when I kick off.
Glenn: All right. So you coming back and you feel energized.
Do you ever have that?
Entrepreneurs, you know, we don't really have regret.
We always have just, well, what if and is there a moment in
time where you're like when you're sitting there thinking
about your journey and go, Man, if I'd have known this,
then I would have had a very different outcome or an
acceleration or a different level.
If I had not waited five years or waited a year, waited six
months, or made that decision. Do you have any of those
types of moments where you're like, Man, if I could just go
back and put that in, not saying you're going to regret it,
but like, what could you put in that would be like, Man,
this is my advice to people, these kind of thoughts.
If I just did that before, do you have anything like that
in mind?
Rebekah: Would just been thinking to small, thinking to hobby, like
when it clearly wasn't a hobby, like it was consuming 30,
40, 50, 60 hours a week.
Glenn: That's not a.
Rebekah: Hobby. That's right.
Right. But again, it's that making thing where you're like,
I'm just making a person just making, you know, no, no,
this is way more than that.
And then I would have been braver and more courageous with
the people I was hiring for my admin staff.
I have two teams, my seamstress staff, I'm in it and then
also my admin staff staff and I clearly am in that and lead
that. I had some close minded people, assistants, you know,
that were like, Well, do we have to have everybody in on
the meeting? Well, I guess not, but why not?
So they too were limiting in there.
And so I would have been more courageous to say, you know
what, that's not okay. We do want more people.
And so I would have I don't like this phrasing, but what is
it? Fire fast, higher slower.
Been more strategic about people that were growth mindset
and not so fixed with like well you go to these shows and
that's what I'm going to hold you to. Instead of someone
saying, Hey, I found some more shows or I found a new
platform, or I updated your LinkedIn.
Like, I need growth minded people that will see the things
that I am not.
So that would have been one of those gravel road
conversations. I'm trying to think.
You said there's tons of conversations that happen in my
head on those. No music, no nothing.
Just a good doc that can spot all the critters.
But. Actually a lot of the times I just didn't know it
could be this good.
I do say that frequently, like there's overwhelming
gratefulness that my like Becca Eggers from Phillips, South
Dakota, is like pretty well known around here.
And I'm creating something that makes a difference and it's
a purse. So it's kind of those are a lot of the moments
that I have is like, this is.
Glenn: Fun, very surreal, probably because again, I think you
always had probably confidence in yourself and most
entrepreneurs do believe in themselves to one level, but
then it's sometimes when you get success, it's kind of like
most of us don't really want to talk about it because it's
kind of intimidating a little bit, right?
And you feel guilty because people think that you just got
it handed to you, right? You didn't have to work your tail
off. They don't know about the endless hours and the stress
and the worry and all those things and they just think it
magically, Oh, you hung up your shingle and look, you've
got all these purses and you didn't do anything for that.
I mean, you're starting at age five, right?
I mean, that's that's a little bit of a of a track record,
I'd say. So that's a heck of a journey.
Do you. Yeah.
Do you ever feel there's a what's your end game like what
you're like you're probably, what, like 28, 29?
You've been doing this for 25 years.
Like, is this something you're going to take this and keep
going into your your it's over.
You're going to sell it. You want to keep growing it big
and expand it and influence more people.
I know it's a trick question. There is no end game.
But, you know, do you have you have thought about that?
Rebekah: Oh, yeah, all the time.
I'm like one of the Clifton's strength finders is
futuristic. Yep.
Sign me up, like, all the time thinking about the next
thing. So the leather collection was a big thing for legacy
because it's from where I grew up, West River.
And so that that piece of like I can't wait to see that one
keep blossoming and getting bigger and better.
Rc Hiring more amazing seamstresses to help me get there.
Being across the nation, not just in the Midwest here, the
academy just reminding women, you don't have to feel
chaotic. You can do both work and home life well.
And I just want that to be like an overarching.
I've already written my obituary, which might sound a
little weird, but in there it says like, I just wanted to
influence the world with the concept of 1%, just 1%.
You don't have to start your business at this level.
25 years in, like you said, not quite.
But you could just make one person for somebody that makes
them happy. So just 1% and I'm on write another book on
Grit because I think I have a lot of it and I'm not sure
where it comes from just yet, so I'll have to research
where that is.
Glenn: That's being on the ranch.
Rebekah: Three daughters and one son and three daughters.
And my three daughters are incredible makers and it's quite
funny when I watch them work next to me.
One of them is very creative.
One of them is very logistical, like, mom, this table is
not set up, right? We need to have the price tags over
here. The purse is here and the gun here like she thinks
through. And I'm like, Oh, I know what you want.
If you're interested, kid, I know where you'd be good in my
business. And I have another one that's very resourceful.
So there's not a cardboard box in here that isn't decorated
or hot glued or something.
And so I have a feeling there'll be no pressure.
But they would be fantastic leaders someday within my own
business.
Glenn: You know, with entrepreneurs, we're always trying to figure
out like, what is the thing that makes them tick?
Like, how did they get like that?
Because there's just something about for you.
You probably wake up every day negative and you've got to
make things happen and you don't have a guaranteed
paycheck. Right. I mean, most entrepreneurs and and a lot
of people are like terrified to think that, oh, my God,
I've got to make things happen today.
But whatever reason, entrepreneurs could jump out of bed,
go for a jog. Oh, it'll be all right.
We got this. And what is that?
Do you think that is a do you think that's a like an
instinctive thing that people are just born with?
Or do you think they develop it?
You think they hone it, or do you think it's hidden in
people and they just don't even know they have it?
What do you what is your opinion on that?
Rebekah: Wow. Well.
I think you got to know how bad it can get.
So again, there's a lot of history in there.
When we moved in, stuff like just working with what we had
that I just illustrated, like, all right, here's our
resources. We got flour, we got sugar, we got butter so we
can have breakfast and we've got a paper that's got job
applications in it, so let's get to a plane.
So I think some of it is like how bad does it get then you
know how you can bounce back some of it.
I don't wake up negative, but you're right, I don't wake up
saying I'm going to get paid on the 15th and the 30th, and
for whatever reason, for me that drives me like, okay,
well, how am I going to and if I work that much harder or
smarter now that we're that age, we can do both.
How can I make sure that everybody's well paid and that's
payroll is taken care of and stuff?
And what can I create today to make sure the ball keeps
rolling? Yeah, I.
I think it is.
I don't know. I think it's borne of the people that are
around you. And if it hasn't been discovered and you you
haven't had the moment, the bottom moment that you need to
have and I don't want anybody to have that body moment, but
I wouldn't trade any of mine for the world.
I literally I didn't have any more money.
I had $700 that I saved up from radio.
And I was like, okay, I'm going to quit, right?
I'm gonna quit. We got plenty.
And I ran out of it very quickly and I couldn't buy any
more fabric, but I had a show coming up and I thought,
Okay, well, what am I do?
I don't have enough purses selection.
But I was walking around my living room and I had super
cute curtains. So I thought, well, cut the curtains down.
So I took the curtains down off the wall.
I still remind myself of like standing on the stool,
getting the curtains down. And now what, you guys.
I have tons of yards of fabric of that like that.
Like spirit of like.
No, you will not knock me down.
You will not knock me down.
I will keep trying.
So I think some of it is just born inside you.
And if it's you don't have that surge, I would wonder if
you hadn't hit your bottom yet or hit your epiphany of what
you should do.
Glenn: Do you feel like you're trying to prove this to yourself or
to the naysayers around you?
Because some people have both, right?
But because oh, she'll never I'll never work.
She can't do it. You're like, I got this.
I'll show you a thing or two.
Rebekah: I love being the underdog.
You have.
Glenn: To. I think one of the takeaways is my last question is, as
an entrepreneur.
Yes, it's stressful.
Yeah, it's brutal. Yeah, it's long hours.
Yeah, it's but it's fun.
It's if you change your mindset to say this is fun and this
is maybe not a quest, but call it a journey, you know, the
quest for fun is, is a little bit Chevy Chase vacation.
But if we're having fun for the journey and it's all about
the journey, there is no end.
And so have fun while you're doing it.
People that get so wrapped up and to just, you know, the
stress out for every day.
Why, that life's too short.
Have some fun with it. I think that's what you're
definitely doing. And if you're not having fun, you just go
out there and grab a horse and go for a ride or I mean,
that kind of stuff will recharge instantly.
Yeah.
Rebekah: 100%. It should be fun.
Yeah, they'll be tough moments.
But I have to remind myself, you know, the journey part is
fun too. Like, in this moment, I get to be in the studio
with amazing coworkers when they come out.
Everybody works in our own homes, but when they come out, I
have to step back and be like, Wow, this is so much fun.
And I created this awesomeness.
And then there's tiny coworkers running around.
We have tons of girls and little kids running around.
It's fun.
So yeah, and if it's not fun, go for a jog, go for a ride,
hit the gravel road. It's very therapeutic.
Find any gravel road around you.
And I swear it's therapy right there and it's cheap.
Glenn: That's for sure. And it you know, again, I'm trying to blow
away stereotypes.
You know, the traditional seamstress is like in a dingy
factory. Everybody's hunched over a sewing machine, long
hours a day. And all of a sudden, here's Rebecca going,
Wait a minute, why?
Can't work from the comfort of our own home?
Choose our hours, be creative and work whenever you feel
like working. And somehow that's successful.
Can that even happen?
And yes, it can.
Rebekah: It can. Totally can.
I'm doing it.
Speaker1: You're doing it. Well, could you leave a little bit of
information of how people could get a hold of you for your
academy or to purchase some of your goods and products?
Speaker3: I'd love to. Okay. So if you guys want to create and feel
confident today, it's so much fun.
And I always say if you're a little nervous when you go to
creating on the website, if you email Chris on there, it's
on the website, she's our designer guru.
She will freak out and practically squeal.
As soon as she gets some questions about zippers, go to
shop our SD dot com That's Rebecca Scott designs that cam
and that's my person design business or you can go to 1948
leather that cam that's our legacy brand with all the
awesome leather stuff smells so good and then my encourager
academy and that is the encourager academy dot com and we
open up on May 1st for our next round.
I can't wait to see who the participants in it's such a fun
coaching experience and once you join the academy you get
to keep the videos forever.
Like it's totally lifetime access so that when you start to
feel overwhelmed when something has shifted in your life,
whether it's your home life or maybe it's work or maybe
your food life, you can just revisit that video and narrow
down your whole life isn't chaotic.
Typically, it's just one of the systems is out of whack.
And so I love that it's lifetime access after you buy it so
that you don't have to feel so overwhelmed.
Speaker1: Rebecca, so happy to have you on today.
You were you're definitely a fun guest.
And we learned a lot about ranching, South Dakota purses,
leather seamstress stuff.
It's great. So thank you very much for being on.
Speaker2: Yes, thank you so much.
I love that you're empowering and giving confidence to
women. Such a gift.
Speaker3: Yes.
Glenn: Thank you. Well, this Glen Harper signing off.
Julie: Julie Smith.
Glenn: Thanks, everyone.