Transcript: Secrets of Effective Leadership with Ashley Alderson

Joanne Bolt (Intro)

The power of a podcast extends well beyond plugging in the mind. So if you're ready to learn how it can help you build a big business, then I’m your best friend, Hi, I'm Joanne Bolt and I am obsessed with all things podcasting, and creating an unapologetically big revenue business with it from podcast guesting to podcast hosting and everything in between. We're gonna dive into it all and show you step by awesome step how using a podcast can and will grow your business. So grab a glass of wine and pop your headphones on. Cuz, Girlfriend, happy hour has begun here on the B-Word.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Okay, B-Worders. We're back with my guest, Ashley today. I discovered Ashley, probably how a lot of you discover the people that you want to connect with is I scrolled the gram. And you all know for me that I spent a lot of time on Instagram. It is my social platform layer of choice. I'm not as active on any of the other ones. The gram is my jam. And I came across her fantastic page because I wasn't I don't know phase of life, you can say where I looked at my closet and thought, Well, shit, this looks like shit. And so I started looking up clothing and where can I order clothing online, I was tired of going to my stores and came across the boutique hub, which is Ashley's company. And so I thought Yeah, I have to bring this woman into your world as well, and dive all into all things boutique clothing, branding, and of course, podcasting. So, Ashley, I'll let you kind of take it away and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your journey.

 

Ashley Alderson 

Absolutely. Well, thanks again for finding the common ground. That's my flavor of voices. Well, I appreciate it. So, quick backstory on my journey, I run a company on a company called the boutique hub for 10 years in this is our 10th anniversary year, I started the boutique hub because I come from the fashion mecca of the United States, North Dakota. And growing up in North Dakota, I can tell you, for some reason growing up, I always loved unique things like I love finding cute shops and you know, cute clothing and home decor and all that stuff. But there just wasn't a lot of it in North Dakota. So it was really when I started to travel after college, and I found these cute stores all over the country, everywhere. But in North Dakota, I thought, you know, gotta create something where people like me from the Midwest, who felt like fashion was very New York, and it was very LA. But what about the rest of us? What about like, real women, robotics, all the things in the Midwest? Where do we shop, and I wanted to create this place that was like an online shopping mall or boutiques. So I'd had this idea brewing for a long time. As luck would have it. You know, you don't always start with your original end goal in mind. I had this plan that I was going to build this online shopping mall of boutiques. But when I started to build it, what I realized was, these boutique owners didn't need the platform I was trying to build for them. They needed each other. They needed education, they needed a safe space, there was never, you know, 10 years ago, there wasn't Facebook groups and all these online communities, right. So they were former teachers and former nurses and former stay at home moms that had now started a retail business and didn't know how to operate it. So my business background was in economic development, running chambers of commerce and small business development centers in the heart of the oil boom in North Dakota. And I thought, well, I can teach them everything that I know. But I'm not scared to say if there's something I don't know, I'll find somebody else who does, like I'm a big networker. So the hub really shifted from this online shopping mall boutiques to a community. And it was really the very first community for boutique owners in the United States. And now we're in the United States in eight countries, and we do lots of things, but at the heart of everything we do, our mission is to change lives, change communities, and to change the future of retail by helping our community through education, shopping, and wholesale to stock their stores, and then through our trusted community. So it's come full circle in 10 years.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Oh my gosh, I align with this so much because honestly when I came out of real estate and started my journey in podcasting, and like my idea was well, I'll help women entrepreneurs in the real estate world. And then the more and more I started working with women and entrepreneurship and everything else what I discovered was all these women podcasters needed that safe space. You know they needed someone to help them go okay, we plug the mic in like now what how do we actually make money behind the microphone or with our business and a microphone and that's why we evolved now into the podcasts heard network. Similar is because I realized that what I wanted to teach and help with wasn't actually what they needed and but I could provide put together what they did need so I love Have what you're doing?

 

Ashley Alderson 

Thanks. It sounds very aligned. It's It's this idea in school where our teachers taught us that we should make a business plan on paper and follow the step and follow that step. Like it's such bullcrap, because that's not how it works. You have to be aligned with what is the purpose? Like, what am I really trying to accomplish here and be nimble enough to shift and go with what people really need. And then I truly believe the profit that will follow up with a profit, like in mind First, it never works out as planned.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Well, I think then, and someone told me this, this phrase once I just love it. I think when you start with profit, first you come across with commission bruh. And yeah, it sounds to everyone, like all you're trying to do is earn money. And really, if you are there with that heart to serve, you're right. Like the profits will come and they'll come tenfold.

 

Ashley Alderson 

Yeah, absolutely purpose over profit every three times the profits will follow.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Alright, so what's been one of the most fulfilling pieces of this hub that you that you've done? Personally, like, fulfilled you personally?

 

Ashley Alderson 

Gosh, you know, when I was growing up, you know, whenever when I was asked you like, what do you want to be when you grow up and be a teacher or a fireman, for whatever reason, I feel like God's always given me this year of, you're going to do something no one's ever done before. And you're going to change people's lives. And I, my teachers thought I was crazy when I would give them that answer. But that's really what I feel like I was put on this earth to do. And so I, to me, that's the most fulfilling, like when I find somebody who's really struggling to figure something out. And I'm sure this is the same for you, too. And we can flip a switch and help them get there or help them to be able to have a business but also have a life at the same time. Like, that's also a big win for me, because I want to build a business that does not revolve around me working, you know, 15 hours a day, where as the three kids, I'm super busy, I will not miss a basketball game, I will not miss a sporting event, I want to be as present as I can. That that comes with a lot of boundaries, and a lot of systems and a lot of back end work and building an amazing team. So you have to be willing to like let go with a vine and let go of the control and set the boundaries to be a CEO versus an entrepreneur. So for me, that's huge. When other people learn that that really sets my world on fire.

 

Joanne Bolt 

I think that's fantastic. What would you what would your advice be to that? That entrepreneur in the boutique world who wants to move into CEO land?

 

Ashley Alderson 

Yeah, you don't even have to be in boutique world, you can be any small business true. Or just even starting a podcast, I think if you are an entrepreneur, this is what you need to know. There is a difference in being an entrepreneur, entrepreneur versus a CEO. We all start as an entrepreneur, and I think about it like I use his boat analogy a lot. So when you're starting a business, it's like you're building a boat, you're building Noah's Ark, from scratch, and you're just trying to put it together. And your goal is like I had to get this sucker to float, right? Just don't think there'll be the Titanic on me. So my new equipment together. And finally, like you're hustling and all these things, you've been scrappy, and you get the boat to float, but then all of a sudden, it starts popping leaks everywhere. And you're like, Okay, that's her patching these leaks and patching the leaks. And then pretty soon you realize, okay, it's working, but I want the boat to go faster. Where do I get my motor? And then you're like, Okay, I'm sick of that. Now I want to yacht like I'm gonna live big. And for me, that's like, you know, I really want to have passive income, I want to retire when all these things. So business is a journey. And I think we all started entrepreneurship. But the goal is to be the yacht, and that's the CEO. And I think the main difference between the two is entrepreneurs value money more than they value time. A lot of times, they'll save their way forward, they'll DIY their way forward, they'll figure out a way just to get it all done. And the to do list becomes just the most important thing. And the goal is to be better tomorrow than you are today. Whereas a CEO understands that money in this world infinite, there's always a way to make money, there is no way to create more time. So they put more value on time than they do money. And what starts to happen is CEOs will take the money they do have and invested in strategies to create more time so outsourcing systems processes, hiring a team, like really building a great team that smarter than you are. And he goes have such a bigger vision they understand it's not about where my tomorrow, but it's where my a year in 10 years down the road, and they back into systems and processes and boundaries and strategy to get there. And they focus on income generating activities. So for me, like when I first started, and I was hustling, I was doing everything but I was busy, but I wasn't affected. But when you can start to focus on what actually makes revenue what is an income generating activity. That's, that's you being on your way to being a CEO.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Love that. Alright, so right now you're really building out that brand. That's gonna be your focus right now on Instagram. I'm seeing you've got all kinds of accounts that are linked and all kinds of stuff that's going on. Tell me a little bit more about that.

 

Ashley Alderson 

So the boutique has actually been around for 10 years. And we started as a community first and then just started to build different pillars of our brand. So we did our community we launched, our membership is the core of everything we do, before people talked about membership platforms, like we didn't have one. And we had one. So we've had a membership for a long time. But then it was course launches, and it was our podcast, and it's our wholesale platform. And we've just started to add on piece by piece. For me now, it's also kind of maybe bringing my face more into having a personal brand alongside of the boutique hub. But it's just like, how do I build one piece, and then gradually add on a little bit more. The trick is, when you build the piece, you have to build the team around you to really support the piece so that you as a visionary and CEO of the company, and probably the idea person can go on and build the next thing, but someone has to fulfill and operate what you've already built.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Yeah, so if you want to think about it, I guess it's like, you have to build each little arc to float on its own before you can go off to the next one, right? Before you can get the yacht. Yes,

 

Ashley Alderson 

and a lot of times our personality types, the visionary of the business, we're not good at finishing things. Now, eight at starting things, not great at finishing. So if you know that about yourself, sometimes it's a hard dose of reality. Then you put the right people in place, like if you're a visionary, you have to have your right hand person, your integrator, if you've read traction and those books, you have to have that person next to you who can close all the loose ends and tie them up so that you can move on to the next thing.

 

Joanne Bolt 

I actually told my integrator when I hired him, I said, Steven, I'm probably the worst person you'll ever work for. Because you're so dot the i's and cross the T's. And I am literally like, let me just throw the alphabet out there and see what word you can make out of it. And he was like, No, that's why I'm an integrator, and you're a visionary. And I'm like, Thank You, Jesus for understanding that. I mean, I will send him half baked everything. And I'm like, see if you can flesh this out for me. And if you can, we'll run with it. And if not come back to me.

 

Ashley Alderson 

Yeah, that we all need that. That's awesome.

 

Joanne Bolt 

All the time. All right. So what what big project are you working on right now? What what pillar Are you building out?

 

Ashley Alderson 

Oh, gosh, we have been in the heart of I believe that if you're going to have an education company, that's great. But education only lasts so long. So I feel really strongly for our company. Beyond education, we have to have a technology or a tool, or something that our community wants to use on a daily basis. So there's really been two projects for us. A year ago, we started to build our wholesale platform, which is Hubin tory.com. It's an online wholesale marketplace. So if you are an e commerce Store or retailer and you're looking to buy goods wholesale, to sell in your your store with everything right down to that pillow bit sitting behind you all the things or unload those pillows. Oh, yeah. So that is that's been a huge undertaking, far bigger than I think I realized when I started to build it. And then the second is we built a data platform where retailers can put in and connect their Google Analytics and their Facebook and Instagram ads and all the insights behind their business. And we can analyze their websites, give them SEO audits, give them add tracking and reporting. And then on a weekly basis, they get live coaching so they can understand how to optimize their ads, they can understand like all the tech that's running their business, and they can also see the data of where do I rake versus everyone else in my industry at any, any moment. So we're trying to move more into saving people some of the huge agency fees that they're paying, when really the tools are right at their fingertips.

 

Joanne Bolt 

So I'm assuming now you've got everybody from the start out tiny boutique owner, who can't afford to do orders of 1000 for their stores to the bigger boutique that can write like a little bit of everything. Yes. What is your main bread and butter? Like who do you? Who do you think is the biggest portion of your boutique client?

 

Ashley Alderson 

Oh, gosh, um, it's somewhere in the middle of that, like we really do. We serve everyone from a brand new just getting started boutique to a multimillion dollar a month boutique. I would say when a store gets to the point where they're hitting maybe like 30,000 a month, like that's a really good sweet spot. We have a lot of great stores that are right in that mark or maybe right below that mark like 10 to 30,000 a month. And there's a lot of growth potential but sometimes it's you got to be really scrappy to get to that point. But once you've gotten there, man we can really, you know continue to help you grow from there on.

 

Joanne Bolt 

So, in your community and I'm just curious because this whole thing like it. I just discovered the Atlanta Mark and I fully embrace the fact that I have grown up in Atlanta and should have known about this thing. But I'm like how do I get the right license to go shop that but Bad Boy, you know, um, but I don't wholesale. So they don't really like me. Do you do in your community like connections? You know, like if I'm sparkle, hustle grow, which sells boxes online and I need XYZ, but I don't set, you know, have it myself, like do you connect all the wholesalers together so that they can really integrate?

 

Ashley Alderson 

Yeah, we do. So just as important as the retail community, we have a really strong wholesale community. So over 1000 brands that make everything from chapstick, to, you know, full apparel lines to home decor and gifts, lines, everything. So wholesale education is just as important for us like how do we teach them to optimize their business than we give them have them Tori, our wholesale platform that they can sell to anyone in the world on, but then the community of wholesalers, where they can connect and collaborate and learn from one another as well. And then we also facilitate meetups. So we have a lot of online community, but we do a lot in person as well. So Atlanta Mart, awesome market, if you or anyone in retail or ecommerce like it's a must see, we have a showroom there and we do a lot of in person meetups and events there as well.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Okay, now I need to go find your showroom the next time they actually let me in. Occasionally they let the public in. And I'm like the kid in the candy store. I'm like, Ooh, what can I buy? All right. So I saw on your website, you've got what a retail club.

 

Ashley Alderson 

Um, retail clubs, so our membership is really what's most important to us at the hub.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Okay, so maybe I was thinking of let's see, I went to your Instagram link. And then it Oh, retail bootcamp, you gotta wait that it's for 2024. Like, what's bootcamp.

 

Ashley Alderson 

Bootcamp is our highest level, like college level training program for retailers. So that it's a group coaching program, online course, kind of all in one, plus, we do a live retreat in LA every fall. So we open that twice a year, we open it in January, and we open it in June. And then our students have lifetime access to that where they can learn everything from being a CEO versus an entrepreneur to inventory management, to Facebook ads, all the things. So that's why.

 

Joanne Bolt 

I just love your whole concepts. Because you took an industry that had a need, you started with one thing, and you just kept building the pillars on as the needs arose. And you have the patience to do that, which I find so many entrepreneurs, like one of the reasons they fail is they just don't have the patience to start with the small building blocks, they just want to hit the big one right up front.

 

Ashley Alderson 

I think it's a blessing and a curse. So for me, I mean, be this for 10 years, when I started, there wasn't a lot of other businesses like mine, there were not really a lot of female entrepreneurs in this space. So I felt like they didn't have anyone to compare myself to. I just knew in my mind what I wanted to create. And so I could build this one thing and keep going. I think the hard part about being a new entrepreneur right now is you see all these other people who have courses and memberships and all this. And I like launch it all at once. But you don't like you have to build trust, before you can build anything. And for us, like it took us maybe three years to just build the home of our community. And I served and served and served every day, I answered every person's question for free for a long time just to build trust, and just to facilitate connections with people. And only then like from there can the rest of the product line get built out. But if you start with the products first and you don't have the community or you don't have the trust, it's really hard to make that work.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Yeah, I agree. Very, very, I've seen companies that just start out with the course or whatever. And you're like, Well, why would I pay for that course. And then you go to their Instagram, and you're like, they don't even talk on Instagram about what their course is about. So like I the connection is not there, versus the people who have really built the good community and the following. And then they throw the course out. And even if the course quite frankly, has almost nothing to do with what they actually talk about. Because the community is so strong. They're like, Oh, by that anyway.

 

Ashley Alderson 

Yeah, that is absolutely it. And I think we just begin with the profit, like that's the issue you begin, begin with a profit versus service. So you've got to be like humble enough and hungry enough to serve without ever getting anything in return for a long time. And then the profits will come next.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Okay, so now you've got a podcast, which is obviously my jam and my bread and butter. Yeah, guys are well over 250 episodes. What does that look like as a pillar of your business? And how do you see your business growing because of the podcast? Yeah, it's

 

Ashley Alderson 

man. We've had a podcast for a minute. We're approaching 2 million downloads. And we've just been so blessed to have a really great strong following there. But it's kind of the same thing like we started the podcasts not as a podcast to be monetized. But the podcast for us is a way just to serve people to build trust to build a community. And then it's just like an entry point people listen to our podcast, they love the like extra value that they're getting there. And then they want to opt into a funnel, or they want to buy a course, or they want to come to one of our live events or something like that. But it's like that entry level, where if we can just serve them there, chances are, they're going to get hungrier, and they're going to want to buy more down the road. So for us, like monetizing the podcast, it's not even about ads, we really don't run ads on the podcast, because we just think we need to serve people there, and they will come and buy a product later on.

 

Joanne Bolt 

I think that is absolutely the best mentality to have. I know. And I preach this all the time is we all want to monetize the podcast, but really do you, yourself when you're listening fast forward through other people's ads? And if that's the case, why would you do that to your listener on your own podcast? So when I find stuff like yours that really doesn't do that I'm like, all in, please give me more.

 

Ashley Alderson 

I think you know, that the ad at the end of the day, it's not about you know, the 1500 bucks, you're gonna get from somebody, but it's run your own ad. Yeah, like build a, like build something that you can signal, and then naturally talk about it. And people will follow like make that your ad versus taking money for from somebody else. And what I have is a grain of salt, because once in a while I'll like let low money and then it's not very often

 

Joanne Bolt 

Well, I mean, they're not on every episode. So I would say that you don't fall in the line of the Uber advertiser, like some podcast that I have recently stopped listening to because they become just too inundated with ads. I'm like, Oh my god. The reason I pay extra for Hulu, like for the non commercial version is for a reason. Absolutely. So how do you batch all your podcast episodes in advance? How far in advance? Where does your inspiration come from? Good question.

 

Ashley Alderson 

My schedule, I feel like it's just so hit and miss. I tried to make like two to three days a month that stays. And I've played around with like, How many can I get done in a day. And for me, like three, maybe four is kind of a sweet spot like two to three days a month. There's some months like the month of June, I'm block it all out. Like it's family time for me. We've got summer vacations we go along, we do things that the kids like it just doesn't work. So I try to batch as much ahead of time as I can. Now there's always like the frantic last minute solo episode once in a while, but for the most part, it's all done in advance.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Okay, so I will I'll tell you something. I was cracking up laughing because I did either podcast episode or a story live. I can't remember now exactly what I did. I was literally talking about the fact that Jun analytics for podcasting. Amin drops helmets in half, like across the board. If you pay attention in the industry. No one's listening to podcasts in June. It's because they're on vacation. It's because they're listening to Audible books, or actually reading a book. They're not listening to their podcast. And then I came across one of your last episodes like right before, at some point this week, and it's literally do you have J months? You know, June, July, January, when everything drops. I was like, Oh, my God, this is so in alignment with what I was just saying.

 

Ashley Alderson 

Yeah, it's so true. And it doesn't matter. Like what industry you're in. Every industry has a sales cycle. And so for us in retail, it's super true. Like it's January, it's June, it's July, unless you live in a resort location. But that's true for podcasting, too. So you have to know every entrepreneur has to know when you get into business, there's a cycle. And so the first year is just discovering like, what is that cycle going to be for me so that 12 months from now I can find strategies to mitigate that cycle.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Yeah, I used to tell real estate agents when I was teaching and leading that that industry. You can plan your vacations in the month of July. And initially, agents would look at me and they're like, Oh, my God, no, I'm going to be so busy in July because homeowners are looking for houses because you know, it's the summertime I'm like, no, they're looking for homes in June. School starts back in August or September, depending on what part of the country you're in. And in July, they all look up they panic because they haven't done their vacations. And nobody's actually house hunting in July because they are trying to get every drop of summer that they can plan yours in July. Like I've never had a lot of business in the month of July. Yeah. And because that's the sales cycle of real estate and you're right, like every industry has that cycle and learning it and working around it will serve you very, very well.

 

Ashley Alderson 

That is so true. So true.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Alright, so what is the one thing that you want to leave our audience with? I'm sure they got a ton of nuggets, especially because we don't have we haven't gotten the privilege of interviewing a lot of like boutique type owners. We have a lot of coaches is in breath workers and you know, gut health personnel is and this one's interesting to me because it's product based as much as it is community and podcast based.

 

Ashley Alderson 

Yes. Well, I think no matter what, like, if you're listening, no matter what you sell, no matter what industry you're in, I just want to like leave you with that thought of, are you a CEO? Or are you an entrepreneur and being a CEO really does mean the unsexy part of what you see on Instagram. It's really the back end work of setting boundaries and building systems building processes, really knowing your numbers and working on income generating activities. It's not sexy, but it absolutely pays off in the end. So I just encourage you to go back and ask yourself, like, why am I in this business in the first place? And am I really serving this mission that I want to and how can I reverse engineer this mission as a CEO to get it all done? Yeah. Great.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Thank you. That is beautiful. And I would actually even go so far as to add on if you are questioning whether you are currently an entrepreneur or a CEO, right now, as you're listening to you know, your numbers. Yeah. If you just thought no, you're still an entrepreneur. If you thought yes, you're probably a CEO. Yes, spot on makes a huge difference. All right, Ashley, where did they find you? Again, just repeat it for those that kind of zoned out at some point. Where do they find you on Instagram? Is that your favorite pot? That is your favorite place to play on so that's where they should connect with you.

 

Ashley Alderson 

That's definitely my go to so my Instagram is @ajalderson. For some reason people think My name is AJ. I should have planned this Instagram. Better a long time ago. It's Ashley AJ Alderson. If you want this to get to know me personally, I share lots of business tips there as well. Or if you are a boutique owner, you know someone who is a boutique owner. My podcast is Boutique Chat. And our company is The Boutique Hub and has The Boutique Hub for all of its handles.

 

Joanne Bolt 

And we of course will have all of the links in our show notes because we want to make it as easy as possible for you to just click through, get in touch with Ashley find The Boutique Hub and take a look at it because I guarantee you once you do if you've ever had any thought process in your head about owning that own little store, this is the girl to go to to talk to to help you get started.

 

Ashley Alderson

Thank you.

 

Joanne Bolt 

Thanks, guys.

 

Listen To The Episode!