139 | Letting go of sales reps, employees & downsizing her product line with Kristen Ley, Thimblepress

Happy 2020 friends! For our first episode back in the New Year, my friend Kristen Ley of Thimblepress is back on the show. Kristen was first featured on Episode 4 of Proof to Product back where we talked about how she fell into business backwards and discussed tips on partnerships and collaborations. That episode was recorded back in early 2017 and since then, Kristen has done a lot of soul searching and ridden the waves of transition and upheaval in both her business and personal life.

On today's episode, Kristen bravely shares what she learned from her journey. She talks about why she decided to let go of all her sales reps, say goodbye to 15 employees, downsize her warehouse and office space and discontinue over a hundred SKUs in the Thimblepress line. Kristen not only shares her journey of reevaluating what she wanted to get out of her business, but also how she implemented those changes.

Today's episode is a heartfelt one full of advice, wisdom and encouragement for anyone feeling stuck in their business or worried about the changes they need to make. Friends, remember this is your business. You set the rules and at any time you can decide to go a different way. I hope Kristen's story helps you and I hope you enjoy it.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:

- What external success can look like from an internal perspective

- Big wake-up calls and dealing with worse case scenarios

- Differentiating personal success from society

- Advice for individuals and business owners walking through tough times

- Getting back to the basics & reevaluating the model

- How to avoid social media comparison traps

- Why Kristen decided to cut all her sales reps and get back to the drawing board

- The importance of keeping direct communication with wholesale & retail partners

- Having the courage to say goodbye

- The heart-wise money tool

- How to deal with feelings of imposter syndrome

- What's selling and how to deal with what's not

- Balancing wellness and business

- Kristen's big plans for 2020

KEY TAKE-AWAYS:

"It was keep going, go, go, go, go, keep achieving, keep achieving, keep achieving. And I don't think I even registered how I was functioning in my daily life until I had a really big wake up." – Kristen Ley

"I got to a point I was so sad that I was like, "All I can do is pray and move forward." – Kristen Ley

"I really looked to the world to define what is successful. I looked at others to define what I should be doing. I looked at everybody else except for me to say what do you want? So I had to redefine what I wanted." – Kristen Ley

"I just love to make products. I love to draw art. I love to create. And I love to create joy in other people's lives. That was my why. " – Kristen Ley

"In the world we live in, we get so caught up in what other people are doing on social media. It's just the world we live in. We see the beautiful pictures, but we don't see the things behind those photos." – Kristen Ley

"It is easy to get wrapped up in feeling like you're chasing the next thing in your business, especially when you're just hustling and growing." – Katie Hunt

"It's not about getting off the phone quickly, it's about asking, "What's going on in our world, in our economy? Tell me about your life." Because at the end of the day it's all about relationships." – Kristen Ley

"We need to regularly be reassessing why we're doing this. To make sure that we are on the right path and we're focused on the right things." – Katie Hunt

"If it's not taking up a whole lot of time and it's not draining you emotionally, and it's still making good money. That's where you need to be spending your time." – Katie Hunt

"Working with female entrepreneurs has been one of my most cherished heart passion projects of my life. It brings me so much joy, and if I can prevent one person from walking through that struggle that I walked through, let's rock and roll." – Kristen Ley

"Don't put yourself into shock by trying to do all the changes at once. Give yourself grace." – Kristen Ley

"Don't go just dumping energy into things without walking through the journey of how it will impact your person." – Kristen Ley

"Running a business is hard work. You can't change that, but you can change your mentality of how you approach things, and you get to choose." – Katie Hunt

LINKS

Website: https://kristenley.com/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/thimblepress

Https://instagram.com/kristen_ley

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ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT:

Proof to Product is hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, Proof to Product has worked with thousands of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode!