Welcome to Episode 69 of the Indie Business Podcast! Today's Maker Story introduces you to Pam Rodgers of Stella Chroma, a nail polish brand in Richmond, Indiana. Pam started her business in 2012, and today, she manages the business while holding down a full-time job as a nurse practitioner.
Since starting Stella Chroma, Pam has taught her husband, her son and her son's fiancé how to make nail polish. It's truly a family business built around Pam's desire for a specific type of lifestyle … and you know what a high value prize that is. Enjoy my interview with Pam NOW!
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Episode Show Notes
Here are the topics discussed in this episode, with time stamps to help you find the information that most interests you:
- Pam kicks things off from her car, sharing a bit of how she uses technology to go from podcast interview to lunch to errands to her day job, etc. (starting at 2:33)
- How Pam started her business, as a result of her nail biting habit, including her Etsy experience. (starting at 4:37)
- Nail Polish Ingredients and Making 101. (starting at 10:45)
- How Pam sells her products, including closing her Etsy shop and switching exclusively to Shopify for online sales. (starting at 19:11)
- How Pam boosts online retail sales using Facebook ads, a Facebook page, a Facebook group, Instagram, and a Shopify app. (starting at 22:31)
- The hardest parts about business, according to Pam, and how she organizes her life around her business and her full-time job. (starting at 31:45)
- Pam's love for cows, slow but steady entrepreneurial growth, and her grand but loose plan to become a “a cattle farmer who makes nail polish.” (starting at 36:45)
- Recommended entrepreneurial book choice. (starting at 41:18)
- Pam's recommendations for new Indie nail polish entrepreneurs (starting at 42:20)
- Final words of wisdom from Pam (starting at 49:30)
Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode
In this episode, Pam and I mentioned the following resources.
- Check out our June 2014 interview with Pam here
- Stella Chroma's Website
- Stella Chroma on Facebook
- Stella Chroma on Instagram
- Stella Chroma's Facebook group
- Sales boosting automation: Kit for Shopify
- Books: Dare to Lead by Brené Brown, and a few books books by Bernadette Jiwa (check our book store for these and other book suggested by our members!)
- Online market: Etsy
A few of the entrepreneurial points Pam and I discussed in this episode
- Use technology wisely.
Pam's experience shows that you can use technology without getting into the weeds. As she described, she chooses her technology wisely. She picks the technological options that are the most effective and which require her to do the least work and keep up with the least amount of technological updates and changes. - Leading a business while maintaining a full-time job.
In a word, Pam is disciplined. She described how she wakes up at the same time every morning during the workweek, works her business for two hours, then turns her attention to her full-time job. Her lunch breaks are spent either running errands or working her business using email or social media. She works on Stella Chroma in the evenings only when necessary, so she can decompress and spend time with her family. - If you want it, you'll figure out a way to get it.
Pam says that, if it's what you want, you'll find a way to get it. She cautions that you must keep in mind that what you start off going for may not be exactly what you end up with, but what you are meant to do will happen if you keep working at it.
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