HOW MY SMALL BUSINESS STARTED FROM A GIFT| XXL SCRUNCHIE Journey | Beauty Boss Special Guest Q&A ❤️

have you ever felt like giving up on your small  business advice on how to grow your business   oh someone said let's see that  OG scrunchie don't laugh at me i need to focus hey guys welcome back to my  channel i'm tina and i'm the creator of xxl and   co and we make xxl scrunchies and today i have a  very special guest this person is the whole reason   why i started xxl scrunchie i gifted her the  very first one that i made last christmas so   it was like christmas of 2019 i guess it's my  cousin Anh Lan of vitality beauty and co in   thunder bay i feel like a claw like ah i know  especially because you have claws oh my god are you crying i'm so mad at you unless we sit like this because you had your  volume off and we couldn't hear each other hi hi   finally you're so comfy i'm just on a stool yes  let me have my coffee with my ice cream sticker cute sticker so this is my cousin Anh Lan and  she's the owner of vitality beauty and co me   and Anh Lan actually had this call started over  an hour ago it's 5 30. it's 5 30. natural light   is gone we scheduled this call for 4 30 and then  Anh Lan i guess had the volume off at one point   and we couldn't hear me and we thought like we  had so many technical difficulties i didn't know   sorry today we're gonna be going over the juicy  tea about the first time inline received the   xxl scrunchie her reaction when i gave her the  first one why i made them oversized crunchies   specifically for her because you can see all  of her hair she clearly needs a giant scrunchie how she convinced me to start my business how we  have like a second branch called northern xxl and   we're going to answer some fun q and a's and then  can you share with us what vitality beauty and co   does exactly okay so i'm Anh Lan and  i own vitality beauty and company and   we're located in thunder bay been doing my  services uh that had this place for six years now   so i do eyelash extensions um microblade eyebrows  i do permanent makeup i do teeth whitening i do   lash lift and i also have a stylist here that does  hair so i pretty much do a lot of services here in   thunder bay in the beauty industry yeah and Anh  Lan's done my lashes have you done my lips no   you've done my liner my brows you haven't  been able to do my teeth yet because you   just started that and then i don't know pandemic  happened pretty much you know you've been here   what twice and you've done murals for me at  the vitality oh yeah i did the back door mural logo and i've done your lash room a little  mural in your lash room i forgot   i know i love it so cute let's start off by  explaining Christmas so most people know but   i was making gifts that year for fun because  it's so hard to buy our family gifts because   everyone like has everything so i made  you only you a scrunchie from one of my   mom's old shirts and i remember i didn't think  anything of it and i made like a card with it   and i think you brought it right like you  have it yeah it actually looks so cute the original one there's no tag  on it and this is the original i put it in my hair yeah  put it in your hair for fun   i remember it was like after my dinner  because i opened up the present and i was like   did you make this yeah i was like laying on the  couch or something like playing with this like   kids one of the kids games okay this is amazing  because i literally just bought a spreadsheet   but it wasn't as big as this one i remember it was  like a leopard one so i put my hair up like this was like the best present ever i remember  you came up to me and you kept like   squeezed like you had the scrunchie around  your hand let me see if i have one here yeah   of course i have a scrunchie here so you  kept going like this did you make this   like you're like you made this like you're  freaking you were freaking out i was like   yeah i made it it's like i didn't want to tell  you it was from like my mom's old shirt either not that i was like okay um you need to sell this  because thunder bay will love it i just knew it   would work remember you kept saying that and i was  like still painting murals like i had like five   upcoming ones and i was like ugh i have to take on   something new and i like wasn't  really sure about it like do it for me   i know tell them like you like walked around and  like kept checking in you're like yeah you need   to make these like these would be so good and then  you were like putting them in all the girls hair   putting them in everyone's hair well then  i actually put it on my snapchat real quick   or my instagram and people already messaging me  wanting to buy it where did you get that where'd   you get that i was like yeah i told you i told you  and showed me and i was like oh my god what am i   getting myself into so imagine you had short hair  or like you hated scrunchies or something like   xxl would have never existed i know because you  didn't make it for my sisters you made it for me   in a cute little package with like a handwritten  and like made homemade um christmas card   how did we come up with the name but i remember we  were on pinterest for like hours and i remember i   looked at you and i was like i have the name  let's call it scrunch and then you looked at   me so weird and i was like oh so embarrassing  i should have told her that i forgot that you   were gonna name it scrunch i know i was like it's  just one word and it's like so clean like scrunch   so cool but yeah we were pinteresting for like  two hours and we were just on our phone trying   to do our thing and like research and i guess i'm  putting it on and i was taking selfies and like   pictures i remember your sister came over and was  like you guys are still looking at that are you   guys serious about that and even my sister-in-law  was like you guys are still doing that   you know it was so fun and then i don't know i  just remember one moment we were sitting at like   the kitchen island like obviously like on our  phones scrolling like on pinterest like crazy   showing each other things and i just looked  over and i was like what about if we call it   xxl because i like really short like things  and like i don't know i think i saw something   in roman numerals like graphic design background  you probably were visualizing your logo already   in your head right yeah i remember that night  because we had to drive home like two hours   from your sister's and that night i stayed up  all night to design the logo and yeah i'll show   you the the plans i still have them like the  digital plans but i designed it that night and   then that's been the logo and like the tag design  ever since which is crazy it like happened so fast   well i remember i came back to thunder bay and  then we were still talking you were sending me   yeah logo designs and then you were like oh i  have like the tag and like the artwork for it i'm   like holy this is really awesome i know it was  happening so fast and then i was like okay i'm   ordering like 30 ready like i think it was like  you didn't even make it yet i know and i was like right away i did a wholesale like i showed  them photos like hey do you want to buy   someone they're like yeah i'll take 30 and i was  like texted you right away i was like and then i   just sold 30 oh my god and you're like oh my god  i guess i'll buy 32 and i was like okay so i had   to make like 60 right away like on the spot  i had no idea what i was truly doing yet yeah   i remember getting the first package and it was  like just in a plain like white box plastic thing   white bag like just wraps like taped so crazily  because i went to the post office i remember   like trying to open it and making sure i don't  damage anything oh my god popped out i was like   oh my god this is so many it was only 30. but  i was like this is amazing and then i sold out   literally and i was like okay can you get me 80.  you ordered me seven and i was still living at my   condo in toronto so i was like sewing everything  by myself and like going everywhere alone i was   like oh god that's when i knew i needed my  mom's help then i like instantly moved home   two weeks later all because of scrunchies but then  the pandemic happened so it kind of like saved me   like i always say scrunchies saved my life it  brought joy to everybody pretty much through the   pendant i think so when your customers first  came in like when they bought them were they   did they already know we were selling them or they  just saw them in the shop and what did they say so   like because of your marketing and stuff like that  like i had it advertised on my instagram story   and stuff and then i was trying to  you know be all cute and wearing them you know and when my clients would come in they  would see them and be like hey what is that   and i was literally like i was like oh these are  screenshot always be wearing one like every day   so yeah like okay they're amazing and then that  was kind of known like by callie was known for   like carrying the xxl brand pretty much like the  first in thunder bay to carry the brand right   yeah yeah after your salon like was carrying them  i remember two others reached out and asked me   to be there too a lot of people don't know this  but thunder bay is like my number one supporter   like to this day even my online sales the most  sales ever go to thunder bay which is amazing   i was also born there so it's  technically my hometown too   that's what i like about thunder bay thunder  bay is very like supportive of local or locally   handmade in canada it's very good like small  businesses really thrive in thunder bay i feel   like everyone's support a lot yeah i feel like i  have so many more friends there now thanks to xxl   okay so now we're going to talk about northern  xxl scrunchie it's the northern edition of edition   edition of xxl scrunchie so it's basically  thunder bay's own like collection   made by you specific colors that aren't sold  online anywhere and they're only sold and made by   you in thunder bay but it's like my sister company  so it's like supporting you is also supporting me   so yeah when did northern xxl scrunchie start  during the lockdown the first lockdown i was   able to work so i wasn't doing anything and i was  going crazy because i need to work and i think   it was july it was like three months into the  lockdown i don't know when i'm going back to work   and i'm bored and i know i was talking with you  and then you mentioned um why don't you start   northern xxl i'm like really you think i could  do it you're like yes so i my boyfriend got me   a sewing machine and basically you were facetiming  and you're showing me how to do it yeah i remember   it was so funny because you were like sewing  the wrong side inside out and like oh my god   there's so many steps that i forgot and i would  be like damn it because i'm like i'm wasting this   material like you know what i mean and like i  mean the first one i did was with an old t-shirt   because i didn't want to like use the real like  my material that's my boyfriend's old t-shirt   i know that and i cut them up and uh yeah i tried  it out this first one was a white t-shirt just a   green white t-shirt and then i remember i put  it in my hair and i was like took a picture and   i said just you know oh my god so good i remember  like two days later you'd be like oh my god look   at this pile of scrunchies i sewed them and forgot  to put on the tag like the little fabric tag   because i never sewed before so but it was fun  and it was something for me to do while during the   lockdown the first block yeah because i remember  you were still selling mine but i like when i was   sewing them at that point i was selling out so  fast i couldn't keep up either so it was also   helping me that you were sewing them as well to  kind of like lift the little pressure off me but   still being able to like reach our customers and  thunder bay everyone is so been so supportive so i   wanted to give them something just like special  you go i don't remember what i'm gonna say   i was gonna say so many people reached out to me  and you and they're like are you sure like can you   ship this one to us like people in like florida or  like texas or like i really want that pattern can   northern xxl scrunchie make an exception for  me and we had to say no to so many people   because it would have just it would have just  been like crazy well yeah because i wasn't like i   i wasn't going to get into shipping because i  just wanted it exclusive you know what it means   to them so yeah local pickup you know what  i mean and yeah i was getting messages like   well can you ship it and i was like well i  can but you can go on xxl website and and   and they ship like those the xxl colors right  yeah so that's another thing too it was like   confusing for people like but i'm like because  i didn't want to get into the shipping started   july and then a month later i was allowed  to go back to work and i was like oh shoot   like i'm not going to have time to make any  stretches i know yeah how do you have time now   um after i'm done work usually so like  i'm about at eight pm and then also until until four in the morning but then you can still  order yeah i still order xxl from the website   and try and sell them here as well so northern xxl  scrunchie i designed the tag and it has a specific   tag as you can see i'll even upload like a  higher quality version as well but it says   northern on it and on the back what does the  back say i forget let's just tell the story yeah   do you want to read it so it says uh this  xxl strategy is handmade by admon who helped   create xxl spreadsheet when she received it  as a christmas gift from the founder tina   thank you for supporting our family business  it looks so cute yeah this is like the first   northern color that i launched remember i showed  you and i was like okay yeah this is the mandy   oh my god so cute you still have it yeah  yeah feel like i still have the fabric for it   oh nice so this is like the first one um and named  it mandy after the hairstylist that works here   and uh yeah i remember i sent you the color  i'm like what do you think of this one like i'm how people keep asking why we name them after  people and i named the first one after you just   because it was so like symbolic like it reminded  me of you too like the fabric just reminded me of   you so like yeah it's right there i'll even like  pop a photo of like what it looks like closer up   it reminds me so much and like i had you to thank  for starting the whole business so it only made   sense to name it after you and after i named it  after you i was like i don't want to name them   after just colors because so hard to think of  i have so many people i want to name it after   that like i don't know it's fun like they  feel special too when i name it after them   so it's kind of like me giving them like a fun  gift like i'm thinking of them and it's just my   people remind me of colors so just made sense  yeah because you named this one and i was like   oh my god cuz i think i you showed me this color  i'm like i freaking love this like yeah and then   you need after me and then like yeah like you're  naming after like my sister and like your niece   and your you know sister-in-law and like all that  and like it just really it's obviously really fun   because people love it they like ask to be like  oh you're gonna name one after me you know yeah   it's so it's just so much more fun like for me  too people asked our favorite memory together i think we've traveled lots together and we have  like i think seven matching tattoos together   yeah so okay so let's go to them i don't even know  the order like we even have a matching ear tattoo   yeah i think i have them this one is really  symbolic because this is like what's on   you know like are you sure like on my wall and now  it's on our skin and you know design this yes and   it's not everything and i've i love  it that's how it's viewed by vanessa   in thunder bay and yeah we got tattooed  together so yeah it was this one and this one our first one was this um palm tree  leaf remember oh yeah in um nashville   oh this one remember we almost got the wrong  palm tree leaf yeah we were so close you're like   you're like oh yeah let's get a palm tree  leaf and then literally like we showed them a   leaf and then at the last minute you're  like wait a second that's not palm trees   it was some other leaf so we changed it to make  sure it was a palm tree yeah so crazy we hold   that with the wrong leaf and then the second one  was vanessa's or hawaii i think it was vanessa's   so then vanessa's yeah and  then this one we got in hawaii   and it's so cool because we can link  his i think his name is like tomo   right we can link his like thing yeah  he decided to like connect the flower to the leaf like these were two separate tattoos  but then he connected them like so cool what a   cool guy and you had an iguana on you the  whole time like a pet iguana was chilling   on you the whole time you got tattooed and  it moved so slow and i i i love i want one   yeah chameleon what was his name he  had a cool name and we got this one um   by vanessa and vanessa is at red river trade  company and thunder bay because we want to get xxl   tattoos like on our wrist so we remember message  we booked with her and we're all ready to go   and then the lockdown first lockdown happened and  he had to cancel so yeah that's probably what our   my favorite moment with you is his traveling  and getting now we can go over the q a from   my instagram story let's check it out  okay one one of them says do you poo what   someone says what did you guys have for christmas  dinner i had remember we had greg's steak   that was the last time i had meat  i've been vegetarian ever since   i have that video of you eating meat for the  first time in three years can you send it to me   it's funny it's like a heart thing and you're  just like i can't believe you're recording me   eating so someone asked have you ever felt like  giving up on your small business so for me since   it just since xxl scrunchie just happened  so fast and like the first day i launched i   purely posted on my personal instagram and then  you shared it to like that reached so many people   in denver bay all your clients everything just  sold out like that day so i've never felt like   giving up but even if sales were slow i would have  just i know that to be successful you have to be   consistent and keep at it so i don't think i would  have ever given up even if it was like slower at   the start have you ever felt like giving up  alan when you like when you open your salon   well it was like hard like i have actually opened  up a few businesses and like the first one you   know was only a year of hiking clinic and uh we  closed after a year so it was very discouraging   um to want to start something else again like  do i want to start it and if it fails again   um so i took a chance and i was like hey i'll  open up um you know a shop with my best friend   ryan who does hair and i'm like i'll just give  it a shot and do this and see how it goes with   small businesses yes it's like hard to open  because you never know like how to build clients   and struggling to like be a new business  and stuff so that's why i think the first   hurdle once you get past that hurdle then you just  go up from there there's slow times and there's   non-slow times and stuff and especially during  the pandemic was hard for the lockdown because   i got back to work and you know i've lost  half my clients so at that point i was like   if this pandemic goes on do i want  to keep doing vitality because   it's actually a service that can get shut  down whenever yeah so i was like well maybe   maybe i'll just quit and then do scratching  full time because i'm like people always   but uh but no i love it so um yeah there's  times where you know we struggle but you just   you know got through it and stuff and like you  said the thunder bay is very supportive of small   businesses i feel like a lot of people are sort of  um like small businesses yeah and before xxl i was   painting murals and that took a while to take  off too but i was still in college and before   that i had like literally 10 other jobs like  walmart dairy queen like i've quit all those jobs   so i guess it's always easy to feel discouraged  but there's always something new you can start   yeah like there's always stick to opportunities  that you can try like i think you were gonna   if you went to vietnam and you did a mural there  yeah and then my whole next year was like going to   commit to going to vietnam again to paint murals  but then suddenly scrunchies the opportunity   came up there oh someone said let's see that  oh gee scrunchy it's in your hair right now literally putting it in a frame a shadow box no  peg no nothing that thing is worth a lot of money   but the funny the first ones like when you  first launched um january right yeah there   was no um no like fabric oh yeah yeah and so  a lot of my clients have come in they're like   like i i don't have a tag i'm like  well that's you're the og like you   supported right from the beginning because  if you don't have a tag on it that means you   started buying them right when you know  it started so that's pretty neat too like   see their own tag but i always say look for the  tag that's the xxl brand yeah yeah i get a lot   of messages like that that theirs are missing and  i'm like i didn't start sewing them until after yeah someone asked as a small business owner how  many hours do you work a week can you take days   off vacation so for me i can take off any days i  want but i don't want to because then i'll just   fall behind on all my work and since i'm like  running this business if i fall behind i just   have more work to do tomorrow and i do truly enjoy  it so i want more time to work so right now also   wearing a pandemic so i don't find the need to  have vacation and i feel like i like was lucky   to be spoiled enough to travel so much already i  feel like i'm content which is focusing on what i   have to do now to build this if i want a vacation  i could make it work for sure go to bed at like   midnight and then i get up at like seven a.m  and then i usually take like two or three breaks   during the day but just to eat food what about  you and then how many did you sell scrunchies   you said so i try to sew a hundred on a good day  but now i have help like i have two helpers tori   and ashley they're doing the elastic for me so  now i'm making like almost 150 maybe a day but   for sure 100 a day now that are like pumping out  every day which is sweet are you i know right   how many hours do you work good week and do  you take vacation so i went six days a week   so i'm usually 10 hour days so 10 am to  8 is usually what i try and do um since   i do have control of my schedule i can maneuver  vacation but it's sometimes hard right because   if i have clients returning clients you're  gonna like you know i'm the only one that   does the service so i have to be here to do  it so it is hard for me to take vacation um   usually the only time i do take off is christmas  time to go see my family and um maybe once in   the summer um but that's about it and i can't  really take off too much it's only a few days   oh yeah because people like really depend  on you like they need to yeah they need to   see me i need to i see my clients every two to  three weeks so yeah um yeah and it's just me yeah i haven't really had the chance to like  do a full-on like week vacation or anything   yet but i feel like if i did i have people that  could cover the packaging if i were to leave but   i don't really need that yet yeah i  mean i don't have anyone to cover my   lashes my lashes imagine you have  a backup Anh Lan that'd be amazing someone's like not a question but my bf got me  a bunch of your scrunchies for christmas and i'm   obsessed and one thing you wish you knew before  starting your business that's such a good one   i wish i knew how to ship things because the  night that i moved home to get my mom's help   i think the next day like i just took  off that night like two hours that night   to just relax for a bit and i think i cried  the next day like literal stressful tears   because we didn't know exactly how to ship  things and like when we were bagging things   like the bags weren't sealing properly and  we had to reseal all these other bags and   the labels weren't even in order and we had  to like peel them off the envelopes and like   my dad went to the post office and some of them  were rejected because they weren't the right size   or something like i remember i actually cried  i was so stressed so that's the one thing i   wish i knew before we started i know it sounds  so dumb but it was so stressful in the moment i wish i knew how to ship before before i  started running a business what about you i think   what i wanna know before i started this is um  i think marketing because i'm not good at it   um i you know so if i had some help in like  you know posting on social and stuff like that   i mean you're so good at it like your marketing  is amazing because you're a graphic designer right   so it's very distinctive to your style and that's  what i love i love xxl because it's a whole brand   yeah it's like your unique designs like  your artwork thank you everything you know   it's like just amazing things that you're  clothing you're designing the clothing and   everything um but yeah i think that that's  like mostly what i need help with is   so i'm like i can't even uh like  advertise the northern branch   like i feel like so far behind it yeah  that's true i never really thought about how   i'm just a graphic designer so it just kind of  meshed really well when i started the business   advice on how to grow your business my advice  be consistent and then the whole reason   my business took off is from word of mouth so  don't be scared to share it to your personal page   and tell everyone you know because it's just that  person will tell another person or they'll see it   and it'll just slowly grow by word of mouth  organically and that's i think the best way   so that's what i would advise people how to  grow your business and then get on tick-tock get on tick-tock for vitality i think  atmosphere right because there's a lot   of people that do lashes and do what i do  warming environment that wants people to   want to come and keep coming to see you also like  work with other businesses you know what i mean   like you're not like competing against them i find  like it's not about competition it's about like   making aware of the services so because there's  always going to be people that are doing lashes   there's always been people that are going to be  making scrunchies right so like i said you just   just distinct yourself from from them but also  like you know support everyone should support each   other right for small businesses from my business  that too i always say my clients are walking   advertisements so if you're walking around with  nice brows or you know who did your brows or nice   eyelashes so yeah my clients are very important to  me um in growing a business it's the client like   in you for the customers right that's support i  saw someone post and it couldn't be more true like   pick your customers over profit and i fully  believe in that for sure my clients have been   coming to me since beginning and like i can't  imagine like not having them you know in my life   same with all my customers with the xxl fam right  like you develop personal relationships with them   and stuff like that so and during the long term  it's hard because like i didn't see them and then   you like in four months and i'm used to seeing  them every day two weeks oh yeah so people want   to know what's next for xxl still warehouse  hunting to get a bigger space but not in a rush   we're still expanding our team slowly so i have  a team of 11 people now which is crazy actually   i didn't count you so technically 12 like when  i was naming people i forgot to tell you in my   youtube video i was like wow i have 11 people but  technically i have 12 because you are clearly part   of this team for future our next plan that we can  do whenever it's safe to travel and like you don't   have to social distance and when you don't have to  wear math our next plan is to have a pop-up shop   where i'm going to come to thunder bay because i  want to meet so many of you i feel like that's it   can't wait to edit the bloopers of me freaking out  on you because of the volume that's a wrap that's   a wrap okay now we can like kind of relax do you  want to give a tour of vitality i'm filming it now   oh shoot i there's no scrunchies  on the scrunchie wall though   that's okay i can show pictures so endless a tour  of vitality let me just clean up a little bit here   welcome to vitality like i said there  is my wallet human design awesome and this is their waiting area we're not  at least having a waiting area anymore want to get my hair done so bad okay i'll pop up a photo of what it looks like  when the scrunchies are full yeah and then   take my jacket out of here not really did you put it in a frame or is that a mirror  oh it's a mirror and this is the wall that you   did oh yeah i'll pop up a photo right here  i can pop up the video of me painting it and then check this out this is  my mini fridge oh my god cute okay attached on my microwave so cute so thank you Anh Lan this was so  fun chatting this was like the longest we've   chatted all year because we always just chat  for like two seconds but thank you i miss you   i miss you so much if you guys have any more  questions for us leave it in the comments and   maybe it will make a part two like in a  year or something or like in a few months   i'm excited for what's upcoming with your  with xxl i'm really excited for the new   collection that you're going to drop  and what i'm really excited about is um   so i'm so excited i haven't got mine yet in the  mail and i'm waiting for it thanks for coming   i love you what does it fit in my ear like  how do you fix these things it's huge i know   like this but this doesn't and then i'm like  sweating from like unplugging things like 20 times

Channel: XXL Scrunchie & Co

Views: 103,623

Keywords: xxl scrunchie, xxl scrunchie and co, xxlscrunchies, xxl scrunchies, scrunchie fam, how my small business started, how i started my small business, how i came up with my business idea, how i started my scrunchie business, handmade business, selling handmade scrunchies, how i started my online business, scrunchie business, young entrepreneur, starting a business, small business owner vlog, small business vlog, small business, scrunchies business, northern xxl scrunchie

Id: vFO6dgaamFg

Length: 34min 52sec (2092 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 12 2021