Catch Up Time: Where Are They Now?

Hello, welcome to bring your product idea to life. Super excited for today's episode because it is a catch up episode. I love doing catch ups.

What's changed since they were last on the podcast. So today we are speaking to Cressy Westling from Elvis and Cress. We're speaking to Marieke Syed from Snackzilla and Emma Sims from Soul Sanctuary.

I'm going to link to of their original episodes in the show notes. If you want to go and get their full story, you can do that there.

If you are not already watching this, you might want to know that the full interviews, the full catch up interviews, and I say full, they're all really brief, they're all under 10 minutes. They're available for you to watch on YouTube now. So if you're not already watching on YouTube, do go over and watch.

If you are watching, please click the thumbs up and tell me that you liked it because that's always really good as ever. Please do rate, please do review, please do subscribe. And now let's get on with the episode. Welcome to the bring your product idea to life podcast.

This is the podcast for you if you're getting started selling products or if you'd like to create your own product to sell. I'm Vicki Weinberg, a product creation coach and Amazon expert.

Every week I share friendly practical advice as well as inspirational stories from small businesses. Let's get started. The first guest I'm speaking to on this episode is Cressy Wesling from Elvis and Cressy.

Let's listen to Cressy's introduction for herself she gave us originally in her very first interview.

Sure.

My name is Cressie Wessling. I'm the co founder of Elvis and Cressy. Our business essentially does three things.

We rescue materials that would otherwise go to landfill, we transform them into beautiful things and then we donate 50% of the profits to charity. So the line we're most known for is decommissioned fire hoses.

We collect the fire hoses that are too damaged to repair or have reached the end of their health and safety life. We make those into luggage, wallets, belts and accessories. And then 50% of the profits goes to the firefighters charity.

So you are going to hear a little bit of background noise. So apologies for that in advance.

So the first question is, what's changed for your business since we last spoke, which is two and a half years ago now.

Wow, two and a half years ago. Well, we had probably just settled into the new workshop on the farm and I think it has effectively.

We are of effectively, over the last two and a half years, watched everything grow up around us and been spending a lot of time helping that by building soil biology. We've also, as a business, extended our product range.

And mostly we've been welcoming all kinds of people and all kinds of groups to the farm to explain how our regenerative journey is progressing.

So I think the biggest change is probably just in the conversation that we're having and in the way that we're operationalizing being a regenerative business.

That makes sense. And did you say so people are able to come and look around the farm and see what you're doing and understand?

Yes, absolutely. And we do it in lots of different ways, but probably we have workshop and farm tours that people can book onto and schedule into.

People sometimes drop in. People come for a weekend experience or workshop days. We're hosting one of those this Friday.

And we also have people who decide to come down in groups.

So we've hosted all kinds of corporate leadership teams or environmental philanthropists and various different kinds of environmental activists, farming groups, literally anything that you can imagine. People who are curious about what regeneration looks like and how you can. How you can make decisions and take action to.

To take your company down that sort of road and into making lots of wonderful environmental and social progress.

Yeah, that's so interesting. And what do your workshops look like? Are those for people who want to get involved in regeneration or what do they involve?

So there's again, there's a couple of options we have. Design your own workshops where people come and work on producing their own piece to an Elvis and Cressy template.

So they look through all of our rescued leathers. They pick out the colors they like, they cut out the pieces, they weave them together.

So over the course of that day, you would learn everything about how we, we make a bag, where the raw materials come from, why it's important to rescue them.

On the workshop and farm tours, we generally start outside and go through all of the things that we're doing to practice chemical free regenerative agriculture, from composting to our wetland system. And then we come into the workshop and go through all of our materials and how we make the products.

Then in some of the groups where people come from, a whole day we might be doing vine review or bird count or, or something like that. So it depends, it literally depends on the group and what they're up to.

We've also hosted a couple of really interesting dinners and did a film screening of 6 inches of soil, which was absolutely amazing.

That's fantastic. And has anything changed in regards to the materials you're using or the products that you're creating from them?

Not at the moment, not yet.

We're still, I think that's something that we've innovated products themselves, but we haven't introduced over the last two years any new materials to our, to our stable. So it's, it's, we're still working with decommissioned fire hoses and rescued leather and failed parachutes and printing blankets and tea sack.

Those are still the, the main raw materials.

And obviously there's so much you can do with those materials as well, I assume.

Yeah, absolutely. It's just a question of, of design.

I mean, if you think of most luxury businesses work exclusively with four raw materials, leather, cotton, wool and cashmere. So we, we, we actually have a bigger basket of goods to start with.

And my second question for you is, what's your number one piece of advice for other product creators? And has it changed since we last spoke?

I mean, I'd have to probably look back and see what I said originally. But maybe it's to question, it's to question the concept itself.

If you are going to make something and it isn't going to make the world better for other people's grandchildren, then maybe you have to think again. So I guess I would always get people to go back to the beginning and really question why they're going to make something new.

And if there is no purpose to it beyond, you know, cultural creative expression, maybe in, in the poly crisis that we are facing in this interesting time, maybe that's not a good enough starting point for design. I think that we all need more from it and demand more from it. So if you're going, if it's going to be circular, if it's going to be innovative.

If it's going to push a new fashion system forward into, you know, being birthed, then great, and go for it. But if it, if it's just an updated version of genes, then maybe not so interesting.

That's brilliant. Thank you so much and thank you for taking the time to do this update with me.

No problem. Lovely to chat, Vicki.

Yes, I'm Marika and I am the founder of Snackzilla, which is a brand, kids healthy snack brand, aimed at 5 to 11 year olds, so primary school age. And we launched last year with a range of soft baked oat cookies that are kind of ideal for lunch boxes and after school snacking.

So when I originally spoke to Marika, we spoke a lot about the idea for snacks, dinner, where that came from, about the process of developing a food product, getting stocked in supermarkets and all that involved. So now, three years on, we're going to find out what Marieke's doing now. So, hi and thank you for coming back to talk to me.

Hi, Vicki, how are you?

Really good, thank you. Well, thank you, as I say, for coming back and giving us a bit of an update.

So can you please tell us what's been going on with your business since we last spoke three years ago?

Was it three years ago? Oh, my gosh, it really was.

Feels like yesterday.

So I have decided, I decided at the end of last year that I was going to move away from the business. So I've been doing.

Snackzilla has been around now for seven years and over that time there's obviously been significant amount of changes in the world and those have all obviously impacted the business and I've decided after seven years that it was time to. To move on to something else. And yes, so the brand will be.

Oh, I'm so sorry, you're cutting in and out. The picture's frozen and I can't hear you very. I can't hear you at all now. Are you still able to hear me?

Oh, I think I've lost you. So I decided at the end of last year that I was going to step away from the business.

So I've been doing Snackzilla now for seven years and obviously a lot has changed in the world over those seven years and yeah, I decided it was time for me to look for something different. It was just becoming increasingly difficult to make the business profitable. And to grow the business in the way that I wanted to grow it.

And so yeah, I found someone thankfully that wanted to continue the brand and buy the trademark. So yeah, it's all in the transition process at the moment now of passing it on to a new owner.

That's amazing. And is that, if you don't mind me asking, is that someone with an existing food brand or someone taking it on from you, if you see what I mean?

Yeah, they have an existing, they have an existing, they're an existing food company that own a number of brands. So they have, you know, the expertise, the experience in this world.

They have the staffing, the resources, they have the operations team and the sales team and social media person who can just take the brand under their wings and yeah, hopefully try and grow it and use their experience to, to, to make it easier, I guess, than me trying, me trying to do it on my own. So I think it's going to be in safe hands.

Oh, that's amazing. And if you don't mind me asking one, one follow up question, how did you go about finding a buyer?

Was that something you went out and looked for or did they approach you and the timing just happened to work?

Yeah, I went out and looked. I spent about three months looking for people and just asking people in the industry if they knew of anyone who was looking for brands at the moment.

So having lots of conversations and networking really, I knew that the brand had potential.

So I knew I didn't want the brand to just die away after spending so much time and money on building a brand and I knew someone would see the value in that. So yeah, it was just luck really that I got introduced to the right person who obviously saw the potential in the brand as well and wanted it.

So yeah, it was just a lot of, a lot of networking to find the right person and, and a bit of luck, I guess that it just happened at the right time.

Well, thank you.

And I hope you don't mind me asking, it's just that I know that there may, you know, there may be someone listening who's in a similar situation who maybe feels that they've taken their business as far as they can but isn't sure what to do next and may not have thought that selling the brand was an option so that. I hope you don't mind me asking those questions because, you know, you never know who might benefit from hearing that.

And I'm really pleased to hear that you're happy that the brand's in safe hands now as well.

Yeah, No, I really can see that it's going to thrive in their hands. So fingers crossed.

That's brilliant. Well, thank you so much for giving us the update. I've got one final question for you, which is, and this is a question you'll be familiar with.

I asked you this last time we spoke. What would be your number one piece of advice for other product creators?

I think the experience I've had over the last seven years of Snackzilla has taught me that, um, don't be afraid to pivot. You should. What you should be afraid of is getting stuck.

And so, especially with lots of brands that I mentor and support, I can see that they are wedded to an idea and they love it and they're passionate about it and it can become your baby.

But actually, sometimes you need to step away, listen to the feedback from your users, look at the data and see where something isn't working, and not be afraid to completely throw it out and move on and adapt and pivot to something new.

And I think we are constantly taught as entrepreneurs that you've got to have grit and perseverance with something and you've got to stick it out and eventually it will work out. But sometimes that's not the best course of action. Sometimes it's actually braver to say, actually, it's not working.

Listen to your gut and go, right, let's just completely change it up and see if something else works quicker. So, yeah.

That'S brilliant advice. Thank you. Because you're right. There is a. There's a loser lot out there about sticking the course, and if you work hard enough, it'll pay off.

But I think that is. And I think that is the case. However, it doesn't mean that you have to do things the way you've always done them in order for that to be true.

Exactly, yeah.

Thank you so much, Rick. I really appreciate you sharing your update with us and letting us know what's been going on and, of course, your advice.

So thank you so, so much, and good luck with what you're doing next.

Thank you so much, Vicki.

So I'm an energy healer, a crystal therapist, and I'm also an intuitive guide, and I have a sanctuary called the Soulstar Sanctuary here in Tunbridge Wells. So it's a practice. Well, it's a Reiki practice, really, for children and adults.

So they come here and they have a beautiful treatment Whether they're suffering from anxiety or stress or just really in need of having a sort of energetic recharge. So, yeah, it's just a beautiful space that I hold for people to come and enjoy that experience.

And recently, well, probably a couple of years ago, that's when I started to actually do my products as well, just as an add on, really, to the healing service that I was giving to people. And it just seemed to really work. So I've kind of expanded from there.

So, as you would have understood from Emma's introduction at the time we spoke, Emma had a service business predominantly, so she was an energy healer, but she had just introduced a range of products that she was selling mainly to the clients that came to see her in her sanctuary, but also on Etsy and her website to support the work that she was doing. So I caught up with Emma three years later and let's hear what she's doing now. So I would love to know what's changed since we last spoke.

Yeah, I think probably last time I was promoting my products quite a bit more than I am now. What I found is that I sell a lot of the products through my sanctuary, so when people come for a treatment, they actually buy the product. I've.

I've kind of gone that way, I think more because people wanted more bespoke product making, so they wanted things that maybe were for anxiety, depression, to help them sleep.

And also because the market suddenly became quite saturated, natural products and, you know, you had to have all these certificates and all these different bits and pieces in order to actually get the product marketed correctly. And so, yeah, I kind of sell them more through my business, I'd say now.

Well, that makes sense of people coming to see you for different things and then they buy a product that suits them, I guess.

Yeah, exactly. So they're more bespoke.

And are you making bespoke products for people or is it more that because people are coming to see you, you can advise them a bit more on what might be useful?

Yeah, so, for example, children would come to for a treatment, for an energy treatment, and they might be struggling with sleep, they might be struggling at school. So I'd work out what oils would be worth actually blending together based on what they actually need.

So for anxiety, you'd use geranium for sleep, maybe cedar wood, natural sed.

So depending on what it is that they need, something calming, maybe lavender as well, just to help them feel a bit more calm, and rosemary for grounding. So I kind of. I.

I've made it A bit more of an, an alchemy situation, I guess, where people come and I just tune into their energy, their vibration and then go, right, I think you need this oil. Because people don't come to me specifically just for the products, they come to me for the Reiki treatment.

And then on, on top of that, I recommend an oil if I feel it's needed or if it, that they maybe would like to investigate. So it's not that they're for sale and you know, I'm sort of pushing it on them in any way. It's more bespoke to them.

That's really nice, that's much more personal.

And I. Yeah, exactly.

When we spoke before, you had your Etsy store, do you still have that or is that not really going anymore?

Yeah, I do have the Etsy store, but again, that's something that I've not really been promoting.

I think I've just been so busy working onetoone with clients that I've not invested the energy and time into that because suddenly when I started doing my products and they sold really well and, you know, they were getting a lot of traction and interest, there suddenly seemed to be quite a lot of similar products that came onto the market at the same time. So in order for me to really stand out, I had to put a lot of investment and time and energy into making that really work.

And to be honest with you, Vicki, I had to take priority over actually running my business and doing the treatments in person rather than doing just focusing on the products.

And it seemed to be that I sold more products when I saw people in person than I did through my Etsy shop because the Etsy is just saturated, absolutely saturated. So whereas once people could find my products, they couldn't really find them unless I actually steered them towards that website.

That makes a lot of sense and I think that it does make sense that people want to buy from you in person because they've met you, they've had a treatment.

Yes.

Got an understanding of you because these, these sorts of products, like you said, there are a lot of them out there and I mean, it's in a really nice way.

It's really hard to know which one's for you, what's going to do something for you, which, you know, because with natural oils and things, you know, you could come out, out in a rash, you could discover that actually the smell just, you know, you really can't handle it because it's quite strong smelling. It's actually a really hard product to buy online, I think yeah, it really is.

And I think a lot of that is smell.

So say like when you go to those little pop up stalls or you go to the markets and you see the products, you smell the products, you have to really smell them. I mean, I try and be quite descriptive when I talk about them as well when I used to sort of sell them on the Etsy shops. But it's more that people.

Yeah, exactly. They need to feel the oil, need to smell it.

And the, the way that I blend them as well is all infused with the Reiki energy and so the product is fresh and it's, yeah, it's a very powerful, powerful, high concentrated blend.

And are you making them for people before they come or are you making them like after the treatment for them to come and pick up this? I'm just curious how that works.

Yeah, so how it works is they come for a treatment normally and then after that I'd make them an oil or if they were coming and I knew that they were struggling with their anxiety or they'd, you know, they had a loss, I'd say to them, you know, I've made you a small bottle of oil that you can try, no obligation. If you'd like to have a larger bottle, I can make one for you. Or sometimes I just, you know, make them a bigger one and give it to them.

It's probably a lot of that, if I'm honest. I end up giving my products away but they do come back indirectly.

So people go, oh, you know, I, I smelt the oil that Rachel had and I really liked it and would you make one for me? So, you know, it all works out in the end. But yeah, I'd say generally it's more that people come for a treatment then I make them for them after.

And I got that.

You know what, I think it's really lovely and I don't think you should feel, because it sounds like then you're thinking that you shouldn't be giving them away, but actually whatever works for you because it sounds like it's making you really happy the way that you're doing things at the moment.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.

And I think that, you know, it's more, it gains more traction when it's word of mouth rather than actually putting them in stores and trying to get them.

I think if it was my sole business I would go all out and really make things, you know, put the oils out in the moonlight and really try and market it in a very different way. But it needs a lot. You need to put A lot of energy and time into it for not a huge amount of monetary gain.

So now I just do it from the place of show. What the treatments and the experiences that people have when they come to my sanctuary are the most important thing.

And the oils are a beautiful add on really for a reminder of the treatment that makes sense.

I mean, it would be easy to forget that obviously, like you say, this is just something you're doing on top of your treatments, which is your main business. So yeah, it's not absolutely. You absolutely can't be spending all of your time on selling them because you have your other business to run.

But they blend together so beautifully though. That's what's really nice.

I think I remember when we spoke the first time that your story was a really nice one of how you have a service and products that work just so well together.

Yeah, exactly. And it's. And it's still the same.

It's still that, you know, sometimes the children will come and I'll say to the mum, oh, you know, can, can they stay on an extra 15 minutes so they can make a rollerball? And they're like, oh, yeah, of course, you know, so they. And the children choose the oils themselves. So that's all by vibration.

So it's actually quite a nice experience for the child to actually, actually experience the oils that choose them and then blend them into like a crystal rollerball or a rollerball that they then get to take away and keep.

And they're really powerful because the feedback that I've had from those rollerballs, the children can take them in their bags into school, put them on when they're feeling a bit anxious or having a bit of a wobble before an exam. Really effective.

That's brilliant. And when we last they came out, I asked you to give me your number one piece of advice for other product creators.

You don't need to remember what you said then because that was a very long time ago. But what would your number one piece of advice be now, do you think?

I think it's probably the same as last time. I remember what I said was just to dive in because that's what I do a lot is just jump in and do it.

I think the thing is, is you, you do need to research. I mean, I didn't research the market.

I did, I worked out whether or not you could make the oils and sell them and what they needed to be in and to use distilled water. Some people use alcohol. I didn't want to use alcohol. So I think Definitely do your research. Don't just jump in. Do your research and then jump in.

But yeah, I would, I would really say do your research and think about your edge. Think about what your. Not just your usp, but your edge, what, what really sets you apart in the market and, and go for that.

Believe in it and, and trust it. And good branding. Definitely good branding.

Well, that's great advice. Thank you. I think you're the first person I've spoke to whose advice hasn't changed.

And I think that's a really good thing because it shows that, how strongly you stand by that. And I'm with you as well, by the way. I think there's. Obviously we need to all make sure, as you said, do your research and look into things properly.

There's also a lot to be starting, isn't there? And just giving something a go. So I think that's brilliant advice. Thank you, Emma.

Yeah, no, you're welcome.

Yeah, I mean, I think sometimes we hold back and actually if you just tried it, just tested it on your friends, on, you know, people that are coming into your businesses anyway, and just, just try it and get the feedback. That's the only way, you know, isn't it?

Definitely. Oh, thank you. So that is it. Thank you so much to Cressy, Marika and Emma for speaking with me again and kind of giving up their time.

Really hope you enjoyed hearing these updates as much as I did. I love doing these episodes. I love hearing what people are doing after we've spoken. Three years might not sound like a long time, but it kind of is.

And as you probably got from this episode, a lot has happened. So of course we'll continue to do these.

And if there are any guests that you're very interested in, anyone you've heard me speak to and you think, oh, I wonder what they're up to now, do let me know and I'll do my best.

And of course, remember to always follow our amazing guests on social media, which is a great place to find out what they're doing now, if you haven't already, please rate, review, subscribe to the podcast and I will see you back next week with another interview. Thank you so much for listening. Right to the end of this episode.

Do remember that you can get the Fullback catalogue and lots of free resources on my website, vickyweinberg.com Please do remember to rate and review this episode episode if you've enjoyed it and also share it with a friend who you think might find it useful. Thank you again and see you next week.