Leaving your career to start a new business – with Demi Pendakis – Find Your Glow Ltd

undefined: 00:00:08

Welcome to the Bring Your Product Ideas to Life podcast, practical advice and inspiration to help you create and sell your own physical products. Here's your host, Vicki Weinberg.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:00:22

Today on the podcast, I'm talking to Demi Panakis. Demi created Find Your Glow in 2020 through the Covid Pandemic. So Find Your Glow or FYG as it's known, is an affordable, luxury, sustainable home fragrance brand producing scented candles, diffusers, washes, and lotions. In the two years they've been trading, they've won the prestigious 2022 Home for Fragrance Gift of the Year award for their memories collection. So, um, as you will know, and 2020 isn't actually that long. Two years isn't that long to be in business really. And what Demi has achieved of his brand is yeah, is fantastic. Um, I met Demi at the Top Drawer London trade show back in September and, um, immediately wanted to come on the podcast. We got chatting within minutes. I realized he had a story to tell, um, as you will hear for yourself in just a moment or two. Um, Demi. Yeah, he's, he's really passionate about his business and, and life, I think. Um, and had so much wisdom to impart. Um, as he'll share with you, he went through a complete check, career change during the pandemic, um, left his corporate career, which he has been in for many, many years. Um, at, to create his own brand of fragrances, which in a completely different industry. Um, and we talk a lot about what that was like, how you can draw on the strengths you have and the experiences and the skills and you know, how they're transferable. Um, yeah, we cover a lot of ground here actually. Um, it's a really great conversation and I'm not going to say anything else. I'm now going to introduce you to Demi. So, hi. Thank you so much for being here.

Demi Pendakis: 00:01:51

My pleasure. Thank you for having me.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:01:53

So can we start with you please give an introduction to yourself, your business, and what you sell.

Demi Pendakis: 00:01:58

So my name is Demi Pendakis. My businesses is Find Your Glow. Most people refer to it as FYG now. And we are a home fragrance business supplying scented candles, diffusers, wellbeing pods, et cetera. And we won amazingly and totally humbled the Home Fragrance Gift of the Year for 2022.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:02:16

I saw that, and I wasn't going to start here, but let's go into that. Is that, how does these awards work, Demi? Is that something you enter or the customers?

Demi Pendakis: 00:02:24

It's something I enter. Yeah. So, so, so you enter through the, through the Giftware Assocation. I, I, I thought I'd put my memories range forward because that's really where it all started. It was, uh, takes you to a place in time and, and a lot of what we do with our fragrances, all about mental wellbeing and um. Uh, I just remember the emails coming through. Yep you've been shortlisted, yep you're going through to the semis, yep and, uh, the final was, was fantastic because it was voted on by industry experts, uh, both retail publishers, agents, you name it. So, real spectrum of it. I had no idea. Um, I turned up to the, to the event ceremony for a nice meal and some, some champagne. And lo and behold, they called out my name. So it was, um, yeah, a bit crazy. That was back in.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:03:03

That's amazing. Well done. And have you found, I'm just really curious now, is have you found that having that award to your name, has that, has that changed anything in your business?

Demi Pendakis: 00:03:13

Yeah, for two, two reasons, really. Uh, I think the naturally more eyes on the product, more eyes on the brand. Who, who is this Find Your Glow that HAS only been running for two years? Um. But also for, on the flip side, an affirmation to myself that actually I am not mad. Or rather, I'm, I'm a productive man and what I am doing is, is hopefully, is working. Um, and, and it's honestly, it's been really, really lovely. And even if I didn't win, I mean that some of the brands that were up before that, my, my, my competitors, my peers, they were amazing. But just to get up there and yeah, just to pick it all up and almost because there's a lot of, you, you would know and all your other people listening would know there's a lot of graft in trying to set up a business. So just to get recognized like that, uh, by some industry experts, it's just incredible. Just really gives you almost that uh kick up the bum to carry on and keep doing what you're doing.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:04:00

Yeah, it's a nice bit of sort of validation, if that's the right word, isn't it? Yeah. As I know when we met, and we spoke a bit about how your background before doing this was completely, well, not completely different, but you, as you say, you've been doing this for two years, so it must be, you know, I'm sure there has been times over those two years where you've gone, is this the right thing?

Demi Pendakis: 00:04:20

The hardest thing I found was, uh, and I've, I've come from a, a corporate background, always been employed. Um, you know, uh, some, I worked for some of the largest companies in the UK, in the world and, and supplying some of the biggest customers, but always in fashion and to, to, to leave that and to, and I, I have three kids, you know, married, three kids to leave that, I want to say at my age, and think, well, I'm going to do something totally different. Very, very scary. You know, and I had a lot of people saying to me, Are you mad? You can't do this. You can't. I was like, but I, I, I, I'm also quite stubborn, so whenever somebody says to me, you can't do this, immediately the, the terminology changes to, okay, how can I do this? How can I prove these guys wrong? And, but it's been, it's been a, it's been an incredible journey. I wish I could have taken everything that I'd learned in my previous corporate life into this, but naturally it's a different product area. But from a sales perspective, things, you know, there are things that I'm more comfortable with and there are certain things that are totally new.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:05:16

Yeah, because I guess there are things that you are doing now that perhaps someone else was handling back in your corporate career.

Demi Pendakis: 00:05:21

Well that, and also unfortunately I can't call on any of my fashion connections that I've had in the last 20 years because it's different industries. So I'm having to meet so, so many other people. Um, other production route that, that otherwise, uh, you know, couldn't approach before. Um, and yeah, so it's just, just trying to manage it all and then you've got the finance and all that sort of stuff, so it's just, yeah, it's, it's all in.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:05:44

Yeah, it's a lot. So let's start right at the beginning, um, if you're okay, maybe we'll, I mean, you've touched on the fact that you worked in the fashion industry for years. Should we start there and then talk about what led up to you starting Find Your Glow? What your inspiration was? Um, yeah. And how, whatever much you're happy to share with us around that.

Demi Pendakis: 00:06:02

No, sure. Sure. So, um, I, I, I'm first generation born in the UK. I'm, I'm a British Greek as it were. My dad came on a boat and, um, well, what I, what I really loved about him and I, and I look at him as kind of my hero and my idol, is that he taught me everything business, business related. But from a young age, like from the age of 14, 15, I was, I was never really allowed a holiday. It was always a case of, right, I mean, how many weeks have you got for summer, for example, I'd say six. Right? Take a week, 10 days now. Sit in accounts, sit in production, sit in sales. And he was grooming me and his, his, his background was fashion, so he had, back in the day when you could supply clothing in the UK, manufacture clothing, that's what it was. So I always remember seeing the money almost like as, as in fabrics and commodities, like fabric roles, et cetera. So I got really excited by that. Um, when I left university, I, uh, started marketing. I set up my own business at the age of 21, um, really with his, with, with his pushing me. And, and I thought, you know, let me give it a go. And I ran a business for three years. Um, which was amazing and, and him in the background is mentoring me, et cetera. And, um, he passed away when I was 23, 24. And that took a real, it hit me a lot. I, I went through a very, very dark phase and there was a lot of things that happened personally to me. So I, I, I took a few months out thinking, what am I going to do? Um, but I always thought, you know, there's your dad that's built whatever he has built in the UK off the back of nothing really. Like coming off a boat, and he's giving you the benefit of education, a drive, and a real sense of work ethic, Demi, you can get on with it and, and, and, you know, and do something. And fashion was all I knew. So I, I restarted my life at the age of 24 acting as a sales exec, and then slowly, slowly, and to cut a long story short, slowly working for some of the largest clothing manufacturers in the UK. So if anyone's ever bought a pair of Jamie or Joni Jeans, for example, from Top Shop, I've, I've helped produce and manufacture them and all your Christmas novelties and all the supermarkets, that was me to, to a point. So, um, yeah, and, and I, I worked with it with a number of amazing companies and, you know, I had a, had a, really, really enjoyed it up until the last four or five years where I, the industry took a real big turn. Um, I, it got to the point also for me where, you know, with my, with my daughters and thinking about how I can inspire them or how I can teach them going forward, just like, and, and, and I just thought some of the customers, some, well, some of the customers, some of the suppliers, some of the people in the industry who were just taking too many shortcuts and that didn't, just didn't work well with me. Um, so it was 2000 and 19, Uh, I had a meeting with a large retailer and um, there were certain things said in that boardroom. I thought, you know what, this isn't, this isn't the sort of industry I want to be in anymore. Um, I, and it's difficult obviously. You've got a whole lifestyle et cetera. And, and I remember going back to, to, to my, to my, to my wife and, uh, she's like the pragmatic accountant and she's, uh, you can't leave. I was like, you know what, mentally I'm struggling here. Uh, I, you know, I can't, I can't be doing the certain things that, you know, these people want me to do. And, um, I caught Covid, uh, beginning of 2020 before anyone knew what covid what, what it was. I, you know, I lost my sense of smell and I just thought, Greek guy, big nose. I thought, okay, I've got sinusitis. That's genuine. I thought I had, but they gave me antibiotics. That really, that took my immune system all the way down. That hit me. Um, and then I, I went to hospital for a little bit. Came out, uh, thank God. And when I finally got my senses back, my wife brought me bowl of figs and that smell just um, took me back to my late Grandma's garden in Greece. And I just felt for the first time in a long time, just really elevated just that nostalgia of the innocence of youth. Just playing with my brother, because she had like a little bungalow in, in the Sawnic in Greece and we used to play football amongst the fig trees and all that sort of stuff. And it just really, just took me back to a place in time and I thought, wow, is there any way I can recreate this? I didn't know anything about candle making. Then I thought, how, what can I do? How can I, you know, and I just love the, the, the evocative nature of fragrance. So I started researching. I, I, I, I read, uh, a number of books. I went on, God, YouTube, you name it. I went everywhere. And then slowly, slowly, little idea popped in my head. And, um, I finally decided to, to, to leave an industry that I, that I'd loved, and I still do, to to extent that I've loved, um, to try something totally different.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:10:37

Wow. That's amazing. Thank you.

Demi Pendakis: 00:10:40

No, it it, and it was hard, but don't get wrong. It was, but at the same time, I just, you know, you had lockdown for six months and I thought, come on, I never want to sit on my hands anyway. So I, I thought, okay, come on Demi. You know, let's, let's, let's learn something new. And the hardest thing, I suppose, Vicki, the hardest thing was, was my skill set transferable? You know, at times you sit there and think, oh, can I, can I move everything I've learned to here? There are new connections you've got to make. You know, are people going to take me seriously? Where am I going to buy my stuff from? So there's a whole, I went, I went the old, um, flip chart route, just wrote everything down and just make sure I managed to tick everything. Just because I, I love being a little bit old school. I, it's the only way I can just see it visually and, and slowly. So I just started creating something and it, it got, it got really, really exciting and the most important thing that, that, that I wanted to create. I, I, I've always lived on three pillars and one is quality, beauty, um, and the other one's sustainability. So as long as I have all those three ticked, whatever decision I made going forwards, had to make sure that I have every one of those. And it's, it's been a bit of a crazy journey the last two years.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:11:45

Yeah, it sounds like it. So during lockdown, were you furloughed or were, were you still working then, or.

Demi Pendakis: 00:11:50

I was that person. I was that person that unfortunately got nothing because I'd resigned and left. And obviously I had covid and I was not furloughed. I was not self-employed. There were no handouts. Um, you know, I'm not looking for a soft story or anything, you know, but I, I just sat there. I thought come on Demi, you're going to have to make something work, in order to get some money in. And, and, and that was it. So, yeah, I did, I didn't have anything.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:12:14

Yeah. I hope you didn't mind me asking. I was just trying to get a sense of the timing, whether this was something you were sort of working on. So it sounds like actually you took the leap to leave your employment before you even had the new business up and running.

Demi Pendakis: 00:12:26

Yeah, yeah. Then I, I, I, I, I didn't realize just. I was new to the industry. I didn't realize all the testing, et cetera, that that was involved. Um, but as a result of realizing it, I was working days from seven in the morning till two in the morning. I, I just had to, I realized it was something I wanted to get out there. Um, there was a lot of research I obviously had to do. Um, you know, you entering a home fragrance market, it's saturating as hell. Every, everyone's, everyone thinks they're a candle brand. Everyone wants to make a candle. Why not? You know, they're so beautiful and ambient and just so warm and, you know, and, and, but I wanted to really create something special. I, I, I, I knew from the outset that I wanted to create something that was an affordable luxury. I, I had no interest in High Street because I could make all their things abroad. I wanted to be hand poured British, but at the same time I wanted something that can give um, my customers a viable option than the beautiful, you know, your boutiques, are generally are a little bit more expensive. Something kind of at an affordable luxury sort of level. And, um, to do that and to be able to compete, everything had to be perfect from your burns, your timings, everything had to be perfect. So that was a lot of work.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:13:36

Yeah, I can imagine. And actually, let's talk a little bit about that process of sort of designing your candles, getting them manufactured. Because as you said, that's a, that's a massive feat. Um, and we can go into as much or little detail as you want. I am interested, um, in how you went from, okay, I've got this idea to, okay, now I've got something, but an actual product to sell.

Demi Pendakis: 00:13:57

Okay. So, um, the branding that I love. I, I love simplicity. Um, I love Chanel's branding just really, really easy. And what I wanted to create was something in my head I thought, I'm not going to be, I don't see myself going to farmer's markets and that sort of stuff, just purely because I, I cannot do that. And I, and I always wanted to create a lifestyle brand. You know, we look at our high streets today, this is kind of what inspired me. You look at our high streets today, and they're all the. They're all with, we expect they're all rather boring. You know, you have the same shops, the same cafes, the same everything. So looks, I thought in my head, I thought the vision 10, 15 years down the line, not today, is like Demi, you want to create a brand that's long lasting that could potentially go in there and make a difference. I like being a bit of a disruptor, so that can make a difference. Um, how are you going to do that? It's not just going to be fragrance. So we've obviously started with home fragrance, but the idea is we'll move into other areas. Um, and, and in order to do that, you need something that can transcend that. So not, not go too cottagey because that won't really sit well with maybe what you want to do down the line. So I, I. I got approached by, by a branding agency who, who had seen a couple of things, got my testers. Um, we had at the same time the, um, the NHS Rainbows and all that sort of stuff going on. Um, so my first, first memories, uh, candle collection was a lovely, uh, again, just nice and simple that can fit in. And almost Scandi looking. They can fit in any home. Matt White Glass, with a golden inlay, with FYG. But the boxes themselves off the back of the NHS Rainbow, so they're all multicoloured. Disbursement of color, uh, which really can give you a, and I also thought, if I'm going to be in a shop, how's somebody going to see me? So here we go. Let's go with a bit of colour. That's also a nice pick me up. So that's where we started. Um, but I really wanted to capture moments of my past because I was, I was on this, I was also on this personal journey. So I, I, I started looking at, for example, I love the Amalfi. The Amalfi is beautiful, Lemon and freesia. So I, I, I, I, I developed a, a fragrance for that. Um, we have ones that take you to a place something like St. Lucia, Bali, um, the Maldives, and it's just been, it, it was really lovely, but also it, it was fun, you know, at the end of the day it was, it was fun creating these. So, but in order to start off, I also needed to understand exactly what people would've expected to pay. So I. I did a 300 person, uh, survey just to understand what, what sort of fragrances are people referring? Have I gone mad? Have I gone totally left field? You know, are are people genuinely looking for something? And, and most of it was yes. So I identified a couple of different price points and so my memory section was, um, I mean we retail those at 35 pounds and they really take you down memory lane. They're beautiful. Um, they last for a good 45 hours. But I also thought, let's just do some, what I call back to basics, which are kind of like my fragrance favourite. So, Like something that smelled beautiful, like a nice black fig, really, really lovely. Uh, my lemon grass has done really well, or even now, frankincense and myrrh leading up to Christmas. So I just like real fragrance favourites. Um, and they're 25 pounds, um, for, for a count again, they last for like 40, 45 hours. And it's, and they've worked really, really well.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:17:00

Thank you. And I mean, I have seen your candles in real life. I've even smelt your candles in real life and they are beautiful. I mean, I can see, I can still see in my mind your display. You were, I obviously met you at Top Drawer and from down the aisle you could just see you were so visible because you had this beautiful wall of colour behind you. And I can see you've got on your backdrop now. It's just, it's just absolutely stunning. And I think you're right that, that in a, in a store it would turn heads. People will spot you. Um, and so actually, let's talk a little bit about that, if that's okay, because I know that when we chatted, you mentioned that you do mostly sell b2b. Um, I can see that your candles look just stunning on, in a shop. So how have you gone about getting stocks, getting stocked?

Demi Pendakis: 00:17:44

Um, honestly, uh, some cold calling. Um, I, I did my first show, uh, this time last year, actually this time 2021. And, um, the show paid for itself, which was good. Uh, but we, we got in one key stockist in London. And I think at the end of the day when, when you do shows, there's always that reservation. It's, "Oh God, it's going to cost three, 4,000 pounds". Okay? Even in the first show, if you don't cover it, people start remembering you. Um, and 1, 1, 1 message I give to anybody is, you know, obviously think authentic and think about how you're going to make it, how you're going to make yourself a little bit different. Um, because there are thousands of candle brands out there. And about this, this, I mean, across anything, whatever you do, how you're going to be different. And, and I, I picked up a few stockists, but then slowly, slowly they started ticking along. Um, there was a little, I didn't really do much marketing, and in all fairness, the irony is I was doing a marketing degree, 20 years later, everything I love was obsolete. So, you know, you're, you're trying to do, you're trying to do so many different things. Um, but, but for myself to, to customer, I've never done it before, but I've always worked with businesses, so I'm never really shy to pick up the phone and say, listen, are you looking for another home fragrance brand with a little bit of a difference here? Or look, but there are certain things that you should do. Um, and um, and things started kicking on, and it was in the spring actually, that we really took that leap. Um, and yeah, Spring fair at the NEC for me was, was just fabulous. I, I couldn't believe the turnover we took on there, but more so just the, the, the level of stockists. I mean, there were, there for myself, there were garden centers, there were stockists with, uh, 13 shops, nine shops, and all of a sudden the name started getting out there. Um, and I think a, a, a lot. What we also try to do, which, which I haven't, I haven't talked about just yet, but what we also try to do is we try to, it's not try, as I said, everything is quality, beauty, but sustainable. So all our waxes are natural. Uh, they're a vegan wax, uh, rapeseed and coconut. So there's a beautiful burn. But I plant a tree for every candle I sell. Um, and literally up until about, I still need to count now, but up until about three weeks ago, we planted 10,000, over 10,000. And I also give 5% of all my profits to help prevent teen suicide and self harm. So we're a little community, eco brand. I think that struck a note with quite a few different people, quite a few different stockists. It's just wanting something a little bit different that, that does that. Um, but yeah, no, from my perspective, once you start moving, um, and, and your stuff sells, it's, it's one thing getting into stockists. You know, selling is one thing you're not selling. There's a lot of more trust in it. But I think a lot of, a lot of our stockists have loved the authenticity behind the brand. There is nothing contrived about it. You know, we, we are like, like it or loath it. It it's me. You know what I mean? So I've just, I've just shoved me in the brand and, and I think, I think that's kind of what, what works really, really well. Um, but yeah, but I've never been shy to pick up the phone and have a conversation, I think to, to get down the stockist route um, there is an element of that.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:20:37

That was really useful. Thank you. And I'm also wondering, um, what your take on, is when you spoke about the fact that your products look amazing, do you think that's helped you get into stockists? The fact that if someone looks at your products that emulate, they have got great branding, great packaging, um, you could see them on a shelf. Do you see what I mean? Because.

Demi Pendakis: 00:20:57

You have to yeah.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:20:58

I what I'm thinking is, is that's important.

Demi Pendakis: 00:21:01

Yeah. I, I, i, I remember, I remember any shop I go into, I we're all magpies in some sort of respect. So wherever you go and you're like, wow, look at that. And I, I wanted to try and create, um, that sort of buzz and, and, and I, and I think I have, um, um, and, and I, I think, you know, my products excite, so what's really lovely and you know, is then the appreciation of the work that goes behind the candle will really then comes to play because the, the way that we've done it, the way that, you know, the way that it burns, the way that the fragrance, you get bang for bucks with fragrance. So the, the, the visual is, is fantastic, but ultimately then we've got to produce. Right? And I think that, that for me is, has been, has been very, very good. But the memories range, um, which is kind of our, our signature range is all is is literally all just about, you know, place and time. And for me, whilst the, the, the wellbeing aspect of the fragrance of something, the pick me up with a colour is also something that's really striking.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:21:56

Yeah, absolutely. And so obviously we met at Top Drawer and that's what actually led me to ask you the question about how about your products, how they were displayed. Because something that I noticed just wandering around is that a lot of people, yourself included, have done a really great job of displaying the products in a way that you could imagine. Yes. That's on a shelf somewhere. Um, I mean, you touched on this a little bit, but how have trade shows sort of fit in for, for your business? Um, Have they been a big part of you finding stockists or?

Demi Pendakis: 00:22:27

They've, they've, for me, they've been a key part, um, that, that, and not just finding stockists. There's, there's three, there's three aspects to a trade show. Excuse me. In my opinion. One, yes, of course finding stockists is key. You know, you, you pay the money for a trade show in order to get some of the business back, which is, which is great. Um, and, and I've, I've taken on a number and. But the, the real important thing, and I was told this, um, right at the beginning, and there were a hundred percent tight is that don't do too many to begin with because you obviously need to show a certain level of loyalty to a trade show because then those customers see you all the time. They, they'll be certain customers that will buy a few straight off the bat, but there are other ones that want to see, okay, I remember him on the last one. Is he still here this time? Is he still going to be here tomorrow? Were a young brand, you know, they want to make sure that you can deliver. So there are, there are, especially just over the last year, there are stockists that I realized that saw me a year ago, saw me in spring. And then decided to buy off me now, just purely because they can see now that we're, that we're moving and they remember it all. You know, they, they, they, oh, you're the guy with those colours. They remember all that. So definitely we've had success with customers. What I also do with trade shows is I use them as inspiration. You know, you have got. What I genuinely love about the gifting industry, which, which I struggle with at times with fashion. What I love about the gifting industry is you, it's full of entrepreneurs. Whether you're a retailer, whether you're a stockist, whether you are a, a budding designer, or whether you're somebody with a brand, everyone has got an entrepreneurial brand, you should be inspired by everyone. And I sometimes am, you know, there are certain displays that I might do and I thought, I wish I could this. There's a peer down, down, down the, down the aisle, for example, that's gone so much more into that. You, you, you really bounce off each other and there's an almost an unspoken sense of camaraderie. Yes, you are competing, but there's, there's an unspoken sense of camaraderie and, and you can really get inspiration. But also after that, there's, there are agents that are moving around. They're looking for the next, for the next brand. And I've taken three of my agents off the back of, um, uh, these trade shows. So it works in multiple facets, but ultimately, yes, uh, you, you want to make some money.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:24:26

Yeah, that makes sense what you've said about inspiration and I think if, perhaps if you are, I don't know if, even if you're not looking quite at the point in your business where you are ready to exhibit going to a trade show and just walking around, I'm obviously, I'm not saying copy what someone else is doing, but just to get an idea of, okay, what's going on? What, who else? A lot. I think its a great idea.

Demi Pendakis: 00:24:46

I give a lot of time. Um, maybe I shouldn't, but I don't care. I give a lot of time to a lot. They come and say openly, oh, you know what, Demi, we love what you do. We think about doing a candle brand, and I know they won't copy me because their brand will die tomorrow. Yeah. That's not the point. But to even for some advice, you know, I, I was a, well, you were a top job. I was a top job. I counted at one point in the morning with a cup of tea. There were 34 candle brands in there. You know, we all need business. Everyone's doing something different. And there, there is, there is a way that you can do something different so long as you're true to your brand. And I think that that for me was, um, really striking about, about Top Drawer. Um, but yeah, I, I, I think I must have had about six or seven budding brands coming and I think that's better than just copying something and just trying to do a, trying to do a stall in one of these because you'll fail. Because people will always remember the first people that do it. Whereas going and understanding and asking the questions that your podcast is, is doing, you know, we're approachable. We, we were them a year and a half, two years ago. You know, it's so, I wish, I wish I knew about it. I mean, I, I did all the reading. I had no idea. And then, then I joined the Giftware Association and all of a sudden it's like, I was like having all these experts that I can just speak to, that I can look up the phone or email, um, that, that really helped.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:26:07

And that's brilliant. Thank you. And if you don't mind, while we're on the topic of trades that shows, because I know this is something that a lot of my audience are starting to get interested in. Do you have any other advice for, you know, things to do or that maybe not do if, if you're thinking of exhibiting?

Demi Pendakis: 00:26:23

Um, I, I, well, regarding exhibiting. Plan your stand. Um, I think just try whatever, however you do it, try and make it look like a shop within a shop. That, that, that's how I always try to do it. You know, let let the stockist imagine what your store, what your stuff's going to look like in a store. Um, rather than just putting some tables out, some candles or whatever you're doing, jewellery or whatever. Just, just let them feel like, ah, this is a corner of our store that we really, really need. Uh, that, that's one. Um, And you can do that by cost, cost effectively or spend whatever money that, that, that's fine. But I, I, I, I agree with what you say. Walk. Walk, walk a couple of trade shows. You will know which one suits you. One of the reasons I did Top Drawer was because it's very designer led and my product is very much like that. But I, but I was conscious that when I was doing Autumn Fair in Springfield, which had been amazing for me, but I didn't want to rush into things. Um, but it was, that was very, very good for me. But you might find that some trade shows might not be right for you. Um, so do some research definitely before you spend your money, because they're not cheap and you, you, you, you're going to want to at least say two by two or something like that. You know, if people are charging 500 pound a square meter, that that's a lot of money that you need to make back. So you've got to be very careful.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:27:37

Yeah, that's true. And I was also thinking kind of that's what you were saying earlier about you, you know, you pick up the phone and you, you call stockists. I guess you probably also want to be sort of comfortable with doing that and having those kinds of conversations as well before you sort of get into a situation where you're going to be having lots of, hopefully lots of conversations with potential buyers.

Demi Pendakis: 00:27:57

Everyone's a salesperson, that that's the thing. And that if you're not comfortable being a salesperson, then I, I would strongly suggest, um, re-looking about what it is that you want do, because whether you are a stockist, well, so whether you are, you're sitting on your stand and you've got to remember, I mean, as you probably saw loads of people are passing. You've, you've got to almost put a hanger on your mouth and smile the whole time. Um, and, and, and be able to relay everything across and it takes a lot. Um, and I suppose my, my, you know, I'm still learning every day. My thing is how do I get somebody to do that for me with the same sort of passion? Because I love my product, you know, how, how do you do that? So that, that's something I need to look at. But whether you do that on a trade show or whether you do that over the phone, you need to be able to do that. And, and a lot of people will, um, really jump on the back of your passion. And, and, and couple with that authenticity.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:28:48

Yeah, that make, that makes sense. And I know that I, I wouldn't, I don't want to say strangely, but I think it may, a lot of what I'm trying to say is a lot of people I think are a bit scared of selling. They might have a great product, um, that they really believe in, but when it comes to selling it, they're a bit hesitant. I see this a lot. I mean, I see this in, I see this in myself. I'm not always brilliant at selling, but selling and.

Demi Pendakis: 00:29:09

I think, I think, I think the way around that is envisage where you want to be and what, what you want your product to do and how you going to get there? How are you going to do that? You're not going to get there by just sitting on your hands and not speaking with anybody. You want to scream and shout about it. You're proud of your product, right? That, that, that, that's the main thing. So, and, and don't get me wrong, it's hard. It's half. The first trade show, it was the first one I ever did on, on, on candles, et cetera. I thought, my god, you know, my, am I saying the right stuff. Am I, am I working on the right markup? You know, my, are people wanting me to speak, but all of a sudden, you've got to be personable or any sales person will be personable. All of a sudden you just realize that it's, it's just a lovely conversation. People are interested in your stuff. So once, once people are interested, I don't, I don't want to say get the sell because it's, but just really just relay and form. Um, and if they're exactly what you want, then yeah. Have, have the further conversations. But it's been. They've been good fun. I look forward to the trade. I don't look forward to the buildup and the breakdown. I've got to say, Oh my God, that's awful. Um, but, but I love the trade shows. Generally. You meet so many different people. And so I get inspired by so many stockists. I mean, there's, there's a stockist that I've, I worked with and they were the, they were the big one I took at Autumn Winter last year, Autumn Fair. Last year they had seven stores. Then they've now got 14 going up to 22. I mean, good on them. That's an inspiration in itself that just shows you if you want to get something done, you can. Um, so it's been brilliant.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:30:28

Yeah, absolutely. And something, I mean, you probably won't say this about yourself, but one thing I will say that I think you've done, you do really well, and I thought this when I met you, is you, you've got a lot of, you know, when you talk about your products, when I met you, you talk about the wellbeing aspect. You talk about the memories they invoke. You had a lot of things to talk about. It wasn't a hard sort of sell. It was you had a lot to share about your products, about what they meant to you, about where they came from. And, um, I think that we're all people, right? We all, we're all people, we all like to buy from people. And that's the kind of thing that makes you memorable and also makes it more a conversation and less a sales pitch because there's, you know, there's something you are telling your genuine experience and story and me as the person listening, genuinely me, that's why you're here. Because I was genuinely. Yeah. Yeah, this is really, this is really interesting because if there's a story behind this and there's a passion and, and I, I think we're, you know, people love stories.

Demi Pendakis: 00:31:26

I, Yeah, I, I, I, I'm a bit of a hopeless romantic. I, I do love to, I do love to take people on a journey. So one of the things I launched, um, in spring, um, and now it's really coming to the four, is I launched the seasons candle, uh, or of my seasons range, and they've gone down an absolute treat. So I, I thought, I thought, how do I do things a little bit different? And I, I wanted to really do a nice, I, I didn't do big candles before and I wanted do a nice, really, really big candle, kilo candle. But I thought if I'm going to do a kilo candle for somebody, I need it to adapt somehow throughout the season. What's the point? They're going to smell something, for example, in, in March that they're going to want to smell again in August. How do I change it? So I thought I'd do a candle that changes fragrances as you burn. And the reason I did that is in fashion, we're working spring, summer, autumn, winter. So I thought, let me take the two seasons. Marry them up. And the idea was. I, I can't remember if I showed this to you on my, on my, on my, uh, table, but.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:32:17

You did, I was very taken by this.

Demi Pendakis: 00:32:19

Oh, sorry.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:32:20

But carry on there. I, I've seen it. No one else has. Carry on.

Demi Pendakis: 00:32:24

Okay. So, um, they're in beautiful luxury metal containers. And the idea is that one candle goes, burns from a spring fragrance, uh, and then goes into a summer fragrance, and it lasts 120 hours in total. And the other one goes for autumn to winter. But then at the same time, um, I've created a seated dust card. So when you finish, you rip up the dust card, you plant it in the pots and it grows meadow flowers from the same pots. It's part of the whole, as I said, we're an eco sustainable brand. It's product reusing it all again, but it's, it's, and that's pure essential oil. So something totally, totally different and, and yeah, it's, it's taken me aback, it's took me about nine, 10 months to develop because obviously you want to make sure that the fragrances work, the wicks work and all that sort of, you know, um, but then also the design aspects. You know, we have a lovely umbra effect on the boxes and, and yeah, they're striking and, and they're really, really good fun. So try to do something a bit different. So I'm glad you remembered it.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:33:13

I was, I think that was an amazing gift. I, I saw, that was one my wife thought yeah, that's, that's just a brilliant gift, isn't it? Yeah, I can see that. You know, hopefully Christmas you do really well with those. Because I think that.

Demi Pendakis: 00:33:25

I've already had some pre-orders yes, yes. Yeah. So we, we we're tied up with, um, one of the best things actually that's happened off the back of one of the shows is I got introduced to a, to a Marque Hotel group, um, Marque Hotel, um, I don't know if I can mention the name or anything, but is, is, we've done so, so, so well with them. So they've taken our memories range, um, and they want to feature on some kind of like their 12 days of Christmas now. So the, these candles I'm talking about are part of that 12 days of Christmas.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:33:54

Amazing. And while we're on the subject of Christmas, is there anything else that you do? So obviously we are speaking in end of September, Christmas isn't that far away. What, what are your, what are you doing and what would you advise people do to start gearing up for your Christmas sales? I mean, obviously we are getting a bit late now for Christmas. I'm well aware.

Demi Pendakis: 00:34:11

Um, well, from, from a, from a buying perspective or, or, or, yeah from a selling?

Vicki Weinberg: 00:34:15

From a selling.

Demi Pendakis: 00:34:16

I, my biggest advice would be, and I was actually talking to my, um, to my production team about this today, is one thing I have noticed is that people are buying a lot earlier. Um, and I think a lot of that is due to the reservation of what's going on with the dollar, what's going on with freights and what's basically going on with stock positions. So, if any of your, uh, your listeners are looking at getting in somewhere for Christmas, getting the stuff, then, then I think have the conversations now. Um, because leaving them in later will be, will be a real problem. And also, um, if any of your listeners are looking at potentially doing, for example, corporate gifting, et cetera, have conversations with the corporate guys early because please, God, they'll sell out, but they want to make you able to get their, their proper bang for buck on, on, on some of those big orders now. Um, it's, it's a real, real difficult time. We were very, very worried about. What was going to happen with the energy prices in October, et cetera. Hopefully the government's kind of alleviated some of that, but we've noticed a lot of our stockists are buying big early. Um, so yeah, just that, just something to keep in mind for this year.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:35:17

I think that's great advice. Thank you. And actually, I have also noticed this year a lot of retailers, um, and small independent businesses as well, who have maybe Christmas special, you know, special Christmas items or Christmas ranges have, have released them a lot earlier than normal. And I guess that's down to what you're saying, that we, um, you know, people are buying early. So, yeah, I think we're maybe not going to see the massive December sales we sometimes see, and maybe sales are going to come off a bit earlier.

Demi Pendakis: 00:35:55

Well, I, I, I didn't, um, I didn't expect to have, uh, August sales the way I did. Um, it's, it shocked me. I remember I was on holiday. Um, I was panicking thinking, what are these orders coming in now all of a sudden? So, yeah, I listen, it's, we don't know, but I just, from what I can tell, I've spoken to a few people. Um, there seems to be a big emphasis to buy early, make sure you've got your stock position set. Um, and then move on. I even have somebody at the moment who, who's my candles have sold really well in one stockist um, he's just rebuying now for Christmas and also wants to do a pre-order for Valentine's, I think. Anyway, bit too early, but, you know.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:36:35

But good for you.

Demi Pendakis: 00:36:36

But yeah, it's lovely. Um, but, but honestly, I, but everyone's, everyone's worried about their stocks, even from, from our perspective, you know? I mean, I, I was. You know, when I'm, when I'm importing things et cetera, you know, the dollar rates come from 130 to 105. So, you know, one point, do you, do you take a call, buy a little bit extra? It's, it's tough, but you've got to, you've got to manage those things.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:36:56

Thank you. So I'm just, um, be mindful of your time, Demi. Um, I've, one more question, just question I ask everyone who comes on the podcast. Which is, what would your number one piece of advice for other product creators or potential product creators be?

Demi Pendakis: 00:37:12

Oh, just one. Um, authenticity.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:37:15

I'll let, I'll let you have more than one if you need to.

Demi Pendakis: 00:37:17

Ok. Authenticity. Just be true to, to, I would say be true to what it is you're trying to create. Don't vear from that. Have it all written down. Every decision you make, just make sure that it's authentic and nobody, everyone can tell a contrive brand straightaway. Everyone can tell a copy cat straightaway. Um, so yeah, a authenticity and do that by, by researching. Um, but what I would say is, as a second one is do whatever you can to keep your costs down, because it's very, very easy to get out of control. Um, you think about all the research and developments, et cetera that you're doing. Um, it just, yeah, just make sure you got, you got an eye over your costs. But authenticity and that, because ultimately it's all cash flow for a young business, so many, so many businesses close within the first three years, just purely because of cash flow as well. So from my perspective, you've got, you've got to have an eye on that and whatever you're developing.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:38:08

That's great advice. Thank you. Because I think also it's quite easy to kind of lose track of the cash you're spending when you're sort of, especially when you're in the development stage and you're spending a little bit here and a little bit there. Mm-hmm. Um, yeah, I'm, I'm with you. You need to just make sure that you, you know, you know where you are financially and everything adds up. Well, thank you so much for everything that you've shared. I've really enjoyed talking to you.

Demi Pendakis: 00:38:29

My absolute pleasure. Thank you for having me. Um, it's been great.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:38:33

And I'm gonna link to your website and your socials in the show notes. People can come over and have a look at your candles. Unfortunately, you won't be able to smell 'em unless you buy them, but you'll see them at least. You'll be able to go and take a look. Um, yeah, so thank you again.

Demi Pendakis: 00:38:49

Thank you, Vicki. That was lovely. Thank you.

Vicki Weinberg: 00:38:56

Thank you so much for listening all the way to the end of this episode. If you enjoyed it, please do leave me a review. That really helps other people to find this podcast. Make sure you subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes, and do tell your friends about it too if you think that they also might enjoy it. You can find me at vickiweinberg.com. There you will find links to all of my social channels. You'll find lots more information. All of the past podcast episodes and lots of free resources too. So again, that's vickiweinberg.com. Take care. Have a good week, and see you next time.