Speaker 1: In this episode, in this very important episode, I'm gonna be telling you what we're gonna talk about, we're gonna discuss, I'm gonna give you, what the fuck can I tell you? Five pointers. Today I'm gonna be sharing with you my five, today I wanna share with you five ways on how to have strategic partnerships. Why, may you ask? Every entrepreneur wants to create a following that really fits their brand. It translates into sales, it leads to exposure, and ultimately, means success. Point number one is ABC, you learned it in kindergarten, you're gonna learn it again, ABC. And it's not always be closing. For me, it's always be creating, always be cautious, always be curious. And what I mean by curious is when you're talking to someone, you're talking about your brand. I hate that whole salesy, closing thing. I feel so strategic and like you want something from them. You know, I don't like when people talk to me with agendas, whether they're apparent or hidden. So when I talk to people, I just wanna know about them, I wanna know what they're doing, why they're doing it, what they're passionate about. If that aligns with what you're doing, then maybe you leave it at, hey, I really love what you've got going on, maybe there's something in the future for us to work together on. You know, when you wanna build relationships like that and build strategic partnerships, you want it to be more organic. That builds trust, it just comes more natural, and trust me, your creativity will really flow because you don't have a hidden agenda. Point number two is you really wanna know the difference between a main partner and a new partner. A main partner is someone who's been with you from the beginning through thick and thin. It's a give and take situation. They need you, you need them, you work together. If there's a mistake or a misstep, you sit down, you hash it out and you figure out what's gonna be the best outcome. Now, a new partner is someone you wanna test out. For me, it's someone new in manufacturing. It's a new fabric company. They're kind of on a trial basis. You give them a few months or one project to prove themselves or just make sure that the relationship is right for you, their product is right for you, and it's something that you can see long term and eventually either turn them into a main partner or find a new source. In any business, you're always looking for new partners. You always wanna find backups. For me, it's more manufacturers, more fabric sources, who's making tags and labels that are better. I love things that are made in the United States, so I'm constantly trying to find companies who can compete with overseas pricing. If I can keep every single aspect of my manufacturing in the United States, I'm from here, and I just wanna cultivate the manufacturing industry and make sure that I can do my part to keep people's jobs intact. So sorry for you in China who are listening to this, but you're not manufacturing my shit. Number three is alignment, and when you're talking about alignment within strategic partnerships, I'm mainly talking about the people who are promoting my brand. Who am I gonna align myself with to wear my brand, represent my brand, be seen? So it's more of a visual aspect of alignment. I wanna make sure that, for instance, my Instagram social media influencers, you know, they're not drinking and smoking, and there's not a bunch of naked pictures. I wanna make sure that they are representing what I'm doing to the fullest. You know, do they look good in the clothes? Do they have a great attitude? Do they have a good outlook on life? Do they have a story that can really inspire people? So when I'm looking at my alignments, I wanna make sure that their vision of what they're trying to do is aligned with my vision and what I'm trying to do ultimately. Number four is you wanna be selective and know when to say no. As a female entrepreneur and a nurturer, I have the strong desire to be a yes person, and that's something that I personally have to really fight. And, you know, a lot of times it backfires. It's a mistake. I'm a mom. I am a nurturing person. I love to cater to people and help. You know, that doesn't mean I'm strong and don't have my ideas, because trust me, I'm strong as hell. Like, even if you arm wrestle me right now, like, don't let these little chicken arms fool you. I will arm wrestle your ass to the ground right now. But being a woman, for myself, I don't know about you, I hate to say no. So that's one thing that I've learned to be strong on is that I don't feel it. I do a lot of things by feeling. If I don't feel you, I don't feel what you're saying is true or honest. If there's one little tiny red flag, you have to say no, because it can destroy your business, it can destroy your relationships, and it can destroy, most of all, your spirit. Number five, which is my favorite, you better protect yourself before you wreck yourself. Uh, uh, what? And what I mean by that is you really have to legally protect yourself when it comes to aligning yourself with manufacturers, with Instagram, social media influencers, with anyone who's doing anything with you. I mean, even your employees, you have to protect yourself. Whether it's making sure they are categorized right, are they a 1099, are they an employee, how are the taxes working, what are their lunch breaks like, if they're working over 40 hours. You have to keep all of these things into consideration. When you're working with manufacturers, are they legal, do they have, you know, their business licenses, are they running an ethical business? You have to take that into consideration. When you're working with social media influencers, you really have to make sure that after your contract is over, they're not bad-mouthing you, you know, not trying to create competing businesses, and there's just so many things that you really have to do to protect yourself. So I cannot stress enough how important it is to have contracts in place so that there is never any gray area, because you think someone's your friend, and at the end of the day, they're looking out for themselves. So you need to look out for yourself, and you can do that in a moralistic, nice, loving way, and it can be very legal in a nice contract that's signed and dated, and bam, protect yourself. Those are my five points on strategic partnerships, and you can comment below, because I would love to know the mistakes that you have made so that I can also learn from you as much as you learned from me. Don't forget to subscribe to us, because we're trying to get to, da-da-da-da, a million subscribers. All right, guys, have a good day. We'll see you later, and I'm gonna sit on this, because my butt hurts, about strategic partnerships. Made my butt hurt. Fuck. All right.