encouragement Archives - Wendy Batten

Retailer Success Story – Melanie Curley | Episode 46

Episode Summary:

Hey there friends and welcome to Season 2 of the Creative Shop Talk Podcast. I want to start by thanking each and every one of you for all the support throughout Season 1. We’re jumping into season 2 with a retail success story – meet Melanie Curley from Mango reclaimed. Her story inspires. Being successful is the biggest dream every creative retailer has. But success doesn’t happen within hours or days. Success comes out from hard work, dedication, perseverance, and love for what we do.

Melanie Curley is the owner of Mango Reclaimed, a vintage furniture studio that opened in 2013. Originally a small studio designed to sell reclaimed furniture, Mango Reclaimed has grown and evolved over the past 8 years to encompass a 5,000 sqft studio space that retails multiple paint lines, various DIY products, custom furniture reclaiming, and is host to a variety of hands-on workshops and customer events.

In this week’s episode, I talked about a success story of a creative retailer that started as a photographer but now has a successful retail business, and a new paint line that became highly sought after by retailers across North America. We will discuss how she ended up in the retail industry and I’ll share how Melanie exemplified the proper way to run a retail business. We also talk about what to do when something doesn’t work in our businesses so you can grow and expand exponentially. Melanie discusses the scary business decisions she has made, and how she manages to be a mom of two, fiance, and keep her business up and running throughout a pandemic.

You’re going to love meeting Melanie.

I want to remind you that if you need any support or if I can help you in your business in any way, please reach out. You can always reach out by emailing me at WendyBatten.com. I do one-on-one coaching and host a fabulous group of retailers inside my monthly coaching group Retailer’s Inner Circle. I say fabulous because it’s a space where we support one another and grow together. Click here to learn more.

This week’s talking points on the Creative Shop Talk Podcast:

Creative retailer success story
One-on-one coaching
Diversifying and changing
Running your own business
Accidental entrepreneurship
Choosing the right business model
Being brave and confident
5-Step marketing plan
Building a community matters

The Big Takeaway:

There’s so much work behind the scenes, you need to just keep moving forward. You can adjust, update, and refine things, but if you don’t put it out there, no one will be able to see it.

Our Favorite Quotes:

“Things don’t make sense until it makes sense.” – Melanie Curley
“If it doesn’t work, just do something else.” – Melanie Curley
“You have to build excitement.” – Melanie Curley
“Marketing means getting people excited and in love with your business.” – Wendy Batten
“Even if you can do all the things it doesn’t mean you should.” – Wendy Batten

Our guest:

Mango Reclaimed – A vintage furniture studio established in 2013 by Melanie Curley offering reclaimed, refinished, and restyled furniture. Now offering Mango Paint. Mango Paint is a Canadian made, water-based paint that is specifically designed to reclaim furniture. This paint imparts a beautiful soft matte finish that is incredibly smooth to the touch. With minimal prep work required, you can breeze right through to the fun part!

www.facebook.com/mangoreclaimed

www.instagram.com/mangoreclaimed

www.pinterest.com/mangoreclaimed

www.facebook.com/mangopaintinc

www.instagram.com/mangopaintinc

Subscribe, Connect & Share Your Favorite Episodes

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of the Creative Shop Talk Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please head over to Apple Podcasts or Google Podcast to subscribe to the show and leave your honest review. For more great content and helpful tips to grow your creative retail shop, visit our website. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, subscribe on YouTube, and don’t forget to share your favorite episodes with other creative retailers.

💕Here’s a little encouragement for all of you retail owners💕

by wendy

If you’re a retail owner, maybe you can relate … When you’ve worked so hard to create a beautiful business that you know is amazing, that helps others tap into their creativity and is great for your community, but at some point you just feel like it’s taken over your life and left you a little overwhelmed, or you feel a little out of control with your business?

I would like you to be encouraged by Amy, Jeff and Carol.

They are some of the hardest working creatives I have ever met. They are all growing their brick and mortar businesses and rock-starring it!

When I started working with Jeff, he wanted to scale his business The Vintage Nest, but he was feeling overwhelmed with operating his business and wasn’t sure: how to manage his team and where he needed to dedicate his time, focus and direction. He was a little overwhelmed and “trying to do it all.” Watching him put in the work to make positive impactful changes (and see him actually take a DAY OFF – gasp!!!) has had me cheering out loud (literally) – ask my hubby lol.

Carol has a newer business, Concession Road Mercantile, and as we all know, starting a brick and mortar can be a challenge. When Carol started in our monthly mentoring group she was “winging it” like many of us do. She told me once, “You can’t google experience and advice from others doing what you do and who have the experience.” So true. She now runs her store with a plan in place and with confidence in her business decisions. Her team sees that she no longer is winging it. It’s a pleasure to watch her grow her new business and make a difference in her community.

Amy has been running her successful store, Sage and Twine, for quite a few years and was looking for some support along the way. Sometimes when running a business as a creative, we have so many ideas and directions we can take, and as painters and creatives we can sometimes find it hard to put on the hat of CEO. Sometimes we just need support of a like-minded community to get us making the decisions. I literally laughed out loud when I read this from Amy. “Thank you for all that you do and for support store owners like myself! You not only helped me put my big girl panties on, you practically took me to the store and helped me pick them out!” It’s a pleasure watching you grow Amy.

What do they have in common???

The thing I recognized in these three is that they can all see the potential their business has to succeed, and even beyond that, how much passion these three have for their business and their customers. They are truly dedicated to making it a success.

Their journey is much like many of ours! We have a drive and passion to grow and run our stores and want to design a business with a lifestyle to match

Sometimes we just need a community to help us grow and support us.

I share their stories with you, so if you are feeling discouraged or suffering from lack of focus or overwhelm, or maybe nay sayers are telling you retail is dead, or you are feeling alone. Know there are lots of others out there feeling the same and building great successful businesses. You can too.

THIS is why I love what I do!

For all of us, myself included, our brick and mortar stores are so much more than a way for us to make money. We get to impact others and help them find their creativity, or perfect piece for their home, we get to be helpful and encouraging, and meet and build great communities. We also get to do what we love AND make money.

Hopefully you found a little encouragement in this email knowing that you can succeed in business while doing what you love. You can make a difference in your community, help others find their creativity and be successful!

Because when you see your bigger purpose, your business and your love for it will flourish!

Xo,

Wendy

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WELCOME

Hi there! I'm Wendy Batten, and I'm obsessed with helping independent shop owners like you achieve success.

With over 20 years of experience as a small business owner, I've owned several retail businesses along the way including a cafe, two retail shops, and a studio (and even a tae kwon do studio), learning first-hand the art of juggling all the balls.

I now dedicate my time to coaching hundred of retailers all around the world, sharing my expertise to help them organize their businesses and maximize profits, paychecks, and JOY in their day-to-day lives.

I created the support, programs, and community that I wish I'd had.

Whether you've been in business for years or are just starting out with your brick-and-mortar venture, you've come to the right place.

If you're serious about your business and ready to stop winging it, I'm here to inspire and guide you toward success.

I'm so happy you're here, and I can't wait to support you on your journey to thriving in the world of retail!