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Brainwash Yourself to Success | Kendra Scott

My new book, “Own Or Be Owned”, is all about building a business so good it doesn't need you. More profit, less pain. It's out NOW. Grab it here!

Kendra ScottguestCodie Sanchezhost

Oct 16, 20251h 15mWatch on YouTube

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Transcript

90 min read · 17,891 words

0:00 – 1:17
Intro
1. KSKendra Scott
  Every time someone says, "Oh, you don't have a college degree? You can't probably do that job," or, "There's a million jewelry designers out there. What's gonna make you special?" It's like, "Oh, let me show you."
2. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah.
3. KSKendra Scott
  I get excited when someone tells me you can't do something. I'm like, "Ooh, say it again."
4. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs] We're here with Kendra Scott, designer, CEO. And the entrepreneur who turned $500 into a billion-dollar brand.
5. KSKendra Scott
  Welcome to the world of Kendra Scott.
6. CSCodie Sanchez
  If you wanna brainwash your way to success and make a business or money on your own terms, this podcast is for you. You're gonna wanna hear this story if you feel stuck, if haters are getting in the way of you achieving the life that you want, or if you wanna figure out how to take your business to the next level with stories from somebody who's done it without a legacy, of money, just with a bunch of grit.
7. KSKendra Scott
  No one would invest in me. For 10 years, I bootstrapped this business, and as I run a billion-dollar business today, I still have that scrappy startup mindset. You know, when you start with nothing, you never forget how hard that is.
8. CSCodie Sanchez
  Oh, yeah. Was there ever a moment where you thought, "This business is going under. We're not gonna make it"?
9. KSKendra Scott
  How much time do we have? [laughs]
10. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs] Like, every Tuesday.
11. KSKendra Scott
  I mean, Codie, there were so many...
12. CSCodie Sanchez
  So we're gonna start with a tactical question.
13. KSKendra Scott
  Okay.
14. CSCodie Sanchez
  You started, kind of famously, with 500 bucks and have built now, is this
1:17 – 2:55
Bootstrapping and Scrappy Mindset
1. CSCodie Sanchez
  right, a billion-dollar brand?
2. KSKendra Scott
  Over.
3. CSCodie Sanchez
  Ooh, sexy.
4. KSKendra Scott
  [laughs]
5. CSCodie Sanchez
  I like it.
6. KSKendra Scott
  Over a billion. [laughs]
7. CSCodie Sanchez
  Uh, which is crazy because jewelry is just hard in general to get to that level.
8. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
9. CSCodie Sanchez
  But do you remember, what did you spend your first 500 bucks on?
10. KSKendra Scott
  Materials. I mean, I had to make the product, so I had to make samples. I mean, it was, like, that basic. I went out, got a few tools, got the materials and stones. My mom brought over a card table in my extra bedroom. I had a bead board and some wire and tools. Made my first sample set. I put it in a tea box, a wooden tea box, and literally took my baby son store to store, boutique to boutique in Austin, Texas, and showed my collection. And I came to the last store of the day, and they offered to buy all my samples 'cause they were gonna do a fashion show that night, and I was like, "Thank God," because I didn't know how I was going to purchase more materials for the orders that had were written that day. So selling all my samples, which is what I needed to do, I got the money to be able to buy more materials to fulfill the orders. So it was just like every dollar I brought in, I had to kind of reinvest it in the beginning, and I had to make it count, like, stretch. You know? It... Every single dollar had to ma- count.
11. CSCodie Sanchez
  How long did you work like that, where it was like a dollar in, a dollar out, a dollar in, a dollar out?
12. KSKendra Scott
  For a long time, [laughs] Codie. No one would invest in me, okay? So I had to do it on credit card debt and a line of credit. For 10 years, I bootstrapped this business. And so every single dollar I made, I had to figure out, "Okay, how am I gonna reinvest it and get the biggest ROI I can on that dollar?" What I love about it is it made me incredibly scrappy, and as I run a billion-dollar
2:55 – 13:01
Lessons from Failure and Persistence
1. KSKendra Scott
  business today, I still have that scrappy startup mindset, and I'm so thoughtful about how we spend our money, what we're spending it on, what are we doing and thinking about it. And everyone I hire, I really remind them, like, "I remember when I couldn't afford a second set of tools, folks. So before we just throw out, you know, a million dollars on this project, let's bid it out. Let's really think about what we're doing. What are we gonna get in return for this? Why are we doing it?" And it's kinda having that... You know, when you start with nothing and you build it, you never forget how hard that is.
2. CSCodie Sanchez
  Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's funny. The other day we did a YouTube video, and part of the video was to smash a cake.
3. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
4. CSCodie Sanchez
  But they brought the cake out. You know when you can just tell something's expensive?
5. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah. [laughs]
6. CSCodie Sanchez
  I'm like, "That's the ca- Like, we're smashing it."
7. KSKendra Scott
  Right.
8. CSCodie Sanchez
  "That's the cake you bought?"
9. KSKendra Scott
  It was a fancy cake.
10. CSCodie Sanchez
  It was a fancy cake.
11. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
12. CSCodie Sanchez
  And then I asked. I was like, "How much did that cake cost?" And they were like, "Well, it was pink, and we needed pink, and it was an $80 cake." And I was like, "I know that's only 80 bucks," so, like, in the grand sche- scheme of things-
13. KSKendra Scott
  Right
14. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... but I do think the way you do anything is the way you do everything, and so-
15. KSKendra Scott
  But you could've gone down to H-E-B and got a $10 cake.
16. CSCodie Sanchez
  Girl, I about did.
17. KSKendra Scott
  [laughs]
18. CSCodie Sanchez
  Almost, like, j- just for the plot-
19. KSKendra Scott
  Yes
20. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... I was like, "I might return this cake-
21. KSKendra Scott
  [laughs]
22. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... and delay us an hour on principle alone," you know? But I-
23. KSKendra Scott
  I love it
24. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... I learned that same thing from one of, somebody I look up to a lot, whi- which is Dave Ramsey. He says their business moves at the speed of cash.
25. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
26. CSCodie Sanchez
  What would your team say? Like, do you have sayings where they're like, "Oh, there goes Kendra again with her one-liners about how we run this company"?
27. KSKendra Scott
  Well, you know, I mean, I, I always, I like to say we don't play for second. Um, you know, they hear me say that a lot. Like, we're in it to win it. Um, we have a very... I mean, as sweet and kind and all those things that we are, we're extremely competitive, and we're fiercely... Like, we wanna go out there, and we wanna win, and we wanna be the best that we are. We are never complacent. We are never like, "Ooh, our business is a billion dollars. Let's all be happy and go, you know, drink margaritas on the beach." It's like, "Now we gotta work harder. Every day, how are we gonna surprise and delight our customer today?" And those are things that, like, my team hears me say constantly. It's like we wake up every day, and it's like we're gonna be better than we were yesterday.
28. CSCodie Sanchez
  Mm.
29. KSKendra Scott
  And you've gotta have that mindset in business to be able to be successful today.
30. CSCodie Sanchez
  Were you always like that? Were you always driven and, like, relentless?
13:01 – 21:56
The Power of Connection in Retail
1. KSKendra Scott
  Kendra Scott, and where we were able to form a product that made people feel good, look good, and do good at the same time.
2. CSCodie Sanchez
  Mm. So good. Yeah, I don't know if I told you this, but I've been wearing Kendra Scott jewelry since back u- probably, like, since the very beginning. I, oh, crap, I f-
3. KSKendra Scott
  I love that
4. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... I gotta send you a picture of it. I have, I almost brought, I've, like, found kind of a, I guess it would be a vintage Kendra Scott.
5. KSKendra Scott
  I know.
6. CSCodie Sanchez
  It was like-
7. KSKendra Scott
  It's, it's sad when that happens now, Codie.
8. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
9. KSKendra Scott
  'Cause people are like, "I've got my vintage Kendra Scott." I'm like, "Oh, man, that makes me feel so old."
10. CSCodie Sanchez
  No.
11. KSKendra Scott
  "That makes me vintage."
12. CSCodie Sanchez
  It's timeless.
13. KSKendra Scott
  I'm vintage. I know, I know.
14. CSCodie Sanchez
  It's timeless. Um, and quality-
15. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah, thank you
16. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... 'cause what jewelry do you keep these days for 10 years? It's, like, only the nicest, most luxurious pieces.
17. KSKendra Scott
  Oh.
18. CSCodie Sanchez
  And then I buy a bunch of stuff that I wouldn't keep, you know?
19. KSKendra Scott
  Thank you. I mean, I, I designed the collection to be a collector's kinda thing, where you can pull it out of your jewelry box 10 years from now-
20. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah
21. KSKendra Scott
  ... and still love that piece of jewelry, and you can build on it. You know, we'll use similar stones, like natural mother of pearl or, you know, whatever it might be, where it'll go back to a piece that you might have bought 5, 10, now in this case 23 years ago. [laughs]
22. CSCodie Sanchez
  That is wild. How did we get old so fast?
23. KSKendra Scott
  I know.
24. CSCodie Sanchez
  Now-
25. KSKendra Scott
  Well, I-
26. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... I started when I was one, obviously.
27. KSKendra Scott
  [laughs]
28. CSCodie Sanchez
  So, yeah.
29. KSKendra Scott
  That's right. Yes, you did. Me too.
30. CSCodie Sanchez
  So many entrepreneurs started out as door-to-door salespeople, Sara Blakely, Mark Cuban, you. Do you think that you need to be good at sales in order to be a great entrepreneur?
21:56 – 31:09
Disruptive Marketing Strategies
1. KSKendra Scott
  to be able to react and make that customer happy, and never have to even worry about all this red tape.
2. CSCodie Sanchez
  Mm.
3. KSKendra Scott
  You know, I worked in retail, like, in high school and in college, and let me tell you, like, the book you would get was, like, the size of a telephone book. For all you young folks, that was a thing.
4. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
5. KSKendra Scott
  We used to have a telephone book. Um, but it was the size of a telephone book, and it was all these policies and procedures and da-da-da, and all these rules and regulations and this and this. That kind of stuff is not going to work.
6. CSCodie Sanchez
  Mm.
7. KSKendra Scott
  Every single person is a human being with a real thing that they're going through in that moment of their life. We don't know what that is, so we've gotta come from a place of an open heart and an open mind, and every interaction we have needs to be that way. And so, you know, it's just a way on how you train and how you set hire. It's not just about training. Like, who we hire is the most important. I don't care if you've had any retail experience. Quite honestly, sometimes I prefer if you don't, because I have to unteach some of those policies and procedures and the phone book stuff, right?
8. CSCodie Sanchez
  You gotta rub the, rub the corporate off of them.
9. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah. I gotta get, like...
10. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah
11. KSKendra Scott
  ... "No, I don't want you to have all that." I hire people who just are brimming with optimism, who are brimming with positivity, who are brimming with warmth, the people that you just wanna hug-
12. CSCodie Sanchez
  Mm-hmm
13. KSKendra Scott
  ... that you feel that in their presence. When you interview with somebody and you don't want that interview to stop, you wanna just keep talking to them because they're so awesome and so engaging, and you just are like, "Oh, my God, I love this," that's who we hire. Um, and then I can teach them all about the stones, and I can teach them about our settings and how to do color bar and all these other elements, but I can't teach them that. I can't teach them how they make people feel.
14. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah.
15. KSKendra Scott
  That's either in you or it's not, and that's the number one thing we hire on, heart.
16. CSCodie Sanchez
  That's so good. My dad always says, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."
17. KSKendra Scott
  Right.
18. CSCodie Sanchez
  And, and that you can't teach desire.
19. KSKendra Scott
  No.
20. CSCodie Sanchez
  Which I, it... I love that.
21. KSKendra Scott
  Absolutely.
22. CSCodie Sanchez
  But let's, let's talk about some of the unhinged things you've done to grow Kendra Scott.
23. KSKendra Scott
  [laughs]
24. CSCodie Sanchez
  'Cause I've seen a few really cool things that most billion-dollar brands don't do so much.
25. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
26. CSCodie Sanchez
  Like, I saw a pop-up you guys did with SunLife, and you're, like, handing out jewelry, but, like, kind of in a fun way at, like, 7:30 in the morning on a Sunday. I was like, "This is wild."
27. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
28. CSCodie Sanchez
  I was like, "Is that free?" Like, is this for, for no reason?
29. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
30. CSCodie Sanchez
  So what are some of the craziest things you've ever done to grow your billion-dollar business?
31:09 – 38:55
Balancing Success and Personal Life
1. KSKendra Scott
  and editors from the magazines would be like, "Oh, are you in El- LA or New York?" And I'd be like, "Well, no, I'm in Austin, Texas." And they'd be like, "Oh, you really need to move to the coast if you're gonna have a successful brand in fashion." And I was like, "Well, you don't know Austin, Texas. Uh, you don't know the creativity here." And what they didn't also, you know, what I realized is I looked different because I was being influenced by this incredible place I was living. I wasn't trying to be like everybody else. In New York and LA, they were all just trying to look the same. You'd come across my booth, and it was like, "Whoa."
2. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
3. KSKendra Scott
  "What's happening here?" Like, "This is totally different." But it's what really p- you know, helped us get on the map because we stood out, and we looked different. So being from here really was part of the DNA of Kendra Scott, and I think a huge advantage. The other thing, you know, and, and I said this to someone earlier today, was Texans support Texans. Um, this state is a crazy thing, and it's like the entrepreneurs here, they hold hands. They lift each other up. They share information. We really have a mindset of, like, we're competing against the world, so let's help and support one another. I can't tell you how many incredible business owners and friends I have in this state who literally were there for me, and vice versa, throughout all the different stages of my growth of my business, and I wouldn't be sitting here with you, Codie, if I had started my business in, on the coasts. I wouldn't, 'cause I needed that support and that love, and this state really gave me my wings to fly.
4. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah. Well, it's also scary sometimes doing things a little bit different, but if you're in a place that's already different, that's a great-
5. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah
6. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... unfair advantage that you can kind of mimic what's happening around you, and that in itself is not normal.
7. KSKendra Scott
  Right.
8. CSCodie Sanchez
  I never thought about that for you. What about, um, sl- slight change of, of topic, I'm seeing this gorgeous ring on your finger.
9. KSKendra Scott
  Oh.
10. CSCodie Sanchez
  So beautiful.
11. KSKendra Scott
  [laughs]
12. CSCodie Sanchez
  Very tiny. [laughs]
13. KSKendra Scott
  He did good.
14. CSCodie Sanchez
  It-
15. KSKendra Scott
  He did good
16. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... did good.
17. KSKendra Scott
  He did good.
18. CSCodie Sanchez
  Okay, so you're engaged to Zach Brown, um, who I'm a huge fan of. My parents are, too, like, giant fans.
19. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
20. CSCodie Sanchez
  But I was wondering, there are all these narratives about women and success-
21. KSKendra Scott
  Mm-hmm. Yeah
22. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... and how successful women can't also be in good relationships.
23. KSKendra Scott
  Mm-hmm.
24. CSCodie Sanchez
  Um, and I was just, like, curious your take. You know, do you think, are men intimidated by a billion-dollar CEO woman?
25. KSKendra Scott
  I think some men can be intimidated by-
26. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah
27. KSKendra Scott
  ... a billion-dollar CEO woman, and I think there are some men, like Zach, who absolutely just wanna lift me up and, and do anything they can to support and love and cheer me on, um, and vice versa, right? We both have very big lives and creatives and so s- so many similar things about our... You know, he's music. I'm jewelry. But what we do is so similar. We're trying to bring joy to people through the art that we create. Uh, we're trying to make people happy. We love our kids so much, and our children are the m- the heart of our entire universe. And so all of those things are so aligned, and when you find a partner that you have that alignment with, and there's no competition.
28. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah.
29. KSKendra Scott
  It's just, "I love you. I'm rooting for you. I see you. I wanna do everything I can to lift you up, and then to also be your rock." 'Cause I haven't had that before, Codie. I-
30. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah
38:55 – 40:18
Balancing Motherhood and Business
1. CSCodie Sanchez
  doing one nice thing a day for your partner. Like, how do you go above and beyond for them?
2. KSKendra Scott
  Every single day, no matter where we are, we start our morning with, "Good morning. I love you so much." Whether it's a text if we're in a different city, or whether-
3. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah
4. KSKendra Scott
  ... we're laying next to each other in bed. Um, I mean, we do not get... The first words out of our mouth is, "I love you." Um, and the last words out of our mouth before we go to bed are, "I love you." And, you know, even with my kids, I mean, I don't ever get off the phone with my kids without telling them I love them. I mean, they hear it all the time from me, but I'm like, "You're, I'm gonna tell you. I know you know, but I'm gonna tell you all the time, 'cause I never want you to ever worry about that," [laughs] you know?
5. CSCodie Sanchez
  I love that.
6. KSKendra Scott
  You're so loved.
7. CSCodie Sanchez
  My mom was here today. She's been at our event. We had an event all weekend. She's been hanging out. It's, it's the most, uh, incredible thing to be able to bring your family along with you.
8. KSKendra Scott
  Yes.
9. CSCodie Sanchez
  You know?
10. KSKendra Scott
  Yes.
11. CSCodie Sanchez
  Um-
12. KSKendra Scott
  I love that you do that, 'cause I say all the time, people, you know, we get the work/life balance question as women.
13. CSCodie Sanchez
  Oh, yeah.
14. KSKendra Scott
  A lot, right?
15. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah, yeah.
16. KSKendra Scott
  But men don't get that as often.
17. CSCodie Sanchez
  No.
18. KSKendra Scott
  We get it all the time.
19. CSCodie Sanchez
  Mm-hmm.
20. KSKendra Scott
  But I built a business where family could be part of my business, you know? And, and bringing my kids along with me, and getting them see what I do, and what my work looks like, and understanding that gave them such a unique perspective in life. And thinking about now I've grown men who are my sons, and them starting their own businesses, and having that almost like by osmosis experience, you know, from the pack and play in my office to where we are today, watching it all along the way, it's
40:18 – 42:16
Creating a Business Utopia
1. KSKendra Scott
  been, it's really part of their, like, genetic makeup now.
2. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
3. KSKendra Scott
  Because it's like they've been, they've been in it, you know, every single day of their life.
4. CSCodie Sanchez
  They're, like, listing off SKUs-
5. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah. [laughs]
6. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... to fall asleep every night.
7. KSKendra Scott
  Seriously.
8. CSCodie Sanchez
  I like that. So did you actually... That's, I've always wondered that. I, I haven't been blessed with kids yet. Hopefully that happens one day for us. But, um- Did you bring your kids to work?
9. KSKendra Scott
  All the time
10. CSCodie Sanchez
  You just, you just strap 'em in?
11. KSKendra Scott
  I mean, I still do.
12. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah.
13. KSKendra Scott
  I mean, yeah. You know, in the early days when they, before they were in preschool, I had a Pack 'n Play and I had a bouncy chair, and there was like six of us in the office. And I mean, I'd be on the phone with a buyer, like Nordstrom, and I'd be like passing Beck, my baby, you know, and I'd be like, "Take him." 'Cause you know, if he'd be like cooing or, you know, he was a really good baby, thank God. But you know, one of the other girls in my office would be like holding him like in the bathroom-
14. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
15. KSKendra Scott
  ... while I'm on the phone with Nordstrom, you know? Um, but then when they'd go to school, I remember like preschool, they started at 3, and I would drop them off and it was like, "Okay, I have until 1:45 to just do as much as I possibly can and do all the calls and all those." And then I would bring them back to my design studio with me until we finished up that night. I traveled with Cade, my oldest, when I would do New York, all the shows. I had friends that lived in New York and LA, they'd baby... I thank God for friends. It takes a village. It really does. But I would be selling during the day, and they'd be babysitting for me and watching him. He had like 70,000 frequent flyer miles at the age of 3-
16. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
17. KSKendra Scott
  ... because he went everywhere with me. I mean, he was my little sidekick. And you know, but, but I, I loved it. And in the early stages, like I couldn't afford a nanny. I couldn't afford those things.
18. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah.
19. KSKendra Scott
  Like, every dollar I was spending, I was having to put into trying to build the business, and I was like, "I can figure this out." I mean, I look back on it now and honestly I'm like, "How did I do that exactly?"
20. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
21. KSKendra Scott
  'Cause it wasn't easy, but it's the only thing I knew.
22. CSCodie Sanchez
  What advice would you have for a single mom that wants to start up a business like yours?
23. KSKendra Scott
  Well, I think that's the thing, right? You, you create a business. The beauty about entrepreneurship is you create your own utopia. Like, what is your utopia? What does
42:16 – 44:47
Facing Business Challenges
1. KSKendra Scott
  your dream life look like? All right. For me, I wanted to be in jewelry and design, and I wanted to be there for my little baby boy. I wanted to be the best mom I could possibly be. I didn't wanna miss any of his games. I wanted to be there for him when he was sick, and that meant I couldn't go back to working in an office. I couldn't go back to working for somebody else. So if I wanted to create that, what was I going to do? And that meant that I created a workplace that allowed not just myself, but others to be there first for their families. 'Cause it's not just for the boss, it's gotta be for everybody, and you lead by example. So I think, you know, you build the world, right, and you kinda reverse engineer it. Once you know the destination, you can build your roadmap to get there. Sometimes we try to build the roadmap before we know the destination, and that can be very confusing. And that destination by the t- a- all, by the way, will change every three years or so.
2. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah.
3. KSKendra Scott
  You're gonna see it, and you're gonna go, "That's where I'm headed." And then about two years in, you're gonna go, "Ooh, wait, now I'm headed here."
4. CSCodie Sanchez
  Mm-hmm.
5. KSKendra Scott
  "And now I gotta build a new roadmap."
6. CSCodie Sanchez
  Mm-hmm.
7. KSKendra Scott
  And so that's gonna change a little bit. But when you really start to think about how you do it, creating a environment where family can be part of what you do, not every single day. My kid couldn't come with me on every sales call or everything, but I tried to do as many things as I could that allowed me to be able to be there and then set boundaries. So I knew, all right, pick up, I'm gonna pick my kids up from school every day. I wanna be that face that picks them up. Now, that meant that I had to do some other things and sacrifices. I couldn't do long lunches. I couldn't, you know, do some other things that some of my other friends were doing. I had to make other sacrifices, but that was my priority and that was important to me. And so really understanding your priorities and what makes, what's important to you really will help you kind of create that vision of how to do it.
8. CSCodie Sanchez
  By the way, I have a live event. I only do one a year. It's huge. How big? Really big. In Austin, Texas, just for people who wanna make more money, buy businesses, build businesses. It's called Main Street Over Wall Street. So if you liked this episode, you're probably gonna wanna be there. There's only a couple hundred spots left, so click below. I wanna shake your hand in person in Austin, Texas. Or go to M-S-O-W-S.com, MSoWS. We'll see you there. Hey, it's your friend Codie. By the way, guys, I just realized that a bunch of you are not subscribed, which is crazy, 'cause I feel like we hang out every week and we talk about how to make your life better, how to make your bank account bigger, and I wanna do more of that. So one, thank you for being here. Like, sometimes I'm like, "Pinch me" moment, you know? And also, share this with a friend, subscribe. The only way we grow is when you share it. And we
44:47 – 47:33
The Birth of Kendra Scott Retail
1. CSCodie Sanchez
  only show up on your feed when you subscribe. So I promise that if you do that, I will continue to make this podcast a way for you to steal all my rich and successful friends so that your life can be even better every single day. Yeah, so true. You know, we've talked about a lot of highlights, how big the business now, some of the new launches, but I know that that is not how business always goes. So was there ever, ever a moment where you thought, "This business is going under. We're not gonna make it"?
2. KSKendra Scott
  How much time do we have? [laughs]
3. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs] Like every Tuesday.
4. KSKendra Scott
  Seriously.
5. CSCodie Sanchez
  Still.
6. KSKendra Scott
  I mean, Codie, there were so many. I look back on it, there were so many, and I think you talked about this, something about your dad. It was like head in your hands moments.
7. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah.
8. KSKendra Scott
  Is that what your, you say your dad talks about?
9. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah.
10. KSKendra Scott
  And I remember you wa- hearing you talk about that 'cause I was like, "My God, I have so many head in my hands moments." Um, on my kitchen floor, like sobbing, crying, thinking I'm gonna lose my business. One of those was during the 2008 recession. I was strictly wholesale, so just selling to other retailers. I didn't have my own retail stores. I didn't have my own e-commerce at that point. Because my first business, The Hat Box, failed, I wasn't gonna go into retail again. I had sworn off retail. So I thought wholesale was safe until the recession hit, and I realized it was not safe, that all the power of my business laid in these other buyers, store owners, buyers for these department stores who were getting laid off, stores that were shuttering. I had no direct connection to my customer. I was letting everybody else sell my products for me. I wasn't selling them directly to her and finding out what she really wanted. So that 2008 recession was the greatest gift Kendra Scott ever had because it forced me to look at my business differently. My line of credit got called because... And, and I had paid everything on time, but I was considered high risk because of our category, so I had to find a local bank. I had to put everything I own up for collateral. I don't know. I joke. Like, I told my son, Cade, I go, "You might have been on that collateral list, baby."
11. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
12. KSKendra Scott
  I'm so glad things worked out, you know? I mean, it was like, "What do you need?" You know? Like, I was shoes off my feet. I was like, "I'll put whatever I've got. Just please take this loan." And fortunately, it was a female president of a, a local bank, Texas Capital Bank, that took my loan from a big bank. Um, and but that, but that moment I remember thinking, "I'm gonna lose this business." And I had someone, this woman, I wasn't a loan number to her. She had worn my jewelry for years. She knew who I was. She knew my hustle. She knew my drive. And when I looked her in the eye and I said to her, "I will pay this back and then some, Carrie," she knew I was going to do it, and she believed in me, and she took that loan. And I, I say that all the time. It's the relationships, right? And it's keeping your word and being consistent and s- do what you say you're gonna do.
13. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yep.
14. KSKendra Scott
  You know? And build that trust over time. But that was a scary time. But I opened my first retail
47:33 – 50:22
Embracing Authenticity in Business
1. KSKendra Scott
  store two years later in 2010 when everyone was shuttering on South Congress. Uh, I opened our first retail store, moved our offices right above that little store, so we all had to walk through the store to get to our offices. And I was like, "We are going to sit in this store, all 10 of us," because there was only 10 of us at the time, "and we're gonna learn from our customer every day. We're gonna find out what she loves, what she wants more of. This is gonna be our laboratory." I still didn't know we were gonna open retail stores after that. I thought we'd have this one retail store in Austin, and then we would just keep building our wholesale, and then I wanted to build e-commerce, so we built e-commerce and launched that the same time. But that store, there'd be lines around the block to come in. And I- I was like, "Hmm, maybe there's something to this retail brick-and-mortar thing." And here we are. A- gonna have 170 stores at the end of this year. But it was one store at a time. You know, when you look at the big thing, and like you said, you know, you can't eat a cake in one bite. Each store, that success gave me the opportunity to take the money and the funds to reinvest to look at the next opportunity, and the next opportunity, and I had to get it right, and I had to make sure the formula was right, and the presentation was right, and how we were selling was right, and the displays were right. And I didn't... Well, you don't rush it, right? You take your time, and you listen, and you learn, and then you act. And sometimes brands try to just act. They forget about the listen and learn part.
2. CSCodie Sanchez
  Mm-hmm.
3. KSKendra Scott
  And then they're like, "Well, why isn't this working? And this isn't falling apart, and this th- thing is not working." 'Cause we haven't taken the time to really give the patience that it takes to build a really strong business. It takes a lot of patience. Um, and we just did it thoughtfully, and we did it methodically, and we went where our customers were, not that was sexy, not where the sexy addresses were. Plano, Texas does not sound sexy to a lot of brands. That store was 1,500 square feet, and it was doing $7 million a year.
4. CSCodie Sanchez
  Whoa.
5. KSKendra Scott
  So I called it Plano Insano.
6. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
7. KSKendra Scott
  I'm like, I made T-shirts for our team. I was like, "That's where I wanna be."
8. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
9. KSKendra Scott
  Let's... Where are more Planos, you know?
10. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah.
11. KSKendra Scott
  Um, and so many businesses get caught up in, like, what they think, "Oh, this brand is here and here, so I have to be here and here." You gotta be where your customer is. Listen to where your customer wants you, and that's where you should go.
12. CSCodie Sanchez
  Such a good point. Yeah, I mean, it, it's so easy to fall into, like, what you think cool is too.
13. KSKendra Scott
  Totally.
14. CSCodie Sanchez
  You know, I remember falling into that too. It was not cool to get on the internet and talk about finance and private equity. It was way cooler when I was at Goldman-
15. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah
16. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... and I ran my own private equity firm, and I was fancy, and I wore all the things. And but then I realized, actually, I, I don't really wanna get rich quietly. I wanna be around a bunch of other people and maybe help them do the same thing-
17. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah
18. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... even if it's not as cool.
19. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
20. CSCodie Sanchez
  But that's a hard jump.
21. KSKendra Scott
  Oh, it's way cooler now.
22. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
23. KSKendra Scott
  Look at you.
24. CSCodie Sanchez
  It's cooler now.
25. KSKendra Scott
  It's way cooler now.
26. CSCodie Sanchez
  It's cooler now.
27. KSKendra Scott
  Come on.
28. CSCodie Sanchez
  But when I started out, they were like, "What are you doing? Are you TikTok dancing now? Have you lost all, you know, semblance of, of care?" But I, I am curious. Let's say that there's somebody listening right now.
29. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
30. CSCodie Sanchez
  And they're
50:22 – 55:32
The Inspiration Behind Yellow Rose
1. CSCodie Sanchez
  in the pain cave.
2. KSKendra Scott
  Mm-hmm.
3. CSCodie Sanchez
  They're struggling in their business. What would you say to them to get them out of that deep, dark hole?
4. KSKendra Scott
  So sometimes it's so hard when you're in the middle of the forest, in the weeds all around you, to get that 360 perspective, right? And to really... 'Cause we get in our minds. Like, I look at The Hat Box as the greatest lesson for me. I wanted hats. Hats were the thing. Everyone was gonna wear hats again like it was 1940. It had to be hats. What was working was the jewelry I was making and putting on the counter in the little case that was selling out the day, but in my brain, it was the hat idea. It was opening 100 Hat Box stores. I wasn't paying the attention to what was working until I closed that store and customers started calling me and saying, "I want a pair of earrings for the necklace I bought," and, "My sister loves the earrings I bought in your hat store." So I had went and got a job after I closed The Hat Box, and I was just side hustling making jewelry. But the point of that story is that when we're, we're in it, we can't always see it. And so to get yourself to almost have this, like, bird's eye view, like, just lift yourself out of that moment and really think about what's working, what's not working. Write it down. What are people... Where are you seeing some traction?
5. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah.
6. KSKendra Scott
  It may not be the original idea. It may not be what you thought it was going to be, but somewhere in there, there's something that is sparkling, something that's standing out. Now, focus all of your energy on that, even though it's hard because you're thinking, "Oh, but I spent all this time on this other part, and it was supposed to look like this and be this." It's sad, right, to put those things away and go, "Mm, I might need to put that in a drawer, and it's not working right now. But this little thing over here, something's happening over here. Maybe I should focus a little more time there. Maybe I should nurture that a little bit more." And I can't tell you how many business owners I have met that the thing, the little thing that they didn't think was the thing became the thing And the thing that they thought was the thing ended up being completely the opposite, and that is exactly who I am today. It sure wasn't hats. Now, I'm doing hats again with Yellow Rose, but it wasn't the hats.
7. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah, it's such a good point.
8. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
9. CSCodie Sanchez
  You know, we, we call it kill, kill your zombies.
10. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
11. CSCodie Sanchez
  Because just because it used to be alive doesn't mean it should always stay alive. Some things have gotta die.
12. KSKendra Scott
  And it's the hardest thing when you start a business or as an entrepreneur, it's like you become so attached, and it's so hard sometimes to let go of those things and dis-attach yourself from it-
13. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah
14. KSKendra Scott
  ... and be like, "Okay, I'm not going. That's not working."
15. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah.
16. KSKendra Scott
  And to have the vulnerability to say, "Okay, this is scary. This is new uncharted territory that I'm going into, but I've gotta let that go. I've gotta quit putting all this focus and attention on it 'cause it's not productive. Nothing is working there, so what am I gonna do to shift into something that can work?"
17. CSCodie Sanchez
  What made you start Yellow Rose? It's such a cool brand.
18. KSKendra Scott
  Thank you.
19. CSCodie Sanchez
  And not, not what I expected from, like, the Kendra Scott I originally knew.
20. KSKendra Scott
  Well, there's the two Kendra Scotts. So Kendra Scott, I'm the person, you know?
21. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
22. KSKendra Scott
  And, um, and I love color obviously. I love beautiful color gemstones. I've been designing for 23 years, and, and being here in Texas is such a big part of the design aesthetic and things that inspire me. And so vintage pieces of Kendra Scott have a lot of this Western inspiration and really cool, you know, kind of a... It's my love letter to Texas, so to speak. So I started bringing some of those vintage pieces back, and I was seeing such a resurgence with Western wear and obviously all of us watched, you know, all the shows, Yellowstone-
23. CSCodie Sanchez
  Oh, yeah
24. KSKendra Scott
  ... and all the things. And we- everybody was going Western. I mean, you even saw Louis Vuitton was going Western. I was like, "What's happening? They're French. We're Tex- I'm Texas."
25. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
26. KSKendra Scott
  "I know Western. I know Western." And part of my life is ranch life. I have a ranch in Wimberley, Texas. Um, it's my happy place. When I'm not, you know, in the boardroom, I'm in my boots in the barn. And I love this lifestyle, and I love vintage Western. So I would go and shop vintage all the time, and the cuts of the bell-bottoms and high-waisted jeans and the really beautiful Western-cut shirts that were fit just right and the pearl snaps and all the details. I could wear that look and still be very sophisticated. I could wear a Western-cut shirt-
27. CSCodie Sanchez
  Mm-hmm
28. KSKendra Scott
  ... and a gorgeous pair of trousers to a meeting in New York City, and people would go nuts. And so I knew there was a way to bring this style, this aesthetic, into the modern world and make it to where it's not just rodeo wear. This is wear that you could wear anywhere you go and look absolutely amazing. And I wanted a brand that put the woman, the cowgirl, front and center. Every other Western brand was cowboy first, and then the afterthought was, like, women.
29. CSCodie Sanchez
  That's true.
30. KSKendra Scott
  And a lot of the cuts were like taking a cow- a, a men's Western shirt and just making an extra small version of it. Well, a man's body and a woman's body are very different. We want better darts. We want it to fit different. And so for me, it was really about let's, let's figure out a way to do something that's so unique but doing it in a modern way, how I dress and how I, you know, express myself with this Texas style. And so that's how Yellow Rose came to life. And just like I talked about, we tested and we learned. We put it in the back of Kendra Scott flagship in a little back room, and we tested product, and we brought in collabs, and we brought in boots, and we brought in and did a collab with Wrangler to see, you know, what she liked in, you know, different
55:32 – 1:07:13
Working with Dolly Parton
1. KSKendra Scott
  denim, and we just learned for two years. We had a tiny house, and we took it to every rodeo and music festivals, and it was just all about creating experience for our customer and bringing this vision of this brand and just learning and learning and learning and seeing, is there something here? Before we're gonna just open stores and we're gonna put all this investment into it, is there an appetite? And there was a huge appetite. People were going crazy and st- you know, still are going crazy for the product. Um, and it's just really fun that this is a big part of who I am. So it's very authentic. It's part of my life. Yellow Rose Ranch is my other home, and to be able to bring people into the place that I love, my happy place, um, is really fun to be able to build a new brand at this stage.
2. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah, it was cool. I remember when you guys launched it, and there, uh, there were like, I, I believe, like, I don't know, a couple really cute girls carrying a bunch of yellow roses-
3. KSKendra Scott
  Uh, yeah
4. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... handing them out-
5. KSKendra Scott
  [laughs]
6. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... all over South Congress accompanied by, like, large horses-
7. KSKendra Scott
  Horses, for sure
8. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... and cowboys, I think.
9. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
10. CSCodie Sanchez
  I was like, "What is going on-
11. KSKendra Scott
  Of course
12. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... on South Congress?" And it was, it was you.
13. KSKendra Scott
  Well, I even, in New York City, when we went, this is before we had Yellow Rose, I mean, the yellow rose is the yellow rose of Texas, and when I moved to Texas, my stepfather met me at the gate. I was 16 years old with my mom, and he handed me a dozen yellow roses. And he said-
14. CSCodie Sanchez
  Oh
15. KSKendra Scott
  ... "This is the yellow rose of Texas, sweetheart," you know, "Welcome home." And every birthday I got yellow roses, and it just was very sentimental and meaningful to me. But yellow is our brand. Yellow is the color of happy. It's the ye- color of joy. So when we opened our Kendra Scott store in New York City, we brought yellow roses to the subway, hanging yellow roses in the subway, passing yellow roses out to people. This is even before Yellow Rose was a brand, but it was, like, our way of saying, "The yellow rose of Texas, we're in New York."
16. CSCodie Sanchez
  I love that.
17. KSKendra Scott
  "Texas is here," you know? Um-
18. CSCodie Sanchez
  It's just so smart. I mean, listening to this, I'm just like, God, if I'm an entrepreneur, I'm, like, writing down ideas. Like, how do we just take little things that are real stories in our life and integrate them? 'Cause nothing sells like a story. I mean, I love Elon's line that, um, "Salesmanship is showmanship."
19. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
20. CSCodie Sanchez
  And it's so true. If you wanna sell, you gotta show.
21. KSKendra Scott
  And you gotta be authentic, and like you said, we all have our own unique story. There's only one of us, okay?
22. CSCodie Sanchez
  Right.
23. KSKendra Scott
  And sometimes we wanna be like, "Oh, I don't want people to know that about me or this thing, this hard thing that I went through. I gotta polish up my persona." No, we want all that-
24. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah
25. KSKendra Scott
  ... because your unique story, all the tr- the struggles, the triumphs, all of the things have led you to where you are in your life. Talk about those things. Build a business around those things. Build a life around who you are. Don't try to be somebody else. Embrace who you are, and when you do, people will absolutely be attracted to that, 'cause they're gonna see authenticity. They're gonna see that it's real. And I said this earlier, people smell a fake.
26. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah.
27. KSKendra Scott
  You know? Be your real, authentic self, and it's so amazing what can happen.
28. CSCodie Sanchez
  What was it like to work with Dolly Parton?
29. KSKendra Scott
  Oh, my God, Codie.
30. CSCodie Sanchez
  I gotta ask. I mean, I saw the partnership and was just like, that's the peak.
1:07:13 – 1:11:14
Shark Tank and Entrepreneurial Insights
1. KSKendra Scott
  hat on, and I will mow for hours, Codie.
2. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
3. KSKendra Scott
  I will mow for hours and hours, and I'm so... It's quiet. It's peaceful. I can start to... I think about things. I don't listen to podcasts. I don't listen to music.
4. CSCodie Sanchez
  Wow.
5. KSKendra Scott
  I'm in my own head just kinda thinking about things I'm working on, whatever, making really nice straight lines with my mower. [laughs] I love that thing. I have two John Deere tractors now, okay?
6. CSCodie Sanchez
  That's amazing.
7. KSKendra Scott
  Little Johnny and Big Johnny.
8. CSCodie Sanchez
  Dude-
9. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah
10. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... we need to get a collab.
11. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
12. CSCodie Sanchez
  Kendra Scott, John Deere.
13. KSKendra Scott
  Don't worry. I'm, I'm talking to them.
14. CSCodie Sanchez
  [laughs]
15. KSKendra Scott
  [laughs]
16. CSCodie Sanchez
  It's Dolly and Deere. Honestly, this stuff writes itself. Like-
17. KSKendra Scott
  I mean-
18. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... they're gonna nail this
19. KSKendra Scott
  ... it's also, one of their colors is yellow.
20. CSCodie Sanchez
  Oh, it, it is.
21. KSKendra Scott
  So it's kind of yellow and green. I, I just am saying if they're listening, let's just keep talking, okay?
22. CSCodie Sanchez
  Exactly.
23. KSKendra Scott
  There's something there. There's something here.
24. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah. Well, that actually makes a ton of sense that, uh, you're super into the tractors.
25. KSKendra Scott
  Yes.
26. CSCodie Sanchez
  Because I actually hear you got a thing for boots, and there's, there's a little sneaky thing. I don't know. Are we allowed-
27. KSKendra Scott
  Oh
28. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... to talk about it?
29. KSKendra Scott
  I think we can just talk about it. It just happened. It's happening. Um, we're launching our own boot line. I've been working on it for over two years to make the perfect pair of boots. I have so many cowboy boots. When I am not in Manolos, I am in cowboy boots. I kick off my heels, and I literally throw my boots on, and I head to the ranch. So making the perfect cowboy boot was really important for me, doing beautiful leathers, the craftsmanship, the quality, all the things. They are stunning. They are gorgeous.
30. CSCodie Sanchez
  Amazing.
1:11:14 – 1:15:56
Final Thoughts
1. CSCodie Sanchez
  Daymond on not too long ago, and he was saying that socks and Suds, socks and the... What was that thing called? The face with the squeegee?
2. KSKendra Scott
  Oh, the, um-
3. CSCodie Sanchez
  The sp- socks and sponges-
4. KSKendra Scott
  Scrub Daddy
5. CSCodie Sanchez
  ... are the Scrub Daddy.
6. KSKendra Scott
  Scrub Daddy, yes.
7. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah, the two highest performing Shark Tank investments ever.
8. KSKendra Scott
  Yeah.
9. CSCodie Sanchez
  So maybe this will be round two socks.
10. KSKendra Scott
  I know. Well, and nothing would make me... I love Daymond.
11. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah.
12. KSKendra Scott
  But nothing would make me more excited if my socks do better than his socks.
13. CSCodie Sanchez
  Absolutely.
14. KSKendra Scott
  You know, it's like we're in a sock war.
15. CSCodie Sanchez
  You should have a sock war.
16. KSKendra Scott
  A sock war. [laughs]
17. CSCodie Sanchez
  He would like that, too. That dude seems competitive.
18. KSKendra Scott
  I love him so much, though.
19. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah.
20. KSKendra Scott
  I mean, he is one of my, honestly, one of my very best friends in the whole wide world, but I would love to, to-
21. CSCodie Sanchez
  To beat him
22. KSKendra Scott
  I would, you know?
23. CSCodie Sanchez
  He's also really funny. That's what I said.
24. KSKendra Scott
  Oh.
25. CSCodie Sanchez
  When I was hanging out with him, I was like, "I didn't realize how funny you are."
26. KSKendra Scott
  All the Sharks-
27. CSCodie Sanchez
  Are funny?
28. KSKendra Scott
  ... are so awesome and so funny, and you get... You see 'em on. There's, like, some things-
29. CSCodie Sanchez
  Yeah
30. KSKendra Scott
  ... on air that, you know, you're getting, right?