EVERY SPOKEN WORD
40 min read · 7,715 words- 0:00 – 1:16
In this video...
- SPSpeaker
every day there is a new fire, a new problem, problems on problems, and, like, you think you're gonna explode. Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
But it looks like you were dealing with a lot of online hate, people just shaming you, et cetera.
- SPSpeaker
People sent me the video of her wearing the Pure Wet skort. I went numb. I couldn't even feel anything. Swifties just started coming over. They found it, and then we get, like, 16,000 pre-orders for that one skort in that color. I absolutely hate AI. There have been instances where my videos are just stolen off of my page. They've used AI to actually change my face. I'm gonna keep fighting because it's not right. I can't work for free for somebody else. As a principle, I will never stop fighting.
- SPSpeaker
Hello, everyone. Welcome to Silicon Valley Girl. I have Blogilates today.
- SPSpeaker
Hi!
- SPSpeaker
I am so happy that you're here. We met in 2022, I think, the creator, uh-
- SPSpeaker
Summit
- SPSpeaker
... Creator Summit-
- SPSpeaker
Right, I remember
- SPSpeaker
... on YouTube. Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
And you were doing this Pilates thing in the morning-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... which was amazing, and I still have your mat.
- SPSpeaker
Oh, good!
- SPSpeaker
Which is a huge business for you. So I'm excited to chat about-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... AI-
- SPSpeaker
Yep
- SPSpeaker
... taking over everything.
- SPSpeaker
Ugh, yeah.
- SPSpeaker
And I'd love your take on what it's like to run a business in 2025 as a creator and also a woman.
- SPSpeaker
Mm, let's do it.
- SPSpeaker
So welcome, welcome to Silicon Valley Girl.
- SPSpeaker
Thank you. I'm
- 1:16 – 2:35
From fitness YouTube to fashion DTC: Blogilates vs Popflex
- SPSpeaker
so excited to be here.
- SPSpeaker
Can you tell me what's going on with your business right now?
- SPSpeaker
So there's two brands.
- SPSpeaker
Mm-hmm.
- SPSpeaker
There's Blogilates, which is the retail exclusive to Target brand, and just at the top of this year, we launched apparel at Target for the very first time. It was all... at all 1,800 stores in the very front gateway, which was-
- SPSpeaker
Wow
- SPSpeaker
... so cool because it really felt like winning the retail Super Bowl. Like, you just don't get those opportunities.
- SPSpeaker
Amazing, yeah.
- SPSpeaker
So that was fully manufactured by our team. We're the vendor. Um, that was a s- [chuckles] that was such a crazy thing to pull off because in under a year, we had to figure out how to produce 1.1 million units. Yeah, and we had never done-
- SPSpeaker
Wow
- SPSpeaker
... anything like that before. The Popflex brand is my DTC brand that we mostly sell online, um, and, and that one is at a higher price point, and really focused on innovation, um, and performance, and also just, like, testing all sorts of things. I would say the Target one is more activewear, whereas Popflex started out with activewear, and then has now evolved into swimwear and-
- SPSpeaker
Mm
- SPSpeaker
... underwear and, like, casual dresses and stuff. So I'm having a lot of fun playing around with innovation over there.
- SPSpeaker
That's, that's amazing that you have kinda just similar, but at the same time, uh,
- 2:35 – 4:52
How pricing & product strategy works across both brands
- SPSpeaker
different brands.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
How does it work when you think about launching a new product? Which brand does it go to?
- SPSpeaker
Popflex is where the innovation begins-
- SPSpeaker
Mm-hmm
- SPSpeaker
... where I get to have fun. Nobody tells me what I have to do or, or, or can't do. Well, actually, no, the customers tell me what I have to do. [chuckles] And so I love going into the comments and figuring out, hey, what are they looking for? What problems do they need solving with? Um, but with Popflex, we innovate, we product develop, we try it out. And then with Target, um, pretty much the, the playbook right now is that we take what works really well with Popflex, and I redesign it so that it can hit a lower price point for-
- SPSpeaker
Mm
- SPSpeaker
... the Target audience, which has been really great because one of the biggest complaints we get about Popflex is, "It's too expensive. I can't afford it," and, like, specifically-
- SPSpeaker
Mm
- SPSpeaker
... "Please launch at Target." And so when that happened this past January, it was... It worked. It- I... And I was afraid, though, because here's the thing: you launch with a brand at a higher price point, um, and then my, my next question was, is launching a brand at half the price point going to cannibalize my original brand?
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
Right? And this was really just up in the air. We didn't know. But the weird thing is, when we launched at Target for Blogilates, it actually in- helped increase revenue for Popflex, which is crazy.
- SPSpeaker
Interesting.
- SPSpeaker
But if you think about it, it was like marketing. Being in front of the store, everyone got to see it. Things sold out so quick. There were, like, three specific styles that 90% of the inventory sold out within three days. It was insane.
- SPSpeaker
Fascinating.
- SPSpeaker
It's crazy. But then on the tag, on the tag, it tells a little bit of a story about me, and it says, "CEO and head designer of Popflex and Blogilates," and so people can go and figure out, "Oh, maybe there's more if I can't get it here." So I think it was really, really great for legitimacy, um-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... as a brand and as a designer.
- SPSpeaker
How do the margins work? So with Target, you get a licensing fee, or you get, like... How, how does it work in general?
- SPSpeaker
Okay, that's a really good question. Um, so with the apparel, it wasn't licensing. That was fully, like, we are the vendor. So essentially, we are selling wholesale to Target-
- SPSpeaker
Mm
- SPSpeaker
... and then they mark up how they decide to mark up-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... in the front. However, there is a fitness section where you see the yoga mats and the dumbbells and things. That is a, a licensing deal, and so I get paid a percent royalty on-
- SPSpeaker
Mm-hmm
- SPSpeaker
... on that, but the apparel is all manufactured by us.
- SPSpeaker
Got it.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
In
- 4:52 – 5:41
Revenue breakdown: why she quit brand deals
- SPSpeaker
terms of revenue split, what does your business look like these days?
- SPSpeaker
Okay, so this is a really interesting question because us both coming from the creator space, from the YouTube space, it is not what most people would think it is.
- SPSpeaker
Not like Google AdSense? [chuckles]
- SPSpeaker
Yeah. I had just talked to my husband, who's also the CEO of the company. I was like, "Oh, wait, let- let's, like, look at these numbers again." It's actually less than 1% of our revenue comes from anything related to, like, uh, ads or pre-rolls or anything like that, or brand deals, because I do not do brand deals anymore. And let me tell you, [chuckles] I'm so happy about that because honestly, any tension that came between me and my husband were, like, about, "Stick to the brand deal guidelines," and, "They told you to do this," but I'm like, "But I did do that," and he's like, "But legal says..." And it was, like, so much. Like, I hate that. So yeah, um, over 99% of our revenue comes from the apparel businesses.
- MMMarina Mogilko
... I really loved
- 5:41 – 7:42
The role of email, content & storytelling in sales
- MMMarina Mogilko
what Cassey said right here. You do not grow a brand like Popflex or Blogilates without being truly authentic. You have to be connected to your audience, and you have to be telling them stories all the time through different mediums. And that me brings to something I talk a lot about in our business, email marketing. For us, email marketing has been historically generating around 20% of all the sales when it comes to LinguaTrip, when it comes to my school where I'm, where I'm helping international creators build their businesses, and this is where we tell our stories in text. And keeping that channel strong is non-negotiable. That's why I can recommend a platform called Omnisend. It's an all-in-one marketing platform for email, SMS, pop-ups, push notifications, and segmentation with one very intuitive dashboard. With 150,000 businesses using Omnisend, it's not just a tool to send emails, it's where you build relationships with your customers. It's where you learn what groups of customers you have, and you learn how to communicate with them better. There are a few things that I love the most about Omnisend. First of all, it's pricing. You can start for free. You only scale when your business does, and you don't have to pay for features that you're not using. There's support. Even on their free plan, you get 24/7 support. A customer representative gets back to you in minutes, which is crucial. Im- imagine you have a sale going on and something is not working, you need someone to fix it right away, and Omnisend customer support is there for you. And third, the platform is really clean and intuitive. If you're sending a launch email, just use your campaign type, write a short, punchy subject line, like "How to not lose your job in the age of AI", fill in your info, pick a template, customize, hit send, and you're done. So if you're launching activewear, like Cassey, or you're launching something else, email is still powering DTC, direct-to-consumer, and Omnisend makes it effortless. Check out the link in the description. Use code SBGGIRL30 to get 30% off your first three months. All right, back to our
- 7:42 – 11:37
What works in marketing: organic content, community & behind-the-scenes
- MMMarina Mogilko
interview. In terms of marketing, what works these days?
- SPSpeaker
For marketing, it's organic, which is also very different than a traditional DTC online brand, who, from what I hear, they rely heavily on, you know, meta ads and things like that.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
So luckily for me, because I do come from a content creator background, I really enjoy making content, and so you probably have seen some of these videos where I'm talking about the design, um, the why, where it came from, what problem we're solving. I show them the actual sketch throughout the development, some samples, things that didn't work out. And taking people on the journey behind a product is really interesting, and I didn't think it would be, but people are really interested. And what's crazy is that what is a fun piece of content for me to film, edit, voiceover... And by the way, I still do all of that myself, which is kind of crazy.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Wow!
- SPSpeaker
I know, I know, I know it's, like, really-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm
- SPSpeaker
... unconventional. [chuckles] It's, it's really hard. It's too much going on at once, but, like, one 60-second video takes about nine hours to make, and I am literally the one editing in CapCut and InShot on my phone, but I choose to do this.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm-hmm.
- SPSpeaker
Everyone's like, "Cassey, you need to get an editor," and I had that life before. I had the life of horizontal content, long-form fitness videos. We had an editor. We'd come back... You know, you go in, um, I forget what that program is, but, you know, put the notes and everything.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm-hmm.
- SPSpeaker
But that, I lost the joy in all that, and being able to talk about the product and the design, 'cause each design feels like my baby, has brought the joy back into editing for me.
- MMMarina Mogilko
How many videos a week?
- SPSpeaker
Um, I'm averaging one right now, but sometimes I feel like it-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm-hmm
- SPSpeaker
... I can do, like, two, but it's a lot because it's like I'm part content creator, part CEO and head designer. And so, like, during the normal workday, I have the normal meetings, and product development calls, and fittings, and things like that. It's only after hours when I can, like, sit in the corner of the couch-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... and, like, I'm just editing for, like, seven hours straight until my hands cramp. Um, but anyway, what I was trying to say is that the organic videos, they work and they sell. Like, sometimes a video goes viral, the thing can sell out within a few hours, which is insane. Um, so that's working for us, which is very atypical of a DTC business. Now, that's the Blogilates, and this is where it gets confusing. So I started out on YouTube with the screen name Blogilates. So essentially, these days, I think if people started out, it'd be, like, @casseyho or something. So anyway, Blogilates is my, my channels across the board. So I make my content for my pages. Nobody touches that. However, I will say that there is a Popflex IG, and YouTube, and TikTok, and that is a separate marketing team, so we have videos go over there, too. And I will say bo- organic videos on both sides really do sell really, really well. And one type of organic video that sells well on the Popflex side is what we produce at what we call a content house.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm-hmm.
- SPSpeaker
And so we reach out to women in our community, sizes extra, extra small, all the way to 3X, so that's nine different sizes, and we put the girls in, like, the same, uh, baby doll dress or something, and they all get to walk out, model, and now people get to see, "Oh, this is what someone like me might look like. Okay, that's a medium, that's a 1X, that's a size small." And it's really fun to, like, create with our community, so that, that also sells really, really well.
- MMMarina Mogilko
And how, how does it work? So you just DM your customers, like, "Hey, do you wanna be in the video?" Or...
- SPSpeaker
So we do an open casting call. We do an open casting call.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Oh, wow.
- SPSpeaker
People have to send in videos-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm-hmm
- SPSpeaker
... 'cause honestly, it's not just even about, like, the modeling. It's about the personality, the-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... charisma, like, what shows through the screen, right? And also, the girls having a good time with each other because they're all nice and kind. And so luckily, the ones that we have put on, everyone is just so excited to be there. Um, of course, they get compensated through pay, but also they get to keep all the clothes-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm
- SPSpeaker
... that they get that day that haven't been released, so that's super exciting for them, too. Yeah, so on the organic side, that is what's working for Blogilates and then for Popflex.
- 11:37 – 12:56
How one micro-creator boosted sales overnight
- SPSpeaker
But I will say something really interesting we should talk about is TikTok Lives.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm-hmm. Oh-
- SPSpeaker
Uh, yeah
- MMMarina Mogilko
... that's a huge thing these days, right?
- SPSpeaker
Huge! Oh, my God. Okay, so this was wild. Sam and I went on a little weekend trip, and we were just checking, like, Shopify sales, and we're like, "W-"... whoa, did someone just mention something? Like, what's going on?" We started seeing, like, all these pirouette skorts, which is the skort that Taylor Swift wore, um, and my patented skort. Just, like, for whatever reason, it was just going, like, up, and we're like, "What's going on?" We couldn't figure it out. So we go on Slack, we're messaging everyone like, "Hey, did s- look, did something happen? Did someone mention us?" And we find out there's this girl with 1,900 followers on TikTok, so she's not, like, really a big c-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Wow
- SPSpeaker
... a big content creator at all or a creator at all. She has gone live for, like, five or six hours, and she's just showing the skort that she's wearing and answering questions, and she brought a huge spike that day.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Oh, wow!
- SPSpeaker
It was insane. There's something about, like... I don't know, like, this is also another conversation, but, like, I feel like as the influencer industry has evolved, it's like consumers have lost trust in it because it's become almost like this fancy pedestal-like thing, whereas a normal girl with 1,900 followers, she's gonna tell you the truth. Like-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm
- SPSpeaker
... or at least that's the perception, right? And she sold some skirts, so that was crazy.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Talk to
- 12:56 – 15:05
The Taylor Swift viral moment — behind the scenes
- MMMarina Mogilko
me about Taylor.
- SPSpeaker
Oh, my God!
- MMMarina Mogilko
How did that happen?
- SPSpeaker
Okay, so I am a huge Taylor Swift fan. I've been listening to her music since 2008, "Teardrops On My Guitar," and she's honestly, like, my favorite musician, singer-songwriter, and honestly, businesswoman. [lips smack] So, um, when [chuckles] on April 19th of last year, people sent me the video of her wearing the pirouette skort, I went numb. I, like, couldn't even believe it. I couldn't even feel anything because I was feeling everything. Do you know what I'm saying?
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
Like, I basically died, and it was insane, um, one, because that was, like, ultimate dream fulfilled. Like, it- out of any celebrity in the world, if there was one person I wanted to wear Popflex, it would be her, and it happened, which is so crazy.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Did you, did you send it to her-
- SPSpeaker
No!
- MMMarina Mogilko
... like a PR or-
- SPSpeaker
No, no, no, no, no. People ask me all the time, "Oh, did you send it to her?" Like, no. Like, Taylor Swift is a billionaire. She can buy whatever she wants, right? And also, she's very intentional with what she buys. So sometimes I wonder, I wonder, like, did she know all the stuff I was going through, fighting for, you know, the rights to protect my design in the same way that she protects her music? Or did she just see it on TikTok and she liked it and she bought it? I will never know.
- MMMarina Mogilko
What happened to sales?
- SPSpeaker
Oh, yeah. Okay, so-
- MMMarina Mogilko
[chuckles]
- SPSpeaker
... that digital lavender pirouette skort sold out within one hour on the website. Like, Swifties just started coming over. They found it, and when Taylor Swift Style, the Instagram account, like, confirmed it, that's when the sales started coming in, like, wild. And then within two hours, every single color of that skort started selling out. Um, and then we're like, "Uh, okay, well, what do we do," right? Because we're getting all this traffic, like, we gotta do something. And we usually never do a presale, but we're like, "Okay, may- maybe it's time to do a presale. I don't know." So immediately, we put a presale up that night, um, and then we get, like, 16,000 pre-orders for that one skort in that color.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Wow.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah, which was insane. And then we had to work really hard to get that reorder up and going because, you know, we've got to weave the fabric, dye the fabric, cut and sew. Like, it's a whole process.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Of course.
- SPSpeaker
Um, and people eventually got it a few months later, and I'm just so happy. [chuckles] It's so amazing.
- MMMarina Mogilko
That's amazing. Such a cool moment. Okay, with
- 15:05 – 17:01
Burnout, hiring, and the emotional load of leading a lean team
- MMMarina Mogilko
all the crazy things-
- SPSpeaker
[chuckles]
- MMMarina Mogilko
... that you're telling me, have you ever had thoughts like, "Let's just Sam, your husband-
- SPSpeaker
Oh
- MMMarina Mogilko
... handle everything, and I will just enjoy life?" [chuckles]
- SPSpeaker
You know what? Sam says that to me all the time. He is... He's often tired, and he's like: "What, what if, [chuckles] what if we just, like, chilled out for a second? What, what if all this growth was enough, you know?"
- MMMarina Mogilko
[chuckles]
- SPSpeaker
"Like, what if we just sailed?" But, like, it's the way my ra- my parents raised me. I'm just like, "Nothing's ever good enough," and, like, "We must keep growing." And, and to be honest, like, it's fun, but at the same time, I do feel, especially this year, you know, running two different brands, I am exhausted. I'm exhausted mentally, um, often emotionally, too, because not only am I dealing with bigger problems with the business as we grow our team, I'm now taking on the emotional toll of what my team's going through. So if they're tired, then I'm tired for them, and so, uh, yeah, it's extremely exhausting. And I think what is not helpful, but may be helpful, is that the way in which we hire is... [lips smack] I think it's different than how other businesses may hire. I, I hire slowly because I've been through toxic employee periods, and I, I'm terrified. I'm terrified of that 'cause that can crumble everything, and it almost did in, like, 2017, 2018 times. Um, and so th- any fractures that we're seeing right now, they're stress fractures, and it's coming from our growth is outpacing the pace at which I'm hiring, and so that's something that I'm trying to deal with right now. Like, I know there are good people out there, but it's not just about the skill, it's about the culture fit, and what we have on the team right now is so good-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm-hmm
- SPSpeaker
... and I'm just terrified of breaking what we have.
- MMMarina Mogilko
How many people do you have?
- SPSpeaker
So we have 30 people right now. Mm-hmm, and-
- MMMarina Mogilko
That's so cool.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
That's a really lean team.
- SPSpeaker
Very lean, very lean for what we do. I think that's why we're all really tired. [laughing]
- MMMarina Mogilko
[chuckles] Yeah. D-
- 17:01 – 19:16
Why she hates AI
- MMMarina Mogilko
what do you think is gonna happen with AI? What is your take?
- SPSpeaker
Ah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Are you automating things? What apps are you using?
- SPSpeaker
So [chuckles] my husband, uh, is a very, uh... He's a fan of ChatGPT, um, but me, coming from more of a designer, artist background, I absolutely hate AI when it comes to stealing from original artwork, because AI would not be able to do what it's doing without pulling from previous work. So in that aspect, I absolutely hate it. I think there needs to be some type of royalty built in or something so that if you are taking inspiration from, you know, whoever artist, and you have to type in that person's name to get that look, then just based on that alone, okay, 5% needs to go back to original artist, or 10%, or whatever.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm-hmm.
- SPSpeaker
I think that needs to be in place, then I think people would be less mad. But right now, it's, like, totally Wild West with AI. That's how I feel on that front. Um, but in terms of, like, you know-... travel plans and like-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... fun little searches here and there. It's helpful. I'm, I'm warming up to it, but, like, on the artist side, I absolutely hate it.
- MMMarina Mogilko
But do you see it helping you stay lean with your team, like, because you're utilizing more AI tools, or it's not there yet?
- SPSpeaker
No, I- right now, I don't really see, at least with- on, on the apparel and, um, the apparel and product development side, I don't- I really don't see how it can help us right now. Um, I think we've dabbled in a little bit of, bit of it with the copy on our website. Um, there probably are different areas we could start using it. I think there could be... 'Cause what I'm seeing right now as we're growing our design and development team, there seems to be, like, this lack of new, young people in the technical designer space. 'Cause I think everyone wants to be a fashion designer or a graphic designer, but, like, technical design is really like architecture of clothing. It's very mathematical, very science, and I just wonder, that's probably a good area for AI to, like, begin helping, especially if the young people don't wanna get into that field. Like, I'm, I'm actually having a lot of trouble hiring in that specific-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm
- SPSpeaker
... role.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Interesting.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah, so maybe, maybe someone will come up with something to help with pattern making.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Cool.
- SPSpeaker
That makes it easier.
- 19:16 – 23:40
Dealing with copycats, dupes & big retailers
- SPSpeaker
And I, and I know that's probably different than how more of the, the techie people feel about it, but it's just because I've been so burned and taken advantage of just even without AI, or no, actually with AI, in terms of my, my patented products, too. And like, uh, you know, they've been duped by the Sheins, multiple vendors on Amazon, TikTok Shop, and these days, the big American retailers have gotten in on the game, which is insane. Right now, um, I'm dealing with Nordstrom Rack, TJ Maxx, Kohl's, JCPenney, just recently VS Pink, as in Victoria's Secret, and these are patented products. And what I'm dealing with right now is that, you know, I pay thousands of dollars to get my design patent, um, approved, and o- obviously, it doesn't automatically get approved. You have to approve a lot of different things. Anyway, pay thousands of dollars. The USPTO issues me a design patent. You would think that's enforceable, and for the most part, it kind of is, but when you get to the stage of having to deal with big billion-dollar corporations, it's now a money game. Because do I have any type of police helping me enforce this patent? No, actually, it's me paying, uh, thousands of dollars an hour for my lawyers to talk to their lawyers, and this is kind of where I am right now, and it's extremely frustrating because, you know, it, it's my artwork, my work for free, them capitalizing off of work that they've stolen from me. So that's how I feel about that. And in terms of AI, there have been instances where my videos are just stolen off of my page. They've used AI to actually change my face.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Oh, yeah-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- MMMarina Mogilko
... happens to me all the time. Oh, my God!
- SPSpeaker
And you, and you promote a scam with your face.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah!
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Oh, my God.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
No, it's crazy.
- SPSpeaker
And they can't do anything, the platforms, 'cause they just hand you accounts.
- MMMarina Mogilko
They're hands off.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
So what, what happens when bigger companies, they steal your patent, you try to sue them or talk to them, have you ever been able to win something, or it just goes like that?
- SPSpeaker
[chuckles] Well, right now, my immediate goal is get it off the website or get it off, uh, the, the platform, and it's completely a game of Whac-A-Mole. And what the problem is, is that the platform puts it on the small business, the creator, whatever, because they're hands off.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm-hmm.
- SPSpeaker
So you fill out this form, and it's such a long form, but you fill it out, like, [chuckles] multiple times a day. Like, just for example, the other week, just on that pirouette skort that I was talking about, the one that Taylor wore, um, I think there were, oh, what was it? Like, 233 or 433, I should look again, dupes- separate dupe listings of that one skort on TikTok Shop alone.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Wow.
- SPSpeaker
I'm not even talking about Amazon, okay?
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm.
- SPSpeaker
I'm not talking about Temu. I'm not talking about AliExpress. That was just TikTok Shop. And my frustration with it is, okay, sure, we could be losing, you know, money from whatever that we could have made from the real thing. However, my bigger fear is that it cheapens the design.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm-hmm.
- SPSpeaker
You see it now everywhere. It's no longer special, and then confusion. I mean, I've even had fans DM me and be like, "Oh, do you also run this sub-brand?" Because they've not only copied the designs, they've copied my marketing, too. Even the angles of where I film, hiring a model with my body type and my skin color. Like, it gets so deep and so confusing that it ends up hurting the brand reputation. And I've actually had people, what I think, bought from one of these fake videos, right? It links over to their stupid dropship website. They buy it, and the pictures are my model pictures, my description, whatever, so they're t- completely duped. Then they'll receive the product and then come back to my page and blame me for-
- MMMarina Mogilko
And complain.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah, slow shipping, bad quality, like, things they call out that, like-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm
- SPSpeaker
... is not even on the real product. Like, that's the level of confusion that is so dangerous and tarnishing to our brand.
- MMMarina Mogilko
But it feels like at this point, it, it became part of the culture, and-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- MMMarina Mogilko
... there's, I don't know if you can do anything [chuckles] about it.
- 23:40 – 27:35
How online hate shaped her journey — and why she left fitness content
- SPSpeaker
Yeah. And I wanna see-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Talk to me about that-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- MMMarina Mogilko
... 'cause you also, uh, well, you stopped posting, right, the long form?
- SPSpeaker
Mm.
- MMMarina Mogilko
And I've, uh, from what I've read, it looks like-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- MMMarina Mogilko
... you were dealing with a lot of online hate.
- SPSpeaker
Uh-huh.
- MMMarina Mogilko
And, like, people just shaming you, et cetera.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Uh, do you think you stopped because of that, or was there any other reason?
- SPSpeaker
That was a big part of it. So I've never really talked about this officially, so I'm glad you brought it up. Um, so I used to make long-form fitness videos since 2009 as a Pilates instructor.
- MMMarina Mogilko
That is crazy, though.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah, 2009.
- MMMarina Mogilko
2009?
- SPSpeaker
Isn't that insane?
- MMMarina Mogilko
Like... [chuckles] Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
So I did that because I wanted to stay connected with my real-life students, and it was meant for 40 people. I put up a video for them 'cause I was moving from LA to Boston for my first job, and that's it. I wasn't planning to start a YouTube channel. I was weren't- wasn't starting a brand, nothing like that. You couldn't even make money on YouTube back then. And then that video ended up getting thousands of views and hundreds of comments, and Blogilates became, like, this fitness channel and community.... and what I didn't expect, because this never happens in real life, was for people to say something negative about my body. 'Cause if anything, I'll tell you, I was afraid they'd be like, "Oh, she's not pointing her toes enough. Her legs aren't straight enough. Ugh, like, her form is bad." Never got any of those comments. The first mean comments I got were, "Oh, why is she so fat? Why is her butt so flat? Ugh, why does she look like that?" And having grown up chubby and having to deal with my own, like, body insecurities, that just hit me [chuckles] so deep in a place that I wasn't ready to, like... I w- I was barely even healing from it inside, and now I'm having to heal-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm
- SPSpeaker
... or not even heal, but just, like, deal with it head-on, um, in front of millions of people.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
And so that was just a constant thing that was happening in the background, but that wasn't why I, I stopped everything, if I'm being completely honest. I was no longer feeling emotionally and mentally challenged with my content. And just as the person that I am, and content being an extension of who I am, not just something that I do, I want to find the joy in it. And towards the end of when I posted my last long-form video, which is probably, like, 2021, I wanted to show people more of the other things I was doing. Like, yes, I was doing, uh, the fitness videos that you saw, but in the background, I was running an apparel business, and I wanted to show people that side of me. And so my first short-form video was just showing people, like, oh, the science behind camel toe, like, why does that happen?
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm-hmm.
- SPSpeaker
And I was honestly really surprised that it did well, and I was like, "Oh, maybe I can try to make more of these." And they ended up working, they ended up selling the product, and they ended up helping me show a different side of myself. And like I said at the top of this interview, it brought the joy back into the editing for me. And so I also... I switched my content for me so that I could feel happy with, um, what I was producing and, and also challenged with what I was producing.
- MMMarina Mogilko
But have you ever feared that going back will not generate as much views as it used to, or you're never going back to long-form?
- SPSpeaker
Well, here's the thing. I've never s- made an official announcement, because who knows? Like, maybe I will one day wanna be like, "Oh, let's just, like, do a squat challenge or something." Like, that's still there. Um, in this moment right now, I'm just so in love with product development and design that that's the content that I wanna make.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
Um, and should I go back? Like, let's see. I think the other day... Uh, not the other day, the other month, when I was, um, launching the, the Blogilates for Target brand, I taught a fitness class in front of a group of people, which I haven't done in a long time, and it was super fun. Like, that part of me will always be here, 'cause I've been teaching since, like, 2000 and, like, 6. So, um, that group fitness instructor, Cassey, will never go away. I love fitness. I work out every single morning. That's part of my routine. I just really needed a break from that. Um, but, but I will say, too, the moment that I
- 27:35 – 30:10
Dealing with online hate
- SPSpeaker
switched from fitness content to fashion content, not one person has said one negative thing about my body, which made me realize, oh, man, I was dealing with a lot of toxic, like-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... negativity for a long time, feeling so bad about my body for a long time, and it was like I was in the wrong industry.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah, and I just-
- MMMarina Mogilko
But also-
- SPSpeaker
I didn't look like the other girls.
- MMMarina Mogilko
You probably get negative comments still, right? Probably now about your business. [chuckles]
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah?
- SPSpeaker
It, it's... Like, well, here's the thing. They, they don't attack my body, which is like-
- MMMarina Mogilko
They just switch to a different topic. [chuckles]
- SPSpeaker
But they, they might attack... Yeah, they might attack, like, "Oh, your skorts are too short." Like-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... okay, like, I can deal with that.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm-hmm.
- SPSpeaker
Um, what I can't deal with, though, is some- one ti- this is the worst one. I remember they attacked... This is back in the fitness days. One of the comments was, "Oh, if you cared more about your career, you would lose some weight." And that one hurt so much, because not only did it attack my body, it attacked my work ethic, and nobody attacks my work ethic, 'cause I work so hard.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
And so if any comment today, um, you know, say what you want about the apparel. Everyone is subjective and has their own, you know, likes and stuff, but say anything about my, my, my work ethic, and that, that really hurts because it's just untrue. Um, but, you know, with the negative comments from back in the day, there was a video that I made, forget when it was, like, probably 2015 or 2016, where I honestly could not take it anymore 'cause it was coming from every angle. Um, and I really was crumbling on the inside, and so what I did was I took all these negative comments, and I produced this video called "The Perfect Body," where I photoshopped on camera how these comments wanted me to look: thinner waist, bigger boobs, bigger butt, um, bigger eyes even, right? And that, for me, was something I needed to do for myself to heal. Because when I heal, I like taking the negative energy, turning it s- turning it on its head, and turning it into something positive. So I put that video out for me. What I didn't expect was for it to go crazy viral. I think that was, like, my first crazy viral video that got on, like, Good Morning America, on, like, every single news out... Like, it was insane, and I got messages from fathers telling me they shared it with their daughters and their wives, and it, it had, like, this profound impact. And around 2016 was also, like, the body-positive movement, and so I think during that time, that's kind of just what everyone needed. So there was good-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... that came out of those
- 30:10 – 31:36
Advice to creators facing online hate
- SPSpeaker
negative comments, but man, they, they really hurt.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Can you give advice to girls, or anyone-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- MMMarina Mogilko
... going online these days, trying to make something and getting all this hate, and maybe they're thinking of stopping-
- SPSpeaker
Mm
- MMMarina Mogilko
... um, to do what they're doing because of that?
- SPSpeaker
Here's the thing. If you really believe in what you're doing, and you're not hurting anyone, and you're having a fun time, just do it, right? Like, at the core of all of this, we can't keep going unless we're having fun, right? 'Cause we're the content creator. Um, but in these comments, some of them are hateful, but some of them can have a little bit of truth. So-... I read all my comments all the time.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Oh, you still do?
- SPSpeaker
Oh, my God, yes! Do you not?
- MMMarina Mogilko
Really? I read them for the first couple hours, 'cause I know these are my loyal subscribers-
- SPSpeaker
Uh-huh, uh-huh
- MMMarina Mogilko
... watching, but then when the video goes viral, like, I don't really care. [chuckles]
- SPSpeaker
Oh, yeah, it, it's too much. It's too much.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah. [chuckles]
- SPSpeaker
I a- agree, on the first few hours-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... like, reading everything in and writing back. 'Cause it's fun, 'cause you-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah, it's fun
- SPSpeaker
... connect.
- MMMarina Mogilko
These are your friends, really.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah!
- MMMarina Mogilko
This is your community. But then if it starts getting more traction than average-
- SPSpeaker
Oh
- MMMarina Mogilko
... then all these people come in and, like, start commenting on my age, whatever.
- SPSpeaker
Oh, my God.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Ugh.
- SPSpeaker
Well, when it gets to the wrong side of the internet, it's bad.
- MMMarina Mogilko
But it-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- MMMarina Mogilko
... when it's viral, [chuckles] when it's-
- 31:36 – 33:05
Why content drives 70% of her revenue
- MMMarina Mogilko
So if you stop making your short videos today, how would that affect your sales?
- SPSpeaker
Ooh, I think that would affect the sales. 'Cause right now, around I think 70% of the revenue is brought in by organic videos. Yeah, whether it's organic videos by-
- MMMarina Mogilko
By you or-
- SPSpeaker
By me. By, by Blogilates, like me, or by, um, the Popflex organic videos, but mostly by @blogilates videos.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Oh, that is huge.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
70%.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
That's a lot.
- SPSpeaker
I know. It's very, very different than, um, normal DTC brands that rely on the ads.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah. So it's good, but also, again, if I stopped-
- MMMarina Mogilko
So you feel the pressure? [chuckles]
- SPSpeaker
If I stopped, um, I, I... Look, I think there would be an impact, but I don't think the brand would die, because our SMS, as well as our newsletter, does really, really well. Like, the click-through and the open rate are really high. People love it. Honestly, what's been really cool to see is that sometimes people might follow Popflex but not follow me, or, like, they might know Popflex but not know me, and I really like that. Because that's showing that this is a brand beyond, you know, any influencer influence-
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah
- SPSpeaker
... or just, you know, a- anything that has to do with Cassey Ho. Because my goal is for Popflex to become a legacy brand that lives on for hundreds of years after I die, and that foundation for this type of brand and this type of product needs to start now while I'm still alive, right?
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm-hmm.
- SPSpeaker
So, um, yeah, but, but if I did stop, it, it would make an
- 33:05 – 34:22
UGC fatigue & what actually performs now
- SPSpeaker
impact. [chuckles] Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
So your number-one marketing strategy would be your content, and second, the content that your brand produces. Are you tapping into UGC or live shopping?
- SPSpeaker
Uh, so personally, I haven't done the live shopping myself. I should try it, though.
- MMMarina Mogilko
You should try it.
- SPSpeaker
I should try it.
- MMMarina Mogilko
You'd be perfect for it.
- SPSpeaker
You know what?
- MMMarina Mogilko
You'll see... I, I think you'll see another update. [chuckles]
- SPSpeaker
Okay, okay. I should try it.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
I should try it. I also like... I like being in front of the camera. It's fun. Um, uh, what was it?
- MMMarina Mogilko
UGC.
- SPSpeaker
UGC. So, okay, I don't know about you, but I think UGC is trending down over the past few years.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm.
- SPSpeaker
They've become less effective for our brand.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm.
- SPSpeaker
Okay? Because it feels... There's something about it that feels too produced or something like that, and like, we, we... You know, I, I would say three years ago, when UGC was, like, super new and brands were u- using it instead of, like, highly, uh, produced content, it, it was interesting. But now, I don't know, I- it just, it doesn't feel as authentic. What feels authentic right now are team content videos. So, like, I'll have the marketing team come to my house, and, like, we'll film, like, some fun videos and stuff, and, like, that does well for us. And then also the, the content house videos, where we bring our customers over in nine sizes, and we wear the same dress, and we model around. But yeah, for some reason, like, UGC, and it- just in the likes that I'm seeing on the IG posts, like, not as good as they
- 34:22 – 36:30
Adapting with the algorithm — and staying resilient
- SPSpeaker
used to be.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Interesting.
- SPSpeaker
The reason why Blogilates has been around for so long is because I ebb and flow with the algorithm, with the trends. You just don't know.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm.
- SPSpeaker
Like, is TikTok gonna be here in the next 90 days? Like, I don't know.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
It seems to be changing all the time. So I'll change as it changes, but I can't really tell you how I'll change, because [chuckles] it's kinda dictated by the, the social media environment. Even in the failing, we're [chuckles] gonna figure something out, 'cause we have to. That's-
- MMMarina Mogilko
I love that.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
I love that.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
It actually gives you some confidence, like-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah, of course! Like, you've made it this far. Like, what's stopping you from, like, figuring it out again and again and again? Like, I feel like every- literally every day there is a new fire, a new problem, problems on problems, and, like, you think you're gonna explode, but you don't, and you just figure it out, as painful as it is, and you get stronger for it.
- MMMarina Mogilko
True.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
I read, I think it's on Wikipedia-
- SPSpeaker
Uh-huh
- MMMarina Mogilko
... your father's quote-
- SPSpeaker
Mm
- MMMarina Mogilko
... when you told him you want to be a designer-
- SPSpeaker
Yeah
- MMMarina Mogilko
... and he said you're not gonna have friends and, and money.
- SPSpeaker
Oh, yeah. Uh-huh.
- MMMarina Mogilko
W- what does he say now?
- SPSpeaker
Uh, unfortunately, this is a, uh, an area where I still need to improve our relationship.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm.
- SPSpeaker
Um, uh, and honestly, we're not really talking too much right now. Yeah, and I think a lot of this goes back to... [sighs] I was always the obedient daughter. I always did what my parents wanted, and when I finally decided to live for myself in college, and, you know, drop out of that last class I needed to take the MCAT and, you know, possibly apply to med school, I think that was really disrespectful for them. Um, and I became this, like, rebellious person, and unfortunately, uh, regardless of everything that's happened now... My, my mom's different, but my dad- my mom is very proud. She's very proud, but I think my dad still holds a grudge, um, for many things.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Interesting.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah, yeah. It, uh... Respect runs really, really deep, I think, in, like, the Asian culture.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Mm.
- 36:30 – 38:06
Advice for everyone who starts a business in 2025
- MMMarina Mogilko
Can you give advice to everyone who's starting a business in 2025?
- SPSpeaker
Ooh, starting a business in 2025. Um, [tsks] you know, whether it's 2025 or in the future or, you know, even way before then, you have to find the joy in what you're doing. At least for me, I have always followed my heart, and it's always taken me to the right place. Even if it's the most windiest, painful path, it always takes you to the right place, and it's what is going to keep you going when you feel like quitting. Your passion can take you over those humps. Um, that's one thing, just on the internal. Um, but on the external, look for a problem that hasn't been solved yet. If you can solve that problem, you've got a business, period. Um, and I guess third, I guess I'm just gonna tack on now, like, use social media, have fun, make content about the process. People love that. They love being taken on the journey. Um, and I think with those, like, three different things, like, let your personality shine through. And b- because a business is more than j- more than just a thing that you're selling. It's more than just the marketing of the thing that you're selling. It's the story, it's the brand, and it's the journey, and the customer wants to be a part of that journey.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Love it.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Thank you so much. This was really inspiring.
- SPSpeaker
Oh, good!
- MMMarina Mogilko
What I'm taking away is that phrase that I will have in my head now-
- SPSpeaker
Mm-hmm
- MMMarina Mogilko
... when I have this fear of, like, "What if it all goes down? I'll figure it out."
- SPSpeaker
You're gonna figure it out, 'cause you have to.
- MMMarina Mogilko
Yeah.
- SPSpeaker
You have to.
- MMMarina Mogilko
I love that.
- SPSpeaker
Yeah.
- MMMarina Mogilko
I love it. Thank you so much.
- SPSpeaker
Thank you. [chuckles]
- MMMarina Mogilko
Awesome.
Episode duration: 38:06
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