- 2 days ago
Bootstrapping can be a strategic power play. Join us for a candid conversation with entrepreneurs who’ve scaled premium brands without outside funding. Discover how customer revenue, intentional pacing, and financial resilience can protect your business, and learn to align growth with your resources for lasting sustainability.
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00:00My good friend Casey was on a panel yesterday, and she did such an amazing job.
00:04God elevated her the next day, so she's going to be moderating a panel about the power of bootstrapping.
00:10Many times we start these businesses, and we think we have to immediately get a loan or ask to borrow money,
00:15but sometimes you really can't get it out the mud.
00:18And being a get-it-out-the-mud girl, I'm going to be excited to hear Casey talk about bootstrapping all things finance
00:24and how to maximize what minimum that you do have.
00:27So let's give it up for Casey and the wonderful panel that's coming up.
00:32For Casey.
00:34Hey, family.
00:36You're welcome.
00:36Good luck, sis.
00:37Thank you so much.
00:38You're welcome.
00:39All right, so I have the incredible honor of introducing two phenomenal founders who have bootstrapped their ways to success.
00:46First, I'm going to call to the stage Osreis Bellamy of Blondery.
00:51Please give it up for her.
00:53And right behind her is Tiana Reed, founder of The Wellness Apothecary.
01:01Ladies, thank you so much for spilling the tea and letting us get all in your business and your finances today.
01:08Just so you all know that the title of this discussion is Bootstrapping is Not a Bad Word.
01:13Bootstrapping is not a bad word.
01:15And Tiana and Osreis is going to help us understand how to leverage it for strategy.
01:21Okay.
01:21To start, we're going to just get some background on them.
01:24So let's start with you, Osreis.
01:25Can you tell us a bit about who you are and your company?
01:28Yes.
01:29So my name is Osreis.
01:30I'm the founder of Blondery.
01:32Blondery helps modern tastemakers make impressionable...
01:36I'm sorry, curate impressionable experiences through our fully baked goods.
01:43We work with clients like Louis Vuitton, JPMorgan Chase, Lincoln, and my background in fine dining.
01:50I was the pastry chef at Bouchon, Staj at the French Laundry, Perse, and Danielle.
01:55Beautiful.
01:57And Tiana?
01:58Hi, everyone.
01:59So I'm the founder of the Wellness Apothecary.
02:01It's a DC-based, clean beauty and wellness brand.
02:05We focus on everything that makes the consumer feel like they're a whole hell and just making
02:13sure that we create natural products.
02:16I'm a pharmacist by trade, so everything that we formulate, I formulate myself.
02:20So we just want consumers to feel like they have a brand that they can trust.
02:24That's good stuff.
02:25Thank you, both.
02:26And I'm the founder of Blaze Group.
02:28Blaze means building leaders and accepting zero excuses.
02:32And we're a financial literacy company for entrepreneurs, making sure that we understand
02:35how to raise the capital, how to keep the capital, and how to transfer it through generations.
02:39And so, like I mentioned, we're going to get all in their business.
02:43And so the first question I want to ask is, provocative by design, are you bootstrapping
02:49by choice or by circumstance?
02:52Because sometimes we have to do what we have to do.
02:54But can you tell us, if the stars were to perfectly align and you had a choice in this thing, how
03:00would you choose to capitalize your business?
03:02All right, I was raised.
03:03I'm going to start with you.
03:04Okay.
03:05I am bootstrapping now by choice.
03:10However, I am open to investors.
03:14And I think as black founders sometimes, we're not necessarily given the same opportunities.
03:20So I would encourage anyone starting a business to just assume from the beginning you're going
03:26to need investors and work in that fashion, even if you never take them on.
03:32That's good.
03:32Yeah.
03:33That's good.
03:33And remind us, how long have you been in business?
03:35Oh, I've been in business since 2018.
03:38Okay.
03:38So since 2018.
03:39Yeah.
03:39And you're bootstrapping by choice.
03:41Yes.
03:41Seven years in.
03:42Yes.
03:42Beautiful.
03:43Okay.
03:44Anything from your perspective, Tiana, by choice or by circumstance on the bootstrapper?
03:48It's by circumstance.
03:49So, and I'm not afraid to say it.
03:52So I can say that I use my own savings to start the business.
03:56Sometimes that's what you have to do.
03:58You know, a lot of founders kind of get into the, it's great to have investors.
04:03However, sometimes you have to start with your own capital.
04:06So if you have your personal savings, you can start there.
04:09Some people just decide to start with traditional loans.
04:12I would caution people when they start to use credit cards and other types of financing that
04:20can keep you in debt because as you become a business owner, especially when you're bootstrapping,
04:24you can get yourself in a lot of debt.
04:26So it requires a lot of discipline.
04:28So if everything was perfectly aligned for me, what I would want is a mix of grants because
04:34with grants, you usually don't have to pay that money back.
04:37However, you have to be aware of the taxes that you may have to pay on those grants because
04:42they will send you a 1099.
04:43So while it's great to win the 50 and the $100,000, just know that a 1099 is coming behind that.
04:50So you want to make sure that you're prepared for that as well.
04:53If I could get investors that are aligned with my mission as a pharmacist-led brand, I would
04:59want that as well, as well as brand partnerships.
05:02So we've done a great job throughout the six years I've been in business.
05:05We've been able to partner with people like Uber.
05:07We partner with creating wellness events for some of the local sports teams in D.C.
05:14like the Washington Spirit.
05:16We've also partnered with Anthropology and Madewell.
05:19So what I really love about them is that we're able to come in and use their platform to do
05:24pop-ups for free.
05:25So that's something to also consider when you're building your brand.
05:29So that's powerful, Tayana.
05:31So you're six years in, right?
05:33You are bootstrapping by circumstance.
05:35You wish it could be another way, but listening to all the brands you've partnered with, it
05:39doesn't sound like it's slowing you down, right?
05:41It doesn't sound like it's stifled you.
05:43Is that true?
05:44Like, would you be going, would you, do you wish you've gone a different pace or has bootstrapping
05:48kind of kept the momentum?
05:49So I always felt like slow and steady wins the race.
05:53It's like, my goal is to be a sustainable brand.
05:56So when I think about the products that I'm developing and the education that I'm putting
06:01behind it, I want consumers to feel like they have a brand that they can always rely on.
06:06And, you know, just making sure that we create a legacy as well.
06:11So I would like to be just as good as a Dr. Browner's or a Palmer's when it comes to making
06:17products.
06:18So I want consumers to just think out of the box, not always think about commercial brands
06:23that we always usually use, but think about black-owned brands that have the same quality
06:28that you can also use.
06:31That's good.
06:33That's good.
06:34Okay.
06:34So I want to stay on pacing a bit, right?
06:37Sometimes in the age of digital, virality seems like that's what the goal should be, but we
06:46see that virality is not sustainability because you have these overnight successes that are
06:50gone tomorrow.
06:51You have these one-hit wonders, right?
06:53But you spoke about sustainability, Sayana, right?
06:57And so I want to know from you all, how do you pace yourself in line with what your finances
07:02say you can do?
07:03Because if you're raising money from your friends and family or you're getting free stuff that
07:06folks give you, how do you make sure that despite what your peers might do, right, you
07:12are staying lockstep with your finances?
07:14And I want real strategies.
07:15Like, are there numbers you look at?
07:17Do you try to have a certain number of months, you know, in your bank account?
07:21So I want to start with you, Azraeus, and then pitch it over to you, Sayana.
07:24My problem is, is that my parents taught me I can do anything.
07:31So I take risks like a white man, expecting there to be a safety net that isn't necessarily
07:38there for me.
07:40So I don't have necessarily a strategy for staying lockstep because I believe that I'll
07:48just figure it out.
07:49I'll just figure it out because I agree with what you're saying about building a sustainable
07:54brand.
07:54But I also think the people who are getting the money are going fast.
07:59So it really, for me, with Blondery is about building a foundation and setting a standard.
08:05And then we bring in the investors and I keep them to that standard.
08:09You know, like that's a part of our agreement is we're not going to change the butter that
08:13we use under any circumstances.
08:15So that's where I'm at.
08:17And I think if we just look at the mechanism of a VC, a venture capital fund, they want you
08:24to be in how many doors?
08:25That's the question, right?
08:27So it's like, by doors, I mean, how many stores are you guys in?
08:31What is your top line revenue?
08:33Those are the numbers that matter to them more than you're using organic, like whatever.
08:41And it's wrong.
08:42It's like trying to find that balance.
08:45But I just take risks and I figure it out.
08:48Like I wouldn't be where I'm at if I didn't do that.
08:51And I want to double click on this point intentionally.
08:53Okay.
08:53I don't want to gloss over this piece.
08:55Right.
08:55So I was already talking about VC.
08:57So that's venture capitalists.
08:58Right.
08:59So a bank, Bank of America is not VC.
09:02They're a bank.
09:02Right.
09:03They'll give you 30 years on a mortgage.
09:05You know, they're fine.
09:05They'll give you five years on a loan.
09:08They're fine.
09:08VC wants you to move faster.
09:10Right.
09:11And depending on who's giving you the money, your family might give you 50 years to pay
09:15them back.
09:15Right.
09:16Depending on who's the investor, you have the flexibility to go at a different pace.
09:20And I think lately we see a lot more VC.
09:23We saw Fearless Fund come out of Atlanta.
09:25It's VC.
09:26We saw, you know, tech stars and so many things.
09:29And sometimes we feel that pressure like it's the only way when it's not.
09:33Right.
09:33And so maybe, Tayana, you have a different perspective on this because you can choose your pacing
09:37based on who your financial partners are.
09:40We should not think that because there's virality around marketing, you have to go one way.
09:44And I think this diversity of the conversation is important.
09:47Tayana.
09:47Yeah.
09:47So and I applaud you for that because I know on my summer, I'm the complete opposite.
09:53So I like certainty.
09:55Like for me, even though I'm a solopreneur, I still work full time.
10:01So I still need that safety net because how I grew up, I still need to make sure that home
10:07is taken care of first.
10:09Right.
10:09So being a entrepreneur, you can easily lose everything.
10:14So it's very important to make sure that I take the same principles I would do personally,
10:19like saving three months of cash flow, at least three months.
10:22If you could save six months, looking at the projections, making sure that you keep tight
10:26inventory, thinking about like, I was very ambitious.
10:30I started off with eight products and I was just like, you know, I got a reality check because
10:35my goal was to go to the Indie Beauty Expo.
10:37That was the biggest place where you can showcase your business.
10:40Right.
10:40I got my first wholesale order with Nordstrom's and could not fill it.
10:45So that was a huge reality check.
10:47Like, you know, that's the thing that you want.
10:49Right.
10:49You want that big wholesale deal.
10:51And then when you can't fulfill the order, they're like, I want 250 of all eight of your
10:56products and I need it in 60 days.
10:58And I was like, there's no way I can do that in 60 days.
11:00So it kind of set me up to really understand the landscape of retail as well.
11:07And I never felt like I had to get into a big retail right away.
11:12The goal was to make sure I had the cash flow, made sure that I built my brand where I had
11:18visibility.
11:19I had the referral process with all of the customers because that's the most important
11:25thing that keeps your brand going.
11:26And that's the, you know, and also just keeping different revenues in place.
11:31So whether it's wholesale, pop-ups, or direct-to-consumer.
11:35So we started off direct-to-consumer, B2B, and then also, you know, collaborating with
11:40other brands that are in the same alignment with us.
11:43So you just have to really be careful and also, you know, just be disciplined.
11:50Like, it's hard, you know, it's hard to save, but you have to try to save everything
11:54you can if you want to keep that business going.
11:57Can I say something about that?
11:59Because we've gone viral so many times.
12:02Like, we were featured by Keith Lee last year, and I hear he's here today.
12:07And then we, I went on CBS Mornings and made literally, I think it was like 90K in a day,
12:13in one day, and fulfilling all those orders.
12:16And, like, having that pressure of all these new customers at one time and figuring out
12:22how to best communicate with them that this is not normal for us, right?
12:27Like, we have to scale up production very quickly.
12:29And then we ship a perishable product.
12:32So it's a time thing.
12:35And I just think that it's very important for us to recognize what virality does to a
12:41small business.
12:42And what you're touching on, I feel we got to get a little deeper, is that when we, when
12:47a business goes viral and all these influx of orders comes in, we have to remember that
12:53it's still a small business and they're still operating in the same space that they were
12:59when they had five orders coming in, right?
13:02So we have to be patient.
13:03We have to have just some, I guess, discernment on how we interact with a business.
13:09Because I think a lot of times we assume that it's Amazon.
13:13Like, Amazon does Prime Day.
13:14They're going to get a whole bunch of orders.
13:16But they have the scale.
13:18They have the warehousing.
13:19They have all those things in place to be able to do that.
13:22And then also for the business, though, what happens is a business goes viral.
13:26And then our attention spans are so short that you can love that product.
13:31You love my product.
13:33You ordered it.
13:33You love it.
13:34But the next thing comes.
13:35So now that business has scaled up production so much, I hired three people after I went
13:41on CBS Warrens.
13:42I had to let them all go within a year later because the next thing came along.
13:47And people will say on TikTok, on TikTok, which is, you know, my mom was like, not everything
13:52on the internet is true, right?
13:54But I'm listening.
13:55I'm going to listen to what people say and filter it.
13:57But they do say, you know, you should know better or you should have known that that was
14:03going to happen.
14:03And it's like, no, you don't know that.
14:05Like, you don't know what's going to happen.
14:07And it's not up to me to keep up the virality because we know these algorithms also are a
14:13huge issue.
14:14We're like, as small business owners, we are battling an algorithm to get in front
14:18of you constantly, like constantly.
14:20We're trying to get your attention.
14:22We're trying to get it.
14:22And then we have this viral moment.
14:24And that doesn't mean that we're not still trying to keep your attention.
14:28It just means the algorithm isn't hidden how it was two weeks ago.
14:31So get on our mailing list is what I'm saying.
14:35Get on our mailing list so we can market directly to you guys.
14:38And I get it can be annoying, but give the business owner that feedback because we would
14:42rather, I believe, have that feedback that your email sucks rather than me battling an
14:47algorithm for 10 years.
14:49And I think that we're in a vein now because this is why bootstrapping should be seen as
14:55a strategy and not just a placeholder or I'm struggling.
15:00And so this is a janky approach, right?
15:02And so y'all talked a little bit about, you know, customer revenue and what happens when
15:05the money comes in, right?
15:06And so I want to actually stay there because I don't think a lot of people realize that
15:10you can bootstrap revenue.
15:11People bootstrap revenue as a strategy.
15:14MailChimp is a marketing platform, right?
15:17You can send emails through it.
15:19MailChimp bootstrapped their company the entire time.
15:22They kept saying no to investors.
15:24They only paid staff based on what customers gave them money for.
15:27They only kept the lights on based on what customers gave them money for.
15:31And in 2019, they sold the company for $18 billion.
15:35And so they split $9 billion two ways.
15:39Bootstrapping is a strategy, right?
15:40And I think because of the things that we see when we're being marketed to, we're pressured
15:44into going very fast and virality, but it's not sustainability, right?
15:47We're pressured into, you may be giving up equity when we're not ready.
15:51And so I'm happy we're double clicking on that.
15:52And so I want to ask you a question around customer revenue, right?
15:57Today, and this is a diverse panel.
16:00So this is actually beautiful.
16:01Your views might be different.
16:02Today, are you looking to keep pace with what your supporters can cover in your business?
16:09You know, and being, like you said, disciplined, Tayana, and being okay with the slow and steady
16:14that runs the race, right?
16:17Or is your strategy today going past, you know, what the customers are doing in hopes
16:23that one day, right, you do blow up, right?
16:25And I just want to be, us to try to be honest about that for people who might be on opposite
16:29ends of that spectrum.
16:31So with customer revenue, right, is your strategy keeping pace with where your customers are
16:35providing money for, or are you kind of VC route, blitzscaling and hoping it works out
16:41in the wash?
16:41Well, I said what my strategy is.
16:44It's like, I have the plan.
16:46I just need the platform.
16:47So run the funds.
16:49And I'm going to make sure that you see, like, I have the revenue.
16:53I have the customer interest.
16:54I know that.
16:55My numbers show that.
16:56It's just we need scale.
16:57The baking space is very competitive, especially where I'm at in New York.
17:01Like, we all know Magnolia.
17:03We all know their banana pudding.
17:04We all know Milk Bar.
17:06I'm in a very competitive space.
17:08There's no playing it small.
17:09I cannot play it small.
17:11I have to go big and go home, you know?
17:15So I would say, I mean, I know that when you have the funding and the capital to make
17:22your brand go as far as you would dream for it to go is great, but there's also a lot
17:27of pressure that comes with it, too.
17:28So for me, while I would love to get funding, so I'm not ever going to turn down money and
17:34someone's willing to give it to me, I still want to take that intentional pacing.
17:38So customers are your biggest, like, it's like your biggest, your biggest, your profit
17:46tool.
17:47So they're going to give you as much revenue as probably any other investor because you're
17:54going to have those customers fueling in that business daily as they're purchasing
17:57product.
17:58So you want to make sure that you continue to build trust with your brand so that your
18:05customers can keep coming back.
18:07And then you can reinvest that revenue back into the business.
18:10I have a question.
18:11Yes.
18:11We don't know each other that well, guys.
18:13You said you have a full-time job.
18:15Yes.
18:16So that's why.
18:17We have to put things in perspective.
18:19You have a full-time job and you have your business.
18:22Right.
18:22I only have my business.
18:24And I will tell you this.
18:25And that's my choice.
18:26Yes.
18:26I will tell you this because I've been told if I, if I really wanted to go hard, I needed
18:31to stop everything.
18:32And you're going to do, you're going to be saying what I'm saying.
18:34However, before I did that and I'm not, I'm not opposed to doing that, but there's just
18:39certain things I need to have that I'm not willing to compromise on.
18:43I don't have no health insurance.
18:45That's what you're talking about.
18:46I don't have no 401k.
18:48And I will say, yeah, I know a lot of founders that, you know, so, so just to give you an
18:53idea of what I do by day, because what I do by day affects an entrepreneur too.
18:58So I work in public health as a public health pharmacy leader.
19:02So I work for Medicaid full-time.
19:04So I know the impact of those type of programs that help entrepreneurs to be able to afford
19:09health care, even, even down to just being able to get other types of assistance to help
19:15them as they're on their journey to be an entrepreneur.
19:17So, so for me, I know that there are certain things that I would like to make sure I'm at
19:24personally before I'm able to just go full on and just give up everything and just go
19:29for my dreams.
19:30Yeah.
19:30I'm still, I'm still at the point where I know I still want to do, do that.
19:34Also, do you have kids?
19:36And I have a child.
19:37So it's like, when you have children, when you have children,
19:39you need to make sure that your child has insurance.
19:42You need to make sure that they have everything that they need to feel healthy and whole as
19:45well.
19:46So yes, I'll be working that job until I can't work it anymore.
19:51That makes sense for you.
19:52And I love the diversity of this, right?
19:54And I want to underscore that all of this is a strategy.
19:57Yes.
19:57All of this is a strategy.
19:58A lot of times our practices and traditions and what our big mama told us is actually
20:02strategic by design.
20:04And so if you want to hedge your risk and have sustainable income that has nothing to do
20:08with your business ebbs and flows, right?
20:10She has a steady pocket.
20:11If you want to go very, very hard and make sure that the big times can cover the next
20:1512 months, right?
20:16This is a strategy.
20:17Thank y'all for sharing that.
20:19I will actually end with, because everybody get kicked off the stage.
20:22This is rich.
20:23How can people support you, right?
20:25Like, how can they follow you?
20:26How can they purchase from you?
20:27Please share your details.
20:29You go first.
20:29Okay.
20:29You can find me online at twapothecary.com.
20:33That's our website.
20:34You can also follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at the Wellness Apothecary.
20:39We do a Wellness Wednesday series.
20:41So like I said, I like to incorporate that education.
20:44So if there's any health topic that you're interested in, you can always DM me and we can make that
20:49a topic that we discuss, we do it every other Wednesday.
20:52So my goal is to educate as well as provide everyone with healthy products that they can
20:56trust.
20:57You can find me at Blondery on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook.
21:01We also have a GoFundMe right now.
21:03We're trying to get these cake jars into grocery stores.
21:06I only have two in my bag, but the first two people who come to me, you can have one.
21:12Awesome.
21:13Beautiful, ladies.
21:14Thank you so much for being so vulnerable about things that are not easy to talk about.
21:18You're brilliant, and we appreciate you so much.
21:20Best wishes.
21:22Thank you so much.
21:22Thank y'all.
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