Transcription
00:00:02
Hello and welcome to the Champagne Lounge. My guest on today's episode of the show is Pip Brett. Now, Pip came on my agenda and in front of my eyes when she was launching the Huddle, or was running the Huddle, I should say. It's been around for a while in the last couple of months and I was in just moved to regional Australia, as many of you listeners know, and Pip is also in regional Australia, just in a slightly different area to me in New South Wales. And I am gutted, Pip, that I wasn't at the Huddle this year because it looked phenomenal, it hit my social feeds and I knew I had to talk to you.
00:00:39
So thank you so much for coming on the show. Thanks for having me, Rebecca. Very exciting and you'll have to come to the next one next year. I definitely will have to come to the next one next year and that's something I want to talk to you about after this too, my love, because it took know I know a lot of people that were there, so I'm very excited to learn a lot more about that. But that's not what I want to talk to you about today.
00:01:02
I want to know, as someone who now has grown a business in regional New South Wales, what your background is, what community has meant for you in the growth of that business. So give me a little bit of a backstory about who you are, what your business is, because that's not just the Huddle that we've spoken about just now. What are you all about, Pip? Tell us that. Well, I'm Pip, I was born and bred in Orange in the central west of New South Wales, and my mum had a clothing store in Orange for 25 years.
00:01:34
So I watched her sort of she was amazing and really the best mentor that anyone could ever have. Just watching her build her business was amazing. And then I was always very creative as well. So after high school, I went to uni and studied a Bachelor of Design in fashion and textiles because I wanted to be a fashion designer. But I think like a week after I graduated, I decided that I wanted to open a clothing store.
00:02:02
So at 21, like young and dumb, naive maybe, but opened my first clothing store. I opened it in Bathurst. I was like 17 years a long time ago now. My math isn't as good. At that time, there was no online shopping or social media and emails were only just starting then, so there wasn't a lot of cool stores out in regional Australia, out of the big cities.
00:02:30
But it's very different now. Like, every tiny town has a gorgeous coffee shop and clothing store homewares, but back then it was really different and it was hard to convince brands that people in regional Australia actually wanted their stuff. But we got there in the end. And I guess it's just been this like an evolution over the years where I think about ten years ago I added Jumbled, which was a homeware store. So that was after I bought my own home and I realized I loved art and homewares as much as fashion.
00:03:08
New homes tend to do that to you, like buying a new house. Yeah, I want to be an interior designer now. Totally. And I think they all go hand in hand as well. With fashion, if you look good, you feel good and if you're home, you feel good in your home.
00:03:25
Like a space can really change your emotions so much. So I love all of that sort of stuff. And then social media and we've gone online and now we ship all around the world really. But I guess Jumbled is now it's my two stores combined and we're in a big old Masonic hall in Orange that my husband and I renovated. And it's sort of the way I'd describe it would be everything that I love under one roof.
00:03:52
Love that. It's sort of less is more is more or less is a ball. There's lots of color. I love that. Yeah.
00:04:01
So that's sort of where we're at at the moment. But it's been a hard slog. That's the very glossy version of that. You're right doing a business. Everything we have online right now and looking at it, everyone's like, oh, it looks so fabulous.
00:04:16
Yeah, you missed the decades of work that I put in to get it to that point. But you grew up in Orange, you opened your first store in Bathurst, so what was the move there? Why Bathurst? Why did you choose to go and open a retail store in a town that you potentially didn't I don't know this, but didn't know anyone locally to help you grow that? What did that look like for you?
00:04:38
At the time? When I was at uni, I was obviously living in Sydney and I was deciding where to put it. It was like either going to be Clavelli or Bondi or would it be Bathurst or Orange? And for me, Bathurst I picked Bathurst because the uni was there. So there was like a younger crowd.
00:04:56
But then I quickly realized that uni students have no money and because it's so close to Sydney, they all go back to Sydney a lot. And holidays, uni holidays, I forgot how long they were. So I discovered that Orange clients were my main was where it was at. So I've been pretty good over the years knowing when something doesn't work, I change it and change it pretty quickly. So I moved it over to Orange and it's like it just went gangbusters overnight.
00:05:28
And Orange is a really amazing town that for forever. They've been saying Orange is the new black, it's the cool place, but they've been saying that for like 30 years. But really, it really has become a real destination place for people to come and visit, especially since COVID it's been amazing. It's sort of gone from strength to strength. So Orange has definitely been one of the smartest moves that I made.
00:05:55
But, yeah, it was just identifying that regional areas wanted cool fashion and everyone was traveling to Sydney and shopping for the weekend at David Jones, you know what I mean? So I just saw that there was an opening out here and didn't think too much more about it. But I think as times gone know, I think at the beginning I was probably felt inferior when I was being a regional store, I probably saw it as more of a negative. I think that's because of the fashion industry that I was dealing with, but now I see regional being regional as a total advantage and a positive. I think regional businesses are so good at differentiating themselves and I think we're really good at telling our story and we're not afraid to say who we are.
00:06:50
There's so many big city stores that are probably that are trying to act bigger than they are and not showing who the person is behind the business. But I feel like being regional is such an advantage at this point in time. Yeah, I couldn't agree more with that. I've only just recently moved regional and actually, Orange was the other alternative for us. When we were deciding where to live, it was going to be either the Orange or Mudgie, and we went Mudgy because I preferred the quainter smaller town sort of vibe.
00:07:22
But you're right, for me, I've now total convert in where I buy all of my clothing now, in terms of the local stores around, they're just so much more fun and personable. It's that human buys from human the stories, the conversations. And for me, the customer service is always so much better when there's skin in the game for the person that's running the store. But as you've built that store and you've obviously moved it to online now, as most stores have, what has the local community meant for you in the growth of that store and having that regular foot traffic as well as the tourism foot traffic, sort of. How have you navigated that from a community perspective?
00:08:03
Orange has a very supportive business community, which has been really good, but then small towns, they obviously have their negatives as being a small community as well. But I do think that in Orange we are at an advantage because the foot traffic is a lot all week, so locals during the week and also our smaller surrounding satellite towns, but then tourism on the weekends. But I've definitely noticed that tourists extend for longer, extending their stays and coming during the week. I think that's because people can now work from home or work from Orange or wherever. But, yeah, I think when you do open a store, you do need to have a lot of foot traffic.
00:08:52
You still need to have that, even though you can be a destination store. You just need a lot of people coming in, like you need a lot of people clicking on your website. But I feel really lucky that we're in the town that we're in. But I think having online as well has meant that you don't have to rely on your local community as much. I used to say that it drought proofed our business, social media and online when we were going through one of the worst droughts, but then it managed to COVID proof our business.
00:09:26
I think it's just about not having all your eggs in one basket. But, yeah, that's what I think is nice, having the two different things running. At the same time, working in unison and the way they work. I think it's phenomenal how you can be anywhere in the world right now and sell to anyone anywhere else in the world. I think it's pretty amazing to do that, particularly when you can curate such a beautiful sense of story, of product, of all the things for people to come and want to know what you're doing and why, which I think is something, as you said, that regional towns and regional providers do really well.
00:10:08
The Champagne Lounge isn't just a podcast, it's an instant digital community for ambitious businessmen and entrepreneurs like you, wanting more connection, community and celebration. So wherever you are in the world, whatever stage of business you're at, if you're looking for that ultimate female cheer squad of like minded women, head over to thechampainlounge.com to come and join us in terms of sort of that and being within Orange and you've had the store for a while now, what sparked it in you to start the huddle? Like, where did the Huddle come into that? Why did you want to get female business owners together and put on such a massive event? Events are no small feet.
00:10:49
They're no small feet to pull off, put together. So what sparked that? What lit you up to give that a go? I think it was many things building up to that point that led us to the Huddle. I feel like a while ago I had thought about what the purpose of my business was, what the purpose of myself was.
00:11:15
Because obviously in retail you're not saving lives or really doing anything amazing. But I sort of identified that our purpose was to bring joy and that being to myself, to my staff and to my customers. And then it was also to inspire and to educate. So we were trying to just and to give back. So it was those three things that I felt like was the purpose of jumbled.
00:11:45
And so I guess those three things have sort of drives everything that we do in store and on social media. So I think as our audience on social media kind of just really grew, I realized that you can have so much power to do good things in terms of the give back. So I'm not just selling and taking from people the whole time. Like, how can I give back to my community? That was probably something that was playing out in the background, just with lots of different things.
00:12:22
If something came our way that we felt really passionate about, we did something about it. Or we were just trying to help other small business owners in our community. But I think it was just noticing that, hey, this really cool tool of social media, we can do something good with it as well as make our business profitable. You know what I mean? So I think that's where that was where it sort of started from.
00:12:50
But then we were going through one of our worst droughts, and we were auctioning off artworks and donating all the money for farmers to have coffees in Walget and Canamble and Dubbo doing things like that. But I felt like I wanted to do something, like, a bit more meaningful. And Jess is my right hand girl. And we were down in Melbourne at a dinner, and I was sitting next to a really interesting lady who I just thought when we're walking home well, there was a really interesting lady, but then there was also kind of a jerk lady sitting next to her that was really mean about regional stores, and she was a supply. I hope she won't be listening.
00:13:34
She was a supplier, and she stocked a lot of regional stores, and she was kind of dissing us. And I thought and I was like, you should go out and see your stores because what you're saying is not right. And that really annoyed me. But the other lady I was talking to was just so amazing and just totally understood the power of the regional store and regional businesses and just kind of made me think. And so on the way home, we'd had a few drinks, and I was like, you know what be so cool?
00:14:06
Imagine if we could get her and ten other amazing women to come and speak to our community. And we'll get all our guests that come to stay for three days because that will be really good for our community. It will bring money, and they've got to stay, and they've got to eat. And we'll do different events over those three days, and we'll all learn and we'll come together. And that's how the Huddle sort of came about.
00:14:34
We were like, yeah, let's do it. We'd literally never run an event before. We had no experience with running an event. But our main thing was that we wanted to create an event that we wanted to attend, and we wanted it to be flawless. So they were just our two things.
00:14:53
We just worked so hard to try and achieve that. So we've done three now, and I do think they just keep getting better and better and the power of the community and the power of women coming together and it's absolutely a life highlight. Just seeing all the women in the room, I get really emotional about it. It's just so amazing. I could feel the energy from the photos and the videos and the stories of friends of mine that I know were there, who were they were speaking, they were gifting things, all part of the sponsors.
00:15:31
So just seeing that grow and knowing it's the third year now is really incredible. What you've built in terms of that energy, that impact and the community not only in the room with those women, but also wider than that in the local community, as you say, giving back, staying there, spreading it out over a few days. I'm curious, when you first started it, was it just local, regional businesses and women that came and were part of it? Or have people traveled the whole time since you launched that? I know people traveled from Sydney, you know, all sorts of places to get to Orange and attend the event.
00:16:08
So how has it grown in those three years? In terms of who's attending? I would say from the beginning it's been more people that aren't local. I think in Orange we're pretty lucky having access to things. But I think about a third of people that live within the central west of New South Wales, and that includes Orange, obviously, and the rest are from Sydney.
00:16:33
Interstate. Lots from Queensland, New Zealand. Lots from South Australia. The year before. I feel like with our Instagram and social media community from the beginning, it had a very wide ranging audience.
00:16:52
I think sometimes it is harder to convince the local people to come. I guess that's our challenge also. But in saying that, we really did want people to visit our town as one of our core parts of the Huddle. So that's where that's been great for us. The accommodation is all booked out, all the restaurants are booked out.
00:17:16
All the hairdressers town on that weekend is so colorful and loud. Like, one of the winery owners spoke at one of our tourism meetings and he's like, well done to Pip for bringing 11,000 women to Orange the other day. And I was like, it was like 700 and he's like, It felt like 11,000. But it's kind of that it's sort of your vibe attracts your tribe and I think people are just coming happy and open and it is very stressful coming to an event. Lots of people come solo to the Huddle, which I think is where when you're feeling most uncomfortable is when the magic happens because you're feeling you're vulnerable, but you're also really open and paying attention.
00:18:15
So we encourage people to travel solo as well. You give me all the feels on this because it's singing the way that you've operated your business and the Huddle is very I'm surprised we haven't seen or met each other before because it's almost as though I'm having conversations with internal thoughts in my own brain. I love that, just the sheer passion for that connection, the inspiration that it's okay to be you and just come and see who's here, because it's a safe space to learn, be comfortable, share who you are, share what you do. And all the give back and the impact and the ripple effect is just phenomenal. It's given me goosebumps as I'm thinking about it and hearing you talk about it.
00:18:55
Now, you're in your third year of it. What does the future look like for the Huddle? Have you got big dreams for it? Is it going to continue in the way that you've done it? And what does it look like for the future of that?
00:19:06
I think I just want to make it better every year. I don't need to make it bigger because it still needs to be in orange, because that's the core of the whole idea for us to benefit our community as well. But I just want to improve on it and make it better and more inspiring and cover new areas of interest. We get lots of feedback after the Huddle about who were people's favorite speakers, what were their key takeaways, who would they love to hear from next time? I think feedback is really valuable when it's from the people that you really want it from.
00:19:50
But, yeah, I personally find it to be so inspiring myself. I just want to keep doing that and keep enjoying it and see what exciting things come from it. There's been really lovely business relationships and collaborations, but also seeing certain businesses grow certain. We always do elevator Pipches throughout the day where people get up and they're so nervous, but they say who they are and what their business is and even the people, what's happened and changed to them over those three years, and maybe some really tough things as well. But just to see how they've gotten through it, it's just like, honestly, so amazing and we get so much from it, but a lot of work goes into it.
00:20:44
So we're having it the next one in March in 2024 because it snowed at the last one, very cold. I think that was quite amazing for the people from Queensland because they're excited to see autumn leaves, which they don't usually see. But I feel like we were just very lucky with the weather, with our outside. I thought, you know, March is just far more regular with its weather, so we'll do it then. So we've already started approaching our mentors that we'd really love.
00:21:19
But, yeah, that's just a process of making everything fit and flow. But we've got some really cool ideas and things that I'm like, oh, what about this? And Jess? Oh, my gosh. But, yeah, no, it's in full swing already, which is very exciting.
00:21:38
That's super exciting. I cannot wait to see the impact continue to go, like, continue to grow and be in attendance myself next year. I mean, for me, being new to a certain I've talked a lot about it on this show, but also on my socials about the difference is in moving to a regional space and the energy and the vibe being so different to being in the city and just so much more welcoming and exciting and as you said, vibrant. So to see that come to life and to hear you, to share the story about how it's come to life as well, has been incredibly inspiring for me, but also, no doubt to our listeners to see where that goes next. So thank you for sharing that story and sharing your business journey.
00:22:21
Now, I always wrap up the show, Pip, with a question I ask everybody, because as female business owners, we tend to just keep jumping to the next thing and the next thing and the next thing, and we never really stop and acknowledge the things that we've achieved. And I encourage celebration as part of what we do here at the Champagne Lounge. What is one thing that you've achieved in the last, let's say, quarter that you should have celebrated and haven't actually acknowledged and high fived yourself for yet? Oh, gosh, yeah, see, I'm one for that 100%, what you just said. I'm always jumping from one thing to the next thing.
00:23:00
Oh, gosh, that's such a tricky one. I would probably say it's all of it. I probably rarely after the huddle, we all go out, all of my staff afterwards and we celebrate that, but that's probably the only thing that we stop and talk about and recognize. But I would just think on a gosh, even on a daily level. Yeah, I don't know, that's such a hard one.
00:23:29
I just say end of financial year. We've just finished that, and I think for the way the economy is going, my business has done really well, and it's definitely been a lot harder to make money in the last financial year, as I'm sure many businesses are finding that. But we've tapped into new income streams and tried to push ourselves harder. So I think that's probably something that perhaps tonight I might have a champagne over just at the end of financial year and I should actually get all my staff involved in that as well. So thank you.
00:24:12
That's a really good kick up the backside that I needed, Rebecca, because, yeah, we're a bit naughty how we don't do yeah, yeah. Well, cheers to you for doing that and celebrating it. And I'm going to follow you now vividly on socials over the next few days to see a photo of you raising that champagne glass with your team.
00:24:38
We've got a cafe in store that also has a liquor license, so it's very easy to have a champagne at work these days. So that's good. I will have to be popping in and having a champagne together when I'm. Next time you're over. Yeah, I would love that.
00:24:57
I would love that. Pip, thank you so much for coming on the show and chatting. All things community, connection and celebration. It's been an absolute pleasure to have you on the show and I really appreciate your time. Oh, thanks for having me.
00:25:08
Thanks so much, Rebecca. And thanks for reminding me of a few things I need to do. It's good pleasure, my love. Thank you. Thank you.
00:25:18
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