Everyone. Scott Austin here. And in this podcast episode, we're going to talk to a client of mine, Kristy, who's got multiple brands and multiple Shopify stores, and there's a lot we can learn from her. Christy, welcome to the podcast.

Thanks, Scott. I'm excited to be here.

Why don't you tell us a little bit about your brand so people understand what it is you're you're selling?

Okay, so we started in 2021 with our flagship brand, the Healing Hedge Switch, which is a brick and mortar store. Like, we have a physical location and really didn't give a lot of attention to e-commerce. We quickly got into some of our original products, like housemade products like candles and some and things like that. The stores all a metaphysical, a lot of plants, but lots and lots of stones, minerals, crystals, rocks. And quickly thereafter my daughter moved to back to back home to Tarpon Springs, Florida, where we were located, and we ended up opening a second brand spell crafter, which is a little bit of more less plants and more more skulls and snakes. And things are a little on the wittier side than the healing hedge, which I call it the rebellious teenager version of our store, the healing hedge, which. But so we started that brand mostly as her store, and then she created a podcast with her partner called Demystify Magic. And then we opened a tea room next door to the healing hedge, which called the potion. And altogether it just kind of forms this big ball of magic like a magic eight ball.

That's awesome. Yeah. So to be clear, there's four Shopify stores we've built so far healing hedge, which spell crafter. And if you look at those I'll link to them in the show notes. They're very different vibes and feels even though they're an overlapping space. But your brands are very different, which is a lot of fun. And then the the website for Demystify Magic, which has its own merch and stuff like that. And your new potion tea shop, which is just getting started. You've been on Shopify since the beginning of your e-commerce, correct?

Yes.

And, you know, one of you know, I've seen you do lots of initiatives and trying new things and expanding into different directions. One of the things that I've been most impressed by, which is what I want to talk about today, is you guys last year started launching subscriptions. You have a subscription for Spell Crafter in a subscription for Healing Hedge, which. So let's talk a little bit about those subscriptions, what the subscriptions are to start. And then I'll ask you some details after that.

Okay. Yeah. So we did we launched Spell Crafters subscription first. And it really was based on a lot of customer requests. So at Spell Crafter we do follow like the wheel of the year and Pagan major pagan holidays which are every six weeks. And we were selling the candles that signify each of the, each of the Sabbaths. And it's every six weeks. So people were constantly having to order them and hope that they ordered them in time, and then they would get there in time for them to celebrate in their own way with their candle. And they were just like, could I get this automatically? So we thought, well, sure, we'll figure that out. And with with your help, Scott, we kind of got that underway and it wildly successful.

And I had been and that was really driven by my daughter, not by me. It was really her response to her customer base. And I had though, one of my own subscriptions in the back of my mind for Healing Hedge, which that was not every six it was going to be. I had it in mind. It was. It would just be four times a year. I just I love subscriptions, I get so many boxes. Everything from I'm the chef to, you know, like you name it. I just love them. I just like to get a little delighted treat. I don't know what's in the box. I like to open it up like the whole thing. So I thought, I want to create that for my brand. But I also know from getting so many is hard monthly, I would imagine I just some months I'm just like, wow, they really had to scrape to get this one as a new idea. Now that I've done it quarterly, I don't know how they do it monthly, but more power to. But also just the price point has to be low enough monthly that it's hard to give a good value. The candle subscription. That's easy. We we make those in house. We can make enough to make it worth it to to have the subscription. But for the for a box that's got multiple different things in it, that's more of a subscription box rather than just the sole product. I really felt like it had to be quarterly, be at that higher price point, so I could give you the value of a 40 to 45 a month situation, but instead you're getting it once a quarter.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So let's talk about the first few you did. And that's the spell crafter one which is your own in-house candles, which you said was driven by customers wanting you to do this for them. So you just listened to them and said, yeah, we can do that. And it was really nice of the pagans to space out their events every six weeks throughout the year. Like it was really convenient. How hard was it to communicate to customers and to set up in every six weeks subscription versus the normal once a month? Like that's an odd cycle for people. Was it easy for your customers?

Six weeks is great, except the world that lives on months and years and quarters, right? Yep. You figured that out for us because I didn't have the capacity to kind of sort that out. But I know that you you source an app for us, and I'll be honest, beyond that, I don't know. So why don't you tell everybody how we did it, Scott?

Well, we used the recharge app, which is what I use for for subscriptions for every store. But what I'm wondering is, is from the customer side. Was there any confusion on their side with every six weeks where they're expecting it every month or something, or is that worked out pretty cleanly for you?

That I think was just a given. They understood that it is every six weeks. It is based on a it's not like we chose the cadence. It was more chosen for us. And and so I think that works well enough. I think more of the confusion is around. Oh shoot, I didn't subscribe in time. Im going to subscribe today and conveying to them what that means.

You're going to get the next one.

Yes, yes.

And it'll ship in four more weeks. Like, you know, like realize it in the moment of the or when everybody's doing their own box things and they're tagging us and they're seeing this subscription candle, and maybe it is even before the Sabbath. It might be four days before. But we do kind of we do close the window because otherwise we would lose our minds.

Yeah, that's an important thing to note because, you know, some subscriptions are you know, if you're just selling, let's just say crackers, right. And any day that someone places their subscription, you send out the crackers. And then every month or whatever frequency they pick, you just pack that again. But you guys are bundling all your subscriptions into one production run because you're manufacturing these yourself. So you're like, all right. Today we're going to make and I think if I remember correctly, you have 450 or 500 subscriptions.

Now it's fishing 500.

Yeah. Yeah. And and to be clear that that is since last November.

We launched it at the the beginning of the we'll year. Is that Halloween. Yep. And so we launched it at that one. Yeah.

Yeah. And that that is an amazing growth rate to go from zero to almost 500 in less than nine months or whatever that math works out to be. But because you're producing five of these candles, you can't just say, all right, we can, you know, order after we ship. Well, we've already made them all kind of thing. And that is a challenge for your method of shipping them all in one day because, you know, people are like, oh, I want it. Like, nope, too late. You're joining the train for the next departure kind of thing.

And we do tend to make people happy and do the best we can when they ask, but they have to ask. So I think where the confusion really comes in is if somebody does click on subscribe without reaching out to us, they don't get anything. They get the next one and they'll say, hey, where's my candle? And be like, oh, well, here. So we did move that fine print up to bigger print at the top and just make it really clear, because we carry these same candles in the store where you can come in the store and buy them any time. So we do have a supply and it's not, you know, it's just a handful of folks. So when we can make people happy on those candles specifically, we do. The other box is a different story just because of the nature of the beast there. But on those candles specifically, we kind of have some a little more latitude.

That makes sense. Now, what sort of feedback have you gotten from your customers on that subscription since opening it up?

I mean, the feedback so far has been really great. Everybody really loves. I think it's really just the ease because it is something that they want to receive at every Sabbath, right? They want to get it every six weeks. They don't want to have to think about it. They want to set it and forget it. It's I mean, it really is sort of like like my dog food is on subscription, right? And so it just shows up and I don't have to worry. I'm out of dog food. It comes right a week before they run out, you know, and I think for that specifically that candle, it is sort of like that where it's sort of a I need it anyway. I would order it anyway. We do offer, I think, the perks that you get free shipping. So you wouldn't necessarily get that if all you did was go to our store and order the candle alone, you would have to pay shipping. So that's kind of like the encouragement piece of it. And and I think Madison has done a few things here and there for subscribers that are just fun to throw it out there. Some emails of maybe like a what's going on for me at this particular Sabbath and how I'm celebrating kind of thing in email, maybe some PDFs here and there to just make it worth it to, to be a part of the group.

So you're, you're adding unexpected value. So not like you promise it up front. You just delight them after the fact with a little extra content or a little extra something in the offer.

Yeah. So we do try to because it's I mean, it's hard to promise anything in this like especially when you're starting out. And we're just kind of I think now maybe she will lean more into more, you know, obligations up front. But sometimes I feel like we're lucky to get the candles out, well, much less anything else. So I don't want to. I was so much rather overdeliver. Yes. And under promise.

I'm looking at your website right now. You have 72 reviews for this product with 500 subscribers. So like 1 in 7 or whatever that math works out to be has a left review. It's just amazing. And if you look at the reviews, 70 of them are five star, one is four star and one is three star. And there's tons of photos. People you know show the photos of what they're doing. You know, how they're celebrating or using the candle and that kind of stuff. And the comments are just absolutely delightful. The word love shows up so many times like these. These people really enjoy this subscription and look forward to it. All that kind of stuff.

That really does please us a lot like we or we do try so hard on the customer experience side in our packaging and the what's in the box and the whole thing. So to know that it's appreciated and understood. I think we do get a lot of satisfaction out of that.

Now. If every six weeks is how many per year do you know I'll stop your head.

That would be eight times a year.

I just had my calculator up. Now it's 8 or 9 depending because, you know, it overlaps on the years kind of thing. So let's just do eight and that's a $28 subscription, which is pretty affordable for every six week. Very affordable, I would say. So with the free shipping thrown in. Right. But that's a customer value annual of $224. And I actually looked up some math beforehand. And your average order value in the Spell crafter store, you know, and you're not order value. Sorry. The average annual value is like $106. Right? So you took your, you know, your loyal customers and got a lot of recurring revenue out of them. And they were happy with that, right? They they enjoyed the experience you gave them. So, you know, I would say this, you know, correct me if I'm wrong. This has been a financial success for you also.

Oh for sure. Because, you know, also we we get to batch the candles, right. So we get to we're ordering more vessels than ever. So we're getting a price break. They're like just all of those things add up so that we can make the margin a different way that we need to make. It doesn't have to be, you know, the same dollar for dollar per candle just because. And when you're making some unit at a time, it's just easier to be consistent in the product. You know, like all of the things are better than if you're just cranking out 12 or 24 just for your brick and mortar storefront.

How much time does it take to make this production run of about 500 candles to ship out every six weeks?

It's all told to end about a week, and we have some. So and we all are very involved in sourcing and making and, you know, doing all the things. Thankfully we've got it really down. Now we have those candles and then we also have other products that are house made for Spell Crafter and for hedge, which. So we're making every day of the week for sure.

And you're making in Florida, right?

Yes. Yeah. We feel really strongly about that. And I mean, for those that believe all of our customers are very sensitive to energy and they'll cause you'll see in a lot of the reviews they'll like, I can tell this was, you know, wrapped you know, you sometimes you can get something, you just open the box and it's just like, you don't even like to just take it out to the trash, you know, like, get my stuff out of it. They can. I think they can feel that I would never want to outsource it.

Yeah. I'm looking at the product page and we have free US shipping listed on there. We got to put on made in USA. Let people know that that is happening because that that is important to a lot of people. In hindsight, is there anything you do different with the launching of the Spell Crafter subscription, or we do different now, or changes you've made as you learned?

You know, I'll be honest and say that I can't speak to Spell Crafters candle subscription as well, only because Madison really does handle it. And in Madison my daughter she that's spell crafter. That's her thing and her baby and she really does handle that end to end. I know that when we've talked about it, I don't think there's a lot that she's unhappy. I think she's been just so delighted at how many like we didn't think it would be the successful. So that in itself probably we would have pulled in. We have someone who works in our warehouse and impurity who is the most like. She was such a good packager like she she does a lot of our shipping. We pulled her in to learn about the making, about maybe halfway into this process. We should have pulled her into the making from day one, because between myself and Madison and Drew Madison, who also works in our family business, kind of pulling hair out a little bit, I'm like, oh, we got to get them made. We got to get them shipped. It was just more stress than it had to be. It. We just had to say, why are we stressing like this? We can get help. Like that's possible, you know? And so just realizing you don't have to do it all yourself, get some help.

And how painful would you say was that first shipment like? Because a lot of people want to do something like, I want to do a big subscription and, you know, manufacture these products, it's a lot of work. It's a big commitment. Like how how scary of a decision was that to make and what really got you over the hump to make that?

I'll say the decision to make and do the subscription for Spell Crafter was not nearly as hard as the one for Healing Hedge, which, just because we did already have that process pretty well said. We ship a lot of candles anyway prior to the subscription. I mean, you have to remember to some degree the subscriptions cannibalize some of our online sales simply because there were people ordering them with great regularity. They are now on subscription, so we were already kind of doing that. So having that set up a little bit did kind of ease us in, like we I think the hard part was we didn't realize how successful it would be and how many people. I think we kind of mentally thought, we're doing this and it will just make it better for them. Anybody who wants one is buying one and not really thinking that a lot of people who wanted one were missing the date and not buying it at all.

So let's talk a little bit about, you know, you have this extra marketing channel that most stores don't have and that is that. Madison, Molly and Molly, her podcast partner, have a podcast and it's usually successful. Think I remember they've gotten like millions of downloads by now.

We're all shocked. And not that they're not awesome, but you know, you just it's a it's a crowded space as you know. And so yeah.

So how much did having that podcast help in marketing of the subscription? Was it all just customers in your physical store and your online store, or did you bring in your podcast community as subscribers also?

Well, I guess that kind of steps on itself because so the podcast has driven a huge amount of our online sales before the subscription launched. Right. Madison started that podcast. Oh, I don't even it's been probably three years now. Maybe it's probably three years. So that was after they started that before Bell Crafter even opened. So we already like even at our grand opening, brick and mortar in Saint Petersburg, Florida, we had podcast listeners traveled to come to the grand opening of that store 100%.

That is huge. Like without a doubt. Madison, she's doing a Tara 101 class that just closed last night, like the sales of it and your team helped her with, like, the workbook and everything. And they got this. They sold it out, and she said, I'm so proud of myself because this is the only thing I've really done by myself, like the tarot class and the marketing of it and the sales of it and getting the workbook done and all of that. And that's driven a lot by the podcast. All of those listeners will they are also short store shoppers. They are also subscribers. You know, these I'll call raving fans because they believe in us and our product and they like to support us. A lot of that's from the podcast, for sure.

Yeah. You guys have done a really good job in building community with all these different touchpoints, right? You have a couple different brands and you have the podcast and you're doing events and you're always trying to bring people together. And that just pays off in spades because you know, you show the true you, how your authentic, real and care about this stuff. And people pick up on that and want to be part of that community. And it's been fun watching that happen.

Yeah, it has been. I agree with that and the conversations. I have a lot of time because that's been a lot of time with shopkeepers who are not in my space, you know, and they'll say, oh, it's so easy to have that need. Everybody has a customer base like that. You just have to figure out who they are, you know, like you can speak to those people the same way.

Yeah. Well, I also think like your space is kind of a third space for people also. Right? It's not just a store, it's actually a place where they go and do things and have events and participate and meet other people that they know kind of thing. Like I said, playing pickleball this morning. And, you know, I wave to all the other pickleball people who I see all the time there, and it's just nice to say hello and know a friendly face. And I think your community gets that feeling from your brand also.

I think so.

So let's shift gears here and move on to the Healing hedge, which is subscription, which is a little bit different. And I would say a lot bolder. Describe that subscription, why you wanted to make it what your vision was and then what you ended up building and delivering to your customers.

Yeah. So the the idea was that, well, at the Healing Hedge, which we are just a little more metaphysical light than at Spell Crafter, we don't really celebrate all the Sabbaths. We, we celebrate the solstice in the equinox, which is a lot more common across the world, like in many people's shop in our stores that are of all different faiths, a little different spell crafter, but at ours it's all denominations for sure. Come in the door. A lot of people like rocks. A lot of people love to celebrate the sun or the winter or whatever. So a little broader base that we're talking to. And so we keep it kind of lighter. So the subscription goes out at I wanted I very much wanted it to go with the spring equinox, which is the beginning of the year. That's also the beginning of like the Zodiac year starts at that time, and then there's four times a year. So that was always the plan quarterly box at the solstice and the equinox and how that was going to look, I had no idea until I just said, I want to do this. And then I just had to figure it out in the first box. Was terrifying because to get the boxes made, I had to start 60 days before we were planning to ship. So we had this box that's got to be in everybody's hands before the 21st of March, which means I need to ship it no later than the 10th of March, which means I need to be packing it before the 1st of March.

Well, let's be clear here about this box, right? Because everybody's thinking like box. Christie, why are you making a big deal out of this? You made a 100% custom design box for every subscription, right? So you've got to, you know, and you're doing a limited print runs. You've got to find a printer who's willing to print less than 10,000 of these, much less for your first subscription. And you had to design the whole thing. So it's not just like a box, it's a box that is literally the whole brand. And 90% of the initial unboxing experience that your customers are going to have, right?

Yeah. So it wasn't just a cardboard box for sure. And that involved a number of things your team helped me with design. I'm just so ecstatic about it. I just love my boxes and it was everything I wanted to be. I feel like the best part for me of getting subscriptions, and just because I do subscribe to a lot of them, I know I love for the pretty Box to show up. I don't want it to just be a brown box. It's like, you know, it's when it's colorful and it's got print and all of that, so it just makes it more fun. So I knew I wanted a colorful box. I knew I had to set a goal for my first to sell. And as you know, my goal was 250, which was a huge, audacious goal. Like, I know this, that it was a lot.

0 to 250 was your goal in less than a month's time. So so everybody listening now knows that Christie's crazy.

Nope. I believe in magic. And it all happened just right. So the I had a I knew I had to like go big or go home a little bit. But the challenge was I didn't that I didn't think through 100% was, oh, I need to market something and I don't have a single thing, not even the box. Like I wanted the box to be a surprise. I wanted it to be a surprise. What's in it? And I think that, like, the future years will be much easier because I can say, look what was in Last Springs box. I had nothing, so I didn't really think that through. That's something that I would maybe think through a little differently, like, you know, maybe fake the first box and nobody even knew I did it or something, but I can't even do that.

So just deciding, okay, 250 is what I'm going to go for. And so I really thought through methodically, well, where's the price point? I had to order it. At least that's how I got there was I had to order at least 250 boxes for a decent make sense if I didn't get those boxes to like, you know, a certain price point per, I was never going to be able to fill it in and press everybody very much. So I thought, okay, well, I'll do a design per quarter, but I'll repeat it next year. So if I buy, I'll buy to many. If it's too many, then I'll just use them next year and I'll only order however many. Surely I can get to a certain number within a year. So I bought the. I ordered the 250 boxes. Really underestimated even how big of a pallet that is to get 200. You know, like just all of that. You don't conceive of size. I don't anyway, like just how what that looks like. So over the 250, how long it's going to take to get them here and the whole thing and get them designed. Right. I mean, we had to design them, get the template. It was that was an undertaking. Thankfully, it got easier as we kind of moved on. So we ordered the box that was going to. So I had to order that by the around, you know, January to get that on its way, then to think about what was in it. And that was really hard to to, you know, and we go to a Jim show and that's GM not Gim Jim Show every year in Tucson.

And I knew going in I'm going to buy some things that are special for the box. Nice thing is I was able to commit to a high quantity of things for this box, knowing I had an outlet to sell them. You know, that's a hard thing. Your store. How many should I buy? Is it going to sell or is it not going to sell? Well, as long as I sell the box, the item is sold. So that's kind of how I went into it. And I thought, well, if not, I'll sell it in the store, I'll sell it online, we'll figure it out. But I wanted this box to be more exclusive. So, you know, I was just walking this fine line of promising exclusivity of what's in the box. But then in my back of my mind thinking, well, I can also just sell it in the store. You know, I didn't want to diminish that, if that makes sense. So yeah, those were the hardest parts of that. I'll go for things pretty much like I'll go for it. So that part, the investment didn't scare me. I had like a plan for everything of how I would make it work in the end.

Well, it was amazing to me watching you do this right. And and I'm a big fan of saying, all right, let's use the date to force us to get it done right. I love the pressure of a deadline. And you said, you know, you're shipping this before the Equinox. You got to ship it out on, you know, March 10th, and you started planning this in January. And just every day you were just working, work and work and to bring it all together. And I think you were down to the last minute shipping that first one out with all the details coming together. Right.

There were several. There was boxes shipped with, with like expedited shipping that nobody was. I was not counting on, but I was I was in the space of if I break even on this first box, I have killed it. If I don't lose money, I have knocked it out of the park.

And, you know, just so people understand, like, you know, the box, right? We're talking a lot about the box because it is so important. Like, I think what you did and you do in all these subscriptions is you think a lot about the experience, like, you know, your Springboks, the theme color was purple and everything inside of it was purple labels and purple covers and it just looks complete. It doesn't look like we walked around the store, picked things off the shelf and put it in a box, right. This was very curated and it had a theme behind it, you know, with your journal and all that kind of stuff. And, you know, it walked people through the next 90 days of how they get to use the contents of the box.

Yeah. So that was the other part of it, right? Like, I didn't want to just to be a box of stuff. I wanted to have a lot of meaning and a lot of intention. We're all about intention. And so yeah, we did. I have this theme for the year and every, every of the four boxes, they're all centered around this certain theme of and the journals. And so this was where I really was thinking ahead. Whereas that okay, I've got to also order these journals, right? I have to order enough for at least 250. If that's my goal to sell, you got to commit to have this plan of at the end of the year, all of the extra journals for what I didn't sell. I'm going to make them into like a set because you can do this year anytime. Even though this was our box for 2026, our box clan was this this theme you could do that theme of in 2027, just not on our our seasonal compass box. So just kind of having a strategy for it not being a waste. I didn't want to waste anything.

I didn't want to put a bunch of journals. So we very intentionally know we're in there, says 2026. It's 90 days and they're the days are blank and the dates are blank. And then, you know, yeah, I made a lot of custom items. I was digging deep. I've got pins that are purple with the theme. And you can get a lot of these things at good price points that are I didn't want it to be garbage. I didn't want to be junky, wouldn't use. But I also couldn't spend, you know, $5 wholesale on every single thing. I had to have some 1 in 3 dollars items, you know, that that would kind of make it fun. So the way to do that was promo items, like the kind of stuff you would buy for your business. You can you have to put your business name on it. You can put any kind of slogan or tagline or image on it.

Yeah. And then the really nice thing about this, you know, it's called a program that your subscription is right. I'm reading off your website, the theme for 2026 is repatriation, a slow, intentional shift away from survival based habits and towards ways of living that are actually sustainable. And then it talks about each of the four seasons. You know, the the theme for spring is recognize. The theme for summer is release, the theme for fall is rebuild. And the theme for winter is root. And what you're doing right is, you know, one plus one equals three here. And it's actually one plus one plus one plus one, you know. But it's greater than four because there's an overarching umbrella theme that people are signing up for and participating in. And like once you start that, you got to finish right kind of thing. So, you know, you're actually building in some retention by having, you know, cliffhangers. You know, you've just started, you know, that's step one. Wait for step two to come next time, that kind of thing. And I like what you've done there with that.

Thank you. Yeah, it's been fun. I mean, having that framework is actually made it much, much easier because if you're just staring at the empty pretty box but it's empty, you got to figure out what you're going to put in it. Having that framework to work around has really been nice. And one of the things that you encouraged me to do, and you were spot on, was the idea of having founders of the box, because back to the how am I going to sell a box and you don't know what's in it? We did allude to there to be the special founder things and things that will be special, because you got the first one and you can never get it again and all of that kind of thing. And I think that really paid off a lot. Basically, people who know us, who've shop with us for a long time, they didn't want to miss it. They knew based on the other packages they've gotten from us, it was going to be good. They knew I wasn't going to just disappoint them because we set that stage before the subscription.

Yeah, and we went into your store and added into the account pages. We, you know, used custom code to add in a section for your subscribers. And one of the features that is there is we have badges, right. And we've only done one badge so far and that's the founders. Right. So if they were on the first subscription they've got the founder badge. And then as you do your program, we'll come up with more badges and add them in for people. And it's a little bit of a, you know, because they're participating in a program and it brings that program to the website for them and gives them a way to engage in that kind of thing. I think we also built for your your subscribers a idea submission form.

Yes, yes, and I use that heavily this time. Every single idea, like where we gave them the opportunity to say what they like, didn't like what they would like more of. We let that shape the second box and we're letting it shape that. We're working on the third box now, we've got everything's on order. You know, we did order every time we ordered the beautiful box, custom tissue paper for inside. So when they open it up, the the logo for the program is a certain look. And we've carried that throughout with the compass. The just all these little touches that then we kind of wrap in. And so we had the founder's gift that they get one little piece every quarter. And at the end of the year they'll have like this complete t light holder that's ideally did the first box. It still works. But then at the end of it you've got this journey and it's stuff that you're almost afraid to say out loud because it sounds cheesy. Maybe, I don't know, like I thought, oh, nobody's going to care. Oh they care. They definitely care.

People love to be special, right? Yeah. In any way possible. And you know, having founder the Founders Club is a way to do that along with everything else. And and just to bring it home, I'm looking at, you know, one of your customer's photos on the, on your reviews. And we're talking about this purple box for spring. You have a box of matches. The match heads are all purple, right. The gemstone is a purple. I'm going to guess Amethyst or something like it is just so well done and so thematic, like it is you, you. It feels because it is completely curated. Like someone put this together who had a plan. They just didn't walk around the room.

Yeah. And the best part is that how while it's still hard, this because we're coming up on our third box, go out. It's getting easier. Like once you get in the flow of it and then the idea is just like right themselves a little bit, you know, in your brain and it's like, oh, and when the minute you lean into it, it's like, wow, you can really go, there's anything I'm looking forward to do a better job is the badges and the website, all the things, but it's like there's so much that you can do, it's hard to decide where to take the next bite, you know?

Yep. What was the price point for this subscription? Each each quarter.

The hedge which quarterly box is $125 per quarter.

Yep. And what do you think the box cost is out of that.

The box itself is about $6.

That's that's a lot of money for a piece of cardboard.

Now that includes shipping, you know, like in this heavy to ship. So that's my all in cost is $6.

And then what what is the cogs approximately for each one of these subscriptions and how much margin is there in this.

So my my all in wholesale number has been between 48 and $52. I was profitable on the first box. Even when you consider that I didn't sell the 250, when I just looked at my raw costs and what we sold, I was still we still made profit. So I was excited about that. But on the if I just look at the per item, it's right around 48 to $52, counting the bots and the tissue and everything.

Including shipping.

No, that doesn't include that includes all the shipping of my items, but not the shipping to the customer. I think that average now. And so the plus side is I'm spending $6 on that box, but it is the shipping box. I mean, you would have to buy your box anyway and packing materials and all of that. So they it arrives and it's, it's not like a box in a box that is the shipping box. The, the shipping on average is like I think $9. We do charge for international, so we do ship internationally. Shipping is not included for international. That's our only thing we couldn't do because it could be how much and tariffs and whatever.

So so you got good margin there. Yes. Now let's talk about your customer's response. You tried something new. You got a whole bunch of your, you know, committed you know, people signing up for it. They had no idea what they were signing up for. What does response been on your first two boxes?

It has been really great. I, I'm blown away like I do. Like you said, everybody likes to feel special. I love making people feel special. So it's a good win win fit. You know, they they felt it. They knew like there was no one who didn't understand that it was a lot of curation and intention and thinking about it and just really, what is the whole picture and journey look like? And they've been very receptive.

You've got I think you're over 250 subscribers now on your second box, right or right around there.

We're right around there. The first box, we did 189, I think the second one, we were around 220. And right now I think we're close to 250 and we haven't really started our push for the third box.

And that is in four months after launching, you're over 200 or right, about 250 subscribers on a $500 a year annual subscription amount, right? Yes, that that is significant revenue. And your trend line is still going up quite nicely, because I'm going to read the first review on your your product page because it's just amazing, right? So Kira said on the 8th of July, best subscription ever. And she only put four exclamation points. And then the contents of the box are perfect for each season. It's packed with love, intention, and inspiration for the weeks ahead. The customer service is incredible as well, drew and above and beyond. For me when my change of address did not go through. I am a founder of this box and look forward to each one.

And it's funny because we were talking about making people feel special, and the founders she put down in her review that she's a founder because she's so proud of that. Right. And then she talked about things she's talking about, like the customer service and then the intention and all that kind of stuff. It just sums it up really well, you know, and you've gotten 24 reviews, so 10% of people have reviewed 23 five stars, one three star.

Yeah, that three star hurts. And she was complaining about how those too much packing material in the box. And I want to say, honey, I didn't know what was going in the box when I chose the size of the box, but the second one was indeed smaller. Yep, because I didn't want to have to put so much packing material in there either.

Yep. So tell the story of the the husband who made the mistake because I love that one.

So after the box shipped and everybody got their boxes, we got an email. And I didn't understand the email at first, and it was through a website and it was a gentleman and he was saying, I'm so sorry for the mean things I said. And my wife, I'm sorry. It was like not making sense. It was all about I'm so sorry for the mean things I said. Please let my wife back in. You know, she's a founder. She wants to get the next box. I'm sorry I canceled. Just. He was going on it. It was a very long email of apology for something that I had not seen yet. And I think it's because when he canceled, we only had like one. We only had really had like one. It was him, the cancellation of that first box and he canceled it. I think he said some main things about how it wasn't worth it, and it's because he bought it for her as a gift, this box. And I guess she didn't express enough excitement in the moment. So he was upset. So he canceled and he said he's like begging to get her back in because she wanted the she wanted the next piece of the candle holder and all of the things. And it was just it was just the it was the funniest thing to read his email before I saw the mean words, which I never actually went to go read. My daughter did, but I didn't because, you know, I don't need to hear it. I do believe we let her back in.

Yeah, yeah, well, it's funny because, like, basically the guys like, this isn't worth it. My wife to get excited. It's 500 bucks a year. Screw it. I'm gonna I'm going to cancel. And it's just like you. What? Yeah. Get back there and give me that subscription back. I love it right kind of thing.

And he was so I mean, it was just. It was so good. I was my daughter and I were joking about, like, she was probably. He was so excited. Give her this box. And she thought she was getting an engagement ring or something. Like, what did she think she was getting?

So where do you see this box going? For example, have you already figured out for 2027 what your theme is going to be?

No, I haven't I? First of all, I'm I'm still waiting. I want to make sure I take in all of the feedback I can before I have to make that decision. And also, I'm not feeling it yet. I'm not feeling the energy of the year. I don't know, I'm just not feeling it yet. So I have not decided. I'm glad. I'm very thankful that some decisions are made for me in terms of like the actual physical shipping boxes and things like that, the colors that each time. But I'm kind of excited to decide that and also to decide what what can I start doing for founders as, as the I mean, you know, the number of founders will never be bigger. It will always maybe, hopefully not shrink, but if it does, it'll only be going down. I do want to do more things for them and keep them engaged in a way so they can enjoy the journey and also honor all the new people who come aboard. You know, there's a lot of. So I think maybe the only decision I made so far is that in 2027, you'll get you can be like a a full year person, even if you're not a founder of the box. Like how to make it an enticing way and and keep you kind of like not thinking you missed the boat on joining in the fun. Like I want to make it fun for everybody. I don't want to have a bunch of haves and have nots like, you know, how do you how do you navigate that? Some. That's where I'm spending more of my time right now is thinking about how I want to structure that.

And but for sure, I was a little worried that the journal would be too much for people. They wouldn't want to journal that much, or they wouldn't want it to be such a big component of the box, because it is. I mean, it's that's the part that's the most expensive to create and and print and everything. But no, I think I'll be keeping it and building on it for sure.

Yeah. And one of the things, you know, if it isn't clear yet that people listening is you, you know, like like you say you want to help people and have intention. You have so much intention. You have a plan, right? You think ahead and think it through, and you think four steps ahead for the four subscription boxes for the year. And that takes thought. It takes effort. It takes organization and all that pre-planning, you know, which works really well for you. It may not work for other brands or not every other brand, but for those it does. It's really been a value add in what you're doing. And let's talk a little bit about this advantage. Another advantage you have and that is your tool shed. Explain to people the tools you have in your toolbox that helps you do really fun and cool things in boxes like this.

So I am a maker creator at heart and I think I discovered this honestly during Covid times. You know, I had always been very left brain, hadn't explored a lot of the right brain, but I started out with a glow forge that I've now leveled up to be a 51 Nova laser. So I have a laser engraver, a UV printer, a couple of 3D printers that I really haven't used yet for the box, but I probably will moving forward sometime soon. I have some large format printers. It's mostly the laser engraver and the UV printer have are the real workhorses. They're they're the ones that help me create the custom t lights holder that we did as the founder item, where the laser engraver cut the base, and then the UV printer is like coloring in the little pieces as the year goes by, adding a new one to my arsenal to be able to fiber laser engrave into some metal for for something for the next box that I'm not going to mention because it's a surprise, but being able to engraving brass. So I'm having fun with that. Just having the reason to buy the tools is a lot of fun.

Oh, absolutely. But then the really nice thing is why I bring this up, right? Is, you know, you can come up with a cool idea of something that's very unique and you can go make it yourself because you're only doing a run of 250, right? You can't like, go to a manufacturer and have them make it for like the mocks. You're not going to meet it. So you have the ability to, you know, screw mocks. I'm going to make it myself.

Well in an iteration. Right. Like so it took me 4 or 5 times to get the T light, just the holder just right because I had to. I couldn't conceive of it. I could never have communicated it to someone. I had to, like, do it in the moment. Make it, do it again. Do it better, do it better. And I actually gave us a lot of thought before we got on today. And I was like, I don't want to, like, make it feel discouraging to anybody who doesn't have that. And I just want to say there are a lot of small makers out there. Out of the garage that have these tools that cannot wait for you to walk up and say, help me with this just because I love it and I know how to design it and make it. They that's what they're doing. And you're helping them pay for their machines. Just like I'm paying for my own machines by making these things.

But but I'm like you, like any excuse to buy a tool I'm all on board for, right? I'm dying for the excuse to buy my own laser, but I haven't found it yet.

You'll get there. You need maybe make some keychains or something. I don't.

Know, something. We'll figure it out. So, what would you have done in hindsight now? What would you have done differently, if anything, for the Healing Hedge? Which subscription?

Oh, I probably the only thing is I would have made a fake a box, like, I would have done a one off of something that would have made that marketing of the first one easier. The level of faith I asked everyone to have for that box is, I can't believe I had the audacity, honestly. Like when I think back that I didn't show them any idea of even we the journal. We told them about having a journal as the base, so they didn't know that, but they didn't know what was in it, what it looked like. They just knew the basics of words. And I think I would have done like a pretend box for like the winter solstice, even if I had to print the one off, even if they didn't see the shipping box being beautiful, just what was inside, I think that would have been easier for people to get there, but maybe not. I mean, maybe the you know, the fun of it is not knowing because our numbers didn't climb enough like they were. It wasn't like they were so low on the first one, and they jumped a lot when people could get an idea. We had a lot of very faithful people who who bought it and didn't have any idea what their $125 was going to get them.

Now, because your audience is this community, and you guys do a really good job in building community in both the subscription Spell crafter and Healing Hedge, which have you seen like your your subscribers post about it, talk about it and generate interest and get other people to sign up.

For it? Yes, definitely the unboxing. I think because the experience is good, it's fun to do an unboxing and then they'll, you know, like on video, on Instagram, on TikTok unboxing showing what's in it on that current one and, you know, kind of driving people towards it. I think it's been huge. I think the if I have anything that I'm most proud of, it is that I have two people separately that are that work in social work and therapy who have said that they use the journals in their work because I am not certified in that type of work, but I did. I just to survive in my corporate life, I did become like a certified life coach, just to coach my employees, not to like be a coach of anyone. But I'm very much believe in that work, of the mindset work. And I do call the healing hedge, which is like our like a self coaching superstore because everything in there is very much how do you want to feel today?

Let's create the feeling that'll, you know, drive your results kind of thing. It was scary putting my way into a book. The last thing you want to scare up is coming for you. You know, like saying you're screwing people up, you're leading them the wrong way. Like, that was something I thought about as I was doing the journal. Like, I don't want to be accused of any malfeasance like that, right? You just. I don't get canceled that way. Let's just make it for something more fun than that. And so that made me nervous. So having the therapist say that they really endorse it and use it in their practice make me really proud. So I'm glad I gave it that much thought, because it could very easily have gone the other way if I hadn't stopped to think about it.

Yep. You know, our audience here is Shopify store owners like yourself. If someone's listening and they don't have a subscription, what kind of advice would you give them?

I would say, just really think about your customer, why they're shopping with you and how you can make it easier, because that's why I think people do a subscription is that they want to they want they want nice things they just made. I can't. Sometimes it's so busy in life, I can't even think about going out to find the thing I want. I would just love for nice things to just show up. I remember my very first subscription was with back when Nordstrom did the Trunk Club I didn't have. I was very busy. I did my corporate job and I didn't have time to go shopping. I just love that every however often beautiful things showed up and I didn't like them all. I sent them back, but I just got this box of things and it made life better for me. So just thinking about how can you make it a no brainer, like easy to shop with you or give them what they want that they didn't even know they wanted? And I think everybody has something like that.

Yeah. And it's interesting that you say that because in Spell Crafter, you know, you were just giving them the convenience of they were doing it anyways but they'd forget. Right. So they just wanted a train schedule and you gave them the train schedule. The train's leaving the station. Here it comes. You're on board the healing heads, which it's that curated delight exceed surprise thing which, you know, they weren't asking for, they didn't know they needed. But now that they have it, it's an important part of their experience.

Yeah. And it is nice. It's fun, it's fun. It makes it so much fun.

Yes. Yeah.

Even even the stressful parts of that, even when I was wishing I hadn't done it, it was still fun.

And there were more than one time that you were wishing you had not done it. Yes.

Way more than one.

So thanks for joining us today. I really appreciate it.

Thank you.