BigDeal - #99 Brainwash Yourself to Success | Kendra Scott

Episode Date: October 16, 2025

I sat down with Kendra Scott — yes, *that* Kendra Scott — to unpack how she turned $500 and a side hustle into her billion-dollar brand Kendra Scott. We talk about how she bootstrapped from her spare bedroom, sold jewelry door-to-door with a baby on her hip, and built an empire by staying authentic when everyone else chased trends. You’ll hear the raw, unpolished truth about scaling a business, why passion and persistence matter more than perfect timing, and how she’s now flipping the script as an investor and founder of Yellow Rose. If you’re building something from scratch or just need a reminder that grit beats glam, this one’s for you. Thanks to GoDaddy for sponsoring this video! Head to https://godaddy.com/codiesanchez to get started with GoDaddy Airo® today. 00:00 Intro 01:17 Bootstrapping and Scrappy Mindset 02:55 Lessons from Failure and Persistence 13:01 The Power of Connection in Retail 21:56 Disruptive Marketing Strategies 31:09 Balancing Success and Personal Life 38:55 Balancing Motherhood and Business 40:18 Creating a Business Utopia 42:16 Facing Business Challenges 44:47 The Birth of Kendra Scott Retail 47:33 Embracing Authenticity in Business 50:22 The Inspiration Behind Yellow Rose 55:32 Working with Dolly Parton 01:07:13 Shark Tank and Entrepreneurial Insights 01:11:14 Final Thoughts MORE FROM BIGDEAL: 🎥 Youtube: / @podcastbigdeal 📸 Instagram: / bigdeal.podcast 📽️ TikTok: / big.deal.pod MORE FROM CODIE SANCHEZ: 🎥 Youtube: / @codiesanchezct 📸 Instagram: / codiesanchez 📽️ TikTok: / realcodiesanchez OTHER THINGS WE DO: Our community: https://contrarianthinking.typeform.com/to/WBztXXID Free newsletter: https://contrarianthinking.biz/3XWLlZp Biz buying course: https://contrarianthinking.biz/3NhjGgN Resibrands: https://resibrands.com/ CT Capital: https://contrarianthinking.biz/4eRyGOk Main St Hold Co: https://contrarianthinking.biz/3YfGa8u Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Every time someone says, oh, you don't have a college degree, you can't probably do that job, or there's a million jewelry designers out there. What's going to make you special? It's like, oh, let me show you. I get excited when someone tells me you can't do something. I'm like, ooh, say it again. We're here with Kendra Scott, designer, CEO. And the entrepreneur turned $500 into a billion dollar brand. Welcome to the world of Kendra Scott. If you want to brainwash your way to success and make a business or money on your own terms, this podcast is for you. You're going to want to hear this story if you feel stuck, if haters are getting in the way of you achieving the life that you want, or if you want to figure out how to take your business

to the next level with stories from somebody who's done it without a legacy of money just with a bunch of grit. No one would invest in me. For 10 years, I bootstrapped this business. And as I run a billion dollar business today, I still have that scrappy startup mindset. You know, when you start with nothing, you never forget how hard that is. Oh, yeah. Was there ever a moment where you thought this?

businesses going under. We're not going to make it. How much time do we have? Like every Tuesday? I mean, Colley, there were so many. So, we're going to start with a tactical question. Okay. You started kind of famously with 500 bucks and have built now, is this right, a billion-dollar brand? Over.

Ooh, it was sexy. I like it. Over billion. Which is crazy because jewelry is just hard in general to get to that level. But do you remember, when did you spend your first? 500 bucks on. Materials. I mean, I had to make the product. So I had to make samples. I mean, it was like that basic. I went out, got a few tools, got the materials and stones. My mom brought over a card table in my extra bedroom. I had a beadboard and some wire and tools, made my first sample set.

I put it in a T-box, a wooden T-box, and literally took my baby son store to store, boutique to boutique in Austin, Texas, and showed my collection. And I came to the last store of the day and they offered to buy all my samples because they were going to do a fashion show that night. And I was like, thank God. Because I didn't know how I was going to purchase more materials for the orders that were written that day. So selling all my samples, which is what I needed to do, I got the money to be able to buy more materials to fulfill the orders. So it was just like every dollar I brought in, I had to kind of reinvest it in the beginning. And I had to make it count, like stretch. You know, every single dollar had to count. How long did you work like that? Where it was like a dollar in, a dollar

out, a dollar and a dollar out? For a long time, Cody, no one would invest in me. Okay, so I had to do it on credit card debt and a line of credit. For 10 years, I bootstrapped this business. And so every single dollar I made, I had to figure out, okay, how am I going to reinvest it and get the biggest ROI I can on that dollar? What I love about it is it made me incredibly scrappy. And as I run a billion dollar business today, I still have that scrappy startup mindset. And I'm so thoughtful about how we spend our money, what we're spending it on, what are we doing and thinking about it. And everyone I hire, I really remind them, like, I remember when I couldn't afford a second set of tools, folks. So before we just throw out, you know, a million dollars on this project, let's bid it out. Let's

really think about what we're doing. What are we going to get in return for this? Why are we doing it? And it's kind of having that, you know, when you start with nothing and you build it, you never forget how hard that is. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's funny the other day. We did a YouTube video and part of the video was to smash a cake. Yeah. But they brought the cake out. You know when you can just tell something's expensive? Yeah.

I'm like, that's the cake. Like, we're smashing. That's the cake. It was a fancy cake. It was a fancy cake. Yeah. And then I asked, it was like, how much of that case cost? And they were like, well, it was pink and we need to peek.

And it was an $80 cake. And I was like, I know that's only $80. So, like, in the grand scheme of things. Right. But I do think the way you do anything is the way you do everything. But you could have gone down to H. And got a $10 cake. Girl, I about did.

Almost like just. For the plot, I was like, I might return this cake and delay us an hour on principle alone. But I love it. I learned that same thing from one of somebody I look up to a lot, which is Dave Ramsey. He says their business moves at the speed of cash. Yeah. What would your team say? Like, do you have sayings where they're like, oh, there goes Kendra again with her one-liners about how we run this company?

Well, you know, I mean, I like to say, we don't play for second. You know, they hear me say that a lot. Like, we're in it to win it. We have a very, I mean, as sweet and kind and all those things that we are, we're extremely competitive. And we're fiercely, like, we want to go out there and we want to win. And we want to be the best that we are. We are never complacent. We are never like, ooh, our business is a billion dollars.

Let's all be happy and go, you know, drink margaritas on the beach. It's like now we got to work harder. Every day, how are we going to surprise and delight our customer today? And those are things that, like, my team hears me say constantly. It's like we wake up every day and it's like we're going to be better than we were yesterday. And you've got to have that mindset in business to be able to be successful today. Were you always like that? Were you always driven and like relentless?

Yeah. I mean, I was. I mean, I think I've always wanted to challenge, I'm curious. And I've always wanted to challenge myself. And when things are hard, on the other side of fear, there's always been something great that has happened. I remember being bullied in middle school and how hard that was and being made fun of and going literally eating my lunch in a stall with my feet up on the toilet because there was hall monitors. You weren't supposed to be in the in the bathroom during lunch period. And so I'd hide in

the bathroom eating my lunch because I knew I'd go in the lunchroom would be horrible. But during that time, I was like, you know, I'm going to run for student council president. Okay, I was like, this is the worst time of my life. And I didn't think I was going to win. But I wanted to like go out there and make some change. And I thought, you know, there's other nerds like me who, you know, maybe are feeling, like, you know, feeling like I do. Like, there's this popular group of kids, but then there's a lot of people who, you know, maybe they don't feel like they have a voice and I could be their voice. And so I ran for Student Council President. My slogan was Kendra Kan. I like it. I like it. And I ended up winning. And, but that gave me this thing inside of me

It was like my purpose was like, I can be the voice for people who don't have a voice. And I can show them not to be scared. And my dad always said, I remember dropping me off in school. I'd be like, God, you know, just miserable walking in. He'd be like, baby, kill them with kindness. And it was that idea of taking the high road and that the more somebody tries to tear you down, just remember who you are and use it as fuel to prove them wrong. And that has always been part of me because I've always felt a little underestimated.

and every time someone says, oh, you're not, you don't have a college degree, you can't, you can't probably do that job or, oh, there's a million jewelry designers out there. What's going to make you special? Or, you know, you hear all those things. Now those things for me are this like fuel. It's like, oh, let me show you. I get excited, Cody. It's kind of sick.

I get excited when someone tells me like, you can't do something. I'm like, ooh, say it again. You know? I'm like, oh, tell it to me again, you know? Because I'm like, I just have this like, I'm going to show you. what you don't see, you know? Yeah. And so part of that competition part of like when you look at businesses,

it's like, I know we can be better. And I know I can create an experience for my customer that's going to be so powerful and so impactful. I know that we can give her something that she cannot get anywhere else. And so part of that is, I think, stems from that little girl that was eating her lunch in the bathroom. Oh, it's so good. Yeah.

I think you take the hate and turn it into fuel. You do. And if you can do that, you become unstoppable. But I feel the same thing. I remember David and I had this one guest that we wanted that wasn't going to come on. And I was like, it'll either be now or we'll tell them no and we're way bigger later. So, like, you know, you got to kind of operate as if. So do you think there is a way for somebody who is listening right now that's like,

Lord, my brain doesn't work that way. You know, when I get punched in the face, I stay down. It makes me sad. Like, how does that even happen? You know, is there somebody, if they're listening right now, how do you brainwash your way into success? You know, it's really, we are our worst enemies. People say that a lot of time.

Our minds, you know, the power of what if, right? We let the power of, what if I would have done this instead of this? Or what if I would have married Joe instead of John? Or what, you know, we can spiral ourselves into complete paralysis by letting the what ifs control our mindset, right? And so we are our worst enemy. So when we are in those moments, this is where I get. And this is the competitive thing again.

somebody hurts you or says something or, you know, something doesn't go the way you want it to go. In that moment you have a choice. I'm going to let them win. I'm going to let them have all of the power. I'm going to let them force me to stop loving again or believing in myself again or trying again. I'm going to give that to that person or that thing that just happened to me or I'm going to take the control back. And I'm going to get up right now and I'm going to remember who I am, what I can do, what I am capable of. and I'm not going to look in the rearview mirror anymore.

I'm going to look forward. And I'm going to remember that. And I think when you have that shift of do you, are you going to allow that person or that thing that happened to you, control your future? Or are you going to take it as fuel to absolutely go forward in a powerful and strong way? That's the choice we got to make.

And it's a powerful one when you can do it. I'm going to run through a wall after this. I feel like, does your team leave a meeting? And they're just like, let's go. Just have a bunch of meat eaters working for you, like selling jewelry, but not that sweet. They're like ready to go. Hey, we're fired up every day. I love that.

I get up and I just cannot believe I get to live this life. Yeah. Like I'm so grateful, Cody. I'm so grateful that I get to do what I love, that I get to work around such incredible, awesome people, that I get to do things and help other entrepreneurs now and help other women founders. Like, it is like a dream. And so, yeah, I wake up and I'm really pumped. every day. I love that. Okay, I want to go back a little bit. So let's say that somebody is listening

right now. They're fired up. They just heard you get after it. They're like, all right, Kendra, I'm ready to go. But they're, they kind of like don't know what to do. They're like, listen, she did it with 500 bucks. I got 500 bucks. If you were giving them a little sprinkle of magic, what would you tell somebody who had $500 to spend? What businesses are you like? Why aren't you starting that business right now? Yeah. I mean, look, you've got to, you know, I love this where you kind of look at like, What are something that brings you incredible joy? What is something that breaks your heart? And the intersection of those two things may be your why, okay?

And when you start to think about that, it's like, what is something that I am so passionate about that I cannot find or that I want or a problem that I know needs to be solved, that maybe I could solve it? Because if you have passion and purpose behind your idea, it's going to get you through those really rough days because entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart, okay? So you've got to have a real why and a real purpose. And that's why I love kind of those two elements because for me, it's like what matters to you? What really matters to you?

And for me, it was like I knew I wanted to be, I loved fashion design since I was a little girl, loved it. My aunt was a fashion director and she just brought me into this world where fashion was magic. And the reason I loved it is it wasn't about how it made me look. It's how it made me feel. Because I could be a little girl from Wisconsin and put on my aunts Donna Karen jacket and some of her amazing jewelry. and all of a sudden I was like somebody else, you know, I could be anybody I wanted to be. And so fashion was important to me. But I started this business with a newborn baby. And I was like, I want to have a business that allows me to be a present mother. I want to be a mom first.

I didn't want to have the conversation of work-life balance. I want my family be part of my business and create a business that allowed other moms and dads to be able to be for their families first and have a great career in the making. So it was all the business. those elements, you know, put together that really helped me kind of form this foundation of what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it. And then giving back was huge. I lost my stepfather to brain cancer. My first business was a hat company. I created headwear for men and women undergoing chemotherapy. He inspired that business. People were not buying hats, Cody, okay? I wanted it to be the thing. I opened a little hats. It was called the Hat Box here in Austin. I was 19 years old.

I ran that little store five days a week. I helped a lot of people, but I wasn't making money. and I had to close that business. It was a huge failure for me. But I knew there was something there about what I was doing, the purpose of what I was doing mattered. And so if I got into business again, if I would be brave enough to get into business again, I wanted to be able to have those elements,

to do something that I love with all my heart, to be able to have family as the focus and the heart of it, and be able to give back in a meaningful way. And that really was the foundation of Kendra Scott and where we were able to form a product that made people feel good, look good, and do good. at the same time. So good. Yeah, I don't know if I told you this, but I've been wearing Kendra Scott jewelry since back, probably like since the very beginning. I, oh, crap, I got to send you a picture

of it. I have, I almost brought, I've like found kind of a, I guess it would be a vintage Kendra Scott. I know. It's like, it's sad when that happens now, Cody, because people are like, I've got my vintage Kendra Scott. I'm like, oh man, that makes me feel so old. That makes me vintage. No, it's timeless. It's timeless. And quality. Because what jewelry do you keep these days for 10 years? years. It's like only the nicest, most luxurious pieces. And then I buy a bunch of stuff that I wouldn't keep, you know? I mean, I designed the collection to be a collector's kind of thing where you can pull it out of your jewelry box 10 years from now and still love that piece of jewelry. And you can build on it. You know, we'll use similar stones like natural mother of pearl or, you know,

whatever it might be where it'll go back to a piece that you may have bought five, 10, now in this case, 23 years ago. That is wild. How do we get old so fast? I know. Well, I started when I was one, obviously. That's right. Yes, you did. Me too. So many entrepreneurs started out as door-to-door salespeople. Sarah Blakely, Mark Cuban, you, do you think that you need to be good at sales in order to be a great entrepreneur? I think you've got to represent your brand and you've got to be able to articulate the why to people and really show people the passion behind what you're doing. It doesn't mean that you don't have to be a great salesperson, but when you're authentic, you will be a great salesperson. When you authentic, you will be a great salesperson. When you authentic, love what you are created, have created, or what you're building or what you're doing, you don't have to be good at sales because that passion will come out naturally and authentically. So that's why I always tell people, if you're just doing something to make money, people will smell a fake in a minute when you walk through and try to do your sales pitch because it can just feel, you know, you know the ones, they feel a little slimy, they feel

thirsty. Yeah. But when you go in with something that feels really authentic and real, it really translates really, really well. I mean, I went door to door with literally Kate and that little baby Bjorn and this T-box full of jewelry. And I was here in Austin. I think in Texas it works better than maybe if I was in L.A. or New York, they may call security on me. But here, they were like, oh, honey, give me that baby. You know, exactly. It might have helped your sales. Oh, 1,000% Kate helped. He was giggly, sweet, happy baby. He's 23 years old now, but he was a great sales associate.

It's a good trick. Puppies and babies. Does he get a little? He lives a great life. This kid isn't suffering. This kid's not suffering. Okay, Cody. You're like, calm down. He's fine. He's good. He's good. So what makes a good sales person? You mentioned authentic. But if you were like, all right, if you want to get good at sales, this is what you need to do. What would you say? I think you need to come in. You need to be articulate what it is you're trying to sell in a very short sentence, right? Be very clear. Be very concise with your pitch and eye contact. And then ask questions. If they're saying no to you, this is the greatest opportunity for information. To me, that is on in the mirror, meaning the conversation has just got it started.

So you say, no, you don't want the collection. I go, okay, well, what didn't you see today that you would have liked to see? What can I show you next time? Because I've already now setting the appointment for the next time I'm coming back. When I come back in spring with my next season, I'd like to know what I could bring

that you might be more excited about seeing. What other designers are you buying that you're really excited about? Can you tell me what it is about them that you'd like? So all of a sudden my sales call became this information source that I'm now going to take back with me and learn from and then come back to. And I promise, most of those knows turned into a yes because of that. I didn't go, okay, oh, you don't like me. Okay, bye and I'm going to see you again.

It was, I'm going to learn and I'm going to win a yes from you. And I'm going to keep trying. And there was, I would say cupcakes and cookies to buyers in the early days. You know, if it was a spring theme. I'd some like bird-shaped cookies or flower-shaped cookies and handwritten notes. And I had one buyer from Neiman Marcus. She called me one time and it was like years, I want to say, like four years or something. She finally was like, I've gained 11 pounds. Will you please quit sending me cookies and cupcakes, but I want to come see your, come in here and talk to me and come show me your collection. She's like, I love everything that you're doing. She's like, I was in church on Sunday and six girls in front of me were all wearing Kendra Scott.

And she's like, at that point, she's like, the scale was talking to me and God was talking to me. And she's like, come on in and show me what you got. But, I mean, it's part of it is that persistence of like taking no and figuring out how to turn it into a yes and doing it through really getting that feedback from whoever it is you're selling to. That's great. Do you teach, when people come into Kendra Scott, do they get like a Kendra Scott sales lesson? Like, is this something you teach the team about a certain way that you guys sell? Yeah.

So we say connection over transaction. I tell my team all the time, you look at retail stores and that they're like, oh, the SPT and the UPT and all this stuff and it's all data driven. And their teams are just so much on like how many items per transaction am I selling. And they become almost robotic. I take all that and I throw it in the trash. To me, brick and mortar is a place for connection for brands, for people to get connected to your brand, to experience your brand, to become in the world of what it is that you're

creating. So the goal for the people that you have in those stores is not to sell. I'm going to say it again. The goal for the people that you hire in your retail stores is not for them to sell. It is for them to connect. It is for them to make every single human that has taken the time out of their crazy busy schedule who decided to walk through the doors of your store, which is a gift, by the way, to make them feel loved, welcome, appreciate it, and have the time of their life. Whether or not they leave with a yellow bag that day or not, if you've created a real connection with that customer, you will get a customer for life. She will share that experience with all of her friends. She may go online later when she's in bed after she put her kids to bed and go back on and shop

online, but we have made a real connection. And if your retail stores become that place of connection, brands can absolutely blow up. But when you're focused solely on transaction, those are where you're going to see the Fort Lease signs coming up real soon. Buy any business or launching your own venture can feel impossible. If you're stuck, figuring out the website, logo, email, marketing, all it wants. But here's the good news. GoDaddy Arrow is here to help. So just a few prompts, it builds a professional website, a logo, and email, even social content,

all tailored to your business. It's like having a whole launch team in your laptop. Instead of months of grinding, you can go from idea to launch ready business in minutes. No more waiting, no more guessing, just a real online presence that you can grow with day one. Suddenly, the thing that was just a tiny idea in a notebook is online, polished, and ready to scale. So if you're ready to take your idea to life, head to godaddy.com backslash Cody Sanchez and try GoDaddy Arrow today. You know, it's fascinating because I've experienced your brand so many times being here

in Austin and you just launched Yellow Rose, which is a stunning store. You know, I'll let you explain it, but let's call it like modern Western in my terms. But it is beautiful jewelry. It kind of feels timeless. It feels like I could have gotten it from the best pieces from my grandma. And we actually had a YouTube video that we did outside of your store. and I'm just remembering this now. I have a big production team.

And so they go around to stores and ask, can we shoot outside? And all of our videos, we donate the profits that we get to varying charities. This one was like Austin Entrepreneurs or something. I love it. And so we had, it was a boys versus girls sales challenge.

So who is better? And so they went and sold like different things, coffees, whatever, on the street. And I had the funniest experience. I had an experience with your team that was amazing. You're like, whatever you want. Out front, great, come in. Are you guys okay?

Do you need something to drink? Like, oh, we'll buy it. You know, let's let the girls win. I'm buying that from the girl. The boys can't win this. They're incredible. Then we had another brand that I won't say where we were in front of their store for like 30 seconds. They were like mad, came out, you know, who are you?

You know, can I talk to the manager basically? Wow. And one is public domain. So actually in the place that we were at, we didn't even have to ask. But we did it out of courtesy. Of course. And I'm thinking in that moment, you're exactly right. how many times do we miss an opportunity because of the rules or how everybody else does it,

as opposed to thinking human connection wins? Human connection always wins. And when you train your staff and give them the power to please, where they don't have to ask a manager for approval, if I am putting the most important job in my company, it's not any of our C-level suite, it's not any of our SVPs, it is my front line. Those are the most important people at Kendra Scott.

And I need to give them the tools that they need to be able to be successful. And I need to give them the power that they need to be able to make decisions in the moment, to be able to react and make that customer happy and never have to even worry about all this red tape. You know, I worked in retail, like in high school and in college. And let me tell you, like, the book you would get was like the size of the telephone book. For all you young folks, that was a thing. We used to have a telephone book. But it was the size of a telephone book.

And it was all these policies and procedures and all these rules. regulations and this and this. That kind of stuff is not going to work. Every single person is a human being with a real thing that they're going through in that moment of their life. We don't know what that is. So we've got to come from a place of an open heart and an open mind. And every interaction we have needs to be that way. And so, you know, it's just a way on how you train and how you said hire. It's not just about training. Like who we hire is most important. I don't care if you've had any retail experience. Quite honestly, sometimes I prefer if you don't because I have to unteach some of those policies and procedures and the phone book stuff. Right?

I don't rub the corporate off of them. I got to get like, no, I don't want you to have all that. I hire people who just are brimming with optimism, who are brimming with positivity, who are brimming with warmth, the people that you just want to hug, that you feel that in their presence. When you interview with somebody and you don't want that interview to stop, you want to just keep talking to them because they're so awesome and so engaging and you just are like, oh my God, I love this. That's who we hire. And then I can teach them all about the stones and I can teach them about our settings and how to do color bar and all these other elements. But I can't teach them that. I can't teach them how they make people feel. That's either in you or it's not. And that's the number one thing

we hire on. Heart. That's so good. My dad always says you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink. Right. And that you can't teach desire, which I love that. Absolutely. But let's Let's talk about some of the unhinged things you've done to grow Kendra Scott. Because I've seen a few really cool things that most billion dollar brands don't do so much. I saw a pop-up you guys did with Sun Life and you're like handing out jewelry, but like kind of in a fun way, like 7.30 in the morning on a Sunday. I was like, this is wild. I was like, is that free? Like this is for no reason?

Yeah. So what are some of the craziest things you've ever done to grow your billion dollar business? So I really believe in touching the customer, like physically touching the customer. Now, we have all this great power with social media, which is incredible, which I didn't have when I started my company, quite honestly. But there's something, again, about human connection, going out and not just waiting for your customer to come walk through your doors. Activity breeds activity.

So creating activity is exciting, whether that's us going on to campuses where we're having our Elisa tour, where people could come and pick their favorite Elisa and they're getting cups of coffee, and we'd have 300 students in line. they're engaging with an experience with our brand that is so special and we're meeting them where they are at and we're bringing them into our world. And then that's where the beauty of connection comes. And now all of a sudden we have a fan and you have an advocate for your brand. That's not just a customer, an advocate for your brand, which is really exciting. Like for our customers in so many ways are like brand ambassadors. You know, the connection they feel to our brand is so different because

of all of the community outreach that we do. We hosted over 25,000 events in our company last. year. Oh my God. 25,000. We have people in every single store that that's all they're doing, whether that's Kendra gives back events with local charities, whether that's doing activations like you just talked about with, you know, Sun Life or other brands. No matter what it is, we're out there every day hustling and we're touching people physically touching people everywhere we can. And that makes such a difference in our brand. And I think so many brands today just have forgotten the power of that. Do you think a lot of this stems from the fact that you did bootstrap it. Like most businesses

in jewelry, I definitely don't know who runs them. I've never been to an activation unless it was like a very fancy one maybe like a luxury one at the store, red carpet something, something. But this isn't very normal for your industry. No, I mean I dressed my best friend up in a heart costume on Valentine's Day and we walked up and down

south. This is a few years ago, okay? I'm already a billion dollar brand and I made my best friend dress up in a heart costume as a mascot. And we just walked up to people on the street and asked about their love story and I gave them jewelry. I started this way because I didn't have any money for big ad campaigns. I couldn't take out advertisements in magazines or, you know, newspaper or whatever. So the only way I could get my product out there was I brought literal product, gave away my product.

And one of my friends, Clayton Christopher, he did Sweet Leaf Tea at the same time that I was starting Kendra Scott here in Austin. And he was like, I let people taste it because once they taste it, they want it. So they got to try it. Well, I was selling jewelry, not tea, but I was like, I loved that concept. And so I would go to every hot restaurant and I'd make sure that all the servers and the hostess, I'd gift them Kendra Scott. And I'd give them cards, business cards and be like, here, there's discount cards to give

to customers. If they ask, I'd just open to shop on South Congress. I'd go to like the hair salons, the hottest hair salons, make sure every stylist was wearing Kendra Scott. You're sitting in a chair, you're looking at a mirror. Those hairstylists are wearing the jewelry. They're like, what is that? I got the product out there because that was the one thing I had, the only thing I had

that I could use for advertising. Word of mouth was how I built Kendra Scott, 100%. And this was before we had social media and the ability to do that virally, right? We were doing it just like physically having people go and tell their friends. How do you come up with crazy ways to get attention without spending tons of money?

Well, you don't need tons of money. You just need creativity. And you need to not be afraid to, you know, like, I think so many people are like afraid, like, oh my God, I'm going to get laughed at. Or that could be, as my 12-year-old says, cringe. You know, that could be so cringe. But you've got to be able to just go out there and have fun and not care. You know, stop caring what everybody else thinks. Be disruptive. That's the only way

you're going to make it in business today is you have to be disruptive. I say it all the time. This is one of my slogans. If you're doing what everybody else is doing, you've already failed. You have to do it with your own fingerprint, your own voice, and you have to do it in a disruptive way. I love to use the example of the Blue Man Group. Okay. How many like acts are out there? in the world, right, that are like competing, just like jewelry, right, or all these other industries. These guys said, I'm going to paint our bodies blue. Like this was their thing. We're going to go on the streets and we're going to dance and we're going to do our thing.

Blue Man Group became because they were disruptive. They did something that other people would go, what in the world is happening? But it caused attention. It created excitement. Activity bred activity and it bred bookings. And it built a whole business for them. So don't be afraid to be a little crazy. It's so good.

I think oftentimes what we also don't realize is the more success you have, the less people think anything you do is cringy. So I often like, hey, listen, if it's cringy now, once you make it, nobody cares. It's not cringy anymore. So like, just make it. Do everything you can, have zero ego in the beginning. Yes. Yes. You can't have shame when you don't have money in your bank account. No. What about, you talked about some fun things you did, but what do you think, you know, for somebody who's listening that's like, I want to go out there and start. a business right now. I don't know if it's in jewelry or I have something else, but I know I want to go start a business. And I don't have much money. What are some non-glamorous, maybe doesn't require

massive amounts of creativity, but just like if you do these three to five things, you'll have a harder time failing in business. Yeah, I mean, first you've got to solve a problem. I like to look at my friends, you know, Tiff and Leon with Tiff's treats. They're good buddies of my, I know, right? But cookies, okay? Cookies are a very common thing. Bakers are a very common thing. But they took cookies and they said, what if we could deliver them hot, like warm, you know? That's different than what's out there right now. So they took a business that was, I mean, million cookies in the world. They took something and they created something that was special and disruptive by delivering them warm, right? They started out of their dorm room here at University of Texas in Austin, which is crazy

to me, right? Delivering warm cookies. But what I say is, and I love that as an example, is it doesn't have to be like you're reinventing the wheel and creating some product that has never existed. You've got to create a product that is unique, but it's still solving a problem and doing something in an innovative and fresh way that's disruptive. And if you can do those things, it doesn't require money. It requires creativity. And if you've got creativity, you've got in space over a big check, right? Being creative can be better than, you're any investment that you could ever get in your business. That's so good. I need to think about it more. I have a to-do list over here for David and I after this. Are we disrupting enough,

David? You're so disruptive, Cody. You are. I don't know. But I mean, I think the other thing that's interesting about you is you kind of have an outsider perspective. It's not like there are tons of billion dollar jewelry businesses being made in Texas in general, certainly not in Austin. Did you ever consider yourself an outsider? And is it an advantage to be in an outsider? Yeah, for sure. I mean, when I started, I remember going to New York and going to the Javitt Center and setting up apparel and accessory shows and setting my booth up, you know, in buyers and editors from the magazines, it'd be like, oh, are you in L.A. or New York? And I'd be like, well, no, I'm in Austin, Texas. And they'd be like, oh, you really need to move to the coast if you're going to have a successful brand and fashion. And I was like, well, you don't know Austin, Texas. You don't know the creativity here. And what they didn't also, you know, what I realized is I looked different because I was being influenced by this incredible place I was living. I was I wasn't trying to be like everybody else. In New York and L.A., they were all just trying to look the same. You'd come across my booth, and it was like, whoa, what's happening here?

Like, this is totally different. But it's what really, you know, helped us get on the map because we stood out and we looked different. So being from here really was part of the DNA of Kendra Scott, and I think a huge advantage. The other thing, you know, and I said this to someone earlier today was Texans support Texans. This state is a crazy thing. And it's like the entrepreneurs here, they hold hands. they lift each other up, they share information. We really have a mindset of like we're competing against the world.

So let's help and support one another. I can't tell you how many incredible business owners and friends I have in this state who literally were there for me and vice versa throughout all the different stages of my growth of my business. And I wouldn't be sitting here with you, Cody, if I had started my business on the coasts. I wouldn't because I needed that support and that love. And this state really gave me my wings to fly.

Yeah. Well, it's also scary sometimes. doing things a little bit different. But if you're in a place that's already different, that's a great unfair advantage that you can kind of mimic what's happening around you. And that in itself is not normal. I never thought about that for you. What about, um, slight change of, of topic. I'm seeing this gorgeous ring on your finger. So beautiful. Very tiny. He did good. He did good. He did good. Okay. So you're engaged to Zach Brown, who I'm a huge fan of. My parents are too, like giant fans.

But I was wondering, there are all these narratives about women and success and how successful women can't also be in good relationships. And I was just like curious your take. You know, do you think are men intimidated by a billion dollar CEO woman? I think some men can be intimidated by a billion dollar CEO woman. And I think there are some men like Zach who absolutely just want to lift me up and do anything they can to support and, love and cheer me on and vice versa, right? We both have very big lives and creatives and so many similar things about our, you know, he's music, I'm jewelry, but what we do is so similar. We're trying to bring joy to people through the art that we create. We're trying to make people happy.

We love our kids so much and our children are the heart of our entire universe. And so all of those things are so aligned. And when you find a partner that you have that alignment with, And there's no competition. It's just, I love you. I'm rooting for you. I see you. I want to do everything I can to lift you up. And then to also be your rock. Because I haven't had that before, Cody. I, you know, I had felt like the world was on my shoulders in a lot of ways. I was a single mom for much of my, you know, starting the business and getting the business going. And it was really hard. And I didn't have someone that could hold me when things were hard. And I always felt like I had to be the strong, like tough one, and I could never let the face go. And you know what I mean?

And like, I had to just be like, okay, put the game face on. It's going to be okay. And even when I was, you know, losing confidence in myself or whatever, I had a few good friends and people that I could talk to, but to have a partner, a real partner that I can go, God, it's just tough for me and have someone who gets it, who understands the weight of what it feels like to carry that burden and to be able to just hold me in that space and be like, I hear you, I see you. I can't solve the problem, but I'm here to help you and be a shoulder. Whatever you need is a really amazing thing. And I'm so grateful for. Yeah. No, I, I told me. We've all been there. The watch party finally makes it out of the group chat and uh-oh, you volunteered to host. Suddenly you need snacks, drinks,

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Join business leaders, policymakers, and influencers for CGs' national series on the Canadian Standard of Living, Productivity, and Innovation. learn what's driving Canada's productivity decline and discover actionable solutions to reverse it. Totally relate to that. I think I had a partnership before that it just didn't work for me that way. And I think competition can be tough sometimes when you're playing in this game. And for most of, you know, human existence, we weren't really competing with each other. And so I always like, you know, I go back and forth between do I ever ask the question or not. But I think there's so many women out there right now who really, you know, we were girl bosses and we, you know, climbed to the corporate ladder or built our businesses or whatever. And then I think there are a lot of women that I talk to at least. It's the number one thing they want to talk about.

They're like, I'm successful in my career. I'm motoring, but like will it be possible for me to find love and a man that can handle it? I mean, there are people out there. There are men out there and then women out there too, right? Like it goes both ways. ways, right? And it's like you can't just be the girl boss in every situation. Like there's masculine and feminine, right? And like I can be totally tough girl boss, making the decisions, doing all the things. But there's moments when I want to come in and I want to be more of the feminine side of me. And I want him to like, honey, you decide what we're having for dinner tonight or where we're going to go. Like, I don't want to have to make all the decisions. And it's nice to be able to have that dynamic and be able to know that you can have that ebb and flow in a relationship and that you're in a safe

place to do that. There's nothing more powerful than that. And it's important to like, you know, look, I hadn't gotten it right all the time. And I look at you and, you know, you've, you've known your guy for a long time. And I have friends that have had relationships that, you know, they've had since they were in high school or college and like, wow, like that's amazing. But I also think we need to give each other grace. Not everything works out the way we always wanted to. No one goes into a marriage or any type of relationship thinking it's going to end. We're all hopeful, right? That this could be what happens. And if we allow, again, like we talked about before, a failure or a divorce to stop you from ever loving again, that'd be a shame, you know.

We've got one life on this earth. And I want to make it count. And yeah, some things may not have gone the way that I had thought they would go. But I still believed in love. And, you know, meeting Zach at this stage of my life, you know, he may not be my first, but he's my last. Oh, I love that. Yeah, he seems really cute on Instagram, you know. He's the sweetest, kindest human.

He's a cat, so you wouldn't think. Oh, he's a teddy bear. Is he? I won't tell anybody. I mean, now the world knows. He has a dad too. He's got four daughters and a son. I mean, he is the most incredible girl dad you've ever seen. Just so protective and loving and it's amazing thing. You can tell I'm pretty smitten. Yeah, exactly. It sounds like we want to keep up. We want to keep him permanent. Yeah, I think sometimes the tough guys also are the ones that are the kindest. Like Chris, you know, former Navy SEAL, everybody always thinks he's the mean guy. Yeah. And sometimes I'm kind of the guy and then he is actually the kind one. Yeah. But that's really nice of you to share because again, I think it's hard out there, you know, like all the statistics say we're getting married less,

you know, we're in relationships less, we're kind of a little bit lonelier. And so having a partner is so amazing. I mean, having a real partner in life and having it where you've got each other. Yeah. That you know that the other person 1,000 percent has your back, loves you, is rooting for you is cheering you on as your biggest supporter. If you can find that and then give and have that the same for your, like, that's how I am with Zach. Like, I'm his biggest fan, you know, in all things that he does in his life. And I just want to be additive.

And I wake up and I go, what can I do today to make him happy, you know, to be there for our family in a meaningful way, to make sure he knows how much he's loved. And he does the same for me. And when you have that reciprocation in a relationship, it's really magical. That's a really good note, actually. that idea of like doing one nice thing a day for your partner? Like how do you go above and beyond for them? Every single day, no matter where we are,

we start our morning with good morning, I love you so much. Whether it's a text, if we're in a different city or whether we're laying next to each other in bed, I mean, we do not get the first words out of our mouth is I love you. And the last words out of our mouth before we go to bed are I love you. And even with my kids, I mean, I don't ever get off the phone with my kids without telling them I love them. I mean, they hear it all the time for me,

but I'm like, I'm going to tell you. I know you know, but I'm going to tell you all the time because I never want you to ever worry about that. You're so loved. My mom was here today. She's been at our event. We had an event all weekend. She's been hanging out. It's the most incredible thing to be able to bring your family along with you, you know?

Yes. I love that you do that because I say all the time, people, you know, we get the work-life balance question as women. A lot. Right? But men don't get that as often. We get it all the time. But I built a business where family could be part of my business, you know, and bringing my kids along. with me and getting them see what I do and what my work looks like and understanding that gave them

such a unique perspective in life and thinking about now I've grown men who are my sons and then starting their own businesses and having that almost like by osmosis experience, you know, from the pack and play in my office to where we are today, watching it all along the way. It's been, it's really part of their like genetic makeup now because it's like they've been in it, you know, every single day of their life. They're like listing off skews to fall asleep every night. I like that. So did you actually, I've always wondered that.

I haven't been blessed with kids yet. Hopefully that happens one day for us. But did you bring your kids to work? All the time. You just strap them in. I still do. I mean, yeah, you know, in the early days when before they were in preschool, I had a pack and play and I had a bouncy chair.

And there was like six of us in the office. And I mean, I'd be on the phone with a buyer like Nordstrom and I'd be like passing back my baby. and be like, take him. If he'd be like cooing or, you know, he was a really good baby, thank God. But, you know, one of the other girls in my office would be like holding him like in the bathroom while I'm on the phone of Nordstrom, you know. But then when they'd go to school, I remember like preschool, they started at three.

And I would drop them off. And it was like, okay, I have until 1.45 to just do as much as I possibly can and do all the calls and all those. And then I would bring them back to my design studio with me until we finished up that night. I traveled with Cade, my oldest, when I would do New York. all the shows. I had friends that lived in New York and L.A. They'd babies, thank God for friends. It takes a village. It really does. But I would be selling during the day and they'd be babysitting for me and watching him. He had like 70,000 frequent flyer miles at the age of three.

Because he went everywhere with me. I mean, he was my little sidekick. And, you know, but I loved it. And in the early stage, like, I couldn't afford a nanny. I couldn't afford those things. Like every dollar I was spending I was having to put into trying to build the and I was like, I can figure this out. I mean, I look back on it now and honestly, I'm like, how did I do that exactly? Because it wasn't easy, but it's the only thing I knew. What advice would you have for a single mom that wants to start up a business, like yours? Well, I think that's the thing, right? You create a business. The beauty about entrepreneurship is you create your own utopia. Like, what is your utopia? What is your dream life look like?

All right. For me, I wanted to be in jewelry and design and I wanted to be there for my little baby boy. I wanted to be the best mom I could possibly be. I didn't want to miss any of his games. I wanted to be there for him when he was sick. And that meant I couldn't go back to working in an office. I couldn't go back to working for somebody else. So if I wanted to create that, what was I going to do? And that meant that I created a workplace that allowed not just myself, but others to be their first for their families. Because it's not just for the boss. It's got to be for everybody. And you lead by example. So I think, you know, you build the world, right, and you kind of reverse engineer it. Once you know the destination, you can build your roadmap to get there.

Sometimes we try to build the roadmap before we know the destination. And that can be very confusing. And that destination, by the time, by the way, will change every three years or so. You're going to see it and you're going to go, that's where I'm headed. And then about two years in, you're going to go, ooh, wait, now I'm headed here. And now I've got to build a new roadmap. And so that's going to change a little bit. but when you really start to think about how you do it,

creating a environment where family can be part of what you do, not every single day. My kid couldn't come with me on every sales call or everything, but I tried to do as many things as I could that allowed me to be able to be there and then set boundaries. So I knew, all right, pick up, I'm going to pick my kids up from school every day.

I want to be that face that picks them up. Now that meant that I had to do some other things and sacrifices. I couldn't do long lunches. I couldn't do some other things. that some of my other friends were doing. I had to make other sacrifices, but that was my priority, and that was important to me. And so really understanding your priorities and what's important to you really will help you kind of create that vision of how to do it. By the way, I have a live event. I only do one a year. It's huge, how big, really big, in Austin, Texas, just for people who

want to make more money, buy businesses, build businesses. It's called Main Street over Wall Street. So if you liked this episode, you're probably going to want to be there. There's only a couple hundred spots left. So click below. I want to shake your hand in person in Austin, Texas, or go to M-S-O-W-S dot com. M-S-O-S-W-S. We'll see you there. Hey, it's your friend Cody. By the way, guys, I just realized that a bunch of you are not subscribed, which is crazy because I feel like we hang out every week and we talk about how to make your life better, how to make your bank account bigger, and I want to do more of that. So one, thank you for being here. Like sometimes I might pinch me moment, you know? And also share this with a friend, subscribe. The

only way we grow is when you share it. And we only show up on your feed when you subscribe. So I promise that if you do that, I will continue to make this podcast a way for you to steal all my rich and successful friends so that your life can be even better every single day. Yeah, so true. You know, we've talked about a lot of highlights, how big the business now, some of the new launches, but I know that that is not how business always goes. So was there ever a moment where you thought this business is going under, we're not going to make it? much time do we have? Like every Tuesday? Seriously. I mean, Cody, there were so many. I look back on it. There were so many. And I think

you talked about this, something about your dad. It was like head in your hands moments. Is that what you say your dad talks about? And I remember you hearing you talk about that because I was like, oh my God, I have so many head in my hands moments on my kitchen floor, like sobbing, crying, thinking I'm going to lose my business. One of those was during the 2008 recession. I was strictly wholesale, so just selling to other retailers. I didn't have my own retail stores. I didn't have my own e-commerce at that point. Because my first business, the hatbox, failed.

I wasn't going to go into retail again. I had sworn off retail. So I thought wholesale was safe until the recession hit, and I realized it was not safe, that all the power of my business laid in these other buyers, store owners, buyers for these department stores who were getting laid off, stores that were shuddering. I had no direct connection to my customer. I was letting everybody else sell my products for me. I wasn't selling them directly to her

and finding out what she really wanted. So that 2008 recession was the greatest gift Kendra Scott ever had because it forced me to look at my business differently. My line of credit got called and I had paid everything on time but I was considered high risk because of our category. So I had to find a local bank.

I had to put everything I own up for collateral. I don't know. I joke like I told my son Kate, I go, you might have been on that collateral list. baby. I'm so glad things worked out. You know, I mean, it was like, what do you need? You know, like, I was shoes off my feet. I was like, I'll put whatever I've got. Just please take this loan. And fortunately, it was a female president of a local bank, Texas Capital Bank, that took my loan from a big bank. But that moment, I remember thinking, I'm going to lose

this business. And I had someone, this woman, I wasn't a loan number to her. She had worn my jewelry for years. She knew who I was. She knew my hustle. She knew my drive. And when I looked her in the eye and I said to her, I will pay this back and then some carry, she knew I was going to do it. And she believed in me. And she took that loan. And I say that all the time. It's relationships, right?

And it's keeping your word and being consistent and do what you say you're going to do, you know, and build that trust over time. But that was a scary time. But I opened my first retail store two years later in 2010 when everyone was shuddering on South Congress. I opened our first retail store, moved our offices. right above that little store. So we all had to walk through the store to get to our offices. And I was like, we are going to sit in the store all 10 of us,

because there's only 10 of us at the time. And we're going to learn from our customer every day. We're going to find out what she loves, what she wants more of. This is going to be our laboratory. I still didn't know we were going to open retail stores after that. I thought we'd have this one retail store in Austin, and then we would just keep building our wholesale. And then I wanted to build e-commerce.

So we built e-commerce and launched that at the same time. But that store, there would be lines around the block to come in. and I was like, hmm, maybe there's something to this retail brick and mortar thing. And here we are going to have 170 stores at the end of this year. But it was one store at a time. You know, when you look at the big thing and like you said, you know, you can't eat a cake in one bite. Each store, that success gave me the opportunity to take the money and the funds to reinvest to look at the next opportunity. And the next opportunity, and I had to get it right.

And I had to make sure the formula was right. And the presentation was right. And how we were selling was right. And the displays were right. And I didn't want, you don't rush it, right? You take your time and you listen and you learn and then you act. And sometimes brands try to just act. They forget about the listen and learn part.

And then they're like, well, why isn't this working? And this isn't falling apart and this thing that's not working. Because we haven't taken the time to really give the patience that it takes to build a really strong business. It takes a lot of patience. And we just did it thoughtfully and we did it methodically. And we went where our customers were. Not that was sexy.

not where the sexy addresses were. Plano, Texas does not sound sexy to a lot of brands. That store was 1,500 square feet and it was doing $7 million a year. Oh. So I called it Plano and Sano. I'm like, I made T-shirts for our team. I was like, that's where I want to be. Where are more Planoes, you know?

And so many businesses get caught up in like what they think, oh, this brand is here and here. So I have to be here and here. You got to be where your customer is. Listen to where your customer wants you, and that's where you should go. Such a good point. Yeah, I mean, it's so easy to fall into like what you think cool is too. Totally. I remember falling into that too. It was not cool to get on the internet and talk about

finance and private equity. It was way cooler when I was at Goldman and I ran my own private equity firm and I was fancy and I wore all the things. But then I realized actually I don't really want to get rich quietly. I want to be around a bunch of other people and maybe help them do the same thing even if it's not as cool. Yeah. But that's a hard jump. Oh, it's way cooler now. Look at you. It's cooler now. It's cool. It's cool. Now, but when I started out there, we're like, what do you doing? Are we TikTok dancing now? Have you lost all, you know, semblance of care? But I am curious. Let's say that there's somebody listening right now. Yeah. And they're in the pain cave. They're struggling in their business. What would you say to them to get them out of that deep, dark hole? So sometimes it's so hard when you're in the middle of the forest, in the weeds all around you to get that 360 perspective, right? And to really, we get in our minds. I look at the hat box is the greatest lesson for me. I wanted hats. Hats were the thing. Everyone was going to wear hats again like it was 1940. It had to be hats. What was working was the

jewelry I was making and putting on the counter in the little case that was selling out the day. But in my brain, it was the hat idea. It was opening 100 hat box stores. I wasn't paying attention to what was working until I closed that store and customers started calling me and saying, I want a pair of earrings for the necklace I bought. And my sister loves the earrings I bought in your hat store. So I had went and got a job after I closed the hat box and I was just side hustling making jewelry. But the point of that story is that we're in it. We can't always see it. And so to get yourself to almost have this like bird's eye view, like just lift yourself out of that moment and really think about what's working, what's not working, write it down. What are people, where are you seeing

some traction? It may not be the original idea. It may not be what you thought it was going to be. but somewhere in there, there's something that is sparkling, something that's standing out. Now focus all of your energy on that, even though it's hard because you're thinking, oh, but I spent all this time on this other part and it was supposed to look like this and be this. It's sad, right, to put those things away and go, I might need to put that in a drawer and it's not working right now. But this little thing over here, something's happening over here. Maybe I should focus a little more time there. Maybe I should nurture that a little bit more. And I can't tell you how many, business owners I have met, that the thing, the little thing that they didn't think was the

thing became the thing. And the thing that they thought was the thing ended up being completely the opposite. And that is exactly who I am today. It sure wasn't hats. I'm doing hats again with Yellow Rose, but it wasn't the hats. Yeah, it's such a good point. Yeah. We call it kill your zombies. Yeah. Because just because it used to be alive doesn't mean it should always stay alive. Some things you've got to die. And it's the hardest thing when you start a business or an entrepreneur. It's like you become so attached. And it's so hard sometimes to let go of those things and disattach yourself from it and be like, okay, I'm not going, that's not working. And to have the vulnerability to say, okay, this is scary. This is new uncharted territory that I'm going

into. But I've got to let that go. I've got to quit putting all this focus and attention on it because it's not productive. Nothing is working there. So what am I going to do to shift into something that can work? What made you start Yellow Rose? It's such a cool brand. Thank you. And not what I expected from like the Kendra Scott I originally knew. Well, there's a two Kendra Scott. So Kendra Scott, I'm the person, you know. And I love color, obviously. I love beautiful color gemstones. I've been designing for 23 years and being here in Texas is such a big part of the design aesthetic and things that inspire me. And so vintage pieces of Kendra Scott have a lot of this Western. inspiration and really cool, you know, kind of a, it's my love letter to Texas, so to speak. So I started bringing some of those vintage pieces back and I was seeing such a resurgence with Western wear and obviously all of us watched, you know, all the shows, Yellowstone and all the things. And everybody was going Western. I mean, you even saw Louis Vuitton was going Western. I was like, what's happening? They're French. I'm Texas. I know Western. I know Western.

And part of my life is ranch life. I have a ranch in Wimberley, Texas. It's my happy place. When I'm not in the boardroom, I'm in my boots in the barn. And I love this lifestyle. And I love vintage Western. So I would go and shop vintage all the time and the cuts of the bell bottoms and high-waisted jeans and the really beautiful Western cut shirts that were fit just right and the pearl snaps and all the details. I could wear that look and still be very sophisticated. I could wear a Western cut shirt and a gorgeous pair of trousers to a meeting in New York City and people would go nuts.

And so I knew there was a way to bring this style, this aesthetic, into the modern world and make it to where it's not just rodeo wear. This is where that you could wear anywhere you go and look absolutely amazing. And I wanted a brand that put the woman, the cowgirl front and center. Every other Western brand was cowboy first. And then the afterthought was like women. And a lot of the cuts were like taking a men's western shirt and just making an extra small version of it. Well, man's body and a woman's body are very different. We want better darts. We want it to fit. different. And so for me, it was really about let's, let's figure out a way to do something that's so unique, but doing it in a modern way, how I dress and how I, you know, express myself with this Texas style. And so that's how Yellow Rose came to life. And just like I talked about, we tested and we learned. We put it in the back of Kendra Scott flagship in the little back room. And we tested product. And we brought in collabs. And we brought in boots. And we brought in a collab with Rangler to see, you know, what she liked in, you know, different denim. And we just learned for two years. We had a tiny house and we took it to every rodeo and music festivals.

And it was just all about creating experience for our customer and bringing this vision of this brand and just learning and learning and saying, is there something here? Before we're going to just open stores and we're going to put all this investment into it, is there an appetite? And there was a huge appetite. People were going crazy and still are going crazy for the product. And it's just really fun that this is a big part of who I am. So it's very authentic. it's part of my life. Yellow Rose Ranch is my other home. And to be able to bring people into the place that I love, my happy place. It's really fun to be able to build a new brand at this stage. Yeah, it was cool. I remember when you guys launched it. And they're like, I believe like, I don't know, a couple really cute girls carrying a bunch of yellow roses, handing them out all over South Congress, accompanied by like large horses. Horses for sure. I think. I was like, what is going on South Congress? And it was you. Well, I even in New York City, when we went, this is before we had Yellow Rose. And the Yellow Rose is the Yellow Rose of Texas. And when I moved to Texas, my stepfather met me at the gate. I was 16 years old with my mom.

And he handed me a dozen yellow roses. And he said, this is the Yellow Rose of Texas sweetheart, you know, welcome home. And every birthday I got Yellow Roses. And it just was very sentimental and meaningful to me. But Yellow is our brand. Yellow is the color of happy. It's a color of joy. So when we opened our Kendra Scott store in New York City, we brought yellow roses to the subway, hanging yellow roses in the subway, passing yellow roses out to people. This is even before Yellow Rose was a brand, but it was like our way of saying the Yellow Rose of Texas, we're in New York. Texas is here, you know?

It's just so smart. I mean, listening to this, I'm just like, God, if I'm an entrepreneur, I'm like writing down ideas. Like, how do we just take little things that are real stories in our life and integrate them? Because nothing sells like a story. I mean, I love Elon's line that salesmanship is showmanship. Yeah.

And it's so true. you want to sell, you got to show. And you've got to be authentic. And like you said, we all have our own unique story. There's only one of us, okay? And sometimes we want to be like, oh, I don't want people to know that about me or this thing, this hard thing that I went through. I got to polish up my persona. No, we want all that because your unique story, all the struggles, the triumphs, all of the things have led you to where you are in your life. Talk about those things, build a business around those things, build a life around who you are. Don't try to be somebody else. Embrace who you are. And when you do, people will absolutely be attracted to that because

they're going to see authenticity. They're going to see that it's real. And I said this earlier, people smell a fake. Yeah. You know, be your real authentic self and it's so amazing what can happen. What was it like to work with Dolly Parton? I got to ask. I mean, I saw the partnership and was just like, that's the peak. It's the pinnacle. My dream. So I basically was like, before, I die, I got to meet Dolly. I watched the movie 9 to 5 on my VHS tape till I wore it out, okay? I had to get a new one. I'm not joking. You can wear a VHS out, and I wore out 9 to 5. I love that movie. I watched that movie so many times, and I loved it. And what's so funny is when I built Kendra Scott H.Q, it's got a kids room with, you know, all sorts of kids' activities.

It's got mothers nursing rooms. We've got a gym. It's a whole, like, utopia for working women. and I realized when I started walking through, I go, I built nine to five. I built the modern day nine to five what Dolly and friends were trying to create in 1980. I built that. And she's always been this inspiration. She's unapologetically her. She's like, this is who I am. This is what I am. And she's brilliant, right? But she doesn't care. She doesn't let anybody like, this is who I am. And I just remember looking at her and being like, I want that confidence and that kindness and the warmth and all the things she represented. She is such a badass businesswoman. Like, let's not be mistaken here.

She is an incredibly smart businesswoman. And I just thought, oh, I just want to meet her. And so a friend of mine arranged for me to meet her. She was performing in Austin, and I got to go and meet her. And I thought that was going to be the end of story. And I met her and I said, hey, I wrote a chapter. I'm writing a book. And I wrote a chapter in my book, 9 to 5 about how much the movie and you have influenced me.

And she's like, well, I'd love to read it, darling. Well, you send it to me. And I said, oh, sure. you know, and I was still in the writing process. Well, she loved it so much. She said, well, she offered to write the forward of my book. So now I've got Dolly, and I'm like, I don't even know how to describe that. And as we started to continue to talk, I can't explain it to you, Cody, but like, I just love her.

Like, I love her as a person. And she's like, well, we know we should work together. And I was like, we should work together. And so we decided to do a collab and jewelry. And I was like, let's design every collection after a song. And so take the song and we play with what the collection is. So not just getting to meet her, getting to know her, getting to work with her, and now getting to call her a friend is when I say you can't dream big enough, like that was the biggest dream

of all the dreams of my life. And it's so beyond what I could have ever dreamt. So cool. It's crazy. Yeah, I just, the woman is just incredible. I saw she had an announcement that she's had to delay some shows, which is. you know, never a fun thing to announce. But then she writes a line in the delay announcement that's so good. She's like, I got to go to my doctors. They want me to do some surgeries. And this

time, it ain't plastic surgeries. It's like, I'm going in for my 100,000 mile checkup. I mean, she's just, because she's authentic. It's like she knows people give her a hard time for it. She's just going to call the elephant in the room. And I love that. And that taught me so much too. It's like, own who you are. Don't try to be someone different. You know, I would walk into. boardrooms when I was trying to get funding and I was like, you know, be girly and feminine and all these things. And I thought, well, maybe that's why they're not investing me. So I thought, oh, I better dress like a man. So I wore a gray pants suit and, you know, tried to be more businessy or whatever. Well, that didn't work either. And I was like, and I remember one night and I rewatched, I rewatch 9 to 5

for the 500th time. And I was like, no, I'm going to be who I am. I'm color. I'm a girl. I'm feminine. I'm all those things. I'm going to own who I am. And if people want to invest in me, they're going to invest me. If they don't, well, good riddins, you know. But that all came from trailblazers like her who really forged a path for women like you and I to be authentically ourselves and to not apologize for who we are. Oh, and I'm still not at her level. I mean, my mom thinks I'm pretty authentically myself. I'm like, no, I still get scared all the time, you know, and I'll put something out there, then I'll question it. Yeah. It seems a constant struggle, but maybe that's the game. You have to go see her musical. Because it is her story that she wrote,

and it's so many things in it that you would be surprised that you don't know about Dolly and how hard media was on her and how many people I mean right now you think about it no one would say anything bad about Dolly she's the living legend

but in the 70s 80s I mean people were brutal and she was coming up in a man's world and the things that she was up against it really was so powerful to watch it and see it in her words how she put together that musical well I'm glad you're getting on social more

because I know that really like obviously all your brands were on social for a long time. And now you have the book and you've been on Shark Tank and you're out there more. But, you know, there really just aren't that many examples

of women who have built billion dollar companies and especially done it with like a feminine flair, dare I say, and especially done it without third party funding and especially done it not coming from money. I mean, there's like a lot of and, and, and, and, and so it's really cool and I'm excited for you to keep sharing, especially because you're kind of busy.

I don't know if anybody's told you, but... It is a hard thing for me to be really honest. Like, you know, it's hard to kind of put yourself out there sometimes, you know? And I think as I look at, you know, my life and what I'm doing, it is what you just talked about. It's like if I can inspire one girl to look at me and go, okay, it doesn't matter where you come from. It doesn't matter how many times people tell you you can't do something.

It doesn't matter if you don't have a college degree. All these things, if I can give one little girl hope that she can be anything she wants to be that she can do anything she sets her mind to, then it's worth doing it. Yeah. And, you know, the other cool thing is, like, you have a talisman too for them because you have the jewelry. So it's like, if they get to really connect with Kendra the human and then get to wear your physical representation, that's pretty special. Yeah. You know, not that many people get it. It still blows my mind when I walk around places or go through an airport and I see just multi-generations, like moms, daughters, like all ages wearing my jewelry. And I literally

go up to people and I'm like, oh my God, thank you so much. You know, or you look beautiful in your jewelry and sometimes I don't know like, who's this crazy woman coming up to me? Like, complimenting me. It's still like, wow to me. Like it, it never gets old. And I think, you know, for those founders out there that are in that place where they're in their extra bedroom or they're shipping off their dining room table like I did, you know, you'll, you're always grateful. Like those moments will never leave you, but they're such great gifts that you're going through these moments. One of my friends came by and I remember when we had that store and we had the offices above and we had like a little room where we were doing our shipping and receiving and I had like

pegboards of like all the jewelry. And he came in and he goes, wow, he's like, this is the night before. He goes, you need to take pictures, Kendra. And I'm in the middle of it just like, what are you talking about? And it's my friend Cameron Harold. And he's like, this is the night before. You're going to want to remember this because your business is about to blow up and you're going to want to remember what this was like. And I was like, he saw it. But I was so in it that I couldn't see it. And I love that analogy the night before because so many times we're so in it, we're just surviving. Like, I got to get this order out. I got to get this thing out that we forget to think about where we're going and take that moment to just step back and be like, hey,

this could be the night before something really amazing. I got the chills. That was so good. I read this line the other day that was like the point, the real flex in entrepreneurship isn't the Rolex or the car. It's the hundred families that you know. Wait, no, it's. it was that when you walk in the office, the 100 people in there represent 100 families that get fed because of the work that you do. Isn't that amazing? And it's a huge, and it is. I mean, I've got, you know, 3,000 plus employees.

That's 3,000 plus families. Also, all the nonprofits that we work with. I mean, Kendra Scott Foundation is such a huge part of what we do. And we work with so many local nonprofits. There's so much that we're doing. And it's such a huge responsibility. But it is. It's like, okay, everything you do every day, every decision you make infects all of those people.

And you've got to be so thoughtful about what that is and how you go about how you walk in the world. I heard that your favorite vehicle is actually a John Deere tractor. Is that true? Yes. I told you I knew some things. How do you know that? I can't give away my secrets. Well, I have posted me driving my tractor. I love that thing, man.

I'll tell you what. I mean, it's the farmer in me. My mom sigh the family. were farmers and coal miners. And I used to go to the farm in southern Illinois in the summers, and I'd ride on the combines with my uncles. And I just love getting my hands dirty. I love being at the ranch. I love mowing. Mowing is my favorite pastime. Like, people would have no. Look in your eyes. I get excited. I get excited. Maybe the most excited today. I love mowing. This episode is brought to you by Tell us online security. Oh, tag season is the worst. You mean how to

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I put on my cowboy boots. I put on my overalls. I get my trucker hat on. And I will mow for hours, Cody. I'll mow for hours and hours, and I'm so quiet. It's peaceful. I can start to, I think about things. I don't listen to podcasts.

I don't listen to music. I'm in my own head just kind of thinking about things. I'm working on whatever, making really nice straight lines with my mower. I love that thing. I have two John Deere tractors now. That's amazing. Little Johnny and Big Johnny. Dude, we need to get a co-lab.

Kendra Scott, John Deere. Don't worry. I'm talking to them. It's Dolly and Deer. Honestly, this stuff writes. itself. I mean, it's also one of their colors is yellow. So it's kind of yellow and green. I just am saying if they're listening, let's just keep talking. Exactly. There's something there. There's something here. Yeah. Well, that actually makes a ton of sense that you're super into the tractors. Yes.

Because I actually hear you got a thing for boots and there's there's a little sneaky thing. I don't know. Are we really going to talk about it? I think we can just talk about it just happened. It's happening. We're launching our own boot line. I've been working on it for over two years to make the perfect pair of boots. I have so many cowboy boots. When I am not in Manolo's, I am in cowboy boots. I kick off my heels and I literally throw my boots on and I head to the ranch. So making the perfect cowboy boot is really important for me. Doing beautiful leathers, the craftsmanship, the quality, all the things. They are stunning. They are gorgeous. Amazing. We even have a men's boot. So we didn't forget about the boys. We didn't leave out the boys. But they're gorgeous. And they'll be available at Yellow Rose

stores and Yellow Rose by Kendra Scott on the web. How fun. I don't know if you know this. only wear boots. So I am going to be buying some. Yeah, it's, I don't actually, I mean, I really have a lot respect for you. Those things are death traps. Like, stilettos are just, you look hot, but thank you. Thank you. I, I have just worn them for so long. That you're okay, actually. Well, I was until COVID, okay? And then we didn't wear, we didn't wear, and my feet got only used to slippers. Like, even forget that, you know? And so when we came out of COVID and they're like, Kendra, you got to go speak. I remember I had to go to Vegas for, like, some speaking thing. And I had to put high heels on. And I'm like, what are these awful things that we put our feet in?

And I had to retrain them. But, you know, they're pretty. But yeah. How many hours? What's the max you can stay in a heel? I mean, I'm on set at Shark Tank for 14 hours and I'm in heels all day. Oh, my, come on. You wear slippers in between sessions.

No, Lori does. She's really smart. I don't, but I think it's not a bad idea. I just feel like if I took them off and my feet realized that there could be a rest, they wouldn't want to get back in. So it's like I can't even tease them. them. It's like I can't give my shoes, my feet the tease. Don't tease them. Oh, good for you. Okay, well, I'm more excited you're doing boots. Then at least you have an excuse to never wear those

things again. I know, I know. Do you want to talk about Shark Tank really quick? Yeah, I would love to. I am having the time of my life on this season. Best season I've ever been on. Why? The entrepreneurs are unbelievable. I mean, I invested in a lot of deals this season because it just, I was getting blown away one after another, just passionate founders, family businesses. I love family. family businesses. It was, it's just an incredible, incredible season. Can you say which one's your favorite? Give us a hint, no.

She goes, no. Well, I mean, you know, one that just aired was Double Soul and it was, you know, Pete Davidson is an investor. It was a couple that in Allison. I like him. But they sent him socks. So they did what I did. Like let people taste it.

Let people get, you know, see it. Pete put on that sock and it is the most comfortable sock you'll ever wear in your life. It's called Double Soul. He put it on. He called me. need to invest in this. And so he came into the tank. Did you tell them to send them to people? Or was that their idea? No, this is before I knew them. But they already, that's what I'm saying. They already were doing a lot of the right stuff. So they came into the tank with Pete and it was just like,

lights out, amazing passionate founders. Product is perfect. It was all the things. And they're doing everything right. They're hustling. She's got a brand new baby at home. And they're just like, they're an amazing, amazing, amazing couple. Well, I love that. I had Damon on not too long ago. he was saying that socks and sud, socks and the, what was that thing called? The face with the squeam. Sox and sponges. Scrub daddy. Scrub daddy.

Yeah, the two highest performing shark tank investments ever. So maybe this will be round two socks. Nothing would make me, I love Damon, but nothing would make me more excited if my socks do better than his socks. You know, it's a good. I'm a sock war. You should have a sock war. He would like that too.

That dude seems competitive. I love him so much, though. I mean, he is one of my, honestly, one of my very. best friends in the whole white world, but I would love to beat it. I would, you know. He's also really funny. That's what I said. When I was hanging out with him, I was like, I didn't realize how funny you are. All the sharks are so awesome and so funny. And you get, you see him on. There's like some things on air that, you know, you're getting, right? It's part of the show. Yeah. But they're, they're all amazing to work with. Well, I think Mark's going to come on too,

but I did, I have a little, he knows, but I had a little on-air spat with, with Mark. Oh, you did. Yeah. It was actually kind of fun because, you know. Well, because you should, I think you should debate people. Yes. Even once you respect, we shouldn't agree on anything. That would be crazy. Crazy. And you need people that will push you and you get to push back.

Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, we, some video I did and he didn't like the idea. It was about economics. So it's like, only me and him cared about it. Right, right? My economics professor, but he basically didn't agree with how I was positioning something about pricing in economics.

And so he was going back and forth and I was like, I disagree with you intensely. and I'm happy to talk to you about it. He's like, well, I'm happy to explain it to you. I go, excuse me, I don't need to be explained. Yeah. Hello. Yeah. You could explain to me bank accounts because you're much bigger than mine. Right.

Anyway, he's going to come on. And I thought, oh, he's awesome. Yeah, I liked it. He like slid into my DMs. He was like, let's actually talk about this. Yeah, no. All right, man. Mark is so solid.

And he's, he's got unbelievable instincts, but he's also super collaborative. And, you know, as much as, you know, he knows a lot of things, he does listen and he does like really respect people's opinions and he loves a good healthy debate. I mean, even, you know, Kevin, like Kevin and I disagree on a lot of things. Namely, can we get him pants? Can we get pants for that guy? It's a shick. He likes his crazy pants. But, you know, there's a lot of things we don't agree on. But, you know, at the core of it, he's just such a good human. He really is. But, you know, there's things in business that I'll be like, that is not true. You don't have to not have a family ever to have a business.

know, like that's not true. Okay, well, I will now, I'm going to tune in and watch it. It's a great season. The goal is team, Kendra, because we're both in Austin. Yes. Against all others. So we got to buy these socks too. Double sole. Yeah. Okay. All right. Thank you so much for being here, Kendra. Thank you for having me. I can talk to you all day. Well, same. I got all the, every time, like, when great founders come in here, it's just for me, guys. Not just kidding. But it literally, it's so useful for the next gen. Like, if you're building a business right now, I'm going to go back and re-listen to this. because these little stories are all things we can steal as entrepreneurs apply directly to our business

and all it takes is a few more cells of your brain thinking creativity instead of cash. Well, and I mean, talking about the failures, the setbacks, the hard moments. I mean, I wrote Born to Shine for that exact reason because I wanted every founder or entrepreneur to be like, oh my God, she's in that place. I'm in that place right now. And look at she was able to overcome that and take that to be the bridge to get her where she was going. if I hadn't had that experience or that failure or that difficulty, I wouldn't be able to get to where I'm going.

But so many people don't want to share that ugly stuff. And I love, I'm just like, here it is. Here's all the ugly. Because I think it's so important. And so that was the reason behind Born to Shine and really wanting people to be able to have the, to say like, hey, if she can do it, so can I. I also heard you would be a Broadway actress if you weren't an entrepreneur.

Good grief. Where are you getting your information? It is really true. I can't sing to save my life. shoot, I was going to say, is there going to be a co-lab song? Because that's what the people want. No, Zach was like, babe, because I love show tunes. Like, show tunes are my thing.

And I did karaoke. About a month after we started dating, I had my friends, we had a karaoke. And I was like, he's either going to run for the hills or he's going to, like, love me. And I did a whole, I had a whole routine. Oh, I have a whole routine. I have everything, like dance moves, all the things. And he's like, babe, we need to do something with this.

I'm like, I don't know, honey. But yeah, I would love. just even if I could do a walk-on situation someday. I think that needs to happen. I would be so excited. I'm going to noodle on this, but I'm into it. All right. You're amazing.

Thanks, Kendra.