Hot Smart Rich with Maggie Sellers Reum - Gab Waller On Celebrity Luxury Fashion Sourcing, The Coat That Changed Her Life, And Building Fashion's Next Big AI App

Episode Date: February 26, 2025

Gab Waller On Celebrity Luxury Fashion Sourcing, The Coat That Changed Her Life, And Building Fashion's Next Big AI App In this episode of Hot Smart Rich, Maggie sits down with Gab Waller—the fashion sourcer-turned-tech founder—who built a global empire from a single Instagram DM. Known for finding the most coveted luxury pieces for celebrities like Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Hailey Bieber, and Khloé Kardashian, Gab has pioneered fashion sourcing and is now reshaping the future of luxury shopping with her tech platform, Sourced By. ✨ Episode Highlights: Gab’s journey from a small town in Australia to becoming one of the most sought-after fashion sourcers is nothing short of remarkable. Starting her career in the Australian government, she took a leap into fashion, driven by a passion for luxury items and an eye for hard-to-find pieces. What began as a personal mission quickly turned global as she tapped into the high-demand market for sold-out luxury fashion. Her big break came through an Instagram DM when she sourced an iconic Old Celine coat for Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. That single moment changed her career trajectory, positioning her as the go-to for celebrity clients seeking rare fashion. With names like Hailey Bieber, Sofia Richie Grainge, and Chiara Ferragni on her roster, Gab became the fashion world’s best-kept secret. As demand skyrocketed, Gab saw an opportunity to scale beyond 1:1 sourcing. Enter Sourced By—the ultimate platform shaping the future of luxury shopping. Using AI to connect shoppers to rare items worldwide, the platform is the backbone of the fashion sourcing industry—a proof of concept that’s creating an entirely new space in fashion tech. Key Takeaways: Passion to Personal Brand: Gab shows how focusing on a niche—like fashion sourcing—can build a global personal brand. Scaling a Brand into a Business: She transformed her personal success into Sourced By, proving personal brands can evolve into scalable businesses. Spotting Market Gaps: Identifying the unmet demand for sold-out luxury pieces was key to her entrepreneurial success. Scaling Without Losing Authenticity: Even as she moves into tech, Gab maintains the personalized touch that made her stand out. Building in Public: Her transparency—sharing wins and challenges—offers a blueprint for founders growing personal brands into global empires. ✨CONNECT WITH MAGGIE SELLERS✨ Instagram:⁠⁠⁠@maggiesellers⁠⁠⁠ TikTok:⁠⁠⁠@maggiesellers_⁠ YouTube:⁠⁠⁠@hotsmartrich⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠Maggie Sellers⁠⁠ ✨CONNECT WITH GAB WALLER✨ Instagram: ⁠@gabwaller⁠, ⁠@gabwallerdotcom⁠, ⁠@sourcedby⁠ TikTok:⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠@gabwaller⁠ LinkedIn:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Gab Waller, are you ready to get hot, smart, rich? I am so ready. Let's do it. Okay, well, thank you, first of all, for coming. I feel super honored. I think when I was prepping for this, I was like, Gab Waller is kind of like the Carrie Bradshaw of our generation in terms of your vote column.

But now you're like an entrepreneur. You are an AI tech founder. You are like a style guru and source of making celebrities look and feel their best. Which one do you resonate with the most? Great question. I would say that I feel the most comfortable with entrepreneur. Okay. So growing up, did you want to be an entrepreneur?

Did you want to be in fashion? Or why do you feel like that feels better for you? Yeah, that's really interesting. So growing up, I had no interest in fashion. It wasn't even, I came from a really small town in Australia, a very country town. So it wasn't even the horizon or like a possibility for me growing up. So I feel once I graduated school, it's a bit of a crazy story of what I went into, but I started working in the government.

Once I was like making some good money from this government job, I started taking an interest in fashion. And I was like... On a personal level. On a personal level. Yes. I just started, I remember my first purchase. And I was like, I've always felt very naturally drawn to.

style, like it's always come quite naturally to me. So then I remember even working the government, like going into my little corporate job and they're like, Gab, you need to be in fashion. Like, look, what are you doing right now? Look how you're dressed. And I'm like, yes, I know. And so I finally took the leap and went into fashion. So when you took the leap and went into fashion, what was that first job that you had or did you just start your business right away? I remember I doubled in internships initially because I think I was like, yes, fashion is for me, but I didn't know what area. I was like, do I want to be a buyer? Do I want to be a stylist? Do I want to work in PR? So I, I went down the internship route and at the end of that I kind of landed on styling.

But fast forward a certain amount of time, that's when I kind of was like, I want to do something different. I want to do something in the fashion space that nobody else is doing. And that's where sourcing came from. Yeah. I would say like that's something. I didn't even know what fashion sourcing was before you. And it's so funny when I was first getting to know you, I was like, I kind of was like,

is it styling? Like, what is it? So when you were like, I'm going to do something different. I'm going to do fashion sourcing. You were like the pioneer of that. How did you even like think that that was a career you could make for yourself? Yeah. So I was living in Sydney, in Australia.

And I never called it sourcing to begin with. I remember I found one of my old emails seen just the other day. And it was like luxury personal buyer. Love that. Okay. You're a brand and queen. So she's done as a little luxury personal buyer. But the original concept stem from the,

The research that I did, I knew that Australia tended to get collections much later than the rest of the world. And if they did get them, or when they did get them, the quantities were so limited that they tended to sell out so quickly. So the original light bulb moment was, I wonder if I can, didn't use the word source, but I wonder if I can purchase pieces internationally for the Australian market. And then three months in, I knew that I was onto something. I was like there is demand here for this. And then six months is when like the Rosie Huntington Whiteley story happened. And it was like, I don't know the Rosie Huntington's story.

Tell me this. Yeah. So this is like such a pivotal moment in my career. But six months into the business, I predominantly had Australian clients. And I think I was sitting on like a thousand Instagram followers. And I didn't, I wasn't established in the fashion industry,

even in Australia. So me approaching clients back then, I was a complete stranger to everyone. So I was kind of. kind of finding my feed, but I was posting on my personal Instagram what I was doing. Like, I've just found my client there. I knew that I was onto something. And I remember, like, I often really go back to my old Instagram stories to see.

Wow. Yeah, like just refresh. Like, wow, that's really how it started. Yeah. And that was the original post. But it really goes to show, like, whatever you're starting, just post it. Because there was a girl that followed me. And, well, if I backtrack a little bit, Rosie posted us Instagram story saying, like,

I'm dying for the Celine coat. Can anyone find this coat? And I saw that and I was like, I know I can get her that coat. I know the boutique that has it, but I have no way of reaching her. Yeah. So I let it slide. But a week later, a girl that followed me, messaged me and she's like, hey, I've sent me you've been following what you're doing. I think this is something you can help with. I'm chatting with Rosie. Can you help? And I was like, yes, I can. And so when it arrived with Rosie she like did a full Instagram story saying you remember when I was looking for the code this girl in Australia found it and then she also did like an in feed post and that just like it's like it's not overnight explosion because there was so much leading up to that point but it was like

it was certainly the moment that changed like my career and definitely my life and that was how long after you had started this business that was six months six months and so was it like a struggle for the first six months. So of like even like did you go and get the bags or the shoes or the coats first and then try to find customers for it? Or was it like you had a client? They're like, Gab, I want this. It was definitely a struggle. I think for me, two parts of it. Number one was just proving myself. It was a new concept. So I think for me, I from day one, I was always like, I can find you pieces internationally. I can get pieces that you can't get your hands on. So that was always kind of the messaging.

But I remember in the beginning, I think Sydney, I always think back to my story. I am very grateful that I started in a country such as Australia. I think that, you know, starting in a smaller market, it helped in the beginning as opposed to like starting and say, you know, the US. But the main challenge was I wasn't a VIP client myself. I didn't really buy luxury. So I was walking into like, Diol Louis Vuitton, whoever it may have been and said, Hey, can I have, like, you don't know me.

I'm a stranger, but can I have your most requested or, like, most in-demand piece? And there was so much, no, I don't know who you are. So that kind of, in those early days, like, there was a lot of that rejection and me just having to be like, no, I know I know I'm onto something. Yeah. I know I'm, I know I'm worth your while. I think that's what I really wanted to showcase to these, like, sales assistants and to these brands that I'm building.

I'm building the clientele. And I think I did a lot of research prior to even launching. and Gab Waller as to like who was my target market and then reached out to them that way. So kind of within launching, I already had like good, good clients that were spending pretty heavily, even though there was say like 10 at that time. Yeah. It's such a common thing. I feel this all the time.

Like when I try to explain to people HSR that just don't get it and I'm like, I know I'm on to something, you just don't see it yet. It's one of those like really frustrating things where you're like, how do I communicate that I'm of value that you should pay attention to me? No matter what business you're starting or what kind of guard rail. you're up against. How do you convince people when you were starting and you didn't have what you have now to take you seriously and to give you their most in-demand peace when they have no idea who you are? Yeah, really great question. I think it does come back to relationships and just the genuine, like,

being genuine and kind can go so far. I think, you know, in the luxury world, it is common that it can get a little bit demanding of, you know, I have the money, so I want the item. But me coming in from a much, like, kinder approach, I felt that that really just helped establishing it. So to me, I've always been like, let's, you know, let's look at this as a friendship. And then I think that's kind of how I was able to at least get my foot in the door. Yeah. Just being, we need to talk about money for a second because I was going to say this till later,

but you said something really interesting that's like, you know, being in the luxury space, I have the money, I deserve this. You're around extremely wealthy people. These are the people that can afford what you're doing. What would you say are some of like the similar characteristics of people that have achieved that level of success in terms of their personality or how they think about money? My clients, for me, that consumer, they want things quickly. Sourcing is all about speed. And so I think on that, that is why fashion sourcing as a whole has grown so much as an industry because essentially these consumers, they want it quickly.

they don't have the time to find it. The fact that they can just DM someone and say, get it for me, it's done and done deal. They're not lining up with the boutiques. They're certainly not doing that. And so that's what some of the boutiques are doing these days. There's a line out the front.

Like they're absolutely not putting up with that at all. No. So the fact that it is very social and social commerce, they can just DM someone and be like, this is what I want. Like that is how they are wanting to shop and how they're wanting to spend their money. I think it's really just about,

of course there is a you know personalization and relationship element to it but I think at the end of the day they just want it the quickest way possible yeah with the most amount of time spent from their end yeah you're also really good with your money though because one of the things I've always really admired about you is like you own now two properties one in Australia and one in L.A. Yes. And how old are you? I'm 30. You're 30 so you own two properties at 30 that's super rare. Walk us through your relationship with money because because we often hear investors or sorry, entrepreneurs are investing into their businesses. You've been able to invest into your closet, your wardrobe, and your real estate empire and your business all that once it feels like. So what has your relationship with money been like from when you were younger to where it is now? I love this question. If I was to go, I suddenly didn't grow up with money for anything, of any kind of. Grow up in a very,

you know, just a very middle-class family, if you would say that. But, back in a country town in Australia. So I've always known from a young age, I need to work for my money. Yeah. So this is actually, oh my gosh, it's going to be funny. My nickname in high school was Gabby Gabby. Why? Because I'm so tight with my money.

And still to this day, like, I am very cautious. I'm very, I'm the opposite of impulse. Like, I will really need to think out any purchase. and I hate spending money on silly things. Yeah. So if it means that like I can save $5 here and there on whatever it may be like standard shipping versus express, whatever, like trying to use it a good example. Like I will do it.

Or if you can pay for valet or you'll park for free or parking for free. That's it. Yes. So it's those little things add up. Yeah. So I still feel like I have that mentality. And in a way like I think because I didn't come from money, I still am very tight with it because maybe.

there's a part of me that's always like, what if this disappeared when they? What if I don't have this? I want to hold onto it. So I'm just very, I'm a very smart spender. And even with my luxury purchase and my wardrobe, I'm, I will think it through. I'm all about investment dressing. So I want to think about, I talk about cost per wear a lot. Like if I'm purchasing a piece, I want to ensure that I get my wear out of that piece as opposed to just wearing it once. Yeah. Gone. So that's kind of my personal approach. And then in terms of business, Like we, it is a business in terms of Gabwell as a whole. It's a very low overheads.

It's always been that way. We don't hold stock. We work by, we're a service-based business. So you guys take a commission basically for each thing that you're sourcing. That's it. Yes. Are you able to share what the commission is? Yes.

It's our flat rate. And we do 220 USD for anything under 5,000 and 350 for anything over that. So that's amazing. Yeah. It's very volume driven business because we are sourcing so much. So the reason why I've opted for flat rate as opposed to doing like a percentage is it encourages clients to come back for more. There are clients requesting daily, weekly, monthly.

As opposed if you did offer, say, like a 10% commission, clients, we may only hear from them every six months or so. Yeah. Yeah, like desperately want X, Y, Z bag. So that's kind of why we went the flat rate approach. Did you ever A, B, test that to know, like, that's the way that you should do it because if you did a commission, that was like a consumer behavior, they're not coming back? I never did any testing.

To be honest, I've always had flat rate from the day I launched. And I remember even when I launched, it was pretty low. But I've always known that I'm quantity focused. I'm high volume. So even if, and the reason for that,

especially in the early days is I wanted, like word of mouth is truly how my business has been built. Yeah. So if it means that I offered like a lower sourcing fee at the beginning, it means that more sales are like converting. More clients are going to be talking about me. So that's kind of how. how I've always had that approach as opposed to,

to me, I just know that if it is commission, it's a, it's higher price for the client. And I still have that mentality of like, I want the best price for my client. Yeah. You mentioned cost per wear versus ROI, and I really want to talk about this

because I feel like there's a misconception on TikTok. I see a girl buy like a prod a bag, and she's like an amazing investment piece. And what I've been trained to think is like cost per wear is, okay, if it is not going to give me money back after what I've already, paid if I want to sell it. I'm not going to make money on this item. That is a cost per wear item versus an ROI. So can you walk us through your mentality as it relates to cost per wear

versus an ROI of a luxury piece? Yes. So cost per wear I think of the amount of times that I am going to wear that piece. Say, for example, it's $1,000. I'm going to wear it 50 times over a particular year. I will do that calculation and be like, okay, it equals X, Y, Z. Girl math. Girl math. That's basic 101. That's it. In terms of the return on investment,

that's where you look at pieces that really hold their value, this high demand on them. Amaz is a great example of that. You know that if you're purchasing a Birken or a Hallie bag, you were getting your ROI. Absolutely guaranteed. But it's not to say that there is, I've seen that even with, you know,

mu-meu pieces. There's a crochet poucher that really took over this year. And like the resale price on that is so high. because it is such a demand, like in-demand piece. So I think it is, R&I is really, it's hard to track, I think, for the consumer side because unless it is like the Birken or Kelly, like some consumers may not know how much in-demand one particular style is. And I think to it is risky also because I've seen firsthand, I see it every day how

quickly these pieces are the it piece of the moment. And a week later, nobody wants it. Sorry. I know. That was going to be like my one question to you and how you think about money because I'm a very like ROI driven finance person. Right. And so like for me, buying luxury feels like still so scary because I'm like, what if this goes out of season or this isn't on trend anymore? And I think I really want to understand how you've thought about building a portfolio of things where you're like you haven't just spent on luxury.

You haven't just spent on real estate. You haven't just spent on a business. Like you've really had this like really balanced portfolio approach. to building a career and a life for yourself. And I really want to try to figure out, like, how did you know how to do that? Or, like, why have you done it that way? I definitely think for me, I am, I mean, the classic, what's the saying? I think it's of Sex and City where it's like, I want to see my money hanging in your closet.

Yeah. Yeah. So, like, that to me is something that I do physically like to see my money in my hardware. Yeah. So I've, and I am, I like possessions for that. So the houses, my properties are an example of that where it's like, I've, I work so hard. I need a physical item. And of course, like, you know, there's investing in everything like that.

Like, you know, that's a company, that is a different side. But I do have that approach. Like, I like to physically see it. I love that. I like to say that I own it. And I think that is I'm also like a super visual person. So I think that helps me mentally to say like, that's mine. It's there.

Yeah. Touch it. I can feel it. see it. And the same with my wardrobe. Like I, my wardrobe, it's like my, it's like my baby. Like I look after it so well. It's, it's immaculately displayed. But I look after everything with like dry cleaning and, and storing it. And of course, you know, one day I'd love to be able to, you know, hand it down to a little daughter. Yeah. She comes along. But it is something that I think that's my approach. Like I do have, I like that wide portfolio because I like to physically see it.

What would you say are the best pieces that were in an individual? investment that are like a true even if it's a cost per wear like what are the best things that you've purchased over the last year and what were you like I really wish I didn't purchase that so for me I'm going to say the best pieces that I've purchased there's three brands that I'm pretty heavily focused on because they have no logos so it is something that is so chic and elegant that you can just wear over and over and over again so the row is of course has to be a up a big one. And you also talk like, yes, it is luxury. It is priced higher, but the quality is there. I like paying for quality because of course, if you want longevity to your pieces,

you do need to make that investment into the highest quality pieces. And I'm a big believer in that. So I think the Roe, Kate and Totem are three brands. At any time I spend on them, I know that I am, that's a solid purchase. Like I'm always going to be wearing those pieces, even this dress now, Totem. I'm going to wear this a million more times. It's unbelievable. So that's that. And I think in terms of regretful purchases, I have hold on to them because I'm also a big believer in everything comes back around.

Totally. So pieces that, you know, we're in the early 2000s, like we're all, everything comes back around. So I surprisingly don't sell many of my pieces. I tend to hold on to it. But again,

you may think, oh my goodness, she has so much. But because I am a very calculated purchaser, like I don't purchase a lot. I just purchase. key pieces that have, that will hold its value. Exactly.

Yeah. So I think for me, maybe my regretful purchase, I think back when I started Gabbollah, I did fall into the trap of, oh, because everyone wants this piece, like I want it too. It's trending. It's popular. It's an in-demand piece. Like it makes most sense for me to have it also. But I remember there was Balmain Top, funnily enough.

And I put it on it. It's like, this is, I feel so uncomfortable in this. This is not my style at all. And so I had to teach myself like Gab, just because it's trending, just because it's popular, just because everyone wants it doesn't mean it's your style and doesn't mean that you need to have it as well. That's such a good lesson. And I think it's actually so true when we talk about your entrepreneurship journey.

Because one of the things people always ask me is like what separates a successful entrepreneur from somebody that, you know, tries and it's just not working out. And I think one of the biggest things is focus and really making sure that. that you're like doing a job really well and making sure that you're not trying to do too much. Yes. When you're juggling so much, you know, how many people that work for you? There's only two full-timers. Okay.

But you have freelance people? I do. Yes. Okay. I'm also on content. Yeah. And then my sourcing assistants that are kind of based all around the world. Yes.

How do you feel like you're managing your day? Because like I said at the beginning of this podcast, you're now, obviously, you have your own personal brand, which I want to talk about a little later. You obviously have Gab Waller, the best. business. You then have source by, which we'll talk about a little bit too. Like, how are you managing it all? Yeah. So, best decision I've ever made is probably about eight months ago, I hired a general manager for Gabuilla. Okay. She is based in Australia, but she hands down best hire I've ever done because I think people may be surprised to hear

this. But up until like even January this year, I was still so heavily involved in the day to day of Gavala. Okay. Sourcing. Sourcing, chatting to clients, posting on the socials, like, you name it. I was doing it. And it got to that point that I was like, A, there, this, it's six years now. There's time for me to kind of step back and be able to really allocate my time elsewhere.

And so she was one of my sources and she was in Australia. And she had over time put a hand up to say, like, if there's anything else you need, like, you let me know. I was like, amazing. I definitely will. And then when it came time to be like, I. I want to hire a general manager. I want someone to run the day today of this company.

And it was a no-brainer that she was. She was the one. So that has been fantastic. So at present, Gabbwler is the, as a company, is the one that I spend the least amount of time on, which is very surprising and very new for me also.

Yeah. But I just feel that it's great that it is in such a strong position that I can really pull back on that. But essentially how my day is at present, about the first two hours of my day, Gabbola works. catch up and everything that's happened overnight, catch up on messages, kind of touch base, what orders have come through.

I still like to be hands on on sales because, of course, like, that's the profit. And then the rest of my day is sourced by, I'm surprisingly a lot more active on my personal Instagram now. I think that's kind of leaning into, like you said, the personal brand and the importance of that. Yeah. That's actually one of the things I wanted to talk about because you and I have talked about this offline, but you made a very specific decision to brand Gab Waller as like your company.

then also your personal brand where you have two separate Instagrams. Yes. So walk me through when you were building the business and were you even thinking about building a brand at that point? I was like a personal brand, sorry? I wasn't. No. So going back, I remember I started a separate account because I was like, I don't want to

bother anyone on my personal Instagram with my fashion stuff. So I created a different account. And I think I mentioned this to you in passing offline some time ago. But if I could say one regret in the. business journey is calling my company my own name. And that to me is truly just not thinking bigger picture. At the time, my only mission, my goal was, I want to work for myself. I want to have a company. I want to work for myself and I'm going to build this by myself. Little did I know what direction it would take, but that's certainly a regret of mine. Because of course, like that,

I'm so personally attached to it with your name. But that is the reason why I created two accounts initially. And so it wasn't a business decision. It was more me trying to be like, I don't want to annoy anyone. You think there's a way you can still, and I think that's what's so hard when everyone's like, how do I build a personal brand? I'm like, it's so different for everybody. For me, it was like truly feeling this dichotomy of like wanting to express my sexuality or femininity or like being a young, beautiful girl and then being like, well, I'm not being taken seriously when I'm trying to manage people's money or I'm trying to like build a startup. And so it was this like just frustration of like, why am I not being taken?

it seriously if I want to like why can Haley Bieber post a bikini photo and then have a multi-million dollar business that's a really good point I like that perspective as long as I think you're like do you feel like you're being honest and transparent about like the highs and the lows of building businesses or like is there a part of your life that you want to share that you feel like you're not with your personal brand I definitely know that I'm always being authentic like what you see like it's very like happy bubbly gab like that is my personality I think for speaking specifically more for Instagram, because that's really only where I post.

I think, I mean, Instagram is a highlight real. I would never, I don't post my struggles, which is something that I think embedded. I am quite a private person. So for me to even post as much, because I feel like I have upped my stories. Totally. Yeah.

And even that, I'm like, I, you know, I just, I think there is. that part of me that like I like to keep a lot of things private and I think over time I will share more of like any struggles and things like that especially on the galbollah journey like I want to be super transparent and of course with source by as well yeah um because for me my biggest motivator at this point of my life is just to inspire I want to inspire anyone that comes to my page be like I can do what she's doing I can be a fashion saucer I can you know build this business whatever it may be And so if that does mean that I have to, you know, be a little bit more vulnerable,

then that might be what it is. Yeah. I think it's like it's so funny because there's never, I think back being 32 and like the regrets I have in my 20s for anybody that's listening to this, it's like it wasn't the things that I did. It was the things I didn't do. It was like not posting something or not raising my voice sooner or not doing my news that are sooner or not even doing this podcast sooner.

Like you always have these excuses where you're like, I'll do it eventually. but when I do look back, you know, the last decade, it was a great decade, but there's things that I wish I shared or I wish I talked about because the connection I feel now to people that know my life and know it's not all just one way is so like inherently amazing when your mission is to inspire people that I wonder like with you and building source by, which I really want to talk about now identifying as this like AI founder like how do you feel bringing people along on the journey? when I sat down even earlier this year and I was like, what do I love doing the most? What really brings me joy? Because, you know, I signed with IMG. So I was doing, you know, some partnerships and things like that, which I still do. But I'm the happiest when I'm working. I'm the happiest when I am the founder and just building and growing a company.

And if I understand that, you know, there is a responsibility on me to be on my socials. I am a brand. Yeah. It's important to post. But in a dream world, all I would do every day is just work. And so I love the idea of being a tech founder. I think for me, too, because fashion sourcing, it didn't exist when I started. So, like, I do feel like I have pioneered this industry.

The most natural organic step for me in this journey would be to introduce tech for our industry. And so that's kind of what excites me. So when you sat down and thought about Sourceby, walk me through the light bulb moment and like to get to where you are now because I'm sure a lot of people know who you are, but they might not know that you're now an AI tech founder. So can you just walk us through like what was that moment like and what has it been like since building it? In March of this year, actually, if I've even going a little bit further back than that, I have little drafts in my notes and even on my road of over the years me planning out. tech that I need to help scale my business. So it's not as if in March of this year I was like, done, this is an idea I have and I'm running with it. It's been little seeds along the journey. Of goodness, like, this kills me. Like, we need to scale. We need to grow. But we don't have the

ability to do so with the current platforms that we use for this space. So in March of this year, is when I sat down with Amia who we can kind of touch on as my first investor. But I sat down with him, I remember it very vividly and I just said, like, look, I need help essentially. I need a solution. I need to build something because if I don't, we are going to become stagnant. There is, I can't take Gabbollah any further than what it currently is with the current platforms that I use. We've completely outgrown that.

Because you, according to the Vogue business article, you were only able to fulfill 30% of orders that you were getting, right? Or requests? Correct. Yes, that's correct. So 70% of missed revenue is today. there and it kills me because perhaps going back to what we said earlier about sharing the highlights and the lowlights is I naturally post me when I post my finds. So people don't, but people are like,

oh, Gab finds everything. She's a miracle worker and I love that so much. But behind the scenes, there are 70% of requests that I don't find. And there's no other reason for that. I know they exist. My whole belief is that every single item that I receive a request for, it exists somewhere in the world. Yeah. But I do need the assistance of tech. to be able to find that, whether that is, you know, sorting the request, managing the database. That's kind of where, you know, what happened in March of that original sit down. And then it was probably like less than a week later that we had another meeting and

we hand drew a full initial like brainstorm product memo, which we then create into like a, you know, a more formal, formal format. And then that kind of started the journey of this is happening. and I later named it Sourceby, but that was the formation of Sourceby. What does Sourceby actually do? Sourceby is an AI automated all-in-one platform that streamlines every aspect of the fashion sourcing process. So if this is something that even I'm still explaining is what is fashion sourcing. So fashion sourcing is where we receive a request for a specific item.

So the client knows exactly what they're looking for. They just need a well-connected expert to find it. for them. And it's not just new season luxury. I think that's sometimes an assumption with what I do. It's just she's sourcing, you know, top tier luxury brands. I very often receive requests for previous season pieces. So that's considered pieces that may be two plus years old. They're not vintage, but they're still definitely not sitting in like new season stock. And of course, vintage pieces also. So anytime a client can't find anything, I think anyone that's listening to this has seen the word sold out. Yeah.

At any point while they're shopping online, that's when a consumer would come to a fashion saucer to find it for them. And so Sourcebuyer as a whole, it streamlines the entire process from logging the request, but behind the scenes, we use AI to automatically log that request into our database using image and tech recognition. And then in there, you know, this ability to search, leveraging AI to help search for the item because, you know, there are times that the pieces are sitting online. But essentially follows that request.

all the way through to it being found, communicated to the client, clients invoiced, payments received all in the one platform. Because at present, we use about six different platforms. So this is, it's going to be tech that's used by other fashion sources. That's correct. We, when we, when we did our branding, so I went through a full like brand identity process with a really good agency based here in Los Angeles. But we came up with the term that this is for fashion professionals.

So fashion professionals encompasses fashion sources, stylists, and personal shoppers. They are all three different industries and three different careers. And I think, you know, I can speak not for everyone, but I think we all collectively in our industry, we see ourselves in our niche. So I'm a fashion saucer. I don't consider myself a stylist and I don't consider myself a personal shopper. But Sourceby is for the fashion professional. Okay.

And so where are you at right now in terms of like you had those two meetings? you kind of sketched everything out, like walk us through from that time in March to where you are today. So basically we created the product memo, went through the brand identity, but simultaneously to that, it was important for me to have an MVP. And I think a couple of parts of that. Number one, I mentioned I'm a visual person. So I really wanted that physical product. Yeah.

We were able to showcase the AI at work, but just to really demonstrate this is what we're building. And so we worked with an agency in New York City to develop that. And developed the MVP. Exactly. Okay. Yes. And like full discount, we do own the entire tech.

So it was kind of just like an initial scope of work that they then handed it off to us. Okay. And that has been, that was fantastic, that was a six-week project. Talking about the investment, because it says like people think I want to come up with an AI company. Yes. Must be hundreds of thousands of dollars. How much did you invest to get an MVP? So for the MVP, we were initially quoted 68.

Okay. And we negotiated down ever so slightly to 55 with the final price. It's really interesting, Gab, because I get a lot of pitch decks, obviously. Yes. And yours was, like, so clear and so concise. And it's so simple. Like, it was what? Is it 12 pages?

Not even? Yes, with a few little appendix slides at the end. But, like, relatively, it's very short, very visual. And I am so impressed because normally when people send me a pitch deck for the first time, I have, like, a ton of feedback or a ton of thoughts. Um, how did you know for anyone that is listening that wants to start a business and needs to raise money? Mm-hmm.

How did you know how to put this together? So I am going to say that Amir did help tremendously with what, what is needed in that document. So essentially what happened is when, when I was like, okay, great, it's time to go out to, to raise. I said, you know, what key components do, as an investor do you want to see in this deck? And so he outlined, um, you know, uh, the format essentially of, you know, what should be on page one, what should be on page two. And credit to Amir, he did, it's actually a funny story, he did attempt to put it together.

For us, like our brand agency, you know, did the design layout and he kind of was assisting with the content. Yeah. And I was in New York on a trip. I was for my interview with Vogue business. And because I do have, I'm a perfectionist, like, we'll admit that. When's your birthday? 20th of December?

Sadge love. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. So he was like, okay, great, it's good to go. And I looked and I said, absolutely not. Like I'm, and I got so antsy that I spent my entire flyback redesigning and starting the whole thing from Fresh. Because I think for me, what he did was fantastic.

But I said to him, like, I need, I need people to take me serious and I need this to be a very, very professional document because I am new in this space. it's like you you know he obviously has seen so many pitch decks as well and he's like I think it's great as a no no no like we can make this better 20 times better and I will say and I think this is quite common to you know after conversations I have made tweaks okay like I'm going to add that in or I might change that page to the end like I think it's very common to you know switch to move things around in your pitch deck um but I'm I can very proudly say that that is now my work and that's because I am perfectionist and I want it to be very clear and I think yeah like to like you said to not um to also because this is also maybe for anyone that's listening

that's new to to raising and and that i didn't even know that prior to investment calls that you would send the deck to them and they would review it prior to the call so it's interesting because i think that like people are so situational on what they want i hate when i meet a founder and they walk me through their deck on the call i'm like literally can read barely i have dyslexia but like i can read And I would prefer to have some level of understanding to get into a call with you to actually dig onto the questions that I need to understand. Yes. And I think it's so interesting because the thing that's so hard about even creating content for this space is like everything is so situational. Yes.

Everything is so different. But what do you think that you know now that is kind of generic wisdom that no matter what business that you're building, if it's in tech or let's just say with tech, is applicable to anybody that you wish you had known going into this? Absolutely. So a few things jump to mind. I think number one is yes, send the deck prior. To me, also a question that came up is how long do I allocate 30 minutes, 30 minute calls with any investors. Do not send them an hour long. Like these guys are short on time. Let's make this sharp and sweet. I remember my first investors call. I was so nervous, like so nervous. I can even feel the emotions coming back of just like, these people are so smart. Like, you know, they're going to ask me questions. And what if I don't know the answers? And,

someone said to me, Gab, you are the expert in this space. You know way more than they do in the space that you're working in. You know, leverage that, believe in yourself, have that confidence. Whatever investor you're pitching to, remember that you are the expert in your space. You're educating them. And I think that kind of gave me like this newfound sense of like, you're right. Like I know fashion sourcing more than anyone in this world, truly. How it works, the industry. everything. And like, so I think that kind of eliminated some nerves of what if they ask me questions. I don't know. I know every answer that could possibly come up because I know this space better than anyone else. So I think that to me really helped give me that newfound confidence going

into those conversations. Before you continue, I'm going to jump in because this is also something that will help you as you're raising money and it helps a lot of my founders. I tell them all the time. It's like you are not asking people for money. You are giving them an opportunity to make money on their money. And like I think that sometimes when we forget, it's like, because I also raise money, whether it's a syndicate, you know, we're going out to raise money for if we ever decided to do that. It's like, you have something so special that inherently somebody else will make money off of. So it's just changing the dynamic of like you're not asking for money. You're giving somebody an opportunity. I love that. That needs to be a HSO. Yeah, I need to, we need to make, can we need to make that a

sticker? Like cash for equity rich. And then like this is not asking for money. It's, giving you an opportunity to make money. That is an absolute definite sticker. I need to put that next to my HSR. Katie's like, yes, we'll put that on a sticker. What are three words that you would say describe raising money as a first time solo female founder, non-technical? Okay. An emotional roller coaster, so a bit of two words there. Because it are highs and there's loads. You can have the best call and then same day you can have a call that completely throws that off. So I'm going to say emotional roller coaster a bit overwhelming too of just different you know so many conversations going at once I love notion I try everything in notion for that yeah who I've spoken to what the conversation

etc it's motivating because there are people that definitely doubt my idea and doubt me even as a founder I can I know that for sure and that motivates me yeah much more yeah you're like me yeah like me. Yeah. Like if you tell me no, I'm like, watch me. Yeah. This is, it's like a drive. I always, like, because people always want to bottle that up, right? They're like, how, why are you so driven? And it's like, I don't know. Like, it's like, it's the making of your life. It's everything from like when you were kids and being bullied or like for me, I went through like a really bad sexual assault. My first job out of college that was like, wait, is all people care about me for is what I look like. So it made me work so hard to actually like go for things and prove people wrong.

But it is one of those things. Do you think that's, you're born with that? Or do you think that you can teach that? I think it's elements from your entire life journey. Yeah. Because I think for me, elements of that drive probably were formed more around like my last years of high school of just, you know, I love the underdog. So I think it's like the classic, like, I always want to be the, you know, I want to be the one

that no one expects, but like you just see them like absolutely pop off. And I think that's kind of my high school story to no one would expect Gabuilla sitting living in Los Angeles, doing what I do. So I think I think it's formed. And I think it's formed more around like your teenage years. Yeah. Okay. This is a really good way to segue into this last part of the segment. Do you have a personal mission statement?

So I'm going to recommend that you think about it. Yeah. And then maybe we can do a TikTok when you figure yours out because somebody one said this to me when I was like starting my own business and they were like, what's your why? And I was able to develop a mission statement with hot smart rich is like to empower and help women know and build their worth. But then it's like what is my drive? Why do I wake up every single day? When it gets really hard, you keep getting told nos. And for me, it's like really around empowering women to be authentically them fucking selves.

Like the hottest, smartest, richest version of themselves without fear of like retribution by being authentically themselves. And so whenever I feel like I'm personally. really struggling with like noes or just obstacles. I'm like, oh, I have a mission statement. This is so much bigger than me that like the business aside, hot smart rich, like my life, whether it's hot smart rich or something else, like this is what I'm here to do. And I recommend any founder that's like really now translating into building a tech

business especially, have a personal mission statement. Think about it. I love that. That's my homework. That's your homework. And now you're going to help us with some homework because I need to do some shopping and some fun things. So we're going to do some rapid fire. Absolutely. Thank you for that, by the way. I'm going to do a mission. I'm going to do a mission. Okay, good. Okay, good. Yes.

What is the first thing you notice on a girl when you see her walk by with great style? Her overall, like, vibe, how she's walking. Confidence. Confidence. I look at it all as like a one picture, even from like the hair to the makeup. Like I love an effortless vibe. Yeah. Like styling. So when it's all like an effortless look all over. Love. I love that. normally we do a coffee order but you don't drink coffee or tea so what is your cocktail order? Oh skinny margarita. What is an item on your wish list? My next bag purchase in the very near future would be a little mini-cali.

What is your information diet must read book and newsletter? Oh, newsletter hands down, Hot Smart Ridge. And that is not, I'm not going to pay to say that. I'm like, I also said to Maggie, I'm like, I'm scared you can see how quickly I open it because I know 5 p.m. every Sunday it comes into my inbox and I'm like I'm not really a newsletter girlie I hate to say it so like my hsr is like my every Sunday it's my highlight of my week and I can truly honestly say that the only other newsletter that I yet will like open and like read is there's a journalist called Lauren Sherman she works for a publication called Park and her newsletter I think is called Line She it's really

good fashion love updates inside and she does some really good research behind it so that's a newsletter And then what was the other question? Book. Book. I'm currently reading Diary of a CEO because I love Stephen. He's bet like so good. And then I'm yet to start it, but it's sitting there on my next one and I've had so many. I posted it on my Instagram and everyone replied being like, this is the best book ever, is shoe dog.

Okay. So I listened to your episode with Olivia Perez at the beginning of this year. Yes. You said that Gucci was going to be the brand of the year and potentially MewMeu again. True or false now that we're at the end of 2020. I hate to say I was wrong, but I was indeed wrong. Miu is the brand. Okay, so you were, yeah.

I was 50-50, but Gucci, unfortunately not. Three words to describe your personal style. Personal style is chic, sophisticated, but also sexy. Like, I like having a sexy element into it, whether it's up or down. But like those three have always thought about my style that way. If somebody wants to develop a personal style, what should they do to even know what would look good on them or how they should like if they're like I want to be also like sexy, chic and sophisticated. What are they doing to do that?

Truly they're trying pieces on. To me it always comes back to what do you feel most comfortably and what do you feel your best in? Okay last question. What is a brand to watch? Not Roe, Kate or Totem. I feel like they've already made so much progress but I feel like they are just going to to continue to get bigger and bigger. And because it is an Australian brand, but they have an international president, is Christopher Esba. Okay, love.

Love. Like the fact, like, you know straight away, but they're actually, like, a pretty small team and they're based in Australia, but, like, they have the making leeway in the US. And like, once you, as you know, once you crack the US, it just gets getting bigger and bigger.

He shows the Paris Fashion Week now, so I expect a lot more bigger things to come for them. Wow. Love. Well, Gabelor, thank you so much for coming on. Congratulations on everything that you're doing. and I'm sure that we'll have you on again soon. I can't wait. Thank you for having me.

Of course. Yes.