Send us a text

A Melbourne winter. A real gap in kids’ wool headwear. A founder with a finance brain and a product heart. That is how Acorn Kids began. In this episode, Fiona Savaris shares how a winter beanie line turned into a year-round headwear brand that stockists love, why wholesale still wins for volume, and how she just launched swimwear by leveraging prints, suppliers, and existing demand. If you care about cash flow, indent, stockist relationships, and direct-to-consumer growth, you will love this founder story.

• Learn how to use indent orders to protect margins and place smarter production bets
• See how a wholesale-first strategy can fuel longevity and repeat stockist revenue
• Steal the exact assets that help retailers sell more hats, beanies, and swim hats
• Hear the behind-the-scenes of a category expansion into swimwear that makes sense

• The spark: Fiona could not find warm, design-forward kids hats in Melbourne. She starts winter-only with wool beanies, mittens, and scarves made through a women’s collective and Brunswick production.
• The shift: Summer hats unlock smoother cash flow. Parents need hats for daycare and kinder. Kids lose hats. Heads grow. DTC sells summer all year.
• The engine: Wholesale remains the volume play. Disciplined launch timing, no constant discounting, and shared lifestyle photography keep stockists profitable.
• The system: Present ranges on Brandboom, take indent orders, back winners, manage MOQs for healthy margins, and hold core SKUs for reorders.
• The expansion: From swim hats to swimwear. Same brand prints. Specialist makers. A product customers already asked for.
• The team: Two full-time. Outsourced specialists for Klaviyo email marketing, Meta ads, photography, design, and sales support. Agents plus trade shows to reconnect face-to-face.
• The real life: Growth is not linear. Family health, market swings, and pacing. How to keep building without burning out.

Timestamps
00:00 Origin story in Melbourne. Wool headwear that kids actually want to wear
06:30 Winter-only to summer hats. The cash flow unlock
12:15 Wholesale first. Protecting stockists and full price sell-through
18:20 Indent explained. Sizing curves, MOQs, and backing winners on Brandboom
24:05 Printing your own fabrics. Reusing prints across styles
27:00 New swimwear launch. Why timing and supply chain mattered
32:40 Who buys and why. Repeat purchases and lifetime value in kids headwear
3

Support the show

I'm Mel Robbins! from @thelotco

Want a Roadmap to Building a Profitable Product Business head here for directions!

Looking for ongoing support to grow your brand and sell more of your product? Join the Product Business Growth Club here.

Find more details at https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Business Coach for product-based businesses. Teaching creative business women how to build a scalable and profitable million-dollar product business whether a physical Retail store or Brand.

Over 25 years as a Retail and Wholesale Strategist (Sales and Marketing for Brands).

Grab my 8 step checklist on building a profitable product business.

Send us a text

Your product might be beautiful, high-quality, and everything your customer needs… but here’s the truth: that alone isn’t enough to grow a profitable business.

In this episode, I’m diving into the mistake so many founders make, putting 99% of their energy into the product itself and forgetting the bigger picture. Because while your product matters, what matters more is how you get it into people’s hands.

We’ll cover:

• Why “build it and they will come” is a dangerous mindset for product-based founders
• The role of retailers, stockists, and partners in helping you grow
• The power of distribution and getting your product in front of more people
• Why supporting your stores and stockists is just as important as landing them in the first place
• The shift second-time founders make that first-time founders overlook
• What else matters more than the product itself (pricing, marketing, visibility, and customer experience)

By the end, you’ll know exactly where to shift your focus so your product doesn’t just sit pretty on a shelf - it actually sells.

✨ Free Training Alert: Want to build a 90-day roadmap for more sales and consistent profit (without relying on social media)? Join my upcoming live training here → https://www.thelotco.com/trainings

Support the show

I'm Mel Robbins! from @thelotco

Want a Roadmap to Building a Profitable Product Business head here for directions!

Looking for ongoing support to grow your brand and sell more of your product? Join the Product Business Growth Club here.

Find more details at https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Business Coach for product-based businesses. Teaching creative business women how to build a scalable and profitable million-dollar product business whether a physical Retail store or Brand.

Over 25 years as a Retail and Wholesale Strategist (Sales and Marketing for Brands).

Grab my 8 step checklist on building a profitable product business.

Send us a text

What if one partnership could change your entire brand trajectory? Meet Vania Truchsess—Venezuelan-born, New Zealand-based jewelry designer whose handmade pieces landed in Karen Walker stores and unlocked a flywheel of credibility, stockists, and DTC growth.

In this episode, we cover:

• How Vania went from babysitting to building a handmade jewelry label in NZ
• Why wholesale increased her direct-to-consumer sales (not the opposite)
• Pricing, margins, and range editing (and why you must revisit them yearly)
• Trade shows as a one-good-stockist play (LTV thinking > vanity order counts)
• Using markets, email (Flodesk), and workshops to fuel DTC demand
• Collaborations that borrow audiences and build brand equity
• Balancing creativity with cash flow, admin, and sustainable routines
• The mindset that keeps her shipping: perseverance (and a bracelet to prove it).

SAVE YOUR SPOT IN MY NEW FREE LIVE TRAINING HERE: https://www.thelotco.com/trainings

Vania Truchsess is the founder of Vania, a handmade jewellery brand inspired by nature and gemstones. Her ranges span everyday unisex pieces to woven “Daydreamer” earrings and gemstone necklaces using freshwater pearls and 14k gold-filled elements.

Timestamps:
00:00 Meet Vania + what the brand stands for
02:20 Early making roots in Venezuela + family influences
04:45 Markets, morphing to the Kiwi aesthetic, and first “real job” detour
08:30 Range, pricing, and staying differentiated in a saturated category
09:50 The Karen Walker moment—and how credibility compounds
12:40 Why wholesale boosts DTC (yes, really)
14:50 Seasonality, Australia expansion, and realistic timelines for conversion
16:45 Trade shows: playing the long LTV game
18:20 DTC levers: email, paid/organic, markets, and beading workshops
21:10 Risks, bulk buying, duties, and owning what you do
27:40 What success looks like beyond revenue (impact stories that matter)
32:10 Evolving into fine jewelry; skills, vision, and authenticity
34:00 Creative vs. CEO time: routines and grace over perfection
41:20 Long-term partners > one-night collabs
43:15 Final advice: perseverance + smart risk

Support the show

I'm Mel Robbins! from @thelotco

Want a Roadmap to Building a Profitable Product Business head here for directions!

Looking for ongoing support to grow your brand and sell more of your product? Join the Product Business Growth Club here.

Find more details at https://www.thelotco.com.au/

Business Coach for product-based businesses. Teaching creative business women how to build a scalable and profitable million-dollar product business whether a physical Retail store or Brand.

Over 25 years as a Retail and Wholesale Strategist (Sales and Marketing for Brands).

Grab my 8 step checklist on building a profitable product business.