This week in the guest chair we have Kristen Dunning, founder and CEO of Gently Soap - a bathing brand built on her self-developed herbal infusions.

An MBA grad, Kristen hails from a rare five generations of Black Alabama farmers, and she’s continuing the legacy by bringing joy back to bathing experiences for people with sensitive skin, using the medicinal properties of plants.

In this episode she shares:

• Her vigorous passion and research that landed her on Shark Tank
• Her secret sauce to having a rate of 78% repeat customers
• How she won over 300K in investment capital and has a trajectory of $1.2M in sales

Highlights Include:

00:00 Intro

03:24 Generations of Black farmers

06:38 Struggle with eczema

08:45 Studying horticulture and agriculture

14:10 Staring Gently Soaps

18:03 Transitioning to selling at markets

21:31 Importance of formulating for sensitive skin

28:56 Sales growth and Shark Tank impact

32:55 High margins and sales

39:49 Marketing strategies

44:03 Tips for entrepreneurs

Check out episode 459 of Side Hustle Pro podcast out now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Links mentioned in this episode

• Gently Soap Website: https://gentlysoap.com/
• Gently Soap Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gentlysoap/
• Kristen’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/professionalplantgirl/
• Kristen’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristendunning/
• Shark Tank episode: https://gentlysoap.com/pages/shark-tank
• Aveeno start-up pitch competition: https://www.aveeno.com/startup-collective
• Thirteen Lune: https://thirteenlune.com/
• Tech Stars: https://www.techstars.com/

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This week I’m back with a solo episode where I’m giving you the tools to make money with your podcast. When I became a full-time podcaster in 2017, I focused on my revenue streams like brand partnerships, sponsorships, courses, and VIP programs, leading to having over 10 million episode downloads to date. I’m here to help you get your podcast to that same level.

In this episode I’m sharing:

• Effective Marketing: How you’re going to optimize content planning and to get people to consistently see what you are offering
• Thinking Outside the Box: Exploring non-traditional sponsorships and multi-channel packages like retreats to generate revenue beyond just downloads
• Creating Value: How to produce content and services that your audience genuinely wants to pay for

Highlights Include:

00:00 Intro

02:49 The Importance of Podcast Setup

05:15 Narrowing Down Your Podcast Topics

09:50 Understanding and Serving Your Audience

14:33 Creating a Content Plan

16:39 Effective Marketing Strategies

19:00 Consistent Marketing Practices

21:24 Thinking Outside the Box for Sponsorships

25:54 Create Content People Want to Pay For

28:17 Recap and Action Steps

To learn more about making money from your podcast, join my next live class. Register at sidehustlepro.co/class.

Check out episode 458 of Side Hustle Pro podcast out now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube

Links mentioned in this episode

• Riverside (Use code ‘hustlepro’): https://riverside.fm/
• Podcast Moguls: http://sidehustlepro.co/join
• Lori Tharps SHP episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3EsWprSGu4
• Launching Podcast Moguls 2.0: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3d-wkYAcsLo&t=1s
• Free newsletter: http://sidehustlepro.co/newsletter
• You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero: https://jensincero.com/

Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rss

Join our Facebook Community

If you’re looking for a community of supportive side hustlers who are all working to take our businesses to the next level, join us here: http://sidehustlepro.co/facebook

Side Hustle Pro – @sidehustlepro

#SideHustlePro

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week in the guest chair we have Julia Coney, award winning wine writer, speaker, & consultant.

Julia wears many hats, including being the Wine Consultant for American Airlines and Founder of Black Wine Professionals; a resource for Black professionals in the world of wine.

In this episode she shares about:

• Being multi-passionate: how exploring a range of interests, from starting at a law firm to writing a beauty blog, has elevated her career
• Paving the way for diversity: how starting honest conversations about racism, equity, and inclusion in the wine industry led to being the recipient of Wine Enthusiast's 2020 Social Visionary Award Winner
• The power of putting yourself out there on social media: How she has created opportunities for herself like being the first Black woman to run a wine program for American Airlines

Highlights include:

00:00 Intro

04:42 Original career path and intro to wine

13:00 Navigating a switch in careers

21:39 Transition from beauty blogging to wine writing

27:06 Addressing racism in the wine industry

29:40 Sustaining financially as a freelance writer

35:00 Providing a niche wine service

41:30 Unlocking networking opportunities

45:07 Running a wine program for American Airlines

54:16 Tips for entrepreneurs

Watch episode 457 on YouTube and listen on all podcast apps

Links mentioned in this episode

• Julia’s Substack: https://juliaconey.substack.com/
• Julia’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliaconey/
• Julia’s email: hello@juliaconey.com

Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rss

Join our Facebook Community

If you’re looking for a community of supportive side hustlers who are all working to take our businesses to the next level, join us here: http://sidehustlepro.co/facebook

• Julia’s Substack: https://juliaconey.substack.com/
• Julia’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliaconey/
• Julia’s email: hello@juliaconey.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.