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This is a show for burnt-out fashion designers (and TDs, PDs, patternmakers and beyond) who want more flexibility while still doing work they love. As a freelance fashion designer, you can build your fashion career on your own terms. Freelancing in fashion is the only way to get freedom in your day (instead of being tied to a desk). Whether you want to earn extra money on the side, fund your fashion brand, or replace your salary, the FDGP podcast will help you get there. Listen in for actionable tips and strategies to kickstart or grow your career as a freelance fashion designer, build your confidence, and create the life you want. Hosted by $100k+ fashion freelancer Sew Heidi, the show features interviews and strategy sessions with successful freelance fashion designers from around the world who've ditched toxic fashion jobs and taken control of their own destinies. This is the only place to get REAL insights from REAL freelancers who have built REAL careers on their own terms. (Formerly the Successful Fashion Freelancer podcast.)
Heidi [00:00:00]:
It is no small feat to go from a freelancing to a $1,000,000 agency. It's also not all rainbows and roses, but it is exactly what Connie Bourgeois did. Connie is a graduate from my FAUST program, and it was about time we had her back on the podcast to share about her massive success. In early 2020, Connie started out freelancing on the side of her full time fashion design job. Fast forward 4 years later, she has a full time team of 6 and a small office in Saint Louis, Missouri. Connie has been really strategic and worked really hard to grow a 7 figure business. We talk about so many things, including three strategies she uses to find new clients, how she built her team, and how her business acts more like a manufacturer than a typical design agency. We also talk through the cold hard truths that are the realities of growing a $1,000,000 business like she has.
Heidi [00:00:48]:
You are going to love this episode. Let's get to it. Awesome. Connie, welcome back. I was we were just chatting the last time you were on. It aired in December 2021. So it's been a solid, like, two and a half years since we have an update. So we're super overdue.
Heidi [00:01:04]:
I'm really excited to have you back. We'll point people back to that episode, but give us a little rundown and some context on who you are before we dive into all the details about your business.
Connie Bourgeois [00:01:13]:
Yeah. Absolutely. So, I own a, what started as a freelance design business and kind of turned into a full on agency. We specialize in the manufacturing part. So we do all of the design work, the tech design work, but where what sets us apart from those, you know, freelance freelancers is we really offer, like, the whole process from design to delivery. We handle the importing, the logistics, all of it. So Yeah. Yeah.
Connie Bourgeois [00:01:49]:
In a nutshell, that is what we do.
Heidi [00:01:52]:
Okay. So for people who don't go back and listen, you're I was just late. You're the the title to your last episode was I turned my side hustle into my full time hustle. And I remember when when we chatted in that episode, you had, like, luckily, you originally had luckily gotten, like, 1 or 2 clients just through network and industry contacts. And you were you said, I don't think there's enough work out there for me to go full time.
Connie Bourgeois [00:02:19]:
Yes. And I was so wrong because not only did I go full time, I hired multiple full time staff members to work for me, and it's you know, we've got a whole team over here now. So I was very, very wrong.
Heidi [00:02:32]:
Yeah. Okay. So I wanna, like, kinda quickly go through I know you you got your first few leads through industry connects connections. Just things kinda fell on
Connie Bourgeois [00:02:45]:
your lap.
Heidi [00:02:45]:
I know you've done some pitching and stuff, but, like, give us a quick overview of how you went from a couple random projects to a team of you have 6 full time people. Right?
Connie Bourgeois [00:02:59]:
Yes. Including me. 6.
Heidi [00:03:01]:
Okay. So, like, where did you how did you build up to that? And how did you get so much work and so many clients that you now have a full agency?
Connie Bourgeois [00:03:13]:
Well, I I've done a lot of different things to bring clients in. Cold cold pitching is 1, but I'll be honest, I don't do it much, you know, anymore. Actually being a guest on podcasts or, you know, saying yes to opportunities that came my way that had to do with being involved in events specifically tailored to people who are trying to launch a brand. That has helped bring in clients. And, actually a lot of, factory connections have brought in clients. So just kinda telling factories that we work with, hey. If you ever get, you know, inquiries about manufacturing from people who aren't ready and they don't have tech packs, send them our way. We'd be happy to, you know, work with them.
Connie Bourgeois [00:04:03]:
And that has brought multiple clients my way as well. And then just Google. Yeah. So I guess our website, you know, is helping. I've had quite a few people say they found me just from searching Tech Pack, and then a lot of actually people local to my area found me that way. Not even through a local connection, but they said I just googled and typed in tech pack in St. Louis. I'm like, you showed up.
Heidi [00:04:34]:
Oh my gosh. Wow. Yeah. That's wild that people are even searching that, but that's amazing.
Connie Bourgeois [00:04:39]:
Right. It's like once they realized they needed that, they're like, well, I don't know how to make that. Let's see if I can find someone that does, and then we popped up. So I would definitely tell people having a website, it it does help. You know, people can can find you through your website. That's brought us quite a bit of business as well.
Heidi [00:05:00]:
Yeah. That's awesome. Do you, like, blog or create content on a regular basis, or you just kinda have, like, your brochure website?
Connie Bourgeois [00:05:09]:
I don't do it on a regular basis. I do it really sporadically. I've I am actually trying to be more consistent with that. That's one of my goals for the rest of the year is do, like, one blog post a month. And just also really there's a lot of education that goes with what we do for our clients, and I want to kind of have somewhere to point them to of, hey. You know, we're we're diving into your project. This is a unique situation. You want small batch manufacturing with kind of a complex design, and you have, a pretty tight price point that's difficult to do, there are some challenges that we're going to come up against.
Connie Bourgeois [00:05:50]:
Here's a blog post where you can, like, really understand what we're dealing with, you know, going down this path. And so that's one of my goals. It's just, like, giving more value to our clients that also ideally can reach other people who are not yet our clients, but once they read our amazing blog, we'll want to be our client.
Heidi [00:06:11]:
Totally. Okay. So I wanna I'd love to actually dig into each of these things a little bit more. So the first one you mentioned was saying yes to opportunities, like going on podcast or doing events where people who are your ideal avatar, your ideal customer, smaller startup independent brands might be hanging around. So can you tell us like, give us some examples of what some of those might look like or some of the podcast you've gone on and some of the, like, events? Maybe they're in person, maybe they're online. What does that all look like?
Connie Bourgeois [00:06:43]:
Yeah. So I I got invited through a random Instagram message. This was, like, early last year. I think it was, like, around January or so. I got invited to be a guest presenter or speaker for this online, launch or brand summit that, who, her name is escaping me at the moment. I I think Nicole was her name. She has a ton of experience, you know, very similar to what I do, and she was she made this event. It was like an online event, and she did a ton of marketing and asked me to be a guest speaker.
Connie Bourgeois [00:07:19]:
And, you know, I was like, well, what's this like? Let me check it out. She was following me, you know, just on Instagram. So it looked worth doing. Like, her website looked really well put together. She had a good following on Instagram. So I also took it out. You know what? This will be an opportunity for me to create a piece of content that I can repurpose, because I had to give, like, a virtual presentation, and I didn't have to be there unless they wanted to do it live. But, you know, we have the opportunity to just upload our video, and then they would make it go live at a certain time point.
Connie Bourgeois [00:07:52]:
So, like, this is, like, an excuse for me to go ahead and create something that hopefully people will find value in. So, my topic was, I think it was, like, the design to delivery, the early part of design. I think I went through, like I really focused on a range plan and keeping it really tight and not overdeveloping. So so, yeah, I I really had zero expectations for in that event, but I just kept an open mind. And, I ended up following a lot of other people in the industry, like, similar freelancers. So, you know, I got some good connections from it. And I had quite a bit of traffic on my website from that, and a couple of, you know, clients came out of it that are still, you know, with me today, and that was over a year
Heidi [00:08:40]:
ago. Wow.
Connie Bourgeois [00:08:41]:
So, you know, it's just stuff like that. It's like if something pops up, not every, message on Instagram is, like, spam. There's a lot, but, you know, sometimes just having an open mind and and looking into it before being like, no. I don't have time for that.
Heidi [00:08:57]:
Yeah.
Connie Bourgeois [00:08:58]:
Because, you know, we're we're busy as freelancers. We're all busy with either our personal lives, and that's why we freelance or building our business. And sometimes it can be hard to say yes to something that there isn't a clear return on, but I, you know, wanted to have an open mind and give it a chance. So that was 1. And then I also was asked to participate as a speaker in a a local event that was done here by a marketing agency that specialized in product based businesses. So they wanted to really teach their clients and prospective clients about, like, how to sell wholesale. And I actually have experience with that, like, getting your brand, you know, into boutiques or into major retailers. So they asked if I'd be willing to, like, give a talk on that.
Connie Bourgeois [00:09:45]:
So I did. And, you know, at the end, I just gave a little blurb about my company and what we do, and I had quite a few people reach out to me from that and got some clients from that. And and again, it was same concept. I had zero expectations of a return, but it seemed like a cool event. It you know, it's in the industry. So I again, I was like, well, the least I can get out of it is it will spur me to create a slideshow that I can repurpose. So I did. And and, yeah, and that was really good.
Connie Bourgeois [00:10:14]:
And and also just being involved in industry organizations, like networking organizations. I know Allison and I, we know each other from FGI St. Louis. So that's another one. Like, just they have a lot of events and just going and talking to people and telling people what we do, you know, gets more leads our way. So lots of different things.
Heidi [00:10:36]:
Yeah. It's so smart. And I think that, like, you I know you've been proactive in many ways, and I know, like, you're part of FGI and, I imagine other organizations as well, but I know those other two opportunities, they came to you and asked you to True. So I think that people listening might say, like, well, I'm not big enough for someone to come to me. Here's what I think though. You could totally go pitch yourself to somebody. You can find these local events and organizations. You can find these anyone who's teaching someone how to start their own fashion brand, which there's a lot of courses and creators and people out there who are teaching how to do your brand.
Heidi [00:11:17]:
I mean, I know I don't know all of them. I know a handful of them. You could always go to them and say, like, hey. I'd love to give a presentation to your students about this and this, or something like that. Like, come up with a couple pitch ideas and create an opportunity for yourself instead of, you know I think you built yourself up to a space that you are big enough where people are coming to you to ask you. But I think if you're in the earlier stages, you could definitely pitch that because you've got a lot to offer, versus someone who's maybe starting the brand that has no industry experience. You don't have to be an expert, but you likely know way more than they do.
Connie Bourgeois [00:11:56]:
Yeah. Definitely. And and one of those, invitations for me to speak actually came from someone in FGI that only knew me because I joined that organization. And that's something that you don't have to be, like, a a business owner. Like, you can be a single individual that is just interested in fashion. So there's a lot of people in those organizations. And and for your listeners, FGI has chapters, like, all over, You know, there's FGI Saint Louis, Chicago, New York, and, smaller I mean, Saint Louis is not a big city, and we have a chapter here. So, I mean, big relatively speaking compared to New York, LA, Chicago.
Connie Bourgeois [00:12:35]:
We're we're not anywhere close to that, but, we're not known as a fashion hub. And that's kind of my point is that there are groups and organizations that people can find and join, and and that's a first step in getting in front of people who might be putting on events. And just like pitching yourself to clients, also pitching yourself to be on a podcast or to be a speaker at an event, even if you aren't years years of experience into your career or you feel not confident in where you're at, just like you said, if you are freelancing, you have knowledge, you have experience that people want. If you feel confident enough to be a freelancer, then you know you have something to offer, and you can definitely pitch that as a topic to speak on. You are an authority in something. So, just like cold pitching to clients, people can do the same thing to be on podcast or speak at events. And and often those those people running those events, they're looking for people to have. So it's it's going to be, you know, your chances of being well received are probably even higher than cold pitching a client.
Heidi [00:13:51]:
Absolutely. I think so for sure. Okay. So those are some really great tips. I'm trying to think. I'm not sure anyone else on the podcast has ever, like, shared that exact strategy, which feels really cool.
Connie Bourgeois [00:14:02]:
Oh, well, good. I'm glad I can add a a new one to the list. Yeah. Yeah. It it was really great because I was there first to teach and, like, just sort of selling myself and my services was really just, like, at the very end, like, here's what I do, here's what I can offer. If you're interested in learning more about that, you know, please just, you know, come find me after or here's how to contact me. And so that like I said, it was totally unexpected benefit of saying yes to those things. And people came and it it worked.
Connie Bourgeois [00:14:35]:
And I have a a one client, she's on a monthly retainer, so she's, like, consistently giving us new work every month. So it's it's definitely a good place to to find people that are serious about their business, and that's what's great about those events. Those people are there to grow their business, and they need freelancers. They need contractors. They need people like your listeners to help them.
Heidi [00:14:58]:
Yeah. That's awesome. Okay. So many great ideas there. Next, you have leveraged your relationships with factories to get leads. Are these factories that you already had relationships with from your experience in the industry? Or are these new factories? Are they US based overseas? I wanted to tell me so much more about this.
Connie Bourgeois [00:15:23]:
Yeah. So I had a I've had better luck with US based factories sending leads my way. Okay. And I think I know why. For 1, they are easier to find for the average person than an overseas factory. So people who are maybe in the early stages of starting their brand or, or launching their product, they're first, you know, going to Google and they're finding these same factories that I found using Google, and they're approaching them like, hey, I'm trying to, you know, create this line or product or whatever, and, you know, can you help me? And when those people reach out to them before they're ready, you know, factor July. Well, you don't even have a tech pack. Like, I think you've touched on similar things, like factories know when you're not ready.
Connie Bourgeois [00:16:13]:
And so oftentimes the people just, like, don't get a response. So what I did is I actually took a trip, and I think that we talked about this in in a past podcast, but yeah. So I I took a trip, for multiple reasons. 1, I wanted to find more US based factories because a a majority of my experience is working with overseas suppliers. And throughout the pandemic and the supply chain craziness, I was like, okay, I need more US based, suppliers for my clients. And, so I took a trip, which isn't required, but it's what I chose to do out to LA. And then another time I went to New York, and I I made it coincide with an event that was happening there. I went to text text world Mhmm.
Connie Bourgeois [00:16:55]:
In New York. So I went to that event, and I also just found a list of factories to go check out. And it worked better because I went in person because they met me. So they were excited to send leads my way because from meeting me and kind of and I get not everyone can do that. So if you can't travel in person, it's you still can make this work for you. But if you do have the opportunity to, you know, double dip on a trip, like, make two reasons to go somewhere, definitely give this a try. But just going there, meeting with them, and really pitching it as like, I'm trying to learn what your capabilities are as a factory, what are your specialties, how can I work with you, you know, I told them what I do as, you know, I source for many clients, I produce product through factory contracts for many different people, and I'm looking for x, y, z? So first, you you wanna go into it approaching the factory with, like, you also have something to offer them. Mhmm.
Connie Bourgeois [00:17:57]:
Like any business relationship, they don't wanna just help you for no reason. They want to know that there's potential for you to bring them business as well. Mhmm. So then just kind of naturally explaining who I am and what I do, often it kind of perked their interests and and they were like, wait a second, we do have client, you know, we have people come to us that are not ready for production because we require tech packs, but we don't make them. You know, a lot of US factories, they're not full service. They cut and sew your stuff, you send them fabric, you send them tech packs, you send them patterns. So really it's kind of a great opportunity for a win win from a freelancer who does pattern making or who does tech packs, you know, so you also don't have to be the freelancer that does everything. These factories oftentimes don't do anything but cut and sew.
Connie Bourgeois [00:18:53]:
Mhmm. So if you can be a resource to them to to send inquiries your way because that potential customer needs stuff that they don't offer. And then you're at the same time, you know, trying to feed them clients who are ready for production. It could be a great, you know, mutually beneficial relationship. So so that was how I approached it as I first did some Googling, And like I said, random Joe Schmoes are also finding them on Google who are really not ready to go to production, but they don't know that because because they just don't know how it all works. And, like, those are our potential clients is the people that that don't know how to do this. And that's why they're finding freelancers or we're hoping that they find us. Right? Yeah.
Connie Bourgeois [00:19:37]:
So, yeah, just again, telling the factory who I am, what I'm looking for, the people that I serve, and then naturally the conversation went to, well, if you ever get people who aren't ready for production, but might might need my help, you know, here's my information, place them in my way. So Yeah. So, yeah, that's that was that.
Heidi [00:19:58]:
Yeah. It's so smart and it's I mean, ultimately, you're you're leading with I mean, it's interesting because, like, you're the first, strategy we talked about where you are doing, you know, guest presentations or going on podcast or something. You said you're, you said I'm just leading with value. I'm not going with the expectations and leading with value of, like, how can I educate? What what can I bring? And then it's same with these factories. Like, you went in going, I need to find more resources for my clients. Mhmm. And maybe there's an add on bonus that they have clients to potentially send to, but you led with, I need to understand them so that I can potentially send them more business. Again, kind of leading with value.
Heidi [00:20:44]:
And I think when you Exactly. When you do that, like, your tone and your demeanor is very different than when you lead with, hey, maybe this factory has clients they can send me. Like, it just the the the person on the inside can sense that, I think.
Connie Bourgeois [00:20:58]:
100%. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, nobody likes being sold to.
Heidi [00:21:03]:
Yeah.
Connie Bourgeois [00:21:03]:
You know, no one likes someone to come at them like, hey. I can do this, this, this, and this for you.
Heidi [00:21:08]:
Yeah.
Connie Bourgeois [00:21:09]:
You know, give me some business. It's like, okay. Well, I might not need any of that. You know? Like, take a little time to understand me and, like, what are you bringing me first? I I mean, most people, I think, even just everyday people feel that faith. No one likes to be sold to. So if you approach it first with, like, what can I offer them that's beneficial to them, you're going to have a much better outcome and just in general relationship with that person or with that company?
Heidi [00:21:42]:
Yeah. Totally. Okay. And then last, we talked about Google, which it sounds like we already talked about a little bit. Did it happen fairly by chance? Or were you initially thinking, like, let me be kind of strategic with some of the keywords and how I build my website to try to attract people organically, or you just kinda put up the website, you have a little bit of content out there, and then just by chance people wound up finding you?
Connie Bourgeois [00:22:11]:
When I fur when we first put out our website, the first one was kind of rough. I just thought, like, we're a business, we should have a website at least. And just in, like, the page where I listed out our services, like, what we offer, I think that's what, you know, Google was picking up those words on on that page because tech packs was, you know, listed. After not too much time, we did revamp the website and, like, added more pages and more information, and I added a, contact us, section where they get a freebie, so they get like a it was one of the pieces of content I made for one of the speaking engagements. I said, I'm gonna use this as, I forget what you call it, what the marketer Lead magnet. Marketing ex yes. I'm gonna use this as a lead magnet and offer it for free to anybody that signs up for, you know, our email list. And that has been working.
Connie Bourgeois [00:23:09]:
I mean, it brings in new leads every month. So then and what's so great about that is these people are looking for services that I offer, and they're serious enough to download a document, you know, from my website. So that has helped. And, I'm trying to think if of any specific clients that came from that. I think I just signed one, like, a couple days ago that he found me somehow, found my website, signed up for that document, and it took, almost a whole year, but he just signed his contract, like, 2 weeks ago. So he was finally ready. And I just nurtured him. I mean, that's really key.
Connie Bourgeois [00:23:53]:
I have, had calls with prospective clients, did a proposal, sent it to them, maybe even reviewed it with them, and then nothing happened. But instead of just being like, okay. Well, that's dead. I I would still email them every 6 months. Not bothering them. Just, hey. How's things going with your line? I'd love to know, you know, what's happening. And Mhmm.
Connie Bourgeois [00:24:18]:
And still not even saying like, hey. I'm here to help. It's more like, hey, I'm just genuinely interested. Like, how's your line going? And then I I get a reply maybe. And so I've had multiple clients that took a year or 2 years to actually be ready to work with me and just keep nurturing those people and and keep thinking I mean, 1st and foremost, I love entrepreneurship. I am really passionate about people that are trying to do something new or trying to start their own brand, trying to start their own line. So even if they're not doing it with me, I still wanna know how it's going. I mean, I just think it's cool that they're doing it at all.
Connie Bourgeois [00:24:56]:
And Yeah. So I try to be genuine in my reach outs and not just like, hey, I'm here if you need help, which is great. But, like Yeah. Even if you don't need help, I still, like, would love to know what's going on, and and I will follow them on Instagram if I can find them and, you know, like their stuff, make comments every once in a while. So just, you know, remember that even clients that don't work with you now, it doesn't mean that they won't in the future.
Heidi [00:25:24]:
Yeah. And at the end of the day, freelancing is such a relationship business. So, like, capturing that relationship and not being there, just being a salesperson, like, hey, do you have any work for me? Yeah. Or just being really considerate of them as a human being and genuinely caring. That's awesome. Mhmm.
Connie Bourgeois [00:25:45]:
Yeah. Definitely.
Heidi [00:25:47]:
I will throw out the disclaimer for people listening that, like, the whole website with the lead magnet is a little bit more like, you don't need to worry about that at the very beginning. That I mean, you No. You're like it sounded like that. I didn't do that. Years into it.
Connie Bourgeois [00:25:59]:
Yeah. I was, like, 3 years in before I did that. So that was not in the beginning at all. I I had already brought in over $1,000,000 before I put in a lead magnet. So Yeah. It was not, like, by any chance, like, what, like, led to the success. It was just another layer of Yeah. You know, bringing in potential new clients
Heidi [00:26:24]:
Yeah.
Connie Bourgeois [00:26:25]:
That that has worked. But for me, Heidi, I feel like it's been, like, we grew very quickly in the beginning. From there, it's been very steady. And so finding new ways of getting clients has been important. And I am I actually was recently diagnosed with ADHD. So I've learned a lot about myself and the fact that consistency is not always, like, my strong point. I get excited by, like, something new, and that can be great, but that can also be a detriment. So I've just kinda said, okay.
Connie Bourgeois [00:26:58]:
Like, implementing these new ways of connecting with clients, like, over time, just trying new things, like, here and there, and and trying to implement them in a way that they can be like automatic, you know, like the lead magnet, it took me a long time to, like, put together the presentation that I did for that, you know, that event. And again, because I have ADHD, I never would have made that lead magnet if I didn't have, like, a reason and a deadline to create the piece of content. Yeah. So, you know, if for me, that's what got me to do it. And it was just trying to think about how can I, like, double up on the the, my efforts? Like, how can I do one thing and get multiple, like, benefits from it? So that's what I'm always trying to think about. Okay. If I do this, like, how many birds can I kill with this one stone?
Heidi [00:27:52]:
Totally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And, yeah, a point we haven't even touched on is that you hit a million revenue in, like, your business, you started kind of freelancing right around the pandemic, March 2020.
Connie Bourgeois [00:28:06]:
Mhmm.
Heidi [00:28:06]:
And then I think it was 2022 that you did a million in revenue. Is that right?
Connie Bourgeois [00:28:11]:
Yes. Yes. That sounds right. Later. Mhmm.
Heidi [00:28:13]:
Two and a half years later.
Connie Bourgeois [00:28:15]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:28:15]:
The same year your son was born. Just having Yeah.
Connie Bourgeois [00:28:18]:
Out there. Yes. Yeah. So and I will say, what helped us to reach that is the way that I have structured my business is that all of my clients' production orders, they actually go through my company. So rather than paying the factory, they pay me. Like, we are the factory. So all of their production orders value is included in that number. Mhmm.
Connie Bourgeois [00:28:43]:
So, you know, I want people to know that because it wasn't just our freelance services. It was also production orders. Okay. But that also means that that revenue amount, you know, I wasn't taking $1,000,000 and putting it in my pocket. Mhmm. You know, I was paying my staff. I was paying my factories for the product orders. I was paying shipping.
Connie Bourgeois [00:29:08]:
I was paying customs and duties. So there was a lot of expenses that went out, but, yeah, it's cool to bring in a $1,000,000 in revenue, like, any way you dice it.
Heidi [00:29:20]:
Yeah. So that was actually my next question. I'd love to hear, like, I know one other, FAST student who has her business structured like this, Crystal Lewis.
Connie Bourgeois [00:29:31]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:29:32]:
And
Connie Bourgeois [00:29:33]:
I know Crystal.
Heidi [00:29:34]:
Yeah. And so talk to me, like, what inspired you to so instead of you being a service provider and you doing the designs and doing the tech packs and then sourcing the factory and then but then, you know, the client is then in, contact with the factory and they're paying the factory directly. Instead, like you said, the client, you're their only point of contact.
Connie Bourgeois [00:30:00]:
Correct. And they pay
Heidi [00:30:01]:
you for production and then you are paying the factory on the back end. And what inspired you to do it that way? I get I have multiple questions. So we'll start with that one.
Connie Bourgeois [00:30:13]:
I guess what inspired me to do it that way is that it's taken me, you know, over 15 years to build up the my list of factories. And it's I felt very, like, it was very, like, proprietary. Like, I've I've been in this industry for so long, and I've built these relationships with these these factories and have gained their trust and have, you know, negotiated, like, good pricing. And some of them have, like, met their kids, and it it just it felt, I wasn't excited about the idea of just introducing them to, in the beginning, like, a lot of my clients were new, and I I didn't really know them that well yet. And so I was really hesitant to just be like, here's my factory on a silver platter, and it took me, like, years to track them down. That was, like, one layer of it. And so I was trying to figure out, like, well, what makes sense? Like, at what point do I introduce them? And then, and then another layer was that I felt that I could I could actually bring them more value by negotiating with the factories because of my relationship with them. Like, if the factory knew that I'm placing the order with them, and I've been working with them for over 10 years, they're gonna give me pricing they're not gonna give my clients.
Connie Bourgeois [00:31:38]:
Whereas if my client is the one communicating with them directly, even if I'm like coaching my client, they're still, like, the decision maker, and the factory knows that, and they don't have that relationship with that, you know, with that client. So they're not as willing to give them good pricing or take smaller orders than they are with me because they know me, and I also am giving them a lot of orders and have given them lots of orders over the years. So Mhmm. It's a little bit of, you know, I wanted to also be able to give my clients the benefits of the relationships that I have with these factories. And I I wasn't really able to pass that goodwill, like, along. So, so keeping that closer to me made more sense. And then at the same time, still like clients dealing directly with factories, they're they're coming to me because they don't know how to answer questions that factories have. And so it really didn't make a lot of sense for me to be like a in the middle person where it's like my clients, like, hey, the factory is asking this.
Connie Bourgeois [00:32:51]:
What should I say? And then the, you know, then I'm telling them, and then they're relaying the information. It just seems simpler if I just do it, and the client just deals with me, and they don't have to kind of be getting those WhatsApp messages at midnight from China. You know, like, I'll do that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it just, it seemed like a way to just keep it cleaner and keep it easier for my client. My factory is, like, I have these relationships, and I wanted to hold them close, and it just made it just made more sense to do it like that.
Connie Bourgeois [00:33:26]:
But I will say it's it is more risky. There's more on the line for me
Heidi [00:33:32]:
I was gonna ask.
Connie Bourgeois [00:33:33]:
Because if something goes wrong yeah, it's it it is definitely an increased liability. So this isn't a structure that I would recommend for everyone.
Heidi [00:33:43]:
Mhmm.
Connie Bourgeois [00:33:44]:
There is liability. You know, we probably spend more in different types of insurance because of the way our business is structured.
Heidi [00:33:51]:
Mhmm.
Connie Bourgeois [00:33:53]:
It can potentially cost more. And also, if my clients are, you know, viewing me as their factory, if their order is late, if it is wrong, like, it's on me.
Heidi [00:34:04]:
Mhmm.
Connie Bourgeois [00:34:05]:
And I'm the one that has to answer for it. So the reward can be higher as in more revenue, more money, but the risk is also higher. So it does come at a cost.
Heidi [00:34:15]:
Yeah. How do you, 2 questions, how do you build in cost? Like, we can use simple numbers. Like, let's say, the your the cost from the factory, like, the DDP or I don't know if it's if it's a state side factory, but arguably still DDP. Well, I guess there's no duty on state, but, delivered price for a t shirt is $10. That's what it's costing you from the factory. How are you building in cost to compensate for yourself? Do you, like, add a percentage onto the unit cost? Do you have more, like, package based pricing to to take care of the fact that you're not only doing all the production and the development and managing that whole process and answering those midnight WhatsApp messages, but also, like, you're the one that has the factory and all the resources to make this happen and all the things. There's a lot to manage. So how do you Yeah.
Heidi [00:35:16]:
Price that?
Connie Bourgeois [00:35:19]:
So we have 2 different types of clients, and so I have 2 different ways that I do it. Some of our clients are actually buyers at, like, companies that just, I want this product, I'm ready to order it now. They don't care about seeing samples. They don't, like, they don't care about being involved in much of the process at all, and that's how they're used to working. So with them, it's like, okay, here is the product cost. So I take the factory cost. At this point, I imported enough items. I have a really good idea of what my duties are gonna be based on the item.
Connie Bourgeois [00:35:54]:
I have a pretty good idea of what shipping is going to be because I have been doing this for a while, but I I will go out and get quotes from my freight forwarder if I need to, if I'm not totally sure. Mhmm. And then I have a markup at the end that includes enough for my team to manage the process. So with those types of buyers that they don't wanna be involved, they're not really launching a line, they're buying product for their company. It's one flat price, this is it, for design clients. Ones that come to us that, you know, they're launching their brand and they're much more involved. They have, like, ideas for the design. They're approving fabrics.
Connie Bourgeois [00:36:36]:
They're approving fit, you know, all of that stuff. It's split into 2. So there's a development phase, and that has a cost, and then there's a production plan. And so we create the production plan saying, okay, you're getting a 100 units of this red shirt. You're getting a 100 units of the blue. You know, it goes through each SKU. And then and then at that point, it's very similar to my buyer type clients where I know the FOB cost. I have a general idea of the freight cost.
Connie Bourgeois [00:37:08]:
I kind of know what the, customs and duties might be if we're importing it. And then I have created, which I will tell you, it's taken me 4 years to get to where I feel like I'm I'm in the right place, but then I have a markup that covers our time managing the production. It covers, you know, any incidentals if the because, freight costs are very up and down right now. Mhmm. So it covers that. So it took me a while. So I mean, these numbers in, like, these kind of formulas that I have now, it it took me a while to get to them, and I definitely made mistakes over the years where I realized at the end, wow, I lost my ass on that project. So
Heidi [00:37:55]:
Like, you just haven't estimated, like, didn't you make much money or as much
Connie Bourgeois [00:38:00]:
as you
Heidi [00:38:00]:
needed to. Yeah.
Connie Bourgeois [00:38:02]:
Yeah. Yeah. So, so actually, with the way I'm doing it now, I separate out the cost of freight. They pay that at the end because it does go up and down so much. So, yeah, so like last year, I was offering DDP pricing, so delivered duties paid, it was all in.
Heidi [00:38:22]:
Mhmm. Mhmm.
Connie Bourgeois [00:38:23]:
I stopped doing that, a few months ago just because freight is still, like, not stable. So some an item if I import, you know, in April of 1 year, and then I get another same item, like, same kind of ocean container size. And then it's, like, 2 and a half times. Like, it's been so volatile that I don't include that. I give them an estimate at the time of production saying, okay. As of now, ocean shipping for your order is probably going to be around x x dollars.
Heidi [00:38:56]:
Okay.
Connie Bourgeois [00:38:56]:
We will bill you at the time, like, when we get the final cost of shipping. So I do separate that out.
Heidi [00:39:03]:
Okay. That's a huge level of protection for you. Yes.
Connie Bourgeois [00:39:07]:
Yeah. And after losing money on multiple orders, I, you know, I had to do that. It just we had to. You know, I would prefer to give them an all in cost, but I just got burned too many times doing it. So yeah.
Heidi [00:39:24]:
And just random question. Are most of your clients now producing overseas or stateside or kinda split?
Connie Bourgeois [00:39:31]:
Most of them are overseas. We, you know, we keep trying stateside. It it's just always difficult to align on pricing. Mhmm. You know? A lot of customers, a lot of our clients really want US made, but they also want their product to be accessible to their target customer, and those things just usually don't line up.
Heidi [00:39:55]:
Yeah.
Connie Bourgeois [00:39:55]:
So, you know, I I always tell them, like, we can price it out like US Made. If that doesn't work for you, we'll price it out overseas, and then you can decide what you wanna do.
Heidi [00:40:05]:
Yeah. Yeah.
Connie Bourgeois [00:40:06]:
So
Heidi [00:40:08]:
okay. So interesting and so many lessons you've learned. I mean, I know we've probably been Oh, yeah. Talking to the iceberg on this conversation. Yeah. So then the the last thing I'd love to touch on is because every time we share your story, because you do you come you say yes to our live events. Thank you for that too.
Connie Bourgeois [00:40:28]:
Yeah. Of course.
Heidi [00:40:29]:
You've come you've come and spoken at 2 of them now. And every time I share your story, people are so inspired, and they're like, oh my gosh. I wanna build out a team, and I wanna build a really big agency like Connie, and it's really it it's for some people, it's nope. I'm good. I'm just wanna do my freelance team by myself. I don't need a team.
Connie Bourgeois [00:40:50]:
Yeah. Yeah. Totally.
Heidi [00:40:51]:
But a lot of people are super inspired. So, could you kinda walk us through how your team grew and, like, the different roles that you looked at hiring and how you ultimately built out to your team of 6, which includes you?
Connie Bourgeois [00:41:05]:
Yeah. So we have had you know, our team has changed in size a few times. When I when I first started freelancing, as I mentioned in, you know, the past, I was working full time, and I hired an assistant designer first before I even left my full time job because I was, you know, kind of getting to that point where it was more work than I could handle working full time, but it wasn't enough for me to transition into, like, taking away my full time salary. Like, I just wasn't there yet. So I was like, okay. Well, I couldn't hire somebody part time. So she was, like, freshly out of college, and she did a really good job. She actually went to the college that I went to, so I instantly felt comfortable hiring her.
Connie Bourgeois [00:41:50]:
And and we would meet, you know, on Zoom, like, once or twice a week in the morning before I went to my job. So that worked out great. And then I ended up leaving my full time job about 6 months after I hired her. And then, then I brought her full time shortly after that. And then I realized I needed, like, a technical designer that had more experience because she was still pretty person that I really lucked out. She had a ton of experience, but was, you know, ready to leave, like, the corporate grind and wanted something kind of steady and, like, done for you. So, like, freelancing for her was not she was not interested in something like that at all. She wanted, like, the stability of, like, you know, somebody else handling that and taking taxes out of her paycheck and stuff, but she was totally cool with part time.
Connie Bourgeois [00:42:50]:
So that was a super lucky find. Where's your friend? I got I found her through, like, a friend of a friend. I called, like, my old colleagues and was just like, hey. I'm looking for this. Do you know anybody? And somebody knew somebody and and it worked out. Yeah. So so at that point, it was me, I think, full time designer, part time tech designer, and then I hired an intern. And so she was, she had, like, one more semester college, and so she interned for me over the summer.
Connie Bourgeois [00:43:23]:
She was scheduled to graduate that December of that year. So after, her internship hours were completed, like, she was a a hard worker, and she kinda did, like, whatever needed to be done. Well, a lot of the, like, the more hands on labor intensive, like opening up boxes of samples and, like, spec them out and shipping packages overseas and, like, a lot of that type of stuff. But she had a really, like, good aptitude for for technical design and and illustrator. And, so then her internship was over, and I offered her a part time position until she started school again. And then, her school schedule allowed for her to continue part time until she graduated, and then we offered her full time at that point. So I definitely grew, you know, fairly slowly, just adding people in part time, and just like seeing how we work together. Do we vibe? Do I like, you know, do I like their quality of work? Do I like how they communicate? And then if yes and work allowed, I brought them in full time.
Connie Bourgeois [00:44:26]:
And then when I had my son, I brought in another, TV person. Same thing. I started her part time for, like, 2 months before I had my son, and then I knew I'd need her full time after having him. And then that I think that fall, we had, like, the biggest team that we had. I wanna say we're at, like, 7 or 8 people.
Heidi [00:44:50]:
Mhmm.
Connie Bourgeois [00:44:50]:
And then, one of those people, she was hired mostly for marketing. She ended up finding another role, and we never replaced her. We just found that, you know, marketing wasn't really moving the needle that much in our business as far as like traditional marketing and the tactics that you and I just discussed were really what was working. So, yeah. So now we're, you know, 6 6 people, and I've got a, director of product development and design. So she's kind of oversees our designer and our tech designer who each of them are hybrid, like, our, they're hybrid also project managers. So our tech designer, she also manages projects, meaning she kind of is the direct point of contact for the client, and she is making sure that, like, we're staying under scope as far as their project goes. She's making sure that all of the timelines are being met.
Connie Bourgeois [00:45:50]:
So we're small still, so everybody kind of has a hybrid role where you're not just technical design. You're not just design. You also are doing these other things. So Yeah. But yeah. You know? I mean, it hasn't always been smooth sailing. It's dealing with different personalities and things like that. But, but being that that I started this for flexibility, I do try to keep that for our staff.
Connie Bourgeois [00:46:18]:
Like, I try to keep things flexible. They get unlimited vacation. You know, they can come and go as they need, doctor's appointment if you're sick, whatever. Like, I'm not keeping track of how many days they're taking off because the the work speaks for itself. You know? If it's not getting done and deadlines aren't being met, well, then we'll we'll have a conversation, but I don't need to, like, I don't need to keep chairs warm.
Heidi [00:46:42]:
Yeah. You know? And you so you started out working out in an office of your of your house, if if I'm not mistaken?
Connie Bourgeois [00:46:49]:
Yes. Yeah. Mhmm. Yeah. We did that for 3 years.
Heidi [00:46:54]:
Okay.
Connie Bourgeois [00:46:55]:
So a long time. We were crammed. I mean, I have, like, a decent sized house, but, like, but between my husband and then my son and myself and our business, like, we were packed in there. Yeah. But, but we also had a hybrid work schedule. So people work from home, like, Mondays Fridays, and then Okay. You know, would really just come in, like, Monday or, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Now we're in an office, So I'm here every day.
Connie Bourgeois [00:47:21]:
I don't have to be. I just like being here. Yeah. So, and it it's in my neighborhood still. So we're right by, like, where everybody used to come, which was my house. Now we're just, like, a couple streets over. Okay. So yeah.
Heidi [00:47:34]:
Gotcha. Wow. And then a question that maybe some people are thinking, but selfishly, I'm thinking is, like, was it scary to go into those full time hires knowing that then you're pinging, like, health benefits and or are you paying, like, health benefits and
Connie Bourgeois [00:47:55]:
Yes.
Heidi [00:47:56]:
All of that stuff. Like, that feels like a scary jump to me.
Connie Bourgeois [00:48:00]:
Yeah. It it kind of was, because I do fully believe if you have people that work for you full time, you should take care of their health care, and they should get paid vacation. And so, yeah, that was tricky, and and I I did and still do use freelancers. But, I knew that I I'm a social person, and I like being around, you know, other people. And so I wanted kind of like a core team that we could be in person together, like, meet together and just kind of I and and as the company grew, I didn't want it to be just my own, like, vision. Like, I want the people that work here to have a say in, like, how this company evolves. So I felt like them being full time, it just made sense that for me to build it out that way for them to have that kind of ownership and accountability of a full time, you know, employee. Mhmm.
Connie Bourgeois [00:49:06]:
But, yeah, it is scary. I mean, and when we've had slow months where we didn't have enough work coming in to cover everyone's salaries, I mean, it got really scary. Like, my husband and I have had put our own personal money in to to cover those times. And and I have had months where I didn't take a paycheck. You know? So it it's been great in a lot of ways, but just like any company, like, we have struggles and and, you know, it's not all it's not always positive. So I don't want and I'm I am a firm believer of, like, being real and just not, like, painting a rosy picture. Like, oh my gosh. You know, Heidi, I started my company.
Connie Bourgeois [00:49:49]:
It's been, like, amazing ever since, and I've never had a struggle. That is so far from true. Oh, yeah. But but yeah. I mean, definitely scary, like, committing to committing to those people because I feel like I have, and I'm I'm responsible for them now that they work for me full time. And, like, I have to make sure that that health care, you know, bill is paid, and they and their family depend on that. It is a lot of responsibility, and it definitely is scary. So it's again, this business structure is not for everybody.
Connie Bourgeois [00:50:19]:
I don't recommend it to everyone. It takes a certain type of person to, like, want this pressure. Yeah. Yeah.
Heidi [00:50:28]:
It's, I mean, it's just interesting and no. It's it's funny, like, there's, like, moments in in my business now where I'm, like, I made more as a freelancer sometimes. Like, just working as, like, a single individual freelancer Yeah. Creating time for money and, like, businesses so and I don't even have full time employees. All my team is still all contractors, all remote. No one is full time 40 hours a week. They, you know, work whenever they want and have multiple their clients and stuff. But, I still like, oh, it's so much more complicated once you get the team, and then you're just all these different little components of overhead and expenses that no one ever thinks about.
Heidi [00:51:15]:
And Yeah. Like, months when business is like, oh, well, that didn't go as planned and yeah.
Connie Bourgeois [00:51:23]:
Right. Right. Oh, it's not an exciting,
Heidi [00:51:26]:
but definitely a little bit of pressure. I feel it.
Connie Bourgeois [00:51:28]:
Totally. Totally. And I mean, and what's what's great about having full time people on my team is, like, we do we celebrate together. So, like, when there's a win, like, we're it's for all of us. And and so it does help that I can share those wins with people. And then on the opposite end, when something like bad is going on, like, in those months, like I said, where funds are really tight, I'm not sharing that. You know? I'm not cutting their salaries. I'm I'm keep you know? So it's like, there's a give and take, but, I'm I'm pretty happy with, like, the, you know, the team that we've built and, like, the structure of my business.
Connie Bourgeois [00:52:14]:
And one of the things that I think you've said something along these lines, but the thing is, like, it's my company. So, like, if I decide one day that it's not working, I can change it. Like, I if any of these things that we discussed today, like, I decided, you know what, this isn't working for me for me anymore. I can change it. So that's still like that sort of thread of the freelance freedom. I still have that. So that's what is so great about, you know, having my own company and and Yeah. And owning it.
Connie Bourgeois [00:52:47]:
It's like I can do whatever I want. Yeah.
Heidi [00:52:50]:
For certain personality types, and I think it's definitely me and you and other people out there, but, like, that control
Connie Bourgeois [00:52:58]:
Yeah.
Heidi [00:52:59]:
Is priceless.
Connie Bourgeois [00:53:02]:
Absolutely. Absolutely. And I it's funny because I feel like it's not only in my blood, but it's like now that I've been diagnosed with ADHD and have learned about what that means, it's a lot of my behavior is like, oh, that's the thing. It's like, I don't like being dictated to. You know? It's it's it's very mean in so many ways. So
Heidi [00:53:26]:
Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. This has been so exciting. I got to learn so much more about your business that I was not privy to. Thank you for being super transparent and honest and sharing it all. That's you know, it's not all rainbows and roses. Nothing in life is.
Heidi [00:53:42]:
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
Connie Bourgeois [00:53:44]:
For sure. Yeah. Exactly. And and it's been one of my goals over this last, like, year of just trying to be more transparent in in various things and not getting caught up in, like, the image of success or positivity. You know, it's I think it can be really damaging to people when people are constantly displaying this air of, like, positive. Everything's great. Everything's wonderful because that's not true for anyone. No one's life is perfect all the time.
Connie Bourgeois [00:54:17]:
So, like, let's be real here. Yeah. But but, you know, with with potential negatives and challenges, there's so many great things about, you know, the way I've built my business and just the journey. It's been I've learned so much in the last 4 years. So
Heidi [00:54:34]:
Yeah. And we didn't even get to touch on the flexibility that you've gotten to spend more time and structure your schedule around your son who's 2 now. Yeah. But we'll save that for another episode when when, we have a little more more time because I know I've already kept you longer than we were scheduled.
Connie Bourgeois [00:54:52]:
That's okay. Heidi, I could talk to you for hours.
Heidi [00:54:55]:
I could too. I could too. I'll end with the question I share, I ask everyone at the end, which is what is one thing you wish people asked you about being a freelancer in fashion that they don't?
Connie Bourgeois [00:55:09]:
Okay. I don't know what I said last time, but what is coming to mind right now has to do with the fact that by the time a product is released, I'm, like, sick to death of looking at it, and I can no longer be objective about its, like, like, aesthetic or coolness. At that point, I'm just like, this thing is hideous, and I never wanna see it again. And I I don't know if other designers feel that way or, like, brand owners feel that way by the time, like, their product is out there and, like, ready in the stores. It's just, like, lost its luster, and maybe that's a creative person's, like, what do you call it? Like, our curse. Yeah. But that's why we're always on to the next thing. Like, we're always ready to create something new.
Connie Bourgeois [00:56:03]:
So it's kinda like a blessing as well.
Heidi [00:56:06]:
Totally. I'm gonna have to do a poll on LinkedIn. Do are you sick of the product by the time it launches? Every great designer out there, please chime in. That's interesting.
Connie Bourgeois [00:56:20]:
I don't
Heidi [00:56:21]:
want anyone to share something along those lines. So I appreciate that.
Connie Bourgeois [00:56:24]:
Yeah. It's a good one.
Heidi [00:56:26]:
Okay. Where can everybody connect with you and find you online?
Connie Bourgeois [00:56:29]:
Definitely. I am active on LinkedIn, and I'm also on, Instagram. I have a Facebook, but I'm not super active there and I'm sick of it. So find me instead on Instagram or LinkedIn and of course email. My email is just connie@congetadesigns.com. So it's pretty easy to find.
Heidi [00:56:47]:
Awesome. We'll link to all that in the show notes. Thank you so much. I super appreciate you coming on again.
Connie Bourgeois [00:56:52]:
Thanks, Heidi. Great to see you.
Heidi [00:56:54]:
You too.