+ Episode Transcript

Thor Challgren 0:00
Juliane, thank you for being on the show today.

Juliane Detweiler 0:03
Oh, it's so great to be here. Thanks for asking me.

Juliane Detweiler 0:06
Oh, of course, I've been looking forward to our conversation today because I have to tell you, you have one of the most unique resumes of anyone I've ever met. And I want to definitely talk with you about that today.

Juliane Detweiler 0:19
There have been a lot of course, changes in my history. Thor, that is true.

Juliane Detweiler 0:25
Yes, but more importantly, and this is also the reason why I'm very excited is you are one of the most positive people I have ever met. And every chance I get to talk with you, I just love it. So I'm super excited for our conversation today.

Juliane Detweiler 0:39
I know this should be fun.

Juliane Detweiler 0:41
All right. Well, I want to start there are two major areas that I want to talk with you about because these are things I think you are exceptionally good at. And whenever I'm studying people and try and understand how they got to where they are and understanding They are doing what they're doing. I like to look at them and go, what can I learn from that person? So one of the things that I love and I want to talk about with you, is how we adapt to new situations. That's one. And then the other is how we can be in a new situation and have a mentality of being someone who is a giver, not a taker. And I think that aspect is something that I just think you do exceptionally well. So I definitely want to talk with you about that. So you got you up for that.

Juliane Detweiler 1:33
Absolutely. Yes, that sounds like fun.

Juliane Detweiler 1:36
Perfect. Well, to give some context to those two main areas, I want to give an overview of your resume because it's, as I said, it's fairly varied. And tell me if I mostly get this right. So you have been a dancer on a cruise ship. You've been a buyer for women's fashion at a big department store. You've raised Two kids who are now off in the world doing their own thing. And you've managed a high school football program. And if that weren't enough, you now also have your own business in the skincare industry. So did I leave anything major out of that?

Juliane Detweiler 2:15
Oh, absolutely. My first major course change happened right after I left the cruise ship. I had met my husband. I was the dance captain. So I was in charge of all the shows. So really, my history was in performing. And I was getting ready to go back on the cruise ship and my boyfriend at the time, who's my husband now said, okay, but I'm not going to wait around for you because you sign a six month contract. Sure. And that was really shocking. So I decided to make a course change. And my mom said, you know, this big fancy airlines hiring by this billionaire. Oh, right. Yes, attach with the movie industry. I became a chef on private planes.

Juliane Detweiler 3:04
Okay, I definitely want to talk about that too, because I've forgotten about that. Let's talk about just for instance, since we're on the ship, let's talk about that because I want to know, more specifically, what that's like. And I'm interested in how you went from your background before that, and I don't think anyone ever could have a background that prepares them for being on a ship where you're thrown into a job where you're working, and you're living with the same people. What was that experience like, compared to what you were used to before that?

Juliane Detweiler 3:40
Well, it's funny A lot of people say, it's like The Love Boat, and honestly, it kind of was because you're even more than like in a college setting. You're thrown in eating, living, breathing. Every single thing is with the same 35 people and then a rotating cast. have guests so we're encouraged to meet with and hang out with these guests but not too much hanging out with the guests. So really, your social life involved these 25 to 30 people for six months and it was really fun

Juliane Detweiler 4:17
Cruise Line were you on?

Juliane Detweiler 4:18
It was called Admiral cruise lines and it eventually got bought by Royal Caribbean. So I worked for both during my history Admiral and Royal Caribbean.

Juliane Detweiler 4:28
What was that like being in that sort of environment where it's the scene, the same people all the time, both living and working.

Juliane Detweiler 4:35
For me, it was really fun because, you know, you try and reinvent yourself all the time too and try and work towards your image and what was great. That was like customer service boot camp if you you know, you really learned how to work with customers because we had four and three day cruises. So there were new people coming on. So you would try new techniques and new skills and my husband, my family To be has been came on to help out he was actually the cruise directors brother. Oh wow and was horrible at customer service was you got to see both extremes what worked and what definitely didn't work.

Juliane Detweiler 5:16
We're talking about your husband was horrible at this.

Juliane Detweiler 5:18
Yes, but he was super cute Thor. So

Juliane Detweiler 5:21
Well there was that.

Juliane Detweiler 5:22
I stuck with it.

Juliane Detweiler 5:23
He has many talents in other areas. So that made up for it.

Juliane Detweiler 5:27
Yes, that's true. That's true.

Juliane Detweiler 5:29
Had you been a you must have had a performing background before you got on the ship. So what was it like transitioning to having to do this professionally?

Juliane Detweiler 5:39
Well, it was it was at the time one of my dreams You know, I set goals every year and that was a goal of mine is to be a paid performer. I had an agent but I wasn't getting booked in a lot of jobs. I was a trained dancer coming out of high school and college. Hmm. So I really wanted to get booked and and So I got this job myself. I didn't get it from my agent, which was nice because I could save all that money myself. But it was really exciting getting to put on the stage makeup and costumes and do that every single night. seven nights a week for six months was fun.

Juliane Detweiler 6:17
Did you guys do the same shows? Every sailing?

Juliane Detweiler 6:21
Yeah, we had four shows. And one of them being like a Broadway review. So you got to do all different kinds of Broadway shows. And then the other ones were like your typical left boat style. Welcome aboard show and closing show site. You've got a lot of opportunity, lots of sequence, big hair and Aqua net and I loved it and because of that people always wanted to meet me on the ship new guests. So I really got to work on my customer service skills there.

Juliane Detweiler 6:52
When I want to talk about that a little bit because that is an interesting area where and I've seen that on ships where you do meet people And you know, I can see where the cruise line encourages it because they want the guests to feel like, oh, there's this friendly person. Did you ever feel that it was a challenge? Or did it just seem natural to you? Or what? How did you find yourself getting better at that?

Juliane Detweiler 7:16
Well, that's so funny because my husband's view of it on and my view on it were two different things. He looked at this as a chore you had to have your name badge on at all times. Sure. So anywhere you go, and whatever you do, you are identifiable as an employee of that company. So you couldn't have a bad day. You know, you couldn't be angry that your football team lost or whatever didn't work out for you. You had to be on all the time. And for me, that was challenging. But also, I liked it because it put me on the spot and made me really think about my image out there and just front being friendly and like going the extra mile.

Juliane Detweiler 7:59
How would you make yourself sort of get over that, because that's something a lot of us have to do is we can have a bad day. But if you're in a customer facing business, sometimes you can't allow that to come out in a way that affects your, your job. How did you manage that?

Juliane Detweiler 8:14
That's so interesting. So I had a different technique, then then I do now I've learned a lot. But the technique I use then was I siloed, everything. If it was bad about that, you put it in a silo, and you're thinking of it later when you're by yourself and you can figure it out. Hmm. And that's fine for short periods of time. But all that builds up on you eventually and comes out one way or another. And so I learned as I got older and matured a little bit that it's better to think about it breathe about it, either pray or debate or work it through your mind. She wanted a little bit. Mm hmm. And then you're ready to talk to people. You know, you can breathe in more positivity that way. Yeah. But then I really saw it load everything so,

Juliane Detweiler 9:02
yeah, no, that makes sense. Did you ever have moments where you just thought, Man, this is such a grind? I don't know how I'm gonna get through it. And if you did, how did you get through it?

Juliane Detweiler 9:12
Yeah, there were times like you know if you ever got sick on the ship you know six months if you get a cold or whatever and there is no understudies, it is what it is they have to redo the whole show. If you can't perform, and a lot of other people are relying on you and a lot of you know moving parts. So that was really hard. I had to figure out how to you know, suck it up Buttercup and present your best face because it wasn't a lot of people could think of it as working for the feedback you get, you know, like they used to say comment cards, it's all about the comment cards. I did it because I wanted people to have the best experience ever because the way I found the cruise ship originally is my grandfather took me on a cruise when I was 16 years old. Wow, he took the whole family. And I said, I'm going to do that someday. And so I wanted my experience on there to be what I dreamed it would be when I was 16. So I did everything I could to make my world like that. And it was really successful. For me. I enjoyed my time on the ship.

Thor Challgren 10:19
Did you get to see a lot of different places,

Juliane Detweiler 10:22
you know, not so much on this particular ship. We did have cruise ships all over the world, but I was on a Mexico coastal Riviera cruise, which is basically where I'm from California. So you could have driven there if I needed to. But I think more than that is I met people from all over the world and that set up trips for me to England and Europe and Asia. And so it did open a lot of doors for me that way.

Thor Challgren 10:52
And I'm guessing you were in your 20s when you were doing this,

Juliane Detweiler 10:55
I was Yeah, very young. It's a job for young people that don't have a family. Because you are working, really honestly, we worked about, I don't know, 18 to 20 hours a day you are always working and you are always on.

Thor Challgren 11:09
Yeah. One question I have is, as a parent, you have two kids are, my daughter's the same age as your oldest. When you think about giving advice to them about what they should do when they get out of school or what they're doing with their life. I remember going to Club Med and this would have been in the 80s when it was different. And I remember this I was in my 20s. And I thought that would have been so cool to work at a place like that when I was in my 20s. What do you think about that for young people? If they're not encumbered with things they have to do? Is that something that you would find value in at that point in your life?

Juliane Detweiler 11:52
Absolutely. It opened the door for travel for me so that everything I did in my first Oh 20 years of Korea. Even including being a buyer for the designer world involve travel, I traveled to New York. So traveling is like, it really opens your eyes to the world. It makes you more accepting of different cultures. We're very fortunate we live in an area that's very multicultural, and a lot of different types of people from different countries but you really learn about customs and traditions and things by traveling. So if you're young and you don't have a lot of money, a career doing something, even for a short time, provides the way to do that.

Thor Challgren 12:39
Yeah, totally makes sense. What made you decide to sort of disembark from this job was it that that potential relationship,

Juliane Detweiler 12:50
it was a little bit but I did find that my wanderlust was really not satisfied. And my mom had come to me. I'm very fortunate because I have parents that have always encouraged the course change. Mm hmm. They, even though they themselves, were not those types of people, and maybe that's part of why they did. But they always actively said, You've already done that. Try something else. Have you thought about this? And my mom came to me with an article that said, this very famous billionaire Kirk Kerkorian was hiring people for his airline, right. And I'm like, I don't want to be a flight attendant. I don't know why I said it like that. I didn't really, I hadn't been a flight attendant. But I was sure in my mind, that's not what I wanted. Right. And so I went to the open call, there were 500 people there for 30 jobs. And because I didn't care, I wasn't stressed out and I got it. But that that job allowed me to travel the world and meet the most incredible people. So I'm thankful I did it. And I I ended up not being a flight attendant after my first month on the job, I want to say the chef on board and we had actual chefs fell ill and had to sit in the cockpit. So I jumped in behind the kitchen and started cooking for these 30 passengers. That was it. I loved it. They It was probably the worst meal they'd ever had. But because I could think on my feet, they sent me to chef school. So I got the training for free.

Thor Challgren 14:29
That's amazing. And this was an airline that was a very exclusive limited number of guests. And would they they would only go to specific destinations.

Juliane Detweiler 14:40
Yeah, well, we only had one scheduled flight it was New York and LA one flight a day. And it was called Grand Class which was better than first class and all of the amenities and the way that the plane was actually set up or like staterooms with gold lined sinks in the bathroom. room and a chef that cooked for you. I mean, we use convection ovens and electric frying pans and microwaves. We didn't get to use open flame, of course, but, you know, caviar service, it was very exclusive. And then we were chartered by movie stars, rock stars and all of that. So I got to travel with sports, famous sports teams. And so I got that ability which was really cool too. And I got to see the whole world

Thor Challgren 15:28
now you were New York to LA but did you l out? Are This allowed you to have privileges to fly elsewhere as well?

Juliane Detweiler 15:35
It did. We had reciprocal agreements with other planes but mostly the way I saw the world was by being booked and requested by the movie stars and rock stars. So for a while I was the Lakers private chef on the plane, not I didn't go to the hotels with them. I whenever they were on a plane, their trainer would request me or another there were two of us and We would travel with them. And we did all of those charters in those days. And those were the good old days. It was really fun. And so I got to see all over America. And then when I traveled with them famous rock bands, they would be world tours. So saw the world. I was also traveled with the president of Mali, Africa at that time. Wow. And so I got to see all of that. Not all of Africa, but the west side, the west coast of Africa.

Thor Challgren 16:27
What kind of bands Did you travel with?

Juliane Detweiler 16:30
Oh, just amazing and eclectic. You know, from Rod Stewart Guns and Roses, Grateful Dead. Wow, Genesis. It was really a good time and exciting. And we would go to the concerts, they would bring us of course to the concerts because a lot of times they'd fly out right after. So it was convenient for them to have us with them.

Thor Challgren 16:52
Is it possible to generalize about how people at that level or they've gotten to that point in their Career, how they step on this plane and have this experience? Is there a gratitude to it? Do they take it for granted? or What was your observation of how people at that level would experience the kind of product that you guys had?

Juliane Detweiler 17:16
That is such a great question. Because we compartmentalize people a lot and say, you know, oh, rich people are like this, or poor people are like this, or so and so and so. But what I found is jerk searcher works, and nice people are nice people, and good humans are good humans. So dealing with the flights to New York and back, that was a lot of actors, the studios would put them up and I found all kinds and all kinds from the salt of the earth that would ask you to sit down in their chair and they would sit on the ground next to you and talk to you like a human to the ones who would snap their fingers instead of using my name to get whatever they wanted, because they were just too busy to bother Learning my name, right? It's really it was really varied.

Thor Challgren 18:04
It sounds like it's whatever qualities you had before this level of success in your life probably just magnified it. So if you were a good person before you were just more of that.

Juliane Detweiler 18:15
I think that is a probably a very accurate way to say that.

Thor Challgren 18:18
Yeah. Did you at this point in your life? How did you feel about not being a dancer anymore? Was there ever any feeling of like, Oh, I missed that, or did you have were you conscious of that chapter in your life was now closed?

Juliane Detweiler 18:35
You know, I was because I'm not one of those that likes to let us skill set go away easily. I hang on to those things, especially things I worked really hard for. So I found time when I would fly back and forth to New York to dance because all the greatest dance studios are in LA where I'm from, or in New York. So I got to dance there. I actually taught the drummer Genesis how to tap dance in a ballroom on tour. Because he's a drummer and tapping is more like rhythm. Yeah. So I got to do that a little bit. And it just I it's just a skill set I carry with me Still I taught dance Pro, let's see until my oldest daughter was probably eight. So probably really hung up my shoes for about 1012 years ago.

Thor Challgren 19:31
And how long were you working with the airline?

Juliane Detweiler 19:35
That was three awesome years. But then the airline changed, like all things change and it wasn't the same. It started to become a thing for high rollers in Vegas, and then it started to be like a shuttle bus to Vegas, which is really not what I signed up for. Hmm. And so it was time to move on and I saw it very clearly.

Thor Challgren 19:58
So at that point, What did you think you would do next? I mean, you had been a performer you worked in a on a ship, you worked on a plane. What did you imagine you could do next?

Juliane Detweiler 20:11
That's so interesting. I came home and I, I have an accounting degree that I got when I was younger and had used it a little bit when I was teaching dance because you don't make a lot of money teaching dance. So I would do, there was a really great break, company break, you know, car breaks in where I grew up, and I would do their bookkeeping for them on the side. So I used my accounting degree a bit, and it's always helped me in any business. But I decided, oh, now's the time. Now I need to become a serious, a serious accountant. Uh huh. That lasted a whole three months because I thought I was going to pull my eyeballs out. I am a people person. That's so valuable to know who you are because when you The first I've ever heard that you had an accounting degree and when you tell me that I'm like, What? That's crazy. Like, that's so not you. Well, my mother has an accounting degree. So I thought it doesn't matter what I do in business. And accounting degree is going to help me. Right.

Thor Challgren 21:15
Yeah. That's kind of fascinating. So at that point in your life, your resume says, You went to school, you get the accounting degree. You worked on a ship, you worked for an airline. What did you then decide to do next? Once you said okay, accounting working for three months. That's not for me. What was next?

Juliane Detweiler 21:34
Yeah, I was a corporate accountant for a sofa factory. And that was the most boring thing I've ever done. So I sat down and thought about what I like and I said, You're a people person, and you like fashion. So I applied to a major retailer. As a personal shopper, and I never heard back from them. They didn't respond. I made this resume it had like a border with on it, I thought they're gonna look at this cover letter and say, we have to hire her. They didn't even call me back.

Thor Challgren 22:08
Why do you think that is?

Juliane Detweiler 22:10
Because I was a dancer and I was a chef on a private plane. And they looked at that, and they said, what does that have to do with what we do? And so I called there and I said, Why didn't you guys call me back? And they said, Well, that's a hire from within job. You get promoted into personal shopper. That's not something you just walk in on. And I said, Oh, where do you have to start? And they said, you have to sell and I said, Okay, so I showed up and I, I sold for three, and it was under six months, I want to say three to six months and I got promoted, and became a manager. And I managed for probably another two or three years and then I got promoted to buyer. And then it started that, that whole career of promoted like I bought for four stores and then I bought four stores and then I bought for 10 stores. And then I bought, you know, it just grew until I was buying nationally for them, which was really fun.

Thor Challgren 23:08
Yeah, that's such a great lesson too, because I imagine there are a lot of parents where maybe if they've been a stay at home parent, their kids are off in the world now. And they are looking at, okay, what am I going to do next? And if their resume either has a big gap on it, or the job they did in the past is not what they want to do. Now, what you did with smart was they said, Well, you have to start at this level and you work your way up. So you eventually got the job that you originally said you wanted, but you just had to sort of pay your dues in a way. Does that make sense?

Juliane Detweiler 23:43
Absolutely. That's exactly what happened. And not only did I get the job I wanted, I realized I wanted something even better. I wanted to be the buyer. I wanted to decide what was sold in that store. And I set my mind straight at it. The one thing I will say is it Doesn't matter what your resume says. If you have confidence in yourself, you have a conversation and you have a realistic assessment of what your talents are, you know, you can't have visions of grandiose things. I can't say I'm a dancer if I didn't put in all the work and do all the dancing, right, do all the training. But if you have a realistic view of what your skill set is, it's really just encouraging all those other people to see that in you as well. Mm hmm. So it didn't take long to get promoted there because they could see I have that skill set.

Thor Challgren 24:38
Right. And you probably also had developed your ability to work with people because obviously when you were on the ship when you were in the airline, customer service was a huge thing. Being able to be authentic and get along with people and enjoy that was a critical part of the job. So I imagine You were able to take that right into your sales and then buying career.

Juliane Detweiler 25:04
Right? And you know, what it comes down to is a very wise man who's actually a mentor in my life right now, is he always says it's all about relationships. And it's interesting because first he said that and I was like, Yeah, okay, it's all about relationships. But honestly, Thor, when you look at every single thing you do, it's all about relationships, going to the grocery store and getting brought over in line to get your things checked out and how they bag your groceries. It's about your relationship with that bad girl. Hmm. It's really how you talk to people in the world, which makes them willing or unwilling to go with you.

Thor Challgren 25:46
Yeah, that's such a good point. And it's funny because I had that exact experience yesterday, I was at Trader Joe's. And because of the way they organized the checkout in the store, you It's not always clear in this particular store, how you get up to the front register. And so I got in line and at first time thinking, Oh, I probably got in the wrong line. And then I stopped myself and go, No. And I would look at other people and say, well, where are they relative to me? And I saw someone and I'm like, wait a second there. They were behind me, how come their head, but then I let that go. And right when I did, one of the people from Trader Joe's came over and said, Hey, I'll take you all the way over here. So because I changed my attitude about it, then this person comes along and was super nice and helping me. So I think that's so true is it's the attitude that we bring to something right.

Juliane Detweiler 26:39
Absolutely. That has so much to do with how the world reacts to you. And not just people but how the world reacts to you. So if you go into a room and you're like, I am going to be awkward, uncomfortable. This is going to be painful. Guess what? It is so insane with treating people If you're like, somebody is going to help me out here, I just know it. And sure enough they do.

Thor Challgren 27:06
Yeah. Yeah, such a valuable lesson. I'm curious. When you get to a level where you're a personal shopper or you're working, and high end clothing, I'm imagining that there can be times where you will meet people that can be demanding. What strategies Did you find for working with people, either shoppers or higher end people? Maybe designers were maybe that's a real type A personality that sometimes could be hard to get along with. How did you manage that?

Juliane Detweiler 27:38
That is a good question too. Because once you get to that level, and at the end of my career, I was working most exclusively with designer and going back to it's all about relationships. Some people are going to be difficult. That's just sit but if you put it in your mind that this is the way this person is It's all going to be fine. I'm going to give her the best experience of her life, they would end up being your friend now, not in all cases, but they would most often shop with you and what I would teach my team and I had a team of people that dealt with these high end clients, I would say, look, people shop with people, they don't shop for clothes, they shop to feel a certain way, especially these people who can afford anything. They shop to feel a certain way. When they get here, don't rush them into the dressing room, ask them if they've had coffee, take them downstairs, all pay for the coffee, get them some water, ask them how their life is going, then get to work. They'll tell you when they're ready. And that really was a successful strategy for us. And it wasn't just to sell more it was to try and build an environment that people like to come and hang out. So I had customers that would come five, six days a week. They'd only shop once a month, but five, six days a week they were in, come in to see me hang out. I'm good with that.

Thor Challgren 29:13
It's an interesting strategy because it's authentic. But it works, which is I think what people like is the idea that I'd like to feel good about who I am in a sales environment, but I also would be happy to know that it works. And it sounds like for you, it was both of those things.

Juliane Detweiler 29:31
Well, the other thing that was like they say, and I'm in a business group that we call DNI, business networking, and I know you've been in with me, you actually brought me into the group I'm in now. Yep. The wonder that they say givers gain but they say there's a hidden benefit. There are hidden benefits and one of the hidden benefits I found of treating customers like that so you'd get more sales but the hit benefit was my sales people were happy and they stay A long time, most designer businesses because it's hard to build a business and designer to sell $5,000 dresses, how many people are going to buy? Look, think about your circle. Thor, how many people here do you think are going to go drop 5000 on a dress and you need them to do it. Weekly take you're not right, you need to have them coming through for you weekly, not very many. So there would be turnover because people weren't successful. They weren't successful. They felt like they were failing. There was so much pressure to sell, sell, sell. I didn't like that environment. So by making them feel like we're here, we're making friends. We're making these people happy. If you make these people happy, you've done your job. So they'd stay and in staying, they became successful. I have these two Chanel people that just were the top in the company here in California. And they were selling up a storm in the valley. It's unbelievable because As they stayed, they had longevity. People got to know them. They felt bad going to Beverly Hills or roadeo. And spending money with anybody other than these people. So in turn, those people wanted to stay.

Thor Challgren 31:14
Yeah. It's reminds me of when my daughter was in Girl Scouts and we would sell Girl Scout cookies, when we would be at the door of a grocery store. And I remember this. So clearly, there was one time I said to, there were maybe three or four girls that were working that door. And I said to them, your goal here is to just say hi 50 times in the next two hours, I'm not wanting you to sell cookies because they would be all anxiety filled about, you know, I feel uncomfortable asking people to buy cookies. I said, don't worry about that. All you have to do is when they're on their way in, you just say hi, because people totally didn't expect that they were used to getting hit up. They were already Armed with no I'm not today sort of excuse. So if you just say hi and be nice. Number one, they're not expecting it. So it changes their state. And number two, it's more relaxing, more comfortable for you to just say hi and be an authentic person. And guess what? When they said Hi, someone invariably would say, oh, I'll hit you on the way out. I'll get you on the way out. And they did. It was amazing.

Juliane Detweiler 32:26
Yeah, because they were friendly. And they felt like it was a nice kid. And you know, it's so funny because we would do that social experiment in the department store. I would have my people stand around the fringe of the department because it's a very intimidating area come into once you designer, right. I would say just say hi. And people would say hi, and they'd say, No, thank you.

Thor Challgren 32:50
You're like all I did was say hi.

Juliane Detweiler 32:52
I just said hi. And it was funny it eventually they would start dipping their toe in into the department but they were so useful. being hidden by people that that's not, you know how they interacted?

Thor Challgren 33:04
Yeah. I'm fascinated by how different industries change over time. From your point of view of having worked in retail fashion, is there still a place for big department stores? I mean, we're talking post pandemic environment, but people are kind of used to shopping a little bit online. Now. How do you see fashion changing in the years ahead?

Juliane Detweiler 33:28
That's so interesting. I had the same discussion with my husband over lunch today. I said, it's interesting. There's, we had in when I was buying for this department store, we had several competitors that we always, you know, look to and they were always looking at our numbers, and we were always looking at their numbers and the thing that they didn't do was pivot and it's the whole that part of that why I like this whole course change. podcast is You have to be ready all the time. Because business life technology, everything is changing, and you have to be open to the changes. And some of these other retailers didn't have lower and discounting stores like stores where they sell their one offs or things that didn't work or even had buyers that bought that low end, you know, so entry level,

Thor Challgren 34:26
right

Juliane Detweiler 34:26
for the masses. And then they didn't have any online presence. And I was so grateful to see, and I still call it my company, even though I haven't worked for them for eight years. Uh huh. Eight to 10 years. It's been a long time since I've worked for them. I still call it my company. I was so proud to see when I saw one of the big retails, Taylor's declared bankruptcy, which makes me sad. Yeah, but our company didn't because they pivoted and put their energy into those off Label stores the lower end entry level stores, right? And their online presence was so strong and had such a strong following. And now I see the personal shoppers are I think that's really where the future is going. Yeah, they're doing things online. I have a personal shopper I follow from my old store who's doing an incredible job with her daily pics and I watch it every day to see what it is and how she's pivoting and she posts something from the store. And there's nobody in that store. You could roll a bowling ball through it and not hit anyone. Yet she is successful, because she has pivoted, and she's using social media to show how she would style things. Yeah, and her customers drive up. And she puts it in their core. It's genius.

Thor Challgren 35:50
Yeah, I think that companies that are going to be successful are going to be doing something like that. I also have seen there's a company that I bought stuff From bonobos, that one of the things they seem to have done, they started all online where you would buy stuff online, and they would send it to you in a box. And if you didn't like it, you send it back. But I've seen one of the things they do now is they have like a, I don't know even what you would call it, but like a pop up store, like say, there's one in Century City where you can go in there and try the things on. And then if you like it, they'll send it to you. So the retail footprint for them is smaller, but it still allows you as the customer to go in and try the things and see what you think. And then they just mail it to you, which most of us are used to anyway. So I feel like to some extent, more retail companies may try and do something like that, where it's a smaller retail footprint, but it still allows them to have that personal service like what you were just describing, where someone's in the store and they're like, Oh, come on, come over here. I've got something new I want to show you or they have cultivated that relationship through things like social media.

Juliane Detweiler 36:59
Yeah, honestly. I haven't shopped with or even seen this girl in person, this woman in person in probably eight to 10 years. But I've been watching her and I feel like I could just message her and tell her what I'm looking for. And she would come through for me. Yeah, so there is a personal aspect to it even though it's in personal. So I think that now in the environment now with clothing and, and merchandise, there needs to be the quick Amazon ish kind of right to you in a matter of minutes. And then also needs to be an aspect of it where it's personalized and special.

Thor Challgren 37:37
Yeah, for whenever we go back to wearing nice clothes again, right?

Juliane Detweiler 37:40
I know it's so interesting. My daughter has my fashion bug and she has been on zoom calls for her college and she gets dressed up full makeup full outfit, and sits on the zoom call and she says everybody has black screens except for her. And she said I want everybody to see me I'm I made effort to be in this class today.

Thor Challgren 38:03
I just had that conversation with my daughter yesterday because she was in a class. And she was one of a handful that turned her screen on, and others didn't. And she ended up getting into getting critiqued by the professor in a way that didn't feel good to her. And she's like, I could have left my screen off. I don't know why you're picking on me anyways. Little side diversion there.

Juliane Detweiler 38:27
Yeah, and that's true, but also in the same aspect for your daughter is she's getting some personalized attention. I told my daughter as a teacher right now, I can't imagine to be teaching to 30 black screens. Yeah, I mean, how disheartening and what a change from just six short months ago.

Thor Challgren 38:49
Yeah. So I

Juliane Detweiler 38:50
think if I were a teacher, the person I'm going to pour a little extra of my time and energy into it's going to be that kid that shows up for me.

Thor Challgren 39:00
That's a great point. Yeah. And I've seen that in Toastmasters too. I visited a club online, I'll zoom. And I got in there and people have all had their screens turned off. And I'm like, how are you going to have a conversation with people when their screens are off, but right. And that's so interesting. Another discussion, I want to talk about speaking of school about your roles as a parent volunteer, you know, as we've talked about, you've got kids who were into activities, like dance and sports, like baseball and football. And a lot of parents are familiar with the idea of, Okay, I'm gonna drop my kids off at practice and pick them up an hour later. But you went a bit further than that. And you the most recent, big volunteer job you had was being president of the football team boosters Tell me what that experience was like because that was in many ways as big, as if you know, having a full time. job right?

Juliane Detweiler 40:01
Yeah, it was a big job. But I'm a fireman starter. So the two qualities that gave me and my dad is been a fireman my whole life. The two qualities that he gave me are, don't be afraid of hard work. So let me tell you being a football booster president is hard or work, a lot of manual labor. You know, getting those snacks ready, getting the field ready, getting the things ready for the coaches and just strategically. And he also taught me know whiners, those words to sayings work hard and Quit whining, no whining. And so if I ever had a complaint, of course, I come from this designer, high end background and I look at how everything's being run on a shoestring and I think this can be done so much better. What my dad taught me was, you don't sit there and The stance and complain about it and tell everybody Well, this could be done so much better. You know, put your money where your mouth is big guy. Mm hmm. So you're not allowed to complain unless you volunteer. Yeah. So I stepped up and took over the role after my first full season as a freshman rep, so I didn't even know. And fortunately, the woman who had the job before me for eight years, was gracious and shared, all poured all of her knowledge into me, and we still are like best friends to this day. So I'm really thankful for that. And that was probably one of the most fun jobs I ever had at the school besides being baseball media, and social media and recruiting and dance team.

Thor Challgren 41:48
So many things. I'm curious when you're in that kind of role, and I had a little bit of it because I was in the cheer booster program. How did you I find it working with people where all of you were volunteers. And it's different than a job environment where people are expected to do a job. How did you sort of cajole, persuade, inspire people who were volunteers to work and get things done?

Juliane Detweiler 42:20
Well, I definitely learned the hard way. My first year is the freshman Rep. You know, you try to the theory before I was there was, don't ask them because it's too much trouble. They're going to be a pain to teach and train up. And then what ended up happening is the group ends up dwindling down to you know, six people doing the work of 40. And I said, After watching that for a year, I said, I'm not doing that anymore. So I try. My strategy is to find what everybody does well, and like stealing. Hmm. And not everybody has to do the same thing and not everybody has to give in the same way. But there is no bad giving So, you know, you find the jobs that fit people and you ask them personally you don't send a blanket email. I'm looking for volunteers to do this because everybody, Star delete this what we used to say it my old department store star delete. pretend we didn't see that email, right. So I would make personal phone calls and ask them to it would really help me out if you would consider doing this. And they it's hard to say no to that.

Thor Challgren 43:27
Yeah. Well, I think it's also such a valuable point that instead of just saying I need someone to do this function, when you knew what people were good at and what they liked doing, it was easier to go, Oh, I'm going to give this job to Fred because Fred's likes this sort of thing and would probably excel at it.

Juliane Detweiler 43:47
Yeah. And you know, you know, there's great people like we had a mama who used to sit in the stands and take pictures all the time. We have to find a way to have her help us with pictures and she helped with the media guide. That was a passion for her. She wanted to be able to take pictures. She's an incredible human. And now, I call her one of my friends. So I really got to know a lot of people that way too.

Thor Challgren 44:11
Mm hmm. And in the last couple of years that you were doing that was sort of the last few years of your son being in high school. He's off in college now. Were you during that time, sort of thinking about what you wanted to do once the nest was empty? And were you sort of intentional in moving into what you were going to do next?

Juliane Detweiler 44:33
That is so so true. I'm gonna say it like this. I was. Intentionally I was unintentionally intentional. That's the way I want to say it unintentionally intentional. So I knew I didn't want to be one of those moms that was just sitting at home like Poor me and a lady who lunches although Let me tell you, I like my ladies who lunch and I schedule my lunch dates. This pandemic has not been great for. But I knew that I needed to have something and I had found this skincare business when my kids were still in high school and struggling with acne. And it was actually a brand that I had dealt with it at the big designer retail retailer that I was at. I was familiar with it and I have used the product so I knew it was great. I knew it was by dermatologists. I knew it was healthy. And I also knew it was a woman owned business and a California business and I felt good about that. So I started using the products for my kids and by the time they were just getting my daughter was getting into college. I was finding I had a little more time although I was focused on football a lot. Sure but dance dance team had fallen off so the little by little the the, you know responsibilities are falling away and I went to a meeting with one of my girlfriends and at the time I was just a customer. And I turned around and I looked at her and I said, I'm signing up with you. And she's like, what? And I said, Yeah, I'm signing up with you. I'm starting today. And then I came home and I told my husband, I started a skincare business. And he's like, weight comm again. But I looked at it, and I looked at the business model. And it was a great way while my kids were transitioning out to have a little side gig and get good at it, learn the ropes, and to transition to now where I am now. It's my full time job. So

Thor Challgren 46:39
yeah, and I think that two points that I want to highlight. One is that you were familiar on a personal level with the product. I think that's a place that for a lot of people, if they're thinking about what's next for them, what are they going to do, then the next phase in their life is start with what are you already passionate about? What do you like To us, and that may be a perfect place to start. The other thing. And this I'm curious about your perspective on this, because you because of just who you are, you developed a big group of friends and people you knew and people who were sort of on your team, they were team, Julian in the sense that they had helped you, you would help them. Did you ever find it challenging to be in a business where essentially now you're offering a service and any of those people that you know, could benefit from that some people have trepidation about that whole idea of being in a business where they might sell to friends or family? How did you look at the relationships that you had already established with people and reconcile it with what you were doing now? In your work?

Juliane Detweiler 47:51
Well, everything I do, I mean, those, those are all things I thought of, let's be honest, I thought about Oh, I'm gonna embarrass myself. They're all going to unfriend me. Because there are so many at home kind of businesses where Yeah, people just dig in and start selling, right? I don't sell. So that's not I had to pull my mind out of that. I don't sell, I'm not going to sell to you. I'm not going to call you and say, you need this, this and this, I'm not going to convince you to use this product. I will share what great product it is why I think it's great, why it works for me. And if it's good for you, I'll say it's good for you too. But I'm not going to sell it to you. I'm not gonna do that. And I think that's why my success and I haven't been unfriended. I have like, more followers on my social media now than I did before. Because it's not about selling and it's not about my business. This is my life. I share my life and these are my friends. I'm not only about that, and I don't only want to be friends with them for that reason. So it makes it open to them if they're uncomfortable, and they don't want to buy it not feeling horrible about it. And if then it also takes people's guards down. And then they might try it. Yeah. So I'm not going to be for everybody. But I'm, I'm also not that going to attract or plow in here and try and sell you things that are you don't need. Right.

Thor Challgren 49:30
And I think one of the things that I observed, you mentioned earlier that we were in a referral partner group, one of the things I observed about you was very quickly, you had such an amazing presence in that group because you came from that giver mindset. I mean, you were so passionate about learning about what other people did and understanding their business and how you could help them that I think it just made people just honestly love you all. The most Because they got that sense of who you were as a person, which was that it was authentic. And I think that's the part that if people can come from that authentic place of wanting to give and wanting to help, that helps get rid of that feeling of selling people.

Juliane Detweiler 50:18
Yeah, that giver mindset is really means a lot. It's in my core, that givers mindset, it's the difference of really caring about somebody and what do they need to make themselves successful and feel great and move forward. And this this group really aligned with that and it's interesting because in my industry, it is not a common practice to join a networking group like that they they have other strategies that they use, but I decided I was going to approach my business as my own and I was going to run it how I thought it best be run. Hmm. And I thought it best to have friends about me who could be honest with me and share ideas and encouragement. And it's been one of the best groups I've ever joined. I love that group of people. So thank you for introducing me to that.

Thor Challgren 51:12
My pleasure. I'm so glad because like I said, I was happy for you because I always knew you were amazing. So it was great for me to see other people discover that too is a lot of fun.

Juliane Detweiler 51:23
It was fun for me too. And it is fun. It continues to be fun for me and I like to see the effects of givers gain, get that whole mentality of it's the theory of life. It's the putting out great things out there. It's just like going to Trader Joe's and not thinking bad thoughts about the people around you and right, it's weird. It does come back to you. And I'm not a strong proponent of karma and the karma mindset, but I really live it so I should be, I think because what you put out there I think you get back in the world. If you have a positive attitude, people are gonna treat you much better.

Thor Challgren 51:58
I love that. That's awesome. Well, Julian, thank you so much for being on the show today. I really appreciate you being with me. For people that want to know more about what you do or reach out to you what's the best way for them to contact you?

Juliane Detweiler 52:12
Thank you Thor. My passion is for helping my friends left the healthy skin they're in and for mentoring women to start their own skincare business at home. They can always follow me at Julian detweiler on Instagram, and DM me any questions they have?

Thor Challgren 52:31
Okay, I'll be sure to put that link in the show notes. So if you want to find that you can easily find that there so awesome. Well, thank you so much. I, as I said, really appreciate you being here. I loved our conversation and it was great to talk with you today. So thanks again for being on the show.

Juliane Detweiler 52:46
Thank you Thor. You know, the thing I really wanted to tell you is you were on my vision board this year.

Thor Challgren 52:52
Oh, yes. You told me that. Tell me about that.

Juliane Detweiler 52:55
Well, maybe not you but I put on my vision board. Everybody's vision boards have kind of been ripped in half by now. But mine was to be a guest on a podcast. And when you reached out, I was beyond thrilled.

Thor Challgren 53:11
I love that. I know, I was so excited when you told me that when you said, Oh, this is one of my things that it was on my vision board and I was like, I'm so happy that I can make that happen and even more happier after our conversation because this is so much fun.

Juliane Detweiler 53:25
Thank you so much, Thor.

Thor Challgren 53:26
Thanks, Julian. Take care. Bye. All right. Thanks for listening to the course change podcast. If you like this episode, I would be incredibly grateful to you if you've jumped over to the Apple podcast app and leave a five star review. This one simple act will help others find the show and build a community of people who support each other. You can always find me on Instagram at Thor Challgren send me a DM and let me know what you thought. Thanks again for listening and until next time, here's to your success.