Finding A Partner For Your Startup. How Two Fashion Entrepreneurs Did It.

Fashion startups have special challenges. Not only are they dealing with making a product and selling it, but they’re also in a market that’s fraught with sourcing challenges and identifying their perfect customer. Ramon Ray, founder of SmartHustle.com spoke with the founders of Maison de Papillon, Danielle Salinas, and Shriya Bisht about their journey and how a strong partnership has helped their business.

In this powerful discussion they talked about:

• How to find and succeed with partners in your business
• The power of going niche in marketing to your customer
• Why telling a story is essential for better marketing
• Do you have the right MINDSET for business growth
• and so much more!

The fashion industry is tough. However, it’s icons like Rebecca Minkoff who have paved the way for startups like Maison de Papillon and so many others to succeed!

Listen to the audio podcast interview

Watch the video interview

Transcript powered by Rev.com

What is Maison de Papillon

Danielle Salinas:

Maison de Papillon is a ready to wear brand. It’s evolved to ready to wear brand. The whole idea of it is we have created a brand that initially started to take you from the sheets to the streets, that we used to say. But it’s really like just… Yeah, I know. Right? It is hilarious. I’m seeing your face, Ramon, and it’s kind of funny, it’s kind of catchy. But it’s a garment that basically transitions with you. Like a butterfly, it’s Maison, it’s house of butterfly in French. And like a butterfly, the garment evolves. So, we have build a collection of garments that really take you throughout your day. The brand itself has evolved, but the idea is that the garment evolves with your every day, whether you’re out with the girls for brunch or you’re just relaxing at home. It’s kind of just a nice garment that’s extremely comfortable, luxurious, and it’s made ethically and sustainably of natural fibers.

How Did the Partnership Begin

Ramon Ray:

Got it. Thank you very much, Danielle. Shriya, can you just unpack how y’all, even though I’m not from the south, but how y’all came to be, Shriya? What happened? What was that story, journey? I’m imagining… I don’t know. Were you on the train, Shriya, sketching something, and Danielle was walking, and you were like, “My partner?” Or was it not that dramatic? Help us, the story of how this company came to be. And then a little bit, feel free, about your background. Danielle, I’ll ask you for your personal background, But unpack a bit, Shriya, how the company came to be.

Shriya Bisht:

You were close enough. Yeah. We met exactly the way you narrated. I’m kidding. Both of us, we went to Parsons, the school of fashion. That’s where we met. We had a couple of classes together. We shared similar interest, we love travel. We had a similar background because both of us were not fresh out of college. We had work experience, we had entrepreneurial experiences in our past lives. We just hit it off. We became friends first and each one us wanted to create our own brand. Danielle wanted to do something related to lounge wear, I wanted to do something with travel wear. That’s when we thought, why don’t we just do it together? I mean, we eventually have similar statics, similar vision. That’s when we decided to give it a try. At first, we even travel together, we worked on projects together, and then we decided to just co-found the brand. That’s when Maison de Papillon came into existence. We participated in our first fashion show during the New York Fashion Show, which is one of the [inaudible 00:04:01] fashion shows.

Shriya Bisht:

All this we did while we were still going to school. So, we were kind of [inaudible 00:04:12]. We were in the middle of our projects, in the middle of our finals. At the same time we had to meet the deadlines for the market for the New York Fashion Week. Yeah. It was pretty [crosstalk 00:04:25].

A Partnership of Strengths

Danielle Salinas:

I think it’s very similar to what Ramon said. Actually, I did see Shriya sketching, I did feel she was like one of the best sketch artists in our classroom, and she still is incredibly talented. And yeah, like Shriya mentioned, we did what every, I would say, couple does. We took a test travel trip together just to see how we vibed, and we worked together, and we decided that we felt like we really complimented each other. It kind of… You were pretty close, Ramon. You were very close. [crosstalk 00:05:01]

Shriya Bisht:

I saw in Danielle what… I saw her present in a way that I knew that she can sell, she has a brilliant marketing brain. That’s something that I lacked in. I mean, I can stay behind the scenes and I can draw and sketch all my life, but I cannot sell. Yeah, and we found each other’s strengths and acknowledge each others… Acknowledge [inaudible 00:05:35], I did, I acknowledges my weakness and that was a perfect-

Ramon Ray:

Danielle, tell me what was it about Shriya that attracted you? What was her strengths that you seeing that you were deficient in? If that is the case, see oftentimes it is. What about yourself?

Danielle Salinas:

You know, I remember going to fashion school and saying to my peers… I mean, you’re at Parsons, so you’re dealing with some of the most beautiful, genius artists around, right? The best fashion school in the world. And I remember them asking me, “What is it that you want to do?” I wish I could say, “I want to be the most avant-garde…” That wasn’t where my mind was coming from. My whole idea was like, there’s something in the market that’s lacking and I need to make it. I need to bring this to fruition, I need to bring it to the market. My strength, as much as I love to design and I do feel like…

Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Danielle Salinas:

I knew what my strengths were, but I also knew what my weaknesses were. I think what truly connected me to Shriya was her passion to the arts, her compassion to other people and people around us, and just your talent.

Danielle Salinas:

Yeah. I mean, just like in general, I was obsessed with her work ethic and she was such a genuine, beautiful soul. Nothing was ever a rush. I felt like it was all about the process and she really enjoyed the process and she really felt the process and the mood. I remember my father used to always say he wouldn’t cook before it was time. “I won’t feed you before it’s time,” because he had so much passion cooking. I feel like still today, when she’s ready to do something she does it, and she’s never missed a deadline. I knew that I could always count on her to do what she needed to get done. And that work ethic is real transparent, which is not common for artists.

Ramon Ray:

Interesting.

Danielle Salinas:

It’s not always common for others.

Shriya Bisht:

It’s because I have a partner like her. She makes me meet the deadline.

Ramon Ray:

I got you. No, it’s good you all complete each other. I’m curious Shriya, let’s use this as one lesson and talk about partnerships a bit for those listening in the fashion industry and those who may be regular business owners, not in fashion, but clearly you found benefits of partnerships. If you don’t mind, what is the downside of having a partner? What’s the upside, what’s your advice Shriya, for those looking for a partner, wish they had someone to work with in business. Answer that however you want, but let’s underline that a bit more and go on, keep talking a bit more about partnerships. You both are business partners, so I’m curious how it’s working. How do you deal with conflict? I know I’ve asked you 75 questions in one breath. I’ll recap them for you. Don’t worry. But talk more about partnerships and what you’re learning from that. Shriya.

It’s Hard To Find the Right Partner

Shriya Bisht:

I think partnerships are very important, but at the same time it is very, very difficult to find the right partner. If you do not find the right partner, it’s no point collaborating with somebody who’s not like-minded, who doesn’t share the same natures and doesn’t share the same passion. You are better off doing it by yourself or being alone in the journey.

Shriya Bisht:

Partnership is almost like marriage.

Ramon Ray:

I’m on 27 years.

Business Partnership but Also Companionship – Entrepreneurship can be Lonely

Shriya Bisht:

It is challenging. At the same time it is companionship. It is making decisions together. You sometimes there are because you were so opinionated, your strong personalities. There’s always a down for when there are conflicts or difference in opinions. But then at times it is good to evaluate things and look at things with different perspective. It’s always better to overanalyze or look at things with much deeper sense. I think partnerships are challenging and there are a lot of downsides to it, but then, like I said, if you find the right partner and if you’ve identified your weaknesses and your strengths, along with identifying your partner’s weaknesses, and strengths, and dividing the work accordingly, I think it is the best scenario. It is the best situation to be in.

Ramon Ray:

I love it. Danielle, anything you want to add to that about partnerships? Good, bad, tips, advice.

A Successful Partnership Takes Compromise

Danielle Salinas:

My advice, I have two things. Compromise. Like any marriage, any friendship, partnerships are about compromise and you don’t always get the win. There’s a lot of times when there’s something that I want to get done that we don’t do. I understand that that’s my compromise. And there’s things that sometimes Shriya wants to do, and she doesn’t do because of a compromise or vice versa. Or we do do it because the other person really wants to get it done. So I’d say compromise is extremely important. And the other thing is letting your partner shine. I think that’s extremely important. Sometimes you have to sacrifice to let your partner shine in what their strength is.

Danielle Salinas:

I think that that is one of the most beautiful things about my partnership with Shriya, I think that we both want each other to shine and at the same time, look, our partnership’s not perfect. Of course we’ve had our moments where we’re frustrated or we’re annoyed or stressed. There’s not a lot of them in our transparency, but we’ve had them. We think that those are perfectly healthy and they’re important to have those moments. I think that that full transparency is also extremely important. If you don’t have full transparency with your business partner, and you don’t let them shine and you don’t know how to compromise, then you shouldn’t belong in a partnership. You should do it on your own. And there’s nothing wrong with doing it on your own either. But if a partnership is what you’re truly looking for, it’s like a marriage, I know that I couldn’t be with somebody who didn’t allow me to shine.

Ramon Ray:

Sure. No, that’s powerful. Let’s talk about Danielle. I’ll keep the light as we shine it on you for this question, then I’ll ask Shriya. Danielle, about the success of your company so far, fashion, because I’m not one… I mean, I am a fashionista, as you can tell and I should be the cover of every magazine in America, but what can I say?

Danielle Salinas:

At least GQ. At least GQ.

Ramon Ray:

Yes, thank you. Absolutely. Bring it on. What has been some of the success to date you all have had in growing the business and why has that been? So, talk about the success you’ve had so far in growing it from zero to where it is today. What are some of those success milestones been, as we learn from what you’ve done today? I’m sure there’s more challenges ahead, but as of today, talk about the success a bit.

The Power of Niche

Danielle Salinas:

I mean, I think our biggest success today, I mean, we’ve had significant success. We’ve definitely not been an overnight success. I think that we’ve definitely carved a place for ourselves in the market. I feel like we’ve built a brand and that in itself is a success story. We are a brand. This is definitely not a hobby. But I think our biggest success to date is finding a niche for ourselves and really being able to hone into sustainability and really live and build and grow sustainability. I think our biggest success is that we are now viewed as a tool, a mentor in leading the path towards sustainability. I think that’s extremely important. It’s extremely relevant in today’s industry.

Danielle Salinas:

I think about it and the only thing I want to do is make sure that we preserve the planet enough for our children’s children. Those are the things that maybe. Maybe it’s something that you think about when you’re a little bit older or as you’re like hoping to have children and grandchildren. But for me, I think that that’s extremely important. I’m very proud to tell our story and our production story. Because I feel that we have a very we have a solid carbon footprint. I know our weaknesses in our carbon footprint and we know what we need to do to make it better. Every day it’s a practice. So every day we’re just trying to get better. So I think that that in itself, not necessarily monetarily, I think monetarily we’re doing solid, but I think that is definitely what I perceive as one of our greatest successes.

Ramon Ray:

Got it. Shriya, if you agree with what Danielle said, I recognize your partner, so it’s interesting. I may ask Shriya, “[inaudible 00:15:55]?” “Red.” And Danielle’s like, “No, I can’t answer that. I don’t like.” but Shriya, if you agree with what Danielle said, talk then about the business side of what you’re doing, Meaning that you have the goals for sustainability and these things, which are great but you could also be losing money, be out of business. Help us understand how you all are doing that. And then as we’re learning from you, Thomas shoes is the best example of that, I think, or at least the most famous. We want to donate to kids, but I’ve heard his speeches. We also are a company that needs and wants to make money. So talk about how you all are blending those two to do good, be a sustainable company, but also you got to have customers paying you money. Shriya, how do you blend those two together yourself? As you answer always as you’re helping others we’re learning from you.

Sustainability and Luxury Fashion

Shriya Bisht:

Sustainability, it’s such a broad topic and it’s a word that means different things to different people. Sustainability is not just using natural fibers. That’s not the only way to look at it. As a sustainable brand, we call ourselves a sustainable luxury brand.

Ramon Ray:

Which is the niche, right? That goes back to, I think, I’m guessing many female customers, luxury and sustainable. That’s the niche you want to lead in.

Shriya Bisht:

That’s absolutely a niche and also a void which is now being fulfilled. It’s also the demand. We’re trying to fulfill the demand which has been created over the years. Nobody knew about what sustainability was. It was such a fuzzy word. Now, people are more and more educated, they expect transparency in the business. They want to know where the product is coming from and they’re willing to pay for it. So, we keep that in mind.

Shriya Bisht:

By luxury, we mean the quality. We keep the quality intact. Of course, the fabrication, the source, the supply chain. We have absolute transparency on those areas. We source from the best of the best places. We source directly from the artisans, not dealing with the middlemen. That’s where we try to manage the costs. We provide the best to the people who are very well-educated and very well aware of how things are done nowadays, and they’re willing to pay for a good product, for a product that’s supporting a cause. We carry brands which have a deep rooted financial background, brands who are very mindful of sourcing and the way they’re making the product, that they’re designing the product. That’s what we support with the new initiative of ours, which is called Project Gaia. Yeah, that’s how I would say we manage. I don’t if I answered the question.

Ramon Ray:

You did. No, you did. Absolutely. I got one follow up question to that, is that the aspect of… Let’s talk going to the brass tacks of business, getting customers. How does that happen in the fashion world? I don’t know anything about it except being the fashionista that I am. Just teasing, but how does that work in the fashion world? I want to ask you, Danielle, the same question, unless you want to answer it, Danielle?

Danielle Salinas:

Oh, no. I mean, I can answer. I was going to add to what Shriya was saying. I think one of the pivots that we also… In educating the customer, I think one of our pivots has definitely been Project Gaia in New York City, which is our sustainable store, and is our flagship store. We do recognize that a huge part of the success in today’s fashion industry is direct-to-consumer, the DTC business. That’s a huge business and that’s definitely a market that we are focusing on and honing in on. That definitely is the future of Maison de Papillon. It goes back to answer your second question, which is how do you share your story? I think doing things like this, sharing our story on podcasts like this, doing what we do on social media, but absolutely digital advertising is the future, it’s today, it’s what’s modern.

Tell A Story In your Marketing

Danielle Salinas:

But telling a story, I think that the consumer, especially after what the world’s just been through, we’ve just been through this pandemic and so many of us are extra conscious about our health and what’s going into our bodies, what’s going on to our bodies. So many different businesses, DTC businesses pivoted out of COVID specifically like organic hand soap, organic hand sanitizer, things that we needed. We needed more options because there was so much pressure on our supply chain coming from the majors, so we had all these independents saying, “You know what? Let me do my part,” and they’ve turned into phenomenal brands.

Danielle Salinas:

So, I can definitely see… This is definitely something that we’re working on and focusing a little bit more on the direct-to-consumer, continuing to service our active stores around the world is important to us, but educating… Education, the importance of sustainability, the importance of knowing how these garments are being dyed, what’s in the dye, where the supply chain is. We can answer to our supply chain. Those things are important. I think for our particular customer, I think the Maison de Papillon woman is extremely sophisticated. She absolutely knows what is important to her. She is an ethical woman. She is a woman who intentionally put certain pieces in her closet. I do feel that she is… Because we know her, we see her, we understand her, we can visualize her. We know that she is looking for these things and she holds her stores and her brands accountable to they’re kicking out.

Danielle Salinas:

I think that you’re seeing that a lot. I mean, Nike just came out with a completely sustainable… They’ve been working on these sustainable tennis shoes that you now have the option to buy. You see Zahra is rolling out sustainable pieces. I mean, it’s not going away, it’s only getting stronger. I love the idea that, at least in our industry, we’re definitely, for our size company we talk about… You talk to us about different size companies and why you bring different founders to your podcast. I think for our size company, our size brand, I think that we’re laying a major stake in the ground and we’re sharing a story. We are holding our other branches similar to our size accountable for how they’re sourcing. Even if it’s our packaging, we’re making a difference, even with our packaging, how we ship to customers. This is all extremely important to us.

Ramon Ray:

Packaging, that’s for sure. I’m curious some, can you talk about, Danielle, what are some of the challenges that you faced to date? What are some of the challenges, either the… Two things, that you’re having now if you wish to share, but more importantly, the challenges that you’ve had and how have you overcome them, Danielle? Talk about that a bit.

Challenges In Sourcing Materials

Danielle Salinas:

Well, I mean, I’m going to tell you just challenges that we’ve… I mean, obviously we’ve had challenges. I mean, we had to get through a whole pandemic. So we had challenges there and we didn’t pressure any of our stores to do anything. We didn’t hold anyone’s feet to the fire, in reference to holding true to their POs. So those are all challenges that. We had to trust our supply chain, also make sure that we could trust our factories, which all of our factories were great with us. They actually were all very, very ethical and did all the right things. I’m going to kick it to Shriya here in a second. But one of our major challenges right now is just sourcing packaging, I think that that’s a big challenge for us. I think the Shriya can talk to where the government needs to kick in and do their part.

Ramon Ray:

Sourcing packaging, does that mean, just so I understand, because there’s so much demand you’re running out? Just clarify the challenge of sourcing packaging, clarify that.

Danielle Salinas:

The price, the costs of using sustainable packaging. I mean, we need support, regulatory support. It’s more affordable for brands like us, and it’s more affordable for all different types of brands, not just in the clothing world, or in the ready-to-wear world or in the fashion world, but in the electronics world, in the CTC world. I mean, all these people are shipping all across the world and everyone shipping everywhere. And they’re wanting to do it the right ethical way. Not necessarily the right, ethical way. They could be doing it the right ethical way, but if they want to go a little green and they want to try to be a little more sustainable, how can we do that if it’s so expensive, this packaging? So, I’m going to refer to Shriya, because I know she’s- [crosstalk 00:25:57].

Ramon Ray:

Shriya, please. What do you want to add on that, please?

Shriya Bisht:

Yeah. I mean, it goes back to sustainability being standardized at a bigger level. The government or the authorized… Europe is doing a great job standardizing sustainability. There could be two ways to look at it. Either you create a demand and the prices go down, or there has to be a certain kind of standardization, that brands need to use a certain level of sustainability quality product, to be able to operate. So going back to your question, the challenges, yes, every step trying to be a sustainable brand is a challenge because it comes with a huge price cost.

Ramon Ray:

But again, as you’ve identified, just to clarify your customers though, you’re selling to the right customer that wants it, right? You’re building the market for it because she, in this case, wants it so, that’s the [crosstalk 00:27:14]. Supply and demand is what I’m getting at. Supply and demand.

Shriya Bisht:

Supply and demand, exactly. So, if there is a demand there, there is a customer who wants everything transparent, who wants to know where the gowns are coming from, who’s making it? Whether it’s minimizing the carbon footprint, it’s using natural dyes. If the customer demands to know, the customer is educated enough. It’s not just greenwashing. The customer is asking questions now, and that’s what is more important. That’s where the education comes into play. Just saying organic doesn’t mean anything anymore. Just saying a lot of these brands, the bigger brands, because they want to get on the the bandwagon, they want to cash on the whole sustainability drive. They’re adding capsules like green or sustainable, but when you actually ask them questions, they have no answers to it. You need to know, what does organic mean, what does ethically sourced mean?

Ramon Ray:

Sure. Got it. No, this is powerful. As we come towards the end of our discussion, there’s four things that I think a business needs to grow. I could be wrong, feel free to push back, but I think it’s the marketing aspect. How do you get customers? And I think you’ve touched on that to some degree here, digital advertising, direct-to-consumer. I think the second thing is underpinning of technology for business. I think financing is important, understanding the finances of your business. I think we’ve touched on that a bit. We’ve touched on pricing, about people want a premium product, those of your customer segment, and they’re willing to pay for it because it’s sourced properly. And then the fourth thing I think is leadership and the mindset for business. So just two things I want to touch on, if it’s okay before we go, is mindset.

Ramon Ray:

Danielle, I turn to you first, just what are your thoughts, your advice? What have you had to go through to, as I like to say, be punched in the face and get up and keep moving? I assume if you’re any entrepreneur, that’s just a part of business. Falling down, getting up, falling down, getting up. We’ve already talked about the purpose values mission, but talk about mindset for business a bit. If you don’t mind Danielle, and if it’s okay Shriya, maybe you can tackle, I’m curious about hiring. That’s always something that we’re asked a lot. How do I find people? How do I hire people? How to be a better leader? It’s a big question, I know. But Danielle, maybe if you don’t mind talking just about mindset and what it takes to be a business owner.

The Power of Mindset

Danielle Salinas:

Yeah. I think that for me I’ve learned, or I learned during my sabbatical of almost a year at home, how important mindset is. Because there was so much time that we really had no control of what was happening around us. There was only one thing that I could really control, and that was what was going on in my own head. So I learned to do a couple of things and I feel like those things are, a few things actually, and they’re still part of my every day. I’m obviously going to bed at a decent hour and maintaining a structured schedule was very important to me. Waking up at 5:00 AM. I’ve read 5 AM Club and I’ve read [inaudible 00:30:43] before 5:00 AM. I just think it’s extremely important to have some time to yourself.

Danielle Salinas:

I don’t always wake up at 5:00 AM, but I do wake up generally early and I give myself 45 minutes to meditate. When I say meditate, I don’t necessarily meditate to the universe. I meditate really to myself. I meditate to really line up my own thoughts. I journal what my goals are for the day. I think that that’s extremely important, and I work and I exercise. I physically move and I think about what I need to do. I set my goals for the day. I set my intentions for the week and I really hold myself accountable to that. I don’t shame myself for not achieving my goals. I just try the next day or try the next week. But in my own head I try to organize everything as much as possible. I think getting your body moving and getting your endorphins moving and getting fresh air, all these things that we maybe took advantage or took for granted. Not took advantage, but took for granted, are a little bit more than what we do today.

Be Grateful

Danielle Salinas:

I think today we’re all very grateful for the air that we breathe and being able to be outside and walk around. I think that those things are things that I really focused in, in my gratitude. And so I try to remind myself what I’m grateful for, and I also try not to look backwards. I just think about, okay, if that happened, that happened. I can’t change what happened yesterday. We can’t change what happened yesterday, all we can change is what happens today forward. And so just every day, just trying to be a little bit better, a better person, a better mom, a better boss, better human. Just trying to be a little bit better every day. But those are some of the things that I’ve done, I guess, keep me sane.

Ramon Ray:

And then Shriya, for you as well, talk a bit about hiring. I know you all have more than just the two of you in your company. What are some tips and advice you’ve learned about hiring the right people, not hiring the wrong people. Anywhere you want to take this. I’ve heard so many advice over the years for firing fast and all kinds of things. What have you all learned as you’re building your business?

Hiring the Right People

Shriya Bisht:

Hiring the right people and building a good team is the most difficult part of the business and the most challenging part of the business, I think. What we within the company as a practice do is, we hire interns and the interns, usually they apply from various colleges. We have different programs with different colleges, with different fashion schools and business schools. And yeah, we hire just the interns. We have several spots for internship positions and that’s what we fill with these applications. The internship process is quite a process with us. We leave no stone unturned. We get so many applications that you have to shortlist and put a process in place.

Shriya Bisht:

And then when we have our interns on board, each one of them is evaluated based on their skill sets and their aspirations. We’re very proud of our internship programs. They really learn. We are not running internship programs just to have interns bring you coffee or just… They do have fun, but they are employed. We take them very seriously and they work on different projects. After working with the interns, a lot of them, of course, go back to school, but then some of them are already… They’ve graduated and they still want to… They’re either on the OTT or they want to still intern and get experience, And that’s when, if we have any openings, we obviously post them, post the positions and the interns apply. And that’s where we hire from. And it’s such a good way to know what the work ethic is, how they work, what they like, to design the entire program around around the development of an individual.

Shriya Bisht:

So, I think that’s the internal practice that we have we follow at Maison de Papillon. Of course, we do have to hire individuals who can directly join us if it is a senior position. But yeah, that’s the way we go-

Danielle Salinas:

We’re quite proud of our process of hiring because we only hire from within, and it’s always a functioning working interview. We tell our interns, “You come in here and as long as you do well and you perform, you have a true opportunity.” Because we will make space for you. If you are an employee that we do not want to lose, we will find something. [crosstalk 00:36:57] We do, because you don’t want to lose someone. I mean, you can’t see talent and just watch them walk away. You create something for them, even if it’s not there, because you believe in them so much.

Danielle Salinas:

You do become attached to the interns. And sometimes we get them quite young. So, their internship may start. They’re not ready to work with us right away, so maybe it starts from an internship to a paid internship, to a part-time job and maybe then a full-time job. But for the most part, if we get them a little later in their career, it’s going from an internship to a paid internship, and it goes really kind of quick to a job. And so we pride ourselves in hiring from within, And like Shriya said, I mean, there are a few positions where we’ve had… There are more higher up executive positions where we’ve had to pull from an experienced pool of applicants. But for the most part, we do we do hire from within.

Technology

Ramon Ray:

I love it. And then finally, let’s talk about technology, but that’s not the most important thing. I think we talked about the most important things already, but anything you can mention about the technology you’re using or not using. Clearly, you have to have a website. You have email. I don’t know if you have ERP solutions or anything that comes to mind that’s special or general, whether you want to mention brands or not. But I’ll turn to you, Danielle, then Shriya. Just curious about the technology you’re using, lessons learned. Have you had any big screw ups in hire, and paying too much? Like, “Ramon, we did a custom [inaudible 00:38:31].” Any stories?

Danielle Salinas:

I think like every single entrepreneur out there, a website’s always a challenge, right? We’re constantly rebuilding our website. We’ve had all sorts of websites from Shopify to Squarespace, to WooCommerce website. We’ve just built our second WooCommerce, and technologies are evolving. So, we’re constantly doing that over and over again. We do have a wholesale platform that we work with. It’s Jor and we’ve worked for Jor since pretty much they launched. They’re a great wholesale platform and we’re quite happy with them and we continue to utilize them in the wholesale world. I mean, we’ve also worked with-

Shriya Bisht:

Salesforce.

Danielle Salinas:

Salesforce. That was very, very helpful for us, but it’s definitely a monster and I don’t know that we were utilizing it the way we needed to utilize it at the time, And we kind of had to put a pause on Salesforce just with everything that we were trying to scale back during COVID. But we definitely have different types of CRMs that we still have in place and continue to work through, and we’re constantly looking for the new and the next and we’re take constantly taking meetings with different types of technological companies that do everything from help us figure out our expense accounts to help us figure out our carbon footprint. We’re constantly evolving.

Danielle Salinas:

Shriya’s actually the brain when it comes to technology, so she heads up most of the technology, honestly, but she could probably talk more to our website.

Ramon Ray:

Awesome. If there’s anything you want add, Shriya, you’re welcome to it. That was good, but anything else you want to add?

Shriya Bisht:

Yeah. Danielle mostly touched on everything pretty much we use in house. We also developed our own inventory management system. It’s primarily based on Excel and we might convert it into Python finally, but it’s a slow and gradual process here. We are definitely looking at more virtual platforms, which are for virtual shopping experiences and that’s what we are currently working on. We have a team doing the research currently, and then we are looking at some platform… I mean, there are options available. There are a few companies that are doing it. At the same time, we are trying to incorporate that virtual technology within the website ourselves. So, let’s see. I mean, we might be a little too aspirational in that aspect. But yeah, technology definitely… It’s a process and we need to catch up to it.

Ramon Ray:

Absolutely. No, this has been powerful. Danielle and Shriya, I think all [inaudible 00:41:42] were learned from our discussion today. Talking about the challenges, talking about the successes, talking about definitely guiding them into being more sustainable companies is the word I’ll use. It’s a broad word, but I think most people know what we mean. And I think also the aspect of hiring and leadership, our values are important. And I think what I liked about how you all take came together and two people, partners building a business I think has been such an enjoyable conversation. And we’ve been talking to Danielle and Shriya, co-founders of Maison de Papillon, and we’ll put that in the show notes, the website for those who are looking to get some cool clothing for their day. But Danielle, thank you. I appreciate your time.

Danielle Salinas:

Thank you so much, Ramon. It was such a pleasure looking at your smile for the last 45 minutes.

Ramon Ray:

And Shriya, thank you for your time. Thanks for being a part of this as well.

Shriya Bisht:

Thank you for having us.

Ramon Ray:

You’re welcome. And one more time, ladies and gentlemen, this is Ramon Ray, founder of smarthustle.com. If you’re hearing the sound of my voice, reading this article, watching this video, you can go to smarthustle.com for amazing insights like this, talking to cool, smart hustlers, how they’re starting and growing their businesses all at smarthustle.com.

 

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