Building Bellingham Episode 5: Anne-Marie Faiola (Bramble Berry)

Podcasts are the books of the multitasker. They’re something you can listen to in the car, on a run, as the background for plenty of work projects - anytime you can have your earbuds in.

But the focus that goes into recording a podcast is actually one that doesn’t allow for much multitasking. At our recording sessions at Binary Studios, it’s a two-hour exercise in active listening, for both the host and guest, and for those who are producing (David), mixing (Andy), filming (Cooper), or scribbling notes (me). 

We’re five episodes - five guests - five building blocks - into the Building Bellingham saga, and I’ve come to realize that those two hours are quite unlike much of the rest of our daily lives. There’s little if any cell reception at the studio, everyone has their phone on silent, and since Coop and I are in the actual recording room, we have to maintain the auditory vacuum that doesn’t allow even a whisper.

This experience turns the podcast recording session into so much more than just another person talking in my ear while I’m organizing my garage or folding laundry. It’s two hours in a silent sanctuary, witnessing a conversation that is open, human, and authentic.

So pull up a seat with me in Binary Studios and let’s meet...

This month’s guest was a woman I found fascinating to listen to.  She has an amazing story - the kind you read about in business books - and yet her warm personality and the fact that she built her business right here in Whatcom County made her relatable. Her physical presence, seated across a folding table from Leo, meant that this dream that she’s living is something attainable, something an aspiring leader like myself - and like you - can also achieve.

Meet the Soap Queen

Anne-Marie Faiola has been an entrepreneur ever since she bred and sold Russian dwarf hamsters door to door as a teenager. She started making soap around that time as well, and the hobby stayed with her through into adulthood, and she went to farmers markets and craft fairs to sell her handmade soaps. And after a draining stint as a corrections officer in Lacey, she realized that soapmaking - and teaching others how to make soap - would not only release her from a draining career in a broken justice system, but it could also help other people find the same joy and meaning that she does.

Today Bramble Berry has over 140,000 followers on Instagram, and more than 22 million views on its educational YouTube channel. Anne-Marie now has lines of people waiting to take a picture when she attends soapmaking conventions, and she’s been featured on Hallmark and Martha Stewart. As a CEO, she’s been interviewed by Forbes, Inc, and Business Insider, and has published four books. 

Building Bellingham

Anne-Marie’s conversation with Leo covers a gamut of topics, and the whole episode is definitely worth the listen. The 20-year entrepreneur shares insights into the decisions of a CEO: stabilizing a business by buying the building and land that houses it, and what it really means to pick up the pieces after a million-dollar website investment led to a 42% plunge in sales. 

She also shared the mindset that fuels her busy life: that a relationship with the customer is a privilege, that people yearn to create something meaningful, and that strong regular habits enable you to build a life you don’t need a vacation from. 

As the scribe in the corner of the studio, what hit me the most as I sat there outlining the general flow and topics of the conversation (my actual job) while getting distracted by the thoughts in my own head about how Faiola’s wisdom could inform my work as a Client Concierge (the selfish reason I love sitting in on the recording sessions), were:

1) Do something that you love, and love giving away

2) Build a real, authentic business-to-client relationship, even (especially?) in an e-commerce environment

Lead with Giving

In the early days, Anne-Marie spent time in chat rooms answering soap questions from all over the crafting community - whether they were her clients or not, she was answering support questions on techniques, materials, problem solving. She took the time (years of making soap on weekends) to become the expert and shared her knowledge freely.

The Bramble Berry YouTube channel today has over 22 million views and hundreds of thousands of subscribers. But just like she did in the beginning, Anne Marie is giving - teaching, sharing, explaining - without any metrics for ROI. 

Authentic Relationships

When you give freely, you’re free to give as yourself, to be yourself. There is an inherent danger in this - you’re held accountable to be the type of person or company whose authentic self is attractive. You also have to risk being transparent (read: vulnerable) about what it is you do, what it is you have to give, and asking for what it is that you need. 

Authenticity is how Anne-Marie was able to acquire soapqueen.com for $500 after the domain owner had turned down an offer for $500,000.

Owning the E-Commerce Space

Anne-Marie made the conscious choice, in an online marketplace mediated by Amazon, and a physical marketplace dominated by the Wal-Marts of the world, to sell Bramble Berry’s products online in a direct-to-consumer model. 

Since she’s not distributing through Amazon, her team retains control of the packaging, branding, website features, and e-mail marketing - the entire pipeline from lead to close to repeat business.

By keeping the entire Bramble Berry world in-house - from social media to the website to the Bellingham fulfillment and distribution center - they’re maintaining quality control and managing the entire client experience. 

On the flip side, it also means that they’re responsible to maintain a powerful online presence that diverts traffic from the “let’s see what’s on Amazon” mentality that we online shoppers can so easily have. 

These lessons are just the ones that stuck out to this blogger as I sat in the recording studio and listened to learn. There’s so much more backstory, color and detail to the wisdom that Anne-Marie Faiola shared with Leo, so go to your favorite podcast platform and give it a listen! 

Links

The Episode: Apple Podcasts  |  Spotify  | Stitcher 

Our Guest: Anne-Marie Faiola  | Instagram  | Her Books  | Her Advice (to her 20 year-old self)  

Her Company: Brambleberry.com  | Instagram  | SoapQueenTV  | Anniversary Collection

Credits

Hosted by Leo Cohen, Cohen Group NW  |  Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram

Produced and Edited by David Pender Lofgren 

Recorded and Mixed by Andy Rick

Videographer & Social Media Jedi: Cooper Hansley

Recorded at Binary Studios  |  Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram
Building Bellingham is a member of The BellPod Network  |  Website  |  Facebook  | Instagram

Blog copy by Tiffany Holden