Episode 5: Building A Multi-Million Dollar Jewelry Brand (Ft. Meg DiVincenzo, The Siss Kiss)

00:59
Madison Riddell:
Hi, everyone, and welcome to our next episode of Marketing Moves. This is VividFront's CRO, Madison Riddell, as our host today. And this episode is a first of two categories. Our first guest episode with a featured guest, one of our lovely clients who you'll meet in a second, as well as our first group episode. So we actually have two guests today, one of them being the client, and one is from our VividFront Marketing team. The topic of today's episode is around building an eCommerce brand in a competitive industry, the jewelry market. Our featured guest today is the definition of a hustler and the best person to shed light on brand building. Meg DiVincenzo is the CEO and founder of The Sis Kiss, a multi-million dollar eCommerce brand focused on delivering unique, high quality jewelry and accessories to her customers. In addition to being the boss behind the brand, Meg is a fantastic wife and mother of two and also a great friend of ours. Meg. Welcome to Marketing Moves.

01:35
Meg DiVincenzo
Thank you. What an intro.

01:38
Madison Riddell:
I also mentioned that this is a group episode, so please welcome one of our most Senior Account Executives here on the VividFront team, Molly Killeen.

01:49
Molly Killeen:
Hi, everybody. Great to be here.

01:51
Madison Riddell:
This is Molly's first episode on Marketing Moves. So this is the first time you're meeting her, and she is the quarterback on the Vivid Front side for all things The Sis Kiss. She's worked with Megan and her team on driving results for the last couple of years, so she's going to chime in. She's going to shed some additional light on how this powerhouse brand is making some marketing moves. So with that, let's get into it.

02:12
Meg DiVincenzo
Hey, thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm your first guest?

02:15
Madison Riddell:
You're our first guest.

02:16
Meg DiVincenzo
I can't even get over that.

02:18
Madison Riddell:
Yes, you're the first one here. We didn't want to tell you, so it could be a surprise.

02:21
Meg DiVincenzo
Well, good decision.

02:22
Madison Riddell:
Yes, of course.

02:23
Meg DiVincenzo
Good decision.

02:24
Madison Riddell:
Meg is a seasoned podcaster. She's been on a ton of podcasts. Yes. She also recently launched her own podcast to promote The Sis Kiss brand called Wildly Unprofessional. So she is a podcast pro, and I'm sure this episode will be perfect.

02:37
Meg DiVincenzo
Yeah, not perfect, but Meg-like, Wildly Unprofessional.

02:41
Molly Killeen:
Yeah, I was just going to say that.

02:43
Meg DiVincenzo
We'll tone it down, but it'll be wildly unprofessional.

02:46
Madison Riddell:
Awesome. So let's start with you, Meg. Kind of give our listeners some background. How did you start The Sis Kiss? How did you end up here?

02:53
Meg DiVincenzo
Okay, I'll try to keep a long story short, but I started The Sis Kiss literally on a whim with my Sis, hence the SIS kiss. And I'll kind of get into the name, but I was a practicing criminal defense attorney, and she was a teacher. And we decided that there was a certain bangle that was in style when were doing our own professions, the bourbon and bowtie bangles. And they were like, wire wrapped, so we wanted to buy them. That's literally all we wanted to do was go to Nordstrom, we put them on our wrists. We'd put our hands down, they'd fall right off. We have tiny wrists. So my sister's like, this is so frustrating. I'm just going to make us one. So we went to Michael's, literally, like Joanne Fabrics and Michael's, and we bought beads and wire. And my sister is like a perfectionist, and I would just stare at her and be like, that one.

03:42
Meg DiVincenzo
And I micromanaged her, and she made the bracelets better than even the originals. And then my mom was like, Yo, I want one. And my mom's friend was like, Well, I'd like one bigger. So literally, it started like that. And then we started getting orders from my mom's friends in our hometown. And again, I was still practicing as a lawyer, and she was a teacher. Then she had a daughter and quit teaching. I had a mental breakdown and quit practicing law, and the Sis Kiss was created.

04:11
Madison Riddell:
So tell us a little bit more about why you left Law.

04:15
Meg DiVincenzo
Okay, well, like I mentioned, I had a mental breakdown, which is, like, not even a joke at the time. I was really happy until I wasn't. I always say that. And I loved criminal law. I serviced 76 municipal courts in Cuyahoga. I did Cuyahoga County and different counties as well. And it was exhilarating. It was fun. I was never that sit behind the desk attorney. I was like, speaking to the prosecutors. Loved talking to judges. Loved talking to my clients. I loved coming up with arguments, if you can imagine, and I did love it until I didn't. And when I didn't, it became very apparent in my mental health that it wasn't the job for me anymore. And I don't know if it's because I had a son and my husband was always traveling or if some of my clientele became more difficult. And I literally was in court, and I had a panic attack and had to leave.

05:10
Meg DiVincenzo
And that was basically my wake up call. So I left Law, and I literally had my own little meltdown for a couple of months. And thankfully, The Sis Kiss was just a hobby we did on the side. So I feel like when I came out of my mental place after speaking to my therapist and getting on the proper medication and such supportive family members and friends and my husband, I had that to have a creative outlet and I decided one day just to keep going with it. And I started wholesaling to boutiques on Facebook and I joined a club that was called the Boutique Hub, which I'm still a part of. I was a speaker for them at their summit this year, which was like a huge accomplishment for me. And literally we just kept the ball rolling. My sister didn't want to make things anymore because we got so busy, it was impossible.

06:00
Meg DiVincenzo
So I found manufacturers and then we started shipping them. And when it became too much for us to ship, then I found shippers. And so I just kept the ball rolling. And honestly, I had little jobs here and there. I was a stylist for stitch fix. I did interior design because this was again, totally see that? Yes, again. This was just a hobby, right? Like, I didn't think it could be what it is today. I just kept moving, like the song just keeps swimming and literally all of a sudden, I couldn't get into our basement and then I couldn't get into our garage. And then I had two employees, and then I had three employees, and then I couldn't fit into our office that we rented. And now I'm in a warehouse and sometimes I look at the warehouse and I'm like, how the hell did we get here?

06:40
Meg DiVincenzo
And sometimes I walk in with fear and sometimes, like today, I walked in and said, hello beautiful, let's bring in the customer. So it's a wide range of emotions every day, as I'm sure you as my friend know, and Molly as my quarterback knows, which is amazing about you guys. And I'm sure we'll touch on that and our team dynamic, but that's pretty much how The Sis Kiss started and has continued. It was kind of a hobby. That is. Whoops. Here we are.

07:07
Madison Riddell:
Well, you just covered so many different categories of sorry, this episode is going to be no perfect. I think that kind of your founder story and how the brand came to be is a big reason why people gravitate towards the Sis Kiss. And for listeners who aren't familiar with The Sis Kiss, you will be by the end of this episode. But she has created this super sticky, intimate relationship with her customers through the brand, her HQ, which she's talking about her warehouse, but she really has an HQ. That is the most beautiful, custom, just encapsulating experience when you walk in. Thank you. And to hear, I'm sure for listeners who do know The Sis Kiss, that you came from a legal background, which feels like a pretty mundane, rigid type of environment, to this super explosive, sticky, fun, cool and trendy brand. That's a huge shift. So everything that you just shared, how long did that take?

08:03
Madison Riddell:
What is the timeline from everything you just described?

08:05
Meg DiVincenzo
I feel like every podcast I've been on, I'm always like, when I leave this podcast, I'm going to go home and I'm going to make a timeline. Because every time on air I'm like, huh? But I do know that I incorporated it in 2013, because that July 2013. And I feel like it really was a hobby until, like, 2018.

08:26
Madison Riddell:
Okay. Wow.

08:27
Meg DiVincenzo
When our first influencer hit.

08:28
Madison Riddell:
I don’t think I realized to that.

08:29
Molly Killeen:
Who was your first influencer?

08:31
Meg DiVincenzo
Loverly Grey.

08:31
Molly Killeen:
I knew that.

08:32
Meg DiVincenzo
Yes. No, that's fine. I mean hi, I'm Megan. I'm from The Sis Kiss. Welcome to my brand. Haha, no, I feel like it was just like, maybe 2016/17. It was picking up speed with my wholesaling with I made more wholesaling than I did retail until Loverly Grey posted. Then retail became our main focus. And I don't mean to say main focus, but it was making more money than our wholesale at the time. Now I feel like we're kind of playing catch up with the wholesale game, which we can get into as well. But so, yeah, I think that timeline was incorporating in 2013, fiddling around with interior design and stylus positions, being bored as shit at home, knowing I didn't want to stay at home. I'm not a stay at home mom. There's nothing wrong with stay at home moms. I just knew right away that was not for me.

09:19
Meg DiVincenzo
And then getting offices and then having Lovely Grey post was just a huge shift.

09:24
Madison Riddell:
Wow. Yeah. I think being that you really focused and started kicking things off in 2018, that's quick, because we've been working with you for the last three years. So to think that's really when you took off only a few short years before we met you is incredible. For those again who don't know, she's created a multi million dollar business on the Sis Kiss with many different channels. And the name of this podcast is Marketing Move. So you mentioned influencers. We're going to get into all these different topics. The different tactics kind of go to secrets that have allowed you to scale the brand. But I also want to loop in Molly here. So, Molly, now that the viewers know a little bit about the The Sis Kiss brand and Meg, tell us about your role with the Sis Kiss and what VividFront's doing.

10:07
Molly Killeen:
Yeah, absolutely. So, as Maddie said, we've been working with you for almost three years now. I can't believe how long it's been amazing to see how far everything has come together. But we have been helping Sis Kiss scale their eCommerce brand, so we have run a full funnel marketing strategy for you guys.

10:28
Meg DiVincenzo
Drink.

10:29
Molly Killeen:
Yeah. Meg always makes a joke. Whenever I say full funnel, to take a shot.

10:36
Meg DiVincenzo
It's taken three years. I have to tell you something, and I don't mean to interrupt, but I have to tell you that you guys have new acronyms. No. You have new ads up. Yeah, and the sales from one ad. But I'm like, I get the funnel now. Because every time we get a cha-ching, I'm like, they're in the funnel now.

10:57
Molly Killeen:
Exactly.

10:58
Meg DiVincenzo
Funnel, funnel, funnel.

10:59
Molly Killeen:
Fun fact, it takes seven to eleven brand touch points before a consumer can actually make a move on a brand. So that is why we have our funnel in place. So with that funnel, we run paid media tactics, we run email tactics, you guys run organic tactics that we help support in terms of creative. So it's been really amazing to, first of all, take all of the amazing products and assets and creative that you guys have and push that out digitally to the right consumers.

11:25
Meg DiVincenzo
Yes. Which is what I was missing.

11:29
Madison Riddell:
Yeah. What brought you to working with an agency in the first place? Because when I met you called me a lot.

11:38
Meg DiVincenzo
I'm like, what are you talking about, Maddie?

11:40
Madison Riddell:
You called her phone for a couple weeks.

11:41
Meg DiVincenzo
No, you really didn't. We set up a call, and you were very convincing. Honestly, I wasn't even considering it because literally, were strolling down the influencer path doing our thing. It was working. Nothing was broken. But if you know anything about me, and I'm sure you do by now, I get bored pretty easily. And I'm always thinking, like, I'm never like, oh, that was amazing. We should celebrate. I'm like, Shit, now, what's up? So even though I was running down the path of everything's great with the influencer world, I was like, could we scale this even more? And what if this goes away and what are we going to fall back on? So, honestly, it wasn't even in my realm until I spoke with Maddie, because a mutual friend set us up on a blind date call.

12:22
Madison Riddell:
Yes, it was a blind date call. We learned a lot really quickly. Really quickly. And I think in the early days, and still now, a lot of our partnership that's a little bit unique is that it's not just VividFront pulling levers and running tactics and having a reporting call and talking every other week. It really is a partnership and it's consultative. And I think that the reason our teams work so well together, if there's anyone on the agency side listening, is because we've all kind of removed the borders or the boundaries between our teams, where everybody shares ideas across different channels and there is no one who's just owning one particular lane. We talk about all the different ways we can scale the brand, from who you should hire, what you should do with your warehouse, what we should do about shipping, what new channels we should bring on. Are there channels outside of thesiskiss.com that we should be thinking about? So I think that holistic type of partnership is what has worked really well for both of our teams.

13:16
Meg DiVincenzo
Well, and can I say something like, I had a call today. Can I say with who? With Amazon. And we've been working with Amazon for almost a year and a half, and this is probably the longest decision I've ever made, I pull triggers quick.

13:28
Madison Riddell:
Quick start.

13:29
Meg DiVincenzo
Yeah. I am very like, I don't screw around, but I've been really caressing this relationship with Amazon. And today I had my final call with them to say we're going to start, and they said, yeah, we know. We already talked to Vivid yesterday. And I'm like and I thought you did. And he was like, yeah, we had a call with Maddie and Molly, and we talked about this, and this and this. And they told us their thoughts on this, and this. And I was like, that is the most amazing partnership. And that's what I would want from any team member on The Sis Kiss, is that they've taken care of something. I didn't even know it happened. And that, to me, blew me away. And that was just this morning.

14:08
Molly Killeen:
It's such an honor to work with you and your team, because every time we get in a room, the ideas are just literally endless.

14:14
Meg DiVincenzo
Sometimes we come out of the meeting.

14:15
Molly Killeen:
And I have, like, five pages of notes of ideas.

14:18
Meg DiVincenzo
She's like, we're over our time. We're over a time. And I appreciate that you guys aren't like, here's a timer, because, you know, my mind is a creative mind. I don't deal well with notes, laptops, passwords, timers. Yes. I'll make sure everything is we're the perfect relationship. We're like a ying and a yang.

14:33
Madison Riddell:
Yes, we are amazing. So you just touched on something that I want to dive a little bit deeper into. It's kind of going to answer my question, but I'll let you go into it. So you said that you're a creative mind. How does that translate into what separates The Sis Kiss from other jewelry brands? Because kind of theme of this episode is jewelry is a commodity. Like, there are so many competitors in your space, they're popping up like crazy. And in all different categories and lanes. You have your boutiques, you have people who create jewelry products on Etsy. You have people that are more in your category that are selling through e commerce. You have fine jewelry. Like, the market is massive. It always has been. It's always changing. Trends are evolving. So why Sis Kiss different?

15:16
Meg DiVincenzo
I don't know why we're different, but I'll tell you why I think differently. First of all, I'm always trying to say, how can we add value? I want it to be an experience. I've said from the start, from the very first podcast that was ever on, that has nothing to do with the jewelry to me, which sounds crazy, but it's more about the branding. I want someone to feel like they're part of our society, our group, like a family. I want you to buy something from us. We send birthday gifts to our customers. We remember those things. VIPs. If you've bought more than three times from me. I mark you as a VIP myself, personally.

15:49
Madison Riddell:
Wow.

15:49
Meg DiVincenzo
I've always just been a very like, even as a young child, I was trying to personalize gifts for my friends because I think it means more to know I took the time to think of you. So I don't know if it's because I am creatively, always trying to reach people in a different level, and I'm kind of like that in life. Like, you're either literally 100% of my life or I'm like, yeah, I don't even know your first name. Right. Not sure if that's a good trait or a bad trait, but that's just the way I'm built. So my brand, of course, is my baby, and I want it to be the branding. I want you to open our package. It comes in the mail, first of all, on a package that it's like, you want to take a picture of it. My whole thought process from start to finish with a purchase, I want it to be on Instagram.

16:27
Meg DiVincenzo
I want it to be photographed. I want it to be in a selfie with you, which is how we created the HQ. So it starts with my packaging. You get free stickers, a free hair tie, a coupon. We change the hair tie, we change the stickers by season. So you're never getting the same package. That's more fun than, I think, what's ever inside. And then I think using our creative tactics with marketing is another thing. I'm always trying to be interactive, like, whether they're playing a game. I've talked to Vivid multiple times about doing an app that you play like a scavenger hunt. I don't know if those things go places or if it's worth the money, but that's the way my brain works, is how can we make our customers feel like it's a fun experience and they're not just buying from a jewelry company?

17:09
Madison Riddell:
Yeah, I think you're a true visionary in that regard. She really comes to the table with a new idea every single time we a new app, a new build. Like, whatever it is, it's always something new.

17:22
Meg DiVincenzo
But they tell me no a lot. But the funny thing is, they don't just say no. They're like, we'll look into that, Meg, and we'll email you about it later. And I'm like, okay, that's a no.

17:30
Madison Riddell:
We don't want to squash your creativity. I think another thing for me that stands out about the Sis Kiss in addition to the brand, which is basically everything, something you and your team do really well, is stay ahead of trends. Like, if something's trending, Sis Kiss, has it on their website within days, or you guys set trends yourself. You're the first to market in so many jewelry categories. You have made a huge name for yourself in the custom jewelry space. You've introduced new products, like, recently. Everybody loves Stanley Cups. So Meg made a Stanley cup charm. Like, this is how her brain works. So how does, like, bottle that up. How do people become like you?

18:04
Meg DiVincenzo
Well, I don't know. How do people become like Molly that knows their passwords and can log into their laptop? I mean, I wish I had a little bit of that, but literally, as soon as the pandemic hit, so my mind went, okay, this pandemic what do you need in a pandemic? You need a face mask. So we created face mask chains and face masks, and you need hand sanitizer. So we had the most best smelling, softest branded hand sanitizer, and then let's just say the new trend this year is, like, right now, I'm all about denim. So my mind is, how do I make denim jewelry? So I take whatever trend it is, whether it's clothing, whether it's a city, whether it's and I try to spin it to how would it fit into our brand without being too outside of what our customers realms are?

18:47
Meg DiVincenzo
Because I've learned it doesn't matter if I have the best freaking idea in the world. If somebody doesn't trust me on that topic or that product, they will not buy it.

18:55
Madison Riddell:
Right?

18:55
Meg DiVincenzo
So I try to take whatever the trend of the time is and spin it into something that is trustworthy under The Sis Kiss brand.

19:02
Madison Riddell:
And I think the proof's in the pudding, because Meg's products and the Sis Kiss products have been worn by everybody's favorite celebrities influencers. We're not talking about just local influencers, but national influencers and celebrities. Meg just came back from Coachella with her team. They were a featured vendor at Poosh, which is Kourtney Kardashian's kind of spin off of Coachella. So influencer marketing has been a huge part of the strategy, and I think that goes hand in hand with trends because they're not going to wear something that everyone's been wearing for the last ten years. These influencers and celebrities want to be setting trends or on top of trends, and I think that you've allowed them to do that with some of your products. So talk to us about how you've created those relationships. Like, how are you getting Kourtney Kardashian and Gigi Hadid and all of these huge celebrities to wear your products?

19:48
Meg DiVincenzo
They don't call. Oh, okay.

19:50
Madison Riddell:
Justin Bieber does.

19:51
Meg DiVincenzo
Oh, Justin Bieber calls you. Okay, well, send me Haley's number. Well, first, going back a little bit about trends, I honestly feel like it's taken me some time to learn this, but most of my best selling influencers wear our most custom Dainty classic pieces, and those are actually our best sellers. The Meg in me wants to create the most crazy, trendy, interactive, magnetic product that there is, but the buyer at the Sis Kis is buying our most classic pieces, and we did a whole, like, who's our customer this year? Which I've never done, if you can believe it, because I was just frustrated with always creating things that I would want that weren't selling right. So I was like, you're creating for the wrong market, but I think we can start meshing it now that I do know who my customer base is. But back to the influencers.

20:37
Meg DiVincenzo
Literally, it started because I wanted to gift people. I didn't even know how the influencer world worked.

20:42
Madison Riddell:
This is, what, ten years ago?

20:44
Meg DiVincenzo
That you're first so, like, 2018 is when Loverly Grey but I think that she wore a few of I used to make bags, and she had a couple of my bags, and that's how we created a relationship. And I don't think I even know they had, like, management or contracts or I was literally like, oh, my gosh, she's pregnant. And she was just talking to me like a friend. And she's like, we're going to name the baby Collins. So I just was like, we should personalize a piece of jewelry for her. This was before I even make custom so because my only custom jewelry said the F word. So I won't say it.

21:15
Madison Riddell:
But, like, my mind, we banned Meg from swear words.

21:18
Meg DiVincenzo
I created a necklace that had hanging charms that said words to me. That was custom. But of course, I had to say the F word, right? And it didn't sell, of course, but I wore it. But so when Loverly Grey was pregnant, I was like, wonder if we could take the F word off and put on a name? So I asked my vendor to come up with the whole alphabet, and we put Collins on a necklace, and I sent it to her just to say congrats again, not knowing that maybe I should have gone through her manager. Maybe I should have. And she put it on. And that was the end of life as I knew it. Literally.

21:47
Molly Killeen:
It amazes me how I really believe, like, your empathy is such a huge positive.

21:53
Meg DiVincenzo
It was not a business because you.

21:54
Molly Killeen:
Were doing what out of the goodness of your heart.

21:56
Meg DiVincenzo
I thought were going to stalk the F word. I was like, literally but I already stalked.

22:01
Molly Killeen:
You were getting in Loverly's head. Like, what would she want while she was having this child? And you gifted her.

22:07
Meg DiVincenzo
And then to get back to how more influencers came around, know I always say, and I'll say it here, what draws a crowd. A crowd, right? So Loverly created almost like a crowd and a frenzy of this necklace, which meant all of her other influencer friends wanted to wear them too, right? Because you want the top selling product, obviously that's good for you. It's good for us, it's good for them. So they wanted necklaces, too. So it became like an insta famous product, right? Which is kind of scary because I'm always trying to be like, what's next? What's next? What's next? So we've obviously tweaked that product, but the influencer market is changing, as you know. So things are different. I still have really good relationships because, like I said, you're either in my life or you're not. So the ones that I have relationships with, whether we still work together business wise or not, they're still in my life.

22:59
Meg DiVincenzo
But things definitely are changing.

23:01
Madison Riddell:
I agree. I think that as far as influencer marketing goes, which is a huge channel for a lot of our clients, some of our clients manage it on their end like you do. Some of our clients have us manage it. It has changed a lot. It's still a valuable channel and tactic, hands down. Anytime you're working with a trusted source that already has a curated audience and they're recommending something, it's going to land better than a brand recommending their own product.

23:25
Meg DiVincenzo
Right.

23:26
Madison Riddell:
It's just more authentic and the content that they can create for your brand that can be used on other channels. The pros of influencer marketing are endless, but I do think the space is changing. It has certainly become more saturated, especially with channels like TikTok. Influencers are booming. They're really expensive. So I think that was another reason why, whether we realized it in the moment or not.

23:48
Meg DiVincenzo
I agree.

23:48
Madison Riddell:
You came to us was because it was like, what other channels are we going to scale alongside this moneymaker of influencers? In case it's not there, which is kind of a premise of our agency, don't put all your eggs in one basket. Find a way to scale the brand on multiple channels so you're never reliant on one area to drive your business. So, Molly, what other tactics are working for the Sis Kiss? What are we running aside from her influencer work?

24:11
Molly Killeen:
Yeah, absolutely. So for the Sis Kiss, it's really important for us to be hitting multiple channels and multiple different audiences to really capitalize on the customer base. So right now we're on Meta, so Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, which I absolutely love doing that for you guys because you have such compelling content that we're able to get really creative with testing different content to see what resonates with different audiences, which is always evolving and very fun. And then we are on Google Shopping and search, so we're able to really capitalize new customers that haven't heard of the Sis Kiss or that are searching just maybe for custom jewelry or chunky earrings or people that know you and already searching for you. So we're able to really hit multiple channels. And then once we get them in our funnel, we run numerous funnel. Funnel take a shot. We're able to nurture them through email or on site experiences.

25:04
Molly Killeen:
I think something that you do so well, Meg, is really mesh the kind of balance between these really cool in person events to your digital experiences. So we're able to capitalize on things that you do in person and then get your customers to engage with us digitally on Meta, TikTok, all that.

25:24
Meg DiVincenzo
Well, just touch on that real know, when were asked to do permanent jewelry at Camp Poosh, I was thinking that's. Fantastic. But I can't sell permanent jewelry online that limits my audience. So immediately my brain goes to, how do we create the same experience for people who cannot come into my warehouse or go to Camp Push sorry. To receive a permanent piece of jewelry. So I literally made it such a big deal to make sure that my customers who are online exactly. Could get the same experience.

25:51
Madison Riddell:
Exactly.

25:52
Meg DiVincenzo
How's that working, Moll?

25:54
Molly Killeen:
Oh, it's great, actually.

25:56
Meg DiVincenzo
How are sales, Molly?

25:58
Molly Killeen:
Sales are good.

25:59
Meg DiVincenzo
Sales are good.

26:00
Madison Riddell:
What's our top performing ad? Do you know? Offhand? Yeah.

26:03
Meg DiVincenzo
Loverly Grey.

26:04
Molly Killeen:
Loverly Grey is our top performing it's been performing well since I don't know, we launched that a while ago.

26:09
Madison Riddell:
Is that on Facebook and Instagram? On Meta?

26:11
Meg DiVincenzo
Yes.

26:11
Molly Killeen:
It's on meta. Wait, do we do TikTok not ads right now?

26:14
Meg DiVincenzo
Oh, she said TikTok. And I'm like, well, you guys do it organically.

26:17
Molly Killeen:
And we did TikTok ads.

26:20
Meg DiVincenzo
They were good. Maddie was my model.

26:22
Madison Riddell:
Yeah, I was.

26:22
Meg DiVincenzo
Come on back.

26:24
Molly Killeen:
But the content that works the best for The Sis Kiss is video content that works so well because it's interactive. You're able to really see how the jewelry layers what it really looks like up close. And see, you can really get in the mind of, like, okay, if I was wearing this, what would it look like on me? So it's really a cool opportunity to your team's amazing. Because we'll give them a laundry list of types of content that we want to make or that we need to collaborate on, and they'll just churn it out for us, and then we're able to push it across to the right audiences.

26:58
Meg DiVincenzo
No, they are right. They're amazing.

27:00
Molly Killeen:
And a lot of our campaigns focus on acquiring new customers, so we're really trying to find people that haven't heard of you. But also a big part, as you know, is nurturing your existing customer base to really increase your return in customer rate, which we've been able to do most recently to really create that brand loyal audience for you.

27:16
Meg DiVincenzo
Well, that's something else I've learned regarding the influencer and then having you guys help me understand is that sometimes if somebody purchases something because of an influencer, they're buying it because of the influencer. They're not buying it because of The Sis Kiss perspective. So it's like, if that partnership is one and done, that person more than likely is not just shopping The Sis Kiss on a regular basis.

27:36
Madison Riddell:
Exactly.

27:37
Meg DiVincenzo
They're just seeing what the influencer is posting on a regular basis. And I want all but I want people that are in our family, like, you're part of Sis Kiss because of the Sis Kiss. Thank you for bringing us the influencer, but we want to keep them.

27:49
Molly Killeen:
And we've had so many conversations around how can we leverage the amazing influencer work that you do? So it's great when there is a new influencer that posts that there's a sale, so there's a ton of traffic to the website, but then through our efforts, we're able to retarget them with future ads, or if they join our email list, which they will when they purchase, we're going to hit them multiple times in the future.

28:09
Meg DiVincenzo
So it's never a lose. I feel like if you're only doing one lane, then you're losing the retention.

28:14
Madison Riddell:
Exactly.

28:15
Meg DiVincenzo
Which is something that it's taken three years. I mean, I've fought these girls for years. Trust me, I'm like, I can't and then it's always like, okay, yeah, you're right. So it's not like I haven't put your feet to the fire.

28:28
Madison Riddell:
No.

28:29
Molly Killeen:
At first I was like intimidated by you for sure.

28:33
Meg DiVincenzo
That's what I tried. No, I'm just kidding.

28:36
Molly Killeen:
You succeeded.

28:37
Meg DiVincenzo
I probably just didn't know what you were talking about. And I'm like, what is this girl saying? I was saying all the acronyms and I was like, we need a new meeting with the chart.

28:46
Molly Killeen:
But then we figured out which is another huge proponent of our agency, like, how our clients work best with us.

28:52
Meg DiVincenzo
Which is, I'm sure something that is difficult for what you guys do so well is like, you probably treat me differently than as you would treat a different client.

29:01
Molly Killeen:
Yeah, it's all about how our client learns best.

29:03
Meg DiVincenzo
Yeah, exactly.

29:04
Molly Killeen:
And we try to jump into how we can help there.

29:08
Madison Riddell:
Yeah, I think it's also about what skills a brand or a client has in house and brings to the table. Because when we work with Sis Kiss, we know you guys know how to create content, you know how to stay on top of trends, you know how to manage influencers, you know how to create good events. Some of our clients have the off the list. So like any good relationship, whether it's a business relationship, a romantic relationship, you want to be around people who have different skills.

29:32
Meg DiVincenzo
Right? Of course.

29:33
Madison Riddell:
I think we complement each other nicely and it's taken a while to find that stride, but I think that's secret sauce. And I think that's true of your team too.

29:41
Meg DiVincenzo
Right.

29:42
Madison Riddell:
People that are really good at different things.

29:44
Meg DiVincenzo
Very good. And I always say I hire what I'm not good at.

29:46
Madison Riddell:
Right.

29:46
Meg DiVincenzo
There's no point of having two of me running around. I mean, first of all, that'd be crazy. Second of all, that's just so.

29:56
Madison Riddell:
Speaking of running around, meg also has her dog at the office and her two kids are always in and out. So she's really doing the whole business owner, but also managing her family too.

30:08
Meg DiVincenzo
Actually, one of my team members is actually getting my daughter off the bus because I'm here. I'm taking her back to HQ.

30:14
Madison Riddell:
So sweet.

30:15
Meg DiVincenzo
So I can hide here longer. Right?

30:16
Madison Riddell:
Right.

30:18
Meg DiVincenzo
Podcast stopped at 08:00 p.m.. I don't know what to tell you.

30:22
Madison Riddell:
Have you focused a lot on building that type of culture at the Sis Kiss?

30:27
Meg DiVincenzo
I don't know if I focused on it. It was just my natural life. No, I didn't focus on it at all. It was like, okay, where's the kids going to sit when they come after school? And then my builders were like, well, we'll build a TV room, and I have an ice rink in the back because both my kids play hockey. It makes sense because I don't need them up my ass when they're there. I need them doing what they would do at home. So it's so important to me now. My son doesn't even like to come anymore because he's 13 and he's got his friends. He wants to talk to her after school. And I understand that, but at least they know where mom is. It's a safe space. We're working really hard. My team treats them like they're their own, and their kids come in and out too, and that's what I want.

31:08
Madison Riddell:
So you created that culture.

31:09
Meg DiVincenzo
You just didn't I mean, nobody created babies. That would freak me out a little.

31:14
Madison Riddell:
Yeah.

31:14
Meg DiVincenzo
I'll be like, who's crying and why? Well, next stage. Okay, next. No, babies are welcome. Oh, my God. Don't cancel me.

31:23
Madison Riddell:
Meg loves babies.

31:24
Meg DiVincenzo
Babies are welcome.

31:25
Molly Killeen:
Put that on the record, please.

31:26
Madison Riddell:
So I want to circle back because we talked about the tactics that work. So kind of recapping influencer marketing has been huge for you. You have totally capitalized on that channel. Everything that you're doing on the brand building front relates to that. The good experiences you're creating, the in person events, the digital experiences. And we have a lot of really good tactics and channels like Facebook, Instagram that work really well for the brand and bringing in new customers. Do you guys have any tactics that either of you have tried for the Sis Kiss that don't work? That's a great question.

31:58
Meg DiVincenzo
The podcast is new. I don't know if that's a tactic, but it's definitely a new channel.

32:03
Molly Killeen:
Yeah, it's absolutely a new channel, but.

32:04
Meg DiVincenzo
I don't think it's like a brand.

32:06
Molly Killeen:
New relationship, and we haven't started pushing money towards it yet either. So we'll test that out in the future.

32:11
Meg DiVincenzo
Yeah, so I think we don't know if it works or not, but it's definitely brand new.

32:14
Molly Killeen:
At the first start of our relationship, just because the space is so competitive. Non brand search was really hard to hit a stride in because there are so many other jewelry brands. So we've also seen most recently people bidding on The Sis Kiss name on Search as well because they're getting so much more popular, which rises our prices.

32:37
Meg DiVincenzo
Good or bad? It's both good and bad.

32:40
Madison Riddell:
Exactly.

32:41
Molly Killeen:
It's a good thing because brand awareness. But it's not good for our campaigns.

32:44
Meg DiVincenzo
Because it's more expensive for my own words.

32:47
Madison Riddell:
Yeah, exactly.

32:48
Molly Killeen:
So I would say what doesn't work as much was early on non brand search. And then of course, there's some ad creative that just like static. Ad creative really doesn't do the Sis Kiss justice.

33:04
Meg DiVincenzo
I always say that's. Good. Now we know what exactly.

33:07
Molly Killeen:
We tested it out and we stopped running.

33:10
Meg DiVincenzo
Fine with that. Yeah, but I also do like, she's taught me how things do have to run. It's chorus before you can just yank things, which makes a lot of sense to me. See, I listen, I know.

33:19
Madison Riddell:
Pro tip, don't yank Facebook campaigns that are still in the learning phase.

33:23
Meg DiVincenzo
Pro tip.

33:25
Madison Riddell:
Perfect. Okay, we're going to switch gears a little bit because this is Meg's episode, okay? And Meg is the most fun client. We love all of our clients, but Meg is a very fun I heard it.

33:36
Meg DiVincenzo
She said I'm her favorite. I heard it.

33:39
Molly Killeen:
I did say it.

33:40
Madison Riddell:
Tell us, Meg, tell us the role that your medium plays in your marketing strategy going there.

33:47
Meg DiVincenzo
I love that about you. My medium is everything. I do not do an opportunity without my medium. She's probably my first business meeting. I have, like, before I even involve my team. I know that sounds ridiculous. I don't care. She plays a huge role. She is so tuned into me that she called me in Italy. I hope I can tell the story, because I am. She called me in Italy. I was vacationing with my family in June, and she said, do you have a minute? I have a message for you. So I said, yeah, you don't miss that call. So I literally went off to the side in Venice, and I called her, and she's like, I just needed to let you know that you're going to be going to La. In July, and I see, like, an older blonde celebrity that you're going to be working with.

34:30
Meg DiVincenzo
And I was like, okay, whatever. I have no plans to go to La. I'm in Italy. But thanks, Mary Ann. Knowing whatever it was true because I've worked with her for so long, literally. Two weeks later, we got a call. We're going to Kathy Hilton's house to do our charm bar. We had just launched our charm bar, and she wanted an activation at her house party. I didn't even consider what Marianne said, but the next thing I know, in July 24, I'm standing in Kathy Hilton's backyard thinking, wow, here we are, ange. And so things like that have always proven to me. We went to Kathy Hilton's Christmas party, and she said, yes. It's an amazing opportunity. Not because of that, because you're going to meet somebody there that's going to take you to another trip in the spring. Literally. We met the person who set us up with camp poosh.

35:15
Meg DiVincenzo
We met the editor in chief of campus.

35:19
Madison Riddell:
I know that's how it sat down.

35:20
Meg DiVincenzo
At our Kathy Hilton activation at her Christmas party. And she was like, we want the Sis Kiss for Camp Poosh because they're doing a forever theme. Because Kourtney and Travis are doing a forever ever after. Wait, ever after? Forever. Show something, anyway they're together forever anyway.

35:40
Molly Killeen:
Forever and ever after.

35:42
Madison Riddell:
Thank you on Hulu.

35:43
Meg DiVincenzo
And they wanted something that they wanted us, because we did permanent jewelry. Witches Forever. And she was the one that pushed it, and she's like, I saw all my Kathy Hilton's. We know they're professional. We know they look good. They know what they're doing. I don't have to worry about them. We want them. Come on.

35:59
Madison Riddell:
And I bring it up. Not because it's silly. Well, one, the medium always says she loves joke.

36:06
Meg DiVincenzo
Is that what I was supposed to say?

36:08
Madison Riddell:
It just came to me.

36:09
Meg DiVincenzo
But she does get confused sometimes.

36:11
Madison Riddell:
We always joke that she's on our payroll. Like, oh, yeah, we're slipping Marianne's dollars to make sure we stay a client.

36:16
Meg DiVincenzo
I will tell you another story off air that has to do with you, and I wrote it down.

36:22
Madison Riddell:
You'll have to tell us.

36:23
Meg DiVincenzo
Yeah, off air.

36:24
Madison Riddell:
Oh, boy.

36:25
Meg DiVincenzo
But it did have to do with if you want to play with the big dogs, you need to be with the big players. Which was you.

36:30
Madison Riddell:
Yeah. I think that don't cheapen your marketing.

36:34
Meg DiVincenzo
You got to keep rolling if you want to keep growing.

36:37
Madison Riddell:
Almost dovetails into exactly where I was going, which is that it's kind of a story or anecdote around this balance of a lot of what you've done, the influencer stuff, what you've built with the brand working with us. All the tactics and channels are really strategic and intentional, but I think you have this other side to you and your brand that is not totally intentional.

36:58
Meg DiVincenzo
I'm going to leave it up to the universe.

37:00
Madison Riddell:
I'm going to be open to what comes to me, and I'm not going to get so hyper focused on every single campaign, every single KPI, every metric, every dollar spent tracking it down to the nth degree. She's mouthing to me. What is KPI?

37:13
Meg DiVincenzo
I have no idea. That's a new one.

37:14
Madison Riddell:
Exactly. I just think that it's a good example because a lot of brands can get bogged down in the details, and they can't.

37:23
Meg DiVincenzo
I see the forests.

37:24
Madison Riddell:
Yeah.

37:24
Meg DiVincenzo
I don't see the trees. I've never have. Which is why I think I was a good criminal defense attorney. It wasn't about, he turned left on. It was like, no, it's more than that. This is what he has going on in his life. This is what she needs to get help. This is like, let's see the big picture here. Let's not focus on what they did.

37:42
Madison Riddell:
I think big picture thinking is the number one role. A CEO, a visionary, a founder, whoever's in that seat needs to play. They need to beat the vision of the company. And then you should have people like you do around you that are good at pulling the levers or being in the weeds in the trenches. Because without the ability to step back and think bigger on, I have to spend money to make money, or I have to test new tactics that maybe don't feel like a good idea to me. But are data proven? You have done that, and I think that's a reason why you're succeeding. To be honest, I think that's a big mistake that other brands make. They get too bogged down in the details. They're not willing to take risks. They say, this campaign or this strategy isn't working. One month after launch, pivot now pull the plug, right.

38:23
Madison Riddell:
And it's one way to operate. It's very risk averse, and we all know that the people who take risks win big. So I think that's working for you.

38:30
Meg DiVincenzo
Well, and also, I trust you guys tremendously. If I call you in a tizzy and you talk me down and you're like, this is what we're going to do. This is the plan, I believe that. I believe you. I believe your team. I trust you guys 100%. I don't think you're steering me wrong. I don't think you're spending my money to spend my money.

38:46
Madison Riddell:
Right.

38:47
Meg DiVincenzo
I think you're in it to win with me. That's what I love about our relationship. I mean, sometimes I feel like, are you guys on my payroll or am I on your payroll? Because that's the relationship it is. And I think that's what sets you guys apart. Even though this is supposed to be about me.

39:02
Madison Riddell:
This is about you.

39:02
Meg DiVincenzo
Okay. We'll go back to me now.

39:05
Madison Riddell:
So let's go back to you.

39:07
Meg DiVincenzo
Okay.

39:08
Madison Riddell:
What is the number one mistake you have made? I know you'll give us a good answer.

39:15
Meg DiVincenzo
I don't see any as a mistake. OOH. I just don't.

39:19
Madison Riddell:
Good answer.

39:20
Meg DiVincenzo
I've done many things that did not prove I'm thinking of one right now. We did many trips this year. One of them was expensive, didn't pan out. What are you going to do? What are you going to do? We're not going to do it again. And I feel like I sent all the assets to the vivid team that said, doesn't matter if it was good or bad, you're going to make it look good. And we did. And number wise, it wasn't a great idea. But the people that we met, you never know. It's just nothing to me is a lose. Have we done things that we spent more on, that we brought in? But again, if we wouldn't be sitting in kathy hilton's house, we wouldn't have met the push editor in chief. And things aren't always apples to apples, right? So I don't know.

40:02
Meg DiVincenzo
My biggest I always try to say, like, I was definitely breathing easier when I was in my 900 square foot office. I think I even said this to you at lunch the other day. I know I was a little happier because I felt less stressed. My medium was like, you'd made no mistake with the warehouse. She said, this is a vehicle to get somewhere bigger. So I just have to figure out what that vehicle, where it's going? And I've been writing out my roadmap, and I don't know. So then I don't think I've made any mistakes. I certainly married the right person. I definitely left law. That was the right move. I had one kid and decided years later to have another. So far, that hasn't been a mistake.

40:42
Madison Riddell:
They're the best.

40:43
Meg DiVincenzo
Yeah. So it's like I just feel like everything is all for a good reason.

40:47
Madison Riddell:
So what's the vision, then? What's the vision for the next 510 years?

40:51
Meg DiVincenzo
I mean, shit, I want it all. That's the problem. I want it all. I want it all. I want to help everybody. My biggest thing is I was a lawyer. I was stuck. I was so miserable, I didn't know how to get out. But because I was a lawyer, I thought I was a lawyer. Like, you went to law school, you got your degree, you're a lawyer. What are you talking about? That's the way people talk to me. Like, what do you mean you're leaving? And I want people to know it's okay. And I stepped into this industry not knowing anything, and I'm still just walking, and that's okay. You don't need to see the path to just start it. So I don't know where I'm going, but I know it's somewhere better and bigger and to help people, because that means a lot to me.

41:35
Meg DiVincenzo
I get so many DMs, not about my jewelry, but about, like, oh, my God, I loved what you said the other day, and now I feel like I can quit my job or I was miserable, and I listened to you, and now I feel stronger about maybe taking a different path. And I'm not here to make people quit their jobs, but I don't know. I mean, there's something to be said about pivoting and making sure your mental health is in check and not doing everything the way you think it has to be done. I didn't have kids until I was later in life. I didn't follow the rules of get married, have a kid two years later, or just because I'm a lawyer. I need to be there forever, so I don't know. I know I want to do it all, though. I do. I want to take off in my jet with my kids and my dog and go wherever the hell we want.

42:16
Meg DiVincenzo
And again, you and I spoke on my podcast about money and how it's a sticky issue.

42:21
Madison Riddell:
Oh, yeah, you got to go listen to that episode too.

42:23
Meg DiVincenzo
Yeah, it is a sticky issue because I do want a private jet. Does that mean I'm vain? Maybe. But I also know I want to travel with my family in style and work my ass off while I'm sitting on the jet. There ain't nothing wrong with that. And maybe the more I make, the more I give back. That's my thought process. How can you I have a quote written in my office that said, somebody who says that money doesn't matter hasn't given enough of it away.

42:48
Madison Riddell:
Wow, I love that.

42:50
Meg DiVincenzo
So I wrote it down and I put it on my desk because it's not about vanity, it's not about things, it's not about possessions. It's called freedom and making choices that it gives you more of an ability to be like, okay, let's try this, because we're able to.

43:03
Madison Riddell:
And creating a space where people can work and you can give them that livelihood is a huge part of what you've always talked to me about too.

43:09
Meg DiVincenzo
Yeah, I mean, I stress more about making sure my team is taken care of more than anything else that the Sis Kiss does. I know they all deserve so much more than they have. Probably you want to give them all the world. You want to provide them to be there for a family. Like you have kids. You want them to take their time off and come back and maybe bring their kids and get the kind of salary that they can make freedom decisions on their own. So that's where I want to be.

43:35
Madison Riddell:
Yes, you are in your way, and I think there's a lot of lessons in what you just said and everything that you said on this episode for a lot of different types of people. I think to other CEOs that are running companies to understand that sometimes you have to take risks and let go and try unconventional things and trust other people. I think to managers or people who lead that whether you intentionally did it or not, you've invested in a culture that has allowed you to grow. You've created an environment that your employees and customers want to be a part of. You've made their lives easier. You've prioritized giving them something to hustle for. So that's your advice to managers. And for people that are trying to grow, they have a passion, whether they're in a similar industry to you or to us or other fields where they want something big for themselves, they want to challenge themselves.

44:17
Madison Riddell:
I think you serve as an inspiration to them too, to, again, take those risks and try something that is made in your basement with your sister if that's what your heart wants to do.

44:26
Meg DiVincenzo
Yeah, exactly. And trust that if it makes you happy and you just keep going, it falls into place.

44:32
Madison Riddell:
Agreed.

44:33
Meg DiVincenzo
Because I don't know what else you can do other than doing something that makes you happy.

44:37
Madison Riddell:
Agreed. Okay, couple roundup items. I want to know if there's any Sis Kiss secrets because you've been on a lot of podcasts, so what's something you're going to tell us that listeners aren't going to find on another podcast?

44:52
Meg DiVincenzo
I am an open book and I'm crazy. Like, people know I just came from my energy doctor. I speak to my medium almost weekly. I go to a holistic doctor. I take like 37 pills a day. Is that a secret? Not to me, no. I don't think I have any secrets. The only secret I think I would say is I feel like I come off as this very, like okay, my neighbor came in yesterday. Sweetest person ever. I love her to death, her secret.

45:18
Madison Riddell:
Because she hasn't had time to tell anyone else because it was yesterday.

45:20
Meg DiVincenzo
Yeah, well, she came in yesterday, and she was like somebody was like, oh, my God, you know the Sis Kiss. And she's like, guess she's my neighbor. And they're like something about her being a badass. She's like she's not like that. She's soft. She's gentle. She has kids. She takes care of them. She actually gets them off the bus. I think there's a persona that I'm this like I am a workaholic. Yes. But I do think you can make it all work together. And I did create that in my family life. And I think that could be a kind of secret that I'm a lot softer than people think. I'm very loyal. I would do anything to not let somebody go. There's a lot you could do before I would ever want to let you go. And I feel like I come off more as a hard ass.

46:00
Meg DiVincenzo
Yeah, I think that's I'm pretty soft.

46:02
Madison Riddell:
I agree. Getting to know you. I think the more and more I've gotten to know you over the years, the more I see your heart and you're willing to share it.

46:08
Meg DiVincenzo
But I like some rap music, y'all.

46:10
Madison Riddell:
Yeah.

46:11
Meg DiVincenzo
She's trying to find me. Are you sitting in my car crying.

46:14
Madison Riddell:
When you guys watch these video snippets? She's got a couple of chains on.

46:17
Meg DiVincenzo
She's tough.

46:18
Madison Riddell:
I know. Molly has a Sis Kiss secret.

46:20
Meg DiVincenzo
Oh, God.

46:21
Madison Riddell:
There's a new project we're working on that's launching this summer. Can we talk about it?

46:27
Meg DiVincenzo
Is it about the funnel?

46:29
Molly Killeen:
Well, it'll help.

46:31
Meg DiVincenzo
Oh, that's right. It'll help the funnel.

46:33
Madison Riddell:
I don't know about this.

46:34
Meg DiVincenzo
I have so many things in my head. Who knows which one you're talking about?

46:37
Molly Killeen:
We are redesigning and developing Sis Kiss website.

46:41
Meg DiVincenzo
Yeah.

46:42
Molly Killeen:
New website coming this summer. It's going to be an awesome seamless, really fast loading, clean user experience, of course, with a touch of Fiska's branding all over the site. We'll have some really cool stickers animations, gorgeous assets. The navigation bar will be fully up to date.

47:03
Meg DiVincenzo
And I feel like this is something where we kind of had to do a little dance.

47:06
Madison Riddell:
Yeah, I want Molly to talk about that. Why did we tell her to do a new website?

47:12
Molly Killeen:
Well, when we first started working with you, we noticed that your conversion rate was really low.

47:17
Meg DiVincenzo
Thanks, Molly.

47:18
Madison Riddell:
Conversion rate low.

47:19
Meg DiVincenzo
Being do you want to tell my.

47:20
Madison Riddell:
Smell Too below 1%?

47:23
Molly Killeen:
Yeah.

47:24
Meg DiVincenzo
Thanks, Maddie.

47:26
Molly Killeen:
To scale her ecommerce business, we really needed to increase her conversion rate to obviously get more sales in the door. And a key part of that is your website experience. Right. We always talk about how you want to create these really amazing experiences for your customers. And your website hadn't been fully revamped.

47:43
Meg DiVincenzo
It was band aided.

47:44
Molly Killeen:
Exactly. So we really wanted to start fresh and create a really seamless experience so it would make it really easy for customers that are hearing about you from ads or influencers or in real life. So we wanted people to come to the site and have a really seamless experience that really represented who you were as a brand.

48:01
Meg DiVincenzo
Well, let me say Maddie took me to lunch, which is always a problem. When Maddie calls me and she's like, we're going to lunch tomorrow, I'm like, oh, God, I'm in trouble with mom. So she said to me, and this is what sold me on it, she said, you spent all this time and money on your warehouse because you want your community to come in and have this amazing experience, which I do every day when I go to the warehouse, I'm like, hello, gorgeous. Today is going to be a great day. We're going to bring so much good energy. She's like, why would you want something different for your ecommerce clients? So they're going to your HQ online and it's like a piece.

48:31
Madison Riddell:
Exactly.

48:31
Meg DiVincenzo
And I was like, holy crap. I never thought of it like that. I'm creating a terrible experience for most of my customers.

48:37
Molly Killeen:
And we have all these other awesome campaigns in place that we're pushing money to.

48:41
Meg DiVincenzo
Right?

48:42
Molly Killeen:
And we're pushing people to the website. So to really capitalize on your investment, you need to have a good website experience as well.

48:47
Meg DiVincenzo
Well, and again, this is about taking risks. It's not a cheap thing.

48:50
Madison Riddell:
No, it's not.

48:50
Molly Killeen:
But you're investing in yourself and your we talked we've been talking about this.

48:56
Meg DiVincenzo
For a couple of years. But my medium finally said yes last year.

49:02
Molly Killeen:
She said no. When she said yes, finally, I was like, yep, okay.

49:06
Meg DiVincenzo
Okay. Megan's going to do it. It's like, you know when I'm going.

49:09
Molly Killeen:
To so also down the line, there will be a really unique charm bar experience and custom jewelry experience to really capitalize on your unique value proposition.

49:21
Meg DiVincenzo
No. And you guys are amazing. This website has been so seamless for me. And it's something that I would put off because it's so not in my wheelhouse, but yet they're very organized. The girl that runs my website, like correspondence, Hannah. Oh, my God.

49:37
Molly Killeen:
I know. She's the best.

49:38
Meg DiVincenzo
Going to steal her.

49:38
Molly Killeen:
I know.

49:39
Meg DiVincenzo
She could organize my life.

49:41
Madison Riddell:
Yeah. I mean, holy moly, she's awesome.

49:44
Meg DiVincenzo
I can't even throw her off. I've tried.

49:47
Madison Riddell:
She'll be excited to hear it. Yeah, she's doing amazing quick math on that. The reason in the argument around the website was because stretching your dollar that much farther if we use an example. So if you send 50,000 people to your site, which is typical for you when you do an influencer drop, when you. Have a big sale.

50:04
Meg DiVincenzo
Is that like a day, a week? What is it? Give the listeners, okay, one day. 50,000 people in one day. Okay?

50:10
Madison Riddell:
If you have a 0.5 conversion rate, that means that 250 of those people are going to become customers.

50:18
Meg DiVincenzo
Okay?

50:18
Madison Riddell:
And let's say that your average order value on your jewelry products is $50 an order, that's $12,500 out of those 50,000 people that came to the site. If the same 50,000 people come, it's the same day, it's the same sale, but instead of a zero five conversion rate, it's a 2% conversion rate you're going to get instead of 250 orders, 1000 orders, and at that same AOV of $50, that's $50,000. So the difference of 0.5% to 2% on your revenue for a single day sale to be $12,500 versus 50K is a huge leap. So when we think about those contextual examples, conversion rate really touches every single channel. And in addition to some of the things that Molly mentioned, like better aesthetics, stickers, fun things for the brand element that you love, there's also functional design choices, like better filtering, a better navigation so people can find what they're looking for, better payment methods, so it's easier for people to check out on mobile.

51:17
Meg DiVincenzo
My husband always says, if it's difficult, they will not they'll bounce.

51:20
Molly Killeen:
And that's why you look at other metrics like bounce rate as well, to see where people are dropping off.

51:24
Meg DiVincenzo
That's another conversation he made the easiest. He's like, Megan, I'm going to give you a little story. I went to a gas station. I pulled up to the pump. The pump asked me 4000 questions before it let me put my card in. He said, I got back in my car. I went across the street to the next gas station. That pump asked me zero questions. I bought my gas. He's like, So if you send somebody to your website and they feel as though there's 40,000 things to do before the checkout, they will not check out.

51:48
Molly Killeen:
This new website is really going to mitigate all the friction.

51:50
Meg DiVincenzo
So since we're launching our website in July, end of June, then I should have my jet by December. That's perfect for my next veil trip. And if you'd like to come, that's fine.

52:00
Madison Riddell:
Okay, great. Is it on you? You're taking us on the jet?

52:03
Meg DiVincenzo
No, it's on you because you're doing the website. Yeah, I got it.

52:08
Madison Riddell:
Okay, perfect.

52:09
Meg DiVincenzo
Great. Well, on that note, no red wine in the jet.

52:12
Madison Riddell:
No red wine, just we have white. What color are the seats?

52:14
Meg DiVincenzo
White. The white stitching.

52:18
Madison Riddell:
Okay. There we go.

52:19
Meg DiVincenzo
Okay.

52:20
Molly Killeen:
And oysters.

52:20
Meg DiVincenzo
I mean, your guy already spilled our drink here. I'm a little nervous. You can come too. It's okay.

52:26
Madison Riddell:
Our podcast producer Connor had a little La Croix spill. Shout out to Connor. He's the one that makes all these awesome episodes and our cool animations on our VividFront Socials.

52:36
Meg DiVincenzo
Oh, okay.

52:39
Madison Riddell:
I think we jam packed a ton of awesome value into this episode. I hope that everybody liked listening to our first guest Megan on the podcast. I want to close with a little rapid fire for Meg.

52:51
Meg DiVincenzo
I love that.

52:51
Madison Riddell:
Ready?

52:51
Meg DiVincenzo
I'm ready. I'm always ready.

52:53
Madison Riddell:
Ready?

52:53
Meg DiVincenzo
Yes.

52:54
Madison Riddell:
Beach or city?

52:57
Meg DiVincenzo
City. 100%.

53:01
Madison Riddell:
Text or call?

53:03
Meg DiVincenzo
100% text.

53:04
Madison Riddell:
Wine or cocktail?

53:05
Meg DiVincenzo
Wine.

53:06
Madison Riddell:
Favorite podcast?

53:07
Meg DiVincenzo
The Skinny Confidential.

53:09
Madison Riddell:
Favorite VividFront employee.

53:12
Meg DiVincenzo
Uh uh.

53:13
Madison Riddell:
Favorite jewelry item?

53:17
Meg DiVincenzo
Our hoops. Hoops. Our basic hoops. I'm wearing fun facts, so me. Hoops. Fun fact is that hoops will elevate any homely outfit.

53:26
Madison Riddell:
I agree. Totally agree with that.

53:28
Meg DiVincenzo
Is that my fun fact?

53:29
Madison Riddell:
That's a perfect fun fact. That's the best fun fact. I totally agree. Okay, Meg, that's a wrap. Why don't you close us out with where people can find the Sis Kiss, where they can find you and how they can get more involved with your brand.

53:39
Meg DiVincenzo
Yeah.

53:39
Madison Riddell:
Okay.

53:40
Meg DiVincenzo
So obviously we're thesiskiss.com, but join us in June when it's going to be a better experience. And we're The Sis Kiss on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and also our HQ is shoppable. And you can meet my dog and we serve champagne any time of the day. And we're in Westlake, so please stop. Also, I also launched a podcast. Wildly unprofessional. So if you are a little bit on the edgier side, come take a listen and I have some really fun guests. And my medium is a guest. Madison here has been a guest.

54:12
Madison Riddell:
Your medium is a guest.

54:13
Meg DiVincenzo
My medium was a guest. And is a very good episode.

54:16
Madison Riddell:
Okay, I can't did we I think.

54:19
Meg DiVincenzo
We blew her up more than anybody on this episode. Yeah. Go, Mary.

54:23
Madison Riddell:
Tell too many people about no. I won’t be able to get an appointment.

54:25
Meg DiVincenzo
No. You can't filter too many energies through her. No, but thank you so much. I'm honored that I was your first guest.

54:31
Madison Riddell:
We're honored that you were.

54:32
Meg DiVincenzo
I hope I can come back. I want to come back after the website's done and let you guys know how it's doing.

54:38
Madison Riddell:
Let's do it. We'll let the data I have a.

54:39
Meg DiVincenzo
Feeling you guys already know how it's doing.

54:41
Madison Riddell:
Stay tuned, guys. Data on the website to come give us 90 days after launch so we have statistically significant data.

54:48
Meg DiVincenzo
Fine.

54:48
Madison Riddell:
See you in the fall, July 1.

54:50
Molly Killeen:
Thank you.