12. Build a Cult-ish Product Brand w/ Kerrie Fritzgerald
Kerrie Fitzgerald is the founder of Kerrie Fitzgerald LLC - an eCommerce and product business consulting & educational agency, and host of the top 100 marketing podcasts- The 6 Figure Product Business Podcast. As a digital marketing expert, Kerrie helps eCommerce businesses create “wildly in demand” brands that their customers are obsessed with. Her unique framework stems from organic marketing that brings in consistent sales and traffic without focusing a dime on ads.
After starting her first high-end pet eCommerce business, The Dapper Dog Box in 2016, she grew the business to multi 6 figures of revenue in two years without funding, staff, or support and successfully sold the business in 2019. During that time, she was featured in Buzzfeed, Forbes, and Mariah Carey’s Christmas gift guide wish list. She is a proud boy & dog mom, a hot sauce and coffee lover, and an east coast transplant living in Seattle.
Things you won’t want to miss from our chat
What is a cult-ish product?
Why creating an awesome experience is important in your eCommerce business
Why cultivating obsession with your customers is Kerrie’s favorite marketing strategy
The energy of in-person events and meeting internet friends in-person
How you can hang out with us at the Ultimate Product Party in May!
Hello and welcome to Product Packaging and Profit, where we help product-based businesses turn packaging design into a competitive edge to attract customers, grow sales, and boost profits.
I'm Kelley Kempel, After 20 years of designing packaging for national retailers, I founded Hidden Path Creative, a graphic design studio that supports entrepreneurs with branding and packaging to get their products seen and sold. I'm sharing the secrets that launched big brands so your products can stand out. Let's get started.
Intro
I'm sharing the secrets that launched big brands so your products can stand out. Let's get started. today I am so excited to be chatting with Kerrie Fitzgerald. She is a multi-passionate e-commerce coach and she has fast become a great internet friend who I'm so excited to meet in person in May. We talked all about that in this episode.
Carrie is a product business coach, educator, and host of the Six Figure product business podcast. As a digital marketing expert, Carrie helps e-commerce businesses create wildly in-demand brands that their customers are obsessed with. Her unique framework stems from organic marketing that brings in consistent sales and traffic.
Without focusing a dime on ads.
Listen to the end to get a special offer when you purchase a ticket to the ultimate product party. Now, let's get started.
All right, Kerrie, thank you so much for joining me for Product Packaging and Profit today. I am so excited to have you here.
Episode Transcript
Kerrie: Yay. Me too. Thank you for having me.
Kelley: Of course, of course. To get started, do you wanna tell me and the listeners, a little bit about yourself and your business?
Kerrie: Yeah, sure. So my name is Kerrie Fitzgerald.
I am an e-commerce and product base coach, educator mentor, and multi-passionate. I don't know the person. I definitely dabble in a lot of things. my business, I do courses. I have a membership program, I do coaching programs. All cater to help people like you, uh, grow brands that your customers are obsessed with, and to get more traffic and visibility to your business.
That's kind of my business in a quick little nutshell.
Kelley: I think that's a good nutshell. I, I like that you called yourself multi-passionate. Cause I do feel like you are launching. A, a course or a challenge or something like every other week. And I always find it super interesting to watch your Instagram stories
Kerrie: and see that, I am sometimes a little overboard and I'm like, I need to stop having so many things all the time. I just, I went through a phase of my business. last year-ish, uh, where I really focused on only selling one thing for the whole year. And I was really, really bored. And so once I got out of a mastermind program where we were sort of like, okay, this is the structure.
You have to only focus on one thing, uh, that ended for me in June. And ever since then, I've kind of been like a wild person, and just like, I'm gonna launch everything and do. I was like released back into the wild. No, I'm just kidding. and I feel like I, it was just a mastermind where like the focus was focus on one offer and like scale that, and it just didn't quite work for me
So I think I felt very repressed after that year and I was like, I just wanna do a lot of fun things cuz I'm someone who is multi-passionate and. I like to just do things that feel very intuitively like aligned for me, and unfortunately, that's a lot of things.
Kelley: like I said, I, I think it's pretty great and I do think that's one of the benefits of being an entrepreneur, right? Like, if you have an idea, you can go after it.
Kerrie: you can make it happen. Absolutely.
Kelley: So before we get into more of your offers and, and what you have going on, you used to have an e-commerce business before you became an educator, mentor coach. What inspired you to pivot from running your own e-commerce business to becoming that mentor coached
Kerrie: educator? Yeah, so I had a business called the Dapper Dog Box for three years, and I decided to sell it. So I sold it in 2019 and I was like, Woohoo, I can have balance in my life. Uh, no, I'm just kidding. But not really kidding. , I spent my whole life shipping packages and living at the post office and just working, you know, 24/ 7.
So yeah, when I sold my business, I sort of had this feeling as I could already see a vision of myself helping people start their businesses. Because, you know, when you have a product-based business and you don't have a coach, a mentor, a course, , you have to figure out 500 million things and it's like every single thing is like another hurdle where you're like, oh my God.
okay, I have my products now, but now what packaging do I do? Yes. Do I do a corrugated mailer or do I do a poly mailer? Do I do a sticker? What the hell do I do? There are 500 options and you go down the rabbit hole of watching YouTube videos, Googling things, piecing things together, and making mistakes, cuz you don't really know which is the right option for you.
and that's sort of like starting a product-based business. They’re like, Decisions and things that you don't know how to do. And I kind of was like, I wanna help people cut through all that crap and just help them launch a business quickly and not waste money as I did. Wasting money on like, you know, paying a website designer who I spent $2,000 and all he did was like, put some colors on a page.
It was awful. so I kind of knew I wanted to do that. I took a bit of time off after I sold my business. I was actually trying to get a corporate job because I thought like I had just had a baby when I first started my business and I, you know, worked a lot and I was like, I feel like I need balance in my life.
And so I was trying to get a corporate job, but it didn't work out. And then I was like, I'm gonna, I'm gonna create a course. And so I created a subscription box course that taught people how to start and launch a subscription box business. And that was kind of the start of my current business. Now, I like started a personal blog and I was like, I wanna write about all the things I learned.
Like I grew my Instagram account to like 42,000 followers and I was like, I wanna teach people what I did and like I had a really successful affiliate program. So I kind of started those things and then I officially launched my business three years ago. So, Kind of a long-winded answer, but selling my business was like the catalyst to what I'm doing now, which was the best decision I could have ever made for my business and myself, and my mental health.
Kelley: Yes, yes. And I'm kind of glad you didn't wind up in corporate. I pivoted from corporate to this and I don't know, I think it's always the grass is greener, right? Like that. There's balance over there. Balance over there. But we kind of have to make it, cause I don't know, corporate sometimes doesn't provide that.
Kerrie: Balance? No. And I like, and I came from that background too, you know? Yeah. I, I worked in international education and I worked in marketing and sales for, 10 years more than that actually. so like I knew that kind of lifestyle, but I think when you go from having your own business and like there is no nine to five.
No, there's like, Crack dawn till midnight or however many hours you can work in a day, and like there's no one to tell you, Hey. Kelly, go home, you know? Right. Shut your laptop. It's 5:00 PM like that whole oh 5:00 PM my laptop closes. I still don't do that. I still struggle with balance every single day, you know?
but yeah, I'm glad I didn't get the job either. And in hindsight, I was like, why is everyone rejecting me? I think it was just like, I was not meant to do. The universe had better plans for me, and I can see that now. But that was not very fun though. Like, who? No one wants to get rejected by all these companies.
No, that's very true. All good. Very true.
Kelley: Well, so transitioning a little bit, you did just launch a new program, it's a mastermind, right? Called the Cultish product.
Kerrie: Yeah, it's a group coaching program. I, I did call it a mastermind, but then I removed the word Mastermind and just called it group coaching because I was like, I feel like Mastermind evokes a certain like type of program. But, yes. I just launched it. and I have seven people in and we have our first call tomorrow. So I'm very excited. But thank you for asking.
Kelley: That is so exciting. So I wanted to ask you a little bit about why you've named it the cultish product. Cause I feel like you've been talking about customer obsession and cultish products and cultish brands in your stories a little bit.
And I'd love to hear more of your perspective on like what is a cultish product to.
Kerrie: Yeah. Thank you so much for asking. I love this topic and this is something that I've kind of dove into recently. Kind of headfirst. I spent the last two year, two and a half years talking about like how to get organic traffic for your e-commerce business pretty much exclusively.
And I was like, I'm so bored. I'm bored of talking about traffic. I'm bored while I love traffic and all that. It just felt boring. and anyway, I'm writing, actually writing a business book. So again, speaking of like multi-passionate, I'm doing a lot of things and my business book is. It's gonna be called customer obsession.
And the reason I'm doing all these things is that when I grew my product-based business from nothing to thousands of customers, like five-star reviews, and almost half a million in sales in two and a half years without using ads. Staff without support, without a frigging team. I did everything on my own and I was really reflecting back last year.
I'm like, what did I do that group my business? And one of the things I did was leveraged, my customers. I got my customers to like to feel involved with my brand. , I got my customers to like, and I leveraged my customers to like to sell for me. I kind of like took my customers and made them like brand evangelists.
It kind of sounds cheesy, but it's true. and I think this is something that is not really talked about enough when it comes to the e-commerce space. I think we all. Like we all see people on YouTube like, oh, buy my course and I'll teach you how to run funnels and Facebook ads and ClickFunnels, and you can make a million bucks in your sleep, in your underwear in five minutes if you buy my course.
Like we kind of hear all this garbage. Yes. and we get, we get sold like, oh, just do ads, do Facebook ads. If you're not doing Facebook ads for your product-based business, you're gonna be a failure. And like, oh, if you're not if you don't buy my Instagram reels course for $2,000, like you're not gonna do it.
Like I feel like we get, like, not we, cuz I don't actually have a product-based business, but I see everything. Mm-hmm. Hmm. , I think a lot of these people are always pushing, like Instagram, Facebook ads, that kind of things. And if we don't do those, we're not gonna grow our business. But actually, if you just treat your customers well, if you use your CU not use if you get your customers to refer friends and family, if you create an awesome experience for them through packaging inserts and email automation. These are all actually very easy things to do and implement. And you don't have to do ads. You don't have to spend all day on social media and you can still grow your business and make money. And I just felt very aligned with this the past year and when I started writing my business book.
The more I've gotten into my book, I'm like, okay, I need to talk more about the things I'm writing about because it's not talked about enough. It's not. Promoted enough. And these are things that people can do for free for their businesses to grow. You don't have to do and like not only free sort of, but it doesn't, these things that I'm teaching, you don't have to spend all day on Instagram.
You don't have to spend all day on TikTok. And I think that's very important with like the effects of social media on our mental health and like, the amount of time we spend scrolling and being like, oh my God, Susan's brand. Like she's killing it. My brand stinks. Like there are so many things. So that sort of, I feel like I'm rambling right now, but that's sort of why I decided that I wanted to start talking about this stuff more.
I think it's really important that people understand. that when you take care of your customers, they'll come back to you. When you take care of your customers, they refer friends and family. They post about you on social media and all those things are getting your brand visibility. They're getting people to talk about you.
And if you notice here, none of those things really require much work from you. Like there are certain things you set up. upfront, and then that stuff kind of runs automatically for you. So you're not having to like spend all day on Instagram or TikTok and you still get sales coming in. So that's sort of the framework for the course.
And I know you asked me what I think is a kddi product, I think a KDDI product or a KD. Brand is something that has visibility. People know about you. you have a great story. You connect with your customers. You involve your customers and your brand, which you can do, in a variety of ways, and you create an awesome experience for them.
So again, through like your packaging through. Your website? Like, is it easy for people to find things? You know, when, when the, when the customer gets your product, do they whip out their phone and post on social media? And I know you do a lot with packaging, you understand the importance of packaging, but it has massive effects on the customer experience.
And when you get the product in the mail, you're like, holy, S h I t, I have to whip up my phone. and posts on social media immediately, because I am obsessed, like, right, like what your stuff should do. You know, right?
Kelley: Like you wanna have that thing that everybody's like, oh my God, I can't wait to share this.
I can't wait to give it as a gift. I can't wait to show somebody else. I can't wait to tell my friends. And I think that like what you're talking about, about having your customers do that for you, treating your customers well so that they do that for you. I don't know. It's so easy to get caught up in like, how many Instagram followers I have and how can I get this influencer to talk about my product or what, whatever that is, when really like, you can have more people talking about your product
They might be talking to, they might not have an audience of a million people on TikTok, but it's a telephone game. Somebody tells somebody. Somebody tells somebody else, and Exactly. Yeah. Like, there's so much, I think there's so much power in that, and I think you're right. Nothmm. , not a lot of people are talking about that right now.
Kerrie: it's more of a long game, right?
Yeah, and I think it's just in general, like. Being like creating this cult, like following a cult-like brand, whatever. It's really all about customer retention. you know, that's kind of like when we're looking at what's the result of all the things I'm doing like that's kind of it.
I think, yes, you get visibility. Yes, you grow your brand, but in the end, you're really retaining your customers. So every time you know, you get one person that buys your product. They come back and they buy again. And then they buy. They're like, oh, I need a gift for my friend, for the baby shower, for her wedding, for whatever.
Like your brand comes top of mind, and then every time someone gifts something, that's another opportunity to get in front of those people's audiences. So it's kind of like the whole thing will help you retain customers and of course, like do all the other things.
Kelley: That's very true. It's very true. Okay, so you touched a little bit on how packaging can help with that, but I'd love to talk more about that.
So like what are some things that you recommend that product businesses include in their packaging, or add to their packaging to like encourage? Their customers to either share or purchase again or like really just continue to connect with
Kerrie: The brand? Yeah, I mean, I think two things that you can do and one is the, most obvious and that is, is your inserts.
So those are like gonna be a postcard or some kind of a printable thing that you put in with your packaging. This is where I think a lot of brands are missing an opportunity. Cause I order a lot of things. I'm always, ordering things for market research just to like, cuz I like to do unboxing videos
I order from people in my community and my membership program. And a lot of them don't include those things. And I'm always like, oh, we have to like, Gotta make a little card or something, you know? Mm-hmm. , because you can one tell, people remind cuz some people will send a product and there's. , no branded packaging.
There's no insert. There's nothing, and you're like, who is this? I have no idea who this product is from. That's actually happened to me a few times. I'm like, I have no idea what this is. I don't remember ordering it and like, who is it from? I also might have early Alzheimer's. I don't know, but.
Like you have to create a branded experience. Yes. Because if you're not, like, people won't share it on social media and they're like, oh, look at this pen I got. And it's like, well, who's, who's the pen from, I can name one person in particular. because I know that we're both going to UPP.
like Kitty Meow Boutique, I mean her. So she sells like paper and pens and you know, those kinds of things. And her packaging is so freaking on point, like, my God, it's so cute. Oh my God, it's the best. And if you have any of her stuff, it's like wrapped in ribbons and it's like if you ever hold it up to a camera, it's like very clear.
Kitty me boutique gets all over the place. That's what you kind of have to do. You have to be in your face. The packaging with the whole experience. So I think beyond, like a postcard or an insert is the actual packaging itself. So for example, the business that I founded, the Dapper Dog Box, I actually had like on the actual box share, like I literally had a call to action printed on the front of the box.
So you open up the box and there's stuff on the inside, and then the bottom flat below it literally said, share a box, share this box on social media. and win a free box. I forget what I said. So basically like share a photo of this and win a free box. And I put my hashtag. So not only was I hitting people with the packaging, but on the insert it reminded them, Hey, win a free box, take a picture, and enter our photo contest each month.
Then they also got hit up in the post-purchase email sequence. So I was like hitting them up at every possible place. Remind me, I wanna see a picture of you and your, the pack, you know, the box and the package and all that. Mm-hmm. . . I think you kind of have to be a bit like you have to like be in your face and like, yeah.
One thing I wanna just touch upon too is when someone gets your product in the mail, that is the ones. Specific and best opportunity time you are hitting them. When they were the most excited about your product, they're, they got in the mailbox, they got the notification like, oh my gosh, I just got my mug.
From whoever. It's in the mailbox, they're running to the mailbox, grabbing the box, and bringing it back to the house. opening it up, and like, if you're not getting them right there, they're gonna forget. Yes. Do you know? So when someone opens up the product, that's the time to remind them, Hey, we wanna see an unboxing of this.
We wanna see a picture of your coffee mug with your favorite beverage. Take a picture right now. Go make yourself a drink. Like no judgment from us. So you have to kind of be like in your face about your packaging and asking the customer to do things for you. I think we're always afraid to ask. Yeah, like, we're afraid to ask for the sale.
We're afraid to talk about our product. We're afraid to do blah, blah, blah. But like, just ask them. If you don't ask them P, they won't do it.
Kelley: right? Yeah. You kind of have to like prompt people a little bit. And if they don't wanna do it, they won't do it. But they're not gonna be offended that you asked them.
They're just gonna say, it's just not for me. but I also think, you know, when you're talking about your, the dapper dog business that you had and making sure that you had that branding on the outside of the box I know that like those shipping boxes can always be a cost for businesses. Yep. but at the same time, We're such visual, as human beings, we take in so much information visually that's like where we remember things the most colors, like one of the most memorable elements that you have.
So even if you got a tape with you, with your brand color and your logo on it, if you can't do the whole box, like you're still adding to that memorability, which just adds to that top of mind that you're talking about, which is like really, really what you want. so I, you know, I love that recommendation of like making sure that you're getting some sort of branding on the outside of the box and some sort of call to action to ask people to share it.
Kerrie: And I also think too, like make sure you put your information on the, if you do like a printed insert, remind people what your Instagram handle is or your TikTok handle. don't assume that they know. Cuz sometimes too, like when you go to search for a brand, and it's not like on Instagram, I know, I don't know if it's always been like this, but if it's not the exact like, you didn't put this space in it.
It's like, oh, the account doesn't exist. Right. It does. It doesn't show up.
Kelley: And then you've lost somebody's attention.
Kerrie: No, you, so you don't know. You might think, oh, they don't have Instagram or something. I don't know. So like, just as a reminder, make sure you put like your website, your handle, cuz people don't know and people are lazy.
They don't always wanna search for it. So make it idiot-proof everything.
Kelley: Right. Just make it easy. Like people, yeah. Yeah, people like things that are easy. They'll do it if it's easy. If it's hard, yeah. They won't do it, but, oh, man. Yeah. And I also think that like we, as business owners, get so used to like seeing our own information too. right? So it's like, oh, I don't necessarily wanna put my logo on that again, or, you know, I don't wanna repeat that.
Our customers aren't seeing things every day that we're seeing. Like they, they're, they're looking at your brand when they're ordering, and then they're seeing it again when they get their product they may not necessarily have seen it in between unless you sent an email in between. You've seen it every day.
Kerrie: Yeah, you can, you can say it again. Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's exactly true. I feel like you can never say your brand name enough or show it.
Kelley: no. So put it on there in extra time people. All right. So you mentioned UPP, Ultimate Product Party. We are both going to be there in Nashville in May. I'm so excited.
Kerrie: Finally get to meet you, Jason. Yeah,
Kelley: I'm excited. so what are, what are you gonna be chatting about in Nashville?
Kerrie: So I'm talking about how to create a cult-like following. Love it. So yeah, it's like my thing of 2023, and I. I'm very, yeah, I'm all in. You're all in. Love it. What about you?
Kelley: I am gonna be talking about big brand secrets. So before I started my business, I worked in-house for two different retailers doing branding and packaging for private brands. So I'm gonna be sharing some of those inside retail secrets that I bring to my clients.
Kerrie: Nice. It'd be pretty fun. which, which were the what? Who did you work with? Are you allowed to say if you worked?
Kelley: I worked for Dick's Sporting Goods for eight years doing branding and packaging. All sorts of sporting goods, a lot of golf stuff like golf balls and golf equipment, which is really fun cause they let you use all the foil materials for the golf ball packaging and Wow.
and then I worked for Kohl's for 10 years doing branding and packaging there.
Kerrie: Okay. Wow. Yeah. That's so cool. I didn't know that. I love that. Yeah. So,
Kelley: but, and I loved working for those big brands, and like half of Kohl's is private brands, so it's. I touched pretty much every if you've ever shopped at Kohl's, I've touched pretty much every product category, home bedding, fashion, all that but like all the real product innovation is happening with, happening with the small product businesses. So this is so much more exciting to me cause I get to work on, I get to work with product businesses that have like much more innovation in their business. Really cool products, and really cool stories but I can help them get their products ready for retail to get the retailers, which is, so anyway, so I'll be sharing some of those secrets at the Ultimate Product Party.
Kerrie: Oh, I'm excited. Are you doing, a round table, I forgot what the other thing is called. The, what's it called?
Kelley: I'm doing the shortest. Yes, I'm doing the shortest one, which I think is a round. Okay, Which one? Which one are you doing?
Kerrie: Breakout. It's a breakout. That's what it is. Oh, I forgot. I'm doing a round table. Yeah, yeah, I'm doing a round table too. Okay. I hope like we, we can see other people. COz I remember last year I didn't get to sit, I think I got to sit in one other session and I was like, I wanna sit in like all these cool sessions and I had to do my own sessions.
Kelley: I hope so too. I just keep looking at the list and I'm like, oh, that looks really interesting. That looks really interesting. Yeah. What, who, what are you excited to see at Ultimate Product Party? Like is there, another speaker, another like is there a topic that you're interested in?
Kerrie: I don't know. I mean, yes, but I feel like I like everything as long as it doesn't have to do with tax or accounting. Like I'm into it. , I hate, I don't like anything with accounting. , that was the session I set in last year was accounting cuz I was like, I need help. Please help me. Yeah. I need a bookkeeper. and that was actually, they made it very fun.
They did, they did a great job. I feel like there are a few people who I was interested in hearing. I know. See, is it Ciara? Then, she's one of the keynotes. She has the granola Vintage Granola brand, yes. So she was one of them, she like last year she was making the like asai bowls for people. So I'm really, really excited to like hear her, her story and I guess she has some really interesting story.
So, yeah, like things like that I loved like last year, docs design did a breakout session on branding and packaging. And of course, I love that because, as you know, I love like all things packaging. So yeah. I'm kind of like, I don't know. I think when you're also speaking there, you don't get to fully like, enjoy the whole experience because you have to like, get your stuff ready and, you know, not in the same capacity. but yeah, I. Yeah, I'm not really sure who else. I think there were a few people that I saw, but I'm kind of like, yeah, I wanna, I'm just excited to go. I feel like to, to be honest, like last year going, just like the energy of connecting with people in person and there were a few people that I had known from Instagram and being able to just spend time with them and sit down and get a drink and get a coffee like that was the fun part for me. And I'm excited to come back this year too. I know, like I feel like I've gotten to know a lot more people, like people like you. Like we've had conversations on Instagram, but we haven't met yet. And like Right. Speak in person. Kind of like solidifies things and we're like, okay, now we're like real friends. So I'm kind of excited about that, I have to say.
Kelley: I'm excited about that too. You know, as you mentioned, like people like you, Kayla from Doc's Design, who I've been like chatting with over Instagram because we're, we're bonding over this love of packaging and sharing things about the package.
We're both sharing things about packaging at UPP, but also Nicole from Sprout Law. I've been working with her since I started my business. and she and I have never met in person, so I'm like, oh, this will be really exciting, to meet Nicole.
Kerrie: Oh, that's in, in person? What does she do? Is she like a legal lawyer?
Kelley: Sure. Trade trademark law. Oh, so okay. Yeah, so, she filed my trademark for my business and every time I have a client that needs any sort of trademark support, I send them to Nicole's cause. She's just, I don't know. I think she's just really fantastic. She knows her stuff.
Kerrie: Oh, that's so cool. Mm-hmm. Yeah. That's awesome. But it is great to meet people, in real life. It, it just, I dunno, I just feel like it does change things a little bit for the better.
Kelley: It does, it does. it's funny, I just as an aside, I went to, I went to a retreat back in September with a group that I, like, a group coaching, uh, group that I had been meeting.
Some of the women regularly throughout the year and. Before, before I went I was like, I'm really excited to meet these ladies in person. But I was also like, okay, this is a little nerve-wracking cause we've never met in person. And I have to say, I walked in the door and Christina coach that I worked with looked at me and she goes, you're much shorter than I thought you would be.
Like, it was the first thing that came outta my mouth and I went and it just completely broke the ice where I was like, yeah, this is just gonna be like a normal video call except for here in person.
Kerrie: I love it. Yeah,, it's true though. Like I, I did the same, same thing for me. Like I met a couple, of people who I had become friends with via Instagram.
We had chatted, they'd been on my podcast twice actually. And then I finally met them in person and I was like, it was like we had known each other forever. Do you know? You know what I mean? It's really funny how that can happen, but it. So I think meeting people in person, it also, cuz I think we've all been, you know, hibernating for the past couple of years, a little bit more than normal.
And so just getting out to an in-person event and seeing all these different brands and just feel like walking away feeling inspired in your own way. I know that's really what, what happened for me last year. I just walked away feeling like, wow. inspiration in things that can happen to people. These in-person events are.
It's unreal. Yeah, because I went to two, back to back in per one was a retreat, and then one was Ultimate Product Party and I was like, oh my gosh. In-person things are freaking the jam. Do you know?
Kelley: Yeah. Yes. There's definitely a different kind of energy when you're in person. Yeah. Okay. Awesome. Well I am so excited to see you there and, it's, we're just gonna have so much fun.
Kerrie: have you been to Nashville?
Kelley: I have been to Nashville before. I've been twice. Oh, okay. Yeah. Once was like business and personal and then once was just personal. But this time I'm like considering it a girl’s trip.
we'll go to Ultimate Product Party, and then I think my sister and my best friend are gonna come down for the weekend and we're gonna make a little weekend out of it afterward.
Kerrie: Oh, that's cool. =Love that. Yeah. Have you been my first? No, it's my first time going, so. Oh, I, yeah. It's weird. Like, I've been to a lot of different places and lots of countries and I'm like, how have I not been to freaking Nashville?
So I'm excited. It'll be fun. It, you know what?
Kelley: It is a. city. Like, it's just, it's got some, like one, it's just got like some great heritage to it. Like I love a city that like has its own character and the architecture matches the vibe and the people. and yes, of course, there's like Broadway with like all of the country music, but there's also like lots of like really great cute shops with like lots of local. products and things that I think a lot of, like the ultimate product party attendees are gonna really, really enjoy.
Kerrie: Oh, nice? Yeah. I'm excited. I'm excited to try, despite the hot chicken that I keep hearing about too.
Kelley: Oh, the Nashville Hot Chicken? Mm, yes. It's, it's pretty delicious. Do you like spicy foods?
Kerrie: Obsessed with love. Yes. Yes. like the spicier and burn my mouth off is the better. So I put hot sauce on everything. I like drinking. I can like to eat chili peppers whole Wow. Yeah. I love hot sauce, so I'm very excited about that.
Kelley: I was with you up until that. Eat the spicy peppers whole. The chili, the rest, the chili, pepper, and salt. But the rest of it, I'm there. I'm there for .
Kerrie: My husband is from India and we went, we went in April of this, well last year. And like in, in India, like you put chilies on almost everything. Most people are there. eat very spicy food. Not everyone actually, but most of them do. But I think there's definitely a stereotype for Americans that like, we don't really like spicy food.
And when, when I was over there I would always ask like, can I get a like chili with my food almost every meal? And they would give me like a green chili pepper and. I don't know what kind they're, they're not like Thai and chili peppers, but something from India. They are like hot as hell and I would just eat one or two with every meal.
And I was like, I don't know how I didn't come back from that trip with like burned holes in my stomach or something. , I have no idea. But they would always be like, oh my God. Like who are you? How can you eat all these peppers? Like they don't even eat the chili peppers. yeah, I'm, I'm weird I guess, but I do love a good chili pepper.
One of my dreams is to literally be in a hot sauce contest.
Kelley: Like making it or eating it. Like, like a food-eating contest, right?
Kerrie: Yeah. Or like something, you know the, I forget the show where like they eat the little chicken bits. I think it's chicken with the hot sauce on it. Is that a show? I feel like there are hot ones or something. I feel like I've seen it before.
I would love to be in a hot sauce contest where like we compete against who can eat the most, like the hottest hot sauce,
Kelley: I feel like my husband would be in that contest with you,
Kerrie: I love it. I think that would be, it would just be really, really fun. And I just like trying different, different types of hot sauce. I can go down a hot sauce rabbit hole.
Kelley: Well, we'll have to find you some hot sauce in Nashville or at least one of those hot chicken sandwiches cuz they're delicious.
Kerrie: Yeah. I did.
Kelley: Okay. Awesome. Awesome. Well, I want to ask you the question that I ask everybody that comes on the podcast and I know you're gonna have a great answer cuz you love packaging as much as I do, which is what is the last product that you bought because of the packing? So I wanted to ask you, I should have clarified, can I talk about a label on a product, or does it have to be like the outside packaging?
Any type of packaging? So label on a product is okay right there.
Kerrie: A hundred million percent Poppy. The drink, oh, do you know Poppy sis?
Kelley: I don't think I know Poppy.
Kerrie: Oh my God, you're gonna die. p o p p I. , they call it like prebiotic. I don't even know what the hell that means, but I'm like, I'm buying this thing , prebiotic, like drink.
So it's kind of like soda water with Yes. Prebiotic stuff in it. I don't know. Honestly, if you look at the ingredients, it seems like they just put, uh, apple CI or vinegar in with a bunch of other crap and they call it prebiotic. But the package, Yeah, I f like, I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Obsess. I bought gorgeous three different colors and I have never seen anything just going into like a Whole Foods or grocery store where the product pops off of the shelf and everything around it just feels bland and vanilla Compared to Poppy, I think they have, and honestly the, the packaging is like, if you're looking at it, it's not like anything super complex.
It's just like, The big like I'm looking at a can right now on my desk. I have the strawberry lemon drink and it's just like a red can with a big, bright yellow strawberry on it. And it's actually quite simple, but like between the font, the like poppy font, that which is white and then like the actual like fruit on it that just the contrasting very dominant colors. I mean, I've never seen anything like it, and I am obsessed.
Kelley: I had to Google it and I'm on their website right now and it is gorgeous. Mm-hmm. Because you're right, it's very simple. Like they were very restrained in terms of like what they put on the can.
it's so easy to put like a gazillion things on a label and like, you know, list out everything. , but they've just got this beautiful huge graphic of whatever the flavor is. Mm-hmm. , whether it's a raspberry or a lime or an orange or this strawberry and these like really poppy colors.
Poppy, like, yeah, I'm with you. I'm not sure. I am not so sure I understand the prebiotic
Kerrie: I know a thing. I was like, I don't, is that like probiotic? I don't understand the difference, but if you look at the ingredients, it literally just seems like they just add. apple cider vinegar to a drink. And I'm like, how is that revolutionary?
But I don't know. No judgment. I mean they, so they're, they're really famous now cuz they were on Shark Tank and they got a deal. Mm-hmm. , I believe they got a deal from Shark Tank. So, okay. Of course that will catapult a brand, but they are now in Whole Foods. They are in. Oh. I feel like I have another one that I wanna mention.
Can I give you two or, yeah? Okay. another brand that I really love is Cool House, the Ice Cream brand. And I literally just posted about them today on my Instagram. They have a, so one time I went into. I have this shop in my town called Metropolitan Market. It's kind of like a boutique grocery store, which I love, and I was like, I wanna start recording some videos for content on the five best ice cream brands from a grocery store or something. Just like stupid things that make me happy that like, I don't know if anyone cares about, I feel like you care about, but there are things I just enjoy doing. and so I went in there and I was looking at the different ice cream brands and I was like, oh my God.
Like I really like this cool house one. Yeah. But then I read about them and I read their story and they have the coolest story I've ever heard in my whole life of any business. But I think their packaging is really fun. Yeah. It's like, it's just kind of funky and fun and, yeah. So I really like that one too.
Kelley: Yeah. Like their illustrations are, I would say they're a little seventies inspired. Exactly. Like retro. Yep. Yes. , but then like, you know, they've layered in some photography of their ice cream. Mm-hmm. and their colors are fun, but like, yes. The, like, the packaging itself is just like, it's just very vibey and fun.
Kerrie: It's so fun. It's, I love them. And if you read their story, it's like, they're basically like in a quick sh nutshell. I know we probably have to pop off. they, so it was Two G founded by two girls. I think they lived in LA or something, and they bought an old postal truck van off Craigslist. They had it towed to a Coachella music festival because I guess the truck was broken down and they.
Towed it. They decorated it as an ice cream truck and like they, I don't know exactly what they did at Coachella, but basically, after that, the brand like went viral and now it's like they're sold in like 6,000 Whole Foods, and all these different stores and yeah, they're just, and they have a lot more to their story, but it's like such a cool brand.
I'm obsessed with it. Yeah, no,
Kelley: this looks really cool. And I have to say, if I had seen this in my local grocery store, I would've picked it up right away. in fact, I feel like I need to go find it locally now to get it. yeah. Thank you for sharing both of those. they're amazing examples.
Kerrie: I feel like I have a lot of examples of things I buy just because the packaging looks great, which is a lot of my purchases, so, yeah. Yeah. I love.
Kelley: Same. I just ordered two gifts for my nieces cuz I'm like, this packaging is amazing. They're gonna, they're gonna love this like little novelty bo body soap.
And if they don't they can give it back to me cuz the packaging's really cute.
Kerrie: Yes. Gotta have good packaging people. Exactly, exactly. Gotta hire Kelly to do your packaging,
Kelley: and then hire Carrie to help you market your business and retain your customers. all right, so, so Carrie, on that note, where can everybody find you?
Kerrie: So you can find me on my website, kerriefitzgerald.com, and that's k e r r i e. And you can also find me on Instagram, Kerrir.Fitzgerald.com, and be sure to say hello. And I have a podcast and YouTube, but you can pretty much find everything on my website or on my Instagram.
Kelley: So yeah. Fantastic. thank you so much for joining me today and yeah, everybody go check Carrie. Thank you so much. It was so fun to chat with you.
Kerrie: Thanks for having me.
In Closing
If you want to join me, Carrie, and all of your soon to be business besties at the Ultimate Product party, head on over to Hidden path creative.com/u P P. You'll find a link to order your ticket and when you get your ticket using my affiliate link, I'll also give you free access to the packaging field.
The packaging field guide is my step-by-step process for sourcing profitable packaging, and it includes my supplier directory with over 50 printers, as well as everything you need to choose the right print partner for your business.
Thank you for listening to Product Packaging and Profit, a podcast for product entrepreneurs looking to level up with packaging.
We hope you'll join us next time to hear more about how packaging can help propel profitable product businesses. If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review us wherever you're listening, and be sure to come back next time. Until then, this is Kelly Kempel of Hidden Path Creative, and don't forget what's on the outside matters.