Toucan Talks
EP24 - Sherry and Carmin Black: Business Ventures, Family and Resilience
Have you ever wondered how the bond of family can weave its way into the fabric of entrepreneurship? Tune into Toucan Talks this week for an intimate conversation with Sherry and Carmin Black, the mother-daughter powerhouse whose stories will inspire you. Sherry, an interior design maven with years of wisdom, alongside Carmin, whose fresh take on the fashion industry following her shift from Half United to her own brand, open up about the highs and lows of their business ventures, including their joint retail endeavor.
Strap in for tales of challenge and triumph as discuss the gritty realities of entrepreneurship. Carmin opens up about a sudden shift in her career trajectory. Through these candid discussions, we highlight the power of second chances and the importance of aligning business with a deeper sense of purpose. So, whether you're a seasoned business owner or a newcomer to the entrepreneurial scene, there's something in this episode for you – an honest, no-holds-barred look at the resilience it takes to navigate the unpredictable world of business and the faith that sustains us through it all.
You can find Carmin and Sherry's retail store here:
(In the Cargo District across from the Starling and next to Cheesesmith)
Connect with Carmin and Sherry:
carmin@carminblack.com
Carmin's Instagram
info@sherryblackdesigns.com
Sherry's Instagram
Get more from Toucan Talks!
Watch on YouTube
Follow on Instagram
Subscribe to our email list
//
Meet your hosts and learn more about Kickstart Collective at kickstartcollective.co
Kickstart Collective is a creative marketing agency based in Wilmington, NC. We offer our clients a creative advantage through creative content and marketing strategies.
Have you ever wondered how the bond of family can weave its way into the fabric of entrepreneurship? Tune into Toucan Talks this week for an intimate conversation with Sherry and Carmin Black, the mother-daughter powerhouse whose stories will inspire you. Sherry, an interior design maven with years of wisdom, alongside Carmin, whose fresh take on the fashion industry following her shift from Half United to her own brand, open up about the highs and lows of their business ventures, including their joint retail endeavor.
Strap in for tales of challenge and triumph as discuss the gritty realities of entrepreneurship. Carmin opens up about a sudden shift in her career trajectory. Through these candid discussions, we highlight the power of second chances and the importance of aligning business with a deeper sense of purpose. So, whether you're a seasoned business owner or a newcomer to the entrepreneurial scene, there's something in this episode for you – an honest, no-holds-barred look at the resilience it takes to navigate the unpredictable world of business and the faith that sustains us through it all.
You can find Carmin and Sherry's retail store here:
(In the Cargo District across from the Starling and next to Cheesesmith)
Connect with Carmin and Sherry:
carmin@carminblack.com
Carmin's Instagram
info@sherryblackdesigns.com
Sherry's Instagram
Get more from Toucan Talks!
Watch on YouTube
Follow on Instagram
Subscribe to our email list
//
Meet your hosts and learn more about Kickstart Collective at kickstartcollective.co
Kickstart Collective is a creative marketing agency based in Wilmington, NC. We offer our clients a creative advantage through creative content and marketing strategies.
Welcome to the Two Can Talks podcast brought to you by Kickstart Collective. Join us as we talk to local Wilmington business owners about what has led to their successes, challenges and more. No question is off limits as we bounce from topic to topic.
Speaker 2:In this podcast is brought to you by Kickstart Studios. Kickstart Studios is Wilmington's newest video podcast studio, equipped with multiple camera angles and an in-house producer. Creating a high quality video podcast has never been easier. Don't let the tech and gear learning curve hold you back from jumping into podcasting or creating video content any longer. Our team takes care of it all for you, so you can focus on the message you want to share. You simply show up record and receive the final product. No more wasting time setting it up and breaking down the gear, setting up lights or doing sound checks on your own. We're in house producer one, everything set up and ready to go for you. Check us out at Kickstart Studios.
Speaker 1:All right, welcome to Two Can Talks, episode 24. We are excited to have Sherry and Carmen Black on mother and daughter combo. This is our first episode with two guests in one episode, so technically it's episode one of double guesting.
Speaker 3:Oh, exactly Very cool, so it's going to be fun.
Speaker 1:we'll see how it goes. Basically, what we're going to do is dive into both of y'all's businesses how you got to where you are. A lot of what we're talking about in season two of Two Can Talks is like business strategies. Oh, google's calling me If anyone would like to talk to them. Definitely never. It's terrible. They called 20 times a day Going on airplane mode. Like I said, we keep the schedule don't even put our phones on silent.
Speaker 4:Now I wonder if I did. Yeah, I did Feel free to check Somebody is prepared.
Speaker 1:I was prepared.
Speaker 4:Let's see if I was Hold on.
Speaker 1:Yes, I was Wow. So only the host, only the person that's done this like 20 something times is not prepared.
Speaker 1:Oh goodness Cool. So what we'll do, we'll let you guys introduce yourselves and kind of chat for a minute, but then we're going to have the lovely game portion of this podcast. So what you'll do is basically just drop the coin at the top. If it lands on a one, we have a can of business questions very hard hitting and debt business questions. If it lands on a two, it is the opposite. Oh random, Some are about your life, Some are about Wilmington things, Some of them are just totally out of left field.
Speaker 4:All right, it's going to be great, great.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I don't know who wants to go first Intro. You're the matriarch, okay, yeah. So yeah, just who you are your business how you got to where you are?
Speaker 5:I'm ready to play the game.
Speaker 1:Oh, you're ready, yeah let's let these people know.
Speaker 5:Hello, who's about to play the game? So I'm Sherry Black. I am an interior designer. I was trying to think I'm more than I'm not just an interior I'm a mother, I'm a new grandmother which is crazy to say and I've been in business for over 20 years.
Speaker 1:That's awesome.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 5:This is funny and. I'm the mother of this. I gave birth to my best friend, yeah.
Speaker 4:She'll be like I've been in business for five years because, like the, or, she'll say oh, you know when you were in high school four years ago. I'm like mom you've been in business for like 35 years.
Speaker 3:No, I haven't, I haven't.
Speaker 5:No, I started really. I didn't start until 99 is when I opened the store and we did interior design full time. I've done several things in between them. But, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4:But like when I was a kid, you would, you would design in Hawaii. You, I mean even when I was. She's always, but full time has just been over 20.
Speaker 5:It's been about 20 years, 20, 24, 25, 25, 25 years Well, no, 25.
Speaker 1:No, but it's great We'll have. You have years of experience on business that you can share with these Lovely Our lovely friends.
Speaker 5:Yes, yes.
Speaker 1:On the interwebs, for sure.
Speaker 4:Cool, carmen. So I am Carmen Black and I am a I guess I would consider myself a social entrepreneur. I I think I love being an entrepreneur because I did watch my parents own their own businesses my whole life and it's like even though she'll say, you know, I've only been an interior designer for a certain amount of years, when I was really young, like third and fourth grade my parents own two restaurants and she did all the interior for the restaurants, which were absolutely stunning, and so I think just being there and watching them has led me to do what I do. But now, specifically, I design handbags, I design home good products, I design jewelry and I focus on creating gainful employment opportunities for people that live in developing nations or in challenging circumstances, because I think, I mean, I know that employment is the number one way to fight hunger and poverty and things like that. So, yeah, it's like a win-win.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, awesome, cool. So let's just dive into the coin dropping portion and we'll see what we get as far as questions go, oh, name of your biz.
Speaker 4:My new business is just called Carmen Black. It's just a brand called Carmen.
Speaker 5:Black, but it was half united. So if anybody bought a bullet necklace or any of our products that gave mills to children, half united is now Carmen Black. Yes, yes.
Speaker 4:And what's your business name?
Speaker 5:I'm a Sherry Black. And we have a business together that's called Carmen Black, sherry Black, I'm literally joking. We have our store.
Speaker 4:We have just started a retail store. And listen, I tell you guys, we are so creative. We thought long and hard and you landed on Carmen Black.
Speaker 1:Sherry Black.
Speaker 4:I love it.
Speaker 1:And at least you gave her a good name at birth.
Speaker 2:I know, I know. This is what a mentor at Gensokyo Exactly.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's hilarious.
Speaker 2:Oh, that is so funny. I love it Well easy to find.
Speaker 1:You know, Just remember their names and you got their business. It's very easy.
Speaker 5:I know, in the airport we were well, I won't tell you, we were having breakfast and this guy said, oh, our families were getting ready to go to Merl Beach and we were thinking about going to Wilmington too. I said, oh well, come to our store, you need to come by. He goes, what's it called? I went Carmen Black, sherry Black, he goes. He was going what I said Carmen Black, sherry Black. He's like I'm telling my mother and my wife, right?
Speaker 4:now. Oh my God, we will be there. This is so funny. Yeah, now we need to put that on Google so people can find it. They will, they'll find it.
Speaker 1:Update that Google business listing.
Speaker 5:I know All right, so you can drop it anywhere on the board.
Speaker 1:And we will see what happens.
Speaker 5:Oh, I always wanted to do this Exactly.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's OK, it's fragile. Oh two, oh. Who thought you guys would start out with a fun camp? Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 4:We hope this is her most fun podcast.
Speaker 5:I know, I hope so. Oh and art is.
Speaker 1:Oh, oh, this might be fun. Oh, OK, I feel like you can both answer this or you can answer it together. However you want to do it, I'm so nervous. This one isn't like personal personal, it's just a fun question. What has been like your craziest or wildest business interaction? So it can be just for the customer, it can be a situation, it can be funny, it can be like oh my gosh.
Speaker 5:India.
Speaker 4:I mean I don't know because we've been having so much fun. Should I go like very serious and heart?
Speaker 5:You do serious and I'll do fun.
Speaker 4:Oh, that's what you think this lecture is?
Speaker 5:No, I'm just saying one of us has to say you, you go fun and I'll go, ok. Ok, not India, this is going to be about Haiti. So Carmen had been going to Haiti to work with a company several different companies, anyway, I was privileged to go with her on several trips, but our very first trip we went to Haiti and we were working with what's the name? Will McGinnis. Will McGinnis.
Speaker 4:He was the bass player for Audio Adrenaline. Oh cool.
Speaker 5:And I didn't know he was Audio Adrenaline and I had no idea what, who, I didn't even know Audio Adrenaline was honestly. And so he thought it was. We got along so well and he was like, god, I just love you. And I was like I love you so much. And so later they started singing the songs that he wrote and I was like, oh my God, you're actually a big deal, and but to me he's just Will McGinnis.
Speaker 5:Anyway he took us to a couple of the areas that he was working in. He has a company called Haiti Made, and Haiti Made was making handbags for Carmen, for Happy United at the time, and so this one day, he took us by a school that they were supporting, and it was also. Was it a home for children, too, or that was just their school?
Speaker 4:Is it the orphanage? Yeah, you mean Hanson Feet Project? Yeah, no, that's not just a school. The kids live there, okay.
Speaker 5:Well, we drive up, we're in a band. There are a few other people with us from. I don't know who they were, but anyway.
Speaker 4:Oh, no, no, no, no. This is no. No, that is not Hanson, I know where you're going.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Well, this will be enough story for both of us. But no, this is a orphanage, but it is just a school. Yes, but a very impoverished I mean. I can't explain the level of poverty that these children were facing. So this is not Hanson.
Speaker 5:Feet. You walk in and the whole yard is nothing but mud, because it had been raining but there was no grass anywhere. But the only in the middle of their yard was a huge mango tree and everybody eats mangoes. The chickens eat mangoes. The dogs eat mangoes. The kids eat mangoes.
Speaker 5:I mean they're free food, yeah. And take us to the back, where the school is, and all eyes start welling up Like I just could not believe it. And all these kids just sit on a bench and they have this old rickety chalkboard that was on wheels, that they have that will roll to the front of the room. The room is outdoors, it just has a shelter, it just has a rooftop over it and everything else is exposed, and the age group is from four to 18. The classroom is everybody, it's one classroom for everybody.
Speaker 5:And so I had just bought I thought that because they speak Creole, but it's the French Polynesian country or French speaking country as well I had gone to Barnes and Noble and bought all this books and stuff on French to English, which they don't even. It's mostly Creole, so, anyways, but they have all these pictures, and so I had this one by fold. It was laminated of France. It had all the cities in France, and then it gave you conversational French from English to French, and so I decided to show. I pulled it out at the end of their class and showed the kids. They have notebooks they had. The only thing that they wrote on was the chalkboard.
Speaker 5:But the kids love to be in school. They crave like education. So I was showing it and all the kids would gather around me and I was showing them the thing that I brought and they were just dying because they'd never seen the Eiffel Tower, they'd never seen like a lot of things that were only so I just, of course, gave everything to them. Well, I only wear black. Even in Haiti, I only wear black, and I have for years and years and years, and I had black on and I had my little Prada side bag that's made out of this fabric. The same podcast is only so long.
Speaker 4:Anyway, we step out.
Speaker 5:So after the podcast we get ready to leave and I go to step out on the off of the concrete pad and I slip in the mud face first. So now these people are so poor and so I get up. I said I'm fine, I'm like covered in mud. And so the woman she takes my hand and she takes me over to a well and she starts pumping water and she sat me down and she washed my hands, she washed my feet, she washed.
Speaker 4:It was like the most. You were supposed to tell the funny story.
Speaker 5:I know, but what happened? I fell in the mud, I fell face down, but it ended up being this lesson to me. It's like, you know, she was so poor and had nothing and I had taken a bunch of money with me because I just wanted to give it away. This isn't to pump me up, because I've never told people about that. I took money with me but anyway. So I gave her like just $80 and I, after it was done, and she starts weeping and they were translating for me she says we didn't know how we were going to feed the kids, oh, this week. And so because they, they rely on funding. Anyway, it ended up being me falling in the mud. Turned it out to be like one of the best?
Speaker 5:Yeah, it's the one of the greatest moments in my life.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 5:And I kept thinking. You know, I did go back to a book called thing, where you know Washington, the same thing, and so, but I was watching her just wash my hands. And then Carmen fell in the mud and the same thing happened, and she sat there and watch. She wouldn't let it, she wouldn't let us do it ourselves, and so, yeah, anyway, it was really sweet.
Speaker 4:Yeah, now tell you're telling no, no, no no. That's, that's. That is like that was a poignant day.
Speaker 4:It was funny because I actually stepped in dog poo, but it was like mango dog poo and we Christian Christian was with us, my brother and he was filming it and we thought it was the funniest thing. And here's the other thing you have to know, which her story is very touching and, of course, this is why doing business in this way and we were there for business purposes, but we try to do other things, of course, while we're in Haiti, you know it's, it's why doing business this way is so important, and so I won't say fun, because these, these people suffering is not something that's fun, but it's, I think, this thing where different cultures can come together and learn that, whether you have plenty or whether you have nothing, really we're just like.
Speaker 4:All people are the exact same, and I think that has been the most exciting lesson is that we just all are the exact same. We have the same needs, same everything. I will tell you guys, this one really cool thing that has happened to me in business actually just happened to me yesterday. So, yeah, this is really short, but it's kind of.
Speaker 4:It's just very interesting. So I was on another podcast called Faith Driven Entrepreneur, which is so quote unquote funny, because I was on it about my business and you know half United was so successful. Well, fast forward a year and a half, happy night enclosed. So right bro.
Speaker 4:Yeah so um, but point is they have this thing called. I think it's like foundation groups or something. It's like a small group kind of thing where entrepreneurs from all over the world set up these pods of people and you go and you do like a Bible study. I had never had any interest. I'm in a Bible study here in Wilmington. I'm like, okay, one is enough. So I have just been feeling recently like I was supposed to do one of these foundational groups and I'm like, all right, well, okay. So I looked into it. You go on the website, you scroll through like hundreds of these groups from Poland to Japan to, you know, kentucky. Yeah.
Speaker 4:So I picked this woman stood out to me. Her name was Faith. She's from Kenya. I was like that could be cool. I would love to meet Faith from Kenya. So yesterday I joined the group and I get on and all of a sudden I look, I'm like am I the only person from the United States on this call? And they were like, yes, hello, ms Black, welcome. Everybody. Not only is African, which is so cool, but everybody is zooming in on this call that's cool From Africa and I'm the only American. And so I was like, wow, this is so I mean, they're like hi.
Speaker 5:I'm from Nairobi, Hi.
Speaker 4:I'm from Kenya. Hi, I'm sitting right now in Uganda and I'm like I'm in Wilmington.
Speaker 2:Carolina. My favorite place is in the world.
Speaker 4:So, anyways, that's probably one of the cooler things, that's ever happened. Yeah, that's awesome yeah.
Speaker 1:Love it. Yeah, fine, cool, thanks for sharing. When you were a buck or five year old, he was in preschool, when we lived in Puerto Rico for a little bit and they had a huge mango tree in their yard where they did like story time and it was so cute. But he, how does he? He was like three and he did not like mangoes.
Speaker 5:Oh no.
Speaker 4:Never tried a mango, just did not like mangoes.
Speaker 1:Right, they're amazing. And like a year ago, once we had moved back here, he goes. Mom, I really like mangoes and I was like they were falling from the sky.
Speaker 4:They were falling from the sky during story time you could have had mangoes.
Speaker 1:I will go to the store and buy you a mango. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4:Kids, but which are nowhere near as good as the mangoes in it. From a tropical place yes, right on the tree.
Speaker 1:Crazy town. Yeah, all right, let's see. See what happens. You want to reach across here we go, here we go.
Speaker 4:I know this is fun. I would like to be on the crisis right now.
Speaker 1:You got. Okay, you got to get three to jump off. Okay, you get to drop again. Okay.
Speaker 4:Oh my god, oh man Knowing me?
Speaker 5:Oh no, oh my god, this is great, oh crap, oh no, get your gifts. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.
Speaker 1:All right, so there, you can do this.
Speaker 4:Oh, that's funny you get to ask me a question. We'll try your question too.
Speaker 1:Okay, you can make up a question. There's a stack of like random questions. If you need prompts back there, you can draw a question from here, but a lot of them are like more geared towards you guys, or you can just you can make one up, it doesn't matter. You get to ask me anything you want.
Speaker 3:Oh my god, do you have one of my?
Speaker 4:No, okay, give me a prompt. Give me a prompt A little business card holder.
Speaker 1:Oh no, the one, sorry, up a shelf. Okay, and that.
Speaker 4:Actually, this is a good moment for me to say this, because here's the thing you and I have been to so many parties, events, gatherings together I consider myself one of the worst small talk conversationalists on the face of the earth.
Speaker 5:It's not true. Yeah, yeah, I don't believe. I don't believe so if I feel like.
Speaker 4:we've had so many interactions where I'm like how are you doing? Obviously, I know you're doing great and I want to know way more than that, hey, you never know they could.
Speaker 5:She might look like it's great she could have her own, you know Okay.
Speaker 4:So I should carry these around and when we hang out again I'll be like you can take them. You can take them.
Speaker 1:Oh my god, don't tell me Okay.
Speaker 4:No, okay, okay, this is good. I like this what's your next big? Thing?
Speaker 1:My next big thing, good question. I think we're gonna go work related and this is just. We talked about this yesterday. We're gonna it's not really mine, I guess it's ours, but whatever, it doesn't matter we're gonna make move this studio into that office. Okay, so that we can make it bigger and have like cute, like different sections, so we can have like a cuter, like set design for other people to use. Okay, so, because we've written this out if people wanted to like record a podcast or like short little videos if you rent this out, and then we rent Josh out with it.
Speaker 4:Oh good, oh, that's exciting.
Speaker 1:So we're gonna, we should do a podcast, yeah.
Speaker 4:I'll show it. That would be so fun. We'll interview you.
Speaker 1:Okay, I think you can do that. I think it'd be fun for you guys just to like tell stories and things back and forth.
Speaker 4:Very true, uh-oh.
Speaker 1:We have our new we should write a book my next big girl's podcast.
Speaker 5:Yes, yes, help launch our podcast please.
Speaker 1:But yeah, we're gonna, because our offices are in there, so we're gonna move and I'm really the only one that works from the office. No one else does. So, I'm gonna move my office into here.
Speaker 3:Nice and then great office yeah it'll be.
Speaker 1:It's a little smaller but then we'll have more space and can set up like a few different like sets, essentially.
Speaker 3:So that's just the variety. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:Let me know, so yeah, I don't know. On the personal side of things, yeah, let's go.
Speaker 2:Let's just do it. Yeah, keep going, keep going.
Speaker 1:This isn't also not really mine, but Luke decided we're gonna get a fourth the dog.
Speaker 5:Oh, what kind of dogs do you?
Speaker 1:have. We have three English setters right now. I'm pure, very pretty. He wants an English pointer.
Speaker 4:So they're not as cool. Wait, he just wants a hunting dog brigade. Yeah, he does, yeah, yeah, nice, try, buddy, the best part is.
Speaker 1:Huck has already named this. He's named this dog like years ago, like our next dog is going to have this name. What is it? Trashy, trashy, trashy, he's so trashy I took trashy to take a trashy out.
Speaker 5:I think it's really funny.
Speaker 1:And we're, like it's so funny, like there's no way we're not naming just do it. Yeah. So and it's probably a girl and she's gonna be mostly white.
Speaker 5:Oh, she's gonna be a little white yeah.
Speaker 1:So I'm not excited about a fourth of dog, but I'm excited about that whole experience of having a dog, are they? Indoor dogs. So one of them is almost 15. So he is like he sleeps on the couch. The other two are like two-ish, three-ish, and they're indoor, outdoor, but I think once we get the other one they're gonna like mostly stay outside because there's so much dog care and they're so much energy and they're forever knocking down the baby and just.
Speaker 3:Oh, so yeah Cool.
Speaker 1:That's what's happening.
Speaker 4:That sounds fun yeah maybe maybe not.
Speaker 1:We'll see the studio will be fun. I'll let you know if the dog part is fun.
Speaker 4:Yeah right, exactly Okay.
Speaker 1:Two let's do it Okay. We'll just use that as a drop. Okay, ooh, sherry, this one's specifically for you Okay. Okay, most memorable design project over the last 25 years.
Speaker 3:No pressure, if you need to shout out a few, that's fine.
Speaker 1:I know Narrowing down might be hard and memorable.
Speaker 5:Again, it could be any span of memorable oh yeah, yeah, I mean, my most memorable is the Shaw's house. Well yeah, for sure, so do I. Am I allowed to say names or?
Speaker 1:You can I?
Speaker 5:mean.
Speaker 4:I, it doesn't bother me, they might hear it, so just oh well, they know I love them.
Speaker 5:So I was. When I first moved to Wilmington, nobody knew me as a designer and so I had just trained with this woman who was a professional faux finisher and she taught at NC State and she was a woman that they called they would send to Europe to restore frescoes or paintings and castles and stuff like this. So I learned from the best, like it was pretty amazing, and so I end up one day I met this guy through another designer and he said I have a project I want you to work on, work on with me, and I really want you to meet this woman because I think you guys will hit it off. And it was Dee Dee Shaw and so I, she owns Monkeys.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, All the Monkeys yeah.
Speaker 5:So, which I designed lots of them for not recently, but it's been a while. Anyway, she was living in a small house in Wilmington and it's considerably small, off of Bradley Creek Point, and they were. They had decided to build their forever home. Harry had just sold S&W concrete and so they were ready to start building. So I worked on this house for four years and it was probably a designer's dream. Yeah, it was. I got to design the facade with the architect, did the drawings and stuff, but I got to tweak everything. So but we got to put in like solid walnut walls and I got to do French panels in the living room. I did huge beams in the kitchen, and I mean the kitchen real beams yeah.
Speaker 5:Like real beams, that Harry had collected this wood for years and years and years and finally we were getting ready to use it and we did two inch solid walnut floors throughout the whole house, which is unheard of today, I mean solid walnut, two inches, and so it was just like a dream job. And then one job went into another job I had to do all of their houses, monkeys, the stores, harry's office, his hunting lodge, and it was like that one client turned in to over a hundred different projects. Very cool.
Speaker 5:Really With other clients that she for sure, that she gave me. I'm saying you should remember, it's very recorded.
Speaker 2:That's true.
Speaker 5:I got a lot of jobs from that job. Now is not the time for.
Speaker 4:I listen, I love a good exaggeration.
Speaker 5:Today is not the day, maybe I got 50 jobs through her, but I got a lot of work.
Speaker 1:I got a lot of work To your business.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I got published, it was great and Didi's awesome and Harry is. They're really like dynamic, fun people. Yeah for sure.
Speaker 5:That's turned into many, many, many fun jobs. Yes, it has, yeah that's awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right.
Speaker 5:Do you want to?
Speaker 2:let's say you want to drop oh hey, drop that coin.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's see. Let's see what happens, okay, carmen. Oh, so, with half obviously you had jewelry handbags home. You launched Carmen Black with him, is it? You launched with just handbags, just handbags for now, yes. Yes, why handbags Dun dun, dun dun?
Speaker 4:Okay. So when it was probably two years before I actually made the announcement public that I was closing half United, that I knew we were likely on the track to closing the doors, and I think this is true for a lot of business owners. I think you know, you've you know here's actually interesting I always so we started half United in 09 with $200, my brother and I and I always said in a very cocky way, might I add you know, as long as God keeps opening the doors, we will keep walking through, but when I start to feel the door shut, that's when I will know it is time to close. Yeah Well, let's be honest, I never thought those doors were going to close. I would tell people, my mentors and things. You know I'm going to be doing this till I'm 80.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and very much believing it, like to my bone marrow, and so not your God not my God way down in the middle of the world With the deepest you can go, so anyways. So the doors just started closing and it was. It was a number of things. Oh my gosh, it was business. Is business, is so the Wild West?
Speaker 4:It's like anything goes and anything can go and blow like the wind in the Wild West, either direction, right, and so we we had a manufacturing partner that I just loved and loved and loved and was doing so great with, and then they sold us products that literally were defective to the degree of like 30 to $50,000 of these products. But that's cost value. And so then you take that cost and you're looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars of orders you can't fulfill and when that happens you're like, okay, well, no, I can handle this. I'm gonna pivot. I'm gonna sell more home goods. I'm gonna sell more well, not jewelry, jory was the problem. I'm gonna sell more leather bags, and it just it's like we just couldn't catch up.
Speaker 4:So, it was probably maybe a year. So that conundrum and that chaos was already happening. And so I remember, in my moment of just trying to be my strongest, I was like I'm going to a trade show, I'm gonna sell other stuff. I know what I'll do I'll set up a trade show booth and make it look like the coolest home goods store you've ever been in and I'll start to attract home goods buyers. But I thought I shouldn't bring my leather goods because this was at high point. It's a furniture market. But I thought, well, shoot, I'll bring my leather goods.
Speaker 2:Anyway, who cares, maybe women will just want them.
Speaker 4:Well, thank God I brought those leather goods because in okay, and let me just tell you guys this I was in the trade show booth. There was no traffic, like none at all, and I was actually having this moment in time and I'll say this for all you entrepreneurs that are feeling the way I'm about to say I was actually having a real mental breakdown, Like I had spent all this money. I know a lawsuit is pending. I have my number one products that sell and pay all my employees and rent and everything I don't even have to sell and legally I can't sell them. I'm standing in this booth that I've paid a lot of money for.
Speaker 4:Literally the day I got there, ants infested our booth. I'm like the wearing down of the saints, like get behind me, satan. Weird stuff kept happening, like one employee got in a wreck on the way to the show. One employee who was relieving her, her son got sick and she had to leave early. So here I am in this booth by myself, no customers, and I'm having a mental breakdown. I turn my so the booth you know it's like a U shape and you face out to talk to customers, if there were any. I remember turning my back to the opening of the booth and pretend like this is me facing the back wall, and I said God, I'm not kidding you, you have to swoop in and save me, cause I'm actually. I've never had this before. I'm having a real mental breakdown, like I cannot handle one more thing and I'm like please. And I just like was cracking. Of course the show was slow that day, whatever. The next day I come to the show and like 15 people walk up and I'm like dying for, like any customers.
Speaker 4:And I'm like, hello, welcome, yeah, and they're so cute and they're so happy and so fun, and like they just brought a light with them and I was like, and who are you guys with? Meaning, what retail store are you with? And they said, well, we're with Magnolia. And I said, thank you God.
Speaker 4:I'm like please come in, so they come in. Long story short. We I mean I followed up with that lead obviously Like, like you know, like nobody's business. And so we had a couple of meetings. Thank God I put those leather bags out because they loved all the home goods. But they said the home goods are too expensive, but these leather products, yeah, I thought thank God I brought those at the last minute. So we have these meetings. And they were like yeah, we think your leather bags are too expensive for us too.
Speaker 4:And I said, well, guys, what do you need? What do you really need? And I'm thinking I've got to do something, because this business is like cracking at it's bone marrow, it's cracking. It's cracking. It broke a little thread, must by a little thread. And so they said, well, we've got this new monogramming machine. We actually need leather products that can, like, go on the monogramming machine and are designed to be monogrammed. I said, well, why don't I design those for you? Yeah, and they're like really, would you? Because we have a really short staff design team and we need help.
Speaker 4:And I said, absolutely, point is and what was the original, the original question? Here's my punchline why did you go with handbags? Here's why I went with handbags, and here's why I went with Carmen Black. So I thought to myself all right, I can see what's coming. I see the writing on the wall the doors are officially closing, but God is opening a new door.
Speaker 4:So I've got a real pivot point here. Am I going to guts up and am I going to take this, knowing that it means I leave half united behind, I cannot take my employees with me because I can't afford it with this new brand yet. But is this the moment that I need to say OK, we've got to close one chapter in order to allow another one to open? And I decided all right, that's what I'm going to do. I gutst up. We closed half united. And the reason it's called Carmen Black is obviously because I needed a new brand name and I thought well, designer handbags usually are the designer's name, we'll go with that. I have an easy to remember name and which is why I'm not calling it my married name is Rosinski.
Speaker 3:So we can't be.
Speaker 4:Oh my god, this is Carmen Rosinski.
Speaker 5:It's so beautiful. Did you get your Rosinski bag? Yeah?
Speaker 4:which no offense to Rosinski, it's a great name and his family's awesome. But Carmen Black's just easier, and so I thought there it is, we'll call it Carmen Black. And Magnolia needs handbags. They'll be my singular customer and this is how I'm going to start, and so that's what it is. Very cool.
Speaker 1:I love it. I do remember it because obviously Luke and Christian are really good friends and we've all been friend acquaintances for a long time. But I guess I don't know if we were here or there, but when I saw Yall's post Yall were closing half I was like oh no.
Speaker 3:Not from like a what happened, what?
Speaker 1:No, but I was just like because it's something you'd built for so long. But I know, obviously, not knowing the details, I was still like that decision, no matter what had happened, had to have been a crazy tough decision.
Speaker 4:Well, and I like to share even deeper than that.
Speaker 4:I like to share the even deeper truth, and I especially take moments like this because I am assuming business people and entrepreneurs will likely watch this podcast. Yes, it was a manufacturing major issue. It turned into a lawsuit, which I've never really made public, but not because I'm hiding it. The manufacturer that sold the defective products actually sued us. We didn't sue them Because when I called and said, guys, I can't sell this, therefore I can't pay for this, I'll work with you. You can just give us replacement products and then, of course, I'll pay for anything that actually is sellable. But if someone sells you, what is it Not coddled milk? What is it when milk goes bad? It's spoiled.
Speaker 4:Yeah when someone sells you spoiled milk. You don't have milk to sell, so I can't pay you for spoiled milk you sold me Explain what was happening.
Speaker 5:The jewelry just sitting on the counter, it would tarnish, it would tarnish it and it would turn people's like green and brown and like.
Speaker 4:Nordstrom. Nordstrom called. I mean buyers from all over the country, my staff. I have never seen people more stressed out and I'm trying to remain calm and I'm not remaining calm and it was a mess. But I'll be honest, I look back and I really think that sometimes in life and in business, I really think what we have to face and especially as believers, I think what we really have to face is I know now that I definitely think entrepreneurship is something that absolutely it's like God is like the ultimate creator. If we want to go so far and be so bold to say he's the ultimate entrepreneur, like that's so cheesy.
Speaker 4:I'm not going to say that he is I mean that sounds so American, so I'm not even going there. But I'll say obviously he's the ultimate creator and entrepreneur is, by nature, creators. I think we have to remember that God cares more about us than he ever does about our businesses. He cares about the people in the businesses more than he does about their jobs in the businesses. And so for me, I became actually obsessed with the idea of growing a business that did good, more than I became obsessed at a certain point with A God and B the doing good, and I justified it by saying yeah, yeah, yeah, but if we grow and we keep growing, we can do more good. Meanwhile, the growth and what it takes to grow a company to a certain size, I definitely think it can be done in balance with doing good and helping and giving back and all of this. But it also can very easily take the place of having the bandwidth, just as a singular person or a team, to also do the good. And that is my story.
Speaker 4:And I think what happened was God gave me some very poignant moments to say literally would bring someone into my office to say, if you don't turn around, I don't know.
Speaker 4:A stranger came into my office and said to me look, I don't know if you have $1,000 or $10,000 to give away, but God's telling me that he's going to withhold from you until you give it. Well, in our bank account at that time we had $7,000 to give to feed kids. Well, wouldn't you think a normal sane person, five minutes later, would go give it? Yeah, it took me about a year, a year of insanity because I kept justifying well, I need that money because if this business deal doesn't go well, we're going to need that little seven grand, like cry me a river. So it's like I just clung and cleaved to this idea of growth, growth, growth to do good, and then the good, just as a result, took a backseat. And so I just feel like God and it was that, plus another massive business deal that he gave me that we just like shortchanged our giving in order to grow. And I think at some point he just said you know what? Ok, here's the deal, sister, you've done.
Speaker 5:I don't care who knows about you.
Speaker 4:I don't care what you've designed, I care more about you than I do what you're building, because clearly you can't handle it. So where I'm at now is I feel like with Magnolia, the last thing I ever want anyone to think about me is, oh, she gets all the cool deals, or oh, that's so cool, or blah, blah, blah. What I want them to see is by the grace of God, I am getting a second chance. Why it gets to be Chip and Joanna Gaines, I don't know.
Speaker 4:But I'll take it, but I'll take it and God as my witness. I will do everything to never go back to that psychotic success obsessed person I was, and I feel so bad for staff members and my brother because they all got the brunt of that crazed woman that just wanted to be the next somebody. Now I'm like don't nobody know me, I don't care you know, I'm just at this place where I'm like whatever God wants, yeah.
Speaker 5:I think that happens in business a lot, though. You get the signs that it's time to close the doors or to change, and you take it as I'm failing Instead of thinking there's something greater for me. Yeah.
Speaker 5:There's something more that's coming along. It was like I was hired to be the head designer for a major architectural firm and I was. I mean, this was the top of the top and I was like so excited. We did our interview, we did our walkthrough, we did everything that we needed to do for it. I did everything I could to be hired by this firm and they hired me and it was so incredible. I thought I had just been working at the movie studio. I took a couple of years off from design and I want to tell you it was in an accounting and should never have been. Anyway, I ended up getting this amazing job with Michael Moorfield, who was the most amazing architect in Wilmington at the time, and I was like I'd let the studio know I will not be back. Blah, blah, blah. I was like, oh my god, I'm going to get the pinout, I'm going to get it.
Speaker 5:And two days later I get a call and they said Sherry, we need to talk to you and I can remember it. I guess it about my promotion. Did my pay go up, my pay rate? As they said, we just went Because, as when we did our walkthrough, I asked them. I said, well, how many projects do you have going on right now? Because we had just walked through this one house and landfall that he had designed. Amazing, everything's custom, everything was top of the line, no cardboard baseboards like they build with now.
Speaker 4:It was incredible. Certainly you didn't just point.
Speaker 1:Oh, these are rubber, these are rubber, these are rubber.
Speaker 3:These are like. These are even cheap. Cardboards are not even garbage.
Speaker 5:These are better than that, Well as we were walking through and I am very I pay attention to details, except for these nails. But as we were walking through, I was looking down the hallway in this one house that they did and one of the wall scouts says was all. And she says, no, I've measured every one of them. I said, well, one's all. And she goes oh my gosh. So she went back and measured it was all 5 quarter inch, which you'd say. How could you see a quarter of an inch? Well, when you're looking at a straight line and there's a quarter of an inch off, that's actually kind of a lot. Yeah, it is actually. Anyway. So two days later because let me back up so when we went back to the office we were talking about that and I said, well, how many jobs do you have going on? And she goes. You know, I don't even know. She calls Michael. He was upstairs on the top floor of the building down on the corner in Wilmington, the White Tull Building on the market in front. Oh, cool.
Speaker 5:Yeah, and their office. They had the top two floors and I was. So she calls Michael and he goes oh my god, I don't know. And so they started naming off all the projects that they have going on. And that weekend they were going to Charleston to work on something. And so they were gone Thursday, friday, saturday, sunday and on Monday they called me at 8 o'clock in the morning and said they need to talk to me. And they called me and they said look, you are the best person for the job.
Speaker 5:But after we went over all the projects that we have going on, that we didn't realize we have 13 at one time, which is insane. That's a lot. It doesn't sound like much, but in design that is a lot of projects and it takes a huge staff to make those work. They go. Since we, after we went over all the projects that we have going on, we realized we really don't have the money to start to add another aspect to our business with having our own private designer, interior designer, and we're not gonna be able to hire you. We can't keep you.
Speaker 5:I was hired for two days. I was two days. I can remember walking down Front Street. There was no cars in the street and I just raised my hands and I just started weeping. I went why, god? Like, why is this happening? I have two children. I just was hired and lost the biggest job I had ever. At the time that I thought I had made it and when they said it was that I didn't have it anymore. I didn't have a job. I didn't have a project going on. I just gave up the movie studio and I was just like what is going on? I went home and I laid in my bed and I just put my head in the pillow and I was just like, what are you doing to me? Like, and two days later somebody calls me and I have a job. So, people, that if you're facing a problem or you feel like your business, you knowing your gut when it's not right, it's like a relationship when you're in the wrong relationship.
Speaker 4:This is a really exciting opportunity, but this really isn't the job I need. You knew, I knew, after we all know.
Speaker 5:Yeah, this one girl, because there was a little more to it than just that. And yes, but I still was baffled.
Speaker 4:We're all see and this is what we do. We all do this where we look from our little tiny human perspective, you know, and when things don't work out, that I really want, oh, it is this thing that is like a recurring theme in my life. It's like I said this I have this little wisdom Wednesday thing. I'm doing that I can't. Oh well, you're doing great at them.
Speaker 1:I do watch them. Well, don't say that out loud. Well, I just feel so.
Speaker 4:I just it's just that I feel so exposed.
Speaker 5:I'm like my God, that's a good thing you need to be Like this.
Speaker 4:It's like we're here, we're recording later. This will go out in the world and like people may or may not listen, but like that I'm like my God, like people are just either judging me or not, or can't work about that.
Speaker 2:I know I know.
Speaker 4:So this is my point what it is. This recurring theme is, you know, work as hard as you can, do as much as you can, but then release the outcome and so, like in the case of yours, you did the interview, you did a great job, you really put yourself out there Deep down. I know you knew that was not the gig for you. But it's like we justify, like I did in business. We justify and say, but if I don't have this, what would I have? And that's really trying to control the outcome literally is like doomsday. It's your doomsday.
Speaker 5:Well, I will tell you this if you're in business and you're having anxiety attacks every day and you are feeling so much like pressure and you're scared to death of how are you gonna pay your payroll this week, or taxes, I mean, all I do is take taxes. I'm like how did they get away with?
Speaker 3:taxes.
Speaker 5:I need those loopholes. My account is so by the book. I'm like can't you cheat on something?
Speaker 3:It's a great thing. I counted the feminine product as my deduction because my girlfriend does.
Speaker 5:I don't know how she does it, she goes. No, that's not really legal.
Speaker 1:I'm like part of my wardrobe.
Speaker 5:I know I'm like hello, I know I'm like, can I just count all my clothes? I wear a uniform, I wear clothes to work.
Speaker 1:I like to check on.
Speaker 5:But I will say, if you anybody out there in YouTube land and wherever this is going if you are at a point in your business where you're having anxiety attacks every day or you're stressing to the max, there's a change coming, and the sooner you do it let go of it.
Speaker 5:It's a freer you're gonna be. When you continue to fight against it and try to make it work, you're gonna have more and more and more problems. It's like here's where faith comes in. And this is what I used to tell Carmen when she was younger, because I mean, she's always been a dreamer and very successful at most everything she does. But I would say to her go to the cliff and don't stand there and try to figure it out. Jump, just jump. And I said, and once you jump, you're either going to fly or you're gonna fall. And it's like you can choose, spread your wings. And I mean I've told her that since look, since she was four.
Speaker 4:It's a good jump. Yeah, she has to always her praise for that it's like.
Speaker 5:but if somebody out there is feeling this in their life and in their business, something's supposed to change, Certainly it's the sign of things to come. Yeah, let it go. Let something great happen for you. I promise you.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think sometimes, you know, it's like the ball of yarn though is so tangled that, yeah, we know it's time to untangle it. But it's so complex, the complexities to make massive changes and pivots in business, I mean, my God, it does take almost just like facing closure to do it, because it's a ton of work just to undo the stuff you know.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, once you do it. But once you do it, so great, you're so free.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and I love going to work now. Like I have one employee. She's 15. I love it. She skipped two grade levels. My girl is the smartest person in the room at all times, so we need to keep an eye out for her.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, her name is.
Speaker 4:Amira, she's so brilliant. I have one employee now and she's 15 and I'm loving my life. Yeah, it's just really really nice. Yeah, it should feel that way, yeah it really should.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. That was packed full of so much good advice. I don't even know who's up to drop. Are you up? I think you're up. Cool. Second to last one. You better keep it on the board. I don't know my price. Oh my God, oh my God, oh, this is fun, this is fun, but we are so fun. But y'all are also doing a really good job at answering business related stuff and the fun questions.
Speaker 4:I mean, we're just bringing it right back around. You are, y'all are like you don't even need number one, I don't even need those.
Speaker 5:We just put it in with number two. That sounds gross.
Speaker 1:Okay, y'all Ooh.
Speaker 4:Wow, that's great.
Speaker 5:That was brilliant.
Speaker 4:Thanks mom.
Speaker 1:Thanks, mom, cool, you're welcome. Okay, you both get to answer this. Okay, this is gonna be fun Again. I disclaimer this question every single time with. This is on the internet.
Speaker 3:Okay, okay.
Speaker 1:What is your spiciest opinion that most people disagree with?
Speaker 4:Oh Lord, do we have to give her this? Oh, please.
Speaker 5:Sheryls please, but you go first, I don't even my spiciest opinion.
Speaker 4:I'm such a moderate, oh my God. Okay, so this can go any direction.
Speaker 3:And.
Speaker 1:I'm not Okay so mine was I don't think I'm cool with the fact we landed on the moon. I don't think we walked on the moon Like that was my example, are you serious? But then we went to this long debate about how this was like these people's lives work, and then I felt bad, so then I retracted it. Right? But someone also said a hot dog is actually a taco, so like you can go any direction with us. Oh, you know, we never stay shallow.
Speaker 4:We always go so deep.
Speaker 5:I have never thought of the hot dog as a taco.
Speaker 4:And no one in.
Speaker 5:Mexico has a taco Hello. Hello and yeah that was a slap of the little taco Wow.
Speaker 3:I never wanted to go.
Speaker 5:Oh my God, oh my God, that didn't think it, that's taking taco. Here you go, a taco.
Speaker 4:Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, you better Jeez.
Speaker 1:So what is after that? What's your spiciest opinion? My spiciest opinion oh your hot tag.
Speaker 4:That's my spicy. I know yours is political. I can't go there, my girl just loves to talk about politics. Um, I don't know. I'm trying to. I'm like Uncle Jesse was the hottest. I mean, we all know Uncle Jesse was the hottest, so there's no oh, full house. Yeah, let's think.
Speaker 1:It's not spicy.
Speaker 3:It's spicy, but it's not like a hot tag.
Speaker 5:No, that's not, it's boring.
Speaker 4:See, this is why I'm not good at parties. Oh no, you're great at parties.
Speaker 5:No people will be like what's up. Is there another question?
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's do a different one. Yeah, we can draw. If y'all learned how to have no spicy opinions, that's OK.
Speaker 5:I do, but I can't even think of one. Ok, well, that's, ok, that's.
Speaker 1:OK, ok, this is a new question for season two. So what is your death row meal, like the last meal you're ever going to eat? What are you eating?
Speaker 5:Oh, oh, I actually may have had it the other night.
Speaker 2:Ooh OK, Besides a taco.
Speaker 5:Um, in Nashville we went to this Peruvian restaurant and they made a ceviche, but it was they. Instead of chopped up fish or whatever, it was sliced like sashimi and it was in a lemon passion fruit mint glaze it was I could have. I literally was sneaking to lick the plate. It was so good that or something from India for me. I love India, I could do something like that.
Speaker 4:I mean, if it's death row and they'll give us anything, my god, let's go Shoot.
Speaker 5:why did we just go. My god, I'm out.
Speaker 4:No no, no, you want to have your last, so I would do that. Sushi crème brûlée. I love my god carrot cake, I mean carrot cake. Yeah, I love a good carrot cake A wedding cake. Man, I know so your spiceiest opinion might be that you would want carrot cake on top of that. Yeah, wow, it's your last meal. Probably she said the last meal.
Speaker 5:I mean, why even eat? I mean, if you know you're going to die, right then.
Speaker 3:It's kind of true.
Speaker 5:Yeah. I mean what if you when they ever how you're dying.
Speaker 4:It makes your no no, let's just, we didn't go that. Yeah, see, that's my spicy. Ok, yeah, ok. So, just a lot of great food.
Speaker 1:Just all of this, or none, or nothing at all, or nothing at all.
Speaker 5:Yeah, let's just go clean.
Speaker 1:All right, last one. We'll see if we get a fun one or a business one.
Speaker 5:OK, I'm going to go.
Speaker 1:Two, five. Oh my god.
Speaker 4:You guys are just fine.
Speaker 5:This has ever happened?
Speaker 1:I don't think so.
Speaker 5:Oh my god, first double, first in all twos.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, my freaking angel. If only it was episode 22. But it's not.
Speaker 5:Or 222.
Speaker 1:Oh that would be on a podcast.
Speaker 5:We have to be on your 222nd podcast.
Speaker 3:I will do my best to remember that I don't know when that's going to be. Yeah, we'll call you back.
Speaker 1:OK, this might be a fun one. If you weren't in your current line of work, what would you do instead?
Speaker 4:It's a toss up for me. I would either work in fashion OK, ok, but see, the thing is, I can't imagine myself like working at Vogue. Like I don't know that I'd want to like, but I'd want to do something, probably in fashion Don't know what that would be or I think I would be a teacher. Yeah, I think I'm like born to teach and I love children. That's awesome. I love them.
Speaker 1:My again five-year-old, I think it was actually yesterday. He goes mom, why didn't you want to be a teacher when you grew up? And I was like, hmm well, because I didn't want to, because it's really really hard to teach.
Speaker 4:I don't like other children Because.
Speaker 5:I really love you and I love your friends, but no.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I know. Yeah, I sent you to school, sweet boy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I'm glad there are good teachers out there For sure, ok.
Speaker 5:What about you? Ok, y'all are going to laugh. If I had not and I knew it before I wanted to be a designer. But if I had not been a designer, I was going to be one of two things either a vet or in heavy equipment.
Speaker 1:Nice.
Speaker 5:I wanted to own like big rig Excavators.
Speaker 1:Yeah, actually, yeah, like the monster, monster ones.
Speaker 5:Like to build skyscrapers. I wanted to own the company with heavy equipment. Yeah, I could see you do.
Speaker 4:OK, actually I retract and I don't retract mine, I still keep mine Because I like this. The other day I was at Mott's channel watching the guys sling fish and bring the fish off the boat and actually I had this weird moment where I thought I can do that. So I'm like you A fisherman.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I'm actually a serious tomboy People don't know, and I'm a risk taker yeah she's not a tomboy at all. Well, I'm a risk taker, like I've jumped off bridges, and so yeah, but you're not like you don't, but I would like a good Crane. Yeah, to drive a power Crane. You would love that.
Speaker 4:Now I would totally could you not see me working at Mott's channel?
Speaker 5:And your way.
Speaker 4:I found myself paying for like seabass, like Daydream it was. I was blazed eyes like I wish I was doing that.
Speaker 5:I want to be that. They're scaling that.
Speaker 4:I'm not kidding. I want to like go fish, bring them in, cut them, gut them, put them on ice, sell them like I just had this.
Speaker 1:It just both are both really.
Speaker 4:Yeah, maybe give me your retirement job, I know because then the second time I went, there was a girl behind the yeah counter. I'm like do you, do you do what they do? And she was like yeah, I was like that's so cool. I was like are you the only girl that works here? And she was like yeah, I am. I was like you're so cool.
Speaker 1:So, one day? Yes, it would be my dream. Yeah, I love it. I love shucking oysters. I could do that all day.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I could eat them.
Speaker 1:Cool. Well, since we hit all twos and we didn't do any specific business questions before we wrap, obviously the retail, you had the retail space itself for half and then, but now it is, it's together.
Speaker 3:Together. It's Carmen black.
Speaker 4:Sherry black yes it is.
Speaker 1:So what I guess let's dive into that little is that its own business separate from, or I know they kind of probably Intermeagol funny, like it's it's okay, no it's, it's your, both of your storefronts but I mean it's yeah, it's a mix and yeah
Speaker 5:and last year I started designing furniture cool and but huge Balinese furniture, like a Heavy wood furniture, but beautiful, it's like really beautiful. So we, I think we kind of want our store to be mixed. It's kind of a little bit of both of us. So we are still having handbags, home goods of course. Yeah, my son is a builder too. I mean, he's the best drummer in the world too, but he also Builds furniture. So we're good. I think part of our store will have some Furniture in it that we make, but specialty pieces. And so there's a store in Charleston or it's either charts. The Charles center in New York is owl something, and they have like one of a kind like super special pieces that People that really are serious collectors would want to Buy because they were the only people that could afford it. So I want Some pieces like that. But then fun stuff in our store too, like we have great books. Well, we have great candles.
Speaker 5:We have hot airy yeah we have great baskets, handbags, really incredible jewelry, but we are gonna mix it with drugs, like we're working with people in India right now To hopefully start importing our own furniture and rugs. Yeah, and so I think it's just gonna. We'll be like a little Barney, yeah.
Speaker 1:Let's bring Barney's back.
Speaker 4:Oh, that was the saddest day of my life, I know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, no.
Speaker 4:I think I like to think of it like anything that I Would want to own, yeah, like if I would want it.
Speaker 5:art and art, we will we will sell it.
Speaker 4:Yeah and I am hoping the things that I really wish I owned. Other women feel that way too. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, before we wrap, wrap is I guess we have a few basic questions. One what can people expect from you? Next, Amazing.
Speaker 4:So from Carmen black, the brand, people can expect new handbag designs. I'm working on that right now and I'm really excited about what's coming the ones you have also like right there.
Speaker 1:They're so pretty, they're just like classic, like love, yes, yeah and actually I carry one every day and, honestly, I really love it.
Speaker 4:Yeah do you carry one?
Speaker 2:No, you don't care.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, that's happy.
Speaker 5:I did the yes, yeah, oh, and that has, we can pretend like yeah, I mean so basic.
Speaker 3:I'm designer.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 5:Oh, I'm designer.
Speaker 4:I'm also working on another brand. Oh, completely different products. My very, very low price point, super affordable, really fun, more like surf culture Influenced, it's like the more tomboy side of me is sort of coming out with this other project. So, that is a little something new people can expect. Yes, what about you?
Speaker 5:furniture yeah yeah and but furniture that's Created to fit your body and to fit your family's lifestyle. So the sofas are deep enough where your kids could cuddle up to you, and you're not following off the yeah. Yeah, and you could also take the back pillows off and you have a twin bed and just some really cool pieces I'm I just sent over I didn't do the drawing shit, but I sent over inspiration pictures to Christian and another friend that builds for me to oh.
Speaker 2:My god.
Speaker 5:Zalita Medina. He's like awesome. He's from Cape Verde, west Africa. I love him and and, but they are chairs that have these really tall Like arms come out of them, but they're lamps. Oh, so the court goes through the arm down through the leg of the chair. So wherever you move your chair, your lamp goes with you. That's cool. So we're working on a prototype for that soon. Yeah, that's like, and rugs and stuff is gonna be cool. Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, really cool, so love it. Um cool If you had one final thought to leave the listeners with which they're most again like business owners as well. What's your final final thought?
Speaker 4:So for me it's interesting. It's like I didn't have a. There wasn't like a good segue into this thought.
Speaker 4:Yeah, let's do it when I was on that call yesterday with all of these amazing African people in Africa. You know and remember what I, what I went into this call with. I'm going in knowing, okay, I've left this one chapter behind, I'm starting this new chapter. These people are now gonna know me only from this new chapter. That's something I've never experienced in the last 15 years and and you know, I sort of have this, or I had this weightiness on me of Kind of like the truth behind gosh. I kind of did this to myself in a way.
Speaker 4:Well, so I get on the call and the woman hosting it and there's probably 10 or 15 of us on the call she said you know, you have to introduce yourself where you're from and kind of like what you're doing in business now.
Speaker 4:And she said you know, remind, remember, she's in Kenya, right, and she I don't even know what her business is she goes. You know, guys, I became so obsessed with success that God took my business from me and has shown me that she literally verbatim here, this woman is in another part of the world and says God has shown me that he's more concerned with me than he is with my business. And she goes. I, I Just know that God's giving me like a new chance. And now I've got to, I've got to go do something new and I'm sitting here in North Carolina and I'm like, oh my god, like we're all the same. So I would just say, if you're one of those business owners that has become so obsessed with keeping it all together, growing it at the same time, pleasing everyone you know, saving face with your consumers, I would just say you're not alone in that. It's it.
Speaker 2:I didn't know until yesterday when even another person on the call was like wait me too.
Speaker 4:I'm like there's three of us out of ten, like that's 30%, yeah, yeah, but I'm like you know it's a normal thing. I would definitely encourage you to find a way out of that, muck and Meyer. But just know that you're not alone. What you're facing and going through is not Not new and you know like there is a better way. So get out of there. But just don't feel this guilt and condemnation of being in that place. You're just doing the best you can and trying really hard and you will learn a lot from this mistake that I can promise you are making.
Speaker 5:Right and stop worrying so much. Worry is a killer. Yeah, it affects your health. I was in business with two men. I had my own, we had our some brolla company. Yeah, we're supposed to turn into a multi-billion dollar business In.
Speaker 5:God clearly did not want me in that. I was having panic attacks every single day for Probably two or three years. It was, it was, it was insane. And and finally I got to the point where God spoke to me and he's like I'm taking care of you, you, there's nothing to worry about. Stop being afraid. So finally I one day, I remember I said okay, god, and this, this has happened to me when I was Many, several years ago. There was something I was facing and I said to God I don't know how to give this to you, so I need you to take it from me. Yeah, and when I said that, I felt I could feel it was like a million pounds Just coming literally out of my body. Because we carry that weight, when we live in fear, when we're always afraid our business is gonna fail or we're not doing the right thing, or we're not enough, or blah, blah, blah. If you will stop worrying and you really do give it to God a 100%. Yeah, that's scary. Trust me, I don't need your help. I made you.
Speaker 5:When you really do, give it to him and you can feel when you're starting to go back off Of course into that fear but when you really do, give it to him and let God take care of it, and it's just like it's not to say don't do your due diligence and don't pay. Make sure you pay your taxes, make sure you've paid your employees on time, your rent, your lease, whatever. Those things are important. But worrying does not change the situation. Yeah, it doesn't change the outcome. It doesn't change your day, it doesn't change what direction your business is going in. So, the lead, if you would just stop worrying, because a lot of Most people in business that haven't learned this lesson go through this every day and they think they're just huge failures. Well, the thing you need to do is we give it to God and when you give it to him, don't hang on to a thread. Yeah, really really him you can breathe.
Speaker 5:It's like you just your life changes, your business will change. It's like watching Carmen go through this. I mean I I feel every single pain she feels. I mean my heart. She doesn't see me in the back crying, you know, I feel every single thing she's gone through. But then I've also watched her like let go and really give it to God, and I've watched that freedom. Yeah, that happens to her, like, and that will happen to people out there that are going through the same thing, just let go let go stop the worrying Worry's not gonna get every.
Speaker 5:It's not the end of the world that you build. It's not the end of the world that it was. You didn't achieve what you thought you were going to achieve. It's not the end of the world if you didn't make as much money today as you thought you were gonna make, because you don't know, god has something planned in your life that Greater than you could ever even envision, yeah, was going to happen. I mean, there are people that their careers didn't even start till they're in their 60s and 70s.
Speaker 5:KSC hello, julia child. So many artists and famous painters didn't never had I mean, they weren't selling one painting 70. They're selling their paintings for millions of dollars. Yeah, it's like summer. Yeah, stop the worry. You don't need to worry, which I'll probably face something. This Because when you, when you don't carry that weight, there's freedom. You can breathe better. Yeah, work better, your attitudes better. It's just like. Hey God doesn't want me to have that multi-million dollar business?
Speaker 3:I don't know why no?
Speaker 5:because he's got something better react, and it really is true.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 5:Work hard, but don't worry. Yeah, yeah, be happy. Yes, I could write a song. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I think you know. Oh, I guess that is the song. Oh, yeah, Awesome. So what is the best way for people to get in touch with you? You, the store is in the cargo district. It is indeed, yes. And then the individual Brands yeah, you learn the same office?
Speaker 5:Yeah, I'm all about them.
Speaker 4:So we are across from Starling next to cheese Smith and the plant outpost. Now the cargo district is so bad.
Speaker 5:We were the first ones out there. Yeah, there's just co-works. Yeah, that was the only one.
Speaker 4:But you can email me, carmen carmen I in at Carmen black comm. So Carmen at Carmen black comm.
Speaker 5:Yeah, and I'm info at sherry black designs plural Com. Yeah, so sherry with a Y Share is why I say g are ourY.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, cool, we'll put all the links and stuff in the show notes so people can find them. But you guys, this was so fun. Yeah, this is awesome.
Speaker 5:I can't believe we only got two.
Speaker 3:I know.
Speaker 5:In 11 is my favorite number, and so I felt for sure we would get one one.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, I love it. It was all fun, but y'all did great tying it back to the biz. So Thanks for tuning in to another episode of 2k and talks brought to you by kik start collective. If you loved this episode, be sure to subscribe wherever you watch podcast and Follow kickstart collective on Instagram at kickstart collective.