"Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart" with Geralyn Breig
Geralyn Breig is Founder and CEO of AnytownUSA.com https://anytownusa.com/, the first e-commerce marketplace for American-made goods, which she launched in 2018. She also hosts and produces the podcast, The American Made Marketplace. As a senior executive with Fortune 500 companies, Geralyn ran operations on five continents for leading consumer products and specialty retail brands. Today, she serves on the Boards of 1800Flowers.com Inc., Hanes Brands Inc., and Welch Foods Inc.
Can you tell our readers about your background?
I have had years of experience at the helm of omni-channel retailers, which included substantial online businesses. The most fun I had during my career was when I was creating and executing strategies to grow businesses. I’ve had the privilege of working on great teams with great brands like Godiva, Jell-O, Pepperidge Farm, and Avon, and growing them by $300 million or even $3 billion! I came up through the ranks in product marketing roles in U.S.-based businesses, and eventually, took on operating roles for international businesses.
What inspired you to start your business?
Back in 2014 in the U.S., the week that Jay-Z and Solange Knowles had their elevator fight, what was not being covered on the news were the hundreds of shoe and clothing factories being burned down in riots in Vietnam. As President of Clarks shoes at the time, I had my fall line go up in smoke. It seemed like a good time to investigate growing manufacturing here at home.
Where is your business based?
We are based in Westport, CT, about 45 miles outside of New York City.
How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?
I did a lot of research and spoke with trusted advisors, who had experience in retail, finance, and consulting to a huge online marketplace that-shall-not-be-named, to make sure this was the right idea. I found a BCG study, which says 78% of people want to buy American, but they don’t know where to find it. It was a good starting point. But that can also be like saying most Americans report they go to the gym three days a week. Oftentimes, people respond to surveys as the ideal version of themselves, not the real version. So, it took more than just reading a few reports.
I grabbed two former colleagues with merchant/buyer experience and we began traveling the country, going to trade shows and large juried craft shows, to talk to the seller community and see if an online marketplace for American-made goods was something they were interested in. They certainly were.
American makers are tired of being pushed around by large marketplace sites. They need a place where they can be seen and not price shopped next to a cheap, low-quality import. And our customers want a site that they can trust! We always say the next great marketplace will be trusted, not just huge.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?
We’ve had the most success so far with targeted, paid ads on Instagram and Facebook. Now that the press has “found” us, we are seen as a trusted source for made-in-USA product ideas/gift guides, and we are seeing our direct orders increase. Our customer file is growing all the time, and we are getting an increasing number of orders from our email campaigns.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
Being an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. Every challenge seems like a tall mountain, and then you get to the top and find there is another mountain, and another, and then another! First, we had to figure out how to build a top-quality e-commerce marketplace on a low budget. I leveraged my contacts at a board I sit on to locate an outstanding resource who has done amazing work for us. Second, I had to raise money. While I bootstrapped the initial spending, a marketplace is costly to stand-up properly. I was at the Penn Club in NYC for lunch one day and overheard a woman speaking about her business helping founders like me, hired her almost immediately, and we raised $800K. And third, I had to find a scrappy, hardworking, talented staff to join me. I tapped former colleagues and networked my way to other hires.
How do you stay focused?
Every night, before I close up my laptop, I write down my to-do list for the next day. I also keep a dynamic spreadsheet of the urgent, near-term, and long-term strategic projects for myself and my team. It all helps to make sure we are handling both the fire drills and the long-term. The days fly by. Many times, I look up and it’s 4pm and I’ve forgotten to eat!
How do you differentiate your business from the competition?
For our Buyers, we are the only e-commerce marketplace that offers products that are certified made in the USA/compliant with FTC guidelines. We offer selling by invitation only and we validate Seller identities, so we prevent fraud, fakes, and low-quality items. Our product assortment only overlaps about 20% with the mega, established sites, so we have a truly unique product offering. We offer a win-win business model for our Sellers -- a full retail margin for them and great flexibility in how they manage their business and product “shop” on our site, something other platforms don’t do. When they win, we win. We are creating a genuine community of buyers and sellers, and we add unique benefits for both groups regularly.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
The best momentum we get is when we find a “key item” and merchandise it like crazy. For example, last summer our top seller was a third-generation family business in Georgia that makes shoes and flip flops.
In Q4, we put up a wonderful Christmas ornament “shop” and they do extremely well. We also get placements in print/online gift guides for our items since we are so unique, and we get included in gift guide segments on morning news shows in top 10 markets.
What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
No matter how talented someone is, if they aren’t scrappy -- ready to roll up their sleeves and do whatever it takes the first few years -- don’t hire them. They will be miserable and won’t go the distance. Choose people you like spending time with, who have a passion for the business, and who have a “walk-through-walls-to-make-it-happen” work ethic.
What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?
Favorite App: I love TikTok. It makes me laugh out loud.
Favorite Book: It might be a cliché, but I have read Pride & Prejudice 50 times. I love a strong woman’s story!
Favorite Blog: Ours! The Talk Around AnytownUSA https://anytownusa.com/blogs/anytownusa It is like a treasure hunt, filled with the items we literally travel the USA to find, and the stories of the made-in-USA makers are incredibly inspirational.
What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?
· Shopify Plus: Our site is built with a Shopify Plus front end, so that is how we interface with customers right now.
· Avalara: Avalara is how we calculate and remit sales taxes to the many state and municipal authorities.
· Facebook/Instagram: Facebook and Instagram help us to easily spread the word about AnytownUSA.com.
· Slack: Our team works remotely quite frequently, so Slack is key for keeping us all on the same page and operating effectively. We even have a “random” channel for water-cooler talk, which is a nice way to keep the team spirit alive even when we’re in different places.
Who is your business role model? Why?
Truth -- I don’t really have one. I’m not going to make one up. But I will say that I have worked with a lot of amazing people in my career, learned a ton from each of them, and am very grateful to them.
What is your beauty routine? What are some of your favorite products?
The most fun of questions! I was very fortunate to serve as global CMO of Avon at one point in my career. In that role, the R&D team of talented, creative scientists reported to me, and I learned a lot from them. Plus, we tested our products and benchmarked against the best. Here is a list of everything I use every day. It works for me. People say I have great skin -- I owe that to my mom.
Morning:
Dove Beauty Bar, Original
Avon Anew Platinum Day Cream with Sunscreen
Clinique Pep Start Eye Cream
Benefit Browyo Conditioning Primer
Benefit Cream Gel Brow Color
Ramy Perfect Brow Wand
Elizabeth Arden Cream Eye Shadow Stylo
Elizabeth Arden High Drama Eyeliner
Avon Super Shock Mascara
Clinique Dramatically Different Lipstick
Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Lift and Firm Concealer
Giorgio Armani Face Fabric
Chanel Powder Blush
Freedom Natural Deodorant (available on AnytownUSA.com)
Loreal Ever Pure Shampoo and Conditioner
Kerastase Nutritive Magic Hair Serum
Salacia Showertime Rocks (available on AnytownUSA.com)
Evening:
Avon Anew Platinum Night Cream
Origins Anti-Aging Power Serum
How do you balance work and life?
I live the saying, “You can’t have balance every day, but you can have it across all the days.” If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my career, it’s that you cannot control everything and everyone around you. The best quote I’ve read is, “The day you die, there will be items in your inbox to do.” This means, your work is never done, and never will be done, so accept that. Turn off the job when you come home and live in the moment with those you love. Value that time. It’s both a philosophy and a way of living.
What’s your favorite way to decompress?
This is a tie between reading a book while soaking in a fragrant bath with a lit candle and going for a walk or run by the beach.
What do you have planned for the next six months?
We are serious about building a thriving maker community. Currently, we are building a suite of services of all types for our Sellers. This is really exciting and will include incredible opportunities that are only available to sellers on AnytownUSA.com.
In five years, we’d like to get everyone to “shop made-in-USA first” before jumping to buy an import. Think of it this way: You keep 67 cents in a community when you shop at a local store filled with imports. You keep the whole $1 in our communities when you buy from a maker in the USA. At AnytownUSA, we want to grow our business enough to have an impact on our communities coast-to-coast.
How can our readers connect with you?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/geralynbreig/
https://www.instagram.com/anytown_usa_/