"Just start" with Kelsey Eyers

Kelsey Eyers is the CEO & Founder of Sweat CBD, host of “Figuring it Out with Kelsey Eyers”, CEO & Founder of BOSSBOXX, and business mentor. Kelsey has grown multiple businesses to 6 figures and beyond in just a few years. Her company Sweat CBD has been given recognition such as “Top 10 CBD Oils”, and she has grown businesses from 4 figures to 6 figures per month in under 30 days. Kelsey’s new venture, BOSSBOXX will be bringing aspiring entrepreneurs the convenience of a full service, “business in a box”. 

Can you tell our readers about your background? 

I was born and raised in the small town of West Salem, WI. I am the firstborn and only daughter. My little brothers and I were all athletes and sports were a major foundation of our family. After graduating high school, I attended UW- La Crosse which was only about 20 minutes from where I grew up. I was on a very self-destructive path which delayed the process of finding my passion and purpose in life. Even through college, I worked 2 jobs because there has always been something so fulfilling to me about having financial freedom. After college, I knew I needed a drastic change in my life, and relocating seemed like the next step. I packed up my bags and headed to Austin, TX. While moving so far from home forced me to dig deep and get to know myself, Texas was not for me. I took my first opportunity to move on and headed west to California. California really slapped me in the face with the overwhelming cost of living and I found myself working 3 jobs, 6-7 days a week. I was filling up my schedule hoping for my passion and purpose in life to just “show up”. I had been taking anxiety medication for a good portion of my life. I always knew I hated the way it made me feel, but I never knew there were other options. After meeting my (now) husband in California, and he suggested that I try CBD to help with my anxiety. The first day I gave it a shot, I knew I had not only found the natural solution to my anxiety, but the lightbulb went off and I immediately knew I was ready to make my first leap into entrepreneurship. Fast forward 2 years and I have grown Sweat CBD into a multiple 6 figure business. Not only has Sweat CBD changed the lives of so many people, but it has sent me into a very deep discovery of myself and my skillset. I have built a 70-person affiliate team and gotten our products into nearly 150 retail locations. I have now started a podcast called “Figuring It Out with Kelsey Eyers”, where I share my own life lessons and bring on influential and successful people to share their stories. I have partnered with another eCommerce company in need of fresh eyes and a new strategy, bringing it from 4 figures per month to 6 figures per month in under 30 days. My podcast led to several people asking for guidance in business, which sparked the idea to take on a handful of business mentoring clients. Most recently, I have been working on a new project called “BOSSBOXX”, bringing aspiring entrepreneurs the convenience of a full service, “business in a box”. We are expecting to do half a million dollars in our first year. I have been able to ignite this fire inside of myself, and I am grateful beyond belief. This is just the beginning. 

What inspired you to start your business? 

I had always known I wanted to be an entrepreneur and have control of my time and finances, I had just never known how that would look. After struggling with anxiety for a good portion of my life, I was ready to take back control. The day I found Sweat CBD I felt this release of pressure off my chest that I had never felt before and I knew I had found the natural solution to every medication I had ever relied on. At that moment it also clicked that this was the first thing I could really see myself standing behind and promoting from a place of complete integrity. Sweat CBD opened so many doors for me and showed me truly what I am capable of. It has now snowballed into two new businesses and a podcast.

Where is your business based?

My business is based in CA but primarily online. Before covid-19, Sweat CBD had made it into nearly 150 retail locations across the country. The pandemic really forced us to pivot to a primarily eCommerce business. The forced focus helped us to 3x our eCommerce revenue and now it is our lead revenue generator allowing us to reach customers all over the country.

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

The most important part of starting Sweat CBD was realizing I had found something I could truly stand behind and had so much passion for because of the way it personally changed me. When it came to starting the business, the first thing I did was Google “how to start a business”. I am not too proud to admit that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Knowing nothing leads me to want to know everything and I believe that because I started from scratch, I was able to absorb anything and everything. Starting my business mentoring program and BOSSBOXX has looked much different. I now have a strategy and knowledge that has helped me expedite the process. 

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business? 

The most effective way to reach my audience and raise awareness of my business has been personal testimonials and word of mouth. In the CBD industry, we are not able to run ad’s on social media, making our referrals and testimonials the most valuable thing we have. In the thick of building Sweat CBD, I would attend 5-6 markets or pop-ups a week, standing outside for sometimes 8 hours giving samples to people passing by and educating potential customers on how my products could help them. I knew that even if I was able to find one new customer, my day was worth it.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them? 

The challenge of having little to no knowledge of how to run a business was my biggest hurdle thus far. That level of inexperience at the beginning also lead to trusting the wrong people, making huge financial mistakes, and putting my attention in all the wrong places. I overcame these mistakes by making them. I truly believe that every single one of those mistakes left me hungrier for success and created lasting knowledge for myself as an entrepreneur, that I will now be able to share with my clients.

How do you stay focused?

I stay focused on keeping my “reason” clear. I am building a life for myself and my family that brings us both freedom of time and financial freedom. When I am feeling overwhelmed, I close my eyes and picture a life where my family can work together, spend quality time together, and have no stress around finances.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition? 

Sweat CBD is different than other CBD companies because of my personal involvement in every part of the business and the dedication to consistency and quality. My business mentoring clients are not buying into a standardized package to “help their business grow”, but each client is receiving a customized plan on how to scale their business and more importantly, build their business around their life.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business? 

Our affiliate team has changed the protectory of Sweat CBD. Since we are unable to advertise on social media platforms, we have relied heavily on testimonials created by these affiliates. In April we launched the affiliate program and have grown it to 70 passionate, intelligent, driven affiliates who promote our products with their personal testimonials about our products. My podcast has been the only avenue of marketing to reach potential business mentoring clients and has proven itself to be more exposure than I would have expected.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs? 

Just start. I delayed going “all in” on my business for so long because I was so scared of things not being perfect or of failing because I was not “ready”. What I learned is that by delaying the process of failing, I was also delaying the lesson. By just starting, and going all in, you will be forced to make the mistakes early on and therefore receive a lesson early on as well.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

Favorite app: Instagram- This app has allowed so many people to turn their passions and talents into a revenue stream

Favorite blog: I am honestly not a huge blog reader but love reading and absorbing new information

Favorite book: Secrets of a Millionaire Mind- This book changed my money mindset

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

I am a big fan of Airtable for my podcast, Slack for business mentoring, and WordPress for Sweat CBD. Airtable allows me to keep my calendar for podcast social media strategy organized. Slack allows an open channel for communication between mentoring clients and me. WordPress has been the foundation for Sweat CBD since day 1 and have learned how to navigate it so well has allowed opened doors for me even beyond Sweat CBD.

Who is your business role model? Why? 

I really look up to Chris and Lori Harder. Chris’ podcast, “For The Love Of Money”, was the first podcast I had ever listened to and it encouraged me to go “all in” and start investing in myself and my business. I look up to Chris and Lori because they have leveraged their businesses to build a financially abundant life for themselves that allows them to give back in so many ways. They do an unbelievable job at finding exactly what their audience needs and bringing that to them in transformative ways. It all came full circle for me when I was recently able to interview Chris for my podcast.

How do you balance work and life? 

I have built my businesses around my life. The reason entrepreneurship is desirable to so many people is the idea of creating your own schedule and being your own boss, in order to be in control of your time. As entrepreneurs, it is easy to lose sight of that and instead of working for someone else you become a slave to the job. Whenever I am feeling an imbalance in work and life, I prioritize whatever it is that will fill up my cup. From years of experience, I now understand that unless I am taking care of myself, I will never be the business owner, mentor, or partner that I need to be.

What’s your favorite way to decompress? 

My favorite way to decompress is exercise. Having come from a very athletic family, sports or working out has been a staple in my day for my entire life. In my adult years, exercise has been my outlet after a busy day or a guaranteed way to center my thoughts before a heavily work loaded day.

What do you have planned for the next six months? 

My focus for the next 6 months is building BOSSBOXX. I have found the perfect team members and we are running full speed into building this new concept. I already am so passionate about what we are creating and I can’t wait to see this business flourish. 

How can our readers connect with you?

I am very active on social media on both my personal account (@kelsey.eyers) and my business account (@sweatcbd). You can listen to my podcast “Figuring It Out with Kelsey Eyers” on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also visit my websites: www.kelseyeyers.com, www.sweatcbd.com, and www.figuringitoutpod.com.