July 26, 2026
Episode 8 - Behind the Scenes of a Real Embroidery Business — What My Day Actually Looks Like
Grab the free SOS - Stitchout guide for quick fixes for UGLY LEFT CHEST LOGOS
https://hopeyoder.myflodesk.com/guide
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Ever wondered what a real embroidery business actually looks like behind the scenes? In this episode, Hope Yoder pulls back the curtain on a real production day — from her morning routine with Joyce Meyer to running commercial machines, managing two employees, prepping for her hands-on Embroidery Profit Academy, and the unglamorous admin work nobody talks about. If you’re building an embroidery or custom apparel business, this episode shows you exactly what’s possible.
🎓 Ready to go all in? Train hands-on with Hope in her Sarasota, FL studio at Embroidery Profit Academy — Small Group or 1-2-1 Training - the small group commercial embroidery workshop that people fly in from across the country to attend. Seats are extremely limited and sell out fast. 👉 Register & read student reviews: https://hopeyoder.com/product-category/courses/in-person-workshop/
🌐Downloadable Fillable Embroidery Forms - Every business needs https://hopeyoder.com/product/emb-bundle/
🌐Instagram Made Simple Mini Course - https://hopeyoder.mykajabi.com/offers/vkdxwpoz/checkout
🌐Asana YouTube Training - https://youtu.be/9PLcLYZqIp0?si=fhhVs91vP4kKC4QI
📌 Connect with Hope: 🌐 hopeyoder.com 📸 Instagram: @hopeyoder 🎓 Courses: hopeyoder.mykajabi.com 📍 Hands-On Embroidery School in Sarasota
👥 Facebook Community: Embroidery Lounge
👥 Facebook Community: Engraving With Hope Yoder
WEBVTT
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[SPEAKER_00]: Before we dive in, I want to send you something absolutely free that I've never shared anywhere else.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's my top three fixes for ugly, left-chest logos.
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[SPEAKER_00]: These are the most common reasons why embroidery doesn't turn out great and how to fix them.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They're straight from the top questions I get asked from my embroidery profit students.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'll drop a link below in the show notes and when we're done with the show, make sure you grab it.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, let's get to it.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Hi, welcome back.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Hope Yoder, and this is the embroidery profit podcast.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I want to start today's episode by painting you a picture.
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[SPEAKER_00]: All right, some days, I walk into my shop looking absolutely flawless.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, my makeup is perfect.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My lip gloss is shining.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I have celetto heels on.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm wearing a beautiful blazer and when I walk in the door, my team is waiting for me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They clap.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Someone grabs my bag, takes my laptop.
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[SPEAKER_00]: and sets everything up just perfectly, then they hand me coffee.
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[SPEAKER_00]: A latte, my favorite.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe there's bond bonds waiting at my desk.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I glide over to my chair, put my feet up, and I am ready to run my empire.
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[SPEAKER_00]: said nobody ever.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And then my alarm goes off because you guys I was dreaming.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's really more like I show up in yoga pants.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I have tennis shoes that have ink that I spilled on them from yesterday's DTF run.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My hair probably hasn't been brushed and then I get into work.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Today, I want to take you into what a real day in my embroidery shop actually looks like not the fake Instagram version, but the real version, so pull up a chair you're coming to work with me the morning starts before I even walk in the door.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Here's something about my day that might surprise you.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't start when I walk into this shop, it starts at home.
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[SPEAKER_00]: While I'm getting ready in the morning, I either have Joyce Meyer or Faith School from Pastor Keith Moore playing in the background.
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[SPEAKER_00]: These aren't just background noises for me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They set my mindset before my day even begins, so that by the time I walk into the door, I've already had a few minutes of something that grounds me, inspires me, and more importantly reminds me why I do what I do.
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[SPEAKER_00]: When I'm in the shop alone, which does happen sometimes, I'll listen to business and coaching podcasts or I'll put Joyce back on.
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[SPEAKER_00]: When the whole team is here, it's a different story.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We turn on music.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's either contemporary Christian or country.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We alternate and nobody fights about it.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But when the speaker dies, it's genuinely sad.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The whole energy in the building shifts.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We love having music on while we're working.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now, my arrival time into the shop varies.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Some days, I could be there at 7 a.m. and some days, it's 9 a.m.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It depends on what's going on that day, what's due, what machines I need to get running, that depends on when I come in.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My team always arrives at 9 a.m., but the first thing I do every single day before I sit down at my desk before I do anything else when I'm at the shop is this, I open a sauna.
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[SPEAKER_00]: A-S-A-N-A.
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[SPEAKER_00]: If you've never heard of a sauna, I have a YouTube video about how I use it, and I'll link that in the show notes below.
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[SPEAKER_00]: A sauna is our production management tool.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I should say, depending on when you're listening to it, it's our current production management tool.
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[SPEAKER_00]: all of our orders and our jobs live in a sauna.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I have four production columns because we do four services.
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[SPEAKER_00]: One is for embroidery, one is for DTF transfers, one is for UV printer, and one is for laser engraving and laser job.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Every single order that we have gets placed in a specific column and assign to a team member and it also has a due date.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And then every file, whether it's an embroidery file, a laser file, a DTF or a print file, it's uploaded into that job task, at least the night before they're ready to start that job.
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[SPEAKER_00]: the day doesn't start until a sauna is checked.
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[SPEAKER_00]: That's the rule.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And my team members that are on a sauna know that when they come in, they check email and then they check a sauna and then usually we have a short meeting to go over what the day looks like.
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[SPEAKER_00]: If nobody's handing me coffee, it's more like I'm handing them coffee saying take a seat and let's go over the day's task.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now you guys, if you're listening to me and you're probably going to be looking up a sauna, but hey, stay with me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You can look that up later.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'll link that in the show notes as well.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But you don't need to use a sauna specifically.
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[SPEAKER_00]: but if you're building a real business or your goal is to build a real business, you're gonna need something that tells you and your possible future team exactly what needs to happen that day.
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[SPEAKER_00]: That system, however simple it is, it's what I think separates a hobby from a business.
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[SPEAKER_00]: a little more about Asana.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Asana is absolutely free and while it's not really a CRM, it's really served as well for several years.
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[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, if you're a solo entrepreneur and you work alone, Asana can help you so much.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I'm not affiliated with them.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It sounds like I am.
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[SPEAKER_00]: This is just the honest truth of how a sauna has saved us so much chaos.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But you guys, you could just use a simple notebook.
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[SPEAKER_00]: In the beginning, I started out with
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[SPEAKER_00]: a palm pilot.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
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[SPEAKER_00]: That's dating me.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I know.
06:20.448 --> 06:29.036
[SPEAKER_00]: Then I went to paper and I had so many Franklin Cubby folders and notebooks and leather and it was like a cult following.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I collected those.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I purchased those when I had extra money.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I had all those three ring binder inserts.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And then I moved to the big happy planner.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It could just be a legal pad.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't matter what it is.
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[SPEAKER_00]: but you need to have one place and I want to stress one place only where you write out all the action tasks that need to be performed that day.
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[SPEAKER_00]: All right, let's move on and let's meet my team.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I have two part-time employees and they have completely different roles.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My first employee is dedicated entirely to running our commercial embroidery machines.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Every day she hoops, she stitches, she cleans the backs, she removes the stabilizer, she folds the garment, she bags them and puts the QR codes for a Google review and sets them out to be picked up.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She doesn't interact with the clients, she doesn't talk to the walkins, she just runs production,
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[SPEAKER_00]: and she's exceptional at it.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Having someone I trust completely on those machines means I'm not watching every stitch.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She's got it and I can do something else.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My second employee does our DTF transfers.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She presses the shirts.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She answers the phone.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She takes leads.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She does follow up call.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She handles some of my admin tasks.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm going to be training her on the laser.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She drops off samples to prospective clients.
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[SPEAKER_00]: She's essentially my right hand outside of running the machines.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Here's what I want you to understand about hiring.
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[SPEAKER_00]: If you're thinking, that's great.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Hope you have employees.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have employees when does that step come?
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[SPEAKER_00]: Well, hiring employee, it's not really about having help.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's more about buying back your time as the owner.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And the trick, the most important thing that people miss, myself included when I hired my first employee, is knowing what I need to do with my time that I just bought back.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's like having someone clean your house.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I know for years, I really wanted to have someone help me at home.
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[SPEAKER_00]: really honestly you guys if you're a woman listening maybe you can relate to this.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I felt kind of like a loser because I couldn't keep my house clean the way I wanted to and I wanted help but I was a little bit embarrassed like I didn't want my mother-in-law to know I had someone helped me clean my house.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But when we decided to pay someone to help us, clean our house, what that really meant was, I wasn't a loser, I was actually smart because I was buying back my time.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My time as the owner of the company to do tasks that make my business more money, while I help support someone else's business.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Here's my ideal position in my own company.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now notice I said ideal, honestly, I'm not there yet.
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[SPEAKER_00]: As the owner of the company, I want my job to be this.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to press shirts or run a machine, even though I enjoy those tasks.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I want my job to be like it was in the very beginning.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I want to be the visionary, the one to grow the company, the one to find new clients to build revenue streams.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I want to be the one to be right here with you on this podcast.
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[SPEAKER_00]: That's what I'm supposed to be doing with my time as the owner.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And I can only do that because someone else is helping handle production.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But in all honesty, I am not 100% there yet.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I still run some of the machines, I still answer the phone, I still meet with new clients, and I do most of the design work.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My goal is to get back into that visionary role where I can grow my business while my staff run my daily operation.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's the goal and each day I tell myself, especially those frustrating days, when I feel like I didn't get anything done, that I'm working towards achieving that goal one day and one stitch at a time.
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[SPEAKER_00]: If you're listening and you're doing everything yourself right now.
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[SPEAKER_00]: that's exactly where I started.
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[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, it's where we all start.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And I want you to see your first higher, not as an expense, but as the investment that unlocks the next level of your business.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And you guys don't fret now, when the time is right to hire someone,
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[SPEAKER_00]: you'll know and if you have a partner or spouse that's helping you with your business, they'll know too.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So just hang tight, keep doing what you're doing, keep growing that vision into your opportunity where you can buy back your time and grow your business.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now you're in the shop with me and that's our daily day-to-day Monday through Friday.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I don't usually work on the weekends, I work Monday through Friday, but some weeks are a little different.
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[SPEAKER_00]: These are my Academy weeks.
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[SPEAKER_00]: This is the behind-the-scenes that you guys never see.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Several times a year, I opened my shop up, and I transformed it into something entirely different.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And it's called the Emberdry Profit Academy.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Actually, it's what I named the podcast after, because as I teach all the students who come through our shop, there's so much more that I just don't have time to talk about, and that's my vision for this Emberdry Profit podcast.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So on some weeks, my shop isn't daily production.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's about opening it up to new students for the embroidery profit academy weekend.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My events for this embroidery profit academy run Friday.
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[SPEAKER_00]: through Sunday.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's a small group.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Very intimate hands-on.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Everybody's on my real machines making real products doing commercial embroidery.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But before that magic happens, you guys there's a Thursday.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Thursday is the Deep Clean Day, and if you've ever listened to Joyce Meyer tell her story about the hot dog cookout.
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[SPEAKER_00]: This is the story in real life of what my Thursdays look like before I welcome you guys into the studio.
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[SPEAKER_00]: you've never heard Joyce Meyer, this is her story and every time I hear it, I can relate and I bet you can too.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So Joyce is talking with a group of friends after church and she's saying, hey, let's have you guys over.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be a real simple cookout, you know, hot dogs, easy casual.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And then later her brain kicks in.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Actually, maybe I should do chicken.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Wait, no,
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[SPEAKER_00]: But if we're going to do steak, we need the right patio furniture, and if we're getting new furniture, wow, we should pressure wash the back deck, maybe the whole house.
13:34.738 --> 13:40.259
[SPEAKER_00]: And she goes on and on telling all these things that we crazy woman get in our head that need to be done.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And then she jokingly says, and before the guest even arrived for the simple cookout that basically has cost us way too much money and stress, she jokingly says, before they even get
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[SPEAKER_00]: Well that's exactly what my Thursday looks like before the Academy event.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I don't hate anyone, but I am doing crazy things that I don't do on a weekly basis.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We start cleaning and suddenly we're touching things that haven't been cleaned or touched in months and then I start thinking, why did I schedule this event?
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's not all glamorous.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of behind-the-scenes things
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[SPEAKER_00]: everything that they need for the three-day hands-on training gets done by Thursday.
14:29.835 --> 14:31.356
[SPEAKER_00]: I make the USB sticks up.
14:31.376 --> 14:37.179
[SPEAKER_00]: I have a lot of training videos and each stick takes at least 20 minutes to copy and paste.
14:37.700 --> 14:43.383
[SPEAKER_00]: It's methodical, it's detailed, and honestly I was joking when I said I hate everyone.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Every single minute is worth it because then the students arrive.
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[SPEAKER_00]: and everything changes for me.
14:52.329 --> 14:58.912
[SPEAKER_00]: The spark I feel watching someone in Brutor, they're very first left chess polo on a commercial machine.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Watching the moment when something clicks, I can see it in their eyes.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Even if my role is a very small part of the journey, you guys, I know this is what I'm called to do.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And one day, when I'm gone and I'm no longer here on this earth, I'll know that I help someone build something real.
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[SPEAKER_00]: That's my legacy and that's why I do what I do.
15:25.771 --> 15:34.778
[SPEAKER_00]: Now I'll also tell you that after the three days of teaching Academy while it's extremely rewarding for me and for the students,
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[SPEAKER_00]: And I've learned to protect my Mondays.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Monday, after an Academy event is my day of rest.
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[SPEAKER_00]: This has become non-negotiable.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My last Academy a few weeks ago, I had the foresight to schedule a 90-minute massage at Massage NV,
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[SPEAKER_00]: on Monday afternoon.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Woo!
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[SPEAKER_00]: This needs to become my routine because it was glorious and I can't recommend it enough.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You guys make sure that you're treating yourself and taking care of yourself.
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[SPEAKER_00]: If you've ever thought about coming to one of my embroidery prophet academies, I'll leave the link below in the show notes.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I only offer this a few times a year, based on my personal schedule.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's a very small group and it fills up fast.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So when we're done with this episode, take a look and see if it's a good fit for you.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now let me go back to my shop.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Let me paint you the real picture of what our shop feels and looks like on a regular production day.
16:40.608 --> 16:43.049
[SPEAKER_00]: there's music always.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Contemporary Christian or country, we take turns controlling the speaker.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And when that speaker dies, it's genuinely a sad moment.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I always notice the energy and the room shifts.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes we just don't move as fast, so music really helps us.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So if you walk in, you'll hear music.
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[SPEAKER_00]: There's also a lot of laughing.
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[SPEAKER_00]: and there's a lot of quiet.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Both are good.
17:08.177 --> 17:13.440
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes machines are running, our heads are down and everyone's super focused on their task.
17:14.100 --> 17:19.324
[SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes someone says something ridiculously funny and we all stop and laugh.
17:20.427 --> 17:28.049
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, the phone rings not very often because we're more of an online and an in-person business, but the phone does ring.
17:28.630 --> 17:30.530
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we stop to answer it.
17:30.630 --> 17:33.131
[SPEAKER_00]: But here's my pet peeve.
17:33.771 --> 17:35.132
[SPEAKER_00]: At least once a day.
17:35.972 --> 17:46.796
[SPEAKER_00]: Usually three times a day, a digitizing sales person who doesn't speak English calls and interrupts our day offering us free digitizing.
17:47.296 --> 17:50.997
[SPEAKER_00]: We usually hang up every time this is so annoying to me.
17:51.158 --> 17:56.419
[SPEAKER_00]: I know they have a job to do, but I didn't ask them to call me and I'm right in the middle of something.
17:56.900 --> 17:57.300
[SPEAKER_00]: And so,
17:58.180 --> 17:59.501
[SPEAKER_00]: it's kind of become a joke.
17:59.701 --> 18:09.890
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, a coworker of mine told me one day when I was out on the road teaching, I came back in the phone rang and I heard her saying some really weird stuff on the phone.
18:09.930 --> 18:11.151
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, who was that?
18:11.711 --> 18:19.337
[SPEAKER_00]: And she says to me, okay, I have come up with a perfect way to stop those spam digitizing calls.
18:19.878 --> 18:23.040
[SPEAKER_00]: When she told it to me, I couldn't stop laughing.
18:23.160 --> 18:24.761
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought this is genius.
18:25.982 --> 18:33.688
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, you want to know what it is because if you have a landline number like we do, you probably get digitizing calls.
18:34.168 --> 18:35.629
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so somebody calls.
18:36.270 --> 18:38.211
[SPEAKER_00]: They can speak English right away.
18:38.311 --> 18:39.753
[SPEAKER_00]: We know they're a digitizer.
18:40.713 --> 18:49.260
[SPEAKER_00]: And so in the middle of them talking, we'll cut them off and we'll very loudly and strongly say, what order can we place for you today?
18:50.314 --> 18:53.137
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you guys, it's so fun to listen to them.
18:53.157 --> 18:56.481
[SPEAKER_00]: They're like, I was actually calling to offer.
18:57.082 --> 18:59.044
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's pretty much how the phone call ends.
18:59.805 --> 19:00.566
[SPEAKER_00]: We stumped them.
19:00.586 --> 19:03.209
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like you're through the Chick-fil-A drive through.
19:03.409 --> 19:06.673
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know that they have to say it's my pleasure.
19:07.714 --> 19:12.139
[SPEAKER_00]: Why don't you try saying it's my pleasure when you order in the drive-through before they do?
19:12.459 --> 19:14.641
[SPEAKER_00]: It's pretty comical to see their faces.
19:15.262 --> 19:18.105
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, that lets you into a little bit of my sense of humor.
19:18.585 --> 19:24.632
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh well, hopefully you're still here with me and if you are multi-tasking, that made you come back to me.
19:25.092 --> 19:51.305
[SPEAKER_00]: more of what we do during the day every day is be roll you guys I feel like I need a one terabyte Apple iPhone because every single day I'm filming be roll constantly for social media in the middle of working on a job I don't really make social media content like a lot of people do meaning I stage the whole scene and then everything looks perfect nope I grab my phone when I'm
19:55.248 --> 20:02.163
[SPEAKER_00]: I just make short little six second clips, save them on my phone for when I need to do Instagram Reels.
20:03.079 --> 20:26.175
[SPEAKER_00]: And the reality is that we're actually making these b-rolls all day long, we're cutting fabric, we're trimming, we're ironing, we're heat pressing, we're loading our embroidery machines, we're unloading them, we're taking out the garbage, we're cleaning the toilets and yes, I frequently spilled DTF ink on my shoes and floor and we clean that up on a regular basis.
20:26.515 --> 20:34.101
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, our office joke is, if we don't have a client schedule to come in that day, we might look a little homeless.
20:34.141 --> 20:37.324
[SPEAKER_00]: We're all in yoga pants, ink on our shoes.
20:37.404 --> 20:46.191
[SPEAKER_00]: Our hair isn't done zero glam, and I want you to know we're completely 100% okay with that.
20:46.752 --> 20:48.813
[SPEAKER_00]: We're pretty darn authentic.
20:49.174 --> 20:51.916
[SPEAKER_00]: And if a client happens to come in, we just own it.
20:52.256 --> 21:09.652
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I want to talk about part of the business that nobody puts on Instagram, the part that takes up more of my mental energy than almost anything else quotes follow up in all the admin task I have to do.
21:10.866 --> 21:11.446
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like this.
21:11.486 --> 21:17.529
[SPEAKER_00]: When a new client reaches out, I have to find the right products build a beautiful quote that includes mockups.
21:17.649 --> 21:20.070
[SPEAKER_00]: So they can see what their logo is going to look up that item.
21:20.571 --> 21:22.031
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I have to email it to them.
21:22.431 --> 21:24.432
[SPEAKER_00]: The process takes real time.
21:24.833 --> 21:28.874
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I have to do a follow up email to they get the first email.
21:28.934 --> 21:29.975
[SPEAKER_00]: Did they approve it?
21:30.035 --> 21:31.456
[SPEAKER_00]: Did they ask for an invoice?
21:31.516 --> 21:32.896
[SPEAKER_00]: Did they pay the invoice?
21:33.517 --> 21:35.898
[SPEAKER_00]: Hello, is anybody there?
21:37.028 --> 21:45.716
[SPEAKER_00]: Staying on top of client communications, the quotes, the approvals, the invoices, the reminders is honestly one of the most draining parts of my day.
21:46.557 --> 21:52.082
[SPEAKER_00]: My goal is one day I'll hire someone to do all of that for me, but right now,
21:52.988 --> 21:53.649
[SPEAKER_00]: I am them.
21:53.909 --> 21:54.549
[SPEAKER_00]: I am doing it.
21:54.730 --> 22:03.696
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm currently looking for a different CRM besides a sauna that will automate a lot of these tasks without breaking the bank.
22:04.217 --> 22:09.261
[SPEAKER_00]: A sauna is great for production, but it wasn't built for client pipeline management.
22:09.601 --> 22:10.862
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a work in progress.
22:11.102 --> 22:14.345
[SPEAKER_00]: I found some really good CRM's like yo print.
22:14.825 --> 22:23.110
[SPEAKER_00]: teach some different things like that, but they're quite frankly really expensive and I don't have the mental capacity right now to learn them.
22:23.630 --> 22:30.014
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm telling you all of this because I want you to hear it from someone who has been doing this for 30 years.
22:30.534 --> 22:32.075
[SPEAKER_00]: This never fully goes away.
22:32.295 --> 22:37.278
[SPEAKER_00]: The admin, the follow up, the invisible work that keeps everything moving.
22:37.939 --> 22:43.202
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're feeling buried in there right now, you're not doing it wrong and you're not alone.
22:43.702 --> 22:46.165
[SPEAKER_00]: This is just what it looks like in the middle.
22:46.605 --> 22:49.968
[SPEAKER_00]: And the answer over time is systems.
22:50.769 --> 22:53.731
[SPEAKER_00]: Finding the right tools for your business size.
22:54.512 --> 23:02.439
[SPEAKER_00]: Building a process that reduces chaos and eventually hiring people who can handle some of this for you.
23:02.459 --> 23:05.382
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know where you guys are right now.
23:05.778 --> 23:09.081
[SPEAKER_00]: But where you are is right where you need to be.
23:09.621 --> 23:10.782
[SPEAKER_00]: So why do we do all this?
23:10.883 --> 23:12.684
[SPEAKER_00]: Why do we show up in yoga pants?
23:13.145 --> 23:21.832
[SPEAKER_00]: Spill in Gunnar Shumes, deep dive clean on Thursdays before our academy, and chase invoices on Friday afternoons.
23:22.713 --> 23:24.674
[SPEAKER_00]: For me, it's the clients.
23:25.474 --> 23:31.356
[SPEAKER_00]: I love working with new business owners who have no idea how to brand their team.
23:31.916 --> 23:36.838
[SPEAKER_00]: They come into my shop and they're overwhelmed and they leave with a plan.
23:37.318 --> 23:46.602
[SPEAKER_00]: And a few weeks later, their staff is walking around in beautiful embroidered left-chest Polos and then that client sends me a message or leaves a Google review
23:47.162 --> 23:52.265
[SPEAKER_00]: that says, hope, I can't believe how good this looks, this is exactly what we needed.
23:52.825 --> 23:56.527
[SPEAKER_00]: And you guys, that moment never gets old for me.
23:57.247 --> 24:07.113
[SPEAKER_00]: If you can become a business that solves a problem for other people, that's how you're going to build your empire.
24:08.193 --> 24:14.262
[SPEAKER_00]: I also love the clients who find me through Google Reviews after a bad experience at another shop.
24:14.803 --> 24:22.354
[SPEAKER_00]: They come in a little skeptical, a little burned, and by the end of the order they say, I'm so glad I found you.
24:22.914 --> 24:24.136
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not going anywhere else.
24:24.837 --> 24:32.300
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not embroidery, that's trust, and trust built well compounds over time.
24:32.600 --> 24:40.662
[SPEAKER_00]: And then there's my academy students that people who fly in across the country to sit in my shop for a few days and learn.
24:41.443 --> 24:48.665
[SPEAKER_00]: Watching someone's confidence grow in real time and watching them realize they can actually do this business.
24:49.245 --> 24:52.006
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the why for everything I do
24:55.027 --> 25:04.453
[SPEAKER_00]: The reason you build systems, higher people, and do the hard admin work is so that you can spend more time in that space.
25:04.573 --> 25:14.159
[SPEAKER_00]: The space that fills you up that gives you joy, the work that actually matters, and that's what we're building towards at designs by Hope Yoder.
25:14.479 --> 25:17.741
[SPEAKER_00]: And I hope that's what you're building towards as well.
25:18.121 --> 25:21.884
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to close today by talking directly to you.
25:22.684 --> 25:26.789
[SPEAKER_00]: If you've listened to this episode and thought, wow, she's got a lot going on.
25:27.049 --> 25:29.812
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to offer you a different way to hear it.
25:30.613 --> 25:32.135
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't start here.
25:32.656 --> 25:33.717
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody starts here.
25:34.117 --> 25:35.078
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't start here.
25:35.539 --> 25:41.265
[SPEAKER_00]: I started with one machine, a Sam's Club sewing machine, some glitter, and a whole lot of nerve.
25:42.086 --> 25:48.232
[SPEAKER_00]: Every system I have today, every column in a sauna, every role my employees fill.
25:48.952 --> 25:57.239
[SPEAKER_00]: All of that started as something I was doing myself, usually late at night, usually wondering if any of this was gonna work.
25:58.000 --> 25:59.762
[SPEAKER_00]: The path is the same for all of us.
26:00.243 --> 26:14.219
[SPEAKER_00]: You master the craft, you add the products, you build systems, you hire, you grow, and then one day someone asks you what your day looks like, and you realize you have the answer, a real one.
26:14.920 --> 26:17.342
[SPEAKER_00]: You're not behind your building.
26:17.362 --> 26:19.104
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to say that again.
26:19.585 --> 26:22.628
[SPEAKER_00]: You are not behind your building.
26:22.688 --> 26:30.615
[SPEAKER_00]: And every single thing you're doing right now, every order, every late night, every mistake you learn from.
26:31.416 --> 26:33.017
[SPEAKER_00]: is part of building.
26:33.317 --> 26:42.503
[SPEAKER_00]: Before I let you go today, if everything I just described sounds like the destination you're working toward, I want to help you get there faster.
26:42.523 --> 26:48.126
[SPEAKER_00]: Embordery prophet Academy is my hands-on school right here in Sarasota, Florida.
26:48.366 --> 26:57.952
[SPEAKER_00]: People fly in from all over the country and they lead with the skills, the system, and the confidence to go home and start producing right away.
26:58.612 --> 27:09.972
[SPEAKER_00]: I also offer a private one on one training for those who want every minute to be focused entirely on their specific business, their specific challenges and their goals.
27:10.934 --> 27:12.935
[SPEAKER_00]: both are in the show notes below.
27:13.035 --> 27:17.438
[SPEAKER_00]: Take a look and read what our students are saying about the Academy.
27:17.698 --> 27:20.720
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you guys so much for spending the day with me today.
27:21.500 --> 27:25.703
[SPEAKER_00]: I hope that you know how much I genuinely love sharing with you guys.
27:26.363 --> 27:29.365
[SPEAKER_00]: The real version and not just the fake Instagram one.
27:29.925 --> 27:32.727
[SPEAKER_00]: Now I have to tell you something about the next episode.
27:33.447 --> 27:35.869
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to bring someone very special
27:37.890 --> 27:54.103
[SPEAKER_00]: Someone who has watched me build this business from the very beginning, someone who has supported every dream, shown up through every hard session, the cries and the laughs, and honestly deserves more credit than I could ever give him publicly.
27:54.823 --> 27:55.906
[SPEAKER_00]: Come back for that one.
27:56.147 --> 27:58.032
[SPEAKER_00]: I promise you won't want to miss it.
27:58.553 --> 27:59.796
[SPEAKER_00]: Hit subscribe right now.
27:59.957 --> 28:03.987
[SPEAKER_00]: So the next podcast lands in your feed the moment it drops.
28:04.448 --> 28:05.330
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Hope Yoder.
28:05.431 --> 28:09.942
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the embroidery profit podcast and I'll see you next time.
00:00.231 --> 00:05.894
[SPEAKER_00]: Before we dive in, I want to send you something absolutely free that I've never shared anywhere else.
00:06.295 --> 00:10.577
[SPEAKER_00]: It's my top three fixes for ugly, left-chest logos.
00:11.017 --> 00:15.720
[SPEAKER_00]: These are the most common reasons why embroidery doesn't turn out great and how to fix them.
00:16.080 --> 00:19.903
[SPEAKER_00]: They're straight from the top questions I get asked from my embroidery profit students.
00:20.423 --> 00:25.006
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll drop a link below in the show notes and when we're done with the show, make sure you grab it.
00:25.546 --> 00:27.167
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, let's get to it.
00:27.567 --> 00:28.627
[SPEAKER_00]: Hi, welcome back.
00:28.808 --> 00:32.789
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Hope Yoder, and this is the embroidery profit podcast.
00:33.490 --> 00:38.332
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to start today's episode by painting you a picture.
00:39.427 --> 00:45.732
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, some days, I walk into my shop looking absolutely flawless.
00:45.952 --> 00:48.514
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, my makeup is perfect.
00:48.955 --> 00:51.097
[SPEAKER_00]: My lip gloss is shining.
00:51.177 --> 00:53.118
[SPEAKER_00]: I have celetto heels on.
00:53.498 --> 00:59.283
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm wearing a beautiful blazer and when I walk in the door, my team is waiting for me.
00:59.623 --> 01:00.324
[SPEAKER_00]: They clap.
01:00.764 --> 01:03.667
[SPEAKER_00]: Someone grabs my bag, takes my laptop.
01:04.127 --> 01:08.893
[SPEAKER_00]: and sets everything up just perfectly, then they hand me coffee.
01:09.113 --> 01:10.655
[SPEAKER_00]: A latte, my favorite.
01:11.195 --> 01:14.820
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe there's bond bonds waiting at my desk.
01:15.160 --> 01:23.430
[SPEAKER_00]: I glide over to my chair, put my feet up, and I am ready to run my empire.
01:24.518 --> 01:26.599
[SPEAKER_00]: said nobody ever.
01:27.059 --> 01:30.441
[SPEAKER_00]: And then my alarm goes off because you guys I was dreaming.
01:31.041 --> 01:33.682
[SPEAKER_00]: It's really more like I show up in yoga pants.
01:34.223 --> 01:39.425
[SPEAKER_00]: I have tennis shoes that have ink that I spilled on them from yesterday's DTF run.
01:39.945 --> 01:44.908
[SPEAKER_00]: My hair probably hasn't been brushed and then I get into work.
01:45.857 --> 02:03.990
[SPEAKER_00]: Today, I want to take you into what a real day in my embroidery shop actually looks like not the fake Instagram version, but the real version, so pull up a chair you're coming to work with me the morning starts before I even walk in the door.
02:04.610 --> 02:07.593
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's something about my day that might surprise you.
02:08.073 --> 02:12.097
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't start when I walk into this shop, it starts at home.
02:12.718 --> 02:20.305
[SPEAKER_00]: While I'm getting ready in the morning, I either have Joyce Meyer or Faith School from Pastor Keith Moore playing in the background.
02:20.805 --> 02:22.946
[SPEAKER_00]: These aren't just background noises for me.
02:23.287 --> 02:39.776
[SPEAKER_00]: They set my mindset before my day even begins, so that by the time I walk into the door, I've already had a few minutes of something that grounds me, inspires me, and more importantly reminds me why I do what I do.
02:40.117 --> 02:48.702
[SPEAKER_00]: When I'm in the shop alone, which does happen sometimes, I'll listen to business and coaching podcasts or I'll put Joyce back on.
02:49.634 --> 02:52.035
[SPEAKER_00]: When the whole team is here, it's a different story.
02:52.195 --> 02:53.416
[SPEAKER_00]: We turn on music.
02:53.796 --> 02:56.978
[SPEAKER_00]: It's either contemporary Christian or country.
02:57.458 --> 03:00.119
[SPEAKER_00]: We alternate and nobody fights about it.
03:00.720 --> 03:04.141
[SPEAKER_00]: But when the speaker dies, it's genuinely sad.
03:04.201 --> 03:06.742
[SPEAKER_00]: The whole energy in the building shifts.
03:07.203 --> 03:09.544
[SPEAKER_00]: We love having music on while we're working.
03:10.792 --> 03:13.874
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, my arrival time into the shop varies.
03:14.394 --> 03:19.297
[SPEAKER_00]: Some days, I could be there at 7 a.m. and some days, it's 9 a.m.
03:19.858 --> 03:27.583
[SPEAKER_00]: It depends on what's going on that day, what's due, what machines I need to get running, that depends on when I come in.
03:28.163 --> 03:44.006
[SPEAKER_00]: My team always arrives at 9 a.m., but the first thing I do every single day before I sit down at my desk before I do anything else when I'm at the shop is this, I open a sauna.
03:44.767 --> 03:46.249
[SPEAKER_00]: A-S-A-N-A.
03:46.850 --> 03:54.638
[SPEAKER_00]: If you've never heard of a sauna, I have a YouTube video about how I use it, and I'll link that in the show notes below.
03:54.658 --> 03:57.622
[SPEAKER_00]: A sauna is our production management tool.
03:57.842 --> 04:02.727
[SPEAKER_00]: I should say, depending on when you're listening to it, it's our current production management tool.
04:03.588 --> 04:06.850
[SPEAKER_00]: all of our orders and our jobs live in a sauna.
04:07.370 --> 04:10.972
[SPEAKER_00]: I have four production columns because we do four services.
04:11.192 --> 04:19.357
[SPEAKER_00]: One is for embroidery, one is for DTF transfers, one is for UV printer, and one is for laser engraving and laser job.
04:20.237 --> 04:29.560
[SPEAKER_00]: Every single order that we have gets placed in a specific column and assign to a team member and it also has a due date.
04:30.100 --> 04:42.765
[SPEAKER_00]: And then every file, whether it's an embroidery file, a laser file, a DTF or a print file, it's uploaded into that job task, at least the night before they're ready to start that job.
04:43.445 --> 04:47.268
[SPEAKER_00]: the day doesn't start until a sauna is checked.
04:47.829 --> 04:48.650
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the rule.
04:49.130 --> 04:59.879
[SPEAKER_00]: And my team members that are on a sauna know that when they come in, they check email and then they check a sauna and then usually we have a short meeting to go over what the day looks like.
05:00.139 --> 05:07.826
[SPEAKER_00]: If nobody's handing me coffee, it's more like I'm handing them coffee saying take a seat and let's go over the day's task.
05:08.086 --> 05:14.576
[SPEAKER_00]: Now you guys, if you're listening to me and you're probably going to be looking up a sauna, but hey, stay with me.
05:14.936 --> 05:16.278
[SPEAKER_00]: You can look that up later.
05:16.438 --> 05:18.301
[SPEAKER_00]: I'll link that in the show notes as well.
05:18.842 --> 05:22.327
[SPEAKER_00]: But you don't need to use a sauna specifically.
05:23.008 --> 05:36.853
[SPEAKER_00]: but if you're building a real business or your goal is to build a real business, you're gonna need something that tells you and your possible future team exactly what needs to happen that day.
05:37.413 --> 05:43.655
[SPEAKER_00]: That system, however simple it is, it's what I think separates a hobby from a business.
05:44.255 --> 05:45.877
[SPEAKER_00]: a little more about Asana.
05:46.157 --> 05:53.225
[SPEAKER_00]: Asana is absolutely free and while it's not really a CRM, it's really served as well for several years.
05:53.366 --> 06:00.474
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, if you're a solo entrepreneur and you work alone, Asana can help you so much.
06:00.954 --> 06:02.175
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I'm not affiliated with them.
06:02.355 --> 06:03.636
[SPEAKER_00]: It sounds like I am.
06:03.696 --> 06:09.760
[SPEAKER_00]: This is just the honest truth of how a sauna has saved us so much chaos.
06:10.220 --> 06:13.102
[SPEAKER_00]: But you guys, you could just use a simple notebook.
06:13.242 --> 06:16.344
[SPEAKER_00]: In the beginning, I started out with
06:16.784 --> 06:17.965
[SPEAKER_00]: a palm pilot.
06:18.246 --> 06:18.546
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.
06:18.686 --> 06:19.707
[SPEAKER_00]: That's dating me.
06:19.887 --> 06:20.327
[SPEAKER_00]: I know.
06:20.448 --> 06:29.036
[SPEAKER_00]: Then I went to paper and I had so many Franklin Cubby folders and notebooks and leather and it was like a cult following.
06:29.396 --> 06:30.477
[SPEAKER_00]: I collected those.
06:30.557 --> 06:32.779
[SPEAKER_00]: I purchased those when I had extra money.
06:33.300 --> 06:35.662
[SPEAKER_00]: I had all those three ring binder inserts.
06:35.722 --> 06:37.864
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I moved to the big happy planner.
06:38.365 --> 06:39.926
[SPEAKER_00]: It could just be a legal pad.
06:40.046 --> 06:41.348
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't matter what it is.
06:42.068 --> 06:52.156
[SPEAKER_00]: but you need to have one place and I want to stress one place only where you write out all the action tasks that need to be performed that day.
06:52.176 --> 06:55.238
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, let's move on and let's meet my team.
06:56.019 --> 07:00.822
[SPEAKER_00]: I have two part-time employees and they have completely different roles.
07:01.943 --> 07:07.808
[SPEAKER_00]: My first employee is dedicated entirely to running our commercial embroidery machines.
07:08.992 --> 07:23.041
[SPEAKER_00]: Every day she hoops, she stitches, she cleans the backs, she removes the stabilizer, she folds the garment, she bags them and puts the QR codes for a Google review and sets them out to be picked up.
07:23.861 --> 07:29.865
[SPEAKER_00]: She doesn't interact with the clients, she doesn't talk to the walkins, she just runs production,
07:30.285 --> 07:31.786
[SPEAKER_00]: and she's exceptional at it.
07:32.306 --> 07:37.368
[SPEAKER_00]: Having someone I trust completely on those machines means I'm not watching every stitch.
07:37.849 --> 07:40.250
[SPEAKER_00]: She's got it and I can do something else.
07:40.670 --> 07:44.012
[SPEAKER_00]: My second employee does our DTF transfers.
07:44.232 --> 07:45.552
[SPEAKER_00]: She presses the shirts.
07:45.753 --> 07:47.113
[SPEAKER_00]: She answers the phone.
07:47.653 --> 07:48.774
[SPEAKER_00]: She takes leads.
07:49.034 --> 07:50.475
[SPEAKER_00]: She does follow up call.
07:50.555 --> 07:52.896
[SPEAKER_00]: She handles some of my admin tasks.
07:53.496 --> 07:56.318
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm going to be training her on the laser.
07:57.078 --> 08:00.262
[SPEAKER_00]: She drops off samples to prospective clients.
08:00.482 --> 08:04.567
[SPEAKER_00]: She's essentially my right hand outside of running the machines.
08:04.948 --> 08:07.691
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's what I want you to understand about hiring.
08:07.871 --> 08:09.213
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're thinking, that's great.
08:09.273 --> 08:10.334
[SPEAKER_00]: Hope you have employees.
08:10.674 --> 08:14.038
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't have employees when does that step come?
08:14.659 --> 08:19.041
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, hiring employee, it's not really about having help.
08:19.661 --> 08:23.522
[SPEAKER_00]: It's more about buying back your time as the owner.
08:24.063 --> 08:36.407
[SPEAKER_00]: And the trick, the most important thing that people miss, myself included when I hired my first employee, is knowing what I need to do with my time that I just bought back.
08:36.447 --> 08:38.468
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like having someone clean your house.
08:38.908 --> 08:42.270
[SPEAKER_00]: I know for years, I really wanted to have someone help me at home.
08:43.110 --> 08:46.473
[SPEAKER_00]: really honestly you guys if you're a woman listening maybe you can relate to this.
08:46.773 --> 08:58.862
[SPEAKER_00]: I felt kind of like a loser because I couldn't keep my house clean the way I wanted to and I wanted help but I was a little bit embarrassed like I didn't want my mother-in-law to know I had someone helped me clean my house.
08:59.662 --> 09:12.708
[SPEAKER_00]: But when we decided to pay someone to help us, clean our house, what that really meant was, I wasn't a loser, I was actually smart because I was buying back my time.
09:13.409 --> 09:21.793
[SPEAKER_00]: My time as the owner of the company to do tasks that make my business more money, while I help support someone else's business.
09:22.133 --> 09:25.017
[SPEAKER_00]: Here's my ideal position in my own company.
09:25.137 --> 09:28.161
[SPEAKER_00]: Now notice I said ideal, honestly, I'm not there yet.
09:28.862 --> 09:32.386
[SPEAKER_00]: As the owner of the company, I want my job to be this.
09:32.687 --> 09:36.712
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to press shirts or run a machine, even though I enjoy those tasks.
09:37.193 --> 09:40.016
[SPEAKER_00]: I want my job to be like it was in the very beginning.
09:40.617 --> 09:47.863
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to be the visionary, the one to grow the company, the one to find new clients to build revenue streams.
09:48.303 --> 09:52.367
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to be the one to be right here with you on this podcast.
09:52.967 --> 09:56.370
[SPEAKER_00]: That's what I'm supposed to be doing with my time as the owner.
09:56.870 --> 10:02.155
[SPEAKER_00]: And I can only do that because someone else is helping handle production.
10:02.455 --> 10:05.457
[SPEAKER_00]: But in all honesty, I am not 100% there yet.
10:07.559 --> 10:15.421
[SPEAKER_00]: I still run some of the machines, I still answer the phone, I still meet with new clients, and I do most of the design work.
10:16.061 --> 10:24.544
[SPEAKER_00]: My goal is to get back into that visionary role where I can grow my business while my staff run my daily operation.
10:25.184 --> 10:37.733
[SPEAKER_00]: It's the goal and each day I tell myself, especially those frustrating days, when I feel like I didn't get anything done, that I'm working towards achieving that goal one day and one stitch at a time.
10:41.835 --> 10:45.458
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're listening and you're doing everything yourself right now.
10:46.115 --> 10:49.157
[SPEAKER_00]: that's exactly where I started.
10:49.497 --> 10:51.398
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, it's where we all start.
10:51.859 --> 11:00.904
[SPEAKER_00]: And I want you to see your first higher, not as an expense, but as the investment that unlocks the next level of your business.
11:01.404 --> 11:05.387
[SPEAKER_00]: And you guys don't fret now, when the time is right to hire someone,
11:05.947 --> 11:11.613
[SPEAKER_00]: you'll know and if you have a partner or spouse that's helping you with your business, they'll know too.
11:11.733 --> 11:22.044
[SPEAKER_00]: So just hang tight, keep doing what you're doing, keep growing that vision into your opportunity where you can buy back your time and grow your business.
11:23.798 --> 11:29.820
[SPEAKER_00]: Now you're in the shop with me and that's our daily day-to-day Monday through Friday.
11:29.940 --> 11:36.781
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't usually work on the weekends, I work Monday through Friday, but some weeks are a little different.
11:36.881 --> 11:38.762
[SPEAKER_00]: These are my Academy weeks.
11:39.182 --> 11:42.423
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the behind-the-scenes that you guys never see.
11:43.183 --> 11:49.785
[SPEAKER_00]: Several times a year, I opened my shop up, and I transformed it into something entirely different.
11:50.145 --> 11:52.786
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's called the Emberdry Profit Academy.
11:53.046 --> 12:08.592
[SPEAKER_00]: Actually, it's what I named the podcast after, because as I teach all the students who come through our shop, there's so much more that I just don't have time to talk about, and that's my vision for this Emberdry Profit podcast.
12:09.312 --> 12:13.139
[SPEAKER_00]: So on some weeks, my shop isn't daily production.
12:13.279 --> 12:18.307
[SPEAKER_00]: It's about opening it up to new students for the embroidery profit academy weekend.
12:19.189 --> 12:23.336
[SPEAKER_00]: My events for this embroidery profit academy run Friday.
12:23.732 --> 12:24.553
[SPEAKER_00]: through Sunday.
12:25.133 --> 12:26.134
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a small group.
12:26.594 --> 12:28.395
[SPEAKER_00]: Very intimate hands-on.
12:28.655 --> 12:34.259
[SPEAKER_00]: Everybody's on my real machines making real products doing commercial embroidery.
12:34.799 --> 12:40.283
[SPEAKER_00]: But before that magic happens, you guys there's a Thursday.
12:41.123 --> 12:48.794
[SPEAKER_00]: Thursday is the Deep Clean Day, and if you've ever listened to Joyce Meyer tell her story about the hot dog cookout.
12:49.555 --> 12:55.504
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the story in real life of what my Thursdays look like before I welcome you guys into the studio.
12:56.065 --> 13:02.470
[SPEAKER_00]: you've never heard Joyce Meyer, this is her story and every time I hear it, I can relate and I bet you can too.
13:03.010 --> 13:09.235
[SPEAKER_00]: So Joyce is talking with a group of friends after church and she's saying, hey, let's have you guys over.
13:09.275 --> 13:14.298
[SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be a real simple cookout, you know, hot dogs, easy casual.
13:15.199 --> 13:17.261
[SPEAKER_00]: And then later her brain kicks in.
13:18.401 --> 13:20.523
[SPEAKER_00]: Actually, maybe I should do chicken.
13:21.103 --> 13:22.104
[SPEAKER_00]: Wait, no,
13:23.855 --> 13:34.117
[SPEAKER_00]: But if we're going to do steak, we need the right patio furniture, and if we're getting new furniture, wow, we should pressure wash the back deck, maybe the whole house.
13:34.738 --> 13:40.259
[SPEAKER_00]: And she goes on and on telling all these things that we crazy woman get in our head that need to be done.
13:40.659 --> 13:51.842
[SPEAKER_00]: And then she jokingly says, and before the guest even arrived for the simple cookout that basically has cost us way too much money and stress, she jokingly says, before they even get
13:54.022 --> 13:57.683
[SPEAKER_00]: Well that's exactly what my Thursday looks like before the Academy event.
13:58.083 --> 14:03.665
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't hate anyone, but I am doing crazy things that I don't do on a weekly basis.
14:04.165 --> 14:13.348
[SPEAKER_00]: We start cleaning and suddenly we're touching things that haven't been cleaned or touched in months and then I start thinking, why did I schedule this event?
14:13.748 --> 14:15.208
[SPEAKER_00]: It's not all glamorous.
14:15.248 --> 14:17.309
[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of behind-the-scenes things
14:23.751 --> 14:29.375
[SPEAKER_00]: everything that they need for the three-day hands-on training gets done by Thursday.
14:29.835 --> 14:31.356
[SPEAKER_00]: I make the USB sticks up.
14:31.376 --> 14:37.179
[SPEAKER_00]: I have a lot of training videos and each stick takes at least 20 minutes to copy and paste.
14:37.700 --> 14:43.383
[SPEAKER_00]: It's methodical, it's detailed, and honestly I was joking when I said I hate everyone.
14:43.743 --> 14:49.167
[SPEAKER_00]: Every single minute is worth it because then the students arrive.
14:49.827 --> 14:52.048
[SPEAKER_00]: and everything changes for me.
14:52.329 --> 14:58.912
[SPEAKER_00]: The spark I feel watching someone in Brutor, they're very first left chess polo on a commercial machine.
14:59.633 --> 15:04.336
[SPEAKER_00]: Watching the moment when something clicks, I can see it in their eyes.
15:05.216 --> 15:12.741
[SPEAKER_00]: Even if my role is a very small part of the journey, you guys, I know this is what I'm called to do.
15:13.581 --> 15:21.147
[SPEAKER_00]: And one day, when I'm gone and I'm no longer here on this earth, I'll know that I help someone build something real.
15:21.788 --> 15:25.491
[SPEAKER_00]: That's my legacy and that's why I do what I do.
15:25.771 --> 15:34.778
[SPEAKER_00]: Now I'll also tell you that after the three days of teaching Academy while it's extremely rewarding for me and for the students,
15:40.423 --> 15:43.146
[SPEAKER_00]: And I've learned to protect my Mondays.
15:43.666 --> 15:47.029
[SPEAKER_00]: Monday, after an Academy event is my day of rest.
15:47.610 --> 15:49.672
[SPEAKER_00]: This has become non-negotiable.
15:49.952 --> 15:58.380
[SPEAKER_00]: My last Academy a few weeks ago, I had the foresight to schedule a 90-minute massage at Massage NV,
15:58.860 --> 16:00.061
[SPEAKER_00]: on Monday afternoon.
16:00.682 --> 16:01.043
[SPEAKER_00]: Woo!
16:01.183 --> 16:06.408
[SPEAKER_00]: This needs to become my routine because it was glorious and I can't recommend it enough.
16:06.769 --> 16:11.194
[SPEAKER_00]: You guys make sure that you're treating yourself and taking care of yourself.
16:12.178 --> 16:18.640
[SPEAKER_00]: If you've ever thought about coming to one of my embroidery prophet academies, I'll leave the link below in the show notes.
16:19.080 --> 16:22.662
[SPEAKER_00]: I only offer this a few times a year, based on my personal schedule.
16:22.942 --> 16:26.023
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a very small group and it fills up fast.
16:26.063 --> 16:30.985
[SPEAKER_00]: So when we're done with this episode, take a look and see if it's a good fit for you.
16:31.225 --> 16:32.865
[SPEAKER_00]: Now let me go back to my shop.
16:32.905 --> 16:39.888
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me paint you the real picture of what our shop feels and looks like on a regular production day.
16:40.608 --> 16:43.049
[SPEAKER_00]: there's music always.
16:43.609 --> 16:48.111
[SPEAKER_00]: Contemporary Christian or country, we take turns controlling the speaker.
16:48.771 --> 16:52.053
[SPEAKER_00]: And when that speaker dies, it's genuinely a sad moment.
16:52.473 --> 16:54.994
[SPEAKER_00]: I always notice the energy and the room shifts.
16:55.814 --> 16:59.576
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes we just don't move as fast, so music really helps us.
16:59.616 --> 17:02.417
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you walk in, you'll hear music.
17:02.837 --> 17:04.478
[SPEAKER_00]: There's also a lot of laughing.
17:05.795 --> 17:06.736
[SPEAKER_00]: and there's a lot of quiet.
17:07.176 --> 17:07.856
[SPEAKER_00]: Both are good.
17:08.177 --> 17:13.440
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes machines are running, our heads are down and everyone's super focused on their task.
17:14.100 --> 17:19.324
[SPEAKER_00]: And sometimes someone says something ridiculously funny and we all stop and laugh.
17:20.427 --> 17:28.049
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, the phone rings not very often because we're more of an online and an in-person business, but the phone does ring.
17:28.630 --> 17:30.530
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we stop to answer it.
17:30.630 --> 17:33.131
[SPEAKER_00]: But here's my pet peeve.
17:33.771 --> 17:35.132
[SPEAKER_00]: At least once a day.
17:35.972 --> 17:46.796
[SPEAKER_00]: Usually three times a day, a digitizing sales person who doesn't speak English calls and interrupts our day offering us free digitizing.
17:47.296 --> 17:50.997
[SPEAKER_00]: We usually hang up every time this is so annoying to me.
17:51.158 --> 17:56.419
[SPEAKER_00]: I know they have a job to do, but I didn't ask them to call me and I'm right in the middle of something.
17:56.900 --> 17:57.300
[SPEAKER_00]: And so,
17:58.180 --> 17:59.501
[SPEAKER_00]: it's kind of become a joke.
17:59.701 --> 18:09.890
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, a coworker of mine told me one day when I was out on the road teaching, I came back in the phone rang and I heard her saying some really weird stuff on the phone.
18:09.930 --> 18:11.151
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, who was that?
18:11.711 --> 18:19.337
[SPEAKER_00]: And she says to me, okay, I have come up with a perfect way to stop those spam digitizing calls.
18:19.878 --> 18:23.040
[SPEAKER_00]: When she told it to me, I couldn't stop laughing.
18:23.160 --> 18:24.761
[SPEAKER_00]: I thought this is genius.
18:25.982 --> 18:33.688
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, you want to know what it is because if you have a landline number like we do, you probably get digitizing calls.
18:34.168 --> 18:35.629
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so somebody calls.
18:36.270 --> 18:38.211
[SPEAKER_00]: They can speak English right away.
18:38.311 --> 18:39.753
[SPEAKER_00]: We know they're a digitizer.
18:40.713 --> 18:49.260
[SPEAKER_00]: And so in the middle of them talking, we'll cut them off and we'll very loudly and strongly say, what order can we place for you today?
18:50.314 --> 18:53.137
[SPEAKER_00]: And then you guys, it's so fun to listen to them.
18:53.157 --> 18:56.481
[SPEAKER_00]: They're like, I was actually calling to offer.
18:57.082 --> 18:59.044
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's pretty much how the phone call ends.
18:59.805 --> 19:00.566
[SPEAKER_00]: We stumped them.
19:00.586 --> 19:03.209
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like you're through the Chick-fil-A drive through.
19:03.409 --> 19:06.673
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know that they have to say it's my pleasure.
19:07.714 --> 19:12.139
[SPEAKER_00]: Why don't you try saying it's my pleasure when you order in the drive-through before they do?
19:12.459 --> 19:14.641
[SPEAKER_00]: It's pretty comical to see their faces.
19:15.262 --> 19:18.105
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, that lets you into a little bit of my sense of humor.
19:18.585 --> 19:24.632
[SPEAKER_00]: Oh well, hopefully you're still here with me and if you are multi-tasking, that made you come back to me.
19:25.092 --> 19:51.305
[SPEAKER_00]: more of what we do during the day every day is be roll you guys I feel like I need a one terabyte Apple iPhone because every single day I'm filming be roll constantly for social media in the middle of working on a job I don't really make social media content like a lot of people do meaning I stage the whole scene and then everything looks perfect nope I grab my phone when I'm
19:55.248 --> 20:02.163
[SPEAKER_00]: I just make short little six second clips, save them on my phone for when I need to do Instagram Reels.
20:03.079 --> 20:26.175
[SPEAKER_00]: And the reality is that we're actually making these b-rolls all day long, we're cutting fabric, we're trimming, we're ironing, we're heat pressing, we're loading our embroidery machines, we're unloading them, we're taking out the garbage, we're cleaning the toilets and yes, I frequently spilled DTF ink on my shoes and floor and we clean that up on a regular basis.
20:26.515 --> 20:34.101
[SPEAKER_00]: In fact, our office joke is, if we don't have a client schedule to come in that day, we might look a little homeless.
20:34.141 --> 20:37.324
[SPEAKER_00]: We're all in yoga pants, ink on our shoes.
20:37.404 --> 20:46.191
[SPEAKER_00]: Our hair isn't done zero glam, and I want you to know we're completely 100% okay with that.
20:46.752 --> 20:48.813
[SPEAKER_00]: We're pretty darn authentic.
20:49.174 --> 20:51.916
[SPEAKER_00]: And if a client happens to come in, we just own it.
20:52.256 --> 21:09.652
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I want to talk about part of the business that nobody puts on Instagram, the part that takes up more of my mental energy than almost anything else quotes follow up in all the admin task I have to do.
21:10.866 --> 21:11.446
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like this.
21:11.486 --> 21:17.529
[SPEAKER_00]: When a new client reaches out, I have to find the right products build a beautiful quote that includes mockups.
21:17.649 --> 21:20.070
[SPEAKER_00]: So they can see what their logo is going to look up that item.
21:20.571 --> 21:22.031
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I have to email it to them.
21:22.431 --> 21:24.432
[SPEAKER_00]: The process takes real time.
21:24.833 --> 21:28.874
[SPEAKER_00]: And then I have to do a follow up email to they get the first email.
21:28.934 --> 21:29.975
[SPEAKER_00]: Did they approve it?
21:30.035 --> 21:31.456
[SPEAKER_00]: Did they ask for an invoice?
21:31.516 --> 21:32.896
[SPEAKER_00]: Did they pay the invoice?
21:33.517 --> 21:35.898
[SPEAKER_00]: Hello, is anybody there?
21:37.028 --> 21:45.716
[SPEAKER_00]: Staying on top of client communications, the quotes, the approvals, the invoices, the reminders is honestly one of the most draining parts of my day.
21:46.557 --> 21:52.082
[SPEAKER_00]: My goal is one day I'll hire someone to do all of that for me, but right now,
21:52.988 --> 21:53.649
[SPEAKER_00]: I am them.
21:53.909 --> 21:54.549
[SPEAKER_00]: I am doing it.
21:54.730 --> 22:03.696
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm currently looking for a different CRM besides a sauna that will automate a lot of these tasks without breaking the bank.
22:04.217 --> 22:09.261
[SPEAKER_00]: A sauna is great for production, but it wasn't built for client pipeline management.
22:09.601 --> 22:10.862
[SPEAKER_00]: That's a work in progress.
22:11.102 --> 22:14.345
[SPEAKER_00]: I found some really good CRM's like yo print.
22:14.825 --> 22:23.110
[SPEAKER_00]: teach some different things like that, but they're quite frankly really expensive and I don't have the mental capacity right now to learn them.
22:23.630 --> 22:30.014
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm telling you all of this because I want you to hear it from someone who has been doing this for 30 years.
22:30.534 --> 22:32.075
[SPEAKER_00]: This never fully goes away.
22:32.295 --> 22:37.278
[SPEAKER_00]: The admin, the follow up, the invisible work that keeps everything moving.
22:37.939 --> 22:43.202
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're feeling buried in there right now, you're not doing it wrong and you're not alone.
22:43.702 --> 22:46.165
[SPEAKER_00]: This is just what it looks like in the middle.
22:46.605 --> 22:49.968
[SPEAKER_00]: And the answer over time is systems.
22:50.769 --> 22:53.731
[SPEAKER_00]: Finding the right tools for your business size.
22:54.512 --> 23:02.439
[SPEAKER_00]: Building a process that reduces chaos and eventually hiring people who can handle some of this for you.
23:02.459 --> 23:05.382
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know where you guys are right now.
23:05.778 --> 23:09.081
[SPEAKER_00]: But where you are is right where you need to be.
23:09.621 --> 23:10.782
[SPEAKER_00]: So why do we do all this?
23:10.883 --> 23:12.684
[SPEAKER_00]: Why do we show up in yoga pants?
23:13.145 --> 23:21.832
[SPEAKER_00]: Spill in Gunnar Shumes, deep dive clean on Thursdays before our academy, and chase invoices on Friday afternoons.
23:22.713 --> 23:24.674
[SPEAKER_00]: For me, it's the clients.
23:25.474 --> 23:31.356
[SPEAKER_00]: I love working with new business owners who have no idea how to brand their team.
23:31.916 --> 23:36.838
[SPEAKER_00]: They come into my shop and they're overwhelmed and they leave with a plan.
23:37.318 --> 23:46.602
[SPEAKER_00]: And a few weeks later, their staff is walking around in beautiful embroidered left-chest Polos and then that client sends me a message or leaves a Google review
23:47.162 --> 23:52.265
[SPEAKER_00]: that says, hope, I can't believe how good this looks, this is exactly what we needed.
23:52.825 --> 23:56.527
[SPEAKER_00]: And you guys, that moment never gets old for me.
23:57.247 --> 24:07.113
[SPEAKER_00]: If you can become a business that solves a problem for other people, that's how you're going to build your empire.
24:08.193 --> 24:14.262
[SPEAKER_00]: I also love the clients who find me through Google Reviews after a bad experience at another shop.
24:14.803 --> 24:22.354
[SPEAKER_00]: They come in a little skeptical, a little burned, and by the end of the order they say, I'm so glad I found you.
24:22.914 --> 24:24.136
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not going anywhere else.
24:24.837 --> 24:32.300
[SPEAKER_00]: That's not embroidery, that's trust, and trust built well compounds over time.
24:32.600 --> 24:40.662
[SPEAKER_00]: And then there's my academy students that people who fly in across the country to sit in my shop for a few days and learn.
24:41.443 --> 24:48.665
[SPEAKER_00]: Watching someone's confidence grow in real time and watching them realize they can actually do this business.
24:49.245 --> 24:52.006
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the why for everything I do
24:55.027 --> 25:04.453
[SPEAKER_00]: The reason you build systems, higher people, and do the hard admin work is so that you can spend more time in that space.
25:04.573 --> 25:14.159
[SPEAKER_00]: The space that fills you up that gives you joy, the work that actually matters, and that's what we're building towards at designs by Hope Yoder.
25:14.479 --> 25:17.741
[SPEAKER_00]: And I hope that's what you're building towards as well.
25:18.121 --> 25:21.884
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to close today by talking directly to you.
25:22.684 --> 25:26.789
[SPEAKER_00]: If you've listened to this episode and thought, wow, she's got a lot going on.
25:27.049 --> 25:29.812
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to offer you a different way to hear it.
25:30.613 --> 25:32.135
[SPEAKER_00]: You don't start here.
25:32.656 --> 25:33.717
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody starts here.
25:34.117 --> 25:35.078
[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't start here.
25:35.539 --> 25:41.265
[SPEAKER_00]: I started with one machine, a Sam's Club sewing machine, some glitter, and a whole lot of nerve.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Every system I have today, every column in a sauna, every role my employees fill.
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[SPEAKER_00]: All of that started as something I was doing myself, usually late at night, usually wondering if any of this was gonna work.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The path is the same for all of us.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You master the craft, you add the products, you build systems, you hire, you grow, and then one day someone asks you what your day looks like, and you realize you have the answer, a real one.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You're not behind your building.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to say that again.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You are not behind your building.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And every single thing you're doing right now, every order, every late night, every mistake you learn from.
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[SPEAKER_00]: is part of building.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Before I let you go today, if everything I just described sounds like the destination you're working toward, I want to help you get there faster.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Embordery prophet Academy is my hands-on school right here in Sarasota, Florida.
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[SPEAKER_00]: People fly in from all over the country and they lead with the skills, the system, and the confidence to go home and start producing right away.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I also offer a private one on one training for those who want every minute to be focused entirely on their specific business, their specific challenges and their goals.
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[SPEAKER_00]: both are in the show notes below.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Take a look and read what our students are saying about the Academy.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you guys so much for spending the day with me today.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I hope that you know how much I genuinely love sharing with you guys.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The real version and not just the fake Instagram one.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now I have to tell you something about the next episode.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to bring someone very special
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[SPEAKER_00]: Someone who has watched me build this business from the very beginning, someone who has supported every dream, shown up through every hard session, the cries and the laughs, and honestly deserves more credit than I could ever give him publicly.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Come back for that one.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I promise you won't want to miss it.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Hit subscribe right now.
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[SPEAKER_00]: So the next podcast lands in your feed the moment it drops.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Hope Yoder.
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[SPEAKER_00]: This is the embroidery profit podcast and I'll see you next time.
