How To Build A Billion Dollar Empire w/ Kendra Scott EP 1318

Designer, founder, and philanthropist Kendra Scott started her company in 2002 with only $500. Going door-to-door to Austin boutiques armed only with a tea box full of her jewelry, Kendra captivated businesses and customers with her vibrant personality and unique eye for design. Kendra’s commitment to innovation, quality and detail has taken her small start-up to a billion-dollar business. In this episode you will learn:About the hidden power that comes with vulnerability. How to identify the gaps in your knowledge and when to bring on others. How to figure out which business idea is worth pursuing. How to overcome the fear of failure and start today. For more, go to lewishowes.com/1318Barbara Corcoran on Success in Business & Life: https://link.chtbl.com/766-podThe Key Steps to Overcome Criticism & Grow A Successful Business with Kristin Cavallari:https://link.chtbl.com/1286-podHow to Change Your Limiting Thoughts & Beliefs Around Success w/Lilly Singh: https://link.chtbl.com/1250-pod Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  And that is the biggest failure we can make as an entrepreneur. We've got to know what we're good at. Very important, but more importantly, know what you're not good at. And hire and create a team of people that are awesome at the things that you suck at. Because when you create.

• 0:16Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week, we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:40Lewis Howes?

  But how did you overcome all these obstacles in the last few years? And how long did that stress or pain last for?

• 0:47Speaker 00

  Well, you know, you look at 2020, and obviously, the whole world was suffering, you know? And you turn on the TV, you couldn't escape it. And you're stuck in your house, just, right? Dealing with all this. But in the midst of all that, my father, who is my rock in my book, you'll just see, he and I have this unbelievable bond, had suffered two major heart attacks. I had to go pick him up in Wisconsin on New Year's Eve of 2019, going into 2020. So, New Year's Eve, welcoming in this new, you know, year. I was on a plane flying from Colorado to Kenosha, Wisconsin, because he wasn't getting the medical care he needed, and brought him to Austin, where I lived.

• 1:29Speaker 00

  Ambulances at the, you know, on the airport, waiting to take him to the hospital, and where he spent until March, almost March 12th, from, you know, December 31st. So, ringing in that year was already starting out stressful. Going through a divorce, you know, I had some, my own personal health issues happened. I ended up being in the same hospital that my dad was in.

• 1:53Lewis Howes?

  No way.

• 1:53Speaker 00

  During that time period. It was one of those years where, but on the outside, everyone thought Kendra Scott was fine. The Instagrams are great, she's smiling, things are good. And I just felt so, you know, like, this isn't real. And I'm suffering. And, and why am I so afraid to say I'm suffering? So I started writing a journal and just keeping track of what was going on personally, emotionally, and wanting to share that the struggle is what makes us stronger. And now coming out on the other side of that really scary year for my business, for my family, myself personally, is actually, I, I had to go through that to get to this next

• 2:37Speaker 00

  most beautiful place I'm at in my life. But when we're in the middle of it, sometimes it can feel hopeless and that you're alone and that you're the only one that is feeling like this. And so sharing it, and I think there's so much power in being vulnerable. And I realized that my journal notes, I needed to make into a book. Simply because I wanted anyone out there who might be struggling in their own place in life, to know this is part of their journey. And to own it and to know this is their unique amazing life. And they're going through this for a reason and something great is gonna wait for them. It's waiting around the corner. Take a breath, this is only a moment in time, and two shall pass.

• 3:19Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, of course. You know, and I think people see you and they see everything you've accomplished in the last 20 years of your brand, 20 years with your brand?

• 3:27Speaker 00

  Not an overnight success. I always love to think, oh, it's an overnight success. I'm like, well, 20 years.

• 3:31Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, of course. But when they see the success of in 20 years, they see you on Shark Tank, they see you with the book, they see you as this inspiring leader in the business world as well.

• 3:42Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 3:43Lewis Howes?

  What is the thing that most people don't see? What is the biggest insecurity, shame, or fear that you never share that people, if they knew you were working on overcoming?

• 3:54Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 3:54Lewis Howes?

  Would see you differently?

• 3:55Speaker 00

  You know, I think one of the things that's so important is that we're not, no one is superwoman. And yet, we try so hard in our life to make people think that we're Superman or Superwoman, that we are these just, we've got it all together, you know? And I think it's, you know, as a mom. I'm always struggling. The people will be like, oh, how do you balance it all Kendra? That is a myth. No, if anyone tells you they've got it figured out, they are lying. Okay, that is a total myth. We, I work every day to be like, okay, how do I make sure that I'm there for my kids when they need me, or if I forgot, is it a bake sale? Oh, my gosh, you know, I'm racing to the store, picking up cookies and trying to package them in a Tupperware. So I don't feel like my kid doesn't think I actually baked the cookie.

• 4:37Speaker 00

  We do things, right, because we are doing the best that we can every day. And I think for us to say to one another and have these open conversations of, I've got this, thank you for helping me, or reaching out and asking for help. I now have a group of moms at school where we are all working together. It's like, I can't do this today, can you help? Yeah, I can do that. And instead of being critical of one another, oh, she didn't bake her own cookies. It's like, we support one another. And, and that is what I think is, I think, you know, for me is I've stopped trying to be perfect. Because no one's perfect. And I've started to laugh at myself more and be vulnerable and to just be like, you know, I don't have it all together today and be okay with that.

• 5:21Speaker 00

  You know, and I think that has taken time. Because in the early days of my business, I felt like I was always being judged as this girl from Texas, who, you know, in Austin, where it was very tech savvy, you know, environment. I'm starting a fashion brand where, you know, I was laughed out of boardrooms, asking for, you know, investment funding.

• 5:41Lewis Howes?

  Unless it's cowboy boots and hats and it's like, what are you doing?

• 5:44Speaker 00

  Well, not even, no, I mean, it also, it's just, it was, it was just a different world. And they wanted me to be a tech company and I'm not a tech company. I was a jewelry designer. And, you know, I think then I felt like, well, I can't let anybody think that I'm not super smart and I don't have this. And I had to, I was afraid if somebody would ask me where I graduated from college because I was a dropout. I was afraid for people to learn where my education from, because it came from my first failed business. So that's not always a conversation starter you want to start with. And so I was trying to build up my own like, I want them to think I'm this person. Because if they know who I really am, then I'm really out of luck.

• 6:23Lewis Howes?

  Who were you really?

• 6:24Speaker 00

  I was scared. I was scared that they would see that I wasn't all the things I thought I should be to be in that room and get their attention or get the check for my business. And that insecurity of trying to be someone I wasn't was the worst thing I could have done.

• 6:40Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 6:41Speaker 00

  Being my authentic self, being vulnerable and saying, I'm a single mom. I didn't finish college, but I'm a hard worker. And I'm the first one there in the morning and I am not going, I mean, if you give me money for my company, I'm going to make sure you get a return. I will not let you down. But I was too scared to say that.

• 7:01Lewis Howes?

  How long did it take you until you said you were to start stepping into being 100% authentic? As opposed to controlling an identity or an image that you wanted others to see?

• 7:10Speaker 00

  You know, I think it took a while. I'd love to say that it didn't. But I think it took, it didn't around the people around me, right? I had a very small team of amazing women that I like to call the super seven. And we were very vulnerable with each other. We were, a lot of us were new moms. We had young children. We'd bring them to the office. We had pack and plays at our office. We'd be passing around babies in between calls with buyers. And we were this village of support where we could just be ourselves. We could come in and talk about our day being difficult or, you know. And it was amazing. But I think, you know, on the outside, I felt like I had to be, because I remember going to market in New York City, for example,

• 7:52Speaker 00

  and setting up my little trade show booth and, you know, and these buyers coming in and be like, oh, where are you from? And I'm like, Austin, Texas. This is now, you have to remember, probably 18 years ago when we were, you know, doing our first markets.

• 8:03Lewis Howes?

  This isn't the hub of design and fashion.

• 8:06Speaker 00

  No, it's not what now people know of Austin. And they're like, oh, well, you can't make it as a designer if you're not on the coasts. You need to be in New York or LA.

• 8:14Lewis Howes?

  Or San Francisco.

• 8:15Speaker 00

  In San Francisco. But in my heart of hearts, I knew that Austin was the special place. It was part of the DNA of our brand. So even though I had insecurities about some things, I had total dedication to others. Like, we are an Austin, Texas, brand. We have our own voice. And when you walked through market, all these buyers would be attracted to our booth because we didn't look like everybody else. We weren't trying to do what everybody else was doing. We had our own unique personality. And that own unique personality was part of me. And so, as I started to see people loving us for who we were, I started to have more confidence to just say like, yeah, just be myself.

• 8:53Lewis Howes?

  Interesting. When would you say that was, though? 10 years in, 5 years in, 20 years in?

• 8:59Speaker 00

  You know, I think it was an evolution. You know, I don't think one day you wake up and you're like, "Today, I'm just gonna be me," you know? It was, you'd get a win. You'd get a little win and you'd go, "Okay." That gave me confidence, or someone else believed in me. You know, I remember my first office. What a big deal it was, like renting an office space and not working out of the extra bedroom of my house anymore.

• 9:22Lewis Howes?

  It's a big deal.

• 9:22Speaker 00

  And my landlord was this great guy. He had a sub-company, still has a Subway, like, not Subway, but it's a sub-company. And he was from Wisconsin, where I'm from. And I would sometimes give him my rent check. His name's Mike. And I'd say, "Mike, you know, could you just hold it for a few days, right? I've got some other, you know, payments coming in from different, you know, companies." And he'd be like, "Absolutely, Kendra. You just let me know when I should take it to the bank." His confidence in me gave me confidence. And it's those little interactions that people don't realize how powerful they are. Because of his faith and belief in me, it gave me belief in myself. And I wanted to show him that I was good on my word. Because my word is everything.

• 10:06Speaker 00

  When I tell somebody I'm gonna do something, I do it, right? And I think, over time, those interactions, buyers, Nordstrom ordering from you, right? It was like...

• 10:17Lewis Howes?

  More and more confidence.

• 10:17Speaker 00

  Confidence. And I started to not be afraid. And I remember the first time... I had to say, I actually went to a entrepreneurial master's course through Entrepreneurs EO, which is a fantastic organization. Any young entrepreneur out there, I say, join an organization like EO, because you start to meet other people who have their same insecurities and worries that you have, and you're in this safe environment where you can talk about those things and you realize, I'm not alone in this anymore. And once you're opening up to someone else, they open up to you, and that's why I say there is such power in vulnerability, where you think it's the opposite,

• 11:00Speaker 00

  but when you can actually say to somebody, this is something that has always bothered me, then they feel like they can share that about themselves, and all of a sudden you're having a real conversation. You're not having a conversation anymore of, I did this, and I'm this, and I'm all, and my business is having, you know, and then they're just puffing back up, and it's this whole, and there's nothing real happening. Where you go, God, the first time I walked in this room with you all, I was so intimidated. I felt like I didn't belong here. You know, you have got Harvard grads in the room, and I'm a college dropout, and then all of a sudden there, this welcoming force, right? Of, are you kidding me, Kendra? When you walked in the room, and you had, you know, and it was this, it changes perspective, and I think if we could all embrace that,

• 11:43Speaker 00

  it's a dynamic, amazing thing to be part of.

• 11:46Lewis Howes?

  If you could go back 20 years ago when you started, and been the 100% authentic you, public facing, where do you think you'd be today? Or do you think it worked out perfectly, the lessons you needed to learn from that journey?

• 11:59Speaker 00

  I think everyone, our story is our story for a reason. And I had to go through those aches and pains and knots in my stomach and feeling uncomfortable to become comfortable within myself. It wasn't like I could just wake up one day and have that. It's the failures that build the next success in your life. And I always say, these things we go through, the heartache, Divorce, breakups, relationships, business failures. They're the bridge to get us to the next place we're going in our life. No one can experience that for you but you. And even as a parent, you want to take those heartaches away and those steps or falls away from your kids.

• 12:42Speaker 00

  But they've got to scratch their knees, they've got to touch a hot surface to know not to do it again. You can only protect them from so much, but we need those lessons to build the person we're becoming. And we're always evolving. I'm not there yet.

• 12:56Lewis Howes?

  You're not finished yet?

• 12:58Speaker 00

  No! I've got so much more I want to do and I know so much I'm learning about myself still. Every day. Which is a really cool place to be.

• 13:08Lewis Howes?

  That's cool. What would you say was the biggest pain? Personally and professionally you've gone through in the last 20 years?

• 13:16Speaker 00

  We only have an hour?

• 13:20Speaker 00

  No, you know, look.

• 13:20Lewis Howes?

  The biggest challenge or pain or what seemed like, oh, this is a big letdown or breakdown or failure potentially? In your personal life and in your business. But also, what's the lesson you learned from each one of those experiences?

• 13:34Speaker 00

  Yeah, you know, my first business was a hat company. I started it because my stepfather had brain cancer. And I was meeting a lot of men and women undergoing chemotherapy who had lost their hair. I had loved fashion since I was a little girl. And so I started sewing in cotton linings into hats. And created a hat business at age 19, dropped out of college. And I think seeing this person that I love struggling, wanting to save his life, really. And at 19, you're kind of an idealist. This was my way, I could do something, right? I felt so helpless in that moment. And after five years of trying to run this little hat company.

• 14:14Speaker 00

  And it not working, wanting hats to be the next big thing again, like it was 1940. I had these big grand plans for this business. And it just failing, day in and day out. And after five years, knowing... I had to close it. And now I'd already just lost my stepfather to cancer. So the person I had done this for, I had lost. The business I had started is failing. The thing he was so proud of me to do. I'm now a dropout. So all of my friends who have graduated from college now are getting jobs. So I have no degree. Yeah, no degree. I have a failed business. I lost my stepfather. And I remember just thinking, wow, like, I'm a complete loser. I'm a loser.

• 14:59Speaker 00

  I really did. And now what am I gonna do? Well, I've gotta go get a job. I'm gonna get an entry level job somewhere because I don't have a college degree. And I was able to get a job at a travel company that did a travel magazine in their marketing department. And I still had customers calling me from the hat store. And they weren't calling for hats. I was making jewelry in that little store. And I'd put it on the counter. And the day that it would go out, it would sell.

• 15:26Lewis Howes?

  No way.

• 15:26Speaker 00

  But I was so focused on the hats working.

• 15:29Lewis Howes?

  The mission of the hat, yeah.

• 15:30Speaker 00

  That I couldn't see what was working.

• 15:32Lewis Howes?

  Interesting. So this was, this was like a little side project?

• 15:35Speaker 00

  Yeah, I was just like, and I enjoyed making jewelry. And I loved making jewelry. And I loved some of my precious stones. And I wanted to make jewelry that people could afford. That was beautiful quality. And so, but it was just a side thing. I made hat pins too and other things just by hand. But customers would call and say, Kendra, I want a pair of earrings to match the necklace I bought in your store. Or my sister loves that necklace I bought. I wanna get her one for her birthday. Could you make one? So I'm going home from my day job now that I had to get after my business failed. And I'm making jewelry for my old customers. And so it really was this like, all of those things happened. But when you're in that moment, when you're closing the store for the last time, and you're sitting on the step and it literally starts to rain.

• 16:19Speaker 00

  And you look at your life and you think.

• 16:21Lewis Howes?

  Like this is a movie.

• 16:22Speaker 00

  Yeah, it's a movie. No, it starts to rain. It was like a joke. Like I started laughing at the sky like, wow. And I had one of those signs, Louis, that on the door it says, "Sorry, we're closed." And on the other side it says, "Yes, we're open." I mean, obviously, our marketing budget wasn't big, so I bought it at like Home Depot or Lowe's or something. And I remember trying, you know, thinking about closing it. And when I was sitting on the step crying in the rain and I'd moved everything out, I looked and I saw the sign still said, "Yes, we're open." And I was pissed because I was like, "I have to go back in now and turn and go through this whole emotional deal." And but then I looked at it and I was like, "This is a sign. This is an actual sign." And it was, "Yes, we're open."

• 17:03Speaker 00

  And I talk about it a lot because it was being open to the next thing that's going to happen.

• 17:09Lewis Howes?

  Next possibility.

• 17:10Speaker 00

  The next possibility. And sometimes it is actual signs that you have to kind of pay attention to.

• 17:15Lewis Howes?

  Hundred percent.

• 17:16Speaker 00

  But you have to be open to it. And so even me taking this job, because I had to, I was open to my customers calling me going, "Maybe there's something to this jewelry. Maybe there's something there that I wasn't seeing." And that led into Kendra Scott Jewelry.

• 17:33Lewis Howes?

  When did you say, from that moment of closing that business, doing this side thing of the jewelry, when did you say, "Okay, I'm going all in on jewelry?" And leaving this job and actually going all in on this?

• 17:44Speaker 00

  Yeah, so I was traveling. It was a travel magazine and travel company. So I was traveling to all these remote places, doing marketing, selling ad space, negotiating contracts, like all these things. And I met, I met my future, you know, husband during this time. And I would be gone sometimes four to six weeks at a time. So we got married and, you know, it was not a job that you really can have as a married person.

• 18:13Lewis Howes?

  Right, because you're traveling.

• 18:14Speaker 00

  No. And so I was like, "Okay, I, this isn't going to be good for our marriage for me to do this." So then I started doing PR and marketing for small businesses on the side while still making jewelry. And I just, that entrepreneurial spirit in me was huge.

• 18:30Lewis Howes?

  So you're working the job or you left the job to do PR?

• 18:32Speaker 00

  I left the job and I started doing PR myself. It was called Glitter.

• 18:36Lewis Howes?

  Wow, okay.

• 18:38Speaker 00

  Yeah. It was J Lo was big back then, you know, she still is. But it was sequins glitter. It was all about the bling back in the, back in the day. Early two, you know, nineteen, two, two thousands, I guess. And so I did glitter, PR and advertising. And I was still doing my jewelry just for customers. And we got pregnant and I remember, you know, thinking, okay, what am I gonna do next? And I made a little collection of jewelry while I was on, you know, basically pregnant with Cade. I went to jewelry making classes at a local bead shop to learn how to do even, you know, make things a little bit more intricate or different. And when he was three months old, I decided, you know, let's see if we can sell this.

• 19:21Speaker 00

  So I didn't have any proper case, this little collection. And I, we had a wooden tea box, like that you take out each little section of tea. And I put each, you know, color mixed collection in each of the little boxes in the tea box. And I put Cade in a baby bjorn. And we started to go to local boutiques in Austin, Texas. And I showed my collection and didn't want to really tell anyone I was starting a business.

• 19:45Lewis Howes?

  Right, because you didn't want to fail.

• 19:47Speaker 00

  No, and they already know. They already know that I'm a failure, okay?

• 19:50Lewis Howes?

  I'm not announcing this to the world so that I fail again.

• 19:53Speaker 00

  No, no. So yeah, I took Cade and thought if I can create a business that allows me to be a present mom for this little unbelievable human.

• 20:02Lewis Howes?

  And make some money on the weekends.

• 20:03Speaker 00

  Yeah, and, and bring money and help our family and, you know, that would be success.

• 20:07Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 20:08Speaker 00

  I didn't write the plan like I did for the hat box of opening stores all over the country and this being a huge thing. I started with it, let's just.

• 20:16Lewis Howes?

  Small.

• 20:17Speaker 00

  Small.

• 20:17Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 20:18Speaker 00

  And it, I'd sell into a store and I'd make my little orders.

• 20:23Lewis Howes?

  Were you doing confinement or were you doing?

• 20:25Speaker 00

  No, so I would write orders, you know, down and I'd show my collection. This is a, the first day is kind of an amazing day because I went to five boutiques. Four out of the five ended up placing orders.

• 20:36Lewis Howes?

  In Austin?

• 20:36Speaker 00

  In Austin, that day.

• 20:37Lewis Howes?

  So they're buying orders like wholesale and then they're selling for double the price.

• 20:40Speaker 00

  Yes, exactly, exactly. So I would go in and they'd write orders based on my sample set. Well, the last store I went into, they were doing a fashion show like in two days. And she's like, can I buy your samples for the show? And

• 20:55Lewis Howes?

  You'd already sold them, didn't you?

• 20:56Speaker 00

  Well, no, I had the samples. I had written orders. I was gonna go produce those samples. More of those, yes. And so I was kinda like, this is great, because I didn't know how I was gonna get more money to buy the materials I needed. So I sold my sample set for $1,200. It took me $500, you know.

• 21:14Lewis Howes?

  To make?

• 21:15Speaker 00

  To make. And I remember coming home with that check and like, show, even Kate, my three-month-old, I'm like, "Baby, we have a business!" Like, this is real! And I know it seems so silly, but that $1,200 led to the next ability to... So I was just kinda putting money in. And I mean, this is as bootstrapped. My mom brought over a card table. I had a bead board in our little spare room. It was maybe a 10 by 11 bedroom. And was fulfilling my orders. I had them up on a board. I remember just thinking, like, I had four orders at one time. I'm like, this is, like, things are happening. And it just started to grow. I mean, they would sell out. I would go to the stores. I'd help them merchandise. If something wasn't selling, I'd go back in and replace it for them.

• 21:57Speaker 00

  Nobody had done that when I had my hat store. So I thought, I wanna be a designer that is supportive of these retailers. I'll go in and do trunk shows. I'll meet their customers. I mean, I was like, I am gonna do everything I wished would have been done for me when I owned my hat store. And it worked. And our stores were selling like crazy, and the customers were happy. And it just grew from there. One store grew into 10 stores. 10 stores grew into 100 stores. 100 stores grew into 1,000.

• 22:27Lewis Howes?

  This is where you had placement, not your own stores, right? Yes. So you had placement distribution.

• 22:30Speaker 00

  And that's how I did it for 10 years of my business.

• 22:34Lewis Howes?

  And then you decided what?

• 22:35Speaker 00

  Well, eight years, eight years.

• 22:36Lewis Howes?

  Eight years, and then you said, "I wanna have my own store."

• 22:38Speaker 00

  No, I didn't say that at all. This wonderful thing happened called the recession. I don't know if you've heard about it? Yeah, 2008.

• 22:45Lewis Howes?

  So this was from 2000 to 2008?

• 22:47Speaker 00

  2002 to 2008, yeah.

• 22:49Lewis Howes?

  So six years more, full-time, but two years kinda on the side, it sounds like, right?

• 22:53Speaker 00

  Well, so 2008, the world

• 22:55Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 22:55Speaker 00

  changed. And all of my eggs were in one basket. The power of my future was with the buyers at the department stores, with the store owners. I had no direct connection to my consumer, my customer.

• 23:10Lewis Howes?

  You didn't have an audience.

• 23:10Speaker 00

  I didn't have an audience.

• 23:11Lewis Howes?

  You had an audience through retailers.

• 23:13Speaker 00

  Exactly. And so when the recession hit, all that power was going away because buyers I had built relationships with were getting laid off.

• 23:21Lewis Howes?

  So they weren't buying anymore?

• 23:22Speaker 00

  They, no. They, a lot of them were going direct and creating their own private label. Store owners that I loved were shuttering. Every day I'd find out another store was closing.

• 23:32Lewis Howes?

  How many stores were you in at that time before 2008?

• 23:35Speaker 00

  Uh, we were probably in about 600 stores across the country. Yeah.

• 23:39Lewis Howes?

  And then after 2009, 10, how many stores were you in?

• 23:43Speaker 00

  Probably 400.

• 23:46Lewis Howes?

  Oh, 400. I was gonna say 4.

• 23:47Speaker 00

  No, 400, yeah.

• 23:48Lewis Howes?

  I was like, geez.

• 23:49Speaker 00

  But 200 stores is a lot, right? So I'm going through this and I'm, I'm thinking, I mean, I remember shipping one huge order to a company that had been in business 100 years, Louis, filed for bankruptcy. Two days after I shipped an order, yes.

• 24:05Lewis Howes?

  So what happens?

• 24:06Speaker 00

  Never got, never got all that money again. No, no.

• 24:09Lewis Howes?

  You didn't get the product back?

• 24:09Speaker 00

  No.

• 24:10Lewis Howes?

  Oh, my gosh.

• 24:11Speaker 00

  No, that's what I'm saying. So it was a scary time. And here I have a line of credit. I have no investment capital. Nobody would invest in me. I've gone and pitched my idea.

• 24:22Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 24:22Speaker 00

  Doors closed a million times.

• 24:24Lewis Howes?

  Had you already raised money or were you just giving credit?

• 24:27Speaker 00

  No, I just had a line of credit. I had signed everything I owned up for collateral. I used credit card debt. It was all on debt, my entire business to this day.

• 24:36Lewis Howes?

  You never raised any money, right?

• 24:37Speaker 00

  I could, nobody would invest. I wanted to.

• 24:40Lewis Howes?

  Early on, no one would?

• 24:41Speaker 00

  No, Louis, I remember going to this one thing.

• 24:43Lewis Howes?

  100 stores, 500 stores?

• 24:44Speaker 00

  No, I, I promise you, and I'm a good salesperson. Can't you see that? No, I would walk in and they'd be like, mm, yeah, no, retail.

• 24:52Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, you don't have a college degree and I'll trust you.

• 24:53Speaker 00

  Right, exactly. No, but I'd go in and sometimes I'd be like, I remember going to this one networking group and they were like, well, Kendra, you just need to get an angel. I was like, I need an angel. Yeah, where do these angels hang out? I'd love to meet an angel. Angel investor. It wasn't even the access that you had today. If you think about social media, it wasn't there. It wasn't, there weren't groups that you could see, you know.

• 25:17Lewis Howes?

  It wasn't a trending thing either. It was like hard to get in. Old boys club type of thing.

• 25:22Speaker 00

  So, yeah, I mean, all of this was happening and I realized I had to change my business model. Otherwise, we were going to fail. I was going to have another failure under my belt. And so, I remember walking into my office and saying to my team, if you guys are with me, it's kind of like the Alamo where you draw the line in the sand. You know, I'm a Texan, so we all know that story well. But it's like, if you cross the line, if you're with me. If you're not, I totally understand. And it was like, I, we're going to change our business model. We're going to still have our wholesale customers. We love them. But we are going to focus on direct to consumer. We are going to build a website that is actually not just information, but e-commerce.

• 25:58Lewis Howes?

  Not just publicity, but it's actually how to buy.

• 26:00Speaker 00

  Right. It's actually an e-commerce website. We're going to create, which we had Colorbar, which was this customization tool where you could pick the stones you wanted and put it in any setting. We're going to create that tool online and we are going to open a retail store. When stores all over Austin were shuttering, I sign a lease for a store with an office above it. So, you'd walk through our retail store to get to our offices. I was like, this is going to be our laboratory. This is how we're going to learn about our customer. We're all going to work in that store. We're going to ask her what she loves, what she hates, what she wants more of. She's the boss. We have got to know what she needs and wants so that we can build the best company we can build.

• 26:41Speaker 00

  Not knowing that what we were actually doing was going to have this huge retail company. Because I said, if we're going to do it, I hate jewelry stores. I hate the way they are. I hate everything's under glass. I hate how judgy everyone is when you walk in.

• 26:55Lewis Howes?

  Snobby, snooty.

• 26:56Speaker 00

  I'm a timid, snobby. I said, I want to take all that away. We're going to have jewelry freely displayed on the tables where our customers can touch and feel them and try them on. We're going to create a real Colorbar where they can sit at the bar and drink champagne and eat a cupcake and watch their jewelry be made in front of them. We're going to be totally disruptive in a space that I did not personally like as a consumer. And I remember people saying. Kendra, that's not gonna work. You know how much you're gonna lose? How many shoplifters are gonna just take that jewelry? And I looked at them and I said, "I believe that 98% of people are good." So I'm not gonna build a business for the 2%

• 27:33Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 27:34Speaker 00

  of people that are bad.

• 27:35Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 27:37Speaker 00

  And it worked.

• 27:37Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 27:38Speaker 00

  We had lines around the block to come into this little store. No, it was like, it was like Red Oak or whatever in Las Vegas. Like, we had to get stanchions. It would be like five in, five out. It was unbelievable. It was this energy and community in the store. We were hosting community events with Kendra Gives Back events for local charities and color bar parties for birthdays. And it was unbelievable. And we realized that this is the missing link. But it all came from a shake the snow globe moment of the recession for us to think differently. Because we were doing okay. We weren't, you know, making any big headlines, but we were paying the rent and I was being able to put my kids through school

• 28:23Speaker 00

  and things were good, right? But that recession was the greatest gift Kendra Scott ever got. And you would think, "That sounds crazy." But it was, I say it's a ribbon wrapped in yellow was our future was because it forced me to think differently.

• 28:40Lewis Howes?

  What is this, what looks like recession, forcing you to think differently about the next evolution?

• 28:46Speaker 00

  Well, we don't know for sure if we're in a recession yet.

• 28:48Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 28:49Speaker 00

  You know, look.

• 28:49Lewis Howes?

  It looks like.

• 28:50Speaker 00

  But I also think-

• 28:52Lewis Howes?

  Let's just call this economic challenge.

• 28:53Speaker 00

  I get excited now, which seems really weird.

• 28:57Lewis Howes?

  What is the thing that, what's your blind spot that you haven't yet looked at within your business? That if you really start to peel back or lean into in a different way, could explode into the next level?

• 29:09Speaker 00

  When you think about when I started my company, it was, Cade was born two months after 9/11.

• 29:14Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 29:14Speaker 00

  I started at one of the most unstable times in our history. I started a business. Crazy. Here we are. 2008. One of the biggest economic crises that we faced in our lifetime happens. My business becomes lightning in a bottle growth afterwards because of that shakeup. The pandemic, scary, closing stores. It made me think about how we relate to our customer differently. Where is she and how do I meet her there? Does she need curbside? Does we need to make mobile access better? Does she need virtual styling? Things that we weren't doing, we're doing now is every day is part of our business. Because the pandemic had us thinking about where our customer was. So when you think about these things that are happening, it is, fear is good.

• 29:59Speaker 00

  Fear's normal. But usually on the other side of fear, something great.

• 30:03Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, of course.

• 30:04Speaker 00

  And if you can get through that scary, that scary phase, that uncomfortable phase and go, how am I going to make my business better today? How am I going to make my customer happier today? How am I going to understand where they are so that I can be there for them in this moment of whatever it is we're going through? Those are the businesses that are not only going to make it through this period, but they're going to absolutely thrive.

• 30:27Lewis Howes?

  So how many stores, you started with one in Austin. How many stores did it get to before 2020?

• 30:33Speaker 00

  We were at just about 100.

• 30:34Lewis Howes?

  100 stores around the country or outside of the US or just US?

• 30:38Speaker 00

  Nope, all in the United States.

• 30:39Lewis Howes?

  That's a lot of stores.

• 30:40Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 30:41Lewis Howes?

  100 of your own stores, not like other brands?

• 30:45Speaker 00

  Kendra Scott stores.

• 30:46Lewis Howes?

  100 stores.

• 30:47Speaker 00

  Now we are over 120.

• 30:48Lewis Howes?

  120. Did you have to close any, you said, though?

• 30:51Speaker 00

  No, we just, we closed them temporarily during the pandemic. But we were really creative and 120.

• 30:57Lewis Howes?

  It's incredible.

• 30:57Speaker 00

  March 16th, I closed those stores.

• 30:59Lewis Howes?

  It's my birthday.

• 31:00Speaker 00

  Is it?

• 31:01Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. That was like the week of the pandemic.

• 31:02Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 31:03Lewis Howes?

  It hit and I was like, happy birthday to me.

• 31:04Speaker 00

  Well, I was up at midnight for your birthday because I didn't sleep the night before, you know? I mean, it was...

• 31:10Lewis Howes?

  Because you're thinking, I got all these stores and people can't come in. What am I going to do?

• 31:13Speaker 00

  Well, and I had all these employees that I love. They're my family.

• 31:15Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 31:16Speaker 00

  You know, at Kendra Scott, family is one of our core values. And thinking about how are we going to keep... Our family in a good place, how are we gonna be there for our customer family? You know, we have the sister rule at Kendra Scott, we treat her like our sister. So it was, I'm like, girls, get on the phone, start calling our customers. We had elderly customers that, instead of us talking, asking them what they wanted to buy in jewelry, we were delivering food to their doorsteps. We really started to reach out and just say, we've built a connection with our customer.

• 31:46Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 31:47Speaker 00

  And, and I think for anybody that sells anything, it's doing anything with a retail service mind, make a connection first, and the transaction will follow. But when you're so focused on transaction, you lose the connection and you don't have that, especially when bad things happen.

• 32:03Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 32:03Speaker 00

  Our connection with our customer was so strong over the last 20 years. We were there in, you know, hospitals, 31 hospitals with our Kendra Cares program for pediatric cancer. We were there in oncology centers the month of October for our Buy One Give One program, giving a woman battling breast cancer a gift and letting her try to have a little piece of joy. We show up when we aren't expecting to, all the time, every single day. So when something bad happened to the world, our customers showed up for us. And they had this loyalty to our brand that wasn't fake, it was authentic and real. And, you know, I, I say this to companies all the time, being an authentic brand, you have to be authentic.

• 32:46Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 32:47Speaker 00

  It's not something that you can just create.

• 32:49Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 32:49Speaker 00

  It has to come from doing it consistently.

• 32:52Lewis Howes?

  Mm-hmm.

• 32:52Speaker 00

  Day in, and day out, and leading by example.

• 32:55Lewis Howes?

  Right. Man, that's inspiring. I didn't know this whole story, it's really inspiring. I'm curious, there's a lot of entrepreneurs that watch and listen, that are small businesses. You started as a small business. What's the difference between, you know, a few hundred thousand dollar a year, or a million dollar business, and a billion dollar business? What does it take? Emotionally, mentally, and psychologically to really excel to get there? And then what are some, a few of the things that take in terms of strategy and execution to get there?

• 33:25Speaker 00

  Well, no small business is small. Because first of all, to have the courage to start a business is real big.

• 33:31Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 33:31Speaker 00

  And really amazing. So I always say that, you know, the smallest ideas can turn into things that you can't even imagine. But I think the biggest thing for me as an entrepreneur is knowing my weaknesses. And I think you think, whoa, wait, why would you want to know that? We try as entrepreneurs to be like, we can do it all. We are, we're like magical unicorns, right? And we're just have all, and that is the biggest failure we can make as an entrepreneur. We've got to know what we're good at. Very important, because if you can focus on the things you're great at, awesome. But more importantly, know what you're not good at. And hire and create a team of people that are awesome at the things that you suck at.

• 34:11Speaker 00

  Because when you create this magical team, that is how you go from $200,000 a year to a billion dollar brand. Is identifying the places, the gaps where you need to bring in others that have that expertise, that knowledge, that maybe have gone down that road before. And can help avoid some of those pitfalls. And that is how you get there. No single human founder on the planet has done it themselves. And if they have, they're lying to you.

• 34:39Lewis Howes?

  Right, right, right.

• 34:40Speaker 00

  They're arrogant and they're lying because it's not true.

• 34:42Lewis Howes?

  So I'm hearing you say the awareness to know what your weaknesses are. And then the execution and strategy to find the right people.

• 34:48Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 34:49Lewis Howes?

  Team and expand the team.

• 34:50Speaker 00

  And expand the team. And then having trust and faith in that team and being collaborative. Knowing that you may not always have the greatest idea in the room. You know, you can be a leader and a visionary, but you also have to be able to absorb these awesome people around you. And more importantly, listen to your customers. Listen to them every single day. I read every comment on my Instagram to my marketing teams. Like they're like, Hendra, please don't read all these comments. I want to know, I'm like, has somebody gotten back to her? I literally said that on the way here, there was somebody had a question about something. I go, I didn't see a reply on Instagram. I mean, I'm doing a lot of things, but every day I want to hear from our customer. And I think from entrepreneurs, you've got to get out of your office.

• 35:33Speaker 00

  Whether it's in a store, whether it's on your customer service calls, listening in, taking those calls yourself, being engaged with the person that matters the most. And that is the person that is signing your check. It is not you signing your checks. Even though your name might be on the building, it is not you. It is your customer signing your checks.

• 35:53Lewis Howes?

  She's the boss.

• 35:54Speaker 00

  She's the boss. He's the boss. Now, we've got a men's line. He and she are the boss.

• 35:59Lewis Howes?

  So I'm wearing a...

• 36:00Speaker 00

  Scott Brothers.

• 36:01Lewis Howes?

  It's funny because Matt was just saying that I never wore jewelry until a couple of months ago. My girlfriend got me a chain and some rings. And then you put on a bunch of cool stuff. Why did you start a men's line for 18 years? Was it a women's line?

• 36:14Speaker 00

  Yeah, only. And we had so many men, first of all, like Kendra. You know, when you're gonna... And I never quite like got it. My boys became men.

• 36:24Lewis Howes?

  They never wore jewelry as a 12-year-old.

• 36:27Speaker 00

  The three-month-old is now 20, okay? So every year, my business has become a year older. So has my oldest son. And when we were in the pandemic together, I would be having all my design meetings around my dining table because we weren't really in the office. So, you know, a few of my designers, six feet apart, masks on, we would be designing collections. And my boys were home with me. And they'd be walking in the dining room. They're like, Mom, that is so cool. You need to make that for me. Or can you make that in a bigger size? And I started talking to them and I was watching kind of what they were wearing. They were kind of layering cool bracelets and, you know, and really kind of seeing their style come out. And I said, wait, maybe we should do like a little line together, you know? And it kind of just became kind of a fun project for us.

• 37:10Speaker 00

  We launched Scott Brothers and it was, I think we exceeded by 70% or something crazy of our expectations for launch. But it was a line that came from a genuine place. And the boys love being engaged and involved in it. And it's been something fun for us to do. But we had 36% customer base that were male prior to Scott Brothers.

• 37:32Lewis Howes?

  Because they were buying for their girlfriend wives.

• 37:34Speaker 00

  So now they can come in and buy for their girlfriend and wives and leave with something for themselves.

• 37:38Lewis Howes?

  And the women are probably the main buyers. They're going to buy for their guys.

• 37:41Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 37:41Lewis Howes?

  If they're going to be there, they might as well get a gift for them too.

• 37:43Speaker 00

  Yeah, so it's been really fun and it's growing. I mean, it keeps expanding.

• 37:47Lewis Howes?

  Interesting. You're like the Lululemon of jewelry now. Right, it's like only women's clothes and now they have like a smaller men's section. And now it's like, okay, it's bigger, bigger. Now it's more men are in there shopping. That's pretty cool. So do you have like a, I gotta go to one of your stores and check it out.

• 38:02Speaker 00

  Please, we have one here.

• 38:03Lewis Howes?

  It must be a cool experience.

• 38:04Speaker 00

  Century City, you can go here in LA.

• 38:05Lewis Howes?

  Here in Century City? At the mall?

• 38:07Speaker 00

  At the mall.

• 38:07Lewis Howes?

  Come on.

• 38:08Speaker 00

  Yes, right when you come up the escalator, like when you, where you go to valet, which I'm sure is that what you do? Cause you're fancy.

• 38:14Lewis Howes?

  Which, but where, what's it next to? I'm trying to see, cause I'm over there all the time.

• 38:17Speaker 00

  Uh, we're near Nordstrom area.

• 38:19Lewis Howes?

  Okay, I'm gonna check it out.

• 38:20Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 38:20Lewis Howes?

  I'm gonna go and look at the men's section, make sure it's good.

• 38:23Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 38:24Lewis Howes?

  Now, okay, what was the biggest, you talked about the business challenge. What was the biggest personal challenge you've had to overcome and face? And the lesson you learned from that personal challenge in the last 20 years?

• 38:33Speaker 00

  I mean, I think, you know, divorce is really hard, right? And nobody walks down the aisle saying, I do forever and ever and expecting it to not work out that way.

• 38:45Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 38:45Speaker 00

  And, you know, it's such a devastating thing, no matter what.

• 38:49Lewis Howes?

  Must be emotionally draining.

• 38:50Speaker 00

  But when you were little kids.

• 38:51Lewis Howes?

  Oh my gosh.

• 38:52Speaker 00

  So my boys were one and three. And I had a very young business that was just, you know, getting started. And it was, you know, it was a really, I think for me, that was, I felt like the biggest personal failure. Because I can do things like closing the business and it's on me, right? That's me. But when you have two little lives that you're responsible for, it's much bigger than that. And so you take those failures differently.

• 39:17Lewis Howes?

  Interesting.

• 39:18Speaker 00

  Right? Because it's affecting these little humans that you love. And so that was for me really, really hard. But at the same time, you know, I look at it now and I think, and I have a chapter in my book called The Average Family. There is no average family anymore. People go through marriages and divorces. Uh, I remarried, I had a little, you know, a younger son, so now I have three sons. My boy's got a little brother that they adore. Uh, he has these older brothers that he loves. My ex-husband and I are great friends. Uh, you know, we get along wonderful. He's remarried his two little girls, so they have sisters through him. This is, our family has evolved into this really amazing, you know, thing for everybody. And, but when you're in it, it doesn't feel like that's going to be the outcome.

• 40:02Speaker 00

  But for me at the time, it was, and, and it still is hard, you know, because it's not what you plan on happening.

• 40:09Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 40:09Speaker 00

  But life throws you curveballs, Louis, and you just gotta figure out how to catch them sometimes.

• 40:13Lewis Howes?

  I thought it was just easy, you know, I thought it was just simple, everything happens in a perfect way. I've made every mistake in the book in relationships and, and suffered for many years and struggled and did a lot of therapy to just kinda help myself heal and unwind and realize why I was making certain decisions and things like that.

• 40:30Speaker 00

  Yes, and, and that's part of that personal growth that we're talking about, you know, and, and I think a lot of times we're judged, especially if you've gone through divorce. We can have monogamous relationships and break up and for some reason that's okay for people.

• 40:44Lewis Howes?

  When you say I do and you commit.

• 40:45Speaker 00

  Commit, and then that doesn't work out, people are like, ooh, she's a divorcee. Yeah, you know, ooh. So it's, it's, it becomes harder, but I love love and I believe in love and, you know, I haven't given up on it. And yeah, it didn't always work out the way I'd planned, but that doesn't mean that I don't deserve love and that I can't be in a, in a relationship that's a committed relationship.

• 41:08Lewis Howes?

  Was there ever a time where you didn't love yourself?

• 41:11Speaker 00

  Oh, sure.

• 41:12Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 41:13Speaker 00

  Yes. I, you know, I think I, I've been hard on myself throughout my life and I, and I think in 2020 was a year where I just felt like I lost that ability to overcome obstacles.

• 41:30Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 41:30Speaker 00

  Like I had before, because there were so many. There were so many coming at me all at once that I would try to, and I was trying to be positive for everybody else because I didn't want my team at work or my kids to think mom was, you know, not okay. So I would be putting on this like mask of,

• 41:52Lewis Howes?

  Physically.

• 41:53Speaker 00

  Hi, yeah, hey, great, I'm great. And then I'd go in my room at night and just sob and cry myself to sleep and feel like I didn't have it all together and that I was a fake. Like, the world thought I did. And I, you know, that's when I started journaling. And, and writing this down to say, I knew I needed people to know that I wasn't okay, because I had a feeling there are other people that weren't okay too. And that we're gonna overcome this. And I knew in my heart I was still gonna overcome it. I mean, I wasn't at a point where I was like, I'm not, I'm giving up. But I was at a point where I was just like, yeah, this is, this is, and, and I didn't feel like myself. And I had to change the, the way I was doing things.

• 42:38Lewis Howes?

  In 2020.

• 42:38Speaker 00

  In 2020.

• 42:39Lewis Howes?

  But you'd been,

• 42:40Speaker 00

  Personally.

• 42:41Lewis Howes?

  But you'd made a ton of money, your business is everywhere. You're this big success. You've got, you know, your kids, you're healthy. I mean, you're healthy-ish.

• 42:49Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah.

• 42:50Lewis Howes?

  You know, you've got stability in life, but you didn't feel like you were yourself.

• 42:54Speaker 00

  No. I, you know, I felt like a, a shadow of myself at that point. And, you know, money does not make you happy. And then, success is different for everybody. And I think that's a really important thing to remember.

• 43:07Lewis Howes?

  What is success for you?

• 43:09Speaker 00

  So I realized that success for me was just having more time, more quiet time, more time with the people that I loved. And in 2020, I think with my father being ill, going through another divorce in my life, that separation of another failure, COVID, the pandemic hitting, you know, the world and my business. There was just so many things out of my control that I felt out of control, in a way. But I had to keep everybody thinking I was in control, which is the worst.

• 43:40Lewis Howes?

  It's a lot of work.

• 43:41Speaker 00

  It's a lot of work. It's a lot of work. And, and being able to finally just say, okay, I'm struggling and I need to, I need a break. And writing down what I saw my next three years of my life look like. Cause I had been going at a pace that was so intense.

• 43:57Lewis Howes?

  Fast.

• 43:58Speaker 00

  And be, trying to be superwoman for everybody. My kids, my business, my, you know, Kendra Scott family members, everybody. My own family. And finally just saying, I've gotta focus on me a little bit. And taking a different role within the organization as a company, stepping down as CEO and becoming just chairwoman, lead of, head of design, and I'm the customer advocate. So, you know, queen of customer experience.

• 44:25Lewis Howes?

  So this happened in the last two years?

• 44:26Speaker 00

  Last two years.

• 44:27Lewis Howes?

  So you stepped down in two years.

• 44:28Speaker 00

  I did. And said, I know I can do more for the business and for myself and for everybody else. If I just focus on the things that I know I need to focus on.

• 44:39Lewis Howes?

  Interesting.

• 44:39Speaker 00

  I created this school for women's entrepreneurship. So I could help and inspire other young women. I wanted to spend more time with my kids, which we were getting to do during COVID. And I realized what a gift this was. Spending more time with my father, who I almost lost. Realizing I wasn't spending as much time as I wanted to before. And even having a quieter life, like gardening and animals and being outside and hiking and, and taking care of myself, even physically, doing yoga every morning. I'd never done yoga. Started doing yoga in 2020, changed my life. I mean, I, if I don't do yoga every day, I feel like I'm missing something now. But it was making priorities.

• 45:21Speaker 00

  And what happened is, is those contributions to my company have caused the company to even just grow and succeed more. When I was killing myself, right? You think you're working so hard, but you're not working effectively and efficiently.

• 45:34Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 45:35Speaker 00

  And so having that reflection and that time to do that was what inspired the book. Because it really was something that was important for me to put out there, for others to realize that, you know, even when you don't feel it, there's this light inside of you still flickering away and surrounding yourself with people that help you find that light when you don't necessarily see it. And then it is going to come out, it's going to shine brighter than ever before.

• 46:00Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 46:02Lewis Howes?

  I like you, Kendra.

• 46:03Speaker 00

  I like you, Louis.

• 46:05Lewis Howes?

  I like this story. This is really inspiring. What was your? What was your biggest fear then? Was it failure or success?

• 46:13Speaker 00

  That's a good question. Because I felt it both at different times in my life. For a long time, it was failure. Because I failed, right? And I didn't want to... I wanted to take away the failure cloak that I felt like was like...

• 46:28Lewis Howes?

  The monkey on your back.

• 46:29Speaker 00

  Yeah, the monkey on my back. And wanted to prove that I could be successful. That I wasn't going to let that shadow follow me anymore. Then, once you have this success and people all of a sudden look at you different, they talk to you a little different, they take you seriously more, you know, they act differently around you, you're like, whoa. But then you kind of feel that some people are talking to you for different reasons. Not because they genuinely care about you or love you.

• 46:55Lewis Howes?

  Right, right, right.

• 46:56Speaker 00

  Or maybe they want something or they're...

• 46:58Lewis Howes?

  You don't know why, the agenda.

• 47:00Speaker 00

  Yeah, and that became scarier for me. Because I'm very like open and giving and generous. And you got to a point where I started to question some of the people, things in my life that were happening, why they were happening. So then that kind of scared me a little bit. And that trust of just wanting to trust everyone.

• 47:21Lewis Howes?

  I know, I had that for so long.

• 47:23Speaker 00

  Became... I actually hated that feeling. But knowing that I'm not going to let it change me. That yeah, I'm going to... That I ended up, that I had some things happen that were hurtful or things that happened. But if I allowed that person or that event to change my heart, to change who I am, then they won. So I'm not going to let them win. I'm still going to be the person I'm going to be. Am I cautious? Yeah. Am I a little more thoughtful about things I do? Of course I am. But at the end of the day, I'm still going to be the person I am. And that is a person that looks for the good in somebody first.

• 48:02Lewis Howes?

  What would you say you're more afraid of now? Fear or failure or success moving forward after this kind of transformation in the last couple of years?

• 48:11Speaker 00

  You know, I'm doing things that I haven't done before. So, writing a book and starting a school. A college dropout has an institute at the University of Texas.

• 48:20Lewis Howes?

  That's very cool.

• 48:21Speaker 00

  I'm a professor. They call me Professor Scott on campus, which is crazy. So, that's what I'm saying. Anything is possible, folks. You don't believe it. I'm a professor at a college dropout, at a university, a top university in the country. So, anything is possible. But I want to do so well now for this legacy that I want. That all of these things have led me to this point. It's given me the opportunity to have a voice to help others succeed in their own life. And I want to see them succeed. And that would be, for me, that's what I'm fearful of, is that I want to make sure I can figure out how to do this in a way that they have great success. Because I don't want them to fail.

• 48:59Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 49:00Speaker 00

  I want them to have success. So, it's a cool place to be.

• 49:03Lewis Howes?

  That's beautiful. What's the part of your voice that has yet to be heard?

• 49:08Speaker 00

  My singing voice you don't want to hear on the show. No.

• 49:12Lewis Howes?

  Is there anything you want to say that you haven't really fully said yet? Do you feel like it's still inside of you? I know you've written a lot of these things, these stories in your book. But is there something you feel like you still want to get out there?

• 49:24Speaker 00

  I think the biggest thing I want to say is don't ever judge a book by its cover. And I think it's so easy for us to dismiss someone's success as a fluke. You know, to just be like, oh, they got lucky. Or, you know, and especially women, Louis, we can be vicious. And I see women tearing other women down so much. Especially if they see success, there's got to be a reason or, you know. And then if a woman fails, oh, they celebrate the failures.

• 49:52Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 49:53Speaker 00

  Oh, yeah, this is happening.

• 49:54Lewis Howes?

  Women celebrate other women failing.

• 49:56Speaker 00

  Yeah, but we've got to change that dialogue.

• 49:58Lewis Howes?

  Why do they do that?

• 50:00Speaker 00

  Because it's, we have our own impersonal insecurities. So, if we see someone else doing something, it could be jealousy. It could come from a place of insecurity, you know. And we've got to stop that, right? Because if we can stop that and start celebrating each other's successes and pick, put your hand down when somebody else is falling and lift them out of that place, you will become more successful, more great. Your light is going to shine so bright and that will attract so many great things in your life. That is what I want people to hear is let's not judge a book by the cover. Let's start to hold hands, lift each other up, support one another instead of tear each other down. And this would be an amazing world we could live in. And men and women.

• 50:43Speaker 00

  I mean, I don't, I'm not, I don't, I think men do it too, right? I'm just a woman and I feel it. But in our company, we don't allow that.

• 50:50Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 50:50Speaker 00

  You know, we hire people on heart before resume. And we celebrate each other. Somebody gets a promotion, you'll see a hundred emails going, way to go, you so deserve this Maggie, or whoever it is, rooting for one another.

• 51:05Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 51:05Speaker 00

  And that environment is infectious. It's contagious in a good way. And I think that is a message I want to get out there is like, find ourselves when you're at that dinner table and it's like, oh, so and so got a promotion. See the tone? Or so and so got a promotion. How awesome is that? You have the power to change that conversation in that moment. And we all have that ability.

• 51:31Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 51:31Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 51:32Lewis Howes?

  I'm curious about the mindset you developed around making money. Because you were in a hat business before and it wasn't thriving, right?

• 51:42Speaker 00

  No. Not at all.

• 51:44Lewis Howes?

  So how did you learn? Because a lot of people kind of have this ceiling about how much they think they deserve to earn or make. And they kind of get stuck. That's from what I've seen. And it's hard for them to break through to the next level. So how did you, in your minds, psychologically, know that you were deserving to earn more? And to be able to build a business that had the potential to earn more? And how did you not have a ceiling at the different levels from a hundred thousand dollars in sales to a million, to 10 million, to 100 million, to a billion? How did you continue to break through that financial ceiling?

• 52:18Speaker 00

  I think for me, I've had a different relationship with money.

• 52:22Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 52:23Speaker 00

  Being a single mom, starting this business very bootstrapped, not having investors, it was survival for me. It was always like, I can pay my rent, help my kids go to this school. You know, it was very much survival mode for a long time. And, you know, and even hiring my first COO, which, you know, was like my, you know, partner in crime for many years, Lon, you know, I couldn't afford him. But I couldn't not afford him, so what did I do? I cut my payback because I was investing in the future of our business. It was always this bigger idea of building something that was bigger than just my paycheck. I wasn't thinking about it as much as that.

• 53:08Speaker 00

  I felt like this business was this almost, you know, I always say all the time that Kendra Scott, the company, is the DNA of all the people that are part of it. And we've created this like, I think now he's, she, he is a tween, maybe. You know, we've still got a lot of, a lot of growth to go with that brand. But it was the DNA of all the people. And so each thought about it was how are we going to continue to grow and do more? And success for us was also on our three core values, which was family, fashion, and philanthropy. We were always giving back, even from the very beginning. And the bigger we grew, the more we were doing and making an impact. So it was like, we were able to have this fashion brand,

• 53:50Speaker 00

  but also seeing how we could affect people's lives in a positive, positive way. And that was our fuel source. Because it was like, yeah, we're paying, you have to pay your bills. But it was also seeing something else that we were building and growing that was really cool. I think the first time I had an investor, when I had those words said to me, "I want to invest in you Kendra," I was first like, wait, that's really weird. Did you say what? You know, I couldn't believe it. And it was an advisor. I had built up an advisory board because I didn't have a typical board. And I wanted to get other people's thoughts about my business. I wanted to be a sponge and learn from them. So I sought out people that I really respected in a very different fields,

• 54:33Speaker 00

  but that could help contribute to what I was trying to build. And one of my advisors ended up being my first investor and saying, "What you're building is phenomenal. Can I please invest?"

• 54:43Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 54:44Speaker 00

  And that in of itself was the first time I took money off the table.

• 54:50Lewis Howes?

  What year is this?

• 54:51Speaker 00

  2012. So 10 years in.

• 54:58Lewis Howes?

  Took some money off.

• 54:59Speaker 00

  Silence. But it wasn't a lot. I mean, but for me, I never had money just in a bank account.

• 55:06Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 55:06Speaker 00

  I had a float, a personal float and a business float.

• 55:10Lewis Howes?

  You'd have money so you could buy inventory.

• 55:12Speaker 00

  Yes, and it was always this like chess game I was playing. That was the first time I actually felt like I could breathe a little easier.

• 55:21Lewis Howes?

  Interesting.

• 55:21Speaker 00

  And then, three years later, we brought in a private equity firm for 20% of the business.

• 55:27Lewis Howes?

  So you got a little more cash.

• 55:28Speaker 00

  And I got a little more. And then, that was for me. I would have been fine. I was fine. I was happy. And what it did for me is I didn't have to worry about money anymore.

• 55:36Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 55:36Speaker 00

  I didn't have to worry about my float. I didn't have to worry about rent. I could pay for my kid's school. I mean, we were fine. I was fine. I had everything I wanted. So I could really start to be kind of a little more aggressive on the business side.

• 55:48Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 55:49Speaker 00

  I could take more risks with the business because it wasn't like if this doesn't work.

• 55:53Lewis Howes?

  I have no money. Right, right.

• 55:55Speaker 00

  I'm out. I'm living with my mom again.

• 55:57Lewis Howes?

  I don't think people realize how challenging it is to run a business. Like, I think they see Shark Tank, which you're on and you've been on, and they think, I think they see like people on Instagram or social media talk about their successful business. But I don't think they understand how stressful it can be to manage overhead, to manage your, you know, monthly payments, to manage people, to manage all the software you're paying for, all the logistics. There's so many things happening.

• 56:24Speaker 00

  Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. You don't go into entrepreneurship because you think, ooh, I want to just have my own business and be my own boss. Nobody's going to tell me what to do. Oh, honey, you, everyone will tell you what to do. Everyone's your boss. And you are going to be working so much harder than you've ever in your life. But if you're working for something that you're passionate about, you're excited about. I mean, for me, I would get up and still get up every morning and I cannot wait to be part of my business. I love designing. I love my customers so much. I love their stories. I love meeting them. I love my, my family at Kendra Scott that we've built. You know, I, I love it. And if you don't love it, you can't do it. And if you're just doing it for money, stop right now.

• 57:08Speaker 00

  Because that's not going to get you through and you will never become successful.

• 57:12Lewis Howes?

  Because for 10 years, you weren't really thriving financially. I mean, the business was growing and you were making a good salary, but you weren't like, I've got all this money in the world now for me.

• 57:20Speaker 00

  No, no.

• 57:21Lewis Howes?

  After 10 years.

• 57:22Speaker 00

  10, no. After 10 years, it was still.

• 57:27Speaker 00

  So hard every day. So hard. But then, you know, you start to see and like, again, the recession hit, things changed. My business was changing. And we were starting to see and it was then it was lightning in a bottle.

• 57:41Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 57:42Speaker 00

  It was five million to 25 million in sale. 25 million to 75 million the next year. I mean, we weren't just doing, we were growing at this unbelievable rate. But that 10 years of authentic dedication, love, standing by our core values, really just creating something and listening to our customer and being agile and pivoting when we needed to. Not being so laser focused and it has to be this way. If, if the pandemic hasn't taught us that, I don't know what it is. I always say, you know, if you looked at my, my plan in 2020, I wish I had a piece of paper. I ripped it in half. Yes, I ripped it in half. You have to be able to be agile and, and shift, okay?

• 58:27Speaker 00

  With this upcoming recession that might be happening, we don't know. Be agile. Your plan that you have today may not be the plan that's going to look like it as you go down and traverse this next year or two or three years or whatever it might be. Be flexible.

• 58:43Lewis Howes?

  So where you're at now is completely different than the plan you had two years ago.

• 58:46Speaker 00

  Totally.

• 58:48Lewis Howes?

  What do you think was the, the factor that got you from the 25 to 75 million like that fast? Was it, what were the couple of shifts that you did that allowed for that growth?

• 58:57Speaker 00

  Yeah, so.

• 58:57Lewis Howes?

  Within you and then tactically?

• 58:59Speaker 00

  Yeah, so with, within myself, you know, I felt like I had the confidence to, okay, my family's going to be okay.

• 59:08Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 59:08Speaker 00

  We're not going to be on the streets. Like, we're gonna be okay. I could really start to like, think outside of the box.

• 59:16Lewis Howes?

  Take some risks.

• 59:17Speaker 00

  And I was seeing this magic happening in our store that we were walking into every day. And the lines and the, the, my office sat right above that store and I could just hear the roar.

• 59:28Lewis Howes?

  That's gotta be amazing.

• 59:29Speaker 00

  Laughter and people having fun and the energy that the store was creating. And I knew that this was magic. And so we started opening stores.

• 59:38Lewis Howes?

  So you just had one then and then you said let's do more.

• 59:40Speaker 00

  And then we started opening stores, opening stores. And each of those stores were creating this little

• 59:45Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 59:45Speaker 00

  ecosystem within that community. And we had a philanthropy outreach manager in every store. So we were building within the community, all of our philanthropy projects. And it was like we just saw it and we were learning. Every one, I was learning something and making the next one better. Never being complacent. Today, I'm never complacent. You know, people think, oh, you have a billion dollar brand. You can now just take a break. I have, are you kidding? This is when I really have to work.

• 1:00:10Lewis Howes?

  I know.

• 1:00:11Speaker 00

  I can never be complacent. I wake up every day and I say, how am I going to surprise and delight my customer today?

• 1:00:18Lewis Howes?

  Wow, that's beautiful.

• 1:00:20Speaker 00

  How am I going to surprise and delight them? You can't just go on yesterday's wins. You gotta think differently every day. Today, I'm going to do better than we did yesterday. I'm going to make a bigger impact for her today. Surprise and delight.

• 1:00:36Lewis Howes?

  Hmm, because there's always, I mean, there's always boutique brands coming out too, right? There's all these, an influencer is launching a brand. There's all these different people that are coming out with retail and all these cool different things. And if you stay the same, people are going to move on to some other brand. Oh, let me check this out and oh, this is really cool. And become more of a customer over here than with you, right?

• 1:00:55Speaker 00

  Right.

• 1:00:56Lewis Howes?

  So you have to constantly be innovating, it sounds like.

• 1:00:58Speaker 00

  Innovating and you know, we've grown and when we started, we were a fashion jewelry brand. Now we have sterling silver, which is like demi fine. And we have fine jewelry, diamonds, engagement rings, you know, 14, we have all three, you know, categories of jewelry. We have a men's line. You know, we're, we're doing so many different things. I mean, we have customers are layering their diamonds with our fashion brand that we bring out seasonally for spring or summer, you know? But we've grown with our customer. We have three generations of customers shopping in our store. We'll have the daughter, the mother and the grandmother. And they all leave with a little yellow bag and a smile on their face. There's not a lot of brands that can be generational like that as well. And that little girl grows with us. Maybe then she goes to college and she's wearing us on game day.

• 1:01:43Speaker 00

  Then she's getting married and she's getting our engagement ring. Then she's on her honeymoon. Then she has kids and now she's getting teacher's gifts. And you know, and so we see our customers over 20 years who, and we've built such a connection with her and him now.

• 1:01:58Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 1:01:58Speaker 00

  That it's this, it's such a, it's such a cool thing to see as a brand.

• 1:02:03Lewis Howes?

  So how do you, I mean, with someone? I'm not in this industry, obviously, I don't understand, but with, let's say, a brand that only focuses on the high-end jewelry, the engagement rings and the more expensive jewelry, and that's all they obsess about, they don't have the other two lines.

• 1:02:20Speaker 00

  Right.

• 1:02:21Lewis Howes?

  The generations of lines, I guess, how do you compete as a brand with a specialist brand that just does that?

• 1:02:28Speaker 00

  Well, first of all, I always tell everybody, if you're doing what everybody else is doing, you're already failed. It's one of my favorite things to say, you gotta be disruptive. So if you're doing high-end, fine jewelry, you have to have your own unique fingerprint on it. You are what makes it great. Your personal brand, who you are, your aesthetic, so be you. Don't try to be all the jewelry brands that are, you know, out there. You have to be you, and you have to be doing something different, unique, and bringing something to a customer that nobody else is offering her. So that's the most important thing. Whether that's through experience, whether that's through product, whatever it might be, it could be a combination. For us, it's a combination of all those things. Like, the experience has to be amazing, on wherever she's shopping.

• 1:03:13Speaker 00

  The product has to be amazing.

• 1:03:14Lewis Howes?

  So, I don't know the jewelry world, so I've heard Tiffany's, right? So it's like, how do you, just an example, how would you compare yourself, or how do you say, okay, we're going to try to draw in some of the audience that would normally go for a brand like Tiffany's and have them have one of our engagement rings?

• 1:03:33Speaker 00

  Engagement rings, yes.

• 1:03:34Lewis Howes?

  How would, how do you think about that?

• 1:03:35Speaker 00

  So I think about it from a customer perspective. I think about the shopping experience at Tiffany's. I love Tiffany's, I mean, hell, who doesn't? Okay? But I think it's, you know, it's a very high-end, it can be intimidating.

• 1:03:46Lewis Howes?

  It's under the glass.

• 1:03:47Speaker 00

  And you can go in there and you can feel great.

• 1:03:50Lewis Howes?

  White glove, white people, yeah.

• 1:03:51Speaker 00

  And, you know, in any store, and I'm not, because I'm not saying it's Tiffany's, but I've gone into stores as Kendra Scott, in my workout clothes, my hair in a ponytail, sweaty after the gym.

• 1:04:00Lewis Howes?

  You feel intimidated.

• 1:04:01Speaker 00

  And they don't really want to talk to me, right? Kendra Scott's a totally different vibe, you know? It's a more casual, more relaxed, we want your husband to come in and have fun, we're gonna give him a beer, we're gonna give you a glass of champagne, you can, he can just try on some rings, y'all can have fun. We're not, you know, it's a very relaxed experience, right?

• 1:04:20Lewis Howes?

  I'm about to go check it out now.

• 1:04:21Speaker 00

  And it's fun, right? And you wanna, like, it's a place you wanna come hang out, and again, we're not here to, you wanna just try on rings and have fun today? Great. Because if you left with a smile on your face, you had a great time, we've succeeded at Kendra Scott, because we made a connection.

• 1:04:35Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:04:36Speaker 00

  We made a connection.

• 1:04:37Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 1:04:37Speaker 00

  And you're gonna share that, even if you never buy something.

• 1:04:39Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 1:04:40Speaker 00

  You're gonna share, we went into Kendra Scott's store today. Oh my god.

• 1:04:42Lewis Howes?

  It was cool, we had a fun time.

• 1:04:43Speaker 00

  They had local beer. I got, you know, my girlfriend, she got to try a bunch of rings. We had so much fun. They gave us cupcakes and champagne. I mean, this is great.

• 1:04:51Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, cupcakes, I'm going over there right now.

• 1:04:53Speaker 00

  Hey, you can make any sale happen with cupcakes, okay? That's their lesson that you can take from this.

• 1:04:57Lewis Howes?

  When did you start adding, I guess, beer, champagne and food to the stores?

• 1:05:03Speaker 00

  Right away.

• 1:05:04Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 1:05:04Speaker 00

  From day one, I wanted it to feel like you were coming into my house. So my house, you know, we'd have a big thing of lemonade and I'd have cookies out on a tray or little sweet treats. It was always like you were coming into my house. Like if you came in my house, I'd be like, hey, can I get you something to drink? Do you want a little treat? Thanks for being here. So I wanted to create this environment of warmth, of welcoming, of community. And it feel like, hey, we're glad you're here.

• 1:05:33Lewis Howes?

  I'm curious what the, I'm curious if you would have had it for two years without the food and drinks? And then you would have brought it? And if it would have increased sales or how that conversion would have been?

• 1:05:43Speaker 00

  You know, I couldn't have imagined it without it. Now we have a store in Austin, our flagship store is in this really cool old house. If you go down on South Congress and we have a little cafe called Sips and Sweets.

• 1:05:56Lewis Howes?

  Come on.

• 1:05:56Speaker 00

  Because that's what we used to call it in our advertising is, come in for Kendra Scott, for Kendrick is Back event, shop and have sips and sweets. So we named our little cafe Sips and Sweets.

• 1:06:06Lewis Howes?

  So you have an actual cafe now?

• 1:06:07Speaker 00

  A little cafe.

• 1:06:07Lewis Howes?

  It's like next to the store?

• 1:06:08Speaker 00

  Wine, we have Froze all day, which is, yep, on tap.

• 1:06:14Lewis Howes?

  So it's an actual standalone coffee shop, cafe?

• 1:06:17Speaker 00

  Inside our store, yes.

• 1:06:18Lewis Howes?

  It's inside the store?

• 1:06:19Speaker 00

  Yeah, but you can get to it outside too. We have a little window, you could just go up and get your coffee. We have a patio where we have live music some days. On game days, we have big TVs so the men can sit out there. We have local beers, wine, champagne. So fun. And then all of the pastries and cookies are from local female bakers.

• 1:06:40Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 1:06:40Speaker 00

  So they bring in all these amazing treats and we're celebrating other entrepreneurs within the community. So it's really cool. So we're hoping to open more of those, because that's been a huge hit in Austin.

• 1:06:50Lewis Howes?

  That's a lot of fun.

• 1:06:51Speaker 00

  Yeah. But that's the never be complacent. That's the surprise and delight. It was taking a small thing and growing it into something even more exciting and fun. Instead of just being like, well, this works. We'll just keep doing that. And I think that's where

• 1:07:05Lewis Howes?

  That's cool.

• 1:07:06Speaker 00

  As an entrepreneur, you're the visionary, always trying to think. And some things aren't going to always work. And that's okay, too. But if you don't try, you won't know.

• 1:07:15Lewis Howes?

  Absolutely. I'm curious about relationships. And I ask men this question a lot about. I really admire the men who have built an incredible business and who have a relationship also. Not just, oh, I'm this single guy and I've made millions. But you know, a guy who's kind of stood the test of time in business and in relationships. Not saying they have to have the perfect one. And not saying they don't have to have failed ones and new relationships. But where do you think you would be if you were, let's say, single for the last 20 years? Versus having relationships that had their ups and downs, but also had connection in them? Where would you be if you were single versus being in relationships?

• 1:08:00Speaker 00

  I think being in relationships has helped me be able to become the success I am today.

• 1:08:05Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 1:08:07Speaker 00

  I am so thankful that I was a young mother. My boys drove me so much because I wanted to succeed for them. So they were such a driver of even not wanting to give up when there are times when I felt like it'd just be easier to throw in the towel. I'd look at their little faces and be like, no, I'm not giving up. I'm not giving up because of them. And so having those relationships led me to all of those things that gave me the drive. And you know, and that just, oh, I want to make this work. Like, I'm going to do this. I'm going to make this work. And I think for any successful person, to have a person that they can be their most vulnerable self with,

• 1:08:50Speaker 00

  where they don't have to be the rock star and the know every answer. And if you can have a person in your life that just allows you to be you, the messy, ugly, whatever, insecure times, you know, person, and they love you for that, and they're there for you. Every strong person needs a rock, too. You know, we need a rock, we need somebody that we can tether to every once in a while because we're flying high.

• 1:09:15Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 1:09:16Speaker 00

  But you need that person sometimes in your life that can tether you in a good way, not keeping you from doing things, but know that you're safe, that you've got a place to come home to, a chest to lie on.

• 1:09:27Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 1:09:27Speaker 00

  Someone to cry to and know that they're not going to judge you. So I think when you can find a person in your life that brings you that type of peace, and that's, I think, the key.

• 1:09:38Lewis Howes?

  Peace is like the highest level of currency for me in my life right now. Because I had so much lack of peace for so many years in different relationships. I take responsibility for a lot of it, but like right now, to have peace is incredible.

• 1:09:52Speaker 00

  And it's, and people, and you want to say, like, you want, oh, it's fireworks, and it's this and it's that, it's all this, you know. And I now go in my life and I go, I want to breathe easy and free. I want to, I think about coming home.

• 1:10:07Lewis Howes?

  Being accepted, being, yes.

• 1:10:09Speaker 00

  And yes, and just knowing, it's like a warm blanket. Like when you're in your comfiest sweats and you're at home and you've ordered in takeout and you're with this person that just makes you, like breathe, that's when you found the right person.

• 1:10:23Lewis Howes?

  What would you do if you could go back and speak to 20-year-old Kendra? What would you say to her about love?

• 1:10:30Speaker 00

  I would tell her it's gonna be okay and that on those days, we know you go through a breakup. It is, and you know, I see my sons in relationships now and like that young love and, oh my God, and I just know, I like know how hard it is because I remember that, oh, you just feel like you're gonna die. I mean, you really do. I mean, when you go through some breakups, it is not easy, but I think you're gonna be okay. And that, think about the things that you loved about this person. And think about the things that maybe didn't work so good. And then next time, when you start dating somebody, you're gonna see some of those things that you loved in the person that you had this relationship with. You may not see some of those things that you didn't.

• 1:11:13Speaker 00

  Or you'll identify the things that you didn't. And if we can start even with business and other failures, think about it with relationships the same way. This person may be the reason to get you to that next person. I know that seems horrible to think about because we want every love to be like the love.

• 1:11:29Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 1:11:30Speaker 00

  But there's a lesson in every relationship, even friendships that we have. The friends that make us feel so good when we're around them and bring out the best in us. The friends that make us feel bad about ourselves or bring out the worst in us. You start to see those in people, right? And as you start to grow in your own life, and some people are lucky. I mean, one of my best friends, they met at 14. They're married. They have grandkids now. I mean, they have kids and grandkids. They're madly in love with each other. And I look at them all the time and think, wow, that is a beautiful, amazing thing. And not that they haven't gone through ups and downs over all these years together. But that's okay if your life doesn't turn out like that. Every person in our lives has come to our lives for a reason. And there's a lesson that we can learn from them,

• 1:12:14Speaker 00

  good and sometimes bad, that's going to get us to this next beautiful place to hopefully find peace and happiness.

• 1:12:21Lewis Howes?

  I've got a couple of final questions for you. I'm curious about if you could go back and tell her to learn three specific skills. Could be personal skills, emotional skills, business skills. What skills do you wish you would have been able to learn faster at 20?

• 1:12:40Speaker 00

  At 20, I would have told myself, Kendra, you are you. And you are a unique, amazing, beautiful human being that was put on this earth for a reason. And even though right now you don't think you're good enough, you are. You are good enough. And you are going to do great things. And I believe in you. I believe in you. And I see you. I see that light in you. And giving her that confidence that I think I lacked earlier. And knowing that I don't have to be anybody but me.

• 1:13:17Lewis Howes?

  Right, self-confidence.

• 1:13:18Speaker 00

  Self-confidence, that skill of just owning who you are. And I think today in a world of so many filters and you know, social media where we're projecting. I just want us all to feel like we can be vulnerable and be us and know that that's awesome. Because there's no one else like you. You're the only you out there. How cool is that? So let's not try to be like anybody else, just be you. You know, I think the other thing I'd tell her is that yeah, there's gonna come times when you're gonna wanna give up. You're gonna wanna throw in the towel. You're gonna wanna say, this is too hard. And that's the time when you've got to pick yourself up the bathroom floor and say, now it's our time to really go.

• 1:14:02Speaker 00

  And you're going to hear a lot of no's. You're gonna have lots of doors shoved in your face. But I want you to look at that no as what it says in a mirror. It says on. And that means you gotta go. Because sometimes that no is gonna lead you to ask more questions about why they said no. What do you need that I'm not showing you? And it's actually the conversation is just getting started when you get that no sometimes. So don't be afraid of no's, embrace them and get excited when you hear them.

• 1:14:32Lewis Howes?

  Yes, okay, the third. Third skill, was that the third?

• 1:14:36Speaker 00

  I felt like it was three, but I can give you another one.

• 1:14:38Lewis Howes?

  One more skill.

• 1:14:39Speaker 00

  Sure, one more skill. I think, you know, the last skill I would tell myself is failure is a gift. And you hear it all the time. But we are so afraid of it that it sometimes immobilizes us. And I think my company would have grown quicker than it had even, not that it needed to, it all worked out okay. But I was so afraid of failure that I was too cautious at times. I was so afraid to fail that I wasn't moving forward. And I was stuck in the mud and just sitting there. And that failure is a gift and that when it happens to us, if we can go, "Ooh, okay, that stung a little,

• 1:15:22Speaker 00

  but if I hadn't done this, I wouldn't have gotten these three great, amazing nuggets that now I'm gonna use because wow, that led me to this next cool thing I'm doing." So, knowing that then and not being so afraid of it, that it was such a scary, awful thing and realizing that it actually could be the greatest thing that could ever have happened to me.

• 1:15:43Lewis Howes?

  Hmm, you're inspiring Kendra.

• 1:15:46Speaker 00

  So are you.

• 1:15:47Lewis Howes?

  I've got a couple of fun questions for you, but I want people to get your book.

• 1:15:51Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 1:15:51Lewis Howes?

  Born to Shine: Do Good, Find Your Joy, and Build a Life You Love. Make sure you guys get a few copies of this, give it to your friends, spread the message out. Very inspiring message, story, life, and lessons in here as well. So make sure you guys get Born to Shine. I asked you about the three skills you would tell yourself when you're 20, but this is a question I ask everyone towards the end called the three truths. So it's a hypothetical question. Imagine you live as long as you want to live, but it's your last day, eventually, far in the future. And you get to accomplish everything you want, personally, professionally, impact-wise, service-wise. It all happens, which I believe it will for you. And for whatever reason,

• 1:16:36Lewis Howes?

  everything you've ever created has to go to the next place with you. So we don't have access to your book, or this interview, or anything you've ever done, for whatever reason, that's gone from this earth.

• 1:16:44Speaker 00

  Okay.

• 1:16:45Lewis Howes?

  But you get to leave behind three lessons to the world. Three things you know to be true. And this is all we have to remember you by. What would be those three truths that you would share to the world?

• 1:16:55Speaker 00

  I would say, first and foremost, try to live your life with an optimistic lens. I think it's easy to have a lot of self-doubt, but when we can look at things from an optimistic mindset, where you see possibility, even in the impossible, that's when amazing things can happen. So, having an optimistic mindset really can change anyone's life.

• 1:17:21Speaker 00

  And it doesn't mean that you just see things like butterflies and rainbows all the time, but you're looking for possibility in something. I would say the second is be kind. You don't have to be a aggressive, mean, you know, to be like taken seriously and strong leader entrepreneur. Be a kind, loving, compassionate human. Try to be empathetic and put yourself in someone else's shoes and give them the benefit of the doubt before you just jump to, "Why did you do that?" Maybe they did that because something else is going on, right? So I just, I think having a kind heart and thinking of your day, each day of spreading joy.

• 1:18:06Speaker 00

  For me is how I would love that lesson is, is I don't just wake up and think, "Well, what can I do today to, you know, grow my business?" Or I think about when I'm walking in the coffee shop, "How can I make that person feel good today? How can I make them smile? How can I compliment them on something so that they know that they're seen?" Because one small moment of joy that you impact is, it will spread like wildfire. So live a life that doesn't just with kindness, but live a life that you want to spread joy.

• 1:18:39Lewis Howes?

  Okay, cool. I love this. I want to acknowledge you for a moment, Kendra, for your, your joy. I mean, when the first moment I met you, you brought, you shined, you brought the joy and the positivity and I could feel it right away. And I know why you've become so successful in your business and I think it's because you want to see others shine. You know, you want to see your customers shine. You want to see every person that comes in the store be treated like they're home.

• 1:19:08Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 1:19:09Lewis Howes?

  Thank you for the gifts. I appreciate the gifts you got me. You made me feel like I'm home.

• 1:19:12Speaker 00

  No, you look so cool.

• 1:19:13Lewis Howes?

  You know, now I can be like the trendy, cool, you know, guy over here. But I really acknowledge you for it because I think it's been, it's really hard for people to be successful in business for two decades, almost two decades. And for you to go through the different challenges you had personally and relationships. A divorce can break someone in a business. And you were able to get through that and shine even more. A recession can break someone. You know, there's so many different things. Health challenges and family can break someone. And for it to be something that builds you and not breaks you and just makes you stronger and opens your heart even more to being giving and joyful and loving, I think is really beautiful.

• 1:19:51Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 1:19:52Lewis Howes?

  I acknowledge you for the gift that you are Kendra.

• 1:19:54Speaker 00

  Thank you so much.

• 1:19:55Lewis Howes?

  For writing this book and starting to open up even more and give back even more with your voice now to the world. Is there anything else we can do to serve you before our final question?

• 1:20:04Speaker 00

  No, I mean, first of all, thank you for saying that. But you know, I appreciate it and I do agree. All I want from this book, from everything, is that everyone is born to shine. So on this book, it says Kendra Scott, Born to Shine. I'm not talking about myself. I really am talking about all of us have this unbelievable light and an ability to do something great, whatever that is. It doesn't mean you have to build a business.

• 1:20:30Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 1:20:30Speaker 00

  But whatever is going to bring you joy and happiness and make an impact in a positive way, we all have that light inside of us. So, you know, I'm hopeful that my story, along with so many other inspiring folks that you've interviewed and so many people around the world, being vulnerable and sharing that and allowing us to help find that within one another is really something that I hope we can do.

• 1:20:54Lewis Howes?

  That's beautiful. They can get the book anywhere online, KendraScott.com. They can learn more about jewelry.

• 1:21:00Speaker 00

  Anywhere where books are sold, Amazon, you can get it anywhere.

• 1:21:04Lewis Howes?

  Kendra Scott on social media, with two Ts. Okay Kendra, this is the final question. What's your definition of greatness?

• 1:21:12Speaker 00

  My definition of greatness. My definition of greatness is pretty easy for me. It is, it's yellow, first of all. When I think of greatness, I think of bright. You know, my color is yellow, but it's sunshine, it's light. It's shining a light in the dark places. It's bringing joy to those who need it on a bad day.

• 1:21:35Speaker 00

  That for me is greatness is when you can shine a light where there needs to be a light shone, shined, shone, shone.

• 1:21:44Lewis Howes?

  Shone on.

• 1:21:45Speaker 00

  Shone on. I think that that for me is greatness.

• 1:21:50Lewis Howes?

  Thank you so much.

• 1:21:50Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 1:21:51Lewis Howes?

  Appreciate you.

• 1:21:51Speaker 00

  Thanks for having me.

• 1:21:53Lewis Howes?

  Thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's show with all the important links. And also make sure to share this with a friend and subscribe over on Apple Podcasts as well. I really love hearing feedback from you guys. So share a review over on Apple and let me know what part of this episode resonated with you the most. And if no one's told you lately, I want to remind you that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.