This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey, what's up, my friends? Sato Soul School community, listeners, I'm so glad you're here. Welcome to Throwback Thursday/Where Are They Now, our weekly segment where we take an in-depth look at someone whose story has evolved since we first featured them. Recently, we have looked at handkerchiefs, energy gum, candles, the sweet afternoon bake shop in Toronto, Canada. Let's see what else, the budget savvy or budget frugal bride, something like that.
Last week, we heard from the co-founder of Bean Goods, which sells Dachshund themed apparel for dogs and humans. That business has really taken off seven figures almost, on track for seven figures, Dachshund themed apparel. So many things out there. That's why I love bringing this program every single day. So many opportunities.
I hope you're gonna find one as well, if you have not done so already. Now today in our latest feature, our latest Throwback Thursday feature, we'll hear from Hannah Fastav in New York City. She's the founder of Go Dash Dot, which sells handbags and other accessories for active women. The original episode was called Totally Functional Bags, like totally for women on the go, totally functional bags, women on the go. That was episode 801, if I'm not mistaken.
So what has happened since? Well, a lot has happened. So let's hear directly from Hannah. And I wanna encourage you here, notice how she speaks about her customers. There's at least one lesson in the next few minutes.
So I'll circle back at the end, but pay attention, notice how she speaks about her customers as well as what else has happened. And I'll come back at the end to wrap us up. [Music]
Hi everyone, I'm Hannah Fastav and I'm the founder and CEO of Go Dash Dot. And we are based in New York, New York. And we were featured on episode 801.
Go Dash Dot is a collection of bags for women who work, workout and go out. And each of our bags feature a separate compartment for footwear, a padded laptop section, a drawstring pouch for footwear, dirty laundry snacks, and then a snap-in, snap-out pouch that can be worn as a cross-body or belt bag with the additional adjustable strap and tons of additional pockets and compartments. Plus, super important these days, our entire bags are machine washable. Last time I was on the show, we were focused on building our wholesale business. And that was something that was really important to us and our strategy for growth.
But I think something that we've learned along the way was that building our wholesale model, we were losing our direct connection with our consumer, which was the key to our initial success right off the bat. And so by going through a wholesaler, we were really going through a middleman. And so we weren't able to really create the product that people were coming to us for because we weren't speaking directly with the consumer. And so one of our big strategies was to begin to transition into more of a direct-to-consumer model. And then, of course, with the pandemic, that all got fast-forwarded and here we are.
That is what we're working on now. I would also say something else that really has changed since the last time was I would have considered Go Dash Shot at the time a gym bag company. And I think that's how I started it. But I think since learning more about our consumer, who she is, how she's using the product, and what she's coming to us for, we really are more of a lifestyle bag. And she's using our bag for guests to go to the gym, but also for work, for going out, for hanging out with friends, for traveling both for pleasure and business, picking her kids up from school.
And so she's really looking for a quality, multifunctional bag that can keep up with her multifaceted life. And it's really reflected in how we market our bags and speak to our consumer. When I first started, I had no idea how to make a bag, what a tech pack was, where a factory was located. And I just kind of went and I figured it out and I didn't think too much, well, what if this, what if that? And because of that, I definitely made a lot of mistakes.
Along the way. But I think I just really learned fast and on the go. And I think, you know, that's the best way to do it. And so whether it's making a product, launching your e-com business, I think you just have to go. A couple of months back, I was hiring for a web development position.
And the woman that I was interviewing actually knew of Go Dash Shot because she heard her episode on this podcast. So that was super cool. And I felt like a celeb for like five seconds. But then also I just would love to share too, is back in March, April of 2020, when the world fell apart and it kind of felt like, okay, bags are far from essential, what are we gonna do? We heard actually from a nurse that said she found our bags very useful.
And she thought it was great for, you know, between her shifts, she can machine wash it, but also during her shift, she could put all of her PPE in items that she needed for during rounds. And so we made the decision to donate our entire inventory of belt bags, which was 1,000 pieces to healthcare workers. And the amount of like the level of gratitude and emotion that came from that was really a life-changing moment. But I think also more than that, it was our ability to kind of keep going and find the positivity and all of the darkness. And I think that that's so important in, you know, kind of pivoting and thinking about what your business is about.
Obviously it's to make money, but you also have to create a brand personality. And I think that is what really defined us as a brand and has been able for us to keep it moving along and keep people engaged in our community, engaged in wanting to help and support us to make it through to the end. [Music]
Thank you so much, Hannah. I really appreciate that update. And so cool to know not only how you've made it through the COVID time and how you're transitioning from the wholesale to the direct to consumer model, but also just giving away all those bags to nurses and healthcare workers.
So cool. So that's what I wanted to focus on here actually, this part about how Hannah knows her customers, but she also keeps learning about them. It's just something that struck me as I went through the transcript of this conversation. She talked about how, you know, at first she thought of her business as a gym bag company, but then by learning more about her consumer, and she even uses the pronoun and says like, I'm learning about her, like how she's using the product, what she's coming to us for. Like we really are more of a lifestyle bag, you know, to go to the gym, but also for work, for going out, for hanging out, both pleasure in business, et cetera.
So she's really fixated on and even obsessed in a good way with like who is going to buy this product that I'm creating. Like the more you can know your customer, the more you're gonna be able to create products that are a hit for them. And it's not only a one and done kind of thing because Hannah is continuing to learn about her customer. And, you know, over the past year, she's had to transition from wholesale to consumer. And then when she first heard from a nurse who was like, oh, this bag is actually really useful for my shift work and all the stuff that I have to do, I can then wash it in a machine.
So, you know, the road to success really is paved with understanding like what is the best possible product or service that I can create for my ideal customer. And that may change over time. Your products may change over time. Your customers may change over time. But the key is to pay attention to that and to listen as much as possible.
So that's something that I took from this conversation. I am grateful to Hannah for helping us out with this segment. Check out go-dot.com or visit go-dot on Instagram. Also pretty cool that we were able to help connect her with her designer or developer. Throwback Thursday was one of the most popular new features of 2020.
As you've heard, we're gonna keep it going this year. Let me know what you think and who you'd like to see featured from our archives of more than 1,000 stories. Also, if you have a question, if you'd like to update us about your Side Hustle, just come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. And today's show notes, including links to go-dot, as well as anything else from the episode, those are at sidehustleschool.com/1601. 1601, can you believe it?
I certainly can't, but yet it seems to be true. So I'm gonna go with it. All right, that's all for today. I hope you'll come back tomorrow. My name is Chris Guillebeau.
This is Side Hustle School. [Music]
from The Onward Project.
