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Brand Building, Merchandising, and Wholesale with Sandra Velasquez of Nopalera
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How do you create a brand with a destination in mind? That may seem like a vague and dreamy question, but in an industry where the margins are slim and competition for the shelf is challenging, starting your good food brand with a plan for where you ultimately want to take your business will get you to your goals faster than if you adopt the trial by fire approach.
When you imagine the future for your brand, what stores are carrying your products? What kind of value does it add to the market? What is your brand known for, and what kind of community surrounds your product line? Spending time mapping out your future state is a valuable exercise. When you begin with your destiny in mind, you’ll know exactly how to handle each challenge you face along the way. The answers become easy when you face each issue by asking yourself, “what would my good food brand do?”
When experienced product marketer Sandra Velasquez decided to launch her own beauty brand, she defined her destination first – even before selecting an ingredient list. She knew what kind of retailers she wanted to attract, and she built her brand from the ground up with those premium accounts in mind. And that meant considering everything – the cost of quality ingredients, the labor for producing it, the expense of social media management, and even the elements of her package design. Building these needs and expectations into her business plan prepared her for growth. And understanding her end goals from the very beginning attracted her perfect partners to her brand – she sent all the right signals that she was a brand that would elevate their brand.
In this episode, Sandra shares the ups and downs of her journey in building a remarkable brand for her business, Nopalera. She reveals the truth behind branding, distributors, wholesale, and merchandising. She also encourages everyone to take advantage of advanced technology, which means it is a lot easier to find people. So, while anyone can make you a sell sheet, not everyone can build your brand from the ground up.
Virginia Foodie Essentials:
- Building a brand and selling wholesale or just, in general, is also about timing. - Sandra Velasquez
- Passion is what drives the creative process, and that doesn't really have a great financial ledger attached to it.- Georgiana Dearing
Key Points From This Episode:
- Branding can either make or break the brand that you wanted to create.
- All stores are not good for your brand and all stores are not the right stores for your product.
Other Resources Mentioned:
More About the Guest:
Sandra Velasquez is the founder of Nopalera, an award-winning Mexican Botanical Bath & Body brand based in New York City. It is currently sold in Nordstrom, Credo Beauty, Free People, and over 300 independent retailers nationwide. She launched Nopalera from her Brooklyn apartment in November 2020 with no outside funding, while working three jobs, at the age of forty-four. Prior to launching Nopalera, Velasquez was the leader of the Latin Alternative band Pistolera, which toured internationally, released three studio albums, and had its music featured on hit TV shows like Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert.
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