Kunle Campbell (00:00.528)
Okay.

Vicky Pasche (00:01.838)
Yeah, so these women were coming to us with the same exact problem, you know with the chest gap and all that too and At that time we were marketing as an androgynous, you know clothing brand But really things were starting to change quickly with all these different customers coming to us relating to the problem So we’ve really more if we can you know from gender neutral to all gender because you know, our goal is to be this mainstream Brand and it’s important to do that

it’s important to be seen and to feel like you belong. And I think in particular, and it even is today, is that I think men in general are not used to hearing things like inclusive. I think the word gender can be very triggering for people. So we’ve really morphed consistently here throughout the year as androgynous to gender neutral, to genderless, to…

non -binary, but I think also I don’t know if the world is ready for that. I think they automatically assume the words non -binary are immediately LGBTQ community and some people are just not ready for that. So we’ve moved to all gender, you know, to be truly like welcoming for all people. And again, it’s about belonging. It’s not even about fitting in. We have customers, again, we’ve had parents reach out to us. And one particular story I share all the time,

Kunle Campbell (01:01.616)
Hmm.

Kunle Campbell (01:09.52)
Hmm.

Vicky Pasche (01:26.798)
is a mother that had reached out with a 14 year old child that was literally suicidal until she saw a Dapperboy video ad and felt like she belonged on this earth. And the mother was thanking us that we existed. And so like we always, always remember our why and that we’re changing people’s lives. You know, they’re able to get jobs they never thought they could get because of this newfound confidence that, you know, they don’t, they actually belong.

Kunle Campbell (01:41.104)
Hmm.

Kunle Campbell (01:47.504)
Hmm.

Kunle Campbell (01:52.016)
Hmm.

That’s that meaning and why is so fundamental and longevity in longevity of a brand. And, you know, I, those anecdotes of stories of, you know, the, the, the brand being very intrinsic in, in the growth of your customers lives. It’s, it’s what will get you up in the morning, you know, every day, despite, you know, the days being bad or.

Vicky Pasche (02:18.478)
Oh yeah.

Kunle Campbell (02:21.2)
good or awkwardly, you know, you will turn up because you know, you’re, you’re helping, you know, so, so super, super interesting, super interesting stuff here. So in regards to the, um, so how did you continue?

Could you explain the product launch process? You know, so you, you, you explain the first one, the jeans, the topless. In fact, with the topless, um, just for people who are not aware, you know, when you talk about the, the boss, the, the, the shirts issue, it’s really because females have a bust and, you know, um, many shirts for men are designed for a chest, for a standard chest. And so it just opens up in particularly the buttons. Am I, am I right in saying that or. Okay.

Vicky Pasche (02:44.846)
Mm.

Yes, yes, definitely. We found it with Mendo too that have a broad chest. It just automatically kind of just spreads in that region. There’s this big open space like.

Kunle Campbell (03:13.648)
stretches.

Vicky Pasche (03:16.654)
Superman ready to just rip it off. You know what I mean? So yeah, it’s a game changer with those snips. Yeah.

Kunle Campbell (03:16.912)
Yep.

Especially when you’re a medium. Yeah. Especially when you’re a medium size and yeah, yeah. Yeah. When you’re, you’re la your medium, but you’re larger at the top. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So how did you go about, um, the product launches? Because now I’m, I don’t know how many skews you have. You have a ton of skews.

Vicky Pasche (03:30.094)
Yes, yes, 100%.

Kunle Campbell (03:44.112)
What was the methodology? Surely there must have been eventually a system and process to towards like launching products.

Vicky Pasche (03:51.982)
Yeah. So our biggest concern, you know, when doing these pre -order launches was creating urgency with our customers. So it was like a combination of like FOMO, urgency and loyalty. So what we would do is let’s say, you know, bringing it to 2021 now is like our best year. I think we did $1 .2 million and we had, I remember our best month being 185K and we launched, you know,

four different products that week, but each week was like, you know, three to five different color ways. And so what we would do is like, you know, week one, let’s say it’s, you know, four different button up shirts, different colors. We would say, Hey everybody, we have only 300 in each color. We’re going to offer it at up to 30 % off and you have three weeks only to get in on this price. And we would sell out because again, people knew that they couldn’t find a fit like this.

They knew that we were always selling out of products and so they would get in on the campaign that first day, you know, so we would launch to VIP customers, you know, the day before everybody else. Then there’s a general launch. Typically VIPs was Thursday and general was Friday. And then we would constantly be reminding people, hey, we’re counting down. Okay, there’s two weeks left, one week left. So it was just a very, it’s like a focused effort on each one of those products.

And then when we would launch like the following week, we would say, okay, let’s do jeans. So it was always a complimentary like look, like this buildup of this like perfect outfit by the end of the month. But again, like that FOMO, you know, was real and people were getting in on it and that’s how we would sell out. So, but again, like during this time, production is not a quick thing, you know, so.

It wasn’t ideal for us to do this forever. It was just a way for us to prove our products. It was like research, you know, like what products worked. And we had built this everyday line, you know, it wasn’t just jeans and button -ups. It’s, you know, swimwear, it’s t -shirt, a simple t -shirt is one of our best selling products because of the fit. You know, it’s all of this, this complete everyday line. So we were always launching almost like a complete look every single month and yeah, creating FOMO.

Kunle Campbell (06:05.488)
How, with a pre -sale, how do you manage the expectations of product delivery? Because you’re just about to put it into production when you get the cash.

Vicky Pasche (06:11.086)
If we would.

Right. Yep. So we would just put an estimated timeline on the product page itself. And so people would know, okay, this is estimate delivery. And in the beginning, you know, for a while it was six to 10 weeks. And again, not ideal for us because with that, that means we were paying air, you know, to get the productions here, which, you know, it can hurt, you know, some margins in that way. But the goal was to get ahead, you know, with fundraising efforts and to get ahead of inventory so that we can save in that way too.

Kunle Campbell (06:44.528)
and whichever is.

Vicky Pasche (06:45.07)
But yeah, we would clearly communicate estimated delivery.

Kunle Campbell (06:47.92)
Okay. Okay. And then whichever sells fastest, you, you then sort of have it in stock and for longer term, I presume. Okay.

Vicky Pasche (06:56.686)
Yep. And then sometimes we would invest in advance. We knew that like Chino Pants is a top seller. So whenever we had the cash availability, we’d be like, okay, let’s go ahead and order like an extra, you know, 300 of these. And that would even sell fastest because people were just like, okay, they’re shipping immediately. Like I better get in on it now, you know, in an Amazon Prime delivery kind of world. I was shocked that people were still getting in on every campaign, knowing that there was, you know, a couple months, you know, they’d have to wait.

Kunle Campbell (07:15.28)
Mm -hmm.

Vicky Pasche (07:26.478)
for the product, but they were willing to do so.

Kunle Campbell (07:29.008)
Interesting, super, super interesting. Did you did you use like invoice financing, you know, providers to serve sharp capital to invest in inventory? Or was it just butch strap 100 %?

Vicky Pasche (07:40.91)
You know what?

It was Bootstrap and it was like Shopify Capital had offered us money as well as PayPal Capital. So we were relying heavily on those as well.

Kunle Campbell (07:47.024)
Okay. Got it. Got it.

Got it, got it, got it, got it. And then with fashion, I was actually speaking to someone yesterday who’s looking to launch a fashion brand and with fashion, the complexities of size, color, you know, that variation, there’s various combinations of size and color. How are you, you know, accurately demand forecasting on…

Vicky Pasche (08:09.294)
Mm -hmm.

Kunle Campbell (08:16.592)
what sizes to, to launch or because of the pre -sale, I guess they’re just selecting the sizes that smart anyway. Yeah. With a pre -sale. Yeah. How did it work?

Vicky Pasche (08:17.198)
Right. And for us, it was so important to be size inclusive. You know, I’m a plus size person. And so when we were first, you know, launching the jeans, the typical like base model was way smaller than me. So actually why, why we’re able to pull off such a large size ring is because I’m actually the middle base model. And so that helped in the development process of that.

But yes, it was the pre -order campaign and that was able to dictate what our purchase orders were going to be. And so of course, like the largest size, we could even order maybe only 10 and the smallest size too. So we’re able to gauge that with these pre -orders, but still offer such a large.

Kunle Campbell (09:06.032)
Okay. And then that minimizes wasted returns. What about standard standardization or, because like, if you go to, to one store, one brand, sizing is different, you know, um, so, so how did you serve in order to reduce returns and exchanges? Um, how, how did you get that accuracy in, in, in sizing?

Vicky Pasche (09:16.59)
Mm -hmm.

Vicky Pasche (09:31.342)
Yeah, for us it was, cause I 100 % agree, especially when it comes to women’s sizing, it’s all over the place. Like to be a double zero, it doesn’t make any sense to me. You know? And so, um, we actually felt like the men’s sizing was more accurate. And so we were just putting out videos of like how to measure yourself and you know, it’s, you know, whatever your waist size is, you know, is, would be your size. And then eventually, you know, we, we got some pretty incredible apps, you know, our, our return rate right now is.

Decent still, I think we’re at 11 % right now with returns still, which is always a work in progress. We’re always striving to be better. But for what we’re offering here, I think that’s a pretty healthy range.

Kunle Campbell (10:15.408)
It’s fashion. It’s fashion. It’s it’s it’s healthy for fashion for sure. I think the standard for fashion by 18. But yeah, I might be wrong. Okay, so you you you start this use what what do you think was the next significant milestone in in dapper boys journey? I know now your capital raising which we’re going to talk about. But between

those successful launches, the pre -launch of products building the community, how do you think you gained some unfair advantage, competitive advantage? What was that? What was that event?

Vicky Pasche (10:54.446)
you

Vicky Pasche (11:00.974)
Yeah, I mean, I think there’s kind of two things here. And the first thing I’m thinking is when we did an equity crowdfunding campaign. So we did start engine back, it was like over 2019 to 2020. And we definitely got a lot of eyes on that on us. And we didn’t have a PR team at that point. But we were definitely, you know, getting crafty ourselves and getting a lot of media exposure. We were on Forbes.

entrepreneur and it was really our own efforts, again, like utilizing Twitter, finding writers, things like that. And so there was a lot of like PR happening at the same time as us raising our campaign. And so during that time when we raised, it was a 284 ,000, you know, and it was over 500 investors and it was anywhere from like 200 to even 5 ,000 in investment we were receiving and it was all customers. And so again, it was kind of that viral.

stuff that was happening at the same time, but it was just a different level than Kickstarter. We were already established, you know, brand within our community. And so it was just constant like PR slash this equity crowdfunding, which was just generating more and more exposure to us. And that’s where, you know, we come to 2021, you know, our, uh, the best year we had had at that point. And what’s interesting at this time frame too, is, you know, from a fundraising standpoint,

vulnerable here, but I didn’t know, you know, that only 1 .7 % of women owned businesses generate over a million dollars in sales a year. And I thought at this time that I had to, I didn’t know the stat that I had to keep my head buried. And we just had to work really hard. Again, it was me, my wife and two part -time employees doing all of this ourselves. And, um,

hitting over a million dollars a year, two years in a row, and not realizing that we should have been having these early conversations with investors way early on. Yeah, I just realized it. Yeah.

Kunle Campbell (13:08.624)
Interesting.

No, no, that is a phenomenal figure. I just wrote it down. 1 .7 % of women -owned businesses make it beyond the $1 million mark a year. That needs to change, for sure. It needs to change. That’s…

Vicky Pasche (13:28.27)
Well, it definitely, it directly correlates with another very terrible number here is that only two percent, less than 2 % of women -owned businesses receive venture capital. So all the venture capital in the world, only 2 % is going to women. So we’re highly undercapitalized. And, you know, it just is a direct reflection of that.

Kunle Campbell (13:31.536)
Right.

Kunle Campbell (13:47.984)
Okay, okay, okay.

Okay. Super interesting. This is my first I’m actually hearing about StartEngine. I’m on their website and I could see it’s essentially an equity raising platform. So how much equity did you give? You raised $284 ,000 for what? What amount of equity?

Vicky Pasche (14:12.814)
Mm -hmm. Yeah, it ended up because, you know, Start Engine takes their fees too, so I think it’s just under 4 % total.

Kunle Campbell (14:20.208)
Mm.

Okay. So you gave 4 % of equity in Dapperboy in the race.

Vicky Pasche (14:33.006)
Yes, yep, correct.

Kunle Campbell (14:33.84)
Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. And yeah. And then you, yeah, there’s a lot of leverage on, on, on, on media. And then, um, when did you get on sharp tank and how was your journey to sharp time? Okay. Okay.

Vicky Pasche (14:45.294)
Yeah, Shark Tank was 2022. Yeah, it was an intense one. So this is where actually things get a little bit crazy. And this is super vulnerable times here that we experienced. So again, 2021, top of our game. In this October of 2021 is we hit that 185K a month. Then for us is when the supply chain delays really hit our company. So we had placed all these purchase orders based on those campaigns and then delays started happening. And…

What happened was we were selling out of inventory. We didn’t have very much to sell at all, actually. And we couldn’t ethically launch from 2022 any new campaigns when all of these customers were backed up in campaigns. I mean, we had over 51 % repeat customer rate here. 54 % of our sales were coming from email. So these customers were all in campaigns waiting for products. So 2022 for us.

Kunle Campbell (15:38.032)
Mm -hmm.

Vicky Pasche (15:43.31)
was where we almost lost everything. It’s just crazy coming off of this high. And at this point too, okay, we were going to lenders, nobody was funding us because they saw the big drastic decrease in sales. But we were at this stuck place where we couldn’t launch anything new and we didn’t have much to sell. So we were just waiting, being transparent with customers, like why their product was delayed. We even ended up selling our home, which was crazy.

But again, mentally for us, we had to remember the why and where we were just coming from. And that it simply was for us. And I don’t advise everybody to do that, of course, but we had this loyal group of customers and we were really, our trajectory was high. And so we wanted to wait this out, invest in ourselves. And again, my wife always says this, how could we continue to ask investors for money when we were sitting on this equity?

we had to invest in ourselves. So during this time also happened to be when we were going through all these interviews with Shark Tank. And again, we were hoping for that to happen too and be able to go to air, to film. And so we were going through that process as well as being filmed in this documentary called Show Her The Money. This was all happening at the same time as we were trying to figure out how we were going to survive. But then everyone documenting this.

very hard time in our lives. It was insanity, I tell you what. There was a lot of breakdowns, a lot of like, I’m gonna hide under a desk today. But luckily my wife, you know, she is a, it’s crazy, we’re both Leos, August 4th and 5th. But, you know, I tend to, oh really.

Kunle Campbell (17:24.688)
Same here.

Vicky Pasche (17:27.758)
I tend to overthink on some things and she’s like, no, we got to keep going. Let’s go. So I was, we were able to like really lean on each other. Remember those stories, do some very critical exercises and way we’re thinking about our business. We had to let go of some people, you know, outside resources and we had to raise prices. You know, we still did over $500 ,000 in 2022 with literally one product launched. So, um, yes.

Kunle Campbell (17:48.4)
Scary times when, when, when you’re running out of stock, believe me, I’ve been there. It’s, it’s scary. It’s, it’s scary. So yeah, it’s your, you, cause you don’t have that many moves to make, to play. It’s, it’s just your, your stock essentially till, you know, things start to flow. So how did your supply chain challenges start to ease off at that point in time?

Vicky Pasche (18:16.91)
Yeah, it’s when we got our first investor actually. So, you know, when the productions were actually ready, we couldn’t figure out how to pay to get them there. We had, you know, burned through everything. And so we were like, what are we going to do? These productions are ready. And I started, you know, leaning into actual like reaching out to investors and fundraising. And again, not knowing this world and just having to meet someone that I had met years ago.

And she was the ultimate connector and actually part of the creator of the film. And I said, Hey, you know, we’re fundraising right now. This is what we’re looking for. And she happened to connect me with the right investor that was aligned with our mission. She had known of dapper boy. She’s a lesbian woman that’s been following us for years, remembers our Kickstarter campaign, and she gave us our very first $250 ,000 investment, which was such a game changer. And this was the same day that we filmed on shark tank.

Kunle Campbell (19:11.824)
list.

Vicky Pasche (19:15.374)
the same warning as when we signed off on that safe note. Yeah, can you imagine?

Kunle Campbell (19:16.336)
Oh, the energy, the energy would have rot to the table. Yeah, yeah. So how, how?

Vicky Pasche (19:23.246)
Right? Insane. Yeah. I mean, we had like a hundred bucks. We had a hundred bucks left to our name and we have twin six year olds. And so we were like, we’re selling our home and going through that process. And we were like, okay, we can’t even get, you know, we have enough gas to get to LA, you know, for this filming right now. And luckily our friends and our models were just so supportive and they were there, you know, on stage with us and.

But yeah, that morning she had signed off and we were able to get all of those productions in and it was and more inventory. So we were able to start again and people did not leave. Our customers were waiting that entire year for us to launch again. So yeah, it’s been wild, but it’s been amazing ever since and exciting times.

Kunle Campbell (20:05.584)
Mm -hmm.

Kunle Campbell (20:12.816)
Amazing the alignment also with your first investor to be a customer that is blessed. That’s a blessing in of itself because they get you, they know you, they feel you as in their customers, right? The stars truly align there. It’s phenomenal. That’s very, very interesting. So the capital essentially got it going.

Vicky Pasche (20:18.542)
Mm -hmm.

Vicky Pasche (20:25.198)
Yes.

Vicky Pasche (20:30.734)
Great.

Kunle Campbell (20:42.192)
How much equity did you give for the 250?

Vicky Pasche (20:46.286)
Yeah, so we’re raising on a safe note. And actually this is the same round that we’re kind of in right now. So this is 2022 for us. And, you know, at that time it was a 5 million valuation cap here. So she’s invested more almost, almost a million dollars ever since. So she’s, you know, 20 % will be owner, you know, a safe note. So, yep.

Kunle Campbell (21:05.744)
which is fair enough. Fair enough. As in it’s a big ship and you know where you’re going from a size perspective, how you’re going to build a brand longer term. And she will potentially bring more investors on board as you continue to hit your milestones. Tell us about the Shark Tank. I haven’t watched the Shark Tank video.

But, um, and I’ll link to it on the show notes actually, because it will be somewhere online. I’ll link, I’ll actually put it on our website, but how, how did that go?

Vicky Pasche (21:41.742)
That was a crazy process. It’s exactly what you see on TV. It’s that long haul and my wife and I holding hands, which was also so cool to be able to see again, an LGBTQ brand. Like we’re, we’re walking hand in hand, walking up to that stage. And, um, you know, we were in the tank actually for quite some time. There’s some heavy editing, of course, we were, you know, cause there’s a lot of founders that are going up and pitching there, but overall actually sharks were very kind to us.

And, you know, it shows Damon at the end, him giving us his number, you know, to be a mentor for us. That’s what we were hoping for is because we felt like he would get it the most because of FUBU. You know, it’s a very niche, unique audience. But I think where the miss was is it’s almost, again, there’s so many lessons learned along this whole entrepreneur journey. And this one is one of them.

Kunle Campbell (22:24.496)
Mm -hmm.

Mm -hmm.

Vicky Pasche (22:37.774)
You know, I wish it wasn’t so focused on the production, on the selling our home, on all of that, because like our stats are incredible and I wish there was just more on that. And I think where there was a misunderstanding between the two, and I take accountability for this, is we’re not trying to create a third category. You know, and I think, and I think that’s where the misconception is or was, you know, with them is that they thought we were.

almost to niche and that we weren’t going to be big. And our whole purpose, like we see ourselves as the next Levi’s of all gender fashion. It’s that staple brand you always think about. And I think for us, you know, the third category is a big no for me. And it’s because I don’t think people are ready for that. I don’t think mainstream is ready for that. I think that automatically we saw that with there’s a brand called Tomboy X and, you know, they were in the pride section during the month of June.

You know, and that’s not what we’re looking to be. This is not about being gay. You know, it’s about body type and style preference, and that is it. So like the question is, is like, okay, Vicky, where would Dapperboy go, you know, in a department store when you’re thinking about Macy’s or something like that. And I’m asked this question all the time. And I think that I have a couple of answers for this. Are they ready? I don’t know, and I don’t think so quite today.

Kunle Campbell (23:37.392)
Mm -hmm.

Vicky Pasche (24:00.494)
You know, and that’s why I’m focusing all efforts on direct to consumer, and we’re coming up with like virtual reality fittings and things like that. But I don’t think it’s, it’s the end for that. I think that the best way to do it is in baby steps and having Dapperboy in both sections for now. And it’s like, because we want men and people to be open to this thought. So instead, like maybe it’s like, okay, there’s a gene section in the men’s section and they’re saying,

Kunle Campbell (24:06.992)
Mm -hmm.

Vicky Pasche (24:27.502)
Huh, these are interesting. I’ve never really heard inclusive and stuff like that, but I’m gonna try it. And wow, these fit great. And maybe they’ll look a little bit into the brand and see like, oh, this is what all gender is instead of being so triggering like LGBT, oh my God. You know what I mean? Like it can be so scary. But I think that’s where we start to make change. And that’s where we start, you know, not necessarily third category, but maybe it’s just based on style preference. And then we start really thinking about, you know, the layout of stores and things like that. So.

Kunle Campbell (24:39.568)
Mm -hmm. Yep.

Kunle Campbell (24:51.056)
So.

Kunle Campbell (24:54.864)
Yeah. It’s a safe space to explore. Speaking as a man, I’m seeing it’s the department store scene, seen Dapperboy in a department store in a Macy’s is just a safe place for me to explore. I would pick it up, try it in a changing room, try a pair of jeans, try a pair of chinos in a changing room and not fail any hows. And that’s where to start conversations really. Do you see, do you see stores? Would you do see yourself opening any flagship stores anytime soon?

Vicky Pasche (24:56.174)
That’s my thought process on that. Right, right.

Vicky Pasche (25:17.518)
Yes, I agree with you.

Vicky Pasche (25:25.294)
I don’t think so. You know, I’m really trying because again, we’re very like money conscientious here. So we’re trying to keep the low overhead. I’m totally okay. And I’m open to this. We’ve thought about this before doing, you know, like, maybe it’s pop up shops, you know, as we’re like, maybe it’s like a year long journey where we’re just going up and people can meet us in person and do these, you know, pop up shops. It’s not in the plan with this particular round of funding. We’re being very strategic with every dollar right now.

Kunle Campbell (25:31.344)
Lean.

Kunle Campbell (25:40.336)
Mm -hmm.

Kunle Campbell (25:51.504)
Mm -hmm.

Vicky Pasche (25:53.806)
but that is something I’m definitely open to. What I am doing though is having these conversations. I’ve already talked with Macy’s, Nordstrom’s, Target, Walmart. I’m getting in the faces and saying, hey, I don’t know if we’re ready to have this chat. I just want you to remember my face. I’m literally saying that exactly verbatim to them because when we are, that’ll be exciting times.

Kunle Campbell (26:17.008)
Yeah, yeah. Which would be exactly how you got your investor, you know, in the first place, you know, in terms of like it was years in the making, you met her, you know, many years ago. And when the time was right, you had that conversation and it happened. And it happened. Yeah. Good stuff. Good stuff. Okay. And with again, the, the, the, your returning customer rate is, is insane. It’s 51%.

Vicky Pasche (26:31.726)
Yes.

Vicky Pasche (26:39.662)
Yes, still.

Kunle Campbell (26:43.856)
which indicates you have very loyal customers. You have any loyalty programs or reward programs embedded in your DTC experience.

Vicky Pasche (26:53.262)
We do. I think it really came from initially though, it’s those pre -order campaigns, those drops that we were doing and why that’s so high is just people were waiting for it. We also utilize, it’s an app called Loyalty Lion and that’s in the background on our Shopify store. So we use that and actually we’re about to launch a very personalized gift. So we have the squad as the base tier.

Kunle Campbell (26:59.376)
Mm -hmm.

Kunle Campbell (27:07.792)
Yes!

Vicky Pasche (27:21.454)
Ballers is the second tier and the highest tier shot collars and it’s kind of just like fun personal You know kind of branding again. It’s all about confidence But what we’re about to do is like once you hit a certain level We’re sending them a personalized gift that you can’t find on the website. It’s a hat You know with the circle DB logo on it. That’s just cool You know that I wear actually all the time so it’s like a different color for each of you know The baller and shot collar

Kunle Campbell (27:40.656)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm. Yep.

Vicky Pasche (27:46.862)
And it’s like, you know, post on social about it. It’s exclusive. You know, it’s, it’s again, like that feeling. So we’re always, you know, pumping up, people are using their points all the time. So, um, I feel like that’s also been essential, but I will say, um, there’s a point too, where you don’t want it to be so high. And we had actually recently reached that we were actually over even a month ago. Yeah. About two months ago where we were 70 % repeat customer rate. And that is not a good thing.

Kunle Campbell (27:50.768)
Well.

Kunle Campbell (28:13.008)
Hmm.

Vicky Pasche (28:16.526)
because that means we’re not reaching new people. And so there is that happy balance. And that is something that, again, as we’re fundraising here, the goal is to get ahead of inventory. We think now, again, we’re not doing pre -order campaigns anymore, but the magic sauce is going to be keeping those core products in stock all the time, our jeans, chino pants. Those should be in stock all the time. But then doing these limited drops, but shipping immediately, no more pre -orders.

Kunle Campbell (28:18.896)
Mm -hmm.

Vicky Pasche (28:43.662)
and just keeping that loyal group waiting for the next cool new drop. And so there’s gotta be this happy medium and I think that’s where we are just going to soar.

Kunle Campbell (28:48.976)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kunle Campbell (28:54.96)
Absolutely, absolutely. Because as your community expands, the new sets of customers or community members will be less forgiving on like supply chain issues. So once you fundamentally sort out the supply chain issues, you’re essentially also increasing dopamine, you know, in terms of the reward to they they buy, they get it immediately, they get gives them confidence to buy again. So you might actually increase frequency if

Vicky Pasche (29:07.79)
Yes.

Kunle Campbell (29:23.952)
If they’re loving the experience and with the numbers you have returning customer rates of 51%, it just indicates there’s a lot of product quality. There’s high product quality and high utility for your products. So it just means that it’s scalable, you know, as you continue to acquire more new customers. And so you just need to essentially be in stock, you know, it’s an operational challenge.

Vicky Pasche (29:27.118)
Yes.

Kunle Campbell (29:52.528)
Also, once you get that in place, you’re ready to just scale a sentinel. So interesting, super, super interesting. What would…

Vicky Pasche (29:57.006)
Yeah, we do have customers also, I think. Sorry. Yeah, no, I think the goal for us too is we have customers in the UK and Canada, Australia. And so eventually, you know, as we’re able to scale, you know, within the US, the next goal is to have these same, you know, production amounts going to these other countries, utilizing fulfillment centers there. So shipping isn’t just so

Kunle Campbell (30:05.136)
Go for it, please.

Vicky Pasche (30:27.022)
insane and I think that’s how we really scale and I can’t wait to get to that to that point.

Kunle Campbell (30:31.12)
scale. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And there, there are also third party logistics, so just to scale internationally, there are also third party logistic companies. So I don’t know where your production is, if your production is based in China, you could use services like portless that will

Well, and it works really well for apparel because, you know, it’s very easy to ship. So what they do is they use the Shen model, um, in the sense that they, they, they pick up in venture, they pick and pack inventory. They put it on, on, on airplanes inbound to say the UK to Canada or wherever. And then they pre -label it with a local carrier in China. So by the time it lands Heathrow or Heathrow airports in the UK or.

anywhere in Canada or any international destination, it’s going through their postal system, meaning that customers get their goods in seven to 10 days. And so it’s like production to customer, you know, in that way. And you don’t necessarily need to, and the prices are fairly decent. I had the founder on the podcast and it was really, really fascinating. We actually use their service for one of our brands and it works.

Vicky Pasche (31:39.982)
Wow.

Vicky Pasche (31:53.102)
Wow.

Kunle Campbell (31:57.072)
It works particularly well for Apparel, just due to the fact that it’s much lighter to handle. So it takes less cargo space. Yeah, super, super exciting. So what are your thoughts for the next 24 months, next two years? What’s your plans for Dapper Boy for the next two years?

Vicky Pasche (32:19.15)
Yeah, I think, you know, us as an operational team, we’re looking to expand to, you know, some very key team members that we need. I know Sharice and I are still to this day in the weeds doing every part. We’re writing the emails, all of that too. So we need some key players, you know, to help us expand. You know, I’m reading this book right now, 10X is easier than 2X. And I love that mindset.

Kunle Campbell (32:36.848)
Wow.

Vicky Pasche (32:47.982)
you know, thought of, uh, you know, scaling your brand. But I think for us, you know, as for the brand side, we’re, we’re talking to some pretty exciting players right now, as in we’re working with a company called Couture Technologies. And we’re so close right now and it’s a virtual fitting. So basically again, so, you know, lower our return rate, but.

I think people when it comes to like gender neutral peril, it is scary. Like you don’t know what size you are in particular. It’s easier for men to shop on our site than it is for women because they’re not used to this kind of sizing. So to be able to see the clothing on your body and actually choose your outfit pieces, you can create your virtual closet and see exactly what that shirt and bottoms are going to look. There’s a heat map where you can see where it’s like tighter, where it’s, you know, and it looks so realistic. It’s so exciting.

but we’re just working on very simple fixes here. It’s like the stance of the model is a too feminine or masculine, but this will be the first time that it’s gonna be a truly genderless experience and not you have to pick a male or a woman. And so that is very exciting. We’re hoping to be able to launch that by end of this year. We’re very close right now.

Kunle Campbell (33:58.416)
What’s the name of the app, please?

Vicky Pasche (34:02.19)
So it’s a company called Couture Technologies. And so we’re partnering together to, yeah, yeah, it’s going to be awesome. And so that’ll again, just create that trust with folks, you know, as they’re shopping with our brand. But yeah, other than that, we’re, you know, getting ahead of inventory, getting to our goal here of doing these limited release drops, the same time as scaling our core products.

Kunle Campbell (34:04.944)
for tech technologies, okay.

Kunle Campbell (34:10.224)
Yep.

Vicky Pasche (34:25.71)
For us to right now, we’re working with this incredible new ad team. We’ve gone through a lot of different agencies throughout the years here, but we’ve never had one so strategic right now. And we’re seeing, you know, consistently four or five times, you know, return on ad spend right now with just creatives that we’ve had. We have so much creative and that’s like so key too, but like we haven’t been able to strategically dive in.

And so we’re acquiring so many more new customers and that’s how we were able to get that 71 % back to that 51 % right now. And so we’re consistently seeing, you know, $4 ,000 days, you know, during the week, which is awesome. Um, and as we’re scaling and that’s with no new launches, that’s just with core products. So imagine, you know, I can’t wait to be having those, you know, uh, yeah, they’re called social light and they’re in Canada.

Kunle Campbell (35:13.552)
What’s the name of the agency?

Kunle Campbell (35:19.152)
Okay, alright, socialite, I will link.

Vicky Pasche (35:20.046)
I met them at a retail fest. They’re amazing.

Kunle Campbell (35:23.344)
Okay. Okay. We’ll link to them in the show notes. That’s incredible, incredible stuff. Vicky, for people who want to find out, just who’ve enjoyed it, anyone who’s listening until now has enjoyed listening to you. It’s been all about you. So how, where next, how can they follow your journey moving forward from here? I like to build your community.

Vicky Pasche (35:45.23)
Yeah, so my wife, no, thank you. I appreciate that. So it’s funny, my wife and I recently just started an Instagram because people are wanting to follow us personally and doing this whole brand. And so we really show behind the scenes and as we’re even launching new products, things like that, how we’re developing it, all of that. And that’s meet the Poshas on Instagram. So that’s, and we were kind of crazy. Leo’s doing fun stuff for sure, but it’s…

Kunle Campbell (35:55.248)
Okay.

Kunle Campbell (36:10.352)
Ha ha ha ha!

Vicky Pasche (36:14.222)
meet underscore the underscore pasha’s p -a -s -c -h -e -s. So that’s the behind the scenes. But I would say also, of course, dapper boy on Instagram and that’s dapper and b -o -i, that’s how to spell dapper boy.

Kunle Campbell (36:22.16)
Okay.

Kunle Campbell (36:30.608)
I’ll follow both accounts on my socials now. Vicky, it’s been an absolute pleasure, you know, just learning about the Johnny Doss fire. Wish you the very best moving forward and yeah, just yeah, thoroughly and enjoy this combo for sure.

Vicky Pasche (36:34.894)
Awesome!

Vicky Pasche (36:49.07)
Me too, thank you so much for having me on your show. Truly a pleasure.

Kunle Campbell (36:52.208)
Cheers.