A Conversation with Leslie Brooks, Owner of HippoHug
Leslie Brooks, Owner of HippoHug.ca
Featured in numerous national (Canadian) media stories including Mclean’s magazine and the Globe and Mail. Her Custom weighted blankets are selling so well that she struggles with the entrepreneur’s DREAM problem of back orders.
In this episode, we learn not only about her successes but garner a significant about of wisdom about everything from the amazing benefits of weighted blankets to growing at a rate that is comfortable for you! This was one amazing podcast and we were lucky to have her.
Quotes
“You can’t say no to a national magazine.”
“It’s not a waitlist, backorder would be a better word for it.”
“I never intended to be a full-time president of a corporation.”
“The Orders did not stop.”
“Last year I basically quadrupled, this year I don’t even have time to track it.”
“Now that we have a system in place, the backlog is getting under control.”
“I don’t like to promise an exact time”
“Now I am just trying to figure out how many supplies to have on hand.”
“This years been a bit of a learning curve.”
“Figuring out the balance of when to buy supplies, how much to buy, still being able to pay your rent and staff, but not wanting to advertise because you want to be able to meet the marks of people’s expectations, that’s very important to me.”
“I want to help people RIGHT away.”
“Just balancing that integrity between being a business person and making money, and having that integrity with your customers that you’re doing the best for them, we try and get them out as fast as we can.”
“Our goal is to be finishing custom made blankets in 2 weeks.”
“Once we get into a rhythm, we may even get in the mark of finishing the next day.”
“I think a lot of it was just LUCK and just timing.”
“Certainly, customer service and Compassion for the customer, are critical.”
“I don’t want people to wait 6 weeks!”
“I would rather have the demands in place, and the ability to meet those demands, before seeking the demands.”
“I have never used a weighted blanket!”
“I make this thing, but I don’t actually have a need for it … a lot of innovation comes out a need for it.”
“You can go as fast as you are comfortable.”
“It doesn’t matter if someone thinks your business isn’t real cause it doesn’t make money yet.”
