Missy Livingston

Growing a Business from Local to Nationwide with Missy Livingston

About the episode

In this episode of the Mom Owned and Operated podcast, Rita Suzanne and Missy Livingston discuss raising a family, running a business and remembering yourself.

When Missy lost everything in the 2008 recession, she almost lost all hope.  She was broke, had 3 kids and had just moved again. One day, her youngest was running through the kitchen and playfully yanked on the dishtowel she had just hung up to dry on the oven, and it of course fell to the floor, which meant more laundry. She thought to herself “If I can’t control anything else in my life, I’m going to control this F*&%ing towel!”

Remembering that Grandma used to make a hand towel that had a button to keep it on the oven door, she asked herself “why don’t they make dishtowels I can actually use every day that stay put?” And, Voila!, the Hang Tight Towel® was born.  

She began selling them at local farmers’ markets and then eventually started selling them on Etsy, always having people return for more!  Then in 2014, after a customer requested she make a towel with “red” fabric on it only to complain that it was the wrong “red” when she returned to buy it, Missy decided to take all of the red towels and print funny sayings on them with the F%*K word. She was worried that she might kill her business by doing this. It was a risk, but it made her chuckle every time to make one of these new kind of towels and she had to see if anyone else felt as she did. She put these new towels out for sale at the next event and they SOLD OUT!  So, she began printing more funny sayings with her twisted sense of humor on the towels and the business really started to grow.

Twisted Wares now makes all kinds of products including cocktail napkins, stickers, cosmetic bags, along with kitchen and bathroom textiles and they all will make you chuckle. Plus, we’re a stickler for quality and function.  We like to say “We put the FUN in FUNCTIONAL”!

So, as losing everything has taught Missy, all you can do is laugh and not take yourself too seriously.  We hope that our products are a reminder of that, whether you buy our products for yourself or give them as gifts, we want to make you smile.

You can find Missy on her website, on Instagram, and on Facebook.

Visit Twisted Wares and get 20% by using the coupon code Podcast2022
((don’t miss out – Missy has the most adorable products. I love them!! – Rita))

Listen to more interviews by visiting momownedandoperated.com and apply to work with Rita at ritasuzanne.com/apply/

Listen to the episode

Show Notes

SPEAKERS

Rita Suzanne, Missy Livingston

Rita Suzanne  00:01

Welcome to the Mom Owned and Operated Podcast, the podcast about moms and for moms, where we have candid conversations about running a business, raising a family, and remembering ourselves. I’m your host, Rita Suzanne, a single mom of four, digital strategist and provider of no nonsense business strategies and tactics. Hi, this is Rita Suzanne. And today I have my guest, Missy Livingston with me, missy, thank you so much for joining me. I’m so excited to chat with you. Can you tell everyone all about you, your family and your business?

Missy Livingston  00:41

Yes. Thank you for having me. So I am Missy Livingston. I’m the owner and CEO of twisted wares. Let’s see. I’m 49 which I cannot believe that I’m going to be 50 in January. I don’t feel 50 And you got like it. That’s the Botox. I was like, do not I don’t want it to move at all. Anyway. Um, so and I have three kids and a husband. I’ve been married for 25 years. To Pete. And I have three boys. One just went off to college. He’s 18. One is 16 and 11. because we started late. Yeah, so

Rita Suzanne  01:26

yeah. You just had a little break.

Missy Livingston  01:30

Just a little. You know, it’s funny, we always planned. We always said we wanted for because my husband has four siblings. And it’s just like the best Christmases ever. And I was like, oh, we need to have four. And which I didn’t even want kids before I met Pete and then I met him and I was like, I want your babies. I want your babies. And yes, just yours. And yeah, so we always thought we would have four. So we actually did plan all of them. The during the recession when we lost everything. We were like, well, you won’t be able to work for that long. Like we this won’t suck for that long, like and we have a plan because we’re getting older, we have to get pregnant now. So we actually did get pregnant during that time. And then the recession got worse. So he was out of work for 18 months. It’s It was horrible. Had a baby while we were living with my parents. It was horrible. But what I thought it was actually quite great to have a baby with the dad and stepmom at home. Like that was amazing for me. Not so much for my dad. My husband.

Rita Suzanne  02:42

No. Yeah, hard. Definitely. It was challenging. So hard. Yeah. Yeah. So what kind of business like tell us about twisted wears telling me like exactly what is that about?

Missy Livingston  02:55

So we make, I like to say fun and functional gift products, mostly around housewares. So it all started when my littlest at the time. So new baby finally found a job. After the we lost everything in the 2008 Nine recession. So I ended up moving back in with my parents in another state and starting over and had a baby because that’s awesome planning. It took him about 18 months to get a nother stable job and, and that was in Texas. So after moving to Texas, you know, we had no savings. I mean, it was just horrible. And the baby started walking about that time. So right around a 12 months, every time he came in the kitchen, he would pull the towel down off of the oven after I just like dried the dishes and put the towel on the oven. And I was already in the mode of I need to do with three kids at home I need to do something on my own. I didn’t want to go back into real estate because that burned me and so I was already in the mindset of needing to do something and I didn’t know how to so I was trying to come up with things that what could I sew and start Etsy and Pinterest was very new to me then. And I was like why don’t they make a regular kitchen towel that stays put Now we all know grandma’s old crochet top button, but that’s just for a hand towel. I wanted the towel I just dried the dishes with that I actually use why doesn’t that one stay put. And so it was out of that that I came up with the Hang tight towel loop and started sewing these straps on to the towels and then started selling them to my neighbors and on Etsy and then I started doing farmers markets and it’s just kind of grown from there. I realized like this is a thing people actually want this, right, it was different. So that is how it all started. Now twisted wears makes all kinds of fun gift products. So, towels are still our mainstay, we’re definitely what we’re known for. But we do we call them pitch bags, but they’re cosmetic bags, cocktail napkins, of admits kind of anything related to the home, I got into the cosmetic bags because I needed a really good cosmetic bag that was fully lined and that held a wet bathing suit. You know, I only like to come up and actually sell and develop products that I would personally use. And I always try to make it fun because they have funny stuff on them. But really extra functional as a mom of three. Right? It’s very functional.

Rita Suzanne  05:49

I think that’s the best way to come up with products anyways is even services like I like to create services and offers that I would purchase right? Like you don’t courses that I do, this is how I learned I’m not going in personally, I’m not going to buy your $2,000 course. It’s just not for me, it may be the most all inclusive thing in the world, but it’s just not how I learn. And so I’m not gonna do that. And so I don’t like to create courses that are that way. So I think that the way you’re doing it is the best because you know that that’s something that you would buy, and that is righted. Right? Because how often do you see a you know, aligned makeup bag that you can put a wet bathing suit into? Well, first of all, I’d have to be pretty large for me so

Missy Livingston  06:39

right. I was just, you know, you change your kids at the swimming pool, like I change, you know, something always have, there’s always just an accident of some sort. And I always have wet things with me. And I’m like, Why isn’t my makeup bag lined? Like why don’t I couldn’t find one? I’m sure I if I dug harder, but I’m like, wait, I already know how to manufacture things. Let’s do this. And it’s a good line extension. I mean, lots of things go into how we decide on what products to expand our company with. But that was one of them. The main thing is, would I use it? Right?

Rita Suzanne  07:24

Right. And then that makes it easier for you to sell it as well. Right? Because people can understand the enthusiasm that you have for it and your examples of how you would use it, I think would make it easier for you to sell. Right? So I love all of that. So what is something like I know you said you started with real estate, and to switch completely and go into product creation. Like what is a lesson that you’ve learned into that because these are two very different things.

Missy Livingston  07:56

That’s what I love to I love telling like women that if you don’t know anything, I knew nothing about sewn manufacturing none. I knew how to sew a straight line right on my sewing machine. But I’m like a dog on a bone to figure something out you know, but you you figure it out in small increments like the first was just okay, what does it take to make this towel stay put Okay, I have to figure out how to fold it and then sew it right here and you know there’s a lot of iterations there man do I wish I would have saved some of those old ones that when I was practicing so you figure that out and then then you get to like Well where do I find this you know, this cloth in bulk like I was buying them initially I was buying my towels at Joanne’s with a coupon

Rita Suzanne  08:58

or making them yourself right and I was making like yeah, on demand or anything

Missy Livingston  09:03

no not on demand. So I was making them myself I would go to Joanne’s with a coupon and buy a two pack of the largest flower sack towels they have and and I would cut those into each towel made for so each to pack made eight. And then I would add fabric to it and add my loop and go sell them at the farmers market or put them on Etsy. And I was doing all of that myself. Then I was like well, someone’s making this for Joanne’s this two pack there’s a name on it but I’ve never so I googled and found the company that was supplying them to Joanne’s and they said sure we’ll sell you in bulk and we can even flat pack them and I was like flat pack. What does that mean? You know, like great, I don’t have to unpackage it and waste plastic and so that you know you just kind of then I had to buy 250 And I was like to what am I going to do with 250 of something And then I started buying them by the pallet. And then I started learning about how to ship things by pallet. And maybe if I had it delivered to this address, it wasn’t as expensive as delivering a pallet to my home because they there’s an upcharge for that. All kinds of things, you kind of learn it in steps. And lossky just keep asking other people about how they did it, you start learning other learning from other businesses, I’m always a fan of just ask the question, expect to know, or expect not to be helped. But they, they I think most people in the world want to help. They like helping people. So and that’s why I try to pass it on to other for sure women like, but I’ll answer any man’s question too. I like that too. But you know, like, you got to pass it on. Because I was given that freely, and I want to give it back freely. There are certain things we don’t talk about, like, you know, no, I’m not going to I took years to develop my sourcing. That’s kind of like a no, we don’t talk about source. I’m not going to give you my factory and things like that. But I’m going to tell you how to find a factory. Maybe you’ll land on mine, you know, but who knows?

Rita Suzanne  11:19

Yeah, and I think that’s, that’s better, because what works for you might not work for that person, either. So, you know, but I can I always tell people all the time, like I could give somebody a roadmap to exactly how I do something, and they’re gonna switch it up about 15 Different times their ways, because the way that might work for them is going to be completely different. Right? And but I think that a lot of people are afraid to ask, you know, ask someone else for help, or because also, I think as women, it makes us feel like, Oh, they’re gonna judge me if I ask them for help. Right? Oh,

Missy Livingston  12:01

yeah, I don’t care. But maybe I think I’ve always been like that. I’ve also, you know, my background is real estate. So in all degrees of real estate from I grew up with parents that were realtors and developers to finance side of real estate, like my whole, my husband is still in real estate. Actually, he’s not anymore in real estate, but he was we owned in a real estate appraisal company for a long time. I’m very comfortable talking numbers, and most people are not. But I’m the girl that like I got in this car with this new friend, you know, and I said, Oh, I was looking. She’s much she’s really young. And are 19, you know, and I said, When do you get this car? And she said, Oh, I just got it. And I said, What was the mileage on it? How much did you pay? I don’t expect you know, like I because I’d be like, I don’t want to tell you I think I overpaid or whatever. Right? Um, most people will they’re in such shock that you asked, they just answer it, you know, but I’m looking for that exact car for my kid. So that’s why I wanted to know, like, oh, okay, I’m not getting a bad deal on this one. If I buy it or something, you know? Yeah, so it all works out. I just asked the questions, but I don’t, I’m not offended when someone says that’s too personal. Or it’s, you know, my mom says, missy, you’re a little much a lot. And I, I’ve take that as a compliment. I know even though I know my mom is being like, calm down. You’re overwhelming to people. But so, so be it.

Rita Suzanne  13:44

Well, you’re you’re not the only one my I’ve been described as too much. A lot. And I think it’s just like, I just say what’s on my mind and, you know, and trying to hurt your feelings. I just, you know, I’m just going to ask or say or what, yeah, whatever. And a lot of people I think they find us refreshing a button.

Missy Livingston  14:10

You know, I think the biggest like a ideal date night is for me is going somewhere where I can watch people I am fascinated with people and how they interact with things and surroundings and other people. And I think that that’s part of my I’m just curious. I’m curious of your thinking behind that or what made you come up with that or what made you buy this car over another car? It’s, it’s all the same to me. I’m fascinated with how people’s minds work.

Rita Suzanne  14:45

Yeah. And like what influenced you to do this or be right like, why are you like this? Yeah,

Missy Livingston  14:53

I so I was raised in a some people call it a cult. I’m not gonna say it’s a cult but It was a very, very, very strict religion. And my mom and sister are still in it. And I always say to my mom, you know, this is why I’m funny. I’m funny because of how you raised me in that craziness. Like, you have to have a sense of humor to come out of that.

Rita Suzanne  15:19

Right, right. It’s because of this, that I am like that. And yeah, you know, it’s like, I you know, everything happens for a reason, or every one way they are for a particular reason. So what would you say was like, a lesson that you took away? I don’t want to say like your biggest mistake, but what was something that you learned that you probably could have avoided?

Missy Livingston  15:51

After? Well, I have two stories. I have one for like, just kind of as a kid what I learned about business. And then I have another story of like, my biggest lesson I learned with twisted wires. Which one do you want? Let’s do both.

Rita Suzanne  16:07

Let’s start with a kid one, I guess.

Missy Livingston  16:09

Okay, so I grew up in Arizona, and lived with my mom and stepdad. And I decided I wanted to live a lemonade stand. And we were on a not a busy street. But there was definitely like traffic, you know, and mom went and got all the stuff I set out there all day. And I made $25 Like, this was the ad. So I thought I was killing it with $25. I was so excited came in. And my mom said, We’ll sit at the table, and we’ll go through your numbers. And I was like, you know, so she brings out her receipts for everything. She spent cups, sugar, lemons, the whole thing. And it was $28. So I owed her $3 after working all day and thinking I killed it. And not only did I owe the $3. But she’s said we’re going to she literally took the money out of my hands and put it in her purse, and then said, What are you going to do right now to pay me back three bucks, and I had to wash windows. I was devastated. It was horrible. And I was of course I’m sure I was a tyrant. But she just said you should know your numbers before you go into something. And that has been my I know my numbers, man.

Rita Suzanne  17:37

Yeah, I mean, that’s that’s a hard lesson to learn,

Missy Livingston  17:40

oh, painful. Just a little side note, the next business I’ve always been entrepreneurial. Like if I couldn’t buy something like I wanted guess overalls when I was a kid and she was like, I’m not doing that. And so I’m like, that’s fine. I have found money easy to come to me like I knew I could make it somehow. So but now I had to know my numbers. So I decided that me and my girlfriend Barney were going to my mom was going to make us clown outfits and I made sure that before she sewed it, it was free. So she made us clown outfits. And we would go to the Sky Harbor Airport and greet people for this is when you could go to the gate and people always waited for their friends at the gate. And so we would go up to the people waiting and say we will meet your guest for a tip and we made so much money every weekend dressed up as clowns that the airport ended up kicking us out for not having a business license and we were like 14 Oh cute though, but you know, I was like okay, a service we need to give a service and work for tips. So it was great because it was just like free money at 14 Like anyway, I had the overalls pretty cool creative

Rita Suzanne  18:57

you know so yeah, I love that.

Missy Livingston  19:01

It was great. So the biggest thing that happened after starting twisted wares which could have really put me under if I didn’t so I had sold so much so quickly that I needed product. And we I was still I wasn’t sewing all of them myself I was I more had helpers sewing, and then we were so once the loop got sewn then it would go to a screen printer and then back to my warehouse and fold it and tagged and get ready to go out into stores. I needed to ease that process so I contacted the people that make the towels for Joanne’s and said here here’s what I’m doing. Can you help me like what what do you recommend your big company you know the guys were so good it’s two brothers that own the company. And he said you know we can we manufacture these in India, we can do all of that for you in India. And I was like, Oh my god. Okay. So he I decided not to have the artwork done there and have it screen printed. But I needed. I was getting towels with the loop sewn in I said, if you can send them with the loop sewn and send them directly to my screen printer. I mean, that is two weeks of work between, you know, yes, we can do it, you need to buy 30,000 units. I was so excited that this was like the answer to everything for me. They arrived to the screen printer there. I think they printed something like 5000 at that point of the 30,000 that arrived. And I sent who I used to have to go pick up from the screen printer, bring it back to our warehouse or staff could fold and tag and get them out for shipping. Well in that they got them back started folding. And we were I walked in the back warehouse and I saw that we had a lot of rejects, like printed wrong, something on it. So they were just wrong. course that was like why is this happening? What’s happening? They’re like they arrived this way. I quickly drove to the other side of Dallas, it was so far away. And they were all wrong. out basically, I trusted someone else in that process of the business with no oversight. So there was no, there was no one. Me to go check those things. It sounds like now that I am saying it’s like it’s such a dumb rookie mistake. Right? But But you were in a pinch? Oh, I wasn’t. I thought it was I thought you could just trust and they know it. But they didn’t know they didn’t really know, I didn’t know what a spec sheet was. I didn’t send them a spec sheet. I just kind of showed a picture of what I wanted. Well, who knew that there was 18 different variations of putting a loop on a towel, there was no specific. So they just they did what I asked and what I asked was up in the air. So no. And then I did

Rita Suzanne  22:19

they were they all done differently.

Missy Livingston  22:22

Oh, they were on different sides. You know, the the, the tail they made was? I mean, a lot of

Rita Suzanne  22:31

it wasn’t

Missy Livingston  22:32

there, right? Yes. Right. They were outsourcing to some now I know because I know who did it. And I know the factories in India now and all that. But they were outsourcing it to another factory, who they just said I just need this. Well, then they delivered the cheapest with no oversight. The cheapest of cheap. Yeah, it could have it could have really put me down that they were really great about I went back to them and said this is not going to work. I’m 5000 and I cannot afford to lose any more. This will put me under and they took them back actually. Wow. And that

Rita Suzanne  23:12

established a good relationship with them.

Missy Livingston  23:14

Correct. A very, very good relationship with them. And they knew that I was new. And I mean, it’s a rookie mistake I won’t do again. But yeah, developing those relationships is so key. And, you know, they always got paid on time, they knew I was serious about growing. So they ended up taking at least half back and it ended up being a wash. I lost some money, but it wasn’t

Rita Suzanne  23:41

as bad as it could have been. Right? That’s and that’s something that I keep talking about lately is relationships, like creating, you know, strong relationships, especially with, you know, I get, you know, your vendors or Yeah, your collaborators, like partners, anybody else. I think that a lot of times for us, it’s hard because we’re so busy in our business, right? That establishing and building relationships can be a challenge. Plus, we have children running around. All the things are just, you know, 9000

Missy Livingston  24:16

emails we get from all of the kids teachers. I’m like, Who has time to write these emails. I don’t even have time to read them.

Rita Suzanne  24:25

I know my kids come in and they asked me there’s like, oh, did you see this or that? No, no, I didn’t know what’s happening. Like, I have no idea. They know, before I know. And then they come and ask me or telling me and I’m like, oh, okay, that’s fine. Just reminded me.

Missy Livingston  24:43

We found out today that because I was like how are you already out of lunch money on their account? And so I called the school and I was like, I don’t know what this charge was. There’s no way he spent this much on their lunch accounts. And she told me what they ate. Apparently they’re just buying every thing for their friends and they’re up. Who knew that the elementary school or middle school now has like, Rice Krispie treats and trust? Me, guys. Yeah, he spent $40 in one week. Wow. He does not know we’re gonna have that conversation tonight. But yeah, we’re a lot of new $3.10 Whatever the meal is, you know, right, right. Plus one snack and not for your friends, you know?

Rita Suzanne  25:29

Right. Exactly. Like it’s it’s cool to be generous and everything, but you’ve taken it to the next level to

Missy Livingston  25:35

the next level. Like I guess he Yeah, when he grows on trees, I guess it just is, you know, it comes back to like oversight, right? If I had not looked at that, I would have just kept bloating it. Right, like what is happening?

Rita Suzanne  25:48

What’s missing? He needs to know your numbers. Talk. I

Missy Livingston  25:52

think he’s gonna know his numbers tonight.

Rita Suzanne  25:56

Exactly. So one thing that I always love to talk about is like, what are you doing for yourself? Right, we talked a little bit about kids. We talked a little bit about family, and a lot about business. But what are you doing just for you? You know, we often just forget all about us when we do things.

Missy Livingston  26:18

You know? I do. I like a good massage. But I’m still cheap. Like, I don’t, I don’t book massages that often, but probably more than others. I do take little mini breaks like and justify that for sure. What I really enjoyed doing, which I do at least once a quarter as I well, we just sold our Airstream. But we used to have an Airstream and I would go out in it alone. I loved just going traveling alone. I really love it. So even if it’s like I have something coming up in Austin, no one’s invited. It’s just me going to this event. And it’s a night in a hotel. It’s just a minute to get away.

Rita Suzanne  27:09

And listen, I have that every day in my bedroom by myself. And I just go in my room and I shut my door and I lock it and don’t come in. Yeah, me alone. You know? Yeah. Because I have to decompress as much as I like being around people. And you know, and even doing calls and getting on video and doing all this stuff. I have to decompress. I need to be by myself. And I think that that’s so undervalued, people think that it is all you know, I went and got my nails done or something like that. And, you know, it can be as simple as taking a walk around the block by yourself.

Missy Livingston  27:51

Yeah, my. I mean, I joke about it, but I just want to watch TV with no commentary.

Rita Suzanne  28:00

My ex husband used to do that to me. I try. So we watched a Game of Thrones together, right? And I swear I would say shut up so many times, like I would completely just lose it. We’d have to rewind, we’d have to, like, I can’t do this with you.

Missy Livingston  28:19

Well, Gavin who’s 11. He came down and started asking about some show we’re watching and then and I paused it and I said, you guys know that? You know, Dad asked me the same. We are watching the same show. I have not watched it before you to figure it out. But but we don’t have to talk about it until after the show. Exit. So yeah, it’s just

Rita Suzanne  28:41

if I if I stopped to answer your question, I’m gonna miss something. So please.

Missy Livingston  28:46

It’s not it’s not that I hate them doing it. Like, it’s more like, this is why I appreciate just being alone and watching why? I want to watch on my own in silence.

Rita Suzanne  28:58

Yes, just I need a little bit of time by myself and me appreciate the things that I like, as a person, not a mom, not a business owner, just myself. Yeah, I

Missy Livingston  29:12

just want to turn off my brain for a minute. And, you know,

Rita Suzanne  29:17

that’s what that’s why I am on the weekends like my kids go to their dads on the weekends. And so one time we had taken a trip and all the kids were with me and we were having fun. And my kids said to me like we’ve never seen you like that. I’m like, oh well this is how I am when I’m not in mom and business mode. It’s like we have these different personas for the different roles and our lives right and and so that’s why I always say like that we forget ourselves a lot of times because if you’re consistently in that role of mom or business right, and it’s easy to forget It the self, right. And a lot of times even when I was working in corporate I was, I felt like a different person. Right? Because I was I was trying to adhere to what they wanted me to be. And that was definitely not who I was or am so yeah, yeah. It’s always something. But, um, one last question. And if a mom came to you, and she wanted to start her own business, so what would be some advice you might give her?

Missy Livingston  30:37

It’s funny someone came to my office is like an A, we workspace like that kind of building. You know, we, anyway, another woman knows that I run my company and an asked me that she had an idea to do something. And my biggest advice is, just start. Don’t make it complicated. No, don’t go running and get a license and develop a logo. Because that’s, that’s the fun stuff, right? To say, you’re like, Oh, I started a business. And I did all the same stuff. But none of that matters. What matters is, does your product sell? Test it out? Get it to where does it sell? Do people want it? Now, I had to start small and just start, you know, if we, if I could show you what my stuff looked like, when I started the business, I’m embarrassed. You know, like, Oh, my God, I can’t believe I sold that and actually put it out on display for people to buy. Whoo. But people were buying it. So they were buying it, they were still buying it. And so just start, don’t make it complicated. Can you sell five? And then get feedback from those five? Can you sell 10? What is their feedback? In the beginning? It’s all about the feedback. And then would you buy more? Would you buy more? If the price was different? Would you buy more if it was larger, smaller, different color, you know, things like that? All of that is how I grew. Because you just I want to know, all the answers to these things. But you know, when I started my product looked so much different, didn’t have words on it anything. And from that feedback, I Well, I don’t know if you want to call it feedback. She asked for Red Tails, a set of red. I came to the flea market the next month I had read. And she said, Oh, it’s not. Rick read? Oh, well, I had no idea DME me. I mean, I take response, I should have said what color red effect. But I was so mad and so angry. Because now she didn’t find them. Now I’m stuck with 12 red things she’s buying for Bunco group. And I went in the back and literally Googled how to print words on towel. And went to Joanne’s with my coupon again, bought some transfer paper and put the words fuck them. Can I cuss on here, put the word fuck them on those red towels and brought them back the next day and put them up for sale. And they sold immediately. But so it’s like from that feedback, even though bad. Where my brand came because yes, they already were buying and buying again and again. But now, a lot more people are buying. So I’m onto something here. And then I started putting more art on the towels and more words on the towels. And those were I quickly got rid of all the other ones only brought that and now I had a thing. Yeah, it was like I was making enough to keep going. But something had to change to go into wholesale and really make it grow. I needed to see if I had a bigger audience. So the feedback even if it’s good or bad, it’s all good.

Rita Suzanne  34:07

Right? Well, I feel like that with anything in life, like everything is for your betterment, right? It’s like yeah, whether it’s good or bad, it’s going you’re gonna you should look for the lesson.

Missy Livingston  34:20

So hard.

Rita Suzanne  34:21

It’s super hard, but you know, just the A note taking that advice as you will because as challenging it can be you just have to figure out okay, what was I supposed to learn in this? What was what am I supposed to do with this in order to move forward? Okay, so where can everyone find you online missing?

Missy Livingston  34:43

So you can find me at Twisted wares.com spelled like housewares so twisted and then where’s w a r e s.com? And then I want to give a discount code. Sure. Um, So I want to give a code for 20% off. And I will set it up as soon as I am off this call with you.

Rita Suzanne  35:10

And I’ll put it in the show notes. They can find it there.

Missy Livingston  35:13

Okay. Okay. I’m going to do can we make it just so generic? Sure. Podcast? 822 822 Okay, be the code for 20% off. Perfect. Yeah. And we’ll do 20% off the whole site, so even the sale stuff. And yeah, that’s, uh, I usually only do 20% on Black Friday, so I’m excited.

Rita Suzanne  35:43

Yay. Yeah. You guys go visit Missy and check out her stuff. And it’s been well, are you on social? Can they find you? Oh, yeah.

Missy Livingston  35:53

So we’re on on Facebook. We’re twisted. Where’s home? On Instagram? It’s just at Twisted wears. And we are twisted. Where’s on Twitter, Pinterest. I love Pinterest. I love Pinterest. Anyway, we have a Pinterest board. I love it when we get followed and all that on Pinterest. I like just putting funny stuff on there. And I do have a tick tock even though I’m not very regular about it, but I find it fun. I don’t know. I and tick tock is Missy. Livingston official.

Rita Suzanne  36:29

I love it. I love Tik Tok I, I’ve learned so many things just from tick tock

Missy Livingston  36:34

I know. So that’s where I’m like, How can I be of service? I want to help other women like do. I love how much I’ve learned on tick tock so I try to give value. They’re like, Oh, this is what I like. While we’re talking. I was like, Oh, I’m gonna make it tick tock about that.

Rita Suzanne  36:51

I love it. Well, thank you so much for being a guest. It’s been a pleasure chatting with you. Yes. So good. Thank

Missy Livingston  36:57

you so much for having me.

Rita Suzanne  37:01

And there you have it. I want to encourage you to remember that being a mom who runs her own business is not easy. We all struggle, but just keep moving forward. And don’t forget to make time for yourself. As moms we are usually the first thing to go to the bottom of the list. If your business is overwhelming you and you need real solutions, not just some sugar coated suggestions apply to work with me at ritasuzanne.com/apply

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