Julie Yoo, Founder of I Miss You Vintage, Talks About How E-Commerce Like eBay’s Up & Running Program Can Grow Local Business Locally and Globally

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[00:00] SPEAKER_02: This podcast is sponsored by eBay Canada.
[00:02] SPEAKER_02: eBay Canada is here to help.
[00:04] SPEAKER_02: They've been supporting Canadian small business retailers for 25 years
[00:08] SPEAKER_02: and have recently launched their up and running program
[00:11] SPEAKER_02: to meet an urgent need to get businesses online today.
[00:16] SPEAKER_02: New business sellers can get a free e-commerce store for 90 days
[00:19] SPEAKER_02: when they visit ebay.ca slash up and running.
[00:23] SPEAKER_02: Offer open until August 22nd.
[00:26] SPEAKER_00: It's Toronto's podcast on the Canada's podcast network.
[00:32] SPEAKER_02: Hi everyone, I'm Phil Bliss, a business visionary
[00:34] SPEAKER_02: and welcome to Toronto's podcast.
[00:37] SPEAKER_02: Part of the Canada's podcast network,
[00:39] SPEAKER_02: your source of the great insights from entrepreneurs across Canada.
[00:43] SPEAKER_02: So today we're going to meet Julie Yu, founder of iMiss you vintage,
[00:48] SPEAKER_02: a design and consignment store.
[00:50] SPEAKER_02: Some of Julie's insights into a bricks and mortar
[00:53] SPEAKER_02: and online e-commerce business are really useful
[00:56] SPEAKER_02: as we all adjust to the new digital normal.
[01:00] SPEAKER_02: So Julie, thanks for coming on Canada's podcast.
[01:02] SPEAKER_02: Really great to see you.
[01:04] SPEAKER_02: And you know, why don't we kick off by telling you,
[01:07] SPEAKER_02: telling everyone a little bit about yourself and what you do.
[01:10] SPEAKER_02: You know, that kind of two to five minute,
[01:13] SPEAKER_02: the parted history of Julie Yu.
[01:16] SPEAKER_01: Great. Hello. Thanks for having me.
[01:18] SPEAKER_01: So I run a business called iMiss you vintage ink
[01:21] SPEAKER_01: and we're a designer label resale store.
[01:24] SPEAKER_01: So women who like shop a lot and don't wear a lot of their clothes
[01:27] SPEAKER_01: or are finished wearing it will look through their closet,
[01:30] SPEAKER_01: sort through and bring things in on consignment.
[01:33] SPEAKER_01: And then we resale them for them.
[01:35] SPEAKER_01: And so we're a big factor in the secondary market
[01:38] SPEAKER_01: and we help with that whole conscious commerce and recycling clothing.
[01:42] SPEAKER_02: So how long have you been doing that?
[01:44] SPEAKER_01: I've sort of been running this business for more than 20 years,
[01:48] SPEAKER_01: but it started off as a student hobby.
[01:51] SPEAKER_01: As a student, I worked in art galleries and I was studying art history.
[01:55] SPEAKER_01: And I started antiquing and thrifting
[01:57] SPEAKER_01: and identifying goods that I could resale online
[02:01] SPEAKER_01: and at various antique shows.
[02:03] SPEAKER_01: And then slowly over the years,
[02:05] SPEAKER_01: you start accumulating product and your hobby grows into an obsession.
[02:10] SPEAKER_01: It takes over your living space and then you need to open a store.
[02:15] SPEAKER_02: Why be an entrepreneur?
[02:19] SPEAKER_02: Why are we different?
[02:21] SPEAKER_02: Why didn't you get a real job kind of thing?
[02:24] SPEAKER_01: I did. I did have a real job after school.
[02:27] SPEAKER_01: I worked at an institution at an art gallery.
[02:30] SPEAKER_01: The collections manager and teaching in their education center.
[02:34] SPEAKER_01: But I kind of felt like it was a little bit corporate for me.
[02:37] SPEAKER_01: And one thing led to another.
[02:38] SPEAKER_01: I never thought I was going to be an entrepreneur.
[02:41] SPEAKER_01: It was sort of an organic process.
[02:43] SPEAKER_01: And even after 20 years now looking back,
[02:45] SPEAKER_01: I'm kind of surprised I would have never pictured myself to be an entrepreneur.
[02:49] SPEAKER_01: But it does take creativity and that's one common thread
[02:52] SPEAKER_01: that I think a lot of entrepreneurs have.
[02:54] SPEAKER_02: I really do think it is actually.
[02:57] SPEAKER_02: So you live in your businesses in Toronto.
[03:00] SPEAKER_02: What's the benefit of being in Toronto and being in your business in Toronto?
[03:03] SPEAKER_02: Or could you be anywhere?
[03:04] SPEAKER_02: There may be, you know, I don't know.
[03:06] SPEAKER_01: I was born here right downtown,
[03:08] SPEAKER_01: which is pretty rare for a lot of Torontoians.
[03:10] SPEAKER_01: I know it's true Toronto girl and I went to school here.
[03:13] SPEAKER_01: And so it's always been home.
[03:15] SPEAKER_01: No question for me of where to start my bricks and mortar,
[03:18] SPEAKER_01: because that's where I live.
[03:19] SPEAKER_01: However, in this day and age,
[03:21] SPEAKER_01: really my store is global because I'm online.
[03:24] SPEAKER_01: And so all my objects are being shown in the homes of people around the world
[03:28] SPEAKER_01: thanks to you, commerce.
[03:30] SPEAKER_02: What do you think is the best thing or things about being an entrepreneur?
[03:34] SPEAKER_02: Especially now that you realize that there's a comparison to working in an
[03:39] SPEAKER_02: institutional environment with us as an entrepreneur environment.
[03:43] SPEAKER_01: There's pros and cons.
[03:44] SPEAKER_01: I think the big appeal of being an entrepreneur is you can do what you want on your own time,
[03:48] SPEAKER_01: yet at the same time,
[03:50] SPEAKER_01: you end up doing it more of it and all the time.
[03:53] SPEAKER_01: So you can't just put it down after five o'clock.
[03:56] SPEAKER_01: You're done work the way you would a standard nine to five job.
[04:00] SPEAKER_01: But you know, you can also go to the bank any day you want.
[04:03] SPEAKER_01: You can do your groceries anytime.
[04:05] SPEAKER_01: Something about the unstructuredness and.
[04:08] SPEAKER_01: The creativity of having problems thrown at you and being able to deal with them on your own.
[04:13] SPEAKER_01: And you're more invested in it.
[04:15] SPEAKER_02: You're in the retail business.
[04:17] SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know, I don't want to kind of bring in the pandemic,
[04:20] SPEAKER_02: but why not?
[04:22] SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's living with us at the moment.
[04:24] SPEAKER_02: I think we've got to, you know, and you're in retail.
[04:27] SPEAKER_02: You have a retail outlet.
[04:30] SPEAKER_02: What do you think is the future of retail over the next five years,
[04:35] SPEAKER_02: five months, people, whatever?
[04:37] SPEAKER_01: Well, especially coming from a very heavily foot traffic volume-based retail,
[04:43] SPEAKER_01: bricks and mortar store,
[04:44] SPEAKER_01: it's certainly a change to have to close and then you lose that foot traffic.
[04:49] SPEAKER_01: So we've had to adopt a adapt by shifting to a purely e-commerce strategy.
[04:54] SPEAKER_01: We've had to put all of our product online because people can't come to us.
[04:59] SPEAKER_01: And you can still as we're gradually reopening and we're in their recovery stages.
[05:03] SPEAKER_01: Some people just aren't comfortable coming in and it's just no longer the same.
[05:07] SPEAKER_01: And of course, discretionary spending is being reduced.
[05:10] SPEAKER_01: So to answer your question, the future of retail,
[05:12] SPEAKER_01: I think, is becoming more service-oriented and going online.
[05:18] SPEAKER_02: I don't think you have an online background.
[05:21] SPEAKER_02: What made you go online?
[05:23] SPEAKER_02: How did you do it?
[05:24] SPEAKER_02: Because I think, you know, certainly a lot of retailers have gone online,
[05:27] SPEAKER_02: but not just retailers, but a lot of people are seeing now.
[05:32] SPEAKER_02: I got to be online.
[05:34] SPEAKER_02: So, you know, maybe you can just let us know, you've lived it.
[05:38] SPEAKER_02: How did you do it?
[05:38] SPEAKER_02: Who did you do with?
[05:39] SPEAKER_02: What was the process?
[05:42] SPEAKER_02: Because it's an important thing that, as I said,
[05:44] SPEAKER_02: all of us are looking at increasing our online presence.
[05:48] SPEAKER_01: So I first started online way back in 1998 on a platform called eBay.
[05:54] SPEAKER_01: So I'm very comfortable being online and I started early on,
[05:58] SPEAKER_01: but I understand those people who don't have an online presence now
[06:01] SPEAKER_01: and they're wondering, how do I get online all of a sudden?
[06:04] SPEAKER_01: I say choose a platform that gives you broad exposure to really wide audience
[06:09] SPEAKER_01: and just register.
[06:10] SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of them make it very easy right now,
[06:12] SPEAKER_01: for example, like eBay, they have certain programs
[06:15] SPEAKER_01: that you can sign up with to really get small businesses started.
[06:19] SPEAKER_02: You're a Canadian business.
[06:21] SPEAKER_02: Do you sell your stuff all over the planet?
[06:23] SPEAKER_02: Or would you sell it mainly to Canadians?
[06:26] SPEAKER_02: What's the difference between your online business and your store business?
[06:31] SPEAKER_01: Oh, we sell globally.
[06:33] SPEAKER_01: We've sold to countries all over the world,
[06:35] SPEAKER_01: Russia, Hong Kong, Singapore, everywhere.
[06:39] SPEAKER_01: It's actually quite exciting to see sometimes where the orders come in from.
[06:42] SPEAKER_01: We recently had one from Oman.
[06:45] SPEAKER_02: How do you find those people?
[06:47] SPEAKER_01: On platforms like eBay, they have a huge global reach.
[06:50] SPEAKER_01: And so you know that millions of people are looking at your listings.
[06:54] SPEAKER_01: We also have our own stand-alone website,
[06:56] SPEAKER_01: but again, driving traffic is also main consideration.
[07:00] SPEAKER_01: But it's a way to expand your business
[07:03] SPEAKER_01: and have your products reach people all around the world
[07:06] SPEAKER_01: because it's not just relying on who steps into your retail store.
[07:10] SPEAKER_02: This podcast is sponsored by eBay Canada.
[07:14] SPEAKER_02: eBay Canada is powering Canadian small businesses.
[07:17] SPEAKER_02: Go to eBay.ca slash up and running to open your online shop.
[07:23] SPEAKER_02: As you said, you kind of progressed slowly
[07:27] SPEAKER_02: into being an entrepreneur without really realizing it,
[07:31] SPEAKER_02: maybe taking that into account,
[07:34] SPEAKER_02: that progression, would you recommend that?
[07:39] SPEAKER_02: Or would you sort of knowing that now
[07:42] SPEAKER_02: was there a better way for you to become an entrepreneur?
[07:47] SPEAKER_01: I think back then, even the idea of going into business
[07:51] SPEAKER_01: or being an entrepreneur wasn't something that appealed to me.
[07:54] SPEAKER_01: It started as a hobby and a passion and a creative drive.
[07:58] SPEAKER_01: You know, it was someone with an artistic and history background.
[08:02] SPEAKER_01: So selling me for one of a kind of vintage item,
[08:04] SPEAKER_01: sort of led to that into the commerce section of it.
[08:08] SPEAKER_01: A lot of people go to business school,
[08:10] SPEAKER_01: e-commerce marketing, online sales,
[08:13] SPEAKER_01: all of those things are fields right now.
[08:16] SPEAKER_01: It's hard to say because my process was organic,
[08:19] SPEAKER_01: but it's always good to educate yourself
[08:21] SPEAKER_01: and sort of read up and stay current on the field that you're going into.
[08:27] SPEAKER_02: Passes to everybody because I get some fantastic answers for it.
[08:31] SPEAKER_02: What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
[08:34] SPEAKER_01: There's always going to be things as an entrepreneur
[08:37] SPEAKER_01: or when you pull yourself out there through your business
[08:40] SPEAKER_01: in what you're selling or even your persona
[08:42] SPEAKER_01: and people can be ruthless.
[08:45] SPEAKER_01: And I remember when I first started,
[08:47] SPEAKER_01: I took every little thing very personally.
[08:49] SPEAKER_01: And somebody didn't like something.
[08:50] SPEAKER_01: I took it personally.
[08:52] SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if it was you or anything,
[08:54] SPEAKER_01: but somebody older than me, a mentor did tell me
[08:57] SPEAKER_01: you have to have thicker skin.
[08:58] SPEAKER_01: None of that matters.
[08:59] SPEAKER_01: And still to this day, I think,
[09:01] SPEAKER_01: but that statement.
[09:02] SPEAKER_01: And it's important to be resilient as an entrepreneur.
[09:05] SPEAKER_01: And what you're doing and to keep going
[09:07] SPEAKER_01: and there are always will be people
[09:09] SPEAKER_01: who may not have positive things to say,
[09:11] SPEAKER_01: but to keep going.
[09:13] SPEAKER_02: If you could go back in time to your 20-year-old self,
[09:17] SPEAKER_02: what advice would you give yourself?
[09:20] SPEAKER_01: Hmm, probably a lot of things
[09:22] SPEAKER_01: because hindsight is 2020.
[09:24] SPEAKER_01: But one thing I do, and just from a business perspective,
[09:27] SPEAKER_01: in terms of, you know,
[09:28] SPEAKER_01: every business wants to grow and increase their sales,
[09:31] SPEAKER_01: I think I would have really started selling online
[09:35] SPEAKER_01: to, in a larger sense back then,
[09:39] SPEAKER_01: a little more like how we are today.
[09:41] SPEAKER_01: Back then, I only put a few things online
[09:43] SPEAKER_01: and it was sort of a side thing.
[09:45] SPEAKER_01: But I really should focus more on e-commerce.
[09:48] SPEAKER_02: You know, there's so many negative things going around today.
[09:51] SPEAKER_02: But I think it's important to see,
[09:53] SPEAKER_02: you know, what are you most excited about
[09:55] SPEAKER_02: in your business,
[09:57] SPEAKER_02: not anyone else's business
[09:59] SPEAKER_02: or over the next little while?
[10:02] SPEAKER_01: We're doing actually almost better than ever
[10:04] SPEAKER_01: now that we're putting things online.
[10:05] SPEAKER_01: So that's always good news.
[10:07] SPEAKER_01: And because we're a resale shop
[10:08] SPEAKER_01: working on consignment,
[10:09] SPEAKER_01: we get new things coming in every day.
[10:11] SPEAKER_01: And that's what makes my job interesting
[10:13] SPEAKER_01: and what I have fun with.
[10:14] SPEAKER_01: If you never know what's going to come in through those doors
[10:17] SPEAKER_01: and we're still excited that we have such a large body
[10:20] SPEAKER_01: of great consigners
[10:21] SPEAKER_01: and we have all these new items coming in
[10:22] SPEAKER_01: and now that we can sell them to the world
[10:25] SPEAKER_01: and continue doing what I love
[10:26] SPEAKER_01: without the fear of having to close my business
[10:29] SPEAKER_01: considering what's going on in this world.
[10:32] SPEAKER_02: Okay, we're going to go through some
[10:33] SPEAKER_02: what I call rapid foreign questions.
[10:36] SPEAKER_02: I think, I mean, not think too hard about them.
[10:39] SPEAKER_02: I think I know what this was going to be.
[10:41] SPEAKER_02: If you weren't doing what you were doing now,
[10:44] SPEAKER_02: what would you be doing instead?
[10:46] SPEAKER_01: Workwise or just sitting on a beach.
[10:50] SPEAKER_02: It's workwise.
[10:52] Speaker UNKNOWN: 
[10:53] SPEAKER_01: You know, I think I might go back into antiques
[10:58] SPEAKER_01: or something related to art history.
[11:00] SPEAKER_02: What books you're currently reading, listening to,
[11:03] SPEAKER_02: you know, it doesn't really matter.
[11:04] SPEAKER_02: And what would you recommend to the audience?
[11:07] SPEAKER_01: Oh, to be honest,
[11:09] SPEAKER_01: given my time,
[11:09] SPEAKER_01: I don't have a lot to read,
[11:11] SPEAKER_01: but I am a lot of time to read
[11:13] SPEAKER_01: but I am reading a recent book
[11:17] SPEAKER_01: that was put out on the YSL who put your collections
[11:19] SPEAKER_01: just so I always combine personal
[11:21] SPEAKER_01: and joint with research for work.
[11:24] SPEAKER_02: Are you a morning or a night person?
[11:26] SPEAKER_01: When I was younger,
[11:28] SPEAKER_01: I was super night person,
[11:29] SPEAKER_01: but now I'm an early riser morning person definitely
[11:32] SPEAKER_01: and I'm sharpest in the morning.
[11:35] SPEAKER_02: I think it's about 80, 20 morning.
[11:38] SPEAKER_02: It's a very, very good.
[11:39] SPEAKER_02: I know.
[11:40] SPEAKER_01: I kid, you kind of have to be morning person
[11:42] SPEAKER_01: and courses you can be.
[11:45] SPEAKER_02: They've had one word to describe yourself.
[11:48] SPEAKER_02: What would it be?
[11:50] SPEAKER_02: And why would you choose that word?
[11:52] SPEAKER_01: Oh, I don't know how to answer that.
[11:54] SPEAKER_01: Probably creative.
[11:56] SPEAKER_02: You know, why why choose creative?
[11:58] SPEAKER_01: Because I think it's a big part of my identity
[12:02] SPEAKER_01: and without that,
[12:04] SPEAKER_01: it also signifies freedom
[12:05] SPEAKER_01: and I think and I hate being a person that's restricted.
[12:08] SPEAKER_01: You think king or anything.
[12:10] SPEAKER_02: What's keeping you up at night?
[12:13] SPEAKER_01: I suppose the day to day routine of things
[12:15] SPEAKER_01: sometimes gets to me the mundaneness of it.
[12:18] SPEAKER_01: I always need something different
[12:19] SPEAKER_01: but it doesn't keep me up in a negative sense.
[12:22] SPEAKER_01: It just if that was good to look
[12:24] SPEAKER_01: at what's going on in your life
[12:25] SPEAKER_01: and think of how you can revise it
[12:27] SPEAKER_01: and what's going to happen next.
[12:29] SPEAKER_02: What's your most favorite place in the world?
[12:33] SPEAKER_01: I mean geographically like to go to.
[12:35] SPEAKER_02: To go to, yeah.
[12:36] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I've recently been going down
[12:39] SPEAKER_01: to the Mexican Caribbean
[12:41] SPEAKER_01: on the Riviera Maya coast frequently.
[12:44] SPEAKER_01: It's a three and a half hour plane ride
[12:46] SPEAKER_01: and then you're in a different world.
[12:48] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's not a bad place.
[12:49] SPEAKER_02: I know.
[12:50] SPEAKER_02: Okay, and staying with that kind of thing.
[12:54] SPEAKER_02: I don't know whether you,
[12:54] SPEAKER_02: I know you listen to a few podcasts of ours.
[12:57] SPEAKER_02: This is the tropical island question
[12:59] SPEAKER_02: and what we say is, you know,
[13:02] SPEAKER_02: there's a small tropical island in the middle of the ocean.
[13:05] SPEAKER_02: One phone booth, no internet.
[13:08] SPEAKER_02: You drop you off there, no technology.
[13:11] SPEAKER_02: Anytime you can use the phone,
[13:13] SPEAKER_02: on the island to call the boat
[13:15] SPEAKER_02: for us to come and pick you up.
[13:17] SPEAKER_02: How long do you last before making the call?
[13:20] SPEAKER_02: And what would you do until then?
[13:23] SPEAKER_01: Well, as a serious workaholic
[13:25] SPEAKER_01: that works all the time
[13:26] SPEAKER_01: as an entrepreneur,
[13:27] SPEAKER_01: I always dream of that situation.
[13:29] SPEAKER_01: But given that,
[13:30] SPEAKER_01: I think it could go a little crazy
[13:31] SPEAKER_01: and I don't know if I can last very long.
[13:33] SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I know the feeling.
[13:37] SPEAKER_02: Julie, that's really great interview.
[13:40] SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
[13:41] SPEAKER_02: And I would like our listeners to be able
[13:43] SPEAKER_02: to get a hold of people because, you know,
[13:46] SPEAKER_02: they come from all across the country,
[13:47] SPEAKER_02: actually from all across the Americas for sure.
[13:51] SPEAKER_02: You know, they hear something
[13:53] SPEAKER_02: and sometimes they want to connect.
[13:55] SPEAKER_02: They live on a connect with me.
[13:56] SPEAKER_02: They want to connect with you
[13:57] SPEAKER_02: because you've got knowledge of that they want.
[14:00] SPEAKER_02: So how can they find you online?
[14:02] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, our website,
[14:03] SPEAKER_01: I'm missuventage.com.
[14:05] SPEAKER_02: Julie, thanks for coming on to Candace podcast.
[14:09] SPEAKER_02: It's been extremely interesting.
[14:12] SPEAKER_02: I love the way you move the business
[14:14] SPEAKER_02: and are dealing with it's truly interesting.
[14:18] SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
[14:19] SPEAKER_01: It's been a pleasure.
[14:20] SPEAKER_02: Thanks everyone for taking the time today
[14:22] SPEAKER_02: to listen to Toronto's podcast
[14:24] SPEAKER_02: on the Candace Podcast Network.
[14:26] SPEAKER_02: I hope you enjoyed the podcast today.
[14:29] SPEAKER_02: Make sure you sign up for the news service
[14:31] SPEAKER_02: or write a review for us on iTunes.
[14:34] SPEAKER_02: Even connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn
[14:37] SPEAKER_02: or at CandacePodcast.com
[14:39] SPEAKER_02: where you can listen, discover and engage.
[14:43] SPEAKER_02: You can also check out what other entrepreneurs
[14:44] SPEAKER_02: are doing across the country.
[14:46] SPEAKER_02: I'll see you next time.
[14:50] SPEAKER_02: This podcast is sponsored by eBay Canada.
[14:53] SPEAKER_02: eBay Canada is here to help.
[14:55] SPEAKER_02: They've been supporting Canadian small business retailers
[14:57] SPEAKER_02: for 25 years and have recently launched
[15:00] SPEAKER_02: their up and running program to meet an urgent need
[15:03] SPEAKER_02: to get business online today.
[15:07] SPEAKER_02: New business sellers can get a free key comma store
[15:09] SPEAKER_02: for 90 days when they visit eBay.ca slash up and running.
[15:15] SPEAKER_02: Access eBay's 170 plus million buyers around the world.
[15:20] SPEAKER_02: With eBay Canada, you can stay local,
[15:23] SPEAKER_02: sell global and power up.
[15:26] SPEAKER_02: That's eBay.ca slash up and running.
[15:30] SPEAKER_02: Offer result until August 22nd.