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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: It's Edmonton's Podcast on the Canada's Podcast Network.
[00:17] SPEAKER_00: Hello, this is Bonnie LG coming to you today with Edmonton's Podcast,
[00:23] SPEAKER_00: a member of the Canada's Podcast Network,
[00:25] SPEAKER_00: where we talk to the entrepreneurs who are making it happen,
[00:28] SPEAKER_00: and here in the city of Edmonton, Alberta.
[00:31] SPEAKER_00: Justine Barber is the co-founder of Poppy Barley,
[00:35] SPEAKER_00: a B-Corp certified footwear and accessory company
[00:38] SPEAKER_00: that prioritizes foundational style and ethical manufacturing.
[00:43] SPEAKER_00: Justine has a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta
[00:47] SPEAKER_00: and a Master of Arts in Conflict Analysis from the University of Kent.
[00:52] SPEAKER_00: Prior to starting Poppy Barley,
[00:54] SPEAKER_00: she worked in Conflict Prevention and on Alberta's 10-year plan to end homelessness.
[01:00] SPEAKER_00: Justine is married with two young kids,
[01:03] SPEAKER_00: and in her limited spare time,
[01:05] SPEAKER_00: she enjoys running, reading, and playing outside.
[01:08] SPEAKER_00: So welcome, Justine, and thanks for joining us today.
[01:12] SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me, Bonnie.
[01:14] SPEAKER_00: So why don't we jump right in and get to know you a bit?
[01:18] SPEAKER_00: Can you tell our listeners how did you actually get started in your career?
[01:23] SPEAKER_00: And how did you become an entrepreneur?
[01:26] SPEAKER_01: Sure.
[01:26] SPEAKER_01: So, you know, like many people,
[01:29] SPEAKER_01: I started university,
[01:30] SPEAKER_01: spent a couple of years trying to decide what I wanted to study,
[01:34] SPEAKER_01: ended up choosing business because it felt very broad and very employable.
[01:39] SPEAKER_01: But I also love social sciences and I love the arts.
[01:43] SPEAKER_01: So after working in business for only a couple of years,
[01:46] SPEAKER_01: I decided to go do my master's in war studies in Belgium.
[01:49] SPEAKER_01: And there I did a master's working in Conflict Prevention,
[01:54] SPEAKER_01: but then realized I also missed my family,
[01:56] SPEAKER_01: and that there was really no work in that field in Alberta.
[02:01] SPEAKER_01: So I decided to move home and ended up working on the 10-year plan to end homelessness,
[02:06] SPEAKER_01: which was brand new at the time, and it was first in Canada.
[02:09] SPEAKER_01: So it was a very interesting, innovative project work on.
[02:13] SPEAKER_01: I did that for a few years,
[02:15] SPEAKER_01: and over time, to be honest,
[02:18] SPEAKER_01: was just getting itching to be my own boss, work for myself,
[02:22] SPEAKER_01: stop working in committees and writing briefy notes,
[02:24] SPEAKER_01: and having everything depend on political will.
[02:28] SPEAKER_01: So I made the decision I wanted to work for myself,
[02:31] SPEAKER_01: and then I started looking around for opportunities,
[02:34] SPEAKER_01: and shortly thereafter I got the idea for Poppy Barley.
[02:38] SPEAKER_00: And so why don't you share with us a little bit more about Poppy Barley,
[02:42] SPEAKER_00: and what the company is all about?
[02:44] SPEAKER_01: Sure, so Poppy Barley is a vertically integrated retail company.
[02:49] SPEAKER_01: So what that means is we manufacture on product,
[02:52] SPEAKER_01: and then we sell it directly through our own e-commerce channel,
[02:56] SPEAKER_01: retail stores, and pop-ups across Canada.
[02:59] SPEAKER_01: And as a company, we're really focused on combining style, fit,
[03:04] SPEAKER_01: and ethical manufacturing,
[03:06] SPEAKER_01: at a attainable luxury price point,
[03:09] SPEAKER_01: in footwear and accessories.
[03:11] SPEAKER_00: And so Poppy Barley is headquartered out of Edmonton.
[03:16] SPEAKER_00: What do you find are some of the benefits of doing business in Edmonton?
[03:20] SPEAKER_00: I think some of the benefits of doing business in Edmonton
[03:22] SPEAKER_01: is you do have a close knit, very supportive community.
[03:27] SPEAKER_01: So from the beginning, because we are for Edmonton,
[03:29] SPEAKER_01: there's a lot of companies in our space.
[03:32] SPEAKER_01: I think there was a lot of excitement,
[03:33] SPEAKER_01: and a lot of support from the company,
[03:36] SPEAKER_01: and that would be, you know, from people who are very first customers
[03:39] SPEAKER_01: to some investors, to employees who wanted to work,
[03:43] SPEAKER_01: you know, in the fashion or in the fashion tech space,
[03:46] SPEAKER_01: and found us as an option.
[03:48] SPEAKER_00: And so if you turn that around,
[03:51] SPEAKER_00: what are some of the challenges you've encountered
[03:54] SPEAKER_00: doing business in Edmonton or in general?
[03:58] SPEAKER_01: Sure.
[03:59] SPEAKER_01: It's very small, and it's isolated.
[04:04] SPEAKER_01: So we're not in a big market,
[04:07] SPEAKER_01: where there's a lot of other companies like us,
[04:08] SPEAKER_01: where there's, that creates a great recruitment pool.
[04:12] SPEAKER_01: It creates more industry, kind of networking sessions,
[04:16] SPEAKER_01: where you're reading with the right influencers or investors are peers.
[04:21] SPEAKER_01: So we end up traveling quite a bit,
[04:23] SPEAKER_01: and trying to connect with people across Canada and into the US,
[04:27] SPEAKER_01: through, you know, email, and traveling, really good thing on the plane.
[04:32] SPEAKER_00: And so, justine, is Edmonton home for you?
[04:35] SPEAKER_00: Is that where you were born and raised,
[04:39] SPEAKER_00: or how did you end up in Edmonton?
[04:41] SPEAKER_01: I was born in Jasper,
[04:43] SPEAKER_01: and then we were a railroad family.
[04:46] SPEAKER_01: So we moved about every two to four years from my dad's job.
[04:50] SPEAKER_01: So my older sister and I, who we have the business together,
[04:53] SPEAKER_01: we lived really across kind of northwestern Canada in various cities.
[04:57] SPEAKER_01: And then when I was 18, I came to Edmonton Free University.
[05:01] SPEAKER_00: What about Edmonton, would you recommend to other entrepreneurs,
[05:05] SPEAKER_00: or why would you recommend it if somebody was looking to move there
[05:10] SPEAKER_00: and start a business?
[05:12] SPEAKER_01: I think Edmonton has two strong recommendations for entrepreneurs.
[05:16] SPEAKER_01: The first is, I think, you can have a really high quality of life in Edmonton,
[05:20] SPEAKER_01: because salaries are generally high,
[05:23] SPEAKER_01: and the cost of living compared to other major cities in Canada is lower.
[05:27] SPEAKER_01: You can, you know, afford a nice house in the central location,
[05:32] SPEAKER_01: and vacations, and a little bit more luxury in your life,
[05:38] SPEAKER_01: conversely.
[05:38] SPEAKER_01: I mean, if you're just starting and you need to live for cheap,
[05:41] SPEAKER_01: you can do that as well.
[05:42] SPEAKER_01: And then the other strong recommendation for Edmonton,
[05:44] SPEAKER_01: is there, it's definitely some, it is a university town.
[05:48] SPEAKER_01: I think we have a really good computer science community,
[05:51] SPEAKER_01: so if you're looking for developers,
[05:52] SPEAKER_01: which a lot of companies are,
[05:53] SPEAKER_01: if you're looking for artificial intelligence,
[05:55] SPEAKER_01: it's very strong,
[05:56] SPEAKER_01: so there are certain kind of pockets of industry or entrepreneurship
[05:59] SPEAKER_01: that Edmonton would have a really great recruiting base.
[06:03] SPEAKER_00: Wonderful.
[06:04] SPEAKER_00: I'm curious.
[06:05] SPEAKER_00: Some of our best ideas will come when we least expect them,
[06:09] SPEAKER_00: and it might be when we're doing something not at all even related
[06:12] SPEAKER_00: to our day-to-day business.
[06:14] SPEAKER_00: When you need to disconnect or recharge or maybe even get inspired,
[06:19] SPEAKER_00: do you have a favorite place in the city that you like to go?
[06:23] SPEAKER_01: I like to either go into the River Valley
[06:27] SPEAKER_01: and just walk or run in nature along the trails.
[06:30] SPEAKER_01: Or I do spend a lot of times in bookstores,
[06:34] SPEAKER_01: just I really love to read,
[06:35] SPEAKER_01: so I really love to pick out the best new book,
[06:37] SPEAKER_01: or even just to see the recent places.
[06:41] SPEAKER_00: And so thinking about your business and about Poppy Barley,
[06:44] SPEAKER_00: like, what are you most excited about these days?
[06:48] SPEAKER_01: What I feel most excited about right now is the team that we have.
[06:50] SPEAKER_01: I think that we've never been stronger both in our leaders,
[06:54] SPEAKER_01: so we have a really good solid foundation of leaders.
[06:57] SPEAKER_01: But then we also have a lot of great new young people.
[07:00] SPEAKER_01: And I think the work that's happening right now
[07:02] SPEAKER_01: and the collaboration that I've seen between departments
[07:05] SPEAKER_01: feels like an all-time high in terms of, yeah,
[07:09] SPEAKER_01: all of the exciting things that we're working on.
[07:12] SPEAKER_01: And how big is your team?
[07:14] SPEAKER_01: We have, in total, about 45 people,
[07:17] SPEAKER_01: and that would be we have two retail stores
[07:19] SPEAKER_01: which each have about 15 people,
[07:22] SPEAKER_01: a mix of full time and part time.
[07:24] SPEAKER_01: And then at our sort of head office,
[07:27] SPEAKER_01: we have another 15.
[07:29] SPEAKER_00: Great. And Distan, where do you hope to be in the future?
[07:33] SPEAKER_00: What is your vision for Poppy Barley?
[07:36] SPEAKER_00: And where would you like to be 10 years from now?
[07:38] SPEAKER_01: In 10 years, we'd like to be a national
[07:40] SPEAKER_01: or even international brand.
[07:43] SPEAKER_01: That's really rethinking the footwear industry
[07:45] SPEAKER_01: to bring innovative new products
[07:47] SPEAKER_01: and ways of selling and technology to Canadians
[07:50] SPEAKER_01: to create a better product and a better experience.
[07:54] SPEAKER_00: And so thinking back on how far you've come already,
[07:59] SPEAKER_00: what has been one of the greatest challenges
[08:01] SPEAKER_00: you've faced in your business to date
[08:04] SPEAKER_00: and perhaps even expanding on that,
[08:06] SPEAKER_00: like in the footwear industry as well?
[08:10] SPEAKER_00: Is there been anything that you could share
[08:12] SPEAKER_00: and some lessons learned for listeners?
[08:16] SPEAKER_01: Sure. The first thing that comes to mind
[08:19] SPEAKER_01: is cash and cash flow in particular.
[08:22] SPEAKER_01: I think that, I mean, the vast majority of businesses
[08:25] SPEAKER_01: that go under, it's because they go bankrupt at one point.
[08:28] SPEAKER_01: And especially for us, we're in a negative cash flow business
[08:31] SPEAKER_01: where we have to buy all of our inventory in advance
[08:34] SPEAKER_01: and then hope that it sells.
[08:37] SPEAKER_01: So that's something that in the first couple of years,
[08:39] SPEAKER_01: and we were still constantly working on improving our buying.
[08:43] SPEAKER_01: But I think just surviving and getting the cash till death,
[08:48] SPEAKER_01: scenario's down, was a big focus in the beginning.
[08:52] SPEAKER_01: And then I think that's the second thing happens
[08:54] SPEAKER_01: that happens as you grow your business
[08:55] SPEAKER_01: and this would be across all industries,
[08:57] SPEAKER_01: is that you personally have to become
[08:59] SPEAKER_01: a different type of leader.
[09:02] SPEAKER_01: So in the beginning, it was just kind of when I was,
[09:05] SPEAKER_01: you know, customer care, I was operations, I was product,
[09:08] SPEAKER_01: and then we had five of us and we all worked in one room,
[09:11] Speaker UNKNOWN: and we had a room at ad.
[09:12] SPEAKER_01: So communication was really easy.
[09:14] SPEAKER_01: And then once you scale up to, you know,
[09:16] SPEAKER_01: now 45 people across three locations,
[09:18] SPEAKER_01: I think that you need to become different.
[09:20] SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot of kind of growing pains
[09:24] SPEAKER_01: and personal growth that come with growing your company
[09:27] SPEAKER_01: on a personal level.
[09:29] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's for sure.
[09:30] SPEAKER_00: I think that's common no matter what the industry
[09:33] SPEAKER_00: or the city that you are headquartered in.
[09:37] SPEAKER_00: Just curious, now bringing it back a little more specifically
[09:40] SPEAKER_00: to Edmonton, what do you wish that you,
[09:44] SPEAKER_00: or what do you know now that you wish you knew
[09:47] SPEAKER_00: when you were first starting out in,
[09:49] SPEAKER_00: in setting up your business in Edmonton?
[09:51] SPEAKER_01: I think probably just the perspectives
[09:54] SPEAKER_01: that comes with time.
[09:56] SPEAKER_01: So I think in the beginning, I mean, it was very stressful.
[09:59] SPEAKER_01: But I also think that now I don't get stressed out very much.
[10:04] SPEAKER_01: I think you just get more resilient
[10:06] SPEAKER_01: and maybe more used to the pressure.
[10:09] SPEAKER_01: So I think if I to go back for a second company,
[10:12] SPEAKER_01: I think you would just be a bit more relaxed with it.
[10:16] SPEAKER_00: What is the best piece of advice that you've ever received
[10:19] SPEAKER_00: in terms of being patient
[10:22] SPEAKER_00: as you build your career, your business?
[10:24] SPEAKER_00: Is there anything that you can share with us?
[10:27] SPEAKER_01: We had one, I mean, this is kind of funny,
[10:29] SPEAKER_01: but we're meeting with an investor fairly early.
[10:32] SPEAKER_01: And we were talking about how we were scaling our operations.
[10:36] SPEAKER_01: Anyways, we were scaling our operations.
[10:39] SPEAKER_01: And he said, why do you have more sales than you can handle?
[10:41] SPEAKER_01: And he said, no.
[10:42] SPEAKER_01: He said, don't you think you need more sales then?
[10:46] SPEAKER_01: And that was a good lesson.
[10:47] SPEAKER_01: Where now it's like, okay, sales leads and operations follows.
[10:52] SPEAKER_01: So that was a good piece of advice.
[10:54] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's great.
[10:55] SPEAKER_00: And again, very applicable across any industry, right?
[11:00] SPEAKER_00: What are the top three things on your bucket list
[11:02] SPEAKER_00: as you look forward and do some dreaming?
[11:06] SPEAKER_00: And this is maybe a bit more personal to you.
[11:08] SPEAKER_00: What do you hope to achieve as a successful female entrepreneur?
[11:13] SPEAKER_01: I'd like to do some more work travel
[11:16] SPEAKER_01: and go see what's out there a little bit more.
[11:19] SPEAKER_01: I think we've been headstand working in business pretty hard
[11:21] SPEAKER_01: for the past six years.
[11:23] SPEAKER_01: So for example, I'd love to go to Hong Kong
[11:25] SPEAKER_01: to go to the leather working group forum.
[11:27] SPEAKER_01: I'd love to go to the shows in Italy
[11:29] SPEAKER_01: for seeing the latest fashions and leathers.
[11:32] SPEAKER_01: I'd love to explore new markets in Europe for Poppy Barley.
[11:36] SPEAKER_01: So being really head up and forward facing,
[11:39] SPEAKER_01: I'd like to do that for a while.
[11:41] SPEAKER_01: And then I think, I mean, more personally,
[11:45] SPEAKER_01: just always finding the right balance between working
[11:47] SPEAKER_01: and having my two small children.
[11:49] SPEAKER_01: And I'd love to start taking them on the January
[11:52] SPEAKER_01: and being somewhere hot for four weeks with my family.
[11:56] SPEAKER_00: Yes, I think any of us who live in these cold Canadian cities
[11:59] SPEAKER_00: can relate to that.
[12:01] SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
[12:02] SPEAKER_00: Now, I have a few questions where I'd love for you
[12:04] SPEAKER_00: to just give me a really quick response.
[12:06] SPEAKER_00: These are our short and sweet and helps us to get to know
[12:10] SPEAKER_00: you a little bit better.
[12:12] SPEAKER_00: So if you weren't doing what you do now and being an entrepreneur,
[12:16] SPEAKER_00: what do you think your career would be?
[12:18] SPEAKER_00: Potentially land development.
[12:21] SPEAKER_00: And what book are you currently reading?
[12:23] SPEAKER_00: You mentioned your voracious reader.
[12:25] SPEAKER_00: What's on your nightstand right now?
[12:27] SPEAKER_00: I just finished the Chip Wilson book.
[12:29] SPEAKER_00: I think it's called Little Black Strategy Pass.
[12:32] SPEAKER_01: And do you have any recommendations for our audience?
[12:35] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, for business books for sure.
[12:37] SPEAKER_01: I mean, for none.
[12:38] SPEAKER_01: But I love the book, the hard thing about hard things.
[12:41] SPEAKER_01: I think if you're feeling eaten up about your business,
[12:45] SPEAKER_01: it's always great for my mental health to read that book.
[12:49] SPEAKER_01: I love the book, Good to Great,
[12:50] SPEAKER_01: which I think just has so much good advice
[12:52] SPEAKER_01: about transforming your company into a great one.
[12:56] SPEAKER_01: And then for me, I also love like Chip Wilson's book,
[12:59] SPEAKER_01: our Phil Knight's books that are more autobiographical,
[13:02] SPEAKER_01: and also more industry-specific.
[13:05] SPEAKER_01: So books that are more about fashion or footwear companies,
[13:07] SPEAKER_01: I always find I really relate to them.
[13:09] SPEAKER_00: And if you had to pick one word to describe yourself,
[13:13] SPEAKER_00: what would it be and why?
[13:15] SPEAKER_01: I think I'm a strong person.
[13:18] SPEAKER_01: I think primarily because I was raised to be a strong person.
[13:22] SPEAKER_01: And also that I've gone out of my comfort zone a lot
[13:25] SPEAKER_01: and that builds confidence and resilience.
[13:29] SPEAKER_00: And what's keeping you up at night these days?
[13:32] SPEAKER_01: If anything besides your small children?
[13:35] SPEAKER_01: I think we've been talking more about the future
[13:37] SPEAKER_01: and about where we're building to.
[13:41] SPEAKER_01: So starting to have some of those conversations
[13:43] SPEAKER_01: about like what's the end game here?
[13:45] SPEAKER_01: Where do we want to take this?
[13:47] SPEAKER_01: So I wouldn't really say it's keeping you up at night,
[13:49] SPEAKER_01: but those are some of the conversations
[13:50] SPEAKER_01: kind of what I was starting to have.
[13:52] SPEAKER_01: And what is your favorite place in the world and why?
[13:57] SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's definitely a hard question.
[13:58] SPEAKER_01: There's lots of great places in the world,
[14:00] SPEAKER_01: but my favorite cities in the world so far
[14:03] SPEAKER_01: have been Istanbul and Turkey, Rio de Janeiro and Brazil
[14:06] SPEAKER_01: and the New York City.
[14:08] SPEAKER_00: And what are the three non-negotiables that you have
[14:12] SPEAKER_00: in either your morning or evening routine
[14:14] SPEAKER_00: that are just part of what you need to do every day?
[14:19] SPEAKER_01: Coffee also in the morning.
[14:20] SPEAKER_01: So coffee, brushing my teeth,
[14:23] SPEAKER_01: and putting in my contacts.
[14:25] SPEAKER_00: So this last question that I have for you,
[14:28] SPEAKER_00: Justine, is more of a hypothetical one
[14:30] SPEAKER_00: and would just love to get your perspective on it.
[14:33] SPEAKER_00: It's always a favorite with the people we interview.
[14:36] SPEAKER_00: So if you can imagine there's a small, beautiful tropical island
[14:40] SPEAKER_00: in the middle of the ocean with only a phone booth
[14:43] SPEAKER_00: and no internet,
[14:45] SPEAKER_00: we would drop you off there.
[14:46] SPEAKER_00: And there'd be no technology available to you.
[14:49] SPEAKER_00: At any time, you could use the phone booths
[14:52] SPEAKER_00: and call the boat to come and pick you up.
[14:55] SPEAKER_00: I'm curious as to how long you would last
[14:57] SPEAKER_00: before you'd make the call
[14:58] SPEAKER_00: and what you would do with your time.
[15:01] SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure about food and water supplies on set island.
[15:05] SPEAKER_01: So I think that would play into my answer.
[15:08] SPEAKER_01: But I don't think I would last very long.
[15:11] SPEAKER_01: I think I would love a day sunbathing in the sun.
[15:13] SPEAKER_01: But I both crave time away from my children
[15:17] SPEAKER_01: and I miss them very quickly.
[15:19] SPEAKER_01: So I think if I had a day,
[15:21] SPEAKER_01: I'd want to be back with my kids.
[15:24] SPEAKER_00: So before we wrap up here,
[15:26] SPEAKER_00: is there anything else that you would like to add
[15:29] SPEAKER_00: or share with our listeners?
[15:31] SPEAKER_01: I always think, depending where you are
[15:33] SPEAKER_01: and your entrepreneurship journey.
[15:35] SPEAKER_01: But if you're thinking about it,
[15:37] SPEAKER_01: I always think just get started on working through your idea,
[15:41] SPEAKER_01: doing competitive scans, research,
[15:45] SPEAKER_01: talking to focus groups,
[15:46] SPEAKER_01: trying to validate it with who you see your customer being
[15:49] SPEAKER_01: and really just, yeah, get going on it.
[15:52] SPEAKER_00: And how can our listeners get a hold of you
[15:54] SPEAKER_01: or find you online?
[15:55] SPEAKER_01: I have, I mean, very amateurish personal handles.
[16:00] SPEAKER_01: So at Just Barber,
[16:02] SPEAKER_01: and that would be for Instagram and Twitter.
[16:05] SPEAKER_01: And then the puppy barley info is...
[16:08] SPEAKER_01: Everything is just puppy barley.
[16:09] SPEAKER_01: So at PoppyBurly,
[16:11] SPEAKER_01: PoppyWerly.com, very simply.
[16:14] SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
[16:15] SPEAKER_00: Well, Justine, I really appreciate you coming on our show today.
[16:18] SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for being part of Edmonton's podcast.
[16:22] SPEAKER_00: We wish you the very best in your future
[16:24] SPEAKER_00: and enjoy chatting with you.
[16:27] SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for having me.
[16:29] SPEAKER_00: Hey there, it's Bonnie LG.
[16:31] SPEAKER_00: Thanks for taking the time today to listen to Edmonton's podcast
[16:34] SPEAKER_00: on the Cannabis Podcast Network.
[16:37] SPEAKER_00: We hope you enjoyed the show.
[16:38] SPEAKER_00: Make sure you sign up for our newsletters.
[16:41] SPEAKER_00: And if you have a minute, please write a review for us on iTunes.
[16:44] SPEAKER_00: You can connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
[16:48] SPEAKER_00: at Cannabis Podcast.
[16:50] SPEAKER_00: And make sure you check out
[16:51] SPEAKER_00: what other entrepreneurs are doing across the country.
[16:54] SPEAKER_00: See you next time.
