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AMY PORTERFIELD:
Well, hey, there. Welcome back to another episode of the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast. I’m your host, Amy Porterfield, and I’m so very glad that you tuned in today. I've got a really fun guest on the show. She's known as Fit Rocker Chick, and she's all about the rock ‘n’ roll, but so much more. And I'll let Erin share her story with you in just a minute.
But to give you a little context, Erin created a membership site about a year ago and has since launched a physical product, a skin-care line. And if you ask Erin, she'll tell you that the members inside of her membership experience helped her get this product up and running. So she's got a really great story, and you're going to love to hear the alignment between the membership experience and her physical product. And to give you a little hint, this physical product sold like hotcakes. We're talking about sold out in a matter of hours the first time she launched it. So I can’t wait for you to hear that story.
So the crazy thing is—and I mean crazy, coming from me, being the planner that I am—the crazy thing is that Erin started the membership in a place that she wasn't really sure what it would look like. She didn't have a week-by-week plan. She didn't have what Stu McLaren calls the success path. She just wanted to help her community. And she knew there was a need; she just didn't know what it would look like. So wait until you hear her story of launching without really knowing where she was going with it. I mean, I love a girl that can take a risk, and that is definitely Erin. So Erin and I are going to talk about the membership site and her physical product and really how she's connected with her audience and how she's been able to be flexible and fluid as she's created her membership and her product.
Now, Erin and I go way back because we were in a mastermind together, and that's where I first met her. And she's got this amazing voice. If you follow her on Instagram, she's fitrockerchick. Sometimes she will grace us with her guitar and a song, and you're going to love every minute of it. Wait until you hear her do a cover of Stevie Nicks. I mean, I can't even go there. She's brilliant. But she's got so much to share, and I want you to hear her story, so we're going to get into that in just a minute.
But before we do, as always, I've got a listener shout out. This one comes from Jennifer, the Guava Project, and this is what she wrote:
“I've been listening to Amy's podcasts since the very beginning. I always look forward to Thursdays because I know another great piece of content just dropped into my podcast library. Amy's approach is always the right combination of practical and inspirational, plus she truly makes me feel like we're sitting at a café, enjoying a cup of bulletproof coffee. Thank you for all you do for your students, Amy. Sincerely, Jennifer @ the Guava Project.”
Jennifer, you just made my day. That's exactly how I want this podcast to feel. It's just me and you, sitting at a cafe and just chatting about all things business and life. That is, like, exactly what I want. So thank you for the kind words. It means more to me than I can ever express.
Okay, so now let's jump to it. We're going to get right into my chat with Erin.
Erin, welcome to the show. I’m so glad you’re here.
ERIN MULLINS SANDERSON: Oh my gosh. I am so excited to talk to you. I woke up early. I did all the things. I was, like, I have to be on my A game right now for Amy.
AMY: I have no doubt you will be. Listen, I said this in the intro, but I really do think you're one of the coolest chicks I've ever met. Way cooler than I am.
ERIN: Oh, I don’t know about that, but thank you.
AMY: So with that, seriously. So I am excited to have you on the show because you just have something special about you that I want my audience to know who you are, how you do business, the cool things that you've created over the last year or so, so this is going to be one of my favorite episodes. I just know it. So, tell my listeners a little bit about yourself.
ERIN: Well, first of all, thank you for that intro. I am honored that you would call me one of the coolest chicks that you know. So my name is Erin Mullins Sanderson. I am fitrockerchick in social media. That's my website. I've been a touring musician my entire life; toured the country; played with acts like Evanescence and Halestorm and Skillet; and as a songwriter, I've had songs featured on Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Fuse TV; and all kinds of different, really, really cool things. But I found that life on the road wasn't for me. I'm kind of a homebody—love my hunky hubs—and my passion is really helping people to take the stage in their own life and to treat every day in their life as an opportunity to live it bigger and badder and to really become the badass of their own life and to leave the crowd wanting more of them. So I'm the creator of the She’s a Rock Chick girl gang, and I'm also the creator of SKIN, which is a non-toxic, oil-based skincare line.
AMY: Okay, so I told you guys. Very cool. I mean, when she can talk about the Kardashians as well as building this huge business she has, that is cool.
So with all of this, you know, when we first talked about you coming on the show, I wanted to talk about SKIN, and I want to talk about how that came about and what it looks like and the success you've had. But interestingly enough, when Jill, my content manager, interviewed you, she realized—and I didn't even get the connection until I started to go over all the notes—that there is this perfect alignment between your membership experience and your physical product line. And so because of that, I thought, “This is interesting. I don't know anybody else doing it like this.” So we're going to talk about both. Are you good with that?
ERIN: Absolutely.
AMY: Okay. So we've got a lot of listeners that either have memberships or are thinking about creating one. And I love your story because when you launched your membership, you had an idea of what it would look like, but you definitely didn't have it all figured out. You knew there was a need in your community, and you moved forward, even without total clarity, which, even when I say that, makes my stomach tighten because I'm a planner. So I like to learn from people that move forward, even when they don't have it all figured out. So, first, talk with me about how you decided to do your membership. I remember the day well, so let's talk about that.
ERIN: Yeah. I was just going to say, “Well, you were there.” So, yeah, there was this void with my audience. They didn't have a way to work with me that they really wanted. I had run courses in the past and done things in the past, but there had always been this void that if I had to put a name on it, it was kind of lifestyle-ish, but I’m not a lifestyle blogger. I'm not, what I would consider, a traditional influencer. So I was like, I don't really know what to do with this.
So I decided to ask our inner-circle membership group, or not membership group, but mastermind group, “What do you guys think? Here’s my idea.” I said, “I have an idea. I would love to bring together just a group of women that want to better themselves, they want to be more confident, and I don't know what it looks like. I don't know if it's makeup, if it's hair, if it's really talking about confidence. I don't know if it's fashion. I don't know what this is, but I know there's a void in my audience.” And it was unanimous within everyone in the mastermind group. It was like, “Why haven't you done this already?” And I'm like, “Because I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is.”
And so I just decided—I am not a planner. I know you're going to find that shocking. I am not a planner. I like to fly by the seat of my pants. And so that was perfect for me. So about two nights later, I sent out an email to my list, and I did narrow the list pretty well. I was looking for a hundred women to beta test this thing that I had no idea what it would be. And here's what my email said. I can remember it almost verbatim. It was like, “Hey, guys. I have this idea. I think I'd like to create a membership group. I don't know what it's going to be. I'm looking for a hundred women who will help me kind of figure out what this membership could be. Some ideas that I have are lifestyle, fashion, talking about confidence, makeup, things like that. If that's something that you're into, here's the link to join.” That was it. I was like, “I don't know what this is. I would like your help.” And I believe—and numbers aren't my strong suit—but I believe within forty-eight hours we had our hundred women.
AMY: Okay, so, question for you. Did they get to come in for free?
ERIN: No. They came in—some of them for free. I think there were, like, five that we wanted in the group, that had been with me a long time. We were like, “Please come in the group,” just because we knew that the temperature was going to be good.
AMY: Smart, smart.
ERIN: Yeah. We wanted some strong personalities who would set the tone a little bit. And then everyone else paid.
AMY: Okay, and how much did they pay?
ERIN: I believe it was nine dollars.
AMY: Got it. So, nine dollars.
ERIN: At the time.
AMY: In the very beginning. Nine bucks for monthly. That’s what they would be paying monthly.
ERIN: Yes.
AMY: Where did you come up with this number of nine? Why wasn’t it ten, or why wasn’t it twelve? What is the nine?
ERIN: Well, my team and I were like, if someone was saying, “We want you to come in to kind of help us figure this out,” it wasn't a guarantee of what it was going to be, what would we feel comfortable paying, and I would pay it lots. But the people on my team were like, “You know, I think after the ten-dollar mark, people are going to get hesitant.” So we went with nine. And then, a month later, then it started going up in price.
AMY: What is it now?
ERIN: Right now you can join for a year for 297.
AMY: Got it. And do they pay monthly, though? Can they pay monthly?
ERIN: They do have a monthly option. We used to do a three-month option, but now we just do monthly.
AMY: Got it. Got it. Okay, so, I love that you made it incredibly affordable, and you didn't have it all figured out, and you sent out an email. You got your hundred people, and then you are off to the races, still not really sure what this was going to be about. And that’s incredible.
I also love—wait, I got to take a moment to really make sure my listeners hear this. Guys, because Erin has focused on building her email list, because that's something that she actually was intentional about, she was able to come up with an idea, not have it totally all figured out, but know the direction she wanted to go with it—a membership. So she was able to just send one email out, get a hundred people into a beta that actually paid—so they took out their credit cards—and then she got to run with it. That's the power of an email list, because she didn't even have to post on social. She had a ready-made audience that was like, “Yeah, we're interested in this. We want to know more.” So there is so much power in an email list, especially if you just want to experiment with something. So I wanted to make that really known.
ERIN: Yeah. And that actually took the pressure off me because I thought I'm going to be 100 percent honest with these people. I don't know what this is. I don't know what it's going to be. I want their help figuring it out. So I got the right people who were excited to help me figure it out.
AMY: Got it. And you had a few thousand people on your list. And one thing I want to point out is that in the past you've been known for something different in the health sector, and now you've made this transition. And a lot of people that are listening now, they want to make a transition and be known for something. And I always talk about, back in the day I was known for Facebook. And then over the years I have been known for list building and course creation and webinars. And so the fact that you made this pivot and you were still able to grow your email list and segment it, I think that's just so very cool that you stuck with it. You're talking to your specific audience about this. So that email went out to a few thousand, right?
ERIN: Yes.
AMY: Okay, cool. So the fact that you were able to do that, send one email, get people into your membership, find the audience that was going to be right for this, all the stuff we talk about. So, so very cool.
All right. So since you weren’t completely clear about what the content would be week by week, how did you decide on the content? How did you figure out what you were going to do week by week if you didn't have it planned? This planner here, on this other side of the mic, is so confused right now. I don't understand how you move forward if you don't have a plan.
ERIN: Yeah.
AMY: Teach me.
ERIN: They helped me. I would say every week I would poll them, and I'd say, “What would you like to talk about this week? What would you like to learn from me this week?” And I’d give them some options because I was curious. Did they want to learn from me the things that I had already talked about in some way, shape, or form, maybe on a YouTube video or something like that? Or was there totally different information I had not considered yet that people were wanting to learn from me? So I would ask them every week and poll them, and they would tell me, and I would create content around that.
AMY: Perfect. So now I want to get a little specific about your membership experience. What exactly do you do in there?
ERIN: Okay, well, now it’s robust. It started as, I don't know what the hell I'm doing; and now it's, like, this thing. So really, the basis of She's a Rock Chick is about confidence. That is what, every week when I would poll them, it really boiled down to. How do I live a life authentically myself and not try to meet other people's expectations, not be limited by what I think I need to do or be limited by what I think I should've accomplished by now, and all these limiting beliefs? They really wanted to step into that version of themselves that they dream about. And we all have that woman. We all have that woman. I say it's becoming her, becoming that woman you want to be. You want to have her temperament. You want to be that cool, calm, and collected in those situations. And it really became about that.
So I go live in my community every other week. We also bring in a heavy-weight guest expert once a month to speak to the group. They get pre-access to everything. So when I launch my skincare line, they got that first. Any product that I launch, any new thing that I'm doing, they get access to it long before anybody else ever does.
We also do a playlist every quarter. I do a favorite things, which is really, really cool. It's kind of like Oprah's favorite things, except for I'm not Oprah. I'm not Oprah. It’s not quite as cool as Oprah. But I do that every quarter.
And then every single month, they get a setlist, which is my pride and joy. So like I said at the beginning, it's my mission to just live every single day as if I’m rocking the stage of my own life, and I am. And so every month, they get a setlist, which is ten things that I want them to focus on doing that month that's going to, if they do those things, at the end of the month, they're going to be able to say, “Damn, I really lived. I lived this month.”
AMY: What’s an example?
ERIN: This month, the first thing is to reach out to someone who can help you get closer to one of your goals. The second thing is to read your vision for your life out loud to someone else. The third thing, I think, is to go see a live band play. The fourth thing is to wear your brightest shade of lipstick for no good reason. And I give them ten different things, and they're different all the time, and they're typically things that I did just three months prior.
AMY: Okay, that’s what I call the 10 percent edge, guys. When I talk about you just need to be 10 percent ahead of who you're teaching so that you've gone before them, I love that you just said that.
ERIN: Yeah, because it's just what did I do in the last few months that made me feel alive? And then I give them those things.
AMY: Okay, so, I did not know that your membership experience had such a big focus on confidence and being your best self, because I know you talk about skin care and makeup and style and jewelry, and I knew you got into all of that, but there is such a bigger mission here. Looking at the notes, I know that you had mentioned some of the women have made some pretty major moves in their lives because of this group. Tell me about that.
ERIN: Yes. It's amazing what happens when you get around a group of people who get you and who you don't have to put a special facade on for. You can just come as you are, and there's no judgment. So we’ve had women travel abroad to a different country by themselves. We've had women quit their job and really start that dream gig that they've always wanted. One of them is acting. She's starting to act again. We've had people start non-profits. We've had women who have wanted to start a podcast for years and years and years finally start it. We've had women who have wanted to help the homeless in their area finally do it. We've had women who have gone and finally asked for promotions, and they got it. We've had women who have gotten out of toxic relationships and started new beautiful ones. And it’s amazing. Amy, it’s amazing.
AMY: I would’ve never guessed this all would have happened based on that one little hot seat that you had.
ERIN: No, no. I was like people just want to know how my hair is today.
AMY: Yes, I remember. People want to see the outfit I'm wearing today and how I put it together. That's how this conversation started, guys. And now she's like, people are getting out of toxic relationships and finding their love. Like, come on.
ERIN: And they’ve paid off all their debts. They quit jobs that were sucking the life out of them, and had the courage to apply for new ones and got them, and they’re doing what they love. And the thing is, though, what we found, or what I found, through polling them every single week was they did want to know about my outfits and my hair and my makeup and those types of things. But they wanted to know, at the root of that, why I could wear those things and do those things and not be worried about what people were thinking. That was what was at the root of it. They wanted to know the outfits, but there was a deeper reason why.
AMY: And there’s this idea of you are giving them permission that they didn't even know that they needed.
ERIN: Exactly. I couldn’t have said it better myself. That.
AMY: And that is really, really big. So I love that.
So you finally, through trial and error, and really, more importantly, through asking these 100 beta testers what they wanted, you came down to your framework. So, just to be really clear, guys, her framework is this monthly setlist, which I love that She's a Rock Chick has. It’s so you and your personality. This is what I love. Can you guys imagine me having a setlist? That would not work.
But that's another thing, I have a question to ask you after I go through what this at a glance of your membership looks like that has to do with you and your personality.
But she's got her setlist, which is doing things you maybe never even thought about doing to really find yourself. Live cocktail hours. Love that. So this is twice a month, you'll get together and chat all things rock chick? That's fun. Dreams and goals and all of that. So is that your live that you do?
ERIN: Yes. I let them vote. They can choose a coffee hour. We can get together for coffee in the morning. Or we can do cocktail hour, which I love, because everybody’s a little looser, a little bit more fun in the evening for cocktail hour. And there’s nothing that’s off limits, so they can ask me anything, we can talk about anything. And I always tell them that if they came somewhere to be coddled, they came to the wrong place. They came to the wrong girl, because I will call them out in a hot second. But only because I care. That's it. Because if I didn't care, I'd roll my eyes and move on. You know, it's only because I actually really care.
AMY: So, two questions there. You do these live cocktail hours or coffee, and I'm guessing you really show up with your tequila.
ERIN: I really do.
AMY: So she's a tequila girl. And you have these funny rules around—because I watch you on Insta Stories. Wait, what's the rule with the tequila?
ERIN: I have beverage boundaries.
AMY: Beverage boundaries, yes.
ERIN: Well, like I said, I’m fly by the seat of my pants, so I need rules within myself to keep myself safe. So I only let myself have tequila on either Friday or Saturday, or Friday or Sunday, two days of the week, because it gets too fun, and then I'm like, “Wrap it up, sister. Wrap it up. Lock it down.”
AMY: I think it’s so good. I love, love, love it.
Okay, and when you do these lives, we like to get specific about what it looks like. Are these just you're on Facebook Live and people are putting comments below your video?
ERIN: It used to be, when everyone was in the Facebook group. But now it's grown so that not everyone is in the Facebook group. So now I do it on Zoom. So a little bit of both. So it can be me on video, with comments below. And we've done it a few different times where other people are on too, so I can see them.
AMY: Oh, so sometimes you do it, and then they get to talk to you.
ERIN: Yeah.
AMY: Okay, that’s really cool. So you’ve got these live cocktail hours, you have your playlist—super fun. Of course, it’s a supportive community. Everybody's helping everybody and encouraging everyone. First access to new releases, and we're going to get into your physical product soon and talk about that, and then guest experts.
So my question to you is, I look at this, and I'm wondering, how does it feel to you? Now that you've got the framework, you asked the questions, they told you what they wanted, now you literally have a schedule, and for a planner to have this plan, how does this whole thing feel to you as the membership owner?
ERIN: It feels like the easiest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
AMY: Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. I didn’t know she was going to say that, but that’s so perfect. That’s what I wanted to feel like when I launched my membership, that it's easy. How do you think you got there, that it just feels easy?
ERIN: You know, I don't know. I mean, I think it has a lot to do with being authentic from the get-go and saying, “Look, I have an idea of kind of the direction I want this to go,” but I was pretty fluid in that I was open to changing what I thought it was going to be into what they actually needed. And I'm just there for that, whatever they need. And I've stepped into the role of their big sister, which I will say—I'm not one to toot my own horn, but toot, toot—I'm good at being a big sister. I am. And I've stepped into that role pretty well. And I think that that's why it feels just really natural, just really natural and so easy. And sometimes, to be fully transparent with you and your audience, sometimes I do feel guilty. I'm like, this is just so easy for me. And it just feels so light to me. Like, am I doing it right, you know?
AMY: You guys. I mean, come on. My audience, there's many that are like me. We’re Type A, super planners, think “I can't change anything because then it's going to look like I don't have my game together. It's going to look like I don't know what I'm doing.” And believe me, these are things I work through with my coach on a regular basis.
But you're giving me such a gift, and, hopefully, my audience is feeling this as well, that it's okay to be a little bit more fluid. It's okay to just change things up and listen to your audience. And you would have never gotten to where you're at, especially when we start talking about the physical product, if you didn't listen to your audience and allow yourself a little bit of change things up and move things around kind of strategy.
ERIN: Yeah, 100 percent.
AMY: I love this, and I'm genuinely going to take this lesson. And I know my content team is listening, and they're going to hold me to it. Remember when Erin said that we could change things up and move things around? It doesn't have to be all figured out. What a gift.
Okay, so, a few more technical questions, and we're getting into the physical product. Number one, how often do you open up your membership experience?
ERIN: About two to three times a year.
AMY: Got it. Okay, so it’s not always opened up. And we already talked about how much you charge for it. How many people are in it right now?
ERIN: Right now we’re pushing 500, which is cool.
AMY: Stop it.
ERIN: I know. We beta’d that for months. And, again, in the spirit of transparency, we beta’d it for months, longer than I wanted to, because I was still in that “but what is it? But what is it? I don’t know.” I know we’re polling them every month, and this is great, and everyone was loving it, and no one was leaving. And I was like, what in the world? But, yeah, it was a little bit longer in the beta season than I had planned because I just could not wrap my own head around what it was.
AMY: Well, you got there, for sure.
ERIN: Yeah, I did. I did.
AMY: What platform do you use for it?
ERIN: Right now we use—so not everyone’s on Facebook. Facebook is our main platform, but we also use Kajabi.
AMY: Kajabi, got it, okay. And that’s where your content lives and all of that.
ERIN: Yes.
AMY: Okay, perfect.
Okay, so, you’ve got a really engaged group of ladies loving their experience in your community, and then there’s this crazy, fun twist. So this is really why we brought you on the show, but then I couldn't resist talking about the membership since my audience loves that. So I want to talk about the next level. You created and launched a skincare line into your membership, and your products sold out in eight hours. So first of all, what prompted you to do that, and have you always thought about a skincare line? And, listen, I know a little bit about this story because I'm a tiny, tiny, tiny part of it, so we're going to talk about that, and when I say that, I say that jokingly. This is—but seriously, you're going to tell that story. But also, like, chemistry? You're creating a product, a skincare line. We need to talk about all this. So set me up.
ERIN: Okay, yeah, it’s insane. It's really crazy. Yes. I have always thought about creating some sort of skincare line. I say always, you know, since I was a teenager. I used to have really terrible skin. I would break out all the time.
AMY: I can’t believe that.
ERIN: Yeah. It was really, really bad. And so I tried everything from dermatologists to Proactiv and all the things, and nothing ever worked. And one day I remember I was in a grocery store, and I saw a stunningly beautiful Italian woman saying to someone that she put olive oil under her eyes to prevent wrinkles. And I was like, sign me up for the—where's the olive-oil aisle, Mom? So that was what first piqued my interest in using oils.
So I had always kind of thought about creating a skincare line. I'd written on my—when I write out my vision every year, I’d written it down a couple times. And the timing just never was right. And my sister was kind of pressuring me. She’s like, “Hey, whatever happened to that creating-a-skincare-line idea?” And I was like, “I don’t know. It’s just I don’t know.” One of those things. You’re like, it’s an idea, but I don’t know.
Then, flash forward, this is a while. I'm in New York with you, and we're sitting there having dinner at our mastermind retreat again. Or that was the same one, actually. And you said, “Hey, how old are you?” And I said, you know, I avoided the question because I'm from the music industry, and we were trained, we've been trained our whole life, don't tell people your age. And so I was playing coy and giving you all the work around. And finally you go, “Why are you being weird? Just tell me.” And I go, “I’m thirty-eight.” And I was thirty-eight at the time; I’m thirty-nine now. And you go, “Stop it right now.”
AMY: Seriously, okay. This is where I interject. So, she tells me her age. So if you’re thirty-nine, I’m forty-three, so I’m a little bit older than you, and I’m thinking she’s telling me she’s in her twenties. And so I’m looking at her skin and her style and the way she holds herself, and so I’m thinking, “Okay, so this girl’s in her twenties.” And I’m trying to make it all make sense, and she tells me thirty-eight. I’m like, “Just shut up.” Guys, I would have never guessed it, and it was mainly because of your skin. So then I’m like, what do you do? How do you have that skin?
ERIN: And I said, “I don’t know. Jesus?”
AMY: Yeah, she did, you guys. And I’m like, “Just get out of my face.” Like, you’re not going to give me a plan, you don’t have a skincare plan for me? She’s like, “Yeah, it’s Jesus.” So that’s where the conversation went.
ERIN: Yeah. And so I went back to my hotel room after that, and that was—I didn't tell you this is the time—that was probably the fifth or sixth time in the past two weeks that someone had stopped me and asked me about my skin.
AMY: Not surprised.
ERIN: Yeah. And so I went back to my hotel room that night, and I’m getting ready for bed. I'm washing my face, and I'm doing my thing, and I'm looking around. And I'm realizing that I don't have lotions or anything on the countertop. I just have these different oils, and so I was like, “Huh, well, I wonder if that Italian lady was right all those years ago.” So I messaged my team, and I'm like, “Hey, do you guys use oils on your skin?” And they're like, “What? What? No. We need this immediately. What do you mean?” And I was like, “Okay, let's have a meeting tomorrow.”
So I had a meeting, and I was like, “Are you guys being actually serious? You don't use any oils on your skin? You don't lather it up like a leather loafer?” And they're like, “No, we don't.” And I'm like, “Oh my god. I actually think that this is what I want to do.” And so I will say that my hesitation throughout the years over creating a skincare line was not only just not the right time, but I never wanted to create something just because it was cool or based on trends or like, “Look, guys. I created a skincare line. And it’s got blue algae and vampire facials and all these weird things in it.”
I always had a problem with celebrities creating skincare lines that weren't what they actually used. It was like cutting-edge science. Well, you weren't using that to get to where you are. What were you actually using? So I wanted to create what I was actually using. And truth be told, the reason why I had so many different oils was because I never found the one that did everything I wanted it to. And so some would get musty; and some would just make me break out over time; and some would smell weird; and some would be gritty; and some would be greasy, and you couldn't put your makeup on over it. And so then I was like, “Okay, I think I can do this. If I can actually create an oil-based skincare line that I want to bathe in daily myself, then we will launch that.” And that is what we did.
AMY: Okay. So I need to tell you guys that I have the products and love them. Now, every time I use—okay, what's the first one that I use that I actually use to take off my makeup?
ERIN: Pre-cleanse.
AMY: Okay, the pre-cleanse. And it's—what kind of oil is it?
ERIN: It's a grapeseed.
AMY: That’s what it is. It’s grapeseed oil, and I use it, and every time, I'm like, “This is wrong. This feels weird. I’m putting all this oil on my face.” But it really does work. It’s really good. And then she’s got other stuff that follow that. But that’s the first thing I do, that it’s just so weird but so good.
But you’re not a chemist. How did you put together a product like that?
ERIN: I mean, it took some doing. I’m not going to lie to you. I cussed a lot; I punched a lot of pillows. It’s a lot. Finding a really great manufacturer that’s honest, that does what you’re asking them to do is really challenging. You'd be surprised and shocked at how many manufacturing companies will say that they are “certified organic,” and they're not.
AMY: Really.
ERIN: Yeah. And luckily, I have someone on my team, one of the girls on my team, who, I have to give her credit for the beautiful packaging because that was her baby.
AMY: So cool.
ERIN: It's the coolest packaging ever.
AMY: It is.
ERIN: Yeah, it really is. But she is so detail oriented. Tiny, tiny little details, and she would go back to them. She's like, “Can I actually see your certifications?” which most people don't ask for, but she did. It's very challenging to find a manufacturer that does what you want. In addition, I tested, I mean, so many different oils, it's ridiculous. And I actually thought we'd never get it. I thought maybe it doesn't exist. Maybe an oil that you can apply makeup over the top of beautifully, and it almost acts like a primer, isn't a thing. But it is.
AMY: Oh, it is.
ERIN: It is. We just had to keep going. And when you think back, I know a lot of people think, “Oil, that's so weird,” like you said, “It feels so wrong, but it works so right.” Whenever I was growing up and I had really oily skin, I would complain about my oily skin, and people would say, “Oh, but you're never going to get wrinkles.” So now that I know what I know about oil, I'm like, every woman should be just lathering their face up in oil because it's so true. Think about a leather couch when it gets scuffed. What do you put on it? Oil.
AMY: Exactly. That is such a great point.
ERIN: And our body makes oil, and so it's readily absorbed, and our body knows what to do with it. There's no barrier that’s going to prevent it from being absorbed into your skin. So it’s really great.
AMY: Okay. It’s a fantastic product, just for the record. Fantastic.
Okay, so, when you started thinking about, “I’m going to create this physical product,” where did your members come into play? You know, or I actually don't know, you launched it to your members, but were they part of the making of the product? Tell me where that came about.
ERIN: Yes. So I went to them. As soon as my team and I were like, “Okay, we're going to do this,” I was like, “Hold on. Hold on. Let me go to my She's a Rock Chick community and ask them if this is actually something they would be into,” because this community was a community that I created to really help me to give them what they wanted. And if they don't want this, maybe it's still not the right timing. And partially that part of me was like, “Who the hell am I to create a skincare line?” Know what I'm saying? Like what business do I have doing this? But I went to them, and it was like, “Oh my god, when can we get it? Can we get it right now?” And I was like, okay, okay, fine.
So yeah. So I made them a part of the process from the get. I would show them samples and sketches of our packaging before it was even in my hands, asking their opinions. I would get their feedback on labels and what they liked and what they didn't like; and on naming things, on what they liked and what they didn't like. So it was just as much their baby as it was mine.
AMY: Okay. And that is the ticket right there. The more we can include our students, our members, our community, in the creation of something, they feel as though they are part of it when you sell it. So there's no surprise that that sold out instantly like it did. Just for the record, the first batch of product, did you just go to your members? Were they the only ones that could get it?
ERIN: Well, so the plan was we would take it to our membership, and then whatever was left after a week or two, we would allow the rest of our list to have access to. But there was nothing left.
AMY: Okay. This is a quality problem. So you went and you launched again. So did you change anything from the first product to the second time you launched it? And did you launch it differently the second time, because it sold out in less than forty-eight hours the second time.
ERIN: Right. No, the second time we did it the same way. We were like, okay. Well, let me back up a little bit and say that we did not anticipate that the first batch was going to sell out. And I, as the creator of SKIN, I personally, still to this day, hand test personally every batch before it ever goes out. It goes on my skin first. And so there was a little bit of a time lapse because we did not anticipate it selling out like that. And so it took us longer to get our second batch in. And then we did it the same way. We launched it into the membership, and then what was left, we gave access to everyone else, and that time it sold out in forty-eight hours.
AMY: Okay. So, so good. Okay, I have a lot to share in terms of what I’ve learned in this episode, and I’ll do that in the closing. But what I want to say to you, Erin, is I love the fact that you listened to your audience. I actually, truly love the fact that you’re not so much of a planner, but you do kind of do take a pulse and you go with your gut and you move toward what you think is right.
But also, one thing that’s unique about Erin that it's fine not to be a planner. Obviously, she's showing that it can work, but she's also a doer. She's an action taker. She's a girl of her word. And so when you say you're going to do something, Erin, you do it. You might not have it all figured out, but you do it, and you make it happen. So that's something very special about you; and I've seen it; and I love, love, love hearing your story. I love hearing your story of the membership. I love the physical product. I use it. I think it is fantastic. And I just couldn't be more excited. If you guys got to sit next to Erin and you see her skin, you would use her product in a hot minute, just for the record.
So I know a few things. I want to ask what's next for you, and I want you to kind of tell me where's this product going, anything new that you've got going on, and I want people to be able to find you. They're also going to ask how they can get their hands on your product ,your skincare products. So talk to me about all the things. What's next for you, and how can people find you?
ERIN: Oh gosh. Well, thank you so much. I love that you love it. It makes my life that people actually love it. And I was going to say that the testimonials and the feedback from SKIN have been absolutely mind blowing, and it’s opening up doors for us that we never thought were going to happen. So, hopefully, on the radar at some point, not this year, but at some point we want SKIN to be sold in Sephora or Ulta or something like that. That’s obviously on the radar for, I think, anyone who creates a physical—
AMY: Big time.
ERIN: Yeah. —skincare line or cosmetics line or something like that.
Also on the radar is a clothing line. That is—
AMY: Oh!
ERIN: I know. I'm very excited. I have sketches, and I have fabric samples. And that's a real process. So that’s a couple years down the road, but that’s something that my community has been asking me for for a long, long, long time. So that’s definitely on the radar.
But my main focus right now is just really creating a voice and awareness about skin, and also, my She's a Rock Chick community, just being there for them and watching them grow and evolve. They’re babies. SKIN is just five months old right now. Just five months old right now, and it went international in its first eight hours, which is insane. And it's in the hands of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of women, which is the coolest thing. And just having a community that supports these things and these ideas, to be honest with you, She’s a Rock Chick feels like family to me at this point. So it's been a really, really cool year. As far as where you can—
AMY: I bet.
ERIN: Yeah. It's been a really cool year. As far as where you can get SKIN, you can go to fitrockerchickskin.com, and check it out there.
AMY: Fitrockerchickskin.com. And I will link to all the things in the show notes, guys. You’ll get a lot of different links in there so you can check things out. Amyporterfield.com/287, to be exact.
Erin, I love being your friend. I love learning about what you're doing. I love watching you just grow and do cool things. And I didn't even know about the clothing line. That makes perfect sense. When you guys see her style, you'll say, “How does this girl not have a fashion line already?” So I can't wait until my community gets to know you even more. How can they find you on social? What are you on Instagram?
ERIN: My Instagram is @fitrockerchick; same on Facebook; and that’s my website URL as well, fitrockerchick.com.
AMY: Perfect. Well, thank you so much for being here. It is always so fun to chat.
ERIN: Thank you so much. This has been so fun, and truly, truly, truly, an honor for me to be on your show. And thank you so much for sparking—or giving me the momentum, rather, and the pressure to create SKIN because it’s been really amazing. So thank you for that.
AMY: I so love that story so very much. Can’t wait to talk to you again soon. Bye for now.
So there you have it. I hope you love this chat with Erin. Isn't she just the coolest girl? I love her so much. Make sure to follow her on Instagram. It's a treat. Believe me, you're going to be fully entertained, When she talks about her beverage barriers, it's my favorite.
Okay, so, here’s two things I want you to take away. Number one, did you really pay attention when Erin was talking about asking her community what they wanted, and really listening to them? And she actively takes polls. She takes suggestions. She acts on what they are suggesting. That's one thing that I think we need to be careful of. If we're going to ask our community what they want and what they need, we need to act on that so that they see we're listening and we're doing something about it, so the next time we ask, they're thinking, “Well, she's really paying attention because I noticed a change in this or that,” or “I noticed she did that special Facebook Live based on our requests, so I’m going to give her more feedback.” You’ll get more feedback when you really listen to your audience, and you take what they suggest, and you create something out of it. So we’ve got to get into motion, into action, once we get their feedback. And I think Erin’s really good at that.
Second, the biggest lesson I'm taking away from this, and maybe some of you needed to hear this as well, is that we don't have to have it all figured out. I know that I'm super-organized, streamlined. I'm a planner, and that's my identity. I find a lot of pride in that. However, it doesn't always serve me. Sometimes our biggest strengths don't always serve us when we're still learning and we need to experiment and try new things. And I am learning when it comes to my membership experience, I need to try new things. So my biggest strength, being planned out and organized and ready to go, could hold me back just a bit. So today was a little bit of an eye opener. Like, “All right, Amy. Loosen up a little bit. Let it be a little bit more flexible and fluid because we don't know if we have it right just yet.” When something's new, guys, when you're creating something new, you're not sure if this is the exact way to do it. So you keep moving forward, you make the decisions, you get it out there, but allow yourself not to have all the answers. I really do think Erin's onto something.
Okay, so, there you have it. Again, I hope you loved this chat. I know I definitely did. Go check out all things Erin and fitrockerchick.
And in the meantime, have you subscribed to this podcast? If not, you need to take just two seconds. That's all it takes. Click the subscribe button, where you listen to this podcast, on iTunes or Spotify or wherever that may be, so that you will be notified the next time I go live, because you know I do drop bonus episodes, right, that I do not email about, I don't talk about on social? So to make sure you don't miss an episode, make sure you hit subscribe.
All right, guys. I cannot wait to see you here same time, same place, next week. Bye for now.
