Beach Product Business: Cat Lepetit's Entrepreneurial Journey

[00:00:00] Sanjay Parekh: Welcome to The Side Hustle to Small Business Podcast, powered by Hiscox. I'm your host, Sanjay Parekh. Throughout my career, I've had side hustles, some of which have turned into real businesses, but first and foremost, I'm a serial technology entrepreneur. In the creator space, we hear plenty of advice on how to hustle harder and why you can sleep when you're dead.

[00:00:21] On this show, we ask new questions in hopes of getting new answers. Questions like, how can small businesses work smarter? How do you achieve balance between work and family? How can we redefine success in our businesses so that we don't burn out after year three? Every week I sit down with business founders at various stages of their side hustle to small business journey.

[00:00:43] These entrepreneurs are pushing the envelope while keeping their values, keep listening for conversation context and camaraderie. Today's guest is Cat Lepetit, the founder of Sun Drunk, a brand expiring to create beach products that promote peace of mind and ease of use, such as Turkish towels, UPF shirts and other beach accessories. Cat, welcome to the show.

[00:01:11] Cat Lepetit: Hello, how are you?

[00:01:13] Sanjay Parekh: I'm good. I'm excited to have you on because I think this is just such a fun category of stuff that you're building.

[00:01:20] But before we start talking about the business and the products, give us a little bit about your background and what got you to where you're today.

[00:01:28] Cat Lepetit: Okay. So I've been cosmetic veteran. I've been working in the cosmetic industry for 25 plus years. Starting in France because. Based on my accent, clearly, I'm French. Moved to the US 15 years ago for an opportunity for LVMH, the Louis Vuitton group, and then moved my way up from there. And then COVID happened. You know, you had to homeschool three kids and I started doing business consulting and then we moved to Florida beautiful beaches, and I just got... I don't know. I just got inspired to create my own thing. So here is, here it is. Sun Drunk was born on the beach of Florida.

[00:02:11] Sanjay Parekh: I love it. So is this the first time you've done anything entrepreneurial? Yes, completely. And it's, it was not easy actually. I really wanted to go back to a learner's mind, like really starting from scratch because when you're like a top executive, all you do is just give orders to a bunch of people.

[00:02:31] Cat Lepetit: I had 50 plus people in my team, millions of dollars to play with. It's just different, you know, and I wanted to start from scratch, from zero and do it on my own and learn so much to learn. Like half my team, I knew what to tell them top line, but I have no idea how to execute all that. So I just wanted to start back up and it's every day I pinch myself. I'm like, this is amazing. I just love it. I love the whole process. The fall, the backup, the fall, the learning, the backup. It's great. It's great. No dull moment.

[00:03:04] Sanjay Parekh: Are there any other entrepreneurs in the family, anybody that you saw as you were growing up or anything else like that?

[00:03:11] Cat Lepetit: My, I know my dad has that in his blood. He always wanted to, but it, my whole family is in the French Navy, so no one really created his, their own business. My dad now is 70 and he is trying to do on his side, so it's funny. But he always, like, he always put that in my mind saying he always wanted to, he had it at one point he had a store like is a motorcycle fanatic. And now he's doing it at 70, 70-year-old. Like, it's so funny. He always wanted to, and I think it, I know it's in my blood and people who know me from the industry are like. Of course you had to because I am that type of person. Like I can do attitude and I'm gonna make it hard work and there's no, no other way I'll make it work.

[00:03:53] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Well maybe, hopefully through this experience you can give your dad the advice instead of it going the other way. Since he's coming out.

[00:04:00] Cat Lepetit: Well we exchange a lot, but yeah, it's a very different world.

[00:04:04] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. So I've gotta ask like, I mean, it's such a different thing to be a top executive, you know, and having these big teams and everything else like that. Like what drove you, you know, you said you wanted to learn and all that stuff, but I mean there's gotta be something else that makes somebody wanna do that because I think we see a lot of top executives and they just, they're not able to make that leap. Right? Yeah. So what is it that's different with you that makes you able to take that leap?

[00:04:32] Cat Lepetit: It is a very powerful question because so many times I started and so many times I was like, what's the point? What am I doing? Because as you know, it's a startup. So my whole paycheck from the last three years got in like it completely into. And every month I don't get a salary. Like I'm just putting everything, my blood, tears and sweat and money into it.

[00:04:59] But there is something to be said about it's in you or it's, it is not in you. And I think I'm continuing. It's been, we're gonna celebrate or two years next week actually. And you just continue because you know, it's part of you and I think also, you know, COVID hit and you have a lot of profound question. I hit my forties at that time, like, you know, the middle life crisis of like, what am I doing? Is it, is it all that is 20 years in the cosmetic industry doing the same thing over and over, and I'm doing it well. I'm doing really good, but it kind of, it was kind of boring and I didn't see life being like this for another 20 years. So, yeah. Here it is.

[00:05:42] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. So how did you come up with this idea? How did you start the business?

[00:05:47] Cat Lepetit: So when I moved to Florida, I was still a business consultant helping other brands to grow, and that's my favorite part is to make small company grow. And then I moved to Florida and I I know it's gonna be super woo, hang tight. I just kind of asked the universe like I was ready for my own challenge and I was like asking the universe, just give me something and I will run with it, but I need an idea. I need. A start, I need a spark. Just give me that spark. And I kinda repeated that multiple times and I wrote down on a piece of paper and I'm inspired by, you know, Sarah Beck Beckley, the Spanx.

[00:06:27] Like I love her so much and she kind of had the same story, but I got inspired by all those people who said, just put it out, write it down. What do you want? What do you really want? And I wrote down my life in five years from now, like, what would I like to do? Travel and be my own boss and hire the best people I love to work with. Not politics thing, like just, and so I wrote down a long list of things and it really didn't happen overnight, but I would say a year later, continue to think about it. And a year later it came to me after a long day at the beach because we spent a lot of time at the beach here. I came home and I looked at my husband. I was like, I feel sun Drunk and you know, I'm French. So I just put those two words together because for me it was really a feeling I felt. Sun Drunk, and for me it was, I'm exhausted, but I'm so happy. My, my happiness tank is full, but I'm exhausted. I'm woozy, I'm a little like feeling Drunk, you know, the same sun.

[00:07:27] And then I went to bed and I woke up the day after with a full download. I knew exactly what I was going to do. It was bizarre. I told my husband, I was like, I need to go and trademark. And I went on trademark and it was not taken. I trademarked it right away and I knew exactly what I was to do and I spent the whole week doing a PowerPoint of my strategy, my products, everything. Everything came.

[00:07:48] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Did anything make you nervous in taking that leap and starting your own business? I mean, this is the first time doing it. Yeah. An executive, everybody else does all that stuff and manages all those things like. Was there something that made you nervous about doing this?

[00:08:04] Cat Lepetit: No. No, because I knew it was it. It was the spark. I was asking the universe for a year. I was like, oh my God. It felt so right and so easy. Everything was flowing. It was just so cool. Now, if you ask me, a year later, I was panicking a year later, I was like, how am I gonna do this? Because there's so many challenges. You have to, like, every day is a struggle, you know? Like there's something happening every day and it's... sometimes I, I wake up and I'm like, what's the point? What am I doing? Because it's so much money and struggle, but at then, at the end of the day, I'm like, I did it. It's great. Let's do another day.

[00:08:45] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. So we, okay, so we now know where the name came from. But that's the name, not the idea. Like how did you come up with the idea of what you wanted to make?

[00:08:56] Cat Lepetit: So, yeah, I, I woke up that morning and I said, oh my God, I love that name. I love that name. I'm gonna trademark the name. And then I told my husband, I'm obsessed with the beach. I always been obsessed with the beach.

[00:09:07] I cannot leave out like far from the beach. I have to be 20 minutes max. And I know that because I'm from south of France or French Rivera. I was born and raised on the beach, and then we moved to Paris for work when I was 25 or something. And I never been. That depressed my whole life. I hated it so much.

[00:09:29] And when we moved to San Francisco and I had the beach close by, even though I couldn't put a toe in that water because the water is freezing cold, just to see the ocean the water, just to put a towel down and just relaxing near the beach, something is appeasing to me. And so it just, it was just obvious that I had to do to fix all the problems I have when I go to the beach as a mom of three.

[00:09:52] What are my problems? And God knows I have a lot of problems. I, first of all, I've been in the industry, in the cosmetic industry for 20 plus years, so I know the struggle to find the right skincare. So I started there obviously, because I know. And then I was like, okay, those towels were five, five towels. I don't know if you tried not traditional towels. And I like the big ones because of my body. I'm five eight, so I need a big one to cover my whole body. And so those towels are so heavy and then they take the sand and they're even more heavy and they dry take two hours to dry. There are so many nightmares.

[00:10:27] So I started researching and I also have the sustainable mindset. Like this is super important to me, and it's been in my DNA for, since my Bora Bora trip. So more than 10 years now. I just, I cannot add more plastic to this to this world. I'm trying to reduce the plastic as much as I can, so how can I find towels or sustainable made and no plastic around it? So, you know, those microfiber towels are super hip and high and whatever. They're terrible. It's just plastic. You put that plastic in the ocean, so it's, anyway, I did my research and the Turkish towels are the best. So that's how I came up with that. And then UPF shirts the best because they protect you better than sunscreen. You don't have missing spots. It's just. And they're super cute and you can wear them all day in the water. It's just life changing. So I'm starting to change the whole beach experience. It's great.

[00:11:24] Sanjay Parekh: Let's talk about the design because that's often the thing that makes things stand out from yet another product. And I was looking through your products. The design is great. There's interesting design of a lot of them. Like how did you think about that process? Is it you as the designer? Do you have designers? Like how did you figure out how to make that make that happen?

[00:11:48] Cat Lepetit: I wish I was a designer. I wish I was so creative. This is actually my my tough spot. Like I have so many cool ideas about, I am not able to put them on paper. I don't know how to do that and I'm not a designer. But when I started and I didn't know where to start from zero, you know, as I said, I was just already at the top usually.

[00:12:12] I just was going to make the brands go bigger and bigger, but I didn't know where to start. And the way I started, it's gonna surprise a lot of people, but I did fresh markets. I went on Sundays every Sunday selling my towels on the market and my sunscreen and all that. And that's where I found that girl. I just looked at the booth next door and I was like, oh my God. I love what she does, like how she represent animals. See animals was just so pretty. And I went to her and I say, Hey, would you like to do my my towels, my designs? And she's like, yeah, why not? So we worked, we partnered and she's so awesome. And she's local from San Pete. So it's great. I love. Yeah.

[00:12:53] Sanjay Parekh: So is she still the designer you work with now?

[00:12:56] Cat Lepetit: Yes, she's the designer. Yep. Yeah. Oh, okay. Awesome. Oh, that's awesome. Okay, Le let's talk about the products themselves. So you know, you've mentioned towels, you've mentioned shirts, obviously you're not making those at home.

[00:13:07] Sanjay Parekh: How did you figure out and find somebody to make all of this stuff for you and get the exact right thing? Because it sounds like. You've got these requirements, right? Like no plastic and, you know, sustainable and all these things. And, you know, that starts winnowing down very much who could possibly make it.

[00:13:25] Cat Lepetit: I know. And I've been really tough on them, so, well, that's because of my experience. I'm like super tough on people. But I think they know it comes from a good place. And I love transparency and honesty, so I always tell them like, just push back on me when it's crazy. Just. Push back, we'll have a negotiation. But it's hard. Sourcing is not easy, especially because I never done that before. I was not in product. Innovation I always. Well, part of the meaning, the top, top meaning of like what would work, what's the audience wants, because I was in store all the time, so I knew what the client wants, so I could direct that.

[00:14:01] But sourcing never done that. So I just, Google was my best friend until GPT, and then I reach out and reach out. It takes hours to find the right people and then, you know. Yeah. It always happen. Like we said, you know, you try one and then it doesn't work, or they're all late or they last minute, they increase your price. Like there's so many little hurdles when you do sourcing. Yeah. So I learn still to this day, I still learn and I try to find new people.

[00:14:32] Sanjay Parekh: Okay, so, so you still, you have. Folks that make it right now, but you're always looking for new suppliers as well.

[00:14:38] Cat Lepetit: Always looking for new suppliers because we never know. Yeah. And I did all my eggs in one basket and I'm a little scared it happened to me for my sunscreen, and now I'm dealing, trying to find someone else. So see, yeah. It's not easy.

[00:14:52] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. That's obviously a tough thing to deal with because you don't control, that part of the chain. Right.

[00:14:57] Cat Lepetit: You don't control. Startup mode and you're like small run, they're looking at you like, we're doing a hundred thousand for someone no one knows on TikTok, my thousand next to that is like ridiculous.

[00:15:13] Sanjay Parekh: Right, right. Yeah.

[00:15:14] Cat Lepetit: Zero power negotiation. It's not easy. Yeah.

[00:15:17] Sanjay Parekh: How do you deal with then, like the rest of the chain, like fulfillment and all of those kinds of things? Because I'm presuming you're not doing it outta the house. Maybe you are.

[00:15:25] Cat Lepetit: I am. I'm actually Oh, you are doing it outta the house. Okay. It's been only two years and I'm about to expand. I'm about to open my own boutique next month. So then I'll have all my stock there and I will have my employees doing that.

[00:15:38] So that, that's gonna be life changing so far. Yes. It's in my house. I have a little bit of everything everywhere in my three kids' bedroom. They all have their different things. One has the towel, one has the sunscreen, one has the shirt, and the garage is full too. So that's great.

[00:15:55] Sanjay Parekh: Of course that this is normal startup life, I think.

[00:16:00] Adam Walker: Support for this podcast comes from Hiscox committed to helping small businesses protect their dreams since 1901. Quotes and information on customized insurance for specific risks are available at Hiscox.com. Hiscox business insurance experts.

[00:16:22] Sanjay Parekh: Let's talk about your kind of audience and community. You know, this is a product that is in your series of products, right? It's really only useful for a certain part of the year, right? Like there, it is not a year round thing in Florida, maybe a little bit more than in other places, but how do you think about that and how do you connect and build a community and build that audience, especially in the times when people are not thinking about the beach yet. They might be dreaming about the beach, but they're not thinking about the beach yet.

[00:16:54] Cat Lepetit: So I it's gonna surprise you. My best season is January to April.

[00:17:03] Sanjay Parekh: Ha. So people are getting ready for the beach. Is that what it is?

[00:17:06] Cat Lepetit: So, more tricky than that. As I said, I do a lot of events in live events where I'm in person selling with people and my employees. And in Florida you have all the snowbirds coming from January to April, so I touch. Everybody from Wisconsin to Nebraska to Minnesota to Canada, to I touch everybody. And then those people are so excited when they talk to me and I connect, like there's something about me. I love connecting with people.

[00:17:35] And then working is my thing. I love people. I love to chat, I love everything. And so they connect and then they talk to their friends and their friend comes and it's, it just spread out. It's awesome. So yeah, my big season is. January to April and then now it's a great season for Amazon is doing really well. My DTC is doing well, like I ship anywhere in the US so it's doing great now online, but offline is my biggest months or the first quarter.

[00:18:04] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. So that's interesting. So I then how do you think about like cash flow and revenue and things like that, that, that seasonality that's happening especially on the offline, right?

[00:18:15] So you've got this. Heavy first quarter. And then the rest of the year is maybe not as much. Even if it's getting filled in a little bit with the online, like how do you think about that in terms of managing the business?

[00:18:28] Cat Lepetit: So I organize myself like I used to do in the big companies, meaning I have a master calendar and I try to plan the year of like, how can. Great. Get my business going in the months where it's supposed to be slow. So that's where I go after wholesaling. I go after expos and shows, and so it just balance out. I wouldn't say I have a terrible month yet. In two years I've been growing so, so much that I can't really say that. I would say maybe October.

[00:18:59] But based on my whole experience the last 25 years, October is pretty months for everybody. So it's good. But yeah, no it's okay. It's balance it out. Also, I'm still doing some consulting on the site so I can pay for cash flow.

[00:19:15] Sanjay Parekh: I see. Okay. So, so still doing the side hustle of consulting.

[00:19:19] Cat Lepetit: Absolutely. Yeah. That's what an interpreter does, right?

[00:19:23] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Yeah, a hundred percent. Maybe you need like Halloween themed towels or something to make October be better. Maybe that's,

[00:19:30] Cat Lepetit: I actually, yeah, I'm doing a black collection. I'm not like, I used to wear black for 20 plus years and I love black. It's very nice for women and blonde and whatever, but sun Drunk is everything but black and white. So I'm gonna do a special. A collection just for Halloween with black shirts and black stuff. Yeah, it's gonna be fun.

[00:19:48] Sanjay Parekh: I think you might fix your October problem right there then. Exactly. By doing that. So I already thought about that. Well, let's talk about giving back. It looked like, you know, you're like very focused on giving back and being a part of the community and giving back as a part of the brand. Talk to me a little bit about that, why that is and how it is that you execute upon that.

[00:20:10] Cat Lepetit: So as I said, you. Comes back from a trip we had in Bora with my husband. We, you know, Bora where it is, it's like in the middle of the ocean.

[00:20:19] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah.

[00:20:19] Cat Lepetit: Like, there's nothing millions of miles away.

[00:20:23] There's nothing. And that morning we were going on the tiny. Beach of that tiny island, private beach and it was full of plastic, but full of plastic, like a garbage truck, just came and put tons of plastic everywhere. So I started to just pick up a plastic in the water and started pulling everything I could in the plastic bag.

[00:20:46] And I went to the restaurant of that beach and I was like. This isn't acceptable, you guys, it's a private beach. Like how come you don't clean up? I thought it never cleaned up. And they're like, thank you so much for doing that. because we're doing that three times a day. And that it hit me. Yeah. I was like, where are we going with this planet? Yeah. Like so

[00:21:05] Sanjay Parekh: This is, I'm assuming trash that's coming in off the ocean.

[00:21:08] Cat Lepetit: Exactly. Yeah. There's nothing they can do about it. Yeah,

[00:21:11] Sanjay Parekh: it's

[00:21:11] Cat Lepetit: the whole restaurant. It's the island of Taha if you wanna go. It's just gorgeous. And there's only one hotel, one restaurant, and it's all sustainable, all in wood.

[00:21:21] It's just gorgeous. And they're super sustainable. There's no way they can do that trash. So it's just, it was really heartbreaking for me. And when I came back, I was working at that time and I told, I was like we have to be better than that. Like. Not possible. So a lot of sustainable action were put in place at Sipho in that era at that time. So that was great, but not enough. So I decided when I created Sun Drunk, it was like, obviously it will be part of it, obviously, and I know I'm not making money because of that. And it's fine. It's my contribution to this planet and it is what it is. And I hope people who buy my brand understand that they're contributing as well and it's great.

[00:22:05] But yeah, I decided to focus on local because I know where my money goes because I'm doing those beach cleaning with them and I'm there. I see what they're doing and I know exactly what, where my money goes. So that's. That's great. For now, I'm focusing on local.

[00:22:18] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Okay. I like it. I like it. Okay, let's change gears a little bit and talk about the stress of all of this, right? Like this is something that entrepreneurs always deal with, right? This, you've got a side hustle of the consulting, the full-time, the business, family, friends, whatever it is, all those other things. How do you manage the stress for yourself? And make yourself not go crazy. Maybe it's just by getting on the beach every day because you're like, oh, this is a part of work. But but maybe there's other strategies you've got.

[00:22:52] Cat Lepetit: Oh, very good question. It's kind of my jam, like, since COVID I really poured myself into, you know, growth mindset and how to take care of myself, and I'm sure a lot of people went through that. I hope, because it was life changing for me. I really adopt so many tools now that I use.

[00:23:11] Every day doesn't mean that I'm not stressed and I sometimes I'm not like burning out and I'm not like screaming or crying. It happens to the best of us, but you are right. The beach is my sanity. So three times a day three times a week, we walk that beach and I pick up all the trash at the same time. So that's amazing for the mind. Really relaxes me and also remind me like I'm just selling towels in UPF shirts and sunscreen. It's fine. The world is still turning. It's all good. But if I don't take that moment, yeah, I can go crazy like everybody. I have to force myself to take that moment.

[00:23:49] Sanjay Parekh: For a second there. I thought you were about to say three times a day and I was like, why are you getting work done? I wish you going out to the beach three times a day. Wow.

[00:23:58] Cat Lepetit: I wish it'll come to that lja. Love my word. It'll come to that.

[00:24:04] Sanjay Parekh: I would love that for myself too. I wouldn't mind walking on the beach three times a day.

[00:24:08] That'd be fantastic. Let's talk about the other thing that ends up with a lot of entrepreneurs, I mean, you've got. A lot on your plate trying to run this business. Right? And now you're opening a boutique and all this sleep and wellness. How do you fit that in? How do you. Make sure it all works. How do you make sure you get enough rest and relaxation and all the other things?

[00:24:29] Cat Lepetit: I wish Why is you have such a problem when we get old? I don't get it. We used to.

[00:24:34] Sanjay Parekh: It's awful

[00:24:35] Cat Lepetit: like babies. I always blame it on my kids. I'm like, I was sleeping like bare until I got my first kid and that kid just wrecked the whole thing. And since him, I don't know. I can't sleep. So yeah I do probably get my seven hour sleep. In two parts. I always wake up at 4:00 AM I don't know why Chinese people say it's like a, an organ that is not grieving or something. I don't know. But I use that time, so I try to stay off my phone. It doesn't happen every day, but most of the time I stay off my phone and I try to me. And then I get so bored that I fall asleep.

[00:25:18] Sanjay Parekh: That's a good strategy. Just bore yourself back to sleep. So. Exactly.

[00:25:21] Cat Lepetit: That's that work.

[00:25:23] Sanjay Parekh: Maybe I need to try that a little bit more. That's that's probably one of the challenges. Okay. Let's talk about kind of looking back now, I know it's only been a few years of doing this, but maybe the look back should be even further back into your career as well. If you could go back in time. And do something differently. Is there something that jumps out at you, and if so, what is that and why?

[00:25:50] Cat Lepetit: Man, that's a great question.

[00:26:03] Sanjay Parekh: Are you struggling because there's too many things or you can't find the right thing?

[00:26:07] Cat Lepetit: No, I just feel like if I changed something, I wouldn't be where I am. So

[00:26:12] Sanjay Parekh: That's always true. Yeah. But knowing what you know now, is there something that, that you're like, oh, I would've done this better or I would've done this differently?

[00:26:21] Cat Lepetit: So now I have more wisdom and I know my body better than I used to because now I take time to listen to it. I would say. I will get out of a job I didn't like sooner, much sooner. Because it wrecks your health so fast. When you stay in something that doesn't fit you, even though on paper it fits you, but the reality is it doesn't fit you. So I would get out of it earlier. I wanna just stay because it's good on paper. People love you, la da. It's not worth it. Not worth it.

[00:26:54] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. For whatever job it is that you're thinking about. That was like that. Why is it that you think that you stayed longer than you should have

[00:27:03] Cat Lepetit: Because of the prestige and the power, which is terrible when I think about it.

[00:27:09] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah.

[00:27:09] Cat Lepetit: It's not even me. Or maybe it was me at that time. I don't know. It's not even me. I don't care about power. Really don't. I don't want it actually. I hate politics and all that, so that's, yeah.

[00:27:21] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah.

[00:27:21] Cat Lepetit: Also why I got out of the whole rabbit hole of 20 years in cosmetic. It's a lot of politics and it, I don't think it's just cosmetics. I think it's at this level in those big companies, there's no other way.

[00:27:35] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah. Yeah. That makes sense. I think you see that a lot of times in very large organizations kind of doing those politics things and I think a lot of entrepreneurs are not necessarily good at that, or maybe they're good at it, but they don't like it. Yeah, and I'm one that doesn't like it, so yeah.

[00:27:54] Cat Lepetit: I can be good at it, but I, it's going to eat me alive. I don't like it.

[00:28:00] Sanjay Parekh: I can understand that. Okay. Last question for you. If you were talking to somebody who's thinking about doing something similar to you and taking that leap and launching a side hustle or turning that side hustle into a full-time business, what advice would you give to them?

[00:28:15] Cat Lepetit: Oh my God, I asked that question to so many entrepreneurs before I started, and all of them, a hundred percent of them say, don't do it.

[00:28:24] And I promised myself I will never do that to someone. And now I'm like. It is, it's a good advice. Oh, man. It is a good advice in a sense that it's not for the faint of heart. It is like, you have to know, it's gonna be hard. You have to know that. And even though you think it's hard for other people, and it won't be hard for you, it's gonna be hard for you. So I would say the advice is. Come see me.

[00:28:54] I'll help. Whatever I can do, I will help. Actually, I have my employee who works for me, and she wants to do that too. And I'm like, I'll help. Just come to me. Don't try alone.

[00:29:05] Sanjay Parekh: Yeah.

[00:29:06] Cat Lepetit: It's so hard. It's a alone thing, and it's not fair to be alone. And you have to ask people around for help.

[00:29:14] Yeah,

[00:29:14] Sanjay Parekh: absolutely. Yeah. It's, it is, I think it's a unique thing with a lot of entrepreneurs, and I do this too, whenever I have employees that I tell them like, look, if you wanna leave you just let me know. Like, it's not gonna hurt my feelings. I'll help you for sure. If you want to go find another job, I'll help you find another job. If you wanna start a thing, I will help you start a thing. Totally there, there are plenty of other people I can find to, to do whatever job it is that you're doing. And I think when you can find somebody like that you know, they, that does want to go off and do their own thing, like.

[00:29:46] Cat Lepetit: It's great.

[00:29:46] Sanjay Parekh: A lot of times they end up becoming partners for you, right? Yeah. Like totally. They'll say good things about you, even if they can't buy from you or if they can, they, they will and it's a good, it's a good long-term thing. Cat this has been fantastic a lot of great advice in this episode. Where can our listeners find and connect with you online?

[00:30:04] Cat Lepetit: Oh, they can find us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, pretty much everywhere. It's at Sun Drunk World. Because I'm thinking it's gonna be much bigger than just Sun Drunk. So Sun Drunk World on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, and then LinkedIn as well.

[00:30:23] Sanjay Parekh: Awesome. Thanks so much for coming on today.

[00:30:25] Cat Lepetit: Thank you so much for your time and your questions. They were so awesome. Thank you.

[00:30:31] Sanjay Parekh:Thanks for listening to this week's episode of the Side Hustle to Small Business podcast, powered by Hiscox. To learn more about how Hiscox can help protect your small business through intelligent insurance solutions, visit Hiscox.com. And to hear more Side Hustle to Small Business stories, or share your own story, please visit Hiscox.com/side-hustle-to-small-business. I'm your host, Sanjay Parekh. You can find out more about me at my website, SanjayParekh.com.