163 | Using Awesome Design to Blow Up the Market | with Emily Vaca

Emily Vaca has over 15 years of experience in the design and advertising industry. Prior to launching MINNIDIP, Emily worked on packaging, television commercials, and content for CPG brands including Kraft, Nike and more. 

Emily founded La Vaca Designhouse in 2012 and launched MINNIDIP in 2017 as the first modern inflatable “adult kiddie” pool on the market. 

In This Conversation We Discuss: 

• [00:00] Intro
• [01:03] Emily’s history and experience in design
• [01:57] When Emily decided to go out on her own
• [02:56] From agency work to launching a brand
• [05:34] What is MINNIDIP?
• [06:15] The confidence to go D2C
• [09:04] From inception to first sales
• [12:34] MINNIDIP’s customer acquisition strategy
• [14:27] Sponsor: Electric Eye https://electriceye.io/
• [14:47] Sponsor: Mesa https://apps.shopify.com/mesa
• [15:31] Sponsor: Gorgias: https://gorgias.grsm.io/honest
• [16:58] Sponsor: BeProfit https://beprofit.co/
• [18:29] Sponsor: Klaviyo klaviyo.com/honest
• [19:16] Influencer seeding can be challenging
• [22:34] Relationships over transactions
• [23:17] Dealing with the risk of your idea getting stolen
• [26:05] The toy industry is very competitive
• [26:42] Starting on Squarespace, moving to Shopify
• [29:58] Where to find MINNIDIP

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• A creative lifestyle brand and design house that specializes in product design, content, styling and branding. lavaca.com
• The original, first-ever modern inflatable pool minnidip.com
• Follow MINNIDIP on Instagram @MINNIDIP
• Connect with Emily linkedin.com/in/emilyvaca
• Scale your business with electriceye.io
• Download Mesa at the Shopify App Store apps.shopify.com/mesa
• Level up your customer support gorgias.grsm.io/honest
• Visit beprofit.co and use code HONEST15 to get an exclusive 15% off any plan for the lifetime of your plan
• Get started with a free account at klaviyo.com/honest

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