Q&A With barley&birch Founder Kyle Smitley

Q&A is our chance to get inside the head of some of our industry’s movers and shakers. In this installment, I interview Kyle Smitley, founder of environmentally-friendly childrens clothing company barley&birch. Her designs can be seen on the children of celebrity moms like Jessica Alba and Sheryl Crow.

PM: So in the interest of full disclosure…you’re a perfect interview for what you’re doing with b&b, but it doesn’t hurt that we’ve known each other for a long time. (Kyle and I are from the same small town in rural Ohio.) Do you want to sort of start out with the Reader’s Digest version of your background and what you’ve been up to in the time leading up to starting b&b?

KS: Well, I graduated from DePauw University with degrees in Philosophy and Environmental Geoscience and minors in Spanish and Chemistry. While there I was lucky enough to travel the world and work with a lot of great organizations helping others. After graduation, I took the LSAT while working in Washington D.C. and then got out to San Diego, where I surfed all day and dreamed up a business where I sold childrens clothing in order to fund the dozens of good causes with which I’d worked in Haiti and Central America.

The business was born as barley&birch and we opened our doors in February of 2009, in some of the darkest moments of the recession and right int he middle of my first year of law school. We had no money whatsoever, so we worked hard to get all the free press we could. I didn’t sleep for about 8 months of my life, I believe.

In November, I was named one of Inc. Magazines Top 30 Under 30, and by our first anniversary, we were selling in 30 retail stores, moving into larger office space, and revamping the website we’d quickly outgrown. We have funded 3 schools and a clinic in Haiti and El Salvador. We hope to see upwards of $1.5million in sales for 2010. We will be announcing a plethora of great partnerships and undertakings.

PM: So I knew bits and pieces of the story, but hearing it in full for the first time, it sounds like it’s been a fun ride. I think one of the most interesting parts of what you’re doing is the way you are defining success at b&b. All companies are concerned with profits, but for you guys, money is not an end in itself, but rather a means toward your bigger goal. Our company has done a little of this… And I’m aware of a few other companies using this model- perhaps most notably, Patagonia. Do you find that there are particular benefits that stem from earmarking your earnings in this way?

KS: I think the benefits really depend on the type of person. I have a hard time being super money-focused, so this sort of earmarking helps me. Without it, I’d really dislike working all the time to get more people interested in organic clothing when many of our customers are hurting financially (yet trying so hard to be environmentally responsible.) But with the social (and of course environmental) good we are doing, I don’t even hesitate to sell, sell, sell. I know that if I do everything I can to get this $7k account, I will be able to call the school we fund in Haiti and tell them to add on to the building for their teachers (who live hours away and are forced to stay on site when rains wash out the roads). That sort of motivation is wonderful and a huge benefit.

Speaking from a business-only point of view, it helps give the product higher value for consumers. Our extremely high standards and aggressive mission also helps us stand out against the the snoozy, pastel-appliqued baby clothing that is currently flooding the market and is doing nothing with their profits beyond fattening the owner’s wallet.

“Without Twitter we would not be in business. Period.”

PM: I agree with your sentiment that if you can’t put in the hours on something you’re passionate about, then you need to re-evaluate some things. So let’s transition to the thing I really love about what you’re doing: embracing social media. A big part of your success has been your ability to build your brand online. I follow you on Twitter and you aren’t just writing your company’s posts… You ARE b&b. You connect with your customers on a personal level daily. If it weren’t for the explosion in social media, does b&b exist today? Would you be doing 1.5 mil in sales in your second year?

KS: I would honestly say no. Without Twitter we would not be in business. Period. I should explain though: On Twitter we’ve connected with people– people who like us and what we are doing. And these people see the tweets from me on my good days (building a community center in El Salvador and getting a big order) and on my bad days (having a fire nearby trigger our sprinkler system destroying inventory, me pulling countless all-nighters and getting bad grades because of it.) People feel our triumphs and progress. Twitter enhances our transparency. No one wonders if there is a heavily-funded corporate parent to barley&birch. We appreciate the support of every customer and let them know. We appreciate the support of every mom blogger and let them know. (Mom bloggers love us and we love them!) We keep spreading the love around and it’s like… the compost to our bamboo-like business.

PM: That’s about what I figured. It’s incredible to me that a law student can use these tools to supercharge a brand essentially in her free time. (and I refer to you as a ‘brand’ as positively as possible) I see how your customers react to you, and it’s clear you’ve connected with them. Any tips for people out there who think social media is a fad…or a just a way for preteens to discuss Justin Bieber? (It is only fair to mention, however, that it serves that purpose excellently as well.)

KS: I’d say, “UR DOIN IT WRONG.” or something like that. The best advice I received about Twitter was in chatting with @cheeky_geeky in D.C. (He’s super smart.) He told me that the best users of Twitter understand that it’s a conversation. So you shouldn’t just talk at people, you should talk with them. Engage with your audience. And that is the difference. I know I have an audience when we do cool things because I let them know that I enjoy tweeting with them (and I do!) so in a year of Tweeting about a kids clothing line (and not doing anything to get followers, not having the capability *yet* to send people there from our website) we have 3,000 followers! And love each one of them.

Social media isn’t a fad. Its the enhanced capability to communicate with your customers and get honest feedback. (Not just Twitter, but Facebook and blogging too.) And, if you are a rad business (like we are), showing that through as many vehicles as possible will just mean higher traffic/sales as more people enjoy your radness.

PM: I think there are a lot of people out there who are skeptical about whether this ‘overnight sensation’ is something that has real lasting value. And on top of that, there is definitely a generational factor at play in terms of really embracing this change. It’s a little bit like the oft-lampooned VCR clock…people are intimidated by what they perceive as scary technology…so for example: there was never a time when you visited your grandparents’ house and the VCR did not have a blinking 12:00 on the display.

Obviously, you did not major in Tweeting at DePauw or buy Blogger instructional videos off the TV at 4am. What do you think allowed you to adapt to this medium so quickly? And what lessons have you learned along the way?

KS: I think I adapted quickly once I understood what it could mean for us. It became, for me, a new way to tell our story and a way to meet new people. So I just figured it out. On a basic level, that is. Then, as I got more comfortable and saw that there could be an increased functionality in another social media vehicle, I would add that. So it was a natural flow. And along the way, the more people that found out about us and saw what we were doing– the quicker we grew.

I also forgot to mention that blogging/Twitter/Facebook/etc. should all be considered free advertising to anyone starting a business with no money. It’s an easy way to get the word out about what you are doing without having to drop a couple grand on a magazine ad that you will get zero return on. We have yet to spend a single advertising dollar, yet our web hits basically double each month. Social media!

PM: So you mentioned that you are actively working on the next evolution of the b&b web presence. How do you plan to build on your social media success going forward? Anything you can share about your new site and how you plan to use the web in the future?

KS: We are incorporating the blog into the site, so our customers can see exactly what we are doing at any given moment. We plan to dedicate a large part of our homepage to a news/updates area that will change weekly as new things happen with the business. We’re also going to try to feature new content monthly that has to do with our updates, inspirations, etc. Its just about telling more and more of our story to more and more people.

One of my favorite parts of the new website is that we are bringing together a bunch of our favorite bloggers to write for the family/community portion of our blog. They’ll be covering a wide range of topics–everything from quick snacks to babywearing to punishment. It will serve as a huge resource, and hopefully drive traffic from their blogs. And we think it’s a valuable tool for people interested in that kind of content.

PM: The guest blogging idea is an interesting one. You’re trading on the popularity of people who are your peers, but not necessarily competitors… and both parties get a chance to expand their audience. It seems like lately there has been a shift away from companies using social media like blogs and Twitter to just scream at their customers, “ME ME ME!”, and more toward providing content of genuine value. Scholastic is a great example of this with their This Week In Education blog. I think there’s the potential for almost an osmosis effect to occur– where your customers appreciate you providing information and insights relevant to their entire experience (in this case, parenting), and reward you by purchasing your product.

You’ve mentioned a few times that b&b stands for more than just clothes. For example: your work in Haiti and your commitment to environmentally responsible products. Is this guest blogging kind of an extension of that mentality? That if you’re going to sell to parents, you feel obligated to be a genuine member of their community?

KS: Exactly! Our whole position is that essentially business doesn’t always have to be (and I believe that it shouldn’t be) only about making money from people. I really believe you can simultaneously be a responsible member of the marketplace, world and community to which you sell. The coolest part is that doing it that way, merging the responsibility with being a merchant, really helps both to grow. We reinvest our money into the community that then helps us drive traffic and increase sales.

It’s another way of reiterating that we are not just after their money, we are interested in improving the world.

PM: Well Kyle, this has been a lot of fun. I wish you continued success with b&b and we’ll be following you guys closely! Thanks again for giving me some of your (severely limited) time.

KS: You’re welcome! And maybe next time I’ll turn the questions toward you!

You can learn more about Kyle and barley&birch at her website or by following her on Twitter.