Using Her Why to Launch a Luxury Craft Subscription Box with Nadia Butt

[Kathryn]: Hey, hey, I am super stoked to have Nadia on the show today to share with you how she launched her luxury craft subscription box a year ago. She was one of our Messaging that Sells clients. So excited for her to share her journey with you over the last year as she's coming up to her first anniversary. So without further ado, let's turn it over to Nadia to share who you are, what your businesses and who you serve.

[Nadia]: Hey, Kathryn, thanks so much for having me. It's honestly such an honor to be here. I'm Nadia, and I run Inner Canvas, a luxurious art and craft subscription box with a twist. The reason why it's a subscription box with a twist is that we combine it with cognitive behavioral therapy. We do this so that we can help people meditate with their eyes open by unearthing the healing artists within them so that they can focus on improving their emotional well-being through expert guidance.

[Kathryn]: I love that you’re including cognitive behavioral therapy in your subscription box. I know when you first came into my program, you shared your vision for your business, and I remember thinking what a novel idea, what a brilliant idea, and what a great way to help women. So how did you come up with this idea? Like, what was it about this that inspired you to start?

[Nadia]: So pre-pandemic, I had been teaching arts and crafts in a kind of a group setting. But, as a result, I was unable actually to go ahead with that. So I had to come up with a way of getting the arts and crafts out to people. The great thing that happened is, while I was teaching in a group setting, we would talk a lot about emotions and feelings. But I found people needed a lot more support. So I bought a cognitive behavioral therapy therapist to help me write journals that we include in each subscription box. 

[Kathryn]: So where was your business a year ago? I know you touched on it a bit pre-pandemic; you held workshops but then had to pivot your business because of the pandemic. So, share with our audience or listeners where exactly your business was a year ago?

[Nadia]: I soft-launched. By soft launch. I mean, I was testing my subscription box concept with a small group of women. And at the time, I had hoped that I would do a live session with every subscription box that included something like cognitive behavioral therapy. But it's funny how when you start your business and how things change, you see what people need and want. That integrates. We put a lot of energy into our journal but noticed it took people longer to open up. I also think it was something people needed. 

[Kathryn]: I want to touch a little bit on what you said, there where you said, it's interesting how you have this idea in your mind of how you want things to go. For you, you wanted to use cognitive behavioral therapy to help open people up. And then once you launched and put your product out there, you learned what your audience really wanted. So how did you know where to pivot your subscription box and set aside some of the things that you might have wanted but realized your clients wanted something different?

[Nadia]: I think it came from soft-launching because I'd done it with a relatively small group of six people. And reading their body language, I could tell what resonated and didn’t for the subscription box. I've now started doing cognitive behavioral therapy sessions with the therapist who works with me. So it's just a conversation between myself and the therapist. Her name's Lindsay, and we will have a general chit-chat, but we themed the talks around cognitive behavioral therapy. And we're getting some excellent feedback. And people are saying, you know, this is helpful. And you guys get on so well. And there's good energy here. And we can see that you want to help. And so I think you've just got to keep on trying things and see how people respond. I think that's the essence of it.

[Kathryn]: I commend you for not forcing things with your subscription box. I think we can force something a lot because we have our mindset so stuck on it. But our audience will give us signals and signs of what's working and what isn't working. And you’ve done that tremendously with your subscription box and adding cognitive behavioral therapy and being open to having those discussions with your community.

[Nadia]: That’s the type of environment that I'm trying to create in the Facebook community and with my subscription box. I still have customers who have subscribed from 12 months ago who are still subscribed now. The core women have continued to subscribe to my subscription box over the last 12 months. We are getting great feedback about the cognitive behavioral therapy component. We talked extensively about it in the messaging that sells material, which starts with your why, and I think my reason is to help people through the art of craft.

[Kathryn]: I think we overcomplicate that sometimes, right? We try to come up with this novel, and we can spend so long on what that is, but it can be really simple. And I think that business owners, the ones that I've seen succeed, are ones that come from that place of service, have that simple why, like helping people through arts and crafts. And you’re doing that with your beautiful subscription box. So did you have any hesitations before launching your subscription box or adding cognitive behavioral therapy?

[Nadia]: I don't think I did. I have to say that. I mean, other than the standard, I'm not good enough to do this. I don't think I did. And I think that messaging that sells came at the right time because I was doing it alongside my soft launch of the subscription box. Also, having a community of people cheering for me. There's nothing like having people say, come on, you can do this. It's what pushed me to launch my subscription box and have the confidence to do it in my own way and adding the cognitive behavioral therapy component.

[Kathryn]: I'm so grateful that I was able to be on that original part of your journey as you launched your subscription box to the world and give you the confidence to include cognitive behavioral therapy as a component. So what helped you overcome your fears?

[Nadia]: There's that book by Susan Jeffers; feel the fear and do it anyway. You know, feel not good enough, but do it anyway. I see some very high-profile people that show up and make mistakes. And I think we're just human, aren't we? We're all just trying to make it. And I think for me, that just gave me quite a lot of encouragement to put my subscription box out there and introduce the cognitive behavioral therapy component with it 

[Kathryn]: We compare ourselves to other people in the entrepreneurship world. So what would you say is one of the biggest things you've learned since launching your subscription box a year ago? 

[Nadia]: I think for me, and it's just my journey because obviously, we're all on our journeys. But what I realized is that setting up a successful business is a long-term game. It's not like I can launch my subscription box, and boom, it’s successful in a day or month. I think we glamorize entrepreneurship and being an entrepreneur. It’s not as glamorous as people make it out to be. It's great, it's good fun, but it's also lonely, and it's tiring and hard. And that failure is all part of the process. That’s what I’ve learned since launching my subscription box a year ago.

[Kathryn]: Those are great takeaways you’ve gleaned since launching your subscription box. And I love how transparently you speak about entrepreneurship. 

I remember when I opened my brick and mortar, six months into the entrepreneurship journey, I was like, they lied to me. They lied to me about what entrepreneurship is. So I appreciate your honesty about your subscription box. So, where are you now in business? 

[Nadia]: I’ve got into a routine of launching my subscription box for the last 12 months. We implemented the cognitive behavioral therapy component. We've got a growing community on Facebook of crafters and loyal customers. I've been featured by a company called white stuff. So they're a beautiful apparel wear company that we have here in the UK. And I'll soon be partnering with a major online retailer in the UK as well. 

[Kathryn]: Such brilliant things and things that happened because you were willing to launch your craft subscription box. So how did you get your routine down?

[Nadia]: For me, it’s grounded in starting with why. And that sounds very strange. But because I know what I'm doing and why I'm doing it, I have energy. And because I love, love, love what I'm doing, I have energy. So I can work on my subscription box till three o'clock in the morning and get up three hours later; also, because I have a wee little one, I had to be very selective about the tasks I was doing. So what's the money-making task? What's the super-duper important task? What can wait? What's just admin? So it was just about prioritizing. I also believe in my deep purpose and I know the cognitive behavioral therapy component is truly helping people.

[Kathryn]: So I think that's huge, so what would you say is a revenue-generating activity in your craft subscription box business?

[Nadia]: Designing each subscription box that will catch people's eye and be exciting for them. So obviously, I need to look at things that are trending, I need to look at colors I need to look at, you know, the culture that we have here is probably very different from other countries. And how we can tie this all into cognitive behavioral therapy. 

[Kathryn]: So what would you say to somebody who's struggling in their business or who's sitting on the fence right now scared to launch their business?

[Nadia]: Two things, if I'm honest, the first thing is to feel the fear and do it anyway. And, you know, Kathryn, we've been in touch and working together for a year and a half. And I think the lessons that I learned in messaging that sells will take me forward probably for the rest of my life. And I think we underestimate that power. I'm a motivated person. I've been very successful in incorporating. I still just couldn't get started with my subscription box. For whatever reason, I was just jammed and stuck and didn't know what to do next.

[Kathryn]: What would you say to someone about getting support? 

[Nadia]: I think for me when I felt I needed help launching my subscription box, it was number one; how badly did I want it? So remember, it's the pandemic, I've got a daughter, who I'm homeschooling, it's not like, I even have a million hours in the day to get anything done. But it's understanding that you're stuck and admitting that to yourself, you don't know what to do next, or you're too scared to make the next move because it's going to cost you too much. So I think the bravest move I made was getting help to permit me to launch my subscription box with a cognitive behavioral therapy component.

[Kathryn]: It's been a pleasure chatting with you and hearing your journey so far since launching your subscription box. I also love that you’ve added your twist with cognitive behavioral therapy. So, where can people find you if they want to buy your subscription box?

[Nadia]: You can find my subscription box on my website at www.innercanvas.co.uk or on Facebook and Instagram.

[Kathryn]: We will link those up in the show notes for our listeners. It was such a pleasure having you on and super stoked for the audience to hear this episode.