Interviewee Name: Janice McDonald
Company Name: iStyle Originals
Website: http://www.istyleoriginals.com
Avil Beckford: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
Janice McDonald: On twitter, I describe myself as a serial entrepreneur with mild
superpowers. On LinkedIn, I also include that I am a volunteer, as I am involved in several different organizations, including Canadian Women in Communications (CWC), as a volunteer.
Avil Beckford: What’s a typical day like for you?
Janice McDonald: One of the things I like most about my career is there are no typical days. Each one is different depending on the day. Always a fusion of work demands, volunteer commitments and mom duties.
Avil Beckford: How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?
Janice McDonald: Staying motivated is not typically a challenge for me because I have many different pursuits that interest me that I am involved with. With each of these, I get to work with people who are exceptional in what they do and as a result, I am naturally motivated to be my best and try to be better.
Avil Beckford: If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?
Janice McDonald: I am a forward looking person and so I don't spend a lot of time on the past. I tend to think that I did the best I could with the information I had at the time. One thing I would do is get involved with the Canadian Women in Communications earlier! I have met so many interesting women through CWC, I wish I was involved earlier in my career. Now, I encourage other women I meet to get involved.
Avil Beckford: What's the most important business or other discovery you've made in the past year?
Janice McDonald: I think that LinkedIn is a great resource and I am using it much more this year. Great to connect with other business professionals and I particularly like the information and ideas that are shared through the groups I have joined on LinkedIn.
Avil Beckford: What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?
Janice McDonald: Speed of information and the vast quantity of information that is available online is a huge change. People want answers and information immediately. Social media is a big advance in communications and in business. It offers many opportunities for business and some challenges as well. It is important to listen and monitor online what is said about your brand by your customers and competitors. In doing so, you can respond quickly, add additional information and hopefully, shape online conversations. It can be invaluable and a resource for learning what consumers think about your products, your brand, and your company.
Avil Beckford: What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?
Janice McDonald: Threats to iStyle Originals. We are a small business that is growing fast which is very exciting. Challenges include finding the right partners to work with for all different aspects of the business, the right staff, managing the growth and maintaining the vision for the company. Each aspect presents different challenges and we are handling them by staying open to opportunities and yet, maintaining our plan for the company. At times, it can be a bit of a bumpy ride but exciting too!
Avil Beckford: What’s unique about the service that you provide?
Janice McDonald: iStyle Originals is a brand of apparel and accessories for the iGeneration… baby, pet and everyone else. It features witty packaging and fun i-based slogans. People love our line of products. They always generate a lot of interest and the celebrities love them as does everyone else…including Apple … who has bought from us. Shannon Tweed of Family Jewels just picked up an iHump doggie t-shirt for her new rescue dog. Rachelle Lefevre of Twilight fame loved our adult t-shirt so much that she wore it to breakfast the very next day and tweeted about it. Equally fun though is getting photos of our customers from all around the world wearing one of our products. People send us pictures of themselves, their baby or their doggie in one of our t-shirts and it is great to see the strong connection that our customers have to our line of apparel.
Avil Beckford: What do you observe most people in your field doing badly that you think you do well?
Janice McDonald: One thing we do exceedingly well is provide outstanding customer service in our stores, online and with our partners. We value our customers whether they are online or in person and realize that they are essential to our success. We also have outstanding staff who deliver that customer service and they are our best competitive advantage and it doesn't matter which of our different businesses I am referring to because it is a commitment that we make in our music stores, with our apparel and accessories business and our partners.
Avil Beckford: Describe a major business or other challenge you had and how you resolved it.
Janice McDonald: Finding great people is always a challenge. We use current staff as a resource for new staff and that is an ideal way to find more great people. Our staff only suggest people that they think reflect well on them, would be a positive addition to the company and good to work with so that is ideal.
Avil Beckford: What lessons did you learn in the process?
Janice McDonald: Learned to trust our staff because they will suggest other great people to join the team and even though their friends may want to be recommended, they will only do so if they think that it will be a good fit. That takes some of the risk out of the process of hiring.
Avil Beckford: Tell me about your big break and who gave you.
Janice McDonald: I have received so much help all along and it has come and continues to come from many different people. Just recently, a recommendation from a colleague led to a wonderful opportunity for exposure for our brand. I had not spoken to this colleague in quite a while and so, it was a very pleasant surprise to know that he still kept us in mind when he had a chance to recommend a company.
Avil Beckford: Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?
Janice McDonald: We expanded into a new market and did not see the kind of success we expected or needed. That was a wake-up call for the whole team because we thought we had everything figured out and lined up for success. We learned that even despite your best efforts, things don't always go the way you planned. Seems simple but we had had a string of successes and hadn't really considered any other possibility. As a result, we are much better at looking at and planning for all kinds of issues and potential problems. It made us much stronger in the planning process up front and more likely to take corrective action sooner.
Avil Beckford: What has been your biggest disappointment in your life – and what are you doing to prevent its reoccurrence?
Janice McDonald: Have been disappointed by some staff who were untrustworthy. It happens. It’s hard. Fortunately, it doesn't happen often and it made me focus on finding and keeping good people.
Avil Beckford: What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?
Janice McDonald: Went back to work soon after each of my children was born. Was a tough decision to make however, was right for me. It impacted my life in that as a mother, when I am not at work, I am completely in the moment with my children.
Avil Beckford: What are three events that helped to shape your life?
Janice McDonald: Getting married and starting my family because it is how I define myself first and foremost – as a mother. Completing my Masters degree right after my undergrad degree because it was a lot of hard work and I did it! Starting CD Warehouse with my partner, and spouse–Stephen– right after we got married. We were young and naive but very hardworking and we had and continue to have a ton of fun together! We have been in business for 20 years and gone on to do other things but I always think of those early days with a great deal of fondness.
Avil Beckford: What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?
Janice McDonald: My three children, a happy marriage and thriving businesses.
Avil Beckford: How did mentors influence your life?
Janice McDonald: Have been lucky to have some wonderful mentors in my life. In each case, they added different tones and shades to the same core messages that have been very helpful to me.
Avil Beckford: What’s one core message you received from your mentors?
Janice McDonald: A core message from my mentors was to trust my instincts and keep working on the project that I believed in and to ask for help when I needed it. Very good advice that I use constantly!
Avil Beckford: As an Invisible Mentor, what is one piece of advice that you would give to readers?
Janice McDonald: A Chinese proverb: You can't help someone uphill without getting closer to the top yourself.