Why Taylor Swift Has 17 Dresses from This Indie Designer With Quinn McLaughlin of Praerie
Season 1 Episode 10
Why Taylor Swift Has 17 Dresses from This Indie Designer With Quinn McLaughlin of Praerie
Click to listen here on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5JetmpNH4xWZWXNde5xvjC?si=XizhiXiMQxu4-pUP388GQQ
And here on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/founders-in-jeans/id1802430594?i=1000711783325
Summary
In this episode, Quinn McLaughlin, founder of Praerie, shares her journey from tech to fashion, the philosophy behind her brand, and the challenges of running a sustainable fashion business. She discusses the importance of design, the slow fashion movement, and the realities of marketing and sales in the fashion industry. Quinn also reflects on her personal growth as an entrepreneur and her aspirations for the future of Praerie.
You can follow Praerie on Instagram @shoppraerie. You can also visit their website here: https://shoppraerie.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopmHerxVVLltMOntYjknWx0DO2M4-6APM5_hwePP0MqulEeKWDC.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Prairie and Quinn's Journey
01:41 The Essence of Prairie's Design Philosophy
04:33 Balancing Wearability and Aesthetic in Fashion
07:13 The Design Process: From Concept to Creation
10:01 Navigating Manufacturing and Sustainability Challenges
12:34 Lessons Learned: Mistakes and Growth in Entrepreneurship
15:07 Building Confidence and Community in Business
17:56 Future Aspirations and Brand Identity
24:29 Wholesale Ventures and Challenges
25:59 Marketing Strategies in the Digital Age
29:11 Navigating Hurdles in Production and Sales
32:54 Customer Connections and Rewards
34:56 Future Plans and Product Launches
36:42 Long-Term Vision for Prairie
38:31 Rapid Fire Insights and Reflections
Takeaways
Quinn started Praerie during the COVID-19 pandemic as a response to her furlough.
The brand embodies a connection to nature, inspired by the French word for meadow.
Praerie focuses on slow fashion, avoiding hyper trends and promoting sustainability.
The design process is extensive, often taking 9-12 months before a collection is released.
Sales and marketing are significant challenges for small fashion brands.
Quinn emphasizes the importance of separating personal worth from business success.
Building a supportive network has been crucial for Quinn's confidence as an entrepreneur.
The brand aims to expand its size range and product offerings in the future.
Quinn's experience with Free People was a validating moment for her brand.
The podcast highlights the importance of resilience and adaptability in entrepreneurship.
Sound Bites
"I started Praerie in a time of need."
"Sales don't come easy."
"I hope to expand our size range."
Keywords
fashion, entrepreneurship, sustainability, design, marketing, slow fashion, brand growth, manufacturing, confidence, challenges
Transcript
Emily Jean (00:00)
Hi you guys, welcome back to or welcome back to Founders in Jeans. I'm your host, Emily Jean. And today I'm gonna do a little bit of a different intro. I've been getting some feedback that the intros are a little bit too long and people just wanna get straight into the episode, which I totally understand. So today I'm gonna keep it really short and simple. Today's episode is with Quinn McLaughlin of Prairie.
For those of you that have not heard of Prairie yet, you probably have seen their designs somewhere on your For You page.
I primarily know them for their dresses and that's what they're known for, especially they give kind of this cottage core vibe. And we get into the brand ethos at the beginning of the podcast here.
Quinn is awesome, but like I said, I'm gonna keep this short and simple and I want you guys to hear all about her and her journey in her own words. So without further ado, let's get into the episode. Feel free to follow us on Instagram at founders in jeans, or you can follow me on Instagram at emily.jeans. And yeah, that's all. ⁓ or you can visit us on the website and see more about what we do.
Guys, I'm sorry, I've been all over the place because I've been sick for the last two weeks. So both these last two episodes came out a little bit later than normal, but I'm back, I'm together. And yeah, anyways, let's get into the episode. Here is Quinn McLaughlin of Prairie.
Emily (01:29)
Quinn McLaughlin, welcome to the podcast. Welcome to Founders Club. I'm so excited to have you.
Quinn Mclaughlin (01:39)
Thank you so much for having me.
Emily (01:40)
Of course, why don't you introduce yourself in your own words and introduce Praerie to us.
Quinn Mclaughlin (01:46)
Yeah, so I'm Quinn. started Praerie, gosh, almost three years ago now as like a full-time brand, but in concept it's been around for five years, which is crazy. It started right at beginning of COVID. I really started it in a time of need. had grown up in California. I worked in tech for a few years post-college and just really didn't find my niche there and decided I wanted to switch over into fashion.
and I finally got a very entry-level job and moved myself across the country. And then my very first day of work was March 15th of 2020. So I was furloughed my first week and had to drive myself back across the country. So during that time, I decided to take my fate into my own hands a bit and start Praerie as a way to really get my hands into fashion and the life cycle of a product. So what started is really just as a fun project.
kind of stayed as a side thing for a few years while I worked in fashion. And then I decided to quit my job and start Praerie full-time about almost three years ago. So yeah, I grew up in California, have always had a huge love of fashion, but always felt like I was drawn to more than just one side of myself. So really loved nature and the outdoors and camping and sports, but also fashion. really Praerie's built on those pillars of really being multifaceted, but I'm sure we'll dive into that more. But yeah, that's a little bit about me. I'm currently living in San Diego and
have lived all over the place in the last five years. COVID sort of took me all around, but super happy to be landed in San Diego right now.
Emily (03:09)
For those of you who are not familiar with Praerie, I really feel like the designs are so the epitome of like a California like what I have in my mind of California I grew up in a really small town in California So maybe like to the more Los Angeles and maybe not as much but to me think that like feeling of and just like chic and I want to say country almost but like I don't know how what would you like what words you used to just
Quinn Mclaughlin (03:20)
Yeah.
Yeah,
I feel like we've taken on the country ethos, which I'm very happy to have, but truly I feel like for me it was like a field, like running in a field was really like the envision I had behind the brand, which is kind of where the name came from. Praerie is actually the French word for meadow. And I just feel like California has this beautiful landscape and the ability to run through it barefoot in a dress was my epitome of happiness. And of course,
life gets in the way and that's not what your day to day looks like. So really Praerie was like a way to wear these dresses and just feel like that's what you were doing even when you're just like walking around the house or working from home in the dress. It was really to make you feel like you're running through a field barefoot.
Emily (04:17)
Yeah, absolutely. And they're so like dreamy and whimsical. Yeah, absolutely. I feel like they kind of have their own identity. You I mean? Like the whole brand does. You're entering a different world really.
Quinn Mclaughlin (04:22)
Thank you.
Yeah.
That was really important to me. think my background from fashion, it did work for a really strong brand whose brand ethos is very, very strong. And that was very much nailed into me that that's a really important part of the puzzle when people buy is feeling like they're a part of something. So while I organically feel like Praerie has had that, it's also of course a little bit part of the brand as well. It's kind of like making people feel like they're part of the story. And I do...
really want the dresses themselves to stand out. And when you look at it, you can like identify it as a Praerie dress, which has been a really fun part of the brand. So many people reaching out when they see like a dress on a celebrity being like, is this Praerie? And most of the time it's not, but it's definitely a fun thing to feel like people kind of understand the look of the brand. That's been something that's really special and unique. I didn't think would come along with such a small brand.
Emily (05:22)
Yeah, absolutely. And yet they're also very functional, in my opinion. I think that there's definitely a real sense of wearability there. How do you kind of balance these designs with this kind of dreamy, whimsical aspect, and yet still is made for everyday life?
Quinn Mclaughlin (05:39)
Yeah, so that was a huge part of starting the brand. We started on the three pillars of wild, wearable, and feminine. Something that, for me, I really wanted to have every piece, the three pillars really in the piece. And could feel that it was feminine. You could feel that it was wearable. It's definitely probably the hardest part of designing a dress because as a designer, you really want to decide to do feminine or wearable. It's hard to do both.
And there's definitely pieces that are more feminine or more wearable, but we really try our best to not be pulled super far into trends. So, you know, right now there's like a really big push for the extreme boho, tons of ruffles, tons of chiffon. Well, ruffles aren't super wearable and they aren't very comfortable and chiffon itself is one of the least comfortable fabrics if it's not done right. So we're really careful about whether or not we wanna go full into a trend.
is really part of our decision making. So I'll design something that has a little bit of that boho feel, but it's still comfortable. It's probably made in a cotton to make sure that it's more breathable. It's something that you can wear throughout the seasons and it's not gonna be, you know, hyper trend focused. So really creating dresses that feel feminine yet still comfortable and making things that are comfortable but still feel flattering and they're not just kind of like a big potato sack of cotton on you. That's definitely a huge.
part of the design process is meeting that middle ground. And then wild, that third pillar, that's really something that I wanna make sure we're not damaging the environment or adding more waste than we need to. We can kind of dive into this, but really Praerie, we claim to not be sustainable in any sense just because fashion in itself is just not a sustainable business. You're inevitably asking people to buy more and more clothing, which is just not a super sustainable.
industry. So I don't want to claim to be sustainable, but we do our part to really kind of minimize that impact in ways that we can.
Emily (07:26)
That's a really good way to put it. I've never heard anyone say that.
Quinn Mclaughlin (07:29)
Yeah,
I studied environmental sciences. That's my undergrad. And I've worked with factories that larger sustainable brands work with. So we have similar practices, but it's just inevitably you're asking people to buy more, which is just not, it's a tough spot to be in to claim yourself sustainable when you're asking people to continue to buy more and your business model is built on
getting your customers to continue to buy the new product.
Emily (07:56)
100%. Would you say like maybe what's a better term than to describe what you guys do? Like maybe eco-conscious? I'm just curious.
Quinn Mclaughlin (08:04)
Yeah, we consider ourselves like slow fashion. like the kind of the defining factor there is not going after like hyper trends. So obviously, again, you know, the last few years, it's been a very like clean slate. We're still seeing that our newest collection will have a very like clean lines, not a lot of details. But also you're seeing this like hyper boho kind of almost like a 2000s like Chloe, Isabelle Morant look happening right now.
And while that's so exciting and I wanna dive into that and really like play around with some fun silhouettes, I know that next summer that will be gone. So we're really careful. We're gonna again, take pieces of trends, but really do our part to make items that can last year to year from a quality standpoint, but really from a trend standpoint as well. So I would say we really consider ourselves like slow fashion, which is something I think is becoming kind of more and more common.
we also just like our price point, use really quality fabrics. so we can't price ourselves any lower and inevitably people then can't buy, you know, three Praerie dresses a year. It's maybe they're buying one every other year. So it just creates less waste, less things being donated, which inevitably end up in a landfill. so kind of trying to rather than take people out of that chain of the kind of like constant loop of buying new stuff and then.
donating clothes and all of that, we really just try to like lessen your impact. So you maybe buy one dress instead of the three really cheap fashion ones.
Emily (09:31)
Right. There's a lot you're achieving with the dresses, like with each design. What is that design process look like? mean, doing, you're covering a lot of bases at once and then from the design as well to the production, like what's that look like from beginning to end?
Quinn Mclaughlin (09:47)
Yeah, I mean, it's the best part. I'm in it right now. It was just like on my floor, designing stuff and editing things. So it's very intensive. The design process typically starts like nine to even 12 months before a collection is released. So really like summertime is like our true design time. And then once I've completed designs, I'm sending them to the factories that we work with. All the factories we work with are overseas. We have really great partners in India.
We have, we work with like two to three different small family owned factories. They're actually all startups themselves. So they're all really small factories, not a ton of workers, which gives us a lot more visibility into the practices within those factories. But usually it takes anywhere from six to eight weeks to get a sample back. Usually the first sample is fairly far off from what you're attempting to get. So that's what I'm doing right now is sitting with like the second round of samples, which are a little bit closer.
that's usually more like fit notes, taking the straps in, know, widening the bodice, that sort of thing. Usually through this process, we'll drop anywhere from two to five styles. And then sometimes we'll change them up and they look something completely new or we'll add in new styles. But normally all designs are really sent to factories by like September in order to get back those spring styles and have production finalized by like April or May at the latest. So the design process.
in terms of inspiration, a lot of it is looking at vintage items. That's probably one of our biggest go-tos. Some of those styles made back in the 90s and the 2000s, really before fast fashion and social media blew up and everyone was wearing the same thing. There are some incredible styles that we try to bring back. We try to modernize them. And ultimately we try to just kind of create something from a runway that was unattainable and unapproachable and make it.
of course, cost less and also really just more approachable for the average person to wear. whether that's making it more comfortable or just taking out some design features that don't make as much sense, would say vintage is probably the biggest piece of inspiration we pull from. And then, you know, a lot of the times it's looking at those sort of brands I mentioned before that have had, you know, 30 to 40 years and have really quality, amazing pieces. But again, kind of bringing those into a more approachable sense and giving it something that
could work on a runway, but really works for the average person as well. We just want people to feel fashionable in our dresses, but not like they, you put it on and you're like, I couldn't pull this off. It's too fancy or it's too much. I feel like there's kind of a gap there with like ultra fashionable dresses and then sort of the more basic looks. And I kind of want to be somewhere in between where you feel your best and you feel great, but you don't feel like someone's going to be like, my gosh, you're so fancy. I can't believe you're wearing that.
daughter and sister who always showed up overdressed to family events. And like, I don't want it to feel like that. I want you to feel good about yourself and not like all eyes are on you.
Emily (12:29)
I like that. That's a good goal to have. Okay, so in terms of when you first started in Europe, did you start off with a manufacturer or are you kind of hand making these designs or how did that process look like? How did it transition?
Quinn Mclaughlin (12:31)
Yeah.
Yeah, I think, I mean, right in the beginning, that's like one of the first things for anyone who thinks about starting a brand. It's definitely one of the first things you want to discover. you know, a really tight-knit, close relationship with a factory is gonna go really far. One of the factories we still work with today is the very first factory we did work with. But we've added some partners in, we've transitioned some partners out for quality issues. Yeah, so the first thing I did was really sew the sample myself. When I was furloughed, I...
had a lot of free time, I got a puppy and then started sewing. So I feel like similar COVID experience to a lot, but I started working on samples. was back then designing just on paper. So just truly a piece of paper and a pencil. And I went to Joann's and started sewing together fabrics that I could. Quickly learned I'm not a professional seamstress and it's extremely hard to sew anything quality. So I started sourcing factories.
Again, I hadn't even like had two weeks at my job. So I had no connections and I just honestly started reaching out to people through the internet and Instagram and trying to ask for connections where I could and found a partner that at the time had like pretty low minimums. It's funny now looking back because the very first dress that I designed, I actually bought the most of. I've never purchased anything in that much quantity sense, but.
I wasn't really aware of negotiating minimums and all of the kind of nuances that come with working with a factory. So I still actually am still sitting on some of that inventory. But since then, we've, you know, I've still working with that factory and we've kind of found a happy medium when it comes to minimums. But that's a huge part of finding a factory is a lot of these factories require you to place like 700 unit orders of a single style. And even at the previous company I worked for, which was a really large brand.
We didn't even want to purchase that many. Units just don't go that fast. think we're all thinking they do because of the variety of stuff and things going viral on the internet, but truly most items just don't sell that much even for large companies. So really working with quality factories that will kind of meet you in the middle there with minimums is super helpful. Inevitably, that's like the biggest thing we can do to be more quote unquote sustainable is just ordering less of every single item because those larger brands when they
kind of up their ante with the quantities to get a price break. They don't really want to mark things down to sale. Most brands don't, it kind of hurts the sales power they have. So they'll just literally take those things to a landfill to potentially give them to like a Nordstrom rack, but most of them go straight to a landfill and it's super wasteful. So we try to keep our minimums as low as possible for both, you know, a sustainability standpoint and also just as a small brand, it's less risk.
Emily (15:16)
Yeah, that's such a good thing for young entrepreneurs to hear as they're entering this business. I heard a quote once that everything is negotiable. I know if that's true, but it's definitely an approach to have.
Quinn Mclaughlin (15:28)
Yeah.
It's definitely
worth a shot. Yeah, no, I think that's been a huge part of what I've learned is just like the self-confidence in yourself to not only ask, to know when to walk away. Truly like one of the biggest pieces of advice I would give for anyone trying to start, especially a brand, to work with multiple factories. I know larger brands have some opinions on that, but most of the brands that you buy from, they do not own their factories. They work with a ton of different vendors.
The reason for that is truly because you can find yourself in a spot where a factory shuts down, there's a fire, there's a holiday, they might just all of a sudden decide they don't want to work with you. So in order to protect yourself, working with multiple factories is a huge part of the business and not something I knew the first year and a half. So it's definitely ask and hopefully you can receive. And if not, you'll probably be met somewhere in the middle, which is super, super helpful. Definitely ask.
Emily (16:21)
Where did the confidence to like, mean, start all of this? is there like, did you take a course? Did you read a book? Like, where's the knowledge coming from that you're like, look, I can do this. I'm going to succeed.
Quinn Mclaughlin (16:31)
Yeah, mean credit to my family and my parents. think I have just been very confident from a young age in terms of going for things. I definitely have a really amazing support system around me. I have an amazing husband who said go for it. I have parents, I lived at home for two years. I actually just moved out from living at my mom's in order to save money and start the brand. So I have an amazing support system around me and I really just feel like I was told from a young age that you can be anything you wanna be and
It stuck with me. Funnily enough, I think I am now doubting myself the most two and a half years in than I ever did. I feel like I had just the confidence and a very clear direction from the moment I started Praerie. And I would say now, as I'm like in this next stage of the business and trying to figure out what to do next, I feel like I'm realizing how rare that is as I'm feeling a little bit more lost, a little bit unsure of like what's next for the brand.
I'm realizing how beneficial it was to just really feel like I had a clear direction for the last two and a half years. And I guess realizing how rare that is and that not everybody feels like they can just go for it. But yeah, I would say just like the network I have around me has really helped me feel like I can try this and getting to live at my mom's has been super helpful because it's obviously alleviated the financial burden a little bit. yeah, I think you really just got to go for it. I would say I highly recommend keeping your day job for the first.
years if you can. It meant really, really long hours and a lot of weekends working for me, but I definitely think it's a lot harder when it's your full-time gig. I think it just absolutely becomes, you begin to make decisions that are out of stress and financial burden rather than the best decisions for the brand. So think keeping your job for as long as you can is a huge, huge part of finding success within a small business.
Emily (18:16)
Yeah, absolutely. think that's very good advice. There's, I don't know if you ever saw it, but there's a Ted talk where they, a guy's talking about all these different CEOs that he's spoken to over the years. He says like, actually one of the number one factors of success is if they were working a, like had a full-time job a while they started their side hustle. Yeah. His thought process was like,
Quinn Mclaughlin (18:28)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Emily (18:41)
causation or like reasoning why he thought that would be is you it's like you're not so desperate for it to work like you're like I'll be okay and it comes across as more of a hobby so your brain kind of thinks it's like something you're just enjoy doing and then you just more of it
Quinn Mclaughlin (18:48)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah,
I think customers can like smell the desperation. I think it's like, I felt a clear shift in the urgency I felt and the ability to like promote sales. And there's a lot of things you can do obviously, but we can track like a strong brand to kind of like the viral images or viral videos and doesn't go after trends and doesn't mark their, you know, slash their prices all the time has a longer
sustainable track of growth. And as soon as I quit my job, and it was my full time thing, I was like, that goes out the window. I need sales, I need them now I have bills to pay. So I definitely think keeping your job as long as you can. And honestly, like this podcast, not to put myself in that category of founder, but I listened to a ton of podcasts, I work by myself, and there's a ton of time spent alone and listening to other brand stories, like it can be super overwhelming, but it's also super helpful to hear.
how other people did it, the mistakes they made. And honestly, when things aren't going well, which is most days with a small business, it's really nice to hear it didn't go well for other people. There was a ton of ups and downs and I think it's definitely good to listen to other founders. And I've tried to connect with as many as I can, especially in the fashion space. It's hard, a lot of brands are started by big influencers or people with a super big network in that space.
So kind of crawling your way in, can be difficult, but just reaching out to people. They're super receptive and a lot of people will respond, especially if you're not asking for a collaboration or something. If you're just asking for their time, people have been super kind and willing to give it. So I think just trying to connect with as many people as you can in that space while intimidating has been super helpful.
Emily (20:35)
Yeah. Speaking of mistakes or failures, do you have like a favorite failures failure of yours that you're like, that was really looking back, like really made a huge difference.
Quinn Mclaughlin (20:37)
Yes.
That's
a great question. Yeah, I mean, a ton of mistakes. I think for me, I'm not someone who I don't have a ton of regrets. just think it's never been a part of my life. I just feel like I am where I should be. But I would say I do regret leaving my job when I did. I was in a tough situation and it was not just Praerie kind of pushing me out.
But I think I could have used a bit more time to get the brand where it needed to be while working. So I definitely do wish I had kept my day job a bit longer. That's not as exciting, but that's definitely a mistake I kind of, I say regret, but I look back on and kind of think where would I be now if I had stuck them out the job a little bit longer? And then, I mean, my first collection, I made a lot of mistakes. I definitely look back on it and I feel like it's like an artist's first album. I'm like,
my God, what was I thinking with half of the dresses? I spread myself too thin and I tried to do bridal the very first year. So I created normal dresses and then I had this whole fancy collection and I just didn't have the right partners. I didn't have the right factories. The ones I was working with were not well equipped. So yeah, I would say from like a brand standpoint, the bridal line was probably my biggest mistake. It felt like a good opportunity, but the exact same time I thought of it, sort of every other brand.
So all of these other large brands came out with know, bridal collections that were kind of for the casual like night before. They all have the same idea and they executed it much better. So definitely a huge mistake. would say like stay in your lane as much as you can. I think people get excited by like hats are selling sweatshirts are selling glasses. you could, sure. You know, once you're an S corp, technically can sell everything on sugar seller's permit, but you don't need to.
I think you'll get honestly lost in the shuffle. And I think the, like the brand's clear imagery and like vibe is like so much more important than I think people realize being like the dress shop. And then sure, years down the line, you can expand, but I think people will kind of like recognize it as a household name a tiny bit more if you're known for one thing rather than like a, you you sell everything sort of thing.
Emily (22:49)
Yeah, I mean, I think you've done a great job at niching down, I would say, in my opinion.
Quinn Mclaughlin (22:53)
Thank
you. Yeah, it's been a large, it's hard. have to fight it sometimes. You're like, I want to do this. And we are expanding and we want to do other categories, but I think kind of trying to be niche is actually kind of a good way into the market.
Emily (23:05)
Yeah. Are there any fabrics or details that you always are returning to that you feel like is quintessentially Praerie?
Quinn Mclaughlin (23:14)
Yes, definitely. Yeah, I mean, again, like trends come and go, but our real like go-to is just lace with cotton boil, is like, the cotton boil is that super thin, like breathable, super airy fabric. And we love that. mean, poplin is huge right now, which is that more like structured kind of crisp cotton. And that's beautiful and it's all over the place. And we have a lot of new designs coming out this year with cotton poplin.
But I would say cotton voil, which is just like the true Praerie. was our first dress. I wouldn't say it's like on trend right now, but in my opinion, it's extremely timeless. It's like the comfortable, wearable, super light and breezy cotton. That's just like my favorite thing to design with. It's also my favorite thing to wear. We line all of our dresses for the most part with cotton voil. So you'll notice a lot of brands to cut costs don't line their dresses, which can make it feel
you know, packable and easy and eventually it's just see-through and it wears down. inevitably it's just, it's not going to be as high of quality. So we line everything with cotton, boil unless it's made from a, a fabric that can be used as a lining as well. and truly like we have one that we've used for three years now. It's like the highest quality you can get. It's the softest feel. love it. So the same supplier. so yeah, I would say cotton, boil and then, you know, lace. I love designing with lace. I think it's something that's like.
Such a fun detail. And not used enough. So yeah, I did those too.
Emily (24:30)
Yeah. When you are designing these pieces, are you like the sole proprietor of like the design process or do you have somebody that you're like, need a second eye, somebody who's like, Quinn, this is terrible. like how does that look like? What's theme look like really?
Quinn Mclaughlin (24:44)
Yeah, that's
a great question. no, it's just me. I wish I had a bigger team to help out. I'm like literally going through this process right now. And I'm, I truly put it on my Instagram sometimes when I really torn. I text my friends, I will honestly have friends come over and they'll try things on. It's like super fun to see it on different bodies because sometimes it works out everyone's body, like the same sample. And you're like, how did that happen?
And sometimes it just worked on mine and I'm like, okay, we're dropping this dress. So all friends come over, I'll have, I'll text friends. No, we are the launching an ambassador program, it's called the Praerie Ranch. And essentially you can join it if you're a previous customer or you're an emerging influencer or you just love the brand and you can work to earn free dresses. And a large part of that ambassador program is really to feel like an extension of the team. we'll have, we're creating a group chat really.
I'll use them a lot. think almost half of them are previous customers. So they like the brand, they know the brand. So honestly, I'm gonna be using them as a bit of an advising board when it comes to details of the dress and prints, colorways, that sort of thing. But no, it is just me. And I would say that's one of the hardest parts of the job. I'm truly in it right now. And I'm like, I have 400 design aspects in my brain.
Emily (25:56)
Hmm.
Quinn Mclaughlin (26:01)
And I'm literally throughout the day like, wait, this is definitely it. And I'll go and I'll write it down. And yeah, it's it's a pretty lengthy process because you do all the fit stuff and then you really have to like sit with the design details to figure out what's actually going to be better. Um, you know, I'll wear the dress around too. And just like, okay, wait, this was all wrong. Let's switch it back. So there's a lot of back and forth with me in the factories. Um, I do have one factory that gives like some design input and I.
absolutely love working with them because that's been super helpful. But you know, it's really small details. So that is something that is hard as a brand owner is like making those final decisions and knowing that that's on you. But it's also my favorite part of the job. I was a buyer previously. And that's really what you do as a buyer is kind of making those final decisions. So it's definitely something that I enjoy.
Emily (26:49)
Yeah. And Praerie, correct me if I'm wrong, but you guys don't do any wholesale right now or you are doing wholesale?
Quinn Mclaughlin (26:54)
We do do a little bit of wholesale. We actually were sold on Free People two summers ago, which was so exciting. Like definitely most memorable moment was seeing my dresses like go live on their website. And like, I think two of the three sold out in like a day, which was truly so like reaffirming as a small brand, you don't sell things out in a day. So that felt really great. We're working to get into a few other online retailers and then
We're stocked in probably three or four boutiques around kind of the United States. have one in Santa Barbara, who's been a really loyal partner. And then we have a few in like Denver and I think we have one in Nantucket. So some really small little spots. We'll do it if people reach out. We don't actively source for wholesale just because it's not a super, doesn't make a ton of sense for small business. You have to have more capital for wholesale to really
gain you any value in terms of like profit. It's really a numbers game and a volume game. So if you have enough capital that you can buy enough units upfront and in return sell them all to wholesale, you can gain some profit, but it's pretty hard to make a margin off of our wholesale accounts. also requires us to mark up our prices a bit. So that's kind of a reason why we haven't anything that's sold in wholesale. You'll see like our prices are significantly lower.
Emily (27:53)
Right.
Quinn Mclaughlin (28:09)
I'm sorry, excuse me, higher. So the dresses have to be a higher price in order to make any sense for wholesale. So we try to kind of keep certain items in our wholesale accounts and then anything that we want to keep priced pretty low, we'll just exclusively for online.
Emily (28:21)
Right, okay, got it. So I guess walk me through a little bit. What is the marketing strategy like? I know you've built a loyal following on Instagram so far. Is that your primary platform? Are there other outlets? What's that look like?
Quinn Mclaughlin (28:35)
Yeah, well yeah, so marketing and social media did not expect that to be 90 % of my job. Get into this for that and it's become a large, large part of it. So definitely something to consider, especially if people are listening to this, thinking about starting a business. It's not just clothing, truly like all businesses these days. Most of your job is gonna be online marketing yourself, which was like definitely not something I was comfortable with. I'm not on Instagram really. I don't have a TikTok, anything like that personally.
That was a huge undertaking just to sort of like learn that process. We actually don't run any paid ads. So most of our sales and growth just come organically. we, you know, we're really diligent about our vibe and our look and our branding on our Instagram. That's definitely our bread and butter in terms of where most of our traffic is coming from. So I spend probably 70 % of our marketing time on Instagram. And then the remaining 30 is split between
Influencer events, sending dresses to influencers, working with a PR team and some email marketing, but email marketing is, go back and forth on, people truly think it's still really great way to convert sales. We haven't seen a ton of growth from that and I just don't want to inundate people. I hate getting emails. I delete all of them. So we only do email marketing when we're announcing a sale or an upcoming launch. But yeah, mean, a ton of it is on Instagram.
We're really diligent again, just to make that branding like very cohesive and not overwhelming. We're really careful not to post too much. Um, we have fairly high engagement for a brand. Um, the algorithm has changed a ton to favor influencers and creators, which is great. And that's what people want to see. So we kind of have to respect that and just kind of understand that we're not going to have as high of engagement. So we do rely heavily on sending dresses to influencers. Um, we've stepped back from that a little bit in the last six months. Um, but it is still.
function of our marketing. And then we also, we do have a PR team. So we work with Blue Jeans PR. They're amazing. They help us with events. They're the ones getting us into Cosmo, into, you Elle and all of the online publications. And then they're also really helping us get into like the celebrity space, you know, some of those bigger influencers. But a lot of my job is just DMing people on Instagram, asking them to wear a dress.
and then sending them out. So it is a very unexciting part of the job for me as someone with out of marketing background, but it's been fun to learn. use, you know, when we do do paid ads, which again, we haven't done in about a year, we learned how to use the, you know, meta ad suite and make pixels and got to do all that fun stuff. yeah, we're looking at hiring actually.
kind of like a co-founder slash CMO. So someone who has scaled a brand before in the fashion space. We're currently interviewing a few people to bring them on board as a co-founder. So something on my to-do list right now and one of the goals of 2025 is to bring someone on board who actually knows what they're doing with marketing.
Emily (31:28)
That's a big step. Are you, I'm sure you're thrilled, but also it's maybe a little bit scary to hands over the reins a bit, no?
Quinn Mclaughlin (31:29)
Yeah.
Yeah, it is. think I'm going to be really good at giving away control when it comes to marketing. think I'm like very specific with like branding and the like dresses, but I'm like, someone please take it from me. So no, it'll definitely, it's a big step. It's unique position. It's unpaid because it'll be for equity. So it'll be like a part-time role for someone. But we're interviewing a few candidates who seem super interested and definitely a little nervous to give away equity within the brand just because I've grown it with my own savings and
you know, and tears for three years, but I'm, I'm ready to bring on someone who's excited about the brand and who feels like it's going to be a good fit. So we'll see fingers crossed. We find the right candidate.
Emily (32:12)
Yeah, 100%. Well, great. I'm really happy to hear that. So, okay. So you're obviously that's coming up on the pretty big, I mean, step forward in the brands, but over the course of the entire journey, what are some of the biggest hurdles you've faced so far?
Quinn Mclaughlin (32:16)
Yeah, me too.
Yeah, I think the biggest hurdle honestly is like lead times with factories. And that is something that you feel really like in the spring, day to day, there's always delays. I mean, we've had shipments who are finally get made and they make it to the US and they'll sit in customs for anywhere from like five to six weeks just because there was a number missing on the barcode or some very small issues. So I would say like learning how to deal with
a ton of issues like that, whether it's like your tax issues or trying to figure out how to pay sales tax or trying to figure out how to do some random form that you need to do in order to sell again in California, dealing with customs. Those are a ton of like day-to-day issues that like really bog you down as a business owner. I don't mind most of them. I would say the shipping piece gets to me like the sixth week when it's stuck in customs, I start to get a little crazy.
But yeah, you have to just kind of roll with that and just, it's part of the job. It's part of the flexibility you get as a business owner and sort of try to see it as this is a large function of your job. It's not wasting your time. It's part of your time and kind of just like dealing with it. But yeah, would say shipping delays and product delays in general. A lot of factories will tell you it's going to be ready in six weeks and it's 16 weeks. So really baking that into your launches.
to understand that when they say six weeks, it does not mean six weeks. Kind of like giving that buffer has been a large just like growth period for me. think it gets really exciting to tell people it's going to be here in six weeks. And so you create your marketing strategy and your launch strategy and it just, never is. So yeah, I would say the biggest hurdle is probably just like production and getting it here. And then sales, mean, sales don't come easy.
I think that's something I didn't anticipate. Getting the product here the first time was so hard that I was like, this definitely has to be the hardest part. it's not, know, sales ends up being a huge, huge headache. So I would say, yeah, trying to sell your product and get eyes on it is definitely a huge hurdle as well.
Emily (34:22)
Yeah. it isn't the like part of your brand philosophy adapting to everything life throws your way. No. Yeah. I think that is, I think that very much sums up a lot of entrepreneurs experience.
Quinn Mclaughlin (34:36)
It's a lot of like, okay, this is actually part of my job. think you just like that like re framing it as like, this isn't taking six hours out of my day. This is the six hours of my day that I'm doing right now. Has been huge. Honestly, it's, it teaches you emotional resilience and other parts of your life too. feel like things that would have stressed me out before starting a brand just don't stress me out anymore because I just kind of constantly dealing with fires. But you definitely have to kind of
love problem solving or you're going to spend a lot of your day just extremely frustrated.
Emily (35:05)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Okay, what has been the most rewarding part of creating Praerie so far, do feel then?
Quinn Mclaughlin (35:12)
I think truly like meeting customers. I had not met a customer that was not my family or friend for the first two years. And then we threw a pop-up this June and we had a huge turnout. had a ton of people come and it was so exciting. There was people like at the door when we opened, which I was so not expecting that I was truly not even dressed yet. I was like in my sweats, but that was...
so cool. It was only like two or three girls, but they had bought Praerie before and then came to the pop-up, which was like the coolest thing ever. I'm sure for like most larger brand owners, they're like, that's our day-to-day life. But I'm like, I'd never ever met a customer in person. And then obviously like I've sold in person before, but not to pre-existing customers. So that was definitely the most rewarding, I think just makes like all of the heartache and the people.
with mean emails and DMs and opinions, like just makes it so worth it. So yeah, very grateful for those girls that stopped by. think that was probably like the coolest experience.
Emily (36:07)
I love that. think that's great. That's a great answer. It's just as I think it's those moments that like really make it all worth it. I'm not that I've created any brands, but I hear that answer a lot. Like I can totally understand the feeling. Yeah.
Quinn Mclaughlin (36:22)
Yeah. And I think people like quickly forget how small brands are like myself included, like I'll reach out to a brand that like, because I purchased from them, I think they're this big brand that everyone knows. And they're like interested in a collaboration or want to trade product. And it's, it's crazy. Like people, know, they definitely think that Praerie sometimes is bigger than it is. And I think it's, they don't understand like how much it means to me when they reach out and say they love their dress or they feel confident in it, or even just make a purchase. It's like, it's so meaningful.
I still pack all the orders, like I'm putting a little note in every single one. So it's definitely a part of the brand is still so much like my soul. And so getting to see that in person was just like, so, so cool.
Emily (37:02)
Yeah, absolutely. Okay, well, I guess, you know, on the flip side of that, what's next for Praerie? Like, what, any exciting launches or projects in the works, anything like that?
Quinn Mclaughlin (37:14)
Yeah, I mean, are like camo hat coming back out next week, which like people love so that really fast. So that's exciting. That's like our first new product in a while. Most of our launches happen in the spring and the summer. So we kind of have like a bit of a lull. Starting 2025, we'll hopefully not have that lull anymore. We're designing more into like some fall stuff to kind of even that out.
but yeah, so our spring launches are the next like big thing that's coming. Those will start launching in probably middle of April. so super excited for that. We already have some finalized product, which is something I've never gone into a January saying absolutely always been behind. so that's really exciting. We have our final rounds of samples of about 10 more styles coming in the next like three to four weeks. ⁓ so pending how those look, we'll have a ton more in production, which is super exciting. So yeah, our spring launches are really what's next. We're.
super excited. It feels really, really fresh and new to us. It's very different than I think anything we've launched before. We have three separate collections that all have like three very unique, distinct personalities. And I'm equally excited about all of them. And then, yeah, we're expanding into some new categories coming in the fall. So we'll have, don't want to say too much, but some tops, hopefully some mitts. So definitely some different things besides just dresses. So not to contradict myself, but
I do think you can expand once you've kind of made your niche, but yeah, no, I'm excited. I've been doing dresses for a long time now and excited to try something new that's hopefully, honestly, a little bit easier to design. Dresses aren't the easiest to fit everybody, so I'm like, maybe tops will be better.
Emily (38:47)
Well, you've built a great foundation, so I think that's a great way to expand outwards. really do. Well, you might have just answered that, but let's say five years from now, what's like, where do you really want Praerie to be? Where do you think he'll be? What's the dream look like?
Quinn Mclaughlin (38:52)
Yeah, now we're excited.
Yeah, I think a team is like my biggest priority. I'm really big on making like larger goals. And then, know, most years you don't have any of them because they're kind of pie in the sky. But I am. Yeah, I really want to hire obviously a co-founder slash CML would be huge. And then we're actually moving our inventory into a three PL. So I will no longer be sitting on the inventory, which for me is really big. I've been tied to the inventory, which makes traveling difficult makes even going to weddings hard. So
super excited to kind of pass that off. But I would say in a five-year plan, I want to have a team that works with me. I would love to have a technical designer. Again, I would love to have a CMO and kind of expand where needed. I'm like not above customer service. I don't need any help there. I love all that stuff. just, I think I want to be able to better the brand by bringing someone in who knows marketing in a much more...
scalable fashion and I really want to bring in someone who's a technical designer who can kind of help make dresses that fit people even better and expand our size range. So yeah, those are sort of like the two next hires for me. But yeah, I would say five-year plan. I would just love to still be doing Praerie. I think it's something that I've poured my heart into and it's been the coolest journey of my life. So I would hope that I'm still doing it and hopefully with the team around me, think.
while it's been great doing it on my own. I think it would be even better to have people to bounce ideas off of and feel like you're really like in it with. yeah, that's kind of what I'm looking for. And yeah, I hope to just continue to kind of grow the brand and the brand awareness and hopefully be a bit more of a household name.
Emily (40:34)
That's great. I think those are great goals. Very achievable.
Quinn Mclaughlin (40:38)
Yes, hopefully.
Emily (40:39)
Okay, well to kind of close out here, we'll do a couple of rapid fire questions. You'll have to answer them rapid fire. Okay, let's see. Okay. Favorite dress from your current collection?
Quinn Mclaughlin (40:52)
Ooh, it's so hard for me to choose favorites, but I would say the one I'm wearing the most right now is actually the Danica dress, which is a short dress, but it goes very well with tall boots and a jacket. So I would say during the winter, that's my go-to right now.
Emily (41:06)
Okay, Danica dress. I love that. If you could dress anyone in a Praerie piece, who would it be and why?
Quinn Mclaughlin (41:12)
Taylor Swift, which I'm sure is a very basic answer, but I promise for me it's not. I've, she's like my everything. I've already sent her like 17 dresses. So I got her address and I'm like, she probably doesn't even go to that house, but she has a lot of Praerie packages there if she ever does. ⁓ yeah, she is my, like, I've been trying to dress her for three years and with the help of my PR team, hopefully that will become a reality.
But I think she would obviously love Praerie. I it goes so well with her Evermore and Folklore albums. And I've been listening to her since I was 15. She's always been my favorite artist. And honestly, a large part of this job is by myself in a dark room, trying to figure out what these designs look like. I literally design and edit on a floor because you have to be with the dress unless it's on the form. And I have her in my...
ear all of the time and it just like helps me through so many difficult days of Praerie has been listening to her so yeah if she's listening please Taylor wear it
Emily (42:11)
I think that's a great answer. I can 100 % see that. Yeah, absolutely. I think in a few months I'm going to see a paparazzi photo, Taylor Swift wearing Praerie and I'll be like, obviously.
Quinn Mclaughlin (42:15)
think it works, yeah.
Fingers crossed. Well, and
she's always, she's always photographed too. So it's like, it's a win-win. Cause a lot of celebrities, if they wore it, you wouldn't wear. So I'm like, that would be the person and hopefully it would help the brand grow.
Emily (42:34)
100%, I can totally see it. Okay, what's been your most memorable moment since starting Praerie?
Quinn Mclaughlin (42:41)
Ooh, I think getting on the free people website, that's the brand I worked for previously. And they actually reached out to me to carry my dresses and they didn't know I had worked there. So that was like a really cool full circle moment that they kind of recognized the designs were unique and pretty and something that would sell well. And it was a pretty lengthy process to like go through everything to actually get it approved. And it went live on the website when I was like,
by myself traveling, I just like started crying immediately. So I think that's probably the most like memorable. It was just, it was a really validating experience. And I remember thinking if this doesn't continue and ends tomorrow, I'll be really happy that I was able to like prove to myself I could do this.
Emily (43:24)
Yeah, 100%. That's a great, I love that full circle moment, absolutely. Okay, what's a trend that you hope makes a comeback or a trend that never makes a comeback?
Quinn Mclaughlin (43:28)
Yeah, it's super cool.
Ooh, well, I'm tempted to say Capri's because I see them coming down the pipeline and I cannot pull them off with my calves, but I also might make some. So I'm going to reserve that as a maybe because they are really cute on certain people. think there's like a wave of they're called T-length where they're, just hit at the knee. They're like a Lorelai Gilmore-esque looking dress where they like, they're not midi, they're shorter than midi, which I did not see myself.
Emily (43:47)
you
you
Quinn Mclaughlin (44:04)
ever wearing or designing, but I can see that being big this spring and we're designing a bit into that. So I hope that becomes big. Yeah.
Emily (44:12)
Okay, I like it. Those
are great answers. I love the Capri. That's a great answer.
Quinn Mclaughlin (44:16)
And I'm just like,
we'll see, I'm so torn on them.
Emily (44:21)
What's a piece of advice you hear or have seen often in your kind of industry that you wouldn't give to other people that you think it's like, that's not a very good piece of advice?
Quinn Mclaughlin (44:32)
What a question.
Yeah, that's a really good question. mean, I'm torn. think anytime I'm discouraged and I'm talking to friends or family, less in the industry, they're really quick to be like, it takes everyone a long time. Like brands don't blow up overnight, keep at it. I struggle with that from a realistic standpoint that I'm currently in a brand that's doing okay and I love it I wanna keep doing it, but like financially, will it make sense for me to keep doing it if it doesn't grow? No.
So I think it can be tricky when you hear that from people who have maybe been in your shoes, maybe had a friend in your shoes where their brand or their company like wasn't taking off and that people are just like, keep at it, keep at it. I think it can be hard because it's extremely unrealistic for a lot of the world to just continue to do it if it's not financially viable for them. And so I think that can get tricky if you're giving that advice, if you...
either been in that scenario, again, you know someone, because you just don't know what their financial situation is. know, people get help in all different ways, and it doesn't always make sense to keep going. So I actually think there is a time to call it before, you know, you kind of hurt yourself financially or hurt yourself in a way to continue to set yourself up for success in the future. So I don't think that's necessarily the best piece of advice. think, yes, it does take some people.
many, years and then the brand really grows. And I think it takes some people many, many years and then the brand never takes off. So I think knowing when to call it is actually a pretty smart thing to kind of keep in the back of your mind. And yeah, something that I try to take with a grain of salt anytime someone tells me like it takes everybody a few years. Not everybody has those few years. So yeah, I think that's kind of what I would say, even though that's very pessimistic. I think it's like being realistic in the end is also a smart decision.
Emily (46:15)
Yeah, no, I think that's a great piece of advice because you don't hear it that often, but it makes sense. mean, there's a certain point where things stop growing and you have to be realistic.
Quinn Mclaughlin (46:25)
And no one wants to tell you that, right? Like no one wants to be the person when you're discouraged to be like, well, give it up. So I totally understand everyone's intent and they mean the best behind it. But I think hearing from people who have tried and given up is also really important because I think that's a large, large majority of people who started business is it ends up not working out.
Emily (46:42)
Yeah. Well, then I guess on the flip side, what is a piece of advice that you would give people? You're like, this is good.
Quinn Mclaughlin (46:49)
Yeah.
Yeah, I've been given, I mean, really good advice, honestly, like listening to podcasts has been huge. think one thing that's like stuck with me that I is maybe more specific to me and my kind of personality, but separating the brand from my self-worth has been huge. think the first year, like the brand doing well, I was happy and I was good. And if the brand wasn't doing well, I was bad.
I think there's just no correlation between your self-worth and your brand, just like there's no correlation between a normal job and you. So I think kind of separating those two as you would with a nine to five and kind of letting yourself be free of whether or not the brand's doing well has been super important for me. I think it's something that like comes very natural now. And when the brand's not doing well or I get a bad email or I'm in a bad situation, like I think about it until I end my day and then it's just my job. And I think that can be.
really, really hard in the beginning and it definitely took some work to get to where I am now, but I think learning to separate your self-worth from your brand or your company is something that all founders should work on early on, because it can definitely be detrimental to your mental health if you don't separate those two.
Emily (47:52)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I think that's a great piece of advice.
Quinn Mclaughlin (47:56)
Yeah,
I think it's also just something that like comes with time, but you know, work on it when you can.
Emily (48:01)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Okay, well, thank you so much for joining us. Of course, yes, this has been amazing. I'm so glad we got to do this. Where can people find you? Where can they find Praerie?
Quinn Mclaughlin (48:05)
Of course, thank you so much for having me.
Yeah, so our Instagram is Shoppraerie, so S-H-O-P, and then Praerie, which is spelled P-R-A-E-R-I-E, which I feel like definitely confuses people. So Instagram and website are both Shoppraerie. And then yeah, website, just shoppraerie.com And yeah, please check us out. We're so excited for the spring and we have a ton of new stuff coming. So hoping that we continue to expand and become a bit of a bigger name.
Emily (48:38)
Great, well, I'm so glad to hear that. And yeah, thank you so much for joining us, Quinn. It's been a great episode. Yeah.
Quinn Mclaughlin (48:44)
Of course. Thank you. Thanks
so much for having me. Can't wait for the podcast to come out.
Emily (48:48)
Me too!
