Do you have a great business idea you know will become a success, but the fear of failure has stopped you from moving forward with it?
You’re not alone! In fact, there are many others like you right now who are sitting on an amazing product to sell, but they just don’t know where or how to get started.
Thankfully, getting your own business up-and-running and even recognized online today is easier than ever, thanks to social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
During this week’s episode of Do The Damn Thing, Laura Foy speaks with Tori Torres, who is the founder of a thriving online business called The Posh Girls Club… opens in a new window to The Post Girls Club website….
Tori will reveal how you can build your own online business and thrive successfully in the corporate world. She’ll help you wrap your head around how she was able to leverage Instagram to create a brand that almost one million people currently follow.
But how did Tori go from first selling her fashion designs on eBay to creating a successful product that even famous celebrities showcase at their award ceremonies?
Be sure to watch our video now to find out how she did the damn thing!
Read the script:
Laura: Hello everybody. Welcome back to another fun-filled episode of Do The Damn Thing. My name is Laura, and I’ll be your host. This week we are joined by the magnificent, the fierce, the beautiful, the one and only, Tori Torres. Thank you so much for joining us.
Tori: Thank you so much for having me. I’m really excited to be here today.
Laura: We are excited to learn about you and to hear your story, and to gather all that wisdom is about 30 minutes. Tori Torres is the CEO and founder of The Posh Girls Club… opens in a new window to The Posh Girls Club website…, which is a community for fierce, fabulous women.
But before you did that, you actually have a really inspiring story. What events happened in your life to get you there? Can you give us a little bit of your background?
Tori: Yeah, absolutely. So, years ago, I was a stay-at-home mommy. I eloped at 19. And I found myself in not the best marriage and really hadn’t thought through what I was going to do to be able to – not just support myself, because I’ve always been really ambitious and driven – but what I could do to thrive on my own and create a space for my sons to thrive and grow.
I didn’t really have any money because we didn’t think it through. I don’t recommend that. I thought that there had to be a way to create something. I wanted to come up with something. So, I sold a product before I ever had a product. I thought about what I could sell well – handbags – and how I could sell them to get to sell the thing that I wanted to. So I found a supplier, figured out my price point, put together some amazing marketing, and put it on eBay. It was really new at the time. I sold the product, reinvested, and just kept building my business from there. Before I knew it, I was selling to some of the biggest celebrities. Paris Hilton actually carried my clutch over Judith Lieber’s at the time, which was insane.
Laura: Weren’t the Kardashians carrying your goods? Is this stuff that you designed?
Tori: Yes, it’s all stuff that I designed. I worked with a lot of the Bravo TV shows, Housewives, and Rihanna. And then I got to design for Chloe and Beyonce. This was all from something that I legit started at home.
Laura: But how did they find you? This is every designer’s dream. I mean, did you just get literally plucked from obscurity? How did they even know who you were?
Tori: That’s what I said. Well, I figured it out later on. So I designed for years before anyone cared. I was selling to like regular moms. This is a part of branding and building a business. I didn’t even realize what I was doing. But now, after looking back and starting to The Posh Girls Club, I was targeting their audiences.
And so eventually, those people started to see my content. So I got invited backstage to the different BET Awards, and even MTV, for backstage swag. That’s where I actually met Chloe. I was standing right next to her when they took it. So the exposure, building the brand, being intentional about the audience – people are always like, “How do you get to that point?”
Well, I was just very intentional about my audience and who the customer was. I tell people all the time that that is the key. You got to know who your customer is because if you talk to them, it’s like magic. Only to them. Who cares what anyone else thinks? And that’s what we do at The Posh Girls Club.
Laura: Was your customer primarily just celebrities, or was your customer originally moms who needed a quality handbag?
Tori: It was their audiences. So I used designer-inspired styles. If Paris was carrying something that looked similar to a style that we had, I knew Paris’ audience would love this design.
Laura: So you are targeting the celebrities’ audiences?
Tori: That’s right. But that was just phase one. That got me to be able to actually afford to buy the products that I wanted to sell, which was Bling. So then I started designing Bling. People were just paying more and more attention to my brand as I transitioned. And I created designs based on what other people were doing. But again, it was still targeting those moms – those stay-at-home moms like myself and young college students.
But I figured out the formula. And so I was able to do it again with Bling. And those are the products that the celebrities ended up loving. I ended up taking that product backstage, doing swag, and growing my brand.
Laura: So it sounds like you amassed all of this knowledge, and you decided, “Hey, I’m going to share this with people,” where I think some people would be like, “I’m going to keep this. I don’t want anyone else to be riding my coattails or whatever.” You had a different attitude, is that right?
Tori: That is very true. And this my unique selling proposition. This is my magic. And I hear it in every single realm that I do business in. People are like, “Tori, I don’t understand how you’re this way.” And here’s why. I have magic. Laura has magic. The women in her community have magic. Women in my community have magic. And it’s individual. Me shining doesn’t change the fact that you shine. Even if we do the exact same thing, it’s not going to take away from your magic.
At The Posh Girls Club, I get many women who want to know how I influence a million followers. I’m more than willing to share that information with them because they’re going to do it in their way.
Laura: That’s just a beautiful attitude to have. I respect it. I share it with you. One of the things we do at HipCat Society… opens in a new tab to HipCat Society website homepage… is we’re all about providing value and being generous and authentic. So I think we really are similar souls in that way. And I totally respect that about you.
So let’s talk about The Posh Girls Club. You’ve got this brand that’s booming. You’re hanging out with the celebs. You’re backstage at BET. Chloe’s on speed dial. This is how I’m envisioning it. This is my world. You’re on a pedestal now. And then you’re like, “I’m gonna build something else.”
Tori: We’re breadwinners. That is where my whole breadwinner concept comes from. As women, we do so much. And now we’re building multimillion-dollar and billion-dollar companies. It took a lot. The people in my life didn’t understand it. They just didn’t get me. On The Posh Girls Club platform, I want to be able to remove that stigma. It’s not just a thing that we say like, “We want to teach you how to be self-sufficient.” No, I live and breathe that because I remember what it felt like for people to judge the fact that I worked so much while being a new mommy. But now, my sons, who are 16 and 18, look back and say, “Look at what you did? Look what you’ve done?”
I tell people all the time that this is the key. You got to know who your customer is because if you talk to them, it’s like magic.
Laura: I can only hope that one day my son feels the same way.
We’ve got a question out there in the audience. By the way, this is live on Facebook. So if anyone watching would like to ask a question from the brilliant Tori Torres, just go ahead and put it in the chat and feel free to throw us a like on Facebook.
So Shannon wants to know, “Have you seen a change in the support of the ladies in your club? What do they need right now to be strong and creative in comparison to the past?” These are revolutionary and ever-changing times that we’re going through. She also thinks that your story could be so helpful for so many people. And so she’s grateful that you shared it with us.
So, how do you support them differently now compared to before?
Tori: We’ve grown up in a time where social media was very, for lack of a better word – inauthentic. And I have always felt very strongly that authenticity rules. You can never be caught off guard if you’re authentic and you’re your real self. And so when you’re building your business, be who you are. Your people will support you. They will follow you. They will buy from you. They will love you. They will know, like, and trust you. When brands talk about the know, like, and trust factor – that’s a real and a present thing. So the more authentic you are in your brand as you’re building and using your magic, the more you will build.
Laura: Absolutely. Whitney says, “Yes! Authenticity rules!” It’s so true. How did you get there? You were running your very successful business backstage. But, what is step one? For most people out there who may be watching, who either want to know what these communities are, cause maybe they’ll join yours, or they want to build their own. How do you go about that? What do you do on day one?
Tori: On day one, you get very clear about your plan. You have to know what the journey is that you want to send your customer through. So in my coaching or in our Socialite Society, one of the things that I teach is creating brand pillars. I know that in pillar one, I need to teach you how to brand first and build on your magic. And then I want to get you to be able to create a full product offer. What are all the stages of your product offer that you can repeat over and over? Once we get them building it, now it’s just the rinse-and-repeat process.
So if you want to begin, the first thing to do is think about what your brand pillars are going to be. Where do you want to take your customer and your business? Outline it. Take the time to think about it. Be intentional in creating that initial plan before you execute anything.
Laura: Absolutely. I think a lot of people, and myself included, get so excited by certain things that you imagine they’re going to be like, cause you don’t know what they’re going to be like. Then you jump in and maybe don’t build the foundation and don’t take the time to really set out your goals and build a roadmap. It’s so important to do that. Is that something that you guys help with at The Post Girls Club?
Tori: Yeah, absolutely. So I help in three different ways. Number one is The Socialite Society… opens in a new window to The Socialite Society page on The Posh Girls Club website…, which is my membership that’s $29 a month because that’s an entry point for people where they’re getting one business bundle every single month. I helped with every single thing. So it’s very hands-on. They can tag me in the group if they’ve got questions and they need help. I think that’s important if you’re selling a product to people to help them make their lives better. Access to help is really important, especially in the beginning.
I also have two courses that are accelerated that teach the same things, but all of them can be found on The Posh Girls Club website.
Laura: Now I want to take a look here real quick at your Instagram… opens in a new window to The Posh Girls Club Instagram page… because I think that your Instagram is beautiful and well done. So what is your strategy when working in social media? Did you decide to focus solely on Instagram? Do you spend as much time on Facebook? And what would you say to somebody in terms of developing their own social media strategy?
Tori: So, for me, most of my activity and engagement happens on Instagram. Of course, I’m connected to the other platforms. I think LinkedIn is really important, depending on the type of business that you’re building. Of course, you never want to not be on Twitter.
However, Instagram is my focus. I always think about whatever my product offer is for the month. And it’s funny because I had someone working with me once, and she was like, “Tori is so intentional about every single post.” So next month, we’re going to be talking about career babes, where we’re going to be working with those women who are in the career space. I’ve got a career coach. We’ve been putting together content for the last few months. So you’re going to see a lot more content that’s based around the funny career memes and things specifically for the businesswoman who doesn’t really want to be an entrepreneur.
So you gotta be intentional. They may be funny. They may be sassy. But there is a whole intent and a plan that goes into every single month’s content, which I do myself.
Laura: Your Instagram is beautiful. And one of the things I love about it is that it’s very clean looking, first of all. And it’s very simplistic or modern in its design. I find that one of the things that people say is like, “Well, you know, it’s Instagram, and I have to have beautiful photography. I have to be a professional videographer. I have to have a great design team.” And I don’t know, maybe you do. But I would say that for the most part, you can make it look as beautiful as you do, with a million followers. Do you have specific design tools that you use?
Tori: I do. And it’s fun, and it’s very simple. I love Canva… opens in a new window to Canva website…. Canva is simple. If you have zero skills in creating posts, you can use that to create. Just change the colors and change the photos that they put up for you. I also use Planoly… opens in a new window to Planoly website… just to throw my content over once it’s designed, just so that I’m making sure that I’m still in the field with the look and the energy that I want to attract. I also use it for growth hacking, by the way, with specific graphics or specific colors, because it helps you hack the algorithm. So just a little tip there.
Laura: So Laura MacCarley wants to know, “What advice do you have for someone just starting out?” And I think this is really valuable for many different industries. So whether they want to join the fashion industry or whether they want to build an online community, what would you say to that entrepreneur who is kind of stuck and doesn’t know where to go?
Tori: Well, the first thing I would say is to really just have clarity on what you want to do. A lot of people will look at what other people are doing and think that they have to do things that way and go along that line. I’ve been trapped in that rut before.
This is why brand pillars are so important. It’s the first thing you gotta do is get clarity on who you are as a brand. What do you want to put in the world? Why do you want to put it in the world? Who you want to put it in the world for? What do you want it to look like? Those are all things that as you start thinking through and writing them out and meditating on them and letting them get into your soul in clarity – that is how it all starts to come together.
That’s why I do a lot of things. I work with Silicon Valley startups and helping them build their platforms. I help them do a lot of these things that we’re talking about. I work with brand new startups who have $0. I work with mid-level, middle-class women. I recommend the same thing to all of them. Brand pillars first, clarity, and then knowing what you want to do. And then if you want to look and think about, “Well, I like the way this brand does this. Let me pull a little bit of that magic that’s working for them into my business.” But you got to start from your own perspective first.
When you’re building your business, be who you are. Your people will support you. They will follow you. They will buy from you. They will love you. They will know, like, and trust you. When brands talk about the know, like, and trust factor – that’s a real and present thing. So the more authentic you are in your brand as you’re building and using your magic, the more you will build.
Laura: And that’s so true. I mean, one of the things we really talk about a lot at HipCat Society is authenticity. And you really have to know yourself. Like you have to come from that genuine place, whether that’s coming up with five adjectives that describe yourself or just being really clear on your intentions. And I think that that’s often an overlooked aspect to it all. People want to focus on the product or maybe focus on how much they can sell it for, or focus on the profits. But that’s really you putting the chicken before the egg.
Tori: You have to focus on the value that you’re bringing to your audience because that’s how you’ll sell to them. You’ll sell easily if you know the value that you are bringing them, and you provide them with that value. Selling is very different today compared to how it was before. People are used to the funnels, the upsells, and the webinars.
So if you find a place of authenticity and you connect that to the value – through the pillars, which will help you develop and understand what that is and use that forever in your brand – you can sell anything. Then you’re not just a brand that’s selling a product. You can sell. You can have affiliate partnerships. You can build partnerships with bigger brands like we did with SamCart… opens in a new window to SamCart website…. You can monetize more than just the product or the service that you sell. And that’s when you really start hitting the six and the seven-figure mark. That’s when it all comes together.
Laura: Now, you are clearly a wealth of knowledge. Did you pick this all up on your own, or did you have a mentor? Was somebody showing you the way? Because you’re buttoned up, Tori. You know what you’re talking about.
Tori: None of this existed when I started. I was like everyone else. I decided I was going to sell on MySpace. I was like, “I don’t need a MySpace profile. But what I do want to do is sell these blinged-out phones on MySpace. And so that’s what I did. It just made sense to me.
And I took it from there to eBay and just kept scaling it. And I just followed my instinct. And a lot of times if you do that, you will find yourself in a very beautiful space. That’s why it’s important to connect to yourself and not what everyone else is doing all the time.
Laura: Now, what’s a typical day like for you? Do you focus more on one brand more than another? Is it all about coaching? Is every day crazy?
Tori: There’s a little crazy in every day. So, one of the things that I love to start with in the morning is, first of all, having coffee before my walk. I have to have my coffee first. I think it’s important, even before I get out of bed, that there’s a moment where I’m just getting clarity. I’m just thinking about how grateful I am that I get to wake up the way that I do and all those kinds of things. That is a whole part of every single day.
I am a big outliner of things. So I use my phone to just throw notes in. I’m obsessed with the notes in the iPhone. And you will find my logo there and bullet points of what I want to do every day. That’s actually the last thing I do each day. So I have an outline before I start, and then I just start to execute those things.
So every day I use Asana… opens in a new window to Asana website…. It’s my favorite tool just because I can move tasks around. Every day I’m not going to get to every single thing. And that’s okay. I’ll have like four main tasks, and I’ll tag my assistant on them. I’ll tag other members of my team and just really try to get everything monthly out into that calendar so that I’ve got clarity on what I can expect to be doing each day without any overwhelm.
Laura: And would you say that that same strategy works for people just starting out? It’s all about being clear and task-oriented?
Tori: I think so. See, what I don’t want people to do is get stuck on just planning. Every year I’ll outline the main things that I want to accomplish. Then I work backwards to get to that point. What are the four things I’ll need to do each quarter? Then I’ll break the quarter down into monthly, and break the monthly down into weekly, and break the weekly down to daily. That is legitimately how I plan my whole life.
Laura: Do you have all your dinners planned out and your kids’ lunches? You seem really reorganized.
Tori: It’s that part of my life that’s just a hot mess.
Laura: Well, at least you became a little bit more relatable there.
Tori: If you see my planners, they’re all actually done that way. I wish I knew how to share my screen because you’d be like, “She’s actually serious.”
Laura: I believe you. I mean, you didn’t get to where you are by being disorganized. Now you mentioned Asana. Are there other tools that you think people would really be helped by using?
Tori: A hundred percent. I have a list of 10 of them on the website: poshgirlsclubs.com… opens in a new window to The Posh Girls Club website…. Also, on my Instagram @theposhgirlsclub… opens in a new window to The Posh Girls Club Instagram page…. There’s a Business Launch Kit. And you can download it. It’s free!
But I’m obsessed with SamCart. Everyone knows I love Ryan and Scott. Those are my guys. You also need an email platform, whichever one you’re going to choose. I love Kajabi… opens in a new window to Kajabi website…. And I actually took time putting this resource together. It’s a free resource. I wanted people to know why I liked these things, why I use them specifically in my business, how they helped me, and how they can help them. So it’s all broken down there.
Laura: I should have known that you had an organized answer for that. And you said it’s free. People can grab that for free?
Tori: Yes, it’s free. It’s called: Business Launch Kit. It’s on my Link Tree.
Laura: You keep mentioning SamCart. Is that a funnel builder? I’m not familiar with SamCart.
Tori: I teach simplified selling. You can sell whether you have a website or even if you don’t have a website. You’ll see me on their page. I am an affiliate for SamCart, but it’s because from the second I first used it three years ago, when I started The Posh Girls Club, that thing has made me so much money. And so I tell you, if you’re starting a business, be sure to use it. I still use it, and I pay to use it. And it is the one resource that I would not go without in my business.
Laura: Very nice. Now let’s talk a little bit about the people that joined The Posh Girls Club. Do you focus on a specific niche or industry or level of success? Who’s it good for?
Tori: So the great thing about The Post Girls Club is that there are various levels. So I start with complete free resources that are going to be impactful. You can watch tons of videos on my YouTube channel. People are always like, “Tori, how do you make money? You tell us everything!” For the people that don’t need me, they don’t need me. But the people that do start to understand a little bit more during every single step of the way. And we help people where they are. So whether you’re planning, launching, or scaling, there is something there for you.
And we’re now coming into the seven-figure range. So that’s where we are. So if you want to learn anything from zero to that point, I’ve got something to share.
Laura: I did see that you guys are doing a virtual event. Now, before COVID, were you doing live events?
Tori: I was. I had a really amazing retreat last October in LA, where the girls came for four days, and we worked on their businesses in person. I don’t do the typical retreat. We’re gonna get together. We’re gonna work on your business plan. We’re going to help by pulling your brand together, finding the types of graphics that you are going to need, putting together the messaging, and writing your emails.
Laura: That’s awesome! That sounds amazing. And maybe some wine?
Tori: Yeah, for sure. But we’ll hopefully be able to do that again then in this coming year. That is a part of the plan.
Laura: Awesome. Well, what can they expect from the virtual summit?
Tori: So from the virtual summit, what we’re planning is: Mindset with Kyle, my mindset coach. I just love him so much. He’s so impactful in my life that I decided to bring him in as the mindset coach inside of The Socialite Society. Because if you don’t even believe that you can do things, then you won’t have success – that’s just the reality. What you think becomes true.
I’ve also got our new career coach coming in to share value with our career babes, cause we don’t want to leave anyone out. I’ll lead entrepreneurship and the customer journey, and how you build that for your customer. And then I have Tracy, who has her own TV show over at Bebo Weekly, who’s going to teach you how to get the press that you need.
Laura: Well, this went by so quickly. We are, in fact, out of time. But I wanted to give you a quick minute to just shout out all the different places and websites where people can find you. And, of course, we will put them in all of the descriptions down below. But let’s hear it from Tori’s mouth directly. Where can they get access to you?
Tori: Well, the first place you can find me is on Instagram with our almost one million follower network @ThePoshGirlsClub… opens in a new window to The Posh Girls Club Instagram page…. And, of course, the website poshgirlsclub.com… opens in a new window to The Posh Girls Club website… and on Facebook @PoshGirlsClub… opens in a new window to The Posh Girls Club Facebook page….
Laura: Awesome. Thank you so much. You know, the name of the show is Do The Damn Thing, and we’re trying to talk to those people who maybe are a little bit blocked. And just like you said, even if it’s not perfect yet, just do it. You don’t want to get stuck planning. Just do it! And that’s kinda what we live by. That’s why I do this show.
Tori: If you can see it, then go for it!
Laura: I appreciate you so much for coming on and sharing your time. I know you’re super busy. I hope that we can meet up sometime soon. Thank you so much!
Tori: Thank you, Laura. It’s my pleasure. Bye-bye.
So please like us on Facebook… opens in a new window to Hipcat Society Facebook page…, follow us on Instagram… opens in a new window to Hipcat Society Instagram page…, and connect with Tori at poshgirlsclub.com… opens in a new window to The Post Girls Club website….
