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[Voiceover]: Welcome to the checkout. We catch up with previous add to cart guests and ask them five quick questions to get to know them better and leave you with a little extra inspiration to get you through your Friday.
Nathan Bush: Today's checkout features Tara Shelton, founder of Little Suckers, a succulent gifting business with
Nathan Bush: a very, very strong pun game.
Nathan Bush: Tara started out four years ago doing
Nathan Bush: same day delivery of beautifully packaged succulents in her local area, then expanded to
Nathan Bush: deliver nationally and is now focused on
Nathan Bush: the DIY branch of her business that
Nathan Bush: grew from COVID a Build your own
Nathan Bush: terrarium bar in Sydney.
Nathan Bush: Tara Shelton, welcome to the Checkout.
Nathan Bush: We've heard all about Little Suckers and branding and events. We're going to learn a little bit more about yourself with five quick questions. Number one, what's the weirdest thing that you've ever bought online?
Tara Shelton: I bought a. Sorry, my daughter's little girl. Some shoes which were like size 9 kids and they rocked up like size 9 adults. So I ended up wearing them. So that was pretty funny.
Nathan Bush: Were they your style?
Tara Shelton: No, not really.
Nathan Bush: Make the most of it. All right, number two, who is your favorite retailer?
Tara Shelton: Oh, I love Gorman. Yeah, yeah, I'd say that's my go to Australian. Yep, Gorman.
Nathan Bush: Now, as a branding expert, what do
Nathan Bush: you think that Gorman do really well from a brand perspective?
Tara Shelton: I think they own a certain style and I think they do really cool collaborations. So yeah, I think that's how they keep it fresh with different artists.
Nathan Bush: Yeah. And I feel like even for me, I'm a colorblind, non fashionable bloke. You can pick Gorman from a mile away. Right. They've got a very distinctive style.
Tara Shelton: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Nathan Bush: Number three, which retail fad do you wish was history?
Tara Shelton: This is a hard one. Probably like the small talk of customer service. So like, hey, can I help you with anything? Let me know if you need any sizes. What did you do? Or general pants. What'd you do on the weekend? What are you up to on the weekend? Like, nothing.
Nathan Bush: Like.
Tara Shelton: So, yeah, probably just that we're really see through customer service.
Nathan Bush: Yeah. It's so funny with what you were saying about how you set up the brand for Little Suckers is that it's just an extension of yourself as well. And it's like as soon as it feels forced or unnatural, you're like, I just feel a bit icky. I just want to get out of here.
Tara Shelton: Exactly.
Nathan Bush: Cool.
Nathan Bush: Number four, can you recommend a book
Nathan Bush: or a podcast that our listeners should immediately get into?
Tara Shelton: I'll do both. So Purple Cow Godin. And there's a podcast from How I Built this Jo Malone. It's amazing, amazing, awesome.
Nathan Bush: Both great examples. Purple Cow is old now, isn't it? It's like 15 years old, but it's still so relevant.
Tara Shelton: Yeah, very. And it's little easy.
Nathan Bush: Great tips. All right, last one I've got for you.
Nathan Bush: Can you recommend?
Nathan Bush: Oh, no, I just did that one. Can't read today. Number five, finish this sentence. The future of retail is experience. Beautiful. Love it. Tara. Thank you so much. If anyone hears this and they want to know more, go head back to the episode where we discuss branding. Also, you can go in and check out Little Suckers in Sydney. Go to the events. Apparently there's going to be a tattoo and terrarium events very soon. I may be over promising. Or check out the website@littlesuckers.com thanks, Tara. Cool.
Tara Shelton: Thank you. Bye.
Nathan Bush: To hear more from Tara, jump back into episode 93, where Tara shares her best alternatives to Facebook ads, how building a brand personality that aligns with your own makes perfect sense, and why she believes creativity comes from constraint. Thanks for listening. And until next time, keep adding to cartoon.
