How Tessa Barton Turned Influencing Into A Bootstrapped Tech Startup

Forbes

In this episode of Forbes Talks, Forbes Associate Editor Alex York talks with Tessa Barton, founder and CEO of the Tezza, they delve into Tessa's journey as a creative entrepreneur. Tessa details how she and her husband, Cole, built Tezza from their small apartment without external funding for the first three years.  Tessa also talk about how sharing her creative process openly and treating Tezza as a community, not just a product, helped grow Tezza’s dedicated customer base.   Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  0:00 Introduction 1:29 How Tessa Barton Started A Tech Platform? 9:24 How Barton Built Tezza To Success 14:14 Here's How Tessa Barton Solves Problems As A Creative Entrepreneur 23:41 Leadership At Tezza 29:30 How To Grow Organic Content From Tessa Barton 35:28 Tezza's Rebrand: What Can We Expect Going Forward?  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00We waited so long to hire anybody. I think we were just couldn't even believe that we had

00:05started a company. It still felt like, well, this is our hobby. This is what we

00:09are doing on the side or something. And then we were like, no, we have a company. We have

00:12to actually hire people. And the second we did that, we were able to take things to the next level.

00:20Hi, everyone. It's Alex Yorick. I'm here with Tessa Barton, the founder of Tezza. Thank you

00:24so much for joining me today. Thank you so much for having me.

00:27So I'm so excited to talk about your burgeoning career. You have gone from

00:32hardcore photography in your background to then building an app to continuing on your journey of

00:39being a fashion content creator. There are so many facets to what you do today. How do you

00:43describe what your career is? Oh, gosh, I hate that question. No, I actually like it as I get

00:48older. But I am really the creative director of Tezza and really try to create a place that

00:57gives creators tools, inspiration, ways to work and connect with brands. That's really the forefront

01:05of what I do every single day. But on top of that, I also still work with brands as a creator myself.

01:11I like to keep a pulse on what's happening in the industry, how I can best serve creators

01:15and make a tool that's not just a tool that's helpful for them, but a space that feels safe to

01:20come and learn and create. That's the bulk of what I do. I still love to take photos too and do all

01:27that stuff for brands as well. It's super exciting. You're in such a combination of creative

01:34fields right now. Did you ever expect to be a founder of something, especially like a tech

01:40platform essentially? Definitely. I never would have said tech. You caught me there, but I loved

01:47starting businesses. As a kid, I had a candy shop. I would teach art classes to the kids down

01:52the street. I was just obsessed. I grew up in an insanely cool family of entrepreneurs and artists,

01:57and it was so inspiring. I didn't realize until I got much older that that was unique to be in a

02:04family that supported art and creativity. Today, we've come a long way. I feel like

02:09now you can tell somebody, I'm an aspiring artist of any kind. People are like, great,

02:13I support you. I hear you on that. When I grew up, it was like, well, what are you really going to do?

02:19It became my mission to give everybody the ability to know that they can be creative and

02:25have that inside of them. That has become the whole reason we even started Tezza to begin with.

02:30Yeah. I think that's so important and special for a lot of people who are creative or don't want to

02:34go down, I don't know, a STEM route or a hard deep tech route to realize that there are true

02:41businesses that you can build in so many of these other creative fields. You started your career in

02:46photography, correct? Can you tell me a little bit about that experience, how you ultimately

02:50went down that route to begin your work journey? Yes. I was obsessed with fashion. That was really

02:57the beginning. I started shooting my collections, and I realized, wow, there's something with

03:03photography that's storytelling that I was obsessed with. Then I went to art school,

03:07got my BFA in fine art. Within that process, there were so many students that were bugged

03:14because Instagram came out, and they were like, now everyone thinks they're creative. I was like,

03:17no, this is something. This is really cool. Now people are going to be paying more attention to

03:22what we're doing. I really took it as a moment of like, I'm going to make my platform a place

03:28to come and learn and be inspired and teach people that they can create amazing content.

03:35Anyone can do it. That really was the beginning. That was in 2010, 20-whatever. I don't know what

03:41year it is anymore. Then slowly after that, I just saw the social media platforms begin to happen,

03:50and people begin to start to make money on them. My husband and I moved to New York City.

03:56We were just two kids, really had no reason to move there other than we really, really loved it.

04:02We were like, we're going to make money. We're going to figure it out. My husband was working

04:06at a tech startup at the time and deferring salary. We had zero dollars. I was an aspiring

04:13photographer working with brands, sure, but making money, questionable. I remember one day,

04:19we looked at each other. We have negative dollars in the bank account. We were trying to figure out

04:23how can we pay rent? I started leaning into social media a bit more. Brands were just starting

04:30to maybe pay people. It wasn't like it is today. I was like, okay, there's something here. I leaned

04:38into social media posting three times a day, really trying to actually engage and

04:43grow this community of people that were interested in the same thing that I was.

04:47And that's really where it all came together because I was, yes, working as a creator,

04:54but I was also a photographer who had a very strong aesthetic and was really

05:01open about it. It was never something I was like, I'm going to, this is my secret sauce.

05:04I was going to share it with everyone because I really believe that the more you share,

05:08the more you grow. And it was only going to be bigger from there. And so, yeah,

05:13that was kind of the beginning. And then fast forward to 2018, we were, my husband and I

05:19had a crazy idea. We're like, could we build an app? Because looking at the space at the time,

05:24it was just like a bunch of tech apps built by a bunch of dudes. There was nothing that had brand

05:32or this kind of, I could feel there was something happening, especially with women at the time.

05:39We were dominating the space, working with brands, and there was nothing catering to that

05:43and speaking to that. And we really wanted to come in and bring some personality, make something

05:47that was as fun as the act of creating. And so we were crazy enough to think we could do it.

05:53And we completely bootstrapped it, built it, the two of us in a tiny 250 square foot apartment

05:59in New York City. And we created the app that is now today, has had over 25 million downloads.

06:06It was really something we kind of just, it was a passion project. We felt like the community

06:10needed it and wanted something different. And I can't believe that we're here today.

06:14Yeah. It's been such a crazy journey to watch how Instagram and social media in general has

06:20changed over the last decade. Like you said, when you first started, it was not something people did

06:25for a job. It was just a place to share some sort of creativity. When in your journey did you

06:32realize that this was something you could start building a business around and not just something

06:36that was maybe a platform for like a portfolio of your own work? When did that switch flip that

06:43this is like a real business opportunity here? Yeah. I think it was in maybe 2015, 2016. That's

06:51when I first went to a meeting with a social media manager and I thought it was like a scam.

06:57I was like, okay, this is so sketchy. Why would you want to represent me? I don't even get it.

07:02And they were like, this is how much you could be charging. This is how brands are,

07:06you know, before that brands weren't even sending a contract. It would be like,

07:10it was the wild west. People were just, it was, it was crazy. The things I did, it was, yeah.

07:15But that was really when the light bulb went off and still to that, you know, no one was

07:20respecting or understanding the space at that time. It was still really early. I think it was about

07:25two or three years later when people, the word influencer even became a thing and then,

07:29you know, so on and so forth. How do you feel about the word influencer? I feel like there

07:33are so many different opinions on being called that. Do you identify as one yourself? I literally

07:38have hated it since it feels so pretentious. Right. Or it feels like I influence, I don't know.

07:44That's what you do. Like, I feel like this is the conversation I have with people all the time. And

07:47I'm like, to me as a non influencer, that's like the, the highest achievement I feel like is to be

07:54able to influence somebody else. You ever feel that like you, you truly are, I mean, one for just

08:00like sales purposes, like you are pushing sales, you're encouraging people to buy things, but also

08:05like you said, you're now helping people to be creative in different ways. I feel like there's

08:10such a negative connotation around the word. And I'm like, no, but you guys are really,

08:13you're influencing people. Like every brand in the world hopes to do that. You know what I mean?

08:17Okay. I like it. Okay. Maybe I like it. Reclaim it. I'll reclaim it. Yeah.

08:21Do you feel a pressure in that sense that you, that people are watching you,

08:24that people are following along your journey, that you are either recommending products or

08:28your own product to them now, what does that feel like as kind of the leader of this?

08:32Um, I do feel a lot of pressure. I guess my, the pressure for me

08:37comes more of like, okay, how am I forward thinking always? You know, because I think

08:42I've been now posting photos on the internet for over 10 years. I've been in this space for a long

08:47time. It's changing all the time. And being somebody that has a platform that also supports

08:52creators, I'm always trying to think, okay, what's next? How am I supporting you in that way? And

08:56that's where the pressure really comes from for me. I, um, I think the other pressure comes when

09:03you're not feeling like creative or authentic and you're just posting. Cause it feels like part of

09:08the job. Like the most important thing for me is to try and make sure what I'm posting is actually

09:14coming from me. And it's like, like having that trust with the people I'm posting with it,

09:19then it feels like a friendship and an actual real relationship, not just like a job.

09:24Yeah. That totally makes sense throughout your experience, building your own social media

09:28platform, building your own community. When along that journey, did you then launch Teza? How did

09:34your, you know, the community that you had created for yourself then feed into that?

09:38Yeah. So, um, in, I think, you know, I'd been obviously posting and doing things for years,

09:44but, um, when we launched in 2018, within the first year we had over a million downloads, which

09:50really, um, I think our community, we had already been building tools for them for like Lightroom or

09:58Adobe products. I had written a book called, um, when I literally forgot it, um, it was called

10:04Insta style. And it was so crazy that I even wrote this book, but I truly was so passionate about

10:10this space. I was like, everyone can do this. And I wanted anyone to feel like they could approach

10:15the space. And so the book was really about how you could work with brands or how you could take

10:19better content, how you can, you know, all these things. So it was, everyone was already very

10:23involved. It was a very open space. And when we launched, I think there was just immediate

10:27success and appreciation because people felt like, wow, you, you did this for us. Like they

10:32were begging for an easier, better option that was really powerful. And for the pro user, somebody

10:39that's really trying to do this as a career. And for just the everyday person, it's like, I want to

10:44maybe dip my toe, but I don't want to do something that's really complex. Like how can it be easy? So

10:49there was just an, an immediate, um, attraction to it, which was so exciting.

10:54Definitely. And you and your husband Cole came together to build this. Like you said, he had

10:57experience in the tech buildings or the app building space. You had the experience on the

11:01fashion and photography side of things. Can you tell me a little bit more about how you guys

11:05decided to work together and build a company together?

11:08Yes, we, we really, um, we played in a band together. I mean, let's take it all the way

11:13back. Right. So we were in the creative space together and we started taking photos together,

11:19all those things. I feel like we had a really similar creative energy and I realized quickly

11:25that he was just as creative as me. Like I was always known as the creative one, but really he

11:30he's maybe more creative than me. I gotta say, I'll give him credit, but you know, working together,

11:35was insanely difficult. I think working with your partner is like the most amazing thing if you can

11:41make it work, but it comes with challenges. And my biggest advice there would be like,

11:45try and be forward thinking about it. Um, if the, if you have a bigger goal you're working towards,

11:50it's much easier to not get frustrated about little things that bug you along the way.

11:56And then also defining your roles. Um, because stepping on each other's toes is really,

12:01really hard. And I think if you can like say this is your territory, this is mine and we can

12:06come together on these things, it makes everything so much easier. So we did a lot of that in the

12:11beginning, honestly, just with like content creation and having to work together in that

12:15side of the job, he became a photographer, not out of choice, but no, but because that's kind

12:21of the work we were doing. So, um, when we finally came together to start the app, it was really,

12:27you know, I think because we bootstrapped the business, we literally didn't hire a single

12:32other person for three years. The first beginning, it was just us. And it was a really,

12:37some people ask like, Oh, do you wish you had raised money? Do you wish you had,

12:41um, you know, hired all this outside help? Sure. Maybe it could have been cool. But I think what

12:46we did was so we did it so slow and so meticulously, and there was so much passion behind it. And we

12:53built it so honestly and openly with the community that they really were responsive. And they would

13:00even tell us like, we don't like this, this subscription price doesn't make sense,

13:02whatever. So we were like, so listening and building it with them. And we learned so much

13:08that way. And I feel like that's what has helped us compete. You know, we're now competing with

13:13all these venture backed apps that are massive teams and, you know, 250 person team. And we're

13:19still like 12 people, you know, we're still small, but we're still able to compete because I think

13:22people can feel the passion and authenticity. And we're, and that's like how we treat the brand.

13:27Yeah. How do your services and like the things that you offer users today differ from when you

13:32first started out? Majorly different. Um, yeah, I mean, we really pride ourselves on being a

13:38creative suite and having all the tools you could need to be a creator and work as a professional

13:44creator. So everything from, you know, top tier video editing to every kind of photo editing,

13:50you could need to templates to, you know, you name it, you can feed plan all the things you

13:54have to do. You could do it. Um, in the beginning it was literally, you could put a filter on a

13:59photo, which I know groundbreaking, but like it was groundbreaking at the time.

14:04How do you think? Cause I think that there's been a lot of discussion in the social media

14:08space lately wanting to move like away from the edited photos more into the raw

14:14footage or raw content. That's why we saw like such a rise with Tik TOK. And so many people

14:18are trying to be more like authentic in what they're sharing online. Did you ever feel any

14:23hesitancy continuing to build has as something that people are like editing with or how has that

14:29conversation happened in your own mind? Totally. I mean, I do think there's always going to be room

14:34for everyone and on these trends come and go. I've seen it now already like three cycles within the

14:40past seven years. Um, so I'd never like for me, photography and storytelling and having,

14:47you know, something that's edited. I think some people get scared of that word, but really that's,

14:53you know, if you were an artist and you painted a certain way or every photographer has a very

14:57specific style, like just because there's, um, color treatment or certain things on,

15:03it doesn't make it bad. And, and I, or not authentic. Right. And so we've really helped,

15:08you know, people figure out what that means for them. And of course we cater to the, uh,

15:12no edit edit. We have a lot of that stuff that people say, Oh, I don't edit, but yes, they,

15:16they use certain things in the app just to, you know, make things look or feel a little bit better.

15:20So, you know, we're always kind of like playing both sides of that coin and figuring out how we

15:24can make something that's easier. And then also just with our video editing and our tools and,

15:28and things like that, we're, we're also catering to platforms like Tik TOK or YouTube and stuff

15:34like that. Definitely. How much has the social media landscape and its changes impacted how

15:39you guys come out with new offerings or services or how you guys are continuing to build and grow

15:44Tessa? Um, a lot. Yeah. We're always, you know, constantly evolving and changing and creating

15:50new things. And I think we're in an interesting time where, you know, social media,

15:56things are just about to change even quicker than they have ever before. And

16:01I think it's exciting. I'm, I do feel like there's going to be new platforms that are

16:06going to be coming up for creators to be posting on ones that actually are maybe

16:09supporting creators more. I do feel like we're kind of moving in interesting directions. Um,

16:15which is exciting. I feel like that means there's, you know, more to come. I think we're

16:19going to be able to create content much quicker than we've ever been able to, um, and a higher

16:24volume. So storytelling and actually having something that is unmistakably yours is going

16:30to be so important moving forward. Um, whether that's through, you know, how you're editing or

16:36how you're curating or storytelling, all those things. So I'm always thinking, okay, how can I

16:42allow creators to do all this with the fastest way possible and really efficiently and, um, bring

16:50like a tool that's going to do that for them. So that's kind of where my head's at right now.

16:53Totally. And just you saying that too, just made me think of, you know, in terms of this,

16:58like being authentic, as you're mentioning the way that you edit or the way that you

17:03curate your feed or your platform in whatever way, like is authentic to the way that you want

17:08to create it and the, and the things that you want to, you know, put out into the world.

17:12And I think that it does bring up like another, just an interesting conversation about like what

17:15that means for social media content creators moving forward and how they can continue to

17:19differentiate themselves and, you know, sometimes follow the trends and sometimes not at all.

17:24How do you, in your own, in your own content creation, think about that? How much to follow

17:29the trends versus how much to stick to your own roots? What is that thought process like in your

17:33mind? I, for me, I can't even explain it in any other way that then it's so authentic for me to

17:42try and test and do different things because I am a consumer of fashion magazines and movies and,

17:49and so many aesthetics. And I'm constantly talking about why things matter, why they

17:54are important to me or trying different film cameras that people are dying to do,

17:59but they're so expensive. And so how can I give you that experience in one tap in the app or things

18:04like that? So for me, that is authentic is, is creating art and trying new things and pushing

18:10my creative limits. And I hope it always will be, because that's, that's kind of why I fell

18:16in love with doing this in the first place. How much of those other, you know, forms of

18:20inspiration, like you're talking about impact the either filters that you're putting out,

18:24you know, allowing people to use or the different services that you're allowing them to try out on

18:30the platform, where are you pulling that inspiration from to decide like what physical

18:35offerings you're going to be able to give people moving forward?

18:37Totally. I mean, a lot of it is I'm watching what people are doing like just on social media in

18:44general. I'm like, okay, is this a trend? Is this what people are liking? I don't,

18:47I never want to make something just because it's going to be a quick trend. I'm like,

18:49is it going to be timeless and something you're going to like down the road? And that's like,

18:54the key metric. If it hits that, then we can build it. We can try and make it.

18:59But I truly have always been very passionate about film photography. And I mean, I grew up just

19:06collecting as many images as I could find and get my hands on because I feel like,

19:11I don't know, there's something nostalgic about images of the past. Like they, you want to hold

19:17on to them forever. And that's really what kind of inspires me to create a lot of what we make in the

19:21app, just to kind of give you that feeling that of something that's going to last forever.

19:27And from a more technical standpoint, and this maybe goes back to the conversation about like

19:30how you and Cole determine what your roles are in the company. How does that then come into practice?

19:36What are the processes like from, like I said, the technical aspects of building the app to

19:42make sure that these things can come to life? So technically, yes, I create every single

19:48like preset or, you know, grain or every little thing you see is created by one of us.

19:55We go from like getting a ton of inspiration. And then what we'll do is, you know, test on

20:02thousands and thousands of images. And really, I think what kind of was our special sauce in

20:06the beginning is everything has been tested on so many people and faces. And we're not really,

20:12you know, of course we support any kind of photography, but really that is we're

20:16looking at creators, how are they, you know, wanting to create almost treating it like a

20:19beauty brand. Something that's going to highlight what's already naturally beautiful in there,

20:25but just give it that extra little special sauce. So once we kind of get that inspiration,

20:31I'll kind of come up with the look and tones and feels and I'll test, test, test on everything from

20:35a professional image to like just an iPhone image. I test on a really bad image because

20:40if it can be good on a really bad image, it's going to be great on everything else.

20:43Um, and then we'll go and build in the backend. And so a lot of that now, as we've done a lot of

20:49film emulation and video things, we've brought in some amazing, um, uh, developers who are

20:56helping us kind of build a lot of that technically because that's all code. Um, which is really fun

21:01because that's leveled up so much of what we've been able to do. Yeah, definitely. What does the

21:05team look like today? You said there are 12 of you, correct? Yes. And how, what is that divided

21:10between what are the different departments that has a, so it's, uh, that's a great,

21:16we have a little, a very small marketing team. Um, but my husband and I are still

21:21basically the majority of the marketing team. Um, we have a head of community and content,

21:27um, who's running all of our social and, and very involved with our social view DMS. Like

21:31she never misses a DM. She is on it. And I feel like people call her our big sister because she's

21:36so cool. Um, like she's, when we have events, people just want to talk to her there. She's

21:41famous. Um, she's just awesome. But then we also have, you know, on the product side, that's where

21:47we're really heavy these days. Um, we really had to build up our developer team, um, our product

21:54managers, you know, people like that. So it's, we're still small. Um, but that's kind of the

21:59team. Yeah. And I want to go back to quickly to, in terms of thinking about what's next,

22:05shaping the business, you working with your partner on this, you said that,

22:10you know, at first it was maybe a little bit difficult and you had to have those hard

22:12conversations. How have you gone about having those conversations and continuing to have like

22:17a healthy relationship with each other while you're building this healthy business as well?

22:20Totally. I mean, we're very, um, we have our non-negotiables, so I think those are very

22:26important. Um, but even simple things like every Friday we have a lunch meeting and we have to have

22:33even if we're so stressed and it's like, it's not making sense. It's like, we don't look at the

22:37phone and we're talking directly to each other and we're saying everything we need to say. Also

22:42like when you're married, we also have to like have that connection outside of work. Cause otherwise

22:47it's just like work and then kids. And then you're like, I don't even know who you are anymore. So

22:51we really prioritize that meeting and it's where our best idea, we always say it's our best ideas.

22:56Everything we have thought of, like I owe to, there are certain restaurants I'm like, I owe

23:00you because you have helped gave, given me that safe space. Um, and then also on top of that,

23:06like we take our, at least a few meetings of the week on a long walk. Um, like I know these are

23:12like wellness, like health tips, but it's like the, that for me is where I have so much clarity.

23:18I can talk openly about what I'm thinking. I think sometimes when you're like this and then

23:22you have Slack here and you have your phone here and you're thinking about a million things,

23:26you're not actually going to be listening to the other person and,

23:29and helping build and think about your team and how you're supporting them. But

23:33something about being on a walk while doing it is, yeah, it's nice.

23:36Your mind has to be right for the business to succeed.

23:39I've got to be there for the people.

23:41Yes. How has it been in your experience being the leader of this and starting to hire people

23:46and put the team together? That's a very different role than being a creator for

23:52your own independent brand. What has that been like in your experience?

23:56Yeah, I feel like it is the most difficult thing, especially when you are so passionate about it.

24:03You did, did it all yourself and then you're trying to get it to the next level. You know,

24:07I feel like on podcasts, people always talk about, okay, I got it from one employee to

24:12a hundred employees, but no one's ever talking about like 20 to 30, you know? And I feel like

24:17the, the biggest lesson I've learned as of recently, and I'm trying to incorporate it

24:22into my life is people are so much more willing to share information than you think.

24:27And I've always kind of had maybe imposter syndrome about, okay, like I'm going to call

24:32up or DM this person and say, could you have coffee for 15 minutes and give me advice on

24:37how to hire somebody for this role? I think understanding roles at a company is even

24:42complex, you know? So my husband and I are both actually not good at this and this is

24:47not in our skillset, but we're trying to get better. And I think people are so much more

24:50willing to help than you think. Like if someone were to message me personally and say, I'm starting

24:55an app, like what advice do you have? I'd be more than happy to help. So yeah.

25:00What are the first pieces of advice you would give them?

25:02Oh, great question. I would say this is what we didn't do. So I just didn't even think I was a

25:10child, I feel like, but I, we didn't even consider, you know, subscription plan and all the different

25:15options that you could do and really think through how that could look and, and who your

25:20like actual customer is. I think we just, we were so passionate about what we were creating. We're

25:25like, let's hope that works. So I would kind of start there. I would look at the competitive space

25:30and think, okay, what's going to set you apart? How is it going to make you different? And is it,

25:34are you, is like the story and what you're doing so clear? Like it has to be the most clear thing

25:40that you're doing. Especially in like the app space, I think it's so competitive now and people

25:46are able to spin up apps quicker than ever before. I think with AI, you're able to kind of now

25:55give it a formula and ask questions and say, if I were to do this, like what advice do you have?

26:01There are so many formulas out there now that you couldn't have gotten before. So I think like I

26:05would definitely also start there. And I would hire, I would look at what your skills aren't

26:11and I would hire those right away. We waited so long to hire anybody. I think we were just,

26:17couldn't even believe that we had started a company. It still felt like, well, this is our

26:22hobby. This is what we are doing on the side or something. And then we were like, no, we have a

26:26company. We have to actually hire people. And the second we did that, we were able to take things to

26:30the next level. So I just think, don't be afraid of hiring and bringing people in to help you take

26:36it to the next level. When did that realization hit that this is a company and you need to plan

26:42for it like that? Yeah. Honestly, like three and a half years in. It's kind of crazy to say that

26:51because I'm like, what do you mean? We were still doing it every single day and working on it every

26:55single day. But it was just, I think it was like when TikTok really came out also, we,

27:02I posted a video, um, talking about why I started the app and it went just ballistically viral. And

27:08so many people were commenting, oh my gosh, I didn't know Tesla was a person. And I was like,

27:13cool. That's awesome. That's the goal. Right. But I just, it really made me realize how many

27:17people were using it. And just to see, I think it was like, because it was a new platform

27:22and just to hear that kind of conversation behind it, that really made it. Yeah.

27:28Yeah. When it is removed from like you as a human and really just take it into

27:32itself as its own entity. I'm sure, like you said, that is the goal for a lot of people

27:37and a lot of founders. And I was, you know, even looking today, you guys have 2.5 million monthly

27:42users, correct? And then you also have nearly 2 million Instagram followers on the Tesla

27:47account itself. That is very hard for a lot of brands to do, to be not just like a company that

27:53people follow maybe for updates or for, you know, whatever reason, if they like the marketing or if

27:58they like the story behind it or whatnot, but to really have people following Tesla as a mover of

28:04fashion, of creativity, of all these sorts of things on social media. How do you think you

28:09guys were able to curate that sort of following behind it? I think because we never, we didn't

28:16treat it like a product. We treated it like a person, though it's like a community of people,

28:22but it was a place of like inspiration. You could come follow. It felt, you know,

28:27fun and engaging. You could learn. The product was highlighted really well, but it wasn't like,

28:33use this because this is a product. We, I think because I have that influencer background,

28:38that's kind of how we always treated the brand and the feeling in the community. And it,

28:42honestly, people just wanted so much to also be a part of it. And I, and we were so inviting and

28:49really a lot of our competitors are like anti-social media and we're like pro-social media.

28:54You know, we're here to support your career and we want you to succeed. And I think our community

28:58could feel that and still loves it. And I think that is really why our social media, I mean,

29:04they have better engagement than me these days, but I love it. It's awesome. Like that's

29:08all I could have ever wanted. So it's really cool. And you have a lot of other content creators

29:12on the Tezza platform and, you know, like you said, it's many different people. It's the community

29:16that you're really featuring on the different social media platforms. Are these people that

29:21you are paying? Is it organic usage of Tezza? How are you like as a business owner curating this feed

29:27that so many people are finding probably the platform through? Yeah. I would say it's 90%

29:32organic content that users are posting, which is so cool. And I think a lot of that comes from

29:39that. Back to kind of the question you asked about what you would do if you were launching

29:44an app today. I just had a thought on that. Thinking back to like investing in the people,

29:51whether you have five people that are interested in your product or a thousand, whatever it is,

29:55how are you constantly providing them value? Because those five people will do all the work

30:00for you. And I think that our community really felt that they were a part of the process.

30:05We brought them along. We still do. We are creating a new feature. We say,

30:08do you like A or B better? And like, we really want them to be involved because we're making

30:13it for them and they feel that. And so I think finding that relationship with your community

30:18is so important and we'll keep them sticking around, especially from a business perspective,

30:23like retention wise, like that's something we obviously, everyone wants good retention. Sure.

30:27But like, we really pride ourselves on having good retention people that have

30:31been users of the app for years because we are building it for them and with them.

30:35And when you are doing those tests, like, do you like this or this better? Is that through

30:39social media? Is it through the app itself? How are you getting that consumer feedback?

30:43So a lot of it we do, um, yeah, like through stories, social media, but then we also have,

30:48um, we call it the Teza AV club, just power users of all different kinds that are nice enough to

30:53give us their time and, and we'll give them, you know, things in return when we do merge

30:58drops or, or things like that. But, um, they'll test new features before they come out and let

31:02us know their feedback. So it's awesome. Has there been throughout, like we've been

31:06talking about so many changes in the social media landscape, so many changes in what consumers are

31:09looking for, what creators are looking to create. There's been a lot that you guys have had to keep

31:14in mind as you guys are continuing to build. Has there been a biggest challenge that you've

31:17come across? Yeah. Or maybe many. There are so many. I think like, you know,

31:24it's so much more complicated than you could imagine to even find video or photo developers,

31:33right? This is like, I mean, cause all of the biggest and the best are going to go work at

31:37Instagram or Google or there's, they swoop everyone up. So being a small bootstrap brand,

31:42um, is very difficult to find this talent that's so unique and special. And so that has really

31:50been honestly the biggest challenge to keep up with everything that's happening, um, in social

31:53media. You know, we have thoughts and dreams around what we want to do, but being small,

31:57we have to be super conscious about every single decision and, and think, can we actually do that?

32:04Can we keep up with this space? So, and how about the biggest opportunities as you guys, like you

32:08said, you're a small bootstrap business. So in a lot of ways that gives you a lot of flexibility

32:12too. So where are the opportunities that you're seeing in the space right now? I mean, we're able

32:16to move so fast. So if we see something that we think is cool and we want to jump on it,

32:20we can do it immediately. We work with brands a lot, um, in collaboration, like they will have

32:25a launch and they say, we want to work with Tesla because you know, our communities are going to

32:29mesh really well. And we want to bring this like aesthetic and vision to life. So anyone from like

32:33818 tequila, uh, revolve, uh, summer Fridays, you know, we do a lot of those kinds of things,

32:40which brands will usually reach out to us pretty last minute. And we're able to do them, um,

32:45because you know, we can move really quickly with such a small team. So what do those events

32:50typically look like? Cause I think that's a big conversation right now is like community

32:53engagement. Do we do it in real life? Do we do it online? What are your events typically look like?

32:57Can you give me some specific examples of those? Yeah. I mean, a lot of different things. I think,

33:01you know, like for example, with 818, we built like a interactive photo booth. So a place you

33:06could come and like take photos and we would send them to you in real time. So you could actually

33:10see and feel and use the filters. And then it also represented exactly what the brands

33:15event looked like and felt like. And they were able to get the content that they wanted,

33:18which was really exciting. Um, and then we've done everything from that to like the American

33:22music awards, um, creating a space for the celebrities to come in and create like a cool

33:28video that they're going to post. And, and that also represents what the American music awards is

33:32doing. And what else? Um, some of it has been virtual where we're not actually doing like a

33:39in-person event. So for like hourglass cosmetics or summer Fridays, we'll make something that

33:46highlights, you know, a new foundation or a beauty product. And within that, it can kind of

33:52highlight the product that this brand is creating, but also show you how they're hoping it could

33:56come to life through social media. So kind of a mix of different things. I love that though,

34:00because the way that you're describing it, it's your product, but it's also a marketing engine

34:05for other products. And you talked about yourself in that way too, you know, like as your, your own

34:09creator, you're walking this line between sharing your own content and also using and sharing Tesla.

34:14And another line that you guys walk, which, you know, I spoke about is like the content creation

34:18line versus the fashion line. You know, you came from a fashion background, you started building

34:24in New York city. Now you guys are based in LA. What has that transition been like to kind of

34:28walk all these different lines and be in like the Venn diagram of all these different industries

34:32at once? Great question. I feel like, you know, New York was such a great place to start a

34:37business because if you can make it in New York, I really feel like you can make it anywhere.

34:42It's like that old quote that just keeps coming back, but it honestly, it is so

34:47insanely inspiring here and move so quickly and you can, you have access to so much,

34:52which is so, so cool. And I think starting the brand here was, was beautiful. And then

34:58moving over to LA has been such a change and even just shift of type of content creator,

35:04because I think creators there are, you know, much more in like the beauty lifestyle space.

35:10And so we were able to kind of cater to both worlds. I think probably when we lived here was,

35:14we were really focused on a much smaller, more niche group of people. And moving there has

35:19helped us even expand to like other countries and other things. Just, just seeing how

35:24interactive the content creator spaces in California. Yeah.

35:28You guys are also going through a rebrand right now. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?

35:32Yeah, it's really like a brand refresh, I will say, but you know, we, we launched and we

35:37were moving so fast and we would just, we were really focused on how do we make the product

35:41really good and not thinking about, we were always thinking about the world we were building,

35:45but it wasn't represented correctly. And one day, you know, people would always describe

35:51our brand back to us and we were like, yes, you get it. And then one day I like

35:54went to our website, like this is a Shopify template and it doesn't even represent who we are.

36:01Um, and my husband and I had designed every thing you had seen up until like a year ago. So

36:07we were like, we need to, you know, have a brand that's going to stand the test of time. We want

36:12people to know we're here to stay. And we wanted to have a website that could also represent where

36:17we're going because we want to be more than just a tool, but a place people can come be inspired,

36:21connect with other creators, get educated on how to, how to create better and all these things.

36:27So the rebrand was really to represent that. And I feel like, you know, we have had our face icon,

36:33which we redid maybe three years in, and that has stayed with us. It's still the same. I love it. We,

36:40and you know, maybe this is a tip or maybe it's not, but we never wanted our app icon to look

36:45like an app icon. We wanted it to feel like you could feel the artist's hand behind it. You could

36:50feel that it was a person. And so I will say every time I say, I'm like, this is so different than

36:54anything in the app store. And I absolutely love that. We, at the beginning of the conversation,

36:58you mentioned that coming into building this app, so much else that existed in the app store at the

37:04time were very like typical tech platforms built by a lot of men. That is not obviously where you

37:11came at it from. And I think that in business, a lot of times we overlook the power of like

37:16young women and the businesses they drive, the industries we drive, what we either spend money

37:21on or what we're creating. How has that community being your target community shaped how you guys

37:27are continuing to evolve? And as you are right in the app store with these other hardcore tech

37:33platforms, how do you think about that as your target market? I think, you know, young women are

37:40who we're constantly focusing on. They're the drivers of like what's selling, what's doing

37:44well on the internet. And I think you no longer have to be a big creator to do well in social

37:50media. I think there's just so much room for everyone. And so, you know, everything we're doing

37:55is really catered to somebody that is working in this fashion, lifestyle, beauty space. There's

38:02definitely room for so much more, but I find that niching down and being able to cater to a more

38:07specific audience allows us to kind of, you know, work with certain other brands that we want to

38:12work with and attach to their audiences as well. Like, I think that's a big way we think about

38:19marketing is not just, okay, there's so many people we could get, but how can we like, you know,

38:24connect dots with other brands that we're so well connected to? Because that is a unique

38:29thing that we have that maybe a lot of our other competitors do not. Definitely. Moving forward,

38:35what are your expectations for the future of the social media space? How are you guys

38:38building within Teza to accommodate that? I think we're really focused on how can we

38:44um, help you create more and quicker. Um, because I do think like now we're going back to, you know,

38:51there was a time where it was like post every single day, five times a day. Then we went back

38:56to, you know, no longer posting maybe a couple of times a week. But now I think like volume is

39:01going to be really important and not just like a post or whatever, but maybe like longer form

39:05content, how you can create those deeper connections and how we can bring your vision

39:11to life as a creator. Um, a lot of what we created as a curated experience, um, coming

39:17from my point of view, right. But we're really excited about working with other creative directors,

39:22bringing other creators in and really highlighting their vision. And then also giving you the tools

39:27that you need to create exactly your special stuff. So the app does feel like your space when

39:33you enter it, which I'm excited about. Yeah. Is there anything you are super excited about

39:36with Teza in the next couple of months or, you know, either people that you're following that

39:40you're inspired by or products that you guys are working on? Um, they are excited to come out soon.

39:46So many things. I think like, I'm really excited about, I really do feel like we're about to kind

39:51of enter a new wave of social media. I don't even, I just have a feeling about it. I don't even have

39:56the answer yet, but I, I feel like there's going to be a whole new way of creating. I'm seeing

40:02brands do really, really unique things. Um, like creating their own TV shows or, you know,

40:08things like this within their content. And I think as a brand, that's going to be really cool

40:13to see how brands themselves, like there's going to be the individuals, but I think brands are

40:17going to get really creative again, um, because they are going to have like higher budgets and

40:21be able to do cooler things. So I'm actually really excited to see how that kind of changes

40:25the space as well. Yeah. Super cool. Well, thank you so much for joining me today. Um,

40:29I really appreciate you talking all through the building of the company and all you guys are

40:33working on in the future. Thanks so much for having me. I'm so appreciative. Great to see you.

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