Trust Exercises
A collision between business and personal trust.
You know I love nothing more than seeing unusual things in everyday life and linking them back to business. Today’s tie-back, though, isn’t unusual at all. In fact, it comes from a deliberate place.
Did you know I launched a podcast back in November? It’s about ecommerce and tech and I suppose life, too. In each episode, my co-host James and I choose an online store to order from, place an order, then, after we receive it, we analyze the shopping, shipping, and receiving experience.
In each episode, a theme seems to emerge organically. We don’t intend for a theme each time, but it happens on repeat. Whether the theme is community (Powell’s Books) or nostalgia (Bloomingdale’s) or giving back (Bomba’s), one always peeks around the corner, and bam, surprise, waves hands, then shows its pretty face!
In the episode released yesterday, we cover funky, cool eyeglasses brand Warby Parker, and boy, did a theme SCREAM its way into the room!
TRUST.
It was an abundant and apparent theme that re-emerged at every turn in our conversation.
Get this. Warby Parker started as an online-only business. How do you allow customers to try on eyeglasses when there is no showroom?
You trust them to do the right thing.
You let them pick multiple pairs to try on.
You ship them in a box they can reuse for the return.
You make the box small enough that it can fit inside a standard mailbox, so they don’t have to traipse to the post office.
You provide them a shipping label to make the return, so they don’t have to print it themselves.
You give them ample time to make the return.
You provide instructions on how to make the return and what to do next.
Warby Parker does a lot to make their customers' experience easy and frictionless.
But, trust comes first. It's at the top of the list. Without it, the rest of the list doesn't exist.
Warby Parker trusts their customers to execute on their part of the process by making it clear, easy, doable, and attainable.
No money changes hands.
Instead, Warby Parker makes an initial investment, in trust, time, and capital before any transaction takes place.
Think of the goodwill this kind of trust creates. Trust multiplies from them to you back to them.
Trust keeps appearing in my own life, too.
I recently off-boarded a client, my only client. I was facing my first month in business with no clients, no income, no pipeline. And I felt good, okay, maybe even a little excited about it.
Truthfully, my first year in business was a little flail-y. I was happy and grateful for the work that came my way. I did good work and got wonderful client feedback - “we could NOT have done this without you!”. I proved my worth monetarily, too. In fact, one client saved over $100k because I saw an irregularity in their business and wasn’t afraid to talk to them about it.
Even still something wasn’t sitting right in that year. I never knew exactly what I was doing. It was hard to articulate in specific ways. Sure, I could tell my story about operations starting with people, but without attaching my story to tangible, easy-to-understand specifics, I was easily pulled into currents I didn’t intend to swim in.
When I built my retail store, I wrote a business plan. Not that it was rooted very much in reality - I abandoned chunks of it once the store opened - but that business plan did give me the opportunity to think through foundational pieces of the business.
Last year, though, I just jumped in, “Hey, I’m open for business!” and “I am a human-centered, human-first business operations leader, yay!” What in the ever-living f*** was I thinking?
I’ve come to realize, I never had the time to build that foundation, because I immediately had client work and continued to have it for 14 months straight.
I discovered some things about myself in those 14 months. I realized the kind of work I’m drawn to, what lights me up, what I want more of, and what I don’t want for my business. I’m coming to terms with some beliefs that I have that are likely self-limiting (really weird realization for a try-anything kind of person).
What does all of that have to do with trust?
Well, even though my word for 2024 is spaciousness, trust is becoming a close contender for a tie.
I’m getting back to foundations which, just like with Warby Parker, starts with trust.
To trust myself
Trust that my mind and body know
Trust that the process is working
Trust that I am learning through any hiccups or pivots
Trust my work is impactful
Trust that I’m doing it right even when it’s a little off.
This isn’t hyperbole or just me trying to convince myself. It’s true. I’ve had about 6 months of reflection time, and now some down-time to realize that I feel so much better when I trust myself first. Everything else in the list comes after.
If you’re interested in learning more from me, here are three ways to you can.
Choose your own adventure, because you know I love that!
Thing #1
Liking this content? Don’t stop here. Get smaller, bite-sized bits from Roux, including events, news, tips, and updates.
Thing #2
I’m offering a project-management-for-everyone workshop called One Tiny Hour on Wednesday, March 27 from noon - 1:00pm ET. It’s fun, interactive, and teaches practical ways to manage daily work and large projects. Please register yourself or share with your people if you think they’d benefit.
Thing #3
Listen, subscribe, and review our podcast. Your support means it’ll get more listens and attention from the powers-that-be in the podcast world. Start with Warby Parker.
Thank you so much for being with me through my twisty-turny, but interesting(?) exploration through my fourth try as a founder. I love y’all!