For the 158th feature of our "Together Talks" campaign, we collaborated with Bulu and Co-Owner and CEO, Paul Jarrett. Bulu started as an ecommerce and subscription business that required bulk order processing, adaptability for new sales channels, unique packaging options and special order instructions.
Now, as a full-service, technology enabled fulfillment company, Bulu offers the same restriction-free, cost-conscious storage, packing and shipping to businesses of all sizes.
"Together Talks" feature # 158: Bulu presented by KLS - Your Trusted Shipping Solutions In The USA
Can you reflect on a goal you set, achieved, and how it made you feel? Goals for upcoming year + Next phase of the company?
What is the next thing you need to develop or improve on as a leader? What aspect of entrepreneurship do you appreciate the most? Share a decision that you made that was detrimental? What is your why?
Story of how it was created?
We started 12 years ago. The original concept was called Bulu Box, which was a subscription box where consumers received four to five premium vitamins, supplements, and healthy snack samples. We were the sixth subscription box on the market, and I think there were only five other ones that were all on makeup. We were packaging all of these up in boxes and shipping them ourselves from my parents' basement. Then we "upgraded" to packing and shipping out of an apartment.
Before we knew it, we grew that to about 60,000 monthly subscriptions. And then we kind of looked up and there was over, I think 10,000 new subscription boxes. The business model had been copied, so from there, we decided to pivot.
We started building subscription boxes for some of the biggest brands in the world, like Disney, Clorox, GNC, and Lululemon. Then we all know what happened in 2020 - the pandemic rolls around. It kind of messed up everything for us. We lost all of our clients and just decided, because we were venture capital backed, we had a decision to make: buy the company or get out? In October of 2023, my wife and I decided to buy the business. We bought the business and kind of went, what do we do now?
But then we just really focused on a problem. After some reflection, we noticed a lot of consumer packaged goods brands were having difficulty shipping both B2B to retail shelves, B2C direct to consumer, and then also via social media. We picked up the phone and just started calling brands and offering to store, pack, and ship their consumer package goods for B2B, D2C, and social media.
We started 2024 with about seven clients, and just within the past year we now have 50 plus. It's interesting because it's a lot of smaller clients that used to be multi-billion dollar brands. Now we store, pack, ship, but then we had unlimited sales channels. We also do a lot of complicated requests like advent calendars, subscription boxes, rare comic books, things of that nature.
Usually by the time companies come to us, they've been through a couple of fulfillment companies that haven't met their standards. It's usually a complication with something that is just not working out at other places. We have to build a customized process, and after doing that we typically earn their trust to also handle their other needs.
What have been the biggest challenges?
In October of 2023, after the pandemic and wanting to buy the company, we had to let go of about 200 plus people. We had to satisfy our venture capitalists and get them the money that they needed. We didn't sleep for a long, long time. When you're venture capital funded in the beginning, you always have lawyers and accountants that kind of have your back, you know? So fast-forwarding to October of 2023, there were a lot of things we knew, of course, but there were also a lot of really basic things we didn't know and we had to learn. Not having the backing of accounts, lawyers, finance people in general anymore - it was scary for us at first.
Frankly, not quite knowing what the business was going to look like was another challenge, because we had to focus so hard on cutting down the business and getting it to a place to purchase. By the time that we got it, we had to figure out what product or service we were offering to people and get out there and pound the pavement quickly. It was scary. We were now truly first-time business owners. Despite being scary, the pivot we made was very good for us to buy the business.
Can you reflect on a goal you set, achieved, and how it made you feel?
Early on, I had a lot of revenue goals in trying to scale the company. But when I dug deeper, it always came back to freedom. I didn't want to answer to people. It is one thing to answer to employees and be held accountable, but answering to investors or huge clients can be draining.
I think the thing that I'm most proud of now is that the business is stabilized and my wife, who is my co-owner, is the brains of the operation. We are woman-owned, minority-owned, and we reinvented our company and got it to this point of stability. We are working to continue to steady our growth and operations. We hope in 2025 we can get the business to a level where the two of us can step away for a proper vacation, which we haven't done in our 12 years of working.
We have to answer to our internal employees and our leadership team, but also depend on them. But from owning the business to prior it is a totally different life. I'm super, super proud of our transformation. I think that was always deep down what I wanted -- that little bit of freedom, even though you're chained to the business, it's just having to answer to the right people.
Goals for upcoming year + Next phase of the company?
Our goal in 2025 is to continue to stabilize and relax a little bit. We have always had these massive goals. We have both an eight-year-old and a five-year-old child now. We've never really taken a regular vacation. We've neglected ourselves for the business. Together, crossing our fingers, we are hoping this year we can relax a little and celebrate our success together as a family on a vacation.
Hopefully we won't think of a new revenue stream or business idea. We're really trying to just - for the first time probably ever in a decade - just keep steady. One foot in front of the other, slowly grow the business, and don't get crazy with anything super ambitious.
How have you dealt with being the face of the company?
I think long term, we do have some ideas to launch our own consumer packaged goods. That's one of the things where we want to continue to do fulfillment. I would say early on, it was both of us, but it just wasn't Stephanie's cup of tea to be in front of the camera. I think when you are the face of the company, it really causes you to self-reflect, right? You can project one thing, but it doesn't always reflect authenticity. What I've definitely learned is that if I'm not projecting who I actually am, it feels really phony and kind of gross. Luckily I believe in what we do and offer and our team. I have their support and it is easy for me to talk about all things Bulu, like in this chat.
How have you grown due to becoming an entrepreneur?
In the beginning, I was trying to be what my perception of an entrepreneur was. All the things that I would read and consume online, I kind of call it "business porn." All the things that are the success stories and I found myself definitely trying to be this thing that I thought was the quintessential CEO. But over time I've just learned to become comfortable in my own skin and just be who I am.
I think a lot of people, like leaders, CEOs, and entrepreneurs - especially during a growth phase - never get over that hump. They're always acting like the thing that they think that they should be and they kind of never get to where they need to go. But those people that kind of come to grips with their strengths and weaknesses tend to find their calling. That has been a big thing for me: knowing what to handle and what to delegate. By not micromanaging and being comfortable in my own skin, I think that's a big difference between when we started and me today.
What is the next thing you need to develop or improve on as a leader?
We're going to have to probably get really good at real estate. We have a ton of business acumen here. We have a ton of amazing leaders and amazing managers. We're at the phase now where we have to evaluate - do we want to keep growing or remain at this size? Do we want to build our own thing? Do we want to acquire something? And, it all kind of comes down to real estate in our industry. We're gonna have to get really good at property and leveraging assets and all the things that we never had to be good at previously.
We have to learn how to do that and learn how to leverage certain assets to make certain buys or acquisitions or build or rent. Even now I talk about it, and I am learning about it and the process. It'll be nice to have this year to really dive in and talk to others and learn from those who did it. I'm excited for that challenge and opportunity.
What aspect of entrepreneurship do you appreciate the most?
I appreciate and respect the brutality of it. It is ruthlessly upfront with you. If you make a bad decision, it is right there. If you make a good one, it's right there. I appreciate the instant feedback loop of what you're going to do, and there aren't layers, and there isn't a lot of bureaucracy to figure that out. I like how raw it is, I really, really appreciate that because it's just a quicker feedback loop. I think if you use it wisely, you can sharpen your skills faster than a lot of people in other industries. And I like the learning element of it.
Share a decision that you made that was detrimental?
This is a mistake that I constantly remind myself not to make again -- I would almost define it as chasing money or chasing revenue streams. When you're good at what you do, you get a lot of opportunities and a lot of people come to you wanting to pay you to do more things. At one point in time when we were building subscription boxes for other companies, we were doing eight different services. We were basically managing their finances, their website build out, the storing, packing, and shipping. I mean, you name it - we were even sourcing and buying products for them, and it just wasn't scalable. And it was incredibly stressful.
When we really broke it down to three services, it allowed us to get really good. Think of that hedgehog concept of getting really great at three things. I think the biggest mistake is most definitely chasing revenue streams just for the sake of it. By doing that, you're not focusing on getting great at something.
Even though it can be difficult, when you reduce the amount of services that you offer, there's a scary point in time because you know that you could be making money. You have to trust the decision to better serve your clients by becoming even better at your core offerings. But then there comes that point where it builds up and then all of a sudden people are coming to you for the thing that you actually want to do. Don't discourage yourself because though it is hard in the moment and extra money can be crucial, it is absolutely important to narrow it down and be the expert.
What is your why?
My why has changed over the years, and I think that's the correct thing for people to always analyze and ask what the why is.
But if I look at the one constant thing... I grew up pretty poor right, and I just tell people if you have ever gone to bed more than one or two nights hungry, it's pretty easy to have that wire or that driver to work hard. I think that now having kids, I don't want to give them everything, but I definitely don't ever want to be in a position where I'm worried about medical bills or I'm worried about any of that stuff. Because if you've actually been through that, like I grew up in a trailer park where if one bad thing happens, you're in the hole even more. Ultimately it is to secure and keep my family and friends safe.
But then I think maybe on another level, I've always viewed my why as I'm handing opportunities to people that typically wouldn't be offered opportunities. I want to find really good people that might not be good at taking opportunities and just present it to them, not give anybody anything, not help anybody, but identify what makes people awesome and give that opportunity. Then let them run with it. And I think that has been the unintentional thing over the years that I've developed as my why.
Do you have a moment that brings you the most joy?
It's a great question. I would probably say buying the business in October of 2023 was probably one of the most proud moments. But if I'm really being honest with you, every time we give somebody a pay raise, that's like the best feeling in the world. Hiring people is one thing, but people that have been around and you're able to give bonuses or pay, that is truly when I feel at my best. This is why I am here, this is why we have our company - to reward our team. And we make sure to get good people and give them what they earn and deserve. Buying the business was huge and kind of a personal thing, but every time you're in that room to reward someone is special. That's always an amazing feeling.
Describe the culture?
The thing that has really got us to where we are today and that has contributed to our success is the team and the people. And I can't stress that enough. I feel like a lot of people have amazing business plans and great products and services, but if you ever really look at a business and somebody asks, "what is the secret to your success?" I would say hiring smart people. And more importantly getting out of their way. When you do that you keep building the team and trusting the team because you can only get things so far on your own. If you really want to go to the next level and build something lasting, you have to find good people and trust them.
Piece of Advice
Be okay with being wrong. That's what I say. I always thought it was weird to say, but I take it as you should always really listen to what people are telling you. You can physically hear what people are saying, but if you really listen, usually people are trying to help you. Often it's just the information isn't processed the right way. But if you reflect on it that somebody's telling me something, maybe I am wrong about this thing, or maybe I made a bad decision, it can be very insightful. I think that so many times people's ego and pride gets in the way. And so I would say definitely be okay with being wrong. And in the long term, I think people respect that much more when you're accountable.
In Closing
KLS wants to thank Bulu and Co-Owner and CEO, Paul Jarrett, for today's "Together Talks" feature. Follow along for their journey with their social handles below!
LinkedIn / Paul's Website / TikTok / Blue Sky / Instagram