Ep 12. Kelly Jamieson: The Blueprint for Explosive Multinational Business Growth

The Honest CEO Show, Episode 12: How to Build a Start-Up Into a Successful Multinational Business, with Kelly Jamieson

Caroline Kennedy (00:20)
Welcome, and today my guest is Kelly Baker-Jamieson, a highly successful entrepreneur. Along with her sister Abby, they both run the chocolate gift emporium Edible Blooms. From a small business startup in 2005, Edible Blooms celebrated their 10th birthday in 2015 and employs more than 50 staff across seven locations and has grown into a household name in Australia for gift delivery.

Edible Blooms was named 2009 Telstra Small Business of the Year for Australia and in 2011 Kelly was the South Australian Telstra Businesswoman of the Year. With a background in marketing and business development, Kelly has worked in professional services, publishing and membership organisations. A self-confessed chocoholic, she is passionate about growing her business and helping other women to achieve both their professional and personal goals. Congratulations Kelly on building a highly successful business and your amazing achievements to date.

Kelly Jamieson (01:31)
Thank you so much and thanks for having me today. I appreciate it.

Caroline Kennedy (01:34)
you're welcome. So tell us, where did it all begin?

Kelly Jamieson (01:39)
Well, Edible Blooms started in 2005. I was living in Brisbane at the time and had this really amazing idea to send bouquets that you could eat. And Edible Blooms literally started from, I guess because I'd always loved sending flowers, but I used to get frustrated when I'd order something online, something different would turn up.

There wasn't a lot of consistency. So I thought, you know, the idea of having an edible bouquet and I could put the right quality processes in place to make sure that when someone ordered from us in Adelaide and they were sending to Brisbane, exactly what they saw online is what we delivered because every gift, every bouquet came with a recipe.

So it was very clear and transparent on our website as to what we were delivering. before we knew it, in the first year we had, my sister and I had locations in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide and we created this national business within 12 months. So was a really, we both worked extremely hard in that first year and we've continued to do so pretty much right up until today.

Caroline Kennedy (02:48)
And I'm sure you will continue to do so into the future as well. Yeah. Now edible blooms, understand made a million dollars in sales in the first financial year of operation. That is amazing. How did you guys achieve that?

Kelly Jamieson (02:52)
Yes. I look back and I think, wow, that was pretty good. But at the time we were just so busy doing, we didn't even realise we'd done well at the time because we were so focused on creating this national business and having that consistency of product. I think those focus on those fundamentals and not on turnover is really important. that, you know, and we have a very viral product. our customers love telling their family friends about edible blooms and that still continues today.

If we focus on doing the right thing by our customers, and I think it's the same for any business, then the success will follow regardless.

Caroline Kennedy (03:43)
And I completely agree with that. And I wish all business owners had that thought process. Like any startup, I'm sure you were very hands on at the beginning and operational. So can you tell us a little bit about that?

Kelly Jamieson (03:58)
Sure. So from the very beginning, I literally traded in my car for a purple delivery van and back then there was no GPS mapping. So deliveries were made with a street directory on our laps as we were trying to find addresses. so, and I think that's one of the great things when you start a small business, I think, you you sort of look back and think, gosh, it would have been nice if we had a lot of money when we started out, because we were literally running on a shoestring not having a lot of money in that disposal, we had to do a lot of things ourselves.

And I think that means that you get to learn every hat that needs to be worn in your business, which there are a lot of them. Everything from accounts through to food safety for us, to marketing and IT support, all those things. We have a lot of people who work with us now to help us with those things, but we actually really understand those fundamentals and that makes it a lot easier to do our jobs.

Caroline Kennedy (04:56)
Yeah, and I think too when you understand every aspect of the business and particularly at the beginning as well, because, you know, when you set something up, as you experience it, you can see then better ways of doing things or you can see that could be improved. Whereas if you don't necessarily experience that, it's hard to make those improvements, isn't it? Yeah.

Kelly Jamieson (05:20)
Yes, exactly.

Caroline Kennedy (05:22)
Now I'm a big believer in the fact that to grow a business, you must spend time working on your business rather than in your business. Now I know that's very hard, especially for small business owners because they do have to wear a lot of hats and in the startup phase that's impossible to some degree. But you know, it is an important element. So what was the turning point where you shifted from working in the business to working on the business?

Kelly Jamieson (05:48)
That was a really clear moment for us because it was when we actually introduced cloud systems into our business and we were quite early adopters of cloud systems because having multiple locations we needed a way for us to have transparency and see what was happening in every store around the country. So it was in 2009 that we introduced cloud. Actually was 2008, 2009 we were fully up and running but 2008 we moved all of our accounts website and inventory onto a called, everyone knows what they are now ERP systems.

Back then not when people knew what the cloud actually meant. And it was a big leap of faith for us, but we were really at a point where we had to do something to make all of our stores talk together and work together on one system. So we were one of the first adopters in Australia of cloud business systems and literally as soon as it was in place and we mapped out all of our new customer service touch points through our cloud systems and we had this incredible access to data and information on all of our stores and it really was this huge weight off of my shoulders because I could see from logging into our dashboard minute to minute how our sales were performing in each of our locations around the country and I know from feedback from the Telstra Business Awards judges, that was a real standout for us because they were so impressed this tiny business had such great systems supporting us.

And it really meant a lot less plane travel for my sister and I, and it meant a lot better communication between our stores. So if we saw a red flag popping up on our Sydney dashboard, we could pick up the phone and talk the teams through it and make sure that customer service, because we'd sort of grown so fast, things were getting a little bit crazy. having that kind of viewpoint on all of our stores suddenly meant from soon after that point, we weren't in on the plane as much. And we also weren't in one particular office every day, Monday to Friday, we could literally work from home if we wanted to.

And I find that really productive, days that my sister and I spend working from our home offices we get so much more done on the business because you're not fielding questions or having meetings and just hitting us with your email inbox. You're actually working on things that are really important for the business. you know, for anyone that has an opportunity of having a day out of the office, that's when you get the most work done on the business. You're not stuck on that treadmill.

Caroline Kennedy (08:20)
Yeah, absolutely agree. And I think what you've just described is key, is that that visibility across all of your stores must have been like a godsend because you can see instantly, as you've just described, you know, a red flag or something that needs to be actioned and you can take action so you can move a lot faster and swifter within your business as well and make decisions, informed decisions too, based on what the data is telling you.

Kelly Jamieson (08:50)
Yeah, exactly. That's right. It's making quick decisions, which is really important. Yeah.

Caroline Kennedy (08:55)
Now you're currently the face of Telstra Business Products and your business as you've just described is highly dependent on technology and efficient e-commerce. over and above that, tell us how, what we've just discussed before, tell us how technology has impacted your business.

Kelly Jamieson (09:15)
As I said before, with the cloud technology, that's been a really big part of our business and Telstra's had in more recent times had quite a push themselves into cloud-based systems for small business. what was really great timing for us is already we were Telstra telephone users, but our main cloud web system, which is called Nito, with one of their earlier customers and I've really loved seeing the success of that particular business and Telstra actually acquired 51 % of that business just over 12 months ago, we became more than just a telephone user of Telstra, started and a lot of the other business apps that they have, we also use those in our business. So we became this really good case study for them about how people were using technology while in their business.

So, and it's a genuine relationship that we have with Telstra in that we actually do use their products and they do all talk to each other and that's another thing you can have the greatest of systems but if they don't talk to each other they're not a lot of use. the and actually Telstra have acquired some really amazing products I have to say so so it's been a real pleasure to be part of their campaign and I guess if we're having success with products it's great when we can tell other businesses about it too.

Caroline Kennedy (10:33)
Yeah, absolutely. Now digital media is the tech side of marketing, I suppose. And how important is social media in your marketing plan?

Kelly Jamieson (10:44)
It's becoming more more important year on year. I was a slower adopter of social because I am a really analytical marketer. So we look at which channels are actually delivering sales. It's not just about people hearing about edible worms. We want people who are transactional and actually are enjoying and buying our services. So we actually look at each channel and what our cost is to make a sale because if you don't do that, you can waste a lot of money in your marketing budget very easily.

So we've been really particular about that. And with early days, I saw social not actually generating transactions. It was just a talk fest. But I'm seeing that changing a lot. So it's becoming a really important part of our marketing mix. So we've sort of always dabbled in social, but very much now it's integral to our marketing strategy moving forward.

Caroline Kennedy (11:35)
And I think that, and I would agree with you completely because  measuring a return on investment and the impact from social can be quite challenging. And a lot of marketers have resisted because of that. And certainly I'm one as well. But then it's just because it's the power of the people now, isn't it very much about that sharing with their family and friends and referrals and talking about particularly your products, because your products are fantastic and they're just, easy to talk about and share on social media because they have that wow factor as well.

Kelly Jamieson (12:16)
Yeah, well, I think so. And I think that anything that's visual and people, photographs well, that's something that really helps with social. And I think that's the thing that everybody's really noticing in marketing is that images speak so much louder than words and customers' voices are worth so much more than your own. So it's a matter of trying to harness that. yeah, but it's an ongoing challenge and it changes quickly like every day social trends and social channels.

There's new channels all the time. So that's a really challenging thing for small businesses to keep up with. So it's actually time intensive as well. So for businesses to actually invest in social media, it's not just the knowledge, but it's the time in keeping those channels updated. It's a big cost to all business now.

Caroline Kennedy (13:11)
And it is very much about repetition as well. You've got to be present continually as opposed to just on an ad hoc basis to see that impact too. I've always believed that customers and staff make a business and without them, you don't have a business. And I come from a corporate environment. And this philosophy is not always recognised there. However, most entrepreneurial business understand and embrace the importance of a culture in the workplace.

Kelly Jamieson (13:21)
Yeah, no, that's right.

Caroline Kennedy (13:41)
And I can certainly see that Edible Blooms is one of those businesses. So tell us about your culture within the business.

Kelly Jamieson (13:50)
Sure, I'd love that. Our culture is really important to us because it's a really, it's the voice that our customers hear when they choose edible blooms. So we have three core values which are being fun, fresh and authentic. Fun's about our attitude at work and having a smile on our face. Fresh is actually about innovation and new ideas and being up with new trends in the marketplace. And our authentic values around being true and honest and always being absolutely transparent with one another and also our customers regardless of what that is. So we're very particular about those three values.

We've had those that have been consistent for us for the last, I'd say about seven, eight years. So we're sort of early in getting really strong with our values and culture and we have a verse that we publish on now about us, about what those values mean to us every day in our business. But it's interesting, I've just come back from the States and I was lucky enough to be on Necker Island for a leadership retreat with Sir Richard Branson. And there were some amazing speakers there. And just seeing how companies are taking values to the next level, I'm really excited about how we can do it even better than we are now.

So I think we are, you know, I think we do a good job, but I think people are recognising that work is such an important part of their lives. And if you're happy at work and you've got a great team around you and you really work with those values in a strong way, you can reduce a lot of your company policies because it becomes behavioural. So you don't need to actually have so many formal company policies in place because people will make the right decisions for the business if they're really led by values.

And that's a really trusting relationship to have, but that's the path we want our values to head in is that there's a greater trust between our team members and less of those formal policies and procedures. And that's more consistent with our brand values as well. So as the business grows, you start putting all these things in place and sometimes you can easily lose the heart of what your business is about.

And it takes sometimes other businesses and seeing how they're doing it and seeing, well, I guess people listening today might get some tips there as well, but we're about to embark on a new journey with our values and how that leads our business. And I'm really excited about that because I think it's fundamental to our future success.

Caroline Kennedy (16:21)
Yeah, and I think it's fundamental to a lot of businesses as well to really get that right and create a culture that empowers people as well and empowers people to really embrace doing the right thing for the customer and just working together collectively to continually improve too.

Kelly Jamieson (16:44)
Exactly. And I think the other part of that is actually saying we're not perfect all the time because we'll try new things. It's okay to make mistakes. And we've actually always had that in our company policies is that you're allowed to make a mistake here. What we try and do is not to do make the same mistake twice. We would rather our team members give it a go, even if they make a mistake, than to be afraid of trying something new. And that's really to try and engender that entrepreneurial culture in our business as we've grown.

And you sometimes are really good at that and then you have a period where you stray away and you sort of get focused on procedures. And so it's all about, it's a continual shift as a business leader is, you you think you've got something nailed in your business and you think you've got it absolutely working.

So you're focusing on something new that you're going to get right. And then those other things, you have to go back and remind everyone about those other fundamentals. So it's just a continual circle that you're going around in to keep everything moving in the right direction. So we don't always get it right here, but we try our hardest to do it. We'd always get an A for effort, I think.

Caroline Kennedy (17:52)
Well, that's wonderful. think that that's a great mindset to be in as well and encouraging, you know, your staff and empowering them to say that we're not perfect and we do make mistakes. But from that and the effort comes a lot of innovation as well because people are thinking differently and they know it's OK to make those mistakes, as you said, as long as they're not repeated.

You know, I've always believed in that as well because it's important to empower people and that's where innovation does come from a lot of the time. Now it is very evident that Edible Blooms is a customer centric business. What do you do within the business to ensure the customer is at the center of the heart of everything you do?

Kelly Jamieson (18:27)
Yes, yep, I agree.

Something that we've had in place now for the last sort of, I think it's nearly three years, is our regular monthly NPS scoring, so Net Promoter scores. so two days after somebody sent an Edible Blooms gift, we send them an email and the key to getting the feedback is not asking too many questions. We literally just ask our customers to give us a score out of 10 on how we performed. And at the end of each month, we report back by store location where that delivery was made, what the MPS score is, that's a customer score they've given us.

And actually last month we had our best month ever so our blended score nationally was 84 which is really high. is really good because the high score in our category and it depends on which category you're working in but it's around 59 is the high score so ours is consistently 80 plus is where we consider ourselves to be successful but we literally go through every score that we get. If someone gives us a six or below they will hear from us and we'll follow that up personally because we know something's gone wrong and we really try and get not many sevens and eights.

We want all nines and tens. We want people who are raving fans that are going to tell their family and friends about us because we know that our business is going to be successful long term if we're getting that level of score. and we do know things go wrong but when they do we, we are a company who will hear from us. We want to get it right and make it up to them. And we just consistently, every month, we look at all of the scores while we're not getting nines and tens, and we actually proactively work on how we can improve that. And we've seen our score just slowly edging up over time. And it's been a really big reflection of just listening to customers, but not just listening, but actually actioning.

And we also give, because we use a lot of courier partners, we give feedback back to them. So if we see scores being impacted by our business partners, then we work with them to try and improve that. Because if we can help their business, we know we get a better result for our customers. So we're really great at giving feedback and we're really good at listening.

Caroline Kennedy (20:50)
And I think what you've just described there is listening to your customers, but also taking action that is so important. It's something I talk to my clients about all the time. is just, you have to take the action. And then if you take action, let your customers know that you've done that based on their feedback too. And they really appreciate it. Because they know that you take them seriously. And I love how you said, you know, when we don't, you know, on occasion, get it right, we contact those clients and you acknowledge it, you know, that is so important because you're saying this is important to us and you are important to us.

Now you've mentioned it before and one of my questions was about that I understand you recently attended an exclusive leadership retreat on Sir Richard Branson's Nectar Island. This is absolutely one of my goals in life. So can you tell us about that experience? It must have been fantastic.

Kelly Jamieson (21:53)
It was amazing. It was definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity and it was through Business Chicks. So that's the group that organised the trip. So the great part about that was that I was able to share the experience with a group of Australian female business leaders. So that in itself was a treat to go somewhere incredible with a group of amazing women. And then Richard Branson's charity Virgin Unite actually create an amazing list of speakers. Each morning it's a learning experience. So you're hearing from incredible leaders.

We had the founder of Netflix there with his wife and they spend the week with us. So I learned an incredible amount from Mark. We also had an incredible guy who'd won the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Prize, Mick Ebling, and he was just inspiring. it really, and Amy Cuddy, who's one of the top TED speakers in the world. So we had this incredible group of speakers there with us and that we were there with them all week. So it wasn't like a normal conference where the speaker talks and they disappear again. You actually got to sit down with them and talk to them. And it was amazing. So I feel very fortunate to have had that experience.

And I think the key is taking those learnings and that the growth and the opportunity that you had and actually making it, making use of that information. And that doesn't happen overnight. There's some bigger changes that I want to make to my business from having that experience. And then there's some quick things that you can make changes with. But it's where a lot of the inspirations come from looking at our brand values in a much deeper way and really leading our business with purpose as well. which we've always done but I think we can do it better and I think that's the great thing of having that exposure is you've already done a good job but you know you can do better and that gives you great motivation for that next phase of change.

Caroline Kennedy (23:55)
It challenges your thought process as well and I've always believed in surrounding myself with people I can learn from and develop from and people who lift you higher because we don't always know everything and if you get to a point where you think you do, then you're not going to evolve and it's being open to those experiences and really embracing them and thinking how can I use this information or this knowledge or this experience somebody's just described and help facilitate my business and take it to the next level. Cause you know, it's always, you've got to continue to evolve. There's no stopping in, you know, in relation to that, is there.

Kelly Jamieson (24:36)
Yeah, that's right. Exactly. Yeah.

Caroline Kennedy (24:39)
So what are the biggest lessons you've learned in business, Kelly?

Kelly Jamieson (24:43)
I think the biggest lessons is always to be yourself. I think one of things you've got to be as a business leader is to be really authentic. So the person you are for your team is the person that you are for your family. So to be really consistent in all aspects of your life. Sometimes you see people who at work are very different to their home, the person their family and friends see. And I think that's very hard to be true and authentic, which I think is really important to me also relates to business values and making sure you attract the right people to your brand that want to work with you and really want to do the right thing by your customers. So look, most of my learning experiences I've had and the best ones have all been around people and the type of leader that I want to be.

And my journey is still very early. I've got so much to learn as a business leader. But I think I love learning and I love doing new things. And I think probably that's why we've been successful because we don't ever sit back and say we've done it all. Yeah, we're here. Yeah.

Caroline Kennedy (25:52)
Yeah, you recognise that, you know, there isn't an end destination, it's an evolution all the time. Yeah. And you know what? That's exactly why you've been successful at what you do, because you're really open to that ongoing growth and development and being better all the time. Not just you, but your business as well. Great attitude to have.

Kelly Jamieson (25:59)
Yeah, we're always students. We're learning all the time. And I don't think I'll ever feel at a stage where I think I've, I've not know it all because with social media, honestly, I still feel like I've got my L plates on. I'm still learning so many things every day. So yeah, it's because I've just started doing Snapchat at work and you know, the girls are doing it. They're doing an amazing job. And I'm like, right, you have to show me how we do it. So I'm always learning new things. And that's part of the fun, I think. So it's good.

Caroline Kennedy (26:51)
Well, it's Snapchat and Facebook live for me too that I haven't embraced yet. I am particularly Facebook live. I keep looking at it and everyone keeps saying, you need to be on there. You need to be doing live. and I will eventually. I know, but it's, hard, isn't it? Because you, you just, it's not being resistant and you know that it's the great tools for any business. It's just because it's moving so quickly, it's hard to keep up with it.

Kelly Jamieson (27:19)
Yeah, exactly.

Caroline Kennedy (27:22)
Now you're a mum and you run a highly successful business and I'm sure very demanding business as well. How do you manage it all?

Kelly Jamieson (27:31)
I got some great advice from other women in business who have children and it's always that you need a lot of help and it's so true you know what mum that runs a business or has a busy career can do it all by themselves so it's yeah it's it's a challenge for anyone.

But we have a full-time nanny, Mel, who's part of our family and her family are part of our family, which works beautifully. And so I think that's really key. And also have my parents who live near me, which is really helpful. So lots of help. And I never pretend that I'm doing it all by myself because I'd be superwoman if I was. So yeah, so lots of help makes it possible for me to do the work that I do.

Caroline Kennedy (28:19)
Yeah, yeah. And that's really good advice. And I think outsourcing is, you know, asking for help as well, because it can be challenging to do it all yourself. It's just not possible, you know. And what advice do you have for anyone struggling in business?

Kelly Jamieson (28:32)
Yes. I think the thing, if you're having a bit of a tough time, you've got to write down what the problems are or if you're confused about which direction you're heading in, just writing it down and writing it in paths. So if I made this decision, this is the flow-on effect. If I made this decision, this is the flow-on effect. And just breaking it down into bite-sized pieces. Because I think when we look at the whole, like sometimes when I look at what I've got to achieve in the next month, it's sometimes quite overwhelming. But when I write it down, I start putting it in tasks one foot in front of the other, one step at a time and suddenly you realise you're quite a way through the process. So yeah, it's just making sure you break any big problems down into little pieces and suddenly you can do it and you get motivation again and you can keep going.

Caroline Kennedy (29:24)
That is great advice and I would agree with you. so important because when you look at a task it can seem very overwhelming one step at a time.

Kelly Jamieson (29:35)
Yeah, yeah, it is.

Caroline Kennedy (29:38)
Finally, what does the future look like for you and edible blooms?

Kelly Jamieson (29:44)
Well, I think the future looks like for us, we will be looking at new markets overseas, it would be really where we'd love to be. But I guess it's just we've got a few things actually we're looking at at the moment, so I can't say exactly where we're going to be, but I'm pretty excited about what's ahead for us and just the great growth that we get from our customers we know that we're seeing a lot more corporate customers coming in through our doors and that's really exciting. So we've got lots of new opportunities ahead and yeah so as I said one foot in front of the other, keep plugging away one step at a time.

Caroline Kennedy (30:29)
Okay. Well, thank you so much for your time today, Kelly. I really appreciate it and good luck with everything and particularly your new ventures in the future.

Kelly Jamieson (30:39)
Thank you so much, it's been such pleasure to talk to you.