Meet Tina Marchand, the founder and owner of Ellie and Piper, an online party boutique. In this episode of The Nine Oh Six, Tina digs deep into the layers of being your own boss after a successful corporate career, how being first-generation Vietnamese-American has influenced her work ethic and how the loss of two angel babies gave her a reason to celebrate life and find something she loves doing 18 hours a day/7 days a week.

TRANSCRIPT: Episode 1 - A Party Boutique Boss with Purpose

[0:00]

Tina: I feel that women heal when they share their experiences.

[0:05]

Archita: You were listening to Tina Marchand.

[0:07]

Meha: Welcome to The Nine Oh Six. I'm Meha Chiraya.

[0:10]

Archita: And I'm Archita Fritz.

[0:14]

Meha: We are your hosts for The Nine Oh Six - a podcast where we elevate the stories of extraordinary women in our communities. The 906 is where our friendship began, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

[0:26]

Archita: What is the 906? It is the area code of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. And it's where our journey of building communities began many years ago. Each season on the Nine Oh Six you will hear from nine women. And I am really excited because today I have an opportunity to welcome a very dear friend of mine, Tina Marchand.

[0:48]

Meha: Tina Marchand is originally from Long Beach, California. She's an expat who lived in Dusseldorf, Germany for four years, and now resides with her family in Concord, New Hampshire. Tina is the founder and owner of Ellie and Piper, a modern party boutique redefining the very aesthetic of parties. She's also the mom to an adorable firecracker, Penelope.

[1:18]

Archita: Tina, how are you today?

[1:20]

Tina: I'm doing well. It's the first day of fall but it still feels like summer here in New England.

[1:27]

Archita: It's actually been a little rainy today, Drizzle-dorf is living up to its name, for sure. And will the rest of this week. So whose home or business were you adding joy to this past weekend?

[1:41]

Tina: Oh, there was a YouTube video blogger in North Carolina. She was celebrating her daughter's birthday she had a pony in her backyard that was decked out with a floral wreath around the neck and everything was so magical.

[1:58]

Archita: And you recently shared with me on WhatsApp that you work 18 hours a day, seven days a week. I can't wrap my head around that. How do you relieve stress?

[2:09]

Tina: I have no idea how I relieve stress. I just I'm constantly working and never turn it off and any conversation that I'm having, I'm usually talking about work because it's actually my passion. If I wasn't doing this and it feels like a hobby. So when I say that I'm working, I'm always either building relationships, talking about my work, telling somebody about my work, because that's what I live and breathe.

[2:35]

Archita: Glad what you're doing what you love to do. So you don't mind doing it so many hours in the day all week. So would you say you're proud of what you're doing today?

[2:45]

Tina: I would definitely say that I'm proud of what I'm doing. But I feel like I haven't even scraped the surface of what I want to be or where I want to take this company. It always feels like there's so much more and it sounds kind of crazy, but I don't really take a breath or look back to see sometimes what I should be proud of.

[3:06]

Archita: Tina building relationships and networks are pretty critical, whether it be in the corporate world or as a founder, business owner, how have you gone about building a network in such a short time?

[3:16]

Tina: Well, when you work for another company, let's say that, you know, in the past, I worked for a large financial company. When I go to a networking event in person, I pass my business card and people see that company and they recognize it right away. So when you work for somebody, you already have that brand recognition. When you're starting something from scratch, it's your baby, nobody knows about it, it was just an idea that you're acting upon. So for you to get out there and tell as many people as you can. Shake hands with as many people as you can, to let them know what you do. And then also to tell them your company name and what you're all about; it's starting from ground zero. So in order to form these relationships, you have to get in front of people, you have to get in front of their faces and shake their hands and get to know them and have them also believe in your product and know what you're doing so that they can tell other people.

[4:15]

Archita: That is really insightful. Tina, you're building a brand, without a doubt, and you're finding a way to reach these people. I still remember when you showed me your first business card of a dream that you had. It's amazing to see how you're built on that dream. Can you tell me what that evolution looked like from that first business card to Ellie & Piper?

[4:34]

Tina: Definitely. When I relocated to Germany, I didn't know German and I wanted to take a break from the corporate world to find myself. To find a passion that I really believed in. And my hobby was cooking or baking and I just naturally loved entertaining. That first business card I handed to you was to decorate cakes, right, to make desserts for people to help them with their parties. And just realized that something I enjoyed as a hobby isn't necessarily something I'm entirely passionate about. For me, it wasn't enjoyable. It was just an immense amount of pressure. So I have a lot of respect for people who decorate cakes for a living. But over time, I realized that I still like entertaining and I still like cooking. So how can I help people have awesome parties and celebrate life with their families. So another passion of mine was paper goods. I've just been in love with paper goods since I was little. Every Christmas, I just wanted stationery products. And over time, I just realized, hey, if, if I can make this into a living by choosing and curating beautiful paper products and sharing it with people and if they like it, too, then this is what I'm meant to do. It's still in line of like entertaining and it's still in line of party planning and it's still in line of food and parties is bring people together and it just coincides it just, it just fits perfectly for what I'm trying to do.

[6:14]

Archita: You spoke about entertaining; your home has always been so inviting. You're reflecting now on my best friendsgivings I've ever had. At the Marchand home, you really helped build a sense of community and it was all around your food. We recollect very fondly the famous chicken wings, the veggie version of the chicken wings for me. And of course, the spinach artichoke dip. Oh my goodness with your secret ingredient that you shared with me once

[6:44]

Tina: Lemon zest was it?

[6:45]

Archita: Yes. You're gonna share why would you share the secret with everybody?

[6:51]

Tina: Because everybody needs to know. Spinach & artichoke dip, it's their go to recipe for everything. It's tried and true.

[6:58]

Archita: That is true folks. So here you go now Nine Oh Six tribe. You know the secret. The best spinach and artichoke dip is lemon zest - makes a world of a difference. You mentioned that during Christmas, your favorite gifts to receive was stationery. What was your favorite piece of stationery you ever received?

[7:17]

Tina: Oh gosh. When I was growing up, it was Sanrio or Lisa Frank. So anything with those little characters like Hello Kitty was really big back then. And Lisa Frank had all the glitter on it. I would just love the stickers and the notepads. And to this day, I still enjoy those. It's just not the same characters but still the same type of appeal.

[7:41]

Archita: I love that. I love that. So Tina you love to cook, you love entertaining? What are some of the traditions that you'd like to pass on to your little one?

[7:52]

Tina: Well, being first generation Vietnamese, I always want my daughter to stay true to her roots. And that involves celebrating Lunar New Year, which is also known as Chinese New Year. Even though we're Vietnamese, we celebrate the same holiday and there are certain, I guess, superstitions or traditions that you're supposed to eat on the day of. So let's say you had a bad year in 2019 and it's going to be 2020. Then you want to have like bitter gourd melon or you want to eat pork to signify good fortune. And you also take time to wish each other well like I wish you this year to have good health, good fortune. And those are things that I want her to be able to have and to hang on with her grandparents and our extended family and also for me,

[8:54]

Archita: wonderful. Do you see her interested in cooking already and interested in some of those traditions?

[8:59]

Tina: The traditions she might be a little too young for but obviously cooking, I try to incorporate her. We make Saturday morning breakfast, a huge deal with scrambled eggs. And she usually helps out and watches me make that. Or if I'm baking muffins or something, then I try to get her involved as well.

[9:17]

Archita: I can't wait to taste some of those by Miss P, soon hopefully. So you mentioned your first generation Vietnamese, Tina, what does that mean to you? And how is that influenced your work ethic?

[9:30]

Tina: Well, when I was growing up, I would always hear my parents say that they had a rough life, but I didn't know really what that meant. And I didn't fully know what that meant until I had a child and I was living in Germany because I was unfamiliar with the culture and I was unfamiliar with the language. And just imagine my parents leaving everything they have known for America hopes of living the American dream because they were trying to escape a war. That is really overwhelming for me to grasp. And so I have so much respect for them because they created this amazing life in America. They both have, say jobs. My mom also owned a few businesses. And they were able to live the American dream for us was three kids in the house. And they had a house and they all bought us cars, and we all went to college. So looking back, and realizing how hard life is for them to be able to accomplish that. That's really inspiring for me, because they wouldn't have been able to do that without work ethic. They worked hard. They raised us, they stressed the value of education and just wanting us to have a life that they didn't have. And so for me that's really inspiring, and it's something that I want to pass on to my daughter because I look at her and I want to give her the world of the life that I didn't have even though the life I had was pretty amazing,

[11:07]

Archita: Tina that's beautiful and a tribute to the hard work that your parents did and wonderful individual they've raised with you and what you're trying to do with your family as well. You speaking about family and celebrating life, you know, you have a beautiful reason and a beautiful meaning behind the name of your company itself. Can you please share the meaning behind Ellie & Piper?

[11:31]

Tina: Oh, thank you. Ellie & Piper were the top two baby names on our list of baby names for first two pregnancies before Penelope and unfortunately, those ended in miscarriages, which I would say yes, at that time it was very sad. And it's hard for any woman to go through that experience, once if not twice, and many women are still going through that experience in pursuit of motherhood, but I wanted to pay special tribute to their memories because when somebody invites Ellie & Piper into their homes when they are a customer, Ellie and Piper is able to celebrate life with them so that their memory for me is not lost. They, their memories live on. It holds a very special near and dear spot in my heart whenever somebody says Ellie & Piper.

[12:31]

Archita: Being a mom myself, it's extremely brave. It's really courageous that every moment every morning, every day, every minute, you're keeping their memory alive and taking a chance to celebrate. Thank you for absolutely empowering a lot of other people, as they hear this with the message to look at life and celebrate it.

[12:55]

Tina: Right and I honestly want to share that because that's the real meaning behind the name. But it's not necessarily looking for sympathy or anything like that because I feel that women heal when they share their experiences. And for some reason, it's just a taboo thing to think about. So there may be women out there who are suffering in silence, and it shouldn't be that way. So if I'm able to share my story to give them a little bit ounce of courage for them to share their stories, then it makes the world a better place for everyone.

[13:33]

Archita: Tina, huge, huge, huge warm virtual hug Tina, I wish I was there, but it's one coming right at you from Dusseldorf. Thank you for showing courage. Thank you for sharing that Tina. Talking about celebration, Tina. How do you celebrate the success you have had with your business? You've had some tremendous success being featured on the Today Show, being featured on Pottery Barn Kids.

[14:00]

Tina: Hardly, I don't know. It's cool for like 30 seconds and I'm jumping up and down and dancing around celebrating with my husband, high fiving. And then it's straight back to business like, Okay, what are we going to do next? So, you know, it's just an honor to be able to partner with such amazing event stylists and people who utilize our products and make it look so good that it gets featured. But I will say it's a very unreal experience to be featured in such well-known names.

[14:32]

Archita: So what are your aspirations for your business? Big Picture.

[14:38]

Tina: The whole mission of it is to celebrate life with our customers. I still want to be like a household name right? When people invite Ellie and Piper to their home and we're celebrating life's moments with families. I just hope that we're able to join more families and their celebrations. I would love to put some more of my creative side into it, designing things, whether it be party lines or stationery items, or maybe I could have a collection of recipes to share with people, the sky's the limit. And but like I said, it's an e-commerce business and we keep up with trends and like women's fashion trends things can change at any moment and owning your own company gives you the flexibility to pivot as you need to help your company grow.

[15:27]

Archita: You spoke about trends. What is your secret to keeping up with all these party trends? Because I just found out through your latest posting that pink is the new orange and black for Halloween. So my Halloween party is going to be all pink now and everyone's gonna...

[15:44]

Tina: Yeah, pastel pink. Yeah, that's the new trend. I stay up on trends by getting to know my customers. So Instagram is a huge part of my business and I get to follow directly my customers when they let me into their lives. What they will like what they don't like. And actually, they are the ones that find the coolest new things, and they let me know what it is that they need. So part of our customer service is that when people are planning their parties, they send me inspiration. And when I see that, then I know that that's an up and coming trend. It's really staying connected to my customers and giving them what they need and what they want.

[16:24]

Archita: Within the now culture. So can it be exhausting as a business trying to keep up?

[16:31]

Tina: I don't think so. Because for me, it's so much fun. I've always been into women's fashion and the latest trends, right? So for parties, it's exactly the same thing. Like what are people into right now? And I think that it's exciting and I'm part of this. I'm part of the millennial generation that just wants things now now now and the coolest and latest greatest so it just comes naturally to me,

[16:56]

Archita: Embracing your inner millennial. How concerned are you about in this day and age where everything is accessible online, does it really concern you that somebody can very quickly copy what you're doing?

[17:09]

Tina: Yes, it is a genuine concern. However, to set myself apart, it's building this brand, right. And it's setting myself apart in terms of customer service, because you could say the same thing about financial companies, which is what I sold before. There's so many financial companies are selling pretty much the same product, but people buy from people they like. So if your brand speaks to someone personally, then they will continue to buy from you. And that's kind of where you have a customer loyalty if you keep serving your customers in the right way.

[17:43]

Archita: Customers at the center of it all. So Tina what surprised you the most about the party supply business?

[17:50]

Tina: Well, you know, I started this business because I was unable to find non generic party supplies right. And that was while I was living abroad. When I came back, I was overwhelmed by all the selection that you can find in the US. There's so many different things out there. I have to weed through all the noise is how I like to say it in order to curate and build a collection that's true to Ellie and Piper's brand. Actually, one of the biggest compliments I ever got was from a friend who was asking me, where do you source all this stuff? Because it all looks like comes from the same vendor. And to me, that means that if somebody is looking at these items, they would know that it came from Ellie & Piper because they all have the same look.

[18:38]

Archita: It's so critical to a brand, having the same look and feel in maintaining the authenticity of your brand by being able to do that. And that's just fabulous. What is one of the things you had to unlearn as you stepped into being a business owner?

[18:50]

Tina: Okay, so from the corporate world, you're working for somebody else typically. So you have to go through this bureaucracy to get things approved and to get decisions made. So if you want to do something, you have to get approval for it. And being your own boss, you realize you don't have to get approval for this. So you, you make the decision. And sometimes that's a really difficult decision to make. Sometimes you would prefer somebody to tell you what to do. Give you some sense of direction, but when you're running your own company, you are that sense of direction. It's just a matter of which way do you want to steer?

[19:29]

Archita: Tina that was really insightful. You cannot undermine the responsibility you have as your own boss.

[19:36]

Tina: You're using your own resources. I'm diving deep into my family savings just to run this business. And every decision I make is one that's closely impacted. It's a lot of pressure.

[19:53]

Archita: Thank you for sharing that. Tina. Tina, tell us more about your time in Germany. What brought you to Germany? Were there some apprehensions, were there some welcome surprises?

[20:04]

Tina: Okay, what brought me to Germany? Well, we were just newly married. And I was at a point where I didn't enjoy what I was doing anymore. I was actually interviewing for other jobs, and I just accepted an offer and signed an offer letter. And then my husband came home one day and said, Hey, I know that you really enjoyed our trip to Europe recently. And you thought about moving to France, but I can get you next door to Germany. What do you say do you want to go? So he had just been offered a position after being recruited from somebody who found him on LinkedIn to do the same exact job that he was doing in the States, but in Germany for a German company. I just kind of dropped my work bags and I asked him if he was serious, and he said, Yes. And so I said, Of course, I'm gonna go. And it's kind of we were just newlyweds. We didn't have any kids. So it was an extended honeymoon. I didn't know what kind of adventure I was in for like, I just knew it's gonna be, you know, a different country. I think that I haven't even heard of Dusseldorf. We googled it real quick and was like top 10 places to live in the world. So I thought, how bad could it be? So we get there and we didn't know any German. And it was just really difficult at the beginning because I couldn't even order a sandwich with cheese in it. I didn't even know how to say käse. But over time, I think what really surprised me were the kind of relationships that we could make. We didn't realize how many expats were in Dusseldorf. And we made some of our best friends that are German that we still keep in contact with and we count our lucky stars that we are, we were able to visit like 30 different countries together, and six of them was with our baby girl before she could crawl. It's been such a crazy adventure and all the places that we've seen all the experiences all the people that we've met, have molded us to be the people that we are today. And it kind of molded me to be in the position that I am today running this company, very thankful and grateful for all those fun experiences.

[22:14]

Archita: So you took a chance, you made the leap. Would you drop your quote unquote, office bags again and then make the leap back over to Europe? And if yes, what kind of opportunity would it need to be?

[22:29]

Tina: I would say never say never because we always say, yeah, we're going to settle down now. But I don't know what the future holds. And honestly, the man upstairs, his plan for us is always so much bigger and so much better than what we want for ourselves. So I'm just going to trust in that.

[22:48]

Archita: One, I'm going to trust that you're going to be back here two streets down from me. We can still meet up for a cup of tea and cake.

[22:56]

Tina: Oh German cake.

[22:59]

Archita: So Tina who has been your biggest influence in your life either you know professionally, personally?

[23:04]

Tina: I would say my aunt because she bought me my first stationery items. I still remember it was Christmas day. She had bought me like a notebook, pen, pencils, erasers. And she's always taught me to appreciate the finer things in life, right so she taught me like to feel texture on a close to feel the touch and feel, is it going to last and it's the same thing for paper. So now I can feel paper and I can be like, Oh, that's suede material or that silk or that's UV or you know how it's printed on paper. I can thank her for that. The biggest thing that I can take away from this is buying a staple piece and being able to accessorize it where it becomes a different outfit. But it's also the same for party supply. So there are things that you can buy but reuse for every single party and you can just switch it up with accessories when you switch up your theme.

[24:04]

Archita: What is your favorite staple to use?

[24:06]

Tina: My very first vendor I saw her stuff on Instagram and I was like I want to have her in my shop. I feel like she is going to set me apart and I still feel that to this day. It's this lovely lady named Kate from Australia and she owns Kiki Sprinkles. She makes these awesome one of a kind acrylic cake toppers. The acrylic cake toppers are completely reusable. And the one that really caught my eye were these letterboard cake toppers so you know right now letterboard is totally in. But to see a letterboard cake topper is just amazing. So I searched Etsy for it to see if it was available in the States. I googled it to see if it was available in the states and it wasn't so I contacted her and I'm like, Hey, I just saw your stuff. And I feel like this would really set me apart from the competition. So will use sell them to me wholesale. So luckily for me, she said yes. And she had Eat Cake and Hip Hip Hooray. But we're from the States and so I feel like Treat Yourself was like a very common thing. So I asked her she can make Treat Yourself. So Treat Yourself as definitely like something that I, I guess she customized it for me. And that's my favorite because I've seen a client buy that and used it for her daughter's birthday, for Easter, for back to school, and then she's probably going to use it for Halloween because Trick or treat, treat yourself. She's used it four times in this year that she's bought it and that's something that I want to keep selling right you're selling this cake topper, but it can be used for different occasions and different parties.

[25:50]

Archita: I need to find myself one of those. That sounds great.

[25:53]

Tina: You can only find them on Ellie and Piper!

[25:55]

Archita: I know. You can only find them on Ellie and Piper! I'm gonna have to smuggle some in when a friend or a family member is visiting us from the US. So Tina you have one of the most infectious laughs I know. What was the last thing you had a really good laugh about?

[26:12]

Tina: This podcast and our blooper. Last time I had a hearty laugh it was with my husband, but it was probably some corny joke.

[26:28]

Archita: Okay, it's true. It's true. Mike. Mike does have some pretty corny jokes. Hundred percent. Tina talking about your husband, Mike. how supportive has he been? With regards to your journey of becoming your own business owner?

[26:42]

Tina: I have to wear so many different hats. So does my husband and he wears the hat of the sole investor. He wears the hat to be my punching bag when something goes wrong. He's my crying pillow when something goes wrong. He's my biggest cheerleader who will jump the highest, and cheer the loudest, whenever there's a victory to be made, he's always by my side. So I would say, how supportive is he? He is 100% as fully invested in this emotionally, physically, mentally, financially, as much as I am, it's our future. And he is 100% the rock of it all.

[27:26]

Archita: Tina what a great partner to have, as you continue to grow and celebrate life with Ellie & Piper.

[27:32]

Tina: Right? And actually, it was him who got me involved in a local community. He signed us up for the Chamber of Commerce, he got us a business mentor, he registered us for all these networking events. And I was so focused on the social media aspect of it. And he was like, we need to meet people in person. If we're going to grow this New England market, we have to meet New Englanders. So I give him 100% props for that. And it's only been a few months. But I just learned that I'm going to be Concord's young professional for the month of October.

[28:12]

Archita: Okay, because I can't contain my excitement years in and this is amazing. Congratulations on being recognized as a young professional so early and quickly in your time as a business owner. That's just fabulous. And such an inspiration for others out there.

[28:29]

Tina: Thank you. It's really just this community well receiving us and embracing us with open arms, so I just can't even begin to thank them.

[28:41]

Archita: So for women who are looking to start their own business, what would your advice be?

[28:48]

Tina: I would tell them that if you have a great idea that you're willing to live and breathe it and put in the long hours that you run with it. Because if you're always going to think, oh, maybe one day I could do that, then you certainly are going to miss your chance. You're going to let life pass you by if you don't grasp it and run with it. If it's something that you think, Oh, that's a good idea, because I can make a lot of money off of it. That's different. You really have to live and breathe it. It has to run through your blood before you could gain success with it.

[29:29]

Archita: That's great perspective. Tina, you know, believing in it versus making money off of it, because believing in it could lead to making money off of it, and that's great. But someday, if the money runs dry and you don't believe in it, you won't find a way to reinvent and reinvigorate it. Because you don't have the passion for it.

[29:49]

Tina: Yeah, but it's for anything else too, because my brother recently asked me to help him make a decision on a certain education route. And I told him to choose what he likes, what he loves, what he thinks is fun, and what he can envision himself doing every day. Because when you do something like that the money will come. If you're so passionate about it, it will come. But if your sole driver is money, sooner or later, maybe you're going to make a lot of money off of it. And money is not going to boost you to the next level. Because that's all you're chasing. And it's going to not be fulfilling for your soul and then you're going to be looking for something else.

[30:31]

Archita: Yeah, you're right, you gotta go after, you know, passions for the right reasons. So Tina, one of the questions we ask all our guests on the show is the following. What do you love the most about yourself?

[30:49]

Tina: Oh, man, that's a hard one. What I love most about myself is right now the person that I am, is that I never give up. If running this business for the last year, anything I've learned is when you get knocked down, you pick yourself up and brush it off and take it as a lesson learned. And then do something about it. So you can't you don't have any time to like, be sad or remorseful of whatever decision that you had made or what was done to you. You just keep going. And so perseverance is something that I myself very surprised that I have and how strong my willpower is to succeed.

[31:39]

Archita: On that note, Tina, I want to say it's been such a joy and a pleasure. Thank you for being your authentic vulnerable self and sharing your story. Thank you, Tina.

[31:50]

Tina: Thank you.

[31:52]

Archita: Until next time, what do you love the most about yourselves?

[31:57]

Meha: To learn more, check us out on thenineohsix.com. Subscribe to us on your favorite podcast platform to tune in and hear the stories that will elevate and inspire you.