 A big part of your story is how you overcame, you know, you overcame it all. When I look back over it, I'm like, wow. America has always been associated with making it, but is this opportunity accessible to all? I'm Scott Shigeoka, Go Daddy's Entrepreneur in Residence, and I'm on a journey across the country meeting the people who are building it. They're defying the odds and their stories show us what it means to be made in America. We're at Sequoia's house. She is an incredible entrepreneur. She started a boutique. We are here to learn more about the truck that she's building out. I can't wait to get inside and meet her. Hey, how are you doing? I'm Sequoia Ferguson, and I own that Sew You boutique. I like that shirt. Thanks. I like what you got going on too. It's clear that you are running a boutique shop. I'm ready to tell you all about it. Okay, cool. This year, I closed Brick & Border and went full-time mobile. Right now, the truck is in process of getting modeling the inside. We have to put like racks of shells. All this stuff goes on the truck and then also have inventory in the inside. Okay. I'm currently in doctorate school while doing all of this, and I just had a newborn, and I have one in college, and I got a lot going on. I got baby stuff everywhere. Ignore all of this, but this is actually the room where I store everything. This is all your inventory. Yes. So you create outfits, and that's how you, it's like a lookbook basically. Yeah, exactly. It's about like knowing your audience, right? Exactly. Like, knowing who your customers are. And you're getting ready for Memphis Pride, right? Yes. This is my first time doing Memphis Pride. Okay. So I'm super excited about that. And is that the first time you're taking the truck out? Yes. Oh, okay. How are you feeling? Yes. Oh my gosh. I'm pumped. This will be my first big event, because I'm super excited about it. Yeah. She just had a new baby. Daughter is going to college. She has this new iteration of her business. She's balancing a lot. When I first seen the truck, I could picture it being wrapped. It's a boutique truck. Here's Sequoia taking her first test drive of her new boutique mobile. When I drove it, I was feeling so powerful. I was just like, yes, I'm going to take over the world. All right. So this is the mobile truck. I just need to decide where I'm going to put the clothing shelves. I've never been to Pride before. What can I expect? You're going to have an amazing time. It's like a lot of fun. A question that I would have for you to think about is how will you stand out, right? Let's kind of walk through the customer journey. So what are the things you want them to see immediately as they walk in? I probably want something bright here and here. Yeah. And also, you know, we're talking about speaking to your audience, to your customer. Like how are they going to know that like you're down with them? So an example of that is you could hang a rainbow flag, right? That to me signals that this is a place that's inviting and it's welcoming people like me, right? My name's Mario Armstrong and I'm an entrepreneur and a contributor to the Today Show on NBC. This is really a new time and a new age. Some of the traditional big box stores are shutting down their stores. It's all going mobile. Pop-up shops, mobile trucks, low inventory, low real estate. Right now, 51% of Americans prefer to shop online. E-commerce is growing three times faster than traditional retail is growing. Three times faster. We can be where the customers are. But there's still challenges with just going mobile. You still have to build up a market. And so that really requires you to have a runway of time to be able to be out there. And the runway is going to be longer than you think you need. So really plan so that you don't get desperate or things get super tight and then you start making bad decisions. I'm calling up for the service. I'm calling about my bill. They can't do a payment arrangement. So there's 432 due by the 12 to my energy bill. That sucks. I haven't had the store properly running yet. I haven't been making the money that I want to make. So I know when I get it launched, like I have to go get it. Like in the next three months, like I got to be on it. Also, that's that main word I wear on my sleeve. I'm like, how are you going to get it? I've always had the store and always had another job. And I currently just took a position at National Park College. So I'm teaching one adjunct class right now. And I love it because they're all freshmen. And I was like, I was once in this seat where you guys are. I had to go through things in my life in order for me to get to where I am right now. When I was pregnant with my daughter at 16, you know, I got a lot of stereotypes then. As if she's not going to be successful. She's going to drop out of school. She's not going to be able to do this, you know, failure. But no, I was like, I'm going to overcome. I was taking her to college with me. Oh, she was coming into class? Yeah. Oh yeah. I was determined to, hey, to be something, do something. When I was in one of my doctorate classes, you know, one of my professors was just like, your tone is country. You have to change it. And then I looked at her and I was like, no, I'm not. I'm who I am. I'm not changing my tone for you. She started laughing. She's really stepping into this role as an educator, as a mentor, you know, sharing her own wisdom, her own experiences to others, so that they too can step into this path, which is so beautiful. You were 16. You kind of had this idea you're dressing up. Well, I was dressing up all the time, like just all the time, doing fashion and seeing fashion everywhere I go. And then in 2011, I opened that so you would take. And I was just like, I'm doing it. The bank said no. And I said yes. So I took $5,000 cash and $5,000 credit card. Oh, wow. And that's one of the things that I would tell any business owner, like, do not give up. It'll be worth it. My old store is right over the bridge beside Papa John's. Opening the store, it was terrifying. Like I was shaking. Like not a small amount of money. I mean, how are you feeling, you know, when you're putting that on your credit card and you're giving your savings? Yes, I'm just like, oh my gosh, like it was the most scariest thing in the world. Sometimes our lights got turned off for like a day or two, but then I got them turned back on. Oh, so you're in the dark. Yeah. So those are some of the dark moments that people don't see. Like what were you like as a kid in that environment? Like what were you seeing? What were you feeling? Most kids probably don't even know how to work a cash register at 13. That was me. I was the kid that was like always get out of school, going straight to the boutique. Yep. Straight to the boutique. And I would be there until six when she closed. And going mobile. I'm ready to be alive. Social media. I'm ready for my next adventure. Sequoia is a common example of the small businesses that we interact with, where you have this one person in the family that's decided I want to take a chance on my entrepreneurial dream and see if I can start a business and they start and they don't know what to do to make their business successful. I found communities unlimited. And so since I was a minority woman on business, they helped me get the loan for the truck. They say yes. So when I hung up the phone, I was screaming. I was like, yes, we're going mobile, we're going mobile. When it comes to entering the world of online cells, there's a learning gap that she needs to overcome that's very different from brick and mortar. Currently, my website does not say anything about the truck. It's all about brick and mortar. Like either mission statement for your truck, we put that in there and then your Instagram page would come right below this and it would be kind of like a live feed. This is so good, Jenna. Awesome. So here's an example of what it would look like when you want to add something. I love it. I love it. And I love it. I have a lot of work to do. I have a lot of stuff to put up. I have a lot of stuff to put up on the website. Really excited about seeing a lot of the entrepreneurs that are coming up with taking old models but putting these new twists on them and using mobile and technology to facilitate that. For me, the challenges that I see for people that are going mobile, not having that technology expertise on your team can be something that can hold you from future growth. What I thought I'd do is start with getting an update. So have you done any research on the target market? We've been working with her on getting this truck launched for several months now and she's needed a lot of push from not just us but her family. And so I'm sure it'll be a sense of great accomplishment for her and all of us to see her there set up at her first true event. First thing I'm going to take you to, the babysitter. Give me one second. So my dad hasn't always been in my life but this time he's in my life and he's helped me with the truck and I'm loving it. We're going to go ahead and go to Home Depot. Dad's super excited about the truck too. He's motivating me. Like get up, we got to get on the road next week. My dad is coming to fry and we're going to sell out. That's our goal. So today I got a $450 energy bill and my daughter called and needed $130 for a school book. And so I got to get the truck on the road so I can pay for these expenses. Yeah, we have one more week. Having your own business and being an entrepreneur, it's not like a straight road. It's more of finances are up and down. You have struggles up and down. You're going to go through things. I feel like I'm birthing a new baby myself here with this business. So I plan to go to Memphis Pride Fest to see Sequoia realize her dream. Do you like that idea of like having the flags here? Yes, I'm going to put a flag on it. She'll like attractions. Yeah, yeah. What can I find a flag? I could probably mail you one. Or yeah. There's a lot of steps that are involved with getting her to the place where she's going to succeed at Memphis Pride. But if she continues to work hard and she continues to get the support around her, she'll get there. My next stop in Memphis is meeting up with Consuelo, who you met in the first episode. She's tough, she's smart, and she's really dedicated to making a better life for herself and her family. I hope you join me.