In a fast-paced and challenging world where everyone’s chasing material success, it’s easy to get caught up in self-doubt.
Abby Skeans, the entrepreneur behind the unique brand Belief Statements, knows these feelings too well.
After a professional career dedicated to family law and justice reform, Abby realized she desperately needed to find the tools to heal her inner self.
Following her inspiring journey of personal growth, she now runs a successful business offering products and community help to support and build women’s self-belief.
Abby’s accomplishments are a testament to her deeply personal brand. We caught up with the founder of this woman-owned and operated business to learn what part Print on Demand had played in its success.
Impacting social change for women and children
“I was an international juvenile defense lawyer and spent the first part of my career working on public policy on International Human Rights at the US State Department.
After that, I went to law school to focus on international family law.
As part of my journey, I worked extensively in East Africa, eventually returning to the United States to work with philanthropists and private businesses to try to make a social impact on issues affecting women, children, and families in general.”
Switching paths for personal growth
“After over twenty years of chronic depression and anxiety, I realized I was dealing with a lot of past trauma. But I had so far been pushing back and numbing my feelings.
So, in 2022, I decided to take a step back and address my issues head-on.
After a lot of personal growth, development work, and counseling, I realized there might be an opportunity to start a business offering products to support people in their daily practices, which helped me heal.
I also had an idea to create a community model where women could support and encourage one another through their own personal journeys.
The result was Belief Statements, which was born in May 2023. I’ve since built a small team of four women who work alongside me on the business.
It’s been remarkable to walk this journey and see the impact we’re having on so many women’s lives.”
Printify offers the perfect business model
“I didn’t come from a retail background and had no preexisting product development skills, so as you can imagine, that part of the business was very daunting to me.
I was encouraged when I found out about Printify while reading articles as part of my initial research.
As I read more about Print on Demand, I realized thousands of entrepreneurs were using the business model to augment their offerings with physical products.
The logistics wouldn’t be an issue, and Printify’s Catalog had thousands of potential items, so I felt like it offered the perfect solution for my needs.
One of the hardest things about starting out as a retail entrepreneur is carrying thousands of dollars of inventory. It’s not just the financial aspect either.
Where will you store everything if you don’t want to rent a warehouse? What do you do when you’re still learning the ropes and want to test your ideas?
Print on Demand solves all of those worries.”
Connecting with the community through products
“It’s really important that we offer high-quality items, as customers are using them for their personal growth and healing. For example, I need to ensure we only sell candles that last for a long time and are non-toxic.
Many of the products are also made in America, which is important to us as a brand. Everyone raves about the products and how good they are.
Finally, the shipping has been seamless from end to end, so it’s been a very positive experience all around.”
The products that made a mark
“We’ve had great success with black ceramic mugs and simple white stainless steel water bottles.
I also use the glass and tin candles along with white matte journals.
All of the products serve a purpose, so it’s important that they are minimalistic in design, as well as being clean, sustainable, and environmentally friendly.
You can buy our products and join the Belief Statements Ritual program directly on our website.
We also sell on platforms like Etsy and have recently been onboarded onto Walmart and Amazon Handmade. We do additional retailer wholesaling through RangeMe and have direct offline contact with several boutiques and spas.”
Overcoming business hurdles as a novice entrepreneur
“When I was starting out, product design was the biggest roadblock.
It took me quite a bit of time to figure out how to use various design tools like Canva and how to integrate Printify with our website.
Plus, of course, I had to learn about social media marketing and all of those important things.
The biggest thing I’ve learned is to be obsessed with my customers. Understanding what they need and what problem you’re helping them solve is essential. I’d also say it’s vital to pay attention to feedback.
Before a product launch, we approach a small group of 10-20 women within the community and ask them what kinds of things would appeal to them in a new product.
That way, we can gauge the market much better than simply creating the items we think are best.”
Finding the perfect marketing strategy
“My core demographic is Gen-Z women aged 18 to 25. However, we know that the 25 to 35-year-old age group has greater buying power, so we segment our marketing strategy to address both audiences.
We use a two-pronged approach when it comes to marketing. We go direct to consumers through social media and use influencer and advertising partnerships – we’ve advertised with Women’s Running Magazine, Vogue, and Glamour.
We also partner with women’s professional organizations to sell products, as we know that these people are not only the ones who will benefit most from what we do, but they also have the greatest buying power.
That’s especially true if they’re C-level executives making decisions about items that will end up at corporate retreats, for example.”
Our personal super bowl
“I think Christmas and the general holiday season is a very crowded and busy time of year, and it’s not necessarily something we’re focused on.
Our personal Super Bowl event is Mother’s Day, as we’re a brand exclusively focused on women and the unique issues that affect them.
I’d say that the entire period from Valentine’s Day right through to graduation (February to June) is a busy period for us, as our products are often bought as gifts by people wanting to demonstrate appreciation for their loved ones.
With all of that being said, Thanksgiving and Christmas were still busy times for us as we prepared our store and inventory for 2024.
By Christmas, we had a pretty firm understanding of what products we would launch in the New Year. We’re still on the same page and haven’t seen any dramatic market shifts, so things seem to be going well.”
Biggest win so far
“Our biggest win has been seeing unexpected success on Instagram. We’ve had some pretty heavy-hitting influencers with over half a million followers promote our products without any payment from us.
They simply loved the products and were excited to share our message.
We also managed to form a partnership with the Chicago Cubs baseball team. The Cubs are devoted to combating child exploitation and sex trafficking and recently held an event at Wrigley Field honoring female survivors.
Our candles and mugs were handed out and promoted at the event. It was a wonderful gift to us, as it happened organically because the organizers loved our message and the power of what we were doing.”
A bright future ahead
“We’re currently raising capital for the company. My hope is that it will allow us to have more capabilities and to enter partnerships that can enable us to grow rapidly over the next five years.
Our goal is to reach a million women with our message by 2030. To do that, we need to begin partnering more intentionally with organizers and influencers who can help us scale our message.”
