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This is Joy & Claire Episode 109: Passion and Momentum with The Daily Drills Team
Episode Date: January 13, 2022
Transcription Completed: January 24, 2022
Audio Length: 42:26 minutes
[Introduction] Joy: Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of This is Joy and Claire. This week we have the pleasure of interviewing the creators and founders of the Daily Drills. We met them through Scout’s Agency, which I know we’ve mentioned before. It’s an agency that gets more females on podcasts. We need to have more female voices out there, which we are all for. This duo – the whole time we were interviewing them, Claire and I were texting back and forth like, “Oh my God, they’re so cute,” “Oh my God, they’re so cute.” Even though they’re in their 20’s. Which as we get older, you have an opinion about people who are young and whether they work hard or get it or whatever. You have your preconceived notions about people in their 20’s. You just do. And we had a lovely conversation just talking about that and also just super inspiring to hear about how they decided to start a business in the pandemic and what brought them to, first of all, start a business in the pandemic, but what they’re doing today and what they plan to do moving forward. I think it will inspire you if you’ve ever had an idea and are like, “I just don’t know how I could do it,” of how to get that momentum going. We talk about a lot of things. We cover, obviously, their brand Daily Drills, which is clothing. But just them as people and entrepreneurs and work ethic and how they make it work on a daily basis running a fairly new company. There’s tons of competitors out there obviously with athleticwear. I think you’ll like this episode. It’s really, really cute. Like I said, they’re just adorable. I wanted to jump through the screen and give them a hug. They also live in Los Angeles and live my daily dream – my Daily Drills dream of going to Erewhon, drinking juice, and just living that California life. So without further ado, here is our chat with the girls from the Daily Drills. Love you guys.
Joy: We can get started on that note. It was funny. When I was looking at your bios and how you started your business, I was like, oh my gosh. This is very similar to how Claire and I – Claire and I have been doing this podcast for almost nine years now.
Kennedy: Yes, I saw. That’s amazing.
Joy: Yeah. We literally just started where I was like, “Do you want to start a podcast?” Just texted her. And she’s like, “Sure.” I feel like you guys – didn’t you have a similar story where you just had the idea and then you were like, “Do you want to start this business?” And you were like, “Sure.” And then it was just off to the races.
Kennedy: Yes, exactly.
Mary Ralph: I got to do the easy part and do the “yes,” like you Claire. But Ken was the one who reached out to me. She texted me. We’ve always been entrepreneurial spirits, and we’ve always kind of circulated business ideas. We might want to do this together one day. We might want to do this together one day. But obviously, it was the perfect time, and it was easy for me to say yes. Thank you for texting me, Kenny.
Kennedy: No problem.
Claire: So how did you guys know each other before starting a business.
Kennedy: Yes. We met each other maybe six years ago through mutual friends. We actually, I guess, originally met through Instagram, which is funny to say outlaid, speaking of social media and how fun it is. We kind of met through Instagram. We actually ran an Instagram account together with about three other girls.
Mary Ralph: Which was very cutting edge at the time, we thought.
Kennedy: We thought. And then we both moved here for school and bumped into each other. Anyways, became fast friends. Ended up starting a bible study together. We had always talked about our business ideas and circulated things like that. She’s on the creative side. I’m on more of operations, so it’s kind of a match made in heaven. People always say it’s hard to do business with a friend or even a best friend. But if you have different strengths and weaknesses, it really plays into each other and can be amazing. We kind of always knew we wanted to go into business. We both love fashion. I randomly texted her in the middle of Covid. I was like, “Hey, we’ve got to do something.” We actually have to knock pen to paper and start and let it evolve. So that’s kind of what happened.
Joy: And I feel like everyone’s probably asked you the question of – during a pandemic, starting a business. What barriers did you run into immediately just logistically? Because everything was shut down.
Mary Ralph: Yep. It was pretty crazy. We actually started using old leftover fabric that other companies had had. It was extra stock fabric. So that was kind of nice because we had our fabric that we originally started with in hand, but then it sold out after our first job. Which was amazing and we did not plan on that. Then it kind of took a while to get the ball rolling because obviously shutdowns and everything of Covid. But it was honestly the best time to start, I think, because it was the most time we’ve had to sit and think and actually prepare and figure out how we were going to do something. Because life moves super, super fast. It was the first time I felt like I could actually – I mean, we were at home every single day for it felt like forever.
Joy: Right. You could focus on that because you had time.
Kennedy: And originally, we wanted to start with activewear. So it was very cut and dry. We did black leggings, black shorts, a white t-shirt. That was all we could afford at the time. We both put in $10,000, and that’s all the dollars we had. So while production was definitely more difficult because of Covid, there’s also the element of we just didn’t have cash to explore more intricate designs, so we just went for what we could have straight off the bat. Made the best, most perfect black leggings. And then once more money added to the pot, we could evolve and stuff like that. We got really lucky, honestly. I’ve heard of so many other companies run into some really big issues with production. Our production team has just been phenomenal. There definitely have been some delays and some limitations. But honestly, I feel like Covid was a great time to start because, A, throughout this thing we had extra time. But, B, our audience was really looking for more fashion-forward loungewear and that’s the market that we dove into. So we kind of hit that niche.
Mary Ralph: It was perfect timing.
Kennedy: Yeah, it was.
Joy: Well, you heard everyone talking about that during the pandemic. And I’m like, at this point it can’t really be cliche anymore because we’ve been living it. It’s not like this is news, but everyone was just living in pajamas, living in loungewear.
Kennedy: Right
Joy: And especially the transition to working from home, because now I have a work-from-home job, I’m finding myself being like, “I don’t need to wear tight pants.” Leggings, yeah. But I don’t need to wear tight pants, like work pants.
Mary Ralph: Yes, exactly.
Claire: No pants.
Joy: No pants.
Kennedy and Mary Ralph: No pants.
Joy: So I’m curious to know too. We have all the big brands out there, and I’m always curious of people who start a business – how do you not go to that mindset of being overwhelmed by the big dogs, like the people who already have the… the market may seem saturated. How do you think about that?
Kennedy: Yeah. The market is definitely saturated. I feel like more and more people have the capabilities, especially with technology and social media, to start their own brand for less money than it would have cost in years past. It is a saturated space. We both don’t have a scarcity mindset and feel like we were just stepping into it like this is what we’re really interested in and passionate about, so let’s just walk through the doors and see what happens. So we didn’t really have that in the back of our minds. I think, yes, originally it might have been more hard to stand out when we had black leggings and stuff like that, but that’s why we really wanted to innovate and push those boundaries so we felt like our products were a little bit more unique. You’re not going to get them at Lululemon or the Alo. It is a little bit more fashion forward niche and branding. So yeah, I don’t know. I just didn’t have that perspective going into it.
Mary Ralph: Which is so good. Ken’s definitely taught me more about that because at first I kind of held tighter like, “Well, this girl can’t make a brand because that’s our thing.” When we think and sit down and the more people we give our contacts away and the more that we give away, the more that we seem to receive.
Kennedy: Yeah.
Mary Ralph: So it’s been a good shift of, anyone can make a brand. It’s never going to be the same thing because they’re not us and we’re not them. I feel like with that mindset, it’s easier to be like, I’m going to do what I’m going to do and be good at what I’m going to do. And it’s okay that the Lululemons of the world are going to be there and all of the huge brands, but we can also sit in this space as well because we’re a smaller brand that makes different unique clothes.
Kennedy: Yeah, right.
Mary Ralph: You taught me that I think.
Joy: You guys are so cute. And that also reminds me as you were talking about podcasts. So when we started nine years ago, there weren’t that many out there. And now, there’s a bazillion. Truly, there’s so many. But at the end of the day – and I know this might be really cool for listeners to think about, if they’re ever wanting to start a project. It doesn’t matter how young, how old you are, how saturated the market might be. No one does what you do.
Kennedy: Exactly.
Joy: And you have a different personality and a very awesome uniqueness. It makes me think of Dr. Seuss, “no one is youer than you.”
Kennedy: Yeah.
Mary Ralph: Yeah.
Joy: And how important that is. Claire and I are always like, oh my gosh, people are still listening to us after all these years. Well it’s because I am me, and it’s her, and our dynamic is something that you will never be able to replicate. Having that in mind when you’re going into business, did you have an audience in mind? Or you just kind of went for something that you felt like you guys wanted?
Kennedy: So we both have a fair amount of followers on social media. Ralph has what I call a “cult following.” Truly, she’ll say, “drink this,” and they’ll order ten boxes worth. And she’ll say, “wear this,” and they’ll buy four pairs of pants. Really, I feel like we leaned on our personal followers being so loyal. As influencers, you post different – Ralph can speak on this more – but you post different makeup brands, different clothing. But there’s something special when it’s your brand and your followers really want to lean in and support you. They’re excited for you. They get to witness the journey and the evolution of you creating the brand. So I think that really helped with the first push. We had so many people beyond friends and family just jump in and support us. And some of our best customers are customers who were day one customers because they love Ralph and I and they want to be a part of Daily Drills. The brand too, we want it to feel like a person. We want it to feel like a lifestyle brand. We don’t want it to feel like a Starbucks where you might go every day, but you don’t actually know the founders. You kind of know the mission, but from other people. We really wanted it to feel like a person and have a personality.
Mary Ralph: I feel like goes back to the thing about how you can’t replicate your dynamic and friendship. That’s how we wanted to make Daily Drills its own person. It had a personality. You can sell it on social because it was like an older sister. A bunch of our followers are younger girls. They’re mostly college, just graduating, looking up to Ken and I as someone who’s a few years down the road from them but also someone that they can see. We’re very attainable. We live attainable lifestyles, I feel like. So that’s what we wanted Daily Drills to be like kind of an older sister. We ask questions and want their feedback. Even with this peak set that’s behind us, Ken and I are like, “Okay, what colors should we do?” I wanted this color. Ken thought this shade. So we’re like, how about we just ask our followers what color they want, and they can decide for us? Of course, they picked the one that neither of us picked in the beginning. But we’re like, okay, we should just go with what they want because we want Daily Drills to be a personality and to be an interaction between our customers. Versus just a brand that puts out stuff and tries to make money and just keeps pulling on that wheel.
Joy: Yeah, I think this is also just a testament to being passionate about something. That’s what makes it work. At least in my experience of just being super excited about something. And where you guys talked earlier about “I never really thought about the competition” or the market being saturated.
Kennedy: Right.
Joy: You just did it because it was fun. You were excited about the idea. I think that’s how things start usually is the momentum just kind of takes over. It’s almost like a greater power just pushes everything forward really fast.
Kennedy: 100%.
Joy: And it’s really fun to watch that happen and watch it unfold. I think where we get stuck is where you maybe start to overthink it or doubt yourself. If you get in that early pure love passion place, people can create really cool things. That’s really exciting.
Mary Ralph: Thank you. And I feel like people can also tell when the wind is at your back, when it’s something that you’re passionate about. It just helps everything to move forward, like you were saying. And we just felt so lucky. I also think it is because it’s something we genuinely love and it’s our baby. We’re young, so we obviously don’t have kids or our own family, so literally our baby. It’s been super fun to see.
Claire: What has been surprising to you in this process so far? It’s obvious you guys are so passionate about it and it’s maybe happened faster or more smoothly than you might have expected, but what has surprised you?
Kennedy: Honestly, every Monday when I drive to the office, I’m like, “This is what I get to do.” This is my full-time job. When we originally started Daily Drills, we both had full-time jobs outside of Daily Drills. Obviously, we couldn’t pay ourselves. Our goals was to one day be able to pay ourselves, maybe within the first year. And within the first 3-6 months, both of us had quit our jobs, came full time, got an office space, had an employee, had interns, had all the things. I think that really surprised me, just the timeline. And kind of what you were saying about the wind being at our back, I knew deep down it was going to work. I had a good gut feeling about it. So I was able to walk in confidence, but I didn’t think the timeline would be what it was. It’s just been honestly such a blessing. I used to say this at my last job. I was always like, I just feel like I’ve had a lot of leaders that have shown me the kind of leader that I want to be, whether that be good or bad. I just felt like I had taken a lot of leadership styles, and I really felt a calling to be a good leader. And that I have impact and I have influence, whether that is one intern under me or a dozen employees under me. It is a responsibility of mine to infuse a good culture and a good work environment. I think there’s a lot of toxicity in traditional workplaces now. So I think that has been really, really cool and really surprising to me. I just didn’t think it would evolve as quickly as it did.
Mary Ralph: Yeah. And I feel like what’s been pretty surprising to me is we’re 25, you’re 26.
Kennedy: Yeah.
Mary Ralph: When I was probably 20, I was like, by the time I’m in my 30’s, I could probably start my own thing. But it’s been surprising that people actually take us seriously when we’re 25 and 26, and we can actually do it, that we can actually talk to people with confidence in a meeting or in a factory or all of the things that we’re doing. It’s super surprising to me and very encouraging if you’re listening to this if you’re young or you’re trying to start something. If Ken and I can do it –
Kennedy: Yeah, if we can do it, you can do it.
Mary Ralph: I mean that. I’m from a working background. Ken’s from a working background. I’m more creative – large, big picture. Not business-minded, not nitty gritty. But that’s just kind of how I am. All over the place, a little bit sporadic. I just am surprised that it’s been able to get to where it is with just Ken and I being the founders. We don’t have anyone older than us telling us what to do. A CEO man telling us, you know. It’s just us two. And if you want to start, you can do it as well. So I think that’s surprising.
Joy: Yeah, and I love that you’re having that influence on even younger employees in your office and people being able to look up to you or even your followers. I’m in my 40s, and I’m like, yay, the younger generation is taking care of it. It’s inspiring because I also think that there’s so many things that do need to change in the workplace culture, so hopefully you can be that example within your own workspace of what a good, healthy workplace could look like. The other thought that I wanted to bring up because I think it’s really interesting is I bet when you do interviews or people ask you questions is people will always ask Claire and I, “Do you guys get along? Do you ever fight?” No one would ask two males that question.
Kennedy: Interesting.
Joy: There’s this weird underlying dynamic. It’s always a question of how you stay friends or how do you work together and that not impact your friendship. Sure, there’s an obvious element to that. But I also feel like that’s this weird sexist question around –
Mary Ralph: How interesting.
Kennedy: I’ve never thought about that.
Mary Ralph: No.
Kennedy: It’s so true.
Joy: To me, it’s not relevant. But I think just bringing that up is really important because you two seem to have that – kind of like how Claire and I operate where it’s never entered the conversation. We can’t speak for every duo that works together, but that is an interesting thing that people from the outside will project onto you as you’re moving through the business. “Well, they must fight behind the scenes.” That’s really interesting. It’s very sexist, and I just wanted to call that out to you because I found myself wanting to ask that question. But then I’m like, well that’s weird. That doesn’t matter.
Mary Ralph: Yeah, but every interviewer or podcast we’ve had asks that question. I’ve never thought of it in that sense, but I would never ask my dad if he fights with his business partner who is his best friend.
Joy: I’m sure you work it out. But the thing is too is you find a way to work it out.
Kennedy: Right.
Joy: We’re not on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. We are professional women. Which I love the Real Housewives, don’t get me wrong. But we are working hard to make a business or make content or what have you. That’s what matters. That is the type of thinking that I think keeps women, I don’t know, pressed down a little bit. Because it’s just not the focus. Why are we focusing on this? So I’m going to move on from that question.
Claire: Alright. Well, let’s take a quick break and talk about our fantastic sponsor, Ned. We love Ned. I literally use Ned every single day. I look forward to it every single day. It makes such a difference in my sleep. And I was thinking about this the other day, Joy. You know how you always talk about hotel sleep?
Joy: Yeah.
Claire: I sleep like crap at hotels.
Joy: [laughing] I’m sorry, that was just really funny.
Claire: Mine is more like the night home in your own bed after being stuck in a hotel sleep.
Joy: Okay.
Claire: Every time you say that, I nod along.
Joy: But actually I hate it. Oh my gosh, that’s hilarious.
Claire: I’m not ever warm enough. The pillows are too soft.
Joy: That’s great, that’s great. Okay, okay.
Claire: I have been using the straight hemp 750 mg. I do really like the sleep blend. I find the hemp for me is just as effective and it’s a little bit less expensive. So that’s the one that I have been gravitating towards. We always get the question, “Am I supposed to taste this pot taste?” It does kind of taste a little bit like pot.
Joy: A little bit, I’m not going to lie. I do have to do a shooter of juice after I take it.
Claire: I do have to chase it a little bit.
Joy: Yeah, I’ve got to have a chaser.
Claire: I’ve actually kind of come to appreciate it. I kind of look forward to it. So my new nighttime routine, are you ready?
Joy: I saw your little stand.
Claire: Oh my gosh, I got this cute little stand at Target, $1. I brush my teeth. I do my Ned under my tongue. And then while it’s sitting under my tongue, because you’re supposed to leave it, I get my Vitamin D and my magnesium, and I walk to the kitchen. I swallow the CBD. I take my other vitamins. And then I sit down, and I have a cup of Sleepytime. The triple whammy of CBD, magnesium, and Sleepytime. I have been sleeping unbelievably well.
Joy: Everyone should do what you’re doing. You’re prescribing this officially. Just kidding. I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I’m thinking of Laure Ligos when she’s like, “Hey, hold on.”
Claire: I’m not prescribing supplements. All that to say, guys, we love Ned. We love the products. We love the founders. We love the company. It’s local to Colorado. All their hemp is grown in Colorado. They do amazing third-party testing on all of their batches. If you are interested in CBD, or if you’ve been trying CBD and are like, “This doesn’t really work,” try out Ned because their stuff is really high quality. We love it.
Joy: And if you want to try one of the new products, the new destress blend from Ned, a brand that we love and trust, we have a special offer for our audience. Every order over $40 qualifies for 15% off and a free destress blend sample. Go to helloned.com/JOY or enter JOY at checkout to take advantage of this offer. That’s helloned.com/JOY to get 15% off plus a free destress blend sample on any order over $40. Thank you, Ned, for sponsoring our program and offering our listeners a natural remedy for some of life’s most common health issues.
Claire: And thank you, guys, for supporting the brands that support our podcast. And also supporting our community. They’re local. I love them.
Joy: But what do you think people get wrong about Gen Z?
Kennedy: That’s a great question.
Mary Ralph: I feel like a lot of people get wrong that they’re not hard workers. I feel like a lot of people think Gen Z has big ideas.
Kennedy: Are we even Get Z? We’re between.
Mary Ralph: We’re on the cusp between the two, which is interesting.
Joy: Are you on the cusp?
Kennedy: Yeah.
Mary Ralph: Because our parents are the ones that did the 8-8, not even 9-5. They really put in the time. With TikTok and Instagram and social, it seems like your life is glamorous and you can also have a job and make money, and you can post one video and that’s all you need to do. But I feel like people get wrong that Gen Z – I feel like we’re much more forward thinking and actually think through things, like business-minded. Versus just being creative, big-picture, thinking you’re going to get famous overnight. I think there’s a lot of people that area really business-minded and smart and super savvy.
Kennedy: I agree. I like everything you said. Just the knowledge base of Gen Z – because of TikTok, because of social media, because of news. Whether that be good or bad. I mean, we are so inundated with information all the time, which can be super overwhelming and is honestly a key trigger of growing mental illness rate. But at the same time, I think we are so much more self-aware as a generation and we’re constantly working to become the best versions of ourselves. Even ten years ago versus now, there’s just so much more information at all times. If you want to get into politics, you can. If you want to get into a specific cause or foundation, it’s at your fingertips. You can actively give back to that charity, where before we just didn’t have that kind of access. I look at my baby brother, and they’re super informed about what’s going on in the world, and at that age I wasn’t. I think that’s really cool too.
Mary Ralph: You can literally do anything you want. It sounds cliche. But you can write on your Instagram story, “Does anyone know a person that can help me with this?” I promise you they all probably get an answer within seconds. And then there you are. There’s your contact. Versus when my parents were even growing up, I know it took much longer to make that one connection that would actually help your business or help you in whatever you wanted to do or the person that you just wanted to talk to to get to know more about something.
Claire: Right. It was like you had to know someone who knew someone. Right, you can’t just ask on Instagram. I think that’s really interesting, and it’s making me think. When you look at social media or you look at influencers, it’s easy think, oh, all you do all day is just take pictures and post recipes or take videos of your butt.
Joy: From Erewhon.
Claire: I mean –
Joy: I’m sorry. Let me just side bar. I love LA.
Claire: Joy’s going to out herself right now.
Joy: I love – everyone that listens to this podcast knows that I love Los Angeles. Anyway, I won’t go off. But I just love it. My mom grew up in Los Angeles. I have a lot of heart ties to LA. I just love it. But when we went to Venice a few years ago, we went to Erewhon, we were like, what is this place?
Mary Ralph: Oh, we go to that Erewhon every day.
Claire: I mean, you’re living Joy’s dream. Also, whatever that juice bar is on Abbot Kinney, we literally spent a hundred dollars on juice.
Joy: Kreation with a “K.”
Kennedy: We love Kreation as well.
Claire: I mean, Joy’s dream vacation would be to just go and stay in a bougie Airbnb above Abbot Kinney and be on a liquid diet of turmeric shots and charcoal coconut water.
Joy: Totally. Totally. Yep.
Mary Ralph: I love it.
Joy: So just a side bar about Erewhon. You’re living my dream life.
Claire: Organic beverages.
Mary Ralph: We’ll think about you next time we go – probably tomorrow.
Claire: [laughing]
Joy: Thank you so much.
Claire: Anyways. But something that’s interesting is if you spin that on its head of, it’s not, “Oh, look how lazy you are. All you’re doing is taking photos of yourself.” If you think about it in another way, you have to have the savvy to turn any part of your life into a business opportunity. Of course, that’s not for everyone. I think we’ve talked about this in a previous podcast where the people who find a lot of success with that type of angle typically really thrive on content creation, and obviously that’s not everyone. But if you can get to that point and you really are able to monetize – so to your point, you have to have that savviness in the back of your mind at all times in the way that no one else has had the reason or opportunity to do. But it does require you to always kind of be looking for those opportunities and always be thinking that through. That part of your brain has not typically needed to be switched on all the time.
Mary Ralph: We literally were just taking-
Kennedy: I love everything you said. So much validation. We had like a 20-minute conversation today about that exact think.
Mary Ralph: It’s just interesting because Kenny and I will always talk about – like, we went to a workout class today with a workout instructor that’s super well known in Los Angeles with our friends who are influencers. We’re wearing pink outfits and we’re just doing dance cardio in a room, and everyone’s like, “They don’t work. They just sit there and post on Instagram stories with their friends and probably drink juice at Erewhon afterwards.” Which, we might drink juice afterwards. But it took so much time to actually get there to that one photo. Even when it’s so fun and it’s with our friends and it’s what we love to do, it’s just interesting. Ken’s always like, “Do you think people think we don’t work?” I’m like, “Yeah, and screw them.”
Kennedy: And she loves it.
Mary Ralph: I love it. I want to be that mega-company that people are like, “Oh, I didn’t know that she worked.” That’s ideal. Because I don’t need to tell everyone every day that, “Oh, today I was in the office from this time to this time, just so you guys know.” Why would I post that? Why do I need to tell them that? I assume the best in other people, so I hope that they would assume the best in me, not always assume the worst. I hate that culture of, “Oh, they definitely don’t work.” “Oh, they definitely are funded by their parents.”
Joy: Right, that privileged –
Mary Ralph: If I don’t assume that about other people, then why would I think people would assume that about me? So I feel like I go about life like, oh, I assume that they think that this is a job, just like I treat it as a job.
Kennedy: I think it’s harder for me, for sure. I’m still getting used to it. That’s why I was confiding about, I don’t know, I’m just insecure about it. I feel like people think that I don’t work. And then people ask me questions about every freaking thing in my house or that I’m wearing. And I’m like, I don’t want to respond to them right now. It’s a Saturday at 3pm. But you’re always on social media, so it’s like you’re never working but you’re always working. For me, I worked in house marketing for maybe 3-4 years. Some part of it was an internship, but regardless it was more corporate start-upy. You’re in at 8, you leave at 5. I would stay past 5, and that’s how I was able to validate that I was going above and beyond. I was performance driven. All the things. So then it’s funny now starting your own business. I could technically come into the office whenever I want and leave when I want, so there’s no one monitoring me. So the way that I validate it is, well, what does it look like I’m doing on social media or whatever? It’s so good to talk to you about because you’re so good about being like, “Well, it doesn’t matter what the outside perception is.” And I feel like that’s something that I’m trying to currently internalize. It doesn’t matter if it looks like I worked three hours. It doesn’t matter if I actually worked three hours that day. Maybe that’s what I need that day. And on some Saturdays, I am working. It’s really nobody’s business. But I do think as influencers and just people on social media, we have a responsibility to be open and transparent with our lives. Because I think that sometimes people look at us and they’ll think, “They only get to do the fun stuff. I wish I had that life.” “They’re just shopping 24/7. I wish I had that life.” I don’t mean it from a discouraging perspective. I mean it from an encouraging perspective. We work our asses off, and I love that about ourselves, and I also love to shop and do all those things. I try to be realistic on social media as well, just because I do think it is a little toxic to feel like everybody else around the world is frolicking while you’re sitting behind your desk.
Claire: Just to validate that, no matter what your day-to-day looks like, no matter how old you are or what phase of life you’re at, that’s what social media does to everyone. We’re all sitting there thinking, “I’m the only one who has to budget. I’m the only one who can’t do all these things because I actually have to pay for childcare, whatever the case may be.” It’s so easy to look on social media and immediately assume everyone else has it easier than you and no one else is having to exist in society.
Kennedy: Yeah. I’m like, I shouldn’t think that about anyone else, so I try to look at it realistically. They probably also work their asses off all day too. So I think if we think of them how we want to be thought of.
Joy: Right. Well, yeah. It’s like, I go behavioral with it. I’m just like, you know, it’s really interesting because I have posted – I don’t know, I don’t post a ton, but I’ll post things here and there. And I got a comment sometime last year that was like, “You look like you’re always having so much fun.” I want your life, type of thing. I’m like, what? I don’t post that much. Where am I having all this fun? If you think about it behaviorally, we’re posting things – like, taking a moment and going, “This would be cute to post.” We’re not posting things that we’re like, “Oh my God, this would bring everybody down.” We’re posting things that seem like they’re going to make people feel a certain way or hope that it makes people feel a certain way. And then when it does, people turn it around and they’re like, “Well, you’re always having fun.” And I’m like –
Kennedy: Right.
Joy: It’s an interesting thing that I think, Ralph, you’re right on to not take that and put energy towards it. It’s good to have perspective all the time, but to not just put energy towards it. Because it really just doesn’t matter at the end of the day. What’s ultimately your job? And what’s ultimately going to move your business forward? That’s what matters.
Claire: I think it’s so hard to really live that it doesn’t matter what other people think when such a big part of your day-to-day life is, just like what you’re talking about, receiving that constant barrage of comments and questions. You are in the spotlight and also having to hold this reality that your life will go on no matter what everyone else thinks in the way that you want it to happen. To jump off of that topic, I’m curious to hear from you guys. What is different about the way your life looks now than how you expected it would look at this point in your life?
Mary Ralph: I worked in an internship. I worked at Bumble, at their headquarters there. So that was in office. But after school, I started a social media agency with my twin sister, so I always worked at home. I think that I thought you’ll get more freedom. You won’t work in an office. You won’t work a 9-5. But now since we have Daily Drills, we have an office and it’s our baby, so we want to work more. So I kind of thought I was going to scale back and work less. It’s the opposite, but in a work that you want to do more. Which is interesting. That’s not like a 20 years – but I kind of thought five years ago, “Hopefully I’ll be able to work from home one day and not be under a boss.” But it’s kind of been the opposite. I go into an office every day, which I had never done prior. But it’s been so much more rewarding and fulfilling. And it’s honesty been kind of nice going into an office and leaving the work there, and Kennedy and I can be friends outside of work as well. That’s a big difference. It’s a small timeframe difference.
Kennedy: Yeah, I kind of feel similarly. I remember I was working in house. I actually shared a desk with the chief finance officer. So yeah, marketing and finance right next to each other. I adored her, and I really respected her. She’s like a mentor to me. She would always say, “I want to work for you one day, Kennedy.” I was like, “What? What do you mean? I’m not going to have anyone working for me.” She’s like, “You’re going to start your own thing. Whether it’s the PR firm, marketing. You’re going to start your own thing.” I was like, thanks for believing that in me. I hope that for myself too. I don’t know how to get there. So I think definitely the fact that, like we were saying earlier, we are so young and we do have our own business – that’s a real business with an office with employees and that’s turning over sales in a way that we didn’t think would happen at this time. I definitely think maybe I would have started a business mid-30’s when I had traditionally grown my way up in the ranks and had partners and funding. We just did it now, so I’m proud of ourselves for doing that because I don’t think I ever anticipated or expected I would be where I’m at today.
Claire: Hold on. We have to pause. Joy and I also are both twins.
Joy: We both have twin brothers.
Claire: We both have twin brothers.
Mary Ralph: No way.
Kennedy: Oh my gosh.
Mary Ralph: [UNCLEAR] That would be convenient.
Joy and Claire: [laughing]
Joy: It was convenient.
Claire: Yeah, it was convenient. [laughing] Joy’s brother was in the Air Force Academy, so she got to date a lot of cute Air Force guys.
Mary Ralph and Kennedy: Oh.
Joy: Yeah, it was great.
Claire: My brother, not so much. We did get to have co-ed sleepovers in middle school, so…
Kennedy: Wow.
Mary Ralph: Well my name is Ralph, and her name is Lyle. So we’re like, okay mom, obviously you wanted boys, but you got us.
Joy: [laughing]
Claire: That’s hilarious. Yeah, this was a fact that Joy and I did not know about each other when we started this podcast. And then one day it was like, “You have a twin brother? I have a twin brother!” So, twin power.
Kennedy: I love that.
Mary Ralph: Oh, I love you.
Claire: I just had to have a twin moment. Okay, Joy, did you have something to say?
Joy: You’re good.
Claire: So I would love to kind of hear a little bit more about – we’re talking about your daily lives and how some days you are working 12-hour days and other days are 3-hour days and a long trip to Erewhon. I’m curious what stresses you out, and what do you do to relieve that stress?
Kennedy: Different things stress us out, and different things energize us. I’ll start there. Do you want to touch on what energizes you?
Mary Ralph: I love go, go, go. I’m such a “yes girl.” I love to say yes. I love to do the things. I love the packed calendar. I really love that. Well, I really thought I loved that. So last year, our year was thing after thing. We said yes to everything. It was amazing. I think it really helped us grow. I think it really helped Daily Drills get to where it is today in January. But when Kennedy and I sat down this year – we’re actually going to Paris this week, like in two days. Which is so much fun and we’re taking our collection there. I was so, so excited about it. And I am so, so excited about it. But it’s interesting, when you say “yes” to everything, everything dulls a bit. Instead of the few things you look really forward to – like in school, I looked so forward to spring break and summer break. Because you’re studying in school and you’re looking forward to that one thing. So that used to really energize me – going and traveling. And I think it’s weird because the more I’ve done it, the less it’s energized me. It looks on social media, like we were saying, like the most fun ever. But it’s hard to do an overnight flight three times a month for months on end. So I’ve re-looked at myself and how I operate, what makes me feel fulfilled. And actually staying in one place helps I think. Obviously, my family lives in Texas, and I love being around them and I feel super energized and fulfilled when I’m around them. You might change. In college, I feel like, “If I got to travel to ten countries in a year, that would be the most ideal year of my life.” Now, this year my passport is literally my best accessory. We have a million things planned. It’s crazy how that can stress you out when you were the personality type that you thought that would be the end-all-be-all. So reframing that, like, actually that’s not making me feel good. I’m feeling drained. And being able to switch and rearrange things. Like, okay, we’re going to actually say “yes” to fewer things this year, things that really matter, things that we both agree on that align with both of our schedules. Because we have to do personalized stuff too, which has been super helpful. And I feel like you taught me that for sure.
Kennedy: We’re both growing in that.
Mary Ralph: Yeah.
Kennedy: I think, going back to your original question as far as what energizes me, on a daily basis – probably both of us actually – are really energized by spurts. So we’ll have a two-hour spurt, and then we’ll go for a little walk or do our own thing. She’ll work on her personal social, or I’ll call my mom for ten minutes. And then we’ll come back, and we’ll have another little pow wow. When we try to have a day that’s just back-to-back-to-back, by the end of it, we are both so stressed out. We have so much tension in our physical bodies. It just climbs. And then you enter a conversation that could have been this super chill conversation but it just feels so stressful, and you need immediate answers, and all the things. I feel like we’ve learned that we’re more energized if we work in spurts. If some days we’re not feeling up to it, just being in touch with what we need. We even tell this to [UNSURE 00:37:21.16] Claire, we’re like, “If you’re exhausted, don’t just sit here to sit here. If you don’t feel good, go home, sleep it off, and get back to it. Work from home half the day.” You have to know what works for you because it’s about the long haul. Even, we’re going to Paris and we’re going to be gone for ten days. That’s still work. Yes, it’s play, but then we come back on Sunday, and we have work on Monday. What do we need to do in the meantime to rest, rejuvenate, reenergize, take breaks? Because it’s not just clock in at 8 and leave at 5 and then it’s done. Our work kind of never ends.
Mary Ralph: Yeah. It is super interesting, too. The tension kind of rises throughout the day with stressful thing after stressful thing. Even at the end of the day, we’re like, “Okay, we need to pick this color today,” and I’ll be like, “I really want it to be this color. I really want it to be this color.” And that conversation could have been so much simpler. If we just had it tomorrow morning, we could have been like, “Oh, I love your idea. I love your idea” and talked about it. But we’re just so pent up because it’s been such a stressful day that things are so meaningless are so much more –
Kennedy: Yeah, they feel so much bigger.
Mary Ralph: It’s been good to be like, “Okay, this is not a good time for us to have this conversation. We’re not in the place to do this right now. It can be tomorrow, and it will be just fine.” And us being the person who helps each other figure out when that timing is right.
Kennedy: Yeah, agree.
Joy: Yeah, like you feel that resistance and you’re like, “Wait a minute, we need to take a break.” So, what are you doing in Paris?
Mary Ralph: We’re shooting our collection, which will be so, so, so much fun.
Joy: Oh my gosh. How fun.
Kennedy: It’s earthy tones. Brown. It felt very city-esque.
Mary Ralph: And our followers love coming with us on adventures. We went to New York last year and Aspen. They love seeing our sets actually in real life, lifestyles, in more aspiration places where maybe they’ve always wanted to travel, it’s on their bucket list. Last year for Christmas, we thought we were going to do a Christmas in Hawaii campaign. We thought it was going to be fun, and the juxtaposition was really cool. And then we asked our followers, “Where would y’all rather us go? Aspen or Maui?” And they were like, “Aspen!” So we literally rebooked our tickets. I was like, well crap, I wanted a tan. And now we’re going to freeze our ass off. But it was hilarious, and we were like, “Okay, guess we’ll go.” We rebooked the whole thing. I, on Instagram, tried to skew it. Because they voted “this or that,” Aspen or Hawaii. I tried to make better pictures for Hawaii and not as cute pictures for Aspen. Then I was like, okay, should I delete it?
Joy: You can’t fight it. You got to do what they say. What does the future plan for Daily Drills – where are you guys at right now? Where are you hoping to get to within the next year?
Kennedy: That’s a great question. So like I said, we originally started with activewear, and then we were dipping our toes into lounge. Our customers loved it. Then we kind of started rethinking in general how to make our pieces more fashion forward, how to make them more transitional so that it’s the same thing that you can wear to your workout to drinks with girls. So really those transitional pieces. But definitely trying to push the needle a little bit. Even with the sets behind us – these are nylon sets. But instead of just doing your traditional running shorts, we wanted to make them high waisted with the boxer-inspired patch and the bubble bra that goes with it that you could also maybe wear under a blazer if you wanted to make it more fun and styled. So really trying to push the needle. Maybe swim – just dropping some hints.
Mary Ralph: Maybe some dresses. I’m literally like, “Can we do this? Can we do this? Can we do this?”
Kennedy: But we all want it to feel a part of Daily Drills. We will never say never to anything, but it will all be in line with what we’re creating right now. So definitely more fashion forward, intentionally-designed pieces that have that transitional element. Lots more stuff.
Mary Ralph: And we’re probably going to make a dress.
Joy: Oh, I love a dress. I can’t wait to see it. That’s exciting. Thank you, guys, so much for being on the show. I feel like this was a larger conversation in a lot of ways, and I hope listeners get a lot of inspiration, especially from the past two years that we’ve had and that you guys were able to just launch this amazing brand that seems like it’s going to keep going and inspiring people. Where can people find you?
Mary Ralph: Oh, you’re so sweet. We are shopdailydrills.com online, and our Instagram is @dailydrills. I’m @maryralph.
Kennedy: And I’m @kennedycrichlow.
Claire: And I’ll add all the links to the show notes, so go and check those out when you are done with the episode. Give them a follow. Check them out. I know you guys can’t see them, but they are so cute.
Joy: They’re so cute. Buy their clothes. Support this business. Support female-owned businesses.
Claire: Thank you guys for being on. And listeners, you know where to find us. We are on Instagram @joyandclaire_. You can find us at joyandclaire.com. Feel free to send us an email thisisjoyandclaire@gmail.com. And we’ll talk to you next week.
Joy: Bye, guys.
Mary Ralph: Thank you, guys.