Today we’d like to introduce you to Tiffany Lopez.
Tiffany, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My mom Kathie, brother David and I started Posh Portage in 2007. Our business sold fancy coffee equipment to doctors’ offices and wealthy south bay home owners. Manufactures were stubborn for change and afraid of internet businesses so they refused to sell to us. We advised, “If your products are not sold online your company will soon be out of business.” Shortly thereafter, they called back asking us to sell their products on our website. Posh generated income, to our surprise, despite our amateur entrepreneurship skills.
David and I graduated college in 2010. The thought of having to get “real” jobs motivated us to start another company, Barista Lab. Eager to move product, we opened an Amazon store and shipped product to fulfillment centers. We learned about product life cycles within the ecosystem and developed keen eyes for spotting products that would do well.
Between 2011 and 2013 we helped start Handsome Coffee Roasters and launched Outpost Cold Brew to fully immerse ourselves in the coffee scene. We developed some die-hard fans and distributed to accounts throughout LA, SF and Norway before closing shop in late 2015.
We partnered with Tony Nessan who took over managing the Amazon business. Tony optimized the business and pushed us to expand into different marketplaces, giving us multiple store management and international experience.
We became expert predictors of the rise and fall of brands on Amazon. The same trend in the beginning of our story repeats here. We contacted our vendors advising, “This is where your brand is in terms of Amazon, this is what we see happening in the near future, you can do x,y,z to prevent it and we can help you.” Again, they refused to believe us. No more than three months went by before our predictions came true and calls rolled in from vendors who wanted help.
At this point, we were able to display our Amazon knowledge through strategizing and implementing plans of action. Contributing to the success of our vendors opened doors to new opportunities. Vendors became our clients because we produced results by eliminating MAP violators, increasing revenues and restoring stability on the volatile Amazon marketplace.
Over our several years of experience, we developed the knowledge and systems to get stores up and running quickly. Not only do we protect brands on Amazon, our optimization techniques increase revenues for our clients by 30% on average. Serving the needs of our clients continues to reveal new evolutionary phases of our business. Our clients want more services so we provide them.
We continue to learn and evolve with the ever-changing Amazon platform. We still manage our own stores as well as manufacture storefronts. We consult and train teams on navigating Amazon’s ecosystem. We even have an a la cart services menu like brand registry and promotion management. Our well rounded experience in brand creation, manufacturing, retail, marketing and distribution gives us insight into the bigger picture. We’re able to advise our clients on beneficial moves on and offline.
Has it been a smooth road?
Smooth roads…what are those? You can enter situations cringing at every hurdle or excited to overcome obstacles. I used to be a cringer.
Lots of struggles, here are a few:
Vendors were afraid of having their products online. An online business with zero products for sale was one of our first struggles. The vendors who turned us down eventually called us back and wanted their products on our website.
David (19) and I (18) were young compared to others industry who were at least 25 years our senior. We looked like little kids, no one took us seriously. If it weren’t for our mom, Kathie, being on our team we wouldn’t have made it past that first coffee show. Her age and support gave us credibility that we were a real business.
Because of our young ages, we were developing on personal levels. The usual coming of age stories: learning who you are, why you’re here and what you want to do. Then fitting all that into your business ventures sometimes having to leave your baggage at the door but most of the time bringing it with you. No matter what was going on, we kept our eyes on the bigger picture, worked as a team and couldn’t take things personally.
During David and my first conversation about Barista Lab I was overwhelmed with responsibility of starting something new. I had tears in my eyes as I told him, “I want to do this but I am so afraid of screwing up. I don’t want to let you down.” He looked at me, his eyes grew huge and lips perked like he was going to laugh and he said, “Oh, you’re gonna screw up. You’re going to screw up big time (so get over it and hop on board).” The pressure was instantly released. His words infused me with confidence and I learned fear was an illusion.
Barista Lab struggled finding its place in the market for a while. The importer of prosumer coffee brewing equipment competes with its wholesalers by selling direct to consumer. We had to differentiate or die. This is when we discovered Amazon as a 3rd party platform. From this struggle, we learned to stay flexible and open minded. Sometimes things don’t work out entirely to plan so you have to improvise.
Money was always a little tight in the beginning. Over the busy holiday season, an invoice from one of our largest vendors was lost. We received a late payment notification for an invoice that was 20k, when we didn’t have an extra 20k laying around. My brother and I loaned 10k each out of pocket so our vendor could get paid. We learned the benefits of doing the right thing, taking responsibility and using a long-term vision to make decisions in the present moment.
Outpost Cold Brew had its own challenges. Bootstrapping a beverage company, who does that? Outpost helped us develop tough skin and it was fun learning how much we could do with so little.
Amazon sellers would see the success of the products we added and wanted a piece of the pie. They would add products to their stores and compete for the buy box via price wars. As we saw brand images diminish because of price wars, we contacted our vendors to lend a hand. We learned to turn hardships into opportunities.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Posh Inc. – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Our focus is on helping manufacturers increase revenues in a way that protects their brands. So being on Amazon compliments their business rather than destroys it. We aim to supplement manufactures with our knowledge so they can be confident in their positions on Amazon. The results are mutually beneficial and successful partnerships. Our clients thank us for freeing their time to focus on other aspects of their business and reducing their headaches around Amazon.
There are so many services focused on helping 3rd party sellers succeed in the Amazon marketplace. When too many 3rd party sellers sell a product, it becomes destructive to the brands image. There’s a lot of opportunity to being on Amazon if it’s done right. We know how to do it right. Our business is unique because it focuses on helping manufactures (opposed to 3rd party sellers).
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Is there anything to not like about LA?
One of my favorite things about LA is Guisados tacos. LA is a taco haven in general but I don’t think there are any tacos like Guisados tacos. I’m spoiled because my grandmother makes homemade tortillas. For the longest time, I wouldn’t even eat tortillas that weren’t homemade. Guisados tortillas are (almost – just in case grandmas reading) as good as grandmas. The flavors in the sauces, stews and meats are delectable.
I’m a little bit of a coffee snob. LA is one of the best cities in the world for coffee. Great coffee is everywhere. Too many exceptional spots to list but here are a few of my faves: Cognoscenti Coffee, Menotti’s, G&B, Copa Vida and Blacktop.
Contact Info:
- Address: 312 Arizona Ave
Unit 207, Santa Monica, CA 90401 - Website: poshinc.com
- Phone: 8887674482
- Email: [email protected]
- Facebook: facebook.com/poshincredible
- Twitter: twitter.com/poshincredible
Image Credit:
Bianca Simonian
Bryan Neff
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
