#356 – The Magic Power of Networking in the Amazon Universe & Beyond with Athena Severi

#356 - The Magic Power of Networking in the Amazon Universe & Beyond with Athena Severi Speaker 1: Welcome to episode 356 of the AM-PM Podcast. This week, my guest is Athena Severi. She's a community builder, a leader of a lot of Amazon sellers and a group that she co-founded, the founder of the China Magic Trip, as well as a bunch of other stuff. We're going to be talking about the importance of building community, about getting out there and meeting other sellers, and what are some of the key characteristics that it takes to succeed in this business. Enjoy this episode. Unknown Speaker: Welcome to the AM-PM Podcast. Welcome to the AM-PM Podcast, where we explore opportunities in e-commerce. We dream big and we discover what's working right now. Plus, this is the podcast where money never sleeps. Working around the clock in the AM and the PM. Are you ready for today's episode? I said, are you ready? Let's do this. Here's your host, Kevin King. Speaker 1: How are you doing? The Queen of Amazon is here on the AM-PM Podcast. How are you? Speaker 2: I am so extremely excited to be here and to be talking to you, the one and only Kevin King. Speaker 1: And we go back. I was trying to think the other day, it's like, how long have I known you? I think it was like, was it 2015 or 2016? Speaker 2: It's around there. It's been a while. It's been a journey. Speaker 1: Yeah, we go back to the old days of FBA and all that kind of stuff. Speaker 2: For sure. Speaker 1: Let's talk about where you came from before you started doing this Amazon. I think, weren't you in like medical sales or you're like some top like A-level saleswoman somewhere, like just crushing it or something, weren't you, before you actually pivoted over to this Amazon stuff? Speaker 2: Well, to be fair, I grew up in Los Angeles and my parents are both artists and I actually started off my career working with artists and celebrities and helping consult their careers and building beautiful red carpet events and seminars and all kinds of things back in like the day. And so then I started working with physical therapists and doctors. I've worked with automotive industry. I've worked with all different industries and the common thread was always something having to do with building community and helping people achieve their goals really as entrepreneurs or as artists. Speaker 1: And so that was when you were like, what, 18, 19, 20 years old? You were already doing like event planning, community building type of stuff. Speaker 2: Yeah, so I would help artists and one of the really interesting things that I figured out early on, and this kind of ties into the theme of what I think we're going to talk about, is that in Hollywood, a lot of the people that would put on You know, seminars or coaching and things like that were people who had never actually made it as artists, right? And I always thought that was crazy. So when I would get involved, I would actually bring through working actors, casting directors, musicians, people who are like A and B list celebrities that would come through and actually talk to these people, the next generation of artists on how to actually succeed in their careers. So I had a lot of fun with that. It was crazy times. It was so much fun. But, you know, when I got pregnant with my son, I couldn't really do the hours or, you know, the parties and things anymore. So I had to move away from that. Speaker 1: So was this like in person, when you're saying webinars, was this online back then or was this more like in person? Speaker 2: Yeah, this was all in person seminars and events and red carpet and that's where I learned the art of really, you know, taking care of people and creating experiences. I would work with dignitaries and some of the top names in the world. Speaker 1: So what led you to pivot out of doing some of that into more of this physical products space? Speaker 2: So I ended up getting a normal job so I could have different hours just because I got pregnant with my first son and one of the things I really struggled with was that balance between my career and And being a mom, you know, they told me that I would have six weeks off of work and that I'd have to come right back. And I was like over my dead body. And at the time, it really wasn't a thing to work from home. And so I'd bring him in the office. I had a corner office and I made that my daycare. But when he got too old to bring him in that way, you know, I really just struggled for the balance. So I was always looking for something that I could do from home or do, you know, outside of what a normal business would be like. And Ari and Chelsea Cohen, you know them, they're friends of ours, had actually discovered Amazing and they had done their course. And they were quitting their jobs and Ari and I worked together and he said, hey, you should check out this Amazon thing. I'm selling kitchen products and that's how I'm quitting my full-time job. And I literally laughed out loud. I was like, wait, you're selling kitchen products on Amazon and you're quitting your six-figure job? Whatever that is, give me a piece of that. And so that's literally how I found out about Amazon. Speaker 1: So you did the celebrity events and helping them do all that kind of stuff and then that's the sales job that you did for a little while? Speaker 2: Yeah, I did business development in the automotive space and also with doctors and physical therapists. So I would create communities, events, seminars and things like that for all different industries. Speaker 1: So were you, when you growing up, were you always the girl that was organizing all the socials and stuff when you're like 15, 16? Like, okay, what are we doing this weekend? All the girls would get together. Were you the one that was organizing all that stuff? 100% I did a basis when I was 15 and I would throw full Concerts just so that he could be a rock star cuz I wanted to say that I was dating a rock star really That's cool, so so you've always had this like community building like networking Drive inside you. Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. Absolutely and I and I I love Utilizing that to be able to help empower people. So even when we do these youth concerts, we get up there and talk about like positivity and, you know, we talk about like how drugs are not necessary. Like I'm 15, right? And I was trying to take that platform, create a really cool thing, but then also use that platform to then inspire and help people in a positive direction. So this really is ingrained in my being, I think. Speaker 1: Do you remember when your first time to do that? How old you were when you first like organized something? Was it some little backyard thing with the neighborhood kids or was there something that you remember that stands out? Speaker 2: Yeah, I was four years old and I created a whole society and we were called the Original Dolphins and I was their princess. Yeah, for sure. Speaker 1: The Original Dolphins when you were four. Speaker 2: Yeah, my mom has all of the documented videos of me talking about it and I was their princess and it was epic. Speaker 1: That's awesome. When I was young like that too, I wasn't the community builder like you were, but I was the organizer as well. Video games had just come out. I'm a little bit older than you, but handheld video games had just come out, and there's one that was a baseball game. That's super simple. It's like little red dots, you know, and you try to hit a little red dot and it goes out into left field or right field. But we actually developed this whole league where you would have people come up at bat and we would take turns, you know, playing like a real games. And I have like a little newsletter that would go out every week that would type up on a typewriter, not on a computer processor, but on a typewriter and send that out to everybody. So I empathize with what you were doing. I completely get it. It's funny how those little things that you do when you're a child evolve into who you become as an adult. Speaker 2: Absolutely. And I think the power of collective contribution and experience and that kind of thing is really something that I learned early on. And I think that's something that like really you stand out for, Kevin, is that you've had a lot of experience as a seller. You've connected with a lot of people. You've traveled the world, you know, learning from others and connecting with them and contributing to them. And so when you get on stage and you say, here's my hacks and here's, you know, 10 things that you guys can do, you know, that was not just, you know, 10 minutes of you putting that together, right? And so I think one of the beautiful things about, you know, events and seminars and connecting and listening even to podcasts or just being able to connect with people who are experts in the field is that you're getting that collective understanding of a subject and it can really speed up your progress. And so I think that that's something that I've always kind of naturally known and done. And it's something that I think you're also quite good at as well. Speaker 1: I appreciate that. People always ask me, Kevin, sometimes when I'm filling out a little bio for an online summit or for something, they're like, what's one sentence or what's your slogan or what's your life motto or something? And mine is, life is about the experiences you have and the people you meet. And there's nothing else more important. You could order religion or God or family and that kind of stuff. But I'm talking about, in general, that's the philosophy I live by, is I want to experience really cool things. For those of you who are listening, you probably have seen stuff that I've posted from time to time, different things that I've done, different restaurants or different kinds of crazy things I've done on Facebook. And I like to create those experiences. You know, your company and my company actually sponsored an event back in early June during Sellecon that I think really surprised some people and really took it to the next level. And I love doing that. I've done that my entire life. And I think that's something that you really like doing, too. You like creating experiences and then bringing people together, like-minded people together, not only to learn, but just to experience something they wouldn't have been able to do any other way. Speaker 2: 100%. Speaker 1: That kind of stuff, though, is hard to do. I mean, it's something that takes a unique skill set. What do you think it takes to actually be good at doing that? Speaker 2: Well, I think that it's just something that you've got to be passionate for and it has to be real, right? So you asked me a bit about how I got involved with Amazon and I started, you know, selling my own brand of yoga headbands. Actually, that was my first few products and I launched that and it went really well and I was able to quit my job about four months into selling. Which was a really big deal for me and I happen to have a mommy following because I again anything that I'm passionate about I create community around and so I had a lot of. These women asking me, like, how did you do that? Like, I want to do that too. Speaker 1: This is on Facebook or on social media? Speaker 2: Yeah, so I had a big Facebook group called Ladies with Babies and we would have these big conventions and it was super lovely. You know, I became a mom and then when I had my second son, I just wanted to have a community to kind of connect with. And so, you know, a lot of these women also wanted to build a brand. They wanted to build a brand of physical products themselves and they were super excited because they watched me launch my product and see how I'd survey them about, you know, the different colors and styles of these headbands. They were really into it with me and so when they saw me quit my job and I used to always talk about how much I would struggle as a mother to be able to like be there full time and then also feel like I'm not being a good mom, but I'm not being a good career person. I think Amazon was really this magical thing for me that created a freedom that other people saw because they saw my whole story. So as soon as they saw that I was able to make enough money to quit my job, they wanted a piece of that. And so at the time, Amazon had been changing. When I first got into Amazon eight years ago, it was a lot easier than it is now. You know, you could put up a spatula or some, you know, garlic press or whatever, throw a label on it, make some sales. It was wild, wild west at the time. Things started to get harder and harder. And by the time I think this was a couple years in, you know, people that were getting into it, they needed more than just a course. They needed support. They needed mentoring. They needed help. And so that's really where a lot of these seminars and even I built a cruise. I made no money from it, but I put on a whole cruise to the Caribbean to like have, you know, these people come with me and we bring like these amazing sellers and we would talk about things and we just kind of like help each other because it became very evident to me That Amazon was just this living, breathing creature and you needed people that were in the trenches to be able to learn from and so that's really where all of this came from and I actually was able to inspire and help a lot of women get involved as well as men. Of course, the men came too and now I'm very proud to say that some of those initial women that got involved in Amazon because they were inspired by my story, some of them are eight-figure sellers still to this day. In fact, I actually saw one of them two days ago. It's really, really a big deal. Speaker 1: And that's awesome. So just for those listening, stepping us back, when you created this mommy following, how did you do that? I know it was a little bit easier back then, a lot cheaper to advertise and stuff on Facebook, but how did you build an audience? From scratch back then, just to give people an idea of how they might do something like that. Because there's people out there now, they're selling baby products or they're selling automotive products or they're selling pet products. What worked for you back then to actually build that audience of all these mommies? Speaker 2: So I think that with any community, what you want to do is you want to niche it down to find something that people are extremely passionate about, right? And you don't want it to be just a generalized thing. For example, ladies with babies, we were really into natural things. We were really into like Nursing, we were into certain things and that I started on Facebook and I put initially my friends in it. And I said, guys, you know, we're going to talk about this. We're going to talk about that. Please invite your friends. And I play a lot of games with them. They would win prizes and things for adding their friends. And so it just started to get more and more viral, but we put a lot of value. Like I even went to my local pediatrician who was incredible. I mean, he was Leonardo DiCaprio and Madonna's I grew up in LA and so we actually had him come on and do like a thing for the girls, you know what I mean? I would play jokes like we'd see, we had this thing that we all were in love with like handsome firemen. So I'd go by the fire department. Like I was just always playing with them and creating life. And the thing is, people want to be entertained and they want value, right? And they also want to relate to other people that they feel are like them. I am a lady with babies. I am whatever that thing is. And so if you're creating some sort of audience about a certain topic, let's say you sell kitchen products. Well, what type of kitchen products? And I think that this really ties into even product selection and building a brand in the first place is you need to know who you're talking to, right? Right? And I think that if you really narrow down who you're speaking to, then creating an audience or creating a line of products becomes so much easier, because these people are going to identify more with your particular niche. For example, are you selling kitchen products to like You know, these very earthy, eco-friendly people. Everything's very bamboo, very green. You could create like an entire audience around this sort of eco-friendly vibe. You know, are you selling to guys who are like really high-end and think they're chefs and have extra money to spend on a $20 avocado slicer? I mean, that's a completely different human being than the kid who's going to college who needs, you know, 20 items real fast. I mean, you could create even a group about how to, you know, create your dorm In college type things, you know what I mean? Like I'm just kind of playing with this. And you can even leverage AI. I know AI is super hot to really build through what that avatar is. And so whatever you're doing, I feel like you get more of a following when you really are communicating to a certain type of audience. And I think that's what I hit. I didn't do it intentionally when I created Ladies with Babies. I was the avatar that I was creating, right? I was the kind of obsessive mom. I was the one that was doing, you know, the baby wearing and all this stuff at the time. And so I was attracting people like myself, but you could play with that. I could literally, I know nothing about golf. I could create a community all about golf just by inspiring the exact same thing. Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you hit it. I think people start groups or they start little clubs or whatever it may be, and they just kind of let it be and let it, but you got to do what you said. It's the entertainment, the value, and the interactivity. Those three things are crucial. And if you don't have that, if you let those slip, Then that's when things just start going off the rails. It quits growing and goes stale. I think something like 95% of all blogs on the internet are dead. People start one with good intentions and it lasts a couple weeks and they quit. There's some statistic like 90-92% of all Facebook groups I haven't had a post in a long time. They just die out. And that's the key is to actually keeping something going and keeping that interest and providing that entertainment, that interactivity and making it a true community. And I think in this Amazon space, that's something that I've been in other business spaces and I've gone to other conventions, but there's something about going to an Amazon conference Well, there's one that you're putting on, or one that I'm putting on, or one that someone else is putting on, and we're just going. There's something different, and I've talked to people about this. These Amazon sellers, e-commerce sellers, but specifically Amazon sellers that go to conferences are a different breed. And I don't know if that's because it's been cultivated. Because of people doing this entertainment and their activity, like people like yourself and some of the others, or if it's something that just is naturally in us as entrepreneurs. But when we go to these conferences, we're going to learn, but there's a lot of freaking partying going on, a lot of fun stuff going on that You know, if I go to some Adobe conference, you know, they have a cocktail hour, a welcome party, but you're not seeing people renting out clubs and doing all this crazy stuff. And maybe that's because Amazon sellers, they have more money. I don't know. But what do you think that is? Do you agree with me, number one? And what do you think that is that's cultivated this? Speaker 2: You know, I think that we're just all glad to find crazy people like ourselves. You know what I mean? To be an entrepreneur, you are a different breed. You have to be willing to take risks. You have to be willing to put yourself out there. And you usually do it because you're looking for a lifestyle. You want to enjoy life to the fullest. You're not willing to sit in a cubicle all day, right? And yet you're willing to work 20 hours a day to have that ridiculous freedom where you can go to the Bahamas or the Maldives whenever you feel like it. You know, I just feel like we are a different breed. We want to live and we want to create things that are unique and special. And I think that shows even in the way that people do events and the way that they have their life in general. Speaker 1: Yeah, I think there's not too many businesses where your competitors are your best friends. What other businesses are your competitors? And you don't even know what they're selling, but they're probably your competitor in some way or another. And they're some of your best friends. How does that happen? Speaker 2: Well, I know that some of our guys, they are competitors, but we believe in the abundance mindset that there's so much room and space to grow. And if you have a bunch of really high quality people competing with each other, you're not cutting down price. Bringing everyone down. And so I feel like in the category healthy, you know, competitors is actually a really good thing. And so we've really kind of created that cultivation of that abundance mindset. So I don't see a lot of that in our community. People are very open. They're probably more open than any other community I've ever seen just because they know that everyone wins if, you know, if we help each other to achieve amazing things. Speaker 1: It amazes me too how many people don't get out. I just, for the Billion Dollar Seller Summit back in June, We did a family feud contest. So one of the things that we did at the event is we broke up the attendees into groups of five, just like the TV show Family Feud. I played Steve Harvey, you know, and we had them answer questions and the questions were gathered from my audience. So when I sent out an email, I didn't send it to everybody in my audience, but to a certain number of my audience, because I need, you know, the thing is 100 people were polled, you know, that's how it works. And you try to guess what The answers are, and you get points based on that. And one of the questions was in there was, what are some of your favorite conferences, Amazon or Ecom conferences that you've been to? And if you haven't been to any, type none. And I was shocked at, I had several hundred people actually fill this out. And I think probably 90% actually said they had never, the answer was none. That they've actually, these are Amazon sellers and some of these are big sellers that have never been to a conference. So I what would you say to those people that maybe. Maybe they're shy, maybe they don't have money, maybe they have a family and there's commitments that they have and they can't get away, or maybe they don't see the value in it, so they're like, I can learn just as much watching some free webinar or some YouTube videos or something, or I don't need that, I know what I'm doing, I don't have time for that. What would you say to those people that they're missing out on by not coming to, joining either a group, like you have a group, others have a group, or at least coming, if they don't join some sort of group, At least coming to some events. Speaker 2: Yeah. So as Tony Robbins says, proximity is power. If you get in a room with someone that has 10 years of experience, one conversation can literally save you that entire amount of time, right? And you don't get that same level of conversation, trust, and openness virtually. When you're in person, and when you're having these experiences with people, It really changes the way that they interact with each other. And this comes from years and years. I mean, yourself as well, traveling all over the world, seeing events and connecting with thousands of people. I see it in front of my eyes all the time. It's that one conversation can literally change everything. And you never know who you're going to meet, where that's going to lead. I met my business partner at an event. I've met my closest friends at events. Because of that, so many magical things have happened. If you want to cut yourself off from success, then stay home. You know what I mean? It is actually that bad because I'm telling you, I'll give you an example. I think you've had Kian Golzari on your show before. He's an amazing guy. He's very knowledgeable in the sourcing space, right? And this guy lived in China. I've met eight, nine-figure sellers that have had conversations with Kian that's completely blown their mind. He does China magic with me. He's a brilliant, amazing guy. But here's the thing. What he can tell somebody in five minutes is not a five-minute situation. He actually was born into a family who own a very significant brand in Europe and he's been going to China with his dad learning how to source since he was a little boy, right? Like the amount of knowledge and experience of him going to factories and all the things that he's created and done You're sitting next to that guy having a drink, you know, chatting with him, whatever. You tell him a little bit about, you know, some cash situation that you're having with your factory, you know, getting better terms or you want to talk to him about this one idea of a product or something. I'm telling you that one conversation could literally shift and change your entire outcome of the rest of who knows, you know what I mean? So I'm just throwing out an example of somebody, but if you're in a room with people like yourself, you know what I mean? And all of the brilliant people that we've met through these different things, like it takes people years and years and years. To learn what you guys have already done. You know, it's also the hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars in testing things, in sales, in mistakes, in losses. And when you're in that room, you're learning from all of that. Why would anyone in their mind think it makes sense for them to sit there and try to reinvent the wheel? If they could literally be in a room and in, you know, that bit of time in just a couple days, they could absorb all of that incredible brilliance. Speaker 1: I agree, going to events is, for me it's not so much what I learned, but I went to Danny's event back in May in London for example, or the CellarCon event, which are not my events. I wasn't speaking at either of those, but I went and just sit in some of the talks from some of the better speakers and that's where I get ideas. I mean, I'm sitting there and I may not, they may say one little tool that I haven't heard of or something, but a lot of times it's, it's brainstorming sessions for me that I'm not going to get, you know, there's no distractions. It's, I'm in that zone. I'm in that with everybody around me is in that same mindset kind of zone and I'm sitting there listening and I'm, and it could be Keon on stage and he, he's, talking about something and I'm like, wait a second, if I put that with this over here that I heard this other person or this other thing I know, holy shit, , you know, I'm taking notes and I get brilliant ideas. So it's not just the talking to people, it's the brainstorming. And even at my, my level, which is a higher level of knowledge, I still get that. And sometimes it's stuff that I know, It's like, I know that, but it reminds me. It's like a kick in the butt, like, hey Kevin, remember, you can do this and this. And then the people that you meet, like you said, it's not so much listening in the presentations, it's hanging out with the people, and sometimes that might be Having drinks with them or going to dinner with them or doing fun networking activities or like what you guys do and like what we do at the Billion Dollar Seller Summit. Or it could be, another example is I just heard Norm Farrar, he made a faux pas on his Lunch with Norm podcast back in June, I think it was, or no, actually late May, where he was talking to somebody about AI. And he said, yeah, I was just at an event with Steve Simonson and Kevin King, and he's like, wait a second, that wasn't an event, that was a wedding. He had to correct himself because Steve's sister got married back in April, and we got invited to the wedding. It was me, it was Norm, it was Melanie from Avast, it was Steve Simonson, and there was a couple other, Michelle that works with you, and a couple other people, and it became like Before the wedding and after the wedding became like a little mini mastermind in a way, like we were sitting around the lobby of the hotel, you know, just kicking it and just stories were coming out, you know, Steve's like, Oh, have you tried this thing? People are taking out their phones and like making notes, you know, I got to do this, or if you listen to this podcast, or have you done that? And that's what comes out of this, you become It doesn't even have to be an event. You're with other like-minded people and you find other things to do. Norm and I have taken a cruise together with our families. We did Alaska back in 2022. Those kinds of things happen. So I think Athena and I both would encourage anybody that's listening to this and that will listen to us to get out there and get to some event. At least try one. Don't be shy. I know you might be a little bit shy or might be a little bit hesitant. It doesn't have to be an expensive event. I mean, we both run expensive groups. It doesn't have to be at our levels. I think SellerCon was a few hundred bucks or something to go to that. Speaker 2: We do free meetups all over the world. So, you know, you can go, you can find a local meetup, any meetup that has Amazon sellers, you can go to events, you can do all these things. But I think another part of this, Kevin, that I forgot to mention is that it's also very helpful to be around people who've accomplished what you want to accomplish, because you can start to pay attention to the patterns of how they do things. How quickly do they launch products? How do they think? What do they do? You know, paying attention to how successful people interact is really, really important. And I remember when I first started selling on Amazon, I made so many mistakes. You know, I tried to do the photos myself. I didn't hire a professional. I tried to, you know, do all kinds of things. I made really bad, you know, decisions because I didn't have anyone around me. That I could ask questions to. And I think that when you get to know people at events and you get that personal relationship with them, it really makes a big difference. And having mentorship to me is everything. Like I'm encouraging my kids, you know, to learn from people who are successful because they're going to learn more from that than they ever would a textbook. You know, so I think it's really important to be out there and meeting people. Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you're the co-founder of a big group, Titan, which is a big group and most people know, and your other co-founder, Dan, is one of the sharpest people in this space. I don't know how you were able to hook up with him, but that guy, he could sell ice to Eskimos. I mean, that guy has been doing this for a long time and a super, super smart guy. How did the two of you actually meet and hook up? Speaker 2: So Dan Ashburn and I met at an event actually and it's funny because he was trying to figure me out, you know what I mean? Because I had built China Magic already and I had actually invited him to come on my trip as a guest speaker. And so when we were there like I'm really good at community, I'm great at events, I'm great at all these things and he's really good at strategy and he's really good at systemizing things. We were able to combine his skill set and my skill set and what we created there had never really been done before because he's really good at like the systems and strategies and things like that and I'm really good at the community building. And events and really the way that our brains kind of interact, we were able to do something that was just straight magic. And so China magic went from being a great event to something that I'd never experienced before. And that's really why Dan and I decided to work together was just seeing ourselves in action and how we're able to do what we do. Speaker 1: I think that's an important point that you just made there is that partner with other people that compliment you and then get the hell out of their way. I mean, that's people always ask me, Kevin, how you have, I have eight different businesses around Amazon, you know, from, from what I do and eight different sources, I guess, of money, you could say, that are related to Amazon. And people are like, how many, how many people are on your team? I say zero, I don't have any. They're like, what? And I say, I partner smart. And I think that's something that you can get by back to going to the convent, these events, I would have never met these people that I partner with like Norm, with like Steve, with like some of the guys that have a partnership with one of our big companies that does pet sustainability stuff. I met them at an event in Hong Kong. And you met Dan at. Unknown Speaker: I've met all these guys at events. Speaker 2: I've met you at an event. I met Dan at the event. I met all of my main guys that I've connected with over the years at events, and I think it's a beautiful way to find a great thing. And just for the record, Dan is extremely lucky that he connected with me, Kevin, just to make sure we're spreading this 100% today. Unknown Speaker: No, it goes both ways. Speaker 1: You said it. You are very, very good at actually bringing people together, at being the little queen bee and organizing and getting all the people together and you're good at herding cats. Speaker 2: I'm good at herding cats, but you know what else I'm good at? And I think I'm very misunderstood in this industry is that I'm actually very smart when it comes to business and I've actually helped people to really get them out of their own way and to really understand what their abilities are and to go for the Big picture, you know what I mean? And so I think one of the things that I decided in the early beginning was yes, I was selling on Amazon, right? I made enough to be able to quit my full-time job. So it was like I was a seller, but I always knew this is not my top skill set and I think what you were saying about partnering It's really true. Figure out what you're best at and find a partner or delegate or hire the things that you're not good at, right? Because I had this really interesting conversation with a guy who's actually a nine-figure seller. And he said, Athena, you know, you really need to do this thing, like this thing that you do with people. And I was like, well, you know, I'm not a million-dollar seller yet. Do you think that they're going to listen to me? And he said, they're going to listen to you because you're real. Because you are who you are. And so I've never in this entire time pretended to be the guru or to be the one who's that technical skill set. What I'm amazing at is finding people like you've been on my stage, right? I got to meet you at an event. I thought you were brilliant. I invited you to China Magic to come speak at my events because what I'm really good at is finding talent and bringing it through and helping them to have the purpose to truly help others. And I think that it's really important that when you create an event or you go to an event or you try to find a community that you want to be around people that are genuine and that want to help you. For really the sake of helping and I've seen you at events, you know, you're it's late at night, somebody comes up to you, hey, Kevin, I just had a quick question. You're always, you know, open and willing to help people. And that's really the kind of people I like to surround myself with are the givers. So the ones that have that golden rule of, you know, wanting to treat others the way they'd want to be treated. And they're not the people, because I did see this and this is part of why I created my own events. There are some people that would get on stage and then they'd go in the hallway and they'd avoid eye contact and try to get backstage as soon as possible to not be out there helping and creating that environment. And so I think it's just really, really special to meet people who are successful and who also want others to succeed. And I think that's who I've been able to surround myself with. And for that, I'm quite grateful. Speaker 1: Walk me through how... China Magic was born. How did that, because for those of you that don't know, Athena started China Magic. It had to be put on pause briefly during COVID, but it's back again now. But it's basically, it's a sourcing trip to go to China. And so she takes groups, it started out, she'll tell you the story here in a second, with a small group, and the last one I think was 100 plus people or something. And they hold your hand and show you, they do masterminds and do a whole lot of cool stuff. I've been on two of them myself. She invited me over to speak on. It's a great event and it's a great first class all the way, but walk me through how that was born and how that came to be. Speaker 2: Sure. Thank you, Kevin. So my headbands were always complicated in terms of sizing, textures, colors, and different things. And when I would try to get a sample or I want to change something, it would take forever. So I actually was at an event as a seller wanting to go to China myself to solve my sourcing issues and also because I wanted to get more products for my brand, right? So I paid for somebody else's trip. It was a three-day trip. And what I didn't like is that they were showing a very Western vibe on how to source. They really obviously didn't know what they were doing. And they were just saying to go in there and pretend to be this big seller and kind of crush the person's pricing down and it just did not feel right. I did not feel like it was the right way to go. And so I went there and I was helping the other attendees and I said, you know, all we need to do is find one magic booth because we had gone to like a big area that had all these different booths that were representing factories. And so when I went there, I realized How powerful it is to actually understand the culture of China and how lost a lot of people are when it comes to their ability to source properly. Speaker 1: I haven't met you… Was this at Eru or was this at Canton? Speaker 2: This was at Eru which is like not my jam. So anyway, I went to this trip. It was kind of a disaster. Unknown Speaker: Yeah, I've been to Eru too. Speaker 2: I said, you know what? I know I could do a much better job. So I told the organizer, I said, you know, thank you so much for having me. If you want to combine forces, we can. But otherwise, I feel like I want to just create a trip. And he gave me his blessing. We're still friends to this day. And so what I designed is a 12-day sourcing trip. Where you go to China, you go to the Canton Fair, and you connect directly with factories, and you find products that you would never find any other way. You actually learn the culture of China, which is so important. Sellers, listen up. Whether you come to China Magic or you just do this on your own, there is so much to know about sourcing. You've got to understand this topic if you're really going to become a pro, because people are still using the same tactics from when they first started. And you know, they don't have good cash terms, you know, their pricing's off, there could be so much that can be realized just by properly having good relationships. And when you really have good relationships, that's where they give you like the insight To their industry. I mean, there's some factories that have been generation to generation. They know so much about these products. And if you really create that relationship with them, they're going to give you ideas and products and things that aren't even out there yet. So what I do is I bring these people through and we mastermind at night and we bring significant people like King Golzari, Dan Ashburn, Leiden Smithers to come and actually mentor them through this whole process. But what we end up seeing is Amazing cash terms where people are no longer having to put as much down to be able to scale their products. Great relationships with suppliers. And one of the things that was really amazing is during COVID, a lot of our guys had gone to China, and they'd met their suppliers, and they'd work with them. And when things were shutting down, and things were problematic, who do you think they put at the top? You know, Westerner A that they'd only met, you know, on email, Westerner B that they met through Alibaba, or, you know, somebody who'd actually gone and connected with them in person. And so, you know, there's just so much to understand about this topic. And it was so amazing to have you there, Kevin, so you could see like the magic that we create in China and just the results that we get because it's pretty spectacular. Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a good, it's good. I mean, because you're doing the masterminds at night. So some of that's general stuff. Some of that's very specific to sourcing in China. And you have people like Qian, people that you have the, what's the, the other gentleman? Speaker 2: Marty Sherman. Speaker 1: Marty, Marty. You have all these people that can go with you. So if you're new at doing this or you're a little bit, what questions do I ask or how do I negotiate? Qian will, you know, go with you and go to the booths with you and, you know, help guide you and help you get more comfortable at talking to suppliers. asking the right questions or saying, you know, what do you have hidden behind the table there that's not displayed, you know, and all that, all that kind of cool, cool stuff. And like you said on the culture, um, you do, you bring in some culture. I remember one time you brought in, uh, you know, the dancing dragons or whatever it was. And there's always, there's always a trip to a Chinese spa. If you've never been to a Chinese spa in China, I'm not talking about the ones that you see in the U S a little foot massage ones. I'm talking about like a, it's like a five story building with just crazy. That's always like a tradition is to go over there, those that want to, you know, to go. I remember that. That was always a lot of fun. Speaker 2: That's true. Yeah. And you build some really special relationships because you're there for 12 days with people. So you like really get to know them. Once you've been, you know, to China Magic together, you're like family. Speaker 1: So what's the difference? I mean, you go to the Canton Fair, which is in Guangzhou. And then you also, I know, I don't know if you're still doing this, but in the past, you would also go up to Hong Kong for a couple of days to an event up there and then come back to Guangzhou because you'd go between phase two and phase three, which is where most of Amazon sellers' products lie. And in between, there's like a reset period in Guangzhou where they tear down the booths and set up the next set of booths. And then you would head over to Hong Kong. Why the Canton Fair and why not EWU? You said EWU wasn't your cup of tea. For those of you that don't know, Canton Fair is twice a year. Usually in April-ish and October-ish. And then EWU is year-round. I think it's open all but like Chinese New Year or something, like 364 days of the year. And it's more like a huge seven-building shopping mall kind of thing. But for those that have never been to either and they've heard stuff about trips going to them or which one they should go to, can you explain the difference in the two? Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, Eboo, you can find a lot of, you know, different types of products. It is a year long thing. A lot of resellers are there. My guys are particularly looking to build factory relationships. Not saying they won't work with a third party, but just the quality and the type of product that we are looking for are more abundant. We're looking for, you know, innovation, kind of cutting edge type stuff, not off the shelf. And so I'm not saying that you can't find some great things in EWU. I think everyone can. But for our particular, you know, purpose of what we're looking for, we just find it much more abundantly in Canton. It's also, you know, laid out a lot. It's easier and more pleasant. So yeah, we're big fans of Canton. Speaker 1: Yeah, Iwu is more, for me, it's more smaller, cheaper items. It's more stuff for the African market or for some of the other markets where the quality doesn't matter as much. Not that you can't find some good stuff at Iwu, you can, but just in general, it just has that feeling of more of the dollar store than the high street store or something. And I think that's one of the big differences. Speaker 2: Yeah, that's a good way to put it, Kevin. I was trying to be really polite. We went there on the first trip to China and my guys went there for like half a day and they came back to the hotel and didn't go back out to the market. So that was the first and last time we did Yiwu. So we do Canton and we have done Hong Kong in the past. This last trip, we actually spent a lot of time actually visiting factories. Speaker 1: Which I think is smart. I think that's smart. Speaker 2: Yeah, that went extremely well. We even showed guys like how to go in on the factory floor, help build their products, meet the people, meet the boss and like how to really connect with them. And then afterwards, you know, having dinner and just the way that they talk about the future and the partnership and the creation of all of this, the types of, you know, negotiations that they were having after the fact were absolutely phenomenal. So I think a lot of the real business happens when you're there, you know, in the factory hands on, and they really saw and felt the respect, you know, people would bring gifts and things to the kids, like it was it was like a whole thing, you know, and by the end of it, I mean, you really have a special relationship with your with your partner instead of it being like a supplier, supplyee type vibe. It's like we're in this together, we're creating this brand together, and you just get a completely different level of quality, service and price when you do it that way. Speaker 1: There's a lot of big talk in the Amazon community about diversifying out of China. Are you going to have a Vietnam magic or India magic or Mexico magic or are you going to stay focused on China as your thing? You're the leader there. I mean, there's been a lot of, like you said, other trips and other groups that have come and gone and you're the one that's still standing. What's the future look like there? Speaker 2: So, you know, there's Meghal is doing a great job with India, you know, there's guys in Mexico, there's guys doing all kinds of things. I mean, what we do is we care more about our community and serving them than anything else. And so obviously, if they have a type of product that would be good for, you know, going to India. And they should definitely do that. What we see is that China still has the infrastructure to really scale. And there's a lot of physical products that, you know, you can try and we have tried to bring it to Mexico, try to bring it to other places. And they just don't have the infrastructure to scale the same way that they do in China. And so I think we're going to be going to China for a long time there, Kevin, just seems like the right thing for us. Speaker 1: And you have another trip coming up in October, right? Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely. So we do it every October and every April for any of you who are listening to this and you can go to Chinamagictrip.com to find out more details about it and see, you know, if we have a trip coming up, but it's definitely a very special experience. Speaker 1: Yeah, I recommend it. I recommend it. If you've never been to China, it's a great way to get your feet wet and to go with a group and to feel comfortable and to have an advantage, really, actually, over going on your own. Speaker 2: Totally. And when you're with me, just don't worry. I princess out China, right? We stay at a really nice hotel. We have great dinners. We go see the sights. We go to the Buddha. We have a beautiful pirate ship in Hong Kong. It's great. But when it really comes down to it, it's like I want people to win in their business and I want them to be very successful. And a lot of it comes down to the product itself, the quality of the product, how well you diversify the product. Are you speaking to your audience? Is this something that, you know, people are going to really be excited to receive? Because, you know, when you're trying to market a three or four star product, you're going to be working so much harder with your PPC, with your outside traffic, with everything you have to do to sell a product that And if you can go to China and kind of really create, or not even just China, but if you can just really work with your suppliers to really make your product that high quality, diversified thing, you just have such an easier time scaling. I think back in the day it wasn't such a big deal, but now it's like you can't really have a three-star product and keep it at five stars. Unknown Speaker: It just doesn't work. Speaker 2: It's not fun. I mean, you can, but it's like, you're going to waste a lot of energy attempting to do that. So why not just start off with a five-star product? Speaker 1: And you said earlier, one of your motivations and one of the things that you get the best pleasure out of doing this is helping people. It's really making sure that they have all the help they need and all the opportunities that they can and opening doors for them that might not have otherwise been open. Can you tell me a story, and you don't have to name the name, but can you tell me a story of someone that you've helped, that you saw go from a really bad situation or from nothing into a great situation, almost brings tears to your eyes, how they transformed. Speaker 2: Absolutely. A hundred percent. So there's actually a mom, a mother of five, she had started with us, she was part of our network, and her husband just left. Out of the blue and she had three of her kids were under six and She has a business that does I think 2.5 mil a year with her sister and She sustains her entire family and is able to care for her young children You know, she didn't have any parents or anyone else to support her and she told me very, you know sincerely that I would have had nothing, you know, because they made too much money for them to get any sort of government handouts. Like she was in a very tough spot that if she didn't pull herself together and everyone rallied around them and really helped them out and really, you know, if they ever needed extra help or whatever and, you know, she's doing great and she actually, two years later, found a new man and she's getting married and I'm going to be at her wedding and I'm just like so honored, you know. There's people like that. There's people, you know, who've lost people in their lives who, you know, there's so many, you know, tragic moments that they were able to find that comfort in the community that we've created and with each other. And then there's beautiful stories like I know one woman who sold her business for, you know, Over $50 million who came to my original China trip. You know, I mean, there's so many of these stories, but it's not so much the money. It's the freedom. It's the fact that not only are they able to sell a business and then have like a different type of future, but now a lot of them want to give back. I'll give you an example. Kata and Matt Phipps, who I know You've met their lovely people. They were in London, you know, they built and sold a business within two and a half years for multi seven figures and they went at it again and they have another brand happening. They have no reason to be helping people or to be, you know, going on stages and speaking and going on podcasts and creating, you know, mentorship and all this stuff. They have hearts of gold and they want to contribute. So I think really for me out of everything that I've done, yes, it's been great to help people on an individual basis. But I think the thing I'm most proud of is seeing the guys who have their own success and then they themselves want to help and inspire other people to have that success. We call it the circle of life and creating that environment probably for me outside of giving birth to my two sons. It's the coolest thing I've ever seen or done, I mean. Speaker 1: That's some of the best advice I got when I was younger is someone said that once you've made it, don't forget to give back. And that's what a lot of people don't do. Once they've made it, they're like, I've made it, I've got a bunch of money, F everybody else. But the good Good ones are like, everybody needs a helping hand. Everybody needs a little push or a little opportunity. Everybody needs a mentor of some sort, whether that's actually a person sitting in front of you or whether that's a book that you read or a podcast that you listen to or something. And I think that's super important and for the people that are successful in this, that's the reason I started the Freedom Ticket course is because I was on Facebook and there's so much misinformation, so much bad information, so many people, you know, the Lamborghini gurus and stuff making it look like it's easy and not even showing all the numbers, you know, when they say, I can sell it for $20, I can buy it on Alibaba for $5, and that's a $16 profit. And they live in all the other stuff out. I'm like, you're just misleading people like crazy. And so I was like, I got to do something. And for me, the rewards come from when I go to the bench. I get recognized quite a bit because hundreds of thousands of people have gone through the Freedom Ticket. Not everybody finishes it, of course, but a lot of people have at least started. I've been on a lot of events and I've been recognized by Uber drivers in New York, by people in the supermarket in Austin, and on airplanes. Somebody's come up, you know, and these are not people I know, they're just people that have seen me in the space somewhere, but some of the best stuff is when someone comes and says, it happened at Prosper this last year. I was waiting in line to go to a party at the Mandalay Bay up in the top, and there's a couple of people behind me. I was there with Steve Simonson, and he was saying, no way, no way. No effing way. No way. And I'm like, what the hell? What's going on? There's a commotion behind me. I turn around, the dude's looking straight at me. And he's like, Kevin King. I'm like, you work for the IRS, the FBI? Did I do something? No, I'm just kidding. But he's like, Kevin King, I cannot believe it's you. And he said, I took your course four years ago or something like that. And when I first got into Amazon, and now my company's doing $50 million. And so that's not because of me. But what I like to do is I like to give people the foundation, let people think on their own. And I'm not going to say, here's the 10 steps to actually how to make money on Amazon. It's like, this is what you need to know. Now go put together that knowledge and do it for yourself. And that's what he did. And that's where I get the biggest reward out of the teaching, out of the helping people. Is that. And I think you're very similar in that way. Speaker 2: Agreed. And you said something very important, Kevin. It's being real. It's putting it all out there. I think there's one thing that's very important is that people need to actually understand what it takes to build this business. And if they have all the understanding that that's going to actually help them to achieve it. You know, that fake guru stuff is something that I despise because it gives people false ideas and they expect with $500 to make $5 million in five minutes and that's just not going to happen. Speaker 1: Yeah, not going to happen. Speaker 2: This is a real business and if you treat it like a real business, like I've been telling you about, like really understanding, you know, all the different parts of this, the branding, the avatar, really getting your product right, you know, all these different things. If you do all this and you understand it, you are going to be able to achieve amazing things because you're going to launch a product. It might not hit, but you know, you might need to launch a few more. You're going to have the finances that you need set up so that you're not faking yourself. It's not going to happen off of $500. It's like this. I love saying this. Sometimes somebody wants to open a restaurant or a salon or whatever, right? And if they only have the cash for four chairs and no stove and no oven and no whatever, they're never going to open up a proper restaurant, right? So people need to understand this is what it's going to take to build this and then actually do the steps and make it happen. And if they do that, there's so much opportunity on Amazon, but people need to actually put one foot in front of the other. Speaker 1: What do you think are the three most important personality characteristics it takes to succeed on Amazon? Not the business side, but the personality or traits. Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you for that. I think its speed of execution is huge, right? I think it's also that ability to absorb data. And be able to, whether that's networking with others, studying from others, but it's like being able to know that they don't know everything and having that thirst to learn, I think is very important. So it's like, you can learn everything and not actually implement, and you're not going to get anywhere, right? But you need to be open to learning, you have to be able to actually implement. And then I think the third and most important thing is persistence, because it's not always going to be easy. You're going to have, you know, setbacks and, you know, it might end up being, I mean, we've got millions of mistakes and things that we've all made. If you're able to get back on that saddle and keep going, that is huge. So I think it's really those three characteristics because I've had people join my network with tons of finance behind them, guys who, you know, did everything on credit cards, young people, old people from all like, there's not a consistent pattern to me. But I think that those three things are pretty consistent. Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I would agree with you. And like you said, just being honest with yourself and like, well, I don't know if you saw this, but back in 2021, I won a billion dollar seller summits. I did. We did a case study on how we lost $1.2 million on Amazon, setting up a company. And most people would never do that. Most people will never talk about their failures, they only talk about their successes. But we outlined in an hour presentation, this is what we did, everything we did right, and this is what happened, and this is where it ended. And by being real like that, and by being honest with yourself, And realizing there's going to be mistakes along the way, and it's not perfect, but still, selling on Amazon is I think the greatest business opportunity of the last 200 years. And if you do it right, as you know, as you know from your network and from everybody else that you surround yourself with, there's nothing really better. Speaker 2: 100%. And I think also just maturing myself as a woman in business, I've learned that it's good to hire expertise. It's good to learn from experts. It's good to know that you don't know everything and to read and to study and to grow and to be around people that are smarter than you. I think that's something that if I would have figured out and then The other part is be willing to take risk. I've never met anyone, if you ask any successful person, Kevin, if you could go back in time and change, you know, a couple things about how you pursued your entrepreneurial career, I usually hear they wish they would have gone faster, stronger, and learned more from people around them. I've never heard anyone say, gosh, I wish I would have gone slower. I wish I would have never gone to any events because I would have, you know what I mean? It's always, they would have gone in harder, stronger, learned faster, and they would have built that momentum because one of my favorite quotes is, the most money you'll ever lose is the money you never made. Speaker 1: That's a very good one. That's a very good one. Miss Athena, it's been great having you here on the podcast. If people want to learn more, I know they can go to Chinamagictrip.com or they can find you on Facebook or where can they find you? Speaker 2: Athena Severi, you know, any platform you can find me as Athena Severi. But it's been so much fun to chat with you, Kevin. And what you bring to this industry is just amazing. You're such a light. So I really, really do appreciate that. And if there's, you know, anything that I can do out there for people, I'm all about it. I didn't get to talk much about this, but I'm very passionate also about, you know, my kids, they're 12 and 15. They've been in this industry a long time, they started their own kitchen brand. When they were young and they are inspired by people like you and Mike and Matt from Amazing and Dan and Kian and all the guys from Titan and all these communities, they actually study and watch these videos of people who are successful and it really inspires them. My 15-year-old's actually launching a new brand and he wants to sell it for a million dollars by the time he's 18. So he can say he's a self-made millionaire. And my 12-year-old's super into animals, so he's actually launching a new pet brand. And so, you know, I think our kids are always watching us and I wanted to just shout out to the women out there. You can do this. You 100% can do this and be a mom and do all the things and your children, they're watching you. And so, I just wanted to give a shout out to all the women in my community as well because, Kevin, I don't know if you know this stat, but only 1% of women-owned businesses ever hit a million dollars. Speaker 1: No, I didn't know that, really. Only 1%. Speaker 2: Only 1% of women-owned businesses ever hit a million dollars and guess what? In my community, a third of all of the women in my community are doing over 2 million, a third of them, right? Speaker 1: That's awesome. Speaker 2: So I am so proud of, you know, having kind of created a bit of a movement in this whole women industry and showing people that you can do it all. You can be a business person, you can also be a mom, you can be feminine and strong all at the same time. And that's something I'm very proud of. Speaker 1: It's difficult to balance being a mom and an entrepreneur and some of the other constraints that come, society constraints. So it's always exciting to see when there's successful women in this space and we need more of them. So if you're out there listening, come join us and let's get you in that $2 million club as well. Speaker 2: Yes. Okay, Kevin, thank you so much for having me. This has been so much fun. We could talk forever, but yeah, thanks so much. Speaker 1: Appreciate it. Athena is one of the top community builders in this space and as you can see from our discussion, there's tremendous value in getting out there and being part of this community of Amazon sellers, of e-commerce sellers, entrepreneurs. There's just so much value in leaving your comfort zone and actually going to an event or becoming part of a group much more than just doing a virtual event or participating in a Facebook group or a chat group or something online. Just tremendous, tremendous value in it. So I hope if you're not one of those that actually gets out there and does this, then that you consider actually venturing out and doing it. I think you'll find it'll make a big difference in your business and your relationships and your success. We'll be back again next week with another incredible episode of the AM PM podcast. My guest is going to be talking about sourcing and a lot of cool tips and tricks around that. So hopefully you'll join us again next week. If you missed last week's episode, be sure to check that out too with Scott Dietz. Got the Billion Dollar Exit Summit coming up soon. If you're looking to exit in the next 18 months, this is the workshop that you want to be at. Everything is focused around selling your business, hands-on, over-the-shoulder stuff. This is not a bunch of presentations. BillionDollarExitSummit.com. And don't forget to sign up for my newsletter too, BillionDollarSellers.com. It's totally free at BillionDollarSellers.com. Words of wisdom for this week before I let you go, it's not about what someone can do for you, it's who and what the two of you become in each other's presence. It's not about what someone can do for you, it's who and what the two of you become in each other's presence. Have a great week and we'll see you again soon.