So how do you create a multi-million dollar business starting with only $10,000 without having

much of a plan, without doing a lot of research, without even knowing how to use Shopify or basically

you had to learn the internet from scratch? Well, we have talked about this a little bit on this podcast,

but I finally wanted to do an episode with a very special person, my mother-in-law. So about five years

ago, my mother-in-law sat me down. She goes, Sam, I have this idea for a business. I want to start this pillow company. Can you teach me how to do it? I gave the most generic advice ever on how to do it, not expecting her to do anything. Turns out, she listened and she Googled and found actually significantly better advice. And she built a company that is now making millions a year in revenue. She started it in her early 50s and it's killing it. And after years of just kind of quietly chugging along and building this epic business, I asked my mother-in-law Smithy-Soddine to come on the pod and give her story. If you are in your 30s, 40s or 50s and you are thinking about starting a business and you're sort of overthinking, you're not sure what to do, or even if you are in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, and you are thinking about starting a business and you're sort of overthinking, you're not sure what to do.

Or even if you're in your 20s and you want to figure out how to change your life, this is probably the most relatable and I think inspirational episodes that we have ever done.

So it's a very special episode for me for obvious reasons. I love her to death, but I think you guys are going to like it. Check it out.

I feel like I can rule the world. I know I could be what I want to.

So let me set the stage here, Smithy.

Okay.

Smithy, do you even listen to the podcast?

I do. I do listen to some episodes.

All right. So the story is this. Basically, you came over in your early teens as an immigrant. You had some kids and you were a stay-at-home mom. And then the kids grew up and you were like, well, I'm not really sure what to do next. And so you kind of were like trying a bunch of different stuff. a bunch of different stuff. I think at one point you got your real estate license and you did something a lot of people want or they think about. They think like I want to start something. I want to like do something. And you thought about it for a couple of years, I think. And then all of a sudden we had a conversation and you basically told me what you were going to do. And I wasn't sure if I even believed that you were going to do it, but basically you were like, I'm going to start a pillow business. You had done zero research. You didn't do any market research. And then all of a sudden, two weeks later, you have this online store. And before I know it, you had a bunch of sales. And now, after doing this for six years, you've made multiple millions in revenue. I don't know if you want

to say what it is, or you know, you could say the numbers, but you built like a seven-figure

business without any internet experience or any research. We talked about you on the podcast,

and that was pretty cool. And a lot of people have asked. And so we have Smithy here,

who's actually my mother-in-law. Well, okay, I'll just change a few little bits of information

in that summary. So I came to the U.S. with my family when I was 16 years old. So it was in

1983. We lived in Miami for a couple of years, and then I wound up going to school in New York City.

I wanted to be in a fashion industry.

Sewing has always been a passion of mine. So I've, my grandparents, sewed, and my mom did. So I learned from them, and then I wind up just liking it. It was just a way to express myself, my creativity. I made clothes for myself, and then I wind up just liking it. It was just a way to express myself, my creativity. I made

clothes for myself, and then I wanted to go to the Fashion Institute of Technology to study fashion.

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