[piano intro] - Hello, I'm Nido Qubein.

Welcome to Side by Side.

My guest today turned a mall kiosk selling t-shirts into a multimillion-dollar business.

"How?"

you ask.

You'll find out today, because my guest is the founder and CEO of Simply Southern, Ginger Aydogdu.

- [Narrator] Funding for Side by Side with Nido Qubein is made possible by.

- [Announcer 1] Here's to those that rise and shine to friendly faces doing more than their part, and to those who still enjoy the little things.

You make it feel like home.

[baby giggling] Ashley HomeStore.

This is home.

- [Announcer 2] For over 60 years, the everyday leaders at the Budd Group have been committed to providing smart, customized facility solutions to our clients and caring for the communities we serve.

[soft music] - [Announcer 3] Coca-Cola Consolidated is honored to make and serve 300 brands and flavors, locally, thanks to our teammates.

We are Coca-Cola Consolidated, your local bottler.

[upbeat music] ♪ - Ginger, welcome to Side by Side.

I have been fascinated by your business.

You started in a mall with a single kiosk, and today you own 27 stores and you sell through 6,000 retailers.

What does Simply Southern sell?

- Simply Southern started with just t-shirts.

But we have expanded our line to include ladies' apparel, men's apparel, children's apparel, gifts, footwear, and we continue to add new lines each year.

- That's a tough business, Ginger.

- [Ginger] Yes, it is.

- Really tough business.

- [Ginger] Very tough business.

- What gave you the idea to start in business in the first place?

- I think the biggest thing is I worked in corporate America, and it was always having a meeting to have another meeting, to have another meeting, and I wanted to have a meeting and make a decision and let's move forward and keep going.

So being a business owner, I could make that decision real quickly.

And so I decided that it was time to do it.

It was time to get out of corporate America and start my own business and hope for the best.

- Were you scared?

Were you... - Oh, I was so nervous.

- You were nervous.

- Yes.

I mean, my background is an accountant, so we like very black and white, no gray, no risk.

So I had to learn to take some risk, that there was gonna be times where we would make a mistake, but we own up to it and keep moving forward.

You just don't dwell on it.

- Where was the first kiosk?

- The first kiosk was at Four Seasons Town Centre here in Greensboro, North Carolina.

- Wow.

You literally had a kiosk.

- [Ginger] A kiosk.

- And you sold t-shirts.

- And t-shirts.

- And were you printing something on the t-shirts?

- Yes.

Yeah, so it was more of an instant gratification.

So we would print things on t-shirts or mouse pads or mugs.

- [Nido] On the spot?

- On the spot, and people could take it right then and there.

- And how much did the t-shirts cost when you first started?

- A t-shirt cost $15 when we first started.

- Mm-hm.

And the first day you only sold $30?

- $30.

I thought we were gonna die.

- [Nido] $30.

- Yeah.

- You had to pay rent to have the kiosk in the mall.

- Yeah.

It wasn't enough money.

If we made $30 a day for the month, it wasn't gonna be enough for rent.

- Mm-hm.

But you're stuck with it, Ginger.

- [Ginger] Yes.

- You are an entrepreneurial accountant.

Or are you an accounting entrepreneur?

- I think now I'm an entrepreneurial accountant, versus the opposite.

[laughs] - I see.

And today you have more than 400 employees.

- [Ginger] Yes.

- [Nido] 80 some percent are females.

- Yeah, 80%.

- Something like 42% are Hispanic.

- Yes.

- I mean, this is diversity in your business, and you have the first big building, and now you just built another big building.

- [Ginger] Correct.

- I'm intrigued by the story of an individual who has an idea, who takes a risk, who starts a business, who has sticktoitiveness through thick and thin, and then one day you've got quite a deal going on.

- [Ginger] Right.

- What is the process?

- The process is you...

I don't ever leave work.

- [Nido] You work hard.

- I work hard.

- [Nido] You work long hours.

- I work long hours and I just never give up.

I keep .

To see my employees with smiles on their face and their families with smiles on their face, I mean, Simply Southern is a whole big family, and knowing that I'm helping feed their families keeps me going and that I can continue to employ all these people and give them great benefits and give them a great workplace to come to.

- Mm-hm.

So walk me if you don't mind how you went from a kiosk, you went from a kiosk to what?

- Okay, so we went from a kiosk.

I was still working corporate America, so at the time when we started the kiosk, and my husband was running the kiosk.

I would take all my vacation from our corporate job and go help him.

We never went on a vacation.

- And this was in 2005.

- So I was actually in 2009, I was having our third child and I decided I didn't wanna go back to corporate America.

And my husband knew that I was not a stay-at-home mom.

He knew I loved to work and that's something I wanted to do.

So we decided at that point to actually take our product, our Simply Southern product, and actually wholesale the product as well, and versus just selling it in our stores.

So what we did was- - Wholesale it to retailers.

- Retailers.

So we basically went to Atlanta and set up a booth and started selling our product to retailers.

And to this day we still have, our very first customer is still buying our product.

- Really?

Now you have something like 6,000 retailers.

- [Ginger] 6,000 retailers.

- Who buy your product and sell it in their store.

- Correct.

- [Nido] Under your brand name.

- Yes.

- So everything you sell is Simply Southern.

- Correct.

- And why did you call it Simply Southern?

- Well, there was a lot of Southern brands out there and they all started with Southern.

So what do you think about?

Do you wanna be on top?

So you always start with something that in the alphabet would be before that.

So we came up with Simply Southern.

So that S-I comes before S-O, so we'll be in the list of alphabetically, we would be first.

- Mm-hm.

So you were not trying to stick to a heritage, or you are Southern.

- I'm Southern.

I'm Southern.

But yes.

- I would have never guessed that, Ginger.

[Ginger laughs] And now you have all these employees and you've got a big job and you've established a network, a footprint.

Is it mostly in the South or is it across the country?

- No, we actually are in 48.

We have retailers in 48 of the 50 states.

- 48 states carry your product, and you've been growing every year and you've been expanding the product line and so on.

What is the hardest thing that you face every day?

- The hardest thing that I face every day is...

There's a lot of challenges, but I think the biggest challenge is enough time.

If I could have just a few more hours in the day, I could get a few more things done that I would like to get done.

- I would've thought you would've said a supply chain.

You would've said labor shortage.

You would've said dealing with all these people that I've got or all these retailers I've gotta sell through, but that's not it.

- No.

I mean, those challengers can be short come and they can be overcome at some point, so I don't look at those.

I think my biggest thing is I look at the things that I challenge with more than anything as a business owner.

- [Nido] And that's time.

- It's time.

- Your husband's still working with you?

- Yes.

- And he's of Turkish heritage?

- Yes, correct.

- Does he cook for you at home?

- Yes, he does.

- He does?

Fabulous Turkish food?

- Yes.

- [Nido] Delicious.

- Exactly.

- Yeah.

So you've received many awards.

- [Ginger] Correct.

- Ernst & Young gave you their Entrepreneur of the Year in the Southeast.

That's a big deal.

I've known some of the people who've gotten it in the past.

You're in really good company.

And North Carolina Fast 40.

You were named, selected for that.

Triad Business Journal put you in the top Fast 50, I think they call it.

- [Ginger] Yes.

- This is remarkable.

You have set forth in your life an example for others that the American dream is alive and well.

If you have an idea, take a risk, work hard, and make it happen.

- [Ginger] You're correct.

- Do you ever get up in the middle of the night, worried about something?

- No, not really.

- [Nido] Really?

- I really try to, again, make a decision and move forward and be comfortable with the decision I make so that it doesn't keep me up at night.

- But you rely on suppliers, correct?

- [Ginger] Correct.

- And you must have had some challenges in the last few years.

- Oh, we've had challenges.

We have had challenges and still having challenges.

The supply chain has been horrendous, getting things there.

- Containers being stuck off the waters in California, et cetera.

- Yes, yes.

And that the pricing is now three times what you used to pay to get a container in.

It takes a couple weeks longer to get a container in.

So there's lots of challenges, and the last I heard, we're not looking to any of that even helping or getting any kind of relief on that until hopefully early next year.

- Yeah.

How do you manage that if you are selling... Give an idea of the range of prices for your product is from what to what?

What would be the most expensive thing I could buy from Simply?

- Most expensive thing is $65.

- Okay, so it's an affordable product.

- Yes.

- And so that means your profit margin is, not small, but it's tough.

It's tight.

And when you have all these external factors, they eat away at them.

- [Ginger] Yes, correct.

- So how does the company survive in the midst of the pandemic we've had that caused all these supply chain, everything else?

- We've just been very... Our vendors that we use overseas have been so great to work with us and try to, they have cut their profit a little bit to help us continue to sell because that keeps their employees on their side busy as well.

So we have really worked hard to try to try to negotiate pricing and things with our vendors and get things.

The biggest reason, one of the reasons that this business was started is that we wanted everybody to afford our product, that it wasn't so out-priced that they couldn't afford it.

- It's a product for the masses.

- [Ginger] Correct.

- So where might I buy Simply Southern products?

- Here in North Carolina, we have five retail locations, but there are retail locations, they're mostly mom and pop gift shops, as you would say, our independent retailers.

- Specialty, specialty stores.

- Specialty stores, yes.

We do have a few large box stores that we do do some business with, and some family-owned I would say chains that we have a Midwest family-owned business that's been in business for over 100 years and they have 60 locations.

- And you have salespeople who go around and place you in those stores and all of that.

It's typical process for growing a business.

What fascinates me about you is I'm familiar with you and your work.

You care deeply about the community at large, you care about your employees, clearly, but you care deeply with the community at large.

You sponsor things.

You really wanna create impact with this next generation.

And you support nonprofits.

Where did all that come from for you?

- Your success needs to be given to somebody else, has always been my thoughts.

So how can I give back?

What can I do to make things better?

And there's two kind of organizations that we really work closely with, and one is Child Fund International.

And it is because we know children are our future, and how can we help these children achieve their goals in their life?

So we work really closely with them.

And then we're real involved in turtle foundations and working for conservancy for sea turtles.

And so we actually work with several sea turtle foundations and actually help those foundations.

- Mm-hm.

That's wonderful work.

That's terrific that you do that.

So, what are some of your ambitions for the future?

You wanna double the company, you want to add more products?

What do you want to do?

- We wanna add more product.

We wanna add more retail locations.

I wanna get in those last two states I'm not in.

- [Nido] Which states are they, by the way?

- It is actually- - North Dakota and Alaska.

- No, it's actually Wyoming and Hawaii.

But I think, if I'm correct, we picked up Hawaii last week at a trade show.

So I'm hoping I can tell you next time that it's actually 49.

- Yes, that will be the story you will visit the most, isn't it?

- [laughs] Yes.

- You'll go check on what's happening on the floor.

Well, that's amazing that you were able to grow this big, this far across the country.

And I admire small business.

You would be categorized as a small business, right?

- [Ginger] Right, correct.

- 400 employees in what, about 200,000 square feet of space in Greensboro, North Carolina.

- Correct.

- And your husband is doing what now?

- My husband is actually our operations person.

So he handles all of our retail locations and making sure we open new locations, and he also handles our art area.

So he actually does some of the designing and he was the first designer for the company.

- I see.

How do you design for these products?

Do you sit there with a pad and pen, or do you do it on the computer, and where do you get the ideas?

- Well, this person, I do not design it all.

- It's not your cup of tea.

- No.

- You're a money person, yes.

- They actually use, some of it's free-hand.

Some of it's actually drawn on a tablet, and then it translates to a computer.

Some of it is actually done through computer.

So they're using a computer program to actually do the designs, but we look at the trends.

We look at what's going on in the fashion market right now and look to see what potential things that we wanna move forward with.

If the next big thing is gonna be giraffes, then we can put a giraffe on a t-shirt and get it started, and then we can move to... - [Nido] I see.

- Our other items that are imported.

- I see.

I see.

And it's gonna be tough to be working with your husband all day every day, isn't it?

- Actually, I love it.

- [Nido] You do?

- I love it.

- What do you talk about at home when you're having dinner?

Oh, you don't have dinner.

You just work around the clock.

- [laughs] We do have dinner.

We try to sit down and have dinner every night.

- Do you talk business all the time?

- Not all the time.

We have three kids, so that keeps us busy and we talk about them.

And then we do talk about business a lot, but we also know that he knows my specialties and I know his specialties, and we try not to cross paths very much.

- So that's interesting, Ginger.

I mean, everything you're doing is interesting to me, and it's fascinating to me.

I'm fascinated that you chose to start retail stores, which is a difficult thing to do, and yet you've been successful at it.

And you wanna open more of those stores.

I'm also fascinated that your product sells at an affordable price, and yet you still find a way to figure out a margin in it and you sell it through 6,000 other retailers and you still have a margin in it so that you can grow.

You just built another big building in the same space, obviously on the land and you built a building right there.

What gives you, we'll talk about you for a minute, the real Ginger.

What gives you the courage to be an entrepreneur in a really cluttered marketplace?

I mean, you know, are in a sector that's very busy and rather cluttered.

Everybody and his brother and sister are in clothing, it seems to me, a novice as I am.

What gives you the courage to do that?

- I think the courage comes, again, from my employees and seeing them happy and being able to do things in their lives and be successful at it.

I don't know that I've always had the courage.

I mean, sometimes I have to think about it and say, "Hey, you've got the courage to do this.

"You can do this."

But the other thing is looking at the... - Did you have mentors along the way that encouraged you?

- Not really.

- Was there a book that you read?

- No.

- Maybe you read one of my books and you just don't know it.

Maybe your whole success is dependent on that.

You owe me a free t-shirt.

- [laughs] I'll give you a free t-shirt.

But I mean, really it takes courage to think, that you believe in yourself, and that you love what you do.

That is more than anything that I tell anybody that I speak to who wants to be an entrepreneur, make sure you decide to do something that you love to do, because if you love to do it, it's not a job.

Working 16 hours a day, it doesn't make any difference because you love it.

I get excited every morning, getting up and going to work.

And if I have to work until midnight or two o'clock in the morning, I do it because I love what I do.

Now, granted, I think we all have bad days.

- Yes, of course.

Of course.

- But all the good days surpass the bad days.

You remember those and the things or the accomplishments you've made or the things you were able to do, or be able to give back gives you even more courage to keep going, to keep doing those things so that you can do more for people, so you can help more.

- So you love what you do.

You're passionate about it.

What are the skills necessary for an entrepreneur to start a business?

- Honestly, I think the only skill is is that you like to work, that you're not afraid.

- You have to have some skills.

You have skills.

You have financial skills, accounting skills.

- I have a little bit of that, but all the stuff I learned, I picked up the phone and called somebody.

You have to want to know the answer.

I didn't know anything about sales tax and how to report it when I first started.

That's not something they teach you in college.

[laughs] See some of those things you have to get and you have to just get out there and ask questions and don't be afraid.

Don't be afraid to ask it.

How many times have you had a teacher or professor tell you, there's no stupid question.

That is exactly correct.

Ask the question.

- Mm-hm.

At what point in your career, you began in '05 in terms of Simply Southern.

At what point in that cycle did you turn a profit?

What year?

- I turned a profit in 2011.

- So for six years you worked hard, you took risks, you invested money.

you probably borrowed money, and you were not making any profit.

What kept you going?

I mean, it takes a special set of beliefs to cause a small business to go that many years.

I began a business way back in the '70s and it took me about two years before I turn a profit.

I didn't get paid the first two years, right?

You sacrifice.

But in six years you began to turn a profit.

- Yes.

I mean, the company doesn't turn a profit in that amount of time, but you're still able to continue moving forward.

And so you see those things, and I think it just gives you the courage that, oh, our sales went up this much this year, and they continue to grow and they're continuing to grow.

So at some point you're seeing that there is... You're able to move forward and that you can continue to buy product and you're not having to finance this year something because you have the cash now to buy it outright.

So you look at those type of things, not just at the profit.

The profit at the bottom, yes, it's important to banks and financial institutions, but looking at your whole financial statement to look at what you're actually doing means more to me and how we can continue to grow the company.

Do we see that growth?

Is the growth going?

If I probably didn't see that growth over those years, I probably would've given up then.

But I see the growth and that we continue to move forward.

We're adding more employees.

We're adding more locations.

- [Nido] There's more demand.

- There's more demand.

We can see it.

But a lot of times you do, you have to sacrifice to get to that point, to continue to buy more product and get into more product lines and things like that, to see the business grow, to turn a profit.

- When I talk to people, especially in North Carolina, they know the name Simply Southern.

How did you get that brand so well known?

Did you connect with media?

Did you buy public relations services?

Is it all word of mouth?

- It's all word of mouth and going to wholesale trade shows and selling it to our retailers, and our retailers do a great job of advertising for us.

- Do people look for Simply Southern, or do they just wanna buy a t-shirt and it just happens to be Simply Southern?

- There's people who look for Simply Southern.

It's funny.

We get emails from customers all the time saying, "Where is the closest retailer to me so I can go get it?"

'Cause they've gone on vacation and gotten one there, but don't know where else to buy it.

So it's interesting to see what.

- What do they like about it?

Is it the style, the price, the feel?

What is it they like?

- I think it is that it's constantly changing.

Whatever you see for this fall season, you will not see another fall season.

- [Nido] Really?

- Not the same.

It might be the same kind of product, but it won't be the exact same, so it's constantly different.

- The print is different.

The color is different.

- [Ginger] Constantly changing.

- Doesn't that create a massive inventory issue for you?

- No, we actually try to... We most of the time don't have enough sometimes.

- [Nido] Really?

- Yeah.

So no, so we turn basically everything six months, and so it's usually gone within six months.

- How do you keep your positive attitude?

You're talking to me with excitement.

You're smiling.

I can't get you to tell me you have one problem.

You don't have challenges.

You're dealing with them.

What is it about you?

- There's no reason to ever be sad or anything.

You always gotta think of the positive and keep moving forward.

I mean, if you dwell on the past or dwell on something that's gone wrong, that's only gonna hinder you.

You gotta keep going.

You gotta keep moving.

- Yeah, and you keep going and you've been going places and making things.

Have you written a story, a book?

- No.

- Why not?

It seems to me you could sell it in your retail stores.

- [laughs] I know.

- How Ginger went from the mall to all these outlets that they carry your product.

- I've been told several times that that should be my next thing is actually writing a book.

- It could be very helpful to all this next generation that you want to help.

What are the principles that guided you in this journey since 2005?

We'd all be fascinated to hear what that is.

And what were the failures that you had along the way?

Surely you had some failures.

- Oh yeah.

I had some failures.

Because when we started with the kiosk, it ended up being more kiosk with different products and things on it too.

And there was plenty of time that we had a product that was just a bomb.

- [Nido] Just didn't work.

- Didn't work.

- You had to dump it.

- I had to dump it.

- Sell it for nothing.

- Nothing.

- Eat up all the cost itself.

- Yes.

- Well, you are the epitome of the American dream, what this country's all about.

Somebody has an idea, works hard, and makes it happen.

God bless you.

Congratulations to you.

Thank you for being with me today on Side by Side.

- Thank you so much.

[upbeat music] ♪ ♪ - [Narrator] Funding for Side by Side with Nido Qubein is made possible by... - [Announcer 1] Here's to those that rise and shine to friendly faces doing more than their part, and to those who still enjoy the little things.

You make it feel like home.

[baby laughing] Ashley HomeStore.

This is home.

- [Announcer 2] For over 60 years, the everyday leaders at the Budd Group have been committed to providing smart, customized facility solutions to our clients and caring for the communities we serve.

[soft music] - [Announcer 3] Coca-Cola Consolidated is honored to make and serve 300 brands and flavors locally, thanks to our teammates.

We are Coca-Cola Consolidated, your local bottler.