Jeriel Sydney is the Founder of FableRune, a botanically-based wellness brand in Los Osos, California. Since its inception ten years ago, the company has grown and developed beyond Jeriel’s wildest dreams, most recently expanding their offering by introducing an universal clean-skin product line. In this interview, Jeriel shares how bringing in a partner has been integral to the business’ success.
Jeriel founded Fable as a solo entrepreneur for four and a half years, two of which full-time. Starting on her own and managing every aspect of the business during inception taught her a lot and helped her develop as a Founder and a businesswoman. Even though she had gained this valuable experience of building a business in making soaps and candles, eventually, she found she needed someone by her side to be in charge of the more technical aspects of the business so she could focus on the creativity and brand. This is when Bobbie joined. When asked to explain how this happened, Jeriel says:
“That was magic in its truest. Bobbie had been a good girlfriend for so long. It was a dream to have her on board. It was my goal. I even wrote it down. My capacity is what it is. I am creative. I am artistic. I connect with people. But I’m not good with numbers. I’m not great with planning for the future inventories.
“And Bobbie is all those things that I’m not. As I looked at growing Fable, and I looked at my potential to make changes, I needed someone to fill in the places. There is so much you have to do when leading a manufacturing company, you have to make everything, distribute everything. It felt as if the universe made this little window opening where she was like, ‘Hey, I don’t know how you’d feel about this. But I would like to come on.’ And I thought, ‘My God, this is a manifestation of all of these dreams that I had.’ Also, when I was struggling in other areas of life, she had been a life raft for me. To have her come on as a partner was just so fluid.”
Many people advise not to go into business with friends. But in Jeriel’s experience, her friendship with Bobbie had never been an obstacle to the business or vice versa. On the contrary, they enhanced one another organically, strengthening the friendship bond while seeing the business thrive. When Bobbie joined, Jeriel was ready to enter into a partnership armed with knowledge, understanding, and vision of what she wanted the business to be and what boundaries she wanted in place.
“We did it in a way that I felt the work I had put in was being honored and what she brought to the table was being honored. Our friendship has always been the first thing in our work relationship. We talk all the time. I don’t know what I would have done without her. She has a manufacturing background. She’s great with numbers. She thinks big monetarily and in the capacity of what we could actually make out of our facilities. It works like magic.”
Inevitably when leading a business with somebody, there would be disagreements. For Jeriel, these have been easier to smooth out when working with someone you have a good relationship with outside of work. Openness and honesty have been the pillars of this throughout the journey.
“We’re so opposite. I lead with emotion, and she’s rational and wants to talk it out. So I know there will always be a space for us to do that. She’s very upfront, she will come and address the issue right away. This is the healthiest thing for me.
“At the end of the day, disagreements are mostly just hurt feelings or hurt ego for me. I haven’t had a moment where I questioned whether our friendship could withstand whatever happened at work. “
Trust is an important part of a work relationship. And having a friend you already trust on board could make this really simple. You know they always have your back. There is something bigger than money that drives both of you to being successful. There is an unspoken contract between friends that is much deeper than a pure business contract.
“We have a deep trust in that ability to lean on each other and just fall into it and go with whatever is going to happen,” Jeriel says.
Finally, it is important to bring a partner at the right time. To truly appreciate them, you need to have discovered that Founder magic within you, to really feel and know your business so you would know when to bring someone in. Having someone join too early can deprive you of that.
“There’s a deep appreciation for the work that Bobbie does. I was a mess when she came in, I was struggling. There were so many little things, and it was two years of doing it on my own full-time and four years part time, when I was also doing other work and going to grad school. Then it really kicked into gear.”
When asked what she most appreciates about Bobbie, Jeriel says:
“I thought on such a small scale. I couldn’t have done what I have without her pushing me, it would have been a low key success story. I would have done whatever I needed to do to get some level of success. I would have worked around the clock. But her being the innovator she is and thinking from a more practical perspective, for example, about upgrading equipment, introducing a new bottling machine, etc, changed a lot. Fable would have never grown to where it is. There was nothing that was as instrumental as that relationship.”
Don’t be afraid to let people you trust into your business. Everyone’s journey is different, and for some of us, the best we can do for ourselves and our businesses is to bring a person with a complementary perspective and whom we already trust on board. Follow your gut, do what you feel is right, and watch the magic unfold.
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