Becoming a Wholesome Entrepreneur With Leslie Kuster, Founder & CEO of Back From Bali

Leslie Kuster is the CEO and Founder of Back From Bali, a multiple seven-figure revenue ecommerce brand that offers women bohemian chic clothing made in Bali. The success of Back From Bali, which she started in 1991, affords Leslie the life of her dreams.

Leslie is also a business lifestyle mentor, author, and speaker who is passionate about igniting and inspiring other women entrepreneurs to rise and create the financial and personal freedom that they crave and deserve.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

[2:22] Why did Leslie Kuster start an ecommerce clothing brand?
[5:12] Making the challenging decision to become an entrepreneur
[9:22] Dealing with the shortage of women ecommerce entrepreneurs
[15:15] Women entrepreneurs #1 key to seven-figure revenue
[19:19] The one problem blocking business owners from scaling
[22:09] What is “empty time,” and how does it work?
[27:18] How to stop “monkey brain”
[30:02] Identifying joy and blissfulness

In this episode…

Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster ride of experiences – big wins, disappointments, close shaves, bull runs, and an ever-busy mind. Is it ever possible to become a wholesome entrepreneur – one that makes the money they want and focuses on doing the things they love?

In an industry like ecommerce, you have to stay on top of many moving parts. Do you think it would be possible to go on an 8-week vacation working only 7 hours a week? Leslie Kuster has done it, and she wants you to know that it begins in your mind. Leslie had a light bulb moment and decided to just “do it” and started the process of launching her own business on her terms. You have to want it and have a burning desire never to stay stuck where you are in this moment. Leslie created a life overflowing with freedom and abundance… and so can you!

In this episode of the eCommerce Profits Podcast, Joshua Chin talks with the Founder and CEO of Back From Bali, Leslie Kuster. They discuss making the challenging decision to become an entrepreneur, how more women can become ecommerce entrepreneurs, the key to raking in seven figures and other keys to success, what is blocking business owners from scaling, and lots more!

Resources Mentioned in this episode

Sponsor for this episode

This episode is brought to you by the eCommerce Growth Hackers Facebook Group.

If you own or operate a direct-to-consumer ecommerce business, you’re probably drowning in the sea of conflicting advice from people who have never been in your shoes.

So, skip the noise and join the eCommerce Growth Hackers Private Facebook Group. Learn from a curated group of ecommerce founders and operators and tap into the genius of featured specialists on ecommerce growth and marketing.

And the best part, it’s free — at least for now.

Check out the group on Facebook.

Episode Transcript

Intro 0:04

Welcome to the eCommerce Profits Podcast where we feature top founders and experts in the ecommerce industry and take an in depth look at the struggles and successes in growing ecommerce brands profitably.

Joshua Chin 0:21

Josh Chin here, I’m the host of the eCommerce Profits Podcast, where we feature top experts and entrepreneurs in the ecommerce Industry. And we’ll behind the scenes of the struggles and successes and growing a brand. Now this episode is brought to you by the eCommerce Growth Hackers Facebook Group. If you own or operate a direct consumer ecommerce business, you’re probably drowning the sea of conflicting advice from people who may or may not have been in your shoes. So skip the noise and join the eCommerce Growth Hackers Facebook Group, and learn from a curated group of ecommerce founders and operators can tap into the genius of featured specialists on eCommerce Growth and Marketing. And the best part is, it’s free, at least for now. So check out a group on Facebook that’s facebook.com forward slash Groups foward slash eCommerce Growth Hackers with a Z at the end all one word and link is also in the description in this episode and I’ll see you guys on the inside. Today’s guest is Leslie Kuster, did I get the name right? Leslie is a multiple seven figure, ecommerce brand owner whose business, Back From Bali offers women bohemian chic clothing at really every made in Bali. The success of Back From Bali affords Leslie, the life of dreams. We’ll talk a little bit about her yearly annual practice of how she maintains a balance in her life. And she’s passionate about igniting and inspiring other women entrepreneurs, to rise to their success and and to create the the financial and personal freedom that they crave and deserve. So Leslie, welcome to the show.

Leslie Kuster 2:06

Thank you so much, Josh. I’m so happy to be here.

Joshua Chin 2:10

Leslie, let’s talk a little bit about how you ended up as an entrepreneur and why ecommerce and why why clothing.

Leslie Kuster 2:22

So going back quite a few years, I went traveling to Indonesia. And I like absolutely fell in love with the experience of travel and freedom and all of that. But after the seven months of traveling, I had to come back to New York City, which is where I was living at the time. And guess what, get a job, right. And I was sitting there looking through all the different papers, which is what you did back then to find a job. And there just was not one job I wanted. And I had literally a light bulb moment where I remembered this beautiful colorful batti clothing that I had seen in Bali, Indonesia when I was traveling. And I just thought, Hmm, I wonder like, I wonder if I jump back on a plane. And I wonder if I go back and bought clothing off the street. I wonder if I can sell it and my desire to like never work in a company again to never get into an elevator and go up to the 20th floor to never get in a New York City Subway, in order to get to the office was so strong in me that I literally did it. And I jumped back on a plane with a big duffel bag and I hit the streets of Bali, which as you know in Singapore, it is really hot. And I and I just bought and bought and bought and brought the clothing back and ended up just doing markets and street fairs. And that is how my business was launched. And that’s the reason why it launched.

Joshua Chin 4:02

That is crazy. So that is that that feels impulsive. Of all things that impulsive and but what that tells me is that you lean into your, I suppose intuitions and like knowing that you probably wouldn’t be happy in the being in a job that you may not like coming from coming from my background and my culture and Asia, it’s that’s a really difficult thing to do. Being in Singapore, there’s a set path where people can take you to school, you go to university and you get a job. And then like 60% of my tears end up in a bank or a financial institution of some sorts because that’s kind of Singapore is financial, financial hub. It’s tough to kind of veer away from that. It’s getting easier, but how do you think about and when When you first got started, how do you think about that? And for people listening who may be on that cusp of that that decision? What’s your advice?

Leslie Kuster 5:12

I mean, listen, it was the best thing I’ve ever done. But the trouble is, is you don’t know where you’re going before you, you know, kind of jump off, right? You like jump off and like the unknown, and you have no idea like, I had no idea what I what I would buy, I had no idea if it would sell it and no clue at all. But the truth is that decision that I made, brought me to the next step, and the next step, and the next step in the next step. And the thing is, we have to have the courage to make these sorts of choices. If you don’t have the courage to make these sorts of choices, you end up just kind of living somebody else’s life, like you’re like you were saying, 60% of your friends are just like kind of doing the same thing. But when you have the courage to make choices that, like you said before, also are intuitive that, you know, I followed my hunch I followed, I followed my greatest desire, which was to not work in an office building and get a job. And because of following that, it brought me to the next step. So the opportunities like on the other side of that, on the other side of the safe job, on the other side of doing what everybody else is doing is phenomenal. And yeah, that’s what I really encourage it’s was easier for me personally, because my both of my parents are entrepreneurs. So I actually came from a family that did not really value getting a banking job, we didn’t really value like, you know, getting, you know, the safe job with the perfect house. So I kind of had that as a role model, which has made it easier for me to kind of go off track.

Joshua Chin 7:00

That’s really interesting, because what one of the, the early advice that I’ve gotten recently was, well, I’m gonna butcher this but and I don’t even remember who it came from. But it was something along the lines of when you don’t know where you’re going, look for the tallest mountain, or hill that you could climb and go towards that peak. As you approach that a peak, a higher peak will emerge and it will present itself. And then you can aim for a higher peak. And you don’t have to worry about what’s the tallest mountain that you can climb. And that big, grand, grandiose mission or vision that that you need to have when starting a business, just get started. Look for the highest mountain You can climb in and move in a direction that’s going to the rest is going to reveal itself, as

Leslie Kuster 7:52

it’s a great example. And a great analogy. And my dad also would always just say like, just do it, just do it. And that was like his favorite thing to say. And that is really what you have to do. So when you have an idea for a business, when you’re thinking of doing ecommerce, when you’re thinking of like doing something that’s off the track, really just do it, because it will then lead you to the next thing. And it’s also really important to get guidance, though, which is you know, as you have your Facebook group, it’s really important to get the guidance from people who’ve come before you and know what their what, what, what, how to advise you as well. And there’s so much help out there.

Joshua Chin 8:39

Talking about getting to success. And this is just part of what you’re passionate about. And what you feel is the current status quo when it comes to female entrepreneurs trying to make it in the space and especially in ecommerce, where I think it’s getting better. But it’s a very male dominated space, in my opinion, based off of the kind of a circle of friends and network that I feel. Is there a is there a barrier and what’s what’s stopping more female entrepreneurs from stepping up and becoming entrepreneurs? And firstly,

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