Words, Words, Words

Okay, so now you have an idea for lingerie and a name.

BangPanty

How do you take an idea that exists only in your head and turn it into something real.

Therein lies the rub

I had no roadmap.
No mentor.
No friends who had ever started a business.

I was completely on my own but I did have one thing.

A word.

BangPanty.

Funny how powerful a word can be. The moment you give something a name, it suddenly feels real. It’s no longer just a passing thought. It becomes something you can point to, hold onto, build around.

So the first thing I did was secure the word.

I checked to see if BangPanty was available as a domain name. It was. I bought it immediately. That part was surprisingly easy and inexpensive.

The next step was calling the registry office to officially register the name.

That phone call is something I will never forget.  Not because of the paperwork but because of the man who answered the phone.

He was an older gentleman who didn’t rush me off the line after five minutes like you might expect. Instead, he stayed with me for nearly two hours, patiently walking me through every step of the process.

More than that, he was genuinely interested in my idea.

I could have gotten anyone that day but I got him and at the end of the call he said five words that have stayed with me ever since.

 “You’re going to make it.”

I asked him how he could possibly know that.  He told me he had spoken with many people over the years who were starting companies but I was different. He could sense it.

His words held power.  A complete stranger believed in me.  Now that made two of us.

There’s strength in numbers.

Before I go any further, let’s talk about something no one really warns you about when you start a business.

It’s expensive.

Every single step of building this company has come out of my own pocket. My own savings. My own risk. 

The financial risk is high.

But the emotional risk?

Even higher.

This journey will take you to your highest highs and your lowest lows. And you don’t really understand that until you’re waist-deep in it.

At some point I realized something important.

If I was going to do this, I had to be all in.

“In for a penny, in for a pound.” my mom used to say, because if you’re not fully invested in yourself, how can you expect anyone else to be?

You’ll find yourself paying for things you barely understand or even know why you need them. Yet you trust that it’s all part of building something real. Or at least that’s what you’re told.

Look, if it were easy, everyone would do it but they don’t but you are and sometimes you have to remind yourself of that.

In August of 2023, I wrote some words in a small green notebook.

Words that captured what I believed BangPanty could become.

Manifestations.

Every day since, I open the notebook and I repeat those words out loud while holding a crystal close to my heart.

Because words have power.

The right words can name an idea.

The right words can give someone courage.

And sometimes, five words from a stranger, are all you need to hear, to know you're going to make it.

Susan