Join podcast co-host Kimberly Crossland in this discussion about growing an RV renovation business organically with Tessa Terry of Alchemy RV Renovation on this episode of The RV Entrepreneur podcast.
Looking for the freedom to be more authentic while simultaneously becoming a magnet for publicity, attention, and sales? Today’s guest on the RV LIFE Entrepreneur show shares how she has done just that simply by using Instagram to grow her RV renovation business.
Tessa Terry of Alchemy RV Renovation shares with us her unique approach to building a business through more creativity and simpler marketing. Her story is full of ideas about how to expand your revenue without feeling burdened by adding too much, and how to meet people where they’re at on their customer journey.
Growing Your Business With Authenticity and Organic Awareness
With Tessa Terry
Your Host: Kimberly Crossland
RESOURCES MENTIONED
Website: alchemyrvrenovations.com
Connect with Tessa:
Instagram: instagram.com/alchemyrvrenovations
Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091249713097
Listen to The RV Entrepreneur Episode #338
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The RV Entrepreneur #338 Full Episode Transcript:
Growing Your Business With Authenticity and Organic Awareness With Tessa Terry
RV LIFE: Welcome to the RV Entrepreneur Podcast, the weekly show for nomads, work campers, RVers and entrepreneurs looking to earn a living or build a business while enjoying the RV lifestyle. This week’s host is Kimberly Crosland. Let’s settle in and enjoy the RV entrepreneur podcast brought to you by RV life.
KIMBERLY: Welcome to the RV Life Entrepreneur podcast. I’m your host for this week, Kimberley Crossland. And on the show we have Tessa Terry of Alchemy RV renovations. Alchemy RV Renovations is Tessa’s company that she started in 2021, where she went through and renovated RVs. As you probably guessed from the name of her business, she has done a really great job of recreating these RVs, but what I really love is her entrepreneurial sense and so on this show today, we’re going to be talking quite a bit with her about how she gets found, how she’s been featured in some major publications all organically, and how she takes her love of design, her specifically her love of interior design and tiny living, and transforms that into a space that makes people excited about Arvine. I think we can all get behind being excited about the RV lifestyle, right? So today on the show, we’re going to learn more about her process for renovating the RVs. But we’re also going to be learning a little bit more about, like I said, how she gets that publicity and how she’s really simplified her life, her business life, so that she can focus more time on that creative energy, which is something I think all of us really want more of. We’re also going to talk about how she’s expanding her business this year in terms of marketing, and why that has made more sense. Really excited for you to listen more to this episode. You’re going to get so much from Tessa’s story and so many little nuggets of wisdom that you can take away and apply to your business today. But first, here’s a short break to hear from our sponsors who make this show possible.
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KIMBERLY: Tessa Terry, thank you so much for coming on the RV Entrepreneur Podcast. I am so excited to have you because I found you online somewhere. I can’t even remember which platform I think it was. Facebook might have been Instagram. I’m on all those places, so it was likely one of those two. But I found you because I saw your pictures and I just get. One of my guilty pleasures is to look at people who do really cool things with RVs, like make them gorgeous on the inside. I’m constantly in my own renovation mode because I just always want to do all these projects. So I saw your pictures, I was drawn to them, and the more and more I went and I looked at your business, the more fascinated I became. And I knew that I wanted to talk to you. So that’s how we got connected. And I am so thrilled for this conversation, because not only we’re going to talk a little bit about your RV renovations, but I also really want to talk about the business side, because that’s the other thing that I nerd out on a lot. So before I get too far ahead of myself, will you introduce yourself? Tell us a little bit about who Tessa Terry is and alchemy RV renovations?
TESSA: Yeah, absolutely. First of all, thank you for having me. I’m so excited to be here. So yeah, I am based in South Carolina and basically my RV renovation business started in 2021. It was very much on a whim. I have lots and lots of design background throughout my whole life, but when it came to the RVs, I found one online. I for some reason decided to look at it. So I went to check it out and when I saw the space, I just really got inspired and I envisioned something totally different. Something like a home, like high end space, but still one that could travel. So again, not knowing what I was doing at the time I bought that, I gave it my best shot. And in six months from then I finished it up and it sold within 24 hours. It came out exactly like I wanted it to. It was it was a super fun, exciting process. And I just I dove in head first. After that. My husband had a 9 to 5 job that he quit, and I just did this full time ever since then.
KIMBERLY: So did he quit that 9 to 5 job to help you with the renovations, or was he planning to quit it anyways to go to something else?
TESSA: No, he wasn’t planning to quit it at the time. But we have two kids and we homeschool, so one of us always have to. I mean, you know, that’s that’s the most important job and that’s a full time job. So he’s a stay at home dad now and and he takes care of all of the above other than than my job. So.
KIMBERLY: Oh that’s amazing. Yeah. We have two children as well. So I fully understand. Yeah that is absolutely job number one always. And good for him. That’s awesome. You guys can all kind of be together and I bet. Do your kids like to go and help out with the renovations too. Do they enjoy going in there. And.
TESSA: Yeah, absolutely. They love going in there. Especially my I have a nine year old and a four year old, and my nine year old is my design critique manager. If anything is slightly off he will let you know. So they’re very helpful.
KIMBERLY: Oh that is really, really helpful. That’s so fun I love that it’s kind of a family affair. I didn’t realize that at first when we started talking. I love that there’s it’s kind of like a family, a family gig. And you also, you guys can all come together and enjoy it together. To me, that’s part of the beauty of the RV life. Entrepreneur lifestyle is you are able to kind of all just be together and you can really lead by example. And it sounds like that’s what you and your husband are doing for your kids, which is just amazing. So hi, kudos to you. So I’d love to hear a little bit more about, of course, your renovations. We can look at how gorgeous they are online, but tell us a little bit about your process with renovating an RV. So when you first bought that first RV and how many have you done since then?
TESSA: So I do custom jobs and I do my own. I’ve done five of my own, and then I’ve done 4 or 5 custom jobs as well.
KIMBERLY: Oh nice, I love that. So when you get one, let’s say you’re doing it for your own. Where do you start with looking for inspiration for the design? Do you have kind of a common aesthetic that’s like your mark or is it? I don’t know, just it’s almost like a piece of art, I would think.
TESSA: Yeah, it is. My design process is so different. I think that’s part of the reason why I’ve never worked fully in like the interior design, the typical like you draw sketches and help people design rooms. I do so much in my head and I’ve been doing that since I’ve been a little kid. Like I genuinely just redesign rooms that I walk into, and so it’s hard to put that out on paper. But I’m constantly looking at inspiration. I’m constantly finding things that that make me want to just, you know, nitpick and I take things out and make it my own. So, yeah, I have a typical style that I do. I grew up with parents who own a Victorian lampshade company, so I’m very much inspired by that kind of style of. Taurean style. But then I kind of grew up into more of like a Parisian, like an eclectic, transitional look. So yeah, I mix all that together, but I get inspired and my design process is not just one day, one week. It it just kind of flows throughout time.
KIMBERLY: Oh, that’s so fun. So there’s no like system to it, which is also kind of I feel like that answers and honors the RV lifestyle quite a bit because you can kind of go with the flow. You’ve got that freedom. We always desire and design our lifestyles around freedom. And it sounds like you’ve really taken that and taken it even a step further of like, I’m not going to systematize this. There’s nothing wrong with systems. I just wrote an RV entrepreneur blog about systems. So I do like systems, but there’s a place for them. There’s also a huge place for creative work, and so I love that that’s coming together. But I do want to talk a little bit more about specifically about your marketing. So renovations are fascinating. I could talk to you for hours about all the things, because I’ve got several projects going right now, but I will leave that to looking over your Instagram. But I want to talk about the business side of things a little bit more, because one of the things I noticed about you is you’ve been featured in quite a few different places. So can you share with us some of those places where you’ve been featured?
TESSA: Yeah, yeah, for sure. I’ve been featured in, um, Apartment Therapy in Insider magazine, Narcity, a bunch of smaller articles, but those are some of the big exciting ones. The apartment therapy one happened off my first renovation that I ever did, so that was a huge surprise. And I’m super exciting.
KIMBERLY: Oh, I love that. And how have you been able to be found? Did they find you on Instagram? Because I imagine that this is a big question that a lot of. I don’t imagine I have actually had a lot of people ask this question. I’ve seen it asked in the RV Entrepreneur Facebook group, how do you get that publicity? How do you stand out? And especially for anyone who’s working, like in a crowded niche, how is it that you kind of differentiate so that a journalist says, oh, I need to talk to her, or oh, I need to interview him about XYZ.
TESSA: Yeah, that’s a great question. I can’t really take too much credit for it as far as finding the I mean, all of those people found me and came to me, which was I got super lucky. And I think for me, learning social media and learning to get my work out there through the internet has been a learning process. That’s definitely another job that I’ve had to learn that came in with the territory. But I think the work speaks for itself too, and specifically with me. I do try to make them look like a home, but yet could still travel. So that’s really cool. But yeah, the apartment therapy and narcity, um, both of them reached out to me. They did like phone interviews with me and and did the whole article. So that was just really cool that they found me.
KIMBERLY: Did they find you then on Instagram? Is that right on Instagram?
TESSA: Yeah, yeah, Instagram is where I, I’ve sold plenty of RVs from. You know, anytime I have one, I list it in a bunch of different places. A lot of people ask me where to list their RVs for sale, but yeah, Instagram has gotten me, I’d say over 50% of my business that I’ve sold things from, and then 100% of my magazines and publicity that way. They found me through Instagram.
KIMBERLY: See, I think this is really fascinating, and I’m really glad that you brought it up, because I’m seeing this big trend of like leaving social media and it’s too noisy and it’s not working, and we have to fight the algorithm. And that is true. There are a lot of people on there, but that’s also why we should be on there, because there’s a lot of people on there. There is a lot of noise, but then it’s about rising above the noise. So something you just said that I kind of want to highlight with a marker is your design speak for themselves. So when you put out that quality content, you do quality work, it’s going to speak for itself and it’s going to organically get found. And so when you’re thinking about running your business and you’re like, do I do Instagram? Do I not do Instagram? And hearing this flood of people saying, I’m going off of social media, I mean, I myself have closed some different pages and some different accounts and consolidated, but there’s a difference between consolidation and just totally shutting down and being like, oh well, everybody’s leaving, so I’m leaving too. So for you, you are actually in an expansive space right now with your business, which is really interesting. Right before we started talking, you’ve had Instagram and we know that Instagram is working really well for you. You’re getting found, you’re selling your RVs on there and now you’re starting your website. Is that right?
TESSA: Right. Yeah. Yeah, I started my website and didn’t put much into it before. So now in 2024, I’m really focusing on growing on social. So including Facebook, I’ve had a Facebook page with my name on it, and I did nothing with it for this whole time. So I’m actually I’m starting that. But yeah, the website too, um, I do design consultations, so I’m upgrading that and actually I’m, I’m starting another business venture within the RV world where I’m all my curtains that I use in my RVs, I custom sew, and I make them perfect size to all the windows. So I’m actually going to go into that direction too with my business and have that available to the public too. So a bunch of things that are really cool added to my website. Of course, I have all my renovations on there. I actually have some that I didn’t even post on the website. So all that will be updated and. And it’ll be a really nice, more organized space. So yeah. That’s exciting.
KIMBERLY: Oh, that is it’s really exciting. I’d love to have that, like Central Home where you can just send people that you’re finding from all these different corners of the web, and they can all come to your, your website and see all the different things. You said something really interesting to you that you’re going to start selling your RV curtains, which, by the way, after this episode, I do want to talk to you about because I do not like my curtains in my RV right now. Yeah, but I hear you infusing different revenue streams. And this to me is so important for a lot of RV entrepreneurs to hear, entrepreneurs in general actually to hear. But specifically, I think RV entrepreneurs having different revenue streams, it sounds like what you’re doing is you’re really meeting people at the beginning, part of their customer journey. So a lot of people, they’ll come to you because they’re in the middle, like myself, they’re in the middle of their own RV renovations, and they’re working on designing their their RV and making it feel like that home on wheels. But maybe they want to keep their RV, but use a lot of your inspiration because they love your designs. They might not be ready to buy a new RV, so being able to infuse these different revenue streams ahead of that big major purchase where you can still be using that audience to capture some sales, get deeper with the relationship with them, and really grow through that way. So are you going to be obviously you’re doing your your curtain sales? Are you also are going to be on Etsy? Is that primarily only going to be on your website? Are we thinking too far ahead there.
TESSA: Yeah. Yeah. Well, this honestly, I just kind of am developing this. As of like last week, I’ve been looking into the logistics of it and everything as far as the curtain sales, because I’ve been making them for years. But yeah, no, I think it’s important about meeting people where they’re at in their customer journey, just like you were saying, even like with my renovation consultations. Design consultations? Yeah, I have my own style. Not everyone has that style. So I meet people where they’re at. I know how I felt when I got my first RV, how much I had to learn. So helping people where they’re at in their whatever they are RV journey I think is, is so helpful because it’s just it doesn’t exist out there as much as it could. And I think it’s starting to which is which is really cool.
KIMBERLY: It is really cool, especially for people like me who really want it. Yeah, I don’t know why I keep coming back to my story, but I’m just like full on and like RV renovation mode myself. And so I’m fascinated by people who just. Yeah, exactly. Do we ever really get out of it? That’s kind of part of the fun of of living that RV lifestyle. So you’re on Instagram, you’re going to be expanding Facebook. What other platforms are you on right now that you’re using to build your business or is that it. And that’s also good too.
TESSA: Well, yeah, I kind of I’d say, you know, Facebook is the newest one, but yeah, mainly Instagram and mainly my, my website. Those three honestly keep me pretty busy. Yeah, those are my main things. I think Instagram is easier to update like on a regular basis. And, and you know, keep that kind of I have DIYs there. I have before and afters. I have stuff I have for sale. It’s kind of a fun mix of things.
KIMBERLY: So yeah, that’s good. What have you found to work really well on Instagram to help you get attention? Like the attention of apartment therapy, for example, our hashtags working really well for you. Are you doing organic outreach? How are you growing over there on Instagram?
TESSA: Yeah, so I’m no Instagram expert and it’s definitely a learning process for me. The algorithms can be tricky. I don’t use hashtags too much really anymore. I definitely have put more focus on the quality of my content. And I don’t just mean like informationally, but just how it looks. That was something I had to learn. I think, um, you know, getting really good, high quality videos is going to grab attention more than anything. And I think that’s a good advice for people trying to get attention on Instagram and stuff. A lot of people have really great renovations, really great updates, but if the quality is not there, it could definitely get trampled over easily by other people out there because it just yeah, the quality is great these days, so you really have to be aware of that and put effort into it. And I’m still learning, but I’m getting there.
KIMBERLY: Yeah, I think that’s a good point because for so long I heard on Instagram you got to post 2 to 3 reels per day. And the more reels you post, the more traffic you’re going to get. And now it seems the pendulum is switching back to like, hold on. We don’t just want a bunch of stuff out there for the sake of putting stuff out there. We actually want people to take some time and put some thought into it. So I think that for us as entrepreneurs in renovations or not in renovation, I’m not in the renovation space, but just being able to to have that permission slip to say, I’m going to put some time towards this, I’m going to devote that time towards the quality content. And that might mean 2 to 3 reels per week instead of per day. And I’m okay with that. And actually I’ve seen accounts and heard that accounts doing that. Like it sounds like you’re doing, they get more growth because now they’re able to really form that connection with their audience. They’re able their audience knows them for quality like you. And they they understand that that’s why they’re going to go and and pay attention to them.
TESSA: Yeah. And you get what you put out to. It’s really important for me not to put out reels because it’s like influencer culture and it looks how it’s supposed to look. I want a really authentic community in my space. So people who do follow me, it’s not because I, you know, they’re not they’re not tricked into following me in any way. I try to keep the space really authentic. If they truly like what they see, they’ll get the real me by looking at any anything I post. So that’s definitely important.
KIMBERLY: Yeah, that’s so refreshing too. And I think a lot of people really appreciate that. So thank you. And we’ll link to your Instagram and your website in the show notes of course. And we’ll get there in just a little bit. But definitely go and give Tessa a follow because you’re going to want to go check out her stuff. Before we wrap up, though, I want to ask you a couple other questions. So if you were to go back to 2021, Tessa and say this is what you should be doing, what are a couple of those things that you would share with with your early day business self? What would you say like you wish you knew when you first began?
TESSA: Oh man, I guess not to get discouraged by how much trial and error learning there is. There is so many things that I didn’t do correctly and had to fix on the first time around. You’re always going to be learning, even if you’re not doing this as a business, just in your own RV. You have to be adaptable, especially in such small spaces, things are going to be one way in your head, and they might not be in real life. And that’s okay. It’s it’s a fun process, but be ready to learn. Be ready to research. And yeah, just just have more fun with it. Be a little bit more, more laid back. I think I was very tense on that first one, and I have since learned how to just enjoy the process more.
KIMBERLY: Yeah, I think that’s a really good a really good takeaway, just being able to enjoy the process and have some fun with it, and it might not happen as quickly as you thought it was going to happen, but it always will happen and you’re going to learn so much along the way. Like you said, I think that’s excellent. I also wanted to ask you about sourcing your goods. So I feel like a lot of people not only in renovations, but just in the product based business or in really in any business, especially from the road. Sourcing from the right places is really important. Can you talk to me about like how you source your products and how you find the things that you’re going to be putting into the RVs? Are there stories behind them? I imagine that especially if you’re doing a custom job for someone, they have kind of their own guidelines. So walk me through that process a little bit.
TESSA: Yeah. So my sources are not just limited to like 1 or 2 places. I definitely am in a constant shopping mode looking out for things that that would be good for my renovations. Of course, RVs are so different. You have weight to take into consideration, which is at the forefront of all my designs. You have size, you have to fit it through the door, that kind of thing. So yeah, I mean, I look at things in person. I do a lot of shopping online. I love looking at Pottery Barn and Anthropologie and stuff for little pieces here and there. Wayfair has some really good sofa beds that I use quite often. One cool thing about Wayfair is under specifications. They have a minimum door width, which is so helpful when you’re trying to fit in big furniture through those doors. But yeah, no. I look around constantly. I have so many different sources. A lot of times I’ll save things for a renovation I know I want to use in the future, and I’ll hold on to it for months until I have the right space for it. So it’s it’s just a process. But I would definitely say keep your eyes open in different places, because I have a bunch of different sources that I buy from.
KIMBERLY: I like that it’s nice to have that freedom to really personalize it and be able to make it your own. And I think that’s good for all RV entrepreneurs to have that permission slip, to really make their RV their own, make their business their own, and make it work for them, just like you’ve done, not only with what you’re putting inside the RVs, but also with how you’re showing up and how you’re getting found. It’s it feels so much lighter and so much easier. And that’s why I’m so glad that we were able to have this conversation, because as a big takeaway is you don’t have to be in all the places all the time. Just focus on the quality and then that attention will come. Okay, so I know by now everyone wants to know where to find you. So can you share with us where you’re hanging out obviously on Instagram and your website. So where what’s your handle? What’s your URL?
TESSA: Yeah. So my website is alchemy RV renovations.com. And then my Instagram is the same name, alchemy RV renovations. And I have the same name on Facebook, so it’s pretty easy to find me as long as you know my name. And yeah, I definitely recommend checking out my website and Instagram if you have it.
KIMBERLY: Perfect. All right. And I will link to all of those in the show notes as well. Thank you so much for coming on.
TESSA: Thank you so much.
KIMBERLY: I absolutely loved hearing how Tessa has taken an idea for a business and really transformed it into something super, super fun. She has such a great story about how she got started with her very first RV, sold it in 24 hours, and then just continued to renovate RVs because she found her passion project that she absolutely loved. I also really appreciated her sharing how she has been able to show up so authentically and get found and featured in publications. I think this is a really good permission slip for us as RV entrepreneurs to not put too much stress on ourselves just to be us. Focus on the quality over the quantity, and not have to always feel like we’re pushing, but only be pushing the stuff that we feel is really good and deserves to have a spot online. I love this permission slip because for us, we’ve been told for way too long that you have to be consistent and you have to always be putting out content. And Tessa really showed us that that’s not necessarily the case. You have to be putting out good content. Yes, you have to be showing up and being visible. But when you do it in a way that feels really organic and authentic, you can get found by some really big names and get sales.
KIMBERLY: She has sold a bunch from Instagram, despite this being a platform, and so many people are saying is dying or is dead, it’s not dead. And she’s really shown us that if this is a platform that you love, you absolutely can still grow your business on there. I also loved our conversation about the customer journey. Such a big takeaway there that you don’t have to just only offer one thing. In fact, it’s to your detriment to only offer one thing. So often when we talk about simplification, a lot of people really start to think about reducing things down to less and fewer offers. That’s not necessarily the case. And so in Tessa’s example, yes, she buys and renovates RVs and then resells them. She also does custom designs, but she has found a way to include several other designs and revenue streams in that process to extend the runway and to capture people’s attention no matter where they are on their journey. So whether they’re wanting new curtains for their RV, they want a design consultation, or they just want her to do the thing for them. She has designed her business to be able to meet them in all those different spots, doing what she’s already basically doing.
KIMBERLY: It’s a really great way to simplify, yet still expand without overwhelming yourself and overburdening yourself. And finally, I loved how she talked about if she could start all over. She’d remind herself that there’s lessons to be learned along the way. We should be having fun. We should be making this something that’s enjoyable. That’s why we choose this lifestyle. And Tess is a really great example of what can happen when you just have some fun with it. Let the lessons come as they will, and know that it’s all par for the course. As being an RV Life entrepreneur, we would absolutely love to hear what you thought about this episode and continue the conversation over in the RV Life Entrepreneur Facebook group, so check the show notes for that. Come and say hello to us. Let’s network. Let’s get to know each other a little bit better and let’s learn from one another. Because like we heard on today’s episode, there’s always lessons to be learned. Thank you so much for being here. We absolutely love our listeners and so appreciate you and we will see you on the next episode.
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The RV Entrepreneur is presented by RV Life – Tools that Make Camping Simple
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