Building an email list for launch

A 20-year career in high-level finance ended in a single day when Donna Gilbertson was made redundant with one day's notice. No plan B, two kids at home, and a household now running on one income — she could have played it safe and taken the next accounting role that came along. She went to the interviews. Every single time, she didn't want to be there. So instead, she pulled $7,000 from her home loan offset account and bet it on a hair towel. Two months after launching Junie, she'd done $51,000 in sales.

In this episode, Donna walks us through the full journey — from product validation surveys and months of failed fabric samples, to a viral moment she almost missed because she was watching MasterChef on the couch. She gets honest about the slow weeks, the seven days without a single sale, and what it actually took to be ready when the opportunity came.

What you'll learn in this interview:

• How a $7,000 first order placed in October and shipped by sea set the foundation for a February launch that was deliberately timed to avoid Black Friday, Christmas, and the January spending slump
• Why Donna surveyed just 25 people before committing to the product — and how that small step gave her enough confirmation to keep going
• The exact sourcing process that led her through dozens of fabric rejections before finding the one supplier who could produce what she needed
• How she built six months of Instagram content before ever announcing the product, and why posting vague "hair content" was a deliberate strategy
• The 15-minute school pickup filming hack that got her consistent with face-to-camera content when nothing else was working
• Why having 50+ reviews live on her store before the viral moment mattered as much as the viral moment itself
• The comment on a stranger's Instagram reel — written while watching MasterChef — that turned into 347 orders and a complete sellout in under 24 hours
• How she validated opening preorders by going back to her audience and asking them directly, before touching a single Shopify setting
• Lessons from going from $0 in orders one week to 600 orders the next — and how her accounting brain helped her scale inventory decisions with confidence
• The mindset shift that changed everything: the moment she stopped treating Junie as something she was "dabbling in" and decided it was her job

If you're sitting on a business idea while still applying for jobs — or you've launched but you're deep in the slow, invisible stretch between start and traction — this episode is for you. Donna's story is a reminder that the boring, unglamorous work of validation, reviews, and showing up consistently before anything goes viral is exactly what makes it possible to handle it when it does.

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WANT TO GROW YOUR BRAND WITH META ADS? Join the Foundr Operators Waitlist → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/operators⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+ Start your $1 trial → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING? → Starting from scratch? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ → Already have a store? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ CONNECT WITH DONNA GILBERTSON Instagram → ⁠https://www.instagram.com/donna_gilbertson_/

Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/hey___junie/ Website → https://heyjunie.com.au/

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