Today we’d like to introduce you to Angela Sandler.
Hi Angela, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my career in consumer goods, working for May Merchandising Company, which was eventually merged into the Macy’s Department Store enterprise. I honed a love of product development at May Merchandising and had the opportunity to travel worldwide on product development trips, working in Asia and Europe. I loved working with different cultures and seeing ideas come to life. I eventually left there and went to work for TRG Group/Victorinox Swiss Army in the Travel Gear division, where I led the product development team, continued traveling, and worked with domestic buyers in department stores and specialty stores globally, much of the time on marketing our products as much as developing them. After having my daughter in 2007, I struggled with the travel of the position and eventually decided to stop working to spend more time with my family. After a few years of Mom Life, I sought the energy and excitement to return to the workforce. I returned part-time to work for a licensor and help with sales management and marketing. I eventually decided that working for someone else during these precious years with younger children was hard, and then I stopped to resume Mom Life again. Once again, becoming tired of the routine, one day, on a trip with some friends, my business partner and I came up with an idea that was a merge between ClassPass and children’s activities and then started Kidzxplor, an online platform for children’s activities that we began in St. Louis, eventually taking it to Houston. After developing the web platform and app, we learned over time that marketing to Mom via experiential events, merging with local businesses that sought this demographic, was a passion, and we pivoted the company to Xplor, an integrated marketing firm focusing on lifestyle brands, experiential events, influencer marketing, and public relations. In 2021, we purchased The Scout Guide Saint Louis, a publication dedicated to empowering the local business community via advertising, social media, and events.
Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Ha! Hardly! Small business is not for the faint-hearted. We have had many struggles along the way, including partner consolidation, financial health, cash flow, pivoting companies- twice, buying an existing business, and working on the transition between owners. Worth it? Yes! But painful along the way. Every day is a new challenge, but there is a greater purpose for us, and we have become better at looking at losses as learning opportunities and blessings that show that something greater is coming.
As you know, we’re big fans of Xplor & The Scout Guide Saint Louis. What can you tell our readers who might need to be more familiar with the brand?
Xplor: We integrated marketing company-focused lifestyle space focused on public relations, experiential events, marketing strategy, influencer marketing, and social media marketing. We focus on “modern marketing,” utilizing the newer marketing levers to help our clients push the needle and become more relevant. We work with local companies looking to take a foothold in our community and existing businesses and franchises new to St. Louis looking to get boots on the ground and integrate quickly into the community. We believe in collaboration over competition and look to help our clients become welcomed into St. Louis and make connections for them to help them thrive. The Scout Guide Saint Louis is part of The Scout Guide network, a national franchise operating in 75+ cities throughout the United States. The Scout Guide markets local businesses through beautiful photography in our premium print guide, produced annually. We round out the marketing experience via social media, editorial, and networking events that allow our clients/members to market themselves within the guide and digitally to a targeted premium demographic.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
I was playing in the neighborhood with my friends and neighbors. Sledding, playing ghosts in the graveyard, swimming, and running free all day and into the night.
Pricing:
- Xplor – all pricing is a la carte and custom to each client
- The Scout Guide- rates start at $2500 and go to $10,000
Contact Info:
- Website: www.xplorcity.com & https://thescoutguide.com/saint-louis/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tsgsaintlouis/ & https://www.instagram.com/xplor_modernbrandamplification/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tsgsaintlouis & https://www.facebook.com/xplorinspiringexperiences
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-scout-guide-saint-louis/?viewAsMember=true & https://www.linkedin.com/company/xplorcity/?viewAsMember=true
Image Credits
Joan Fisher
