Sparkle Hustle Grow | July 2018 Unboxing
Sparkle Hustle Grow is a subscription box marketed towards female entrepreneurs. In spite of the egregious amounts of pink, I believe that all of the content in this box would be useful for entrepreneurs of any gender. While I would classify some items on the “cute” side, if you seriously don’t want a pink tape dispenser, you can give it away and still have gotten your money’s worth. It is worth noting that even though I don’t consider myself an entrepreneur, developing this blog has required the mindset and skillsets of an entrepreneur in the way that it needs to be mindfully curated, cleverly branded, and strategically marketed.
The July 2018 Box
The theme of this month’s box was “social impact” featuring charitable brands like:
- Yoobi – Donates essential school supplies to classrooms in need across the USA.
- Marie Mae – Provides hours of business schooling for artisans globally.
- Pourtables – Focuses on supplying clean drinking water.
Right in line with the theme, the box not only had a little snack by KIND (a chocolate banana bar that was reminiscent of a slice of rich, gooey banana bread, $1.69), they gave you a business card with a code for you to gift a snack to someone as a nice gesture. Very clever and reinforces that even the smallest of gestures can have a decent impact on the receiver. Additionally in the consumables department, the box contained a single cup coffee brew for people on-the-go using compostable material ($2).
The box also included an artistic print and sticky notes with a checkbox list design ($20), perfect for little action items or ideas to implement on your next project. I was delighted to see a notebook, gel pens, and a tape dispenser in the box as well ($15.47). They are very professionally crafted and will look chic on my desk.
The bulk of the value for this service comes in the form of a book, which for July was Good Is the New Cool: Market Like You Give a Damn by Afdhel Aziz and Bobby Jones ($16), and an online training by Afdhel Aziz on how to balance profitability with being a good influence on the community ($297). It also comes with a live webinar on a specified date and time which is recorded for anyone that can’t make that timing work.
The Community
Joining the Sparkle Hustle Grow private community on Facebook was incredibly inspirational. I noticed that this supportive community of female entrepreneurs were hustling day-in and day-out to provide a better life for their family. While I’m basically just building a better life for my cats at this point, there is something about their unbridled passion that made me unreasonably excited and inspired to join that community. There is something about a community of only female entrepreneurs that made it a really positive experience. Admittedly, I almost never go on Facebook (think 2x/week, mayyyybe) and I found myself checking the group to see what the latest posts were multiple times a day… and I don’t have any push notifications on for FB!
The admins are very adamant about “no spoilers” for all members because they believe, and rightly so, that unpacking these mysterious boxes are half of the fun. If you are impatient, you can pay an extra $10 per month to become a VIP member to have your boxes ship a few days early (along with some other perks). I did not sign up for a VIP membership and I doubt that I ever will because I am desperately trying to work on my patience and I don’t know that it is worth it to me. It is a nice option to have as most subscription boxes that I have compared have similar expedited shipping options.
Without having done the online course, it’s difficult to gauge if the box is truly worth the money. After reading quite a few of the reviews of the June box, it seems like people were able to glean practical value from the training. In the private FB group, they were asked to put some of their newfound skills to the test within the FB community. It was incredible to see video after video of people testing their vlogging skills with comment after comment supporting their efforts. That being said, for ~$15 less per month than the full box, you can get the mini-mailer which includes the book, online training, and access to the private community. You also pay $3 less per month in shipping with the mini-mailer than for the full size box too. I have the full box for the next couple months, if the extra “trinkets” prove to be not-so-notable, I may opt to take a step back to the mini-mailer – it just seems like the most cost-effective and impactful option to easy access to training and enrichment.
I can’t wait to see what August brings!
Update 8/24/2018:
After a month of quality time with my SHG box, I want to level with everyone about what I used and what I didn’t after all that time. I will start by saying that the KIND bar did not see the light of a 2nd day. It was such a scrumptious snack that I have looked for it at my local store and have not found that particular bar yet. Once they are, I will definitely consider a repurchase. The Pourtables portable coffee with a filter came in handy one morning when I found myself away from my normal office (and the trusty communal Keurig). I had not had an opportunity to make coffee that morning and I whipped out the Pourtables packet, my mug and some hot water… viola! A piping hot, fresh cup of inspiration! This is not something that I would normally purchase, however, I would consider repurchasing if I knew I’d be travelling a lot or had a bout of busy mornings that would keep me from my normal coffee rituals.
I have already designated the Yoobi notebook as my next journaling book once I finish my existing one. My Yoobi pens, tape dispenser, and Marie Mae post-its are sitting idly on my desk along with other items that have been neglected for the summer. During the months of warm weather, I find myself at my desk less and outside more. Plus, my daily needs for tape do not usually fall in the “scotch-tape-strength” realm, my needs seem to be a “duct-tape-or-bust” situation. Except during the holidays, then I will use that tape dispenser with a ferocity rivaled only by the most prolific of gift-givers between December 1st and December 25th (full honesty here).
In my original review (above), I talked about the bulk of the value of the box being in the book selection and online training. As I sit here staring at the bookmark in my Good Is the New Cool: Market Like You Give a Damn by Afdhel Aziz and Bobby Jones book, nestled snugly between pages 82 and 83, I find myself underwhelmed. For a book nearing 300 pages of length, it wasn’t very impressive of a deep dive for me, but this month didn’t really capture my excitement. I am so early in the beginning stages of my blog that I don’t have anything to market aside from my words on a webpage, let alone take on additional publicity of working with a charity. I do think that as my blog grows, I will be able to hone in on an appropriate outreach opportunity that meets both the reader needs and fits with my goals.
The online training consisted of a Facebook Live presentation by Afdhel himself. He gave what I consider more of an overview of the book rather than a stand-alone training and opened it up for questions… unfortunately, there weren’t too many people that were able to join live making the number of questions low and the discussion from start-to-finish clocked in around 45 minutes. If I had paid $297 for that, I’d be outraged. I did not pay $297 for the full box, I am not outraged.
The Facebook group is still an exciting part of this subscription service – with different prompts throughout the month related to the theme and opportunities for everyone to promote the good that they are doing with their respective businesses. The “social impact” theme didn’t 100% speak to me which is reflected, in part, by my neglect in reading the book. I still commend the founder, Julie Ball, for managing to take an atypical theme and make it work enough to still be of moderate value for someone like me. The theme for August 2018 is productivity and I am super excited for my box, which I opened a few days ago… reveal coming soon!
Sparkle Hustle Grow is a subscription box geared towards female entrepreneurs. I bought this subscription on my own and the review that I have written below contains my personal opinions about this service and this particular box. If you are interested in joining the Sparkle Hustle Grow community and subscription service, I do have a handy referral link available for you!