TRAE BODGE: EPISODE LINK

THREADNEEDLE ALLEY FOUNDATION: WEBSITE LINK

TRANSCRIPT:

Colleen: Welcome back to Hot Flashes and Cool Topics. We have on a former guest and friend,

Trey Bodge. Welcome to the show.

Trae: Thank you so much. I’m so glad to be back.

Colleen: Well,

we’re thrilled to have you back, especially at this time of year. You know, we

follow you. We see you on all the shows, talking about the deals and what we can

get. But I think this year especially is a challenge because of the prices going

up, whether it’s tariffs or whatever, like not even to get into political. But how

has it been this beginning of the season?

Trae: Yeah.

So to your point, it is a roller coaster ride all year long. Consumers have not

known what to make of what’s going on politically and, of course, financially. So

there’s a lot of uncertainty out there. But what I am seeing is that consumers want

to give gifts this holiday. And so even though we are on tight budgets and we’ll

be approaching our shopping very carefully, we do want to spend. And there’s

something very interesting that I’m seeing as well. Some interesting data from an

Intuit QuickBooks holiday shopping report that people are going to be spending quite

a bit this year, over $260 billion, which is a 25 % increase over last year.

And more than 40 % of those dollars are going to go towards small businesses.

And so I am very excited to see this. It’s not only about the big guys. And so

we’re going to see spending, spending that’s going to be very careful. And a lot of

that spending is going to support entrepreneurs in this country, which is fantastic

to see.

Bridgett: That is great to see because, you know, there’s different programs with

large stores. Sometimes there are loyalty programs and how are things like that?

Are larger businesses going to participate? Are there

other things going on there.

Trae: Yeah, so I am seeing larger businesses and smaller

businesses really leaning into those loyalty programs and other benefits for their

consumers. You know, as we move forward with technology, there’s so much automation

that happens. And with that comes kind of an

impersonal feeling to everything that we do. And so it’s really important for

businesses large and small to lean back into their consumers. And part of that is

by offering special benefits to belonging to a loyalty program, signing up for

something free like that, because you do get exclusive discounts, maybe informative

newsletters, things like that. That’s a way to keep that consumer with you and

supporting you instead of kind of having a bot for customer service, for example.

Colleen: That is so annoying when you’re on a computer and they’re like,

would you have a question and you know that they’re not a person, they’re not going

to be responding correctly. You know, we are just a couple weeks away from Black

Friday. And back, you know, years ago, Black Friday was everything. Everybody would

have all their lists. But now it seems like Black Friday is starting sometime in

like October. And is it really making that much of a difference to shop on Black

Friday? Are you getting the deals at any point in the holiday season?

Trae: So I love

this question. I get a lot. And yeah, the holiday shopping season is longer. You

know, retailers have been trying to figure out a way to push it into October. There

were attempts to move it into September and that didn’t work so well. It’s just too

early. But yeah, around early to mid -October, we see those big sales from the major

retailers like Amazon and their prime big deal days in Walmart and Best Buy. So the

holiday season is elongated. And I’m actually not mad about that. I think it’s

better as a consumer to have more time to give to thinking about gifts,

you know, having different opportunities to save on things. And also spreading our

shopping across multiple pay periods can be very helpful if you’re on a tight

budget. But to answer your question about Black Friday, Black Friday still matters.

It’s very important to retail. And so people should expect to see deep discounts

over Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and sort of the surrounding days. Something that I

would be mindful of is that if you’re looking at maybe a hot toy,

something that’s popping up on all the popular toy lists. You may want to get that

earlier rather than later because I am hearing whispers of potential supply chain

issues because many retailers pulled back on their holiday orders because of all the

tariff drama. Also, that MSRP, that suggested retail price might be slightly elevated

as consumers are bearing more of the brunt of for related price hikes. And then

what we might also see are slightly less deep discounts. And so maybe your favorite

retailer usually offers 40%, you may see more like 35 % or 30. As a consumer,

it’s going to be very hard to see that unless you shop with that store every

single year. But that’s what you can kind of expect that’s going on in the

background.

Bridgett: Well, what about online shopping. Is there one that you might get a

better deal? Would it be better to go to the store? Would it be better to look

online? Is there a difference there?

Trae:  So, okay. So really,

it should be level across the board. So you have what they call an omni channel

experience where you’re in the store or you’re online and the price is the same.

You might find that that’s not the case. If you’re shopping in store and you have

your phone with you, check the retailer’s price online. Many retailers will honor that

lower online price if there is a difference. But what you might also find is that

retailers, some retailers used to honor a lower price from a competitor online.

That’s not happening really anymore. That’s going away. And so you’ll see that

honoring happening within the same ecosystem of that same retailer. So that’s kind of

part one of the

research a little bit more thoroughly. But the prices should be comparable. You know,

that’s the hope.

Bridgett:  So no more price matching. Just like you said, they’re not doing

that.

Trae:  Along with what you’re saying, Bridgett, there are some websites that will show

you the best prices.

Colleen: Is there a certain website that you use that will show the

comparable prices and who has the best one?

Trae: Yeah. So that’s a great question,

Colleen. You know, and we’re looking online, we do have tools that we can use to

help us kind of guide where we should be shopping. Yahoo shopping or Google

shopping, if you go to that platform, you can enter the name of the item you’re

looking for and get a sense of where it’s sold and for how much. Sometimes they’ll

tell you, you know, this is going to be on sale soon or this is a high price

versus a low price. That’s very helpful. PayPal Honey also has a browser extension

that if you install it and you’re shopping around, it’ll let you know if it’s a

high price or a low price. I find that to be very helpful as well.

There are a couple new tools. There’s one called Price.com, and this will be using

AI to help us get a sense of the landscape and pricing. I think really this is

all kind of being driven into the AI realm. And AI is,

you know, it’s growing and learning every single day. And, you know, you may use AI

for your podcast or for your work and things like that. But you can also use AI

for shopping. And Price.com is one of the earlier examples of that. So that’s

something that I would look at too. And it’ll, a lot of AI platforms will

give gift recommendations. If you’re not sure what to buy someone, You can say, you

know, hey, I have a friend who loves cooking, but I don’t want cookbooks, but she

loves cooking tools. Like, what would you recommend? That’s under $50. And you can

get recommendations. Amazon’s Rufus is really good for that. So use AI when you’re

holiday shopping, too, because it can help you a lot.

Bridgett: Are there any worries when you use extensions? Are

people concerned about getting scammed or is this a real thing?

Are there any things to watch out for there?

Trae:  Yeah. So, you know, I think that some

people are suspicious of browser extensions. I’ll tell you I have,

I don’t know, six going on my computer at all times and I have been for more than

a decade and I’ve never been scammed. So I’m definitely in the trenches

with it and I don’t see a problem. They do track your, you know,

your shopping habits like any other online tool. And so if privacy is a big

concern, you may want to install a software like McAfee, which can be really helpful

for a couple of reasons. It can help prevent issues like that. It can also,

there’s also a spam checker. You can enter a URL into McAfee, and it’ll let you

know if it’s a safe URL to use. So if you are concerned and it’s perfectly natural

to be so, a software like McAfee can be very helpful. So that’s maybe something

that I would consider a couple things to avoid. I don’t love the idea of shopping

directly from social media because you can’t see the URL that you’re clicking on,

you’re just clicking and then you’re going somewhere. I don’t love that. And so what

I would do is, you know, if you see something that intrigues you on social media,

I would go directly to that brand site separately from the link and search for that

item that you’re interested in. That would be a safer approach for me. I am hearing

much more about scams going on through social media because it’s all quite hidden.

And so that’s one thing that I would avoid. And then also as you’re navigating

online and you’re seeing sort of pop up ads or ads in your Google page, I’d be

careful with those. You know, again, enter the name of the site and then go

directly to it versus following any links. And same goes for any emails or texts

that seem to be too good to be true with deals. You know, again, don’t follow

those links directly.

Colleen: That’s such good advice. If it sounds too good to be true.

It usually is. That is great advice. You know, we do every year, and we’re on our

seventh one, holiday gift guides for midlife women. And every year it’s so much fun.

And we notice that, you know, there are obviously huge brands that do their gift

guides and they’re becoming more and more expensive. Like, you know, I can’t buy a

suit for, you know, a sweatsuit for $700. And the average person, I mean,

maybe I could, but I wouldn’t, you know what I mean? And so where can people

start shopping, besides our gift guide, where they can actually get some really cool

items that are unique, good quality, but don’t cost a fortune?

Trae:  I love this question.

And I, so I produce my own gift guides throughout the holidays. And so I test and

try and wear everything that I’m writing about. And so my answer would be twofold.

You know, follow your favorite content creators because they’re actually doing the

work and they’re real people. Those larger gift guides sometimes, they’re often quite

affiliate driven. And so maybe they’re getting an amazing commission from the sale of

that. And, you know, everyone needs to earn money and I get that. But are you

showing me the very softest sweater, you know, if you’re getting a 50 % commission

on it? I don’t know. So I think, you know, follow your favorite content creators. I

think that’s a great way to go. And you know that you’re getting something that’s,

you know, that’s been really enjoyed by a real human, that’s the that I would take.

And, you know, again, AI can be helpful when you’re searching for something under a

certain price point. But, you know, is that product fabulous or not? Then you have

to kind of dig into the reviews. And I love to read reviews and especially those

that are verified. You know, Amazon has verified reviews, Walmart, many other sites

as well, that it’s a certified customer or not a bot that someone has paid for. So

that’s another kind of way to go as well.

Bridgett: Yeah. How do you find out if it’s

verified? Does it say on there? Always forget how to do that.

Trae: It says verified

customer. So you know that that person actually bought the product. There is a way

to game that system. You know, I’ve received invitations to like, oh, if you

buy this and then you review it and then we’ll reimburse you. I’m like, what? Oh,

my God. So there’s a way to game that too. So it’s always good to kind of have

your sleuth hat on and look for those things that, that you know and trust your

content creators. You know you can know. I mean, but then there’s also they’re

getting affiliate too. And so I don’t know. It’s tricky. I mean, I’m sure you guys

try and test and write your guides very carefully. I know I do. So it’s really

just you got to pick and choose carefully.

Colleen: Yeah, we try to do that like Bridgett’s

favorites and then Colleen’s favorites. Favorites.

Bridgett: Yes. Yeah. And you know, I always

trust too. If I’m online, I love the ones that come on and they say, this is what

I wouldn’t buy. Like they will say, I’ve tried this. This is what I wouldn’t buy.

This is what I do like.  There are content creators that do that. And then

it kind of just gives me a little more trust to them as well.

Trae: That’s true. You

know, I feel bad. Like, I like to write about small businesses a lot. And I will

just not write about something that I don’t like because I feel bad. But you’re

right. You know, if someone’s saying, yeah, I tried this chocolate and it tasted

terrible, you know that they actually tried it and you know to trust their pain. I

just I have the

I just feel sad. I don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings. I will tell them on the

back end. Like, yeah, I didn’t love that, but I’m not going to write about it.

Bridgett: Yeah. Well, that is true. And I mean, who knows? Everybody’s taste is different.

Trae: That is true.

But that’s a really good point, that everyone’s taste is different in things.

Colleen:  So

let’s get talking about the 2025 holiday season and what is hot and what is

for our demographic is midlife women. What are you finding the trends are for

holiday gift giving for women, maybe, you know, over 40?

Trae: Sure. So a trend that I’m

seeing that’s been continuing for a couple of years is personalization. There are so

many different cool, personalized gifts that you can choose for someone. And so

they know that you gave some thought to it. It’s just for them. So I think that’s

a great, a great way to go. Experiences are also very popular. You know,

spend time with the people you love. You know, I’ve been having these conversations

lately about how we all feel so connected because we see each other on social

media, but like maybe you haven’t seen that friend in three years, you know what I

mean? Like, so connect with someone, take them out for ice skating or a fabulous

tea that you read about that’s really fun. You know, something like that is really

great to do. And you could look at, say, Groupon or a similar site to look for

discounts on those things. And then food. You kind of can’t go wrong with like a

fabulous food gift or wine or chocolates, things like that. We all need that and

we’ll all enjoy that versus maybe that thing that you’re not sure if someone’s going

to use. So those are my picks for the holiday. And then maybe like my last one

will be something that’s secondhand hand. Now, this sounds strange. The secondhand

gifting was very popular last year. I would expect it to be this year. And what I

mean by that is like go into a goodwill and go to the home decor section. You

might find something really unusual and cool for that friend who has a chic home

and has stylish things on the on the mantle. Like maybe you could find something

that they’ve never seen before. You could clean it up and package it up

just for them. Something like that is really special and it’s not something that

everyone else has. So I like a secondhand gift because it’s also very budget

friendly.

Bridgett: Are there any places secondhand either online? I know you said Goodwill.

Any other places that are common to shop at for that? I know also a lot of, you

know, personal business owners, you know, have secondhand places. Are there any online

that you would recommend?

Trae: Yeah. So.

Equipment. So say you have someone on your list who wants a camera rather than

buying a brand-new camera, get them a gently use one that’s up to 40 % off like

that’s a great way to go and then there are lots of other platforms like that

there’s also facebook marketplace platforms like that I think are really good to

look at for used unique special things that are deeply, deeply discounted.

Colleen:  I think

Bridgett’s talking about Everything But the House!

 Bridgett:  because I am really bad

about Everything But the House. There’s a website.

Trae: How do  I not know

about this?

Bridgett:  it is  almost like an Estate Sale online.

So it’s out of Cincinnati and they do ship. Now shipping could be expensive, but

you can get some really, really good discounts on things there.  And you bid on it. You bid on it so it’s like four days.

Colleen:  she’s been addicted to it for years

Trae: you like it better than eBay for that?

Bridgett: I do um I do, yeah it’s smaller and it just seems a little bit more you don’t

run into I’ve never run into a scam there. I’ve actually sold things on there as

well.

Trae:  so yeah you taught me something new. I’m so excited. Thank you.

Bridgett: At EBTH,

EBTH.com, Everything But the House.

Colleen: Yeah. And we are not sponsored by them.

Bridgett: We’re not sponsored. Too bad.

Trae: They should hear this and sponsor you.

Bridgett: They should.

Colleen: Maybe we’ll send them this. But also for the men in our lives, it is hard to buy

them gifts. And every year we kind of go, oh, gosh, what do they want? There’s

something. Are there some unique things out there this year that maybe the men in

our lives would really like?

Trae: Yeah, men are tough. I mean, I just today published a

men’s gift guide. And I work really hard on those because they are difficult. There

are a couple of things that I love for men, especially men who are a little bit

more rugged, you know, like Duluth, for example. They make farming clothing, but

they, it’s so cool. like their flannel shirts. My husband is super fussy. I got him

a Duluth flannel shirt and it’s like his go -to now. They also have great things

for women, but that’s like a really good one for men. And then I also like to

think about kind of accessories for the things they already have. So, you know,

everyone has a phone in their hand. And so what about maybe he needs some new

earbuds? Maybe he needs a mobile charger, something like that. Or if he’s active,

he’s hiking and camping. Maybe there’s, there’s, oh, gosh, I can’t remember.

Oh, it’s called ENO. They make outdoor gear and they have an amazing hammock that’s

really easy to hang. So if he likes to camp, that’s a great gift. So I always

think about things like that, like those things that kind of connect to either the

thing he has in his hand, like his phone, or those activities that he’s really

into. You know, if he plays golf or another sport. Like, what could you get him to

help him enjoy that a little bit more? That’s kind of how I like to approach men,

male gifts. And then also food. Like, you can’t go wrong with a fabulous food gift

for a man. You know, men love their food.

Bridgett: Yeah. You know, also, we have a lot of

grandparents. Colleen’s a new grandparent. Two weeks.

Trae: Wow.

Colleen: Yes. Little grandson,

my first one. Yes.

Trae: Oh, I’m jealous.

Bridgett: I am too.

Colleen: I get that a lot,

actually.

Trae:  My daughter is 19. She’s like, Mom, I’m not having kids. And I just have

one child. I’m like, what?

Colleen:  You’re like, but that wasn’t in the deal.

Bridgett: That was not. I’m jealous too. But, you know, a lot of things like the tariffs and

supply chain issues for children, are there any really, really hot items this year

that you think might be tough to get that people need to get now.

Trae: Yeah. So I

can’t list specifics because in an effort to streamline my specialty,

I don’t look at toys anymore. And I used to cover toys a lot. And that’s like a

full -time job. So, but I will say this. I am hearing about supply chain issues

specifically on toys. And so generally my rule of thumb in a normal year is that

it’s best to get toys in December because that’s when the deals are on toys.

However, if your toy that you have on your list is on any of those hot toy lists

like Walmarts, Amazon’s, Best Buy, anybody, you should think about getting it now or

at least keep an eye on it for Black Friday. You may not save as much as you

would in December, but you don’t want to be left out in the cold without that hot

toy for your grandchild. So get your toys early.

Colleen: Do you think this year we

might have delays in shipping items like should people make sure not to wait to the

last minute?

Trae:  Like I know last year was not hearing that actually. I am hearing that

you know, the USPS just raised their prices. So I would expect if you don’t get

free shipping on something, it may be worth waiting on that item. You

can reach that free shipping threshold at that specific retailer and then place your

order. So I’m not hearing about delays, but I am hearing about price increases. And

so if you ever try to ship anything at the post office, you know how expensive it

should be. It will be. So free shipping is the way to go. If you can make that

happen, you should.

Colleen: Yeah. And what about last minute shoppers? You know, I’ve heard before that you can

get some really good deals if you wait till right before. Is that true or is that

not so much?

Trae: In certain categories. So typically, I would say toys are great for

last minute, but not this year. But anything holiday themed, the retailers are

getting a little itchy near, you know, as you get closer to the Hanukkah and

Christmas holidays, those prices are going to go way down because they want to move

that merchandise out. Once those holidays are over, they don’t want that merchandise

still in their shelves. And so they’ll price it to move. You know, winter apparel

is also well priced in December. So those are categories that I think you can kind

of wait on. You know, and we’re still in that kind of race for fast shipping,

which I, you know, I’m waiting for this to be over. We don’t need something

tomorrow, you know, from Amazon. I mean, we’ve come to expect this now,

and I just don’t think it’s necessary. But, you know, that fast shipping is going

to be available. Do you want to wait until the 23rd of Christmas for a Christmas

gift? No, because something unexpected could pop up and we could see shipping delays.

I’m just not hearing whispers of them right now. So, you know, I think, you know,

kind of last-minute shopping is okay, but not to the 11th hour.

Colleen: Yes. Yeah,

absolutely. And, you know, we were talking before we got on air about how busy you

have been. This is your season. And you thought, what a great time to start a

second company. Because, you know, you’re not busy enough over the holidays, but you

have, it’s a special meaning for you. And we really want to bring up the Thread

Needle Alley Foundation. Can you talk about why you started it and what it is?

Trae: Yes. So thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to talk about Thread Needle

Alley Foundation. So Thread Needle Alley Foundation was founded by myself and two

family members to honor my mom, who was an OG entrepreneur. She owned a store for

more than two decades on Thread Needle Alley in Newburyport, Massachusetts when I was

growing up. And so I learned all about entrepreneurship from her. And so what we

wanted to do is create grants and mentorship that will be offering to midlife

entrepreneurs specifically. The grant applications are already open. The deadline is

December 31st of this year. You can go to threadneedlealley.org for more

information. So we were going to be giving away three, $5,000 grants plus ongoing

mentorship with our bench of more than 20 midlife entrepreneur mentors.

And they are CFPs, graphic designers, publicists. They can answer any question that

you might have as an entrepreneur. And I almost feel like the mentorship is more

valuable than the cash grant, just because these are some badass people,

if I can say that. And so you’ll have access to all of those people, plus a

mentor who’s going to be checking in on you every single month to see how you’re

doing what help you need, what advice you can be given. And so that is Thread Needle

Alley Foundation. I, yeah, I don’t know why I started something new this year, given

I’m at the peak of my career, but I just wanted to do something like this that

feels good for my heart. I know my mom is smiling down and just thinking she’s so

tickled that this is all happening in her honor. And I am so excited to mentor our

winners. And so I hope that the midlife entrepreneurs your viewers will apply for

this very exciting grant and mentorship offer.

Bridgett: That is, that is wonderful. And

especially for midlife women, doing this for midlife women, because so many think

that, okay, I’m done. I’m retired. There’s nothing more. But there is more. So gosh,

thank you so much for doing this!

Trae:  oh my gosh it’s my pleasure! I mean, I think

midlife is such a magical time. I’m 57. I am just getting started, but I feel that

 a midlife entrepreneur has decades of experience whether they’ve been at

home caring for their kids or if they’ve been in the workplace, but sometimes you’re

feeling like you want to do something new and fresh. Your kids are off in college

if you have kids, and you want to start your second act and this is a time to do

it but there are challenges for women of this age and the grants

are open to men as well. So we’re welcoming midlife entrepreneurs of all

genders to apply for these grants and we can’t wait to help everybody!

Colleen:  so it’s

over 40 ,they have to be in the United States,  and does the small business have to be

incorporated or are there certain guidelines?

Trae:  so the only requirement is that you must

be registered in your state. You have to have an EIN, which, you know, basically

you shouldn’t be running a business if you don’t have that. You know, we’re trying

to think about like what the parameters should be. And I don’t want to make it too

onerous, right? You know, you could be brand new or you can have been a business

for 10 years. But you need to be in a position where you’re facing some sort of

financial challenge, you know, that that $5 ,000 grant will be meaningful and that

you’re doing something exciting. If you’re doing work within your

community, we love to see that. We are asking for a video. We want to really get

to know you. And it doesn’t have to be anything specific. You could be offering a

product or a service or anything in between. And so we’re very open to seeing who’s

going to be applying for these grants. But we don’t have very strict parameters

beyond that. We just want you to be really excited about what you’re doing. And we

want you to get us

are involved in starting a business and we can’t be good at everything, you know,

so to have that help. I mean, I have a huge whisper network of people I talk to.

I’m like, what are you charging for this and what software are you using for that?

And not everyone has that. And it took me a long time to build it. And so we

want to be that whisper network. We want to be able to help you with those little

questions, those big questions that you encounter as a business person.

Colleen: Well, it’s a

beautiful way to honor your mom as well. And we’ll have the link

for that in the show notes as well. Thank you so much, Trae. Good luck with the

grants and reviewing just adding more stuff for you to do before the end of the

year. But thank you for all your tips and what you’re doing. And hopefully we will

talk to you again soon.

Trae: Thanks so much for having me. It was great to chat with

you guys again.