By: Priscilla Muiuane
Graduate Student and Thryft Ship Social Media Marketing & Analytics Intern
With the month of March being Women’s History Month, we could not pass up on this opportunity to tell you about Valeria Brenner, the woman behind the brand and company Thryft Ship, Valeria Brenner. Valeria is the founder and CEO of Thryft Ship, and we had the pleasure of interviewing her so that you, the reader, can get to know her more. Continue to read more.
Hi Valeria, please tell us a bit about yourself.
Hi! Yes! I am excited about this interview. I aim to inspire future small-business owners at the Terry College senior of Business at the University of Georgia (UGA), majoring in international business and marketing. I’m originally from Germany but grew up in Johns Creek, Georgia.
When was your company Thryft Ship Created?
I started Thryft Ship during my sophomore year of college! First, I went through UGA’s idea accelerator program. Then, after four grueling weeks of non-stop interviewing potential customers, I realized that shipping was a universally shared pain point for all Instagram businesses.”
Please tell us about your interest in thrifting and how you became interested in working with other thrifters.
“Yeah, sure! I run an Instagram account called Kickin’ Thrifts (@kickin_thrifts), selling thrifted clothing items, and I love doing it. So, in 2020, I started interviewing other thrifting accounts for the idea accelerator. It was then that I learned about the pain points that several small-business thrifters face…the main problem being shipping! At the time, I was also facing problems related to shipping because copying and pasting my customers’ addresses into the shipping website took so much time, and it was boring! Therefore, I decided to try and solve the problem myself, and that is how Thryft Ship was created.”
Why did you decide to focus on Thryfters on Instagram?
“Instagram has become a steady source of income for several businesses, and they use social media to sell everything from vintage clothing, home goods, makeup, etc. So there was a huge business opportunity there, and I knew my target audience was on that platform. But Thryft Ship doesn’t only serve the thrifting community; we’re dedicated to helping any and all businesses on Instagram.”
Please elaborate more on the problem that small businesses selling via Instagram are facing.
“Every account with 5,000 or more Instagram followers complained about the hours they spent packaging and shipping their items. Small businesses spend a lot of time mining their messages for shipping information and manually addressing and labeling packages. That process itself can take hours, and some small businesses do this as a side gig or part-time job on top of their other commitments like work or school.”
That’s so amazing that you could go out and do market research, identify one big problem, and follow through with a solution. So, in a sentence, how would you describe Thryft Ship?
“Thryft Ship allows for hassle-free shipping for small businesses.”
Now can you tell us how Thryft Ship works?
“I sure can! But we also have several videos demonstrating how our service works (check out the pinned posts on Instagram and our Youtube channel @Thryftship). First, small business owners should go to www.thryftship.com and create an account. Thryft Ship allows small businesses with an Instagram presence to receive a shipping link for their customers. Next, customers click the shipping link and fill out the form, saving businesses time and avoiding errors on shipping labels.
When the customer completes the form, the shipping information is transferred to the small business’ Thryft Ship account. And all the small business owner needs to do next is fill out a few options and details related to the package (for example, the package type, dimensions, and weight). These are optional, but these details help you get the most accurate shipping price. Next up, select the shipping price that suits your needs, and then download and print your shipping label after purchasing. We also make the process easier for small businesses because we automatically email the customer their shipping information.”
“Basically, we simplify the fragmented 5-6 step process of selling on Instagram to a single checkout link.”
Wow! That is an elaborate process, and we can see why your business was much needed! I am also a student at the Terry College of Business. I have seen your name everywhere, winning all these competitions in the entrepreneurship program at the University of Georgia and nationally! Can you name a few of the competitions you won?
“Haha, the entrepreneurship program at UGA has certainly pushed me to become a better businesswoman. I participated in the UGA Idea Accelerator in 2020, in 2022 the “Servin’ the South” Business Model Competition hosted by the University of Mississippi Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the 2022 EO GSEA Competition, UGA’s Next Top Entrepreneur, and a few others.”
Wow, that is amazing how you have really put yourself out there at UGA and beyond. We are excited about the work you are doing and will continue to do. Any exciting future plans?
“Yes! I actually just got accepted into the Master of Marketing Research (MMR) program at UGA, so I am excited about starting graduate school. I was also recently accepted into the 23rd annual Rice Business Plan Competition hosted by Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship coming up in May in Houston, Texas! About 37 universities from six countries will be represented, so I am pretty excited about that! And, of course, continuing to grow and improve Thryft Ship will always be my top priority.”
Well, thank you so much, Valeria, for taking the time to talk to us about your journey! We wish you the very best, and know that several other small businesses can continue to benefit from this service!
If you would like to read more about Thryft Ship and what they have been up to until now, you can check the links below!
