Episode Details

How Michelle Pham, of Inner Child, built a business from one-woman show out of her apartment to regularly receiving wholesale orders from Anthropologie.

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Shop the Inner Child brand: go.shopmy.us/p-61400251 

use the promo code: NAN15 for 15% off one order (code expires on June 18th.) 

Nan sits down with Michelle Pham, the founder of Inner Child, a New York based home decor brand known for its colorful block print textiles, paper goods and lampshades, all handmade in India. 

Michelle walks Nan through building Inner Child from a small textile line into a company with more than 400 SKUs, sold both direct to consumer and through retailers like Anthropologie. She is refreshingly honest about the unglamorous side of running a small business: the early days when she shipped every order out of her New York apartment, recruiting her retired parents as holiday elves, and determining when it was time to move into a real warehouse. The two discuss their love of color and pattern and how Inner Child stands out in what feels like a ‘beige’ world. 

Michelle opens up about the realities of making things by hand in India, where the weather impacts the production schedule and monsoon season can stall an entire order. She and Nan talk about tariffs, quality control, and the hard call of when to hire. Michelle shares more details on her story, from a childhood in Vancouver with Vietnamese refugee parents, to a tech career at Google and TikTok, and launching her own brand. 

The conversation turns to luxury shopping, where the two bond over the gamified, slightly ridiculous world of Hermès. Michelle recounts hunting down the Savana Dance scarf across auctions in France and Japan, and how Hermes influenced and inspired her to create Inner Child and offer beautiful handmade items at approachable prices. The episode closes with Michelle's three noteworthy tips: the Libby app for free library books, a body scrub at a Korean spa, and bringing a little more greenery into your home.

Stay tuned for more Noteworthy with Nan episodes every Thursday!!

Follow Michelle:

Michelle’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iammichellepham/

Inner Child’s Instagram: instagram.com/innerchildshop

Shop Inner Child: go.shopmy.us/p-61400251

Follow Nan: 

Instagram: instagram.com/nan.philip

TikTok: tiktok.com/@nan_philip

Follow the podcast:

Instagram: instagram.com/noteworthywithnan

TikTok: tiktok.com/@noteworthywithnan

YouTube: youtube.com/@NoteworthyWithNan

Timestamps:

00:00 Meet Michelle, the founder of Inner Child

01:16 Inner Child: handmade, colorful items for the home 

05:59 From Google and TikTok to Textiles

25:20 The Operations of Small Businesses and an Unpredictable Supply Chain 

37:19  Shopping at Hermes: Is the game worth it? 

38:58  How Hermes Inspired Michelle to launch her home decor brand

48:16  Noteworthy Tips: The Libby App, Korean Body Scrub & House Plants

Credits:

Host: Nan Philip

Executive Producer: Julia Aubuchon

Technical Direc