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Redefining Sensitive Skincare with Michelle Doan · Building the Best You

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Building the Best You, a destination for you to reimagine what is possible in your life and then create it.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the show, everybody.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Gene Collins, and today we have Michelle Doan on.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: She's coming to me from beautiful Orange County, California.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so jealous.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's finally nice here in Connecticut, but let me tell you, California is amazing.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: So Michelle is gonna give us two fantastic things.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: One is an incredible life story filled with inspiration.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: And two, you're gonna learn about her brand, Imani, which is a skincare product, especially for women with sensitive skin.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: And there's so much about her products and her brand's platform that I love.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: So we're gonna dig into that, but we are definitely gonna spend some time on your story because your story is really cool.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: So, Michelle, thank you so much for your time.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, thank you so much for having me here.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad to be here.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, thank you.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: It is like your story is just cool.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: So let's just get into it.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, take us back to what brought you to the United States and how your journey started because you haven't always been a founder of this amazing company.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, okay, first of all, I speak English as a second language.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: I was born and raised in Vietnam.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I was a I was five when the fall of Saigon in 1975.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_02: And by 1979, my mom and our family was trying to find a better life.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: And she uh she escaped by boat.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_02: And during that time, as a single mother, she took six children.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_02: Now imagine you're trying to escape Vietnam, and your kids are like between the ages of two to 16.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_02: I have three older brothers, one younger brothers, and two younger, uh, myself and a younger sister.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: And uh the trip was very perilous.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_02: And we were on this 90-foot boat with 300 other people.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: And wow, the clothes on our back, and it was seven days, and hardly any food or water, and we didn't even know where we were going.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I was too young to even wrap my head about over the dangers of what we were going through.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_02: And now I think back and reflect back and how hard it would have been for my mom as a single mom and taking this journey and facing all the unknown, right?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: Just in search of a better life.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: So here we are on a boat, then we uh land in Thailand and on the shore of Thailand.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_02: And uh during that time, there were so many refugees coming, you know, leaving Vietnam, coming to either Malaysia, Indonesia, uh, in Thailand, that the government didn't really want more refugees to land.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: And I just remember, you know, their military shooting at our boat, trying to shoe us away.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: And uh we had to wait until like in the middle of the night, the boat would like try to dock.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_02: Not we couldn't even dock, so we're trying to pull closer to shore.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: And everyone had to swim.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: And there was such a panic because myself, my my younger brother and my younger sister could not swim.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: And my brothers were too little to bring us in.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: And my mom was panicking, was running around begging people um to be able to put us on their back and swim us to shore.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my goodness.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: That is, I mean, like I've chills as you're telling me that story.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I I was alive at I was born in 1970 also, and it's like I think about what my life was like in 1979, and I had my own issues, but nothing.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's nothing compared to this.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like that's the stuff you see on TV, but you actually lived through it and were old enough to remember as well.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, and you know, that's a that's a very typical story of most of the Vietnamese um immigrants that come to the US.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, we lived in refugee camp for about a year, and it was very, very difficult.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_02: But the one thing that I learned was that we were on we were living in this little shack that's made out of banana leaves, but it was on stilts, and there was this little door that you open up and it was like the crystal clear water, and I can see the white sandy beaches, and that was my escape from my reality.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: And such contrasts, you know.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_02: And uh finally, after 11 months, uh we made it to Canada, and we I just remember there was really no provisions in refugee camp.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: You were kind of like you had to survive on your own.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I remember my mom sewed gold and diamonds, you know, onto my pants and shirt and said, whatever you do, do not lose, like, do not take your clothes off, do not do this.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_02: And that's how we survive refugee camp.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_02: It's that she would take diamond and gold every month and she would barter for food and shelter.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: That is crazy.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: I I I mean, life-changing on so many levels, which we'll get into.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so you get to Canada, and then what happens?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: I get to Canada, and I'm so grateful because we got sponsored by um St.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: Patrick's Catholic Church in Burlington, and we were probably the second Asian family in Burlington at the time, and there was no ESL program.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: We did not speak a word of English, right?
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: And so that taught me to be super resilient, and I had to adapt fairly quickly.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I remembered they put us on a special bus, like four of us, because my younger brother and sister were too small.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_02: So we would go and we were taught English by a special teacher, and that's how I got my name.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_02: She said, Well, your name was so hard to pronounce, right?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe we can give you an English name.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_02: And she said, How do you feel about Helen?
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, it doesn't feel right.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: And she's like, How about Michelle?
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, Oh, I like that better.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_02: And so and so since that day I became Michelle.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: You're Michelle.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: And it fits you.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Michelle's beautiful, it's beautiful.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_02: So then what happened as you're growing up in Canada?
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm growing up in Canada, and it was shocking, right?
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_02: It was shocking.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and learning how to adapt.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: And my mother in 1983 wanted to really come to California.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: So my parents were divorced.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_02: She came to California and uh she remarried.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: And she's like, hey, do you want to come and visit?
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, of course I want to come and visit.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: So I came and visit.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: And so imagine I was living in Hamilton with just like steel town, dark and gray, um, in the project.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_02: So we were living in like a government project, and I come to California, and there's palm trees, sunshine, swimming pools, and I, oh my goodness.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: And my mother said, Hey, do you want to stay here?
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, absolutely.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_02: And June 1985, my life changed again.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: And uh that's a huge change.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: That's a huge change.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_02: And then I went to high school and everything else.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and you know, that's where I was having a lot of skin issues, and it it uh set me on a new path, which I didn't know about.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and if you're not watching this on video, you're only listening to us, guys.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Michelle is stunning.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, like she's like absolutely perfect skin.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, what she's gonna tell you about her journey is going to blow your mind.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you can't see her, you need to jump over to YouTube and check her out because you have perfect skin, and I would have no idea how old you are or how young you are.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: So the journey of bad skin.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: I know you were you were a teenager, right?
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Which is like, of course, everybody has bad skin and kids are mean.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Kids are so mean, you're not an American, English is your second language, you have bad skin.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: I can only imagine what that does to your self-confidence.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, pizza face was used a couple of times.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: I struggled through high school, um, and I grew up feeling like an ugly duckling, right?
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: And and that feeling kind of sit with you on the inside, and that brought a lot of insecurity.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: And I, beauty was something I was really drawn into.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I uh went and got a degree in fashion uh design and merchandising, right?
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: And all I can say is that no matter how great your hair looks, no matter how, you know, like fire your outfit looks, but if your skin was horrible and you're breaking out and you have like, you know, bumps on your skin, you really don't feel beautiful.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I lived with that for a really long time.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_02: And um, and I felt like, why am I curves with really, really bad skin?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: So from 15 to 28, I spent a lot of time at the dramatologist.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: I went through the gambit of everything from birth control to uh Aquitaine to topicals and things like that.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_02: And I was really frustrated because during the 80s and 90s, you know, we don't have a little, you know, computer in our hand and there's no Google search and there was very little information.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_02: Having a pager was like the thing, right?
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, of course.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: And and so um here I am with really bad skin.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: I start calling companies and I say, hey, listen, like if it's hypoallergenic while I'm still, why am I still breaking out?
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: You know, why all of this?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I start calling companies and they would give me a number to call another company.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I say, well, if you can't help me, who can answer my questions and help me?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: And that also another way teached me how to ask the right questions and how to ask for help.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: I ended up speaking to um somebody from Merck, which is a cosmetic division, and he was kind of talking about like minerals and he was talking about all these different things, and this is 1997.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, okay, but I don't know how's that gonna help me, and how can I take this and and you know help my own skin.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_02: And you know how you have that one moment in your life where everything intersects and it it kind of makes sense, and then destinies just come and just push you through that door.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: Well, yeah, I had one of those moments where, you know, I went to a salon and I got my hair done, and behind the counter there was this ascetician, and this esthetician gene changed my life.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_02: And this is why, like, I would go to beauty school and talk to aestheticians.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_02: I said, because you don't know the impact that you have on other people.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I don't even think she realized the impact that she had on me in 1997, because she sat behind the counter and she saw my skin and she said, I can help you.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_02: And by this time, I was so jaded.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, listen, you can't help me.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: The dermatologist, if the dermatologist can't help me, and I did this and I did this and I did this, and and it's not working.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: How can you help me?
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_02: And she said, if you listen to what I say, I'm gonna, I'm gonna help you to get really great skin.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, it was her belief system, it was her conviction that made me believe.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, okay, I'm gonna give this a try.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: If you're listening and you have cystic acne and you go to a facial, it's not one of uh, you know, relaxing one, you know, it's not a relaxing, it's not a comfortable facial.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, there's uh there's a lot of she used a Lancet.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: A Lancet is something that she breaks through your skin, and then there's a lot of squeezing.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh that comes out.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_02: And then there's a lot of zapping, right?
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_02: And then everything else.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: But did you know that it was so bad that I had to tap out sometimes in the middle of my session because my body was went into this adrenaline and my heart rate, and then I was just like sweating because and I was tearing, and it was one of those things.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_02: And these are the pain points that I built imani on because I don't want someone else to go through that.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_02: So three, four months, right?
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: I go through these services, sitting through the pains, and after my facial, a couple of weeks, my skin would look really amazing.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_02: And then a few weeks after that, my skin would go back to the same way.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_02: And then I was telling her, and I'm I came back with more frustration.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, okay, it's temporary.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like, what is going on?
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_02: And she's like, Well, I don't know what you're putting on your skin when when you leave here.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, that's a good question.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, Can you?
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: And she said, Yes, I can.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, You can?
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_02: I like my mind was blown.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I'm gonna bring in every single product that I use, and I'm gonna show it to you because I'm gonna challenge you to help me.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like an average woman, like, we use like 10, 15, 20 products, and like we're exposing our bodies to so many chemicals, and we don't even realize that, you know.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: And that's a realization that I had.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_02: I brought everything annual, and then she's like, Well, these don't have any ingredients because you probably threw away the box.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, okay.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then who keeps the box, really?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, who keeps the box?
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: We don't put the product back in the box, like and I didn't even know.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like, if I read the ingredients, I wouldn't know.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_02: And you think about that.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_02: And then, you know, I brought in my hair conditioner because I'm like, I had back knee.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, what?
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_02: What's yeah, I had back knee.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: I have, yeah, I broke on my face, I had back.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_02: I had I had everything, right?
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: And so my goodness.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so she, you know, she looked at all the ingredients, she looked at all of this, and then she pulled out this book.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_02: And mind you, this is 1997.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: She pulled out a book, and I'm like, uh, what is that?
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: And she's like, Oh, it's a list of you know, commodogenic ingredients.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, what is commodogenic again?
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: And she said, Oh, uh, ingredients that actually clock your forests.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, there is a list.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: Where's this been all my life?
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: That's it.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, there is a list.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like so shocked.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, show it to me.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: And she was explaining to me, it ranked ingredients from zero to five.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_02: Zero is non-commodogenic, which doesn't clock your pores.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: A five is going to be commode, right?
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_02: It's gonna clock clock your pores, especially if you have acne and if you have sensitive skin.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's like deathly for your skin.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: And so imagine she has this list.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_02: And we have to compare, you know, like all the products, you know, against this list.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, can you photocopy?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: Like, may I have a photocopy?
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_02: So what I did was um, you know, we didn't have an an automatic ingredients checker like we do right now online, right?
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: So I took a copy and I went shopping.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: And it was the most uncomfortable and painful experience.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_02: I went to the department store and just uh and and this is before clean beauty was even a thing.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: So I imagine asking like a big brand like, hey, can I see what's in the product because I have really sensitive skin?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_02: And they're like, what?
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_02: And then they didn't care.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: They didn't care, and it was real uncomfortable.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_02: And so a couple of that, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna go to a drugstore and I'm gonna spend a long time in the aisle.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_02: I was in the aisle for a really long time reading it, and I think like theft prevention was like walking right behind me, just like and wondering what I'm doing in the aisle for like hours and grabbing every product and reading every single ingredient.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: And then I I call back the company, uh, his name is Phil Lintz from Mark, and I was like, hey, Phil, I'm like, what can I do?
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm I'm just looking for like a product that won't break me out.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_02: I was looking to make a foundation and he was telling me about pigments, and I'm like, okay, great, but I don't know how to formulate.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_02: He said, Well, here's a basic formulation, and I can um, you know, locate a formulator in Los Angeles for you.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: And that's a start of the company.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's a start because I turned my pain point, my frustration point to my passion and mission.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like I was honest, I was pissed.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_02: I was pissed.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, I want to be the change, you know, in the world because I I felt like that was such a need for it.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and growing up the way you did, to bring this back to your upbringing, you know, your upbringing was really rough.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: And that makes you super resilient and super tough.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: And like your mom sounds like the kind of woman is gonna raise you that like you're not taking no and you're not gonna settle and you're gonna fight for more.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: And she brought you to to leave that country and bring you to better other countries for greater opportunity.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: So you're not just gonna sit back as companies keep telling you, we can't help you, we can't help you, it doesn't exist, it doesn't exist.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, eventually you will, it's in your personality, take charge.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, and I I love that you did that.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: And what's so crazy is at the time that you did that, not only were clean products were not a thing, there also was not the correlation that we have now between our lifestyle and our environment and what we put into our bodies and how that impacts our skin.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: Like we didn't consider the skin as like the largest organ.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: And we didn't have these initiatives that you need to drink water and that you need to put sunscreen on and, you know, not eat products with processed hydrogenated oils and things like that.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I remember as a kid, it was like if you had acne, it's like you must eat too much pizza, you know.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: Or fried chicken.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: And no one talked about hormones, no one talked about any of the things that really do impact our skin.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: So the education now is so much greater than it was back then.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like you're literally out in the ocean by yourself because none of that data was available back then.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: I've been called a hard-headed woman, hard-headed woman all my life.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_02: And and I think that really serves me really well because I just kept on marching.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_02: I just kept on marching.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't take no for an answer.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, this doesn't make sense, you know, and let's, let's, let's figure it out.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_02: And that's one of these um, you know, character building moments in my life that builds such resilience.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because I feel like anything is possible.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: How long did it take you until your skin cleared up?
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like not just temporarily.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: How long did that take?
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, it took a long time.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_02: It took like for me to really experiment because we were just doing makeup, right?
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: So we were supplying to a lot of the makeup artists because we're so close to Los Angeles.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: So we supply to a lot of the makeup artists that use on TVs.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I remember I was so excited when like our products was using on celebrities on TV because they too have sensitive skin.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: It was like, wow.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: And so that was like, that was really, really cool.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: But you know, the whole skincare part came later, right?
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, my skin was able to kind of minimize a little bit, but I'm still looking for skincare that really worked, that didn't really break me out.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: And and and from that need, I created like our first kind of skincare hybrid.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: It's called our perfect 10 because it has 10 different organics in it.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: And it's a primer serum and a moisturizer in one because my thing was like trying to reduce how many products I'm putting on my skin and kind of minimize like the impact because my skin was so sensitive.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_02: And so, yeah, and so I created that product and it will become a really good hit.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: It's a cult product, yeah, Imani.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_02: And then I'm like, okay, uh, and then 10 years ago, K Beauty was really, really big.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: It was coming on, and I'm like, you know, this is this is a great, interesting thing to take a look into as we were developing our skincare.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_02: And now I spent three years developing natural skincare.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: And you know what I find?
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh natural skincare is really great if you just want like um like kind of conditioning, moisturizer, and kind of moisture balance.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: But when you're over 35, 45, 55, you're like, okay, you know, I need a little help.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_02: Well, it's about more than that.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I I feel like I need I need something that uh yeah, doing this because you know, when you turn 50, things start to hang.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, people don't tell you about it's the reason why faceless and all those things are what they are and have been around for so long, because it happens.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: And and so, you know, we dive into Korean beauty.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: So Korean beauty was coming on the scene like 10 years ago, and they were like the best.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: In technology.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: So I went to Korea and talked to all these labs.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_02: The personal thing that I have with Korean Beauty was that uh it had a lot of fragrances in all of their products.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: And fragrances in beauty has over 26 allergens.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: And the allergens are skin irritation, desensitization, uh cause your skin to, of course, obviously inflame and irritate, right?
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: And then it had a lot of parabens in it.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: So the language barrier was huge because I'm trying to talk about clean beauty with very traditional Korean beauty formulators.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, hey, can we make it paraben-free?
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: Can we take it out fragrances?
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, Well, why do you want to do that?
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: Why would you want to change this formula?
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_02: Like, why would why why why why would you do this?
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_02: And then I explained, I said, because I'm very specific about what I'm doing.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_02: And this is what we're looking at.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: So we talked to so many companies.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like once again, before when I started like getting into the makeup, it's talking to a bunch of people.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_02: And then talking to a bunch of skincare Korean beauty companies.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_02: And then I found this one tiny little company.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_02: And they said, Oh, you know, Michelle, we we own 13 different patents to process raw materials.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, okay, what does that mean?
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: What does that mean?
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_02: Explain it to me.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_02: And then basically it's a fermentation process, right?
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_02: This is like an ancient thing that uh for the Koreans, they they do it for uh like the kimchi and all of these things.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: They ferment it, right?
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_02: But they convert this into a science for skincare.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_02: And what this does is that this process breaks down the molecules into smaller molecules so it absorbs better into your skin.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_02: So instead of like 200 parts per million, you can get it down to 2,000 parts and sometimes 10,000 parts per million.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_02: It just depends on what type of ingredients it is.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: And we all know fermented products are so good for your diet and your gut and like all the things.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's now everybody knows that.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: Did that take you right into, okay, I'm gonna have this vegan clean line of products, or was there another step before you even got there?
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, so we started the company in 1998, did a lot of trade shows.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_02: That's how like we're able to find these partnerships.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_02: And then I believe like if you're building a business, relationships is everything and your word is everything, right?
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_02: And so I'm a people person, I build relationships and I put my heart into everything I do.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_02: People will always help me in some ways.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, oh, have you talked to this person?
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_02: Have you done this show?
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_02: Have you met this distributor?
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_02: And other distributors that work with us is like, oh, you should meet this distributor in this country.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's how we uh grew as a brand.
• 25:45
  SPEAKER_02: And in 2008, I was so excited because uh Macy's offered us a hundred counters.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, and I'm like, I I don't know how to launch a hundred counters because I knew my limitations were and I'm like, I am this little self-funded company, which is we're still self-funded people, and I can't do that.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_02: And and you know, the buyer looked at me, her name was Christine, and she said, I've never had a brand that sits here and that says I'm only gonna give you 50 stores instead of a hundred stores.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, really.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_02: I was going, no, because I I want to make sure I can walk before I can run, right?
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_02: I was so excited.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, oh, this is going to take us to the next level.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_02: Totally, yes.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_02: Game changer.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: We launched November 2007.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: Congratulations.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Did you still only do 50 stores or did you do more?
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_02: We only did 50 stores.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_02: And what happened in 2008 when the economy, yeah, the recession, everything.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_02: So timing has to do with everything.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_02: And so uh yeah, licked my wound.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and then uh, but the relationship was that she left Macy's and she went somewhere else.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: And uh she called me up and she's like, hey, do you want to do this again?
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna give you 200 stores.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, okay, let's do it.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_02: And we went, let's let's do it.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_02: And the store was called Stage, and it was like a um a chain of department stores that's in the Southern Belt.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_02: And then around 2010, and I I went to her and I said, Hey, I want to pivot the company.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, at the time I was a vegan, and then there were so many animal byproducts like lanolin and you know, caramine and things like that.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: And like uh snail mucin was on the thing, and I'm like, oh, it's personally it's not for me.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_02: And our brushes were uh made out of like animal hairs, and then when I learned how they were sourcing the hairs, I'm like, oh and yeah, yeah, like these like sourcing, you don't really think you don't want to know.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you don't want to know, and then you know you don't want to know.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then you know, you have to dye and sanitize these hair, and then you put it on your face, and I'm like, oh my gosh, like I didn't realize that, and that was a a really big shocker for me.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I I said to her, and we're we're actually one of the first brand that did vegan back in 2010.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I said, Hey, Christine, I'm I'm gonna rebrand and we're gonna call it Imani Vegan Cosmetics.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_02: And she's like, that's the most terrible idea.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_02: Like, no one, no one's gonna understand it.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_02: Like, da-da-da.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, I I feel this is right with me.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_02: Like this, I feel like this is where we need to be.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_02: And even 2010, clean beauty wasn't really a a thing either.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I remember doing trade shows and we said vegan cosmetics, and people would walk and they would like, oh, what, explain this to us again?
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, sure.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, of course.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's been a real blast.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_02: Like there's been two, three evolution to where we are as a brand because I don't believe in like comfort and I don't believe in just like uh being stagnant, right?
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you have to solve tomorrow's problem, right?
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_02: And having a third child at my 30 uh when I was 35, my skin jacked up again.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_02: And then when I went through menopause and I was like, what is happening?
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_02: And and that's why, you know, I created a double serum system.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yes.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_02: Because I need extra help.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_00: Right, yeah, because you've gotten to those stages where you realize that the women in those stages need different, and you do, you have different bundles and different products for different skin types, different, you have a quiz, it's like, where are you?
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: What are your and I think it's the way that you position it for your brand is really insightful for people to understand that our skin is changing just like we are, and our skin is aging, and you might move from one place to another, and that is gonna change your environment, and your skin's gonna change, and your needs are gonna change, and your amount of stress impacts it, what how inflamed your body is at different stages, all the inflammatory foods like inflammation ages you, and so it you have a lot of resources actually on your website that are very educational to help women understand.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: I want to say the aging process, but it is true to understand how your skin is aging and how the needs change.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I mean, we're a beauty brand, but I'm more about that.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_02: I'm about creating a life that I'm really excited to live.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_02: And I am not preaching, I'm just sharing what I find, you know, at 56, a mother of three and a grandmother of three.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I feel like I've learned a lot on my own dime.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_02: I I learned a lot on my own dime, and I I and I lean into these stories and I'm like, what am I learning from this?
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I want to share that.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, hey, this is what I've tried for many years, and this is what works, right?
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I believe in simplicity, and that's my whole philosophy for a business and for life.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_02: We tend to overcomplicate things, we complicate our lives, we complicate our thought process, we complicate, you know, our SOPs in businesses.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_02: And we, you know, complicate our skincare where we really only need two or three, four good products.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I do love that.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: You have that super cleanly on your website.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: It was sort of like, here's your three-step process.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: And then I think it was like, I don't want to say it was older women.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: It was sort of like, if you're horror, like depending on your hormones, you might need four.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_00: Just kind of like a nice way.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: I felt like, oh, you're talking menopause, you're talking me.
• 31:42
  SPEAKER_00: You said it in a really nice way without like, you know, making me feel like I'm bad that I'm in this.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_00: But you really were like, this is all you need, is right here.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I think in the skincare industry, I mean, you know, you walk into Sephora and it's like a thousand products.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: And I know me personally, I mean, I have drawers full of product.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, you're kind of convinced that you need all these things.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people have no idea what's in their products, myself included.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: I try to lean towards organic and healthier.
• 32:11
  SPEAKER_00: But when I was doing the research for the show, I was like, vegan, huh?
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody else is talking about being vegan.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: So, what is in all my other products that I think are healthy because they don't have parabens and they're not tested on animals and all these things, but none of them say they're vegan.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: So, oh my goodness, what now that's like a whole new world of things that exist in the skincare industry that actually probably isn't good for you.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_02: So we we screen everything.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: Vegan is one way.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: We take in clean to the next level, right?
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_02: Then we add in the Korean technology piece as another level.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_02: And then I created what I call the three piece in skincare to help our clients, whether you're looking at IMANI or where you're looking for skincare for yourself, right?
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_02: The three P, the first P is potency.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_02: Potency is like the percentages of the active ingredient is in a formula that they're pitching you.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_02: It's either vitamin C or whether something more active.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_02: And you want to know what is the percentage.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_02: A lot of consumers don't know that I can have um a brand can have a fraction of a vitamin C and still call it a vitamin C serum, and when they have a lot of fillers of something else.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_02: Well, anything, you know, in a fraction is not really going to help you and help your skin.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_02: But if you have too much vitamin C, it can actually cause your skin to irritate.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_02: So understanding the formulation.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_02: So let's just say vitamin C, if you have sensitive skin, 9 to 10% is actually a really good level to have it in your skincare.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's enough to give you the changes that you want to brightening and firming and toning without causing redness, irritation, and everything else.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_02: So more is not always better.
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_02: It's like understanding your skin biology.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_02: Secondly, the second P is I call it the penetration.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_02: So, what is the delivery system?
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_02: So if you're like looking at a brand on, you know, TikTok or on Neta, whatsoever, and you want to reach out and you said, okay, what is the percentages of the active ingredients in that?
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_02: And then what is your delivery system?
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_02: How are you going to get those nutrients into my skin?
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's where our, you know, the Korean technology comes in, the fermentation comes in.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_02: Because any brand that knows what they're doing, they are very transparent.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_02: Because, you know, I'll say our ginsen is 2,000 parts per million, the fermented ginseng in our Miracle Serum for girls who have really oily skin and large pores is going to help to that reduction.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_02: So 2,000 parts per million is going to give you that beautiful absorption, right?
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: So that, and then the third one, it hasn't been proven.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_02: I love clinical studies with real customers' reviews, right?
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so authentic reviews.
• 35:04
  SPEAKER_02: And that's what we should buy.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_02: And that's just about price point, not how great it is or not how it's been promoted.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_02: But let's use our brain and let's use the three Ps when we're, you know, spending our heart-earned money buying skincare.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and I love that.
• 35:20
  SPEAKER_00: That keeps it super simple, by the way, which also aligns with everything you said before about like not trying to overcomplicate it.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I also think that for so many women, it is so overwhelming.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: And there are so many choices.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I think skincare is a perfect example of more advertising, more cost, prettier box, prettier package does not equal better in any fashion for anything in the beauty space.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: It does not equal better at all.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I think women need to take control of their own skincare products and what they're putting on their body because you're starting to care about what you put in, but really, like, but what are you also putting on?
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like that's a huge thing.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: And just because it's expensive or it's a celebrity's product doesn't make it better necessarily for you.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_00: You need to do some research.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: You need to do some research, just like you do for your hormones, quite honestly.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's the same.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: Same thing.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_02: I I don't know if you know that like an average woman uses like five pounds of PUT products per year.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_02: You know, think about like how much body lotion that we're using, how much fragrances, how many mineral oil, petrochemicals, uh fragrances we're actually putting on our body.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I'm a sucker for a good smelly, you know, body lotion, but now I'm like opting for like body oils because yeah, menopause makes my skin super dry, which I've never really experienced before.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_02: And so just, you know, taking control and asking the the right questions um and uh kind of like minimize the impact of what we're exposed to.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, for sure.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I have a question.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_00: What does Imani mean?
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure it means something.
• 37:05
  SPEAKER_00: What does it mean?
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_02: Uh okay, so Imani spells E, M, A, N, I, right.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_02: And in the middle, so if you look at the three letters in the middle, it spell man, right?
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_02: And what I feel like women were strong as our male counterpart, but maybe even stronger.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_02: Because who else would do a full-time jock, run a company, have kids, clean house, and uh taking our kids to, you know, games and then on weekends host parties and you know, oh, that's just you know the top 10% of our list.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_02: And so um, that's like my homage to like our inner strength and outer beauty, and our logo is a little flower, right?
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_02: And so yeah, it it's it's about inner strength and uh and outer beauty as who we are as a species.
• 37:55
  unknown: Yeah, yeah.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's powerful.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: I love a brand name that has a meaning and a story.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's really interesting.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_00: So can we talk one second before we run out of time?
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_00: Can we talk about glass bottles?
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: I uh always like, oh my like it really made me take a pause and look at what was in my cabinet when I saw on your website that your brand only uses glass bottles.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, well, of course, I only use glass, like I don't use plastic for anything in my kitchen for my food.
• 38:25
  SPEAKER_00: But then I was like, huh, let's open the cabinet in the bathroom and the 30 products that are in there, and how many of those are in glass?
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm proud to say more than half of them are.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_00: So that made me feel good.
• 38:37
  SPEAKER_00: But even some of the ones that I consider to be super pure, some of them were not.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: So talk to us about your philosophy about glass bottles and how you accomplish that.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, glass is absolutely sustainable because you can recycle glass like infinitely.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_02: Secondly, I feel like people don't really think about things that come in plastics and things like that depends on the formulation.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_02: The oils and things like that that's in a formula can actually break down the plastic in the tubes and things like that.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, when you're looking at packaging from a packaging standpoint, they'll tell you like how many layers is in that tube, right?
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_02: So it's either a three-layer tube or a five-layer tube and how the tube is really treated.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_02: And we use glass because it really preserves the serums.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_02: And our serums has such high concentration of active ingredients.
• 39:31
  SPEAKER_02: And then we also, it's not super clear.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_02: So, what that does is that it helps from UV breakdown and things like that.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just another level of like purity.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_02: And then once you're done with Imani, you can actually take the glass, rinse it out, and just throw it in your recycling bin.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_02: And then our pumps and everything else are plastic, and then you can just put it in a plastic bin.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: That's so great.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's a commitment to the environment.
• 39:59
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 40:00
  SPEAKER_00: But that can't be cheaper.
• 40:01
  SPEAKER_00: That can't be cheaper.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_00: That has to probably cost more, right?
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_00: From a manufacturing perspective, it can't be cheaper.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it costs more for everything.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_02: It's cost more to ship, it's cost more to make.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_02: And then another thing that we were doing is because our our bottles are are kind of heavy because they're really thick.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_02: And then I'm traveling with, you know, three, four of our glass bottle.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, oh my God, this bag is really heavy.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so I I went back to our team.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_02: I'm like, hey, can we make this bottle with less glass?
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_02: And they're like, well, it's gonna cost a lot of money for us to create that custom mold.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, let's do it.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_02: So um in July, you're gonna see like imani, same glass bottle, same everything, but we use like less glass.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_02: So we took a lot of glass out of the bottom.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_02: So 20%, exactly 20% less plastic and glass is gonna be in the packaging, but it's still gonna have all that recyclability.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_02: So we constantly review um how people live and then how we how we recycle and what can we do to really help the environment.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, it's like you're using real life experience because glass is great, but you're right, glass is heavier.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: And when you travel, like that's a problem.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_00: It really is.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I love that you're willing to invest in that.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_00: And kudos to you because not every company, especially in the beauty business, is willing to take that investment because that does hurt your bottom line.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_00: It just, it just does.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_00: That's the economics.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_00: And when everything is costing more and tariffs and imports and shipping and everything costs more, it's hard sometimes to stand on that ethical line.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_00: So kudos to you for doing that.
• 41:34
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate that a lot.
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_00: So, what's on your bucket list for the brand for the future?
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_02: On the bucket list is I would love to sell imani to every woman that is having problematic skin.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_02: That's on my bucket list.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I want people to really try it out.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_02: And sometimes you can try different um, you know, serum because you just never know like how your skin, you know, will react in a good way, right?
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so our our thing is that knowing that I make it from a place of love, and I and I want to make people feel beautiful, but I also I'm I love the challenge of you know solving sensitive skin and this whole menopause thing is like, wow.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah, and and and and make things simplify and just, you know, and that's it.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_02: It's just really simple.
• 42:27
  SPEAKER_02: And then to be able to live and enjoy the journey.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm building a company, but it's really about the relationship.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_02: I love my teens, I I love our customers, and I I live in gratitude.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_02: That's my backup line.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's a labor of love.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_00: You can tell it's a labor of love.
• 42:45
  SPEAKER_00: And when you love what you do for a living, then it's not work, and then it becomes part of who you are and what fuels you is to be able to solve these problems and create these products and to make women feel confident and beautiful.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like what an incredible gift that is to do for a living.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's amazing.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_00: Is there anything I didn't ask you that you want to make sure we cover off on?
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_00: Did I miss anything?
• 43:06
  SPEAKER_02: Just something I wanted to share from my personal experience is that, you know, beauty is not always like the surface.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_02: I think it also stems from within.
• 43:16
  SPEAKER_02: So you had touched on it a little bit earlier, you know, when you're talking about like stress, you know, and I when I was building the company, I didn't really pay a lot of attention to my health.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_02: I was operating from, you know, a fight or flight mode because I thought that was my superpower.
• 43:36
  SPEAKER_02: But that in itself had an effect on my body.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_02: So I I'm living with like chronic inflammation, right?
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_02: And uh and uh yeah, and a leaky gut, which is kind of crazy.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_02: And so the way I look at it, meditation and state of mind and life perspective really helped to shape us because it has to start from within and then just like the self-left, yeah, the self-left and give yourself some grace.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's true.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and it's your whole body.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, your skin is your largest organ.
• 44:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's you have to think about not only what goes on it, but what's going into your body and what's your everything about your lifestyle, your mind, body, spirit, all of that matters.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_00: Your environment matters, what you're around, the toxins in your environment, that impacts inside your body and your skin as well.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_00: It's a major impact on all of us.
• 44:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I love that you talked about that because inner beauty is important.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: The outer beauty definitely helps with the self confidence, but you need the inner beauty too.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_00: You need to do the inner work too, and you have to make yourself a priority because if you don't, no one else is going to do it for you.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like you talked about the busyness, like no one else is gonna do it for you if you don't step up and do it.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_00: For yourself.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like you have to put yourself first in life.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's one of my huge missions is to help women feel comfortable putting themselves first and making themselves a priority in the mix of what they're doing.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_00: They can still be successful.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you for touching on that.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate it.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I love that.
• 45:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_00: So before we run out of time, I'd love to ask my guests if there's a book or books, they can recommend more than one, that they recommend that the listeners read something that's impacted you either personally or professionally that you think is really insightful.
• 45:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm so curious because you're a science person and you're a wellness person and you're so many things and a business person.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: I am so curious what you'd like to recommend.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_02: With so many decades in doing what I'm doing, the biggest battle is not from the outside.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_02: The biggest battle is actually the inside.
• 45:37
  SPEAKER_02: And right now, um, I may not have an MBA, but I'm working on a self-mastery PhD.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_02: Ooh, good for you.
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_02: And one of my favorite things that I'm I'm working on is mindset.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I used to have so many thoughts, and I also have ADD.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_02: So imagine as women, we have already so many thoughts, so many judgments, so many like to-do lists.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, it's running in the back of our mind all the time.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_02: And so uh my favorite book is uh Don't Believe Everything You Think by Joseph Wynn.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_02: That's a great one.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm more like an audio versus a reader.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_02: So I I listen to it while I'm driving and I listen to when I go on my walks.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_02: And that helps to really shape the foundation and it helps me um to understand my mind.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, which is so powerful.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, understanding your mind and having an awareness of what your mind is saying is so incredibly important and understanding questioning your mind.
• 46:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like, is that really true?
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_00: Is it really true?
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_00: I've had so many guests come on and say that that are in the either in the spiritual realm or even in the doctor like psychological realm.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's like just because your mind is thinking it doesn't make it true, and learning to pay attention to that narrative and question that narrative to really find what is true or where you really want to be in that dialogue with your mind is so powerful.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I love that.
• 47:09
  SPEAKER_00: That is oh, Michelle, you have been such an amazing guest.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_00: You have incredible energy.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you.
• 47:15
  SPEAKER_00: I am totally in the middle of menopause at 55, turning 56.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_00: I am 100% gonna buy your products.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna keep following, I'm gonna see what you guys keep coming out with.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I can't wait to try your products for women my age because you know, we all have these things that like your neck shows your age more than anything.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_02: Lymphatic massage, girlfriend.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_00: Lymphatic massage.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_00: I do do that.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I do do that, and I have my bra, I use my brush every morning, and like it's a newfound thing.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_00: It definitely helps, but like it's work.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_00: You have to really commit to, as my daughter would say, you got to commit to the bit of like actually doing something about it.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um but it feels good, it feels good, it does, it feels good, it does.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_00: It definitely feels good, and it's good for so many things and inflammation.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_00: I love that you talk about that a bunch on your website.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I think people, I'm gonna link your website and your products and everything.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's your website is also just a great resource, and so I love that you've taken a lot of the knowledge that you have and the research that you've done, and you've you've made that in really digestible language that people can understand in terms of what the products are and how they use them and how they absorb and how they work and how they're good for you.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I thank you.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_00: You took something that's super complex and you made it really easy to understand.
• 48:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I thank you so much for being a guest and we'll stay connected on social media and really wishing your brand all the best.
• 48:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's fantastic.
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for having me.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's been great fun.
• 48:39
  SPEAKER_00: Enjoy the rest of your week.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, you too.
• 48:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us for this week's episode of Building the Best You.
• 48:47
  SPEAKER_00: If you are ready to take a deeper dive into transforming your life, check out my Empowerment Fundamentals course on my website, houseofgermar.com.
• 48:55
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, and I will see you next week with another inspiring guest.